Taekook One-shots/Short Stories 💜💚

💀In The Grip Of Madness😠Part 1

    The sun, a malevolent eye in the bruised sky, glared down upon the forgotten neighborhood's cracked asphalt and crumbling brick. Its harsh light fell upon the public house, a weary old building hunched like a tired man, its windows like vacant eyes staring out at the desolation.

  This was a place where whispers clung to the smoke-stained walls, and laughter, if it dared to surface, was quickly swallowed by the ghosts of yesterday.

  Kim Taehyung, his face etched with the lines of a life lived on the edge, emerged from the gloom. His worn leather jacket, a testament to countless brawls and sleepless nights, did little to ward off the morning chill. 

   He was a resilient man, a bookmaker by trade, and an Army reservist by necessity. Years spent navigating society's underbelly and conflict's chaos had taught him to master his emotions and to be a pragmatist in a world of chaos. But today, the chaos had found him.

  Inside the public house, the air hung heavy with the cloying sweetness of decay and the bitter tang of stale beer. 

  A body had been discovered, a woman tucked away in the cramped restroom, as if seeking refuge from a world that had ultimately failed her. 

   Taehyung, his jaw clenched tight, stepped into the dimly lit space. The woman, her face frozen in a silent scream, lay curled on the cold tile floor. 

  The coroner, a man with eyes that had seen too much, confirmed she had been dead for months, suffocated.

  "Minji," Jeongguk said softly, his voice thick with grief that surprised even himself. He knelt beside the body, his diver's hands, usually so sure and steady, hovering hesitantly over her lifeless form.

Jeongguk, despite his family's comfortable standing, had always been drawn to the city's forgotten corners, driven by an unwavering sense of duty to those society had cast aside.

  "But I don't think this was meant for her."

   Taehyung's eyes, sharp and calculating, met Jeongguk's.  "A case of mistaken identity?"
Jeongguk nodded slowly. "It seems so."

    As the sun climbed higher, painting the grimy windows with streaks of gold, they began to delve into the fragments of Minji's life. Jimin, the bartender, his usually jovial face etched with sorrow, spoke of a woman haunted by the past.

  "She had a sister, you see. They were like two sides of the same coin, but somewhere along the way, they drifted apart.

    Hobi, the old man who lived next door, said she was plagued by nightmares, always whispering about a family member who died years ago."

  "Vengeance," Taehyung muttered, the word a bitter taste in his mouth.  He paced the worn floorboards, his mind a whirlwind of possibilities.

"Someone wanted her dead, but they got the wrong sister."

  Jin, a journalist with a nose for trouble and a thirst for justice, had been digging into Minji's past. 

"She ran with a rough crowd a few years back," he revealed, his voice hushed. "They say she witnessed something she shouldn't have, something that could bring down some powerful people."

  Namjoon, a lawyer with a sharp mind and a compassionate heart, offered his insight.  "If she was mistaken for her sister," he mused, "then whoever killed her wanted to silence her for what she knew, or what they thought she knew."

  Yoongi, the musician who lived above the pub, his melodies often echoing the melancholy of the neighborhood, added a chilling observation. "Madness," he said, his voice a low rasp, "often stems from the desperation to conceal the truth. Whoever did this is drowning in their guilt."

  The weight of their findings settled upon them like a shroud.  The public house, once merely a place of faded grandeur, now felt oppressive, its shadows pregnant with secrets.

  "We need to find out who wanted her sister dead," Taehyung declared, his voice cutting through the gloom. "The method, suffocation... it's personal.  It's about silencing someone permanently."

   Their investigation led them through the neighborhood's labyrinthine alleys and forgotten corners, each clue a thread in a tapestry of deceit. They uncovered a hidden stash of letters, revealing Minji's desperate attempt to reconnect with her estranged sister.

  A pawnbroker recalled a woman selling a locket identical to one Minji wore, a locket that was now missing. And then, the bombshell—a faded photograph found tucked away in Minji's apartment, a picture of her sister, supposedly dead but alive and well.

   The sister, it turned out, had orchestrated her demise, fleeing a life that had become a suffocating cage. But her past, like a relentless shadow, had finally caught up with her.

  The confrontation was tense, a clash of wills in the dimly lit confines of a derelict warehouse. Her eyes filled with a chilling mix of fear and defiance, the sister confessed to her deception.  She had framed her death to escape a dangerous lover, a man consumed by jealousy and rage.

  Believing Minji to be his escaped lover, he sought revenge.

   As the truth unraveled, a wave of exhaustion washed over Taehyung and Jeongguk. They stood on the precipice of dawn, the first rays of sunlight piercing through the city's gloom.  No longer a symbol of despair, the public house seemed to stand a little straighter as if relieved of its burden.

  "It's over," Jeongguk said, his voice hoarse but firm.  "We'll make sure justice is served."

  Taehyung nodded, a rare flicker of emotion crossing his hardened features. 

   They had stared into the abyss, confronted the darkness, and emerged with the truth. 

  And in that truth, they found a glimmer of hope for the forgotten corners of their city, a promise that justice could prevail even in the deepest shadows.

----

This will have multiple parts. Hope you like this mini-story.

Please Vote and Comment I will greatly appreciate it 🙏🏽.

💜💚