The Butterfly's Cage

nine

On the other side of the city, the air was very thick with tension as the man ran through the narrow, dark alleyway. His heart pounded in his chest, matching the heavy rapid footsteps that echoed behind him. He deeply cursed under his breath, feeling the panic rise as he fumbled with his phone, trying to keep the connection with Jungkook alive. But his sweaty hands betrayed him, and the phone slipped, falling to the ground with a thick sharp crack.

"Damn it!" he hissed, skidding to a halt for a split second to grab the phone. But the sound of heavy footsteps behind him grew closer, and he had no time. He must had to keep running.

The alley stretched before him, narrow and dimly lit by flickering streetlights. The shadows just loomed large, and every corner felt like it held more danger. He could hear the men behind him, their shouts and footsteps growing louder. His breathing was ragged, each inhale burning his lungs, but he pushed forward, his survival instinct strongly kicking in.

He sprinted faster, weaving through the twists and turns of the alley. His mind raced just as fast, thinking of ways to escape, but the alleys were starting to close in on him. As he rounded another corner, his heart sank-he was met with a towering brick wall. A fucking dead end.

He spin around, his eyes wide with panic as he saw the group of men closing in. He looked up at the wall-too high to scale, but he had no choice. With a desperate grunt, he jumped, trying to grab onto the edge. His fingers barely scraped the top of the wall before he heard the deafening crack of a gunshot. Pain exploded in his leg.

A scream tore from his throat as he crumpled to the ground, clutching his leg where the bullet had ripped through flesh and bone.huge Blood pooled beneath him, staining the ground a deep, sickening red. He gasped for air, trying to stifle his cries, but the pain was too much.

The man whimpered, his mind a haze of pain and fear. He had tried to warn Jungkook, tried to save him from what was coming, but now it was too late. As the men closed in on him, he knew he wasn't going to make it out of that alley
Safely alive.

As the man turned back, his breath hitched at the sight of a dozen men standing in the shadows, guns in hand, their faces obscured by the darkness. But it wasn't their presence that chilled him to the bone; it was their eyes. Cold, unblinking, and staring straight at him- silent threats in human form. The silence was suffocating. One by one, they all slowly kneeled, their eyes fixed strongly on the ground as if in submission.

And then, from the darkest corner of the alley, a figure emerged. Tall, deadly, and cloaked in a sinister aura that seemed to drain the light from the space around him. His presence alone sent a wave of terror through the injured man, a terror that gnawed at his very soul.

A voice followed, low, dark, and dripping with malice.

"Tsk tsk... who do we have here?" The voice, rough like nails against glass, sent shivers down his spine.

His face was hidden by the dim light, but his reputation alone was enough to instill fear. That man lips curled into a terrifying smile as he slowly approached, his footsteps echoing like the toll of a funeral bell. "So, you thought you could save him, huh?" he asked, his tone almost playful, yet the undercurrent of anger was unmistakable. "You thought you could protect him from me?"

Without warning, he raised the gun again, and before the injured man could react, a second gunshot echoed through the alley. The bullet pierced the same leg, twisting agony shot through the man's body, and he screamed in pain, clutching the fresh wound.

"Arghh!" the ingured man groaned, his voice hoarse, eyes wild with suffering. He gritted his teeth, blood smeared on his lips, and spat out, "I just want to spit on you, you bastard... Kim fucking Taehyung."