육십 이십
Taehyung's PoV;
Ready to storm in and ask Jeongguk what the actual fuck he was doing, I stopped once I heard voices coming from inside his room - my fingers laying lightly upon the handle.
"I'm only fucking babysitting you for the money, I don't like you. I probably never will, so mess this shit up and I swear I will make your life absolute hell. I won't even need to fucking kill you." Jeongguk hissed, his tone nasty and full of venom.
It sent shivers across my body knowing that the man I loved had the potential to be a monster, able to snap from his cutesy and soppy personality to a cold and heartless man in seconds.
"I wasn't even going to say anything." A voice whined.
Hold up.
Why the fuck was Jeongguk with Kai?!
I pushed back all of my previous thoughts, choosing to storm in into the hospital room just as Jeongguk was replying to Kai, "good, because if you fucking did, we know what'd happen."
Stomping in with an attitude: eyebrows raised and arms folded, I took in the sight before me. Ten was slouched along a chair, looking extremely uncomfortable as he munched on crisps. Jeongguk was, obviously, in his hospital bed: sat up, skin stained with blood as the bullet hole had visible stitches.
And there was Kai. Stood next to Jeongguk's head.
Far too close for my liking.
"Oh hey, Taehyung." Ten greeted, mouthful of food, "hey baby."
Taeyong smiled at his greeting, plopping himself comfortably on Ten's lap.
"Hey petal." Jeongguk waved.
"Don't 'hey petal' me. What the fuck is this?" I asked, tapping my foot.
"I-I can just leave. Yeah, I'll do just that." Kai announced, about to walk out when I stopped him.
"Uh, yeah. I don't think so." I hissed, "get back."
"Damn, the puppy is mad." Ten murmured.
"You didn't hear him in the car." Taeyong said in reply.
Jeongguk sighed, rubbing over his face with his hands. Kai nodded at my slight shove, looking awkward as he trudged back to his original position.
"I'll ask again, what the fuck is this?" I spat, turning to Taeyong, "why would you bring me to see him? Cheating on me with that?!"
Ten choked on his crisps, thumping at his chest as Taeyong stood up.
"What the fuck?" Both Taeyong and Jeongguk said at the same time.
"You think I'm cheating on you?" Jeongguk said, shocked, "with this fucking cretin?!"
"I get you don't like me, but do you have to personally attack me?" Kai said quietly.
"Well, what else would it be?" I said, throwing my hands up in the air, "oh yeah, by the way, your bully and me are best friends now? No!"
"It's actually the opposite." Kai mumbled.
"I'm sorry, was I fucking talking to you?" I seethed.
"No."
"Keep quiet, then!"
"Taehyung." Jeongguk said firmly.
"What?" I snapped my head back to him, "are you gonna tell me now?"
"I was gonna tell you as soon as you walked in, but you didn't give me much time." He replied, "Thanks, Taeyong, Ten. I'll see you later."
The duo nodded, wishing him well before departing.
"Take a seat." Jeongguk gestured, "both of you."
Biting my tongue, literally and figuratively, I sat beside the freak. He sat meekly, hands folded between his knees, full attention focused on Jeongguk whereas I looked anywhere but said man, arms folded and legs crossed.
"Now, as you know, Taehyung." He emphasised my name, making me look at him, "I was ordered to assassinate your parents. Naturally, I get a report."
"Cut the shit."
"Fine." Jeongguk snapped, "he's your brother. By blood. Kim Jong-in."
I scrunched my face up, "what?"
"Kim Jong-in, preferably referred to as 'Kai' was born to the Kim family in 1994. He is the older brother to Kim Taehyung, who was born a year later in 1995. The two were split up when Taehyung was younger. Jong-in moved in with grandparents. Taehyung remained with the parents." Jeongguk rambled, recalling the information in a monotone voice as he stared at me.
"I don't un-"
"Met him after I completed the mission. Kid followed me around, he's scared of the night, I defended him in a fight. He carries me home, in the rain, breaks into your house to drop me off and I don't see him until today."
"Wait, so-"
"Jong-in, after fucking weeks of asking me about Taehyung and how he's doing, what he looks like and anything else, take this time to ask him whatever you want." Jeongguk said, getting out of bed with some struggle.
He wiggled into a sweater, rummaging through his bag for his cigarettes. He walked over to Jong-in, putting his hand out. Said kid pressed a lighter into his hand and Jeongguk left the room.
"So." Jong-in began, "hi, I guess?"
"Fuck off."
"Taehyung, come on." He pleaded, "just one conversation, please."
"Why?" I laughed emotionlessly.
"I tried to contact you since I was thirteen. Your parents always denied it, never letting me get in touch with you. So I transferred high schools, took options that I didn't want to do in college just so I could see you."
"So after all these years of trying to talk to me, you decide to bully the shit out of me?"
"I didn't know how to act! I knew that if I did it, I'd see you everyday. I wasn't in any of your classes and I barely saw you."
"What kind of sick and twisted logic is that?!"
"I don't know. I'm an idiot, I know. I'm all messed up from the shit I've seen, I thought I could handle it but I can't. Please, Taehyung, please forgive me." He begged, "Jeongguk has been teaching me how to communicate properly with people for the past few weeks."
"Why can't you do it yourself?" I frowned, not enjoying this mess whatsoever.
"I'm a prostitute, Taehyung, the only communication I have is with my pimps. And I never realised, but they're absolute dicks. I had all of my so-called friends, but Jeongguk taught me that they weren't really my friends. They just wanted to pick on people." He sighed, moving his hair and revealing a bruised cheekbone - presumably from his harsh pimps.
"Mhm."
"I swear I'm a changed man!" He said, "please, I didn't beg Jeongguk for weeks to teach me how to talk to you for you to not even consider it."
"How can I forgive you so easily?" I spat, "you ruined my life, it was hell whenever you were around. If you had just told me that you were my brother, we wouldn't be in this mess. Jeongguk wouldn't have a hole in his fucking shoulder!"
He flinched as I raised my voice, instinctively covering his face as he doubled over.
"Oh, don't start fucking around." I groaned.
"You know what, fuck you!"
"What?! How can you fucking say that after all the shit you put me through?!"
Jeongguk walked in, disappointment clear on his face. He raised his eyebrows and slowly mine and Jong-in's hands retracted from one another.
"I really thought you two would at least be refusing to talk to each other, not fighting." He tutted, suddenly coming forward to grab at Jong-in's collar.
Jong-in squirmed in his grasp, trying to turn away from Jeongguk's hissing as his knuckles hit at his jaw.
"If you ever dare lay your fucking hands on him, I swear to god, I will destroy every single bone in your body." He hissed, "understand?"
"But Boss sai-"
"Fuck what he said. If you lay your hands on Taehyung, Boss won't give a shit what I do." He snapped, "if you die, I'm only a few million down. I won't even notice."
"Fine. I tried, but Taehyung wasn't having any of it." Jong-in crossed his arms.
"Understandably." He replied, "now get out of my sight. Go to headquarters and get information for my next target."
Jong-in nodded, sloping out of the room.
Jeongguk sighed, sitting upon the bed, "Taeyong will drive you home."
"Who says I'm going home?"
"Me." He rolled his eyes, "you're clearly pissed off at me and I can't cope with it right now. I'll argue another day. Please, for me."
I stood up, making my way over to the door as Jeongguk laid on the bed.
Deciding that I couldn't leave him, no matter how annoyed I was, I made my way back over to him.
He raised his eyebrows, "Taehyung, if you're going to shout at me, can you save it for another day?"
"No, I'm not mad - well I am, a little bit - but it won't last long." I sighed.
I sat back in the chair, moving around a little bit to get comfortable before settling.
"Petal." He said.
"Mhm?"
"Come up here." He patted his stomach.
"No, I can't. You're hurt. And I'm heavy-"
"Taehyung."
"Fine."
Giddily, I clambered up into the bed. Kneeling on the mattress, I tried to map out where I could lay without squashing him and his wound.
Jeongguk's arm made its way around my waist, pulling me onto him. I yelped softly, startled by the sudden move.
"You're not heavy." He reassured as I became accustomed to the surface, moving so I could burrow my face into his neck, our tummies pressed together comfortably, "you're perfect."
He pressed a soft kiss to my hair, both arms (despite my scolding on how he should let his injured shoulder rest) wrapped around my waist. And that was all it took for my annoyance to diffuse away from my system, now replaced with concern and love.