The Crown | myg

thirteen

When the store is closed, I stop Chanyeol in his tracks before he leaves the building. I tell him that if I don't text him by midnight saying that I'm home safe, then he should call the police because something has happened to me.

Though he doesn't know my secret yet, he obliges, not asking a single question, knowing I will soon tell him the secret he deserves to know. Until then, I must sit through a date with Taehyung, one I know will not end in a good way.

Before I arrive at the tattoo shop to meet Taehyung, I take a quick detour to my car and grab my switchblade, attaching it to the center of my bra, right in between my breasts. It may be a place that seems inconvenient, but it is surely somewhere they would never look if they did a weapon search.

The door to the shop rings as I push it open, and I quickly notice that all of the lights in the store have been shut off and it is extremely dark. Without stopping, I reach into my pocket and grab my phone, turning on the flashlight I walk to the front desk to see if the plump-lipped man, Namjoon, is sitting in the dark.

He's not.

"Taehyung?" I call as I slowly walk down the hallway to the room where I once had needles shoved through my nipples. The room where Taehyung threatened me.

After searching through all of the rooms and noticing that the building is completely empty but the door is unlocked, I begin to make my way back to the front of the shop to leave as quickly as possible.

The moment I leave reach the door, however, my phone begins to ring loudly, causing my breath to catch in my throat. I quickly pull the phone into view and, without looking at the caller ID, I answer the call.

"Hello?" I ask, trying to keep my voice down, just in case there is someone in the building still.

"It's Mina, again," she whispers. "I've been following you."

"What for?" I ask, my voice filling with concern. Mina never follows me unless she is completely sure that something bad is going to happen to me. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the car across the street, the black Impala," she continues to whisper. "Come quickly."

I nod to myself before pushing open the door, the phone call not yet ended. The moment I set foot outside the door, a strong body crashes into mine, pushing me nearly to the ground.

"Hyuntae?" The man asks.

I turn my head to see Taehyung standing beside me, his body covered in nothing but black, a strange colour for him to wear when he usually wear vibrant colours.

"Taehyung," I say, slightly out of breath. "What are you-"

"I've been looking for you," he chuckles awkwardly. "I forgot to tell you that Yoongi is in the office and that I was leaving early to run some errands. I thought you were at the bakery."

"No, I-" Escaping this situation is going to be hard. I turn to face Mina's car and faintly see her wave her hand at me, trying to tell me to move toward her. My head twists slightly back to Taehyung. "I'm so sorry, Tae, but a family emergency came up. Can we pick this up tomorrow?"
Before I give him the chance to answer the question, I begin to speed walk across the street to Mina's car. However, to no avail.

I feel Taehyung's hand tightly grip itself around my arm and pull me in the opposite direction. He's pulling me in the direction of the alleyway that separates our two shops. Once down the alleyway, it's so dark no one will be able to see me being pulled somewhere against my will.

I need to escape as soon as possible.

Without even thinking through my options or coming up with a foolproof plan, I quickly twist and pull my arm at the same time, pulling myself free from his grip. With quick movements, I hit Taehyung in the face with a hard blow and begin to run across the road and towards the car that Mina is still sitting inside. I reach the window and before Taehyung can catch up to me.

"Track my phone," I whisper as quietly as possible.

Mina nods and, before another word can be spoken, a pair of strong hands wrap around my waist and begin to pull me away.

"Cute," Taehyung growls as he throws me over his shoulder. "Absolutely adorable."

At this point, there is no running, I have no way of throwing myself off of his shoulder. I'll need to let myself be taken away, let myself be a victim of whatever plans Taehyung and whoever he is working with have planned for me.

"Sorry about this," Taehyung says as he stops in his tracks, pulling me away from my thoughts. I hear a trunk pop and I quickly feel his body fly forward, causing me to fall into the trunk with a loud thud. "Get ready for a bumpy ride."

The trunk closes and I'm stuck in the pitch black.