The One He Tried To Forget | 18+ |

19

Jung Kook was walking towards the hospital's front entrance when he saw the black town car pull up. He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes to see who the driver was. It has been five months since he last saw Jin, four since he stopped riding with his cousin to work after Yoon Gi gave him his driving privileges back.

A month before Yoon Gi told Jung Kook that he could drive again, Jin had stopped picking them up. Instead, his boss Hobi, who was also Yoon Gi's friend and former uni mate, had taken over as their primary driver. When Yoon Gi had asked Hobi why he replaced Jin, the man would only say that Jin had taken ill and would be resting for a while. Though Yoon Gi pressed for more details at Jung Kook's urging, Hobi had remained tight-lipped.

Jung Kook missed Jin. Despite the animosity that had sprung up between them after Jin started going out with Mr Sweet, Jung Kook looked forward to seeing Jin every day. When Hobi revealed that Jin was sick, it had worried him. A lot. He had wanted to ask his cousin numerous times for Jin's number so he could call to check on him but he didn't dare incur the older man's additional wrath. Yoon Gi was still upset with him after his visit to his condo five months ago.

Jung Kook couldn't remember what happened that night five months ago. All he knew was Yoon Gi and Ji Min had barged into his unit the following morning, yelling for him and then checking his body for injury. When he asked why they were examining him, they told him that they had found dried blood in front of the lift leading to his front door. Worried for his safety, they had let themselves into his home and became even more alarmed to see a trail of dried blood going into his bedroom.

When the couple couldn't find any wounds on Jung Kook, Yoon Gi had questioned him about his previous night's activities. The man had lost his temper when Jung Kook confessed that he couldn't remember anything beyond drinking heavily at a club with his former classmates. Yoon Gi had then lectured Jung Kook long and loud about the perils of excessive drinking, and it had irritated Jung Kook because he felt like he was back in school again, being called to the carpet by his headmaster.

After Ji Min managed to coax his fuming husband to return next door, Jung Kook had cleaned the stains on the floor. Though he had rolled his eyes when his cousin was lecturing him, deep down he wondered who he had brought home with him. It wasn't like him to bring a stranger back to his place. Even when he lived abroad, he never had any guests to his home despite multiple requests and pressure for invites from friends and colleagues.

He worried that he might have gotten into an altercation with whomever it was because he had found broken pieces of metal and plastic on his bedroom floor while he was cleaning. It would explain the dried blood, the fallen over tumbler on the side table, and the damp rug under his bed. But try as he might, he could not recall the person's face or what they had done although he surmised sex might have been involved at some point because there were dried semen drops on his bedsheets.

It had bothered him and continued to irk him because to this day, the memory of that night remained elusive and out of reach.

The door of the town car opened and the driver stepped out to go around to the other side to let Yoon Gi exit from the back seat. The man wore a long black wool coat to ward off the morning chill, and he had a Burberry checked scarf around his neck which partially hid his face from Jung Kook. Yoon Gi joked with the man, and a distinct high-pitched giggle rang out. Jung Kook's mouth fell open when he realised who it was. It was Jin. His ex was back.

Jung Kook ran towards the two men, his heart swelling with happiness while his stomach flipped with joy. He was finally seeing Jin again, and he wondered when the man had returned to work. He was disappointed that his cousin didn't mention it to him.

"Jin! Jin! Where have you been?" Jung Kook asked as he came to a stop beside the two men.

Jin gasped as he shuffled away from Jung Kook quickly. His palm squeaked as his hand slipped when he pressed up against the town car. Jung Kook reached out to steady him but pulled back when Jin's eyes pinwheeled in terror.