The CEO was sickened by this testimony and held his head in his hands, feeling he had no right to join the small, united group in their embrace. He knew he was going to have to take responsibility when he would have taken the necessary action against the manager.

     There were still several gray areas in his mind, such as the reasons for the blackmail.

     Jungkook blackmail was clear : he had threatened to quit the company if the company didn't keep Seokjin; it was not a serious mistake that he had committed - even if his presence within the group was essential and that threatening to leave him was threatening the group with dissolution- and Lee should never have taken revenge so cruelly on Jungkook.

     But regarding the blackmail Lee had done to Seokjin and Jungkook, it was much less clear because Jungkook had not given details on the object of the blackmail: how could Lee have continued to threaten and assault them without Jungkook and Jin reacting? They were adults, young men with high notoriety, Jungkook had substantial physical strength, and Seokjin even turned 30 this year. So how the hell had Lee managed to coerce them both for so long?

     There had to be something, but the first thing the CEO needed to clarify was this:

     "Seokjin's medical report says he was also severely whipped a few days before he was admitted to the hospital, but you but you didn't talk about it at all, do you know something, son?"

      Jungkook's head wide-eyed in amazement emerged from the group but everyone except Taehyung and Namjoon had the same expression of bewilderment added to the pain that wouldn't go away. But it was clear when he replied that Jungkook was on the verge of a panic attack:

    "N- No, I didn't know about that, I didn't know, how could I not know? And if I don't know that, how many other things don't I know? I didn't do anything right! I... I... I..."

     "Calm down Jungkook," Hoseok told him softly, pressing his forehead to his to calm him down, "now that you've been brave enough to tell us everything, Jin hyung will be able to tell us everything without fear, but I'm sure he'll tell us the same thing we've already told you: none of this is your fault."

    Jungkook was in one hell of a state but he nodded despite everything and was trying to catch his breath when suddenly, a flash of lucidity seized him:

     "W-Wait, I think I know when it happened and also why, but if I'm right, it would mean that I'm the one who..."

     "It's okay, Jungkook, you can tell us," Namjoon said with benevolence.

    Jungkook nodded and took a deep breath:

     "Do you remember when I collapsed at the end of the American tour? There was a discussion about what to do and for a while Jin hyung and I ignored Lee and he got very angry which surprised everyone. But Jin hyung and I... well, we knew he couldn't stand it because he was used to us being obedient to him and because of that, we were sure he would punish us during the night when no one would have been there to see or hear. But..."

     He fell silent, realizing as he said what had probably happened.

     "But what, Jungkook?" Jimin asked, urgently.

     "But he never came," Jungkook responded, frowning while looking at Jimin. "He just never came to punish me and he never spoke to me about it again. Jin hyung told me that he didn't come to him either and that he might punish us at the end of the tour. I had a hard time believing it but I was too relieved at the time to ask myself too many questions, so I just accepted his explanation. But now that I know Jin hyung had hurt just a few days before the concert in France, I'm wondering if..."

     "Do you think Jin hyung was punished at that time despite what he said to you?" Yoongi questioned him while Jungkook had left his sentence suspended without giving the impression of wanting to finish it, making everyone realize that it wasn't surprising coming from Jin: he was a master at smiling while pretending that everything was fine.

     Jungkook frowned as if in thought, then, without warning, he snatched the report from the CEO's hands and looked at the photos of Jin's bruised legs that Lee had whipped, letting one hand drown out the scream of horror he let out.

     He then imagined Jin alone in the hotel room, in the middle of the night, hearing Lee walk inside and realizing what was about to happen to him when the man took off his belt. He also imagined him being whipped cruelly while everyone else was sleeping, without being allowed to scream under the unbearable pain.

     Jungkook would have given anything to go back then and beg Lee to take the punishment instead of Jin. He couldn't bear these horrific images that assaulted his mind. Then he burst into tears again:

     "I- I think he took my punishment for me. Because from the next day, I was allowed to eat properly again and Lee didn't force me to vomit anymore. It's thanks to him that I haven't been punished, I'm sure of it, it was not a postponement of punishment...."

     A long silence ensued while all eyes were on Jungkook and Jungkook's gaze unwittingly scanned Jin's hospital report, rediscovering there in all the horrors he had just told with much more precision and above all, with images.

     "I think that if we look carefully at the images of the last concert of the American tour, we could confirm that he was in pain when he was dancing as much as we can see Jungkook had foot pain," Taehyung said, no less hurt than the others by that revelation.

     Even if he knew about the belt shots, having those kinds of concrete details – such as a precise date that allowed him to know what he was doing when he missed all the signs that could have allowed him to avoid such and such suffering inflicted – made things infinitely more real, more painful.

     Why had no one been able to see that Jungkook was in pain because he was being harassed by Lee? Why had no one been able to see that Jin was in pain? Were they not caring enough for him just because he was smiling? Yet they knew him, they should have known that even under his smile, Jin could hide terrible pain and anxiety. Taehyung suddenly stood up and violently kicked a chair.

     "Taehyung, don't do that..." Hoseok wanted to calm him down.

     "We are the worst; we really did not understand anything! We could have avoided so many things tho happen by realizing it earlier!"

     We. He preferred to say "we" but deep down, he had had more opportunities than the others to realize what was happening. Did that make him the guiltiest of them all? Wasn't it Jungkook like Lee made him believe? 

     Of course not. Jungkook had been threatened, he hadn't been blind to the pain, he had been forced to do nothing and suffer. Taehyung could have done something. If he had opened his eyes correctly, if he had been clairvoyant. The regrets were more painful than anything. 

     If only I had understood sooner...

     If only I had woken up that night...

    If only I hadn't suspected Jungkook...

    If only I had believed him...

    They were the sentences that his mind was hammering at him, squeezing his throat painfully like a vise and that had kept him from sleeping or thinking about anything since he had discovered the whole truth.

     Everyone shared Taehyung's anger, his sadness, his frustration, his guilt... so no one dared to reply anything at what he said. For the moment, they couldn't forgive themselves for what had happened. Would they ever get there? The wounds seemed to them too deep not to leave marks forever in their hearts.

     For his part, Namjoon stepped forward to remove the images of Jin's injured body from under Jungkook's eyes when suddenly, the door to the office slammed open, startling them all. 

      "Soobin, what are these manners, who allow you to come inside and join us?" Shi-Hyuk said to the younger singer, taken aback like the other occupants of the room, the BTS members, who were watching him with astonishment.

     Nothing was normal. Soobin was supposed to be with Jin but he was there, breathless and his nose was bleeding profusely as if he had been in a fight. BTS members had never seen him look so scared and his fear hit his elders head-on, especially when he shouted:

     "P-please, come quickly, Mr. Lee is hurting Seokjin sunbae!"