Hustlers || Taekook

Chapter 23

300,000 dollars.

That's how much he had left. But he'd run out of time. That final week had passed all too quickly and his deadline had been three hours ago. Earlier that day, right before he left the apartment to try and scrape together the last bit of his debt, he'd been overwhelmed with a sense of premonition. He was caught by a sharp, chilling gut feeling, that as he left now, by the time he returned, or if he was able to survive to make it back in one piece, everything would have changed.

And so he pulled Taehyung into his body and held him close as he closed his eyes and breathed him in. He kept his touch softer than it had been in months. Somehow, he knew that this would be the last time in a while, at least, that he'd be able to hold Taehyung in his arms like this. Able physically, or mentally, he didn't quite know. Taehyung obviously also knew it was the last day and the deadline was looming up immediately ahead, and he held on tighter than usual as he buried his face into Jungkook's neck, seeming reluctant to ever let go.

"Please come back."

Taehyung had whispered to him as Jungkook nudged him to move aside. He didn't reply. He couldn't promise anything. He heard Taehyung start to cry as he stepped out of the apartment and closed the door behind him. They both knew very well that Jungkook could very possibly die tonight. Jungkook had had a lot of things he wanted to say, too many, and they all contradicted with themselves and with himself, so he didn't end up saying anything.

It had almost been eighteen hours since Jungkook left. It was now three in the morning, and his deadline had been at midnight. He'd only managed to win a third of what he owed. But like some sort of preset alarm, at twelve o'clock on the dot, a few of Bangtan's members had shown up at the doors of the gambling den he was at, and he'd had to start a rioting brawl inside the den with all the other players involved to get the lackeys swept up in it and be able to slip through the chaos and flee. He'd been running for three whole hours. There was just no end to the Bangtan members they'd set loose after him. Jungkook wasn't sure what they were going to do to him if he was caught. Shoot him right there? Beat him to death? Somehow exploit him in some other way and make him disposable, usable property of Bangtan on the grounds that he'd been unable to hold up his end of the contract? Bring him to Namjoon, execute him at BigHit?

He tuned back into reality as he ran down a wide, deserted alleyway and hid himself away in the gap between buildings. He didn't know what he was going to do. He knew he couldn't keep running forever. There was no solution to this.

Shouts came from his left.

Jungkook pressed himself against the rough, concrete wall and cursed himself for running into a dead end between two rickety buildings. His only escape route was forward and to the right, down the wide, horribly open alleyway in the opposite direction to his pursuers.

He held his breath, barely able to concentrate over the sound of his pounding heartbeat billowing in his ears. He hoped they wouldn't come down this way. He hoped he wouldn't be found here. He strained his ears to try and pinpoint the movements of his pursuers, hoping beyond hope that they would pass by the entrance to this alleyway, and he'd run once the coast was clear. For a split second silence drew the dark streets taut with tension, before Jungkook heard one of them speak, distant, but still far too close for comfort.

"I know he's around here somewhere."

Jungkook swallowed, taking indecisive steps backwards, further into the shadow of the rundown, skeletal buildings. He tripped over his own trembling feet and down he went, crashing down on to the corrugated iron sheets scattered about the place. His heart leapt in his throat as the painfully loud sound split the still night air like a clap of thunder, echoing through the dark. The ensuing shouts at the discovery of his position and careless heavy footfalls thundered down the alleyway towards him. He bolted out of that dead end and ran down the alleyway encased in shadow, just narrowly missing diving headfirst into piles of trash that would dissipate into clouds of dust at the slightest touch. The garbage and unsightly scraps cast aside and dumped on the dirty pavement, eaten away by the tunnel of biting wind reminded Jungkook of himself. He hurtled past the swinging fragments of plaster dangling from the maze of broken scaffolding, claws of pallid moonlight reaching down to pierce his skin. Shouts elevated in volume behind him and he gritted his teeth, pushing his legs to move faster. He'd been seen, and now the chase was really on.