The Assassian's Son

Chapter 6

That forbidden name.

Hearing it come out of someone's mouth who wasn't in my family made a chill run down my spine. I took note of Taehyung's solemn expression, one that my brother also made when the conversation was brought up.

"Hoseok blames Jungkook but we were all at fault. We weren't careful and our carelessness got us here," Taehyung sighed, pulling at his hair. Jimin reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Do you know what happened?"

"Not the full story. Jungkook's never gone into depth about it. He gets angry or upset when it's brought up," I said, unsure of how to help in this situation.

"Hoseok's fiancé was killed because of us. The reason Hoseok blames Jungkook is because whoever killed Eileen was trying to kill him. Eileen just...got in the way and..." Taehyung trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as I pursed my lips. "You guys are from a wealthy family and you're highly disliked here. It's no surprise someone would have it out for your brother. But, I just wish Hoseok wouldn't blame Jungkook."

A long silence followed after that, Jimin patting Taehyung's back while I just stood there awkwardly.

Suddenly, Taehyung cleared his throat and forced a smile. "I didn't mean to bring down the mood. What brings you here anyway? Jimin never said."

"Actually, I need to talk with Taehyung alone for a moment. I hope you don't mind waiting here for a bit," Jimin said abruptly, earning a confused look from Taehyung and me. "You can look around if you want just...avoid the upstairs."

"Okay," I said cautiously as Jimin led Taehyung away. I glanced down at my feet to see Yeontan wagging his tail and staring at me. "Guess it's just us now, huh?"

I kneeled to pet him, looking around at the expensive-looking furniture and beautifully decorated walls. It reminded me way too much of my own house and I sighed in annoyance.

I picked Yeontan up in my arms and wandered towards one of the other rooms, seeing the giant flat screen and multiple game consoles. There were a few couches and three mini-fridges as well. There were three gaming computers surrounded by controllers and a few empty cans of energy drinks.

"This must be the gaming room," I said out loud to myself, walking into the room and approaching one of the couches. There were crumbs all over the seat, and the coffee table in front of it had napkins on it. "Talk about dirty."

"Hey! The atmosphere helps me focus," Taehyung's voice came from the doorway and I turned around to see he was standing by himself. I arched an eyebrow as I put Yeontan down. "It drives the cleaning ladies nuts but I told them I'd fire them if they touched anything in here."

"Where's Jimin?" I asked as I approached him. He backed up and moved out of the doorway so I could leave the room.

"He's upstairs. So you're stuck down here with me! I'm sure you'd love to hear all the embarrassing stories I have about him," He answered with a wide smile as he wandered towards another room, and I assumed it was the kitchen. "Can I get you something to eat? There's a ton of meals in here the chefs prepare for us."

"Uh, no thanks. I really need to get home though. Jimin said this wouldn't take very long—"

"Fine, I'll get right to the point then," Taehyung cut me off as he took a seat in one of the chairs, gesturing for me to sit down as well. "Jimin said he had something he wanted to get off his chest right?"

I nodded and Taehyung sighed once again. He reached into his pockets, pulled out a folded-up piece of paper, and handed it to me. Once I opened it, I saw a photo of a man and woman as well as a child.

But what really caught my attention was the dead dog in the young boy's arms, tears rolling down his cheeks while the parents smiled happily. What kind of sick family photo was this?