“Sometimes, people’s intentions cannot be understood, but that doesn’t mean you have to change them”

“Seokjin-ah! Hurry up!” You pleaded as you squeezed his hand even tighter as you ran through the eerily quiet hallways of the building where there was not a single place to hide, but just long corridors to run. You had just lost the last mission, and your punishment was to be chained together with Jin of BTS with a dinky paper band for the last couple bracelet game of the day. Unfortunately Jin was not exactly the athletic type, which made him thrash around wildly and his own movement would threaten to rip the thin band.

The two of you unfortunately did not make a good pair when it came to ability, as you were the athletic, competitive type, while Jin was the delicate princess who preferred anything to running around. While others laughed at you for this happening, you actually did not mind this arrangement, as it gave you some time to spend with him. Even though your personalities clashed, you two were pretty close friends and you had a bit of a crush on him, so you actually enjoyed the arrangement, even past the bickering and fighting.

As you two started to run down the hallways, whenever there was a loud clump or sounds of footsteps, Jin would let out a slight shriek and you would squeeze his hand even tighter to silence him until he would start squealing about his hand losing circulation. You were desperate to win this round, but being chained to Jin made it seem unlikely.

Usually, in running man when there are couple tests, it is often the male which protects the female by fighting off the chasers. Yeah right. That was likely to happen. The two of you stopped to catch your breaths, but Jin’s shriek made you straighten in alarm to see another couple, the unlikely Kwangsoo and Jongkook chasing another couple down the hallway. Your eyes widened and you dragged Jin down the hallway in the opposite direction, with Kwangsoo and Tiger Jongkook close behind you. Running for your life, you turned sharp corners and ran up and down stairs to escape from your pursuers. Behind you Jin would be complaining about the unfair circumstances and slowing you down because of his non-existent athletic abilities. 

Finally, when you reached an elevator, the two of you ran on nervously and began spamming the close door button to the great amusement of the other passengers on the elevator and the cameraman which was also out of breath from following you. As you crouched, breathing heavily, Jin leaned against the wall, looking like he was going to die. Each time the elevator bell dinged, you tensed, thinking that someone would be getting on board. So far, you were lucky, until you reached your floor, and the Monday couple got on.

Cornered, you hid your hand behind your back and pressed Jin against the wall, squishing him, as you screamed behind you as you attacked the other couple’s bracelet, trying to eliminate them before the got you. Jin was no help at all, so you were the only one on the offensive and defensive side of this couple. Fortunately, the Monday couple was also laughing at you, seeing Jin in such a state, and you being forced to be the guardian. Finally, after going up and down the elevator multiple times, and in the scuffle of the other patrons entering and exiting, you got a good grip on their bracelet, finally ripping it off before falling down backwards almost losing grip on Jin’s hand. The Monday couple, defeated continued laughing at Jin’s expression, scared, shaken and slightly offended like, How dare you attack such a handsome guy?

When the elevator door opened once again, you grabbed his hand even tighter and ran out of the elevator. After scouring around your surroundings, you found a small storage room where the two of you were able to hide. Shoving away some boxes, you made a small area, large enough for 3 people to hide, pulling the cameraman in with you, by relieving him from the camera as he wedged himself between the large boxes filming you two closely. You sat there awkwardly with them, no one uttering a word, just sounds of surprise as the couples were eliminated one by one, and their names were called out over the loudspeaker. 

You were getting restless you started drumming your fingers on the boxes impatiently, waiting for something, anything to happen. You got your wish when the door opened slightly and two tall figures, one considerably more than the other, step in the doorway. You saw Tiger Jongkook and Kwangsoo hiding behind him stand in the doorway with the camera man running around them, trying to get the best angle possible on them as they stepped into the room dramatically and swept the entire room with their gaze, when they spotted you and moved in for the elimination. You shuffled backwards, in one last desperate attempt to protect Jin by moving your body in front of his and hid your trapped hand behind your back. Unable to see what was happening behind you, with one last desperate attempt, Jin ripped the bracelet off both of your hands, and ripped it in half. 

He had just eliminated the both of you with a quick movement of his hand. All of the running that had just happened, all of the physical struggles, all of the worried glances over your shoulder were all useless. You didn’t even have the honour of at least trying to stay alive.

Frowning at him, you wondered what had been going throughout his mind, until he looked at you and showed his eye smile. “I’d rather die by my own hands then live through the embarrassment of getting eliminated by Kwangsoo.” This made you hide your face and crawl into a fetal position to start laughing along with Tiger Jongkook, while Kwangsoo watched from the back with an offended expression on his face and his hand pressed against his chest. Jin just sat behind you smiling cutely and the two cameramen cracked smiles behind the heavy equipment.

Sitting with the all of the other eliminated couples in the jail on the ground floor, you kept on holding Jin’s hand while listening to the other couples talk about the funny events that happened in this round. This break gave you time to think about what had happened between you and Jin. The screaming, the running and the awkward skinship. Even after all of this, Jin had gotten a lot closer to you. Maybe this “punishment” of a game was more of a gift to you instead…