a/n: it's all starting to come together ¬‿¬
[ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ]
"Okay, so I think we need to sit down and have a chat about what happened at the old place," Namjoon said, pointing to an array of sofas and chairs arranged in the living room of the cabin.
It was just how I imagined it with its high ceiling roof, wooden balcony and towering windows. The best part, which I'd been hopefully expecting, was the large ornately decorated fireplace which I managed to convince Yoongi to light. It was absolutely breathtaking.
At the current moment in time, I was sat next to Jungkook on a large squishy beanbag sat across from a stern faced Namjoon. The only noise that could be heard in the room, was the sniffling of Taehyung as he wiped his wet eyes and sniffly nose onto a handkerchief. He still hadn't explained what had got him into such a flurry of emotion.
"I think we should start by naming whose ass I need to beat for hurting you," Jin muttered, eyeing the faint bruises on Namjoon's face with a scowl. He'd managed to take away most of the pain and damage but the scars still remained.
"Oh my fucking god, Jin said 'ass'. This really is serious," Yoongi stated, an impish grin on his face. Even in the worst of situations, the boy refused to be serious. Jin glared but sighed, realising he was probably being a bit too over protective.
"Taehyung, you should probably start," Jin mumbled kindly, nudging the boy slightly. I could tell that Jin was trying to be as friendly as possible towards Taehyung (probably in fear of setting off another endless tsunami of tears) but it didn't do much to help.
Taehyung's bottom lip trembled and he refused to look up, his lap becoming the centre of attention. "I didn't know," he mumbled, so lightly that it was almost impossible to hear. He repeated the sentence again, this time more loudly but still wobbly.
Hoseok must have felt the stress rolling off from Taehyung and leaned forwards, whispering something into quivering boy's ear. Taehyung nodded in response and then, he almost seemed to relax. His shoulders were no longer frigid, his arms loosely hung by his arm and the trail of tears on his cheek had already begun to disappear. I couldn't understand what Hoseok had said to make him change so quickly.
Jungkook dug his elbow into my rib and pointed towards Hoseok, mouthing something unintelligible. It was then when I realised that Hoseok must have used his enhancement to make the younger boy relax. It was a good thing actually because I doubted Taehyung would've had the strength to admit to his wrongdoings without him.
"There was this boy back at the laboratory." His voice had no hesitation. "He was my friend before I met you guys. They kept him in the containment facility adjacent to me."
I always forgot that Taehyung hadn't been intended to be introduced to the boys. If I remembered well enough, from Jungkook's story, MediHeal were planning to ship him and Namjoon away before allowing Taehyung to meet the others, optioning instead to keep him in a padded cell. If it weren't for Jin finding him on that particular day, he would still be trapped.
"I...I always felt bad for leaving him." From what I knew of Hoseok's power, he could only manipulate one emotion at a time. He had taken away Taehyung's stress but this blatant regret was still appearing through the cracks. "So when he messaged me, telling me he'd also got out. I replied."
"That's how they found us, then. They must have used the message to track and narrow down your location," Yoongi mused, surprisingly a lot less angry than I expected him to be.
"None of that matters now," Namjoon interrupted, slightly less steely as he shot Taehyung a smile. "What I'm more concerned by is this- why was that boy locked up? Was he like us?"
Taehyung shook his head, completely resolute. "He was a failed experiment but, he wasn't like the others. He was normal."
"The others? What does that mean?" I asked, blushing slightly when everyone turned to face me. I couldn't keep up all the time with all these new thoughts and ideas and if asking questions was the only way to learn more about these boys, than so be it.
Namjoon didn't seem to mind my interruption, however. In fact, he seemed quite content to explain. "You realise that there were many experiments before us, right? And that Jin hyung was the first success?" I nodded. "Well, before that, MediHeal took years to perfect the enhancements; the primary reason being that everyone reacts differently to it. It took them a while to realise but the effect of the enhancements were adverse when it came to adults and, as a result, they often failed to survive the process. So, as you'd expect, they switched to children. Unfortunately, if the child didn't die, they often experienced a complete change to the child's mental state. Many went insane."
"Until Jin," Jimin interrupted.
"Until Jin," Namjoon added, unbothered by the intrusion. "If this boy was completely unharmed yet failed to show the symptoms of a newly developing enhancement, he's a complete rarity. I've never heard of anything like him. It makes sense that MediHeal would keen him locked up in the dark."
"But not anymore, now they're utilising him," Hoseok mumbled, deep in thought. He seemed to have loosened the leash on Taehyung's emotion control now that the boy could be certain that he wasn't going to be shouted at.
"Taehyung?" I said, feeling a slight uncertainty in the pit of my stomach.
"Yeah?"
"What's this boy's name?" I didn't want to ask this question, not when I already felt as though I knew the answer.
"His name?" He looked at me confused, eyes wide and blinking.
It was as if my head was being pulled taut on a string and, for a quick minute, I struggled to nod. My body didn't want to know. I didn't want to know. Finally, I managed to pluck up enough courage, a mouth a feeble 'yes'.
"It's Jeno. Park Jeno."
My heart plummeted and, as it hit the floor, I could almost feel it crack as though it was made of stone. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.
"Hayeon, are you okay?" Jungkook asked, worry edged in his voice as he held onto my arm. I must have zoned out for a second.
"What's going on?" I heard Yoongi mumble until Namjoon shushed him. Other than Jungkook, Namjoon was the only person who knew my close relationship with Jeno.
"It's not true, it can't be." I shook my head frantically, unabashed by the fuss I was creating. There was no way Taehyung could be true. It could be another Jeno. "No. He wouldn't do that."
"Hayeon, I told you that I didn't trust him," Jungkook said in a attempt to calm me down. "He tricked you, that's all."
"I knew that he was a bit suspicious at times but he wanted to help! He was my best friend!"
I felt Jungkook grasp my arms and pull me into a hug, my face smushed against the soft fabric of his shirt as I sobbed. "He was my best friend," I hiccuped, beginning to ramble incoherently. "All this time, he never wanted to help you. He was just using me."
The grip on my arms tightened as Jungkook knuckles went white with the pressure. From this position, I could also tell that his breathing was getting heavier, his chest rising and falling, as his anger boiled. "Hey, don't let him get to you. He's nothing. You'll never have to see him again."
"That's not true," Yoongi called out, a strange glint in his eyes. "Hayeon's been keeping a secret from you."
"What are you on about?" I seethed, hissing through my teeth. I could deal with Yoongi of most days but, right now, I really wasn't in the mood. He just smiled that annoying smirk of his.
"Taehyung, did you see this 'Jeno' at the fight?"
Taehyung nodded dutifully, no longer crying and instead looking from person to person in attempts to gauge the meaning behind this conversation. "Yeah! He was really scary and he was always stood beside the Captain."
"Where was the last place you saw him?" Yoongi pushed, gritting his teeth.
"When we split up he went a similar way to Namjoon, back towards the house."
Yoongi chortled as a sickening feeling overcome my entire being. "Namjoon hyung, it looks like we found the suspect behind your little scrap." His eyes flicked to the bust lip, still slightly stained with blood around the edges. "But, Hayeon knew all this already because she saw him that night."
Damn it. I was really hoping that Yoongi had missed that part. "I was going to tell but I didn't think it meant much. He's a soldier; they fight, it's what they have to do to keep their job. I didn't know that he was in affiliation with MediHeal or that he hurt Namjoon. At that moment, I saw my best friend metres away from being frazzled to death so I told you to drive."
"Would that situation have changed if you knew that he had lied to you? That he betrayed us all?" Yoongi know longer had that cool facade that I'd grown to associate him with. He was furious with me and I'd only just managed to gain his trust.
"I wouldn't have killed him, if that's what you're saying."
"He's been fucking with you for months and you fell into his trap! Your stupidity meant that Namjoon nearly died," he shouted, his eyes blown wide. If he didn't calm down soon, I was scared that he'd light this beautiful wooden house aflame.
To my surprise, Jungkook was the one to speak next. "Don't speak to her like that, she did nothing wrong. She didn't know what he'd done and she wanted to protect her friend. Don't twist her intentions Yoongi, you would have done the same." Jungkook must really be furious; it wasn't very often that he dropped his honorifics.
Yoongi paused, an almost hurt expression crossing his face. He appeared to be frozen, so surprised that Jungkook had spoken so harshly towards him but, unlike me, Yoongi hadn't witnessed what Jungkook had gone through back at the laboratory. He was no longer the boy he had been when he'd first entered. He was much more steadfast. Stronger, in a way. Yoongi realised that a second too late and scoffed. "Fine, I guess I'll be the bad guy. Again."
With that, he stood up and stormed out from the room, the only sign that he'd ever been there was the swinging door, banging obtrusively against the wall.