The time Jungkook spent with his team yesterday was more soul-soothing than he thought — so much that his appetite returned almost fully, and he ate a whole serving of samgyeopsal with relish. 

He always preferred being alone and bottled up everything inside him when he was in distress. He never imagined going for drinks with his friends would be such a pleasant distraction. It was certainly more fun than drinking alone, he realized. 

Or maybe he just needed the interaction with them so he wouldn’t go insane. So he wouldn’t get hammered and run to Taehyung to unleash the poorly suppressed spate of agony and rage that braised inside him. 

But the more he delved into each one of their memories, the more the rage subsided and only the wrenching agony remained. Because he missed him. He still missed him. He still cared for him. Even though he knew Taehyung deceived him, he still craved his hug. God, he was a lunatic, he thought. How could he still miss him? How could he still want to see him? 

The truth had been shaped before Jungkook’s eyes, and he stared at its ghastly form fixedly. Despite it, he visited the bar Merlina in search of Min Heo. 

With a quick browse, he located Min Heo, who was now standing still and staring at him with round eyes. “Follow me. It’ll only take a minute.” Jungkook didn’t wait for his response. He continued his way to the storage room and soon entered. 

Min Heo trailed behind him as he glanced around and a wave of relief passed through him since no eyes were on him. He scurried to catch up with Jungkook and closed the door. “What is it, detective Jeon?”

“I’m sorry I came here again. I just need you to confirm something with me.” Jungkook unlocked his phone and stared at Taehyung’s photo for a bit in silence. Then, he lifted his eyes to Min Heo. “Remember the guy who had come here with Jong Hoon?”

“The gorgeous guy, yes.”

Jungkook turned the phone to him, showing him the photo. “Was it this guy?”

Min Heo’s brows shot up. “Yes, yes. He was here with Jong Hoon. Did you find him?”

There it was. The confirmation. Although he knew it was him, spikes of something gruesome pricked Jungkook’s chest. Maybe it was because a tiny, buried part of him still hoped he was wrong. But he wasn’t. And it fucking hurt. 

He pocketed his phone with languid moves as the veil of sorrow that dropped over his shoulders was too heavy to bear. “Thank you for your help. I hope you can live a normal life. I won’t bother you again.” He slouched out of the room without another word. 

His mind spiraled with the harrowing thought of Taehyung, which kept raging in it throughout the day until he couldn’t take it anymore. 

🥀

With no work to do, Taehyung spent his day at home, wallowing in his misery and waiting. Waiting for Jin Mo to call him and tell him everything was ready. 

He didn’t want to be there during the attack. He wouldn’t be focused enough to use a gun if he needed to, and he couldn’t risk killing someone innocent by accident. His plan was to kill the guy who put his gun in his mouth and dug two bullets into his mother’s forehead. Lee Man Shik who killed his father. And Moo Chae Yeon who ordered his parents’ murder and still wanted to kill him. 

His decision clashed with everything he had promised to his father. He still remembered his words vividly, something that filled him with doubts and second thoughts as he waited. 

“Son. I want you to live a good life. A decent life. Even if you want to get into the business, don’t become like me. Don’t kill people. Can you promise me?”

And Taehyung did. He despised the idea of killing even more after that promise. He knew he didn’t have the guts to take someone’s life. He couldn’t be that cruel. But for the people he loved, his family, he could become the cruelest killer. 

Around the time Jin Mo had said he’d attack Chae Yeon’s hideout, Taehyung drove towards the mansion. It was over an hour away, and he wanted to be close, so if everything went as planned, he could be there without wasting much time. He trusted Jin Mo. But he didn’t trust his thirst to kill. It was easy to awake and flare. A single provocation from anyone could trigger it in no time. 

He parked his motorcycle in a quiet spot that was only five minutes away from the wanted location. A bubble of nervousness floated all around his stomach that generated a deluge of gnawing concerns. Was it going well? Did anyone get hurt? What if Chae Yeon’s people outnumbered his? What if she was well prepared and managed to counter his attack? 

The long-awaited call disrupted his wondering, and he answered the phone right away. “What happened?”

“Taetae. Everything is ready for you.”

Taehyung started the engine and drove off. “Did you catch them?”

“Of course. I have the bastards who killed your parents right in front of me. And the bitch who order it.” Jin Mo grinned crazily at the kneeled, tied up Chae Yeon, and he reveled in the glint of fear that danced in her eyes. 

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Wait for me.”

“Of course, Tae. I found a rather amusing surprise at the bitch’s office. You won’t believe it.”

Taehyung’s eyes grew with the foreboding that burst onto him. “What?”

“Come here quickly to find out.”

“Jin Mo? Yah.” Taehyung’s heart raced once he realized he hung up on him. He slipped his phone into his coat’s pocket and sped up. 

A few minutes later, he spotted Ah In at the gate of the mansion waiting for him. His motorcycle came to a screeching halt in front of him, and he turned off the engine. He took off his helmet and hung it on the wheel, then gazed at Ah In with a subtly frantic spark. “Where is he?”

Wordlessly, Ah In spun around and trod towards the entrance. Taehyung followed him, but as soon as he walked past the gate, his brows pulled together into a sadly appalled frown. Two bodies were scattered on the doorstep, with pools of blood formed around them. Some casualties were expected since it was an attack, but it still made his stomach drop to the ground once he saw it. 

He wasn’t ready for the horrific sight he faced when they entered the mansion. The dead bodies were everywhere and the marble floor was coated with blood.

“What the hell happened here?” Taehyung muttered in heartbreaking disgust. His eyes unwittingly glimpsed at the bodies as he walked by them or had to walk over them because there was no other way to proceed. 

“They fought back. Jin Mo really tried to make them surrender. You know he never does that. He doesn’t care. He wanted to respect your wish and tried. But Chae Yeon wasn’t planning to go down without a fight. And you can see the results.”

Taehyung saw the results indeed, but he couldn’t stand it. God, what he had done? All these people died because he asked Jin Mo to catch Chae Yeon. 

The devouring flurry of guilt paused when he noticed that Ah In halted in front of a closed door. 

“Look, I don’t know what your deal about not killing people is, especially since you work in a crime organization, and I don’t really care,” Ah In started in a dull tone. “But one side always has to die. At least most people of the one side so they can surrender. Either we would have died or they. So wipe that puppy-like frown off your face. Don’t show your weaknesses to your enemy. You’re here to kill. So either step inside and do that or run away and cry like a bitch.”

The harsh words were exactly what Taehyung needed at that moment to work up his determination. The massacre he faced caused him to forget his purpose for a moment. He was there to kill, as Ah In said. 

The muscles in his face sharpened with resolve, and any scrap of sadness melted out of his gaze. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

Ah In gave him a firm nod before he swiveled and slid the door open.

Taehyung took in the sight of Chae Yeon, Man Shik, and the other guy being lined up on their knees, with their hands tied behind their backs. He caught another figure moving from the corner of his vision, and his eyes immediately flew to the side. 

Pure dread climbed up Taehyung’s legs that rendered him at a standstill and shook the resolve in his face with a mixture of shock and worry. “Sa Rang-ssi,” he breathed out as he rushed to her and went down on one knee. “Why—Why are you here?” 

“What the hell, Tae?” Jin Mo’s rumbling voice echoed in the office before Sa Rang could respond. “Why do you act like you have met Jeon Jungkook’s mother before?” 

Taehyung placed his knuckles beneath Sa Rang’s chin and twisted her head to the side a tad, examining the pale purple bruise that marked her left cheek. “Because I have,” he gritted out and rose to his full height. He pivoted to face him and fixed him with a penetrating stare. “That’s your surprise? Why did you hit her?”

“Yah. I do the questions now,” Jin Mo released in a chilling undertone as he neared him with slow, menacing steps. “How do you know her? Why have you met her before?” 

“Because she had threatened me to stay away from her son. And I explained to her I didn’t want to hurt him.”

Jin Mo’s eyes seesawed between Taehyung and Sa Rang, his brows firmly drawn together. “Does that mean she knew who you are?”

“Yes.” Taehyung watched as embers of fury formed in Jin Mo’s gaze the moment he answered. 

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“Why would I? So you could kill her?”

“Of course. She knows who you are. No one can know who you are.”

Taehyung’s eyes bulged unnaturally when he saw Jin Mo step aside and raise his gun to aim at Sa Rang. He leaped in front of him and clawed at his wrist, his heart pounding so hard he could feel each ferocious pulse clearly. “Calm down and wait. Listen to me first. Okay?”

The crazed embers eddying in Jin Mo’s eyes scarcely toned down as he lowered his hand at a glacial pace. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill this bitch while she knows who you are.”

“Sa Rang is working for Chae Yeon. She’s her informant. That’s how she knows who I am. She’s not a threat, Jin Mo-ssi. She won’t reveal my identity. She would have already done it if that’s what she wanted. Please don’t kill her. She doesn’t know anything. She doesn’t know who Chae Yeon really is. I’m sure if she did, she wouldn’t be working for her.”

“What do you mean?” Sa Rang asked with a quiet apprehension. “Chae Yeon-ah, what does he mean?” The lack of Chae Yeon’s eye contact told her she wouldn’t respond, and Sa Rang redirected her eyes at Taehyung, who turned sideways to look at her. 

“Moo Chae Yeon killed her own husband. Then, she killed my family. And she wants to kill me too. Because her husband was sleeping with my mother. And I’m the only trace of her humiliation. I’m Woo Myeong’s son. She wants to kill me because of that. That’s her goal, Sa Rang-ssi. I don’t know what lies she fed you to get you to work for her, but that’s the truth.”

The said truth hovered around Sa Rang’s form like a dizzying mist, fogging her mind with shock. “What? You didn’t want to kill him to lure Jin Mo out of his hideout?”

An amused sort of smirk tugged at Jin Mo’s lips as he let out a taunting chuckle. “That’s the bullshit you spewed to her, huh?” He walked to Chae Yeon when she kept refusing to meet his eyes and gripped a fistful of her hair, then yanked her head back. “Aren’t you ashamed? Hiding your true purpose behind such a pathetic excuse? If you want to kill, have the balls to admit it, cunt.”

Chae Yeon’s mind was still mired in a pool of startle by the revelation that Taehyung knew everything. How could he know everything? The grasp on her hair intensified achingly, and she ground her teeth, groans jumping from the back of her throat. “Don’t talk like you haven’t lied to get what you wanted from someone.”

“Well, you got me on this one,” Jin Mo snickered and released her with a side jerk that sent her crushing against the floor. “What did you promise her to get her to work for you? I’m really curious about how the wife of the chief of police started working for a murderer.” His amused smile didn’t slip off his face in the slightest; he seemed to be enjoying this to the core. 

“She told me she would help me catch the one who killed my son, Kang Ho,” Sa Rang said, drawing in his attention. “In exchange, I would be her informant. She wanted information on who the police arrest, mostly. I told her you had killed my son because that’s what the police thought too.”

“I’m still confused about this one,” Jin Mo cut in as he sauntered a bit closer to her. “Why would they think I killed your son?”

“Because they got a report that you were seen at an abandoned building. And my son’s team went there to look for you.”

A twitch of something indecipherable crossed Jin Mo’s face, dissolving some of his amusement, but it was only for a second. He smirked again. “Well, I didn’t kill your son.”

“I know. Taehyung told me. I didn’t believe him at first. And Chae Yeon even showed me a CCTV footage that caught you near the scene.”

Jin Mo turned to Chae Yeon, raising a mocking brow. “How can I get caught in a CCTV when I wasn’t there, Chae Yeon-ah? Come on. Even I haven’t fabricated shit to get what I wanted.”

“Maybe you’re not smart enough to do it.”

Taehyung’s eyes grew wide and alert at Chae Yeon’s provocative quip. He expected to see Jin Mo fly into a frenzy at any moment, but he instead cackled hard enough to fold in half. 

“Ah, you stupid cunt,” Jin Mo scoffed through his laughs. “You became brave suddenly, hmm? Did you forget your life is in my hands?” He approached her and crouched in front of her, tilting his head mockingly. “Maybe I should give you a taste of what awaits you.” He put out his hand to his left, and Ah In placed a knife on his open palm. He slid his gun into the waistband of his pants and shifted the knife to his right hand.

“You think I’ll just kill you? Where’s the fun in that?” He combed through her hair with his fingers and grabbed it in a ruthless hold to keep her head steady. Then, he dragged the sharp point of the knife down the side of her face, and pressed it harder to her cheek, cutting her flesh until her jaw. 

His eyes gleamed at the sight of blood dripping down her face as his lips slowly stretched into a frenzied grin. Goosebumps of that familiar excitation prickled his skin at the agonized groans Chae Yeon released. “That’s it,” he whispered. “Only these pretty sounds should come out of your mouth, Chae Yeon-ah.”

Taehyung regarded the scene stony-faced. He never enjoyed watching people get tortured, but he sensed no repulsion accumulate in his stomach this time. Chae Yeon deserved it. She deserved much worse than a mere cut to her cheek. 

Taehyung twisted to focus on Sa Rang, who had her head angled away from the cruel sight and a distressed frown adorning her face. “So she promised you to help you catch Jin Mo? That’s why you started working for her?”

Sa Rang looked up at him. “Yes. I know her for years because I had helped her find this mansion, and we kept contact. When Kang Ho died, she offered to help me in exchange for being her informant. She told me about her plan to kill you to lure Jin Mo out of his hideout only months ago.”

“Why did she wait for so long?” Taehyung suddenly spun around and glared at Chae Yeon, who was sitting on her knees with her head bowed and blood still trickling from her cheek. “Why didn’t you kill me all these years? Why?”

Chae Yeon maintained her silence long enough to frustrate Jin Mo. He lifted her head with a wrench of her hair. “Answer him, bitch. Or do you want another taste?”

A scowl broke out on Chae Yeon’s face as she strained against his grip. “Why would I talk? You’ll kill me either way.”

“If you answer each one of his questions, I won’t torture you too much,” Jin Mo said lowly through smirking lips as he patted her head and stood straighter. “If you don’t, I know all the right spots in your body to stick my knife so you can die a slow, painful death.”

Beneath his bloodcurdling baritone, there was a manic ascendancy that hinted at the veracity of his threat and brimmed Chae Yeon’s chest with a ghastly disquiet. “Fine,” she uttered in complete defeat. “I didn’t kill you because we weren’t ready if Jin Mo attacked us. We needed more goods and more people. And I was right.”

“Quantity doesn’t always matter, Chae Yeon-ah,” Jin Mo taunted. “I came here with only thirty men and you had about fifty, right? I still won. Because my men are trained better.”

Chae Yeon’s jaw clenched, but she remained quiet. 

“Anyway,” Jin Mo sighed, still smiling. “Is there something else you want to ask, Tae?”

“No. But I want to give her a chance to talk.”

A moment of silence crawled by. Jin Mo narrowed his eyes on him. “What do you mean?”

Taehyung’s eyes sliced through Chae Yeon as he neared her. “Did you really have to go this far? Did you have to be so cruel and take everything away from me? I was only a kid. I knew nothing! Why do I have to suffer for my parents’ mistakes?” He watched as one of the most heart-wrenching looks he had ever seen flooded Chae Yeon’s eyes and spilled out with rushing tears in just a few seconds. 

“Do you have any idea what it feels like to lose your child because of your husband’s affair?” she spoke through clenched teeth, forcing down the sob that threatened to escape her mouth. “Ji Sun killed my son. Why did I have to suffer for my husband’s mistakes? He could have killed Woo Myeong. But he killed my son. My only child.” She blinked the tears from her vision furiously.

“Ji Sun wasn’t supposed to die first that night. He was supposed to sit and watch Jae Wook, Maria, and you die before his eyes. But he had a gun and Man Shik panicked. Ji Sun shot him and Man Shik instantly fired two shots. That’s what I had prepared for him. He deserved the most painful death, but he got away with it so easily.”

Taehyung’s fingers dug into his palms. “Where are their bodies?”

“Ji Sun’s right hand took them. When Man Shik and Chul Soo came back after they chased you in the croft and then lost you, they saw him get into the car and drive off. Your beloved parents destroyed my life. And they deserved to die.”

“And you deserve what I have prepared for you, bitch,” Jin Mo snarled as he brushed past Taehyung, charging at her. He drove his fist into her face, sending her to the floor. Then, he faced Taehyung and neared him. “Don’t listen to her anymore, Tae. We should get to the fun part now.” He pushed his gun into Taehyung’s hands. “Here’s your chance. Kill them. I suggest you start with Chul Soo, the one who murdered your mother. Make him suffer like he did to you.” 

Taehyung stared at the gun in his hands as each one of the torturing feelings he had experienced that night came sprinting back to him. He blocked everything Chae Yeon said from his senses as a dispassionate harshness cloaked his eyes, and he shuffled closer to the kneeled Chul Soo. For a moment, he simply viewed him. He seemed nowhere near as scared as Taehyung was that night. And it infuriated him dangerously. 

He grasped his hair at the top of his head. Then, he forced the barrel of his gun into his mouth. “How does it feel, hmm? You enjoyed doing this”—he jerked the gun deeper into his throat—“to an eight-year-old. How does it feel to be in my place now, you disgusting piece of shit?”

Only groans mixed with choking sounds emitted from Chul Soo. His once cold eyes swelled with a tinge of terror, and the moisture forming along his lower lashes leaked out when he screwed them shut by another forceful shove of the gun in his mouth. 

“Look at you crying like a little bitch. You hate it, don’t you? You can’t breathe properly, can you?” Taehyung exclaimed rowdily. “Imagine being only eight years old, fucker.”

“That’s it, Tae.” Jin Mo’s whisper sounded right next to his ear, his hands smoothing down the curves of his neck and then resting on his shoulders. “He’s scared. He wants to beg you to spare his life. But he doesn’t deserve to live after what he did to you and your mother, right?”

“Yes. He doesn’t,” Taehyung’s mouth let out in a shaky murmur as hot tears glided down his cheeks unconsciously. He meant the words he said; yes, Chul Soo didn’t deserve to live after what he did, but why did something highly detestable blossom in his gut the moment he vocalized it? 

“So kill him. Pull the trigger. Blow his brains out, Tae. It’ll feel amazing. It’ll give you the closure you need.”

Taehyung’s finger tightened around the trigger, an unmerciful scowl meandering over his features. 

“Taehyung,” Sa Rang breathed out tensely. “This isn’t who you are. Everything Chae Yeon said about you was a lie, right? You told me yourself, you didn’t start working for Jin Mo because you enjoyed killing. You didn’t kill innocent people because you felt like it. You’re not the cruel monster she described to me. You’re not like Jin Mo.”

“Shut up, bitch!” Jin Mo roared as his rowdy eyes slashed her with a crazed glower. 

“Killing him won’t get him closure, you pathetic monster!” Sa Rang snarled back at him. “He’ll only feel more miserable. Because that’s not who he is. He’s not a murderer, right Taehyung? You’re not a murderer like Chae Yeon said. You’re not a murderer like Jin Mo wants you to be. You’re not a murderer like these filthy excuses of humans who killed your parents.”

Jin Mo bolted towards her with a cutthroat glint that hardened his traits and delivered a vicious slap on her face before she could react. “If I spared your life, you should at least keep your mouth shut, ungrateful cunt.” He snatched her hair and wrenched her to a sitting position, his arm swinging back again. 

Taehyung swiftly locked his arm around Jin Mo’s and hauled him back, jostling him with full force. “Sa Rang is under my protection now, like Jimin, Yoongi, everyone from the shelter, and my hyung. You’re not allowed to hurt the ones under my protection. Remember?”

A look of betrayal slithered into Jin Mo’s bestial gaze. “You put her under your protection? You don’t even know her!”

“She’s innocent in all this! She was tricked by fucking Chae Yeon. That’s why she’s here now.” Taehyung tried to calm his strained nerves that caused him to raise his voice. “Don’t touch her again.”

“Fine, whatever,” Jin Mo snapped. “But don’t listen to her, Tae. You have to kill them. They destroyed your childhood. They made you suffer. They took your beloved parents from you. They don’t deserve to live.”

“Taehyung, please,” Sa Rang whispered, unable to confine the trembling of her voice. 

Taehyung glanced back at her, noticing the wetness of her eyes and the desperation in them at once. It reminded him of his mother for some reason when she had yelled at him and Jae Wook to run that night. His heart clenched more and more as he gazed deep into her eyes. 

“Don’t become a murderer like them. Think about your parents. I’m sure they don’t want you to become a murderer for them. Think about your loved ones. Think about J—” Sa Rang swallowed the careless words she was about to say. She cast a fleeting glance at Jin Mo and then trained her eyes on Taehyung again. “If you kill them, if you become a murderer, you’ll lose every chance you have of receiving forgiveness for your wrongdoings. You know what I mean, right?”

Taehyung deciphered her knowing, intense look. She was referring to Jungkook. And she was right. His guilt for his wrongdoings was too much to be around Jungkook, but if he became a murderer, he truly wouldn’t be able to face him ever again. 

He trudged towards Sa Rang and squatted behind her, leaving the gun on the floor. He took out a pocket knife and cut the zip tie around her wrists. 

“What are you doing?” Jin Mo asked as his face stretched into a mask of confusion tangled with shock. 

“I’m taking her out of here.” Taehyung helped her stand up and reached for the gun. His eyes lingered on it. The moment he would return it to Jin Mo, he would lose his only opportunity to avenge his parents’ death. But a soothing voice whispered to a rational part of his mind that he would lose so much more if he became a murderer for them. 

He would lose his only chance to live a normal life one day. 

Taehyung dragged his feet closer to Jin Mo, keeping his gaze lowered. He extended his hand with the gun towards him. “I can’t kill. I thought I could. But I’m not made for this. I promised my father I wouldn’t kill anyone. And I’ll keep that promise till the day I die.”

Jin Mo’s mouth pressed into a thin line of disappointment. He was a breath away from creating the perfect man for that job and it all got ruined. Taehyung had everything. He was intelligent, artful, a quick learner, passionate. But he was too emotional. If Jin Mo could only make him kill, he knew it would awake an apathy within him. That apathy would make him perfect. And if having the people who killed his parents in front of him didn’t trigger him to kill, nothing would. 

Jin Mo took the gun from his hold. “What do you want to do with them?”

“I want them to rot in prison.”

“I don’t get to kill them either? You’re asking for too much, Tae.”

Taehyung’s countenance darkened with heavy gloom. He detected that gleam in his eyes. That familiar gleam of thirst to kill. He knew at that moment whatever he said wouldn’t matter. 

“I don’t care what you want to do with her dogs. But this bitch”—Jin Mo pointed at Chae Yeon with his gun—“is mine. And I’ll do whatever I want with her.”

Taehyung couldn’t stop him, and deep down, maybe he didn’t really want to. “Don’t forget that Sa Rang is under my protection. If you hurt her—” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Jin Mo sighed, uninterested. “Just make sure she keeps her mouth shut about what happened here today. And I’ll keep their mouths shut too.” He nodded his chin at Man Shik and then Chul Soo. 

“Don’t worry.” Taehyung set a hand on Sa Rang’s back and ushered her out of the office without sparing a single glance behind him. A horror-filled gasp entered his senses once he opened the door to the spacious living room, and he closed his eyes for a moment as he had forgotten about the bloody scene. 

“I’ll lead you outside,” Taehyung uttered. “You can close your eyes.”

And Sa Rang did, as it was too gruesome to bear. 

Taehyung took a round path to get to the exit, since the bodies were fewer at the sides of the room. He couldn’t walk over them again. “Do you want to come to my house for tonight? Your husband can’t see you like this. Or if you have somewhere else to go—”

“I can’t go anywhere else. Everyone will ask me what happened and what will I tell them?”

“You’re right. You can open your eyes now,” Taehyung said as they walked past the gate. “I want you to be comfortable, though. Are you comfortable enough to stay at my place?”

A little smile bloomed on Sa Rang’s bruised face. “Are you asking if I’m afraid of you hurting me?” 

Taehyung’s eyes jumped away from her as he nibbled his bottom lip. He nodded hesitantly. 

“How can I be afraid you will hurt me after how you protected me? After how you leaped in front of Jin Mo to stop him from killing me?” She gave a faint squeeze on his shoulder. “You have my full trust. Thank you, Taehyung.”

“No, I should thank you. You stopped me from becoming a murderer. Fuck, what did I almost do?” Taehyung squeezed his eyes shut as creases of distress formed on his forehead. 

Sa Rang caressed his shoulder and retracted her hand. “I’m glad you didn’t become one. My Jungkookie wouldn’t want you to become one either.” 

Another flare of sadness surged through Taehyung’s chest at Jungkook’s mention, but he nodded at her remark. “Let’s go. My house is over an hour away.” He grabbed the helmet and passed it to her. 

“Thank you,” Sa Rang uttered as she got hold of it and wore it. She informed her husband that she would be staying at her friend’s house for the night with a quick text since she knew Seung Heon would be sleeping at this late hour and then climbed over the motorcycle. 

Instead of parking at his usual spot, Taehyung drove past the building and parked behind it, avoiding the CCTV. “We’ll go inside from the back door just in case. I don’t want you to get caught in the CCTV.”

“Okay.” Sa Rang followed him into the building, and they made their way to his apartment. 

“Make yourself comfortable,” Taehyung said once they entered. “I’ll bring you some ice.” He shed his coat, leaving it on the armchair, and trod to the kitchen. He pulled an ice pack out of the freezer and slipped it into its protective cloth as he went back to the living room. “Here.”

“Thank you,” Sa Rang said as she took hold of the ice pack. She placed it on her left cheek and winced momentarily. She focused her gaze on Taehyung, who sat across from her on the couch, and a sparkle of compassion glimmered in her eyes as her mind traveled back to everything Taehyung revealed earlier. “You’ve been through so much, Taehyung. It breaks my heart.”

Taehyung smiled sadly, maintaining eye contact. He removed his shoes and crossed his legs over the couch. “You’ve been through a lot too. And you still haven’t gotten your answers. At least I got mine.”

“How does it feel?”

“It feels... unbearable. It hurts. There were so many things going on and I had no idea. My life was a lie. The memories I have with my family are fake. They didn’t love each other. And my hyung knew everything. But your situation is different. Kang Ho died only three years ago. His case is still fresh. You have to find out who killed him and give him justice. It will bring you the closure you need.”

Sa Rang’s features saddened more at the remembrance of her son. “You’re right. You don’t feel like you got closure?”

“Honestly, no,” Taehyung whispered. “I feel devastated by all the secrets that got revealed. Maybe my hyung was right. I shouldn’t have kept trying to find out the truth. What did I achieve? What do I have now? Nothing. Just a ruined childhood and a broken heart.”

It was truly agonizing for Sa Rang to listen to him, and it felt somewhat absurd since she didn’t know much about him. Why did she feel such sympathy for him? Was it because Taehyung protected her? She didn’t know, but an urge to comfort him bubbled up in her chest until it spilled over. “Maybe the love they showed to each other wasn’t true, but the love they showed to you was. The truth hurts sometimes, but with time, it gets better. You reconcile yourself to it and learn how to live with it.” 

Taehyung processed her words in silence, a dark shroud of gloom carpeting his face. “But what do I do now that it hurts so much? I feel like... this pain won’t end.”

“You get through each day until it gets better. Nothing lasts forever. And this applies to pain as well. If you want to get over something, you can. As long as you want it, you can. But you have to be ready too. Ready to accept it and move on. You’re not ready yet, that’s why you feel like this. And it’s okay if you’re not ready.”

Taehyung embraced the new perspective that was thrown to him warmly. It was true; he wasn’t ready yet. He didn’t feel ready to move on. It was too early to be able to do so, as the revelations were still in the process of sinking in. 

“Thank you, Sa Rang-ssi. Jungkook is lucky to have a mother like you.”

The sadness vanished from Sa Rang’s countenance by the small smile that broke out. “He’s difficult. He doesn’t let me talk to him like this. Whatever I say, he takes it as nagging. He changed so much after Kang Ho died.”

Taehyung picked up on the bitter hue of her voice towards the end. “How was he before?”

“He was full of energy and life. He was passionate about his job and caring for others. He visited us often, along with Kang Ho. I knew he was sad at times because Seung Heon was mostly working and couldn’t spend time with us, but he always tried to hide it. I started to see a change in him again a few weeks back. He was just... calmer. He smiled more often, and he didn’t get angry with every little thing as before. And now that I think about it”—Sa Rang’s voice trailed off, and she released a quiet sigh—“I believe you were the reason.”

Taehyung blinked at her with his round eyes, as he was unsure about what to make of the new information. “How... Why would I be the reason?”

Sa Rang drew the ice pack away from her cheek when it grew too cold to hold it. She left it on the table and reclined in her seat again. “Seeing how badly it affected Jungkook that you cut contact with him, it’s clear how much he cared for you. You’re the first person he got close to after Kang Ho died. When I had threatened you to stay away from him, I had seen you two talk outside of the station earlier. I had seen how you touched him. Jungkook never enjoyed physical contact that much, and it only got more intense after Kang Ho’s death. But he didn’t pull away when you touched him. And I knew then you two weren’t just acquaintances.”

“Yeah, I had noticed he didn’t like physical contact. And it puzzled me why that slowly changed.” Taehyung’s eyes hazed over as his mind drifted far afield in the thought of Jungkook. He had the answer to that now. Jungkook grew to like him. That was why he didn’t mind the physical contact with him. 

Sa Rang’s voice, that rang with a smooth tone, didn’t let him sink completely into his wistful remembrance. “I think Jungkookie likes you too. That’s why he’s hurting over your separation so much.” She detected no sudden changes in his expression — only a glimmer of dejection fleetingly sparkled in his eyes. “You already know.”

Taehyung slowly nodded. “He kind of told me. And kind of... showed it to me, actually.”

“Oh, my poor Jungkookie,” Sa Rang said in a voice laden with devastation. “He finally likes someone and you like him too, but...” 

“But I’m a scumbag.”

“No.” Sa Rang firmly shook her head. “Your circumstances just don’t let you experience this as it’s supposed to be.”

“Don’t try to sugarcoat it, Sa Rang-ssi,” Taehyung said lowly. “Jungkook was a target. I lied to him and used him to complete my mission. Our relationship got ruined before it could even start. I ruined it.”

Sa Rang had no response for him this time; she could only gaze at him. She knew her son. He hated dishonesty and lying the most. It would take him a while to forgive Taehyung, if he even could. 

“Let’s not talk about it anymore,” Taehyung said, breaking the growing silence. “Tell me about Chae Yeon. Why were you at the mansion tonight? I told you to stay away from her.”

“I know. But she asked me to go there, and I couldn’t avoid her again. I had already refused to see her twice. She would suspect me if I didn’t go.”

“Did you know about her crime organization?” 

“I only knew she had taken over her husband’s gang and dealt with traffic in illegal goods. I didn’t know she was a murderer. When I became her informant, I only gave her information about who the police arrested, as I said before. Then one day she said she couldn’t find Jin Mo’s hideout, and we had to get him out of there instead. The only way to do that was to kill you. She made it look like she wanted to help me, but she just wanted to kill you all along.

“She told me so many awful things about you just to make me not care if she killed you. When I bumped into you at the station, I told her about it. And she said Jin Mo probably put you next to Jungkook. Maybe he gave you a mission. Or maybe he ordered you to kill my son. I was so scared then and I agreed to her plan to kill you. When I saw you close to Jungkook again, I lost it. That’s why I threatened you. I’m so glad everything she told me about you was a lie. If you were a murderer like she said, I couldn’t let you be close to my son.”

Taehyung remained silent for a while, watching Sa Rang place the ice pack on her cheek again. “Why didn’t you reveal my identity to Jungkook?”

“Chae Yeon told me not to. She said it would be dangerous because you could disappear if you found out Jungkook knew the truth about you. Or even worse, he’d put you in jail.”

Taehyung huffed lightly, but before he could respond, the bell reverberated through the room, turning his eyes into two squinted pools of confusion. He lifted himself off the couch and trod to the intercom. He inspected the small screen, and a torrent of dread rushed down his limbs. 

No matter how intensively he stared at the screen and how much he wished he was wrong, the presence outside of the building didn’t change nor disappeared. 

Why was Jungkook there? And what was he supposed to do?

“Who is it?”

Taehyung’s attention shifted to Sa Rang. “It’s Jungkook. I won’t let him in, don’t worry. He’ll leave eventually.”

Sa Rang preserved her poised character. “What was your mission, by the way?”

“I had to get access to the station and delete the information they had on me and a friend of mine. I’m a seducer, who extracts information.” His eyes continuously flew over the screen as he talked at the incessant sound of the bell. 

“And how did you do it?”

“Jungkook invited me to go to the station on his own.” He narrowed his vision on the screen as he discerned Jungkook saying something. “Don’t talk for a while.” He received a nod from Sa Rang and tapped the phone icon. 

“—open this door. I know you can hear me. I won’t leave if you don’t open this door. If you don’t believe me, fucking try me. I just want to talk, okay? Just five minutes. Just—”

The screen shut on its own, and Taehyung’s chest deflated with a deep sigh. 

“Maybe you should talk to him, Taehyung. He’s too stubborn for his own good.” 

Taehyung reflected on the matter for a while. Jungkook was indeed too stubborn, and he was capable of staying there in the cold for hours before giving up. “Okay,” he breathed out, gathering any ounce of his courage. “I’ll be back.” 

He grabbed his keys from the entryway table and stepped out of the apartment. He used the elevator, and soon he was walking towards the entrance of the building. He wore a hard, impassive veneer as he pushed the door open and pinned Jungkook to the spot with a sharp stare when he stood in front of him. 

“I thought I was clear.”

Jungkook didn’t talk right away. Now that all the lies had been exposed and he faced him, his ability to speak seemed to have abandoned him. His chest felt as if it were being pummeled with a thousand spikes. Every harrowing question that swirled in his mind yesterday reappeared, fogging his thoughts and constricting his throat. 

Taehyung monitored him in depth. He couldn’t barricade the carpet of worry that cocooned his eyes and cracked his veneer. Jungkook’s look was unfathomable once again. He could only trace an indistinct churning of gloom, rage, and hopelessness lurking beneath his traits. It frightened him. “Jungkook?”

As if a switch flipped, Jungkook’s eyes regained all their focus at the call of his name. He drove the sorrow from his face, pasting a neutral expression. He swallowed hard. “You weren’t clear. You didn’t tell me why you suddenly feel this way. Why you suddenly don’t want to hang out anymore.”

Taehyung dismissed any foreboding at his previous look with the quick change. “I told you. It just doesn’t feel the same now that I’m not your informant.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then leave me alone.” 

“Wait,” he hastened to say when Taehyung stepped towards the door, and he flinched to stop him. The hand that came up to prevent him from leaving slowly dipped down again and hung by his side. “Can I come upstairs? It’s cold.” 

“Do you have more to say?” 

“Yes.”

“Then talk here.” 

Jungkook’s brows set low over his eyes in an inquiring view. “Why can’t I come inside?” 

“Because I don’t want you to. Talk here or leave.”

His defensive, peevish responses and his repetitive avoidance of eye contact triggered the familiar, sickening mire in Jungkook’s gut, but it was more intense this time — so much he felt the rage and dejection that came along meld into one vile, searing infusion that flowed like lava through his veins.

Jungkook’s eyes turned impassive like flinty rocks the more mastery that infusion gained over him. “You’re not alone.”

Silence poured in between them, taut and heavy. Taehyung’s downcast eyes didn’t elevate from the ground. “No.”

The sickening mire burned as hot as sparks inside him, but no changes showed on his stony facade. “A new fuck?”

Taehyung wanted to say no because it was the truth. But it was easier to lie, since it was the only way to protect Sa Rang. “Yes.”

Jungkook puffed a subdued noise of taunt as he averted his eyes. “That’s why you’re avoiding me now? That’s the real reason you’re throwing me away? Because you prefer to get fucked than spend time with me like before?”

I’m throwing you away before you do it to me. Before you hate me. “Yes.” The lie tasted nasty on his tongue. “Tell me what you want. I have to go back.”

Jungkook suddenly erased the space between them with a long stride, causing Taehyung to retreat and push his back against the door. “Did he fuck you already?”

Taehyung whipped his head to the side in need to dodge his stare. He was so close he could feel Jungkook’s breath graze his skin in hot, tantalizing puffs. “No.”

“Do you want him to?” Jungkook caged him between his arms, slanting his head to make Taehyung look at him. His efforts failed, though, and he instead dipped two fingers into his cheek and pushed, forcing his face to come inches away from his. 

“Yes,” Taehyung whispered, their breaths now mingling together. 

“You think he’ll fuck you better than me?”

God, no. No one will ever fuck me better than you. “Maybe. I have to try to find out.”

Jungkook nosed around the side of his face, then positioned his mouth to his ear. “And if I told you to throw him out and put me in your bed instead, would you do it, hyung?”

Taehyung’s head lolled back at that word, his legs pressing together in a fast-flowing surge of stimulation that pumped heat throughout his cock. I would do it in a heartbeat, Kookie. My Kookie. “It’s rude to throw him out.”

“That’s not what I asked, hyung.” Jungkook let his lips slide down the slope of his neck in an emotive touch. “Would you do it? It’s a yes or no answer.”

“No.”

Jungkook squeezed their crotches together, hissing softly at the rock-hard bulge in Taehyung’s pants. “I can just fuck you right here, then. You won’t be able to take someone else’s cock since I’ll ruin your pretty hole like that night.”

“God, Jungkook,” he moaned, his hips unwittingly grinding against him. 

Jungkook stuck his tongue out to flick it against his earlobe and took it in his mouth. His hand searched for his, and upon grabbing it, he guided it between their fused bodies and forced it to cup his cock. “You want it, right hyung? You want this cock to fuck you again. You want to ride it like the good boy you are. You want to take it down your throat and up your ass.”

“No,” he choked out with another moan, feeling like his erection would explode by its hardness at any moment. 

“Good boys don’t lie, hyung.” Jungkook grasped his cock and delighted in the convulsive spasm of Taehyung’s body. “Look how your body is reacting to me.”

“Want it, Kookie, fuck,” Taehyung’s wrecked voice released against his will, his mind swimming in an ocean of lust. “Take me to your house right now.”

“No.” Jungkook smoothed the heel of his palm down his cock and cupped his balls, savoring Taehyung’s choked breaths. “We’ll go upstairs. And you’ll tell that fucker you want me to fuck you and not him.”

“Fuck, I can’t, Jungkook, I can’t do that!” he whined, thrusting his hips against the tantalizing hand that toyed with his erection. “I lied.”

Jungkook’s movements stilled at once. He drew away, creating a big gap between their bodies. His clinical facade returned as he analyzed the confusion that danced around Taehyung’s flushed face in the charged hush that ensued. “So I was right.”

Taehyung attempted to apprehend the meaning of his coldly spoken words, but couldn’t. “What?”

“You don’t smell freshly showered. I can’t smell any alcohol, so you didn’t drink. There’s no scent of someone else’s aroma on you. Whoever is in your apartment won’t be fucking you.”

Taehyung’s eyes stared in two wide circles of disbelief as the realization crushed him, leaving him a mortified, aggravated mess. Everything Jungkook just did was on purpose. He tested him to see if he was truthful. And he fell right into his trap. “Why the fuck—”

“I wanted to see what it takes to get the fucking truth out of you!” Jungkook’s voice rose to a rumbling thunder, so livid and growling it caused Taehyung to flinch.

Jungkook’s rationality muttered words of comfort to his turbulent nerves, reminding him that Taehyung wasn’t aware of the discovery he made. And he wasn’t ready to confront him about his lies. He didn’t believe he could bear it yet. Or if he could bear it generally. If Taehyung told him the truth on his own, he knew it would hurt just as much. But he still pushed for the truth. Strove and prodded for that wrenching truth to spew from him. 

“I don’t care about who’s in your apartment. I don’t care if you want to get fucked by any man you find. But you can’t erase me like that. Without giving me an explanation. I need a reason. So I can erase you too.”

Taehyung dropped his head, his shoulders curving forward in vast defeat. “I don’t have another reason. Please leave,” he mumbled and rotated slowly. 

“Please, Taehyung. Give me a reason.”

Taehyung halted. A moisture pooled in his eyes as he drove his chin deeper into his chest. “Go home, Jungkook.” He used his key to open the door and closed it behind him, heading to the elevator without looking back. 

Any spark of heat left Taehyung’s body as he entered the elevator, and he brushed his eyes with his sleeve before his tears could fall. It felt like the longer he hid the truth from Jungkook, the worse the situation got. But what the hell was he supposed to do? 

The moment he walked into his apartment, he went to the intercom and pressed the camera icon. “He left.”

Sa Rang studied his reddened eyes with a frown as Taehyung edged closer. “What happened?”

Taehyung sank down on the couch across from her. “He asked me why I suddenly want to stop hanging out. He told me I can’t erase him like this without a reason. He needs a reason so he can erase me too.”

A heavy sigh slipped past Sa Rang’s mouth. She could only imagine how much her son was hurting over this, and she felt so useless since she could do nothing to help him. At least she could advise Taehyung, who was hurting too. But she couldn’t do that with her son because she wasn’t supposed to know anything about him and Taehyung. 

“I think... you should tell Jungkook the truth,” she uttered. “I should tell him the truth too. He has the right to know. It’s more painful, you know, to abandon you without a reason. It drives you crazy. If you know the reason, you can at least analyze it and eventually accept it. But if you don’t, the speculations run wild in you head every single day.”

“God, I can’t,” Taehyung said in a quivery whisper as he dug his face into his hands. “I can’t even face him again.” He rubbed his eyes and let his hands collapse to his sides. “How am I supposed to tell him everything?”

“You just have to do it. This is the only way you’ll truly face the consequences of your actions. Leaving without an explanation is the easy way out, even if you’re hurting already.” 

Taehyung strove to contain his suffocating emotions, as he didn’t want to break down in front of Sa Rang again. Even at the thought of telling Jungkook the truth, his stomach convulsed with an anguished despair. But Sa Rang was right. He had to give him the explanation he deserved.

“I’ll tell him. But I have to find the courage to do it first.”

“It’s okay. You can take your time. For now, you should get some rest.”

“You too. I’ll set the bed for you.”

“No,” Sa Rang was quick to object. “I’ll sleep on the couch. Don’t worry.”

“I won’t let you do that,” Taehyung insisted gently. “You’re my guest.”

Although Sa Rang truly didn’t mind sleeping on the couch, she nodded with a fond smile. “Okay.”

Taehyung returned the smile and went off to his bedroom. He changed the bedsheets and the pillowcase, then took out a fresh, thick blanket for her. He grabbed his pillow and his blanket and made his way back to the living room. “Everything is ready. The bathroom is down the hallway. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Thank you, Taehyung.” Sa Rang displayed her gratitude with another smile as she rose to her feet. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Once Sa Rang receded to the room, Taehyung put the ice pack back into the freezer and then lay down on the couch. 

The thought of Jungkook naturally came to his mind, occupying it throughout. Every time he went over the scenario of telling him the truth in his head, his closed eyes misted over. How would he even start? How would he make him understand that not everything was an act? Would he even believe him if he told him he was in love with him? 

The answer to that question slanted towards no, and the more his pessimistic thoughts blustered in his mind, the heavier his heart felt. 

───⭒───༺🌑༻───⭒───

More revelations and finally some taekook! I hope you enjoyed this 9k words chapter and it wasn't boring. Thank you for your continuous support💜