Spine Breaker | BTS | AU

|Chapter 1|

Your eyes snap open to the sound of train doors sliding open loudly. Yawning, you stretch out your hands, unfurling each finger with a satisfying 'click' as you feel yourself come to your senses.

You don't know how long you've been asleep on the train, but it seems you're not the only one who's sleep-deprived as you note the people around you who seem to be nodding off or gazing at their phones whilst barely keeping their eyes open. The compartment is packed with people of all ages, ranging from the old man drooling into his parka as he sleeps to the gurgling baby squirming in in her pram a few rows down, although the majority of people here seem to be workers heading for the city.

You fully wake from your stupor to the sudden sound of smashing glass on the other end of the carriage. As if by instinct, you find yourself craning to find the source of the commotion, along with the many other people whose sleep was rudely cut short by the loud sounds.

To your shock, you spot an old man kneeling on the ground, furiously rubbing his hands together whilst a taller, bulkier man towers over him, arms crossed as if he's trying to hold back his anger, but you spot the figure's knuckles whitening in fury as he grips at his sides.

"Lick that up right now or you're giving me a refund!" The burly man barks.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir! Please let me go! I promise I won't be of trouble-

He barely finishes his sentence before the brutish figure roughly grabs at his collar, pulling him up before sending him keeling into a group of office workers who try to hold the poor guy straight. No one tells the thug to stop though.

Your eyes narrow in fury. The younger man has now grabbed the frail figure as he desperately pleads with him, earning him a kick in the side as the onlookers try to avoid eye contact with him as they slowly inch away. Cowards. You've hesitated long enough. Quickly, you turn to the man next to you, whose ogling the whole situation with his eyes wide open.

"Excuse me, sir, but would you mind calling the police?"

He stares at you, his mouth suddenly dry as he spots your pallid face and blood-shot eyes looking up at him. Your deep voice seemed to have shocked him more though, having sounded like something out of a horror movie as it's muffled by your mask.

"Excuse me?" He gasps.

"I said, would you mind calling the police, sir?" You point at the two brawling figures nearby. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"There's no service down here, ma'am."

"Oh." You close your eyes in embarrassment and frown. "Of course, my bad." You sigh, cursing your tired mental state. You're extremely glad you're wearing your mask right now because you're certain you would scare the living daylight out of people with how exhausted and pale your face looked. Unfortunately, you don't even remember the last time you'd had a proper shower or eaten a decent meal since you'd been on the run from home. It all seemed so long ago.

As you contemplate on whether you should risk your cover by getting up and intervening, you notice the man next to you eyeing you suspiciously, wondering why you don't bother to take your own phone out. Realising his eyes on you and what's probably running through his mind, you give him a quick laugh and say: "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that my phone's dead." An obvious lie, but you hide it behind your feigned chuckle. Your phone is probably lying broken in some puddle in a dark alleyway back in Daegu. Not that you'd miss it though; it probably had a tracking device on it, just like all the other electronic devices you've ever had.

Before he can reply, however, you find yourself ambling towards the two figures, having decided that this escalating argument had gone on for long enough and you can't bear to watch the old man getting beaten up. It brings back too many painful memories. He's currently pressed to the wall of the train as the other, larger man continues to bark at him. His anger still doesn't seem to have died down yet because you spot the spittle flying from the edges of his mouth as he rudely addresses the other man whose knees are furiously knocking together. Poor guy.