Chapter Text
Chapter One: The Capricorn Twins
A raging inferno, swallowing what was once the main residence of the mighty Kim Clan, its waltz of amber and crimson, consuming everything in its path to utter ruin, witnessed by one half of the pair who helped conceive it. The fire dancing in Kim Taehyung’s eyes, made him breathe harshly, his bloodied face the epitome of a cold kind of calmness. It gave him an odd sense of a blend of feelings: satisfaction that he wouldn't have to live in fear anymore and a devastating loss of self, because all that he remembered, the good and the bad memories, were made in that house.
“Here,”
A bottle of water thrust into his field of vision, hiding the building and the flashing sirens of the emergency teams, snapped him out of his thoughts. They were too far away to hear anything from the scene, hiding away temporarily. He dragged his eyes away from the raging inferno, looking up at the person handing out the bottle, the other half of the pair, who helped him. She looked worse than him, all he had was a little blood smeared on the apple of his cheeks and a busted lip., but she stood back rigidly straight as always, sporting a black eye, busted lip and a bleeding cut on her forehead. Her beautiful features are marred by blood and bruises, Kim Hwayeon, his twin sister. The one who was always by his side, who was through everything he had to go through within the twenty-five years since he had been born, born just a minute apart, always holding that minute as to her being the elder of the two.
“Stop watching that and get yourself cleaned up. We leave in an hour.”
She urged him into the bathroom of their nondescript hotel room, which gave them the view of the mansion.
He grabbed the bottle from her, grumbling, and walking to the bathroom. They had left everything they owned at the house. All he had on him was the small backpack he had packed, full of his most prized possessions; he had seen a similar backpack with Hwayeon.
They had planned on flying out that night, hoping to start new somewhere nobody knew them. As they prepared to leave, a sense of anticipation mixed with anxiety hung in the air. They knew leaving everything behind was a risk, but they were determined to create a fresh start and escape their troubled past.
They had packed everything they had in the hotel room, leaving no traces of them ever being there. Taehyung knew his sister had probably gotten rid of the CCTV footage of their venture to the hotel and anything else. He noticed, as they were leaving, how Hwayeon had patched herself up and covered the black eye with makeup, making her look her flawless self again, barring the steri-strip on her forehead.
——
Taehyung was annoyed at his sister, she was more paranoid than Voldemort at his worst. She had made them take a taxi to the opposite side of the airport, taken a bus halfway back down the city and then made him walk for the past hour now.
“Come on.” She groaned, as he sighed the hundredth time since they started walking, “Just a few more minutes and we can take a taxi to the airport.”
“I’m fucking tired!” Taehyung exclaimed, grumbling petulantly and stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, his hands folded against his chest.
“Taehyung-ah!” Hwayeon gritted her teeth in annoyance, sighing when he pouted.
”What do you want? We don’t have time to waste, kid.”
“Yah! Who are you calling kid? And I’m hungry,”
Hwayeon rolled her eyes, “You act like one, and I keep calling you that. Now let's go grab something to eat.”
The twins entered a convenience store, looking like they belonged anywhere but at the dinghy store. They were dressed similarly, in all black, Hwayeon dressed in a baggy pair of trousers, leather jacket, paired with combat boots, and the only colour on her was the white turtleneck. Taehyung, in a pair of plaid trousers, turtleneck and a long black coat with loafers, both of their faces covered by masks.
They quickly made their purchase and exited the store onto a side alley.
Everything after that happened so fast that it remained a blur to the both of them.
A man came out of nowhere, a knife in his hand, going straight at Taehyung. Only the years of training and the instinct honed in her to protect her brother, had saved him from any harm. But it wasn’t the same for Hwayeon. Taehyung watched in horror, as his sister tried to grab the hand with the knife aimed at him, but the man was quicker, and stabbed right into her side.
Blood seeped and drenched her white top, Taehyung in rage caught the man’s arm, grabbed his head with his other hand and slammed him face first against the filthy wall of the alley, knocking him out cold, a snarl on his face. He turned back to his sister in worry, only to see her wrapping her jacket tightly around her stomach, knife held between her teeth.
“We need to question him and see who else knows,”
Taehyung nodded, and kicked the man beneath his feet.
——
They quickly moved out the alley, after they had finished with the man, dumping his almost lifeless body in the dumpster. He pulled his sister against him, her hand over her shoulder, moving towards the street. He noticed there weren’t many people or vehicles around, but saw a black van parked in front of the convenience store, with a blonde guy sitting in the driver’s seat, his arm hanging off the open window, scrolling through his phone. He looked at his sister, who was already eyeing the van, they looked at each other, nodding.
With a quick few steps, they walked towards the van, Taehyung slid the door open, the both of them quickly sliding in, as the guy let out a yelp of surprise. Hwayeon quickly slid the bloody knife against the guy’s neck.
“Drive.” Hwayeon crooned softly, narrowing her eyes as his eyes widened. “Now.”
“Please,” the guy pleaded a tremble in his sweet melodic voice laced with fear, he didn’t get to finish what he was saying when the passenger side of the van opened, and the most gorgeous man Taehyung had seen entered with a huge bunny smile, excitement shining in his large doe eyes, like stars.
“Hyung, look what I fou-” his words flattered when he noticed the situation he had walked in on. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, doe eyes widened, the previous excitement vanishing completely, replaced by fear and dread, a candy bar clutched in his hand.
“Don’t even think about it,” Hwayeon said with steel in her voice, when she noticed his hand moving towards his pocket, pressing the blade against the blond guy’s neck, drawing a trickle of blood.
Taehyung watched the scene unfolding before him, his heart racing, in excitement and anxiousness. The blond guy froze, the colour drawing out of his face, eyes widening in shock, as he looked down at the blade pressed against his neck. The gorgeous man whimpered in fear, his body rigid and the plastic bag and the candy bar he was carrying fell from his hands.
“In, now.” Hwayeon ordered, with a finality in her tone, that made him launch himself onto the seat and buckle his seatbelt, turning his head back to look at them, his eyes showing something akin to fear. Taehyung was still watching the dark-haired guy, with the bunny smile, who looked slightly younger than them, admiring his well-defined side profile.
“Okay. Good, so. Do as I say and we can all part ways without too much bloodshed.”
“Yeon-ie,” Taehyung whined, “You’re scaring the little bunny and his hyung, be more gentle.”
“Drive to your place, and be quick about it. Oh and one more thing, if you try to deceive us, you won't see tomorrow's sunrise. Is that clear?”
The quick nod they provided, made Hwayeon snort in indignation, “I want words, boys. Use your mouths to speak.”
“Yes.”
“Could…Could you, please, take the knife off me, so I can drive?”
The blond stuttered through the question, voice trembling in fear, starting the vehicle and putting it on drive.
“Sure if you want me to,” Hwayeon teased him sarcastically, as she moved the blade towards the younger darker haired male.
Taehyung let out a displeased noise that only Hwayeon could understand, his hand squeezing her knee discreetly, signalling her not to harm them.
“Don’t,” he whispered in her ear, stuttering as he finished, “We might need hi-them,”
She rolled her eyes at him, earning herself a pinch from him.
——
They parked in the basement of a rundown building, far from the city, but closer to the airport as Taehyung noticed. The drive was too quiet for his liking, but he did enjoy the view of the gorgeous man in front of him, even with Hwayeon’s knife at his throat.
“No,” Hwayeon stopped the blonde man from reaching his hand to open the door. “I'll go out first, then you guys can follow me.”
Taehyung looked outside the van, looked at Hwayeon as she nodded at the lone elevator in the basement parking lot. He watched her open the door on the passenger side of the van, pulling the pretty guy out by the collar. He was a few inches taller than her, but Taehyung knew she could handle people double her weight and height and so wasn’t too worried about her. So, he turned to the blonde guy, watching the twins with large eyes, mouth hanging open, his hand tight on the steering, knuckles white, the other rubbing his thighs.
Hwayeon nodded her head at the dark-haired guy she was holding, while he pulled the blond out the van and stood him next to his friend. Taehyung put his hand on the dark-haired guy’s shoulder startling the man, making him look at him, with those wide eyes.
“Let’s go, pretty boy.” Taehyung grabbed him, pulling him towards the elevator. “What’s your name, baby?” He asked, his voice low and deep, right next to the guy’s ear, making him flinch.
“Je…Jeon Jungkook,” he stuttered.
“What about you, shortie?”
The shortie narrowed his eyes, but replied when Hwayeon put her arm around his waist, hiding the knife under the jacket he was wearing, “Ji..Jimin.”
“Okay, enough small talk, let’s move. Jeon, lead the way. Jimin and I will be right behind you. One word, one wrong movement, and I’ll decorate your feet with his guts.” Hwayeon said, with a toothy grin, making the two shiver and Taehyung let out a snort of laughter.
They moved faster after that. Taehyung could feel Jungkook’s rippling muscles under the tight hold he had on his biceps, driving him crazy. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the not so innocent thoughts running wild in his head, as they entered the elevator. The twins stood with their backs against the back of the elevator as Jungkook pressed the sixth floor button.
Taehyung took his time to admire the face of the boy he was holding, the reflection from the elevator not doing justice to the large doe eyes, shadowed by thick eyebrows one of which had a piercing, making his cute adorable face look a little more fierce than it was. Perfectly shaped lips, with a ring piercing on one side of the lower one, with a tiny mole just under the plump curve, long hair a little mused from being pushed around. As the elevator ascended, Taehyung couldn’t help but notice the subtle flowery scent of Jungkook’s cologne, adding to his allure. The soft hum of the elevator provided a momentary escape from their surroundings, allowing Taehyung to appreciate every detail of Jungkook’s captivating features.
He peeked at his sister, having felt her gaze on him, already glaring at him, eyes narrowed to slits, with her ‘What-the-fuck-are-you-doing?’ face. He knew that face well, he rolled his eyes at her. Every time he looked at someone he was interested in, she’d give him that face. It was always just a warning from her. Always, ‘be careful’, ‘don’t get too involved’, ‘don’t trust too blindly’ . It was her own way of her caring for him, even if he didn’t like it much this time. The look she was giving was clear as anything, they knew each other too well for him not to. Sometimes he hated that she was right.
You can’t be stupid enough to do this now.
He sighed, making Jungkook in front of him flinch. Taehyung realised he was standing a little too close to Jungkook, not knowing when he had gravitated towards the other, and had breathed against the back of his neck. He took a step back, still with a firm grip on his shoulder.
What took maybe minutes, seemed like hours to Taehyung, as they reached the floor. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, glad that they hadn’t met anyone.
They walked further into a long hallway at the end of which was the only door. Jimin knocked on the door, after being nudged in the back of the knee by Hwayeon.
"My babies, why are you so late-"
A few moments after the knock they were greeted with the most cheerful and bright person Taehyung had ever met. But the person's smile dropped when he saw Taehyung and Hwayeon behind his friends. The black-haired lean man surprised Taehyung yet again, when his expression turned serious at the look of his friends' faces, in a matter of seconds.
"Hello!" Taehyung exclaimed cheerfully, "Let's go inside, shall we?"
He pushed Jungkook in, as Hwayeon and Jimin walked in behind them. He heard the lock turn shut in place, his sister clearing her throat. He rolled his eyes as he turned around to face her, his sister was sometimes too dramatic for him to handle, he knew she was going to put on a show, trying to scare the people there, so that they wouldn't ever speak about them to anyone.
"Okay. So, let's talk, dear Jimin. Who lives here? How many of you? Tell everyone to come sit on the dining room chair, if they don't want to see your guts spilled before dinner."
———
Six people gathered around the dining table that night, in the flat of the rundown building. Two of them were standing next to each other with the shorter blonde between them. The only girl among them, with a slightly hardened glint in her eyes, had a knife in her hand against the blonde’s neck. The other men sat around them in silence, in fear for their friend and their own selves.
“Do you people have a first aid kit?”
The slight tremble in Hwayeon’s voice made Taehyung snap his head towards her, being reminded yet again that his sister had been injured and losing blood.
“You okay, Yeon-ie?” He mutters softly near her ear, and gets annoyed when she only gives him a curt nod.
"Yah! I'm talking to you. The Ieast you could do is look at me?"
“Taetae, shut up, will you? Open my bag, there's a black box in there.”
Taehyung gives her an annoyed look, which makes her roll her eyes at him again, but he still listens to her and grabs the bag from her shoulder. He quickly unzips it and grabs the medium sized black box from the bag. He gives her another look. She nods back.
//tw: gun
“Blue casing,” is all she says, when he realises what's in the box. He has seen it before, the box and everything in there. He also knows what's in the blue casing, because he had helped her fill it once.
“Are you sure, Yeon-ie?”
He looks at her as he pulls out the glock from the case, slotting the blue casing into it, hearing it click in place, noticing how the others flinched back at the sight of the weapon. He pulls the sliding back towards him and lets it go, a clicking indicating it ready to be used. He still has the safety on.
“Yeah. Now, about the first aid box?”
Hwayeon’s question snaps the others out of their fear dazed expression, and the lean boy from before points a trembling hand behind Hwayeon, to a cupboard above the fridge. She pushes Jimin towards Taehyung and walks over to pull it open, and scowls at Taehyung when he laughs at her. She couldn’t reach the cupboard, he always teased her for that, for being short. Even though they looked a lot alike, the only difference other than their genders, was their height and their hair. Taehyung always teased her for being a head shorter than him. He snickered again when she glared at him, and pointed at the lean boy.
”You, come here and help me with this.”
”You know what? Fuck you. You keep ordering us around, you can do it yourself, you bitch!”
The one who had a permanently bored expression etched on his face, stood up, making his chair fall with a thud, glaring at Hwayeon, making Taehyung stiffen and pointing his weapon at him, making him flinch back, but still glaring.
“Wanna say that again?”
The man just turned his glare towards him, but the lean one quickly stumbled up to Hwayeon, pulling the cupboard open, the first-aid box out and handing it to her. He waited there next to her, holding the box as she moved over to the sink. Taehyung kept his weapon pointed at the glaring man, as he listened to her washing the blood off the knife.
He watched as she pulled the lean man by his elbow, towards the kitchen counter opposite the dining table.
“What’s your name?”
Taehyung rolled his eyes at his sister, an idiot , he thinks.
“Hoseok,” his voice soft, a slight tremble noticeable.
“What about Mr. Grumpy, over there?”
“Y…Yoongi.”
“Hmm. You’ll be my assistant today, be a good boy, okay?”
The hardened glint combined with the sweet voice from tiny Kim Hwayeon made even him, her brother, shiver a little. He couldn't help but wonder how he could become more like his sister, so skilled in manipulation and intimidation. As Hoseok reluctantly nodded, Taehyung couldn't shake off the unsettling feeling that things were about to take a dark turn. He hoped these men didn’t do something stupid to trigger her.
“You,” she called Jimin towards the stool next to her, motioning him to take a seat, as she prepared the first aid kit. Taehyung watched her grasp Jimin’s chin and tilt it slightly upwards, the motion triggering the rest of the men into letting out shouts of indignation, and a whimper from Jimin, but they all sat back down when he pointed his weapon at Jimin’s head. Taehyung watched her roll her eyes yet again, and proceed with a cotton ball drenched in antiseptic liquid to the cut she’d made on his neck.
Jimin hissed, biting his lips, his eyes widening at what she was doing. Taehyung noticed how the other men in the room visibly relaxed, except for Yoongi, who was staring at Hwayeon and Jimin with a steel in his eyes. Taehyung was getting impatient as he watched his sister treat the small cut on someone else when he knew she was in pain. He sometimes hated how she could be kind and loving, yet scary and intimidating in a matter of seconds. He also hated that she cared about people who they didn’t even know, while she was suffering.
“Yah! It’s just a small cut! Let him treat it on his own,” Taehyung gritted out in annoyance at his sister.
“Fine,” she huffed out, her gaze knowing as she looked at him. He knew she understood his annoyance with her, and yet she liked to tease him.
He watched her with his peripheral as he kept his eyes on Yoongi, who was alternating between glaring at the twins and sending concerned looks at both his friends near Hwayeon.
Taehyung leaned back against the fridge, keeping his eyes on both his sister and the men, as he waited for Hwayeon to take care of the wound on her own body.
She started directing Hoseok, asking him to fill a large bowl with water, as she removed the tightened jacket from her waist, clutching at her stomach as blood trickled out of her soaked white top. Hoseok gasped, his hands stretched out, moving towards her but stopped when he noticed both the twins glaring at him, one pointing the gun at him.
“I…I can help.” His voice trembled out low.
“You can do what I say. I can help myself.”
“You need a doctor-”
“I don’t need your fucking advice. I can do it myself. Just do what I tell you to.”
Taehyung’s eyes widen, his fingers resting on the trigger when Hoseok moves, as Hwayeon peels the top off her stomach revealing the wound.
Hoseok grabs her wrist, Taehyung watches, fingers still caressing the trigger, as Hwayeon glares at Hoseok.
“You need a doc- I am a doctor. Let me help you.”
The steel in Hoseok’s voice, makes Taehyung nervous, like he disappointed him, and he watches as Hwayeon and Hoseok start a glaring contest, and he can see his sister losing, her pale face giving away the tiredness of the day. Taehyung feels the tiredness of the day himself, but he’s trying to stay strong for both of them, he has never tried to be the strong one, because he had always relied on his sister. Her overprotectiveness had always kept him away from anything that would harm him and now he had to make a decision fast.
They had to get out of there as fast as possible, and the only way that was possible was if she got treated for the gash on her side. Making up his mind, Taehyung moves his fingers away from the trigger.
“Yeon-ie,” he says softly, making Hwayeon snap her wide eyes towards him, “We have to go, so let him treat you.”
She looks at him for a few seconds longer, him trying to convey everything he can through his eyes, and then signing I love you , using sign language. Her expression softens, nodding her head and turning back to Hoseok.
“Do what you gotta do, doc,”
Taehyung releases a breath he didn’t remember holding. They had started learning sign language as an activity when their mother had home schooled them, and had grown fascinated as they grew up and learnt that they could use it as a form of communication for just the two of them. Eventually modifying it, over the years, to their preference. The I love you using a normal sign language was just holding up three fingers on one hand, they had modified it to tapping their finger against the heart and then holding the three finger up, not the typical I love you , but saying, I will always be there for you .
Hoseok asks her to sit on the stool Jimin had sat on before, lifting her top up, and trying to check the wound, he grabs a cloth from a drawer, dips it in the water and tries to clean the wound.
“Can you at least hold the top up properly,” Hoseok grits out, she glares at him, “please.”
Taehyung averts his eyes, as she takes her top off, knowing what is there on her body, all ridden with scars from numerous injuries over the years, he glares at the other men, and keeps his eyes on Jungkook’s widened eyes, trying to calm himself.
“The fuck are y’all looking at?”
The bite in his words snap their heads towards them, making Jungkook flinch when he sees Taehyung watching him already, but doesn’t avert his eyes away from him.
Taehyung’s hand tightens on the gun, his eyes harden, teeth grinding against each other, as he remembers the scars strewn across his sister’s body. He knows how she got each and every one of them and he hates that he knows how, where and when she got it. He heaves out an annoyed huff at her.
“Cover yourself, Yeon-ie, there are only men here.”
She snorts at his words, but the reassuring smile on her face, that he can see from his peripheral, makes him feel a little better, she knows that her scars always affected him. Most of the scars on her body were there only because she was stupid enough to always protect and defend him in any situation, which annoyed him to no end. But deep down, he couldn't help but admire her unwavering loyalty and selflessness. It was a constant reminder of the love she had for him, even if it came at the cost of her own well-being.
———
Hoseok didn’t know how their plans to fly out that evening back home, to Seoul, had gone down the drain. He had said goodbye to his best friend and his boyfriend for their long awaited vacation, and was just waiting for Jimin and Jungkook to get back from their usual convenience store snack hunt, and had no idea the day would have taken such a dark turn. How had he and his friends ended up being held hostages to two clearly immature and slightly psychotic pair of siblings at gunpoint, he’d never know.
The woman in front of him had just taken her top off and all he could do was stare at the numerous scars strewn across her body.
“Yo, doc, stop ogling my body and get started.”
His eyes snapped to hers, but instead of the intimidating and cold look he was expecting, all he saw was a shameful discomfort. The woman who was previously glaring at him and had intimidated him, couldn’t even look him in his eyes. He felt pity towards her, realising that she might have endured unimaginable pain and trauma. Despite the dire situation they were in, he couldn’t help but empathise with her situation.
He took a deep breath, pushing aside his own fear, and reserved to do whatever he could to help his friends and himself out of this mess and do enough for the woman to alleviate her physical pain, anything after that was not his concern. At least that’s what he told himself, but he couldn’t help but feel something eating away at him, like a gnawing need to know how she got each and every one of those scars on her body that he could see. The feeling was so intense that his hand involuntarily brushed against one of the scars right on her collarbone, goosebumps erupting on her skin where he touched her, making her gasp in shock. Her gasp pulled him out of his daze, meeting her eyes again, this time an emotion he couldn’t name shining in her chocolate brown eyes, making him snap into action.
“I…I’ll get my medical kit.”
He was stopped not even a few steps towards the living room by the gun pointed at him from the man.
"It's right there," he pointed towards the couch, a black medical bag, with a golden metal at the bottom with his name etched on it.
The man nodded, "Faster, doc, we ain't got all night."
He quickly grabbed his bag and walked back towards the woman, opening it to pull out medical pads, gloves and a few other things that he needed. When he pulled out a syringe and a vial of anaesthetic, the twins exploded at once. The man pointed his gun at him yet again that evening that he had lost count. The ‘No’ shouted from the woman startled him more than the gun had.
“It’s a local anaesthetic,”
“Don’t be stupid, doc. I can handle pain. Get on with it, and lose that shit,” she jutted her chin out at the vial in his hand, eyes narrowed.