teacher • kth

15: what happened?

"Everest." Mr. Kim whispered, a hand on my shoulder as he shook me softly.

Cracking open an eye, I squinted up at the man, straining my eyes against the painful light.

"It's time for dinner." He mumbled, backing away from me awkwardly as he made his way into the dimly lit kitchen.

"Right." I muttered under my breath, before sitting up and clearing my throat loudly.

It was painfully silent as I helped Mr. Kim chop vegetables in the kitchen.

He remained quiet, concentrating on the rhythmic use of the sharp blade in his tanned hands.

Unknowingly, I'd come to an abrupt stop, admiring Mr. Kim's side profile.

His hair covered his forehead, brushing against his eyebrows softly whenever he moved.

My eyes travelled down, stopping at the curve of the top of his lips.

They were so pink.

Goosebumps covered my forearms as my thoughts wandered, my cheeks burning.

"Hey? Everest?" Mr. Kim's deep voice rumbled raspily, snapping me out of my period of admiration for the perfect specimen standing before me.

"Huh?" I bumbled out, before widening my eyes in realization.

In embarrassment, I fumbled with the sliced tomato in my hand before dropping it to the ground.

Slimy, red tomato intestines seemed to splatter themselves across the hardwood floor in slow motion, as I watched in horror.

"Damn."

My head shot up, meeting the amused gaze of Mr. Kim, as he watched the awkward situation continue to unravel itself.

"I'll clean it up." The words spoke themselves as I started a desperate search for paper towels.

"I got it." Taehyung spoke softly, his hand reaching for my flustered state.

I paid him no mind as I continued to dig through the cabinets in search for something to wipe up the red mess.

"Everest." He repeated softly, leaning against the kitchen island as he watched me struggle with a red face.

"I can clean it up, Mr. Kim." I protested, ignoring his remarks.

"The paper towels are on the counter." He added, before turning around and stepping over the mess, hands in his pockets as he headed into the living room.

My face burned with embarrassment as I grabbed a handful of paper towels from the counter hastily.

-

After I cleaned up, Mr. Kim made dinner and the two of us ate beside each other, in complete silence.

I stood up to take my plate to the sink, scraping my chair across the floor as I stood up from the dining table.

I grabbed Mr. Kim's plate, taking the both of them to the sink.

"So," I started, grabbing a sponge and squeezing dish soap onto it.

"What's up?" I heard him ask, and I smiled to myself, as I started to scrub the dishes.

"Can we go somewhere together tonight?" I asked, immediately biting my lip afterwards.

I already had a decent idea of what his answer would be.

It rhymed with "go".

"Where?" Was his answer, surprisingly.

"Uhh, nowhere special. I just want some fresh air." I continued, washing off the suds from the plates.

"Okay." His voice was strained, and he sounded distressed.

"Mr. Kim?" I set down the plates in the dishwasher, before rinsing off my hands and starting towards the living room.

"No. Stay there. Everest, stay there." His voice was steady, but firm as he commanded me to stay in the kitchen.

A low thud came from the living room, making me jump in place.

"Mr. Kim?" I repeated, my concern for the older growing slowly with every passing second of silence.

"Fuck." A low groan came from the living room.

I ducked down, hiding behind the counter, sensing something wrong with the situation.

Crawling across the kitchen on all fours, I crouched down behind the island, before reaching into the open cabinet for a frying pan.

My hands shook as I grabbed the handle, and I cursed myself mentally when the metal clanged against the wooden door of the cabinets.

I tightened my grip on the frying pan handle, before bringing it over my shoulder.

Slowly standing up, I caught sight of Mr. Kim, who was backed up against the living room wall, being choked by a taller, hooded man.

He was turning purple, his eyes shut as he desperately thrashed around, looking for anything to help him out of the dire situation.

The sight drew tears to my eyes.

As quietly as I could, I drew in a breath, before rushing towards the hooded man, and bringing the frying pan down on his head as hard as I could.

The hooded man didn't even falter, before throwing Taehyung across the room, and turning his attention to me.

His hooded face was covered, but I could see his crooked smile, as he studied me carefully.

But before he could even touch me, I slammed the frying pan across the side of his face again, knocking out a tooth.

His hand came up to touch the side of his face, and his smile was long gone.

One more hit, Everest.

You can do this.

Retightening my grip on the frying pan, which was bent terribly out of shape, and before the man could react, I went batshit crazy, smacking him all over his body with the pan, wherever I could hit.

And with a final hit to his forehead, the man finally passed out on the floor, missing a tooth, covered in red bruises.

"Shit." Mr. Kim's voice came from behind me.

I turned around, only to be met by his chest, as he cradled me close to his body.

"I thought I told you to stay in the kitchen, damnit." He breathed out shakily into my hair.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concern flooding his eyes as he took my face into his hand, scanning my body for any sight of injuries.

"You fucking had me worried." He murmured, before releasing me and reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone.

After dialing a number, he brought the phone to his ear with one hand, taking my hand into his other one.

He led me into his room, opening the closet door and pulling out a suitcase.

Spreading it across his bed, he threw open drawers, grabbing whatever he could find and shoving it into the case.

"Namjoon. Get a jet ready for me." I heard him order into the phone.

"Everest. Grab your bag for me, will you?" He asked, once he ended his call with Namjoon.

I nodded, rushing to the bathroom to retrieve the bag I'd packed just yesterday.

Yesterday felt like forever ago.

"Are we leaving?" I asked, placing a hand on Mr. Kim's forearm, making him pause in his packing frenzy.

"We're going to North Korea."