YOUMIN

"Instructor?"

"Yes, I'm here."

I look up with wide eyes, quickly scrambling up to my feet when I see him come in with a huge gun.

A sniper.

"W-What..."

Is this why he'd told me to meet him at the shooting range today? Not at the lake grounds?

He sets the gun up, and tosses a small pistol to the floor in my direction.

"Pick it up."

I quickly do. I'd never touched a gun in my life, and now my arms are completely tense as I handle the armed pistol.

"Aim, shoot. Brace for the recoil."

Looking up at the human-shaped targets on the end of the range, I hold the pistol in trembling hands and try to aim.

He growls when I hesitate.

"Pull the damn trigger, Jimin. You'd already be dead if those targets were real."

So I pull it.

The gun jerks, and I stumble back a step as I stare at the small bullet hole I'd made on the target's stomach.

"Again. For the head."

I shift my gun a little bit up.

This time it goes through the head, and I'm surprised that it actually does. V nods, moving me to a further target.

I do well there, too.

"Switch guns. Rifles."

It feels uncomfortable the moment he shifts it onto me. The weight is pressing on my shoulder, and I try to calm my hands as I aim at the target.

I press my finger to the trigger.

The recoil takes me aback. But the thing that shocks me the most is how fast the bullets spray out from the gun, and I almost lose control.

I would've lost control if it hadn't been for him.

He jerks the gun from my hands, roughly pushing me back. Then he locks it, jaw flexing.

"Not for you."

I'm just thanking God for not shooting him by accident when he suddenly puts down a sniper. It's so heavy that it makes a little crash against the stand.

He points to a little dot against the woods.

"Look through the scope."

I swallow. He wasn't really expecting me to get that, was he?

"What do you see."

His voice is suddenly so much closer. The deep, husky tone makes me shiver a little bit, but I make myself focus.

"A t-target."

"Good. Finger on trigger."

I feel strangely calm behind the huge gun. The target's clear through the scope, and I adjust my aim.

"Shoot."

I do.

The recoil is pleasant— it doesn't even push back as much as a pistol. I focus back on the scope to see if I'd actually hit the target.

There's a wide, gaping hole in the right of its head.

I'd hit it.

"I got it." I blink, turning to him. Then my expression goes full-out excited, a wide smile filling my face. "Did you see that? I hit the head!"

And he looks a bit surprised too, which makes me burst out a feminine giggle.

I quickly deepen it down and shoot him a nervous look, but it doesn't look like he'd noticed.

But then he starts to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" I say, the disappointment coming out clear on my face. "Instructor?"

"Practice. I'll be back."

And that's the only thing he says before I'm left alone.

________________________

TAEHYUNG

"He's a natural sniper."

Namjoon hyung looks up at me in surprise. "Who are you talking about? Who's a natural sniper?"

"Park Jimin."

He blinks for a second before realization comes through in his eyes. "That little kid? That's kind of unexpected. Can he even hold up a sniper?

I shake my head. "He's weak now, but that can always be fixed. I want him on the mission with me two weeks from now."

He gapes.

"Two. Weeks."

I nod, not blinking an eye.

And hyung sighs, dragging his hand slowly down his face. "Taehyung, you know I trust your decisions the most, right?"

He raises an eyebrow.

"But you should know as top sniper that this sounds impossible. He won't be able to handle himself in a real mission."

I shake my head.

"He can't handle himself now. He will be able to do that in two weeks."

With the uncertain look in his eyes, I don't need to go further to know that he'd let me do this.

"Taehyung..."

He moves back to his paperwork.

"Please don't kill him."

__________________________

YOUMIN

I'd thought we were going to do more shooting.

Which meant I'd thought we weren't going to be running and doing physical stuff.

But the moment he shifts that thirty-kilogram backpack off his shoulders and to mine, I know that I'm going to be half-dead by the end of the day.

"Run. Two laps."

I don't even hesitate anymore. Because I know he'd just make it into three laps if I did.

The backpack feels like it's pulling down at my shoulders.

"Faster."

"Faster."

But I keep finding myself slowing down. And I hadn't even finished one lap yet.

I can tell I'm angering him.

"I'm— sorry." I breathe when I finally complete a single lap. "But I don't think..."

"Three laps. Get it done by the hour."

I stare.

But his eyes are flat and gray, and it only turns colder at my stupid look.

"You don't want four, do you? Start running, trainee."

I curse under my breath.

Never mind, I hate him.

________________________

I can't even hold myself up.

I'm leaning almost completely on Jungkook, half-asleep with my eyes struggling not to close. The leading instructor is saying things, but it hurts to listen.

"Prisoner....training....simulation..."

"Jimin hyung."

My eyes snap open. Jungkook chews on his lip, looking down at me worriedly.

"Just ask to go to the medic, hyung. You really don't look good right now. Your skin's all pale, and—"

"Jeon Jungkook! Park Jimin!"

We both flinch at Instructor Yoongi's harsh shout. I stumble away from Jungkook, blinking with wide eyes as he comes closer.

He lifts an eyebrow.

"Stand apart."

"Y-Yes, sir." I hear Jungkook stutter. I try to copy him, but my throat is all clamped up with the surprise of getting yelled at.

"Group C."

We're in a line, going towards a dark gray building. Sweat pours down my back, and I don't even notice I'd collapsed until someone jerks me back into the air.

"Get the hell up."

Instructor V.

My eyes blink dazedly as I slack in his grip. Nausea claws at my stomach, and I feel so sick and tired that I almost break down right there in front of all my group mates and instructors.

"Breathe."

I suck in a weak gasp.

"Deeper."

Shivering, I hold his hand around my collar tighter. Then I breathe again, a longer breath.

Some of the strength comes back in my body.

"Good." He says, and I stumble when he loosens his grip all of a sudden. "Don't embarrass me again, Jimin. Remember you're my student."

This is all because of him.

"My gosh, Jimin." Seokjin says when I manage to steady myself. "You were— I don't even..."

"Step up."

My eyes go wide when I see the lead instructor hold up a thick cloth. "We're going to simulate a prisoner situation. Working together, you'll have to escape the room."

"You'll have cloths placed over your heads, and wrists tied."

My mouth drops open.

Cloths...placed over?

Are they trying to kill us all?