bodyguard ; kth

39 ; don't shoot!

"and the winner is...mae aera!!"

the moment i heard her name, my heart stopped.

the deafening applause from the crowd echoed throughout the hall. aera sat in her seat with wide eyes. jaeho and junsoo rose onto their feet with the rest of the crowd, clapping for her with big smiles on their faces. she slowly stood up, covering her mouth in shock. jaeho pulled her into a tight hug, whispering words like, 'congratulations' and 'i'm so happy for you.'

with a beamed expression, aera made her way along the rows of the cheering audience. everyone was congratulating her as she walked towards the stage.

i was watching with anxious eyes, averting from aera to jin who stood on the other side of the stage. i could see how he looked at aera like a prey hunting its victim.

aera was halfway to making the stage. gun had made it on the same end of the stage of jin. he approached the male and tapped jin's shoulder. my breath got hitched in the back of my throat.

no, stop. he's going to-

i couldn't finish my thought when i saw jin, with lightning speeds, whiz around to face gun. without giving gun a chance to react, jin attacked him by stabbing his eye with a tiny blade. gun cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

it was all up to me now.

aera was nearly at the stage, shaking hands with people and saying thank you. i looked back at jin but he was gone. i gritted my teeth in anger, cursing at him.

my eyes went back to aera, watching her closely as she stepped onto the stage. the crowd went wild. an explosion went off and confetti fluttered around aera on stage. i kept my eyes trained on her, feeling my heart beat wildly.

there was too much going on at the same time, i couldn't keep up. the loud cheers from the audience, the confetti flying everywhere and most importantly, the killer who was lurking closer to aera.

focus, taehyung.

i closed my eyes and took a deep breath, recollecting myself. i told myself, 'calm down, taehyung. think about your training. you can do it. nothing can stand in your way of saving aera. you can do it, you have to. you love her, don't you? then what are you waiting for? go protect her.'

something snapped inside of me, bringing me into a new light. i opened my eyes, feeling alive and full of determination.

nothing's going to get in my way.

the crowd continued cheering for aera as she got gifted her award. she faced the audience and smiled brightly, holding her award up.

look for him, taehyung.

my eyes carefully scanned the stage, searching for jin. there were so many backstage people that he could easily use to blend in. i kept looking, hoping to find him before anything happened.

and then...i saw him.

jin stood closer to the stage. his face was nearly hidden by the fake camera he held on his shoulder. he aimed the camera so it was pointed at aera. my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. why was he directing the camera at her? i squinted my eyes so i could take a better look at the camera. there must be something...

then i saw it.

a small gun was lodged in between jin's hand and the camera, perfectly finding it from everyone. that's why the camera was aimed at aera, he was going to shoot.

this is it.

i held my gun and started counting down.

five.

aera stood in the middle of the stage, smiling down at the audience.

four.

i sprinted across the stage to where she was standing. she looked at me with confusion.

three.

i wrapped my arms around her.

two.

jin pulled the trigger.

one.