Work Text:
This wasn’t the first time.
No, it wasn’t the first time, it was the second.
But the first time had ended so terribly wrong that his hands trembled with fear as he picked up the small little device, discarded so carelessly on the ground, close enough for him to pick up.
He felt the cool metal in his hands, shining and gleaming with a cleanliness that he hadn’t known for a long time. His hands were dirty and had a weeks worth of grime and dried blood on them, and he knew that his clothes and the rest of his body was much of the same.
It felt almost wrong to touch something so clean, when he himself was not.
But this was the second chance.
The first time that this opportunity arose, he had taken it, hadn’t even hesitated like he was now. But that was a time, long long ago, when he still had hope, when he still fought, still held onto the belief that someone cared, that someone was looking for him, that someone would find him, and he would be saved from the hell he had found himself in.
That had been months ago. And now, all he was was a broken shell of himself, barely enough strength to lift the small little device in his trembling hands. His fingers wouldn’t work as well as they used to, they wouldn’t stay still and he had trouble keeping the screen steady as he held it closer to his face.
Movement to his left drew his attention away, and he was quick to drop the device to the ground and scramble away from it, his eyes wide and terror building in his chest.
But it was simply a small movement, the man on the bed above him moving in his sleep, his breathing still soft and even. He had not awoken from his slumber like he had thought, simply adjusted his position unconsciously to make himself more comfortable.
He found his eyes glancing back down at the device on the floor, its screen gleaming in the soft moonlight that was trickling through the open window beside them.
He hated that window. It was a constant reminder of the freedom that he had lost, a mockery of his suffering. The sunlight was torture, especially on days where he could hear children playing in the park across the street, enjoying their freedom and being happy when he had inevitably been stripped of his youthful innocence that he once was allowed to have.
It felt like so long ago.
So long ago that he had been stripped of everything.
His freedom.
His innocence.
His name.
His youth.
He had nothing left, all that he had was the man sleeping on the bed above from him, the one
who had taken everything from him, kept him chained to his bed like a dog, keeping him there for his own pleasure, his own use, like a toy that he discarded when he was done.
He hated the man, but he was all that he had left.
He found his eyes following the lines of the small device once again, wondering if he should take the chance. He knew that it could go horribly wrong, just as it did the first time. He knew that if he were to be caught and his efforts bore nothing, then he would lose everything all over again.
But...he had nothing left to lose.
And he had already been through so much, nothing could get worse for him. He’d be beaten and taken in ways that he did not want to be taken, and then left on the floor to lick his own wounds and hope that nothing was broken or damaged beyond repair.
He endured that wrath every day. And it couldn’t get any worse.
So with shaky hands, he slowly allowed himself to crawl back over to where the device had landed when he had dropped it earlier, taking extra care this time as he picked it up.
With one more glance over his shoulder, finding the man still deep in his slumber, he shakily powered the screen on, flinching away from the brightness. He was quick to dim it, his fingers working quickly to tap in the passcode and unlock the phone.
He had seen him put it in many times, he knew what it was, someone’s birthday he supposed, perhaps his dead wife’s, he knew of her, he was compared to her everyday that he had been here, beaten for not being like her, for not being a good enough replacement of her.
He was glad that she was dead.
He was glad that she was dead because then she wouldn’t have to see what kind of man her husband truly was.
A monster.
A monster who took young boys from their homes and chained them to his bed and beat and did other unspeakable things to them until they broke.
He knew that he was not the first. The chain had been here long before he had, covered in someone else’s blood, someone else’s pain. How many before him, he did not know. All that he knew was that his time was limited.
He quickly opened the app, green in nature, bright and cheery, a color full of life and hope, something he hadn’t felt in so long.
And as he felt a small spark ignite in his chest, he once again came to another dilemma. The last number he had called, the one that was supposed to help him, the one that was supposed to help everyone in their times of need had failed him.
He couldn’t call them again, fear curling in his stomach once more. He knew that they wouldn’t help, they had not helped before.
And they wouldn’t help him now, he knew that deep in his bones. They wouldn’t help him, and perhaps this time his life would be taken as punishment, rather than another piece of his shattered innocence.
The numbers were glaring back at him as he thought of what to do.
But when he shuffled around in his bed once again, the fleeting feeling of hope was dashed and turned into nothing but sheer panic.
He was quick to type in a number, any number, anything would do. His mind was too broken, too jumbled to remember any number of his parent’s, his friends, and so he could only hope and pray that the stranger on the other side would answer at this time of night.
Would help him.
They answered.
It was a beautiful voice, the first voice that he had heard in months that wasn’t his.
“Hello?” The voice was harsh and unforgiving, but it was the voice of someone who could help him. Who could save him. “Do not waste my time, spit it out.” The voice demanded, and he nearly crumpled into sobs.
“H-hello?” He managed to whisper out, but it was almost too quiet, and he knew the one on the other side probably hadn’t heard it, wary of the man still sleeping above him.
“Who are you?”
“I...I do not know.” He mumbled. “I...help me, please. Help me, whoever you are, I beg of you, please!” He pleaded, his voice getting a bit too loud. “I cannot be here any longer, I do not want to die here, I don’t want to...I don’t want this! Please...please help me I…” He was interrupted by a harsh sob. “I’ll do anything, please I beg of you, please--”
“Who are you?” The voice demanded once more. But he could only sob quietly into the phone. “Hey...hey, snap out of it. I can’t help you if you can’t tell me anything.”
“I...I don’t know where I am, it’s been so long. All I know is that the sun gleams brightly through the window, taunting me. The children play in the park across the street, they seem...so happy, so, so happy. I’m cold. So, so cold. It is hot in this room, yet the warmth does not touch me. I sleep next to a monster, yet I am the one who sleeps beneath the bed, like I am the monster. I remember the house, it’s white. Gleaming. So, so clean, cleaner than I could ever wish to be--”
“Hey...hey, calm down. I need you to focus. Did you call the cops, did you call--”
“They won’t help me.” he whimpered out. “W-won’t help me...turned away, angry, so, so angry was he…” He began to rock on the floor, curling his body into a ball. “T-the sign...the glowing sign above the building across from me...it’s beautiful. It shines bright green. Green’s such a pretty color, you know? Life...that’s what I think about when I see green...just...life. Living.”
He quieted down and all he could hear on the other side of the line was gentle breathing. “I...I’m going to die here.” He whispered. “I guess I just haven’t accepted that yet.”
“Hey no...you’re not going to die there, just...just hang on, okay? I’ll come and find you, I promise, I--”
Taehyung panicked when there was another sound of movement above him and he was quick to hang up the call. He scrambled, deleting the call from his history and placing the phone back in the original place that he had found it.
And not a second too late.
For he opened his eyes and gazed down at him, his eyes cold and harsh.
❇
Yoongi wasn’t someone who wanted to inflate his ego or brag, but he knew that he was popular. He knew that he was famous. He had millions of fans around the world. He was a household name in Korea, and even in some other countries. He toured around the world with his two other group members, and everywhere he went there was a flashing camera and screaming girls.
He had a larger bank account than some of the board members his company kept. He had more money than he knew to do with, and he could buy anything he wanted whenever he wanted if he felt like it.
He loved music, he loved what he did for a living. And he tried to help others as well. Through his music, through his performances, through any means that he possibly could. He had always wanted to help people, it was something that he had promised himself and his family, when they had been hesitant to allow him to pursue his career.
No matter what happened, he would always help others in need, in whatever means possible that was in his power to do so.
Which was why he found himself in his studio at four in the morning, his headphones laying around his neck as he spun around in slow circles on his chair, trying to figure out how to complete the simple beat that he had constructed just five hours ago when Namjoon and Hoseok had still been in the studio with him.
He was coming up with a blank, and he was getting frustrated, knowing that there were so many other projects that he needed to start, that he knew where coming due. Their manager and CEO had made the deadline for their next album to be sent to their team of producers for final checks and fine tuning, and Yoongi still had two songs on that alone to finish, not including his own mixtape that he told himself he would finish by the end of the year.
But there was just something about this beat, something about the song that it would birth that he just couldn’t let go. It wouldn’t fit anywhere, he already had all of the beats and half of the lyrics written for his mixtape, and the two songs he needed to finish for the album were mostly completed as well.
But he had felt this burning desire and need many times before, and from it, had come the most successful and meaningful songs to him, so he knew that he couldn’t give up now. It just wouldn’t leave his mind and he knew that later it would only serve to block his thought processes on other projects as well.
He spun around a couple more times, trying to conjure up an idea in his head. Did it need more drums? Perhaps an underlying bass?
Or perhaps he needed to bring in one of the singers of the idol group their company had and have them run some lines?
He didn’t know, and it was frustrating him more than usual. But frustration was good. He knew that it was necessary for the process. In fact, later, when he had a new song which spoke thousands of words that he wanted to say in just a few lines he’ll look back and be glad that he went through this stage of frustration, trying to find the perfect thing to bring the song to life, rather than slapping random sounds together to try and speed along the process.
He was starting to chase an idea that was forming in his head when the vibrations of his phone startled him out of his reverie. He nearly fell out of his chair from being so deeply immersed into his work.
He picked up the offense thing that sometimes he wished he could throw across the room, but knew it would only become an inconvenience later on.
Checking the caller ID, he scoffed, seeing that it was an unknown number.
Sometimes he got calls like these.
Back then, when he was just starting to gain popularity and he was still relatively new to the industry, he had foolishly answered every call that he had received.
Now he knew better.
It could be a fan, trying to track him down, grab a hold of his number to harass him until he would have to change it, which was a pain in the ass for not only him, but the whole entire company, who he would have to let know.
Or it could be some virus, in which then he would have to replace his phone altogether, and the time that it would take to set everything up and get everything working was time that Yoongi didn’t have.
Or it could just be a scammer, trying to get money out of him.
All of the options didn’t seem like something that he wanted to deal with.
He could just ignore the call or decline it, but if it were a fan, then they would be able to tell that he had declined the call and even if that didn’t prove that it was him that they were trying to call, it would still leave the option open, which would result in more problems later on.
But something stopped Yoongi from putting the phone back down.
He knew that he shouldn’t answer it. All options pointed to nothing but annoyances and headaches for him. But the longer it rang, the more it felt like he had to answer the phone.
He didn’t know why, he didn’t know what the feeling was, but it compelled him to click the green button on the glowing screen and bring the phone to his ear. “Hello?” He asked, not meaning to make his voice sound so harsh and cold.
But it was four in the morning and he was tired and frustrated.
And he didn’t know who was calling him, either. Silence rang on the other side of the line, the only thing he could really hear was deep breathing. “Do not waste my time, spit it out.” He clipped out, not wanting to waste any more time on this person who better not turn out to be some kind of creep.
A mumbled reply was heard, and Yoongi couldn’t make it out, it was so quiet, but he could only guess that he was replying.
“Who are you?” Again, he waited for a response, and eventually one came, this one more clear and precise.
“I...I do not know.” Yoongi felt a jolt go through his body and he felt his eyes widen. His gaze instantly shot down to his wrist, where the words that had appeared on his tenth birthday had been etched into his skin for the past seventeen years.
A soulmate mark. The very first words they would say to you. A soulmark was white when it first appeared, hard to see and read, but it would either turn black right away which meant that your soulmate was older than you and already received their soulmark, or it would remain white until they did.
Yoongi’s soulmark hadn’t turned black until he was twenty.
He didn’t know how he felt, knowing that his intended partner was almost exactly a decade younger than him.
And the words that he had spoken...they had instantly turned his mark gold, which meant that he had found his soulmate.
Just seventeen years old.
Who was now begging him for help through the phone. “I...help me, please. Help me, whoever you are, I beg of you, please!” He pleaded, his voice getting a bit too loud. “I cannot be here any longer, I do not want to die here, I don’t want to...I don’t want this! Please...please help me I…” He was interrupted by a harsh sob. “I’ll do anything, please I beg of you, please--”
Yoongi was overwhelmed, he could hear the unspeakable pain that the other was in, and it made his gut twist in horror that someone he was destined to be with, someone that he could fall in love with one day, someone who the universe had decided was so compatible with him that their very souls were linked together, was in such pain.
“Who are you?” Yoongi demanded, feeling a deep need to find them, to help them, to not let them suffer any longer. “Hey...hey, snap out of it. I can’t help you if you can’t tell me anything.”
“I...I don’t know where I am, it’s been so long. All I know is that the sun gleams brightly through the window, taunting me. The children play in the park across the street, they seem...so happy, so, so happy. I’m cold. So, so cold. It is hot in this room, yet the warmth does not touch me. I sleep next to a monster, yet I am the one who sleeps beneath the bed, like I am the monster. I remember the house, it’s white. Gleaming. So, so clean, cleaner than I could ever wish to be--”
“Hey...hey, calm down. I need you to focus. Did you call the cops, did you call--” Yoongi tried, but he was cut off, his eyes widening at the sobs that accompanied.
“They won’t help me.” the other whimpered out. “W-won’t help me...turned away, angry, so, so angry was he…T-the sign...the glowing sign above the building across from me...it’s beautiful. It shines bright green. Green’s such a pretty color, you know? Life...that’s what I think about when I see green...just...life. Living.” Yoongi began to grow more and more worried. The pleas had stopped, the other only sounding like he was accepting something that Yoongi didn’t even want to fathom.
The other suddenly went silent, and Yoongi could only breath as he waited. “I...I’m going to die here.” He heard. “I guess I just haven’t accepted that yet.”
“Hey no...you’re not going to die there, just...just hang on, okay? I’ll come and find you, I promise, I--” Yoongi jumped from his seat when the line went dead.
He needed to find his soulmate.
He had to.
Yoongi slammed the door to his studio shut, not even bothering to check if the door was locked, not bothering with anything but getting out of there as fast as he could. He was filled with purpose, he had one goal, and nothing would stop him.
“Yoongi hyung--hey…” Namjoon stared at Yoongi’s back as the older blew past him, nearly sprinting to the door.
He couldn’t imagine what had made the other feel the need to sprint down the hall and out of his studio at four thirty in the morning.
He chased after the other, suddenly concerned. He had come to drag him out of the studio, try and get him to sleep some, they had an interview later on in the day and he knew that Yoongi needed sleep so that he could answer questions properly and not come off as overly rude to the staff when he was simply just tired from pulling an all nighter.
He caught up to Yoongi as the man made it to the doors, yelling at someone over the phone. He caught the tail end of the conversation, Yoongi screaming something about him not caring, that he would go there with or without them.
“Hyung! What is going on?” Namjoon demanded.
Yoongi shook his head. “You gonna come with me?” He finally said, walking off towards the company cars, keys jingling in his hands. Namjoon didn’t know where he got them, or when he had time, since they were locked away in the staff room, but he didn’t question it.
He had never seen Yoongi like this before.
So he found himself following the elder, getting into one of the cars and buckling in as Yoongi flew all caution to the wind and just backed up and got onto the road. “What the hell hyung!?” Namjoon shouted, jumping in his seat at the loud horn that sounded.
Yoongi continued to drive and Namjoon could only look at him in shock.
“I met my soulmate.” Yoongi finally admitted, and Namjoon could only stare at him in even more shock. What? Yoongi had met his soulmate?
Hoseok and he had already found theirs. Namjoon had been blessed with two, both of them were best friends, they had grown up together and already knew that they were soulmates since the youngest had turned ten.
They were both fans that he had met at a fanmeet.
Hoseok had met his in the same way.
They met millions of people, thousands of new people every day, and they thought for sure that Yoongi would meet his soulmate, just like they had, but he had yet to find his.
Until now.
“I know that you’ve been waiting a long time and you’re excited, but hyung--”
“You don’t understand!” Yoongi snapped. “I know that tone, Namjoon, and I know that you’re about to scold me for being reckless. But this isn’t the time for that. I just got a call with a sobbing boy, begging for my help, and he--” Yoongi seemed to choke up on his words, and Namjoon saw his eyes getting wet. “He said he was going to die...I can’t...I can’t allow that.” Namjoon was silent, backing down.
He couldn’t argue with that, he would have reacted the same way had he been in the situation Yoongi was in, and he knew the elder would be nothing but supportive, he even would’ve gone so far as to jump into the car and grab his soulmate himself.
So he had to do the same for his hyung.
Yoongi drove like a madman, weaving through traffic and having not a care in the world for traffic laws or their own safety.
“Call the police.” Yoongi muttered.
“What?”
“You heard me, call the cops! They didn’t listen to me when I called, and they might not pick up if I try again. So call them. If they don’t want to come help me when I know what I heard, I’ll give them a reason to come.”
Namjoon sputtered out an ok before grabbing his phone from his pocket, dialing the emergency number. Someone answered and Yoongi took the phone from him before he could say anything to the man on the other side.
“Hello, yes. This is Min Yoongi--no, I am not making a joke, this is Min fucking Yoongi and even if it isn’t, I’m calling you because all of you are assholes who have something shoved up their asses. I’m breaking into a house, I’m going to fucking break the windows and climb inside and trash the place. Yes, I’m dead serious. I’m going to the house that is right across from the park, the elementary school. The white one, with the large pillars and the windows. Yes, that one. Mr. Cho’s residence. No, I don’t fucking care who he is, and yes, now I’m aware that he has a state of the art security system, I’m still going to fucking break in so are you gonna do something about it or not?”
Yoongi hung up before there was any sort of reply, throwing the phone back into Namjoon’s lap.
“I’m going to break in. I want you to wait a minute and then crawl through the window before going up the stairs. I want you to get to the room where the window that faces the billboard is located. The top one.” Namjoon soaked in the information, nodding along, even though he was still slightly confused, and didn’t know where the hell they were going or what the hell was truly going on.
Just then they pulled up to the house that Yoongi had described. Yoongi didn’t even shut the car off, and Namjoon had to scramble to do so as the other jumped out of the car and immediately ran for one of the windows, taking a rock he found on the ground and throwing it through the nearest window.
He didn’t hesitate to break away the remaining pieces of the window, uncaring of the cuts his hands suffered for it, before crawling through and landing into a foyer. He pushed open the door closest to him and stormed in, just as an older man, in his mid fifties rushed down the stairs to his right.
“Who the hell are you!?” The man screamed. “How dare you break into this house? This is private property and the cops are on their way!”
“Good.” Yoongi shouted back, rushing forward and grabbing the man by the collar, hauling him into the next room over so that he wouldn’t see Namjoon enter the home as well. “Do you know who I am, Mr. Cho?”
“You’re one of them idols! Those blundering idiots who wear makeup and look pretty for the cameras and don’t work for the money that they have!”
“I don’t work for my money? Mr. Cho, do you even know what it’s like to work a day in your life? You’re an investor of the company I’m signed under, are you not? Then why are you belittling me for being a part of an industry that you pour your money into?” Yoongi growled, their faces closer together.
Suddenly, the door to his left was broken down, and a few men in uniforms rushed in, pulling Yoongi away from Mr. Cho, who was straightening out his suit, trying to soothe his hair back down.
“I will end your career!” He hissed, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. “If you think for one second that you’ll be getting out of this, then you’re mistaken!”
“Yoongi!” A distressed voice shouted from upstairs.
The men holding him seemed surprised to hear another voice of someone else in the home, surprised enough to the point that they loosened their grip on Yoongi, who shouldered them off and sprinted for the other room and then up the stairs, not heeding any of the shouting and calls for him to stop that came from behind him.
“We know who you are! Don’t think that you can run, Min Yoongi!” Mr. Cho screamed. “Stop him!” Yoongi also heard. “He doesn’t need to go up there! Those are my private rooms!”
Yoongi pushed through the door that was left slightly cracked, the one that he had heard Namjoon’s distressed call from, knowing that he only had a few moments before he was apprehended once more.
He was breathing heavily, and the first thing that he laid eyes on was Namjoon.
And then he followed his friend’s gaze, his breath hitching at the crumpled figure lying on the ground, wearing nothing but a dark blue dress shirt, open and billowing around him, offering him no modesty.
Bruises littered his body, a rather large one around his neck and on his cheekbone. There were also cuts, scabbed over, and dried blood.
So much dried blood.
The boy was unconscious, but Yoongi instantly knew who he was.
He felt a sob catch in his throat as he fell to the ground beside the boy, his hands shaking as he crawled forward, shakily reaching out and running a hand through the boy’s hair.
“Soulmate.” He whispered, his voice filled with such pain and despair.
Who would do this?
Who would dare to do this to his soulmate?
Suddenly hands were gripping him, pulling him away. He struggled growling and snapping at the officers who were telling him to stand down.
“That’s his soulmate!” Namjoon suddenly shouted.
All commotion came to a stop as the man said that. “It’s his soulmate. The boy right here, chained to the floor and abused. I know that breaking and entering are crimes, but you also know very well that there are laws for these situations. This is his soulmate, and you are preventing him from creating their first bond.” he continued, his voice hard as he glared at the men holding his friend back.
The officers released Yoongi like his skin was scalding hot as the man stumbled to his knees once more. When soulmates first met, their marks would turn gold, and then what usually followed right after would be the first stage of securing the bond, pressing their soulmarks together.
The marks would then change from the words they first spoke to one another to a symbol, something that would represent them fully as one unit, together. The marks would vary in size, shape and color, and sometimes they would even be located somewhere else on the body, but arm marks tended to be the most common.
Yoongi gingerly picked up the unconscious boy’s wrist, knowing that it was wrong to do it while the boy wasn’t aware, but also knowing that he had to prove that they were indeed soulmates for him to be able to help him.
As soon as their marks met, he felt a burning on his forearm. He hissed, falling back as he watched the gold lettering shift and move further upwards, until it seemed as if the entirety of his inner arm was covered.
The mark was two colors. Rare, but beautiful. The black made up the majority of the mark. It looked like sheet music. Sheet music for a piano. Two separate bars, the treble clef, all along the expanse of his inner forearm.
And in between the lines, rested little green notes.
Yoongi stared in awe, his eyes wide as he read the music that was now permanently etched into his skin for the rest of his life.
With watery eyes he realized that it was one of his songs.
The very first song that he’d ever written. That he’d ever produced and put out there. A song so emotional and personal to him, one that not many knew even existed, only available on smaller platforms, an ode to the days when he was just starting music.
A song about love.
Finding the one that he would love for the rest of his life.
Questioning whether he was good enough or not for them.
If they would accept him or not. If they would take the broken pieces that was he, and accept him for the way that he was.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as he brought his soulmate into his arms, crying for the pain that he was in, the pain that he had endured, while Yoongi hadn’t even been aware.
The officers in the room shuffled around uncomfortably until Mr. Cho broke through the door, seething. “Why haven’t you arrested him yet--”
The second Yoongi heard the man’s voice, he launched himself at the other, screaming a war cry, wanting to kill the man, give him all of the pain that he had given onto his soulmate.
Mr. Cho stumbled back, and Yoongi had to be held back by the two officers. He was struggling, screaming and reaching out for the man. But the officers, even if the situation had become very apparent to them, knew that they couldn’t allow Yoongi to harm him.
It was Namjoon who finally stepped forward, a phone in his hand.
“An ambulance is on it’s way.” He announced. He then turned to Cho, his eyes hard and cold. “Expect to be hearing from our lawyers, Mr. Cho. If you haven’t been arrested by then, you will be at that point, and do not think for a second that the company will spare any expense in putting you down. It’s over. You’re a sick bastard, and you’re going to rot in the only place you belong.”
The man screamed, protesting as he was dragged from the room, but Yoongi’s attention was no longer on him. He turned back to the one person who mattered, cradling him in his arms. Namjoon managed to get Yoongi up and helped to carry the boy down the stairs and towards the front door.
When the ambulance pulled up, Yoongi was wrenched away from his soulmate, the paramedics loading him up and speeding off down the road, sirens blaring. They had informed Yoongi that even though they were soulmates, as a new development, some of the laws regarding family visiting rights wouldn’t be effective until twenty four hours ran through the clock.
It was a stupid rule.
But Namjoon drove him to the hospital, where they sat in the waiting room for a doctor, someone to tell them if everything was fine.
No one came to see his soulmate.
He would have thought that him having been kidnapped and all, someone would have come rushing into the hospital, screaming for him, but the only people who showed up were a pair of officers, who went straight to Yoongi to question him.
“We just need you to go over the details so that we can make a report and start building the case.” One of them said. He noted that it was two different officials than the ones that had been at the house. When he asked about them, the officer simply said that they were being questioned as well and were indisposed as of the moment.
“And it’s helpful to have someone who was not there, and did not witness the events to question, so that we can keep everything as professional and unbiased as possible.” The other officer, this one female, piped up.
Yoongi nodded in understanding, waiting for the first question. “You are acquainted with the suspect?”
“Yes, he’s an investor at our company. I saw him from time to time at meetings and at some of the parties that our company held in celebration of album releases or the end of tours. He hosted one of the parties once, that’s why I knew where to go. But other than a passing greeting, I never really spoke to him.”
“How would you describe him then? Back then, from that perspective as much as you can, with all considering.”
Yoongi clenched his jaw, thinking back. “Not much. He was pretty inconsequential to me. Just one of the many investors who thought that they were super important and that all of the artist’s were beneath them because it was their money that was being poured into the company to support them. But to my understanding, he wasn’t even a major investor, not someone who poured too much money in, just enough to be invited to public functions and have his name tied to our group. To come off as a better man than he is.”
“And now?”
Yoongi’s eyes darkened considerably at this.
“He chained my soulmate to the foot of his bed, in nothing but a dress shirt, drenched in blood and dirt, bruises littering his body, cuts and old scars. His hair was too long, and he looked dead, crumpled on the floor like a forgotten corpse, just left there to rot. Too skinny, he was too skinny--” Yoongi paused, realizing that that wasn’t the question that they had asked of him. “He’s a monster. He’s not human, because humans can’t do that to someone. He is not a person, he’s a monster, the nightmares that hide underneath your bed and keep your children awake at night.”
The woman, the one asking the question nodded as she wrote down what he was saying.
“And can you describe the events leading up to your break in at Mr. Cho’s household?”
“Am I getting arrested for that?” Yoongi asked, not concerned about it, but simply curious.
“Under other circumstances, you would already be in a cell, Mr. Min. But because of these circumstances, no charges will be filed.” Yoongi nodded, glancing at Namjoon who looked relieved at that.
“I was in my studio, working on a song. My phone rang, and it wasn’t a number that I was familiar with. Usually I just let them ring or decline them, I get a lot of fans trying to call me and see if that is, in fact, my number, and that just creates a lot of problems for both my company and I. But I just...I guess I felt something inside of me telling me that I had to pick up the call. So I did.”
“And what was the call about?”
“I asked who was calling. They said that they didn’t know.” Yoongi rubbed his wrist, where his soulmark was.
“And I’m assuming that it turned your mark gold?”
“It did. And I instantly realized that something was wrong. He started begging me for help, begging for anybody, anything really. Started describing the house, the park across from it, the billboard above the building across the street. I instantly knew where he was talking about, it wasn’t that far from the company building. Then he started saying that he...that he was going to die there.” Yoongi’s voice got caught in his throat. “He said that the sign was green...that it was a beautiful color, so filled with life, a life that he was going to be, and was, ripped of.”
“And what did you do after?”
“I called the police. They said that there had been a similar call, a few weeks ago, but it hadn’t checked out to be anything, so they ignored me.”
“And you decided to go yourself?”
“I had to, who wouldn’t? I dropped everything and drove over there. Called the cops again, using Namjoon’s phone and said I was breaking in, breaking the law, so then they would listen and send someone over.”
Yoongi recounted everything from there, but before he could finish, a doctor came out. Yoongi immediately turned to him, his eyes wide and his mouth open slightly as he waited.
“Are you Mr. Min?” he asked, and Yoongi was quick to nod.
“You are very lucky that you found the John Doe when you did. He was severely malnourished and would have died had he been left like that any longer. There were bruised ribs, and there was a cut on the back of his head that was starting to show signs of infection.”
Yoongi clenched his fists, hearing that.
“Wait, John doe?” Namjoon asked, stepping in.
“He has not awoken yet, and we are unable to identify him. We were hoping that you would be able to shed some light onto his identity so that we could contact the family.”
“I...I don’t know.” Yoongi said. “All that I know is that he’s a minor.” Silence pervaded the air.
“He’s a minor?” The female cop said, quickly writing down the information.
“Yes. My soulmark turned black when I turned twenty. I am twenty seven, so he is only seventeen now.”
“Yoongi...you never told me that.” Namjoon muttered, and Yoongi shrugged.
“You never asked.”
“We’ll have to wait until the patient wakes up then.” the doctor sighed out. “I’d like to go over some things with the authorities.”
“We’ll contact you at a later time to come in for more questioning.” The officer said, handing Yoongi a piece of paper with a number on it. “Thank you for your cooperation.”
Yoongi nodded and sat back down in his seat when they walked away.
“He’s so young.” Namjoon whispered. “I didn’t think that I could loathe someone and wish for death upon someone as much as I do now.”
Yoongi nodded in agreement, but before he could say anything more, Namjoon’s loud and obnoxious ringtone for their resident screamer blared through the nearly empty hall.
Namjoon flinched and picked the phone up, answering it, but not bringing it to his ear.
In good judgement too, because Jin screamed through the phone not a second after the call connected. “KIM NAMJOON! Where the hell are you!? Where the fuck is Yoongi--No Jungkook you CANNOT swear just because I can, I don’t CARE if it’s unfair--NAMJOON! My precious Seokie went to the studio to look for you after you didn’t show back up with Yoongi and NEITHER OF YOU ARE THERE. Where the fuck are you!?--JUNGKOOK SHUT THE HELL UP, I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING--KIM NAMJOON I’M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS--”
Namjoon hung up the phone.
It vibrated a few minutes later.
You're lucky men can’t get pregnant because after I’m done with you, you’ll never be able to have children
Hi Joon, it’s Seok. Just wondering where you are
Namjoon winced, but replied back, knowing that only chaos would come barreling through the door soon.
❇
When he opened his eyes, he didn’t know where he was. It was bright, so much brighter than he had known for a long time.
The room was clean, and he didn’t feel the disgusting grime covering his body like he normally would feel. His head felt light, and there was a dull throb in his left arm.
He was temporarily blinded, opening his eyes far too quickly when he came back to consciousness. He winced, clenching them shut, before easing them open once more. Once his eyes had adjusted, he took a look around his room, noting that all of it was white. It was white.
And it was beautiful.
He was soaking everything, every detail, when suddenly the door on the other end of the room opened, startling him.
A man in a white coat, as white as the room walked in, a smile on his face. “Hello.” He greeted, tilting his head down slightly in a small bow. “I am Dr. Lee, and I have been and will be the one taking care of you during your stay here. How are you feeling?”
He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. The only thing that he could do was stare in awe at the man. The doctor smiled wider, clearing his throat a little.
“Well, it looks like you're feeling a bit better, would you mind telling me if anything hurts?”
He looked down at his body, focusing on each limb, each part. “Just...my arm, I guess.” He finally rasped out, his voice rough with unuse.
“Ah, yes, that’s to be expected. You were unconscious at the time when the soulbond was initiated.”
He froze, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “S-soulbond?”
“Yes.” The doctor nodded his head, taking a step closer to the bed. “You’ve been through a lot, I know. There are some officers here that would like to speak with you, but you weren’t conscious. And I need to speak with you before that, either way. You weren’t in good shape when you were brought in. From what I heard, you called your soulmate, and he came to you, and brought you here. That was ten days ago.”
He stiffened, his mouth falling open slightly. “T-ten days?”
“Your body went through quite a bit of stress, I’m afraid.” Lee said, looking down at the clipboard resting in his hands. “Several cuts and bruises, as well as a fractured ankle, old scarring and you have a small infection in the cut at the back of your head.” The doctor paused, glancing up at the boy. “I don’t want to overwhelm you, so soon after you’ve woken up, and I fear that I’ve already done that, but this is a very difficult situation to be in, son.”
He sighed, sitting in the chair beside the bed, shedding his coat from his body and setting the clipboard to the side. “This is one of the hardest cases that I’ve ever had to see in my career, and just for a few minutes I want to talk to you as another person, a father, not your doctor.”
He waited, staring at the man.
“You were banged up pretty bad. I wanted to cry for you and your soulmate. He hasn’t left, since you’ve been checked in. But he hasn’t been permitted to see you, either. You see, this is a complicated situation. You’re seventeen, from what we’ve managed to figure out, but other than that, we know little to nothing about you. We need to contact your family, contact someone that you may know, try and get you back on your feet. And if that’s not an option, then you have six men out in the waiting room crying for you, ready to accept you with open arms and help you in any way that they possibly can.
“It angers me. It angers me beyond belief of what has happened to you, but I want you to know that I am here to help you as well, and I will do everything in my power to assure that you are healthy and have put together a team to help you and guide you, if you so wish for them to. I did talk to a psychiatrist and invite her to come and talk to you before the officers come in and question you...but I won’t force it on you unless you want it.”
He took a moment to think of what Lee told him. He didn’t know, he really didn’t.
But he could see in the older man’s eyes that he really only did wish to help him in any way that he could. He found himself nodding slowly and Lee nodded back, standing and picking everything up. “She’ll be coming in shortly. Would you like me to inform anyone that you are awake?”
He shook his head and Lee said that he understood, leaving the room with one final goodbye. Just as he said, not a few moments later, a knock sounded on the door, and a woman entered, smiling brightly. “Hello, I’m Dr. Eun. It is such a pleasure to meet you.”
Unlike Lee, who had been cautious with him at first, Eun skipped over to his bedside and planted herself right on the bed, not even on the chair beside it. “I’m so glad that you wanted to talk to me.” She placed a clipboard beside her and fully turned to look at him.
“I’m here to help you in any way that I can, and I’m just going to make it clear now that anything you say in this room to me will stay in this room, unless you wish to share with someone else. You have full confidentiality with me, and I want you to feel safe. I want to help you.”
He nodded, watching as she started to flip through some of the papers on the clipboard. “So, why don’t you tell me some things about yourself? Do you have any pets? Favorite school subject?”
“U-um…” He blushed a little, feeling slightly uncomfortable, but not completely put off by the woman’s carefree attitude and kind smile.
“Soonshim.” He finally whispered. “I have a dog named Soonshim and my favorite class was always...choir. Music.”
“I see that.” She said, looking down at something on his arm and nodding.
Taehyung looked down as well and startled, lifting his arm slightly.
He gazed in awe at the beautiful design, the black bars and the green notes dancing along the expanse of his inner forearm.
His other hand came up to trace the notes, reading them silently.
“It’s beautiful.” He whispered.
“What is it of if I may ask?”
“It’s...it’s my favorite song. The first song that I learned on the piano, the one that really got me into music in the first place. The artist...Min Yoongi. I was a fan, I really loved his music.”
The psychiatrist smiled wide, as if she knew something that he did not. “Well, what would you say to Mr. Min if he were to walk through the door right now, then?”
“I would thank him.” He whispered. “W-when I was...t-there…” He paused, biting his lower lip. “I would hum his songs, sing them. It helped me...I-I guess in some way. Helped me to get through another day.”
She nodded, listening attentively. “This one is my favorite...I-I thought that soulmarks were supposed to represent the two of us?” He looked up at her and she nodded.
“Perhaps he’s a big fan of Min Yoongi, too.”
“Oh.” Taehyung looked down, nodding. “Have you met him? My soulmate.”
“I have. He’s been very distressed about everything. Hasn’t left the hospital in days. It’s caused a bit of a scandal.” She snorted. “All of his friends are here as well. They’ve all been itching to see you.”
“I...is it bad that I’m scared to see him?”
“No, not at all. You’ve been through something hard, and sometimes seeing someone so important to our lives can be hard after that. You shouldn’t worry too much, he’ll wait for as long as you need, I don’t doubt it one bit.”
“Is he nice at least?”
“That’s something that you’ll have to find out for yourself.”
He nodded, pouting slightly. “There are people who want to talk to me.”
“There are.” Eun agreed. “Some officers would like to question you.”
“About the house.”
“About the house.” She nodded along.
“Is he going to come back?”
“No. He’s not.”
“Okay.” Eun looked at him, her smile falling a bit as she looked at him seriously.
“It’s okay to be scared, okay? It’s okay to feel. If you don’t want to talk to them right now, you don’t have to, but they do wish to talk to you, because you can help them punish the one who did this to you. You can help them lock him up and put him away for a very long time.”
He nodded, biting his bottom lip.
“I’m sure that Dr. Lee has told you that we don’t know anything about you. You’re our resident John Doe, and we could really use some help figuring out who you are. Can I ask you what your name is?”
Could she?
Could he answer?
He’d been stripped of his name, his identity.
If he said his name, would that make it his?
Would he still be him?
He didn’t know.
But he couldn’t stop himself when he whispered out a quiet answer.
“Kim Taehyung. Taehyung….my name is Taehyung.”
❇
I don’t know when you’ll read this, or if you even will receive this, but I’m writing this anyway. I’m going insane just sitting here, unable to see you, unable to know if you are even okay. The doctor says that you haven’t awoken yet, and it’s been two days already. I just...I don’t even know you, but I miss you and I want to see you, but I can’t, and it’s eating at me. But I guess that I’ll just have to wait, huh? Well, I can wait. I’ll wait as long as I have to.
For you.
-Your soulmate
Today is day three, since I’ve last seen you, and I don’t know what to do anymore, moving forward. We’ve just been sitting here, me and my friends, and we’re all going insane now, but then again all of my friends are insane already. I have five, two people I work with, two of the closest friends that I could ever ask for, and their soulmates. One of them has two, they’re the babies of the group, a bunch of assholes if you ask me, always picking on me. Min-ah and Kook-ah. That’s their names. Kook is twenty, Minnie is twenty two. They grew up in Busan together, knew they were soulmates since they were born. They found Joon-ah later on, and they couldn’t be happier since. They’re all troublemakers, the lot of them, but they couldn’t make me happier.
Until we meet again.
-Soulmate
Day four, and you're still not conscious, huh? The staff tried making us leave today. But I don’t blame them, not with the commotion that we’ve been causing. But we didn’t let them, I couldn’t leave, so we came to an agreement. And so we were moved, I hope that you don’t mind. We didn’t want you to face the consequences of our actions, we moved to the private clinic across the street. The doctor’s are really nice, and the nurses as well. I heard that they were assembling a team just for you, to service your every need for when you wake up. They’re also the poor souls that I nag to give you these letters, day after day, but I can see that they really don’t mind. I hope that you don’t mind, either, if you ever get the chance to read these.
Always waiting.
-Soulmate
Day five, and I just realized that I haven’t told you about Jin hyung and Hobi-ah yet. Hobi comes off as the nicest and brightest person that you’ve ever met, but don’t let that fool you. He’s really just an asshole in disguise, like the others. He’ll mess you up in ways you didn’t even know you could be messed up. But he’s kept in check by his soulmate. Jin hyung. He’s the oldest, the only one that’s older than me. He cooks for us, cares for us, and he screams at us. That’s pretty much the only two things that he does for us. And he just hit me, he’s been watching me write these. He’s mean, I take back everything that I’ve said--
Hello dearie, this is Jin. I’m your new hyung! I’m afraid that you’re soulmate is otherwise occupied at the moment, so I just wanted to finish this up. We can’t wait to meet you! Until then :)
-Your favorite hyung
Day six and seven. I’m sorry I missed yesterday, we spent all day on the phone with our boss. He wasn’t very happy with us, but he understood as soon as we explained the situation. He’s put everything on hold for us, until you are up and going. I was so grateful for that, because that meant that I could stay with you for as long as I wanted. Jin is growing restless, though. He loves you already, he really does, but he can be kind of high maintenance at times and I don’t think that the public bathroom they offer family members is really doing it for him. Yeah, you’re family now, I hope you know, and we’re never letting you go.
-soulmate
Day eight and I don’t even know what to do with myself anymore. We’ve just been sitting here mostly, I’ve been writing a few songs and such. That’s what I do. I write songs. I love writing them, there’s just something about creating music that calms me. It’s the only thing in the world that I could probably say I love more than my family. I know that’s not something I should probably say, but I can’t say anything that isn’t true, not to you, dear soulmate. Sometimes I write songs about you, I did before, before I knew you. I hope that you don’t mind. I think I’ve been saying that a lot lately, asking if things are okay with you, because it just...sometimes it just hits me that I don’t know anything about you.
And that hurts.
-Soulmate
Jin finally cracked and went home. But he came right back, with a huge bag full of our shit. He brought my laptop, too, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier. This is all that I needed in life. My family surrounding me, my music...and you. This is perfect. Well, almost. You’re here, but you are not, and we’re all anxiously awaiting for you. But don’t let that get you nervous. Well, maybe a little, since I don’t know if Jin hyung will attack you or not with his eomma hugs as soon as you awaken.
Maybe tell the doctor to wait a few days after you wake up to get yourself ready for that.
-Your soulmate
Day ten. I had to skip yesterday because we ran out of paper. I’d been writing these on some of the hospital paper, but the private clinic didn’t have any that I could find to steal, and I guess I didn’t grab enough. It’s been ten days already, weird, isn’t it? I feel like I know you already, yet I have only spoken to you once. We’re all waiting and we just want you to be better and to wake up. And we’ll wait as long as you need.
-Your Soulmate
Day eleven. You really took my advice, huh? When I told you to wait a few days after you’ve woken up. The doctor says that you haven’t yet, we ask every day, but I heard some of the nurses talking about how you were the sweetest kid and had such a beautiful smile. I’m not mad, I don’t think I ever could be. I understand, I know that there are plenty of times that I wanted to be alone as well. I just hope that these letters were found to you in good will. I’ll be awaiting you.
-Soulmate
I guess that we never really talked about me, huh? You’re probably reading all of these letters, and you don’t even know who I am. Well, I guess now’s better than never. I grew up in Daegu. My parents didn’t really support my choice to pursue music, but they only did it because they wanted me to have a good life and to live comfortably, and they didn’t know if music could do that for me. But I can’t be who I am without it. Now that I’ve shown them that music can make me happy and support me in a comfortable life, they’re the most supportive people I know. They’ve always tried to be there for me, and I just know that they would love you, and I hope that you would love them. I have a family dog. Her name is Holly. I don’t see her nearly as often as I’d like to, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made to follow your dreams. I’m rambling, and I’m running out of writing room.
I’ll see you when you’re ready.
-Soulmate
Taehyung felt his eyes water as he read the last of them.
He didn’t know much about his soulmate, that was true. But just from these letters alone he knew that the man was loving and caring, and more than he ever could have dreamed for.
It was true, two days had passed and he still didn’t want anyone to know that he was awake. Eun had said that it was a smart choice, because then it would keep the officers away until he was ready to answer the questions he knew they would have for him.
But this was too much. He’d seen them the day he’d woken up, but only now did he have the physical strength to pick them up and read them on his own. He’d rejected the nurse’s help when she’d offered. He didn’t want anyone else reading something that meant so much to him.
His hands shook as he looked up at Eun, who was sitting across from him, having come into the room about halfway through the letters.
“Do you need anything?”
“Just...a piece of paper and a pencil.”
She smiled and nodded, getting him what he needed.
Later that evening, a stunned Yoongi stared at a mostly blank piece of paper. It wasn’t signed, but he didn’t need it to be.
And all it said was a small, simple sentence, but one that made everything infinitely better.
I grew up in Daegu, too.
❇
“Why haven’t you asked me the difficult questions yet?”
Eun looked up, startled by the sudden question.
“Well.” She said, turning to the boy, clearing her throat. “We thought that it would be best to let those questions be saved for the officers. So that you only have to be asked once, and you don’t have to answer them more times than you want. But you can tell me some things if you wish to, you know that I’m here for you.”
“Will...will you be in the room when I have to tell the officers my story?”
“Well, first of all, you don’t have to. Nothing will be forced out of you. They will want to see you, but you can decline to answer any questions they may ask.”
“But you don’t want that.”
“Do you want my professional or my honest opinion?”
“Can I hear both?”
“Professionally speaking, don’t push yourself. You need to be comfortable and your own health is the most important thing in this process, so if you don’t want to answer questions, then don’t. Tell them that you are uncomfortable speaking about certain subjects, and they won’t even ask.”
“A-and personally?”
“Your health is very important to me, Taehyung, I want you to know that, but you went through something awful, and the man that did this to you has a chance of walking free because he has lots of money. If you don’t answer questions and a report isn’t written about the victim’s account, then the chances of him walking are higher. And after what he did, I don’t want that, under any circumstance. I don’t want you to live with the constant anger that he got away with what he did to you. With the constant fear that he could come back, that you could just stroll right past him on the street, because he got away, like he didn’t do anything at all.”
Taehyung was silent as he considered her words, nodding slightly, agreeing with what she said. “I’m running out of time, aren’t I?” He finally asked, after a long moment of thought.
Eun sighed, but she didn’t deny the statement.
“The lawyers are getting restless, and the court date is drawing nearer. If we wait any longer, I fear that the defense may try to appeal to discard the victim’s account on the basis that too much time has passed and the details may be obscured by time.”
Taehyung blinked, his eyes widening slightly, before darkening.
“I won’t ever forget what he did to me. Not any of it.” He finally whispered. “I wish to, I wish to forget the things that he did to me, but I can’t. And I don’t think I ever can.”
Eun didn’t say anything, and Taehyung was glad. He didn’t want her to say anything, he just wanted her to be there, to listen to what he had to say.
“The officers...how long would it be before they came into my room to start questioning me if I told Dr. Lee to tell them that I was awake?”
“They’ve been waiting for awhile, and have been getting more anxious. I think that they would send over a detective and an officer as soon as they can.”
Taehyung nodded, looking down at his lap from his seated position. His back rested against the wall, he was still too weak to support his own weight. “Alright.” He finally whispered. “I’ll see them.”
“Do you want to see any of your visitors first?” She asked gently. “They’ve been waiting anxiously to see you.” Taehyung took a moment to think about it, but ultimately he shook his head. No, he couldn’t.
Not before he did this.
“I have to do this first.” He said, no room for questions in his voice. “I don’t think I can see my soulmate or anyone before I do this, because then I don’t know if I’ll be able to at all.”
“Okay. Okay, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“C-can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Why didn’t you ever ask me about my parents? About anyone that I could contact?”
“Because we wanted to give you time, and you never expressed the want to see anyone. We’ve made contact with them, and they are also waiting to come and see you.”
Taehyung said nothing, but pursed his lips slightly. “Were they happy?” He finally whispered.
“Happy?”
“Were they happy that I’d been found?” He finally asked.
Eun hesitated, but slowly nodded. “I’d imagine so. I was not present for the phone call. But I was told that they were in Japan, at a business convention for a week when they got the call, and decided to stay when they were told that you were unconscious and not taking any visitors. Their flights are set to come back tomorrow evening.”
“I’d like to see them.”
“Of course.” Eun nodded and stood, pressing a button to summon Eun. “You would like to speak to the authorities...would you like to see the others after?”
“Tomorrow.” Taehyung whispered. “I don’t know if I’ll be in the right state of mind to see them after I speak with them.”
“And that is perfectly fine. Would you like me to inform them?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh! I almost forgot.” Eun reached into his coat pocket and procured the familiar sticky note sized small white card that he had been receiving his letters on. “A nurse dropped this off for you.” She winked, handing it to him before walking out.
Taehyung couldn’t help the smile that played on his lips as he opened the card and peeked at the contents.
I got a response from you. I can’t believe it. Is it weird that I know that you’re a beautiful person, just by your handwriting? Because you are. You’re a beautiful person, and I don’t know when, or if I’ll ever get to meet you, but I don’t think I can wait much longer, beautiful soulmate. My heart pounds harder, just thinking about it, and my friends look at me with disgust on their faces as I smile, looking down at this letter. But I don’t care, because you’re awake and you’re well, and that is all I can ask for.
Till the day I can meet my beautiful soulmate.
-Your soulmate
Taehyung loved these letters.
A terrible thought came to his head, that maybe he would try and keep pushing off meeting his soulmate for the first time, just so that he could continue getting these letters. Something about the man behind these letters was so elusive and beautiful, and a fear that the man behind them may not be the man that he meets began to develop in his chest.
What if he wasn’t as sweet?
What if he was just doing this to come off as good?
What if he looked good on paper but he wasn’t actually as good once put to the test?
This isn’t a job interview. He scolded himself. His soulmate wouldn’t put the time and effort into it if he didn’t mean it, and that is what kept Taehyung going, pushing himself as he thought about his soulmate.
Before he could dwell on his thoughts any longer, the door to his room opened. He jumped a little, startled that there hadn’t been a knock, when a man and a woman walked into the room, one wearing an officer’s uniform, the male, and the other wearing something more casual, yet sharp and professional at the same time.
“Hello, Taehyung, I am detective Im, and this is officer Lee. We’re here to ask you some questions and offer you any assistance that we can. Do you mind if we get closer?”
Taehyung nodded and watched the two approach. The officer stood at the foot of the bed, while the woman approached closer, bringing out a small notepad as well as a small recording device. “Before we begin, I’d like to ask if it is okay if we record this? It will decrease the likelihood that you would have to go in and testify, having a voice recording of a questioning. I don’t usually like having the victim in the same room with the suspect, especially when there’s little time in between the court date and the initial questioning from the recovery period.”
Taehyung nodded, agreeing to the woman’s request.
“Alright, can you say your name and age, please?”
“Kim Taehyung...Seventeen.”
“Taehyung, I know that this may be difficult for you, but I would like for you to try and answer the questions as detailed and as honest as you can. If you don’t wish to answer a question, or if you feel uncomfortable at any time and need a break, do not hesitate to ask for one. We’re here to help you, not to interrogate you, okay?” Taehyung nodded, fiddling with his hands as they began to sweat.
He nodded, stuttering out his understanding when gently coaxed for a verbal reply.
“Alright. Mr. Kim, do you know approximately when you were taken?”
“U-um...m-maybe a few months? A year at most? I-I remember being sixteen at the time, b-but I don’t remember the date exactly.”
“Can you describe what happened that day?”
“I was heading to work...I worked in a small café, since our school allowed students to be employed. My parents wanted me to have a job so that I could learn good work ethic. S-so I was heading to my shift when I saw a car in the corner of my eye. It was an expensive one, and it pulled up right next to me. H-he got out and grabbed my arm, like it was completely normal, a-and I guess I was in too much shock to really do anything but let him drag me into his car and drive away. It all happened so fast that I didn’t really have the time to process it until it was too late.”
“Did you know the suspect at all, before the incident?”
“He came in sometimes...to the coffee shop. He always asked for me, said I was the only one that could make his drink how he liked it. Said...said that it reminded him of how his wife used to make it.”
“His wife is deceased, were you aware of this at the time?”
“A little. I kind of figured it out by how he would briefly speak of her.”
“Did he ever give you any indication that he would try and take you, Mr. Kim?”
“N-no.” Taehyung paused then, shuddering. “B-but there was one time when he came over to the counter and pet my hair, j-just reached out and touched me out of nowhere. Saying I was pretty...just like her.”
“And what happened as soon as he pulled up to his residence?”
“He got me out of the car, he’s stronger than he looks, by then I came out of my shock and tried to struggle, but he hit me over the head with something and I couldn’t move my body anymore. I couldn’t fight back.”
“And then what?”
Taehyung felt tears come to his eyes.
“He stripped me of my clothes. Threw me on the ground and chained me to his bed post. H-he started to undress himself, too. S-said that I looked just like his wife...t-that maybe I would f-feel like her, too.”
“Did he assault you?” Im’s voice got quieter, but from her lack of surprise, Taehyung could tell that she already knew. Taehyung wasn’t stupid, he had seen Dr. Lee’s reports on his condition, one of them being tearing in his rectum, from forced entry of a phallic like object.
“H-he did.”
“How many times?”
Taehyung bit his lower lip, shaking his head. Im waited patiently, not pressing him, and not pushing him. “M-more times than I c-can count.” He finally managed, his voice quiet and shaky. “I-I don’t know. I-I passed out most o-of the time b-because he w-would get mad at me, w-while he was violating me b-because I-I wasn’t a woman.”
“He would hit you?”
“Yes. A-at least once a day, often more. B-but he didn’t like touching me when he didn’t have to, o-or when he wasn’t drunk and pretending that I was his w-wife. H-he would hit me with his belt o-or the ruler he kept for w-when he was feeling angry.”
“Did he feed you? Bathe you?”
“O-once a week. J-just once a week.”
“I don’t want to pressure you anymore, Mr. Kim. There are other questions, but I feel like we have enough for now. If you would call us, or have Dr. Lee call us at a later time for more questioning, that would be great. But if not, we have enough of your account to make sure that he gets the justice that he deserves.”
Taehyung nodded, but held his hand out, grabbing the woman’s arm lightly before she could turn to go.
“I-I don’t think I was the first.” He whispered.
“Excuse me?” This, the woman did look surprised at.
“T-the chain...that I was held to the bed with. It was already there when I got there. A-and there was blood on it already...h-he would mutter about failures a-and such...b-but I don’t know h-how many.”
“Okay.” Im said carefully. “Okay, this is new. Thank you for telling me this. I had no idea, and I don’t think the investigation team in his home know this either. Thank you, Taehyung, really, this is vital information. Do you know perhaps where he would...take care of the potential victim’s?”
“N-no. A-all I know is that sometimes he would come back smelling bad. Really bad. A-and those were the times when he was exceptionally drunk, saying that I should b-be grateful that I wasn’t under like they were.”
“We’ll have our team look into it. Thank you for your time.” The woman bowed and the other officer, the one who hadn’t said anything walked out, leaving Taehyung alone.
He let out a shaky breath, closing his eyes as he let the tears fall slowly down his cheeks.
He didn’t think that it would be so easy, just blurting out everything that had happened to him, but maybe it was because he had been in shock for so long, maybe it was because he had pretended like none of it had ever happened the whole time that he was recovering.
But now, saying it, reliving it...he knew that he was just kidding himself. He knew that something terrible had happened to him, and that it wasn’t an issue that was just going to go away.
And as he was hit with the torrent of pain and sorrow, the realization that it had all really happened, that this was real…
He realized how cold and alone he felt.
But he also realized, as he cradled his arms close to his chest…
How warm his soulmark felt against his skin.
A warm, comforting caress.
That there was someone waiting for him.
❇
The next day was the supposed day.
Taehyung was wringing his hands with worry, not knowing what to do. He had told Eun that he wanted to meet the man behind the letters yesterday, but he had spent the better part of his morning worrying that something was going to go wrong, and that everything was simply a fantasy that he had built for himself.
Eun came in, all smiles. “Well, that’s not the smile that I was expecting.” She teased, leaning forward to look at Taehyung.
“I-I guess it’s easier to say it yesterday than to actually face it today.” Taehyung managed out, his voice giving away his worry and anxiety.
“I know what you mean. Would you like me to push it off a bit more? I know that they won’t mind, they’re very nice people.”
Taehyung shook his head. “If I don’t do it now, I won’t be able to do it ever.” He admitted quietly. “I have to do it now, even if I am scared.”
“I’m proud of you.” Eun said, smiling brightly once more. “I hope you know that. I’m so, so proud of you. You’re very strong, Taehyung.”
Taehyung felt something rise in his chest, a feeling that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. “T-thank you.” He managed to stutter out.
“Do you want me to go and get him now? I promise that I’ll try to limit it to one at a time.”
“U-um can you tell me something?”
“Of course.”
“H-he’s nice?” Eun merely smiled.
“Look at your soulmark.” Taehyung did so, confused. “He has the other half.” Eun finally said, after a moment of clear confusion. “And I think that’s the answer that you need.” She left after that, and he assumed it was to go and get his soulmate.
He didn’t even know what his name was. Taehyung didn’t ask in the short little notes that he sent back to the man when he could. And the other hadn’t signed his letters in any other way than ‘your soulmate’ or ‘soulmate’, so he had no ideas to climb off of, other than the other knew who Min Yoongi was, and liked his music enough for it to mean something to them as well.
Taehyung thought of what he would say to him, the first thing.
A knock sounded on the door and Taehyung didn’t look over as he called for the person to enter. He found himself looking out the window, not quite wanting to ruin the moment yet. They sat there in silence for a moment, before the other finally spoke up.
“Taehyung?”
Oh.
Oh. He liked that voice. He liked that very much. It was...familiar. It was rich, soft and hard at the same time.
It was the voice of the man who had saved him.
The man who had written him the letters.
It was the voice of the man that he was destined for.
“So you’re him.” Taehyung finally said.
“I am me, yes. I’m your...soulmate.” The other paused. “You won’t look at me?”
Taehyung sighed. “I have this fear.” Taehyung finally breathed out. “I have this fear that if I look at you, then something will change. That there will be this sudden ending to the image that I have of you. That the letters were different than who you are. That the image of the man I’ve attached the voice to will crumble and I’ll--” Taehyung laughed, no humor in his tone.
“I’m scared, too.” The man finally admitted. “I’m scared of what you’ll think when you turn your head and see me. That I won’t be something that you want.”
“We should take the advice of our marks then.” Taehyung said, looking down at his forearm, gently pressing into the endings notes. “Even through my doubts, the universe had none, and you were the one I was destined for, and that has to mean something.” He quoted, tracing the notes where the lyrics would rest.
He finally lifted his head, and his gaze moved over to the man.
And their eyes met for the first time.
Taehyung couldn’t breath. He felt his eyes widen and he clutched his wrist harshly, squeezing his mark. “You…” He finally whispered. “You should take your own advice.” he finally managed to choke out, tears starting to spill from his eyes.
Yoongi was quick to move forward, not thinking about anything as he scooped Taehyung into his arms and pulled him close. “Hey, hey...shh, it’s okay.” He gently comforted. His hand rubbed softly against his back in an effort to calm him down.
“I-i’m sorry.” Taehyung finally whispered.
“No, no, don’t apologize. Don’t apologize for anything, it’s okay.”
“Y-you must have expected something else.” Taehyung finally said, laughing quietly. “I bet this isn’t what you expected from a soulmate.”
“You’re right.” Yoongi agreed. “It isn’t what I expected.” He gently released Taehyung, easing him down onto the mattress, taking a seat beside him. “But I will never wish for something else. I’m glad that you’re not what I expected, because I don’t think you’d be quite as special if you were. You’re you, and if you let me, I’ll have you any way you are.”
Taehyung felt warmth in his chest. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He looked down bashfully, fiddling with his fingers. “You...you’re Min Yoongi.” He finally said, it was the only thing that he could bring himself to say, it was the only thing that his mind could procure.
“Yes, I’m Min Yoongi.” He nodded, smiling brightly. “Not what you expected, huh?”
“No...but not entirely disappointed.” Taehyung teased, causing Yoongi to pout.
“I feel like that was a backhanded compliment, and I am not standing for this disrespect. I didn’t sign up for a brat.” He clipped out.
Taehyung stared at him with wide eyes, but he couldn’t stop the giggle from overflowing from this mouth. Which caused Yoongi to pout once more. “Oi, respect your hyung.”
Taehyung grinned stupidly at the other. Yoongi couldn’t help himself but to smile just as stupidly back. They fell into a comfortable silence, just sitting there in each other’s presence.
Just when it would get to the point where it would be awkward, neither of them knowing what to say to each other, the door burst open and a loud, boisterous voice filled the room.
“There’s my new baby!” Taehyung nearly screamed as Yoongi was violently shoved to the side and off of his perch on the bed. He was enveloped into a big and tight hug, rocked around like it was nothing. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for centuries to meet you! You’re so cute! So much cuter than Yoongi told me--”
“Who the fuck thought it would be a good idea to let you in first?” Yoongi bellowed out, standing, thoroughly pissed now that he had been thrown from his perch.
“I’m sorry Yoongi hyung!” Hoseok suddenly shouted from behind the door. “We tried to keep him out, but he was too strong!”
“Of fucking course.” Yoongi sighed, turning back to Jin, who was smothering Taehyung into yet another hug. “Kim Seokjin, let the poor boy go before you kill him.”
“The audacity!” Jin gasped, turning and glaring at Yoongi. “I will have you know--”
“Yeah, no one cares. Why did you come in first? I thought we agreed on...easing him in. Not scaring him away as soon as possible.”
“Well, you were doing a terrible job of winning him over, so I had to step in.”
“Were you listening to us?” Yoongi asked, his eyes widening.
“Oh hush, we all were listening in.” Yoongi groaned, throwing his head back dramatically. Taehyung couldn’t stop himself from giggling once more at the theatrics.
“See!? It’s not so bad, we’re making the child laugh!”
“Jin, I swear to god--”
“Show your hyung some respect!”
“I swear, he’s not usually this crazy.” Yoongi said, turning to Taehyung. “We’ll, that’s a lie, it’s just something you’ll have to get used to, I’ll apologize for him this time--” Yoongi was cut off by Jin marching across the room. That prompted the other to skip away to the other side of the room, right over to Taehyung, using him as a shield. “You wouldn’t hit your new child, would you?” Yoongi taunted. “Cause that’s the only way you'll be getting to me, old man.”
“You little--”
“And time’s up.” Namjoon sighed, walking into the room. “Seriously, what the hell is wrong with the both of you? We’re trying to show him that we’re a loving, caring family that will take care of him, no matter what. But all we’re currently doing is probably scaring him.”
“Well, wouldn’t be the first time. Remember when poor Jungkookie came over for the first time? Jimin had already met us, and well, he wasn’t exactly the most normal person either. But Jin damn near made Kookie shit his pants.” Yoongi muttered. Jin grumbled something, but didn’t say anything to deny it.
“Hello, I’m Kim Namjoon. You’re Taehyung, correct?” Namjoon asked, walking over to Taehyung who was nodding. “I’m sorry about the chaos. We’ve all been waiting for a while and some of us are quite excited to meet you. Especially since the circumstances were...a bit different than what we’re used to.”
“Be sensitive for once in your life, Namjoon.” Yoongi scoffed. “You don’t always have to be so forward and to the point.”
“What, would you rather I lied? Tried to give him a falsity to what to expect?”
“No, but I would rather that you show a little bit of sensitivity the first time that you meet--”
Everyone was cut off by Taehyung, who wasn’t just giggling this time. But laughing.
He was laughing because he couldn’t believe that he was in the middle of this. He remembered being a teen, seeing tapes, behind the scene videos of this group. It was always like this, to some degree, but Taehyung had always wondered if it was all for the camera. What really happened behind the scenes.
But nothing was different.
And Taehyung had never been so glad for such genuine people.
He would fit in just fine.
❇
Taehyung loved all of his new hyungs.
He’d met all of them yesterday, one at a time, and he supposed that it was a good thing, with how rambunctious the group was.
But once he had met all of them and they had all grown comfortable around him and he around them, it was like he was never not a part of the family.
The nurses had had to force them all out of his room at the end of visitor hours, but they had promised to come back the next day.
Eun came in the next morning, bright and early, along with Lee. “You’re recovering very nicely.” Lee said, looking down at his chart, flipping through some numbers. “You should be ready to be discharged whenever you’re ready.” Taehyung nodded, smiling slightly at the good news.
“We’ll be giving you some prescriptions. Some pain meds for the first few weeks and some dietary supplements for however long you need them until you’re at a healthy weight.” Eun added. “And we’ll also be referring you to a psychiatrist. Don’t worry, she is a very close friend of mine.” Eun winked and Taehyung couldn’t help but to smile at her.
“T-thank you.” Taehyung muttered. “Thank you both, for taking care of me.”
“Oh it was our pleasure. We just wanted to come in and talk to you before the others come in. They went home last night, finally, and I can’t tell you how quiet and nice it was without them in the hall, but they returned early this morning, eager to see you.”
Taehyung blushed at that, but a pleased feeling was building up in his chest.
“Would you like to let all of them in?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Besides I’m sure one of them is bound to burst in whether I want them to or not.”
Eun nodded, Lee taking his leave. “I’m very glad that you seem to be coping well, Taehyung. I think that you’re going to do great. I think that you’re going to bounce back and you’ll be on your feet in no time.”
“Thank you. I hope so to.”
Before Eun could say anything else, the door was shoved open and Kim Seokjin strode through, a large smile on his face. “Your favorite hyung is here!” He announced, a bright smile adorning his features.
“Jin hyung.” Taehyung greeted, waving to Eun as she slipped out of the door.
Hoseok was the next to come in, and then the others all shoved past, Yoongi walking in last. He was the one that walked straight to the bed and took a seat on it, right next to him.
“Good morning.” He said, giving him a fond pat on the head.
“Good morning hyung.” Taehyung said back, which had everyone else cooing at the domesticity of it all.
They fell into a comfortable chatter, talking about anything and everything. Taehyung learned a lot about the others, also sharing some information about himself, his childhood and what his hometown was like.
“I’m getting discharged soon.” Taehyung suddenly announced. “They said that I would be ready to leave whenever I felt like it.”
“That’s wonderful news! Oh, you can come stay with us of course and--”
A knock on the door cut Jin off. Namjoon was closest, so he opened it slowly, to see who it was. A couple, two older people walked in, and Taehyung went still beside Yoongi.
“Oh, there’s my sweet boy!” The woman exclaimed.
Taehyung was quick to open up his arms, crying out for the woman as she rushed forward and enveloped him into her arms, peppering kisses onto his forehead. “Eomma.” He cried out, pulling her closer.
The older man simply stood back, watching with a fond expression. “I missed you so much baby! Oh I just couldn’t believe it when they called us and said that you were here!”
“Eomma.” Taehyung said more quietly, pulling away slightly. “I’m so glad to see you. I missed you so much.”
“I know darling, I know. I missed you more than you could ever imagine. And the doctor said that you were ready to be discharged! We signed the papers baby, you can come back home with us right now! Oh, we brought you some clothes and everything.”
“Thank you, Eomma.” Taehyung looked truly excited. Yoongi couldn’t help the pang of disappointment in his chest, but what did he expect?
Taehyung was only seventeen, he wasn’t an adult yet. They had just met, and of course he still had a family. A family who probably missed him and wanted him home. They’d gone through something awful, of course they wanted their son back.
He was Taehyung’s soulmate, but they’d just met. There would be plenty of time in the future for them to get to know one another, perhaps not as fast as Yoongi would like, he still had his career after all, but they would eventually get closer to one another.
Everything would all work out. Yoongi had no reason to be hurt or sad, he should be happy that Taehyung was going back with his family.
“Come, we can get going right now! We’ll call the doctor and have you unhooked, and then we can head back home!”
“O-of course.” Taehyung turned to Yoongi. “E-eomma, I wanted you to meet someone though, first.” His mother seemed to suddenly realize that there were other people in the room.
“Oh goodness me! I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you all! I just saw my dear Taehyungie and I guess I just--”
“Honey.” The elder man called. Taehyung turned to him and smiled brightly as he came closer.
“Sorry, I ramble. Who are these fine young men, dear?”
“T-this is Min Yoongi.” Taehyung introduced, reaching out blindly and grabbing a hold of Yoongi’s hand. He blushed slightly, feeling the younger grab him so suddenly. “He’s my soulmate.”
“Oh. Oh!” The woman turned to him and Yoongi felt her eyes sweep over him. “Well, he certainly is a fine young gentleman, now isn’t he? You say Min Yoongi dear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Yoongi said, nodding his head.
“And how old are you, boy?” Yoongi felt himself curl a little bit in on himself at the words of Taehyung’s father.
“Appa!” Taehyung whined, turning to the other. “Don’t be mean.” He pouted.
“I’m just getting to know your soulmate, son.”
“I’m twenty-seven, sir.” The other looked at him, up and down.
“Then I suppose you already have a steady job, a stable income?”
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“And what do you do for a living?”
“Well, I’m a rapper. A producer. I work under BigHit studios.”
“A musician?” His features softened some at that, not the usual reaction Yoongi got when he told people what he did. “My son always wanted to do music. It was something that he would talk about, day in and day out. Always listened to that artist, who was it?”
The man turned to his wife, who was already thinking.
“Sugar? S...Suga! No, no, wasn’t it August something?”
“E-eomma!” Taehyung whined, suddenly embarrassed.
“What? I’m just sharing some memories with this young man--”
Yoongi smiled fondly at the picture in front of him. He could tell that Taehyung’s family loved him dearly.
It just made it harder to know that he would have to let him go with them. That he would have to wait longer to see his soulmate, get to know him.
But he could wait.
He’d wait as long as he had to.
❇
Yoongi didn’t think that by going home, they meant Daegu.
But he remembered Taehyung telling him that that was where he grew up. And of course he was still just a kid, he’d live with his family, and they were still based in Daegu.
It didn’t mean it hurt any less to know that his soulmate wasn’t even going to be in the same city as him. It would just make it harder to see the other every day, to try and get to know him.
He wouldn’t even be able to contact him until he got a phone, which thankfully his parents assured they would get immediately, saving Yoongi’s number into their own phones and assuring that they would provide it to Taehyung once he was settled.
He left that day, and Yoongi barely had time to say goodbye.
He’d barely had any time to say hello in the first place.
But he knew that this was for the best. He only wanted that for Taehyung, and if going home with his parents, putting back together the pieces of a childhood that should never have been ripped away from him was the answer to helping him, then Yoongi would be the first to push him into the car and back home.
Even if it was away from him.
The next day, when he went back into the studio, he sat down at his computer, staring blankly at the monitor, which had yet to be turned on.
It felt the same.
Yet everything had changed.
It felt strange, knowing that only a week and a half had passed.
But to him, to his company, a week and a half was something that they couldn’t afford. They moved at such fast paces, albums and new songs, sometimes a bit of choreo, it was all too much to fall behind on, and Yoongi was ass deep in things that he had fallen behind on.
PD-nim was kind about it, telling him that some of the projects had been suspended, others had been distributed to other artists and such, trying to help him out, understanding that the situation was delicate and he needed time.
But Yoongi was also a little grateful that even though he was behind, he had all of this to come back to.
The only semblance of normal that was left.
And as he finally turned on his monitor, surprise flickering in his expression when he saw the beginning notes to the track that he had been stuck on, in what seemed like a lifetime ago, he felt his finger moving.
His mind racing.
The song forming.
❇
Taehyung was excited as the cab pulled up to their family home. It felt like so long ago since he’d been here, but everything was exactly as he remembered it.
From the outside at least.
The white picket fence, the small rose bushes that his mother had planted years ago and spent hours upon hours caring for and grooming each summer. The shed in the back, where he knew his father stored away his tools and his mother’s gardening supplies.
The little wheel hanging from the tree was still there as well, looking well used.
He giddily moved forward, rushing into the house, inhaling the familiar scent. The smell of home. He couldn’t stop the smile that made its way to his face at everything.
There was still the same couch, the same loveseat, the same reclining chair that practically had the mold of his father in. The old TV that was sorely out of date, one that he knew his parents wouldn’t get rid of until it completely broke.
The fireplace was still clean and tidy, even though Taehyung knew that his parents lit a fire almost every night. He closed his eyes, remembering how he and his siblings would sit around the fire and listen to his mother and father tell stories. Some would be old stories and some would be new ones that his parents had made up for the entertainment of their children.
It was so nostalgic, and Taehyung felt tears come to his eyes. “Your siblings are all at their grandparents for the week.” His mother gently explained. “We thought that you might’ve wanted some time to come and readjust.”
Taehyung nodded, his eyes moving over to the wall. The wall of memories that his parent’s kept. He knew that they practically documented everything they could, family outings, baby pictures, first days of school…
But something was missing.
There were just as many photos as the last time.
But as Taehyung took a closer look, he soon realized what was wrong.
There were no pictures of him.
There was nothing.
It was like he’d been erased from the wall. All of the individual shots and all of the family pictures that he’d been in weren’t there anymore.
Pain bloomed in his chest as he realized this, but he didn’t bring it up to either of his parent’s who were looking at him with excited prodding, wanting to continue to see the happy look on his face as he walked through his childhood home.
“Come on, your room is this way.” His father finally gestured, and Taehyung was once again confused.
His room was on the other side of the house? He knew where he slept, and the direction that they were pushing him in...that wasn’t it.
But deciding to keep his mouth shut, he allowed them to lead him to a new room.
He nearly deflated when he saw that it was nothing more than a guest room. It was so impersonal, and for the first time Taehyung was beginning to feel ostracized by his family.
But he knew that his parents were good people and that they loved him. They weren’t doing this on purpose. Maybe this was just temporary? Maybe they were redecorating his room (even though he would’ve been happy with his old one) and wanted him to sleep here until they were done?
But they didn’t say anything in explanation to this new room, merely placed his things done. “Make yourself at home.” His mother proclaimed. “I’m going to go and make dinner, dear.”
With that his parent’s left, leaving Taehyung feeling worse than he could ever feel. What was this? Make yourself at home?
“But this is my home…” He whispered quietly, staring at the blank walls of the guest bedroom. He felt tears start to sting his eyes, but he knew that whatever this was, it wasn’t being done to him on purpose. His parent’s were adjusting as well, he finally told himself. They lost their son, and now that he was suddenly back, they were in a state of shock and trying to pick up where they left off.
But there was still a strange feeling nagging at him.
After unpacking the small bag that he’d had, he stood and left the room.
He felt like a stranger in his own home. It felt wrong, almost, like he was sneaking around, like he shouldn’t be walking around in a house that he grew up in.
But he was curious. He wanted to know if anything else had changed.
He walked across the home, feeling a strange sort of guilt as he kept his ears strained, listening for any movement of his parent’s, not wanting them to see him walking around the house.
When he finally arrived at the other side of the house, he pulled open the door to his room.
But it wasn’t his room.
Not anymore.
Now it was some sort of office. Sleek and more modern than he ever would have expected out of his parent’s. They were old fashioned people, farm kids who didn’t want to immerse themselves into the more and ever growing technology dependent world.
But this…
This was almost too much for Taehyung.
His parent’s didn’t even own a cellphone for fuck’s sake. Only a landline that Taehyung’s grandmother had made them get.
But the shiny black computer, the monitor, the laptop sitting next to it, the printer, the tablet...it was all too much.
Taehyung didn’t know what to think, what to feel about it.
He shakily walked in, needing to just...see one last thing.
The closet. His old closet, which was now just a mess of files and folders.
He had drawn on the wall there, when he was younger. His parent’s had been so mad at him, but they decided to leave it there, telling him that it gave the room ‘character’.
But when he looked for it...it wasn’t there.
Painted over.
Taehyung pushed the whimper building in his throat down. His parents hadn’t done anything wrong. They were welcoming, they still loved him, and they were still the kind people that he had always looked up to when he was younger.
His mother was still herself. She still wore the same old fashioned dresses, still styled her hair the same, wore the same red lipstick. She still had the beads of pearls around her neck that her father had given to her when they were dating.
His father still dyed his hair brown when it was meant to be a greying black. He still shaved his beard, still wore the old watch his father had given him when he moved out of the house.
They were still the parent’s that he’d grown up with and loved. And they still treated him with love.
So why did it feel like they’d completely erased him from their lives?
Taehyung shook his head, leaving the office and going back to his new room. He sat on the bed, curling himself up into a ball. They really didn’t do anything wrong, Taehyung was just overreacting.
Everything would go back to normal soon.
“Honey!” His mother called. “I have dinner ready!”
He was quick to move, getting up and walking out into the kitchen, smiling at the smell of his mother’s food which he knew would be delicious as soon as he took the first bite.
He looked at the table, seeing five seats there…
There used to be six.
He swallowed the ever growing lump in his throat and sat at a random seat, his younger sister’s, he guessed, waiting for his mother to bring out the dishes.
Once they were all settled in and comfortable, they dug into their meals. They didn’t speak, the silence something that was very uncommon in the Kim household.
But he supposed that there was little to nothing to talk about. His father’s usual “what did everyone do today?” a completely inappropriate question for the events of the past few days.
When they were done, Taehyung offered to do the dishes, something that used to always be his chore around the house. His mother agreed, thanking him with a small kiss on the head before heading to the living room with her husband.
When he was done, he sighed, walking towards the space that his parents had disappeared to, but stopped before he entered the room and they could see him. “It’s just...it’s strange.” He heard his mother say quietly.
He could tell by her tone of voice that she’d been crying. “He’s not the same. He’s not.”
“You can’t expect him to be the same, dear.”
“I know, but some part of me wanted him to be. I want him to be my little boy again, but...we buried him already. We did, and having him here again, so suddenly...I just...I don’t know what to do. We mourned him and buried him and moved on and--”
Taehyung walked back into the kitchen.
His hands were shaking and tears were falling down his face. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t.
He picked up the phone with shaky hands and dialed the number that his mother had written down onto a scrap piece of paper, hanging from the fridge as she always did with new contacts before she could write them down in her little address book.
He waited as the phone rang, curling the cord nervously around his fingers. But he relaxed when the answer finally came.
He knew in his heart that this was the right thing to do. He and his parent’s had jumped into this...but neither of them were ready to face the reality yet.
But that was okay.
Because Taehyung always had another place to go.
A new family waiting for him.
With open arms.
❇
It was eight o’clock when Yoongi’s phone rang.
He looked down at it questioningly, confused as to why it was going off at such an hour.
All of the other producers were at home, either sleeping or spending time with their family.
Namjoon and Hoseok were sitting beside him, cranking away at the album that they had fallen behind on in the past few days due to recent events.
And Jin, Jimin and Jungkook were all in the next room over, relaxing and playing around.
The CEO never called that late, either.
And when he picked up the cellphone, he was confused to see that it wasn’t a number that was familiar.
But he picked it up anyway. “Hello?” He asked.
“Y-yoongi hyung?” a quiet voice asked.
“Yes, who is this?” He couldn’t quite make out who the voice belonged to, and he narrowed his eyes, thinking that it was some fan, but he had to answer his phone, in case it was his soulmate calling with his new phone.
“I-it’s Taehyung.” At that answer, Yoongi shot up from his seat, surprising Namjoon and Hoseok, who gave him questioning looks. But he held up his hand to silence the ensuing questions.
“Taehyung-ah.” He said, his voice quieter, more gentle. “It’s only been a day, how are you?”
“C-can I come back to Seoul?” He asked softly, and Yoongi’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Of course, you’re always welcome here, but can I ask why? Don’t you want to spend some more time with your parents?”
There was silence on the other end. Yoongi bit his bottom lip, casting a glance to the other two men in the room, sitting there silently, waiting for Yoongi. “Taehyung-ah?” He asked softly, turning away from the other two.
“C-can you just come and get m-me?” His voice was soft, muffled and sad. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Did they do something?”
“No.” Taehyung whispered, but his voice was so incredibly sad that Yoongi felt his heart jerking for the younger. “I-i just...I need you. Please?”
“Of course. It might be awhile though...I don’t...it’s about a two hour drive, Taehyung-ah.” The boy didn’t say anything and Yoongi was left to finish the conversation. “I’ll be there in a bit, okay? Just--”
“I’ll be waiting at the train station.” Taehyung finally said, before hanging up. The line went dead and Yoongi was left to stare at it with incredulity. But there was nothing that he could do. He wasn’t going to call Taehyung back, he didn’t know if the younger wanted his parent’s to even know if he was leaving or not, or if they would let him were he to try.
He didn’t know what happened, but he did know that he needed to leave as soon as possible if he wanted to get Taehyung at a reasonable time. “What’s going on?” Hoseok asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern as Yoongi went to shut down his computer and throw his coat on.
“Taehyung just called me and said that he wanted to come back. He wouldn’t really explain anything to me, just told me that he’d be waiting at the train station.”
“Do you want someone to go with you?”
“No, I can go on my own. I think someone’ll have an aneurysm if more than one of us disappears again. And PD-nim will have all our asses if he found out that we weren’t trying to catch up on what we fell behind on.”
“So you’re just gonna have your ass chewed out by yourself is what you're saying?”
“Nah, I have an excuse. But if you came, you’d be the ones getting your asses chewed out. I won’t be that long, I’ll be back hopefully before one.”
“Okay...well...I’ll let the other know. Do you need us to prepare anything?”
“Maybe the spare room?”
“I’ll have Jin on it then.” Yoongi nodded and thanked his friends, hurrying out of the room and down the hall, grabbing a random pair of keys from the staff room before finding the car that it unlocked and hopping in.
It was almost nostalgic, him stealing one of the company cars yet again, except this time he wasn’t reckless, wasn’t in such a rush that he didn’t care what laws he broke, didn’t care about the fact that he was breaking about fifty different company rules.
Now it was so much more calm, just a trip out to get his soulmate, who he now knew, who he now knew was safe.
Although they hadn’t opened up the emotional bond yet, the bond that would allow them to know where each other was and how they were feeling, Yoongi knew that Taehyung wasn’t in any danger right now, which prompted him to relax slightly as he pulled out of the company parking lot and started driving.
❇
Taehyung repacked what little he had. His parent’s had come into the room to bid him good night just a few minutes prior, and Taehyung had given them each a strained smile and a kiss on the cheek.
It didn’t take long to pack, and as much as Taehyung wanted to get out of the house as fast as possible, he didn’t want to just up and leave and make his parent’s worry.
Because even if it seemed like they weren’t much of his parent’s anymore, he knew that they still cared for him and he still cared for them.
So he went to the kitchen and took out a piece of paper, quietly writing down his goodbye.
Mother, Father,
I know that it was not your intention to hurt me. And I know that you also have had to adjust to this. I don’t blame you for anything, and I am so happy that you came to get me and welcomed me back into your home.
But it has become apparent to me that that is what this is. Your home.
Not mine.
I don’t know when this home stopped being mine. Whether it was the night that I was taken, a few days, weeks, even months after, but it has. It is no longer my home. The guest room, the new office...it was all too much. I overheard you, too, that you buried me.
And that is correct. The son you knew is dead. That Kim Taehyung died the moment that he was ripped from this family, and the one that you got back is a broken fragment of him. And I can’t find it in myself to blame you for treating me as someone else entirely, trying to preserve the image of the son that you loved so long ago.
I’m leaving. I’m going back to Seoul to be with my soulmate and his family. This was my choice entirely, and this does not mean that I want to cut you out completely. Maybe one day I’ll call or come and visit, but for the meantime I would like you to respect my wishes and not contact myself or my soulmate or anyone affiliated with me as I try to piece my life back together.
I love you, forever and always,
Kim Taehyung
After the letter was written, Taehyung placed it in the center of the counter, folded neatly, with shaking hands. He didn’t know if he could face his parents again.
As he moved towards the door, he had a fleeting thought about his siblings. But he quickly dashed them. They would be fine. Taehyung had been the only one to go to their grandparents for the amount of time that he had in his youth, so they weren’t that close.
So with a final look around at the house that he had grown up in, he turned and walked out the door, closing it gently behind him as he left it all behind.
He knew that it wasn’t right of him to call Yoongi at such a late hour and demand that he come and get him, but he couldn’t be here any longer. This part of his life was over.
He couldn’t help but feel nervousness bloom in his chest as he walked alone along the dark road, towards the train station. It had been the last time that he’d walked alone, the last time where everything had gone so wrong in his life.
But without it, he never would have met his soulmate. Maybe one day, had he saved up enough money, gone to a fansign or something, they would have met each other, just like the other members had met their soulmates. It would have been normal, happy.
But it didn’t happen that way, and Taehyung was only left with the what ifs.
But Yoongi had accepted him as he was, broken and numb inside. Taehyung wondered when he would stop being numb, and succumb to the pain and sorrow that he knew was itching to claw its way out of his chest.
Eun had said that it was a coping mechanism. For his body and mind to completely shut out the emotions and even the memories of what had happened to him so that he could live as normally as possible.
But she had also cautioned that it would go away at some point, and his mind wouldn’t be able to ignore it anymore, and that he wouldn’t be able to help himself if he didn’t talk to someone. He needed a professional, or someone extremely trusted in his life to talk to, and Taehyung was dreading it.
But he also knew that it was something he needed to do.
He didn’t know what opening that jar would bring him, but he did know that he had people who would be with him when he did, and that made him feel infinitely better.
And as a dark car rolled up to him, an hour and a half later, the window rolled down to display his soulmate, Taehyung couldn’t help but to smile and climb in.
“Thank you.” He whispered quietly.
“Of course. Anything for you, Taehyung-ah. I just...I guess I don’t understand why you needed to get away so fast. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you when you need me.”
“I...thank you. I don’t know if I want to talk about it just yet.”
“That’s fine. Just relax then, we have a bit of ways to go before we get back to Seoul. Why don’t you get some sleep? You’ve done a lot of traveling today and I don’t want you to be too exhausted when we get home.”
Home.
Taehyung felt his chest clench at the word. Would it be home?
Yes.
He was astonished at how quickly the answer filled his chest, just after the anxiety that had previously occupied it. He glanced over at his soulmate and he knew that he was right. Because wherever Yoongi was, that would be his home. The universe had chosen him to be Min Yoongi’s match, and he to him.
The older glanced over at him, and he found himself keeping his gaze, a shy smile on his lips. Yoongi smiled back, one hand coming out and lacing it into Taehyung’s. Taehyung felt a blush creeping up his cheeks and he looked down, focusing on his hand, which was now entwined with Yoongi’s.
The rest of the car ride was quiet and uneventful. Taehyung eventually did fall asleep, and the next time he woke up, it was to Yoongi gently shaking him, muttering that they had arrived back in Seoul and would be pulling into the parking lot of the company building.
“Sorry, I would just have taken you home, but I took a company car that needs to be returned. Namjoon and Hoseok already called for another car.” He explained quietly. “Let’s get your stuff out of the back and then we can head straight for the apartment.”
Taehyung nodded slowly, sitting there as they finally pulled up to the company building, Yoongi getting out and gesturing him to do the same, before they were walking across the street to another car, Namjoon sitting in the back seat when the doors were open. “Thought you would be asleep still.” Yoongi grunted out, shaking his head. “You didn’t have to come.”
“I did.” Namjoon said, shaking his head at the dismissal. “You left in such a hurry and I knew that there was something wrong, and I just wanted to make sure that everything was alright.” With that, the two of them turned to Taehyung, who found himself curling his shoulders inwards a bit at the sudden attention.
Namjoon and Yoongi both seemed to recognize that they were making him uncomfortable and so immediately stopped giving him questioning looks. Taehyung was grateful that they were respecting his privacy, and he offered Yoongi a small smile of thanks.
The ride to the apartment was short, and as soon as they pulled up to the building, Yoongi was guiding Taehyung inside while Namjoon grabbed his bag of meager belongings. He couldn’t believe that the younger didn’t have more, he had just come from his parent’s place after all. Although whatever had happened must have been the reason why.
That was something for Taehyung to share with them when he was ready. Until then, all they could do was be there for him and make sure that he was comfortable and had everything that he needed.
The others were still sleeping when they got inside, and so Taehyung walked quietly as they led him down the hall. “You can sleep in my room tonight.” Yoongi whispered, as soon as Namjoon deposited his bag and then headed off to his own room. “Our guest room isn’t…well it isn’t really a guest room anymore since we don’t have people over. I can just sleep on the couch—”
When Yoongi turned to go, a hand shot out and grabbed onto his wrist, Taehyung shyly looked at the ground, biting his lower lip as he shuffled around awkwardly, not meeting his eyes completely. “Please stay.” He whispered, his cheeks lighting up slightly. But the room was dark, and Yoongi couldn’t see it.
“You want me to stay?” Yoongi asked, clarifying what the younger was asking. Taehyung nodded shakily.
“I don’t want to be alone right now.” He whispered. “I don’t think that I…I just don’t want to be alone right now.”
“Yeah. Yeah of course. Come on.” Yoongi guided Taehyung further into his room, and he let him change in the bathroom into something more comfortable to sleep in.
As soon as they were both curled up in the bed, Taehyung facing him, but their bodies on opposite sides of the bed, the boy suddenly let everything out that was plaguing him down. “They moved on.” Taehyung whispered, and Yoongi’s eyes jolted up to his, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Taehyung-ah, you don’t—”
“I want to tell you.” The boy insisted, pushing on. “I don’t want to keep this to myself. I…” He sniffled, and Yoongi reacted without really thinking. Taehyung was his soulmate, and he wasn’t thinking straight. He was hurting and he needed to care and protect. This boy who’d known pain for so long.
He brought Taehyung into his arms, hushing him quietly and wrapping his arms around his waist, hoping that the embrace would be comforting.
And it was. Taehyung sniffled a bit, but eventually quieted down enough to continue talking once more. “They…they assumed that I was dead.” The boy finally whispered. “When I got home…it was like I never existed in the first place. I wasn’t anywhere in photos, my room was completely changed, they put me in the guest room like I was a stranger to their home that was just staying for a few days. They didn’t even…they weren’t my parents anymore. Their son was dead to them and I was just some—some stranger that they were stuck with because I carried their dead son’s face.” Tears were streaking down his cheeks now, and Yoongi felt anger rise in his chest.
But he couldn’t bring himself to curse out Taehyung’s parents. Everyone dealt with pain and tragedy differently, and no matter how much they’d hurt his soulmate, they were just trying to heal and move on when they’d lost their son. And it must have been a shock to suddenly have him back.
Taehyung was with him now, and he would love and cherish the boy in ways that his parent’s couldn’t. He didn’t want to admit it, but he liked having Taehyung in his arms. A boy that he had only known for a short while, but was already the most important person in his life.
His soulmate.
Yoongi smiled down at him, Taehyung snuggling into his arms and he felt himself smile.
His soulmate he repeated to himself. The person that was so perfect for him in every way that the universe had branded and bound them together for the rest of their lives.
And Yoongi couldn’t help but to think that the universe made a good choice. He couldn’t imagine anyone else in his arms right now. And even if they weren’t lovers, weren’t even friends at this point, Yoongi knew.
He knew that Taehyung was his match.
The only one that he would cherish and love in his life.
His soulmate.