Picture Perfect | k.th

Chapter 22

Taehyung POV

"Absolutely not. No way. That is the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard in my short years of sentience on this Earth," Jin shook his head firmly.

The others nodded in agreement.

"I agree that the guy is evil, but we got our behinds metaphorically whooped to hell and back. He tried to kill us by burying us alive in black paint. What's next? He burns the pages?" Namjoon said.

"Tae...I understand why you want to do this, but we are powerless against him," Hoseok sighed.

"No we aren't. He's clearly afraid of us if he's trying this hard to get rid of us. That's leverage. We're priceless creations of his he can't afford to lose and we can use that against him," I argued.

"Even if that were the case, what can we do? One misstep and it's back to painting jail. Your power of love crap might not work a second time," Yoongi theorized.

"But why would that happen? It would be seven on one!" I exclaimed.

Jimin placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "We do have the numbers, but he'll easily outwit us. We saw what he's capable of. And if what Sohee found out is true, then he's also a legitimate criminal who will find a way to take us away."

"Not if we all go together. He's one guy," I argued.

"One incredibly smart guy," Namjoon corrected.

I threw my hands up in frustration, angrily pacing the floor. Just this one time, I was begging them for help and here they were refusing it. I went along with every single thing they wanted, even if I wasn't certain of it, and they wouldn't even hear me out?

I wanted to go after Hyungseo ourselves. Instead of waiting for him to come to us, I wanted to get to him first. He was very obviously stalking Sohee and I the day we were at the art gallery. And we both knew for a fact that he was especially angry with us because he thought that Sohee would go out with him, and I, one of his creations, took that chance from him. Sohee was also poking her nose in his business and knew too much about him for her own good. He was targeting us. He was targeting her.

When he grabbed her, pure rage filled me. Anger has always been an uncomfortable feeling that I tried to keep inside. But I felt like exploding when he did that to her. She made it clear that she would do everything in her power to help and protect me. She wasn't afraid of the situation she'd be thrown in as a result of living me. And if we had decided to really love each other without restraints, then I would do anything in my power to ensure she wouldn't get hurt.

But none of the guys were understanding that.

"Why do you want to do this, Taehyung? I already put us in immense danger the first time we tried to confront him. I don't want to see that happen again. Because of me, you've had to hide us in your dorm and sneak us in and out. Because of Hyungseo, you've all been put in danger," Jin spoke softly, guilt laden through his voice.

"Hyung, I don't care about any of that. It's not your fault—it's his. And he's going to do something far worse if we don't stop him. We're his sentient creations, we obviously have more power than others do. We can stop him," I said desperately.

"But why? For what reason? This isn't our business to handle anymore. You already told Sohee's police dad. There really isn't much more that we would be fit to do," Hoseok sighed.

I balled my hands into fists. This was unbelievably frustrating. Why couldn't they just understand? Why did I need to spell it out for them?

"Sohee," Jungkook's soft voice perked up, making everyone turn their heads towards him. He looked at me with wide and worried eyes. "She's going to do something dumb isn't she?"

I chewed my lip, "I'm not sure. But she has no sense of fear and definitely no sense of caution. I think ever since I told her that I saw her as my hero for rescuing me from the painting that she's felt the need to continue to be one for me. It gives her a thrill of adventure and protects the one she cares about. But this guy is unpredictable. I don't want to see her get hurt at all. I'd rather do what I can to protect her. She's not as invincible as she thinks and I'm worried she'll find that out the hard way."

"But you don't know if she's going to do anything, so we can't just rush in brazenly," Yoongi rationalized.

"It's a gut feeling. When we went to the art gallery together, Hyungseo was there. Waiting for us. It's no secret he's targeting her and I. But she got up right in his face, ready to do whatever it took to make him back off. I know her, and I don't want her to rush into something without any sort of help," I admitted.

The other guys shifted around nervously, hard expressions softening upon my reasoning. All I wanted was to protect her and stop being so helpless and weak.

Jungkook patted my shoulder comfortingly, "You're really worried about her."

I sighed, "You have no idea. I...I love her so much. I got the chance to experience humanity with her, but I don't think I'll be able to live as a person without her. She's such a genuine and lively person. She's passionate and fearless. If I lost that, I'd be a mere puddle of poorly blended paint. She gives me and the world around her so much vibrancy. We saw what Hyungseo did to us. And I know for a fact that he hates her more than anyone. If he did something like that to her..."

Jin put his hand on mine, his eyes soft, "You really love her don't you."

"More than anything thought possible of a sentient painting," I said.

He sighed, "I don't like the idea of us having to go back and potentially deal with that all over again." He paused for a moment, considering his thoughts. "But Sohee has helped us more than she probably should have. She cares about us all deeply. And I would be devastated if something bad happened to her while she tried to protect us."

Mine and Jungkook's eyes lit up.

"You'll help?"

He nodded, "I owe her. And I don't like having debts. Sohee is the best of us, and we owe it to her to make sure she doesn't throw her life out for us. She is so recklessly courageous and I wish I could have a fraction of her strength."

The others seemed to flock more willingly with Jin's declaration though the uncertainty was pretty obvious.

"Fine. But we need to make a plan," Namjoon said.

"Then let's make one," I said resolutely.

____________________________________
Would you believe me if I said it was ending soon?