Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Hyunmi wasn't an orphan before she was 16 years old." Hoseok said making the two men in front of him widen their eyes as big as saucers.
"She had a happy middle class family who were content with their daily life. Her mom , dad and little sister Soha. She had told me that her sister loved to eat candies. She would sneak up money from her mom to buy candies for her tiny sibling. They were a happy family all living in Daegu. Her father worked hard for them to payoff the living expenses but he indulged in gambling. It's said temptation is the deadliest poison that kills a man. Her father was too much into the temptation to acquire money and power that he indulged himself into the infinite quick sand of gambling from which he had no escape. He drowned in debt. Making his family suffer. Long and short of the story. He went bankrupt. He became a drunkard who came back home only to pester his wife and children. And then one day things took turn for the worst."
"What happened?" Taehyung asked who was completely oblivious to everything that dark haired man standing in front of him had spewed.
"One day when Hyunmi returned home from her part time job, she found the whole house in a quite unsettling silence. She called out to her mom and sister but no one replied. As she walked in deeper she found her mom and her sister dead in the floor with their throats slit open. Her dad was on the other side his wrists slashed onto. They were already dead before she could do anything. That case was a huge news at that time of the famous Kang family homicide. All knew there that she was alive which made her leave Daegu and shift to Busan so that she could start a new life. She wanted to forget her past and move on. I was amazed thinking how maturely she had handled everything. She was brave enough to survive alone in Busan."
"And I left her. For my own selfish means." Taehyung muttered internally cursing himself and crying.
Jungkook was already sobbing as his heart clenched about thinking of all the pain 16 year old Hyunmi would have felt when she would have seen her family dead in front of her.
"But how do you know about this? She never told me." Jungkook whispered.
"As a lawyer I had to do research studies for my cases when I stumbled into her family's case. There was a picture of her when she was young with her family when I recognised her. I asked her about it and she told me. She had trusted me with that secret of hers. She didn't want you guys to know about it ever. But due to recent events—"
"Yes.. I was about to ask. What happened suddenly?" Jungkook asked as he wiped away his tears with the back of his hand now focusing on the main reason behind the story.
"She called me up today in the morning telling me that there was someone trying to bring up that case now. She was sounding quite panicky so I flew down to Seoul as soon as I could."
"I need to talk to her."
"Jungkook, be careful. She is not in the state where you can push her around."
Jungkook nodded as he walked up to her room.
As they entered , they saw her sitting up and looking outside the window with an expression of solidarity and turmoil. She was as still as a statue and it seemed like she was trying to breakthrough the clutches of her past but she was being strangled all over again.
It was like the calmness before the storm.
Jungkook carefully made his way to her as he sat down near her. He spread his arms indicating her to come in and she did. She clutched onto him as she buried her puffy face in his chest , arms holding on to him for dear life.
"Why didn't you tell me that you were hurting? Do you think I would have lived knowing that you were suffering all alone over a decade?"
She looked up as her breath got caught in her throat. She snapped her neck to Hoseok asking him a question only he could hear.
"I thought they deserved to know." He said as he smiled but the smile was anything but reassuring. She broke into tears as she clutched onto Jungkook's shirt anchoring her.
"I-I tried J-Jungkook. I tried t-to forget them. But I couldn't get that bloody massacre of my family out of my mind. Of my mother. Of my little sister who was innocent . Of my father. That day I had promised Soha that I would bring her new colours which she had wanted to paint . I had worked the whole week in a small café in my neighbourhood to buy her those paint. But I never got to give t-them to her. She was lying lifeless o-on the floor. She was so innocent. I wish I was in her place! She didn't deserve to die that soon..." she said as she choked on her tears.
Taehyung wiped away his tears as he sat down across her and held her hand.
"Hyun. Somethings in life are meant to happen. There is nothing you could have done. Stop blaming yourself over something where you had no control." He said as he pulled her into his lap and cradled her sobbing body in his arms as she cried.
"Love. I am here. Taehyung is here. Hoseok is here. You are my family. You saved me. You saved me when I was deprived of my mom's care. You showed me how to love ...more over how to live. You are a part of our lives where you cannot leave even if you want to."
"I was scared that I would lose you too.." she trailed off.
"Not in a million years. I promise you that you would not lose me until you see me as a grandfather."
She laughed at this making them all smile.
Jungkook and Hoseok left her with Taehyung after sometime as she started to settle down. He was still holding her as she leaned back on his chest.
"Hyun.."
"Hmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"I kn—wait what did you say?" He asked as he peered down with his eyes wide.
Hyunmi giggled at his reaction.
"Can you...can you say it again?" He asked.
Hyunmi got up from her position as she sat on his lap with her legs on either side of him, facing him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her close by her waist.
"I love you Kim Taehyung. I loved you then , now and will love you forever." She said as she brushed her nose with his.
Taehyung blushed at this as he pulled her close hugging her in an attempt of hiding his red face in her hair.
"I love you Hyun." He mumbled as her hot breath struck his neck where she nuzzled.
He pulled away only to see her smiling.
She is smiling. For me.
He held her face in his big palms , his slender fingers framing her beautiful face as he pulled her into a kiss.
It is magic how a simple kiss could reciprocate all your love , longing , desire, faith , insecurities, affection and attraction in a small gesture.
Like a million things being represented by a small word.
"I will never let you go."
"You are stuck with me for life Mr. Kim."
***
THE END
Kidding! There is still a lot of fish to fry before serving the meal..😉
