Fateful (book 1 of the OT7 series) ✔️

Chapter 20

Jungkook was the first to move. He spun Aerin around, and asked, "Noona, are you ok? What were you thinking? He could've hurt you!"

Trying to diffuse the tension, Aerin said shakily, "I guess you're going to have to take me out to dinner too, JK." He responded with a small smile and leant down to hug Aerin. By the time they had separated, Namjoon and Miki had walked over.

Namjoon pulled Jungkook into a hug and held on for long minutes. "Hyung, I'm ok. Nothing happened." Jungkook said, as he patted Namjoon on his back. When Namjoon pulled away, Jungkook could see the sadness in his eyes. "Let's all go talk inside, ok?"

Namjoon nodded. He put one arm around Jungkook's shoulder, and held Miki's hand with the other arm. They started walking towards the house and Aerin was about to follow them when she felt Yoongi grab her wrist. She turned around and felt Yoongi engulf her in a big bear hug. He held her face close to his chest and leant down to bury his face on the side of her neck.

"Yoongi, are you ok?" Yoongi could feel Aerin shaking as he hugged her and yet she was still concerned about him. He nodded against her neck and continued to hold her. He was still reeling from seeing a gun pointed at her and he knew it would take a long time for him to get over the fright.

Aerin hugged Yoongi back and squeezed him tight. She had been more afraid of him getting hurt than she was when she had a gun pointed at her. I love him. Aerin thought, with a start. Just as quickly, she accepted that fact. Who wouldn't love a man like Yoongi.

Eventually she said, "Yoongi, let's go in, ok?"

He pulled away slightly and cupped her face, his eyes searching hers. Aerin wasn't sure what he was looking for, but held his gaze. He leant down to give her a quick kiss on the lips, took her hand and led her inside the house.

They walked in to find everyone had gathered in the living room. Aerin started to walk towards Miki, thinking to check if she was ok, but Yoongi held on to her hand tightly and sat her down next to him on the couch.

"Ok, so now that everyone's here, I'll tell you all I know about Mark."

Namjoon stood ramrod straight but his face was pale. Hoseok stood up, and forced Namjoon to sit down on the chair he had just vacated. "Sit down Joon, you're making me nervous."

"About 6 months before I left my job as a prosecutor, I was assigned a rape case. A woman in her 20s, Lisa, was on her way home from work when she was assaulted by a masked man in the park near her home. We had a suspect, a man in his 40s who lived around the area, and who we caught in a CCTV near the park just before the incident. But he was careful, there was no DNA evidence and Lisa couldn't identify him because he covered his face and never spoke a word throughout the attack. Even though he was the most likely suspect, we could never charge him because it was inconclusive and we could never disprove his alibi. So he walked away. Lisa never got over it and she was always afraid he was going to come for her again, so she committed suicide shortly after we made the decision not to charge."

"I remember that case," Jin said. "There just was not enough evidence."

"Right. Mark is Lisa's brother. He had done a lot of his own investigation to try and prove that this guy was the culprit. He actually did find 1 good evidence but the way he found it wasn't legitimate and we couldn't use the evidence." Namjoon sighed. "I guess he blames me for not getting a conviction." He rubbed his face with his hands.

"Hyung, this is not your fault. You did your job." Jimin said.

"I should've known Mark wasn't in a good place. I could've done more to help him." Namjoon said. Miki saw the distress in his face and slipped her hand into his to comfort him. Namjoon turned to her and said, "I'm sorry to get you involved in this. I never thought we would be putting you more in harm's way."