Unedited.

Juliana's POV

My eyes fluttered open tiredly, to the expectation of seeing a clear path to the wall in front of me, but instead I saw a face; a handsome one sleeping peacefully. I wanted to scramble and run out of embarrassment and disgust, much like last time. But I could feel myself smile a bit.

That's when Taehyung shifted slightly, as he ran his fingers through his black locks, a bit of his red hair peeking out from the top of his scalp. He groaned quietly, and his eyes opened to look down at me.

I gasped, pulling away a bit. "Sorry,"

Taehyung gave a crooked smile, "for what?"

"For dragging you here." I whispered nervously. I'd never been this way around him before — awkward and weird. I hated it. I desperately wanted to roast this guy.

Taehyung shook his head, scooting closer. I scooted back. "You didn't drag me here. I came here by choice."

My eyebrows furrowed, somewhat suspicious. I didn't believe him — I refused to think he actually cared about me, for his behaviour before proved otherwise. It was all too sudden, and I needed to know the truth.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked gently, but my voice remained firm.

Taehyung looked taken aback at my question, his eyes narrowing with hurt. "What do you mean?"

"You've never been kind to me before — why now? How do I know you're not doing this just to get out of here?" I whispered, insecurity laced in my tone.

Taehyung sat up, eyebrows furrowed. "How can you say this when I helped you? When I told you about my mother?" His eyes looked hurt, but he tried to hold it back. "You seriously think I'm like one of them?"

I look down to avoid his gaze, regretting every negative thought in my mind. I never would've expected that response from him. I never expected him to be so open and raw.

Taehyung scoffed at my lack of response, "I may have been a dickhead to you at first, but that was because I was ignorant. Don't mix that up with who I am — because I'm not who I was."

He huffed at my silence, because I had nothing to say... I couldn't form words. To accept that he cared about me seemed surreal and it made my mind twist further in on itself.

Before I could get a word out, Taehyung got up and left the room.

***

Awkwardness was an understatement in this case.

Every time I saw him, I didn't know what to say. So, I avoided him.

It broke my heart to see Taehyung so hurt — and I felt guilty for causing it. He wouldn't even glance at me. To be honest, I hated that it affected me so much. Usually, I would've shrugged it off and ignored it, assuming his actions to be childish.

But I genuinely cared about Taehyung's feelings. I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have felt the guilt and empathy rise in my chest. But I felt it. I didn't deserve his kindness like he offered. I was too stuck in my own head to even notice that he truly cared.

As the day went on like normal, but I stayed in my room for majority of the day, not willing to face what I caused to Taehyung. That's when I heard a knock on the door, and I mumbled a quiet 'come in'.

Inside stepped Namjoon, who gently closed the door behind him. "Hey," he said and I returned his greeting with a small smile.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and Taehyung, but you two have been in your rooms all day and it's strange." Namjoon said gently, as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I was just asking if you were okay, because Tae clearly isn't."

My gaze flickered up to his curiously.

"He usually acts like this when he's sad or depressed about something — which hasn't been since his mother... died." Namjoon gulped.

My eyes softened, and I bit my lip in guilt. "I really fucked up."

Namjoon moved to sit next to me on the bed. "Why don't you go talk to him? You guys can figure it out, I'm sure."

I shook my head, burying my face in my hands. "I don't think he wants to talk to me."

Namjoon pursed his lips in disagreement. "I beg to differ,"

I fell back on my bed with a frustrated groan and curled into a ball of insecurity. I bit my lip, as tears threatening to fill my eyes. "Thank you for your help, but I would like to be left alone," I muttered coldly, watching Namjoon go to the door and open it.

"Whenever you're ready, I would suggest going to talk with him," he smiled gently, before leaving the room.

Night eventually was upon us, and I finally gained the courage to step out of my room. I headed toward the kitchen, helping Ryujin and Lisa make dinner. I remained silent the whole time.

They didn't question my presence and they didn't pry, almost knowing what occurred without asking.

As I started preparing plates, I heard Lisa groan in irritation.

"Shit!" Lisa exclaimed, "we're out of veggies,"

Ryujin sighed, "do we have enough for tonight?"

"Only for a couple people, and there's ten of us."

I turned to them immediately. "I'll go get some, they usually sell them in town." I said politely.

Ryujin's eyebrows furrowed, "really, it's fine. We can do without for one night."

"I've lived here my whole life, I can manage,"

"Juliana-" Lisa tried to call after me.

"Really guys, don't worry." I said with a small smile. I opened the door and left.

I needed to get out of there.

My steps were fast and quick as I made my way through the field, and toward the dim lights of the town. I was too caught in my own thoughts that I was barely aware of my impulsiveness — my strange need to get out and risk myself. But all I wanted was to escape the pain building in my chest.

The vision.

Taehyung.

The nightmares.

Once I made it into the town, I felt a wave of nostalgia come over me. Seeing the same huts and broken down buildings I grew up with, and same townsfolk selling vegetables and fruits. I walked toward the small markets, flipping a coin to the people selling them and shoving the vegetables in my deep pockets safely.

Swiftly and efficiently, I made my way back out to the exit. Everything seemed normal, no creeps, or any thieves. Until, I felt something strange laced in the normalcy. It was almost too perfect*.*

I listened carefully, the only sound was the grass beneath my feet crunching softly.

I breathed slowly. I was waiting. For the flying fist, and gang of guys to rob me — anything. But what came was what I least expected.

Before I could process it, I heard a swish. I turned, as an arrow zoomed through the air. My blood ran cold. My heart thumped in my ears.

Run.

I scrambled to escape it, but the arrow cut through the air faster than my legs could take me. Within a split second, the arrow plunged into my shoulder and I gasped in pain.

"Fuck," I exclaimed, my breathing unsteady.

Thankfully, the arrow wasn't anywhere in my legs — so I still had the chance to run. I ran as fast as I could, the yelling of men following behind me, and more arrows flying through the air in attempts to catch their target.

"You fucking traitor!" One of them yelled at me.

"Gem whore!"

"Die with them you bitch!"

The blood gushed out of the wound, making it harder to run and escape from the sprinting men. I knew that returning to the cottage would cause larger issues, so instead, I ran into the long grass and hid.

I heard them enter, calling my name and searching for me; but to no avail. They cursed under their breaths, and I covered my mouth to steady the painful breaths. The arrow in my shoulder not helping my stealthy hiding.

Once they left, and I heard no more sound, I pulled the arrow out of my shoulder and let out a cry of pain. "Shit!" I cried, before throwing the arrow away.

As fast as I could, I made it back to the cottage before anyone else could launch another attack. But once I opened the door, it was like my senses skyrocketed. Every ounce of pain I grew hyperaware of as the shock wore off.

I could feel my face was dripping with sweat. My shoulder was numb and aching. My sight blurry. My ears ringing.

I noticed Jimin rush to my side before I could collapse on the floor, holding me up. "God, Juliana," he whispered.

I tried to say the words I wanted to say, but they came out more as mere mumblings and nothing more. Jimin sighed, bringing me over and lying me down on the couch gently.

"Where the fuck is Tae?" Yoongi cried, "doesn't he know how to deal with this?"

That's when loud clattering echoed through the small cottage and Taehyung came sprinting into the room. His eyes instantly met my form, and his eyes widened with horror. "What the fuck happened?" Taehyung exclaimed with worry, voice the most broken I've ever heard it.

Jimin's eyes watered with fear as he gazed at his blood filled gloves, "she's bleeding,"

"Talk about this later Tae, can you treat her?" Seokjin asked firmly, his silly demeanour completely vanished, so much I almost didn't recognize his voice.

"I'll try," Taehyung muttered, sprinting back into his room.

Jimin caressed my head gently like a mother caring for her child. "You're gonna be fine, just stay with us." He said, his gaze glued to my face.

That's when Taehyung returned, holding a box full of random things that were foreign to me — I didn't recognized any of the tools. "I need privacy," he said in an irritated tone, and Jimin separated from me, following along with the others to leave the room.

Taehyung knelt beside me, eyes meeting my own. "You have to take your shirt off," he said firmly, pulling my shirt over my head. I groaned in pain, feeling the fabric peel from the wound.

I didn't feel uncomfortable around Taehyung whatsoever, my mind not caring if he saw me. I think we were both so caught up in worry to even notice.

"This is going to hurt a bit," he said gently and I nodded.

He dabbed a bit of a stinging liquid on the wound, and I bit my lip to hold back the scream racking on my throat. I winced and my body tensed, Taehyung noticed and he looked at me gently.

"I know, I know." he said compassionately. "It'll stop soon,"

"Taehyung..." I managed to croak out. "I'm so sorry about earlier..."

Taehyung shook his head, "that doesn't matter right now — what matters is that you heal."

I bit my lip and nodded as he took a strange white cloth, and wrapped it around the wound, sealing it in.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently, taking his gloves off.

"I'm fine,"

Taehyung smiled slightly, but restrained — as if he didn't believe my response. He leaned closer to me, pulling a piece of hair from my sweaty forehead and tucked it behind my ear. I exhaled, my shoulders relaxing slightly from the comforting gesture.

"I thought you were mad at me...?"

Taehyung's eyebrows furrowed, "I'm not angry, I was just-"

"Hurt," I finished, gaze avoiding his and averting to the dark walls. "I understand. I'm sorry I can be a bitch sometimes."

"No." He responded firmly, gaze roaming my face. "You've grown up not trusting others, and I understand that."

"But your feelings are valid, Tae. You were hurt,"

Taehyung smiled gently at me, "your feelings are valid as well as mine."

Our gazes stayed on each other's for a long moment, not daring to look away. My chest tightened with excitement and comfort, giving me the sudden urge to grab his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "Thank you,"

Taehyung squeezed my hand as if reading my thoughts, "you should get some rest, Annie. I'll talk to you in the morning."

I nodded, not realizing my tiredness until he stood up to leave, and my eyes fluttered shut.

[A\N]

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