Chapter 16

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Taehyung left work a half-hour early to bring Jimin home for dinner. He dismissed the driver for the day and drove there himself.

The sun had not yet set, still casting its rays from the far west. They were caught in the beginnings of rush hour traffic, and Jimin sat in the passenger seat, watching as cars lined up at an intersection. Taehyung slowly approached the end of the queue.

“Could you tell me about your family?” Jimin appeared somewhat restless, unable to resist the urge to talk to Taehyung.

Taehyung’s hands were on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. “I have a dad and two younger brothers.”

Jimin cautiously inquired, “What about your mom?”

“My dad is an omega,” said Taehyung.

Jimin understood immediately. “Then do you have another dad? Or a mom? An alpha mom?”

Taehyung’s brows faintly furrowed. “He’s dead.”

Hearing the dismissal in his tone, Jimin wondered if there was conflict among his family members and decided to drop the matter.

The traffic light in front of them turned green, and the car set out once more.

Taehyung suddenly added, “Don’t ask about my alpha father, my dad has nothing to do with him anymore.”

“Oh,” Jimin mumbled. He shut his mouth and quietly gazed out of the car window.

Taehyung drove towards the south of the city and arrived at the suburbs, where the surroundings changed into a picturesque natural landscape dotted with high-end residences and mansions belonging to the wealthy, one of which was owned by the Kim Family.

The Kim Family was wealthier than Jimin had imagined. Their mansion didn’t stand alone, but was surrounded by a large swathe of lawn and gardens.

The automatic gates in front of them opened and slowly closed again after the car drove in.

Taehyung casually parked his car at the side of the road, opened the door, and got out, waiting for Jimin to catch up before heading towards the three-storey mansion directly in front of them.

Before they got very far, Jimin heard someone on the second floor yell at them, “Taehyung! Jimin!”

Jimin stopped in his tracks and looked up, spotting a delicate male omega on the second floor balcony, all smiles as he waved to them.

The omega was basked in the sunset glow, his hair dyed brown. He had downturned eyes and upturned lips, and was leaning over the balcony railings before he turned and padded into the house.

“Your little brother?” whispered Jimin.

“My dad,” said Taehyung.

Taehyung and Jimin had just entered the house when Kim Seokjin, Taehyung’s omega father, came down from the second floor.

Jimin hadn’t really gotten a good look at Seokjin’s face from afar, but he could now carefully examine the middle-aged omega before him.

From his figure alone, there was nothing about Seokjin that screamed “middle-aged man.” Like most omegas, he had a petite build, and despite the fact that he was no longer young, he remained slender. He had a fair and delicate complexion, like fine, expensive porcelain—a trait he shared with his omega son. He had a sharp chin and large eyes, his gaze clear as if he had never been weighed down by the passing years.

If one was determined to find the traces that time had left on him, they might be found in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and the irreversible loss of collagen in his cheeks.

In short, Seokjin looked extremely young, as if he was only in his thirties—far from someone who would have a son as old as Taehyung.

Seokjin wore a loose, long-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants. The styling, combined with his small stature, made him seem like a student. He walked up to Jimin and reached out to take his hand, saying, “Yoongi told me you lost your memories.”

Feeling a little uneasy, he pushed Seokjin’s hand away in embarrassment. He couldn’t say much more than, “I can’t remember anything past my second year of uni.”

Seokjin frowned. “So you don’t remember us at all?”

Jimin hummed. Without batting an eyelid, he withdrew his hand and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Did you forget Taehyung too?” Seokjin asked.

Jimin shot a glance at Taehyung. “Yes.”

Seokjin also turned to Taehyung. “What did the doctors say? You didn’t tell me much on the phone the other day.”

“His memory loss was caused by his head injury,” Taehyung answered. “The doctors didn’t say that there was no chance of him recovering, just that it would take time.”

“Why did you leave the hospital so quickly?” said Seokjin. “I was planning on paying Jimin a visit.”

“Staying in the hospital won’t help his recovery. The doctor said that getting back to his life earlier may evoke some of his memories.”

Seokjin looked towards Jimin. “Has it helped?”

“Not yet,” Jimin said.

Seokjin was still frowning. “Is the doctor incompetent? Should I contact a specialist from overseas? Or should we just go straight there and have him look at Jimin?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Taehyung said. “I’ll take care of it.”

Just as the words left his mouth, they heard the sound of the door opening, and a man walked inside.

Jimin turned to see who it was and saw a tall male alpha. The alpha appeared exceptionally young, like he wasn’t even twenty yet. With a head of raven curls, he looked brash yet handsome. He was dressed in a basketball uniform, with a backpack slung over one shoulder and a basketball in his other hand.

The alpha came in spinning the basketball on his finger, stopping when he registered Taehyung and Jimin’s presence. The ball bounced off his leg twice, and he abandoned it to roll into a corner.

“Kook, you’re back?” Jimin heard Seokjin say.

The young alpha let out an acknowledging hum, walked to Seokjin’s side, and lowered his head to kiss Seokjin’s lips before nodding to Taehyung and Jimin. “You’ve returned? Is Jimin all right? Are you recovering well?” He fired his questions off without seeming particularly interested in the answers, and before Jimin could respond, he continued, “I just got back from a basketball game. I’ll come down after showering.”

Seokjin put on a smile. “Did you win?”

The alpha’s lips curved upwards. “Of course,” he said, waving as he ran for the stairs.

Jimin furtively tugged at Taehyung’s shirt. He wanted to ask who that person was, but he didn’t want to do so in front of Seokjin.

And yet after the alpha left, Seokjin was the first to speak up about it. “Jimin doesn’t remember Kook?”

Jimin hurriedly shook his head.

“He’s my boyfriend,” said Seokjin. “His name is Jeon Jungkook.”

Jimin had assumed that the alpha was Taehyung’s other younger brother until he saw him kiss Seokjin, which he had found odd. He now suppressed his inner shock and strived to keep his tone level. “He’s so… young.”

Seokjin laughed and calmly said, “He’s twenty this year. He’s still in university.”

Struggling to keep a straight face, Jimin yanked at Taehyung’s clothes to dispel his chaotic emotions.

Taehyung gave him a cold stare.

Right then, Seokjin suddenly directed his gaze to something behind Jimin and exclaimed, “Ju-yoon?”

Jimin turned his head and saw—emerging from the living room corridor—Yoongi in a wheelchair.

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