runaways | knj + ksj

[nine new recruits]

chapter nine
puppies don't always have a clean soul

+namjoon;

"of fuck!" jin exclaimed. "what do you mean, 'oh, fuck'?"

namjoon could see the boy's eyes shaking with fear (along with his whole body he might add). ignoring jin's question, namjoon glanced around him, nervously. "we need to get inside."

"get inside? no! first, tell-"

"jin, please!" namjoon pleaded, hearing a car slow down from the street behind him. jin looked around him trying to weigh the options in front of him; either be the stubborn boy he was born to be and wait for namjoon to explain or go inside his ghost-like apartment from the lack of his best friend's presence. jin chose the former.

although, he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

namjoon heaved out a exasperated sigh and grabbed jin's hand, pulling them both upstairs. when they reached the top, reluctantly, jin pulled out his keys. he shoved the keys in and pushed open the door. namjoon smiled, noticing jin's "mouth" slippers from that fateful night they met. when the door sounded shut, namjoon ordered in a chilling, commanding voice, "sit down."

jin crosses his arms in defiance. "you're not the boss of me namjoon. hell, we barely know each other..."

jin was rambling on, but namjoon stopped listening. he did notice though, that jin talked a lot with his hands and - frankly, his entire body - when he was angry? scared? annoyed? namjoon couldn't tell how he was feeling. this was all too much social interaction to tell the truth. the room was incredibly clean, especially for someone living alone with a low paying job.

"I don't even understand why this is-"

namjoon interupts. "you live alone?" jin stiffens at this querry.

"I live with my roommate alex. she's, uh... gone at the moment. I don't know where. she kind of-"

interrupting, and not exactly listening, namjoon moves towards jin, "yeah, yeah, yeah." he sets his hands on jin's broad shoulders. jin noticeably blushes. namjoon forces himself to stay instead of retracting from the obvious endeerment. he pushes down indicating for jin to sit on the couch. jin was extremely quiet and attentive.

"listen, jin. I don't know how to explain this but the person I work for-"

"oh, yeah the guy from the park that night." well, was quiet. namjoon shakes his head.

"no, that was just one of his underlings." he notices jin's face fall a little and adds, "but good guess!"

taken aback from his momentarily soft heart, namjoon tries to continue, "um... anyway, he doesn't exactly like for outside people to know about our job." namjoon puts his hand up before jin could respond. "look, I know that you don't know anything. hell! even taehyung knows you don't know anything. but my boss thinks you do, so there's no way me or tae could ever disagree and say you don't. do you understand?"

jin nods, though he didn't really understand all that well. "i... thought you only spray painted..."

namjoon figured it was best to sit next to jin for this one. "I spray paint for myself and do...  other things for the... um... team."

"what does all this have to do with me, namjoon? I'm a elementary school teacher! I cook and clean! I hate parties, and I'm a lightweight. I'm a gay man with no hope of love life!" with that last sentence hanging in the air, both namjoon and jin's eyes grew as wide as the grand canyon. namjoon looks away for a moment to get a hold of the rising blush on his cheeks. he decided it was best to ignore the outburst.

"I can make this right, jinnie." namjoon thought about comforting the older, but his hands wouldn't move. he thought about holding him in his arms, kissing the top of his head, but his body was so stiff.

"that's the thing, namjoon. what if you can't? I don't even know what all... bad you've done in the world." namjoon flinches, a memory of a young boy flashing before him. he shakes it off and answers, "if I bring you there, maybe..." he leads off, but then says with confidence, "no, I know they'll accept you! I can convince the boss to let you live."

jin takes the bad part of what namjoon said. "live!? I might not live?!"

"don't worry you'll have me and taehyung!" namjoon silently sent a prayer that tae would be willing to help him.

-

after another hour of explaining, namjoon finally got the brunette haired boy to calm down and listen to him. namjoon couldn't tell him everything, given that could get namjoon's own hide in trouble. jin slept on the couch, stirring every now and them. namjoon couldn't blame him. he didn't want to remember the first time he was brought into the... team.

10 years ago...

a small, eleven year-old emerged out of a dark alley. the word, "fear," written all over his worn-out body.he struggled to catch his breathe looking for a place to hide from the people chasing him. all he wanted was food for his sister... and maybe a little extra for himself. geongmin will have to deal with the burnt to a crisp chicken stuffed in his pockets. the store's owner had grabbed when he was caught. lucky for him, he had been caught enough to know how to slip away fast. he heard shouting in the distance. he tried to quickly analyze the area around him for a sufficient hiding spot. when he was about to give up, he heard a whisper come from one of the doors of the beaten buildings around him.

"psst." namjoon found the source of the young voice. the young boy looked to be around his own age. he resembled a puppy with piercing eyes. "hurry! through here," the boy said in a hushed voice. namjoon reluctantly joined him inside. the boys walked through a small corridor with what resembled what would be a servers hallway.

the boy introduces himself as kim taehyung. "this used to a real fancy hotel in the old days, but the owners moved to another country a long time ago." facing namjoon, smiling, he adds, "so don't worry! you're safe." namjoon smiles back. it was weird to smile after so long doing so forcefully.

after a few hours of playing various games and talking with the new boy, namjoon felt it was time to go back to his sister. "I ought to get going, taehyung."

the younger - only by a year - pouts and flashes a strong pair of puppy eyes. "awe, nooo. you should bring your sister here to live! we could all be a new family. we already have the same surname." young namjoon thought he brought up a good point, so he decided that was what was to happen.

a month passed and the three children didn't necessarily have plenty of food, but with the three of them working (stealing) they never were entirely out of food. one day they seemed to have stolen from the wrong person because taehyung and namjoon woke up to an unfamiliar room and grown men around them. seven other boys, in the same situation as them, sat in a line next to them. all namjoon could think about is where his sister was at. he hoped she got away, so much that he sent out a silent prayer that she had. oh, how wrong he was. the boys were trained and dealt with various missions, not entirely understanding what was happening until it was too late. namjoon was at least glad to be around taehyung. though, some days he wondered, 'if I hadn't met taehyung on that day, would things have gone differently?'