Chapter Text
“Wear a jacket. Keep the sleeves down. They’ll kill you if they see the tattoos.” Namjoon’s voice was barely a murmur. The younger nodded quickly. “I’ve got a lot to teach you in the next twenty minutes, so listen close. If you don’t do everything I say you will be killed. Instantly. No questions asked. The Valorians… they’re in the dark. They don’t know what we know. That’s why they fear us, why the government fears us. So you listen to me, stay right by me the entire time, and act like you live there.” Namjoon helped Taehyung button his shirt, making sure the cuffs were buttoned and the button closest to Taehyung’s adam’s apple was fastened. He hummed softly, putting a burgundy tie around his neck. Taehyung gagged as Namjoon tied it tightly. “Do not even consider changing anything about the way you look right now. And do not tell anyone that you’ve been underground. Do you understand?” Taehyung nodded feverishly.
Namjoon nodded once before slinging his school bag across his body. He gave Taehyung another once over before handing him a blazer that matched his tie perfectly. The younger was quick to put it on, smoothing it out carefully. With Jaeho’s approval, the two were able to finally head for the Tunnels. The younger took occasional glances at his new partner, looking for emotion. There was nothing.
“Have you been outside before, Taehyung?” Namjoon asked as they rounded a corner. Taehyung hummed, nodding slightly.
“Once, when I was younger. The Jade Elders took me outside during night. It was for my uh…” Taehyung glanced away. The elder cleared his throat, signaling for the other to continue. “It was for my promotion, I guess. I’m a leader. The Elders say that if I keep going on the path I’m on, I’ll be one of them by the time I’m thirty.” Taehyung caught Namjoon’s glance, nodding once.
“Ah. So you haven’t seen it then. Any of it.” Namjoon smirked, rounding another corner with Taehyung on his heels. The pair came to a large, cold, metal door. It filled the entire wall with ease. Taehyung watched quietly as the elder punched a code into a panel beside the door. “Well, are you gonna open it or what?” Namjoon muttered. Taehyung nodded quickly, grabbing the oversized door handle and twisting almost ceremoniously.
The door opened into a small room with barely anything in it. The only things in there were a coat rack, what appeared to be a glass elevator, and a small table with two lanyards on it. Namjoon headed for the table first, grabbing one lanyard and tossing the other to Taehyung wordlessly. The younger was quick to put it on and follow Namjoon toward the small glass elevator. “Stay close. Keep your sleeves down. Do you have any other tattoos I need to be made aware of?” Namjoon asked, pressing one of the only two buttons on the elevator.
Taehyung nodded carefully, touching his right side. “I have the Jade emblem here.” His hands were shaking. Namjoon sighed, placing his hand on the small of the other’s back in reassurance.
“Stay with me. I’ll keep you safe.” He repeated. Taehyung nodded, his fingers fiddling with the rings he adorned anyway. How could he not worry? He was about to go into unmarked territory. He was about to see the sun for the first time in his life. He was about to see his first cell phone, an item that had been marked dangerous by Rebel standards, and Namjoon was telling him not to worry? Was he insane?
Suddenly the elevator dinged, the doors opening into a clean, organized bedroom. Taehyung had never seen something without color as much as this room. Everything was either white or grey, except for the framed poster against one wall. Namjoon turned Taehyung away from the poster, shaking his head. “Ignore those. Posters, flags, portraits, all of it. Don’t look at them. They’re propaganda to get you to stay in this hell hole.” Namjoon ushered Taehyung from the room. “We need to find Yoongi.”
As the two walked through the house, Namjoon calling loudly for Yoongi, Taehyung couldn’t help but look around in wonder. Every room they entered was pristinely white and mostly bare besides framed, deep red posters and portraits. Taehyung was sure to avert his eyes from those. All the rooms had little to no furniture; even the kitchen had minimal items. A knife block was placed on one corner of the island and two bar stools sat beneath it. Taehyung found himself alone in the kitchen while Namjoon went upstairs to find his friend. The first thing that Taehyung saw upon sitting at the island was a small sheet of glass. He pulled it toward himself, examining it carefully. It just looked like a sheet of glass to him. Why Namjoon’s friend would have a random sheet of glass in his kitchen was beyond Taehyung. He dragged his finger across the front of it, turing it over a few times. Suddenly, the glass chirped with life. Taehyung yelped, jumping up from his seat. A small laugh a few feet away brought his attention to Namjoon and a smaller man, who Taehyung assumed was Yoongi. The two were smiling, laughing at Taehyung quite openly.
“So you found the tablet, huh? Ya know, Namjoon, when you told me that he’d never been above ground during the day I thought he’d at least know about the technology here.” Yoongi was still chuckling as he went to Taehyung’s side, scooping the glass sheet from the countertop. Namjoon grinned as Taehyung peered over his friend’s shoulder to look at the tablet screen. “Why don’t you teach Taehyung the basics of his phone so he’s not suspicious when we go to school.” Yoongi suggested, sliding up on the tablet’s screen. Taehyung looked on in wonder as Yoongi began to type on the tablet, the words appearing as an apparition on the kitchen wall.
Namjoon took Taehyung’s wrist, leading him into the living room. The pair sat down on the sofa. The younger watched quietly as Namjoon handed him his own sheet of glass, this time smaller and with rubber lining the thing. “This is a cell phone. Do not take it to Orbis once we decide to leave. No screens of technology down there, you know that. Anyway, cell phones are really useful. They’re kind of like computers-” Namjoon caught Taehyung’s confused look and sighed, “-never mind. Basically, cell phones let you call other people, send them messages, see pictures, go on the internet, social media, order food, anything you can think of, a cell phone can make it happen. Here, I’ll text you.” Namjoon slid up on the phone, Taehyung following his lead. The younger was paying close attention, soaking in instructions on how this device worked. The two were able to exchange a few messages, and Taehyung texted Yoongi a couple times to further understand the new technology.
“Do you think you’re ready, Taehyung? If you’re not then I’m gonna send you back home.” Namjoon asked. Taehyung looked up at the older, nodding carefully. With that, Namjoon and Taehyung were out the door and headed toward the communal university.
Namjoon smiled to himself as Taehyung looked around in wonder. For someone who had never been outside, Taehyung sure was good at keeping a low profile. Despite his curiosity, Taehyung was keeping mostly to himself, only tugging on Namjoon’s sleeve to point out a bird or a butterfly. Some deep red roses caught his attention and pulled him toward them like a magnet, but Namjoon was quick to grab him and yank him back to the present. Other than that, Taehyung was good about keeping quiet and close to Namjoon.
“You get to see this stuff everyday?” Taehyung hissed as they climbed the steps into the Education Center.
“Everyday. Now, stay close to me. Things could go really badly.” Namjoon said in a hushed voice. Taehyung nodded, turning on his “serious mode” without hesitation.
The two walked with purpose to Namjoon’s usual first class, not looking at anyone else and generally keeping to themselves. Taehyung’s heart was racing as he tugged his cuffs down further. The threat of death hung over their heads, and it could be Taehyung’s fault that they were discovered. The thought wouldn’t leave his head, and while it did cause him a tremendous amount of anxiety, at least he’d be conscious of the ink on his arms.
The pair’s first three hours of the day went smoothly. Taehyung was absorbing information like a sponge, taking in new customs and technologies he had not previously been aware of. Namjoon, on the other hand, was very quiet. This was typical for someone of his background, but Taehyung was quite the opposite. To say Namjoon was angry about it would be an understatement. The younger had spent the entirety of the morning straying from Namjoon, making conversation with others, and not at all keeping to himself. In fact, he was doing the exact opposite of everything Namjoon told him to do. But, he kept his tattoos hidden and he still had yet to say anything about Orbis. Things were still alright, in theory.
Then lunch hit. Something in the air changed when food was being served to everyone. Namjoon could feel it, and when he looked at Taehyung, he could tell the younger could feel it too. His partner had suddenly lost his bubbly air, becoming solemn and cold. “There’s someone watching us.” Taehyung mumbled, grabbing a sandwich off of a cart. The elder hummed, following his partner’s lead.
Namjoon’s eyes swept the room as the two sat down. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, bt Taehyung’s warning had him on edge. Prying eyes could mean death and the indefinite end of their mission. He glanced down at Taehyung’s wrist, checking for tattoos that he knew were hidden.
“N-Namjoon, there’s guards.” Taehyung hissed, gripping the other’s hand. Namjoon cursed under his breath, pulling Taehyung into him. He scratched the back of his neck, swallowing hard. A layer of sweat was beginning to form on his back, causing the cottony button up to stick against his skin.
“Ya know how I told you to stick close to me? I need you to act like I said something terrible and go hang out with those guys that you had seen earlier. A-and if I get taken in or you do, you act like you don’t know anything about Orbis, understand? Don’t say anything. You text me or Yoongi once you feel safe, yeah?” Namjoon’s hushed tone had Taehyung teary, but the younger knew the direness of the situation. Maybe if the two split up, the eyes would be off of them.
Eventually, Taehyung shouted something about how disgusting Namjoon was before storming off toward the group of guys he had been talking to earlier in the day. Now, the two could only watch each other from afar.
Namjoon was trying his best to keep his head low, but he couldn’t help himself from glancing up at Taehyung every now and again. He had to hand it to the younger; he was a fantastic actor. The kid was pretending like nothing had happened, laughing along with his “friends”. Actually, Namjoon wouldn’t be surprised if Taehyung was actually friends with them. He sighed, smiling softly. Hopefully, Taehyung would make the whole day without incident and be able to go on another mission-
Namjoon was ripped from his thoughts as someone yanked on his collar, pulling him from his seat and to the floor. His skull hit the floor first, knocking him into a sort of in-and-out consciousness. He moaned in pain, screaming at his limbs to get up and fight only for his body to not respond. The room had become dead quiet, save for hushed murmurs from shocked students. Across the room, Taehyung was desperately texting Yoongi. He kept quiet, feigning shock like the boys around him.
Three guards surrounded Namjoon on the floor, one pulling out a very scary looking pair of scissors. Taehyung’s breath caught in his throat as they cut open the back of his shirt, exposing the gorgeous ink along Namjoon’s spine. Who knew that the art Namjoon had so desperately wanted once upon a time would be the cause of his death. Taehyung jolted at the shout of “Orbis!” from one of the guards. What was he supposed to do now?
He said nothing, as Namjoon instructed, watching quietly as Namjoon was dragged from the room, his head rolling as though he were dead. Taehyung almost thought he was. He sat there in shock, only looking at the small splatters of blood on the ground where Namjoon’s head had hit the tile.
“Taehyung-ah? Are you alright?” One of his newfound friends, Jimin, asked softly. The new spy said nothing, finally letting a tear spill down his face. He quickly swiped it away, shaking his head. “That was probably pretty traumatizing, huh? I’m sorry. I really wish they would do that in private. God, it’s awful. They’re people, too, ya know?” Jimin pushed a fry into his mouth before continuing, “And anyway, they’re right. I’ve seen their posters, the ones they have hidden ya know, and they’re not lying. The government is watching us.” Jimin was suddenly pushed harshly. He laughed, pushing the other boy back.
“Keep your voice down! Do you wanna be next?” The boy, Jeongguk, turned to Taehyung with an eye roll. “What’d you think, Tae?” The two boys looked at him expectantly. Finally, Taehyung gave them his attention.
“I uh… I’m not sure what I think. It’s not really my place. And anyway, we can get killed for even talking about this stuff. If I were you, I’d just keep it to yourself until you can find the right people.” Taehyung plucked a handful of fries from Jimin’s tray, shoving them into his mouth. His nerves were getting the best of him and he worried that if his mouth was open he’d say something damning.
Taehyung’s two friends talked about the events that had just taken place before finally deciding to leave. The school had announced over the PA system that due to the “altercation”, all classes were cancelled until nine tomorrow morning. It didn’t take long for the cafeteria to clear out, leaving Taehyung to himself. He checked his phone with blurry eyes. He could barely read Yoongi’s message about being on his way to the Education Center to get him. At least he wouldn’t be alone for much longer.
He wanted so badly to wake up from this nightmare. He wanted it all to be a dream. But then his eyes drifted to the blood splatters for a seventh time and he knew that this was most definitely not a dream. His mind was reeling, screaming for him to get up and find a solution, to find Namjoon.
From what Taehyung could remember from training, Namjoon would be lucky to survive the next twenty four hours. His memory was confirmed when Yoongi was pulling Taehyung from his seat, murmuring how they had two days to get their friend back. “We’re gonna get him back, Taehyung, don’t worry. We’ll get him back.” Yoongi repeated the words like a mantra. Taehyung hoped he was right.