▬ Chapter 7: .//End ▬

Yoongi went back down the stairs to help Sumin up the steps. With the light from the outside finally shedding a clearer path up the old and rickety wooden platforms, it became much easier for the two to tread. Out of the corner of her eye, a small glint caught the attention of the female.

“What’s that?” She stopped and placed a hand on the cold wall while the other pointed in front of their direction.

The young man squinted a bit, peering closer to the unidentified object. He then took another step before a huge sigh of relief escaped his lips.

“I don’t know if I should thank him or smack him when I see him again,” he grunted. “That Kim Seokjin.”

Sumin raised an eyebrow. “Something of yours?”

“More of my friend’s, really. It’s a small tracking device.” Yoongi brought it closer to the woman who only gave a nod after inspecting it for a bit. Seconds later, he slipped the tiny device into his pocket. “I don’t know if it even still works or not, but it’s at least something. Now,” he went back to Sumin’s side and led her up again. “Let’s try to get the heck out of this stupid place.”

A few minutes of traversing on the unfamiliar territory, a sense of déjà vu engulfed Yoongi. Although both of them were nowhere clear of the danger nor did they know if they were any close to civilization, an overwhelming sense of calmness crept through his body.

“Here,” Yoongi carefully led the tired Sumin to sit by an old tree stump. “I think we’ve traveled quite far from where we started. For now, let’s take a rest.”

“Oh, thank god,” the woman sighed as she slowly sat down, making the dead, brown leaves below them crunch in a satisfying way. “And here I thought we’d be walking nonstop until we found land.”

“We’re both injured,” he chuckled as he began stretching his back. “No point in draining all of our energy at once. We don’t even know what we’re up against or know where we are.”

“Where the heck are we anyway? Better yet, how did we end up here?”

Leaving what may seem like a rhetorical question to dance through the air, the man took a deep breath and allowed himself to immerse in the surrounding nature. Since the moment he became a detective, Yoongi has been stuck in the city. Despite having lived in the countryside for a few years during his childhood, he always thought that the city life was more for him. There were more people, more action, and more things to fuss about instead of dwelling on what happened the last time before he left his hometown.

“Ah, I missed this,” he breathed out.

As he slowly opened his eyes with a hand blocking out the rays of the sun, he noticed the bruises and cuts on his hands. Not to mention, the clear red and purple streaks where the shackles sat a few moments ago.

“At least I still have all ten digits attached to me.”

Yoongi placed both hands on his hips and scanned his surroundings. Aside from Sumin closing her eyes not too far from where he stood, he visually couldn’t see anything else out of the ordinary.

That is, until what seemed like part of an obscured log cabin poked behind a few trees.

“Well, this makes my previous notion of the premonition of being outside and safe a piece of .”

Not before long, the anticipated whistling echoed throughout the forest. The sound rang just as creepily as it did during his premonition. But unlike then, not knowing what came after that made him freak out on the inside, especially after what Sumin said about her promotion.

“Sumin!” Yoongi called out to the sleeping female and anxiously helped her up. “We have to go!”

“W-Where?!” She tried to stand up as fast as she could. “And is that who I think it is?! I thought we made a huge gap between us already!”

“We have to find a place to hide at the very least,” the detective urgently stated. “And I don’t want to stick around and find out.”

The quick break they had in the forest proved to be useful. Sumin could walk faster now, seeing as she conserved a bit more energy after her little nap. This made their trek much more bearable.

Yet the whistling and the footsteps trailing behind them didn’t seem to falter one bit. A loud bang rang through the air, making whatever birds that were in the forest fly out into the sky with songs of horror.

“! They’re starting to shoot!” Yoongi screamed when another stray bullet almost grazed his arm before hitting the oak tree next to him. “Try to stay low and hide behind the trees. Don’t lose your pace though!”

“Wait!” Sumin cried out from behind Yoongi. “Do you hear that?! It’s a bit faint, but I hear sirens!”

Without stopping in his tracks, the detective listened intently. He could definitely hear the same sound. He looked far ahead then a sense of hope filled him. “I think I see a slope not too far from here! Let’s keep going! It might be the road!”

“Help!” Sumin started to scream. “We’re over here! Please, help us!”

Yoongi didn’t even have time or the excess energy to tell her that whoever was up there would most likely not be able to hear them with the huge distance between them. Instead, after confirming with one last look behind him just to see if Sumin was still close behind, he ran as fast as his legs could take him towards the slope.

When he reached the foot of the slope, he looked back again to check on Sumin. She wasn’t too far out which alleviated him. The moment he turned his back, however, another loud sound mingled in the air and this time, rather than just hearing the shot, he felt it too.

Yoongi landed on the ground with a resounding groan. Both of his hands propped outwards just in time to stop his face from planting itself on the ground.

“Yoongi!” Sumin ran to his side not a second later while Yoongi applied pressure on his left torso.

“Don’t stop! We’re almost there! Go up and get help!”

“But—”

“GO!”

Without another second to waste, Sumin did as told. She stumbled a bit going up the hill, but that didn’t deter her from her main mission. Fortunately for them, several police cars were only a few miles out. The woman frantically waved her hands in the air, hoping to get their attention. Then one by one, each vehicle stopped in front of her.

The moment Sumin felt that help was finally here, she pointed to where Yoongi was before her legs gave out which made her collapse on the ground.

While Sumin was making her way at the top, Yoongi was trying to move at the same time. However, this was for cover, rather than up. The heavens must have been on their side at