ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴘᴜʀᴘʟᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ || ᴋ.ᴛʜ + ᴊ.ᴊᴋ ✔️

thirty-five: loyalty

Anxiety couldn't begin to describe what Taehyung felt right now.

He wanted to throw up. At the same time, he doubted even that would make him feel better. He didn't know how long he had spent in this place, but in whatever amount of time that had been, things had only seemed to spiral downward.

Jungkook was alive, but with a gun to his head. Both he and Taehyung were unable to move. And now there was a possibility Jimin was on his way.

Taehyung also definitely considered the possibility that if Jimin were to leave the apartment, so would Yoongi.

He would have liked to believe this could be a good thing. His friends to his rescue. Needless to say, that wasn't the case, and to make matters worse, over the phone Yojun had warned Jimin not to bring in the authorities, otherwise someone might meet the unwanted end of a gun. Taehyung knew the power fear had on him, the limitless reach of what he would do in this moment to ensure the safety of the ones he cared about.

What scared him was that Jimin probably shared that characteristic. That he probably would show up here, without the authorities, to sacrifice himself to save the life of the boy Taehyung loved, if not Taehyung himself.

As it turned out, Seokjin had quite a steady hand. From the moment he had first accepted the weapon from Yojun and aimed it at Jungkook, he hadn't moved. Blank-faced, he kept his gaze trained solely and obediently on his target. There appeared to be nothing else in vision. Nothing else on his mind, save this one task his father had assigned him.

"I don't have any loyalty to my dad, I don't owe him any favors..."

Nothing but a load of crap.

"Besides, we're friends, aren't we, Tae?"

Perhaps what hurt most about those words was not just that they had successfully deceived him, but simply how badly Taehyung had wished they could have been true. Seokjin had seemed so kind, and thoughtful, and fun, and understanding - a great actor, through and through. It didn't matter to Tae if Seokjin were in it for money, or if he felt obligated because he was his father's son.

Taehyung could never forgive him.

Holding grudges was agonizing, self-destructive at times, but he swore he would hold this one for as long as he lived.

Even if it were all he could do, even if fueling whatever shame Seokjin was experiencing were the only thing he could do, Taehyung would take it over nothing.

He just needed all this to be over. He needed things to end with no blood shed - at least not anyone's but his own.

The wait that followed the phone call just about killed him inside.

Taehyung wasn't sure what he was more afraid of - Jimin showing up, or him not showing up. The same with Yoongi.

No, he knew for sure he didn't want Yoongi involved in this. But Taehyung had already accepted that if Jimin were to come here than so would he.

The mere thought of Yoongi being here, too.

Taehyung really felt he was dying.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed after Yojun hung up on Jimin. Hours, minutes...the concept of time became something foreign to him. But evidently, some passed.

There was a cry from somewhere outside the building.

"Taetae!!!"

Jimin.