Chapter 7 - Hide and Seek

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"One..." Hoseok said, flashing his teeth.

Taehyung flipped the knife in his fingers, staring deep into you.

Was Hoseok going to allow...?

"Two," he continued. "Losing time, sweetheart. Three..."

Taehyung gripped the knife handle. 

You ran.

Fatigue consumed you as much as the adrenaline did. Hours of avoiding Hoseok had drained you. Now you had to fight for your life.

You knew Taehyung could hear your heavy footsteps. You didn't have any stealth before, and now drained of all energy and patience, you had even less.

Why is he doing this?

There has to be another way. Not hiding. Not being sneaky.

Maybe... maybe the opposite is the answer.

The trees got thicker, scraping your arms as you squeezed through. You tripped over the roots sticking out of the ground. You didn't know if you were getting deeper into the forest or coming out of it, but you knew one thing...

It had been 20 seconds.

You ran down the path, then took off your shoes, tucking them into your robe. You backtracked down the path you came, trying only to leave faint steps in the ground as you walked. The leaves and branches nipped at your feet, and you winced but made no sound. You found a large trunk with a low branch and began to climb, cursing internally at the rustling leaves.

You sank low in one of the branches, flattening yourself against it. 

Taehyung came not long after. His skin and knife glistened in what little light there was, sending your heart back in your throat. He looked around, then crouched low.

He followed your path, his moves light and effortless. There wasn't a single sound in nature as he walked, as if he had the earth at his command.

He reached the end of the path and stopped. You inched up to a sitting position. Finding a gap in the roof of leaves above you, you tossed one of your shoes far above the trees and over Taehyung's head. There was a swish as it made its way down the trees further away.

Taehyung paused, then moved in that direction. Even with sudden sounds, he made no quick movements.

In all your training, you had never seen such control.

He disappeared into the forest, and you sighed with relief.

Safe.

But wait...

Hoseok never said how to finish the game.

You held to the tree a bit longer. Every muscle ached as you waited, and you couldn't tell if laying in the tree was solving the problem or adding to it. The bark cut into your stomach like hunger pains, making you think of dinner that was hours ago; long forgotten by your body since you burned it all off in your training.

Hoseok had been feeding you extra this week. You acted like you hadn't noticed that his portions were smaller than yours at every meal. You had to loosen the ties on your robe yesterday - a first in almost five years. When you looked down at your bare body after bathing, you actually saw some fat hugging to your hips and ribs, instead of just your skin.

For the last three years you had been too scared to eat, giving your portions to Jungkook out of fear that you would watch him starve to death, just like your mother. 

But in turn, you were afraid you were the next one to die of starvation.

If the emperor hadn't increased taxes on the farmers... and if Namjoon hadn't left...

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