Stay With Me (SWM #1) | A Taekook Series

1) new placements, new people

"What!? Why me?" I howl at Jin.

Great. I never wanted to be here in the first place and now it's getting worse. I never thought completing your mandatory military service would be this terrifying. I am Dr. Kim Taehyung. A pediatrician. My life is basic, plain, and sort of boring. No childhood trauma, no high school affairs, and no 'fight for your dreams' moments. But it's fine. Before joining the military to complete my mandatory service, my life used to be fun. I would wake up and treat patients who were mostly children. Then I would go home, play with my dog Yeontan, watch K-dramas, read books, and sleep. No working out for hours, no fighting, no guns.

"Look, they really need more people at Cheorwon," Jin explains. He's the Major General of our battalion. His expression reads that there isn't anything serious going on, but still. Who would want to jeopardize themselves willingly?

"Okay, I get it. BUT WHY ME? I can't even shoot properly, there are plenty of others who are WAY better than me." I snap back.

"Oh, Taehyung! It's not like they're gonna abandon you in North Korea," He says, smiling a bit. Just then Hoseok enters the canvas tent with a frown on his face.

"They're sending me to Cheorwon," He fake cries as he takes off his shoes and jumps onto the bed.

"You too!?" I exclaim. Well. Hoseok is this smiley guy whom I met a month ago. We share a tent and like, I don't know, we became friends? Sort of. The camp is tiring, boring, and dangerous. I absolutely hate it, but since Hoseok has joined, we sulk and rant about it together. He is a Graphic Designer (sounds soo cool right?). And just like me, he just wants to get this thing done, go back, and live life in peace.

"See Taehyung, you're not alone." Jin chuckles.

"There's nothing funny here Jin. Taehyung-ah you're coming too?" Hoseok asks. And when I nod, he springs back to life, hugging me. "Phew. Thank god, now I won't be the only one who's bad at army stuff." He cheers. I manage a small smile.

__________

"Gosh, it's cold." I shudder when we step out of the jeep. I wrap my arms around myself, yearning for warmth. The sun has just set as chilly winds blow around, making me hate this place even more. Hoseok stands on the other side of the jeep admiring the surroundings.

"What did you expect then? It's December dummy," I startle and grasp the jeep's handle as a new voice comes from behind. I turn around.

"Jeon Jeongguk," A man says, bringing his hand forward. "You two will be under my supervision from now on." We shake hands.

He's wearing a Special Operations Unit T-shirt, his hair is messy, and a black side fringe swooped over his forehead. He has lively and round doe-like eyes and looks young. And handsome, a bit.

"I'm Jung Hoseok." Hoseok bows.

"Kim Taehyung, nice to meet you, sir," I say doing the same. I leave out the 'Dr.' before my name.

"Oh, no need to call me sir, I'm younger than you both as a matter of fact," He laughs lightly, a charming smile playing on his lips.

"Huh-" Hoseok and I say at the same time. But Jeongguk ignores us. He turns around heading towards the small barrack surrounded by canvas tents. "C'mon, it's getting cold for real now," He rubs his hands creating friction, and places them on his cheeks. I glance at Hoseok who just shrugs in reply and we say nothing and simply follow Jeongguk.

"You two have a whole tent to yourself 'cause there aren't many people here," He leads us into a tent near the barrack's entrance. "Dinners here, so freshen up, eat and sleep early. I want you ready tomorrow morning at 4:30 am. Got it?"

4:30 am? Okay, I'm used to staying up late. I'm a goddamn doctor for the record. What does he want us to do? Ugh, this sucks. We nod.

"If you need anything, I'll be there in my room in the barrack. I don't think you two are as horrible as Jin described. What did he say? 'Scaredy cats'" Jeongguk laughs.

"Scaredy cats?" Hoseok snarls.

"Jin called us WHAT?" I ask, but before I finish Jeongguk has already left the tent.

__________

"Did you sleep well?" Jeongguk makes his entrance by startling us. Again. It's 4.15 am when Hoseok and I are waiting for him to come.

"Huh- yeah, yeah." I fumble with my words. Jeongguk eyes me with suspicion.

"Yeah, I saw you sleep really well with the lights on," He smirks, averting his gaze toward Hoseok.

"Yeah, we forgot to turn them off-" Hoseok starts.

"Oh, stop it you two. I could see your shadows through the tent," Uh oh. "And you," Says pointing at Hoseok. "Damn, you're loud. I could hear you laugh from the barracks." I gulp. "C'mon," And he starts jogging.

I don't know how much we ran, but god, we were running non-stop for one and a half hour. We used to run and do all this back at our old camp but they allowed us to take breaks. Jeongguk was making us do high knees if we stopped! I just wanted the Earth to split and swallow him. When we finally returned to the camp my bones were about to crumble.

"Woohoo! Time for breakfast guys," Jeongguk beamed. The guy showed no sign of exhaustion, the polar opposite of Hoseok and me. We dropped down and lay on the cold, hard floor for ten minutes after which we could breathe like normal humans.

"So, tell me about yourself," Jeongguk says as we get our breakfast trays. We get two bananas, one boiled egg, and some cereal. It isn't very grand but after what we had been through this morning, it looks very delicious. Jeongguk on the other hand has something extra. It's a small bottle of- milk?

"Hi, my name is Kim Taehyung, and right now my feet are on the verge of shattering." I deadpan. Jeongguk only smirks in reply while Hoseok starts laughing. "What are you drinking by the way?" Hoseok asks when Jeongguk takes a sip of whatever that is.

"Oh this," He says, his eyes sparkling. "This, my man, is Banana Milk." I start laughing covering my mouth cause I've stuffed half an egg in it.

He glares at me, making me laugh even harder. "Okay. Enough with that," Jeongguk groans, and resumes eating.

"Hold up," Hoseok says after some time. "You were saying something yesterday Jeongguk, what did Jin tell you about us?" He says, lifting his eyebrows.

"Oh nothing much, you're here 'cause he said you need stricter training." He replies and then gulps the last sip of that Banana Milk. This guy. He's something. Something weird.

"No no, he told you that we were scaredy-" I bang my hand on the table, embarrassed. Why the heck is he bringing that up?

Jeongguk looks at me and then starts laughing. I glare at Hoseok who shrugs in response.

"The plan for today," Jeongguk says after a while, mischief twinkling in his dark eyes. "We have to go to this office of a guy called Gyeong Changmin. He's the CEO of a goods maritime transportation company. We have to get some info from their servers."

"Get the info or steal the info?" I ask, leaning in.

Jeongguk grins. "Good question."

__________

aaanddd the story begins!! what do you think gguk's plan is?

hope you guys are having a wonderful dayyy and if not, i hope you power through whatever your facing. fightingg!!

don't forget to vote for the chapter! it really motivates me to write more for you guys

-swara<3