Park Soomi

"Unless who we're worried about is already inside."

"How do you—" A high-pitched shriek interrupted Yoongi, followed by a handful of confused gasps. The entire room flooded with perpetual darkness, every light source simultaneously snuffed out.

"What's going on?" I asked, frantically looking around as my eyes still adjusted to the change in brightness.

"Someone must've messed with the fuse box," Yoongi muttered while grabbing my wrist, establishing a physical connection amid all this confusion. A dim phone light soon illuminated Yoongi's face as he dialed a number.

"We have to go. I know Jimin's in trouble!"

"I'm calling Jungkook right now. Just stay put," he said sternly, "It's better than just aimlessly wandering around."

I let out a groan of frustration, racking my brain for any information I might've missed.

Think, Soomi, think.

A bathroom. Marble white floors. A large space.

A red door.

It suddenly dawned on me. Taehyung's house had a large assortment of different rooms. But one, in particular, came to mind: a bathroom at the far end of the house, unnecessarily large in size and tiled with beautiful, stainless white marble.

But its most striking feature was the luxury red accent decor, including a body-length mirror framed with an intricately designed, royal red border.

I glanced over to Yoongi, who was preoccupied with his phone. Feeling his grip loosen, I took advantage of his distracted state and ripped his hand off my wrist.

"Soomi, what the hell—" Yoongi's voice faded into the distance as I took off towards the back of the house. I pulled out my phone light, navigating through the crowds of people that murmured amongst themselves in confusion.

I quickly made my way past all the guests and ended up in an empty hallway. I lifted my phone with trembling hands, lighting up the path while dialing 119.

"119, what's your emergency?"

I found myself pausing, the reality of the situation finally hitting. Emergency. What if there isn't one? What if I've finally gone crazy from paranoia?

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" the voice spoke once more through the speaker.

But I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something really did happen.

"Hi, someone was stabbed. He's seriously hurt, and the attacker is still here. Please send help quickly," I said with a wavering voice.

"Miss, what is your current location?" he questioned. I recited Taehyung's address breathlessly while running down the hall. "An ambulance is on its way."

Hope rushed through my body as I hung up, despite not even knowing Jimin's actual state. All my worries were built on baseless paranoia, yet I couldn't help but scold myself internally while assuming the worst.

I shouldn't have let things get this far. I should have been able to prevent all this. How could I let him out of my sight?

"Why has the electricity situation not been taken care of yet!" a familiar voice shouted as I rounded the corner, a voice I quickly identified to be Taehyung's. "Ms. Lee, will you please go handle this?"

"Yes, sir," a female voice responded.

As I made my way past them, the light momentarily landed on Taehyung.

And...Minyoung?

Both their heads whipped towards my direction, and in the brief moment of eye contact I made with Taehyung, he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Wait, Soomi—"

I didn't stop for him since I could just barely make out the sound of Jungkook's voice in the distance.

"Jimin? Jimin, can you hear me?"

Gradually, faint shouts became audible, and I sped up my pace. Soon, I found Jungkook feverishly fiddling with the doorknob, his phone against his ear.

"Jungkook! Is Jimin okay?" I shouted. He looked a bit surprised to see me.

"He's not opening the door," he responded worriedly. I gestured for him to move aside as I pounded onto the door, pressing my ear against it.

"How did you get here so fast? I just told Yoongi where I was."

"I—" I stumbled back in shock after hearing the loud crack of glass shards breaking from inside. The two of us looked at each other with widened eyes.

"Jungkook, you have to break down the door!"

Without hesitation, he pulled out his gun, holding it firmly in his hands while forcefully kicking the door. The muscles in his face tensed, jaw clenched as he asserted as much power as possible with each swing.

But it was hopeless. The door wouldn't budge.

"Jungkook." A hand rested on his shoulder, and I felt relieved seeing Yoongi finally here. "We'll do it together."

Yoongi pulled out his gun also, the two taking their positions with the weapons held up against their chests. My breathing quickened, dreading what we may discover behind these walls.

"Soomi, stay behind us," Yoongi instructed. They gave each other a determined nod before simultaneously kicking down the door.

"Stop! No one moves, or he's as good as dead!" a man shouted the moment the door came crashing down. I peeked over the guys' shoulders, breath caught in my throat as I took in the scene before me.

The man held Jimin roughly in front of him like a shield, hovering a knife dangerously close to his throat. The only thing alleviating my pounding heart was the fact that Jimin was still alive and conscious. He struggled in the man's grasp, one hand pulling at the man's wrist, the other clutching tightly at his bleeding stomach.

"Weapons on the ground, and hands on your head, or I kill him."

I flinched forward after hearing these words, only to be stopped by Yoongi. He and Jungkook cautiously held up their hands, slowly kneeling to drop their weapons.

"And you! In the back! Step forward, where I can see you!"

"No, Soomi, stay where you are!" Yoongi shouted aggressively. The man threatened the blade closer to his skin, and I frantically pushed past Yoongi and Jungkook.

"W-wait! I'm moving. I'm moving." I stood between the two with my arms raised, anxiously biting my lip as I watched for his next move.

"What's next, man?" Jungkook questioned, almost as if he were taunting him. Even though the guy was wearing a mask, I could still sense a hint of uncertainty in his wavering eyes. "Exactly. There's nothing you can do. You're outnumbered, with only one way of here. So just give up now, and maybe we'll go easy on you."

"What makes you so sure I'm outnumbered?" he spat out. But hearing the way his voice slightly faltered, I had a feeling there wasn't anyone else coming.

"Let Jimin go, right n—"

"You people are in no position to make demands!" the man shouted, clearly getting agitated with the blade in his hand. "Kick those guns over. Come on. Now!"

Yoongi and Jungkook didn't hesitate to kick over their guns, the devices sliding across the floor and halting at his feet. He pushed Jimin to his knees, not once removing the knife from Jimin's throat or taking his eyes off of us as he struggled to remove the ammunition from the weapons. Once he succeeded, he threw the bullets off to the side, randomly dispersing them onto the floor.

As he pulled Jimin back onto his feet, we all froze in place, hearing the faint wailing of sirens in the distance.

"Who the hell called the cops?" the man shouted, clearly distressed as he ran his free hand through his hair.

"Now, there is no scenario where you're getting out of here scotch-free. So you can either do things the easy way. Or the hard way," Yoongi said firmly.

The man looked almost conflicted, eyes darting around the room in alarm as if he were debating what to do.

Before I had a chance to react, the man abruptly threw Jimin's body to the side, charging at the doorway with the knife pointed towards us. I froze, my mind unable to process the situation. Yoongi's arms suddenly wrapped around me. Before I knew it, we were tumbling to the ground out of the maniac's way.

After pulling myself together, I glanced back up in a panic. Jungkook wrestled with the man, his hand slightly trembling as he held off the knife pointed at his chest. As Yoongi stumbled back to his feet and rushed to Jungkook's aid, a pained groan diverted my attention to Jimin, who laid limp on the floor. I scrambled to his side, worry rushing over me as I saw the amount of blood from his wound.

"Please hang in just a little longer," I pleaded. "We'll get you to the hospital soon."

I turned back around after hearing a loud crash, alarmed by the scene before me. Jungkook leaned against a shattered vase, holding his arm in pain next to the bloodied shards. The man continued swinging his knife at Yoongi, who thankfully managed to dodge his attacks. As the guy swung once more, Yoongi grabbed hold of his wrist, forcibly trying to pull the weapon from him.

As the two struggled, I suddenly felt overwhelmed. What should I do? The question looped in my head as my vision grew hazy, eyes darting around the room in a panic.

Everyone's hurt.

My heartbeat quickened.

Yoongi's in trouble.

It felt like the air was getting sucked out of me.

I have to do something...

Soomi, do something!

A deafening gunshot came out of nowhere, piercing through my jumbled thoughts, and suddenly, it was like time had slowed. My eyes widened as a body dropped to the ground with an almost echoing thud.

I turned towards the source of the gunshot.

And as if I wasn't already completely shaken to the core, an even greater wave of shock struck me...

...as I discovered Taehyung at the door with a gun in his hand.

——
{a/n}
Lowkey just wanted to make a new banner of Tae with that gun 😂

But anyway, a heads up for the next 2 weeks: I have finals coming up plus a technical interview for an internship, so I'm not too sure if I'll be able to get out updates, but I'll try my best! Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts in the comments! ☺️💜