Forbidden Love ➸ Taekook ✓

- Fiftieth -

Jungkook had his eyes glued to the TV, a mug of steaming hot chocolate in his hands. Wrapped up in a blanket, Taehyung had barely passed the entrance to the living when he saw him, his heart melting at the sight of him. It had been two days since the boy had returned, and although everyone was still affected by the event, they were slowly recovering. Life was returning to normal.

Taehyung sat down next to him on the sofa, pulling the teenager against him and placing a kiss on his forehead. Jungkook lifted his gaze from the TV for a moment to kiss him back, giving him a smile that was both shy and sly, before returning to his show.

"Darling, Jimin's just called and he's asked you to go shopping with him today."

Normally, Jungkook would have been delighted and would have accepted straight away. But this time, he shivered at the thought of going out. Well, life was getting back to normal, but it wasn't the same anymore. Like the fact that Jungkook still hadn't set foot outside. He was a bit scared to go out; he was afraid something would happen to him, that someone would try to kidnap him again. He had been stuck to Taehyung for two days, much to Taehyung's delight. The man had decided to work from home for a while.

Noticing his discomfort immediately, Taehyung massaged his waist, a gesture that was both reassuring and protective. He felt the teenager relax a little in his arms.

"You don't have to go at all, sweetheart. Jimin said so himself. He won't blame you if you refuse, and you know that. So do what you want, don't worry about the others..."

"But?"

Because there was bound to be a 'but', Jungkook could feel it in his voice. And the little smile on his man's lips confirmed it.

"But I think it would be good for you to go. Yoongi will go with you, you'll be safe, nothing will happen to you. And you can call me whenever you like. No strings attached, just fun. I think you need to see that everything's fine now. It will help reduce your anxiety, my darling."

Taehyung wasn't wrong. Staying cooped up here, he was just replaying all his dark thoughts. At home, he had plenty of time to think about the kidnapping. And Jimin had always cheered him up. This could only be a good idea.

"Okay, tell him I'm coming..."

Taehyung smiled wider and kissed him again, Jungkook responding with pleasure.

"Great. He'll pick you up around two. I'm sure you'll have a great time."

"Hm, me too."

***

"You should have tried this blouse on."

"Chim, it was literally transparent."

The blond boy turned to Jungkook, smirking.

"That was the whole point."

The teenager rolled his eyes.

"I could only have worn it at home. Taehyung would have been the only one to see it."

"There again, that was the whole point."

The two of them shook their heads, laughing, as the queue finally moved in front of them. They'd spent the last two hours shopping, Jimin clearly having done more shopping than Jungkook, but that wasn't the point. The point was that after that, they'd decided to stop at a café for a drink and a little break. They had started the afternoon alone, but Yoongi would be joining them soon. He still had work to do at the studio, but had promised them that he would hurry up and finish the afternoon with them.

When they had finally ordered, they sat down at a table a little way off. Their conversation had been light so far, but Jimin soon returned to serious matters.

"Have you heard from your parents since... the incident?"

Jungkook froze involuntarily. He'd stopped himself from thinking about it, but it was inevitable. Honestly, this time the betrayal was far too great; he'd probably never get over it. Yes, his parents had shown his twin favouritism all his childhood, and he hadn't taken it very well, but this was something else entirely. He could put up with favouritism, but being sold to pay off a debt by his parents was intolerable. He would clearly never be able to forgive them.

"No." he confesses. "And that's just as well. I don't think I'd even answer them if they tried to contact me."

Jimin nodded.

"Yeah, I would do the same! Apparently, Hyeri has been harassing Jin ever since! This woman feel no shame!"

That was what Jungkook was beginning to believe. She had always worried about the way other people looked at her, had always forced him to behave well in society so as not to draw attention to themselves, but she had been behaving very differently for some time now. Keeping up appearances was apparently no longer enough to contain her true personality.

Jimin's phone suddenly began to vibrate, and the young man took a quick look at it.

"Ah, it's Yoongi. Apparently he's waiting for us outside."

"Didn't he want to join us?"

"He doesn't really like shopping centres. I think he's going to take us into town for the rest of the afternoon."

Jungkook had no objections to this, so after quickly finishing their drinks, they both headed for the exit. However, they hadn't really anticipated that there would be so many people outside. They had hoped to find Yoongi quickly and easily, but the street was so crowded that their plan was compromised.

"He can't be far. Let's cross the road, he might be in the car park." suggested Jimin.

Jungkook nodded, and they positioned themselves at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the light to turn green before crossing. They didn't have long to wait, but as Jungkook stepped onto the road, the sound of tyres screeching on the tarmac caught his attention.

Everything had gone too fast. One minute he was crossing at a leisurely pace, the next a car was barreling towards him at full speed. And as if fear had paralysed every muscle in his body, he found himself unable to move, planted in the middle of the road as the car drew dangerously close. I seemed to go faster each second, as if the driver had no intention of stopping. As if he had every intention of hitting him.

No. At that speed, he was going to kill him.

"Jungkook!"

He suddenly felt a hand wrap around the collar of his T-shirt and pull him violently backwards, sending him crashing to the pavement. The car passed right in front of him, before continuing on its way, as if it had not almost killed him.

Many passers-by swarmed around him, shouting at the driver and some wanting to make sure he was all right, but Jimin and Yoongi's faces blocked his vision.

"Are you all right, Jungkook?!" Yoongi asked worriedly, at the same time checking to see if the boy was hurt. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

The boy found himself unable to utter a single word, still in shock, so he nodded slowly. Jimin threw himself on top of him, crying as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Aaahhh!" he cried. "I thought you were going to die! I was so scared, Kook!"

The boy reciprocated the gesture, clinging to Jimin as if his life depended on it, and tears soon formed in his eyes.

He had almost died.

~🍁~

Ugh, this chapter was so bad, sorry...