I Know Places: a Kim Namjoon au story
Prologue + Chapter 1
Prologue:
Winter of 2023
Somewhere by the docks in Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
BGM: Jenga (KIM SEJEONG)
“Sh… sh*t. I didn’t think I’d easily be ambushed like that…!”
I ran. I kept on running. I kept on running like my life depended on it.
Because it did.
Because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t live for another day. In short, I’d be dead and lying lifeless when tomorrow comes.
Even though I have been used to this kind of life—this very dangerous kind of life since I was only 13 years old, sometimes in moments like these, the reality sinks in that this double life truly had detrimental consequences.
And I was experiencing it first hand all over again.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Ar… Argh… I… I even got shot right on the shoulder too?”
As I could see the crimson red color from my hand when I touched the painful part of my right shoulder, I had to just take a couple more deep breaths and not panic because panicking at my situation will not help. IT NEVER DOES.
“I… I need to find a place to hide for the time being before I hemorrhage to death.”
While I was busy deciding of a place to hide in a hurry, I heard something ring inside my left ear. Literally.
*ring* *ring* *ring*
“It couldn’t be…”
I didn’t expect that my in-ear communicator was still working despite what just occurred. Not wasting any more time, I pressed it and then a familiar voice echoed.
“Hey…! Keira…! Can you…! Can you hear me?!”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved to hear that person’s voice.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Tae… Taehyung?”
The worried voice belonged to no other than Taehyung. Kim Taehyung. A close ally. An ally and the closest thing I can call a friend in this secret double life I’ve been living since then.
“Oh thank god…! Jungkook and I managed to patch and fix the connection on your in-ear communicator in time…!”
“J… Jeez…! You don’t have to shout right now Taehyung…! I can hear you LOUD and clear remember?!”
“Ahh… right. My bad. Are you okay though?! You sent a distress signal too a while ago?”
Remembering what happened at the abandoned warehouse made the pain on my shoulder worse as I clicked my tongue saying,
“Tsk… I… I didn’t think that I’d be trapped like a little mouse by those bastards!”
“Keira…! You’re hurt, aren’t you?! Where the f*ck are you right now?!”
“I… I’ll be fine…! I need to be…! You and chief need to trust me when I say I’m fine!”
I then heard Taehyung click his tongue on the other line also before he yelled aloud,
“That’s not the issue right now, Keira…! sh*t! I’m going to come and find you so stay put and hide somewhere!”
“But… I just said…!”
“Don’t be so f*cking stubborn right now with me…! I’m going to inform Chief so please for the love of god, stay safe! Got it?!”
*beep*
Those were the only words Taehyung said so determinedly on the other line before cutting the connection off and I finally found a place to hide for the time being.
“Haaa… haaa… haaa… I guess the wound I got from that precise gunshot back there runs deeper than I’d expected…”
Still gripping on tightly to my bleeding shoulder, I had to wrap something around it before I really hemorrhage to death right here, right now.
“Keira. Since I can’t always be there whenever you need me, and most especially when you find yourself in… dangerous situations… I’m going to teach you something important.”
“Something important?”
“Yes. And I’m sure it’ll come handy when you need it the most. But… I hope there doesn’t come a time when you need it.”
Taking another deep breath as I glanced at my bloody shoulder, I just looked up at the glimmering moon and night sky before another familiar voice echoed at the back of my head. A consoling voice that I needed to hear in reassurance.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Kolette… I’m sorry… but it looks like the time when I need to use your advice really came even though you hoped for the opposite scenario.”
I then proceeded to rip a part of my clothes off and used it to tie a cloth bandage on the bleeding part of my shoulder, somewhat like a tourniquet.
“Keira, when you find yourself in a bleeding state, always remember that your utmost priority is to… apply pressure to the wound to the best of your ability.”
“Apply pressure to the best of my ability?”
“Uh huh. Unless if you want to bleed to death, you need to find something—really anything to wrap around the injured area. Do you understand me? Prevent the bleeding from getting out of control.”
As her advice resounded word by word inside my ears, I could only hide silent winces and pained groans to myself while I finished wrapping the cloth bandage around my shoulder so to prevent myself bleeding to death.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Argh… I… I wonder if I followed your advice to the best of my ability right now then, Kolette… or if it’ll just make you look at me with pity in your green eyes…”
With the bandage doing its job, I just closed my eyes for a few moments and began playing the waiting game right then and there. And there were only two outcomes to this game. One was Taehyung finding me in one piece just as he had said. While the second outcome was…
“Someone else will end up finding me here. And most likely… that someone will definitely kill me.”
And shooting me on the shoulder was simply the beginning to my end.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“At least the moonlight is here to comfort me, especially if it will be… the last time it does so.”
With every passing second that went by, familiar faces and voices started popping up inside the void of my own thoughts like some sort of mirage.
“Ma chérie! Welcome home! You look tired, are you okay honey?”
“Keira! I swear if I don’t hear from you for another day, I’m going to find you wherever you are and give you a piece of my mind you silly girl! That’s my privilege as your best friend!”
“Keira. As much as I appreciate every single thing you have done ever since you were still very young, I want you to always remember to value yourself and your life more. Understand?”
“Through thick and thin, you and I will always be allies. Nobody and nothing’s ever going to change that, Keira.”
Why does it feel like I’m seeing my life flash right in front of my very eyes?
“…”
Ah. I’d know why that exact same second when a looming silhouette and their footsteps echoed on cue.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“I guess the waiting game indeed ends like this huh?”
And before I knew it, the tall silhouette who came looming to my direction while disguising himself with a black hooded cloak then pointed his pistol’s muzzle right in front of my face, particularly in front of my forehead.
“Instead of a scythe, my grim reaper is pointing a gun at me?”
“…”
“Before you pull the gun’s trigger, can you at least show me your face? Jeez… this isn’t some kind of silent movie t—,”
Little did my naive self would ever thought that the person who was about to kill me right now would even listen to my blabbering request. Nor would my stunned reaction be once he took off the hood of his hooded cloak.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“…?!”
I know it was a bit dark and all since it was the dead of night but I’d be a fool to deny the obvious palpitation of my heart and the shaking of my gray eyes when my gaze met my supposed killer’s eyes. Even if I was struggling because of the little light around me, I could see the shade of his eyes. His shade of deep… such deep brown eyes.
“Satisfied then?”
“…!”
Despite him not taking off the black metallic mask covering half of his face and the fact he hasn’t removed pointing his pistol right in my face, nothing would surprise me the most than hearing a voice echo apart from mine. And it clearly belonged to the tall man in front of me.
“You can actually talk?”
“Well obviously since I’m not a robot and not mute too?”
Sarcastic jerk? As much as I wanted to roll my eyes at his snarky response, I still couldn’t find myself from staring away at how my grim reaper looked. Deep brown eyes? With ash blonde hair and a snappy attitude? He was definitely human all right. But the sound of his voice sounded too robotic for a human’s.
“Okay then? You indeed got the looks for a human but? Your voice sounds nothing like a human’s.”
“You talk a lot for someone who’s about to get shot right in the head?”
If you were to tell me that I’ll be exchanging snarky banters with someone who was more than ready to kill me with one shot right now, I’d probably laugh so hard in your face. Yet, that’s exactly what’s going on at this very time.
“Oh please, it’s not like you’re the first person to point a gun right in front of my face, my grim reaper.”
“You’re an oddball.”
“You’re the one more guilty of that for using a voice altering device to alter your voice though.”
He and his deep brown eyes blinked in surprise at what I had to point out with a grin.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice that the choker you’re wearing is a voice altering device?”
“…”
“I do think that it’s smart on your part though to disguise your real voice so the person you’re about to kill won’t know or recognize who you really a—,”
However when I was on my last syllable, my mouth was indeed zipped close the second the glint in his brown eyes turned icy and unrelenting as he simply said the words while glaring directly at me,
“Shut up.”
It looks like my misbehaving tactic to stall for more time is seeing its end already. sh*t. And there’s still no sign of Taehyung anywhere. Is this really game over? Am I really not going to live through to see tomorrow then?
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Wait grim reaper, before you kill me for real, hear me o—,”
But what do you know? I was again cut off from my last syllable. Yet, he wasn’t the one who cut me off. It was the voice coming from the ear-piece stuck to his left ear that I had also noticed apart from the voice altering choker he’s wearing.
*beep* *beep*
“Hey. Moonchild. What’s your status there already?”
“…”
The same robotic kind of voice. It didn’t even take me a few seconds to puzzle out that the person yelling aloud in his ear-piece was his ally. Or someone that works with him obviously.
“She’s here. With me.”
“Wh… What?! You still haven’t killed her yet?!”
“That’s none of your f*cking business, Chaos. I’m hanging up.”
*beep*
Really. Chaos? What kind of code name is that? How cliche if I should be honest. But the code name Moonchild doesn’t seem cliche. It kind of suits my grim reaper. At least if I indeed do get killed, I won’t get killed by someone with a tacky code name.
BGM: Not Friends (LOONA)
“…”
“So… Moonchild, huh?”
After he unhesitatingly pulled out the ear-piece from inside his left ear, he threw it straight to the dock’s waters that was only right behind us.
“An oddball and an eavesdropper huh?”
“How can it be eavesdropping when both of your voices were loud enough for me to hear? You both weren’t so discreet about it too, mind you.”
“Haaa… look here lady, don’t test my patience or I won’t hesitate to shoot a bullet right through your head.”
You’re the one testing my patience though. Feeling my annoyance kicking in, I too didn’t hesitate to grab the cold muzzle of his pistol and positioned it right in the center of my forehead which immediately made him and his body flinch.
“What do you think you’re d——?!”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Stop testing my patience too you grumpy jerk of a grim reaper…! If you want to kill me, just do it already!!! Sheesh! You are so hot and cold and it’s driving me nuts?!”
“…”
“You could’ve just killed me the second you saw me, but nooooooo? You had to take off your stupid hooded cloak and showed me your face and talked to me even though we’re clearly enemies!!!”
Something within me just snapped at that moment. And I wasn’t talking about the pistol in both of our hands now. Nonetheless, little did I know that I wasn’t the only one who’d snap right then and there.
“Urgh! Damn it you crazy lady!!! Did you forget that you were the one who insisted of seeing my face before I was about to kill you?!”
“Really?! Like hell I’d even expect for you to listen to my stupid request without complaint you jerk?!”
As both of us glared clearly at each other, he yanks away the pistol from my grip and lets out a sigh before he all of a sudden crouches down to my eye level which made me hide a nervous gulp at how vehemently he was now staring at me with his pair of deep brown eyes.
“Well f*ck me? You really like talking and yapping back huh? I don’t know if you’re a brave lady or a crazy one or even… both?”
Stop gawking at him Keira?! Why is he suddenly closing the distance between us too?!
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“H… Hey! Don’t suddenly move your face close to mine you jerky grim reaper…!”
“Jerky grim reaper? You really have a flowery vocabulary, don’t you lady yapper? As expected of a spy such as yourself?”
What? Did? He? Just? Say? To? Me? Right? Now?
“Wha… What are you talking ab—-,”
With our faces only mere centimeters apart, I could feel me and my nerves turning to mush the second he placed his big, hot hand on my chin and there was no reason for me to not see my reflection in his deep brown eyes so vividly anymore.
“This isn’t my first rodeo of dealing with conniving people like you, you know. People of your kind are the natural enemies of the kind of people where I’m part of.”
Ahhh!!! Sheesh! Why is my heart pounding so loudly like a damn drum right now?! Now is not the time to be awestruck at my grim reaper?! Don’t let his words get to you, Keira!
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Oh, is that so then huh? I guess me calling you my jerky grim reaper isn’t simple coincidence too since killing people is what you—an assassin does?”
The glint in his brown eyes then shifted as soon as I said that. There were a few moments of silent staring between us which made my nerves go on a ruckus since his grip on my chin didn’t loosen up even once and I’d be lying that his strong, woody scent lingering around me wasn’t making me woozy on the inside.
“Hmmm…”
“What’s with the hmmm all of a sudden?”
And silence again. Why did the stupid moonlight have to act like his own personal spotlight which made his very close gaze more difficult to stare away from? What are you even thinking Keira?!
“Sh… Sheesh!!! Can… can’t you just kill me already instead of mentally tormenting like t—-?”
When I proceeded to shove him by his chest, I completely forgot the fact that I was injured on the shoulder and used too much of my impulsive force. The pain then struck me like lightning in the snap of a finger.
“Ar… Argh!!! Mer… Merde!!!”
“Who would’ve thought that you still have that much of remaining strength despite your injured shoulder when you shoved me?”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“I… I’m not injured…! Do… Don’t be silly…! Ahh… Argh…”
Trying to put on a brave face just became harder since the throbbing pain coming from my shoulder came back because of the foolish move I just done.
“Right. And pigs can fly? Don’t move too much already unless you want to dislocate your shoulder so badly. Look, the cloth bandage around it is bleeding so m—-,”
Right then and there, the adrenaline in my body spiked up the minute he leans in closer to me and didn’t hesitate to place both of his hands on the bleeding part of my shoulder.
“Do… Don’t suddenly touch me without war——?!”
“Shut it. If you keep this up, you’re going to hemorrhage to death instead of me killing you.”
“You also should shut your sarcasm with me you jerky grim reaper…!”
Why was he out of the blue concerned about me hemorrhaging to death with my bleeding shoulder more than him killing me?
“You must be stubborn as a rock to withstand this amount of pain already huh?”
“Tha… That’s none of your damn busi——,”
Before I could snap back at him, I stopped on my last syllable when my gaze met his again. And this time, there was a hinting glimmer of loneliness in his brown eyes. Why would he look at me like this when we’re supposed to be enemies?
“Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
“That’s because I use my eyes to look at things and at people, even you.”
“That’s not exactly an answer you sarcastic jerk…!”
God. The whiplash. I don’t know why he even gave me such a lonely look in his brown eyes when he was also trying to push my buttons with his sarcastic responses.
“Lady yapper.”
“Don’t call me th—!”
“I have a suggestion but you need to lis—-,”
However, before I could retort back and he had something to say to me, both of us then felt like we were shot frozen when a voice then echoed. The same kind of voice that came from his ear-piece—the same thing he tossed to the dock’s waters a short while ago.
“HEY!!! MOONCHILD YOU ASSHOLE!!!”
“Tsk. He found us at the worst timing.”
“…”
Great. Just f*cking great. Another assassin. It looks like I’m pretty much screwed over already.
*beep* *beep*
“Hey… Keira…! Can you hear me?!”
I’m not hearing things right now? Am I? There could only be one person’s voice that echoed audibly inside my ears?
“It… it can’t be? Tae… Taehyung?”
Unlike the ear-piece my grim reaper was wearing, the in-ear communicator I had inside my left ear wasn’t obvious to the eyes because it was shielded by my hair. And… I was the only one who could hear anything coming from the tiny device. Meanwhile,
“You bastard!!! You cut me off, really?! And here you still are, WITH THE ENEMY!!!”
“Don’t make me point my gun at you and your loud ass mouth instead, Chaos.”
The grim reaper’s supposed ally then shot me a cynical glance with his icy blue eyes. If ice queens exist, he was literally an ice prince. Don’t even get me started that he literally looks like Jack f*cking Frost with his platinum blonde hair. So he was indeed the person my grim reaper was talking to a while ago. The one with the cliche codename.
“Why haven’t you killed her yet?! Did you f*cking forget that she’s one of THEM?! She’s OUR ENEMY, MOONCHILD!!!”
He hissed with a pissed-off voice. I didn’t know robotic voices can sound so realistically pissed-off too?
“Hey Keira…! Are you okay there? Why am I hearing voices with you too?!”
“Sssh, Taehyung. Just listen and don’t say anything else for now. Trust me.”
And judging by the way my brown eyed grim reaper named Moonchild still remained calm—annoyed but still calm, with all the rage coming from his ally, he then said coldly,
“I told you, remember? That’s NONE of your f*cking business whether I have killed her yet or not. And shut your loud mouth right now before I do it for you, Chaos.”
“…”
Silencing his ally with his sharp and cold words plus glare, my grim reaper glanced at me as he co*cked his pistol back saying,
“And killing an injured person isn’t my kind of thing.”
Well. Isn’t that gentlemanly of him? I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him because one, we weren’t alone. And two, the guy called Chaos might go berserk at me if I do so. For sure.
“Haaa… whatever. If you’re not going to kill her, we should bring her back to the Boss. I’m pretty sure he’d be ecstatic at the present we’ll bring for him?”
“Fine.”
Great. From being found by a grim reaper, I might actually turn into a damn hostage and will be another headshot dummy for their so called Boss.
“Keira? I don’t know what’s f*cking going on right now, but I’m almost near to your direction on a boat. Can you slip past them?”
Slip past them? Well, if they weren’t trained assassins, that would be a walk in the park. My situation right now was like walking on a charcoal lit road though.
“Easier said than done. I can barely move my right shoulder because of my injury, Taehyung.”
“It’s not like you need your arms to make a run for it! Don’t you have some kind of gadget that can help you make an escape?”
A gadget huh? Now that I remember it, the in-ear communicator inside my ear had other functions apart from being a useful tool for communicating with Taehyung right now.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“sh*t… this better work or I’m as good as a goner if I mess up…”
Having to take a big risk with my next move, I waited for the right time to get my abrupt plan in action. And there was no perfect timing to do it when my grim reaper and his ally were distracted while the latter was talking to someone on his own ear-piece.
“Boss. It’s Chaos. I finally met up with Moonchild here and it looks like we—I mean, he has a present for you when we get back.”
“Don’t be spouting out whatever nonsense to the B—-?!”
This is it Keira! TIME TO MAKE YOUR PLAN A REALITY! You only have one chance!!! Make it count. Your life depends on it.
*beep* *beep* *beep*
“Wh… Where the f*ck is that loud beeping noise coming f—-?!”
“Do… Don’t tell me it’s coming from…!”
Wincing as I stood up on my own two feet, I quickly took out the in-ear communicator from my left ear and pressed it for three times and tossed it to the ground which triggered a very loud beeping sound echo the scene. And it wasn’t just an ordinary beeping noise. It was the kind of nauseating noise to the ears, especially if you’re not used to hearing it.
“I think it’s time for you two to stay down on your knees for now.”
“You… You crazy little conniving bitch…!”
“No…! Don’t do this lady yapper or you’re going to…!”
As my grim reaper and his loud-mouthed ally were down on their knees and wincing while covering their ears because of the nonstop noise coming from the tiny ear-piece, I knew I had to make a run for it NOW. But for some odd reason… why did my heart feel like it stopped beating the moment my gaze met those deep brown eyes?
“No…! Don’t do this lady yapper or you’re going to…!”
What the f*ck are you doing still standing here Keira?! My mind screamed at me to snap out of it. He’s the enemy. They both are. You should leave NOW!!!
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“I guess this is goodbye then, my jerky grim reaper.”
I just smiled wryly at his direction before I turned around and made a sprint forward to the dock’s waters as I could see a flashing light heading towards me. Despite all the physical pain and confusing ache inside my chest right now, I HAD TO RUN. I had to run for my life.
Yet, fate then threw a real curveball at me instantly as the sound of a gun firing echoed.
And the next seconds felt like a complete blur.
Before I knew it, I felt a bullet pierce right through my heart.
Before I knew it, I fell straight into the salty water.
And here I thought that it would be the most romantic kind of death for someone like me.
But it wasn’t.
I guess I wasn’t bulletproof all along.
Chapter 1: “They take their shots, but I’m bulletproof.”
Spring of 2024
In a private all-girls academy
London, England
BGM: Look At Me (TWICE)
“Haaa… haaa… haaa… run like your life depends on it, dear feet of mine…!”
As I rushed myself past the street filled with blooming cherry blossom trees, I finally arrived at the school gates. However, I had to face a small predicament right then and there.
“Hmph. I can make it inside in a matter of seconds.”
When the school bell rang for first period, the academy’s gate will instantly close shut and latecomers will have to do community service after school hours are over. Yet, to me, this was a cakewalk to deal with.
“Haaa… okay. You only have five seconds left before the gate closes, Keira. And I am in no mood to do community service today…!”
Taking a deep breath, I then didn’t hesitate to sprint forward and jumped over the almost closed metal gates with a somersault.
“Haaa… SAFE!”
And as soon as I landed in perfect balance without missing a step, I then breathed a sigh of relief until I glanced down at the time on my watch.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Ahhh!!! sh*t…! No time for celebrations!!! I only have two more minutes to get to first period before Miss Swift marks me late!!!”
Without wasting any more of my precious time, I began sprinting again towards the main school building.
“Haaa… did I… did I make it?”
When I finally got to the classroom, I slid the door open with a panicking look written all over my face. That was until,
“Oh. In the nick of time indeed?”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Ahh… good morning to you, Miss Swift.”
“And good morning to you too, Keira. At least you got to class in time and are marked safe from being late today?”
I could only blush in embarrassment at the sight of my homeroom teacher smiling in amusem*nt at my morning antics with her pretty blue eyes.
“I… I apologize for causing a fuss this early.”
“I guess me and the rest of your classmates are very much used to you doing this already, dear Keira. Aren’t we ladies?”
As the rest of my classmates giggled and nodded in agreement, I could only scratch the back of my hair with an awkward laugh saying,
“Ahh... désolé.”
“Plus, I can’t be mad since your test results make up for your silly shenanigans, young lady.”
She then handed over the results of my quiz just the other day with an impressed grin as she said,
“Job well done on getting the top score again. Oxford really has their eyes set on the right person then?”
“Miss Swift…”
“But try to avoid the silly antics before you graduate young lady. We want you to graduate safely by next spring. Understand? You go and take your seat now.”
Nodding at what she had to say, I then hurriedly went to my seat as the rest of my classmates gave me chuckling thumbs-up before first period started for real.
“Haaaa… it’s only first period and I feel exhausted already… jeez…”
As I glanced down at the graded paper in my hands, I then whispered to myself with a perturbing expression,
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“To graduate safely by next spring huh…?”
*
A little bit later:
“You really came to class in the nick of time. You really are something else even now, Keira.”
“Oh hush. All that matters is that I wasn’t late! And didn’t have Miss Swift getting mad at me!”
“How did I end up having someone as smart but as crazy as you are as my friend?”
When lunchtime came around, me and a close classmate of mine were heading to the cafeteria together to get something to eat. And of course, she had no perfect time to grill me for my shenanigans than right now.
“Please. We’ve been inseparable since freshman year. Don’t tell me you’re getting tired of me now, Sana?”
“If you treat me to those fluffy pancakes at my favorite dessert place later after school, maybe I won’t revoke my friendship card with you?”
Meet Sana. My classmate and friend since freshman year. Don’t be fooled by her pretty deer-like brown eyes, she maybe a sweet girl and all but she’s ruthless when it comes to people she doesn’t like, most especially… boys and men. And she’s obsessed with anything sweet. Literally.
“Fineeee.”
“Hooray~ that’s my Keira! Anywayyy, why were you even almost late in the first place?”
Jumping in glee, Sana then wrapped her one arm around mine before looking at me inquisitively.
“Well, that’s um…”
And at the back of my mind, how was I supposed to tell her the truth behind why I was almost late today? Let’s rewind a day before, shall we?
“Chief owes me a new suit after what transpired tonight.”
“You and me both I guess… I liked this dress too.”
Taehyung and I could only exchange one sigh after another before we entered a familiar room and there a familiar figure was sitting in the comfort of his leather chair.
“Now there you two are! How was the mission tonight, my two superstars?”
The second we came in while taking off the wigs we were wearing, he then stood up and opened up his arms to us with his usual, big cheery grin and cunning pair of brown eyes. And that person was no other than our dear Chief himself.
“It would have been a f*cking cakewalk if you had warned us that there were literal rabid dogs guarding the museum at night?!”
“Haaa… I don’t even wanna remember it especially they treated my pretty blue dress like some kind of rag too.”
“Oh… right. My bad. I may perhaps have forgotten to tell Jungkook that so he could pass on the message to you both.”
As Taehyung was more than ready to jump on our so-called Chief, and not in a good way, the latter simply patted both of our heads before he grinned saying,
“But, even without that kind of help, I know I can always count on you two the most.”
“Chief…”
“Yeah. But if you ever put me and Keira in an instant mission again like this on a school night, I swear I’m going to find and burn all of your video game collection, Chief Kim Seokjin…!”
Gritting between his teeth in exhaustion, Taehyung then shoved the backpack he had to the Chief before marching out of the room and closing the door with a loud bang.
“Taehyung really is in his rebellious phase nowadays huh? I used to remember that adorable little middle school boy with ambitious brown eyes I had met years ago.”
“You can’t blame him, Chief. I too am exhausted for suddenly being thrown into a late mission tonight. It’s on a school night too you know.”
Patting my cheek, he smiled apologetically and said before retrieving whatever was inside the backpack that Taehyung handed over to him.
“I apologize. I know living a double life is never easy. Heck, you both have been doing it since you were in middle school. But, do know that I and this whole organization appreciate everything you and your partner Taehyung do for us.”
“I know… Taehyung and I have come to terms with it already for years now, but of course… being a full time undercover spy and a student at the same time… can be pretty hard to balance.”
“And pretty life threatening as well?”
Life threatening is an understatement.
“Yeah. That too.”
BGM: TTG (KISS OF LIFE)
With a small smile, he gently took my hand and led me to sit on the couch before telling me,
“Keira. You know why I don’t send you off on solo missions anymore, right?”
“…”
“I know you perform well even without your partner Taehyung, but… after what happened to you last winter, I don’t ever want to risk it and your safety ever again.”
Oh how could I forget? Just the mere mention of the word ‘winter’ was more than enough to make my skin crawl in chills. How could I ever forget the most horrific winter months ago?
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Chief… you really should stop blaming yourself for that time. I… I’m alive and that’s all that matters.”
“Jeez. Really… didn’t I tell you to value yourself and your life more? Keira. You almost died that night you know.”
“But I didn’t.”
With a short sigh, he then pats the back of my head and told me with a consoling smile,
“Just because you escaped death that day, it doesn’t mean I’ll put you through something that traumatic again. I… I would never forgive myself if you end up dead because of a mission.”
“Chief…”
“You’re like a daughter—wait, that doesn’t sound right. You’re like a younger sister to me then? Both you and Taehyung are like my family already, Keira. That’s why, I still want to see with my own eyes you and him reach your dreams for the future.”
For a 31 year old man who’s supposed to be our boss, he really can be sentimental at times despite him usually acting like an annoying family member to Taehyung and I, most especially to Taehyung of course. In short, he really does care a lot for us and our safety.
“Thank you for saying that then Chief. But… don’t let Taehyung hear those words or he’ll literally fall to tears or he might beat you up—if not both if ever.”
“I just know that your father would be very proud to see how far you’ve come already, Keira.”
My father huh? Closing my eyes for a few seconds, my lips then turned to a sad smile as I muttered,
“Maybe I’m good at escaping death because I have my father protecting me from the heavens or wherever he is?”
“I guess you do. That’s why… cherish yourself and your life more, Keira. Especially now that you’re in your last year of high school!”
“I’m doing my very best already on that while juggling being an undercover spy. Remember?”
Shaking his head with a shrug, Seokjin told me with his usual windshield laugh,
“I know. I know you’ve been doing it for years already, but you really need to cherish your youth more. People your age are doing by dating and falling in love!”
“Oh god. Now this is one topic I would very much like to be EXCLUDED from. Would you look at how late it is? It looks like I overstayed already?”
Not wanting to hear another word, I immediately stood up from the couch and swiftly ran towards the door in a hurry before he said to me with his laugh turning up a notch in volume,
“Haha. You young folks are literally dramatic in lots of ways huh? Taehyung and you very much included.”
“No offense Chief but… I don’t want to discuss such things with you for a number of reasons.”
“Fine. Fine. Suit yourself. Are you sure you’ll be fine going home by yourself this late?”
Picking up the backpack I left near the door, I just told him with a chuckle,
“I’ll be fine. I have this handy jetpack here that’s disguised as a backpack, didn’t you forget?”
“As expected.”
“I’ll get going then, Chief. Or I won’t get enough sleep to wake up early tomorrow for school. Bye!”
Waving goodbye to him as I opened the door, his last words instantly made me clap in glee by saying,
“Oh! By the way…! Send me the link or store where you brought your dress from and also Taehyung’s suit! Understand, Keira?”
“Understood! Crystal clear!”
I guess Taehyung and I are getting a new suit and dress after all.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“It really beats having a boss who’s not only a veteran spy, but also a literal millionaire! Wait until I tell Taehyung the great news tomorrow!!!”
“…”
“Um? Hellooo??? Earth to Keira???”
Now how do you expect me to say anything to Sana? My close friend? I can’t simply just tell her I was almost late for school today because I got little sleep due to my mission last night?
“Ahh… well… let’s just say I got little sleep last night! That’s all!”
“Uh huh? Little sleep? Did you go somewhere yesterday then?”
Haaa… really. I love her and all but she really can be nonchalantly inquisitive about a lot of things.
“Nowhere important really!”
“Hmm… you’re not the type too to stay out late? Suspicious? How did you even get home in one piece? Oh my god, don’t tell me you…!”
And how do you expect me to tell her that I flew home using my backpack that was actually a jetpack?!
“Sanaaa!!! It’s nothing like th—!”
“YOU…! You sneak…! You’re dating someone, aren’t you?!”
I almost felt my jaw drop on the cafeteria’s floor at what I heard with my own two ears.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“WHA… WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!”
With a wide grin as if she discovered something very juicy, Sana grabbed me by my shoulders and said,
“I knew it…! It all makes sense though? You suddenly disappearing from time to time? You making weird excuses of not wanting to hang out?! Plus! Plus! How could I forget that one time I saw you being VERY friendly with a cool looking boy who goes to that famous art school?!”
Dear god. Don’t tell me she saw me talking to Taehyung in front of his school before we were transported to a previous mission nearby that same day? Sometimes I do wonder if Sana is also living a double life like I am.
“Ahh… I can feel my head throbbing from sudden stress. Sana!!! Look, dating is the least of my priorities right now. Do you really think I’d bail out on you just to hang out with a boy?”
“If he’s a cute and good looking one, why not?”
“HEY?!”
“Just because I loathe boys and men in general, it doesn’t mean I won’t support you on your own relationship endeavors?”
Haaa… there’s no use in reasoning with her anymore. Especially now that her brown eyes were now making heart eyes at me.
“Plus…! I’m just so happyyy that you’re finally venturing out there and getting in your first relationship?! I support you wholeheartedly!”
“If I say yes to all the nonsense you’re spouting about, will you stop talking about this already?”
“Oh hell no? I don’t even know his name yet! NOW, SPILL!!! What’s his name? And more importantly… how far have you gone with him?”
Oh good lord. Can the floor swallow me instead right here, right now?
“SA… SANA!!!”
“Okay. Okay. So? Is he the one who gave you this cute mood ring on your finger? Oh my? Don’t tell me you’re already engaged to him?!”
Just how crazy is her imagination or what?!
“NO!!! Of course not!!! This… this is from my mother! She… she got it for me on one of her photograph shoots in Paris!”
“Is that so? Auntie sure has great taste then? But that’s rare of you to not tag along with her since it’s a visit to the country where you were born in?”
Phew. I guess my little white lie worked for now because this ring on my finger was a simple and cute little mood ring only on the outside.
“Ahh… I wanted to but she told me I can always go with her during the summer time and wanted me to focus on school for the time being.”
“Aww… that’s too bad. I know how much you miss Paris also.”
I can’t exactly tell her that I was there for a mission too a week ago though.
“I’ll be sure to tell mama that you like the ring, Sana.”
“Uh huh? You’re pretty sneaky for suddenly shifting the conversation? Are you really that shy to tell me about your relationship with mister art school boy?”
Grumbling with a sigh, I ignored her smirking face before heading for the cafeteria’s exit.
“Do you want me to treat you to your fave dessert shop later or not?”
Rolling her eyes at me, she giggled as she chased after me saying,
“There you go being dramatic again. Fine~ I’ll stop teasing you for today. But what about your club activities after school?”
“Coach said I can come and attend club activities next week. He’s giving me the week off. Plus… the art club will start club meetings by tomorrow. And the health committee starts in two weeks? I think?”
As we were walking back to our next class, she gives me a concerned look and says,
“Oh how it completely slipped my mind that not only you’re part of more than one school club, but you’re still taking part of the judo club even after what happened to you?!”
“Jeez. I’m fine! I’m fine now, Sana…! Would it make you happy if I told you that even though I’m still in the judo club, coach won’t let me enter any competitions anymore?”
“That’s beside the point Keira… really! Did you forget how worried sick you made me last winter?!”
And of course apart from Seokjin and Taehyung who nonstop nag about my safety and well-being, Sana was just as much of a worrywart.
“I… I know. And… I’m sorry again and again. You know that.”
“Thank god you didn’t have to repeat a year because you’re too smart to be held a year back!!! But… I swear! If you make me worried like that again, I’m going to become your literal stalker and follow you everywhere everyday!”
I know what she said was crazy but Sana tends to follow through with her crazy words and turn them into reality. Literally.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“You… you wouldn’t dare?”
“Oh trust me. I will. Even if you’re out with your secret boyfriend, I’ll follow you.”
Just thinking about that made me gulp and the follicles on my skin stand up in nervousness. And if that ever happens, I can kiss my undercover spy days goodbye.
“Plus, I’ll tell Kolette that you’re being reckless again!”
Hearing her mention a familiar name made me hide a sigh of relief since I don’t have to worry about exposing my identity to a dear friend who’s like an older sister to me.
“She already knows how reckless I can be even without you telling her.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
As we were near the classroom, Sana had to stop by the comfort room and asked me to go ahead first without her. And I finally had some alone time to myself before I noticed my phone beep because of a message.
My dear future Doctor Kolette: Keira? How are you my always reckless best friend? You’re not in some kind dangerous situation at the moment? If you know what I mean?
“Jeez… talk about the perfect timing of her message too? Is she some kind of psychic apart from being an intellectual genius or what?”
While typing my reply to her message, my eyes then turned wide on cue the second the color on the mood ring I was wearing changed. And it turned to a bright red color.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Damn it. During school hours too? What the hell is he thinking?!”
With uneasy footsteps, I then made a run towards the school’s rooftop and was immediately greeted by a dangling ladder. And when there’s a dangling ladder, it can only mean one thing.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…”
“Keira! Get on! We need to leave asap before someone notices…!”
Hanging on the ladder without complaint, the helicopter that all of a sudden appears at my school’s rooftop then swiftly took off. Next thing I knew it, I was climbing up in a cinch as if this was all normal to me. Because it was.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Haaa… Sana is for sure going to freak once she doesn’t find me at our afternoon classes. Great. Just f*cking great. And I didn’t even get to reply to Kolette…! Jeez!!!”
This had been my kind of normalcy for years. The normalcy that behind my daily student life, I have another life I keep a secret about from everyone else.
A secret double life that I had been living since I was in middle school.
And it was because of this double life that I almost got held a year back in school… and almost got me dead last winter.
Why and how am I alive then you may ask?
Well actually, that’s a funny—um no, it’s not a funny story after all.
**
Last winter:
BGM: Butterfly Effect (ARTMS)
*bang*
“…”
As one blaring sound of a gunshot echoed, I would know right then and there where the bullet ended up hitting. And I’d know it in plain sight as soon as I saw my right hand being stained in crimson red when I touched my chest’s area.
“I… I guess this… this is it huh?”
“Kei—!!!”
Not even the echoing sounds of a moving boat and Taehyung’s ever familiar yelling voice almost calling out to my name were enough to keep me steady on my two feet. Not anymore as the next thing I could then remember was the feeling the cold embrace of the salt water engulfing my entire body and… even the remainder of my breathing and consciousness.
“Keira ma cherie! Don’t forget that you always owe maman a hug whenever you come home okay? I love you always my precious darling. N'oublie jamais ça?”
Sorry mama. It looks like this reckless daughter of yours won’t be able to keep the promise of giving you a hug whenever I come home to you. Not anymore.
“Keira! We should definitely go to that art studio you really want to visit next time! And don’t you even dare think of an excuse this time, got it?!”
“Keira. As your best friend, there’s nothing that would make me the happiest than to see you be happy and… alive. Being alive with the people who care about you. Promise me you’ll never forget that?”
I’m sorry to you too, Sana, Kolette. I’m sorry for hiding who I really am from you, Sana. And I’m sorry that despite you knowing who I really am, I’ll end up not feeling alive so much longer, Kolette.
“Keira…! Damn it!!! How many times have I told you that you can’t just go rushing off to god knows where when we’re on a mission together?! You’re my partner, let me protect you too!”
“You’re so much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Keira. If your 13 year old self could see you know, she’d be proud. She would be proud that you never gave up. Even now.”
Taehyung, you have been the big brother I never thought I needed despite you being a year younger than me obviously. I’m sorry for being constantly reckless. Most especially when you were very close to finding me now. And to Seokjin who’s like another protective older brother or uncle(?) and is the one who always reassures me despite my fears and insecurities. No words are enough to get my gratitude through for you who found the broken wings of my 13 year old self.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“I… I just… I’m sorry everyone…”
With my consciousness drifting away as much as my body that was going in deeper into the salty water, a faint voice then resounded at the back of my head. So faint like a whisper.
“Keira? Ma chérie? Promise me that if I’m no longer here to protect you and your maman, you’ll do it for me?”
“Pa… Papa… are you going to be okay?”
“I will be. That’s why… don’t worry, okay? I’ll always be with you, wherever I end up in.”
Such a nostalgic yet heartbreaking memory. I really ended up remembering you again huh, papa? And to think… I ended up breaking my promise to you too.
“Am I… am I really going to end up dead like this then… papa?”
I don’t know if the salty feeling that took over my eyes was because of the salty water or of my own tears. It was hard to tell since I was sinking into my own death because I got shot right in my chest. And I might actually die from hemorrhage in my chest instead of my shoulder.
“Shut it. If you keep this up, you’re going to hemorrhage to death instead of me killing you.”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Wh… Why am I even remembering… him?”
Why indeed? On the brink of death, why am I remembering and recalling that person’s robotic voice and those pair of deep… deep brown eyes? The eyes of my grim reaper.
“Haaa… I guess that I ended up… getting killed… but not by you my grim reaper…”
As my eyesight grew darker, I just smiled wryly before I let myself sink deeper into my own death. However,
“Sh… sh*t…! Just a bit more…!”
Was I already dead since I could hear a very audible voice echo the next moment?
“…?”
“I got you…!”
And next thing I knew it, a strange warmth engulfed me apart from the salty water. But it wasn’t an uncomfortable warmth honestly.
“Fu… f*cking hell? You’re quite heavy?”
Even the constant cussing of the mystery person’s voice was comforting enough that it felt like I was floating on clouds.
I would then know why it felt like I was floating on clouds in the next few blurry moments.
“Hey. Wake up already not-so sleeping beauty.”
“…!”
You know what was the first thing I felt when I was pulled back to the top of the water? If you think it was me grasping for air, well it wasn’t. Instead, what snapped me back to reality and my senses was… a literal slap to my face.
“Ackk… ur… urgh… wh… what the hell?!”
“Don’t go dying on me before I can kill you myself.”
As my nerves, loud heartbeat, and I were all over the place since I was trying to pace my breathing back to normal, my half-open eyes immediately noticed a pair of eyes gazing directly at me. A pair of deep brown eyes I’d recognize in a heartbeat altogether.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“You… you’re…”
“I’m not going to let you die apart from anything else than my own hands, lady yapper.”
It could only be him. There was only person who’d call me by that annoying nickname. But why did his voice sounded so different? Instead of robotic, it felt more sarcastic than usual. Yet… his voice finally sounded human to my ears.
“Gr… Grim reaper?”
Even though my eyesight was still not completely clear, I could notice it. I could notice that he wasn’t wearing the metallic mask and I could see his face—his real unmasked face being illuminated by the moonlight.
“You really are a crazy one, Miss yapper.”
sh*t. Why is my eyesight still not completely clear?! And when I had to take a mental image of my finally unmasked grim reaper himself?! Yet, no matter how many questions and grumblings were going on inside my head, the only question I could ask was,
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Wh… Why did you even save me you jerky grim reaper?”
Feeling my nerves jump the moment he placed his big hot hand on my chin, his next reply then left me with goosebumps. And I don’t know if they were either the bad ones… or the good ones. Or both.
“The only one who’s allowed to kill you is me. Not fate nor timing nor any other asshole will do so. I’ll make sure of that.”
“…”
“So be sure to remember that as well, Miss yapper.”
As much as I should retort back and give him a piece of my mind, my body and my mind refused to listen to me because of my weakened state. And before I drifted off and fell back unconscious, the only thing I saw lastly was the sight of my grim reaper smirking with a dimpled expression on his unmasked face.
Oh the irony of being saved by the very person who vows to kill you and is your enemy too.
Life and its sh*tty ironies.
**
The present time:
Even though it’s been months since what had happened at Liverpool, I could still recall every single thing so vividly. Most especially those pair of deep brown eyes that haunt my line of thoughts from time to time. Especially in the dead of night.
“The only one who’s allowed to kill you is me. Not fate nor timing nor any other asshole will do so. I’ll make sure of that.”
Don’t even get me started on his dimpled smirk. Those f*cking dimples.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Ugh…! Damn it…! A killer smile plus dimples?! What are you even remembering right now Keira?!”
“Hey??? Keira? What are you suddenly blabbering about?!”
Forgetting the fact that I was still in the helicopter with Taehyung even after the not-so short flashback I just had, he then pinched my cheek while also yelling aloud to snap me out of my own grumbling thoughts.
“Ur… Urgh…! Don’t just pinch my cheeks like that Taehyung!!! Or I’m going to elbow you on the stomach!!!”
“Then stop blabbering to yourself for f*ck’s sake! And wait just a damn second? Are you… blushing?!”
“Wh… What are you talking about?!”
No. No. No. sh*t! Am I really blushing?! Is that why my face feels warmer than normal?!
“Your face is turning redder by the minute you idiot! Do you need a mirror or what to prove my point?!”
As he was getting ready to shove a literal mirror in my face, I snatched it from him in time saying in complete denial,
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Do… Don’t call me an idiot!!! It’ll only make me more flustered!”
“You and your dramatic denials. What were you—or more precisely, WHO were you even thinking about that got you blushing like a little high school girl?”
“I AM A HIGH SCHOOL GIRL YOU IDIOT!!!”
Rolling his eyes at me while crossing both of his arms together and giving me a suspicious smile, I grumbled under my breath,
“I… I was just thinking about last winter that’s all…”
“Last winter? Oh hell no… DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT THAT ASSHOLE?!”
And of f*cking course he knew instantly who I was insinuating without me even mentioning anyone the minute his eyes turned wide in horror.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“It’s… it’s NOT what you’re thinking of, got it?!”
“Did you f*cking forget about the fact that he’s our enemy?! Plus the other measly fact that he’s supposedly sent to kill you?! And he almost did that???”
If I was dramatic as Seokjin had said, Taehyung was just as much of a drama queen as I was. Especially right this second.
“But he didn’t!!! I’m alive! And I’m still here!”
“Oh you’re even defending him now? Keira, really… just because he was the one who saved you from drowning that night and he didn’t do anything to you when he found you, it doesn’t mean anything!!! Especially to a trained killer like he is…!”
The next second, I felt something at the back of my head snap as I grabbed Taehyung by the collar of his school uniform and yelled out,
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“You…! You think I don’t know that already?!”
“Kei… Keira…”
“Don’t you know how f*cking maddening it is for me to hate someone who has declared in front of my face that he’s going to kill me and he’s the only one allowed to do so but I can’t find myself hating him?! Even… even if he’s the damn enemy!!!”
The next sound that could only echo next was the blaring noise being made by the helicopter since Taehyung and I exchanged silent glares at one another right after before he said,
“You’re a foolish girl, Keira.”
“I guess I am.”
Maybe Taehyung was right. I was indeed foolish.
Because only a foolish person will not hate the person who’s supposedly vowed to kill her because they are enemies.
And because only a real foolish person would be thinking about the eyes and voice of her killer-slash-savior.
His deep brown eyes illuminated by the moonlight in the dead of the night and his echoing gruff voice. His… real voice and his unmasked face.
I just wish that I could wipe off his memories from my head? I wonder if I could ask Seokjin if he has anything that could be used to wipe out memories?
Damn me and my confusing teenage hormones. Really.
*
A bit later…
At Kim Seokjin’s extended mansion in London
BGM: Heroine (IVE)
“Finally! You’re both h—-?”
When we finally arrived at our destination, we were greeted by a familiar face and his relieved expression before he instantly noticed the eerie silence between Taehyung and I.
“Is everything okay you two?”
As we met eyes, we both rolled our eyes at each other on cue.
“f*cking splendid.”
“Don’t mind the drama queen, Jungkook. So? What’s the 411 then since Chief called us here in the middle of school hours too?”
The boy with passionate brown eyes named Jungkook just let out a sigh and shrug while deciding not to pry any further and leading both Taehyung and I inside the mansion like usual.
“Ahh… right. Chief asked me to brief you both asap because time is ticking with this mission.”
“As expected of him pulling her and I out from school today because of another ominous out of the blue mission.”
“How long do we have?”
As the three of us were now in an elevator, Jungkook glanced at his watch and told us,
“Around four hours or so.”
“Where is our destination then, JK?”
“Nowhere far. According to my data, it’ll take place here in London. At one of the best museums also.”
One of the best museums huh?
“Is it at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Jungkook?”
Both guys then looked at me in pure surprise as Jungkook asked,
“How did you even know that, Keira?”
“Ah, well… would you believe me if I tell you that they have an upcoming exhibit of new paintings coming from Florence, Italy this weekend?”
“As expected of an art obsessed fool huh?”
As I ignored what Taehyung had to say with a snarky tone while we all exited the elevator, Jungkook then went straight to sit down in front of the huge computer screen and began typing so swiftly saying,
“You really are something else, Keira! You were right! No wonder the bad guys made another move again.”
“Don’t tell me these bastards are the same ones we had to deal with yesterday too?!”
“Bingo.”
“Haaa… which means that one of the paintings being transported to the museum later contains another stolen microchip that’s capable of hypnotizing people? Isn’t that right?”
Jungkook nodded with a sigh and told us,
“Right. And according to the data I got too after scanning the microchip you got from one of the paintings you handed over to the Chief last night, if multiple of those microchips are present within the same area or room, it can be disastrous.”
“Remind us again how many of those pesky microchips were stolen in the first place, JK?”
“Around five or six of them. So I guess there are five more of those since you two got one of them.”
Around five or six huh? Around the same number of really famous museums here in London too? Is there some sort of connection?
“But if that’s so, why bother spreading those damn microchips in different paintings and in different museums instead of gathering them all in one specific location?”
“That’s something I’m trying to wreck my brain with for the reason, Taehyung.”
It couldn’t be? Can it?
“I think I might have an idea of what they might be trying to pull.”
Both of them then said at the same time,
“YOU DO???”
Nodding, I then explained my slight bad feeling to them,
“This is just my assumption and all but… they’re not simply trying to use those microchips in one location and planted them in different public places, especially museums, because they have a bigger plan in mind.”
“Like what exactly?”
“If they ever find a way to harness the microchips’ powers that all of them can be controlled in different locations instead of being in the same place, then…”
Jungkook then finished my sentence for me by saying worriedly,
“They’ll be able to hypnotize a huge number of people even if the microchips are in separate locations…”
As I nodded in agreement at Jungkook’s words, Taehyung added by saying with his usual confident tone,
“Well, that’s indeed a f*cked up way of thinking. Even for those bastards. Yet, they’ve got another thing coming if they think they can get away with it though.”
“As I would expect from my top two superstars indeed.”
All of us on cue flinched when a very familiar voice and grinning face appeared in the big computer screen without warning.
“Ch… Chief?!”
“I thought you were in the middle of an important meeting too?!”
“And don’t just suddenly pop up on the screen damn it!”
It was no other than Kim Seokjin himself of course.
“Haha! The meeting just ended so I felt the need to check up on all of you and if Jungkook was done briefing you both for what’s going to happen later. Or maybe even soon. But I guess I had nothing to worry about.”
“Chief…”
“With Keira’s sharp intuition and Taehyung’s unrelenting confidence, I can always put my trust with my two dramatic, but bright superstars. Right?”
As he looked at both Taehyung and I us with his usual proud-like, convincing expression, the two of us exchanged glances as the latter then said with a sigh,
“Really. You know how to butter us up before throwing us another instant mission again huh? As expected of mister worldwide cunning.”
“Haha. I’ll always take that as a compliment from you, Taehyung. By the way, the new suit I have especially tailored for you will be arriving around tomorrow? Did I forget to mention that it’s custom made and will only have one pair in existence?”
The slightly annoyed look in Taehyung’s face turned upside down as his brown eyes started sparkling the second Seokjin mentioned ‘new suit’ on cue. He’s right, our chief is really Mister Worldwide Cunning.
“Hmm… well, it’s not like I’m complaining. So? What are we waiting for? Load us up with gadgets JK and we’ll get going?”
Grinning victoriously at the reaction he was expecting to get from Taehyung, Seokjin’s gaze then found mine as he added,
“And your new baby blue dress will also be arriving soon too, Keira. Just as I had promised you before.”
“Chief… thank you. I appreciate it a lot you know.”
“I know you two are veterans already, but come back safely. Together. Okay? And Taehyung, be sure to support Keira in tight situations, understand? I know you two have your differences sometimes, but protect each other. That’s what partners are for. Okay?”
Don’t tell me Seokjin just so happens to know or realize that Taehyung and I may had a little spat in the helicopter or even here? That wouldn’t be surprising to someone as cunning as him? As the latter’s gaze met mine again, we both said,
“Don’t worry Chief, as much as my partner here is a reckless fool, I’ll be sure to keep her alive. As always.”
“And I’ll keep this drama queen safe too, Chief. That’s what partners are for?”
“Good. Good. I’ll leave the rest to you then, Jungkook. I’ll be off first for now since I promised to have afternoon tea with the prime minister!”
Laughing his usual windshield laugh, Seokjin bid us goodbye with a smirk before he hanged up the video call.
“Sometimes I forget that whimsical chief of ours is someone influential and who’s close enough to the current prime minister to have tea with him… and he was even knighted by the late queen herself…”
“Yeah. Tell me about it. Meanwhile, he’s like this troublesome family member that we somehow ended up working for. Right, JK?”
Jungkook could only let out a long sigh and shrug as he unhesitatingly said,
“At least you two don’t have to live with him.”
And right on cue, both Taehyung and I patted Jungkook on both side of his shoulders saying at the same time,
“We’re so sorry for your loss.”
“Sh… Shut it you two!!!”
BGM: Jam Jam (IU)
“Even no matter how long I’ve worked with the two of you already, seeing you in your disguises still confuses me a bit. Especially with Keira’s blonde hair too.”
“Don’t even get me started with her eyes turning blueish gray when she’s in disguise mode.”
“Oh hush! These are what wigs and contact lenses are for!”
After Taehyung and I changed to our disguises, Jungkook then led us to his favorite room in this whole hidden space right below Seokjin’s mansion that only us here know about of course.
“Okay then. Here are the gadgets I’ll lend to you both for this mission.”
If you’re wondering who Jungkook really is, he’s so much more than Seokjin’s right hand man. He’s actually a genius hacker and as well as… this genius boy is also an inventor. You didn’t think it was the chief who made the gadgets Taehyung and I use during missions?
“Ohhh… you worked on new ones again huh?”
“These look amazing… whoa. When do you even sleep, Jungkook?”
And let me just say, Jungkook’s gadgets and inventing prowess has saved me and Taehyung in VERY sticky situations. And when I say sticky situations, I also mean in life-or-death kind of moments.
“Haha. I still sleep a good amount of hours. Don’t worry, Keira. Taehyung, this one is for you.”
“Ho? A fancy looking black glove? Now enlighten me what it’s for, genius JK?”
“It’s a fingerprint tracer glove. It can detect and retain a person’s fingerprint from something they had touched. Pretty handy to have in case you want to sneak into a room with pretty tight security too.”
He then turned to me next and asked me to show my left hand to him. I listened without question before my eyes turned wide at what he then placed around my left wrist.
“Jung… Jungkook… this is…?”
And it was a charming golden bracelet that was not-so light around the wrist.
“Ah, thank goodness. It fits perfectly. I call it my handy all-in-one bracelet! It’s like a charm bracelet but hidden inside of it are small things that can explode with a big bang.”
“Don’t tell me you placed a literal explosive device inside of this bracelet?”
“Um… well, there’s a mini dynamite stick that you can use. It has the explosive power of a usual bomb. Plus, there’s also a lock pick and a mini-laser installed within the bracelet. Oh, and a mini-knife. You just press the purple gem on the bracelet and choose which one you want to use.”
Really. Jungkook and his big brain never cease to amaze me even now.
“Wow… this is so cool Jungkook?”
“Great? Keira gets a cool bracelet that even has a mini dynamite inside of it while I have a black glove?”
“Sheesh. And you tell me not to call you a drama queen?”
As Taehyung and I rolled our eyes at each other, Jungkook just fell to more laughs before handing over more gadgets for us.
“Fine. Fine. Here’s the teeny optic sunglasses. It has a built-in camera and picks-up clues that can be hard to detect with the naked eye. Plus, it has x-ray vision and night vision also.”
“Now this is what we need to look for that hidden microchip inside a painting.”
“And take these too. I know these will help you out as always.”
He then gave us familiar gadgets that had indeed save mine and Taehyung’s butt in several occasions before.
“Ahh! The mini-smokescreens! These really could come in handy.”
“And the portable immobilizer. Neat!”
And for the last one, Jungkook grinned widely saying,
“Save the best one for last. Or at least… the most useful one for last of course. I finally got to upgrade it and also changed the color to match your ear hole so it doesn’t look like you’re wearing it when in fact you are!”
“Whoa? You almost made it look invisible, even to us, right Kei—?”
When I saw the familiar ear-piece communicator, a certain memory then played back inside my head right then and there.
“No…! Don’t do this lady yapper or you’re going to…!”
“…”
No. No. No. Why are you suddenly making me remember him and those pair of deep brown eyes again dear brain of mine?!
“Keira? Hello? Everything okay? Taehyung, is she okay?”
“Haaa… for f*ck’s sake, don’t tell me she’s thinking about…”
I was immediately snapped back to reality the minute I felt someone flick me on the forehead and it wasn’t a nice kind of forehead flick too.
“Oww…! Th… That hurts!!!”
“HEY! SNAP OUT OF YOUR DELUSIONAL THOUGHTS RIGHT NOW YOU FOOL…!”
Sometimes, I really find it hard to believe I haven’t strangled Kim Taehyung at least once ever since we became partners.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“HEY!!! Don’t call me delusional!!! I… I was just thinking about something…!”
“Uh huh? Or thinking about SOMEONE? And that someone is a literal ASSHOLE too that got you blushing?!”
“Don’t make me strangle you right here, right now Taehyung!!!”
Before the two of us could literally jump at each other and start a brawl, Jungkook got in between us in the nick of time and said,
“Hey? Hey? Break it up you two!!! Care to elaborate on the almost brawl between you both?”
The two of us glared at each other and yelled out at the same time,
“IT’S THIS FOOL’S FAULT!!!”
Taehyung then dramatically added,
“Do you want to know why Keira suddenly turned quiet and began blushing to herself when she saw the in-ear communicator? That’s because she was thinking about that asshole from last winter, JK!”
“The asshole from last winter? You don’t mean…?”
I should have strangled him for real this big blabbermouth!!!
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Do… Don’t believe a single word coming from this big drama queen’s mouth, Jungkook…!”
“Haaa… JK, can you for f*ck’s sake knock some sense into this fool’s head that SHECAN’T AND SHOULDN’T EVEN BE THINKING—let alone be BLUSHING about that ASSHOLE when he’s literally the ENEMY? And oh, do you have some kind of memory eraser gadget?”
Jungkook then stared at me with a concerned smile saying,
“Keira… Taehyung might sound overdramatic but, he has a point.”
“Jungkook…”
“Thinking about the enemy, especially the one who was supposed to eliminate you, isn’t good for your mental health you know.”
I can’t believe I’m getting lectured on by someone younger than I am apart from Taehyung.
“I… I know that!!! So please… don’t lecture me about it as well. I swear this is just me and my weird teenage hormones acting up… okay?”
“Well… you are a high school girl so I guess it’s pretty natural?”
Did I forget to mention the not-so measly fact that even though Jungkook is both younger than Taehyung and I, he has already graduated high school ahead of us? And he’s also close to graduating university already because of his superior intellect? He’s by far the most mature out of all of us here in this room.
“Natural?! She can feel attracted to normal guys but not with the enemy! God. Right after this mission, I’m going to set her up on a blind date.”
WAIT… WHAT DID I JUST HEAR KIM TAEHYUNG SAY?!?!
“HEY!!! I can hear you loud and clear you know!!!”
“Good. Because I’m going to do just that! Come on! Let’s finish this mission already so I can find you the perfect blind date! You could’ve told me too that you wanted to start dating!”
“Well, I guess that’s solved then. Keep safe you two and update me if anything happens!”
As Jungkook was relieved that somehow everything was solved even though it was FAR from that in my point of view, Taehyung then started smirking suspiciously which means he was clearly scheming something already inside his always conniving head.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Ugh… why did things have to end up like this?”
Being an undercover spy who’s going through confusing teenage hormones is not for everyone indeed.
Haaa… this is going to be one long remaining day ahead.
A few hours later…
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
BGM: PRETTY BOYS (YENA)
“Hmm… let’s see… I have a friend from another school and he might be your type since he’s the princely type? Plus, he’s the ace of their tennis team? I also have a senior in the photography club who might also be your type? He’s the golden retriever type too?”
“…”
How am I supposed to do proper recon when right next to me there’s SOMEONE who keeps pestering me what kind of boy I like and would want to go on a blind date with?
“Or are quiet, but with gentle personalities your type? I think there’s someone from the art club at my academy who’s like that? You two would get along well too since you both are obsessed with anything art related?”
“…”
“Hey…! Keira…! Stop ignoring m-?!”
Feeling my eyebrows twitch in slight annoyance already from Taehyung’s constant babbling, I rolled my handkerchief into a ball shape and shoved it straight to his mouth to finally shut him up.
“Jeez!!! Hush already?! Can’t you see we’re on a stakeout mission right now you idiot?!”
“M… Mmmm?!”
“Haaa… and NO!!! I don’t need you to hook me up on a blind date of all things, Kim Taehyung!”
Pulling out the ball shaped handkerchief I shoved inside his mouth, he snickered to himself and said with a grin,
“Heh? Are you sure? It’s perfectly okay to admit that you haven’t had the chance to date someone and you want to enjoy your last year in high school too?”
“Oh please, like you have the right to say that to me? You don’t even have a girlfriend?”
He just scoffed out an amused smirk and told me smugly,
“Ha. Let me just tell you that even though I don’t have a girlfriend, I always get at least two confessions in a week from girls at the academy. Did I forget to say they also give me love letters?”
Okay Keira. Breathe in. Breathe out. More patience. Even though you’re THIS close to strangling Taehyung in order to wipe off the smug grin on his face.
“Haaa… Il suffit de l'ignorer.”
Instead of paying attention to him, I continued my stakeout and wore the sunglasses Jungkook gave us as a gadget.
“Since there is more than one bodyguard standing by the museum’s back door, I guess the painting will go through there then?”
“Hey??? Are you ignoring me now, Keira? And don’t tell me you just cussed me out in French too?!”
“If you keep talking nonsense right now, don’t blame me if I push you off the rooftop of this building where we are at the moment.”
Sensing that I was a serious now at what I had to say to him, Taehyung shook his head with a shrug before he crouched down next to me and also puts on the sunglasses telling me,
“Sheesh. And you tell me I’m the more dramatic one? Fine. I’ll stop pestering you about the blind date. For now.”
Well thank god then? Don’t say anything back Keira or you both will start bickering again and jeopardize this mission if that happens.
“So? What’s our plan to get the microchip then, dear partner of mine?”
“It might be a bad idea to ambush those bodyguards in case the painting does arrive anytime soon.”
“You have a point. I guess it’s gonna be a breaking and entering mission for us then huh?”
Nodding at what he suggested, we both agreed that once the painting that’s hiding the microchip passes through that guarded back door, that’s when we could proceed with our real plan to get it.
“Exactly. At least there are no rabid guard dogs this time.”
“Don’t be so sure. We’ll only know that once we get inside and trust me, our real challenge will become reality once we get there.”
Our stakeout continued for more than an hour until a fancy looking sedan car then stopped right in front of the museum. And as two people, one woman and one man, wearing formal clothes got out of the vehicle, the woman walked to the back of it and opened the car’s trunk to grab a black suitcase.
“Keira? Turn on the x-ray vision of the sunglasses.”
“Got it.”
Once again, thank god for the young genius that you are, Jeon Jungkook.
“Guess our stakeout wasn’t useless after all, Taehyung.”
“Haha. Thank f*cking god then. Why did they place the painting with the microchip inside a suitcase this time though?”
“Who knows? To make it not obvious to anyone who’s not wearing these amazing sunglasses that can see through their plans so easily.”
As the woman then carried the suitcase, the man who was with her inside the car proceeded to talk to the two bodyguards by the back door. And as we had expected, they opened the door for the man and woman who entered the museum without hesitation.
“Taehyung, let’s get this over with because I am not in the mood to finish this mission late again on a school night.”
“Well, you don’t have to tell me twice. Let’s get this f*cking over with, partner of mine. Time for phase two!”
Exchanging determined looks at one another, we began preparations for the next phase of our mission to retrieve another annoying microchip that can be used for evil means. Haaa… I guess not all heroes do indeed wear capes. They wear leather gloves and stylish sunglasses that have x-ray and night vision.
“Is the coast clear?”
“Very much so. Come on, we don’t have all night.”
Around half an hour later, Taehyung and I waited for the man and woman with the suitcase exit through the back door again before making our next move. The perfect timing was when as soon as those two went back to the sedan car, the two bodyguards by the back door also left the scene.
“Isn’t it weird that the supposed bodyguards just left right after the man and the woman left with an obvious empty briefcase already?”
“Although they’re assholes, those big guys need to clock out of work too, Keira. Now sssh and keep on the lookout as I unlock this blasted door.”
“Um… I can do it? I have a door lock pick in this handy bracelet Jungkook gave me, remember?”
Taehyung only sighed and didn’t bicker about anything since we couldn’t afford to get caught if we got too loud. So, he became the lookout as I was the one who had to unlock the door now.
*click*
“Ah! We’re in!”
“Let’s get going then. Good thing JK had already taken care of the museum’s security cameras too in advance before we go inside.”
With the lock pick doing its efficient charm, the back door unlocked with ease and without wasting another second, me and Taehyung came running before he locked it as discreetly as he could.
“Keira, do you see anything suspicious now?”
“Wait, let me turn on the night vision of the sunglasses.”
Since there was no one else in the museum, it was too eerily quiet as we both continued walking around carefully in order not to trigger any alarms or even worse… rabid guard dogs.
“Where do you think they hid the painting that has the microchip?”
“Definitely somewhere difficult to find like some bigass crazy vault that’s impenetrable and has a f*cking difficult code to crack.”
However, the more we walked around the museum, my eyes turned wide the second the night vision of my sunglasses spotted the very something we were searching for.
“Th… That’s…!”
“Hey…! Keira…!”
And there the painting was all along. It was placed at the endmost corner of the first floor. What a rather odd place to put a supposed highly valued painting too? And why was it enclosed inside a glass cylinder instead of being hung on the wall?
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Do… Don’t tell me this is all a…”
“Keira! You… you found it! Let’s go get it already and take what we came here f—,”
“NO!!! TAEHYUNG!!! WA—,”
As Taehyung was about to ecstatically run closer towards where the painting was, I had to yank him back by the collar of his shirt which on cue made him fall on his butt and glare at me.
“H… HEY?! Wh… What was the sudden yank for huh Keira?!”
“Jeez…! Just don’t suddenly rush towards a prized painting unguardedly! I have a bad feeling that we’re walking straight into a trap.”
“Ha?! A trap? Aren’t you overthinking this? What kind of trap would even be put up in a public museum like this?”
Trusting my gut feelings, I just breathed out a long sigh before grabbing the mini smokescreens I hid inside my backpack.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to use those to…?”
“Yeah… I just hope my gut feelings aren’t right though.”
I then tossed two to three of those mini smokescreens on the floor near the surrounding area where the painting was. And as smoke started coming out, my uneasy gut feelings came true when the surrounding area became flooded with red lasers in plain sight.
“And you said this was going to be a real easy breaking-in and entering mission huh?”
“Fine! Fine! You and your smartass brain always need to be right. So? What’s the next move then?”
Scanning the pedestal where the painting was being placed at, I zoomed-in closer using the sunglasses and found something that instantly caught my attention.
“Taehyung, it looks like there’s a handprint scanner hidden right behind that pedestal where the painting is being displayed at.”
“A handprint scanner? That’s great and all but what are we going to do first about these lasers? Can’t we ask Jungkook to take care of them for us?”
“That’ll cost us more time. Hmm… if only I could find the source that control these lasers.”
As I was trying to rack my brain for our next move, Taehyung’s next words made me blink in pure bafflement as he pointed out,
“Ah, that’s easy. It might be coming from that blinking spot right next to one of the security cameras right in the middle over there?”
“Wh… What?!”
Following the direction where he was pointing at, I understood clearly what he meant by. The blinking spot was indeed coming from some kind of small electrical box right next to one of the numerous security cameras.
“You and your random intelligence strikes again, Kim Taehyung.”
“Is that a compliment or what?”
“Of course it’s a compliment you dork! Now, give me the mobile immobilizer that Jungkook gave to you.”
He gave me a puzzled look on cue before asking and handing over the one gadget I needed,
“The mobile immobilizer? What do you intend to do with it? It immobilizes people, not lasers, Keira.”
Adjusting the frequency of the electrical current on the immobilizer, I then pointed it straight to the direction of where the blinking red light was and replied,
“This is just an experiment but let’s see if it works!”
“What are you do—-?!”
As I pushed the button on the immobilizer in my hands, a zapping sound then resounded and next thing we knew it, the blinking red light wasn’t blinking anymore as if it had short circuited. And of course, the many lasers were as good as gone too.
“Kei… Keira… have I ever told you how crazy of a smartass you are?”
“Many times already.”
“How did you even f*cking think of that?!”
I then explained to him that by adjusting the electrical frequencies of the immobilizer Jungkook gave to us and using it against the electrical frequency that was controlling the lasers, there was a chance to short-circuit the main circuit of those lasers.
“Guess Jungkook’s mobile immobilizer worked like a charm too! And the discussions of electrical currents and circuits during science class proved to be useful altogether!”
“Good lord, you’re starting to sound more like JK. Come on, before I get bitten by the smartass bug thanks to you.”
“Oh haha? Very funny you big drama queen?”
Before our bickering could continue on, we made a run straight towards the pedestal where the painting was. At least there were no rabid dogs, security cameras, and lasers now standing in our way.
BGM: Moonlight (Lovelyz)
“Who would’ve guessed that there’d be a handprint scanner of all things on a pedestal?”
“Or the fact that they might have installed this whole glass cylinder to keep the painting away from thieving people like us?”
“Then they shouldn’t have stolen these pesky microchips in the first place and hid them inside valued paintings too of all sorts.”
Thanks to the black glove that Jungkook gave to Taehyung and had worked as a handprint tracer gadget, we were able to tap into the handprint scanner without issues as the glass cylinder protecting the painting began moving up.
“Wo… Wow… so… so this is the painting by Helen Frankenthaler…”
“Hey Keira! Stop gawking at the painting like the art obsessed person you are, we’re still on a mission you know!”
“Ah… sorry. Sorry! Sheesh. You don’t need to be so uptight about it!”
Before I could marvel more at the beautiful painting in front of me, I had more important things to do for now. Turning on the x-ray vision again on my sunglasses, I saw a very small square shaped object stuck right in the middle of it.
“So? Is the microchip really inside the painting then?”
“Yeah. It is. Right in the very middle too.”
Slowly removing the painting from the pedestal, Taehyung then stared at me and asked,
“We managed to get our hands on the painting at last, but how do we get that damn microchip out? We can’t take it with us too since it’s too big to hide inside my backpack.”
Staring more closely at the painting and brushing my gloved hands at its back part, I noticed the canvas was thicker than the usual ones being used for oil paintings.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“This… it can’t be…?”
“Keira? What’s the matter?”
Meeting Taehyung’s eyes, I didn’t hold back from telling him,
“This… this painting is a counterfeit one, Taehyung.”
With shaking eyes, he remarked in pure shock,
“What?! Is that even possible?! Didn’t you tell us that this painting is going to be part of some exhibit happening at this museum soon???”
“I… I know it’s hard to believe. But… this canvas feels so suspicious because for oil paintings, painters usually use thin and smooth canvases. This one is the complete opposite. It’s quite thick and rugged to the touch.”
“I know I can trust your judgment since you are an art obsessed dork more than I am, but can they really get away with using a counterfeit painting for an upcoming art exhibit too?”
As we exchanged baffled gazes and sighs at this rather strange discovery, I had to shake my head and told him as I placed my hand on the bracelet around my left wrist,
*thump* *thump* *thump
“I have no clue but… our mission is to get this stolen microchip back, no matter what. So that’s what we should do.”
“Hey, are you planning to…!”
Pressing the button on the bracelet for three times, I began slicing through the painting with the mini-laser function from the bracelet disguised as a gadget given to me by our genius inventor to use.
“I’m just going to slice through the canvas that’s small enough to grab the microchip stuck inside of it.”
“But won’t the small hole you’ll make become obvious? Plus won’t they also notice the microchip gone?”
“Of course I have it covered, partner of mine.”
After slicing a small square shaped hole on the back part of the canvas, I then took out a small roll of tape from my bag and a microchip.
“Hey Keira, are you doing what I think you’re doing?”
“They won’t notice anything since we didn’t take anything? Remember?”
“Heh? And you tell me I’m the conniving one?”
When I finally took out the real microchip from the painting, I then handed it over to Taehyung before I placed the replacement microchip inside the painting and held the roll of tape in my other hand.
“I understand replacing the real microchip with a fake one, but what’s with the weird tape?”
“It’s called the chameleon tape. Jungkook gave it to me a year ago and it’s too useful to waste unless it’s for needed situations like this. You’ll know what it is for soon enough.”
“It’s just tape, what’s so special ab—-?”
When I placed pieces of the tape around the area where I sliced through using the mini-laser, Taehyung then couldn’t believe what he saw with his own eyes next.
“Did… did the marks disappear or what?”
“That’s why it’s called the chameleon tape. When stuck on a surface, it blends together with the color of that certain surface like what a chameleon does. Cool, right? Now, nobody won’t notice a thing, especially the real microchip being gone.”
“Damn… why does Jungkook keep on giving you the cool gadgets huh? I need to get my hands on that tape too.”
I could only snort out a chuckle at his words before he gave the real microchip back to me while taking the painting and placing it back on the pedestal.
“Now to bring back the glass cylinder and activate it again.”
While staring down at the microchip I now had in my hands, I watched Taehyung activate the handprint scanner again until my eyes began trembling when a shadow was looming closer towards him.
“Taehyu—!!!”
Yet, little did I know that the looming shadow wasn’t only there for him alone. And I’d know it the moment I was stopped on my last syllable on cue.
“Guess our mission went smoothly than we had expe——-? Hmm? Why’d you suddenly turn quiet huh, Ke—-?!”
And Taehyung would know why I couldn’t utter his name or another word anymore as he found my gaze in a heartbeat.
“Hoho? Guess we arrived just in time huh, Moonchild?”
“Don’t be so loud Chaos or we’re all going to get in damn trouble because of your loudass mouth.”
No wonder it seemed like the mission was going too smoothly. The real challenge Taehyung and I would have to deal with had to struck us the moment we let our guard down. Especially me just now.
“Taehyu—!!!”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Miss yapper.”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“…?!”
And there was only one person and that one voice capable of sending my heart and mind into a complete ruckus with just one mention of that familiar annoying nickname.
“I can’t believe these pesky spies got the microchip first and almost succeeded before we even got here?”
“Hey…! You assholes…! Let us go…!”
“Ha? Why should we listen to you? Oh? Maybe we’d be willing to listen more if you hand over the microchip to us?”
The very person who quickly tied up Taehyung right after striking him from behind was no other than him. The figure I didn’t think I’d see again after that horrific winter at Liverpool. And was the very one who almost shot me to death that same night.
“And why should we listen to a couple of trained killers like you huh?”
“Heh? You’re a brave one to talk back to me? Maybe I should give you a taste of what I do to pesky spies like you who don’t listen?”
My heartbeat leaped in a panic the moment the erratic man with the icy voice and pair of just as icy blue eyes called Chaos pulled out two identical pocket knives from his jacket and rubbed them against both sides of Taehyung’s neck.
“M… Mmm?! Mhmm…!”
“Don’t do anything hasty right now Miss yapper or else you’re just going to agitate Chaos more.”
As I was struggling myself since I was also tied up, my mind instantly blanked out again when I heard that person’s ever familiar robotic voice echo inside my ears. The one person who hasn’t left my trace of thoughts since that horrific winter.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to let him do anything to you since I’m the only one who’s allowed to kill you. Remember?”
The person whom should be an enemy to me, yet… the way he was looking directly at me with those pair of ever deep brown eyes, god my confusing teenage hormones were more than ready to act up.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“…”
Damn it. Snap out of it Keira?! You and Taehyung are in a tight spot right now and you’re gawking at the enemy? God. Being a hormonal teenage girl can really be a challenge huh? And there’s something definitely wrong with me to be gawking at the same person who was pointing his pistol’s metal muzzle right at the side of my head?
“He’s just pissed that you and your fellow spy comrade found the microchip before we did.”
And oh wait, did I forget to mention that while his one hand was holding a pistol right to my head, the other one was covering my mouth? I have to say though… his big hand smelled nice? UM HELLO? EARTH TO KEIRA?! FOCUS!!! Why is he even telling me this?!
“…?”
“Oh, I forgot that you can’t yap right now because of my hand huh?”
Glaring at him, he then nonchalantly removes his hand covering my mouth as I then told him with a hiss,
“It’s so f*cking good to see you too, you jerky grim reaper…!”
“Now there’s the Miss yapper I remember?”
He was enjoying every minute of pushing my buttons again, I could tell even when he was wearing that annoying metallic mask of his.
“How do you and that erratic teammate of yours know about the microchip in the first place huh?”
“It’s simple. Our boss wants it. We already got our hands on another one and let me just say things got… bloody wrong. Nonetheless, we traced another one here at this museum.”
Oh god. Don’t tell me that these group of trained killers, especially their so-called boss, know about what these microchips are capable of?
“So? Are you going to kill my partner and I if we don’t hand over the microchip then?"
“Well, the boss has indeed told us to take care of anyone who gets in our way? But, it feels wrong of me to suddenly kill you here?”
“How f*cking gentlemanly of you then to say?”
Little did we know that both Taehyung and the erratic man called Chaos could only stare at us with pure disgust written all over their eyes. Especially Taehyung.
“Are you two done?”
If looks could kill, he’d stab me in an instant.
“God, Moonchild. Why are you acting chummy with the enemy again? I know that I agreed to you being the only one who should kill her, but aren’t you getting along too disgustingly for my liking?”
sh*t. Don’t you dare blush right now Keira! What is that erratic man even blabbering on about?! However, as I glanced at the reaction my grim reaper had, I could feel literal goosebumps crawl on my skin. And not the good kind too.
“Huh? Are you trying to rile me up for no reason, Chaos?”
The way his deep brown eyes turned to a dragon-like gaze… damn it. Why did I feel my heart skip a beat?! Are you kidding me, my weird teenage hormones?!
“Why? Are you feeling riled up by what I had to say then, Moonchild?”
Next thing Taehyung and I knew it, my grim reaper removed the pistol’s muzzle that was resting on the side of my head and stood up from his crouching position before he then pointed it head on to the erratic man. Aren’t they supposed to be allies or something?!
“Oh? Pointing your weapon at me now?”
“You were asking for it though?”
BGM: Swan Song (LE SSERAFIM)
What the hell is happening right here, right now?! As I was stunned at where things suddenly unfolded, a familiar voice then echoed from my in-ear communicator.
*beep*
“Kei… Keira! Can you hear me?”
And that voice was no other than Jungkook.
“Jung… Jungkook?”
“Oh thank god I finally connected to your in-ear communicator. I tried to connect to Taehyung’s but there was no response. Are you two okay?!”
Well, sh*t. Taehyung’s in-ear communicator must have slipped off of his ears when he was struck from behind by the erratic man.
“We’re okay. I guess. Just caught ourselves in a rather… sticky situation here at the museum.”
“I’ll send for help then ASAP and inform Chief! Can you both hang on for a little while longer?”
As the intense glaring contest was still raging over between my grim reaper and the erratic man since neither refused to back down, I sent eye signals to Taehyung. Signals which he swiftly understood.
“We’ll try, Jungkook. We’ll protect each other as best we can.”
“Understood! Stay safe, both of you!”
*beep*
After Jungkook ended the connection, I knew I had to free myself first before I can help out Taehyung. And there was no perfect time to do it than now since the trained killers were too busy stopping themselves from maybe killing each other rather than focusing on Taehyung and I.
“If… if I could reach for the bracelet's purple gem and press it enough times to trigger the mini-laser, it can then cut through this annoying rope…”
Trying to position my wrist and fingers properly so I can reach for the button on the bracelet, I was finally able to push it three times and tried my hardest to cut through the rope without accidentally burning myself altogether. That was until,
“Moonchild, ever since that winter night at Liverpool, I know you have deeply resented me for killing this girl who’s clearly our enemy. Well, almost.”
“Chaos, don’t you dare do anything or el—,”
“No worries though, I have a chance to do it for REAL this time.”
And like by some dreadful deja vu, the same erratic man who had shot me last winter was now pointing his own pistol right at my direction. To think he was hiding his own pistol too apart from knives?
“Kei—!”
As Taehyung was about to yell out my real name out of worry to the erratic man and my grim reaper, I shook my head and said,
“Do you have some kind of one sided beef with me or what?”
“Huh?”
“You indeed shot me last winter but here I still am? Alive? That must have been a real bruise to your damn ego then?”
I know I’m going to regret riling up this already erratic man, but I had to stall for more time. Especially for Taehyung and I.
“My damn ego? Hahaha! You pesky spies really have a way of talking back to anyone huh? Even when they’re pointing a gun right at you?”
“Chaos. Don’t you dare pull that trigger. Or I’ll make sure you won’t be able to pull any triggers for the foreseeable future.”
If you were going to tell me that I’d find myself be pointed by a pistol at by the very person who shot me last winter once again right now while another pistol was being aimed at him by the very person who vowed to kill me but was also someone who saved me that horrific night, I’d laugh at you. But, life has the funniest sh*t to pull off sometimes, right?
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Partenaire, suivez simplement mon exemple. D'accord?”
I flashed a smile at Taehyung who stared at me wide-eyed while hiding the fact that I finally freed myself from the rope tying my wrists before waiting for the perfect moment to strike and for the erratic man to take the bait.
“Huh? What did you say you bit—?!”
“CHAOS, NO!!!”
And that bait was when he was about to pull the trigger on the pistol he was pointing right at me.
“PARTNER, NOW!!!”
“NOT SO FAST YOU ASSHOLE…!”
“Wh… What the fu—?!”
Without wasting a second, I aimed the mini-laser from the bracelet right at the erratic man’s finger on the pistol’s trigger which made him flinch in pain on cue before Taehyung unhesitatingly pounced on him with all of his remaining strength in order to grab the pistol. And let me just say my partner can be relentless when he wants to.
“Haaa… haaa… you owe me for this you know.”
“I know. I know.”
“Good. Now can you untie me already? This rope is so f*cking annoying plus it’s damn itchy!”
After untying Taehyung’s wrists from the rope, he co*cked the pistol and pointed it of course to the erratic man who was too stunned to speak ever since the former got the best of him.
“Heh? Karma’s a funny little asshole huh? Not unlike you?”
Yet, both of us then couldn’t believe our eyes when my grim reaper stood in front of the erratic man as if he was shielding him and aimed his weapon towards us.
“Karma is a funny little thing I agree.”
“Don’t tell us you’re going to act like allies now instead of glaring down at each other?”
“Moonchild…! I knew you’d finally come to your senses and side with me instead of th—?!”
Nothing would come to shock us the most of what then occurred next. And next thing we knew it, the erratic man fell to the floor with a loud thud after he was knocked out unconscious from one whip of the pistol’s handle right to his head. From my grim reaper’s pistol.
“…”
“…”
Did that just really happen?
“Wait, did you really just struck your own al—?!”
Before we could process anything else, my grim reaper pointed his pistol upwards and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
*bang*
“…?!”
“Wh… What the hell is he thinking?!”
Of f*cking course he had to trigger the fire alarm and the fire sprinkler heads all over the ceiling because of that one bullet he just shot.
“Wait…!”
“Hey…! Keira…!”
Right after that, he didn’t bother looking at us anymore and was about to exit the scene until something within me just couldn’t stand the thought of him walking away so I ignored my mind yelling at me to not go after him and did the opposite.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“You can’t just pull a stunt like that and l——,”
However, expecting to see an annoyed or pissed-off expression from him, my heartbeat and I became muddled up when I saw such an indifferent, yet lonely look written all over his face, and especially… in his deep brown eyes.
“Is something wr—-?!”
“Stay away from me.”
And with just those words alone, it felt like I was shot right in the chest right then and there. And he was the one behind the trigger.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“…”
As the water from the sprinklers kept pouring down and soaked all of us, he avoided any further eye contact and simply dragged the erratic man by the hair and with his pistol still in his hand before exiting the scene for real this time. And I watched him disappear from my line of sight.
“Wh… What’s with this weird feeling in my chest right now?”
“KEI… KEIRA!!!”
Not even the sound of the fire alarm and sound of sirens echoing could snap me back to reality until Taehyung grabbed me by the shoulders and called out to me.
“Come on! We need to get out of here before the police or the firefighters arrive!!!”
“Taehyung…”
“We did our mission already, so let’s go…! We’ll wait for Jungkook at where our stakeout place was!!!”
Taking me by the hand, he and I made a run for it while I couldn’t stop from glancing over behind me because… maybe… I’ll be able to get one last glimpse of that person. Yet, there was no sign of him anymore.
“Stay away from me.”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Why… why did you have to look so wistfully at me like that? And why… am I so affected by it?”
Clutching my other free hand close to my aching chest, this was the first time I had ever felt so baffled over what had happened. Even more baffled than that one horrific winter night.
And the pain that engulfed my heart felt more excruciating now than the actual pain I felt after getting shot that winter night.
Why am I feeling like this?
A few days later…
BGM: Everytime (YUQI, MINNIE)
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to let him do anything to you since I’m the only one who’s allowed to kill you. Remember?”
“Stay away from me.”
“…”
Even days later, why does the sound of his voice still lead me along?
“Um??? Helloooo? Earth to Keira?!”
“Ha…? Wh… What’s happening?!”
“Well? Welcome back to reality?”
Realizing that I may have been stuck in a daze more than usual, I was brought back to reality the minute Sana snapped her fingers in front of my face as if she was casting a spell for me. A spell to snap me back to reality. My reality.
“So… Sorry.”
“You’ve been stuck in a daze ever since we got here instead of stuffing yourself with the custard-filled pastries? Are you feeling sick or something?”
Ever since that night at the museum, I would be reminded of that voice. His robotic, yet… melancholic voice. And those ever indifferent, yet lonely pair of deep brown eyes. Was I feeling sick? Maybe I was.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Maybe… I really can’t understand myself to be honest, Sana. I don’t understand how… of how I really feel right now.”
As she leaned over closer to my side, she placed her hand on my forehead and gave me a consoling smile saying,
“You don’t have a fever… so this could only mean one more thing.”
“One more thing?”
Nodding, she then told me,
“Yes. You’re having problems of the heart. And I don’t mean physically.”
“Wh… What?”
“Don’t you try to deny it, Keira. It’s about someone, right?”
Sometimes I really have this strange gut feeling that Sana is somewhat a psychic or I am just very predictable to her after being friends ever since our freshman year.
“Will you keep it a secret then, Sana?”
“A secret?”
“Oui. I haven’t told this to anyone… not even Kolette.”
She gave me a look of disbelief and asked,
“Wow. Not even Kolette knows? Really?”
“Uh huh. That’s why you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone? Not even Kolette?”
Showing me her pinky finger, she gently wrapped it around my own pinky finger like the same way children do it when they’re making a promise together and said,
“Yakusoku. I promise. In the name of honoring a Japanese promise to a friend! I will keep your secret safe no matter what!”
“That’s an honorable way of putting it since you are Japanese yourself.”
Taking a deep breath, I then opened up to Sana about something—no, more like someone who’s been weighing in my mind and my waking thoughts.
“I… I met someone.”
“Okay? And then?”
“I… I only have seen the person twice, including the ni—-, I mean… the day we met. We’re not supposed to have met in the first place but we somehow did. And somehow… I can’t explain this weird feeling I have now even after two times of seeing him?”
Staring at me with a slightly puzzled look, Sana lets out a short sigh before asking me,
“Okay. First thing’s first, this person we’re talking about is different from the one I saw you with from that time? The one who goes to school at that famous art academy?”
“Yes. Very different.”
“I see… so this person you only met twice is someone whom you can’t stop thinking about lately?”
Why does it feel like I’m a patient talking to her psychologist right now?
“Um… I guess? I don’t even understand why I’m feeling like this?”
Sana then looked at me with a very stumped expression as if something stupid just came out of my own mouth.
“Keira? Really? That’s the emotion someone has when they’re growing feelings for another person.”
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“It is…?”
“Oh god. You really have only been thinking about school and your extracurriculars that you don’t even have a single clue about your own emotions?”
Grabbing my hands, she gave them a tight squeeze saying,
“Keira… you’ve never fallen in love with someone, haven’t you?”
“…”
“Your silence is deafening you know.”
Me? Growing feelings for someone whom I only met twice? Falling in love? Is this really emotion called love?
“Sana… I… I can’t fall in love. I… I shouldn’t.”
“What are you talking about? It’s perfectly normal to grow feelings for someone, Keira! That’s what makes you and me humans!”
Except that… falling in love or even growing feelings for someone who’s supposed to be the enemy in my eyes is ABSOLUTELY not normal. It may even be… TABOO.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“It’s… it’s just… god… it’s a bit complicated to explain… and… I absolutely… I can’t… I shouldn’t have feelings for that person.”
As I squeezed back Sana’s hands with mine, I smiled wryly at her and said,
“I… I don’t think someone like me deserves to fall in love with another person, Sana.”
“Keira…”
And as Sana’s worried brown eyes looked at me, those pair of nostalgically haunting deep brown eyes appeared in my mind on cue as if… he was the one staring at me right here, right now.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Darn… darn these confusing teenage hormones and feelings… why… why is my heart aching so much even as I say this?”
Sana could only flinch in shock when I felt literal watery tears slide down my cheeks. Panicking as she looked for her handkerchief in her pocket, she swiftly went closer to my side and wiped my tears before wrapping me in her always consoling hug.
“Oh Keira… come here and let me give you a big tight hug. It’s okay. You can cry it out.”
“Sa… Sana…”
“You’re allowed to cry if you feel confused by your own feelings you know… and Keira, no one is an exception to when it comes to falling in love, even YOU. Well, maybe that’s not the case if you’re asexual though?”
Her last sentence then made me stifle a giggle as I accepted her hug and replied,
“Re… Really… how do you even know such a word?”
No one is an exception to falling in love huh?
If that’s so… why out of all the people that could appear in my path for me to feel such emotions… it had to be someone I was destined to hate?
And it had to be someone who might actually be the one to kill me in the future?
Was this destiny’s ploy to test me or what?
Who knew that weird teenage hormones could have such drastic effects?
*
A bit later:
After the rather first vulnerable conversation I had with Sana in a long time, I thought hard about the advices she’d told me.
“Haaa… and here I thought that a girl’s first love should be like those what I’ve seen in K-dramas and movie adaptations from famous book authors…”
I used to feel jealous of girls from our school who would talk about their crushes and love stories so giddily as if they were all sparkling. But now… I don’t even know how I should really feel.
“Urgh! Damn it you crazy lady!!! Did you forget that you were the one who insisted of seeing my face before I was about to kill you?!”
“I’m not going to let you die apart from anything else than my own hands, lady yapper.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Miss yapper.”
God. I could feel my chest tighten up every time I recall that voice.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Why did my first love had to be someone who might literally kill me?“
Stop thinking about him already and his distracting deep brown eyes Keira?!
“Maybe Taehyung was right… I should’ve asked Jungkook if he had a memory wiping gadget or machine when I had the chance.”
Sighing as I kept walking towards the train station’s direction, I paused the minute I noticed my phone ringing.
BGM: Eye Contact (fromis_9)
“Haaa… speak of the devil.”
And as I saw the caller ID, I couldn’t hold back another sigh before answering the call.
*beep*
“Hel—,”
“Where are you right now?!”
Maybe I should just hang up on him to prevent a headache from coming any time soon?
“Um hello to you too drama queen? And why should I even bother telling you where I am huh?”
“Don’t play mademoiselle sarcastic with me Keira! I wasn’t able to reach you a few hours ago and it literally made me f*cking worried!”
As I then checked my recent calls, I guess he wasn’t making things up since he indeed called me a few hours ago. Around the time when Sana and I were having a rather… serious conversation that ended up in me falling to tears which was… pretty rare.
“Ah… sorry. I was with a close friend of mine from school. That’s why I wasn’t able to answer your call. I’m sorry, Taehyung…”
Hearing a small sigh from his end, he said,
“Well, that’s good. But do send a message next time so I wouldn’t be worried sick…! Got it?”
“I know. I know. Jeez. So? What’s the real reason for your call, Taehyung? I know you wouldn’t just blast my phone with calls to simply check up on me like a child?”
Next thing I knew it, my eyes turned wide as he said with a gloating voice,
“Oh! Right! I’m calling you because I have good news!!!”
“Good news like what exactly? Ah! You’re finally going to move to a school that is far away from London? And I’ll finally be able to go on solo missions again? Plus, you’ll finally admit that you’re a drama queen?”
I could instantly hear the grumbling of his voice on the other line as he replied,
“No. No. And you wish. Anyway, if you’re done insulting me already…?”
“Fineeee. What’s the real good news?”
However, my sanity and I would never have guessed the words that then came out of his mouth.
“Guess who just scored you a blind date? No. No. Wait. Correction! Guess who just scored you the BEST blind date this weekend?”
“…”
“That’s right! Yours f*cking truly of course! And it’s with the princely ace of the tennis team from the prestigious all boys school here in London!”
I knew I should’ve hung up the call the second I saw his caller ID appearing on my phone’s screen.
“Oh would you look at that? I’m losing connection real fast? Oh wait…! I think I should hang up?”
“HEY…! KEIRA…! Don’t you dare put down the phone right now…!”
“On second thought, I should just throw my phone right in the trashcan instead?”
As the call turned into one loud bickering over the phone, he then said with another sigh,
“Keira, just meet the guy. You clearly need a distraction from THAT asshole.”
“Why do you even keep mentioning that person?”
“That’s because you keep thinking about him when you shouldn’t! Especially after what happened that night at the museum!”
Ugh. Why does Taehyung have to see right through me so easily? Am I really that predictable?
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Fi… Fine! I’ll meet the guy! But if he turns out to be a douche, don’t blame me if I flip him upside down during the date.”
“Well thank f*cking god you finally came to your senses?”
You might be wondering why I agreed to the whole blind date nonsense? Two reasons. One, if I refused, Taehyung will NOT stop pestering me about it. And two, well… I kind of need to admit that I do need a distraction. A distraction that’ll keep my mind occupied from thinking about HIM and those deep brown eyes. And trust me, studying like crazy doesn’t help me to not think about him. I f*ckING TRIED.
“So? Where and what time should I meet him this weekend?”
“Leave that to me! And by the way, you n—-!”
When I got to the train station, my eyes widened again in panic as I heard the station’s bell ringing and that the one I was supposed to take leaves in like two minutes.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Sh… sh*t! Sorry Taehyung, I might need to hang up or I’m going to miss the tr—-?!”
Yet, as I too busy being on the phone while hurriedly trying to reach for my train pass and not looking where I was going, I then found myself colliding with someone taller than me.
“…?!”
“…!”
And before I could fall pathetically on my butt because of the collision, I felt the person who I bumped into grab me by my one arm and wrapped his other arm around my waist so as to cushion my fall.
“Th… Thank y—?”
“Be careful.”
Great. Just f*cking great. And the person turned out to be a boy. A rather very tall boy too? How did I know? Well, he was wearing a school uniform obviously! And his voice obviously belonged to a boy! When I was about to look up at him and thank him, I couldn’t finish my sentence the moment my gray eyes meet his gaze. His hazel eyed gaze behind the spectacles he was wearing.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Um… mer… merci.”
“You good?”
Nodding like a speechless child, he gently lets go of his grip around my waist and on my arm before he pushes back his spectacles, coolly leaves the scene, and enters the train card scanning machine first while I was still standing frozen in place.
“St… Stop pounding so loudly already heart of mine! Jeez…!”
As that tall boy’s scent and warmth were still lingering over me, I could feel the heat coming straight to my cheeks. Oh god?! Am I blushing again?!
“Be careful.”
When I said I needed a distraction, I didn’t mean literally making me bump into a tall and rather nice smelling boy who saved me from almost embarrassing myself here at the train station?!
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Good... good lord. My stupid teenage hormones are acting up again! Sheesh…! Snap out of it K——?”
“HEY!!! KEIRA!!! ARE YOU OKAY THERE?!”
And it completely slipped my mind that I hadn’t ended the call on my phone despite of the shenanigans that just occurred. Next thing I knew it, Taehyung’s yelling could be heard audibly in full volume.
“Taehyung…? You’re still there?”
“Obviously?! You suddenly went silent on me and then I heard a guy’s voice?! What the hell happened?!”
No way in hell am I admitting to him that I’m blushing like an idiot right now because of the tall boy with hazel eyes who I bumped into. And the fact that not only was he tall but he smelled good too. Wait… what the hell Keira?!
“It… It’s nothing that concerns you…!”
“Hey…!”
“I… I’m hanging up…! I need to go…!”
*beep*
And because of my flustered panic, I ended the call in a hurry before I had to pacify my stupidly racing heartbeat. Taehyung is so going to sulk like the drama queen that he is the next time he calls. I’m sure of it.
“Darn it… why am I even getting flustered a lot lately? First it was my grim reaper and now a random stranger who happens to smell g—-?”
Having to get my sh*t together, I had to slap myself numerous times on my cheeks and shake my thoughts off of not only one person, but NOW two of them. And while doing so, something caught my attention.
“Hmm? Isn’t this book…?”
Picking up the book that was somehow on the floor, I was surprised to see it was something—a book that I was familiar with.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“The secret life of color? No… no way?! I… I ALSO HAVE THIS BOOK! But then… that means…?”
Since the book was close to where I was standing at, I then knew there could only be one person whom this belonged to. Checking the front and last pages of the book, I saw a familiar stamp on the very back of it.
“This is a borrowed book from The British Library…?”
Is it really a pure coincidence that the book which belonged to that tall boy with the hazel eyes is also one that I own too? Or are my crazy teenage hormones messing with me again?
“I wonder when the book’s return date w—-?!”
I couldn’t help but gasp in disbelief right then and there when I saw the date of when the borrowed book should be returned to the library.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS BOOK IS DUE TO BE RETURNED THIS WEEKEND?!”
There was no use of running to find him here at the train station anymore.
Having no choice, I had to return this book for him then. That’s more than enough to show him my appreciation for what he did for me just now?
Right?
And as I glanced down at the small card attached to the back part of the book’s last page that had all the names of the past borrowers, my eyes immediately stopped at the last name written on it.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
“Namjoon…? So his name is Namjoon then huh?”
Hmm? Why did I out of the blue feel a heartbeat skip again just at the discovery of that tall boy with the hazel eyes’ name?
“First it was deep brown eyes… and now it’s hazel eyes? Haaa… who knew eye contact could be this powerful? Jeez…!”
Wrapping the book around my arms while shaking my head again from any unnecessary thoughts such as those two pair of eyes, I went on my way.
Yet, little did I know that there was a grinning figure hiding by the corner who witnessed everything and said while sucking on to the lollipop he held in his hand,
“Hoho? Those two really met up like this huh? Fate is really a funny little sh*t, wouldn’t you agree, Miss Keira?”
And little did I know that such simple eye contact will impact my entire destiny soon enough and will determine whether I and my heart are truly bulletproof… or not.
End of I Know Places (a Kim Namjoon au story) Chapter 1Finished: 06/28/24
