Heart of Winter [Jikook]

Ch. 20

(6th day at Andong)

"He's not in the house!" Jimin yelled, rushing into the kitchen.

"Hyun-min is out there?! In the snow at this time of night?" Jungkook answered. Pulling on his sweater, Jimin helped Jungkook into his coat and wrapped the scarf around his neck.

"I'll call you when I've found him."

"Be safe."

And like that, Jungkook was out the door and into the dark and freezing cold.

Thirty minutes searching around the property turned up no sign of Hyun-min. He hadn't taken the car, so he couldn't have gotten far on foot. Not back to the city. Not even as far as the folk village. But in the distance, Jungkook spotted a dot of light in the direction of the frozen pond.

Hyun-min was slumped over the bench, a small sloppily-made fire burning near his feet. Even at five feet away, Jungkook could smell the alcohol on him.

"Hyun-min? We have to get back."

"I-I can't go back. Never. Not after what I started," he slurred in response. Jungkook blew heat into his hands, "And what did you start?"

"All of this. When I talked to him, I thought it'd be quick. I didn't think he'd draw it out so long like this, hurting other people. Not just Jimin-ah."

If the ramblings of this drunk man hadn't caught his attention before, Jungkook was listening now.

Roughly pulling Hyun-min up from his slumped position, Jungkook began to shake him. "Who did you speak to? Who's doing this?"

"Look, I was drunk. He'd just won his one thousandth award or whatever. And there I was, as always, waiting backstage. In the wings. In the shadows. People kept asking if I was lost or if I knew where the bathroom was. Someone even leaned into me, like I was the wall. Like I wasn't even there," he paused, beginning to close his eyes.

Jungkook shook him again, "And?"

"It's not like anyone would notice I was gone. I went to a bar. A real dive. And I met this guy. He was very sympathetic. He told me he knew this other guy who could take care of my problem. I didn't know what I was asking. I was so drunk and so angry," Hyun-min paused again, this time to wipe away tears, but they'd already frozen around his eyes and nose.

"I took out everything I'd saved and just handed it over. Whatever it took. Within a week, I got a call. I thought it was just a bad dream."

"Who was it? What did he look like?" Jungkook struggled to remain civil. 

"Sounded older than me. A little taller than Jimin. The guy at the bar said he was ex-military but knew how to get around stars. I never saw his face. He wasn't about to give me his name. I gave him Jimin's address. I left the house open for him. At first, I thought I'd remembered wrong. Maybe I'd just paid for them to scare him. Nothing really serious."

"Hyun-min! A bomb is not kid's stuff! And did you see those letters? The blood? The needles?" Jungkook retorted.

"I didn't know about the bomb. I found out like you did. All I knew about was the break-in. The letters came before that, from that guy they caught. He mentioned having a guy to take the fall. That's it."

"So, why feel guilty now?" Jungkook asked.

"I know it doesn't make any sense. That night, I wanted to hurt Jimin-ah. Bad. Make him feel as close to nothing as I felt. But a bomb? The nightclub? So many people got hurt instead," he stopped. Jungkook had read the police report. The sudden nightclub frenzy left several people injured or in the hospital. Tramplings. Fractured legs. Concussions.

"But the guy won't answer my calls. Not the one at the bar. Not the guy behind all this. I can't stop it now even if I wanted to. And I want to. What am I supposed to do?"

When Jungkook was mad, which he rarely was, he could feel the rage coursing through his entire body like a chemical reaction. His limbs would tense and his temperature would rise. And at that moment, his body was boiling. Everything felt hot, from his toes all the way up to his eyes. For the first time, he was truly seeing red. Looking up at Hyun-min's dazed yet desperate face, Jungkook let a small portion of his fury seethe from his glare, hoping it would wrap itself around the traitor's cold, drunken heart and throttle him dead. This new kind of anger both fed and scared Jungkook and it had to be controlled. 

From clenched teeth, he spoke clearly and forcefully: "Turn yourself in. Cooperate with the police. And pray we find this guy first before anything else happens. We're leaving tomorrow."