58

Taehyung

I stared at the piano.

Jungkook was sitting there, just like always.

His hair was down, flowing in beautiful soft waves at his ear. His eyes were closed, a small smile on his lips as he hummed and played the piano.

For me.

For us.

I smiled too.

He was so beautiful.

My Angel.

Jungkook slowly glanced up, and his captivating doe eyes met mine.

He blew me a kiss and I reached to grab it.

He laughed and I smiled again.

Suddenly the laughter stopped.

Jungkook stared down and tears streamed down his cheeks.

No.

Don't cry, I wanted to say.

I reached forward and suddenly my Jungkook disappeared.

I closed my eyes tightly, my fingers tightening around the bottle of alcohol. My head spun, the heartache never left me, I was drunk, like every other night. I wanted to forget but then I felt guilty and ashamed, I couldn't forget.

Even though he was gone, Jungkook never left me.

Even when I was too drunk to remember my name, I never forgot Jungkook.

He was always there.

I could feel him.

Sometimes I saw him, too.

It had been five weeks since Byungchan took Jungkook away from me.

Five weeks of looking for my Angel like a madman.

He was nowhere to be found.

I just wanted to touch him.

Hold him.

Kiss him.

I opened my eyes again and stared at the piano.

The bench was empty.

My Angel wasn't there.

It hurt.

It hurt so much that I couldn't breathe sometimes.

Jungkook was gone.

And I was alone.

All alone.

I craved him.

I craved the peace only he could give.

I craved his love.

But my Angel was gone.

And without him, I was lost.

A broken, empty shell.

Jungkook once said I was his peace.

He was mine, too.

Jungkook was the light to my darkness.

But the light was gone and only darkness surrounded me.

I was used to the darkness but now it only suffocated me.

It only left me broken.

Standing up, I stumbled toward the piano.

I touched the keys and thought about Jungkook being there right now.

I can't live without you, Angel.

I can't.

***

Seokjin

2 weeks later

I opened the door to the piano room and sucked in a harsh breath at the sight that beheld me. It was

the same sight as every night since Jungkook had been gone, it still shocked me to the core.

Taehyung laid on the floor next to the piano, his body curled up in a ball.

I rubbed a hand over my mouth and face, trying to hold in the emotions.

I had never seen Taehyung so broken.

So disconnected from the world., so lost.

Walking forward, I knelt and wrapped an arm under his arms, pulling him up. He stumbled, his eyes closed, "C'mon, big guy. Let's get you in bed," I muttered as his weight fell heavily on me.

I dragged him to his room and pushed him on the bed, Taehyung didn't wake. Of course, he didn't. He drank himself into oblivion.

After removing his jacket, I removed his shoes and threw them on the floor. Sweat broke out on my

forehead from the effort of dragging Taehyung and taking care of him.

When I was done, I pulled the comforter over the body. His eyebrows drew together in tension, and

he mumbled something under his breath.

Moving closer, my heart stuttered when I heard what he was saying. I rubbed my chest, trying to get rid of the ache there.

"Angel," he whispered.

I sighed and kneaded the back of my neck, rolling my shoulder, getting rid of the rigid muscles.

What a fucking mess.

Taehyung was the strongest man I knew, the most ruthless, yet here he was… broken, he lost another he so desperately loved.

I didn't blame him, though. It was impossible not to love Jungkook, he brought light into the darkness of our world.

Jungkook was the light.

I turned away from Taehyung but stopped when I saw my father standing at the doorway, he stared at Taehyung and then moved his eyes to me.

"I've done this so many times," he muttered. I cocked my head to the side, waiting for him to elaborate.

"For Seung Won. When he lost Se Ah, he was exactly like this, and just like you, I had to take care of him. I had to help him pick up the pieces. But the problem is there are too many pieces. Seung Won is still a broken man-" he paused, pointing at Taehyung before continuing, "And now Taehyung."

I looked back at the bed, and I saw Taehyung struggling as if he was fighting in his sleep, nightmares plagued his sleep every night.

"That's why Seung Won warned him. Don't fall in love. Don't let yourself get weak. That was exactly the reason why. I had been through it. Seung Won had been through it, and all he wanted to do was save Taehyung from the same suffering."

"We are going to find Jungkook," I shot back, refusing to believe anything else. He nodded, "I hope you do. For all our sakes. He needs to be saved, and Taehyung needs him."

He turned to walk away but then stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he left me with words I didn't want to hear, "Don't make the same mistake we did."

With that, he left.

And I sank on the bed.

My eyes caught the photo frame on the nightstand, I took it in my hand and looked into the face of Jungkook. He was laughing, his eyes shining with so much love. Rubbing my thumb over his cheek, I looked back at Taehyung and then glanced down at his face again.

"Sometimes, I wish you'd never hid under his bed," I whispered. "And we never knew you."

My father was too late to warn me.

Because I had already made the same mistake.

~~~

Jungkook

My body was strangely warm.

I was floating, a sense of peace surrounded me.

My eyes opened, and I blinked several times, trying to get accustomed to my surroundings. When my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I let out a gasp, my heart fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird.

Byungchan only laughed.

When I saw the flash from the phone, I was suddenly snapped out of my haze and I struggled under his body. Byungchan's nostrils flaring, his lips pulled back in a snarl. He slapped me hard across the face and I weakly whimpered. My body was already aching from days of abuse.

How long had it been since Byungchan took me away?

A few days?

Weeks?

I didn't know.

After all, I was trapped in the dungeon every day.

I only knew darkness.

Except today.

Today, I was in a room.

Was this Byungchan's plan all along?

I pushed at his chest but he was relentless, unmoving.

Let me go, I screamed in my head.

My voice was gone.

My throat hurt and I felt dizzy.

Byungchan threw the phone somewhere on the bed and then he was on me. I felt him near my entrance and I closed my eyes. My body filled with dread, my throat was too tight. My chest ached with knowing what was coming. He brutally gripped my body as he aligned himself with me.

"You're mine," he hissed into my face.

I looked away from him, moving my face to the side, I thought of Taehyung and our happy moments. I heard his voice in my head and I smiled.

I just want you to know that you are loved... you matter.

You bring happiness to others.

You bring light, Jungkook.

You have people who care about you.

You are worth more than you think.

You are a fighter, Jungkook.

So keep fighting.

Don't give up now.

Jungkook... do you know how strong you are?

You are the strongest man I have ever met.

Your strength shines brighter than any others.

Strong.

Taehyung thought I was strong.

Even Hae-sook and Jimin thought I was strong.

But they were wrong.

I wasn't.

I was weak.

My eyes fell on the lamp and for a brief moment, I heard Taehyung yelling at me to fight. Byungchan pushed painfully inside of me, my already broken soul cracked further. Still, I heard Taehyung telling me to fight.

Pushing me to fight.

I stared at the lamp as Byungchan started moving inside of me. He was slower than usual, taking his time. I shuddered, my body itching with the need to hide and fade away.

Fight, Jungkook.

Without thinking, I reached for the lamp.

Everything happened so quickly.

One minute Byungchan was inside of me, the next, I was smashing the lamp into his head. I hit his head twice, hard enough to make him bleed. He roared in pain and pulled away from me. My body felt light as soon as he shifted away and without wasting a second, I was rolling off the

bed. My legs gave out under me and I fell hard, I could barely stand.

My whole body was trembling, I crawled toward the door and was finally able to push myself on my feet. Stumbling forward, I reached the door, I was too slow, Byungchan was on me again. He grabbed my hair and grasping it around his fingers before hitting my face into the door, right over the knob.

Pain splintered its way into my head and my skull, my neck ached with the impact, my vision blurred.

Was my jaw broken?

My cheekbone?

My whole face was hurting, burning like it was on fire, the pain travelled down my spine until black dots appeared in front of my eyes. I blinked, trying to clear them away, but the pain was too much. He slammed my head against the door again, holding my cheek there. He pressed his knuckles into my skull, I screamed as the blinding agony spread through my body.

Spots danced in front of my eyes with the searing pain, red droplets fell in front of my eyes.

My blood.

Blood.

"I thought you learned your lesson, but you clearly didn't!" Byungchan screamed. "How many times do I have to tell you that you can't run away from me?" He chuckled, his chest moving against my back, "And why are you running? To whom? Taehyung? Did you forget he gave you to me? He left you here at my mercy," he taunted in my ears.

Those were the words he fed me every day.

I didn't believe him.

No matter how many times he says it, I would never believe him.

"Why are you running to him, huh? He doesn't care about you, Jungkook," Byungchan continued, his fingers getting tighter around my hair.

I closed my eyes and tried to block him out but Byungchan was a man impossible to block. He was a disease that infiltrated everywhere.

"He is probably buried balls-deep inside another pussy or an ass right now. That's how much you mean to him, love."

Stop it!

I sobbed against the door, my heart cracked open, the pieces flew everywhere.

Empty.

That was how I felt.

"Aww... does the thought of Taehyung fucking another hurt?" he goaded, caressing a finger down my neck, "He can get any pussy he wants. You're not special, Jungkook. Are you imagining it right now? Another person's legs wrapped around his waist as he fucks them?"

I sobbed harder, my head and body too heavy to do anything else.

For the first time, I begged.

"Stop it. Please... Please... s-stop... pl... please."

Everything hurt.

Even my soul was aching, screaming in pain.

Byungchan gasped, it sounded fake. "Are you begging, love? Well, isn't that a first. I've never heard you beg before. So beg. C'mon, beg me to stop."

"P-plea... se..."

"Taehyung doesn't care about you," he whispered. "He doesn't. If he did, he would have come for you by now."

I tried to shake my head, I couldn't.

"Of course, he isn't coming. He has probably forgotten all about you," he laughed and I cried.

"He isn't coming for you. Forget him. Whatever hopes you have, it doesn't matter. Because he doesn't care. It has been more than a month."

More than a month?

No.

This couldn't be true.

More than a month and Taehyung still hadn't come. He doesn't care about you, he isn't coming for you.

Byungchan's words rang through my eyes, the tears blinded me.

What if I was holding onto a hope that wasn't even there?

"You are a ghost, love," he whispered before dragging my body away from the door.

He dragged me by my hair and pushed me onto the bed until I was face down, I didn't fight him. My body had given up as I slowly started to lose consciousness, the pain unbearable. Byungchan mounted my body, he slammed into me, I didn't make a noise.

No sound at all.

I thought about Taehyung.

As he drove into me faster, Byungchan taunted me in my ears.

But I didn't listen.

As I sank deeper in oblivion, I only thought about Taehyung.

My Taehyung.

My saviour.

You're my Angel, his voice was a mere whisper in my head, but I heard it.

It was the only thing keeping me sane.

Keeping me alive.

I lived for him.

Because I knew he was coming for me.

Where are you, Taehyung?