24

"What happened?" Jimin asked, horrified.

Jungkook

The door to the kitchen opened and the men came in.

"Fvck," Seokjin said, rubbing his hand over his face tiredly. "Jung-ho is dead," he replied, his voice as deadly as ever.

At his words, my breath came out in a whoosh.

It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach, my mind swirled, my vision going slightly blurry.

I blinked and gasped, my hand going to my neck as I started to rub up and down.

"What?" I whispered, my voice so little that it was barely audible.

"Jung-ho is dead," Yoongi repeated before closing his eyes with a tired sigh.

My father was dead.

I brought a shaky hand to my mouth.

"Taehyung took him to the basement yesterday. Hell, we got our revenge," Seokjin rejoiced.

"Oh," Jimin whispered beside me. "Shall we start celebrating?"

"Pretty good idea," Hobi said.

They were leaning against the wall, all of them deep in thought.

"I should go, I'm tired," I whispered. My heart was thumping fast against my chest. "And it's pretty late," I started and then smiled. "I think we should go to bed. I'm worn out."

Jimin pouted and I placed my hand on his arm, I squeezed it.

"Okay," Jimin murmured before wrapping his arms around me. "Good night, Jungkook."

Hugging his back, I nodded and then leaned back. He smiled and I felt my lips stretch into another smile.

Jimin and I just came out of the kitchen when a door opened. We both swivelled around and saw

Taehyung coming out of the basement.

My eyes widened and my body froze when he approached the light. Taehyung wasn't wearing his full suit. Instead, he had his black linen shirt on, which was halfway unbuttoned and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

But that wasn't what surprised me.

He was a mess, a bloody mess.

There were cuts on the knuckles.

His left hand was slightly swollen too and his lips were bleeding from biting too hard.

His body sagging forward.

"Oh my God," Jimin gasped.

He looked lost, deep in thoughts. He held onto the bannister and slowly made his way upstairs, his legs dragging. The pain was evident on his face and in his posture as my forehead creased in confusion and I turned to Jimin, his eyes were no longer on Taehyung but he was staring at the basement door.

I nodded at Jimin and walked away, closing my door, I leaned against it and sank to my butt.

Pulling my knees together, I placed my head on them and tried to breathe.

Eventually, I found myself in bed. I stared into the distance, only the lamp on my nightstand was on, casting a soft glow around the room. I didn't know how long I stayed like that, but I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes. I thought of my father and Byungchan. I was scared of the nightmares.

I turned around in bed and tried to find another comfortable position, but to no avail. Nothing worked.

My father was dead. He took my peace, my freedom, my everything. My eyes burned with unshed tears and my quiet gasps filled the silent dark room. My father, a man who gave me to a monster and turned a blind eye to my pain. My chest squeezed tight with pain and the tears fell freely down my cheeks. I cried for the pain he caused me. I cried for the love I could have had but never experienced because of him.

In the end, I cried for myself.

After a while I blew out a tired breath, I rubbed my face in frustration and sat up in bed. My thoughts went to Taehyung, my body instantly grew tense. After what my father had done, this was Taehyung's revenge.

To see a man like Taehyung full of mad rage, and hurt. I heard from Jimin earlier that Taehyung's been in the basement and only goes out to sleep. He was going through a harder time than me.

When I saw him, his pain was obvious and my heart ached. It was painful.

And strangely, I wanted to offer comfort.

Maybe because I understood. Was it sympathy, or guilt?

I didn't know, but through my pain, I felt his. And my heart was breaking for this man, who was my enemy.

The irony of it - A Jeon wanting to comfort a Kim.

My mind was a jumbled mess and I just wanted silence for a moment. I closed my eyes and the first thing that flashed behind my closed lids was my grand piano. My eyes instantly snapped open.

That was it.

The piano.

I knew we weren't allowed in the room, but everyone was sleeping. Maybe I could just sneak in, I padded to my door. Looking left and right, I made sure that no one was in the hall before stepping out.

I softly tiptoed to the next room but immediately stopped when I saw the lights on. The door was slightly opened and I leaned forward, peeking inside.

My heart stuttered at the sight.

Taehyung was sitting on the couch, facing the piano in the corner. There was a glass in his hand and he was staring intensely at the piano. He slowly brought the glass to his lips and chugged the rest of the drink in a gulp.

He looked horrible.

With my heart heavy and thumping fast in my chest, I started to quietly move away from the door but his voice stopped me.

"I know you are there."

I froze and my eyes widened.

Placing my hand over my chest, I bit on my lips nervously.

'Should I just leave?'

My mind and heart were in a constant battle. In the end, I slowly opened the door wider and walked inside, but stopped at the entrance. Taehyung didn't look toward me but kept his eyes on the piano.

I shuffled on my feet nervously. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up.

"Do you come in here often?" he asked, his voice rough and hard.

I whispered, "No."

Then it was silence again.

I looked away from him and stared at the grand piano. It was beautiful and I instantly felt peaceful. Wrapping my arms around myself, I took a few steps in the room and stood in the middle. My eyes were still on the piano and my fingers were itching to play. I wanted to feel the soft keys.

My shoulders sagged in defeat.

I looked away from the piano and turned toward Taehyung. He was already staring at me, his eyes intense but unreadable.

We stared at each other, our gazes never wavering.

After a few seconds, I swallowed hard and looked away. Moving my gaze to his chest, I followed the path down and almost gasped out loud.

His hands were bleeding, his knuckles bruised so bad. There were gashes all over, the skin was torn off from his knuckles. He hadn't cleaned up at all.

My heart squeezed at the sight.

I looked back up and saw his eyes still on me. Licking my lips nervously, I squeezed my cold hands in fists. Taehyung gave me a blank look and then looked at the piano.

Silence again.

There was no movement and it felt like we weren't even breathing. "Do you play?" he asked gruffly.

My mouth fell open at his words. I never expected him to ask me that question. With my heart racing, I swallowed against the lump forming in my throat.

"Yes," I responded.

Silence.

I waited for him to say something but he didn't, it was like I wasn't even there anymore. I still waited, I didn't know exactly what but my feet stayed grounded. I tugged on the hem of my nightdress, I slowly backed away - Taehyung needed time by himself. Without looking up at him, I turned around and made my way out. Before I could step out of the room, his voice stopped me.

"Do you want to play?"

My steps faltered and at his words, my heart fluttered.

"I can play?" I asked, taking a step forward and away from the door.

He turned toward me.

"Do you want to?"

I nodded, my body shaking with excitement. I couldn't hold the smile spread across my lips, I felt giddy. He stared at me with the same dead eyes, he nodded toward the piano, that was the only indication I needed.

I walked toward the piano and stopped in front of it. With my heart light, I placed my fingers on the keys and closed my eyes.

When I looked at Taehyung, he was staring at me intently, waiting.

With our gazes still connected, I let my fingers move.

Softly.

Gently.

And a sweet melody came through.

The music washed around us like a slow, gentle wave, and I smiled.

Taehyung's eyes widened. He brought his hand over his chest and pressed hard as if he was having

trouble breathing.

I closed my eyes and continued to play.

My heart full of peace, I felt content.

My fingers moved swiftly over the keys of the piano.

This was what I needed.

Peace.