Chapter 22 – My Questions

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I will get to the bottom of this. 

     "Start talking." 

Taehyung pierced Jeongkook with his stare, eyeing the boy for any signs of fault. 

"Can you wait 'till I finish this first?" Jin whined as he focused on wrapping Jeongkook's lower arm with white bandages. Namjoon stepped closer and winced as he examined the purple bruises on the younger's cheek and jaw. "Gosh, Taehyung. You didn't have to be so rough, seriously."

The orange haired rolled his eyes slightly, arms crossed. They were, once again, all back in Namjoon, Seokjin and Yoongi's room since Jimin was too weak to move around. He sat up on the bed as the rest occupied the spaces around the room. Jeongkook sat in a chair opposite from Taehyung, who looked like he could still muster up some more bruises on the boy's body. If not for the cut on Jeongkook's arm, the elder probably would've knocked him out right then and there outside the hospital less than an hour ago. 

Jeongkook glanced up. "What more is there to say? I killed him, as simple as that. Nothin' more to it."

"I want the full story." Taehyung said firmly. "How'd you kill him?"

The maknae blinked once, all attention in the room on him. That's when Jin realised. "..." he murmured as he gave Yoongi a horrified look, "he must've took a knife from the kitchen before leaving."

"No , hyung." Yoongi muttered back. 

Jeongkook glanced down. "I slit his throat."

Besides the glass of water that slipped from Hoseok's grip, nothing else fell onto them but silence. It was deadly, like invisible acid rain that stung them. Taehyung felt his blood boiling; he had never been so angry before, excluding the time Jimin had been stabbed. This was the second, and he hadn't had much time in between to work on controlling his anger. His fingers were tingling for him to leap off the chair and give Jeongkook another punch, but he was restraining himself to stay put. Jimin's eyes were dead worried as he glanced between Taehyung to Jeongkook, shaking his head at how messed up the situation was. 

"What? You want more details?" Jeongkook asked, tone almost arrogant. Taehyung held in a breath to not lunge at the younger. "I grabbed a knife from the kitchen, took a taxi to the hospital, got into his room and slice. Done." Jimin's head rose at that, eyes floating over Jeongkook suspiciously. He carefully glanced at the others in the room and realised none of them had noticed what he did. 

"But how'd you get hurt? Don't tell me you killed my brother while he was asleep? What a coward." Taehyung threw words at him like spitting on concrete. Despite the fact that he was going to do exactly the same thing, it was just not okay that the murderer was anyone but himself. The whole point was that he had a history in killing; at least he wouldn't pull any of the others down if he were caught. Too bad Jeongkook didn't understand that earlier. However, secretly...Taehyung wasn't really sure how to react because deep down, he wondered if he really would've been able to kill his own brother if he did enter room 15 on floor 10 that night; he still remembered those distant happy memories. 

Jeongkook gulped. "Yeah, I'm a coward. I chickened out at first, so the knife slipped from my grip and I tried to catch it. I got hurt. Laugh all you want." 

Jimin shook his head. Liar. 

"You all know I did this so the bastard wouldn't hurt Jimin anymore. The next time he attacks one of us is bound to lose our life, and I wasn't going to let that happen." Jeongkook argued, to which Taehyung's eyebrows furrowed. "Where's the weapon?"

"What?" 

Taehyung wasn't angry anymore, he was panicking. "Where's the ing weapon? You're telling me you killed someone and left the evidence there?" 

Jimin saw the frown that began to linger on Jeongkook's lips. "Alright, I think that's enough Tae. Give Jeongkook some rest. Hyung," he glanced at Namjoon, "please." 

Once the others left the room - Jin taking Taehyung out with him to calm him down - Jimin took the chance to talk to Jeongkook. As the younger sat down by him, the first thing he did was wipe away non-existent tears from below Jeongkook's eyes. The boy flinched with confusion written all over his face. He looked at Jimin who grabbed his hand and sent warmth through their touch. "It's okay, Jeongkook. You can cry if you want. Don't hold it in."

Jeongkook's eyes glistened. "How...how do you know?" 

Jimin smiled; only he knew the double meaning behind the maknae's words. "Because I know you better than anyone. I know it wasn't you. Can you tell me-"

"No." Jeongkook shook his head violently, "I can't. Don't ask me about it hyung, just pretend not to know. It's better for everyone that way."

"But Jeongkook, I don't want you in jail if it wasn't your fault."

"But it is my fault!" The younger wailed, tears finally falling from his eyes. Jimin felt his heart compress at the distress over Jeongkook's face. He pulled him in and hugged him tightly, trying to emerse himself in the other's sadness in hopes it would help make him feel better.

"If I didn't stupidly go, if I didn't stupidly try and attempt murder, if I had just stayed..." Jeongkook chocked on his sobs, "then none of this would've happened. It's all my fault, hyung!" 

Jimin tried to understand what Jeongkook was saying but he couldn't decipher what the boy was referring to. "What do you mean? Did something else happen? Was there someone else with you?" 

Jeongkook tensed under his hold and Jimin knew. "Who was it?"

The younger paused before lifting his head to look into the elder's eyes. "You can never tell anyone."

Jimin nodded, leaning in for Jeongkook to whisper words that sent his heart plummetting to the ground.