Being stuck in the same musty old room with five other men for a week straight wasn't something Kim Botan had envisioned when he joined Kwon Jiyong's improvised, post-apocalyptic "empire".

Especially not in a time where showering was a rather rare occurrence.

The yellow stained clerestory windows let barely any light inside, tons and tons of stolen designer clothes piling up everywhere, making it hard to even walk from one end of the room to another. Botan had told them that raiding fashion stores was stupid and unnecessary but no these fucking kleptomaniacs needed to get their greasy fingers on every valuable item they could find.

And now- well, now he was fucking stuck with these idiot bastards. That was until they got their next command from Jiyong, who'd been dead silent the past days.

"Is Ueda back yet?" Botan rasped into the room, four out of five men looking at him annoyed - they knew as much as he did, which was pretty much nothing. The missing fifth guy had gone out to look for Ueda, acting against Jiyong's last command, which was to remain here and wait until he gave them the okay to kill Jeon's little partner - who was probably having the time of her life uphill right now, unaware of the stinky old men waiting for the command to assassinate her.

Ueda was the guy in charge of delivering Jiyong's messages, since shit like phones weren't a thing anymore. Him having gone missing was the entire reason for their miserable situation of being locked up in here - hence why one of them had decided to go looking for him.

A tired huff escaped Botan's lips, lazy hands reaching out to grab one of the few remaining soda cans from the single table they owned. The water was warm, as per usual, and he had trouble forcing the liquid down.

It took ten more minutes (or more - none of them possessed a watch) for their missing member to return, stained metal door swinging open dramatically.

Botan dropped his half empty soda can when his eyes met Ueda - or what was left of him anyways. His colleague had brought in a bleeding corpse with a deep cut in its middle, body barely holding together through a bit of meat and skin. A year ago, he would've probably thrown up at the sight.

"He fucking did it." The guy who had carried Ueda in spat, throwing the corpse at their feet with a sneer, "We don't know what's the situation with Jiyong. We're all by ourselves now."

A grim expression wormed itself on the other men's faces. They all where thinking the same - this was a strategic blow to dismantle the tiny fraction that was left of the Tanakas' empire. A calculated offense from one of the most capable killers of their time, Jeon Jungkook.

"We don't have a choice." Botan cleared his throat, "We'll go up and kill that girl - s' the only thing we can do right now."

The others nodded, "Jiyong would do the same."

They'd make short work of it - kill the girl and then get the fuck away from here. Away from Jeon and his manic blade.

___

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Jimin was fighting back tears, you could clearly tell. You too felt like crying but couldn't let it show - it was your fault his sanctuary was being invaded after all. Or, technically it was Jungkook's, but oh well.

They had come in the night - six men equipped with knives and guns. The only reason for why they hadn't found you right away was that Jimin and you weren't sleeping in the main hall - for emergencies like that, as you realized now.

You were pretty sure one of them had spotted you, when they had entered the shrine, way too brutish and loud for them to be actual, experienced killers.

You were now hiding in the cramped through that was usually meant for money and offerings. Jimin was hugging you tightly, shaking weakly while he buried his face in your neck - you could feel wetness touching your skin and really hoped that it was just tears and not snot.

In this position, you were sure Jimin could hear your heart hammering against your ribcage, jumping with every step that got closer to the through. Multiple, heavy boots prowling through the offering hall, clanking agains the ramshackle tiles.

You'd get shot. You'd die at the hands of these strangers, because you can't fight off bullets like you can fight off prowlers.

Jimin's hands clawed into your back, silent wails rolling off his lips, that you prayed went unheard by the men behind you.

"Come out, ma'am. You know it's just a matter of time we find you." A raspy voice chimed, sending shivers down your spine.

Something - probably a vase - crashed onto the ground, making you flinch and press your eyes shut tight. They were soso close.

Another vase crashed. Someone shouted and then a gun went off.

It took all in you not to shriek, breath going rigid, heart beat so loud you couldn't hear yourself think - another gunshot, someone shouted and clamor went off behind you, tumultuous sounds, steps, whacks and shots, having your press your hand against your mouth in horror.

Then, overshadowing all other, the familiar silver zing of a blade being swung through the air.

Tears sprung in your eyes once realization hit you, now aware of why there was such a racket going on behind you. A small whimper escaped your lips, because you knew it was over now.

The tumult came to and end soon, only a single pair of boots now stomping over the wooden tiles, walking straight up to your hiding spot.

The wooden box creaked when someone rested their weight atop of it and soon enough an idiotically grinning face appeared in front of you, hanging upside down, a splatter of blood rolling down an expressive eyebrow.

"How's it going Chickie?" Jungkook beamed, "Missed me?"

"You- fucking-" You didn't know wether you should kiss or head butt him.

"How's it going Chickie?" The same words he'd spoken when saving you from the prowler-flooded room a year ago, deliberately used, activating a pavlovian sense of comfort and relief in you.

Jimin next to you was still shaking hard, gaze trying to focus on the man in front of you, eyes wide like a deer who just escaped getting shot. Too stunned to speak.

"Did I- of course I fucking missed you, you motherfucking asshole." Your voice sounded wet, unsteady and instead of head butting him you decided to scramble out of your hiding spot, almost loosing balance when straightening up.

"Woah there, careful." His hands reached out over the box, steadying you by your shoulder while Jimin followed you out, not even bothering to get up and just leaning against the wall exhausted, eyes closed. To not see the massacre in front of him, you realized.

"Jungkook-" You wanted to sound scolding, wanted to tell him that he shouldn't kill whoever got in his way, that he surely could've just knocked them out instead of cut them up, but there were still tears rolling down your cheek and your voice broke at the last syllable of his name, "Don't you ever leave me like that again, fucking got that?"

"Lesson learned." He walked around the box to hug you tightly, pressing your head in the crook of his neck, your shaking frame slowly calming when flooded by his warmth, "I promise." He whispered, "Don't you worry, I'll always be there when you need me."

You felt stupid for crying - not because this situation didn't justify it, but because you hadn't trusted Jungkook in coming to save you, just like he always did. It was fucked up, how much trust you wanted to put in this man, how you were willing to rest your entire life in the palm of his hand, because you knew he'd take good care of it.

A groaning behind you snapped you out of your flailing thoughts, Jungkook whipping around confused, to see one of the man heave himself up, one hand pressed against his bleeding arm.

"How are you not dead?" Your boyfriend asked bewildered, you could see that he was mentally counting his fingers at how many he'd killed.

"Please-" The man whimpered. You recognized his voice as that of the man who had spoken earlier already.

Jungkook, naturally, reached for his scythe, but you held him back by his leave, glaring at him scoldingly.

"Don't." Jimin mused from the ground, "No more killing in my shrine, Jeon."

___

was this predictable? yes, yes it was

xx