His Buried Past| Taekook

Chapter 17

The men were all gathered in the dining room. Baekhyun and Chanyeol sat together, across from Jungkook, with Namjoon and Jin to his right, while Hoseok and Jimin sat to his left. Suga was leaning against the wall close to his boss, while V was sitting cross-legged on the table itself, flipping one of the guns he'd acquired in his hand. He'd reluctantly allowed Jin to cleanse and bandage his hands and fingers, which thankfully had stopped bleeding. Jungkook frowned at the silver haired boy, "How did you even get a hold of those guns in the first place?"

The younger blinked and looked around, seeming confused for a moment before he smiled, "Oh, these? I took them off the guard I came across upstairs!"

The ravenette remembered how Namjoon had said they'd lost contact with several of their men. He'd assumed they'd been taken out by the Byun group, but clearly that wasn't totally the case. Seeing the tense and uncomfortable looks on the faces of Jungkook and his circle, V rolled his eyes, "Oh, relax! I left him alive. He'll just have a really bad migraine when he wakes up."

Suga snorted, "You didn't kill him? Wow, you going soft on me kid?"

"Knocking someone unconscious instead of killing them hardly makes him soft," Jimin scowled at the green haired man, "Jesus, he still used broken glass to pick the locks, shredding his hands in the process, then disarmed a guard without a weapon. Hell, he's not even wearing shoes!"

The older chuckled, his voice gravelly, "Am I supposed to be surprised Pinkie? Who do you think taught him how to do all of that?"

"Enough!" V glared, his bandaged fingers tightening their hold on the gun, his earlier playful mood dissipating like smoke. "Now, I think it's story time. I already heard from Jeon here about the events leading up to him getting the call I was dead- although it seems he left out a few details which he and I need to discuss," the younger shot a hard look at the mafia leader, "Now I want to hear Baeki-hyung's take on it."  Turning to look at the older, his normally adorable personality was nowhere to be seen. "Hyung, tell me what led to me being in that hospital. Why were you there? And why did you fake my death?"

Seeing the other hesitating, V shook his head, "No more secrets."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchanged a look, before the smaller sighed. "Alright," he took a breath, "My parents' marriage was arranged. They never loved each other, but the union strengthened the organization. Once they had me, my mother chose to live in a penthouse apartment separate from my father. My father eventually got himself a mistress."

"When the mistress became pregnant and had a son, my father got her a different apartment and provided her with an allowance, although he refused to publicly acknowledge the baby as his son. Unfortunately, the mother died in an accident when the boy was 2 years old. My father didn't want his illegitimate child living under the same roof, as it could affect his image. But he also didn't want to completely abandon the boy. So he placed the boy with a couple who owed him, and he gave them a generous allowance to support the child."

V stared at the older, comprehension dawning on his face,"So, I'm..."

Baekhyun gave a small nod, "Yes. You were the boy. The couple my father placed you with were the Kims. I didn't know you existed until I was 16, when my father began training me to take his place. He told me I had a brother, and said that when he was gone it would be my responsibility to provide for you and keep you safe."

He looked down, pain flickering in his eyes,"I went to see you the day after I found out. I sat in my car and watched you as you came skipping out of your school. You were about 9 at the time. You looked so much like our father and me, but you had an air of innocence that I didn't. I wanted to talk to you, but I knew that would disrupt your life."

"When my father died, it took me months to secure my position as the new head of our organization. One day, I received a warning that someone had leaked your identity and location. Not only that, but a hit had been placed on you. Chanyeol and Suga were the only ones I trusted with your identity, and we immediately ran to your home."

His face pales as he remembers what they'd found. At first they'd believed they were too late, and the battered boy lying in a pool of his own blood was already dead. But Suga had acted fast, doing his best to staunch the flow of blood while Chanyeol called for an ambulance. "Your adoptive parents were already dead, and you were nearly so. Suga kept you alive until the ambulance arrived."

Chanyeol reaches over to grip his husband's hand in a comforting grasp, with the younger shooting him a grateful smile. "The doctor said you would probably experience memory issues. And honestly, we thought that would probably be for the best, rather than living with the memory of what those bastards had done."

Seeing how drained his lover looks, Chanyeol continues for him,"We tried to find out who had put out the hit on you, but all we found were dead ends. Since we couldn't eliminate the threat to you, we all agreed to allow the world to believe you were dead. We put an end to the investigation to ensure no one would look too carefully at your death. However, you look so much like Baekhyun and your father, that we knew whoever had paid the hitmen would figure out you were still alive if they ever saw you."

V's voice is soft,"Hence the reason for the mask."

The older two nod, seeing how the younger's eyes stay fixed on the grain of the table. After a moment, he continues, "So why train me to be an assassin?"

Suga steps forward, "That was me. When you woke up, you were fvcking terrified. You were traumatized by something you couldn't even remember. I figured giving you the skills to defend yourself might help you get over the trauma and fear. Plus, I figured if anyone came for you again, you'd be a lot less vulnerable."

"As you learned, I saw that you did seem to be better. Your fear didn't seem to control you anymore, and you started smiling. I suggested to Baekhyun that giving you a job to focus could help even more. He didn't like it, but I know what I'm doing. So he let you start taking small jobs...but it was obvious pretty quickly that you were lethal as hell. Everything just snowballed from there."

Hoseok speaks for the first time, shock and disbelief filling his voice,"You thought making him a freaking assassin was a good form of therapy?? What is wrong with you?!"

The mint-haired boy shrugs, looking amused, "Probably a whole lot. Sorry Red, I stick with what I know."

The other clicks his tongue, Jimin placing a calming hand on his boyfriend's knee, shooting a look at Suga.

Baekhyun looks at V, the silent younger seemingly absorbed in thought. The older boy's voice is hesitant,"V? Are you...ok? What are you thinking?"

Jungkook's eyes are also carefully watching the silver haired boy. The ravenette hasn't uttered a word as Baekhyun has spoken, as he also wanted an explanation from the other leader. He'd nearly ripped the arms from his chair when he imagined the scene they'd found when they saved Tae. Since he'd already heard the details from the doctor, he knew the other had skipped the more horrifying details of what had been done to the boy.

Abruptly, V leaps from the table, tucking the gun into his waistband. Baekhyun stands, "V? Where are you going?"

The younger doesn't turn his head as he responds, his voice flat, "I need to think."

The room is silent once V is gone, the occupants either lost in thought or shooting distrustful glares at each other. Hesitating a moment, Jungkook sighs before shoving his chair backwards, "Fvck it," and he goes to follow the younger boy, knowing he's going to be dealing with a pissed off assassin.

AN: So Baekhyun's side of the story is out there now. I'm sorry if I missed a typo or autocorrect mistake, I had a really crazy day and only a couple hours of sleep, so I'm exhausted and feeling brain-fried 😵 Thank you all so much for supporting me! Seeing your comments and votes always makes me smile, no matter how tired I am. I 💜 all of you!