Against Time | k.th. ✔

十 : savior angel in disguise

"Hey man, are you serious? What is all this?" Yeseul whispered through her clenched teeth.

After all, the situation before her was amusingly infuriating, and so her reaction to it was thoroughly justified. How could one even expect Yeseul to hold back her wrath when the male standing adjacent to her unequivocally deserved getting pummeled to a pulp for the nuisance that he had caused?

Like a lamb to a slaughter now, it appeared like Taehyung was not even trying not to yield so soon anymore. He shivered profusely, further upholding his acquiescence. His gaze was fixated on his shoes, which would drift away every now and then to the bags of snacks that had been recently set free from underneath his shirt. That was precisely what had had Taehyung so badly overwrought.

The comparatively more dreadful situation of them being caught red-handed by the police, surprisingly did not.

Oh, how much efforts he had put into his not-so-significant heist. Keeping an eye on Yeseul and the cashier while they had their little interaction, whilst seizing the opportunity to nick the packets that went on luring him— why did he endanger his existence when it all had to go futile in the end?

Taehyung unknowingly let out a morose puff.

"Really? That's how I get treated for stuffing you up with food? What's your stomach anyway, a black hole?" Yeseul jabbed on Taehyung's abdomen aggressively, steam blowing out of her ears.

"I had to prepare," Taehyung placed his hand on the spot that was being mercilessly attacked by Yeseul, leading her eyebrows to fly up in disbelief, "I had to make some preparations... for my trek, you know? It is an extremely long tunnel, I had to ensure that I didn't starve and faint on the way itself. What if I died there and no one ended up finding me? I don't want tha—"

"Bitch, all I'm saying is that you could have asked me to buy you those. Didn't I bring you everything that you had demanded? Do I come across as a tightwad to you? Make yourself make sense, you dumbass—"

As if Yeseul's blood pressure was not already soaring high, that she was made to cease herself due to a static sound emanating unremittingly from the very cop who had stalled them on their tracks in the first place. It must have been his walkie-talkie that was urging him to connect himself with his fellow cop, for when the male fished it out of his back-pocket, the sound became even more prominent.

Yeseul remained planted on her place, trying to conceive everything that was unfolding in front of her. Though even she could not figure out the reason behind her suddenly smiling so brightly when the cop beckoned about half of his force to follow him to somewhere else. They would not possibly excuse the two defaulters so simply, but Yeseul did not want her brain to ruminate rationally right then. Even if there was point one percent chance of Yeseul and Taehyung to be exempted, she would definitely yearn for it to happen.

"Lee, take the kids to the police station. There has been reported another burglary at the crossroads nearby, so we have to be there. We'll deal with all the law-breakers in our station at once, then." The man cracked his knuckles as he set his line of vision unwaveringly at Yeseul, since the latter had been grinning like an idiot just a few moments back. The lour actually rendered its purpose, for Yeseul's smile disappeared like it had never been there.

Her sight traced the retreating figures until they assimilated into the effulgent light, ultimately sneaking a glance at the only officer left behind. It had not been even a minute that Yeseul laid her eyes on him, that they widened like she had just confronted a massive revelation. She lurched towards him abruptly, covering her gaping mouth with her hand so that her actions did not make her look much graceless.

"Uncle Lee? Why did I not see you before—"

"Thank God they went another way. Why did you have to get yourself in trouble? Don't you know criminal records are like a blot for college students, or anyone in general? Don't you understand the grimness of the situation, kid?" The relatively older man chided Yeseul, and the latter could not help but let her head succumb to gravity.

"Now go, I'll handle it with them. And tell this friend of yours we aren't living in the colonial era anymore that it'd be normal for him to dress like that, steal things and get away with it. Knock some sense into him, alright?" Yeseul's so-called Uncle Lee shoved the duo to the opposite side of the entrance, to elope and hide themselves so well that they did not get busted by the police for the second time in a day.

Flicking her head backwards for one last time before making a run for her life, Yeseul mouthed thank you to her savior angel in disguise before beaming delightfully.

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"Who was that man who took the fall for us?" Taehyung quizzed with uncertainty, twiddling with his fingers at the same time.

"Uncle Lee?" Yeseul passed a confused geek, her eyebrows closing the space between them.

Taehyung all but nodded vaguely, prompting Yeseul to brief him about the person from the next minute itself, "He's our neighbour, a very close one. Oh, did I emphasize on very enough?"

"You sure did. By the way, I still can't stop thinking about this one thing..." Taehyung's voice hitched, owing to the threats that Yeseul had made to him regarding the prices which he would have to pay if he continued to inconvenience her, but still resumed nonetheless, "How did they find out that I was the thief? I mean, I heard the policeman counting millions of points that led him to suspect us, but I understood none of them. How come you all speak alien language here?"

"That reminds me," Yeseul paused, pulling off a poker face as she tugged her lips into a smile that was as straight as a line, "what did I tell you about not getting under my skin? You for sure have a death wish, don't you?" She hopped onto Taehyung's back as she finished, restraining him in a headlock position as he struggled to liberate himself.

No matter how much Taehyung strove to slap Yeseul's arm so that she would let him go, the latter would not budge a tad. It was in such moment of torment that the man decided to overlook himself as he gagged, and began to wander his sight around for particularly nothing. He did not have anything to seek, and hence was merely utilizing the method to deviate his mind from his misery. That was when he, on the spur of the moment, noticed something familiar— a colossal billboard to be more specific.

"For the sake of heavens, lady, get off my back and leave my neck. I have finally hunted out the thing that we were searching for so desperately, which I won't be able to tell if you wind up killing me!" Taehyung's strenuous efforts to voice out his thoughts somehow worked out, as Yeseul's ears perked up and she immediately unfastened her grip around him.

"What? What is it?" Yeseul asked curtly as she whipped her head around in the hope that she would discover the thing herself.

Taehyung shuffled his feet on his own spot as he rotated, bringing Yeseul face to face with the board, "That board about the Park Seojoon chap I referred to earlier, it is this." She could sense him— from the back of his head— displaying his boxy smile for his face muscles flexed a little.

The way her desire to smack his head yet again grew ardent in Yeseul, it had become utterly indescribable for her.

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a/n

just a preview but y'all are definitely not ready for what's about to happen next chapter onwards teehee... await a 360 degree flip, y'all👀