The room is deadly silent after the shot is fired.

The guns slips from Ms. Jeon's hand and for a moment some type of emotions stir in her eyes before her body slumps lifelessly to the ground.

Jungkook's eyes widen and he looks behind him.

A woman with short cut black hair and tan skin stands there, her features are sharp and breathtaking.

    "Mom?" Jaewook says when he sees the woman standing there.

She drops her arm and looks over at her son for a moment before her eyes go to Taehyung, who is looking at her.

She walks over to him and stops in front of him. "Tae?"

    "M-Mom." Taehyung says looking up at the woman's face that he thought he forgot.

Jungkook's eyes widen and he looks between Jaewook and Taehyung and the woman, their features never looking more alike than they do right now.

Haeun makes a sound from where she sitting and Jaewook rushes over to her. "What's wrong?"

    "M-My baby." The woman cries. "Something's wrong with my baby."

    "She needs to go to the hospital, take her Jae." Mrs. Kim orders, her gaze drifts to the group of friends and her eyes widen when she sees Taeil, she brings her gun up immediately. "You."

Taeil feels the tension in the room expand, his friends moving away from him and it defending him.

    "Why are you here?" The woman asks stepping closer.

    "M-Mom." Taehyung says standing, pain shooting through his stained joints. "He's not bad."

Jungkook rushes to Taehyung's side when he sees the boy struggling to stand.

    "Please, I promise he didn't mean it." Taehyung says, his gaze shifting to Hoseok. "His mother was dying and s-she promised she could save her. He just wanted to save him mother."

Jungkook's eyes fall on his mother's dead body lying on the ground like she was nothing, like all this mess wasn't because of her.

Taehyung's mother looks at him and drops her arm before turning back to his friends. "Are any of you hurt?"

They shake their head silently, all of them shocked to see Taehyung's mother for the first time.

    "Jungkook, go to the hospital. I'll take you guys home. And Taehyung, we need to talk." The woman says.

    "Are you th-the Big Man they were talking about?" Jungkook asks.

Ms. Kim laughs a little, her smile identical to Taehyung's. "I am, though I'm not particularly fond of the nickname."

Jungkook nods and bows. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kim."

    "You as well, thank you for taking care of my boy." She says with a genuine smile.

Jungkook nods and smiles. "Of course."

    "Now go." She says and Jungkook nods again.

    "I'll see you in just a little while." He says to Taehyung, kissing his forehead. "I'm glad you're okay, Tae."

    "I love you, Jungkook." Taehyung says before letting him go.

    "I love you too. I'll see you in a little while." Jungkook promises again before rushing out.

Taehyung turns to his friends and shuffled over to him, his body still recovering from the electric shocks.

    "Are you guys okay?" He asks even though he knows they probably aren't, they've seen more death today than they have their entire lives.

    "Damnit, Tae." Jin says pulling the younger into a hug. "You should have told us you were in trouble."

    "I'm sorry." Taehyung whispers to his hyung. "We were trying to protect you guys. I guess it kinda back fired."

Jin pulls away from the embrace. "Don't ever keep anything this serious away from us, ever."

Taehyung nods and looks at the others. "I'm sorry this happened to you because of me."

"We're just glad you're okay, Tae." Hoseok says pulling his best friend into a hug. "I'm gonna kick your ass when we're out of here."

Taehyung chuckles and hugs his friend before speaking in a low voice. "Don't be mad at Taeil. He was desperate to keep his mother alive. Please don't hold the past against him."

"I still don't know if I can forgive him for hurting you."

"I did, so you can too."

Mrs. Kim interrupts the group of friends. "The police will be here soon and this is a crime scene. We need to go."

Taehyung nods. "Okay."

"A few of my men will take you guys home, Tae you're coming with me." Mrs. Kim says as they leave the room.

When they get outside Mrs. Kim apologizes to Taehyung's friends before they are picked up by her friends.

Taehyung climbs into the car with her and he feels awkward.

What exactly was he supposed to say to the woman who left him all alone with his abusive father when he was too young to defend himself?

What exactly are you supposed to say to the woman who ran away the second she got the chance and left her son to die?

"I know you have a lot of questions." She starts after they've been driving for a little while.

"Just one." Taehyung says, his gaze never leaving the window.

"Go on."

"Why didn't you take me with you?"

The car falls silent and Mrs. Kim sighs. "I wanted to, Tae. I really did~"

"So? Why didn't you?" He asks looking over at the woman. "Do you have any idea what I went through in that house by myself?"

"I know, sweetheart. I know, but I wouldn't have been able to take care of you. I could barely take care of myself alone." She says. "For the first two years I was living on the streets working dead-end jobs. I was trying to save up for a place to live and I met a guy and one thing led to another and I was pregnant. I swore to myself that I would come back for you. But the years just kept passing by and before I knew it I was remarried with three~...four kids."

"So you forgot about me?" Taehyung asks, swallowing his tears. "You forgot about me and I thought about you every single day. Because you said you were coming back for me. You should've just left and never said that."

"I didn't forget about you, how could I forget my Taeby?" The woman asks. "Time just kept slipping away and soon it was too late. You weren't in Daegu when I finally came back."

"Appa's with someone new." Taehyung says thinking of Jakyung. "He got better because of her."

    "I know, sweetie." Mrs. Kim says.

    "The guy you're with, he's nice to you isn't he?" Taehyung asks, tears in his eyes.

    "He is." His mother says with a sad smile. "He would've taken good care of us back then."

    "I'm not gonna lie and say it doesn't hurt, because it does. It hurts so much more than you'll ever realize because you weren't there to see how he treated me, to hear the awful things he called me, you weren't there." Taehyung says wiping his eyes. "But I'm glad it was you who got away, because I wouldn't wish for you to be in that house even if you were my worst enemy."

    "I'm so sorry I left you. That's something I will regret for the rest of my life." His mother says.

Taehyung nods. "So, I'm like, a big brother or something?"

Mrs. Kim laughs. "You are."

    "Jaewook, Haeun and who else?" Taehyung asks.

    "Daebin. He's the youngest. The one the Jeon lady had locked up in Jeju. He's out now, of course." She says.

Taehyung nods. "I'm glad you found someone you love."

    "I'm glad you did too." She smiles. "I was so afraid I'd lose you to that mother of his though. I know you must really love him if you've stuck around through all this."

    "I do, I really love him. He's everything to me." Taehyung says emotionally.

    "I'm glad you've stuck together. You guys were meant to be."

———