Kingnapping ✓

I caught you

A nineteen-year-old scruffy looking boy, his frail body wrapped in dirty clothes walked around the bustling market place. His bare feet padded across the dirty ground as he dodged a few people now and then, seemingly lost in the crowd.

The boy looked innocent but a small grin worked its way onto his lips when he saw the baker man running around. He quickly but sneakily walked up to him and bumped into the older man. His big round belly collided with Taehyung's thin frame, making him collapse on the cold ground.

"You better watch where you are going!" The man spat at him before angrily stomping away.

The comment flew right past the young boy whose eyes were only focused on the fallen loaf of bread in front of him. He quickly snatched it and made a run for it, ignoring the shouts of nearby people who saw the boy stealing the dirty load of bread.

He ran into a narrow dark alleyway and huddled into a dirty corner that was stuffed with hay. To anyone else, it may have looked like nothing special but this patch of hay was his sleeping place if the owners of the hay didn't shoo him away.

With big round eyes, he examined the bread but it didn't last long for him to start munching on it like a beast. He needed to remind himself to keep some bread for the next couple of days so the town's folk wouldn't grow too suspicious of him. They had seen his face today but they would soon forget it. He knew the tactics by now, these past five years learnt him a lot.

"Hey, look at that filth on the street." Some guy yelled and Taehyung heard laughs erupt.

He glanced up from his bread and his eyebrows furrowed together when he examined the ally way. This was actually a really nice narrow street without any litter. Taehyung wasn't sure what they were talking about.

"Someone should take care of that filth." Another guy spat and Taehyung decided to just ignore the boys standing a few feet away from him.

He wanted to take a bite of the bread when suddenly something heavy hit his head. He blinked a few times, gathering his thoughts again, and looked at the thing that hit his head. It was a medium-sized rock, now splattered with red, and fear crawled into Taehyung's veins when he felt the dull ache coming from his head.

He could sense something trickle down his forehead and stare at the direction the stone came from. The boys standing there smirked and laughed, and Taehyung could barely dodge another stone in time, one that was aimed at his face.

"The filth can duck!" A boy gasped with a face full of horror making all the other laugh.

Taehyung frowned and his face saddened.

I'm the filth?

"Let's get him, boys!" The tallest suddenly yelled and they charged towards Taehyung who luckily got the hint quite quickly. He started running for his life into the next street, and the next, and so on. He absolutely detested exercise and running was on top of that list.

He clamped the bread tightly in his hands, determined not to drop it. He was so focused on running away that he wasn't actually paying attention to the road in front of him. He crashed into something hard, making him fall on his butt and release the loaf of bread.

He held his head painfully, his hair already clotted with blood, and glanced at the obstacle he ran into. The obstacle glared back angrily at him and he shrieked, crawling backward. The boys, now behind him, fled when they saw the angry man in front of Taehyung. The man stepped forward and grabbed the young boy by the collar, pulling him up.

"What do we have here?", he spoke calmly, which was the opposite of what Taehyung expected him to sound, "A beggar?"

Taehyung whimpered when looking in the dark eyes of the man. A dark fringe framed his dark brown eyes and the man seemed to have a handsome face, if not for the scars littering his ears, neck, and hands.

"Don't you want to answer me?", the man arched an eyebrow and shoved Taehyung back to the ground, "Cat got your tongue? Are you stupid?"

Taehyung shook his head furiously. He wasn't stupid, he just didn't speak a lot. He had learned not to speak too much. His voice was quite recognizable and he didn't want anyone to guess who he actually was.

"Can you speak?" The man seemed confused and his eyes scanned the boy in front of him. Taehyung must have looked pretty pathetic.

Taehyung nodded but the action makes him get hit with a wave of nausea and so he quickly stopped moving his head. The man didn't seem to notice and took a step forward. "You can? So why don't you speak now?"

Taehyung just shrugged at that. He couldn't explain the way his voice works. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it was not. He didn't mind it though when you can't speak, you can't say anything wrong and also, no one can recognize your voice.

The man crouched down so he was on the same level as Taehyung, "You're weird did you know that?"

He softly nodded and winced at the pain it brings. The stranger again failed to notice this.

"Good", he answered, "My name's Jungkook. What's yours?"

Taehyung gave him a look that must have looked like a: are you seriously expecting me to answer a question.

Jungkook laughed. "I could always try."

Taehyung smiled at that. A stranger actually seemed to care for him, even if it's just a tiny bit.

"Here", he threw a chunk of cheese his way, "You can have it. Bread alone tastes dry."

Taehyung tilted his head, wondering why he got the cheese.

"I'm in a good mood today", Jungkook explained, turning around, "Don't question it."

He walked away from Taehyung, leaving the boy sitting on the street. When he got out of sight, Taehyung finally sighed and starts munching on his food.

"T-thank you J-Jungkook." He whispered to himself.