'Til We Meet Again | Taekook AU

Chapter 2

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Taehyung reached out, touching Jimin's arm and whispered. "Wake up."

He hadn't used his powers in a while, and for a second Taehyung worried that it had been a bad move and maybe his powers when used on Jimin had backfired. 

But a loud surprised cry pulled him out of his thoughts.

Jimin blinked, his eyes widened at the sight in front of him and he stumbled back. "What - what is this? What happened? What's going on -"

"Easy now...take a deep breath." Taehyung said and caught hold of Jimin's arm before he fell on his butt.

"Deep breathe?" Jimin gasped and continued to stare at the crowd, frozen under Taehyung's time. "You want me to take a deep breathe and ignore this...this....whatever it is!" he sputtered and finally turned to look at Taehyung.

Immediately, his eyes narrowed. "Excuse, who are you?"

"No." Jimin shook his head, and Taehung could hear his heart racing, undiluted panic being pumped into his body as they speak. "I should ask you... what are you?"

He took a hesitant step back and then another. Taehyung stayed where he was.

He knew if he made a grab for Jimin now, the boy was going to run for the hills, and in his current condition Taehyung wouldn't be able to catch him no matter what he did. So he stayed put, and prayed Jimin won't do anything stupid - again.

"H--How could you do this...this Harry Potter thing! Magic? Damn, I can't believe my own words!" Jimin muttered and poked at one of the frozen fans. "They aren't moving!" His voice went up an octave and Taehyung cringed.

How much longer until Jimin calmed down from his freaked state? Was he ever going to come back? Taehyung wondered. He wasn't showing any signs, and he knew this Jimin would have trouble trusting him now that he had shown off his powers.

"What are you?" Jimin asked again, and then he groaned. "I don't believe in twilight madness, b-but are you a vampire?" he asked in a small voice.

By now, he was well out of Taehyung's reach and somehow, right at that moment Taehyung hated himself. He should have grabbed onto Jimin when he had the chance.

Taehyung sighed and tried a more practical approach, now that he had run out of patience and his body had started reacting to the abuse of his powers. He wasn't going to be able to hold onto his time for much longer.

"Listen." he said in a slow, calm voice. "You can freak out as much as you want, after we find a way to hide you from your fans, okay? Or do you want to stay here and get mobbed by them again?" Taehyung asked.

He knew he had hit jackpot, when Jimin glanced at his frozen fans, with a bit of fear in his eyes. "Uh... are they dead?" he asked in a small voice, and Taehyung let out a breathe of relief.

The guy was finally calming down a bit, and Taehyung could work with his questions, if only to get him away from the crowd before his body collapsed under him.

"No. They are not dead." Taehyung took a measured step towards the frightened Jimin, careful not to startle him. "I have just stunned them. Now, please, let's get out of here."

"I can't hold them for much longer." Taehyung said, trying hard to keep the agony out of his voice. He was bare minutes away from collapsing, and they hadn't even gotten away form the crowd yet.

"C'mon." he said, and beckoned a confused Jimin to the alley before them.

"W-Why are we going to the dark alley? What are you going to do?" Jimin asked, the fear was back in his voice and Taehyung hated that it was directed at him. Why couldn't the boy understand that Taehyung only wanted to protect him?

Was it so difficult to believe?

"I guess I blew up that chance." Taehyung muttered, and closed his eyes against a flash of pain.

"Hey? You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Just hurry up."

"But the alley -" Jimin started and Taehyung threw him a glare. It made the boy stumbled back.

"The alley is dark, yes of course, and it will make it harder for them to find you in the dark." Taehyung said and waved a hand in the general direction of his clothes.

It was pure luck that both of them were wearing black - Jimin with his black hoodie and black ripped jeans and Taehyung with his black t-shirt and shorts.

"Oh...okay." Finally Jimin gave a nod of approval and jogged to catch up with Taehyung's long legs.

Even if he had seen him many times, it still surprised Taehyung that Jimin's height was a constant. He was still as short as ever, and hated being called short.

"In here." Taehyung pointed to the area behind a large trash can.

Jimin scrunched his nose in disgust, and Taehyung fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Just stay there for a little while."

Taehyung started walking out of the lane, and Jimin poked his head out of his hiding spot. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"I can't unfreeze them from this spot." Taehyung lied through his teeth. He couldn't possibly stay near Jimin, when he was seconds away from fainting.

"Just wait for maybe fifteen minutes and then you can come out. The crowd will have dispersed by then." Taehyung assured him and walked out of the alley, without giving him a backward glance.

He half ran and half hobbled to the nearest shelter he could find - which happened to be a phone booth. He pulled open the door, stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

A second later, his body reacted, and Taehyung bent down coughing up blood into his hand. His head throbbed and a wave of dizziness swept over him. He kneeled down, and another cough tore through his throat.

He took a breathe, and ended up coughing more, the sounds of his wet retching filled his ears and Taehyung wondered if anybody else could hear it? He was sure, the coughing would catch attention.

He peeked outside the phone booth and thanked his stars that the streets were deserted.

Taehyung was close to hitting the ground, but not before he snapped his fingers and released the people caught under his time.

"There..." he whispered to no one in particular. "That should give him enough time to run away, right?"

A part of Taehyung whined at not getting to meet Jimin for a longer period of time, but the sensible part cheered on Taehyung and his strong will to let Jimin go.

It was for the best after all.

He couldn't meet Jimin...not in this lifetime...

Not in the next lifetime, not ever - Taehyung thought and the darkness pulled him under.

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