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Identify Me (ON TEMPORARY HOLD UNTIL "THE OUTCAST CLUB" IS FINISHED)
4 | THE UNUSUAL CANDIDATE
“…aehyung…Taehyung….Taehyung!”
The said boy awoke with a jolt to hear someone calling his name.
As soon as his eyes shot open, the only thing he could see was a dimly lit ceiling and Yoongi beside him with an equally bewildered, worried look.
“Hyung,” he croaked. His throat seemed to be raw and sore. “Hyung… where are we?”
Yoongi helped him up as he sat on the bed he was lying on. Taehyung’s eyes darted around, analyzing the situation in complete confusion. They were both in a room of some sorts, similar to their room at Gapsun Orphanage – only this time, their dingy mattresses were not on the floor, but replaced with double decker beds, painted walls and a wide window to let some light through.
“I'm just as clueless as you,” Yoongi whispered. “I came to a little while ago.”
“We were thrown in a van,” Taehyung recalled in a hollow voice, as if he couldn’t fully grasp the situation. “The Director was there... And then I smelled something and passed out...”
“We were drugged,” Yoongi said limply. “I thought we were going to be murdered or hauled back to the orphanage by the way they kidnapped us, but we sure as hell aren’t in Gapsun anymore.” He scanned the room that was at least a hundred times fancier than their cramped one.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and two burlier men stepped in. Taehyung stepped backwards and Yoongi’s eyes narrowed as he braced himself.
“Who are you people?” he demanded.
“Good, you’re awake. Get changed into these and come out in five minutes. You’re up next.” One of them set down a paper bag down on the bed.
Yoongi and Taehyung followed their every move with caution in their eyes.
Up next for what? Taehyung anxiously thought.
“Listen here – we’re not affiliated with Gapsun Orphanage anymore. I demand to know why we're stowed away here like ing hostages!" The angry vein carved into Yoongi's neck made the two men recoil.
The two stared at each other before muttering things amongst one another. Taehyung could only pick up bits and pieces of their conversation with his sharp ears.
“…not aware?”
“They said they were given to us though…”
“Whatever, just go as planned…”
One of the men, looking equally confused but trying to hide it, waved Yoongi’s question off. “Listen, kid. If you two don’t want to be kicked out and miss your turn, it would be wise to change and come outside. You now have three minutes.”
Yoongi continued to yell at them even as they left through the door. “Hey! Hey, buddy, I’m talking to you! Where are we?! Who are you people?! HEY!”
“Hyung…”
Yoongi halted, turning to see Taehyung holding the paper bag in his hand. Judging by Taehyung’s expression, though, Yoongi could sense that something was very, very wrong.
“Hyung, look,” Taehyung whispered, pulling out the clothes that the men had wanted them to change into.
Two uniforms – a white shirt, black training pants, and an unflattering grey hoodie – fell out. On the chests of the hoodies read two different names:
MIN YOONGI | SENIOR | RANK: C
KIM TAEHYUNG | SENIOR | RANK: A
The two sickeningly familiar uniforms, the uniforms that they thought they would never have to the rest of their lives, had reappeared in their hands for the second time, unscathed, and as unharmed as ever.
It was a crystal clear message the Director was sending them – they had never escaped Gapsun Orphanage in the first place.
Like being tethered to an invisible anchor, the boys were, and would always be tied to Gapsun.
*
“This is complete bull. What kind of facility is this? I’m pretty sure I threw this in the incinerator,” Yoongi angrily pinched the hem of his hoodie.
The two had unwillingly put the uniforms on, but Yoongi, of course, wouldn’t wear it obligingly without a few things to say.
Taehyung tuned him out, as he learned to do for many years, and looked around the hall. It was prestigious, for sure, almost like a hotel hall with different numbered rooms.
They both heard the sound of a door opening and turned to see a well-dressed male stride out. As soon as he noticed the two, the boy rose his eyebrows in disgust, as if mocking them. He turned to walk down the hallway, nose high up in the air.
“Did you ing see that? Prissy kid looked like a Ken doll,” Yoongi snorted.
“Good, you’ve changed,” one of the men approached them with a clipboard. Yoongi immediately narrowed his eyes like a bloodhound.
“Why are we being forced to wear this damn uniform again?”
“For a puny kid, you sure ask a lot of questions.” The man wittily replied. “You wear the uniform of the orphanage you came from – as simple as that. Now, which one of you is Kim Taehyung?”
“M-Me,” Taehyung replied.
“Follow me. You’ll be going first. Min Yoongi, you’ll be after him,” he ordered as he headed up a few stairs. The two looked bewildered but quickly hurried after the man. As they walked through a hall, the lights gradually became dimmer, and they could hear muffled sounds of shouting and laughing.
“Okay, kid. You’re up.” The man nodded after a few minutes, staring at Taehyung, but Yoongi wouldn’t let go of him.
“For God’s sake, this is why we didn’t want to take in more Gapsun kids!” the man ran an aggravated hand through his short locks before pinching the bridge of his nose.
“You two will see each other right afterwards, if you get chosen. You won’t be killed or kidnapped or tortured or whatever insane situations you’re thinking of right now – all you have to do is get up on that stage! Jesus…!”
Taehyung shared a tense look with Yoongi. The man didn’t seem like he was lying.
“Just GO!” The man shoved him up the stairs, and before he could do anything else, Taehyung stumbled, face-to-face with roaring applause and rowdy chatter tingling his eardrums.
*
“God, this is so boring,” Hwasa yawned loudly, earning curious stares from others. She sipped on her Piña colada and swirled the cup with a disinterested look, “Isn’t it boring, Rose?”
“The familiars sure have become mediocre,” Choa silently agreed. Vernon had become so distracted that he was hiding his phone under the table, reading webtoons.
Harin glanced around at her friends before moving her gaze to the stage. A young, baby-faced boy, no younger than 14, was trying to appeal to the audience by showing off his math talents, solving ridiculous equations on a whiteboard.
God, this is a freak show, Harin shook her head, monitoring the rest of the elites. Most of them were chatting with others at their table, eating, or scrolling through their phones, completely ignoring the potential familiar desperately trying to impress them on the stage.
It was as if the host realized this, because he suddenly cut into the boy’s performance.
“O-kay, thank you to Candidate #48, Jang Woobin for demonstrating his…. Err... math talents!”
The boy looked taken aback. “W-Wait, I still have more to show—”
“Isn’t he amazing, folks? Let’s give him a round of applause!” The host shoved him aside.
A few people courteous enough gave pity claps while the boy, flushed red in embarrassment, could do nothing but stand in the spotlight. After the host accepted a bid for $2000, Jang Woobin was given away.
“Ugh, poor kid,” Hwasa frowned, “being sold off to her.”
Harin watched as Woobin was given to an older lady with a sultry grin on her face. She looked cunning with a devilish smile, deep-set wrinkles, and protruding cheekbones that looked suspiciously botox-ed.
“Who?” Vernon broke out of his trance, peering over the heads to good look. Upon seeing who the lady was, his face contorted in disgust, “Oh, gross.”
“Who is that lady?” Harin questioned, not getting good vibes from her. The lady caressed the little boy’s face with her wrinkled fingers before grinning again.
Choa sadly sighed. “Madam Hong, otherwise known by the public as 'Madam Creepy'. She buys one familiar every year, and it’s always a teenage boy. Nobody knows what exactly she does with all of them, but let’s just say that Hansol caught her slobbering all over one of them by the washroom stall.”
“She was forcing him too, by the looks of it,” Vernon rubbed his temples with a weary sigh. “Let’s just say I was scarred… for life.”
“What?!” Harin was astounded. “Doing that to minors? That’s against the law!”
“And yet, others just see her as a source of entertainment,” Hwasa clucked her tongue. “Karma will get her soon enough.”
Harin couldn’t believe how nonchalant the three were being. “Are you guys serious?”
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Hwasa bit into an olive. Monitoring Harin's incredulous expression, Hwasa simply sighed and flicked the pit of the olive into a bowl.
“Look – we’re surrounded by thousands of influential elites. Elites with power, elites with status… Elites that can do whatever they damn well please with their money. And there’s bound to be more than a few rotten apples in the tree.”
“We’ve reported her and reported her, but she never gets caught. She probably has connections with the police force.” Vernon shook his head.
“But—”
“Our next candidate is from Gapsun Orphanage. Please welcome him to the stage!” The host beckoned, cutting Harin off completely.
“Gapsun has some pretty good ones,” Hwasa tapped her fingertips together. “Let me see…”
Harin’s eyes, along with everyone else’s in the room, were glued to the stage. Shyly, a head poked out, and Harin spotted a tuft of matted, messy hair. Someone off-stage shoved the boy into the spotlight, and he came tumbling in, eyes darting everywhere in frantic bewilderment.
The host took in his appearance in his tasteless uniform and shaggy hair. Obviously, he hadn’t taken a shower in a while. Caught off-guard by his unkempt appearance, he quickly cleared his throat.
“Welcome! Please give us your name and age.”
Taehyung stared at the microphone shoved in front of him and found his hands shaking in bewilderment. Bright lights and thousands of fancy-looking people obstructed his view.
When he couldn’t bring himself to respond, the host grew rather frustrated. He gave the audience a rushed smile before muttering something vehemently into his earpiece.
Harin couldn’t stop staring at the male. Unlike any of the other candidates that evening, he wasn’t wearing a poised tuxedo, nor had an air of haughtiness around him. He wasn’t even clean, for Pete’s sake! He seemed… feeble, and timid, as if he had no idea what he was doing here in the first place.
“He certainly looks like he fell out of the dump. And those clothes – disastrous!” Hwasa said, appalled.
Harin fought the urge to roll her eyes. Despite being rather cool as a person, Hwasa was very sensitive to fashion and appearance.
“He looks our age,” Vernon raised an eyebrow. “What’s up with his leg, though?”
True to Vernon’s words, Taehyung’s left leg was shaking uncontrollably.
The host quickly recomposed himself. “Okay, I’ve just received word that this candidate’s name is Kim Taehyung. Mr. Taehyung, could I ask you for your age?” he smiled widely, but his gaze screamed ‘murder.’
After a long pause, he stuttered. “E-Eighteen.”
Finally, we’re getting somewhere, the host straightened up. “That’s right, folks! It’s his birthday today – a fresh, perfectly capable 18 year-old in the making to do your bidding! After you give him a little cleaning, of course,” he winked.
The audience chuckled, and the host looked pleased. He excitedly continued, “Now, please tell us what you’ll be demonstrating.”
“P-Pardon?”
“Your talent? What talent will you be showing us today?” The host raised an eyebrow before eyeing his track pants and hoodie with a chuckle, “You aren’t going to show us an exercise routine, are you? Why don’t you show us some push-ups, huh?”
Harin furrowed her eyebrows as everyone in the hall roared with laughter. Taehyung self-consciously touched the sleeve of his training hoodie and bit his lip, not understanding why everyone was laughing at him.
When the laughter died down, the host snickered. “So, do you have a talent to show us?”
There was a pause before Taehyung shook his head slightly.
At once, the banquet hall broke into hushed murmurs of shock. Every candidate had to show some sort of talent at least – it was unheard of to not have one.
“Wow, he’s a risk-taker, that’s for sure.” Choa approved.
“Quiet down, quiet down, everyone! I assure you that he has a talent to entertain us with. Kid,” he cleared away the microphone, voice transforming into a poisonous hiss, “You have to show your talent in order to get some bids, or else you’re disqualified.”
Disqualified? Talent? I don’t know what’s going on, Taehyung nervously eyed the stairs behind the curtain that he had climbed up. What if he made a run for it? Could he escape?
“You’d better be thinking about a talent right now—”
“One hundred dollars!” A voice called, and everyone, even Taehyung, froze to see the person who had bid on him before he had even shown a talent.
“Madam Creepy?” Hwasa dropped the bread she had been munching on with an abhorred look. “Bidding on a second familiar?”
“, that’s not good,” Vernon clucked his tongue. “She’s obviously desperate for another boy toy.”
The host gawked at her cheap bid as some elites howled with laughter. Still, Madam Creepy had a smug grin on her face.
“Madam Hong, I know you’ve won bids to many of our candidates before, but never have we ever received a bid for such a low amount,” the host looked offended.
“At least you’re getting something for him. He didn’t show a talent, so I won’t change my amount!” Madam Hong cried.
Taehyung stared at the elder woman who was offering to ‘bid’ for him, whatever that meant. But from the looks of it, it didn’t look good, and he had a very, very bad feeling about her.
“That’s so embarrassing,” Choa whispered to Harin. “Nobody has ever bid on a familiar for a mere $100. That’s like pocket money.”
The host stopped murmuring things in his earpiece as he finally sighed. “All right, Madam Hong, we’ll agree with your price, so long as anyone else doesn’t bid higher than her.”
The crowd snorted as rude comments filled the air.
“He didn’t even show a talent.”
“I’m not bidding on someone that looks like a homeless bum.”
“Madam Hong can have all the fun she wants with him.”
The last comment stirred something in Harin as she sat at her table. Her calculative gaze closely observed the bewildered, anxious boy, then back at Madam Hong, who looked like a hawk feasting on its prey.
She already hated being there. She hated sitting at her table, listening to all the garbage spewing in the air. She hated that her “friends” were so careless about the degrading matters at hand...
“Poor kid, he was probably forced into this and now he’s going to serve someone like Madam Hong, in more ways than one. Isn’t that sad, Rose? Huh?” Hwasa turned her blonde head around to see Harin, eyes narrowed, but otherwise calm.
Choa blinked. “Rose? What’s wrong?”
It was at these times that she despised the wealthy life the most. But was she going to be just another bystander?
“…Rose?” She could almost sense the bewildered looks her friends were giving her.
“Goddammit.”
“Wha—what the hell is she doing?” Hwasa straightened up. Vernon’s gaze lifted slightly from his phone in interest.
Harin was already stomping over towards the stage.
“Fine, kid. Go over there to your new owner,” the host ushered Taehyung off the stage towards Madam Hong, who wiggled her fingers deviously at him.
Swallowing, Taehyung turned around and resisted, “N-No, I have to get back to my friend, Yoongi—”
“Kid, get to your new owner!” The host began to shove him violently. “Go over there—”
In one rough shove, Taehyung tripped against the tiled floor, sprawled right by someone’s feet.
He could hear laughter again. Always that same, mocking laughter.
Thoroughly embarrassed, he lifted his head, but stopped when he noticed a pair of shiny, dark-red high heels glinting at him.
As if by fate, his gaze climbed up to meet the most striking female he had ever seen. She shook her ash-blonde bob out of her face, showing off her glistening hazel eyes and smooth, peachy skin. Her sharp eyebrows were drawn into an angered expression, as if she was holding back a string of curses, but even her angry face seemed… well, charming.
Taehyung was almost unaware of her red lips moving.
“What are you, a human mop?”
When Taehyung took no offense and continued to dazedly stare at her, Harin’s face slightly softened. At once, she took him by the arm and pulled him up onto his feet.
“Get up, the floor’s dirty.”
To everyone’s shock, she dusted off his uniform with her manicured hands, as if she was used to it. “There. Let’s go,” Harin began to pull him away, not giving Taehyung a chance to refute.
“Miss Rose!” The host called, and instantly, everyone’s eyes were on her. Both Harin and Taehyung paused to stare at the host.
“I’m sorry, but what do you think you are doing?” he asked, demeanor changing instantly from angry to innocently curious. “That boy belongs to Madam Hong—”
“Ten thousand dollars,” Harin replied. “That’s a better deal than a measly one hundred, don’t you think?”
The host blinked and nodded. Finally, a decent bid!
“Okay, ten thousand dollars from Miss Rose! Any other takers?”
“Fifty thousand!” Madam Hong shrieked. Harin spun around, almost forgetting about her.
“Fifty thousand, final offer! Now give him to me, that boy is my familiar!” she stomped over to the two of them.
Amongst the chattering, the host began to sigh, “W-Well, I’m afraid we’ll have to cancel your offer, Miss Rose—”
“Persistent prick,” Harin muttered as Taehyung blinked.
Madam Hong gaped in total abhorrence. “E-Excuse me?”
With one blink, Harin’s gaze grew charming and sultry, her almond-shaped eyes glittering from the sparkly cocoa-coloured eyeshadow.
“Fifty thousand, is that so?” She gave a classy smile, mesmerizing the men nearby that laid their eyes on her.
The host blinked rapidly, clearing his throat, an evident pink blush tinging his cheeks. “Yes, I am terribly sorry about this…”
“Are you looking down on the Rose Corporation?” Harin’s eyes darkened at once, sending chilling tingles down the host’s back.
“P-Pardon?”
“You’re disregarding me, the heir, when our family’s company has given so much to this event? You think we cannot beat a bid for a mere fifty thousand?”
“O-Of course not, miss—”
“Five million dollars,” Harin challenged. “I could go on, but it’s ridiculous to think that the other bidder has enough money to counter my offers.” She smirked at the older lady, “Am I right?”
Madam Hong furiously glared at her, but could not bring herself to top that one.
“F-F-Five million…”
Harin didn’t waver. “Announce it.”
“R-Right—Ahem, Candidate #49, Kim Taehyung from Gapsun Orphanage, with a winning bid of a whopping five million dollars, has been claimed by Miss Rose, daughter of the Rose Corporation! Let’s give a round of applause!”
Despite the scowl that had just been on her face, Harin smiled courteously and dipped her head before elegantly making her way back to her table.
Without much choice, Taehyung hesitantly trailed behind Harin, thanking the heavens for letting him escape the clutches of Madam Creepy.
[!!!] Identify Me is on temporary hold until The Outcast Club is finished! More frequent updates after The Outcast Club is completed! :)
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