Chapter 40: 38
Jungkook
I was walking out of my room when I saw Taehyung limping up the stairs, his face and hands bloodied. "Taehyung!" I exclaimed in panic.
He grimaced. "Jungkook, I thought you were downstairs," he muttered, his voice laced with pain.
"I was in my room. I was headed downstairs now to help Hae-sook and Jimin with dinner," I said.
Bringing a hand up, I was about to touch his face but then stopped, scared that I would hurt him further. "What happened?" I asked worriedly.
"Nothing. I was just sparring with Seokjin and Yoongi." He flicked his wrist and shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly as if it didn't matter.
"Sparring? You are bloody and hurt. What type of sparring is that?"
I took his hand and pulled him toward his room. "I'll clean your wounds."
"No. It's okay. You have to help Hae-sook. I'll do it."
He tried to pull his hand away but I tightened my fingers. When he hissed in pain, I quickly let go.
"You are hurt, Taehyung. Let me help," I said, my chest aching at seeing him in pain. He smiled and bent down, placing a quick kiss on my lips.
"I'm fine. Really. It just looks bad because I'm not cleaned up. I'm not even that hurt."
"But…"
He cut me off with another kiss.
"Jungkook. Go. Stop worrying so much."
He gave me a wink and walked into his room, closing the door behind him.
Most of the day was spent with Taehyung, we ate breakfast together in my room and then went to the creek.
After our confessions this morning, we didn't talk about it again.
I thought I could let him go, but I couldn't.
I just hoped that he wouldn't hate me when he learned my whole truth.
After tying my apron around my waist, I strode out of my room but stopped when I saw Seokjin and Yoongi standing in front of my doorway, both of their expressions unreadable.
They were clean compared to Taehyung but I could see the bruises on their faces and hands.
"Can I help you?" I asked nervously.
Yoongi stayed quiet, so Seokjin replied. "No. We just wanted to see how you were doing."
Confused, I played with the hem of my dress. "I'm doing good."
We stared at each other in tense silence and then he cleared his throat. "Good. We heard you weren't doing so well this morning. It's good to see you smiling again."
I took a sharp intake of breath at his words and then nodded. "Thank you."
Just then his phone rang and he answered the call. "Yeah?" He listened for a moment, his face growing frustrated.
"Okay. Clean up the mess before the police come."
"Was that Hobi?" Yoongi asked when Seokjin hung up.
He nodded. "Yeah. There's a mess at the club. I'm going to check it out. Hobi is cleaning up."
"I'm coming," Yoongi said.
Seokjin chuckled and then shook his head. "Let the boy on his own a little. I think he can handle it without you being a mother hen."
Mother hen?
Yoongi?
I hid my laugh with a cough.
"I'm not a fvcking mother hen," Yoongi growled, glaring at Seokjin before sending me a glare of his own. My laughter quickly died but the smile was still there.
"Then don't act like one." Seokjin laughed, quickly walking away.
"Fvck you."
Yoongi rubbed his face, making a frustrating sound.
"Is Seokjin always like this?" I asked.
"Annoying as fvck? Yes," he replied.
"I think he is funny," I said with a shrug.
"Don't ever say that to him. He'll never stop then."
This time I let out a laugh while shaking my head.
I saw his expression soften and then he nodded. "It's good to see you like this."
I ducked my head shyly and mumbled a quick thank you.
We were both silent and from the corner of my eye, I saw him lean against the wall beside my door. Yoongi sighed and then cleared his throat.
"After the incident in the bathroom, we had a few guesses but never asked because we didn't want to push you," he said.
"I know what happened."
"I—"
"I'm not telling you this to make you feel ashamed. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that no one would think of you any different just because of what happened to you. We all have a past here. All of us have secrets so we wouldn't judge you. One thing you would find here is that no one is ever going to judge you. We are all fvcked up, you know."
His words brought tears to my eyes and I quickly blinked them away.
Yoongi proved me wrong every time.
I remembered the first time I met him.
He was so scary, mean, and rude.
He appeared heartless, ruthless, and emotionless.
Just like Taehyung.
"Especially Taehyung," he continued. "He is a good man."
"Did Taehyung tell you?" I whispered.
"No. He didn't have to. When he came to the gym and sparred with us, his actions were enough to let us know."
Swiping the tears that had fallen, I looked down at my feet. "Why do you guys fight like this?"
"Jungkook, we kill people. We are part of Vante. Sometimes, when we can't spill the blood of whom we want, we have to take out the anger somewhere else."
"Oh," I murmured.
"Right. I will leave you to your work now," he said, pushing away from the wall.
"Wait," I called. He turned around and faced me, his face impassive as always. "You said
Taehyung was a good man…" Walking over to him, I placed a hand over his heart. "You are a good man too."
His breath caught in his throat but he stayed silent.
"I know the difference between someone who is bad and who is good. And you… you are good. You care even though you try to hide it," I said.
Yoongi was a man who hid behind a mask of anger, just like Taehyung. But deep inside, they all cared.
I brought my hand up and placed it on his cheek. He flinched but didn't move away. "You hide behind your scars. You use them as a barrier, thinking that they would keep people away. It worked, didn't it?"
"Jungkook," he said, his voice filled with pain.
"You think they're ugly. You think they represent a weakness. But they don't. Your scars
represent your strength," I said, Jimin's words rolled off my tongue.
I hoped that they would have the same effect on Yoongi as they had on me.
And they did, I saw his eyes soften the slightest bit and he cleared his throat again. "You have a kind heart, Jungkook."
I smiled and then let out a small laugh.
"You know… your scars don't make you ugly… they make you look… " I paused for a moment, trying to think of the word that Jimin used to describe Yoongi. When it finally came to mind, I quickly said it. "Sexy."
His eyes widened in shock.
Did I just say that?
I pulled my hand away from Yoongi's face and took a step backwards.
He raised an eyebrow at me.
"That was Jimin—"
"So, you don't think I'm sexy?"
"What? No. You are sexy. Wait, no, I mean your scars don't make you look ugly. They are nice. I mean, you look good with them. Yeah… " I stumbled over my words, rambling as I tried to fix what I said but instead made it worse.
Snapping my mouth shut, I stared at Yoongi mutely. The right corner of his lips twitched in the slightest bit but it looked painful as if he was having trouble lifting his lips in a smile.
"Just don't tell Taehyung that you called me sexy," he teased, his eyes shining mischievously.
"Right. I should get to work. I've wasted enough time," I said.
"Yeah. Go ahead." Yoongi moved out of my way and I quickly walked away.
As I walked downstairs, I had a smile on my face.
I had just realized I was surrounded with so much love.
***
Yoongi
As I watched Jungkook walk away, I shook my head. He was too innocent.
Too kind and sweet to live in this world.
He shouldn't be here.
But Taehyung had claimed him.
Boss was already too deep in to let him go now.
He cared too much.
He loved too much, even if he didn't see it or realize it yet, it was there.
It's in his eyes.
Love shouldn't exist in this life.
It was too dangerous.
We would only get burned in the end.
We couldn't have any weaknesses.
That was Taehyung's rule.
No love.
No weakness.
Jungkook was now Taehyung's weakness.
As he faded from my view, I leaned against the wall again.
He said I was a good man.
So gullible.
My phone rang in my pocket and I answered the call without looking at the caller ID. "I need to see you now," a demanding voice said.
"Okay," I replied before hanging up.
Jungkook was wrong.
I wasn't a good man.
I had done horrible things and I didn't even feel guilty about them.
I was a cold-blooded killer.
Heartless.
Ruthless.
A betrayer.
Striding into Taehyung's office, I found him sitting behind his desk.
He looked up when I came in, and nodded.
"I need to take care of some things."
Taehyung stared at me for a few seconds, his gaze penetrating.
"Okay," he said. I turned around, but before I could walk out, his voice stopped me. "You should clean your hand."
I looked down at my fist and saw the bloodied knuckles. The same fist that I had just punched into the wall before coming into his office.
"I will," I replied, my voice emotionless.
Closing the door behind me, I went to my room and quickly changed my clothes. Wearing black jeans and a black sweater, I walked out of the estate and got into my car.
When I arrived at my destination, I pulled my hood over my head, hiding most of my face as I stepped out of the car.
Two men greeted me. "He is waiting for you in his office."
Without answering, I walked into the club, the door to his office was already open, waiting for my arrival.
Walking inside, I closed the door and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the man to start.
"Yoongi," he said roughly.
Staring into his brown eyes, I nodded in his direction.
"Byungchan."
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