-Interlude-

“Imbeciles!” A voice boomed within the abandoned factory. “You lost him. You lost him AGAIN?” He was angry. He was incredibly, incredibly angry.

“We’re terribly sorry sir.” The teen said, bowing his head from where he was knelt on the floor. Beside him the other teen bowed his head too.

The man prowled towards them, dressed in an impeccable black suit, his silver cane tapping on the ground as he walked. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes in frustration.

“Oh, I know you are. My sons, my precious sons. But this isn’t just about me. This is for you, for your future. Do you want to continue on, alone, unknowing?”

They shook their heads.

“And that is why I took you in. I care for you, I feed you, I give you work. This is all leading towards a greater life not just for us, but for all our kind. If you can’t do this_” He stopped, trying to hide that anger from showing in his voice again. He smiled a sickly sweet, fake smile. He used one finger to tilt up the nearest teens’ face.

“My boy, I am not mad at you. I am just saddened. This is important work, and you promised me you would work your hardest for this cause. We need him.”

Finally, the other boy spoke up. “It wasn’t our fault this time. We almost had him, but somebody helped him get away.”

The man pondered this for a moment. “And who was this somebody?”

“We don’t kn_” The taller teen elbowed the shorter male.

“It was a girl. She seemed to know Taehyung. Now we know he has a friend we will be more observant, we won’t be taken by surprise again.” He interrupted.

The man in the suit turned his back on them and walked away until he was almost gone from sight, with one last clip of his cane on the floor he addressed them with his back still turned.

“Rest tonight. You can try again tomorrow.”

-Chapter 5-

It was finally Friday, and Minna was looking forward to having a quiet, uneventful weekend at home. She felt she deserved it. Opening her locker, she went to take her books out when she noticed something had been placed inside. Picking it up, there was a small pot with a handwritten letter tucked underneath. Opening the letter, she read “The lotion you bought last night was awful. This is what a real lotion looks like.” She chuckled and looked again at the pot. It had a small, handwritten labelling saying “Apply three times daily to the affected area.”

She opened the pot and a strange, but not unpleasant smell greeted her nose. It smelt of herbs and natural ingredients, she felt sure it must be a handmade herbal remedy. Minna applied some of the pale green lotion to her finger tips and sighed as it drew away the heat. It must have been very expensive, and she wondered from which shop Taehyung had found it.  There weren’t many people left in the area who created and sold herbal lotions like this anymore.

She popped the pot of lotion and the letter into her bag, and took her books to class. Some of the students were already gathered in the classroom and she said a friendly hello. Minutes later Jimin arrived, looking more ruffled than usual.

“What happened to you?” She asked as Jimin practically fell into his seat.

“Overslept.” He said, panting slightly. “Almost didn’t make it.” She laughed and ruffled his hair which he hadn’t had time to style today.

Taehyung walked into class only seconds later, and Minna heard the sound of his chair moving behind her. As she was facing towards Jimin she couldnt easily see him and didn’t want to turn, but even so she desperately wanted to see how he was doing today. After a moment she gave in and slowly turned in her chair so that rather than facing left towards Jimin, she was facing the board at the front. That way she could see Taehyung from the corner of her eye. But before she could get a look Jimin spoke up.

“How are your fingers today?”

Minna looked at her hand. They didn’t look as red, and the blisters were smaller.  Jimin saw too and smiled.

“They’re looking a bit better.” He said happily. “I don’t know how you did it but you need to be careful.” Minna nodded and finally glanced at Taehyung, she wasn’t sure if she imagined it but there seemed to be a look of relief on his face that her hand was getting better. She too noticed that Taehyung’s face wasn’t as bad as last night. Maybe it had been because it was dark, but she was sure those bruises were much worse. The cuts also looked a lot smaller, she wondered if maybe the fresh blood on his face had made the cuts look scarier. Her and Taehyung made eye contact for a second before Minna turned back away and Taehyung looked forwards again.

At that moment Mr Kang strode into class and began role call. When he got to Taehyung he gasped. “Taehyung, what happened to your face. I hope you weren’t in a fight.” He looked stern but concerned at his student.

“No sir.” Was Taehyung’s reply. After realising he would get no further explanation, Mr Kang continued, but now that it had been brought to light, everyone was staring at Taehyung and whispering. Minna felt sorry for him. She knew he didn’t like the attention or the class’s assumptions on how he got those scars. She herself had seen what had really happened, although she wondered what had brought on the attack. Either way, in Minna’s opinion nothing called for violence, particularly on that scale.

Minna studied hard during her lessons, pushing her worries from her mind for now, she was one of the top students and couldn’t afford to let her grades slip because of one troublesome student. However mid-way into one of her last lessons before lunch there was a sudden knock at the classroom door, and the student corrections officer stepped inside.

“Pardon me for interrupting.” He said to Mr Kang.

“No problem” Kang replied “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Do you happen to have a Miss Baek Minna in your class?” The officer asked.

Minna raised her head in confusion and looked at the officer. She hadn’t been in trouble before so had had no reason to go to the corrections office. Her heart jumped, had someone seen her sneak to the fifth floor? She refused to let her nerves show, she was sure she could explain her way out, and with her clean record and good grades she hoped the teachers would look favourably upon her.

“Here.” She called out, raising an arm.

“I’m very sorry but could I borrow you for just a short while.” The officer asked.

She nodded her head and stood up from her desk, walking to join him at the door. Jimin was looking at her with a confused and worried expression, she noticed that Taehyung too was looking concerned.

They began the walk to the office, and the officer turned to look at Minna. He chuckled when he saw her face. “No need to look so worried, I’m only here to ask you a few questions.”

He opened his office door and gestured for her to head inside. She took a seat next to his desk and he followed behind, closing the door and taking a seat.

“I heard you were the student trapped on the sixth floor when the fire broke out last week.” The officer said. Minna nodded. “How are you doing now, I hope you are well?”

“I am very well.” Minna responded.

“I heard you were, remarkably, not injured during the fire?”

“Yes sir, that's correct.”

“I was hoping you would recap for me exactly what happened that day.” The officer asked.

Minna nodded and began to explain. At times the officer would interrupt to asks questions or to ask her to expand on a point. She started by telling him how she was going to the restroom, then that the alarm went off but at first, she thought it was the lunch bell that maybe had gotten stuck. She explained that she didn’t leave immediately because her phone had fallen on the floor.

“You didn’t see any other person on the fifth or sixth floor as you head to the restrooms? There was no one else who left the restroom before you?”

“No, I didn’t notice anybody else.”

“What happened after you left the restroom?”

She continued to tell him how she saw smoke on the stairwell, but realising it was the only way down, decided to see how far she could make it. “I worried that if I waited for someone to try find me, the stairwell would become completely unpassable. I couldn’t see flames so I covered my mouth and went down the stairs from sixth to fifth.” She explained.

“What happened then?”

“It was fine from the sixth to fifth, but on the fifth floor there were flames reaching out all of the way across the top of the stairway and there was no way I would be able to get past. Plus, the smoke there was a lot thicker so I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay there for long. It was then that I heard my friend Jimin calling me from the fourth floor. He was the only one who knew my location, so he must have come looking for me…” She hesitated, wondering what to say.

“Do you remember what happened after that?” He asked.

“I was running out of air and decided to take a risk. I jumped from the banister down to the fourth floor.” ‘

'There it was. I lied, I didn’t mention Taehyung.’ She thought to herself. She felt certain he would get in trouble if she told them he had been there, and for one reason or another, she knew she didn’t want that.

The officer looked shocked.

“You were able to jump from the banister without injuring yourself?”

“Yes. It’s hard to believe I know, I don’t know how I managed it myself. I stumbled as I landed but Jimin was there to stop me from falling.”

He was quiet for a moment as he made notes and processed what she said.

“And you saw no signs of fire on your way to the restroom?”

“No. If I had I would have triggered the fire alarms.”

He nodded.

“Okay well, thank you for your feedback. We are just about done wrapping up the case now. We just needed to hear from you for one last time. Unless you have anything else to add, you are free to leave.”

Minna began to stand, then stopped.

“I’m no expert, but I think the fire was started by mistake. I didn’t see anyone on my way up, and I can’t think of anyone who would do this on purpose.”

He nodded, and thanked Minna for her words.

When she left the office, she checked the time. Lunch break had started twenty minutes ago. Knowing Jimin would be waiting for her she headed to the cafeteria and when she walked through the door towards their table Jimin stood up to greet her.

“What happened” he asked “You’re not in trouble right?”

Minna smiled “No. He was just asking me some more questions about the fire.”

“like what?” J-hope asked. Jimin had been waiting with J-hope and Jungkook.

“Just about what happened and if I’d seen anyone.” Minna sat down and Jimin sank back into his seat.

“Did you mention Taehyung?” Jungkook asked.

“Of course not!” Minna defended, a little too quickly. J-hope raised an eyebrow. “Well, what good would it do now? It would be more suspicious that I hadn’t mentioned him from the start, and it would probably just get us both in trouble.” Minna added, covering her tracks.

“He’s a trouble maker though, he deserves it.” J-hope said.

“I’m not sure.” Jimin chirped in. “He seemed like trouble to me too, but he did save Minna, and yesterday he worked hard for the class project. On the other hand, today in class…”

“What about it?” Jungkook questioned.

“His whole face was covered with bruises and cuts.” Jimin told them. Minna bit her lip.

“He must have been in a fight.” Jungkook said.

“Well of course he was fighting, how else would you get cuts like that!” J-hope said, pointing at his own face for effect.

“He wasn’t fighting!” Minna defended. She immediately regretted it.

“How do you know?” J-hope asked, the boys all looked at her with suspicion.

“well it’s just, we don’t know what happened so why assume anything.” Minna stuttered, avoiding eye contact. Why was she defending him so much today? Even she was confused by her actions today.

“He started the fire on the fifth floor and now he’s shown up with a bust-up face. If that doesn’t spell trouble, then I don’t know what does. Why are you defending him?”

As she looked up to J-hope, she saw Taehyung standing behind him. He had obviously heard everything J-hope had just said. Minna was confused, she had never seen Taehyung in the cafeteria before now, why did he have to show up at this moment? It seemed like time stopped as she looked into Taehyung’s face. His expression showed exactly how he was feeling, he had his eyes narrowed at Minna and she knew he felt betrayed. With a sudden snap, time started again. Before she knew it, Taehyung was striding towards her and pulling her quickly from her seat. He was walking so fast Minna found it hard to keep up.

It took a while for Jimin and the others to register what happened, but as she glanced over her shoulder she saw Jimin quickly stand to his feet. “Hey!” He yelled out after them but they had already rounded the corner from the cafeteria and Taehyung pushed Minna lightly towards the wall. She wouldn’t be able to get past without Taehyung stopping her.

“What did you tell them?” Taehyung asked. Something about him seemed frightening. It was a startling contrast to the seemingly more relaxed side he usually showed.

“Nothing much… Only that you were there the day of the fire. I trust them, they won’t tell anyone.”

“Not directly, but that friend of yours was speaking loudly enough that anyone passing could hear.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll tell him to stop.”

“Did you tell them about last night?” Taehyung asked. He seemed less angry now but he was still intimidating.

“No.”

“What about when you went to the office earlier. What did they want from you? I don't suppose you reported me there too, as well as to your friends.”

“They were just asking about the fire, nothing else.”

“And?”

“I told them the truth, until the part where I saw you. I told them I jumped from the banister by myself... and also... I don't tell my friends everything. All they know is that you were there during the fire, but Jimin saw that too so it would be weird to deny it to the others.”

Taehyung sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I’m sorry Taehyung. I won’t tell them anything else. I don’t know what you were doing on that floor that day but, I don’t care. The office told me the case was almost closed now and soon it will be old news. Nobody was hurt so I won’t pry and I’ll make sure no one else does.” He looked at Minna and they stared at one other. He seemed to relax somewhat and he started to open his mouth as if to speak, but hesitated for a moment. In the end, he simply said “Thank you. Sorry…”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry too.” She smiled at him albeit a little sheepishly. She tried to make the situation less awkward. “Your face is looking better today. It looked worst last night, maybe because it was dark.” She mused.

Taehyung had a strange look on his face, and he was clearly getting uncomfortable with this conversation. Perhaps she shouldn't have brought that back up again...

“Yes it’s a bit better. How are your fingers?”

She lifted her hand to show the burn.

“Getting better. I used that lotion you gave to me. Was it from a shop around here? If it was expensive I’ll pay you back.”

“There’s no need for that, it’s a gift to pay you back for last night.”

 As Taehyung was saying that, Jimin rounded the corner, followed by the other two boys. Jimin tried to process what was happening between the two and couldn’t help but focus on what Taehyung had just said. Last night? What happened last night?

 Taehyung saw that Jimin had arrived and with one last look at Minna he turned and walked off.

“What did that punk want?” J-hope said, raising a fist at Taehyungs’ retreating figure. “Do I need to hit him for you?”

“Who’s the trouble maker now?” Minna glared at J-hope and he lowered his fist.

“Are you okay?” Jimin asked Minna. She nodded back.

“I’m fine, he was just concerned that I might be spreading rumours. But he saved my life, so don’t repay him by saying bad things okay? It’s all over now so let’s not cause him any bother anymore.”

Before anymore could be said, there was a commotion in the stairwell.

“They’re removing the tape from the stairs! Does that mean we can go to the fifth floor now?” Jungkook asked.

“Yes! Let’s go look up there before it’s crowded with students.” J-hope said, rushing for the stairs.

Minna was also curious as to how the corridor would look now. She followed J-hope up the stairs which were now free from debris. The corridor had been cleaned and the blackened walls had been painted back to their original colour. The storeroom, however, was still out of bounds to students, but at least the rest of the rooms on the corridor were accessible.

“Wow, it’s like nothing even happened here.” J-hope said, looking around the corridor.

Surprising the others and even herself, Minna approached the storeroom door. She gave it a push and stepped inside.

“Minna!” Jimin said, shocked by her actions. He spun around, making sure no teachers were present. For now, they were alone.

“Noona what are you doing?” Jungkook asked.

She the torch on her phone again, scanning the walls. The room had been swept clean but it hadn’t been repainted yet. She found the part of the wall where the symbol had been carved, but it wasn’t there anymore.

“What the?” Minna said.

“What is it?” The others asked.

“The morning I snuck up here, I came into this store room. Right here” She said, pointing at the wall “there was a strange carving in the wall.”

“are you sure you weren’t seeing things?” J-hope asked from the doorway, the boys seemed hesitant to step into the torched storeroom.

“Why would I be seeing things?” She asked. “I know what I saw.”

“Maybe it was the shock of coming to a place like this after what you’d been through the last time you were here, it might have put a lot of stress on your mind.” J-hope said.

Minna shook her head. “No, it was here! It’s how I got this…” She trailed off. It would sound even more mad to say a carving in a wall burned her.

“Got what?” Jimin asked.

Minna shook her head. “No… it doesn’t matter.” She left the store room and closed the door behind her. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I imagined it.” They wouldn’t understand, and she had just promised Taehyung she would stop them from talking about this whole event. She didn’t need to put more ideas into their minds.

With just minutes left until lunch ended, they said their goodbyes to the other boys, and Minna followed Jimin back to their classroom. Minna opened her notebook and on the back page where someone was least likely to see it, she began to draw out the symbol she had seen carved on the wall. She didn’t understand how it could have disappeared. She knew she hadn’t imagined it. Before she forgot what it looked like, she wanted something to remember it by so that if she came across it again or something similar she had something to refer back to. She was a fool for not taking a photo of it the day she visited the storeroom.

Taehyung walked into class, but Minna refused to look up. She had had enough awkwardness with Taehyung for one day. As Taehyung walked towards his desk, two students that were stood in front of Minna’s desk started to mess around. A girl tripped back and fell into Taehyung, knocking his headphones onto the floor next to Minna’s desk.

“I’m so sorry Taehyung-ssi.” The girl said, bowing deeply, worried as to how he would react. Instead of reacting he ignored her entirely and stepped forward, bending down to pick up his headphones. As he straightened up and turned back towards his seat he caught a glimpse of what Minna was drawing. He froze on the spot. Minna sensed him stop beside her and risked a glance up.

“This.” He said, pointing at her drawing. “how do you know this?”

“You know this too?” She asked. Maybe he had seen it the same morning as her. He had been up there on the fifth floor that day too.

Jimin listened in with curiosity, he always felt uneasy when Minna got involved with Taehyung. He was grateful that Taehyung had saved her life, but there was no reason why they had to keep interfering with one another’s lives like this. Plus he had overheard something troubling earlier that he still couldn’t believe.

Had they been together last night? Now that he thought about it she seemed to have known the real story behind those marks on his face. On top of that it seemed like Taehyung recognised something that Minna claimed was at the site of the fire that almost took her life. Minna had never kept anything from him before, and within just days Taehyung had begun to change her. He wouldn’t get jealous or get involved if Minna wanted to make another friend, but he wouldn’t stand for it if anyone put Minna into danger.

I'm sorry if there are any errors in this chapter, I only finished writing at 4:15am here in Korea. Anyway please leave a comment on your thoughts so far and upvote if you like the story! :D