to be alive and to live freely
Description
All good things have to come to an end, and Baekhyun knows Jongin has to leave someday. He's a middleman, a stepping stone to reintegrate survivors into society. The family deserves closure and to be whole again.
Foreword
When he entered the room where he ultimately discovered Jongin, he's immediately faced with two scowling cats, Jongdae and Minseok, kneeling protectively before a pile of dirty blankets. Baekhyun spent nearly twenty minutes convincing them he had no intention of hurting them, and even then they refused to be escorted out of the illegal facility. Baekhyun had to pull a couple scraps of fabric away to finally see the mess that was Jongin. Immediately, he knew there was no way the bear was walking out of there on his own. It was a few months, even, before he walked at all. Doctors reported numerous broken bones that set wrong and had to be rebroken to heal properly. His lower jaw was literally rotting away. Many teeth have to eventually be pulled.
The cats acting as Jongin's personal protectors initially stayed with Baekhyun, while shelters are filled with other survivors, but they've since moved out and live in their own apartment near Minseok's sister. They're the only source of information on Jongin, saying the bear was at HQ before them, before some others before even them, even if they'd been kept for years.
So Jongin was captive for easily ten years. Now, Baekhyun knows it's closer to double that length of time, and he's spent most of his life in an unstable, hostile environment catering his actions and behavior to appease cruel, money-driven people with no remorse or empathy in the face of profit.
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