13.

| 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥. |

Taehyung P.O.V

"But, there was a reason."

I spoke softly, subconsciously drifting away from my conversation with Yuri.

I couldn't even fully register her rudeness in the words she spoke about her not willing to ask me more about this.

Mindlessly, I answered, "He was. . . uncannily similar to me in many ways. . . reminded me of myself. I felt as if. . . by helping him, I was, in a way, helping. . . myself. Something I couldn't do before. Something I still get mad about. . ."

The silence around us only stimulated me to fall deeper into the depths of my memories;

memories of how I found Hyunjin, and how I helped him.

It was very similar to how I had found Yuri, actually. But everything else that had happened that day, was far from alike.

My hyungs and I were following an opposition gang, whom we liked to refer as 'The Enemy', who are, in present time, our biggest rivals, in hopes of catching them off guard, and ambushing them.

What we didn't know, was that they were actually going to raid a high-school.

Why were they doing that?

Well, because the school belonged to someone we had noted as our allies, since we had a common adversary, 'The Enemy'.

Under normal circumstances, we would've stayed hidden, unseen, until they were done with their raid, so, in their sense of false security, they would never suspect us to ambush them.

However, the moment we saw them taking the kids, who were merely fourteen to fifteen years old, hostage, we decided to act.

I was the one who had initiated this idea: if you could call me, recklessly running into the building and physically fighting with the enemy, leaving my hyungs no other choice but to come to my aid, and help, an idea.

The truth was that the scene I was witnessing was like seeing a revamped version of my own memories, and I couldn't bear that.

I couldn't bear to just stand aside and watch someone strip those teenagers' dreams and lives, and force them into this hell of a life, just like how someone had done to me.

I wasn't able to help myself properly before.

But this time, I had decided, I would help.

I would help those kids, so that they could continue to lead a normal life, and not worry about their safety everyday. 

So that they wouldn't end up like me.

People assumed that just because we have power now, our lives are perfect.

But, our lives are anything but perfect.

Sometimes, I wonder what my life would've been like, if I had fought back, all those years ago. If I hadn't murdered her all those years ago. . .

What my life would've been like, living normally, and peacefully, with my family, not having to worry about some strangers hungry for power coming to kill us in our sleep.

I couldn't imagine these helpless children being forced to leave that lifestyle.

Which was majorly why I ran headfirst into the raid, and began punching and pulling people away from each other.

I had told all the kids to gather their friends and go and hide inside a classroom, away from these people.

I distinctly remember a bunch of girls crying, and staring at my face, hysterically claiming that I was an angel sent from Heaven to save them all.

I smiled sadly, ushering them away.

An angel from Heaven?

Oh, if only they knew the things I had done. . .

'Things I had been forced to do,' a voice inside my head said.

My rather lonely pity party was interrupted when I heard the sound of a gunshot.

Screams followed, and I, horrified, ran towards the source of the sound.

How could they shoot in front of innocent kids?

An alarming thought had entered my brain; what if they had shot an innocent child?

With anger growing in every step I took, I found the culprit.

A masked man was pointing a gun at a kid with slightly overgrown hair, whose eyes were filled with horror mixed with anger.

At his feet, I saw, with a sinking heart, the still figure of another kid, who had blood flowing from his head, body eagle-spread, a broken mobile phone in his hands.

He looked to be around seventeen years old.

The masked man loaded his gun, still pointing it at the kid, who didn't waver one bit, and stood his ground firmly.

I silently took out my own gun, and shot the masked man. He fell to the ground with a thump. The kid jumped a little, staring at the now dead masked man's figure.

Then, he finally looked up to meet my eyes.

I saw a rush of emotions in his face; fear, which wasn't present before, relief, sadness, and gratitude. 

"Are you okay there?" I asked, slowly walking inside.

He nodded, his hair moving along.

"How did this happen? I mean, why did they shoot him?"

"He— he threatened to call the police," he said, speaking for the first time in front of me.

He continued staring his accomplice's bloodied face.

"Was he important to you?"

He nodded again, hesitantly, this time. Then, as if a sudden thought struck him, he looked up at me.

"Who are you? Why are you here, and why did you have a gun with you?"

He suddenly looked wary of me.

I stared at him for a while before answering, truthfully.

"I'm Kim Taehyung. I'm here, because I followed these people—" I gestured at the chaos ensuing out the window. I could discern my hyungs pulling a few people away. "—and, I have a gun because, like them, I'm a part of a Mafia."

He stared at me for a few seconds, mouth hung open.

"Are you here to kill me too? Why did you save me, then?"

He was asking all the right questions, and I just knew that I had done a very good thing by saving him.

"What's your name?" I asked instead.

"Hwang Hyunjin."

"Well, Hyunjin, I'm not here to kill you, because if I was, you would be lying dead by now. I saved you, because I hate people who attack innocent people without any reason, with a burning passion," I said, keeping my gun back in.

Hyunjin stayed quiet for some time.

"Thank you," he finally said, voice barely audible.

"Don't mention it, kid."

Hyunjin smiled at me, before bending down to grab his bag. The zip of his bag was open, and a few printed sheets fell out.

I went forward and picked one up, examining it.

"Dance? You like dancing?" I asked.

"Yes. I've been trying to get into dance academies, but none of them want to let me enter on a scholarship," he said, sadly.

"Are you a good dancer?"

"Awesome dancer," Hyunjin said promptly.

I smiled. "I like you, kid. Your attitude is commendable."

He grinned sheepishly.

"Out of all those academies you tried getting into, which one do you really want to enter?"

I don't know what made me do it, but I felt like helping him.

"L.T.M Dance Institution."

"L.T.M? The one in the city centre?"

"That's the one."

I suppressed a laugh. What a coincidence that, out of all the dance academies he could've chosen, he chooses the one I'm most familiar with.

"Will you promise to do your best there, should you happen to get a scholarship?"

"What? Of course! But. . . why?"

His excited face suddenly fell.

I ignored his question.

"And, should I happen to need your assistance, will you do your best to help me?"

"W-what? My help? In your Mafia business?"

"No, you won't have to join the Mafia. I just need someone who is out of other Mafia's radars. Someone who they would never expect to be my ally."

"But. . . I'm just a kid. How can I help you?"

I patted his head.

"Don't underestimate yourself, just because you're young. Age doesn't really matter when you wholeheartedly want to do something, and fully believe you can do so," I said, in a bittersweet reminiscence of my own childhood.

Hyunjin stared at me with slight admiration and awe.

"I'll only give you things you'll be able to manage, nothing complicated, or life-threatening. So, then, do you agree to my terms?"

He blinked twice, before the widest grin broke out on his face. The simple act had a very adverse effect on his face.

It was no longer sunken, and dull, and had a newborn shine of hope, and handsomeness was reflected in his face.

"Yes! I agree to your terms, or whatever," he said, still grinning.

"Awesome," I had said before we exchanged phone numbers, and other reliant means of communication.

"But," Hyunjin began, after walking in silence for two minutes, "how will you get me into L.T.M?"

I smiled.

"Let's just say that the owner of L.T.M and I go a long way back."

"Do you mean that he's your buddy? Or, even better, he's under your control, and is scared you'll kill him, or something?"

"Something along those lines, yep."

Hyunjin sniggered, causing me to smile again at him.

"Being in a Mafia has its own perks, you know?"

"Definitely, Mr. Taehyung," Hyunjin said, addressing me with my name for the first time. It felt weird hearing someone call me mister.

I put an around Hyunjin's shoulder's, and said,

"No, call me hyung."

x x x

A / N

as I said, every little thing has a place in this story :)

Here's a (short) insight into Taehyung's past life, and how he found Hyunjin.

Again, most of the character development will happen through flashbacks like this, because they've already developed, but y'all won't know how lol

This story is gonna be a long one, with lots of effort and work, so I hope y'all will stick with me because I'm extremely proud of the plot I came up with, and all it's twists

Vote and spam and comment because I said so <3
ilyyy

Ciao~

-xo-
:]