The air in the room freezes, a sudden silence contrasting from the tension heating it a second ago.
Even Jimin doesn't say anything.
But Taehyung's mind is loud. Incoherent screaming deafens him to any external noise, forcing him to think beyond it.
The air around Taehyung must've frozen more because he doesn't think what Taylor said reached his ears, or maybe it's because their's already so much noise in his head, he can't hear anything.
"I'm sorry..." Taehyung leans forward slightly. "What?"
The noise fades to static, constant mind-breaking static.
Taylor inhales and looks at Jungkook. "Lee Jaykay. My most trusted, Jeon Jungkook."
The lump in Taehyung's throat grows so much, it clogs his ability to breathe.
What did she just say?
He must've heard wrong.
Jungkook never worked for Rings. How would they know his real name? They shouldn't know his real name.
Taehyung slowly turns his head to face Jungkook, who is facing Taehyung with wide eyes, his entire body stilled to a statue.
Taehyung frowns and scrunches his face in confusion.
Jungkook shivers and shakes his head, "I- I can explain."
Oh, baby, please, no.
Taehyung's lips part and he tries to breathe, he tries to suck in air, but he can't.
"You're not..." Timothée steps closer to Taehyung, talking to Jungkook. "Going to deny it?"
"Please," Jungkook says, tears welling up in his eyes again. "I can explain. Just let me explain."
"You have one minute," Jimin says, his voice firm.
How can it be Jungkook? Jungkook was with Taehyung. They were looking for Yoongi. They were going to get to August. Jungkook had been duping Rings for years just to get to him.
Still... Taylor's most trusted?
"In private," Jungkook chokes, still looking Taehyung directly in the eyes.
"Jungkook, come back here," Taylor says.
Jungkook looks at her but then quickly whips his head back to Taehyung, his tears flowing out of his eyes now. "Taehyung, please."
"Fucking explain!" Jimin slams his hand on the table, making everybody in the room jump or flinch.
Everybody except for Taehyung, who remains paralyzed, trying to wrap his head around the situation.
It doesn't make any sense.
At all.
He killed Travis Barker... he killed... Travis smiled at him.
Travis knew Jungkook.
Travis had been sent on an official mission from Rings... he was working under Rings when he smiled at Jungkook.
We are so fucking dumb, it was right there in front of us and now look.
But what about getting to Yoongi and loving Taehyung...?
"Is that how you knew about the PTSD?" Jimin looks at Taylor.
"Jungkook, come here," Taylor says again.
Oh...
Taehyung's face turns blue and his head goes light. Jungkook told Taylor about his PTSD? How could he... how could he do something like that?
This son of a fucking whore's ass!
"Taehyung, listen-"
"Shut up and cut to the explanation," Jimin says.
"I'm talking to him, not you."
"You killed him," Jimin stands. "Look at what you did to him."
"What else do they know?" Yeonjun quickly asks. He looks at Taylor. "What else do you know?"
"Jungkook, come here!" Taylor raises her voice.
"Jungkookie... come on," Seokjin coaxes.
Jungkookie?
What.... how close were they?
Oh, someone is going to see their last sunset today.
Taylor's most trusted... revealed Taehyung's biggest secret... liar, cheater, traitor.
But... how?
The voices in Taehyung's head go quiet suddenly and leave him with glass-shattering silence.
Jungkook sighs and looks at Jin, his tears still flowing.
"Baby, he won't hurt you if you come here right now," Ariana says softly.
Baby?
Jungkook sniffles and nods, standing up slowly, his legs shaking. He holds onto the table and supports himself as he takes slow steps towards Montero, his head bowed down.
Taehyung follows his every move, his vision growing blurry as his first and greatest love goes over to join the enemy.
"Son of a bitch," Jimin mutters under his breath. "He's worse than Yoongi. At least the other guy gathered intel on you to help you."
Taehyung blinks, breathing in harshly to live.
Yoongi... better than Jungkook?
Montero stands up and leads Jungkook to the seat, wiping his tears away.
A guard hurries out and comes back in seconds, a bottle of water in his hand. He gives it to Jimin, who opens the bottle and places it against Taehyung's mouth.
Timothée steps forward and presses Taehyung's nose shut, tilting his head upwards by placing two fingers under his chin.
Jimin forces the water down his throat slowly, and Taehyung breathes it all in. He coughs, sitting forward and clearing his throat.
Timothée pats his back before pulling his hair to tilt his face upwards again, while Jimin makes him drink more water.
The guards block the exit and make sure Rings stay seated.
Once Taehyung is done with half the bottle, Timothée grabs his forearm and forces him to stand, walking him over to the wall.
Taehyung manages to breathe in and out, balancing himself. He places his hand on the wall and heaves out, coughing and waiting for his head to stop hurting.
Jungkook betrayed him.
Jungkook lied to him.
Jungkook took advantage of him.
Taehyung's lower lip wobbles and his forehead heats up.
Son of a motherfucking bitch.
Asshole of the century.
If Yoongi was a dick, Jungkook is the entire cock.
He turns and he's sure his eyes are bloodshot, his lips are swelling and his face is red.
But he does not care.
He stomps his foot once and clenches his fist, staring directly at Jungkook, who's impatiently tapping his foot on the ground, blowing into his fisted hands, his face the mirror image of fear.
"I..." Taehyung lifts a finger and points it directly at Jungkook, his voice deep and menacing. "Will fucking kill you."
Jungkook swallows and his tears flow faster.
"So... no deal?" Ariana pipes up.
Taehyung's gaze shoots to her and she cowers a little before looking away.
Jimin walks over to Taehyung and places a hand on his shoulder, leaning in closer to his ear as Taehyung fumes underneath his hold.
"Put her on hold, we'll talk to Jungkook and get a proper confession out of him," Jimin whispers. "Quietly. I think in the end we'll have to go with August but while we have options on the table, it's not smart to throw such a powerful one away."
Taehyung huffs.
He's right, you know.
"He may just be scared of Taylor," Jimin continues. "We don't know. Maybe he'll tell us the truth when she's not around."
Taehyung swallows heavily, resisting the urge to sock Jungkook in the face. Why does his fist feel like it's growing with the need to punch something?
"We need to take Jungkook with us," Jimin says.
"No way," Taylor immediately responds.
"Jungkook, we're going to take you back to base," Jimin says. "You can explain things peacefully, and we will not hurt you. Will you come?"
Jungkook blinks and shrinks. "Can Jin come?"
"Can Jin-" Taehyung walks forward, straight towards Jungkook. "Why don't you ask Jin to suck your cock while we're at it?"
Jungkook moves back and gets smaller than should be humanely possible.
Taehyung, sit down.
Selena stands but Taehyung's guards surround all the Rings' members, locking them to their seats.
"Oh, I know, let's fuck Jin too!" Taehyung can't tell if he's crying or not, all he knows is, his face is burning. "At least he wont get a fucking panic attack!"
Jungkook sobs and tries to get away from there, but a guard holds him up.
"Do you tell Jin you love him?" Taehyung yells, stopping himself a foot away from Jungkook. "Do you tell him that he can trust you and you're going to protect his health and wealth? Or do you do that shit with Ariana?"
"Tae, look, please-"
"No, Jin can't come!"
"Vante, please," Jin stands, his hand outstretched and expression distressed. "He's just a kid."
"No, he is not!" Taehyung screams, still facing Jungkook's terrified figure. "This is a grown ass man who knew exactly what he was doing ever since he stepped foot in my territory!
"'You know you can trust me, Tae'," Taehyung mocks. "Some trust! I was right about you from the beginning! Is this what we do with trust? We tell our friend's enemy that they have PTSD?"
Taehyung pants, his shoulders moving up and down with his breathing pattern. He is most definitely not crying. His mind grows louder, stopping him from doing something stupid but driving him more insane with each second that passes.
"Tell me, Jungkook!" The scream scratches at his throat.
"I'm sorry!"
"You're sorry?" The pain in his throat is raw but he doesn't give a fuck. "You're sorry, you son of a whore's ass? Sorry for what?"
"Taehyung, enough," Jimin says from behind him, his voice firm.
"Enough?" Taehyung twirls around. "This motherfu-"
"You're not helping the situation," Jimin speaks in Korean.
"Jimin, he-"
"You are fifteen!" Jimin steps forward, still speaking in Korean.
Taehyung stops and takes a step back, pushing Jungkook to hide in to the guard assigned to him.
"You are fifteen," Jimin's voice softens.
Taehyung frowns and his breath shakes, knowing what Jimin is going to do next.
"You're sitting in the passenger seat of a Corolla," Jimin's voice grows softer. "Look to the driver's side."
Taehyung automatically imagines himself in a white Corolla, turning his head to face the driver.
"It's Yoongi," Jimin says. "Yoongi is driving the Corolla. He's let the windows down so the air is blowing through your hair. It pokes at your eyes but you just got your glasses last week."
Taehyung breathes out and remembers, clear as day, the scene Jimin is describing to him.
"You can't stop talking, your day was so exciting," Jimin smiles. "You did well on all your tests and this cute boy in class sat next to you. He's adorable and loves Naruto as much as you do. He suggested you should have a marathon some time."
Taehyung's breathing comes down to a stable level and he carries the rest of it out himself, breathing in... breathing out.
"And Yoongi is listening," Jimin continues. "Because Yoongi always listens. Yoongi always remembers. Yoongi always cares. Even when his methods are questionable, Yoongi comes through."
Taehyung closes his eyes and imagines Yoongi's gummy smile, the way he would laugh and immediately relaxes to the thought. Yoongi may have hurt him... but the elder had done that before. Taehyung usually never saw the reason he did something and ended up getting offended by it.
So, yes, Yoongi was the real one.
Besides, he would be there when the world would end, and Taehyung knew that was the truth.
"All good?" Jimin smiles.
Taehyung breathes out heavily and nods, walking away from there, standing at the back of the room.
"Take Jungkook away," Jimin orders, switching to English. "Make sure absolutely no harm reaches him until Vante decides to return him to Taylor. Do not bind him harshly, do not grab or drag him unless he resists. Take him straight to Vante's room at base and tie him in there. The leader with deal with this man himself."
Taehyung watches with anger simmering in his chest as Jungkook's face morphs into one of horror, one Taehyung has seen before. The day Taehyung killed Jisoo, Jungkook wore that exact expression. Taehyung's hold onto the edge of the table tightens. That's what Jungkook was so scared of that day.
Cute, he thinks I'm going to be as nice to him as you were to Jisoo.
"No harm?" Taylor stands.
"Vante will not harm him either."
Not Physically.
Taylor raises an uncertain brow.
"You have my word," Jimin assures her.
"We will get back to you about the alliance before seventy-two hours," Taehyung says. "A team will be assigned to watch you all of the time, unless you need to make a trip back to America. Make yourself comfortable here."
"I have to return to the USA," Selena says.
Taehyung nods.
"Alright boys," Jimin walks towards the now open door. "Let's get Jeon out of here."
The guards hold onto Jungkook's arms and start nudging him out.
Jungkook plants his feet onto the ground, violently shaking his head. "No, no, Taylor you can't. You don't understand. He will hurt me. He will kill me!"
"Nonsense," Jimin scoffs.
The guards drag Jungkook out, all while the younger continues to scream out, asking for Taylor to help him.
Taehyung listens with growing malice as every desperate cry for help is directed to Taylor, and not a single one begging him to stop, asking him for a chance.
"Taylor, please you don't know him the way I do!" Jungkook's screams echo against the entire floor. "He killed your baby, Taylor! He's insane! He loses it when it comes to anger!"
Taehyung clenches his jaw.
Taylor stays frozen in her place as she stares at the door, her face drooping into an expression of pain as she fists her hand over her chest, blinking rapidly.
"Taylor, he killed Jisoo! He loved her! Jisoo was his daughter's mother!"
Taylor's eyes widen and she looks at Taehyung with shock written all across her features.
"Taylor!" Jungkook cries. "Please, Taylor!"
Taylor inhales and looks away.
Jungkook reaches the elevator and his cries drown out once the doors close.
"Is he... telling the truth?" Seokjin asks meekly.
Taehyung's glare shifts to him.
Seokjin swallows.
"I swear to God, Kim," Ariana spits out. "If he's returned with a single bruise, I'm gonna slit your throat with my fucking nails."
The guards around them start filing towards the door.
"Let's go," one says and starts leading all the people in towards the elevator.
Rings is at the front while Taehyung follows quietly, at the back of the pack.
The elevator downstairs is quiet as well, with Taehyung standing off to one corner while his guards surround the team from Rings.
Taehyung's hands fumble around to see if he remembered to bring a JUUL with him.
Idiot, he didn't.
He looks around at the guards and taps the shoulder one near to him.
"Sir?"
Taehyung brings two fingers closer to his mouth, "Do you have a pen?"
The guard shakes his head and asks around, until eventually a watermelon flavored vape pen is passed over to Taehyung.
Relief washes over Taehyung's entire body when he places the pen to his lips, inhaling the dose of watermelon nicotine, closing his eyes and throwing his head back.
Taehyung stretches his back muscles and groans in pleasure on his second puff.
There is nothing quite like a soft puff of vape after getting your heart broken.
Not that Taehyung would recommend it to others.
But like, he totally would.
The doors open and Taehyung straightens his neck, allowing everyone else to leave before he follows out, the pen in his mouth, and his hands in his pants pockets. He puts his sunglasses back on, wanting to hide all emotion from onlookers.
Jungkook has made it halfway across the bridge, screaming and thrashing in the guards' arms.
Taylor slows down after seeing him like that but after a gentle nudge from Seokjin, continues on her path.
It takes a total of seven minutes to reach the cars outside and the little group from Rings watches Jungkook's strength start to die out as his struggles fade into weak pulls and exhausted jerks.
Taehyung takes another puff and walks over to Jungkook, crouching in front of him.
Jungkook slowly raises his gaze and his fear-stricken, puffy eyes lock with Taehyung's. His lashes are drenched in his tears, sticking them to each other.
Taehyung frowns as Jungkook's face blurs in his vision.
Taehyung blinks.
Jungkook is younger.
Too young, his hair is cut badly and jet black, it's original color.
He looks so small... and so scared.
Taehyung tilts his head and peers harder.
Jungkook is leaning against the dressing table, panting for air, tears streaming down his cheeks as his puffy eyes stay wide in fear. He holds onto the dressing table, trying to back away but not being able to move.
Taehyung looks past Jungkook and in the mirror behind the younger.
His eyes widen.
It's him... from seven years ago.
His hair is a disheveled mess atop his head, his eyes have dark circles around them, accentuated even more by the hollowness of his cheeks.
The room behind him is messy and has a twin sized bed against the wall, the sheets on top of it spread out in a mess. There are clothes everywhere and a poster of some anime girl stands out against the rest of the room.
"Taehyung, I'm sorry," Jungkook cries and Taehyung looks back at him.
It's a flashback, he got that.
Now he wants to get out.
There's so much fear in his heart, and an unsettling feeling in his tummy.
"Taehyung, I'm so sorry."
Taehyung steps back and blinks, shaking his head so he can get out.
Please, I want to go.
I don't want to get stuck here.
What if I get stuck here?
He's heard enough horror stories about asylum patients getting lost in a memory and never coming back to feel comfortable with the flashbacks where he finds himself reliving the entire moment.
And if he has to get stuck in a memory, he'd prefer it wasn't one in which Jungkook is crying, scared of... him.
What did he even do?
"Taehyung, in private I can explain, I promise."
The scent of artificial watermelon fills Taehyung's nose and a haze covers his eyes. Taehyung blinks.
The haze clears away and he's back in Croatia, with a grownup Jungkook in front of him, seeming a little less afraid.
"Do we take him in like a prisoner, or seat him in the car?" Timothée asks.
Taehyung takes another puff. "Sedate him. Load him into my car."
Jungkook glances back at Taylor, then looks at Taehyung, "I do love you."
Taehyung's eyes narrow as Yeonjun injects a sedative into Jungkook's neck vein, the puff from the vape clouding his face as he blinks, before slipping out of conscience, leaving Taehyung to stare at him with a new feeling in his chest.
----
A/N:
UHDUIHIUWE WHAT IS TAE GONNA DO TO HIM
Which alter do you think is doing the talking 👀👀 hint: you've already met them
But yes... Jungkook is in dire need of prayers. Do you think he'll need saving? Who even is gonna save him?
Just leave all your thoughts down in the comments, please, thanks ily
How are you people anyway? Anything new?
Thank you for reading, voting and commenting!
I purple you! 💜💜💜