Dog vs Cat ||BTS

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden opening of the door. He jerked up, backing fearfully against the wall when he saw that it was Carl. The man looked as if he had been in a brawl and come out the loser. But it was the expression on the man’s face that had Jungkook terrified and pressing himself into the corner.

“I don’t look so good, do I, songbird?” the man sneered. “You can thank your rescuer for this,” he said, motioning to himself. “I won’t do anything to you right now, pretty songbird. But this is your warning to be prepared. The real boss man told me I could have you soon and because you are mine, I will not be waiting much longer to claim you…”

Jungkook cowered in the corner covering his head waiting for blows that never came. All he heard was the sound of the door closing quietly. It was then he realized his nightmare had just began…

Part Forty-Nine

Chapter Summary

Sorry this is so late. Real life. Ugh. Also still trying not to accidentally kill anyone so...50 might take some time too...

Part Forty-Nine

“I come to you today,” Bang Shi-Hyuk started, “to tell you that you have been lied to. You, the citizens of South Korea, have been lied to by your government, and law enforcement officials. The people who took Bangtan Sonyeondan are not terrorists as you have been led to believe; they are monsters. Monsters who have been allowed to do unspeakable things to the seven young men they still hold captive. While those who are meant to protect us have quietly sat, desperately trying to sweep everything under the rug as they lined their pockets with money for bribery, we have been left to suffer, and to question. Seven families have been left in limbo with no firm answer as to what happened to their sons, and millions of fans have been unable to mourn or find closure because in the end, no one really cared about what happened to Bangtan Sonyeondan. No one cared about Kim Seokjin, or Jung Hoseok. Min Yoongi or Kim Namjoon. Park Jimin or Kim Taehyung. Not even Jeon Jungkook.”

"They said that I was the monster. That I used my idols to try and salvage a failing company. That I was crazy…deranged…guilty. And because those in charge of the investigation still refuse to clear my name, I have decided to do so myself. Through the contacts and friends that I still have in the industry who have risked everything to make today happen, I would like to announce that I, Bang Shi-hyuk, am innocent on all charges brought against me, and that the seven members of Bangtan Sonyeondan, as unwell as they must be, are still alive; clinging to hope that the nation that abandoned them, will rescue them from the hell they still find themselves in. As you entered this conference today you were handed a C.D., which I encourage you to listen to and to share. On this C.D. you will hear a conversation that took place less than 48 hours ago, witnessed by Inspector Daniel Kwon, between myself, and Park Jimin, in which he confirmed what I have known for a while. Bangtan Sonyeondan is still alive, and I, Bang Shi-hyuk will do whatever it takes to bring them home that way.”

“Somebody get over there and shut him up!!!” the Senior Inspector roared, eyes glued to the t.v. at the station as he picked up the phone, dialing the first news agency he could think of to have them pull their cameras. “Kwon you knew about this?”

Inspector Kwon had walked into the station and froze when he heard his name on the T.V.

“I knew about the tape, Sir,” he said, looking at his supervisor. “But I did not think he would be able to organize something of this magnitude so quickly. If you remember I presented my work phone as evidence of the phone call in question. I recorded the majority of it myself, and I have a full copy here for inspection and comparison.”

Inspector Kwon crossed the room and placed the C.D. on the Senior Inspectors desk before looking at the T.V.

“Will this be shifted back to a missing persons and hostage case?”

The Senior Inspector snorted as he slammed the phone down looking at his subordinate.

“Of course not. That man is deluded, and those poor young men are dead somewhere at his hand. Once you get me all the pieces we need, a warrant will be signed for his arrest.”

“He didn’t do it,” Kwon said, looking the man behind the desk in the eye. “I heard the call myself as it occurred. I believe without a doubt Park Jimin was on the other end of the phone, and I am certain that once this disk is analyzed Bang Shi-hyuk will be exonerated. On all charges.”

The Senior Inspector looked at the man before him before laughing heartily.

“I expected more from you Kwon,” he said, shaking his head. “Retired Commissioner General Park always spoke so highly of you. He must be so disappointed to see what you have become. Don’t forget he is the only reason you walk about this station in such comfort.”

“I’ll tell my grandfather you send your regards,” Danny said, his tone cold. “And I will diligently pursue innocence as he taught me to do. If you’ll excuse me, I have a press conference to end.”

The conference room was in uproar as cameras snapped and reporters shouted over one another to have their questions answered. Bang Shi-hyuk was secretly pleased. His plan already seemed to be working. With the public pushing even harder for justice, surely his boys would be found and returned home.

“What does the tape say?” one reporter asked, causing the others to quieten down.

“I…am not sure the entire conversation is safe for broadcast,” Hitman said. “Mr. Park…said some very horrifying…very disturbing…things. Certain audiences may become distressed or traumatized.”

“With the accusations you have made, don’t you think the general public deserves to see some evidence as proof that Bangtan Sonyeondan is alive?”

Bang Shi-hyuk nodded as he pulled out his phone and entered his code, pulling up the recording and holding his phone to the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen. You have been warned.”

Saying no more he pressed play on the recording and listened as the world around him entered a complete state of silence; horror and disgust coloring the faces before him.

~oooOooo~

"PD-nim…”

Park Jimin’s voice was unmistakable through the microphone. Anyone who had heard him once knew that this voice belonged to him.

“PD-nim, it’s…it’s me. It’s Jimin-ah. We…we’re alive. We’re here. We’re alive… I don’t…I don’t have much time. They…this phone deactivates in a few minutes…”

~oooOooo~

The voice…Park Jimins voice… It was soft. Terrified. Hoarse from some unknown emotion which made it even worse. He sounded…cold…almost unfeeling but…had this man been crying when he made the call? Were his tormentors watching him and laughing? Were they standing somewhere out of sight forcing him to say such things? Why had he been the one to call and not their leader Kim Namjoon?

When the man standing before them now spoke in response it was highly apparent that he had been thrown for a ride upon hearing a voice from the dead. Even now he was pale, eyes closed, knuckles white. Even now he was disturbed. It was obvious to the world at large that he had been just as shocked as they now were to hear the voice, but even in this moment of relief, more questions formed and while it seemed obvious the boys were alive, nothing being heard convinced the world as a whole to clear Bang Shi-hyuk of all charges.

~oooOooo~

“I don’t know where we are but…we are all here and alive…for now…”

“Bad things have happened to us, PD-nim… All of us are broken…”

~oooOooo~

Jimin’s voice was now raw as tears and emotion colored his tone. He was broken indeed, and his suffering and torment was now laid bare for all the world to hear. It was an unimaginable pain felt far and wide, no soul who heard left untouched; all the pain and fear that they had all suffered pouring out.

~oooOooo~

“I think…I know…something terrible happened to Yoongi hyung and…they almost beat Taehyungah to death. We were all trying to keep them away from Kookieah but…they still got him in the end. He won’t tell us what happened and…I was locked away in a closet when I tried to stop him from taking Jungkookah…”

“Namjoon-hyung tried to protect me, and they punished him… They took a cane to him and then they took it to me.”

“We tried to escape but…it was a trap in the end. That’s when everything got worse. I think…Jungkookah got sick. It was so cold then… They brought a doctor in but…”

“I am alone…now. I’m not allowed to be with them and…I haven’t seen them in…”

“We just want to come home…”

“Please…find us. Please bring us home, PD-nim…please…”

“PD-nim, I have to go now…my master wants the phone back.”

~oooOooo~

After the recording stopped Hitman searched the crowd seeing tears, anger and disgust written on the faces of the reporters there. Many of them had done interviews with Jimin, some several times, and he was counting on the fact that they would know his voice well. Even how it would sound over a recorded device.

From the back of the room Danny Kwon entered and felt every eye turn to him. He could tell from the looks on faces that Hitman had played the recording. Danny almost felt sorry for his superiors because it was clear that the press was about to crucify them.

Danny suddenly found himself with cameras thrust into his face and a barrage of questions thrown his way. Holding up his hands for silence Danny took a deep breath and issued a statement that he was sure might end his career.

“I am Inspector Daniel Kwon and I was assigned to investigate Bang Shi-hyuk in connection with the kidnapping and death of the seven members of Bangtan Sonyeondan. Over the course of my investigation it became clear to me that Bang Shi-hyuk was innocent of those charges. Through my investigation I was left with a suspicion that the video showing the murder of Bangtan Sonyeondan was in fact fake and that those seven young men are still alive and being held captive. I am adding my voice to that of Bang Shi-hyuk in asking for any help or information that will lead us to the capture of these kidnappers, who are not terrorists, and the safe return of Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Kim Taehyung, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Min Yoongi and Jeon Jungkook. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, that is all I have to say for now.”

Pushing his way through the reporters who continued to throw questions at him Danny stopped in front of Hitman.

“So now what, Bang Shi-hyuk-ssi?”

The other man smiled at him.

“Inspector Kwon…I have just unleashed ARMY…they will not let my boys down.”

Part Fifty

Chapter Summary

*GRAPHICS ADDED AND WORKING*

Part Fifty

The news of the press conference and translations of what had been said spread like wildfire across the internet. Twitter errored out as the masses descended to solve the mystery of what had really happened to Bangtan Sonyeondan; new accounts rising to collect receipts of any information anyone had to offer. Inspector Kwon’s phone started ringing off the hook as tens of thousands of leads came pouring in, each one requiring careful consideration regarding validity.

In small town Ohio Anna Kelly and her friends gathered together watching the subtitled replay of Hitman’s press conference in anger and sadness. Everyone present had been overwhelmed in their joy when it came across the internet that Bangtan Sonyeondan was still alive. But now that joy was overshadowed by the fear of what their beloved BTS had endured in the time the world had thought them dead, and Anna and her friends were starting to wonder if they would ever see the boys alive again.

The girls now wept as they listened to Hitman play the tape recording of Jimin’s call.

“Oh god...his voice is so raw.” Annas best friend cried.

“Wait...” Anna’s other best friend paused the video on the computer. “Could that part be a mistranslation?“ She was pointing to the last subtitled line of Jimin’s call. “Who is he calling master and why?”

All the girls looked at each other in horror.

In no time at all the internet was filled with dozens of news stories, some actual news and some nothing more than cleverly worded clickbait. Both Koreaboo and Allkpop reported on the matter but no additional information came forward.

Several celebrities stepped forward making their own heart felt pleas for their colleagues and friends to be returned to them, and a joint statement was made on behalf of the parents regarding their mixed feelings on this latest information.

Danny Kwon sat in office scanning a few hundred useless leads and reading every article he could find.

“What kind of trash is this?” he asked the person he had on speaker.

“Allkpop at it again, Inspector Kwon?” Hitman’s tired voice asked from the other end. “Seems as though they have employed the same brainless writers as Koreaboo. Their article reads almost word for word.”

“We have hundreds of leads already, Sir,” Kwon supplied, trying to offer the man on the other end some hope.

“Any of them look promising?” Hitman asked.

“No,” Kwon admitted. “But I have some ideas…”

On the other side of nowhere the compound was in chaos. While Sven sat in his private quarters comfy in his delight, the Foley clan was starting to show its cracks. In his office Dorian Foley was in a blind rage smashing everything he could get his hands on. Carl, the blithering idiot that he was, stood cowering against the wall while Mathan stood blankly at attention trying to keep his expression in check when all he really wanted to do was roll his eyes at the idiots before him. These fools would never learn, and he would NEVER sink with the ship they had so disastrously sailed.

“Calm down before you give yourself a coronary, Dorian,” Mathan said, his tone scathing. “I’ve offered you an out to this whole disaster. Let me load those broken no good bodies up, dump them in the middle of nowhere, place an untraceable call, and we all scatter to the wind like the roaches we are. Stick the fall on Ivchenko and be done with it. Money be damned. I’m sure you brainless cowards will hatch another get rich quick scheme in no time and I’ll be in hiding somewhere far from here.”

“Watch it, brat,” Dorian bit. “If Sven wants to play, we play. I’ll just anti up the ransom demands and this time if their country doesn’t pay for them I really will kill them.”

Mathan couldn’t help but snort. How was he related to such idiocy?

“And when Ivchenko tears you limb from limb?” Mathan asked. “Or have you forgotten it was your little baby brother who got us in this mess because he can’t stop thinking with what’s in his pants? No one is going to pay for a bunch of broken mindless trolls. Has been idols or not, those boys aren’t worth the paper they wipe their asses with right now. Put them all together in a ring and I bet they would off each other.”

Dorian growled at that, deciding he would deal with Carl when he knew the full extent of his brother’s betrayal.

“Get the prisoners ready,” he said decidedly. “I think it is time we send out some new demands. I’m going to have a word with Sven and then it will be time to play again…”

Saying nothing further Dorian rose from his seat and exited the room, desperate to salvage his plans.

Jimin jumped in fright at the furious pounding on the door of his gilded prison. He turned helplessly looking at the closed bathroom door where loud Russian rock music was playing. Sven had ordered Jimin to sit quietly and watch a movie while the Russian relaxed in a hot bath.

The pounding on the door increased in volume and now Jimin could make out an angry voice arguing with the guard stationed outside. Licking dry lips and taking a deep breath he moved to the door yanking it open to see Dorian Foley yelling at a stone-faced Gregor.

“Can..I help…you, Mr. Foley?” Jimin stuttered in English.

Giving the Russian guard a scathing look Dorian brushed past Jimin and stalked into the room. His hands fisting as he glanced around the room looking for the bastard Sven. He looked over his shoulder as Jimin calmly closed the door and stared at him.

“Where the bloody hell is Sven and what the fuck does he think he is doing letting you call home!” Dorian roared as he stepped into Jimin’s personal space. The young Korean man reared back, eyes wide in fright.

Neither Dorian nor Jimin had noticed the sudden silence from the bathroom or seen the door open to reveal Sven in a full-length brocade robe rubbing his wet hair with a towel.

“Again, you take much on yourself by barging into my private quarters and making a nuisance of your person, Dorian.” Sven’s voice was calm yet ice cold as he sat down in his chair waving Jimin over.

Handing Jimin a brush that he pulled from the dresser, Sven whispered, “I have a headache, my jewel, and my bath has made a mess of my hair.”

Giving Dorian a cool smile Sven sat back as Jimin took the brush in a trembling hand and stepped behind him running it through the Russians long, wet hair.

“What kind of game are you playing, Sven? You let your pet call home when the world thinks they’re dead? What is going on in your head?”

Sven gazed at Dorian softly as the man raged at him. This game was almost as much fun as the game he was playing with the beautiful Kim Taehyung. It was certainly very entertaining watching Dorian Foley’s face redden and the veins pulse as the man struggled with the impulse to attack Sven physically. He couldn’t stop a full smile from crossing his face as he hoped that Dorian would, and Sven could put that particular dog down once and for all.

“Really, Dorian…you are going to give yourself a heart attack if you keep raging like that. I simply gave Jimin an untraceable phone and allowed him to make a short phone call. After all, weren’t you planning on resurrecting them and collecting an even bigger ransom for them?” Sven stood suddenly waving Jimin away from him.

Walking up to Dorian, Sven got in his face as he whispered coldly, “Don’t take me for a fool, Dorian. All your little games and plans have been as transparent to me as glass, especially the plan to bring Bangtan Sonyeondan back to life, demand a higher ransom, collect…then sell them to the highest bidder on the black market, even though you had already taken payment from me for them.”

Giving Dorian’s cheek a gentle pat Sven sat back down in his chair waving at Jimin to continue his chore.

“You are lucky Dorian. Normally if anyone had betrayed me like this I would have already gutted them and fed them their own entrails. But you and I…we are connected by many things, aren’t we? So, I am willing to overlook some things…” Sven leaned back letting himself enjoy the sensation of Jimin moving the brush through his hair. “Those connections will only take you so far before I stop overlooking your inept games and double-dealing.”

When Dorian opened his mouth to reply Sven held up a silencing finger.

“I turn a blind eye to your plans and let you live right now because it amuses me. But I am curious as to why you haven’t put Mathan down for his interference and meddling yet. I know why I let him live, but why do you let him live? And don’t tell me it is because he is your son…we both know that wouldn’t stop you from slitting his throat if he got in your way.”

Dorian was confused by the sudden shift of conversation to Mathan and answered before he could think.

“Mathan has someone he is connected to outside of all of this and if they don’t hear from him regularly he says they are instructed to send our names, faces, descriptions, aliases and other information to every law enforcement agency in the world. I am not will to take that risk right at the moment, at least not until I find out who this contact is and deal with them. Maybe you can help with that…”

Sven didn’t answer as there was a knock on the door and the man they were now discussing walked into the room.

Mathan looked from Dorian to Sven before his eyes fell on Jimin.

“They are ready.” He growled out.

BTS had not been made aware of the phone call home their brother had made and Mathan had not had the heart to tell them before he was instructed to go to their prison and rouse them, dressing them in simple white shirts and black ties. When they asked what it was for he could only shake his head and try to control his features as his stomach turned sour. He had no idea what his father was planning now, but he knew that nothing good would come of it. All he could do was beg the boys with his expression to do as he said and cause no further issue.

Things were going as planned when Mathan left Carl and Pyro to watch over the boys as he went to retrieve his father, a secret hope brewing that Sven had ended the man, so chaos would ensue and Mathan could make a break for it with the boys. Of course no such luck was meant for him. Approaching the Russians quarters Mathan gave Gregor a subtle eyebrow raise as he voiced the reason for his presence and was begrudgingly allowed entrance to retrieve his sire.

“They are ready,” he growled out as soon as he entered the room, his posture rigid.

“Wonderful,” Dorian said as he clapped his hands together, a predatory gaze overtaking his features. “Care to join us?” he asked Sven, his tone sickly sweet. “I hope you won’t mind if we borrow the lovely Jimin for this little photo shoot. After all, we must have the entire seven set for the picture.”

“I won’t participate in your childish games, Dorian Foley,” Sven said with great disinterest. “But I will not allow you to just take Jimin without some sort of supervision. So Gregor will accompany him for your little photo shoot.”

Sven called Gregor in and gave the man swift instructions in Russian. The man in turn took Jimin gently by the arm and led him from the room with Mathan swiftly following behind.

Dorian pretended to pout as he shook his head, his mind already spinning numbers as he tried to settle on a new amount to demand.

By the time they returned to the room chaos had indeed erupted and several additional guards were in the room, the remaining members of BTS restrained on opposite sides of the room; Yoongi bent over, hand to his face and a murderous glare in his eyes.

Mathan did not speak a word as he silently questioned his inside man who could only shake his head in irritation.

“’e had to learn his place again, Mate,” he said. “Shudda done as ‘e was told and ee’thing wudda been arite. Anger problem if I ever seen one.”

“Mr. Min?” Mathan asked, trying to keep his tone blank.

Min Yoongi continued to glare at the man on the opposite side of the room, his expression promising death should the opportunity arise.

Slowly following the younger mans gaze Mathan felt his blood begin to boil at the shit eating grin his uncle wore.

‘One day soon,’ Mathan thought to himself.

One day soon that sick fucker would die if Mathan had to tear him limb from limb all on his own. Just as soon as—

“Are our guests ready to have their picture taken?” Dorian bellowed as he walked in, hands clasped together, a predatory grin on his face.

“They’re dressed,” Mathan ground out, his gaze shifting to the floor, unable to meet the eyes of Bangtan Sonyeondan, the questions too much for him to answer.

“Good,” Dorian said, his expression souring as he gazed at his progeny. “And is everyone going to cooperate?” he asked.

“That one had to have another attitude adjustment,” Carl said, his head tilting towards Yoongi, causing the younger man to pull against his restraining guards and snarl.

Dorian had to restrain himself from losing his cool as he took in the bruise already forming on the rappers’ face, but in the end he decided that he could use this to his advantage.

He smiled however at the gasps from the group when Sven’s bodyguard walked in with Jimin.

“Now that we are all here…shall we have our picture taken?”

Part Fifty-One

Chapter Notes

We the authors are so sorry for keeping our dear readers waiting so long. I was hoping to have more to upload but Sandra is having a rough time right now and this is all we have worked on together. Please leave her lots of kind reviews because I miss my writing buddy and I need her here with me being evil. Thank you! ~Kaelyn

Also feel free to follow your writers on twitter @ladymidnight122 and @kaelyn_grey, or to email us at [email protected] and [email protected]!

Part Fifty-One

Jimin refused to look at the other members in the room, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the floor. Every cell in his body screamed out for him to look at them; to see for himself that they were alright as Mathan had promised him. But Gregor’s presence ensured that Jimin maintained his role as Sven’s jewel. He knew that every word and action would be reported back to Sven, and if for a moment the Russian thought that he wasn’t keeping his part of the bargain, Jimin knew they would all pay the price.

With fists clenched hard enough for nails to dig into flesh Jimin lifted his head and stared straight ahead. Knowing he would break completely apart if he so much as glanced at any of them, especially his sweet Jungkook, he focused his eyes on the concrete wall across the room and made his face as blank as stone.

“Sven trained him well, didn’t he?”

Dorian gave a cruel smirk as he looked from Mathan to each of the other members of Bangtan Sonyeondan. He turned back to his son as he continued his taunting.

“Maybe Sven can help you train that one,” he said, pointing to Jin who had moved closer to Mathan.

Mathan barely managed to snag Namjoon’s arm as the other snarled, “Bastard…” moving towards Dorian with hands raised.

“Don’t…” Mathan whispered to Namjoon. “You are going to end up doing exactly what my father wants, but it won’t just be you who ends up on the short end of that stick. He will make sure that Jimin and the others feel the pain as well.” Giving Namjoon’s arm a tight squeeze Mathan looked at Dorian and laughed. “I doubt Sven could teach me anything useful or particularly exciting, so don’t waste my time.”

“Well, we certainly don’t want to waste any time, do we?” Dorian smiled as he waved the guards back. “I am sure the boys are wondering why we have them dressed so nicely with the added presence of the lovely Jimin.”

Walking up to Gregor with a grin Dorian took Jimin by the arm and moved him over to where the others were clustered together by Mathan. “Now I want all of you to stand here prettily while we take a nice photo of you to send home.”

“Photo…send home…” Namjoon stuttered in confusion as he looked at Mathan then back to Dorian.

Dorian laughed. “Why yes…it has been decided that now is an appropriate time for your miraculous return from the dead. The world has grieved long enough, and I am sure that your company will be more than willing to meet our new demand for your safe return.”

Jin was confused as to why Dorian stared at Jimin the entire time he answered Namjoon’s question. Had something happened with his brother that the other six did not know about? He desperately wanted to ask Jimin, but he knew that any interaction between them would only end in punishment. Rousing from his thoughts as he felt a strong hand on his back, Jin followed his brothers to the center of the room where they all stood crowded in fear, looking at the camera above the door as the red light flashed and a sick new game began.

Misha watched Sven pace the room like a caged Siberian tiger. His movements were slow and controlled, but she could easily see the rage building below the surface just waiting for the spark that would ignite it. The longer that Gregor and Jimin were away, the greater the rage grew, and even she was starting to become frightened.

She had offered to go and see what was keeping Gregor from returning with Sven’s jewel, but the ice-cold stare she had received in return stopped her in her tracks. Now she stood and watched him pace, wondering why Sven didn’t go himself to see what was keeping Gregor from returning.

“I won’t participate in your childish games, Dorian Foley,” Sven had said.

Of course, he would not degrade himself so. Misha now knew that Sven was restraining himself as to not give Dorian any satisfaction or betray any weakness that could later be used against him.

But Misha knew from experience that Sven’s own rage could be his greatest weakness if it became uncontrolled. Jimin’s caning had been the perfect example; she had had to physically stop Sven from beating the boy to death in his rage. Now with this snowstorm trapping them here, she and Gregor were hard-pressed in keeping Sven’s anger in check as he, Dorian, and Mathan circled each other like rabid dogs waiting for the moment to go at each other’s throats.

Both Sven and Misha stiffened at the sound of the door opening. She wondered suddenly if she was going to finally get the order to execute Dorian when Gregor walked in carrying a limp and clearly unconscious Jimin. It didn’t help that Dorian and Mathan Foley were following closely behind.

Not a muscle moved or twitched as Sven asked softly, “Why the fuck is he unconscious?”

Misha could see that Mathan understood the sudden danger as his whole body tensed and he rolled forward on the balls of his feet, taking a defensive stance and showing he was ready for any signs of violence. She moved closer to Sven, taking a silent position at his back and waited for any response.

Gregor ignored them all as he placed Jimin on the bed, removed his shoes, and gently covered him with a blanket. Misha watched out of the corner of her eye and frowned slightly when the large man tenderly brushed hair from Jimin’s forehead and wrapped one of the boy’s arms around the white teddy bear that Sven had given him. Unfortunately, there was no time to wonder about Gregor’s actions as Dorian answered.

“I needed some special pictures, Sven. Not to worry, your precious jewel will wake up soon.”

“I didn’t let you borrow Jimin for your little photo shoot so you could FUCKING DRUG HIM! I EXPECTED HIM RETURNED TO ME IN THE SAME CONDITION AS WHEN HE LEFT!! ON HIS FUCKING FEET!”

Gregor moved in a flash placing himself in front of Sven’s body and falling to his knees.

In Russian, with bowed head, Gregor spoke, “Please forgive me, Master Sven. I should have stopped Foley right away and returned your jewel to you. This was my failing, Master…I should have known that you would require that your jewel to be returned to you in pristine condition…the fault is entirely mine.”

Misha knew that Gregor was seeking to focus Sven’s rage on himself and keep it, for the moment, away from Dorian Foley. She stared intently at Mathan seeking to tell him with her gaze that this was the moment to take his idiot father and leave the room before death arrived.

Mathan stared back at the female guard, his expression cold and blank. He understood exactly what the woman was trying to say, and for a moment he entertained the thought of having his sire dead. One less monster to baby sit would have made his life easier yes, but with his father gone there would be one less person to control Carl and no one at all to keep Sven from leaving with the prize. If that happened Mathan knew he would never see any of them again, not even the angel of his dreams, Kim Seokjin.

Snapping to attention Mathan shifted his stance to address the two idiots in the room.

“Seems as though your dogs are not as well trained as you thought, Ivchenko,” he mused. “Dorian and I best away and leave you to some remedial training…”

Mathan smirked as he eyed Gregor. One less dog to shit in his house would be no inconvenience to him or any of his plans.

Misha watched, relieved as Mathan pulled Dorian from the room and shut the door. As the door clicked shut she passively gazed at Gregor as Sven laid fists to his face and head.

Jimin rolled over clutching the teddy bear in his arms as his eyes fluttered open. The last thing he could remember was Dorian Foley saying something about very special pictures and seeing the guards point guns at them. He had felt Jungkook grab his arm as a sharp sting hit his neck and then all went black.

He could now tell from the softness of the blanket covering him that he was back in Sven’s quarters and he squeezed the bear tighter. He hated the sight of those tranq guns and he was terrified of what awful pictures had been taken while they were all unconscious.

A soft groan coming from the floor pulled him from his musings and had Jimin sitting up quickly. He peered cautiously in the direction the sound came from and gasped in shock. Gregor, one of Sven’s personal guards, was lying on the floor by the bed bleeding from his face and head.

Not thinking, Jimin jumped from the bed and ran to the bathroom grabbing one wet and one dry cloth, as well as the small first aid kit from under the sink. Sinking down next to the hurt man he gently wiped away blood, praying the cuts he could see were not deep. The last thing Jimin wanted to do was call for Dr. Hans. The man made his stomach curl and skin crawl every time they were in the same room. He breathed a sigh of relief when the cuts did not start to bleed again and finished wiping down Gregor’s face, applying salve and band aids.

So intent on what he was doing, Jimin failed to notice the sudden stiffening of the man or see the eyes that jerked open and focused on him. It wasn’t until a large hand gently grabbed his own that Jimin realized Gregor was now awake and watching him.

Pulling his hand away Jimin sat back on his heels.

“I am sorry that you are hurt. It wasn’t my fault, was it?” he asked softly.

Gregor surged to his feet startling Jimin, causing him to reel back in fright.

“I am alright, Master Jimin. This was my punishment for my mistake; you were in no way at fault for this. Thank you for your kindness, Master Jimin. Please go back to bed and rest. I am sure that Master Sven will be returning soon.”

The Russian guard bowed deeply, then turned and left the room as if he was being chased.

Standing, Jimin put the first aid kit back and rinsed out the bloody washcloths. Climbing back onto the bed he wrapped his arms around the bear checking to make sure his letter was still hidden in the collar’s secret compartment. He just couldn’t understand the world that Sven was dragging him into. Did all these people react to a simple gesture of kindness as if they had been chased by demons?

Sleep overtook Jimin as he prayed to escape from that world and never learn the answer to that question.

Several hours later as the pictures were developed, and the new demands were unleashed upon the world, Dorian sat smirking in his office, thoughts of exotic beaches and pretty ladies flashing through his mind. There was no doubt in his mind that with this newest series of threats and demands, the ransom would not be paid. Sven could keep the pretty little dancing fairies as long as Dorian got to finish his game.

In the control room Mathan was quietly monitoring the panic on the internet, his stomach turning at the images that had been unleased.

$20 million USD was the new demand for the supposed safe return of Bangtan Sonyeondan, as broken and unwell as they were. Mathan wanted to scream to the public not to do it; not to buy in to the false hope Dorian Foley had provided. He wanted to tell the world how damaged these seven young men were; how resigned they were to their deaths from having been abandoned for so long. He wondered if the world would even want them when they got them back. He wondered if they would even truly care.

After the group photo the boys had been knocked out with dart guns and positioned in to several random poses for additional photos that would further prove their survival. Some were sent out as photo proof while others were edited with horrific taunts about the true physical nature of the boys and what they were being forced to endure.

Mathan bowed his head over the keyboard as he watched the nightmare grow and wondered if in the long run it wouldn’t be better for those boys for him to just quietly and humanely end it for them. Give them peace and bring closure to this unending Hell they were being forced to go through at the hands of their captors.

As quickly as that thought crossed Mathan’s mind the beautiful face of Seokjin flashed before his eyes. He knew that he couldn’t entertain such thoughts as long as there was the smallest glimmer of hope. They had had a setback but there was a plan still in play and Mathan was going to get them out of here and safely home to their families and fans, even if he had to kill everybody in this compound and die doing it.

Bang Shi-hyuk sat in his tiny apartment staring at the screen of his personal laptop, tears streaming down his face as these new pictures of his boys surfaced. The Mins had been inconsolable at the sight of their son beaten, bruised, and unconscious; thrown around like someone’s play toy in pictures obviously taken with a sick amount of pleasure.

Mr. Jung had called PD-nim asking him if he thought Hoseok was alright and wanting to know why his once healthy son resembled a skeleton.

As desperate as he was for answers, the former CEO had none. Staring at the freeze frame of all seven of his boys together he found himself torn by a whirlwind of emotions. Yes, his boys were together, and they were alive, but Park Jimin had told him not so very long ago that he was not allowed to be with the others. What kind of sick game were the captors playing now? They were obviously somewhere inside, and presumably kept appropriately dressed but…

Hitman scrubbed his hands over his face as the last words Jimin had spoken to him raced through his mind.

Jimin had told him that Yoongi was hurt, but he had not said how. Looking at the picture on his screen PD-nim could see some slight swelling and bruising, but nothing tell-tale as to how or why, or even what injuries he had incurred.

Taehyung on the other hand… His posture was rigid, and his eyes seemed lifeless and dead; it was a sight Hitman never wished to see again…one he had never wanted to see to begin with.

Jungkook, looked like rage. Pure, evil, unadulterated, rage. His eyes were a brewing storm and the set of his jaw promised an unspeakable pain to whomever crossed his path. It made Hitman ill to even begin to think of what must have happened to his bright, beautiful, young maknae to taint his soul with such hatred and darkness.

Namjoon… Jimin said he had been caned for doing his duty of protecting his members. It hurt PD-nims heart to know that such a kind and loving soul was being broken so heinously. Looking at the boy in the picture you would not be remiss if you missed the miniscule signs of abhorrence in his eyes, or the subtle defensiveness in his stance. He was looking for a break…some sign of weakness he could push against; some sign he could give to the gods above to help get his brothers home.

“Namjoonah,” Hitman sighed, burying his face in his hands once more.

Kim Namjoon had always been a strong-minded boy. For the most part he remained level-headed as well, having learned patience and understanding from Hitman himself during his trainee years, and perseverance from his time in the underground rap scene. His mentor could only hope now that through it all the young man would be able to keep his wits about him, not doing anything stupid or rash in his desperation to set his brothers free.

Hoseok too looked like he was breaking. Nothing of the bright, bubbly young man that Bang Shi-hyuk knew remained.

“Seokjinah…”

Hitman brushed his fingers over the screen of his computer. Out of all of them Kim Seokjin looked the best, and Hitman briefly wondered if he wanted to know why. Had he been doing as he was told? Or was he only watching out for himself, standing by while his maknae-deul were punished for their imagined crimes and their captors’ sick pleasure?

Jimin, however, looked the worst of all. It was almost like his soul was missing. The Park Jimin that Bang Shi-hyuk knew was loving and warm. On stage he was always calculating, never quite satisfied with himself but…he had never turned that disgust on someone else; not as he was doing now.

PD-nim wondered what exactly this poor boy was being forced to endure, and why he was withstanding such punishments when it was painfully clear that the punishments for the others had not been the same. Was he doing this for his brothers? Did he fear for his life? Or was this the deal he had made with the devil to have some kind of freedom of his own?

“Master?” the man asked himself in confusion. Surely it did not mean what he thought it meant. Surely no one living would be that cruel. Who were these monsters, and what were their plans for Bangtan Sonyeondan?

Sven returned from having Dr. Hans tend to his hands to find Jimin still sleeping and Gregor gone. He was happy that he had not killed the man in his rage; Gregor was loyal, if somewhat foolish, and he needed the man to ensure he had sufficient numbers on his side in case Dorian decided to be stupid. This snowstorm was causing him no end of problems and his nerves were stretched to the limit. Perhaps it was time to start testing the nerves of Dorian and Mathan to see how far they would stretch before they gave way.

Sitting down in his chair he motioned Misha to bring him a drink.

“Whether Mathan likes it or not I think tomorrow we will let Jimin have his first one on one with his brothers. And I know just who to start with…” Sven took a sip of the vodka that Misha brought him and smiled sharply. “I will make sure that Mathan is occupied elsewhere… Have Jeon Jungkook brought to me. I think it is time he and I had a chat.”

Part Fifty-Two

Chapter Summary

***FULL CHAPTER NOW POSTED***

Part Fifty-Two

The next morning Mathan woke to a pounding on his door and a frantic guard up in arms about a potential D.E.A. sighting. Cursing everything he was worth Mathan threw on his winter gear and heavy boots, pulling on a toboggan and pushing outside to see what he could find. Surely Ryder would have contacted him had anything been amiss.

In Bangtan’s prison the day was just beginning. They briefly wondered where Mathan was that masked guards were required to bring them their breakfast, but none of them were brave enough to ask. After they had eaten their morning meal and cleaned up their messes they were instructed to shower and change, and informed that they were to present themselves for inspection. Looking at one another in concern, and no small amount of fear, the six prisoners did as they were told, keeping their guard up as they showered, changed, and sat at the kitchen table.

In Sven’s quarters he waited on Gregor’s return from BTS’ morning meal and smiled when the guard entered.

“Your property is ready for inspection, Master,” Gregor said, casting his eyes to the floor; the cuts and bruises colorful and vivid on the Russian guard’s face.

“I trust they were instructed on how to properly dress for my inspection?” Sven asked, casting a glance at his jewel.

“Yes, Master Sven,” Gregor said softly. “They have been clothed in the outfits you provided.”

“Very well,” Sven sniffed. “Have Misha inspect them accordingly. Bring Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung to me. Place Mr. Jeon in my office and lead my angel to the guest suite. Tell them both I will be with them shortly but give no further details.”

Gregor only nodded sharply as he backed out of the room to find his comrade and relay his master’s instructions.

Turning to Jimin Sven gave a cruel smirk as he stood and crossed the room to stand in front of the boy.

“My jewel,” he purred, reaching out and cupping the young man’s face. “How obedient you have been of late.”

Jimin looked up at his master and smiled.

“Jimin only wants to please you, Chagiyah,” he said softly.

Sven nodded at that, pleased that the boy had become less combative since his recent punishment.

“How shall your obedience be rewarded?” he asked. “Is there anything I have not provided?”

Jimin frowned as he shook his head, assuring Sven that he had never been so cared for in all his life.

“How about…” Sven started. “No. That might be too traumatic for you, my jewel.”

Jimin tilted his head in confusion, wondering what sick game this monster was playing now.

“What is it, Chagiyah?” he asked, measuring his tone to reflect concern rather than the fear and disgust he now felt.

“How would you like to see your brothers?” Sven asked, watching Jimin carefully for any sign of betrayal.

Jimin’s insides froze as his mind began to race. This was just another game; a false assurance too good to be true. Mathan had promised him that he would be able to see the others but he had come to know Sven too well to believe that the Russian would allow something like that to happen. This had to be some sort of sick test on Sven’s part; a way to see if Jimin was truly broken to the collar around his neck.

“Chagiyah…” he started. “You said…that they were jealous of me… Are you sure it is…safe?”

Sven smiled at the man’s reluctance, for once reading his jewel wrong.

“Do you not trust me?” Sven asked, sounding slightly shocked.

“With my life,” Jimin answered without hesitation, knowing that anything less than that would incur Sven’s wrath.

“Do you not wish to see them for yourself?” Sven asked, baiting the trap.

Jimin just shrugged, casting his gaze to the floor.

“Jeon Jungkook has been asking for you…” Sven tried.

“Do I have to?” Jimin asked softly, praying this monster would take it as disinterest.

“I guess not,” Sven said, slightly annoyed at Jimin’s resistance.

“I will,” Jimin said, picking up on his masters’ tone. “Thank you, Chagiyah. Your kindness is too much, as always.”

Sven smiled as he patted Jimin’s cheek.

“I only wish to make you happy, Jiminah. Go and change. I will have Mr. Jeon delivered to the meeting room I had set up for you.”

Jimin just nodded, rising for the bathroom to do as he was told, everything in him shaking at the thought of seeing his one true love.

Slinking to his office Sven checked the cameras, pleased to see that Mathan Foley was on the outer edge of the compound leading a wild goose chase for an invisible ghost. The report of the feds had been Carl’s idea, and as of now, it seemed to be working well.

Shutting off the monitors, Sven sat back in his chair at the knock on his door, smiling as Misha dragged Jungkook in.

"So happy you could join me, Jeon Jungkook-ssi. I was hoping that you and I might have a little chat. I am very curious as what it is about you that makes two of the most exquisite beings in the world so willing to do anything just to protect you." The Russian leaned back in his seat, his cold gaze taking in every inch of the young man standing in front of him, seeking the answer to the question burning in his thoughts.

Jungkook paid no attention to the question posed to him, or the man asking it. His eyes searched the room seeking Jimin. He looked from wall to wall for any sign that the other was in the room, or had recently been in it. He even took a deep breath hoping that he might catch a whiff of his elusive lover. Anything to hold on to; something to keep himself connected to Jimin.

“Where is Jimin-hyung?” Jungkook growled, his hand wrapping around the wrist that wore the bracelets Mathan had given them for Christmas. Rubbing his fingers over them allowed Jungkook to focus his thoughts on Jimin and keep his calm while facing the monster in front of him.

“He is safe,” Sven paused. “For now… Please do have the manners to answer my question.”

Jungkook evaluated the man for a moment before granting him a weak response.

“It is what brothers do,” he said.

“Brothers?” Sven asked, as an elegant eyebrow rose. “I had been under the impression that until recently you and he were lovers. Have I been mistaken?”

He laughed suddenly as he taunted the young man in front of him.

“From Jimin’s rather innocent responses to my affections…not quite lovers… More like…virginal sweethearts? How sad for you…”

Jungkook ground his jaw as he looked at the man before him, wanting nothing more than to punch him in his smug face. His fingers tightened around his wrist as he fought the violence that was swiftly rising, threatening to engulf his entire body. He knew that any act of aggression on his part would lead to dire consequences. The last thing he wanted was to bring more pain to Jimin or the others, so he took a deep calming breath as he answered.

“The past is in the past.”

“And what of Kim Taehyung?” Sven asked, shifting in his seat as he tried to discover this boy’s secrets.

“What of him?” Jungkook asked defiantly.

“If you wish to see Jimin, you will answer my question, Jeon Jungkook-ssi.”

Jungkook’s stomach fell and his heart raced at the thought. His mind was screaming at him to see this as the trap it surely was, but his heart was crying out for the man that he still loved.

“I was hyungie’s first,” he said simply.

“First what?” Sven asked.

“Love…I guess,” Jungkook said. “It was during our time as trainees…before Jiminah. But we still care about one another as brothers, so of course we would protect each other. It is what families do.”

“And that is why he protects you so?” Sven asked, genuinely confused by such a notion. “Because you are family?”

“Hyung protects everything he loves,” Jungkook said with a shrug. “That’s just how he is.”

“I see,” Sven said, nothing about what the man before him had said making sense. In his family any sign of softness was seen as weakness. And that usually meant the wolves would move in for the kill.

Sven stood and moved to circle Jungkook, much like a shark smelling blood in the water.

“Such sentimentality would never be accepted in my world. Things like caring and brotherhood are for the stupid…the weak.”

Disregarding the voice of caution, Jungkook replied, “Caring for and loving others doesn’t make you weak or stupid. It gives you strength you never knew you had. It makes it so you can survive anything...everything…”

Moving back to the desk Sven sat down and silently stared at Jungkook for several minutes. Then he just gave the young man a wide smile.

“Leave me,” he said, waving a hand towards his office door. “Misha will escort you back. Not a word about this little meeting, am I understood?”

Jungkook just nodded as he turned and saw his way out; following the female guard down a hallway he did not know until they came to a door at the end.

“You have one hour,” she said, her Hangul thick with her Russian accent. “Don’t try anything with Master’s jewel or I will punish you, yes?”

Jungkook blinked in confusion as the guard pushed the door open and shoved him inside.

Jimin looked up when he heard the door open and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. Surely this was a test of his loyalty to the monster who owned him. Why else would Jeon Jungkook be allowed to be alone with him in a room?

“Jiminah,” Jungkook breathed, his hand coming to his chest as it constricted and betrayed him.

Jimin looked at the boy before him; the one who held his heart and owned his soul.

“Jungkook-ssi,” he said softly, dying a little when he saw the pain that crossed his beloveds face.

“Jiminah,” Jungkook said again, slowly crossing the room and sitting across from the man.

Seeing Jungkook before him, Jimin remembered the promise that Mathan had made. He would be able to see and talk to the others without fear of being watched and listened to. Jimin knew that if Mathan made them a promise he would do everything in his power to make it happen, and for some unknown reason…Sven was afraid of Mathan, this he was sure of. It made him hopeful that that fear would ensure Sven would uphold whatever bargain was made for this meeting to happen. Giving in to the overwhelming need Jimin rushed around the table and threw himself into Jungkook’s arms.

“Sven…won’t he be watching?” Jungkook questioned even as his arms tightened around Jimin.

Without removing his head from Jungkook’s neck where he had buried it Jimin whispered, “Mathan promised that this meeting would be private…no cameras or microphones. I don’t know how he did it but this wouldn’t happen unless Sven agreed.”

Jimin pulled back giving a small smile as he wiped away the tears that rolled down his beloved’s cheeks. His heart broke as he saw how thin Jungkook’s face had become; how pain and fear had darkened his once bright eyes. He knew the others had to be in similar shape and it tore at his soul to know that they were in pain while he lived like a pampered pet.

It never crossed Jimin’s mind that he was enduring just as much pain and fear as his family. All he could see was the pain they were living through because he didn’t believe in Sven…because he wasn’t taking care of Sven like he had promised, so that Sven would take care of his hyungs. He was failing them.

“I am so sorry, Jagiyah…” Jimin wept.

Jungkook shook his head as he laid tender fingers on Jimin’s lips stopping him.

“Shhh…love…..shhh.”

Moving his hand from Jimin’s lips to lie on his cheek Jungkook whispered, “You have nothing to be sorry for. I know that you are doing this to keep us safe…alive…protected. Don’t ever apologize, no matter what happens…now or in the future. All I need is to know that you are alive and still hopeful.”

Not caring how cold the floor was, or how weak he felt, Jungkook stood, picking Jimin up and carrying him to one corner of the small room. Sliding down to the concrete floor with Jimin still wrapped in his embrace he settled them into the corner and savored their shared body heat.

He remembered the bracelets that Mathan had given him, quickly slipping off the blue one and putting in around Jimin’s wrist. He could see the expensive silver one on Jimin’s other wrist and hated it, knowing who had placed it there and why. One more sign of the Russian’s supposed ownership.

Jimin looked at the bracelet smiling when he saw the matching grey one on Jungkook’s wrist.

“Where did you get this from?” he asked, knowing all of their jewelry had been taken the day they were stolen away.

“Mathan gave them to us for Christmas,” Jungkook said softly, a small smile on his face as he thought of the sentiment behind it.

“Jagiyah…” Jimin breathed. “I can’t keep this. Sven would kill us both if he saw me wearing it,” he said, giving his lover a sad look as a tear made its way down his face.

Jungkook silenced Jimin with a long, passionate, breath-stealing kiss.

When he drew back to take a breath he whispered, “I know, Jimin-ah…but for right now, in this moment…you are mine again.”

“I am always yours. Body, mind, and soul. Nothing and no one will change that, Jungkookah. Saranghae, Jagiyah…saranghae.”

Jimin broke at that, tears falling from his eyes as sobs rocked his body. He wrapped tight arms around Jungkook, the other’s natural scent calming him as he was rocked back and forth. He closed his eyes and let the sound of Jungkook humming seep into his body and his memories. Jimin would hide this moment away deep within in his mind, using the memory to protect himself against Sven and his affections in the days to come.

“I’m here, Jiminah,” Jungkook said softly, kissing every inch of the boy that he could reach. “It’s alright. Jungkookie is here, Jagiyah. I’ll never leave…”

Jimin clung to the man his heart called home, listening to the words being spoken and taking deep breathes as he tried to calm his heart.

“You’re weak,” he said after some time, his senses coming back to him and realizing Jungkook was smaller as well as thinner than the last time they had held each other close.

“I’m okay,” Jungkook insisted.

“What happened?” Jimin asked, looking at Jungkook in fear.

“Just a cold,” Jungkook said with a smile as his hand came up to cup his lover’s face, his thumb trailing up and down Jimin’s cheek.

“You’re so skinny…” Jimin breathed, turning in the man’s lap to straddle him, looking him in the eye.

“I’ve been working out,” Jungkook said with his trademark smile.

“Jagiyah…” Jimin scolded.

“Don’t worry,” Jungkook said, leaning in and claiming the older boy’s lips in a soft, yet searing, kiss.

“I love you,” Jimin said as more tears threatened to fall.

“Always,” Jungkook said, a softer smile gracing his features now.

For the rest of the hour Jimin and Jungkook sat holding one another, talking about everything and nothing at all, settling into a comfortable silence where they memorized the sound of one another’s breathing and counted the heartbeats they got to spend together.

A voice inside Jimin told him their time together was growing short. Gazing into Jungkook’s eyes he raised the bracelet to his lips and placed a kiss on it before he removed it and placed it back on Jungkook’s wrist. He leaned down and placed kiss after kiss on both the blue and grey bracelets, murmuring “Saranghae” repeatedly with each touch of his lips.

When they heard the door begin to open they pulled away, Jungkook wiping the tears from Jimin’s face, kissing his hand, and stepping back, mouthing ‘saranghae’ as he backed out, following Misha down the hall and back to the room that he called hell.

As soon as the door slammed behind him his brothers surrounded him, each one asking rapid fire questions as he fell to his knees, the pain in his chest the greatest it had ever been.

"Where did you go?” Namjoon asked.

“What did they do to you?” asked Hoseok.

“Where is Taehyung?” demanded Yoongi.

All Jungkook could do was shake his head as he was once again overwhelmed.

“He told me…he still loves me,” he cried, looking up at his brothers as new tears fell. “Jimin...Chagiyah...he told…he told me he loved me and…”

This only started a new round of questions as Jin pushed through and picked his maknae up, carrying him to the nearest bed and laying him down, already seeing the strain the boy was under.

“Give him some room,” he insisted as he backed away and looked at the others. “Let him have time to breathe. We can’t have him getting sick again.”

The others slowly backed away, their eyes still trained on the youngest as they waited for him to speak. They could see how much pain he was in and slowly they sank down to his level, enveloping him in a hug and holding him while he cried, no one asking about Taehyung, but each of them wondering where their brother had gone.

Back in his room Jimin was a little surprised to find Sven missing, but thankful he had time to wash his face and collect his thoughts. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if his master saw him in such a state. Rushing to the bathroom Jimin was quick to fix his appearance, exiting the bathroom just moments before his new hell started.

“Jiminah,” Sven said with a predatory grin. “Did you enjoy your little visit?”

“Yes, Chagiyah,” Jimin said with a polite smile. “Thank you for allowing me to see that they are well.”

“Of course, my jewel,” Sven said, his tone somewhat off.

“Is something wrong? Chagiyah?” Jimin asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“Did Mr. Jeon do something to upset you?” Sven asked, feigning concern.

Jimin’s mouth turned down into a frown as he slowly shook his head, confusion covering his rising panic.

“You have been crying,” Sven stated. “Did you cry to your lover of the terrible monster that held you captive?”

Jimin’s eyes widened in horror as he vigorously shook his head.

“Did you tell him you love him?” Sven growled, setting the trap he was sure would ensnare the man before him.

“No,” Jimin breathed. “I love only you, Chagiyah.”

Sven nodded, his own lips pulled down in a frown.

“Did you kiss him?” Sven asked, approaching Jimin.

“Of course not!” Jimin insisted.

Before he could react Sven had pulled him in for a rough kiss, forcing his tongue into Jimin’s mouth before pulling back roughly.

“You brushed your teeth I see,” Sven snarled, sure that Jimin was caught.

“I got sick when I returned,” Jimin said softly. “I did not want…to…”

“You are ill?” Sven questioned, one eyebrow raised.

“Not now,” Jimin said. “Just…overwhelmed. But I am better now… Jungkook-ssi kept asking me how I was doing here. It was hard for him to accept that I am happy with you and being well cared for.”

Sven looked the boy over with a critical eye, deciding his appearance reflected his words, but unwilling to let him off so easily.

“That’s good,” Sven said with a smirk. “Let us have dinner and then perhaps…dessert…”

Jimin gulped hard at the way his master had said ‘dessert’, but nodded his agreement, hoping beyond hope the man would be distracted from anything other than actual dessert.

He body began to shake as his mind flashed back to Christmas morning…

AUTHORS NOTE

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for finding us and staying with us, especially if you have been with us since the beginning. Sandra and I know that you went a long time without an update and some of our readers it seems have left us, and that is okay too.

I know that you got a whole lot of 'life got us' excuses because we were trying to be vague and protect eachothers privacy by not giving away information that wasn't ours to give. From February to just very recently I myself dealt with issues in my home, did a lot of aquisition and restoration work, celebrated 4 birthdays, and mourned the loss of more people than I care to think about. Work got crazy, lots of people missed for lots of various reasons and at the end of the day I was just too mentally and emotionally exhausted to deal with Kidnapped in a productive and condusive way.

Sandra and I also did a whole lot of real life messing around because we literally live so close to eachother.

Some time in the last three weeks I got back into the swing of things and I myself did a lot of writing which is why Sandra has so much to edit, but her life is not moving in the same direction or pace as mine is and so there is still that to overcome. There will be days and times when you will not hear from her, or from me, because as she helps me with my life I will be there to help her with hers.

I hope she is not offended by this but yesterday Sandra got some devastating news about something in her personal life and as I am sure you will understand, she is in the process of reevaluation and adjustment in regards to the whole situation. I will not invade her privacy further and if she feels up to it I know she will come to you all and tell you in her own way and time.

I know that she misses all of you guys terribly and I don't know if you guys fully understand how much you all mean to us. Every 'kudo', every review, every kind word lifts us up in ways we never imagined and makes us want to continue. Sandra did say she was behind on all of the reviews and I know she will sit down and catch up on those, but please continue to leave her especially kind words of understanding, patience, and encouragement so that she knows she is not alone in this difficult time.

I met Sandra many months ago on twitter where we bonded over BTS and where after I basically BEGGED she agreed to meet me at a local restauraunt (again we live ridiculously close to eachother) and we have been good friends ever since (we talk every single day and I check on her face at least once a week). After several more conversations I convinced her to share this story with me which was like...4 chapters or so and I was so in love with it I harrassed her for a week to write more and bribed her with terribly made edits and graphics which I wanted to inspire her. Now, all these months later, here we are, co-authors of this amazing (to us at least) fic.

I think we will need some additional patience in the weeks and months to come because everything on her end is just very unknown right now and there will be days or longer when she just isn't around and that will have to be okay.

I am slowly trying to bring her back in to Kidnapped where she very much was for a few days, but I understand her personal situation and so I am trying to help her deal with real life first.

Please know that the Kidnapped-verse brings her untold amounts of joy, so she won't ever abandon it, and neither will I, we just need some more time to...be.

I know this is a cheesy move, but I am a desperate friend and so I will sink and ask our readers to wrap my friend in their love, and their joy. Please send Sandra kind words. Talk to her about Kidnapped, or BTS, or whatever. Tell her how this story has affected you, or if it has helped you through some kind of time in your life, cause it has definately helped me through some dark times in mine believe it or not.

You can hit us up on twitter @kaelyn_grey or @LadyMidnight122, or email us [email protected] or [email protected].

Sandra has 53, I have 54, and we have most of 55 written, but I promised her I would wait to write any more so.... :P

Thanks friends!

Kaelyn Grey

Dear Reader

Chapter by LadyMidnight122

Chapter Summary

A message from Sandra (aka LadyMidnight)

Dear Readers,

Greetings...it is I, Sandra...one half of the evil authors who created BTS Kidnapped! I sit hear listening to BTS' new album trying to find the words to say without becoming an emotional mess but I wanted to take a moment and update our readers.

Last Sunday, on Mother's Day I lost my beloved mother to her long struggle with Liver Cancer. She passed away her in her home and I was by her side. To say that my heart is broken is an understatement. She and I have been each other's best friends and solace through so many life struggles. This past week has passed in a haze of numbness that still has not completely lifted. My life is currently in turmoil as the family seeks to rebound from this tragedy. My own life is a twisted tangle of emotions and decisions and my mind is running in a thousand different directions.

I want to say Thank You to all our readers, past and present who have sent well wishes to me and lifted me up so many times with your love of this story and comments. So many times I have laughed until I cried; and cried because your words of love and encouragement as well as praise made me feel for the first time that I could honestly call myself a writer. Each and every one of you has been my strength and light in the dark times that have come to me. THANK YOU!!! I love each of you and those are not empty words. So many times I have gone back and re-read comments and wrapped them around myself like a warm blanket to help keep the darkness at bay and lift the sadness that threatens to crush me at times.

So I ask for your patience during this time and ask that you stay with us. This story will not die...I will not let it.

BTS, BTS Kidnapped! and my best friend, soul sister and writing partner in crime, Kaelyn have been my truest strength and comfort. Without them I would not have the will to take my next breath. So I thank the Goddess each and everyday that BTS and Kaelyn came into my life and helped brighten it.

THANK YOU, EACH AND EVERY READER!!!!!

Love, Sandra

A NOTE FROM YOUR AUTHORS

Chapter by kaelyngrey

*dusts off the mic and pulls out her soap box*

*taps mic* Is this thing on?

Hi! Your friendly neighborhood co-author here with a quick update. SANDRA IS MOVED!!!! *blows confetti everywhere* We both thank you so much for your continued patience as we get readjusted. Sandra is in her new place and while she does need to officially unpack we are both in agreement that it is time for her to wipe the dust off of her keyboard and get back into the swing of things.

Sandra hopes to have everything unpacked and ready to go no later than Thursday, and she *should* have a solid internet connection by Tuesday, so in the mean time I have gone back and added mood boards to some chapters, re-emailed her the parts she needs to edit for posting, and today I will be organizing our notes and outlining Chapters 55 and 56. I may also write a little present for our readers that fits in to the 'Kidnapped' Universe.

Again, thank for so much for all of the kind words you have sent to her and your patience with us, which is truly inspiring. I really feel like we do not deserve such amazing friends and readers.

Sorry if this gave you the heart attack of an update but I promise I will do my very best to have you a REAL update by the end of the week.

All My Love,

Kaelyn.

Part Fifty-Three (The Real Deal)

Chapter Notes

Thank you so much our dear readers for staying with us and for being so patient. We present to you, the beginning of the end. For this part anyway. Never fear, however, Part Two of this trilogy is in the works and we hope you will stay with us for it. Hopefully, we will have 54 for you here in a few days and 55 shortly after that!

TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!! Direct depictions of non-con/forced sexual acts. PLEASE DO! NOT! READ! if this will harm or affect you!

Part Fifty-Three

FLASHBACK

Christmas morning Jimin woke to the smell of breakfast and hot cocoa. Sitting up and wiping the sleep from his eyes he had noticed a small box sitting on his bedside table, his name written in Sven’s perfect scrawl.

Taking a deep breath Jimin slowly reached out and grabbed the box, holding it for a moment before opening it to reveal a silver bracelet. Yet another piece of jewelry to tie him to the monster he had captivated. Another chain binding him to the hellish life he now found himself living. His first instinct was to hurl the bracelet across the room and scream out against the cage he had willingly placed himself in.

Jimin’s whole body slumped in tired defeat as he gazed down at the jewelry in the palm of his hand. Sven’s rage at finding his gift so carelessly thrown away would no doubt lead to a great deal of pain for Jimin and punishment for his hyungs. Playing the part of Sven’s loving jewel was the only thing standing between them and certain death, but Jimin wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on before he lost all the parts of his soul and became the very thing that Sven wanted…a mindless doll.

Slipping the bracelet on Jimin stood and looked around before mechanically eating breakfast, drinking the cocoa, going to the bathroom, and washing for the day. By the time he came out his stylists were waiting for him and as he sat there being pampered he wondered what level of hell he would be subjected to that day.

Just as soon as he was finished Sven waltzed in, a predatory grin on his face as his eyes raked over his prize.

“Jimin-ah,” he breathed. “Look at how exquisite you are. And I see you found your present.”

Jimin looked at Sven through the mirror, putting a soft smile on his face as he nodded, his stomach souring in the man’s presence.

“Yes, Chagiyah,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

“Does my jewel like it?” Sven asked. “I know it isn’t as extravagant as you are used to but…it is the highest quality platinum and as you can imagine, it cost a great deal of money…”

“I love it, Chagiyah,” Jimin replied. “Just as I love you…”

“Good…” Sven smirked. “I am glad.”

Jimin turned around in his chair to look at the man, something telling him Sven wanted more than to just ogle at him. The look in the Russian’s eyes had searing fear running through Jimin’s body. Was this the moment that haunted his nightmares each and every night? Sven had sworn to Jimin that he would not fully take his body until they were back in Russia, the man having courted and won Jimin’s heart entirely; but so many promises from this monster had come to naught due to his whims. Had the destruction of Park Jimin’s body and soul come at last?

“Did you need something? Chagiyah?” he asked, trying to sound innocent instead of repulsed.

“I was hoping you would have a gift for me,” Sven said, sounding innocent himself.

It made Jimin’s stomach drop.

“P-present?” he asked in confusion. “Chagiyah…I…” How was he supposed to have gotten the man a present when he was kept captive twenty-four hours a day?

“I want only your attention,” Sven said, stepping closer. “But perhaps it is time for attention of another kind,” he said as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man’s waist and pulled him roughly into his embrace.

“Chagiyah?” Jimin asked, his heart beginning to race as he noticed Sven’s lust filled gaze.

“Your kiss was so…delicious….” Sven said, his voice low. “Perhaps you can show me what else those pretty little lips of yours can do…”

Jimin couldn’t breathe. He was frozen solid as terror consumed him and it was everything he could do to keep from crying out with the emotions he now felt.

“Cha…” he tried as he fought to take control. “I…”

“Shhh…” Sven calmed, his finger going to Jimin’s lips to silence him before tracing them as he leaned in and kissed Jimin softly, biting the man’s lower lip and causing him to gasp, thus allowing his tongue entrance into his jewels warm mouth. It was almost like heaven as Sven tasted the peppermint toothpaste Jimin used mixed with the hot cocoa he knew the man had drunk with breakfast that morning.

Jimin responded appropriately, shutting off his brain and letting his body take over lest he or his brothers be punished again. Melting into the kiss, Jimin tilted his head up and to the side, allowing the monster better access to the kiss, a soft sigh escaping him as Sven held him tighter. He tried not to notice the physical response he felt from the man, but when Sven picked him up by his butt and forced his legs around him it was impossible to ignore.

Their contact was severed when Sven laid Jimin down on the bed, his lips trailing kisses down the man’s neck as his hands moved to undo the buttons of his silk dress shirt. All Jimin could do was squeeze his eyes shut, trying to hold the image of Jungkook and the others in his mind. Sven, on the other hand, was enjoying this brief taste of his jewel, but he knew he would have to end it soon. He wanted only the best for when their special night came, and that was none of what this shithole they were in had to offer.

“Relax,” Sven whispered as he kissed his way to Jimin’s collarbone, his arms pinning the smaller man to the bed. “I promise I’ll be good…”

Jimin fisted the sheets as he tried to obey, but he could not stop the tears that leaked from his eyes as his mind went back to that night several months ago when the monster before him had pushed him past his limit.

“What have I said about crying?” Sven snarled, biting Jimin’s shoulder hard enough to make him jerk and cry out.

“Ssss…so-oo-rry…chagi…chagiyah…” Jimin forced out, reaching up and wiping the tears from his face.

Sven laughed and kissed the wound softly before kissing his way back up to the younger man’s mouth, claiming his lips in a rough kiss.

“Make it up to me,” Sven whispered against his lips before rolling off of Jimin and laying back on the bed, his arms folded underneath his head like a pillow.

“Make it…up to you?” Jimin asked in confusion as he slowly sat up and turned to look at the man.

“Make it up to me,” Sven confirmed, looking at Jimin and silently daring him to refuse.

“H…how?” Jimin asked softly.

Sven smirked at Jimin as he removed a hand from behind his head, extending it to brush his fingers once more across Jimin’s lips.

“Show me what that pretty mouth of yours can do,” he said softly, almost seductively.

Jimin wanted to refuse. To scream ‘andweh’ in the mans’ face, but he knew that he could not. Nodding his head Jimin repositioned himself to lean down and capture Sven’s lips in a kiss, his eyes closed as he once again attempted to shut off his brain. Bracing himself on his knees Jimin’s hands made quick work of his masters’ shirt, pulling it free from his pants and snaking slender fingers up the man’s well-sculpted chest.

Hands were followed by lips as Jimin kissed a trail from the man’s waist, up his stomach, across his bicep, to his collarbone and finally up his neck to press a gentle kiss to Sven’s jaw. While his mouth was busy he was almost distracted to the fact that Sven had taken hold of his hands and guided them to rest on the button of his pants. When Jimin realized, he was almost nauseous. His destruction had come just as he had feared.

Pulling his attention away from Sven’s jaw Jimin sat back, his fingers trembling as they undid the man’s pants and slowly pulled them from his hips. He wanted to run when he saw the man’s size. He would never be able to handle that. Slowly reaching out a hand Jimin wrapped his fingers around Sven’s member, trembling at the idea of what he was being forced to do.

“Mouth, my jewel,” Sven said, his eyes already half-lidded with desire.

Jimin only nodded as he slowly leaned down, kissing the head of Sven’s member, his eyes closing in revulsion at the sight before him. He had never actually given anyone a blow job and he was completely clueless as to how exactly they worked, or what he was supposed to do with everything that Sven had to offer. Sven, on the other hand, was already almost lost to ecstasy at the thought alone. He was about to make his sweet jewel break even more.

“That’s it, my jewel,” he encouraged as he bucked his hips.

Jimin inhaled and held his breath before bending further down and running his tongue along the vein on the underside of Sven’s cock, his hand going back to pumping as he finally worked up the nerves to settle his stomach enough to complete the nightmare before him.

Jimin’s actions were sloppy and harsh. He was more focused on the end goal of scrubbing himself raw than he was on anyone getting any real pleasure. Several times he almost choked and at one point Sven grabbed him by the hair and pulled hard in reprimand for Jimin doing it wrong. No matter how hard he tried he could not relax and when Sven took matters into his own hands, he thought that he would die. Closing his eyes and concentrating on the hands in his hair Jimin retreated to the corner of his mind his Kookie lived in and was not pulled back out until he felt Sven shudder and a salty warmth coat the back of his throat. He was sure that he would vomit.

“Clean yourself up,” Sven said harshly. “You look like some kind of back alley gutter whore. I’ll send the stylists in to fix you back. And brush your teeth. I don’t want to taste myself when I kiss you.”

Without another word, Sven was through the door and gone and Jimin was running for the bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet, flushing before he opened his eyes.

END FLASHBACK

Jimin had not been so lucky as to escape ‘dessert’. After their dinner Sven had cornered him, pushing him to the bed and having his way with him much like he had at Christmas. Just as before Jimin was overwhelmed by his master’s presence, but this time he had the memories of the last time to go with it. Before Jimin knew what was happening he was emptying the contents of his stomach at his master’s feet, vomit splattering on the man’s expensive shoes.

In his horror and fear Jimin tried to utter an apology but was stopped cold as Sven’s hand connected with Jimin’s cheek, the man’s expensive rings nicking his skin as his master put him in his place.

“Disgusting,” Sven had sneered as he looked at the mess beneath him. “Clean this filth up, Park Jimin-ssi.”

Sven said no more as he switched out his shoes for expensive house slippers and departed his quarters for some place unknown.

Now Jimin sat in the bathtub of his prison, the water long cold as tears ran down his cheeks.

How long until he died here? How much longer until he was free? Happy in his afterlife with his family free from hell? He didn’t know how much longer he would be able to hold on…not when a monster such a Sven controlled his every move. Condemned his every incorrect action. Every time the Russian touched him now, Jimin prayed for death, begged God to end his life and take him from this never-ending nightmare. With each touch of Sven’s hands, he thought less of his hyungs pain, wanting only to have his own pain finally come to an end.

For one hundred sixty-seven days Bangtan Sonyeondan had suffered at the hands of the monsters who had taken them; stolen them from their freedom in the dead of night with no intention of ever letting go. For one hundred sixty-seven days Jimin had heard his brothers scream; had listened to them beg for mercy when one of them was beaten, or taken away for some sick freaks guilty pleasure. For one hundred sixty-seven days Jimin had learned to recognize his brothers by the anguish of their screams.

Kim Taehyung, Sven had quickly discovered, was fire. Hidden under the façade of an innocent, beautiful angel, was a naughty little devil ready and willing to please. He was nothing like Jimin at all. He was experienced… inquisitive…malleable. Whatever Sven asked of him, he did. It made the man think that perhaps two was better than one after all. While Jimin was beautiful to look at, Taehyung was equally as breathtaking in his beauty. Where Jimin was innocent and naïve, Taehyung would just smirk and give a saucy wink. It drove Sven mad with desire.

Currently, Sven’s naughty little angel was in the bathroom of Sven’s guest quarters washing up from the invigorating escapades they had just had. If Jimin was unwilling to provide him a release…Taehyung had more than serviced his need. The Russian thought it necessary to reward the boy for all of his hard work and dedication. Maybe he would get him stylists of his own, but for now, he could share the team that cared for Park Jimin. He certainly deserved the new wardrobe that Sven was about to order.

Sven smiled as he envisioned walking into one of his meetings with both Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung gracing his arms. There were many in his world that would literally explode with jealousy at the sight of two such perfect creatures belonging to Sven. He could see both Jimin and Taehyung draped in silks and sables, sparkling like the perfect gems they were. Sven allowed a small laugh to emerge as he pictured the envy on his Cousin Andre’s face.

“Jagiya?” a deep voice asked from the bathroom as Taehyung emerged, his new shirt neatly tucked into his pants and a seductive look on his face. “Do I look okay?”

Sven looked up from straightening his tie to consider the man before him, eyes raking from top to bottom.

“Much better,” he said in approval. “I think I’ll have some new clothes sent for you to wear. None of that trashy garbage they have for you, do you understand?”

“Yes Jagiya,” Taehyung said with a boxy smile.

“I’ll have you a team brought in as well, but until this weather passes I shall have Jimin-ssi’s stylists look after you as well” Sven decided as he considered the boy. “I only collude with the finest of angels, and I know that my angel is not at his best.”

Taehyung pouted and looked down in disappointment, something he knew that only he could get away with.

“I’m sorry I’m not perfect Jagiya,” he said softly. “I promise I will work harder to be a good little angel.”

Sven growled in frustration as the boy continued to drive him wild. Before he knew it, he had crossed the room, grabbing Taehyung by the hair and jerking his face up to claim his lips in a quick burning kiss.

“Only you,” he hissed, the threat dying on his lips as he looked into the boys’ eyes.

Taehyung never closed his eyes when they were together. Not when they kissed, or when Sven had him slammed against a wall littering his neck with marks of passion, or when Taehyung was going down to take care of all his masters’ needs.

“How is your injury?” Sven asked as he considered the boy. “Shall I call my physician back to examine it?”

Taehyung shook his head as he gave Sven a smile.

“I am well, thank you,” he said, a hint of seduction in his tone. “Jagiya is the only medication that I need.”

“I’ll never send you back to those deplorable conditions if you keep this up,” Sven growled, wondering if he had finally met his match.

“Jagiya…” Taehyung pouted as he ran a finger down the man’s chest. “We can’t make Jiminie jealous. You know how he gets when he’s jealous. He doesn’t take care of you right and then you have to make excuses to pull me out and fight with everyone else. The others are always so tiresome. Don’t you agree?”

“Then don’t go back,” Sven insisted as he leaned in and attacked the younger man’s neck.

“Mmmmmm….” Taehyung moaned. “I have to…”

“Not right now,” Sven growled again, tangling his fingers in Taehyungs hair and arching his neck to gain better access to all the spots he knew drove the other wild.

“Jagiya…” Taehyung breathed. “Don’t… Let me…mmmm…let me…take care…gnnnn…”

Sven loved it when Taehyung begged. Fucking loved it. Jimin didn’t do those things. Not like Taehyung did. Jimin cried and snotted when he begged. The man before him writhed and arched and moaned. It was almost an instant orgasm in and of itself.

“Let you what?” Sven snarled, pinning the boy against the wall behind him as his hand went to Taehyungs neck, holding him there as he nosed his jaw.

“Jagiya is so tense,” Taehyung pouted, his pupils blown with desire. “Let Taehyungah take care of you…”

“I have business to attend,” Sven said firmly.

“When you come back?” Taehyung asked, looking Sven square in the eye.

“My jewel requires my attention,” Sven said.

Taehyung would have pouted but he knew that Jimin always came first. Not for long though. Soon everything would change. Taehyung just had to bide his time well. He knew when to push and he knew when to bow down. The last thing he wanted was to make the man before him mad… Mad at him anyways. The rest of the world could burn as long as he was cared for.

“Damn you,” Sven groaned, leaning in and claiming Tae’s lips in a passionate kiss. “Jimin can have me for dinner, but you had best save room for dessert…”

“Yummy,” Taehyung said as he licked his lips seductively.

“Tell that Min Yoongi to stay away from you,” Sven said, tightening his grip on Taehyungs neck slightly. In his desire, Sven failed to note the slight stiffening of Taehyung’s body at the mention of his lover. “Tonight, you are all mine…”

“I’m always yours,” Taehyung said, his voice dropping lower.

“You had better be,” Sven warned.

“Will you see me out?” Taehyung asked, his hand running up Sven’s arm to rest on the hand around his neck.

“My guards will see you out,” Sven said, letting him go and immediately pushing away.

When the meeting was over, his dinner with Jimin ending in revolting disaster, Sven summoned Taehyung to tend to his carnal needs. Jimin had looked a little too relieved to be out of Sven’s company, and the other five members had tried to buck hard, but Taehyung had ‘bravely’ reassured them that he would be fine before solemnly leaving the cell with Sven’s guards, smirking inside at the triumph of his escape. He barely made it in the door before he was slammed against the wall of Sven’s guest quarters, the shirt he was wearing torn away as Sven attacked his neck and marked his property.

Arching his body just right Taehyung made all the right sounds to drive the man wild, knowing the more satisfied this monster was, the longer he would leave everyone else alone. If Jimin couldn’t do his part to keep everyone safe, then Taehyung would…lost pieces of his soul be damned.

“I should punish you, my angel,” Sven said, his voice low as his hands roamed over Taehyungs torso. “You kept me distracted all day with that fucking little pout of yours.”

Taehyung smirked at this knowledge.

“But I like it when you punish me Jagiya,” he said in his deep voice.

“Then maybe I will send you back and punish you that way,” Sven said, the both of them seeing it as the empty threat it was.

“Let me make it better,” Taehyung said, trailing a finger up Sven’s front. “You’re still so tense… Let me help you relax…”

Sven smirked at this.

“You want to make it better?” he asked, tangling his fingers in Taehyungs hair and jerking the mans’ head back roughly, biting the spot where neck met shoulder. “What makes you think I want you to touch me?” he growled.

All Taehyung could do was moan to cover up his whimper of pain.

“Jagiya…” he breathed. “Please…”

“On your knees,” Sven commanded, using his grip on the younger man to throw him to the floor, Taehyung dropping perfectly to his knees, a smirk on his face.

“Such an angel,” Sven purred making Taehyung smile.

“Only yours,” Taehyung said, his eyes never leaving Sven’s as he snaked his hands up the man’s pants, palming the growing bulge before undoing Sven’s belt and button, stretching up to unzip them with his teeth.

“Greedy…” Sven growled as he watched the man beneath him.

Taehyung smirked as his eyes diverted to his hands, pupils blowing wide as he slid Sven’s pants down, his member standing at attention as soon as it was freed from the confines of his dress pants.

Licking his lips Tae leaned forward, licking a strip from base to tip before taking Sven’s dick in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the head before swallowing the man’s entire length, relaxing his throat and setting a steady pace as he worked the man standing before him.

Sven was lost in pleasure as his hands tangled in Taehyungs hair once more, gently guiding his actions and relishing in how devilish his little angel was with his mouth. He was much more skilled than Jimin and Sven found it almost regretful.

“Has my angel missed me?” Sven purred as Taehyung looked up at him and moaned around the cock in his mouth.

“Show me,” Sven breathed.

Taehyung immediately went to work, hollowing his cheeks as he licked his way down and sucked his way back up, his hand coming up to fondle Sven’s balls.

Sven could not help the moan that escaped him as the talented boy before him played him like a fiddle. When he felt the coil in his abdomen start to tighten he pulled Taehyung by the hair causing the man to release his length and stand.

“Someone’s been practicing I think,” he growled, his eyes dangerous as he pulled Taehyungs hair even more, forcing him towards the bed and throwing him down.

“Jagiya,” Taehyung breathed as he scrambled back on the bed.

“Tell me you’ve been a naughty little boy Taehyung-ah,” Sven cooed, looking at the man before him with mock disappointment.

Taehyung opened his mouth before snapping it shut, his whole demeanor changing.

“Will Jagiya punish me?” he asked in a sultry tone.

“Does my angel deserve to be punished?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I’ve been naughty,” Taehyung said with a nod of his head.

Sven smirked at that as he crawled onto the bed, forcing Taehyung to lay down underneath him.

“How should you be punished?” he asked as he straddled the smaller man, looking down at him with a carnal lust.

“Jagiya…” Tae whimpered, his mind in overload at everything that was happening.

“Should I spank you?” Sven asked, sounding unimpressed.

Taehyung just fiercely shook his head. He knew that neither of them liked such things.

“Then what do you suggest?” Sven asked.

“Jagiya…” Taehyung moaned as he rolled up into the man above him causing Sven to smirk and lean down.

“I’m going to fucking wreck you,” he whispered. “And you are not allowed to make a sound, is that understood?”

Taehyung looked at the man above him wide-eyed as he nodded his head. Sven had obviously not had a good day.

“Take your clothes off,” Sven commanded as he stood off of the boy, watching him completely undress, placing his remaining clothes in a pile before laying back on the bed.

“Give me your hands,” Sven commanded as he discarded his own shirt and pulled something from a shelf.

Taehyung eyed the man’s hands as he slowly extended his arms, gasping when he felt handcuffs snap on to his wrists, the metal cold against his skin.

“No touching either,” Sven said with a sadistic smirk as he straddled Taehyung once again, kissing him passionately.

“Why is Jagiya upset?” Taehyung asked softly. “Who made you mad?”

Sven let a short, cruel laugh escape him.

“Perhaps I should let you teach your brother how to play,” he said as he picked Tae up and threw him farther up the bed, flipping him onto his knees and securing his wrists to the headboard.

Taehyung buried his face in the pillow as his eyes went wide. What exactly had Jimin done to have Sven in such a state? It must have been something bad.

Before he could form another thought he felt himself being ripped in half, Sven burying himself to the hilt with no sort of preparation. Taehyung didn’t even have time to get accustomed to the feel before the man was thrusting into him as hard and fast as he could, spearing the boy beneath him with every piece of resentment and anger that he had. Everything that was bothering him he took out on his angel knowing the man would take it without complaint and swallow it whole before coming back for more.

Taehyung buried his face in the pillow more, biting the blood from his lip to keep from crying out. As painful as it was he found an odd sort of pleasure in knowing that at least he was alive. Even in the fire that was Sven, Taehyung felt needed. As long as the monster was occupied he would not pursue anything else. Taehyungs brothers would be safe for one more day.

When Sven hit his prostate Taehyung arched up, his mouth opened in a silent scream.

“Does my angel like that?” Sven asked sweetly as he pulled almost all the way out before thrusting back in.

Taehyung only nodded as he bucked back to meet Sven’s thrust.

“So needy,” Sven purred as he steadied Taehyungs hips, holding the boy in place as he stilled for a moment. “Perhaps I should just leave you here and go about my way. I’m sure Jimin wouldn’t mind sharing his bed tonight…”

Taehyung shook his head fervently.

“Does my angel not like that?” Sven asked, pulling the man’s hair until he was painfully arched.

Taehyung shook his head again.

“Does he like being wrecked?”

Taehyung could only nod as he felt Sven’s grip on his hair loosen slightly.

“Do you want me to finish you?” Sven growled.

Taehyung couldn’t help the moan that escaped him and was thankful when he was thrown forward, Sven roughly taking hold of his member and jerking him off, his strokes matching his thrusts as he fucked Taehyung into oblivion.

When Taehyung woke sometime later he was shocked to find himself back in his cell, and overwhelmingly thankful that everyone was asleep. Slowly trying to stand Taehyung almost screamed out in pain as his body became more alert. Falling to his knees the man tried to remember how to breathe as he slowly crawled towards the bathroom, intent on scrubbing the monster from his skin. He couldn’t help the few tears that fell as his body began to give in to the pain and so he missed the most attentive member sitting in the corner, still very much awake.

Yoongi had never been able to sleep well and as such he had seen everything that had happened when his lover had been brought in. He had heard every word. Min Yoongi knew better than any what Kim Taehyung had done in the dark and for the first time ever, he was livid.

Be careful making wishes in the dark

Can't be sure when they've hit their mark

And besides in the meantime I'm just dreaming of tearing you apart

I'm in the details with the devil

So now the world can never get me on my level

I just got to get you out of the cage

I'm a young lovers rage

Gonna need a spark to ignite

My songs know what you did in the dark

Part Fifty-Four

Part Fifty-Four

For three days Kim Taehyung slept, consciousness being a living hell too painful to withstand. For three days faceless guards tended to Bangtan Sonyeondan bringing only food to be cooked and leaving as soon as their meals were cleaned up and the utensils replaced. For three days no one spoke for fear of opening a deeper level of pain.

On day four Mathan finally returned from his bullshit assignment to realize something was terribly, painfully, horribly wrong. The cameras in Bangtans’ prison cell were working again, the microphones recording, but on the monitors, a silent standoff was taking place. Dropping his items, Mathan ran to the prison cell he could almost call home, bursting through the door and looking around in horror.

“Wha—” Mathan started before the door burst back open and Gregor stepped in, a smug grin on his face as he took in the scene before him.

“Master Sven says you may send Min Yoongi to meet with Masters jewel.”

Mathan looked at the boys before him, silently daring the rebel rapper to say a word.

“Master Sven also requires Kim Taehyung,” Gregor said, sounding disinterested. “He worries that his property is ill and demands he be looked at by Dr. Hans.”

Mathan didn’t miss the look of terror that crossed the young mans’ face but he also knew that per the agreement he had made, he was powerless to stop Taehyung from being taken away. One evil deed for another was the only barter Mathan Foley had ever known.

“Get cleaned up,” he said softly, not looking at any of the occupants of the room. “Yoongi and Taehyung will go with Gregor. The rest of you will sit and explain to me what the hell is going on…”

Taehyung knew better than to defy the man who held his brother captive, and he knew better than to let his brothers argue for his sake alone.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, forcing his body to support itself as he repositioned his stance. “I think…”

Taehyung just looked at his brothers as he solidified his resolve, stood straight, and made a show of walking out of the room with Gregor as if nothing were wrong. He was determined to play his part to keep Jimin and the others safe, even if it meant sacrificing his own body and soul to the monster Sven. The only pain that flashed briefly over his face was at the sight of Yoongi; his beloved looking at him with such anger and contempt on his face that is caused his heart to momentarily seize in his chest.

Yoongi, on the other hand, snorted, spitting at his brothers’ feet to show his contempt as he too followed the freak show he had been required to play with. He was not at all surprised when he was deposited into the meeting room first, his former lover being escorted to ‘Dr. Hans’ for ‘examination.’

Taehyung was almost in tears by the time he reached Sven’s guest quarters, but was relieved when the sick scientist they called a doctor was not there. Carefully looking around he kept his guard high, listening for any hint he may get towards the monsters' arrival.

“My sweet angel,” he heard moments later as the door to his torture chamber opened. “I had feared you didn’t wish to play with me anymore,” Sven pouted, eying his angel with full-blown lust.

“Never, Master,” Taehyung said, slipping back into character, his mask firmly in place.

“You are injured,” Sven said with a frown, truly concerned for the well-being of his property.

He stood to make a ridiculous amount of money off of Kim Taehyung and he would personally ensure the boy stayed in only slightly used, but otherwise pristine condition.

“I’m okay,” Tae said softly, diverting his gaze from the man before him.

“Do not lie to me, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Sven ground out.

“Master was…distracted,” Taehyung said. “He needed to relieve his stress and…that is what I was called here to do…”

“Did I hurt you?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raised.

Taehyung froze in terror, torn between the truth and a lie.

“I was careless,” he said instead. “I…enjoyed myself too much and…”

“I will have my assistants run you a bath,” Sven said, his tone disinterested. “Soak for as long as you like and then I shall send you my masseuse. I expect you to be recovered by this time tomorrow or I will have to look elsewhere to fulfill my…needs.”

“Thank you,” Taehyung said, a small amount of relief overtaking him. “I am sorry…that I am lacking. I promise to be better tomorrow.”

Min Yoongi walked in to see Park Jimin already waiting for their little meeting. He kept his face carefully blank as he took the seat across from the boy, folding his hands together and placing them on the table before him as he leaned forward to consider his bandmate.

“Jimin-ssi,” he said, his tone cold.

“Hyung,” Jimin breathed, his heart pained at seeing Yoongi’s beaten appearance.

“Don’t pretend to like me when it benefits you Park Jimin-ssi,” Yoongi said.

Jimin tilted his head in confusion at that.

“We are stuck together for the next hour, Jimin-ssi, just you and I, no matter if we throw punches or sit here in utter silence. Your sick new lover will not call either one of us from this room until he is done with Kim Taehyung.”

Jimin was bewildered at the words coming from his hyung; hurt by the contempt in the older mans’ voice.

“What do you mean?” he breathed. “What…what happened to Taehyungie? Where is he?”

“I think you know where he is,” Yoongi said, his tone dark and his expression darker.

“Hyung…” Jimin breathed, his mind refusing to connect the dots before him.

Yoongi just gave a cruel laugh.

“I always knew you were naïve, but I had no idea you were stupid, Park Jimin-ssi.”

“Hyung…”

“Every man for themselves now is it?” Yoongi asked, cocking his head to one side. “Or are you and Kim Taehyung-ssi just a bunch of cock sluts looking to get it where you can?”

“Hyung!” Jimin said, slamming his fist on the table and standing up. “I don’t know what you think is going on but choose your words carefully.”

“Did you fuck him while your boyfriend was so sick he almost died? Were you so worried about your own safety that you would give yourself to that monster if it meant that you stayed in comfort while the rest of us suffered?” Yoongi spat, feeling nothing but hatred for the boy.

“No…” Jimin breathed, tears falling from his eyes.

How could Yoongi think such awful things about him? Did they all think so little of him to believe that he would so easily cast them aside for a bit of creature comfort in this Hell? A small kernel of anger bloomed in Jimin’s heart at their lack of trust in him after all this time. Hadn’t they endured so much together long before Sven ever showed his face in this prison? Even as hurt and anger took root, shame burned through Jimin at his failure to keep his side of the bargain with Sven, allowing the others to be hurt because he wasn’t strong enough to fully give himself to the Russian.

He knew that Jungkook had been sick, but he had had no idea it had been so bad.

“Hyung, I never. I just…” Jimin looked at his hands in shame. “I have failed you. I’m so sorry. I will try harder to…keep the rest of you safe. Even Taehyungie. I will not let Sven take him away from you again. I will do…whatever it takes…”

“Will you become his plaything?’ Yoongi asked, some of the hatred leaving him as he watched his hyungjae break.

Jimin just looked at the table, his brow furrowed as his teeth dug into his lip. He could only nod as a thousand thoughts flashed through his mind. He would lose himself in this hell. Here he would die, broken and alone, but his brothers would be safe…far away from this nightmare of a prison.

“Shall I tell Jungkookie to let you go?” Yoongi asked, his voice monotone.

Jimin could only nod again as his heart ripped in two.

“Do you not love him?”

“Forever,” Jimin whispered. “But I have to…keep him safe. To keep…Taehyungie safe. Yoongi hyung… Namjoon hyung. Hoseok hyung and Seokjin hyung-nim…”

“Why are you doing this?” Yoongi asked.

“Because Bangtan Sonyeondan can go on without me,” Jimin said, looking at the man and forcing himself to give him a Mochi smile. “It was almost created without me in it and…at least then I know my family will be safe…”

“Without one there are none,” Yoongi challenged, feeling fear for Jimin for the first time since his brother had been taken away.

“You must go on without me,” Jimin said softly. “It is my final request. Promise me, hyung…”

“Mathan…”

“Cannot save us all,” Jimin said, his expression sad, but resigned.

“Jiminah…” Yoongi ground out.

“Saranghae, Yoongi hyung,” Jimin said, his smile truly bright.

“Don’t do this, Jiminah,” Yoongi said, tears stinging his eyes as he finally saw the severity of the truth; everything Jimin had been forced to hide to keep his family safe.

Min Yoongi had no idea what Park Jimin had withstood, but here and now, he knew that it was bad. With no more thought, he rounded the table and grabbed Jimin up into his arms, hugging him as tightly as he could.

“Forgive me, Jiminie! My pain and anger has made me strike out at the one person in all this that least deserves it. But you have to know, while this meeting is going on, Sven is with Taehyung. I don’t know how or why this is going on, or even what game that sick fuck is playing, but whatever you think you are doing to keep us safe…it won’t work.”

Yoongi pulled back from the embrace and framed Jimin’s face with his hands, forcing his brother to meet his gaze as he continued.

“None of us, including you, are a match for Sven. He has made a career out of these kinds of twisted evil games and people in no way matter to him. They are just toys that he plays with until they are broken beyond repair and then thrown away like so much trash. And I promise you, Park Jimin…right here and now, that I will not let that sick monster break you beyond repair and toss you away. You belong to me, to Kookie-ssi, to Namjoon dongsaeng, to Jin-hyung, to Hoseokie and Taehyungie!”

Jimin noticed how Yoongi’s voice broke when saying Taehyung’s name and felt his heart shatter. Giving in fully to the tears choking him Jimin wrapped tight arms around Yoongi’s neck, burying his face as they both fell to the floor and cried.

Mathan stared at the remaining members of BTS after Gregor, Yoongi, and Taehyung left the cell, waiting for someone to speak.

“Well?” He growled. “Someone want to fill me in on what is going on.”

Jin stepped forward almost timid in his approach to the larger man. He was unsure how the American would react to what had happened while he had disappeared.

“Mathan-ah…the guards came and took Jungkook and Taehyung on Sven’s orders, but when Kookie-ssi returned he said that he had been able to see Jimin and they had talked privately. All Taehyung would say was that he had eaten with Sven and that was it.”

Pausing in his retelling Jin feared how his next words would make Mathan react and the danger it might bring to all of them.

“The guards came again but only took Taehyung and I didn’t see him until the next morning but…he wouldn’t wake up. He had been sleeping for three days and when he woke…he wouldn’t talk to any of us. Taehyungie won’t look at any of us, and when I tried to hug him, he flinched and jerked away like I had struck him. Something very bad happened, Mathan-ah.”

Mathan didn’t fight the overwhelming rage that flooded his body, letting out a low animal growl and striking the wall as he turned running from the cell.

Part Fifty-Five

Part Fifty-Five

[Seoul, South Korea]

Inspector Danny Kwon sat staring at his work computer in disbelief, scrolling through the pictures that were plastered over every Korean news site and most international ones. Finally having the proof that his theory was correct, and that the young men of BTS were still alive was both heartening and gut-wrenching at the same time. The photos clearly showed that these seven individuals had been through Hell and were still being tormented in their captivity. It made Danny’s stomach clench in fear.

The ringing of his personal cell phone pulled Danny from his anxious thoughts as he answered.

“Kwon here.”

“You really don’t know when to give up, do you?” The angry voice of Jase Morgan barked through the phone in English. “You just had to keep rattling that particular cage and now there is a shitstorm brewing the likes of which you have never seen.”

Danny grinned as he replied. “Lovely to hear your beautiful voice, Jase. How is the family?”

“The family is fine, asshole. My daughter and her friends have started a fundraiser to help pay the new ransom demand, but that isn’t the reason for my call. As you well know, Youngblood…”

Stiffening at his military codename Danny stood, walking away from his desk and smiling at co-workers as he ducked into the police station stairwell.

“What are you talking about, Jase?” Danny growled, his voice going low and ice cold.

The voice on the other end of the phone gave an aggravated sigh. “I warned you about asking questions of the wrong people and bringing yourself to their attention. Now you are on their radar. There has been some activity on the dark web connected to this group and their kidnapping but now your name is being thrown into the mix. The problem is that there have been attempts to access your sealed military records. I have a feeling whoever is behind BTS’ kidnapping wants to find out just how dangerous you are to them and their plans.”

“Those records can’t be accessed, Jase…the encryption is too tightly guarded,” Danny snarled into the phone as he paced the small hallway at the bottom of the stairwell.

“Nothing is completely fool-proof, my friend. You know that. So far nothing has gotten out and official steps have already been taken to further encrypt those records; but that in and of itself will backfire. It will tell those looking that you are knowledgeable, well trained, and dangerous, and it could spell real trouble for those boys,” Jase warned.

Danny felt weariness bear down on him as he fought between the desire to protect the secrets of his past and his need to find BTS and bring them back home to their families and fans.

“Keep me updated, Demon. I have to go talk to the Senior Inspector about this.”

“Will do, Youngblood. Just…watch your six,” Jase replied as he signed off the line.

Moments later Danny was bursting into the Senior Inspector’s office only to stop short at the sight of several well-dressed businessmen standing around his supervisor’s desk. The biggest surprise of all was the sight of Lee Soo Man within that group of businessmen.

‘Shit,’ Danny thought to himself. If the CEO of SME was here in the Senior Inspector’s office, it wasn’t going to be good for his investigation or BTS.

The group of men turned as one to stare at Danny making him suddenly feel like a bug under a microscope; one that they were prepared to squash if need be. He was certain of it when the Senior Inspector spoke out looking straight at him.

“Two and a quarter billion won, give or take some lower levels salary,” the man said, an evil smirk on his face. “Do you really think anyone is coming for them at that price?”

Danny stuttered in anger. Why wouldn’t they try to rescue these boys now that there was proof that they were in fact alive?

“The pictures could be old,” the man said before Danny could say anything about the pictures blowing up the internet. “It could all be a trick. We have no way to confirm how old that footage is, or if they were even still living after it was sent. And we still do not negotiate with terrorists.”

“They aren’t terrorists,” Danny ground out. “They’re monsters.”

“Ghosts then,” the Senior Inspector said with a shrug. “Our IT department has already looked in to it. The IP address was scrambled so many times over there is no way to trace its origins and the phone signal was never traceable to begin with. The number we ran came back to a disposable cell phone bought in the south of France with no other account information provided. It’s a literal dead end. For now our focus is on assisting with damage control in the press and writing up a formal statement notifying the people that all of our resources have been exhausted. There is nothing further we can do until this becomes a recovery mission to bring those boys bodies home. Alive or not, our government is still classifying them as deceased.”

“I won’t give up on these boys,” Danny said, fire in his eyes.

“You won’t find them either,” his superior said. “Don’t flush your career down the drain over some lost cause. Write up your report, file it away, and consider this case closed for now. Attend the press conference today at SM Entertainment and be done with it. President Lee plans to make a statement standing by the decision to not negotiate with terrorists and to reassure the general public that officials like us are doing everything we can to bring these seven young men home in any way that we can.”

It was all Danny could do to hold in the boiling rage and he quickly realized that if he didn’t leave the room he would end up saying something that would surely get him fired on the spot. Or worse, he would lunge forward and do Senior Inspector Kim Mun-Hee some serious bodily harm.

‘Lee Soo Man is as crooked as you are,’ Danny thought, biting his tongue for the sake of his job.

“This isn’t over,” he said instead, snapping the folder in his hand against his leg before turning and departing the room, intent on pouring over every last piece of information he had to see if there was anything that had been missed.

[Moscow, Russia]

Augustine Ivchenko stood looking out at the city skyline enjoying the quiet of his spacious penthouse until the voice of his cousin Andre intruded.

“So, Cousin Augustine…have you heard from your brother Sven lately? Or has he found some pretty little thing to add to his collection and is hiding out somewhere.”

Turning to his sycophant cousin Augustine pasted a bored look on his face before answering. He knew all too well that in this family one never revealed their true feelings or willingly gave out information about another that could be used against one as a weapon, especially not to Andre Ivchenko. The man was the family weasel, ferreting out secrets to be stolen and sold to the highest bidder. His favorite target had always been Sven. Andre’s particular hatred of him had reached untold heights when the mantle of family leadership had fallen to Augustine’s older brother and not to Andre’s side of the Ivchenko clan.

Knowing it would irk his cousin to no end Augustine smiled sweetly as he answered.

“As the head of the Ivchenko family Sven answers to no one, certainly not to his little brother who plays no part in any of the family businesses. I am sure that if he wanted anybody to know what he was doing he would have made his plans public at the last council session before leaving the country.”

“Yes Augustine, but as you hold his council seat for him while he is away…surely he has told you what he is doing and how long he would be away. You know how nervous the family gets when Sven goes silent like this. No one has seen or heard from him in some time and there have been whispers in dark corners that perhaps an enemy has finally gotten to him.”

Augustine gave into laughter at the hopeful look on Andre’s face.

“I am sure that would please you so very much Andre, to think of Sven lying dead somewhere with the vultures picking away at his bones. But I am very afraid that I will have to disappoint you. Unfortunately, due to weather Sven is stuck where he is conducting business, but he will be returning to Russia as soon as the weather breaks.” Augustine let his face go hard, his face chilling in its beauty. “If I were you I would be more worried about how Sven will react when he finds out about your mess with the Aristov family.”

Not giving Andre any chance to argue or plead his case Augustine has his cousin shown from the penthouse and gave his butler orders that he wasn’t taking any more visitors. Returning to the large window overlooking the Moscow skyline he took out his secure phone looking at the pictures and text that Sven had sent him just hours ago.

“What madness are you thinking Sven?” Augustine asked as he stared down at the picture of Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung.

Even here in Russia it was all over the news about the Korean boyband presumed murdered all these months ago, now back from the dead, and it looked to Augustine as if his older brother was playing a part in all of it.

Punching in Sven’s secure number Augustine placed the phone to his ear only to growl when the call went right to voicemail.

“Sven…I don’t know what madness you have gotten yourself into but call me right away. Do not ignore this message brother or I will put this matter before the family and the council. You do not want to give Andre and his family any ammunition to challenge your leadership, now do you?”

At SM Entertainment’s main building press from around the world gathered waiting with baited breath to hear the plans that Lee Soo Man had now that Bangtan Sonyeondan had been declared alive once more.

Walking up to the podium Lee Soo Man calmly pulled the microphone towards himself as he spoke.

“Good day to all of the ladies and gentlemen of not only the Korean Press, but the International news community as well. Thank you for your attendance at this important event, and I hope that you will cover this matter well. I will be making a full statement about Bangtan Sonyeondan at this time, however no questions will be accepted.”

The buzzing in the room turned to a low growl as the press realized they would be denied the chance to ask the questions that were on everybody’s mind; family, friend, and fan alike.

“As I am sure all of you are aware, recent events have shown that Bangtan Sonyeondan is still alive and in the hands of those who stole them from us, so many months ago. While we are overjoyed to know that these seven young men are alive, and while this news must serve as a form of comfort for not only their families and friends, but their fans as well, we must also remember in whose hands these young men are trapped in. The person or persons responsible for this heinous abduction were, and still are, terrorists.”

The murmurs in the room grew in volume as the press began to realize the direction this statement was heading.

“We have been in close dialogue with not only the police but the government as well. As tragic as this situation is, the findings of the police and the position of the government has not changed since Bangtan Sonyeondan was first taken several months ago. The government will not make deals with terrorists and as such, we at SME will not be allowed to pay the new ransom demand of twenty million U.S. dollars. I am personally asking every fan and concerned citizen around the world to help the South Korean authorities with any clue, no matter how small, that will lead to the rescue and safe return of Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook. These precious young men are South Korea’s national treasure and SM Entertainment is offering a five million U.S. dollar reward for any information that brings Bangtan Sonyeondan home where they belong. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your time. This concludes the meeting. Please see yourselves out safely.”

Ignoring the questions being shouted at them from the press, Lee Soo Man and his Board of Directors stood, bowing as they quickly left the platform before exiting out a side door.

Once the door closed, shutting out the shouts from the press, Lee Soo Man smiled, the look upon his face truly evil.

“Those boys will never set foot on South Korean soil again, except in coffins, and they will make us millions.”

Danny stood unnoticed at the back of the room stunned as he listened to Lee Soo Man effectively sign the death warrants of Bangtan Sonyeondan. Not only had he refused to pay the new ransom demands, he had in turn offered a large amount of money to the world, thus painting an even larger target on the kidnappers backs. Didn’t they understand that by doing this the new pressure placed on the kidnappers could make them cut and run? And if that happened there would be no need to keep those seven young men alive.

He felt his heart stutter as a horrible thought came to him. Was that exactly what SME and Lee Soo Man wanted? Was dead BTS worth more than seven living men?

Grabbing his phone, Danny punched in a number and barked over the line.

“Hitman…we need to talk…NOW!”

Part Fifty-Six

Chapter Summary

So sorry it took so long to update! We ride at dawn to start working on the next chapter. The end is neigh my friends! Also while you wait don't forget to check out part 2 of this trilogy titled 'Our Yesterdays and Our Tomorrows' which includes various spin-off situations from the kidnapped-verse!

Chapter Notes

***Special thanks to LoreHappy and HollowSans for their fan submissions!***

Part Fifty-Six

[South Korea]

In his small apartment Bang Si-Hyuk sat glued to the T.V., shock freezing him in place as his brain tried to process the sounds coming out of the speakers.

“…we at SME will not be allowed to pay the new ransom demand…”

Some part of him wanted to smash the electronic device; to scream in rage at the shadiness of it all. Lee Soo Man had never intended to save the seven brave boys he had stolen from Bang Si-Hyuk. He never intended to help them see their families again…to return home where they belong…to have a chance to grow old and overcome everything they had suffered in their short lives. It broke Hitman’s heart.

Jumping at the sound of his phone going off Hitman stared at the caller I.D. for only a moment before answering.

“Hitman…we need to talk…NOW!” Inspector Kwon growled through the phone as soon as the call connected.

“It’s bad. Isn’t it?” Hitman asked softly, his head hung as the words of SME’s President rang loud in his head.

“It’s over,” Danny said, the rage in his tone barely concealed.

“Not for me,” Bang Si-Hyuk said firmly. “It will never be over for me. Not until those boys are home.”

“This is a recovery mission for bodies only, Sir,” Danny said, defeat starting to seep into his bones.

“They still live. They’re stronger than you think they are. I know it in my heart that we can get them home.”

“And risk our lives by negotiating with terrorists?” Danny asked, wondering just how far the man on the other end was willing to go.

“Everyone is a terrorist at one point in their life,” Hitman said. “You negotiate with terrorists every day.”

Danny heaved a sigh on the other end.

“What do you suggest we do?” he asked.

“Bring Bangtan Sonyeondan home,” Hitman said simply.

“How?” Danny asked, sounding tired.

“There is something we are missing somewhere. Some clue we have overlooked. Some resource we haven’t tapped in to.”

“We have exhausted all of our resources, Sir.”

“Someone, somewhere…someone knows something or…saw something. We just…haven’t made that connection yet, Inspector. We need to look harder. Use fresh eyes. Appeal to people who love and miss the boys as much as I do…”

“Their fans?” Danny asked in confusion.

“Their fans,” Hitman agreed. “ARMY…they are not a force to be reckoned with. They aren’t all twelve years old like the world still believes. If they have just enough information…they will solve anything. BTS believes in ARMYs galaxy and ARMY believes in BTS. Without one…there are none. BTS is ARMY, and ARMY is BTS.”

[Somewhere, U.S.A.]

Jase ‘Demon’ Morgan sat in the pre-dawn light watching news story after news story about the Korean boyband thought dead all these past months. Damn Danny Kwon for dragging him into this mess. If it weren’t for him and the fact that his teenage daughter loved this group to the point of obsession Jase wouldn’t be sitting here contemplating a decision that could get him killed. Or worse…put his family in serious danger.

“Daddy…is everything alright?”

Jase turned to see his daughter Raina standing in the doorway of the living room staring at him with concern.

“I came downstairs to get some water and heard the television. You were looking so angry at the screen and it worried me.”

Jase watched the tears gather in his daughter’s eyes as she looked at the pictures flashing across the screen of BTS, past pictures from before their disappearance and the latest ones sent by the kidnappers. After Danny had called him the first time he had asked Raina what was so special about this group that she and her friends were in such a frenzy over their kidnapping. Her answer had shaken him to the core.

“They aren’t just some pretty boyband, Daddy. The messages in their songs have touched so many lives. And it is music they create themselves; it isn’t canned songs written by someone else. They make ARMY laugh, cry, and believe that the world around us is a place we want to be a part of, to fight for and to dream of…big and small. They let us know that it’s alright not to have a dream at all, to just live in the moment and be a good person. But they have also saved lives with their music and just being who they are, mine included, Daddy.”

He could still remember the tears that streamed down her face and the punch to his gut as she went on.

“Things got real bad at school, not long after Mom left. Kids at school can be really cruel, especially if you aren’t popular, and I guess I was an easy target. I didn’t want to worry you so I didn’t say anything but after the spring dance I couldn’t take it anymore, so I decided it was better to end it. I waited until you were out of the house and I knew you wouldn’t be back until the next day. I had everything planned but the moment I was about to put the first handful of pills in my mouth their song ‘Butterfly’ started to play in my headphones. Thanks to translations I knew what the song was about and it made me feel as if they were singing it for me. How sad they would be if I was no longer part of the world, how hurt you and others would be. I know it is silly to think that seven guys in South Korea would know anything about some American teenage fan but listening to that song made me throw away the pills, tear up the note I left for you, and promise myself that I would get up every day and live. Big, small, or no dream at all…I would be a part of this world and an ARMY ‘til the end.”

Now looking at his child, one he came so close to losing without ever knowing it, Jase knew the decision was made for him. They didn’t know it but he owed Bangtan Sonyeondan a debt for saving the life of his little girl and he was damn well going to repay it.

Jase hugged his daughter hard and sent her back to bed with the promise that he would help out at the BTS ransom fundraiser she and others were holding that day. Then he went to the safe he kept and pulled out an encrypted phone, calling one of only five numbers on the phone.

“Knight, I need you to find a ghost for me, goes by the name of Beorn.”

After his conversation with Hitman Bang Danny found himself sitting at his desk looking back over the stacks of files he had accumulated since the beginning of the investigation. Tip after tip was contained within the pages of these reports, but nothing had ever seen its way to fruition. High and low his department had searched, pouring over flight manifests and personal records but as far as he could tell Bangtan Sonyeondan were just a bunch of kids from humble backgrounds who had been working their way up from nothing. What reason had he missed for these boys to be taken that cool August night?

Reading a folder of financial statements Danny was interested to see that SME had turned a 200% profit on memorial merchandise for the group and like everything else, it sat an alarm off in the inspectors head. It wasn’t a strong enough lead yet, but it wasn’t one he was willing to write off just yet.

Tossing the folder on the floor Danny scrubbed his hands over his face before picking up his phone and calling Bang Si-Hyuk once more.

“Any luck?” he asked when the phone was answered.

“I’ve managed to have a few troll accounts established,” the man on the other end of the line said. “I leaked only what you told me and left the rest to ARMY to figure out.”

“Do you think it will work?” Danny asked, sounding unsure.

“It has to,” Bang Si-Hyuk said softly. “It is the only option we have left.”

Danny heaved a sigh.

“I have a few more people I can call. Let me try and work some more angles with this ‘accidental’ leak of information. I’ll call you back when I have something new, and you be sure to do the same.”

Danny hung up the phone and threw the device on his table before picking up a second one and punching in a number he only knew from memory.

“I thought I told you not to call me any more Youngblood,” Jase said as he answered his encrypted phone.

“When have I ever listened to demons?” Danny asked as he sat back in his chair.

“What do you want?” Jase growled, intent on giving his old comrade a hard time.

“A lifeline,” Danny said, once again feeling defeated.

“I’ll pray for you,” Jase said dryly.

“When did you find religion?” Danny snorted.

“When I settled down and had a family. Maybe you should do the same.”

“Help me, Demon,” Danny said softly. “Help me bring these boys home. Help me give their families peace.”

“I saw on the news they’re supposed to still be alive,” Jase offered, throwing a small piece of bait to the man on the other end.

“No one is willing to pay for them,” Danny pointed out.

“What do you want me to do Youngblood? Give you a loan?”

“Sure,” Danny laughed. “Small unmarked bills if you can.”

“I’ll get right on that,” Jase said with a laugh of his own.

“I know you got a family to protect but…I need this. Just this one good thing and…I swear to God I will never contact you again.”

Jase heaved a sigh as he made contingency plans in his mind.

“What exactly do you need?” Jase asked as he finally conceded.

“I need to know why SME is siding with the government and what South Korea is getting out of not paying the ransom. Whoever has these boys…they aren’t terrorists. They aren’t small time players but…they aren’t the monsters the press is making them out to be. At best they lucked out on a secluded hiding spot and neighbors who know better than to ask questions.”

“Still looking for this Beorn person?” Jase asked.

“I’m looking for anything I can get ahold of. I don’t think these guys will be able to hold out much longer and I’m stuck on square one as to where to start looking.”

“This number good to reach you on?”

“I’ll keep it close by.”

“Give me a couple of days. I’ll see what I can do. Don’t forget you owe me.”

With that the line disconnected and Inspector Kwon threw the device on his table, heaving a sigh as he tried to think of what to do next.

(Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea)

Lee Jae-hwan, better known to Starlights around the world as VIXX’s Ken stood quietly on the stage of Music Bank listening to his fellow members thank their company and fans for the #1 trophy. He had been on auto-pilot since the news broke that his friend, Kim Seokjin and his six brothers were still alive and in the hand of monsters. The press conference that day given by SME had made Jae-hwan shatter a mirror in their dorm and punch a wall.

Now he was standing on this stage with everyone expecting him to smile and act as if there was nothing wrong in the world or in the industry. But all he could feel was all-consuming rage that his friend was suffering and no one would step forward and do anything.

Jae-hwan was shaken out of his thoughts by Hongbin who elbowed him and was handing him the microphone with a confused look. Taking the mic he stepped slightly forward of all the groups standing on the stage and waited until the screaming died down. When he was sure that the cameras were all trained on him and he had the audience’s attention Jae-hwan, VIXX’s Ken, spoke and sent shockwaves through the whole of the Kpop industry.

“This is the last time that I will stand before cameras and fans as a member of VIXX. As long as my friend and brother Kim Seokjin is held hostage, and the music industry or his own government refuses to step up and save BTS from these kidnappers who are clearly not terrorists…I will not stand here and sing and dance for your entertainment. I cannot in good conscious stand on this stage and sing love songs while my friend and his bandmates are being held against their will while God only knows what pain and horror they are enduring. To hear the screams and cheers of fans while Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook live in fear for their lives, possibly gravely injured is unbearable and I WILL NOT SING AGAIN UNTIL SEOKJIN-SSI AND BTS ARE BACK HOME IN SOUTH KOREA!!!”

Lee Jae-hwan tossed the microphone onto the ground and calmly walked off-stage.

[Los Angeles, California]

The Instagram video hit in the United States and quickly went viral internationally.

Music icon John Legend was dressed all in black sitting at his piano playing a song that any ARMY could tell you was BTS’ ‘Save Me’. When he finished playing, he looked at the camera and made a statement.

“Like many in the West I had no idea who Bangtan Sonyeondan was until their kidnapping, but as a fellow artist, I was horrified that this had happened. As news came out I was curious about these seven young men from South Korea, so I began to watch their videos and listen to their music. I was so impressed by the powerful messages they imparted in their music and quickly became a fan. As with other ARMY around the world, I found myself praying every day for their quick and safe return. At the news of their tragic death, I wept not only for the families who had lost seven sons but the world that had lost seven talented and powerful voices who had so much more to give.

Now with the news that they are alive, I was waiting for their country and company to move heaven and earth to bring them home. Knowing that that isn’t happening breaks my heart but makes me so angry as well.

Shame on BTS’ company and shame on the South Korean government for the poor way this kidnapping was handled. If S.M. Entertainment and South Korea are unwilling to reverse their mistaken stance on the kidnappers being terrorists and pay the ransom demand, then I and several of my musician friends are willing to give the ransom money to the families of BTS so they may bring their sons home.”

[Seoul, South Korea]

The room was abuzz with the voices of reporters from all across Korea’s media. There were several international media sources represented in the room as well. As soon as word got out that a lawyer sent by the families of all seven members of Bangtan Sonyeondan would be giving a formal statement the whole world stood quiet, holding its breath.

A hush swept the room as a single man entered and walked up to the microphone.

“Greetings ladies and gentlemen of the press, both Korean and International; I am Son Gyeong and I am here to read a statement from the families of Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook.”

The lawyer cleared his throat, took a sip of water from the glass on the podium and pulled a sheet of paper from his jacket pocket.

“First the families would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to all those who have reached out to them during this horrific time. The overwhelming support they received from fans all over the world of Bangtan Sonyeondan has strengthened their resolve to fight for the sons so brutally taken from them. They also wish to thank those celebrities here in South Korea, as well as those from around the world, who have stepped forward to offer their support and help. This has shown them how truly special their sons, are and the positive impact that they and their music has had on the world.

But first and foremost these seven young men are sons, brothers, and grandchildren to the families that love and miss them. These families are devastated that their government and the company now claiming to represent them have so callously turned their backs on Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook, not once but twice now. The statement from the families reads as follows:

‘We, the families of Bangtan Sonyeondan members Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook will no longer look to the police, the South Korean government, or SME to pay the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. Thanks to donations from fans around the world, funds we ourselves have raised, and celebrities who have so generously given, we now have the ransom in full. This is a message to those who have taken our sons. We have the money that you asked for and will gladly give it to you for the safe return of all seven members of Bangtan Sonyeondan. We ask that you contact us as soon as possible to arrange the exchange’.”

The lawyer bowed as the room erupted into frantically shouted questions. The man ignored all and calmly walked away from the podium and the chaos his statement was causing, not only in the conference room but all over the world as that statement went out on the wire service and was picked up by every major news source in the world.

Inspector Danny Kwon stood in the back of the conference hall watching as reporters tried to get the attention of the man leaving the room with their questions. He couldn’t contain the morbid curiosity that had him wondering just how the government and SME would handle this latest news from BTS’ families.

As he was turning to leave his personal cell rang. Danny paused when he saw that it was Jase’s number.

“Hey Jase, what can I do for you?” Danny questioned cautiously.

Jase’s voice over the line was just as guarded as he replied, “Hey Youngblood…I called an old friend of ours and asked him about that ghost we talked about. He is going to get back to me as soon as he has an answer. I would suggest pulling out some of your old toys and making use of them.”

Danny stared at the phone in disbelief as the line suddenly went dead. If Jase was calling on old contacts from their time in the military then he was stepping into the game and pulling out the heavy guns. For a moment Danny felt guilty for dragging Jase into this whole BTS mess. The man had a teenage daughter to worry about and Danny knew all too well that the people they were looking for were not the kind to sit back quietly and let folks cross them.

He gazed down at the phone, his hand hovering over the call back button. He wanted to call Jase back and tell him to back off, stay the fuck out of this and keep his family safe. But Danny was running out of resources and options if he had any hope of bringing BTS home to their own families.

Sighing heavily he moved his finger away from the button but he did make a call to another number. Danny told the person on the other end that he would be a little late to their meeting as he had a stop to make but he was still on his way.

Putting the cell back in his pocket Danny left the conference room and went to dust off some old toys.

[New York]

At a local BTS Ransom Fundraiser everywhere the camera looked fans of all kinds were clinging to one another. Tears flowed endlessly into a bottomless sea and the air was becoming stifling with the level of grief that was being released.

“I never thought…” one particularly distraught fan began. “I mean…it’s statistically possible but…I never thought that anyone would actually harm people like this. It's really sad that something like this really happened though because they're such good people…people that really don't deserve this kind of thing. They have affected so many lives…so many people, and it's just so sad and I just can't believe that this is happening. I want so desperately for them to be okay, because they're the main reason I'm okay. They dragged me out of a dark spot, and honestly, I believe in them to drag themselves out of this dark spot they’re in now. And I know that ARMY will be there to help…

Please just give them back! This is horrible and I just don't understand. And also, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Kim Namjoon, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook, remember you have everyone out here rooting for you, and I believe in you to do this! As long as you're together you've always been able to push through these things before, and I believe you can do it now! Just don't forget you're going through it together, and you're not alone, with each other you're never alone! Please come back soon, everyone misses you!”

[CNN News Center]

Anderson Cooper nodded to the camera as he introduced his special guest to the audience.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jackson Wang, a member of the South Korean singing group GOT7 and personal friend to Namjoon Kim, one of seven young men of BTS being held by kidnappers.”

He turned as the camera panned back to show Jackson sitting at the news desk with him.

“I want to take a moment to thank you, Jackson, for agreeing to come here and talk to us about this situation that has taken the world by storm, and shaken the entertainment industry in Korea to its core.”

Even with the heavy stage make-up on, the face that turned to look at the camera was pale and haggard. Jackson gave a wan smile and nodded to Anderson.

“Thank you, Anderson, for letting me come here and talk about my friend, Kim Namjoon and his six brothers.”

Anderson turned back to the camera as a picture of Bangtan Sonyeondan came up on the monitor just over his shoulder.

“As the world knows, in August all seven members of the singing group BTS were kidnapped outside a studio in Seoul, South Korea, and a ransom of ten million U.S. dollars was demanded. The government of South Korea declared the kidnapping an act of terrorism and refused to allow the families or Big Hit Entertainment, BTS’ company at the time, to pay the ransom. What followed in late October was a video we now know to be a fake, of the members of BTS being murdered as they lay helpless. On November 1st a public national funeral was held. It is now January and the kidnappers have released new pictures and video showing the members of BTS as being alive all this time. Almost five months in captivity while the world thought them dead and now the kidnappers are demanding twenty million dollars. The government of South Korea and the company now representing BTS, S.M. Entertainment, have released a statement still calling it terrorism and refusing to pay. A reward of five million dollars was offered by S.M. Entertainment for any information leading to the safe return of BTS and arrest of the kidnappers.”

Anderson paused and then turned to Jackson.

“I am sure after the outpouring of grief that millions witnessed at the funeral, you are happy to know that the members of BTS are still alive yet to know that all this time held in unknown conditions has to be hard for friends and families. Have you had any chance to talk to Namjoon’s family?”

Jackson folded his hands tightly together on the desk until the knuckles whitened. Looking straight into the camera his voice came out clear and cold.

“I have not had the chance to talk to Namjoon-hyungs family as all the families are in seclusion and under the protection of Kim Seokjin’s father and his company. I can say without a doubt that they share the pain and outrage of all who feel that not only has their country failed them but those who are supposed to have the best interest of each and every member of BTS as their only goal. To so callously leave them where they are by branding this crime as an act of terrorism is the foulest and most evil thing I have ever seen.”

Taking a deep steady breath Jackson leaned forward staring directly into the camera as if speaking solely to each individual watching.

“Today in South Korea there is a growing list in the entertainment industry who have publicly and privately pledged that they will not sing, dance, act or model for any company until all seven members of BTS, Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook are returned home and reunited with their families….alive!”

[Seoul, South Korea]

Inspector Kwon sat down at his desk, booting up his laptop and taking out his notes, reviewing everything he had gathered from his previous conversations, still desperately trying to make a connection in the clues. As of yet nothing anyone had told him made any sense and ARMY was still grasping at straws as they too had taken up the investigation to find the members of their beloved Bangtan Sonyeondan.

Reporters still combed the vigils being held, talking to people from every walk of life; friends, fans, and strangers alike. Several celebrities had come forward in recent days making their own heartfelt pleas, begging for their colleagues and friends to be returned to them, safe and sound. Some had even hinted at private overseas investors who were working to secure the release of Bangtan Sonyeondan on their own. It was quickly becoming a nightmare, especially with the statement that had been made on behalf of the parents via a lawyer regarding their mixed feelings about this latest information.

The scene on Danny's screen now showed an American reporter scouring the crowd, talking to people here and there as the camera panned to pieces of art and banners filled with encouraging words and messages of support. The fans no longer cried, instead looking determined to find the solution that no one in the South Korean government or SM seemed to be bothered with finding.

~oooOooo~

[Chattanooga, Tennessee]

“BTS gave me my forever,” one fan said. “They gave me the courage and strength to live when I had none and now that they are gone… I’m not sure what I will do. But I think I will continue living well in honor of their memory.”

~oooOooo~

“My college professor told us that need is stronger than love,” said another. “ARMY loves BTS, but we need them to return home safely so that their family and friends can have some peace. ARMY will always be here for BTS, but we understand if they cannot be here for us.”

~oooOooo~

“What does it say?” a pretty little wide-eyed girl asked as she looked back at a hanging banner that a group of fans had sponsored.

“’Because we are together, the deserts will turn in to seas. From now on, Bangtans ARMY is forever. Seokjin fighting! Namjoon fighting! Yoongi fighting! Hoseok fighting! Jimin fighting! Taehyung fighting! Jungkook fighting! Bangtan Sonyeondan fighting!’ They are the only words of comfort we have to offer I’m afraid. It is the only way ARMY has to let our leaders know we haven’t forgotten them and that we will continue to fight for them. They have given us such strong armor, and we will gladly take it to war for them no matter our opponent. We are Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth. We stand to fight against the injustices of society, whatever they may be. Right now seven young men are being wronged by a system that was never for them, and as decent human beings, that is something the majority of us can no longer allow. So here we stand united, in an ocean of lights, and here we will stay until BTS comes home.”

~oooOooo~

“The soulless only have each other,” an elderly man said. “But there is no honor amongst thieves. I hope one of those…people…who took those boys finds it in their hearts to have courage and to return them to their loved ones. They seem like such good young men. They don’t deserve this and neither do their families. I can’t imagine what I would do if any of them were mine.”

When the reporter asked if he or any of his family were fans he was quick to tell her no, that he had no family of his own left, but that he would not stay silent on the appalling actions of South Koreas government.

“There is nothing solid to tell us these people are terrorists. Where is our proof? How do I know you are not a ‘terrorist’? I could be a ‘terrorist’. Something else is going on here and it is time we get real, honest answers before things get even worse than they already are.”

~oooOooo~

"Do I have anything to say, you ask?” one fan spat. “Oh… I have everything to say. I have so many things to say... to spit… At the kidnappers. At the Government. At the people. At the world for turning their backs on Bangtan. But nothing I can say will bring them back to us, right? They are being abandoned by those who can help them, but won't. They won't save them and it seems we can't do anything either. It’s so frustrating. So hard… I... We just want them back. That's all. I want them to know that we are still here. I need them to know that we are still here for them, and we will continue to be here, just like they were there for us before all of this happened. They must have lost all hope, right? They must feel so betrayed. I don't know if this will reach them any time soon or ever, but we are still here. ARMY is not turning their backs on them. We are still here, waiting for you, guys. For all of you. Just hang in there a little longer, please. Just hang in there for another day."

~oooOooo~

Shutting off his laptop and heaving a sigh, Danny gathered up his coat and departed his office, leaving for his next unofficial meeting as he tried to make all of the pieces of this second-hand puzzle match.

Thirty minutes and one brief stop later, Inspector Danny Kwon entered the small café and looked around for his contact before spotting her in a far corner nursing a cup of something warm and scrolling on her phone.

“Thank you for waiting, Ms. Grey,” he said as he sat in the seat across from her.

The lady he addressed said nothing as she stared at him to continue. As far as Kaelyn was concerned it was her first day off in months and she was hard-pressed to believe that this interrogation would do anything further in bringing Bangtan Sonyeondan home. Not alive anyway.

“I know you must be busy,” Danny started, feeling suddenly uncomfortable underneath the young woman’s gaze. “Let’s just get straight to it.” Clearing his throat Danny opened his notebook and read through the questions he had prepared.

“I’ve been studying make-up since I was nine years old, Inspector,” Kaelyn said, reading the first question for herself. “I’ve put the same kind of bullet wounds and injuries on my clients before. That is what led me to tell you that the video was a fraud and that BTS was still alive.”

“But they aren’t in Korea?” Danny asked.

“I couldn’t say,” Kaelyn said with a shrug. “Without hearing the voices of the kidnappers it’s hard to guess such things from shadows.”

“But perhaps you know more than you let on?” Danny pushed, desperation setting in.

“I watch people for a living, Inspector Kwon,” Kaelyn said, her stare going cold at the accusation. “Learning body language isn’t that hard.”

“Do you watch many snuff films?”

“I live with a bunch of guys,” Kaelyn said with a snort. “I assure you I’m not watching romantic comedies.”

“What kind of people do you think took these boys?” Danny asked.

“Not terrorists,” Kaelyn said immediately. “They’re too indecisive for that. But not thugs either. They’re just slightly too organized, but not the mafia. There’s no reason for them to get involved.”

“And how is SME involved?”

“How are they not?” Kaelyn asked, her eyes going wide. “Bangtan Sonyeondan is their highest grossing idol group and they aren’t even promoting. SME makes the cheese off of those seven men being in hell and they will keep them there for as long as they possibly can. It would be a bad business decision to bring them back alive. The money would stop coming in and the questions would start.”

“And the government?” Danny asked quietly.

Kaelyns face just went blank as she shook her head. She knew better as a foreigner than to speak out against the government of the country she had sought asylum in.

“Why would someone caution me to stay away from this investigation, Ms. Grey?”

Kaelyn quirked her mouth as she seriously considered the question.

“I dunno,” she finally said. “I think it depends on who the warning came from and why. I’m afraid I really cannot answer that question for you. But I hope you take those words of caution seriously and proceed with care. Korea doesn’t need to lose any more sons over this.”

Danny looked at Kaelyn, trying to think of what to say to that.

“I think our time is up,” she said instead, grabbing her coat and leaving money on the table. “I hope I was of some assistance to you but…I think this is all I have to give. I hope you will not call me again. I’ve looked forward to this time off and I would like to be able to enjoy it without worry or stress.”

Giving a polite bow Kaelyn pushed her chair in and calmly walked away leaving Danny once more with more questions to ask than answers received.

[Moscow, Russia]

Augustine lay in bed smoking a cigarette as he watched his latest conquest walk lazily around the bedroom naked, no doubt trying to keep his attention and interest. The young woman was beautiful, he would give her that, but her interest in him was a little too forced, a little too contrived. When he had spotted her in the club earlier Augustine knew in a moment that she was a pro and worked for the Aristov family. They had probably gotten the information about his preferences from Andre as a trade for not slitting his throat. Why waste time with someone small like Andre when you could go after the person closest to the head of the Ivchenko family.

His eyes narrowed as the woman crawled onto the bed smiling at him with a seductive look on her perfectly sculpted face.

“Are you ready to play some more, Auggie?” The woman whispered.

Augustine struck with the quickness of a snake. Wrapping a tight hand around her throat he flung her to the bed and straddled her body, pinning her arms down with his knees. Starring down into her fear-filled face as he briefly cut off her air supply Augustine smiled coldly.

“I am done playing games, whore. Go back to your master in the Aristov family and give them a message for me. I am not their ticket to Sven and even though I do not work directly within the family, I grew up with the wolves and am not without my own skills when it comes to dealing with those who cross me.”

Leaving the woman gasping on his bed Augustine strode to the bedroom door calling for one of his servants. He calmly lit another cigarette when the man arrived and ordered, “Please take the trash out and make sure it gets back to the Aristovs.”

No emotion crossed Augustine’s face as the man grabbed the woman by her hair and scooped up her discarded clothes, dragging her crying from the bedroom. As he was walking to the bathroom to wash the woman’s stench from his body his satellite phone rang. As only one person had this particular number there was no hesitation as he answered.

“Greetings Sven…we need to talk about this folly of yours.”

Part Fifty-Seven

Chapter Summary

*drops her bomb and runs for the hills*

Part Fifty-Seven

On the other side of the world Sven smiled at his brothers’ chastising tone as he leaned back and watched Jimin dance for him. His jewel truly was a thing of beauty to watch as his body moved in almost impossible ways to the music playing over the speakers. Sven wanted nothing more than to grab up this beautiful young man and show him a thousand new ways his body could twist and bend. But first he had to deal with his little brother.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime, brother? Or have you been out partying?” Sven asked as he smiled at Jimin, nodding approvingly and motioning for him to continue his dancing.

Augustine’s’ voice came back cold as he replied.

“I just threw out an Aristov whore, no doubt trying to get to you through me. But that is the least of your worries right now. What the fuck were you thinking getting involved with Dorian Foley and his idiotic schemes? Even here at home, brother, the press is all over this story about the Korean boy band back from the dead, and the hunt for their kidnappers. There have been rallies in Red Square with thousands of fans, politicians, and common people alike calling for their return and screaming for the blood of the ones who took them. And you are sending me pictures of your latest treasures who just happen to be two of the seven members of Bangtan Sonyeondan? Have you lost all reason Sven?”

Sven leaned forward in his chair, his face going hard and cold. The look was enough for Jimin to suddenly stop dancing and back away from the man in fear.

Switching from the English they had been speaking to his mother tongue of Russian Sven was quick to rebuke his younger brother.

“Careful, little brother,” Sven warned, his tone like silk. “As family I give you some leeway, but do not forget for one moment that I am head of this family and of our organization that keeps you in such luxury and allows you to play as you will.”

~oooOooo~

At home in Russia Augustine stood and began pacing his bedroom, unconcerned about his nudity as he growled into the phone.

“You know better than that, big brother. The wealth and luxury that I enjoy is my own that I have earned separately from the family. I have made my own way in the world and kept myself out of the family business until now and that is only as a favor to you. Beware, brother…while you are away, on the other side of the world, involving yourself in Dorians plans, the Aristovs are making moves here, planting seeds of doubt about your leadership of the Council, and they are using Andre to further those seeds. You know that Andre and his side of the family will use any means they can to discredit you, and this folly of Dorians is just the ammunition they need to push you out.”

~oooOooo~

In his private lair, Sven snarled and motioned for Jimin to come to him. When Jimin stepped closer Sven snagged his wrist, yanking the Korean man into his lap.

“I know as well as anyone what you are capable of Augustine, so you will make it quite clear to the Aristovs, the family, and to the Council that I am not someone to fuck with. My acquisition of these seven young men will further our wealth and standing within the family. I am keeping two of them for myself and the other five will no doubt make us a great deal of money. As for Dorian and his son…well…I have plans for them that don’t end well…at least…not for them.”

~oooOooo~

In Russia Augustine stopped pacing.

“Mathan is there as well?” he asked, his shock barely contained.

Placing the phone between his ear and his shoulder Augustine grabbed a silk robe and threw it on. Moving from the bedroom he went to the living room and swiftly poured himself a glass of vodka, downing it in one go.

“Dorian is one thing, dear brother. But if Mathan is there that is something else entirely and you well know it! Mathan has morals and whatever plans you have for those boys he is not going to let you follow through with them. Keep in mind, Sven…Mathan has dangerous friends. Friends that I am not sure I would want to tangle with.”

Augustine’s phone beeped indicating that the other person was requesting Face Time. Pulling the phone from his ear Augustine turned on the video and found himself looking into the face of an angel; a more perfect and beautiful being than he had ever seen in his life and his heart clenched at the fearful expression on Park Jimin’s face. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to comfort the young man and promise him that he, Augustine, would make all of Jimins monsters disappear from the world.

Jimin stared at the face on the phone that Sven held before his eyes, confused by the gentle and tender look on the man’s face. His English had improved enough to know from Sven’s part of the early conversation that the person he was looking at was the brother of the monster who was holding him captive. So why was this man gazing at Jimin as if he wanted to help, wanted to stop what he was enduring at Sven’s hands. The man’s dark eyes seemed to have a message in them that Jimin couldn’t understand; an almost silent plea for forgiveness.

Jimin’s confused thoughts about Sven’s brother were scattered by a hand threading itself into his hair and tightening painfully. An agonized gasp burst from Jimins parted lips as Sven spoke in Hangul to his brother.

“A most beautiful and sparkling jewel, don’t you agree Augustine?”

Jimin’s tear-filled gaze unknowingly pleaded with the face on the phone.

Knowing his brother could not see him at the moment Augustine gave Jimin a gentle smile while answering Sven in Russian, sure in the knowledge that the beautiful angel would not understand him.

“Quite breath-taking, Sven…all the jewels that you have in your collection are perfect. And no doubt a most satisfying fuck, but is he truly worth the potential problems this mess may lay at your door?”

Augustine watched through FaceTime as his brother released the hold on Jimin’s hair, waving the Korean man away from him before turning the phone to his own face.

“Oh no, little brother…this jewel is cool to the touch and unblemished right now, for the most part. I am saving his polishing for when I get him home. When I am hungry I now have a dark fiery angel to quench that appetite. And believe me, Augustine…he is a most satisfying fuck.”

Sven leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette, enjoying the sight of the Moscow skyline behind Augustine’s head. After weeks in this rural hell that Dorian thought was the perfect hiding place Sven found himself longing for the sights and sounds of his beloved homeland. He wanted nothing more than to throw one of his parties at the lakeside mansion and watch the families choke on their jealousy as he walked about with two of the most beautiful creatures ever gracing his arms.

First however they needed to be reminded who was in charge of the family and that his word was law. Any act of disrespect or perceived betrayal would be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

“As soon as the weather clears here I will make arrangements to return home with my property. But until then I have a job for you little brother…one suited to your talents. Don’t kill Andre. Just make it clear to him, the family, and the Council that my control is total and I will brook no disobedience from anyone. Just take Andre’s hand, the one he is forever using to grasp at my coattails, and send it to that bitch mother who helped him. I am sure she is the one who is always whispering in his ear and encouraging his silly ambitions.”

Sven gave a cold laugh.

“Augustine…go ahead and take that ear as well. Give it to the council and the Aristovs with my regards.”

Sven ended the call with Augustine trusting that his brother would carry out his orders. Giving Jimin a gentle smile and taking his hand Sven pulled the Korean man to stand between his parted legs. Reaching up Sven gripped Jimin’s neck applying enough pressure to force the other to his knees.

“My beautiful jewel, how others will envy me having you. Your stunning beauty will grace my bed and home. They will look at you and know that you are solely mine…” Sven let go of Jimin’s hand to lightly stroke the velvet choker around his throat. “I will clothe you in silks and furs, only the top designers will be allowed to dress you. I think I will even rent out the best theaters in Russia so I can invite the other families to come see you dance.”

He let go of the choker to tightly grip Jimin’s chin tilting his face up to look directly into Sven’s eyes.

“And dance you will, my jewel. You will show them all the beauty, talent and power that you have in this gorgeous body of yours. I am sure that you would not want your precious Jungkook and other hyungs to pay for disappointing me, now would you…Park Jimin-ssi?”

With trembling lips Jimin whispered, “Of course not, chagiyah…I would never do anything to disappoint you. If it makes you happy for me to dance for your family, then I will dance well for them.”

“Very good, my jewel. Now…you know how to properly thank me.” Sven leaned back further in the chair and smiled as he felt Jimin’s hands go to the waistband of his trousers.

{VIXXs Dorm, Seoul, South Korea}

In the dorm belonging to the K-pop group VIXX sounds of an argument could be heard by anyone passing by.

“I MEANT WHAT I SAID, HONGBIN!! I WILL NOT PERFORM AGAIN ON STAGE UNTIL SEOKJIN AND THE REST OF BTS ARE BACK HOME…ALIVE!”

Hongbin puffed out his cheeks in frustration as he looked at Ken.

“Be reasonable, Jae-hwan!!! There is no way the company will stand for that. We all signed contracts and the rest of us will suffer if you continue to refuse.”

“Does it look like I give a damn?” Ken snarled back at Hongbin pointing to his face.

N watched the two argue back and forth about a subject they had gone round and round about since Ken’s startling announcement on Music Bank a few days ago. As leader he could understand Hongbin’s worry about how this would affect their future in the music industry, but as a friend to BTS he wanted them home and safe like everyone else.

Ken was not the only idol or performer stepping forward to say they would no longer do anything within the industry that had turned their collective backs on BTS. N felt the horror of knowing their friends were trapped and living in a nightmare they could only guess at. The pictures sent by the kidnappers after revealing that BTS still lived haunted them all. Many nights he and Ravi had woken to Ken’s screams as he called out for his friend Seokjin, begging unseen monsters to leave him alone and set them free.

Now however the head of Jellyfish Entertainment, VIXXs company, was putting more pressure on them to make Ken see reason and fulfill his duties as a member of VIXX. The last phone call had sent fear coursing through N and he had shared his worries with both Ravi and Leo.

Presently the members of VIXX were all standing in the dorm watching Ken and Hongbin fight and it was clear to N that Ken’s resolve had not weakened in the least. He was determined to stay strong for his friend and nothing any of them could say would change that. Unless N told Ken about the call he had received a few days prior, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Unfortunately he now had no choice.

“I know you want to do the right thing by Seokjin-ssi…we all do, Ken dongsaeng but the company is growing impatient and they want all of us back on stage. They are even threatening legal action, not just against you but all of us.”

A quiet voice from the corner spoke.

“I still don’t understand why these people took BTS in the first place. Big Hit was a small company, like Jellyfish, and BTS was their only well-known artist. Sure they were starting to become a name internationally and gaining a large following in the West but…why them? It isn’t like they were global legends or anything. BTS is more well-known now because of the kidnapping than they were before, so what reason could the kidnappers have for making them the target of their plan?”

All eyes turned to Leo as he speculated out loud on thoughts and questions they were all having about BTS and the mindset of the people who had taken them.

Ravi picked up Leo’s train of thought and turned to Ken.

“Could it have something to do with Kim Seokjin’s family, Ken-hyung? Out of all the members his family is the wealthiest and has connections some the public may know nothing about. His father’s company is based in Germany, isn’t it? Perhaps he crossed the wrong people there and this is how they get back at him.”

Ken looked at Ravi angrily slashing his hand through the air as he answered.

“Mr. and Mrs. Kim are the nicest people and would never have any shady dealings with criminals or the like! And even if that were true, surely only Seokjin would have been taken. They wouldn’t have taken the others if it was only the Kim’s they were after. The reports from the police say all of BTS was targeted the night they were taken. None of them were singled out. Whoever these kidnappers are, they took Bangtan Sonyeondan as a group and it is obvious that was their plan from the beginning.”

In his anger and frustration Ken picked up a glass from the table throwing it hard against the wall before falling to the floor and giving into tears of pain and grief for his friend.

“I am sorry but I cannot go up on stage and sing pretending everything is alright in the world. All I can see when I look out over the audience is Seokjin and his hyungjaes in pain, praying that someone will come to their rescue…I JUST CAN’T DO IT!” Ken wailed as all his brothers wrapped him in their embrace and cried with him.

(Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea)

“None of them had any personal or familial issues that could have caused something like this?” Danny asked, not looking up from the screen in front of him.

“No,” Hitman Bang said, reading through several files spread out before him. “They still owed a debt to the company but…that’s just standard practice in the idol business and they were doing well in paying it off quickly. Their new album would have dug them out and put them in the black.”

“When was the last time you spoke with them before that night?”

Hitman sat back in his chair as he thought back to that dreadful August night.

“We had a production meeting that morning to approve some last minute lyric changes. One of their songs wasn’t recording well and they were going back in to give it one last go before scraping the whole thing.”

“And who knew they were going to be in the studio that night?” Danny asked, pulling up his notepad and making more notes.

“Their head manager Sejin. Assistant Manager Lee Insik. Personal managers. Myself. Pdogg and Supreme Boi. Two staff noonas who had sat in on the morning meeting for scheduling purposes. The boys were trying to do this album completely on their own so…”

“What kind of relationship did the boys have between themselves and their staff?”

“BigHit is like a family,” Hitman said. “Everyone works well together and we have company dinners once a month. I’ve had no major complaints. As for the boys well, boys will be boys will they not? They fight like brothers and pout some but they quickly make up in the end and all of them together discuss what happened and ways to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

“And are some closer to one another than others?” Danny asked, sensing he was missing something there.

“Each of them have special relationships among themselves but, they love each other equally. As Taehyungah said, without one there are none.”

“What about girlfriends or significant others?”

“Idols cannot date,” Hitman said with a shake of his head.

“Even amongst themselves?” Danny asked.

“Especially amongst themselves,” Hitman said firmly. “Those kinds of relationships would ruin them.”

“But only if people knew,” Danny pointed out. “Couldn’t such sentiments be hidden in fan service and skinship?”

“I do not pry into the personal life of my artists.”

Danny just looked at the man before him before deciding to drop the subject for now. He could understand wanting to protect the boys, but he also wondered if Hitman Bang knew and was acting like he didn’t or if he had truly missed all of the signs that seemed to exist.

“Bangtan Sonyeondan was well liked in the industry? They got along with their sunbaes? Were kind to their hoobaes?”

“They had many friends,” Hitman agreed. “Very well rounded relationships both professionally and personally.”

“And none of them were fighting with family?”

Hitman thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“I think they are well beyond that now. Their families have been shown how successful they could be and any disagreements that had existed are now water under the bridge.”

“Who had disagreements?” Danny asked, his head tilted in interest.

“What parent wants their child to pursue such silly dreams as these?” Hitman asked with a smile. “What child agrees with their parent one hundred percent of the time? Taehyung left Daegu with only the clothes on his back not because he was ashamed of his parents, but because he had no desire to be a farmer. He had no money and no friends here. Yoongi fought with his parents as soon as they discovered he was part of the underground because music had no place in their home. They wanted him to finish his education and get a respectable job. Now the Mins are their sons’ biggest supporters. Seokjin is the son of a well-to-do businessman. His mother was Miss South Korea. He is very well educated. All of these advantages and yet he chose to become an idol. But his drive and determination paired with his exceptional work ethic won his parents over in the end. Hoseok is the son of a teacher. His parents wanted him to settle down and find a good office job but, they are exceptionally proud of the man he has become. Namjoon never fought much with his parents. He discovered his dream and struck a deal and in the end everything turned out for the best. He is an amazing negotiator with the ability to see all of the pieces of the puzzle together. It is why I chose him as the leader from the beginning. I knew he would be able to guide his group well regardless of his age. Jimin went to school for the arts. This has been his plan since he was young. As for Jungkook, he entered a talent show and did very well. He made the choices that led him to BigHit and his parents supported him the entire way.”

“You make these boys sound like saints,” Danny said, sounding a little unsure.

“Far from, Inspector Kwon,” Hitman said. “They are simply wise beyond their years because nothing was ever handed to them. They worked their way up from nothing and together became a force to be reckoned with. People recognize that. They respect it.”

“So there is no one you can think of they may have provoked or made mad?”

“No”

Danny nodded, slamming his laptop shut and heaving a sigh.

“I’ll keep working then,” he said. “I have some people checking private flights in and out of South Korea in the past year or so. Maybe something will turn up then.”

“Some contacts of mine are looking for people skilled in the fields of that video that was released,” Hitman said. “If they hear anything they promised to let me know.”

“We will find them, Sir,” Danny said.

“Or they will find us,” Hitman agreed.

Danny looked at the man before him one last time, wishing desperately that he had the mans faith, then departed, intent on working straight until he found his next clue.

{GOT7s Dorm, Seoul, South Korea}

“Oppa!” Kaelyn chastised as glass shattered against the living room wall for the third time that week. “Don’t be this way…”

The other members in the room looked between their leader and bandmate as the tense stand-off between the two paused.

“You had no right to do that interview Jackson Wang,” Im Jaebum spat, his chest heaving from the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him.

“Someone had to,” Jackson spat back.

“Did you even think about what you were saying?” GOT7s leader asked as he looked at the man before him.

Jackson looked at his leader, every ounce of fight leaving him as he sank back into the chair he had come out of several minutes prior.

“I don’t know what to say anymore,” he said softly, defeat finally winning over in his tone. “I don’t know what to do and…none of this is fair…”

“Life isn’t fair,” Jinyoung said as he looked at his brothers.

“Jungkook-hyung doesn’t deserve this,” Yugyeom said, his brow furrowed as he stared at his clasped hands.

“None of them do, Gyeomie,” Mark said softly, scrubbing his face with his hands as he too heaved a sigh of frustration.

“We have to do something, hyung,” Jackson said as he looked to their oldest member.

“There’s nothing we can do, Jackson,” Mark said as he looked at the man beside him.

“What do these people want?” BamBam asked, the tone of the room making him nervous.

“Money,” Kaelyn said simply, hoping the conversation was turning less violent once again. “Lots and lots of money.”

“Money won’t do them any good if they get caught,” Youngjae grumbled.

“Criminals never think they’ll get caught,” Kaelyn said as she gently pulled JB down next to her. “How many movies have we seen like this?”

“Why was the ransom cancelled if they only wanted money?” JB asked as he looked at his girlfriend.

Kaelyn only shrugged, her heart racing as she considered the fact that she already knew the answers to these questions.

“Why did they kill them off only to bring them back and ask for more?” Yugyeom asked.

“Because they realized they should have asked for more in the first place?” Kaelyn said, sounding unsure. “Why do sadists do anything?”

“Sadists?” JB asked in confusion.

“What else would they be?” Kaelyn said. “They aren’t terrorists but…they are definitely lacking good character or moral fiber and…they seem to thoroughly enjoy other people’s suffering and pain.”

The boys around her nodded in agreement, their hearts heavy and their minds sluggish from the drinks they had had earlier in the night.

“You should all be in bed,” Kaelyn said softly. “You have a schedule in the morning and you make my job hard enough as it is. Get some sleep. I’ll clean up here and see myself home.”

“Kaelyn,” JB said softly.

“It’s okay,” Kaelyn said with a smile. “I have some things I need to grab from the office before I go home so… I’ll see you in the morning?”

JB just nodded at his girlfriend, wondering if something was off before shaking his head, ushering his members to bed and turning off the remaining lights, kissing Kaelyn goodnight and seeing his way to bed as well.

Elsewhere in Seoul Inspector Danny Kwon was walking into SME to speak with the man who had taken over Big Hit and now owned Bangtan Sonyeondan. It wasn’t an interview he was looking forward to but Hitman was sure that some of the answers they were looking for concerning BTS would be found with Lee Soo Man.

As he entered the lobby housing one of the big three companies that controlled most of South Korea’s entertainment industry his encrypted cell rang.

“Hmmm…” He murmured into the phone waiting to see who was calling him.

A deep voice that could only belong to a 6’7, 300lbs African-American who went by the code name Knight answered back.

“Still cautious about how you answer the phone there, Youngblood.”

Moving to a secluded corner of SME’s lobby Danny replied, “Always, Knight…always. You never know what scum of the earth might get this number and start making telemarketing calls. I don’t need a new health insurance plan or a state of the art vacuum cleaner.”

“Asshole…” Knight laughed over the line.

“Is there a reason you called me and not Demon?” Danny asked, instinct keeping him to the use of their code names as he scanned the people walking around the lobby. He also took note of where the security cameras were stationed and how many guards were patrolling the area. Long buried training and habits were coming to the surface and Danny was unsure if this was a good thing or bad thing.

“Demon asked me to call as his little Angel is in the hospital, but he wanted to make sure you got the info you needed.”

“FUCK Knight…I knew I should have told Demon to stay out of this shit!!” Danny growled into the phone.

Knight cackled in Danny’s ear.

“Cool your jets there, Youngblood…little Angel is in the hospital with appendicitis, but if it makes you feel any better he already took the precaution of moving Angel to a secure location. You know Demon…there is no chance in Hell that he wouldn’t take measures to make sure Angel was safe before involving himself in this.”

Danny let out the breath he had been holding in relieved that his fear about Jase and his family hadn’t come to pass. And if he had called in Knight then his American friend was pulling out the big guns and going hunting for bear, as he was fond of saying.

“What info did Demon want you to relay?”

Even though he couldn’t see him Danny had no problem picturing the large man shaking his shaved head as he replied.

“Not passing on the info from Demon…he called and asked me to look into some things for him concerning your lost little puppies. He has me on a ghost hunt as well as looking into this Lee Soo Man. You know Demon and his hunches, he is sure that there is something rotten going on behind the scenes with this company, SME, and some officials in the South Korean government. As much publicity as this group has been getting internationally you would think that at least the government would be moving heaven and earth to find those boys and bring them home.”

“So why aren’t they?” Danny asked.

“That is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, Youngblood…and government secrets are harder to uncover, especially when you are tiptoeing around. Remember that South Korea is a friend to the United States and my government would not be happy with me stepping on important toes. So I have to be careful and quiet on this little hunting expedition. It was a lot easier finding dirt and a dirty secret on Lee Soo Man…that man is as bad as they come.”

Danny winced inwardly as Knight imparted that bit of wisdom. He hated to admit, even to himself, that his own government might have shady dealings with whoever had kidnapped BTS and was now doing everything they could to make sure that information never saw the light of day. He filed that tidbit away to look at later; right now he would focus on Lee Soo Man and what Knight had been able to learn about him.

“So…Lee Soo Man?” Danny prompted Knight.

Knight sighed over the phone and Danny could tell that whatever he was about to say was leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

“That man is a piece of shit, Youngblood. He takes close to 90% of everything his artists earn and most of them are so far in debt to the company that they will never be free. The ones who do well are a little better off but not by much. And word is that if you have the right connections and enough money to pay you can have any idol, male, female or group, for however long you want them…no holds barred. You just have to return them alive and mostly healthy. There have even been some up and coming idols that suddenly disappeared. Word was that they couldn’t handle the lifestyle but their families were secretly paid a large amount of money to keep quiet and no one has seen or heard from them since. A Chinese idol trainee vanished under SME a few years back but no official investigation was ever done by the police or South Korean government. Since then any and all Chinese citizens under SME have been put under watch by the Chinese government. Most have been quietly pulled out from under SME but the few who remain are closely guarded.”

“And BTS?” Danny asked fearing he now already had the answer.

“As it stands now, Youngblood…those boys are worth way more to SME dead than alive. No proof yet but Lee Soo Man may be sending covert messages to the kidnappers to make damn sure those boys never come home. And a word of advice…if you are looking into SME and Lee Soo Man…watch your back, Youngblood. Watch! Your! Back!!”

Frowning as the line went dead Danny took a deep breath and made his way over to the elevators. He was suddenly overcome with the feeling that he was on his way to meet the devil himself.

“Inspector Kwon. How kind of you to take time out of your busy schedule to visit me,” the greasy man behind the over-polished desk said. “How is your grandfather doing?”

“Retired,” Kwon said flatly, his stomach turning in this evil presence.

“How might I be of assistance, Inspector?” Lee Soo Man asked as he sat forward to consider the man in his office, one he would be sure did not come back.

“I think it is I who should be asking that question, don’t you, Sir?’ Danny asked as he sat.

President Lee tilted his head down as he clasped his hands in front of himself.

“You still think you’ll be able to bring those boys home alive?”

“Isn’t that what you want?” Danny asked, the room feeling much colder than it had when he walked in.

“The South Korean President is unwilling to negotiate with terrorists as you well know. As a dutiful, law-abiding citizen, I must follow the word of my government,” SME’s President returned.

“So, it’s true then?” Danny asked, testing the waters before him. “SME really is better off with Bangtan dead.”

Lee Soo Man laughed at the logic, making a mental note to have this Inspector Kwon followed more closely.

“My company has several thriving artists, Inspector. While it is true that BTS makes a great deal of money off of memorabilia, I can assure you that I am still in some amount of debt for acquiring their contract. And if by some miracle they were to return home alive, they would cost a great deal more than what they have made to fix.”

“And what happens when they can’t be?” Danny asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Fixed?” Lee Soo Man asked, sounding amused. “Then they’ll be of no use to me and they will be prosecuted for violation of their contracts, won’t they?”

{Undisclosed Location, Germany}

Far away from South Korea, in a quiet city high-rise the families of Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Kim Namjoon, Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jungkook all sat gathered pouring over information they had gathered on their own as they too tried to find the answers their government refused to provide.

“Who are these people?” Mrs. Jeon asked, her nerves frayed from the flurry of recent events. “What do they want with our sons?”

“They are monsters,” Mrs. Park said, looking at the pictures before her, searching for any clues they may have missed. “They prey on the innocent and victimize the weak to make themselves feel stronger than they really are.”

“Has anything like this happened before?” Mr. Jeon asked softly. “I mean…idols…”

Namjoon’s father shook his head as he searched the internet for clues.

“Never on this level, or for this long.”

“Do these people even know what they are doing?” Taehyungs father asked.

“It almost seems like they don’t,” Namjoons mother said.

“Maybe there is a case of too many captains and not enough soldiers?” Taehyungs mother suggested.

“How did they sneak them out of the country?” Seokjins father asked.

“You really think they aren’t in South Korea?” Mr. Min asked.

“No,” Mr. Kim said. “I don’t. I think they were snuck out of the country before the news of them disappearing broke.”

“Where do you think these monsters took them?” Mrs. Min asked.

“Somewhere cold,” Mr. Kim said. “It was probably cold at the time they arrived so…” Mr. Kim paused as he considered the map on the wall. “Russia…maybe?”

“But why there?” Mr. Park asked.

“Why anywhere?” Seokjins mother countered.

The family members just looked at one another, each of them wondering why each question they asked yielded only more questions but never any solid answers to those questions.

Kaelyn found herself locked in the bathroom on the lowest level of JYPs building hiding from everything and everyone her new life had introduced her to. In the middle of this newfound chaos she was spiraling out of control and at any given moment she was in danger of losing who she truly was.

Heaving a sigh and pulling out her phone, Kaelyn called the only person she believed could fix this.

On the other side of the world, tucked deep down in the covers of his prison, Mathan startled awake, staring at the blaring 2:37AM on his clock before answering his phone.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in a panic.

Kaelyn was quiet for a long time before she found her voice to speak.

“Tell me they’re okay…”

“KaeKae…” Mathan breathed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

“SME isn’t coming for them,” she said. “They have too much to gain and…I think something’s happened we don’t know about. I think someone has them in their pockets…”

“Sven?” Mathan asked, wishing he hadn’t gone to sleep.

“I don’t know,” Kaelyn said, sounding small. “Does he have that much power now?”

“Kaelyn…” Mathan breathed.

“I could…try to….” Kaelyn held her breath as she entertained every desperate thought she could.

“What?” Mathan asked.

“Augustine…maybe?” she finally said. “Maybe he would know?”

“And maybe he would call his big brother and let him know you are snooping around again and then the whole plan is scrapped and where are we then?” Mathan growled.

“Maybe you…could negotiate a trade?” Kaelyn offered, her tone of voice saying each and every thing her words would not.

“Over my fucking dead body. He had you once. I’ll be damned if he ever finds you again.”

“Those boys have to come home, Mathan. Before they kill them.”

“I’m working on it,” Mathan said, agitating taking over his tone.

“Work harder,” Kaelyn said. “I can’t come to you now but…they can’t stay there and…I fear the world is going to burn before you get them home alive.”

“I won’t be the one to get them home alive,” Mathan said, now sounding resigned.

“Then you better leave them somewhere great. Because I’m only your tuck and ride. I want nothing more to do with this. And I won’t be there to watch it when whoever they send shoots you dead for the transgressions you have conducted against those seven young men.”

“I need something to work with, sister.”

“Mathan…” Kaelyn heaved a sigh. “I really have nothing else to give. I can’t…”

“I know.”

“I don’t like you, Mathan. But I’ll love you til the end.”

“My last breath, baby girl.”

With those last words, Kaelyn hung up the phone and sunk to the floor, loosing the last piece of hope she had so desperately clung to. BTS wasn’t coming home because no one who mattered would fight for them, and any other person who dared would be shot dead before their case was pled.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to no one in particular, standing up and finding resolve. April would be here before she knew it and she would gather every weapon she had to make sure Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, Kim Taehyung, Jung Hoseok, Min Yoongi, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jungkook came home. She would make sure no one on her team suffered for coming to their rescue because her brother and his friends had not yet been consumed by the type of greed that had the South Korean government turning a blind eye to everything that was going on.

Part Fifty-Eight

Chapter Notes

DISCLAIMER/TRIGGER WARNING:

This story contains some very strong, very homophobic, language towards the end, so if that triggers you, you may want to stop when Dorian (who really is just a huge piece of shit) enters the tale. Please know that Sandra and I both respect all forms of human life and we think the concept of love is such a wonderful, beautiful, amazing thing. Love, in its truest form, has no discrimination and can transcend all things. Religion, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, even age (within reason.) To be able to find the soul your own soul can call home is probably the most beautiful thing there is. A persons packaging is just that. Don’t ever let someones gender or looks deter you from getting to know their soul. Some of the most beautiful people in the world are just packages of sorrow and despair. So please, don’t be too offended with us for how Dorian acts. Sandra and I both know he is toxic and very incorrect. It’s just… Dorian has never been in love and so he has no idea how strong the wings of love are. Maybe one day he will learn for himself, but I am pretty sure he will just die first. Ain’t no one got time for his shiz.

If anything about this offends you personally, Sandra and I really want to know so that we can come together with you and help you overcome whatever it may be. We want to be as loving, and as accepting, and as understanding as possible, because there are still a lot of things neither of us know. We will always be here for our readers because even if they don’t think it, you all are our friends. So if you ever need a shoulder to lean on, or a good ear, my name is Kaelyn and you can hit me up any time at @kaelyn_grey on Twitter or at [email protected]. Sandra said you could also yell at her since she did write Dorian that way. Feel free to scream at her at @LadyMidnight122 on Twitter or send your rage to her inbox at [email protected]!

Peace, Love, and Light (but most importantly LOVE),

Kaelyn.

Part Fifty-Eight

Several days passed between Yoongi’s meeting and the next. He had refused to disclose any of the details of said meeting for fear that his brothers would be discouraged. He feared they would turn on each other more than they already had; feared they would cause more harm knowing that Kim Taehyung had also sold his soul to a devil named Ivchenko. When the Russian guard named Gregor finally returned, the members of Bangtan Sonyeondan tensed, watching with baited breath as Taehyung was jerked from his seat on his bed and pulled from the room, a look of sheer terror in his eyes.

Yoongi suppressed the sound of disgust that bubbled in his chest as the remaining prisoners looked at the door in horror and fear. No one moved for almost ten minutes, jumping only when the door opened again and a female guard motioned for Namjoon to join her, turning and walking away as she expected him to follow.

Namjoon had no idea what was going on, or what new torture he would face, and held his breath as he was lead to a solid door.

“You have one hour, Mr. Kim Namjoon,” the guard said, her Russian marring the English that she spoke. “Do not upset Master’s Jewel, yes?”

Speaking no more the guard opened the door and shoved Namjoon in before slamming the door shut and locking it from the outside.

“Hyung,” Jimin breathed, terrified to see his leader.

If Kim Namjoon was in this room with him that could only mean that Kim Taehyung… Jimin closed his eyes as his heart broke once more.

“Jiminah,” Namjoon breathed, relief overtaking him as he walked over to his brother, pulling the boy up and into his embrace. “What have they done to you?”

Namjoon’s voice was calming…soft. It was like a fortified wall to Jimin’s soul but in that moment it caused him to break.

“He has Taehyungah,” Jimin sobbed, his fingers tangling in his leaders’ shirt as he held on to him as tightly as he could. “My Master…Taehyungah is with him. It is how I am here…”

“What do you mean he has Taehyungie?” Namjoon asked, pulling back and looking at Jimin in confusion.

“My Master,” Jimin said, trying to calm his tears. “If I am here with you…”

“How do you know?” Namjoon asked, his mind refusing to process this new disturbing information.

“Yoongi hyung told me,” Jimin said softly, looking at the floor. “He said that Taehyungah was sent to be with My Master and…he was allowed to come and see me so…”

“No,” Namjoon insisted. “Mathan would never allow it.”

Jimin worried his cheek but nodded none the less. Namjoon was right. Mathan Foley would never allow such a trade to take place. Someone somewhere had been mistaken and…Park Jimin was Sven Ivchenkos only jewel.

“How are you Jiminah?” Namjoon asked gently, guiding his brother back down into his chair.

“I’m okay,” Jimin said.

“Really?” Namjoon asked, sounding unsure.

Jimin could only nod.

“You look well,” Namjoon said, otherwise at a loss for words.

“Master takes care of his jewel,” Jimin said, looking at his lap in shame.

“That monster is not your master,” Namjoon spat.

“Master is good to Jimin when Jimin listens,” the boy mumbled. “He even…let Jimin use the phone and…call PD-nim…”

Namjoon stared at Jimin in horror and shock.

“Master let Jimin use his cell phone,” Jimin said as he returned his gaze to his leader. “He let me call PD-nim and…tell him we’re alive.”

“When?” Namjoon gasped, standing from his seated position to lean across the table.

“Um…” Jimin furrowed his brow in thought. “A few weeks ago? Maybe?”

Namjoon just nodded as he slowly sat back down.

“What did Bang PD-nim say, Jiminah?”

“He asked me if we were safe,” Jimin said, looking back down as his heart broke once more. “He…he told me that he wouldn’t stop looking for us until he had us home alive…”

Namjoon closed his eyes as all of the air escaped his lungs at the verbal punch he had just received.

“I told him…all the things that have happened,” Jimin said. “That…that none of us are safe and…that all of us have been hurt in some way…”

“Jimin…” Namjoon breathed.

“I know,” Jimin said softly. “We’re never getting out of here. We’ll die and be buried here…”

Namjoon could only nod. Just this once he had no reassurance for the man that sat before him.

When the meeting was over and both parties were returned to their rightful rooms, chaos broke loose as the other occupants of the rooms descended like wolves.

In BTS’s prison cell everyone but Yoongi gathered around Namjoon asking him what had happened and if he had seen Taehyung who had not yet returned. All their leader could do was share a look with his hyung and slowly shake his head.

“What did Jiminie say?” Seokjin asked, leading Namjoon to have a seat.

Namjoon shook his head once more, not even sure where to begin, and quite unwilling to say anything detrimental in front of Yoongi or Jungkook.

“How…how is he?” Jungkook asked, looking slightly hopeful, but nervous most of all.

“He is well, Jungkookie,” Namjoon said with a small smile. “Definitely better taken care of than we are. He said to tell you he loves you.”

Namjoon did not regret the lie at the sight of a true smile on Jungkooks face.

How could he tell any of them about the broken creature he had faced today? The blank, soulless eyes; the monotone voice that sounded like a child repeating words it had been taught to say to an adult. It tortured him to listen to Jimin call that Russian pig ‘master’ and refer to himself as a third person, without a free thought or voice of his own. Namjoon felt as if his own soul was being ripped to pieces and it broke him to know there was nothing he could do to protect Jimin, Taehyung, or any of the others. All he could do was stand as a witness to the Hell they were all being forced to endure.

Much later that night when Taehyung had been returned looking no worse for wear, and dinner had been addressed, the youngest members and Hoseok now soundly asleep, Namjoon and his hyung-deul gathered around the small kitchen table, glasses of water in front of them as they sat in silence, unsure of what to say to one another.

“You knew…didn’t you hyung?” Namjoon said softly, his gaze never leaving the table as he addressed Yoongi.

“Knew what?” the elder asked, his tone tired and defeated and lacking its usual bite.

“That Sven…”

“Mmmm.”

“Sven what?” Jin asked, looking between his dongsaengs.

“Has his claws in Taehyungie too. He lets us see Jimin while he…” Namjoon said, trailing off at the end, unable to finish the words.

“Oh.”

“Hyung-nim,” Namjoon said, looking at Jin. “Jiminie…”

“Jiminie what? Namjoonah?” Jin coaxed softly.

“That monster… He gave Jiminah a phone and…”

“Do what?” Yoongi said, looking up at the two.

“Jimin called PD-nim. He told him everything but…the phone wasn’t traceable so… He said PD-nim hasn’t given up on us but…”

“We’re not getting out of here,” Yoongi said softly.

“Yes we will,” Jin insisted. “Mathan…”

“We can’t tell the others,” Namjoon said. “Kookie…”

“Is just starting to get better,” Jin agreed. “But why not Hoseokie?”

“I can’t watch him break any more than he already has,” Namjoon said simply.

“Taehyung-ssi?” Yoongi asked.

Namjoons brow drew down with his frown.

“I don’t know if we can trust him.”

“Why not?” Jin asked, sounding confused.

“Because he’s lying about what he does when he gets carted off to that sick freaks room,” Yoongi hissed. “I’ve seen him when they bring him back in. I hear him crying when he thinks the rest of us are sleeping.”

“What are you saying Yoonah?” Jin asked, horror evident in his tone.

“Taehyung-ssi is being used just like the rest of us,” Yoongi spat. “Probably getting that sick fucks rocks off cause poor little Jiminie doesn’t know what a blow job is.”

“Min Yoongi!” Jin chastised, looking at his dongsaeng in disbelief.

“Should I tell you what Kim Taehyung is like in bed, Seokjin hyung-nim?” Yoongi asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Or should we wake Jungkookie up and ask him how far he and Jiminie have gotten? Because I promise you it isn’t very far.”

“You don’t know that!” Seokjin rebuked, far too quickly to be his true sentiment on the matter.

“Jeon Jungkook is far more experienced than Park Jimin,” Yoongi said, Namjoon nodding beside him. “But Jungkook-ssi would never force Jiminah to do something he didn’t want to do. And at this point I would say you yourself have more experience than Jimin does.”

However untrue the statement was, it caused Jin to blush.

“What do we do?” he asked, trying to divert the attention.

“About what?” Namjoon asked.

“Any of it,” Yoongi said.

Namjoons brow furrowed in thought once more as he shifted through the questions in his mind.

“We keep the knowledge of the phone call to ourselves for now,” he decided. “And we don’t say anything to the rest about what Kim Taehyung may or may not be doing. Not yet anyways."

After sending Seokjin off to bed Namjoon laid a gentle hand on Yoongi’s arm holding him back for a moment.

“Yoon-ah…what you said about Jimin…you know it isn’t true. I looked into his eyes today and what I saw there is the same look I see in your eyes now. The same pain…the shame that you will not speak of.”

Surprising Namjoon, Yoongi laced their fingers together and gave him a sad smile.

“Let Seokjin-hyung have his belief that Jimin is untouched and being treated like a pampered pet. It is better for him to have that than to know the true horror of what our young Jiminie is really going through right now. If by some miracle we do escape this hellish prison…we can all face the true nightmare of what happened in these walls together then.”

The next morning Kim Taehyung woke late, his body on fire from the punishment he had received the night before. Laying in bed until he could remember how to breathe, Taehyung sat up slowly, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he looked around, taking in his surroundings as he registered the eerie lack of noise in the room.

Kim Namjoon was sitting at the table eating a sandwich and looking over something with Jeon Jungkook. Min Yoongi and Jung Hoseok were huddled together in a corner exchanging furious whispers, Park Jimin was still missing, and Kim Taehyung had been left peacefully alone.

Slowly standing Tae looked around once more, making sure no one else was looking at him before slipping to the bathroom and attempting to wash some of his pains away.

When he returned from his shower, freshly dressed in the baggiest clothing he could find, he noticed that his members were now all gathered at the table in the room, five pairs of eyes boring into his soul.

“Are you well, Taehyungie?” Yoongi asked, his tone a bit too sweet to be sincere. “Did something happen while you were away?”

“You didn’t eat dinner last night, Taehyung-ssi,” Namjoon said. “You know Mathan won’t be pleased with that.”

“Maybe he ate dinner with that sick fuck that has our Jiminie hostage,” Jungkook mused, his eyes dangerous as they locked on to his hyung.

“I…didn’t…feel well…” Taehyung tried, his game off more than normal.

“You’re lying,” Yoongi hissed. “Did you fuck him?”

“Hyung!” Taehyung shouted, trying, and failing, to sound horrified.

“You did!” Jungkook said, pushing away from the table in his shock.

“Shut it!” Taehyung hissed.

“Taehyung!” Hoseok said in horror, a slight repulsion in his tone.

“I…I didn’t.”

“You did,” Namjoon said, his eyes narrowing at his dongsaeng. “But why? What did he promise you?”

“N-nothing!” Taehyung insisted. “We just…”

“You. Just. What?” Yoongi growled.

“Nothing,” Taehyung said, a pout on his face. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. Any of you.”

Jin stepped forward and wrapped Taehyung in his arms.

“Stop it…all of you!” Jin commanded. “Taehyung would not do something like that. Not with that monster who is hurting Jimin.”

Taehyung snarled and yanked himself from Jin’s embrace, giving the older man a look of contempt.

“Not all of us have a troll like Mathan guarding us, hyung!” Taehyung sneered. “And if Jimin can’t do his job as Sven’s jewel to keep the rest of us safe, then he’ll just have to step aside for someone who can and will do whatever it takes to keep us alive. Have you ever thought that maybe your precious Mathan-ah is just feeding you a dream of freedom to get you to bend over for him? Maybe he is truly scared of someone like Sven…someone who has the kind of wealth and power that fools like PD-nim could only wish for.”

The four sitting at the table could only gasp in shock as they watched Seokjin violently strike Taehyung across the face leaving a deep red mark across the younger mans cheek.

That same morning in a different part of Hell, Sven took his time with breakfast enjoying the view as Jimin’s stylists worked their magic bringing a shine to his perfect jewel. As ordered by him they had his dancer dressed all in white; sneakers, ripped jeans and a hoodie over a matching silk tunic. The only color Jimin sported was the black of his hair and the choker around his neck, plus the striking blue contacts that Sven had insisted Jimin wear today. Sven’s jewel looked very much as he would have if he were still performing with BTS and that pleased the Russian.

Seeing that the stylists were finished Sven waved them out of the room and beckoned Jimin to join him at the table.

“Good morning, Park Jimin-ssi.” Sven greeted Jimin as the other took his place opposite him at the table.

“Good morning, chagiyah.” Jimin returned the greeting as he took a cloth napkin and spread it over his lap. He picked up the cup of hot chocolate and took a sip, then smiled at Sven. “You didn’t come in until late last night and I thought I heard yelling. It sounded like Taehyung…is everything well with my brothers?”

Calmly lighting a cigarette Sven cocked an eyebrow as he answered.

“Whatever would make you think that all isn’t well with your members? Surely if there had been a problem your leader, Namjoon-ssi, would have said something yesterday. He would have cried and begged his sweet Jiminie to help and intercede on their behalf, wouldn’t he?”

Sven found himself surprised at the cold, hard look that descended over Jimin’s face. He was even more shocked by the icy voice that emerged from his dancer’s mouth and the contempt being directed at him.

“What makes you think, chagiyah…that any one of them would trust or turn to your pampered little bitch? That is what I am, right? Your pampered bitch brought to heel whose only job is to look pretty and blow you whenever you are in the mood to have me thank you for the pleasure no matter how revolting it may actually be.”

Jimin didn’t move or flinch as Sven let out a roar, hooking a hand under the table and upending it away from where the two sat. He even smiled as Sven wrapped hands in the hoodie he was wearing and jerked him to his feet.

Pulling Jimin close enough that the other could smell the cigarette on Sven’s breath, the Russian growled, “How dare you speak to your master that way! I have gutted people for less…”

Jimins gaze never wavered as he whispered, “Go ahead, chagiyah. At least if I am dead I won’t have to put that toothpick you call a penis in my mouth anymore.”

The scream that rose from Sven could only be described as animalistic as he let go of Jimin and punched him in the face.

Jimin stumbled back laughing as he held a hand to his swelling eye and bloody nose.

“Whatever is the matter, chagiyah? Am I not enough for you? Or do you need to turn to that little slut, Kim Taehyung?”

Chest heaving, fighting the urge to wrap his hands around Jimin’s throat and squeeze, Sven turned and resumed his seat, ignoring the overturned table. Drawing in a calming breath he lit another cigarette.

“A new game then, my jewel? Are we tugging at the leash trying to see just how far you can pull at it before I am forced to jerk you back in line again? If that is the case Park Jimin-ssi, let me warn you that it is a dangerous game of tug o’ war we are playing.”

Jimin wiped his bloody nose on the sleeve of the hoodie he was wearing, the red of the blood stark against the white of the cloth.

“Perhaps I am jealous, chagiyah… Maybe I don’t wish to share your oh so tender affections with Kim Taehyung.”

Throwing his head back Sven let loose a loud laugh.

“Beautiful you are, Park Jimin-ssi…even looking the way you do right now, but not very smart. You forget that you and I are not the only pieces on this chessboard. I have six other pawns that I can put into play at any given time. With a mere snap of my fingers I can have any one of them in here on their knees awaiting either pain or pleasure. How beautiful do you think your Jungkook would be spread out before you as my guards take their turns with him? Would he scream himself bloody begging you to help him and make it all stop? Or your fearless leader Kim Namjoon… Would he beg for the sweet pain of the cane if I promised him your return to the loving embrace of your brothers? Maybe the eldest, Kim Seokjin… I could call the good Doctor Hans in here and let him do one of his special exams? He so loves it when the pretty ones scream as he peels their skin off inch by inch.”

“STOP IT!” Jimin screamed at Sven.

The Russian only laughed as he continued.

“Jung Hoseok will be brought to you after I have both of his Achilles tendons cut and I will make him dance. I will give you the gift of Min Yoongi’s tongue. After all…what he will be doing in the future will not require it be inside his pretty little head.”

Without thought or hesitation Jimin rushed forward, sweeping up one of the fallen butter knives off the ground, and towards Sven hand raised to strike. He hadn’t taken more than a half a dozen steps when his wrist was grabbed in a large fist and he was swept up in a tight one armed embrace that pinned his other arm to his chest.

“I am sorry, Master Jimin, but I cannot allow you to attack Master Sven like that,” whispered the low voice of Gregor who had slipped into the room unseen after Sven’s first shout.

Jimin went limp at that voice, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

Sven clapped his hands as if he had just witnessed some great event.

“Oh, my jewel…how I will enjoy teaching you the folly of your actions. But not today. Better to let you think about what you have done this day and wonder what form your punishment will be. Now go with Gregor and get yourself cleaned up.”

“I’ve done nothing to regret, chagiyah,” Jimin said, his tone sounding defiant, but lost. “One day soon we will all be free of this prison and you will rot in Hell.”

Sven could not help but laugh at that, new games forming in his mind.

“Is that so my pet?” he asked, sounding positively entertained. “The past is in the past, Park Jimin-ssi, and no matter what you do…what deals you make…you will never be able to return to what you were. The lives of you and your brothers will never be the same. After all…it is your fault, my jewel, that your family still holds out hope for your return.”

Things had been far too quiet at the compound the past few days and it was starting to set Mathan’s nerves on edge. First he had received a message from Sven telling him that there would be no more meetings between Jimin and the others. When he had stormed to Sven’s quarters to find out why, Mathan had been met at the door by Jimin sporting a black eye and bruised nose, no Sven anywhere in sight. All Jimin would tell Mathan was that he had angered the Russian and as his punishment he was on lockdown and allowed no further outside interaction.

When Mathan finally tracked Sven down, the man was sitting and laughing in Dorian’s office with the old man and Carl like they were the best of friends. The warning signals in Mathan’s mind began blaring on full blast as the three sat there carrying on, thick as thieves. Everything about it chilled him to the bone.

What the fuck was going on?

It certainly didn’t help his peace of mind when they all brushed his queries off and told him that it looked as if the ransom would be paid soon and they were simply celebrating a successful business deal.

After another couple of days of Dorian, Carl, and Sven making themselves scarce his father suddenly radioed Mathan reminding him that the snow had finally stopped and suggesting that perhaps their guests might enjoy some fresh air. Now entering BTS’ cell Mathan found the atmosphere here was just as quiet, but angry and tense.

Taehyung sat on one of the beds looking at the other five with the coldest expression he had ever seen on the young man’s face. The glares he was getting back from the others were just as harsh. What on earth had Mathan missed trying to keep an eye on the devilish trio?

Hoping to find out Mathan turned to the eldest member, asking him to join him for a walk outside and a bit of fresh air.

He was shocked when Taehyung turned to him and sneered.

“Of course, Seokjin-hyung-nim,” the boy said, hatred and contempt giving his tone an ugly color. “Take a lovely stroll with your knight in shining armor…”

“Be quiet Kim Taehyung-ssi!” Namjoon growled out, eyes burning holes into the one he addressed.

Ignoring everyone, Jin pulled on snow boots and a heavy winter coat. Once Mathan had them outside and away from the compound’s cameras he turned and looked at Jin.

“Do you want to explain to me what the hell that was all about?”

Jin shook his head as tears welled in his eyes.

“We all fought a few days ago and Taehyungah said some harsh things. In my anger, Mathan-ah…I…I hit him…”

Tears fell down Jin’s cheeks and Mathan was helpless against them.

Pulling him into a tight hug Mathan whispered, “Love, the stress all of you are under, of course there will be moments when it becomes too much. But you are all brothers and we will get out of here soon, I promise.”

Jin pulled away from Mathan angrily, walking a short distance away.

“No, Mathan-ah…it isn’t stress. Jungkook accused Taehyung of sleeping with Sven and he said that if Jimin couldn’t please that man then he was going to do whatever it took to keep us alive. Taehyung also said that you were probably scared of Sven and only promising us freedom as a way to get me to…to…”

Even with tearstained eyes and anger in his voice, Jin could not stop the hot blush from overtaking his face making his ears burn red.

“To what?” Mathan asked softly, walking over to the man and crouching down so that their eyes were on the same level.

Jin just shook his head, too embarrassed to voice the words.

“Ah…,” Mathan said as he stood up, understanding quickly dawning on him. “I am just feeding you a line about helping you so I can get into your pants. Is that what Taehyung implied?” he questioned, shaking his head.

Jin nodded as he moved forward burying his head in Mathan’s chest.

Mathan couldn’t stop the laughter that rumbled through his frame making Jin’s head bounce.

“Jin-ah, if all I wanted was an unwilling fuck like the animals here, we both know it would have happened a long time ago. The last thing I want is to cause you anymore suffering. What I feel for you is too real and frankly, it scares the hell out of me.”

Framing Jin’s head with his larger hands Mathan gently angled it until they were staring into each other’s eyes. Letting everything he was feeling show on his face Mathan pulled Jin’s lips to his own pouring all the love he felt for this young man into that kiss.

When the need for air forced them to part Jin gazed at Mathan wide-eyed, then he smiled brightly.

“I love you, Mathan Foley.” Jin made the statement in English.

“I love you as well, Kim Seokjin. And I promise you that nothing bad is going to happen to you. I will make sure of that; you and your brothers are getting out of this hell and going home…ALL OF YOU!”

The tone of Mathans voice was so sincere that Jin had no choice but to believe him. He could see it in this mans eyes that he wished neither him, nor his brothers, any further harm.

“Promise?” Jin asked, barely able to conceal the hope he now felt.

“I swear to you on my life I will get all seven of you out of here if it is the very last thing I do. Help is coming. I just have to give them a date and time, and judging by the weather I can tell you it will be very, very soon. Not even two weeks. I just need you guys to hang on a few days longer. I know I have asked so much of you already but…just give me thirteen more days and I will do everything I can to take you to freedom on that fourteenth day.”

“We will follow your lead, Mathanah,” Jin said, a small smile on his face. “You have done well to help us this far.”

A cold shudder went through Jin and it had nothing to do with the winter swirling around the two of them. A shadow passed through him as he felt like something evil was watching them, planning everyones downfall.

Mathan nodded, taking a deep breath before pulling the smaller man to him, crushing him in his warm embrace and burying his face in Jins sweet smelling hair.

“Chagiyah…” Jin whispered, unaware of the term of endearment he had just used.

Mathan however heard it and as his heart broke into a thousand more pieces he held his angel tighter, terrified of the day he would have to let Kim Seokjin go forever.

In his chamber Sven watched the secret camera feed and smiled.

“Tell me, Dr. Hans…would you like the company of Kim Seokjin this evening?” He asked turning to face the man standing behind his chair.

The doctor returned Sven’s smile and bowed his head.

“I will have Dorian send Mathan on a fool’s errand tonight and the lovely Seokjin will be all yours to play with, but do remember to return him unmarked…at least for now.”

After taking all the boys outside except Taehyung who had turned his back on Mathan’s offer, Mathan found himself summoned to Dorian’s office.

“Mathan. One of the cameras on the West side of the compound is down. I have a replacement here and since things are quiet, it shouldn’t take you long to take care of this,” his father had said, nothing suspicious in the mans demeanor.

Knowing this would give him the opportunity to check in quickly with Ryder, Mathan didn’t grumble much; he just saluted the old man and headed out.

That evening Jin stood before Sven as the monsters stylists put the finishing touches on his appearance. An hour before, Sven and his people had swept in ordering Jin to shower and dress in the clothes that would be provided. No one thought to argue, especially with the guards holding semi-automatics. Now Jin was forced to stand in front of Sven who was sitting in a throne-like chair with Jimin perched expressionless on his lap.

Jin stood there in a black suit, black silk shirt and black velvet choker around his throat, his feet encased in expensive Italian shoes wondering what new hell awaited him. He didn’t have to wonder long.

“I have a special guest coming, Kim Seokjin-ssi, and you are going to be their companion for the evening. You will provide them with pleasant dinner conversation and be entertaining.” Sven smiled at Jin causing the young Korean man to shiver in horror, especially with his next words. “After dinner, my guest is going to have his way with you, and you, Kim Seokjin-ssi, are going to let him. You are to do whatever he wants, however many times he wants it. And you can thank Jimin here for this lovely evening. It was his actions, after all, that have caused this evening to be.”

Jin saw Jimin flinch at those words as the other members cried in anger and fear, but that was their only reaction because at that moment Mathan walked into the room.

Mathan had checked in with Ryder and fixed the camera, all of it taking less time than his father had hoped for.

‘A decoy,’ he thought as he took in the scene before him.

He should have known the old man and Sven would try some sick shit. They had been too damn quiet this past week.

The large man took one look at Jin and his face went hard, his eyes turning cold with fury. Mathan didn’t spare Sven a glance as he stared at Jin then pointed his finger to the floor at his side. Jin was there in a second and Mathan was wrapping a tight arm around him.

“WHAT…THE…FUCK…IS…GOING…ON?” Mathan’s voice was low and coldly calm as he asked the question at Namjoon, who answered quickly.

“Sven came in and made Jin hyung dress like that. Now he says that Jin has to…go be with someone.”

The leader of BTS couldn’t make himself tell Mathan that Sven was ordering Jin to be a whore for the evening. It made him ill thinking of that as he knew that his elder hyung had never been with anyone before. Namjoon just prayed that Mathan could stop it as he had once before.

Finally looking at Sven, Mathan growled, “We have talked about this, Sven.”

“We have, Mr. Foley. But I never agreed to anything. And as Kim Seokjin is my property, bought and paid for, if I decide that he is going to bend over and be fucked...” Sven lifted Jimin from his lap pushing him to one of the guards and walked over to Mathan. “Then he is going to bend over and say please.”

Everything in Mathan snapped at that. Without any thought towards his actions Seokjin was pushed back into the arms of his brothers, Jimin pushed to the other side of the room, and the guards incapacitated, one of them most definitely deceased from a broken neck. All Mathan could see was red as he tackled Sven, slamming him into the concrete wall by his throat, his feet dangling off the floor as an evil smirk graced his face to hide his fear of the larger man.

“I will kill you, you piece of shit,” Mathan sneered in the man’s face, slamming him against the wall again.

“Oh…Mathan,” Sven gasped. “What your angel must think of you now. Such a monster… Shall I have you bent over and fucked as well?”

Mathan laughed at that, his fist sinking so easily into Svens face before throwing the man to the floor and climbing on top of him, fists hitting every piece of the man he could reach as he screamed profanities at him, promising a slow and painful death as he ripped the man apart from the inside. The monster that Mathan had been so quick to contain had been unleased and in his fury, he was going to beat this man to death and lose nothing over it.

“MATHAN-AH… STOP! PLEASE!” Jin screamed as more guards rushed into the room.

He had never seen a human this enraged, and it frightened him. It wasn’t that Mathan wasn’t capable of such violence; in their months here they had come to expect violence in one form or another. It was the fact that this person was willing to do it on his behalf. As soon as Sven had spoken Jin knew what Mathan’s reaction would be. He knew the man had feelings for him just as he had feelings for Mathan, and now this monster Sven had used those feelings against them.

Jin cried out for Mathan again but this time it was in pain as Carl wrapped an arm around his neck, choking him as a gun was placed at his temple.

“Mathan! Stop or I blow a hole through your pretty boy’s brain!” Carl yelled.

Mathan shut off immediately, his fists frozen as his head snapped to look at Jin.

“Fine,” Mathan breathed, his hands coming up in surrender, slowly standing up off the half dead Russian and turning to face Carl. “Seokjin…has nothing to do with this. So let him go before you piss your brother off…”

It took everything in him to not look at Jin. Mathan knew the man was probably repulsed by his actions and as Mathan considered himself, he realized he was covered in blood. The moment that Carl removed his arm from around Jin’s neck Jin threw himself at Mathan, wrapping his arms around the larger man and burying his tear stained face in Mathans chest.

“Please don’t leave me, Mathan-ah…please…” Jin begged.

“What in the hell is going on here?” Dorian Foley asked icily as he entered, eyeing the unconscious guards, the dead one laying with his neck at an impossible angle, and Sven lying broken and bleeding on floor being tended to by the guards not taken out by Mathan.

He looked over at his son who was cover in blood but wrapped in the arms of a BTS member. Dorian should have known that his son would find some way of fucking up, and from the looks of things he had done it royally. He had thought the errand that he had sent Mathan on would take him most of the evening, allowing Sven to give his pet doctor some entertainment. Now gazing around at the chaos, he was sure that Mathan would be dead by the morning, especially if Sven lived and had anything to say about it. It seemed that he had kept himself too much in his office counting the wealth that Bangtan Sonyeondan was supposed to be bringing him, and less time keeping his idiot son in check.

“Carl, help get Sven back to his private quarters. The doctor should be there waiting, and he can take care of him.”

In the confusion of the guards tending to and then carrying Sven from the room they forgot something. The only ones left in BTS’ prison cell after Carl and the guards carried Sven out was the dead guard, Dorian, Mathan, and all seven members of BTS.

“Would you like to explain yourself, my dear son?” Dorian asked, his lip curling up as he regarded his progeny.

Mathan ignored his father’s question as he stared down at the angel in his arms. Jin hadn’t hesitated, not for a second, even with Mathan covered in another man’s blood. Not giving any thought to his father, or the other members of BTS, Mathan pulled Jin out of the cell and into the hallway. He paid no attention to dear old dad who followed them out, slamming the steel door shut behind him. Tilting Jin’s face up Mathan was sickened by the sight of Sven’s blood smeared on his cheek, no doubt from where Jin had rubbed his face against Mathan’s now blood-stained shirt. Taking the silk handkerchief that was in the breast pocket of the suit Sven had forced Jin to wear, Mathan started wiping the blood from Jin’s skin. Completely and totally uncaring of his father standing there impatiently waiting for an answer to his question, Mathan hooked both of his hands under Jin’s thighs, pulling the smaller man waist high.

Jin gasped in surprise and wrapped his legs around Mathan’s waist, his arms snaking around the man’s shoulders before burying his face in Mathan’s neck.

“Mathan-ah……” Jin murmured as his tears dampened the larger man’s neck.

"Shhh….it’s alright. I promise this is the last time that Sven pulls anything like this.” Mathan whispered in Jin’s ear, kissing the skin just below his earlobe.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I suggest you fill me in, my dear son, before I go looking for answers from those six young men in there; and I promise the questions will be painful.” Dorian snarled.

It was bad enough that his son had beaten the shit out of Sven, who would be looking for his pound of flesh in return. Add to that, it now looked like his son was a fucking flaming fairy. It was enough that he had to deal with that gross shit from his brother, but now his own son was falling for these Korean pretty boys.

This mission was going downhill fast and Dorian needed to do something to get it back on track. But before he could really lay into Mathan one of Sven’s guards showed up.

“Master Sven is conscious and demanding the return of his jewel.” Gregor stated calmly as he approached them.

Mathan snarled at that but didn't let Jin go as he positioned himself in front of the door.

"Tell your master to come and get him if he wants round two," he said, his tone deadly. "And I'm taking what is mine, old man," he said to his father. "I don't need your approval, remember? I just need to do my fucking job."

Dorian looked at Mathan like he had suddenly grown a second head.

“Since when is he yours?” The elder Foley pointed at the Jin who was still being held by his son like he weighed nothing at all.

“Since the moment I decided I wanted him.” Mathan growled back at dear old dad.

Anything else he was going to add was interrupted by a furious pounding on the steel door.

Setting Jin back on his feet Mathan turned and opened the door. Jimin shot out into the hallway like the hounds of hell were chasing him. When Jimin spotted Gregor he immediately ran to his side. The guard simply took Jimin by the arm and turning walked away from the group. Looking back into the room Mathan saw Jungkook on his knees crying as Namjoon, Hoseok and Yoongi tried to comfort him. He could also see a red handprint on Taehyung’s face and the anger as he glared after Jimin.

Mathan was not looking forward to finding out what had happened while he and Jin were out in the hallway.

Pushing Jin back into the room Mathan gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

“Seokjin, take care of your brothers while I deal with this. Get out of those clothes and pile them next to the door. I will burn them when I return.”

Grabbing the arm of the dead guard, Mathan dragged him from the room and dropped him at his father’s feet as he closed the steel door.

“So, because of that Korean pretty boy you felt the need to try and beat Sven to death, kill one of his people, and generally fuck up the mission. Am I missing anything?” Dorian asked as he sneered at Mathan.

Mathan leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, uncaring now about the blood covering him. With his angel gone Mathan could slip back into that dark place that let him deal with men like his father and Sven.

“Who I decide to fuck, male or female, isn’t any of your concern, so stay the fuck out of my business on that score. As far as Sven goes, all he had to do was open his mouth and it made me want to beat him to death. Kinda like that useless brother of yours…”

Throwing a smirk at his father Mathan stepped away from the wall, grabbed the dead guard’s arm again and started dragging the body away.

“I will take care of this while you go smooth Sven’s ruffled feathers and we can get back to collecting that payday you promised.”

“And why should I smooth Ivchenkos feathers so to speak when any punishment he decides to dish out to you would be just?” Dorian asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Cause Ivchenko doesn’t need a bunch of dumbasses like you,” Mathan said cruelly. “Without me you would already be dead, and these Korean pretty boys would not have been successfully taken in the first place.”

As soon as the door had closed on Mathan and Jin, everyone else now gone from the room, Jungkook flew across the prison cell they called home, gathering Jimin into his arms. The others quickly followed with the exception of Taehyung who stood back glaring at the scene from the other side of the room.

‘They are all so quick to treat Jimin like a wounded bird, and yet condemn me for the same actions,’ Taehyung thought as pain welled in his chest.

Even Yoongi, who refused to willingly touch anyone now, was quick to wrap his arms around Jimin. Taehyung felt bitterness and jealousy burn inside him as he watched his supposed beloved tenderly kiss Jimin on the side of his face and smile at him.

“How sweet Jiminie…they are happy that the pretty pet got left behind.” Taehyung sneered.

Breaking away from the others Jimin walked up to Taehyung with tears in his eyes.

“Why Tae-ah…why would you give yourself to him like that? Whatever he promised you, he won’t keep his word. You have to know that.”

Giving Jimin a contemptuous look from head to toe Taehyung taunted, “Jealous Jimin-ah? If you can’t keep a powerful man like Sven entertained to protect the rest of us, then stand aside and let someone else do it.”

Forgetting the others in the room for a moment Jimin yelled, “DO YOU THINK I ENJOY GETTING ON MY KNEES FOR THAT MAN? I WILL NEVER FEEL CLEAN AGAIN, KIM TAEHYUNG…THE TASTE OF HIM IN MY MOUTH… HOW CAN YOU STAND TO LET THAT SICK FUCK TOUCH YOU!”

“I do what I have to because you aren’t man enough to.” Taehyung smiled, chin rising in defiance.

“BASTARD!” Jimin wept as he slapped Taehyung across the face, running to the door and pounding on it as hard as he could. When the door opened he fled the room, never turning to look at the others and missing Jungkook collapsing to the floor, his heart torn and bleeding from his eyes as tears streamed down his face, the others desperately trying to comfort him.

When Jin came back in from his time with Mathan he slowly dragged his gaze around the room trying to figure out what he had missed.

“What the hell happened in here?” he asked, his own tone deadly and low as his gaze settled dead on Kim Taehyung.

Part Fifty-Nine

Chapter Notes

T/N: KOREAN VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

• Ye: Another term for ‘yeah’ or ‘yes’.

• Omo: Oh My!

• Ani: No!

• Aegyo: A korean word that derives from the Chinese characters "love (ae)" and "beautiful (gyo)." The closest English

translation of aegyo would be "winsome," defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as "generally pleasing

and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence." Not surprisingly, aegyo is considered a feminine

trait, generally attributed to women who can charm men and elders through a careful balance of sweetness,

cuteness, poutiness, modesty, thoughtfulness, and submissiveness. A woman with aegyo knows to blush at dirty

jokes rather than guffaw along with her mouth agape. A woman with aegyo knows to let out a modest and appealing

squeal and grab tight her date's hand when watching a horror movie.

• Joo-in-nim: Translates as owner in reference to a physical object. I chose its use however because Sven does not

consider BTS to be people, rather property and that is exactly how Kim Taehyung meant to use it.

• dong-gab: Someone of the same age (based on the lunar calendar)

Part Fifty-Nine

DISCLAIMER/TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains some very strong, very homophobic, language towards the end, so if that triggers you, you may want to stop when Dorian (who really is just a huge piece of shit) enters this chapter (because obviously you are still with us from the last time he opened his mouth and spewed his vile, uneducated, judgmental hatred.) As always, please know that Sandra and I both respect all forms of human life and we think the concept of love is such a wonderful, beautiful, amazing thing. Love, in its truest form, has no discrimination and can transcend all things. Religion, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, even age (within reason.) To be able to find the soul your own soul can call home is probably the most beautiful thing there is. A persons packaging is just that. Don’t ever let someones gender or looks deter you from getting to know their soul. Some of the most beautiful people in the world are just packages of sorrow and despair. So please, don’t be too offended with us for how Dorian acts. Sandra and I both know he is toxic and very incorrect. It’s just… Dorian has never been in love and so he has no idea how strong the wings of love are. Maybe one day he will learn for himself, but I am pretty sure he will just die first. Ain’t no one got time for his shiz.

If anything about this offends you personally, Sandra and I really want to know so that we can come together with you and help you overcome whatever it may be. We want to be as loving, and as accepting, and as understanding as possible, because there are still a lot of things neither of us know. We will always be here for our readers because even if they don’t think it, you all are our friends. So if you ever need a shoulder to lean on, or a good ear, my name is Kaelyn and you can hit me up any time at @kaelyn_grey on Twitter or at [email protected]. Sandra said you could also yell at her since she did write Dorian that way. Feel free to scream at her at @LadyMidnight122 on Twitter or send your rage to her inbox at [email protected]!

Peace, Love, and Light (but most importantly LOVE),

Kaelyn.

Taehyung looked at his hyung-nim with a contemptuous glare but otherwise ignored the question. If the only time these ungrateful brats spoke to him was to chastise him…maybe they did not deserve him after all.

“Taehyung-ssi…” Jin asked again, his eyes narrowing as he considered his dongsaeng.

“Yes, Seokjin hyung-nim?” Taehyung asked, his eyebrows raised in feigned interest.

“Why is Jungkookie crying?”

“No idea,” Taehyung spat, the ugly mask of hatred covering his face once more.

“Kookie,” Jin said softly, turning his gaze to the rest of his members. “Did you and Jiminie fight?”

Kookie cried even harder at the mention of his lover, furiously shaking his head, his hands clawing at his aching chest.

“Taehyung fought with Jimin and caused him to flee the room,” Hoseok said, looking at his eldest member in concern. “He went back to that monster.”

“Kim Taehyung!” Jin chastised as he looked at the boy. “What did you say to Jimin?”

Taehyung snorted as he considered his hyung.

“I told him he wasn’t man enough for a God like Sven, and that if he couldn’t play with the big boys he needed to sit back down and let someone else do it for him.”

“Taehyung-ssi!” Jin chastised. “How could you?”

“How could I what?” Taehyung asked, his voice rising in volume.

“You know the sacrifices Jimin has made,” Jin said softly.

These words from the eldest member caused Taehyung to pause, his heart frozen as his mind tried to comprehend the words he had just heard, a deep anger and hatred beginning to burn in his chest.

“All…” he tried, and failed, to say. “What?”

Taehyung was wounded. Deeply so. Had no one seen the sacrifices he himself had made? Did no one see the missing pieces of his soul he had so willingly given away to keep them safe? To keep his sweet Jiminie as safe as he could? Park Jimin was not made for the cruel world that Sven Ivchenko lived in and Taehyung knew that if someone didn’t save him soon, his Jimin dong-gab would die.

“What about…”

Taehyung couldn’t speak as furious tears spilled from his eyes and down his cheeks.

‘What about me?’ he thought to himself.

“What about what?” Jin bit, the exhaustion and hopelessness of their lives finally causing them to turn on one another in permanent and irreparable ways.

“Screw you, Kim Seokjin,” Taehyung said, his voice a low growl and his eyes burning with hatred. “Screw you. Screw your troll guard Mathan. Screw this group. Screw Park Jimin. Screw all of you. I’m done trying to save any of you. I think it’s time we only worry about ourselves.”

Min Yoongi laughed from his spot at the table as the words Taehyung had to say penetrated his ears.

“I think your master would be mad if he knew you were offering to fuck anything that walks, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” he said, a smart-ass little smirk on his face.

“At least he’s a better fuck than you, Min Yoongi,” Taehyung said, the final piece of hatred burned into his deeply tainted soul. “Good luck getting out of here alive.”

Before anyone could say another word the steel door was wretched open revealing Svens guard Gregor.

“Master Sven requests a word with Master Kim Taehyung,” Gregor said, giving a shallow bow.

Taehyung just shot the others a withering glare as he crossed the room to the Russian guard, whispering something to him before walking through the door and out of their lives.

Back in his lavish quarters Sven sat in his throne like chair, his eagle eyes on his perfect jewel. Jimin had ran to Svens room in furious tears, wiping them from his face as he came to a halt just before his master.

“Please,” he breathed, his eyes pleading. “Please let Taehyungah go. I’ll do anything. Whatever you want. Just…please don’t see him anymore. Don’t…don’t hurt him…”

Jimin had looked so innocent and broken that if Sven had had any soul left, he might have acquiesced to the younger mans request.

Instead he had fed his jewel false reassurances and now that Jimin was resting with the aid of a mild sedative Sven was waiting on his dark angel to come and explain to him what Park Jimin had not.

Slowly standing, Sven moved to his private guest quarters to wait on Kim Taehyung to arrive so the next round of cat and mouse could begin.

As soon as the door swung shut the remaining members of Bangtan Sonyeondan circled their maknae, each of them dropping down to envelope him in a hug.

“Shhhh, Kookie-ah,” Jin said softly. “This will all be over soon. Just calm down.”

Jungkook clung to his hyung-nim, desperate to ground himself as he felt his grip on humanity slowly slipping away. The man he had so desperately wanted to see had run from him crying and for reasons untold Jungkook just knew it had been his fault. He had failed to protect that which his heart treasured most.

“Jimin will be okay, Jungkookah,” Namjoon said softly, running his hand up and down the younger mans back in an attempt to calm him down.

Jungkook could only nod as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths in, slowly letting them out.

“Taehyungie...” he said softly, the pain in his chest becoming crippling once more.

The others just looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

“He’ll be okay once we are away from here,” Jin said, not entirely able to believe the lie he just told.

“We won’t survive that long, hyung-nim,” Yoongi said, defeat heavy in his soul.

“Yes we will,” Jin said firmly. “Mathan said that help was coming. He asked us for fourteen days.”

“Fo-fourteen days?” Hoseok asked, his eyes wide.

“Mmm,” Jin replied. “He said he has help coming and that in fourteen days he is coming to take us away from here.”

“Help?” Namjoon asked. “What help? Where?”

Jin just shook his head as he furrowed his brow.

“The Irish guard is one,” he said slowly. “And…Mathan said something about the hills have eyes but…the other person…they seem to be very far away.”

“The other person?” Yoongi asked in confusion.

“Ye,” Jin said. “The…the necklace. The broken one he showed us. I think it belonged to this person. His contact. The one he keeps talking about and…I think something terrible happened to them.”

“What do you mean?” Namjoon asked.

“Omo,” Jungkook breathed as he looked up, his eyes wide.

“Jungkook-ssi?” Yoongi asked, worried that something was wrong with the boy.

“Svens jewel,” Jungkook said slowly. “The one who got away.”

“Ye,” Jin said, his tone solemn as he gave the younger boy a nod.

“But…why would they come back?” Namjoon asked in confusion.

“Because I think Mathan means something to them or…they meant something to him and…they are the only one who can take us away from here,” Hoseok said as understanding dawned on him too. “They have escaped from here as well.”

“How?” Namjoon asked, looking at the others.

“Dunno,” Jin said. “Mathan just…said he needed thirteen days and that…on the fourteenth day he would take us to freedom or lose his life trying.”

“How can we help?” Jungkook asked.

“We need to monitor our conditions,” Hoseok said, going into training mode. “We must sleep lots, eat good food, and stay hydrated.”

“We should do some conditioning work,” Yoongi said. “We’ve gotten lazy and lost what we had built up.”

“I don’t think I can run that far…” Jungkook said, his eyes going wide. “My condition…”

“We’ll carry you Jungkookie,” Namjoon said, giving his maknae a small smile. “No one’s getting left behind.”

“Jimin?” Jungkook asked, worry in his tone.

“Mathan will not leave him,” Jin said, surety in his tone.

“And Taehyung-ssi?” Yoongi asked, disgust in his question.

“No one is getting left behind,” Jin reemphasized.

“Can we trust him?” Hoseok asked.

“No,” Namjoon said. “We tell him nothing, but when the time comes, we can knock him out and run. We’ll take turns carrying him too. It can’t be that far.”

“I need you to behave Namjoon dongsaeng,” Jin said sternly. “You too Min Yoongi. We must keep our noses down and our mouths shut. Mathan is sacrificing a lot to make this happen and we must help him in any way we can. None of us can afford to lose this chance we have.”

The others nodded their heads in agreement. As hopeless and as helpless as they knew the situation to be, they knew this might be the very last chance they would ever have at being free.

After leaving Kim Taehyung in Sven’s guest quarters Gregor was surprised to find Misha waiting for him outside in the hallway. He was even further surprised by the look of concern she was giving him.

“Gregor, I have been watching you these past few weeks and I see it. And if I see it, then it won’t be long before Master Sven sees it and your life will be forfeit,” Misha cautioned her tone soft.

Looking at her in confusion Gregor growled, “I have no idea what you are talking about but I need to let Master Sven know that his angel is waiting for his pleasure.”

‘Did the fool not hear the anger and contempt in his own voice when describing Kim Taehyung?’ Misha wondered to herself.

Surely Gregor who had always been fiercely loyal to Sven was not so far gone that he didn’t see the danger he was in.

Grabbing the larger guard’s arm as he tried to move past her Misha forced him to stop and look at her.

“I have seen the look in your eyes when you gaze at Jimin. You betray yourself with the tender way you treat him now. He belongs to Master Sven and you had better remember that, Gregor…for your life and the lives of your family. If the moment comes that Sven orders a bullet put in Jimin’s head…I will hand you the gun and expect you to pull the trigger,” Misha stated her voice now cold and emotionless.

“Park Jimin is Master Sven’s jewel…his perfect jewel, and he would not give such an order. And no country farm trash would be able to take Master Jimin’s place. Master Sven has never had a jewel like this one….so very much like the lost one.”

Misha’s eyes widened as Gregor spoke out loud of something they were all forbidden to speak of. For any of them to mention the lost jewel, especially where Sven may hear…it would be their immediate death. Using her surprise Gregor jerked his arm away and continued on down the hallway to deliver his message.

“My angel,” Sven purred as he entered his guest quarters, surprised that Kim Taehyung had arrived so quickly.

“Master,” Taehyung said, his face frozen in hatred, but his eyes sparkling with the desire to play.

He was surprised at Sven’s calmness considering the amount of damage that Mathan had inflicted to the Russian. It looked as if the man had taken pains to conceal the bruises on his face and Taehyung couldn’t help but notice how stiffly he moved. But instinct warned him to make no notice or mention of the beating that Sven had taken at Mathan’s hands as Taehyung was sure that would send the other man into a rage. So he ignored that and sought to play the game that would let him escape from this hell.

“Did you and Jimin-ssi fight, Taehyung-ssi?” Sven asked, sounding like a father preparing to scold his child.

“Ani,” Taehyung said, a look of surprise coming over his features as he shook his head. “Is that what he told you?”

Sven considered the man before him before moving to the loveseat and reclining himself on it.

“What did happen then, Kim Taehyung?” Sven asked, trying to keep the interest out of his question.

“Your pretty little jewel went crying to his broken lover,” Taehyung said, leaning against the table before Sven in a seductive manner.

“Did he now?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raised. “Did you not try and comfort him, my sweet angel?”

“Comfort him for what?” Taehyung asked in confusion. “He disobeyed his master. And he treats you deplorably,” Taehyung said, a small pout on his face.

“Does he really?” Sven asked, now sitting up in interest.

Taehyung just nodded, giving the man before him lots of aegyo.

“How so?” Sven asked, leaning forward into Taehyungs space.

“He told the others you lied to him,” Taehyung said, his eyes locking onto Sven. “He said that you won’t take care of us, so he doesn’t have to be a good little boy for you.”

“And?” Sven asked, now thoroughly amused.

“He said you made him feel dirty. Called you a sick fuck,” Taehyung said, unknowingly falling into the monsters web.

“Really?” Sven asked, sounding breathless in his surprise. “And how did you reprimand him?”

“I told him if he couldn’t keep a God like you entertained to protect the rest of us, he should stand aside and let someone else do it.”

“Are you my someone else?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raised at the playful thing before him.

“Of course, joo in-nim,” Taehyung responded, without a second thought.

“And how shall I reward you?” Sven asked. “For being my perfect little angel?”

“Please don’t send me back to the others,” Taehyung said, testing his power with the man before him.

“And why shouldn’t I?” Sven asked, noticing the difference between this time and the last time his angel had asked to not be sent back.

Taehyungs last request was deviously playful. This request was betrayingly hurt.

“Because the others intend to run from you,” Taehyung said softly, his gaze diverting to the floor.

“Oh?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raising.

“Ye,” Taehyung said.

“What ever do you mean my angel?” Sven asked, standing and crossing the small space to take Taehyungs chin in his hand, forcing their eyes to meet.

“The others…they’re planning to grab Jimin-ssi and make a run for it,” Taehyung said, his gaze frozen on the man before him.

“Come again?” Sven said, his tone dangerous.

“The others,” Taehyung said, licking his lips. “They’ve been planning to run away from here. Mathanah…”

“What about him?” Sven asked, his question a double-edged sword.

“He said he would help us.”

“When?” Sven asked, his fingers tightening on Taehyungs jaw.

“I don’t know,” he said, fear suddenly overtaking him as he realized what he was doing.

“Angel,” Sven said, a warning in his statement.

“They won’t…they won’t tell me. They don’t trust me now…”

“Tch,” Sven said, clicking his tongue. “And why is that?”

“Because…because I told them all to go to hell. That…that you were our master now and…obeying you is our only hope for survival,” Taehyung said softly, his senses going wild.

“Is that truly what you believe?” Sven purred, his lips now teasing the shell of Taehyungs ear.

“Mmm,” Taehyung moaned, a shiver coursing through his body.

“Use your words, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Sven cooed again.

“Yes…joo in-nim,” Taehyung said, his words coming out as a breathy moan, pleasure now fully coursing through his body.

“And is my naughty little angel planning on making a break with them?” Sven asked, his hands wrapping around the younger mans waist to hold him close to him.

Taehyung could only shake his head in denial, his eyes squeezed shut.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Master…” Taehyung breathed, his body involuntarily responding to the torment he was being subjected to.

“Prove your loyalty to me, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Sven commanded, his aura going dark as he pulled Taehyung away from him. “Show me that you are still worth saving even when I leave your members to the dogs…”

Kim Taehyung looked at the man before him, knowing he had forever sealed his fate with his brothers while making a deal with a devil he did not know how to tame. Locking everything deep inside of him Taehyung gave himself to the monster once more, making all the right moves, taking and giving as required, the contract for his soul written in semen and in blood.

As night once again fell, and exhaustion overcame them, the remaining members of Bangtan Sonyeondan settled down in their beds, closing their eyes and begging sleep to take them somewhere far, far away. The five of them realized they were running out of options, and Jungkook had been a little more quiet than normal, but once they got a good nights sleep they could mark a day off of their countdown and in thirteen more days all of them would be free.

“Hyung,” Hoseok said softly, turning his head to look at his eldest brother.

“Mmm,” Seokjin hummed, lazily opening his eyes and looking at his brother.

“What about Taehyungie?” Hoseok asked, slowly sitting up and turning to face the man beside him.

“What about him Hoseokah?” Jin asked, rolling on his side to consider the man.

“What happened to him?” Hoseok asked, sounding unsure.

“What do you mean?” Jin asked, tilting his head as much as he could from the position he was in.

“He’s changed,” Hoseok said.

“We all have,” Yoongi said, sitting up from his bed at the end of Hoseoks and looking at the two.

“How?” The younger man asked.

“This place has stolen our souls,” Yoongi said. “It has taken who we were and changed us into who we are…or are not.”

Seokjin and Hoseok just looked at their brother.

“We used to trust one another without thought, did we not?” Yoongi asked. “Now…we aren’t sure if we can even trust ourselves, let alone others. We’re missing pieces of our souls because we gave them away to protect someone else and…some of us are missing all together. There isn’t even a guarantee all of us will make it out of here alive…”

“Yoon-ah,” Jin said softly, a sad look on his face.

”Hyung-nim,” Yoongi said, his tone just as soft. “The soulless only have each other I know but…some of us are beyond soulless now…”

“Taehyungie…”

“Is not the person we knew. This war that we are in…it has completely stolen his soul and…right now I worry that we will have to leave him behind just to make it out of here. I really think he has no hope left.”

“Don’t say that,” Jin said, desperate to see the last piece of good left within his dongsaeng.

“Yoongi-hyung is right, Jin-hyung. Taehyung…”

Hoseok didn’t know what to say as his looked at his hands in his lap, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Jungkook will not allow us to leave him behind, Hobi,” Jin said.

“Jungkook may not have that choice to make,” Yoongi said.

“Why not?” Jin asked.

“Because I think…” Hoseok started. “Taehyungie has changed, hyung. He isn’t the same boy we knew. I don’t think any of that person exists anymore and…I fear for the person left behind.”

Yoongi nodded his head in agreement as he considered his fellow rapper.

“Something isn’t right,” he agreed. “Something feels off. And if that monster has his claws this deep into Taehyung-ssi…”

“Yoongi!” Jin tried in objection.

“Something bad is going to happen,” Hoseok said softly. “Yoongi-hyung is right. Something is very off. All of this…all of our plans… I don’t think they’re going to happen…”

“What do you mean?” Seokjin asked, looking at Hoseok in horror.

“I think Taehyung told the guard something,” Hoseok said. “I think he will make sure none of us make it out of here alive…”

“I don’t think it will get that far,” Jin disagreed. “But…something isn’t right and…I cannot put my finger on it either.”

Dorian sat in the gloom of his office watching the night camera in BTS’ cell, not caring what little plans they were whispering about in their native language. He stiffened only slightly when the door opened allowing in the hall light.

Turning in his chair he stared quietly as Sven walked around switching on a light and pouring himself a drink before taking a seat in front of the desk.

“Are the children plotting, Dorian?” Sven taunted, his voice heavy with sarcasm as he lit a cigarette.

“When aren’t they?” Dorian said with a snort. “The little idiots think my son is going to sweep in at any moment and carry them back home.”

Taking a deep draw off his cigarette and blowing out a perfect circle Sven laughed, “Ah Dorian…that is exactly what your son is planning.”

“I am not in the mood for your games right now Sven,” Dorian stated, his expression hardening. “Mathan is up to his neck in the same shit we are all in. Helping those boys would only guarantee him a lengthy prison sentence or worse, death. He knows better than to cross me…or you.”

“Really Dorian? You think that your son is afraid of you…or me?” Sven smiled as if sharing a joke or a great piece of wisdom. “Love gives men strength and conquers all, hadn’t you heard?”

Pulling a disc from his coat pocket Sven slid it across the desk.

“Watch that and tell me your son won’t double-cross us.”

Giving the disc a look and sneering at Sven, Dorian placed it in the dvd player clicking the play button. Dorian sat and watched several tender scenes go on between his son and Kim Seokjin as he felt his stomach twist in disgust. The idea that the son he had raised to be tough and ruthless would willingly kiss another man and whisper tender things that should only be said to a woman sickened him. Dorian wanted nothing more in that moment than to march into BTS’ cell and splatter Seokjin’s brains all over the wall.

Finally taking notice of where some of the interactions had happened Dorian looked at Sven.

“The compound doesn’t have a camera in that area…so how did you come by this footage?” Dorian growled at the Russian.

“Dorian, I am a cautious man by nature…one has to be in this business. And you and I are uneasy partners, not completely trusting of one another. I had my own camera system installed in certain areas when the compound was built and we both know why.”

With an almost helpless fascination Dorian replayed the dvd while remembering the incident after Mathan’s attack on Sven. Was his son truly in love with Kim Seokjin? Looking across the desk at Sven Dorian knew from past experiences that the idea of love made men do stupid things in its name, but did Mathan truly feel something for that boy? Something that would make him cross his own father and the head of one the most powerful crime families in the world?

Seeing the results of Mathan’s defense of one Kim Seokjin all over Sven’s face, Dorian realized that indeed his son was that foolish.

Turning off the dvd Dorian gave the disc back to Sven.

“So I take it you want your pound of flesh now?” He waved a hand to indicate Sven’s bruises.

Sven stiffened only a little at Dorian’s reminder of the attack on his person.

“Surely I am entitled, don’t you think?” Sven asked his voice quiet and icy cold. “I don’t know if you have paid attention, Dorian, but the cracks are beginning to show in BTS’ unity and their loyalty to one another is wavering. Especially now that Kim Taehyung belongs completely to me…so much so that he has willingly betrayed his brothers.”

“What do you mean he willingly betrayed the others?” Dorian questioned.

Pointing to the camera feed on the wall Sven explained, “They have a plan to escape and Mathan is the mastermind behind it. Very soon he plans on whisking them back home to South Korea and the loving arms of their families, friends, and fans. Kim Taehyung didn’t have any of the details of said plan because it looks like his brothers no longer trust him.”

Sven took a last draw off his cigarette and leaned in stiffly to put it out in the ashtray Dorian pushed across the desk. Leaning back slowly Sven was clearly showing signs of the beating that Mathan had given him.

“I think we need to show Kim Namjoon, Jung Hoseok, Min Yoongi, Kim Seokjin and Jeon Jungkook that Mathan Foley is not the savior they are hoping for while making it clear to all of them that I control them in all ways.”

Dorian leaned back in his chair and asked, “How do we go about doing that?”

Before Sven could answer the door open and Carl walked in.

“Am I interrupting something?” Carl asked looking from Sven to Dorian.

Giving Carl a cold smile Sven answered. “We were just discussing how Mathan should be punished for his latest disobedience.”

Going to Dorian’s desk and perching on the corner Carl tilted his head as if in great thought, then laughed.

“I know you don’t want to mark up your property and decrease their value. And I am sure it won’t come to that but… what if you branded Seokjin? Or at least made Mathan think you were going to. We all know he would do something stupid to stop it and it gives you the excuse, Sven, to have him beaten…or worse. And he would let you as long as you hold Seokjin over his head.”

Sven burst out laughing as possibilities began to run through his mind.

“How deliciously evil you think Carl…I can see you earning your reward. Perhaps I will even let them know that they have Kim Taehyung to thank for their newest pain. It should drive an even deeper wedge into their so-called brotherhood and further break my angel to my will.”

Sven stood and walked to the door.

“Oh…by the way, Dorian…I will be making arrangements to move BTS, probably within the next three weeks. The weather should be clear by then and the snow melted so there is no more reason to delay their transport to Russia.”

When the door shut behind Sven and a few minutes had passed Carl turned looking at his brother.

“Are you really going to let Sven take them, Dorian?”

Dorian gave Carl a look that clearly said he doubted the other’s intelligence.

“Sven may think he is taking those boys back with him to Russia but it isn’t going to happen.” Dorian leaned forward placing his arms on the desk and smiled widely at Carl. “I reached out to someone who moves in Sven’s circle and they in turned reached out to a group that is very interested in purchasing the boys for nearly triple what Sven and the ransom would garner us put together.”

Sitting back Dorian pulled a gun out pointing it right between Carl’s eyes.

“If you know what is good for you little brother, you will keep that bit of knowledge to yourself. If I think for one moment that you plan on running to Sven with that information, I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head…do you understand?”

Holding up his hands in surrender Carl looked Dorian dead in his eyes as he spoke.

“As long as you keep your promise and give me Jungkook before you turn them over to these buyers, I will stay silent on this new deal.”

Sitting the gun down on his desk Dorian let out a chuckle.

“You will get your pretty songbird Carl…but how would you like a taste of his brother, Kim Seokjin? Say while Mathan was tied to a chair and made to watch as you plowed his love?”

The evil smile that came over his brothers face was all the answer Dorian needed as he set his new plans of evil in to motion in his mind. In just a few short days he would have these boys broken beyond repair and would be on his way to a remote location far from the hands of any law enforcement officials, Sven Ivchenko left to hold the deadly ticking bomb of the kidnap and supposed death of Bangtan Sonyeondan.

QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

Chapter Summary

NO ONE PANIC! THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER UPDATE...yet...

*grabs her soap box and hops on it*

So Sandra and I were talking and...how would you guys feel about a question and answer session?

I mean...obviously there may be SOME questions we just can't answer but...if there is anything y'all want to know, drop a question in the comments section or email them to [email protected] or [email protected] and Sandra and I will do our very best to answer them. (I will feed you my friends keke!)

Feel free to ask anything at all. Questions about Kidnapped or anything else we may be working on? ASK THEM! Questions about the authors? ASK THEM! Whatever comes to mind...ASK IT!

We would love a discussion to start and to get to know our readers better!

If anyone has any more fun suggestions, feel free to drop those here as well!

STAY WARM MINIONS!

KAELYN

Part Sixty

Chapter Notes

T/N: KOREAN VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

Ha-neul: A unisex name for ‘sky’. In this instance, Jungkook calls Jimin Ha-neul in secret messages or when they are alone. It is a name only the two of them know (or so they thought), but they use it in times of need to let one another know that no matter what they face, or how far apart they are, they are connected and protected by the same beautiful sky.

Nahn gwen chaneul go ya: I’ll be okay.

Part Sixty

The room of BTS’ prison was silent as Sven walked in with several armed guards. The monster smiled at the sight of the divided group, five of the members sitting clustered around the table while Taehyung sat alone on the bed furthest from the others. He was pleased to see his angel dressed in the black silk suit that he had Gregor deliver along with the message to make himself presentable.

Sven motioned to the guard carrying his chair where to place it, then seated himself and waved to the doorway. Jimin slowly walked in wearing a matching white silk suit.

Pointing to both Jimin and Taehyung, Sven silently indicated where he wanted them, giving the others seated at the table an evil smile when they took up their standing positions behind his chair.

“Now gentlemen…there has been a grave transgression and it must be addressed and punished.” Sven said as he nodded at Misha.

Without giving any time for reaction Misha and the guards moved as one.

Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi, and Jungkook found themselves grabbed and herded into a corner by the armed guards crying out at the sight of the female guard yanking Seokjin from his seat.

The silver flash of a blade placed against their eldest brother’s neck had Namjoon screaming out in English, “NO! GOD DON’T DO IT!!”

Mathan had just finished a quick meeting with Pyro when he walked into a nightmare of epic proportions.

Sven was sitting on one side of Bangtan Sonyeondan’s cell with Jimin and Taehyung flanking him like stone statues.

Namjoon, Yoongi, Jungkook, and Hoseok were being held at gunpoint along the far wall by several of Sven’s largest and most heavily armed guards.

Misha was standing behind Jin, hand tangled in his hair and a large blade held to his throat.

Mathan made as if to move towards Jin when he felt the cold barrel of a gun at the base of his neck.

“Not so fast there, son. We wouldn’t want you to stop the party before it has even begun.” The ice-cold voice of his father came from behind him.

“Yes. Please join us, Mr. Foley…I was just about to open these young men’s eyes to the plans of their savior.”

Sven’s gaze was malicious as he looked from Mathan to Jin.

Mathan allowed his father to push him further into the room as he sent a reassuring smile to his angel. He only hoped that Jin remembered the conversation they had had a few days earlier in which he had tried to reassure Jin once more that nothing bad was going to happen to his brothers again.

“Seokjin,” Mathan had said, placing his hands on the man’s shoulders in comfort. “I would never do anything to harm you, or take advantage of you in any way. I’m not like that. The people who do those things are cruel and perverse monsters. I am simply a monster of another sort. And no matter what any of you may believe, I have never been, nor will I ever be, afraid of Sven or any of his ilk. There is nothing they can do or say to me, nothing they can take away from me, to make me fear them in any way. Sven will never have the chance to touch you, or any more of your brothers, because the time has come for me to kill him where he stands if he ever tries again. I am not a coward, Kim Seokjin. And I have nothing to hide. But it is your choice alone if you believe me or not. There is nothing that I can say or do to make you think any differently of me than what you choose. Do you understand?”

Now Mathan cursed himself for letting Sven and his father’s silence on his attacking of the Russian lull him into a false sense of complacency. He should have known that those two devils would not let him escape hell so easily, but now it looked as if the innocent would pay for his crimes as well.

“I would feel a lot better about this conversation, Sven, if your girl there wasn’t holding such a large knife against Seokjin’s throat. It makes me nervous, and you really don’t want that, do you?” Mathan’s voice was a low growl by the time he finished.

Giving Mathan a gracious nod as if he were hosting a party Sven replied, “Misha, be a dear and lower the knife. We wouldn’t want to nick such flawless skin, now would we?”

Misha complied with her master’s command by lowering the knife but Mathan could tell that with a quick upward flick of her wrist she could slice Jin’s throat before he could take a single step. Focusing his attention on Sven while keeping a side visual on Jin, Mathan knew he would only have a split second to react if it looked like his angel was in any sort of danger.

“What fucking game are you playing now, Sven?” Mathan asked, fighting to keep his voice calm and not let the rage he was feeling show on his face.

“Game, Mr. Foley? No. No game. But a serious problem that must be dealt with. Lessons must be taught to naughty children so that their mistakes are never repeated, don’t you agree?”

“You really should have kept your head down and just done your job, son.” Dorian taunted as he pushed the gun barrel harder into the base of Mathan’s skull, moving him a little further into the room.

Frowning in confusion as the sound of a cart being wheeled in behind him reached his ears, Mathan still snarled at his old man.

“Move that gun out of my neck before I take it away from you and shove it so far up your ass that you will spit bullets!”

“Really, Mr. Foley. How disrespectful to one’s elders…” Sven laughed. “After all, you are at a distinct disadvantage here. And I see that your uncle has arrived with my surprise.”

Feeling his father remove the gun from his neck and step back slightly, Mathan turned to see Carl pushing a cart with a small forge on it. He could see the burning coals and he felt the heat pouring out from it as Carl passed him by. Mathan even saw what looked like a glowing metal bar sticking out of the coals and felt his stomach drop in fear. He knew that sick freak Ivchenko had sounded far too delighted with everything that was going on.

He was further confused when a guard came in pushing another rolling cart with a television and DVD player on it. The guard plugged in the television, turning it and the DVD player on before handing the remote to Sven and bowing.

Sven gave Mathan a smile that promised new levels of pain before turning to address the BTS members held in the corner.

“Thanks to my beautiful dark angel,” he said, turning his head and looking at Taehyung, “I am fully aware that Mr. Foley had some grand scheme to rescue you and see all of you safely back home. I am afraid however, that is a lie on his part. There has only ever been one of you that Mr. Foley planned on getting out of here, for his own selfish reasons I can assure you, and I give you the proof for your own eyes to see.”

With that Sven hit play on the remote and all the members of BTS watched the same video that the Russian had shown Dorian the day before.

Mathan closed his eyes in heartfelt pain as the tender moments that he had thought were shielded from the camera’s eye played out for all in the room to see. Opening his eyes and turning them towards Jin, Mathan pleaded silently for forgiveness.

Sven began speaking again, twisting things to suit his own evil plans.

“So, you see gentlemen…it has never been about you. Only Kim Seokjin. After all, he is the healthiest out of all of you and therefore the easiest to take and run with. And from the looks on the video your elder brother was well aware of this, and quite willing to leave all of you behind.”

Jin started to speak up in his and Mathan’s defense but a vicious punch to the gut from Misha drove him to his knees and the breath from his lungs.

The four members in the corner could only look at one another in horror and confusion as they tried to absorb what they had just seen. So many times they had had intimate discussions with Mathan Foley about their plans to run away, and while they knew that the man had feelings for their eldest member, they had no idea that Mathan and Jin had taken things so far.

Seeing the looks of growing distrust aimed at Seokjin from the others in the corner, Mathan begged them silently.

‘Stop…don’t…you know that Seokjin would never turn from any of you. You are his family, his lifeline here. The devil lies with a sweet, forked tongue. Don’t listen.’

Mathan felt the gun press against his skull once more as Sven stood, walking to where Jin knelt on the floor. Placing a hand under Seokjin’s chin the Russian forced him to stand even as the young man fought to regain his breath.

“I believe the puritans in America’s past had the right idea. A mark…something to denote that the person before them was a betrayer. And since I have no wish to have a letter sewn into your clothing Kim Seokjin…I think something a little more permanent should get the point across nicely. Family is forever, after all,” Sven purred as he gave Seokjin a pat on the cheek. ”Don’t you think my sweet angel?”

Sven turned his gaze to where Kim Taehyung stood sentinel behind the Russians chair, an empty expression on his face.

“So are burns,” Sven continued as he took a step back. “Carl, if you will.”

All the members of Bangtan Sonyeondan watched in horror as Carl put on heavy work gloves and pulled the metal bar from the glowing coals.

“ANDWEH!!!!!” Jimin screamed out as Carl moved towards Jin with the white hot brand.

In a split second Mathan had his elbow in his father’s stomach hard and was on the move. The room quickly filled with the smell of burning human flesh and an agonized roar.

“MATHAN-AH!!!” Jin cried out as he ran forward catching the falling man in his arms. Only the sounds of Jin and Jimins sobs could be heard in the shocked silence of the room.

“Well that was a better outcome than I could have hoped for.” Sven chuckled as he watched Mathan writhe on the floor, the man’s barely suppressed sounds of pain music to his ears; the sight of blood on Mathans lip and chest an added bonus to the prize.

Svens pleasure was short-lived however as Jimin rushed past him falling to his knees next to Mathan.

“GET THE DOCTOR YOU BASTARD!!!!” Jimin yelled, turning to look at Sven with a hate-filled gaze.

Without waiting for Sven’s command Gregor ran from the room to fetch Dr. Hans.

“Mathan-ah,” Jimin whispered, his hands hovering over the injured man as he desperately tried to think of some way to help. “Hyung…”

“S…Jin,” Mathan forced himself to say, purposely paying no mind to the other angel by his side for fear that more damage would be caused because of his attentions.

Jin could only shake his head as tears fell from his eyes like rain, his hand hovering over the wound on his beloved’s chest.

“Do..n’t…c-cry….” Mathan forced himself to say, ignoring the white-hot pain that flared throughout his body as he slowly reached up to wipe the tears away from his beautiful angel’s face. “Not…for…me.”

“Mathan-ah,” Jin whispered, the sound of loss and despair reverberating in his tone.

“Nahn gwen chaneul go ya,” Mathan breathed, the effort to speak Herculean.

“The doctor is coming,” Jimin said tenderly.

Mathan just nodded, turning his head to the boy and giving him a soft smile, a ‘thank you’ in his eyes.

“Mathan-ah why?” Jin asked softly, unable to fully process all that had just happened.

“Sarangheyo,” Mathan said, his gaze returned to Jin once more.

“I love you too,” Jin said without a second thought.

Slowly reaching up once more Mathan used every bit of energy he had to carefully pull Jin to him, placing a gentle kiss on the man’s lips before giving into the darkness that so sweetly called his name.

As a scream of fear and pain ripped through Seokjins chest, up his throat, and out of his mouth, his brothers looked on in horror at what they had just seen, Park Jimin turning a hate and distrust filled gaze towards Kim Taehyung.

As Taehyung watched everything in slow motion it occurred to him that his master had literally fed him to the wolves. He had been outed for revealing their escape plans, and he was solely to blame for the fact that their eldest brother was about to be punished. While a small part of him was happy that the others were going to bear witness to what he had saved them from, another part of him was in anguish that this is what it would take to make his brothers see reason. Mathan Foley did not intend to rescue them, and even if he did, against a man like Sven, Mathan would surely fail. Taehyung had done himself and his members an immense service by exposing Mathan for the fraud he was. He had not once missed the lust filled gazes the American had given his brother, and despite what Mathan had said, monsters like him only craved one thing, to prey on the young and beautiful in the dead of night. Taehyung had saved Seokjin from that; had saved his brothers from imminent death for following another fool into a freedom that would never be.

On the other side of the room the four members held at gunpoint attempted to shield their mouths and noses with their clothing and hands, the stench of burnt human flesh forever seared into their minds.

Tears ran down Jungkooks face as his eyes remained on Jimin kneeling by the American, a fond and concerned look on the face of the man that had once been his. Jimin had not looked at him that way the entire time they had been in this hell. At least, not any times that he could remember.

Hoseok kept his eyes trained on his hyung as Jin clung to Mathan for dear life, worried that the older man’s mental stability would be reduced to nothing. If Jin had no hope left within him, what were the rest of the members to do? Without one there were none, and yet, their septet seemed to have been reduced by one. What in the world had possessed Kim Taehyung to turn traitor against the only ones who had been with him since this nightmare began?

Yoongi stared at Kim Taehyung in disgust, any form of cordial feelings he may have had now gone forever. He would never accept this traitor as a lover or a brother and when the time did in fact come to run, Min Yoongi would feed Kim Taehyung to the dogs if it meant he had any better chance at all of escaping this hell they were in.

Namjoon on the other hand saw red. In his mind he recognized the trap that had just been set, and the end goal these monsters had wished to achieve was now so very painfully clear. Mathan had been a willing pawn in this sick game of cat and mouse. He had brilliantly gained his victims trust; portraying himself as a victim as well to pull them into his trap. He had even let himself be branded so that it would appear his loyalty was with Bangtan Sonyeondan. But Namjoon knew. All of this had been an act. None of their captors had actually meant to harm Kim Seokjin. Not in a way that would make him less valuable. Namjoon knew what he needed to do. He would protect his brothers from the monsters of his hell, Mathan Foley and Kim Taehyung included.

Jin only saw hopelessness and despair. Now that his dark angel was injured…who would be their knight in shining armor? What had convinced the man lying unconscious in his arms to take this form of torture for him? Surely Mathan did not love him so much. Was there enough love in the world to be burnt alive? Even if it was just a small piece of your soul? Mathans last words rang clear in Seokjins mind as the Russian guard Gregor came back into the room, the evil doctor in tow.

Dr. Hans had been resting in his room preparing for his departure to his home country when Svens guard Gregor came rushing in insisting the Doctor follow him. Gregor had only said his master’s jewel had sent for a doctor because the troll Mathan Foley had messed up Master Svens plans once more and had thus been gravely injured. As he grabbed his bag of medical supplies Dr. Hans could not help but smile; the beautiful angel Kim Seokjin would finally be his.

Following Gregor to the prison cell that housed Bangtan Sonyeondan the Doctor quickly assessed the situation, demanding Mathan be moved to his own quarters where he could be treated without causing their ‘guests’ any further trauma. The guards that had been stationed outside quickly entered, picking Mathan up and carrying him out as Sven had Taehyung and Jimin escorted out by Misha and Gregor before turning to the remaining members and giving them an evil smile.

As soon as the room was cleared the members being held in the corner ran to their hyung-nim, pulling him from where he was kneeling and moving him to the nearest bed as they looked him over for any sort of visible injury. Hoseok grabbed a wet cloth from the bathroom to wash Jins hands as Yoongi ran his own hands along Jins torso, trying to determine if anything had been broken. Jungkook went to the kitchen to make his hyung-nim tea, and Namjoon sank to his knees before the man trying to catch his attention.

“Jin-hyung,” he said softly. “It’s okay, Seokjin hyung-nim. Everything will be okay.”

“Ma…Mathanah…” Jin whispered.

“The doctor is with him, hyung,” Yoongi said softly, trying not to sound worried. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

Jin just shook his head as tears rolled down his face.

None of the boys were willing to risk a visit from the evil doctor, not even to receive aid in helping Jin sleep, and so once he was wiped off and had drank his tea, the remaining members of BTS pulled mattresses together once more, placing Seokjin in the middle of the pile and curing around him until he fell asleep.

Once Mathan had been checked out, his wound cleansed, and pain medicine dispensed, Dr. Hans made his way to Svens private quarters to demand payment in the form of Kim Seokjin. He was stopped in his quest however by the sound of fighting coming from within his master’s room.

“Bastard, Park Jimin-ssi?” Sven seethed, his calm demeanor far more frightening than if he were to yell. “Is that really what you think of me?”

Jimin found himself backing away from his master in fear, his eyes wide and his hands held up in front of him in surrender.

“Did that fool Mathan Foley promise to take you with him?” Sven asked with a sneer as he advanced towards his property.

Jimin could only shake his head, tears gathering in his eyes and threatening to fall.

“You’re lying!” Sven roared, the final length of space between himself and Jimin covered.

“M…master…” Jimin whispered as the tears finally fell.

“Master,” Sven said with a laugh, his eyes slightly amused. “On your knees and beg for forgiveness, Park Jimin-ssi.”

“Please!” Jimin breathed, desperation in his voice as he silently refused to obey.

“ON YOUR KNEES!!!”

“No!” Jimin whispered, bracing for the repercussions of his disobedience.

Sven looked at the man before him, shocked by his ungrateful behavior.

“Excuse me?” he whispered, sure that he had heard wrong.

“Go to hell,” Jimin said, tears now falling from his eyes as he turned his gaze to the floor.

As Sven turned to walk away Jimin mistakenly thought himself safe for now. The sting of his master’s hand across his face brought him quickly back to reality.

If Gregor had not have been there Jimin thought he may have been beaten into oblivion.

“Get him out of my sight,” Sven said as he came back to his senses, adjusting the rings on his fingers and smoothing his suit against himself. “Send him to that broken son of a bitch Mathan Foley. He seems to have a penchant for pretty things, perhaps he’ll take another back-alley whore.”

“Master?” Gregor said, hoping he sounded confused instead of angered.

“Tell the doctor he shall his reward of Kim Seokjin. And bring me Kim Taehyung,” Sven said, pouring himself a drink and lighting a cigar.

“It is time he and I negotiated terms for his reward. Perhaps I will make him my jewel instead. At least he knows how to obey what his master says. Isn’t that so, Ha-neul.”

Jimins eyes went wide at the term this monster had just used. How could he have known the words of comfort Jimin whispered in the night…or the words that his sweet Kookie had whispered in return.

“I own you now, Park Jimin-ssi,” Sven said, his tone dangerous and dark. “Don’t ever forget that. It is my business to know of the betrayals that you plot.”

Jimin found that he could no longer breathe as Svens guard gently took him by the arm and led him from the room.

“Do not worry, Master Jimin,” Gregor said softly as they arrived at Mathans door. “You will be safe here. I swear it. And when Master Sven returns to his senses…he will be sorry for what he has done. He will not chase you away like the last jewel he had…”

With that the Russian guard gave a deep bow, unaware of the secret he had just let drop. Opening the door to Mathans room and guiding Jimin through, Gregor swiftly shut the door behind him, knowing the beautiful Korean man would be too terrified to leave, and departed to retrieve one Kim Taehyung. Everything in Gregor prayed that his master would take his displeasure out on the perverse dark angel he insisted on keeping while leaving his sweet and perfect jewel alone and unharmed.

All through the night the members of Bangtan Sonyeondan stayed up, taking turns watching over their eldest member while he slept, most of his slumber spent haunted by unknown horrors only he could see.

When their traitorous member was not returned to them they thought nothing of it, relieved that their full attention could be given to the one who needed them the most.

“Jiminie,” Jungkook whispered as Namjoon woke to take his post. “Do you think…”

“Sven will not hurt him,” Namjoon said softly, trying to comfort his maknae.

“He was really worried…”

“He loves you, Jungkookah. Don’t you ever think different. When all of this is over…when all of us are free…he’ll need you then more than ever. Stay strong for him in his moment of need.”

“Tae…”

“Is dead to us now,” Yoongi said, looking up from where he lay. “He betrayed us to that monster. He cannot be forgiven.”

“Hyung,” Jungkook said, his voice hitching as his heart broke.

“He sold us down the river, Jungkookah,” Yoongi said, now sitting up. “For what? A devil’s empty promise? He had everything he needed with us, and he just threw it away.”

“Hyung,” Jungkook tried again.

“Jiminie has never once betrayed us to that monster,” Yoongi said. “Through everything he’s been through, not once has he turned tail. Think about why that is Kookie-ah. Jimin still cares for us. We must stay strong for him. And when the times comes it must be him that we rescue. Kim Taehyung had sealed his fate. Let him find his own way out.”

Jungkook just nodded as he turned to lay down, his heart heavy and unsure as he thought about what was yet to come.

The next morning BTS woke as normal, standing when the guards entered with their breakfast and noticing that Mathan Foley was nowhere to be seen. The secretly wondered if they would ever see him again. Once breakfast was finished and the cart returned, Namjoon and Hoseok sat to straightening up their room while Yoongi and Jungkook helped Seokjin to the bathroom, sitting with him as he washed up and changed before taking him back to the bed they had made and sitting with him as he cried.

By the time lunch rolled around the boys were back to taking shifts, sleeping and guarding in turn, only eating to prevent further ire.

Just as dinner time was finally coming around, the newest nightmare of Bangtan Sonyeondan was starting to take place. When the steel door opened this time around a single guard stepped through it, looking straight at Jin and motioning for him to come to attention.

“Master Sven instructs you to wash yourself and dress in these clothes. He will come to you in one hour to make sure you have complied. Do not disobey or he will be forced to punish you again.”

Jin had slowly stood and crossed the room to the guard, carefully taking the clothes and standing stock still as the guard left the room. Once the door slammed shut his brothers were around him, holding him up and protesting the instructions given to him.

“Don’t do it hyung-nim,” Namjoon had said. “That monster’s up to something.”

“We will protect you Seokjin-hyung,” Yoongi had said, anger in his eyes.

“Whatever it is,” Jungkook had said, “I will do it instead.”

Jin had just smiled at them all and shook his head, hugging each of his brothers in turn before leaving for the bathroom, intent on meeting whatever evil he was to face head on.

In exactly one hours’ time the door to BTS’ cell opened, several armed guards entering and forcing the members against the wall as one of them pulled Jin to the middle of the room.

He now stood in front of Sven once more, dressed in a black suit, velvet choker and shoes, but this time there would be no rescue for him. Jimin stood behind the throne chair where his master sat, make-up heavy, weeping silent tears. Taehyung stood on his other side, his expression an emotionless mask.

The only person who could stop this nightmare from happening was hurt and unconscious from the branding he had taken in Jin’s stead the day before.

“You look beautiful, Kim Seokjin-ssi. Almost as beautiful as my jewel, but not as perfect as my dark angel.”

Sven held out his hands as both Jimin and Taehyung moved from behind the chair, placing their hands in the Russian’s. When the man saw the tears sliding down Jimin’s face, he admonished the young man.

“No crying, my jewel. I promise that Kim Seokjin-ssi will be returned unharmed. Now dry your tears, they annoy me.”

Sven words were cold by the end as he handed a silk handkerchief to Jimin.

Standing, the Russian pulled Taehyung with him instead as he made his way to where Jin was standing. Sven nodded approvingly at what his stylists had done with the eldest member of BTS. If his eye had not already been caught by his jewel, and his interests held by the cat and mouse games of his dark angel, he would be very tempted by this young man. He could even understand why Mathan had been willing to brand himself instead of allowing this beautiful man to suffer that kind of pain.

“Your orders are simple, Kim Seokjin-ssi. My guard will escort you to the doctor and you will provide him entertaining companionship. If you fail to submit, or I hear any complaints about you, your precious maknae will be the one who feels the cane. Do you understand?”

Jin could not have answered if he had tried. As fear consumed him he gave one last look to his dongsaengs before being led from the room he called a prison to what would surely be his ending.

QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION: THE ANSWERS

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! To everyone who submitted questions to us! They were all very good! If we have missed anyone I am so, SO sorry! Please let us know!

Jikook_TrASh asked: Uhm....I feel like Jimin doesn't have enough screen time...I mean I still really don't understand the part he plays...It's like he's not a important part in this fic...If that's just my thinking,I don't know...but please pretty could you tell me what exactly is his role???I'm not sure you understand my question but please could you answer as best as you could??

I'm sorry if you don't feel like Jimin gets enough screen time these days, but I promise that is about to change. Maybe for the better. Maybe for the worse. Jimin is the innocent protector in all of this, 'innocent' referring to his literal innocence and his inability to provide the darker services Sven requires. He sacrificed himself to save his brothers, but he ends up not being strong enough to give himself over to Sven in the carnal ways Sven desires. He does still distract Sven, and Sven uses him to control the others/keep them in line. Jimin is the other members weakness at this point and all Sven needs to do to whip them into shape is point out that Jimin is his. I really feel that Jimin is one of the most important roles right now because of this, and I (hope) Sandra would agree with me.

Jess asked: Kinda agree with this comment a bit. He gets more then Hobi and Yoongi in writing. But I also am not getting his role anymore. It’s like one days he’s strong then one day he’s weak. One day he’s a loyal pet and the next he’s bad again. I want to see him gain more confidence. I know he’s getting broken and maybe realistically he would be like that but I feel like his part in the story is going in circles. You are at 60 chapters now I would love to see more progress. But I am loving the story. Sorry around 60 chapters if you take away you note chapters.

In terms of his erratic behavior, the mental trauma and constant threat of "behave or your brothers suffer" will make anyone act irrationally. One day he is strong because he's had enough and in a moment of anger he lashes out, but he is equally easily cowed by Sven reminding him that he holds all of their lives in his hands. He has a fine line to walk and he is beginning to lose his identity. He will question lots who he really is and what his value/worth really is. He went from Jimin who was a valued member of BTS, and a dear friend and son, to someones literal property, back to Jimin of BTS and in fic 2 we will see him struggle with this. Eventually he will gain confidence, but it may not be the kind we want to see. Especially not from him. We do have 60 chapters right now and I think Sandra and I have pushed our estimate of chapters for THIS story to 75 or 80? But then we have fic 2 already outlined and a lot of what we don't see in Fic 1 will come out in Fic 2 through counseling sessions and flashbacks and the like. We do have quite a few surprises up our sleeve I think, and we really hope the readers will like it!

JinForLife asked: How many more chapters to go?

When Sandra first wrote this story, it had 6 chapters. As this progressed and Sandra and I dreamed we thought 'is 30 too many? Will our readers be bored by then'? For a while 60 chapters was pushing it. Then we moved on to 70 as a firm ending number. Can we just hope that by 80 chapters (not including our notes) BTS is rescued and we are safely in to Fic 2? Cause I think even saying 75 chapters is too little. I have our notes outlined to 66, and we do have at least 7 more chapters (if not more) of things that need to happen before we can leave this story on a cliffhanger (plus we have an alternate ending). Right now, as a definitive answer, we definitely have 67 chapters written with an eventual end in sight.

Victorious asked: What are the other members thinking? Like they see what's happening to Jimin and they mention him sometimes but what do they really think?

And especially Taehyung. The members see him leaving every single day. What do any of them think what's going on? What are they assuming is happening? Like we don't know what each of them think.

Jungkook seems heartbroken but why, what are his feelings?

Is Yoongi really full of anger or is he feeling anything for what's happening to his brothers?

Does Jin feel guilty that he's the oldest yet he can't protect the others and he himself gets protected by Mathan?

What about Hoseok and Namjoon?

They immediately went with the "Tae is betraying us" without even saying anything? What makes them think Tae betrayed them? Do they really have that little faith in him? They see his condition when he returns, what are they thinking?

And Sven? Is he going to replace Tae with Jimin since Tae is doing everything Jimin isn't. Shouldn't he be satisfied just by having Tae?

And btw Jimin didnt get any backlash for attacking Sven right? What happened? Did Taehyung propose Sven to punish him instead of Jimin? Is that why nothing happened to Jimin? Will Jimin ever get to see what's /truly/ happening between Sven and Taehyung?

I'll be happy if you answered some if not all of my questions. Thanks in advance

In terms of Jimin, the other members know. None of them are stupid and based off of what they have seen from Tae and what they experienced from their limited one on one meetings they have deduced that Jimin is being used as one of Svens sex toys. They also know that Jimin is doing so unwillingly as a means to protect his brothers while Tae seems to have accepted his position with enthusiasm which is also why they feel so protective of Jimin and so unsure of Tae.

Again, with Tae, the members know. Yoongi sees the same brokeness in Taes eyes as he sees in his own. They just aren't sure if he is going to save his own ass or everyones because Tae wont mention it, like, ever.

Jungkook is heartbroken because he constantly worries about Jimin. He knows he is being tortured and he knows there is absolutely nothing he can do stop it. He is also being forced to watch his hyungs fall apart while again knowing that everything going on around him is 100% out of his control. And he is terrified for Taehyung. More over, he sees Jimin being kind and concerned over Mathan and is hurt that Jimin has not shown those emotions to Jungkook since Svens arrival. None of the members see that Jimins cold behavior towards them is him simply keeping as much of Svens target as he can off of them.

All I feel is anger, and the danger. Yoongi really is full of anger, but most of that anger is directed at himself for not being able to stop the monsters who violated him, for not being able to protect Tae from getting hurt, and from not being able to stop Tae from turning to the monster Sven. He is also mad that he is unable to protect the rest of his brothers and as the atory progresses Yoongi will misdirect that anger and use it to hurt the one person who means the most to him.

Jin does feel guilty that he isn't better able to protect his members because it is something he has always been able to do. And he doesn't see it that Mathan only protects him. He knows that Mathan is doing the best he can to protect everyone so no, no guilt there

Hoseok is currently dealing with things that have happened to him that will not come to light until Fic 2 and so for the time being his feelings are the most reserved. In real life Hoseok is the most private member and for now that is what we are basing his character off of. As for Namjoon, Namjoon is spiraling and losing his identity and it is affecting everything and everyone around him.

They immediately went with Tae is betraying him based on how drastically his behavior towards them changed because at the moment none of the other members are able to see that they have backed Tae into the corner he is now in. Hopefully everything you have seen in Chapter 60 have answered the rest of the questions you had about Tae.

Sven will never replace Jimin with Tae or vice versa because they both serve different purposes. Sven knows he can have his candy and eat it too and because of the life he has lead and the business he runs he enjoys too greatly playing with the young and beautiful creatures of the night. Jimin and Tae are his Diamond Dogs and in his mind they will be the foundation of his own private Moulin Rouge. Svens greed for pretty things will never be satisfied.

Jimin did not get any direct backlash aimed at him for what he did to Sven in Chapter 58. However Sven loves to play his games and let his jewel throw a tantrum because he knows to punish him in other ways. Jimin knows everything Sven threatened to do to his brothers he will if Jimin steps one toe out of line and originally the nightmare Jin faces was inspired as punishment for Jimin lashing out but then Tae betrayed his brothers and so Sven will blame it on Tae to cause further discord and distrust amongst the members of BTS. Jimin also knows what is going on between Tae and Sven, and has known for a while. He will especially know after the events of Chapter 60.

I hope we were able to answer all of your questions clearly! If not, or if you think of any more, please do not hesitate to ask!

Army_4ever asked: What are the members thoughts of each others and of tae and jin? Like do they think that tae is starting to hate them or prefers to be by Sven's side and do they think that jin is having it the easiest between them because I remember someone said something like that once, I think it was suga.

And also where do you get all these brilliant ideas from? I've never once got bored while reading any of the chapters and you always write the unexpected.

+ Are yoongi's feelings for tae fading or the other way around? What do they think of each other now?

+ do the members think that seokjin and mathan being so close and jin trusting mathan a lot is a weird thing?

+ how does rm feel about the whole thing as a leader? Does he even still think that it's his duty as a leader to lead them and protect them (even though he obviously can't) or did he abandon his leadership or something like that?

And what jimin and taehyung are doing, is it kinda useless now and only useful for sven to have fun? Because it's only breaking them more and everyone is still getting hurt, is it beneficial in any way?

I think..that's all..

Ultimately the members still think of one another as brothers but at this point everyone is breaking and have sort of put on blinders to get through to survival. Because survival and escape in a group has not yet worked they have all kind of turned to every man for himself so to speak and at this point are only thinking of how they themselves will escape or who they can sacrifice and leave behind to get away from this hell that they are in. Mutiny is coming I feel. Tae is very much a traitor in their minds, even to Jimin. Even though Jimin knows exactly where Tae is coming from, and understands fully the sacrifices that Tae has made, he cannot forgive him for betraying the others to Sven yet he understands how it could happen because he is the only other person there who has experienced Svens mind games first hand. After Chapter 60 and ESPECIALLY Chapter 61 EVERYONES thoughts on Jin change and I hope that we are able to convey that well. Their thoughts on Jin will continue to change as this story progresses and that is something i am really excited to see. i also dont think the members think Tae hates them, i think they just see him at his most desperate level of flight or fight. They can also see how they are pushing him to WANT to be with Sven because right now, sadly, it is the safest place to be. Chapters 60 and 61 should answer any further questions about Jin.

TEA WITH SATANSOO!!! j/k! Sandra and I talk every day and spend most of those conversations brainstorming various ideas, some of which make it into Kidnapped, and some which don't (sad, I know). We both feed off of eachothers evil and the evil that readers often feed us (like your thoughts on Namjoon yes thank you). We also take inspiration from real life, and things we see on the internet and tv.

That...is a VERY loaded question. Yoongi LOVES Tae with everything he has, but once he was tainted he did not want to spread that taint on to Tae. He wanted only to protect him and he pushed him away because he thought it would keep him safe and that ended up backfiring. People who love eachother so passionately can end up hating one another just as passionately but we really don't see that here. Circumstances create situations. Tae literally thinks he is alone but he still has to save his brothers. Yoongi... *facepalm*

Yes and no? Jin is a very trusting person to begin with and he is the type of person to see the good in everyone even when no one else can. The members were blindsided by just how close MathJin is but in the same token Mathan has busted his ass to gain ALL the members trust regardless of personal feelings because he knows he is their only hope.

I personally feel Namjoon is leaving the role of leader behind so that it is every man for himself because he has failed as the most basic definition of a leader and is losing himself and his identity and is slowly spiraling downward and speeding towards his split personality. As much as they need a leader right now, they've started to fracture among themselves so much that he isn't even thinking that way. Yes, he still wants to protect everyone "from the monsters" as he thought in this recent chap, but for the most part their leader is gone. I think part of the reason they may not get that is because his spiral is a bit more subtle since it takes place predominantly with his mind and his internal thoughts, but I think it's clear that the way Namjoon is thinking in this chapter is far different from how he would've been thinking much earlier in the story. He KNOWS he cannot protect his members no matter how hard he tries. Because of this I don't think being leader is his top concern anymore, I think his survival instinct has taken over in addition to the start of his descent into the struggle against his split personality. I think he knows and understands he /is/ their leader and that will be a reminder to him, but I think as things get worse and more stressful, the need to just survive will surpass that in importance.

To Sven it is. But there are no further benefits for the boys. Jimin and Tae cannot see that, but the other members can.

AnonymousMe04 asked: What prompted the plot of the story?

(Pls, dont take this question the wrong way, I love the story and hope to read more like this from you but I'm genuinely curious...)Do you ever feel guilty or upset for writing something so twisted? like, do you regret it?

Can I expect to read more stuff like this from you? *she asks excitedly*

Questions about the characters:

I know Sven has a thing for his "Jewel" and I know he likes the games he plays with his "Dark Angel", but is he attached to them at all? If he were to sell them as sex slaves, would he have a hard time letting them go?

Is Sven's brother (or was it his cousin?) going to be joining the storyline and help him make BTS' lives miserable as well?

I forgot the other questions I had in mind so this is it for now >///<

BTW, Kudos on this story, I'm a fan!!

This story is actually Sandras brainchild, not mine. She said she was inspired by their kidnapping scene in American Hustle Life and initially she had something like 6 chapters written. I, being a good friend, begged the crap out of her and annoyed her for DAYS, DAYS I TELL YOU, to share her story with me because I believe in encouraging other peoples dreams. I just REALLY had no idea it would suck me in as hard as it has. After I read what she sent me I HAD to have more and so I made her (very terrible) edits to try and inspire her. then I brainstormed with her, then I (rudely) wrote a scene I saw in my head and sent it to her, and now here we are almost a year (omg I have loved every minute of it) later in the middle of a dream, writing this story that has become something so much more than we ever imagined, and connecting with tons of people from all over the world having some really great discussions about a variety of things!

That is actually a really GOOD question! Yes, and no. Sandra and I both know that this is absolutely 100% fiction, and that (god forbid) nothing like this will EVER happen. (Don't kidnap people kids, it isn't ever worth it). We also realize that while our characters are based on real people, they are not, in this sense, real, and so nothing within this story would ever happen in real life (like ships). So in that sense we are able to detach from emotions like guilt. On the other side sometimes we do feel very guilty for what we are putting our characters through, and we have had times when we have had to step back and let the story sit for a few days while we considered a scene. Sandra and I KNOW that we have pushed a WHOLE LOT of boundaries in this story, and we hope our warnings and disclaimers have been as clear as possible, and there have been times when we have talked about the effects of something we have written in terms of success of the story, believability, and how it will affect things down the line, and we have absolutely scrapped scenes before because they were far too dark for where we have wanted to go. And yes, Sandra and I have legit cried writing this story even when we are the ones writing it. I myself wrote the Christmas scene and cried so hard, while writing it, that my face hurt for three days.

In terms of regrets, never. This story has given us FRIENDS. Our writers are our friends. And we have discovered so much of ourselves in this story. This story has given us a safe place to hide when life got us down, or when we needed to bleed off our emotions in a healthy way, and honestly, I hope it carries out for a long time to come. Even if only one person reads it to the end, it will be worth everything to us!

When this story concludes we ARE writing a Part 2 and a Part 3, and under Our Yesterdays and Our Tomorrows you will find spin-off scenarios for the Kidnapped-verse that did not and will not fit in the actual story itself.

Sven is only attached to property. While he has no emotional attachment to Jimin and Tae, they are very much HIS property, bought and paid for, and nicely broken in (or so he thinks) and so them being sold is completely out of the question. In Svens mind they will belong to him until they die and are thrown into a lavish vault where their bodies will remain. Sven is completely unhinged and we will see more of that in fic 2.

Svens brother will join the story later but I think he will be the good guy in a sense. We will see.

Thanks so much for everything! Feel free to email us any time with questions! We love to answer them!

Dear Readers

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Dear Readers,

I took Sandra out for lunch today.

Not only did I feed her body sustenance, I gave a sacrifice to the evil fires of her mind.

I am forever sorry. It WILL hurt.

NEXT CHAPTER UP TONIGHT Y’ALL!!!

Kaelyn

Part Sixty-One

Chapter Summary

THIS IS ALL SANDRAS FAULT!!!!

Part Sixty-One

Jin was once again standing in front of Sven dressed in a black suit, velvet choker and shoes but this time there would be no rescue for him. Jimin stood behind the throne chair where his master sat, make-up heavy, weeping silent tears. Taehyung stood on his other side, his expression an emotionless mask.

The only person who could stop this nightmare from happening was hurt and unconscious from the branding he had taken in Jin’s stead the day before.

“You look beautiful, Kim Seokjin-ssi. Almost as beautiful as my jewel, but not as perfect as my dark angel.”

Sven held out his hands as both Jimin and Taehyung moved from behind the chair, placing their hands in the Russian’s. When the man saw the tears sliding down Jimin’s face, he admonished the young man.

“No crying, my jewel. I promise that Kim Seokjin-ssi will be returned unharmed. Now dry your tears, they annoy me.”

Sven words were cold by the end as he handed a silk handkerchief to Jimin.

Standing, the Russian pulled Taehyung with him instead as he made his way to where Jin was standing. Sven nodded approvingly at what his stylists had done with the eldest member of BTS. If his eye had not already been caught by his jewel, and his interests held by the cat and mouse games of his dark angel, he would be very tempted by this young man. He could even understand why Mathan had been willing to brand himself instead of allowing this beautiful man to suffer that kind of pain.

“Your orders are simple, Kim Seokjin-ssi. My guard will escort you to the doctor and you will provide him entertaining companionship. If you fail to submit, or I hear any complaints about you, your precious maknae will be the one who feels the cane. Do you understand?”

Jin couldn’t have answered even if he tried. His throat was closing up with suppressed screams, and so he could only nod his head. He gazed at his brothers as he tried to give them a reassuring smile, flinching only a little when the large guard took him by the arm. His eyes locked with Jimin’s and the pain he saw in those eyes nearly shattered his composure.

Jin closed his eyes at the last sight of Sven pulling Jimin behind him like a wayward child with Taehyung held snugly in the Russian’s one-armed embrace.

Once out in the hallway Sven and Taehyung went in one direction while Jin was pulled in another; Jimin being escorted in yet a third direction by Gregor. The guard took Jin past several corridors before finally stopping in front of one of the many steel doors that filled the building. The door was opened quickly after the guard’s hard knock, the same doctor appearing as the one who had so disgustingly treated both Taehyung and Jungkook.

Jins skin crawled as the smaller man looked him up and down and he fought hard as he resisted the urge to run. His mind kept re-playing the memory of Namjoons caning except now it was Jungkook in his place. But his one thought as he stepped across the threshold of the doctor’s room was, ‘Please forgive me Mathan for all the pain I have brought to you by my weakness’.

Inside the room Jin gave a small bow to the doctor and tried to turn his mind off and let himself move and act on auto-pilot.

“You really are quite beautiful, young man.” The doctor said as he reached up and pulled the jacket Jin was wearing off. “I was hoping to make our time together a little more romantic, but you look so perfect, just the way I have been picturing you here.”

Jin was frozen, statuesque as he tried not to choke on the bile in his throat. While he did not understand all the words the doctor was saying he understood the vile looks and soft touches. He almost lost it when he noticed the bulge in the doctor’s pants and allowed his eyes to close, a single tear sliding down his face for the sacrifices he was about to make. He had never in a million years imagined it would come to this.

Turning on auto pilot Jin allowed the doctor to lead him to the table adorned with candlelight and roses, two sets of fine china placed directly across from one another.

“I hope steak will suffice?” The doctor said, pulling out Jin’s chair and assisting him in being seated. “I have ordered only the finest for you, my Sweet.”

Jin forced a polite smile and a nod as he slowly died inside. He prayed to whatever God was left that a wine and dine is all that this would be.

“So…steak…good….” He forced from a dry throat. Was there something, anything, a plea, begging on his knees, that would get this monster to send him away, return him to his brothers.

“Please…” Jin softly begged as tears filled and fell from his eyes.

The doctor looked at him with mock pity and it made Jin’s stomach curl. He could smell the man’s breath even at this distance, sickly sweet…perverse.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said in his frail tone. “I won’t hurt you.”

Jin didn’t quite know what that meant but he clung to the last bit of hope he had as the food came.

Spread before him was one of the richest meals he had ever seen and honestly, he didn’t think he would be able to stomach it. Filet mignon, baked potato, a lush salad and wine were placed in front of him. It added to his unease.

“I promise no food has been tampered with, my Sweet,” the doctor said with a greedy smile.

Jin just looked at the food and nodded before attempting a bite and immediately regretting it as he felt his stomach threaten to revolt. The doctor on the other hand ate the food well, placing his utensils and napkin on his plate when he was done.

“Was the food not to your liking?” he asked in what sounded like genuine concern.

“Not…feel…well,” Jin said softly, hoping that would deter the doctor.

All it did was cause a greedy gleam in the doctor’s eye.

“Oh no, my Sweet,” he gasped. “Come lay on the bed and let me look you over. We cannot have you unwell!”

The doctor stood from his seat and crossed the room to his little black bag, pulling out gloves and a few small tools before crossing back, encouraging Jin to once again rise and cross to the bed.

Feeling his soul die, Jin automatically rose and did as he was instructed, the fragile image of his maknae burning in his mind. Once at the bed he allowed himself to be pushed down and closed his eyes as the doctor began to work him over, taking his temperature and feeling his pulse before he felt gloved hands start to undo the buttons on his shirt, slipping in and sliding down, one glove disappearing and then another until it was just cold, clammy hands all over his torso.

“Please…” he whispered again, his voice broken as the tears fell once more.

“I won’t hurt you,” the man said, pushing Jin back to lay on the bed, knowing the boy would be powerless to stop him.

In his mind Jin screamed for Mathan; for his dark angel to bust in and save him, but as the doctor worked his way down, removing Jin’s shoes and undoing his pants, he knew, as he now knew his brother had known, that all he could expect, was pain.

Jin tried so hard to shut his mind off, to let himself drift to a place where he was safe. He wanted to cry out for Mathan, for Namjoon, for PD-nim; anyone at all to stop this as hands guided him to roll over on his stomach and a weight settled itself on his body. But there was no rescue and as pain raced through his lower half a darkness took hold in his soul as he muffled his cries in a pillow consuming the light within.

“Of course, you can be calm…you have Mathan Foley to protect you. Tell me, Jin hyung…in all the time we have been in this hell…what is the worst thing that has happened to you?”

The words that Min Yoongi had said all those weeks ago flashed through Seokjins mind as he clutched his head, praying for the pain to leave him or death to take him. He would never utter a word of the horrors he had now endured, and he would never blame Mathan Foley for failing to protect him.

When the nightmare was finally over after what seemed like hours, and Jin was allowed to move, it took everything in him not to scream as fire split his body in half. It was nothing like he had imagined, but he knew it was nothing compared to the horror that his brother had suffered. As words of vile and tainted praise fell from the doctor’s mouth, Jin screamed in his own mind to still the monster’s tongue. He wasn’t sure he would be able to remain quiet when all he wanted was to turn and inflict as much violence on the old man as humanly possible. He wanted to rage, scream, and pound his fists into the soft round body until all there was of a human being was a bloody pulp. Kim Seokjin had never felt this kind of hatred before and the growing darkness in his soul spread a little further.

Slowly pulling on his pants and wincing in pain as they brushed against his most tender injuries Jin almost vomited while the man still in the bed cooed to him about how wonderful and romantic it had been.

“I think I will send for you again, my Sweet,” the doctor purred as the guard met Jin at the door to escort him back to his cell. “Now that I know what it is to feel alive…I think I will keep you always.”

As the guard walked him back to the room Jin did his best to smooth his clothes and make himself look as he had when he left his dongsaengs. He knew there would be questions. Questions that right then he couldn’t think to answer and didn’t want to, not even to himself.

He didn’t realize that he had suddenly stopped until the guard with him pushed him against the wall, whispering, “Now that you have been broken in, sweet thing, I am hoping that Master Sven will let me have a taste. I can give you a much better fuck than that old pervert.”

It was only when the guard yanked Jin’s arm behind his back and brought their bodies flush together that Jin realized he had swung his fist at the man. The guard tangled his fingers in the Korean man’s hair kissing Jin violently, only stopping when Jin bit down on the mans lower lip causing the guard to bleed. Releasing his hold and pushing Jin ahead of him, the guard laughed as he licked his bloody lip.

“I like it when they bite, sweet thing. Just remember…I like to bite back.”

Stopping at the steel door Jin tried to take a moment to steady himself so he could face his brothers and lie. He gave a small prayer of thanks when after walking into the room he saw that only Namjoon and Yoongi were awake and waiting for him. They both rushed to him and it took every ounce of strength that Jin had to lock his body and not flinch away from them.

“I’m fine, guys…really. It was the old doctor and all he wanted was to eat and talk. He spent all this time telling me about his practice and all the wealthy people he has been called to help.” Each lie threatened to choke Jin, but he forced himself to go on. “He fed me this over the top rich meal and droned on so much that I nearly fell asleep a couple of times.”

Never had Jin been happier about the dimness of the room as he was sure he had been unable to hide all the signs of what the doctor had done; and now the guard as well. All he wanted was to curl up and try to pretend that this nightmare had never happened. Smiling at Namjoon and Yoongi, Jin grabbed a shirt and sweats and went to the bathroom to change. He made sure to neatly fold the clothes that Sven had put him in when all he wanted was to rip them to shreds and burn them. Coming out of the bathroom he acted like a mother hen as he shooed the others to bed, he himself crawling into one of the empty ones, wrapping the blankets tight around his body.

Jin did not allow himself to sleep however as he knew the monsters waiting for him there. When the morning came he told the others the same lies he had told Namjoon and Yoongi the night before. Jin complained that eating the rich food had upset his stomach and he was going to skip their time in the workout room to lay down. He finally managed to make it to the bathroom alone after they left, and he stood under the scalding water scrubbing the flesh from his bones as every word the doctor had said replayed in his mind; leaving scratches and bruises and cuts all over his otherwise unmarred flesh. The injuries in his mind were now reflected on his skin as he did all the damage he had so desperately wished the doctor would have done.

When the last of the blood washed down the drain Jin stepped out and wrapped himself in a towel before dressing and painfully making his way back to his bed. Collapsing into the sheets, his eyes closed as the nightmares of the last forty-eight hours finally won out. When his brothers arrived back a couple of hours later they were frozen in place by the screams of their hyung as he begged an unseen enemy to leave him alone and let him die. He would later share with Min Yoongi that the doctor had been far too gentle, and had damaged him not with physical blows, but with the whispers of sweet nothings… The compliments of how beautiful Jin was…how tender it had been…how beautiful the moment was. It made Jin sick, and in his mind, he did almost hold Mathan to blame for all the mistakes the man had made in trying to keep Jin safe.

Namjoon kept the others back as Yoongi walked over to where Jin was thrashing on the bed. As Yoongi got close he felt as if his heart was shattering. The skin that he could see was now covered by bruises and nail marks that had clearly not been there when they left Jin to go exercise; marks that were most definitely self-inflicted.

‘Please God, not Jin!’ Yoongi wailed internally. ‘I would suffer what those animals did to me a thousand times over, but please not my Seokjin-hyung-nim.’

Yoongi could not stop the silent scream from showing on his face as he bent over, tears streaming down his face.

The others reeled in horror as they realized what their eldest had gone through by the look on the rapper’s face.

Yoongi moved to the bed with Jin and pulled the wailing man into his arms as he cried out, “Please don’t let him hurt me again…please, Mathan-ah…please…”

When Hoseok hobbled forward to embrace Jin as well Yoongi shook his head violently at the other.

Tears fell from all their eyes as Jin sank further into Yoongi’s arms crying.

“I’m sorry, Yoon-ah. I couldn’t fight back either...please don’t hate me...please.”

“Shhh, Jin hyung… Saranghae…always…sarangheyo.”

Yoongi looked over to see Namjoon collapsed on the floor with Hoseok holding him as Jungkook tried to hide his emotions, sorrow, rage and tears burning his face from his position by the door. The nightmare they were living in had now consumed the most innocent of them and it was a wound that none of them would recover from.

Part Sixty-Two

Part Sixty-Two

Mathan lay on his cot forcing himself to take another pain pill. He had already suffered through Sven’s doctor checking him out and giving him the salves and antibiotics he would need to treat the deep burn he now sported on his chest just above his barely beating heart. He could feel the burn all the way to his spine and he worried how far back this would push the escape plan.

He was also bothered by Sven and the doctor’s visit more than he wanted to admit. Sven had just stood by the door smiling at him, Jimin not with him this time; the sadistic fuck of a doctor ‘tsk’ing at him the entire time he examined Mathan. But it was the smile the doctor sent him as he bowed and said ‘thank you’ that caused every danger instinct in him to flare to life.

His uncle Carl walking in a few hours after that wasn’t making him feel any better either.

“I have to congratulate you on remaining so calm all things considered,” Carl said, a smug smirk gracing his features.

Trying to shut out the man by laying an arm over his eyes Mathan pretended that he hadn’t heard Carl speak.

Carl went on knowing that the pain he was about to inflict was as bad as the burn that Mathan now wore.

“Yea… The doctor wouldn’t shut up about his evening with the beautiful Jin. It was sickening the way that little toad was going on about how wonderful a lover Jin was; what a gorgeous body he had; and how romantic their time together had been.”

Mathan went cold at Carl’s first words and by the time the man finished speaking he was arctic. His mind flashed on the doctor’s smile and last words to him. There was no more thought after that.

He was off the cot and Carl was flat on the floor in a matter of seconds.

With his breath wheezing out of his burning chest Mathan was at the steel door of BTS’ cell in less than a minute. Pushing the door open, he walked in, eyes locking in on Jin crying in Yoongi’s arms, then Namjoon on the floor weeping as Hoseok held him and finally Jungkook sitting in the corner alone, Kim Taehyung nowhere to be seen.

“What the hell happened to Seokjin?” Mathan asked, his voice coming out in a low and deadly growl.

He watched as Jin flinched violently, curling in on himself within Yoongi’s arms.

The look that Yoongi sent him was hard and savage as he answered, destroying the last bit of humanity that Mathan Foley had in his black soul.

“What the fuck do you think happened to him? He and I are now in the same club. We’ve been fucked by monsters.”

Mathan took an involuntary step towards Jin, a hand reaching out only to freeze when the young man reared off the bed and threw himself into the far corner of the room. Jin wrapped his arms around his knees and hid his face, rocking back and forth, Yoongi moving to shield him with his own body and a blanket he had grabbed.

His heart dead in his chest, Mathan turned and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Less than a minute later through steel and concrete all one could hear was the roar of rage and pain that echoed throughout the compound.

Even though the five young men inside the prison had heard Mathans screams of pain they had not seen him fall unconscious as his brain shut down to help him cope. Instead the three younger members had sprung in to action, each of them assuming a post as Yoongi slowly turned and approached his hyung-nim, crouching carefully in front of him and extending the blanket in his hands before him.

“Seokjin-hyung,” he said softly. “He’s gone now. It’s okay.”

“I can’t let Mathan touch me now….I’m tainted….” Seokjin whispered tearfully to himself as he rocked back and forth.

Yoongis heart broke once more as his eyes raked over the shaking form of his brother and for once he was at a complete loss as to what to do. Seokjin had taken care of his dongsaengs since before debut, frequently sneaking out of the dorms and to his parents home to retrieve everything from cooking utensils to clothing to food just to ensure his new family didn’t go without. Now the torch had been passed to them to take care of their hyung in his greatest time of need.

“Tea’s ready,” Namjoon said softly, having carefully made a lavender and chamomile tea to help Seokjin relax.

Yoongi gave his brother a small smile before turning back to Jin, cautiously wrapping him in the blanket like a wounded animal and helping him stand, leading him to the bed farthest from the door and sitting him down, slowly turning and taking the cup from his dongsaeng before turning back to the man before him and offering him a drink.

Once Jin had consumed all of the tea that had been provided Yoongi crawled in to bed with him and slowly sang him to sleep, praying for once that no ones dreams would turn into the nightmares they now survived.

Sven circled Taehyung like a wolf waiting for a wounded animal to give up the fight. The Korean man had not spoken a word since Sven had returned to his room. Sven had deliberately left Taehyung alone in his spacious quarters all night after Mathan’s branding while he made arrangements with the doctor for his evening with Seokjin and had stayed away until now.

He was now ready to completely break his dark angel.

Standing directly behind Taehyung, Sven leaned in to whisper softly in his ear.

“They will never forgive you for this betrayal, Kim Taehyung-ssi. Your brothers will look at you now and see the death of their foolish dreams of escape. You, my angel, have given them totally over to me, and they will hate you for it.”

Taehyung whirled around to face Sven.

“I did it for them! To make them see the truth about Mathan and his lies! They will understand now…” Taehyung’s voice trailed off as Sven burst into laughter.

“What lies, Kim Taehyung-ssi? Mathan would have followed through with whatever plans he had hatched out for you and your members.” Sven said coldly. “Mathan Foley is many things, but he has always been a man of his word, the honorable fool! If he told you he would move the heavens to free BTS, then that is exactly what he would have done. Even I must admit that Mathan has great skill and no doubt friends on the outside that would have helped him in your escape.”

Sven moved away from Taehyung, taking a seat in his throne-like chair and lighting a thin cigar.

“Thanks to you Mathan now lies injured, perhaps dying. And whatever plans the eight of you had will never come to pass. Kim Seokjin has played the whore for Dr. Hans, and I am still deciding on how to punish Jimin. I am sure this would all have happened anyway, but it was your quick betrayal that made it happen now.”

Taehyung collapsed to his knees as Sven’s words drove into him like a thousand knives. He had been so sure that he could keep his family safe by playing Sven’s games and showing them that Mathan’s promises of freedom couldn’t be trusted. Now he could see the fatal flaw with his thinking. He had never been in control of the cat and mouse game with Sven. The Russian had always been several steps ahead of him, leading Taehyung in the direction Sven wanted him to go.

And now Taehyung had done the unforgivable.

Sven watched, his face an expressionless mask, as Taehyung came to the realization that he had betrayed his brothers for nothing. As tears began to fall from the kneeling man’s eyes the only thing that Sven felt was complete and utter satisfaction, not only at besting Mathan Foley, but for breaking this beautiful angel.

“I think Kim Taehyung-ssi, that it is time for you to return to your brothers. Only then can you see for yourself the full extent of the damage your betrayal has brought about.”

“Master…” Taehyung breathed, sensing for the first time the danger he was in.

Sven simply gave Taehyung a smirk, waving his hand at his guard as a signal the conversation was through.

Taehyung’s last sight of Sven as he was dragged from the room by Gregor was the man throwing his head back as he let loose cold, sadistic laughter.

“Hyung,” Hoseok said softly, sitting at the table and watching as Yoongi carefully crawled from the bed and came to join him. “What can we do?”

“Give him time, Hoseokah,” Yoongi said softly, turning around to make sure the others were asleep.

“What if we don’t have time Yoonah?” Namjoon asked, his expression somewhere between defeated and lost.

“We don’t have a choice Namjoon dongsaeng,” Yoongi said, his own expression burdened and sad. “Seokjin hyung-nim needs to heal and that will take time. Even if he does not emotionally heal before the time comes, we have to give his body a chance to try and recover from what he was forced to endure.”

“Are you recovered Yoongi-hyung?” a soft voice asked from the corner.

“Jungkookah,” Yoongi scolded, trying to keep the focus off of him. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Jungkook shook his head as he stood, quietly making his way to the table and joining his older brothers in their midnight conversation about the person they were trying to save.

“Can’t,” Jungkook said as he looked at his hands.

“Bad dreams?” Namjoon asked.

Kookie’s face went hard as he slowly shook his head.

“’Fraid of being stabbed in the back while I’m sleeping,” he said as he raised his eyes to look at the bed in the corner closest to the door.

The others turned their gaze to the bed where Kim Taehyung now slept, a heavy silence falling over the table as they all became lost in their own thoughts. They had not been able to look or speak to Taehyung when Gregor had brought him back to the room.

Namjoon had wrapped tight arms around Jungkook to keep the maknae from leaping forward and attacking. Yoongi had merely looked at Taehyung and then spit on the floor before returning to Jin’s bed. Hoseok starred at Taehyung as tears ran down his face then he too turned his back on the other.

“We can’t take him with us,” Namjoon said after some time. “We can’t trust him to not stab us in the back again.”

“Surely Sven was lying,” Jungkook said, his heart beating just a little faster at the thought of having to leave any of his family behind.

“Sven may manipulate the truth but…men like him do not lie,” Yoongi said. “You just have to watch them carefully and learn how to decipher their truths.”

“Hyung!” Jungkook hissed, refusing to believe the man before him.

“How do you know that?” Hoseok asked.

“Lee Soo Man,” Yoongi and Namjoon said at the same time.

“They are their own unique breed of evil,” Yoongi said.

“What…” Hoseok started, his gaze returning to the bed by the door. “He must have done something to him. Taehyungie…”

“Knew exactly what he was doing when he did it,” Namjoon said.

“I don’t think he did,” Jungkook said, shaking his head.

“What do you mean?” Namjoon asked.

“Tae--” Jungkook started. “That isn’t Kim Taehyung. At least…not our Kim Taehyung. I think…I think that monster stole him away from us. I think…he killed his soul.”

None of the members sitting at the table saw the shuddering form that signaled Kim Taehyung’s wakefulness and heartbreak as he listened to their words. He had betrayed his brothers for the first and last time and now, as his punishment, he would die in this prison hell alone.

Mathan opened his eyes to find that he was back in his room. The last thing he remembered was standing outside of Bangtans cell trying to find a way to release the pain building inside his body. It wasn’t the pain from the branding; it was the pain of knowing that his beautiful angel had been hurt in such a cruel act of violence and he had been unable to stop it. Even now he could feel the roar building back up in his chest as he remembered the devastated look in Jin’s eyes as well as the bruises and scratch marks marring his once unblemished skin. A great many people were going to die painfully for this, starting with the doctor and Sven…

He didn’t realize that he had been growling the doctor’s name until a soft voice next to his bed whispered.

“Sven has already had the doctor sent away, Mathan-ah.”

Mathan turned his head to see Jimin sitting by his bed holding a damp washcloth as tears streamed down his face.

The American hadn’t seen Jimin dressed so simply since Sven had arrived at the compound. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and one of Mathan’s sweatshirts, which swallowed him. Seeing the notice that Mathan was taking with his appearance Jimin felt the need to explain.

“Sven let me come here to take care of you, so I was allowed to dress myself. I hated the shirt, it was one of the silk ones that he makes me wear, so I took it off when I got here.” Jimin sniffed, using the extra length of Mathan’s shirt sleeve to wipe the tears from his face. “I put more salve on the burn because it was bleeding and used the silk shirt to clean you up… Your father said you collapsed outside.”

“What’s wrong with your face?” Mathan asked, speaking as softly as he could to conserve the air in his lungs.

“I…” Jimin started. “Should probably just…wash it off,” he tried.

“Who hit you?”

“I called him a…a bastard…Mathanah. After…after he…”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Mathan said softly.

“It’s true,” Jimin said as he hung his head. “He is a sshib-sekki. And…a gae-sae-kki. I hate him. I hope he dies.”

Mathan had never seen this hate-filled side of Jimin. It almost scared him as he wondered what had caused this sudden turn of events.

That’s when Jimin stood up suddenly and started to pace the small confines of Mathan’s room, looking impossibly small in his sweatshirt. He kept looking at Mathan as he paced, then seemed to steady himself enough to speak.

“Sven made Jin be with the doctor. He told Seokjin hyung-nim that if he didn’t do whatever the doctor wanted… Jungkook would be beaten with the cane.”

Biting his lip until it bled, Jimin tried to stop the tears, knowing how much Sven hated them. Jimin’s tears became anguished sobs as he saw Mathan’s shoulders heaving, silent screams contorting the man’s face.

Without thought Jimin scrambled onto the bed, into Mathan’s lap, and gently wrapped his arms around the larger man’s head, taking care to not put any weight or pressure on his injured chest.

Crushing Jimin in his arms, uncaring of the pain it brought to his wounds, Mathan buried his face in the Korean man’s chest and wailed like the wounded animal he had become.

Pushing his own sobs away Jimin began to sing a Korean lullaby that he remembered from his own childhood as he held the crying man, running his fingers through Mathan’s hair. When the cries lessened Jimin pulled back using the sleeve of the sweatshirt he was wearing to gently wipe away Mathan’s tears.

“I am so sorry Mathan-ah. This is my fault for not being good and taking care of Sven like I promised. Now Seokjin-hyungie has paid the price. I failed Taehyung and the others as well.”

Jimin hung his head as his own tears threatened to fall once more.

“I know he was trying to protect the others because of my weakness but…why would he turn on them like that?”

Looking at the broken young man in front of him Mathan didn’t think of his own physical pain as he sought to offer comfort. Framing Jimin’s face with his hands Mathan forced him to meet his eyes as he growled out.

“None of this shit is your fault Park Jimin…so get that thought out of your head right now. What happened to Seokjin is entirely my fault for letting Sven get into my head and push all the right buttons. That sin is on my soul and I will not let it darken yours.”

Mathan paused taking a slow breath, wincing as it pulled at the brand on his chest.

“You and your brothers are in a fucked up situation. One that would test even the strongest of people and god knows Sven loves his sick games. That was my failing…forgetting that… It is not a mistake I am going to make again. As for Taehyung…”

Mathan took a deep breath and tried not to pass out from the pain. It was too important that he make Jimin understand.

“All of you are in this trap and like a wounded animal you are going to react and fight to get free. A friend of mine told me once that a bear or a wolf will chew off its own paw to get free of a trap and humans are the most basic animal out there. In this place…this hell that all of you are in…don’t be surprised that your brothers act contrary to their nature. Peoples personalities change in times like these. Taehyung is the wolf with his paw caught in a trap and unfortunately his method of freeing himself is turning to Sven at the expense of his lover and his brothers. I am afraid of how the others will react to his betrayal of them. They are just as wounded and may strike out against the one who is not their true enemy.”

Having used the last of his breath and what little strength he had, Mathan collapsed backwards.

“You should get some rest, Mathan-hyung-nim,” Jimin said softly, moving off the bed and into the chair by Mathans side.

“Why are you here?” Mathan asked, turning his head to look at the boy beside him.

“I can…” Jimin said, hanging his head as rejection hit him once more.

“Please stay,” Mathan whispered, reaching out and taking Jimins hand in his own.

“Taehyungie is masters jewel now,” Jimin said, feeling suddenly safe and warm. “He…sent me to be with you…”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t obey him like I should and…because…he thinks that this will break me.”

Mathan laughed softly at that.

“Is my company really that deplorable?” he asked, looking this new angel in the eyes.

“Ani,” Jimin said with a soft shake of his head. “Your presence…”

“I’m not as scary as I look baby boy,” Mathan said with a rueful smile. “I only bite people when they piss me off.”

“I feel safe here. I’m wanted…here,” Jimin admitted, finally looking the man in the eyes. “It’s nice…here…”

Mathan let out a healthy laugh at that before groaning at the pain that it caused.

“We are in hell here, angel,” he said, looking back at the boy. “Nothing in this place is ‘nice’.”

“You’re nice,” Jimin said, his heart giving a strange tug as his eyes focused on Mathans bare chest.

It took Mathan a minute to trace Jimins line of sight, his eyes finally focusing on the nasty burn he now sported.

“It could be worse,” he said, misinterpreting the sadness in Jimins eyes.

“Hyung…” Jimin whispered, his free hand hovering above the burn.

“It doesn’t hurt so bad.”

“It does,” Jimin said, looking the man in the eyes.

“You?” Mathan asked.

“Mmm,” Jimin said as tears sprung into his eyes once more.

“What…does it mean?” Mathan asked.

Jimin carefully ghosted his fingers over the burn, his eyes closed in concentration as he tried to decipher the letters.

“Do-ro-oon,” he whispered when he eyes opened again. “It means…dirty or…unclean. Soiled…tarnished. It is not a good thing Mathan-ah.”

Jimin sounded so sad as he translated the saying to Mathan, his heart aching that their guardian angel had been so heinously marked. He could not even be thankful that Mathan had taken the branding instead. While Jin had done nothing to garner such a punishment, in his mind, Mathan had not either.

The air leaving Mathans lungs in a defeated sigh had Jimin redirecting his gaze.

“’S true,” he said as he kept his eyes on the wall in front of him.

“Mathan-ah,” Jimin scolded. “No one deserves this!”

“Better me than Seokjin, don’t you think?” Mathan asked, turning his head to look at the boy.

“No,” Jimin said, shaking his head once more. “Neither one of you are dirty in this way.”

Again Mathan couldn’t help but laugh.

“You don’t know me very well, Park Jimin,” Mathan said, sounding amused.

“I know your soul,” Jimin said. “It is gajang aleumdaun. The most beautiful.”

“How so?” Mathan asked, truly intrigued.

“It’s going to take us away from here,” Jimin said, sounding sure. “It will carry us until we are safe and sound.”

“How can you be so sure?” Mathan asked, pushing himself up so that he was level with the man he was speaking to.

“Because my master is afraid of you, and he won’t tell me why,” Jimin said.

“Because he knows I’ll kill him if he touches any more of you again,” Mathan said, slowly letting go of Jimins hand. “He knows he is already dead. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Why are you risking so much for us Mathan-ah?” Jimin asked, truly confused.

“Because you don’t deserve this. You shouldn’t be captive to monsters like us,” Mathan said, sadness threatening to overwhelm him.

“You’re not a monster, Mathan Foley,” Jimin said, leaning forward over the edge of the bed. “You are the most beautiful angel I have ever seen.”

The moment had come and gone before either could register what had happened. Jimin slowly leaned forward, his hand resting on Mathans face before leaning in closer, softly kissing the older mans lips, tears streaming down his cheeks as he pulled away, looking Mathan in the eyes before standing and retreating to the bathroom where he sank to his knees, his heart breaking in two as confusion overwhelmed him, mind, body, and soul.

Author Introductions: Kaelyn

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Author Introduction

Hi everyone! One-half of your friendly neighborhood authors here to give you a HIDEY-HO GOOD NEIGHBOR!

So far into the development of this amazing story Sandra and I thought perhaps we should give you an introduction to ourselves, even if it is a smidge bit late.

For those who do not yet know, my name is Kaelyn Grey (my pen name anyway)! I am a thirty-three (almost 34, eek!) year-old single mother of three, two boys ages 11 and 7, and one diva, age 10. When not devoting my life to Kidnapped, BTS, adulting, or my partner in crime Sandra, I am a full time, CPR-certified, EMD-certified, 911 dispatcher for my home town in rural south-eastern Kentucky.

I don’t really have any hobbies other than writing and daydreaming, and I am not ashamed to admit that I’ve let kidnapped take over much of my free time as I want it to be the most complete, well-researched, and accurate fiction that Sandra and I can write. I know that we go a long time in-between updates and I hope that in the future we can do better, but 2018 was such a hard year for the both of us, and we hope that our readers understand that more often than not, real world happens, and it sucks!

Please know that in the in-between Sandra and I are always researching and discussing ideas, so have no fears that this story will EVER die. Both of your authors have put hundreds of hours of research into this story to make places and people and translations correct, and building our OCs to be as lovable and relate-able as our other characters has definitely taken some time.

If you ever have any questions about Sandra or I directly please so not hesitate to ask! We LOVE interacting with our friends.

We are currently working on the next chapter now, and we are very excited for you to see what we have. In the mean time I am tirelessly creating a map of our boys escape route and I cannot wait to tell you all the secrets and goodies involved with that. I hope you will be surprised!

Thank you again for each and every one of you guys. Be it suggestions, corrections, or wonderful words of support you all mean the world to us and are truly the reason we keep going! I hope you all had a blessed holiday season and I wish for your new year to be filled only with joy.

All My Love,

Kaelyn Grey.

P.S. My better half says that she will work on her intro now, but as the responsible partner in crime she is busy adulting at the moment and can’t come out to play, lol!

SPIN-OFF ADVERTISEMENT

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Kaelyn here!!!

Everyone survive the new year?

Good.

So here is my shameless plug. In the in-betweens of updates sometimes I get bored and my muse sings me a song of something that fits in the Kidnapped-verse but not in the actual story itself. And I AM WEAK OK! SO!!! WEAK!!! So I write it. And I needed somewhere to post it and wondered if our readers knew about it. So here it is!

Our Yesterdays and Our Tomorrows: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15895194/chapters/37043019

A place filled with numerous stories that explain lots of different things that could have happened if things had gone one way or another. Here you will find more Kaelyn, Mathan, and Sven as well. And I hope our readers enjoy it.

Love you guys!

Make sure to check in periodically because I drop random bombs in that listing ALL THE TIME. And I am cleaning out my word docs now so more bombs will probably drop in the next several days!!!

Author Introduction-Sandra (aka LadyMidnight)

Chapter by LadyMidnight122

Author Introduction-Sandra (aka LadyMidnight)

Greetings All!!!

I am Sandra, one half of the Evil Authors responsible for ‘BTS Kidnapped!’ and I am here to take a moment of your time to introduce myself. So please forgive my ramblings….^___^

I am a 50y/o woman from the Bluegrass state, Kentucky. I sometimes hate telling my age but as our glorious leader Namjoon says, age is only a number. For many years I worked as a Library Assistant at the public library where I live but due to health issues, both my mother’s and my own I had to leave. I currently act as cook, housekeeper and caretaker for my niece, who is a special needs adult.

I have been dealing with Anxiety/Depression since the age of sixteen and it is a battle I fight every day. But in all honesty it is this fight that ultimately led to the birth of BTS Kidnapped and finding my best friend and partner in crime, Kaelyn. So for that I am thankful…..^___^

I have been a Kpop fan since 2004 after discovering a cable channel which showed MV’s from several Asian countries, mainly Japan, Korea, China and Thailand. At that time I was very much into Anime and Jpop but it was seeing the MV for Hug by Dong Bang Shin Ki (TVXQ) that changed everything. I will admit that I was more into the groups than the single singers and leaned more to the boybands….I blame TVXQ for that….LOL I was totally heartbroken the day that they broke apart and have never really recovered.

Today in 2019 my main stans are BTS (of course…LOL), VIXX (Hongbin is my bias), Monsta X , Cross Gene and GOT7.

BTS has been the light for me in some of my darkest times and writing this story has saved my life. It was only BTS, Kaelyn and this fic as well as the love and support that you, the readers have given me that helped me after losing my mother in May. THANK YOU ALL!!!

As I live a very boring life except for the world of Kidnapped I will not take any more of your time. But I promise that we are still working hard on this story and will not let it fade away or die…just yesterday Kaelyn and I sat in my living room plotting out more evil, angst and mayhem. *evil chuckle*

Thank You & Bless Be

Sandra

P.S.

Although it has since been deleted a comment showed up in my email inbox that I take great offence to. I will not repeat or share it but I will say this…I understand that there will be people out there who do not like this fic and may even hate it. That is their right, I am okay with that. But to personally insult or degrade the author IS NOT OKAY and I will throw hands over that!!! I will happily listen to any critique that someone has as long as it is given with an honest heart. But what I read from someone who hid themselves from view was cruel and malicious and I call that person COWARD!

Now I am off to write more evil and that *person* can kiss my lily white a$$!!

Part Sixty-Three

Chapter Summary

DISCLAIMER: TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!! Direct depictions of non-con/forced sexual acts. PLEASE!!! DO! NOT! READ! if this will harm or affect you! Once again we tried not to include much graphic detail because shock factor is NOT our thing and never will be, but please consider yourself warned.

Chapter Notes

T/N: KOREAN VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

* Nan gwaenchanh-a: ‘I’m fine.

* Wae: Why? (informal)

* Wae-yo: the formal version of ‘wae’. Usually used in moments of anger, confusion, and pure disbelief.

* Jebal hajima: (heavily imploring version) Please don’t.

* Aleumdaun haneul, na man barabwa: Look only at me, (my) beautiful sky.

A new day dawned, and with it, the tension running through the compound was close to the breaking point.

None of the members of BTS said a word as Gregor brought their breakfast supplies along with another guard and pulled Taehyung roughly from the cell. Only Hoseok had reacted to the look of terror that crossed Taehyung’s face but Namjoon held him back refusing to let his lover interfere. They all believed that whatever horror he was about to face was no less than what he deserved.

Once Gregor had his prey in the hallway, he decided a small detour was in order to ensure this vile thing before him broke completely. Kim Taehyung was the reason his masters perfect, perfect jewel, was hurting. And in Gregor’s mind, no one had the right to hurt the angel that was Park Jimin. No one except Master Sven, but soon even that would change. When the time was right, and the world around them burned, Gregor would take Jimin for his very own and show him what it really meant to be adored.

Taehyung immediately noticed that they were going a different direction than their prison cell and for a moment everything in him froze. He was not ‘stupid’ or ‘alien’ or ‘aloof’ as people thought him to be. He had seen the looks the Russian guard had given Jimin and for a moment he wondered just what the man before him would do to keep his brother for himself.

“Have you nothing to say, Kim Taehyung-ssi?” Gregor asked, contempt flowing from his tone like piercing daggers.

Taehyung could only shake his head, his mind wild with new nightmares he could face.

“Master did not say you must return to your room right away. And I know he will be missing his perfect jewel. You do not mind the stop on your way, yes?”

Taehyung was brought up short at what the Russian had said. Was he really going to get Jimin from where ever he was? Would Tae really be allowed to see him? What would they say to one another after everything that had happened? Would they even be able to say anything at all?

Before he knew it Taehyung was stopping in the hallway, watching an unremarkable door open, Park Jimin being lead out of the unidentified room by his masters female guard.

“Misha,” Gregor growled, his eyes narrowing as he considered the woman before him.

“Gregor,” Misha purred, a look of disgust marring her features as she considered Taehyung.

“Master Sven suggested I let his dark angel see his handy work before I take him back to be with the others,” Gregor said at the unasked question, the lie flowing smoothly from his tongue.

“I see,” Misha said slowly, considering the two before accepting her partners answer for what it was. “That must be why he has requested Mr. Park’s company so abruptly.”

Gregor looked at the boy in question, his heart tugging in his chest as he watched him wipe tears from his face as Jimin tried to control his breathing. It pained Gregor to see such a kind and loving soul suffering so needlessly.

“Perhaps he did not wish the two of them to meet,” Gregor agreed, noticing the look of betrayal on one member’s face being met by a look of pleading from the other.

“Perhaps he did not,” Misha said, a small smile gracing her features.

Gregor looked around for anyone else in the vicinity before pushing Taehyung forward towards his brother as he melted back against the wall.

“Go on, Master Jimin,” Misha said politely. “Do not be afraid to speak to Master Taehyung-ssi. Gregor and I will not inform our Master of this quick meeting. It would only make him unnecessarily upset with us…”

Jimin looked from Misha to Gregor and back again, convinced it was a trap but desperate to speak to Taehyung. So many questions filtered through his mind; thoughts of anarchy and betrayal…worries of where his brother had actually gone. The Kim Taehyung that Jimin knew…he was nowhere to be found in the man that stood before him now.

“Jimin-ah,” Taehyung whispered, his voice catching in his throat as new emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

“Taehyung-ssi,” Jimin said, his tone politely cold.

“Ji…” Taehyung felt his heart shatter once more as his last remaining hope for support treated him as coldly as those he was being forced to return to. “Please…”

Jimin let lose a cold, cruel laugh at that and for a moment Taehyung would have thought their master was in the hallway with them.

“Jimin-ah,” Taehyung tried again.

“Jimin-ssi,” the man before him corrected. “You and I are no longer friends.”

“Wha--?” Tae asked in confusion.

“You shall not address me so informally, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Jimin explained, his expression blank, but his eyes burning with a fury yet untold.

“Hyung…” Taehyung breathed, an invisible knife piercing his heart at the treatment he was receiving from his best friend of many years.

“I am not your brother,” Jimin spat. “And you are nothing to me. You will never be anything to me.”

“Jimin-ah…” Taehyung cried, tears falling from his eyes once more.

“You are a traitor, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Jimin said, unaffected by the tears falling down the other man’s cheeks. “Do not expect sympathy, or compassion, or even understanding from me, because I have none of that to offer a monster like you. You have betrayed your brothers…and to us, that has always been the greatest crime of all, has it not?”

“Jimin--” Taehyung tried.

“Mathan Foley is a good man, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Jimin said, his anger barely constrained. “He is willing to risk his life to save us, yet here you are, playing puppet whore to a demon, and for what? False promises you will be safe?”

Jimin couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of what his once brother had so mistakenly thought.

“Sven is a monster who enjoys playing with people’s lives. You were no more a match for him than I, Kim Taehyung-ssi. But he broke me by telling me the truth…that there was no hope of escape from him for any of us. All I could do to protect my family was to let him have me so that the rest of you would have some hope of getting out of this place. I traded this Hell for a gilded cage. That is my sin. With Mathan, all of you had a real chance of escaping the monsters…of going home to your families. And you destroyed that…for what? To be left to this hell to rot away? To be reduced to bones? Fed on by vermin? That is even less than you deserve. So if we never get out of here alive, I hope you know that you will be the only one to blame.”

Taehyung looked at the stoic man before him, his mind lost in confusion as he tried to process the words his brother had just said.

“Jimin-ah…”

The knife in Taehyung's chest twisted even more as new pain overtook him. He had been so sure that even if none of the others had believed in him or trusted him, Jimin would. Yet here the man stood before him condemning him to hell for doing the same things Jimin had done. Had failed to do. Had never been brave enough to attempt to begin with.

“Never speak to me again, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Jimin said. “Even if by some miracle we are freed, pretend you do not know me, and I will do the same for you. Do not speak my name as though we are close, and when judgement day comes, I will atone for my sins exactly as I committed them; because no matter what terrible things I have done, those things will never come close to what you have done. You have turned your back on your brothers… your lover…and I hope with everything in me the others turn their backs on you as well. I hope they make you bleed for your transgressions…that they make you wish for death but never grant it to you in turn. I hope you understand you are dead to us now, and that you will stay that way forever, because traitors like you have no place in any family of mine.”

Giving the man before him one last contemptuous look Jimin turned and joined his guard, following the woman down the hall, not once looking back to see Kim Taehyung fall to his knees in incurable pain and overwhelming despair.

Once Jimin was out of sight Gregor wrenched Taehyung from the floor, his grip on the younger man’s arm bruising as he let loose a cruel laugh of his own.

“How does it feel, Kim Taehyung-ssi, to know that you will die in this hell alone?” Gregor asked, his breath hot on Taehyung's neck. “Master Sven has no intention of taking a back-alley whore like you with him when he leaves this God-forsaken place. He already has his perfect jewel in Park Jimin. Whatever would he need with you?”

Taehyung had so many things he wanted to do…to say…to scream at the man before him and yet he knew, every word that had been said to him today was nothing but the truth. All he could do now was pray to the God that had abandoned him to get him out of this hell alive, or to let him die peacefully in his sleep. Maybe if he were lucky he would die valiantly making sure his broken family lived.

“Cat got your tongue now does it?” Gregor asked with humor in his tone as he pushed his charge towards the door that Jimin had come out of. “Master Sven thought you might enjoy a look at your handiwork. Maybe once you see the pain you have caused you will finally realize how little you mean to those around you.”

“Pain?” Taehyung asked, his mind flashing back to the very last time he had seen his brothers.

All of them had looked fine all things considered but…somewhere in the deepest, darkest parts of his subconscious he started to wonder if there were certain things he was missing.

When he felt a sharp push however, Taehyung came to and startled once more as a steel door slammed shut and he came face to face with another monster he had created; the one and only Mathan Foley.

Once Misha had seen Jimin safely to his quarters, ensuring he had everything that he would need, she made her way to her Masters quarters to report on the events of the day.

“Yes?” Sven inquired, not bothering to look up from his work as his personal guard entered.

“Master Jimin has been returned to his quarters, Sir,” Misha said in her usual clipped manner.

“Did he enjoy his time nursing Mr. Foley back to health?” Sven asked, an amused smirk gracing his features.

“I think so,” Misha answered levelly. “He most certainly enjoyed telling Master Taehyung-ssi to rot in hell…”

“What did you say?” Sven asked, looking at the guard before him with distrustful eyes.

“Master Taehyung-ssi and Master Jimin met in the hallway outside of Mr. Foley’s room,” Misha said simply. “Gregor said you had suggested letting your dark angel see the damage he has inflicted and was bringing him to see that troll as I was retrieving Master Jimin.”

“And they had only words?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes, my lord,” Misha said. “Master Jimin has certainly developed a wicked, wicked, tongue…”

Sven only nodded at the comment, his mind racing to think of all the chance encounters between his perfect jewel and the other members of BTS he may have missed.

“And where do you think Park Jimin-ssi got such a wicked way with words?’ Sven asked, sounding amused.

“I have no idea, Master Sven,” Misha said honestly.

“Bring me any footage you have of my sweet jewel meeting with the others,” the Russian man commanded. “I think it is time to see just how much Jimin-ssi has been allowed to play.”

With a smirk and a nod Misha saw her way from her Master's office, making her way to Sven's private control room where she had every intention of starting yet another game of punish or be punished.

“Ta…Taehyung…” Mathan said in surprise, sitting up as quickly as he could, pulling his cover over him as this new guest entered his room. “How…”

“Mathan,” Taehyung breathed as he pressed himself against the Americans door as firmly as he could.

“What…”

Mathan was having a hard time comprehending much of anything. First Jimin had been sent to tend to him and now, here stood Kim Taehyung. He was beginning to wonder just what sort of game Ivchenko was playing.

“Why are you here?’ Mathan asked, his tone cautious as he considered the man now standing in his room. “Who brought you here?”

“I…” Taehyung began, looking around the room for some kind of escape but obviously finding none. “Master…”

“Did Ivchenko send you here?” Mathan growled, the mind games already old in his own mind.

Taehyung could only nod as fear consumed him. His master had sent him to his doom and this is where his life would end; for surely Mathan Foley would exact his revenge for all of the supposed pain and suffering that Kim Taehyung had caused him.

“Are you hurt?” Mathan asked, his tone calm as his eyes searched the boy before him, trying to detect any signs of trauma he may have suffered. “Has anyone done anything to you?”

“Nan gwaenchanh-a,” Taehyung said with a shake of his head, hiding his face to keep Mathan from seeing him burning in shame.

“Taehyung,” Mathan said softly. “If someone has hurt you…if one of those monsters has done you wrong…you can tell me. You are safe here.”

Taehyung broke once more at that. Even after everything he had done, all of the pain he had inflicted on this man, for reasons Taehyung did not know, Mathan was still unyielding in his willingness to help anyone who asked for it.

“I’m so sorry,” Taehyung sobbed, falling to his knees where he stood, the guilt finally taking a toll on his sanity. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean it! I didn’t…I DIDN’T KNOW!!! I thought…”

All Tae could do was fall forward on his elbows, his head pressed to the floor in a formal bow as he prayed to the Gods to rescue him.

“Please help my brothers,” he begged, desperation setting in, causing his mind to race around him. “Promise me… you will take them away rom here and that…you will leave me behind to give them time to run. Promise me that you will leave me here…”

“Tae--” Mathan tried.

“I was foolish,” Taehyung continued, not giving Mathan a chance to talk. “Selfish even. Naive. I didn’t…”

Taehyung didn’t know what he was trying to say…what he wanted to accomplish in what little time he had with this man.

“Please save my brothers,” Taehyung said again, his tone switching from desperation to resignation.

He knew now that he would not escape this hell alive. He would die in the hands of the monsters he had created; cold, and alone.

“Taehyung…”

“I don’t…deserve to be forgiven but…”

Taehyung pushed himself up slowly so that he could look at the man before him. As his eyes searched every inch of Mathan, Taehyung could see the pain that Gregor had mentioned. Mathan was indeed injured.

“Maybe once you see the pain you have caused you will finally realize how little you mean to those around you.”

“WAE-YO!!!!!” Taehyung sobbed, folding in on himself once more. “Andwae!!!!”

Tears wracked Taehyung's body as his memory recalled watching this man jump in front of a white hot branding iron that had been meant for Kim Seokjin.

“Wae, Mathan-ah! WAE!” Taehyung despaired.

He could see now just how much Mathan meant to all of them; how sincere the American really was. His master had been right. Mathan Foley would have followed through with whatever plans he had made to see Bangtan Sonyeondan safe. He would have done everything in his power to see all seven of them delivered back where they belonged, alive and mostly well, all consequences to him be damned. But now…now Taehyung didn’t know what the man before him was planning to do.

“Please forgive me, Mathan-ssi!” Taehyung implored. “Please take my brothers away from this hell! Take my sweet, sweet Yoon-ah from this place. Rescue Jiminie from the monsters that hold him hostage within these walls. Leave me here to rot alone and…when I die…at least I will know that I have done one thing right. Let me serve as a distraction while you lead the others away from here. And when they are safe…my master can kill me with his bare hands. It will be everything I deserve, but not enough to see me out of hell for my sins.”

“Taehyung--ssi,” Mathan said, his tone harsh as he tried to bring the boy back to himself.

“My brothers will never forgive me,” Taehyung said softly. “And honestly I cannot blame them. I will never forgive myself either. I have condemned them all to die and…I have seen that you were punished unfairly as well…”

“I did this to myself,” Mathan growled, his hand coming up to cover the oozing wound on his chest.

“I gave it all away,” Taehyung said, delirium starting to take over. “Every plan…all our dreams…how we would escape…I told him everything he wanted to know…”

“He would have found out anyway,” Mathan said softly, trying to ease Taehyung's troubled mind the very best he could.

“They will not take me with them,” Taehyung said, pain flaring in his chest once more. “And…I do not think that you will bring me either…will you?”

The question in Taehyung's eyes weakened Mathan's soul. Such innocence stared back at him and yet, Mathan knew everything that Taehyung had done. He had seen how easily the boy had been swayed. Mathan knew all too well the games that Ivchenko played and yet he knew that at least two other people had never broken to his will. Was he really sure that he could trust Taehyung when the time came for them to run? How did he know that the boy would not betray them once and for all? How could he be sure he would not tell these monsters where to wait for them? He had, after all, done all of that just days before.

Equally as troubling was the fact that according to the other members, Taehyung was dead to them now. Mathan knew that his betrayal would cause serious issues when the time came for them to run. If he took Taehyung with him, he risked the chance of the others losing trust, and in the situation they were in, they would have to trust each-other absolutely. Even Mathan didn’t know if he could trust the boy enough to take him with them into freedom.

“I will do everything I can, Kim Taehyung,” Mathan said softly, his mind in shambles as he realized just how much he would have to take into consideration.

“Promise me,” Taehyung breathed as the door behind him opened and Gregor hauled him to his feet. “Promise you will do as I asked of you!”

Mathan said nothing more as he looked at this broken angel in the hands of his master’s death dealer. He honestly had no words that would be safe to say.

With a simple nod Mathan watched Taehyung be jerked from the room, his hand coming up to scrub his face as soon as his door slammed shut, one final monster left in the room as his mind began to cycle a million miles an hour.

What was he supposed to do? His sister had already warned him she was only coming if all seven of them were there, and based on past experiences he knew that it would be wise to do exactly as he was told. None of the monsters here had anything on the pain that would be inflicted if Kaelyn Grey was disobeyed. Mathan had seen it only once before in his entire life and he often woke to the nightmares that reminded him it was not something he ever wanted to see again.

“Mama,” he called out, begging for solace against the shadows of his mind. “What do I do, Mama?”

In times like these he wished his mother was still there. Even though he had been relatively young when she had passed, he had never once been misguided by her words.

“Be brave, my sweet boy,’ his mother had said to him, the life leaving her with every labored breath she took. “Have patience, and be kind. Love others without reserve and…focus first and foremost on the goodness of the heart. Everything else will fall in to place then…”

Mathan dug the heel of his palm into his eyes until he saw stars. He was conflicted in his heart and mind and yet, if he took to heart his mother’s dying words, he already knew what his answer would be. Each and every member here was valued beyond measure. Each of their souls had been weighed, and while they had all been found wanting, the value of their lives was immeasurable when it came to whether or not he could leave them behind. And even though the cons outweighed the pros, Mathan now knew without a doubt that Kim Taehyung was absolutely worth the risk.

Out of all the members it was clear to see that the sweet and innocent boy had by far suffered the most. From the outright rejection of his lover, to him constantly willing to forfeit his life for the lives of his brothers, Taehyung had faced more hardships and punishments than any of the rest of them put together, and sadly, most of them had been brought on him by himself. His unconditional love, his ability to love others more than himself, that was the kind of love Mathan’s mother had spoken of, and it deserved to be protected no matter the cost.

In the end Mathan knew he would have to take Taehyung with him because in the end he would not be responsible for the total loss of such a kindred soul. His mother in Heaven would never be able to watch over him again.

Still locked away in his compound office, Sven sat passively watching the files that Misha had sent him from his private control room. The meetings between his jewel and Kim Namjoon and Min Yoongi held little interest to him for the moment; he would deal with those later. The meeting with Jeon Jungkook however was very interesting. Although he had promised Mathan that the room where the meetings would take place would have no camera or microphones, Sven had been unwilling to completely trust his beautiful jewel. And now here was the proof that he had been right in his caution.

Turning to Misha, who had been waiting silently for his orders, he gave them.

“Bring Jeon Jungkook and Park Jimin to me. Have Carl waiting outside once they have been delivered.”

Misha bowed, allowing a cruel smile to curve her lips.

The female guard was gone less than five minutes before returning, dragging Jungkook behind her. With another bow she pushed the young man further into the room and departed, leaving Sven staring at Jungkook calmly as the other stared at Sven with a fearful look in his eyes.

“Do you know why I had you brought here Jeon Jungkook-ssi?” Sven asked, his tone that of polite, pleasant conversation.

Doing everything he could to push the fear down Jungkook sneered defiantly.

“To play more of your sick fucking games.”

Sven smiled gently at that response, confusing the young man standing in front of him.

“I thought perhaps we could chat about your meeting with my precious jewel.”

The Russian gave Jungkook a long once-over before halting his gaze at the Korean man’s wrist.

“What a lovely piece of jewelry you are wearing Jungkook-ssi. Wherever did you get it? I was under the impression that all of your things had been taken the day you were brought here.”

Without thought Jungkook covered the two bracelets with his hand protectively.

“It was a Christmas gift from Mathan. He thought that even in this Hell we should be afforded something.”

Like a cat sighting its prey Sven rose from his chair and circled Jungkook.

Jungkook froze, standing completely still, facing forward as fear began to claw through his body.

“But you wear two of them Jungkook-ssi…surely Mathan Foley isn’t showing favoritism by giving you more than one.”

As he spoke Sven moved to stand directly in front of Jungkook letting the barest hint of his rage show.

“Which one represents you, and which one represents my shining jewel, Jeon Jungkook-ssi?”

Unable to stop himself Jungkook backed away from Sven. He could feel the chill of cold rage rolling off the man in waves and his whole body tightened as fear flooded him. Knowing this monster and his games as he did, Jungkook could only imagine that his time of death had finally come; but he was confused as to what had set Sven off this time.

Giving Jungkook a smile that said he understood the others confusion, Sven walked to the desk and turned his laptop around so the screen could be seen.

Jungkook felt his breath catch in his throat as he gazed at the frozen screenshot of himself and Jimin. The moment paused on the screen was Jimin sitting in his lap with his hands framing his lover’s face as they kissed.

“How….how could…you have that?” The words tumbled from Jungkook’s lips as horror engulfed him. Jimin had told him that Mathan promised the meeting would be completely private with no eyes on them. “Mathan swore…”

The laugh that came from Sven was artic cold and without humor.

“I may have told Mathan Foley that the meetings wouldn’t be observed but I have been known to lie, Jeon Jungkook-ssi.”

Pushing play and turning the volume up Sven watched Jungkook as he watched the screen helplessly, tears welling in his eyes and slipping down his cheeks.

Jimin had been so sure that in that moment he and Kookie were safe. Jungkook had seen it in how his lover had held himself, let himself go, shown emotion, poured out his entire heart and soul. To have that so heinously taken from them now…Jungkook didn’t know what he could do to keep Jimin safe. Every private moment they had treasured had been recorded for the monster Jimin called master, and they were now being replayed as a precursor to pain; stolen away for the delight of others. All Kookie could do now was watch in heartache and in horror.

Jungkook heard the sound of disgust from the monster who held him captive as the Jimin on screen told Jungkook that he loved him with everything he had.

“I am always yours, Jungkook-ah. Body, mind, and soul. Nothing and no one will change that. Saranghae, Jagiyah… Sarangheyo.”

“I’m here, Jimin-ah,” Jungkook had softly said, kissing every inch of the boy that he could reach. “It’s alright,” he promised. “Jungkookie is here, Jagiyah. I will never leave…”

After the whole scene played out on the computer screen Sven stopped the recording, grinning at Jungkook like a cat that had caught a mouse.

The tears dried in Jungkook’s eyes as burning hot rage replaced the fear coursing through his body. Before he could think, or even question his actions, Jungkook was rushing at the Russian with every intention of ending his sick, evil life.

Sven laughed as he skillfully dodged Jungkook’s attack, throwing a punch to the young man’s gut before backhanding him hard across the face. As Jungkook recoiled from the attack, Sven yanked the two bracelets from Jungkook’s wrist wrenching his arm hard and throwing him to the floor.

“You stupid…stupid boy,” Sven snarled. “Did you really think there is anything that goes on in this compound that I do not know about? I own you, Jeon Jungkook-ssi. I own Park Jimin. I own Kim Taehyung. I own Kim Namjoon. I own Kim Seokjin. I own Min Yoongi. I own Jung Hoseok! There is nothing that happens to any of you now that I do not control.” Sven growled as he looked down at the winded Jungkook.

When he heard the door open however, Sven look up and smiled, Misha entering the room with the lovely as always Park Jimin.

Jimin’s gaze went from Jungkook lying on the floor, to Sven’s smiling face as panic enveloped him. He had known something bad was happening when Misha came for him and whispered that Master Sven was entertaining a special guest in his quarters. Jimin’s first thought had been Taehyung, but seeing Jungkook coughing and bleeding from a split lip on the floor was his worst nightmare come true. When his eyes found the two bracelets clutched in Sven’s hand, fear and desperation had him rushing to throw himself to his knees in front of the Russian.

“Master, please!” Jimin begged. “Chagiyah…Chagiyah meant no offence. Whatever it is that angered you, please don’t hurt him! I beg you…hurt…hurt me instead!”

Sven’s eyes went from Jungkook on the floor to Jimin on his knees before calmly turning around and sitting down in his chair. Dark fear kept Jimin on his knees as he moved to Sven who had smiled from his throne and beckoned Jimin to him like some sort of benevolent God. When he was close enough to his master, Sven grabbed Jimin by the throat, momentarily squeezing the breath from his body.

“Chagiyah…meant no offence, Park Jimin-ssi?” Sven whispered as terror filled Jimin.

“Misha, be a dear and pick up the trash and put it on the bed,” Sven said, not once breaking Jimin’s gaze or releasing his grip on the younger man’s throat.

Out of the corner of his eye Jimin saw Misha grab Jungkook by the hair and haul him to his feet. She then pushed him with enough force that he sprawled over the bed and bounced once before scrambling back to settle against the headboard.

“Please, Master…don’t. Punish me… I will accept whatever you want to do to me, just…don’t hurt Kookie-ah,” Jimin whimpered as he pleaded for mercy that deep down he knew would never be granted by this monster.

Pulling Jimin up by his throat, Sven leaned and whispered, “Not a sound, Park Jimin-ssi. Not a cry, scream, or word will pass your lips from this moment on. Your eyes will not close or I will have your precious Jungkook’s ripped from his head. You will do NOTHING to injure yourself in any way, or the punishment you have earned will be made far worse than you could ever imagine.”

With that Sven turned Jimin forcing him to sit in his lap, grabbing both of his hands and caging them in his own, using his posture to keep Jimin’s gaze on his lover before him. Sven then nodded at Misha who walked to the door, opening it to reveal Carl standing there.

Jimin’s soul screamed out silently in rage and pain at the smile on the man’s face.

Carl strolled into the room, his eyes instantly focusing on the form lying across the bed.

“Have I finally earned my reward, Sven?” he asked, sounding far too pleased to mean any good.

Sven chuckled as he replied, “As long as you don’t mind an audience, you may do what you want. Just don’t mark his face or hurt him too much, he is still my property to sell.”

Terrified at the sight of the man coming towards him, Jungkook tried to scramble even further back onto the bed, but found his ankles grabbed as Carl pulled him towards him.

“NNNNOOOOOOO…”Jungkook screamed as he tried to twist his body and claw at the bed.

“Oh no, pretty songbird…there is no flying away from me this time.” Carl laughed.

“Je…jebal,” Jungkook begged, tears coming to his eyes. “Jebal hajima…”

“It will only hurt a little, pretty songbird,” Carl purred, pulling Kookie to the end of the bed and holding him there, one hand wrapped around Jungkook’s lower legs as Carl’s other hand undid the fastenings of his belt, a hungry look in his eyes as he raked his gaze over Jungkook’s still fully clothed body.

“Please…” Jungkook whispered, his eyes closing against the horrors that faced him now.

“Open your eyes, Jeon Jungkook-ssi,” Sven commanded, releasing one of his hands from its grasp on Jimin’s to take his jewels face in hand, making sure he watched the scene before him.

Carl laughed at the command.

“I wanna hear my pretty songbird sing,” he said, his gaze making Jungkook’s skin crawl as he saw everything the monster before him meant.

“Do not hurt yourself containing your screams of rage, Jimin-ssi,” Sven growled into his ear as he felt Jimin trying to bite his cheek. “Remember what I told you would happen if you did.”

Jimin clenched his jaw in anger, tears of resentment threatening to spill across his cheeks.

“You are the only one to blame here, my jewel,” Sven purred as Carl went for Jungkook’s clothes, the nightmare they were in entering Act I. “You should have paid attention to me when I told you you were mine.”

“I am yours,” Jimin whispered, his entire body collapsing into Sven’s as much as it could considering his current situation. “I will always…be yours. Please…please just let him go…”

Sven chuckled softly as he motioned for Carl to continue, knowing that if he gave in now, his jewel would never truly be broken to his will. So many times before he had thought that Jimin had understood, but now that their meetings had come to light, it was painfully obvious that his naughty jewel was much better at these games than Sven had originally thought.

“Saranghae,” Jungkook whispered, his eyes meeting Jimin’s. “Sarangheyo, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin could barely nod his understanding and pain ripped his heart in two at the horrific site before him.

“Aleumdaun haneul, na man barabwa,” Jungkook breathed, tears rolling down his cheeks as the monster before him began his wicked games.

For what seemed like hours, but was really only several dozen minutes, Jungkook kept his gaze on Jimin, his mouth clamped shut as he tried to reassure his lover with his eyes that everything was going to be okay. No matter how much pain he was in, or how desperately he wanted to close his eyes (if only to make the nightmare go away), Jungkook knew that he could not. Kookie was so very afraid that such an action would cause his hyung to be punished even further, not only by his master, but more importantly, by himself.

“Sing for me, my pretty songbird,” Carl purred as he wrecked Jungkook’s body. “Tell me how fucking amazing this is.”

Locking eyes with Jimin once more, Jungkook prayed with everything he had. Jeon Jungkook knew that Park Jimin was hurting ten times more at being forced to watch such a heinous crime being committed, and in his heart he knew that he could never blame the man he so desperately loved for anything these monsters chose to do.

When the deed was finished, and Carl’s hunger had been satiated, he pulled his pants back up, throwing the change in his pocket onto the bed beside his unwilling lover.

“Payment for the pretty song, songbird…you sing it so well. I am looking forward to the next song I will teach you to sing for me.”

Carl swiftly departed the room then, his mind quickly filling with ideas of how to get an unlimited pass to the sweet piece of ass he had just been allowed to have.

As Carl went out, Misha came in, sharing unspoken words with her master before hauling Jungkook from the bed and shoving him into the attached bathroom, Kookie falling over himself and into the shower, barely catching himself before he went face first into the porcelain.

“Clean yourself up like the dirty little whore you are,” Misha spat as she opened the curtain and turned on the shower, scalding hot water burning Jungkook’s skin as his mouth opened in a silent scream.

“Maybe now you have been broken in, we see how you do with woman?” Misha said, a cruel smile on her face as she dared the boy with her eyes, turning and bowing to her master before slowly departing the room.

With a satisfied look in the broken man’s direction Sven pushed Jimin from his lap, standing and motioning for his chair to be collected.

“Let us not need another reminder of who you belong to, Park Jimin-ssi,” Sven said, his tone as cold as steel. “I trust you require no further evidence of just how I am allowed to treat my property.”

Jimin shook his head, silent tears streaming down his face as Sven gave him a look of disgust and quickly left the room.

Once everyone was gone, Jimin looked to the man before him, his eyes begging Jungkook for forgiveness and understanding.

Jeon Jungkook, however, was so lost to the pain he now felt with his entire body and soul, that his mind was nothing more than broken fragments. Laying under the scalding hot shower all the maknae could do was curl into a fetal position and cry.

As rage, and hatred, and grief, and betrayal filled Jimin, he fell to his knees and let out a scream so painful and so sorrowful that one would believe someone had just died.

From his sick bed Mathan jerked awake as the soulful scream reverberated through his room. The pain from his wounded chest was nothing compared to what he heard in the howl that he recognized as coming from Park Jimin. Tears filled his eyes as he wondered what new hell had been visited upon that innocent soul.

All around the compound Jimin’s screams of pain echoed, and in the room where Bangtan Sonyeondan sat, they came up off of their beds and looked around in fear, words unnecessary to tell them where their sweet maknae had gone.

Sven had gotten his claws into yet another brother, and just as it was with Jin, whatever had happened to Jeon Jungkook would be solely Taehyungs sin to bear.

Part Sixty-Four

Chapter Summary

A/N: Shout out to user EviRose who gave this story a shout-out in her story “My Darkest Dreams”. It is a very interesting story so if y’all have some time, definitely go and check it out! Thanks friend for the shout-out!!!!

Chapter Notes

Sorry this update has been such a long time coming! It was sitting in Sandra's inbox waiting for approval and then I (Kaelyn) had extensive dental work and LIFE MAN!!! Anyway...enjoy!

I am hoping that from here on out updates to this story will be a lot more timely! As always, thank you for staying with us!

Ignoring the pain in his chest Mathan climbed from his bed and slowly made his way towards Sven’s quarters. Hugging the wall in an effort to not collapse, he paused at the end of the corridor to catch his breath, the burn in his chest almost more than he could bare. All these months of being idle had made the former mercenary soft.

Coming back into his senses, Mathan peaked around the corner in time to see Misha drag Jungkook from Sven’s room, his stomach dropping at the surety of his knowledge that BTS' maknae was the root cause of Jimin’s soul-crushing scream.

Taking as deep a breath as he could, Mathan made his way to the door and entered Sven’s sacred domain where he found Jimin curled up on the floor in as tight a ball as humanly possible. Disregarding the pain he felt at the entirety of his situation, Mathan knelt on the ground, gathering Jimin in his arms as the smaller man continued to wail out his grief.

“What happened?” Mathan asked as he pushed Jimin back far enough to look into his face.

All Jimin did was shake his head as he cried out, “Sven… Kookie-chagiyah… CARL!!!,” before passing out cold in Mathan’s arms.

Mathan tried to lift Jimin into his arms to move him to the bed, but the pain in his chest overwhelmed him, and he collapsed back onto the floor still clutching the unconscious man.

“Need some help, nephew?” The taunting voice of Carl came from the open doorway.

Growling at Carl and himself for not having heard the door open, Mathan turned to face the other man.

“What the fuck happened here?” Mathan spat out.

The smile Carl gave Mathan made his blood run cold.

“I finally got to taste my songbird, and pretty boy there had to watch.”

Laying Jimin gently back down, Mathan surged to his feet to attack Carl as rage filled him, only to fall to his knees, pain blotting out his senses.

Panting and trying to draw breath into his burning chest, Mathan swore, “YOU FUCKING BASTARD….I WILL GUT YOU!”

Carl bent over laughing.

“You can’t do shit, dear nephew. Thanks to that branding you took for your little boyfriend, you couldn’t stop the doctor from taking that sweet piece of ass, and you couldn’t stop me from tasting BTS' pretty little maknae. Not so scary now, are you Mathan?”

Giving Mathan a taunting bow Carl left only to bump into another guard standing in the hallway.

Fighting the darkness that promised a reprieve from the burning pain, Mathan was dimly aware of someone passing him and picking Jimin up off the floor. He pushed the darkness away long enough to let the guard help him to his feet and guide him back to his room. As unconsciousness pulled Mathan away from the mental and physical pain, he thought he heard a voice that was distinctly British whisper, “You are one fucked-up bloke.”

Making himself comfortable in Dorian’s office, Sven closed his eyes smiling as Jimin’s wails penetrated the walls. His voice truly was beautiful in its anguish and it fed the blackness where Sven once had a soul. Such a potent brew was Jimin’s pain right now that he was sure he could become drunk from it. Add to that the pain of Jeon Jungkook and it was a feast for the senses. As Sven savored the outcome of his latest game he wondered how he should inform Mathan. Would it be more pleasing to tell him directly or would the troll’s pain be even greater if he heard it in the broken sobs of the lovely Kim Seokjin.

His musings were interrupted, however, by the entrance of Misha.

“Jeon Jungkook has been returned to the others,” she reported to Sven.

Leaning forward Sven braced his elbows on Dorian’s desk and folded his hands under his chin. He presented the very image of a kindly gentleman, if not for the cold hardness in his eyes that bore a hole into Misha.

“I trust, Misha, that the encounter earlier between Jimin and Taehyung will NEVER be repeated again. It serves my purposes that they do not share the same space or have any more contact with one another. You and Gregor are trusted members of this organization but never forget your place in my world.” Sven stood, straightening his silk suit and pulling at his sleeve cuffs as he walked around the desk. “I allow your little games because to some extent they amuse me, but if either of you go too far…the price you pay will be very high.”

Before Misha could react Sven backhanded her hard enough to send her crashing to the floor.

“Extend the warning to Gregor when next you see him,” Sven remarked calmly as he stepped over Misha’s body leaving the office.

Licking the blood from her lip Misha whispered to herself, “Someday brother… Someday you will scream for my mercy and I will bathe in your blood.”

Now tucked safely back into his smaller quarters next to Sven’s, Jimin fought for the unconsciousness he had gladly fallen in to that kept the pain at bay. He willed himself to stay in that blessed darkness where no thought or memory could cut his already ravaged soul. But the nightmare he lived in now had other plans and as his consciousness surfaced, memories flooded through Jimin’s mind, his senses going in to overload as images and sounds flashed rapidly through his brain.

Sven.

Jungkookie.

Carl.

Moaning as he flung himself off of his bed, Jimin rushed into the small bathroom, expelling the contents of his stomach until all he could do was dry heave. No matter how tightly he closed his eyes, images of Carl’s face as he brutalized Jimin’s beloved Jungkook flashed behind his eyelids. Digging his knuckles into his eyes did nothing to erase the images as they played over and over in his mind like a never ending horror movie.

Finally finding the will to open his eyes, Jimin glared at his reflection in the mirror. No matter what his sweet Kookie had whispered to him during the attack, Jimin knew this was his fault. The price of his sins paid by another for his weakness. Jimin had not been strong enough to protect his members from Sven’s games; had not been able to stop Namjoon’s caning…Mathan’s branding…Seokjin’s rape, or even Taehyung from becoming another of the Russian’s puppets.

As much as he wanted to hate Taehyung for giving himself to Sven, and allowing himself to be caught up in the man’s twisted games, Jimin hated himself more for lacking Taehyung’s courage in trying to do something… anything…to protect BTS as a whole. All he had been able to do was anger Sven at every turn, causing his brothers to bear the bitter fruit of Jimin’s weaknesses and cowardice in the given situation.

The sound of breaking glass pulled Jimin from his inner self-loathing to stare blankly at the remains of the once perfect mirror now lying in jagged shards in the sink. It took the blood running from his hand for Jimin to realize that he had smashed the mirror with his fist as he had battled the demons in his mind.

Staring down into the jagged pieces of mirror, seeing multiple fractured reflections of himself, Jimin finally understood that he would never be whole again and that there was no hope of ever escaping this Hell. All of them would live and die at the hands of the monster that was Sven. He truly did own all of them now, and from here on out, for forever more, they were at the nonexistent mercy of his whims.

“Aleumdaun haneul, na man barabwa…”

Jungkook’s whispered words burned through Jimin’s mind.

‘No, Kookie-chagiyah… I am no one’s ‘beautiful sky’,’ he thought as his hand reached into the sink, taking out the largest piece of broken glass and tilting the sharpest edge towards his throat.

A quick jab or hurried slash, and all this madness…all this pain he had endured…everything would end. Once he was gone he would no longer be able to bring punishment and pain to the family he held so dear.

Jimin let out a gasp as his wrist was captured in a tight grip, the hand squeezing until he was forced to release his unintentionally fashioned weapon.

“That, my lad, would be a foolish thing to do. I, for one, hate having to clean up blood. I have a bit of a queasy stomach and I tend to faint at those things. Plus I am sure that the others would be devastated by the news of your untimely demise.”

Gaping at the unfamiliar man with a British accent holding his wrist, Jimin’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to comprehend what was being said to him. This person wasn’t one of Sven’s people and Jimin couldn’t recall ever seeing this man in all the months he had been here. Was he a new devil from hell sent to torment Jimin by keeping him from escaping this place the only way left to him?

No!

He refused to be denied this chance.

In a flash his other wrist was snagged as it reached towards the sink and Jimin was pulled from the bathroom.

The man forced Jimin to sit on the bed and when he didn’t move, the man stepped back into the bathroom, returning quickly with a first aid kit. Jimin sat quietly as the man tended the wounds to his hand, neither looking at, nor speaking to, this new tormentor.

“That was a bloody stupid thing to even think about doing, boyo.” The man growled into Jimin’s face. “You have six others depending on you to stay alive and I’ll be damned if I lose anyone else to these bastards!”

The man walked back to the bathroom and Jimin could hear the sounds of glass being thrown into a waste basket. He watched as the man washed up the blood in the sink, tossing the bloody towels in with the broken mirror. Jimin didn’t move as the man stopped in front of him, his thoughts spiraling downward into an abyss of pain, and what he hoped was madness. It was the only way to explain the thoughts his fractured mind had begun to entertain.

“I know you don’t understand what I am saying, boyo, but hold on. Hold on to whatever pieces of yourself you can, and believe that this nightmare will end, for you and your friends. Gather the parts of yourself that these animals haven’t touch, and hide them away. Survive no matter what you have to do, and deal with the ugly shite after you are out of here.”

Jimin frowned in confusion when the man laid a gentle hand on the top of his head, rubbing it much like his father had done in days past. He continued to frown as the man turned, leaving the room carrying the waste basket with him.

Jimin had understood some of what the man had said, more importantly the words of encouragement and endurance. Closing his eyes Jimin took a deep breath, clearing away all thoughts from his mind.

With each breath he took Jimin gathered all the memories of the past months, good and evil, and packed them away in the deepest recesses of his brain. If there was any hope or chance of escaping from this Hell, then Jimin would have to do the one thing he had been resisting since the moment he had looked up from the ground to see Sven standing over him offering a hand. He had tried, and failed, to fake his way with the Russian so many times before, but this time he would succeed. This time he would become what Sven wanted….his infallibly perfect jewel.

Jimin knew in the forefront of his mind that this was the only way his fractured family would make it out of here alive. If Kim Taehyung and Mathan Foley really were doing everything they could to ensure the escape of Bangtan Sonyeondan, then Park Jimin would buckle down and do the very best he could to help those plans succeed.

As Jimin’s screams continued to echo through the compound, the remaining prisoners of Bangtan Sonyeondan turned in cold fury to look at the traitor in their midst.

Earlier that same day Kim Taehyung had been pulled from the room by Ivchenko's guard dog Gregor, and had not been returned to them until just after Jeon Jungkook had been removed by Ivchenko's female guard. Less than an hour after that, the most haunting sound of Jimin's screams had penetrated their concrete fortress, and so the group was quick to assume that Kim Taehyung had been the only person to blame.

“What the fuck did you do to Jiminie?” Yoongi growled as he took a menacing step towards his former lover, one hand raised in the air as if to strike the boy before him.

“N-nothing!” Taehyung said as he filled with panic, scrambling away from his hyung, falling off of the bed, and crawling backwards ‘til his back met the cold, concrete wall.

“Where is Jungkookie?” Namjoon purred, his eyes dangerous and dark as he considered his dongsaeng.

“I--”

Taehyung looked around the room in fear, unsure of how to answer the questions he really did not have the answers to.

“What did you tell your ‘Master’, Taehyung-ah?” Yoongi asked, his voice sickly sweet.

“I…I didn’t!” Taehyung stuttered, tears coming to his eyes as he felt fear seize his heart. “I…”

Taehyung looked around for a savior as he tried to think of what to say.

“Jiminie…”

“Don’t you dare call him so fondly,” Yoongi hissed. “You’ve betrayed us all to be some devils whore.”

“Hyung…” Taehyung breathed, flinching in horror when Yoongi spat at him, the elder giving his dongsaeng a contemptuous glare before pulling away at the sound of the door.

“Guess your Master wants his little bitch again,” Yoongi laughed, a painful smirk marring his features. “We wouldn’t want to keep you from getting your bone now would we? I hope Ivchenko gives you a nice one…”

Not knowing which danger he should choose, Taehyung scrambled from the floor, tripping over himself as he made his way to his masters dog. Surely Sven did not mean to leave him here. Surely now that he was done with whatever pain he had been serving he would take Taehyung and keep him there, somewhere safe, away from the others, where he could die in hell alone.

When he reached the guard however, he could see that something was terribly wrong. This wasn’t an angel of salvation; it was a dealer of death, and the Grim Reaper had finally pulled Taehyung's card.

“Does…did…” Taehyung tried, stumbling over his words as a new level of fear consumed him.

Gregor just laughed, an evil gleam in his eye as he considered all the ways in which he would make Kim Taehyung pay for causing Park Jimin even more pain.

Sven was away, tired of the games he had played, and that left Gregor free to deal with his masters pets any way he saw fit.

Taehyung looked back to the others, a desperation in his eyes as he looked from one brother to another, stone statues staring back at him as he made a silent plea to those who stood before him.

”Hyung,” Taehyung breathed, his eyes begging Jung Hoseok for help. “Please…”

“Master Sven is tired of your games, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Gregor spat, malice and poisoned contempt in his tone. “You know better than most not to make him wait.”

“Please…” Taehyung whispered, tears coming to his eyes as he turned to his brothers once more. “Do not let him take me…”

Gregor snorted and jerked Taehyung hard, causing the boy to stumble into him as he momentarily lost his balance.

“Hoseok-ah!” Taehyung cried, now forcefully struggling against the pull of the monster who had him in his hands. “Hyung! Save me! Please! Please don’t let him do this! I won’t…”

“Shut it,” Gregor growled, already tired of this boys incessant whining. “I have orders to bring you to your new rooms and I know better than to disobey…”

With that Gregor grabbed Taehyung by the arm once more, pulling him with all of his might and slamming the steel door to BTS' prison cell closed, separating Kim Taehyung from any chance he may have had at being saved.

Taehyung didn’t know what to say as his master’s death dealer drug him down the hall in a totally different direction than he had ever been before.

“Where…” he breathed, unable to finish the sentence as he was shoved down another hallway, this one more narrow and dim than he had seen in all his time here.

“Your questions annoy me, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Gregor said gruffly, leading the small boy to a room at the very end of the hallway.

When the door was opened and the light was turned on, Taehyung gasped in horror at what he saw before him. His Masters most loyal guard had led Taehyung to a bedroom that he could only assume was his own.

“Ma-“ Taehyung began, spinning around in fear as his mind tunneled towards the worst possible conclusions.

“It isn’t your ass I want, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Gregor said as he silently shut the door and locked it from inside. “Insolent children like you are not my type. I thought instead that you and I could have a little chat about all the pain you have caused Masters perfect jewel.”

“Jiminie?” Taehyung asked, once more confused.

In his confusion he did not have time to brace for the impact from Gregor’s fist to his sternum.

Sheer forced knocked Taehyung from his feet, the air rushing from his lungs as his mind struggled to keep up with what exactly was happening.

“Do not mar that perfect jewels name with your dirty little mouth,” Gregor growled, his chest heaving in anger.

“I don’t…” Taehyung tried, unable to finish as Gregor hauled him bodily off of the ground by his throat, shoving him against the wall and holding him there as he got right up in his face.

“You are the reason Park Jimin is hurting. It is your fault he must be punished so,” Gregor seethed. “If you would just hurry up and die…”

Taehyung looked at the monster before him, his eyes wide as the edges of his vision started to blur from his current lack of oxygen. No matter how desperately his hands scrambled and clawed at the monsters vice-like grip, Taehyung was simply too small to have any effect towards making his masters slave let him go.

“Pu—“ he breathed, the last bit of oxygen expelling itself from his lungs as he was forcibly thrown across the room, his back connecting with a table as he fell to the floor in a pile of pain, his vision going in and out as fire licked its way along his spine.

“Not another word,” Gregor spat, swiftly crossing the room to stand above his helpless prey, his mind racing at the idea of leaving Taehyung broken and bloody, unable to reveal his attacker from the fear that Gregor was about to instill in him.

For what felt like hours Gregor marked Taehyung according to the severity of his sins, leaving cuts and bruises heavily painted into the canvas of Taehyung's skin, his teeth imprinted into the planes of Taehyung's shoulder, Gregor’s last punishment to the boy a warning to never speak a word of the acts that had transpired.

Once before Kim Taehyung had been threatened with having his wicked tongue ripped from his head should ever he speak. After all this, it was not a threat he was willing to test. Taehyung knew that he would never say a word, not even to his master, about any of the things that Gregor had done.

On the other side of the compound, Sven was whistling a jaunty tune as he made his way back to his quarters. He decided that enough time had passed and he was eager to see his jewel. Frowning at the sight of two personal stylists leaving the smaller quarters where Jimin was, Sven moved quickly to enter the room after they disappeared around the corner.

For the first time in many years Sven was shocked by the vision in front of him.

Park Jimin lay on the bed, lounging on his side like a contented cat, a seductive and loving smile gracing his features. He was dressed in white low cut sleep pants with a wide neck white sweater falling off one shoulder; his fingers caressing the black choker around his swan-like neck like it was his lover. When his eyes locked with Sven’s his smile grew more alluring as his tongue peeked out to lick his lips.

Moving from the bed with slow languid movements, Jimin crossed to Sven on bare feet, every line of his body a dance of enticement, his soul fracturing even more with every step of betrayal he took. If he were to commit himself to this mind, body, and soul, he knew just as Taehyung had, that his brothers would never be able to forgive him.

“Master’s jewel has disappointed him, and he begs forgiveness, even when he knows he is unworthy of it,” Jimin purred, wrapping his arms around Sven’s neck as he stretched up, kissing and nipping at the Russian’s mouth, his heart breaking even more as he assured himself that this was the right decision to make for the safety of the ones he loved.

Sven growled, tangling his fingers in Jimin’s hair, yanking his pets head back to gauge his true intentions. A truly evil smile lifted his mouth as he gazed into the blank, dazed, and broken eyes of his beautiful perfect jewel, and in that moment Sven knew, Park Jimin had been broken once and for all. Never again would he have to threaten him with the thought of pain or harm. From here on out Jimin would love him as the merciful master that Sven was, and not because he forced himself to do so for the welfare of those around him.

“I am sure that my pet can make it up to me?” Sven asked, one perfect eyebrow raised as he pulled back to gaze at the man before him.

“Chagiyah?” Jimin breathed, forcing himself into the protective fog of his mind as he prepared himself further to do whatever was required of him to keep the others safe.

“Let me have a taste of you,” Sven growled, leaning back in and attacking Jimin's neck, the younger man molding his body into Sven, tilting his head to provide his master better access to this unwanted assault.

While Sven smelled of expensive cigars and well-aged scotch, his touch was greasy and smooth like the underbelly of a snake. It made Jimin shiver in disgust. Sven only smirked and interpreted it as a response to pleasure.

Shutting off his mind as he refused to let his memories surface, Jimin failed as he briefly wondered if this was the discomfort and self-hatred that Taehyung felt every time he ‘willing’ let the monster that owned them touch him, hurt him, violate him in ways Jimin now realized he would experience first-hand. Maybe if he had been stronger he could have saved his sweet Taehyungie from all that he had been forced to endure.

As Sven picked Jimin up and carried him to the bed, tossing him onto it and crawling after him, Jimin's thoughts turned to his Kookie-Chagiyah. Had his body and soul burned with indescribable fear as he looked into his own monsters eyes? Had he been able to shelter himself in the recesses of his mind? Was he shattered into a million tiny pieces like Jimin was now, or had he emerged on the other side still very much whole, mentally unaffected by the torture and torment he had suffered in Jimin's place?

Thinking back on it now, Jimin had been so sure that in those private moments he had shared, he and Kookie were safe and sound. How could he have ever underestimated the soulless creature he was now being forced to subject himself to?

“Who do you belong to, my sweet jewel?” Sven purred as his hands trailed their way underneath Jimin's shirt.

“I am always yours, Jungkook-ah. Body, mind, and soul. Nothing and no one will change that. Saranghae, Jagiyah… Sarangheyo.”

“You, Chagiyah,” Jimin breathed, his hands coming to rest on Sven's strong arms as he tried to remind himself to be the perfect little jewel he was meant to be.

“I’m here, Jimin-ah. It’s alright. Jungkookie is here… I will never leave…”

Jimin shook his head against the intrusion of memories, his face turning just in time to be claimed in a searing kiss from the man who held him caged. In an effort to keep his mind where it now belonged, Jimin arched into the kiss, his hands trailing up Sv en's arms to wrap around his neck as he let lose a tiny gasp, allowing Sven's tongue entrance into the cavern that was Jimin's mouth.

“Ma--Cha…please,” Jimin begged as his mind started to panic, the memories he was so desperately trying to suppress flashing rapidly through his mind as his brain went in to overload.

All he could see before him now was any one of his brothers lying broken and bloody on the floor before him, his family cycling through this living nightmare he would stay in for the remainder of his days.

Yoongi stumbling towards the beds in their cell, falling to his knees in pain that Jimin had not understood at the time.

Kookie being drug from the room without any of the others knowing only to be returned a broken, feral animal; waking from one nightmare into another, Jimin too afraid to ask him which monsters haunted his sweet love’s dreams.

Taehyung being returned hours later a broken, bandaged mess; Mathan laying him in the bed like a fragile child, instructing the others to watch over him while he slept to make sure he did not die.

Hoseok lying on the floor, his mouth opened in a silent scream as he clutched his bleeding leg, the room around them erupting into chaos as Hobi’s brothers tried to think of what to do to help him.

Namjoon's failed escape attempt…

The caning's Jimin and his leader had received because none of his brothers listened to him or trusted him.

The hatred and anger he felt towards the members of his family.

Taehyung losing himself to do what Jimin had set out to do...his brother forcing himself to play all the sick games Jimin could not.

Every unwanted touch he had been forced to endure. All the lies he had been forced to tell his brothers.

“I promise that I will return you to your family unmolested.”

Even Mathan's pain…

“I hope you understand you are dead to us now, and that you will stay that way forever, because traitors like you have no place in any family of mine…”

Jimin was brought back to the present by a sharp nip to his pelvic-bone, his masters fingers tucked in the waistband of his pants, teasing the skin there as he hinted at wanting something more.

“Please…” Jimin moaned, a dangerous double entendre falling from his lips as he begged for both mercy and distraction.

“Please, what? My Jewel?” Sven whispered, testing Jimin once more, still not assured of where the younger mans loyalties lay.

“Forgive me…”

Jimin’s eyes closed as his body arched into Sven's touch, fear causing him to slam the door shut on his memories, flinging them into the garbage of his mind just as Misha had done when Sven had told her to pick Jungkook up and throw him on the bed like the piece of trash that the Russian seemed to think he was.

“Open your eyes, Park Jimin-ssi,” Sven commanded, his breath hot against the now exposed skin of Jimin's thigh.

Jimin did so immediately, his eyes pleading with the monster before him as the memories he had just thrown away threatened to regurgitate themselves in his mind.

“Please…” Jimin whispered, his eyes closing once more as his head fell back against the bed, another double edged sword cutting its way from his lips.

“Tell me how it really feels,” Sven purred, his hands finally removing his jewels sleep pants as his eyes feasted on the reward that awaited him.

“Amazing,” Jimin breathed, tears of anger threatening to fall as he resisted the urge to clench his jaw once more.

“And who do you belong to, Jimin-ssi?” Sven asked, the final stage of his test almost passed.

“You,” Jimin said, looking down at the man before him, his heart fracturing one final time as he gave his warden a soft and loving smile. “I will always belong to you. Saranghae, Chagiyah…”

Finally convinced of where his perfect jewels loyalties truly were, Sven allowed himself a small and tender taste of the man be had before him, holding off from going all the way, not wishing to undo all of the painstaking progress he had just made.

“Only look at me,” he said as he stood from the bed, removing his clothes and throwing them in a pile. “And join me in the bath. We shall enjoy coming clean together…”

Giving his master one final, loving look, Jimin stood from where he had been forced to lay, carefully stitching the remaining fragments of his soul together; layering on his armor, and leaving for the war he would fight until all of his brothers were away from this hell.

As soon as the door to Bangtan’s cell slammed shut, Taehyung now ripped from them again, each of the remaining members were up in arms.

Hoseok and Namjoon stood toe to toe in a silent stand-off, each daring the other to speak on the matter at hand.

Namjoon had forbidden his lover from stepping in to save Kim Taehyung, and for the most part Hoseok had agreed to let the younger boy be. After what he had just seen…Hoseok knew that he had been wrong. While he knew he could not fight the monsters that held them in this Hell, he made a silent promise to himself to protect his dongsaeng in any way he could from here on out.

“You know better than most not to make him wait.”

What exactly had the Russian guard meant by that? What cruel things had his Taehyungie seen that made him cower so at those words? What signs had the others been missing when it came to the brother they had been so willing to throw away?

Jung Hoseok had no idea what they had missed, but he made a solemn vow to the heavens above to find out just as soon as his brother was returned.

“Something isn’t right, Joon-ah,” Hoseok said silently. “There’s something wrong with Taehyungie. He has never begged like that before.”

Yoongi choked on a snort and was about to rebuke his dongsaeng’s statement when the door to their prison opened once more, revealing Sven’s personal bodyguard Misha, whose grip was ripping their maknae’s hair from his scalp as she pulled him in to the room behind her, a smug look on her face as she saw the turmoil within.

Not saying a word, Misha winked at the boy she had in her grasp, shoving him as hard as she could into the room and slamming the door behind her, momentarily discouraged by the fact that she would be unable to see the chaos she had left in her wake.

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon breathed, moving into the maknae’s path to catch him as he fell, not noticing the flinch of the young man’s body as he slammed into his hyung.

Various forms of Jungkook’s name fell from his hyung's mouths as they rushed to surround him; Namjoon holding him away from him now as all of their eyes searched his body, desperate to see if anything was wrong, but finding no physical proof that anything had happened to him in his extended time away.

“Where did they take you?” their leader asked as he looked at his precious maknae, his concern slightly overwhelming to the boy in his arms.

“Nowhere,” Kookie said, pulling out of the embrace as discreetly as he could, smoothing his clothes over his screaming flesh, his trademark bunny smile appearing to mask his true pain from his hyung's stood before him. “That sick freak thought he could get in to my mind but, you know me. Jungkookie is a selfish brat who doesn’t like to play with others.”

“What did he say to you?” Yoongi asked, afraid the monster had tried to torment Kookie with knowledge of Jimin. “Where is Jiminie?”

Jungkook flinched only slightly at the mention of his true love, but it was a movement that both Hoseok and Seokjin caught. They too had flinched like that before.

“I didn’t…I don’t know where Jimin-hyung is,” Kookie said, his tone only slightly off. “He…he wasn’t in the office when—“

“Jungkookie…” Seokjin said, his tone soft as he looked at his youngest brother, trying to see what it was that the boy was refusing to tell them. “What did he do to you?”

“Nothing!” Jungkook said with wide-eyed sincerity. “He just…told me…Jiminie didn’t love me anymore and…I guess he sent someone to tell chagiyah the same about me…”

Jungkook toed the floor as carefully as he could while he diverted his gaze, trying to fall back into his old patterns of behavior from a time he could almost no longer remember.

“Are you sure that’s all he did to you Kookie-ah?’ Jin asked, not quite believing the words coming out of the maknae’s mouth.

“Ye,” Jungkook said, his tone filled with sincerity.

The other members of the room looked at their youngest member long and hard before deciding to take his words as truth, each of them slowly separating as the environment became stifling once more.

“Where is Taehyung-ssi?” Jungkook asked as he made his way across the room as evenly as he could. “Has he not come back from his pampering yet?”

Yoongi growled at the comment his brother made, while Hoseok gave Jungkook a reproachful look; Namjoon physically biting his tongue to keep another fight from erupting.

“Figures,” Jungkook said with a snort, far too much contempt in his tone for Hoseok and Seokjin’s liking. “I’m going to take a shower. That assholes office smells like cigarettes and cheap cologne.”

Grabbing a towel from his cubby, and a protective change of clothes, Jungkook nonchalantly made his way to the shower, thankful for a tiny moment of privacy to wash away his wounds, the biggest one a hole in his chest where just hours earlier his heart and soul had been.

~oooOooo~

As Jungkook turned on the water he was thankful it was cold, no longer sure he could stand the hot showers he had once so thoroughly enjoyed. The memory of scalding hot water would now forever be accompanied with a face, one Jeon Jungkook prayed he would never have to see again.

Opening his eyes to the reality of his life Jungkook took inventory of his injuries, sinking down onto the shower floor as his emotions finally consumed him; the weight of what had just happened slamming in to him like a ton of bricks.

Starting from his feet and working his way up, Jungkook’s attention fell first on the bruises around his ankles; muscle memory remembering how desperately he had twisted and clawed, trying to free himself from the grip of the living nightmare that had tormented him for so long.

“There is no flying away from me this time…”

Kookie wondered if he would ever be able to scrub that voice from the deepest recesses of his mind.

“It will only hurt a little, pretty Songbird…”

Jungkook had begged so desperately, his heart and mind torn between who he was really trying to save. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had known this moment would come, but with everything in him, he had never wanted the man who held his heart to bear witness to such demoralizing acts of debauchery.

“Open your eyes Jeon Jungkook-ssi.”

Both Kookie and Jimin had been forced to watch every horrific moment, various threats of violence thrown at them should they disobey their owners orders. Kookie wasn’t sure Jimin would survive such a scene. He prayed with everything in him that his lover was okay. As long as Park Jimin was alive, Jeon Jungkook would weather anything these bastards threw at him.

“I wanna hear my pretty Songbird sing…”

Jungkook had bit the blood from his cheek as he forced himself to stay silent, if only for Jimin’s sake. As his hand came up to caress his jaw he wondered just how much damage he had done to himself. His teeth now felt like they were breaking out, and he could feel with his tongue that the right side of his inner cheek was a bloody, ravaged mess of torn meat. The palms of his hands stung too where he had pulled the blood from them with his jagged nails which he had broken in his failed struggle for freedom only moments before.

“Do not hurt yourself containing your screams of rage, Jimin-ssi,” that evil monster had purred, morbid delight in his tone as he observed everything that was going on.

Had Sven been able to see just how much Jungkook was hurting himself as he attempted to lessen the blow to Jimin’s heart? He had seen his lovers jaw clench in anger, tears of anguish threatening to burn his face like acid.

So overcome Kookie with his own grief and guilt he barely noticed his pain as a scream now threatened to rip its way from his throat; his hands coming up to feel the red hot skin at the base of his neck where Carl had held him still as he ripped his body in half.

‘How can people be this evil?’ Kookie thought, his arms wrapping around his knees as his whole body froze from the pain of his most tender injuries, his vision blurring as he watched blood washing down the drain.

“You are the only one to blame here, my jewel…”

“Chagiyah…” Jungkook whispered, his eyes closing as his mind filled with the sight of Jimin, tears streaming down his face as his expression crumbled in defeat. “I do not blame you, my sweet, sweet Jimin-ah. Sarangheyo…Ha-neul…”

Forcing himself to stand as he attempted to scrub skin from bone Jungkook wondered what had happened after he had been drug away. Had his precious love really given himself over to that monster then? Would he have been so desperately consumed by his grief that he let everything go and let his master win? Did he think that such an action would really save anyone else from pain? Certainly Park Jimin knew that no matter what he did it would never be enough if only for the reason that the greed of these animals knew no end.

“I will always be yours… Please just let him go…”

“Only look at me,” Jungkook whispered, his head hanging once more in defeat as pain ripped through his torso, his hand coming up to cover a large bruise covering a good majority of his ribcage, blood slowly washing away from the bite Carl had given him on his breastbone. “We will be together soon, my beautiful sky…”

Finally realizing how much time must have passed, Jungkook turned off the shower and carefully dried off his body, delicately pulling his clothes on as he cautiously avoided the worst of his injuries, laying the wet towel neatly in the pile they had made and smoothing the ruffles from his clothes as he took one last, deep breath, and settled his mask back on as he left the bathroom and entered Bangtan’s living quarters where the rest of his brothers were waiting for him.

Nothing further was said between the five members of BTS, each of his hyung's knowing that when their maknae was in a mood nothing they could say or do would make him talk.

After what seemed like hours the door flew open once more, Kim Taehyung being flung into the room as the steel door slammed shut behind him. A look of horror crossed his face as he noticed that Jeon Jungkook had been returned somehow looking much worse for wear. Taehyung briefly wondered what had happened to his Jungkookie, and if the others had already decided to shove the blame on him. He could honestly say he would not be surprised if they did.

“Taehyung-ssi,” Yoongi purred, his hands steepled in front of his face as he leaned against the table in the room, his attitude as nonchalant as possible in the given situation. “Were your new quarters not to your liking?”

Taehyung looked at the man he once loved, blinking twice before deciding to ignore the question. He knew in his heart that no matter what he said, it would only cause further discord. Not wishing to fight more than he already had, Taehyung heaved as great of a sigh as he could, hanging his head and attempting to cross the room to the shower where he intended to wash away the touches of his masters death dealer.

“Your hyung is speaking to you, brat,” Namjoon growled, reaching out and grabbing Taehyung by his already injured arm, causing him to fall to the floor as his knees buckled in pain. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Please…” Taehyung whispered, his voice strained from being almost choked to death less than an hour before.

“Please what?” Jungkook snarled from his position on the bed. “Please leave ickle Taehyungie alone and quit picking on him cause he’s all sensitive like and he’ll get his big, bad, pimp to come in here and punish us all?”

“Jungkook-ssi!” Jin chastised, a look of shock and horror crossing his features.

“’S true,” Jungkook said with a pout as he looked down at his hands.

“It is not,” Jin said, his eyes looking around the room to try and figure out how to diffuse the situation.

“Why are you defending him?” Yoongi hissed. “Look at what he did to you…”

Jin recoiled at that, the memory of how Taehyung's words had led to his punishment bringing his defenses to a halt.

“Let Taehyungie go, Namjoon-ah,” Hoseok said, trying to keep a level tone. “We should all just…go to bed and…talk about this as a group tomorrow…”

“How do we know he hasn’t stabbed us in the back again?” Namjoon asked, his face dark and his voice darker. “He was gone an awfully long time…”

“Taehyungie,” Hoseok said softly. “Where did you go? What happened while you were gone? Hoseokie was worried about his favorite dongsaeng…”

Taehyung wrenched his arm from his leaders grasp as he hauled himself from the floor, shaking his head as he refused to speak.

Sven's guard Gregor had warned Kim Taehyung what would happen if he spoke. Had warned him that he would end him where he stood all consequences be damned. And even if he could tell his members exactly where he had gone he knew in his soul that they would never believe him.

For the members of Bangtan Sonyeondan the Hunger Games had started as as things stood now, Kim Taehyung was the weakest tribute up for the sacrificial pleasure of others.

Brewer Fork, Jackson, Kentucky-USA

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

A short little lesson in the form of a visual presentation so that everyone can better understand exactly where our boys are. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask, this is basically my home!

Dear Readers,

I think it is time that you know without a doubt, that the place where BTS is held, is real. In a little railroad town in the absolute middle of nowhere in rural south-eastern Kentucky, our seven angels are tucked safely into a ‘holler’ (as we say) where no one would even think to look for them.

Jackson, Kentucky is located deep in the Appalachian Mountains, and for the most part, is a place where families have been born, raised, and died, for hundreds of years. Literally EVERYONE is related in one way or another, and no one there much takes to outsiders. Jackson has grown a lot since I moved away but it is still the small home-town that I knew for almost half my life.

We have the normal sprinklings of fast food restaurants, a few banks, three gas stations, 3 funeral homes, doctors’ offices, a very basic hospital and nursing home, probably a dozen schools, like 40 churches (yes, I’m serious), one massive park, and 4 traffic lights.

Jackson, Kentucky is the seat of Breathitt County (founded 1839) and was incorporated as a city by state legislature in 1843 when it was renamed from ‘Breathitt Town” to “Jackson” after Andrew Jackson (United States President). Jackson’s biggest claim to fame is that it is located in “Bloody Breathitt”, a nickname the local area got from several ongoing feuds between families.

In 1913 much of Jackson burned down in a massive fire, in 2003 much of the stretch of road I lived on at Oakdale was demolished in a freak tornado (which at the time I did still live there but had been delayed getting home), and on Mother’s Day 2009 a good portion of the outlying areas of Jackson were washed away in a flood.

In 2010 the population of Jackson was 2,231 people.

Jackson is home to several festivals, the largest and most well-known being the Breathitt County Honey Festival which takes place annually (since 1978) during the Labor Day Weekend. It begins on the Thursday before Labor Day and runs through Labor Day.

Jackson also has a Heritage Festival/Pig Out In The Park which is a grand 4th of July celebration that takes place every 4th of July since 2005.

Like most small towns Jackson has its over version of Downtown Christmas which sees various festivities and a parade to celebrate the season complete with Santa Claus.

Notable people from Jackson include MLB player Denver Grigsby, TV Producer Jay Huguely (Magnum PI), ‘Final Destination’ screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick, and Chad Warrix, country singer of Halfway to Hazard.

As for Brewer Fork, it is an actual holler that my grandfather owned until his death and used for farm land where he grew tobacco and raised cattle. Brewer Fork goes on through miles and is cut into sections by creeks and riverbeds. The trails that the boys will be taking out are actual trails that have been cut through the woods by generations of farmers, hikers, a.t.v. enthusiasts, and people participating in illegal activities. Last I was there over 10 years ago there was still one rusted car in the creek, 4 wells, 2 dilapidated houses, and 2 barns. While it is a place that holds several fond childhood memories, it is a place that also caused a lot of problems as it is also a place that was used by pot-farmers to grow their crops which we then had to call and have confiscated by local law and drug enforcement.

I hope this small explanation of this place and these pictures serve you well in imagining just where BTS is. I have also included pictures of the hospital they are in, and if you would like a rundown of Lexington, Kentucky (home to the University of Kentucky Wildcats-GO BIG BLUE!) please don’t hesitate to ask. ALSO…if someone could let the boys know Lexington houses a FINE arena that would LOVE to have them, that would be great! Thanks!

As Always, Peace & Love,

Kaelyn

Jackson, Kentucky

(Breathitt County)

Flood Damage from the 2009 Flood

“Bloody Breathitt”

First National Bank Branch, Jackson Ky

Kentucky River Medical Center, Jackson

Paul’s Motel

(the classy hotel in town)

My Childhood Home

The distance between where I grew up and where the mouth of BTS’ Hell begins

Brewer Fork

Over The River and Through The Woods

The Journey to Help

*I would say you would need to add roughly 45 minutes onto the top figure to account for getting through the paths to the main start point of Jerry Fork.

A very rough map of the escape

The route into Lexington, Kentucky

(Fayette County)

I hope this lesson into where BTS has given you some insight into the struggles that were involved in getting them out. People in Kentucky can often be very closed minded and if it isn't farming/tobacco, horses/Kentucky Derby, or anything unrelated to the U.K. Wildcats (football/basketball) most people just don't care.

If anyone has any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

A NOTICE OF SEPARATION

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Dear Readers,

What is there to say?

Thank you so much for your continued support of the story that both Sandra and I have poured our hearts and souls in to.

Kidnapped has been such a wild and amazing journey that I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would get to go on, yet here we are.

I hope that you continue to stay with both Sandra and I as we finish our amazing journeys, but as with all good things, our journey together has sadly come to an end (for now). Like seasons in time, we have come to the agonizing decision to part ways as co-authors due to Sandra needing to take time away from everything for health reasons.

While I love Sandra with all my heart, I cannot force her to be in a place she is not, or a place that is no longer healthy for her mental and spiritual needs, and she cannot do the same to me.

Please know that this story will continue on all platforms it has been published on, but updates and story lines will probably not be the same from here on out. While I will only post here on AO3, Sandra has versions on both WattPad and AFF and I encourage you to take the time to support both versions because I myself will eagerly await Sandra’s updates to see where the remainder of this story takes her.

As such, I hope that I am able to meet your expectations for this story and that I am able to update on a more consistent basis. Much of the last two chapters (80% or more) and the entirety of the Brewer Fork Notice were solely my work, posted as a sort of 'test drive' to ensure there was still interest in this story, and to see if my own writing style would be accepted. Please do not feel like you will be hurting my feelings if you decide to no longer support my efforts from here on out, but know that Sandras version may not be updated for a very long time, if ever. Please do continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers and please know that this decision in no way affects our friendship. If you ever want to pass her words of encouragement you may still do so here and I will convey those to her.

Also, please do not think these decisions were taken lightly, or that the both of us don’t still agonize over them, and do not feel like we are asking you to choose sides because that is absolutely not what we wish for you to do.

Please also bear with us during this awkward transition into something new.

All My Love,

Kaelyn

P.S. Sandra sends her most heartfelt apologies that she is not able to continue this journey at this time, and she definitely appreciates all of the love and support that you continue to send.

Part Sixty-Five

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

T/N: KOREAN VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

* Mee-cheen-nom: crazy bastard

* Yeot-meog-eo: Fuck you (vulgar)

Chapter Notes

***TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!! Direct depictions of non-con/forced sexual acts. PLEASE DO! NOT! READ! if this will harm or affect you!***

See the end of the chapter for more notes

***DISCLAIMER: (that wouldn't fit in the notes section cause I had 600 TOO MANY LETTERS WHAT IS THIS GARBAGE!!!) ***

I think this is the most graphic chapter that has been written to date. It is definitely one of the most vile, most violent things I have ever written in context. (Yeah! I know! I’m still not okay here.) AGAIN!!! THERE ARE DIRECT DEPICTIONS/MENTIONS OF NON-CON/FORCED SEXUAL ACTS!!! DO!!! NOT!!! READ!!! IF YOU KNOW THIS WILL AFFECT YOU. PLEASE!!! I tried not to include much graphic detail of what actually happened because shock factor is NOT our thing and never will be, but please consider yourself warned, cause it is clearly implied what happened.

I also want to take this time to remind our readers that this is 100% a work of fiction and as such certain creative liberties have been taken in terms of off the wall behaviors or behaviors that are ‘out of the norm’ when it comes to our characters. While the main characters of this story are in fact based on world-wide sensation BTS, we left the people those gentlemen are in a different place and time. Nothing you see reflected here is meant to represent who those fine young men actually are.

Here we see seven young men who have survived a Hell I am not sure any of us can imagine. Their reactions are all very real, very normal reactions to their given situation. Every living being, no matter how we may perceive them, responds differently psychological and physiologically based on a number of factors. While some respond better to pain, others are able to whether mental anguish more, and I hope you have seen that in our story.

As one of our commentators said, we very much wanted to most accurately portray how human nature plays out in the most horrendous and most vile circumstances, and how everyone is different and breaks in different ways. This story is ultimately about the journey these characters will take throughout and in parts 2 and 3 we will see a road to some sort of recovery.

It is my most sincere hope that as we continue on this journey, you, the reader, will be able to see how we tried to bring out that human nature and make it believable and applicable. I myself have drawn on several fields of study and dedicated countless hours to research to make sure everything we write here can and does actually happen (because I hate off the wall shock factor for the sake of shock).

I also hope that our readers are able to stay with us until the end of this trilogy and that they can support us as we break the boys even more while they heal *because there is still so very much hurt to come*.

Again, as a reviewer said: “ The mind, body, and soul... an amazing trinity. This story shows what one can truly withstand. How ones soul can break. Your soul leaves your body and takes your mind with it. It’s like an auto pilot, but without the navigation and you keep driving deeper into the darkness. None of those boys know what they are doing anymore. Boys... they’re not boys anymore. Those boys are gone... locked away somewhere so deep and so dark. With a million doors and walls and padlocks that I don’t know how any of them will find themselves again… They are not in their right mind. None of them deserve this hell nor the hell they have condemned Kim Taehyung to or themselves. But that’s how their bodies are coping. It’s the only way they know how at this point. The mind is an amazing organ but also fragile at the same time. Once a demon cracks the skull it’s like a disease... that consumes every good thing you’ve ever known. It changes you to someone you never were before.”

The most important thing I want to touch on here, is how OOC Yoongi will be. The things he is suffering from are very real, very horrific side effects of unimaginable physical and mental trauma and dozens of cases just like his have been documented. I know it is not how everyone reacts to trauma, and for that I am grateful, but it is how Yoongi reacts here. If this isn’t your cup of tea, or if you are faint of heart, take caution. It is never my intention for someone to damage themselves because of something that they read. That is my main reason for posting these extensive and long-winded disclaimers. Yoongi will be cruel, and violent, and harsh. He will do unimaginable things that will be a huge roadblock in healing. Lines are being drawn, and unfortunately those around him are also being drawn to Yoongi's whims. He is turning into the very monsters the boys are trying to escape from because he literally cannot deal. Everything he has suffered during his time here and everything he has seen, coupled with his existing mental issues, has finally proven too much for his weary mind to bear.

Yoongi experiences several types of things here. Blackout Syndrome (which I have personally been on the receiving end of), some form of PTSD (from his own attack), something akin to split personality (though not as heavily as we will see in other places), and ultimately he as a victim becomes an assailant due to his inability to cope with his past experiences.

During certain events of this chapter I need the reader to realize that Yoongi ISN’T Yoongi for a moment. In his absolute right mind, he would never have done these things. Something else, something very dark, comes to the surface here. Even Tae comes to the realization that if Yoongi realized what he had done he would not be able to live with himself.

I am not asking anyone to understand or accept or validate the actions seen here within. You aren’t required to like anyone. I just really hope this chapter doesn’t drive anyone away before we, the authors, get a chance to explain.

Thank you to each and every one of you,

Kaelyn Grey.

“Taehyung-ah,” Hoseok tried again, standing and going to approach the boy but stopping immediately as Taehyung recoiled away from him.

“He doesn’t want your help, Hoseok-ah,” Namjoon said, his mind already made up when it came to Kim Taehyung. “His pampered little ass is too good for any of us now.”

“Hyung,” Tae choked out, his hand coming up to cover his throat as he tasted metal, his mind stalling out and his brow furrowing as he wondered the level of damage he had incurred.

Not that the damage mattered. Taehyung knew that one way or another he would be left broken and bleeding, begging for the mercy of death to take each and every one of his living pains away.

“Tell Hyung if someone has hurt you, Kim Taehyung,” Hobi commanded, fear flooding his senses as he started to take notice of the way his dongsaeng acted.

Maybe if Hoseok could get Taehyung away from the others he could find out exactly what had happened to him.

“No one hurt him, Hobi-ah,” Yoongi snorted. “The pampered little bitch is just looking for attention.”

“Yoongi-ssi,” Hoseok growled, for once feeling anger towards his savage hyung, wondering exactly why Min Yoongi was being so unnecessarily cruel.

“Hoseok-ssi,” Yoongi returned, his voice taking on a taunting demeanor.

“Don’t be so vile,” Hoseok said, his temper boiling as his hands made fists as his sides.

“Hyung,” Tae whispered, barely looking up to catch Hoseok's gaze, giving his elder member an almost undetectable shake of the head.

None of these people would fight on his behalf. It was an honor he no longer deserved.

“Tae-ya,” Hoseok said, his voice soft and his face sad. “Let hyungie help you.”

~oooOooo~

Before anything else could be said the steel door opened for the dozenth time that day. But instead of a familiar face of one of their regular guards, or a monster coming to threaten their impending doom, three men they had never met before filed into the room and looked at each of the members in turn, sharing a look with one another before the eldest looking one stepped forward.

“Your…Master…says it’s time to get up and play,” he said, his accent distinctly British. “Kim Seokjin may stay behind seeing as he is still ‘under the weather’, and one of you may stay with him to ensure he is resting comfortably, but the rest of you are to come with me to the work out room. Ivchenko thinks you lads are getting fat and lazy.”

All the members except for Tae shared a look with one another, Hoseok looking like he wanted to go with them, and Jin looking like he didn’t want to stay.

“Hoseok-ah will stay with hyung-nim,” Namjoon said, his alpha tone making the command almost irrefutable. “Yoongi-hyung, Jungkookie, and Taehyung-ssi will come with me. I’m sure Hobi-ya doesn’t mind…”

Hoseok stood up, his smaller frame making a barrier between Taehyung and Namjoon.

“Taehyung-ah can stay with hyung-nim,” he insisted, his eyes challenging the man before him, the tone of his voice one that none of the other members had ever heard before.

“That isn’t safe Hoseok-ssi,” Namjoon growled. “Seokjin hyung-nim is still weak. It wouldn’t take much for that traitor to off him in his sleep.”

Before any of them knew it, Jung Hoseok had pulled his fist back, slamming it into Kim Namjoon's jaw as hard and fast as he could.

“Mee-cheen-nom,” Hoseok growled.

“Yeot-meog-eo!” Namjoon hissed, reaching up to hold his jaw.

“I swear to God,” Hoseok snarled, pulling his hand back once more, only stopping when Taehyung blocked his path to their leader.

“Hajima,” Taehyung said, his head tilted at a forty-five degree angle so that his eyes met no one. “I--it isn’t worth it. Just… Thank you…hyung.”

“Tae…” Hoseok breathed, his heart shattering as he finally realized just how broken his little brother was.

“Sarangheyo, Hoseok-hyung,” Taehyung said, giving Hoseok the biggest and brightest, boxiest smile the man had ever seen.

“Don’t,” Hoseok said, reaching out and pulling his brother into his embrace, his heart catching at just how sharp the man in his arms felt. “Don’t go. Stay here with Hyung-nim. I will go to the work out room.”

“I’ll be okay, hyung,” Tae said softly, lingering only a moment too long in the embrace of someone he had missed for many long months. “Your hugs give me lots of strength.”

“Taehyungie…” Hobi tried, the blood lust he saw in his members eyes setting off warning bells in his mind.

“Enough of the love fest, gentlemen,” the British guard said, herding the others and pushing them through the door. “It’s only for an hour. I’m sure the two of you can live without each-other ‘til then.”

Giving his brother one last look, Kim Taehyung departed the room with as much dignity and grace as he could, his mind racing with the absolute understanding that this may indeed be the very last day of his life.

As he left through the door, the slightest limp to his gait, Hoseok finally put all of the pieces together, crumpling in shame and fear. Kim Taehyung had been broken by monsters unknown and no one had done anything to try and stop it.

While the others were occupied in the work-out Sven decided to pay a visit to BTS' room. From the guards report he knew that only Seokjin and Hoseok were currently in their prison cell, and Sven very much wanted to gauge how Seokjin’s evening with the doctor had affected him, and how he might be able to use that against Mathan.

As his guard opened the door letting Sven and Jimin enter, Sven was pleased to see both young men seated at the table instead of huddled up on one of the beds cowering. He was even more pleased to see the glaring fire of hatred coming at him from Jung Hoseok. Sven was quite pleased that the man appeared to have a spine after all, his ability to show some real spirit finally coming through. Until now Sven had dismissed Hoseok as a weak coward and for him, breaking the will of the weak was neither challenging, nor fun.

It further pleased Sven to see the astonished looks that fell on Seokjin and Hoseok’s faces as they turned their attention to Jimin. Sven had has his stylists dress his jewel especially for this meeting and they had not failed him. Clothed head to toe in white from the suit and shoes to the floor length sable, the only spots of color on Jimin were the black choker he wore in sign of his ownership, the crisp dress shirt Sven had picked out for him that morning, and the eyeliner he wore that surrounded the ice blue contacts Jimin now kept in his eyes. He truly looked the part of a wealthy man’s paramour.

“Good day, gentlemen,” Sven said in a politely conversational tone. “I’ve come to see how the two of you are faring this beautiful, sunny day. The snow is melting quickly now, and soon we will be departing this rather stagnate compound for more luxurious accommodations, more befitting of your beauty.”

Ignoring Sven’s greeting Hoseok stared at Jimin.

“Jimin-ah…” Hoseok breathed as he stood up and moved closer to the pair, unable to help himself in his curiosity. “Are you alright? We heard you scream and…we were afraid something had happened.”

“What you heard, Hoseok-ssi, was me letting go of a stupid dream,” Jimin said, being careful to keep both his face and tone disinterested and otherwise blank. “I have accepted that my place is right where I am now, standing at our master’s side as his perfect jewel. The sooner the rest of you give up hoping for someone to come save the day and return us to lives that are no longer ours, the better off all of us will be.”

Sven laughed softly as he raised the hand that Jimin had crooked in his elbow, placing a kiss on the back of it to show that he approved.

“Well said, my jewel,” Sven said as he moved deeper into the room, causing Hoseok to stumble slightly as he went back to Jin’s side, placing a protective hand on his eldest brothers shoulder.

The movement did not go unnoticed by Sven, and his lips quirked up at it. Pulling out one of the table chairs he sat down, wrapping an arm around Jimin’s waist under the fur coat he wore.

“I came not only to update you on travel plans, but also to check in with Mr. Kim. The doctor was most impressed by your performance, and has already requested another evening as soon as we get home. It has been quite some time, you see, since I have seen him that lively. I must congratulate you on whatever you have done to impress him so.”

Jin couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through his body as Sven’s words blew across him like a cold wind. He didn’t fight when Hoseok curled him into a tight embrace, instead burying his face in his dongsaeng's shoulder, refusing to look at Sven.

“Come now, Mr. Kim,” Sven growled. “It couldn’t have been that bad. The good Dr. Hans said he was most gentle with you, unlike his other toys which tend to end up broken when he is done playing with them.”

“What the fuck do you want?” Hoseok snarled, forgetting in his rage how dangerous the man sitting across from them was. “Don’t you ever get tired of destroying people’s lives for your sick, twisted pleasure?”

Jimin stared blankly ahead as his brother raged at Sven; his heart pounding in fear at the danger Hoseok was placing himself in. Everything in him screamed out to run to both Hoseok and Seokjin, to throw himself on his knees and beg them to use caution. They had only the briefest taste of Sven’s cruelty and had not yet seen the totality of the pain this monster would be willing to put them through. He had witnessed his masters cruelty and anger first hand and even now he was reeling from the soul-crushing weight of it.

Jin tightened his grip on Hoseok in warning and fear as he felt the trembling rage flowing through the others body. So much had already been ripped away from them that Seokjin was starting to question their humanity. Looking in Jimin’s direction and meeting his gaze, Jin felt something in him break even more at the unguarded anguish that flashed briefly in his dongsaeng's eyes. Whatever had happened during the time that Jungkook had been away from them, he was sure that had been the cause of Jimin’s cries. Cries that still echoed through Seokjin's mind as he looked from Sven to Hoseok.

It seemed as if the Russian was giving serious thought to the question that had been hurled at him. Leaning back in the chair Sven titled his head one way then another as he regarded the two seated in front of him.

“Do I get tired, Jung Hoseok?” Sven asked, throwing a chilling smile up at Jimin. “No…I can not say that I do. Power, especially power over another human being, is an aphrodisiac unlike any other. It fills the senses in a way that ordinary and mundane pleasures could never hope to touch. My father taught me well that power and control must be ruthlessly seized and held.”

Looking at the monster in front of him Hoseok felt the rage drain away as despair took its place. He could no more stop the pity that filled his eyes than he could the words that flew from his lips.

“I feel sorry for you then. The power you hold so tightly in your hands is based on pain and fear…it is an illusion with no real substance.”

Sven stood from the chair, violently thrusting it away and causing it to topple over as Jimin stumbled back away from him. Out of the corner of his eye Sven could see Jimin shaking his head in the direction of his brothers.

“You, Jung Hoseok, feel sorry for me?” Sven growled in question, his rage dropping the temperature of the room and sending chills through the three members of BTS in the room with him. “Feel sorry for your precious maknae who I gave to Carl for his enjoyment! Feel sorry for Park Jimin-ssi who had to sit quietly on my lap and watch every touch, every thrust, every mark that Carl gave Jungkook while being powerless to stop it. Feel sorry for Kim Seokjin who will become the doctor’s latest toy when we return home. Feel sorry for your pathetic leader who can only stand by as I sell each and every one of you to the highest bidder one by one.”

“Kookie….” Seokjin moaned as Hoseok covered his mouth, tears threatening to fall from his eyes in horror.

Sven strode to the door, grabbing Jimin’s wrist and yanking him to follow. As the door opened, Sven paused, turning back to look at the others, his cold gaze trained on Hoseok.

“Feel sorry for yourself, Jung Hoseok…because I will take great pleasure from the power I have over YOU.”

The room echoed with the sound of the door slamming behind Sven and Jimin, Kim Seokjin and Jung Hoseok now left to the absolute horrors of their minds.

As soon as Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Jeon Jungkook, and Kim Taehyung arrived in the practice room, a new nightmare began. Sensing the danger he was in, Taehyung went to the farthest corner of the room, carefully sitting on the bench there and leaning back against the wall, his eyes never closing as he surveyed his surroundings, making sure he knew where each and every member was.

Taehyung paid his members no mind as they huddled in the corner by the door, figuring his presence made them uncomfortable as they plotted a way to escape their time with him. If they would give him just one blissful hour of silence he would take it with humility and never say a word against them otherwise.

“Too good to join the rest of us, Kim Taehyung-ssi?” Jungkook taunted from the spot where he stood.

“He probably doesn’t want to get in trouble for associating with vermin like us,” Namjoon said with a snort.

“Or he is figuring out how to spin this so he can get us all in trouble,” Jungkook said. “That seems to be his thing.”

Taehyung didn’t look at his members as they taunted him, having so recently learned his lesson about rising to bait that was willingly given to him.

“What did you do to Jiminie?” Namjoon asked, again, repeating the question Yoongi had posed before, and missing the flinch that ran through his maknae.

“N-nothing!” Taehyung stuttered, mentally berating himself for caving to their questions.

“Then why was he screaming?” Yoongi growled, angered that this piece of shit before them would so easily lie to those who were meant to be his family.

All Taehyung could do was fiercely shake his head.

He knew now where this was going, and if only he could stall, in an hour perhaps he would be safe again.

“What did you tell your ‘Master’, you filthy whore?” Yoongi hissed, quickly crossing the room as he entered Taehyung's space.

“Nothing,” Taehyung breathed, wincing away from the person standing before him now. “I told him…I said…I didn’t say anything…”

“Liar!” Yoongi screamed, putting himself right in Taehyung's face, the youngers' eyes now wide open in fear. “I know you did something to Jiminie, and you are going to tell us what you said!”

“Please,” Taehyung whispered, praying with everything in him that this nightmare would go away.

Taehyung hurt so badly already, his body broken and his heart in shreds; he knew without question he would not survive this assault that his brothers intended to inflict on him.

“Hyung…” Taehyung breathed, flinching in horror when Yoongi spat on him once more, pushing himself away from the wall and going back to join the others.

“What did you do to Hoseok-hyung to make him stick up for you?” Jungkook asked, trying to change the subject before it came back around to him. “What did you give your master to threaten him with?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Taehyung raged, his voice barely above a gravely rasp as a metallic taste coated his throat once more.

“SHUT IT!” Yoongi roared, crossing the room once more as he picked Taehyung from the bench and slammed him against the wall, glass cutting the back of Taehyung's head as the mirror he impacted with shattered at the force.

“Cha--” Taehyung tried, tears of fear falling from his eyes as he clawed at a monsters hands once more, his feet dangling in a terrifying manner just off the floor.

“I am not your lover, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Yoongi purred, hatred and fire burning his eyes as he considered the man before him.

“’M sorry,” Taehyung croaked, everything in him struggling to be freed.

“Jungkookie, get the door,” Yoongi said, a sick, sadistic smile overtaking his features. “Namjoon-ah, make sure no one disturbs Taehyung-ssi and I. You two can look away if you want to. I never really liked an audience anyway…”

“Yoon-ah…” Taehyung breathed, his lungs refusing to expand as Yoongi's grip around his neck made it harder and harder for him to draw air. “Please…”

“Please…what?” Yoongi taunted, his breath hot on Taehyung's face as the older man stood on tiptoe to square off with his former lover.

“Let me go…”

Taehyung didn’t fight the fall or brace for impact as he was once more thrown to the ground like the piece of trash he was. He didn’t move or even fight as Yoongi grabbed him once more, laying Taehyung flat on his back and straddling his waist, not even noticing how jagged the younger mans hipbones were as they protruded from his skin like a mountain-range.

“Do you like being someone’s piece of ass?” Yoongi asked, his hands trailing up Taehyung's shirt as he became those monsters he had weathered all those frightening months ago. “Do you enjoy being someone’s dirty little cum-dumpster?”

“Chagiyah,” Taehyung breathed, his hands coming up to rest on the ones working their way under his shirt.

“Do not call me that!” Yoongi roared, careful not to be too loud as to not draw attention from the guards in the hall.

“Hyung…”

Yoongi let out a groan of rage, his hands coming out from underneath Taehyung's, shaking the younger boys touch away as he ripped the clothing from his former lovers body, his eyes raking over what there was to be seen, but not truly seeing everything there was.

“Well, well,” Yoongi said as he sat back on his haunches. “I didn’t realize our Taehyungie was such a freak. Did you know he liked it rough Jungkookie?”

Kookie stiffened at that once more but quickly let it slide, a snort of contempt escaping his lips.

“Taehyung-ssi has always been a freak, hyung. No wonder you were never able to turn him on. You treated him too nicely to get his shit going…”

“Is that so?” Yoongi asked, his hands trailing over every freshly-formed bruise that covered Taehyung's torso.

Taehyung quickly shook his head, fear consuming him and stealing his voice away. He could never tell this man before him where these marks had come from. He knew Gregor would kill them all if he did. But he had never been one to want a violent lover, and after all these months in hell, his only wish was to have someone hold him close when his monsters came to visit him in his dreams.

“Tell me how you like it,” Yoongi said, his hands grabbing Taehyung's hips, causing the man to hiss in pain.

“Stop it,” Taehyung said, his eyes closing as he tried to expel the images of Gregor and Sven from his mind.

“Tell me how you like it, whore,” Yoongi said again, his hands quickly pulling the pants from Taehyung's waist.

“Let me go…”

“No!” Yoongi said, a distortion to his voice as his own inner demons finally came out to play. “You are mine, Kim Taehyung-ssi, and I will break you so that no one else will ever want you…”

“Yoon-ah, please…” Taehyung begged, his hands instinctively finding the older mans as he tried to bring him back into himself with a simple, gentle touch. “Don’t…don’t do this… This isn’t…it isn’t who you are…”

Yoongi laughed at that, his hands stilling along Taehyung's ribs, fingers tracing the bones his mind refused to register he should not be able to see.

“How the fuck do you know who I am, Kim Taehyung-ssi,” Yoongi questioned, his nose making a trail down the younger mans neck, teeth and lips grazing his collarbone as he tormented and teased Taehyung exactly as he thought he deserved.

“I know who you are, Min Yoongi,” Taehyung said, his body frozen as he prepared himself for even more pain. “I have seen your soul…the beautiful colors of your heart…”

Taehyung gasped then, the air burning his throat as tears gathered in his eyes, pain like he had never imagined blossoming in his chest as Yoongi bit down, teeth breaking skin, blood blooming from the wound, his touch on the older man never once turning harsh as he tried to ground himself to the reality of where he was.

“Yoon-ah,” he said, his plea coming out as more of a moan, causing those in the room to laugh at him in disgust. “Please…this…forgive me…I didn’t…I’m not…”

“Forgive you for what???

~oooOooo~

“I know I've been mistaken, But just give me a break and see the changes that I've made. I've got some imperfections, But how can you collect them all and throw them in my face…”

“I’m sorry,” Taehyung cried, silent tears streaming down his face as he finally broke and begged for the safety and comfort of death. He knew he wasn’t strong enough for this and, no matter how he had let his brothers down, his heart was finally broken at the treatment he was receiving from his lover while two of his brothers so pointedly looked away.

“For what?” Yoongi purred, the monsters in his mind enjoying the torment of this precious, angelic soul. It was a perverse kind of high that they had never been able to obtain.

“Everything,” Taehyung whispered, his eyes slowly closing as he was ripped in half once more.

~oooOooo~

But you always find a way to keep me right here waiting. You always find the words to say to keep me right here waiting. And if you chose to walk away I'd still be right here waiting. Searching for the things to say to keep you right here waiting…

“Who do you belong to?” Yoongi growled as he pounded into Tae, the boy before him taking every punishment he was given without complaint.

“You,” Taehyung answered softly, his eyes seeing Yoongi only as the man he loved, and not as the monster he had become somewhere along the way.

“And who do you want to be with?” Yoongi questioned.

“Only you,” Taehyung said, his hands coming once more to rest on Yoongi's, the older mans grip bruising enough on his ribcage that Taehyung wondered if he had suffered a broken bone.

“Tell me you love me,” Yoongi commanded, shaking off Taehyung's touch as his hands moved to steal the life from the boy beneath him.

“Sarangheyo…”

~oooOooo~

I hope you're not intending, To be so condescending it's as much as i can take. And you're so independent, You just refuse to bend so I keep bending till I break…

For longer than Taehyung's mind could understand the man that he had loved with his entire heart and soul used and abused him until he could absolutely break no more.

Condescending words of jealousy spilled from Yoongi's lips, vile exclamations of hatred cutting Taehyung worse than any physical weapon he had yet faced.

Taehyung knew in his mind that this was not the man that he loved, and he knew that if Yoongi ever realized what he had done, he would never be able to live with his actions. More than that, he could see the fractured pieces of his leaders mind in the way Namjoon's eyes would steal momentary glances as though somewhere within him, he knew that this was wrong. And Taehyung's sweet Jungkookie…he didn’t even want to know the nightmares his one-time lover had faced. He could see the young man standing guard at the door had a scarlet letter of his own, but he knew that it would begin a story that Jeon Jungkook would probably never tell.

~oooOooo~

I've made a commitment. I'm willing to bleed for you. I needed fulfillment. I found what I need in you…

As Yoongi wrecked Taehyung body, mind, and soul, the younger man kept reminding himself of all the things the seven of them had seen. He kept reminding himself that all he had wanted for many long months now was the touch of the man who now had him in his grasp. No matter how unwanted this assault otherwise was, Taehyung savored every moment, the physical contact more than he deserved.

Through all these months in hell, Taehyung's love for Yoongi and their five brothers had carried him on unimaginable and beautiful wings. But as it is with everything in life, that beautiful journey was coming to an end. It was now late afternoon in Taehyung's life, and on the horizon, at the very edge of his vision, he saw that his twilight was near.

“Yoon-ah,” Taehyung said, his eyes closing once more as he caressed every part of Yoongi he could reach. “Come back to me. Don’t hurt yourself like this. Everything is fine. We…we’re gonna be…okay.”

Taehyung knew that he was dying. Even if his body was mostly whole, his heartstrings had snapped, and just like in the fairy-tales, he would very much succumb to his irreparably broken heart.

“Don’t do this, Chagiyah,” Taehyung breathed, his eyes opening and boring in to Yoongi's, Taehyung desperately searching for the older mans soul, his own soul laid beautifully bare in hopes that it would call Yoongi back to himself…back home where he belonged.

~oooOooo~

Why can't you just forgive me? I don't want to relive all the mistakes I've made along the way. But I always find a way to keep you right here waiting. I always find the words to say to keep you right here waiting…

When the pounding on the door came, Yoongi finished with Tae like the back alley whore that he was, standing from where he had kept Taehyung captive on the floor and pulling his clothes back right.

“Not a word,” Yoongi growled. “Not that anyone would believe you anyway. Mathan turned off the cameras in here, remember?”

Taehyung nodded at that, carefully sitting up and trying to wrap his tattered shirt around him.

“Clean yourself off with that garbage,” Namjoon growled as he finally turned around, pulling off his sweatshirt and throwing it at Tae. “Put that on instead. And wipe off your face. At least hyung touched you. He’ll have to take a cold shower now so he doesn’t catch your disease.”

Taehyung didn’t even look at Namjoon as he nodded, painfully peeling off the remains of his shirt and wiping himself off, an involuntary hiss escaping his lips as the fabric of his clothes passed over the wound on his collarbone.

“Quit whining, Taehyung-ssi,” Jungkook snarled. “It really was more than a traitor like you deserved…”

As Taehyung stood up, straightening his hair to look a little less than wild, an unnamed guard swung the door open, not familiar enough with the group to notice that anything was wrong.

“Get back to your cell and clean up. Dinner will be brought to you,” the guard instructed. “And don’t cause any trouble tonight. No one has the time to babysit you…”

“Do…” Jin started, his gaze focusing solely on his hands as he tried to keep himself calm. “Do you think…”

“That bastard was lying, hyung,” Hoseok said softly, his eyes raking over his oldest brother in an attempt to make sure he was okay. “He was just looking for a rise out of us.”

“He got one,” Jin said softly. “And…”

“I won’t let that monster touch you,” Hoseok promised. Mathan—“

“Can’t help us now,” Jin said, a sad smile gracing his features. “Now… Let’s just say…I don’t think he’ll be back around. He got what the rest of these monsters wanted…”

“Hyung?” Hoseok asked in confusion.

“All of us are now broken, aren’t we?” Jin asked, looking at Hoseok.

“Hyung…” Hobi breathed.

“Some more than others I guess but…”

“Mathan tried to stop those things from happening,” Hoseok insisted, his mind spinning in confusion at what exactly had caused the man before him to adopt this train of thought.

“Mathan is the same sort of monster as everyone else, Hoseokie,” Jin said, his voice devoid of any emotion. “He just played his games better than all the rest.”

“Hyung…”

Before Hoseok could say any more the door to their prison cell opened and in walked Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi, Jeon Jungkook, and one very abused, very downtrodden Kim Taehyung.

“You lot wash up,” the British guard barked. “Dinner will be served in an hour. I expect you lads to play nice tonight. Boss has us preparing for transport.”

With no more said the guard slammed the door behind him, everyone now locked in the cell, where unbeknownst to him, a new war began.

“What happened to Taehyungie?” Hoseok growled, pushing away from the table and going up to the others, anger rolling off of him in waves. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO KIM TAEHYUNG!”

The three guilty parties looked innocently at one another before looking at Hoseok as though he had lost his mind.

“We didn’t do anything to Taehyungie,” Yoongi said, his tone too sickly sweet to be sincere.

“Taehyung-ah,” Hoseok said softly, turning his gaze towards his younger brother, not missing the flinch Taehyung gave at the sound of his name.

“Taehyung-ah,” Seokjin said instead. “Come here to hyung and tell me what’s wrong.”

The eldest brother too had noticed that something was terribly, terribly amiss.

After a long moment of silence Taehyung shook his head, refusing to meet the gaze of any in the room, a barely distinguishable “I’m fine” falling from his lips.

“You’re not fine, Taehyung-ie,” Jin said softly, his eyes trailing over Taehyung as he looked for any kind of visible wound the boy might have. “Tell your Seokjinie what is wrong so I can fix it…”

Taehyung wanted to laugh at the absurdity of what his hyung-nim had said. There was nothing left to fix. No bridges still standing that were able to be mended. The entirety of Kim Taehyung had been burnt and left to ash, his body now patiently waiting to die.

“What did you do to him?” Jin growled, every word perfectly enunciated as he watched the boy before him curl in on himself as much as he could.

It was exactly as Jin had done the night he had returned from his own night in hell.

“The traitor got what he deserved,” Yoongi said, stiffening his stance and squaring his jaw, making it evident that there was nothing more to tell.

“And what did he deserve?’ Hoseok asked, his question directed to Kim Namjoon.

“We taught him how to temper his tongue,” Namjoon said, his accent distinctly off. “Maybe we ought to teach you the same…”

Hoseok backed away from Namjoon then, not yet understanding how very wrong things as a whole actually were, and instead turned his attention once more to his favorite dongsaeng.

“Taehyungie,” Hobi tried once more, slowly advancing towards the boy, causing Tae to flinch in fear, his jaw clamped shut as he contained a scream of pain.

“No one’s going to hurt you,” Hoseok said softly, missing the glare the other three threw in Taehyung's direction. “No one here is mad at you. Just…let’s talk this through like old times and…get some rest and…”

“Everything will be okay,” Jin said with a nod. “Come lay down with Hoseok-ie and I and get some sleep. We can talk about what happened after everyone else has calmed their asses down.”

The glare Jin gave the other members should have cut them like a knife.

Looking from his group of attackers, to his brothers on the other side, Taehyung once again wondered if he was choosing between evils before reluctantly giving in and going to the part of the room he was instructed to.

Laying down on the group of mattresses Hoseok laid on the floor, Taehyung reasoned the pain they might inflict on him may actually help his miserable, meaningless existence end.

As soon as he was settled, Hoseok and Jin carefully took sentinel on either side, gently pulling the covers over their brother and wrapping their bodies around him. Jin carded his fingers through Taehyung's hair as he sang a gentle song, Hoseok pulling Tae to lay his head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around the boy, both he and Jin silently daring the others to try anything more.

~oooOooo~

“Hyung…” Taehyung whispered some time much later when all the lights were out.

“Mmm?’ Hoseok whispered, opening his eyes to look down at the boy in his arms.

“’M sorry…hy--ung,” Tae said, emotions threatening to overwhelm him as he battled the demons deep inside his mind.

“Don’t be sorry,” Hoseok said, gently rubbing his brothers back. “It is hyungs job to take care of his dongsaeng.”

“Will…are you…” Tae tried, now suddenly afraid to voice the thoughts inside his mind. “Don’t leave me?” he pleaded instead.

“Not ever,” Hoseok promised. “Seokjin-hyung will not ever leave you either. Just get some sleep. We will deal with this in the morning. Hoseokie will keep his Taehyungie safe. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again…”

Taehyung only nodded at that, the gentle touch of a brother he loved so soothing his mind and once again keeping his demons at bay. As sleep called to him once more Taehyung wrapped his hands as tight as he could in Hoseok’s shirt. Convinced that only then he would be able to keep this brother from running away.

The next morning dawned far too early for Kim Taehyung and his rise to consciousness was slow as his mind tried to fight the fog that it was lost in. For the first time in his recent memory Taehyung was warm, a familiar weight on either side of his body, the smell of the kidnappers shampoo strong to his senses, and a steady, strong heartbeat thrumming in his ear.

Slowly pushing himself free of the dogpile he had found himself a part of Taehyung bit back the pain that he felt, almost choking on a scream as he realized his attackers from the previous day were already awake and at the table, each of them watching him with hate-filled eyes, seemingly waiting for the proper moment to serve another strike.

Thankfully for Tae, he felt Hoseok stirring, and in his heart he knew, the promise his brother had made last night was one that he would keep. Jung Hoseok would keep Kim Taehyung safe for as long as he was alive.

When Hobi realized his bedfellow was awake he pushed himself up as well, glaring at the other occupants in the room as his memories of the day before came rushing back to him with a sort of clarity he had ever had before.

“Taehyungie,” Hoseok said, ignoring the others as he turned to his long neglected brother. “Did you sleep okay?’

Taehyung gave Hoseok a ghost of his boxy smile and nodded gently, basking in this precious moment in which someone he cared for, cared for him in return.

“Why don’t we get you some clothes and let you take a shower, hmm? Then we can have some breakfast and you, me, and hyung-nim can see about starting our day?”

Taehyung nodded in agreement, figuring a shower was for the best. He knew from the looks on everyone’s faces the words they would have would soon turn in to blows, and he appreciated for the moment that Hoseok was trying to shield him from that pain.

Slowly pushing himself up, Taehyung let Hoseok assist him through his unsteady gait as they picked out warm clothes and Hobi helped him to the shower, Jin rising and sitting guard in the middle of the bathroom door, the curtain pulled closed to give their brother the privacy he deserved.

Once they were sure that the shower was running in earnest and that Kim Taehyung was actually washing himself clean, his knights in shining armor turned to battle the wicked monsters that had stolen their brother away.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” Hoseok growled, the first verbal punch flung in Namjoon’s direction.

“I didn’t do shit,” Namjoon growled, his eyes suddenly becoming dark as a ripple of something yet untold danced across his body just beneath his skin.

“But you didn’t stop whatever it was?” Jin questioned, one eyebrow raised in the direction of his leader.

“Boys will be boys,” Namjoon said with a disregarding shrug. “Don’t start a fight when you know you cannot finish it…”

“Taehyung didn’t do anything to you,” Hoseok growled, him and Jin tag-teaming the others.

“That coward betrayed all of us,” Jungkook said, his eyes dark as well, colored black by his own hatred and self-loathing for the secrets he thought none of them knew.

“And we abandoned him!” Hoseok argued. “Did any of us once stop and think about what he was going through or ask him why he made any of the choices that he made? No. We just assumed all of these things and--”

“What does he have over your head?” Yoongi asked with a snort. “Or are you in on all of this too? If memory serves me right, you were only forced to eat a lavish dinner with that sick fuck of a monster. And your little accident could have been conveniently staged…”

“Yoongi-ssi,” Jin barked, his face set in anger as he considered the three. “After all the pain that you have suffered, after everything Taehyungie tried to do for you… How can you so thoughtlessly hurt him in any of the ways that you have?”

“Because he kissed his ‘master’s’ ass and ruined any chance we had of getting out of here.”

“You don’t know that,” Hoseok said, keeping one ear to the shower to make sure Taehyung did not walk in on his brothers fighting.

“And now he’s kissing your asses so the two of you will take him with us when we go,” Namjoon snorted, his accent becoming increasingly tainted as his posture slowly shifted, his shoulders becoming more firmly set as his stance became greatly more defensive.

“Kim Namjoon-ssi,” Jin roared, flinching a little when he realized how loud his voice had become. “What have you become! How can you be like this when all of us are hurting? None of us know what we are doing any more and instead of holding us together like a leader should…you are allowing us to turn on one another and you are letting Taehyungie be fed to the dogs because you refuse to stand your ground and protect your members like you were charged to do!”

“Every man for himself I guess,” Namjoon said, this time his accent most definitely American, every word he said flowing from his lips in a perfect sort of English he had never spoken before.

“You are a pathetic excuse for a leader, Kim Namjoon-ssi, and someone I will no longer tolerate as a friend. Perhaps it is you three we should leave behind when we finally get the chance to run,” Jin said flatly, no hint of anger or regret in his tone.

“And why is that hyung-nim?” Jungkook asked, his own pain bleeding out into the words he was now using to hurt others.

“Because the three of you are no better than the monsters we are trying to run from,” Jin said, his heart growing heavy as he processed the truth of the words he had just said. “All of you deserve to be punished accordingly. And if Kim Taehyung will not find justice for himself for whatever you have done to him, then it is my job as his eldest member to seek that justice for him, and to make sure those who are guilty of transgressions against him pay for the crimes they have committed.”

“Screw you, Kim Seokjin,” Namjoon barked, an evil laugh escaping his lips as he last of his humanity faded away.

“Namjoon-ah?” Hoseok asked, taking a cautious step towards the man he once loved…had still loved ‘til only moments ago. “Where…who are you?”

“I’m Kim Namjoon,” the man before him answered, his voice somehow distorted.

“No,” Hoseok said softly as fear started to consume him. “No you’re not. I don’t…I don’t know who you are…”

The monster that Namjoon had for so long kept at bay came to the surface but stayed quiet…cold and quiet. Hoseok gazed at his lover in confusion as he watched Namjoon’s whole body go stiff underneath said gaze. When he looked into the others face Hoseok gasped at what he saw. He wasn’t sure who he was looking at, but it most definitely wasn’t Kim Namjoon.

Chapter End Notes

*takes a deep breath*

A lot of bad stuff happened in this chapter didn't it?

I'm sorry if this affected or triggered anybody. But now that we are all through this together let us remember this is NOT real. Step back. Get something warm to drink. Watch funny BTS videos. Breathe and decompress. Come back for more later, or, don't come back at all. I will love and treasure you all the same.

A lot of stuff happens in these next several chapters because we are so close to the end of Kidnapped. But have no fear, our story does not end there. I think at this point all of us deserve a happy ending and so through BTS Returned and BTS Recovered we will get to that point and it is my greatest hope that you stay with me/us until then.

Peace, Light & Love,

Kaelyn

STORY REQUESTS

Chapter by kaelyngrey

HI FRIENDS!!!

Kaelyn here!

It came to mind that I have way too much time on my hands right now, and so I was wondering if any of our readers had any requests for backstories, spin-offs, or side stories for any of the characters within the Kidnapped-verse.

If any of you have any requests, or just any general questions, feel free to drop them in the comments and I will see what I can come up with!

Peace Out!

ME!!!!

Part Sixty-Six

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

T/N: KOREAN VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

* joesonghamnida: I’m Sorry ( formal polite) For use when speaking to someone older than you, in a higher social status than you, in formal settings , etc.

* Mianhae: Sorry

* Jeongmal mianhae: really/very sorry (informal)

* Jeongmal mianhaeyo: really/very sorry (formal)

1. This progression is a breakdown for Jungkook in that he wishes to convey how very, truly, sorry he is for all the wrongs he has committed against his family.

Taehyung knew the fighting had started as soon as he turned the shower on. He had carefully climbed under the scalding water, biting the blood from his lip as he contained his hiss of pain. Everywhere the water hit his body felt like acid drops melting his skin. Every word he heard from the members outside was a knife being twisted into his already bleeding heart.

“What the fuck did you do to him?” he heard Hoseok growl, wondering which of the three his brother was going to war with.

“I didn’t do shit,” Namjoon had growled.

“But you didn’t stop whatever it was?”

Taehyung couldn’t help the small smile that came across his face as he heard his Seokjin-hyungie go to war on his behalf as well. Maybe if he were lucky…

No.

Kim Taehyung would stop that train of thought right now. Luck had not a damn thing to do with it, and ever since the moment he had been born, luck had not known his name.

Taehyung snorted, wincing at the pain and coughing blood into the drain as he heard his ‘leader’ making random excuses for what he had allowed….

No.

Taehyung had deserved all those things. Everything that had happened…every painful touch…it had been a gift to Taehyung to prove that he was still very much alive. Kim Taehyung was still human…he was capable of feeling pain, and that was all the proof he needed to know that he was not the monster he had been made out to be.

‘Pain…needs to be felt,’ Taehyung thought to himself, trying to remember where the saying had come from.

“Weakness compels strength. Betrayal begets blood. This is the law of the Nine Clans.”

That wasn’t the line he was looking for, but it still applied to his situation.

Taehyung had been reborn from the ashes of his weakness and given new purpose. He would be strong enough to make sure his brothers made it out of here alive.

He had also betrayed his family and been physically punished for it accordingly.

“ That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt…Pain is like fabric: The stronger it is, the more it’s worth.”

Maybe that was the line that Taehyung was looking for. It seemed to make more sense as a comparison for his fractured mind to make. Taehyung's pain was everlasting. Surely it would be worth its weight in moral gold. Certainly he would be able to trade the value of his pain for the lives of those he still so dearly loved.

“Taehyung didn’t do anything to you…”

Taehyung had sold each and every one of his brothers, all the dreams of escape they had had, too far down the river to be saved. He had condemned them all to hell and for that grievous error he was being justly punished.

"No one abandoned me, Hyung," Taehyung whispered to himself as he watched more blood wash down the drain. "Taehyungie abandoned you. Joesonghamnida..."

“...so the two of you will bring him with us…”

“I won’t go, hyung,” Taehyung breathed as tears fell down his face, washing away his sins. “Taehyungie will stay right here and make sure you are safe…”

“...I will seek justice for Taehyungie if he will not…”

“Hajima…”

“Namjoon-ah…where…who are you?”

Taehyung closed his eyes as he allowed his head to fall back against the shower wall. If Hoseok-hyung saw too that something was wrong with their leader-nim… Just how fractured was Namjoon’s mind to be acting the way he was now?

Taking as deep a breath as his injuries would allow Taehyung stood and methodically washed himself off, his eyes unfocused as he washed blood and sex from his skin, his mind refusing to acknowledge just how broken his body was for fear his heart would give out. Dying now would be such a waste…such a selfish thing to do. Taehyung had no right to give in to his own needs, not when the rest of his family needed him.

“Please forgive me, Jimin-ah,” Taehyung whispered as he shut the water off, grabbing his towel and drying off the best he could, carefully pulling his clothing on and making sure his injuries were covered. “Please just let me go…”

As Taehyung exited the restroom, his very soul tired, he carefully deposited his rags in the dirty clothes, slowly turning to look at his broken family, every ounce of the sadness he felt flooding off of him like a raging river.

“Stop,” he said softly, walking up to Hoseok and gently placing a hand on his older brothers arm. “I’m tired, hyung. Please don’t…don’t fight our family. Not…not anymore.”

Taehyung spoke barely above a whisper, his words carrying more weight than he had meant to give them, and for just a moment the entire room was at a pause.

Jungkook made to snort but Taehyung shook his head.

“Hyung is sorry, Jungkookie,” Taehyung forced himself to say. “I should…I should have taken care of you better… the first…the first time…around…”

Jungkook looked at the man before him then, confusion and sadness clouding his mind.

If Taehyung meant the very first time he had broken Jungkook’s heart…

Sixteen year old Jeon Jungkook had steadfastly pushed eighteen year old Kim Taehyung away and into the waiting arms of their savage rapper Min Yoongi who at the time, had been the perfect man to mend all the broken pieces of Taehyung's heart.

“Hyung…” Kookie breathed, his brow drawing in confusion as he thought back on what he had done to make Taehyung sorry…

“Jungkookie should get some rest,” Taehyung said, turning away from the group, his head hung as he began to trek back to the pile of blankets he had made that morning.

“No one pities you, Kim Taehyung,” Namjoon spat.

“No one should,” Taehyung said, hanging his head even more. “I am just…a god-forsaken monster. Taehyung-ssi will remember his place from now on.”

“Namjoon-ah!” Hoseok breathed, looking at the man he was still shielding Taehyung from in horror.

Hoseok found his breath catching in his throat as he realized what was wrong. He was terrified of the person standing before him now. He really didn’t know this version of Kim Namjoon at all. What he saw before him was a ticking bomb and it occurred to Hobi that he was truly clueless as to exactly how violent the man before him would be. He feared with everything in him that Kim Taehyung would be the lone victim of that fallout when it came.

“Namjoon-ah,” Hoseok tried again. “How…how could you?”

“How could I what?” Namjoon bit.

“I can’t believe you!” Hoseok whispered out loud.

‘I can’t trust you,’ he said to himself as he cut the loss of the last piece of sanity he had held so dear.

“But you’ll believe a traitor instead?” Namjoon hissed, his eyes growing dark once more.

“Just let it go, hyung,” Taehyung whispered once more, slowly crawling into his bed as he begged the darkness to take him. “I won’t be the reason you guys fight. It isn’t even worth it…”

“Taehyung-ah!” Jin tried to object.

“Don’t worry about me,” Taehyung said as he pulled the covers over his head, tears threatening to fall once more.

“Taehyung-ah!”

“Goodnight, Seokjin hyung-nim,” Taehyung said, smiling as he gave in to the sirens call of darkness and peace, if only for just a little while.

“Touch him and it will be the last thing you ever do,” Hoseok growled, turning from the pile of blankets to stand toe to toe with the man he had once loved.

“Is that a threat, Hoseokie?” Namjoon asked, his tone mocking.

“It’s a promise,” Hoseok said, his tone low and his eyes dark. “Leave Kim Taehyung alone.”

“Make me,” Namjoon threatened.

Hoseok opened his mouth to tell him it wasn’t worth it when they both turned to the sound of someone spitting, watching in slow motion as Jin reared back and slapped Yoongi as hard as he could, causing the younger mans head to snap to the side.

“You will learn respect, Min Yoongi-ssi,” Jin glowered, his eyes turning to the rest of them. “None of you are to go near Taehyung. If you have any more problems with him, then you have a problem with me.”

Jin shook his head as he looked around, trying to calm his frazzled mind.

“Namjoon and Yoongi seem to have forgotten their places as leader and hyung, Jungkookie. Whatever happened… whatever it is you were a part of… Hyungie expected better of you Jungkook-ah. Taehyungie is your best friend among us. Nothing and no one should ever have the ability to change that. And after everything Kim Taehyung has done for you…all the punishments he has taken for you…”

All Jin could do was shake his head.

“Hoseok-ah, watch after Taehyung. Breakfast should be here soon and he’ll need something easy to eat. I’ll have to cook it myself to make sure these assholes don’t try and kill him when he eats.”

“Hyung…” Hoseok tried to object.

“I am well, Hoseokie,” Jin said with a gentle smile. “It is time I start acting like the eldest here. These brats seem to have forgotten their place.”

“Yes, hyung,” Hoseok said, looking at his eldest brother once more before taking guard next to his favorite little brother, his eyes like a hawk on the three members of their group he no longer knew.

Once breakfast was prepared and their quarters cleaned for the day Jin and Hobi switched out the guard, Hoseok showering and eating his food while Jin watched over Tae. For a long time Jin stared at his brothers face, mapping the plains of his jaw, a frown pulling at the edges of his mouth as he realized just how tiny Taehyung really was.

Noticing that Taehyung had slipped his covers, and feeling the slightest bit cool himself, Jin went to adjust the blanket, pausing when he saw the bruising on Taehyung's throat, his eyes going wide as his hand shot out to hover over the marks.

“Tae-ah…” Jin whispered, a cold dread flowing over him as though someone had poured ice on him.

Slowly reaching out Jin pulled back the blankets, his eyes searching what he could see, slipping the collar of Taehyung's oversized sweater over one shoulder and then the next, freezing in horror as his mind fought to process what he saw marked on Taehyung's collarbone just above his heart.

“Taehyungie…” Jin expelled, choking on the sob that threatened to escape him. “Oh, child…”

Quickly covering his dongsaeng back up, Jin closed his eyes, breathing in and out as he tried to quell the monster he felt growing within. Everything in him wanted to beat Namjoon and Yoongi to death for what he knew they had done to Taehyung; but a part of him desperately wanted to understand why. What had Taehyung done that was so bad as to deserve such heinous treatment and torture. No amount of sin could ever warrant what he had just seen. And what had Jungkook’s part in all of this been? Surely he had not allowed such a thing to happen. In no way would Jin believe that his sweet maknae had stood by and watched such a crime, much less been as a willing participant to Taehyung being…

“Oh God…” Jin breathed, his mind refusing to acknowledge the thought that had just slipped in. “They would never…”

Hoseok's voice brought Jin from his new nightmare. When he came back into himself it was evident there was something he had missed, only realizing what was wrong as he felt the tears falling down his face.

“They…hurt…” Jin choked out. “Beat…”

Jin was on his feet in the blink of an eye, Yoongi leaned backwards over the table, Jin's hands around his neck as he leaned over him, his entire demeanor deadly.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO TAEHYUNGIE!” Jin screamed, squeezing even tighter as he contemplated snapping Yoongi's neck.

Yoongi looked only momentarily surprised, a smirk taking over just as quickly as he pulled his own mask back on.

“Did the little whore cry to you about how mean every one is to him?” Yoongi spat, trying, and failing, to escape Jin's grip.

“Taehyung is still SLEEPING!” Jin roared. “ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

“Taehyung-ssi got what he deserved,” Yoongi said.

For a moment everyone there thought Jin would back down once more. Their eldest hyung had never been one for physical violence.

It wasn’t until Jin swung, and kept swinging, that everyone around him realized how serious he was. If they had not immediately jumped in to action…Hoseok was convinced his brother would have beaten Yoongi to death.

“Fuck you, hyung,” Yoongi spat, holding his eye where one good punch from Jin had landed.

“Is that what you did to Taehyungie?” Jin growled. “What those monsters did to you? Hmmm? Did it make you feel good? All big and bad? Knowing he would never fight back or say an ill thing against you? Did it give you perverse pleasure to prey on someone so weak?”

Hoseok did not miss the flinch that wrecked Jungkook's body.

“Stay away from me, Min Yoongi-ssi. You as well, Kim Namjoon-ssi. Maybe…maybe when the guards come…I will…tell them what you have done… Maybe then they will punish you…”

“Hyung…” Jungkook whispered, tears of fear in his eyes from watching his normally docile brother break.

“I am disappointed in you, Jeon Jungkook-ssi,” Jin said, turning to face the boy with sad eyes. “Without one, there are none. We raised you better than this. All of us. No matter what your brothers tell you is right…you are old enough now to have a voice of your own. You should long ago have learned how to use it. And when Taehyungie was being wronged…it is your job to protect him…”

“Hyung…” Jungkook choked, closing his eyes but failing to capture his tears.

“What happened, Jungkookie?’ Hoseok asked softly. “What did Taehyung ever do…”

“Nothing,” Jungkook said, falling to his knees as he finally broke, the memories of what had happened to him only hours before assaulting his mind and causing his barrier to disappear.

“Mianhae!” Jungkook sobbed, screaming as he finally allowed his body to feel the pain his mind had felt all along. “Jeongmal mianhae… Jeongmal mianhAEYOOOOOOO!”

Jungkook’s screaming was all it took to bring Taehyung from his sleep. It was a scream he had heard before…one he never wanted to hear again.

Looking around in terror Taehyung saw Jungkook shattered on the floor, his body wracked with sobs as he cried out his betrayal, and his pain, and his grief.

So much had Jungkook done…he didn’t think he would ever be forgiven.

“Jungkookie…” Taehyung breathed, pushing through his own pain to run to his little brother, pulling the boy into his arms and holding him close, the memories of the workout room suppressed in favor of coming to his maknae's aid.

Namjoon opened his mouth to say something smart, but shut it once again at the look he got from Hoseok.

“Kookie…” Tae breathed, his heart breaking in two.

“Forgive me,” Jungkook wailed, holding onto his favorite brother for dear life. “I’m so sorry! Jungkookie’s so… soooo sorry…hy--yung…”

“What happened?” Hoseok asked, looking at the scene wide-eyed.

Jungkook opened his mouth to speak, but he was crying so hard, his entire body shaking, that no words would come out.

“Jungkookie?” Jin whispered, looking at the scene before him in confusion and shock as well.

“Forgive me!” Jungkook cried out once more. “I didn’t…I couldn’t…”

Taehyung never even moved as Jungkook expelled the contents of his stomach, his emotions choking him and making it difficult for him to breathe.

“Who hurt you, Kookie-chagiyah?” Taehyung whispered, rubbing Kookie’s back as the boy before him continued to dry-heave.

“No one…” Jungkook whispered, fear seizing him again as his mind replayed every agonizing second.

“Jungkook-ah,” Taehyung said, his voice soothing and low. “Tell hyungie who hurt you…”

“Jimin…” Kookie breathed, collapsing to his side as the tears fell from his eyes.

“What did Jimin do?” Hoseok asked, grabbing a piece of dirty laundry and wiping away the vomit from the floor so he could crouch next to his brother.

“That monster…” Jungkook said, his mind no longer allowing him to make any sense. “Carl…”

“What about Carl?” Jin asked, the hairs of the back of his neck standing on end.

“He got…his pretty songbird…” Jungkook breathed, his mind shutting down to save itself from harm, his body relaxing in to unconsciousness quick enough to not hear the scream that ripped it’s way from Kim Taehyung's throat.

Moments passed like hours as the remaining members of the room processed Jungkook’s words, the severity of his suffering finally understood.

Yoongi punched a wall.

Namjoon shattered even more, silent in his internal rage.

Hoseok folded in on himself as he let loose a moan of agony.

Seokjin cursed Mathan Foley once more.

And Kim Taehyung, he wished for everything in him to take Kookie’s pain away to make his own.

He had told himself many times before that his body would shut down when the pain he experienced got to be too bad. Had willed himself to understand that consciousness was temporary, and that like everything else I his life, moments like these too would pass. One day soon the pain would get to be too much, and he would peacefully slip away. But just like his new always, he still held strong. Not even the pain of his favorite person in the entire world allowed him to slip away. Here he was, and here he felt he would forever remain, left on the shore of the living, waves washing over him and crashing in to him, unable to drown.

SPIN-OFF ANNOUCEMENT

Chapter by kaelyngrey

For everyone who made a request for spin-offs I have either posted your request, answered your questions, or explained why I could not write the spin-off.

vik720, Dark_chim, TVDLife1, and HY89 I have your requests saved because I want to give them lots of thought and turn them in to something awesome, but I promise I have not forgotten you!

Thanks for all the fun and pain! I really do hope you guys enjoy!

Kaelyn

(follow the link my friends!!!)

https:https://archiveofourown.org/works/17519861/chapters/41273204//archiveofourown.org/works/17519861/chapters/41273204

Part Sixty-Seven

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

Pretty sure I am dying from some unknown plague. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It happens. Since I feel so miserable and can't concentrate on anything but my man flu pain, here's a little pressie so all of you can suffer with me!!! uwu !!!

"We used to be something surreal. Others looked to us for what we built. We were envied until the point, The point in which we fell. We fell by the wayside, and slowly watched ourselves die, A lonely death in which no one cared and no one came. When the walls cave in, we only have ourselves to blame"

~ Without The Bitter The Sweet Isn’t As Sweet,

Mayday Parade

“Ta…Taehyung-ah,” Jin said, his mind trying to work through its protective fog. “Just…”

“Taehyung-ie,” Hoseok breathed, sitting back up and strapping on his armor. “Let’s…let’s get you back in bed. You need…to…”

“No!” Taehyung growled, his face fierce, moving his body to shield Jungkook.

“Taehyung,” Jin said, shaking his head to clear the remaining fog. “We’ll…we’ll bring Kookie with us,” the eldest member of the group reasoned. “You can…he…both of you…need rest…”

“Don’t touch him!” Taehyung hissed, eyes of hatred looking at the others in the room, wondering how any of them had missed all the signs of their maknae being hurt.

Taehyung knew that his Jungkookie was resilient and strong, but if he had seen the signs…why had no one else? Was it because he had once loved Kookie the most? Because he loved Jungkook the same as he had when they were together? Would Jimin have seen the signs as well? Or would he have been just as blind as their brothers were? Did their blindness towards his condition mean they did not love Jeon Jungkook at all? Or perhaps they had never been as selfless as Kim Taehyung was, though he did not allow himself to see it that way.

Kim Taehyung would never realize he was the most selfless of them all.

“Let us help you get Jungkookie to bed. The both of you need to lay down,” Jin said, moving from where he stood to cautiously approach Tae. “Hoseokie and I will make sure no one bothers you, okay?”

Taehyung looked at Jin with narrow eyes, a part of him screaming out to trust no one, while yet another part reasoned that Jin had seemed to finally wake, desperate to do what he had thus failed to accomplish.

“Hoseok-ah, help me,” Jin said as he kneeled down, helping Taehyung stand and walking him across the room, settling him among the blankets almost in the middle of the bed.

Standing aside when Hoseok carried Jungkook to them, Jin helped his brother lay their maknae down directly next to Taehyung, and watched Hoseok as he helped the boys cover up once Tae had wrapped himself around his best friend.

“I’ll take first watch, hyung,” Hoseok said softly, sitting on the edge of the mattresses, his shoulders squared in resolution and defense, his eyes daring any to approach them.

When Mathan finally made it to the motley crew several hours later, he was surprised to see Hoseok sitting guard over Taehyung and Jungkook who were both fast asleep, looking like he would kill the first person who approached them. Not far away, Kim Seokjin sat, his body acting as a barrier between those three and the two remaining members sitting at the table, looks of hatred and disgust aimed at the other four. When no one spoke, Mathan realized that something serious had happened and that the fractures had yet to be repaired.

“Did I miss something, gentlemen?” He asked, his jaw clenched as his tried to contain his anger at the seemingly childish games these young men continued to play.

Mathan was already exhausted from the trek he had made to this prison cell to try and give the six members of Bangtan Sonyeondan some hope. Chest bandaged and sweat rolling off his brow, Mathan looked carefully at the scene before him when none in the room acquiesced to answer him.

“What happened?” he ground out when he noticed the wounds that three of the eldest members sported.

Jin had bruised knuckles, Namjoon wore a busted lip, and Yoongi had managed to incur a nasty bruise to his cheek.

“No one have anything to say?” Mathan asked again, carefully pushing himself off of the door frame and going to sit at one of the empty kitchen chairs. “Shall we all just sit here then until someone speaks? Cause I think you lot would realize we don’t have a whole lot of time left before the end game starts…”

Looking around the room once more, Mathan noticed every conscious member grinding their jaws, still refusing to speak or meet each others eyes.

“What the fuck!” Mathan groaned, his head banging against the table in exasperation.

Mathan Foley had very little patience left, or even time for that matter. At this point in the game he was mortally exhausted and if he were honest with himself he knew that the quicker he set these boys free, the sooner he would be able to perish in the hell he had condemned himself to.

“Which one of them did you hit?” he asked, picking his head back up as he looked directly at Jin. “And what the fuck did they do to piss you off?”

“Why do you care?” Jin spat, hatred bleeding out of him. “The problem is fixed, so don’t worry your pretty little ass about it.”

“Hyung!” Hoseok murmured, trying to reel his eldest brother back in.

“No, Hoseok-ah,” Jin bit, not hatefully but enough to enforce his authority. “Mathan Foley deserves to know just what he missed while he was on vacation.”

Hoseok wanted to object, to protect his sleeping brothers from the horrors of the truth getting out, but seeing the look in Seokjin's eyes, he knew that there was absolutely no stopping him. And if Hoseok was honest with himself, there was no point in even trying.

“What fucking vacation?” Mathan asked, his voice low as to conserve the oxygen in his lungs, no bite or layer of hostility to be found.

He was far too tired to get fired up now.

“I’ve been right here…”

Jin snorted at that, hatred and contempt written on his face as he looked this man in the eyes.

“You could have fooled me.”

“What happened?” Mathan asked again, trying to stay conscious and calm.

"What didn't happen?,” Jin snarled, his eyes shooting daggers into the man that had far too belatedly decided to grace them with his presence once more. “Why do you care? Why don't you just go spend some more time wherever you've been hiding? That’s what you do now, isn’t it? Hide when things get good.”

“Jin,” Mathan breathed, his eyes closing as he lowered his head to the table once more, the world spinning on his odd oxygen intake. “I’ve been...”

Mathan Foley, for the life of him, could not breathe. Could not get his chest to expand or the oxygen to enter his lungs. He had already overexerted himself for the day and had not even managed to get anything done.

“Busy?” Jin countered, his anger rolling off of him in waves. “Plotting more ways to cause us heartache and pain while you and the rest of these monsters sit and laugh at us as you torture us? Lie to us? Make us wish that we were dead?”

“Seokjin,” Mathan tried again, fever raging through his body and burning his mind.

The antibiotics that Mathan had been taking were clearly not working, and in his mind he wondered if they were actually poison to finish off the job that Ivchenko had continuously failed to do. Much to Sven's chagrin, Mathan Foley was still very much alive.

"Where were you," Jin screamed, fist impacting the table as he stood from where he sat, his mind mind so focused on the pain he felt within…he missed everything that was wrong with Mathan. "Did you enjoy watching that vile doctor get what he's wanted for so long? Did you cover your ears to drown out Jimin's screams? How about Jungkookie when your uncle claimed him? Where were you when our own family turned on itself?”

“What...is going...what...are you talking about?”

Mathan’s head was spinning, his body catching fire as his wound continued to pulse with infection.

“Where the hell have you been?” Jin asked again, every transgression cast against them now so easily lain at the feet of their ‘would be’ saviour. “You weren’t here when all those things happened to us. You didn’t come to protect us like you promised you would. So just go. We don't need you here now."

“Please,” Mathan whispered, his mind refusing to keep up as he tried to process the violent onslaught on information he had just suffered.

Mathan had to keep a clear mind. He had to know what was going, and he had to fix whatever it was that had turned these men against him. He just…couldn’t. Not right now. Not as violently ill as he was.

"Please… Don't pretend, Mathan-ssi,” Jin laughed, an undeniable bitterness to his tone now. It was one that Mathan himself had never heard. “Do not act like you don’t know what your uncle has done. What that...doctor… has done. Our own brothers even -"

"Hyung, no," Hoseok interjected, unconsciously pulling Taehyung into his arms. "Please…"

In that moment, everything cleared from Mathan’s head and suddenly there were not many more questions left to ask.

“What have you done?” Mathan growled, his head snapping up as he looked to Namjoon and Yoongi, the thought never crossing his mind that any of the others were an aggressor.

"Hyung," Hoseok cried, ignoring Mathan as one hand shot out in Jin’s direction. “Hyung, no. Don’t…don’t do this. Tae…”

“You saw his neck, Hoseok-ah,” Jin said quietly, turning his head slightly to the brother he addressed.

“Hyung…” came a strangled voice, one Jin so desperately wished were still asleep.

“Tae…” Jin whispered, his voice cracking with overwhelming emotion. “I saw…your neck, Taehyung-ah. And...your shoulder…"

“Please,” Taehyung begged, pulling free of Hoseok and balling in on himself to hide in shame.

“I'm so sorry…Taehyungie… Mathan needs to know what he has allowed these monsters we called our family to do…”

“What who did?” Mathan asked, standing steady on his feet once more. “What’s wrong with Taehyung?”

Jin hated the sight of more tears on Taehyung's face as he stared up at him, silently begging him not to say another word. But in his heart he knew, if he never did another thing, he had to protect his only brother who would never try to protect himself.

“Ask them,” Jin said, turning his steely gaze back to the two guilty members standing on the opposite side of the room.

Mathan looked from Kim Taehyung to Kim Seokjin to Min Yoongi and Kim Namjoon.

“Why is it always the two of you?’ he asked, his temper threatening to rise once more. “What in the fuck have you two done now?

Yoongi turned his hate-filled gaze to the boy he once loved, now cowering in the corner where he belonged, discarded like the piece of trash that he was, none of the others making any attempt to collect him.

“I'd say that master's whore got what he deserved,” Yoongi spat. “Probably better. He might have even enjoyed it. I didn't hear much complaining after all. Namjoon-ah…did you?”

Mathan’s blood ran cold at what he just heard. Shaking his head, he had to ask again just to be sure he wasn’t going mad.

“What the FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM!!!” Mathan screamed, temporarily losing control of his temper.

Yoongi’s smirk was enough to drop the room to frigid temperatures, but his words were what froze it all together.

“Never took him for liking it rough, but I guess he learned some new tricks from his master, Mathan-ssi. I just fucked him the way he likes. Like I said…better than he deserves. Isn’t that all he’s here for now anyway?”

The occupants of the room expected Mathan to burst in anger. To unleash hell upon them as he cut them with his un-tempered tongue. Each of them awake braced for an outburst, prepared for the earth-shattering vengeance that Mathan had so often dealt. Anything at all to let them know that Mathan Foley had abandoned them once and for all.

Much to their surprise, Mathan simply sunk into a chair and deflated. In his mind he had failed them already. What would be the point of soldiering on with their escape. If they blamed the occurrences of the past few days on him, how would they ever trust him to lead them away from here and into the arms of people who could…would… deliver them home safe.

He knew in his soul he had caused every bit of Taehyung's pain.

“I...I have a way out of here. Soon,” Mathan said, his tone devoid of any emotion.

He couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge the broken boy in the room; the one he so willingly condemned to hell. None of these men would follow him into freedom if he did. None of these men might follow him in to freedom still…

Jin stopped dead in his tracks, halfway across the room to beat Min Yoongi to death, and turned to look at the man he once would have trusted with his heart and soul.

“A…a way out?” he questioned softly, wondering what new game these monsters were playing now.

“I have a place for us to go,” Mathan said, looking at the men before him resolutely. “It’s time to get away from here but…I’m going to need you to trust me.”

The five members of BTS that were awake slowly looked at each other, unsure of what to do. In the middle of this chaos, the man before them once again teased them with a ray of hope. For the last several months Mathan Foley had helped them for reasons they did not themselves quite understand and now, he was telling them the time had come for them to run for their lives and away from this hell.

“Why would we believe you?” Jin asked, his tone cautious as he looked at Mathan once more. “You disappear and come back just to say that? Will you leave again until ‘soon’ has come and gone?”

“I will not leave you until the hounds of Hell drag me away,” Mathan swore, giving the man before him a blank look as he tried to contain the emotions running through his faltering heart. “This time around...”

Mathan couldn’t bring himself to admit the infection ravaging his body would kill him before a jury of his peers ever could. He found, here and now, that his bravery was long gone when it came to voicing his feelings for the now broken Kim Seokjin.

“How soon,” Hoseok asked, trying to control his anger as he watched Jin still battling his own. “We can’t...we can’t do this. We can’t even turn our backs on ourselves anymore. You can’t just give us this…this hope and then...”

“It’s Tuesday,” Mathan said out loud as he made calculations in his brain. “I can have you out no later than next Thursday. I just... I have to tell my crew to meet me here and...then we are good...to go. We walk out of here in… seven days. Walk for maybe two…that’s how far the extraction point is. I’ll have you homeward bound to where you came from the day after that. We’ll stick to the mountains, and…we can hide in the abandoned buildings here. I have a plan. Just...don’t do anything else to mess it up.”

“How do we know it is safe?” Namjoon asked, his glare not lessening as he turned it to the American.

“No one here knows about it,” Mathan said softly, giving the others a look of urgency. “I’m the only one who goes to that side of the compound and…there are old four-wheeler trails back there that I know we can follow to the road. I promise it is the perfect way to escape. There is even a working phone there. You could…call for help or…”

Namjoon snorted at that, a scathing look on his face as he considered the man before him.

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” he asked, his stare cold and unforgiving. “The last time you monsters let us use a phone Taehyung-ssi got jealous and betrayed us all and hyung-nim…” Namjoon didn’t need to finish the sentence for Seokjin to flinch and Mathan to feel his still healing wound burn.

“Who let you use a phone?” Mathan asked, unable to tear his gaze from the blood-stained concrete floor.

“Your friend,” Namjoon spat. “That monster Sven.”

Mathan's head snapped up at that as he looked at the leader in confusion.

“Jiminie told me…” Namjoon began, “that his master let him use a phone to call home. That he called PD-nim to tell him we were alive but that he wasn’t allowed to tell him anything else. That was just before everything went to shit and you tried to throw us off again by getting yourself branded. We know that was never meant for hyung-nim. You yourself told us that Ivchenko wouldn’t mar his property like that. That we would be considered useless if we had any blemishes or flaws. Sven even said hyung-nim was worth the most to him because he was the least injured.”

“Why did you do it, Mathan Foley?” Jin asked, curious in his hurting mind to know exactly why this man was still insisting that he could help.

Mathan looked at the man his heart still loved and sighed, almost deflating. He had never meant to get this deep in to this, but in his heart he knew now more than ever that all of this was wrong. All of the careful calculating and planning had continuously blown up in their faces and if he didn’t get these young men out of this prison right now, he knew that he never would. The weather was clearing far too quickly for his liking and the devil named Ivchenko had already been in contact with his private transport service to arrange pickup in a chartered helicopter that would take these seven young men to an undocumented air strip. From there he knew that Sven would take these boys to places Mathan would never be able to recover them from.

“My father has no plans to let any of you go, not even with Sven,” Mathan said calmly, his resolve slowly slipping away. “And Sven has no plans to keep any of you together. The more broken you are, the easier you will be to sell to his clients for their perverse and guilty pleasures.”

“Then why not let us die here?” Yoongi asked. “Show us some humanity and put us out of our misery, and then your tainted conscious will be clear.”

“Because I cannot do that,” Mathan said, the pain in his chest threatening to overwhelm him. His broken heart, the one he had long thought dead, was bleeding, and that was the pain that threatened to consume him and steal his sanity from him. “I know your company has the money. And I know that they will never pay it. I know that your PD-nim has the money, countless people together have the money but…your government has threatened legal actions against any person or persons who try to buy your freedom. I know these idiots are asking for more money than you can imagine and…once they see what the public has done, I fear they will only ask for more. Dorian Foley’s greed will never know its end and that is the fault that will send him to his doom.”

Mathan forced himself to look these five young men in the face, hoping for once that God would bless him with one last chance to make things right.

“I know that you should not have been taken in the first place. None of you deserved to see the things you have been shown and…if I could take all of your pains and nightmares away, I so very gladly would. Just…help me set you free and I promise you I will make sure my family suffers. I will make sure Ivchenko pays for his transgressions and…I will be condemned to death for the sins I have so willingly committed. I won’t even ask for forgiveness because…monsters like me deserve to burn in Hell no matter how good our intentions may have been in the end.”

"All of us?" Jin asked, his challenging glare landing on Namjoon and Yoongi once more. "I didn't know we saved monsters too. How do we know they won't attack us? Maybe kill us all as we go?"

"Hyung," Taehyung whispered, tears coming to his eyes. "Please...please don't. Don't leave...all of you...please. You...we can go home."

Mathan looked at the motley crew, unsure of what to do.

“We’ll turn them over to law enforcement when they come,” he finally said. “If monsters are what they truly are, then we will leave that to a jury of their peers to decide. But my ride out of here only comes if I have all seven of you. No more. No less.”

Jin glanced at each of his members faces.

A strange expression passed over Taehyung's before it went blank.

Hoseok looked torn between anger and fragile hope.

Yoongi and Namjoon were stoic, looking unshaken by the thought of being charged for what they had done.

Jin let out a shaky breath as he allowed himself think about what Mathan was saying.

One week.

Mathan sounded so sure. Stepping towards him, Jin dropped his voice.

"How do we know you won't just disappear again? How do I know? This...this is my family. I'm afraid there's not much more we can take."

“Because I have to get you out of here before I die,” Mathan said. “I’ll call my ride right now and tell them to come, if it will make you believe me.”

Jin thought about everything that had happened leading up to that moment. Every time Mathan had stepped in and helped them. Every time his brothers had been broken. They had to get out. Mathan was their only hope.

Jin took a step back, wrapping his arms around himself.

"We'll be ready. We won't do anything to ruin it this time. None of us."

“How will we know when it is time?” Hoseok asked, looking at Mathan with narrowed eyes.

“Wait for my sign and be ready for my command,” Mathan said. “When I say run, you run like hell, and don’t look back. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Part Sixty-Eight

Chapter by kaelyngrey

“ I pray you'll be our eyes, And watch us where we go. And help us to be wise, In times when we don't know. Let this be our prayer, When we lose our way. Lead us to a place, Guide us with your grace, To a place where we'll be safe…”

“They’re dying, KaeKae,” Mathan said softly, his voice rumbling in his chest as he tried to keep his calm.

“All of us are dying, dear brother,” the voice on the other end returned, sounding neither surprised, nor alarmed.

“Does anything disturb you?” Mathan asked, caught off guard by the nonchalance of his sisters tone.

“Disturbing things disturb me,” she said simply. “Facts of life, not so much.”

“What am I to do?” Mathan asked instead.

“Put on your super hero cape and save the world?” Kaelyn said, sadness slowly creeping into her tone.

“We’re not five,” Mathan said, a smile stealing his lips.

“Was I even alive when you were five?” Kaelyn asked, getting off track.

“I think so,” Mathan said. “But seriously…”

“Do whatever you must to save them,” Kaelyn said, now serious. “Amor fati, as they say.”

“God bless you?” Mathan said in confusion.

“Accept your fate, dumb-ass,” Kaelyn said in exasperation. “Do you ever learn anything you uncultured swine? Jeez.”

“My education and retention isn’t the problem here,” Mathan pointed out. “They’re killing each other. The six of them will have murdered one another before I can get them out of here.”

“Where the hell is the seventh one?” Kaelyn asked, not sure she wanted to know.

“Your husband has him,” Mathan said before the line went silent.

“Who?’ Kaelyn whispered, fear evident in her tone.

“Jimin…”

“Please…”

“I’m trying, Kae. It just…lines have been drawn and…getting all of them out together…”

“What happened?” Kaelyn asked in concern.

“I can’t tell you that or you won’t come.”

“But all of them…I mean…they’re still breathing…aren’t they?”

“For now,” Mathan conceded. “But I’m not real sure how long their status will be living.”

“It’s impeccable timing, Mathan,” Kaelyn sighed. “The guys are talking comeback and…”

“Don’t speak weirdo to me, Kaelyn Grey,” Mathan said.

“Uncultured swine,” Kaelyn bit.

“Why am I doing this again?” Mathan asked.

“Calling me or doing the right thing?”

“Both?”

“You call me because I have the brains,” Kaelyn said. “And…you are doing the right thing because…it is the only thing to do. Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re.”

“English!”

“Resolutely in action, gently in manner. It means to do unhesitatingly what must be done, but accomplishing it as inoffensively as possible. Can you read?”

“Can you speak dumb?”

“Mathan… You aren’t stupid. You’re just…impossibly lost. And…I don’t blame you at all. But…if none of this makes sense then…save them simply because you love him and he loves them in return.”

“When did this turn in to something about love?” Mathan asked, insanely confused.

“Because love…is a many splendid thing. Love…lifts you up where you belong! All you need it love!”

“Cut the quote crap, Kaelyn. I’m serious!”

“You promised him, didn’t you? That you would take him and his brothers away from there and get them home safe and sound?”

“I did…”

“Then there you go. It’s as simple as that. Some people…they don't understand the promises they're making when they make them. But they end up keeping the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is…keeping the promise anyway. No matter the cost.”

“So…”

“Call me when you have a definite go. I’ll come to you then.”

“What if my timing is bad?” Mathan asked, allowing his insecurities to seep into his tone.

“Your timing is always bad. But since I’m not coming for you, it is an unfortunate circumstance I will have to withstand.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” Mathan asked, his chest swelling with pride at how beautifully his sister had turned out, all things considered.

“You owe me, big brother. Like…a hundred, million, kabillion, dollars.”

“Kaelyn…”

“Mathan?”

“Love me til the end?”

“To infinity and beyond…”

“I pray we'll find your light, And hold it in our hearts. When stars go out each night, Let this be our prayer…”

Mathan had laid in his room for untold hours, the picture from his wallet calling him home to a place that no longer existed.

"Our fearlessness shall be our secret weapon,” Cassie had whispered all those years ago. “Without fear, what is left to stop us?”

~oooOooo~

“Get your shit together,” Mathan said, speaking gruffly into the phone as he nailed down their plans. “I know that shit-holes a luxury for you, but I’m ready to get out of here and I need you front and center.”

“Everything a go then, boss?” Ryder had asked, his signal terrible from his hideout on the mountainside.

“Hardly,” Mathan said with a snort. “But I told these boys next Thursday so we better have our shit together by then.”

“What time Thursday?’ Ryder asked. “Maybe I have a date…”

“Eww,” Mathan said, his mind refusing to go there. “As soon as the sun is up. I can’t have these guys falling in a hole and breaking their necks. Kinda defeats the purpose of saving them.”

“And flashlights are a dead give away?”

“The explosions will be,” Mathan countered. “I can’t get Pyro off of his position until morning shift takes over and switches out the guards.”

“That’s deep level recon shit there friend.”

“The fuck you think we’re on?’ Mathan snorted. “Vacation?”

“We get caught, I don’t know you.”

“Then don’t get your ass caught. Becky will have my hide.”

“Can she skin you alive in prison?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember how scary that woman is,” Mathan laughed.

“She is a little hellion.”

“Be packed and ready Wednesday night. The flare will be your signal to go.”

“Pyro’ll be in Heaven.”

“And we’ll be running through hell…”

“ When shadows fill our day, Lead us to a place, Guide us with your grace, Give us faith so we'll be safe…”

Sitting in his lavish office, jewel perfectly placed at his side, Sven Ivchenko was currently on a conference call with several prospective buyers, discussing looks, needs, expectations, and other such perverse desires when it came to their own perfect toys.

“I cannot tell you who they are, gentlemen, until your deposits are in my account,” Ivchenko stated, his hand furiously making notes as he kept track of bids that were currently being placed on the six remaining members of BTS.

“How do we know they are worth our time?” A greasy looking businessman asked.

“Have I ever wasted your time before?” Sven asked, looking at the mans screen, one eyebrow raised. “Your last toy was broken because you played with him too hard, not because I sold you a faulty product.”

“I want something pretty,” another man said, his accent suggesting he was from some desert country. “I like my play things to be delicate and demur…”

“Give me your deposit, Sheikh, and I will send you my list,” Sven said, sounding annoyed.

“I want a saucy little number,” another prospective buyer said. “Draft however much it costs me straight from my account. Up to $100 million dollars.”

“I have something just for you,” Sven said, pushing a button on his laptop that Jimin couldn’t see. “He’s terribly uncultured. Could do with a sort of attitude adjustment.”

The man he had been speaking to laughed.

“I’m sure it’s nothing Daddy can’t straighten out. Just as long as he is as stunning as that beautiful man at your side…’

Sven smiled coyly as he turned his eyes to fest upon his prize.

“Yes,” Sven answered, drawing out the long letter to a hiss. “My beautiful jewel is quiet stunning, isn’t he. I plan on debuting him at our gala next month. He shall be joining my dark angel there. Perhaps…I could bring your new toy?”

“I’ll take it,” the man said. “Whatever you want, you have the code to my account. Just make sure everything is in order for delivery. I’ll send a team to you to clean it up. I want it looking shiny at the gala.”

“I hope you enjoy him thoroughly,” Sven smirked, shutting off the monitors and pulling a cigar from his pocket, turning in his chair to have Jimin light it.

“Did you hear that, my jewel?” Sven asked, his eyes cold and cruel as he blew smoke in Jimin’s direction, once more testing his resolve. “Your troublesome brother Min Yoongi has just been sold for an outrageously high price to a man that will have him broken and discarded within a month. However does that make you feel?”

Jimin blinked at Sven before sliding his mask back in to place.

“Chagiyah knows what is best for his belongings,” Jimin said, a polite smile on his face as fear seized his heart.

“This knowledge doesn’t bother you?’ Sven asked in mock concern.

“You promised me my brothers would be safe,” Jimin said, doing his best to keep his tone level. “Chagiyah has never lied to me, even when I disobeyed and tried to hurt him. I promised to never hurt you again. Of course I believe you…”

“And if I were to tell you I will have you and your brothers away from here within in week?” Sven asked, enjoying his little games.

“Are we going home?” Jimin countered, a small amount of hope in his eyes. “Will you finally take me to the cottage you speak so fondly of? Send my family somewhere safe so we can make you proud?”

“Is that what you want, Jimin-ssi?’ Sven asked, thinking all of this sounded too good to be true.

“I’m tired, chagiyah,” Jimin said honestly. “I want to go home with you and live out the rest of my days by your side, until it is no longer where I belong.”

“Do you say this because you mean it, Jimin-ssi? Or because since it is what you think I want to hear, I will not kill your brothers where they stand if you disobey me one. more. time.”

“Chagiyah…” Jimin breathed, his eyes closing as he turned his head away in pain, hoping beyond hope that his master could not detect the kind of pain that he felt.

“Tell me that you love me,” Sven commanded, suddenly everywhere that Jimin was, no hint of space between them.

“I love you til I die,” Jimin said, looking at the monster before him. “It is the least I can do to repay you for saving me and showing me the way…”

“If I think you are lying to me…” Sven began.

Before he could speak anymore, or threaten Jimin further with his painted pictures of how the remaining members of BTS would live and die, Jimin swept forward and claimed Sven's lips in a heated kiss, his body leaving the throne like chair he had been given to press into the monster before him.

“I could never lie to you again, chagiyah…” Jimin whispered against Sven's lips. “I owe you my life, and so I have given you my heart…”

“And when I require your body instead?’ Sven asked, his hand taking possession of Jimin's waist in a bruising grip.

“Do you require it now?” Jimin asked, his voice wavering in emotions he could not begin to understand.

“If I did?” Sven asked, sounding amused.

“Take it,” Jimin breathed, claiming Sven's lips one more. “Take all of me…please...”

“When?’ Sven asked, his resolve beginning to waiver.

“Now…”

“ We ask that life be kind, And watch us from above. We hope each soul will find, Another soul to love …”

After finishing his conversations with his team about the finalized escape plans, Pyro filled in on what he was expected to do, Mathan headed back inside the compound, intent on sharing with the members of BTS exactly what they had to look forward to.

When he saw Davis walking with Jimin, Mathan came to a halt. Knowing Sven as he did, Mathan wasn’t worried about Jimin’s safety, but it did make him nervous that neither the Russian, nor any of his guards were around. He figured that he would need to do some snooping later, but right now he was going to take advantage of an opportunity. Walking up to the pair he smiled at Jimin but spoke to Davis.

“Step away for a few minutes, Davis.”

“Can’t do that Mathan. Orders from Sven to take his little whore for his daily walk,” Davis said, leering at Jimin as he spoke.

Resisting the urge to snap the fucker’s neck on general principal, Mathan leaned down getting right up in Davis’ face.

“Step away for a few minutes, Davis. And don’t say shit about this, because if you do, you and I are going to have a conversation and I promise that only one of us is walking away alive.”

Davis paled at Mathan’s threat and snarled “fine” as he walked away.

Turning back to Jimin it broke Mathan’s heart to see the polite but empty look on the young man’s face. This was a pale shadow of what Jimin had once been and Mathan damned himself, his father, and especially Sven for breaking the boy this way. He was doing everything he could to build BTS’ strength back up but it was slow going and he needed to give this hope to Jimin.

“Jimin…” Mathan began. “I am going to get you and your brothers out of here. I’m sorry that it’s taking so much time but…very soon…the seven of you will be free.”

Jimin blinked his eyes, waking for a moment from the dream-like state he kept himself in as protection. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since he had last seen this man, but reasoned it could not have been much. Mathan still carried himself stiffly, and the cut on his lip from his last dance with Sven was only now almost healed.

“Mathan-ah?” Jimin queried, sounding only slightly confused.

What Mathan had said to him was finally penetrating the fog that Jimin kept his mind in, but there was no comfort or hope in those words. He gave the man a real, but sad smile.

“Take them, Mathan-ah,” Jimin said, the same sadness in his tone. “Take them and run! But don’t look back for me because my fate is sealed. This monster will never let me go.”

Tears spilled from Jimin’s eyes as he fiddled with the choker around his neck. Knowing this was his only chance, Jimin pulled out the letter he had written to his family; the one thing he had managed to keep hidden from Sven. Pushing the letter into Mathan’s hand he went on.

“Please tell them I am sorry. I just wanted us out of here alive and…I damned myself to this new hell to make it happen. But even then I failed and…Taehyungie lost himself doing what I could not. Mianhae. Jeongmal mianhae. Jeongmal mianhaeyo,” Jimin said, his voice hitching as he battled to contain his tears. “I will keep Sven distracted while you plan and when the time comes, take my brothers and go. Don’t come for me Mathan-ah. Please. Let me do this one last thing for them…for my Jungkookie. When you have them safe…when they are gone far away from here…then I won’t be afraid anymore and…I will see myself to a better place. So, when you have freed them, tell them that I have gone to join the stars, and that…I will watch over them always.”

Brushing the tears from his face Jimin gave Mathan a real smile and stretching up, kissed his cheek before turning around and walking away from the devastated man. Seeing that the letter was written in Jimin’s language, Mathan sprinted back through the compound and to his room, desperate to know what it said.

Once in his room, Mathan pulled out a locked case from under his bunk, opening it and booting up the laptop that was inside. Taking a picture of the letter with his phone and uploading it to a private dark web email server, Mathan sent it off asking for a full translation. He was planning on giving the letter to the guys, but he needed to know what it said beforehand. He was surprised when thirty minutes later his phone rang. He knew it wasn’t Ryder or Pyro because they were on radio silence until they got a signal from him. There was only one other person who had this phone number, so he didn’t hesitate to answer.

The voice was simple and straightforward as Kaelyn commanded.

“This plan of yours is a go, and it is a go now. I’m sending you the full translation of Jimin’s letter, wrapping up shit here, and I am on a plane. Expect me stateside in five days. Get those boys and get them out now. I don’t care where you have to hide them til I get to you. And don’t for one fucking second think of leaving Park Jimin behind for any reason. If you have to knock his ass out, you do it, and you carry him out of there, or you and I will have a talk that you won’t walk away from.”

The phone went dead as she hung up. Reading the translation Mathan could now understand Kaelyn’s urgency. She was right, they needed to go now. There was no more time left for any of these young men stuck in hell. Locking down the laptop and sending a signal to Ryder and Pyro that they were a go in a little more than seventy-two hours, Mathan ran to the control room and dismissed the guard there. Once the man was gone he started the program that allowed him to remotely turn off the cameras and microphones. He left the control room at a run and hit the steel door of BTS’ prison, clicking the remote as he passed through the doorway. Namjoon, Jin, and Yoongi rushed forward at the look on his face; the other three remaining on their bed.

“We are out of here in four days or less,” Mathan said, giving none of them a chance to speak. “I need you guys to start preparing yourselves. Eat as much as you can and rest as much as you can. When I give you the signal I want all of you to layer up on clothes without being obvious. I am going to get your shoes and sneak them to you as soon as I can. Keep them hidden until I tell you to put them on.”

He handed Jimin’s letter to Namjoon and continued.

“When I grab Jimin and give my friends a signal this place is going up in flames, so I need you guys ready to go. Namjoon you help make sure Hoseok makes it out of here. Yoongi, you do the same for Jungkook. Seokjin…keep an eye on Taehyung and…I will meet you six at the rendezvous point with Jimin. I need the seven of you not to fight until I have you in the clear. I need to be able to keep my hands and mind as clear and free as possible because there is a damn good chance that I will have to fight once we get outside.”

Mathan headed back to the door knowing he could not leave the control room unmanned for long in the state that it was in.

“Mathan-ah,” Jin asked, confusion and fear taking over, his hatred of this man now momentarily forgotten. “What happened? What…”

Namjoon's eyes skimmed the letter as his body deflated.

“Where is Jimin-ah?” he asked, fighting the emotions that were swirling through his mind.

“With Sven,” Mathan said, standing at the door.

Namjoon held the letter up, a silent question in his eyes.

“Just read it,” Mathan said sadly.

“What does it say?” Namjoon asked.

“I don’t know,” Mathan said. “I can’t read Hangul. But…my translator said…they’ll be here in five days with a team to get you out so…it must be pretty bad…”

“Please save him,” Namjoon breathed.

“I’ll die trying,” Mathan said before opening the door and slamming it shut behind him.

Turning to his family Namjoon collapsed at the table, and cried, the letter clutched tight in his hand.

Gently easing it out of Namjoon's grip Jin read it, his color fading.

“Hyung?” Yoongi asked his tone full of concern.

“He’s…” Jin breathed, handing the letter to Yoongi who read it in turn, his expression one of anger.

“Hyung?” Taehyung asked when Yoongi refused to give up the letter.

“Just…let him…” Namjoon forced himself to say.

His heart was in turmoil over the words his brother had used to comfort him. Kim Namjoon was not fit to be a leader. He had never been able to lead his team well. It was the teamwork that had always seen them through. And now…their team was slowly falling apart.

“What did he even mean?” Jin asked as he thought of Jimin’s words in his mind.

“Mathan-ah,” Yoongi said. “He wants you to let Mathan-ah take care of you...”

Jin felt confusion take hold of his heart. He knew how Mathan felt, had felt it in the power of his embrace; heard it in the sincerity of his words but…he had also begun to wonder just what Mathan hoped to get out of all of this once everything was said and done. Wondered how many lies the man had told to keep his own ass safe. Wondered what would happen if BTS really did get safely back to humanity.

So many times he had seen Mathan watching him with a look that sent his heart racing. When the man got too close all Jin could see, even in this hellish place, was someone who made him feel safe. But on the other side was the knowledge that Mathan had been one of the people who had brought them here in the first place. Could he open his heart to Mathan? To a man? To someone who lived in the shadows of the world that Jin had known?

Thinking about the man who had just left them, and everything he had done and endured for his brothers and especially him, Jin let the confusion die. Yes. He could let Mathan take care of him and in return Jin would love him with his entire heart and soul.

“Yoon-ah,” Hoseok said, holding out his hand. “Give me the letter.”

Yoongi hesitated for a moment before handing it over, Hoseok and Taehyung reading it together.

“Why…” Hoseok asked as he read the letter again. “Why is he writing this?”

Taehyung just fell to the floor in heart wrenching sobs as he processed Jimin’s words. He had loved Jungkook first but… this was never how he had wanted it to be. The hardships and betrayal…the anger…he had never meant for any of it to consume him. And now…he would only blame himself if his brother never trusted him again. But more importantly, he still belonged to Min Yoongi. Body, heart, and soul, he never wanted to be claimed by another living being.

Jungkook, thankfully, was fast asleep.

“Get rid of it,” Yoongi said, looking at the boy. “Do not let him read it, and do not ever speak of it.”

“Hyung…” Namjoon began.

“Yoongi’s right, Namjoon-ah,” Seokjin said, shaking his head. “We need to give Kookie all the hope we can. This letter would just destroy him.”

“But…Jiminie…” Namjoon said.

“We have to trust that Mathan-ah can save him,” Yoongi said.

“And if he can’t?” Namjoon asked, trying to think realistically.

“Then Kookie will die with him. None of us will leave him behind and Mathan knows that. Everyone knows that.”

“What do we do?” Hoseok asked.

“We wait for our orders,” Yoongi said, crumbling up the letter and flushing it down the drain, watching until it had disappeared.

“ Let this be our prayer, Just like every child. Need to find a place, Guide us with your grace, Give us faith so we'll be safe.”

Jimin's Letter (typed out from last chapter per request)

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

Some readers had a difficult time reading Jimin's letter and so I have typed it out to make it easier. Sorry friends!

My Dearest Family,

I pray with every fiber of my being that if you are reading this, you are somewhere other than this hell on earth. My only wish was for all of us to be free of this awful place, together. I am so sorry for the pain that I have caused by my actions, and the decisions that I made. At the time it seemed to be the only path to any kind of freedom for us, so I accepted the embrace of a monster in that hope.

It was the wrong choice and for that I am eternally damned. But I can and will accept my fate if it will aid Mathan in getting all of you, my brothers, out of this nightmare.

My prayer now is that Mathan will find a way to take you home. I can only hope that when you are far from here that somehow, I will know. It is the only comfort I allow myself.

Please do not cry for me. Let yourselves live in the light, and heal. If God is truly kind…then He will let me know that all of you are safe and home, so that I may leave this dark world behind.

Do not be sad for me. The life that I had with Bangtan Sonyeondan was worth all the pain, and I would gladly endure it a thousand times over to share each and every moment again with you, my brothers…my family…my love.

Namjoon-hyung,

You are the greatest leader and brother in the world. No matter what people said about us, or how they tried to tear us down, you faced them for us and demanded respect. You held us up high when no one else would. Anytime we were tired and low, ready to give up, there you were telling us that we could do this; we could fight and one day the whole world would know us. We are Bangtan Sonyeondan. Please never stop being our leader. Saranghae, Kim Namjoon.

Seokjin-hyung,

No one in the world has a more beautiful smile than you. I have watched it light up a room, and there have been so many times that seeing it has lightened my heavy heart. Please promise me that you will never let that smile go. You have always been so quick to take care of all of us and be our strength in our darkest times. Please open your heart and let another in to take care of you. Saranghae, Kim Seokjin.

Hoseok-hyung,

You are the greatest dancer I have ever seen, and it has been an honor to share the stage with you. Watching you has pushed me to be a better dancer and I thank you for that. But your true gift is the happiness you bring to the people around you with your laugh, your smile, and the bright light that lives inside of you. Please never let that light die and never stop dancing. Saranghae, Jung Hoseok.

Yoongi-hyung,

There is no more savage a rapper man than you. Your truths light up the world and there are so many out there who have heard and been saved because of them. My greatest joy was being able to see the softness that you don’t always allow the world to see. Please do not let this darkness swallow that. Please always remain soft…and savage. Saranghae, Min Yoongi.

Taehyung-ah,

Never in my life have I ever heard a purer voice than yours. It had brought me to tears, made me laugh, and inspired me to be a better singer. Please give us back your voice and never let it be silent again. The greatest gift you have shared with me is the love of Jungkookie and I thank you for the time he and I had together. Please hold him close now. Never let him go and give him all the love that I cannot. Saranghae, Kim Taehyung.

Jungkookie…

Chagiyah.

How I wish I could hold you right now and tell you how much I love you. Your love has given me so much happiness…I can never thank you enough for that. I have always known that I wasn’t your hearts first choice, but you never made me feel like I was its second. My heart, body, and soul will always belong to you, and I pray that you and I find each other in the next life. Saranghae, Jeon Jungkook.

Please live well. Stay happy, and healthy, and whole. Do not dwell in the darkness. I will wait for you, my brothers, in the space between life and death so that our next time around, we can all be together for a very long time, no matter what path that life takes us down. Tell my family that I love them dearly and that I will watch after them once I am gone. Saranghae, Bangtan Sonyeondan.

Bangtan FIGHTING!!!

Annyeonghi-gaseyo,

Park Jimin.

Part Sixty-Nine

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

It's my birthday today! 🎉

HAPPY FOREVER YOUNG TO ME!

I also like pain.

And presents.

*wraps her chapter all nice and neat*

HAVE A PRESENT FRIENDS! 🎁

AND CAKE!! 🎂

AND PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter Notes

T/N: VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

* chaghan-ae: (Korean) pet

* jebal yongseo haejuseyo: (Korean) Please, forgive me

* Moy kotenok: (Russian) My kitten

* Dorogoy: (Russian) Darling

* shlyukha: (Russian) Whore

See the end of the chapter for more notes

***DISCLAIMER***

Remember how the Yoongi(x)Tae chapter was the most graphic, vile, disgusting thing I have ever written? Yeah. I’ve had a ‘hold my beer and watch this!’ moment.

I can now without a doubt tell you that this is the most graphic chapter that has been written to date. It is definitely the most vile, most violent thing I have ever written in context or detail and thank God I have a stock-pile of chapters cause I’m gonna have to step away from the main for a sec and get myself back in check.

***AGAIN!!! THERE ARE DIRECT DEPICTIONS/MENTIONS OF NON-CON/FORCED SEXUAL ACTS!!! DO!!! NOT!!! READ!!! IF YOU KNOW THIS WILL AFFECT YOU. PLEASE!!!***

Unfortunately for this chapter, the graphic detail is what makes it so heinous, and because of who it is, and what goes on here, the graphic descriptions were mostly necessary to convey the pain our characters experienced which is not a pain that I can even begin to imagine.

Shock factor is still NOT my thing, and still never will be, but please consider yourself warned, cause it is black and white everything that has happened here.

Once again I would like to take this time to remind our readers that this is 100% a work of fiction and as such certain creative liberties have been taken in terms of off the wall behaviors or behaviors that are ‘out of the norm’ when it comes to our characters. While the main characters of this story are in fact based on world-wide sensation BTS, we left the people those gentlemen are in a different place and time and so nothing you see reflected here is meant to represent who those fine young men actually are.

Here we see seven young men who have survived a Hell I am not sure any of us can imagine. Their reactions are all very real, very normal reactions to their given situation. Every living being, no matter how we may perceive them, responds differently psychological and physiologically based on a number of factors. While some respond better to pain, others are able to whether mental anguish more, and I hope you have seen that in our story.

It is my most sincere hope that as we continue on this journey, you, the reader, will be able to see how we tried to bring out that human nature and make it believable and applicable. I myself have drawn on several fields of study and dedicated countless hours to research to make sure everything written here can and does actually happen (because I hate off the wall shock factor for the sake of shock).

I also hope that our readers are able to stay with us until the end of this trilogy and that they can support us as we break the boys even more while they heal *because there is still so very much hurt to come*.

As a reviewer said: “The mind, body, and soul... an amazing trinity. This story shows what one can truly withstand. How ones soul can break. Your soul leaves your body and takes your mind with it. It’s like an auto pilot, but without the navigation and you keep driving deeper into the darkness. The mind is an amazing organ but also fragile at the same time. Once a demon cracks the skull it’s like a disease...that consumes every good thing you’ve ever known. It changes you to someone you never were before.” I hope in time our readers can apply these same basic truths to our villains as well.

I am not asking anyone to understand or accept or validate the actions seen here within. You aren’t required to like anyone. I just really hope this chapter doesn’t drive anyone away before we, the authors, get a chance to explain.

Thank you to each and every one of you,

Kaelyn Grey.

***TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!! Direct depictions of non-con/forced sexual acts. PLEASE DO! NOT! READ! if this will harm or affect you!***

After Mathan had left, Jin spitting in the direction of the two traitors in the room, he and Hoseok once again surrounded Tae, hoping to offer him comfort and peace, and to help him survive just these few short days they would remain in hell. In just one week, they would be headed home, all of them, alive.

Some hours later Jin was awoken by the sound of the door slamming open, several guards pushing in their dinner cart, accompanied by Misha, the most feared guard in the entire compound.

“Master requests his dark angel,” Misha bit, her stance one that exuded intolerance.

“Hoseok-ah,” Jin said, shaking his brother awake as he used his body to guard the one Misha was after. “Help me.”

Hoseok was up in a flash, his eyes alert as he looked around, one hand immediately coming to rest on Taehyung.

“Get him up now,” Misha instructed. “Master Sven will not be kept waiting.”

At the sound of that name Taehyung came too, the blankets pulled to his chin as he looked at the monster before him. If his master was summoning him that could only mean one thing…

“Taehyung-ah,” Jin said, his voice soft, but commanding. “Hajima.”

Giving his brother a gentle smile, Taehyung slowly pushed back the covers, slipping out of his hyung's grasps to carefully stand, steadying himself as he made his face blank, praying with everything in him that his master would not require him for anything other than polite conversation.

“Taehyung-ah!” Hoseok hissed, standing up and gently taking hold of Taehyung’s arm. “No!”

“I’ll be okay,” Taehyung said, softening his features as he tried to reassure his favorite hyung. “They’ll have me back in no time. Master always does…”

“Please…” Hoseok whispered.

“I have to,” Tae said quietly. “They’ll hurt you if I don’t.”

“They will hurt you if you do,” Hoseok said in protest.

“I’ll be fine,” Taehyung said, slipping Hoseok’s grip once more and turning to face his fate.

“Taehyung!”

“Please don’t do this, Hoseok-hyung,” Tae said, his tone imploring and his eyes desperate. “Please just let me go. Let me do this for you. It…is everything I have to give to you. To all of you…”

“I cannot allow it,” Jin said, is mind racing. “It is my duty to protect you.”

“You cannot,” Tae said sadly. “Just please protect my heart,” he said, his eyes falling on Jungkook as a fond look came over his face. “Keep my Jungkookie safe and…I shall keep all of you safe in turn.”

“No…” Jin breathed, his heart breaking once more.

“Saranghae, Seokjin-hyungnim,” Tae said, a shadow of his boxy smile gracing his features. “Saranghae, Hoseok-hyungie. Tell Jungkookie when he wakes that I love him too.”

“Running off to ruin our plans again?” Yoongi snorted, hatred rolling off of him in waves.

Taehyung blankly stared at Yoongi, unsure of who he was looking at.

“I love you, Yoongi hyung,” he said softly. “Thank you, Namjoon-hyung, for taking care of me so well. Sarangheyo.”

With that Taehyung pulled free of his families grip once more, shoulders square and posture firm, even in his pain, crossing the room like a graceful cat, no outward signs of the injuries he carried beneath his clothes.

“I am ready,” Taehyung said, not once flinching when Misha grabbed him by the arm and pulled him from the room.

When the steel door slammed shut, and the members were once more alone, Hoseok sank to his knees, his despair threatening to overwhelm him.

“What are we supposed to do now,” he asked, his voice broken and soft, his post by Jungkook resumed once more.

Out in the hallway Misha let Taehyung go, shoving him gently in front of her as she tested her theories on the condition of her masters property. Even if no one else could see it, the damage he had incurred was crystal clear to the former Russian agent.

“Master is preparing transport,” she said, each word carefully chosen as she poked and prodded for information. “He wants his angel and his jewel in his caravan when we leave.”

Taehyung once more exercised his control when it came to rising to given bait, choosing to say nothing as he made his familiar way to his masters quarters; his mind shutting down as he prepared to do what needed to be done. It was not until he almost ran into Gregor that he stopped dead in his tracks, fear seizing his heart.

“Gregor,” Misha purred, a cat-like smirk on her face. “I have been looking for you, Gregor,” she said, her teeth gleaming as she looked at her prey.

“What do you want?” Gregor asked, knowing better than to rise to the fight his partner was looking for.

“Master Jimin requests that you keep his lovers whore out of his sight,” Misha said, disinterest in her tone. “It turns his stomach to see such filth, and causes him such anxiety that he isn’t doing enough for his fiance. It would be best to follow what Master Jimin says lest you earn Master’s ire. You know how my brother gets when people touch and upset his things…”

Gregors face went cold at that as he processed exactly what this bitch in front of him meant by her words, and precisely what mind games she was trying to play.

“Master also reminds you to remember your place in his world,” Misha purred, the temperature of the hallway dropping noticeably as her eyes turned to steel. “He allows you certain comforts but…if I see you watching Master Jimin like that one more time…your body will never be found.”

“I think you need your vision checked,” Gregor bristled, his eyes shifting ever so slightly in his nervousness.

“Perhaps,” Misha said, her smile deadly. “Perhaps not. We shall continue this conversation at a later time. Master Sven is waiting on his company…”

Finished with his business for the day, Sven had returned to his quarters, out of sorts and in need of some form of stress relief. The taste he has received from his perfect jewel had been enough to satiate him in the meantime but now, now he needed something much darker. Before he departed his office he had instructed Misha to bring him his dark angel for his enjoyment, but for now, he intended to see if he could make his perfect jewel squirm one more time.

“Moy kotenok,” Sven purred, removing his suit jacket and hanging it in his closet, moving to the liquor stand and pouring himself a drink.

“Chagiyah,” Jimin answered, his eyes smokey and his posture playful as he looked back at the man who now truly owned him in every way that mattered.

“Did you miss me today, chaghan-ae?” Sven asked, turning around in a lazy manner, leaning against his drinks stand and taking a deep drink.

“Ye,” Jimin said, a small smile on his face.

“And did our guards provide you entertainment as I instructed them?”

“Of course, Dorogoy,” Jimin answered, tilting his head in childish curiosity.

“No further arguments with your brothers?” Sven asked, one eyebrow raised, delighting in the momentary panic he saw cross Jimin's face. “No harsh words of discourse for my dark angel?”

“Who?” Jimin asked, trying to look and sound surprised.

“Don’t play coy with me, Jimin-ssi,” Sven said, the mood of the room darkening slightly. “I know that you and Taehyung-ssi had words in the hallway when you were being brought from your time away. And from what was reported, I heard that you did not have very nice things to say. Is that really any way to treat the brother who has given everything is he away to keep you safe? Because I can assure you, Chagiyah, it was not your ministrations that have kept me entertained all these many months I have suffered being here.”

“Cha--” Jimin started, his mind reeling as he tried to figure out just how much he could give away.

“Did you go crying to Mathan Foley about how mean your master is to you? Jimin-ssi?” Sven snarled, his visage now rabid as he advanced on the other man. “Did he hold you in his arms while you sang your little story? Did he make you feel all safe and loved and promise he would take you away from here?”

All Jimin could do was shake his head, eyes wide in horror as he found himself backed against the door.

“Did you kiss him?” Sven hissed, jealousy coloring him an ugly green.

“No,” Jimin breathed, his heart beating out his lied ‘yes’.

“Do not lie to me!!” Sven raged, spit flying from his lips.

“Master…”

“Perhaps you are not the perfect jewel I once thought you to be, Jimin-ssi…” Sven said, reigning himself in as he looked the man before him up and down. “I think some time away shall make your heart grow fonder. I will have Gregor take you to your rooms next door while I ask my dark angel what was really said. Perhaps he can save you from further punishment with his words. He has, after all, never lied to me…”

With the push of a button Gregor was in Sven's rooms, gently taking Jimin by the elbow and leading him to the back of his Master’s quarters, through the door to the guest quarters where Jimin stayed. As one door opened, Jimin heard another door close, and he knew his brothers time in hell had come.

“Chagiyah?” Taehyung questioned, his brow furrowed in confusion as he watched his brother being led away. “Is something wrong?”

Taehyung felt no small amount of fear following Jimin in to a meeting with Sven, especially when he had absolutely no idea what had been said.

“Nothing to worry your pretty little head about, my angel,” Sven said, sitting in his favorite chair. “Why don’t you come to your master and give him a massage? I’ve worked up a headache and I am too tired for anything more strenuous.”

Taehyung blinked at the man before him, thinking it was such an odd request, but complying without question for fear of making his master mad.

“What happened, Chagiyah?” Taehyung questioned, his magical fingers already at work.

“It has been brought to my attention that you had words with Jimin-ssi, Kim Taehyung,” Sven purred, extending his senses to gauge his property's reaction.

“I’m sorry, Master,” Taehyung said, stopping the massage and dropping his hands to his side. “I…I angered Jimin-ssi and…caused him to…lash out in distress. Please punish me instead for the problems that were caused. Jiminie…he was just…defending your actions and your honor when…I so recklessly questioned them. Jebal…yongseo haejuseyo …”

“Taehyung-ah,” Sven said, his tone gentle as though scolding a child. “What did you say to Jimin-ssi?”

“I…I asked him to…see reason and…quit playing his childish games,” Taehyung said, sounding ashamed.

“Stand where I can see you,” Sven commanded, wondering exactly what caused this man to deflect the blame onto himself time and time again when none of his other members were willing to do the same for him.

Taking a deep breath, Taehyung gathered what little courage he had left; courage he had drawn from Hoseok and Seokjin; and rounded Sven’s chair to kneel on the ground before him.

“I’m sorry, Master,” Taehyung said, stretching forward in a formal bow, unaware that his injuries extended perfectly to showcase on the back of his neck, just barely visible under his hair that had recently become shaggy.

“Taehyung-ssi,” Sven said, his tone carefully blank, the chair he was sitting in creaking slightly as he sat forward, “what happened to your neck?”

Taehyung froze in an instant, his hand immediately going to the back of his neck in an attempt to cover the bruise he now knew was there.

“No--” he tried, failing to get the words out in time.

“Who touched you?” Sven growled, the demon of jealousy and possession distorting his voice as it clawed its way from his chest in carnal rage. “Who…in this…place…thinks...”

Before he could react, Taehyung was jerked from the floor, a whimper of pain escaping him before he could stop it, his eyes widened in fear at the devil he saw before him. Never in his life had he seen rage bubbling out of someone as he was witnessing now.

“Gregor!” Sven roared, the ugly green monster within him no longer willing to be contained. “Come! Now!”

“Please…” Taehyung whispered, his eyes going even wider. “Please don’t…just…”

“Stop it!” Sven roared, shaking Taehyung and throwing him back, causing him to land on the bed and bounce hard, every piece of his body lighting on fire as his newly healing injuries ripped open and started to bleed once more.

“Who touched my property!” Sven roared as Gregor came in, the threat of pain beyond Taehyung's wildest imagination shining in his eyes.

“Master!” Gregor breathed, sounding appropriately horrified.

“Which one…who…bring them to me!” Sven ordered, his mind running faster than he could process.

All he could see before him now was rage. Blood, and pain, and the promise of death were the prizes for whichever member of that troublesome boy-band that had put their hands on Sven's perfect, willing, pliable, dark angel.

“Master,” Taehyung cried, a new level of fear seizing him as he realized that his brothers were in danger. “It wasn’t…it wasn’t them. It…I didn’t… see…his face but…it was one of the other ones guards…”

“Dorian?” Sven growled, the room they were in cold and dark once more.

All Taehyung could do was nod, hopeful that his masters ire had been appropriately redirected and cooled for now.

“What did they do to you?” Sven hissed, his eyes almost glowing in rage.

“No…I don’t…”

“Gregor,” Sven commanded, unbuttoning the sleeves of his dress shirt and rolling them to three quarters length, going to his desk and pulling open a drawer. “Relieve my property of his clothing since he is unwilling to comply with a verbal inspection.”

“Ma--master,” Taehyung whispered, his body trying to fold in on himself in an effort to preserve both his dignity and very real, human life.

“Who did you allow to touch you, Kim Taehyung-ssi!” Sven screamed, his anger uncontrollable as he advanced towards the bed. “Who gave you the right to make such decisions? You belong only to me. I am the only one who can say who you may go to bed with!”

“Chagiyah,” Taehyung choked out. “It isn’t…”

“Gregor, if you will,” Sven said, the switch of his attitude flipping once more, examination gloves being pulled on to his hands as he was once again collected and calm.

Giving Tae a gruesome smile Gregor advanced on the boy, knowing his fear of the guard was enough to make him comply.

“Master says these rags have to go,” he said, far too much pleasure in tone for him to mean nicely.

Before Taehyung could react Gregor had reached forward, his hands tangling in Taehyung's shirt and ripping it from his body, leaving his ravaged torso bare for all the room to see.

Curling in to himself once more, Taehyung sensed the rage flowing off of his master as he felt the aftershocks of the volcano in the room, an unimaginable scream of so many emotions that Taehyung couldn’t find the right one to focus on.

He wondered if tonight would be the night he would experience enough pain to pass out and die.

“Cuff him to the bed,” Sven said, his eyes closed as he advanced on the helpless man before him. “I have no more patience left to be nice.”

“All four corners, Master?” Sven asked with unmasked glee.

“He is not to move, Gregor,” Sven said, pulling a chair to the edge of the bed as he watched his property be restrained. “When you are done, hold his head still. I want him to watch as I take catalog of his injuries. If the damage to his person is too severe…”

The way Sven trailed off sent shivers down Taehyung's spine.

“I would hate to be forced to recover the money I spent on him by selling one of his brothers to…less than desirable clientele who like to boast their money by collecting quickly broken toys…”

“Chagiyah…” Taehyung breathed, his body giving in as he just laid there, the pleading in his eyes lost on the heartless soul before him.

Sven said nothing more as he poked and prodded, enjoying every hiss and gasp of pain that escaped his dark angels lips.

~oooOooo~

“Useless,” he tsked as he finally pulled away, almost an hour later, taking off his gloves and depositing them into the trashcan by the bed.

“I don’t even think your precious maknae was as broken as you and I can assure you Carl Foley test drove his songbird well…”

“Ma-” Taehyung choked, a sob working its way free from his throat at the mention of his most beloved brother.

“Did Jungkook-ssi not regale you with the tale of his visit with your proclaimed saviors uncle?” Sven asked, sounding amused. “I can assure it you was quiet the unholy scene…”

“Noooooo!!!!!” Taehyung wailed, his head falling back, his tears finally escaping him as his master forced him to listen to every terrible thing his maknae had endured.

“I could show you, if you do not believe me, Taehyung-ssi,” Sven said, the promise of his threat evident in his tone. “Although…I think you have been used up as much as your abused body is worth...tch.”

“Please…” Taehyung said. “Please just let them go…punish me instead but…let my family live in peace…”

“And why would I listen to a whore like you?” Sven asked, sounding amused once again. “Do you promise everything you fuck that you’ll be the best little boy if only they buy into your siren-like lies?”

“Master please…” Taehyung begged, his panic and fear making it hard for him to breathe.

“Please what?” Sven asked, his voice full of disdain. “Remind you of your place? Since you asked so nicely.”

Taehyung sighed at that, the promise of pain aimed at himself instead of his brothers already acting as a balm for his wounded soul. As long as his members, his lover, his brothers, were safe, Taehyung could die knowing he had at least served some small purpose in life, no matter how meaningless it may have ultimately been.

“What do you think I should do to you, Taehyung-ssi, to make you see that you are mine?” Sven asked, standing once more and going to a cabinet in the opposite corner of his quarters.

“Master?” Taehyung asked, confused by what the question meant.

“Perhaps I should mark you like a farmer does his livestock?” Sven said, an evil sheen covering his person as he turned back to Taehyung with a box in his hand. “Not with my name of course. I can’t have that associated with something as…undesirable…as you. But something to let others know that you are spoken for…”

“Wha--” Taehyung breathed, trying to sit more properly as he pulled against his restraints, escape not an option from the prison he was in.

“Perhaps a simple word,” Sven said, sitting back down and opening the box to reveal a rudimentary tattoo gun and supplies. “A scarlet letter of your very own. In handmade black ink, of course. I can’t afford to waste more money on you than I already have since you are now worth nothing of value.”

Sven slowly, painstakingly, removed his supplies, slipping new gloves on as he prepared his new weapon.

“Never the less, we shall have to mark you somehow…in case they do end up finding you in the back alleys of Shanghai. I’ve been meaning to come up with a way to lay claim to such valueless, lowly property as you.”

“Master, what…”

“You would have been such a perfect addition to my collection,” Sven continued as though he had not heard the man before him. “So much potential in your beauty. What a shame your glutenous ways ruined all your chances at a comfortable life.”

Firing up the gun, Sven looked at Tae, no sign of remorse, no hint of a joke as he spoke the words that brought Taehyung both comfort, and fear.

“This is only going to hurt you in ways you have never imagined before.”

Taehyung closed his eyes against the pain, willing himself to stay silent so that no one could be an auditory witness to his suffering.

For several long seconds Taehyung battled against the urge to scream himself hoarse, his mind repeating over and over that whatever this punishment was, it couldn’t be that bad and it would be over soon. Biting the blood from his lips and his cheeks, Kim Taehyung battled his pain, only losing the scream from his throat when the monster who held him captive drove his white hot needle over the bones of Taehyung’s ribs.

~oooOooo~

Sven drew immense and perverse pleasure from the screams that tore their way from his new whores throat. The pain he was inflicting made his insides giddy and for the brief time it took to mark the boy before him Sven wondered why he did not participate in more of the physical punishment his family had been famous for dealing out.

“We must make your letter thick,” Sven said. “That way when the ink starts to bleed and fade, those who purchase you for their designated amount of time will know exactly what you are. A low life whore who is not allowed to have feelings and therefore may be used in any manner the client pleases…”

Taehyung tried to keep his heartache in, chanting like a prayer that at least for now, all of his brothers were safe.

Dragging his needle over Taehyung's protruding ribs once more, Sven rode his orgasmic high as Taehyung’s mental chant turned into repeated screams of ‘no’, tears burning down his face as his body twitched as if it were being electrocuted.

“One must suffer the overwhelming pain of betrayal when they hurt those who care for them the most,” Sven explained, gleeful in the punishment he was able to serve. “You have grossly betrayed my love and affection for you, Kim Taehyung-ssi. Destroyed any chance you ever had of me trusting you. I simply cannot lead a life in which I have to watch over my back to see which one of my collectibles will try and stab me.”

“No,” Taehyung whispered, his throat raw from the screams he had just let lose.

“’No’ is right, Taehyung-ssi,” Sven said, finishing his masterpiece and wiping it clean, taking great care to set in the pain. “No one living will ever want you again. No one would be stupid enough to take you…not as broken and diseased as you are…”

Gathering up the materials he had used and dismissing Gregor from his sight, Sven threw away his gloves that were covered in ink and in blood, pausing by the unlocked door on the other side of his room, purposely bumping in to it as he placed his box of pain back in his cabinet, carefully shutting the door and turning to his prisoner on the bed once more.

“What do you think of your first tattoo, Kim Taehyung-ssi?” Sven asked, his tone mocking and his features alight with glee. “Do you know what your master has named you?”

“Wh-o—“ Taehyung tried, his throat tattered and raw, any words now too painful to speak.

“Come again?” Sven asked, tilting his ear Taehyung’s way, enjoying destroying what had once been one of his crowned jewels.

“Whore,” Taehyung rasped, blood bubbling in his throat as his head lolled to one side, his body limp as an old rag doll, only the chains on his wrists holding his arms upright.

“And whose whore are you, Taehyung-ssi?” Sven questioned, his eyes darkening once more.

“Masters…” Taehyung whispered.

“Masters…what?”

“Whore…”

“And do you like being treated this way? Whore?” Sven asked, seating himself now on the edge of the bed, only inches away from Taehyung.

So fragmented and tired was his mind, Taehyung didn’t know what to say. Either way, he knew that he was doomed, and so he only nodded his head, nothing left to prepare for whatever pain he knew he would now receive.

“Do you know what happens to those I take as my whores? Taehyung-ssi?” Sven asked, looking at his nails as he spoke these words.

No words left, Taehyung closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Would you like to find out?” Sven asked, not really giving his victim a chance to answer before he stood off the bed once more and started to remove his clothes.

“Please…” Taehyung whispered, the word barely coming out as he begged for things he could not even comprehend.

He begged for freedom.

For Release.

For Pleasure.

For Pain.

Taehyung begged for the happiness he could now no longer remember.

For the joy he knew he once had felt.

He begged for his sorrow to end.

For death to take him then.

For his brothers to forgive him for finally giving in and not seeing them safely home.

He begged for an end and yet…he begged for the simple pleasure of feeling nothing at all.

“Please what?” Sven asked, loving how even as broken as he was, his new whore still begged as prettily as ever.

“Please…just…gnnnn,” Tae tried, his throat on fire. “I wish you would…just let me die…”

“The world is not a wish granting factory,” Sven hissed, his anger igniting once more at transgressions he had suffered in the past.

Now that he a toy of his own he would not begrudge breaking, Sven intended to take every last piece of hatred he had and destroy this discarded wretch before him.

Not bothering to undo the cuffs Taehyung was entrapped with, Sven cut Taehyung's pants from his body, throwing the rags in the corner as his eyes surveyed the rest of the damage on the already ravaged body of his once perfect dark angel.

“I think this shall be fun, Taehyung-ssi,” Sven purred, a terrifying gleam in his eyes. “I wish I would have known you liked it so rough…”

“No…” Taehyung whispered, fear seizing his heart once more as an even greater monster loomed over his frozen form.

With a laugh so evil it echoed throughout the compound, Sven bent over Taehyung’s body, hands gripping painfully at Taehyung’s ribs.

“Tell me how you like it, shlyukha,” Sven whispered, his teeth nipping Taehyung's ear as his nails dug into his victims recently given marking.

Taehyung tried to squirm and move, desperate to free himself even when he knew it would never happen.

“Please…” he whispered once more, his prayer falling of deaf and careless ears as he drove the man above him yet more wild.

“You deserve this,” Sven said as he pushed himself back up, pulling his own pants down to stroke his member through the silk fabric of his boxers.

“I’ll be good,” Taehyung sobbed, tears forming in his eyes once more as he wished with all his might that his nightmare would finally end.

“I know you will be good,” Sven said, now removing his boxers to display his erect member, the head already leaking pre-cum. “That’s all whores know how to be.”

“Please…I didn’t--” Taehyung tried, his body quivering with fear, causing the chains that bound him to clink loudly against the metal railings of his new torture chamber.

“You’re going to be such a good little whore for me aren’t you?” Sven purred, stroking his penis faster as he pumped harder, his bucking in time with his strokes.

Taehyung could only nod his head as he squeezed his eyes shut, convinced he would not survive having to watch.

“Look at me,” Sven growled, leaning back over Taehyung and taking him roughly by the face, shaking the younger mans head to make him open his eyes.

Taehyung had no choice but to open his eyes then. The pressure on his jaw threatening to cave it in.

“Close your eyes and I shall ruin your precious little Jimin like this instead,” Sven said, making sure his voice carried just enough to be heard through the wooden door leading to the next room.

“No!!!!” Taehyung wailed again, a pain so sharp emanating from his soul that surely the man in the next room had been wounded by it.

“You don’t want to see Jimin-ssi broken and bleeding? Taehyung-ah,” Sven taunted, one hand reaching out to smack Taehyung’s bare thigh. “It would not please you to see him being punished for all the pain that he has caused you?”

All Taehyung could do was shake his head, knowing it was pointless to deny that fact was true.

“Shall I rip you in half instead?” Sven questioned, his expression one of great debate as he carefully positioned himself between Tae’s legs, undoing his shackles and taking the mans ankles in his hands, lifting them up so he could admire all the damage that had already been done.

Taehyung hissed as the cold air hit his still healing wounds, his legs jerking involuntarily, which earned him another smack on the ass.

“Are you that starved for attention? Taehyung-ssi?” Sven purred, “that you simply cannot wait for the games to begin? I considered being nice to start off with but…if you insist on skipping our appetizer and going straight for the main course…”

Before Taehyung could even react, Sven had pushed his way in, bottoming out inside of Tae, the stretch more than Taehyung could stand.

He had felt himself ripping, pulling, tearing, could feel something warm dripping from his wrecked body. He was dying. This long-withheld moment had finally arrived, and Kim Taehyung would be leaving this world far more painfully than he had entered it.

Taehyung could not contain the whimper that fell from his lips, his vocal cords far too shredded to facilitate a scream, his body going limp as the last of his resolve gave way.

“Do you like that, whore?” Sven purred, pulling out and savagely thrusting all the way back in, more of Taehyung pulling away as he endeavored to destroy the body beneath him.

Taehyung wanted to fight, to pull free of his restraints and push the man away, but his brain was shutting down as his vision began to fade in an out, more black around the edges than he had ever remembered before.

“I asked you a question,” Sven growled, grabbing hold of Taehyung’s flaccid member, pulling hard to elicit a response from the man beneath him.

“I…” Taehyung choked, fire licking at his insides, the sound of skin on skin turning his stomach as every nerve in his body went numb.

Sven roared in anger at being unanswered, his free hand tangling in Taehyung’s hair, pulling his neck painfully to the side as he too left his teeth forever imprinted in Taehyung’s skin, flesh now broken where neck met shoulder, an unimaginable scream of pure anguish ripping it’s way from Taehyung’s heart, his throat now wholly destroyed.

Sven pulled back, a smirk on his face until he heard an answering roar of pain from somewhere far away, and watched in wonder as the last piece of hope that had lived within this man slowly shriveled up and died.

“Shall I make your precious maknae my whore next?” Sven mused, hands of jealousy and rage wrapping themselves around Taehyung's throat, his mind unable to allow such beauty to survive.

No one in the history of forever had loved Sven Ivchenko as much as Kim Taehyung loved each and every one of his brothers. At least, not anybody that Sven would now allow himself to remember.

Taehyung could feel the burn rising in his chest, starting in his lungs. He tried to fight the reaper that had found him, unable to use his hands to pry deaths grip from around his throat. The desire to breathe in was overwhelming, and his inability to bring any air to his lungs sent Taehyung into a mental tailspin that threatened to steal consciousness from him once and for all.

“Now you know how it feels to be my whore,” Sven seethed, his eyes bulging from his eyes in rage. “To be ripped in half by my hatred and anger. While Jimin sits in his lavish halls, your brothers subject to their new owners, you will remain chained in my basement like the chattel you are. And I shall only come to you when I need to release my carnal rage .”

With that Sven let Taehyung go, standing up and away from him, pulling their bodies apart and leaving Taehyung to die.

Once Sven was covered by his robe, he called Gregor back in, instructing the guard to free his play thing and to store him in the room where the rest of Sven's broken things had been discarded.

Bowing to the master before him, Gregor turned with pleasure, roughly removing Taehyung's restraints. Throwing his tattered clothes at him for the man to collect on his own, Gregor savagely pulled Taehyung from the bed, pushing him into the hall and through another door, laughing as the door slammed shut between them.

Taehyung fell to his knees, his body turning to ash as his eyes tried to adjust to the dark. In a moment of fear where all Taehyung could see were vivid flashes of light, he thought that he had gone blind and crawled headfirst into a pile of junk, metal and plastic falling down upon him.

Laying pinned beneath the refuse, Taehyung wondered if this was not in fact, the life he truly deserved.

Surely if he had been an obedient brother, lover, member, or friend, those in his life would not have reduced him to the whore that he now was.

Clothes long displaced, and useless far before they were thrown back to him, Taehyung now laid bare, broken and bleeding, left to die in a storage room, his location unknown to any who might attempt to come and save him. Not that such an angel existed any more. Not even Mathan Foley would waste his time in tracking Taehyung down.

How would he protect his family from here? How would he ensure his master did not turn his ire to one of the other six? How would he count the days so he would know when it was okay for him to finally let this existence go. How would he know Mathan Foley succeeded in taking his family away from here?

None of these things were facts that Taehyung knew, and it killed him inside to know that he had finally failed, just as so many had told him he would do.

“Bangtan fighting,” he whispered, tears falling from his eyes as he realized his family would think he had abandoned them.

He could hear Yoongi now, scoffing in disgust as he convinced the others that Taehyung now lay surrounded by furs and silk eating lavish dinners and sleeping in a warm and comfortable feather bed.

Taehyung took all the comfort he could in knowing that none of the others, none but Jimin, would know exactly what he had suffered to keep all of them safe. He only hoped that in time Jimin would be able to forgive him for being so weak.

Chapter End Notes

*takes a deep breath*

A lot more bad stuff happened in this chapter didn't it?

I'm sorry if this affected or triggered anybody. But now that we are all through this piece together let us remember this is NOT real. Step back. Get something warm to drink. Watch funny BTS videos. Breathe and decompress. Come back for more later, or, don't come back at all. I will love and treasure you all the same.

A lot more stuff happens as we race towards the end of part one, but please know that as we continue this journey into parts 2 & 3 several happy endings will come. I promise. I already have each and every one of the boys happy endings written. Even Mathan's. So I hope that you, our friends, stay with us til the very end, but I will understand if you can not.

Peace, Light & Love,

Kaelyn

Part Seventy

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

This bit is inspired by @intj_klmnop who actually wrote like 99% of Jimin’s reaction because she is in fact my long lost evil twin, which I then tweaked only slightly and here we are. If anyone needs someone to blame for my evil these days, it’s all her fault for feeding my flame as beautifully as she does. I am so thankful that we met! Without her this story would have fizzled and died, I kid you not. I must also thank her for listening to my incessant rambling and for brainstorming with me and giving me such evil, angst-y ideas these past many days.

Chapter Notes

***DISCLAIMER***

While I think this chapter will be mostly okay, it is bleed over from the previous chapter and will contain the reactions of the other members and so there may be either new or residual triggers in it. I will try to keep this chapter considerably less graphic than the last one, but mental trauma will be heavily present in this one, so I just wanted our readers to be aware before they decided to proceed.

***AGAIN!!! THERE ARE DIRECT DEPICTIONS/MENTIONS OF NON-CON/FORCED SEXUAL ACTS!!! DO!!! NOT!!! READ!!! IF YOU KNOW THIS WILL AFFECT YOU. PLEASE!!!***

As always, shock factor is NOT my thing, and never will be, but please consider yourself warned, cause everything here is still completely black and white in regards to what is going on.

Once again I would like to take this time to remind our readers that this is 100% a work of fiction and as such certain creative liberties have been taken in terms of off the wall behaviors or behaviors that are ‘out of the norm’ when it comes to our characters. While the main characters of this story are in fact based on world- wide sensation BTS, we left the people those gentlemen are in a different place and time and so nothing you see reflected here is meant to represent who those fine young men actually are.

I also hope that our readers are able to stay with us until the end of this trilogy and that they can support us as we break the boys even more while they heal *because there is still so very much hurt to come*.

I am not asking anyone to understand or accept or validate the actions seen here within. You aren’t required to like anyone. I just really hope this chapter doesn’t drive anyone away before we, the authors, get a chance to explain.

I also want my readers to know that I have had very extensive, very detailed and in-depth discussions with my beta reader (mentioned above) and we both decided that Sven and Tae had both hit the point where the last chapter was necessary (and heinous, and…wow).

Thank you to each and every one of you,

Kaelyn Grey.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

***TRIGGER WARNINGS!!!! Direct depictions of non-con/forced sexual acts. PLEASE DO! NOT! READ! if this will harm or affect you!***

As the door closed behind Jimin, Taehyung’s deep voice easily floated in to him through the thin walls of his guilded prison. Jimin’s heart clenched with fear, the cold feeling of dread creeping up the back of his neck. This was his punishment? Time away from his master? It just seemed too easy...something just didn’t add up. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Jimin listened closely to the conversation taking place in the other room.

He heard the questioning turn to the argument between himself and Taehyung. His heart rate picked up speed, waiting to hear Taehyung confirm it all. Maybe then Jimin’s true punishment would begin. Maybe his master had only pretended to let him off easy so he would get comfortable.

"I'm sorry, Master,” he heard his brother say. “I...I angered Jimin-ssi and...caused him to...lash out in distress. Please punish me instead for the problems that were caused."

Sitting up straight, a rush of shock flooded his system, guilt following close behind. Jimin listened as Taehyung took the blame for their fight, making sure that none of the fault was put onto him. As he heard him beg to be punished in his place, something inside Jimin broke. This was the brother he had thrown away, the one he had spat in the face of. His best friend. Yet hadn’t he told Taehyung he was nothing, no one, to him? That if they ever escaped, he wanted nothing to do with him? Meanwhile behind closed doors, his brother was making deals with the devil himself to spare him anyways.

“Oh Taehyungie, no,” Jimin whispered, arms wrapping around his stomach. “What have I done?”

He stood and frowned, an uneasy silence falling in the other room. The hair on the back of his neck slowly rose, a dangerous charge to the air around him. Jimin could feel the shift through the wall and he wanted to scream out, to warn Taehyung to run. And then, his masters voice, carefully disguised to hide any emotion.

“Taehyung-ssi , what happened to your neck?”

Jimin’s mind began to race. His neck? Had something happened to Taehyung? Had he been hurt. His eyes widened as the feeling of dread punched him in the gut. Something had happened. Someone had touched Taehyung. And their master...

“Gregor! Come! Now!”

His fury was so intense Jimin could feel it through the door.

Jimin stumbled backwards in fear, his knees hitting the edge of the bed, sending him sprawling. In the other room he heard Taehyung let out a yelp of pain as his master raged on, fixated on finding who touched “his property”. As scared as Jimin was, he was safe hiding in his room. But nausea overtook him as he thought of his Taehyungie left to face that demon. Alone.

Jimin felt his heart seize at the mention of their brothers, knowing they wouldn't survive his outburst with the mood he was in. But again Taehyung raced to defend his brothers once more, his words a jumble in his panic. Jimin knew Taehyung better than almost anyone, and he knew when he was lying. Jimin choked on a sob. One of their brothers had hurt him. Maybe more than one.

What had their family done?

So wrapped up in his thoughts, Jimin almost missed the command that fell from his masters lips for his guard to undress Taehyung. He heard the quiet whimper from his brother and Jimin knew his nightmare was only just beginning. He was powerless to stop it. Was this how Taehyung had always felt? Struggling against the tide to save the ones he loved. Whatever was going to happen to his best friend, Jimin was going to have to hear every moment of it. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The sound of Taehyung's broken voice as he tried to defend himself ripped through Jimin as he dug his nails into his thighs to keep from screaming. The shifts in his masters voice, from calm to raging in a split second, had Jimin trembling on the floor as he shut his eyes tight. Jimin imagined he could reach out to Taehyung with his thoughts, trying desperately to wrap himself around his gentle brother and shield him from the horrors that were unfolding.

He heard the unmistakable sound of fabric tearing and felt his stomach give a sick lurch. Jimin wasn't entirely sure what was coming, but he knew Taehyung was in danger. Something told him this was the most dangerous situation any of them had faced since the night they'd been taken. When their master let loose a scream of pure, carnal rage, Jimin couldn't suppress the sound of terror that escaped him in response.

"Cuff him to the bed."

"No, no, no," Jimin moaned, his hands instinctively reaching out for the brother he couldn't reach. "God, no, Taehyungie. Please no."

Horrifying images flashed through his mind, each more gruesome than the last, the metal cuffs rattling loud in the quiet room as they were clicked into place. His brother had fallen silent, but Jimin could feel his fear. Or maybe it was his own, simply overwhelming his senses and making it hard to breathe. Jimin felt useless, the way he'd felt having to watch his Jungkookie be ruined. There was nothing he could do then, and there was nothing he could do to help Taehyung now. He just prayed it would be over quick.

For what felt like days, Jimin forced himself to listen to each hiss of pain, every moan that escaped Taehyung as their master had his fun. If Taehyung had to suffer, Jimin wouldn’t let him do it alone. He would be there for every moment of it. Their master, on the other hand, had fallen quiet. He was taunting Taehyung, whispering that it was Taehyung's fault his brothers would have to suffer when they got out of this hell. He wished more than anything he could take Taehyung in his arms and tell him it was all lies. Then again, hadn't he been just as cruel with his words only days before? Jimin dropped his head into his hands and realized his face was wet, tears pouring down his cheeks in a silent flood.

"I don't even think your precious maknae was as broken as you and I can assure you Carl Foley test drove his songbird well..."

The moment their master mentioned Jungkook, Jimin knew Taehyung was done for. At one point, that knowledge may have made him jealous or insecure. But now it just made him hurt for his family. He heard the moment that Taehyung broke, the sound of his first heartbreaking sob that Jimin had heard since it all started, ripping a hole in his chest. Their master retold in detail what he'd let happen to their maknae. Jimin knew this was killing Taehyung more than any weapon ever could. The pain this would bring him was beyond words and he felt his heart ache in response. Unable to hold in his own grief any longer, Jimin grabbed a pillow to smother his sobs as they broke free.

He heard as Taehyung begged in that terrified tone for his family to be spared and Jimin began rocking back and forth, silent prayers spilling from his lips as he begged anyone that was listening.

"No, please don't. Please don't hurt him. Please, please don't hurt him."

Jimin picked up the occasional word as there was shuffling on the other side of the door and he pressed closer to it once more, a heavy weight settling in his gut as he realized what it all meant. Their master was going to mark Taehyung. He was going to claim him as his own. His property. In something painful and terribly permanent.

His mind flashed back to Mathan's branding and his heart stopped as he imagined their sweet, soft Taehyung being brutally, permanently marked. He remembered the stench of burnt flesh, the way the seemingly undefinable man collapsed to the ground in agony. What was going to happen to Taehyung? He heard a chair scrape against the floor and Taehyung's rapid, scared breathing before a low buzz filled the air. Jimin braced himself, wishing with all of his being that he could take Taehyung's place. Jimin knew that sound far too well. He had heard it every time BigHit had sent him for a fake tattoo. Kim Taehyung was being marked in ink.

As the first scream tore loose from his hyungjae, Jimin couldn’t keep the terrified cry of his own in. He curled in on himself, hands pressed tight to his ears, but it was no use. The overwhelming power of Taehyung’s pain got through to him anyways, ringing in his head like the world's most torturous alarm bells. What had his master done to him? When would it stop?

The crushing weight of Taehyung’s pain was too much for him and Jimin’s stomach gave a violent heave. He raced to the bathroom and emptied the meager contents of his stomach, sobbing his brother's name as he retched. The deafening sound of Taehyung’s screams were everywhere. It felt like he was being smothered in his pain and Jimin knew he deserved it. He had condemned Taehyung to this fate with his vicious words and his cruel actions. Now he was getting to hear it all happen and he wished more than anything he could take it all back. Gripping the sides of his head, tearing at his hair until it burned his scalp, Jimin sobbed. Every ounce of his soul ached for the boy in the other room.

Forcing himself to his feet, Jimin stumbled back to the door. He rested against it wishing he could take Taehyung’s hand and soothe him. He could only imagine how scared he must be, in blinding pain. Jimin couldn’t reach him, but the least he could do was sit as close as he could, forcing himself to listen to every second of his suffering so he wasn't alone. Jimin realized with a painful burst of clarity that this was his true punishment. It wasn’t being isolated. It was being safe in his room while the devastating screams of pain from his brother rang loud from the other side of the door.

He stared at the doorknob, warring with himself over whether or not he should intervene. With one twist he could go out there and put an end to Tae’s horrific pain. Jimin could throw himself between his master and his brother, take whatever punishment he decided to give him. Taehyung would do it for you, his mind snarled as a particularly violent sob wrenched free from his suffering best friend. But Jimin knew. He knew his master wanted that. He wanted him to try and leave. He was practically daring him to come out. If he set foot out of that room, his master would say it was Taehyung’s fault. Taehyung had upset him and he would be punished for upsetting his jewel. Jimin was trapped in an unlocked room and the knowledge was slowly ripping him apart.

“I’m so sorry, Taehyungie,” he cried, resting his head against the door. “I’m so, so sorry. Hyung’s here. Your hyungie’s here.”

He didn’t know how long it went on, his ear-splitting screams turning into an endless cycle of the only word that Taehyung seemed able to remember, agonized cries of “no” seeming to fall from his lips like a prayer. Jimin’s jaw was clenched so tight he thought he would break his teeth. Desperately he prayed that Taehyung would just pass out, anything to escape the pain he was being forced to endure.

~oooOooo~

As suddenly as they had started, the screams stopped. Jimin’s ears rang with the sound of Taehyung’s pain, a sound he knew would haunt him to his dying breath. Closing his eyes, he pressed his ear to the door. Had Taehyung finally lost consciousness? Was it finally over?

Soft gasps of pain were still heard and Jimin realized that Taehyung’s voice had given out before his body could, unable to take the force of which he was crying. Even his body was betraying him, not allowing him to slip into that quiet darkness. A chill raced down Jimin's spine as he realized the sound of Taehyung’s pain was now for his master and his ears only. The rest of the compound couldn’t hear the heartbreaking whimpers that he could. Jimin squeezed his eyes shut and desperately hoped that the worst of this nightmare was over.

~oooOooo~

A dull thud against the door sent Jimin scrambling backwards, eyes fixated on the handle. He knew it was obvious he’d been crying and if that door would open now, there was no hiding his distress. No point even trying. The footsteps faded away and he let out a shaky breath of relief, foolishly thinking Taehyung’s suffering had come to an end. He heard his master’s low voice, asking how his brother liked his first tattoo, if he knew what it meant. Jimin rubbed furiously at the tears burning his eyes, knowing now without a doubt that his sweet Taehyungie had been permanently scarred.

He could barely hear Taehyung’s reply, his voice sounding entirely different from the deep warmth Jimin was familiar with. He could hear him struggle to answer their master, but as the word left his lips Jimin’s blood ran cold.

“Whore.”

“You’re not,” Jimin whispered, furious that this was the mark his innocent brother would be forced to carry. “No, Taehyungie. You…you are so many things. So many good things.”

Their master was taunting him now, Jimin’s gut churning with disgust and anger. Taehyung didn’t deserve any of this. He had always been the gentlest, the softest of all of them. He deserved love and kindness, not vile words and endless pain. And yet his brothers had condemned him to this fate.

Jimin had condemned him to this fate.

“Please…just…gnnnn…I wish you would…just let me die…”

Hearing those words escape Taehyung, that desperate, final wish, broke something deep inside of Jimin. He could feel the howl of pain clawing up his throat and bit down on his fist to hold it in. Taehyung pleading for death meant so many awful things had come true. Jimin knew he would never leave their members behind, would never lose hope, would always hold on to the need to protect them. The fact that he was begging to be let go, pleading for the release that this would provide him scared Jimin almost as badly as his screams. Taehyung had given up. And he could do nothing to reassure him.

Jimin had the chance. He had stood face to face with his brother, no guards, no cameras watching. He could have given Taehyung comfort, strength, understanding. He’d seen in those dark eyes that was all that he had needed. He needed someone to understand him. But instead Jimin had lashed out, verbally slapping Taehyung, being so cruel as to refuse to let him call Jimin his hyung.

“Oh, God,” he groaned, more of his words coming back to him in a rush.

“I hope they make you bleed.”

Grief like nothing he had ever felt slammed into him, stealing his breath away as Jimin curled into a ball on the floor. How many more of his vile wishes would come true? His brothers may have been the ones to put the marks on Taehyung’s body that had brought this level of pain down on him, but it was Jimin alone that was responsible for killing the last piece of hope Taehyung had clung to. He had seen it happen. And without that hope now, he was left begging for his death.

“I’ll be good,” Taehyung sobbed.

Jimin couldn’t stop his own wail from slipping out, long past the point of being able to stay quiet.

“You have always been good, Taehyung-ah. So good and so strong. You’ve been the best of all of us. I promise you, I’ll do better. I will be so good for you now. I promise, Taehyungie.”

“Close your eyes or I shall ruin your precious little Jimin like this instead.”

While his heart lurched in fear, part of Jimin begged for Sven to turn his attention to him. If it would spare Taehyung any more suffering, he would gladly take it ten times over. But the pained “no” that left his brother drew another sob from his lips, a deep flash of pain hitting him in his core at the sound. Jimin should have known, as long as Taehyung was breathing, he would fall on the sword for his family time and time again.

“You don’t want to see Jimin-ssi broken and bleeding, Taehyung-ah? Would it not please you to see him being punished for all the pain that he has caused you?”

Overcome with his grief, Jimin’s entire body shook as he cried out his pain. Their master wasn’t lying. That was what hit him the hardest. He had caused Taehyung such pain, he didn’t know if he could ever be forgiven. If he even deserved to be forgiven. If he had just done his job better, if he had only trusted his brother, if he had only given Taehyung comfort.

Jimin heard the moment this last chapter of pain began in the agonized gasp that left his brother as their master got his last bit of pleasure. As Taehyung’s silence pressed on, it began to scare Jimin. The man felt ice creep into his veins as he imagined his brother slipping away while the monster that hunted them growled insults as he pounded into him.

Another shout of fury left their master but before Jimin could make sense of it, Taehyung let out one last deafening scream of agony. Shaking violently, Jimin closed his eyes as another faint scream echoed back from somewhere much farther away. He thought he recognized the one behind the voice, but he couldn’t bring himself to focus on much of anything anymore. His grief was making it hard for him to think about anything other than what he had done and what his brother was enduring.

“While Jimin sits in his lavish halls, your brothers subject to their new owners, you will remain chained in my basement like the chattel that you are.”

Imagining his once shining brother, all boxy smiles and innocent kindness, imprisoned in a dark hole somewhere, ripped a hole in Jimin’s chest. It burned, a deep throbbing pain that nothing could erase. His guilt fed the pain, lighting it on fire and burning its way through him. He listened through the roaring in his ears as their master summoned his brute of a guard, Taehyung’s weak footsteps fading away to nothing. And then his brother was gone.

“I’m so sorry, Taehyung-ah,” he sobbed, his voice nothing more than a whisper as he clutched his pillow to his chest. “Please hold on. Please. I…don’t leave us, Tae. I’m just so sorry.”

He could see the shadow of his master as he stopped outside of the door and Jimin silently dared him to come inside. To see Jimin curled in a ball on the floor, his face swollen, eyes red. But just like it had appeared, the shadow left and he was alone once again, the sound of Taehyung’s pain seared in his mind.

For a long time the remaining members of BTS sat in the silence of their prison, the only sounds they could hear being the monsters that lived within them.

“Hyung…” Hoseok said softly, his eyes looking at their maknae who was sleeping fitfully, his brow drawing as a frown marred his features.

“He’ll be fine,” Jin said, but to Hoseok it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“What if…what if they don’t bring him back?”

“That monster never keeps him long. Taehyungie will return.”

Yoongi snorted at that. His fingers tapping the table hard.

“Why would a traitor like that want to return here?” he asked, his eyes hard as he looked at the two on the other side of the room. “If he knows what’s good for him…”

“He’s probably too busy soaking in a bubble bath and feeding his owner bonbons,” Namjoon said. “I’d be a good little whore for silk sheets and fur coats too.”

“And if that monster sees what the two of you have done?” Hoseok asked, a new but very real fear taking hold in his chest.

The two which he addressed immediately fell silent as that thought only now crossed their minds.

Namjoon silently wondered if the boy who had been his brother once really would be okay…

“Jungkookie was in on it too,” he pouted. “Why don’t you wake him up and chastise him too.”

“Jungkookie isn’t in his right mind, Namjoon-ssi,” Jin growled, his heart hurting as he thought about his precious maknae. “You have no idea what he has been through…”

“Hyung…” Namjoon breathed, his memory returning to the still very recent trauma his eldest member had incurred.

“Don’t,” Jin bit. “My demons are not yours to bear, Namjoon dongsaeng…”

“Will Kookie be okay?” Namjoon asked, his own heart hurting as he looked at the boy he had known for all these many years.

“Shouldn’t you ask that of Kim Taehyung?” Jin asked, looking at Namjoon with no small amount of betrayal in his eyes. “Isn’t he the one we should be worried for the most?”

“He can take care of himself,” Namjoon bit, trying to keep his tone harsh, but failing to keep the smallest built of guilt from creeping in.

“It is your job to take care of him too,” Hoseok said. “PD-nim put you in charge of being our voices when none of us could speak. He would be ashamed of you if he knew how you had silenced the most beautiful voice among us.”

“I didn’t do anything to Kim Taehyung,” Namjoon growled.

“You didn’t do anything for Kim Taehyung either,” Hoseok said, disappointment heavy in his words.

“Keep your guilt trip to yourself,” Yoongi growled, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Hoseok opened his mouth to say something, but immediately shut it instead, his eyes going wide as he flew from his seat on the mattresses to the door, pressing his ear against it as firmly as he could, holding his finger to his lips in an effort to get the others to be quiet.

Somewhere in the distance Hoseok swore he heard fighting but, he could just barely make out words, even if he did not understand what they were saying.

“Hobi-ah?” Jin whispered, now on his knees, torn between leaving Jungkook and joining his brother so he could understand what was wrong.

“Who touched my property!”

Hoseok came off the door as if he had been shocked, his eyes wide as he looked back to the others in the room.

“What have you done?” he whispered, his eyes now focusing on the monsters in the room. “What…”

“Hoseok!” Jin said, his tone firm as he tried to bring his brothers attention to him.

“He…that monster…”

Hoseok looked back at the door, his soul willing someone to come through it that he could send to save their brother.

“Hoseok-ah!” Jin said, this time a little louder. “What did you hear?”

“He knows,” Hoseok breathed. “He…he knows something happened to…Taehyungie…”

“How—“

“Who did you allow to touch you, Kim Taehyung-ssi!”

This time everyone in the room heard the roar of danger. Kim Taehyung was about to be severely punished for crimes he did not commit.

“What do we do?” Hoseok despaired, looking at Jin. “What are we supposed to do?"

Hoseok now felt close to tears as a new level of fear consumed him. His little brother was all alone in a room with a monster; greatly weakened from the attack by his lover and his brothers, and there was no one they could send to save him from this fate.

“I don’t…”

Jin looked around the room, wondering at this point if the cameras were even on or if, in their greatest time of need, Mathan Foley had in fact disappeared once more, hidden away somewhere safe and warm, delighting in their suffering while feeding them false promises of hope.

~oooOooo~

Minutes passed like hours, and none of the prisoners gathered in the room heard any more screams of rage or of pain.

Hoseok kept pacing, waiting for the door to open and their brother to join them once more while Jin tried to keep his rage contained, his control hanging by a thread the only thing keeping him from lunging at Yoongi and Namjoon once more and beating them to death.

“Do you think he’s okay?” Hoseok asked, stopping and staring into the nothingness, his mind somewhere far away from where his body now stood.

“I think he’ll be just fine,” Jin said, his tone soothing and low as he rubbed Jungkooks back, praying with everything he had that the boy would stay asleep.

Jin didn’t think Jungkook could wake to Taehyung being gone again. At least, not in the way he was right now.

“Do you think…”

“Taehyungie will be back soon, Hoseok-ah. Come over here and sit down before you make yourself sick.”

“Wi—“

Nothing further was said however as a pain-filled, dying wail of ‘no’ permeated the air and stole the very breath from the lungs of Bangtan Sonyeondan.

“Tae…” Hoseok breathed, falling to his knees as tears came to his eyes. “Taehyungie noooooo!” Hoseok wailed his his own grief and anguish.

Seokjin counted the seconds, expecting any minute for Kim Taehyung to be flung through their door, another member taken and punished for yet one more imagined crime.

Maybe Ivchenko would end Namjoon and Yoongi for touching his property and, if Jin really thought about it, maybe it was exactly what they deserved. ‘An eye for an eye’ as he had been taught.

“What---“ Hoseok started, stopping cold and turning white as the most gruesome scream they had ever heard shook the building, and continued without stopping.

“Hyung!” Hoseok shouted. “What…”

“Tae—“ Jin moaned, finding himself on his feet and crossing the room once more, Yoongi pulled from his chair and slammed against the wall, now facing a monster of his own.

“They’re killing him!” Jin roared, spit flying in to Yoongi’s face. “What did you do to him!!!”

Yoongi just smirked at that, reaching up and wiping the spit off his face.

“I gave the whore exactly what he deserved…”

“Noooooooo! Nonononononononoononononononoooooo!”

“Oh god,” Hoseok breathed, the sound of Taehyung’s screamed prayers drilling in to his head and making him sick. “Oh…oh no…wha—“

Jungkook came to at that, looking wildly around the room, counting faces as he came back in to himself, realizing only one was missing.

“Hyung…” he whispered, throwing the blankets off of him and scrambling for the door. “Taehyung-ah!” he shouted, beating the door beneath his fists as he tried to find attention somewhere, his most trusted protector screaming out for help somewhere Jungkook could not get to.

“Jungkook-ssi,” Hoseok said, trying to grab hold of his brother, fearing the boy would injure himself even more.

“You bastards!” Jungkook roared, turning his ire on the only two silent members of the room. “How could you!!! How can you just…sit there and…”

Jungkook collapsed to the floor, unsure of what to say, the knowledge that he was equally as guilty for Taehyungs screaming hitting him like a ton of bricks.

“How could I?” Kookie whispered. “I just…let it happen. I didn’t…I didn’t even try…”

Seeing the brokenness taking his maknae over, Jin let Yoongi go. Turning and carefully picking Jungkook up, Jin tucked him back in to bed, pulling Hoseok down beside him. Kookie didn’t need this anguish now. He didn’t need this overwhelming guilt on his already damaged soul, and he needed to realize that above all, there was nothing he could have done to stop what had happened. It was now Kim Seokjins greatest fear that had Jungkook even tried, Min Yoongi would have destroyed him too.

All Hoseok could do was hold Jungkook and cry. No matter how hard he tried to keep his focus solely on his maknae, his brothers unyielding screams were driving him insane.

None of them realized how much of a comfort those screams had been until they stopped. As long as Taehyung was screaming, it proved he was alive.

Suffering? Yes.

In unfathomable pain? Most definitely.

But alive somewhere for sure.

“I swear to God if Taehyungie dies,” Jin growled, “I will kill you with my bare hands.”

Namjoon dropped his head at that, seeming to come slightly more in to himself, but all Yoongi did was let lose a cold, cruel laugh.

“You couldn’t even save yourself from that marshmallow of a doctor,” he taunted, a demonic smile on his face. “How exactly are you going to do anything to me?”

About that time they heard another pain-filled scream, Namjoon now covering his ears as his forehead met the table, his resolve broken once more as the severity of his actions seemed to crash into him like an unforgiving wave.

“Make it stop!” he moaned, his stubby nails digging into the sides of his head. “Please make it stop!”

“Take a good listen,” Jin growled, his fury making him seem so much larger than normal. "This is your fault. The both of you. No matter what anyone else says, this pain…this torment and torture…all of it is on you. You'd both better pray Taehyung comes back through those doors whole and alive, or they'll have to send you two home in pieces when I am done with you.”

“Will he kill him, hyung?” Jungkook asked from where he laid, thick tears streaming down his face. “Will—“

Jin wanted to tell his brother ‘no’, to reassure him that everything would be alright, but as the demon far away let lose another scream of rage, Jins tears fell once more.

“I don’t know,” he said, those three words costing him a piece of his soul he would never be able to get back.

“Wha—what happened, hyung?” Hoseok asked, now equally horrified at the thought of never seeing his dongsaeng again.

“I don’t know,” Jin said again.

“Will he…will he come back?” Namjoon now asked, sounding slightly broken.

‘I think not’ Seokjin thought.

“He has to,” he answered instead.

Chapter End Notes

*takes a deep breath*

A lot more bad stuff happened in this chapter didn't it?

I'm sorry if this affected or triggered anybody. But now that we are all through this piece together let us remember this is NOT real. Step back. Get something warm to drink. Watch funny BTS videos. Breathe and decompress. Come back for more later, or, don't come back at all. I will love and treasure you all the same.

A lot more stuff happens as we race towards the end of part one, but please know that as we continue this journey into parts 2 & 3 several happy endings will come. I promise. I already have each and every one of the boys happy endings written. Even Mathan's. So I hope that you, our friends, stay with us til the very end, but I will understand if you can not.

Peace, Light & Love,

Kaelyn

Part Seventy-One

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Several hours passed, but no guards came or went, and with each agonizing moment that passed in silence, Seokjin wondered if they would ever see their beautiful brother again. In the absence of his screams, they could not, with any amount of certainty, even say he was alive.

“Hyung…” Hoseok breathes. “We…where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Jin returns, staring at the door like his glare can will it to open to Taehyung on the other side.

“Why haven’t they brought him back?” Hoseok asks instead.

“Because it was all an act,” Yoongi snorts. “His pampered little ass is just fine.”

“What if it’s not?” Namjoon breathes. “What if…what if we fucked up?”

“Little late for that, isn’t it?” Hoseok asks, his emotions locked down in the face of the unknown. “You already fucked up and if you don’t know it…I’ll pray for you…”

“No one needs your religious bullshit,” Yoongi growls.

“Obviously you do,” Hoseok said, his eyes sharp as steel. “No one else is going to save you from what you have done.”

“What have I done, Hoseok-ssi?”

“You punished our brother for something he hasn’t done,” Hoseok said softly. “You sent Taehyungie to his death…when it should have been one of us. We’re older. Stronger. We…you were supposed to love him. You should have saved him…”

Dinner comes and goes but none of the remaining members can bring themselves to eat. Yoongi is sitting silent in his corner glaring daggers at the others. Namjoon is by the bathroom sick with grief and guilt. Jeon Jungkook has finally cried himself to sleep, Hoseok sitting by his side in case he wakes again. Kim Seokjin is sitting at the table, staring at the door and willing someone to walk through to tell him where his brother is; to let him know his sweet Kim Taehyung is still alive where ever he may be. He knows his members are delusional with self-hatred and remorse. Taehyungie has never verbalized that much pain, not even when he was acting for roles he would never get. Taehyung had never experienced that much pain that any of the members were aware of, and if he had… A part of Jin wondered if it would not be more responsible of him to pray that his sweet dongsaeng had finally given in to the numbness of death.

~oooOooo~

Jin sits up all night long, refusing to sleep even when Hoseok calls him to bed. His mind is going places he never imagined as he sits for eternities, staring at the door and waiting.

Waiting for what, he has no idea.

Mathan?

Taehyung?

Some random guard to end their torment and tell them where their brother is?

That monster himself to come and tell him Kim Taehyung had been murdered for the things that Kim Namjoon and Min Yoongi had done?

Jin cannot even begin to know. Cannot begin to fathom the endless possibilities of the unknown, or the effects that any one truth would have on his remaining members. Namjoon and Yoongi probably wouldn’t care, but Jungkookie would mourn himself to death at the news that his Taehyungie would never return. Hoseok…Jin was terrified by the look he had seen in the younger mans eyes and for a moment he wondered if he could allow his brother to rip the two monsters in the room to shreds with just his hands. Seokjin thought he might be more than willing to help. And sweet, sweet Jimin. Where had he been? Surely if they had heard hallways away…tears came to his eyes as Jin envisioned the horror his brother had been subjected to. Had he been forced to watch? To stand silent as Taehyung was tortured? Or had he, like them, only been allowed to hear the murder of his very best friend, his mind running wild with all the thoughts that Seokjin now feared.

~oooOooo~

The next morning Kim Taehyung still has not returned, and no matter how hard Jin fights it, he cannot help but think the worst. He has no idea what he will do if his greatest fears are confirmed. Every time the door to their prison is opened Jin bombards the guards with questions about where Taehyung is, or if he’s alive, or if perhaps they know anything at all. Of course these monster think it is funny and laugh and spit insults at him, none of them willing to tell Seokjin anything, unwilling to tell him that they themselves don’t actually know. Once or twice the silence he is met with hurts him and he wonders why these particular guards chose to say nothing at all. To him it’s like they do know something and he can’t decide what their silence means.

When dinner time comes Hoseok offers to take up the guard, to let his brother sleep, but Seokjin refuses. He is doing now what he knows he should have done all along. He is holding his family together with the last remaining shreds of his soul. When everyone is out of here and everyone is safe, Seokjin reckons maybe he can sleep then. Maybe if the pain isn’t too much, and the emptiness he feels has not swallowed him whole…maybe, just maybe, he can rest his weary mind.

“Hyung,” Hoseok says when morning dawns once more. “Haven’t you slept?”

Seokjin simply shakes his head, his red rimmed eyes trained sharply on the door. His hands are folded in a motion of prayer as he listens for foot steps that just have to come. One way or another he will find out if Kim Taehyung lives, or if he has died.

“Seokjin-hyung,” Namjoon says from the corner where he sits. “Maybe…maybe if he doesn’t come back…maybe that really is for the best…”

No one knows if Namjoon meant he wished Taehyung was dead. None of the other members even get the chance to ask. Jung Hoseok has come undone at those few simple words and before the others can think to react he has Namjoon on the floor hitting the man as hard and fast as he can. His lifetime of dancing has made him limber, strong, and quick. The two or three times Namjoon swings out in defense are easily dodged by the man he once loved; every punch that Hoseok throws connecting with maximum efficiency as he beats their leader to a bloody, messy pulp. No words are exchanged and Yoongi is laughing while Jungkook is wide awake in horror. Jin just sits and watches until he sees Namjoon give up. He realizes then this isn’t what Taehyung would have wanted and so carefully he stands, approaching the one sided fight. Pulling Hoseok away he glaces only momentarily at Namjoon, no words of encouragement or condoning to throw either way.

“Taehyungie wouldn’t have wanted this,” he says, his mind stuck in past tense. “This isn’t…”

‘He didn’t die for this,’ his mind screams.

“Taehyung didn’t suffer just so we could tear each other apart. So stop. Please. We…we have to stick together. Taehyung…”

Jin begins to accept his brother is never coming back.

Around lunch Kim Namjoon picks himself up off the floor. He looks like shit and he feels bones shift and maybe he has a few teeth loose but he forces himself to the bathroom that they use and turns on the water, letting it wash every physical pain away.

The voices he hears refuse to shut up, the loudest among them telling him what he knows is true, but refuses to believe.

Kim Taehyung…

If he is no longer alive, no matter who dealt the final blow, Kim Namjoon allowed him to be killed. Hoseok was right. Namjoon deserved to pay for his sins. If Taehyung was dead, Namjoon was the guiltiest of them all. He had been charged in the beginning with protecting his family no matter the cost, but when theirs lives turned in to an unimaginable nightmare, Taehyung, not Namjoon, had put on his armor and gone to war. Not once had Namjoon stopped to see, or taken the time to think, that Taehyung had sold his very soul for the family he held dear.

“Please…” he whispers so no one can hear. “Please let him be alive. Please let it be me instead. Please save Taehyungie…Lord, please.”

Kim Namjoon was not a religious man. He knew there was a higher power, but he had never been able to bring himself to believe in God. If Kim Taehyung walked out of this alive, Namjoon knew he would never question faith again. Regardless of the fact that it was too late for him, Namjoon fell to his knees and prayed for his dongsaengs soul, the cold water he was under never able to wash away the pains brought on by the demons inside.

~oooOooo~

~oooOooo~

Three days on, not a word had come of Kim Taehyung. The remaining members had been pulled from their spots and forced to shower, food made for them and shoved down their throats at their refusals to take proper care of themselves. The orders these guards barked at them now meant very little in the face of their newest truth. Kim Taehyung…

“What if…what if they don’t bring him back?” Jungkook cries, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clings to the pillow Taehyung had used.

“Is…do you think…” Hoseok begins. “What do we do…if he really is dead?”

“Don’t say that!” Namjoon hisses as he looks at his hands.

“Is it any less than what he deserves?” Yoongi questions. “Traitors like him…”

“I’ll kill you,” Jin growls, his eyes like darts as he looks at the man. “One more word…I swear to God you will die…”

“Hyung…”

“No…I will not let him talk that way. What has Min Yoongi ever given up for any of us…”

“What…what do you think they did to him?” Jungkook asks, his voice so quiet and small.

“I don’t know,” Seokjin answers, head in his hands.

“Do you think they…killed,” Jungkook chokes.

“No!” Jin says as he furiously shakes his head.

“Do you think he’s still alive?” Hoseok asks, sounding oddly numb.

“I don’t…I’m not sure,” Seokjin whispers.

“What if--” Namjoon starts.

“Please don’t,” Seokjin breathes as another piece of him crumbles.

“Do you think…will they punish him more?”

“Yes…”

“Mathan?”

“What about him?”

That night Jin finally succumbs to his exhaustion, Namjoon and Hoseok putting him in bed, Jungkook curled into his side. No one knows where Taehyung is, and every time that they ask they are threatened with pain. Mathan Foley hasn’t shown his face in days and even though he so desperately tries to keep hope, Jung Hoseok’s faith is beginning to die.

~oooOooo~

When morning comes and his members still sleep, Hoseok prays that Mathan will come. Everyone there has ran out of hope and he knows in his mind the man who has promised to take them away will be able to find the answers they so desperately need. Just as he thinks to give in to the pull of sleep, their prison door opens and their savior appears.

“Mathan-ah,” Hoseok breathes, tears springing to his eyes as he tilts his head, praying the man he sees before him is real.

“What happened?” Mathan asks, immediately on alert.

“Taehyungie…” Hoseok breathes.

“Where is he?”

Mathan quickly counted heads and cursed himself when he realizes the most important one is missing.

“We don’t know,” Hoseok breathes. “Please...please find him," he begs, choking on a sob. “Please…find Taehyungie." He tries to explain but he doesn't know much else to say. "That guard took him. And then...he was...he just kept screaming and…he hasn't come back."

“What guard?” Mathan asks in panic. He still isn’t well enough to handle this. “When?”

"That woman," Hoseok answers quickly. "It...it was a couple of days ago when she took him."

“Shit,” Mathan breathes as he drops the supplies he had in his hands. “Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

“None of us knew where you were…”

“I’m here now,” is all Mathan says.

“I think…all of us…we think…that he’s…dead…”

“No.” Mathan says, sounding sure, and strong.

“You…you must not have heard him scream,” Hoseok whispers as he’s haunted once more.

“Scream?” Mathan asks as he starts to feel fear. “Taehyung isn’t!” He insists. “He can’t be…”

“How can you be so sure?” Hoseok asks.

“I just…know these things,” Mathan says. “I’m…I’ll go and find him. Everything…all of it will be okay…”

Mathan says no more as he lets the door shut behind him. He doesn’t have to. Hoseok knows.

“Grief does not change you …it reveals you.”

Even Mathan Foley knows.

Kim Taehyung…is dead.

Part Seventy-Two

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Notes

Hi readers!

Please bear with me as I adult HARD! This past week has been crazy busy and next week is going to be the same. I have one more pre-written chapter after this so I should still be able to update weekly as promised. I will let you know however that I have several mini-vacations planned because this mama needs time away. They shouldn't affect writing and posting much, but I did want you to know. Thanks as always for sticking around! I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I really did worry a lot about it!

Peace!

Kaelyn

“They’re dying, KaeKae,” Mathan said softly, his voice rumbling in his chest and resonating through the phone.

“All of us are dying, dear brother,” Kaelyn said, desperately trying to keep her calm, her tone betraying neither her panic, nor alarm.

“Does anything disturb you?” Mathan asked, caught off guard by the nonchalance of his sisters tone.

“Disturbing things disturb me,” she said simply. “Facts of life, not so much.”

“What am I to do?” Mathan asked instead.

“Put on your super hero cape and save the world?” Kaelyn said, sadness slowly creeping into her tone.

“We’re not five,” Mathan said, a smile stealing his lips.

“Was I even alive when you were five?” Kaelyn asked, getting off track.

“I think so,” Mathan said. “But seriously…”

“Do whatever you must to save them,” Kaelyn said, now serious. “Amor fati, as they say.”

“God bless you?” Mathan said in confusion.

“Accept your fate, dumb-ass,” Kaelyn said in exasperation as she turned from her computer, looking around her room for all the things she would need. “Do you ever learn anything you uneducated swine? Jeez.”

“My education and retention isn’t the problem here,” Mathan pointed out. “They’re killing each other. The six of them will have murdered one another before I can get them out of here.”

“Where the hell is the seventh one?” Kaelyn asked, not sure she wanted to know.

“Your husband has him,” Mathan said before the line went silent.

“Who?’ Kaelyn whispered, fear evident in her tone as she froze half way to her closet.

“Jimin…”

“Please…”

“I’m trying, Kae. It just…lines have been drawn and…getting all of them out together…”

“What happened?” Kaelyn asked in concern.

“I can’t tell you that or you won’t come.”

“But all of them…I mean…they’re still breathing…aren’t they?”

“For now,” Mathan conceded. “But I’m not real sure how long their status will be living.”

“It’s impeccable timing, Mathan,” Kaelyn sighed. “The guys are talking comeback and…”

“Don’t speak weirdo to me, Kaelyn Grey,” Mathan said.

“Uncultured swine,” Kaelyn bit.

“Why am I doing this again?” Mathan asked.

“Calling me or doing the right thing?”

“Both?”

“You call me because I have the brains,” Kaelyn said. “And…you are doing the right thing because…it is the only thing to do. Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re.”

“English!”

“Resolutely in action, gently in manner. It means to do unhesitatingly what must be done, but accomplishing it as inoffensively as possible. Can you read?”

“Can you speak dumb?”

“Mathan… You aren’t stupid. You’re just…impossibly lost. And…I don’t blame you at all. But…if none of this makes sense then…save them simply because you love him and he loves them in return.”

“When did this turn in to something about love?” Mathan asked, insanely confused.

“Because love…is a many splendid thing. Love…lifts you up where you belong! All you need it love!”

“Cut the quote crap, Kaelyn. I’m serious!”

“You promised him, didn’t you? That you would take him and his brothers away from there and get them home safe and sound?”

“I did…”

“Then there you go. It’s as simple as that. Some people…they don't understand the promises they're making when they make them. But they end up keeping that promise. That's what love is. Love is…keeping the promise anyway. No matter the cost.”

“So…”

“Call me when you have a definite go. I’ll come to you then.”

“What if my timing is bad?” Mathan asked, allowing his insecurities to seep into his tone.

“Your timing is always bad. But since I’m not coming for you, it is an unfortunate circumstance I will have to withstand.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” Mathan asked, his chest swelling with pride at how beautifully his sister had turned out, all things considered.

“You owe me, big brother. Like…a hundred, million, kabillion, dollars.”

“Kaelyn…”

“Mathan?”

“Love me til the end?”

“To infinity and beyond…”

Kaelyn hung up, tossing her phone on her bed as she sank to the floor, head in her hands as she struggled to think. There was so much her brother wasn’t telling her and yet… She didn’t know.

She knew from experience how bad things could be; how bad they had gotten before, but without visual proof, she had no real grasp on what she needed to do other than make her excuses and find her way back to Hell.

“We’re as likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we’re not likely to do either.”

Had Kaelyn ever really helped anyone? When it had mattered most, and her brother had called her asking for help all those months ago, hadn’t she told him no? How different would things be now if she had gotten over herself and told him yes? Would the seven members of BTS be more whole? Less damaged? All alive? Or would her haste have set into motion actions she could not fathom leading to the death and destruction of everyone she herself asked for help? With a heavy sigh Kaelyn looked up, forcing her mind to think in ways it had not done as she began to prepare for what she knew needed to be done.

~oooOooo~

Days passed as Kaelyn quietly made arrangements for her departure. So much needed to be done, and while Mathan was doing the very best he could in Hell, Kaelyn still needed someone on the outside to help her survive. She was about to charge head first into a place she swore she would never go again that was filled with monsters who wanted nothing more than to see her dead.

Lying in bed late one night, the events of the day playing through her mind, Kaelyn made the decision to turn herself and her brother in. She only hoped the person she called would take the time to understand, and allow her to do everything she needed to do, including slipping away into the night when her part of this evil deed was done.

Colton Foley, field agent for the FBI, looked at his personal phone buzzing on his desk and briefly wondered who was calling him from an international number in the middle of the day.

“Agent Foley,” he answered, keeping his tone clipped.

“Hey,” Kaelyn breathed, her eyes closing in fear. “It’s…it’s Kaelyn…”

Colton's world came to a hard stop at the voice. He hadn’t heard from his sister in years, and even now he wondered if it was really her.

“Kae?” He whispers, looking around the office to make sure no one was listening in. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Kaelyn hesitates, all bravery leaving her. “I just…wanted to see how you were. I…missed you?”

None of the Foley's had ever been close and Kaelyn was just his half-sister, but Colton also was not as intelligent or in-tune as Mathan was. He had no idea that anything was wrong from Kaelyn's stilted statement.

“I missed you too?” He responds, trying to figure out where this is coming from. “Can I help you with something?”

“Can’t I call my big brother and just talk?” Kaelyn asks.

“Do you call him for this stuff?” Colton asks.

“Mathan is six years older, Colton. He’s like…old. He doesn’t understand all the fun, hip stuff like you do…”

“I’ve still got two years on you, Kaelyn,” Colton says, unsure of where this is going.

“Can I…tell you a secret?” Kaelyn asks as she gathers every ounce of her remaining strength.

“Kaelyn I’m at work…”

“I know…this…this is about…work…”

“Where are you even at?”

“My room,” Kaelyn says, her sarcastic side coming out.

“What time is it there?”

“2:30 am,” Kaelyn says. “I’m in Seoul.”

“South Korea!?!” Colton chokes.

“Unless it’s 2:30 am in my soul, then yes.”

“And you’re calling me why?”

“I told you,” Kaelyn says softly. “Work.”

“I’m in America,” Colton says, getting annoyed.

“I know,” Kaelyn says simply. “If…if I tell you a secret…if I give you something big…will you keep me safe in exchange for what I know?”

“Kae--”

“Yes or no, Agent Foley,” Kaelyn says. “I know something big, that will really mean a lot and do a lot for you, but in return for what I know, you have to promise you will let me go. You have to promise not to know me, or even see me, when I deliver this present to you.”

“I can’t…”

“You can,” Kaelyn insists. “And…you have to promise…to not shoot Mathan on sight or…railroad him for everything our family has done…”

“What’s going on?” Colton asks, turning on the trace on his phone and activating his recording app.

“Promise me, Colton,” Kaelyn insists.

“I promise,” he agrees.

“What?”

“What do you mean what?”

“What do you promise me?”

“Kaelyn!”

“Say it!”

“I promise I will let you go and not shoot that idiot you call a brother on sight,” Colton huffs, obviously annoyed.

“I know where they are,” Kaelyn whispers, afraid of being heard.

“Where who is, Kaelyn.”

“BTS.”

“Who?”

“Seriously?” Kaelyn bites, unable to temper her annoyance. “BTS? Bangtan Sonyeondan? Bulletproof Boy Scouts? The idol group that has been missing for almost a year? Where the hell do you work again?”

“Watch your tone,” Colton growls.

“How do you not know who BTS is?” Kaelyn asks. “Everyone knows who they are.”

“Unless they are in America--”

“Dorian has them,” Kaelyn says over her brother.

“What?” he asks, a weight dropping in his stomach.

“Our father has them,” Kaelyn says again. “He has them at the compound. Carl, Mathan, and Ivchenko are there as well. That’s why no one has been able to find them. They’re hidden miles away from anyone who would care.”

“How do you know?” Colton asks, scrambling to make notes.

“I can’t tell you that,” Kaelyn says. “Believe me or not, I know where they are, and in a few days time I am coming to get them whether you want to help me or not.”

“Kaelyn--”

“Mathan told me he was taking them out of there on Thursday,” Kaelyn says. “So…go easy on him please. He…he’s the only thing keeping them alive…”

“How long have you known?”

“Almost the whole time,” Kaelyn admits. “But…I won’t go down for this, so don’t even try. If this doesn’t go exactly as I say…no one will see them alive ever again. That isn’t a threat. It’s a promise. You have no idea who you are messing with. You don’t want to. So let me handle all the dirty work, and you reap all the rewards.”

“Kaelyn!” Colton objects.

“It’s my way, or no way,” Kaelyn says. “You know you don’t have the subtly nor tact to get in and get out without being compromised. Mathan’s there already with his team, and no one there would ever expect me to return. It’s the perfect ambush. I promise. This plan will work. As long as you stay out of it.”

“I’m not authorized--”

“Then get authorized or forget this conversation happened,” Kaelyn says. “Your recording didn’t work, so you have no proof. You really should know me better than that. I already knew you would try and record me and I distorted the audio for such an occasion. You are able to hear me just fine but, you’ll never be able to decipher what that recording says. You have nothing on me. And if you show up at the compound, everyone dies. So just…keep me out of this, and do as you’re told. Mathan is running with them on Thursday. I will meet with them at the rendezvous point on Saturday. I need a flight to Chicago, and a car to Lexington. I’ll arrange more…appropriate…transportation from there. And not in my name. I just need to be able to pick it up and drive off with no questions asked. And no tails. Don’t waste your fellow agents doughnut time.”

“Kaelyn!”

“Colton!”

“I’ll have them to UK by Saturday afternoon,” Kaelyn says. “Just…tune in for the high speed interstate chase. That’ll be me. I’m stopping for no one. Please don’t try.”

“Kaelyn,” Colton says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “There isn’t enough time--”

“What a slut time is,” Kaelyn says. “She screws everybody. I’ve figured my part out. You need to do the same. I’m just…sorry I brought you in to this and…asked you to compromise your integrity for someone like me. I hope you can forgive me one day…”

Saying no more, Kaelyn disconnects the call as she takes a deep breathe, and begins to prepare in earnest.

Before the sun is up, everything that Kaelyn will need is packed neatly away in a carry-on, hidden in her closet beneath her ‘donation’ clothes. She’s just about to leave her apartment when her laptop dings. Usually she ignored such things but in time like these she paused to wonder. After a moment of war she sits at her desk and pulls her email up, her stomach dropping when she sees who it is from. Her brother had sent her pictures of a carefully crafted letter asking her to translate it. As she read the words on the images, her heart gave a painful tug and she realized, BTS was already out of time.

Hastily typing out the letter in English, Kaelyn changed all her plans in her head as she convinced herself not to panic. She would have to change her transportation details and drop her excuses as soon as she could. By the time Thursday came around… Kaelyn Grey prayed with everything in her she would make it to these seven lost souls before the devil took them.

Pulling out her phone, Kaelyn packed her laptop as well as she dialed her brothers encrypted number.

“This plan of yours is a go, and it is a go now. I’m sending you the full translation of Jimin’s letter, wrapping up shit here, and I am on a plane. Expect me stateside in five days. Get those boys and get them out now. I don’t care where you have to hide them til I get to you. And don’t for one fucking second think of leaving Park Jimin behind for any reason. If you have to knock his ass out, you do it, and you carry him out of there, or you and I will have a talk that you won’t walk away from.”

Kaelyn hung up at that. She debated grabbing her carry-on now, but she knew she had excuses to make. Not carrying luggage all the way to her job would be convenient, but at the same time, having it with her would add structure to her excuse of an emergency coming up. She could even pretend to be frantic and distraught. JB would buy it, and if he didn’t, his members would. They would help her make him understand.

Making up her mind, Kaelyn grabbed her bags, hailed a taxi, and made her way to JYP.

As she stepped into the studio, Kaelyn realized her boys had already started choreography run throughs.

“Shit,” she breathed in her mind.

If they were this into comeback already…production meetings were probably being held later that day.

“All work and no play makes our men dull babies,” she says as she sits next to her friend. “How long have they been at this?”

“Since 5,” Somang says. “We have a meeting in fifteen. PD-nim wants comeback to be March 13th.”

“Is…” Kaelyns eyes are wide. “That’s like…three weeks!” She exclaims.

“I know…”

“I…” Kaelyn looks around in desperation, wondering how she will make her excuses now. “I can’t,” she exhales. “I…something…I have to…”

Kaelyn looks at the seven men before her, dancing hard and pouring sweat just to make sure they have the feel of the song. Like them, she knows this album will make them, or break them. For so long she had watched them struggle to succeed, or to be accepted. She had seen all the hateful comments by netizens, the rejection by the GP…her heart hurt for them. But in the same token, JYP had really hired them an amazing team this time. Kaelyn knew that she could trust any one of them to make these boys shine. There was no one she could send to rescue the other seven boys who needed her help. Two cases of life and death stood before her, one far more urgent than the other.

“Kae? Is something wrong?” Somang asks in concern.

“Everything,” Kaelyn breathes.

“What?” Somang starts as the music stops.

“My brother,” Kaelyn says when the guys have collapsed around her. “He…”

“You said your family…” Jinyoung starts before being elbowed hard by JB.

Kaelyn nods at what the maknae says.

“I did,” she says softly. “I said…that they died. Because…to me they did. But…most of them…” Kaelyn stops and takes a breath. “My mother died, when I was very young. And my father…turned in to a monster. My brothers…” Kaelyn just shrugs.

“What’s wrong then?” Mark asks.

“My…oldest brother,” Kaelyn says. “He…got in some trouble and…I have to…try and help him get out of it but…I have to go home…to…”

“When?” Jackson asks.

“First flight I can find?” she says, looking at her hands.

“How long?” Yugeom asks.

“A week?” Kaelyn guesses. “Maybe two?”

“What about comeback?” Youngjae exclaims.

“Somang unnie…I’m sorry,” Kaelyn breathes, her heart tearing in two.

“Will your brother be okay?” JB asks.

“I don’t know,” Kaelyn breathes, her eyes closing in pain.

Kaelyn had been so worried about the men she was going to save that she had never stopped to truly think about her brothers well-being.

“I don’t…I don’t think so…” she whispers finally.

“Is there anything we can do?” Somang asks softly.

“Say lots of prayers and…give me a chance to…I’ll explain everything…when…when I come back…”

‘If I even make it back at all…’

“What is there to explain?” JB asks softly.

“A lot,” Kaelyn says with a humorless laugh. “Just…let me go and…get this done and…I’ll be back…as soon as I can.”

Kaelyn looked at the members of her little family, so grateful for the strength they had given her. The motley crew she had made herself a part of had never once made her feel awkward or unwanted, and while she owed the majority of that to Somang, Jaebum’s love had meant more to her than he would ever know. Now however Kaelyn wondered if she even deserved that love, or if, after everything was said and done, she would have it to come back to. Not once had she woken him with her screams, or sent her demons to haunt him as he slept. The monsters in her mind…she would never unleash them on the beauty of this man. He hadn’t done anything to deserve such hell. But Kaelyn knows JB isn’t stupid. He’ll check her manifests to see where she is going. And once he has the pieces, he’ll put them all together, and then, when everything else has come to light, Im Jaebum will know. The girl he had given his heart and soul…colluded with the monsters that kept his dear friends captive. She too was a monster who had so grievously sinned, and asked for forgiveness before anyone even knew what she was being forgiven for. Would he even give her the chance to explain when she got back? Or would he have the hounds waiting on her as soon as she set foot back on South Korean soil, cop cars and handcuffs and heavily armed law enforcement agents ready to take her in and put her down for the things she may or may not have done.

Kaelyn says no more as she pulls her family close, kissing JB one last time before picking up her bag and walking out the door, and out of their lives, for the very last time.

Once she makes it to the airport she wastes no time changing her flight, or making new arrangements for a different car. She has a layover in San Francisco now, which is fine by her. She’ll use the time to write out her defense and call Mathan to let him know she is well on her way.

An hour later when she is safely boarded, Kaelyn pulls out her phone and stares at her lock screen before turning it off and putting it away. She takes a pill to help her relax, and for a little while she is good, but the closer she gets to the one place she doesn’t want to be, the faster her long suppressed memories rise to infiltrate her dreams.

~oooOooo~

“Please let me go,” Kaelyn cried, her head spinning and her ears ringing, blood pouring from the spot on her temple where her captor had checked her with the butt of his gun in an attempt to incapacitate her.

“My child,” Alexander purred. “Where ever will you go?”

“Away from here,” Kaelyn spat, her vision clearing as hate filled her once more.

“You belong to Sven,” the man before her growled. “Which means that you also belong to me.”

“I’m not your property,” Kaelyn hissed as she tested the restraints that held her.

“As my sons wife, and my daughter in law, what else would you be?” Alexander Ivchenko asked with a laugh.

“I am a person!” Kaelyn roared.

“Bought and paid for, Mrs. Ivchenko. Or did you forget just how much you mean to daddy dearest?”

“Screw him,” Kaelyn laughed, desperation setting in.

Never in a million years had she thought her husband would go this far.

~oooOooo~

“Sven please,” Kaelyn whispered, tears trailing down her face as she looked her husband in the eye, begging him to save her from the monster she now faced.

“You did this to yourself, Kaelyn,” he whispered softly, standing in the corner where his father had placed him, instructing him to watch as Alexander taught his daughter in law a lesson she had yet been able to learn.

“You know this isn’t right,” she reasoned as the man before her started to undress. “This isn’t how you treat someone.”

“You shouldn’t have run away…”

“Why are you doing this to me?” Kaelyn asked in a broken tone as her father in law approached her. “Why will you not protect me?”

“Because he knows you were a very naughty, very selfish, little girl,” Alexander purred, reaching up to caress Kaelyns jaw, his hand trailing down her throat, a sign that her nightmare had begun.

“Cielo…please…” Kaelyn begged, trying one last time to make her husband see reason. “Save me…”

~oooOooo~

“I’m pregnant,” Kaelyn said, no joy in her tone as she placed the test on the desk before her. “Twelve weeks.”

“Does your husband know?” her father in law asked, not looking up from the paperwork before him.

“It…the baby…the baby isn’t his,” she said, her very soul breaking as she realized she had lost.

“Oh dear!” Alexander said as he finally looked up, a greasy smile on his face. “Do you realize what this means?”

“Please…” she said, desperately pleading with the monster before her once again.

“Did you learn to be a good little girl like your daddy told you to be?” Ivchenko asked, looking finally at the evidence before his eyes.

“Yes,” Kaelyn breathed as she bent just a little more.

“Yes, what, my kitten?”

“Yes daddy…

~oooOooo~

“Please Mattie,” Kaelyn begged, screaming into the phone as pain ripped through her body. “Please come save me!”

“KaeKae… I can’t.”

“Mathan please!” she tried again, her heart ripping in two at the realization that the monsters of her nightmares were finally going to win.

“I can’t get tied up in your marital problems,” Mathan spat. “Give your husband time, let him spend a couple nights on the couch, and everything will turn out fine.”

“Mathan…” Kaelyn breathed. “I’m dying.”

“Quit being so overly dramatic. Your spoiled princess ass will be just fine.”

~oooOooo~

“Mathan Foley?” she growled into the phone. “I don’t know him.”

“Kaelyn,” Mathan tried, his jaw grinding in frustration. “It’s your brother!”

“I have no brother,” Kaelyn said with a humorless laugh. “All my family died a long, long, time ago.”

“I need your help,” Mathan tried again, desperation in his tone.

“You need me?’ she asked in disbelief. “I’ll pray for you. That vultures feast on your dead flesh and wild dogs chew on your putrid bones.”

“Kaelyn!”

“WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU!!!!” she screamed, pain ripping through her chest and out of her mouth. “Where were you when I begged you to come and rescue us? Where were you when my innocence was STOLEN FROM ME BY A MAN OUR FATHERS AGE?”

“I didn’t know!” Mathan insisted, guilt washing over him once more.

“You mean you didn’t care,” Kaelyn said in return.

“I came as soon as I could!” the man on the other end insisted.

“You came when you were forced to come and took all the credit for an escape you never helped make happen.”

“It took the heat off of you, did it not?”

“Goodbye, Mr. Foley,” Kaelyn said. “I’ll see you when I find myself in hell once more.”

A hand on her shoulder brought Kaelyn from her sleep and she had to take a few deep breathes before she realized it was the flight attendant telling her they had landed. Thanking her kindly, Kaelyn grabbed her bag and departed the flight, checking in through customs and finding an out of the way seat in her next terminal. She shook her head and told herself that her nightmares were over; tried to convince herself that she was safe.

Was she safe?

How did she know she wouldn’t be caught? That her father would not find her and turn her back over to torture? That Carl wouldn’t have his way with her? That Sven would not gut her where she stood?

Would she be able to hold it together when Mathan came in to sight knowing what she knew? Would she be willing to sacrifice everything just to keep him safe? Would she be able to keep a clear head when she saw the men she had come to save? Would they even be able to be rescued as broken and bloody as they must be. Kaelyn would not leave unless all of them were there. She wondered if that made her a monster too.

Pulling out her phone, she dialed Mathans number once more.

“I’m almost there,” she says as soon as he answers.

“What?” Mathan asks in confusion.

“Give me another day. I’m in San Fran now. I’ll be flying to Chicago in two hours and driving in from there. Gotta ditch the rental in Lexington. Supposed to have an old work van waiting. I’ll be there some time tomorrow if no one fucks up…”

“I thought…you said five days…”

“I don’t think we have five days,” Kaelyn says. “Do…do you?”

“No,” Mathan agrees. “But…I need…tomorrow isn’t enough time…”

“I’ll stage…”

“What if you get caught?”

“Then I get caught,” Kaelyn says, sounding exhausted.

“You don’t deserve this,” Mathan says softly.

“I wanted to leave a mark, did I not?” Kaelyn asks. “This is me getting my wish, I suppose. I’ll go in in a blaze of fire and…leave a scar on those I am trying to save…”

“Kae…”

“I have…to do this. I can’t…I know…the risks. And they’re worth it. Even if I don’t survive this. I can’t just let them die. But I won’t be captured either. Not again. It’s all or nothing. And that’s on me.”

“This world doesn’t deserve you…”

“The world wasn’t made for us, dear brother,” Kaelyn says sadly. “We were made for the world. All we deserve, is to survive in it.”

“Why are you doing this?” Mathan asks.

“Because…we are ‘Ohana’,” Kaelyn says. “Ohana means family. Family means that no one gets left behind, or forgotten. So here I am…”

“I’ll get them ready,” Mathan says, sounding empty.

“I’ll be there when it’s time…”

Back in his room in Hell, Mathan hangs up the phone and leans against his desk, head hung in defeat and despair. Al of this is too good to be true, and if his sister gets taken down…he knows now that he will die to keep her safe. He only hopes he stays alive that long.

~oooOooo~

Brother, let me be your shelter

Never leave you all alone

I can be the one you call

When you're low

Brother, let me be your fortress

When the night wheels are driving on

Be the one to light the way

Bring you home

Part Seventy-Three

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Notes

I am SO sorry it has taken me this long to get this updated. Life has hit me so hard these last few weeks to the point I haven't even had the time to look at my computer.

Unfortunately for me this is the last pre-written chapter that I have in my files, which means I will have to hash out some specific time to sit down and write. I am headed out on a grown up vacation this weekend starting tomorrow, and I'm not sure what next week will look like but as soon as the weather gets better I am taking my gremlins on a family vacation as early as next weekend. While I will very much try to adhere to my seven day schedule, I also think I am getting sick again (yay me), and I have some spring cleaning to do around my house because SOME ONE killed my cleaning fairy...

Please accept my apologies in advance if the next update is delayed by a few days, or even a week and know that I will do my very best to get you the next chapter on time.

Thank you so much for your continued patience,

Kaelyn

“I've been here before, But always hit the floor. I've spent a lifetime runnin', And I always get away. But with you I'm feeling something, That makes me want to stay. I'm prepared for this. I never shoot to miss. But I feel like a storm is coming, If I'm gonna make it through the day, Then there's no more use in runnin', This is something I gotta face…”

Everything Mathan had planned was going to hell. Kim Taehyung was missing, Park Jimin was still in the hands of a monster, and lines had been drawn between Min Yoongi and Kim Namjoon, and rest of the members of the group he was desperately trying to save. Somewhere in the middle of making his plans, Mathan Foley realized there were no plans to make.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

Days had passed since he had checked on the members of BTS. Between being injured and almost dying, and trying to make sure his final preparations were a go, Mathan had forgotten there were other people still involved. Finishing his rounds for the day he quickly made his way to the room his targets were in.

Mathan doesn’t bother to knock before opening the door and is highly surprised when he is immediately confronted by Jung Hoseok.

The man before him is fighting back tears, fear so clearly written across his features.

“Mathan-ah…” Hoseok breathes. “Taehyungie…”

Mathan is immediately on alert as he looks around, counting heads and coming up short.

“Where is he?” He asks as he tries not to panic.

“We don’t know…” Hoseok answers. “Please...please find him," he begs, choking on a sob. “Please…find Taehyungie. That guard took him. And then...he was...he just kept screaming and…he hasn't come back.”

“What guard?” Mathan asks. He knows he still isn’t well enough to handle much. “When?”

"That woman," Hoseok answers quickly. "It...it was a couple of days ago when she took him."

“Shit,” Mathan breathes as he drops the supplies he had in his hands. “Why didn’t anyone say anything?”

“None of us knew where you were…” Hoseok says as he drops his head.

“I’m here now,” is all Mathan says.

“I think…all of us…we think…that he’s…”

“No.” Mathan says, sounding sure, and strong.

“You…you must not have heard him scream,” Hoseok whispers as he’s haunted once more.

“Scream?” Mathan asks as he starts to feel fear. “Taehyung isn’t!” He insists. “He can’t be…”

“How can you be so sure?” Hoseok asks.

“I just…know these things,” Mathan says. “I’m…I’ll go and find him. Everything…all of it will be okay…”

END FLASHBACK

~oooOooo~

Mathan hadn’t said anything else as he departed the room, letting the door shut behind him. Overwhelming fear consumed him as he wondered if he was in fact too late. He desperately wanted to know that he was wrong but…Taehyung had been missing for at least two day before Mathan had realized he was gone, and now another day had passed without Mathan knowing where he was.

Looking at his phone he wished it would ring. He wished with everything in him that someone, somewhere had good news. He wished he was able to go to those who needed his help to let them know that their brother had been found and that they were blowing this place up behind them as they ran to those who were going to save them. He wished this hell was over. He wished these boys were safe. He wished he could die like the monster he was and finally have some peace.

“If I risk it all, Could you break my fall?”

Sometime later Mathan’s phone did ring. When he saw it was Kaelyn he did not hesitate in answering it. She had told him five days but…it had only been one. There was no way she was on her way already.

“I’m almost there,” Kaelyn says as soon as he answers his phone.

“What?” Mathan asks in confusion.

“Give me another day. I’m in San Francisco now. I’ll be flying to Chicago in two hours and driving in from there. Gotta ditch the rental in Lexington. Supposed to have an old work van waiting. I’ll be there some time tomorrow if no one fucks up…”

“I thought…you said five days…”

“I don’t think we have five days,” Kaelyn says. “Do…do you?”

“No,” Mathan agrees. “But…I need…tomorrow isn’t enough time…”

“I’ll stage…”

“What if you get caught?”

“Then I get caught,” Kaelyn says, sounding exhausted.

“You don’t deserve this…”

“I wanted to leave a mark, did I not?” Kaelyn asks. “This is me getting my wish, I suppose. I’ll go out in a blaze of glory and…leave a scar on those I am trying to save…”

“Kae…”

“I have…to do this. I can’t…I know…the risks. And they’re worth it. Even if I don’t survive this. I can’t just let them die. But I won’t be captured either. Not again. It’s all or nothing. And that’s on me.”

“This world doesn’t deserve you…”

“The world wasn’t made for us, dear brother,” Kaelyn says sadly. “We were made for the world. All we deserve, is to survive in it.”

“Why are you doing this?” Mathan asks.

“Because…we are ‘Ohana’,” Kaelyn explains. “’Ohana’ means family. Family means that no one gets left behind, or forgotten. So here I am…”

“I’ll get them ready,” Mathan says, sounding empty.

“I’ll be there when it’s time…”

“Kaelyn…” Mathan breathes.

“I’ve got you, big brother,” she replies, sounding so sure. “I won’t let you down. I got you.”

When the line disconnects, and he’s still firmly in his room in hell, Mathan puts his own phone down and leans against his desk, head hung in defeat and despair. All of this is too good to be true, and if his sister gets taken down…he knows now that he will die to keep her safe. He only hopes he stays alive that long.

“A million shards of glass, That haunt me from my past. As the stars begin to gather, And the light begins to fade. When all hope begins to shatter, Know that I won't be afraid…”

Mathan sits in silence for a very long time as he thinks of what to do. He knows he must find the seventh member…prays he’s still alive. He also knows he must keep his own weakness in check; no one here has time for his continued failures. Mathan watches the cameras he has had rerouted; his eyes surveying everything the remaining five members do. He isn’t brave enough to return to their room just yet. He knows the burning hatred in Jin’s eyes will make him come undone. As much as he wishes for a life he knows he can never have, it comforts him to see someone caring for his angel. Mathan knows Seokjin had no romantic place in Hoseok’s arms, but the tiny green monster of jealousy still lets out a muffled roar as he sees them curled in to one another, tears quickly drying on the eldest members face as his brother rubs his back.

“It’s for the best,’ that annoying voice of reason says. “This way you cannot hurt them like you hurt the rest…”

“The rest…” Mathan thinks, that increasingly familiar pain in his chest causing him to choke back a sob.

“What am I to do,” he says to no one at all. “I cannot fail. Not this time…”

Mathan Foley had already failed so many times before.

His mother.

His sister.

His daughter.

His wife.

All of them had suffered because he had not been strong enough to fight.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

Mathan had just completed a mission to some backwater region of Denmark and had made his way to Copenhagen to celebrate what should have been the success of his very last mission. The only problem was that he had been too successful in his career and the higher ups that he reported to were not so willing to let him go.

The cock of a gun rang loudly in his ear as a barrel pressed into his back and he slowly rose to lead the faceless soul behind him in the direction he was being pushed. As soon as he got outside, he knew this might possibly be the very last fight of his life.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have a chance to brace for the pipe that hit him from behind. When he came back to, it was with a painful groan. Mathan belatedly realized where he was, closing his eyes again and hoping against hope he would never get to open them again. He knew what they had planned for him now and he didn’t like it…not one bit. The last several days flashed painfully before his eyes, causing him to choke back a sob as he remembered everything they had done to him. Beating, dunking, tazzing…every form of torture they could think of they executed with cruelty. At the end of every session he had wanted to die…begged for death to take him already…but the monsters in charge only laughed, bringing him back to life again and again.

“She died because of you,” the cruel voice had said. “If only you had played along, your family might still be alive…”

Without her…

END FLASHBACK

Mathan hadn’t fought the monsters in his life after that. He didn’t have a reason to. Every hope and dream he had ever had was gone...murdered in the middle of the night; no chance to fight back or run.

The distraction made him sloppy. It cost a lot of lives and made Mathan Foley a lot of enemies. No one wanted to team up with such a risk.

The first time Mathan was arrested was in Spain. He had had every intention of getting caught; was willing to spill every little detail of every nasty plan he had ever carried out. He would go down swinging and take those monsters with him if he could.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

Sirens and police signals surrounded him in a heartbeat. Somewhere in the distance a dozen guitars were playing the same sad tune. Cassie had told him music was the only medicine strong enough to heal the soul, and in that moment, Mathan prayed for it to fill his heart. He felt his blood drenching his clothing as a cough from the man beside him splattered more blood across his face…

They were dying. Here in this godforsaken back alley in some region of Spain they were dying like the low life vermin that they were.

Mathan hadn’t been home in three-hundred forty-seven days. He had briefly snuck in to the country to visit their graves before having to leave again. Even his dreams betrayed him these days. No matter how much he hoped and prayed he never saw his family’s faces again. The worn-out picture he had in his wallet was the only physical thing he had to remember them by and even it was an older memory than the time when they had died. Mavi Grace had only been three days old when the picture was taken…

For those few short months Mathan’s life had been a dream, and back then he guessed it was more of a dream than he had ever deserved. Now he knew that he never deserved such a small piece of Heaven at all. He didn’t even deserve the one he had now. Cassie and Mathan…Mathan and Seokjin…they were never meant to be…

END FLASHBACK

Mathan remembered so clearly the day he swallowed his nerves and asked the girl who had been with him through it all to be his beautiful bride. He had stayed up all night on a video chat with Kaelyn to make sure everything was perfect. She teased him for his speech and asked when he became so soft but the smile on her face had said it all, she was happy for him.

“Take care of my girl there, brother,” she had said with a devious grin. “She’s a wildcat for sure…”

~oooOooo~

The wedding had been a simple affair and the vows had been homemade, but it was everything Mathan could have asked for and in that moment, he had foolishly thought that they were safe…

Cassandra had borrowed her vows from Kiersten White’s ‘The Chaos of Stars’ and Mathan had cheesily pulled an Edward Cullen but the words could not have been truer or more personal had they written them on their own. Cassie had cried when she heard the words that Mathan had to say. He had had such a hard time expressing himself in front of others and to hear these words spoken in front of their family and friends was something Cassie would never forget.

Their wedded bliss had lasted sixteen hours before Mathan was called away on another mission…

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

“Was she worth it?” Alexander Ivchenko purred as he looked at the broken man before him.

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” Mathan managed to say, looking the mafia boss in the eye.

“Cassandra,” the man said with a greasy smile. “Was she worth all this pain?”

“Where is she?” Mathan breathed, his heart seizing in his chest.

“Where is my daughter in law?” Alexander hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“How would I know?” Mathan spat.

“Because you are the one who took her!” the man yelled, spit flying from his mouth.

“She’s somewhere far away from you and your pathetic excuse for a son,” Mathan returned, straightening the best he could.

“My son…loves his wife very much, and he commands that you return her to her home where she belongs.”

“I wasn’t aware your kind knew how to love,” Mathan said with a smirk.

“WHERE IS SHE???” the older man shouted, grabbing Mathan by the neck and squeezing as hard as he could.

“Really father,” came a velveteen voice from the door. “You must watch out for your health. It does no good to get worked up over such trivial things.”

Sven Ivchenko stood at the door to Mathan’s room, a smirk on his face as he leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest.

Mathan immediately pulled at his restraints as he attempted to get to the man in front of him.

“WHERE IS SHE?” he roared, looking Sven in the eye as he took in the mans’ posture.

“A jewel, for a jewel, dear brother in law,” Sven purred, an evil smirk on his face.

“I swear to God if you have hurt one hair on her head I will KILL you!” Mathan growled.

Sven laughed as he pushed himself off the doorframe and straightened his suit jacket.

“I’m shaking!” he said in a mock frightened tone.

Alexander smirked at the cruel turn his son had taken since his wife had disappeared. Maybe he would not be so useless after all.

“I think I’ll just leave you boys to it then,” he said, a hint of pride coloring his tone as he regarded his son.

“Certainly, father,” Sven said with a polite nod and shallow bow.

When the man had exited the room and the door slammed closed behind them Sven’s face changed.

“Where is she?” he whispered, looking slightly frantic.

“Safe,” Mathan said after a moment.

“I swear to God I had nothing to do with Cassandra,” Sven said.

“Please tell me they are safe,” Mathan whispered, the pain he felt in his chest reflected in his eyes.

“They?” Sven asked in confusion.

“My daughter and my wife!” Mathan said, feeling the panic set in. “Where are my daughter and my wife?”

“I…assume they are…being held until Kaelyn is returned…” Sven said, sounding unsure.

“You know that will never happen,” Mathan said. “Not after everything that has happened. Not after…”

A darkness crossed both of their faces.

“You know I cannot stop him,” Sven said softly.

“You know it takes everything in me not to beat you to death for what happened to my sister,” Mathan growled.

“If I find them…will you get a message to her?” Sven had asked, trying not to sound hopeful.

“You better pray they are alive,” Mathan said, his eyes deadly once again as they burned a hole through the younger man.

END FLASHBACK

“If I risk it all, Could you break my fall?”

Mathan pulls the photo from his wallet and stares at a past he will never escape. For someone who didn’t know, this was simply his family who was waiting for him to come home. For him it was a reminder of the dreams he had killed.

“Cassie…” He breathes as he fights tears in his eyes. “What the hell do I do now?”

The men he was fighting to save could never know his past. They wouldn’t trust him if they did.

“Help me one more time?”

Mathan closes his eyes as he thinks again of the ones he had failed.

~oooOooo~

“Never contact me again,” Kaelyn had said when he had first called her for help. “All of my family is dead. I don’t know a Mathan Foley.”

~oooOooo~

He wondered if his baby girl was there in Heaven playing with his mama. He knew she couldn’t possibly be proud of the man her father had become.

~oooOooo~

“Someone save them,” he begs as he closes his eyes and folds his hands in prayer, desperate to remember the ones his mother had taught him. “Keep them safe, mama…baby girl. Guard them and guide them when I am in Hell. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay there just…please keep them safe when they are away from here…”

Mathan falls from his seat and onto his knees. He screams in heartache and rage as words and thoughts fail him all at once. Never has he felt hopelessness like this before.

“I promise I will make them pay,” he thinks. “I’ll take as many of these monsters with me as I can. I’ll set this place on fire and…I’ll burn to keep these boys safe. Please…please watch after Kaelyn. I…I failed her…Mama. I didn’t…I stopped worrying and…there was no one there to protect her. I’m sorry. I…I failed all of you… Just…give me a sign. Show me what I have to do to…to make sure all of them get out of here alive…”

For the first time in as long as he can remember, Mathan wishes with everything in him that his mother was still alive. If she was still here, everything that had ever gone wrong, would still be okay. Cassie would be alive, and he would have Mavi Grace. Kaelyn never would have met scum like Sven…the Ivchenkos would have had no contacts to be able to ruin their lives. His mother would have made sure everything was alright…even when Band-Aids on hearts didn’t make the pain go away.

“Since your sons are such failures,” Mathan says as he continues his prayer, “do you think you could adopt seven more? They’re pretty awesome, in case you didn’t know. I know they’d make you far more proud than I ever have…than…Colton…ever has. I don’t…have courage…and I’ve forgotten what it means to be kind. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you tried to teach me…”

In these precious moments Mathan saw where Kaelyn got it from. She, like their mother, was compassionate, and unfailingly kind. She had taken their mothers dying words to heart, and shaped her life around them. And she would never know how proud of her he was. Even after all that she had been through, she carried very few scars upon her heart. She had tried so hard to be the anchor for her family their mother had been, but being so young and untethered, naturally she had failed. No one had even tried to help her keep her family whole…had not sacrificed themselves to let her remain whole as well.

Slowly climbing to his feet, Mathan sits at his desk once more, pulling out pen and paper to write a letter he never intends to let anyone read.

~oooOooo~

Seokjin-ah,

Where do I begin? At the beginning, perhaps? Or maybe…maybe at the end? I’m not so sure any more. I just…I need you to see all of me. To know everything about me so…when you see me condemned to hell, your decision firmly made…it has been based off of all of my pieces, and not just the ones I mistakenly (or not) allowed you to see.

I never meant to hurt you, or anyone else but…I had to keep you safe…have to keep you safe still. There’s still so much left to do… I fear…it doesn’t matter what I fear.

I fear losing you most of all. The Ivchenkos have already threatened…destroyed…everyone I love. I can’t bear to lose you, or anyone else, to their cruel ways like I have so many before you. That is why I pulled myself back as harshly as I have. And now that you hate me…I have never been more thankful. It means that I have kept you safe from that monsters ire…simply because you care for me. No one deserves that torture ever again. No one…they didn’t do anything to deserve it in the first place.

That beautiful girl you see…her name is Cassandra, and I loved her very much. If I allowed myself to have a heart…I think that I would love her still. I loved her enough to make her my wife. The angel in her arms… her name is Mavi Grace. She was one-hundred-ninety-seven days old when she was murdered in her home, along with her mother. She didn’t chose the role life gave her. She was condemned to it because her father was a selfish, cruel, unfeeling monster who foolishly thought he could have the best of Heaven and Hell.

My wife and child died…because I told a man who had been my closest friend for years…the same man I allowed to take my sisters hand in marriage…that they existed, and he had them killed out of hatred and jealousy when plans he had made did not go his way. He will use you, exactly as he used them. He has used you to cause me pain already…

I don’t want to have to mourn you or your brothers like I have had to mourn my family. I haven’t been able to mourn them at all, because I don’t know where they even are. Ivchenko will never tell me and…I killed his father when I found out…everything. They were the only two who knew…

I failed my little angel, and my wife, and no matter how hard I plead for the devil to take me instead…here I still remain, alive and well, begging the angel of my dreams to forget that I exist. I cannot be so cruel again. After every terrible thing that happened to you…after every unimaginable thing that I was unable to stop… I’m glad that you hate me now. I’m glad that you will not fight for me. That you do not care if I live or die. I’m thankful…that I will never have to see you suffer once you are free.

Knowing the danger that you and your brothers are in…I had no choice but to push you away and keep you there…far from any harm that I might cause. It doesn’t matter how much it kills me inside. I can’t ever tell you how much I need you, or what you mean to me. You can never know that the thought of you happy is what has kept me going in this hell all along.

You can never know that I’m in love with you. That I fell in love with you the way one falls asleep: slowly, then all at once. Unintentionally. Unavoidably. Undeniably. Permanently.

I know…

I don’t know, and that’s what scares me the most.

I have not a clue in this world how I will survive without you in mine…

I know…that I will not have to survive such a nightmare long. And I hope it brings you comfort that you will not be suffered with my presence.

I promise to love you, to honor you, and to cherish you, all the remaining days of my life, however short that may be. With my dying breath I will protect everything that you are, and everything you hold dear. Because I love you. I love you with everything I have… with every shattered piece of me that remains. I never meant to hurt you like this. I just…I wanted to protect you and…obviously I have failed… I know that I’m standoffish and cold hearted, but it doesn’t mean that I do not care for you…or…anyone that you care for by extension. I’m just…epically awesome when it comes to sucking at showing my emotions. It’s my biggest character flaw but…it is what it is…

Regardless of all that, I will keep my promise to keep you safe, even when you are no longer by my side.

Please don’t blame yourself for being unwilling or unable to protect me in return. Just…tell me that you understand! Tell me that you understand with everything you are that you don't get to choose if and when you get hurt in this world. Let me know that you know without a doubt, that you do have a say in who has permission to hurt you and how. I will not allow myself to hurt you anymore, and I will not allow you to be hurt because of me, or anyone else, in turn. I refuse to be the why or how of your pain.

I never wanted to be a scar on your soul. I never wanted to mar your skin with hatred or pain and yet, these past several months I haven’t been able to keep you safe. I only hope that when you are away from me…your life and the lives of your brothers will be so much easier than what they are now. I hope that you will find healing and peace, and harbor no guilt for any of the decisions that were made. The seven of you have been so incredibly strong, and brave. ALL of you…have done so damn well.

I’m a grenade, Kim Seokjin. A ticking time bomb of destruction. One day soon everything I am is going to explode and destroy everything I allow to be around me. Including you. I think you are able to see that now. To see that anything we may have dreamed, was impossible from the start. And honestly, I would just really like to minimize the damages okay? I can’t take having any more causalities on my soul. I am still human, after all, and seeing the people I love suffering and in pain…

I wish more than anything I could exist as something other than a malevolent force in the lives of the people that I care for. I wish that you and I could live happily together for the rest of our lives. That I could wake up next to someone as beautiful as you until my body says no more. That I could fall asleep with you in my arms knowing that for just those few precious moments, I held Heaven in my grasp.

So when I tell you that I, Mathan Foley, love you, Kim Seokjin, with everything I am, please know that isn’t a lie. And when I tell you that I will do anything in my power to protect you for the rest of my days, I mean every word.

To the rest of your family, I pray they get away. I pray they find the strength to find happiness, and to heal. I hope they find it in their hearts to forgive each other, and themselves, for everything they have suffered and everything they have done.

Namjoon-ssi,

You have to learn to temper your tongue, and cage your demons. Your troops need you, more than you know. No matter how you doubt yourself, they will always look to you to lead. You must strap on your armor and protect your members when they cannot protect themselves. It is your honor as a leader to guide them well wherever you may go.

Hoseok-ssi,

Help your leader hold it together. Whenever he is weak, as his partner, it is your duty to lift him up and help him soldier on. On the days his 100 is only ten percent, be there for him to be his other ninety. He needs you in his greatest moments of weakness and yet…he seems to be the kind that never wanted to diminish your shine, or dampen your bright light. Just hold on my friend, pain ends.

Yoongi-ssi,

I can’t even imagine the pain that you must feel. To be the first, and to have to sit and watch all of the terrible things that have happened since then… Please do not lose your way. Find someone that can help you get back to the family that you left behind. They will need their brother even when they think they don’t.

Taehyung-ssi,

I am so sorry that I failed you. You, more than any, needed a warrior to keep you safe. Instead, you were relegated to a god-forsaken devil like me, and in my ignorance, I failed to protect you. I hope that you are able to forgive yourself one day for all the choices and mistakes that you were forced to make in order to save your family. I’m sorry you suffered trying to do what I myself should have done.

Jungkook-ssi,

You have been so strong, and so brave. You’ve done so well. I can’t…I think I know what you must feel. I’m sorry, that I let your beloved be taken from you and held captive by a monster I knew would destroy him. Please be there for him as he heals…help him heal and…show him he is worthy…and valued…and loved. Make him feel safe and…human. He deserves to be human. To have his emotions and his feelings validated and accepted and encouraged. That is all that I can ask for him. And for you.

Jimin-ssi,

There is nothing I can say to you, to justify anything I have done, or anything I failed to do. The choices that I made…were most probably the wrong ones to make, and I have absolutely no right to ask you to forgive me. So please don’t. Worry only about yourself, and how to make it better. No one…no one…should ever be allowed to treat you as anything less than perfect, ever, at any time. Ever again.

All of you,

Please live well. Stay happy, and healthy, and whole. Do not dwell in the darkness. If there is only one thing I am allowed to ask, please keep my team safe. They were never meant to be in this and…they’re only coming now, because each of them know that it is the right thing to do. Do not let them suffer for their unfailing kindness and willingness to help, or for the choices they have made to bring themselves here.

I’m sorry…for everything.

Mathan

How do I live? How do I breathe?

When you're not here I'm suffocating

I wanna feel love, run through my blood

Tell me is this where I give it all up?

For you I have to risk it all

Cause the writing's on the wall

Update Delay

Chapter by kaelyngrey

I am back from vacation friends!!! (*intense booing*)

It rained the whole time and I am miserably sick. (*wails of despair*)

I have to adult tomorrow and work. (*violent vomiting*)

When I am done working I have to adult and clean out my car from my shopping spree from vacation. (*posts a classified for a maid*)

Then I have to straighten up my house. (*loud sobbing*)

Then I think I’m going to medicate and pass out. (*feverently prays*)

Update may be some time next week. (*groans*)

Sorry for the delay :(. (*hard core passes out*)

Not an Update! Sorry!!!

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Ugh.

Good news is I am NO LONGER SICK!!!

I have also addressed some issues with my house and am now working on the next update. I'm really sorry it's going so slow guys. I honestly hit a rut and am forcing my way back out of it. If ANYONE has any ideas or suggestions the comments section is open and in the meantime, I thought I would ask you all to participate in an exercise to get my brain working again, if you wanted to?

I really hope to have an update (maybe even a double one) by Sunday, but we will see where life goes.

Thanks so much for all of your patience.

Kaelyn.

Grieve...Beautifully

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

AUTHORS NOTE

So here I was, acting like everything is okay, and I’m fine, and life is grand, when it’s not.

So many SMALL things have happened leading up to big things and my mind just hasn’t been in a place light enough to cover the dark places that Kidnapped will go.

I understand that I have been away a whole lot longer than I meant to be, and for that I am sorry, but sometimes, things happen.

While I will try my best to finish this Kidnapped chapter I am on, it may not be today, and it may not be until some time next week.

The chapter that I am painfully crafting for you at this time is very dark, and deals a lot with self-hatred/blame and thoughts of death/suicide. The song I am using is very dark, and the tones I am setting are very dark, and today I am trying to be a light and love to others. Today I wish only to grieve beautifully.

Initially I was going to leave a brief A/N, but as my friends, you all deserve more. So here it is.

Andy Curtis Helton was born sleeping 7 years ago today, several months too early to survive the world I had so desperately wanted him to be a part of. For many months I was filled with self-hatred and thoughts of suicide, but thankfully I was able to turn my thoughts around and turn my ventures positive once more. I learned to pour my emotions in to my writing; to bleed my feelings through ink, not blood.

So today I wish to be a little gentle with myself. Today I need to love myself and tell myself everything is okay. Andy knows that he is loved and I know that he is in a better place. So please, have a little patience and I promise I will be back, better than ever, very soon.

In the meantime, if ever you are hurting, know that I am here for you. If you need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to help you bleed your feelings, I am here. If you need someone to be angry with, I’m here for that too. I love you. And together we can get through anything. Beautifully.

Plagiarism

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

AUTHORS NOTE

Ok.

Here is the part of being an author that I hate. Reprimanding people for doing shady things with the story or stories I have been brave enough to share.

I've caught it once before with another story I wrote years and years ago and the problem was never resolved but I let it go cause it wasn't that great of a story anyway.

With Kidnapped it has happened THREE (3) times.

Please don't. Okay? I hate getting mad, and having to talk myself down, and work vomiting in DMs, and having to tell Sandra who doesn't need this shit. Regardless of us parting ways, a lot of this is still her work too, and it KILLS her to see all of our hard work and dedication being STOLEN.

Plagiarism is theft. Plain and simple. It isn't cool, and it makes you look bad for life. Trust me.

It also discourages the authors from continuing because more often than not they no longer feel comfortable in the world that they spent untold hours world building.

Sandra and I have spent THOUSANDS of hours, since October 2017, building the incredible world that is this story. I can't tell you how many HUNDREDS of pages I still have left in notes for our Kidnapped Universe. And to see people take what we have cried over and claim it as their own? That's another reason I haven't updated in a while. Because someone on wattpad posted this story word for word, graphic for graphic, song for song, and said it was their own, and I was SICK. Thankfully that story was taken down. A second one I haven't been able to find again and the third one the site I reported it to basically said because names had been changed I was out of luck.

Please know people message me all the time. And I check google all the time. So IF you have stolen this story and I haven't found you yet, I will. Or one of my friends will, or karma will.

If any of you see a story copying this one that hasn't given proper credit, or that sounds too close to this story on ANY platform, please let me know, because I will push to have it taken down. Don't steal what I have written. Go out there and make your own kind of beautiful. BE ORIGINAL. It's awesome.

~Kaelyn Grey

Part Seventy-Four

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

HA! IT'S A REAL CHAPTER Y'ALL!!!!!

A/N: First off, I am so very sorry that it took me so long to get this out to you. Thank you for so patiently waiting for my updates and for sending me kind words of encouragement. You have no idea how much it means to me.

Also, as you can tell, I LOVE writing to music, so if you have any song suggestions, please feel free to drop them in the comments!

Let’s go!

FLASHBACK

As the door closed behind Jimin, Taehyung’s deep voice easily floated in to him through the thin walls of his gilded prison. Jimin’s heart clenched with fear, the cold feeling of dread creeping up the back of his neck.

Was this his punishment, then? Time away from his master? It seemed too easy...something just didn’t add up.

Minutes passed like hours as he listened to his brother enter the demons lair, confess to crimes he did not commit, and be punished for sins that had been leveled against him. Hours passed like days as he begged the powers that be to just let his brother be okay.

As scared as Jimin was, he was safe hiding in his room. But nausea overtook him as he thought of his Taehyungie left to face that monster. Alone.

“Oh Taehyung, no,” Jimin whispered, arms wrapping around his stomach. “What have I done?”

When the devil who owned them all mentioned his brothers, Jimin's heart seized in fear, knowing that none of them would survive Sven's outburst with the mood that he was in. But instead of Jimin saving his brothers like he had set out to do, Taehyung spoke up once more, pulling more pain down upon him as he placed the blame on anyone but them, his ability to lie in the face of fear the only thing that could truly keep their family safe.

Jimin sat in horror as each new punishment was executed with pleasure, a piece of him breaking away the moment he heard Taehyung break. The sound of his brothers heartbreaking sob, the first sound of defeat that Jimin had heard since it all started, ripped a hole in his already bleeding soul as he listened to their master tear his brother apart with words more painful than any physical blow.

As the first of many screams tore loose from his brother, Jimin couldn’t keep the terrified cry of his own in. He curled in on himself, hands pressed tight to his ears, but it was no use. The overwhelming power of Taehyung’s pain got through to him anyways, ringing in his head like the world's most torturous alarm bells.

“I’m so sorry, Taehyungie,” he cried, resting his head against the door. “I’m so, so sorry. Hyung’s here. Your hyungie’s here.”

“Please…just…gnnnn…I wish you would…just let me die…”

Hearing those words escape Taehyung, that desperate, final wish, broke something deep inside of Jimin. He could feel the howl of pain clawing up his throat and bit down on his fist to hold it in. Taehyung pleading for death meant so many awful things had come true. Jimin knew he would never leave their members behind, would never lose hope, would always hold on to the need to protect them. The fact that he was begging to be let go, pleading for the release that this would provide him, scared Jimin almost as badly as his screams. Taehyung had given up. And he could do nothing to reassure him now that he had thrown the one chance he had been given so carelessly to the wind.

Overcome with his grief, Jimin’s entire body shook as he cried out his pain. Everything he had witnessed…all that he had heard…could have been prevented if he had only done as he was told. If he had been Sven's perfect little jewel from the beginning, Kim Taehyung would not be begging now to die.

“While Jimin sits in his lavish halls, your brothers subject to their new owners, you will remain chained in my basement like the chattel you are.”

Imagining his once shining brother, all boxy smiles and innocent kindness, imprisoned in a dark hole somewhere, ripped a new hole in Jimin’s chest. It cut with a deep throbbing pain that nothing could erase. His guilt fed the pain, lighting it on fire and burning its way through him. Jimin listened through the roaring in his ears as their master summoned his brute of a guard, Taehyung’s weak footsteps fading away to nothing. And then his brother was gone.

END FLASHBACK

"Please. Please find him...Find Taehyung-ah…"

Jungkook was awake now, his silence firmly broken and his body wracked with sobs as he clung desperately to the pillow Taehyung had used.

“Please bring him back to me. Please keep him safe… For---forgive me for…what I have done…”

The sight of the boy before him broke Mathan’s heart. Jungkook was making himself sick with worry and grief, Jin and Hoseok like sentinels at his side. Namjoon sat at the table, a battle of egos waging in his mind as his heart and soul was being torn. And Min Yoongi…he was looking at the scene in disgust assuring Mathan that there was nothing to be found but a spoiled brat feasting on bonbons and sleeping on furs.

“I’m trying,” Mathan says as he looks at the room. “I’ll go and talk to that asshole again, see if I can find anything new.”

“What if he killed him!” Jungkook wails. “His…we have to…we can’t…”

“I promise you he is alive,” Mathan says. “All of you are getting out of here and going home. All seven of you. And all of you will heal together when this is said and done.”

“How do you know?” Hoseok asks.

“Have I lied to you yet?”

Four of the five members shook their heads as they diverted their eyes, the conflict and pain they felt in their chests almost too much to bear.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

Mathan had gone to Sven's quarters, looking for Taehyung and honestly expecting him to be there. At first he had thought the sick fuck was toying with him by having Taehyung moved, or by lying to his face, but when Ivchenko had brought all of his guards to attention and let Mathan search his rooms, the American realized something was very, very wrong. Kim Taehyung was nowhere to be found.

For hours Mathan searched high and low, busting down doors, tearing rooms apart, and scattering trash far and wide as he attempted to find any clue he could in reference to the lost boys whereabouts. Just as he was prepared to give up he kicked a trashcan in anger, and paled at what he saw. Laying there clear as day were sheets that could only have come from Ivchenkos quarters. Sheets that were splattered in blood and in ink, carelessly discarded with the rest of the trash that appeared to all be from one specific night. Mathan sank onto his haunches as he took in the sight, his chest seizing in fear as he wondered what to do. He knew he could not return to the others empty handed, but he also knew that he had looked everywhere he could imagine Taehyung would be, and even some places he couldn’t.

“Where are you!” He muttered as he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes in an attempt to make his headache go away. “Someone give me a sign here…”

~oooOooo~

Mathan had sat long into the night wondering what to do, who to call…what to say. He knew that Kaelyn was already on her way, coming to his aide as quickly as she could, and he knew that if he called her now… Everything the two of them had planned would come to a halt if she knew that he had lost one of the members. Kaelyn had told him time and time again she would only come if there were seven and Mathan was starting to wonder if it could be seven bodies in various stages of life or if all seven of them did in fact, have to be alive.

END FLASHBACK

~oooOooo~

Mathan sits in silence once more as he tries to rack his brain for any clue of what to do. He thinks he should go and speak to Ivchenko again, hopes that Jimin is there and able to give him a sign. If only he could know if he was searching for a body or a very broken young man, the peace of mind, dead or alive, would make all the difference to him. Mathan Foley wasn’t a foolish man. If Park Jimin didn’t know where Taehyung was, Mathan would acknowledge the worst…he really had sent a sweet, innocent angel to his horrific and untimely doom.

~oooOooo~

Sven had been waiting for moments like these ever since he had thrown Taehyung away. He had laughed in triumph and joy the first time he had sent the troll away empty handed and he is positively giddy now that it has taken Mathan Foley so long to return to him. If his ex brother-in-law is this desperate to find the man that he would willingly come to Sven for answers it is painfully clear that he has no idea where to even look for him.

“You’ll never find him at this rate,” he teases from the doorway of his rooms. “Come to think of it…I haven’t seen him in days...”

Jimin is perched on the sofa in Sven's main rooms, his time in isolation having been served. But Mathan can see how pale he is, the dark circles he's trying to hide. Everything is so much worse than he had anticipated and there's no sign of Taehyung anywhere in Sven's rooms.

“Where the fuck is he you miserable piece of shit?” Mathan growls, wishing he could just snap Sven’s neck.

From where he sits on his masters sofa, Jimin desperately tries to think of where Taehyung may be, and of how to tell Mathan what he knows, but he has no idea on either. Jimin only knows that his dear, sweet brother was somewhere with the other broken things. How could he tell Mathan that?

“Master has no need to keep track of his broken toys,” Jimin says, standing and walking up to Sven, wrapping himself around his owner in a seductive manner. “I am the only toy he needs now...”

The words taste like poison as he spits them, but he sees them hit their mark. He watches the wheels turn in Mathan's mind as he tries to put the pieces together, but he doesn't dare say anything else. Jimin wants desperately to know his brother is alright, but he still has his part to play.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Mathan spits as he looks from Jimin to Sven.

He feels his stomach tighten and sour, but he knows that Jimin has a dangerous role he must play.

“It means, Mr. Foley, that my sweet jewel has no idea where it went,” Sven says with a smirk as he wraps his arm around Jimin's waist.

Slowly but surely Jimin was coming around. Bit by bit his will was being stripped away, and Sven knew that his most recent failure in protecting his family had been the punishment his jewel had needed to not act out again.

“It?” Mathan growls as he narrows his eyes.

“It,” Sven replies with a smirk. “I can’t be bothered to remember the names of things that no longer work.”

“Taehyung is a person,” Mathan returns.

Sven simply shrugs.

“Good luck finding ‘him’ then,” he says. “My buyers will be here in four days to collect their new toys. After that my perfect jewel and I shall away to start our new lives together devoid of inbreeds like you and your worthless family.”

“You’ll not get out of here alive, Ivchenko,” Mathan glowers.

“Shouldn’t you be finding your precious Kim Taehyung?” Sven asks. “I would hate for his death to be on your hands,” he says in mock concern.

“This isn’t over,” Mathan says before turning to leave, slamming the door behind him.

~oooOooo~

Once out in the hallway Mathan can barely breathe. Jimin's words had helped him more than he thought the man could know, and he wondered if Jimin knew just how bad things were, or if he had only been trying to play his role.

There was a room at the end of the hall that no one ever used. It had been locked when Mathan had tried it before and at the time he hadn’t thought much of it. Now he was kicking himself as he made his way to that room, intent on busting the door down to see what he could find.

~oooOooo~

Stuck in hell with the murdering monster he must call his lover, Jimin feels all of his hope slipping away. He knows in his heart that Taehyung is dead. He realizes now that in his brothers final moments he had stayed frozen like a coward, safe in his room as he listened to Taehyung be beaten til he couldn’t get up again. A part of him wondered if his sweet Taehyungies body would ever be found. A part of him never wanted to know how long it took Taehyung to die. He never wanted to think about how much Taehyung must have suffered in the final hours of his life. Did he bleed out? Freeze? Finally succumb to the overwhelming pain he must have felt? Had he drown in his own blood as his lungs quickly filled or had he been shot down as soon as Sven had had Gregor throw him away?

~oooOooo~

Once Gregor had removed the trash, Sven considered cleaning up. He had always presented a clean, neat front to his jewel. Perhaps it was time that Park Jimin saw the true monster his master could be. Maybe this would be the straw that finally broke him. If Jimin could not learn his place, he could join that useless pile of filth in the room with the rest of Sven's refuse.

Pulling on his boxers, Sven let his robe fall open, blood, ink, and sex staining his exposed skin. His perfect jewel was waiting for him to tell him that his punishment was over. Sven laughed at the thought that Jimin’s punishment had only begun.

FLASHBACK

“I’m so sorry, Taehyung-ah,” Jimin sobbed from his side of the door, his voice nothing more than a whisper as he clutched his pillow to his chest. “Please hold on. Please. I…don’t leave us, Tae. I’m so sorry.”

He could see the shadow of his master as he stopped outside of the door and Jimin silently dared him to come inside. To see Jimin curled in a ball on the floor, his face swollen, eyes red. But just like it had appeared, the shadow left and he was alone once again, the sound of Taehyung’s pain seared in his mind.

Minutes, or hours, later, the door to his hell did open and his master walked in, looking nothing like the devil he was. Sven's hair was a mess, his body bruised and stained, flesh that Jimin had only seen a handful of times proudly exposed.

“Are you satisfied, my jewel?” he purrs, the scent of sex permeating the room. “Was it’s punishment for upsetting you enough? Or should I let you break it some more?”

Jimin wants to vomit as he processes what he sees. Every stain on his masters body belongs to his sweet, sweet, innocent friend. Every drop of blood, every smudge of ink, every dried stain of torture had come from Kim Taehyung.

“Are you injured, chagiyah?” he whispers, his eyes raking over his master once more, his expression one of concern.

“Are you truly concerned for my well-being, Jimin-ssi?” Sven growls. “Or do you realize now just how much control I have over you…how easily you can fall from my favor and be discarded.”

“If you are injured,” Jimin says softly as he stands to cross the room, “I should take care of you.”

Sven smirks at that.

“How will you care for me, my love?” he asks, waiting perfectly still to see just what Jimin will do.

Jimin's gut turns as he sees the damage up close, images of his friend burning his eyes.

“Tell me where it hurts, chagiyah,” Jimin says as his fingertips ghost over Sven's exposed chest. “Let me make it better for you.”

“Do you really mean that?” Sven asks, one eyebrow raised.

Jimin pauses for only a moment before nodding.

“I do,” he says softly. “Let me run you a bath. Get you washed off. You must be…I’m sorry that I angered you. I promise I won’t do it any more. After all that you have done for me… I have acted shamefully. I understand…if you leave me here to reflect on my sins…”

“Do you think you deserve to be punished more?” Sven asks, sounding amused. “After everything that has happened tonight?”

Jimin diverts his gaze as he nods.

“I’m so sorry I made you lose your temper,” he says, tears stinging his eyes once more.

“Aren’t you going to ask how your friend is?” Sven taunts.

“No,” Jimin says as he shakes his head, his chest burning. “He…he isn’t my friend. He angered you. I can’t…he had no right…”

“Are you mad at me, Jimin-ssi?”

“No, Chagiyah,” Jimin whispers.

“Do you love me, Jimin-ssi?”

“Always…Chagiyah…” Jimin breathes.

“Show me, Jimin-ssi,” Sven commands.

Jimin closes his eyes as he feels the last living pieces of his soul die. Taehyung had already sacrificed so much, possibly his life. If Jimin didn’t step up, the rest of his brothers would no doubt face the same fate.

“How?”

Sven smirks at the innocence before him, one final blow planned to break this man to his will. Reaching for Jimin's hand Sven leads him back into the main rooms, guiding him to the bed where only minutes ago Kim Taehyung had been split in half before being carried off to die.

“You know what I want,” Sven says, pushing Jimin down and crawling on top of him, making the man beneath him relive his nightmares of the night as Sven made love to Jimin slowly, words of adoration and praise falling from the lips that had not so long ago spit hatred and condemnation to a soul that had done nothing to deserve his punishment at all.

Time left scars on my soul

Dreams that I chased have all gone away

Now I sit alone

My past follows me close

So much I have planned that never began I'll never know

For years I'd been waiting for someone to take me

Tell me it'll all be alright

Now I'm just waiting around to die

Life starting to fade

My memory recalls, tears starts to fall

From the memories not made

And love, I knew little of

But deep in my eyes are memories I hide, it's just not enough

For years I'd been waiting for someone to take me

Tell me it'll all be alright

Now I'm just waiting around to die

For years I'd been waiting for someone to take me

Tell me it'll all be alright

Now I'm just waiting around

Now I'm just waiting around

Now I'm just waiting around

To die

ISTG I AM WRITING

Chapter by kaelyngrey

I am SO SORRY I have not updated in forever! I am in the middle of the next chapter as we speak.

I did learn something new tho. This is my VERY FIRST EVER try at Photoshop. Please let me know what you think, or what you would like to see me attempt. And please don't worry about hurting my feelings. I know I have a very long way to go!

Part Seventy-Five

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

DISCLAIMER: TRIGGER WARNINGS!!! Direct depictions of non-con/forced sexual acts. PLEASE!!! DO! NOT! READ! if this will harm or affect you! Once again I tried not to include much graphic detail because shock factor is NOT my thing and never will be, but please consider yourself warned.

This really is much the same in terms of flashbacks of graphic violence, and things we haven’t seen before may pop out, but that is something we will have to wait for and see.

I also want to take this time to remind the readers that this is 100% a work of fiction and as such certain creative liberties have been taken in terms of off the wall behaviors or behaviors that are ‘out of the norm’ when it comes to our characters. While the main characters of this story are in fact based on world-wide sensation BTS, we left the people those gentlemen are in a different place and time. Nothing you see reflected here is meant to represent who those fine young men actually are.

Chapter Notes

A/N: Once again, thank you so much for putting up with me and my irregular updates. If I can just get through May (which has 2 birthdays back to back) I SHOULD be okay. I hope.

Also, this chapter and probably the next half dozen chapters are nothing but flashbacks and reactions, so I apologize in advance if any of the reading seems a bit repetitive. I promise I am trying to keep it fresh!

If you have any suggestions for things, please feel free to comment!

All the best,

Kaelyn

See the end of the chapter for more notes

CREDITS/FIC REC:

Let me get weepy and share my inner nerd.

Y’all see all those AMAZING fan arts going around EVERYWHERE??? For YEARS I wanted someone to make me one, but that isn’t something you just ASK someone. So here I sat and dreamed. Then I learned to make really crappy edits.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I meet @AmyDoodles1 on Twitter (and really through Kidnapped). She asked me to read her REALLY AMAZING fanfic here on AO3, and then I offered to beta it because I LOVE helping people be creative. And I may have made hundreds of edits (bows her head in shame) but because she is such a true and sweet and receptive person she took those edits and grew from them and is really doing amazing work, which I hope you will take the time to support by reading here (https://archiveofourown.org/works/18274769/chapters/43248098).

But because she is an amazing person, she also made my dreams come true in ways I never imagined. She made me an author that HAD those amazing edits. Credit for Jungkook’s picture goes to her, so please drop her a line in the comments to tell her if you like it (because she didn’t). Thank you @ChiminieChickLit for everything you have done for me. You really have inspired me to dust off my laptop and get back on it, and to learn to make these amazing edits on my own. Thanks for taking HOURS to talk to me on discord and watch me create my first piece when I know you had so much else you should have been doing. You’ll never know what this means to me. It is a gratitude beyond words.

***If you have a story that you wrote, please feel free to drop me a line and I’ll give it a shout out! I love reading other people’s work and sharing it with all my friends! And if anyone ever needs any help my inbox is always open! [email protected] or @kaelyn_grey on Twitter.

"Please. Please find him...Find Taehyung-ah…"

Jungkook had begged their savior to find his brother, to let him know that he was safe, but in his heart he knew. He and Taehyung had always had a special bond; they had been each other’s first, promised to love one another ‘til they were old and gray. Then things happened and they had a falling out, and Jungkook lost the battle to win Taehyung back before it even started. Taehyung retreated to Yoongi’s studio for solace and before Jungkook could think, Yoongi had stolen his angels’ heart. It was a transgression he would not ever allow himself to forget that led to a changing of his ways. While he would always strive to be a better maknae to his brothers than he had been a son to his parents, the times of being an obedient one were over. Jungkook would take his anger at himself, and his aggravation towards his older brother, and channel it into becoming a better, stronger person than he had been on the day he let Taehyung walk away.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

"Did you kiss him?" Jungkook asked as he stared at his hands, his face blank as he struggled to bury his emotions.

"Jungkookah..." Taehyung breathed, his voice calming and deep.

"Did you?" Jungkook asked again as he wheeled around, eyes angry as tears streamed silver down his face.

"I didn't..."

"Don't lie."

"I---"

"Did you sleep with him?" Jungkook asked, diverting his gaze as he braced for the truth.

"I'm sorry," Taehyung said in admittance, hanging his head in shame.

"So am I,” Jungkook said softly as he removed himself from Taehyung’s reach.

"Please don’t be mad,” Taehyung breathed.

“For what?” Jungkook asked with a humorless laugh. “Yoongi hyung has always treated you better than I have,” he says. “I just…I’m sorry, hyung. I will work harder to be less lacking.”

“Jungkookie…”

“I…should go,” Jungkook said, trying not to curl in on himself. “Yoongi-hyung…is…he’s probably… waiting. For…for you…”

END FLASHBACK

~oooOooo~

Jungkook was awake now, his silence firmly broken and his body wracked with sobs as he clung desperately to the pillow Taehyung had used.

“Please bring him back to me. Please keep him safe… For---forgive me for…what I have done…”

“Jungkookie,” Jin tries softly.

“What if he killed him!” Jungkook wails. “His…we have to…we can’t…”

Jungkook was sick with worry and grief, guilt for everything that had happened eating at his fragile soul.

“Mathan says he isn’t dead,” Jin says again as he cups his brothers cheek. “Deep breaths for me, okay?”

“Mathan doesn’t know,” Jungkook spat. “He just…he…” Kookie can’t finish the thought as a new hole is torn through his chest. “Please…” he begs again. “I need him. I…I love him…”

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

“Hyung,” Jungkook said softly, looking at the floor. “I’m sorry, hyung. I should not have struck you.”

Taehyung sat up slowly, wondering if all of this was a dream.

“Don’t,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like that…”

“Did you want to?” Jungkook asked, looking up at the boy.

“More than ever,” Taehyung said as his heart clenched painfully.

“Do you love me?” Kookie asked, insecurity coloring his tone.

“Do you want me to?” Taehyung asked as he held his breath.

After a moment of silence Kookie looked at the boy before him, the only person he had ever loved like that, and slowly nodded his head, fear no longer holding him in it iron grip.

“Tell me you love me,” Taehyung said softly as he approached the younger man.

“Always,” Jungkook breathed, his hand automatically extending to pull the boy before him close.

“Forever?” Taehyung dared to ask, fear causing his lungs to freeze.

“Until I die,” Jungkook said firmly. “Even after then. I’ll love you until the world no longer remembers who you are.”

“Who am I?” Taehyung asked, his eyes boring in to Jungkook’s soul.

“My everything,” Jungkook whispered, his answer almost lost to the wind. “My…my entire world.”

END FLASHBACK

~oooOooo~

Jin didn’t know what to say to that; couldn’t understand where these words were coming from.

“We all love him, Jungkookie,” he said as he tried to flesh out the meaning of his dongsaeng’s words.

“No we don’t,” Jungkook breathes. “Look…you know…” A sob rips lose from his chest as he claws at his hair, pulling hard to try and negate his pain. “I should have protected him!” He wails. “I…Yoongi…I should have…I should have made him stop.”

“How?” Jin asks as he tries to catch Jungkook’s eye.

“I should have…I never should have let him win. I should have fought for…Taehyungie…I should have… he was supposed to be mine…”

“What happened?” Jin asks as he sits all the way.

The falling out between the two had been sudden and the air had been awkward ever since. There had been no apologies, no reconciliation, and no second chances. One day Taehyung and Jungkook had been inseparable and the next Taehyung was wrapped firmly in Yoongi’s arms, the elder holding a smug, self-righteous look upon his face as Jungkook clung desperately to Jimin as his hyung tried to hold the broken pieces of him together.

“Hyung won,” Jungkook says softly. “I don’t…I didn’t ask.”

“What do you mean ‘he won’?”

“He took Taehyungie from me,” Jungkook says, his heart hurting once more. “And I just…let him.”

“Why?” Jin asks, his own heart hurting for his youngest brother.

Jungkook chews his lip. It all sounds so stupid now and he hates himself for the mentality he once had.

“Because…that’s what…I’m the youngest. I should be…thankful…for my hyungs,” he says softly, his mother’s voice ringing in his ears. “I’m…I was almost grown. I…needed to stop…I was such an ungrateful brat. I had to start showing how thankful I was for…everything my family has done for me. Eomma said…she said I was disgusting. That…that I shouldn’t live in sin. So…I asked him about it and… I made him choose Yoongi-hyung. But all he’s done is suffer…”

“How has he suffered, Jungkook-ah?” Jin asks, unsure he wants to know.

“Hyung isn’t nice to him,” the younger boy admits. “He…says mean things to him and…tells him he’s being childish when… Taehyungie…you know how...caring he is… He can’t not be that way…”

“Jungkookie,” Jin says, reprimanding his youngest brother. “You know how Yoongi is…”

“He’s cruel!” Jungkook hisses. “And…no one…we let him get away with it. And now look what he’s done… I wish…I wish it had been him. I wish…I would have said something then. I wish that I could hate him like I want to…”

None of them had ever been the ones to discuss their troubles in public, and Yoongi only bragged about his conquest once to an outside friend when he was much too intoxicated to make any sense at all. Jungkook himself knew that he had tapped out of the fight because he had deserved to lose. If he had never questioned his love for Taehyung…had never doubted the man’s love for him in return…the words he had yet to take back would never have been said.

He knows that he doesn’t deserve Taehyung still because he didn’t fight. If only he had pushed for the love he had lost, nothing would be as bad as it was now. He knows he could have won Taehyung back. Just a few simple words, one well-meant apology, and Taehyung would have welcomed him back with open arms. Just one concession in a time when he was most definitely wrong and Taehyung would not be suffering any of what he was now. At the very least he would not be going to face his monsters alone.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

Jungkook had left the movie in the living room to take a call from his mom. In the end he didn’t do much talking as he listened to her tell him how disappointed she was in his choices and that if he wanted to make it up to her, he would pack his things immediately and return home.

“You’re just a child,” she had said. “You cannot possibly know what love is. And you cannot love a man. You know that is a sin. Come home quickly and we’ll forget this embarrassment you have so shamelessly put on parade.”

Jungkook had softly agreed as he wiped tears from his eyes, hanging up the phone and turning to rejoin his brothers.

"What happened, Jungkookie?" Taehyung asked as he came down the hall towards him, genuine concern in his voice.

"My parents…I think they just…disowned me.” Jungkook said as he struggled to process his mother’s words.

"What?" Taehyung asked, confused.

"They told me to pack up and come home,” Jungkook said. “That…they said that I embarrassed them…”

“Jungkookie!” Taehyung exclaimed, sounding horrified.

“I don’t know what to do,” he breathed, tears coming to his eyes.

“What do you need to do?” Taehyung asked softly.

“I don’t know,” Jungkook said, everything about him going numb.

“I love you,” Taehyung had said firmly as he pulled Jungkook to him.

"Why?" Jungkook asked as he looked at the man before him. “Why do you love me?"

Taehyung had pulled back in surprise at the question as he thought of an answer.

"I love you because you love me," he said. "Because you take care of me and never judge me, even when I’m lacking. How could I not love you?”

“How do we even know what love is?” Jungkook asks as his heart aches. “I’ve never been with…you’re all I’ve ever had. How…how do we know it isn’t wrong?”

“How do we know we need to…” Taehyung started, then stopped. “How do you know I’m not the one?” he finished softly.

“Because if you were the one, my mother wouldn’t have said you were an abomination…”

END FLASHBACK

~oooOooo~

“Jungkookie,” Hoseok says as he comes to sit on his brothers other side. “Don’t say such things,” he chides gently. “You know you don’t mean them…”

“I do,” Jungkook says as he looks at his brother, his eyes as cold as steal. “You…you don’t know…how… You have no idea what he did to him…what…what I let him do… I can’t…I couldn’t…I’m sorry…”

“What happened?” Jin asks, unsure he really wants to know what caused all those marks he saw.

“He…he hurt him,” Jungkook says. “Assaulted…him. Raped him…”

Hoseok has to cover his mouth and Jin thinks he will be sick. Imagining the horrors that Taehyung had faced was one thing. Having them verbally confirmed was another.

“Jungkookie…” Hoseok breathes.

“He would never,” Jin insists. “Not…no.”

“I was there,” Jungkook says softly. “I was there and…I just…let it happen. I…I was scared…so scared. I just…” Jungkook folds in on himself as he is assaulted with every painful and traumatic memory of his past.

He had never tried to tell his parents why he knew that Taehyung was the one; had never explained to them that it wasn’t about being ‘gay’. After everything that had happened to him long before they got here, Jungkook knew that he would never…could never…trust a female in that way. After everything that happened…when Taehyung had found him broken on the floor of their waiting room wanting to die… Jungkook knew…if he were ever going to find love…Taehyung was the only one.

Not even his brothers fully understood the horrors he had seen. Management had kept it at a stylist noona had hit him for disagreeing about what he was to wear and had been promptly dismissed and prosecuted. Of course that made their protection of him stronger, but in the end only Taehyung knew. And he never once judged him or used his knowledge against him. He even held Jungkook in the dead of night when he woke up screaming for her to let him go.

“I don’t think you could have stopped him,” Jin says honestly. “I think…he would have done something to you next.”

Jungkook nods, his head still hung as memories of another assault flash behind his eyes.

“I taunted him,” Jungkook whispers, his admissions of guilt breaking their way out of him. “Told him…asked if he was too good to join the rest of us…”

“You were scared,” Hoseok tries to justify as his heart gives a painful lurch.

“I…called him…a traitor,” Jungkook breathes.

“We didn’t know,” Jin tries to soothe.

“I let Yoongi-ssi call him…he said terrible things…to him…”

“What did Min Yoongi say?” Jin asks softly.

“He…called him a…whore…” Jungkook says, fresh tears falling down his face. “He isn’t…”

“Taehyungie…” his brothers’ lament.

Of course all of them knew that that was far from true. Kim Taehyung was the most innocent one. At least, he had been the most innocent out of all of them before this nightmare started. Now…none of them could even begin to know how tainted he must have become.

“He…Taehyungie-hyung...begged us…to…to let him go…”

“This isn’t your fault,” Jin insists as his heart rips to shreds. His hatred for Yoongi is quickly growing and he is already convinced when this conversation ends his brother will be carried out of here in a body bag because Jin took it upon himself to beat the monster out of him.

“I…accused him of threatening you,” Jungkook admits. “Because…because you were nice to him…”

“Stop blaming yourself,” Hoseok insists, unsure of how much heartache he can take.

“He must have been so scared,” Jungkook sobs. “He…Yoongi hit him and…made him bleed. He… slammed him into a mirror and…Taehyungie cut…his head.”

Hoseok and Jin can only listen in horror as they relive not only Taehyungs nightmare, but Jungkook’s too.

“I called him a freak,” he says as he bites his lip enough to make it bleed. “I…encouraged him to…hurt Taehyungie. But…not because…I was hurting too…” he admits, his tone filled with shame.

“Why were you hurting?” Jin asks softly, not understanding there was something he had missed.

Jungkook only shakes his head.

“Taehyung-hyung just…he was still so loving,” Jungkook says. “He never once…just…he tried to…he didn’t even scream…but…I understand why…”

“Why?” Hoseok asks softly as he realizes everyone had missed something.

“Because I didn’t scream either,” Jungkook says as he looks at his brothers with dead eyes.

“Wha…” Jin feels like he’s been punched in the gut as all the air leaves his lungs. “Jungkookie?”

“I have…been punished,” Jungkook says as he looks at the ground. “But…please…please don’t leave me here,” he cries. “I don’t…please kill me…if you won’t…please don’t…I can’t…”

Jungkook feels his chest start to tighten as panic overwhelms him. All he sees is Carl again and after what has happened, he has no doubt the monster will be after him again.

“What…” Jin asks. He knows he doesn’t want to know; doesn’t want to be educated on something he had missed.

“I couldn’t…fight back,” Jungkook says as he curls in on himself, “because…I didn’t have any fight left. I already…I couldn’t…Jiminie…I had to…I had to keep him safe so…I let…that monster let…he got his pretty songbird…”

“Who?” Hoseok asks as his blood runs cold.

“Carl,” Jungkook breathes. “That’s where I went when…when that guard came and got me. She…she took me to…Jimin’s…”

“Why?” Jin asks.

“Because Mathan lied,” Jungkook says. “The…the meetings were recorded and…Jimin and I…we misbehaved. I…touched something that wasn’t mine and…I had to be…I let them punish me instead.”

“What do you mean?” Jin asks as he struggles to understand.

“Jimin isn’t mine,” Jungkook says softly. “He never has been. He just…we just always understood. Being together…is mostly better than being alone…even if…even if we don’t love each other…in that way anyway…”

“Jungkookie…” Hoseok says softly. “Jiminie loves you. Very much.”

“He doesn’t,” Jungkook says with a shake of his head, his voice firm, and tone sure. “Not like you think he does. He’s still my hyung but…neither of us have the others heart. It’s okay.”

“I don’t understand,” Hoseok says, sounding lost.

“When…after Yoongi-ssi took him…from me,” Jungkook says, anger now coloring his tone. “Jimin-hyung tried to…get me to fight for him but…I called Taehyungie a…an abomination and…I hurt him when I said those things. I knew that I didn’t deserve him. And…I thought he was happy so…I let Yoongi win and…I let Jimin keep the hole in my chest together and…all of it was wrong and…there’s nothing I can do to fix it now.”

“Jungkookie,” Jin says softly, seeing only now how much his baby brother had suffered all these years.

“’S okay,” he says softly. “I…Taehyungie and I…we made our peace. I just…I wish that I had done more…”

“How did they punish you?” Jin asks, knowing that he has to know.

“They made him watch,” Jungkook whispers, his eyes seeing something no one else could see. “They…they pinned us down and…Jiminie had…he had to watch.”

“Watch what?” Hoseok asks, pushing to a place he didn’t want to go.

“Carl…claim me…” Jungkook says as he wraps his arms around himself. “Hyung begged him not to but…better me than him…”

“No…”Jin breathes as he shakes his head, horror filling him at the knowledge that none of them had escaped untouched. He had hoped beyond hope that at least the youngest would be spared.

“He isn’t coming back, is he?” Jungkook asks as he lets himself go. “Taehyungie…”

“What makes you think that?” Jin asks, trying to sound brave.

“Hyung,” Jungkook chokes out. “You…he…he’s never…that monster…he killed him. He…he has to…he can’t be…I don’t…please tell me…he isn’t…he doesn’t…”

“He isn’t suffering,” Jin says softly, knowing just the lie his maknae needed to hear.

Chapter End Notes

*takes a deep breath*

A lot of bad stuff happened in this chapter didn't it?

I'm sorry if this affected or triggered anybody. But now that we are all through this together let us remember this is NOT real. Step back. Get something warm to drink. Watch funny BTS videos. Breathe and decompress. Come back for more later, or, don't come back at all. I will love and treasure you all the same.

A lot of stuff happens in these next several chapters because we are so close to the end of Kidnapped. But have no fear, our story does not end there. I think at this point all of us deserve a happy ending and so through BTS Returned and BTS Recovered we will get to that point and it is my greatest hope that you stay with me/us until then.

Peace, Light & Love,

Kaelyn

HIATUS AND REVAMP ANNOUNCEMENT

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Hey guys,

For several days now I have stressed out over plot content, character direction, story vision, and ‘ship’ oriented comments to the point that right now I don’t even want to THINK about Kidnapped any more. And that saddens me. But the amount of angry shippers, and the comments negatively targeting one particular character (Taehyung), coupled with the overwhelming (to me) general complaints have seriously discouraged me from even finishing Kidnapped at all. The only thing I know to do is to take a step back and reevaluate whether or not I want to finish or if the direction I had planned is the right one to take.

At this point my brain is so tired from lack of sleep, hectic schedules, birthdays, all around demands, normal adulthood stress, and people wilding out over sinking ships that I honestly have no further response to peoples disappointment outside of things I will say in this letter to you, my readers and my friends.

For now I think that I will take a step back, and breathe. I have some other stories I would like to try and flesh out, and some adult things to do to prepare for Summer, and regardless of where this story goes from here on out, as the sole continuing author of Kidnapped, I would like to read back over it and correct/edit out/change some things I did not 100% agree with when they were published to see if we can make the story and the relationships within run smoother.

All I have to say about ships is if that is ALL you are here for, you might want to leave. None of the ships we started with are slated to make it out of captivity alive so far and the boys will be left exploring their relationships and attachments to one another in ways we may have never imagined. Realistically I'm not sure if any of our original ships even can survive all that they have been through. I'm not saying they won't because things always change, but there is your warning that nothing is as it seems.

Because of all the comments I received criticizing my portrayal of JiKook I really do feel like I messed up with the last chapter at this point and it IS something that I need to reconsider and address, but it is also something I need to take the time to do and something that deserves more substance than being addressed in a comment or an A/N. I will do my very best to correct this oversight and injustice to the characters and their relationship in any way I can.

JiKook's relationship IS a lot deeper than filling the void, so I think I will need to take this last update down and make it something more. I am sorry for my inability to describe it as I want :( Please bear with me while I try to find the words/scenarios/flashbacks to work.

I never, not once, in any of my chapters said that anyone was getting dumped or that Jimin wasn't good enough for Jungkook. Maybe in a piece I haven't released yet JUNGKOOK decides that HE isn't good enough for JIMIN because HE (Jungkook) didn't PROTECT HIM (Jimin). Maybe he feels like he BETRAYED him in his weakness by turning to Taehyung for comfort all those many months that Jimin was gone. And maybe he realizes that even through everything he endured, Jimin's love for him never once wavered even when Jungkook was having second thoughts.

I think a large part of the problem is that the vision I have now has shifted greatly from the plans that were made when this story began and, from the beginning, I never agreed in totality with how Jimin was written or with how the entire JiKook relationship was portrayed because Sandra was a much more intense shipper than I am, and JiKook is her ultimate preferred ship (fictional and not) where as I do not have a ship outside of the realm of fiction, nor a preference within said realm. In the beginning JiKook was endgame and there was just no coming off of that. Now that I am on my own, there is no WAY these two can overcome such trauma to be together and that fault lies solely with their captors, not the boys themselves. Some scenes that were written (and are probably getting scraped) forced things that I was never comfortable with and portrayed both Jimin and Jungkook in ways that I genuinely feel do not fit the characters/relationship at all (i.e. the attempted smut very early on). In this sense I can see how this story appeared to be more endgame JiKook than it really is, and I apologize for not correcting these issues sooner.

I am also sorry that I have turned this in to a Tae sob fest since that was never my intention. I guess in that sense it IS Tae-centric and until I can figure out how to make it better and make it not that way, this story is on hiatus.

After several of these comments I worry now that when the attention shifts from one member to the next, and, for example, Jimin, or Yoongi, or Namjoon get their several detailed chapters in the light, my fic will become ‘*enter certain member*-centric’ as well, if that makes any sense at all. It makes it very hard to move forward with the story when that character has unresolved plot points that I have had planned out in some certain order for months. (Some of these notes are almost 2 years old). The only thing that I would like to say is that, realistically speaking, if one of your family was taken and clearly tortured and didn't return, you would spend a great deal of your time thinking about them and what you could have done differently to prevent it all from happening which is exactly what we are seeing now, and what we will see time and time again when the focus shifts over all the members.

To immediately take the focus off of Tae I would have to scrap 80% of the notes I have so far and several major plot points that would serve to move the story forward (both for part 1 and moving into part 2) would now be out of the running, leaving a very weak, very basic story line til the end. I would also be required to jump several chapters back and delete the majority of the chapters detailing his suffering and his brothers reactions leaving me only able to half-assed jump straight to their escape with no real purpose or plot for everything to come. Taehyung would just sit quietly in a corner not doing anything at all, and not having any opinion or any role in keeping his brothers safe which would be the most OOC he could ever be. None of the members would think of him or speak his name and everything would go on as it normally did and I would open myself to more attacks from people who were here to see his development or who now see the way the story is going makes absolutely no sense at all and would ask to either take it over or have it discontinued all together and we all know I’m not going to let anyone else finish what Sandra and I started together. I have no control over the fact that she did not see this through to the end but I absolutely do control the fact that I wanted and planned to.

I really do appreciate everyone's opinions, and I value all of your concerns. Please don't think this decision was because of one certain person, or any one particular thing that was said. I also hope I don't come off as hateful. I am just emotionally and mentally drained and for now I think I have had enough. Jungkook’s chapter was really, really hard for me to write since it had been so long since I've written anything and I now feel as though I have taken the story in a seriously wrong direction with my carelessness and inattention to the plot. Please accept my most sincere apologies.

I feel the need to say that I was extremely proud and excited to post this last chapter, finally moving the story forward, and when I did 80% of the comments seemed to just be angry shippers or Taehyung antis. It left me sincerely considering quitting this story and I still haven't decided whether or not I will come back from this hiatus, but for my own sanity I think eventually I will, and I cannot tell you how much that bothers me. I am literally sick with the thought.

In closing (sorry for my b*itching), thank you to those of you who have stuck up for me, defended me, and made a voice in support of me, and thank you to those who were brave enough to let me know that they disagree. I really do appreciate you all.

Peace, Love & Light,

Kaelyn Grey

P.S. I promise I won't be gone too long. Just long enough to get it all together. I love you guys!

{REST}

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapter Summary

Hi!!!!!

Hello friends.

It’s me.

I’ve missed you!

I’m so sorry it has taken so long to come back to you, but I am so excited for all the things to come! So much has happened since I stepped away but I think a lot of those things have been for the better and I am excited to share my progress with you!

Now that I am rid of my kidney stones and work is evening out and I have had a kid-free vacation, I believe it is time to hit Kidnapped hard.

Chapters 1-30 are now fully edited and ready for re-release and I hope that the majority of you are still here to read them! A lot of stuff has changed. I have deleted a lot that I didn’t agree with, and added more that I am excited about, and I hope that you, my friends, will be excited as well.

I have (as you will see) deleted whole chapters and added entire scenes within existing chapters and so I will tell you now that this story will be best consumed from beginning to end.

I need to take the time here to thank my AMAZING beta readers who have really been the backbone of this story, and wonderful sounding boards, always encouraging me to proceed and pushing me to do better. You three ladies know who you are, and I so appreciate everything you have done for me!

Right now my editor and I are pushing hard through chapter set 31-45 (and let me tell you, it is a HARD push), but I don’t see those chapters being done before the end of the week, and once they are, we have all the way through 98 to go (*screams*), so the re-vamp will definitely take some time. I really am sorry for that, but I know that it will be worth it, and so I ask that you hold on just a little longer.

Now, the question comes. Would you, my readers – my friends – like to relive the journey of Kidnapped one chapter at a time from the beginning? Or would you like me to update so many chapters at a time (i.e. 5 per week), or would you rather wait until all of them are done (which will take like a whole week to upload if not more.) I will not delete the story, simply go back and cut and paste the revamped chapters where they belong, and I can notate which chapters have been updated so you know how much has been done.

I leave the choice up to you, but I personally think that uploading one at a time (say 1 chapter a week, and the first 5 all at once just to give you a solid go) is the best way for all of us since it would give you a solid check in schedule and would also keep us connected in this amazing bond we seem to have.

Please feel free to leave a comment below. I look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Love,

Kaelyn Grey

REVAMP AND UPLOAD NOTICE

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapters 1-10 have been revamped and reuploaded.

I am REALLY going to try to have a posting schedule of Mondays until the material runs out, but we will see how that goes cause, life!

Please feel free to read and re-view so I know I'm doing okay cause, PARANOID!

Love you guys!

REVAMP AND REUPLOAD NOTICE

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Chapters 11-15 have been revamped and reuploaded.

Chapters 7, 8, & 9 have also been tweaked since the last upload with more juice added!

I am REALLY going to try to keep a posting schedule of Mondays until the material runs out, but we will see how that goes cause, life!

Please feel free to read and re-view so I know I'm doing okay cause, PARANOID!

Love you guys!

REVAMP AND REUPLOAD

Chapter by kaelyngrey

CHAPTERS 16-20 ARE LIVE!

Leave or Stay

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Yes this is a poll.

Yes I need some confidence.

Yes I realize the revamp was probably a mistake.

Yes a lot of things have changed.

Yes I have probably ruined Kidnapped for a lot of people.

Yes this is really the way I feel.

Please leave a comment with your opinion.

SHOULD I KEEP ON WITH THE REVAMP OR LEAVE THIS AS IT IS FOR WHAT IT IS, NEVER TO UPDATE AGAIN.

I'm feeling really down and like I have wasted so much time trying to make this story something it was obviously never meant to be. It's okay if you tell me my writing is not as great as Sandra's. It's okay to love HER Kidnapped. Just let me know if continuing MINE is a waste of time so I can grow up and move on or buckle down and push out.

{CLOSED}

Chapter by kaelyngrey

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for this incredible journey of Kidnapped. It has been an amazing and unbelievable ride until the end, has it not?

I am so very sorry that I have tainted the first several chapters and turned them into something they were not. I wish that I could go back and change them to what they originally were, but I cannot.

From here on out, this version of Kidnapped, is over. For nostalgia, Sandra's version til her departure can be found on Wattpad here (https://www.wattpad.com/story/131005694-bts-kidnapped) where I think it will remain. I will leave this version here for the next 30 days in the hopes that those who are interested will be able to redirect to the new, re-vamped version from here.

To all my loyal readers, I am sorry for any disappointment or sense of betrayal I may have caused.

This decision was not made lightly and I hope that it will be respected.

To find the new version of Kidnapped, please follow here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19834726/chapters/46966705

All my love,

Kaelyn Grey

Notice for my readers

Chapter by kaelyngrey

As I have been reading all of your comments I have decided to make a compromise. The bulk of Kidnapped will not change in the redo but a lot of small details will. While I will no longer post that version here (you may find the new one through the link in the last chapter) when I start writing new chapters to complete the story I will also post those here for closure for those of you who want to know the end but do not want to reread the whole thing. I understand these feelings as well and as the author it is the least I can do for all of you, my friends, who have been here, literally, through it all. Please give me just a few more weeks as summer winds down and I prepare for school season and hopefully we have new chapters then!

All my love,

Kaelyn