Kim Taehyung, a sniper with a past etched in shadows and a heart hardened by 45 years of service, accepted the assignment with a grim predictability. His target: a young, brilliant doctor named Jeon Jungkook. The details were clinical, dispassionate. Jungkook, a surgeon of just 25, was handling a high-profile case for a powerful mafia gang leader, a case so sensitive it had drawn the attention of two opposing governments and countless rival syndicates. Taehyung's mission was simple: eliminate the variable.
He found Jungkook's routine easily. The doctor lived in a quiet apartment complex, the top floor of which offered a clear sightline into a neighboring skyscraper's conference room. The perfect vantage point. Taehyung set up his rifle, the cold metal a familiar weight in his hands, his scope trained on the younger man. But as his finger hovered over the trigger, something shifted.
Jungkook was not the hardened criminal or the cold manipulator Taehyung had expected. Through the scope's magnification, Taehyung saw a man of grace and deep empathy. He saw the gentle curve of his brow as he reviewed medical charts, the small, tired slump of his shoulders after a long surgery, the way his eyes lit up when he spoke on the phone. This was not a variable to be eliminated; this was a person to be cherished.
First sight became first obsession. Taehyung began to watch him, not as a target, but as a person. He learned Jungkook's habits: his preference for dark coffee, his love for a stray cat he fed in the alley, the way he hummed a soft tune while walking. Every day, the urge to protect replaced the order to kill. He found himself intercepting threats before they reached Jungkook—disabling car bombs meant for the hospital parking garage, taking out rival assassins before they could get close. He was no longer a sniper; he was a guardian angel, a ghost in the shadows.
The moment he had to break cover came on a rainy Tuesday. A team of hitmen from a rival gang had cornered Jungkook in the hospital parking garage, their movements slick and efficient. Taehyung, from his distant perch, knew he couldn't take them all down without risking a shot to Jungkook. He had to act. Abandoning his position, he sprinted through the downpour, a whirlwind of calculated violence. He took down the attackers with swift, brutal efficiency, a blur of motion and steel. He stood over Jungkook, panting, the younger man staring up at him with wide, terrified eyes.
"Who are you?" Jungkook whispered.
Taehyung, for the first time in years, was lost for words. "I... I'm here to protect you."
That was the beginning. Their relationship bloomed in the space between danger and safety. Jungkook, initially cautious, quickly realized the depth of Taehyung's devotion. He learned that behind the sniper's hardened exterior was a man who loved art, who had a surprisingly gentle touch, and who would cross oceans just to see him smile. Taehyung, in turn, found in Jungkook a warmth he hadn't known existed. The younger man's compassion became the light that healed his scarred soul.
They went on the run, a life spent moving from one safe house to the next, always one step ahead of the governments and gangs who wanted them both dead. It was a perilous existence, but one filled with stolen moments of pure bliss. They found refuge in a small, coastal town in a distant country, a place where their past could not follow.
Taehyung, no longer a sniper, became a craftsman, his steady hands now carving intricate wooden sculptures. Jungkook opened a small, free clinic for the town's residents, his surgical skills saving lives in a way he never could have back home. They built a simple, beautiful life together, their love a testament to a world where even a man of destruction could find purpose in protecting a man of healing. Every day, they awoke to the sunrise, the past a distant echo, their future a peaceful, shared horizon.
