The morning sun bled through the blinds of the apartment, spreading long, bright shadows across the corridor. Jimin sleepily yawned and stretched his limbs on his way to the kitchen to make breakfast and coffee.
He sure needed lots of coffee and so would Jungkook when he woke up from last night's hard - drinking and hangover.
" Kook? Jungkookie?" he softly called out, voice throaty from sleep. " Still not up? I'm getting you coffee for your hang .."
He grinded to a halt, observing Jungkook's door wide open, the bed made or more accurately untouched. The air inside the room carried a light chill, the familiar vanilla scent and laundry detergent.
Jimin's eyebrows narrowed, his mouth cringed while biting his lower lip and immediately pulled the phone out of his side pocket, dialing Jungkook's number.
It was dead.
He hit redial. Once, twice till it reached ten times. Straight to voicemail. A cold, unwelcome feeling lurched inside his veins and he rushed back into his own room, violently shaking the light sheet on the bed and poor Yoongi who was peacefully sleeping after a meeting at the headquarters.
" Yoongi! Baby wake up! Get up now!"
The man released a low, gruffy groan, pulling the pillow over his head. " If the building isn't on fire,Park Jimin, I'll kill you!"
" Jungkook hasn't returned. He's not in his room!" Jimin clipped, his short fingers grabbing Yoongi's shoulder." His bed is empty, his phone is dead. He didn't come home last night!"
Yoongi steadily dragged the pillow off his face, his eyes squinting to adjust to the brutal morning light and took a slow, deliberate breath, his expression calm and unbothered.
" Jimin, relax. Breathe." the older lazily replied, his deep voice acting like an anchor in a hurricane. " Kook is an adult, rides a Harley and has been waging a one-man war against a pigheaded fool for months. I'm sure he's fine."
Jimin ruffled his hair in irritation at his peculiar calmness." Yoongi, you forget that last night that war ended and Jungkook got defeated. His ex lover is back. They are together. Jungkook went out to drink! "
Yoongi's lower body crept on the bed, his feet touching the floor."I get that... He probably came home totally wasted, had a bath to clear his head and went out jogging. His phone ran out of battery, that's why it's dead. Give it a few hours. Don't panic for no reason."
" He's hurt, alone, and let's not forget that he's a sitting target. Someone is after him. Kook doesn't just turn his phone off, Yoongi! You know him. I know him."
" He can be a bit dramatic, I can give him that. " Yoongi emphasized, running a hand through his messy hair, yawning."Let a few hours pass so that he can cool down. If he doesn't return by noon, I'll ask Hobi to look into it."
" Promise?"
The older nodded in reluctance, Jimin's mind going over every possible scenario and he hated each and every one of them..
" Yeah! Promise.Now let me sleep for an hour." Yoongi lazily replied, sinking back into his fluffy pillows.
Jimin huffed." You and your damn sleep!" He stepped to the right, heading for the door."Even if the world ended, you'd still find time to sleep."
Yoongi answered with a light snoring.
By noon, there was still no sign of Jungkook, his phone was dead and Jimin was a powder keg, pacing back and forth on the marble floor, his phone glued to his ear with his thumbs frantically tapping texts one after the other that unfortunately were not delivered.
The metallic clock on the wall read 7:30 pm. Twenty four hours missing.
" That's it! Time's up!" Jimin literally shrieked, swirling around to face his boyfriend, who was sitting on the couch with his laptop on his lap."I've called him a hundred times. A hundred! Send him a hundred texts. No answer. Yoongi, he wouldn't just vanish! I'm telling you something is wrong. Something terrible has happened to him! I can feel it!"
Yoongi lifted his head and stared at him without cracking any jokes this time. That deep, sharp glint in his narrow eyes hardened as he looked at Jimin's pallid, frightened face, recognising the genuine concern flickering in them." Fine." he eventually said, shutting his laptop with a low snap and placing it on the coffee table." I'll call Hobi."
What actually followed was a seventy - two - hour suffocating agony. Three long, torturous days.
Yoongi did what he knew best with professional efficiency. His job. First, he discretely called a friend from the Busan police and under the guise of a casual check in, he verified that Jungkook wasn't in his parents' house.
Once that option was ruled out, Jimin filed a missing's case report and Yoongi called in every favour, every contact and snitch he had, every high-level connection to find information about Jungkook's whereabouts.
He asked Hobi to treat this case with high priority and one single goal.
Trace Jeon Jungkook.
From his professional experience over the years in similar cases, he knew for a fact that if a person was kidnapped or missing with no lead in the first twenty four hours the chances of being found alive were minimal and most likely end up in a ditch or on the bottom of the river.
He didn't share that with Jimin, not wanting to worry him further. But the truth of the matter was that he was scared to death himself, mostly because he misjudged the situation.
Jungkook's radio silence was nerve-wracking and it was Yoongi's turn now to be at his wit's end.
On the third afternoon, Hobi called. Yoongi picked up on the first ring, pressing the device to his ear while Jimin hovered over him like a ghost, munching his index nail.
" Tell me you've got something, partner." Yoongi forced the words out, trying to sound calm.
There was a slight pause on the other line before Hobi finally spoke, his tone tight and utterly lacking his usual cheerfulness." I managed to ping the last cell tower transmission Jungkook's phone made four nights ago. It was near the industrial district by the river. I hacked into the municipal traffic grid and some private warehouse cameras... Yoongi, you need to check your laptop right now. I just sent you the footage."
Yoongi flipped his laptop open, tapped a few buttons, Jimin sat next to him, holding his breath from anxiety. He was petrified of what they'd see.
The black and white footage was speckled, bearing a timestamp from Friday night at 10:00. The screen showed a tall figure on a black Harley cutting down a dark, narrow alley.
Jungkook.
Suddenly, three black vans swerved into the picture, completely blocking the alley from every side, pinning the bike in the middle. Six men in black, tactical gear appeared out of the dark.
" Oh God! No. No! Oh my god!" Jimin bellowed out, his hand flying over his mouth, his eyes wide in pure terror as he started trembling like a leaf, grabbing Yoongi's wrist.
On the video Jungkook was completely helpless and a second later a man stepped up from his blind spot, thrashing an iron pipe directly into the back of his helmet. Jungkook collapsed like a sack, utterly motionless on the curb. They dragged his limbs into the van, kicked his bike onto the side and drove off into the night.
The video loop ended but freezing on the abandoned Harley lying in the dark.
" They took him... Yoongi, they took him..." Jimin wept, panic and horror violently settling in his chest while his grip tightened around his boyfriend's wrist." They hit him... kidnapped him. He's gone! Oh God! Who are those men? Who hired them? Where is he? Where...?"
The older's eyes stayed glued to the screen. On the outside, his face was a mask of serenity. He didn't lose his temper, didn't flinch, didn't even curse. He didn't let one single tear fall because he knew the moment he lost it , Jimin would collapse and Jungkook's chances of survival would drop to zero.
Therefore, he had to maintain a clear, razor sharp head. He needed to remain absolutely concentrated and build a strategy.
However, inside the corners of his mind, a thundering storm of raw concern and sheer dread was raging.
A number of horrifying scenarios flashed through his brain in a merciless succession, each one worse than the other.
The threats.
Aespa's revenge.
Human trafficking network.
Corporate retaliation against Kim's empire.
A shallow grave in the mountains.
A body in the deep waters of river Han.
The thought of that cheerful, bright and gentle boy being abused, beaten, bruised and bleeding or even worse, in the hands of armed bastards made his blood run dead ice.
Sluggishly, Yoongi reached out and cupped Jimin's hand on his wrist, feeling him trembling." Hobi." he hissed out, his voice dropping dangerously low and lethal." Run the plates on those vans. Probably stolen or fake but it's the only lead we have. Cross-reference the vans' specks with every black market garage in the district and then expand. Search in every database of known criminals to match those bastards. Find me something."
" On it. Don't worry." Hobi replied and quickly added." You asked me to look into Aespa and the men from that night..."
Yoongi's breath caught in his throat. He blinked twice and bit down hard, his voice steady when asking." And..?"
" Messy. Weird."
" Meaning what?"
" No record of her anywhere. No family or other relatives. Her apartment is empty. The landlord said she rented it about a year ago,paid in cash, kept quiet and left four weeks ago. The agency she claimed she was working for, has never heard of her."
" I see... The others?"
" Lowlife criminals, arrested for drugs, aggravated assaults and burglaries, arson and kidnappings. They've got a rap sheet longer than a phone book." Hobi explained, sighing heavily.
" Did you track them down?"
" They're gone. But I haven't given up. I'll find them."
" Fine. Keep searching and call me." Yoongi hung up, closed the laptop, his narrow eyes staring at the empty hallway where Jungkook used to leave his backpack.
He shut his eyes and when he opened them the first thing he saw was Jimin crying, tears spilling freely on his colourless face. He hesitated for a brief moment, uncertain if he wanted to share the information Hobi had told him.
Eventually,he did. He told him everything but the younger wasn't even in the mood to curse. He simply kept weeping and begging him to find his baby brother.
" Please,get him back... I'm scared... he's been through so... much already... bring him back, Yoongi... please..." he choked out, between heavy breaths and sobs, tightly holding on to him as Yoongi wrapped his arms around his waist, gently caressing his back.
He understood the pain and devastation all too well. He felt it too.
" We'll find him, baby." Yoongi whispered, his jaw locking, his mind already calculating the blood price they were all going to pay for hurting even one hair from Jungkook's head."And whoever touched him is gonna wish they were never born."
And he meant every word.
They'd pay with blood.
_________________
Another miserable day faded into darkness, bringing no relief. Only a sharper, more dreadful ache.
The digital trail Hobi was striving to follow turned out to be another dead end just like Yoongi had expected. The licence plates on all three vans were stolen from a Sedan registered to an old couple, parked outside their house, a young student in Seoul university and a book owner.
Moreover, by the end of the day, around nine, multiple fire units responded to a massive explosion in an abandoned, industrial junkyard on the other side of the city. Three burnt out vans. No fingerprints, no blood traces, no serial numbers. Only the scent of burnt rubber and oil.
Forensic units rushed to the location where Jungkook was abducted and found his phone smashed on the road. But even that didn't give them any solid leads.
There wasn't a ransom demand, a threatening message or whispers on the dark web. Jeon Jungkook had vanished from the face of the earth without as much as a single trace.
Back at the apartment, there was not enough air to breathe. Jimin called their parents and informed them about Jungkook's abduction and from that moment on Jin and Namjoon called every hour, their voices shaking with a helpless panic. They wanted to board the first plane and come to Seoul to help any way they could but Yoongi landed them in the cruel reality.
" Stay put!" Yoongi barked on the phone with professional efficiency, rubbing his throbbing temples." I already have Jimin driving me crazy, crying his heart out and going into a tailspin. I do not need two more wrecked people crowding the apartment while I'm trying to track down a bunch of skilled kidnappers. Stay by your phone and let me work."
While Yoongi operated like a well - oiled machine, searching, staring at CCTV footage, call logs, Jimin was buckling under the strains.
He was sitting hunched over on the living room floor, his back pressed on the couch, scrolling through his old chats with Jungkook for no particular reason, biting his nails and frequently huffing.
His thumb halted on the very last message from him, the one Jungkook sent to him the night he was kidnapped. That heartbreaking text telling him about Kim and his new lover.
Jimin glanced at the lit screen, his eyes swollen and teary as he read it again and again like the words hid something deeper and hidden he had to uncover.
Taehyung's legendary ex lover had returned in his life and Jungkook was tossed aside. He couldn't even begin to imagine how heartbroken and devastated his brother had felt seeing them together.
Jungkook was bleeding, his soul and heart shattered, having lost everything while Kim was fucking around with his first moonlight! Pathetic!
Unexpectedly, something inside Jimin snapped. The profound, overwhelming grief and rage he had been holding the past few days shifted into a blinding stream of violent wrath.
" That fucking asshole! That son of a bitch! I'm gonna fucken kill him! I swear to God! I'll skin him alive!" Jimin lashed out, repeatedly banging his fists on the floor, ignoring the pain.
Yoongi didn't bother looking up from his laptop although his brow slightly lifted."I assume you're talking about Kim."
" Kim fucken Taehyung! " the younger roared, his eyes flashing red, springing up from the floor, going back and forth while clutching his head in absolute irritation." That arrogant bastard! That heartless sociopath who thinks he can play with people's lives and then cast them out! He's having the time of his life, cuddling with his lover and my Kook is out there, alone and scared, probably bound and bleeding... and feeling helpless! God, we don't even know if he's still alive! Grhgrh! I'm gonna rip his heart out!"
" Baby, calm down!"
" I won't calm down! It's not the time to calm down!" he bit back, face blazing in rage, chest heaving as constant tears of fury and despair dripped down his cheeks." Even after everything that happened, Jungkook kept trying to win him over, losing his mind in the process... trying to show him his love and what did Kim do? He literally flaunted his old lover in his face! He broke him, Yoongi. Once again he broke him! Left him defendless against danger!"
" Jimin... baby... plea..."
" DON'T! JUST DON'T!" Jimin shrieked, raising his hand to shut him." If anything happens to Jungkook, I'll personally make sure he never sees the light of day!"
And before Yoongi could offer some sort of rational counterpoint, Jimin's phone started buzzing on the edge of the couch. He grabbed it, swiped the screen open with an aggressive, malicious flick of his thumb."WHAT??" he lashed into the speaker.
The strict voice of his manager from the club,irked his ears as he took a sharp exhale."Jimin? Where the hell are you? You are inexcusably absent for the last five days. Kim is furious! He threatens to fire you if you don't get your ass here right now! I don't know what to tell him! I tried to find an excuse but he ain't buying it!"
With everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten to notify work about his absence and take a few days off. Not that he gave a damn! Black Swan could burn down for all he cares!
A vicious glee flashed in his eyes, a terrifying, sharp edged sneer spread across his beautiful face. His gentle, expressive gaze hardened into something deadly malignant.
" Is that so? Kim is furious?" Jimin murmured through gritted teeth into the receiver, his tone dropping dangerously low." Tell Kim to fuck off! Or better yet, I'll tell him myself! I'll be there in twenty!"
He hung up the phone,not letting the man react and marched towards the kitchen table to grab his keys and his light jacket from the chair.
Abruptly, Yoongi's head snapped up and his narrowed gaze locked onto the younger's roving features. Trouble was on the way! "Where do you think you're going?"
" To start a war!"Jimin rasped, putting on his blue jacket with fast moves.
" Oh no! Not a chance!"
" Try stopping me!"
" Baby, we've got bigger fish to fry!"
" Well, that bloodsucking shark is gonna eat his own flesh after I'm done with him!"
Yoongi's fingers rubbed the front of his forehead. Knowing Jimin's character, attempting to stop him was futile. If his mind was set into starting a war with Kim, no force in the universe could change it.
He released a deep exhale, shaking his head."Use your brain. Screaming at Kim isn't gonna bring Jungkook back. The man is a total jerk. Plus once you start yelling at him, his guards will kick you out in no time. The man has a swarm of muscled goons around him. You don't stand a chance."
" I don't freaking care if they beat me!" he yelled back, voice shaking with an unbearable, explosive mixture of outrage and pain. " I refuse to sit here for another second while he's playing happy house with that idiot! My Kook is missing. He's kidnapped. If he hadn't seen him with his ex, he wouldn't have driven into the night to get drunk and he'd be here with us!"
" Babe..."
" He needs to suffer. And I need to get them out of my chest."
Yoongi stared at him for a long moment, observing the raw, bleeding agony in his eyes, the fierce loyalty that made him tremble and realised there was no stopping him. If he forced him to stay, he'd simply jump out the window and crawl himself before Kim if he had to.
He gradually stood up from the couch, getting his own jacket from the chair by the kitchen table and nodded." Fine. Have it your way." he stated smoothly, checking the inner pocket of his jacket where his gun was." We go together. I need to be there to control your temper and his bodyguards in case they decide to do something foolish."
Jimin shifted and glanced at him. He was almost certain Yoongi didn't want to get involved in a dispute with Kim so as not to jeopardize his undercover mission.
" Your mission? Won't you get in trouble if you blow your cover or if you get into a fight with Kim?"
" At this point,screw the case and Kim." He walked towards the door, holding the handle before opening it widely." Besides I've gathered the infos I needed. The captain would order me to step down and disappear."
Jimin gulped hard, the huge lump in his throat was rather persistent." Ok, then... let's do it."
__________________
The two men cut through the light dim,neon bar heading straight down the corridor and into the offices. The manager rushed forward the moment he spotted them, hands raised in a weak protest but Jimin simply handed him a sideways glance of ' Don't stand in my way', forcing him to back down.
Without sparing a single glance to the customers and staff scattered around the bar, whispering and giving them odd looks, they matched down the private corridor, the carpeted stairs and stood outside Kim's soundproof office at the end of the hall.
Jimin made no effort to keep appearances, and didn't even bother knocking. He raised his right leg, his heavy boot kicking the door open with a violent, booming bang as it slammed against the interior wall, echoing like thunder.
Inside the luxurious office, Kim Taehyung was sitting behind his huge desk, a glass of amber whiskey between his fingers. He looked worn - out, his sharp jawline slightly locked, a tiny, faint yet visible bruise still tarnished at the corner of his lips.
His white shirt clung tightly around his broad chest and shoulders and his jacket tossed on the leather couch across the room.
He snapped his head up the second he heard the noise, his red rimmed eyes flashing with cold indifference and raw dominance.
" What's the meaning of this,Mr Park?" Taehyung barked, his entire body locked in place as he pressed the glass in his hands."Have you lost your mind?"
" Oh shut the fuck up, you fucking bastard!" Jimin raved, sprinting across the shiny floor and slammed both hands onto the desk, rattling everything on it. His face twisted with rage, tears welling up in his bleary eyes." You freaking asshole! You think you're untouchable? Huh? Think you're smart? Well, let me tell you, in case nobody ever told you before, you're nothing but an arrogant fool!"
Taehyung's brows knitted in a dark, dangerous scowl while Yoongi observed his boyfriend on the verge of exploding from a safe distance, away from the crossfire, his eyes darting between the two men.
If he wasn't so worried about Jungkook, he'd certainly have a front - row seat!
" Watch your tongue,Park." Taehyung hissed, his hoarse voice dropping an octave, his lips nipped in a thin line." I'm still your boss and I'm in no mood for your childish tantrums."
" Jungkook is gone!" Jimin snarled in a broken tone, rippling through the man's composure like a piercing blade. " He's been kidnapped,you freaking asshole! He was taken five days ago after meeting you! He hasn't returned. He's nowhere to be found!"
" Cut the act, Park. Maybe he's back home. Or he found a new sugar daddy and he's busy spreading his legs!" That wasn't what he wanted to say. He didn't mean to sound so cruel but insomnia, anxiety and pain let the insults slip out of his mouth.
It took Jimin every ounce of will he had not to punch him in the face! He growled, that tantalising ache in his chest was growing stronger. " You've got a lot of nerve,Kim! Six men. He had to face six men alone and he was struck in the head with a pipe, dragged into the back of a van in a dark alley. Still think it's nothing?"
Taehyung stood still, the colour drained from his face, leaving him utterly wan. His lips slightly part but every sound stifled in his throat. They were messing with him, obviously. It was impossible...
" Nothing to say? While you were sitting on your throne, not giving shit about us, peasants, casually enjoying your precious little reunion with your lover, playing house, Jungkook was abducted! Five days,Kim! Five days of absolute agony with us turning the city upside down to find him! And you? You don't give a shit! No guilt,no remorse! Not a damn thing!"
" What? What are you talking about...?" Taehyung screeched, voice shaking as he rose up from his chair, hands gripping on the edge of the desk, his breath stalled in his burning lungs." Kidnapped? He... he rode off on his bike that night... he left..."
Jimin kept his mouth shut for a moment before pulling a flash drive from his jacket pocket, shoved it in the port and pressed a few buttons and the screen flashed bright." Look. Look at it! Look at what your damn pride did!"
Taehyung's eyes drifted on the screen and fell flat on his chair. Jungkook, his Jungkook, was trapped between three vans, surrounded by six, bulky men in masks. He saw him being knocked down with a heavy pipe, dragged unconscious in a van and his Harley lying abandoned on the side of the curb.
He held his breath for so long, his eyes popped out, his heart slammed against his ribs and a sickening, suffocating wave of nausea stirred in his stomach.
" No. No. No. This can't... no... oh God! No." he whispered breathlessly, his brain completely shut down, refusing to process the horrific reality.
" Believe it now? You always doubted him. Never believed a word that came out of his mouth. Always spitting venom. He told you what happened in that room. He implored you to listen to him. He swore in his life that he was dragged by Aespa. That he never touched those men. But your ego was more important than the truth or your pride. You called him unfaithful, filthy. A fucken disgusting liar. Stupid asshole!"
Kim gulped hard, his throat felt as if it was stuffed with sand,dry as the desert." He... I... thought... believed..."
" See? That's the difference between you two. What about the photos he got? " Jimin cut in, releasing a harsh, hysterical laugh that cut deeper than any blade." When someone send him photos of you and Minhun, fucking in a hotel suite, did Jungkook call you unfaithful? Did he leave you? Did he call you filthy? He saw you with his childhood friend and didn't believe it for a single moment. You wanna know why? Because he loved you! Trusted you! "
Jimin took out a yellow envelope and threw it on the desk. The photos spilled from the inside, scattering on the surface as the truth laid bare.
Taehyung's blood turned ice cold." Minhun? Who the hell is he? I don't know the name." His eyes bounced between the photos of him and an unknown male in a romantic setting, scanning the photos for a long time before speaking." And I certainly don't know him."
" It doesn't matter who he is! " Jimin barked back, hot tears streaming down his cheeks, unable to stop them." What matters is that when Jungkook saw these damn photos, he never doubted you. He told me you'd never do that! You'd never hurt him. That it was a mistake. He trusted you blindly Kim! That's how much he loves you!"
The man stood utterly petrified, his fingers trembling so violently when brushing the photos. The room felt like spinning around him, completely out of control.
' What the hell is going on? Who's that man? If I had met him before, I would have remembered him. And Jungkook..? He trusted me... he never believed I'd cheat... and I... betrayed him...' he thought, a darting ache stabbing his heart.
" You wanna know the reason he came to Seoul?" Jimin asked,his voice faintly shaking but sounding firm and authoritative." It certainly wasn't to fool around, play mind games and find a billionaire sugar daddy. We came to search for our missing friend that worked at your fucken club. " His index finger pointed at the scattered photos on the desk." For him. Jungkook sacrificed his life, his future just to find him. He wasn't some brat looking for a good time or a quick fuck. He was on a mission. He went to that hotel because someone said he got information about Minhun. The rest wasn't his fault. And he endured your humiliation and stupid contract, he put up with your shitty attitude because he loved you. You! He loved you Kim fucken Taehyung!"
The older was unable to utter a single word. He couldn't even breathe properly as the weight of Jimin's revelations slammed down on his broad shoulders, crushing his lungs, shredding his mind into scattered pieces.
The untouched, almighty Kim stood behind his mahogany desk, totally paralyzed, his eyes darting between the photos and the screen, staring at the boy he loved being dragged into a van and vanishing from his sight.
The suffocating stillness in the office was disrupted as Yoongi eventually stepped forward, hands in his pockets, shoes clicking heavily on the polished floor. His serene, unyielding presence cut through the air at once.
" You actually think this was only about a hotel trap and your wounded pride?" Yoongi asked, bitterly laughing but with a terrifying calmness that somehow scared Taehyung more than Jimin's shouting. He didn't raise his voice but sheer, unmistakable hatred sparkled in his eyes with a hint of scornfulness." You were completely clueless to what was happening in the dark under your own roof. You assumed he was fooling around, messing with you but the truth is... he was shielding you."
Taehyung's eyes locked on the man in close proximity, swallowing hard, his mouth and throat dry and his hands still shaking uncontrollably, gripping on the edge of the desk." From what? Shielding me from what?"
" From your enemies, lurking to attack you." Yoongi drew nearer, leaning over the desk, his broad shoulders rhythmically moving up and down at a steady pace. His intimidating gaze zeroed in on Kim's pale features." For weeks after he moved in with you, he was getting anonymous texts, calls, even death threats warning him to leave you if he wanted to keep breathing."
Taehyung's throat closed around a strangled breath, an unexpected, unwelcome, raw coldness spread through his whole body.
" He got a small, wooden coffin... inside a doll with his photo pinned on the head... and then a photo of a stone grave with his name on it. A warning.' Leave Kim Taehyung before it's too late. Before you're six feet under ground ' ."
Yoongi's eyes narrowed into razor sharp slits as he continued." Did he abandon you? Did he run for his life? Not for a second. We all advised him to keep his distance until the situation was resolved. He stayed. He loved you. He thought he could protect you. What did you do? "
The older's eyes widened in shock and unfiltered horror. His knees buckled as he collapsed on the leather chair in a loud thug.
Someone was threatening Jungkook.
Someone was working behind the scenes to drive him away.
They failed. He succeeded.
" He never... said anything... never showed me.. the threats..."
" Hell no! Of course he didn't!" Jimin barked, banging both fists on the desk, objects rattling from the force, the whiskey spilled across the surface." He knew your first reaction would be to terminate the contract, push him away with the pretence of protecting him. And he was far too invested in loving you, worrying about you to think about himself. He didn't care about the danger. His first and only priority was you! So don't fucken tell me he didn't love you! Don't you dare insult his love with your vile words and attitude!"
Jimin leaned even closer over the desk, one hand flying and snatching him by the black tie,tightening the grip and his teary eyes flushed red from the wrath he was suppressing for months." And where is he now? Where is Jungkook? Missing! Ambushed, unconscious and kidnapped God knows where! He could be tortured,abused... violated and torn apart... just to finish what they started in that hotel room! And all that because of you! Because he was stupid enough to love a miserable excuse of a man like you!"
Abruptly Jimin released his grip and Taehyung was slumped backwards. The words struck him like a physical blow, a nauseating, chaotic panic swept over his chest, shredding his mind into helpless, useless jagged pieces.
His blood turned cold. His lungs blazed as if he had swallowed broken glass and images spewed out... vivid, horrific, grotesque images of Jungkook's stilled body.
Jungkook tied to a chair in a mouldy basement, bruised, bleeding, crying and begging for help.
Jungkook, staring at the door with swollen eyes waiting for the man who called him ' nobody ' to save him.
Or even worse. Jungkook being assaulted and violated by those breasts, utterly broken...
Taehyung's trembling hands covered his face as a choked - off gasp escaped his throat. His broad shoulders violently shuddered, feeling totally helpless. For the first time in his pathetic life his wealth, his power, his military security teams and political influence meant absolutely nothing.
It was his fault.
It was all his doing.
His stupid pride made him doubt the love he had for Jungkook.
He didn't believe him.
When Jungkook was sobbing, begging to be heard and trusted, Kim Taehyung dismissed him and his love.
He chose to believe the worst because his heart was stubbornly shut and sealed from the truth. It was easier for Tae to think of him as a cheater than to open his eyes to the truth.
He was the only culprit.
He should be the one tortured instead of Jungkook.
" I... I didn't... I... " the man struggled to utter, the tears he was holding back finally tracking hot paths down his cheeks. He lifted up his head, his red rimmed eyes wild with raw panic."God! God... I didn't know... I... Jungkook!"
Jimin launched forward about to punch him but Yoongi's hands grabbed his wrist, pinning him in place." Oh you knew! You didn't want to see!" he barked in a lethal fury that terrified even Yoongi. " It was easier to think Jungkook was a cheater than to dig deeper to realise you were the unfaithful one! You used him, toyed with him and when your lover returned, he was no longer useful so you threw him away like trash." Jimin spit on the floor next to the desk." You're a coldhearted, arrogant son of a bitch! A fucken criminal dressed in an expensive Italian suit judging the world! I fucking hate you! I wanna fucking kill you!"
Jimin stepped back as if breathing the same air as Kim was toxic, wiping his tearful eyes with the back of his hand, his white teeth grounded in a malicious leer." Listen to me and listen carefully, Kim Taehyung." his voice nothing above a deadly whisper, trembling and coated in a promise filled with wickedness that flooded through the room. " If anything happens to Jungkook... if those bastards touch a single hair on his head... if he doesn't come back unharmed... I swear to God, I'll tear your heart out with my bare hands! I will destroy your freaking empire, burn it down to ashes and make you choke on the smoke! Got it?"
Taehyung had no words left to argue. How could he? They were right. He was solely responsible for whatever happened or was happening to Jungkook!
He simply stood there, frozen, pale and shattered, silently sobbing and staring on the floor out of guilt and the weight of his own dreadful actions and monstrous ego.
Jimin was done! He was done with him, the search, the fucken club and its secrets. His one and only goal was to find his brother as soon as possible.
He snatched his employee badge from his inner pocket and slammed it down onto the mahogany desk, right in front of Kim's eyes.
Clang.
Taehyung, steeped in his meddling thoughts, winced at the sound, his shoulders jolting like he was electrocuted.
" Oh by the way! I quit!" Jimin boomed, his dark eyes now filled with tautness and rage, staring at the monstrous billionaire one last time while the veins on his neck were twitching." I don't wanna have anything to do with you or your freaking club! And I'm warning you Kim fucken Taehyung... do not speak his name again! It's an insult coming from your filthy mouth!"
Yoongi's face scrunched, throwing him a last, icy glare, a promise of absolute retribution before swirling around and marching towards the door. However, he didn't get the chance to open it and leave because Jimin halted.
The rage was gnawing at his insides and gaining justice for his brother was a one-way street. It demanded every last piece of Taehyung's soul to ease.
So he spun back around, hurriedly sprinted across the marble like a catastrophic hurricane, his small figure moving with a threatening menace. He didn't give a damn about his brainless guards, the consequences or the retaliations.
And he damn well didn't care about the expensive, silk fabric clutched under his fingers as his hands shot out and snatched Kim by the lapels of his suit.
He yanked the taller man up with profound strength, forcing his chalk white, teary face down till they were a breath away.
Yoongi made no attempt to stop him. He leaned against the cold wall, hands in his pockets and a smug spread on his lips. "This should be fun." he whispered, chuckling.
It was bloody time he learnt everything. Every sickening truth, every horrific moment Jungkook experienced, every bleeding wound he had to face alone.
" You didn't think you'd get away so easily, did you? Jimin growled, his voice vibrating through Taehyung's veins like an electric current, his mouth curved into a fearsome smug of utter disgust." You think Jungkook missing is the only debt you owe him? You haven't heard anything yet!"
Taehyung didn't resist. He was already an empty shell, both hands hanging limp at his sides, the life in his eyes drained while staring at Jimin when in fact he was staring at nothing."Jimin... please..."
" Shut up! Just shut the fuck up and listen!" Jimin roared, aggressively shaking him from the collar, unable to wrestle his urge to punch his stupid face." While you were here partying, drinking, flirting and nursing your precious ego, do you have any idea what Jungkook was going through? Do you have any idea what happened the night you threw him out?"
Taehyung's eyes blinked, trying to steady his vision on the furious man inches from his face. A sudden, torturously agonizing fear clutched at his heart, his breath turning into an aching hitch.
" He... he was pregnant,you sick bastard!" Jimin slashed directly into the man's face, the sentence detonating in the room like a ticking bomb.
The revelation rendered Taehyung speechless, hitting him with crushing force. His body went rigid.The whole world stopped spinning. The beating of his heart, the pulse in his veins, the thumbing of the distant music... everything was swallowed by absolute silence.
His mind recoiled from the truth, refusing to accept what his ears had just heard. 'Pregnant? Pregnant? How was that even possible? Jungkook was a... man... a man... men don't get pregnant... they don't...'
" He carried your baby! Yours and his! " Jimin sobbed, tears falling unrestrained from his eyes to his cheeks and straight onto Taehyung 's jacket yet his eyes were flashing a dangerous, lethal fury." He had a small miracle growing inside him... an absolute miracle that neither of you knew about... and the night you kicked him out... he almost bled to death... he lost his baby..."
Taehyung's pupils were reduced to tiny, pinprick dots. His ashen face drained of colour, resembling a lifeless corpse. "No... it's not... it's impossible..." he choked out, his voice a pathetic, barely audible shriek." No... no..."
" Jungkook has a rare, genetic condition. A uterus hidden inside his body. He had no idea. None of us had. And that night he collapsed on our bathroom floor, taken to the ER while his body tore himself apart." Jimin screamed on the top of his lungs, a lethal mix of grief and rage." He locked himself up in his room for weeks, drowning his sorrows in bottles of alcohol till he fainted, shutting the world and his pain out because of an emptiness he couldn't name. He lost your baby Kim! YOUR BABY! YOUR FLESH AND BLOOD! A LIFE YOU CREATED TOGETHER! A LIFE BORN BY HIS LOVE FOR YOU WHILE YOU WERE FUCKING AROUND PLAYING THE KING! YOU CALLED HIM A WHORE AND HE WAS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE! HIS BABY'S LIFE! YOU KILLED YOUR OWN CHILD! AND JUNGKOOK! MOTHERFUCKER! SICK BASTARD!"
" Stop... please... stop..." the man murmured, his entire body uncontrollably, violently shaking. It wasn't a roar of dominant authority. It was a feeble, throttled plea of a man tortured to death.
" Your fucking money can't save you now. You'll pay. You owe Jungkook a life. So be ready when he comes back to collect the debt."
He stared at Jimin's face, desperately searching for a lie, a joke, a wicked prank. But his expression carried no deceit. His gaze drifted off to Yoongi, silently resting against the wall, his jaw locked and his head bowed to a nod of genuine confirmation.
" You can check the hospital records. Ask his doctor. I can give you the name." Yoongi's voice was flat but steady." You've got a thing about proof. Go get them. "
The realization struck Taehyung with a force that left him paralyzed. They weren't joking. There wasn't a hint of deception in their eyes.
It was true.
Jungkook was carrying his child. His baby. They had a baby. His blood. Jungkook's blood.
And Jungkook loved him.
He saw that now.
He could see everything clear now.
The blinding truth everyone saw except him.
The oppressive heaviness of the truth broke Taehyung's nervous system as his legs gave in and his entire frame collapsed backwards into the leather chair with a crushing thud.
It was humanly impossible to process it. His methodical brain, capable of handling billion dollar conglomerates, merely malfunctioned. Overwhelming guilt, shock, sorrow paralyzed his veins and mind.
A sickening wave of extreme self loathing engulfed him. His fingers clutched the edge of his chair, brutally tearing the leather, body slumping back, letting out a horrified, shuddering cry that didn't move anyone.His eyes hurriedly drifted left and right, unable to focus.
" I wasn't there... Jungkook lost... our baby... and I wasn't there... I caused it... I was the... monster who... caused it... our baby... is de- dead..."
He had mocked Jungkook.
He had pushed him away, accusing him of lying,of being a gold-digger, a cheater while he was quietly enduring the consequences of Taehyung's actions and betrayal.
" You fucken ruined him! You broke his heart, killed his soul and now my Kook is gone!" Jimin growled without keeping down his anger, his chest heaving up and down, swiping his palms on the side of his pants in utter disgust as if he'd caught some contaminated disease.
His breath was coming out in jagged, aching gasps as he turned around, walked over to Yoongi, grabbed his hand, probably seeking for strength not to shoot him in the head but right before stepping out of the door, Jimin halted again.
Yoongi's brows narrowed in question. I guess Jimin wasn't done yet.
The younger warily shifted his head, glancing back over his shoulder at the broken, weeping man - an absolute wreck - sitting behind the desk and he somehow looked smaller than usual.
Jimin's eyes blazed with a coldness, deprived of any human warmth, spatting out the worst possible curse." Enjoy your empty castle and your long lost lover, Kim Taehyung. Enjoy it while it lasts. " His words dripped venom and his voice eerily calm and composed, cleaving through Taehyung's breathless sobs like a sharp blade. " Because your child's blood is on your hands."
Without expecting an answer, without wasting another second in that humangatter, that life-sucking club, Jimin yanked Yoongi through the doorway and disappeared, shutting the heavy door behind him with a thunderous boom.
The almighty Kim Taehyung was left slumped back on his ' throne ' , in absolute, consuming darkness, staring at the void and drowning in the blood of his own child.
____________________
Silence.
Deafening, soul crashing silence.
Not even the clicking of the heavy door, the distant thrumming of the music from upstairs could disrupt the quiet stillness of the office.
Taehyung was sunk into his chair, his hands still tightly gripping the edges, his chest rising and falling in jagged gasps. His eyes were wide, bloodshot and pupils blown out, blankly staring at the void.
Drugged.
Assaulted.
Threatened.
Kidnapped.
A baby.
His baby.
An innocent soul stripped of the chance to see the world.
A baby he would never get the chance to hold, cradle, hear him call him ' dad ', watch him grow.
Because he valued his ego more than the truth.
Because nobody betrays Kim Taehyung and lives to tell the story.
The realisation wasn't merely words. They were thoughts, physical projectiles rippling through his skull, crushing every bone in his body and leaving nothing but rotten stink.
' You owe Jungkook more than a life.'
' Your child's blood is on your hands.'
A jarring, instinctive tremor began in his hands and spread through his whole body. Taehyung attempted to draw in a breath but his throat felt totally locked up.
His lungs collapsed under the shattering, aggressive weight of his actions. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. The horrific magnitude of what he had done, of what he had allowed to happen, hit him with such force that left him bleeding.
With a choked, strangled gasp, Taehyung tried to stand up but his legs gave in. His knees buckled and he didn't just fall. He collapsed straight back to his chair, his fingers now clutching hard at the edges.
He let out a bone rattling roar, the sound ripping from his throat as rage, guilt, pain and terror collided inside him. His hand swept everything from his desk in one fierce motion, sending documents,pens, his laptop, the bottle of whiskey and his glass crashing onto the floor, warm, amber liquid spilled on the marble.
His fists banged against the wood again and again and again till the desk trembled beneath the force. Another set of violent, wild roars belched out while he stood in the midst of the wreckage, gasping like a wounded beast.
" NOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOO! JUNGKOOOOOOOOK! " Fists thrashed on the wooden surface for God knows how long then palms continuously landed on his cheeks with an uncontrolled, cruel force as a self inflicted punishment, constant resounding cracks splitting the air and red hand marks coated his cheeks.
As he attempted to steady his quivering hands and rise from the chair that now burnt his skin, his knees caved in and his towering, fragile frame crashed hard on the marble floor along with the chair.
He didn't bother to catch himself. His broad shoulders bashed against the ground, his cheeks flung onto the cold stone but he felt no pain. The agony burning his insides was too powerful, too vast, too consuming, choking back every tremor.
" Jungkook..." he hissed out, his voice a pathetic, wounded scrap of sound." No... oh God no... please... give him back to... me... please... please..."
He curled into a tight ball, dragging his knees up to his heaving chest, his slender fingers aggressively clawing into his dark hair, pulling at the strands as if the physical pain could somehow shut the stinging terror shrieking inside his head.
His child...
He and Jungkook had a child.
A baby.
His own blood.
Jungkook's blood.
Flesh of his flesh. Blood of his blood. Bone of his bone. A life created by their shared bond, born by their passionate, breathless nights, tangled in bed as one.
A baby he had secretly longed for, a family he had dreamt for so long inside his carefully guarded soul and never thought he'd get.
A miracle he had created with the only man he had truly loved.
And while Jungkook had endured the suffering and loss alone, Taehyung had repeatedly rejected and mocked him.
Taehyung's eyes shut as the memories flooded him, more consuming than ever. Jungkook's pale face and hollow eyes pleading him to believe him. Jungkook, staring at him with those big, doe eyes filled with unspeakable pain.
He had called him a liar. He had called him a filthy whore. He remembered the cruel, arrogant smirk on his own face while ordering the boy to get out of his sight, totally blind to the fact that Jungkook's body was still aching and recovering from the loss of their unborn child.
" Oh God! What did I do ?" he sobbed, a steady stream of hot tears running down the floor, tightening the grip around his knees, his voice cracking into a terrifying screech that echoed off the thick walls.
He banged his head on the ground once, twice, three times till he lost count, the right side of his temples smeared with a crimson red stain and gushing out blots of blood but he barely felt the sting of pain." WHAT DID I DO TO HIM? WHAT? WHAT?"
He rolled to his back, blankly staring at the white ceiling and the tears continued to stream down his face, choking him.
Taehyung cursed himself.
He cursed his steel pride, his grotesque arrogance and idiotic, blind jealousy. He cursed the wealth that had made him feel untouchable, his fragile ego and every brutal threat and harsh word he had thrown at him.
The guild was eating him alive.
He had turned into a monster.
A heartless, ruthless monster who dismissed people's truth, judged and executed them without the slightest remorse. And the person he loved the most was paying the price of his wrong judgement and arrogance.
He had lost everything.
Everything that actually mattered.
The most important thing in his life.
Jungkook had slipped through his fingers and the only one carrying the responsibility was him.
Kim fucken Taehyung.
Jimin and Yoongi were right.
He was pathetic.
" Jungkook..." he cried out, his chest burning as if life had been sucked out of him, gasping for air but his throat was dry and his lips violently shaking. His fist slammed over his heart, pressing it to stop the pain. " Jungkook... baby... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... what have I done to you...?"
The mere thought of where Jungkook was right now created a seething stirring to his stomach. His mind was tortured with images of his Jungkook bound in the dark, bruised and bleeding, surrounded by armed men, thinking he had abandoned him... believing he didn't care...
The horror flooded his veins like massive tidal waves crashing onto the shores. His left hand, spread open on the floor, grabbed onto the first thing he found.
Shattered glasses.
They pricked into his flesh, forming a stream of crimson red blood but he was immune to pain anymore.
He couldn't stay there. He couldn't allow his guilty conscience to get in the way of him saving Jungkook. He deserved to die but not now and not there.
He had to find him.
He had to save him.
Afterwards, he'd accept every punishment inflicted on him.
With a fierce determination, Taehyung crawled on the marble, using the edge of his desk to lift himself up, gritting his teeth. His deep, ocean eyes had turned into a pool of blood, burning with terrifying resolve.
He didn't give a fuck about his company, the board of directors, the investors or if the press was breathing down his neck, looking for a scoop.
He didn't care if he had to break every fucken law, tear the city apart brick by brick, burn it to the ground or trade his own despicable life for Jungkook's.
He would find Jungkook and bring him back only to let him torture him for the rest of his life if that's what the boy wanted.
That was his life's mission. His only priority.
Then, once Jungkook was back safely, he'd crawl to him, kneel in the dirt, implore and drown in his own tears if it meant Jungkook would look at him again.
He'd spend his entire, pathetic life begging for forgiveness every minute, every hour, every day... taking nothing for granted.
Shaking vividly, Taehyung fumbked with trembling fingers for his phone somewhere under his leather chair that was thrown sideways, his bloodied fingers leaving smudges across the glass as he scrolled through his contacts to find the number he had laid all his hopes on.
That was when the door clicked open and heavy footsteps tapped across the marble.
" Taehyung...? What the fuck is going on?"