Hybe-topia

11 - Kang Taehyun

Imagine you're at the bank with your best friend Taehyun. The two of you have been out and about running errands for the day and decided to stop by to withdraw some cash for the upcoming vacation you have planned for spring break.

Naturally, as the two of you are waiting in line for the next available bank teller, it seems like any ordinary day. The only exception - it's not. Within the mere blink of an eye, a group of men swarm into the bank with ski masks covering their entire heads and loaded firearms in each of their hands.

You know you should feel scared - and perhaps, deep down, underneath all of the sudden adrenaline pumping through your veins, you're petrified. But in this very moment, you can't help but chuckle to yourself softly in disbelief because this feels like some cliche scene straight out of a movie. 

The men's masks are poorly made. The circles for their eyes are rather jagged as if a five-year-old had cut them. You wonder why they didn't just buy readily available ski masks from a sporting goods store and why they went through the trouble of doing the manual labor themselves. But perhaps they don't have the funds to buy the masks - which would probably explain why they're robbing the bank right now.

As you stand there examining the group of men, your eyes fixate on the slight tremble some of them have in their tight grasp on their weapons. Your stomach drops at this realization. 

They're nervous. 

And it's that exact reason why you're finally feeling the terror settle in. Their lack of attention to detail practically ensures a messy execution of their plan, inevitably, resulting in catastrophe.

"Everyone hands up where I can see them!" one of the men towards the front of the group, the leader you assume, shouts. A few people - customers and bank employees - let out shrieks of fear when they notice the weapons and quickly do as they are told.

"Y/N, put your hands up," Taehyun hisses under his breath when he realizes you're still standing there and staring at the group of robbers dumbfoundedly. Your best friend's voice snaps you out of your daze and back into reality, bringing you to raise your arms like everyone else in the building.

"Now I'm going to ask one of you to open the safe, and if you comply, no one will get hurt," another masked man demands, waving his weapon around at the bank tellers like it's a magic wand.

As the group of robbers slowly creep up towards the big safe, everyone watches in anticipation. When one of the masked men towards the back of the group spins around to face all of the customers in the bank with his weapon held outstretched in front of him, you all drop to the ground to reduce your chances of being a direct target. 

"If I see any movement from any of you, I won't hesitate to shoot. You better think twice before trying to be the underdog and calling the cops," he threatens.

"Someone open the safe now," another man instructs adamantly, causing you to squeeze your eyes shut to try to calm your racing nerves.

"Okay, I'm going to approach the safe and open it for you," one of the tellers complies with a shaky voice. When you finally open your eyes again, you watch as the teller closest to the safe moves towards it. She takes slow timid steps and you can see the poor woman's arms trembling from where you are.

Through your peripheral vision, you notice subtle movement from one of the tellers at the very far end of the front counter. They're slowly inching their way closer to the end of the counter - where you assume the panic button is located. When you finally catch onto their plan, you pray to the stars that the robbers don't notice the movement.

Taehyun notices your diverted attention and follows your gaze. When he figures out what's going on, he sucks in a soft sharp breath. "He's going to get us all killed," he mutters softly only for you to hear.