He was just about to enter the airport, when a car stops and parks up nearest to where he was standing. A man stepped out of the car and walked towards him. "Are you Kim Taehyung?" The unfamiliar man questioned.
Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows with a perplexed countenance. "Yes, I am?"
"Right, you need to come quickly. There is an emergency. Your daughters are missing." The man spoke with urgency in his tone.
Taehyung's eyes widened. "What?! How—"
"You need to be quick, sir, otherwise we will never be able to find them in time." He interrupted and led Taehyung to the car.
Taehyung didn't want to hear anything further and just entered straight into the car without a second thought. Mentally, he was in a panic. He wondered where his daughters could be and who could have taken them. He didn't want to think the worst. All he could think about were his daughters.
"How do you know that they're missing?" Taehyung questioned the man, who looked at him through the rearview mirror and answered.
"I-I was informed by their mother."
"Jae?" Taehyung simply says. He took his phone out to check for any messages or missed calls. "That's strange, I haven't received any calls or texts regarding the twins."
"I don't know why you weren't informed about this." The man hastily responded.
Taehyung shook his head. "I don't understand. Why would Jae not contact me when the twins are missing?" He spoke in an apprehensive tone.
Suddenly, the man parked up near a shop. Taehyung and the unfamiliar man stepped out and walked into a dark, almost confined, alleyway. Taehyung scrutinised his surroundings apprehensively. "Wait, why are we here—"
Taehyung asked, until he looked back and realised that the man was longer in his sight. Next thing he knew, he was pushed against the brick wall.
"What—" He uttered.
Until a man stepped out in front of him with a smirk on his face. "Hi, Taehyung."
Mark. His eyes widened.
"What are you doing here? The twins are missing!" I exclaimed.
Mark let out a chuckle and he shook his head. "You're so gullible. They are not missing, they never were."
Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Then why was I led here?"
Just as he questioned, a gang of unfamiliar men stepped out from behind Mark. "To get rid of you." Mark uttered in a dark tone.
"What?" Taehyung whispered, then a fist came in contact with his cheek. The gang surrounded him and they each took turns to beat him up. They thrashed him to the point where he couldn't move an inch and they grabbed ahold of Taehyung and proceed to brutally damage him. In this moment, all Taehyung could think about was Jae and his daughters. He didn't care about living.
His cheeks, eyes and lips were swollen, bloodied and bruised. On Mark's command, one of them even drew a knife and stabbed him in several parts of his body and they pushed him on the ground.
They all laughed seeing Taehyung in pain. Mark smirked before uttering, "Oh, just one more thing." He brought out his gun and aimed it at him.
"Mark, no..." Taehyung whispered weakly. "Please." He helplessly stared at Mark. Taehyung knew Mark wouldn't listen. So the people he thought about at that moment were Jae, the twins, Jimin and the rest of the boys.
Without a second thought, Mark fired at him and he left the place with his group. Taehyung was left bleeding on the floor.
After an hour, a passerby spotted Taehyung bleeding on the floor. He ran to him and attempted to wake him up. To his dismay, he rummaged through Taehyung's pockets and brought out his phone. Luckily his phone didn't have a password, so the man rang the ambulance and then the first name he saw on the call history. He told the person on the phone to arrive quickly as Taehyung was losing a lot of blood.
After what felt like forever, the person, the passerby rang, arrived at the scene. That person turned out to be Jaehyun. The man explained that he saw him lying there and didn't know what to do as he was perturbed. Jaehyun saw Taehyung there and rushed to him. He held Taehyung in his arms.
Taehyung's blood ended up on his hands and shirt. The man also phoned Jimin and explained the same thing to him. He hangs up and mentally panics because of the amount of blood oozing out.
Jaehyun felt a lump in his throat. He ripped a piece of his shirt and placed it where the blood is pouring from, in an attempt to stop the bleeding. He cried and repeatedly apologised for leaving his side. He didn't want to lose someone who he saw as a role model and an older brother. "What happened to you?" He whispered tearfully.
Jimin arrived afterwards. He thanked the man and took Taehyung's phone from him. The man decided not to leave until the ambulance arrived. Jimin knelt down and gazed at Taehyung with pained eyes. He panicked at the sight of blood and spotted Jaehyun's cloth that was filled with blood.
"Taehyung...how did you end up here?" Jimin softly spoke with a tear falling down his cheek. Just as he hugged Taehyung, his blood left imprints and stains on Jimin's shirt. Jimin placed his hand on Taehyung's stomach and he was shocked at the amount of bruises and wounds that were all over his stomach, including a bullet hole.
He cried softly. How did this happen? He wondered. Then his mind got into a frenzy. There's so much blood. He was shot? I'm so sorry, Taehyung. I should have been arranged protection for you. Why couldn't this have happened to me, instead? Why him?
"I don't understand, I dropped him off outside the airport. So why is he here?" Jaehyun questioned and sniffled.
Jimin calms himself down and slowly exhales. "Even I am confused. I thought he was supposed to be on the plane by now." He responded. His eyes wandered around the place until he noticed a CCTV camera flashing a small red light, indicating it was recording. I should check that out. He thought.
Jaehyun shook his head. "Why hasn't the ambulance turned up yet? What is taking them so long?" He spoke in a panicked tone.
Then Jimin had a suggestion in mind. "You drive him to the hospital instead."
"What if the ambulance arrives while we're gone?" Jaehyun asked.
Jimin helped Jaehyun bring Taehyung into his car. "I will tell them that he's being taken to the hospital."
Due to which Jaehyun nodded. Jimin comforted him and hugged him. He ushered Jaehyun to go to the hospital and off Jaehyun went. Jimin wiped his tears and told the passerby that he may leave, he thanked him once again.
With that said, he passerby nodded and said "I hope he makes it. Send him my best wishes for his recovery."
Jimin smiled. "I will, thank you." Then the passerby left. So off Jimin went to investigate the CCTV.
Jaehyun rushed Taehyung into the hospital and yelled for a doctor.
The doctor rushed in and shifted Taehyung straight to the ICU as he was losing heavy amounts of blood. He was losing his pulse. They treated him, tried to revive him and regain his breathing.
Nothing.
Not even a breath.
They tried to wake him up again.
Still nothing.
He just laid there, fighting for his life on that hospital bed, breathless.
Taehyung had been battling his demons for years. It was a long hard struggle — to be free, to love and to breathe.
His abusers snatched his away his happiness but the only people that kept him going were Jae, his daughters and his brothers and they were the best things that has ever happened to him. He felt like he let them all down simply because he was forced to act a certain way.
He was forced to harm and inflict pain on Jae, his first love, under Mark's control.
His friendship with Jimin was on the line. Sure, he wasn't around to witness his twin daughters' first words, steps, smiles and moments, but he never wanted to give up on them. At least he got to spend time with them and developed that special bond, despite the twins not knowing that he's their biological father. However, he would do anything to be close to them, even if it meant not revealing their true relation.
Throughout the years, he felt mentally exhausted. If it was his time to go, then so be it.
At least he would rest peacefully, knowing he was able to love Jae the way he wanted to and love his daughters like a father would. Jimin was like the brother he never had and he was so glad that he met him. No matter what, they'll always be soulmates.
This was the life that he could leave behind.
But will he wake up or will he take his last breath?
_____________________
Do you think this book will have a happy ending or a sad ending? If so (from choosing one of them), then why?
I cannot wait to show you guys the epilogue. And I'm sad that this book is coming to an end very soon. Literally 1 or 2 chapters left, depending on whether I chop it up or keep it long, and then the epilogue. 😢
Thank you all for being very patient with me. I don't deserve you at all! 💜