Hilde | Kim Taehyung fanfiction ✓

taehyung

36

Taehyung's eyes never left Arya. He knew she would give him a signal, a look, anything, to ask for help. But he also knew how stubborn she could be; he just hoped this wouldn't be the time she chose to be her stubborn self.

He found himself on the verge of launching at Everhart when he stabbed Arya in the thigh. Grinding his teeth, he pinched himself to hold back, waiting for Arya to give him a cue.

Remaining in his stance, his eyes roamed over Arya's face and body, unable to look away. He knew that her father couldn't have fatally stabbed her; Everhart had more points to make, like showing Arya how beneath him she was and how powerless he could render her. But Taehyung knew Everhart wasn't going to use words for that demonstration; his actions would speak for him.

Taehyung watched with difficulty as Arya stabbed Novikov in the neck, a sight that threw him back in time to his first kill two years prior. He remembered how shaky and dizzy he felt, walking wonkily all the way home, the screams of his first victim ringing in his head for days. How was Arya going to handle her first kill? He saw the blank stare in her eyes as Novikov's body fell, her eyes twitching but not blinking, the red more prominent than the white.

He squeezed his eyes shut, missing most of Everhart's words until the man's final, "You're welcome, kid." Taehyung opened his eyes to Everhart standing before him with a plastic bag and a soulless smile. He grabbed the bag and looked inside, feeling lightheaded as Thorne's olive-colored eyes stared back, mouth agape, skin gray.

"Thanks, Everhart. I'm going to hang Thorne's head on my living room wall," Taehyung said sarcastically, tossing the bag to the floor. The decapitated head rolled to Novikov's corpse, and only then did he see the knife wasn't in Novikov's neck or Arya's hands.

His eyes darted around the room and to Everhart. Arya's father didn't have the knife; it lay at Taehyung's feet.

Everhart then asked—or rather, ordered—Taehyung to leave, wanting some 'alone time with his daughter.' But Taehyung didn't move. Instead, he adopted a fight-or-flight stance. When Everhart turned his back, Taehyung quickly scooped up the knife, gripping it so hard his knuckles turned white and his fingers hurt. He knew what to do with the weapon once he saw Everhart pointing the gun at Arya's head, removing the safety.

As Everhart placed his finger on the trigger, Taehyung prayed for Arya to look at him, to ask for help. But it didn't take long to realize that wouldn't happen. He launched himself at Everhart just as a gunshot rang through the room, freezing him in his tracks.

Was he too late? Did Everhart shoot Arya?

He took a step back, trying his best not to look at Arya. If she was dead, head slumped with a gaping hole in her forehead, he would feel as though he had failed a second time, another person he could have saved.

As much as Taehyung tried to avoid looking at Arya, his eyes found her without him even realizing it. Her wide-eyed gaze met his, and he wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him, refusing to accept reality.

"Tae?" she murmured. Everhart fell to his knees and then to his side, facing Arya with the knife lodged in his back.

Taehyung stared at Everhart before shifting his gaze to Arya and back again. He quickly crouched, removed the knife from Everhart's back, and rushed to Arya to cut the ropes binding her to the chair. As the ropes hit the ground, she remained seated for a moment, a hand touching her injured temple, grazed by the bullet, her eyes fixed on her father's figure as his breathing grew labored.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before giving up on speaking. Attempting to rise, the stab wound made it nearly impossible. Taehyung placed her arm around his shoulders, grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her from the chair. Groans of pain escaped her lips, prompting him to apologize hastily as they made their slow exit from the house, leaving Everhart, Novikov's corpse, and Thorne's decapitated head behind.

They moved slowly, Taehyung supporting Arya, who winced with each step on her injured leg.

"Sorry for how everything turned out," he began. "I should've planned this way better and way ahead."

"Next time, I'll remind you never to wing it again," she replied, bringing a slight smile to his face when he heard her talk about a next time.

The further they got from the house, the more relief Taehyung felt. He was finally free from Thorne. He almost wanted to sprint and jump for joy. "Next time? What are we, now, partners in crime?" he asked prompting a breathy chuckle from her. "I better find a phone and call Jungkook, tell him to take Edith back home."

"Ah, right. Home. I won't lie, I feel a little empty now," Arya said. When Taehyung didn't respond, she continued, "For six years I've dreamt of this moment only for it to be so... dissatisfying. The good thing is I won't have to think about it anymore."

"I can name you one more thing you can think about now," Taehyung said, tilting his head to look at Arya. His grip tightened slightly on her hip, and a grin crept onto his lips as they both heard police sirens and saw the Mars lights approaching them.