Detecting Falsehood

35

"I am sorry," I say quietly, leaning against the wall of the dirt tunnel, gesturing for everyone to make themselves comfortable. Some of them sit, some kneel, some stay standing, their backs resting against the tunnel walls much like me. "I know that doesn't help in any way, shape or form. But I never meant to vanish on you."

I bite my lip, glancing over at Jungkook for a moment before continuing. "I didn't try to take my own life after I left your house, Jin hyung," I start, cautiously. "Someone kidnapped me. They held a cloth of chloroform over my nose and forced me to breathe in, and I blacked out."

Yoongi scowls a little at that, and I smile slightly, knowing it's his way of showing that he cares. "I woke up in the back of a car, and I was basically having a panic attack, and then these two random goons knocked me out again. I guess they were the same people, and they didn't give me the right dose for the amount of time they needed me out for? I don't really know."

"I woke up again, tied to a chair and blindfolded. My hands were tied, my feet were tied. I couldn't move. Then one of the members of the gang that kidnapped me, he took off the blindfold and the makeshift handcuffs, so I could move. I was taken to a bathroom maybe ten or twelve hours later by a someone who I later knew as 21."

My eyes fill with tears again at the thought of my fallen friend, and Jungkook places a comforting hand on my shoulder, his gaze lowering to the floor as well. "She was born in the wrong body, and she forgot about the dysphoria with alcohol. She wasn't cruel, heartless or unfair, as I originally expected when she first appeared outside my cell door."

I lift a hand to my nose, rubbing it self consciously. "She didn't even know that 'transgender' was a thing until I explained it to her, but it fit her perfectly. And she was there for me for the whole of my time being kidnapped, right up until the moment I escaped. She was beaten up by her fellow gang members for being herself and opening up to me. I still remember her stumbling in, eyes blue with bruises and her black clothes stained slightly red with blood."

I shudder at the memory, and my friends frown sympathetically. "I was moved to a better cell maybe a month or so into my...let's call it a 'stay'. And maybe a day after that, I was severely beaten on the orders of the gang leader, because I was being used as part of a trade deal with a company or something dumb like that."

"21 was pretty bad at this point, she was practically a different person because she was so gone, so drunk," I say quietly, "and the next time she spoke to me it was to apologise for that. And after that, she-she-"

I shake my head, burying my head in my hands, the image of my best friend racing in to try and save my life still replaying in my mind. Jungkook's arm curls around me, and he leans forward, whispering directly into my ear. "Do you want me to tell this bit?" I nod pathetically, sliding down the wall and curling into a ball on the floor.

Jimin scoots over carefully, placing his arm around my shoulders, followed by both of his fiances, who both place a comforting hand on my back. Jin and Namjoon shift over as well, doing a similar thing. For a moment, I've never felt so at home. In this dingy little tunnel made of dirt, surrounded by my best friends and the person that saved my life. This is where I feel the most secure.

The only thing that would make this better would be the presence of 21. But she's gone. And the fact just makes my face screw up, my hand return to hide the liquid emotion pouring from my eyes like miniature waterfalls.

"The leader came in one day to interrogate Tae, and 21 arrived a few minutes after this, screaming that the leader was gonna kill him. She was beside herself, and so she barely noticed that he was holding a gun."
"Oh no," Jin breathes, shuffling even closer and allowing my head to rest on his shoulder as I continue to cry, this being the first chance I've had to truly let go and grieve for my lost friend.

"She took four or five shots, I can't truly remember how many," I say, lifting my head and sniffing violently. "She just collapsed in my arms, and there was nothing that-that-"

Jungkook notices my hesitation, and he makes a clear decision in his head. "There was nothing I could do to stop it. I was too late," he says, lowering his head in shame as our friends turn to stare at him in confusion. "My father killed the only member I cared about other than myself. And I don't really count. 21 was gone. It was bad enough that I'd let everything else happen, even if I had no idea how Tae was chosen in the first place."

He takes a deep, shuddering breath. "So I knocked him out, pushed him right out of the wheelchair onto the floor and dragged Taehyung out of the cell. We spent the next two hours sorting ourselves out, then I used these tunnels to get him out. I went straight to Jimin hyung's house after we knew we were relatively safe, because I knew that we needed to reunite you guys."

He looks away, his eyes drifting to the walls. "Ever since I lost my twin brother, I lost myself. I've told that story a million times, but I've never said more than that. That crash destroyed my identity. And I hate that it took 21's death and Taehyung's suffering to bring it back. It's just that nobody figured it out until Tae did."

I look up, shocked that he's willing to share this with the others, and he notices the expression, shrugging and smiling sadly. "It's the only way to get them to understand everything," he says calmly, and I nod in acceptance of that.

"What else is there to understand?" Namjoon asks after a few moments of silence, and Jungkook smiles painfully, his eyes glazing over with tears as he focuses his attention on his baffled cousin, who still doesn't truly understand the whole story.

"Jungkook never died in that crash. I was the one that killed him, in a sense."

Jin's whole body goes tense. "What do you mean?"

Jungkook smiles slightly. "Junghoon wasn't the one that survived, physically, but he forced me into becoming him. I had no other choice. He was the one who was supposed to survive. And so I killed myself, sacrificed my own future and identity to create the biggest lie I've ever had to tell, because I was manipulated by someone who was much more intelligent than I."

He lowers his head again. "I will explain it all, but the basic summary of it is this:

Jungkook never died in that car crash when I was thirteen. Junghoon did."