The atmosphere in the office was getting suffocating by each passing second. The boys were feeling all sort of things, there was anxiety, fear, uncertainty which was slowly engulfing the boys.
The six boys were present in their boss's office. Their manager had just broken the news about the culprit to them. Why? how? what now? what if? these questions were roaming in the boys' minds. They all knew the repercussion of the situation. The culprit was on loose, which meant that their beloved seventh member's life was once again in danger.
It was as clear as water that the attacker was obsessed with their seventh member. They all had seen the pictures and videos the man had of their friend minus the said friend. It was sickening to think about it.
"What is going to happen now, PD-nim? the youngest of them all asked. The CEO looked at their maknae searching for the word that would put his beloved artists at ease. These boys were very dear to him, they are the reason he was able to fulfil his dream of bringing a change to the rigid music industry of his country. Together they have been beating the stereotype and the prejudice. Once again after the incident of France, he was feeling helpless.
"The ministry had assured us that they are going to find the attacker and he will be punished according to the law," their manager informed them. The CEO had approached the ministry as they had planned earlier with officer Jo. They had provided relevant information. The said diplomat had resigned from his job, and according to the ministry he was being questioned of his son's whereabouts. It was chaos.
"I don't understand, why this is happening? everything was fine, he got caught then what happened?" Jin said frustratingly, as the CEO was about to answer something to soothe the boy, the door of his office opened revealing to the couple to whom are concerned. Shiara and Taehyung had entered the room together. (How are they together though, wasn't Tae in a vocal practice session for their new song.)
"Pd-nim do you know?.." Shiara started upon entering but stopped mid-way after seeing the faces of the men present in the office.
"You all know, right?" she concluded. The said men nodded in confirmation. She turned towards her fiance who was looking slightly offended at his hyungs and dongsaeng. The others were confused at the boy's gesture as well.
"What?" he snapped, "Did you think I wouldn't know? And were you all trying to hide all this from me, what is this some sort of K-drama where you are going to hide things from me to protect me kind of nonsense." The boy was mad.
"No, Tae, it is not like that," the eldest member tried to reconcile but was interrupted by the other. "Leave it Hyung, I know you guys well enough," the younger said dismissively.
"For your information, I have known about it prior than you guys, in case if you have forgotten I was the one who got attacked, so France's police authorities called me the second he was released." the boy informed, as a matter of factly, that resulted in the collective gasps from the others.
"You knew?" the manager said, "then why didn't you tell us?" he reprimanded. The boy looked at his manager and sighed while sitting on a vacant chair. "I did actually," he announced. I was with Daewon hyungnim at that time when I got the call. So, I told him everything.
"Oh," exclaimed the manager in understanding. It was Kim Daewon the person-in-charge of the boys' security, who has informed him about the situation. He told everyone as he recounted the phone call he got from their security in-charge.
"Alright then, it is good that you know; so you should be more responsible as not to wander around the city without security," chastised the CEO. The said boy rolled his eyes in annoyance but he agreed to see the pointing eyes of his fiancee. The girl was glaring daggers at his antics. She knew how unpredictable her man can be.
The manager informed the boys about the security measures that they were going to take, what should be their responsibility in this regard.
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It was a dimly lit room, the room was big enough to be considered a hall. One corner of the hall was decorated with different items. The walls in that corner were painted in shades of purple. Few art pieces were hanging by the wall. A king-sized bed was also placed there. At the right side of the bed, there was a hanging stand on which branded clothes were hanging in sequence with the colour of the rainbow.
At the centre of the front wall of the hall, a huge LED TV was placed on the TV stand. There was a large sofa placed 15 feet apart from the TV facing it. At the bottom right corner of the hall, there was a large projector screen on which a video was playing. it was not precisely a video, but rather a compilation of different photographs running in a loop. The photographs were only of one man. The adjacent wall was covered with posters of the same man.
A man was sitting in front of the screen at some distance. He paused the video and walked towards the screen. He was infatuated with the boy. "Don't worry my dear, we will be reunited, and then I will not let anyone come between us again. You will be mine forever," he said while touching the screen as if caressing the boy's cheeks.
At the far left corner of the room, a man and a woman were tied with the chairs. They were looking horrified at the scene unfolding in front of their eyes. In their minds, they knew that the fixation of the mad man will destroy everything.
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It had been two weeks since the meeting in the CEO office, and ever since his members have been overprotective, well at least to Taehyung they were being overprotective. It would not be wrong to say that he was bored out of his mind. He felt like as he was at house arrest. He wasn't able to go anywhere, he wasn't able to spend time with his fiancee, not even went to his favourite restaurant to eat his favourite food, how was that fair? At the moment, he was sulking, sitting at the corner of his living room, thinking about all the things that he could have done but was not able to do because of his nagging members, overprotective aristocratic princess and his totally strict manager.
He knew they were worried, but they should understand too, that he cannot live his life in fear. He will go out of his mind if things stayed like this for more time. He likes to move around, scratch that, he lives to move around. He is not someone to sit in place, never have been. This should change now, he is not going to waste his time sitting idly, going to the office and doing work doesn't count. He loves making music but that is work. He needs to get out of here.
With these thoughts in his mind, he scurried towards his leader, who was busy working on his laptop, God knows to do what. (was he writing another song, a cypher maybe, gosh I want to be a part of this too. What? Stop thinking Taehyung-ah) He shook his head and looked at his brother who had a startled expression on his face.
"Are you just going to stand there?" asked the elder. "Huh?", the boy started trying to find suitable words to convey his desire. "Ah no, I, umm, I mean there is this exhibition and I really want to go," (There he said it simple and clear. Way to go stupid, he mentally face palmed himself)
"You are not going anywhere." It wasn't the leader but the eldest of the member, who had just returned from the studio and heard the younger talking to the leader.
"What? Hyung you haven't even heard what I was saying" he blabbered. "I have heard enough to know," the elder chastised, "And I know you well enough to let you continue your puppy dog eye drama."
"What? Hyung I wasn't," the boy pouted feeling scandalized. But it was true though he was going to pull his cuteness card, he knows very well how whipped his members are for this. In the past, he had gotten his ways many times because of this. The other members have also entered the living room by now. They somewhat had the idea of what was going on. They had seen their seventh member sulking all this time.
"Taehyung-ah! you know this is for your safety, soon all of this will be over, just until then, hmm please," Jimin tried to soothe his best friend. "Ah come on," the younger sighed, frustration was bubbling inside him, "When? when will it be over? What if they are not able to catch the man? Then what? Am I supposed to live my life in fear? Will I not be able to go anywhere I want? Then what? Tell me."
"Tae, he will get caught, just stay put for some time, I am sure he will get caught soon," the hope of the group reassured the younger urging him to be optimistic. But the younger was not able to comprehend anything right now. He was tired and bored, but most importantly he was angry. Angry at the man who tried to hurt him, who snatched his freedom from him, who took his passion, because of that man he was not able to put all his effort into making music, cause his mind was filled with the horrible words that man had uttered, the images of himself getting stabbed. He was frustrated at his members, his situation had made him embittered. And his brothers were not helping, their concern was overwhelming but it was not what he needed yet.
"I," he started but was cut off by a concerning yet soothing voice, "Just a little more time Taehyungie, everything will be better." The eldest of them had tried to comfort the younger.
"Jin Hyung is right.." started the leader but was interrupted by a loud huff, which startled everyone. The second youngest have never done that, he had never interrupted his elders, never has he showed annoyance towards them.
"Taehyung-ah" Jimin exclaimed. "STOP, just stop it Jimin, " snapped the other, "Don't you start at it again, look I understand that you guys are worried, and I appreciate that. I do. But you guys don't understand, this is driving me insane. You all say everything is going to be fine, when? When will everything be okay? What do you want me to do till then? Should I just stay hidden like this? Can't you see this is killing me,"
"Oh come on, now you are exaggerating," chided the second elder, "Not going out for some days won't do you any harm besides this is all for your safety."
"It won't do me harm," exasperated the younger, "But it is already harming me, Hyung. I am not saying this to go outside. You guys are not understanding. You have no idea what I am going through."
"Okay, this is enough. Just cut it out, Taehyungie. Look I know you want to go to that exhibition, I get it, but you cannot go and that is final. There will be more events to come in the future, so for now, just let it go. Do not argue about this." reprimanded Namjoon and got up and strode towards his room.
"Hyung, do you think I am saying this because I want to go to the exhibition," asked the younger disbelieving. "It is not like that, I could care less about the exhibition, I just wanted to go out," the boy said in a low voice, all the fiery stance from before was gone. He sounded broken, that gave a tug to the others' hearts.
"Hyung, that's not what Rapmon Hyung meant," the youngest said and gave a consoling hug to his Hyung. He could not see his favourite Hyung sad, he wanted to suggest to play games to cheer his Hyung but before he could utter a word his Hyung's words shocked him to the core. He was not the only one though, the others felt their hearts clutched as well.
"I am dying Kookie," Taehyung uttered tightening the hug. "H-Hyung..." stuttered the youngest. "I can hear his voice saying I deserve all, that is happening to me, I can't, I, every time I tried to play something I hear his voice saying telling me that he would ruin me, all those nightmares are back, I can't," the boy had started crying. He was sobbing in his only dongsaeng embrace.
"I am having difficulties in singing, he took it from me once and now he is back to take it away from me again, he has taken my freedom, his words that I do not deserve her love is continuously running in my mind, I cannot make them go away, I cannot make the nightmares go away, Kookie, It is killing me, every time I close my eyes, I see him stabbing me, I cannot be like this, I do not want to go back there, I do not want to be afraid of black hoodies anymore, I do not want to go back to that mental state," Taehyung had slid to the floor unable to control his sobbing. He was shaking violently in Jungkook arms who was trying his best to comfort his Hyung without breaking down himself.
The others were no better, they were shocked to see their member like that, and somewhat feeling ashamed and guilty, of how they were unable to understand; what their member was going through.
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Jungkook was sitting beside his Hyung's bed, who had finally fallen asleep after crying for what seems like hours. He was holding his hand and the other hand was caressing his hair. Jungkook wanted to bury himself in his hyung's embrace and cry his heart out, but right now his elder brother needed him. He cannot show weakness at the moment, so here he was thinking about how to make his best friend feel better.
The others were also present in the room. They did not want to leave their brother after he had his breakdown. They were just sitting there without making any noise, looking at their member. All they wanted was to somehow remove his pain.
"I think we need to talk to the Hyung-nim," announced the leader without further ado.
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The CEO was angry. He was pacing back and forth in his office. He wanted to rip the system into pieces. Why were they so incompetent? It has been weeks since they had known about the man and yet they were not able to apprehend him.
It was taking a toll on everyone; his artists and the company, and also the people involved in their ventures. They have postponed most of their planned schedule which meant many people besides the company and the artists had lost a steady income. They cannot do this longer; not on the whip of a mad man.
They wanted a solution and they wanted it now. That was the reason the detective in charge of this case was sitting in the office with the special officer Jo.
"We have a lead, both of his parents are missing as well," informed the detective Ho Seung Jae, "Currently, we are trying to locate their whereabouts. Only a few places are left to check, we have a plan, we should... They were interrupted by the person who just barged in loudly.
Namjoon had burst in the room, he was breathing heavily. "It's Taehyung," he croaked.
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Earlier
Taehyung was washing his hands when someone entered the washroom. At first, he didn't give it much thought but suddenly he had a weird sense of Deja vu. He wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but when he reached the door a firm hand on the shoulder stopped him.
It's him, he is here, these thoughts invaded Taehyung's mind. He can smell the man's scent which disgusts him to the core. He pushed the man and ran outside but the man was quicker, he grabbed him from the collar and yanked him backwards. The man pushed him hard to the floor. He felt the breath knock out of him due to the impact. His back was in pain.
He wanted nothing but to get out of the man's reach, the man was strong. No, it was not like the man was strong, the predicament was taking its toll on Taehyung's mind. He was struggling to get out of the man's hold. "Hush, sweetie, stop struggling, I am here to take you home, we will be together now," the man said suggestively. Taehyung wanted to puke, he screamed for help while trying to loosen the firm grip. He quickly pressed the button embed in his engagement ring, praying silently for help.
The man took out a syringe from his pocket and uncovered it with his mouth. Taehyung's eyes widened seeing the tool in other's hand, his mind was running in overdrive at the implication of this. But before he could react he felt a sharp sting in his arm, and his vision began to blur.
"We are going home, baby," was the words he last heard before the darkness engulfed him.
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Shiara was sitting in the meeting room of her Korean office building. Her company was hired to design and prepare an event for one of the biggest entertainment channels. She was engrossed in the presentation, which her subordinate was delivering when her phone buzzed. She wanted to ignore it but a sudden urge to see made her raised her hand to stop the presentation.
She checked the phone and the next moment felt like something hard has clutched her heart. It was the SOS signal Taehyung had sent. She quickly checked his location. He was at the entrance of the BigHit building and was moving quickly.
She wasted no time and ringed Namjoon's number. "Oppa," she cried out the moment her call was picked. "It is Taheyung. He is in trouble. Hurry up, call the authorities, I am sending you his location."
Namjoon was confused so, the first thing he did after ending the call was dialling Taehyung's number. But it wasn't Tae who picked up the call which made his blood ran cold. it was Jimin who had picked up the call. Taehyung's phone was in the practice room where they were trying out new dance moves. He told Jimin about the call he'd received all the while running towards their CEO's office.
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He lied down the unconscious boy on the bed, and then took out handcuffs from the bedside drawer and cuffed the boy's hand together. He slid down next to the unconscious boy and started caressing his cheeks. He wanted to do that for so long. "You are perfect for me, my love. I will keep you so happy, we will live here forever," he continued to whisper in the boy's ears.
His parents were watching in horror. The ramification of the action would be devastated. "What have you done?" the lady said trying to free herself from the binds. But the person in question paid her no heed.
"Why did you do that?" asked the man a little louder than his wife. "Oh, shut up old man, can't you see my baby is sleeping," his son whispered shouted. "Jae In-ah, son let the boy go, this is wrong, please listen to me, just surrender, we will get help, I..." he was cut off by a firm grip on his throat.
"Which part of shutting up did you not understand? I told you that my baby is sleeping, so shut the hell up, or I will break your neck," he gritted his teeth.
"LET HIM GO Jae In-ah, He is your father," pleaded the woman. "That is the reason you two are here mother, now keep quiet both of you, I do not want to listen to any bullshit you have to say to me," he chided. "Lee Jae In, please," Mr Lee Jae Gun said desperately, only to be made quiet by a gag put in his mouth by his own son. "Now you will stay quiet," he said doing the same thing to his mother.
On the other side of the room, Taehyung had woken up. His mind was in haze for a moment. He gasped loudly when the realization of what had happened hit him. He tried to get up only to found out that his hands and feet were handcuffed. He paled at the cognizance.
"shush, it's okay, you are here with me, darling, don't fret," the man hovered over the frightened one. "Let me go," whimpered the other. "Oh no no, why would I do that I told you we are going to be together forever," he cajoled.
"Look what I have got for you," he said excitedly standing up from the bed. Taehyung released the breath he was holding at the close proximity with his tormentor. His presence was suffocating him.
The man brought out a beautiful red dress from the hanger and showed it to the other, "Here see, I got this for you. This one is Fendi's, you like branded clothes right," he chimed and then pulled out another black dress, "this one is from Gucci, your favourite brand, you would look so pretty in it," the man was showing his collection of dresses to the other enthusiastically.
Taehyung wanted to throw up, he was revolted by the other's madness. "Let me go, I want to go," he struggled against the holds.
"Tut, you are stubborn," tusked the other "but then again we have plenty of time to see the dresses, come on let me show you something, you would like it very much," said the man, uncuffing his feet. He mad Taehyung stand up and dragged him towards the projector screen.
Taehyung looked at the wall in horror, it was covered with his framed photographs and portraits. His captor made him stand in from of the screen. His pictures were running in the loop on the screen. Some pictures were from the concerts or outdoor events, but what made his stomach churned were the photos from inside the BigHit building. Photos of him taking out a drink from the wending machine, some of them from outside the recording studio, this footage had never been released, there was no way anyone could have it, unless that someone works in the building. The thought made his stomach turned and he bent over and puked on the floor.
The man and the woman tied up in the corner saw the boy pitifully. They knew they were partially the reason for the boy's suffering. They should never have tried to get their son free. He was a lunatic, and they had realised it much later. He was much better locked up. Lee Jae Gun struggled against his bind, rattling the chair. He wanted to stop his son.
"Oh baby, look what you have done, you are disgusting and dirty," Jae In supplied mockingly. Taehyung wanted to hit the man's face. But a sudden noise grabbed his attention and he turned towards it. His widened seeing a middle-aged man and a woman tied with the chair. It did not take him long to realize that the couple must be the parents of this lunatic. Enraged at this, Taehyung lunged at his captor and pushed him hard making the man stumble backwards. Taking the advantage of the surprise Taehyung joined his cuffed hands together and punched the man squared at the jaw. He hovered above him and started blowing punches at him one after another. The man wasn't able to defend himself, the action was too quick for him to comprehend. He seemingly lost his consciousness.
Taehyung punched him hard, his knuckles were hurting, and so was his heart, he had never hurt another human or another being for that matter. He was one of those people who had never hurt a fly, and yet this man here, made him lose his calm and kindness. He scrambled up from the floor breathing heavily.
He went towards the man and the woman to untie them. He untied the man's hand but as he bent downwards to untie the binds on the feet, he was jerked backwards. The man punched him at the face and then hit him hard at the stomach, making the other doubled over in pain. He kicked the other hard knocking the air out of him, "Baby, you need to get punished for disobeying," the man uttered holding the other from his collar. "Don't worry, I know how too disciplined bad baby boys," he smacked the other hard at his thigh. Taehyung kicked back the other but this time he got a punch in return. The man was holding him tight.
Lee Jae In raised his arm to punch the boy beneath him once again but was pushed away by his father, who had freed himself when he was dealing with the other. "Stop this madness Lee Jae In," he condemned. He helped the boy to stand up and pushed him behind his back, shielding the trembling boy from his son.
"Don't do this, stop it," he commanded. "Move aside father," demanded the other, "back off or I will forget that you are my father. No one comes between him and me," he said through his gritted teeth, moving towards his father.
The door to the basement burst open and in came the SWAT forces. They quickly hurried towards him and caged him with their guns pointed at him. Two of the officers freed the lady. The other shielded the man and the boy and brought them out of the basement.
When they took him outside, Taehyung got a proper view of the place he was in. It was a bungalow or some kind of a lake house, big enough to hold that kind of basement underneath. "TAE," he heard a desperate cry of his name and looked towards the sound. Shiara came running towards him and jumped at him to hug him tightly. He quickly engulfed her in his arms, forgetting about the pain in his belly and ribs. Earlier, one of the officers had freed him from those wretched handcuffs.
His members came running towards him as well, Shia stepped aside to give space to the brothers by heart. The members engulfed the boy in a group hug. The boys released the hug and checked the other for any injury. The said boy winced at the sudden pressure on his side. The boys stepped aside worryingly.
"Tae, are you okay?" asked Jin putting gentle pressure on the boy's side, trying to gauge his reaction. "m'kay," he started but winced at the pressure resulting in his members are you kidding me look.
Meanwhile, the boys' security head and the officer-in-charge were having a discussion about the whole situation. The culprit had been arrested and sent to the concerned department. His parents were in the house, answering the questions. They were being sent to the hospital soon.
"I think we should go to the hospital," suggested Shia, and others nodded in agreement. But Taehyung didn't want to go there so he declined. Needless to say, no one listened to him, thus he had to spend two days under observation because of a bruised rib and mild concussion he got when his head hit the floor earlier as a result of the tussle with the man.
In the hospital, Lee Jae Gun and his wife had visited him apologising for their son's action. They knew a mere apology would not remove and compensate the pain he had felt, both emotional and physical. But they still needed to apologize whether it was to ease their own conscience.
Taehyung had forgiven them, though he insisted that they were not responsible for their son's action. But for the couple's heartsease, he accepted their apology. Regardless of his members' disapproval, they wanted to vent their anger. Shiara, on the other hand, smiled at him approvingly.
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An update after a long time, this story will end in the next chapter.