Taekook Oneshots

Run Boy Run

(A/n: few quick things before we get into the update:
1. https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co
2. https://youtu.be/bCgLa25fDHM
3. There's also a brand new book I'm working on entitled 'Institutional Racism: Key Sociological Studies' it's definitely a BTS fanfic idk what y'all are talking about...it's getting quite regular updates tho

Anyway, black lives matter and those are some resources you can use to help if you're able to! Love you all, and stay safe out there ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻💜)

when the fire burns, get out
when the river floods, get out
when the volcano explodes, get out
when the world ends, run
run and don't look back

There's a certain mystery to it, the Fall. It's captivating, in a dreadful way, and there's a sense of certainty tied to it. If you walk into it, if you let it consume you, that will be it. Your life will end. You have to run. You have to get inside, or you will be burned alive.

The world seemed so perfect, when we started out, when life was easier and people didn't have to hide. And then, brought on by seemingly nothing, the Falls started. The first time someone saw it, they ran towards it, convinced it was some kind of heavenly mineral being provided by a higher power.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

The Fall is just that, a fall, of light orange dust from the sky. But anyone that is outside underneath it, anyone who finds themselves trapped below it, anyone who can't find shelter will die. I've watched people go, stared at them as they scream and kick out, trying desperately to reach somewhere safe, their faces twisted out of sheer agony as the dust melts away every single part of the body.

I've seen people who got lucky, managed to crawl beneath a stairway, or hide under a door frame. I've seen them lose just a single limb, the wound instantly cauterised by this alien dust that destroys the skin, then the muscle, then the bone. It's a slow, awful process, one that people tell horror stories about.

"Don't even think about it, Kim Taehyung," my mother scolds, when she catches me staring longingly out at the Fall, and I jump, not having noticed that she was there. "It looks pretty, but that doesn't mean anything. If you go outside, the Fall will kill you." I nod, smiling sheepishly and stepping to one side as she moves forward to close the curtains.

For whatever reason, the Fall cannot hurt someone if they are inside. Of course, you have to close all vents, all windows, everything, as it could blow into your house on the wind. But four walls and a roof seem to be able to do what no armour can: protect a human being from the Fall.

You can always tell when the Fall is coming: first, there are forecasts forever being made, and even the possibility of that orange dust appearing in the sky above is cause for concern. Of course, sometimes they get it wrong, but that happens with everything. There are, however, a few ways to make a prediction for yourself.

If the sky suddenly becomes much darker, if the animals run for their burrows, if the pet dog is scratching to come inside, that's a key sign of the Fall. If the flowers close up, the trees seem to shudder, if the alarm begins to ring in town, that's a key sign. When that happens, shopkeepers beckon people into their stores, pubs open their doors, homeless shelters double their capacity.

The Underground train system that traverses our cities has a sign in every station that flashes bright orange when the Fall is coming, so that people can run down onto the platforms. The gates fly open, and even those without a ticket can make it down there without being questioned. Instead of elevators, there are massive ramps, so that even those who cannot run are able to get somewhere safe.