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THE TRUTH UNTOLD
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Yi-Seo

I spent a while explaining to Mi-Yang eonnie that I have decided to write Taehyung’s biography. As expected, she looked shocked, but it didn’t last long. I also had to explain to her why I need a lot more reliable information about Taehyung and his last concert, and soon enough, she obliged my request and had a word with her husband, after which she let me know that I could meet him right away.

“Yeobo,” she calls out softly, bringing her husband’s eyes on us as we stand at the doorway of his office room.

“Come in, why are you standing there?” He waves for us to enter as he ends a phone call, and we do so, closing the door behind us.

Unlike their living room which looks nothing shy of a palace, this office room situated within their home looks warm and cozy, and the air is scented with a mild lavender fragrance which makes it an even more comfortable space to be in.

There is even a bookshelf along one part of the wall that has just a few books, but it has been maintained impeccably.

We occupy the two seats across his desk, and Mi-Yang eonnie’s husband, Jimin, drags his swivel chair closer to the desk. The jacket of his suit is draped over the back of his chair, and he looks a lot more friendlier this way.

“Yi-Seo, right?” He asks, and I hum in response, nodding. “Yes, Yi-Seo, tell me something first. Mi-Yang told me that you’re planning on writing Taehyung’s biography. May I ask you why you chose to write about him?” He quizzes me in a solemn tone as his gaze flits between me and his wife.

“I feel that his story needs to be told to the world, and I think there are a lot of mysteries surrounding his last concert. I want to find out the truth and put it out for everyone to know that he was never the kind of artist to drug himself before going up on stage,” I state my reasons without faltering, and Jimin nods in an impressed manner.

Exhaling a long breath, he leans back in his seat and keeps his interlocked hands in front of his chest.

“I’m surprised that you chose not to believe the media reports about him. What do you want to know from me?” He arrives straight at the point of the meeting without beating around the bush; his soft eyes and the mellifluous tone of his voice is making him a warm and easy person to talk to.

“I heard that you did a lot of background work on that day’s events, but you weren’t able to help him in any way because of your work commitments,” I use my words carefully because being turned down is the last thing I want at this moment.

He’s my only hope now, and I at least need some starters to work on and untangle the mess of information that I already have.

“That’s true. I spent so many days emptying my pockets while gathering information about what happened backstage during Taehyung’s last concert. But I didn’t have direct access to him, and I couldn’t do anything, so I stayed low-key and silently mourned the end of his career. By the time he came here, he gave off such repulsive vibes, and I haven’t spoken to him even once in all these years,” he exhales sharply. “I hope you also know that it isn’t easy for commoners like us to release the truth just like that with or without solid proof,” Jimin adds in a mellow tone, disappointment, and regret evident in his voice and visage.

“I do,” I nod a little.

“Have you got all the permission needed to write and publish?” Jimin’s voice is filled with doubt.

“From Taehyung, yes,” my confirmation brings a flash of shock in Jimin’s expressions and an eerie quietness settles in the room for a few seconds, which I decide to break. “I want to pick up from where you left and see the end of this,” my assertiveness makes his eyebrows lift.

His gaze once again flits between me and his wife who is seated beside me, and he pushes out a heavy breath.

“I had a USB stick with all the detailed information that I gathered, but I have to look for it. For now, I can tell you whatever I remember,” Jimin’s interest spikes up as he straightens his posture in his seat and clears his throat.

“Yeah, so where exactly do we begin?” I’m thrilled and anxious to hear what he discovered earlier.

Mi-Yang eonnie remains thoroughly silent, and I’m guessing that she probably heard these details from her husband many times in the past.

“There were always many rumors and scandals surrounding Taehyung from the start, but the ones that heavily impacted his career and his fandom were the tape scandal and the drug scandal. First thing, I heard from a very reliable source that Taehyung had a strained relationship with a co-artist from the same agency, Sammy,” Jimin says in a weighty tone, and this information makes my eyebrows pinch together.

“Really? Who told you that?” I quiz him curiously. 

“An insider at Aeon entertainment. I can’t really tell you who, but the source is reliable. Taehyung and Sammy had a heavy argument at the time of Taehyung’s tape leak…” His eyes briefly move to Mi-Yang, and then he looks back at me, “you know the inappropriate tape that was leaked without his knowledge. It was Sammy; he did it,” Jimin drops the most massive truth bomb of the millenium, and my heart leaps a mile.

“I knew it,” I mutter under my breath, my hands balling into fists on the top of my lap.

“What?” Jimin asks me in a surprised tone, and I shake it off, urging him to continue.

“Yeah, so it was Sammy, but Taehyung didn’t blow it out of proportion. He forgave him, and they both apparently patched up too. But after that, things were a little rough and sour between them, and not like how it was before that incident. And whatever his intentions were, we would never know, but he surely succeeded in tainting Taehyung’s name and reputation by leaking that tape,” he states the facts as if he were witnessing the events live.

That kind of addresses the things were good between us part of the conversation with Taehyung which was boiling low within my mind, but it also makes me doubt if things really settled between Taehyung and Sammy after the tape leak, and after his apparent apology. Or was it the start of something even more bitter between the two of them?

Sensing the pandemonium sprouting within my head and manifesting on my face, Jimin continues to elaborate, “Just in case you’re wondering, the source that gave me these details was close to the two artists, and they were close to me as well. But I never asked them for details about anything except for these scandals because I hate being that stalker fan, not now, not ever,” Jimin clarifies his stand, and I agree, nodding.

“I get it,” I accept his explanation without prying further.

“Yeah, so what happened on the final day of the concert was not just what happened on stage or backstage that day, but I have a strong feeling that it was all planned out way before anything even happened,” his tone deepens, and his expressions intensify.

“What do you mean, Jimin-ssi?” I move to the edge of my seat and lean forward a little.

“I didn’t know what exactly happened, but Taehyung slipped and fell during the soundcheck that morning, and I was there among the crowd that day. It did appear to be a casual slip and fall, but he twisted his ankle badly, and it was so unlike him to actually fall on the stage. He used to be a very stable and careful person with jet-fast reflexes,” Jimin’s words come out as an amalgam of surprise and adoration for his once favorite idol, and he pauses for a moment to sip a bit of water.

I sit by feeling like a jumbled-up pack of puzzle pieces, and then he clears his throat and continues speaking, “Yeah, so, after the soundcheck, the concert started that evening, and you probably know what happened on stage. I was keen on finding out what happened backstage, and so I used help from my source,” he waits for me to ask him something or probably even say something in response, but I’m too invested to speak anything right now.

Exhaling, he resumes speaking, “So, what happened was that when he felt severe pain while performing on stage, Taehyung rushed backstage to take a pain-relieving injection before his encore stage. It was a prescription drug, and it was delivered intravenously to help him get faster relief, and there is no doubt that the drugs were injected along with this injection,” his words produce a jolt of electric shock within my brain.

“What?” My eyes go as wide as saucers, and I don’t bother asking him how he knew about the intravenous injection because he probably just heard it from his source. “Then they could have just sued the doctor or the nurse who injected it, right?” I know I’ve asked him the most logical question, but he only chuckles in response.

“True. And that is why they sued Taehyung,” Jimin sniggers casually.

“Excuse me?” My face twists in confusion.

“Yeah because the craziest thing is that he injected himself, and there were a few others with him at that time who witnesed him doing it,” his tone is thick with conviction, and I find this information rather appalling.

“What? But weren’t there any emergency medics available at the concert venue? Why did he do it himself?”

“There was a medical team at the stadium, and despite that, why he injected himself is the biggest mystery to which I couldn’t find an answer yet. No one but Taehyung can answer that,” Jimin spreads open his hands in a defeated manner, and my shoulders sink as well.

It is true; Taehyung is the only one who can answer this, and Jimin continues before I could ask him anything more about that day, “I still believe that he was unaware about the presence of drugs in that injection. After the fall on the stage during the soundcheck that morning, Taehyung went to the hospital where he was treated, but he still had a lot of pain while performing. The narcotic drug-infused injection medicine was likely handed to him at the hospital itself, or it could have been switched later. But there is a lot of mystery surrounding its appearance, and nobody knows exactly how it ended up there…”

“And so, it was just assumed that Taehyung willfully injected himself with drugs, and he received the punishment?” I complete the sentence for him, and he heaves a soft sigh, nodding many times as he dips his neck a little. “How unfair is that?” I’m starting to feel a little annoyed at how lackadaisical and negligent his agency has been in investigating this case, so much to the extent that it almost seems to me as if they were also co-conspirators in this catastrophe.

Jimin exhales in defeat, after which he pulls up his sleeve and checks the time on his watch, and then he looks up at me.

“We can discuss this some other time, Yi-Seo, because I have a meeting in five minutes,” he goes back to his work, dismissing our meeting right away.

“I can understand. Thank you so much, Jimin-ssi. When can I see you next?” I ask him as I rise from my chair, keeping my expectant eyes on him.

“I can let you know when I’m free,” a ghost of a small smile grazes his lips before his focus goes back to his work once again.

“Please try to look for the USB stick if it isn’t too much trouble,” I request him softly, bowing a few times before I step out of his office room with Mi-Yang eonnie.

After exchanging goodbyes with her and permitting her to share my phone number with her husband, I leave her home.

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Published on : 01/25/2023