Only You

Chapter 36

Jieun's POV

I stared around at each of them, waiting for someone to jump out and shout 'Just kidding!', but when no one did, the feeling inside my chest intensified. Before I knew it, the tears were rolling down my cheeks.

Suzy came over and hugged me. Krystal patted me on the shoulder while she looked away, quietly blinking back her own tears. 

"Jieun-ah," Taehyung said quietly. "I want to talk with you alone." He exchanged a look with Suzy, and some unspoken understanding passed between them. 

"Guys, let's leave them for a few minutes." Suzy said, giving me one last encouraging squeeze on the arm. 

They quietly filed out, J-Hope already starting to cry. 

I looked up at Taehyung, my hands slack on the blanket in front of me and the tears still silently pouring down my face.

"I thought that you would want to know," he started, his own voice a hoarse whisper I could barely hear, "that you were one of the most important people to Jungkook."

A sob built in my throat.

He sat down on the bed and continued. "You know, he had never truly payed any attention to any other girl beside you. Trust me, I would know." he smiled gently, despite the tears starting to pool. "I had never seen him get so worked up over someone before. Going out of his way to make you smile, and he even gave you the songbook that he wrote." 

At the widening of my eyes, he nodded sadly. "Yes, he wrote that book just for you. I even caught him with the tiny lamp on, in the middle of the night, humming melodies while that peculiar expression on his face."

"I-I...never knew." I whispered, my heart feeling like it was being torn apart all over again.

Taehyung took my hand, and the warmth momentarily reminded me of something I had felt long ago. 

"Just know that you were the only person in the world that he loved," he said quietly, staring into my eyes. "And he would want that person to live happily."

I completely lost it then, and the sobs broke through. Taehyung pulled me into a hug, gently stroking my head and patting me on the back.

As I cried, I realized what those emotions were. Taehyung's actions reminded me of family. How family went through rough times, and how they helped and comforted each other during other hardships.

The apologies were definitely there, and so was the forgiveness. 

I cried my heart out on his shoulder, the pain from Jungkook being gone forever slowly mounting to an unbearable ache.

After some time, my howling dwindled. Taehyung let go of me, and after wiping away his own tears, placed a hand on my shoulder.

"He loved you, and only you. Remember that and live in a way that will honor his memory."

I nodded, hiccuping.

The door slid open, and Lay walked in with splashes of dark crimson on his otherwise spotless lab coat.

Letting out a strangled cry of horror, I clutched Taehyung's sleeve but couldn't wretch my gaze away from the stain. 

Taehyung stood to face Lay. "What happened?"

Lay looked around Taehyung to me, ignoring him completely. "We're needed at headquarters. There's an emergency."

"But...I need to see Jungkook....before he's transported elsewhere!" I burst out, the tears renewing at how unfair the world was.

My brother frowned. "Why would he be transported anywhere?"

"Because...he's dead." I forced out, feeling myself starting to cry again.

Lay stared at me, bewilderment evident on his face. But then it turned to a grim smile. 

"Why are you smiling? Is something funny?" I asked, the tears pooling. "Jungkook's dead, and-"

"Oh, no." Lay said, taking his lab coat off wearily. "Jieun, you've been misinformed."

I stared at him, my breath tensing in my chest. "What do you mean?"

He folded the white material neatly, then met my gaze with his crystal clear one.

"Jungkook is still very much alive."

Krystal's POV

My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket, and I robotically took it out to examine the text. 

Eomma: You're needed at headquarters. Come immediately.

I shoved the phone back in my pocket, panic building in my chest. What happened? I had never received a text from my mother. It was always one characteristic-less email at a time. Never something as informal as a text message. 

Singling out one person, I nudged her slightly to get her attention. 

Bleary-eyed, she turned around to face me. "What?"

"I need to go, and so does Jieun."

Her gaze cleared in an instant. "No. Jieun is in no condition to be going anywhere right now."

My eyes narrowed. "I thought that you'd like to come along to help out. That's all."

Suzy's look of surprise gave me a twinge of satisfaction. "Help out with what?"

"You'll see."

Lay's POV

We needed to get to headquarters.

Something was very wrong, and the only text that I received from mother was even spelled incorrectly, not to mention that she doesn't ever send texts. 

Jieun was still in a daze, and Taehyung looked momentarily shocked, but recovered faster than any person should.

"You can't go."

I narrowed my eyes at him, and tensed. "This is a family matter. You have no right to intervene."

Without waiting for Taehyung to respond, I came forward and lifted her out of the bed. I carried her down the hall, and out of the hospital complex, where I hailed a taxi and we sped away. 

Once there...

To our surprise, the building was completely dark, and we didn't meet anyone until we got to the main office. There, we were met by our parents, looking equally disheveled and panicked. 

"We've been sent a threat." my mother rasped wildly, her breathing uneven. "They are unpredictable, dangerous, and supplied extremely well."

"Who?"

"KTH." 

The name hung in the air, and the silence gradually became almost too loud to bear. 

Krystal and Suzy burst in just then. "We need to get out. Now."

I shot to my feet, my instincts telling me that something very bad was about to happen. Jieun looked up from her seat, her eyebrows shooting up in shock at the sight of Suzy.

"I-"

The doors banged open, and everything spiraled into chaos.