Chapter - 1
The room was quiet and calm. The person in bed was still asleep. Sunlight shone brightly through the crack in the window and shone over the young man’s sleeping face, painting a faint golden halo around him. With it, he looked even more radiant like an angel.
His brows were not thick nor were they thin. They were in a gentle shape that didn’t detract from his gentlemanly handsome aura. The outer corners of his eyes, which were calmly closed in sleep, tilted up slightly.
The long curly eyelashes cast a small patch of shadow underneath his eyes. Below his straight nose were a pair of full and rosy lips.
The lips opened up a crack, revealing the faint uneven pink colour of the tip of his tongue. His skin was very white. It wasn’t the pale white tone of sickliness but the beautiful fair white of pearls. The delicate cheeks appeared blushed under the rays of the sun. A thin layer of fuzzy hair was also revealed. Altogether the young man looked like quiet doll, unrealistically beautiful.
If someone walked into the room at this moment, they would think they’ve travelled to a fantastical place with a sleeping little prince in it.
After a while, his brows formed a faint frown. The tranquil expression became one of pain and suffering. A faint layer of cold sweat formed over his bright and clean forehead, as though he was trapped in the midst of a nightmare. Under the thin eyelids, his eyes rolled about non-stop as if he was struggling to wake up with all his might. A long moment passed, he seemed to have defeated the nightmare demon and abruptly opened his eyes!
And what sort of expressions did his eyes convey? One conveyed a deep and heavy dejection born from a harsh life filled with waves after waves of change. An expression that did not fit his perfectly beautiful appearance.
Kim Taehyung
(With wide open eyes, Kim Taehyung’s chest violently surged up and down. After a long while, he finally calmed down from his panic. He felt like sighing. Why wasn’t he dead yet? He clearly felt the pain of a bullet piercing into his heart and the powerlessness that came with a rapidly escaping life. Why was he still alive? His family’s already bankrupt. The whole family was in dire straits and, not long ago, his grandfather even passed away. The simple funeral had cleared off the last of their savings. To think they once were one of the most rich and powerful family in Korea. )
In just one generation, the great family toppled. Everyone pushed the wall that was about to collapse.
He silently laid there. His thoughts rushed around like a train wreck. A sparkling tear drop slid down from those beautiful eyes and quickly disappeared into his hair.
After another long moment, Taehyung finally felt that something was wrong. There was not a single bit of pain in his body. He tested his left arm, fingers and his right leg.
His heart stopped in shock. His eyes focused and what he saw made his pupils shrink. How could this be?
This was the room he lived in before his family went bankrupt! Window drapes in champagne colours, furniture complimenting each other to give off a warm aura.
The whole room shone in a subtle display of wealth and glamour. Everything was so familiar. But this mansion was clearly sold off to pay bank the bank’s loan!
Shocked, he sat up and pulled up the pale blue legs of his sleepwear to find his right leg, the right leg that was snapped in a beating and had revealed the stale white of broken bones, was currently whole and perfect against the bedsheets. The china-white skin tone. The elegant thin calf with perfect lines and sparse leg hair. Under that round and smooth anklebone laid a pretty white foot with thin calluses, round toes and pink nails. It didn’t look like a man’s foot at all. And currently, it’s curled in shock and seemed both pitiful and cute.
He raised his left hand to his eyes and stared at it under that ray of sunlight. It looked like an exceedingly beautiful hand with smooth and pale with long, thin fingers and well-defined bone structure. The healthy pink nails were also neatly manicured. Under sunshine, the whole hand shone in a pleasing flesh pink tone and looked like the most perfect hand sculpture in the world.
But Kim Taehyung clearly remembered. This hand had been stomped on and smashed with rocks until it didn’t look like a hand. Broken, bent and swollen, it looked like a messy bleeding pile of flesh and not a hand. Even the world’s best doctors couldn’t let it regain its original form. Yet it’s now perfectly fine before his eyes as if it had never been hurt before. He gently closed it into a fist and felt the strength within it. His heart thundered as he looked down at his equally fine right leg. He didn’t know what was going on at all.
He thought for a while then looked up the date on the phone that was lying on the headboard. It’s…four years ago? He suddenly jumped down from the bed and rushed into the bathroom.
He stared at the young, naive and untainted face in his mirror, then again at his left hand. He turned it this way and that, and looked at it over and over again.
After a long time, he gleefully laughed with his hands covering his face. At first, it was just a light chuckle. As it went on, he began crying as well and big drops of tears flowed from between his fingers and down into his sleeves.
The gods must pity him to let him to return to the time before the whole tragedy occurred. This time, he will take good care of his family’s love. Carefully. He’ll be a good child and not cause a ruckus anymore…
It’s past 10 now. In the kim family, Taehyung’s father, Kim Yoo, and eldest brother, Kim Yoongi, had left for the office for quite a while now. The mother, kim go-eun, glanced up at the peaceful stairway time and again.
Kim go-eun (Ma)
(Filled with worry, she commented), “Why hasn’t Tae come down yet? Even if he wants to sleep, he should eat a little something before going back to sleep. Otherwise, he’ll ruin his body with hunger.”
Kim go-eun’s not young anymore but she’s still beautiful and dignified. She still radiated with the faint aura of an ancient, huge clan’s precious daughter.
Not tall, but petite – very much like the kind of girls usually associated with the phrase “misty rains at the break of dawn”. Elegant, gentle, and fair.
The mysterious and mystical lady you’d see in classical paintings. Because she took good care of her skin, she looked like someone in her 30s instead of someone with two children already past 20 years old.
Kim ji-eun
(The big sister of the kim family, Kim Ji-eun, pulled her away by the arm and softly advised) “Ma, stop worrying. Little brother slept late last night. It’s normal if he wants to sleep a little longer today. If we wake up him, he won’t be happy again.”
As opposed to her gentle name, Kim Ji-eun had the appearance of a strong, sturdy girl. Dressed in a black skirt suit which showed off her curvy stature and a light layer of makeup, she looked like a brilliant and experienced businesswoman.
Kim go-eun (Ma)
(Kim go-eun nodded but continued worrying) “I don’t know what’s wrong with your brother. It’s been so long and his emotions are all over the place. He doesn’t answer when we ask what’s wrong. Just who made him so unhappy? Your father and big brother only care about the company, the company and the company. They don’t even care about Tae. He’s still young. How could his body bear all these negative emotions? Even if they don’t help, at least they can help think up a plan!”
Kim ji-eun
(Ji-eun could only helplessly try and calm her mother down) “Father and Big Bro are both very busy. Lil Bro’s also growing up. He’ll have his own little secrets and frustrations. We can’t help it.”
Kim go-eun (Ma)
(Kim go-eun sighed)“He can talk to me about anything he’s frustrated about. Really.” (Then, she suddenly put on a ferocious face.) “If I know who it is that’s been making my precious baby upset, I will make them regret it forever!”
Kim ji-eun
“You’re right, Ma,” (Ji-eun replied in a stern voice.) “If no one’s to blame for it, then whatever. But if someone is behind Lil Bro’s unhappy state, you don’t need to deal with them. Big Bro and I will never forgive them!”
Kim go-eun (Ma)
(Kim go-eun eagerly agreed) “Right! That’s the way it should be. I ate something wrong by accident when your little brother was still in my stomach. That’s why his health was so poor when he was still a child. Constantly being hospitalised, how much he’d suffered. It’s all my fault. It took great effort to make sure he grew up well. His character’s also so soft and easily bullied. You’ve got the same sturdy personality as Yoongi, so I’m not that worried when you leave the house. But your brother. Ah, it’s all fine with your father and I being alive. But once we’re gone, your younger brother will be depending on you and Yoongi.”
Kim ji-eun
“Ma, that’s the 800th time you’re telling me this. Big Bro and I have always doted on Tae as he was growing up. Don’t you trust us? You should know our love for him isn’t any less than yours and Father’s.” (Ji-eun nodded along but she couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Tae as soft? What a joke. However, it’s not inaccurate. That brat’s like a mouse. Meek and quiet in public, but a complete tyrant in private. He’s a silly little thing with only a tiny shred of courage.)
Kim ji-eun
(As they say, a mother knows her children best. Her mother’s the one who really understands Lil Bro’s character.)
Kim Taehyung stood still on the stairway, around the corner and out of sight. Upon overhearing the conversation between his mother and sister, the eyes which he’d just dried started tearing up again. He’s always making his mother worry. He’s always causing trouble for his sister.
This scene made him realise – how long has it been since he’d last had a meal with his family in their home? The last time he’d returned home, it was right after that happened.
Lost and hurt, he’d ran home in search of comfort. He didn’t think that person would be that despicable. Those disgusting photos had been spread all over the area. His grandfather passed away in anger.
Everyone in his family looked at him in rage and disappointment. His brain became a chaotic a mess of confusion until the day he died.
He used to be the treasured young master of the kim family, the apple of their eye. On one side, his parents doted on him.
On the other, his elder siblings protected him. Grandfather, Kim hyun bin, loved him to the core.
And his childhood friend, Jeon jungkook. He treated him with such care and love. Jungkook would do anything for him. Life couldn’t have been better.
He’d been a bright and happy child who loved acting cute. All the elders loved him. Everyone who saw him would respectfully call him “Little Master kim”.
The Jeon and Kim families were friends. He’d grown up together with Jungkook. He was Jungkook’s precious pearl, well-protected and cherished.
He was so doted that if he asked for the moon, Jungkook would give him the stars as well. He’d thought life would pass by in such happiness, but he didn’t think his life would end in such a chilling scenario.
Everything started from when his sister fell in love with Jungkook. He was tall, strong, smart and had a special aura about him. Because his parents both died in a car crash, he was forced to take over the Jeon Group at a young age. In terms of looks and capability, he’s one in a million.
As the only daughter of the kim family, Ji-eun was proud and ambitious. She kept her head high and never bowed down to anyone (but Taehyung). One day, she began to feel something for Jeon jungkook, this flawless man. Kim Ji-eun lived her life with courage. Love or hate, she’d admit it readily.
Since she’d fallen in love with Jungkook, she started to pursuing him. People say that when a lady pursues a man, they’re only separated by a thin lace. The two soon grew closer.
When Ji-eun and Jungkook were together, Taehyung had a girlfriend himself as well. Her name was Sana. She was a pure and friendly girl. After her bold and blushing confession, Taehyung agreed as he didn’t want to hurt such a sweet girl and was quite curious about it.
However, after a period of dating her, he realised in horror that he only admired girls and did not desire them at all. Instead, the tiniest patch of exposed skin on Jeon jungkook’s collarbone would fill his minds with fantasies. He felt that it couldn’t be normal and looked into it.
From then, he knew he was what they call a homosexual. The first time he realised he had a different sexuality to the others, he panicked.
He broke up with Sana and subconsciously sought help from the person he was closest to – Jeon jungkook. It was only then he realised Jungkook had somehow gotten close to his sister. Taehyung was spoiled from young. His temper became reckless and bold due to that.
He’d never consider others’ feelings when acting. When he saw Jungkook and his sister being close, his heart was filled with rage. He felt like he’d been betrayed.
He only knew he was angry and sad, yet he didn’t understand that feeling. He didn’t know that that was called jealousy.
Jungkook was always special in his heart, far more than anyone else. He depended on and trusted Jungkook.
Through a long period of under Jungkook’s wing, he had already become an irreplaceable part of Taehyung’s life. It was only because Taehyung was oblivious and slow that he didn’t recognise it then.
At that moment, Taehyung felt threatened in a way he had never been before. Jeon jungkook who he had thought would treat him well forever was not his anything. Jungkook will marry and have kids.
A woman will replace Taehyung’s spot in Jungkook’s life and be loved and protected. And that woman could very well be Taehyung’s own sister.
It was as if Taehyung’s territory was being encroached on. His entire being felt like it was a raging young lion. But he didn’t know how to handle it. He could only exhibit his rage by being aggravatingly aggressive. This wore out Jungkook’s tolerance and the two started their very first cold war.
But this war of theirs didn’t stop Jungkook and Ji-eun’s affections. Soon, they announced their engagement.
And at this very moment, where Taehyung’s hiding around the corner, should be during the time after his cold war with Jungkook and before Jungkook and his sister announced their engagement.
Taehyung remembered being frustrated and temperamental every single day. He vented out his emotions on his beloved family. When the two announced their engagement, Taehyung became more furious. He mocked and insulted Jungkook constantly and never acted polite or nice to his family again.
He pushed those who loved him further and further away. To the outside world, he became violent. He’d beat others up whenever things didn’t go his way and would always clash with them. Every time, his brother or Jungkook would have to rush in and smooth things over for him.
The troubles he caused everyday finally stopped Jungkook’s engagement with his sister, but he ended up forcing Jungkook away as well. His relationship with Ji-eun became awkward too. But he had been doted on growing up. Used to being tolerated, loved and protected, he thought nothing of it.
Kim Taehyung rubbed at his eyes. Closing his eyes, he carefully caressed the perfect fingers on his left hand with his right.
Sister and Jungkook love each other. In his last life, he actually stopped their wedding and split them up for his own selfish wants. The two of them were in pain and he himself attained no joy from it. He ended up alienating them.
This time, he’ll be good and obedient. He’ll quietly congratulate his sister and Jeon jungkook. Jungkook is straight and the one he loves is his sister. Jungkook’s love for him, could it be all because Jungkook loved his sister in the first place?
At that thought, Taehyung’s heart throbbed in agony. He clutched his chest and shut his eyes. Let it be so then. How could a horrible person as stupid and dirty as he was even hope to be with Jungkook? Jungkook should be his brother-in-law.
Let these filthy thoughts of his be forever buried deep within his heart and never to be seen again. Everyone would be happy then. How nice.
Comments