Jungkook's POV

"Amanda, wake up," I softly stroked her hands and kneeled down beside the bed.

Lying curled up on the moldy bed, she squinted her eyes at the bright lights and tried to take in her new surroundings. Her eyes opened slowly as she scanned the room, and then her gaze fell on me, causing her doe eyes to widen in horror.

"Hey, hey... calm down. I've brought you somewhere, and it's perfectly safe here. No one knows we're here, okay? And please don't be scared of me, Mandy. I won't hurt you even in my dreams," I smiled and stood up as she crept back on the bed, dragging her legs closer to her body.

"Don't come near me. Where am I? How the hell did you bring me here?" She cried, clutching the dirty sheets beneath her in her fists.

I crouched down on my knees near the bed and spoke softly.
"We're at a safe place and you were asleep for a while. I used Taehyung's car to bring you here. Mandy, you wanted to meet him, right?"

Her eyes widened in shock, refusing to blink.
"Is Taehyung here?" She asked shakily.

I smiled big and nodded, and she suddenly burst out into a hearty laugh even as her tears fell, without any idea about his dying condition.

"Please, I want to see him now, Jungkook.. Please, I beg you," she folded her hands in front of her chest and pleaded, and it ripped my heart into pieces.

I shook my head.
"Amanda, no. Please don't beg. You're a Queen, and you shouldn't beg. You should command me to do things, and I'll bring the world to your feet," I stood up and extended my hand to her, knowing that she will anyway never be mine after this, watching her slip right through my fingers like sand.

Hesitantly, she sniffed her tears and held my hand.

She trusts me, and I will not break her trust. I will let her meet him. One last time.

"Let's go," I held her hand and led her down the dimly lit hallway with the crumbling door that stood at the end of it.

Standing at the doorway, I released my hold on her hand and let her go ahead of me to open the door to witness the scene inside.

"Open. He's in there." I gestured for her to open the door.

Her eyebrows knitted in worry and confusion, and she let out a long breath through her mouth before carefully opening the door.

Amanda's POV

The moment I stepped in, my eyes fell on the pale, half-naked, enfeebled form of Taehyung tied to a chair, with his head hanging lifelessly, hair matted and dishevelled, and dried blood crusted over the tattoo on his arm. My eyes widened, and my heart stopped working as did my whole body.

It took me a few seconds to process what I was seeing.

I dragged my feet towards him, unable to balance myself properly. Falling on my knees, I brought my hands to hold his cheeks that felt cold to the touch, and lifted his face up to look into his eyes — the eyes that held my whole world.

And my heart shattered into a million pieces when I saw that his eyes were closed, he was unable to open his eyes. Taehyung's lips were chapped and parted, his skin was frail and shrinking, his breathing was shallow — very shallow but still there. His lips were quivering, and they were dry and parched.

My vision was clouded with the upwelling tears as I held his face tighter while trying to see if he could open his eyes or sense my presence.

"Taehyung... honey, can you hear me?" My voice cracked and my whole body shook as my tears fell nonstop, and I began crying and shaking uncontrollably.

I turned to Jungkook who was standing tall beside me, arms crossed under his chest, completely unbothered by Taehyung's pitiful, dying condition.
"What the hell did you do to him? Why is he not responding?" I cried louder and swiped away the messy bangs from my husband's forehead, grimacing at the missing warmth on his skin.

"He won't make it past tonight," Jungkook replied mournfully in his deep voice.

My mouth gaped in utter shock, rendering my throat dry.
"Why? What are you talking?" I turned to Taehyung. "TAEHYUNG, WAKE UP!" I screamed to no avail and bawled my lungs out while desperately fumbling with the ropes tied around him.

"Amanda, don't waste your energy. He is slipping into a coma," Jungkook spoke very casually, and my head bolted in his direction.

I got up to my feet and turned around to stand facing him.
"What is your problem, Jungkook? Why are you doing all this? You know how much Taehyung and I love each other, and HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HIM?" I screamed and kept walking closer to him, not bothered a bit about anything that he could do to me. If he let my husband slip into a coma, I will not think twice to rip his lungs out with my bare hands.

"He is not the right one for you," Jungkook shook his head and stood rooted on the spot, tall and powerful and completely unbothered by the situation in the room.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I closed my eyes for a brief moment and gathered my thoughts before letting out a long, deep breath and opening my eyes again.
"Who the fuck are you to decide that? Huh? As my friend, are you not supposed to wish only good things for me?" I spoke more calmly, and I didn't understand why I was still talking to him so patiently.

"That's what I'm saying. I want only the best for you. All these years he has been using you only for his desires, Amanda. Has he ever been a good husband to you? Tell me honestly. And I don't want to be just your friend anymore. Not now. Not ever. Never have I wanted just that." He spat out and stood with his hands crossed under his chest.

I was agitated and triggered by his words.
"What the hell are you talking about, Jungkook? He means the world to me. Nobody and nothing can change my mind. Nobody is perfect, and even though we all have expectations, no one can fulfill all of it. Taehyung might have lacked here and there, but so am I. I'm nowhere close to perfect. But you know what? He and I are perfect for each other," I wiped my tears and went closer to him, looking directly into his big, round eyes.

I harshly gripped on to the collar of his shirt and held it tight, gritting my teeth in rage.
"Taehyung has been with me through everything in my life for nine whole years now. We've been there for each other through all our hardships and difficult times. I swear to God that if something happens to him, I will kill you with my own hands."

"Amanda, you have always had eyes only for him." He held my wrists in his strong hands and yanked them away from his collar, making me stumble backward.

Running a hand over his shirt to smooth out the fabric, he spoke with his piercing gaze fixed on me.
"Have you ever noticed how I have been around you? Do you have the slightest idea of my feelings? You don't care a damn, do you?" He spoke with animated hand movements and chuckled sarcastically.

"What do you mean your feelings? Have you ever told me or anyone else about your feelings?" I snarled irritatedly, silently counting down the minutes until rescue services arrived.

He shook his head, facing the floor below him.
"I didn't, I couldn't. I had so much bottled up within me, and whenever I wanted to talk about it all, you would just be so lost in his eyes and then just disappear with him. Do you know how long I've lived like that? You have no fucking idea, Amanda," his eyes darkened as they lifted to meet my terrified ones, and his tone deepened.

"Jung-" I began, but he shut me up by slapping his one hand on my mouth and holding the back of my neck with his other hand. Jungkook clenched his jaw as he kept walking me backward.

"Have you ever thought about why I never attended any of your fucking celebratory parties for all your goddamned relationship anniversaries?" He arched his eyebrows and huffed in rage. "Because I couldn't bear to see you with him. My whole body felt as if it was on fire every single time you went together with him. And how dare you film yourself having sex with him? Huh? And you dared to leave me alone with your laptop? Foolish Mandy." His grip on both sides of my head tightened, and I frantically fought with my weaker hands, trying to slap his hands away, but to no avail.

"Do you know how long I've lived this way? I can't do it anymore. You remember that night when you all stayed over at my apartment? Years back?" He raised his eyebrows at me, and before I could even process his words, he spoke again. "You don't? But I do." He nodded violently. "You just couldn't stay away from him even then, yeah? My soul was crushed that night hearing all the lewd noises you made. And every time you went home with him, I felt a part of my heart dying, Amanda. Every single time he was there before me because you chose him, and not me." He crushed my neck harder, and I could feel my vision blurring as I shook my head weakly.

Jungkook spoke through gritted teeth,
"How the fuck is he better than me? Because I wasn't the topper? Because I didn't own a house? Because I didn't fuck your soul out? Because I didn't win the presidential medal? Because I didn't pamper you with clothes and shoes?" He crushed the back of my neck almost to its breaking point. "I could've done all of that if I had been given the chance. I could've proved that I was the better man. But you never gave me a chance, did you?" He chuckled devilishly and tilted his head, staring deep into my tormented eyes that were already closing.

Suddenly, he let go of his grip on me and harshly pushed me away, and I fell down on the floor coughing and spluttering, trying to regain my normal breathing.

"You know what? I really wanted to make you mine and tell the news to your husband before he died. But sadly, that didn't happen..nothing that I ever want will happen, right?" He chuckled as if sympathizing with himself, and I couldn't understand what the hell he was talking about as my breathing was broken and my vision was just returning to normalcy.

Jungkook crouched on his knees beside me.
"If I had not been caught by you this morning, I would've buried him tomorrow, and then we would've started our life together, happily... not right away, but definitely some day..." He exhaled sharply and repeatedly ran his fingers through his hair. "But now you know everything, and I know you would hate me now." Jungkook nodded to himself.

"But right from that night I brought him here... no, no" he shook his head. "He came with me willingly... do you know why?" He turned his head to look at me.

I was still figuring out how to breathe normally when he began speaking again.

"Because he believed me... just like how the police now believe that the dumb Namjoon is behind Taehyung's disappearance. But it was me.... I paid the security and turned off the power at the parking lots, I timed everything, I coaxed Taehyung to drive us here....I did everything, and Namjoon is being credited now." He chuckled sadistically. "But I don't really mind."

"Since you missed him so bad and kept wearing his clothes every day, I thought I had to give you his last worn clothes as a gift. I promise I wanted him to depart with all his clothing until then." He laughed like a maniac. I looked at Taehyung who was still in the same position as earlier, and my heart began hammering wildly.

"I don't know what comes next, Amanda. He will die for sure. And you know now that I'm the one, and so you'll most probably hand me over to the police." Jungkook combed his hair with his fingers and stared at Taehyung's frail body with his round eyes. "I know I should get rid of you to live..." his eyes slowly shifted to meet mine. "But I can't..and I won't. I love you, Amanda. I fucking love you so much. I will never ever think about hurting you, even if that means my life would come to an end. And I am not afraid of dying, at least not now because I've finally poured out my heart to you."

Jungkook kept giving his confessions,
"It has been hard taking care of him. I've given him one meal a day, water when he asks fo-"

I interrupted him since the priority now was to save Taehyung and not fight Jungkook.
"Jungkook, please don't let him die. He can't die. Get him an ambulance first, please. We will sort out everything afterwards. Please, please..." I crawled on fours up to the chair where Taehyung was tied up and touched his face once again.

"He's hypothermic. Please do something." I desperately looked around everywhere through the curtain of tears pouring out from my eyes, and saw a bin full of used syringes in a corner.

My limbs wobbled and breath hitched in my throat.
"Oh my God! What the hell have you been injecting? Jungkook, please do something..." My head dropped as I cried out harder, feeling totally lost, useless and helpless, wanting nothing more than to save my dying husband.

"Just perfectly calculated doses of beta-blockers, injected intra-muscular once a day for a week now. He is weaker than I thought. There's still two doses left, and he is already unconscious." He stood up and dusted his pants, as though he had done nothing.

[[Note : Beta blockers are prescription drugs which are used to block the effects of adrenaline on the body and reduce blood pressure by causing the heart to beat at a lower rate. Over dosage and reckless usage can lead to extremely low blood pressure, weakness, breathing trouble, heart failure, convulsions and seizures, coma and sometimes even death, if left unattended.]]

I knew better than to fight Jungkook at the moment, although I wanted to strangle him and rip out his skin with my bare hands. Focusing on the ropes tied around Taehyung's body and limbs, I began removing the tight knots with my shaky fingers and failing eyesight.

"Hey, silly... Why are you even trying?" Jungkook laughed and walked over to a closed window at the back of the room.

Ignoring his sadistic, psychotic comments and actions, I tried and successfully untied the ropes tied around Taehyung's feet. My tears wouldn't stop, yet I had small slivers of hope cutting through my heart when I felt his posterior tibial pulse around his ankles, and my eyes lifted to observe the throbbing strong carotid pulse on the side of his neck, as I ran my fingers along the side of his neck and realized that his pulse was infact quite strong and stable.

Taehyung should live.

With a renewed vigor, I lifted my bottom off my heels and began pulling at the knots of the ropes around his waist.

Just when I removed the last knot, I heard an almost deafening banging noise outside, followed by numerous shuffling footsteps, and my eyes shot up to meet Jungkook's terrified eyes.

"Who's here? Is somebody here? No way! Shit..." He panicked, his eyes wide as saucers, and he dashed towards the door, my eyes following him, knowing fully well who would be there on the other side of the door.

After all, you aren't a professional abductor, Jungkook.

Before Jungkook could open it, the door threw open, making his hulking form stumble back, and the next thing I saw was his forehead under gunpoint — the gun held by Officer Jin, and at that moment, I literally saw my guardian angel in Officer Jin.

Happy ending or sad ending? What do y'all prefer?

It's written anyway, but I want to know what is your preference. What do you think happens next?

Just one chapter and an epilogue left.

Published on : 10/28/2021