His voice was but a mere croak, withered by his myriad of emotions. He didn't know whether to revel in her and her survival or cry from what she had endured. When Seren saw a smile kiss his soft lips in utter bliss, she felt herself smile against her cries, reaching out to him, to hold his hand. Which was all she was able to do, she had the urge to defy her stitched wounds and embrace him after putting him through such a horrific scare.
Jimin held her hand, squeezing it with all his spare might as though he was trying to express his solace in their handhold.
"I really thought I was gonna lose you." He sniffled, sitting in the chair behind him. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come in here, I was just anxious to see you. I wasn't ready to see all these machines hooked up to you, it's a hard pill to swallow. When you're off doing your daily routine and find out that something bad happened to someone you love. I couldn't process anything."
"Ask Namjoon, I just about yelled at every nurse at that front desk. I feel awful about it." He snorted, shaking his head.
"It's fine. I'm sure they understand why you were the way you were," Seren placated, smiling to herself to finally hear his voice again. "And, I made it. There's no reason to cry anymore."
He chortled, his eyes gleaming from his collected tears. "You were the one that cried first when I walked in."
She laughed, shaking her head. "That's because I... I never thought I was gonna see you again." Seren tried to keep her composure stable, but those memories and emotions were so fresh she was hardly at the stage that came to accept them.
If anything, she kept replaying that moment in her head. How she felt. How those emotions somehow numbed the rest of her body as she lay above that soiled patch of grass and cold dirt. Just as Jack pierced holes through her body, the sensation of her skin tearing persisted, making her recoil.
"I knew something was wrong when you didn't answer my calls. Namjoon told me you were probably just busy, but you always answer my calls and texts. It was weird." Jimin stared at her limp body, his voice lacking stability. "And then all of a sudden I get a call from Yoongi telling me that he was gonna pick me up from campus, that something happened to you."
"I was in shock, I didn't wanna ask what happened. I was too scared. My mind went racing, a car accident, someone mugged you, you were involved in a home invasion. Someone killed you." He mumbled the last part, his heart breaking at the validity of it.
"I'm sorry. I was going to answer your call, I really was. But, then this happened." She pointed at her body with her weak hand, staring down at herself in pity.
"Does it hurt bad?" He asked, his eyebrows pushed in concern.
"No. I can't feel a thing." Seren looked up at the intravenous drip. "I can only feel something when I push myself to do things. Like get up."
"Something that you should do with ease." He shut his eyes, shaking his head. "I hate that this happened to you. Why you? I think about what you could have done to deserve some traumatic experience like this, and nothing comes to mind."
"Life works in mysterious ways. I don't wanna see it like that." Seren still held his hand, glancing at his blond hair that complimented him so well. "I just wanna think about how lucky I am to be here, with you. How although I had to go through such a devastating situation, he's been caught and put behind bars."
"See. How could you possibly see it that way already? I would have trouble accepting it. I would hate the person that did it to me, and I'd wish nothing but hell for them." Jimin admitted, chewing his lip.
"Oh, I do wish nothing but hell for him. He deserves a life sentence for what he put people through, what he put me through." Seren agreed, thinking of how relieving it would be to see him put in an institution. "I just don't want to dwell on what could have been. Because, in reality, there is no what could have been. What happened, happened. There's no point in changing it, or thinking about what could have happened for things to change. It's just insufferable."
He nodded his head, ultimately agreeing with her. He wrapped both his hands in hers, indulging in her presence for as long as possible.
"Tell me you won't be living alone again after this?" He dared ask, staring up into her eyes.
"Where would I go?" Seren asked.
"Let me live with you." Jimin answered quickly.
"No. You have school, and I'm not gonna take that away from you for you to hate me one day because I dragged you away from college." She slightly laughed, pained when they hit her wounds.
"I couldn't do that. It's my decision." He urged, scooting closer to her bed. "We could protect each other, like we always promised we would."
"We could do that from millions of miles away from each other." Seren assured.
"At least consider living with Namjoon, for now." He pleaded.
If Jimin wasn't her younger brother, she would wonder why he was pushing her to live with someone when she had barely awoken from a prolonged rest, but she was aware that he just wanted her safe and in someone's cognizant view. Someone that they both trusted dearly.
"Let's talk about this after, okay?" Seren requested. "How about we let the others in and I finally get that water my nurse promised me." She proposed, feeling her throat dry up after every word that spilled from her mouth.
Jimin sighed, annoyed by Seren's obstinance. "Fine. I'll go let the others in."
He got up from his chair, releasing her hand as he walked to the exit. He poked his head through the small space, the heads of a waiting Namjoon and Yoongi looking right over at Jimin.
Jimin ticked his head sideways, silently letting them know that Seren wanted the three of them in the room with her.
"She wants a water, so I'm gonna go ask the nurse for it." Jimin informed them, opening the door wider for the two men to walk through.
She smiled upon their appearance, grateful that they waited so long for her and Jimin to finish their mini-reunion that had to be cut short.
"Feeling better after that?" Yoongi asked, sitting in the chair that sat against the wall beside the windows.
She nodded. "I am."
Namjoon sat beside Yoongi, leaving the open chair beside the bed for Jimin.
"Okay, Miss Park, here's that water you wanted." Her nurse was back with a paper cup in her hand, pushing the table near the seat beside the bed. "We can start off consuming liquids first if you think solids are too much, I'll bring you your food in about an hour."
Seren grabbed the cup of water, her hand shaking as she brought it close to her body. "What is the food?"
"Right now, it's gonna be broth and maybe a peanut butter jelly sandwich." She informed.
Seren nodded, taking a small sip of the lukewarm water.
She never would have thought she would find a cup of water so appetizing, drinking the rest of the liquids in one gulp.
"Would you want another?" The nurse chuckled, taking the empty cup from her hands.
Seren nodded. "Yeah. I didn't think I'd be so dehydrated."
"I'll go ahead and bring some more." She nodded, turning back to the door where Jimin stood.
Once the nurse was back with another water, the four of them all stayed in her room watching the small tv that was planted in front of the bed. They talked a few times, but Seren wanted to avoid all their questions that involved what Jack put her through. She was partly unprepared to talk about it at that moment, but she also couldn't remember much of what happened. She recalled being in the trunk of her car, and in a park. But, it all ends with him stabbing her. Everything else was missing.
Even if she wanted to tell them, she wouldn't get her story right.
She figured it was from the injury on the side of her head, though she couldn't remember when it happened, or why he did it. Seren assumed it was him, there was no way she could have fallen and hit her head with much force on wet grass in that large park.
The rest was nothing but a black void, she had puzzle pieces, but had no clue where the rest of her pieces were that would complete the image and show her what she needed to see.
It made her feel useless, how could she not remember the one thing, the most tragic and traumatic event in her life? Something that would help the authorities decide his miserable fate.
It was crucial for her to try and remember, even if it crushed her to relive the emotions.
A slight knock on the door dragged her away from her thoughts, and her nurse appeared through the door.
"Hey, Miss Park, you have some visitors here to see you." She informed with slightly gritted teeth.
Seren glanced over at Jimin, who was already staring at her with confusion etched on his delicate features.
Then, her parents appeared in her mind.
Did her parents really take the time to visit her?
Her heart raced, ignoring the beeping monitor that matched her frantic heart.
"It's actually law enforcement," the nurse continued. "They want to know if they can ask some questions?"
Her heart fell, getting her hopes up too early.
She nodded. "Yeah. Okay."
The nurse in the navy blue scrubs nodded, shutting the door to inform the people in the chair that waited patiently for Seren's agreement.
As soon as she gave them permission, a man and woman wasted no time stepping into her room.
Both were clad in office attire. The man was wearing slacks and a black blazer above his blue button-up, with a gray tie to his collar. The woman also donned black slacks, making her appear powerful, her button-up rolled up at the sleeves while her hair remained at her shoulders, straight and perfect.
"Good evening, Park Seren, I'm Jeon Seok."
"And I'm Si Yoon." The woman had on a firm smile standing beside her partner.
"We work with the county police department and law enforcement. We're just here to ask you a few questions about Jack, or Jung Hoseok."
His name inflicted pain in her chest, slowly nodding at their statement.
Namjoon raised from his seat, "Um, why don't we wait out front then?" He asked, making all eyes glued on him.
Seren shook her head, grabbing Jimin's hand – who was already lifting from his seat to leave. "Please don't leave, guys. They can stay, right?" She asked the two influential figures in the room.
They glanced at each other for a brief moment, nodding their heads in unison after their small muted huddle.
"Yes, you guys can stay. But, this information should only be disclosed to us until further notice. So, why don't we all take our seats." Miss Si Yoon requested, glancing at the three boys in the room.
Each took their seats, not daring to defy her.
The two sat in open chairs that were up for grabs, sitting a few meters beside Jimin.
"First, we'd like to ask you to confirm that this is the man responsible for your condition." Mr. Jeon Seok asked, removing a picture from his file that was tucked at his underarm.
Seren raised her head, trying to see the image.
He held the picture out to her, showing the mugshots of Hoseok.
He held a black panel with his case number and his charges written in white letters. His hair was short, messy with a few strands touching his forehead, his eyelids were painted black, and his lips were smeared with black lipstick. His eyes held no emotion, no depth of sympathy lay in his eyes. He stared blankly at the camera. But the second picture of his side angle showed a little tug at his lips as if he was smirking.
Anger festered in her chest, her heart racing.
She couldn't believe he was once the man she used to seek out for her safety and well-being.
"Yes. That's him." Seren confirmed, disgust written on her features.
He retracted the image, placing it back into his file. "I know it may be hard to see him again, whether it's a photo or in person, you are being a big help to the case. You can help us decide his fate, whether it be him being placed behind bars for the rest of his life, or him being placed in an institution."
Seren just hummed, laying back into her pillow.
"Why don't we start from the beginning," the woman began, clearing her throat as she got her pen and paper ready. "Did you have any knowledge of his murders, or what he was doing in this second life of his?" Si Yoon asked, glancing at her.
Seren shook her head. "No. I had no idea."
"So, when he disappeared for hours on end, you didn't question it?" She asked again.
"No. I mean, I didn't know. I thought he was at work? And he also said he was seeing a psychiatrist, so I assumed he was there whenever he wasn't answering me." She informed.
"We also got word of police reports you've made in the past." The man beside her spoke, making Seren switch her eyes to him. "You reported a man standing outside your window on multiple occasions, is that right?"
She nodded, ignoring the two eyes to her right that flickered directly at her.
Namjoon and Yoongi still had no idea about the man that was stalking her.
"And are you aware that that man was also Jung Hoseok?" Yoon asked, glancing up from her paper.
Seren felt her jaw tick, her forehead puckered in confusion. "W-what?"
The two looked at each other for a moment, angering Seren from their dumbfounded silence.
"He openly admitted to stalking you while we were questioning him on his case." The woman informed.
Seren swallowed hard on her heavy saliva, recalling the cigarettes that he was addicted to. It all made sense, her stalker smoked outside her house, and so did Hoseok.
The stalker also showed up around the same time Hoseok entered her life.
She felt completely foolish for not realizing it sooner, for not piecing the events together sooner to avoid getting involved with him.
"I-I didn't know it was him." Seren choked up, her body imperceptibly trembling. "But, it makes sense. He showed up around the time he and I began talking."
"Who?" The women with short hair demand names.
"The stalker showed up once Hoseok and I began talking." Seren confirmed with more confidence.
She glanced over at Namjoon and Yoongi.
Namjoon had his eyes on her already, sympathy written in his dark brown eyes that were specked with hints of hazel and soft caramel. Yoongi chewed the sides of his thumb, his eyes on the ground as he absorbed the information.
"Alright. Do you remember how this all started? Did you provoke Hoseok in any way that would cause him to act this way toward you?" Yoon asked, grabbing Seren's lost attention.
"Why do you assume I had to do something to provoke him?" She asked, her eyebrows pressed.
"Well, while we were questioning him, he showed signs of him being unstable. Claims there are others that also took part in this murder, Jack. Which is his other persona, we're assuming. He kept mentioning how he did not want to do this to you, but Jack convinced him after he was provoked." The man explained their reasoning.
Seren was quiet, processing their words meticulously. "It's hard to remember... but I think I did." She shut her eyes, trying to ignite her lost memory.
"You hit your head, is that right?" The woman asked, her voice mellow.
Seren nodded. "Yes." She pressed her fingers above her injury.
Suddenly, she shook her head. "No. He bashed my head in with a brick." abrupt memories began to flow at the speed of light, tears welling in her eyes. "I was searching through his home. I found a hidden compartment in his floor with the hat that Jack wears, along with a box of hair that he cut off from my ends."
She began searching for the uneven strands at the tip of her hair, showing them the many missing ends of her hair.
"I heard him enter his house, and got scared he would be upset with me in his home, so I decided to hide. Once I thought I was good to leave and he wouldn't see me, I left through his window. But, I bumped right into him when I thought I was safe. He seemed surprised that it was me. Offended, almost. I'm sure he could sense my fear, because he hugged me, and then I remember him apologizing, before he took the brick and bashed it in my head."
Seren allowed all her memories to flow accurately, and at a speed that she was afraid the two wouldn't be able to keep up with, but they were on their toes, waiting for her following sequences of recollections.
"Next thing I knew, I was in a trunk tied up by the legs and wrists with zip ties that were too tight for comfort. He had my mouth covered as well, so I could barely make noise. Not that any would hear me, he was driving too fast and too recklessly for anyone to possibly hear my pounding or screams that I still attempted to let out."
She hadn't noticed that her heart rate picked up until the beeping was a nuisance to her, and Jimin's hand placed itself above her shoulder in an attempt to calm her.
"Then, we were in a park and I heard some kind of sloshing. I attempted to cry out to him, to try and make him feel bad. Make him feel anything that would have gotten him to open that trunk and cut me free."
"What did you tell him?" Yoon asked, clicking her pen over and over again.
"I told him that I loved him." She shrugged, staring at the end of the bed. "Told him I loved him as much as I did Hoseok, since I was speaking to Jack. I told Jack I'd show him how much I loved him, and that's how the trunk opened."
They both nodded, prompting her to continue.
"He was hostile. Aggressive. I kissed him." She said flatly, chills coursing her body for ever allowing herself to do something like that. "It's so gross. Disgusting that I did something like that. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know any other way that would get him to free me."
"You do not need to validate your actions, Miss Seren." Yoon advised, glancing up from her paper. "We understand that you had to do what you had to do in order to survive."
She nodded, a small smile creeping on her lips. "It was almost like he was possessed. Hoseok would switch from himself to Jack in a matter of seconds. It was strange. Hoseok begged me to forgive him, then Jack would back out and all the hostility was back."
"Jack kept telling me that he had always loved me, and loved me more than Hoseok. I told him if that was true, he would take those zip ties off, and he did."
"I could taste freedom just by that simple release, but I made the mistake of flinching away from him. I'm sure he knew I was lying, he could have probably smelled the fear percolating off my body. So, he started to strangle me and called me a liar."
"Again, I begged for him to kiss me so I could show him that I wasn't lying. And while he did, I kicked him in his crotch, which gave me time to run away from him. Though It wasn't enough, I had no sense of direction. I knew we were in a park, but I couldn't find my way out of that place."
Seren pictured everything as if it was right in front of her like a movie. How lost and desperate she felt as her head injury began to impede her from running, leaning on trees to find her strength before Jack got his hands on her.
How real death felt at that moment, and how she knew her endeavors would be the cause of her demise.
"I was s-screaming for help." Her speech hiccuped and unseen tears flowed from her eyes. "Nobody heard me. Nobody was there for me. My head began to ache, and I began seeing black blotches as I leaned on tree trunks to regain my balance. I didn't get far until I heard his voice right behind me, taking me to the ground, striking my head again in the same spot."
Seren wanted to continue, opening her mouth to complete her sentence, but she couldn't control the sobs that left her weak lips.
Jimin sniffled, grabbing her hand, and leaning his head against her shoulder to give her some of the courage and comfort she needed to continue.
"I tried not to think about the inevitable. I thought about my little brother, I thought about my friends as I stared up at the night sky before he pierced his knife through me-"
Her speech was interrupted when a loud clash sounded through the room.
Yoongi raised from his chair so fast that it pounded against the wall with an immense amount of force. He made his way to the door, forcefully shoving it open and storming out with thunderous footsteps that led him down the hall.
Seren glanced at Namjoon, her eyebrows pressed in grave concern.
"I-I'm so sorry, Seren. I'll go get him, okay?" Namjoon was at a loss for words, lifting from his chair to follow Yoongi.
She looked at Jimin, who still kept his head on her shoulder.
"You may continue, it might just be a little hard for you friend to hear your story." Yoon gave her a sorry smile, looking up at her from her notes.
Namjoon raced down the hall, calling out for Yoongi as he stepped into the elevator.
"Yoongi!" He shouted, reaching his hand into the elevator to stop the automatic doors from closing. "What the fuck dude? What gives you the right to storm out of there while Seren tells her story, you wanted to hear it in the first place, and now you can't handle it? How do you think she felt?!" His eyes were round, taken aback by Yoongi's behavior.
Yoongi paced in the elevator, his hands on his head as they traced down to his face, grunting.
"It's not that I can't fuckin handle her story." He effused, shaking his head. "All that she went through is my fault." He pointed at himself, pacing in the elevator.
"What do you mean it's your fault?" Namjoon asked, his eyes squinting. "We all blame ourselves, Yoongi. We all think we could have done something to prevent it from happening."
"No! It's not that. I'm the asshole that hoped something bad would happen to them." Yoongi muttered, stepping up to Namjoon.
"What're you talking about?" He asked, grabbing his hand and taking him out of the elevator.
"In the car, after we met him. Don't you remember what I said?" Yoongi muttered to him, his voice quiet but firm with fury and aggression. "I said I hoped something bad would happen to them, and look what happened." He scoffed, his palms hitting his legs as he shook his head in disbelief.
"Yoongi, you didn't mean for this to happen." Namjoon lectured, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You and I both know you didn't want him to harm Seren, you just wanted their relationship to fall at the seams."
He shrugged his hand off. "Stop sugarcoating the stupid shit I said. I wished bad upon them, I was a shitty person for doing that." He placed his pointer finger and thumb at the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes.
"I just wanted them to not work out. I wanted her to break up with him over something petty, or maybe she would catch him in the act with another woman." Yoongi sighed, revolted by his sore tongue for wishing bad upon Seren. "Something that would piss her off, and take her away from him. To bring her back with me."
"Okay, listen to yourself. You did not wish for this to happen. You didn't want Hoseok to literally attempt murder on her, did you?" Namjoon asked, looking for his lost eyes that were staring off into blank oblivion.
"No. No. I didn't want this. And hearing what he did to her... what he put her through. Fuck!" Yoongi effused, causing heads to turn to their heating conversion. "I want to fuckin' kill him with my bare hands. Strangle him like he did to her, until he loses conscience."
Eyes began to rescind from their discussion, not wanting to involve themselves with Yoongi or his percolating animosity that was poisoning the hallway.
"Just calm down. And stop talking like that, people are staring." Namjoon ordered, shifting his body to block the trailing eyes from Yoongi's body. "We all want him to suffer. Believe me, while she was talking about it, I just wanted to go down to the jail cell they're holding him in and just kill him myself."
"But, we can't do that." Namjoon sighed, closing his eyes to compose himself. "We need to stay here... for Seren. We need to be strong for her, we can't just get up and leave her like we just did. She probably feels abandoned right now. We're lucky Jimin stayed behind."
Yoongi eventually agreed, blowing air from his thin lips. "Damn. Something just came over me. How could he hurt someone like Seren? She's so pure and innocent, she doesn't deserve something like that. It's nauseating." He rubbed the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve.
"I thought the same thing." Namjoon whispered. "Let's go get some water, and we can go back into the room. I'm sure she's wrapping everything up already."
Yoongi sank into Namjoon's large frame as he placed his arm over his shoulder, walking down the hallway. The observers began to avoid looking at the two men, staring down at their blank phones in order to ignore their presence, and act as though they hadn't overheard the heated discussion they had.
The best thing they could do for Seren was be there for her, and support her while she recovered.
☾