exotic | k.th

9 ‣ ruin me

Cruz Strip Club & Bar.
> Two hours prior.

"Keri!" Taehyung spots the distracted girl walking past the hallway intersection, bringing his pace up to a jog as she disappears from sight. She'd heard him, though, and she snaps out of her weird trance just in time to stop and turn around. "Ker—" he cuts himself off, coming to a halt as he almost runs her over after turning the corner.

"Oh—" Keri's eyes widen, "it's you." She steps back, looking around almost if she's watching out for somebody's eyes in particular. "Uh, um," she continues to back away slowly, "I'm sorry, Cap, I really have to go. They need me on stage, I—" she stops talking as Taehyung closes the gap she makes and takes a firm hold on her arm.

"Haru doesn't have any friends in GDA, does she?" He asks as if he knows the answer, looking Keri straight in the eyes trying to catch her in a lie. She can't bring herself to say anything before he does. "The guy she visits, he's not a friend." Taehyung continues, "You know, don't you? You know who she visits?"

"I-It's really not my place—"

"Lee Taeheon." Taehyung tightens his grip on her, muttering the name under his breath almost with a tremble. Keri's eyes immediately look away as she falls completely silent. Taehyung looks at her and lets out a scoff, letting her go as every dot has now been connected in his mind with confirmation. Without saying anything else, he rushes off.

Keri watches him do so with a shudder going down her spine. Once he's out of sight, she lets out all the air she's been holding in her lungs and feels the way her chest has tightened up so uncomfortably. After a few moments, the intimidation passes and the only person she can think of is you. She walks off and soon, her pace borders a jog.

"Haru!" One of the dancers calls out as you storm passed their doorway a few halls down. "Haru!" She repeats, running up to go see if the figure she'd caught a mere glimpse of was actually the owner of the name. "Ha—" she cuts herself off as she sees you turn the corner down another hallway, the one that heads back out to the club.

"Leaving already, Captain?" Deena asks as Taehyung quickly makes his way passed the bar over towards the exit. His movement is rushed and stiff and his shoulders look tense. His face looks serious, more serious than when he sits alone at table twelve waiting for you to glance over at him. "It's early for you." Deena adds.

"Yeah, well." He answers curtly. "There's someone I have to see." With that, Taehyung dissolves into the chaos, finding his way back out to his car while leaving Deena to interpret his words in any way she'd like.

"Have you seen Haru? Is she in there?" Keri stops a couple of bartenders coming out of the break room, startling them a bit. They shake their heads no and furrow their eyebrows, glancing over at each other while Keri exhales an anxious sigh and pushes through them to look inside the room for herself.

"Her break ended a couple of minutes ago.." One of the guys tells her, knowing she knows this already and finding it strange that she's looking for you here when she should be looking for you out there. "There was no one in the room when we came in, I don't—I don't know." He adds as Keri walks off hurriedly.

G.D.A. District Penitentiary.
> Present time.

"Hello, Captain." The tall guard greets Taehyung seriously as he bursts past the heavy metal door into the dull room where your father sits with his hands handcuffed to the back of the cold metal chair. Taehyung doesn't say anything back to anyone, focused solely on finally seeing the man that ruined his life.