Once upon a time, there was a boy.

He had his whole life planned out for himself.

He'd marry his high school love and together they would open up an art shop for those who feel alone, who feel like no one understands them; a feeling both knew too well.

He'd go to his best friend's concerts and cheer him on because, they were brothers and that's what brothers do.

He'd finally live the life that he wanted. He would be free.

All of this changed in the blink of an eye.

~~~~~~~~

Third Person POV

The night Jungkook stormed out of Haein's house was one night no one could forget.

Jungkook was livid as he entered his car. All this time, he thought he could wait it out, thought he could just live by his parents' will until he was fully prepared to leave. Jungkook had believed all of this and yet he was so, so wrong. His mother had gone and threaten Haein; he was sure of it and that made Jungkook fill up with rage. His mother—the woman who gave birth to him, who's supposed to love him and wish for his well-being—​​​​​​​went and threatened the love of his life? He couldn't take it anymore.

When Haein had entered his life, it was like a whole new light was shining in his world. She made him feel real. He wasn't a puppet to her, not someone to simply fulfill a place to which he didn't even want to have. She listened to his words and gave him criticism but with love and in hopes that he could grow. Never once did she forget to consider his feelings and emotions. Haein was perfect to Jungkook, beautiful inside and out. He was so glad he'd met her and that was why Jungkook couldn't let what his mother did stand. He was going to confront her and finally leave that prison he called a home. He was going to be free.

But free was not what he became.

The crash was unexpected, the hit from a drunk driver. Jungkook had just crossed the lights when a vehicle had come racing towards him, plunging into the driver's side. The car rolled and rolled and Jungkook felt the impact each time. The pain never stopped, even when the car had finally landed and settled still. Jungkook felt the blood run down his face and let out a small cough. It was becoming hard to breathe and all he wanted to do was get out yet he couldn't. The faint sound of sirens rang in his ears but all Jungkook could think about was Haein. Sweet, sweet Haein. What was he going to do without her?

"Hey! Stay awake okay? We're going to get you out."

The voice was distant and Jungkook was unable to respond. The air was getting thinner and his head was feeling lighter and lighter. There were more shouts but they all faded out into a soundless cloud. Jungkook wanted to keep his eyes open, he really did, but the pain was too much and he just wanted it to go away. He parted his lips slightly, letting out a single breath before shutting his eyes, darkness overtaking him fully.

~~~~~~

A noise ‘woke’ Jungkook up. The beeping sounds of a machine, the shuffling of feet. Voices resonated in his ears but he couldn't see it. He couldn't see anything. He could hear shouts and whispers, sobs and cries but no image came to his eyes. It was as though they were locked shut. Jungkook tried to lift his hand, to move even a finger and it just didn't work. What's going on? Where am I? Jungkook pondered to himself. It was like he was alive but he wasn't. Awake but asleep. The days passed by and Jungkook listened to the people who came to see him. He heard their cries and please for him to wake up but he just couldn't, nothing was working. Jungkook was overly frustrated. Why couldn't he at least open his eyes? Why was he stuck like this?

When Jungkook finally woke up, his room was silent. He peeled his eyes open and let out a gasp of breath. He tilted his head slightly and smiled. He was finally awake from his sleep. A man was there and he grinned at the boy.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good," Jungkook answered, voice raspy from not being in use for so long. "Um, where am I exactly?"

"You're at a hospital Jungkook. I'm the doctor in charge of you," The man said cautiously.

"I'm in a hospital? How? Why? Why are you taking care of me? What happened?"

The doctor looked Jungkook over and quickly grabbed a notebook. "Do you remember anything before being here?"

Jungkook shook his head.

"Do you remember your name?"

Jungkook glanced at the doctor and tilted his head. My name... what's my name?

"It's okay, you don't have to rush. I'm just going to tell you a few things if that's alright with you," the doctor stated. Jungkook nodded and the doctor proceeded to speak. "Your name is Jeon Jungkook and you were in a severe car accident. You fell into a coma and have been in this hospital for the past three months. I'm going to go get your parents."

"Okay," Jungkook replied.

He watched as the doctor left. "Jungkook, Jungkook, Jungkook, Jungkook..." He muttered his name over and over again. It had a foreign sound to his ears, tasted awkward on his lips. It didn't feel like him but it was. A glimpse of a girl uttering his name flashed across his eyes and he smiled unconsciously. Jungkook…

The door flew open and a man and woman entered, rushing to Jungkook's side.

"Oh baby! You're awake! Oh my goodness, you're actually awake!" The woman cried.

"Jungkook, we've missed you," the man said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Jungkook simply looked at the doctor again and then back at the two new occupants of the room. "Who are you?"

The woman's smile faltered and more tears welled at the edges of her eyes. "Jungkook it's me. It's your mother. That's your father." She points to the man but Jungkook only sees a man, no one of importance to him.

"I'm sorry. I don't know you."

The woman started to wail and Jungkook flinched. He felt bad. He wanted to remember and recall the woman as his mother but he couldn't. Nowhere in his mind did he see her or memories of her. His memories were filled with emptiness, void of any person or thing prior to waking up.

"Jungkook! I'm your mother! I'm your mother so stop this this instant! Stop it or I'll make you remember!" Mrs. Jeon had tears soaking her face as she raced toward Jungkook. She had to do something to get him back, he was all that she had.

"Stop. Mrs. Jeon you can't force his memories to come back. That'll cause even more damage! It could possibly suppress his memories even more, so much so that they disappear forever."

Once the words left the doctor's mouth, all fell silent. Nobody liked the sound of that. If Jungkook never returned to who he was before, how would Mrs. Jeon survive? And Jungkook couldn't bear the thought of not remembering his past ever again. Before another word could be said, a girl barged into the room. She took her time, watching all in the area before speaking.

“What's wrong?" she asked. "Jungkook?"

He glanced up as his name was called but as she stared into his eyes, she noticed something different.

"Who are you?" He asked.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I'm Haein, your girlfriend," she said softly.

"Really? I had a girlfriend?" He asked the doctor checking up on him.

The doctor just nodded and then ushered his 'parents' and the girl out of his room. The girl looked similar to the one who had whispered his name in the memory flash he had but Jungkook wasn't sure if what he saw was real or if he was imagining it. Everything was just so hazy, and it all didn't make sense. As he tried to listen to the words being spoken outside the door, Jungkook could only catch a voice say amnesia before he drifted off into a deep slumber.

~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Jeon had always wanted what was best for her son and maybe that was the worst thing she could ever do for him. At a time, she truly loved her son for who he was, but then greed, want, revenge, had consumed her and all that she needed out of her son was the place he held in society. She needed him to do what she couldn't, to prove them all wrong.

From the time that she was a little girl, Mrs. Jeon had already learned lessons about the harsh world she lived in. She knew that to survive, she needed power and she knew that nothing good came from love. Being the youngest—​​​​​​​​​​​​​​and the only girl—​​​​​​​​​​​​​​of her family, she knew there wouldn’t be much love or attention put upon her. A disappointment, they called her. What could she do to better the family? She couldn't inherit the company because she was a woman. She wasn't abnormally intelligent and she didn't have many appealing outer characteristics. She was certainly of no use for her family as they couldn't gain any money from her. So, they married Mrs. Jeon off as quickly as possible.

That's how she meet Mr. Jeon. He was who she was arranged to be married to. The process had happened in a blink of an eye and Mrs. Jeon was terrified. She'd always hated her family but a small part of her wanted them to care. She wanted them to fix her but all they did was break her down even more. They cut off ties once she wed, only meeting at annual meetings between companies, still staring at her scornfully with hatred in their eyes. Mrs. Jeon once thought that Mr. Jeon could be the one to fix her brokenness but that was never once a thought that passed through his mind. Mr. Jeon cared for Mrs. Jeon as though he loved her but the love that one feels—​​​​​​​​​​​​​​that causes such happiness you never want to let go—​​​​​​​​​​​​​​was never present. Fondness and kindness grew between the two and it was nice, but it didn't change that Mrs. Jeon was broken and no amount of fondness or kindness could fix that.

Jungkook had been her sole reason for living after he was born. She promised him silently one night that she'd never allow him to go through what she did. She held him close to her heart and sung sweet lullabies to lull him to sleep. She showered the boy with what she thought was love and care but in reality was nothing close to it. Her brokenness didn't allow her to love properly and so she became worse and worse every day. Her husband never noticed, only following her words to please her, as if that could cure the emptiness she felt. Greed overtook Mrs. Jeon and she pushed Jungkook to become the best son he could be; she wanted what was best for him. She didn't think much of it, she was simply getting him prepared to take over his father's spot and show all those who doubted her that she was more than a disappointment. Just wait until you see it. My son ruling over yours. That's when you'll see, I rule over you.

Corruption, corruption, corruption. Mrs. Jeon was lost. All she could see was the horrified faces of the ones who betrayed her when they would see that they were finally below her. She was better than them, is what she thought. What Mrs. Jeon didn't realize was that she was no better than them at all. In reality, she was almost worse.

Mrs. Jeon latched her arms around Mr. Jeon's shoulders and rested her chin on his head. Mr. Jeon smiled and turned his head to give his wife a kiss before turning back to his work. She had been thinking a lot about Jungkook's situation and Mrs. Jeon felt as though she might have found a solution to all their problems. Jungkook was remembering people. He remembered them and his two friends Yoongi and Soojin, but he just wasn't able to remember the stupid girl he decided to date. It was pitiful really but it opened up a whole new avenue for Mrs. Jeon to approach.

"Sunghoon, I have an idea that I wanted to run by you. It's about Jungkook and the disobedience he had towards us before the incident.”

Mr. Jeon hummed. “What do you have in mind Myunghee?”

“I was thinking of altering Jungkook’s memories.”

Mr. Jeon stayed silent. He turned around and watched as Mrs. Jeon gave him a soft smile. He took her hands into his own before speaking again. “How do you propose we alter them?”

A smirk etched itself onto Mrs. Jeon’s face. Mr. Jeon always proved to be very compliant.

“We’ll change who certain people are in his mind and they can provide him with information of what he was like before. False information of course but it’ll allow him to follow in your footsteps willingly, giving us much less stress on the topic of who will be your successor.”

Mr. Jeon thought over it. If the two were real, loving parents, the idea would’ve disgusted Mr. Jeon. It would’ve made him question who his wife was and maybe even start a fight. But, they both knew they were nothing close to loving parents. The façade of love they put up for Jungkook had faded long before he reached the age of six. Mr. Jeon had never been a big fan of children anyway. He simply needed one to continue his line of success and that’s what Jungkook was; a successor and nothing more. He also believed that Mrs. Jeon always knew what was best for the family which was why he followed along with all her plans, no matter how horrific they could be. It was twisted, the way their minds worked but the lives they lived never allowed them to see the twistedness of it all and so that’s how they grew. Twisted.

“I assume you already have it all planned out?” he questioned.

Mrs. Jeon nodded.

“Then, go on with it. You have my full support.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mrs. Jeon had already chosen who would become the strongest alibis in Jungkook’s false memory. Hae-In, the girl who he was supposed to marry, was top on the list. Mrs. Jeon knew she loved her son and would have no problem becoming an important part of his life. The second person was Yoongi. Mrs. Jeon knew she needed someone who he actually remembered to be in on it, that way less suspicion would occur. Plus, Soojin was tied to closely to Haein and her sources told her that the group weren’t exactly on the greatest terms with Yoongi anyway. That left her with a best friend, one to replace Jimin. In the end, she decided to leave that decision up to Hae-In as she trusted the girl’s judgment simply because she reminded her of herself. Once it was all set up, Mrs. Jeon called a meeting to discuss the plan and put it into works.

They were all seated in one of the briefing rooms at the company headquarters and Mrs. Jeon held a smile on her face as she watched them all enter.

“I’m sure you all know what we’re here to do today,” Mrs. Jeon started. “We’ll be going over your identities, who you are to Jungkook, your back story for anyone who asks, and contract negotiations.”

“This is sick, you know that right?”

Mrs. Jeon turned slowly and faced Yoongi with a strict smile. “I never told you to agree to this Mr. Min. I simply asked. You brought yourself here today which means you yourself have chosen to be a part of this.”

And Yoongi knew she was right. He never had to agree, he could have even tried to stop it, but the guilt in him wouldn’t allow it. Somehow, Yoongi believed that doing this, lying to Jungkook for the rest of his life would serve as a punishment for what he did to Soojin. It would hold as a prison to which he could never escape from. It was stupid of course, the idea of it all, but Yoongi wasn’t in the best mental state. He just needed to right his wrongs and somehow, this was his way. Still though, he couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.

Yoongi glanced at the other two occupants of the room and scoffed. “And you! How can you guys do this? We’re going to be lying to him for the rest of our lives! How can you possibly agree to this?”

Taehyung was nervous ever since he entered the building and now he was feeling more anxious than ever. He didn’t want to lie. He didn’t want to screw up some boy’s life, someone he didn’t even know and yet here he was. All because of stupid, stupid love. Because he loved Hae-In, and she had begged him with tears streaming down her face to help her with this. Taehyung was so whipped that he said yes. He agreed to ruin another person’s life and even when he knew it was wrong, he stayed still and silent, never voicing a word.

Hae-In could only roll her eyes. She was finally going to be with Jungkook and she couldn’t have felt any happier. She just wanted to get on with it so that all her dreams could come true.

“Oh, calm down. We’re doing what’s best for him,” Hae-In said.

Yoongi glared at the girl but finally shut up. Glad to have the attention back on her, Mrs. Jeon snapped her fingers, signaling her secretary to hand out the contracts.

“Once you sign these, you will be bound to secrecy. Any breach of the contract will entail a fine of five-hundred thousand dollars though this amount is subject to change, depending on how I feel,” Mrs. Jeon explained.

Hae-In, who could careless, quickly signed her name and stamped her finger on the bottom, eager to get started. Yoongi and Taehyung read over it. Yoongi couldn’t afford to pay that amount of money, not at the moment and he felt like he never would be able to. He sighed deeply before signing the piece of paper. Taehyung didn’t even know if he truly wanted to do it but once seeing Hae-In’s bright smile, he couldn’t say no.

Mrs. Jeon collected the papers with a playful glint in her eyes. As she went over their back stories and new personas, she couldn’t help but smile. It was all falling in to place now. She was finally getting what she wanted, and nobody could stop her.

A/N

Hey guys! Guess who finally updated. I genuinely have been neglecting this story and I'm so mad becuz I love writing this book so much! I'm also sorry for making y'all wait so long. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and all the new secrets we got to find out about. I really loved writing this chapter and I hope you liked reading. I feel like it's one of the best things I've written. 

Also, can you believe Jungkook's parents? Like talk about evil! How do you all feel about the situation? I kind of feel bad for Mrs. Jeon but Jungkook definitely didn't deserve this. Lol, tell me what you think in the comments.

I just want to tell you all that I'm so thankful for my patient and lovely readers! You make my day!! I love you <3

Quick side note: STAN BLACKPINK, BTS, STRAY KIDS. They're phenomenal and you are really missing out not staning these legends.

Anyway, seeya next time!

~TallProud

(Edited Kinda)