ᎢᏔᎬᎬᎢ ( pjm ♡ jjk )

xxv

after he was questioned, jimin was greeted by the sight of a man who seemed to be only a few years older than him pacing back and forth anxiously. he let out an audible sigh of relief when he saw jimin.

"you're okay!"

the shorter was mildly confused when he found himself being hugged a few seconds later, but returned it nonetheless.

"i was worried that i wouldn't be able to save you. that you'd suffer the same fate as my sister."

as if suddenly realizing something, he stiffened and pulled away.

"oh! my name is shim junhyo. and i'm the one who saved you!"

the female officer, who jimin now knew to be yunso, raised her eyebrow. junhyo laughed.

"well, they did the actual saving. but i was the one who tipped them off about the viper gang."

"the viper gang?"

junhyo nodded.

"they're a small group, which makes it a lot harder to catch them. every few months or so, they choose someone. an idol, a college student, it doesn't matter who. whoever they think will be an easy target. then, they send chaeyoung in. she's a genius hacker. if they need someone's number? she'll have it for them before they even ask. she poses as an innocent student and befriends their target. and then, when they finally meet, she lures them off somewhere. ties them up for her boss. oh, they'll let them go after they have their 'fun.' but not before they brand them. show that they own them."

jimin gulped at the thought of a mark marring his skin.

"how do you know so much about them?"

junhyo's eyes darkened.

"my younger sister. she was taken. wasn't lucky enough to be rescued like you were before they marked her. it was two years ago, but she still has trust issues. those kind of mental scars? some of them never heal."

"we've been trying to catch the viper gang for years," yunso interjected. "luckily, this one here saw her with you and recognized her mark. he called us immediately. we found their boss, and then that one girl. and then you."

jimin wrapped his arms around himself and rocked back and forth.

"are they... are they going to be able to get out? find me again? brand me?"

yunso shook her head.

"no, sweetheart. they'll never see the light of day again. you're safe. we saved you."

he smiled weakly at her as he shifted back and forth in his seat.

"i'm very grateful but... do you need me for anything else? i was supposed to meet my friends for something over an hour ago and i don't want them to worry."

she glanced down at her clipboard and shook her head.

"you're free to go for now. i'll let you know if we need anything from you in the future."

jimin bowed as he left, thanking them both profusely. nothing he said could ever be enough to express the immense gratitude he felt towards them for saving him.

with a final smile at the two, jimin left the police station, swearing to himself that he wouldn't utter a word of this to management or the other members. they'd be worried sick about him, and seokjin would probably cry. he didn't want that. he didn't want to be treated like a child for the next few months, and be scolded for being too trusting. he didn't want them to act like he wasn't capable of making decisions on his own. sure, he made a mistake with chaeyoung. that didn't mean he was stupid. and with that, jimin decided.

the other members of bts would never know of the events that happened that fateful afternoon.

—

a / n

this was the last flashback chapter, we'll be back in the present in chapter 25!