MALEVOLENT HEART | TK

Chapter Twenty Three

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"Here stands a man
With a bullet in his clenched right hand
Don't push him, son
For he's got the power to crush this land
Oh hear, hear him cry, boy."

The room he was in was made of concrete and it had such a dank scent to it that made Taehyung's stomach stir inside him, making him feel like his intestines were getting tangled into millions of knots. There were multiple doors which seemed to be made of iron connected to the room, something that made sense since the room was connected to multiple pathways that were supposed to confuse whoever might come in there looking for him. Taehyung was supposed to take the door on the right, but he hoped that he wouldn't ever have to make that choice.

There was only a chair in that room, one he was sitting on as he waited. Twenty minutes have passed since he's arrived there and he still didn't know what was happening upstairs or what Jeongguk was exactly planning. Part of him was scared because Jeongguk had seemed different that day — he had acted like he was getting ready to die. His words had resembled a goodbye, not a reassurance that they'll meet again soon. Shaking his leg as anxiety filled his mind, Taehyung bit his nail and looked around the room. His mind was working, analyzing each detail and taking into consideration everything he knew but he still couldn't figure out what Jeongguk was exactly planning.

He couldn't, until Kim Seokjin entered the room, making Taehyung's heart drop in his stomach.

The man, dressed in another obnoxious suit, purple this time, walked towards Taehyung until he was standing in front of him.

"Open your hand." He instructed without another explanation, making Taehyung raise his eyebrows in concern.

Still, he opened his hand and watched as Seokjin placed an object in his palm. The man then raised his other arm, showing Taehyung a laptop bag which he dropped in his lap.

"What are these for?" Taehyung found himself asking as his eyes hovered over the remote and laptop in his arms.

"Mister Jeongguk wanted you to have them with you. They're safer here."

Safe from what? From what Jeongguk had told him, he was going to kill his grandfather and ensure their safety.

So what was exactly threatening them? What was Jeongguk running from?

When Seokjin turned around to leave, Taehyung's voice echoed behind him with questions that were left unanswered. When the man closed the door, Taehyung ran after him in hopes of learning more, but he found the metal door locked. At that moment, panic struck him so hard he felt the oxygen leave his lungs.

Something was happening and his gut feeling was telling him that it wasn't good. His skin was prickling with warnings — warnings he didn't enjoy.

After a few minutes in which he banged on the door so hard his fists started hurting, Taehyung turned around, fingers stuck in his hair as he inhaled and tried to calm himself down. He gently fell on the floor, right by the wooden chair that seemed to be rotting and breaking down as fast as Taehyung's mind and heart. He slowly took out the laptop and opened it but, instead of the usual wallpaper that he was expecting, Taehyung was met with a countdown.

He had 5 minutes left.

Until what, he didn't exactly know.

Taehyung anxiously waited there, eyes trained on the screen like his life was depending on those red, fading, numbers, and when they finally reached the dead end, the final point, the screen turned pitch black for a slight second before light emerged and made Taehyung squint. An image of Jeon Jeongguk appeared before of him and, this time, it was once again a younger Jeongguk. He had brighter skin and no dark spots under his eyes, his hair was trimmed and pitch black like it's been recently died. He had an undercut and those earrings were still there, like they've been there forever.