The boy they left behind [II]

♡ Chapter 23 ♡

Seo Yoon came to know about Taehyung's and Jungkook's visit to their hospital, where she and her spouse work.

She angrily barged in the room. She wanted to know what's going on and who the hell needed a doctor. There, she found Taehyung and Jungkook standing. This was the changing room for the patients.

To her, it looked like they were in a deep argument...?

"W-what happened?" She meekly questions. Her frustration was long gone after seeing the troubled faces.

"Seo Yoon, can you please take Byul from school?" Jungkook asks. She noticed his voice suppressing his anger at the elder.

"I told you, I can get her. What is wrong with you?" Taehyung asks, frustrated.

Seo Yoon read the room.

Before she could say anything, someone knocked on their door. It was her senior and her team.

Feeling uncomfortable, Taehyung decided to disappear. May be like past, Seo Yoon isn't going to introduce him, and he'd be feeling like useless.

"He's my brother." Taehyung heard suddenly.

"Oh? The one who was more than a family for you?" One of the interns said. "Hello, Mr. Kim. We've heard a lot about you!"

Taehyung blushed, but he couldn't stop staring at his little sister with a proud smile. "He's so handsome!!" One of them chirps.

Making Taehyung blush more and Jungkook to roll his eyes.

"He's his husband." She introduced, and everyone cooed at the couple.

But Seo Yoon knew something was wrong between them.

"Guys, I'll join you later." She says, and everyone politely leaves.

"Tae oppa, my schedule is full today. Can't help you with Byul." She said, basically lied. "No problem," Taehyung widely smiled. She understood what was going on. Taehyung jumped happily to bring his daughter. He's loving this bond more than he could explain.

"What was that?" Jungkook asks her. "You know he can't -"

"Why do you think he can't? You both are his guardians! What's wrong with him doing these things for his family?" Seo Yoon argues.

"What if something suddenly triggered him, and he gets the panic attack?" Jungkook worriedly asked. "Don't you think this will hamper both of their safety?" He yells.

"And...?" She smirks.

"W-what?" Jungkook was stunned at her reaction.

"Do you think he'd compromise on Byul's safety?" She asks. "He can never harm his family even if they treat him like shit. And I'm the most eligible person to claim this," she confidently says.

Jungkook goes silent. He knew she's right.

"Jungkook oppa," she softly approaches him. "I told you, hell, I warned you!!" Seo Yoon's voice raised a little. "Taking Byul in, when you two were already vulnerable, did that make any sense?"

"B-but... you take care of her mostly. She loves staying with you." Jungkook tried to divert her.

"Oppa, please, you know this is wrong. Do you have any idea how stupid your decision was?" She scolds. "You could have stopped Tae oppa, but instead, you supported him! He wasn't in a state of mind to make decisions at that time. But you?" She sighs. "If you trusted your decision back then, then why not now?" She asks.

Jungkook's eyes lowered as if that day was playing in front of him. "I've told you earlier as well, Taehyung always wanted a family. I saw anxiety his eyes held when he introduced me to Byul. I didn't have it in my heart to deny him." Jungkook whispers, remembering his innocent Tae. "He might have never been able to talk about his desires if I had failed him that day. Do you know he thanked me for accepting Byul. Fuck he even named her!" Jungkook tries to not to cry remembering that time.  Oh, how vulnerable they were.

"And then? It only led to misunderstandings among you three?" She asks. "He treated you like shit because for God's sake, he assumed you'd steal Byul's love from him!" She argued.

"I'm ready to be treated like a shit from him as long as it makes him happy!" He announces. "His wish is my command."

"What? What do you mean by that? Are you his slave?" She angrily asks.

"If he wants me to."

She sighs. Makes Jungkook sit on the couch, and she is on the floor in front of him, holding his hands. They were shivering.

"Oppa, you don't have to belittle yourself in a relationship. You both stand equal here. No one is a boss or slave."

"But I... I pushed him into that vulnerability, right? I don't know what to do with my regret." This... this guilt is what is eating up his mind. He has never been able to sleep because of these blames screaming in his head. He couldn't just stop thinking about the scenarios that could have happened if he had been careful of the elder from the start. Things were a little better when Taehyung used to hit and torture the younger cause he felt like he deserved these pain and humiliations.

But when Taehyung left. Jungkook was shattered. He had all the doors closed for punishing himself. He started hating himself but waited for the elder to come back and shut these voices by offering punishments.

But now, Taehyung was changed, which for Jungkook translate into like he won't have a chance to be punished for his deeds.

"Just love him. And love yourself. He won't shine if you keep falling in the dark. Do you get me?" She wipes his tears. "And you have decided to live with your 'family', shouldn't you do it with a grace?"

"You have to forgive yourself. That's the only way out of this loop." She says with tears in her eyes. To be honest, she pities him. No one knew what he was going through all along.

"I... I want to give him all the love, but it seems like I keep lacking." He cries. "Now this stupid tumor in my head"

She gets emotional and hugs him abruptly. "Allow him to take care of you. That's what family is all about."

She came to know about the tumor in Jungkook's head just before she barged in. There's nothing to confront but to comfort. She loves both her oppas and has seen them going through hell. Now, she just wants them to smile.

The tumor can be removed, Hoseok told her. But the strength and support required before and after the surgery will be overwhelming. Taehyung isn't aware of the tumor because one, his mind was too diverted to get his daughter back on time since it's raining heavily. Two, Hoseok told Taehyung that everything looks fine and he won't be able to make any comments just now.

Jungkook looks at her amused. He has been hiding it, so Taehyung doesn't have to strain.

"He loves you, and you love him. There's no pity, or one is greater than the other involved. So, please, let him show his love for his family. If you have given him Byul and a beautiful family, then just trust your decision. Trust your family. Trust yourself." Seo Yoon says softly.

"If you involve him in your problems, he'd feel like a guardian on whom his family can rely on. I have seen him in his treatment years. And all he did was learn to cook different dishes. He believed that his family would accept him if he could be of any 'use'. So, please, I may be selfish, but don't abandon my brother this time."

"B-but I... I don't deserve his forgiveness -"

"Oppa, you deserve your own forgiveness. Nothing was your fault. Not at least more than me. I can't see my Kookie falling apart, hmm." She smiles in tears.