UNCUT THORNS✔️

Was gone.

A loud knock was heard on the heavy oak door of their room. Jeongguk shot up, startled but he got out from under the blankets.

He wrapped them securely around Miyeon, grabbed his sweatpants and pulled them over his bare lower half. The knocking did not cease however and it was being to irritate him beyond belief.

"Jimin hold on!" He called as he reached for the key lazily and unlocked the door.

His eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

It was Jimin, oh yes...

But he wasn't alone.

~

Jeongguk gazed at the three men gripping Jimin tightly, whimpers falling down the boy's tear streaked cheeks and his eyes puffy and swollen from crying.There were others as well four more on the side.

One of them stepped in front of him.

"What is the meaning of this. Release him at once." Jungkook snapped angrily. "I'm afraid we cannot do that Mr Ashton." The man said coldly.

Jeongguk froze.

How did they know who he was.

"You are to be brought home to your parents who were very concerned on the issue of your disappearance." The man spoke like he was reciting an essay, like the subject was dull but a necessity.

"I'm 23 for fuck's sake." He glared at the man. "Your parents insist you come home. If you proceed without any restraint, we will let your acquaintances go." The man said, looking bored.

"Jeongguk no-" A gloved hand slammed over Jimin's mouth. "What do you mean acquaintances? Why plural form? There is no one else but him and I in this house." Jeongguk prayed Miyeon had woken up and crept in the corner by the door.

"Lying to an officer is an offense but we will let it slide. Your mother apparently noticed that you were leaving more frequently and they installed cameras in your room." Jeongguk's blood ran cold.

"She watched me?" The memories of all the events in that room, she had watched them. She had seen Jimin in there. She had watched Jeongguk kiss-

"Let my friend go." He said each word clearly, clearing politeness was out of the question.

"Get him." An elbow swung at his face, causing him to crash to the ground unconscious. Jimin's muffled screams were heard throughout watching his best friend fall to the ground and more tears streamed down his face when he watched two men carrying his sister, knocked out cold and wrapped in a blanket.

"You're both finished." The man gripped Jimin's face and turned it harshly.

"The Ashton residence is off limits. You will stay away. Both of you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Ashton Jeongguk, the heir to the Embers Society of Fashion." Jimin shook his head frantically crying and thrashing around, desperately trying to reach Miyeon.

"Knock this one out too." And it went dark for Jimin too.

~
It had been three months since the incident.

Jeongguk was gone. An empty shell walking around the house and listening to his parents. He didn't speak unless absolutely necessary and his parents were more happier than they had ever been, loving the obedience their son displayed.

Jeongguk didn't give a shit anymore. He looked at his guitar most days, too afraid to play it anymore. His fingers played tales of tears and heartbreak, stories of lust and desire being snatched from people.

He... he couldn't... he couldn't feel anymore.

He signed the contract, reading it carefully like his father always told him and took over the company. That actually helped though, kept him busy. His parents had moved to a summer villa on the coast, leaving him be in that large house.

He was alone.

Tyler was long gone, for he had been sacked. Jeongguk truly was alone aside from the maids, but he barely saw them.

His eyes remained red and puffy, covered by foundation for interviews with the makeup artist always scolding him but he didn't care. The man should just do his job.

He had no information on where they were. The police enclosed nothing and his parents would never tell him. So he decided to wait.

He decided to get used to his parent's absence, to build the company to at least secure it. He ended up enjoying it, molding it into his own design and Embers was bigger and better, the emblem now flaming honeysuckles.

He hired a private investigator who sent him reports on possible leads. It was beginning to look hopeless for him.

They could be anywhere in the world. So he became frantic, hired more researchers and investigators and began filing a case against his parents.

For you see, Jeongguk had left them with nothing. Not a single penny that the company made wasn't given to them. They had their enormous bank accounts so they would survive just fine.

Maybe improve their shitty behaviour if they weren't so spoiled.

Jeongguk was cold but mostly he was lonely.

So many nightmares, too many, were of Miyeon underneath him. Her moans were angelic until they morphed into screams, him scrambling to grab her but she was gone. Jimin being held by black inky hands, crying and sobbing.

He would wake up screaming and screaming until one of the maids would dab at his forehead with a damp cloth. He couldn't live like this anymore.

He needed them. He missed them so much. Beyond words or actions. He would give anything to see them again.

And Jeongguk truly meant anything.

~E