I'll Protect You, Maknae||TaeKook FF ✓

Chapter 22.

The members felt dizzy. They didn't understand how all of this could be real. Jimin started shooting off a million questions as they frantically began to follow the man through the woods. They asked the man all about the colony and what took place there, and the man was more than willing to tell them everything he knew.

The members hearts broke when they realized the possibility of Jungkook and Taehyung being beaten or traumatized or murdered had just become all too real. They prayed and prayed that the two were safe and okay.

The man started asking about them and how they had gotten to be new recruits to help guard the woods. All of them lied through their teeth.

"Who recruited you?" The man asked.

The members looked nervously at each other.

"It's a secret," Hobi blurted out.

"Ahh, good." The man seemed to approve of that answer. Hobi turned and saw Jin giving him a thumbs up. The man asked if they'd been given the proper equipment and nobody knew what that meant.

He was referring to guns.

The members froze. None of them wanted guns or to shoot anyone, they just wanted their brothers back.

"N-no," Yoongi said hesitantly. The man said he'd introduce them to others who would be able to provide them with guns.

They trudged through the forest forever, walking through both day and night. The man introduced them to others who handed them guns. The members immediately shoved them into their backpacks with no intention of ever using them, but they figured it'd be suspicious if they didn't accept the offering.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the members saw old looking buildings in the distance.

"Is that it?!" Jimin screamed. The man they'd followed nodded. The members hearts ached and swelled at the same time. They realized they were SO close to their members. That is, if this is where they'd really ended up. If Jungkook and Taehyung weren't here, or here but dead, they didn't know what they'd do.

The members ran to the edge of the tree line to get a better look at the colony.

"You can't go in. Our job is not to go in, but to stay in these woods and shoot whoever tries to come out," the man responded. He said he needed to depart and left the members alone at the tree line. They started whispering to eachother about how the hell they were supposed to see if their two youngest were even in there.

"We have to go in," Jin said.

"But how?" Hobi asked. "We have to be careful not to get captured too. We can't save them if we're stuck here."

"That's if they're even here," Yoongi said sadly. The members all stared at eachother with a silent hope in their eyes. They decided to scout out the colony from within the forest just to see what they witnessed, and what they witnessed absolutely broke them.

They saw men in chains being screamed at, whipped, and beaten. They saw young men doing slave labor. They saw how incredibly cruel the 'masters' were being.

But what broke them the most was that they still didn't see Jungkook or Taehyung. Namjoon and Jimin were crying together with the thought that they were too late. They remained at their spot in the woods and continued to watch anyway.
——
Jungkook and Taehyung looked at The Master with absolute fear.

"What?! Executed?! No!" screamed Taehyung. "You can't kill us!"

"You die in the morning." The Master smiled and immediately left the room, locking it. Jungkook and Taehyung ran to the door with all the strength they had left and started screaming.