hoodwink -- bts

chapter thirty one [saccharine]

'Ji-U, could you...?' Midway through the walk, I found it difficult to keep up with everyone's fast pace. Jimin's whine sounded next to me as he struggled to walk on his own due to my weight. 

I nodded slightly and huffed to balance on my left leg. The ground along with swaying tree branches slowly became bleary and spots of sunlight on the ground filtered my senses. 

My mind racked through all the events that managed to take place within just two days. Somehow, I realized that trust was the most detrimental in most situations. If I had just kept to myself, perhaps death wouldn't seem so plausible. 

The familiar scenery rushed by with the scent of faint smoke coming from Taehyung's still lit cigarette. No one spoke a word, and Sae-bin stayed close to Jimin and I. It seemed that the brooding attitudes would clash once we were to arrive back to the lonely cabin in the woods. Had my legs not been so injured, I would have booked it and never looked back.

Reality was creeping upon us, and sooner or later the truth would be revealed about everyone, including  myself. 

Before I was able to process our location, the view of the large two-story log cabin was in view. Some of the windows had been broken, resulting in shards of glass sticking from the grass beneath. The path leading to Sae-Bin's grave had been mowed down completely, but the actual grave was not in sight. 

Though she was alive and breathing in front of me, I still could not process the fact that she was not deceased. Whoever had sheltered her until this point surely did their job at keeping her hidden. The pain riddling Jimin's eyes had said it all.

'I want everyone out of the house by sundown, excluding Ji-U. If I find a single person still lingering around, I'll kill you myself.' Taehyung let out an amused laugh afterwords, finding this tense dilemma entertaining. He swung the door to the cabin open and disappeared inside, leaving the rest of us to wallow in his words outside.

My eyes desperately searched the sky to see the position of the sun. It barely below a few of the pine trees, signifying late day. I tried my hardest to keep my thoughts organized. 

But I found it increasingly harder and harder to focus on the voices and sounds of nature surrounding me.

'Ji-U, are yo-'

I was completely out before Jimin could finish his sentence.

-

A vile smelling liquid was slowly shoved into my mouth, alerting me almost instantly. I coughed it back up, keeping my eyes closed by opening up to my other senses. Sighing, the person next to me forced my mouth to open wider. The grip was rough and unforgiving.

'Hand me the bottle.'  The deep voice seemed miles away, swimming in a box of water. 

More of the sour tasting medicine was trickled in, forcing it's way down my throat. My instincts were once again to gag it up, but I held it down for my own sake. 

Fuzzy images and spots still remained in my vision's path, blocking out all logical projections. I felt that my brain was taken to hell and back. After what I had seen and gone through, maybe this was the turning point. 

A soft whine slipped past my lips as pressure was added onto my right leg, then a tight wrapping bound the broken together. I screamed out as the grinding bone make contact, causing a sharp pain to prick at my back and legs.

The air around us was humid and dank, casting sweat onto my forehead and making it difficult to breath properly. My chest heaved with the lack of oxygen and the pain that came with mending my leg together. 

Slow, silent mutters were distributed between the two men in a language that I was not familiar with. Soft, warm light bathed my body, clearing away the dark aura that shrouded us.

For a moment, I had believed that I was dead with nothing more to reflect on than the life I had lived. However, a piercing prod to my leg broke me from the peaceful reverie and I knew that someone had managed to collect me after I fell to the ground. 

A slight creak of a door opened and closed, and my eyes sleepily opened to the light. My lens took a few moments to filter in the stream of light. I could see a slight outline of a figure leaning against the furthest wall with something in their hands. 

The more I stared, I realized it was a newspaper with print so fine that squinting enough could not help me read the large headlines. 

My glasses lay several feet away on a wooden table in shambles. I tried to avoid looking at the tray filled with surgical tools swimming in my own blood. The reek of rubbing alcohol and a sweet scent I couldn't identified permeated the air.

The young boy holding the paper spoke up, but his face remained completely emotionless.

'You're pretty lucky that Taehyung's so keen on keeping you alive. That nasty injury was fatal to begin with.' 

I was beginning to tire of everyone telling me that I was fortunate enough to live. My mouth opened as I conjured a retort, but the door reopened as Taehyung walked him with a piece of toast in his mouth. He seemed completely worn out, collapsing on the chair next to the unidentifiable boy and offered him bread as well.

Squinting my eyes in disbelief, I tried to sit up and found my hips to be sore from staying in one position for so long. 

'You're more trouble than you're worth, Ji-U.' Sighing, Taehyung spoke around the food, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. 

'Jae-hwan, please leave us now.' 

Nodding, the young man placed the newspaper down and left the room silently. I couldn't help but meet Taehyung's gaze, feeling the same sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

'Ji-U, I need you to be completely honest with me.' 

'Of course.' 

He released a sigh, looking towards the newspaper on the chair next to him.

'What is it that you want?'

-

tbh i've never felt more tired after babysitting korean children for three days straight :)(

-danny (& elise)