The internet was agog when news of Taehyung's shooting circulated. However, he wasn't the one fighting for his life. It was a totally different person that no one knew about.
Jimin was immediately rushed to the intensive care center. He was shot in a very delicate area close to his chest cavity and was loosing a lot of blood. On his way to the hospital, he fainted. The shooter was apprehended while trying to escape and was immediately jailed.
Taehyung's body was stained with blood as he followed the stretcher wheeling Jimin into the hospital. The latter was unconscious, hardly breathing with an oxygen mask placed over his face. Taehyung was crying profusely totally uncaring of the cameras flashing on his face.
Jimin went into surgery as soon as he got into the hospital while Taehyung waited. He was completely shocked and crazy with anxiety. After some minutes, Mr and Mrs Kim ran into the hospital corridor with a haggard expression on her face. As soon as they saw him, they sighed in relief and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so happy you are alright. We were so worried. We thought...."
Taehyung flinched. "Are you happy now? Are you satisfied?"
Mrs Kim kept shut and lowered her head unable to look at him. Mr Kim simply backed away
"Are you aware that Jimin is in there fighting for his life because he was trying to protect me, just to prove to us...to you that he only means well"
Tears were pouring out of his eyes and he was choking with every word he spoke.
Mrs Kim heaved heavily, shaking her head and trembling "I was wrong. I was completely wrong. I know that now but I didn't think he would be crazy enough to do that. I didn't think...he loved you that much"
Taehyung just looked away and buried his head in his hands unable to control his emotions. He didn't want to imagine something bad happening to Jimin. The shock was still overwhelming. He also couldn't believe that Jimin really did that. He took the bullet for him. At that moment, he really didn't want to talk to his parents so he ignored them.
The surgery lasted for hours before the surgeon finally came out. Judging from his ambience, it was obvious the surgery went well.
"We've removed the bullet. Thankfully, he's out of danger but it would take some time for him to regain consciousness"
Relief washed through Taehyung's body as he smiled for the first time "That's okay. Thank you so much. Thank you...can I see him?"
"Only for a few minutes"
"Thank you so much"
Taehyung didn't wait another second. He immediately went into the ward. Jimin seemed a lot better when he saw him. Color had returned to his skin but he was still unconscious. Taehyung sat on the chair beside him and grabbed his hand, softly stroking it.
Mrs Kim was full of regret. She didn't think Jimin was that crazy. She suddenly felt bad for treating him so unfairly all these years. she stayed behind unable to follow Taehyung to see Jimin. Suddenly, there was commotion behind her so she turned only to see the Parks rushing towards her. She blinked her eyes repeatedly when she saw them. They were dressed in expensive clothing, body guards at their tail.
"Do you see what I am seeing?" She whispered to her husband.
Mr Park nodded his head. "It's the Parks" he muttered.
Mrs Kim gulped feeling like an insignificant person when the couple stopped close to where she stood. They didn't seem to notice them as they stopped a nurse passing by and started to question her.
"Mr and Mrs Park?" she finally said. The two turned to look at them and there was surprise in their eyes.
"Mr and Mrs Kim" Mr Park said. He shared a look with his wife.
Mr Kim gulped. "We are sorry about what happened to your son..."
Mr Park cut in immediately. "That's not important right now. What matters is the welfare of my son"
He put up a straight face. "If you'll excuse us"
They nodded and walked off with the guards. Taehyung was still in Jimin's ward holding his hands when the Park couple entered. Taehyung quickly rose up when he saw them but they gestured him to sit back down.
"We've spoken to his doctor. He told us he'll be fine" Mr Park said.
Taehyung nodded his head and sat back down.
"We were so surprised. We had no idea you two got back together" Mrs Park said.
Taehyung smiled sadly. "Actually I went after him"
Mrs Park spoke. "I can quite understand that. Jimin was a shadow of himself when he left you. He was no longer the person we knew him to be. It was like he was carrying this big burden on his shoulders and we know it's because of what happened to you. He felt extremely guilty. We tried to help him but all our efforts were in vain"
Mr Park added. "But then I miraculously won the lottery, the first thing I did was to send Jimin far away from here so he could recover. Try to start over again but even that proved futile. He simply couldn't move on from you"
"I think this was for the best" Mrs Park said. "even if it meant, risking his life, Jimin was determined to pay back for the problem he feels he caused seventeen years ago"
Taehyung shook his head. "He didn't need to do that though. I'm fine. I got through it"
"True...but what about him? He was never fine and he was never able to get through it. I hope this time, he finally gets to have peace of mind"
"I really hope you both will be happy even after all these time"
"You don't have any problem with us being together?"
Mr and Mrs Park shared a smile. "You know we were never against the two of you being in a relationship. You'll always have our support. It's just your parents...."
Taehyung smirked. "It will be different this time. I'm very sure of it"
Few days later, Jimin regained consciousness and when he opened his eyes, both families were together at that time. Jimin chuckled when he saw the scene in front of him.
"Is this a dream or what?" He murmured more in shock at seeing their families together than finally waking up.
"You still need to rest. You just woke up" Taehyung muttered to him. Jimin slowly recovered. During this time, the whole incident was kept under wraps. Not even the media knew what was going on. When Jimin was finally discharged from the hospital, both families decided to sit down together for a discussion.
They had reserved a space at a restaurant. The air was stiff. No one could talk. They were all completely at a loss for words until Mr Park spoke first. He cleared his throat.
"After such a long time, we finally have the chance to sit down and air our views. This discussion is long overdue"
If it were in the past, it wouldn't have been a discussion but a full blown exchange of words but they were different people now. Things were bound to change.
"We are here to discuss how to move forward after what happened. It's been hard for both our families over the years. We were short sighted and made so many mistakes. I really hope things will be different from now on"
Mrs Kim gulped hard. "I'm really sorry. In honesy, I was the major cause of our dispute. I have always lived my life believing that we should all be within our status quo. The poor should mix with the poor and all other things. I was shallow minded and I forced my son to live in my shadow...to create a space for him to associate only with people of his class"
The silence was stiffling.
"Which was why when I discovered that you people weren't who I thought you were, I took it upon myself to ensure that a distance was created between us"
Mrs Kim sniffed. "But these two have taught me a bitter lesson. They made me realize that no matter what, you cannot control your heart. What is class when the heart is involved. No matter how different Jimin seemed to be from Taehyung, he was the only one who brought light into his life. After the incident that took place seventeen years ago, Taehyung was in a state of darkness but once again, Jimin was the light that illuminated that darkness"
She hung her head. "I admit that I lost. I'm completely ashamed for everything that I did."
She looked at Jimin and Taehyung, tears spilling down her eyes. "Taehyung, I never really said this to you at least not out loud but today, I will. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for so many things. I'm sorry for making you into someone you aren't. I'm sorry for never being there for you, for making you suffer a lonely childhood. I'm sorry for being a terrible mother and for chasing you out of the house so many years ago"
At that, Taehyung burst into tears.
"Even after all these, you didn't take your anger out on us. You took responsibility for the family and remained true to yourself. Even when I continued trying to control your life..."
She started to cry intensely. "I'm so sorry"
Taehyung felt emotions he hadn't felt before. Like thorns piercing his chest had finally been uprooted. This was what he had always wanted. His mother's sincerity, her love and support and finally, after all these years. He stood up from his seat, walked up to her and embraced her tightly. She was shaking violently. He had never seen her this vulnerable so he patted her back softly until she was calmer and smiled.
"I love you mom" Taehyung whispered.
"I love you too"
Mrs Kim separated from him and dragged him back to where Jimin was seated. She held out her hand to his. Jimin smiled warmly as he took it.
"From now henceforth, you are also my son"
Jimin felt like crying but he held himself back. Mrs Park joined their hands together.
"You two take care of each other" she said, cleared her throat and sat back down on her seat. Mr Kim gave her a thumbs up and they all watched as the couple hugged and kissed each other.
"Toast to a new beginning for both our families" Mr Park said they all clinked their glasses. They settled into conversations and soon, laughter filled the table.
"When do you plan to settle down?" Mrs Park chimed in and the couple groaned in frustration
A few weeks later, Taehyung held a press conference. Every media outlet were present and different sets of questions kept pouring in. The most asked question was ' who is the man that saved you from the bullet"
Taehyung laughed and began.
"Many of you have been very eager to know who that person is so today, I'm finally going to come out and say it"
He took a deep breath. "The man who took the bullet for me is Park Jimin, my boyfriend. I have known him since way back. Ever since we were little kids. We went through a difficult time that resulted in the both of us breaking up but after a lot of time had passed, we were finally able to get back together again"
"What kind of a man is your boyfriend?" One of the reporters questioned.
Taehyung smiled as though answering that question made him extremely happy.
"He is different. He was so clingy, a bad boy who used to cause me so much trouble. He was like a devil but one day, he held my hand and kissed me during the darkest day of my life. When things seemed impossible for me, he was always there for me. But then, his past caught up with him and I was caught in the cross fires. That was the only time he left me and for the past seventeen years, my life was full of darkness so... what kind of person is Jimin? He is the light that brightened up the darkness in my life"
There was absolute silence in the hall.
"With the things you are saying, could it be that your platinum song devil's touch was about this man Jimin?"
Taehyung smiled. " Not only devil's touch, all of my songs"
Silent whisperings filled the hall. Taehyung continued " I called this press conference because I wanted to be honest and truthful to everyone about my life. My boyfriend is not a celebrity so we would be very glad if everyone can respect our privacy. Thank you very much"
The news circulated everywhere and soon, Taehyung and his boyfriend were the talk on everyone's lips. People soon discovered that Jimin was the son of the CEO of Parks group of companies. People began to send their well wishes hoping that they are able to stay together. People expressed that they were a very good match but only those two people knew the suffering that they experienced to get to where they are now.
Thanks for reading. The next chapter is the final