Jimin huffed infront of the office door. Panting heavily, he gave the female alpha infront of him a conscious look.

"Jennie-",he breathed out.

The alpha's forehead creased at his tone.

-"Seokjin hyung....."

Noticing the tremor in Jimin's voice, Jennie got up from her chair.

"What...? What's wrong with him?!",she asked,rather demanded because Jimin's hesitation was making her frustrated.

"He is..... Something has happened to him. He is trembling and sweating furiously and-",the omega couldn't finish his sentence as Jennie walked past him,rushing down the castle's hallways and towards the elder prince's bedchamber while muttering under her breath,-

"Tae is going to kill me!"

Just a week before,when she saw Seokjin coming out of the carriage from Northern Kingdom and realized that there was only Namjoon with him;Jennie knew that they all have to face the consequences of this situation.

"What happened,Oraboni?!",she almost yelled as she entered Seokjin's room and saw the older half lying on his bed,breathing heavily.

Seokjin gulped and immediately winced.

"It......It h-hurts-",he mumbled,letting his hand touch the bond mark on his neck.

"Let me see.....",the alpha requested while removing Seokjin's fingers from upon his neck and touched the mark.

Her eyes widened as she realized that the mark was burning.

"Since when?!",she demanded to Namjoon and Yoongi who were standing beside the queen sized bed.

"Last night....his throat is getting dry quite often too...",Yoongi answered with a flat tone but his face revealed his anxiousness clearly.

"He doesn't even want to eat anything. It- ..... It can affect the baby,Jennie!",Jimin wailed.

"I know !",Jennie hushed the omega with her firm tone.

"This madness should be stopped now.I'm going to inform Tae-"

"NO! Jennie please!",Seokjin cried out,holding his neck as he rested the back of his head against the headrest.

"Please don't force him to come back.....I don't-.... I don't want to force a-anything to him..."

Jennie closed her eyes to compose herself.

As she finally opened them,she gave the trembling older a pointed look and snarled,-

"We are not forcing anything to him.The baby is his too,oraboni! And you can't just forget that you're not just Tae's mate,but his submissive too. The more he wouldn't drink your blood,the more you'd have to face these consequences. Your body follows a circle now; a certain amount of blood needs to be released from your body every day. And if you try or force the circle to stop,it'll affect your health a lot,oraboni. Please don't forget that now,your health is not just your own,its the baby's too. And I don't know about his fathers but let me be clear that I'm not going to risk his health at any cost!"

"I don't know what has happened between the both of you and I just don't care either. Try to resolve your problems yourselves but don't drag the baby into your stubborn fights. I'm informing Tae....right now."

Seokjin sighed as there was no way he could argue with Jennie at that critical situation.

Taehyung's mark was throbbing with pain to the point that he was getting the urge to literally claw at it. His thirst was increasing by each and every moment and even several glasses of water were not able to quench it.Moreover, he was gradually losing his appetite.

Seokjin couldn't deny the fact that all of this was harmful for his child.So this time,he didn't protest when Jennie left his bedchamber with the intention of informing Taehyung about his condition.

A strangled noise escaped his lips as he clutched the side of his neck,rubbing the mark with a bit force.

Seven days. Seven days had passed but there was no sign of Taehyung.

A tear slipped out of the corner of Seokjin's eyes.The younger's pained voice rang in his mind like a mockery of destiny,-

".....You forgot me Kim Seokjin;but I had died each and every day for ten years without a glimpse of you!....."

Is this how his Taehyung had felt through all those years when he didn't remember anything about the imprinted boy?! Is the younger going to forget him this time?!

------------------------------

He felt like dying....

He was dying every day,every minute,every second.....every damn moment.

Taehyung had to live without the presence of Seokjin for ten years before. It was a terrible and painful experience.

But this time,it took him roughly seven days to feel like someone has set his soul on fire.

It was suffocating him,demolishing him to the core but,he had determined to not give in to his heart's urge. Because it always leads him to Seokjin, anyways....

He shouldn't be selfish anymore.He had shown enough selfishness through all these years,not anymore.

He has to make sure that his Prince and his child's future becomes safe and secured.

And the best way to do that is to stay away from them,no matter how much it hurts him;no matter how much he has to suffer.

Sighing and blinking the tears away from his burning eyes,he sipped the glass of blood-wine.

His throat burned and his heart clenched at the taste of someone else's blood.

Even though these supplements were able to control his thirst temporarily,his soul always yearns for the older.

The corner of his mouth twitched a little as he clenched his jaw.

"You've a submissive, haven't you?"

Taehyung's eyes shot up at the dark voice that resonated inside his office room.

"Hal-Abeoji....",he stood up from his chair to rush towards the elderly man who was standing at his office's doorway.

The Elder King raised his hand,gesturing his grandson to stop in his way.

"I'm alright....",he assured firmly.

His sharp eyes stared at Taehyung as he took small steps towards his desk.

"You never answered me....",his baritone voice rumbled while he was finally able to have a seat on one of the large,brown colored chairs.

Taehyung looked at his grand father with uncertainty in his gut.This man with almost white,pale complexion, a pair of sharp brown eyes,firm jaw and platinum blonde hair has always been his idol;someone he looked up to,someone he wanted to receive a bit of affection from but never got.

"Listen kid... I've seen this world a lot more than you.I haven't aged more than three hundred years for nothing....",his grandfather stated,his eyes fixed on the younger.

"So you better tell the truth to me...."

"I do have.....",the younger answered quietly.

The Elder King nodded,his face perfectly expressionless.

"What's their name?",he inquired.

With a long inhale,Taehyung shuddered out,-

"Seokjin..."

He gulped as his heart churned instantly after uttering the omega's name.

He missed the older.The softness of his black strands, the suppleness of his blushed cheeks,the taste of those plump lips,those wrinkles on the corner of his eyes when he smiles,his soothing,melodic voice;Taehyung missed each one of them.

"Is he your mate?",his grandfather asked further.

-"Yes."

-"Why didn't you introduce him to me,then?"

Taehyung bit his lips.

"Because he is the Southerners' prince...."

The older remained unmoved by the answer.

"So you chose to hide your mate from me to save him from my hatred,my wrath?!",he asked,amused.

The younger vampire shook his head,his eyes shut for a brief moment;as if trying to remember something.

"Not just from your hatred.....but from every difficulty he will have to face because of being my mate...."

An unwanted frown appeared on his face as he remembered the assurance from his omega,-

"Taehyung,we can't have a simple life because destiny has chosen us to lead a unique one...."

"I left him.... I can't....can't risk his life..."

"Good....",the older remarked.

"I thought that you have become like your father. Stubborn.He had too much faith in his love...."

Taehyung's eyes snapped at that.

"I had warned him a lot before their marriage. I knew that there would be a thousand dangers over there...... But he..... Both of them actually-",the older chuckled.

"-....were extremely stubborn. They believed in fate....,destiny...., power of love and what not! I asked your mother the night before her wedding that why was she so eager to start a life that was full of danger. I still remember her answer.... "It is the assurance that we would protect each other,fight together and die together that makes me unworried,Abbeoji..." I'm glad that you didn't become like them;they were just......irrational,lovesick fools,right?"

Taehyung's jaw flexed as he kept staring at the older's face.

The older chuckled once again.

"There's a letter for you...... From Jennie...",he informed before fishing a small letter out of his velvety red cloak.

Taehyung snatched it in matter of a second.

While he was rolling it open,he heard his grandfather mumbling in a calm yet firm tone,-

"I used to think that those who find their soulmate at their young age are very fortunate. Because....I had to wait for almost two centuries for your Halmeonie.... But....after seeing your parents and now you.... I think I had a better life... Your parents had to suffer so much to cherish their love properly and you.... You can't even value yours because of the trauma you still have in your mind. But,Its a relief that you don't act according to your emotions and use your mind instead. That's a....good sign,right?"

"Ofcourse not...!",Taehyung muttered back,his eyes still fixed on the letter and his brows furrowed.

"I can't....... I can't just leave him like this!",he let out a sharp breath.

"What happened to your reasonability?!",the Elder King asked,or rather coaxed.

"There's no point of all this! He's the safest when he is with me. Nobody can protect him better than me. And if I somehow become unable to do so,we'll still be together..... We'll suffer together.....and we'll be fine.Yes....",Taehyung crumpled the letter in his palm.

"....Yes,I will go back to him....",he decided and felt the weight of his heart decreasing gradually as the small,proud smile on his "Always distant" grandfather's face didn't remain unnoticed by him.

-#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#--#-

Yalllll

I'm so excited for 'By Jin' sksksj

He's gonna slay us!

And I'm SO READY 😈

Ah well,Let me know your opinions on this chapter.

What are your thoughts on Hal-Abeoji?!

Don't forget to like and comment. Sometimes,your comments do help me to make the plot better....really!

Purple Ya! ^_^💜