Puzzles

I remember being peacefully asleep when Jimin suddenly stirred, sending me off the couch with a loud- Thud. Groaning, I groggily sat up... squinting my eyes at him as the sunlight beamed right at my face. I turned to find Jimin snoring face-first into the couch, still fast asleep. His messy hair was all over his face... so I reached out to comb it backward. I got up and placed his jacket over him since he was wrapping his arms around his body. I exhaled and pulled on my lingerie and clothes that were scattered on the floor. I boiled some water and cooked the ramen we bought at the mart. Still half asleep- I stared out the window to where the park was. Kids were happily chasing each other, and adults were rushing to work. Smiling, I took the ramen and went back into the living room.

"Jimin-ah... wake up," I whispered, tapping Jimin drowsily.

"I'm awake," Jimin muttered with his eyes closed.

"I made you ramen," I pulled his arm, so he rolled off the couch and dug into the ramen with his eyes half-open.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jimin asked, turning to look at me with one eye open.

"I had too much food last night. I'm not hungry," I shook my head repeatedly. I'm still full. After eating, we cleaned the living room and kitchen and then washed our faces.

"Wae? You look tired. I was too rough with you?" Jimin questioned my tired expression. I smiled and shook my head when I recalled our steamy night. THUD THUD THUD. Jimin and I froze when we heard rapid knocking on the door. Who- why- how... no one knows about my house...

"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN UP NOW!" Jungkook shouted, banging harder on the door. Jimin and I exhaled in relief. I really thought we were in trouble. I quickly ran to the door and yanked it open to find Jungkook's piercing glare.

"Do you know what time it is?! It's 8:00 AM! The bus left for the village by the port two hours ago! The professors went crazy because they couldn't find you two! The bodyguards are searching for you!" Jungkook snapped angrily. Oh shit... I totally forgot about it...

"How did you know we were here?" Jimin asked suspiciously.

"I came here once! Where else would this psychopath go? She keeps running back to this place," Jungkook snapped, darting me another glare. What did he just call me...? What a fucking dumbass...

"Don't call her that!" Jimin growled at Jungkook, who rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Come on! We need to head back before they find us!" Jungkook grumbled, tugging me out of the house. Jimin followed, and we left. Jungkook called to inform the professors... so they made a car pick us up along the way. About half an hour later, we stopped at a fishery village. It wasn't as worn down as the previous village. This one was right next to the ocean. I could smell the salty ocean breeze the moment I got out of the car. Ah... it's so refreshing...

"Ms. Jang and Mr. Park! Where have you been?! I told you the curfew is 10:00 PM!" The head professor came marching up to us in rage.

"They got lost in the city, so they stayed at another hotel. I found them through their registered names," Jungkook defended us. The professor eyed us suspiciously, so we bowed at him apologetically. I'm surprised Jungkook lied for us... I thought he'd report us...

"Araso, araso. Go and join them," The professor exhaled, nodding towards the group of alphas... busily rushing back and forth.

"Oh, it's the supreme alpha."

"It's Jungkook oppa!"

"Look, it's Jimin oppa!"

We passed through the crowd of the lower ranks as they started to swarm around us. I smiled at them as we walked by. They must be living a hard life since they have to fight harder to keep themselves alive.

"Where have you been? You're on my team today, but you're nowhere to be found! I did all the work by myself!" Seokjin complained when we got to him. He was hastily brushing the old concrete path with an outdoor plastic broom.

"Stop exaggerating. You've been telling us weird dad jokes while we did all the work," Mira scoffed, brushing away the dark murky water off the path and into the drain.

"Moh!? That's a lie! I worked so hard-"

"You're so noisy and loud!" Taehyung spat, throwing a wet sponge at Seokjin, whose face turned pale in disgust. Seokjin lifted up his broom and funnily poked at Taehyung in response.

"Yah!" Taehyung gritted while staring at the stain on his pants in irritation.

"Hajima hajima... I don't want to get in trouble," Mira whined, pushing the two guys apart and proceeded to brush the molded ground.

"You take over now. I can't stand him," Seokjin grunted, pushing the broom into my hands before stomping off.

"Hey guys! You're in our team!" Jiwoo called over from the boat dock, so Jimin and Jungkook left to join him. Jimin's team was helping the sailor unload the huge buckets off the boats while Minho's group worked on untangling the fishing nets. I was scrubbing the floor when I noticed Taehyung taking one step after another... back towards the edge of the little bridge.

"Taehyung," I whispered, pulling him back just before he took another step. He turned around in realization but didn't say anything. He cleared his throat and stepped away from the bridge. Everyone worked hard on their assigned task until we had a lunch break at around 1:00 PM. The top alphas gathered to have the packed lunch the professors prepared for us. I went over to where the cooler was to grab some water, but Jiwoo was nice enough to pass the bottle to me.

"Thank you," I smiled, tilting my head backward to sip the water.

"Oh, are you hurt?" Jiwoo asked, staring at me with his eyes wide open. Taehyung and Jungkook immediately turned to look at us. I stood staring at Jiwoo with a dumbfounded face. What is he talking about?

"Hurt? What? No- I'm not-"

"Your neck... there are bruises," Jiwoo muttered, gently reaching out to touch my neck. My cheeks heated up the moment I knew what he was talking about- so I quickly wrapped my hand around my neck uncomfortably.

"Aniya~ it's nothing- probably just a mosquito bite," I chuckled, awkwardly turning the other way.

"I know what a mosquito bite looks like though. You know wounds on the neck are really dangerous," Jiwoo muttered while scratching his head doubtfully- so I briefly closed my eyes in distress. Just drop it... it's not a wound...

"What. What happened? Let me see," Jungkook suddenly grabbed my hand and tilted my neck while Taehyung leaned forward curiously. Jungkook and Taehyung abruptly froze when they saw it. Fuck... now that's very awkward...

"I told you it's nothing," I quickly pushed Jungkook away and pulled my collars over my neck in discomfort. Taehyung pursed his lips blankly while Jungkook awkwardly ran his hands through his hair. At this point, I couldn't feel my face anymore since I was too flustered.

"I saw what you did. Why did you grab her like that," Jimin glared, cluelessly approaching us. I quickly turned to look at him.

"Ah, it's nothing," I weakly laughed, pulling Jimin's hoodie over his head to cover the hickeys on his neck.

"I'm not cold," Jimin mumbled, pushing the hoodie off his head again... exposing the hickeys all over his neck. Taehyung and Jungkook eyed Jimin in silence before glancing back at me.

"Aahahaha... I'm hungry. Let's go find some food," I chuckled, wrapping my arm around Jimin's neck, but since I was shorter- Jimin had to bend down. Without another word, I quickly dragged Jimin away from the crowd.

"What's wrong...?" Jimin asked in confusion. I peeked at the alphas and then back at Jimin.

"Is it that bad?" I asked, turning my neck to show him the hickeys he gave me. I didn't look in the mirror this morning, so I don't know how bad it was...

"Oh... even your collar bones... did they see it?" Jimin whispered, reaching out in shock to graze his fingers over my neck.

"Yeah, Jiwoo mistook it as bruises," I nodded, pulling my shirt's collars over the hickeys.

"Do you want my jacket?" Jimin asked, unzipping his jacket for me.

"No, it's cold. Yours is bad too," I chuckled, zipping Jimin's jacket back up to his neck, then pulled the hood over his head to hide his hickeys. Jimin and I couldn't stop blushing. It's not like it was our first time giving each other hickeys- but it was still funny how the bruises made it look like we were strangled.

After lunch, we went back to work again. Everyone was busy with their own tasks. At around 3:00 PM we finished our work, so the guys decided to play soccer with the fishermen on the vast concrete field by the ocean. Even Yoongi was playing with everyone else. For a moment, everyone looked genuinely happy. Smiling, I turned to find Minah standing alone at the far end of the port. The sun was setting, so I got up and approached her.

"Young lady, are you heading to the end of the dock?" A middle-aged woman asked me as I passed her.

"Neh, do you need any help?" I asked her curiously.

"My knee has been hurting, so I can't walk that far, but can you see that bucket over there? Can you bring it when you return?" She asked, pointing at a red bucket sitting on the edge of the port.

"Of course, please rest," I smiled, giving her a warm hug before walking off.

"Why are you here?" I asked, walking up to Minah. The dark blue water was gently splashing against the wooden structure of the dock. Echoes of the alpha's voices could be heard all the way here.

"I didn't get the chance to thank you yesterday," Minah mumbled as she gazed at the golden sky.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" I asked, turning to smile at her. Minah gave me a grim look.

"Why are you helping me? Don't you hate me? Is this a part of your plan?" Minah scoffed, turning to look the other way. Why is she doubting me...? I guess all the alphas have trust issues. Sighing ... I turned to find Haerim walking by herself along the other side of the port.

"I just think it's unfair for you to be treated like this while Seokjin gets away with everything. You wanted to survive, and you even diluted the poison," I shook my head.

"Seokjin told me it was already diluted, but I didn't trust him... if I didn't dilute it again- They all could've died," Minah whispered in regret.

"The mistake taught you a great lesson, didn't it?" I smiled at her. She nodded.

"They're all after me. You don't understand. Seokjin is really smart- tsk... killing two birds with one stone. He got what he wanted, and now everyone has a motive to kill me off. I'm so stupid," Minah groaned while rubbing her face.

"If you stay by Jungkook's side- He'll keep you safe," I shrugged, turning to look at the guys.

"It's not that simple," Minah shook her head and turned to look at me.

"He's all over you though," I shrugged at her. He was so heartbroken over her, and he's still watching out for her.

"Dear lord... What did you do...? Sora, I think you need some ice. What did Jimin do to you?" She giggled, reaching out to poke my neck, so I shyly looked away. I keep on getting flustered. It's very uncomfortable when they keep pointing it out.

"Come on, we should head back. I need to bring the bucket back," I chuckled as I got onto my feet, walking away to pick up the red bucket.

"Why are you suddenly leaving? You guys are wild. Seriously... What did you guys do? What did he do? Even Jungkook never gave me that kind of hickeys before- MOHYAH?!" Minah suddenly shrieked, so I quickly turned to find Haerim pulling Minah's hair with all her might. How the fuck did she get here so fast?

"Haerim! Stop it," I snapped, but before I could get to them- Haerim gave Minah a hard push. Minah stumbled and fell off the wooden platform. SPLASH. I turned to glare at Haerim in shock. How far will she go? I get that she almost died, but why is she repeatedly doing this?

"AH! EOMMA!! SORA- HELP ME!" Minah screamed, trying to keep her face above the water. Panicking... I ran over to the edge and tried to reach for her hands, but the port was too high above the water. I can't reach her!

"SOMEONE HELP?! JIMIN! JIMIN! JUNGKOOK! TAEHYUNG! ANYONE! PLEASE-" I screamed at the top of my lungs and terrifically waved at the crowd of guys, but before I could even finish- Haerim covered my mouth with her hands. She's a fucking bitch! Minah will freeze to death! She can't swim to the shore since it's too far. She'll freeze even before she gets there. I furiously pushed Haerim onto the ground, then turned to help Minah again. She's a fucking psychopath!

"S-SORA..." Minah cried, trying to keep herself afloat. She was trembling from the cold. She can't swim to the shore because it's way too far, and I can't pull her up since I can't reach her. I turned and screamed at the group of guys again. Finally, someone turned and noticed us. The person froze and watched us from afar. Please... please help us!

"HELP! HELP!" I screamed and waved at the alphas in tears. The person turned to the group of guys, and a second later, they all came sprinting towards us at full speed. I shot Haerim a piercing glare as she stared at the group of guys approaching us in frustration. I glanced at Minah and back to the group of guys. Jimin was leading, but Jungkook was faster. Jungkook dashed past Jimin and was halfway across the port when-

"Minah- hang on-"

"ARGH! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING!" Haerim screamed, shoving me hard from the back. I desperately tried to grasp onto the edges, but it was too slippery, so I lost my grip and fell. SPLASH. The cold ocean dragged me down into the deep sea as soon as I hit the surface. It was deadly cold to the point I felt sharp pain stinging my skin. I swam back to the surface, but everything was too blurry- so I frantically gasped for air. I tried blinking repeatedly, but my vision became more and more distorted. I couldn't hear anything but the dull silence when everything suddenly spun around me. Am I going to have another one of those episodes again?! No... not now... I'll drown if it happens... not now-!