Chapter Thirty-Three . . .|
-you're truly one to speak, jimin.

Jimin felt sick, just incredibly sick and disgusted. God, he didn't know what to think or do but he knew what he had to do.

Friendship or not, Jeongguk was a sick man. Jimin understood he was just as bad for letting it all happened but he was going to fix this; he was going to do better, he promised himself and everyone else that.

Taehyung, Hoseok, Jeongguk's father, himself, and anyone he could save, he told himself he would.

He didn't want to die but if he was going to die trying to free everyone, he would do it.

"Mr. Kim!" He called and ran into the room, slamming the door open and not even realizing it was unlocked. "We have to ta-" he shut himself up once he noticed Jeongguk standing there, Taehyung's face cupped in his hands.

"Park?" Jeongguk tilted his head with a cocked brow. "What's with the rushed and hurried tone? Something up?" He wondered, a quizzical look plastered on his face.

Taehyung looked emotionless, a dead face resting upon his natural beauty. He too faced Jimin, a bit of tilt in his head.

"Oh- um . . . I was just- uh." He coughed into his hand, shrugging lamely. "Just checking on him, I had a bad dream and thought it was, um, real." Jimin made an excuse, itching the side of his neck.

"Are you feeling ill?" Jeongguk removed his hands from Taehyung, turning his whole body towards Jimin. "You look awfully pale, Park."

"Yeah, just . . . Just startled." Jimin clearers his throat. "What was going on in here?" He asked.

"Princess, would you like to explain to Jimin here what was going on?" Jeongguk wondered, brushing some of Taehyung's hair back.

". . . Admiring me?" Taehyung spared a glance up at Jeongguk before directing it back to Jimin who still looked as scared as ever.

"Exactly." Jeongguk smiled. "Look how perfect you are, everything about you. I was a mad man for deciding to give you away. You can stay here and be my Princess forever."

The word 'forever' rang in Taehyung's head. He would rather die a painful and slow death than live the rest of his life here. At least in one, he would find peace.

Jimin watched the saddened look coat over Taehyung's face, this making his decision more precise.

"I wouldn't count on forever being a life long journey. Sometimes things take a turn, make a twist, the people you pull too close can turn with the shit they see and the things they know." Jimin said without much thought, silencing both Jeongguk and Taehyung. The sudden lecture not making sense but everything fit together like a puzzle to Jimin.

"Um . . . Okay?" Jeongguk chuckled lowly, cocking a brow as a humorous smile grew on his face. "Nice to know you've had deep and meaningful conversations with yourself."

"I can take care of him for the rest of the day. You look tired, why don't you just go to bed? You have been staying up an awful lot recently." Jimin spoke.

"You're truly one to speak, Jimin, about appearances that is." Jeongguk said but shook his head. "If you insist. Don't do anything stupid, I would watch the things you say in here." His smile was everything but innocent but his voice played sweet. He walked passed Jimin, eyes following him for a mere moment until he had to break contact. He closed the door behind him and left Taehyung and Jimin alone.

"What's so urgent?" Taehyung asked. "You're a horrible liar, by the way." He added on nonchalantly.

"Why do you say that? What made it seem like there was an urgent need?" Jimin inquired, cocking his head to the side.

"Just shut up, Jimin." Taehyung rolled his eyes and sat back, looking down at his feet. "What do you need? Want to tell me how beautiful I am too? I wasn't most handsome man of year for nothing."

The elder stayed quiet for a moment, debating what words he wanted to say next. "Forever doesn't have to be forever. I'm thinking about two days max, I'll get things out." He spoke, the sentence not supposed to be obvious but obvious at the same time.

"What?" Taehyung frowned, looking back up at Jimin who huffed with annoyance.

"Free." He said but his voice a bit lower just in case. "I can do it, I can get free."

". . ."

"You."

"Me?"

"Free."

"Two days?" Taehyung put the words together and his heart was pounding. He tried not to allow himself to become too hopeful but when he was told he could get out of here in at least two days, he couldn't help but to feel the joy he found himself in. "Why now?"

"Just shh, I'll do it but you need to get Jeongguk's head somewhere other than what I'm doing."

"I get to kill him."

". . . Kill?" Jimin frowned.

"Yes, Jimin, kill."

"I didn't say anything about killing anyone, Mr. Kim."

"You don't need to but I'll be the one to kill him, I don't care." Taehyung said sternly, not using the code they were working on but this wasn't anything new. Taehyung always wanted to be the one to do it since he was tortured, he just never realized it.

The elder wasn't too sure on how he felt about killing Jeongguk, he decided not to say anything more about the killing subject. "Just be a distraction, nothing obvious."

"Why of course, I'm naïve, not an absolute idiot." The former CEO offered an actual happy smile, the cute boxy-shape. It was nothing too big but a subtle and genuine smile.

Jimin felt some sort of weight being removed from his shoulders but nothing too much. He still had a lot to do.

He had everything already set up. He would get a driver prepared to take himself and Taehyung away from this monstrous place. Then, after that, he would get Jeongguk's guards to hand over the keys, making up some bullshit lie — they would have to obey regardless if they believed he was under Jeongguk's command.

With the keys, he would get Hoseok, Jeongguk's father, and anyone else down there free, telling them to leave immediately once he left to go get Taehyung. The guards should already be gone.

After retrieving Taehyung, and hopefully convincing him that killing Jeongguk wasn't going to solve anything, he would get the aforementioned back to the car where they would make it far from Jeon Undergrounds, back into the city.

Jimin didn't have a plan as to what the two would do then, what their relationship held, and what he could do for himself. The only thing he knew he had to do, was to get Taehyung and as many others as he could free.

People change and Jimin knew his outlook did. Before everything, he wouldn't dare risk his life for someone who held no value towards him but the more he was by Taehyung, the more suffering he witnessed, he knew this wasn't what was right.

The more he paid attention, the more he learned, the more he truly understood this got him nowhere. Watching people die knowing he could have done just something more wasn't the way he wanted to live.

This really hit him after seeing Hoseok and Jeongguk's father who he believed was dead for the longest time up until this very day. He could save them; he could at least try.

Risking his life didn't matter to him, dying didn't mean anything as long as someone was saved from this evil place.

Character development was a beautiful thing sometimes. Too bad Taehyung fell the opposite way but Jimin would help bring the bubbles back into his personality.

"Can you promise?" Taehyung asked after some time. "Promise free?"

"I swear on my life, Kim, I'll fucking try." Jimin said, having empathy in his eyes. "I can't let you all suffer knowing I can do something about it. When you told me I was as bad as Jeongguk himself, I really couldn't sleep that night knowing I was that horrible and insane." He looked down. "It ate away at me and- and I knew what I was doing was wrong, me sitting there and waiting was wrong. Me doing nothing to help anyone was just so fucking wrong."

The youngest of the two moved forward and wrapped his arms around the shorter man, pulling him close. "You can always make up for those ways, Jimin." Taehyung said simply. "Getting me and whoever else needs it free is doing right."

Taehyung's next words hurt Jimin's heart, putting a hitch in his breath. Convincing would be harder than Jimin originally intended.

"Jeongguk dying is right."

_________

A/N
I'm working really hard on this and I know some of you will really like it!

Also, prepare for RLF (Right From Left Field)! A rival baseball story! :D