Midas Touch ➸ Taekook

- Thirty-fifth -

Taehyung dropped heavily into the passenger seat of the X-Men jeep as Logan got behind the wheel. Jimin, Yoongi and Hoseok sat in the back and the car soon started off, Taehyung watching the Institute gradually disappear through the window. When he could no longer see it, he let out a long sigh and sat down more comfortably, closing his eyes for a moment.

He clenched his fists in his lap, his fingers whitening under the pressure. Every time he closed his eyes, Jungkook's face came back to him, sharp and cruel. That smirk that had made him lose his head, that deep voice that, just by whispering his name, managed to melt away all his resolve.

And now what? The betrayal burned in his chest, like a blade in his heart that refused to be removed. He had thought he knew Jungkook, had loved him with such intensity that it had consumed him. But how could he have been so blind? How could he not have seen the shadows that hung over this mysterious man?

The news that Jungkook had been married before they met had hit him like a thunderclap. And he'd ended this woman's life with his own hands? The words were heavy, sharp as knives: murder. Treason. Deceit. Taehyung felt trapped in a nightmare from which he couldn't wake up.

And yet, despite the rage pulsing inside him, a burning, unbearable glow of love refused to be extinguished. He was pitiful, he knew it. How could he still want this man who had betrayed him, who was perhaps even a monster in the guise of an angel?

"Taehyung, are you all right?" Jimin's gentle voice drew him out of his tormented thoughts.

Opening his eyes, Taehyung met his friend's worried gaze through the rear-view mirror. He didn't even have the strength to pretend. Everyone knew he wasn't well anyway, even if Jimin was the only one who didn't know why.

"Hm." he just said.

But nobody in the Jeep was fooled. Yoongi gave him a piercing sidelong glance, while Hoseok, always one of the most cheerful of the group, just patted the seat in front of him in rhythm with the music that echoed faintly in the car. Logan remained silent, concentrating on the road as it wound through the forest.

Silence fell again, disturbed only by the steady roar of the engine. Taehyung bit his lower lip, hoping that this mission wouldn't go too badly, even though he knew it was impossible. There would be no way out for him.

He was bound to come out of this more bruised than before.

He closed his eyes again, hoping that the darkness behind his eyelids would free him from these thoughts, but it was hopeless. All he could see again was that night: the way Jungkook had kissed him as if for the last time, as if he knew their world was going to end.

Because that's exactly what had happened.

The silence in the car stretched on for a long time, to the point where it became unbearable. For everyone, including the man who had instigated it.

"So, what are we going to do once we get there?" Jimin asked, to break the silence, trying to start a subject that would occupy their minds enough to erase the tension.

Taehyung opened his eyes again and frowned.

"I don't really know..." he admitted. "Maybe we should go to this Bella woman's grave... maybe we'll find some clues there."

Everyone nodded, except Logan, whose gaze, fixed on the road, had darkened slightly.

"I might have an idea." he said. "I've done a bit of travelling in the past, and I've been to New Orleans. If you're looking for something there, the best way to gather information is to go to this bar..."