Hello there, it's been a while, hasn't it? As you can see, I'm not dead! Anyways, for all the wait, I came back with a 10k monster of a chapter. Also, this story is almost done, there are only two chapters left until the ending! Almost a year had passed since I had first started writing this story and gradually I think I lost interest in it? But I was determined to complete it, so if the ending seems a bit rushed, I apologize for that!
Trigger warnings for this chap: light torture scene and dubious touching, so proceed with caution!
When Jin slowly regained consciousness, he gradually came to the realization that his limps hurt, because both of his arms and legs were tied to the chair he was sitting. The next thing he realized as he opened his eyes was that the room wasn't dark, but he was blindfolded.
That's when the implications of his position dawned on him and he started panicking. He struggled, trying to yank his arms and legs out of the binds, but no matter how hard he kicked and pulled, the binds didn't give. Eventually, he stopped struggling when he heard a soft click and craned his neck to listen, heart pounding against his ribcage, limbs throbbing in pain.
"Now, why would you do that to yourself? Such a shame, breaking that beautiful porcelain skin."
Jin tilted his head at the familiar voice, listening to the light footsteps that were growing with each second.
"But it is such a pleasure to see you finally with us, sleeping beauty." The man finished with a teasing tone.
Then, it clicked and he frowned as he identified the voice. "Well, what can I say, I like it rough— although, I don't think I quite caught your name from last time."
The man clicked his tongue and he let out a small gasp as his head snapped to the side from the impact of the slap. He bit the inner of his cheek to prevent himself from snapping back and making the situation worse.
"First things first, now that you don't have your precious bodyguard to save you, I'm gonna teach you some respect, and as about my name, it's Kevin, although don't worry too much about that now," Jin gritted his teeth as he felt a hot breath next to his face, "cause you'll be screaming my name all night long."
"So, this is about Jungkook?" He let out a small sigh through his nose as he couldn't feel Kevin's breath on him anymore.
"Mostly, because I've had enough of your little friend humiliating me, and I knew that I could never touch him or the one he cared for the most, but then you appeared! God, you should have seen his face when I touched you," Kevin chuckled, his tone full of pride, "I knew then that I could get to him through you."
He let out a bark of laughter but was cut short as a hand gripped his hair and yanked his head back.
"What's so fucking amusing?"
Jin smirked, "You really think he gives a fuck about what happens to me?" He let out an amused laugh, not even resisting against the hold on his hair. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but I doubt he's even going to notice my absence."
A deafening silence followed and his smirk slowly slipped from his face, a crease forming between his eyebrows as he heard Kevin let out a bark of laughter, releasing the grip on his hair.
"God, you really have no idea, do you? Fuck, I'm going to enjoy proving you wrong, but don't worry, you don't have to do anything. You just stay there and look pretty while I do all the work." His body went rigid as he heard some rustling. "I don't want to waste any more time, so, shall we get started?"
There was no warning for the first blow that came to his stomach and he doubled over, clenching his jaw tightly, refusing to let out any sound. Before he had any time to recover, he was punched again and again relentlessly, with no break. After what seemed like forever, the assault stopped and he sagged down, wheezing and struggling to breathe properly, his the entire front of his body throbbing in numb pain.
"Hey, don't pass out on me, baby, we still have a long way to go." A hand roughly patted his cheek twice, snapping him back to the present. "Now, let's get to the next part, shall we?"
He blew out a few harsh breaths from his nose as he heard some rustling and the sound of metal hitting against each other. For a few seconds, there was complete silence, only a faint sound of what sounded like footsteps could be heard and was about to speak up when he heard a low chuckle from behind him.
Suddenly, he went rigid as he felt a cold surface come into contact with his cheek. The pointy tip of what seemed to be a knife was gently pressed against his cheek, a prickling pain indicating that his skin was cut.
"Knife play, huh? Don't you think you're taking this too quickly? I still haven't gotten to—"
He let out a pained cry as his right thigh was slashed, the sharp edge of the knife breaking skin. He was breathing heavily when he heard Kevin tut. "You just don't want to learn, do you? If you disrespect me like that again I'm going to have to cut your tongue."
Then, the sharp point of the knife was placed against his left thigh and he bit down hard on his lower lip, letting out a muffled scream as the knife was pressed harshly against his skin and was dragged down painfully slow, making the experience all more unbearable.
The same painful process continued for several minutes, being unable to do anything but scream until his voice went hoarse and struggle uselessly against the binds. It seemed like forever until Kevin stopped, the same rustling again being heard. Although he was too lost in pain to do anything, Kevin had already started talking.
"I think it's enough for now, and I know you're going to miss me, but I'll let you rest now— aren't I so generous?" Jin hung there motionlessly as he felt a hand pat his cheek.
"F-Fuck...you." Jin spat out and coughed violently, his chest sizing up in pain.
"I'm gonna have so much fun breaking you." Then, the only thing that could be heard was fading footsteps and eventually a soft click, indicating that he was alone in the room.
From the way that the room had a slight echo every time they had talked, he figured that he was placed in a basement, beneath the surface of earth. He could try to escape, to get out of the binds but he had no idea where he was or the layout of the building he was in. Even if he did exit the room, he wouldn't go far, especially in his condition, as it seems that he definitely had a few broken ribs and was bleeding from several cut on both legs and arms. He just hoped there was no internal bleeding, too.
The only thing he could do now was to use the time he had to his advantage and rest. In his exhausted and beaten up condition, drifting into unconsciousness wasn't difficult.
He just hoped it wouldn't be the last.
~
A sharp pain to the side of his face was what woke him abruptly, jerking awake.
"Oh, good, you're finally awake."
With a breathy sigh, he realized that he had been slapped awake. As he came to his senses, Jin struggled to sit upright, his limbs numb from pain. With every small movement and attempt to inhale air, his chest clenched tightly in pain, but at least it was better than before, if only slightly.
"How are you feeling? I didn't damage you too much yesterday, did I?"
Jin huffed at Kevin's mocking tone, but otherwise didn't reply back. He noticed Kevin said 'yesterday', so considering that when they had arrived at the warehouse it was late in the afternoon, he must have been unconscious for over 10 hours. At this moment, it must be either morning or early in the noon.
"What, you aren't going to say anything? No witty comeback? Was that it?"
He shrugged, trying not to wince. "I-I don't really see any point...you're going to beat me up no matter what, s-so I don't see how riling you up will make my situation any better." Jin coughed and weakly turned his head towards where he believed Kevin was. "Although, I do have one question."
He heard Kevin sigh heavily. "If you are going to ask about your location, then you're—" He shook his head, blinking in the darkness. "No, no, I'm not that dumb, j-jesus, I just...I want to know if my teammates are still alive..."
"Aw, you're actually worried about your friends, poor angel." He bit down on his tongue to keep himself completely still as he felt a hand caressing his cheek. "You know what? Because I pity you I will tell you that your friends are all safe and sound back to your HQ now."
What?
He tensed at that, eyes widening in the darkness. Jin knew that Kevin could be lying to deceive him and to let his guard down, but what would be the point? It's not like he wanted to extract any information from him, and considering this man's actions, he didn't seem very bright either. If it turned out to be true and his squad was back at Bangtan HQ, then they could come and rescue him easily.
He pressed his lips into a tight line as he elaborated on that track of thought. They weren't going to come back for him, that much was sure and he was an absolute fool for believing it even for a second. He wasn't valuable to them, just another one of their numerous pawns and he knew that.
This was it, then. He was going to get killed here, sooner or later. He balled his hands into fists, exhaling harshly as pain spiked up from both arms. He couldn't even do that, he was too much of a coward to accept his fate and die. Instead, he would fight with tooth and nail to get out of here and prove them wrong.
Jin was going to prove to them just how terrifying he could be when he wanted.
"Thank you for letting my friends live." He replied, faking a weak smile as he tipped his head towards Kevin's hand that he felt tensing against his cheek.
"U-Um, you—"
"Y-You know, I really..." he squirmed in his seat, flexing his thighs, forcing down a pained whimper that was about to escape his lips. "I-I really have to use the bathroom. I'm sure you probably wouldn't mind letting me sit in my own piss, but I don't think even you could handle the smell, right? So, please..."
The moment he heard a groan he knew he had won.
"Okay, okay, just shut up already." He stood very still as he felt hands working on the binds on his legs, setting them free. As Kevin moved to work on the binds on his arms behind his back he flexed his ankles to get the blood flowing back. They were aching, but it wasn't unbearable. As his wrists were freed too, he was hauled to his feet by a hand wrapped around his bicep and dragged forward.
"This is going to be such a pain in the ass, you can't even fucking walk," Kevin complained as he dragged him forward and stumbled when he felt the first step that led upwards.
Honestly, his body felt like it was on fire, aching and piercing pain engulfing his senses. Just breathing and being dragged away like this was ten times worse, but he just had to play along now. With the blindfold still intact, he blindly followed Kevin's lead, memorizing every turn they took and every time his black vision would slightly brighten up, meaning that they were passing by an open area.
"C'mon, let's get this fucking over with."
Jin heard a door being opened and was pushed inside, stumbling and fumbling to catch himself from falling.
"Don't take too fucking long, 'cause—"
"Wait! Uh, I can't— I don't think I can feel my hands, so, um..." he flexed his wrists, biting down on his lower lip as they throbbed in pain. There was a pause of silence after his statement and for a few moments, Jin thought that his plan had failed and Kevin had left, but a sudden hand on his hip indicated otherwise.
Jin heard a murmur from beside his head, but was too distracted to pay attention as he felt Kevin press up against him from behind, realizing that there was something pocking his lower back. His whole body sized up, face scrunching up in disgust as he felt wandering hands on his body, a hot breath fanning over the back of his neck, indicating that Kevin was turned on.
He wanted to puke.
When he felt Kevin's fingers slide close to the zipper of his pants, he struck. He elbowed Kevin on his stomach, making him double over, swiftly tugged his blindfold off and immediately turned around, yanking down Kevin's head and striking him with his knee. He didn't waste any time as he did a quick body check on Kevin, eyes landing on the area near his hips as he noticed the handgun tucked there. Jin pulled it out, pressed the safety off and, before Kevin had any time to recover, wrapped an arm around his front as he pressed himself behind him and placed the barrel of the gun to the side of his head.
"You and I are going to walk out of here and nobody is going to intervene, or else I'm gonna plant a bullet right through your skull, got it?" he hissed. He heard Kevin scoff and he pressed the barrel of the gun roughly against his head. "Fine, fine, I heard you."
They started moving, stepped out of the toilet and Jin found himself in a hallway. "Move and don't fuck around, it won't end well for you." They started moving again and along the way, they came across several of Kevin's lackeys, but Jin made sure to show that he had the upper hand, and eventually, they all reluctantly backed down and let them through until they were both outside of the building and walking further away. Now, looking at the building from outside, he realized that he hadn't seen this place before, so he had no idea where he could be.
"Where are we?" he demanded, continuing to drag Kevin as far away from the building he was being held at as possible, glancing around to make sure that no one was following them.
"Jincheon."
He clicked his tongue, grip tightening on Kevin. Jincheon was almost two hours away from Seoul with transportation, so, in order to get back, he had to steal a car. First, though, he had to deal with Kevin. He kept dragging him away until he made sure that there was no one around.
"Jihyun!"
He tensed up, inhaling sharply as he heard the familiar voice calling out for him. A familiar voice that was filled with pure concern and desperation. He glanced over his shoulder, eyes widening as he watched Jungkook running towards him accompanied by several members. Too late, though, he realized that he had made the mistake of getting distracted and wasn't prepared when he was shoved to the ground.
"Sir, order to shoot!"
"No, stand down, we might hit Jihyun in the process and I'm not risking it! Do a recon around the area and secure it, Suga and I have this under control!"
Jin let out a pained cry as he felt a hand press harshly against his side, knocking the air out of him. He gnashed his teeth and fought back, tumbling around to get control of the gun. Eventually, he saw an opening and went for it, managing to throw a weak punch straight to Kevin's neck. He panted heavily, his body trembling as he reached for the handgun and struggled to stand up. He glanced down, inspecting himself and realized that all of his cuts on his legs and arms had reopened. He had no idea how he was still conscious, but at this point he didn't care about anything else, as his attention zeroed on Kevin who was on the ground, coughing violently.
He limped towards Kevin and stood over him, eyes boring taking in his pathetic form.
"Jihyun, we need to take you back this instant, you're—"
"Let him be for now, Jungkook."
He briefly glanced back, locking eyes with the man called Suga. Even though this was the first time that he met the man in person, there was a certain glint in his eyes that he could understand, like he was giving him permission to proceed with his actions.
"Turns out I was right after all, ain't that right, Jihyun?"
Jin turned his attention back to Kevin, who was now sitting on the ground, looking up at him with a wide smirk curved on his lips. Never in his life had he wanted to hurt someone so badly, but he hesitated. Was that really what he wanted? After what this disgusting man put him through, he had every right to get his revenge, and who knew how many victims had fallen to his man's hands before.
With a deep and shaky breath, he pointed the handgun at Kevin's head. That was when Kevin realized that things had taken a dangerous turn and tensed up, starting to sputter out pathetic excuses and apologizes.
"C-Come on, Jihyun, let's all calm down and think this through, come to an ideal agreement—"
"How many?" he interrupted, and Kevin shut his mouth, features twisting into confusion. "'How many' what?" Jin clenched his jaw, rage threatening to tip over.
"How many victims were there before me? How many did you torture, watched them scream in agony and pain and got off from that? How fucking many?" he clutched his chest with his other hand, as his attempt to shout only resulted in pain.
The moment Kevin averted his eyes, he had gotten his answer. He drily swallowed, arm starting to shake badly.
"Well, no more."
He pulled the trigger, the force of the shot in his weakened state rattling his whole body, a crack penetrating the thick silence, like fireworks. He watched as the bullet was buried deep between Kevin's lifeless eyes, body sagging to the ground.
Jin lost consciousness before he could feel hitting the ground.
~
The first thing Jin noticed when he slowly regained consciousness were fingers softly running through his hair. He blinked his eyes open and looked around, taking in the unfamiliar place. He didn't recognize this room.
And that's when the panic set in. He jerked up, letting out a pained whimper as he moved too suddenly, his whole body aching, but ignored it and kept trying to move away from the person that was tugging him back.
"Calm down, angel, it's me, it's Taehyung. It's okay, I've got you, it's okay."
As he recognized Taehyung's deep and soft voice, he stopped struggling and reluctantly allowed himself to be gently pulled back into the man's arms, laying down on the bed. What was Taehyung doing here? And where were they?
"T-Taehyung, what," he croaked out and cleared his throat, "what happened? Where am I?"
He felt a hand on his head again, softly petting him and he leaned into the comforting touch. "You're safe and back with us, currently in my room. Don't worry, just go back to sleep, I'll be here with you, okay?"
Jin shook his head, dazed, as he was gently pulled towards Taehyung's chest. "I don't want to go, please don't make me go...I hate the darkness." He felt the body pressed up against him tense up, the hand momentarily pausing on his head.
"Then we'll just stay like this, here, okay? I'm sorry for saying that." He felt soft lips on the crown of his head. A line appeared between his eyebrows, but nodded nonetheless.
Just like Taehyung promised, they both stayed like that, with Taehyung stroking Jin's hair gently, their soft breathing the only thing that could be heard in the room. After a while, he could feel the question bubbling inside his throat and couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Why...why are you being so nice to me, Taehyung?"
His question was met with silence, and before he had time to ask again, he felt his eyelids dropping, a comforting sleep overtaking him.
~
The next time Jin regained consciousness, he found himself shaking with fear, eyes wet from the unshed tears gathered in his eyes. He let out a shuddering breath as flashes of greedy hands slithering all over his body haunted his mind, feeling disgusted and vile, tainted.
He crossed his arms over his chest, hugging himself as he curled up. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in deeply, holding it for a few seconds, and then slowly exhaled. He let his one hand drop on the bed, clutching the soft covers tightly, the feeling grounding him back in reality. Safe, and away from that dark and cold place.
When Jin had finally calmed down enough, dark thoughts now locked away in the back of his mind, an alluring, sweet smell flowed through the air. He blinked his eyes open and took in his surroundings, finding himself in an unfamiliar room. Immediately, he noticed a tray placed on the nightstand filled with food. Jin heard his stomach growling, as the delicious odor of the scrambled eggs and chicken breast invaded his nostrils.
"Jihyun, you're finally awake!"
He looked up from the tray of food to Taehyung, who was staring at him with a fond expression, lips curved into a small smile. "What happened? And where— where exactly am I?" Taehyung came closer and he pulled his legs closer to his body as Taehyung sat near him.
"Since we found you, you've been sleeping for three days, with the occasional on and off of regaining consciousness, but you were too delirious to be aware of your surroundings. In order to take immediate care of you, we placed you in my room, where I have access to almost everything immediately." Taehyung explained and then snapped his head to the right. "Oh, before I forget— Jungkookie! It's okay to come out now, and bring a bottle of water for Jihyun!"
The door to their right finally opened, revealing Jungkook, who was carrying a bottle of water and was literally looking anywhere else besides him as he slowly came closer. "Come on, baby, don't be so cold and pretend that you don't care. It would be kind of ironic considering you didn't leave Jihyun's side at all these past three days—"
"Here's your bottle, Jihyun, make sure to drink it all!" Jungkook said— more like, shouted as he pushed the bottle into his arms and backed away a few steps, turning to glare at Taehyung, who was staring up at him with a wide grin.
"Thanks." He murmured and opened the cap, bringing the bottle to his lips and gulping down the water, relieving his thirst. When he drank it all, he placed the empty bottle on the nightstand, his gaze lingering on the delicious food.
"C'mon, don't be shy, eat, I made it especially for you." He turned towards Taehyung, who nodded at him, fond expression still remaining as he gazed at him. "You made this for me? Why?"
Taehyung let out a light chuckle, looking at him like he was crazy. "Well, you need lots of food, and while you were sleeping these past three days, I looked up recipes that help with injury recovery—"
Jin shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows. "No, I mean why did you make it? You could have easily just asked one of the chefs that work here to just cook."
The fond look in Taehyung's eyes, the gentle smiles, soft and gentle words whispered to him, a comforting presence, doing all this just for him. Why?
Why?
What did it all mean? Why was he so nice? Why would Taehyung allow Jin to rest in his room, giving away his own personal space to a stranger, thus making him vulnerable?
Why? Whywhywhywhywhy—
"Because I wanted to."
He whipped his head up, gaze briefly falling over Taehyung's and Jungkook's intertwined hands, then lifting his eyes to Taehyung's determined expression. "Because we both wanted to take care of you."
He gulped and moved his eyes towards Jungkook, feeling his throat close up as he was met with an equally intense gaze. Then, he silently took the tray of food with slow movements as not to hurt himself and placed it in front of him. Grabbing the fork and knife, he slowly started eating, making sure to take small bites, as he had five days to eat and he didn't know if his stomach could handle a large proportion of food immediately.
Before he even realized it, he had eaten everything that there was on the tray. He glanced at Taehyung, who gazed at him with a proud look in his eyes. "Thank you, it was delicious." Taehyung gave him a small smile and picked up the tray. "You're welcome." Then, Taehyung disappeared inside the door to his right, leaving him and Jungkook alone.
"Do you perhaps have a report of my condition?" he asked, wanting to somehow fill in the heavy silence between them, not knowing how to approach Jungkook on a matter that didn't even know if he wanted an answer to.
"We had a doctor called over the moment we got you here, said that besides the several cuts on both arms and legs, the most serious injury were your cracked ribs, which are going to take about a month or two to fully heal." Jungkook explained, his voice oddly strained. Jin exhaled softly and nodded, feeling like a weight was off his chest.
"Jihyun, did he...to you, did he—"
"Rape me?"
A deafening silence followed, the only sound cutting through the thick air was the soft click of the door being opened, revealing Taehyung. He glanced at Taehyung from the corner of his eyes, observing how Taehyung kept glancing back and forth between him and Jungkook, instantly noticing the tension. He turned to Jungkook, catching his gaze.
"No, he didn't. I stopped him before he could do anything."
Jungkook's eyes went round at his answer, face relaxing into a relieved and content expression. If Jin didn't know better, he would have thought that Jungkook, at that moment, looked like he actually cared.
"What are you guys talking about?"
As he was about to answer Taehyung, Jungkook shot up, startling him as Jin watched him grab Taehyung and drag him towards the door across the wall from him.
"It's nothing important, Taehyung— anyways, Jihyun, make sure you rest and sleep, otherwise there will be consequences!" Jungkook called out to him as he pushed a struggling Taehyung through the door and stepped outside, leaving Jin alone in the huge room.
As silence fell over the room, he kept staring at the closed door in puzzlement. "What the fuck?"
~
Three days earlier
Taehyung paced back and forth in his room, biting down on his nails anxiously. How could they let his happen? How could he let this happen? He knew that something was wrong, that something didn't seem quite right about the sudden disappearance of their supplies from one of their warehouses, but despite it all, he let Jihyun walk right into that trap and now he was captured just because of his ignorance.
God, what was wrong with him? He used to be so observant and cunning, and something that was so obvious would usually be just a game for him. Where did it all go wrong?
Where did it all start?
And he knows that normally, he shouldn't care as much, Jihyun's position isn't important, he isn't important. He shouldn't be. Yet to Taehyung, he is. He can't involve his petty crush into this, he can't allow this to get in-between him and Jungkook.
It was just supposed to be a pursue to satiate his sexual attraction, there wasn't and shouldn't have been any feelings involved. But as his mind kept wandering to the terrible things that Jihyun must be going through, his heart ached at the thought.
Was he still alive?
Someone bursting through the door startled him, and he stopped pacing, lifting his head to meet Jungkook's eyes.
"We found him. We found where they're keeping him." Jungkook announced and he felt his heart soar and it was wrong, so wrong and he felt disgusting for feeling hope and relief, because Jungkook was right here in front of him and he was aching for another.
Taehyung forced a fake smile on his face, locking his hands behind his back as they started to tremble. "G-Good, good, don't let me keep you then. Go." He inwardly cursed as he stuttered, his voice too raw with emotion. The moment Jungkook narrowed his eyes, staring right at him, he knew that he had screwed up.
He always screwed up.
Taehyung gulped as Jungkook came closer, stopping right in front of him, their noses almost touching, and he had a huge urge to look away, avert his eyes, but that would only make it more obvious so he stood his ground.
"Taehyung, what's wrong?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing, really, but you should probably go, don't waste any more time on me, Jungkookie." Jungkook bored his eyes into him, lips pressed into a tight line. "I'm not going until you tell me what's troubling you."
He sighed, "Jungkook, seriously—" he tensed up as he felt hands take a hold of his face, thumbs caressing his cheeks.
"Baby, please, tell me what's wrong. Please." Jungkook prompted gently.
"I just...I was thinking that maybe we should stop with this whole pursue after Jihyun when he comes back. I-I don't think he would like it after he learns our intentions, especially after being kidnapped. He won't be in the right place mentally, so let's just let him go, yeah?"
Jungkook stared into his eyes for a good few seconds without responding. He couldn't handle the silence and as he was about to push Jungkook away, Jungkook finally replied.
"It's okay, Taehyung, you don't have to be afraid. You know that nothing can get between us, so this changes nothing. We'll figure things out, like always."
He inhaled sharply, heart starting to pound loud against his ears. "What...what do you mean?" Jungkook lips curved into a smile as he closed his eyes and leaned in, resting his forehead against Taehyung's. "It means I like him, too."
His eyes widened, mouth dropping open in shock. "What? But you— how?"
Jungkook grinned widely, yet his eyes remained fond as he gazed into him. "Taehyung, we have been dating for years, I know you."
Taehyung let out a watery laugh, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I love you." Jungkook leaned in and kissed him softly. "I love you, too." Then, Jungkook stepped back, and Taehyung nodded at him.
"Bring him home."
~
Present
When Jin woke up again, he didn't really know what to expect. The previous day when he had found himself alone in Taehyung's room, he didn't give it much thought, as he was exhausted and in pain, and just went to sleep in that comfortable king sized bed.
He flinched as he heard a soft snore and carefully sat up, peeking over the edge of the bed. His eyes went round as he gaped at Taehyung and Jungkook who were both huddled up together on the floor, only a blanket underneath them providing as a reliever from the hard, cold floor.
This mansion had millions of rooms, yet they both decided to stay here with him, allowing him to take the huge, king sized bed while they slept on the floor.
He softly groaned and drew up his legs, burying his face into his knees. How could he possibly stay mad at them when they kept being so kind towards him? With a grunt, he carefully got off the bed and stepped around them, heading towards the door to the right. As he stepped in, he sighed and closed the door behind him.
"I don't know what I was excepting, seriously." He mumbled to himself and stepped closer to the cabinets.
He should have guessed that Taehyung would have a kitchen installed to his own room. Actually, this wasn't even a room anymore, more like a small apartment. Firstly, he started searching through the cabinets for painkillers, because even though the pain wasn't unbearable, the constant ache was not pleasant either. After a few minutes of bending and crouching, making the pain even worse, he finally found a box of painkillers in the back of the top cabinet. Swiftly swallowing them down with water, waiting for the pills to take effect, he pondered on what he should make for breakfast.
Jin walked towards the fridge, eyes scanning the products inside as he opened it. "Maybe I should make pancakes," he mumbled to himself and nodded, taking out the needed ingredients.
While in the process of making the pancakes, isolated in silence, haunting thoughts ran through his mind. His thighs started to sting and he momentarily paused his cooking, leaning heavily against the kitchen counter. Although, he knew that the pain he was feeling wasn't coming from the wound itself, as he had taken painkillers.
If only there were such pills for mental wounds, too.
When he was finally done, he placed them on a platter and then proceeded in cutting some fruit. After some time, he stared at all the plates that were scattered on the kitchen counter with a proud smile on his face.
Then, he heard a soft click and turned his head towards the door, watching as a half-asleep Taehyung walked in. Jin remained there, a snort escaping his lips as he watched Taehyung bump his hip against the corner of the counter. Immediately, Taehyung's eyes landed on him, his eyebrows snapping together as he gave him a confused look.
"Why are you up this early, Jihyun? It can't be over—" Taehyung cut himself off as he sniffed the air, eyes slowly travelling away from him and onto the counter filled with food. His eyes went round, finally waking up fully. "You...you made all this? For us?"
He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. "Yeah, well, I missed cooking and I thought that I'd be a nice way to say 'thank you' for everything you've done for me these past few days." He sat on a chair in front of the counter and dragged it closer to it and then turned towards Taehyung. "Also, Taehyung, you better wake Jungkook up, or else he won't find anything to eat."
Jin turned back to the food, grabbed an empty plate and with the fork took a couple of pancakes from the plate in the center. He was halfway done with his first pancake when he noticed from the corner of his eyes that Taehyung was still standing there and turned his attention back to him. He almost chocked on his mouthful as Taehyung was gazing at him a warm smile plastered on his face, eyes half-lidded.
"Thank you, Jihyun." Taehyung responded softly, and his heart skipped a beat, a fluttering feeling erupting low in his belly as he gaped at Taehyung's retreating form.
Eventually, he snapped his head away from the door and ducked, covering his eyes with his right hand. He really needed to pull himself together, otherwise it wouldn't end well for him. Not too long after, the door opened again revealing Taehyung dragging a half-awake Jungkook with him who was clinging onto Taehyung like a koala.
"Jungkook, baby, let go so we can both sit and eat the breakfast that Jihyun prepared for us." At the mention of his name, Jungkook glanced towards him with half-lidded eyes and then looked back at Taehyung, mumbling something. Taehyung nodded, whispering something back and guided Jungkook towards the chair that was across from him on the other side of the counter. Taehyung then sat on the chair next to Jungkook and grabbed a plate.
"Is there something wrong, Jihyun?"
Taehyung's voice snapped him out of his daydreaming, eyes going round as he saw the teasing smile curved on Taehyung's lips. "No, nothing's wrong." He averted his eyes, resuming eating and felt his ears heating up as he was caught openly staring.
He made sure to eat the three pancakes he had previously placed on his plate as soon as possible, completely ignoring the pointed stares that Taehyung was throwing at him every now and then. As he finished eating, he grabbed his plate and fork and placed them in the sink, quickly cleaning them up. Silently, he walked towards the kitchen door.
"Jihyun, where are you going?"
Jin's hand paused on the door handle. "Back to my room, I've already stayed enough as it is, I don't want to cause any more trouble." He responded without turning and immediately stepped out of the kitchen, heading towards the front door of the room. He thought he heard Taehyung calling out to him, but didn't slow down as he finally stepped out of the room and started making his way down the hallway, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to deny Taehyung.
As Jin was walking through the hallways of the mansion towards his room, he didn't know if he felt glad or hurt that no one came after him.
~
Days passed, melting into weeks and, eventually, a month before Jin started feeling almost like himself again, both mentally and physically. Although, he couldn't say the same for everybody.
Recently, he had noticed a rather odd change in Taehyung's personality. It had all started a week ago, and at first, he hadn't really thought that anything was wrong, but as the days kept passing by, it became worse.
For two whole months, Jin was completely relieved from field duty and any kind of job, in order to have a speedy recovery. During this month, he had no other choice but to spend his time with Jungkook and Taehyung, although as time passed, he grew accustomed to their presence. And their behavior towards him was completely different in comparison to before.
Now they never once invaded his personal area without asking for permission first, they never demanded and took whatever they wanted. Neither Jungkook nor Taehyung had even hinted anything about wanting to kiss him and, for some absurd reason he felt disappointed. It seemed like they respected him as a person, an equal and he should have been happy, ecstatic, because that meant that he was doing such incredible progress in such sort time.
He was happy, but not for that reason.
And as he watched Taehyung crumple a little more with each passing day, something crumpled inside him, too. He didn't know if it was just empathy, or his usual habit of reaching out to people who suffered, wanting to ease their pain, but he knew that he couldn't ignore it for much longer.
That's why he was currently standing outside of Taehyung's room, knocking persistently.
"I swear to god, you're gonna wish that you weren't alive—"
"Now, that's kinda rude, don't you think, Jungkook? Especially to your guest." Jin shook his head and walked inside, pushing a stunned Jungkook to the side. His eyes immediately fell upon the shivering figure completely covered under the bedsheets and let out a small sigh as he headed straight to the kitchen. As he started setting out on the kitchen counter all the ingredients, he could feel Jungkook's heated gaze on his back.
"If there is something you want to say, just say it already, Jungkook." He stated as he placed a pot filled with water on the stove and turned the heat on. Suddenly, a hand gripped his wrist, although not firmly enough to actually hurt and he turned around, locking eyes with Jungkook's hardened expression.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Jin cocked his head to the side. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm cooking Japchae, obviously." Then, he gently pried his hand out of Jungkook's pliant hold and turned his attention back on the counter, continuing from where he had left off. "This really isn't a good time to be playing house, Jihyun."
"If that's what you like to call it, fine by me. Seems like you have perfectly captured the role of the five year-old."
"Don't try to change the subject— why are you making Taehyung's—"
"Taehyung's favorite food?" he interrupted Jungkook, who fell silent at that. "Because he is sulking and it's annoying, so I wondered 'what is the one thing that always make people happy no matter what'?" Jin pointed with the wooden spoon he was holding towards the pot. "And there you have it."
A long silence followed, none of them saying anything and Jin resumed his work, turning the heat to low and added the noodles and spinach into the wok, followed by the sesame oil, the sauce, and salt. As he was stirring, he got startled as Jungkook leaned against the counter right next to him, body inclined towards him.
"It's more than just sulking." Jungkook replied, albeit his voice soft in comparison to before. Jin huffed as he finally finished and placed the cooked meal into a dish. "Well, whatever it is, it's annoying."
He turned to look at Jungkook, and found that he was already staring at him. Jungkook titled his head to the side, regarding him with those dark eyes of his. "Are you sad, Jihyun? Frustrated? Angry? Because that's what I'm feeling right now, but what about you?"
Jin turned his head away, opening up the drawer next to the sink and grabbed a set of chopsticks. "What do you think?" he addressed Jungkook without turning to look at him and placed the dish on a tray, heading outside of the kitchen with the tray in his hands. He went around the bed, standing over the right side of the bed where Taehyung was hiding under the covers and placed the tray on the nightstand.
Unsure of what to do, he sat down on the edge of the bed, next to Taehyung's curled up form. He hesitantly lifted his hand and placed it slowly where he guessed was Taehyung's back. "Taehyung? Are you awake under there?" he asked softly and started gently rubbing his back. Eventually, he heard a small whine and sighed softly. "C'mon, I know you've been cooped up in here for the past few days and you need to eat some real food, because I doubt Jungkook's useless ass was capable of cooking you anything good."
His lips twitched upwards as he heard Jungkook's offended 'hey!' come from behind him, but he ignored it for now, focusing instead on Taehyung. For a few minutes, nothing happened, but eventually the lump of bedsheets started moving, slowly revealing an exhausted-looking Taehyung. His chest tightened painfully as he studied Taehyung's face, his bloodshot eyes, evident dark circles under his eyes, pale face and slightly swollen. But what made his heart shatter was Taehyung's eyes as they locked gazes, his usual spark completely vanished, leaving a broken look in its wake.
"Hey," he offered Taehyung a small, gentle smile and grabbed the tray from the nightstand, placing it on his lap. "I made you Japchae. I know it's your favorite and you haven't had it in a while, so, here you go."
He waited patiently as he watched Taehyung slowly lower his eyes on the dish, keeping his attention on it for a few minutes without saying anything. A shaky hand slowly reached out and took the chopsticks, breaking them apart. He heard a quite whimper and glanced up, his eyes widening as tears were rolling down Taehyung's flushed cheeks. Immediately, he started panicking, thinking that he had done something wrong as he watched Taehyung take the first bite with a sad expression.
"I— did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to, I just, I just thought that I'd be nice to—" he felt his throat close up as he watched Taehyung continue eating with the same expression on his face. Suddenly, he got startled as he felt a hand on his left shoulder, and whipped his head to the side, coming face to face with Jungkook's gentle smile.
"It's okay, Jihyun, you didn't do anything wrong. Taehyung is just...going through a rough time right now, but he really appreciates your effort, trust me." Then, a hand covered his own and turned his attention to Taehyung, who was now staring at him with a shaky smile on his lips, too forced to be real.
Jin took a deep breath, letting it out slowly and turned his hand, palm facing up to hold Taehyung's arm properly. "It's okay, Taehyung, you don't have to pretend. It's alright to let it out." Taehyung tensed, clenching his jaw as he gazed at Jin with a small sparkle in his eyes.
Then, Jungkook shuffled closer, cupping Taehyung's face and pulled him into his chest, murmuring softly into his ear as Taehyung started shaking. Jin felt like he was an intruder to a private moment, like he wasn't supposed to be witnessing this vulnerable moment and placed the tray next to him on an empty spot on the bed. He was about to stand up, but he found resistance. He glanced back, eyes going round as Taehyung was still holding onto him, now staring at him with a determined look in his puffy eyes.
"S-Stay, please." Taehyung croaked out, his voice almost unrecognizable. He drily swallowed and glanced at Jungkook, who silently nodded at him and offered his hand. He bit his lower lip, not knowing what was best to do. The rational part of his mind was screaming at him to get away as soon as possible, because once he relented and allowed himself to get involved, there would be no turning back, but another part of him just wanted to reach out and comfort Taehyung.
His mind stuttered at that, as the realization dawned on his face. He cared. He genuinely cared for not only Taehyung, but Jungkook too.
Hesitantly, he reached out with his other hand and grabbed Jungkook's extended hand, allowing himself to be gently pulled in. Jin felt himself tense up a bit at the contact, but proceeded to bury his face on Taehyung's shoulder, slightly squeezing Taehyung's arm and held Jungkook's hand with his other. He didn't know how much time they stayed there, huddled up together, but he didn't move until Taehyung had stopped shaking, until the silent tears had dried up.
"I...I never knew my father, he abandoned me and my mom from early on, leaving us for another woman."
Jin inhaled sharply as Taehyung started talking, his voice laced with raw emotions.
"I was hurt by that, and of course, when I was younger, I always questioned myself 'Is it my fault?', 'Did he leave because of me?', but eventually, I knew that there was no point in wondering, as I would probably never get to see my father and instead focused on making my mother happy. I thought that as long as I had her, everything would be fine, and it was...until she started getting worse." Taehyung paused, letting out a deep, shaky breath against the nape of his neck.
"I never noticed it, because she hid it well, but she was...mentally ill for years, consuming daily about a dozen of pills, but by the time I realized it, it was too late. The first time that I knew things were really bad, it was when she had her first episodes. In these episodes, she would...she wasn't herself, basically. She lost sense of who she was and became aggressive and violent towards herself and...me. I thought that if I'd stay quiet about it and never mention it, it wouldn't get worse and that in time, things would get better."
"Until the time when one of her episodes was so intense, all the pent up anger and sorrow, just exploded and she almost...killed me. When she came back to herself later on, upon realizing what she had done, she just...disappeared. Her eyes became lifeless, she stopped talking, stopped eating, stopped existing. She was still alive, but at the same time, she wasn't." Taehyung paused, taking in several deep, calming breaths before he resumed.
"No matter where I took her, no matter how much help she had, she never got better. She might have shut completely down as a way to punish herself for what she had been doing to me all those years, but I never hated her. I mean, how could I? I knew it wasn't her fault, and she wasn't herself when she was blacking out and having those episodes. After a few months of placing her into a hospital, she fell into a coma. Years passed, her condition never changed, so in the end, the doctor suggested to perform euthanasia."
Jin held his breath as Taehyung paused, waiting for the dreaded words that he knew would follow.
"Today is the anniversary of her death."
He let out a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the dangerous sting. All this time, he thought that they were some heartless monsters that all they knew was violence. He thought that they had no remorse, that they were merciless, but all this time they were just hiding under this façade. He finally realized that they were human beings, just like everyone else, just like him.
"Are you crying, Jihyun?" Jungkook teased. He let out a weak chuckle, face still hidden in Taehyung's shoulder. "Shut up, Jungkook." Suddenly, his chin was grabbed and lifted up, towards Taehyung who smiled at him with glossy eyes.
"I know that Jungkook was only joking, but I was afraid that it'd be true, because you were silent for so long. I didn't want you to feel sorry for me, what's done is done." Taehyung stated as he moved his hand, cupping Jin's cheek.
Jin's heart clenched and averted his eyes, "I'm sorry." He whispered and, surprisingly, heard Jungkook scoff.
"If you apologize again for doing nothing I'm gonna beat you up."
"Jungkook!"
"What? He's being ridiculous and it's pissing me off!"
Jin leaned back and watched as both Jungkook and Taehyung completely changed mood and were both barking at each other. At one point Taehyung grabbed Jungkook by his ear and tugged harshly, eliciting a yelp from Jungkook, who responded with pinching Taehyung's cheeks.
He tried to suppress his giggling, but ended up bursting into loud laughter, eyes brimming with tears. By the time Jin calmed down, having taken deep breaths, he noticed that both Jungkook and Taehyung had gone quiet, with only his laughter filling the silence in the room. He glanced up, getting startled as both Jungkook and Taehyung had their eyes glued on him.
"Is this what heaven sounds like?" Taehyung sighed dreamily whilst placing a hand over his chest. Jungkook snorted, "If heaven sounds like the windshield wiper of your car, then I can't argue with that."
Jin narrowed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. "Well, seems like someone won't be getting any homemade pizza for a long time."
"What?"
He bit down on his lower lip to prevent a smile from forming on his lips as Jungkook whipped his head towards him, staring at him with wide eyes. "You heard me."
Jungkook frowned at that and turned to glare at Taehyung who held up his hands.
"You, don't laugh," he addressed Taehyung. "And you," he continued, turning back to him, "do I need to remind you who's in charge here?"
As he was about to respond, Taehyung cut in. "Well, technically, I'm in charge."
Jungkook turned to Taehyung, his eyes wild. "Whose side are you on?!"
"Do you want a brief summary or a fully detailed essay?"
Jin watched in silence with a small smile on his face as Jungkook and Taehyung broke into another arguing session, fading completely into their own world.
~
"You fucking cheated!"
Jin snorted, throwing his cards down on the bed. "It's not my fault you suck at poker."
He folded his arms over his chest and side glanced at Jungkook, who was glaring at him. Then, he sensed a shift in the atmosphere and noticed that an odd glint appeared in Jungkook's eyes and the first mistake was when he started to back away. Immediately, Jungkook launched himself towards Jin and he dodged to the right, and was about to push himself off the bed but a hand wrapped around his bicep yanked him back.
He struggled against Jungkook's hold as both his hands were captured in a tight hold and tried to twist his body, kicking against Jungkook's side.
"Stop kicking me!" Jungkook hissed, adding pressure to his grip as a warning.
"Then let me go!" he shot back, managing to kick him again in the shin.
Jungkook growled and in an instant, he found himself trapped beneath Jungkook, arms pinned at either side of his head, as well as his legs. Jin struggled for a few seconds, but then gave up, dropping his head back on the bed and panted heavily.
"What do they fucking feed you?" he grumbled. Jungkook's eyes gleamed as he grinned widely down at him. He narrowed his eyes, "Don't you fucking dare say it—"
Jungkook's grinned turned into a playful smirk. "Why? Your virgin ears can't handle the truth?"
He frowned and turned his head away.
More like my dick can't handle it, he thought sourly and scrunched up his nose. For a few months now, after coming closer to Jungkook and Taehyung with each passing day, it was only a matter of time before he started getting sexually frustrated, too. For a while now, each time he witnessed Jungkook and Taehyung being touchy with each other, the result would place him in awkward situations. It was like he reverted back to his teenager self with the crazing and uncontrollable hormones.
Before he had time to respond, the door opened with a loud thud, making him flinch. He craned his neck to the side and immediately locked gazes with Taehyung who paused, gaping at them.
"Taehyung, help, he's molesting me!" as Jungkook was stunned and loosened his grip, he took the opportunity and pushed Jungkook off, quickly getting off the bed. He tried to play it off and grinned widely at Jungkook, holding his shaky hand behind his back.
More than a month had passed since his kidnapping, yet sometimes, Jin still felt that disgusting touch of that monster, and being sexually frustrated at the same time was not helping his case at all.
He's dead, he can't hurt you anymore.
Jungkook seemed to snap out of his initial shock as he pushed himself off the bed. "What?! No, I didn't— Taehyung, don't believe him, you know I'd never do th— Taehyung? Are you okay?"
Jin turned his attention back on Taehyung, noticing how his shoulders were tense and had his lips pressed into a tight line.
"I just came back from a meeting with Namjoon." Taehyung announced as he walked in further into the room, passing by them.
"What for? Is everything okay?"
He remained frozen on the spot, watching as Jungkook joined Taehyung on the edge of the bed, sitting next to him. By the expression on Taehyung's face, this was an important matter, meaning that he had to leave. Would he get noticed if he eavesdropped outside the door? It would be risky, but he couldn't miss this.
"See you around then," he mumbled and turned around, about to leave.
"Jihyun."
He stilled as Taehyung called out to him, heart pounding faster. He slowly turned around, locking gazes with Taehyung, whose eyes were boring into him.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Jin opened his mouth and then closed it again, scowling. "Uh, no, you didn't, but I assumed—"
"Well, you assumed wrong, now bring your pretty ass here so I can get started." Taehyung smiled sharply at him and he nodded, moving away from the door and sat down on the small couch positioned next to the bed against the wall.
"The elections are due in a few weeks and Nick Williams is going to organize a gala in a week. Many figures of importance are going to be attending, along with The Fox. We know that Nick Williams has been in contact with The Fox, so our main objective is to send someone in from our barracks portrayed as The Fox, get as much information as they can and then leave."
"Of course, many of our members are going to attend to take photos of Nick Williams getting a little bit too familiar with the people of the underworld. It will be the perfect opportunity, as we're going to aid him in getting elected and then blackmail him into helping us raise our influence over the government."
He titled his head to the side as Taehyung finished. "Who is 'The Fox'?"
"He's a person with power, but no one has ever really seen who he is, and sometimes I can't understand if he works alone or is a part of a bigger organization." Taehyung replied and Jin thanked him.
Jungkook scowled as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, looking pensive. "Okay, getting The Fox out of the picture is relatively easy, we just have to know when and where he will be arriving, but the thing is, who's gonna replace him? None of us can do it, because we have showed our face to the public, they know who we are."
Taehyung nodded, "Unfortunately Namjoon and I weren't able to come up with a good answer so I was dismissed for now."
Jungkook leaned towards Taehyung, placing a kiss on the corner of his lips. "It's okay. Just rest for now, I'm sure you must be exhausted."
Jin chewed his bottom lip, hands gripping tighter the arms of the couch. He knows that he shouldn't get more involved than he already has, he should just let this slide and follow the safe route he has maintained for so long, but this is too important to ignore.
Don't say it, don't you fucking say it—
"I can do it."
Fuck.
He gulped as both Jungkook and Taehyung turned towards him. As he was about to reason, Jungkook cut him off.
"No. Absolutely not."
"And why not?"
Jungkook shook his head, turning his head away. "I'm not gonna argue on why you shouldn't go, this conversation is over."
Jin shot up from the couch, eyes narrowed. "Do I need to remind you who escaped from the enemy's fucking HQ while severely injured? No thanks to you, by the way."
Jungkook was in front of him in a flash. For a few moments he really felt like he was being stared down, even though he was taller than Jungkook, which made Jungkook all the more intimidating. However, he now knew that Jungkook was all bark and no bite, so he stood his ground, gaze never wavering.
"That's enough, both of you. Jungkook stand down." Taehyung pushed himself off the bed and came to stand next to them.
Jungkook turned to Taehyung, furrowing his eyebrows. "Taehyung, you can't really be considering this—"
"I said stand down, Jungkook."
Jungkook closed his mouth shut, flexing his jaw. "Fine," he gritted through his teeth and took a few steps back. Then, he tensed as Taehyung turned towards him and grabbed his chin, making Jin meet his eyes.
"Are you sure about this, Jihyun? Sure, it would be a shame if this mission were to be unsuccessful, we would lose a great opportunity, but this won't affect us as much as it will affect you. You will literally put your life on the line— one slip up and you're finished."
Jin gazed into Taehyung's eyes with the same intensity, setting his jaw. "I know what I was getting myself into the moment I joined Bangtan."
Taehyung regarded him for a few more seconds and then a smile appeared on his face, as he patted Jin's cheek before moving away. "Good, then, but first I will have to talk to Namjoon about this, because no matter how eager you may be, if it doesn't get approved by him we won't be doing anything."
He nodded and discreetly glanced at Jungkook, who was turned away from them, his expression closed off devoid of any emotion, but Jin could recognize the anger in his eyes. He watched as Taehyung approached Jungkook and started whispering into his ear, placing a comforting hand on Jungkook's lower back.
Now, all he needed to do was wait.
~
Not sooner than a day later, as he was hanging out with Jungkook (after having made up with him, as Jin hadn't given Jungkook an option and forced him to talk it out with him) Taehyung appeared, finally giving him his answer.
They were ready to proceed.