chapter XVI 싸움 [fight]

"i've been fighting all my life; it's all i've ever known to do"

        Yongguk never sprang up from his bed so fast as his cell door opened. Jimin merely smiled sweetly at him, with Jungkook, Jaebum and Mark behind him. Yongguk blinked all doe-eyed at the officers in slight confusion but mainly alarm. It was the dead of night. The rest of the inmates were sleeping and Yongguk probably would have been if he wasn't staring at the ceiling with a certain thick-lipped Busan boy lingering in his head.

"What's up?" Yongguk whispered in a hushed tone, careful not to wake anyone else up. "Why are you guys here? And still on duty? Holy ." Jaebum chuckled and Yongguk took note of his healed shoulder. 'How long has it been?' Yongguk thought to himself in bewilderment.

"Relax, Yongguk." Jaebum spoke, his arms crossing in his chest. "We just got some news to tell you about Daehyun.

Yongguk perked an eyebrow. "As glad as I am to hear that there are news, was it neccessary to do it at this time and with my cell door open?" He prompted.

"We're going to tell you in the courtyard. It's rather private and we don't want to risk any of the inmates hearing about this." Mark answered. Yongguk's lips formed into a thin line and he nodded obediently. "Follow us. We'll have to handcuff you just in case another guard spots us. Jungkook, do you mind gathering Jongup and Himchan real quick, too?" The younger nodded and walked away to gather the others as Jimin approached Yongguk with his handcuffs.

"How's your head?" Yongguk asked as Jimin hand-cuffed him.

"Ah, hyung, it's been weeks since the incident with the Chief!" Jimin giggled as he guided Yongguk out of the cell. "But sometimes I'll get dizzy and I guess the concussion hasn't worn off fully yet."

Yongguk hummed softly before nodding. "I suppose that's good, right? You haven't fainted or anything?" He asked. Jimin smiled and shook his head. "Aish, you're seriously a precious little thing. I can see why Jungkook's so fond of you."

"Damn right I am." Jungkook smirked at Jimin's shocked expression and flushed cheeks. "Which reminds me," Jungkook approached Jimin and kissed him once before smiling wide. "Happy 100 Days, Park Jimin." He cheekily congratulated.

Jimin made a face but Yongguk could tell he was biting back a smile. "Shut up. And it's hyung to you, brat." He huffed but Jungkook remained there, still smiling and Jimin finally caved in. "Okay, okay. Happy 100 Days to you too, Jungkookie." Jungkook cheered in delight and began peppering Jimin's face in kisses, making the other begin giggling. Jaebum rolled his eyes at the younge couple as they all guided the 3 inmates to the courtyard.

"Jaebum, is that a ring on your finger or are my eyes playing tricks on me?" Jongup suddenly exclaimed his eyes widening. Jaebum blinked and looked down at his hand before smiling sheepishly at them. "Oh my god...are you two--" Jongup looked back and forth between Mark and Jaebum. "--are you two engaged?!"

Mark rubbed the side of his neck. "We've been together for nearly 10 years, minus those 7 years I've been held captive. So...yeah, I uh," Mark side-glanced his fiance. "...I purposed. Last night."

"Well, I'd be damned." Himchan laughed. "Congratulations, you two."

Jaebum smiled and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I was meaning to purpose anyways, but Mark did it first." He shrugged.

"Anyways--" Jimin sat down on the bench but then Jungkook sat down beside him and yanked him into his lap. "Aish, you're clingy. Anyways, we wanted to tell you how Daehyun's doing with the lawsuit and everything."

"Is he winning?" Yongguk asked, his eyebrows raising in interest. "How it's even going?"

Mark smiled at them. "He's winning. By a long shot." He revealed with a proud nod. "The first 2 hearings were pretty rough; although Daehyun had solid evidence, the chief had wealth and power so Daehyun was shaken up to say the least."

"But then I volunteered to take the stand in the court." Jungkook rested his chin on Jimin's shoulder, holding the older protectively in his arms. "I answered every question Daehyun's lawyer and the Chief's lawyer asked me and the Judge didn't seem impressed with what I described about the Chief. So the 3rd hearing Daehyun seemed to really swing back."

"With your help, of course." Jimin reminded, poking Jungkook's cheek.

"Then I took the stand on the 4th hearing, which was last week." Mark sighed. "It was hard to talk about it, mainly because my main goal is to forget it all. But I was willing to dig through my memory for this. I know Daehyun really needed my help for it. In the 4th hearing, Daehyun's lawyer even provided video taped confessions by the gang members of what happened when Daehyun was held hostage. They confessed to everything."

"Of course, they wanted to hear Youngjae's side of the story." Jaebum side-glanced Yongguk, who didn't seem guilty at all. "But we told the judge that Youngjae was killed in the chaos. We didn't mention that it was by you, though. 'Cause if you had a murder on your shoulders, then Daehyun definitely wouldn't be able to get you out of jail."

Yongguk's eyebrows shot up. "So, what you guys are saying, is that you are letting me get away with murder? The worst crime known to man?" He tested questionably.

Jaebum nodded stiffly and exhaled. "The -hat had it coming. And, honestly, if you hadn't pulled the trigger, then I would have." He confessed with a soulless shrug.

"Okay, well...when's the last hearing?" Himchan questioned, his eyebrows knitting together. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Jimin nodded. "The next and final hearing is in a couple of days." He replied, letting Jungkook absentmindedly play with his fingers. "And they're saving the best evidence for then."

"The best evidence?" Jongup frowned in confusion. "Do you mean Daehyun?"

Jaebum shook his head. "No, Daehyun already took the stand during the 1st hearing. They're gonna be questioning Zelo." He couldn't help but grin at the 3 inmates expressions. "We already interrogated him and when Daehyun showed up, Zelo didn't even know he was still alive. So it took a few mocking words and snarls from Daehyun--which, may I say, never get on the guy's bad side--" Yongguk chuckled with a faint 'yeah, he'll kick your in a heartbeat' whisper. "--in order for Zelo to finally spill. We got the video as proof but we're bringing Zelo in to really face Daehyun and bring the guy to justice."

"Well, that's great, actually." Jongup leaned back against the picnic table they were sitting at. "Did Daehyun land a few punches?"

Mark snorted. "A few is an understatement. But we won't tell the judge that." He winked with a grin. "He managed to break Zelo's nose in two places and cut his lip pretty good. Oh and Daehyun tackled him into the one-way mirror and it shattered."

"Damn." Yongguk exhaled before laughing softly. "I guess Daehyun was very angry. It's rare that he ever gets physical. But when he does, there's blood to say the least. The last time he got physical was someone, the guy was brain dead with a single punch. So knowing that Daehyun didn't hurt him that much shows he had restraint on his anger." Jaebum grimaced and looked at Mark, who mirrored his expression.

"Yeah, he's got that Busan fire in him." Himchan snorted.

"Busan fire?" Jungkook chimed, blinking in confusion before he looked at Jimin. "But he doesn't have that. When he gets angry, he looks like an angry chipmunk and he's so tiny and small so I can't take him seriously."

". . . YAH JEON JUNGKOOK, DO YOU WANNA DIE TODAY?!"

---

"So, Daehyun," one of the hosts said, shifting his seat. Yongbin, was his name. He was kinda friendly, if it wasn't for him trying his best to mock Daehyun on live television. "We heard that you got multiple times. Is that true?"

Daehyun's eyes slighly narrowed. "Do you guys think I'm lying about that?"

"Well, it seems a little hard to believe." The second host scoffed. Taewoon. "All this violence and gore; seems like it all only belongs in some kind of book or movie. I am having a hard time believing