SOLDIER | K.TH

Mission: V

YOUMIN

I breathe calmly, brushing my fingers over the cool surface of the earbud. It helped me think clearer— knowing that Taehyung was always in reach.

There were two snipers on the other end.

And Taehyung had trusted me enough in my skill to put me down as solo— against two. Which meant that I had to do well enough to keep his decision.

I had to do well.

Narrowing my eyes, I squint through the scope. They could be anywhere— concealed in places I might never expect them to be.

Like that one.

A dark smile lifts my lips when I shift my gun down to a tiny crevice in the side of the building.

One breath.

Then he's dead, and I take my finger off the trigger as I check the silencer. It still hugs the gun tightly, and I lick my lips as I continue searching.

Ten minutes pass.

Where is he?

My heart's beating faster than the beginning, from my heightened senses and anxiety. Every second that I let pass, I was giving to the other sniper.

I'd already looked through the windows of the entire building twice.

Maybe there had been only one?

But Taehyung had told me two.

My hands start shaking on the gun, but I don't dare to move a single inch to fix my position. One motion could give everything away.

Where...?

Calm down.

But I find myself starting to lose myself in the extreme fear. I knew firsthand how fast a sniper bullet was— how fast it could kill me.

I wouldn't even know.

I wouldn't even know if other sniper found me first.

Struggling, I flick my eyes across the darkness of the walls. No signs of human— but I knew I wasn't seeing it.

There.

A shadow shifts. And only then I see— the faint outline of a man, blending into the black.

And we both aim our guns at the same time.

__________________________

I hit him.

And my body stiffens when I feel the bullet cross the air next, inches from my ear. He had been so close— but he'd missed his shot.

Relief.

I collapse backwards, breathing harshly as I lie on the cold ground of the inner structure. I'd nearly died today— but this thrill.

And the moment I'm given the call that the mission was over, I burst up to my feet and run down the stairs two flights at a time.

I was so excited to tell Taehyung.

I would tell him everything— how scary it had gotten as more time had passed, the sniper battle I'd had. We'd both found each other at the same time.

"V!"

But when I get down from the building, I don't find him— in the tent where he's usually waiting for me to come down. I search the infirmary tent next, but he isn't there either.