Oath

Chapter 27

Catching a glimpse of the small screen above the elevator where numbers suddenly started changing, one after the other, in perfect order, made your mouth run dry. Someone was coming up. And as far as you knew, only one person could use that particular elevator...Kim Taehyung. Each floor number added another heartbeat to your pulse. With a ding, the doors slid open. The second your eyes met you both froze as if surprised by the other's presence. His face turned to a frown in the blink of an eye; as expected, considering you were on the wrong side of the door. By some sheer luck, you have been the first one to arrive. Ten more minutes and you would have been caught. Now, pulling on the same thread of luck, you hoped the lies you crafted will hold.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He spoke in a voice that hinted more towards concern rather than anger. Or maybe a fine mixture of the two.

"I was hungry..."

"So?"

"So I went down to eat something."

"You could've ordered room service. I told you to stay inside."

"I'm sorry," your warm voice softened his expression. "It slipped my mind."

He pulled you closer and kissed your forehead. You closed your eyes in relief. It worked. Be it he was tired of fighting, or he really didn't catch the lie, it worked.

"After what happened, I don't want you walking alone in the streets. I'm not trying to make you a prisoner, princess. I want you to be safe."

"I'm ok."

He looked deep into your eyes for a couple of seconds and flashed a faint smile. He opened the door and waited for you to enter first. Bathed in the light of the setting sun, the suite had a reddish hue. Your body fell on the mattress with a small bounce as you traced Taehyung's movements. He went through the clothes in the wardrobe, picking two sets of T-shirts and trousers. He left one by your side and was about to head into the shower when you noticed something. Apart from his ruffled hair, and messy shirt, there were bruises on his arms and face, and a cut on the corner of his lip.

"Busy day?" you asked, pointing at your lip -as a mirror image of his- when he looked back in confusion.

"Yeah," he smirked; the same cocky feel, only this time more diluted. By the looks of it, you both have had stressful days.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"That doesn't seem like nothing."

"Drop it, Y/N, it's nothing. This ain't the first time you see me like this."

"True, but with everything that's been going on, I have a feeling there's more to this than you suggest."

He had no way of brushing this off, not with that determination to get everything out of him in your eyes. He sighed.

"Fine. I found the men that kidnapped you that day and took care of them."

"And by 'took care' you mean..."

"They're dead."

Words refused to leave your parted lips. You knew this was coming, and you would have most likely done the same for him, but even so it was hard to deal with such information. Killing people seemed like such a light thing to do for him. Flashes of the time he forced you into torturing the head of that group you fought with almost a month ago came to the surface.

"They deserved it, princess."

So did that man. Yet he could have been a father, a good husband, a brother, a son. He had the same right to live as you did, but in the fight for survival, one had to die. You would have felt good Taehyung avenged you, was it not for the pressure it brought with it. It was weighting you down.