Minna stared at Taehyung and he stared straight back. Jimin looked anxiously between them. She waited for an answer from Taehyung about how he knew the symbol, but he just continued standing there in silence. He looked a little uncomfortable and rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to come up with an appropriate response. Before he could answer however, the door swung open and their teacher walked in.

“Okay take a seat everyone, you too Taehyung.” The teacher said, making his way to the front.

Minna felt annoyed that her questions were going unanswered once again but he couldn’t avoid her forever, she would ask him soon. Even so, throughout all the classes the questions were burning at the back of her mind. Why was he there during the fire, why was he being beaten in the street, why does he seem to know this strange symbol?

 When the classes for the day ended she tried again to ask, but Jimin grabbed her arm. She turned to see what he wanted.

“Minna I’m sorry but can we leave for home straight away today? I realised my mom asked me to help her with something when school ends and she will be waiting.”

“Did we have a plan after school today?” Minna asked, confused.

“Weren’t we going to get ice-cream?” Jimin asked.

“No? I don’t remember those plans.” Minna said, desperate to end this conversation so she could speak with Taehyung.

“oh well, that suits all of us then.” Jimin said smiling. “Let’s go!”

Minna turned back towards Taehyung’s desk, but he had already left. She cursed inwardly that he had gotten away while she was distracted by Jimin, but she didn’t notice Jimin behind her letting out a sigh in relief that Taehyung had gotten away in time.

Her and Jimin gathered their belongings and they started on their way home together. “Minna…” Jimin said quietly after a while. She looked up at his face and he was frowning slightly.

“What’s the matter?” Minna asked.

“I know you’re curious about the fire but… it’s practically case closed now. Can’t you stop trying to figure things out? Plus, there’s something else…”

Minna titled her head in confusion and waited for Jimin’s response.

“Can’t you leave Taehyung alone now too? I can’t help but feel he’s a bad influence, I don’t want you getting hurt or in trouble.” Jimin looked troubled by his own words, but he felt like it had to be said.

“I… I just want to ask about that symbol_” Minna started, but she saw Jimin’s face grow more frustrated so she changed her mind. “I mean, I did want to ask but, how can that be related to anything? Maybe it was graffiti he drew in there. I won’t ask him about that anymore, don’t worry.” Jimin didn’t look entirely convinced but he was satisfied enough for now.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, both turning over recent events in their head. They barely noticed the familiar roads around them as they walked, their feet acting on auto-pilot after years of making this familiar journey. Suddenly as they rounded a corner, two men also turned, bumping into Minna’s arm by accident as they did so.

A book she had been holding fell to the floor, and her and one of the men bent down to pick it up. As they did so Minna got a better look at his face. His nose and mouth were covered by a black mask, but his eyes stared into hers. She realised he must be around her age or a few years older. Something about him seemed familiar, but she didn’t recognise him from school. He passed the book into her hand and stood, walking off with his friend. Minna stood too.

“Are you okay?” Jimin asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked at her book, brushing off some dust before continuing on her way.

Further up the road the man who had picked up her book turned to his friend.

“She looked familiar.” He said. The two of them turned and looked back at her and Jimin’s retreating figures.

“She does, I thought so too” the other man admitted. “Wait, isn’t she the girl from last night?”

“The one who helped Taehyung escape?”

“She looked just like her. Let’s follow her a bit, I want to get a closer look.” The other nodded in agreement, and keeping a distance, they followed Minna and Jimin on their walk home.

Jimin stopped outside Minna’s house and said goodbye as usual.

“Thank you as always.” Minna said “Now hurry on home, don’t keep your mom waiting!” Minna added.

“Huh?” Jimin asked, confused.

“You know, your mom needs your help with something.”

“Oh right! That! Yes, sorry I keep forgetting. See you!” He said, turning and walking back the way they had come. On his walk he passed two men, and he hesitated for a moment. Hadn’t they been the two men they passed earlier? Why were they walking back this way? Maybe they were lost. He shrugged and continued his way home, pulling up his hood as a fine rain began to pour down.

The two men watched as Minna entered her house and closed her door, but she didn’t notice them. Heading inside she greeted her parents and then went straight to her room. Dropping her books onto her desk, she then took off her backpack and riffled through for her homework. As she did, a pot fell to the floor. She bent down and picked up the pot of lotion, then opened it and went to apply more to her burn. As she did so, her sunk to the bottom of the pot and she felt something strange on the bottom.

“Hm?” She mumbled to herself. She thought it might be braille, or writing, but why would that be inside the pot? Using two fingers she moved some lotion aside, and gasped when she uncovered the bottom of the pot. Etched into the bottom was another symbol, similar to that she had seen in the storage closet. It confirmed that Taehyung knew more about what these symbols were, and now she felt more determined than ever to find out what they meant. Why did she keep finding this strange language around Taehyung?

She made a mental note to ask Taehyung, but only when Jimin wasn’t around. She knew Jimin didn’t like her speaking with Taehyung, but whenever Minna got curious about something she just had to understand it. That was partly the reason she was so good at studying, she was curious by nature.

Putting the lotion away again, she finished her homework and for once the rest of the night passed peacefully. She had a home cooked meal with her family, helped them to wash the dishes, and after a hot shower she climbed into bed and fell into a deep and comfortable sleep.

The next morning Minna awoke early again, and decided she would take that opportunity to find Taehyung. Maybe he would be at school early too, like last time. If not, maybe she could leave a note in his locker. She doubted he would reply to it, but at least that way Jimin wouldn’t see her ask him. She packed her school bag for the day, checking her homework was inside and then set off.

“Eomma, I’m heading out early because I have some stuff to do before class. I’ll be back later!”

“Okay darling, see you later!” Her mother called from the top of the stairs, a towel wrapped around her damp hair. Minna closed the door behind her and began her walk to school, it was early and not many people walked the streets, particularly through the narrow residential area. The ground was still damp from last night’s rain.

A few minutes into her walk Minna felt a presence behind her, unsure as to whether she should turn or not, she continued walking, but slightly quickened her pace. After another minute, she definitely heard footsteps.  Even when she walked quicker, she felt the person behind her approaching at a quick speed. Starting to feel scared, she wanted to take out her phone but before she could, there was someone walking at her side. Dressed all in black, a black mask over the bottom of his face, a black cap on his head. He stood too close for comfort and didn’t pass by once he was alongside her. He was so close their arms brushed as she walked.

 She went to step to the left away from them but bumped into someone else. She snapped her head around and someone dressed in the same manner was walking on her other side. She recognised them as the men from yesterday.

“Hello again.” The guy to her left said. He was quite tall, especially compared to her.

“What do you want?” Minna asked. They were still walking, but the men seemed to be leading now.

“We want you to just answer a few questions. If you answer them we will be on our way and you can continue on yours.”

“But if you don’t answer…” The man on her left said, suddenly speaking up.

“If I don’t?” Minna asked quietly.

“You might as well say your goodbyes to this world right now.” The man on her left said.

Minna’s heart clenched, she hadn’t been in and never expected this situation to ever happen to her.

“What do you want to know?” She asked, hoping she could give them what they wanted and they would leave her alone. As they walked, they head for alleyways and smaller streets, soon she found herself walking along roads she hadn’t walked before. She didn’t know where they were heading. She couldn’t decide if to try run or not, even walking they seemed to be very fast.

“How do you know Taehyung?” The man on her right asked her, snapping her from her thoughts of escape.

“Taehyung?” She repeated, dazed. How did he fit into this?

“Don’t play stupid. We know you know him, you were the one who helped him get away the other night.” She thought for a moment, then remembered the two men beating Taehyung as he lay on the ground before them. ‘So that’s who they are!’ She thought.

“You mean the guy you were kicking?” Minna asked. “I only saw someone in need and helped, I didn’t know who he was.” Minna replied. It was true to an extent. She only realised it was him as he started making his escape.

“Well that doesn’t quite add up for us.” The man on her left said, the man on her right nodded his agreement.

“Maybe that was the case, but the way you ran hand in hand and lead him away from us. Taehyung wouldn’t run with any stranger like that. He isn’t really the trusting type.”

Minna thought hard, she was sure Taehyung hadn’t realised it was her until they stopped running. He had just accepted the help he needed to escape.

“You’re wrong.” She said, scared but defiant. “He just wanted to escape, he didn’t know who I was.”

“Didn’t.” The man on her right repeated. “Does that mean he knows you now.”

“Well he saw my face… After I helped him he thanked me and then I went back home.”

“What about him?” The man on her left asked. “Where did he go?”

“I assume he went home too.” Minna replied.

“And where is that?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask or follow him.”

The man to her left growled.

“We need to find him. He has something very important to us that we need. Tell us where to find him!” The man to the left said, anger rising in his voice.

“I really don’t know!” Minna cried back.

They stopped walking and Minna found herself in front of an old building. Perhaps a factory that was no longer in use. The man on her left stayed by her side while the man on her right unlocked the door.

They lead her to a chair that sat in the middle of the room and Minna’s breathing started to quicken. She couldn’t see an easy way out and cursed herself for not trying to escape on the streets where at least other people might have seen her in need.

“Sit.” The taller male said, pointing at the single chair. As she walked closer to it, she noticed a ring of symbols carved into the floor around the chair. Her mind reeled and she wondered what Taehyung’s relationship was to these two thugs.

Once in the chair her arms were pinned behind her and she was tied with a simple but strong rope.

“Right.” The tall man said. “I think we need to ask you some questions again.” While this was going on, the shorter male who had been walking to her left disappeared into a room at the back of the building. The room was large with a high roof, beams of steel holding the room in place here and there. Apart from the chair, the only other items in the room seemed to be machinery, hidden under large white dust sheets. They looked like they hadn’t been touched in quite a while.

“Do you know where Taehyung lives?” The tall man asked.

“No.” She replied. The man seemed to wait a moment, but when nothing else was said he slowly nodded to himself and tried again.

“Did you know Taehyung before the night you helped him.”

“No.” She said again. This time she noticed a flash on the floor from where the symbols were cast. In the same instant, a white-hot pain flashed throughout her whole body and she shrieked in surprise and pain.

“Now we are getting somewhere.” The man said. Minna’s forehead started to sweat and she bent over as much as she could where she was held within the ropes. She panted and tried to recover from the pain that had struck her body, the shock of which had winded her. The door at the back of the room opened again, and this time two figures emerged.

First came the shorter male, but behind him was an older man. He held a cane in his right hand and with every other step it tapped against the floor.

“Who have we here?” The older man asked, his voice was smooth but cold like ice.

“This is the girl who helped Taehyung escape the other night.” The tall male explained. “And she has just revealed to us that she knows Taehyung.”

“Ah…” The man said, smiling and approaching Minna. He stopped just outside the circle of symbols, the other males either side of him. “And what is your name?” He asked, still smiling.

She glared in response, and sat up straighter in the chair now that the pain was gone. She hoped they couldn’t see that she was shaking.

“Don’t be like that.” He responded, tutting. He lifted his cane forward and put it back down onto a symbol in the floor. The moment it landed pain hit her body again with the force of a speeding car hitting a brick wall. She cried out and the man chuckled at her. He lifted the cane and the pain stopped, along with her screaming.

She in deep breathes and refused to let the tears in her eyes spill.

“I shall ask again. What is your name.”

“Minna.” She said finally.

“Minna, well, it is lovely to meet you. I hope you could give us some more information about your friend Taehyung, then you can be off and carry on with your day, how about that?”

She clenched her jaw but didn’t respond.

“Splendid!” He said and laughed a fake laugh. “Well then, Minna, do you know where we might be able to find Taehyung?” He waited a moment, but Minna showed no signs of answering. “Yes? No? It’s a simple question.” After a second, he moved his cane forward again and despite trying her hardest, Minna couldn’t stop from letting out her screams.

His right hand he held down the cane, while his left hand was raised up so he could look down at the watch strapped to his wrist. After what felt like an eternity he lifted the cane up.

Minna slumped back in the chair, tears still threating to spill from her eyes, her hands clenched so tightly her palms started to bleed from the force of her nails.

“We don’t have to make this difficult” He said to her, watching her struggling. “Just tell us, and we can let you go. Why are you fighting us?”

“Because” Minna said, her voice wavering “Both times I encountered this group” She paused again for breath “You have caused nothing… But pain.”

The man shook his head, the shorter male looked up at the older man, waiting for a response.

“It may look that way to you, but we are doing very important work. People will benefit from this, if only they don’t get in our way. Just tell us one word, give us even one location where we can speak with Taehyung, or even just the place you first met him and we can be done with this, no one else gets hurt, including you.”

Minna was tired, her body ached. Her muscles felt like she had been running for hours, no, days. She began to feel dizzy and sick and just wanted it all to end, but she didn’t want to hurt Taehyung.  He was mixed up with this crazy group, and she had no idea which side was in the right, if any. But with all her heart, she wanted to believe that Taehyung was innocent. After all, she hadn’t seen him cause any pain, he had only saved her. These people were violent, and now she needed to save Taehyung.

“I can’t tell you anything.” She said.

“Can’t, or won’t?” The man asked her.

“Won’t.” Minna said, gathering her strength and staring back into the man’s cold eyes.

She had no idea how long the cane pressed down for this time, it felt like hours and her voice was hoarse from screaming. In her thrashing and crying, she noticed that the males standing either side of the old man looked uncomfortable and even through pain that clouded her thoughts, she wondered if they were truly okay with what was happening. She made eye contact with the taller male, pain, anger and pleading in her eyes.

She was surprised that he suddenly stepped forward, and put his arm on the old mans.

“I think you need to stop now.” The old man raised an eyebrow in surprise, but decided to stop.

“I hope you’re not turning weak on me.” The old man said, his voice sounded dangerous, even towards his own allies.

“Not at all.” The tall male responded. “But it seems like she’s losing her voice from screaming. If she can’t speak, she can’t give us more information.”

The elder man deliberated for a second and nodded. “So what do you suppose I do instead? She isn’t willing to speak with us.”

“Didn’t you tell us that you discovered a way to make people give up information.”

“Yes but, that is difficult to perform. I had been waiting to use that for the more important information… but I suppose we won’t find Taehyung any other way.” He sighed and nodded. “Prepare it for me, and prepare me a place to rest after it is done.”

The younger males nodded and disappeared again through the door at the back.

Minna closed her eyes and took in deep breathes, she had rope burns on her arms and wrists where she had been thrashing against her restraints, her palms were bleeding freely now and her muscles were so weak she doubted she could walk if she did escape here.

She didn’t know what they were planning to do now but she hoped it wouldn’t last long or hurt too much. She had tried to be strong but didn’t know how much more she could take. 

More time passed and everyone returned to the room. The tall male knelt before her and began adjusting one of the symbols on the floor, appearing to use a book as reference. She watched him work without saying a word. He seemed to be aware that she was looking, and he looked awkward and uncomfortable. She questioned again his role in this, the older male was clearly the leader, but now and then Minna noticed doubt and fear in the two younger male’s eyes. She continued to watch him work, distracting herself from her situation by studying the symbols on the floor.

Minutes later he had finished and they brought the older man over again.

“It’s all ready?” The leader asked.

“yes sir. Yoongi is fixing you up a place to rest.”

“Good work today Seokjin, we’ve made great progress here.”

The younger male she now knew to be called Seokjin stepped back, and the older man stepped forward, placing his cane down again. She braced for the incoming pain but instead nothing happened.

The symbol began to glow and as she looked at it she felt her brain going foggier. She began questioning herself. Who was she? Why was she here? What had she been doing before?

“Minna” The old man called. She looked at him confused. Was she called Minna? “Minna, where can we find Taehyung?”

Taehyung? Who was he again? Wait, isn’t the new guy in her class. The one she’s curious about. Wasn’t that Taehyung? Taehyung from her class.

The glowing stopped and the man staggered back. Seokjin caught him and helped him to stand.

“Mind infiltration spells are always difficult, but I got what we needed. Thank you Seokjin. You’ve been a great help. If you wouldn’t mind.” The man gestured to the door at the back and Yoongi stepped forward, escorting the man out. Seokjin remained, he turned towards the girl and looked at her uniform. Noting the name of her school he waited until Yoongi returned.

“He’s resting?” Seokjin asked.

“Yes. Did you get the name of the school?”

“No need.” Seokjin said. “It’s right there on her uniform.” The two males left the building and Minna remained tied to her chair.

Through her exhaustion, through her confusion, she was only certain of one thing. She must warn Taehyung.

It has been a long time since I was last able to update, I'm really sorry guys! Please feel free to comment what you think or any questions and I will get back to you! Thank you for reading :D