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“No hard feelings, right?” 
Splash
 Taehyung was drenched in water. He looked down to see the small puddle of water pooling around his feet. Out of everything foggy surrounding him, that was the only thing that crystal clear in his view. Taehyung couldn’t even see who spoke to him, the voice briskly ebbing itself from memory. Before he could curse whoever drenched him, a torn power cord flew through the atmosphere, emerging from the vast nothingness. It landed right in the heart of the puddle, now bigger and able to reach Taehyung. Taehyung felt his muscles contracting and his breath coming to a halt. All of the follicles in his skin were bitten by millions of tiny ants. It took Taehyung a good half a minute before he was even able to scream out for help, but by then, all of the damage and more had already been done. What felt like days was over in an instant. Taehyung was finally allowed to breathe, but that’s all he was in control of. His charred skin was the last thing he saw before falling down and passing out.—————————————————————————————————————————Taehyung sat straight up in his bed, his shirt drenched in sweat. The warm sunlight kissed his forehead as the marigold glow tried to soothe him. After calming down a bit, he reached over to his phone. 
8:52
 
Saturday,  January 19
 Taehyung sighed out of relief. He wanted to sink back into his bed and go back to sleep, but he just washed his sheets, he shouldn’t dirty them already. He swung his legs around and hoisted himself out of bed. He walked over to his closet to put the soiled shirt in his laundry basket. Ew, the collar, chest area, and armpits made his dark grey shirt completely black from being damp. Taehyung took off his shirt and threw it away before he saw the horror in his reflection.If it weren’t for a short glance, Taehyung would’ve missed it completely. All over where his shoulder blades were and down his spine were intricate rosy lines. A tree stripped of its leaves and shielded with vermilion bark gleamed in the mirror. The angry blemishes interestingly were not sensitive to the touch; in fact, the nerves responded as normal, as if there was nothing wrong. “No fucking way-“ Taehyung muttered as he ran to his phone to look up something. “Electric shock scars”Pictures of people with the same scars showed up. Some had charred skin, but all of them had the same red patterns. The only problem was that Taehyung’s looked worse, more recent. The hue of the lesions on his back was bright red in contrast to the salmon colored ones that came up on google.Taehyung started to panic, what else could he do? He could barely comprehend what was going on, what happened to his body. He couldn’t fathom all the emotions and worries in his mind that he became startled when a teardrop fell onto the luminous screen of his phone. He lightly tossed it onto the other side of his bed and set his tremorous hands onto the sides of his skull. “What happened to me? What happened to me?” were the only intelligible complete sentences to flow through his conscious. The rest were simple “How did-”, “Why-”, and “What did-”s. The more he reminisced, the more the room shrank and an invisible hand gripped at his throat.There was a knock on the door. “Tae-baby? You okay?” asked the voice of his mother. Taehyung had to promptly collect himself and his thoughts as he sputtered “Yeah, I’m fine.” “Are you getting ready? Jimin could be over any second.” 
Fuck.
 “Yeah, I’m gonna take a shower right now.” he said. His mind was now filled with even more anxious rhetorical questions.As soon as his mother left, Taehyung went over to grab his towel. Oh, how much he wished he didn’t have to face this. As he reached his hand out, images of him being burned to a crisp flashed every second. The worst way to die: naked, vulnerable, and unable to get help without someone risking their life as well. Taehyung trudged his way to the bathroom, jumping slightly at the sound of static shock from the metal door knob.Taehyung finally made his way into the bathroom, staring the enemy right in front of him. As he stepped into the bathtub, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath when he reached for the shower knobs. He felt waves of shock flowing through his palms when grasping the dials, not exactly hurting him. It simply tickled, but it was still an unusual feeling.The water was the worst part. Taehyung opened his eyes, but he heard the zaps first. He looked down to see the streams of water running down his skin were kindling streaks of electricity in them, the bright energy being encapsulated in transparent membranes. Eventually the puddle of water surrounding his bare feet became illuminated by the pure energy held within it.Taehyung’s eyes widened at the realization that none of this was hurting him.He gently slid his feet back and forth through the puddle, witnessing the bright waves simply getting pushed around. Taehyung slowly tried to continue his bathing, lathering shampoo in his hair. He felt small tingles from the electric water, but his hair didn’t seem to be affected. The rest of his bathing went on as normal, as if having electricity pool around you is normal. In fact, he realized that the more accustomed he became, the less energy was expelled in the water.Taehyung entered his bedroom, drying off and continuing to get dressed as if nothing unusual happened to him. It was still upsetting to see the scars in the mirror, but the more he looked at it, the cooler they looked to him. The scars traced his spinal cord to a tee. The farther away from the origin point, the more faint the intricate lines had become. The only bad thing was that it traced all the way up his neck towards his head. It could have been worse, they could have been visible through every single vein in his body, but he would have to cover the nape of his neck for as long as the scars are visible. Taehyung thought to himself, “Maybe I should grow a mullet.”Taehyung’s phone vibrated with a text from Jimin. He reached over to his phone, to see a notification that said: (Messages) Jiminie Neutron: bro im on my way bro get ready bro Taehyung replied: Taehyung Turner: ok bro Taehyung then checked the weather. 85 degrees fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). Not the type of weather to wear a turtleneck. “Should I?” Taehyung thought to himself, imagining Jimin pointing at the nape of his neck and asking “Hey, what’s that?” Taehyung shook his head, it was too risky. He proceeded to put on a gray turtleneck. Even though the material was light, it definitely will bring him trouble in the hot weather. After finishing up getting dressed, Taehyung entered the dining room, startled to see Jimin in his house already and having small talk with his mom.  “Oh, sweetie, are you sure about wearing that in this weather? It’s very hot outside.” “Ah, he’ll be alright, Mrs. Kim. The two of us are immune to intense weather.” Jimin said, as he pinched a bit of his beige hoodie.“Well, I guess…” “Ah, sorry mom, but we gotta hurry. The mall gets flooded with people on the weekends.” Taehyung rushed. “Oh, you’re right! Well, hurry on then. Be back before 9!”Taehyung and Jimin exited the house and walked to the bus station. The rubber coating on the benches luckily prevented any static shock from alarming Jimin. While sitting down, Jimin went on about how his boyfriend, Jungkook, was so kind to him and how much he loves spending time with him. Taehyung was glad to hear this, he’d been wanting the two to finally start dating after a lot of awkward bumping into each other. The bus rolled in as soon as Jimin finished gushing about his lover.The two paid their seats and sat near the back. Taehyung was just relieved nothing had happened yet that would out him and this new...ability? What exactly was it? He’s no superhero, but has this ever happened to someone? Can science even answer what happened to him? Taehyung stared out the window in thought as Jimin put on his earphones and listened to music.He tried retracing his steps: “First it was the dream, then I woke up and it just… was there. Is that possible? Maybe it has something to do with my mind or like… a placebo effect? Is that the word?” He never got any answers, only more and more questions.The bus finally stopped near the mall, and Taehyung had to wake Jimin up next to him who had fallen asleep listening to R&B. The two got off, thanked the bus driver, and headed towards the large mall. Taehyung and Jimin unintentionally both grabbed the metal handles on the door at the same time, resulting in both getting shocked. Taehyung became terrified again, he turned away from Jimin in an attempt to avoid eye contact with him. Jimin simply laughed, “There’s probably a lot of static in the air.” Jimin ended up pulling the door open for the two of them as they entered the inside. Jimin told Taehyung beforehand that he wanted to go shopping for each other, as a little game/challenge. “Give me about 15 minutes to pick out a new outfit for you and you’ll do the same right after.” he said. Taehyung thought this idea would be fun as he unlocked his phone to start the timer. He set it to 15 minutes and said “GO!” as Jimin dragged the both of them into the Forever21. Taehyung couldn’t have an influence on Jimin’s choices, so he simply followed him around as if he were a loyal puppy.As Jimin dug through several racks of clothes, Taehyung saw that his phone was at 5%. “Fuck, I forgot to charge it.” he thought. He then noticed something strange about the battery percentage logo. It had the small lightning bolt next to it whenever he had his thumb on the home button.“No fucking way…” he muttered to himself. “Hey! You can’t say anything about what I pick yet!” said Jimin. Taehyung didn’t reply as he gently put the tip of his thumb in the charging port. He kept watch of the percentage. 
7%
 
10%
 
28%
 
46%
 “ Holy shit… ” 
69%
 
83%
 Taehyung released his thumb as soon as the screen read “95%”. This had to be a dream, right? There’s no way in hell that Taehyung actually… The scars The shower The door handles Now his phone “Tae, stand still,” Jimin said as he held up a black long sleeved shirt with roses going down the sleeves, “Nah, too small.”Taehyung opened google and looked up “charging your phone with your thumb?” Nothing useful came up as a result, only chargers and ‘charging rules of thumb’. This was getting out of hand for him. Half of his conscience wants to tell Jimin about this so he can actually express his concerns and questions to someone while the other half is yelling that half to stop being a dumbass. But Jimin is his best friend. But Jimin might let other people know. But Jimin and Taehyung have been friends practically since birth. But Jimin could start isolating himself from Taehyung. “Okay, I finished!” Jimin beamed, “I found this cute lavender knit top and some black jeans.” Jimin had always wanted to see Taehyung in pastel colors, he thought they suit him. The major bad side to Jimin’s selection was the fact that the sweater had a crew neck. Taehyung forgot about the scar thing until he realized that they would now be exposed. Taehyung swallowed down his anxiety, putting on a mask of obliviousness. “You know I’m never gonna wear this, right?” Taehyung actually didn’t mind wearing it, he just wanted Jimin to pick something else with “You have to! At least once, or else I’ll tell your mom to.” Jimin teased. “Oh fuck you,” Taehyung said laughing, “Where’s the changing rooms?”Jimin stood in front of the changing booth Taehyung chose as he tried the sweater and jeans on. He was right, pastels did suit him, but the fucking collar exposed the red traces on the back of his neck. Not only that, but of course he had to discover another issue. Taehyung noticed a few strands of hair standing straight up by themselves. They floated in the air and refused to stay down whenever he pressed on them. He noticed the more worried he got, the more hairs began defying gravity, so he practiced deep breathing until a majority of them went away. He planned on saying they were just stray baby hairs if Jimin noticed anything. He reluctantly stepped out to get Jimin’s judgement, which he immediately knew would be positive. Jimin grinned practically from ear to ear, “You look cute!”“I don’t think I look that great in this…” “Well, I say that you look really soft and adorable. I’m buying this for you.” Taehyung sighed, “Fine, as long as I never let you choose my wardrobe again.” “It’s a nice change up!” Jimin said, “Lemme get a look at you in the back-”“Ah, no! Don’t!” Taehyung yelled. Jimin got startled by the sudden volume change. “I- uh- My ass looks flat in the jeans.” “Oh, I call bullshit. Your ass is pretty f- oh shit what’s this?”Jimin directly touched one branch of the scar on the nape of his neck.“What happened, Tae?” Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfukcufkcufkcukfucukfukcufckfuck  Taehyung covered the back of his neck with his hand, “I uh… I think I have eczema.” “Oooh, I see. Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.” Jimin said while patting his shoulder. Taehyung sighed a blissful sigh.Right after he said that, a random guy walked out of a changing booth and caught a glance at Taehyung. He scoffed and smiled, all while not making any eye contact with him.“Did you see that?!” Taehyung said.“See what?”“That dude! He laughed at me! He probably thinks I look shitty in this sweater.”Jimin looked around, “I had to make sure he wasn’t near so he wouldn’t hear me saying I’ll beat his ass. You look great, fuck that dude.”“He probably thinks I’m a twink.”“You’re saying you’re not?”“SAYS YOU ! You’re the twinkiest twink to ever twink!”The two fell into hysteria, “I’m taking this shit off before we get kicked out.” Taehyung said.“If you’re not gonna let me buy it, give it to me. I’ll wear it!”“Yeah, sure.”After Taehyung changed back into his initial outfit, Jimin made him do the same challenge thing to him. It actually just turned into Jimin scolding Taehyung over and over for his indifference towards fashion. Eventually Jimin ended up picking a few outfits for himself, but Taehyung had to choose which one he liked better. He didn’t really care, he randomly picked one and got lucky when he saw Jimin’s glee. The two spent the rest of the day hanging out around the city: going to small cafes for talking, walking around, etc. To Taehyung’s luck, nothing else happened in regards to his electricity incident. Jimin didn’t suspect anything after the makeshift excuse of the “eczema” on his neck. The only thing that continued to happen were a few static shocks whenever there was contact with metal, but it only made Jimin laugh at Taehyung thinking it was bad luck.After coming back home, Taehyung dropped his new clothes and other items bought when walking around town and plopped face down onto his bed. He groaned out of both exhaustion and frustration when he saw the scar on his bare back again. It wasn’t any paler than the morning, showing no sign of it leaving any soon.Why did this happen? How did this happen? So many questions, yet no answers at all… Should Jimin know? Yes. No. What would he do with this knowledge? Keep it a secret? Tell everyone? Would people even believe the absurdity of this situation? Taehyung felt his blood pressure rising, but he couldn’t stop thinking. All of the unknown was stressing the shit out of Taehyung as if he had thousands of assignments due by tomorrow. It was all giving Taehyung a big headache. Too big of a headache, in fact. Taehyung flipped over onto his back and pressed the bottom of his palms onto his head. He winced in pain, all of a sudden a thousand needles started piercing his frontal lobe. The pain seemed to travel down to his chest as his heart was constricted by a vicious snake, squeezing until his heart felt like it would pop.The pain was too much for Taehyung to vocalize, all that came out were grunts and failed cries for help. It grew worse as time went on, waves of torture crashing onto Taehyung’s delicate flesh. It grew stronger. Stronger. Stronger. Until 
ZAP
 All of the aching escaped his body, manifesting itself into a flash of bright lights that crawled onto the ceiling and walls. Taehyung could feel every pulse that surged into his room, as if it were rope escaping chest, forehead, and fingertips.The lightning tried to contain itself in his bedroom light, ultimately blowing out the lightbulbs. Taehyung felt his body plunge onto his mattress, he didn't even feel himself levitating. As he tried to become conscious of what happened, he realized that the event caused a blackout in his room.Hell, the amount of energy was so strong that it caused a blackout in his entire house.“Don’t worry guys, it’s just a blown fuse!” Taehyung’s Dad yelled throughout the house.Taehyung weakly laughed, as he felt his body shutting down. He felt so weak, so tired, but he also felt so scared at the same time. “What the fuck was that…” was his last thought before passing out.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taehyung spent his entire Sunday trying to research as much as he can about electricity powers and possible reasons why he got them. Not much useful information showed up, the majority was fictional since powers are only in fictional situations. Of course, they only should be. He actually learned more about science than in any of his previous high school classes.He learned about static electricity and how an example commonly used for it is how it can make hair stand up. Taehyung remembered back to the changing booth in Forever21 and how the more worried he got, the more strands stood up. The internet explained how it worked, but it had no luck explaining why it worked. In addition, nothing came up about people basically controlling electricity or not being shocked by it when it literally pools around your feet.Taehyung closed his laptop and sighed. Where is he gonna go with this? Yeah, he knows more about how electricity conducts, but how is he going to learn not to get shocked by everything made of metal he touches. He then got an idea.Calming down seemed to help, along with pretending nothing happened.Taehyung then went on Youtube, typing in “how to meditate” in the search engine. Maybe if he was composed enough, he could manipulate the electricity to how he pleases rather than have it explode out of him whenever he freaks out. He clicked on the first video that showed up, listening to the young lady stating all the benefits of meditating. “Meditating can help you calm your mind, destress, find balance, and other benefits that will overall make you feel more at peace.” Perfect. He followed the steps as she stated them: sitting down cross legged, hands on his knees, back straightened, and eyes closed. Taehyung had to focus on breathing in and out, which he did. He was allowed to observe his thoughts, but not engage in them. He was simply supposed to focus on inhaling and exhaling.He felt his spirit lifting upwards, his emotions aligning into place. It was so soothing, so comforting; as if he was able to make parts of himself connect together like a jigsaw puzzle. After a while, Taehyung opened his eyes slowly, raised his hand, and focused. He both emptied his mind while focusing his willpower onto controlling it. “I’m in control.” And he sure was. He looked down at his palm to see a single spark come out of nowhere around his hand. With a little more concentration, another spark appeared. Then another, then another. Eventually his whole palm had bolts of lightning surrounding his hand as if it were a plasma ball.Taehyung stared in awe, nothing else. Just pure awe. The strands of white beauty fluoresced around his fingers. It was so amusing to see one branch strand into two and then back into one over and over. Each staggered motion of the electricity was so alluring that Taehyung couldn’t help but slowly point his finger into one of the lovely lines. He forgot at first that electricity can’t harm him, so he jumped a bit when the bolts went through his finger with no pain indicated.With more and more practice, Taehyung eventually learned how to manipulate the electricity between both of his hands. It felt oddly normal. It had the same sensation as if he were playing with putty. He could feel the energy clutch onto both of his palms and how the energy felt like it stretched when he put his hands together and slowly pull them apart. The only difference was that he didn’t have to worry about gravity taking its toll on the strand of energy between his hands.Taehyung continued to play with the electricity: making it run up and down his arms, touching his face and pulling away to see it cling onto his face, and even molding the energy into a spherical shape. That move impressed him the most as he never even knew energy could do that. Was that even apart of nature? Whether or not it was, Taehyung had no hesitation playing with this lightning ball, rolling it all around his hands and arms as if it were a basketball.Taehyung soon found a downside to his powers: the more he played with it, the more drained he felt. He felt weary, his energy must be invested heavily into producing the electricity. With the thought of it, Taehyung made the energy vanish back into his skin, instantly reviving his energy levels. He felt as if he had just woken up from a nap, groggy but still powered up. Taehyung then got up from the floor and grabbed his laptop to hopefully try and find any more information as to how and possibly why he acquired this ability. ~ ~ ~ The one of the good things about going community college was that it was super close to home; however, the one downside is that now that Taehyung was able to choose his classes was that he wasn’t forced by his parents to attend school, it was on his own responsibility now. As much as Taehyung wanted to stay in bed the whole day, he dragged himself from his bed to meet up with Jimin again and go to their English classes. He felt glad that the two decided to sign up for as many classes with each other as possible.Taehyung forced himself to pay attention to the boring professor’s monotone voice after he reminded himself that college costs money. It still didn’t help lessen the amount of information he missed while daydreaming. As soon as other people started leaving, he asked Jimin sitting right next to him “You got that all down, right?” “Yeah, don’t worry. I took pictures of the slides.”“Thanks. You don’t have any classes after this, right?” “Nah, but I’m seeing Jungkook to get lunch. You wanna come with?” “Is it alright with him that I third wheel?”“Oh, come on! You know he’s alright with it.”“I’m just making sure, I don’t want him pissed at me because he wanted to go down on you and I just sit on the other side of the bench because you’re my ride.”“He’s not gonna be pissed, I swear.”Taehyung hummed as a response. The ride was fairly short as Jungkook lived nearby the campus. Jimin parked right in front of his house, honking when he didn’t come out after a good 5 minutes after he read his text. Jungkook hurriedly approached the car. He wore an all black outfit consisting of skinny jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket with a red serpent on the back. He had small silver hoop earrings and a silver dog tag necklace that greatly complimented him. The overuse of cologne became apparent as soon as he took his place in the passenger seat and gave Jimin a peck on the cheek. Jimin grew flustered while Taehyung faked gagging in the back seat.“Sorry, Tae. It’s just that Jimin here would give me shit the whole day if I didn’t do that.” Jungkook apologized.“I would not!” Jimin said, causing the two to lovingly bicker between themselves. Taehyung actually didn’t mind, he was happy his best friend finally found someone to love.The three drove to a new little bubble tea shop farther away from where they lived. It of course had more than bubble tea, but that’s what it was mainly visited for. Jungkook insisted they try this place at least once, looking at the entreés more than the drinks. The menu consisted of modest yet unique choices such as elote with hot cheeto dust sprinkled on it and kimchi fries. Taehyung decided to get the popcorn chicken box along with a peach tea with boba. Jimin and Jungkook shared a carne asada fries box and had a split cup with Jimin’s side lavender milk tea and Jungkook’s side almond milk tea. They looked into each other’s eyes as they sipped, just like every other obnoxious puppy love couple.“Oh wait, Tae, can we step outside for a sec?” Jimin asked.“Are you guys ditching me already?” Taehyung asked jokingly.“It’ll only be a minute! I wanted us to take a picture together. We’ve only taken photos of each other, not together.” Jungkook turned quickly towards Jimin, “What about last Friday?! With the red daffodils!” “They were red dahlias, and I took it of only you because you wore color for once and it matched with the flowers.” “Oh fuck, heh, you’re right.” Jungkook laughed.The couple then went ahead to go outside. Taehyung was all alone in a small, discrete building that not even the employees were paying attention to; what better place to practice controlling his ability in public?Jimin left his phone on the table, allowing Taehyung to check his battery percentage. 26%. Perfect. Taehyung put his thumb on the home button and concentrated. He saw the small lightning bolt appear next to the percentage at the top right. 29% 35% 43% Taehyung then calmed his thoughts and tried to meditate. 44% … 44% He smiled to himself, the picture of Jungkook in a red hoodie next to the matching red dahlia flowers that Jimin made his lock screen showed his approval. “A little more.” Taehyung whispered to himself. He concentrated again. 47% 54% And then back to meditating 55% … 56% “Sir, are you done with this?” asked the employee that popped out of nowhere. Taehyung jumped a bit, and the server apologized after he said “yes”. As soon as he left with Taehyung’s empty plate, he checked Jimin’s phone again. 83% “Jesus…” Taehyung said to himself. Jimin and Jungkook came back right afterwards. “-if you put the right filter on it, you can’t really tell anyways,” Jungkook said to Jimin while sitting down at the table.“I don’t think I can edit it now, though,” said Jimin, “My phone is like close to dyi- oh shit, what the fuck?”Jimin stared at his screen with furrowed eyebrows, “it says 83%!” Taehyung sipped his peach tea boba, not making eye contact with him. “I swear it was like less than 30!”“Huh, maybe you just didn’t read it right, babe.” Jungkook said.“I- But I swore it- I… I guess.”Taehyung released a silent sigh as he proceeded to pretend nothing happened. What fucking phone charging powers?To his advantage, nothing else happened. He seemed to get the hang of controlling his powers really quickly. Now, of course, is to somehow try and find out exactly why he has powers. It can’t be easy, he thought, but there has to be a reason. Taehyung also thought about what Jimin’s reaction would be. Should he trust Jimin? Park “I’ve always kept your secrets and I have basically no malicious intent in my conscious whatsoever” Jimin? It seems like the obvious answer is yes, but this is more than whether or not he’ll run across the playground to tell a girl that Taehyung has a crush on her. “But he has known me for years…” “But how the hell do I tell him I can fucking shoot lightning .”  “But…”  “But…” “I guess there’s only one way to find out.” he said to himself.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taehyung paced around in his room as he rehearsed how he was going to open up to Jimin. Nothing seemed to come out right, and when something did, it came with a numerous amount of possible questions to counteract it. Taehyung just didn’t want Jimin to panic. Him panicking and running off to call the police or something would be the end of the world.“ ‘Okay... so I woke up and saw there was a bunch of electricity scars-’ No, not that. ‘I had a dream some guy electrocuted me-’ No, no, no!” Taehyung groaned.He fell back onto his bed, his phone buzzed to the right of his head with perfect timing. Taehyung unlocked his phone. Jmn: what did you want to meet me at a junkyard for again Jmn: I swear if after all these years of me crying on your shoulder over boys lead me to getting jumped Thyng: I’m not going to fukcing jump u Thyng: its just really important Jmn: and I /can’t/ bring kookie Thyng: no Jmn: so I’m getting jumped Thyng: NO Jmn: THEN WHAT IS IT Thyng: something important Jmn: that you can’t bother telling me over text Jmn: or calling me about Jmn: or telling me in person with kookie about Thyng: yes basically Jmn: the fuck did you do Thyng: you’ll find out at the junkyard !! :DDDDD Jmn: BITCH Jmn: HOW SERIOUS COULD THIS BE Thyng: really fucking serious actually Jmn: ugh just Jmn : you can’t give me the slightest hint? Jmn : not at all?  Thyng: just meet me there Thyng: I’ll send you my location on maps in case you get lost Jmn: ugh fine im on my way Taehyung locked his phone and rose to his feet again. Whether it was the anxiety of having to trust his best friend with this giant secret or his low blood pressure reacting to the sudden change of altitude, he needed to take a few deep breaths to regain himself. Taehyung quickly went to his mirror, studying the thin strands of hair gently lowering themselves as he calmed himself. That was another thing, how the hell was he going to keep himself calm enough to not cause his powers to activate? What if he accidentally hurt Jimin somehow? God forbid, if something happened to Jimin…Taehyung immediately cut off those types of thoughts as he felt the static shock from his doorknob. “Just breathe,” he thought to himself, “It will be fine. I can control this, everything will be fine. I just have to breathe.” Taehyung reminded himself to breathe the entire walk to the old junkyard he found on google maps. He wasn’t going to show Jimin he can manipulate electricity in a park where a snot-filled kid can run to his mommy and expose him. At least at a junkyard, there was a significantly lower chance of some stranger obtaining this valuable information. The major con to that was the atmosphere it came with. The sour mystery smell didn’t help Taehyung feel any better, neither did the upsetting amount of artificial mountains of waste shielding them from the rays of the sun. Still, it was a better investment than risking the chance of being caught.Jimin came soon after Taehyung, obviously not pleased with the location. His nose crinkled at the suffocating smell, arms crossed in disapproval. “So, what is so big that we have to be here to discuss?”Taehyung was about to speak, but the chords in his throat grew shy. A bunch of “I-”s and “Um-”s were being spewed without Taehyung’s consent. He had to stop himself, but Jimin just so happened to do that for him.“Woah, dude, your hair!”  Ah shit . Taehyung looked down at a shattered mirror on the dirt floor, the shards revealed his hair standing up as usual when he got nervous. The more he looked, the more strands stood up.“Um, yeah, that’s a good place to start, I guess.” Taehyung said as he pulled the hood from his sweater over his hair. “But before I do, you have to promise that you won’t run away.” “Run away?” “Yes.” “Why would I run away… what did you do?” “Please Jimin, just do it.” “Okay then, I promise.”“Good,” Taehyung said, “So I uh… I can… Icancontrlelcticty.”“What?” “I can… control… el- fuck!” Taehyung groaned in frustration and dragged his palms down his face. “I can’t do this!” “Taehyung, what the fuck is going on?”He sighed, “Stand back.” “What?” “Jimin, stand back.” Jimin obliged, even going a bit further with the gesture of Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung then turned to face a small pile of cardboard; if anything would go wrong, he’d have a target.  He closed his eyes and extended his right hand in front of him. He then channeled all of the frustration, all of the anxiety, and let go. He felt the energy expel from his hand and his forearm. The zapping made Jimin scream as Taehyung opened his eyes to see the lightning rays warping around his arm, just like how he got it to in his bedroom. He slowly raised it to show Jimin he could control it.Jimin stared at Taehyung with fear and confusion. He looked as if he would run, but he didn’t. He didn’t run when Taehyung rolled the strands of light into a sphere, nor did he run when the electricity spread onto the rest of his body. Jimin just reacted like anyone basically would when it came to someone having electricity powers outside of a movie or a video game.The energy eventually died down, draining Taehyung as well. He felt his knees grow weak as he fell to the ground. To his surprise, Jimin rushed over to make sure he was okay. He was almost sure that Jimin would just desert him screaming bloody murder, but he didn’t. Even if he was hesitant to touch him, he showed concern as he shouted all kinds of “are you okay”s and “are you hurt”s.“I’m alright,” Taehyung said as he sat up, “I think I just overdid it a bit.”It took Jimin a good minute before he yelled out “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!”Taehyung flinched and giggled a bit, but tried to calm Jimin down. “It’s a long story, but yeah. That was the big secret.” “You j- The fucking lightn- How did you do that?! How are you not dead ?!”“At least you know why I couldn’t just say it over text now, huh?” Taehyung said, smiling from the ground.Jimin held out a hand and helped pull Taehyung to at least a sitting position, he still didn’t gather enough energy to support his own weight just yet. Jimin pointed his index finger in a “wait a minute” gesture and ran around the corner of their location. He came back, helped Taehyung up onto his feet, and brought the two into a small, secluded area. He somehow found an old foldable writing desk most likely from the 80’s. The seat was brown and metal, giving it a good reason for it to be in a junkyard. Jimin must have pulled it from somewhere because it was conveniently placed across from a giant lopsided truck tire. It was big enough for Taehyung to sit on all the way back on and still be able to swing his feet. Jimin sat himself in the metal seat and slammed his palms on the desk.“Now what the everloving fuck was that?” Jimin asked, more intrigued rather than scared or upset. “I still am not sure whatever that was was real. Is this a prank? Are you pranking me?” Jimin turned around to look for cameras that weren’t there.“No, it was real.” “Are you sure?” “Yes?”“...Are you well enough to do it again?” Jimin asked with puppy eyes.Taehyung held out his palm and caused a few sparks to zap out. He still didn’t have enough energy to recreate his little performance, but it was good enough for Jimin to freak out over.“Holy shit, dude! It’s real! Wait, can I-?” Jimin said right before sticking out his finger into the field of electricity in Taehyung’s hand, naturally shocking him. “OW! FUCK! IT’S REAL!”Taehyung retreived his hand back, “Don’t fucking do that!”Jimin shook his entire hand, even kissing his pointer finger to try and stop the pain. “Fuck, that hurt.” “Yeah, of course. It’s electricity.”“Well sorry ! I’m not the one who’s had this for… uh how long have you had it for?”“Like 4 days.” “FOUR DAYS?!”“Yep.”“How the hell can you control it so well?! And how do you just wake up one day and become Storm from the X-men-” Jimin looked all around him, “Wait are you an X-man?” he asked in an extremely hushed voice.“I’m not a fucking superhero, and I barely learned how to control it. It just takes a lot of controlling my emotions.” “That’s so cool. That’s undeniably cool. Like, this is the coolest thing to happen to someone. But how did you get it?”Taehyung chuckled at Jimin’s fascination. “Okay, so, it started mainly with this dream. I don’t remember all of it, but the main point was that some guy, I don’t know who, threw a cable into a puddle I was standing in and I got fried. Then I woke up, and when I took off my shirt to take a shower I saw:” Taehyung got to his feet and bunched up the back of his hoodie and shirt to show Jimin the scar for himself. Jimin gasped at the sight of it, confirming the severity of it.”Is the thing I saw on your neck connected to this?”“Yeah, it’s, like, up my entire back and spine.”“Damn, those look awful but wicked at the same time. Do they hurt?” “Surprisingly, no. They never did, even though they probably still look really raw.” Taehyung pulled down his clothes over his back and went back to the tire. “After that, I went into the shower. Not only did I get shocked from touching the doorknob, but the water around my feet lit up with electricity in it. It was really scary, and the more I looked at it, the more lightning got trapped in it. I got out and then we went to the mall, remember when the door shocked us?” “That was you?!” “I didn’t mean it, but yeah.” “My god…” Jimin fell back on the chair, dumbfounded. “What else happened?” “When you were picking out clothes for me, I got my phone to charge by putting my thumb over the charging port.” “Yo that’s fucking cool- Wait. Wait!” Jimin’s jaw dropped at a sudden thought. “Was that you, when we were with Kookie? Did you fucking charge my phone?!” Taehyung only grinned a mischievous grin at Jimin.“I fucking knew something was up! Jesus- okay sorry, continue.” “Um actually that’s kinda it. I basically learned how to meditate to control it so my hair doesn’t stick up all the time and everything metal near me doesn’t get charged with static energy.” At the end of that sentence, Jimin got up and traded places with Taehyung for safety measures.“That’s it? Are you sure?” “I mean, it’s a lot to come all at once. Not only that but it hasn’t even really been a week yet. Maybe this will all disappear by the end of the week.” “I hope not,” Jimin said, “I really don’t. You’re probably the only person in the world that actually has superpowers! It so cool!” “It’s really draining is what it is.” Jimin took a minute to gather his thoughts. “What did you eat before you got your powers?” “Huh?” Taehyung asked.“Come on, I want superpowers too! What did you eat?! Did you watch some cursed video or something? Holy shit, did you buy like a spell book and this is the result of reading a hex out loud?” “I didn’t do anything different. I have no idea exactly why I can do this shit, but I have it, and I can’t seem to get rid of it. It is pretty cool, but I don’t know what to do with it.” “Um, stop crime? Make Marvel and DC shake in fear? Hell, you could be like a supervillain and take over the world! But please don’t do that, though. If you are, please let me be your sidekick or something.” “I don’t want any of that. I’d much rather try and live a normal life, but the thing is I don’t know if things can be normal if I can shoot lightning from my hands.” Jimin pursed his lips, “Yeah, I guess things can’t really be normal now. But hey, you got fucking powers! The world is yours! And with or without powers, I’m still gonna support my best friend. It’s good you still want to live a normal life, it’s great even. I’ll be right by your side to make sure you won’t go through this alone, also because I think this is really cool, and it’s probably best if you were the one to get powers out of the both of us because if I were the one that got it I’d somehow fuck up the population. Besides that, I’ve got your back if you’re willing to have mine and electrocute the next person that tries to pickpocket me.” Jimin laughed at his own small joke.Taehyung sighed, he was so grateful hearing all of that from Jimin. He’ll sleep like a baby now that he knows Jimin can be trusted. “Thanks, Jimin.” “Anytime, Tae. Now let’s get out of here. This place smells like ass.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It had been about two weeks of Jimin knowing about Taehyung’s powers. It was also two weeks of Jimin curiously pestering Taehyung if he could do this or that. Most of the time, the answer was no. He could not summon lightning from the skies and start a rainstorm, he could not keep the electricity going forever, and he can’t transfer it to Jimin. At least, not that he knew of. It’s not like he was going to risk a trip to the hospital because Jimin wanted to play superhero. Jimin could barely handle whenever Taehyung zapped him with the smallest shock on somewhere like his shoulder, how much could he handle his entire body like Jimin keeps asking him to?

“Just

once

! For half a second!” Jimin begged.

“You can’t last half a second of it on your elbow, where you can’t feel pain.”

“But maybe if I endure it-”

“No, dude.” Taehyung said.

Jimin sighed, “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

The only downside to letting Jimin know about this wasn’t about him, it was about Jungkook. Jimin started spending a huge amount of time with Taehyung now, even with how close they already were. Jimin didn’t

mean

to somewhat push Jungkook away, but given that his best friend became the first superhero outside of a fictional setting, dating wasn’t the first thing on Jimin’s mind. It simply bumped to second.

Their relationship taking the backseat didn’t come without any consequences, Jungkook wanted to know what was going on more and more each day. Jimin sat cross legged on Taehyung’s bed, the two decided they had to sleepover to figure things out, scrolling through a copious amount of text messages.

“He’s getting impatient,” Jimin said sheepishly as his thumbs swiped up, “Listen to this: ‘I just don’t understand what you could possibly be hiding from me. We’ve both been so transparent with each other. My mind is making me believe stuff I don’t want to. Please prove me wrong.’ I don’t know how much longer I can keep stalling, but I also don’t know if we can tell him.”

“You’ve trusted him quite a lot so far, right? Haven’t you send him nudes already?”

“I did NOT send him nudes!”

Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“...It was a booty pic.”

“Mhm, which is still a nude.”
“Don’t fucking slut shame me.”
“I’m not. I’m just saying you had to trust him even a little bit to do that.”

“I guess, yeah.”

“And he hasn’t send them to everyone he knows?”

“No! I made him delete it in front of my eyes.”

“How long after you sent it?”

“A day…”, Taehyung gritted his teeth, “Change the subject, you’re making me paranoid now!”

“Well, like… should we even trust him?”

“Before you started asking all these questions, I’d say yes. He didn’t do anything otherwise that made me question him. You know how I am in relationships, I don’t let myself get blinded by love.” Jimin said, unconsciously lying.

“I guess, It’s just that

I

don’t know him that well. At least not nearly as well as you do.”

Jimin put his arms behind him for support, “It is your call though, I just need to know what to say to him.”

Taehyung rested his head on his hand. He knew the both of them don’t want to have the two split up because of this, but is it worth exposing to another person? Someone they just barely started to get accustomed to? The longer it went, the worse it would only get; they both knew this, so their decision had to be made now.

“Look, Tae,” Jimin started, “If you want me to-”

“Give him the directions to the dump.”

Jimin paused, mouth still open. “You sure?”

“I’m not letting this ruin your relationship. Jungkook seems like a great guy, I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

“And if he’s not? This isn’t your average everyday schoolground secret. What if something happens and he tells everyone else?”

“Well, you know him better than I do. He hasn’t mistreated you once. There’s really no other way to make sure other than to do it. Besides… he can’t prove it without evidence right? We just have to make sure he doesn’t ever record it. Imagine some dumbass running in the streets talking about superpowers without any kind of proof. He’ll just make it a whole Boy Who Cried Wolf scene.”

“Oh my God, you’re right, but are you sure you’re okay with this? Can you control it enough to stop it at will and hide it?”

“I’ve got it, Jimin.”

Jimin stared at his screen for a bit before holding it in both hands, “When do I tell him to meet us?”

~ ~ ~

Jungkook was equally, if not more, confused as Jimin was the first time they went to the dump. As usual, Jungkook wore all black, but he seemed to choose bulkier clothing. Maybe he wanted to protect himself from the filth as much as possible. Jimin was the one that spotted him and waved towards him to come closer. Jungkook took cautious steps to the both of them.

“Why here?” was all that Jungkook asked.

“Don’t worry, you weren’t the first one to ask that,” Jimin joked, “Okay, babe, first things first. I’m sorry that I’ve kept my distance from you. I’m genuinely sorry. It wasn’t intended, but once you find out why you’ll understand. Secondly, I’m not, or ever was, cheating on you or anything else you might think.”

Jungkook showed his impatience in his stance, arms folded and slightly pursing his lips. “Just what then was so important you could tell Taehyung but not me? I know you two are inseparable, but I thought we agreed to not keep things from each other.”

“Well… did you send that picture of me to anyone?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Good. See? We can trust each other! Now, you just have to trust me when I say I didn’t do anything bad. It’s just that...this is a pretty big thing. I had to take a while to get adjusted to it.”

“Then what is it? A fucking baby reveal?” Jungkook sneered.

“Actually, I should stop talking. I’ll let Taehyung show you.” Jimin looked Taehyung in the eyes and nodded.

Taehyung collected himself and let the electricity flow in between both of his palms. The bolts faltered from one surface to another while murmuring low hums. As easily Taehyung made the sparks appear did he make them disappear. Jimin and Taehyung both looked up at Jungkook.

Jungkook’s astonished expression slowly turned into a sinister smile as he pulled out his phone.

“That’s all I needed.” he said before saying “Send them in.” and releasing his thumb from his screen. His phone screen then turned a bright red. 
 
“Taehyung!” Jimin instinctively exclaimed right before he sent a giant bolt of energy to Jungkook’s phone. The electricity immediately fried his phone and his hand. Jungkook screamed out in pain as he dropped the device.

He shook off the pain, strictly speaking, and started laughing. “You think that would do anything? That basically confirmed your presence. I’ve had GPS tracking leading them to here, they’ll be here any minute.”

“Who?!” Taehyung yelled.

“Us. The ones who gave you these powers anyways.”

Jimin gasped, and Jungkook looked immediately towards him. “Sorry, ‘babe’. I’m only here for him.”

Taehyung felt a chill flow up his spine, and before he knew it, he was firing lightning towards Jungkook. It was nothing but light and heat, Jimin was thrown back from the sudden expulsion of energy. His back was shoved onto a random pile of cardboard, stunning him for a bit. Taehyung looked to see Jungkook standing perfectly upright. “Don’t bother.” he said as he lifted two layers of shirts. He had a rubber suit underneath.

“Taehyung run!” Jimin yelled from afar. Taehyung didn’t bother looking back and started running. Jungkook immediately followed. Taehyung didn’t travel very far- for someone who just got electrocuted, he was a pretty fast runner. Jungkook ended up tackling Taehyung down, pinning him down with his knees. “Slow down there, tiger. They’ll be coming any second. All we have to do is wait.” Taehyung tried so hard to knock Jungkook off, thrusting left and right, but he was just too strong. “Save your energy for the lab, it’ll do you good. By the way,...

No hard feelings, right?”

Taehyung immediately realized he mimicked the perfect tone as in the dream.

“Get off him!” Jimin yelled while running towards Jungkook and Taehyung. Jungkook turned his torso around and swung a perfect punch into the left side of Jimin’s face, hitting his temple. Jimin landed hard on the gravel, head first. He slowly tried getting up; however, his arms wobbled under the weight of his torso, eventually collapsing underneath him.

“You better stay down, annoying bitch, or else there’s more of that-” Jungkook couldn’t finish his sentence before being launched into the air. The sight of Jungkook beating the shit out of Jimin was enough to drive Taehyung mad. The amount of energy that spewed out from him easily launched Jungkook off, freeing him. He hurried over to Jimin who could barely pick himself up, Jungkook struck hard enough to make him dizzy.

“Jimin! Jimin, come on, get up! We have to go now-” Taehyung yelled out in pain as Jungkook tugged at his hair. He then put Taehyung in a headlock, dragging him away from Jimin. Taehyung kicked and flailed, but couldn’t escape Jungkook’s powerful grasp. He then gathered enough energy to shoot out electricity and shock Jungkook, but the more damage he took, the more he squeezed Taehyung’s throat, forcing him to stop.

Taehyung threw his right hand behind Jungkook, feeling a bump in the middle of his shirt. It was the clasp to the rubber protection, apparently he was just wearing it in the front. Jungkook sensed what he was doing and threw his entire body onto the arm Taehyung was trying to reach with. Taehyung cried out in pain as Jungkook shushed him. “It’ll be over soon. You’ll be taken good care of.

Taehyung tried with as much as strength as he could to push Jungkook off, allowing him a millisecond of movement. It was thankfully enough to have Taehyung reach far back enough so that his hand could pinch the clasp.
With the signal of a small click, Jungkook’s rubber front was released. Jungkook gasped as Taehyung then fought with him to try and turn him over so he could take it off. The two wrestled with each other, Taehyung trying to get a good grasp on the front while Jungkook tried stabilizing him at least until backup arrived. Taehyung eventually was able to reach under Jungkook’s shirts, immediately grabbing the rubber protection and tossing it as far away as possible. He then pushed Jungkook off of him, not controlling what happened after.

Taehyung unconsciously shot lightning to Jungkook’s chest.

Right to his heart.

Jungkook fell to the floor clutching his chest, gasping and grunting.

His hand grasping his heart loosened its grip.

Taehyung stopped in his tracks. He killed a man. He killed

Jungkook

. As much as he wanted the guilt to overcome him, it didn’t. At least not in that moment. Taehyung turned around and headed towards Jimin, who slowly got to his feet by himself. He was still a bit fucked up, but he could stand. Taehyung put his arm behind Jimin’s back and started to lead the two out of there, until he heard the low rustling.

They made it.

“Taehyung, go.” Jimin said.

Taehyung looked at Jimin, “There’s no fucking way-”

“Go. Now. I’ll just slow you down.”

“Jimin, I’m not leaving you.”

“Taehyung, I said go!”

“No!”
 
Jimin stopped the both of them.

“TAEHYUNG, GO!”

“I’M NOT GOING TO FUCKING LEAVE YOU!”

“KIM TAEHYUNG, FUCKING GO!!”

The voice crack from Jimin made it even more painful for Taehyung to listen to his words. Jimin gave him a push and he started running. He didn’t know where he was going, he just let his legs and adrenaline lead him somewhere safe. Taehyung turned back around to see Jimin forcing a smile on his face. Hot tears started streaming down his face with the sound of unknown men yelling and Jimin screaming, but Taehyung didn’t allow it to slow him down. The only thing Taehyung could hear from there was his hard footsteps and heavy breathing.

Taehyung never realized how hard sobbing and running at the same time was.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Every footstep made the brittle umber colored leaves crunch underneath him. The adrenaline in his bloodstream unfortunately began to deplete. The rush of panic vanished, allowing his heart rate to finally repose. Taehyung felt sore and achy, not only from so much sprinting, but also from just overall exhaustion. When he decided he was safe, and that no one followed him or knows where he is, he collapsed onto his side.Taehyung slowly fell into an episode with every breath he took. Every gasp was already audible, but one after another turned into sobs. His chest convulsed with every violent spasm of sorrow as if his dejection were a toxicity that his body tried so desperately to dispose. Hearing his own weeping made his heart ache even more. Not just from overworking; it had that pulsating, numbing pain that can be felt shoot all the way into the bottom of his palms. Taehyung felt sickeningly selfish. How could he afford to be the one crying when Jimin- Oh dear God, Jimin.Taehyung covered his face when his mind replayed Jimin’s heartbreaking smile as he ran away. Why did he have to smile? Even if he was trying to put on a brave face, it did nothing but scar Taehyung’s psyche. The scene was piteous work of art meant to do nothing but to tug at his heartstrings as if they were being held by an archer. The memory of the excruciating outcry of Jimin echoed through the quiet of his surroundings. Taehyung didn’t even have the courage to look behind him, to see what they were doing to his best friend. He felt like a disgusting bastard, just leaving Jimin like that to…No, no they couldn't have killed Jimin.Jimin was the only person there after the son of a bitch Jungkook called whoever the fuck was after him. Him being the only one there must have caused him to either trick them into thinking he was Taehyung or that he was the one that killed Jungkook. Or both. On the other hand, he could be seen as the only witness and was taken to be interrogated. Either way, they couldn’t have killed Jimin. Jimin is alive. He has to be.Who even is ‘they’? Was it the government? Some cult? Jungkook said something about “The Lab”, alluding that whoever ‘they’ are they're some people conducting some kind experiment. Taehyung sighed at the realization that he was dehumanized into a giant lab rat. Not only that, but why him out of the 7 billion other people on Earth?Taehyung was the bare bones of average. He had no extraordinary life, intelligence, anything. Did that only make him the perfect test subject? It must have been if they wanted to test on the general population.Then that meant that he was the successful trial needed for something. He had given them the positive outcome and the go to for something dangerous. Someone is planning to give other people powers, maybe even weaponize them. Could the US government really be trying to make some kind of superpower soldiers, or is this all from some underground experiment? Who would conduct something like this? Why?Taehyung wanted to know, he needed answers. He can't just let someone morph into some sort of human contraband and not know why.He rose from the ground, wiped his face, and put his phone inside a hollow tree trunk right next to him. There's no telling what they were and weren’t capable of, they probably could get a hold of him from his phone location. He didn't want to get completely rid of it just incase he needs it in an emergency.There was a small convenience store not far from here, Taehyung and Jimin crossed it both times they came to the dump. If Taehyung has to remain in the woods for who knows how long, there's no other choice but to prepare. ~ ~ ~ The store wasn't kept in the best condition possible, probably barely cared for enough to still be able to function legally. This was most likely due to one man running it by himself. He was a Caucasian man, around his 60s with a long beard, hefty frame, and not exactly the sweetest expression to give Taehyung as he entered the store. The man looked like he was the human equivalent of the word “liquor”. Taehyung shrugged it off, he probably would be really grumpy too if the nearest thing to him was a city dump.Taehyung scanned the aisles until he reached a small “survival” section. Camping in the woods must not have been a very bizarre concept for customers. He gathered sanitary wipes, cans of non-perishable food, a small health kit, a thin blanket, bug repellent, a travel size 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner bottle, and a thin tube of toothpaste with its complimentary toothbrush. The most important thing that he determined was a water purifier meant for lakes and rivers. It was in a cylindrical shape with a label on the front that had its directions, and Taehyung knew it would be wiser to buy that instead of constantly buying water bottles over and over.Before heading to the register, Taehyung was stopped by the sight of a pocket knife on one of the shelves. The knife had a jet black exterior with a painted thorny rose. The stem’s middle twisted to form a heart. It probably was supposed to have some sort of symbolic meaning, but he didn't care. He just thought about purchasing the item itself.Did Taehyung need it? He's capable of…killing…But should he only rely on his powers? There is a possibility that they come with limits. Limits that could be exceeded at the worst possible moment. He envisioned the electricity running short in the middle of a crowd of dangerous people and shuddered. Taehyung decided to be safe rather than sorry and shoved the weapon into his back pocket.He unloaded everything from his arms at once onto the glass counter, masking the sight of scratch tickets from a birds eye view. The man seemed to be glaring at Taehyung, almost eyeing him. He wasn't doing anything wrong, what's his problem? Whatever it was, he decided not to act on it. Everyone has bad days. Taehyung could sympathize with that, especially today.Taehyung reached into his wallet to pull out his c- He can't pay with card. The last thing he needed was for “The Lab” to find out where he was through his recent transactions. He also only had $40 in cash. Taehyung nervously eyed the rising total amount on the screen to his left. As soon as the last item was scanned, the number stopped at $32.57. He sighed.Taehyung took the two $20 bills out and handed them to the not so gentleman, but felt the pocket knife humorously in his back pocket. He asked if he could also pay for it while placing it on the countertop, thorny rose facing up.The sight of the rose made the man’s face grow vexed.“I'm not dealing with you sons of bitches again, get out of my fucking store.”The sudden harshness startled Taehyung, “Woah, what?”“You heard me, get out.”“What's your problem?!”“Don't act stupid. Your little friend already caused enough trouble in here earlier. Get the fuck out, now.” he said as he shoved all of Taehyung’s supplies behind the counter.“Shit, okay, look. I won't buy the knife, but please I need those.”“What you need is to get your ass out of here before I call the cops.”Taehyung started to panic, “Please, sir, you don't have to call anyone-”“I will fucking call whoever I need if you and your friend are going to keep harassing me and my store.”“What do you mean ‘your friend’?” Taehyung asked. With perfect timing, he came in. “I'm back, motherfucker!” The man yelled in singsong. Taehyung had never seen this stranger before in his life, but the store owner must have thought they know each other solely because the stranger was also Asian. He was very thin and shorter than Taehyung. He had a rounded nose, small eyes, and a teasingly vile smile that exposed small teeth. “Miss me, big boy?”“God damn it…” the man muttered to himself as he bent over behind the counter to gather something.“I don't plan on being here for long, I just need to get- oh hey! Here it is!” The stranger said as he slammed his hand on the pocket knife. His right hand had a tattoo of a rose. The exact rose on the knife. “My mistake for leaving it on a fucking shelf back there.” He said while looking at Taehyung. He didn't say anything in reply, barely understanding the situation. The store owner pulled out a pistol. Taehyung immediately raised his arms as if he were in range of a police officer. The stranger didn't budge a bit; he instead clicked his tongue and said “Come on, buddy.”“The both of you better leave in 5 seconds. I have a legal right to own this gun, and at this point, you two are trespassing.” He warned.Taehyung’s heart started to race. What should he do? He wanted to run with the supplies, but there was no way in Hell he would get them without getting shot. What about the guy next to him? He was dangerous enough to cause the owner to pull out a fucking gun at the mere sight of him.He then thought about using his powers. Emphasis on thought. He knew it would only worsen his situation, not only for exposing it to two new people, but it would almost guarantee someone would get hurt. And should Taehyung resort to violence? Maybe he can calmly talk things out…“Look, let me just pay for these and I'll go. I never met this guy, I swear. Please, I really need this stuff.”“He was trying to buy the same shit earlier, you think I’m an idiot?”“Kinda!” The stranger replied, “you're the one pulling a gun out on some kid-” He pulled the trigger. Whether it was on accident or not Taehyung wasn't sure, but it still made him jump. Luckily for both of them it was just a warning shot. “I'm not joking, get out.” Taehyung felt his heart pounding in his chest; in fact, it was full blown palpitations. He wanted to practice his deep breathing and meditation shit so badly, but this unfortunately wasn’t the proper situation. His hands started to shake, but he didn’t want to lower them incase the man got the wrong idea and thought he was going to attack him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to drop down into a fetal position and just cry. God damn it, why is everything happening to him now?The two of them stood still, Taehyung needed the supplies, and the stranger seemed to be testing him. “You're batshit insane, old man.” the stranger said.“That's it.” he said as he aimed the gun straight at him.The sight of his finger starting to pull the trigger was the last straw. Taehyung was simply a hollow vessel to his powers. Without control over it, a bolt of lightning was sent towards the store owner. The blinding white light was the last thing the two in front of the counter saw before being launched from the energy of the release.The thundering zap and the sound of Taehyung and the stranger’s bodies falling onto the floor were followed by its opposite: complete silence. The two slowly got up, the stranger groaning from pain, and then rushed over to the counter. The owner laid still, not breathing at all. Eyes wide open.The stranger looked to Taehyung, keeping his distance from him. “What the fuck was that?!”Taehyung let out a cry of both frustration and agony. He really didn’t want another person to die, but it was either both of them or only the store owner. He also didn’t want to get used to killing other people, even if it were in self defense. It's still murder. He’s still a murderer.Taehyung leaned onto the counter with his fists clenched and cried. He cried only a little over an hour ago, but he just can’t keep doing this. He couldn’t even control his powers anymore. Just when he thought everything would be okay and that he became some sort of master of electrokinesis, every fucking person around him has to prove him wrong. Everyone has to prove his stupidity. Taehyung already accepted that he was stupid for leaving Jimin. He accepted he was stupid for trusting Jungkook. Can’t he get a fucking break?! He slammed his fist onto the counter before leaving the store.He needed to flee, fuck the supplies. Who cares if he lives or dies out there in the woods? Does a murderer deserve rights? While storming out of the store, the stranger came running out. “Hey kid! Come back!”“You need to stay away from me.” Taehyung warned.“Not without an explanation. Again, what the fuck was that?!”There really was no point trying to deny the powers to him, huh?“It’s exactly what it looked like, okay? I shot lightning bolts out of my hands and killed a man. I’ve actually killed two people now. Is that what you wanted to hear? You wanted me to confirm I’m some fucking freak? Well, there ya go! I’m a monster that only kills people. Don’t think I’m not capable of killing you! Yeah, there’s no telling what I can do! So you best stay away from me.”The stranger fell silent. Before Taehyung was able to fully leave, the stranger asked, “You’re on the run too, huh?”Taehyung didn’t reply.“Well guess what, so am I.”Taehyung turned his head around.“Whatever exactly that was back there was obviously something big. Someone’s coming after you for it, aren’t they?”Taehyung nodded.“Which means that I’m now a witness…” the stranger sighed. “Alright, look, I know you don’t want to kill me. No serial killer is capable of crying over every one of their victims. That’s just not how it works. I don’t know what the reason was for the first guy, but this dude had it coming to him. Mans pulled out a fucking gun. I mean, yeah, I was being a dick to him, but he started it! Son of a Bitch really wanted me to pay like $60 for the exact same shit you were buying, so of course I had to make fun of his weight-”“Can you get to the point?” Taehyung impatiently asked.“Yeah, sorry. So we’re both on the run from some bad people, right? Why don’t you and I, y’know, work together?”Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows. “You...you want to come with me?”“Yeah, kinda.”“Why?”The stranger scoffed, “Because you can shoot lightning out of your fucking hands. I don’t know if you know this or not, but no other human is possible of doing that. And anyways, since I just witnessed someone get electrocuted, whoevers after you is also after me too now. It only makes sense if we protect each other. So what d’ya say? You watch my back, I watch yours? Someone comes after me, you shock ‘em. Someone comes after you… well I’m the one with the knife. I distract them and then you shock ‘em. It’s a win-win situation!”Taehyung pondered the offer for a bit. “You said you have people after you already. Why should I trust you?”The stranger inhaled through his teeth, “Because I’m making this offer instead of calling the cops? I’m not gonna go and anger the son of Zeus or something. I do have people on my ass, yeah, but that’s why I really wanna have you as protection.”“How do I know you’re not lying? I kinda got betrayed an hour ago, so I’m not the most trusting as of now.”The stranger inhaled through his teeth, “I don’t know exactly what you went through, but just know that I don’t lie. I don’t like it. If you get to know me better you’ll come to learn that.”Taehyung looked to the floor, he probably did need someone with him. No matter what kind of powers he had, The Lab could easily send someone to kidnap him in his sleep or something.“...Okay.”The stranger raised his eyebrows. “Really?”“You want me to change my mind?”“No, no not at all! I just thought I lost you for a second. Okay, we have a deal then?” The stranger stuck out his hand for a handshake. Taehyung shook his hand with a strong but cautious grip.“Just a warning, you saw what I did to that guy right there…” Taehyung shuddered, “I’m not exactly a safety blanket.”“Oh, I definitely know you’re not all cotton candy and rainbows. I’ll be extra careful, ‘kay?” The stranger said with a wink.The duo then went back into store, the stranger’s arm around Taehyung’s shoulder. He was oddly trusting that he wouldn’t get shocked from mere contact. That, or he just didn’t realize that was a possibility and got lucky. While the stranger might have given honest answers as to why in God’s name he was so eager to travel with Taehyung, it still made him apprehensive. He seemed innocent enough, but then again so did Jungkook.The two stopped at the sight of the store owner’s corpse. Neither of them didn’t really know what to do other than stare. The stranger sighed, “Either him or us…” He said shaking his head and leading Taehyung to the back of the store. “I’ll deal with the supplies in the front, you go gather more stuff from the back.” Taehyung nodded.While gathering more canned food and rolls of toilet paper, Taehyung yelled from across the store: “Hey, we didn’t even exchange names.”“Oh yeah, huh. What’s yours?”“I’m Taehyung. Kim Taehyung. You?”“I didn't really think I'd be making buddies today. It's Yoongi. Min Yoongi.”“Nice to meet you, I guess.”Yoongi hesitated for a bit as he stepped over the body. “It was a hell of an introduction, I must say.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Jimin’s eyelids felt heavy. Having to support his entire body felt tiring itself. They didn’t give him any time to recuperate after losing Taehyung. They were so desperate that they didn't even let him walk to their van himself; they tackled him to the floor and dragged him by his legs. The rugged pebbles clawing at his skin was probably the smoothest part of the entire trip.Unknown scary looking giants hovered over Jimin in the back of the van, holding him back to ensure that he wouldn't scream for help as they sedated him. While the drugs kicked in, Jimin felt an oxymoron of relaxing anxiety as his consciousness started to collapse on itself. He tried so desperately to fight against the tranquility, but of course he couldn't succeed.He was still very groggy when he was woken up. It took him awhile to comprehend that they had gotten rid of his clothes and dressed him in a loose white button up with black pants; an odd choice. The white room that he was in had started to spiral as soon as he tried taking one step from the hospital bed he found himself on. It became too much for him to remain upright, so he flopped right back onto the mattress as if he were a drunkard. The glaring LED light made his retinas ache, causing him to cover them. He kept them covered even while he felt the bed being moved by unknown bodies. He kept them covered when he felt himself get scooped up as if he were a cat or a baby and then plopped into a seat. He only uncovered them when he heard the beep of the camera on the left side of the table.So now he's trapped. The exterminators found the mouse and locked him away in the cage. Whatever they do to the poor creature is up to them. Jimin felt too helpless to be scared. Being scared meant that there was a way to get out. Feeling helpless meant that there was no use fearing what would happen if there was no way out. Jimin just wished that he could tell his best friend that he’s alright. That he shouldn’t worry about him. Taehyung should be glad he’s safe, not here. The sight of Taehyung running away just as he got tackled to the ground and sedated served as a brief recap to his current location. He smiled in perfect timing of his memory when he smiled once Taehyung looked back. He really didn’t want to cry out of pain to scare Taehyung. Hopefully he was far away to not hear it.The camera on the table turned directly to face Jimin. He knew that meant someone was coming. He didn’t bother fixing his posture for the new face. He simply looked up with his eyes.The man was tall and slightly intimidating. This was the second time Jimin had seen him since he was captured, he must be wearing a labcoat 24/7 then. He sat down across the steel table, placing a clipboard with notes on it to the right of him. He spent a few seconds to align the board and make sure his pen was perfectly adjacent to him on his left hand side. He clenched his hands together in front of him and adjusted his posture. His back cracked to the adjustment.“So you are Kim Taehyung, correct?”Jimin nodded.The man looked down at his notes and asked, “When is your birthday?”“December 30th, 1995.” Jimin lied.He nodded, believing his fib. “And you knew Jungkook?”“Yes, he dated my best friend.”“Your best friends name?” He asked, once again looking at his notes.“Park Jimin.”“Correct. Now, according to my notes, you knew for quite a while about your...ability, right?”Jimin nodded, he couldn't believe the man was really taking his word.“And you decided to show Park Jimin first, making him the first person to know about this.”Jimin nodded again.“And then you decided to trust Jungkook and reveal your ability to him.”Again.“Well, we both know what happened to Jungkook, I'm pretty sure.” The man winced, “Boss isn't too happy about that. He knew it was highly possible, but he really liked Jungkook. Jungkook was a good kid.”Jimin wanted to yell at the top of his lungs. How dare this man say that Jungkook was a “good kid”. Jungkook wasn't a good person. The only thing that seemed to please Jimin at this time was the thought of Jungkook burning in Hell, regretting all that he had done to both him and Taehyung.“Nevertheless,” the man started, “I think you understand why you're here now, right Taehyung?”Jimin shrugged his shoulders and smirked, being a little shit. The camera lens zoomed in a bit more on him.“I see you don't talk much. If it makes you feel more comfortable, my names Namjoon . Kim Namjoon.”“Go and join Jungkook, Kim Namjoon.” Jimin silently thought to himself.“I'm sure you'll warm up soon,” Namjoon said, “it's best if you do now. Anyways, let's go straight to the point. I need to see the strength of your condition. Can you demonstrate?”“I can't.” Jimin muttered. The red blinking light started to intimidate him.Namjoon started to scribble words onto his notes. “Are you tired?” he asked, looking up from the paper.“No. I just can't.”“There's no use hiding it. You're gonna have to show us eventually.”Jimin sat silently.Namjoon sighed, “Alright, I'll talk to him about it.”Who's “him”?“Until then, you'll just have-” A ringing noise came out of Namjoon’s lab coat pocket. He pulled out a burner phone and put it up to his ear, not even saying “hello?”“...What do you mean?...No, no, this has to be him. He matches Jungkook’s description...Yeah, also korean-” Namjoon hovered over his notes, “Good looking… Did he really only mention those two things? … Well it’s not my fault he wasn’t descriptive! He was so sure he wasn’t going to die-” Namjoon said as he left the room. It must not have even occurred that he overshared.While Namjoon stepped out of the room, Jimin he tried his best not to scream. He so desperately wanted to scream. He wasn’t sure the exact reason as to why; there were so many reasons all at once. He wanted to scream a decibel higher with each mention of Jungkook's name. He wanted to scream because now there was a chance that they might realize Taehyung is still out there. He wanted to scream in an attempt to somehow communicate with Taehyung and tell him to leave the fucking country.But he couldn't.Namjoon stepped back into the room. He sat down and sighed, “Boss says you’re not being honest, Taehyung. Is this true?” Jimin shook his head “no”.“Are you really Taehyung?”Yes.“If you’re not, I don’t think boss has any hesitations toward punishment.”Yes.Jimin was bewildered by how poorly handled this lab was. They really didn’t bother looking up any information about Taehyung to confirm what he looks like? They’re only taking Jungkook’s word? Not only that, but Jungkook really stupid enough to describe Taehyung as “Korean and handsome”? Jesus...“Alright,” Namjoon said, “Follow me please. And don’t bother trying the shit you did with Jungkook back there on me. We have even more protection under our clothes than he did.”Jimin obediently followed the man, turning every corner in a perfect imitation of him. The floor was made up of dusty concrete. The dress shoes that were a size too big for Jimin scraped the rocky surface. The flooring’s bleakness matched not only the walls but the entire aura of his location as well. There were barely any lights in the hallways, only old ceiling lamps from the 80’s offered a lemon colored glow that was on the verge of fading away.He was eventually lead to a door. He stepped inside, realizing Namjoon didn’t follow him there. Instead, he slammed the door shut, hearing the copious amount of locks clicking right after. Jimin tried prying open the door, but of course it was no use.It was an exact replica of the room Jimin woke up in. Everything was white. The floor this time was made of a pearl white tile, and the walls had cottony padding. There was an empty white hospital bed awaiting him.Along with another bed to the right of it. Occupied by someone new.He sat hugging his knees to his chest, slowly looking up to see the new face. Jimin had never seen someone look so miserable before, so broken. His eyes hung so low it looked like the man was close to passing out at any given moment, as if he were as fragile as a piece of paper. He was a loose thread that knew it's fate of being either cut or torn off. It startled Jimin. It made him fear what these people are going to do to him.He looked perplexed a bit, then said, “so you must be the new one.” His voice sounded low and raspy, strained from previous overuse.Jimin nodded.The man tsked, “God damn it. I was hoping you wouldn’t be as young.” He then gestured for Jimin to sit on the empty bed. He obliged.“What’s your name?”Should he?Jimin looked around the room, looking for any cameras. None. Any windows? None. Any traces of any technology that would record them? None.“They know me as Kim Taehyung.”“Oh, they do?”Jimin nodded. “So your name must not really be Kim Taehyung.”He nodded again.“Smart. These dumbasses are too underequipped to do proper background checks. Their new recruit had the brain the size of a pea from what I’ve interacted with him. What was his name…? Jungkook. Yeah, Jungkook wasn’t the brightest. Too cocky was his problem. Kept saying shit like ‘Don't worry, I'll bring him over, only I need to know what he looks like.’ Dumb shit.”Jimin visibly shuddered at the sound of Jungkook’s name.The man noticed this. “You did something to him, didn’t you?”“I...he…” Jimin couldn’t finish his thoughts without his throat tightening.“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me now. But from seeing how upset the Big Bastard was, my bets that you killed him.”The accusation knocked the wind out of him. Jimin covered his mouth to choke a sob. “It wasn’t me. It was Taehyung. So...I guess yes. I killed him.”“Hm, so Taehyung is the one with the ability, right?” Jimin nodded.“Poor kid. Do you know where he is?”“Somewhere safe. I know he is. You know what he can do, I'm assuming you can do the same. He ran away before they saw him. Into the woods.“The woods? Well, I'm sure he'll be alright.” The man paused for a bit, “I'm sorry, I haven't had proper company in a while that I don't even know your name. What’s your real name?”“Park Jimin,” he said in a hushed tone.“I see. Is Taehyung close to you?”“Yes, he’s my best friend. We grew up together.”“No wonder you knew his birthday, that’s all they really check to confirm identity. Like I said, real dumbasses running this shitshow. If they weren't so paranoid of being caught, they'd probably do the background checks and find out you aren't Kim Taehyung. Jungkook gave only two descriptions of the new subject from what I’ve heard.”“Yeah, ‘Korean’ and ‘Good looking’.”The man scoffed, “Fucking idiot. I guess they’re desperate to test, they are running out of money. You came at such great timing, the only meal of the day was given out hours ago. They’ll probably make us share from how much they’re scraping the barrel.”Hearing what this man had to go through for god knows how long made his heart ache. He was dangerously thin. His cheekbones were piercing through his dehydrated skin. The veins in his arms protruded so dramatically, as if they wanted to escape his body to find a better source of nutrition. It didn't look like he had an ounce of fat on him.“What’s your name?” Jimin asked.“I’m Hoseok. Jung Hoseok.”“I’m really sorry you have to go through all of this, Jung Hoseok.”He gave a weak smile, “It's alright, but things only got worse as of recently. I don’t know how long I’ve been here; it can’t be more than a year, though. This ability is really the only thing that’s keeping me alive. But even then, I'm getting weaker by the day.”“Were you their first subject?”“As far as I know, yes. I'm assuming if Taehyung has the exact ability as mine, he probably got it the same way as I did. They shocked me, and then they pumped something in me. Namjoon told me briefly about it. Something about making the iron in my blood overactive, making it produce more electricity. Doesn't make sense as to why they don't bother giving me iron pills or something, the tests are almost impossible to endure now.” He paused in realization, “You doin't have it, do you?”Jimin shook his head.Hoseok sighed, “Take the bigger portion of our meal, okay?”