66

Taehyung

Seokjin ran down the stairs, his expression was frantic, "Jungkook is not there."

Hoseok came to stand by my side, "I searched on the first floor. He isn't there, either."

"What?" I bellowed, my body shaking with panic, fear, and lastly rage.

"Look everywhere! Jungkook has to be here!"

I looked wildly around the living room, moving from the kitchen to the dining room. Then the bedrooms upstairs, I searched every corner of the house, when I didn't find him, I searched again.

Frantically.

Desperately, I searched again and again.

Jungkook had to be here.

My Angel was nowhere to be found.

Again.

I was standing in the middle of the living room, my head pounding, my chest aching. He wasn't here but I felt him. It was an unexplainable feeling, as soon as I had stepped in the house, my heart had accelerated.

Almost as if it knew Jungkook was here.

I felt him.

My skin prickled with a strange sensation, and I closed my eyes.

No, he wasn't here.

We looked everywhere but he wasn't there. My heart felt heavy in my compressed chest, my lungs hurting as I breathed through the agony of failing yet again.

Jungkook.

Jungkook.

Where are you?

I heard a scream.

"Boss!"

"Taehyung!"

My eyes snapped open, I stared at a man pointing his gun at me. I didn't have a chance to raise my gun or even move out of the way. I tried to duck, falling to the ground, and then the gunshot rang through my ears.

A few seconds later, I felt a searing pain run through my right leg.

"Fvck!" I bellowed.

I heard a shout and then a scream of pain behind me. I looked down at my leg to see it bleeding where the bullet had gone through. Still, on the floor, I turned around to see Hoseok pulling out a knife from the man's chest.

"Fvck you! Those were heirloom daggers! It's covered in your dirty blood."

He glanced back, "You okay, Taehyung?"

"Just a nick," I muttered back.

It was a lie.

The bullet had gone through my leg and was now lodged inside. Seokjin noticed us staring, and he glanced back at Hoseok's bloody knife.

"What? I told you it would come in handy… Someday. I was out of bullets."

"So you just throw your knife at a man, hoping it kills him?" Seokjin asked as I stood up, ignoring

the burning in my leg.

"Pretty much," he replied shrugging.

"What do we do?" Seokjin asked me, his expression forlorn.

I ignored his question, my eyes roaming around the house one last time.

We looked everywhere.

Did Yoongi lie?

Or maybe Byungchan had already taken Jungkook away?

I had never wanted to hurt someone so bad in all my life as I did right there.

I let out a harsh, barking laugh.

It was empty, void of any emotion.

I was going to lose my mind if I didn't find Jungkook soon.

I limped away, but my feet twisted in the rug, and I almost went down. I quickly straightened myself and glanced down at the fvcking rug, wanting to tear it apart with my bare hands.

Something else caught my eye, and all thought of tearing the rug apart was gone. The rug was bunched around my feet, underneath was a wooden door.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, I pushed the rug away completely. I heard Hoseok gasp, the rug wasn't there for decoration. It was there to cover something - to hide a fvcking door in the floor.

Seokjin swore under his breath, looking at the closed door, "There's no basement. We checked," he added, his eyes wide.

"What the fvck is this door then, genius?" I growled.

Without waiting for an answer, I bent down and opened the heavy latch. When it came undone, I pulled the door open, and it hit the floor with a loud bang.

"Stairs," Hoseok muttered, "What the hell? It leads to a basement."

I didn't say anything, I couldn't even if I tried.

My tongue felt heavy, my body numb.

Jungkook was in there.

I knew it.

I felt it.

Seokjin came to stand in front of me and turned his phone on, putting on the torch. I took the first step, my heart racing, pumping wildly. We descended the stairs in the dark, only Hoseok's and Seokjin's phones used as flashlights.

As soon as we reached the landing, Hoseok pressed his hand against the wall, looking for a light switch.

A few seconds later, the basement was illuminated.

The basement was incomplete.

No wall or tiles.

It looked more like a fvcking dungeon.

My legs trembled as I took a step further inside.

Another step.

A few more and I stopped.

A foul smell touched my nostrils and I shuddered.

The smell was horrible.

It was almost impossible to breathe.

It smelled like days of piss and vomit.

Jungkook.

Was my Angel here?

In this place?

My heart squeezed painfully, I stepped forward on shaky legs. The further we ventured in, the worse the smell got.

I heard Hoseok gag behind me, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Fvck, what is this?" Seokjin growled.

I wasn't dying.

I was very much alive, at that moment, it felt like I was dying.

The thought of Jungkook being in a place like this was almost unbearable. When I finally reached the far side of the basement, I stopped dead in my tracks, my stomach twisting painfully.

"No," I whimpered, my eyes widening at the sight in front of me.

When I heard them swear behind me, I knew they were seeing what I was seeing. The figure was turned away from us, facing the wall.

I didn't see his face but I knew it was Jungkook.

I felt it in my heart.

My Jungkook.

He was right there in front of me, lying on the cold hard floor, pushed against the wall.

There were short chains attached around his bruised, wounded ankles and wrists. And he was barely covered, his shirt ripped until nothing covered his body.

"No. No. No!" I rushed forward, ignoring the burning ache in my leg.

Falling beside him, I was too afraid to even touch his body.

Jungkook looked so fragile.

So small.

So broken.

He'd lost weight, some of his bones practically showing. I reached forward and gently pushed his greasy hair out of his face. It was covered in dirt and marred by multiple bruises in different stages of healing.

"Jungkook?" I whispered brokenly, softly touching his cheek.

So cold.

He was so cold, freezing.

My heart stuttered, I frantically looked behind me, their faces were masks of horror.

"He's cold. He's so cold," I repeated.

I looked back at Jungkook, my mind and heart going crazy.

Agony coursed through my body.

It hurt.

Everything hurt.

It wasn't my leg, but it was my heart that hurt the most.

My Jungkook.

My sweet Angel.

He laid frozen, so still.

Too still.

I felt my heart break.

When I lost him I thought I was in pain.

But now… now I knew what real pain felt like and my Angel went through worse than that.

"Angel," I whispered, leaning next to his ear.

"It's me. Taehyung. I'm here now."

A small guttural cry escaped my lips when he didn't answer. I was desperate to see his beautiful brown eyes.

To hear his sweet voice.

I needed him.

And I knew, he needed me just as much, if not more.

I couldn't protect him.

I'd failed him and the thought felt like a bullet through my heart.

I had been careless and he had to pay the price.

My eyes pricked with unshed tears, I slowly leaned forward. As gently as I could, I wrapped my arms underneath Jungkook. I gathered my Angel in my arms and pulled close to my chest. His hair was matted with vomit and other things I didn't even want to think about.

I rocked back and forth, holding him to me, begging him to open his eyes.

I gently pressed my arms over his body, looking for any other bruises. His face was turned toward my chest, I placed a kiss on his nose.

My vision blurred as everything hit at once.

All his pain and suffering.

"Angel," I whimpered.

My eyes followed my hands.

Oh, fvck no.

Fvck no!

No!

My heart stuttered painfully.

I forced myself to breathe.

I shook as my eyes took in what I was seeing.

My stomach cramped, I held Jungkook tighter to my chest.

This couldn't be happening.

Not my Angel.

My eyes stayed fixated on his body.

"No," I whimpered, shaking my head wildly.

My eyes went to his face again.

He was still unconscious.

My Angel.

My beautiful Angel.

This time I let out an enraged roar that echoed through the stone walls.