~Ep8~

|Strike Two|

▶️

Previously on Kim Academy...

"Then what do we do now?" Taehyung asked. To be completely honest, he didn't want to do anything else with this murder case. All he needed was a good old pill to make him forget what he had seen that day.

"You have to keep me safe. And we have to find the killer before they kill anyone else."

The older held onto Jungkooks arm.
"Woah, slow down. We can try and do that or tell the police about these cards and let them handle it."

"The police aren't going to believe shit about these cards Taehyung. Plus, if they find out I took Taeyongs card I'm the one who is screwed."

"Then how do you expect me to keep you 'safe'?" Taehyung questioned.
"Fuck, I can't be your bodyguard."

"We just have to find out who's getting killed next."

"Rumour has it, I heard it's Hyunjin from class B."

"What? How can it possibly be Hyunjin, he's like the nicest in that class."

"You never know who holds grudges. Taeyong seemed pretty popular in his class, I mean he had girls right and left-"

Taehyung bit into his piece of lettuce that fell out of his sandwich as he eavesdropped other's conversations. He patiently waited for Jungkook to arrive from his class.

It has already been a week since the tragic event. The investigation was still ongoing but there seems to be no lead to any suspects yet.

School re-opened two days later and Taeyongs parents were heard to be in a heated-quarrel with the chairman, Mr. Kim, in his office over the past two days.

Taehyung wasn't sure how his father was going to deal with all the chaos, but Mr. Kim never discussed anything with his son since he believed that Taehyung just needed to focus on his academics and 'taking care' of Jungkook.

The hallway in the upper classroom was never the same.
Students always walked around where presumably Taeyong had laid and dared to even looked down. Though flowers and cards have been decorated around his locker, no one would go near it during school times.

The boy was deep in his thoughts when someone called his name.

"Taehyung?"

He looked up from his seat to see the 'crazy boy' Hoseok anxiously staring down at him.

"Hi? What do you want?" He responded in an agitated tone. Though he didn't mean to, he was on the edge from everything that has been happening.

"Can I sit down for a moment? I really need to talk to you about something." He said quietly, tightly holding onto the hem of his own shirt. Taehyung was barely able to hear what the other was saying but he felt the anxiousness Hoseok was feeling.

"Okay?" He answered puzzled by Hoseok's sudden approach.

Compared to a few days ago, Hoseok seemed like a completely sane being. It was hard to believe that the boy who was screaming some nonsense was the same as the person Taehyung was talking to right now. Maybe the boy wasn't as crazy as he thought.

After the other had sat down, he took out a familiar card and placed it on the table.

Taehyung's eyes opened wide as he saw what Hoseok brought.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Moon Taeil. 4:32 pm. North gym."

"What?"

"Save him or he will fall."

"Hoseok what the fuck are you talking about? What do you mean he will fall-"

"Ose is one of us."

After Hoseok finished, he stood up from his seat and left the other hanging. Taehyung was beyond confused and taken back with the others words. Maybe he was crazy like everyone had said.

He took the card Hoseok had left on the table and turned it over. A message was written on it but Taehyung had realized it was the identical to the one Jungkook had.

Soon you will be the one who falls.
-Ose

Though it was the same exact card, Taehyung knew it wasn't Jungkook's because the younger always had it in his pocket.

"Was that Hoseok?" Said Jungkook who appeared a minute after.

"Uh- yeah, he just came to talk." Taehyung replied, his voice trailing off.

"Did he say something crazy again?"

"He showed me this." Said Taehyung, sliding the card over to Jungkook.
The younger's eyes enlarged as he gripped his fist tightly.

"I knew it. It isn't just me."

"Does that mean he will get killed too?" Taehyung questioned worriedly.

"Did he say it was his card?"

"No—but he mentioned some weird shit I didn't understand. I don't know if it has anything to do with it but-"

"Tell me."

"I think he said something like 'Moon Taeil. 4:32pm. North Gym.' And then he said to save him or he will fall."

"Who is Moon Taeil?"

"A student from class B. Don't know him that well but he's the heir of an electrical engineering company run by his father." Taehyung explained.

"Should we warn him?"

Taehyung leaned back on his chair.
"If we do, would we be at stake?"

Jungkook shrugged.
"Who knows, the killer could be anyone but if we don't figure this out quickly someone's going to get hurt."

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all. We should tell the police."
He said looking around suspiciously.

"What did I say about the police? No one's going to believe us."

"Yea but-"

"You promised me. That we would be in this together. No?"
Jungkook interrupted. His voice seemed stiff and forceful, making Taehyung agree without a choice.

"If Hoseok said North Gym at 4:32, let's meet there. But come 10 minutes early just in case." Jungkook instructed as the older nodded.

This sure is going to be more than what we can handle. Taehyung thought.

______________

4:20pm

"North Gym, North Gym, North Gym—" Taehyung muttered anxiously as he walked towards his destination.

The school was almost empty and the sun was already starting to set.
He kept on looking behind him to make sure no one was following him and gripped his hands tightly into a fist to prevent himself from shaking.
"Nothing's going to happen. It's fine, it's fine."

Taehyung continued to walk until he saw a black figure disappear behind the corner of the hallway.

He stopped.

Jungkook? That must be Jungkook.

Taehyung started walking once again, but this time even more nervous than before. He reached the entrance of the gym and looked behind him before opening the door.

Slowly and with caution, he peeked his head through the door and looked to see if anyone was waiting for him. He saw Jungkook leaning on the wall looking upwards.

"Jungkook."

The younger snapped his head towards Taehyung. "Hey."

"Any sign of Taeil?"

"No, not yet. But I've been trying to see where he could potentially fall from." answered Jungkook looking at the upstairs bleachers above him.

Taehyung approached the other as he said, "I don't think it actually means that he will fall. Besides, why would Taeil go upstairs?"

Jungkook ignored his question and continued to look around the gym on his own. It was now 4:29 and they had exactly 3 minutes left until what was potentially the death of another student.

"Taehyung, come here." Jungkook ordered, making the older follow him towards a cart of volleyball.

"What are we doing?"

"You are gonna hide behind this cart and record a video on your phone if anything happens." he instructed.

Taehyung furrowed his brows. "I'm going to hide behind this cart and do what now?"

"Just do it, I'm going to go upstairs and see if I can get a better view. Don't get caught, got it?" he insisted as he rushed his way out of the gym.

"Wait! Jungkook I don't think-- Fuck." the older gave up and sighed as he crouched down behind the big cart. He took out his phone and opened camera.

This isn't a good idea.

4:31

It was going to happen any minute. Taehyung looked towards the door and the upstairs bleachers back and forth to see if anyone had appeared. He couldn't see where Jungkook was, but he was sure that the other was hiding somewhere above him.

The time was now 4:32 and Taehyung gripped on his phone as he silently stayed still in the awfully quiet gym.
His heart beat fast, almost as if it was going to come out of his chest.

It was the next second when Taehyung heard a loud bang upstairs.

"P-please, please don't do this!!! Why are you doing this!" someone shouted as they tried to run from whoever was following them.

Taehyung gasped and squinted to see who it was. Though it was hard to see, he was sure that the one yelling was Taeil.

"If this is about Taeyong, I didn't do it please- I-" he begged crying facing towards a figure who slowly revealed itself from the door upstairs.
"Please I didn't do anything! You have the wrong person-"

The figure wore a black cloak with a hood and a red mask. They had an object in their hand but Taehyung couldn't make out what it was.

What do I do- where is Jungkook?

Taeil was cornered into the railings begging for his life. "I-I'll do anything so please, please don't kill-"

BANG!

"Fuck!" Taehyung cursed as he quickly covered his mouth.

Taeils' crying was silenced with the sound of a gunshot that echoed in the entire gym.

Taeil had been shot straight through his head.

His head and his body hung on the railing lifelessly, as blood slowly trickled out of his head.

The figure turned around and made his way out of the gym as he hid his gun inside the cloak.

Taehyungs heart stopped, not being able to process what he had just witnessed. He was shaking uncontrollably as he dropped his phone on the ground.

A few minutes later, Jungkook came running through the main entrance of the gym. "Did you record it? Taehyung, did you get it on camera?" He grabbed the older shoulder and shook him violently.

"I-I- couldn't. Jungkook-I--"

"Fuck Taehyung, you had one job!" Jungkook angrily shoved him away and stood up.

"Then what were you doing up there? You- you could've stopped all that!" The older yelled back, his senses slowly coming back to him. "He got shot! He is dead!"

"I was right behind the killer when I got upstairs. I wasn't going to risk my life for that and act carelessly." he explained, pushing his hair back. "I didn't know what they'd do."

Taehyung was on the verge of crying but he held it in. It wasn't the time. "What do we do now? What do we do with Taeil? Do we call the police?"

"No, we have to leave here immediately before anyone sees us. We can't let anyone know we were here." Jungkook told him as he helped the other stand up. "If anyone finds out, we're going to be the suspects now."

________________

Two days later

Of course, they found the body the day after.

Another dead body, another chaos.

Students were now being absent from school and the building was only filled with police officers for extra protection.

Despite that, Taehyung was forced to go to school since his father did not allow it.

Jungkook attended school too, but kept a distance from the older, as if he was still mad about what had happened.

Taehyung's body felt heavy and tired.
He hasn't been able to get even a blink of sleep for the past couple of nights. If he closed his eyes, he knew he would replay the image of Taeil getting shot over and over again.

Taehyung sat alone during lunch, staring out the window. He lost his appetite and nothing seemed to make him feel better.

"Taehyung?"
A soft voice suddenly called.

He looked up to see Jimin holding his lunch tray.
"Yeah?"

"Mind if I-we sit here?" He asked. Jimin moved to the side to reveal a gray-haired guy with pierce looking eyes.
"This is Yoongi from class B. He recently transferred here after Jungkook."

"Hi, I'm Min Yoongi. Nice to meet you. Hope you don't mind us sitting with you." The boy said with a cold expression on his face.

Taehyung nodded in reply.

As soon as the two boys sat down, Jimin opened his carton of chocolate milk. "Crazy how all of this is happening at our school no?" He asked looking over at Taehyung who was still looking outside.

"Of course it's crazy. No one would expect for murder to happen at such a so-called 'prestigious' school." Said Yoongi stabbing his fork into a plate of pasta.

Jimin shot a look at the boy with panic in his eyes. Perhaps Yoongi forgot that Taehyung was the son of the chairman?

Taehyung figured that Yoongi was definitely the type to say whatever he thinks without hesitation.

The usual Taehyung would get angry or try and scare the other, but today he didn't feel like doing anything.

Jimin coughed to change the topic.
"So where's Jungkook? Haven't you guys been eating together?"

"Don't know. Don't care. He's probably playing detective again."
Taehyung mumbled in reply.

"He's what?" Jimin furrowed his brows. "Nevermind, Taehyung I think you need a break. You seem really out of it today. How about we go out? I heard Yuna is throwing a house party tonight. You should come with us."

"A party? Have people forgot that two students literally got murdered?" Taehyung scoffed. No matter how crazy he usually was about partying, he wasn't this dumb to drink.

"I know, but you've really been out of it lately. It's like you've seen someone get killed. Literally." Jimin said with worry.
"So please, come? Invite Jungkook too if you want."

"I don't know. I'll text you if I'm going." He replied, annoyed by the orange-haired.

"Hey so wanna come over at my place tonight to get ready-"
Jimin and Yoongi started talking and Taehyung zoned out once again, staring outside.

Taehyung suddenly spotted Jungkook walking across the field with a book in his hand.

If anyone finds out, we're going to be the suspects now.

The youngers voice lingered in his head.

Taehyung felt his heart sink once again. Feeling the guilt of not being able to save Taeil made him drained even more.

I could've stopped it. He could've stopped it. Fuck-

He saw Jungkook turn his head towards the older, making eye contact.

He didn't seem to be annoyed but then he didn't seem happy either.
Taehyung scoffed and stood up from his seat to leave.

"Uh-Taehyung, hey-" Jimin spoke surprised by the other.
"You're coming tonight right?" He asked before Taehyung walked away.

"I said I'll text you."

But only one thing has been on Taehyung's mind.

One thing that made him keep thinking.

How the hell did Hoseok know all of this would happen?

CHOOSE
<<Should he go to the party?>>

Yes

No

⏸

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ITS BEEN A F*CKING YEAR. A MF YEAR.

Thank you to those who kept pushing me to write and continue really needed that🖤

🖤🤍Tkers we thriving🤍🖤