The One He Tried To Forget | 18+ |

27

Jung Kook stood in front of the glass wall of the neonatal unit. There were several occupied bassinets on the other side of the clear screen. All of the babies were fast asleep, but Jung Kook was only interested in the third one from the left -- Jin's baby.

Earlier tonight, about three hours into the surgery, his patient had started crashing, causing the unborn child to go into fetal distress. Mr Sweet, who had been observing quietly from the opposite wall as Jung Kook operated, had stepped in calmly to perform an emergency C-section and deliver the baby. When the nurse lifted the surgical cloth covering the ripe belly so the neonatologist could begin, it had perturbed Jung Kook when he saw that the scars on the patient's upper body continued down their lower half.

What horror and catastrophe did this person go through?

Then after the lusty baby boy, who had quite the pair of lungs judging by his loud and powerful cries, was safely delivered into Mr Sweet's hands, Jung Kook's world was rocked off its axis when the man announced clearly, "Welcome to the world, baby Kim. You're just as handsome as your papa, Seok Jin. You have no idea how long he has waited for your arrival."

The comment had shocked Jung Kook completely that he was immobile for several seconds as alarms went off next to him. It was thanks to the resident who was assisting him that he managed to recover and focus on saving his patient, whom he now realised was his beloved.

"Are you here to see Kim Seok Jin's baby too?"

A deep voice came from behind him as he continued to stare at Jin's baby. He marvelled at how perfect the child was, just like his Jinnie. He turned to look at the person intruding on his privacy. His jaw tightened when he saw it was Mr Sweet.

"Mr Jeon, we were never formally introduced. I know I greeted you during surgery, but saying hello when we're both behind masks doesn't really count, does it?" Mr Sweet laughed. "I am Kim Tae Hyung."

"I know who you are," Jung Kook said tersely.

"You do?" Tae Hyung frowned. "Where from? I've never met you before."

"Yes, we have. It was when..." Jung Kook stopped short.

The man was right. Jungkook had never met him before, never spoken to him. So how did he--

An image floated out of his memory banks. It was a muted scene of two men embracing next to an expensive blue sedan, followed by a sharp pain in his chest when he recognised one of the men as his Jinnie.

Then, another image of Jin helping him into the town car because his legs would not support him for some reason. Of Jin helping him to his bedroom. Of Jin speaking on his phone. Of him throwing Jin's phone against the wall of his bedroom. Of him holding Jin down as he--

No! Oh my god! NO! NO! NO! NO!

"I have to go," Jung Kook mumbled as he hurried away from Tae Hyung.

He found himself running to his office, and as soon as he entered, he slammed the door shut before collapsing on the floor in front of his desk. He speared his fingers through his hair and gripped his head as the memories came. Of him hurting his Jinnie. Of his Jinnie screaming and begging for him to stop.

How could he have done it? How could he have made Jin suffer like that? He was a monster. Jeon Jung Kook was an absolute monster.

He began to cry as dark thoughts assailed him, and his body trembled. He could not think of anything else except what he had done to Jin, and the torment he put his beloved through. After a while, the crying stopped, and the torrent of tears dried up, but Jung Kook remained on the floor, hiccuping as his fingers brushed away the wet tracks on his cheek. He heard the door open behind him but could not bring himself to look at who was coming in.

"Jung Kook?"

The light came on and the person rushed to his side. It was his cousin.

"Hey hyung. What's up?" Jung Kook asked softly.

"Oh my god!" Yoon Gi gasped as he knelt on the floor beside him. "Are you alright, Jung Kook?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Jung Kook replied as he pushed himself up off the floor with the other's help.

"Are you sure?" Yoon Gi asked worriedly. This was only the second time that he had seen Jung Kook in this state -- the first being that night so long ago when Jin left without even so much as a goodbye.

"Yes, I'm fine. Really," Jung Kook insisted. "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to apologise."

"Apologise?" Jung Kook's voice mirrored his confusion. "What for?"

"For not telling you that it was Kim Seok Jin that you were operating on tonight. I deliberately listed him as Patient Kim on your chart because I didn't want you to back out when you realised it was him," Yoon Gi confessed.

"Hyung, it's okay. I wouldn't have backed out even if I'd known it was him," Jung Kook assured.

"You wouldn't?" Yoon Gi was surprised. "But I thought you hated him. You told me you wished you'd never met him again when you came back this afternoon."

"I was angry because he was late. And he didn't have a good excuse for not picking us up on time," Jung Kook explained. "They were just words said in the heat of the moment. I didn't mean any of it.

Just like I didn't mean any of those foul, nasty things that I said to my Jinnie. I wish I could take it back. I wish I could take all of it back.

"About that..." Yoon Gi began. "Jin actually had a good reason for being late. A very good reason."

"Oh. What's that?" Jung Kook didn't think that spending time with your lover was a good reason to keep your clients waiting but he was curious to hear what Yoon Gi had to say.

"Jin's mother died this afternoon," Yoon Gi said softly. "That's why he was late. He became quite distraught after she passed away in his arms and he suffered breathing difficulties."

"What?" Jung Kook was aghast. "How do you know?"

"The neonatologist who was in your theatre tonight? His brother heads the care facility where Jin's mother has been living for the past ten years. He called Tae Hyung when Jin came to say his goodbyes to his mother because he thought Jin would need some moral support since they used to date."

Used to? Jung Kook frowned. Jin was not with Mr Sweet anymore? But what about their baby? And why was Jin's mum in a long-term care facility?

"There's a lot of things that we didn't know about Jin but Hobi filled me in," Yoon Gi continued. "Did you know that Jin came from an abusive home? His father was a raging alcoholic and used to beat his mother up."

Jung Kook was horrified. Was that why Jin had been so secretive about his family life when they were in school?

"That's why Jin didn't meet you that night, Jung Kook. His father viciously beat his mother, then attacked Jin when he tried to protect her. That was how Hobi met him. Somehow, Jin's house caught on fire, and Jin dragged his mother out of their burning home before walking almost a mile where he managed to flag Hobi down. He'd been stabbed and slashed several times by his father."

Jung Kook felt his body go numb. It was like the temperature dropped suddenly, and he was immersed in ice.

"But that's not all, Jung Kook-ah. We were wrong about Jin. We were wrong about his pregnancy."

"What do you mean?"

"Jin was raped eight months ago. The rapist got Jin pregnant."

And the floor rushed up to greet Jung Kook as his world went dark and silent.