Flightless Bird

S2: Chapter 8: Grey

Author's POV

The atmosphere in Bonz's basement was thick with tension as Yin sat in silence, his mind spinning.

Earlier Yin got a call from Bonz asking him to come urgently as Bonz had found something about Yin's request.

The room, dimly lit by the glow of countless computer monitors, seemed to close in on him.

On the screen in front of him, various documents flickered, but Yin could barely focus on any of it.

His mind kept returning to one thing: the shocking revelation Bonz had just delivered.

Bonz, pacing back and forth, continued explaining, but his words barely registered.

Yin's hands were trembling slightly as he gripped the edge of the desk, his knuckles white.

He glanced up at Bonz, trying to process everything he had just heard.

"So, you mean War really didn't leave that letter?" Yin asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Bonz nodded. "Yeah, I went to the neighbor who gave you that letter saying it's from War. But she passed away. Her daughter was still there, though. She was young at the time, but she remembers something. She told me that she saw a man talking to her mother that day-a man in a suit, driving an expensive car. He's the one who gave her mom the letter."

Yin's mind was racing.

Why?

Who would have gone through such lengths to deceive him?

He thought back to the years of silence, the years of distance between him and War.

All that time, he had believed War had left him-had chosen to walk away.

And all the while, it was a lie.

"But why? Why would someone do this? What did they gain from tearing us apart?" Yin's voice was strained as he asked.

Bonz sighed heavily. "That's where things get even more complicated. The night before you got that letter, something terrible happened. War didn't just disappear for no reason. That same night, his brothers, Jungkook and Jimin, they.... they died in a car accident. They were on their way home and they were hit by a truck"

Yin's world seemed to tilt on its axis as his chest tightened painfully.

He blinked, trying to clear his vision, but his heart was beating too fast, his breathing shallow.

"What?" he whispered, barely able to form the words. "Jungkook... Jimin... they're... dead?"

Bonz nodded slowly, watching Yin closely. "War lost them both that night. And according to the doctor who tried saving them... War asked the hospital to fly the bodies to Korea the exact night. So he must've left the same night too."

Yin's heart shattered as the weight of it all crashed down on him.

Jungkook and Jimin... dead.

War had been suffering, grieving, all alone while Yin had believed he'd been abandoned.

The room felt too small, the air too thick to breathe.

His vision blurred, not just from the dim light, but from the hot sting of unshed tears.

War had been through hell.

And where had Yin been? He'd let himself be deceived by a letter. He should have went to War that time.

He had so little faith in their love that he believed it when he got a letter and didn't even fight for them.

He should have been there for War.