Hoseok's Past

"Mom! Let's go play!" A cheeky 9 year old boy exclaimed with a wide grin as he skipped towards the front door.

His mother, who was very carefully applying her makeup in front of the grand foyer mirror, paused and for a second an annoyed scowl flashed by her lips before it was replaced by a tightly pristine smile.

She gracefully lowered her hand. "Hoseok" She said softly - some would say it sounded like chimes but Hobi felt the ice in her tone.

It was always so cold.

"Not today" she finished stiffly and with no other explanation she went back to fixing her already perfectly styled hair.

Hobi's eyes lowered to the ground dejectedly and he felt his lips wobble. He immediately stopped himself though because he knew how much it upset his parents.

He had to be perfect and his image always had to be beyond that.

He silently turned around and walked through the winding corridors of their lavish mansion. Even with all the priceless decors that littered the entire place, it still felt so empty.

He came across the dark oak door of his room and entered, shutting it behind him quietly as he lost another piece of his already crumbling heart.

His mother hadn't even realize that he had disappeared. She was too busy grooming herself for the next event that all the other stuffy adults always attended.

But maybe he was stubborn and refused to believe it was because she didn't love him as much as he loved her.

He couldn't fathom it.

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"W-why are you doing this for me?" A voice stuttered in disbelief and Hoseok's guarded eyes softened, his hands still holding out a USB.

"I've heard a lot about your work..." he began nonchalantly. "My family fears it. They fear the power you have with whatever information you get your hands on and to be quite honest they're quite threatened by it" he said while chuckling dryly.

He shrugged. "But I'm not going to lie. They would have 'taken care' of you ages ago if you weren't so influential and that's exactly why I wanted you to have this" Again, he held the USB forward and her eyes narrowed in distrust.

"You're Jung Hoseok though" she spat out coldly and he ignored the ache in his chest from the bite in her tone because she had every reason to distrust him.

She eyed him down. "I'm not stupid either. Tell me the real reason why you're willingly handing over your entire family's dirty secrets without getting anything in exchange. I know how you guys work" she told him honestly with narrowed eyes.

He inwardly smiled. He liked her passion and the fact that she didn't cower in fear even after knowing who he was, so he decided to acquiesce to her demands and be honest.

He sighed and for a split second she saw just how tired he was. "...because I'm tired of hearing their screams branded in my head...because the nightmares that keep me up at night won't go away...because too many people have died in and for our name...and I can't continue to watch this go on. It's been a long time since I've been disillusioned by their corrupt methods..."

He watched as her eyes widened. "Look. It doesn't change the fact that I still have innocent blood on my hands but it's better than just sitting here as they accumulate their greed. So let's just do us both a favor alright?" He finished with a tight lipped smile and the girl watched, all signs of distrust slowly fading away.

She observed how open his emotions were at that moment - there was weariness, relief, sadness and a tinge of regret because of his decision.

But hand in hand to that was also determination for correcting the wrongdoings of something, which she now realized, most likely wasn't even his fault.

The boy, no that wasn't right, the man was not unfamiliar to her - evidently shown by her callous words. It was her job as a journalist to know everything and everyone in the city and then more.

She could easily say that she knew the type of people the Jung family were and what they did behind their cover of a 'law firm' but it was something else entirely to prove it.

Every person that she tried to find to testify against the family was either too scared of the repercussions or had just simply disappeared...

So no matter how hard she tried, she never found any evidence to back her claims - that is, until today.

How ironic that the source of their demise would come from their very own heir - one who she had all the wrong misconceptions about.

She hadn't known that he was any different from the rest of them. But to be fair she had very little information on this secretive man.

But from what she did know, he was supposed to be cold, stoic and just as ruthless as the rest of his family. It was clear to her now why he would have come across as such a person.

It was easy to misinterpret those traits for what he really was - miserable, lonely and...afraid.

His actions today solidified that fact to her and despite his cold front, she could see that he still cared for them - to the extent where he would betray their trust so that they wouldn't entirely lose themselves to their greed. At least more so than they already have.

He was a good person.

In a sea of people who were tainted and corrupt, he was the pearl who stood out to her and he was trying to make a difference - it was something that contradicted all her prejudiced views.

But she had to be completely sure.

A dry chuckle ripped out of her throat before she could stop it. "I hope you understand the gravity of what you're attempting right now Jung Hoseok" she whispered while finally palming the small device that would bring an entire empire down to its ruins.

"Can you really handle being scorned by both the world and you entire family? Because we both know they won't hesitate to kill you for your betrayal."

He didn't even have to think of his answer before he nodded distractedly with a solemn smile. "Yes..." he whispered back - but his heart was beating wildly and he had to close off his emotions once more before the fear could fully kick in.

But before he could, she surprised them both by pulling him in for a hug.

He stiffened at the unfamiliar but, strangely warm, action and seconds passed - they felt more like minutes to her - when he finally relaxed in her embrace.

When she pulled away she knew she didn't regret her move because he graced her with a sudden smile that literally took her breath away but at the same time had her stomach knotting painfully.

Why did it hurt so much?

She was finding it hard to collect herself even after his smile faded away and he turned around.

"Thank you" he murmured to himself, touched by this stranger's impulsive actions - but she heard him.

And she wondered with a frown as he walked away...

Why it felt like a goodbye...

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Hoseok strolled casually along the alleyway, hands dug deep into his pockets - his burdens heavy on his shoulders and his mind elsewhere.

He hoped he had done the right thing even though it felt so wrong...

But at the slight twitch of his finger, he realized he felt more free than he had been since he was born.

He had done something, not for the sake of protecting his family's image but for the better - it was the first time in his life that he could admit that.

No longer would the Jung family be infamous for their influence in arms dealing and drugs.

Of course it wouldn't stop purely because of his actions though, he was very much aware of that - it however, was the start that would catalyze a necessary change and hopefully become the beginning to an end.

A slight shuffle made Hobi slow down slightly, snapping out of his musings, as he then looked suspiciously around the area.

The alley was barely lit, the flickering lights giving the area a disgustingly eerie glow and the air was heavy with the stench of grime. He couldn't hear anything that followed the shuffling though and perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him.

Did his previous actions already begin to make him more paranoid? There really was no way that anyone in his family would have known what he was up to today.

...nor would they have cared either.

He shook away his darker musings and focused on what was important. There was nothing on him that stood out nor was there anything noticeable that would have drawn someone's attention to him - he had made sure to dress inconspicuously today and it was also the reason why he was taking this route back home in the first place.

Another clatter and he turned around, this time on guard. He trusted his instincts.

He could hear his heart beat wildly in his ears. "What was that?" He thought, palms growing clammy as his anxiety grew.

It was much darker than he remembered and he berated himself for getting lost in his thoughts until such a late hour.

Hoseok quickened his pace but it was too late - it was a blur but someone, no, two people moved in front of him and instinctively he took a quick step backwards.

It was a good thing that he did because the knife only just nicked his cheeks. He felt the blood run trickle down followed by a sharp sting but he quickly pushed the pain to the back of his mind and focused on the two figures standing tersely before him.

Hobi's eyes narrowed to their masked faces, unable to determine who or why they were attacking him. Their knives glinted intimidatingly under the dingy street lamps and he tried to take another step back but without missing a beat they lithely leapt forward, swiping their weapons without wasted movements and with no reserve.

He dodged as precisely as he could whilst reaching for his own pocket knife - erring on the more cautious side.

They backed off slightly when they saw his weapon and that gave him precious seconds to recover. Hoseok had to be careful...his hands flexed while he tried to even out his breathings.

For as much as his parents didn't love him, they did make sure he was equipped with enough abilities to defend himself - he inwardly scoffed when he remembered it was only because he would become a liability to them if anything were to happen to him.

And now the hypothetical situation had arrived. He was not so arrogant to think that he could overpower these two men; they proved that they knew exactly where to strike - not to kill but to immobilize him and he knew he had to end things before they took advantage of that.

They wanted him alive and he could think of plenty of reasons why.

The first one leapt forward and Hobi agilely parried his blow. The second one joined in and from there it became a stalemate.

He was holding himself better than they had thought, slowly gaining the upper hand as he continued to attack. They had severely underestimated his abilities - something he instantly took advantage of before they had realized.

But he hadn't considered the fact that there would be another man and stupidly enough, he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings.

It became his obvious downfall when he felt the sudden blow to the back of his head, making his sight blur for a moment before he let out a pained groan, falling to his knees.

He could feel the sticky and warm blood oozing from his throbbing wound but he couldn't give up. He flicked his knife to the man behind him.

The third masked man scoffed and easily kicked the weapon aside before shifting his gaze to the other two, who visibly stiffened at the palpable bloodlust in the air.

"You've wasted too much time" he growled dangerously and one of the two stepped forward, mumbling something in fear about how they hadn't known the rich boy could fight but Hobi couldn't hear the rest as he was slowly losing consciousness.

They hurriedly ended their argument though and pulled him up from the ground.

A bag was thrown over his head. "S-shit" he hissed; the pressure was too overbearing and his eyes dropped closed, darkness taking over.

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Someone was definitely stamping on his head - what else would explain the incessant throbbing that dulled all his senses? He reached up to ease the nagging pain but he couldn't get his hands to move.

He groaned, blinking deliriously but for every time his eyes opened, light never came; it was pitch black. For a second a flash of fear overtook him and his breath labored - they had blindfolded him.

He took another minute to get his bearings straight and that was when he realized that his hands were actually tightly bound.

His loud awakening must have caught someone's attention because suddenly the cloth was removed and he hissed when the light he had wished for earlier, greedily seeped through his sore lids.

Again, he blinked the blurriness away until the room became clearer for him to scrutinize.

The place itself was barren; there was no telltale signs of any furniture besides the cold and hard chair he was sitting on. He did however, see stacks of crates that held hell-knows-what and it essentially was, for the lack of better words, a concreted prison.

There were no windows and he could see dust collecting on the dirty floor, complimented by the yellowing ancient paint that was chipping away on the unmistakably moulding walls.

He inwardly scoffed. It was such a typical "kidnapper's" hideout and he mused in collected contempt at how cliché this entire scenario was.

Was the room itself supposed to intimidate him even more than his abductors? If so, they should've tried harder.

He would've been much more afraid of the unpredictable - like a fancy hotel room or some shit like that. Nothing was scarier than the unknown, at least to Hobi.

And it didn't take a genius to figure out the reason why he was here either.

He looked up, with eyes that didn't betray a single inkling of where his thoughts had strayed, to the silent figure that was studying him.

"They won't pay the ransom" Hobi pointed out dryly and he felt the man shift slightly, caught off guard by his blunt words.

It didn't last long though and he heard a muffled chuckle - it was darker than anything he had ever heard before and it made his skin crawl.

The man pulled his mask off and only then did Hobi feel his heart stutter. He did his best to conceal his panic but every inch of him tensed in caution.

There was this sadistic glint in the stranger's eyes, filled with malicious promise and his next words confirmed Hobi's thoughts.

"...then it's a good thing I don't give a fuck about that" The stranger responded with a hair-raising grin.

Hobi wouldn't give the sick cunt the pleasure of knowing that his words shook him more than he'd like to admit because he knew these type of people - he had grown up surrounded by them.

The people who got a kick because of the power they held over those who couldn't fight back. The type who enjoyed other people's terror and suffering.

The man's smirk didn't falter at the unwavering blankness in Hoseok's face - his composure surprised even himself.

His captor took a step forward, hands darting like a whip to pull Hobi's hair back - he wanted Hoseok to look him  directly in the eyes.

He couldn't hold back the sudden growl that ripped out of his chest at the burning sensation he felt from his wound as it reopened.

He felt the thick scarlet liquid coating his hair, making it cling onto his skin in the same way he was trying to cling to life.

"You, my friend, are going to be a message to another very dear friend of mine" his grin widened, making the crazed look in his eyes more prominent and Hobi's leg twitched; it was the only telltale sign that he was perturbed.

He let go of Hobi and appraised him - as if deeming his worth "...but if we get the money, then even better" he finished with a shrug. "It's best that they think this is all about some petty ransom demand"

Hobi felt his anger grow, overpowering his numbing fear. The only reason why he hadn't snapped was because deep down inside he had accepted his fate a long time ago. His inner demons made him very aware of that and it was these same demons that whispered to him; maybe he did deserve this punishment.

His only solace was that he had at least given the USB to someone who would make his foreseeable death worth it - he knew he wasn't leaving, at least not alive. Not when these people didn't want the only thing his name could offer: money.

He knew what really made him take drastic measures with the USB and why he had been so adamant about bringing his family down - it was for the same reason why he was so sure that they wouldn't have paid a ransom even if his captor tried to get it.

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Earlier that week

"We're not getting any younger darling and soon Hoseok will have to take over everything." Hobi overheard his mother's voice and stopped moving.

He didn't know what possessed him to move closer to the door that was slightly ajar or why he had stayed hidden in the shadows either.

There was a growl. "You know we can't let that happen, don't be an idiot"

Hobi heard his mother stammer weakly but she was ignored. "...it's clear that he has no interest in our line of business and even I've noticed the disgust in his eyes" another scoff and Hobi's eyes narrowed.

"He's a disgrace to the Jung family. We both know what will happen if he should take over - all our hard work, everything we built, he'll rip apart" Hobi gritted his teeth but his father wasn't wrong.

"But darling y-you don't know th-"

"Shut up"

And she did. Hobi could hear her breath catch in fear even from where he was standing and he felt sick.

He never was able to completely put away his love for his mother, no matter how hard he tried and this made his heart tug painfully - he still loved her despite her neglect.

"There is still a couple more years. We will try for another child and this time, I will personally make sure he is capable and not weak-willed like Hoseok" he uttered Hobi's name as if it were a curse.

He should have been livid, but the feeling never came. Instead, Hobi felt crippling horror wash over him. Never would he have wished the childhood he had gone through onto another innocent person, much less a child.

But that was exactly what his parents were planning.

He felt disgusted. He couldn't believe they would actually do such a thing but he had heard it himself and his throat felt dry.

He had to stop them before they could ruin another person's life - they had already destroyed thousands and even though this little sibling didn't exist yet, Hobi felt a bond and an almost animalistic level of protectiveness took over.

He would not let them win.

Not this time.

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Hobi's vital role was finished now and he could come to terms that even though he was just a pawn that had fallen into another twisted game, he would win the battle where it really mattered.

And for that he didn't scream when the torture began; when the knife plunged into him, caressing for his inevitable breakdown.

Because he wouldn't - couldn't - give them the satisfaction of having that control - both his parents and this psychopath.

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He didn't know how long he had been held. There was no concept of time after the numerous instances where he had passed out, because even he couldn't handle that much pain; no matter how strong his willpower was.

"You won't get anything I can promise you that right now" Hobi spat out more blood with a dark chuckle and he didn't mean money either.

He could feel the anger and annoyance radiating from the masked man. He knew it was because he hadn't broken yet. Hobi had been cut, burned, waterboarded and taunted.

It hurt, it really did, but again, he had accepted his fate and maybe he needed to be the one to pay for his family's sins.

Because at the end of the day, could he really say he was innocent? Yes he didn't participate in their dealings and instead isolated himself but that didn't matter because he had known. He knew, for years, what his family did and he hadn't tried to stop it until now.

He truly accepted his fate.

...but that didn't make the fear and pain lessen like he thought.

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He blinked weakly, his head still whipped to the side from the most recent blow that was delivered. The man drew his hand back and Hobi slumped against his restraints demeaningly but it was the only thing holding him upright - even if that meant his dignity had fallen.

"It's been well past the deadline and we've grown quite impatient. It's really such a shame that things have to end this way..." He called out carelessly, making it obvious that he clearly wasn't that upset.

Hobi paused in confusion.

Who was he talking to? Hobi painstakingly lifted his eyes to the vile man but saw him speaking to a monitoring device.

Were they being recorded?

"...don't worry yourselves too badly, after all we're only sending you this video as a message. Think of it as a favor of some sort because after all, we can't have bad men out there, it just wouldn't be safe for us, you know?"

Hobi squinted, more confused than ever. Was this the message the man was talking about?

His eyes then widened slightly.  "If that's the case then that means..." his thoughts trailed off but he knew...

Show no fear.

Don't let them win.

...be strong.

Hoseok saw the man turn, his eyes unreadable for the first time since Hobi had been taken and he stepped closer while skillfully twirling the knife in his hand.

Hoseok gulped but that quickly turned to a choke when the chilled metal suddenly slid across his throat with no remorse.

There was no warning and Hobi gurgled, blood gushing as he drowned in his own pool of crimson.

He couldn't breathe...he could feel his lungs giving out. He was losing control of his own body and it was getting darker again, but oddly enough, Hobi felt nothing except the familiar coldness he had grown up with.

The life was seeping out of his eyes together with the warmth of his body until he finally shut them, blackness taking over entirely...and forever.

It was always so cold.

His breaths ceased together with the beating of his heart.

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Hey loves! ♥️♥️♥️

Thanks for sticking by my side even though I've been inconsistent as hell.

I hope this chapter, although dark, shed some light on Hobi's past in The Seven Deadly Sins

As you also may already know, I've finally finished writing Dance With Me and it was truly a bittersweet moment.

I've decided to write stories with one member of BTS as the main character and the first one (this doesn't count because Kookie wasn't entirely in every chapter lol) is starting off with none other than our Min Yoongi ♥️

Love ya all and stay healthy 🙏🏻

Stay in tune for the next special chapter (this time it's going to be a surprise so no hints haha)