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Make It Right [BTS Mafia!AU]

Plot: “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?

Rating: NC-17 // NSFW

Genre: Series | Mafia!AU | Crime!AU | Angst | Romance/Fluff | Smut

Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language, Angst, Slow Burn, Smut

Previous Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Links: FAQ || BTS Masterlist || Admin E’s AO3 || Admin E’s WP || [ REQUESTS ARE OPEN ]

Word Count: 2,448

Tag List: @prisczero​, @pinkpjmin​, @btsaudge​, @flowerwrites06​, @unoriginal-username15432, @halussali​, @hobipluto​

Chapter 40: Let Go

”No, but I accept your blame. Really, it’s time to say goodbye.”

© thebiasrekkers (Admin E). All rights reserved. Reposting/modifying our work is prohibited. Translations are not allowed. Plagiarism/stealing is not tolerated by any means. Legal action will be taken in instances of theft.

Two weeks had passed since his encounter with Kihyun. Yoongi never would have guessed that seeing Kihyun under those circumstances would rattle him to the core. He’d been uneasy ever since, wondering when he would next run into the man; wondering if he would be better prepared for whatever words would come tumbling from his mouth next.

There was no lingering attachment there. At least not from Yoongi. That part of his life he’d put far behind him. He’d let it go when he traveled to the States and met Eden for the first time. He was able to see someone come from nothing, yet determined to make something of herself. She wasn’t the sort of person who accepted handouts and she always returned a favor – not wanting to place herself in the debt of others.

For the first time in a while, Yoongi thought of his family; the family he’d left behind in Hwaseong. His father, ironically, was the former police chief in the area. His mother ran her business from home, making calendars for people from the photos she’d taken. Yoongi adopted a love of photography thanks to her, but there were few moments when he ventured out with his camera. He just hadn’t had the time for it like he had when he was still a school kid.

Until now.

The shutter clicked wildly as he roamed around one of the parks in Gangnam. Spring was upon them. The blossoms from the cherry trees fluttered in waves on the ground and through the skies. The soft breeze tickled the hairs around his ears, reminding him that he probably needed to get a haircut soon. His legs carried him through the park, memories flooding his mind as he took nature shots and pictures of unsuspecting pedestrians.

There was a time when he would come to the park, usually late at night, with Eden. She hadn’t minded since there were nights when they both worked late. He frowned, recalling the memory of her laughing as she sprayed him with the bottle of water she had in her hand. His hair was drenched and water dripped from his eyelashes and chin, allowing her to get about a five-foot head start before giving chase.

She always let him catch her.

Yoongi sighed, shaking his head to chase the memory away. Stop, he chastised himself, you need to stop. She’s not here and she won’t be.

An image of Jungkook smiling widely as he embraced her replaced the vision in his mind. He paused in his steps, his hands cradling his camera lowering slowly. They finally fell to his sides and the weight of the camera tugged at the strap around his neck. A heaviness filled his chest until it finally collapsed into the pit of his stomach. Yoongi knew he had no right to feel anything at the sight of them together, whether in real life or in his own mind. The reality was still the same. He’d fucked up and his younger brother was doing the one thing he never had the courage to.

He was honest with the woman he loved.

Yoongi scoffed, reaching up to scratch at the side of his nose. A sardonic smile passed over his features as he admitted to himself that he had, in fact, loved that stubborn woman. That he was still in love with her. But he knew he’d blown it and there was no turning back the clock, no matter how much he might have wanted to. The situation was plain and clear as the daylight breaking through the canopy of trees over his head.

It was over. All he had to do was admit it to himself. Truly admit it.

Taking a few steps, he broke through a row of trees and deviated from the path. In the center of the park was a large rock near a man-made creek. The sunlight was always the best here, shining down without prejudice on whoever wished to seek out its light. His feet shuffled through the grass as he ducked under a low hanging branch, using his hand to shield his eyes from the mid-morning light that threatened to blind him.

Just as he was mentally cursing himself for not remembering to bring his sunglasses, he stopped and stared. For a moment, he thought he was seeing things and began to roughly rub his eyes with his fists. Blinking the prism-like spots from his vision, he looked again and saw that he hadn’t, in fact, been imagining things.

There, on the rock, laid Eden – sprawled out like a tiger who’d just finished devouring a kill that was hunted and sleeping off the heavy meal. Her olive skin glowed in the sunlight and he was surprised to see that she was willingly allowing the sun to touch her flesh. He remembered her saying how she hated the sun because it often baked her to a darker shade of brown than she liked, making her look Middle Eastern at times. Not that she had anything against them, but people were always getting her ethnic background wrong and it annoyed her.

Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, signifying that she was, in fact, asleep. Deep asleep, in fact. The gentle babbling from the creek and twittering of birds served as the perfect ambiance to rest and relax. There was a book opened face down on her stomach and her fingers splayed over the spine, holding it in place. But with each breath she took, it slowly slipped further and further from her hand. At the angle she was lying, the moment it left her fingers it would fall into the creek.

As if predicting the future, Yoongi watched the book begin its descent and he rushed forward, snatching up the book before it could meet its watery end. His heart hammered heavily against his ribs as he sighed, standing to his full height before closing the book. Eden mumbled something incoherent before rolling over on the smooth rock to readjust herself to a more comfortable position.

Yoongi was almost flabbergasted by this. He couldn’t remember a time when she’d allowed herself to be this vulnerable. Unless she believed she was safe, she would always jolt awake to the most innocent of sounds – a knife at the ready in her hand.

His brows furrowed while canting his head to the side. Is that it? Yoongi reached out with one hand, his fingers just barely touching her cheek. Do you feel safe here?

She groaned sleepily, causing him to flinch involuntarily. He yanked his hand back, as though he was being struck by a snake. Seconds later, Eden’s phone went off and she immediately sat up – patting her pockets for the item to get it to shut up. Yoongi stood rooted in his spot, unable to flee the scene. He continued to stare at her even as she groggily fisted her eyes to rid them of the sleepy haze sitting on the backs of her eyelids. Eden smacked her lips and then began looking around, her eyes falling on Yoongi.

As she looked at him, Yoongi didn’t move; he didn’t even breathe. Eden seemed to gather up her surroundings and the sleepiness in her gaze was quickly replaced with realization. Her eyes widened as her lips parted, prepared to scream at him. Without thinking, he reached out and covered her mouth with his hand, silencing whatever verbal onslaught she had prepared for him.

“Look, before you say anything, this is completely a coincidence,” he explained rapidly, feeling her huffing over his fingers, “so don’t get crazy, okay?”

Slowly, he removed his hand and held his arms up in surrender. She narrowed her eyes at him, the irritation evident. But she didn’t say anything. Yoongi wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or upset by her lack of clapbacks at that moment.

“Why are you sleeping here?”

“It’s a nice day out and I felt like taking a nap,” she said while standing from the rock, snatching the book from Yoongi’s hand. He’d almost forgotten he’d had it. “Sleeping on the rooftop gets too hot and I burn that way.”

“Yeah, I know…”

For a moment, no other words were shared between them. Even though Yoongi had so much he wanted to say, he couldn’t formulate the words the way he would have liked. Everything he tried to start with sounded like an excuse and all the other options made him sound like an idiot. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Yoongi sighed as he roughly rubbed the back of his head.

“Eden,” he began, his heart rate escalating a measure, “I just…” Eden’s gaze practically bore into his forehead and Yoongi considered averting his gaze. However, he thought better of it and, instead, cleared his throat loudly. “…I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked quickly, catching him off guard. Licking his lips, he just looked at her as she folded her arms across her chest. “What are you sorry for, Yoongi-ah? Hm? That you got caught or that I’m with Jungkook now?”

There it was. The dig he was waiting for. He’d prepared himself for it, but he didn’t expect hearing her say it out loud to hurt so much. It was like he’d been hit in the gut with a cannon ball, the proverbial wind knocked straight from his lungs.

It was quickly replaced with anger.

“Goddammit, woman,” he snarled, taking a step forward to close what little distance there was between them, “you are fucking impossible, you know that?”

She sniffed, smirking. “I do, actually.”

Eden moved to pass him, but he quickly grabbed her by her upper arm, yanking her back so that she was flush against his chest. A gasp spilled from her, causing her book to fall against the grass as it slipped from her fingers. She tried to jerk free from him, but he squeezed tighter. He saw her brow twitch, probably from how hard he was holding her, but Yoongi couldn’t stop.

His body moved faster than his brain could process, unable to prevent him from doing what he was getting ready to do. Still in his grasp, Yoongi pushed Eden until her back hit the trunk of a tree. The leaves shuddered with the sudden force placed on its surface and she let out a soft cry. Glaring up at him, he matched her gaze as he looked into her eyes – his reflection cast back at him from her dark umber tones. Eden’s lips pressed together into a thin line, slowly blinking at him. But he saw the tell-tale red flare around her neck to show that her anger was mounting with each passing second.

Yoongi pressed his hips against hers, further bracing her against the tree and preventing her from escaping. But she made no move to remove herself from the situation. Whether she believed it was fruitless or if she was unable to was something that Yoongi couldn’t figure out. Her expression was so impassive outside of her clear outrage. She could have pushed him aside, slapped him, kicked him in the shin or, hell, even kneed him in the nuts.

But she did none of that. The only sign of a visible struggle was the flex of her muscle against his fingers. Why wasn’t she fighting back?

“Yoongi-ah,” she said, cutting through the turmoil raging in his head. He blinked, looking at her – really looking at her. But he couldn’t read the face she was making. “What do you want from me?”

“W-What?” He felt his mouth go dry and he involuntarily tried to swallow.

“You heard me.” She lazily blinked again. “What. Do. You. Want. From. Me?”

Eden made a point to enunciate each word of the question. It stung, like someone plucking hairs straight from the root of his head. But it was a question he wasn’t ready to answer. Or maybe he didn’t have an answer. He had every opportunity to fix the problems he’d caused. He had every chance in the world to come clean and he hadn’t. Asking anything from her, even now, would have been plain selfishness.

Yet, Yoongi wanted to be selfish. He wanted to be greedy. He wanted to play dirty and he wanted to be as unfair as humanly possible.

Instead of answering her, he leaned forward and forcefully pressed his lips against hers. He heard her sharp intake of breath and there was a sound of bark scraping from the tree and hitting the grass. Yoongi waited for her to shove him, slap him, or even to feel a sharp pain in his gut as she stabbed him. None of it came.

Nothing happened.

When he pulled back, Yoongi saw Eden’s eyes filling with tears. Whether they were angry tears or something else, he couldn’t be sure. When they finally leaked from her eyes, he took a step back and released the hold he had on her. His breath came out rapidly – like he’d broken the surface of the ocean after nearly sinking to his death.

There was clarity. Absolute clarity.

And it hurt him.

“Eden, I—”

“Wow,” she said, her bottom lip trembling as more tears streamed down her face, “you’re a real asshole, Min Yoongi. You know that?”

He sighed, nodding.

“Yeah, I know.”

“You’re scum.”

He averted his gaze, too ashamed to look at her.

“I know.”

“And you’re the worst kind of pretender.”

He closed his eyes, wincing.

“You’re right. I am.”

Yoongi heard her leaving, her body shuffling through the grass and branches to exit the park. When her footsteps were far enough away, he felt his legs begin to tremble. Taking a step forward, he spun and let his back fall against the tree Eden previously was pressed on. It was still warm.

He looked down, spying the book that still laid abandoned on the grass. He slid down until he was sitting, his hand reaching out to grasp the book and finally looking at the title. Yoongi smiled bitterly.

“Pride and Prejudice, huh?”

A pathetic laugh escaped his chest as he covered his eyes with his forearm. It was over. It was really over. To think otherwise would have been a fool’s errand. Mistakes were made, even now, and Yoongi had no choice but to admit to them. To admit that she was no longer his.

That she never would be.

Hugging one knee to his chest, he buried his face into the crook of his arm and released a painful laugh. “…I’m sorry, Jungkook-ah,” Yoongi whispered, his voice thick with emotion, “Your Hyung is so fucking sorry.”

Make It Right [BTS Mafia AU]

Plot: “It’s always darkest before the dawn…” It’s a dog-eat-dog world in Seoul, South Korea. One has to dwell in the shadows in order to reach for the light. What are you willing to sacrifice in order to feel the sunlight on your face? What will it take to drag you back into darkness? How long will the journey be to make it right?

Rating: NC-17 // NSFW

Genre: Series | Mafia!AU | Crime!AU | Angst | Romance/Fluff | Smut

Pairings: Jin x OC | Taehyung/Hoseok x OC | Yoongi/Jungkook x OC

Warnings: Graphic Violence (bloody violence), Heavy Language, Angst, Slow Burn, Smut

Additional Warnings: Major Character Death (autopsy results)

Previous Chapters: Prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54

Links: FAQ || BTS Masterlist || Admin E’s AO3 || Admin E’s WP || [ REQUESTS ARE OPEN ]

Word Count: 3,772

Tag List: @prisczero, @pinkpjmin, @btsaudge, @flowerwrites06, @unoriginal-username15432, @halussali, @shrimpmsg, @ggukkieland​

AN: Do you guys have trust issues with me yet? No? Yes? I’m hoping the answer is yes because I don’t trust myself anymore. T_T

Chapter 54: Tear

“My heart is ripping, just set it on fire so the pain and the feelings won’t remain.”

© thebiasrekkers (Admin E). All rights reserved. Reposting/modifying our work is prohibited. Translations are not allowed. Plagiarism/stealing is not tolerated by any means. Legal action will be taken in instances of theft.

Seoul - Cheongdam; Gangnam District South Korea

“You’re lying.”

“Raelyn...”

“You are lying to me right now.”

“Listen to me--”

“STOP LYING!”

Her breathing was labored; harsh. Raelyn could feel the veins protruding from her neck as her spine went ramrod. A hand went to her swollen stomach, feeling the small life kicking in protest to its mother’s sudden spike in emotion. Hoseok stared pointedly at her, not breaking the harsh glare that she was undoubtedly throwing at him. She ignored the other people in the hospital that looked at the spectacle she was making, but she didn’t care. Raelyn couldn’t even begin processing what the hell she’d just been told.

Hoseok was telling her lies. Or someone was trying to prank her. Taehyung was capable of such a moronic thing and she planned to give him a solid ass beating the minute she saw him. If he put the others up to this, then they would all have hell to pay. Because this joke wasn’t even remotely close to being funny.

“I swear to God, Hoseok, if Taehyung is tryin’ to pull a fast one--”

The look on his face gave her pause. She couldn’t quite read it, but she could at least tell that he wasn’t playing around. No. The Jung Hoseok she knew wasn’t the sort to joke around about something so serious.

Yet Raelyn still couldn’t believe him.

Not until she saw Yoongi enter through the sliding glass doors with her best friend in his arms.

Raelyn’s legs turned to jelly and she fell forward. Thankfully Hoseok was there to catch her, holding her in his arms as she squeezed his forearms in a death-grip. There was no way that any of this was real. 

She thought back to when she told Eden to call her as soon as she’d gotten to Daegu. When she hadn’t heard from her initially, Jungkook reassured her that she must have been caught up with all the meeting and greeting and getting to know one another. It was unsurprising that she wouldn't call on the first day. Raelyn immediately thought the worst when two days passed and she hadn’t received a response to any of her text messages.

Both Raelyn and Anastasia prayed for the return of their friend when it was discovered that she was kidnapped by the Jade Fang members. The boys refused to let them go anywhere without supervision and, at first, they were hell-bent on protesting against it. But when Hoseok furiously explained how dire the situation was, they had no other choice but to relent. They didn’t want to put themselves at risk and cause others undue stress while hunting down Eden’s whereabouts. 

Raelyn pulled herself away from Hoseok, but he remained at her side quietly as she approached Yoongi. She’d never seen her friend so battered and broken. What was worse, her color was almost ashen and there were obvious signs of abuse littered over her frame. The peaceful look on Eden’s face, however, almost fooled Raelyn into believing she’d left the world in no pain. And she knew her friend was gone. 

No one had to tell her that.

“Eden,” she murmured, her hands reaching out to touch her. 

She nearly flinched back from how cold she was, tears immediately falling as she recalled her friend’s happiness and teasing face when she reached out to rub her belly. Eden told her that she needed to take some time off from work, but Raelyn was stubborn and insisted that she’d be administering care for her patients until the baby decided it was time for them to pop into the world.

Raelyn never wished to be anywhere but at work more than she did now.

The doors slid open again and Raelyn felt her hand move to cover her mouth as Namjoon and Seokjin walked in, carrying Jimin and Jungkook in their arms. Blood covered their bodies, their wounds easy to discern even with her naked eye. They stood on either side of Yoongi and she felt Hoseok’s arms resting on her shoulders, steadying her in case she felt she couldn’t stand up again.

“Miss D’Angelo, wait!” 

A voice shouted from outside and, as if on instinct, the boys stood away from the door as a very pregnant Anastasia hobbled into the hospital lobby. Her eyes locked with Raelyn’s and she seemed to be catching her breath. Someone must have told her to come to the hospital and there was a selfish side of Raelyn that wished they hadn’t. She didn’t need to see them. Not like this.

“Raelyn Unnie,” she cried, crossing over to her and clasping her hands, “I came as soon as I heard. It’s not true, is it? Tell me it’s not true!”

Raelyn bit her lower lip, averting her gaze away from her friend. She glanced over her shoulder as it seemed that Anastasia hadn’t noticed them yet. When she didn’t answer her, Ana realized something was amiss and turned her head slowly to look in the direction that Raelyn was facing. 

“Eden,” she heard her whisper.

Anastasia seemed to assess the situation for what it was. She let Raelyn’s hands go, took three full steps toward Yoongi, before her body started to tilt at a dangerous angle. Raelyn moved but Hoseok was faster, catching Anastasia by her arms to prevent her from falling to the floor. There was a sudden sound of liquid hitting the ground and Raelyn blinked as she realized Anastasia’s water broke.

The shocking truth primed her friend for labor.

“I need a gurney over here!”

A few of Raelyn’s co-workers were watching the situation as it unfolded, an orderly rushing down the hall to retrieve the requested gurney. Hoseok took Jungkook from Seokjin’s arms as both he and Raelyn helped Anastasia onto the gurney. They wasted no time wheeling her off to the delivery area after she explained what was happening. 

“Raelyn-ssi,” called Jongmin, her male nurse colleague, “is everything alright?”

She shook her head, wiping the tears from her face as she pointed to the others. “They need to be taken to the morgue.”

He looked at them curiously before turning back to her. “Are you--”

“Just do it, Jongmin-ssi, please,” she managed to choke out while grasping at his wrist, “I’ll take full responsibility, alright? Just...just get them down there.”

Namjoon sat on a bench outside in the back gardens of the hospital. A cigarette was perched between his lips, but he hadn’t lit the end yet. His thumb slid the top open to the Zippo, closing it with a loud clink before opening it again. People walked by him but he barely paid attention to any of them. His mind was so far from his body that he may as well have been able to see what he looked like from a vantage point across the way.

He felt empty inside.

His eyes were puffy and swollen from crying. The weight of Jimin’s body still felt heavy in his arms, like he was still carrying him. The blood that covered his arms and hands were washed clean in one of the hospital’s public washrooms. A doctor told them all they needed to get cleaned up while a medical examiner came and did a proper survey over the bodies. 

The urge to cry again sat on the corner of his heart, weighing like an anvil. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He’d kept himself together long enough to drive back to Seoul before losing it. Yoongi was as numb as he’d ever seen him and Seokjin was too far gone to drive back. It was Yoongi who took the keys from him. 

As empty as his soul felt, his mind raced a mile a minute. Namjoon turned over the chessboard in his brain, piecing everything together. His opponent? The Jade Fangs. 

Somewhere along the way, they’d messed up. As men and as gangsters. Despite every contingency they’d come up with, the Jade Fangs were that much more prepared. For every attack and counterattack, the Jade Fangs were able to parry and counterblow them back. Namjoon wasn’t foolish enough to assume that the Jade Fangs would remain quiet, but he wanted to believe that Hoseok’s discussion with Im Changkyun had, in fact, born fruit.

If only they knew what they would be reaping from the seeds they’d sown.

He felt the cigarette suddenly being pulled from his mouth, forcing him to look up. Yoongi was slipping it between his own lips, pilfering the lighter in Namjoon’s hand to light the end of it. He watched as his older brother took a long drag, flopping into the seat beside him. A cloud of smoke billowed from both his nostrils and mouth upon his exhale.

“The others?”

“Hoseok-ah is waiting on the medical examiner,” he said, cigarette clenched between his teeth, “Jin Hyung is with Ana-ssi.”

“Has she given birth?”

“She’s still in labor.”

“Ah.”

Silence quickly filled the gaps between them. Normally they were close, but it felt like Namjoon was on a different plane of existence from the rest of his brothers. Yoongi must have felt the same. 

“No word from Taehyung-ah?”

Namjoon shook his head. “His phone keeps going to voicemail.” He took a breath. “...do you think he’s--”

“We have to assume he is.”

“Assume he’s what?”

Both Namjoon and Yoongi looked up to see Raelyn standing off to the side of them. She lowered the phone in her hand at her side, gripping it tightly as she glared at them. Namjoon sighed, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. This was just going from bad to worse.

“Assume he’s what, Yoongi-ssi?” she repeated, the anger clear on her face.

“Dead, Raelyn,” said Yoongi as he stood up, “we have to assume Taehyung-ah is dead.”

Raelyn used her free hand to aim a slap at Yoongi’s face. Namjoon got to his feet on reflex, but Yoongi caught her by the wrist just inches from his face. Her arm shook with how hard she was trying to break through Yoongi’s defenses, but he held strong and his expression didn’t show any sign of shifting from the blank mask he currently wore.

“There’s a chance that he’s still alive, but we have to assume the worst.”

“Damn you, Min Yoongi,” she half-growled.

Namjoon watched his brother’s eyes narrow and he stood beside them both, ready to intervene at a moment’s notice.

“I won’t say you don’t have a right to be angry,” he said softly while pulling her hand down, “but don’t forget that I lost three brothers today.”

Raelyn’s face fell a measure and Yoongi released her hand. 

Namjoon’s brows furrowed. “Hyung…”

“And the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

Yoongi took a long drag from the cigarette, tapped the ash onto the ground, before snuffing it out completely in the sand tray next to the bench. Namjoon watched as his brother turned and headed back into the hospital’s back entrance. Raelyn’s sob broke through his thoughts and he turned to look back at the woman who carried his younger brother’s child in her womb. She buried her face in her hands, crying openly and he reached out to pull her into as comforting of an embrace as he could give her.

Because he was hurting too.

Anastasia screamed as the doctor urged her to push. Sweat drenched her hospital gown and she gripped onto Seokjin’s hand as if he were the only thing keeping her from life and death. The pain that wracked her body was indescribable and she continued to swear at the man at her side, declaring that this was all his fault. That he had to take responsibility for what he’d done.

The world blurred and cleared every so often, giving clarity to Anastasia’s mind. When she had a moment to breathe before being told to push again, the image of her friend’s dead body came crashing through her thoughts. She cried and screamed not from her labor pains, but from losing Eden in such a horrible way. She lost the ability to speak coherently two hours into labor, her strength seemingly bleeding away from her with every push she gave to bring her child into the world.

Seokjin pushed some of her sweat-soaked bangs from her forehead and she continued to cry, her eyes shifting to look at him. She was thankful that he was there with her. Anastasia knew that it was typically not allowed for fathers to be present during the birth, but Seokjin strictly stated that he would be present no matter what and he dared a doctor to tell him otherwise.

He seemed to understand what was truly bothering her and Anastasia closed her eyes, letting the tears leak out over her cheeks. She felt his lips press against her forehead and, again, she pushed, squeezing his hand harder than she’d ever squeezed it. 

Then she heard it. The wailing cry of life from a newborn baby. Everyone in the delivery room released collective sighs of relief and happiness. Her spine practically dissolved into the bed, her muscles loosening as the nurses cleaned the crying babe. 

“Congratulations,” said the doctor as a nurse handed a swaddled and red-faced infant to Anastasia, “it’s a boy.”

Anastasia held the child in her arms, still crying and giving little coughs of protest to the cold world it was now forced to live in. She brushed his dark hair away as it made faces and sneezed. A sob exploded from Seokjin as he fell to his knees, his hands pressing into her arm and the blanket draped over her waist.

“...thank you, Ana,” he whispered through his tears, “thank you for giving us some hope now.”

Hoseok was the very definition of the living dead. 

His body moved of its own accord, but his mind was completely vacant. His legs carried him up and down the hall, his fingers curling in and out of fists to pop the joints in his knuckles. Somewhere along the way, his heart settled to a quiet murmur. It was like he’d already died.

This all had to be a nightmare.

Hoseok’s mouth was dry and even though a receptionist gave him water, it went down like sand in his throat. He did everything he could to occupy his mind, tethering him to the hospital. He spent a solid hour calling Taehyung’s phone, not caring that it continuously went straight to voicemail. It was something; the only thing that was preventing him from seeking Changkyun out and ripping his spine clean from his body.

Another hour passed before the medical examiner arrived. They said nothing to each other as he took the elevator to the morgue. Hoseok remained in the lobby alone. 

He didn’t know how much time passed, but when he next looked out a window, darkness had already blanketed the outside world.

Seokjin was the first one to cross his path, looking just as haggard as he undoubtedly felt. 

“How is she?”

“It got scary a few times,” he said while massaging his hands, “but she’s fine.”

Hoseok tried to smile but he failed, giving up on the gesture altogether. “And the baby?”

Seokjin looked at Hoseok for the first time and saw tears welling in his eyes. “...a son.” He smiled but Hoseok could see the pain behind it. “We have a son.”

“C-Congratulations, Hyung,” he stammered, reaching out to grasp his older brother’s hands, “I’m so glad.”

“Where are the others?” Seokjin asked as he looked around. “Are they still here?”

Hoseok sighed, releasing Seokjin’s hands to rub his own through his dark hair. “I’m not sure.”

“Are the guardians of Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook and Jeon Eden present?”

Both men turned to peer at the doctor who was holding a chart, looking around the lobby. Hoseok’s heart plummeted to his knees. He wasn’t sure if he’d heard it right, but if he had…

...Eden and Jungkook-ah?

“We’re here,” said Seokjin, getting the doctor’s attention. 

“Ah, I see,” he said, approaching them, “we’re still waiting on the final autopsy results. It may take a few more hours. Will you be here awhile?”

“Yes.” Hoseok frowned. “We’ll be here as long as it takes.”

They all gathered in a private room. Yoongi could only stare as the doctor waited for all of them to get situated. When he asked where Raelyn was, Seokjin said that she decided to go check on Anastasia to make sure she was okay after the birth. It was better for them all that they weren’t there. Seeing their friend return in the state she was in was terrible enough. They didn’t need to sit through this discussion.

Hell, he didn’t want to be here for it.

They waited for the doctor to gather his paperwork before watching him take a seat across from them. He looked at each of them, sighed, and then presented a piece of paper to them.

It was Jungkook’s death certificate.

“For your youngest brother, Jeon Jungkook. The time of death is 11:06 AM. The cause of death would be blood loss due to laceration of the abdominal aorta. There were some superficial scratches, we assume from some kind of flora in the area. But, upon examination, we noted a puncture wound conclusive of a knife blade that perforated the abdominal wall, portion of the liver, and just missed completely severing the whole of the abdominal aorta.”

Yoongi’s whole body shifted in the chair. He felt Seokjin’s hand grab for his own from under the table, keeping him rooted in his spot. The doctor paused, looking at them all for another moment, before placing the next sheet of paper on the table.

It was Jimin’s death certificate.

“For your younger brother, Park Jimin. Time of death is 11:28 AM. The cause of death was determined to be massive blood loss due to the severing of both the left femoral artery and the abdominal aorta. Mr. Park was found to have several contusions about his temple, bruising consistent with something like a group attack? There were actual footprint sized bruises noted by the examiner, as well as a few broken ribs. These, by themselves, wouldn’t be cause for concern. There was also noted to be crossbow bolt injuries to the shoulder.”

“A crossbow bolt?” Hoseok asked, his voice tight with emotion. Yoongi didn’t even have to look at him to note the anger tinged in the inquiry.

The doctor nodded. “Again, paired with the bruising, it wouldn’t have been as dire had not both the major sources of blood supply been severed.”

They watched him place the last piece of paper on the table next to Jimin’s.

It was Eden’s death certificate.

“For your youngest sister, Jeon Eden...”

The doctor paused, the weight of the silence palpable. It was clear that he wasn’t too keen on speaking about this, but Yoongi knew he was prepared to come across the table if he didn’t start talking soon. Removing his glasses, the doctor took a deep breath to compose himself. 

“As you well know, we had to turn over this information to the police in order to finish our autopsy. The findings were quite severe for Mrs. Jeon. We ordered a STAT toxicology report that we should be receiving back within the next day or so.” 

Load of fuckin’ good that does, Yoongi thought bitterly, the police are just going through the motions. They won’t give a damn what those results turn up.

“To start off with, I’m sure you’re aware that Mrs. Jeon’s injuries, her very state, is conducive to someone who was tortured?” 

No one uttered a word. They all just stared transfixed at the doctor, waiting for him to continue.

So he did.

“Mrs. Jeon was in a state of critical dehydration and paired with the blood loss? The cause of death is Hypovolemic Shock. Time of death is 11:32 AM. Her body was covered in medium depth knife cuts about her legs, arms and torso. There were a multitude of welts and gashes consistent with a whip or flog type tool based on the pattern upon her back.”

Yoongi felt Seokjin’s grip tighten around his hand. The anger that bubbled around his chest threatened to choke him. The chair shook underneath him with how hard he was vibrating.

“It was difficult to get fluid samples, but we did our best. There were also one or two small marks that are consistent with needle punctures. There was no food in her stomach and based on the appearance of her organs, we estimate a loss of about twenty percent of her total body fluid. The way she arrived and the blood loss from just...so many places at once - and the inability to replace those fluids are what we determine to be the cause of her passing.”

The legs of the chair scraped harshly across the floor, causing everyone in the room to jump. Yoongi was up on his feet, yanking his hand from Seokjin’s grasp. When he tried to go for it again, presumably to make him sit down, Yoongi smacked his hand away and glared hotly at his older brother.

No one said anything. Not until he turned to leave the room. He heard them calling after him, but it all fell on deaf ears. Yoongi found himself in the quiet hallway, his legs moving faster until he ran full-speed out through the lobby and into the parking lot. When his feet hit the pavement, he doubled over and dry heaved toward the ground, feeling his intestines twisting inside of him with the storm of emotions barreling through him.

Tears fell to the ground at his feet and Yoongi felt the world lean in a raw tilt. He collapsed to his knees, punching the concrete repeatedly. He didn’t care that he was breaking skin and blood was splattering along the ground. He longed to feel something other than the wave of despair that threatened to swallow him completely.

When he could no longer feel the blows to the ground, he stopped long enough to reach into the inside pocket of his jacket. Fishing around inside, he shakily pulled out the two bloodied rings in his hand. Through his tears, he read the words inscribed on each of them.

On Eden’s ring was engraved the word “Together”. On Jungkook’s, the word “Forever”.

Curling his hand into a fist, he began pounding at his chest - mouth wide with the onset of something threatening to tumble from his throat. 

The loud clap of thunder overhead drowned out the sound of his screams.