Broken//Kim Namjoon

Prologue; Back Alley Idols

Unedited

SNAP!

An all too familiar sound for the members of Bangtan, usually paired with the sight of a dismembered item, and a very guilty-looking Namjoon. Today was no exception.

This time it was a week-old trophy for the youngest member. He had won second in a drawing competition, and was very proud of his first art award. It had been the highlight of their trip to Paris.

But now, it lay broken on the hotel floor, in at least six pieces. Namjoon knew that within thirty seconds, Jin or Hoseok would come running into the hallways to discover the mess, followed by Jimin, and then V. Then, the receiver of the trophy: Jungkook, second to last, only faced by Yoongi, who would show up last, if at all. And today, it was better if Suga never showed up at all.

All Namjoon could do was sit and watch as they came rushing into the room. Four appeared in the doorway, but he didn't want to face them. One thing he did know, was that Jungkook was not one of them. After a moment he looked pleadingly at Jin, who stared back with disappointment. Then, behind them, he saw the flash of a slide, which he knew belonged to the golden maknae. He pushed his way through the rest. They all watched Jungkook come through silently. He was quiet as he kneeled down and gathered the pieces in his hands.

"Jungkookie I... " he tried. He was cut off by the one whom he was speaking to. Jungkook turned to him, a dark look in his eyes. Without warning, he plunged his fist in Namjoon's gut. He bent over in pain, a quiet whimper escaping his mouth. "Jungkook-"

Namjoon's eyes widened and the younger one pushed him roughly, making him slam against the wall. A stinging pain was felt, and a ringing could be heard in his right ear. "Get out."

"W-what?" he asked, not sure if he heard the maknae correctly.

He gripped the elder's shirt tightly in his fist, spitting in his face. "I said get out, Namjoon," Jungkook growled. He let go, and Namjoon scrambled to pick himself up again. He looked at the other members for help, but they just stood back, making a aisle for him to the door. Silently, he stood up straight, pulling on a light jacket and left.

It was freezing, and he felt the effects right as he stepped out of the hotel; a grand, twenty-story building in the heart of a very busy Busan city. And to his left were the Saesangs.

"There he is! Namjoon oppa!!!" one of the them screeched. At least fifteen heads turned. He reached to his face, and found that there was no mask on it. Namjoon did all he could do, and ran.

He sprinted down the street, dodging vendors and pedestrians. The further he ran, the more people began to chase him. They were loud, screeching and fighting each other in a race to the idol. Namjoon turned a corner, and saw an alleyway between a few shops down. He glanced behind him, hearing the saesangs cries, and decided to make a break for it. He turned onto the alley, his heart threatening to burst out of his chest. At twenty feet in, there was a turn. Once he passed it, he realized it was a dead end, with only a locked door. He banged on it, but it didn't open. He put his back against it and saw the shadows of the fans dance on the wall of the alley. His eyes began to search for ways out.

The fire escape? No, that would be rude to the people. How about-

His thoughts were cut short when he felt a tug on his jacket. Before he knew it, Namjoon was on the floor, looking at a white ceiling. He lifted his head and saw a girl locking the door behind her. He sat up, watching her latch several locks on it. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Hey," she said, taking a step towards him. He frantically scooted back, his eyes wide. She laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." He gulped. The girl sat down next to him, giving him a close-up view of her face. She gave off a sort of highly intelligent vibe, with her dark brown shoulder length hair in two short pigtails, her glasses pushed onto her forehead. She also had a sort of non-threatening feel, with her little smile and large brown eyes. "C'mon, say something."

"Let me go, I-I can pay you," he stuttered. Again, she burst into laughter, her bell-like laugh echoing in the bare room.

"I'm not kidnapping you, I'm protecting you," she opened another door, which led into a different room. Namjoon stood up, standing against the wall. She put on an apron, over her loose cropped jean overalls and dirty white t-shirt. "Unless you'd like me to give you to the saesangs."

He shook off his stupor to protest. "No, no, nooo thank you. I really must be going, however." She peeked her head through the door.

"You should wait till the crowds calm down. Then I can call you a taxi and get you back to your hotel," she said. I nodded and stepped into the room. It was a low-lit place, but it was cozy, with a large desk covered in objects and wood. "In the meantime, do you want something to drink? Tea, cider, I've even got some Soju if you'd like..."

"No thank you," I said, while looking at her shelf of objects. There were knickknacks of all kinds. I looked at the tag of a small stuffed rabbit.

Hwang Myunghoon

534-9866

1694 Peace Gardens, Seoul

I turned around and looked at her. She was seated at the desk, tweezers in hand, squinting through a different pair of round-double lensed glasses. Her face was full of concentration as she carefully put a gold necklace back together. Once it was all connected she sighed and sat back, leaving the necklace on the table. She looked at me.

"What?" she asked, eyeing me.

"I just wanted to thank you for doing this, I can't express my gratitude enough," he said.

"Oh I'm not doing this for free," she said, standing up, holding the necklace in between her delicate fingers. She draped it over a neck form and tied a tag to it, similar to the one on the rabbit. "You've still got a polaroid to take and sign for me."

"What?" Namjoon asked. She seemed like she had done this many, many times before.

"A polaroid. It'll go to my wall of back-alley idols who I've helped," she said, going to the opposite wall, pulling a curtain open to reveal a huge poster-board of photos. I looked at them and saw a few familiar faces, a lot, actually. Kai and Suho of EXO, Rosé and Lisa from Blackpink, G-Dragon, Seungri and T.O.P. from BIGBANG were just some of the pictures hung by pins on her wall. He noticed that she had multiple pictures of the same idol, showing repeated visits.

"How... who are you? Why do have so many pictures of idols in your house?" he asked, in awe of her.

"Oh, that back alley you ran into isn't an uncommon place for celebrities to run to. This one is especially popular due to its close range to the Grand Busan Hotel and Holo stadium. I decided to put my mostly empty shop to use, so I put in a security system that lets me know when someone enters the alley," she said, standing in front of him. She pushed her double-lensed glasses onto her forehead. "And as for who am I? I'm Park Athena, a normal girl who has an extraordinary knack for fixing things." She stuck her hand out to him.

The man looked at her hand for a moment, thinking. Eventually he took her hand in his and shook. "I'm Kim Namjoon, an idol with a particular habit of breaking things."

Athena smile and tilted her head. "I guess we were meant to find each other, huh?" she said. I nodded, and merely stared at her. I couldn't help but think that this girl is exactly what I dreamed of. "Anyway, you're welcome to come back if you need to. I'm pretty much always here."

"Thank you," I said once again. She nodded and glanced at her watch. She inhaled sharply and went to her desk, and glancing at her mini tv screen, which displayed footage from a security camera. The Saesangs were still prowling, although the amount of them was shrinking.

"You'll be able to leave soon," Athena told him, standing up straight again. He bit his lip, remembering how angry Jungkook was when he left.

"Would it be alright if I stayed a little longer? I might've angered one of my teammates," he asked shyly, turning a bit red. She gave him a kind smile.

"Of course, stay as long as you'd like," Athena told him. He nodded gratefully. "Are you sure you wouldn't like a drink, though?"

He thought for a minute. "Why not? You say you've got Soju?" She smirked.

"You know it, kiddo."

Well that was the first chapter. What did you think? Feel free to comment!