This is a flashback chapter. Everything is in Jungkook's point of view because these are the memories that Seokjin couldn't remember.

Chapter 6: Monster

Monster

That word that Jungkook hates the most.
That word that destroyed his life.
That word that took his mother away from him.
That word that the society calls him.
That word that defines him.

He was a monster since birth, and because of that, he was an outcast to the society.

It all started when his mother wanted a child. His mother, a sweet and beautiful woman, was married to his father—a scientist. However, his mother was barren, unable to bare a child and because of that, she weeped. His father loved his mother so much that he wanted to ease her pain, and that’s when he designed an experiment.

This experiment led the man to a busier life, leaving his wife alone. He went at it for days, weeks, months and then it turned to years. He was almost there. Every single time, he felt like he was coming closer to his destination, yet it was still unreachable. Something was missing.

And then one day, he found it.

A strange dream came to him. A voice spoke, telling him that his wish of a child will be granted, but under one condition.

Renew the world

He didn’t know how he, a scientist barely anyone knew, could do such thing. But his wish was greater than his doubts, and he wholeheartedly accepted the offer. 

He woke up and in a few days, his wife showed signs of pregnancy. This got his hopes high as they went to the hospital for a check-up and indeed, the results came positive. His beloved wife finally was pregnant.

Months passed quickly and his wife finally gave birth to a beautiful baby. Held in his hands, he swore to protect his child, his own flesh and blood.

Years passed by, the family of three lived a happy life, living in their humble home.

But everything changed when the child reached the age of four. The dream came again, this time, urging him to make the change he promised or else, his precious son would be taken away. The scientist didn’t know what to do, but his fear of losing his child made him strive for a solution for whatever change the voice in his dream had wanted.

When he reverted back to his busy life, he started neglecting his wife and child again. But his beautiful wife was sweet and understanding, she didn’t question him for years in his isolation. But there was a limit to human patience, and years in that state, his wife started cheating behind his back.

The child grew at the age of 10, with a family deprived of the happiness and warmth it used to have. The father locked himself in his room and only came out for food and nothing else; the mother sought comfort from other men and the child was neglected and left alone.

One day, he was sitting idly in his room, having nothing else to do as he only dwelled in his imaginations. And that’s when he discovered something he wished he hadn’t.

He wondered how it would feel to fly—to levitate off from the ground and touch the sky. At that time, he marveled how it would be if he could touch the ceiling of his room. Closing his eyes, he let his imaginations run wild.

He imagined himself to be a superhero with awesome powers. He would fly and save people. He’d fight against villains and win. Everyone would love him and perhaps his parents would finally notice him. He smiled at this thought. He would be the happiest if his parents finally noticed him.

But his daydream was cut off by a piercing scream.

He opened his eyes and that’s when he finally noticed. He was not touching the ground nor sitting on his chair like he previously had; instead, he was floating on air! He was immensely surprised by this, and he looked at his mother who looked terrified.

“Mom,” He called out, “I’m flying!”

In contrast to the smile on his face, his mother only had terror reflected in her eyes. 

And that’s when things changed for the worse.

His mother left him and his father. She took her things with her and left with her other man. They ran away together. But before she left, she never called his name. Instead, only one word left .

Monster.

His father almost went crazy after losing his wife. He took a glance at the son he hasn’t seen for a long time, realizing that he was never there to see his son grow up. The man wept.

Since then, the man indulged himself even more in his research, not even bothering to come out to eat on some days. The child spoke less, instead, he became like his father. He, too, locked himself in his room, perhaps he also practiced on his abilities for a bit, and only went out when necessary—like going to school.

His father still had the capacity to feed him and give him education—how? He doesn’t know. But even with the financial support, Jungkook was alone the whole time. And being alone for so long, he grew to be independent. He and his father never talked about his mother’s departure. His father never asked him anything and because of that, Jungkook told him nothing.

His secret abilities remained a secret of his. His father’s research remained a mystery to him as well.

Jungkook grew up without friends—a loner. People call him names, spread rumors about him. Saying that he’s mean, that he’s a bully, that he hates people so they should stay away from him. Not everything said were true, but they weren’t entirely false. Jungkook never bothered to correct their impression of him for he considered it better that way. He didn’t want to be with anyone anyway.

And his life was quiet and lonely for the most part.

But one day, he created the same mistake as he did with his mother.

A group of boys came and cornered him one day. The girls of their class were all afraid of him and the guys thought that they could show off to their crushes if they beat up the so-called ‘outcast’. Since when did beating people up to become something cool and impressive these days? Jungkook doesn’t know.

But he got hit that day.

They threw a few punches and kicks at him. He tried to fight back, of course. But there was only him who actually had no experience with fighting, unlike what the rumors say, against a group of boys—probably half the male population of his class who seemed to hate him. Still, he tried to defend himself and landed a few punches here and there. But as much as he could, he was taking more hits than the punches he could give.

And in that moment of desperation, he was unable to control himself.

The windows of his classroom broke upon an invisible force. The classmates that had him pinned down were thrown in all directions away from him. Everything, chairs and broken shards of glass that surrounded him levitated and formed some kind of protective barrier. The witnesses could only look at him with the evident fear in their eyes.

 And that’s when the word came back.

Monster.

The incident was brought to the teachers and the group of boys, as well as Jungkook, were given detention. But those who witnessed told what they had seen—Jungkook’s supernatural abilities. Of course, without enough evidence aside from their claims, the adults didn’t believe them. In fact, reprimanded them for accusing fallacies towards Jungkook.

He had been thankful that the boys were noted delinquents thus the principal believed him more when he said that he has done nothing paranormal. But the same couldn’t be said to his schoolmates. They believed the words of the gang—they believed the truth.

And that’s when he could no longer wash off the word that stained and defined his name.

Monster.

No one befriended him. No one came close to him, even just a meter or two. Whenever he was around, a crowd would clear up instantly. Whenever he entered, the room would become empty—unless it was the classroom where they are required to stay in class. No one dared to attack him anymore, they all feared him.

But Jungkook can feel the stares, can hear the words. He was nothing more than a monster from then on.

As if the gods hated him so, weeks after the incident, his father asked to speak with him for the first time. They had been awkward, of course. But then his father said words that Jungkook couldn’t remember anymore, but he remembered feeling upset over those words. His emotional state caused for glass surrounding them to break.

His father was surprised, but he was quick to realize. That was when his father discovered his secret. At that time, Jungkook was ready to be kicked out or left behind, like what his mother did. He expected and prepared himself for many possibilities, but he was never prepared for what his father did next.

He smiled at him, and then pulled him into an embrace.

But it wasn’t the comfortable kind of embrace. No, it was chilling. Because the smile on his father’s face was nothing close to kindness, but instead, it looked crazed—as if he had lost his sanity.

“I finally found it.” He whispered, “It was you all along. You were the change I needed.”

“Father, what do you mean?” He asked, but his words were left to deaf ears as his father pulled him to his feet, and dragged him to his room, ignoring the broken shards of glass that stabbed their bare feet. Jungkook could only wince in pain at the open wounds he had acquired from it.

His father brought him in the room he had always locked himself in.
His father welcomed him to his lair.
His father opened the gates of hell for him.

He discovered then, that his father had been working on a secret project. It was full of uncertainties and his father kept talking about things that he couldn’t comprehend.

I finally found the change!

I can renew this world like I’ve promised!

Maybe I can bring my wife back!

There will be a new and improved generation of humanity!

These were the words his father had uttered. Jungkook understood nothing at all. But when his father turned to him and asked him a favor, “Son, help me with my project. If you help me, I promise to return all the time we lost and we can bring your mother back. We can be complete again.”

Jungkook could vaguely recall the rest of the words his father promised. But he remembered agreeing to it—signing the contract to the devil.

Two years passed since then, Jungkook turned seventeen. When his father asked for his help, he meant his blood. His father would take samples of his blood and then usher him out of the room. And a few weeks later, he would call for him and ask for another sample of his blood. It went on like that for years. Jungkook had several questions, but he never asked them for fear that his father might leave like his mother did.

Life has been dull for Jungkook since then. People still avoided him, calling him monster. He was still the outcast of the class and he stayed at the corner of the room all the time. He would walk home and eat then lock himself to his room for the remainder of his day. He only comes out when his father asked him to. They exchange a few words ‘how are you?’ ‘fine’ ‘that’s good’ and nothing more.

But everything changed when one day came, a day Jungkook thought would be uneventful when a transfer student came. He was several years older than Jungkook but they were in the same class for two reasons—Jungkook was smart enough to skip two years of school while the new student was held back because he was hospitalized for one year due to his health problems.

“Hello, everyone!” the new student smiled. Some of the girls in his class squealed while some cooed at how adorable he was, “My name is Kim Seokjin. I’m pleased to meet you all!”

The whole class fell in love for the sweet boy, and when the teacher allowed them to ask questions, nearly everyone had their hands raised.  Jungkook silently observed everything for a moment before he scoffed and focused his attention on the window that gave him a view of the bright sky. He let his mind wander and he was drifting off until he heard his name being called that he was brought back to reality and saw that everyone in class was looking at him, some in distaste, some in shock, some in fear.

Jungkook blinked twice, confusion evident on his face. The teacher cleared his voice again before he repeated, “Seokjin will seat beside Jungkook. And Jungkook-ah, since you’re his new seatmate, I will assign you to help him in the lessons he missed and tour him around campus.”

Several complains erupted from the class but the teacher paid no attention towards them as he gestured for Seokjin to take the seat, in which the transfer student did happily.

As he settled himself beside Jungkook, he turned to him with a bright smile on his face, “Hey, my name is Kim Seokjin. You can call me Seokjin or Jin, whichever you prefer, and you must be Jungkook from what the teacher had said, so nice to meet you, Jungkook-sii.”

He offered his hand for a shake but Jungkook only stared at it before he glared at Seokjin, “Don’t be close to me. You’ll regret it.” Then he turned away from the new student.

Seokjin blinked confusedly at him and he looked a bit hurt. Jungkook tried his best to ignore the guilt that ate him inside as he continued to ignore his new unfortunate seatmate and focused on the discussion.

When the bell rang for lunch, Jungkook immediately left his seat, ignoring Seokjin’s request to eat lunch together. The moment he was away, he could see some of his classmates surrounding Seokjin and with his sharp sense of hearing, he could hear them telling Seokjin to stay away from him and started telling him how Jungkook was a ‘monster.’

At least I don’t have to keep on telling him to stay away now, Jungkook thought as he walked away. It was lonely, he admitted that but it was for the better. Besides, Seokjin might be bullied as well if he hanged around Jungkook.

When Jungkook came back after lunch, he expected that Seokjin would transfer seats now after discovering who Jungkook was. But to his surprise, his new seatmate plopped beside him and offered him a genuine smile. Jungkook couldn’t help but think, Is this guy crazy? Didn’t he hear what the others said about me?

He frowned but decided to continue ignoring his new strange seatmate. A little while later, they were all copying notes for their History teacher when Jungkook’s luck ran out—as if he had any—and his pen had no more ink. He cursed silently before he rummaged in his bag for any spare ones but found that he had more useless stuff inside than useful ones. He really should start reorganizing his things.

“Here,” he heard a soft voice beside him. He looked and saw his new seatmate with the same smile on his face while his hand was holding a black pen, as if offering it to him, “I have an extra pen, and you can have it.”

Jungkook was speechless for a moment as it had been the first time that someone was brave yet stupid enough to offer him something. He then glared at the newbie, “I don’t need your pen so keep it.” He then proceeded in trying to write with his empty pen, pressing the tip harder than usual only to lead to poor results.

He heard a chuckle beside him and he glanced to see the new guy still offering the pen with a smile, “You can’t write with that one anymore. The notes are long and we still have more subjects to go.”

The raven stared at the guy’s eyes, looking for any signs but all he saw was kindness and honesty. Swallowing his pride (along with his fear), he accepted the pen hesitantly. Not trusting his own voice, he gave a nod to Seokjin as silent thanks and his seatmate beamed at him in return.

When Seokjin finally turned to focus on the discussion, Jungkook kept glancing back to his seatmate in curiosity. How could someone be kind to him, especially after hearing what his classmates said about him? Did Seokjin not believe his classmates then? Jungkook was worried for a while. What if Seokjin discovers that his classmates weren’t lying, would he stay away then?

Jungkook tried to forget his worries. He decided that if he wanted to avoid getting hurt, he shouldn’t be friends with this guy even if he’s the first to show kindness. If there’s no bond nor attachment between them then he doesn’t have to worry about Seokjin’s reaction when he discovers the truth nor does he have to worry about Seokjin’s thoughts on him.

He’ll just have to stay away.

And he did.

By the end of the day, Jungkook wordlessly returned the borrowed pen to Seokjin and before the latter could say anything, he left quickly so that they wouldn’t communicate. The preceding days, Seokjin tried to initiate conversations but Jungkook didn’t reply nor did he spare a glance. Jungkook hoped that Seokjin would grow tired and leave him be but he was wrong.

Because Seokjin grew more and more determined as the days stretched longer.

The skies were grey. It was dark even when it was still five in the afternoon. The wind was strong and the atmosphere was cold. Yet, he was walking calmly, in contrast to the shivering, stubborn boy following him.

“Jungkook, wait!” he called, “Slow down!”

“Stop following me!” the raven-haired spat back. Jungkook didn’t bother to look behind, annoyed at the other’s persistence.  “Go home!”

“But I only want to be your friend!” the other replied, and there was desperation in his voice.

“I don’t need friends!” Jungkook stopped and glared at him. He was growing tired of everything, “I’m a monster, after all.”

“You’re not a monster.” He replied, concern was reflected in his eyes but Jungkook wanted nothing of it, “Don’t let their words get to you. They’re lying.”

“No, they’re telling the truth. You’re the one who’s lying.” Jungkook glared back and the winds grew stronger, he needed to get away before he could do something he’ll regret, “Go away, Seokjin. I don’t need you.”

He left quickly, leaving a gaping, shivering boy behind. He paid no mind to everything around him, even if the wind was howling stronger and stronger like the storm in his heart.

Once he arrived home, he ran upstairs and locked himself in his room, trying to will his heart to calm down. He glanced nervously at his window and saw the bad weather outside. It was his fault, he knows this. The more his heart ached, the stronger the tempest was. He told himself repeatedly like a mantra, calm down, calm down, calm down

That night, he was restless in his sleep.

The next day came and Jungkook came to school with his bangs covering his eyes. He avoided anyone’s gaze as the crowd parted to let him pass. No one wanted to go near him; no one wanted to touch him. And he was fine with that; he didn’t want to hurt them too.

However, a voice called his name. “Jungkook!”

Jungkook paused in his steps, heart beating erratically. There was silence in the hallway, not only Jungkook was speechless but the rest as well. Who would be reckless enough to call the monster by his name?

Slowly, Jungkook turned around to see his stubborn seatmate running towards him, waving cheerfully. The raven’s eyes widened at the other, and the rest of the student body gaped and started whispering amongst each other.

When Seokjin was near him, he grabbed Jungkook’s hand—much to the raven and the other student’s surprise—and pulled him, “Let’s walk to class together.”

The moment they were far from the gazes of the crowd, Jungkook smacked the hand that was holding his and glared hard at Seokjin, “are you stupid?”

The other looked genuinely confused and he asked, “Why?”

“Can’t you see? I’m an outcast. Everyone avoids me and you should too.” Jungkook spat back, “They saw you around me and now they’re going to think we’re frie—“

“But we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“No, we’re not!” Jungkook’s voice raised and at that moment, the light bulb above them broke, startling Seokjin. The raven glared harder, “They’re going to come after you too. So you should go back to them and tell them that we’re not friends so they won’t start bullying you.”

Silence.

After a few moments, Jungkook took that as a cue to leave. So he turned his back and started walking away when he heard footsteps and a hand grabbed his. He turned abruptly and glared.

“What part of 'leave me alone' do you not understand?” he snarled and Seokjin didn’t reply to him but he gripped harder. Jungkook heaved a sigh before he asked, “What do you want from me?”

“I told you,” Seokjin pouted, “I’ll be your friend.”

“But I’m a monster.”

“I don’t care.” Seokjin smiled, “I like you.”

“You like me?” what? Jungkook’s eyes widened at that statement. Is this guy even real? After Jungkook’s treatment towards him, he tells him that he wants to be his friend because he likes him? The raven scoffed at that, “There’s nothing to like.”

“There is!” Seokjin beamed, “You’re very likable, Jungkook.”

“Shut up.”

“No,” Seokjin said, “You need to hear me out. You’re very special and I don’t want you to listen to what others say about you. You’re a very good person, I can tell. I want to be friends with you. I don’t want to see you alone anymore. I want to see you smile and enjoy a bit. Jungkook, I—“

“I don’t want your pity.”

“It’s not pity, it’s concern.”

“Well, I don’t need your concern either!”

“But I care for you.” Seokjin defended.

No, you don’t. You’ll leave like mother when you’ll discover the truth. Jungkook bit his lips and smacked Seokjin’s hand away once again, “ off.”

He ignored the pang in his heart when he saw the crestfallen expression on Seokjin’s face as he walked away. For the rest of the day, he ignored the other boy and kept himself away from the rest like he always had. This time, including Seokjin.

It was late at night but Jungkook couldn’t sleep. He can’t help but think of Seokjin’s words. A part of him wanted to become friends. Being alone for so long, sometimes he sought for company. Seokjin was kind and he was understanding. But Jungkook didn’t want to risk anything. He was afraid of attachments, because if he’s attached, then he’ll get hurt and be betrayed. Just like his mother.

In the midst of his thoughts, he heard a loud thud downstairs. Alert, he got up from his lying position and strained his ears at the sound. There was shuffling down stairs and he could hear a few doors open and close. It was so quiet that if Jungkook didn’t have such sensitive ears, he wouldn’t have heard it. It’s as if the person didn’t want anyone to hear him.

The only person in the house would be Jungkook and his father. And his father barely came out of the room, and if it was his father then he wouldn’t feel the need to keep things quiet as if his cautious. Jungkook concluded that there was an intruder in his house, it could be a thief or a murderer, he doesn’t know.

With careful movements, Jungkook got off from his bed and exited his room, heading his way to the source of the noises.

The noises lead him to the kitchen, and Jungkook hid behind the walls that divided the rooms and peeked to see a silhouette that clearly didn’t belong to his father. It belonged to someone who seemed like he was more or less around Jungkook’s age. But Jungkook noticed that the person was trembling, as if it was scared. The silhouette was fumbling with the windows, trying to open the locks in it.

As quiet as he could, he stalked near the trembling figure. When he was close the person, he took the opportunity to surprise the other by grabbing from behind and locking him in his arms. They struggled on the floor, the other kicked and tried to remove his hands but Jungkook’s hold was stronger.

Footsteps came and another person entered the scene, “Jungkook.”

The said boy looked up to find his father hovering over him and the mysterious boy. Glancing at Jungkook and the other boy, his father pulled an injection from behind and said, “That’s it, son. Hold him.”

“No! Please let me go!” the other by squirmed, trying to release himself from Jungkook’s hold but the raven held tighter as he waited for his father.  The stranger looked up and stared directly into Jungkook’s eyes, he was pleading silently with fear evident in his teary orbs.

When his father successfully injected the needle into the other, he whined in pain and tried struggling for a bit before his energy slowly diminished and Jungkook loosened his hold on the boy. A few minutes passed and the boy was unconscious. His father gathered the boy in his arms and carried him away from Jungkook.

“Father,” the raven called, staring at the unconscious boy with uncertainty, “Who is that? Where are you taking him?”

His father stared at him for a while, and Jungkook felt a chill go down his spine at the man’s gaze, “Go back to bed, son.”

Exactly a week passed since that day and Jungkook was bothered. Who was that boy? What was his father doing? What exactly was happening?

Trapped in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Seokjin approach him until he placed a lunchbox in front of his desk with a smile. Jungkook looked up and saw the other’s smile. This has been happening since last week as well, ever since Seokjin’s declaration about wanting to be friends with him. The other had been relentless in his attempts and he even started giving lunchboxes to Jungkook saying that he has never seen Jungkook eat lunch and that the boy was pale that he needed to eat properly.

Jungkook glared at the other boy who smiled wider. During the past week, Jungkook has been trying to get rid of the boy but every time he did, the other always found ways to stick with him. When he told him that he won’t eat, Seokjin forced him to sit down and refused to let him up until he had a bite.

Usually, he’d just push the other away but then Jungkook saw a bruise under Seokjin’s sleeves for a moment and he couldn’t help but think that it was his fault. After all, like he had said, the people started bullying Seokjin when he was hanging out with Jungkook. The raven felt guilty that he decided to take a bite of the lunchbox and surprisingly, it was good.

After that, he told the other to get away from and tell everyone that they weren’t friends but Seokjin was stubborn, like always. He came back day after day, and Jungkook keeps noticing that the other is wearing sweaters and jackets and he noticed that something is off with Seokjin’s face—he’s wearing make up. Probably to conceal more bruises

Jungkook was concerned—though he tried to deny it. But slowly, things were starting to change between them. Before Jungkook could even stop it, it became a norm for them to stay in the classroom during lunch and eat whatever Seokjin had cooked. Jungkook would always glare at Seokjin but he’d end up eating whatever was given to him. Seokjin would come back smiling brighter yet Jungkook would notice the new injuries he’d have.

Jungkook won’t speak; Seokjin would do all the talking. He would talk about his family, about class, about his dog and basically everything. At first Jungkook would just drown him out, but later on, he started listening to the other. Seokjin seemed to notice as he spoke more and more about topics he thought that Jungkook might be interested in.

It was weeks after that and things remained the same. Jungkook never saw the boy at home anymore, and he never saw his father come out of the room as well. But at night, Jungkook thought that he could hear screams from downstairs, but whenever he opened his eyes, they were gone and there’s only silence left.

Weeks after, he spent his lunch with Seokjin. He never spoke much still, but he was listening. He never did anything about Seokjin’s situation and Seokjin never said anything about it as well. His seatmate seemed to have labeled both of them as ‘friends’ but Jungkook never really thought much about their relationship. Instead, he tried his best not to get attached but slowly, he was learning more about the boy and he even caught himself almost smiling to some of the boy’s stories.

On one day that Seokjin had brought his phone to school, he heard the boy said, “I hope this he’s okay. He’s been missing for almost a month now.”

Jungkook just ate silently as he listened to Seokjin’s rant about how kidnapping is inhumane and saying how people shouldn’t commit crimes. Jungkook can’t help but think that despite being older, the other was naïve. However, all those thoughts were pushed out of his mind when Seokjin showed his phone’s screen in front of his face, showing the image of the missing boy and at that moment, Jungkook’s chest tightened.

“If you ever find someone with this face, please do report it to the police. He’s been missing for over a month now and his parents are worried” Seokjin said, “It would really be a great help.”

Jungkook couldn’t find words to say as he stared at the familiar face in the picture. It was the same face that he could remember that night. The same boy unconscious in his father’s arms. The same boy who looked at him pleadingly.

“His name is Luhan, by the way.” Seokjin said as he pulled the screen away and tucked it in his pocket, looking like he wants to cry, “He’s my cousin.”

At that moment, something tugged within Jungkook’s heart.

What the hell is his father doing?

And why does his heart hurt at the sight of Seokjin’s close to crying face?

I'm sorry if it may seem like I'm dragging the pace of this story but the chapters about JinKook's past will be about 2-3, it depends. It's because their story is quite long xD But don't worry, right after I finish their past, then I'll go back to their present. Thank you for reading you!

With love,

Chrysallion <3