We might die

Chapter 7

Taehyung promised to never leave Jimin, but when morning comes and Jimin is still deep in slumber, he decides that there is no harm in looking around a little, see if he can find Yoongi-hyung or Jungkookie. Gently moving Jimin off his chest, he places his best friend's fluffy head on a makeshift pillow he had quickly created with his own jacket. With a quick glance around, seeing that the coast is clear, he slides down the tree.

Namjoon knows that if he could see the forums and tweets and posts concerning the current situation (he can't—there is no internet reception on the boat, and he almost feels sorry for the soldiers. No wonder they have to make do with mahjong), it would probably be full of the audience freaking out like no tomorrow, screaming in caps lock for Taehyung to go back up the tree. Or maybe posting music videos of BTS songs. DANGER, then RUN.

Taehyung is prone to sudden bouts of recklessness, but getting out of the sheltering leaves of the tree is really a bad idea, considering how Yoongi is coincidentally in that part too. The two dots on the map are rapidly nearing each other, for Yoongi seems to be confident in his strides, knowing exactly where he's going, and Taehyung is too distracted by the forest scenery to take it slowly and carefully.

And then the two dots meet. Yoongi has blood on his clothes. Taehyung stops in his tracks, bringing up his bow with a look of blank uncertainty in his slender eyes. Namjoon holds his breath. Behind him, Damien drums his fingers on the back of his chair in antsy excitement.

Then Yoongi surprises both Damien and Namjoon with unexpectedly good acting skills. Namjoon's mouth practically falls open as he watches his rapper friend start to cry then and there.

"He... he attacked me first, Taehyung, I couldn't... I wasn't thinking, I was trying to defend myself and... I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't mean to..."

Yoongi inserts just enough of Daegu in his accent for what suspicions Taehyung had to melt away. With two quick strides the younger has his arms wrapped around his shorter bandmate, whispering slurred soothing words as he wipes away his tears with one hand. Yoongi gently tugs at it, and their hands slot together in a firm, comforting grasp as both awkwardly and softly weep.

"The tall one, that V... wow. He must be incredibly stupid to fall for that," Damien comments.

Namjoon wants to retort, wants to argue that Taehyung is in fact very smart, it's just that he feels things with every fiber of his being so this is the kind of situation where he can unwisely let his guard down, but he doesn't think there is any point arguing with big-headed Damien.

"Hoseok, he... he got scared, he wasn't himself, he... he shot at me, I wasn't thinking straight, I wasn't... I just... I killed him..."

Yoongi's hiccupping gasps and Taehyung's quiet murmurs blend together, the two of them buried so deeply in each other's arms that it is impossible to see anything besides their backs, heaving from sobbing. Damien, a firm believer that watching men cry would harm his fragile masculinity, groans and half-covers his eyes, but still intently following as the scene unfolds.

Hoseok's parents would probably be screaming at the TV in righteous anger now, Namjoon thinks. Taehyung's parents would probably be screaming too.

Perhaps even Yoongi's parents would be screaming. Namjoon wouldn't be surprised if his own parents are screaming. He feels like screaming himself.

"Come with me?" After some crying and more crying, Taehyung finally lets go of his hyung and offers in a shaky voice. "Come with me and Jimin. We'll find Jungkookie and we'll ride out the rest of the two days together."

Yoongi looks up with red-rimmed eyes.

"We have our own tree, it's really cool," Taehyung adds, as if it were some sort of added bonus.

Yoongi clears his throat, pulling Taehyung close again, eyes darting around the place, as if searching for hidden cameras. He lowers his voice.

"Ahem. About that... actually, I found a cave at the beach. No cameras there. We can... we can hide out there? Find a way... to disable the collars."

Beside Namjoon, Damien chokes out a laugh. "Most ridiculous thing I ever heard." Namjoon raises an eyebrow, and he continues: "Not that some of the past contestants haven't tried that. Get this, they can hide in the cave all they want, but just because it doesn't have cameras doesn't mean that it's safe. Their collars will still explode when the three days are up. And disable the collars? Pfft. Try to do anything with those with the light for their pulse still on, the damn thing explodes right away. Serves them right for trying to work around the system, hah!"

It's almost as if Yoongi could hear Damien talking about his doomed plan. He presses closer to Taehyung and adds, "I found Jin-hyung's body at the cave last night. I think he committed suicide. The light on his collar is off, so it's probably safe to experiment on it. I... I want to do some more tweaking and see what happens, all right? You... bring Jimin and Jungkook to the cave. It's on the beach, can't miss it. Okay?"

Taehyung nods silently, and Yoongi begins to speak faster, tongue technology working at full force. "Bring them... we'll get out of this together, all right? We'll figure out a way... we have to... Just trust hyung okay? We'll find a way. We'll find a way together."

Taehyung nods again, hesitating before he turns away, hand brushing over Yoongi's shoulder.

"Be careful, hyung," he murmurs, eyes soft and sincere, and the two Daegu boys part ways. Damien bursts out guffawing, while Namjoon just stares.

"Um, if he tried doing anything to the collars, he's just gonna blow up, right?" he asks in a timid voice. Damien continues laughing.

"Oh, don't be stupid. That dude's not going to do anything to the collars, ya know. He offed two of your bandmates already, for god's sake. He's just lying in an attempt to get everyone else to the cave, for whatever twisted reason. Can't wait to see."

But for what reason? Namjoon's mind runs through a thousand and one possibilities. Why would Yoongi possibly want a cave rendezvous instead of, say, just shooting Taehyung then and there? The boy has a bow, but it's useless when faced with a shotgun.

Suddenly, he knows.

"Bullets," he exclaims, snapping his fingers. "The shotgun probably doesn't have enough bullets to take everyone, he might not have many bullets left so he... maybe... set a trap in the cave? He was inside for a long time last night..."

"A trap, hmm." Damien muses, pursing his lips. "Makes sense to have a trap. And that kid called V walked straight into it."

Namjoon hates to think that Taehyung is trusting to the point of being foolish in any way, but this time even he has to admit that it is probably the case.