PART 49

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The entire next week was spent in another facility, much to Jungkook's dismay. He was transferred temporarily to a major trauma unit so he could help ease patients into long-term care, and while he was grateful for the opportunity to experience additional residencies, he couldn't help the lonely feeling nagging in the back of his mind. On one hand, he thought it might be good for he and Taehyung to take a little time apart, focus on themselves, because it's healthy and important. On the other hand, of course, he missed him badly.

When he returned to the rehabilitation center the week after that, the first thing he did after checking in with Dr. Yoo was go to the social room, where his love sat in the corner perched on his chair in front of the canvas.

"Taehyung," Jungkook said as he walked closer, the man looking up at him with big, warm eyes. "How have you been?" he asked, looking at the canvas and gasping. Corner to corner was filled with a kaleidoscope of colors, some bold and some thinned out with water, barely a speck of white to be seen among the endless strokes of red, blue, orange, green, yellow, and all of the colors they made mixed together. "Wow," he finally breathed, looking at Taehyung with eyes full of love. "It's beautiful."

Taehyung looked back at his canvas, smiling a little as he stared, hand gripping the paintbrush tightly as he started to tremble.

"Are you alright?" Jungkook asked, quietly adding, "my love?"

The other man shook his head, grabbing the bottle of black acrylic and pouring it in his hand, smearing it all over the bright and beautiful painting he had been working on, charring it with the unnamed energy that radiated off of him.

"Whoa, whoa," Jungkook said, kneeling down beside Taehyung. "Hey, look at me," he commanded gently, "look at me, Tae."

Refusing to look at him, Taehyung began to pull at his hair, kicking the easel over and stomping on it with his sock-clad feet.

"Guard!" one of the other residents shouted, Jungkook feeling an awful sense of déjà vu.

"He's okay," Jungkook declared as Sungjin and a new orderly entered the room, immediately heading for the two. "He's okay, I said," Jungkook repeated, emotions already heightening at the presence of the guard that he disliked.

"Sorry, Mr. Jeon, but he needs a time out," the orderly barked, pulling Taehyung to his feet with both hands gripping his upper arms tightly.

"Don't touch him," Jungkook said, standing up and looking at the man, eyes intense. "He's okay. Just let him go," he continued, trying to keep his voice under control and at respectful volume.

"He's okay!? You call him making a mess and disrupting other patients okay!?" Sungjin shouted, incredulous before he shouted again, this time in pain. "Fuck! The mute bastard bit me!"

The other orderly looked shocked, stunned for a moment before jumping into action, taking Taehyung in a sleeper hold as he thrashed around, trying to escape.

"Let him go, now!" Jungkook shouted, rage taking over his ability to keep calm at the sight of his lover struggling against the violent attempt to control him. "You're hurting him!"

While Taehyung was clawing at the arms that held him around his neck and shoulders, Sungjin took his taser and discharged it, Taehyung's body convulsing before falling limp against the guard, harshly panting and letting out a sad whine.

What happened next was a blur. Jungkook was overwhelmed, the two orderlies ganging up to incapacitate Taehyung and ignoring his demands to leave him alone, the panicked chattering of the other patients in the room, and the deafening sound of his blood rushing in his ears all melded together and he just acted. He grabbed Sungjin by the collar of his uniform, teeth clamped as his jaw tightened, eyes wild in anger. He barely remembered swinging a punch, the orderly dodging it before delivering one back, when his mentor had entered the room with several other guards, separating Jungkook and Sungjin. He ordered another guard to take Taehyung to his office, while he had Jungkook sent to an adjacent conference room and Sungjin sent to another area of the facility entirely.

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