"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Jungkook sat quietly on the armed chair in his bedroom, where he'd been confined to since he'd been abducted from Busan by Lee and his minions. How Lee had found him, Jungkook couldn't tell, but he'd shown up when Jungkook had gone outside the hospital to take a walk and force him into the car amidst his kicking and yelling to be left alone, leaving Jin behind.

The thing was, Jungkook hated Lee for what he'd done. Hated him for being so damn good at his job, but Lee might have saved Jin. Lee had told him while on the drive to the terminal to board a jet back to Seoul that he'd intentionally not searched for Jin when he'd found Jungkook.

According to him, he'd been directed to make Jin pay for kidnapping Jungkook the moment he set his eyes on him. "So, please cooperate with me, Young Master, so I don't set my eyes on him. Otherwise, I'll have to be forced to do what I would not be happy to do."

That alone had made him calm down. He'd stopped trying to throw his elbow back into the face of the two men sitting on opposite sides of him in the backseat. He stopped yelling at Lee and stayed quiet the entire time.

But he'd left Jin, even though it had been against his will. He'd left Jin extremely sick in the hospital in another state and had been dragged back to his father's mansion in Seoul, listening to his mother yell at him the last ten minutes but not saying anything to her.

God, he didn't care for what she was saying. He felt guilty being there, having the maids bring up one meal after the other, taking it back untouched. He hadn't had a single thing to eat since he got in last night. The guilt he felt had filled him up, maybe too much because it hurt.

Was Jin okay? Was he still in the hospital? Did he think Jungkook had ran away, chickened out on his own plan and left him in Daegu? They were supposed to start a new life together. His plan had been stupid he knew that, but he'd hoped that there had been a 1% chance of it working.

He wanted to talk to Jin but all his devices had been taken from him. His mother had made them do a total sweep of his room while he had been away and he had returned to all his phones, even the ones he'd hidden in corners, missing. She didn't want him communicating with Jin.

Maybe she intended to keep him locked in his room for as long as it would take him to forget Jin, to kill the idea of running away again. She was dreaming.

"After embarrassing me at the hotel, you pull this stunt? Are you trying to destroy the reputation of this family?" She thundered at him, pacing from here to there, her hands making weird angry gestures in the air. He hated her so much.

"That's enough, Jia," his father said. He was sitting on the other armed chair, across from Jungkook, his arms folded across his chest as he listened to his wife beret Jungkook.

"Enough?!" His mother yelled at her husband. "What are you talking about?! Your son ran away with the boy who was supposed to keep him safe and you're telling me it's enough?!"

"Yes, Jia. It's enough. You've given him an earful, let him rest," Anthony said, his tone calm, like always.

"I should let him rest?! Honey, do you want to book a massage date for him? Maybe, throw in a fancy meal at a restaurant in Paris, so he can relax like you want him to?! This boy is smearing dirt all over our family name and you're so calm about it!"

"Yelling at him solves nothing. What do we achieve by shouting at each other? Okay, let's say that I join you and start hauling harsh words at him and then he starts yelling back at us, who hears who? How would we resolve anything then? We have to calm down and address this matter peacefully."

His mother shook her head, an unamused smile on her lips like she couldn't believe her husband's words. Like she hadn't known for 18 years that Anthony Jeon was a calm bird by nature, never saying more than he felt he was supposed to and just observing with blue, piercing gaze.

Jungkook was 17 but he could say he knew his father better than his mother. Sometimes, he wished Anthony was different, spoke more and didn't just observe. Anthony had known about his mother's plays and how she'd completely disregarded his sexuality like it was nothing. He'd said nothing because he'd believed it was a domestic issue that didn't require his input.

Jungkook's mother hadn't been the only driving force in sending him away, Anthony's silence had played a role as well. If he'd spoken to his wife, told her to quit with her madness and let Jungkook be, this wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have suggested running away with Jin. He wouldn't have hated them. They wouldn't be in his room bothering the hell out of him.

"If I ever lay my eyes on that ungrateful brat," Jia gritted, the vile in her voice laced with each word she took. "I gave him everything. I took him as a son and this is how he pays me back? By kidnapping my son, corrupting him and teaching him to rebel against his own parents."

"He did not kidnap me!" Jungkook snapped at him mother, glaring at her.

"He took you away! The CCTV caught him driving-"

"No! You drove me away. I wanted to run away from you, and I asked him to come with me because I got sick and tired of your bullshit!"

His mother's hand shot forward and smacked him across the face, startling him. "Don't you ever talk to me like that! I am your mother and everything I have done was for your own good!"

"Jia!" His father called, standing to his feet and leveling his gaze on his wife.

"You have never done anything for my good," Jungkook said to her, keeping his voice steady, amidst the tears building in his eyes. "Everything you have done was to boost your reputation and you used me as a tool for it. You have never cared about me or what I wanted. You have never listened to me."

"Jungkook, enough."

He ignored his father's voice and focused on his mother. "I begged you for years to leave me alone. I sat through countless of date, got insulted and humiliated by those girls every time I turned them down. I loved you so I did it, not wanting to rebel against you. I didn't want to do it but I did it, sat quietly like a fucking good boy and all you did was play with me like I was nothing but a puppet. I hoped one day you would get to realize how unhappy I was and stop trying to make me into what I'm not but you are so selfish, mum."

His mother's opened mouth quivered and she charged towards him with her hands raised. Jungkook sat there, waiting for her to hit him again, pummel him as much as she wanted if it would make her happy, but he wasn't going to take her bullshit anymore. He would rather die single than make her have him sit with another girl in the name of finding chemistry with them.

Anthony jumped in front of his wife, grabbing unto her raised hand and standing in her way. She struggled at him, kicking and sobbing. "Let me be! He can't talk to me that way! I am his mother!"

"You want to hit me again?! Feel free to do it. Hit me as much as you want, I don't care. Because believe me, your hands striking me are the least painful thing you have ever done to me... mother."

He leaned back into the chair and turned away from the view of his parents. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he wiped them away immediately.

"This is his fault. That boy did this! I'll make sure he pays for this." She tore her arm out of her husband's hold and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

More tears fell from Jungkook's eyes. She still wasn't listening. He'd spoken louder than he'd ever done in his life and his mother had still not heard him. This time, he didn't wipe his tears, he just let it fall uncontrollably.

"Jungkook."

"You watched this happen and you did nothing. You're just as guilty as she is."

His father remained standing, unmoving. Jungkook could feel his gaze on him, but he did nothing to meet it. Anthony had let this happen. His silence had given his mother the power to drag this until this point.

"I know," Anthony said. "Dry your tears. We'll talk about this later."

Jungkook said nothing, did nothing as he heard his father's calm steps as he left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. His heart cracked in two. He hated his life so much.