At most, he would learn how to coax him.
Taehyung noticed his stern expression and suddenly laughed, revealing his pearly teeth. “I want to laugh. Can I do that?”
“That’s allowed.” His response was strangely hilarious, but his innate, cold disposition dampened the humour. He did not find him funny, and instead he seemed aloof.
Still, he understood he was trying to cheer him up. Hence, he was delighted.
The two of them got off the bed and tidied themselves up. He quickly regained his cool, noble and powerful charisma.
At this moment, jungkook's phone rang. Taehyung noticed that the other party’s tone sounded flustered, but could not catch what he was saying.
Jungkook quickly bid him farewell and left hurriedly.
Taehyung sat down by his father’s bedside and adjusted the blankets for him.
“Dad, you have to get better.” As he watched hyuntae, his gaze was apologetic. “In the past, I never took good care of you. But from now onwards, I won’t allow you to suffer even the slightest bit of harm.”
Hyuntae, who had been unconscious for a long time, did not respond to him.
He sighed. “Dad, did you know? In the past, I had a father and a mother who loved me. But now I think that mom has changed. She has become... completely different from the way she used to be. I’m not sure why this is so. But I’ll definitely investigate this clearly. I hope you’ll wake up soon. But even if you can’t, you have to live on well. As long as you’re alive, I’ll still have a family member who truly loves me. Perhaps... you’re the only family I have left.”
Although tears welled up in his eyes, he forcefully held them back.
“jungkook arranged for two bodyguards to stand guard outside your ward. He has also hired the best doctors and nurses to take care of you. There’ll be care workers massaging you everyday. You won’t develop bed sores again.”
He sniffled before continuing in an emotional voice. “In fact, I should be the one staying by your side to care for you. But yoongi hyung is in jail. He has been locked up for three years. Jennie fed me with weight-gain drugs. I can’t be powerless any longer. I have to become strong in order to protect you and to rescue my brother... there are too many things I need to do. I’m helpless and can only rely on the staff here to take care of you. But don’t worry. I’ll come and visit you whenever I’m free.”
It was quiet in the hospital ward. Hyuntae laid peacefully and did not react in any way.
He stood up with bittersweet feelings and prepared to leave.
At this moment, a knock resounded against the door. A chef in his forties entered with a meal cart. He gestured towards the various, well-made, delicious-looking food on it. “Mr. Kim, this is the breakfast CEO Jeon told me to prepare for you.”
Taehyung recognised him. He was the Jeon Villa’s head chef.
He never expected jungkook to remember his breakfast even in his busy state.
Jungkook was distant and cold, but when it came to him, he was always extremely considerate...
Yet again, his heart had been warmed by his gesture.
Eight luxurious breakfast dishes had been prepared for him. Although he could have finished all of them, he only took a single bite from each dish and put his chopsticks down.
He had begun losing weight by cutting down on his food intake.
He needed to obtain a 54 kilograms figure as soon as possible!
This luxurious hospital ward had everything one could possibly need. There was even a weighing scale.
He checked his figure: 100kg.
He had already lost 12 kg from when he first returned to the past.
This was good. If he kept this up, he would quickly become thin.
He went to the large garden behind the hospital and jogged for a long time. After running thirty rounds, taehyung was drenched in sweat. He felt that the more he would perspire, the faster he would lose the weight.
He needed to eat less everyday, and exercise more.
After completing his run, he washed his face with cold water. Post that, he contacted his lawyer and made a trip to the prison with him.
...
In the visiting room, a long stone counter was separated by a glass fixture. Taehyung waited there impatiently.
His lawyer, Choi haejun, stood by his side.
A moment later, yoongi was led into the room by a prison guard.
He was wearing the prison uniform. Although he had a tall and handsome figure, his hair had been shaved and his usual sunshine disposition was replaced by a gloomy aura.
There was a bruise on the corner of his lips and a bandage on his forehead.
The moment he appeared, taehyung's eyes became wet.
His brother had lost a lot of weight. He also looked despondent.
He knew that his pitiful elder brother had been bullied seriously in jail!
“Hyung!” taehyung stood up from his seat in agitation.
The moment yoongi saw him, a hint of shock appeared on his depressed face. He immediately became joyful. “Third brother!”
Through the glass, they could not hear each other. Still, they understood one another from the movement of their lips.
Taehyung leaned against the glass panel and pressed his palms against it. He wished he could embrace him at this moment.
Yoongi imitated his movement. He dearly wished to hold him too, but was helpless.
One of them was trapped behind the wall, while the other was watching from outside.
They were so close, yet were worlds apart.
Yoongi saw the tears on taehyung's face and his heart ached for him. He mouthed repeatedly. “Third brother... don’t cry... don’t cry.”
He knew that his third brother rarely cried.
At the sight of her tears, he was deeply moved. However, he also felt very guilty.
Taehyung's heart ached for yoongi. Since young, his elder brother had doted on him, even more than one would care for their blood-related siblings.
Despite taehyung's agitation, when he noticed his brother’s worry, he wiped his tears away.
He pointed to the side of the glass panel and gestured towards the telephone. He picked up the receiver.
Yoongi sat down as well. He picked up the receiver, and through the glass panel, his refined and husky voice could be heard. “Tae... you’ve gained weight.”
“Hyung, you’ve lost weight.”
He spoke at the same time.
When he heard his brother mentioning hid weight gain, he laughed, easing the sorrowful atmosphere.
“hyung, what happened to your lips and your forehead?” taehyung asked him with a frown.
“Nothing much.” He spoke calmly. “I had a small conflict with my cellmate and we fought a little. It’s a small injury. Don’t worry.”
“I’ve already asked someone to look into your situation. Your cellmate,park namgi , is always bullying you.” taehyung's gaze was enraged. “Don’t worry. He won’t dare to do it again.”
“How did you find out about this?” yoongi's expression turned helpless. “Your brother is useless. I made you worry.”
“You’re my brother. It’s my responsibility to worry about you.”
Yoongi took in his strangely overweight figure. “Three years ago, you weren’t this chubby. What happened? And the acne on your face seems to have become worse... this isn’t right.”
His brother’s eyes had always been sharp. His current figure and acne were caused by jennie but taehyung did not wish to tell him this and add to his worries. “I’ll definitely get better. You don’t have to worry.”
Yoongi said in concern, “tae, where are you staying now? The Kim home is abnormal. It’s better if you move to jungkook's place.”
Only God knew how difficult it was for him to tell him to go to jungkook's side.
Taehyung deliberated over this. His brother had been in jail for the past three years. This meant that he had noticed something amiss with the Kim family three years ago.
“I’m living at the Kim home right now.” taehyung did not wish to lie to him. “I’ll watch out for myself. There’s no need for you to worry.”
“tae, it’s better if you’re with jungkook...”
“There are a lot of matters which I can only understand if I remain in the Kim home. Hyung, you’ve also noticed that something is amiss with the Kim family. But you don’t have any evidence, right?” Otherwise, he would definitely have told him about it.
Yoongi nodded helplessly. He understood that though tae's character was soft, when he set his mind on something, there was no way to persuade him to bend his will. “You have to be careful then.”
“I will be.”
Yoongi seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly spoke in a flustered tone. “tae, have you visited Dad recently? Before I was jailed, I paid a large sum to the hospital for his treatment. The money should have been finished two months ago. Did mom pay his outstanding fees?”
“She didn’t.” taehyung did not want him to stress over their father’s condition. “hyung, don’t worry. I’ve already paid the medical fees.”
“It must have been very expensive. Where did you find the money...” yoongi had a lot of concerns. Yet, he was trapped in jail and did not have the power to do anything.
“It’s fine. I have a lot of money.” taehyung winked at him mischievously in hopes of easing the heavy atmosphere. “I’m telling you this secretly. I won the lottery recently worth over thirteen million dollars.”
“Really!” He looked at him suspiciously. “Could it have been jungkook...”
“No, no.” he rushed to shake his head. “I was just really lucky and won the money by chance.”
“That’s good. Your brother is happy for you.” yoongi finally smiled a little.
“hyung, as you know, we still don’t know what’s wrong with the Kim family. A normal hospital isn’t safe right now. I have shifted Dad into Asam Hospital. It’s the hospital managed by the JJK empire. Jungkook has arranged two bodyguards to protect him.”
Yoongi hesitated for a moment before nodding. “...that’s a good idea. Although we are troubling jungkook, it’s more important for Dad to be safe.”
“That’s right.” taehyung began nagging him. “hyung, you have to watch out for your health here. Remember to have your meals regularly and sleep on time. Don’t let anyone bully you...”
Yoongi took in his worried expression. A hint of light appeared in his gloomy expression. “tae...”
“En?”
“You believe in me, don’t you?” yoongi became agitated. “You believe that I’m innocent, don’t you? I didn’t do that sort of thing to that woman!”
In taehyung's impression, his elder brother yoongi had always been cheerful and handsome. He was confident and optimistic but did not have much interest in dating women.
He had often asked him about the sort of wife that he was looking for.
His brother always responded with a smile, telling him he had someone in mind but it was a one-sided crush. He had even told him that he would likely remain single for the rest of his life.
At that time, he had encouraged him to confess, but he told him that the person had a significant other and he could not interfere in his relationship.
He had carelessly asked once, if he ever visited a prostitute, the way other men tended to do. He could still recall his emotional outburst.
“Your brother is a good man with a clean body!” he remembered his words even now.
There was no way such a good man like him could...
The victim,Yang Doyun, had sued his elder brother for rape and physical abuse. She had claimed he caused her body to be littered with injuries. She had even lost the ability to ever become pregnant.
As the victim had been one month away from being off age, she was considered a minor at the time and his brother was given a heavy sentence.
His elder brother, yoongi, was found guilty and was jailed for twelve years.
In his previous life, after the incident, taehyung only saw his brother once, right after he was jailed.
When he questioned him repeatedly, he had appeared to be in pain but did not refute any of the charges. He had only asked for him to take good care of himself.
As a result, he misunderstood that his elder brother had really committed such a shameless crime.
Afterward, when he recalled the way his brother doted on him, despite his mistakes, he still wanted to go visit him. However, his mother and sister always persuaded him against it. They even described him as the shame of the Kim family.
This meant that, until the day he died, he did not visit his brother. He did not check to see if he was living well.
Now that he thought about it, he felt that he had truly been extremely foolish in his previous life.
When he had previously visited him, he did not insist he was innocent because he understood he was still a student and did not have the money to help him overturn the case.
Furthermore, following their father’s accident, his brother knew that his own situation was at risk.
Thus, he was unwilling to claim his innocence. He did not want him to feel burdened and only asked him to take good care of himself, and to not miss him too much.
Coming out from his thoughts, he nodded his head bitterly. “hyung, I believe that you are innocent. I definitely believe in you!”
Upon hearing this, yoongi immediately teared up. He cried silently. “tae, with these words from you, I, yoongi, will have no regrets even if I die!”
Taehyung's heart ached looking at his tears.
As his brother, he could feel his heart aching in response to his brother’s pain.
Although yoongi was not his blood-related brother, since childhood, he had treated him much better than a blood-related brother would. He always took care of him and doted on him.
He would even save the pocket money their parents gave him to buy presents for him.
“hyung, don’t cry...” his throat was slightly choked with emotions. “I’ve never seen you cry...”
Even when he was sentenced to be jailed, he did not shed any tears.
However, right now, he was crying because of his trust in him.
It seemed like his brother had held this knot in his heart.
“All right. Since tae doesn’t want me to cry, I won’t cry again.” yoongi wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and put on a composed expression.
taehyung's expression was serious as he gestured toward the lawyer who was sitting next to him.
Haejun immediately retrieved a thick file from his briefcase and handed it to him.
He opened the file before yoongi and flipped through the pages. “hyung, my lawyer and I are looking into your case together. I’m going to overturn the judgement.”
A hint of hope appeared in yoongi's eyes. But soon his ink-black pupils turned slightly melancholic. “You’re in university now. How will you...”
“Now, I have the money to do so. I’ve already hired haejun as your lawyer to represent you.”
yoongi's handsome complexion turned bitter. He shook his head. “Be obedient, tae. Since I was wronged, it means there are powerful people scheming against me behind the scenes. I’m worried that you’ll be at risk if you try to help me. It’s better not to do so.”
His brother was always like this. He always prioritised his safety. His voice was as firm as steel. “If I can’t overturn your case, I’ll have trouble eating and sleeping for the rest of my life. You know this as well. I won’t change my mind once I’ve decided on something.”
yoongi's gaze was filled with worry. However, he did not attempt to persuade him again. After all, he did not wish to be wronged for the rest of his life
Only by leaving this place could he properly take care of him and protect him.
Taehyung took in a deep breath and stood up. “hyung, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time.”
“Go ahead. If it’s something I know, I definitely won’t keep it from you.”
Bye bye!