❝ Ť̸̡̳̻̬̬̊̀̔͐h̴̙̻̄͛é̴̮̻͚̹̾͆͜ÿ̶̘́͑̀ ̷̢̩͊̀w̶̧͍̉̆͑̚͠ö̷̺́͐̂n̷̼̫̥̈̓͗͌'̶̮̖̖͛̀̕͠͝t̴̤̀ͅ ̵̯̥͙̋ͅͅả̸̬̣̞̼̂͠l̴̖̇́͠w̶͕͔͉̾͛̉̊͜͝ä̵̺̣̫͚̭͂̓̒y̵̢̝͙̪͂̚s̸̨̮̤̟̯͒͌ ̴͍̙̬̫̒̚̕ḅ̴̧͍̜̈́̕e̶̓̍͜͝ ̷̦̭̰͓̘̀͠͝t̶̡͆͌́͒h̴̛̫̯̉̅̏͝e̶̙̠̼̍̆r̵̡̟͈̜̃͋̒̎́ẹ̴̛̈͐͒́ ̷̛̗̺̜̂̑t̴̖̼͑̔o̵̠̒̌̽̊ ̷̯͌̂̚s̵̙͔͖̥͈̊͋a̸͎̘͎͋͒̓͜v̵͉̀͗͜ȅ̸͓̫̯͒̓̈͑ ̶̯̣͖̻̞̃̄͆͝y̷̧͙̟̜̙̐o̴͚͔͝u̸̧̥͙̳͗ ❞
——

Park Soomi

I was slipping in and out of consciousness, a numbing pain overwhelming my entire body. But once I caught sight of the rope binding my ankles and wrists, I forced myself awake.

The room was completely barren other than the chair I was on, a dim floor lamp, and a slow-moving ceiling fan.

When my efforts to break free proved futile, I attempted to scream, but no sound would escape.

Rather than my screams, the sound of whispers filled the room instead.

"They won't always be there to save you."

My eyelids began drooping down despite my efforts to stay awake, the world fading to black.

As quickly as the darkness settled in, brightness soon flooded back into my vision. I looked around in a panic.

Where was Yoongi?

"Yoongi?" I called out.

It felt like the walls were closing in on me.

"Yoongi, are you here?" It felt like I was dying.

I can't think straight...

Can't breathe...

Can't—

"Soomi, Soomi, I'm right here," he quickly spoke. The blurred image of his figure ran to my side.

I'm dying. I'm—

"It's okay. Take deep breaths with me, okay? Just in and out."

I was losing touch of my surroundings, but I locked onto his voice, the only thing still anchoring me to reality. With closed eyes, I focused only on Yoongi's breathing. After what felt like a painful eternity, that suffocating feeling subsided.

"Sorry for freaking out." I suddenly found myself apologizing. "I thought you left..."

"I promised I'd stay by your side, remember?"

They won't always be there to save you. I wanted to believe in Yoongi's word, but this voice held me back.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," I whispered. Yoongi stared at me, dumbfounded, not expecting this response.

"I know you're still shaken up from yesterday, but I promise it'll never happen again—"

"You don't know that!" I interrupted him. It grew quiet as I studied his face.

He looks almost...hurt?

"Don't you trust me?" he asked.

"Of course I do..."

"Then how can I convince you that everything will be alright?"

I pondered his question, but all that occupied my thoughts was last night. I never want to feel that helpless again.

"Teach me how to fight," I answered.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course, we could even start right now."

"Soomi..." Yoongi lifted my bandaged arm. "You literally just got hurt, and you want to learn how to fight? It's my job to protect you. You shouldn't need to fight for yourself."

"Yeah, shouldn't, but look what happened yesterday," I argued. "If only I knew how to fight back—"

"No! I don't want you to even think about fighting and risk getting hurt."

I groaned in frustration. Why is he acting like this?

"You don't understand how awful it is to feel so afraid," I muttered, the image of Yoongi fighting and wielding a gun scorched into my brain. He's tough. Strong. Fearless. "If you knew what it felt like, you'd understand why I don't want to be scared anymore."

"You think I don't know what it's like to be scared? Soomi, I don't want you fighting because I'm scared! Last night, I was beyond terrified. The thought that you could've—that it would've been my fault—"

All his words trailed off into incomplete ramblings, but I couldn't concentrate on piecing it all together.

"I'm not teaching you how to fight."

"Bu—"

"End of discussion." Just like that, he was out of the room.

━ ⋆⋅✯⋅⋆ ━

"So, I was thinking, maybe, we could open up that discussion again..." I said to Yoongi, the two of us currently in my home studio. He glanced over to me with a confused look as I raised my arm. "It's all healed up. There's no reason why you can't teach me to fight."

His face immediately fell.

"You haven't brought this up all week. I thought you dropped it."

Things did go on normally these last few days, the two of us pretending like nothing happened. But as the initial fear and frustration died down over the week, I had some time to think things over, to understand Yoongi's perspective.

"Look, I get it. You're reluctant to teach me 'cause it's supposed to be your job. But still, it's not like I plan to be some kind of sidekick fighting crime with you or anything," I said with a chuckle. "I just want peace of mind."

He remained quiet for a bit before letting out a sigh.

"Fine. We'll start with the basics."

"Yes!" I celebrated my victory quietly as he turned around.

"Oh, and just remember," he said, "you asked for it."

⋆⋅✯⋅⋆

My palms came into contact with the floor as I was thrown to the ground for the hundredth time in the last hour. I groaned in frustration as Yoongi extended out a hand.

"I thought we were going over basics," I grumbled. I straightened out my disheveled clothing and wiped off the light coat of sweat forming on my forehead.

"These are the basics. You were doing the moves fine before, but now that I'm fighting back, you're slacking."

"I'm not slacking! You're a trained fighter. Of course I can't take you on!" I complained.

"I'm not using all my strength. Come on, concentrate. We'll do something easier. I'll grab you from behind. You just have to get out of my grip. Remember, try getting me off balance and don't hold back."

I exhaled loudly before giving him a determined nod.

Without another warning, his tight grip enveloped my figure, pinning my arms down to each side. I struggled to escape his grasp, squirming around helplessly trying to rip his arms off. He's too strong.

Get me off balance. These words rang in my ears as his leg brushed against mine. I finally realized what to do.

I threw my head back towards Yoongi, the back of my skull connecting with his lower jaw. His arms loosened slightly from the impact, and his leg pivoted forward in between mine to stand his ground.

I swiftly bent down just far enough to grab the lower part of his leg and pull it up.

Yoongi grunted as his whole body collapsed to the floor behind me. I frantically turned towards him, worried I may have badly injured him.

"Did I hit you too hard? I'm sorr—" A short yelp escaped my lips as Yoongi unexpectedly swiped his leg against mine, causing me to trip forward. My eyes shut as my palms soon came in contact with the cold floor once more.

But the rest of my body felt warmth.

I blinked my eyes open, and as the view before me came into full screen, I immediately felt that same warmth rush to my cheeks.

My face was only inches away from his, close enough to see just how flawless his glistening, porcelain skin was. So close that I could trace out all of his facial features in such precise detail.

The moment brought back familiar feelings, like we were once again frozen in a photograph, a photograph I wished to preserve forever in my mind. All I could do was stare, and that's all he did as well. It was like we were the only two people in the world—

"Soomi? Yoongi? What's going on?"

⋆⋅❈⋅⋆

Min Yoongi

The sound of Jungkook's voice broke me out of my trance. I raised my head to see him staring at us with confused, judging eyes.

I grabbed onto Soomi's arm, twisting it as I flipped her around. Our positions were now reversed. She looked at me, flustered, as I pressed my arm gently against her neck. I leaned in so that my words would only reach her ears.

"If I had a weapon right now, you'd be dead. Lesson for today: if you get the chance, run."

I finally got off the floor and helped Soomi up in the process. She seemed dazed, eyes unfocused though they continued to pierce right through me.

"Hey, Soomi, could you leave us? I need to talk to Yoongi," Jungkook said. She slowly nodded before leaving the room.

"What the hell was that Yoongi?"

"Nothing. It's not what it looked like."

"Alright, then what was it?"

"I was teaching Soomi how to fight."

"Didn't look like much fighting was going on," Jungkook countered.

"Believe what you want," I said before shoving my way past him. He grabbed onto my wrist before I could leave.

"You know nothing can happen between you two, right?" he asked.

"That's fine, 'cause nothing is."

"I'm serious, Yoongi. You'll get kicked off the mission for having any romantic relationship with a client. You get that, right? Hell, you could even lose your job."

"Of course I know that, Jungkook. And I don't need the lecture since—"

A doorbell echoed through the entire house, interrupting me. The two of us looked towards the direction of the front door in confusion, the same question probably running through both our minds.

Who could that be?

——
{a/n}
Hmm wonder who that could be 👀

Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 😊❤️