Dark (Jungkook - BTS)

Chapter 22

"Nice pad," Rap Monster commented as we sat around my coffee table, his eyes roaming around the apartment behind his sunglasses. I wrinkled my nose in distaste.

"Don't call my apartment a pad," I replied pointedly. "Please."

"He's trying to get into American urban culture more," V explained, rolling his eyes. "Have you heard his English yet?"

I glanced at the tallest demon warily. "Not sure that I want to," I chuckled lightly. Rap Monster grunted and crossed his arms.

"Whatever, guys, just whatever," he huffed.

We sat around the coffee table in silence, waiting for something to happen. V started picking at his nails, Rap Monster stared at his shoes, and Suga wore a blank expression and trained his eyes on the wall behind me. I sighed.

"Okay, why are you guys here?" I said finally. "Don't you have... stuff... in the Underworld?"

Rap Monster leaned back in the sofa. "We wanted to check up on you," he replied. I bit my lip.

"Because Jungkook's dead?" My voice caught on the last word, and I hoped that they didn't notice.

"Exactly." Suga redirected his eyes to me. "Jungkook obviously really cared about you, and since he's our brother, we might as well care about you too."

"So he really is dead?" There was hope in my voice. "Is he in the Underworld again?"

Rap Monster nodded gravely. "Yeah, he's dead," he answered, "and he's in the Underworld. But it's not what you think. We can't visit him or talk to him because he's in Tartarus."

"Tartarus...?"

"It's a bottomless pit in the Underworld," he explained. "It's where all the monsters go after death, and it's literally just a black hole of evil. We can't go there."

My eyes widened. Jungkook didn't deserve to stay in an dark abyss. He was a demon, but he wasn't evil. I didn't even see his brothers as evil. They were soulless, but they weren't heartless.

"Can't... Can't Hades just bring him back?" I stammered. "He's his dad."

V shook his head sadly. "As the god of the Underworld, it's Hades who knows that you can't defy death the most. He would, but he can't. It's against everything he enforces. Plus, he's a little busy with the war and all."

My spirits fell. "So what am I supposed to do?" I demanded. In a whisper, I added, "I can't... I can't raise this kid alone."

All three pairs of eyes immediately went to my stomach, which now had a small, just barely noticeable bump.

"Y-You-" stuttered V.

"Jungkook-" Suga choked.

"Oh my God," breathed Rap Monster.

"Yeah," I deadpanned. "What am I supposed to do?"

There was an awkward silence. It took the three demons a few seconds to collect themselves and get over their shock. I waited patiently.

Rap Monster cleared his throat. "Well," he began, choosing his words carefully, "monsters regenerate since they don't have souls. At one point, Jungkook will come back, but..."

I stopped breathing. Jungkook was coming back. Death was not the end for him, and it wasn't the end for us. I would see him again.

"Do you know how long it'll take?" My voice had a hopeful ring to it, the most positive it had sounded in a while. Rap Monster grimaced.

"The thing is, we don't know how long it'll take," he admitted. "It could take a few weeks, or it could take a century."

"Oh."

"...Buuuuuut," V interjected, "we'll do what we can to help until then. We're in-laws, right?"

I smiled weakly.

-

"Oh my God!" I screamed, biting down on my fist to keep from crying out. "SOMEONE KILL ME ALREADY!"

"Ma'am, is your husband here? Is there any family with you?" one of the nurses asked, giving me a pitiful look. I couldn't blame her. Most women gave birth with a husband by their side, but mine was currently deceased. The pain of the contractions had clouded my mind, but I forced myself back to the surface and tried to think of an excuse to get one of the guys in here.

"Y-Yeah," I breathed, nodding furiously. "My, err, brother is here. Please get him here right now."

"What's his name, ma'am?"

"Ahhh... Uh... Choi T-Taehyung," I panted, hoping that one of the three demons would understand and pretend to be my brother. The nurse quickly exited and called for a Choi Taehyung, and shortly after, V entered the little room I was writhing in pain in.

"Hi, Scarlet," he said nonchalantly, walking over to my side. "How's it going?"

"I'm giving birth to your nephew," I answered through gritted teeth, sweat beading on my forehead as the previous contraction faded. "How do you think it's going?"

"Alright, alright, what do you need?" He quickly snatched up a towel and started gently dabbing at my forehead with it.

"Moral support."

"Ah, okay, I got you." He let me latch onto his hand, and he didn't even wince when I squeezed as hard as I could. Tensing up completely, I waited for the contraction to be over, biting down hard on my lip and suppressing a screech of pain.

"Hey, you're gonna be fine," V assured me. "You're gonna have a little Jungkook running around. Won't that be great?"

"No, it won't," I wailed, choking back a sob. The sharp pain in my belly wasn't ending. "I'M IN PAIN RIGHT NOW I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING."

Just then, the doctor rushed in, flanked with nurses, including the nurse that had gotten "Taehyung."

"How are you feeling, Mrs. Jeon?" he asked, studying his clipboard. To one of the nurses, he asked, "Is she ten centimeters yet?"

Just then, another contraction hit, and this time, it was full-force. As the bolt of pain shot up my body, I clamped down on V's hand and screamed out in agony, sweat coating my skin. I clenched my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut, my tears being forced out in the process. One of the nurses checked under the blanket that was over my legs and nodded. V whispered some supportive comments that I couldn't hear over my pain, and I tried to pull myself together again.

"Are you ready to deliver your baby?" asked the doctor, checking the machines.

"I... don't... have... a choice, do I?" I panted, squeezing the hell out of V's hand. The doctor chuckled before turning his attention back to me. "Just get it out of me."

"Sorry," he offered with an empathetic smile, gathering the nurses around into their positions for delivering infants. "Start pushing whenever you're ready."