Intertwined: Two fates

52 - Tell the truth

Jungkook stared at the man in a daze, his ears ringing as though someone had struck a heavy gong right beside them. The loud noise echoed again and again without stopping for a long time.

Who... did he say Jungkook had killed?

The man's brother and... Jungkook's own brother? He had a brother...?

Seeing Jungkook's petrified state, the man could easily guess that what he said had shocked Jungkook down to the core. Manic satisfaction bloomed inside his chest as if he would be happier the more Jungkook suffered. If only the smile on his face was not so heartbreaking...

"I forgot... are you going to say it again?" His fist pressed against the ground was trembling, and so was his entire body. "Are you going to chalk everything up to your damn memory loss, huh?"

Jungkook's pale lips parted without a sound. He was at an utter loss of words. 

Confusion, bewilderment and fluster... everything mixed together into a large vortex that overwhelmed his senses. There was so much for him to take and his head felt swollen as if they were going to burst apart at any moment.

He could only stare into the man's brilliant blue eyes, taking in the intense agony, crazed glint and deep bitterness within them.

Just who... are you?

Exactly what have I forgotten?

Jungkook had no idea how long time had passed. It might as well be two or twenty seconds, yet for him, it was like years. He watched blankly as the man closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his jaws tensing as if he was desperately struggling to rein in his emotions. When he opened his eyes again, there was nothing but bone-chilling coldness and apathy.

Shudders ran down Jungkook's spine and his instinct instantly warned him of an approaching danger.

Not far from them, Jackson scrambled to climb up the slippery hill, his entire body drenched and muddy from head to toe. The blood on his face had been washed away, but the crimson stain on his clothes lingered. There was a three or four inch tear on his clothes where one could catch a glimpse of a deep bleeding gash.

Even then, it was as if he could not feel the pain at all. He raised his head in time to see the attacker pull out a sealed syringe and flick the cap open, aiming it right on Jungkook's neck!

Jackson's pupils shrunk. "Jungkook--!"

Jungkook's defensive reflexes kicked in as soon as he saw the sharp tip of the injection draw near. With a gasp, he recalled Jackson's moves earlier and subconsciously struck out his palm to interject it. Alas, he did not expect that the man would not play by common sense.

Instead of stabbing the needles into Jungkook's skin, the man spun the glass syringe between his fingers at the last moment and crushed it with a clench of his palm!

Small fragments of glass, droplets of transparent liquid and blood fell on his face, mixing together with the torrential rain until they could not be distinguished anymore. Stunned, Jungkook was unable to react and could only stare at the man in a daze. Just what was happening...?

The attack he had been anticipating did not come. Instead, he only felt the cold rain falling relentlessly onto his cold and numb body, carrying with it a faint sweet scent that was almost overpowered by the pungent scent of petrichor and mud. However, as soon as Jungkook breathed it in--

Ba-thump!

His heart gave a strong jolt and his vision instantly blurred. Abnormal heat surged from his chest to his entire body, even the tip of his freezing fingers. There was an incessant throbbing somewhere on his body and it took him a while to discern that it came from both his skull and his Alpha's gland.