Anxiety couldn't begin to describe what Taehyung felt right now.

He wanted to throw up. At the same time, he doubted even that would make him feel better. He didn't know how long he had spent in this place, but in whatever amount of time that had been, things had only seemed to spiral downward.

Jungkook was alive, but with a gun to his head. Both he and Taehyung were unable to move. And now there was a possibility Jimin was on his way.

Taehyung also definitely considered the possibility that if Jimin were to leave the apartment, so would Yoongi.

He would have liked to believe this could be a good thing. His friends to his rescue. Needless to say, that wasn't the case, and to make matters worse, over the phone Yojun had warned Jimin not to bring in the authorities, otherwise someone might meet the unwanted end of a gun. Taehyung knew the power fear had on him, the limitless reach of what he would do in this moment to ensure the safety of the ones he cared about.

What scared him was that Jimin probably shared that characteristic. That he probably would show up here, without the authorities, to sacrifice himself to save the life of the boy Taehyung loved, if not Taehyung himself.

As it turned out, Seokjin had quite a steady hand. From the moment he had first accepted the weapon from Yojun and aimed it at Jungkook, he hadn't moved. Blank-faced, he kept his gaze trained solely and obediently on his target. There appeared to be nothing else in vision. Nothing else on his mind, save this one task his father had assigned him.

"I don't have any loyalty to my dad, I don't owe him any favors..."

Nothing but a load of crap.

"Besides, we're friends, aren't we, Tae?"

Perhaps what hurt most about those words was not just that they had successfully deceived him, but simply how badly Taehyung had wished they could have been true. Seokjin had seemed so kind, and thoughtful, and fun, and understanding - a great actor, through and through. It didn't matter to Tae if Seokjin were in it for money, or if he felt obligated because he was his father's son.

Taehyung could never forgive him.

Holding grudges was agonizing, self-destructive at times, but he swore he would hold this one for as long as he lived.

Even if it were all he could do, even if fueling whatever shame Seokjin was experiencing were the only thing he could do, Taehyung would take it over nothing.

He just needed all this to be over. He needed things to end with no blood shed - at least not anyone's but his own.

The wait that followed the phone call just about killed him inside.

Taehyung wasn't sure what he was more afraid of - Jimin showing up, or him not showing up. The same with Yoongi.

No, he knew for sure he didn't want Yoongi involved in this. But Taehyung had already accepted that if Jimin were to come here than so would he.

The mere thought of Yoongi being here, too.

Taehyung really felt he was dying.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed after Yojun hung up on Jimin. Hours, minutes...the concept of time became something foreign to him. But evidently, some passed.

There was a cry from somewhere outside the building.

"Taetae!!!"

Jimin.

Taehyung's heart dropped to his stomach. No. Please, no.

"Taehyung!!"

Yoongi's voice.

"Someone's with him. Junsung, do you have your gun with you?"

"Yeah."

"Don't!" Taehyung cried out instinctively. "He's not with the authorities, don't shoot him, please!!"

"Authorities or not," Yojun said sternly, "he came with someone, and it would foolish of us not to take caution. Let's hope for your sake it's just the two of them."

Seconds later there was a powerful knock at the door - one of the doors, that is, the one Yojun had come from earlier.

"It's open," the man called out, "but do be courteous, won't you?"

Without a moment's hesitation, the door swung open violently and Jimin burst into the room.

He had brought a weapon of his own. A gun.

Wherever he had gotten one, whether he had kept one at his apartment all this time, or if he had made a quick stop on the way here, it didn't matter, nor did it concern Taehyung. What concerned him was that Jimin had one right here, and in this moment, he was holding it up, as if fully prepared to use it.

"I'd advise you take a look around before you act irrationally." Yojun stared emotionlessly at the blond, whose arms were clearly trembling in panic. "You couldn't have forgotten what I told you over the phone that quickly, could you?"

For a second, it appeared as though he had forgotten. But a single breath was taken, a gaze was shifted, and Jimin saw Taehyung, fastened limbs, helpless.

Jungkook, on another side of the room, just as helpless, held at gunpoint.

Yoongi had stumbled into the building behind Jimin at this point, but he was unarmed. His feet came to an abrupt stopped, eyes ahead of him and already having taken in the whole room.

"Jimin, don't do anything."

The blond had his weapon aimed at Yojun. Junsung, the man Yojun had addressed not long ago, had his weapon aimed at Jimin. And then there was Seokjin, who hadn't moved his own.

"It's up to you, really," Yojun said, not breaking eye contact with the boy. "You could shoot me if you wanted to, and if you think you're a good shot even with a broken arm or whatever you've got there, by all means, take your shot. But the second your gun goes off, so will ours. Not much a doctor can do with a bullet shot directly into the skull. I should say, good luck getting him to one in the first place. You were confident enough to come here armed, though, so maybe I don't know everything you're capable of, blue blood."

The "broken" arm wasn't the issue here. The issue was Jimin's rib, which actually had been broken. The stress and internal pressure and all the physical activity that the boy unarguably should not have been doing right now - it had the same effect as when Jimin had laughed too hard at Yoongi's joke. Except much worse.

His breathing faltered. With the sensation of his chest compressed, Jimin instinctively tossed the gun out of his own reach and threw his hand over his heart as he fell to his knees. Yoongi cried out his name suddenly. One arm reached for the boy - his eyes, however, moved towards the weapon.

There was the sound of gunshot. But it was at the ground.

A warning shot, it appeared, having been fired from Seokjin's gun no more than a foot from Jungkook's body.

Yoongi stopped. A desperate whisper fearfully left his mouth. "Jimin, just breathe deeply, you have to breathe."

His efforts to stay calm were so obviously fake to Taehyung. Yoongi was scared, too. But he must have known screaming Taehyung's name or demanding Yojun to release his friends wasn't going to solve anything.

He couldn't solve anything dead, either, so he stayed still.

"Junsung, give me your gun."

At the man's order, Junsung handed the weapon over to Yojun, who took a firm hold of it before pointing the barrel of the gun towards Yoongi.

"You are?" He asked. In disbelief, Yoongi narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Min Yoongi."

"Tell me what makes you so special, Min Yoongi."

It was so clearly a mocking tone of voice, but Yoongi was never one to be mocked.

"Nothing much," he soon said. "Just a working adult taking a vacation in Busan. It was going okay for the most part - well, except my boyfriend got hit by a car, and now my best friend and his boyfriend are being held hostage. So not the most fun vacation anymore."

"On vacation, is that it?" Yojun nodded slowly. "You're from Daegu, correct?"

"Mm."

"Is it safe for me to assume you were one of the boys the blue blood attached himself to?"

"The 'blue blood' has a name."

"Yes, but you don't." His face as blank as ever, Yojun pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Not one significant to me, anyhow. Meaning I could kill you now without it affecting me. My son could do the same. Now that the boys we wanted are here, neither of you have any purpose to me."

At the mention of Yojun's son, Yoongi's gaze traveled over to Seokjin and stuck there. "You're him," he voiced. "Seokjin, was it?"

No reply.

"I hope the guilt of betraying Taehyung kills you faster than a gunshot can kill me."

He wasn't looking at Yoongi. But that didn't stop the latter from talking.

"I don't know you enough to care what your reasons are," he continued. "If I die here, you can bet on your own pitiful life I'll come back to haunt you for what you've done."

Taehyung hated it. He hated these words Yoongi was speaking so confidently, as if certain, or even accepting, that he would die here.

Jimin looked to have stabilized his breathing to a scarce but manageable degree; however this didn't mean much in their current situation. He was just helpless as his friends.

Helpless. Hopeless.

Taehyung had experienced these feelings before but nothing quite as devastating as this.

At this point he had abandoned his will to speak. To cry out anymore. Giving in to defeat, accepting his fate just as Yoongi had seemingly accepted that he might not walk out of this building alive.

Acceptance was brutal but alas he embraced it.

Softly, under his breath, he whispered what he believed could be his last 'I love you' to Jungkook.

In silent, internal echoes.

I had wanted to spend forever with you. I had wanted to give back everything you had given me. I had wanted to spend forever with you. I had wanted to spend forever.

Forever wasn't meant to be this short.

Noises and activities outside his head ceased to reach him for some time. Taehyung could only focus on how heavy his tears had become. He didn't register what he was hearing.

Sirens. Police sirens.

In the beat of a heart Seokjin had swung his weapon over to his father and fired it directly at his leg - thanks to the relatively short distance he was able to hit his target without a problem. And that single shot caused the man's knees to buckle and bring him to the ground, and thus his weapon fell from his hand in the process.

The other men were so horribly taken aback by the sight of it, they didn't react quickly enough and within seconds Seokjin had retrieved the gun Yojun had dropped.

"Come out of the building with your weapons down and your hands behind your head!!"

"I suggest you go."

Seokjin's words were directed at the three men. Not much later, he turned solemnly towards his father, only to stare with unreadable eyes at the man wallowing in pain and clutching his leg.

"I could have shot your skull. Be grateful you've got such a son like me."

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end of chapter thirty-five.