✔️ 𝐈𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 | 𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐮𝐤

Chapter Thirty.

Taehyung

For the next few days, everything was very frantic.

Taehyung was doted on endlessly by his mother, Jimin, and Jeongguk, all the while his father stood at the door and simply gazed at him and the others. More often than not, his eyes lingered on Jeongguk, and Taehyung knew why: his father didn't like him, simple as that.

Normally, Taehyung would be frustrated with his father, but he was too exhausted to be. His body hurt almost all of his waking hours, yet it was mostly his neck and face that contributed to the pain. This, coupled with the traumatic flashbacks to Seokjin attempting to kill him and the fresh memories of Minhyun's death on his mind, took a toll on Taehyung. He couldn't sleep much, and when he did, he was greeted by unrelenting nightmares. The days and nights blended together seamlessly, and neither seemed desirable to him.

One morning, Taehyung woke up to see his mother speaking softly yet forcefully to a doctor. They were deep in a discussion, and it was clear that there was some altercation that they were debating.

"Mom?" Taehyung rasped, his voice still hoarse. "What's going on?"

His mother and doctor quickly hushed, both looking over at him. She stepped over to him quickly, using her cool hand to smooth his sweaty hair back.

"The police want to question you about what happened, Tae," she spoke softly. "I wanted them to wait until you felt a little better, but they seem urgent. That man has become a huge threat to everyone's safety."

Taehyung nodded, closing his eyes briefly. Of course, he wanted to contribute however he could to help them catch Seokjin, but the memories were very fresh in his mind. It was difficult just to think about him.

"I'll do it today," Taehyung replied. His mother looked as if she were going to oppose, but he spoke again before she could. "It's only going to get worse the longer I put it off. I just want them to find him so I can get back to my life. I'm tired of living like this-fearful to leave my apartment and do what I want."

His mother pursed her lips as she nodded, staring at him with hard, yet maternal, eyes. He knew that she wanted him to be okay, but he wouldn't be okay until he was safe.

"I'll let them know, then," the doctor chimed in. She bowed to the two of them before exiting the room swiftly.

After watching her disappear, Taehyung's mother turned her eyes back to her son. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

He gave her a soft smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

He said it mostly to assure himself.

-

"How long have you known Kim Seokjin?" the police officer asked. Taehyung pursed his lips, thinking back to the first time they met.

Taehyung first became aware of him during the summer after his freshman year. After the accident, Namjoon and Taehyung did not see each other for a few months, as Namjoon spent his time in the hospital recovering from his deep-rooted trauma. During that time, he met Seokjin, who was recovering from an intense bout of depression. From what Taehyung was told, the pair had formed a quick bond and began dating rather quickly.

Eventually, when Taehyung was hanging out with Jimin over the summer, Jimin introduced him to not only his new boyfriend, Kihyun, but Kihyun's friend group. The leader of this group? Seokjin.

From then on, Seokjin made it evident that he hated Taehyung. He tormented him, threatening him because of what he had done to Namjoon. In turn, Taehyung came to blame himself for the incident even more than he ever had in the first place.

What seemed to be an accident rapidly turned into something that Taehyung blamed himself for relentlessly.

As the months drew on, and Taehyung and Jimin only grew closer, he found himself trapped in Seokjin's group. He felt like, if he left, he would lose the only person who made him feel any shred of hope after the accident: Jimin.

Until January of this year, Taehyung endured Seokjin's constant berating because he felt as if he deserved it. He brought pain and suffering unto others, so it seemed natural that he would receive the same treatment.

However, when Jimin and Kihyun broke up due to an oversight, and Seokjin seemed to lose touch with reality, the group crumbled, and they all went their separate ways.

"I, um," Taehyung stuttered, going through all of this information in his mind rather quickly. "He's dating an old friend of mine."

The policeman nodded. "Why do you think he's been attacking you specifically?"

Taehyung frowned, his mouth going dry. "I... I unintentionally hurt his boyfriend."

The officer asked a few more questions, going slightly more in depth with each one. Taehyung answered each unsurely, the unwelcoming thought of that night flashing in his mind with each word.

Eventually, after roughly fifteen more minutes, the policeman stood and gave Taehyung a nod of acknowledgement. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Kim. This information will help our investigation of the incident." He then began to walk towards the door, but he stopped just as he was about to exit. He looked as if he were debating saying something. "By the way, my commanding officer wanted you to know - Kim Seokjin has another warrant out for his arrest right now. For... for domestic violence."

"Domestic violence?" Taehyung rasped, his mind spinning. He immediately wondered who the hell Seokjin would dare lay a finger on besides him. "Is that true?"

"It is, sir. I need to report this information to my commanding officer, so I have to go. I wish you a quick recovery." He left.

Taehyung's mind was left reeling. Domestic violence? Taehyung was fairly sure that Seokjin didn't have family in Seoul, so that was out of the question. Sure, he was dating Namjoon, but from the way Seokjin protected him so fiercely, he doubted that it was him either.

Taehyung was about to give up figuring out who it could be when he remembered something. Last time he was in the hospital, he had bumped into Namjoon. Not only was Namjoon slimmer, but his body had been covered in bruises.

Slowly, Taehyung's mind put two and two together. Unless there was some other weird explanation, Seokjin was abusing Namjoon, but why? He spent years tormenting Taehyung for him, just to hurt him? It made no sense.

Taehyung's mind was abuzz with explanations until he dozed off waiting for Jeongguk and Jimin to return.