Author's Note: There is violence in this chapter. Please skip if you are underaged or easily triggered. If you are going to read on, I strongly advise that you proceed with caution. 🔞🔞🔞
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Jin groaned as he regained consciousness. He tried to open his eyes but they were swollen shut. Nonetheless, he persevered and managed to get them open so he could look around him. The first thing he noticed was that he was alone. Jimin was nowhere to be seen.
Jin sighed with relief as he pushed up off the floor into a sitting position against the wall. His body hurt. Everything hurt. Jimin had really done a number on him but Jin had protected his baby by curling his body around his belly and staying close to the wall. Even when Jimin had tried to flip him onto his back, he had held strong.
"Hang in there, baby. Please stay with dada," Jin whispered as he rubbed his bump gently while tears leaked from his eyes. "Dada will protect you until appa finds us. He will save us."
Jin had faith in his husband. He knew that when he failed to turn up at Narita, Taehyung would immediately begin searching for him. With the resources available to him at the agency where he worked, Jin had no doubt that Taehyung will find him and their baby. If not, Jin was certain that Haein would offer his assistance if he knew Jin was missing.
Jin knew about Haein's military background from past conversations. He was also aware that Haein still kept in touch with his former Special Forces buddies because they often visited Haein and dined at the restaurant when they came to Japan.
Jin looked out of a nearby window and noticed that night had fallen. He wondered if Taehyung had already discovered his whereabouts. And he wondered if Jimin will return to continue his assault.
He doesn't know why Jimin was fixated on him, nor why he would think that Jin was pregnant with Jungkook's baby. It made no sense. Jin was married to someone else and had had no contact with Jungkook until he reconnected with Taehyung. By then, Jin was already pregnant.
Jin had tried to explain this to Jimin. He swore that he had nothing to do with Jungkook since the night of the rehearsal dinner. He even went on to tell Jimin that he had lost his memories, and only just recovered them. That even with his restored memories, he had no intention of rekindling his relationship with Jungkook because he loved Taehyung. He loved Taehyung, and it was Taehyung's baby that resided in his belly.
But this only served to enrage Jimin. As he began kicking Jin, Jimin had screamed that as long as Jin still lived, Jungkook will never look at Jimin the same way he looked at Jin, that he will never give him a chance to be his lover, to be a proper husband to him, and to bear his children. Jimin had even blamed Jin for his infertility after a botched abortion.
"You bitch! You whore! Because of you, I became pregnant with other people's babies! Because of you, I had to abort every single one of them! Because of you, I then became infertile and can never have Jungkook's children! I hate you! I FUCKING HATE YOU!"
Jin shivered as he remembered the fury on Jimin's face as he spat his hate, the spittle forming at the corners of his mouth. It had twisted the man's handsome looks into something resembling a rabid beast, and it frightened Jin. Furthermore, the crazed look in Jimin's eyes was one that Jin hoped never to see again.
A soft thud followed by muffled knocking came from the balcony on the other side of the room. Puzzled, Jin looked at the glass doors and his heart stuttered from shock. Taehyung stood on the other side, looking back with fear on his face but love in his eyes.
When he noticed Jin staring at him, Taehyung held a finger to his lips and then revealed a brick wrapped in cloth in his other hand. Using the bundled brick, he broke the glass around the latch of the balcony door and slid it open.
"Tae! Tae! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Jin whispered desperately as his husband hurried over to envelop him in a tight embrace. "I should have never come to Seoul. I should have never tried to remember my past. I should have stayed in Tokyo with you."
"Shh, Jin, shh. Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."
Taehyung cupped his husband's cheeks and kissed him sweetly. His eyes then ran over the visible cuts and bruises on the lovely face before him, and rage began to build deep in the pit of his stomach. Damn you, Jungkook!
"Let's get you out of here, okay? Haein and the rest are on their way."
"Haein? The rest?"
"Yes, baby. Haein found you. He's coming with his army buddies. And... and... Jungkook too."
Taehyung could see that Jin was not happy to hear that Jungkook would soon be there. It warmed his heart because it confirmed for him that Jin no longer cared for his ex-boyfriend. He scooped his husband into his arms and turned towards the door but a pained yelp rang in his ear. Surprised, he looked first at Jin's belly before turning his attention to his face.
"My ankle," Jin's lips were pale from the pain. "He shackled me."
Taehyung bit back an oath as he lowered his husband to the floor once again. As he and Jin examined the manacle around the swollen bruised ankle, they failed to notice the door to the room open quietly. Their only warning was Jimin's maniacal laughter as he kicked Taehyung in the side.
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"How much farther?" Jungkook asked impatiently from his seat behind Haein.
"We're ten minutes out, Jungkook-ssi," the driver replied instead before glancing over to Haein who sat beside him, studying the data that rolled across his tablet.
The two men exchanged a quiet look as if to say "civilians" without rolling their eyes. They had not wanted to bring Jungkook with them on this rescue mission but he had kicked up such a fuss that it was quicker – and quieter – to throw him in the back of the SUV with two other members of their team. Haein, who was already quite steamed about Taehyung sneaking ahead without them, did not want to waste any more precious time.
Having read the dossier that his contact had emailed to him about the man at the airport had sent a chill through his body. As he, Hoseok, and Minjoon flew to Seoul on a private jet that Taehyung had arranged, he had tried not to think about what Jin could be going through at the hands of a ruthless man like Park Jimin.
When the jet touched down, Haein had been surprised to be met by Jungkook, the former husband of the man they were now hunting. But then Jungkook had explained that Taehyung had contacted him and apprised him of the latest development in the search for Jin, and that he was taking them to his home to meet up with Taehyung and Haein's military buddies.
Unfortunately, when they got to Jungkook's sprawling mansion, Taehyung was gone so Haein had instructed his cousin to stay and watch over Minjoon while he and his team went to retrieve both Jin and Taehyung. Jungkook's butler and attorney, who happened to be there, assured Haein that they would keep Hoseok and Minjoon safe until their return.
As the dark SUV sped through the dirt road towards the remote vacation home where Haein's contact said Jin was confined with his captor, Haein prayed that Taehyung would not do anything stupid.
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Jin gritted his teeth and tried to pull Jimin away from his husband. He was hindered by the length of the chain around his ankle but he refused to give up. Though Jimin was shorter than Taehyung, he was strong and Jin could see that his husband was losing energy from the severe kicking that he had endured earlier as he tried to fight off the smaller man.
When Jin managed to wrap his hands around Jimin's lower leg, he gave a prayer of thanks and yanked. There was a startled screech, and Jimin landed hard on Jin as the back of his head hit the floor with a sharp crack.
"Jin!" Taehyung hollered in panic as he pushed the other man away from his husband. He had seen Jimin's elbow dig into Jin's belly as he went down. "Are you okay?! Is the baby okay?!"
"Yes. Tae, find help. You need to leave and find help. This man is crazy! Please, Tae! Go find help!"
"No, Jin. I'm not leaving you. Haein is on his way."
"It'll be too late. This man is really crazy, and he's strong. He'll kill us both!"
"No, Jin! I'm not leav—"
"TAE!"
Taehyung found himself shoved across the room as Jin lunged forward to meet Jimin. There was a flash of steel, and Taehyung heard a shrill scream behind him that was the stuff of nightmares. He turned back to look at his husband, and was horrified to see blood soaking the front of the shirt that covered his abdomen.
Jimin wiped his blade clean on Jin's trousers before getting up to stand over him. "I told you I would make sure your baby would go ahead to greet you at the gates of hell, Kim Seokjin."
"You bastard!" Taehyung bellowed as he rushed Jimin.
The two men grappled over the knife, knocking over furniture as they fought and moved closer towards the balcony. Taehyung was filled with fury, and he was determined to end the life of this man who has brought nothing but misery to his husband. Please, Jin. Please hang on.
There was a loud crash as the men went through the balcony doors. The fixture had already been compromised when Taehyung had broken the glass earlier so it didn't take much for the rest to shatter. Shards fell on the combatants, causing nicks and blood to appear on exposed skin. Though the cuts stung, Taehyung kept pushing Jimin back until there was no more room for the other to go.
With a final yell drenched in anguish, Taehyung lifted Jimin and tossed him over the railing. It was so sudden that Jimin didn't even have a chance to scream. There was a loud thud on the ground below, and Taehyung looked down. He knew the man was dead. The odd angle of his head confirmed his neck was broken.
Taehyung sank to the floor as all feeling left his legs. He felt a warmth enveloped his torso as his breathing hitched. Jimin had managed to plunge his blade in Taehyung's chest before he went over the balcony, nicking Taehyung's heart.
"Tae... Tae..." The hoarse whisper beckoned from the room.
"Jin!"
And Taehyung began to pull himself back inside towards his husband. The sound of dragging chain across the floor signalled Jin's approach. Taehyung looked up and tears began to course down his cheeks as he watched his beloved crawl painfully to him.
They met in the middle of the room and Taehyung immediately pulled Jin into his arms. He loved this man so much, and was sorry that he had been put through such needless pain and suffering.
"Our baby, Tae. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Jin sobbed brokenly.
Taehyung simply tightened his hold on his husband as they cried together. He knew that their baby had had no chance of survival when he saw where Jimin had stabbed Jin. And seeing the trail of dark blood issuing from between his husband's legs supported his suspicion that their baby had died.
Taehyung looked up when he noticed that it was getting darker in the room. He realised it wasn't the light that was fading. It was him. He was filled with overwhelming sorrow at the thought of leaving Jin, and he wondered if God would allow them to meet again in the next life. This led him to question how much time would pass before he sees Jin's lovely face once more. He wanted his beloved to start over and live a life filled with love and adventure, even if it was without him.
"I'm sorry, Jin. It looks like I will be meeting our baby first."
"What?! No! No, Tae! No!"
"I'm so happy to have met you. And I'm so proud to have been your husband, and father to our Minjoon."
"No, Tae! Stop! Stop talking like this! You're not going to die!" Jin's hands began to grab at Taehyung's shirt desperately.
"I want you to forgive Jungkook. His only crime was to love you too much. I know the feeling because I love you just as much."
"Please, Tae. Hold on. Don't leave me. Don't leave Minjoon," Jin begged.
"Don't give up on love. If you find someone worthy who loves you, I want you to accept them. I don't want you to be alone for the rest of your life."
"No! I won't accept them! I want only you!"
Taehyung smiled. It soothed his aching heart to hear Jin say it but he knew he couldn't be selfish. Love was not selfish. Love was not about stopping someone from being with the one they love or being with the one who loved them. Tonight was proof of that. He didn't want Jin to end up like Jimin — bitter and twisted by a love denied.
"Please, Jin. I won't rest in peace if I know you let yourself miss out because of me. Promise me, Jin," Taehyung whispered.
His husband's tears tore at his heart. He was reluctant to leave but he had no choice in the matter. Already he could hear his late grandmother's voice calling for him. And there was a little girl's voice overlapping his grandmother's, saying "Appa, come on! I'm waiting!"
Taehyung weeped. He and Jin were going to have a daughter. The baby that died had been a girl.
"Promise me, Jin."
"I promise, Tae. I promise," Jin sobbed. "I love you. I love you, Kim Taehyung."
"And I love you, Kim Seokjin. I will always love you."
Jin shared a final sweet kiss with Taehyung and watched the light fade from his eyes. A numbness soon settled over Jin as he continued to embrace his husband's dead body. Moments later, he began to feel as if he was floating away. He wondered if he had collected enough good karma in his past life that God was granting him his wish — to be reunited once again with Taehyung.
"Wait for me, Tae. I'll be there soon."
And Jin closed his eyes as Haein's men breached the front door.
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From the Author: Please don't hate me.