The Faulty Ones

Chapter 7| It's Just Business

Taehyung’s eyes fluttered open slowly. He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep for or where he was. His vision was a little hazy due to the drugs. He let his eyes wander around the room, which was useless since it was dimly lit and everything looked fuzzy. Once again, being afraid of the unknown got to him. The smell of blood and mold mixed in the air and flew up into his nostrils, making him scrunch his nose up in repugnance.

Taehyung tried to open his mouth but was stopped by a bandana that was wrapped around his mouth. His wrists were tied behind his back with a thick itchy rope, it poking his skin, making him even more uncomfortable. Both of his ankles were also tied with rope around the chair legs.

He was sitting on a wooden chair that seemed ready to fall apart. It had knife hacks in it, dry blood that looked like it would never come out, and other things that he couldn’t describe. Taehyung was certainly not the first person in that chair nor would he be the last, unless the chair decided to fall apart.

Sitting there in the dark for a couple of hours tied up made him frustrated and apprehensive. The longer he sat there gave him more time to think about what was happening and what might happen to him seemed to make his mind go crazy with all the possible outcomes. And the fact that he was helpless, not able to move, made it worse. After a couple of minutes of squirming around, trying to break free from the rope, and the chair squeaking against the floor as it wobbled, Taehyung decided to give up. It was no use. He leaned back in his chair, his breathing heavy, and closed his eyes, waiting for whatever was going to come.

Jungkook opened the door slowly, it creaking as it opened further out. His eyes landed on Taehyung’s figure. It was dark so Jungkook couldn’t see him too well. Taehyung’s head was tilted back and his shoulders were slumped down. To Jungkook he already looked dead.

Taehyung’s head jerked forward as he heard Jungkook’s footsteps patter against the concrete flooring. He fixated his eyes on Jungkook’s bulky outline as he moved. Taehyung was hoping that they had forgotten about him so he could plan to make an escape since his previous attempts were unsuccessful. That’s what he hoped. He knew it wasn’t going to happen.

A smirk appeared on Jungkook’s lips as he turned the lights on. Taehyung closed his eyes from the sudden blinding light but quickly opened them again, afraid of the darkness behind his closed eyelids.

Jungkook walked up to him and pulled the red bandana that covered his mouth underneath his chin. “I see you finally woke up,” Jungkook said.

“And I see you finally remembered me. I’ve been awake for a while now. Just waiting on you,” Taehyung said with a bitter smile.

Taehyung was acting as if he wasn’t scared but in reality, he was petrified. But he didn’t want his abductor to know that. His throat felt tight, as his lungs were collapsing, making it hard for him to talk normally. His heartbeat slowed down as his breathing did, scared to make any sort movements.

“You have a smart mouth. Keep talking like that and you won’t last long here.”

Jungkook walked over to a metal table that was to the right of Taehyung. It had different types of weapons and tools, some Taehyung didn’t even know the name of or seen before. He failed to notice it earlier. Perhaps it could have helped him with escaping.

Jungkook picked up a knife from the table. He turned it over, examining it before walking back in front of Taehyung. His footsteps echoed throughout the empty room. As if each footstep counted how much longer Taehyung would continue breathing. If the footsteps stopped so would his lungs.

“Let me introduce myself.” Jungkook smiled. “I’m Jungkook.”

His smile sent chills down Taehyung’s spine. Cold droplets of salty water dripped out of his pores and ran down his body. A cold shiver ran through his whole body as his arm hairs started to stand up.