Nodus Tollens

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/14275449.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Relationship: Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Min Yoongi | Suga/Park Jimin, Kim
Jiwon | Bobby/Park Jimin (BTS), Lee Jooheon/Jung Hoseok | J-Hope
Character: Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Kim Hanbin | B.I, Kim Namjoon | RM, Kim
Seokjin | Jin, Jackson Wang, Lee Jooheon, Im Changkyun | I.M
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Escorts, Escort Taehyung, Stripper Taehyung,
CEO Jeon Jungkook, Single Parent Jeon Jungkook, escort jimin,
Bodyguard Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Producer Min Yoongi | Suga, Angst,
Mentions of past abuse, Prostitution, Top Jeon Jungkook, Bottom Kim
Taehyung | V, Blow Jobs, Lingerie, Lap Dances, slight daddy kink, Anal
Sex, Sexting, handjobs, Explicit Sexual Content, Rimming, slight
choking kink, Panties, mentions of drug use, Violence, Minor Character
Death
Stats: Published: 2018-04-10 Completed: 2019-02-26 Chapters: 27/27 Words:
384783

Nodus Tollens
by taecheeks

Summary

“I don’t like,” Jeongguk starts off, hesitating with what to say. “I know you must be doing
this to take care of your siblings. Let me help in a way where you don’t have to put yourself
in harmful situations.”

Taehyung snorts but there’s no emotion to it. He pats his face with a cotton swab, drying the
sweat clinging to his forehead. “I don’t need a hero, Gukkie baby.”

“Nah, I heard you need a Daddy.”

This time when Taehyung snorts, it sounds half amused and half embarrassed.

[Or the one where Taehyung's life and the rules he set up for himself had been easy before he
met Jeongguk. He's definitely not making things harder on himself, thanks.]
Notes

nodus tollens - n. the realization that the plot of your life doesn't make sense to you
anymore

I get so excited about sharing things I write that I end up posting earlier than I originally
intended to lol. I only have four chapters written so far, but I really want to know what
people think about this and if they're interested in reading more.

Tags will be updated as the fic goes on because of this too. There are also mentions of other
ships and I'm not tagging above because I don't like to clog ship tags with fics that only
briefly mention the ship someone's looking for. Kim Taehyung/Kim Hanbin, Kim
Taehyung/Park Jimin, Kim Namjoon/Kim Seokjin etc. This means that ships listed will be
shown a lot! Ie: Yoonmin has a good amount of plot within this fic so if that isn't your cup of
tea, this isn't the fic for you!

This fic also contains heavy elements. The later half of it talks about past child abuse, though
I don't go into detail it's just mentioned throughout a few chapters. There's mentions of past
verbal abuse, dub con, torture, murder, and the like. If you have any questions before you
read, please don't hesitate to ask. <3

See the end of the work for more notes

 Chapter 1

Life is loud around him. The music, the colored lights flashing around the room, the bodies bending
and dipping in time with the beat pounding through the room. The taste of alcohol is strong on his
tongue, filtering into his system enough that the tension has seeped away from his muscles and
allowed the music to flow through his veins instead.

He remains still, taking it all in.

It’s been years, about seven, since Jeongguk has last ventured out to a club like this. It hadn’t taken
much convincing. Yoongi mentioned it earlier in the week, a celebration of his first weekend being
kid free in years and after a few nights of being alone in a home that is much to big for just one
person, Jeongguk agreed.

He focuses on the bare limbs in front of him, the bodies moving behind cages sat on top of high
tables. It’s erotic the way they move, their thighs spreading and asses rounding against the bars, the
eyes dark as they take on the onlookers without really focusing on them.

It isn’t Yoongi’s scene, so Jeongguk had been surprised when they first stepped into the club. But he
understood the moment he spotted Jimin’s familiar face in the crowd.

There had been a time when Jeongguk had visited these clubs frequently, so often that the staff knew
him by name and would have a drink waiting for him when he arrived. But after a baby and a
business, he hasn’t had the time to come back.

There’s a rule between him and Ji-hu. Dinner every night. He can’t miss it and he won’t leave Ji-hu
until he’s fast asleep, but then he is too tired to even think about going out with anyone.

“Jeonggukkie,” Yoongi huffs in his ear. He twists his body to do so, but he keeps an arm loose
around Jimin’s waist. “You look constipated.”

Jeongguk huffs out an uncomfortable laugh, sipping at his drink once more. He isn’t tense, not really.
He feels a little on edge, but in a good way. His skin heats up every time the man dancing in front of
him bends over and his fingers itch with an urge to move over the muscles dancing in his ass, but
nothing too serious.

It’s been even longer since Jeongguk has felt the warmth of another body against him, tangled with
him and had his cock touched by anyone other than himself, but it isn’t a big deal. It's not something
he might die from, but arousal sparks quickly through him now from simple things like he's a
blushing virgin.

“I’m fine, hyung, promise,” Jeongguk says, pinching Yoongi’s cheek.

Yoongi’s lips part to say something but he falls back from the suddenness of Jimin bounding away
from his lap. Yoongi's eyes follow after him, hearts shooting out of them and across the crowd to
land onto Jimin.

“Man, I tell you, I have such a heart boner,” Yoongi sighs, sinking into the plush couch they sit on as
he watches Jimin rush towards a group of people headed their way.

Jeongguk snorts into his drink. “Didn’t you tell Hobi we were going to be ‘baggin’ bitches’ tonight?
Is that slang for pining after Jimin and baggin’ nothing but an actual boner and a broken heart? I’m
not quite up with the lingo these days.”
Yoongi narrows his eyes threateningly as he snatches away Jeongguk’s drink. “Don’t be a brat,” he
grumbles before downing the drink and sliding it across the table in front of them. “It was Hoseok
that said that, not me. He also said you need to get laid because he can’t handle any more of those
two a.m. phone calls of you crying about how empty the apartment is.”

There’s no point in denying it, so Jeongguk doesn’t. Even though that only happened once, because
every other night Hoseok has either occupied one of his guest rooms or has been on the other line of
his crying.

“Chimmy's friends are cute,” Yoongi goes on, indicating them with a nod of his head.

Jimin’s clothes are almost as revealing as the strippers around them, except he is wearing clothes.
Just, his pants are extremely tight and he wears a shirt that is so thin that the dark of his nipples are
visible through the material, despite the dark lighting around them. It is the same for the people in the
group that he’s joined, except for one man who looks sorely out of place.

It isn’t a casual club, Jeongguk knows. Customers are dressed to impress, clad in the most expensive
suits and jewelry that scream wealth. The others - workers from either this club or another are clad in
skimpy clothing, some just lingerie, made of soft silk or velvet, diamonds sparkling from their ears
and necks.

This man, however, wears ripped black jeans with a blue jean jacket thrown over a green, simple
shirt. There’s a red snapback snugged tightly over his light colored hair, turned back to reveal his
forehead and thick, dark eyebrows. There are diamonds in his ears, just as sparkly as the ones
crossing over Jimin’s collarbones, but other than that, he’s plain as day.

Jeongguk can’t look away.

He’s boyish in the way he grins, a boxy smile stretching wide across his face until his cheeks bulge
and his eyes fall into the shape of crescents. Despite the chubbiness of his cheeks, his face is sharp
and thin. He’s all long limbs and broad shoulders, inches taller than Jimin but he shrinks down in size
before pulling Jimin into a hug.

“Taehyung,” Yoongi says in his ear, uncaring about being rude as he reaches out and points to the
new crowd of people. “The one in the red hat? He’s the one that filled my apartment with balloons
that one time, remember?”

Jeongguk grins around the rim of his glass as he remembers. The apartment had been filled with so
many balloons that it had been nearly impossible to open the door. It hadn’t even been Yoongi’s
birthday. Ji-hu had screamed in excitement, though he hadn’t been as giggling as loudly as Hoseok
had.

“He’s handsome,” Jeongguk says in response. He walks with his chin tilted slightly and there’s an air
of power radiating from him that Jeongguk feels too familiar with. It’s the only thing that betrays his
plain as day look, making Jeongguk wonder what’d he look like in an expensive suit similar to the
one he’s wearing, or maybe even the flimsy costumes of the dancers around them.

The grin on Yoongi’s face is small but loud, his eyes lit with something that makes Jeongguk want to
groan. “You better take him home tonight. Time to rid you of that stick you have up your ass and
replace it with dick.”

Jeongguk sputters on his drink before elbowing Yoongi in retaliation. “Want me to go up there like
‘hey, excuse me Jimin, I wanna fuck your friend’?”
“Sure,” Yoongi says with a shrug, “unless you want to go home with one of the prostitutes here. But
I suggest you tell that to Tae directly instead of Jimin.”

“I’m not fucking one of Jimin’s friends,” Jeongguk grunts, but his eyes find Taehyung again. His
smile is gone, replaced by a slack jawed look. His eyes are dark and intent on Jimin as he speaks like
he is fascinated by every word that comes out of his mouth.

His lips are plush and soft looking and Jeongguk bites at his own.

Yoongi turns the glare to him once more, jerking with a ‘hmph’ noise. “Should I be defending my
beloved’s honor? What does that mean?”

Jeongguk grins at the dramatics. He sighs, resting his ankle on his other knee as he tries to find a way
to explain. Jimin is Ji-hu’s dance instructor. If he’s going to fuck around for one night, he can’t have
the person in his bed connected back to Ji-hu anyway. Even if distantly.

“Ugh, nevermind,” Yoongi sighs, a knowing look in his eyes. “Come on, I think I see Hobi.
Finally.”

Approaching Jimin and his friends is Hoseok. He too is dressed more casually than everyone, though
his dark red blazer makes him fit a little more in with the rest of the people in the club. Jeongguk
briefly notes the earpiece in his ear as he watches him tap Taehyung on the shoulder to whisper
something to him over the music.

Both of his best friends know the most beautiful man Jeongguk has ever laid his eyes on and he feels
a bit grumpy that neither one of them have introduced them before.

“Is this the club Hoseok works at?” Jeongguk asks. It is more Hoseok’s scene than anyone else’s in
their group but Jeongguk can’t imagine him as security. Maybe a bartender because he’s bright and
social, but now he looks threatening and unapproachable.

“No,” is all Yoongi says before he’s interrupting the conversation and planting a firm hand onto
Hoseok’s chest, contradicting his own words. “Don’t tell me you’re working, Hope. You said you’d
come out with us.”

“I am out with you,” Hoseok says, his threatening look slipping away to the normally bright
expression he wears as he turns to Jeongguk. “Baggin’ any bitches yet?”

Jeongguk groans, shoving him. “Every time you say that I regret being your friend.”

Yoongi squeezes his arm around Hoseok, amusement in his eyes. “He’s got an eye on someone.
You were right.”

Taehyung’s eyes slide over Jeongguk, just as dark and intense as they had been when talking to
Jimin. They linger on his face for a moment before slowly taking in the rest of him until there’s a heat
threatening to spill across Jeongguk’s cheeks.

It isn't just power radiating from Taehyung; but intimidation. Jeongguk feels as if he's been stripped
down and pulled apart just from the way Taehyung's eyes drags over his body.

Jungkook reels it in, keeping the heat in his gaze rather than his skin as he returns Taehyung’s look
with a lingering one of his own.

“I’m always right,” Hoseok is saying as Jimin curls an arm around Jeongguk’s and pulls him closer
before he can tune into the conversation.
“Gukkie, this is Mino, Tae-Tae, Song, and Youngjae,” Jimin says, pointing to each. He loses the
names the moment that they’re said out loud, and Jeongguk finds it difficult to even look at the rest as
Taehyung keeps hold of his gaze.

He can’t be blamed really, not when Taehyung bites at the corner of his mouth and has Jeongguk’s
mind spiraling with how attractive he is. Closer, Jeongguk thinks the hair under his hat is silver and
he can see specks of glitter on his eyelids.

“Gukkie here grew up with Suga hyung. His little one is in my class. You should see him, the
chubbiest little cheeks. He’s already better than me at seven.”

Jeongguk feels a warmth spark in his chest as Jimin goes on about Ji-hu. “He was a better dancer
than you at four.”

Jimin’s face crumples in fake anger as he swats Jeongguk’s chest. “For that, my next drink is going
on your tab.”

The part of the floor dedicated to the bar is empty compared to the rest, save for the
occasional servers dropping off empty glasses and picking up filled ones and a few straggling
customers. The bartender seems relieved that he has company, a wide smile taking over his lips as
they approach.

“My favorite babes, what can I get you?” he greets as he throws a rag over his shoulder. “The reg,
Doll?”

Jimin flushes, teeth gripping at his bottom lip as he glances to Jeongguk before nodding at the
bartender.

Getting details about Yoongi and Jimin’s relationship from Yoongi is like opening childproof
medicine bottles with greasy hands. He’s experienced enough of Yoongi’s heartbreak episodes to
know that it gets to him a lot when others flirt with Jimin and it especially bothers him when Jimin
flirts back, even though he’ll deny it.

It isn’t ever on purpose, he thinks, Jimin is just naturally charming, but part of him wants to snap at
the bartender to back off before Yoongi joins them.

“I’m not working tonight,” Jimin says, voice low as he leans on top of the bar to take the fruity
looking drink sliding across the counter. The bartender's fingers linger over Jimin’s, a smile playing
on his lips. Whatever he says next is too quiet, but the man’s face falters and Jeongguk looks away
with a grin.

Yoongi won’t go home with someone else if he’s out with Jimin and Jimin has drunkenly admitted
that going home with someone else when Yoongi is around makes him feel like he’s being punched
repeatedly in the gut. Jeongguk doesn’t get why they just don't go home together, but he doesn’t
push.

“Gukkie, right?”

Jeongguk turns swiftly at the sound of his name, eyes dropping instantly to the man’s mouth as he
licks over his bottom lip. It doesn’t go unnoticed, and a small grin dances on Taehyung’s lips.

“Jeongguk,” he corrects. “Jeon Jeongguk.”

There is nothing on Taehyung’s face that tells Jeongguk if he recognizes his name or not. The other
man sidles against the bar as if he is unfazed by the way his body almost presses into Jeongguk’s. He
had been wrong earlier; there is nothing plain about Taehyung.

“How do you know Jimin, Jeon Jeongguk?”

“I grew up with Yoongi and met Jimin at a bar once, unknowing he was hyung’s Jiminnie,”
Jeongguk repeats. He likes the way Taehyung cocks his hip against the bar, leaning into so that
Jeongguk stands tall above him. He likes it almost as much at the surprisingly deep and raspy voice
leaving his soft mouth. “You?”

“So you know Hobi-hyung?” Taehyung goes on, ignoring the question. He glances around quickly,
holding up two fingers at the bartender before his eyes are burning back onto Jeongguk.

“I’ve known him almost as long as Yoongi,” Jeongguk grumbles. It feels as if Yoongi and Hoseok
have always been in his life that he barely can remember meeting them for the first time. “How do
you know Jimin?”

“Work,” Taehyung says. His grin grows into a flirty one as he takes the drinks handed to him. He
winks at the bartender, who looks amused when he looks between them. “You look like you like
sweet, yes?”

The glass is filled with a dark purple wine and he braces for the burst of sugar on his tongue but it
isn’t too sweet.

“Usually no,” Jeongguk hums, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth to savor the taste. “I
think you thwarted my plans to buy you a drink.”

Taehyung’s eyes light up and his grin wavers like it is threatening to grow across his face but he
busies his mouth with taking a sip from his own glass before speaking.

“You can pay for it.”

Jeongguk snorts, finding it difficult not to press closer into Taehyung’s space. The wine shoots a
warmth through his limbs and he knows enough about bokbunja not to drink too much of it or the
warmth in his body will turn to a fire in the pit of his belly.

He’s too busy grinning at Taehyung to realize the bartender has actually come back for payment and
Jeongguk flushes when he realizes, searching for his wallet before producing it and handing him a
few notes.

Jin has yelled at him for carrying around too much at one time, so he’s stuck to one credit card in his
wallet and only a few hundred thousand won in case of emergency. He has more won than usual
now, as it isn’t a good idea to use a traceable credit card at clubs like this.

“So you’re a dancer then?” Jeongguk pushes, settling onto one of the bar stools as Taehyung moves
to. Their knees knock together but Jeongguk doesn’t pull back.

Fate is cruel, Jeongguk thinks, that he’s never seen Taehyung at the dance studio. Ji-hu has been
dancing there for three years, and he’s only ever seen Jimin and Hoseok work there. There have
been substitutes that took over when Jimin was sick, but he thinks he would have remembered a face
like Taehyung’s.

Taehyung parts his lips in hesitation, those dark eyes locked on Jeongguk’s face for a moment.
“Kind of. I work a bunch of jobs.”

“Like?” Jeongguk pushes, tapping his glass instead of sliding his thumb over the sharp of
Taehyung’s jaw like he wants to.

If the laugh had been addicting, the giggle that Taehyung lets out has him overdosing. His shoulders
lift towards his ears, his boxy grin widening enough that Jeongguk can practically see his molars.

“You’re cute, Jeongguk. You look as if I’m telling you the secrets to great wealth.”

Embarrassed, Jeongguk cools his features. He had been captivated by the way Taehyung’s lips move
when he spoke, but he isn’t admitting it. Not yet. “It’s habit. In my career, we have to appear
fascinated by investor’s every word."

“So you’re pretending to be fascinated?” Taehyung teases, the look in his eyes playful and not
offended.

This time, Jeongguk gives in to the urge to touch Taehyung, but only slightly. He touches the side of
his knee, cupping his hand around the bone until he can rub his thumb over the thick material of his
jeans.

“No,” Jeongguk promises. “I was fascinated the moment I saw you.”

The expression on Taehyung’s face can only be considered soft, but that doesn’t feel like the right
word when there’s something burning in his eyes at Jeongguk’s admission.

Arousal twists down Jeongguk’s spine just from the heavy, lustful look in Taehyung’s eyes as the
other man slides a finger over his bare arm, stopping before sliding his fingers over Jeongguk’s
bicep.

Hoseok had joked about how people could die if they go too long without sex, and Jeongguk knew
that it was not a thing, obviously, he hadn't felt the dying need to be with someone before. But now
he wonders as his body seems to react to the simplest of touches.

“Are you flirting with me, Jeongguk-ssi?”

“I thought buying you the drink would make it obvious,” Jeongguk admits. “I guess my next move
would be asking you to dance.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh as he squeezes Jeongguk’s arm. “The dance floor is in the basement.
You don’t seem like the type to venture to the dirty basement.”

He’d be surprised, Jeongguk thinks. He had liked the atmosphere of the basement more than he liked
watching the naked bodies snake across the tables in front of him. But only by a little. “You don’t
look like the type to come to a stripper den, yet here we are.”

A smile gleams across Taehyung’s face. “You’d be surprised,” he says before he throws his head
back to drain his cup before sliding it onto the bar. “Come on then, to the basement.”

Taehyung pushes into his group of friends as Jeongguk pays his tab. He can feel Hoseok’s eyes on
him as he plants a hand to the low of Taehyung’s back to guide him out of the club, but he ignores it.

The club is like a penthouse suite, sat at the top of a larger building that holds another dance club in
the basement, and an array of offices that are locked at night. He’s only visited one of those offices
during the day a handful of times before and he hopes to never again.

“So tell me, Jeongguk,” Taehyung says, crowding into his space on the elevator and uncaring about
the others around them. He reaches up, unbuttoning the first two buttons of Jeongguk’s shirt with a
confidence that Jeongguk is struggling to find himself. “Are you as good of a dancer as your son?”

Jeongguk holds onto to Taehyung’s waist, his hand limp over the sides of his hips. He doesn't mind
moving quickly, especially with someone that makes him feel as warm as Taehyung does. “I taught
him everything he knows.”

“What’s his name?” Taehyung asks, popping open another button before he hums in approval.

Jeongguk tenses for a moment, lips parted. Any attempts at dating before have ended with the
mention of a child. Yoongi even warned him not to mention Ji-hu before they had come out, but he
had been annoyed at that. He isn’t a secret.

“Ji-hu,” Jeongguk says, hearing the fondness in his own voice as he says the name.

Taehyung smiles softly. “Seven, right?”

Humming, Jeongguk nods. The elevator beeps open, but he doesn’t register it at first. It feels like the
world around the two of them doesn’t exist. It has been awhile since he's drank as well, and it makes
his head feel a little fuzzy. It feels nice, not too much, but Jeongguk has to make sure it doesn't get to
too much.

“My sister is eight. I take care of her and my brother,” Taehyung announces before he slots his
fingers with Jeongguk and pulls him from the elevator. The entrance floor of the building vibrates
with the music underneath.

“Is that why you work so many jobs?” Jeongguk asks, allowing Taehyung to tug him along. He
wants to press his body against the man’s back, but he doesn't know if he's reading the situation right
or if it's his fuzzy mind.

He feels different than he did when he was young and hooking up with anyone with a curvy body
and a beautiful smile. Before he was cool and collected, practically cocky in the way he’d flirt until
his pants were hugging his ankles. Now, he feels like that one time in school when he came in his
pants because someone had been sitting on his lap.

There is an energy surrounding Taehyung and he feels it radiating between them and seeping into his
pores until Jeongguk feels that same energy spark inside of him.

“Yes,” Taehyung says.

There is a long line weaving towards the basement entrance, but Taehyung tugs Jeongguk past it.
The bouncer barely bats an eyelash as he spots Taehyung, only steps aside to allow him in.

“Let Hope in, too,” is the only thing Taehyung says before they are surrounded by music so loud that
he feels the beat of it inside of his chest.

It is as dark as the den upstairs, but instead of dark colors like purples and reds, the flashing colors
are bright and neon. Taehyung’s skin tints with green and then yellow as he tugs Jeongguk into the
thick crowd, his smile growing wild.

A breath of relief fills his lungs as Taehyung’s body finally crushes against his own. They aren’t too
different in height, but he curls his body towards Taehyung in a way that makes the other man seem
small against him. He watches between them as their legs slot together and Taehyung buries his fists
into the dress shirt Jeongguk wears.

The music is fast and it doesn’t take long for sweat to build at the back of Jeongguk’s neck.
Taehyung slips his fingers over it, pulling him closer until their hips meet and a groan threatens to
spill past his lips.

Taehyung smells like flowery perfume and soap, Jeongguk thinks as he tickles his nose over his jaw
and shoves a hand underneath Taehyung’s jean jacket. The shirt he wears is soft cotton, but he
prefers the feel of Taehyung’s spine under his fingertips.

Red Velvet’s Automatic plays loudly overhead and Jeongguk can’t hold back his groan when he
feels Taehyung’s legs bend until his hips are working against him in time with the beat, a hand laying
over his belly.

He’s a tease, Jeongguk realizes, as Taehyung lifts the material and reveals the layer of muscle over
his stomach and the way their bodies look when they meet. There’s a bruise to the left of his belly
button and the sight makes Jeongguk want to drop to his knees and cover his skin with more.

With a heavy gaze, he lifts his eyes to Taehyung’s face as the man lets the shirt drop. There’s the
same dark look in his eyes and it contrasts with the grin on his lips. Jeongguk can only stare for a
moment before Taehyung is pulling away and pulling him deeper into the crowd.

Jeongguk follows like a puppet on a string. Bodies bump against his arms, and normally his security
team keeps him away from crowds like this to the point he’s hesitant of them, but he can’t focus on
anything other than the way Taehyung presses his back to his chest.

A growl rumbles in his throat as he grips Taehyung's hips and tugs him back against his own. He
really hates the amount of material between them, but he breathes over the slope of Taehyung’s neck
for skin on skin contact.

Hands in his hair urge him forward and Jeongguk complies with ease, sliding his parted lips over
Taehyung’s skin until he feels the man shiver against him. He licks over the sweat as Taehyung rolls
his head back, resting against Jeongguk’s shoulders.

There’s no denying the way he strains against his dress pants, and he’s sure Taehyung can feel it as
his ass rolls back against him. But he doesn’t care, there’s a need deep in his gut and shocks of
pleasure ricochet down his spine with every touch.

“Taehyung-ssi,” Jeongguk breathes, reaching around Taehyung to cup his neck, his thumb pressing
into his jaw to angle his face towards his. The man’s face falls slack, lips sighing around what looks
like a moan that he can’t hear over the music and eyes fluttering shut.

Their minds seem to be on the same length wave as Taehyung licks his lips before angling his mouth
towards Jeongguk’s. It is awkward at first, their bodies losing the beat as their lips try to find it. He
can taste the sweet alcohol on Taehyung’s tongue and he licks into his mouth like he wants to get
drunk on it.

He had drank enough to feel a slight buzz and a heaviness in his body that only comes with alcohol,
but it doesn’t compare to the feeling of intoxication Taehyung brings. He thrums with energy, each
of his nerves lighting up as arousal pools into his belly.

Taehyung turns, arms curling around Jeongguk’s shoulders to kiss him properly. He’s an eager
kisser, his tongue greedy in the way it pushes past the seam of his lips. Like this, Jeongguk can feel
that Taehyung is just as turned on as he is, and he flattens a palm at the base of Taehyung’s spine to
press their hips firmly together.

Lips dance over his cheek and jaw, teeth teasing Jeongguk's skin in a way that makes him feel too
hot but he winces at the hint of pain when Taehyung finds his earlobe and bites. He can hear him
saying something, but the music drowns his words out.

“What?” Jeongguk shouts back, cupping the back of Taehyung’s head until his lips are pressing right
up against his ear.

“Want a drink.”

Another groan flutters from Jeongguk’s lips as Taehyung pulls away from him. Not only are his
briefs uncomfortable from the tight stretch over his hardened cock, but he’s leaking from the tip and
dampening the material and maybe he should drown himself in alcohol to dull the arousal buzzing
through him. It'd be embarrassing if he nuts too quickly and he finds himself more worried about a
stranger's opinion than he should be.

“Come on, Gukkie,” Taehyung mouths, gripping onto Jeongguk’s wrist. There’s a wild grin on his
lips as he pulls Jeongguk forward.

It’s hard to resist the urge to touch him and Jeongguk doesn’t, letting his hands rub down
Taehyung’s sides when their bodies press together. It takes them forever to get to the bar, and by the
time they do, Jeongguk’s lips are aching with the want to kiss Taehyung again.

“You can dance,” Jeongguk compliments, crowding Taehyung against the bar. He plants his hands
on the sides, ducking forward like he plans on kissing him but he doesn’t.

“You’re not too bad,” Taehyung says, fingers running over his torso before he’s turning around.

They fit together nicely, Jeongguk thinks distractedly as he hooks a chin over Taehyung’s shoulder.
He wonders if Taehyung is an optical illusion because he seems so small pressed up against him like
this, Jeongguk caging him in against the bar, but his shoulders are just as broad as his own.

“Hey Baby,” the bartender greets, eyes only glazing over Jeongguk.

Jeongguk tenses but doesn’t pull away because Taehyung’s hands are rubbing over the back of his,
the tips of his fingers nudging between the spaces of his own.

“June,” Taehyung murmurs. The grin on his face falters for a moment and Jeongguk presses a soft
kiss to the curve of his shoulder in an attempt to bring it back. It only somewhat works. “I didn’t
know you were working tonight.”

“Yah,” June says, his voice deeper than Taehyung's. He lifts two cups from behind the bar, reaching
for a bottle without asking what they want. “You know, I go where Bobby tells me to.”

This time, it’s Jeongguk that tenses as he recognizes the name. He’s well aware that half of these
clubs are owned by Bobby. He has lent the man plenty of money before for renovations, though he
knew it wasn’t going towards renovations.

There are rumors about Bobby, ones that Jeongguk could get cleared up just by asking him, but he
doesn’t want to know how true they are.

“Downgraded from security to bartender then?” Taehyung asks, his tone playful but there’s an edge
to it.

June looks amused when he fills their glasses and shoves them across the bar. His eyes flicker
towards Jeongguk and Jeongguk holds his gaze.
God, he’s always had a possessiveness inside of him and a whisper of it leaks into him even though
he doesn’t know Taehyung. Something just rubs him the wrong way about the bartender and
Jeongguk can't figure out what it is.

“Who’s your man?”

“None of your business,” Taehyung says lazily, grabbing the glasses before turning abruptly into
Jeongguk’s arms.

He isn’t expecting the way Taehyung ducks forward and brushes his lips over his own. His mind
halts, his hard drive short circuiting and his lips are parting, head tilting into the touch.

Taehyung’s lips are as soft as they look, molding against his own with a gentleness that contrasts
with the way his teeth nip roughly at Jeongguk’s bottom lip.

When he pulls away, his eyes are dark once more, a smirk playing on his lips. “You can dance,
dress, kiss well. What else can you do, Mr. Jeon?”

The way Taehyung says his name, practically purring it, causes the heat in his belly to slip between
his legs. “I can show you.”

Taehyung grins around the brim of his cup before he is slinking out of Jeongguk’s space.

He nearly loses him in the crowd, but when he turns, Jeongguk spots the boxy grin and he chases
forward, falling into his game of cat and mouse.

The excitement inside of him grows, building in his chest and threatening to push a giggle past his
lips as he finally catches up with Taehyung.

They’re close to the entrance when Taehyung’s arm is curling around his waist. His head knocks
back and Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate in the way he kisses the slope of his neck, feeling the way his
throat constricts as he swallows. He thinks of the bruise beside his belly button and the way it would
look over his pulse.

“You know what I want?” Taehyung says against his ear, a hand shifting over Jeongguk’s back to
keep him close.

Jeongguk shivers at the hot breath breezing over the shell of his ear. “What’s that?”

Taehyung lets out another breath and it’s taking all of Jeongguk’s willpower not to shove Taehyung
against the wall. “Panda Express.”

A laugh vibrates against his ear as Jeongguk groans, his own lips quirking up. He feels like putty in
Taehyung’s hands, molding into the shape of his palms as Taehyung quickly drags him out of the
club.

“Panda Express,” Jeongguk says, voice hoarse from yelling over the music. His ears ring, trying to
adjust to the silence.

“Mhm,” Taehyung hums as he intertwines their fingers. “I haven’t had a night off in…so long. I
have a bucket list and shoving my face with food is on the top of it.”

Jeongguk softens. The boyish look is back, his eyes lighting up with something that reminds him of
the way Ji-hu looks whenever Jeongguk brings him home ice cream. A childish excitement, filled
with an innocence that somehow fits Taehyung despite him being anything but innocent just a
moment ago.

“Well then, what else? We have the whole night,” Jeongguk says, squeezing Taehyung’s fingers.

As much as the arousal coursing through him wants Taehyung here and now, spending the night
with Taehyung looking as excited as he does now is overpowering.

“First, I have to wait for Hoseok to catch up,” Taehyung instructs. He stills by the door and
Jeongguk watches as he produces a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. He offers one to
Jeongguk, but he shakes his head. “Then food.”

Jeongguk frowns, glancing at the glass doors as if Hoseok is going to emerge from them at any
moment. “Hobi.”

Taehyung nods, blowing smoke into the air. “Unless you wanted to walk? I don’t think there’s a
Panda Express around here.”

His mind tries to play catch up. Hoseok is like Taehyung, in which he works multiple jobs and only
talks about the dance studio. Jeongguk doesn’t know what he does at night, or how often he works at
night, but whenever Jeongguk calls for a babysitter, Hoseok can only watch Ji-hu until eight and he
can't bring Ji-hu to work with him unlike Yoongi.

“Is he your driver?”

Taehyung shrugs and Jeongguk decides not to ask any more questions. He has his own driver too,
has for his entire life; there’s nothing weird about it.

“So tell me something about yourself, Mr. Jeon. Anything.” Taehyung’s knuckles brush down the
front of his dress shirt, his finger hooking on the button sitting above his belly button. “What’s
brought you out tonight? Other than baggin’ bitches?”

“Yoongi hyung,” Jeongguk groans in embarrassment as he pushes closer into Taehyung’s space.
The night air is cool against his sweaty skin and though the street is empty around them, Jeongguk
knows it won’t last long. But he can’t care, he doesn’t want to fight off the urge to cage Taehyung in
against the wall.

It’s a kink of his apparently. He didn’t know.

“My son went to America for the summer. It’s the first week I’ve been without him and my hyungs
thought I should go out.”

Taehyung listens with interest, his head tilted and his palm sliding over Jeongguk’s chest. “He’s not
in school?”

“Private school,” Jeongguk explains, rubbing his thumb over Taehyung’s jaw. His skin is soft like he
bathes in shea butter. The smoke that trails from his lips is erotic and Jeongguk takes advantage of his
head turning to blow in another direction to kiss gently over his pulse. “He has a break from June to
August.”

“Ah,” Taehyung hums, shivering under Jeongguk’s touch. He pushes Jeongguk away slightly when
Hoseok finally emerges from the building but keeps his fingers hooked in the belt loop of his pants.
“Hyung, would you drive me and my date to Panda Express?”

Jeongguk feels his face flush at the comment and under Hoseok’s gaze. He had been wrong earlier.
It is weird that Hoseok is Taehyung’s driver and he anticipates Hoseok making a joke about
Jeongguk getting dick, but there’s no amusement in Hoseok’s expression at all.

“Yeah, no fucking in my back seat,” Hoseok says, pointing an accusing finger at Jeongguk though
he’s only ever done that twice in his life, thanks. Only twice in Hoseok's car, at least.

Taehyung slides an arm around the low of Jeongguk’s back, fitting into his side as Jeongguk throws
an arm over his shoulder.

It’s simple, domestic, and Jeongguk’s heart does this strange thing in his chest.

“You know, as much as he gets laid, you would think he’d be more perky,” Taehyung whispers,
making Jeongguk let out a loud laugh into the night air.

The SUV that blinks alive is familiar, Hoseok’s car not Taehyung’s. He always wondered how
Hoseok could afford it and now he wonders if it’s from Taehyung. The diamonds in his ears and the
way he holds himself screams that Taehyung is well off but what he's told Jeongguk so far about
himself contradicts that.

He frowns as he opens the door for Taehyung, eyeing the leather interior and the spacious backseat.
There’s a divider between the front and back seat, that Hoseok has rising up before Jeongguk can
close the door behind him.

He understands why as he reaches for his seat belt to pull it over his lap, but has a Taehyung sliding
into his lap first. Taehyung’s fingers are soft against his jaw, tilting his head back until his breath
ghosts over Jeongguk’s lips.

“Hoseok-hyung said no fucking in his back seat,” Jeongguk murmurs, fingers tapping over
Taehyung’s thighs.

Taehyung slides his lips over Jeongguk’s, teasing them apart but not applying the pressure Jeongguk
craves. “A little confident there, Gukkie. Did you think it’s this easy to get into my pants?”

Heat tickles Jeongguk’s face as he knocks his head back to look up at Taehyung. “No,” he hums,
sliding a palm across Taehyung’s ass to pull him further into his lap. Taehyung’s lips part to stutter
out a sigh, his eyes darkening. “You need Panda Express first, right?”

Taehyung’s face lights up before he giggles, his nose wrinkling. “That’s one way to impress me.”

His face is growing more flushed as Jeongguk rubs a palm over the curve of his ass, the amusement
on his face slowly slipping away and turning into something more aroused. “Tell me the other
ways.”

“Desperate?” Taehyung breathes, his voice raspier than he had been - practically a growl and
Jeongguk feels like he’s falling to pieces in Hoseok’s backseat.

He sucks in a breath, cooling himself as he tucks a finger under Taehyung’s chin. He kisses him
softly. “No, I won’t lie. I want you, Taehyung, but we can spend the night checking off your bucket
list and if you want me by the end of the night then -”

His words are cut off as Taehyung slots their lips together. It’s a lazy kiss, lips dancing over each
other in a slow beat. He can’t pull away, even though his lungs hurt with the need for oxygen. He
just can’t, not until there’s a sharp tap against the window and Jeongguk realizes that they have
stopped.

“Come on, Gukkie, phase one in Taehyung Seduction,” Taehyung giggles, falling off of his lap and
shoving the door open so quickly it nearly smacks into Hoseok.

Hoseok frowns at Taehyung’s flushed face, his nose wrinkling. “I’ll wait out here, clean the
backseat.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Do you want anything hyung?”

Hoseok looks confused by the offer. He glances between Taehyung and Jeongguk. He isn’t as bright
while on the job but Jeongguk kind of hates it. He glances at the earpiece again, wondering why
exactly Taehyung would need a bodyguard. “No. I’m good, Baby.”

Jeongguk’s face feels hot at the name and he plants a hand to Taehyung’s back to guide him into the
restaurant. The nerves on Taehyung’s face are new, it is static in his eyes as he chews on his bottom
lip.

“It’s an um, thing,” Taehyung mumbles, jerking his shoulders into a shrug before he bounds into the
restaurant.

There’s a fondness filling his chest as he watches Taehyung contemplate the menu with a pushed out
pout before he lists out a large order. Jeongguk knows that he looks silly with the fond grin on his
lips, but he doesn’t care. Not when Taehyung notices and a shy look crosses his face.

“No, don’t pay,” Taehyung starts, swatting at Jeongguk’s wallet when he removes it from his pocket.
“It was my idea to come here.”

“I’m paying,” Jeongguk says, quickly pulling the card from his wallet and practically flinging it at the
cashier before Taehyung can take out his own. “Let me treat you.”

“Why?” Taehyung asks, and there’s something in his eyes that Jeongguk hates. Suspicion, maybe.
Definitely worry.

“I haven’t had a night out like this in a long time and I am really enjoying it,” Jeongguk says quietly,
smiling softly at his admission. “And I want you to enjoy it without worrying about spending the
money.”

It is an assumption on his part. But Taehyung had mentioned working many jobs to provide for his
siblings. He had talked about not going out in a while because of it. The diamonds could be hand-
me-downs, a gift from someone. Hoseok could be - well, he doesn't really understand that part. It
isn't right for Jeongguk to make assumptions about a man he doesn't know but wants to.

Taehyung has returned to nibbling on his bottom lip. “I’m really enjoying it too. Next, we can go
somewhere you want. It’s still early.”

Jeongguk glances at the watch on his wrist. It is, only eleven. It feels like he’s spent the last year of
his life dancing with Taehyung, not just an hour. “I want to go wherever you want.”

Taehyung parts his lips before smacking them shut and walking off to collect his food.

By midnight, Jeongguk realizes he is fucked.

Not only does Taehyung make him feel like his nerves are on fire inside of him, but he fills him with
a fondness that he has only ever felt while looking at his best friends or Ji-hu. He makes him feel as if
his life source is currently kissing Taehyung and listening to him laugh.
Yoongi’s plan had been for him to get some ass, and Jeongguk completely jumped over that and
landed himself into a pool of feelings instead. Well, not truly feelings - but he finds he doesn't want
the night to end because he doesn't want to leave Taehyung's side.

“I can’t believe you’re still hungry,” Jeongguk murmurs jokingly, watching as Taehyung kitten licks
over the ice cream cone he holds. It’s pretty cold outside, but watching Taehyung’s tongue dart out
like that has him feeling hot.

“I can’t believe you’re not,” Taehyung shoots back.

From the few touches, Jeongguk knows that Taehyung is covered in muscle but thin. Maybe a little
too thin, but he doesn’t know. “I’m searching for another source of nutrition,” Jeongguk jokes,
cupping Taehyung’s cheek as he thumbs over the corner of his mouth to wipe at the ice cream there.

Taehyung’s eyes glaze over as Jeongguk pushes his thumb past his lips, wiping the drip of ice cream
against Taehyung’s teeth.

“Nut,” Taehyung breathes as Jeongguk drags his thumb down, tugging his full bottom lip with it.

Jeongguk chokes out a laugh, pressing his forehead against Taehyung’s. They're in a park in the
middle of the city, the dark night around them lit up by the city lights. Hoseok is idling somewhere,
waiting for them, but Jeongguk can’t find it in him to care.

“What’s next?” he breathes, nudging their noses together as he tries to swallow down the laughs
rocking through him.

“You’re making it difficult to remember,” Taehyung breathes, eyes dropping to watch Jeongguk’s
mouth.

He licks over his lips purposefully, rubbing at Taehyung’s chin until his head tilts a centimeter back.
Far enough that their lips hover over each other.

Taehyung sighs as Jeongguk grips his jaw, his finger sliding underneath it. “Panda Express. Ice
Cream. Fuck Jeon Jeongguk-ssi, I think, was my original plan.”

Jeongguk watches Taehyung’s expression as he feels the way he gulps under his thumb. The sudden
confidence has slipped away from Taehyung and has been replaced with something insecure.

Which is ridiculous, because Jeongguk swears Taehyung is the prettiest thing he has ever laid his
eyes on.

“Is there a ditch Hoseok hyung in that plan?” Jeongguk asks quietly and he’s surprised by the
hesitancy in Taehyung’s eyes. "I'm not quite sure he'd like to watch."

“No, unless we sneak away.”

Jeongguk grins before ducking forward, licking over Taehyung’s lower lip. The shaky sigh he lets
out makes it difficult to pull away, but he does enough so he can text his driver.

He feels childish sneaking through the park, an adrenaline coursing through him as if they’re going
to be caught by Hoseok. Taehyung lets out a breathless giggle as he falls into the back seat of
Jeongguk’s car, not hesitating to pull Jeongguk down on top of him.

“Mm, can’t,” Jeongguk breathes, nudging his head towards the front. Even with the privacy screen
between them and Seokmin, it isn’t soundproof. "Seokmin-nim was supposed to have the night off, I
shouldn't torture him."

“You have your own driver?” Taehyung asks as if he doesn’t have his own too. He touches
Jeongguk’s wrist, admiring the gold watch and Jeongguk fights off the grimace as he helps
Taehyung out of the car.

Another reason his dating life has gone to shit is that it’s always been obvious when someone wanted
him for his money. It’s not like he hides it, Yoongi says he screams rich CEO, but he’d like people to
at least act like he isn’t just a huge dollar sign to them. Jeongguk likes to spoil the people he cares
about, but his parents' have always told them to never expect anything from anyone and to always be
grateful. Jin tells him to be careful because Jeongguk has a sweet face and a big heart that is easily
taken advantaged of.

“Let me guess, you’re an undercover mob boss,” Taehyung giggles. “You run a huge drug empire
and you’re bringing me back to your drug lare to sniff coke off my back.”

“What?” Jeongguk blurts loudly. He physically can’t handle the amusement inside of him. He has to
stop, eyes squeezing shut as he bends back with the force of his laughter.

“No?” Taehyung huffs out, amused. “Okay. Scientist. You look smart. Humans, animals?
Pharmaceutical?”

“None of 'em,” Jeongguk laughs. He’s content to hold Taehyung in front of him and listen to him
laugh, despite the aching pressure between his legs screaming at him to press Taehyung against the
elevator wall.

“Give me a hint.”

“You were right about the drug empire.”

Taehyung falls still, mouth hanging open as he stares at Jeongguk. There's a flicker of worry that
disrupts the amusement in his eyes but it's only for a moment. “No offense, but I was joking about
you being a mob boss. I mean, you’re thick -” he hums in appreciation as he rubs his arms over
Jeongguk’s arms, “you’re more the mob boss lackey type. You're also soft maybe, maybe have mob
lackeys of your own ordered to protect you at all costs.”

“Not a mob boss,” Jeongguk huffs out. He tenses his arms, letting his muscles flex under Taehyung's
touch. “It’s legal.”

The elevator chimes with each floor as Taehyung crumples his face and stares at Jeongguk hard like
that will give him the answer.

“The only legal drugs are alcohol, tobacco, and sex. Well, legal depending on the situation,”
Taehyung starts, tapping his chin. “Anime and gaming, but I’m not sure everyone will agree with
that. Oh food, too.”

Jeongguk snorts as the elevator comes to a halt, revealing his floor. The thoughtful look doesn’t leave
Taehyung’s face although his eyes do light up the moment he opens the door.

The entrance to his penthouse leads to a wide open space, the kitchen on one side and the living
room on the other. There are hallways attached to both rooms, leading to more rooms and a staircase
to the top floor that he never uses except to work out. Across from them is floor to ceiling windows,
which let the light of the city into the room before Jeongguk flicks on the lights.

“You never told me what you do,” Jeongguk hums as he curls an arm around Taehyung’s waist and
snuggles his face against his neck. “Why should I tell you what I do?”

A soft moan leaves Taehyung’s lips as Jeongguk grazes his teeth over his skin. His fingers fumble
over the buttons of his shirt, no hesitation in expressing what he wants. “I’m an intern at the Dongnae
Counseling Center.”

Jeongguk listens as he finally removes the offensive jean jacket from Taehyung’s body. He kisses
over his throat as he speaks, appreciating the newly revealed skin of Taehyung’s arms.

“It doesn’t pay so I work a bunch of different jobs at night,” Taehyung sighs, knocking the hat from
Jeongguk’s head until it tumbles to the floor. “Got three bellies to feed.”

Sadness grips at Jeongguk’s chest as he pulls back to analyze Taehyung’s face, but Taehyung tugs
him into a kiss before he can voice his thoughts. He kisses him deeply, sucking harshly on
Jeongguk’s bottom lip until Jeongguk has him pinned back against the door.

“Do you want me, Jeongguk?” Taehyung breathes, hiking his legs up as Jeongguk grips at the back
of his thighs. There is strength in Taehyung’s body, the muscles of his arms bulging and the ripple of
his abdomen, he can feel the muscles in his thighs under his palms, but he feels as if he weighs
nothing at all.

“Yes, Tae,” Jeongguk breathes, pulling Taehyung hot against him as Taehyung starts working his
shirt from his body. “Fuck, I haven’t wanted someone this bad in a long time.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Taehyung breathes, hands warming over Jeongguk’s stomach.
It’s low and dirty the way he speaks, his voice thick and words coated in arousal.

“What do you want?” Jeongguk mumbles against his lips, walking through the penthouse with
Taehyung in his arms. The hallway to his bedroom is dark, but he maneuvers without a problem.
“It’s your bucket list.”

“Slow,” Taehyung hums, trailing his fingers down the length of Jeongguk’s neck. “Whatever you
do, do it slowly.”

Whatever you do. Taehyung is giving him permission to do anything, without hesitation, and it
makes Jeongguk’s head spin with need.

“Want me to fuck you?” Jeongguk asks, pushing for more because there are a million different things
he wants to do to Taehyung and he can’t focus on one.

Taehyung is barely on the bed before his hands are grabbing at Jeongguk’s shirt and tugging it from
him. Jeongguk guides him back, settling between his legs until Taehyung is pressing into the mound
of unnecessary pillows on his bed.

“Yeah,” Taehyung breathes, gripping at Jeongguk’s shoulders. “Your bed is so comfortable.”

Jeongguk laughs quietly, dropping to press a kiss over the bruise on Taehyung's belly. He savors the
way Taehyung’s muscle flutter under his tongue and tenses in time with a low moan when Jeongguk
sucks harshly.

“You’re welcome to it anytime,” Jeongguk blurts without thinking. He hesitates but doesn’t correct
himself because he means it.

He shifts his palms up the inside of Taehyung’s thighs, teasing between his legs before he works at
the button of his jeans. It’s sinful, the way Taehyung hoists himself up on his elbows just to watching
Jeongguk with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth.

Jeongguk admires him, the flush over his golden skin. He swears there’s glitter lingering across the
planes of his stomach, but his mind shifts to focus on the metal bars hugging his perked nipples.

“When was the last time you had sex?” Taehyung breathes, body trembling from the sudden cold as
Jeongguk pulls the pants from his legs.

The shock that rushes through him is like being plowed over by a bulldozer. Or so he assumes, as
that has never happened to him. But his whole body jolts, his body flooded with arousal that makes it
difficult not to roll his eyes back.

Stretched over the heavy of Taehyung’s cock is white lace. The head of his dick just peeks out over
the band of more lace, and the way it looks stretched over his hips has Jeongguk’s mouth pooling.

“Guk,” Taehyung whines, dragging Jeongguk’s attention back to his face. His face is flushed hot
and there looks to be embarrassment in his eyes.

“Um,” Jeongguk hesitates, not remembering. His skin is hot to the touch and it’s dizzying. His brain
can’t focus on anything other than the way Taehyung looks in front of him. “Years ago. I don’t
remember.”

Taehyung moans lowly as Jeongguk traces over the lace material, his finger sliding around the band
wrapped around his thigh before tickling in the crease between his thigh and ass.

“Oh,” Taehyung stutters, legs shifting apart. A silent invitation. “They weren’t memorable?”

Jeongguk shakes his head as he leans forward, his hands chasing up the sides of his thighs as he
plants another kiss to Taehyung’s belly. The year Ji-hu had been conceived, he had slept with more
people than he could count. The most memorable had been Ji-hu's mother, a relative to the family
Jeongguk had been staying with while in America.

“You already are,” Jeongguk whispers against his skin, trailing his lips before he wraps them around
one of Taehyung’s perked buds. Taehyung keens, back arching and legs hiking up until his knees
are bracketing Jeongguk’s chest. “Sensitive?

“Yes,” Taehyung moans quietly, fingers tugging into Jeongguk’s hair as Jeongguk flicks his tongue
over the metal bar. “Came once just from touching them.”

Jeongguk groans as he bites down, his body shivering with the force of want he has for Taehyung.

Taehyung gasps loudly, his chest heaving until he’s panting, squirming under Jeongguk’s weight.

“Do you know how hot you are?” Jeongguk murmurs, almost embarrassed by the overwhelmed
sound of his voice. He kisses up the length of Taehyung’s neck, only stopping there to tentatively
suck a bruise there.

The hands in his hair are encouraging and he bites down, worrying at the skin with his teeth until
Taehyung whimpers.

“You’re so pretty,” Jeongguk says as he licks at his mark, hips rocking down like they have a mind
of their own.

“Guk,” Taehyung breathes, hips shamelessly grinding back against him. “Not this slow.”
Jeongguk snorts, pushing up on his elbows so he’s hovering over Taehyung. He kisses him slowly,
ignoring Taehyung’s noise of complaint for only a moment.

As much as he wants to take his time, the hum in his body and the throb between his legs is too hard
to ignore.

“How do you want me?”

“Like this, but with you naked,” Taehyung breathes shakily, stretching his legs further apart as he
sinks down the bed. “I don’t like being on my hands and knees.”

Jeongguk hums as he pulls back. His nightstand isn’t that far but it feels like miles when he’s no
longer touching Taehyung. He can’t keep his eyes away from the scene before him as he slowly
undoes his own pants, the flush of Taehyung’s skin and the way his long limbs are strewn across the
comforter, legs inviting and trembling under his gaze.

The head of his cock peeks from his pretty underwear, twitching and pooling precome onto his skin.
It makes Jeongguk’s hands fumble over their smooth motions, and he’s sure the way he stumbles out
of his pants isn’t attractive but Taehyung watches him with heavy lidded eyes anyway.

He strokes himself, biting at his lip as he watches the way Taehyung’s fingers dig into the comforter.
It isn’t enough, just a soft touch to ease the ache.

“Do you like being called baby?” Jeongguk asks as he produces the lube from his drawer. There’s an
untouched box of condoms in there, provided by an overeager Yoongi, and he makes a mental note
to send his best friend a thank you card.

Taehyung’s lips part as he huffs out. “Tae, or Taehyung,” he whispers, body visibly shivering. “Or
anything, just not baby tonight.”

Jeongguk nods, kneeling back on the bed. He wants to ask, but the look in Taehyung’s eyes tells him
not to.

“Not baby boy?” Jeongguk asks huskily, bending low to mouth at the inside of his thigh. Taehyung
whimpers, his legs jumping up from the touch. He moves further, tongue flicking out to drag over the
lace. “Princess?”

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung complains, fingers catching in his hair. He tugs gently, pulling his head up
and taking Jeongguk’s breath away.

He looks fucked out, a moment away from losing it and Jeongguk can’t find it in himself to deny him
a second longer.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk moans quietly, pushing his legs apart with his knees as he grips at the
panties. He’s careful not to rip the pretty material, afraid he might with the way his arousal shoves
force into his fingertips.

The underwear is discarded to the side as Jeongguk pulls Taehyung’s legs up, his hands gripping the
back of his thighs to guide them over his shoulders. He breathes over Taehyung’s cock as he fumbles
with the lube, pouring too much on his hands before rubbing it between his fingers until the shock of
the cool liquid is gone.

Taehyung breathes harshly with every one of Jeongguk’s exhales, his hips rolling up for friction.
Jeongguk grins, giving in as he mouths a kiss over the length of him.
“Oh,” Taehyung moans, gripping tightly into Jeongguk’s hair as he does it again, his mouth pressing
harder against him. “Feels good.”

“Tell me if it doesn’t,” Jeongguk whispers before licking over the path his mouth has made, his
fingers brushing over the curve of Taehyung’s cheeks.

Time seems to fall still as Jeongguk slides his fingers between his ass cheeks, slowly circling his
fingers over his hole. The whimper Taehyung lets out is a mix of needy and demanding, and despite
what he said about going slow, he rubs down against the touch like going slow is the last thing on his
mind.

“Want me?” Jeongguk asks as he teases over his rim, nudging against his hole but not pressing in.

The petulant grunt that Taehyung lets out is so different than his needy whimpers that Jeongguk
huffs out a laugh.

“No?”

Taehyung’s thighs tighten around Jeongguk’s head when he looks up, holding Taehyung’s gaze.

“I want you,” Taehyung manages and Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate before dipping his finger forward.

There’s little resistance and Jeongguk is reeling, lost in thoughts of Taehyung fucking himself open.
It’s better than the possessiveness that bugs in the back of his mind, whispering about someone else
touching him like this.

He sucks at the base of Taehyung’s cock, tongue darting out to drag shapes over the sensitive skin as
he thrusts his fingers slowly. Taehyung’s body is an earthquake when Jeongguk wraps his head
around the tip, trembling so much he swears the bed shakes with it.

Soft moans fill the room and coat Jeongguk’s body with heat as he pushes in a second. He just about
melts on top of Taehyung as he squeezes around him, hips rocking up until his cock is sliding over
Jeongguk’s tongue.

“Oh fuck,” Taehyung huffs, his body bending as he slips his hand around the back of Jeongguk’s
neck. “Didn’t think you would be so good with your tongue.”

Jeongguk moans around him, scissoring his fingers quickly as his mouth fills with the heady taste of
cock. It’s been a long time since he’s given head, and his jaw aches as he accommodates the girth of
Taehyung, but his body thrums with the feel of Taehyung pushing down his throat.

“Another, come on,” Taehyung urges, fucking his hips down against Jeongguk’s fingers, his heels
digging into Jeongguk’s back.

He pulls off with an obscene wet sound, inhaling quickly before he dribbles spit and precome down
Taehyung’s shaft.

He licks at the trail, guiding a third finger inside of Taehyung. The moan Taehyung lets out sounds
like it’s ripped from his chest as Jeongguk mouths at his balls, moving his body until Taehyung’s
body is nearly bent in half so he can fuck his fingers deep.

“I’m good,” Taehyung huffs out desperately, legs slipping from Jeongguk’s shoulders. “Fuck me,
please.”

Jeongguk bites at Taehyung’s inner thigh, muffling the rumble of a moan that is pulled from his
lungs. He curls and bends his fingers, fucking deep until Taehyung’s body goes taut between him.

Taehyung lets out harsh pants, the sound coated in pleasure as Jeongguk rubs over his prostate. The
flush in his skin has darkened a thousand shades, his skin gleaming with sweat and Jeongguk wants
to kiss praises over every inch of him.

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?” Jeongguk huffs out as he pulls his fingers back, smoothing
lube over Taehyung’s thighs as he falls onto his calves. Taehyung breathes heavily, eyes facing the
ceiling as Jeongguk searches for the condom.

“Will you look at me?” Jeongguk asks hesitantly when he finds the condom, fingers shakily slightly
as he struggles to rip open the package. “So I know you’re okay?”

Taehyung does, his eyes blown out. “I’m more than okay,” he sighs, scooching further down the bed
until his legs are wrapping around Jeongguk’s waist. “Want you to kiss me.”

Jeongguk nods as he slicks himself, his cock pulsing against his palm. “Slow, yeah?”

He gets a nod in response and Jeongguk bends forward, grabbing Taehyung’s thigh pressed against
his waist as he lines himself.

Taehyung’s tongue is sweet against his own, the kiss more tongue and heavy breathing than
anything. His arms are like a vice grip around Jeongguk’s shoulders, his legs even more so as
Jeongguk eases forward, his whole body tense with the control it takes not to slap his hips forward.

“Fuck, Tae,” Jeongguk groans before biting harshly at his bottom lip. “You’re so tight.”

“Not,” Taehyung whimpers, head tilting back into the pillows. “You’re - you’re just thick.”

Jeongguk would grin, but he feels like his body has been emptied out and filled with pleasure as he
guides himself forward into Taehyung’s tight heat. It takes all of his willpower not to wrack his hips
harshly against him and Taehyung doesn’t help with the way he needily rocks back against him.

“Forget slow,” Taehyung whines. “Just fuck me, Guk. How you want.”

With a pinched laugh, Jeongguk grabs Taehyung’s hand and pins it above his head, grinding
forward until his balls are pressing hard against the round of Taehyung’s ass. There’s a tremble in his
own body as he squeezes his hands around Taehyung’s wrist, attempting to ground himself.

“I want it slow,” Jeongguk grits out, lying as he cups Taehyung’s neck with his other hand. He can
feel the vibrations of Taehyung’s moans under his palms as he strokes into him slowly, pulling back
until only the tip of his dick is nestled past his rim, and pushing forward until he’s buried to the hilt.

Taehyung doesn’t seem to mind the weight crushing down onto him as he moans, clinging to
Jeongguk. He can’t last long with the way Taehyung clenches around him and he grunts, biting
Taehyung’s bottom lip before thrusting forward roughly.

“Like that,” Taehyung huffs out, his voice on the edge of frantic as he squeezes Jeongguk’s hand.
“Fuck me like that, baby.”

Jeongguk groans, fucking his hips forward until the room fills with the wet sound of their bodies
slapping together. Taehyung’s moans come out sharp, vibrating across the room and down
Jeongguk’s spine.

Their teeth clash together in an attempt to kiss, Jeongguk’s hand gripping harder around Taehyung’s
jaw to keep him still beneath him. He wants to watch the pleasure build across Taehyung’s face,
wants to see the way he looks when he finally comes.

“You feel so good,” Jeongguk mumbles, voice straining. “You take my cock so well.”

Taehyung whines, eyes falling shut as his fingers dig roughly into Jeongguk’s back. The pitch of his
moans grows and he practically growls when Jeongguk slows.

“Don’t stop,” Taehyung breathes, a hint of panic in his voice. Jeongguk presses a soft kiss to his lips,
arms folding under his shoulders before he’s pulling them back.

Realization crosses his Taehyung’s face and he cups Jeongguk’s jaws pulling him into for a rushed
kiss.

“Ride me?” Jeongguk asks, his tone more demanding than he intended as he maneuvers them around
until it’s his back pushing into the pillows. There’s something satisfying about how Taehyung lets
Jeongguk manhandle him. His touch is gentle, but he can’t help but wonder if he likes it rougher.

The thought nearly makes Jeongguk come before Taehyung’s seated back onto his lap.

“I liked this,” Taehyung breathes, voice hoarse as he demonstrates with his hand folding over
Jeongguk’s throat. He only applies a little pressure, tilting Jeongguk’s head back as he rolls his hips
down. “Fuck, I liked when you had your hand on me like that.”

Jeongguk grips Taehyung’s thigh tightly, reaching up to mimic the grip around his own throat with
his other hand. He doesn’t press down as hard, only holds him, but Taehyung moans shamelessly in
his mouth.

They hold each other like that as Taehyung rolls his hips down, fucking himself onto Jeongguk’s
cock with an expertise that makes Jeongguk’s eyes roll back. Taehyung’s cock slaps wetly against
his belly, drooling out thick streams of precome and Jeongguk knows that he’s close.

“Touch yourself,” Jeongguk huffs, rocking his hips to meet each of Taehyung’s thrusts. “Wanna see
you come.”

Taehyung complies without hesitation, dropping the hand around Jeongguk’s throat to curl around
himself. He bounces roughly, hips losing their rhythm as Jeongguk palms at one of his ass cheeks,
gripping down to help guide his movements.

Jeongguk bites back a groan as the pleasure turns tight in the low of his belly, like a fist clenching
inside of him. He tugs Taehyung down, grinding deep inside of him as his cock pulses. He lets out a
strangled moan, just a vibration as he presses his lips tightly shut.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung huffs out before his body is falling taught, hand fucking quickly over his
cock. Jeongguk’s grip tightens as he watches the euphoria fall across Taehyung’s expression, his
brows knitting together and mouth falling open over a harsh exhale.

He’s pulled over the edge as Taehyung tightens around him, his hips thrusting up once more as
comes. He can barely breathe, his chest tight as pleasure rocks through him in waves. Come spatters
across his belly, Taehyung letting out a soft cry before he’s pushing past Jeongguk’s hold and
smothering his moan against his lips.

“That was so good,” Taehyung breathes harshly, clenching around his softening cock. Jeongguk
grits his teeth from sensitively, his thumb robbing soft, apologetic circles over where he gripped too
tightly. “You’re so good. Could spend the whole night fucking you like that.”
Pride swells in Jeongguk’s chest as he shuts Taehyung up with a kiss, rubbing his hands over every
inch of Taehyung’s body like he isn’t ready to let go.

And he isn’t. He’s fucked, he realized that earlier and he thinks about it again. But he doesn’t think
he minds, not when there’s a calm flooding through him and a warmth filling his chest that feels like
only Taehyung can provide.

“If that’s on your bucket list, I already promised to help you fulfill it,” Jeongguk murmurs, brushing a
thumb over Taehyung’s cheekbone. “Was I too rough?”

Taehyung shakes his head, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose. “I liked it. I want to see your touch
when I wake up tomorrow so I can remember it wasn’t a dream. Plus that was like, a gentle rough
babe, you're fine.”

Jeongguk moans quietly, tugging his hips back and Taehyung gasps from the feeling. He clings onto
Taehyung, rolling him over until their positions are swapped. He doesn’t care about the sweat or the
come or the fact that his sheets are covered in lube, he only cares about peppering Taehyung’s face
with kisses.

He trails them down his neck, heart soaring at the small bruises that will still be there when
Taehyung leaves.

“Gukkie,” Taehyung hums, fingers massaging over Jeongguk’s scalp. “What time is it?”

He glances at the clock on his nightstand. “Almost two.”

Taehyung sighs, pressing a kiss to Jeongguk’s forehead. “I should text Hobi so he doesn’t think I’ve
died. Even if I almost did.”

Jeongguk snorts fondly. He keeps his eyes on Taehyung as he moves across the room, rejoicing at
finally being able to see the bare of Taehyung’s ass. It jiggles when he walks and Jeongguk wonders
how long it will take before he’s riled up enough for round two.

“Do you smoke?” Taehyung asks, uncaring about his naked state as he nears the opened window.
He’s texting quickly over his phone, lips pulled down into a tight frown. “I like to smoke after I
fuck.”

“No,” Jeongguk says as he rolls out of bed and heads towards his closet. “Didn’t you have a pack?”

“Only one,” Taehyung hums, his eyebrows knitting together as he stares at his phone. “I only allow
myself one when I go out or I’ll chain smoke between drinks.”

Jeongguk rummages around his closet until he finds the box, hoping they aren’t stale. Yoongi had
left them behind only a week prior. “I have some though.”

There’s delight in Taehyung’s eyes as Jeongguk offers him an unopened box of cigarettes. He settles
against the ledge of his window, opening it as far as it will open - only a few inches. It’s chilly and
Taehyung shivers as he beats the pack of cigarettes against his palm.

“Why do you have cigarettes if you don’t smoke?” Taehyung grins. Jeongguk can’t keep his hands
off of him, rubbing his palms over his bare thighs until they spread. “And expensive ones too?”

Jeongguk only lifts a shoulder in a shrug, bending over to kiss over the skin raw and pink from
Jeongguk’s teeth.
He doesn’t hate cigarettes. His whole career is based around tobacco and he’s grown accustomed to
the smell, but there are times where he can’t stop thinking about how he is benefiting from other
people’s addictions.

“Why did you tell me to go slow when you were rocking your hips against mine like you were trying
to win a race?”

Taehyung lets out an embarrassed groan, shoving Jeongguk away before he blows smoke out of the
window. Jeongguk waits for it to clear before he kisses Taehyung, tasting the trace of tobacco left in
his mouth.

“Go make me a drink, Mr. Drug Lord,” Taehyung sighs before his lips careen into a grin. “Please.”

Jeongguk wrinkles his nose, rubbing the tip of it against Taehyung’s before he grabs his briefs. The
house is empty, but it’s a habit of his.

It’s only been five days since his son left for America, but there’s a small finally in his mind that
someone else is occupying his home. Someone other than Hoseok, who sometimes gives him such a
headache that he craves to be alone. He likes making drinks for two, even if one of them isn’t banana
milk.

Taehyung is back on the bed when he returns, limbs thrown out across the blankets and the top of his
body buried in the mound of his pillows, still unclothed. “I don’t think I’ll ever leave this bed,” he
sighs.

“Stay as long as you want,” Jeongguk tells him, handing him glass. Taehyung downs it like he’s a
man that’s gone his whole life without a single drink. “I don’t have any plans tomorrow if you want
to stay.”

It feels like the wrong thing to say as Taehyung looks at him, teeth worrying at his bottom lip.
Jeongguk takes to gazing over his features, wanting to remember every detail.

The way he has only one double lid, his eyes slightly different in size. The way his nose wrinkles as
he thinks and his eyes blink more than he thinks is normal when he speaks. The drawn out lull of his
voice and the bony knobs of his long fingers. There's a freckle at the tip of his nose that Jeongguk
finds a strong urge to kiss.

“I have work in the afternoon,” Taehyung finally says. “I have to pick up my siblings from their play
date before that but um, I can stay for breakfast?”

Jeongguk grins, relief filling him as he slides his glass over the nightstand. “Okay. I’m really good at
making toaster waffles.”

Taehyung giggles, pulling his legs towards his chest. “I’m not picky.”

Leaning over, Jeongguk grips Taehyung’s ankle, rubbing over the sharp bone before tugging him
closer. Taehyung’s expression is bright as he comes when beckoned, crawling over the sheets.

“Did you talk to hyung?” Jeongguk hums, leaning forward to kiss Taehyung. “He won’t storm in
here thinking I kidnapped you? He’s the one encouraging me to get laid yet he didn’t look too happy
about me being with you.”

Taehyung sighs, pushing back the hair stuck to Jeongguk’s sweaty forehead. It’s intimate, and
Jeongguk’s body soars. “He won’t.”
Jeongguk hums, letting his eyes flutter shut under the feather like touches Taehyung drags over his
cheeks. “Wanna shower with me, then?”

“Oh please tell me you have one of those obnoxiously large showers for no reason.”

There’s embarrassment filling him as he mumbles a response that he knows Taehyung can’t hear.

When Jeongguk wakes, the room is barely lit with the rising sun, streaming in pinks and golds
through the cracks of his curtains. He sighs, snuggling against the warm body pressed against his.

Taehyung snores quietly, his breath ghosting over Jeongguk’s collarbone. He’s like a heated blanket,
radiating warmth against his chest and where their legs are tangled. Jeongguk wishes there was more
light so he could see the restful expression on the other man’s face.

He sighs, tucking his chin on top of Taehyung’s head as he traces circles down his spine, keeping
him close until the warmth and the calm around him drags him back to sleep.

The second time Jeongguk wakes, there’s a chill creeping across his skin that has him groaning and
reaching for the blankets over his hips. He yanks them up until his head is practically buried
underneath.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk murmurs, scooching forward but he is only met with cold sheets.

He surges upwards, rubbing at his eyes as he stares at the massive empty bed. There are no longer
clothes strewn on the floor and his curtains are shut completely now.

There’s a note on the pillow where Taehyung’s head had been and nerves grip at Jeongguk’s chest
before he reads it.

Didn’t want to wake you but I was going to be late. You owe me toaster waffles.

Thank you for last night <3 Tae

Jeongguk falls back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering if it’s a good or bad thing
that Taehyung didn’t leave him his phone number.

The morning air is cool enough that Taehyung wishes he hadn’t forgotten his jean jacket in
Jeongguk’s living room. He wants the heat, the summer, sweat slicking down his back just from
looking at the sun. He wants the ocean.

He isn’t too familiar with where Jeongguk lives. To be honest, there are only two parts of Busan that
he knows well. Where he lives and where he works. The rest that he’s visited with clients aren’t clear
to him. He’s rarely aware of where they’re going, that’s always Hoseok’s responsibility. He zones
out too much to focus and he's been trying to get better at not doing that.

“Where are you, Taehyung? I’ve been searching the whole damn country for you?”

Hoseok sounds pissed and Taehyung flinches away from where the phone is pressed tightly into his
ear. “That’s impressive hyung. I didn’t know you could drive all of South Korea in only a few
hours.”

The grumbling response makes Taehyung walk faster. He isn’t going to tell Hoseok exactly where
he is until he’s far enough away from Jeongguk’s place, though he suspects Hoseok already knows
where Jeongguk lives.

“I’m not in the mood for your jokes. I’m tired and hungry -”

“You should have gotten something at Panda Expr-”

“ Taehyung. ”

Taehyung presses his lips tightly together, shoulders slumping. It had been unfair of him to ditch
Hoseok but he needed to.

He wanted one night, just one night - a few hours, of feeling free. Of being with someone who
wanted to be with him, of being able to be himself without feeling the pressure of money weighing
on his shoulders and making him feel like every word that he speaks, every move his body makes, is
to assure money is in his pocket. He wanted someone who wanted to please him too.

He’s heard of Jeongguk before, briefly whenever Jimin and Hoseok have mentioned him. He’s seen
pictures of him at Jimin’s apartment, has always found him cute. He couldn’t resist when he met him
in person, because pictures had done him no justice.

Jeongguk radiates power and money, something that Taehyung's been trained to attract to. But it had
been more than that. Jeongguk is ridiculously attractive and surprisingly gentle.

“I’m supposed to make sure you don’t get hurt but I can’t do that if you run off on me.”

It’s best that Hoseok thinks Jeongguk as a client, though he knows Hoseok wouldn’t go running
back to Bobby to tell on him if he knew that Jeongguk wasn't.

Except.

Fuck, he doesn’t have the money to show for it.

“Isn’t he your friend?” Taehyung asks. He’s always been good at reading people. He knows which
clients will be difficult, he knows which ones might cause him harm. Jimin never lets those ones near
him and Jimin had been plenty eager about him meeting Jeongguk. “Jimin wouldn’t let me leave
with someone who would hurt me.”

“No, he wouldn’t hurt you,” Hoseok says, his voice serious. “At least tell me where you’re going
next time so I can pretend that I’m doing well at my job.”

Taehyung smile falters as guilt pools into his belly. He stops when he finds a restaurant that is open
before rattling the address off to Hoseok.

“I’m close by,” Hoseok sighs, relief in his voice. “I’m kind of uncomfortable with the fact that my
best friend bought you for the night. I’m sorry if you ditched me because I was awkward about how
to act.”

The guilt intensifies. Best friend. He had noticed Hoseok had been awkward. Normally, Hoseok acts
like he’s a shadow in the background. He hates every client Taehyung has ever been assigned to, but
he’s usually friendly enough that only Taehyung notices the hatred in his eyes.

The woman behind the counter eyes him strangely and Taehyung grins, tapping at the sore skin on
the side of his neck. His walk of shame, all across town. “Can I ask you a favor? No questions?”
Taehyung lists off his small order as he practically hears Hoseok’s brain working double time
assessing the situation to decide if he wants to say yes or not.

It’s like pulling teeth with this guy, but he always gives in to help fix whatever trouble Taehyung has
gotten himself into.

“What is it first?”

“Two million won.”

There’s a long silence as Taehyung bounces on his feet. It’s the price of a night with him, an amount
that he won’t be able to walk into work without.

Hoseok cusses quietly. “Did Jeongguk not pay? I’ll call him right now.”

“What? No, he did,” Taehyung says quickly, groaning internally. He glares up at the ceiling,
knowing a scolding is coming. “Ikindofdidn’tchargehim.”

Hoseok stays quiet for a long moment and it sounds as if he sighs in relief. “So, Jeongguk wasn’t a
customer?”

“Glad to know your brain is still functioning without sleep, hyung.”

The woman hands him his box of food with a tight smile as he eyes Hoseok’s SUV swerve in front
of the shop. The phone clicks and Taehyung groans, dragging his aching body forward before
Hoseok storms in and drags him out.

“If I find out you were doing drugs last night, I’m kicking your ass,” Hoseok says in a way of
greeting as Taehyung slumps into the backseat. “While I’m glad to know my dongsaeng isn’t going
around buying people anymore, you were supposed to be working last night.”

He can still feel every touch Jeongguk pressed against his skin and a distant spark of arousal hits him
as he remembers just how good it felt to have his palm pressing against his throat like that.

Rough touches, he hates them normally. But Jeongguk had been so tender and careful that he felt
himself enjoying when he touched him that way. He trusted it wouldn’t go far and that allowed him
to relax enough to enjoy it.

It was a bad move, trusting someone.

“I wasn’t supposed to be working last night,” Taehyung corrects quickly, feeling bratty but he
doesn’t care. “I was supposed to have the day off.”

Hoseok sighs again, glancing at him through the mirror with sadness in his eyes. “I know.”

He slumps into his seat, scrolling through his missed messages. Jimin’s excited ones about him
leaving with Jeongguk, cheeky reminders to use condoms and Yoongi’s theories on what kinks
Jeongguk has.

Taehyung bites at his smile, tucking into his body more.

“Bobby wants you to come in early,” Hoseok says after a moment, his tone hesitant. “I’ll pick up the
little ones.”

Like that, the giddiness inside of his chest is gone. “Why?”

“Dunno, I think it’s Hanbin again. I’ll give you the money, Taehyung. Just don’t ditch me again
without giving me a heads up.”

Taehyung pulls forward, bending over the seat to press a kiss to Hoseok’s temple. “Love you hyung,
I’m sorry.”

Hoseok makes a cooing noise before he blows a kiss through the rearview mirror. “I love you too.”

The club is different in the daytime, lit up with lights that seem blinding rather than seducing. He
only had enough time to quickly change out of his clothes before Hoseok had brought him to this
side of town, and he feels eyes on him as he walks through and towards the offices.

It’s proper to visit Bobby like they’re meeting a client, but Taehyung hadn’t had enough time to
cover the marks on his skin. He hastily tried to in the back of Hoseok’s car but he knows he did a
poor job.

He knocks tentatively on the door engraved with ‘Kim Bobby’ on it. It takes a moment before he
hears him, calling for him to come in.

The office is lavish, bigger than Taehyung’s whole apartment. There’s a living room to one side, a
kitchen in the back, and a desk that is nearly as big as Jeongguk’s bed in the middle. That’s where
Bobby sits, hunched over a spread of paper.

“Baby, come, sit,” Bobby greets, waving to the plush chair across from him. “Have you talked to
Jimin? He seemed worried about you last night?”

Taehyung’s heart crumples in his chest. The last message Jimin had sent him was that Hoseok had
called him looking for him. But he trusts Jimin enough to know that he wouldn’t tell Bobby that
Taehyung ditched his bodyguard.

Jimin is the only one that Taehyung feels comfortable in trusting. And Hoseok. Maybe Yoongi a bit,
since he's so whipped for Jimin that he wouldn't risk upsetting Jimin by hurting him.

“A rough customer,” Taehyung lies with ease, smiling softly as he slips the envelope of won onto the
desk. He tilts his head slightly, knowing Bobby’s eyes are gazing over the finger shaped bruises on
his throat. “But not bad. Jimin introduced me to him.”

Amusement crosses Bobby’s expression. He’s let his hair grow long, parted down the middle and it
makes him appear boyish, though he’d never say it out loud. Despite the boyish look, his eyes can
sharpen into daggers and his fingers can feel like them.

“Jeongguk, right?” Bobby asks and Taehyung feels himself freeze from the icy panic pouring
through his veins. “I grew up with him. Would have never guessed he was kinky. Bit of a stiff, you
know. I used to club with him. Never understood how he got laid as often as he did.”

Bobby snorts loudly and Taehyung only stares back, keeping his face expressionless. There’s a
thunder of emotion inside his chest as he wonders how close Bobby and Jeongguk are.

Go figure, the one person that makes him feel good about himself is connected back to Bobby.
Taehyung's never going to be able to escape him.

“June saw you with him,” Bobby explains, folding his hands over the desk. “Do you think he’ll be a
regular?”
Taehyung hesitates, searching for the right answer. He can never tell if Bobby looks amused because
he is, or if he’s being sarcastic. “He enjoyed himself.”

“Could up your price then, he can afford it,” Bobby hums thoughtfully. “Might have to fight Hanbin
to get his hands on you. He’s not happy you were out with someone else last night.”

“It’s my job,” Taehyung says sourly. He knew June would say something. He could see it in the
man’s eyes the moment they glanced at Jeongguk. “If he’s that worried he should have taken me last
night.”

A huff of laughter leaves Bobby’s lips and he seems genuinely amused. He’s close with Hanbin,
Taehyung reminds himself, it’s important to tread carefully. “I don’t think Jimin would have let him.”

The amusement slips from Bobby’s expression suddenly and Taehyung tenses. He rubs at his bare
thighs, wishing he was wearing more clothing as he feels goosebumps spread over his skin.

“He’s been pretty adamant about dropping Hanbin as a client and you know Jimin gets his way
when it comes to you, but you’ll continue working with him until I say. Understand?”

Taehyung swallows as he nods. “Yes, sir.”

“But only Thursdays. I really can't handle the argument with Jimin, so I had to compromise
somewhat. You’ll need to make up the loss of Tuesdays. If Jimin approves of Jeon, up the pricing for
a day session and double it for the night.”

There’s a sweat building over his neck. He should have just worked last night like he promised
Bobby he would. He doesn’t want Jeongguk involved in any of this. Four million won for one night
is too much. He already gets angry looks from his coworkers that Bobby's set his price at two
million, even if he thinks that is Jimin's doing and not Bobby's. “Yes, sir. Is there anything else?”

Bobby pads over, a soft smile back on his lips. Taehyung stays stock still as Bobby reaches out,
brushing a thumb over his cheekbone. “Tell Mr. Jeon I said hello and that he must be more careful
with you, yes? I don’t like when people ruin what’s mine.”

He trails his knuckles down Taehyung’s sore throat. “Even if you look beautiful when you’re
ruined.”
 Chapter 2
Chapter Notes

Wow wow! I am overwhelmed by the feedback from the first chapter! I am so happy
you've enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy this one too. I'm struggling between is there a thing
as too much smut in one fic and of course there isn't, but who knows.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

After a few nights of being alone, Jeongguk finds himself cozied up on Yoongi’s couch. It’s been a
while since he has just visited his apartment to hang out, but he has also came with ulterior motives.

“Ji-hu called me today,” Yoongi says as he pads into the living room with a beer in each hand. It’s
quite a small room, with more furniture than space, but there are blankets everywhere and more signs
of life than his own place. “He sounds like he’s having a good time.”

Jeongguk hums. He’s glad, he is. But he misses his son and he isn’t completely fond of the boy’s
grandparents. They aren’t bad, but they hadn’t been nice when Jeongguk first met them and they
haven't gotten any better.

Plus, with the time difference, Jeongguk can’t check in on Ji-hu all day or risk losing sleep. Not that
he wouldn’t do that for Ji-hu, but he knows Yoongi would kill him if he stayed up all night to text his
son. Coffee doesn’t help him keep awake through the day enough to deal with boring business
meetings.

“He said, and I quote, ‘make sure Appa eats his veggies’. I didn’t tell him you’ve had quite the fill of
nutrition this week.”

Jeongguk tosses the remote at Yoongi so it smacks against his thigh. Yoongi grunts out a noise that
sounds like it might be a laugh or a groan before flicking him off. “His grandparents seem like
dipshits. They scolded him for speaking Korean even when he told them that I can’t speak English.”

Jeongguk rubs at his forehead, annoyed. He had spoken to them about that already. “They’re not the
worst but they could be better. Ji-hu’s mother wasn’t any better.”

A frown tugs at Yoongi’s lips like he’s ready to lecture him about life. They don’t talk about her,
ever. Even if she’s mentioned accidentally, there’s a rule that it’s forgotten about as soon as it's said.

Unless it’s Ji-hu, then Jeongguk will force himself to talk about her with a smile on his face. But the
conversation is always sparing. He doesn't think Ji-hu grasps the concept of a mother, just knows
they're something some people have. He's never really been around mothers, even his best friend in
school doesn't have one.

It had been a mistake changing the subject when Ji-hu brought her up, he sees that now, but it isn't
any easier.

“Tell me about Taehyung,” Yoongi says, changing the subject. He taps Jeongguk’s throat, where he
knows there are faded bruises. “Jimin says he can’t stop talking about you.”

Warmth fills Jeongguk’s chest and he knows it reaches his face when Yoongi snorts. “I can’t stop
thinking about him, hyung. I haven’t jerked off so much in my life.”

It’s a joke, and he gets the intended response as Yoongi groans in complaint. “I don’t want to know
the details, kid.”

Jeongguk snorts as he pops the cap off his beer. It’s ironic since he’s had to listen to a drunk Yoongi
recite a poem about how pretty Jimin’s dick is before. “Tae said he worked with Jimin, but he can’t.
So, I was wondering if you knew where he worked, hyung?”

Taehyung had said he worked at night when the dance studio was closed.

“Are you planning on stalking him?” Yoongi asks as he lifts a brow.

“No,” Jeongguk is quick to respond, “I’d like to see him again though.”

“Aw,” Yoongi coos, reaching out to tickle under Jeongguk’s chin but he swats his hand away. “I
lied though. Give me details and maybe I’ll tell you. I bet Jimin fifty thousand won about your kinks
and I want to cash in the dough.”

Heat quickly erupts over Jeongguk’s skin as he remembers the way it felt to have Taehyung’s legs
wrapped around his waist, the dirty words he whispered in his ears. He can’t get the sound of his
moans out of his mind, finding himself with a half hard cock in the worst situations.

“We had sex.”

This only makes Yoongi’s nose wrinkle. “Vague,” he complains.

Jeongguk sighs, propping an elbow on the side of the couch as he rubs his bottom lip. It had been
sore and swollen the day after and he misses the feeling. “He was wearing lace underwear like,
women’s underwear. I swear hyung -”

He stutters over his words as embarrassment makes his face red. “I’m not surprised I came that fast.
He has an ass that rivals Jimin’s and I wasn’t expecting that.”

Yoongi snorts. “No one has an ass like Jimin’s, but I forgive you since you just earned me fifty
thousand won.”

“I didn’t realize that was a thing I liked,” Jeongguk huffs out weakly. His skin feels hot as the ghost
of Taehyung’s hand wrapping around his throat tickles him, distracting him enough that he isn’t
bothered by Yoongi and Jimin betting on what he gets off to. “Now, job, go.”

There’s mischief in Yoongi’s eyes as he takes his time in drinking his beer. Internally, Jeongguk
groans, knowing that means he’s going to have to practically beg his hyung for an answer.

“I don’t think it’s my place to tell you.”

“Yeah well, neither was it mine to tell you about Taehyung’s underwear.”

Yoongi snorts loudly at the defensive sound of Jeongguk’s voice. “Yeah, but you did.”

Jeongguk lifts himself from the couch. “I’m out of here.”

The room fills with Yoongi’s laughter as Yoongi grabs his arm and shoves him back onto the couch.
“Fine, fine. How about I show you. Are you free tonight?”

He wants to put up a fight and have Yoongi just tell him, but the prospect of maybe seeing Taehyung
again has him nodding.

The music is muffled through the walls, but it’s loud enough that Taehyung can rock along to the
beat as he applies the glitter to his eyelids. He hates getting ready when there’s no music. He hates
being surrounded by any kind of silence, even needing a fan on at night before he can fall asleep.

Though he hadn’t minded the quiet of Jeongguk’s room when he laid in bed beside him. He didn’t
have any trouble falling asleep to nothing but the whispered sound of him breathing.

“Guess who’s your best friend,” Jimin announces as he bursts into the dressing room, bringing in the
music with him. It quickly dips back into a dull muffle when the door slams shut.

Taehyung watches Jimin through the mirror, noting the excited look on his face as he quickly moves
around the dressing room. He heads for the rack of clothes, going through them though Taehyung’s
outfit for the night is already laid out.

“Hoseok,” Taehyung answers, dropping his eyeshadow to the vanity before picking up the diamond
earrings. He has seven for each ear, and he doesn’t care if they match. No one else will care either.

Jimin scoffs at this, glaring at the door where Hoseok no doubt stands behind. “Me. I am. And guess
why.”

“Why,” Taehyung says blandly to entertain him. He likes the way the diamonds sparkle. There are
even more on the straps of his outfit, and he knows he’ll look amazing when the dark colored lights
strike over his body.

Everyone likes the diamonds and the glitter that coats his skin. He’s had people compare him to a
supernova, he’s had people desperate to touch him just to have that stain of glitter on the tips of their
fingers. A small reminder of what it’s like to touch Baby.

“Nevermind, I’ll leave it as a surprise then,” Jimin pouts. He pulls out an outfit, soft pastel pink with
white lace. “I like this one.”

Taehyung shoves the last earring into the right ear before turning around. “Okay, I’m sorry. You
know Thursdays suck for me. I’ll try to be more excited.”

Jimin softens as he hands Taehyung the outfit. His eyes rake over his nearly naked body, probably
scanning his skin for marks like he does every Thursday. “Do you want me to talk to Bob -”

“No,” Taehyung says, turning back around to start on the other ear. Jimin already had spoken to him
though Taehyung begged him not to. His skin crawls just thinking about the displeasure in Bobby’s
face when he told him the first time that he was dropping Hanbin’s days. It was easier talking about it
afterward, but it all backfired and now Bobby wants Jeongguk to start paying for him. “Now please,
your surprise.”

“Jeongguk is coming tonight.”

Taehyung feels his body freeze up tightly as he processes Jimin’s words. He doesn’t know whether
to melt or scream. He wants to see Jeongguk again and he isn’t embarrassed about what he does,
especially in front of someone who won’t understand why he does it, but he still isn’t too excited for
Jeongguk to find out.

As much as he wanted to see Jeongguk again, there’s a reason he had snuck out earlier than planned
and didn’t leave his phone number.

“Yoongi says he’d probably empty the entirety of his bank account to see you again,” Jimin goes on,
“so, he can probably free up your night and keep you from Hanbin. You know Jay doesn’t mind that
kinky shit he’s into.”

Taehyung wrinkles his nose at that. He doesn’t want Jeongguk to spend money on him. The reason
he enjoyed spending time with Jeongguk is because he didn’t have to pretend to have a good time
and nothing had to be business like.

It was good. So good. It’s the first time Taehyung has had sex because he wanted to, not because he
needed to.

It’s the first time in a long time that the other person cared if he was enjoying it or not. It was the first
time in a long time that he actually did.

“And trust me, he has a lot of money in that bank account.”

“What does he do?”

He holds the outfit up against his body, admiring the way the pastel pink looks against his skin tone.
Jimin is right, it does look better than the other outfit. The other outfit was leather and diamonds,
harsher and begging for a different kind of audience.

He flushes, wondering if Jeongguk would like him in something pretty like this. He remembers the
overwhelmed gasp when he saw his underwear. Jimin had been the one to suggest he wear it that
night and he wonders if Jimin's up to more than he leads on.

“Jeon Tobacco?” Jimin asks, an impressed tone in his voice. “He runs the whole company. Makes
bank. It’s the biggest tobacco company like, anywhere I think.”

Taehyung grins. He had been right that tobacco is a legal drug. It also explains why Jeongguk had
such expensive cigarettes in his home.

“He told me he was a drug lord.”

Jimin snorts loudly, reaching to help Taehyung with his outfit. “You look fond.”

He won’t admit it because he can’t. He only hums to the music trying to break through the walls.

“Was he good in bed? He looks like he would be.”

“So good,” Taehyung practically moans, making Jimin giggle. “It was worth Hoseok being grumpy
with me.”

“He’s a really good guy,” Jimin says softly, rubbing Taehyung’s shoulders. “You could use a good
guy as your new daddy.”

Heat flushes quickly over his skin and he groans. He definitely doesn’t want that with Jeongguk.
Even if he seems like he’d take better care of him than Hanbin.

God, he wants it so bad , he just doesn’t deserve having someone like Jeongguk in his life.

“Bobby and Hanbin are close,” Taehyung hums. “I doubt he’d allow me to go anywhere.”

Jimin rolls his eyes, nose wrinkling. “Have you forgotten that I make the decisions here? Now come
on, it’s almost time to get on stage.”

Confusion hits Jeongguk the moment he steps inside the Minx. He’s heard of it enough to know that
it’s a strip club not far from the one he had been at when he met Taehyung, and the workers are
either recruits from the brothel no one is supposed to know about or escorts rumored to be working
under Bobby.

Rumors that he is starting to believe are true.

“He um, works here?” Jeongguk asks timidly as he follows after Yoongi. It’s early enough that the
place isn’t crowded, there are more strippers than guests, and they easily find an unoccupied couch
by the stage.

There’s a hard set to Yoongi’s mouth and Jeongguk follows his gaze towards the bar, finding Jimin
there. He feels like he should look away because Jimin is nearly naked, only a pair of gold shorts
hugging his ass. He’s covered in jewelry, from the choker around his neck and the dangling
diamonds in his ears. Even from the distance, Jeongguk can see the way the light shines from the
bars hugging his nipples.

“Oh,” Jeongguk says, noting the way Jimin’s hip is cocked and he’s clearly flirting with whoever he
is speaking to by the way he trails a teasing finger over the man’s chest. Oh.

“Yeah,” Yoongi says, taking a big gulp of his drink. “Don’t think differently of Chim. He’s just an
announcer here. He owes the owner a lot of money.”

Jeongguk shakes his head quickly, assuring Yoongi that he doesn’t. He doesn’t know what to think,
but he it isn’t judgmental. He's definitely concerned knowing that Jimin works here because of a
debt.

He wonders if Taehyung owes a debt too.

“He suggested I bring you that night we went out,” Yoongi explains, shifting uncomfortably. It takes
a moment before he doesn’t look like he might storm over to the bar and murder the guy Jimin is
talking to. “I didn’t tell you before because it wasn’t my place.”

“I get it,” Jeongguk says. He babies his own drink, his head already buzzing from the beers he had at
Yoongi’s apartment. His skin is hot, but not from the alcohol. From the idea of seeing Taehyung as
bare skinned as Jimin.

A kind of dancer. Jeongguk doesn’t like the way it makes his dick twitch with interest at the
implication of that. But he can’t help himself. Taehyung had looked good grinding against him while
fully clothed, he can only imagine.

“Taehyung’s having a hard time and Jimin wanted to find someone to hook him up with to take his
mind off of things,” Yoongi explains, arching an eyebrow at him. “He’s a nerd like you so I figured
you’d be into him.”

Jeongguk doesn’t deny it because he is. Instead, he focuses on the first part. “What is he dealing
with?”

Yoongi glances back at Jimin, who is making his way towards the stage, before sinking into the
couch. “Bad customers.”
Before Jeongguk can ask further questions, the lights dim darker around them as the lights of the
stage come alive. It only takes a moment before Jimin is on the stage, walking in a slow stride.
Jeongguk wonders how Yoongi is breathing since his own breath is sticking in his lungs at how
alluring Jimin looks. His eyes are dark and playful, and his hands trace down the length of his neck
in a way that makes Jeongguk feel like a bad friend when his fingers itch to follow the movement.

The first time he had met Jimin had been at a club similar to this. He had heard about Jimin from
Yoongi and Hoseok, who had gone to the same college as him while Jeongguk had been in
America. Jeongguk had never seen his face, and it still embarrasses him to think of the way he nearly
brought Jimin home before Hoseok pulled him aside to tell him that he had been grinding up against
Yoongi’s Jimin.

He wonders if Jimin had been working at the time, or if he was just another club goer.

“Welcome to the Minx,” Jimin practically purrs, his voice deeper and more sultry than Jeongguk’s
ever heard it. “I know you are excited for the show but I must admit, I don’t want to share Baby with
you. He's so pretty I didn't - ah, I couldn't tell you. Though wouldn't you like to know what Baby
and I get up to?”

There’s a rumble of complaints from the growing crowd and Jimin just flashes them a delighted smile
in return. His eyes scan over the crowd and Jeongguk worries that he will be able to spot them easily.

“Remember, no touching,” Jimin hums, winking at one man that approaches the stage, money
already in hand. “Only Daddy gets to touch.”

The word, a simple word, drags a scorching heat down Jeongguk’s spine and lights a wildfire into
his stomach. He looks away when Jimin’s eyes finally find them, searching for another familiar face.
The only one he sees is Hoseok and he stills.

He stands towards the back, in front of a hallway entrance that must go backstage. There’s a serious
look on his face, arms clasped in front of him. He clearly works here, and Jeongguk wants to ask but
Yoongi is looking up at Jimin like he’s just answered all of his life questions.

“You, come here pretty boy.”

Jeongguk turns abruptly when Yoongi elbows him into the side. He stares at the stage, locking eyes
with Jimin as Jimin holds a finger out to beckon him forward.

He needs new friends.

“You’re new,” Jimin comments as Jeongguk approaches.

It’s an act he can do well, and Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate to fall into it. He keeps his shoulders wide,
his expression cool, the way he does whenever he walks into a meeting room filled with intimidating
people. “I am.”

“Have you come to see Baby?”

Baby. It clicks in his brain, the bartender and Hoseok calling Taehyung that. But it makes him want
to frown because Taehyung had seemed strange about asking Jeongguk not to call him that.

“I have.”

Jimin’s eyes are heavy lidded and full of seduction when he slides to the edge of the stage. Jeongguk
almost wants to turn back to Yoongi and ask for permission to continue looking at the love of his life
like this.

“He’ll like you,” Jimin purrs, tracing a finger over Jeongguk’s jaw. He can’t stop thinking about the
fact that his son’s dance teacher and best friend's heart is half naked in front of him, seducing him. At
a strip club. “He’s looking for a new Daddy, you know.”

Jeongguk has to bite hard on his tongue not to groan at that. Jimin smiles at whatever face he makes
(probably an embarrassing one).

“Go back to your cute friend and remember, no touching.”

Yoongi’s face is red when Jeongguk returns and same. He isn’t sure he can keep up the act of cool,
calm and collected for long. Especially when the whole room goes black before the music starts.

Jeongguk is extremely thankful for the dark surrounding him as he eyes the figure being revealed on
the stage. It’s the back of a man, muscles rippling down his back and flexing in the back of his thighs
from standing on tall heels. Pink fabric crosses over his hips and dips between his ass cheeks, doing
little to hide anything but the most intimate part of him. The muscles in his ass shift when he leans
onto his other foot and Jeongguk swears he’s never seen a prettier ass ever.

Except once, when he was last with Taehyung.

The man turns slightly, the muscles dancing under his skin. His silver hair collects the soft purple
lighting overhead before that sharp jaw reveals itself.

The sharp jaw that Jeongguk had spent his time kissing over just to hear the whimpers Taehyung let
out when he did.

Jeongguk sucks in a breath as Taehyung turns, eyes intense on the crowd. He wears a halter made up
of thin, crisscrossing ribbon, stopping right above his rib cage. The fabric of his underwear barely
hides him and Jeongguk licks his lips as he notices the way he strains against the fabric.

God, he’s lost in Taehyung and he hasn’t even moved yet.

“Yo,” Yoongi breathes, fingers in his mouth before a high pitched whistle shoots through the room.
A small grin takes over Taehyung’s lips and Jeongguk can’t breathe as he starts to move.

He’s watched his cock bury itself into Taehyung, has felt the tight heat of him clenching around him.
Yet even that doesn’t feel as intimate as watching Taehyung’s body bend and move to the slow,
sensual music. His fingers trace over his body, his face relaxed into a pleased expression.

He is captivating, hypnotizing Jeongguk with every roll of his hips, every finger tracing down the
middle of his thighs.

Jeongguk is aware of the constant “oh wow”s that Yoongi mumbles every time Taehyung dips his
hips and it spurs a possessiveness in him that makes him uncomfortable with the number of eyes
currently latched onto Taehyung. It’s a distant thought, but it’s there, budding behind the arousal he
feels when he watches the round of Taehyung’s ass shake.

He grips at his thighs, remembering the way it had felt to have Taehyung in his lap like that.

When Taehyung slips off the stage, Jeongguk licks his lips. He’s half aware of the other strippers
walking on stage, but his eyes follow where Taehyung moves.

His heart pulses heavily in his chest when Taehyung’s eyes find his. There’s a wicked grin on his
lips, eyes dark the way they had been that first night.

“Hey there,” Taehyung says, his voice deep and low. A light slides over them, but Jeongguk can’t
care about who is watching them when Taehyung’s eyes are on him like that.

Yoongi moves farther down the couch and Jeongguk’s legs part like his body is being controlled by
someone other than him. It only makes Taehyung grin more before he is dropping seductively in a
crouch.

Fuck, Jeongguk thinks as Taehyung’s hands slide over his thighs. He hates that fucking no touching
rule as he clenches his fists by his sides.

“What’s your name?” Taehyung breathes, moving his body in time with his hands until he’s
climbing onto Jeongguk’s lap. He is barely touching him, Taehyung’s knees digging into the couch
around his thighs but he can feel the heat radiating from the other man.

“Jeongguk,” Jeongguk breathes, though his mind stutters over the answer. There’s a pinch over the
back of his hand from Yoongi and it takes a moment for him to figure out why.

“Call me Baby,” Tae breathes against the shell of his ear, his hips rolling down to brush over his
crotch. Jeongguk stuffs a note under a ribbon crossing his chest, just for an excuse to brush his
knuckles over his collarbones. “Is this your first time here?”

“Yes,” Jeongguk admits, staring at the pout of Taehyung’s lips. He wonders if kissing is considered
touching. Technically, yes, but he thinks he could make a strong argument about how it doesn’t
count.

Taehyung traces a finger down the length of Jeongguk’s neck, smiling softly at the way Jeongguk
trembles so easily beneath him. “Remember, no touching.”

His breath gets stuck in his lungs as Taehyung turns and straddles his lap, balancing on his knees.
His back arches like a crescent moon, making his ass round as he presses down against Jeongguk’s
lap.

Up close, Jeongguk sees that the string of his underwear really doesn’t cover him all that well. He
wants to duck forward and kiss across the planes of Taehyung’s skin. He wants to grip him hard and
tug him down against his lap but he only manages to dig his fingers into the couch instead.

“Do you like?” Taehyung asks, reaching out to tickle his fingers into Jeongguk’s hair. His ass shakes
before he rolls down again, enough that Jeongguk can feel the hard press of Taehyung’s cock against
his lap.

“I’ve seen better,” Jeongguk lies, ripping his eyes from his lap to hold the gaze Taehyung throws
over his shoulder. “Had this hot guy in my bed just a few nights ago.”

Taehyung presses his lips tightly together but Jeongguk can see the hint of his grin trying to come
through. “No touching.”

Jeongguk had only brushed his thumbs over Taehyung’s calves but he pulls his hands away to take
another note and slide it under the strap of his underwear. Taehyung’s skin is hot and glistening with
sweat.

“You know my name if you want me back,” Taehyung says as he shifts off of Jeongguk’s lap. He
reaches down, tilting Jeongguk’s chin upwards with his fingers. “Baby.”
He starts to move away when Jeongguk catches him, fingers hooking into the leg hole of his panties.

Taehyung’s eyes are heavy on him as Jeongguk shoves the won under the strap, pushing his fingers
so far under the material the tips brush over the hard side of his cock.

He isn’t embarrassed though Yoongi is only a few feet away from him. Yoongi’s eyes are
somewhere else, but at Taehyung’s movement he glances at them and pulls money from his own
pocket. He only hands it to Taehyung though, a grin on his lips that looks slightly uncomfortable.

Taehyung hooks a finger under Yoongi’s chin, winking before walking off. Jeongguk doesn’t know
if the shake of his hips is purposeful or not, but it makes his cock pulse uncomfortably against his
briefs.

Especially when he bends, legs straight and slightly parted when he picks up the won thrown on the
stage for him. More cash is slipped into his attire, each man greeted with a flirty smile that Jeongguk
wishes were just for him.

“Wow,” Yoongi huffs out, laughing as he nudges Jeongguk. “I haven’t seen Tae perform before but
let me tell you -”

Jeongguk elbows Yoongi to cut him off. It only makes Yoongi laugh harder.

His eyes follow Taehyung until he disappears, walking off stage with a kiss blown over his shoulder.
Jeongguk’s body thrums with energy, with a need for Taehyung that feels almost unbearable.

“I think I’m in love,” Jeongguk breathes dreamily, resting his elbows on his knees like that will allow
him to see where Taehyung has gone. There’s not a part of him that cares that Taehyung is a dancer,
but there’s a huge part of him that cares about what Jimin said about him needing a Daddy.

And an even bigger part of him cares about what Yoongi said about him having bad customers. He
hates the idea of anyone treating Taehyung badly.

Yoongi leans into his space, chuckling loudly at Jeongguk’s dramatics. “The first time I came here is
when I found out Jimin worked here. I had never felt so embarrassed and turned on at the same
time.”

Jeongguk snorts, falling back against the couch. “What’d you do?”

“Well, I think I came in my pants,” Yoongi deadpans, making Jeongguk choke. “And then Jimin and
I got into a fight.”

When Yoongi and Jimin are in a fight, it’s never good. It rarely happens to the point where Yoongi’s
crying outside of his front door or trying to break it down with his fists, but when it does, he’s mopey
and irritable until they’re okay again.

“It’s a long story,” Yoongi says with a knowing look that stops Jeongguk from pressing for further
details.

“Min Yoongi.”

They both glance up to find a man, one Jeongguk recognizes as Jimin’s friend from the other night.
His lingerie is feathery and white, matching the hair he has styled on his head. Dangling diamonds
adorn his ears and the light catches on the splatter of glitter on his cheeks.

“The boss sent me to keep the other birdies away.”

Yoongi’s face flares red and he seems to freeze as the man slides into his lap. His hands hover the
man’s thighs, which slip against his own. He doesn’t keep himself as hovered as Taehyung had, but
sits in Yoongi’s lap like he wants Yoongi to feel the weight of him.

“Where is Doll?” Yoongi asks.

Jeongguk shifts further down the couch to give them privacy, his eyes finding Taehyung again. He
could dominate a runway, he thinks as he watches the way Taehyung strides through the crowd.

There’s a prickle at the back of his neck as he watches the hands grabbing for Taehyung before
Taehyung taps their hands away in disapproval.

“Setting a room for Baby,” the man goes on, his voice nearly as deep as Taehyung’s.

Yoongi looks like he’s going to choke or be sick, laughing nervously when the man strokes a finger
over his jaw. He had seemed comfortable when they first arrived but now Jeongguk isn’t sure
Yoongi frequents here as often as he had assumed.

“You’re off limits here,” the man goes on, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “It isn’t fair to come and
tease.”

Jeongguk glances at them curiously. The man in Yoongi’s lap has his lips pouted out as he strokes
over Yoongi’s jaw and Yoongi’s mouth is opened around the words he’s trying to come up with.

“No touching,” a soft voice scolds from behind them before Jimin is reaching over the couch to swat
the man’s hand away from Yoongi, only to replace it with his own.

There’s something intimate, almost possessive in the way Jimin looks down at Yoongi. But his
expression is so soft and so fond at the same time that Jeongguk feels intrusive by watching.

“Song baby, would you be a doll and occupy Mr. Kim for me until he leaves?”

The man - Song doesn’t hide the way he rolls his eyes before he’s shuffling from Yoongi’s lap. Jimin
looks almost smug and Yoongi looks like he’s been caught stealing from the cookie jar.

“What’s this I hear about me being off limits?” Yoongi asks as he tilts his head back to stare up at
Jimin.

Jimin frowns at him, his eyes rolling and it’s the only answer Yoongi gets.

“Come, drink with me before the next show.”

It takes a minute for Jeongguk to realize Jimin’s expectant eyes are on him now and he not so
gracefully scrambles up from the couch.

Jimin looks amused as he curls his fingers around Jeongguk’s wrist to guide him. He notices there
aren't any notes tucked into his clothing and up close he sees the choker he wears has a diamond
pendant of Bobby’s name on it.

Jeongguk almost chokes.

It confirms that the rumors are true, but Bobby doesn’t have a right holding a debt over people’s
heads. Not when he has so much debt of his own. Jeongguk doesn't expect it to be paid back, but
still. Hypocritical.

“What do you think? Baby is pretty, yes?”

He nods, tongue thick under the twinkle in Jimin’s gaze. There’s something so different about the
other man that Jeongguk almost feels like he’s talking to a completely different person.

“Beautiful.”

Jimin grins wide. “You should get a private show if you’d like. I know Baby wants you to.”

Jeongguk finds Taehyung in the crowd again like his eyes are trained to find him anywhere.

“Jackson darling, get Mr. Jeon and his company a drink, would you?”

He turns at the mention of his name to face the bartender, whose eyes grow wide and alarmed.
Jeongguk tries not to frown at the response but he fails.

“Mr. Jeon,” Jackson greets, bowing to the both of them before scurrying off. He’s dressed more than
the performers and those delivering drinks, but his sleeves have been ripped off to show off the way
his arms are bulging with muscle. There's a necklace hanging from his neck, a pendant of some type
of insect dangling between his collarbones that bounces when he moves.

When he returns, he seems almost offended when Jeongguk offers to pay, waving his hand to tell
him to keep it. Jeongguk slips it across the bar anyway, leaving it for a tip.

“Will you be buying a show from Song?” He hears Jimin ask Yoongi lowly, not trying to cover the
hint of jealousy in his voice and Jeongguk sips his drink, minding his business.

“Nah, gonna leave soon,” Yoongi murmurs, eyes trained on Jimin’s neck for a moment before he
tears his eyes away. There's something strange twisting in Jeongguk's chest and he hadn't expected to
feel this tonight. “Hobi is off in an hour, right?”

There is a soft smile on Jimin’s lips when he plays with the collar of Yoongi’s shirt. “Yeah, he
doesn’t work when Mr. Kim is here, but I have Song trying to get rid of him. You know, the
Mission.”

Jimin leans forward, fingers brushing over the side of Yoongi’s neck. It’s the most intimate he’s ever
seen him and Jeongguk wonders if Jimin is being possessive because he told everyone Yoongi is off
limits. “If you want to stay for a show too, I’m free tonight.”

Jeongguk coughs as he chokes on his drink, the alcohol burning his throat and making his eyes
water. He thinks Jimin meant to be quiet but just failed and both Yoongi and Jimin flush deeply in
embarrassment.

“Come on then. I can see you want to see him again,” Jimin says, voice a little rough with
embarrassment as he grabs Jeongguk’s elbow.

Jeongguk doesn’t bother denying the fact that he’s searching the crowd again, unable to find him.
He’s conflicted about a private show.

He’s paid for sex before but something about buying Taehyung makes him feel like a pervert. Even
if he’d empty the contents of his wallet to sleep beside him for a night. Not even that, he'd offer
Taehyung whatever he needs just to finish the damn bucket list of his without anything in return.

“Hyung said um, Baby has bad customers,” Jeongguk whispers as they walk past Hoseok, who
pointedly avoids his gaze. They’re going to have to talk about whatever it is that makes him look
annoyed with him lately.
Jimin glances at him unsurely, mouth opening a few times before he presses his lips together and
nods. “Sometimes he gets really hurt and he shuts down completely.”

Jeongguk flexes his fingers. If Jimin works for Bobby, then so does Taehyung. He wonders if
Bobby’s father knows about any of this. He wonders if his own father knows about this. “Give me
their names.”

Jimin snorts before he lets out a breathless laugh that falters when he realizes Jeongguk isn’t joking.
“No, just - I hate asking you to do this, Guk, but I meant it when I said he needs a new daddy. If
you’re interested, then it should be you.”

“What does Taehyung think?” Jeongguk asks as Jimin stops him in front of a room with Baby
written on the door in gold lettering.

“He thinks that he deserves to be treated like shit, so don’t listen to his bullshit, got it?” Jimin sighs
before patting Jeongguk on the chest. He exhales out before glancing behind him and letting a
flirtatious grin slide over his lips once more. “Just consider it, okay, Gukkie baby? Tae hasn’t
stopped talking about you since that night. I know he likes you and I'm willing to give you a
discount.”

Despite the tense topic, Jeongguk finds that Jimin’s smile and the mention of Taehyung has a soft
grin taking over his lips.

“The no touching rule still applies, just so you know. Take care of him or I’m beating you up.”

Jeongguk grins awkwardly before practically shoving his wallet at Jimin when he holds his hand out,
his other hand planted onto his cocked hip.

“It isn’t good to travel with this much money,” Jimin says with a disapproving click of his tongue as
he takes the amount - Jeongguk hadn’t even asked - and hands him back the wallet. “You could get
robbed.”

“You’re robbing me now,” Jeongguk jokes, “using my dick against me.”

Jimin laughs brightly, bending forward to shake his laughter out against Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Go,
get in there.”

Jeongguk doesn’t know if Taehyung is expecting him because he turns to look at the door with wide
eyes when it opens. They darken almost immediately but Jeongguk swears there’s a hesitancy
holding onto them.

He stands in front of a large pile of won, pulling out the last note sticking from the front of his
panties.

“Jeongguk, right?” Taehyung says as if he doesn’t know, his voice dropping into that tone that
makes Jeongguk’s toes curl. “Sit on the couch, pretty boy.”

With his legs spread, it’s obvious that he’s straining against his pants but Taehyung doesn’t look
away from his face. Up close, Jeongguk can see the glitter sticking to Taehyung’s skin and the small
wet spot that’s stained his panties. He wonders if it’s dancing that turns on Taehyung or if they
purposely make themselves hard before a show.

The lights are brighter in the dressing room, it looks to be, with the racks of clothes and vanities. It
makes it easier to see the faded bruises over Taehyung’s hips and the way he has attempted to cover
them with makeup.
“Jimin told me you were looking for a new Daddy,” Jeongguk comments, an edge to his voice. He
hadn’t left those bruises and now he feels guilty for leaving any. “What does that mean?”

He knows what it means, but he’s finding it difficult to wrap his mind around it. Seeing Taehyung
like this, so different from the other night, is also difficult to wrap his mind around.

Not that he doesn’t like it - he loves the soft pink against his skin and the dark shadow around his
eyes. He’s pretty, beautiful - breathtaking.

“He’s Doll here,” Taehyung says offhandedly as he crouches before Jeongguk once more. His
fingers leave a path of fire across his thighs and Jeongguk bites into his bottom lip as not to shiver.
“And I’m not.”

Jeongguk gasps when Taehyung bites at the skin of his inner thigh, right above his knee.

“Don’t touch,” Taehyung breathes before he’s turning, his ass on full display as he bends for him.

Jeongguk groans, fingers digging into the leather material of the couch as he watches Taehyung’s
cheeks part and lift for him like he had earlier. When the material shifts, Taehyung’s finger sliding
over the strap to do so purposefully, Jeongguk sees a glimpse of his hole.

“D’you like what you see?” Taehyung asks, resting the back of his thighs on Jeongguk’s legs before
he’s spreading his own. His back arches beautifully, the muscles covering his shoulders rippling like
waves rolling over the surface of the ocean.

“Yes,” Jeongguk hums. “You’re beautiful.”

He swears that Taehyung lets out a sigh, but it’s hard to hear over the muffle of music.

“Why did you come here?” Taehyung asks, pushing back against him until he’s seated on top of
Jeongguk’s hardened dick. The tremble is visible in his body but his face doesn’t show it. His eyes
are heavy lidded, dark with want.

“To see you,” Jeongguk admits without hesitation. “I didn’t know I was coming to a strip club
though.”

Taehyung turns, keeping himself propped over Jeongguk’s lap. He runs a hand across Jeongguk’s
jaw before pressing underneath his chin. “Disappointed?”

“No,” Jeongguk promises. It’s proving difficult not to take Taehyung’s face into his hands and pull
him in for a kiss. He misses the sweet taste of his mouth and the way it felt to have his tongue slide
over his own.

“Do you know what you even paid for?” Taehyung hums with a breathless chuckle. Jeongguk’s
breath gets stuck in his lips when he feels Taehyung’s hands on his belt. “Do you think of me the
same now that you know -”

“Yes,” Jeongguk lies before he can finish. He doesn’t care what Taehyung is going to say, not when
his knuckles are dipping into his pants to brush over his cock. “I think you’re the sexiest person I’ve
ever seen, and I know you work hard to feed three bellies.”

Taehyung’s expression closes off for a moment, his blank one returning as he stares down at
Jeongguk. It’s erotic, the way he trails his nails over the length of him without even the slightest
change in his expression.
"Gukkie baby, you shouldn't be so open," Taehyung murmurs, clicking his teeth in disapproval as he
continues to stare down at him.

“What, Taehyung?”

Taehyung makes a low noise in his throat. “It’s Baby,” he breathes. “I wish you paid to fuck me.”

Jeongguk huffs out a moan, more from the words than the pressure wrapping around his cock as
Taehyung pulls him from his confines. It’s been planned, he realizes, between Jimin and Taehyung,
maybe even Yoongi, but he finds that he doesn’t care at all. “I can.”

“You can’t afford it,” Taehyung hums, his hand rolling over the head of his cock in a way that
makes arousal jerk through his system. He has to put a lot of his concentration in not fucking up into
Taehyung’s touch.

“I can,” Jeongguk breathes tightly. “Drug Lord, remember?”

Taehyung snorts, that bright smile taking over his lips for a moment and Jeongguk swears he would
spend every cent in his bank if he could just have Taehyung smile like that again.

“Tobacco,” Taehyung hums, thumb dragging over the tip of Jeongguk’s cock until his fingers are
wet enough to slide down the length of him. “Big CEO from what I hear. A true chaebol. Dropping
millions of won without even knowing what he's getting in return.”

He wishes for a moment that Taehyung would stop touching him enough for him to clear his mind
and focus on where he is, but his body has been craving Taehyung’s touch since the first night and
it’s difficult.

There’s a confidence in the man that hadn’t been there before. Taehyung had been playful, a bit shy
at times, but now he screams confidence and control. It’s hot and maddening at the same time
because Jeongguk wants to flip them and crowd over Taehyung until he gives Jeongguk control.

“I could take care of you,” falls from Jeongguk’s lips before he can stop it. He wants to wrap his
arms around Taehyung and drag him out of this place, away from anyone who won’t treat him right.
He doesn’t want to think about whether it’s happened before.

“Stop thinking so much,” Taehyung breathes against his ear, stroking him slowly. “Focus on my
fingers.”

Jeongguk turns until his breath is ghosting over Taehyung’s cheek. “Stop touching me.”

Taehyung doesn’t hesitate before he’s letting go. A flash of worry shines in his eyes but it only lasts
a moment. “It’s what you paid for.”

“I only want you touching me if you want to,” Jeongguk grits out, fighting down the arousal surging
through him. “I paid to see you but you don’t actually have to touch me.”

Taehyung stares at him for a moment before his hand is wrapping back around his length, eyes
rolling. “I want to touch you. I can’t stop thinking about you since that night.”

Jeongguk breathes out, legs spreading like a knee jerk reaction when Taehyung squeezes around the
head. The ripple of pleasure through his body makes it difficult to keep his voice controlled and he
can’t help the way he bites at his bottom lip, trying to keep the moans desperately trying to escape his
throat in. “Let me take you out. I owe you waffles.”
Taehyung grins, a hint of that playfulness returning. The no touching rule doesn’t apply to
Taehyung, and it’s unfair even though his body soars as Taehyung trails kisses down the length of
his neck.

“You’re so thick, Mr. Jeon. I loved the way you felt inside of me. Stretching me open. You fucked
me so well, I could feel you for days.”

The deep, slow way Taehyung speaks rattles something inside Jeongguk’s core and his hips roll up,
staggering with the need to come.

“When are you free again?” Jeongguk manages, breathing heavily as he tilts his head back against
the couch, angling his head to allow Taehyung space to kiss over his neck.

Taehyung looks as if he might ignore the question again but he sighs out, “I work every day.”

He slicks his hand down Jeongguk’s length, fingers fondling over his balls and Jeongguk grunts
quietly, hand flying up to grip at Taehyung’s waist.

Taehyung moans softly but doesn’t push him off. Jeongguk keeps his hand there, fingers rubbing
over his hot bare skin like he might die if he doesn’t get to touch.

“Just one day,” Jeongguk huffs out, staring at the way Taehyung’s slender fingers look flicking over
his cock. He picks up the pace, fingers squeezing tighter around him as he pulls up, palm rubbing the
head before flicking back down.

“My time costs money, sweet cheeks,” Taehyung hums, tilting his head until the heat of his mouth is
enveloping this earlobe.

“Ironic. I just happen to have money,” Jeongguk gasps out through his heavy breathing, the groans
coating his words falling deeper with every flick of Taehyung’s wrist.

Taehyung huffs out, settling back onto Jeongguk’s knees and letting Jeongguk go. He looks adorable
with the way his lips pout, his brows knitted together as he stares at him.

“I don’t really want you to pay for my time,” Taehyung grumbles, the heavy lidded look in his eyes
suddenly gone. “Okay?”

“Okay,” Jeongguk agrees, curling his arms around Taehyung’s waist. He hesitates, waiting for the
man to tell him no. When he doesn’t, he places a soft kiss to the center of Taehyung’s throat. “But if
you’re not with me then who are you with?”

“It’s none of your business, Jeon Jeongguk,” Taehyung says, but his voice loses its sternness as
moan flutters from his lips.

“Let me rephrase,” Jeongguk murmurs, kissing over Taehyung’s skin. He can taste makeup on his
tongue and he’s not sure that he minds when he can also feel Taehyung’s erratic pulse under his
mouth. “Will you make time for me without paying?”

Taehyung grips at his hair, holding him against his neck as he bends into Jeongguk’s embrace.
Sitting on Jeongguk’s lap makes him hover over him, but he curls forward, making him seem small
against him. “I can’t afford to.”

“Then let me,” Jeongguk coaxes, teeth grazing over his Adam’s Apple. He should have told Jimin he
agreed the moment he told him about the others hurting Taehyung because that’s when he had made
up his mind. “We can do things on your bucket list.”
Taehyung rocks down against him, shivering as Jeongguk slides his palms to cover his ass. He holds
him close, enjoying the way Taehyung’s hips work down in small circles against him. “I’m an escort,
Guk. You pay for me to hang off your arm and make you come.”

Jeongguk pulls back enough to brush his lips over Taehyung’s, just a gentle kiss that has him
ducking away when Taehyung moves forward for more. “If you want that, I can give that to you
too.”

“It’s not about what I want,” Taehyung groans, reaching between them to circle his fingers around
Jeongguk’s dick again. “It’s about pleasing you.”

“Watching you come made me come,” Jeongguk admits quietly, sliding his hands down Taehyung’s
thighs once more before letting them land heavily at his sides again. “Seeing you happy is what I’ll
be paying for.”

Taehyung makes a noise of complaint, knocking their foreheads together. “Kiss me.”

“There’s a no touching rule,” Jeongguk breathes. Each twist of Taehyung’s wrist is pulling him
closer to the edge and he knows he isn’t going to last long. “I don’t want Jimin-ssi to beat me up.”

Another noise of complaint and Jeongguk grins, which only makes Taehyung pout more. “I thought
you wanted to pay for whatever makes me happy. Kissing me will make me happy.”

“You don’t want me to,” Jeongguk tries, his words breaking off in a moan as pleasure builds rapidly
between his legs, his gut tightening with his oncoming orgasm.

“Fuck, fine,” Taehyung grumbles, leaning forward to capture Jeongguk’s lips and the moan that
spills from them as he comes. His body shakes with it, his fingers digging so hard into the leather
couch it feels as if it might rip.

“You’re so stubborn,” Taehyung grumbles, but his words are soft. “One day. And we do whatever I
want. And then you forget about me and that I work here.”

Jeongguk wrinkles his nose, wiping his thumb over Taehyung’s cheek. “That wasn’t part of the deal,
Princess.”

Taehyung’s cheeks come alive, burning so brightly he can see it through the makeup layering his
skin. “You’re not even going to ask how much?”

“No,” Jeongguk sighs. “Do I get to touch you now?”

“No,” Taehyung mocks, spreading his legs over Jeongguk’s lap. His breath sticks to his lungs as he
watches Taehyung cup himself, palm rubbing over his thick length. “Agree not to see me again
after.”

“Tell me why Jimin asked me to be your new daddy,” Jeongguk supplies without hesitation. He cups
the inside of Taehyung’s thighs, rubbing over the sensitive skin as Taehyung grinds against his own
hand.

“Jimin wants you to be, that’s why,” Taehyung grunts unhappily. He is delicate in the way he slips
his fingers under the pink panties, revealing his leaking cock. “That’s why he invited you here.”

“I want to be.”

Taehyung moans quietly as he strokes himself, pulling out streaky strings of precome. “Don’t say
things like that.”

Jeongguk bites back a groan as he tugs on Taehyung’s panties, noticing the thin black ring snuggled
around the base of his cock. Fuck , Taehyung might just be the death of him if people could die from
arousal. He reaches out, thumbing over it. “But I mean it.”

“Guk,” Taehyung whimpers, hands sliding away as Jeongguk replaces it with his own. Taehyung’s
hips snap up towards his fist as he strokes off the cock ring. “You don’t listen to the rules.”

“You aren’t stopping me. You can stop me, just say the word,” Jeongguk reminds him, a moan
vibrating in his chest. Taehyung presses his lips tightly together, a clear sign that he isn’t going to say
another word. Jeongguk chucks the ring to the side before stroking Taehyung with purpose.

“I’ll take care of you,” Jeongguk whispers against Taehyung before he comes, streaking out between
their bellies. It’s a promise he isn’t sure he should make, but every part of him screams for Taehyung
to believe him.

Jeongguk is fucked off the high that is Taehyung.

“I don’t know that,” Taehyung says, shivering as he pulls himself from Jeongguk’s lap. “I just met
you. I don’t get why you want to.”

He watches as Taehyung strolls to a tall mirror as he cleans himself off and fixes his outfit. He tucks
himself back into his pants, uncaring of the come that stains his white shirt.

“I don’t like,” Jeongguk starts off, hesitating with what to say. “I know you must be doing this to
take care of your siblings. Let me help in a way where you don’t have to put yourself in harmful
situations.”

Taehyung snorts but there’s no emotion to it. He pats his face a cotton swab, drying the sweat
clinging to his forehead. “I don’t need a hero, Gukkie baby.”

“Nah, I heard you need a Daddy.”

This time when Taehyung snorts, it sounds half amused and half embarrassed.

“I fit the bill, right? Rich, lonely, CEO, with more cash in his pockets than he knows what to do
with. I’d give it to you without asking for any of your time but I’d rather you be with me than any of
the filth I know comes here.”

Taehyung turns, hands pressed on the vanity he leans against. Silver hair brushes over his forehead
like feathers and his body shines with diamonds and glitter. Angelic, Jeongguk thinks.

“I get taken care of here,” Taehyung says, tone light and lacking any emotion. “I’m rarely punished
and when I am, it’s not bad. Every client has to be approved and if he gives off bad vibes, he’s gone.
I have a bodyguard -"

“Hoseok?” Jeongguk interrupts, trying to catch up.

Taehyung nods, rubbing at his bottom lip. “Yeah, Hope here. He’s with me, six days a week. He’d
be with us too, that’s the rule. He trusts you though, so maybe not all of the time.”

Jeongguk nods, mind racing. He didn’t think much about this before he blurted it out but he doesn’t
regret it.
He wants to buy up all of Taehyung’s time until he doesn’t have to bother with anyone that may treat
him badly.

“You don’t even have to hang out with me,” Jeongguk says. “Do whatever you want, I’ll pay.”

“Why?” Taehyung presses, his voice firmer and a bit agitated as he crosses his arms protectively over
his chest.

“I bet you’d rather spend time with your siblings than work. I know whenever I’m at the office, I
only want to be with Ji-hu.”

Taehyung continues to stare at him, unmoving even when Jeongguk stands and approaches him. He
rubs down Taehyung’s arms, eyeing the goosebumps across his skin.

“There are cameras,” Taehyung murmurs before he’s lifting himself onto the vanity and wrapping his
legs around Jeongguk’s waist. “You shouldn’t have touched me. I’m going to have to charge you
extra for it.”

Jeongguk presses his palms to the vanity beside Taehyung’s thighs. “One day, and then if you like it,
it can be every day of the goddamn week if you want.”

Taehyung’s eyes drop between them as he fingers Jeongguk’s shirt before pulling it off of him. “One
day.”

“And the rest of the night?” Jeongguk asks, unable to help the way he grins as he tilts his head.
“There’s a Panda Express nearby.”

A grin wavers over Taehyung’s lips as he traces his fingers down Jeongguk’s chest. “Four million
won for the night. Either pay cash or you'd have to go through Jiminnie.”

“Okay,” Jeongguk says without hesitation. “Though you’re worth more.”

A blush creeps up Taehyung’s cheeks. “Let me pay for dinner.”

Jeongguk clicks his teeth. “I don’t think a Daddy is supposed to let his baby pay for anything.”

He huffs out a quiet laugh as Taehyung’s face grows even redder. “One of your friends set you up to
spend millions of won on a prostitute, yet you don’t seem perturbed by it.”

“I wasn’t coerced, I was asked,” Jeongguk hums, nuzzling his nose against Taehyung’s jaw. “This is
what you do but you seem not to want me. Even if you’ve already had me and enjoyed it.”

A shiver rushes through Taehyung, his legs tightening around Jeongguk’s waist. “I never said I
enjoyed it.”

Jeongguk snorts before parting his lips to ghost over Taehyung’s skin. Close, but not exactly
touching.

“I’m just another customer,” Jeongguk says, lifting a brow as he pulls back. Taehyung’s eyes are
heavy when they drop down to gaze at Jeongguk’s mouth. “What’s the problem?”

Taehyung swallows before cupping his hand around the back of his neck and pulling him in for a
kiss instead of responding.

*
Taehyung is fucked ten times over.

He stares down at Jeongguk as he sleeps, mouth slightly parted and hair flat against his forehead.
One of his hands lays flat over his chest, the other thrown across the pillows where it had been
tucked underneath Taehyung.

He’s handsome and kind and Taehyung feels like an asshole.

I’m just another customer, what’s the problem? The words have played over in his head since
Jeongguk spoke them. The problem is that Taehyung doesn’t fucking know what the problem is.

Taehyung slips out from the sheets, padding over until he finds the shirt Jeongguk had thrown to the
side. He buttons it up as he walks through the dark room, shivering as his bare feet hit the cold
ground outside Jeongguk’s bedroom door.

The penthouse is massive, much too large for one or even two people. He heard there’s a gym and a
game room somewhere, but he had been too preoccupied with Jeongguk’s body to do any other
exploring.

Massive, but not homey at all. There are very few pictures hanging on the wall nor very many
decorations at all. The furniture is bland and everything is so clean it’s like no one lives here. Only
Jeongguk’s bedroom has signs of life and the kitchen, where scribbled drawings are stuck to the
refrigerator door.

Taehyung smiles softly as he stares at the drawings, wondering what they were supposed to be.
There are two pictures tacked to the refrigerator, one of Jeongguk with Yoongi - whose hair is purple
in the picture, and another of Jeongguk with a small boy on his hip.

They’re nearly identical. The big smile Jeongguk wears sometimes is on his face and the little one
has the same bunny smile that appears when Jeongguk is trying to hide his smile behind his hand.
They are even dressed the same, both wearing Hawaiian shirts and khaki pants and Taehyung snorts
before he pulls the refrigerator door open.

He frowns at how empty it is. There’s wine and banana milk in the door, a few stray yogurts and
protein shakes on the bottom shelf. Maybe a rotten onion and a packet of salmon beside it.

Taehyung chuckles quietly when he pulls open the freezer, which is much more stocked with frozen
pizza and gallons of ice cream. He pulls out a carton of chocolate ice cream, shivering with the cool
air hits his skin.

He searches around for the dishware, frowning even more at how empty Jeongguk’s cabinets are. He
has bread, at least, and broth. Necessities.

“What are you doing?” Jeongguk mumbles, voice thick with sleep.

Taehyung to look over his shoulder as Jeongguk pads across the kitchen, a hand rubbing at his eyes.
Sweatpants hang low on his hips, revealing the defined V that disappears underneath it.

He had first been enraptured by how handsome Jeongguk is but he nearly lost it when he saw the
body he had hiding under his clothes.

“Ice cream, sorry,” Taehyung says, scooping some out of the bowl to throw back into the carton
before Jeongguk sees how much he’s taken. It's not that he cares if Jeongguk sees him stuff his face,
he already has, but it's a bit rude to just help himself to someone else's food.
Jeongguk presses his chest against Taehyung’s back, fingers tickling at his hips before he feels those
soft lips brushing against his shoulder. “Don’t be sorry. Have as much as you want.”

It’s distracting the way Jeongguk kisses over his skin and hums appreciatively. His eyes are heavy
with sleep when Taehyung turns, and his grin is lazy when Taehyung lifts the spoon to feed
Jeongguk the ice cream.

It’s domestic. Taehyung ignores it.

“I woke up hungry,” Taehyung explains before taking a bite himself. “You don’t have much food.”

Jeongguk snorts, his eyes falling shut as he grips onto Taehyung’s hips. To keep himself standing,
probably.

“Go back to bed, baby,” Taehyung hums.

Jeongguk doesn’t move, only opens his mouth until Taehyung obliges and feeds him another
spoonful of ice cream. It’s adorable, and it makes his heart do a cartwheel, a feeling that he ignores as
well.

“Join me,” Jeongguk says, fingers sliding down Taehyung’s hips until his hands are running
underneath the fabric of his shirt. His palms are rough, but his touch is gentle as Jeongguk rubs his
hands over Taehyung’s bare skin.

It’s innocent, he thinks, because Jeongguk looks a moment away from falling asleep.

“You can eat the ice cream from my body,” Jeongguk whispers tiredly.

When Taehyung snorts, Jeongguk blinks one eye open and grins.

Jeongguk stays awake long enough for Taehyung to finish his ice cream and rinse out the bowl, but
he’s snoring only moments after wrapping himself around Taehyung.

Taehyung takes longer to fall asleep and when he wakes he makes sure to be more careful about not
waking Jeongguk up as he slips out of his sheets to search for his clothes.

Suggesting a show had made things a bit awkward but Jimin couldn’t help himself. He wanted
Yoongi’s eyes on him, even if he knows deep down that they were never anywhere else.

Even though he knows deep down it isn’t fair.

“Come to mine?”

Jimin curls the jacket closer around his body as he leans against the brick wall, watching the way
Yoongi’s lips look every time he pulls the cigarette back towards them.

The first time he had realized he was in love with Yoongi was like this, standing in the quiet of the
night just the two of them. Distant music, a distant buzz.

A distant memory. It feels like he’s known his whole life, even if that isn’t true. They had been out at
a club, in another city that Jimin had tried to run away to until Bobby found him again.

“I should be here until the night ends.”

Yoongi huffs out the smoke with a smile, his eyes following the trail it leads into the air. “I thought
the night never ends.”

Jimin snorts. He had said that that night as well. “Then I’ll never be leaving.”

There are cameras everywhere, which is the only thing that keeps Jimin from reaching out and
tugging on the end of Yoongi’s shirt to pull him closer. Yoongi shouldn’t even be here at all, but he’s
stubborn.

It wouldn’t be good if Bobby knew that someone else held his heart. He knows Bobby wants it and
he doesn’t know what would happen if Bobby found out. But he doesn’t want to know.

“Come to mine,” Yoongi says again, ignoring the comment, “I’m starving and Strawberry misses
you.”

Stubborn . Jimin pouts over Yoongi using his cat against him. “Fine. Let me get dressed and do a
few things and I’ll stop by.”

The smile that takes over Yoongi’s lips is bright and victorious. Jimin only wrinkles his nose before
turning on his heel and fleeing inside before he can capture that smile against his own.

Late into the night, the club isn’t as busy but there’s still enough customers lingering about to keep
the dancers on stage. He returns catcalls with flirty smiles and winks but he doesn’t stop to indulge
any of them.

He walks past Taehyung’s half opened door, smiling slightly to himself. The only thing he wants as
much as Yoongi is to have Taehyung free from Hanbin, free from debt.

The plotting around to get the two of them together makes him feel a little bad but he knows they
need each other. He's been saving a lot of his funds for Taehyung but Taehyung has refused to take
it. He hopes giving Jeongguk a discount and slipping in a bit of his own money will go undetected.

Jimin makes haste in changing out of his golden shorts and the many necklaces that he wears. The
only street clothes inside of the office are Bobby’s but he doesn’t think Yoongi will mind if he
changes it out for something of his instead once he gets to Yoongi’s apartment.

Grabbing his laptop and bag, he locks the door and ignores everyone until he’s out back where he
has parked his car next to Hoseok’s. Hoseok’s is gone, he had snuck out with his hand linked with
Mino’s the moment after Taehyung left with Jeongguk.

It’s always a bad idea to be alone with Yoongi, late at night, when he’s feeling so needy for him. Not
the same kind of bad idea like being alone with a drunk Bobby, but a bad idea nonetheless.

Because Jimin always feels worse leaving Yoongi, going back to Bobby’s and this life he’s fallen
into when they’ve lost themselves in each other’s touch. But Jimin can’t help himself, he loves
making himself miserable just for a moment of feeling truly happy.

The door is unlocked when Jimin arrives though he already knows Yoongi's code. The smell of
spice hits his nose when he enters and he can’t help but smile when he finds Yoongi frowning over
the stove.

He’s changed into loose joggers and a shirt that hangs off his shoulders, his hair now fluffy and
sticking up around his head. Jimin’s empty chest fills with warmth.

“That was quick. It’s not done yet.”

Jimin flushes as he drops his bag by the door and settles his laptop on the kitchen table. It’s covered
in stacks of mail and CD casings. “I have work to do anyway. Where’s my kitty?”

“Probably in Hobi’s room.”

The rest of the apartment is just as messy as the kitchen, though tidy enough it doesn’t look trashed.
There are stray cups lying about and more socks on the floor than there should be, but Jimin knows
that’s because Strawberry digs them out of Yoongi’s hamper.

Strawberry is in Hoseok’s room, rolling across the top of his bed with a sock between her paws. She
startles when Jimin approaches but she lets Jimin scoop her into his arms without a fuss.

“Did you miss me, my little baby?” Jimin coos as he nuzzles his nose against the orange fur. The
kitty vibrates as she purrs, tailing whipping quickly against Jimin’s arm.

“You spoil her,” Yoongi complains but there’s a fond smile on his face as he watches Jimin pad back
into the kitchen.

Yoongi says this as he wiggles a bag of treats, making the cat leap from Jimin’s arms.

Jimin pouts. “She weighs a ton because of the treats. Who spoils her?”

Yoongi only grumbles his response as he tosses a treat to the ground. There’s guilt in his expression
and Jimin knows that he’s won.

“She likes to be spoiled, she’s too much like you,” Yoongi shoots back as Jimin settles himself at the
table. It’s the early hours of the morning, too early for financing but Bobby’s back from his trip to
Japan in three days and Jimin’s behind.

“She was mine first,” Jimin reminds him. He doesn’t think he can focus on anything with Yoongi
there beside him.

They’ve only seen each other here and there over the last few weeks and Jimin misses spending the
day lounging on the couch together doing nothing until his shift started.

He misses not knowing what it meant when Yoongi distracted himself by tracing shapes over Jimin’s
palm when Jimin read to him. He even misses the smell of Yoongi’s stupid cigarettes and the potent
incense he used to light after he filled the house with the smell of skunk weed.

“She’s still yours. Just here waiting for you to move home.”

Jimin lets Yoongi’s remark hang in the air between them as he busies himself on the computer. One
of them will ease the tension the comment has caused after a few minutes, he knows. They’ve been
through it before and though Jimin refuses to engage into the conversation any time, Yoongi still
makes comments like these.

He’s stubborn.

It would have been easier between them if Jimin had never admitted how he felt that night. There
would be no lingering thoughts of 'do you still feel that way?' between them. No romantic tension.
Jimin wouldn’t have had to pull himself away from Yoongi and miss him the way he does if he had
just shut his mouth.

“What are you doing?” Yoongi finally asks as he slides a bowl of noodles beside his laptop. He
keeps his tone light and like that, the tension from the last comment is gone. “Who is Park
Yugyeom?”

“Me,” Jimin says. The accounts and money wiring are supposed to be kept between him and Bobby
only, but despite any tension between him and Yoongi he trusts him with everything. “The money
we make from the um, club goes through a few accounts before this one. And then into Bobby’s.”

Yoongi doesn’t say anything as he slumps into the chair across from him with his own bowl, feet
kicking out to tangle with his. There’s account under names that wouldn’t raise suspicion, but if
anyone were to dig deeper, it’d be easy to discover they were fake.

“‘Yugyeom?’ Is that a code name?”

Jimin snorts as he taps away. He needs to set up an account for Jeongguk, but he’s so far had enough
won on him to not need one. “No, he’s someone we went to school with.”

Realization crosses Yoongi’s face as he swallows the noodles he had shoved into his mouth and
points the chopsticks at Jimin. “I remember him. Walked in on Hobi once and skipped dance practice
for weeks .”

A laugh bubbles from Jimin’s lips at the memory. Most of his memories of college were walking into
Hoseok in compromising positions. There were some memories of learning too, but the rest are
memories of what it’s like to fall in love with Min Yoongi.

“Do you remember when you walked in on Hoseok? When he was trying out the swing?” Jimin
says, choking on his laughter. Yoongi had came running into his room that night, a look of true
horror on his face.

Yoongi groans around his chopsticks. “He was trying it alone ,” he reminds him, his words muffled
by the food in his mouth.

They exchange stories back and forth until Jimin’s stomach hurts and his body feels too exhausted to
finish his work or his bowl of food.

He sighs, letting out his last tired laugh as he slumps in his chair and stares up at Yoongi’s peeling
ceiling.

“Come on, Jimin-ah, bed for you. You worked hard tonight.”

Jimin didn’t do anything really but he allows Yoongi to take his arms and pull him from his seat. It’s
been years since he’s lived here too, but it’s easy to forget the time that has passed as he makes his
way through the house.

The bathroom is small but he doesn’t mind how close Yoongi has to be near him as they brush their
teeth and Yoongi produces make up remover for him. He likes the way their arms brush and when
Yoongi presses against his back.

He likes it too much and when Yoongi’s eyes catch his in the mirror, he knows Yoongi knows too.

“I liked the gold eyeshadow,” Yoongi comments lowly, rubbing his hands down Jimin’s forearms
before moving away. “You can take Hobi’s room if you want. I’m dead on my feet.”

If you want. He doesn’t want. He should, but he’s never been known as one to make good decisions,
even if they’re decisions that feel good at the time.

Yoongi’s door is cracked when he’s finished and he tiptoes in case Yoongi has already fallen asleep.
 He has always loved how many blankets he sleeps with, even if it takes Jimin ages to find the one
Yoongi’s actually curled under.

He knows Yoongi isn’t asleep when he settles beside him and tucks his face between Yoongi’s
shoulder blades because Yoongi moves, turning around to curl an arm over Jimin’s back and plant
him to his chest.

Chapter End Notes

Normally, I don't like when characters feel head over heels after meeting once but come
on it's Taehyung, it's only realistic to fall in love with him as soon as you look at him for
the first time, amirite?

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 Chapter 3
Chapter Notes

Emotions are confusing ft. lots of VMIN, I hope you enjoy this chapter ;D

Thank you for all of your feedback!! It really means the world!! This chapter is a little
short but the next couple are much longer!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Taehyung stares at himself in the mirror. Normally his clients tell him what to wear for their dates or
they buy something for him themselves, but Jeongguk hadn’t said a word. He has no idea what he’d
like or what they’re doing with the day, not even the tiniest clue as to where to start trying to pick
something out.

His heart flutters at the idea of seeing Jeongguk soon.

He rummages through his closet, digging through his prettier clothes as he remembers the
overwhelmed look Jeongguk has worn every time he’s seen his lingerie. He flushes at the nickname,
Princess, unsure if he likes it or not.

“Oppa, oppa!”

Taehyung turns as Eunae bounds into his bedroom. Her hair is pulled into two tight buns on either
side of her head and he’s thankful to see she’s already put on her uniform.

It usually takes an hour and slipping her some money as a bribe to get her to put it on. And only
since Jimin started complimenting her pigtails has she sat long enough to let Taehyung do her hair.

“Jiminie oppa is here,” she sings, cheeks flushing before she’s scurrying out again.

“Jin hyung is picking you up in ten minutes, don’t make him wait!” Taehyung calls after her as he
attempts to follow but he’s stopped by another hand pressing against his chest.

“I’ve been sent with a gift,” Jimin says in greeting, waving a paper shopping bag in front of him.
He’s dressed to the nine, wearing a suit with a dress shirt that has a collar so low that Taehyung can
almost make out the start of his abdomen. His ears are studded and his hair is tousled in a way that
looks effortless and unintentionally messy but Taehyung knows better. “For you to wear today.”

Taehyung might just cry in appreciation.

“Which clearly you needed,” Jimin hums as he eyes the pile of clothes thrown over the chair in front
of his closet and the loose sweatpants hanging from his hips.

“I wasn’t going to wear this,” Taehyung huffs, pulling down the pants just enough for Jimin to see
the baby blue material of his underwear. “But I didn’t want to run around in buttless undies while I
searched for pants. There are little ones here.”

Jimin quirks up a brow, an amused look on his face. “Buttless? Is that what Jeongguk asked for?”
“No,” Taehyung grunts as he pulls the contents from the bag. Jimin gives him a knowing look and
he ignores it. He should have never told Jimin about his night with Jeongguk.

He touches something soft before he holds it out before him. It’s a simple sweater, with a low
scooping neck, made of a material thin enough that he won’t get too hot.

It’s simple, but the price tag makes his stomach lurch.

“I told Gukkie he should have let me do the shopping,” Jimin sighs in complaint as he falls onto
Taehyung’s bed, clearly uncaring about wrinkling his suit.

Taehyung should have known who it was from but his face feels hot knowing it’s from Jeongguk. “I
don’t want him to spend any money on me.”

“He’s spending millions for the day,” Jimin reminds him, but he softens quickly. “Plus, I might have
told him it’s proper Daddy Etiquette to buy his baby gifts.”

“Don’t call him that,” Taehyung says as he reaches for the next piece of clothing. It’s black, and
almost as soft, except the material is stiffer. “You better not be forcing him to do this.”

There’s turmoil inside of him. Part of him wiggles in delight at calling Jeongguk his Daddy, even if
he isn’t, and another part of him feels like he’s sinking into quicksand.

“I’m not, I swear it,” Jimin says innocently. “He told me he wants to be, so I don’t get what the big
deal is. He's attractive, rich, kind. Lonely."

Taehyung only glares at him as he starts to pull on the outfit, uncaring about Jimin’s presence. He’s
seen him in the most intimate ways that it’s hard to be embarrassed about being naked in front of
him.

“This outfit gives me literally no idea as what to expect for today,” Taehyung sighs though he likes
the outfit. It’s simple and comfy.

The sweater hangs off his shoulders but tucked into the pants it highlights the small of his waist. The
pants aren’t too loose, tight enough to hug his ass and Taehyung suspects it is Jimin’s doing. Even if
he didn’t pick the clothes out himself.

“Well, by the panty choice, I see you’re expecting something nasty.”

Taehyung tosses his sweatpants to shush Jimin. “And what are you up to today?”

Jimin fingers the silver pendant around his neck. “Business meetings, all day. Bobby has me as a
partner for most of the day, hence the suit. But once the donors come, I’ll be stripping into
something...less.”

Donors. They’re the worst clients. They supply so much money to the club and Bobby that they
don’t have to pay for services, and their services can’t be denied.

If Taehyung were to tell a donor not to touch, he’d be out of a job and probably a few fingers.

“Call out sick.”

Jimin snorts loudly. Taehyung is envious of how unaffected Jimin has always portrayed himself to
be, though Taehyung suspects otherwise. He isn’t sure that he’s perfected that ability himself, but he
hasn’t received any complaints.
“Oppa! We are leaving!”

He plays with the collar of the sweater as he pads out to the small kitchen where Eunae and Woojin
wait for him. He kisses them quickly on the forehead, instructing them to be good and learn a lot as
he fixes Woojin’s skewed tie.

“You be good too, hyung,” Woojin responds quietly, pushing up his toes to whisper the words into
his ear. He pouts when Taehyung tightens the tie and Taehyung has to swat his hand not to loosen it
the moment Taehyung pulls his fingers away.

The door is closing behind them when it opens again and Hoseok strides in, round sunglasses
perched on his nose. He wears a simple plaid shirt over a white one and Taehyung is thankful that he
isn’t dressed head to toe in his intimidating black security guard outfit.

“Get dressed. Aren’t you meeting with Jeongguk in like, thirty minutes?”

Taehyung flushes as Jimin snickers behind him. “I am dressed. Where are we meeting?”

He hadn’t agreed to take Jeongguk’s number before he left the other morning, but he found it tucked
into his coat pocket when he got home. He saved it in his phone but he hasn’t had the guts to text
him yet.

“For breakfast.”

Taehyung considers kicking Hoseok.

“Why do you look nervous?” Jimin asks softly as he reaches up to fluff the soft bangs over
Taehyung’s forehead. “Jeongguk is sweet and you’ve already spent plenty of time with him.”

Taehyung tucks his hands into the sleeves of his sweater. He isn’t nervous, he’s excited to see
Jeongguk, but he doesn’t know what to expect.

Every client is kind at first. It’s unsettling how much care Jeongguk seems to have for his well being
and they barely know each other. It isn’t usual. Or it isn’t genuine. He’s been convinced before that
clients have cared for him, and he was always violently reminded that they didn’t.

Jimin always lectures him about how he’s the one in control in these situations. It’s these rich men
that are emptying their pockets and tugging down their pants just for a chance to touch him, but it
takes a lot of effort to use that advice in the moment.

With Jeongguk, Taehyung feels anything but in control. Jeongguk listens, yes, but his heart doesn’t
and Taehyung’s suffered enough that he just wishes his heart would just listen to his brain.

“He could beat Hoseok hyung up without breaking a sweat,” Taehyung manages.

Hoseok snorts loudly behind them as Jimin grins. “He’d be an idiot to try it,” he hums, tickling under
Taehyung’s chin. “He’d have to deal with the wrath of Yoongi and I know for a fact that Jeongguk
is slightly afraid of him.”

Taehyung smiles but he isn’t sure.

He isn’t sure because he knows Jeongguk wouldn’t hurt him and he doesn’t like not being skeptical.
Being skeptical keeps him safe.

He’s skeptical of why he feels so enamored by the man. It’s a bad sign. Jimin’s number one rule is to
never catch feelings.

Not that he has or wants to, but seeing Jeongguk makes him feel like he could. He’s fond already, he
wants more of his touch. It isn’t good.

“I’m not telling you what to do here, that you have to take him on as a client,” Jimin says slowly and
quietly so Hoseok knows not to listen, “but if I have to pick up the pieces after a day with Hanbin
again, I’ll enforce it and you know I hate doing that.”

Taehyung’s heart drops into his stomach. There are times when he forgets that Jimin is the boss of
him, right under Bobby. He trusts him with everything, Jimin’s the one who decides what clients
Taehyung takes on. If Jimin doesn’t get a good feeling, they never come near Taehyung.

So he knows if Jimin were to force him, it’d be for a good reason. But he still hates it when Jimin
reminds him that he does have final say, even if he rarely does bring it up.

“Okay, okay, hyung. I got it.”

Okay, maybe Taehyung is a little nervous.

He jitters across the seat as he watches the city flash by. Realistically, he knows that they haven’t
traveled far but it feels like hours before Yoongi is finally turning off the car.

Taehyung smiles as he stares up at the wooden sign reading and the ‘pancake house’ printed on it in
bold letters.

He pulls down the mirror, checking his reflection before Hoseok is grunting for him to get out of the
car.

Even if Jeongguk wants what everyone else wants, at least he’s attractive and fucks well.

He needs money, Jeongguk is willing to give it to him. No need to feel guilty, or whatever it is that
he’s feeling. If he’s right about Jeongguk than he won’t have to worry about covering his bruises
before going home each night. If he’s wrong, well he’s dealt with it before.

Taehyung spots Jeongguk almost immediately, despite the fact that he’s sitting in the far end of the
restaurant, tucked into one of the corner booths.

His smile is big and maybe Taehyung’s heart flutters in his chest and maybe it doesn’t.

“Baby,” Jeongguk greets, pinching his chin gently in greeting. Taehyung internally cringes at the
name even though he’s the one that told Jeongguk to call him that.

It’s a reminder that he’s working. A reminder that he has only ever needed around Jeongguk.

Jeongguk is not dressed as casually as Taehyung, though his dress shirt is unbuttoned at the top and
the sleeves are rolled into his elbows. He’s dressed in all black, his hair the same inky shade and
hanging over his forehead.

Just the sight of him makes something hot flicker in Taehyung’s belly.

“I ordered if that’s okay?” Jeongguk isn’t shy about the way his eyes travel down the length of him
as he cups Taehyung’s elbow in greeting. There is a dark look in his eyes that sends a buzz through
Taehyung as he remembers the way Jeongguk’s hands had felt on his bare skin the last time he had
looked at him like that.

“Thank you for the gift, though you shouldn’t have,” Taehyung says awkwardly as he slips into the
booth. He indicates his attire with a quick wave of his fingers.

“I like to spend money and I would like to spend it on you,” Jeongguk replies easily. “I thought you
wouldn’t agree to go shopping with me so I tried my best, with Jimin's help on sizes and color of
course. Do you really like it?”

Taehyung nods, biting at his bottom lip. “I like it, very much. It’s very soft.” He sucks in a breath,
channeling his inner flirt. “So, what’d you order handsome?”

Jeongguk’s eyes steady on him as Taehyung kicks his foot out to tickle the tip down Jeongguk’s calf.

“I owe you waffles.”

“Toaster waffles,” Taehyung responds quickly, ignoring the first part. He had snuck out before
Jeongguk woke again and made it home before Eunae and Woojin got up for school. Hoseok didn’t
seem surprised to see him sneak back, but he had given him a disapproving shake of his head.

“Yeah well,” Jeongguk says with a grin that brightens his entire face, “I tried to bribe the waitress for
toaster waffles but she said no.”

Taehyung giggles. He wonders if Jeongguk knows how attractive he is. If he knows the power that
surrounds him and the way it breaks so easily when he smiles.

“When we go back to yours you can make me some?”

Jeongguk lifts a brow, his grin still clinging to his mouth though it opens in surprise. “Did you want
to go back to mine? There’s only one thing I have planned today other than this and the rest is up to
you.”

Taehyung drops his foot, mentally rolling his eyes. He wishes Jeongguk would just tell him what he
wants.

“What do you have planned for me?” Taehyung asks, pushing his foot back between Jeongguk’s
knees. “Daddy?”

He smiles at the flush that creeps up Jeongguk’s neck but he startles when Jeongguk’s strong hands
cup around his ankle and drag his foot into his lap.

“Why so shy? Isn’t that what you want to be?” Taehyung pushes as Jeongguk rubs a thumb over his
ankle bone.

He keeps himself from shivering when Jeongguk’s fingers slide over his smooth calf. He had shaved
in the shower this morning, knowing many clients like his skin slick and smooth. He likes the way he
can feel each drag of Jeongguk’s fingertips against his skin, though Jeongguk could touch him
anywhere and he thinks that he’d like it.

It’s a problem.

“Not shy,” Jeongguk says, his voice low but loud enough to be heard from across the table. “Just
don’t want to get hard in a fine family establishment like this.”

Taehyung bites at his grin, nudging his foot between Jeongguk’s legs until his fingers are reaching
out to trace across the sensitive skin behind his knee. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Jeongguk’s nose wrinkles before he slips Taehyung’s leg down until his foot hits the floor. “Be
good, yeah?”

It feels as if a fist is squeezing around his lungs, pushing a soft gasp up his throat and across his
tongue that he hopes Jeongguk can’t hear. “Yes, Mr. Jeon.”

Jeongguk is stopped from responding as a waiter approaches, a hesitant look in his eyes as he takes
in the two of them. “Hello sir, would you like to order your drinks now that your company has
arrived?”

Jeongguk nods, gesturing towards Taehyung.

“Hot chocolate, please. Extra cream?”

“Coffee. Black.”

Taehyung wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Gross,” he murmurs, watching the waiter scurrying off.
“You’ll have to chew at least three pieces of gum between drinking that and kissing me.”

Jeongguk is unfazed as he leans his elbows on the table. The sleeves of his dress shirt are rolled to
the elbow, revealing the veins dancing up his forearms. “Does that same rule apply after you
smoke?”

When Taehyung doesn’t respond, only stares at Jeongguk, a smile breaks out across his face. “I was
kidding. But if you do have rules, you should tell me. No touching, right?”

Taehyung has never hated that damn rule before.

“You don’t listen to that one.”

Jeongguk reaches across the table, the back of his hand against the wood and his palm inviting. “You
make it hard to.”

Tentatively, Taehyung reaches over but not to hold Jeongguk’s hand. Instead, he traces the lines
decorating his palm with the tip of his fingers. “Brrrp. Wrong answer.”

“I won’t unless you ask me to,” Jeongguk remedies without hesitation. “Deal?”

Taehyung shakes his head. He likes when Jeongguk touches him, he never wants Jeongguk to stop
touching him. “You can touch me. But not if you visit me at the club. My um… boss, I guess you
could call him that, charges a hefty fee and he won’t care if I like you.”

It slips out and Taehyung inhales like he can breathe the words back into his mouth. Jeongguk
doesn’t say anything, but his gaze intensifies.

“If I say ‘Kentucky’ you have to stop,” Taehyung goes on, smoothing his finger down to the
wrinkles at the joint of his palm and wrist. “That’s my safe word.”

“Kentucky,” Jeongguk blanches, the corners of his mouth lifting into a small smile. “Why
Kentucky?”

“Have you ever eaten KFC? It’s disgusting,” Taehyung says as if it’s obvious.

Another waiter approaches and Taehyung starts to move his hand away until he notices that
Jeongguk’s doesn’t budge. His cheeks warm again and he considers investing in everyday makeup
so Jeongguk can’t tell how easily flushed he gets.

The waffles come with an assortment of side toppings. Jeongguk admits quietly to ordering
everything, unsure as to what Taehyung would like.

It’s endearing.

“Okay, so Kentucky,” Jeongguk goes on, topping his own waffles with more chocolate sauce. He
has a tower of ingredients on top of his and he seems to hesitate between dropping the fruit on top of
the waffle or plopping into his mouth. “What is a no so I never have to hear you say it?”

Taehyung hesitates, taking his time in cutting his food into small pieces. “My boss doesn’t like if I
get too bruised before a show. I only work at the Minx on Monday, Wednesday’s, and Fridays.
Sometimes Saturday’s. Pay enough money though and he won’t care, he’ll just cover me up.”

Jeongguk’s cheeks bulge around his food as he chews. It’s so cute that Taehyung has to stop himself
from poking his cheek.

It’s cute until something flashes in Jeongguk’s eyes that has a chill running down Taehyung’s spine.
Maybe he overestimated Jeongguk’s gentleness.

“What do you do the other nights?”

“Work with clients,” Taehyung sighs, smiling softly when Jeongguk’s feet tangle with his under the
table. “Usually just the one, my current daddy, but my boss has knocked him down to once a week.”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Jeongguk looks at him for a long time, his eyes bearing down on him in a way that makes it difficult
not to fidget it in his seat. “Yoongi hyung told me you have customers that hurt you.”

Taehyung stares down at his waffles for a moment as he pulls a piece he tore off through the syrup.
He isn’t supposed to be eating so much sugar, or much at all, to keep his figure, but the more he tries
to cut back on sugar, the more he wants it.

“Darling, I’d prefer not to speak of it,” Taehyung says, summoning up a smile as he plops the waffle
into his mouth. Jeongguk only looks at him for a moment longer before nodding in acceptance.

If Jeongguk wanted him to talk about customers that have hurt him, they would waste their day away
talking about things Taehyung would soon rather forget. Hanbin is actually tame compared to them.
His kinks are unpleasant and his aftercare sucks, but he listens to the safe word.

“My no’s are, um… well, I don’t like face slapping,” Taehyung says instead. He may not be allowed
to tell a client no when it comes to their kinks, but he doesn’t think Jeongguk would let it go if he
even hinted about his time with Hanbin.

Jeongguk stills, staring at him with his chipmunk cheeks for a moment before he swallows and nods.
“Okay. What else?”

“Nothing degrading,” Taehyung goes on.

He’s never been able to tell a client what to do and it makes him feel like he can breathe. He can’t get
used to it.

“Is this what your current daddy does?”

He falls still. “No.”

Jeongguk doesn’t look to believe him but he doesn’t press on.

“You’re supposed to be telling me what you like, Mr. Jeon.”

And he doesn’t. He pulls a Taehyung and plops more fruit into his mouth, diligently cutting at his
waffle. Taehyung watches in amusement, toeing at Jeongguk’s feet until a smirk twitches at
Jeongguk’s lips.

“Well, at least tell me what our plan is today?” Taehyung asks, reaching over to wipe off the sauce
collecting at the corner of his mouth with his thumb. He drags his thumb across Jeongguk’s lower
lip, tugging it down.

He’s making it difficult on himself, thinking too much. He’s done this for years. Work the sex
appeal, have sex with them, get the money. Jeongguk isn’t different, and the way his eyes darken
confirm it.

Taehyung pushes Taehyung to the back until his smirk feels more like Baby.

“Grocery shopping,” Jeongguk says, his fingers curling loosely around Taehyung’s wrist to hold it in
place when he wraps his lips around his thumb.

Taehyung’s belly swoops as he pulls his hand away. “Grocery shopping?”

Jeongguk nods, eyes gleaming. “I haven’t grocery shopped before and since my nanny quit, I’m
getting low on food.”

He can’t help the laugh that blurts from his lips though he tries to. Jeongguk looks quite upset by the
ordeal, lips pushing out into a pout as he shrugs when he’s finished. It explains how empty
Jeongguk’s kitchen had been.

“You’ve never grocery shopped before?”

Jeongguk shakes his head as he downs the rest of his coffee. “I tried last week. It’s harder than it
looks. Why do you think the only thing I've offered you was toaster waffles?”

Taehyung runs an appreciate hand over the sleek metal of the car, admiring the nooks and crannies
of the face that make it appear right out of a video game. He keeps his touch feather light, terrified
that he might possess the strength to ruin such an expensive item.

He can’t, he knows. But he had stiffened every muscle in his body while inside as not to rip the
leather interior and now he is afraid of even leaving a fingerprint behind.

“It was a gift,” Jeongguk explains, smiling fondly as he slides his hand over the roof of his sports car.
“From my father. Or a bribe, I guess. I wasn’t too eager to take over the company.”

“Why not?” Taehyung asks, attention leaving the car to admire Jeongguk instead. The other man
looks down at the car fondly, his fingers just as delicate over the metal as Taehyung’s had been.
“I don’t like cigarettes,” Jeongguk responds simply, lifting his eyes. He stops touching the car to
touch Taehyung instead, or attempting to, as his hand ghosts over his jaw without their skin
touching.

Taehyung nuzzles into the touch, grinning. Jeongguk is close enough that with just another step he
could press Taehyung up against the car with his body and Taehyung wants him to. “Then why did
you let me smoke in your apartment?”

Jeongguk shrugs, thumb rubbing over Taehyung’s cheek. “It’s a bit hypocritical to tell you that you
can’t smoke while I’m part of the reason those cigarettes exist.”

“If you didn’t run the company, someone else would,” Taehyung sighs. He pushes forward until
there’s only a breath of space between their bodies. “Now, are you ready to grocery shop? Or are
you going to push me up against this car and fuck me in front of the entire parking lot?”

Taehyung smirks at the way Jeongguk’s jaw slackens for a moment. With the distraction, Taehyung
pushes past him before his body betrays him and tries to convince Jeongguk to just do that.

The store looks busier than it is based on the cars in the parking lot, but they find it to be quite empty
of customers when they enter. Jeongguk looks visibly uncomfortable when Taehyung hands him a
cart with expectant eyes.

“What do you like to eat? So I know what to get.”

“Get whatever you would buy,” Jeongguk says without hesitating.

It’s probably not the best response to Taehyung’s question as not soon after, the cart is already full.
They’re only halfway through the store when he considers getting a second cart just to be obnoxious.
Jeongguk's kitchen is three times the size of his own but twice as empty.

“Sorry, I have to take this,” Jeongguk says as Taehyung dumps boxes of sweet cakes into the cart.
He adds a few more in the hopes that maybe he can steal one or two for his sister.

Jeongguk doesn’t object or say anything as he answers the phone, speaking in English. He wonders
if it’s so Taehyung won’t eavesdrop as he takes in the soft, affectionate sound of Jeongguk’s voice.

Technically, it could be his son. But, he hadn’t stopped to think until now that Jeongguk could have
a wife.

Most clients do, but his belly turns sour at the thought and he has to swallow it down. It’s work. He
doesn’t get paid to know or care about his clients’ personal life.

He should have taken a peek into Jeongguk’s closet when it had been cracked open the last time he
had slept over.

Jimin had said Jeongguk was lonely, but some married people are lonely despite sharing a bed.

“Appa loves you. Now go to sleep.”

Taehyung glances at the soft smile on Jeongguk’s lips as he tosses a box of toaster waffles into the
cart. It lingers on his lips for a moment as he tucks the phone back into his pocket.

“Ji-hu,” Jeongguk supplies, “he’s hours behind so I have to take his call whenever I can.”

Taehyung only hums in response, shifting back until he’s in pace with Jeongguk.
“He is spending the summer in America. Have you been?”

“No,” Taehyung responds as he grabs a box of ice cream cones to throw onto the heaping pile of
groceries. “Is he there with his mother?”

He cusses quietly at himself. It isn’t any of his business. Jeongguk is attractive, kind and rich, of
course he'd be married. He can't assume it's to a woman, either, but most of his clients have women
on their arms while they hide him deep in their closets.

“No, his grandparents. They want to start taking him every summer and I hate it already.”

“Why?”

Jeongguk doesn’t say anything for a moment as he leans forward against the bar of the cart.
“Because I miss him. I want to see him soon. Would you like to visit America with me?”

It must be obvious that he hesitates because Jeongguk laughs uncomfortably. “Not to meet him. Just
to visit America. New York. I could take you shopping? Or we can go to Kentucky and do whatever
the hell people do in Kentucky.”

Taehyung snorts. “I can’t leave my kids.”

Jeongguk stands straight before curling an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders. “We can bring them.”

Taehyung falls quiet for a moment, feeling unsettled by the response. None of his clients know of his
siblings, he wouldn’t be able to stomach the idea of Hanbin ever mentioning them. It doesn’t make
him sick when Jeongguk does, but he wishes he wouldn’t.

Maybe Jeongguk pities him and that’s why he’s offered to help. A desperate prostitute working his
life away under grubby fingers to feed his orphaned siblings. Not that he knows the details, but
Taehyung knows he has his assumptions. People always do.

“How did you learn English?”

He listens to Jeongguk talk about his schooling and his time in America as they make their way to
the cashier. Jeongguk admits that he can speak four languages, though he considers himself only
somewhat fluent in Japanese and Chinese, and that he sucks at math.

He hires people to do the math for him, not that Taehyung should be surprised. Jeongguk just
admitted to hiring a nanny do all of his grocery shopping for him. He used to have a stuttering
problem and his parents spent a lot of money on speech therapy, but it comes out a lot when he's
speaking in English.

“I can teach you, if you want,” Jeongguk suggests as he lifts the groceries onto the conveyor belt.
“Since you taught me how to grocery shop.”

Taehyung pushes him aside, rearranging the groceries for proper packing order. “You didn’t do
anything and I’m pretty sure you spent more time looking at my ass than what I was putting in the
cart,” he says playfully.

Despite the flush rushing up Jeongguk’s neck, Jeongguk doesn’t look embarrassed. “Those pants
look very nice on you. My compliments go out to whoever picked them out.”

It’s difficult to resist the urge to shove Jeongguk into the counter and tug him into a kiss at the same
time, but he manages. He distracts himself with emptying the cart, teaching Jeongguk about how to
properly sort items so they’re bagged efficiently.

Between dancing and being an escort, Taehyung makes enough to keep food in his apartment, but
the amount of money Jeongguk spends on food without hesitating makes him a bit envious. Some of
it will probably go bad if there's only one person to eat it all, yet he buys it anyway.

“Here,” Jeongguk says after he pays the cashier, turning to Taehyung to hand him the card he just
paid with, “have Hobi-hyung stop at the market for more meat before you bring this all home.”

Taehyung stares at Jeongguk like his brain can’t comprehend what he’s saying.

“What?” Jeongguk asks, frowning at him as he takes the carriage full of bagged groceries.

“Why Hobi-hyung?”

Jeongguk grins brightly. “Well, I’d go with you but I assumed you wouldn’t tell your clients where
you live. Especially since you have children. He can bring you back to mine if you want, and if you
don’t... now you have a reason to come back another day to return my card. Or not, you can keep it
for emergency purposes.”

Taehyung glances down at the small piece of plastic before looking at the cart. He’s gotten many,
many gifts before, but nothing quite compares to this one. Hanbin had offered to pay his rent before,
but Taehyung thinks that has less to do with his well being and more to do with Hanbin wanting to
know where he lives.

“What if I steal it? Never to see me again?”

The grin on Jeongguk’s face only grows as he pushes the carriage through the parking lot where
Taehyung sees Hoseok's car now by Jeongguk's. He wonders if Jeongguk had been lying about
talking to his son and actually calling Hoseok to meet them here. “Well, there’s not that much on
there. You can buy anything else you need at the market if you want, so it’s not really stealing. You
can keep it, I just want a reason to see you again.”

The SUV’s door swings open as Hoseok hops from the driver’s seat. He snatches the card from
Taehyung’s hand before Taehyung can react to his hand moving. “I’m taking a cut for driving,
Jeon.”

Jeongguk pinches under Taehyung’s chin, pulling him in to press a kiss to his forehead. “I mean it.
But I hope to see you later. If not, I understand. One day, right?”

If anyone were to call Jeongguk out for glancing constantly at the clock hanging in his living room as
he paces impatiently, he’d adamantly deny it.

After an hour he grows restless and decides to burn his energy at the small, home gym that he had
added to the penthouse once Ji-hu had come to live with him. It had been difficult to get any free
time with a little one on his hands, and now his boy enjoys dancing in front of the wall of mirrors as
Jeongguk works out.

Another hour and Jeongguk finds himself in the kitchen. He should have actually shopped for
himself too because his refrigerator is sorely lacking anything substantial to fill his stomach with. He
knows his cabinets are just as bare, but he finds some microwaveable ramen shoved far in the back
of his top cabinet. He doesn’t care how old it is, he’s sure it doesn’t expire.
After an almost full belly and a shower, Jeongguk decides that Taehyung isn’t going to come back.

Especially when there's a knock at the door and Jeongguk’s hope dies like a wilting flower in his
chest when he opens it to find Yoongi and the credit card he had given to Taehyung.

“Hope said this is for you?” Yoongi asks in confusion as he hands it to him. “How come you never
give me your credit card?”

Jeongguk snatches it away. “You never ask for money. I’ve offered it plenty of times.”

“I would never ask you for more money,” Yoongi goes on, a hint of guilt in his eyes. He had asked
Jeongguk years ago to help him purchase the equipment that he needed for his music. He insists on
paying Jeongguk back, has even tried to, though Jeongguk insists that he forget about it. It's one of
the few times they've ever fought. “Why did Hoseok? Are you trying to bribe him not to be mad at
you? Which, he isn’t, by the way.”

“No, it’s not that,” Jeongguk says before he slumps down on his couch, relief flickering inside of him
that Hoseok isn’t mad at him. “He’s Tae’s bodyguard or something.”

Realization crosses Yoongi’s face and he fails to keep down the grin on his lips. “You saw him
again? Is that why you aren’t at work?”

Jeongguk groans, swiping a hand over his face. He peers at Yoongi through his fingers. “As my best
friend, you should be lecturing me about my finances.”

Yoongi waves him off. “That’s Jin hyung’s job. Literally. You pay him to do that. I’m pro Jeongguk
and Taehyung though please don’t ever call yourself daddy in front of me.”

Heat creeps up Jeongguk’s neck. “I don’t think Taehyung wants me to.”

“Think of it like this,” Yoongi starts off, hands moving in front of him as he speaks so Jeongguk
knows he’s serious, “like Jimin explained it to me when I first was unsure. You’re not buying
Taehyung. You’re helping him pay his bills and his debt. Knowing you, you won’t force him to do
anything that he doesn’t want and the other people willing to pay for him will.”

Jeongguk clenches his teeth as he listens to Yoongi speak.

“It’s keeping him safe. And listen, I don’t know if I can handle Jimin getting upset about him again. I
would do it myself but I don’t make enough money to,” Yoongi goes on, his words growing more
emotional as he speaks.

“Is it the same for Jimin?” Jeongguk says suddenly, moving forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
It feels as if antifreeze is pouring through his body at the thought. “I’d buy his time too.”

Yoongi shifts uncomfortably, shrugging. He looks as if he is trying to remain expressionless but the
muscle over his jaw flexes angrily. “Jimin is in debt too. I think it’s more complicated for him.”

Jeongguk nods, remaining quiet as Yoongi looks as if he wants to say more but is struggling to do
so. He feels a spark of anger inside of him when he thinks about Bobby doing this, but he tries hard
to push it from his mind. His father's always taught him not to make assumptions, judgments.

“Jimin can’t be bought,” Yoongi finally says, his whole body flinching. “But he isn’t any safer.”

It is a different type of aggravation that fills him. He barely knows Taehyung and still wants to take
care of him, but he knows Jimin. He’s a good friend and the love of his best friend’s life. Jeongguk
lets that anger through until Yoongi is pushing forward to grab the fists Jeongguk hadn’t realized he
was making.

“Tell me about your date with Taehyung.”

Jeongguk grits his teeth until the memory of Taehyung fills him with a warmth that settles the anger
inside of him. “We ate waffles and went grocery shopping. I invited him to America with me.”

Yoongi settles back against the couch, staring at him with a look on his face that he can’t read.

“I should have remembered how quickly you fall for people,” he finally says, rubbing at his chin
thoughtfully. “But it’s been so long, I’ve forgotten.”

Jeongguk doesn’t entertain him with a response.

It’s night time when Yoongi finally leaves with an excuse that he has to pick up Jimin from work.
Jeongguk heads straight to bed, body tired from the way his mind has been running all day.

He’s snuggled into the blankets when his phone blinks awake, vibrating as a series of messages roll
through.

unknown: it’s Doll. If you’re interested, pick Baby up Tuesday @ 8am and Sat and Sun @ 7pm.
Shift @ the club starts at 10. Text you the prices if you agree.

Jeongguk studies the message. Doll must be Jimin, but he has Jimin’s phone number and he rarely
speaks to him so formally.

jeongguk: I’ll be there

Even if Taehyung doesn’t want to be around him, he’ll pay for the time, help pay whatever debt it is
that he has. Just so whoever is hurting him can’t hurt him anymore.

Hanbin turns the engine off once he’s pulled up in front of the apartment building. He grins brightly
before taking Taehyung’s hand and presses a lingering kiss on the back of it.

“Won’t you let me take you home, Baby? I’d like to continue the night.”

Taehyung smiles softly although his nerves wrack his stomach and make it difficult to do so. He
leans over, brushing a finger across Hanbin’s jaw. “You know I can’t. I’m already late.”

Hanbin only smiles in response. Sometimes he looks soft, but Taehyung’s memory always interrupts
the look with images of when he isn’t.

“I’ll be talking to Bobby about this other client of yours. I don’t quite like his Doll getting in the way
of our time together.”

Taehyung remains still. Though Hanbin’s voice is just as soft as his expression, there’s something
lingering in his tone that makes his stomach twist worse.

He doesn’t know what Hanbin has been told, but he clearly knows it’s Jimin that’s cutting their time
together. Hanbin has tried to buy off his debt and have him for himself and he thanks the heavens
that Jimin has Bobby wrapped around his finger enough to have stopped it.
Even if it turned Hanbin possessive and rough and Taehyung bruised.

“Save me a dance tomorrow,” Hanbin goes on, his rough palm sliding over Taehyung’s cheek.

“Yes daddy,” Taehyung responds like a habit.

His body is sore as he makes his way to the entrance of Bobby’s apartment building. It seems like
forever until he’s reached the top, and his body physically relaxes once the door is opening and
revealing Jimin.

Jimin tends to him quickly and gently, pulling him across the suite until he’s being guided into the
bathroom. The tub is already filled, the steam dancing from the surface covered in bubbles.

A soft whine escapes Taehyung’s throat as Jimin helps him out of the torn lingerie. Jimin’s face
remains passive as he takes in the new bruises littering his skin and he doesn’t say a word until he’s
helping Taehyung into the tub.

“How did it go with Jeongguk?”

Heat engulfs him and Taehyung sighs, sinking into the deep tub as Jimin pours water over his head
to wet his hair.

“He bought me groceries.”

He thinks he hears Jimin sigh sadly as he pours shampoo into his hands. He doesn’t want to talk
about it and he can’t tell if Jimin is in a listening or talking mood.

“I thought you ran off with him again when Hoseok-hyung called to tell me you sent him home for
the day.”

Taehyung sinks further into the water until his mouth has breached the surface and bubbles tickle his
nose.

“But then money came through from Hanbin,” Jimin says, almost sadly.

Taehyung sits up when Jimin guides him to, head tilting back to allow him to scrub the shampoo
through his hair. “Sorry for ruining your date with Yoongi.”

Jimin laughs breathlessly. “It wasn’t a date, he was just going to bring me home from work. I don’t
think he minded bringing me here for once knowing I was going to be with you.”

“How do you do it?” Taehyung asks as he stares up at the painted ceiling. “Being in love with
someone who knows that you’re a whore?”

It falls silent around them for a moment but Taehyung knows Jimin isn’t offended. It was Jimin who
had taught him to embrace the word and not let people use it against him.

“I think it’s a little too soon for you to be in love with Gukkie, though I do see the appeal.”

Taehyung snorts as he splashes water at Jimin and closes his eyes in case Jimin retaliates with soap.
“I’m not. But I don’t like that I get butterflies when I see him. I don’t like that he knows I have sex
for money and he still thinks I deserve to be taken care of.”

Jimin clicks his tongue in disapproval as he grabs a cup from the edge of the tub to rinse his hair.
“What have I told you about saying shit like that? You’ve been through so much shit, you deserve
something good, Tae-Tae.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Taehyung says, ignoring Jimin.

And Jimin doesn’t, though Taehyung hadn’t expected him to. It’s rare that Jimin speaks of his
feelings for Yoongi, other than reminding Taehyung whenever he brings it up that they can’t be
together until Jimin has freed himself from Bobby.

Which is usually followed by Jimin reminding him that he will never be free from Bobby because
Bobby won’t let him work in order to pay off his debt. Taehyung has a lingering suspicion that even
if Jimin could pay off his debt, he wouldn't leave because of him.

“Let the man spend the money on you until you’re paid off,” Jimin hums as he hands Taehyung the
bar of lavender soap. “You enjoy being with him more than Hanbin, yes?”

Taehyung doesn’t respond because Jimin already knows the answer. He can see it in the other man’s
eyes.

“Are you going to order me to be with Jeongguk?”

Jimin purses his lips together and stares at him hard but Taehyung turns away to wash himself.

“No, I’m going to order you to clean up and then come and watch a movie with me before you go
home.”

With that Jimin walks out and Taehyung pouts for a moment before he does as he says. He’s already
missed dinner with his siblings and they’re already in bed. He feels guilty for doing so and worried
about facing them in the morning.

Hanbin hadn’t let him leave but it’s not something he can explain to them for them to forgive him.

When Taehyung finally dresses and finds his way to Jimin’s room, he’s blocked from entering by
Bobby standing in the doorway. He waits quietly until Bobby turns to acknowledge him.

Bobby is kind, Taehyung reminds himself. Not just because of Jimin, he’s kind to the others too, but
his job makes him have to be cruel at times.

“How are you feeling?” Bobby asks, pinning the back of his hand to Taehyung's forehead. “Okay
for work tomorrow?”

He’s kind, but it’s always about work and money. Taehyung is just an object that he needs to take
care of to assure that his pockets remain fat.

“Yes sir,” Taehyung supplies, bowing his head respectively.

“I’ve requested to join you and Jimin but he shot me down quite rudely,” Bobby laughs fondly as he
taps fingers under Taehyung’s chin to guide his head up. “Join me in my room before you leave.”

Taehyung glances past Bobby’s shoulder but the room is too dark to see Jimin. He nods again and
it’s enough to have Bobby move aside for him.

Jimin has his own room in Bobby’s home and it’s luxurious. It’s double the size of Taehyung’s entire
apartment, his sheets are made of the finest silk and his comforter is so thick and fluffy, Taehyung
feels like he’s drowning when he slips underneath it.

Jimin tangles their legs together as he pulls Taehyung close, flicking on the movie that he’s selected.
His television is huge, stretching high towards the ceiling and far across the wall. The room is dark
but Taehyung’s familiar enough with the room to know it’s covered in Victorian furniture and has a
closet bigger than his bathroom at home.

“What you said earlier,” Jimin mumbles, tucking his fingers into Taehyung’s hair. “It’s not easy
being in love with someone who knows you’re a whore. He thinks he can save me.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything, only listens to the thud of Jimin’s heart. He felt the same way about
Jeongguk. Not love, but that Jeongguk felt he was saving him since he's brought up his bad
customers a few times too many.

“I told him if he brought it up once more, I’d stop talking to him,” Jimin whispers, his voice
wavering. “I meant it too. Even though I feel like I can’t live without him.”

It falls quiet except for the opening credits of the movie. Jimin owes Bobby even more money than
Taehyung. He had nearly died when Jimin listed off the numerous things Bobby has paid for him.
It’s a different situation from him because Taehyung’s debt hadn’t originally been his own.

And Jimin’s debt started because Yoongi needed money. And the man doesn’t even know.

“Bobby’s really good to me,” Jimin says after a while, “I wish I could love him instead. Wouldn’t
hurt so bad, you know?”

Taehyung doesn’t but he hums in response anyway. He sits up, having not paid much attention to
any of the movie. “I need to see him before I leave.”

Jimin doesn’t look him in the eye as he nods and Taehyung leans forward to press a messy kiss to his
cheek as an apology and a thank you.

Bobby’s bedroom is just as lavish as Jimin’s, but it’s simpler. Almost like Jeongguk’s, except his
walls aren’t bare. There are records on the wall from his company’s groups and his nightstands have
pictures on them as well.

Jeongguk’s nightstands are empty save for his alarm clock, now that he thinks of it. His room doesn’t
look as lived in as he first once thought.

He shakes his head like he can force the thoughts of Jeongguk out of his mind. He doesn’t want to
think about him when he beds Bobby.

“Baby,” Bobby coos, lifting himself from the bed to pad over him. His hands are gentle when they
slip over Taehyung’s cheeks and his lips are even softer when they press against his forehead.
“Please shut the door.”

Taehyung listens and rests against it as Bobby walks off, rummaging through the dresser at the far
side of his room before he pulls out a manila envelope. He gestures for Taehyung to sit on the bed
and he does without hesitation.

“I want you to tell me who this man is,” Bobby goes on as he hands the manila envelope to him.
“Ask Jeongguk if you must. I want to know who he is to Jimin.”

The envelope is still closed and Taehyung’s heart leaps into his throat. He glances between it and
Bobby slowly, wishing he was better at schooling his facial expressions.

“Don’t discuss this with Jimin,” Bobby says. It’s rare that he calls any of his workers by their name,
and it’s usually not a good thing.
There’s a slight shake in his fingers as he opens the envelope. Bobby sits beside him, humming
quietly as he strokes his fingers over the back of Taehyung’s neck. He silently prays that it isn’t
photos of Yoongi, but his prayers have never been answered ever in his life.

They are photos taken from the club. He can make out the back of Jeongguk’s head and Yoongi’s
full face as he turns and looks over the couch at Jimin. From the clothing, Taehyung knows it’s the
from the first time Taehyung had seen them together at the club.

“I don’t know that one, but that’s Jeongguk with him.”

Bobby doesn’t react, only continues to stroke the back of his neck.

Taehyung slides the first photo aside to view the second one. It’s Yoongi again in another part of the
club, this time with Hoseok across from him as he smokes in the VIP room. This had been the night
before. He had gotten a private show with Song. Song had bragged about it until Jimin’s ears were
red.

Taehyung knows that Jimin is the one who told Yoongi to buy a show as not to raise suspicion.
Everyone who comes to the Minx gets a show at some point. It costs so much for a show from Jimin
that Taehyung swears not even the richest man in South Korea can afford it.

The third is Yoongi again, but with Jimin. Jimin’s resting against the brick wall outside, a few feet
away from Yoongi. He’s wearing a trench coat that covers his probably bare body and a smile that
stretches high into his cheeks.

“I’ve seen him a few times before,” Bobby finally says, smiling softly as he brushes the bangs from
Taehyung’s forehead. “Doesn’t spend much money. A birdie tells me that he’s part of Jimin’s past.”

Silence is the best response, Taehyung considers as he moves the folder aside without looking at the
rest of the pictures. He turns to Bobby instead, fingers sliding over his thigh in hopes to gain his
favor. There’s annoyance in his eyes but it disappears when he traces a thumb over Taehyung’s
bottom lip.

“I like to know every customer that comes near my babes, especially Jimin,” Bobby explains, his
tone almost affectionate. “Find out what he wants with my Doll so I know if I can take his money or
have Hope keep him out.”

Taehyung nods, lips parting from the pressure of Bobby’s thumb.

“Unless B.I. is at the club, I want you getting to know this one,” Bobby goes on, eyes darkening as
Taehyung sucks on the digit in his mouth. He feels hot in the face but he already knows what Bobby
wants.

Maybe he called him in here to ask about Yoongi but he’s possessive, probably running over
thoughts of another man with Jimin and when Bobby gets jealous, he finds a way to make Jimin
jealous in return. Spending the night in someone else’s bed or having someone other than Jimin in his
own.

“You said he doesn't spend money,” Taehyung says hoarsely when Bobby pulls his thumb away. “I
can’t waste my time on him.”

“You will,” Bobby goes on, his fingers curling in the collar of the shirt Taehyung wears before he
pushes his fingers over the mouth shaped bruises staining his chest. “I won’t hold it against you if
you can’t make the cut each night.”
Taehyung feels the tears prickling back at his eyelids. Not from the way Bobby touches him, Bobby
has the potential to be a good lover if it were not for the fact he was Taehyung’s boss and Jimin’s
whatever, but because he can’t afford to not pay towards his debt each day.

He doesn’t want to end up too expensive to make any money, stuck under Bobby for the rest of his
life.

“Yes sir,” Taehyung breathes, blinking rapidly until the tears disappear.

Jimin taps away at his computer, wishing he could turn the music up or something without showing
Bobby that he is bothered. He can’t focus on the numbers in front of him or why some of them look
off. Taehyung’s moans filter through the room, though he had tried being quiet at first for Jimin’s
sake.

min: he what??

Sadness creeps it’s way into Jimin’s chest as he texts Yoongi back, explaining how Taehyung had
left Jeongguk to go to the one person Jimin is trying to keep him away from. Jimin doesn’t
understand it, not really.

He doesn’t mind taking care of Taehyung and giving him the aftercare that he needs, but he wishes
he didn’t have to. He wants to see more of the flushed, enamored looking Taehyung that appears
after he’s with Jeongguk. That’s why he texted Jeongguk when to pick him up. Someone needs to
convince Taehyung to stop being stubborn.

A choked moan sounds loudly through the room, making Jimn flush as the laptop topples from his
lap. It’s no secret why Taehyung is so sought after, he’s beautiful, sounds beautiful, and knows how
to use his body in a way that has even made Jimin desperate for him before.

It’s fucked up, but he hates when Bobby brings Taehyung to bed. He hates Taehyung being used,
and he hates the worry that Bobby will drop him, let him be sold to someone else and have
Taehyung take his place. There’s usually a reason he brings another man into his bed instead of
Jimin, but Jimin doesn’t know what it is other than his want for Taehyung.

jimin: tell hobi to come pick up tae please

Yoongi, thankfully, doesn’t ask questions. He stops texting back for a while, and Jimin stares at the
movie that he stops paying attention to when he hear Taehyung and Bobby in the hallway.

“Remember what I said, yes? And please tell Jimin to come to bed if he’s still awake,” Bobby
murmurs huskily. There’s another long moment of silence before he hears Bobby let out a low,
pleased groan.

Jimin shuffles from the bed, not wanting to be found moping, even by Taehyung. He removes his
pajama pants, already knowing how Bobby will want him as Taehyung finally knocks and slinks
into his room.

His drying hair is sticking around his head and there’s a new bruise centered between his
collarbones. Taehyung looks unsure, glancing at Jimin from the corner of his eye, as he grabs his cell
phone from Jimin’s nightstand.

“Bobby -”
“I heard,” Jimin says awkwardly, fixing his hair in the mirror as he watches Taehyung through the
glass. He’s wearing Bobby’s clothes and Jimin knows that he shouldn’t be upset by it.

Yoongi is his heart, that’s who he wants. But Bobby’s special interest in him keeps him safe, even if
he isn’t paying his debt off that quickly, he isn’t building anymore because of Bobby.

Jimin had meant it when he said he wished he could love Bobby. Bobby is kind to him and takes
care of him well. His life had been hell before Bobby took him in. Bobby's life has been hell too,
they are similar that way. He's different from Yoongi in that sense; who grew up in a home of money
and luxury.

“Did you call Hobi? He said he’s outside.”

Jimin smiles softly. “Go home, Tae. Text Jeongguk.”

Taehyung looks put off, grumbling something but a soft grin takes over his lips when Jimin squeezes
his hand before he leaves. Jimin waits in his room for a few minutes, catching his breath before he
makes his way into Bobby’s.

Bobby lays across his bed, bare legs tangled in his sheets and attention focused on the television
hanging from his ceiling. On it is a music channel, playing one of his group’s music videos that he
studies with a slight bob of his head.

“Bobby,” Jimin greets, his voice lacking it’s warmth so Bobby knows that he isn’t happy. Bobby
only glances at him for a moment before patting his lap.

“C’mere, Doll.”

Jimin can’t say no but he takes his time trailing his feet across the plush carpet before he’s climbing
onto the bed. The television forgotten, Bobby grips Jimin’s thighs over his lap and tugs him further
up his body.

“I want you to perform tomorrow, can you do that?” he asks as his hands warm over the skin of his
lower back, pushing down until his back is arching and his hips are pushing into Bobby’s. “I miss
seeing you dance.”

“Of course,” Jimin hums, smiling softly as he pinches Bobby’s chin. “I could dance for you now, but
you must be tired after Taehyung.”

The muscle over Bobby’s jaw clenches. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” Jimin says because he knows Bobby wants him to be. “He’s put you in a good enough mood
to let me dance again? I can build up my clientele again.”

Bobby’s nose wrinkles as his hands slide up Jimin’s spine, pressing their chests together. His breath
is hot on Jimin’s lips but he doesn’t duck forward to close the space like he knows Bobby wants him
to.

Jimin loves the stage. He doesn’t care what people want with him when he dances, he likes the
attention. He likes the eyes on him. He prefers people wanting to him than to people having him.

“You’re mine, Doll,” Bobby whispers, fingers circling around the pendant with his name on it. He
tugs gently, pulling Jimin forward until their lips are brushing. “I want you on the stage, Baby
working the floors.”
 Jimin gives in, but only a little. He allows Bobby to kiss him before he’s pulling back, hands pressing
down onto Bobby’s chest until he’s laying against the pillows. Bobby watches him with heavy eyes,
palms rubbing over Jimin’s bare thighs until Jimin lifts himself and climbs off of his lap.

“You’ve had enough tonight,” Jimin says as he pads out. “I need my sleep for tomorrow.”

He has worked hard to have power over Bobby, and he doesn’t want to lose it. Losing it means
losing control of who touches Taehyung and he can’t let that happen. Jimin keeps tight control over
his clients and has so far, he's managed to keep Taehyung away from the donors.

He just needs to get him away from Hanbin and then Bobby before he tries to get out himself.
Jeongguk is the best first step.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for reading!!

 Chapter 4
Chapter Notes

Almost 200 kudos ofmg, I can't believe that, thank you so much. And for those who
leave feedback, thank you so much. I always look forward to it

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Taehyung had been nineteen when his mother died.

He had been finishing up his last exam, a breath of relief teetering in his lungs, ready to be let out as
soon as examination hell was over. Jin was supposed to pick up Eunae and Woojin, and then him,
and they were all going to have a celebratory dinner.

Things changed when Jin found his dead mother, a crying infant and a quiet three year old at his
home. He never gave details and Taehyung isn’t sure if he’s glad or not.

The police suspected his step father and for a while, Taehyung wondered if that was his fault. He
had told them about how his step father talked more with his fists than his mouth, how his parents’
relationship was the reason he never stayed at home for too long.

Before his step father could be arrested, he overdosed and was found dead in a downtown club’s
bathroom. It wasn’t until nearly five months later that Taehyung discovered who really murdered his
mother.

Not his name - but his title. A debt collector, maybe the same debt collector that tried to take Woojin
as a payoff.

Taehyung taps his pencil against his notebook, staring at the phone he has maybe not so hidden
behind his textbook.

doll: J is picking you up tonight 8pm

Taehyung worked for a man named Chung-Hoon in Seoul for two years after that, while Jin took
Woojin and Eunae out of Seoul and to Busan. Taehyung wasn’t going to let the billions of won
owed to Chung-Hoon fall on Woojin’s shoulders so he took it on, barely making a dent into the debt
before Bobby bought him.

It felt like a blessing at the time, one he didn’t deserve. His step father might have been alive long
enough to take on the debt himself if Taehyung hadn’t talked to the police, or maybe the debt
collector wouldn’t have come so soon if his step father hadn’t died.

The possibilities and what ifs are numerous, but those are the two that make Taehyung feel heavy
and restless at night. If Bobby hadn’t bought him, he doesn’t know when he would have seen
Woojin and Eunae again. He didn't deserve such a blessing, but he wanted it. He wanted something
good regardless.

Jeongguk feels the same way.

baby: I have a client tonight already

Taehyung learned that blessings aren't real. Bobby paid for him to go to University and he paid for
his siblings' private schooling and counseling for a long time before Taehyung built enough clientele
to do it himself. It was all added to the debt that he already owed, that he couldn’t afford to pay back.

No matter how many grubby bodies he laid beneath or danced for, his debt barely budges.

He does it all to keep his siblings safe and healthy, but he never sees them. He’s supposed to be
raising them, but that’s somehow fallen onto Jin’s shoulders. Jimin knows dinners with his siblings
are important, yet here he is scheduling him for 8pm.

doll: who? I’ll cancel for you

Taehyung sighs, ignoring the message. He doesn’t have a client tonight but one night isn’t going to
make a huge difference towards his debt. He’s on edge and he needs to spend time with his siblings,
with Jin.

It had been difficult ignoring Jeongguk when he showed up to the club the other night. He couldn’t
stop glancing at him, always finding Jeongguk’s eyes on him.

He hopes he gets the message and stays away. Even if Jeongguk’s a true blessing, he’s one that
Taehyung doesn’t deserve.

It’s something he’s accepted, that he doesn’t deserve anything more than what he has and he barely
deserves that. He doesn’t want anything to make him start questioning that again.

By the time class is over, Jimin has texted him five times. He’s barely out the door when the call
comes through and he groans.

Years of studying the human brain, Taehyung feels like he should be able to understand his own.
Being around Jeongguk feels good, it feels fake. He wants it, he doesn't trust it. He wants Jeongguk
both as close to him as possible and as far away as possible.

Taehyung doesn't understand why he feels that way. He just met the man.

“You know B.I. offered triple what he normally pays for tonight? I’ve been fighting with B all day
over it. You’re going.”

There’s no room to argue in Jimin’s tone so Taehyung doesn’t. Instead, he sighs and tries to ignore
the butterflies erupting in his belly.

Things are a little easier now that Eunae and Woojin are in school from eight to eight, even on
Saturdays. Sundays they’re enrolled in church programs while Taehyung is in class and their time
together is longer than any other day.

He’s thankful it’s Saturday and not Sunday because he can’t afford to miss any time with them. He
doesn’t want to tonight, but he dolls himself up reluctantly between making their dinner.

Despite the battle inside of him, he wants to look nice for Jeongguk. He craves the tiny praises and
overwhelmed expressions and he’s itching to feed his addiction. Even if he doesn’t deserve them.

He’s rushing to finish up dinner, which is starting to burn, between switching out shirt after shirt until
he decides on the softest turtleneck he owns. It’s extremely modest, but velvety to the touch and he
thinks Jeongguk will love it.

When the smoke detector goes off, Taehyung flies from his bedroom, cussing quietly at himself.
He’s already running late, Hoseok is going to be here any -

Taehyung stops when he spots Hoseok in his kitchen, pulling a pot full of smoke from his stove and
into the sink, where water spits pathetically from the spout. It’s not just the sight of Hoseok somehow
being in his apartment that throws him off, but the massive bouquet of flowers that sits on the
counter.

He doesn’t know much about flowers, but he knows enough to admire how beautiful the array of
pink and purple looks. Especially in the dull coloring of his kitchen.

“Tae! Turn the stove off! What are you trying to do? Burn down this shit hole?”

He turns the stove off but not after shoving Hoseok playfully. It may be a shit hole, but it’s
the cheapest he could find and it’s home.

“I got distracted,” Taehyung sighs, fiddling with the stove dials to purposefully ignore the flowers a
few feet away from him and the big white card sticking out of it.

Hoseok’s annoyed look disappears as he cackles, cooing and tickling under Taehyung’s chin. “You
look so cute Taehyungie. Don’t touch the stove, I have more stuff to bring in.”

Taehyung pushes his lips into a pout when Hoseok doesn’t explain. He avoids looking at the flowers
more while Hoseok brings in another package, a gift basket of some sort that he can’t stop his
curiosity from making him peer into when Hoseok disappears again.

Inside is a variety of boxed candy, popcorn, and packets of hot chocolate. There’s a handful of
DVDs and anime box sets and Taehyung frowns at the fluttery feeling in his chest.

He trusts Hoseok would never give someone his address without asking first, but he half expects
Jeongguk to come striding in behind Hoseok when Hoseok slides a large box into the apartment with
a grunt.

“What is that?” Taehyung asks, but he already knows by the shape and the size. The massively large
size. The flutter in his heart worsens and he wonders if he’s having a heart attack. He’s careful about
his health, going for regular checkups and making sure he's eating and exercising well, but it would
be his luck.

“A dead body,” Hoseok deadpans as he turns the box so Taehyung can see the Samsung logo. “I
don’t think this will fit on your tv stand.”

Taehyung huffs out an overwhelmed laugh because he doesn’t even think a television of that size
will fit in his living room, let alone on the tv stand. It looks out of place, sleek and shiny among the
grub and second hand furniture that Jin’s been trying to convince Taehyung to get rid of for years.

He almost complains when Hoseok leaves again, dreading more expensive gifts, but when he returns
with another package in his arms, it’s aroma floating through the lingering smoke smell has
Taehyung almost dying in relief.

“Guk just met you and he already expected you to burn dinner. Amazing. I always tell him he's
smarter than he thinks he is.”

Taehyung slaps Hoseok as he reaches for the card taped to the Panda Express takeout. His body is
jittery with nerves, excitement, he doesn’t know.

Movie night on me. Enjoy Baby, I hope to see you soon - Jeongguk
He wants to fond over the little hearts that are scribbled under Jeongguk’s name but he just looks at
Hoseok in confusion.

“Oh yeah,” Hoseok goes on, pulling something from his back pocket before handing it to Taehyung.
It’s the credit card that Jeongguk had given to him the last time they were together. “He said to make
it more obvious that he wants you to hold onto this and that I can’t take it back, even if you ask me
to. No strings attached this time.”

Hoseok isn’t even done speaking before Taehyung’s considering handing it back to him and insisting
that he gives it back to Jeongguk. He carefully holds onto it, like the tiny card is a precious stone
that’s worth billions of dollars.

He doesn’t know how much money is even on it, but he hates holding large quantities at one time.
Except for when he’s performing, because he only has to bring it from the front room to his dressing
room.

“He’s a good guy, really,” Hoseok says, voice softer this time as he starts opening the box of takeout.
“And he really likes you. He hasn’t liked anyone in a really long time so I think this is good for the
both of you. Symbiotic, or whatever.”

A flush rushes to Taehyung’s cheeks. Too good to be true, too good to be true. “Or maybe he just
wants to get off and do weird kinky shit with someone who won’t judge him and he doesn’t want his
hyungs to know.”

Hoseok stills, lips parted as he stares at Taehyung. It only lasts a moment before he’s half groaning
and laughing. “He can’t be into anything weirder than me. Plus, he paid for the night and I don’t see
him here wanting to do any kinky shit.”

Taehyung groans as his front door opens again, and he considers changing the code to his door
before he sees Woojin rushing in with Eunae behind him.

Woojin wraps tightly around him, smiling softly when Taehyung drags his fingers through his hair.
The hug doesn’t last long before he’s pulling away and peeking into the gift basket of goodies.

“What’s all this?” Jin asks with wide eyes as he appears into the kitchen. He nods his head towards
the massive television, his smile growing when he finds the flowers. He attempts to grab for the
unopened card but Taehyung snatches it from him and shoves it into his pants so Jin won’t touch it.
“I thought you had to work.”

“Uh,” Taehyung grumbles, securing the envelope before pinching Eunae’s cheeks until she’s
giggling, “my boss gave me the night off, I guess. And a um, bonus?”

Woojin pokes his back to get his attention. He’s pointing excitedly at the gift basket, indicating the
box set of One-Punch Man. It always takes awhile after coming home to get Woojin to talk.
Sometimes he doesn’t, and sometimes he speaks so quietly and only to Eunae.

“Is this a good boss ?” Jin asks as Taehyung opens the gift basket to retrieve the box for his brother.
Woojin is bouncing on his toes and practically snatches it from his fingers when it’s handed to him.

“Yes,” Hoseok answers for him, ignoring Taehyung’s pointed look. He looks amused, lips pressing
tightly together to keep back his grin as he watches Taehyung. “You’d like him, Jin. Taehyung here
has him wrapped around his finger.”

Taehyung’s face feels like a furnace under Jin’s impressed gaze. His eyebrows are raised and there’s
a smirk in his eyes. Jin doesn’t like Taehyung’s job, but he never says so. He knows the
circumstances.

Jin hadn’t been understanding in the beginning, even knowing the circumstance. Taehyung thinks
that he understands now because Bobby made him stay in his penthouse instead of with his siblings
at first. It took a couple years before Jimin was in a place of telling Bobby what to do, so there were
nights he’d come home to Jin looking a little more than roughed up.

“Do not,” Taehyung denies. He pokes his tongue out, uncaring if it’s immature of him.

Both Jin and Hoseok bark out a laugh. “I haven’t seen Tae have a crush in....only God knows how
long. It’s cute.”

It’s the simmering heat of his skin that will give his lie away, but Taehyung lies anyway. To Jin and
himself. He doesn’t have a crush, or anything like that. Crushes are things for children. Crushes can't
happen with clients, it's too dangerous. Jeongguk is just attractive, and nice. Kind. It's unfamiliar.

“It’s just work,” Taehyung denies, almost a little too aggressively. A small hand catches on his own
and he finds Eunae there.

“Woojin-oppa wants to watch the movie,” she explains, glancing back at where Woojin stands in the
entrance way of the living room with the DVD set tucked tightly against his chest like he's afraid
someone might snatch it away. “Just one please and then studies?”

“No studies tonight,” Jin interrupts, reaching out to take Eunae’s hand as he clarifies, “just tonight.”

Jin isn’t gentle when he ruffles Taehyung’s hair and though Taehyung swats his hand away, he
smiles as he watches Eunae lead Jin towards Woojin. He has missed his siblings, and Jin too. He
can’t remember the last time they hung out or just spent time together. They feel like strangers
sometimes. Like, you’ve had the same mailman for your entire life but you’ve never spoken to him.

“His payment,” Hoseok interrupts, handing him an envelope now that they’re alone, “I don’t like
being a delivery boy, but I’ll do it so you can spend time with the wee ones.”

It’s said jokingly, but Taehyung flushes even harder as he takes the money.

It isn’t until Woojin and Eunae are finally asleep that he acknowledges the flowers. He had tucked
the card back where it had been once he was sure the envelope had sat in his underwear long enough
to turn Jin off from being nosy.

There isn’t much free surface space in his bedroom, his dresser and nightstands covered in shit
because he doesn’t have time to put things away. He swipes his nightstand until everything falls to
the ground, hoping there isn’t anything important that might hit the floor and break before placing the
flowers there.

They truly are beautiful and Taehyung admires them, allowing the soft smile to appear on his lips.

Tonight had been good, so good. There’s no way Jeongguk could know how desperately he needs
time with his siblings, but his heart grows in his chest because Jeongguk gave it to him anyway.

It makes him want to pay off this debt as quickly as possible. Which means more work, or giving
Jeongguk what he wants.

Taehyung sighs, holding the envelope in his lap as he flops his butt onto his bed. It creaks loudly
from the sudden weight. Hanbin’s offered to pay his bills, make it so that the only thing his income
would go towards would be gifts for his siblings and his debt. He didn’t want to owe anything to
Hanbin. He’ll spend his time with Hanbin when Hanbin pays for it, but that’s it.

He wouldn’t mind owing Jeongguk, he thinks, but it makes him flinch. He doesn’t know Jeongguk
enough to know if Jeongguk would ever expect him to give and give back in return. Taehyung
would give and give back in return though, even if Jeongguk didn’t ask.

His heart pulses with desire and Taehyung finally rips the envelope open.

At first, it looks like a poem, and he reads it in his head one. Once he recognizes the lyrics, he tries to
hide his smile by curling into himself, his shoulders pulling high towards his chin.

Baby, baby

I’m a man who’s holding a pretty flower

A man who’se holding a flower called you, who everyone loves

I’m drunk with your scent, getting hazy again,

Don’t get plucked away, please.

Jeongguk props the phone in front of him, smiling widely at the little face on the screen. He’s talking
animatedly and quickly, switching rapidly between English and Korean.

“Appa, cousin Kevin says camp is going to be so fun . There’s a rope swing that flings you into the
water and finger paint but Gram says I can’t face paint or I’ll break out into a rash.”

From beside him, Yoongi laughs quietly. He pushes into Jeongguk’s space to watch the camera too.
Ji-hu has just woken up, but it hadn’t taken long for his sleepy eyes to fill with excitement. His hair
sticks out wildly around his head and even through the not great quality of the FaceTime, Jeongguk
can see the red sleep marks on his face.

He’s spoken to the boy’s grandmother about scolding him for speaking Korean. It hadn’t been a
good conversation, Jeongguk had threatened to fly across the sea and take him home immediately
until the old woman promised to back off.

He’s pleased that even though he hears the woman bickering in the background, it doesn’t seem to
be directed towards Ji-hu but cousin Kevin.

“You’ll be safe though? And call me every night still? Appa misses you.”

Jeongguk considers pulling Ji-hu out of America and back home regardless when the boy rolls his
eyes in response.

“Excuse me?”

Ji-hu giggles, shoulders hunching and a hand covering his mouth. “I miss you , Appa. I will call you
every other night.”

“Every night,” Jeongguk corrects with a soft smile, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Go
brush your teeth, I can smell your breath from here. Call me later. I love you.”
Ji-hu giggles more when Jeongguk makes kissing noises before he hangs up. He feels lighter
whenever he talks to his son, more complete though the hole inside of him won’t be filled until he
comes home.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight, man. Being around Bobby gets me so worked up,” Yoongi
mutters grimly as he falls back into his seat, fixing the bow tie wrapped haphazardly around his neck.

“No problem. I don’t think Bobby will be there. He isn’t hands on with B.B.E.”

Yoongi doesn’t look convinced. He’s nervous, clearly, by the shake in his hands and the way he
constantly runs his fingers over his velvet suit and fidgets with the buttons. He looks relieved when
Jeongguk stops him with a gentle hand.

“You worked really hard to get here. Don’t let Bobby ruin the night.”

A year ago, Jeongguk had convinced Bobby to bring some of Yoongi’s tapes to the head of B.B.
Entertainment Co., a company that Bobby invested a lot of money into at the start up. Yoongi hadn’t
wanted him to pull any strings, he wanted to do it all on his own.

Jeongguk respects it, but he thinks the world needs to hear Min Yoongi’s music and he was getting
impatient with his stubbornness and how many people seemed to overlook him. If it took a little of
guilt tripping and bribing Bobby to do it with a handful of cash, it's still worth it.

Yoongi was hired, pulled in to work with a group that was going to debut. It wasn’t until yesterday
that the group finally debuted, with the song Yoongi had written and produced.

“He won’t ruin the night,” Yoongi sighs finally, “thinking about him with Jimin might though.
Sometimes I can't stop thinking about it. Drives me nuts.”

Jeongguk doesn’t say anything. He understands the feeling. He’s been a bit unsure about seeing
Bobby since he met Taehyung and realized he pimps him out. He hates it, actually, but it isn’t his
place to meddle. He just wishes it was something Yoongi had shared with him beforehand. Bobby
and him may have grown up side by side, but it's always been Yoongi who has been like his older
brother.

It’s been a week since he spent time with Taehyung. He feels a bit creepy going to the Minx Club to
see Taehyung, especially because the man ignores him. He wants to ask him if he’s enjoyed the
presents that Jeongguk has sent instead of himself, he wants to make sure Taehyung is taking the
time Jeongguk’s bought to be with his siblings.

He wants to desperately just hear Taehyung’s voice and he doesn’t know what to do with that
feeling.

“Let’s get this over with,” Yoongi sighs as they pull up in front of the massive hotel. “Let me enjoy
the start of a great wealth.”

Jeongguk snorts at the gummy smile Yoongi gives him. “I thought you didn’t care about the
money?”

Yoongi waves him off. “That was before I knew how much money Jimin owed this cock wad.”

The restaurant is fancy, dimly lit with candles and soft music playing across the room. None of the
customers speak much, their voices hushed as if they are nervous of ruining the atmosphere.
The back room the hostess leads them to is different. The music is louder and it doesn’t take him long
to recognize the song playing as Yoongi’s song. The dining tables are mostly empty as executives
and people Jeongguk doesn’t know stand in clusters around the buffet tables.

“Ah! The man of the hour is finally here.”

Jeongguk claps the back of Yoongi’s neck in support as Bobby’s co-founder and the B.B.E’s top
executive approaches. He has a friendly face, a bit flushed as if he’s already been drinking.

Kim Hanbin. He’s usually glued to Bobby’s side the way Yoongi and Jeongguk have always been,
having grown up within the same house just as Yoongi and Jeongguk were raised. They took
different paths at some point and Jeongguk wonders if the company is used as a cover for Bobby’s
not so legal work.

“Hanbin-nim,” Yoongi greets respectfully with a bow, hands clapping in front of him.

“Jeonggukkie,” Hanbin greets, clapping Jeongguk on the shoulder, eyes only casting over Yoongi
for a moment. “You’re just as much to thanks for introducing us to Suga’s music. I’ll be sure to make
a hearty contribution to that chemist of yours’ research.”

Jeongguk has never really liked Hanbin. When he was younger, Bobby and him were a lot to handle
at one time. Hanbin was a lot like Yoongi, they didn’t grow up rich but they grew up in rich homes.
They were both told be quiet and unseen, but influenced to be bad by Jeongguk and Bobby. It made
him feel bad for disliking him.

“Namjoon-ah will be thankful. Though it’s unnecessary. Yoongi’s been slept on for too long.”

Hanbin chuckles as he sips at his drink. Yoongi is stock still beside them, but a small smile takes over
his lips when he eyes Jeongguk. “Damn straight. Come on, get something to drink. Dinners going to
be served soon.”

The moment Hanbin moves away, another person in a suit is approaching to shake Yoongi’s hand. It
happens for a while, one person after another, and Yoongi relaxes more with each conversation.
Jeongguk understands. He hates company events, he hates the idle chit chat and the praise for his
prospering business that he doesn’t deserve.

Yoongi does deserve the praise though and he looks embarrassed every time he gets it. Jeongguk
plays into it, raving about Yoongi until Yoongi looks like he may hit him.

“Oh no,” Yoongi grumbles quietly. “Oh no.”

Jeongguk hands him the drink he snatched from a waitress before he follows Yoongi’s eyesight.

At first, all he sees is Bobby, his face as familiar as Yoongi’s though his normally black hair is blond
on one side now. He’s saying something to Hanbin, his arm around someone wearing a gold, flowy
shirt that sparkles when it catches the light.

It’s when the man in the gold turns to whisper something into Bobby’s ear that Jeongguk
understands. Jimin wears a teasing smile, his eyes heavy with amusement and surrounded in smoky
eyeshadow. His hand is familiar around Bobby’s shoulder, a touch that appears more than platonic or
business like.

Jeongguk’s been wanting to ask Yoongi more about Jimin and the Bobby necklace he wears around
his neck but it isn’t his place.
Jimin’s smile slips away as his eyes find Jeongguk. Jeongguk immediately glances at Yoongi, but
he’s gone.

The look isn’t friendly, more panicked than anything but it quickly shifts into a playful look when
Bobby turns to find who he’s looking at.

“Jeongguk!” Bobby greets, a large smile taking over his lips and making him look a bit like a bunny
as he waves a hand to beckon Jeongguk over. “Shit man, it’s been forever.”

“Not that long,” Jeongguk corrects with a laugh. Bobby pops into the Jeon building too often to be
considered a stranger and whenever Jeongguk visits his father, Bobby is either there or just had been.
“How are you, B?”

Bobby shrugs, hand slipping over Jimin’s shoulders like a habit rather than a conscious move.
Jimin’s still looking at him with questioning eyes but Jeongguk doesn’t understand what he’s trying
to communicate.

“Man, thankful that you introduced Hanbin to Suga's music. I didn't know Yoongi hyung had that
talent in him! Oh - this is Jimin. You know Gukkie, right, baby? Old friend of mine. Like a little
brother.”

Jimin nods, sinking into Bobby’s side. “Jeongguk, yes. Didn’t want one of Bobby’s birds to
accompany you tonight?”

Ah . “No, I thought maybe, after the party.”

It must be the right thing to say because Jimin visibly relaxes and the smile turns genuine. Jeongguk
doesn’t know how much Bobby knows about him and Taehyung’s set up, but he does know that
he’s supposed to be with Taehyung tonight and he currently isn’t.

Bobby looks a pinch annoyed before he whispers something in Jimin’s ear that has Jimin rolling his
eyes.

“It's not like everyone doesn’t know, darling. I’m going to get a drink. Good to see you, Gukkie
baby.”

Jeongguk watches Jimin walk away and he can feel Bobby watching him. But the smile on his face
when Jeongguk looks back is just as bright as he’s used to it being.

“Where is hyung, by the way? I want to congratulate him?”

Jeongguk shrugs. He wants a drink too, but spending so many nights at the club has filled his system
with too much. His partying days are over as his old age catches up to him. He used to be able to
knock back drink after drink and only suffer a headache the next morning, but now a few drinks and
it feels as if death is calling him when he wakes up.

“Oh, Jeongguk,” Bobby says, grimacing as he pulls Jeongguk close to whisper something in his ear.
“If you don’t mind, don’t mention Baby to anyone tonight. Him and Jimin are in an argument and
I’m trying to distract Jimin.”

Jeongguk can’t help the way he pulls back to look at Bobby’s grimace. There’s no way he could
have known about this argument, but he fills with concern.

“You’re enjoying him, though, yes? He’s one of my best.”

They have never spoken about this before, but Bobby speaks so freely like Jeongguk has always
known that he runs a prostitution ring.

“He’s quite… worth the money, yes,” Jeongguk says blandly, but his heart beats a little harder in his
chest as he thinks about Taehyung.

Pride swells in Bobby’s expression and Jeongguk considers getting a drink or five. Future
Jeongguk's hangover is not his problem. “Stop by my office some time, yeah? Where we can talk
more openly?”

Jeongguk nods, but he has no intention to. It’s awkward enough as is.

It takes some effort to find Yoongi and have him calm enough to sit for dinner. Jeongguk
understands his hesitation, because it’s so awkward that the air feels tense. Luckily, Jeongguk has
dealt with many awkward and tense things before.

Maybe not this awkward. Yoongi is rigid beside him and it’s just their luck that Bobby and Jimin sit
across from them. The stolen glances are obvious and not just because Jeongguk is aware of Jimin’s
obsession with staring at Yoongi or Yoongi’s complete tunnel vision.

“DK has really taken the reigns as leader. Remember how hesitant he was at first for the position?”
Hanbin talks quietly from where he and his date sit between Jeongguk and Bobby at the head of the
table. His date is a familiar man, one Jeongguk thinks is from the Minx. “How often did he
accompany you in the studio, Suga?”

Yoongi flinches at the sudden mention of his name. He pulls his eyes up from where he’s been
moving his chopsticks around his plate without eating anything. Jimin’s watching him with a slight
tilt to his head but Yoongi seems to avoid his eyes like eye contact is the plague.

“Most nights,” Yoongi responds with a tight smile. “He is a good leader but it’d be best to advise
him if he is not happy with my lyrics, he may write his own songs.”

Hanbin laughs at this. “He told me you were resistant on any criticism. But you’ve written a hit, so it
isn’t at all a bad thing.”

Yoongi grunts, chancing a glance at Jimin before his eyes drop back onto his plate. He manages to
take a bite, right as Jeongguk considers telling him it will look less suspicious if he does. He doesn’t
look like a man who has just taken a step in the direction of fulfilling his dream, but rather a man
who has just been told that his long lost father has appeared and needs a kidney.

“What inspired the song?” Bobby asks, leaning back into his chair. He’s extremely touchy over
Jimin, and if Jeongguk didn’t know Bobby, he’d think it was purposeful. But Bobby has always
been like that.

He almost isn’t surprised that Bobby must have made Jimin wear the necklace with his name on it to
a work function like this.

“The lyrics are deep. What’s inspired them? I didn’t know you to be a man so in love, hyung.”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh, the ghost of a grin around his parted lips. It’s intimate, the way his eyes
shift to Jimin for only a moment before he speaks.

It makes Jeongguk’s heart ache. He’s tired of watching this conspire, and though he now has a good
idea at what’s keeping Yoongi and Jimin from being together, he’s forgetting his ‘don’t ask
questions’ rule. He’s intervening.
“Well, then you’d be surprised, B. I have loved so hard it felt like my heart was standing outside of
my body,” Yoongi admits softly, staring back at his plate. “I want to believe in soulmates because it's
what it feels like, and Jeongguk here has tried to get met to believe in destiny, though I prefer to
speak of it in my lyrics rather than have discussions about it.”

“It’s a good thing,” Hanbin says, interrupting Bobby before he can speak. He holds up his
champagne glass towards Yoongi. “These feelings make amazing lyrics.”

There is a bright pink coating Jimin’s cheek as he takes his own champagne glass and downs the
contents of it in one go.

“Bring her, next time. Not that Jeongguk isn’t a sight to see,” Hanbin starts before his eyes grow
wide and his eyebrows shoot up towards his hairline, “unless-?”

Yoongi chokes loudly and Jimin barely manages to muffle his giggle with a quick hand over his
mouth. Jeongguk flushes, quickly tapping Yoongi’s back until his best friend lets out an exhale to tell
him he’s still breathing.

“No, Jeongguk - no,” Yoongi says, grimacing. “I’m not into fuck boys.”

Jeongguk makes a noise of offense that has Hanbin and Bobby laughing. It almost feels like when
they were teenagers again, though neither one of them had known Jimin at the time. Jeongguk
wonders if Yoongi remembers disliking Bobby, even way back then.

“I thought you were together,” Jimin says, a cool smile on his face as he looks at Yoongi with
amused eyes. “You must be close then?”

The amusement slips from Yoongi’s face and he only grunts in response. Jimin’s expression falters
for a moment before he settles into the arm Bobby has around him.

It’s going to be a long night, Jeongguk thinks, as he snatches Yoongi’s drink and gulps it.

It’s not a good idea, but Jimin is past the point of caring. Actually, he’s too drunk to care. That’s the
problem, he’s drunk, and chugging back champagne like it’s oxygen and he’s struggling to breathe.

He is struggling to breathe. Yoongi’s sucking up all of his oxygen.

“We should go,” Bobby says against his ear, fingers tickling against his neck. They’re sat at the
dinner table as the executives and the members of the new idol group, whose name Jimin can't seem
to remember, are chatting animatedly about their scheduled performances.

Jimin doesn’t respond. Bobby never brings him to events like these, he hates mixing the two different
parts of his world. He doesn’t know why he’s changed his mind.

On this night, specifically. Celebrating a song that Yoongi has written. Honoring Yoongi.

His life’s a joke. A huge fucking joke.

Yoongi isn’t discreet about the way his eyes linger over him throughout the night. Or maybe Jimin is
too aware of Yoongi’s presence. Either way, the best response is to keep a level head.

But he doesn’t make good choices and his belly is filled with alcohol.

“Hanbin might just kill you if you leave early,” Jimin finally says. He leans back into the touch,
smiling softly at Bobby so he doesn’t think Jimin’s anything but fine.

So he doesn’t know Jimin wants to hurtle himself across the room and settle himself into Yoongi’s
lap. Heart outside of his body, Yoongi has said this to him before and it hurts every time he
remembers the way Yoongi had whispered it into his skin. It isn't fair. He can't be Yoongi's heart, or
that means Yoongi's heart is scarred and damaged.

He looks so good in his navy blue suit. He’s colored his hair back to black and its styled rather than
his usual messy look. His eyes are dark and to anyone else, he may look bored or tired but Jimin
knows better.

He’s too aware of the way Yoongi’s expression falters with every glance his way, or the way he’s
barely responded to Jimin whenever Jimin has spoke. It’s so unlike the way they are together that
Jimin wants to shove him across the room until they’re alone and can be themselves.

“You’re right,” Bobby sighs, pinching his chin. “Drink some water, babe. You want something else
to eat?”

It’s probably his problem. Jimin didn’t eat much due to his nerve filled belly. He started feeling
nauseous on the way here as Bobby explained the event, and it worsened when he spotted Jeongguk.

He’s supposed to be with Taehyung right now and when he first saw Jeongguk, all he could think of
was how awful it would be if Hanbin saw Taehyung with him.

“Dessert, I want dessert,” Jimin says, hoping his voice doesn’t slur.

Whatever Bobby says in response goes unheard as Jimin wiggles himself out of his seat. Maybe he
isn’t drunk drunk , but his body is heavy and his head light. He’s drunk enough that he isn’t positive
that he doesn’t stumble towards the dessert table, and he’s drunk enough that he doesn’t give a shit
about his stupid diet.

Yoongi always tastes sweet, despite his hate for delicious things, and Jimin has a sweet tooth that he
knows the dessert table won’t be able to satisfy.

“I don’t know what half of this is,” a voice murmurs into his ear, thin fingers lingering for a moment
at the low of Jimin’s back before they disappear completely.

A warmth creeps down Jimin’s neck at the hushed sound of Yoongi’s voice, the slow drawl and the
hint of amusement surrounding his words. It’s like he knows Jimin has been mentally calling for him.

“It’s expensive shit,” Jimin supplies, picking something pink off a dish that he doesn’t know the
name to before plopping it into his mouth. His tongue coats with sugar and he moans at the taste.
“Good tasting shit.”

Yoongi’s all gums when he smiles and tries it for himself. The smile slips away quickly as his nose
wrinkles in complaint.

Jimin huffs out a laugh, nearly choking as he swallows. “You don’t like sweet.”

They aren’t quite alone, but they’re far enough that Jimin feels more comfortable being Yoongi’s
Jimin instead of Bobby’s Doll.

“Only my Mochi,” Yoongi responds quietly, his eyes sparkling and it isn’t fair.

He wishes that he was drunk enough not to care at all about the potential eyes on him, but he isn’t so
he turns to hide the flush in his cheeks and shove his mouth full of more dessert. Bobby wouldn’t lay
a finger on Yoongi, he’s now too valuable to Hanbin’s company and too valuable to Jeongguk - who
is, for some reason, important to Bobby, but he could take Jimin and move him somewhere far away.

He has family in America and Jimin wouldn’t be able to tell him no.

Bobby has mentioned it before and Jimin has always surged up with fear and became so grumpy that
Bobby’s dropped it.

“Jimin.”

Mentally, he cusses at himself before smiling sweetly around his food. He can see Yoongi tense
before he busies himself by filling a plate of sweets that he won’t eat. Maybe a thank you plate to
Jeongguk, who has diverted nearly every question aimed at Yoongi about his love life. Jeongguk
truly is a kind soul.

“Jeongguk offered his driver to take you home if you’d like,” Bobby says as he approaches. Jimin
hates the way his hands find his hips and pull him close. He hates the familiar cologne he wears and
how often Jimin has thought it smelt like the one Yoongi wears.

It’s been long enough that he doesn’t usually mind Bobby’s possessive touches or pretending to be a
happy couple, but while in front of Yoongi, it makes his body tense and he’s never hated Bobby’s
touch more.

“I want to stay,” Jimin huffs as he shoves a piece of dessert into Bobby’s mouth. The corners of his
lips turn up around Jimin’s fingers but there’s a warning in his eyes. “I’ll drink your damn water.”

Bobby makes a noise that he can’t hear over the way Yoongi giggles quietly. Tunnel vision, he
swears, he should be diagnosed and treated because Bobby is right here in front of him and all he can
focus on is Yoongi.

“Doll, you’re drunk and it’s embarrassing me. I’ll call Hope to come and pick you up.”

Jimin parts his lips to argue but Yoongi steps in with a smile that would appear friendly it if reaches
his eyes. But it doesn't. His eyes have always reminded Jimin of those of a cat, and now they look
just as sharp as cat claws.

“I can wait outside with him, need a cig. All this exec talk is giving me a headache,” Yoongi says
with a laugh. “Plus, your Doll was just trying to get me to uh, invest in one of your boys. Song
wasn’t it?”

Bobby’s eyes flick to Jimin for confirmation and Jimin only smiles. Or, he tries his best to. Hearing
Yoongi speak Song’s name with a smile on his lips makes jealousy flare hot inside of him.

He’s considered having Jay entertain Yoongi on the nights Jimin can’t because he can’t handle
Song’s teasing, but Jay is too close to Hanbin and he doesn’t trust Jay to keep quiet. Taehyung is the
only bird he trusts, but Jeongguk frequents the Minx more than Yoongi and he isn’t sure how good
of an idea it would be to have Taehyung’s attention on Yoongi instead of Jeongguk.

The mischief in Yoongi’s eyes as waits for Jimin’s response makes the jealousy inside of him grow
even more.

“Song is quite lovely,” Bobby comments, clearly taken aback. “But there’s no need, hyung. Jun-ki
will kill me if he finds out the both of you are buying from me.”
Jimin frowns harder at that, wondering why the old man would care but Bobby looks distraught by
the idea.

Yoongi waves his hand to shut Bobby up. His face is hard, threatening in a way that Jimin has only
seen a handful of times before. There’s a familiarity between them that sparks Jimin’s curiosity, but
he’s too drunk and too desperate for Bobby to agree to let Yoongi go outside with him. “I insist. I
need to speak with Hobi anyway.”

Bobby looks like he wants to argue but he doesn’t. Instead, he bends forward and places a kiss to
Jimin’s mouth.

Jimin goes rigid for a moment and there’s no way Bobby won’t notice. He tries to distract him by
parting his lips and letting Bobby’s tongue flick against his own, but his heart thuds with dread that
Bobby noticed his initial reaction.

The look on Yoongi’s face only hardens and the pain in his eyes makes Jimin want to take off
running into the busy city until he’s so lost he’ll never find his way back to either one of them.

But instead, he rests against the building with Yoongi beside him and watches as Yoongi takes his
time dragging smoke from the thin white filter of his cigarette. They don’t speak for a long moment,
even when Yoongi reaches out and touches the necklace Jimin wears. The brand, that he could rip
off at any time really. It's better than those who wear the brand inked into their skins, a true claim.

“I hate that bastard.”

He says it so calmly that Jimin allows himself to look into Yoongi’s eyes but he regrets it the moment
he does.

“He’s sweet, most of the time.”

Yoongi grunts out a curse word. “He said you embarrassed him. He can eat shit. You’re not
embarrassing and he should be lucky to even be around you.”

“I wouldn’t call it lucky, baby.”

Yoongi only grumbles more at that. His pouting would be adorable if it weren’t for the situation. He
used to fond over the way Yoongi would get upset over something minimal, pouting and whining
like a child throwing a tantrum.

This isn’t anything minimal. It makes the air hang heavy between them.

“I will work hard to make sure the only people who can have you are the people who deserve you,”
Yoongi promises quietly, looking at his boots rather than Jimin, “are people who you choose to have
you, only because you want them to.”

That’s you , Jimin thinks but he doesn’t say it out loud because Yoongi should know, and it would
only make the hurt between them grow if they're reminded.

“I told you to stop with that dream of saving me,” Jimin warns lowly, his heart picking up the pace. It
makes him nauseous again and drinking had definitely been a bad idea because the pressure building
his chest and throat is becoming too difficult to hold back.

“I’ll never give up on you, sunshine. You should know me well enough to know that,” Yoongi says,
tilting back his head to blow the smoke into the air.
“And you should know me well enough to know I wasn’t joking when I said I’d stop talking to you
if you kept bringing it up.”

Yoongi finally looks up at him, eyes narrowed and lips tugged down into a frown. It feels like
forever that Yoongi stares at him like that, until Jimin is trembling and failing at keeping the tears
from slipping past his eyes.

“You complain about Taehyung thinking he deserves shit but here you are, being a hypocrite,”
Yoongi says softly. Jimin doesn’t flinch back like he wants to when Yoongi touches his cheek.
Instead, he rests his cheek into his palm and huffs out the start of his sob. “I love you so much it
hurts, Jimin. I want to love you, so stop trying to shut me down in the only moments where I can
show you.”

It’s at that time Hoseok pulls up in front of the building, beeping. Yoongi doesn’t pull away, only
rubs Jimin’s cheek.

“Love someone else,” Jimin declares, his fingers curling around Yoongi’s wrist as he pulls his touch
away. “You deserve to love someone else.”

Jeongguk is so thankful to be home he could cry. He sinks into his bed, rubbing at his temples to rid
the stress from the day.

Yoongi had shut down after talking to Jimin. It had been awkward the whole night, but Jeongguk
couldn’t take anymore when he realized that Yoongi grew so tense he could have snapped in half
with a gentle push.

And seeing Bobby made him think of Taehyung, and those thoughts hadn’t stopped until there was a
pit in his stomach from missing the other man.

It’s ridiculous. They barely know each other, but Jeongguk has always fallen hard and quick.

As exhausted as he feels, he lies awake for what feels like hours. At some point, he must fall asleep,
but when he wakes to his phone ringing, it feels like he never had.

“Mr. Jeon?”

Jeongguk forces his eyes open at the sound of Taehyung’s raspy voice. He pulls his phone away to
see the Unknown Number on his screen and he wonders if he’s dreaming.

“Taehyung?”

“Baby,” Taehyung corrects immediately, “Did I wake you?”

“No,” Jeongguk lies.

Taehyung falls quiet for a moment and Jeongguk presses the phone harder against his ear as he rolls
to his side. It doesn’t do anything but soothe the feeling thrumming inside of him.

“Thank you for the last few days.”

“You don’t have to -” Jeongguk starts, wanting Taehyung to know just how much he wants to take
care of him without anything in return - even a thanks, but Taehyung interrupts him before he can.

“What do you want from me?”

 Jeongguk hesitates. He’s awake now but he’s not sure if he’s awake enough for this conversation.
But he’s missed the sound of Taehyung’s voice, as silly as it seems, and he presses the phone harder
to his ear to make sure he hears every word.

“I want to take care of you,” he says simply after a moment.

“Why? You don’t know me.”

“I want to,” Jeongguk admits, uncaring if it makes him seem desperate, “but you don’t want me to.”

It goes quiet for so long that Jeongguk has to check his phone a few times to make sure that
Taehyung hasn’t hung up. When he returns the phone to his ear, it’s in time to hear Taehyung take a
sharp inhale.

“Clients don’t know me. They don’t even know my name.”

“I’m already a step ahead then.”

Taehyung laughs softly and the tension in Jeongguk’s body that he didn’t know was there dissipates.
It’s softly, sleepy almost, but his breath hitches at the end and the sound instantly warms Jeongguk’s
cheeks.

“Treat me like a client would, Mr. Jeon. It’s less confusing that way.”

Jeongguk opens his mouth to say that Taehyung is the confusing one but the line goes dead before
he can. He keeps the phone to his ear for a few seconds before he tosses it across the bed.

He doesn’t know what the hell that means but he wants to do anything Taehyung asks for.

He gets his answer a few minutes later when his phone dings again. He considers ignoring it, but the
off chance it could be Taehyung giving his number makes him scramble across the sheets.

Jeongguk barely glances at the Unknown Number before swiping right.

The first thing he sees is the golden planes of smooth skin, ripples over the ribs and soft around the
belly. His neck is elongated, keeping all but his parted lips out of view.

Fire curls down Jeongguk’s spine as he holds the photo over his face, staring at the way Taehyung’s
fingers are draped lazily below his belly button. His thumbs laid over the band of his underwear, the
cloth a pastel pink with the words ‘Please Daddy’ written over hardened cock.

unknown number: pay for me than play with me x hope to see you soon, sweet dreams daddy x

Chapter End Notes

Please let me know what you think or just come talk to me about anything xx

twitter @taehcheeks tumblr @taecheeks curiouscat

 Chapter 5
Chapter Notes

I have no idea if you can block a number through text messaging, but it works for this
fic so here we are.

Also, I have kind of been in a slump when it's came to writing over the last few weeks,
plus other life stuff that I hate, so if you're following my other fic - I haven't abandoned
it, I'm writing on the new chapter now, it's just taking me longer than usual.

Taehyung killed me with singularity, I've just dug myself from my grave long enough to
post this ja

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jeongguk doesn’t know what game Taehyung is playing, but his frustration is growing because he
can’t respond to the pictures that Taehyung's sending.

They come at the worst time. Not that Jeongguk is truly complaining, but there’s something
uncomfortable about his cock twitching under his briefs while he’s in the middle of a business
meeting or while he’s lounged on Yoongi’s couch.

Despite the pictures and the wishes to be played with by Jeongguk, Taehyung doesn’t approach him
when he visits the club. Hell, he seems to disappear the moment Jeongguk tries to look for him. He
doesn't ask for the photos, but they always come after a payment.

Sometimes for no reason at all. Those are the worst.

“Are you listening, Jeongguk?”

Jeongguk is definitely not listening. He’s staring down at the phone in his lap, where a picture of
Taehyung spread out is pulled up. Part of him is jealous of whoever took the picture, but the rest of
him is too focused on the way Taehyung’s ass curves and the thick of his thighs.

He rubs at his mouth, eyeing the slope of Taehyung’s back and the bruises staining his shoulder. The
jealousy intensifies and Jeongguk quickly closes out of his phone.

“Jeongguk.”

With a heavy sigh, Jeongguk finally looks up at the man sitting across from him. He’s been working
at Jeon Tobacco since way before Jeongguk took over, but as a customer service agent. It wasn’t
long into Jeongguk’s reign that he pulled Jin into the main offices, impressed by his work and in
desperate need of someone who understood the company as much as Jin does.

“Sorry, what’s that?”

Jin snorts loudly before sliding a few folders across his desk. He does a lot more than his last
assistant did, and it only took an increase in pay. Not that Jeongguk minds, he thinks Jin deserves a
hefty salary for dealing with him.
“Nanny applications. You need to look at them sometime.”

Jeongguk sighs, glaring at the folders hard but it doesn’t erase the images of Taehyung from his
mind. There’s something in Jin’s tone that tells Jeongguk he is aware that he’s been purposefully
pushing it off, but he ignores it.

“I hate all of them.”

Jin makes a noise of complaint before tossing the folder open and shoving the papers closer to
Jeongguk. “This woman here, lots of experience. I interviewed her myself because I knew you never
would. She’s a nice old lady.”

Jeongguk stares at the woman’s picture where it’s clipped to the top. She looks kind enough, but that
doesn’t mean anything. Every nanny so far has been a disaster, except his last and she quit.

“Can’t you be Ji-hu’s nanny? I’ll double your pay.”

“You’d have to triple it,” Jin says seriously as he sinks back into the chair. He’s the only one in the
main office that doesn’t wear a suit, but he looks just as professional in his turtlenecks (despite the
weather) and the round glasses hugging the bridge of his nose. “And I already have kids of my own,
I don’t need another one.”

Jeongguk sighs. The only people he truly trusts with Ji-hu is Yoongi and Hoseok. But he trusts Jin
with all of his finances and basically everything else to do with the important things in his life, so he
feels comfortable with trusting him with Ji-hu as well. Plus, Ji-hu loves Jin's brother like he's his
own.

“Quadruple the pay.”

“You’ll have to find a new assistant which means this company will crumble to pieces and I’m not
doing your laundry. So you'll be broke and dirty.”

He considers tossing the folders off of the desk but he resists. He feels wound up tight, like a knotted
rope that’s being pulled at both ends. “I could do that. I have people who have sought out the
assistant position.”

Jin's face crumples in offense and Jeongguk finds it relaxing when Jin goes off on a tangent about his
worth at the company, speaking passionately and quickly. It’s easy to rile him up and sometimes
Jeongguk does it just for a laugh.

He should probably double his pay just because.

“I’m kidding hyung,” Jeongguk insists, shoving the folder aside. His phone vibrates in his lap again
and he hesitates, flushing furiously when Jin looks at him with a knowing grin.

Jin probably does know. It’s one of the many reasons Jeongguk kept Jin around. He knows
everything and Jeongguk doesn’t know how he does it. He doesn’t want to spy on his employees or
anyone, but it’s nice having Jin keeping an eye on things for him.

“When are you going to tell me about who keeps stealing your attention?” Jin asks, indicating
Jeongguk’s lap with his hand.

“When are you going to tell Namjoon-ssi that he makes your dick hard?” Jeongguk grunts petulantly,
his ears flushing hot under Jin’s gaze. Jin’s the only person that can see him distracted at work, but
he really needs to get it together.
Jin scoffs, picking up something from the table and flicking it at him but Jeongguk is already opening
the message. He shouldn’t, his body still buzzing from the last photo, but he can’t help himself.

It’s a video and with much restraint, Jeongguk closes his phone with a new sudden urgency for Jin to
leave. “Speaking of um, Namjoon-ssi, could you please make a trip to the lab and go over funding
with him?”

Jin’s eyes narrow, his lips pressed tightly together to hold back his smile. “You’re trying to get rid of
me and you’re going the right away about it.”

Jeongguk stifles a laugh against his palm as Jin quickly pulls himself from the chair to leave, but not
before pointing at the folders he leaves behind. “Nanny applications. Review them sometime
between sexting your new boo. Ji-hu will be back before you know it.”

The guilt must be clear on Jeongguk’s face as Jin walks out and closes the office door behind him
with a loud, hiccuping laugh. He waits to hear the lock before he hits the volume button and opens
Taehyung’s message again.

It’s obscene, the way the office fills with the quiet mantra of hitched breathing. Jeongguk is
captivated by the clench of Taehyung’s muscles, the way his belly bunches and jerks, so close and
he’s barely touching himself.

The camera is quite close to Taehyung’s body and shaky, but he can still make out the way
Taehyung rubs a thumb languidly under the head of his cock. It’s a simple touch, but every push
upwards has droplets of precome dribbling over his fingers.

“Fuck,” Jeongguk murmurs, sinking back into his massive office hair as he watches the video.
Arousal stirs around inside of him, his cock already twitching under his briefs. His fingers itch with a
craving to touch Taehyung like this, his tongue tingling with the want of tasting his skin and the
come that streaks out across Taehyung’s belly.

Taehyung comes with a loud hitched exhale, the tone higher than the usual raspy grunts and groans
he lets out. His fingers circle the head, his hips stuttering up into his touch. It’s mesmerizing how
much he comes, coating his trembling abdomen with thick white ropes. A moan stutters in
Jeongguk’s lungs in time with the low one Taehyung lets out, a deep groan of his name.

“Jeongguk, wanna taste you,” Taehyung groans before swiping the come from his belly and bringing
his fingers up towards his lips.

The video ends abruptly, the play button covering Taehyung’s come stained fingers an inch away
from his parted lips. Jeongguk watches it a few more times, until his cock is hard and heavy on his
thigh and his skin is shining with sweat and heat.

He wonders what Taehyung’s goal is by making him sexually frustrated and avoiding him. His hand
has been enough for a long time, but now when he comes, he feels unsatisfied and in need of
Taehyung’s thick thighs wrapped around his waist.

Jeongguk finds himself at the club again, though he’ll deny that he feels drawn to the place like a
magnet. Or drawn to Taehyung, as he finds it difficult to keep his eyes off of him as he walks
through the club. He stands out among the dark lights like the sun breaking through a cloudy sky.

He’s beautiful and Jeongguk kind of wants to shove him off the man whose lap he sits on, but he
came here for someone else.
Someone else that he can’t find though he’s performed the last few times Jeongguk had come here.
He heads towards the dressing rooms instead of the VIP lounge, relaxing when he spots Hoseok’s
familiar face standing post in front of the hallway.

“Hobi, where’s Jimin?”

Hoseok nudges an arm behind him, indicating the hallway of rooms. His face crumples, eyes peering
at him almost accusingly. The man beside him doesn’t move but looks straight ahead. Hoseok is tiny
compared to his partner, all thin limbs and short stature.

It would be amusing if it weren’t for the fact that Jeongguk knows Hoseok can be scary if he needs
to be and that his strength rivals Jeongguk’s, even if his muscles aren’t as obvious under his skin.

“Doll really isn’t up for um, private shows Mr. Jeon.”

Jeongguk hates the way it’s been awkward between Hoseok and him, but it’s only whenever
Jeongguk comes to his work. He’s just as bright at his apartment and Jeongguk wants to talk about it
but he doesn’t want to make the at home Hoseok less friendly.

The man beside Hoseok finally moves, eyes finding Jeongguk before he bows his head and waves
an arm towards the hall as an invitation.

“Doll’s room is the last on the left, Mr. Jeon. I apologize for my partner's rude behavior. He’s new.”

Hoseok and Jeongguk share confused glanced before Jeongguk thanks the man and Hoseok
apologizes quietly for the sake of his partner.

Jeongguk has tried calling Jimin to talk about Taehyung, but he isn’t quite sure if the calls are
monitored. He also doesn’t want Jimin to lie to him, and that’s easily done over the phone.

He doesn’t want Bobby to know that he feels desperate for Taehyung but at the same time, he’d
dump all the cash he has stored in his penthouse for Taehyung if Bobby told him to. It’s a bad
position to be in because Bobby has constantly come running to him for money. Jeongguk’s never
used his status over Bobby, but he also doesn’t want anyone thinking less of him. He may be humble
but he still has his pride.

The last door has 'Doll' scribbled on the front in gold lettering, similar to the one he had found
Taehyung behind the first night he had visited the club. He knocks, but he isn’t sure he can be heard
over the music.

He cracks the door open gently, knocking harder as he calls for Jimin.

Jimin gasps loudly as he flips around, the color draining from his face. Jeongguk’s never seen him
look so wary before and Jeongguk throws his hands up in front of his chest.

Jimin is dressed, or at least more so than he probably had been, with sweatpants loose on his hips. He
stares warily at Jeongguk for a few minutes more before he turns around and faces the mirror again.
Jeongguk doesn’t miss the way his eyeliner is streaking down his cheeks like he had been crying
before he wipes it away. “What can I do for you, Mr. Jeon?”

“It’s about Baby.”

Jimin noticeably relaxes as he drops his eyebrow pencil and saunters over to Jeongguk. His touch is
light on Jeongguk’s shoulder and Jeongguk tenses when Jimin pulls him close to whisper into his
ear.
“Careful, Gukkie baby. There are cameras,” Jimin breathes in warning. Up close, Jeongguk can see
the telltale signs of crying. His eyes are bloodshot and red, and the bags under his eyes show even
underneath the makeup. “Now say, ‘no, I’m sure. I want Baby.’”

Jeongguk parts his lips around nothing for a second as he fights off the urge to look around for these
cameras. He repeats what Jimin says and Jimin pulls away with a satisfied smile.

“I don’t blame you. He’s lovely. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“How many clients does he have?”

Jimin sniffles, rubbing at his nose before he pulls off a smirk that is so taunting it almost hides the fact
that he’s been crying. “Feeling possessive?”

“No,” Jeongguk lies as he leans back on his palms. He wants to ask Jimin what’s wrong, but he
doesn’t want to invade his privacy and there are the cameras. “I have my reasons.”

Jimin only looks at him in amusement for a moment before he gives in. “One regular, his Daddy.
There are a lot of people who want him, but not many people who can. You’re his favorite if you’re
wondering.”

Jeongguk’s chest tightens and he hopes it doesn’t show on his face but by Jimin’s snort, he knows it
does.

“He doesn’t act like it.”

“He’s stubborn. Something about him not deserving good things. It’s a long story that I can’t tell
you,” Jimin explains quietly, the sadness returning to his eyes. He wrings his hands in front of him,
eyes dropping to watch the way he rolls his hands over each other before he stops himself. “I know
he wants you, so don’t give him any choice but to accept that. Clients don’t give us choices, so find a
way to make it seem like you’re in charge while giving him the reins. It'll spook him if you don't.”

Jeongguk takes in Jimin’s words. There are times he is sure Taehyung wants him, but when the other
man avoids him or disappears in the middle of the night, he’s not sure. When they were first together
- Jeongguk doesn’t know whether he was working or not - Taehyung seemed to melt into him when
he was manhandled, when he was told what to do.

Treat me like a client would, Mr. Jeon. It’s less confusing that way. It had been a confusing
statement, but Jeongguk thinks he finally understands. At least a little bit.

It’s a lie that Taehyung doesn’t deserve good things. Jeongguk already wants to give him the world
and the space beyond it.

“When does his Daddy see him again?”

“Thursday,” Jimin answers but then he stills, eyes widening. “I’m not supposed to discuss that with
you.”

Jeongguk smiles. He has a plan, and he hopes it isn’t overstepping. “Can you set up a time for me to
meet Taehyung before? Like an hour.”

“What are you -"

Jimin starts but Jeongguk heads out of the dressing room before he can finish.
 *

Taehyung has a stomach full of butterflies. It’s been a long time since he’s felt this way while waiting
for someone. He’s eager to see Jeongguk, more than just seeing him across the room.

But to be close to him, to touch him, to soak in that cologne that smells like it probably costs more
than Taehyung makes in a year.

Despite his efforts to get Jeongguk to take him, to tug him into one of the private rooms at the club
and have his way with him, he hasn’t. Jeongguk keeps sending over gift baskets and money for him
to spend time with Eunae and Woojin. Taehyung enjoys it, he’s grateful, but he can’t get used to it.

It’s too good to be true and he can’t do these butterflies. He needs Jeongguk to take, so his brain can
stop telling him that Jeongguk is different. He needs to be reminded of the power Jeongguk holds -

He’ll never admit it, but he wants to feel that trust under someone’s touch again. Just the idea of it
has his butterflies intensifying.

His breath catches in his lungs when the stretch SUV pulls in front of him. He’s jittery, but he keeps
the flirtatious smile on his lips as the familiar driver steps out and opens the door for him.

Taehyung is aware that he looks good, but he doesn’t have time to get ready for Hanbin between
meeting with Jeongguk. He’s in a silky shirt that smells like Hanbin’s cologne and he wants to press
against Jeongguk until it smells like him instead.

The first sight of Jeongguk has his lips stretching into a smile that is genuine. Jeongguk is smiling as
well, just a soft grin on his lips. He’s dressed in a navy blue suit with a white undershirt, his hair
neatly styled and neatly swept over his forehead.

“Hey there,” Taehyung purrs, eyeing the spread of Jeongguk’s legs and he resists the urge to climb
onto his lap.

Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate to touch though. Taehyung’s barely crawled across the seat before
Jeongguk is gripping his thigh and pulling him closer.

Taehyung lets out a surprised gasp at the feel of Jeongguk’s touch, the strength of his fingers
pressing into his skin and the sudden show of authority. Heat sizzles down his spine and spreads
across his cheeks. He’s been on edge, though it’s his own fault. The photos and videos intended to
make Jeongguk want him, to tell Jeongguk what he's supposed to be wanting - the only thing he's
supposed to be wanting, have only made him frustrated.

A hand doesn’t feel as good as Jeongguk, and none of his other clients are too concerned with his
pleasure. Hanbin’s too big of a fan of making Taehyung come untouched which can take forever,
sometimes not letting him come at all, and it’s been driving him mad.

“Missed you,” Jeongguk says as he pulls Taehyung onto his lap. It’s a bad idea, this close to meeting
with Hanbin, but he can’t resist when Jeongguk cups his jaw and pulls him in.

It’s different. Jeongguk is demanding in the kiss, lips forceful against his own but there’s something
delicate in the way he nibbles on his bottom lip and swipes his tongue across the seam. His hands are
possessive on his thighs, rubbing the outside of them, and it doesn’t take long for Taehyung to feel
like his skin is on fire.

Taehyung doesn’t know where Jeongguk is going so dressed up, but he wants whoever Jeongguk
sees to know that Taehyung has touched him. He musses up his perfectly styled hair with fingers
dragging through it, he tugs at the tie until Jeongguk is pushing forward to deepen the kiss.

He wants to rip off the offensive dress shirt Jeongguk wears, his body pulsing with an arousal that
makes his fingers shake with the want to do so. Jeongguk’s touch is just as urgent, fingers dragging
down his spine and gripping roughly at the curve of his ass.

Taehyung can’t help the moan he lets out though, his ears turning hot because he didn’t even check
to see if the privacy screen was up between them and Jeongguk’s driver.

“Admit you want me,” Jeongguk breathes as he pulls back. Not far, his lips graze over Taehyung’s
jaw until his head is tilting to give him access to his neck.

God , Taehyung wants Jeongguk so bad it hurts. But he keeps his lips shut, only responding by
grinding his hips down against Jeongguk’s lap.

“You want me to treat you like a client would,” Jeongguk goes on, his voice deep as his fingers dig
into Taehyung’s ass, pressing him harder against him.

Pleasure pools in Taehyung’s belly and he’s already hard and aching, his cock drooling and
twitching against the panties he picked out just for Jeongguk.

“So tell me you want me, like you mean it. Treat me like a client with a fat pocket that can be
seduced easily into emptying it for you.”

Taehyung moans loudly as Jeongguk bites down over his pulse. His teeth are gentle, but the force of
arousal that rips down his spine isn’t.

“I want you Jeongguk,” Taehyung breathes, fingers catching the back of Jeongguk’s head to keep
him kissing at his throat. “You have no idea how badly I want you.”

It doesn’t matter if Jeongguk knows that he means it. Clients rarely care if his words are genuine, but
part of him wants Jeongguk to know. He isn’t just saying it to rile him up and get his dick hard, he
means it.

He doesn’t want Jeongguk to empty his pockets, but if he wants Jeongguk to act like a client, he’s
going to have to treat him like one.

“Then act like it,” Jeongguk grunts. There’s no finesse in the way his fingers shove under the back of
Taehyung’s pants or the way he grips hard at Taehyung’s bare skin. The rough touch only makes
Taehyung crave more. He knows Jeongguk will stop if he needs him to and it makes submitting
under his touch easier, more pleasurable.

There’s something wrong with him, he knows. Taehyung’s never claimed otherwise. He’s always
loved rough touches and hard fucks, but he’s never trusted his clients enough to enjoy it.

“Have you finally - oh, given up on this it’s ‘Taehyung’s choice’ thing,” Taehyung bites back, voice
shaky as the grind of his hips pulls him closer to the edge,

Jeongguk is just as hard, but his face is schooled and almost blank when he pulls back. He lifts his
eyes to watch Taehyung as his hands knead and tug at his ass.

“No,” Jeongguk says, moving his hands until his pants are forced past his hips and hug the top of his
thighs. The sudden cool air on his bare cock makes him shiver, his teeth chattering together. “I’m
making you a deal.”
The car feels as if it’s lacking oxygen, Taehyung’s lungs tightening with the need for air when
Jeongguk touches him. It’s light, just a thumb rubbing under the head of his cock, but it’s enough to
have him feel as if he’s never been touched in his life. Taehyung wasn't expecting this so quickly. He
thought Jeongguk would try to woo him and pretend he wasn't scheduling a quick fuck before the
actual touching started.

It’s teasing the way Jeongguk moves away after a moment, making his cock twitch back as if to
chase Jeongguk’s touch when he moves his hand.

“What’s that, Daddy?”

At this, Jeongguk’s resolve finally breaks and he groans, teeth snagging hard at his bottom lip. It’s
pleasing to know that Jeongguk doesn’t have a firm grip on his control around Taehyung, because
Taehyung doesn’t have a grip on his own either.

“I know you’re going to see the other one after this,” Jeongguk breathes, resuming his touch.
Taehyung tries hard not to buck his hips up as Jeongguk rubs at the tip, the nail of his thumb digging
into the slit in a way that makes Taehyung’s breath come out sharp and overwhelmed sounding.

“Jealous?”

Honestly, he’s surprised he can still manage to make his voice sound teasing when he feels like he’s
crumbling apart. Jimin would chastise him normally, for letting a client make him melt, but he thinks
maybe Jimin feels differently about Jeongguk.

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, the sound hoarse and rough. “If you even think of me when you’re with
him, if you think of how good I’m making you feel right now, I want you to stop playing these
games. Stop acting like you don’t want me. Stop sending me videos and pictures and then avoiding
me when I come to see you.”

There’s arousal coating Jeongguk’s words, making some sound choked, but it still holds a tone of
authority. A subtle demand to be listened to.

“I want you to come out with me tomorrow, right before your shift starts. If you don’t show up, I’ll
leave you alone, I give you my word,” Jeongguk goes on, fingers wrapping around the head of
Taehyung’s cock before he rolls his palm quickly, his grip tightening. It doesn’t hurt, but pleasure
rocks through his body like a tidal wave and his the way his body seizes up, muscles tightening in
response, does.

Taehyung chokes out a moan, fucking up into the touch. His care for the driver has long gone as he
lets out steady high pitched keens, desperate exhales that tells Jeongguk he’s close. God, it feels so
fucking good to be touched by Jeongguk that he doesn’t even feel embarrassed how easy it is to
make him come.

He already knows he will think of Jeongguk when with Hanbin. He already does. It makes being
with Hanbin harder, and when he crawls into Jimin’s arms afterwards, Jimin is always cursing
Hanbin to hell, but the tears are never because of Hanbin.

“If you don’t show up, I’ll understand.”

At that, Jeongguk stops touching him completely. It’s so abrupt that Taehyung has to stop himself
from crying out, a sob forming in his chest as Jeongguk swiftly removes him from his lap.

Jeongguk hits a button on the car door, calling the driver. He doesn’t ignore Taehyung completely
but cups the inside of Taehyung’s knee. “Seokmin-ssi would you please escort Baby inside.”
Taehyung’s whole body is thrumming like the walls of a room blasting music. His body aches with
the need to come and the need to climb back onto Jeongguk’s lap to do just that.

This Jeongguk is different and he doesn’t know what to do about it.

“It’s your choice,” Jeongguk says, reaching over to kiss him softly on the lips. It’s the opposite of
how Jeongguk had kissed him only a moment ago but it affects Taehyung the same. “I’m not taking
your choice away from you, don’t try to convince me otherwise.”

Taehyung barely has time to pull his pants back up when the door is opening and revealing the front
of the Minx club again. He didn’t even realize they hadn’t gone anywhere.

He wants to stay and admire more of how fucked out Jeongguk looks, his composure having
faltered, but he forces himself out of the stretch SUV when he realizes Jeongguk isn’t joking.

Taehyung stares up at the mirrored ceiling above him, taking in the flush of his skin and the black
silk ocean that is Hanbin’s bed.

Jeongguk’s marks on his neck are visible but so are the red marks littering his skin that will soon
bruise. Marks that aren’t Jeongguk’s.

He hadn’t just thought about Jeongguk once, but the entire time. Taehyung hasn’t stopped thinking
about Jeongguk since they parted ways, actually, and he’s sure it’s the only thing that made him
come with Hanbin’s hands on him.

It had been torturous not being able to moan Jeongguk’s name.

He has a craving to reach for his phone and call the man but even though Hanbin had left the room,
he’s not too far. It’s the same routine as always. Hanbin comes, then leaves for a bit. He either
returns with a cigarette or a drink, and Taehyung never has time to finish either before round two
starts.

“God, you’re good, Baby.”

Taehyung pulls his gaze away from himself with an effort to smile lazily at Hanbin as he pads back
into the bedroom. He’s naked save for the beanie he has pulled over his head. He holds a blunt
between his fingers, licking at the leaf he rolls while he watches Taehyung.

“That’s you,” Taehyung lies, rolling to his side to highlight the curve of his body. Hanbin’s been soft
with him tonight, though he never stays soft for too long. It’s different, everything’s been so different
today that Taehyung feels like he’s losing a grip.

“I’ve missed you. I’ve been so busy with the debut that I haven’t had time to come visit you at work
and when I've tried, you've been busy,” Hanbin goes on as he crawls back on the bed. He rests
against the mound of pillows as he lights up. His bed isn’t as comfortable as Jeongguk’s, but
Taehyung swears that’s just because it’s not Jeongguk’s.

“It’s okay,” Taehyung promises. He doesn’t know if it is. With Hanbin there, he doesn’t have to
focus on Yoongi.

Yoongi won’t stay out of the club for some reason and it’s making Taehyung’s life hell. Luckily,
he’s been able to appear like he’s flirting without arousing suspicion, but if he doesn’t make a move
soon, he knows Bobby will say something.
Jimin won’t tell him what happened, but Jimin avoids Yoongi and gets upset the nights that he visits.
He made Taehyung promise not to say anything, but it’s growing harder not to walk up to Yoongi
and insist that he leave.

“I want to take you out tomorrow,” Hanbin says, thick white smoke curling from his lips as he
speaks. “Just dinner, nothing else. So Doll doesn’t have to get his panties in a bunch.”

Taehyung scooches up the pillows as the blunt is handed to him. He takes it without hesitation,
draping a leg over Hanbin’s lap. Hanbin never just takes him out to dinner, though he’s gone to
business events with him before.

“I have another client,” Taehyung tells him, voice thick. He ducks forward, breathing out until the
thick smoke tickles Hanbin’s neck.

Hanbin moves, curling into Taehyung as he lifts his chin with a touch under his jaw. He strokes
Taehyung’s jaw, lips parting over his until the smoke trails out against his tongue. “Who?”

A shiver tickle’s down Taehyung’s spine but not from arousal. There’s something tense in Hanbin’s
voice. He’s never good jealous, but part of Taehyung wants him to know that he doesn’t belong to
him.

“A client,” Taehyung repeats, blowing the smoke directly in Hanbin’s face. The man’s jaw tenses,
but his expression doesn’t change. “One that Bobby is very interested in getting to invest in me.”

Hanbin continues tracing his finger down Taehyung’s jaw until it slips to his throat. His palm rubs
over Taehyung’s Adam’s Apple as his thumb presses into the sore spot Jeongguk left behind.

“The client that left this?”

Taehyung hesitates as Hanbin guides his head back, elongating his neck. He doesn’t know if the
hand around his throat is a threat or a simple touch. He holds onto the blunt with shaky fingers as
Hanbin guides him backward, careful not to drop it and burn the silky sheets.

Hoseok isn’t far. He’s supposed to be off on Thursdays but he always stays down the road when
Taehyung is with Hanbin. He just doesn’t know where his phone is or if it’s in an arms reach.

“No need in being jealous, darling. I do as I’m told. I wouldn’t be a very good whore if I only ever
slept with one man.”

Hanbin strokes his fingers gently over Taehyung’s skin before letting go and taking the blunt from
him. “You’ve always been a good boy, Baby.”

Taehyung doesn’t realize how tense his body is until Hanbin rolls back onto the pillows. He doesn’t
relax, not under Hanbin’s gaze.

“I’ll speak to Bobby,” Hanbin says, fingers tugging under his beanie. “He’s been playing
irresponsibly lately. Trying to sell one of his birds to my new producer at a business function ,
messing with the donors, listening to that whore on his arm more than me, his best friend. He needs
to be more careful. He's so far up Jun-ki's ass that he isn't focusing on what he needs to."

Hanbin huffs out. He’s agitated, Taehyung can tell. He tries to slip a hand over Hanbin’s thigh to
comfort him because they still have round two and Taehyung doesn’t want to be too bruised for
when he meets Jeongguk tomorrow.

He’s already decided it. He decided before he even left Jeongguk’s SUV.
“What do you mean, darling?”

Hanbin stubs out the blunt in an ashtray on the nightstand roughly. Definitely agitated. “I mean,
Bobby is pissing me off.”

There’s no other explanation before Hanbin’s capturing Taehyung’s mouth in a kiss that tastes like
stale smoke and aggression.

Jimin leans back against the wall, head tilted enough that he can hear the conversation filtering out
from the cracked office door. Bobby’s has meetings all day and even more planned for the next two
days, then he’s traveling to the States again with Hanbin. Jimin can’t wait. He can go to his own
apartment, that’s probably covered with dust by now, or go see Taehyung’s babies. He could even
visit his kitty, if Yoongi doesn’t hate him.

There is a crack in his chest at the thought of it. Yoongi should hate him, it would be better than him
waiting around with eyes full of love for something that can never happen. But Yoongi is stubborn
and passionate, and it's two of the things that Jimin really loves about him.

“We’ve updated the roster to include the new recruits. Do any catch your eye? They’re still a bit...
insubordinate, but after a few days with my Doll, they’ll be perfect for you.”

His heart crunches in his chest again. He hates recruits. He hates that Bobby leaves it up to him to
take care of them. He’s had to stop caring for them because he’s felt broken and torn apart when
they’ve left him. He's had to train them for this life and he fucking hates himself for it.

Taehyung had been the worst recruit. They met at a different club, called Ultra Violet in Seoul, ran
by a man named Chung-hoon. Bobby had just been in the process of taking over the Minx, and
Jimin worked at Ultra Violet, trying to promote the new club to the filthy men that filled the dingy
club.

It didn’t take him long to love Taehyung, even though he was quiet and didn’t speak much. There
were times when he would, very quietly and whatever he said was either absurd or ridiculously
funny.

Jimin hadn’t hesitated in asking Bobby to buy off Taehyung after he came to the club one night so
bruised and battered that makeup didn’t work and he could barely move to dance. Bobby didn't even
hesitate, agreed without any coercing.

He didn’t expect Taehyung to be grateful, per se. He was still owned by someone else, still had a
debt hanging over his head, but Taehyung had been rude and petulant the first few weeks working at
the Minx. There were too many times Jimin wanted to slap Taehyung and cry just to get him to stop
being shitty with him.

All of the recruits are like that. There aren’t many working under Bobby, and he takes care of them
all. They’re always from other clubs, clubs Bobby deems reckless and harmful.

He has an inflated sense of self, but Jimin will admit that he does care for those who work for him.
More than some. His security is top notch, his home is open to any of the workers if they need a
place to crash. He isn’t too harsh when it comes to making the cut each night unless someone is
under performing consistently and a lot of his birds come from abusive work places that make the
Minx look like Heaven.

But he’s still young and makes stupid decisions that result in losing workers to other, more powerful
men, or missing the danger that he puts them in. Jimin can’t get attached to anyone else.

“You know who I am interested in, son. It isn’t any of the new recruits.”

Jimin tilts his head a little more, carefully shifting the door open with gentle fingers. Dread fills him.
He always offers himself to the donors first, much to Bobby’s dislike. But he’d rather they touch him
than Taehyung.

Everyone wants Taehyung. It almost bothered him at first, how eager Jimin was to please clients and
how much Taehyung barely tried, but everyone still wanted him. But Jimin loves Taehyung and he
thinks the whole world should too. But the whole world should also stay the fuck away from him.

“I’ve told you that Baby is not available,” Bobby says firmly. “You are quite valuable to me and my
company, but I cannot risk pissing off Mr. Jeon.”

Jimin frowns, wondering which Mr. Jeon that Bobby means. The old man has little interest in
Bobby’s birds in a sexual or romantic way. He just likes the company. It’s sad sometimes because
the old man is feeble and when he speaks to Jimin, he is kind and just wanting someone to make him
feel less lonely.

He wonders if Jeongguk knows his father feels that way.

“Mr. Jeon,” the man repeats in a gruff voice. “I’m shocked to hear the old man can still get it up.”

Bobby laughs quietly, but it lacks amusement. Jimin knows he’s fond of the old man. Bobby’s own
father had been closer to Hanbin than him, but he always had Mr. Jeon. He speaks of Mr. Jeon as if
he is his own father sometimes.

“I’m speaking of Jeongguk.”

Jimin pulls quickly away from the door when he hears the footsteps, but it’s too late as he finds
Hanbin rounding the corner. He isn’t looking friendly, but he smiles when he spots Jimin.

Jimin puts a finger to his lips, blushing furiously before he mouths ‘Yunbok.’ Bobby might not care
if he eavesdrops, but Yunbok will. He’s always lecturing Bobby about keeping Jimin on a tighter
leash.

If Yunbok wants Jimin, Bobby won’t have a chance to say no twice and Yunbok loves to punish
him when he’s mouthy.

“That’s inconvenient for me,” Yunbok says, aggravation in his voice. “You’re right. We can’t afford
to piss him off. I’m assuming you have not told Hanbin about this?”

Hanbin raises an eyebrow before he cups Jimin’s hip, pressing close to him.

“Don’t say anything,” Jimin pleads quietly, looking up at Hanbin. He considers revealing himself,
just to keep them from mentioning Jeongguk’s name again.

It won’t be good if Hanbin finds out who is taking Taehyung away from him. They’ve already had
too many close calls and Jimin is even more desperate for the trip Bobby is supposed to take to the
States with Hanbin.

“I wouldn’t,” Hanbin promises, squeezing his hip. His smile is brushing over his cheek before he
whispers against his ear. “Stay here. Don’t move until I tell you to.”
Hanbin pulls away to knock on the door, only waiting for a beat before he’s pushing in. Jimin
breathes heavily, cupping a hand over his mouth to keep it from being too loud. He’s not afraid of
Hanbin, he knows Hanbin won’t touch him, but he looks pissed off and when he fights with Bobby,
it’s never good. Bobby gets drunk, uncontrollable, cries in a way that makes Jimin's heart ache.

“Abeojinim,” Hanbin greets. “I am sorry to interrupt. How is your research going?”

“Hanbin-ah, my boy,” Yunbok greets, his voice sounding more cheerful than it had a moment ago.
“It’s going well. I must admit Kim Namjoon has far surpassed my expectations. Most of the credit
will be given to him.”

Despite the sour tone of Yunbok's voice, there’s a muffle of agreement before Hanbin apologizes
again, asking for a private moment with Bobby.

Jimin’s breath gets stuck in his lungs. Hanbin had told him to stay here but Yonbok is going to see
him when he walks out.

“Of course. Call me tonight, son.”

He doesn’t breathe as he listens to the footsteps. His chest hurts from lack of air as he slides down the
wall slowly until he’s far enough to appear like he’s just on his way to Bobby’s office.

“Mr. Kim,” Jimin greets, bowing lowly. He’s dressed in nothing but a silky bathrobe that barely
covers anything because Yunbok had shown up at Bobby’s door in the middle of Jimin and Bobby
christening their new couch.

Yunbok’s eyes trail over Jimin appreciatively, he can feel the gaze burning into his skin. Jimin keeps
his eyes down, hiding the flush on his cheeks. Yunbok's lectured Bobby about his birds being
objects and Jimin feels that way whenever the old man looks at him. “I hope my son is taking good
care of you?”

Jimin glances up hesitantly. The first time he had met Yunbok, he had known who he was right
away. They look too similar. He has the same eye smile as Bobby, the same jaw, and the same
mouth. The only difference really is the wrinkles that hug Yunbok’s features and that Bobby looks
like a bunny while he smiles and Yunbok looks sadistic.

“Yes, sir. Very well.”

They’ve never liked each other, and Jimin is thankful that Yunbok doesn’t say another word before
he leaves. Jimin thinks Yunbok is a shit father and Yunbok thinks he’s a useless whore, but he could
care less.

After making sure Yunbok has left, Jimin slinks into the office without a care that Hanbin hadn’t told
him to move yet now that Yunbok is gone. Hanbin looks worse off than he had a moment ago, and
Bobby looks exhausted. Neither acknowledges him, though Bobby’s eyes flit to him for a brief
second before returning to Hanbin.

“You can’t fire him,” Bobby says, shifting back as Jimin slips into his lap. His hands are gentle when
they hold onto him, and he visibly relaxes when Jimin strokes the back of his neck. “He’s one of the
best things to happen to the company. And Jeongguk -”

Hanbin huffs out, a wrinkle appearing between his brows as they crunch in annoyance. “I’ve
suspected you were angry with me, hyung, but I don’t get your goal here. I don't give a fuck about
Jeongguk.”
Jimin doesn’t remember Bobby being angry with Hanbin but he keeps quiet. An object in the room,
a fly on the wall. He’s used to it, he doesn’t care. It’s how he gets his information.

Taehyung thinks Jimin is good at reading people, at knowing right off the bat whether they’re good
or not. But Jimin is good at listening and storing everything Bobby shares with him, every detail he’s
picked up while eavesdropping on his conversations with clients and donors.

“Who’s acting immature now, B.I.? I haven’t been angry with you and if I was, I wouldn’t punish
you. It isn’t me punishing you. I let Baby choose whether he wanted to take on a new client or be
with you, and that is what he chose.”

Jimin stiffens slightly and Bobby notices, if the way he rubs at his hip is any indication. He forces
himself not to look at Hanbin, but to continue focusing on relaxing the muscles in Bobby’s neck.
Bobby knows more than anyone that Hanbin can't know.

“You’re too lenient with your birds, B,” Hanbin comments, “Yoongi wears second-hand suits, that
I’m sure Jeongguk buys for him. How can he afford Baby? Do you think this is going to make me
want to pay him, knowing he’s getting what’s mine with it?”

Bobby’s hand rubs more meaningfully over his thigh, fingers digging into the bare sensitive skin
underneath his robe. He doesn’t move, though his body tenses to do so. Yoongi?

He doesn’t know what game Bobby is playing but Bobby’s touch is a warning not to respond.
Probably to the ‘what’s mine’ comment, but a familiar fear resonates inside of him at the idea that
Bobby knows his feathers are ruffled because of Yoongi being mentioned.

“He can’t,” Bobby says, leaning back and tugging Jimin further up his lap, “I have Jimin performing
to make up for the loss of income. And Taehyung isn’t yours, Hanbin. He’s mine.”

This only pisses Hanbin off more. He lets out an aggravated laugh and the anger simmers off of him
like steak cooking on the grill. “Please, enlighten me on your reasoning for this.”

Jimin had wondered why Bobby wanted him to perform again. He noticed Taehyung had been off
the stage, but he didn’t think it meant anything. He doesn’t know what it has to do with Yoongi.

He has been sending Song off to keep Yoongi distracted, to keep it from being noticed that he only
has eyes for Jimin. Even if he’s a paying customer, Bobby’s made it clear to even the regulars that
he’s not up for grabs.

He sends Song even if it makes him have to hide in his dressing room and cry at times, hiding away
from the camera but pretending to be searching for an outfit in his closet.

There’s something sick about himself, Jimin thinks. If he told Yoongi how upset he got seeing him at
the club, Yoongi would never come back. But as upset as it makes him, it’s the only time Jimin sees
him and something about Yoongi’s eyes on him while he performs makes him feel alive. Even if for
only a moment.

“I don’t want Yoongi’s money,” Bobby explains, fingers digging into Jimin’s back. He startles a bit
before he sighs, relaxing into the touch. It’s rougher than Bobby usually is. He hates the sound of
Yoongi’s name leaving Bobby’s lips and it’s making it difficult to act unbothered. “But a debt will
grow that he’ll have to pay. Baby is very expensive.”

Jimin flattens his hand against Bobby’s chest, shifting his fingers under the open collar and trying to
resist the urge to dig his fingers in. Taehyung isn’t working for Yoongi, so Yoongi can’t be building
a debt.
But the idea of Yoongi owing Bobby even a coin makes Jimin want to hurt Bobby before he can
even try.

“And what does Yoongi owing you a debt get you?” Hanbin huffs. “I’ve offered double the amount
for Baby, which is more than what your precious Doll costs. But you’re so adamant on this that
you’re not being your usual possessive self, so what is it bro?”

“Jeongguk,” Bobby says simply. He reaches forward, pulling on the loose tie keeping Jimin’s
bathrobe around his waist. It falls simply, revealing his bare skin.

He’s trying to distract Hanbin from something. Maybe his weird ass story, Jimin doesn’t know. He’s
used to be being bare in front of Hanbin, but his skin still turns hot.

“I can use Jeongguk’s debt against him if he tries to move that chemist of his up to a position he
doesn’t deserve,” Bobby goes on, craning his neck to look up at Jimin instead of Hanbin. “I don’t
care how fond he is of Kim Namjoon, he doesn’t deserve the position. The family needs to stay
within the lab.”

Jimin wrinkles his nose as he pokes between Bobby’s brows, smoothing the wrinkle there. “The two
of you are so filled with testosterone,” Jimin sighs, sinking off Bobby’s lap though Bobby grabs for
him to keep him in place. Jimin ignores the move, curling the robe back over his shoulders.

“Do you expect to take over the position? The job isn’t like a inheritance, it isn’t owed to you,”
Hanbin asks, ignoring Jimin other than reaching out to grab his wrist before he can walk out of the
room. He’s growing annoyed and agitated with the conversation and Jimin desperately wants to call
Yoongi. “I have a feeling this is more about Yoongi’s interest in this Doll of yours. You’d never
blackmail Jeongguk, you’ve spent too much time idolizing him.”

Jimin lets Hanbin pull him close. His heart is pounding erratically against his chest and he struggles
to hide it. Hanbin won’t hurt him, but he isn’t expecting the rough palm to slide over the inside of his
knee either.

“It bothers you when people touch him,” Hanbin goes on, inching his palm further up Jimin’s leg.
“You show him off, bare in front of me to try to prove that it doesn’t bother you, but I know you
hyung. You care more about anyone looking at your Doll than you do about your father, let alone his
job. You don't even give a shit about why he needs to stay in the lab.”

Jimin shivers when Hanbin’s fingers rub over the sensitive skin inside his thigh. He needs to pull
away, to show Hanbin he can’t touch him like this, but the conversation is making him feel frozen.

How does Hanbin know anything about the way Yoongi looks at him?

Hanbin glances up at Jimin. He has such a friendly face when he smiles, it’s deceiving. “I wouldn’t
trust Jay, if I were you. He has quite loose lips when persuaded properly.”

Jimin feels the inside of him snap, but he forces a friendly smile on his face as he reaches over and
grips Hanbin’s chin between his fingers. “Get your hands off of me.”

Hanbin looks amused as he grips Jimin’s thigh roughly before letting go. “See? You are too lenient,
B.”

“I am not worried about how anyone looks at Jimin,” Bobby says, his voice on edge. His jaw is tight
as he glares at Hanbin. He’s always been too open with the people that he cares about; Hanbin and
Jimin can both read when he’s lying. “He’s beautiful, people will look. And I am not too lenient, I
would appreciate if you’d stop criticizing my work. I do not criticize the way you run B.B.E.”
 Too much testosterone, Jimin can feel it radiating in the air as the two glare at each other. They are
close but competitive. Bobby is the hyung, but Hanbin has always been the one in charge, the one
loved most by Yunbok. Jimin is proud of him for standing up to Hanbin about Taehyung, but he can
see Bobby’s resolve wavering.

“Since you’ve had such a change of mind when it comes to Jimin, I’ll take Doll for the rest of the
day. Send Baby my love.”

Bobby’s eyes widen and his lips part but he doesn’t move as Hanbin stands and cups Jimin’s elbow.
It’s a challenge, a force to push Bobby into showing how lenient he is when it comes to Jimin. For
Bobby to prove Hanbin right, that he cares too much about who has Jimin.

It takes a moment before Bobby swallows and nods, eyes apologetic when they glance at Jimin.

“Five million won per hour.”

Hanbin scoffs at this, but he guides Jimin towards the door. Even Jimin blanches at this and the
seriousness in Bobby’s tone while he demands a ridiculous amount of money. “Bobby thinks too
highly of you, Doll. You know I’m not paying that.”

Jimin’s heart is bruising against his sternum as Hanbin guides him out of the office and closes the
door behind them. Hanbin is right, most of those in Bobby’s position don’t let a whore tell them what
to do, but he’ll suck up his pride and act like a subordinate. Bobby doesn’t deserve to be challenged
like this just because Hanbin is acting the same way about Taehyung that he accuses Bobby of being
with Jimin.

“You haven’t had me yet to know if that’s true,” Jimin hums, fingers curling around Hanbin’s collar.
He hates the feel of Hanbin’s hands on his thighs and the way he pins him against the wall.

“I won’t find out,” Hanbin says, letting go of Jimin abruptly. “I wanted to show you what it will be
like when Bobby finds out about Yoongi, a sneak peek of just how possessive he is of you. I haven’t
said a word, because Yoongi is important to my company. But I seem to care less now that he’s the
reason Baby comes to me with bruises on his throat.”

Jimin’s heart lurches into his throat. He doesn’t know what Bobby will do if he finds out about
Yoongi. He hadn’t commented on Hanbin’s claim, but Jimin knows he will. Bobby trusts Hanbin.

His suspicions are going to be up and Jimin just wishes Yoongi would listen to him and leave him
alone.

“Yoongi isn’t anything to me,” Jimin says, the lie making his heart die in his chest like a wilting
flower. “And I’d be careful, Mr. Kim, provoking Bobby like this will only make him move closer to
me and farther from you.”

Chapter End Notes

Is everyone excited for the Comeback? Me too. I'm going on vacation this week for my
birthday as well and it's my first vacation in like four years so I'm really excited about
that too.

twitter @taehcheeks tumblr @taecheeks

curiouscat
 Chapter 6
Chapter Notes

I have no idea whether this is getting to too much smut or an okay amount lmao. I
promise I'm not trying to overdo it but it's an escort fic so

I don't think a dubious consent warning applies for this chapter but I also have a rule that
if I think "should I put one?" whether that answer is no or yes, then I should anyway
because it raised a flag with me enough for me to consider it. So with most scenes
including Hanbin and Tae, this warning is applied. IF you have questions before you
read, don't be afraid to send me a message xxxx.

Thank you SO much for the comments and love I have received. It really means the
world and I'm trying to get better at responding when comments are made and not when
I log onto ao3 to post the new chapter lol.

Please enjoy xxx

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It is a relief when Hanbin leaves and Jimin’s shoulders slump before he’s pushing back into Bobby’s
office.

Bobby’s head hangs, face pressed into the palm of his hands but his head snaps up when he hears the
door open. He looks confused for only a moment before his face falls.

“I knew he wasn’t going to take you, that’s why I didn’t tell him no,” Bobby quickly explains, like
he's desperate for Jimin to understand. “You do know, any clients you take on will solely be because
you want to? I’ll never force your hand.”

Bobby really isn’t a bad guy, Jimin thinks. It breaks his heart sometimes, but it’s the same for
everyone. Hanbin may be a dick to him, but he’s heard stories of the way Hanbin has cared for his
sisters. He’s seen the way he’s cared for Bobby when he was sick. He’s not completely bad either.

But Bobby is lying. He may not be forcing Jimin to take on clients, but he isn’t letting Jimin either.
Hanbin had been telling the truth when he said that Bobby can’t handle letting anyone else touch
him.

“You shouldn’t listen to Hanbin. You’re doing just fine. We’re bringing in loads of money every
day. You own half of the streets on this side of Busan. People respect you.”

Bobby reaches for him when Jimin approaches, pulling him back onto his lap. Jimin flexes his
fingers over Bobby’s neck, wondering which way to distract Bobby from the bomb Hanbin had
dropped about Yoongi, but Bobby is pulling Jimin’s robe closed.

“Because of you. I wouldn’t have the respect I do if it weren’t for you. These streets belong to you
more than me.”

The air gets stuck in Jimin’s lungs. He can feel Bobby’s heart racing under his touch but he doesn’t
look in Bobby’s eyes, but instead at the way his Adam’s Apple moves as he speaks.
He’s used Bobby’s affection towards him over him, demanding things the others could never ask for.
He’s treated better than anyone save for Taehyung, and he has helped mold Bobby into the boss he
is today. He likes that power, but it doesn’t change the want to be free from it all.

“I understand why Yoongi wants you.”

Jimin stiffens as Bobby’s hands slide over the robe, fingers pressing into his thighs. It’s said calmly,
but Jimin feels anything but calm.

“He’s interested in Song and Baby,” Jimin hums, spreading his legs though Bobby doesn’t guide
him to. “Not me.”

Bobby’s hands wander over his hips before one reaches up to grab Jimin’s chin, tugging until Jimin’s
staring down at him. “Hanbin-ah is right. I see the way he looks at you, I’m not blind. I’ve been
keeping an eye on him. Where did you meet him?”

His heart is now running a race like winning is it’s life goal. Most people think Yoongi has an
expressionless face, a passive one void of all emotion. Jimin has always thought those people were
blind, and he suddenly wishes Bobby were one of them.

"Love, I asked you a question."

“If you really wanted Yoongi to build a debt, you should use me," Jimin says instead of answering.

It makes his chest twist painfully at the idea, but he would never hold a debt over Yoongi. He’d only
protect him, convince him to stop coming back around. They haven’t spoken and he hates that he
wants to tell him to stop coming around completely, but he must.

If Bobby really means to use Yoongi to get to Jeongguk, it won’t be good. But Jimin is unsure,
because Taehyung hasn’t been working with Yoongi. If Bobby told Hanbin that to protect
Jeongguk, why would he be plotting to bribe Jeongguk?

Bobby’s lying about something, or leaving some details out and Jimin doesn’t care as long as they’re
all okay afterwards.

“Baby’s on it,” Bobby says, finally releasing Jimin’s chin. It doesn’t help his erratic heart, but it feels
less like panic and more like betrayal because Taehyung has never said a word to him.

“Having Baby work both Jeongguk and Yoongi doesn’t make sense. They are… they seem to be
really close. Jeon is head over heels for Tae, it doesn’t seem like Yoongi would ah, do that to him.”

Bobby’s lips press into a pout as he considers this. “I only have Baby working with him at the club. I
know he’s there because he wants you, not Baby. He hasn’t gotten you yet, so he’ll keep coming.”

Jimin climbs from Bobby’s lap before he can react. His whole body is thrumming. He has noticed
Taehyung around Yoongi a lot at the club, but he had assumed it was in hope that Jeongguk would
appear by his best friend’s side.

“Once he has me, he’ll keep coming,” Jimin says, hoping his voice comes out like the kitten he
wants to sound like and not the snapping turtle he feels like. “You won’t force me to take on clients,
but you never let me. How am I supposed to provide for myself?”

“You don’t need to,” Bobby says simply, reaching out to keep Jimin from walking away but Jimin
dodges his touch. “I thought I’ve taken good care of you?”
Jimin softens at the wide of Bobby’s eyes. “You have, baby. I want to work, so I’m going to.”

It’s crossing a line, but he puts faith in what Bobby said about him being the true boss. His belly fills
with nerves as Bobby stares at him, time slowing down so much it feels like decades before Bobby
finally pushes back the chair he sits in to stand.

“If that’s what you want. But you will not bring him here,” Bobby says tensely. “We’ll discuss it
when I return from the States, but until then Taehyung stays with Yoongi. I have to pack for
tomorrow.”

Jimin nibbles on his bottom lip as he watches Bobby walk past him. He isn’t pleased, he’s always
been an expressive man, even when he tries hard not to be. His shoulders are tight and the muscle
over his jaw flexes.

Such a soft face despite the sharp, strong shape of his features, but one that could look deadly when
he’s angry.

“You should send Dokyun your schedule for the week. I have him and Minjun looking after you
while I’m gone.”

Jimin’s heart takes off at a faster speed but he stays stock still and lets the panic wash through him.
They’re two of Bobby’s worst guards and he’s constantly having to keep an eye that they don’t take
advantage of any of the birds backstage.

He’s told Bobby this and though Bobby’s quick to get rid of any worker that Jimin doesn’t like, he’s
loyal to these two. They grew up together, or something, Jimin doesn’t know or care.

“It isn’t punishment,” Bobby says, pulling Jimin’s attention back to him. He touches Jimin on the
chin and Jimin doesn’t stop himself from flinching away. “They won’t hurt you. They know I’ll have
their fingers sliced if they even try it. There’s no one else I trust.”

Jimin doesn’t look at Bobby, but intently stares away from him until Bobby gets the hint and leaves
him alone.

To say he’s a nervous wreck, would be an understatement. It’s a huge understatement and everything
is going wrong today, which only makes Taehyung even more nervous.

Eunae is sick with a fever, making him have to call out of the Center. He hates calling out, he doesn’t
want anything on his record that will reflect badly on him. But Eunae needs him, and that’s more
important.

“Oppa, do you have to go to work?” Eunae sniffles, tugging the blanket up to her chin as she
watches Taehyung get ready. She wouldn’t sleep in her own bed, had insisted on Taehyung’s. Not
that he minds. He’s used to Woojin sneaking into his room in the middle of the night after a
nightmare or after seeing an especially scary shadow.

“I do. I thought you liked Jin hyung more than me anyway?”

Eunae tries to giggle, but it turns into a groan. On top of Eunae being sick, Jimin had called him
sounding like a flustered mess. He could barely understand a word, except Bobby and Hanbin were
fighting.

He keeps saying you’re with Yoongi . It makes his heart ache, because he’s supposed to be. But not
in the way Jimin means. Yoongi isn’t who Taehyung has replaced Hanbin with, and he tried to
remind Jimin of that but the other man had been too worked up about Hanbin firing Yoongi or
hurting him that he barely listened to a word Taehyung said.

“I love you the most,” Eunae corrects tiredy. “Almost as much as Woojin-ah.”

Taehyung slips the sleeves of his silky red crop top off his shoulders, until it’s snug around his
forearms, highlighting his collarbone. Woojin doesn’t handle being away from Eunae well, and that
had been another problem with his shit day. The school had called Jin to pick him up after he had a
fit in the middle of class.

Jin has taken him out for ice cream, but he hasn’t spoken a word. He didn’t like that he had to stay
away from Eunae, or risk getting sick too. Taehyung can’t handle when they cry, especially when
Woojin looks angry with him when he does.

He hates when Woojin won’t speak. He has half a mind just to let Woojin and Eunae cuddle together
just to hear the boy’s voice and know everything’s okay.

“I love you more,” Taehyung says but her eyes have already fallen closed.

He takes it as his chance to change into the high-waisted shorts he had bought just for Jeongguk.
He’s paired it with the silky red crop top and black heels, but he’s suddenly unsure of the outfit as he
looks at himself.

Part of him thinks Jeongguk wouldn’t care what he wore, or how he looked. He debated between
casual, with trainers and a baseball cap, and extremely dressed up before settling with a happy
medium.

Taehyung wants to call him, but he wants to see the look on Jeongguk’s face when he is there,
wanting him.

“Taehyung!”

Taehyung rushes from his room when he hears Jin’s voice, quietly as not to wake Eunae, to see
Woojin. He’s downtrodden, lips pouted as he eats his ice cream like it’s something that’s being
forced down his throat.

“You don’t have to eat it,” Taehyung tells him as he kneels until he’s face level with his younger
brother. “Gimme a taste.”

For a moment there’s nothing, but then Woojin angles the cone so Taehyung can duck forward and
take a bite. He savors the sweet taste, humming thoughtfully.

“Delicious.”

Still, nothing. He hates how swollen Woojin’s eyes are and how he sniffles before he takes another
bite.

“I’m going to be home very soon. Not late tonight, okay?”

He can feel Jin watching him. Jin has already told him to call out from his night job, and he will. But
he needs to see Jeongguk first before he chickens out. He knows Jeongguk won’t hold him hostage
the way Hanbin does at time. Not when it comes to his siblings.

“You can sleep in my bed until then, with Eunae. But no cuddling, or you’ll get sick and if you get
sick, you’ll have to be apart longer.”

Woojin’s eyes brighten before he slings an arm around Taehyung’s neck. He doesn’t say anything,
but he offers Taehyung another lick from his ice cream cone and Taehyung takes it as a win.

“I love you,” Taehyung tells him softly, kissing his forehead. “Be good for Jin hyung. I’ll be home in
an hour or so. No sharing the ice cream either. Germs.”

Woojin runs off with a nod of his head. He’s always been that way with Eunae, stuck to her side.
There have been times Taehyung has scolded her and Woojin would talk loudly to tell him to back
off. It wasn’t screaming necessarily, but it had been louder than the way he usually speaks.
Taehyung has tried not to do it since, hating how visibly upset Woojin would get, but there are times
when it’s needed.

“Just so you know, I have a few dates I can’t take them that I’ll write on the calendar. There’s an
event for Namjoon-ah. He’s made this huge discovery, he won’t tell me what it is but he’s
introducing it soon and I’d really like to see it..”

Taehyung grins at the way Jin says Namjoon’s name. It’s partially his fault that Jin won’t go for it,
but Taehyung likes to tease him about how flustered he gets. “That’s okay, hyung. You deserve a
night off.”

“Watching them isn’t work,” Jin clarifies, pushing Taehyung’s fringe back to drag his fingers
through his hair. “You look hot, Tae. Namjoon who?”

Taehyung snorts loudly as he shoves Jin in retaliation for the way he drags his eyes over his outfit.
He flushes, wanting to rip off the clothes and change into something else. He’s not used to wearing
feminine clothing outside of work, most of his clients are fine with his normal attire - they care more
for his skin and the underwear underneath.

“Fuck off, I promise I won’t be gone long and you can go home and jack off to your boo.”

Jin grumbles something behind him but Taehyung rushes out of the apartment with a laugh that
mutes his complaints.

Hoseok is grumpy when he picks Taehyung up. It’s something new with Hoseok, and Taehyung
isn’t sure what to do about it.

“If you’re uncomfortable with carting Jeongguk and I around, I can ask for June. Jimin doesn’t trust
him as much, but -”

“No,” Hoseok interrupts, glancing at him. Taehyung likes to sit in the passenger seat when he’s not
working. Hoseok is his friend first, and he wants to make sure the other man always knows that.
“Jimin has me keeping an eye on Yoongi tonight. Will you be okay alone? I’d prefer you alone than
with June. Jackson's working tonight. I know he'll keep an eye on you.”

Taehyung hesitates. It must be serious if Jimin has gone so far as placing a body guard on Yoongi,
even if that body guard is Yoongi’s roommate. “I'll just be with Jeongguk. Do you think I’ll be
okay?”

“Yes,” Hoseok huffs out, finally smiling. “You know if Jeongguk gets fresh, I’ll just bring Yoongi
with me to kick his ass.”

He laughs nervously. The last time he had seen Jeongguk, he had been different. But he still
reminded Taehyung that he wasn’t taking his choices from him. “Yoongi has chicken bones for arms
compared to Jeongguk’s.”

Hoseok grunts out in amusement. “Gukkie is a little shit but he respects his hyungs. He’d probably
let us both beat him up before he even raised a finger, and that would only be if we were beating him
up in front of Ji-hu. It’s important that his son know that you aren’t supposed to let people tear you
down.”

Taehyung lets his eyes fall onto his lap as Hoseok speaks. He likes listening to him speak of
Jeongguk and Ji-hu, his voice is fond the way it is when he speaks of Yoongi.

“Ji-hu is precious. He’s so full of excitement, he never stops talking. Sometimes it drives me crazy,
but it’s innocent. Yoongi gets all mean if you tell him to leave you alone like, Yoongi loves him just
as much as Jeongguk does. You would think they are co-parenting.”

The nerves he’s been trying to keep at bay come full force when Hoseok pulls around the club where
the dancers enter. He’s earlier than he planned and the club seems dead even from the outside.

“I mean it, Tae. You’re safe with Guk, alright? But call me if you need me.”

Taehyung nods before he climbs out. He never insisted on a bodyguard, that was all Jimin. Not that
he minds, but he only ever needs Hoseok when he’s with Hanbin and Hoseok isn’t allowed to join
him when he’s with Hanbin.

It’s a stupid rule, but Taehyung enjoys the company on most days.

To wait for Jeongguk, Taehyung stands in the back with a cigarette, saying hello to his coworkers as
they rush inside before they’re late. People usually don’t question him, thanks to Jimin’s influence he
thinks, but he gets some questioning looks as he flicks his ashes onto the pavement and never brings
the cigarette to his lips.

He doesn’t know if Jeongguk meant it about not liking his post cigarette breath and he’s not willing
to take the chance, though he’s craving to bring the smoke to his lips.

It’s the same stretch SUV that pulls up in front of the club that Jeongguk had been in last time. He’s
right on time, Taehyung’s shift is to start in an hour, like Jeongguk had promised.

It isn’t Seokmin that steps out of the car to open the door, but Jeongguk. His suit is replaced by black
slacks and a dark blue shirt that stretches tight over his shoulders. There are no buttons but the collar
is similar to that of a button up, the lapels hugging Jeongguk’s neck.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Jeongguk says as he takes Taehyung’s hand. He looks overwhelmed,
nothing like the Jeongguk Taehyung had seen last time.

He doesn’t once look at Taehyung’s outfit and Taehyung considers complaining but Jeongguk is
pulling him closer and brushing his lips over the back of Taehyung’s hand. “Does that mean you’ve
chosen?”

Taehyung steps forward, taking Jeongguk’s hand and trailing it down his body, teasingly slow. “Get
in the car, Mr. Jeon. I think you forgot something last time.”

Jeongguk grins, teeth digging into his bottom lip as he steps aside to open the door for Taehyung. He
swings his hips, bending more so than he needs to to get into the SUV and is rewarded with
Jeongguk’s fingers sliding over the back of his thigh tentatively.

“I like these shorts,” Jeongguk comments as he slides in beside him. “Now what did I forgot?”
Taehyung pulls confidence out of his ass as he slides over Jeongguk’s lap, fixing the collar that isn’t
askew. Jeongguk doesn’t touch him, which is annoying, and he finds it’s on purpose when
Jeongguk’s lips push together to hide his smile as Taehyung lifts his hands.

The touch is burning, Jeongguk’s palms rough but his touch gentle as he circles his fingers over
Taehyung’s high waisted jeans, brushing over his rib cage.

“You forgot to let me come,” Taehyung breathes before he slides his fingers over Jeongguk’s neck,
cupping it softly to tilt his head back. “You were right, about how much I want you. You were all I
could think about. I came thinking about you touching me rather than him.”

Jeongguk groans, fingers digging into Taehyung’s back but he doesn’t move. He’s too easy to give
up control and Taehyung had hoped the time spent teasing him and telling him to treat him like a
client would change that.

Though he likes how malleable Jeongguk is under his touch. He doesn’t mind being dominate if his
clients need him to be, and he thinks he’d give Jeongguk anything he wants, but it isn’t what he
wants right now.

“But you knew that, you already knew I was yours,” Taehyung breathes, purposefully hovering his
lips over Jeongguk’s. “There was no need to use such dirty tactics, daddy.”

Jeongguk’s palm flattens along Taehyung’s spine before his fingers slide over the band of his jeans.
“Someone had to convince you to stop being stubborn.”

Taehyung shivers when Jeongguk slides his palms to his front, his fingers tracing out the shape of his
rib cage before sliding higher under his shirt. Just touching, exploring, nothing heated.

“I could say the same to you,” Taehyung says as he ducks forward, breathing against Jeongguk’s
ear. “Didn’t take you as the jealous type, darling. Will you give me what I want if I tell you just what
he did to me? How skillfully he used his fingers to -”

The words get stuck in his throat as he jolts. Jeongguk is biting his lip as he rubs Taehyung’s bum
where he had smacked him through the material of his jeans. It hadn’t been hard, but it’s a step in the
right direction.

“Is that what you want?” Jeongguk asks roughly. “I’ve made it obvious I’m the jealous type, Baby.
You know what you’re doing.”

Taehyung moans softly, clenching his legs around Jeongguk’s waist to grind down against him. He
isn’t going to let Jeongguk kick him out with an aching dick again, but he might just leave Jeongguk
with one.

“I want you to be rough with me, Jeongguk. Use me,” Taehyung whispers, curling his arms around
Jeongguk’s neck to pull him closer. “Take what you want from me. Take charge, show me I’m
yours.”

Jeongguk huffs out a groan as he grips onto Taehyung’s ass, hard enough to bruise. He isn’t giving
in, he’s stubborn. Taehyung can see it in his eyes.

“I don’t -”

“Shh,” Taehyung hums, pressing a finger to Jeongguk’s lips before the other man can go on about
Taehyung deserving shit he doesn’t deserve. It makes him feel too much. “That’s what I want. Fuck
me hard, Jeongguk. Punish me for being a little shit, I don’t care. Don’t go slow. Tell me what to do.
Whatever you want, I want to give to you.”

Jeongguk groans before he’s pulling Taehyung in for a kiss. Thankfully, because Taehyung doesn’t
think he would be able to keep up with pushing Jeongguk into being rough if he kept looking at him
with such conflicted eyes.

He sighs in relief the moment he realizes Jeongguk has given in. It comes with a hard smack against
his ass, jolting him farther up Jeongguk’s lap. He presses onto his knees, hovering over Jeongguk
and tilting his head to kiss him.

The position allows Jeongguk to rub up the back of his bare thighs, his hands moving high enough to
squeeze the sensitive skin just below the curve of his ass. The jeans do little to cover him, and it
works in his favor.

“You’ve been a tease,” Jeongguk groans, “I had to tease back.”

Taehyung huffs out as Jeongguk tugs on his jeans, head ducking forward to mouth at the skin just
above the button. It’s obscene, the way his cock strains against the tough material and he wishes
Jeongguk would kiss him lower.

“Did you like the photos?” Taehyung breathes, carding his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair as
Jeongguk pops the button open. He had expected for Jeongguk to draw it out, tease him further, but
Jeongguk seems just as desperate to touch as Taehyung is. “I’ve never sent them to anyone else.”

If Jeongguk notices the bruises under his jeans when he pulls down the material, he doesn’t say
anything. Instead, he mouths over the silky underwear that Taehyung wears, wetting the material
with his tongue. Taehyung isn’t used to this, being touched and sucked off. Before their first time
together, Taehyung couldn’t remember the last time someone gave him head.

“I loved them,” Jeongguk admits, tugging Taehyung back down until he’s sitting in his lap. “Do you
have any idea how beautiful you are?”

Taehyung flushes as he pulls back, sliding from Jeongguk’s lap. “You paid all that money, I thought
you should get something in return.”

Jeongguk groans when Taehyung falls to his knees, hands pressed between Jeongguk’s legs to
spread them. “I didn’t want anything in return.”

Taehyung pinches the inside of Jeongguk’s thigh to quiet him. “We made a deal, didn’t we? I have
to accept that you’re giving me a choice in all this, but I don’t see you doing as I say.”

There’s amusement in Jeongguk’s eyes as he cups Taehyung’s chin, tilting his head up to look at
him. “Do you want to be told what to do? Or do you want to be the one doing the telling? You can’t
seem to make up your mind.”

The tension in Taehyung’s back disappears. The tone has returned, the authoritative tone though it
has a hint of amusement still lingering in it. “Yes.”

“Truly?”

Taehyung groans, ducking down to lick the fingers Jeongguk has on his chin just because. “ Yes. ”

“Get on your knees. You said you wanted a taste.”

The swoop in Taehyung’s belly makes him huff out. He makes a show of licking at the corner of his
grin as he complies, settling between Jeongguk’s thighs.

Such nice thighs, Taehyung thinks as he slides his palms over the inside of them, parting Jeongguk’s
legs farther. He can feel the muscle twitching underneath his hands, even through the material of his
suit.

He parts his lips to ask what Jeongguk wants, but Jeongguk’s cupping under Taehyung’s chin to tilt
his head into a kiss. Taehyung leans into it further, sliding his palms up Jeongguk’s legs until his
thumb grazes the zipper of Jeongguk’s pants.

The soft sigh Jeongguk lets out tastes sweet and Taehyung smiles into the kiss, making their teeth
clack. Jeongguk is already hard, straining against the zipper and Taehyung hopes his fingers don’t
seem too eager as they pull Jeongguk’s cock from his constraints.

“Did you touch yourself to my pictures?” Taehyung mumbles against Jeongguk’s lips. He’s hard and
heavy against Taehyung’s palm and excitement lights inside of him.

He doesn’t know how he wants Jeongguk, he just wants all of him.

“Yes,” Jeongguk responds, shivering as Taehyung mimics the way Jeongguk had touched him
before. It’s so easy the way Jeongguk bucks his hips into the touch, jaw tensing and fingers digging
into Taehyung’s jaw before releasing. “In my office. Might have to give my assistant another raise
‘cause I’m not too sure the room is sound proof.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh but heat flares through him at the mental image. There’s something
pleasing about turning Jeongguk on so much that he can’t wait until work is done to relieve himself.

“Did you think about bending me over your desk, Mr. Jeon? That would be hot,” Taehyung hums as
he sinks down, keeping his lips parted to breathe down Jeongguk’s length. “I could be loud, let your
assistant hear me. That might be as rewarding as a raise.”

Jeongguk groans low in his throat as Taehyung flicks his tongue out. He slides his fingers through
Taehyung’s hair, gripping into the strands. It isn’t hard enough, but Jeongguk is easy to rile up.

It takes a few kittenish licks to the head before Jeongguk’s grip tightens and Taehyung’s jaw falls
slack. He flattens his tongue, dragging it over the underside before stiffening his tongue and rubbing
it over the head of Jeongguk’s cock.

“Don’t tease,” Jeongguk grits and Taehyung ignores it. He mouths at Jeongguk’s length, pressing his
tongue over him until he feels Jeongguk’s thumb pressing into his cheek, pushing between his teeth.

Taehyung moans lowly as Jeongguk forces his mouth open with his thumb, his other hand wrapping
around the hand Taehyung his on his cock. The touch is only guiding until Taehyung pushes his
tongue out, eyes begging as they look up at Jeongguk.

He’s beautiful, is Taehyung’s first thought. There’s a hungry, overwhelmed look in his eyes as he
guides his cock forward until the head is pressing against the flat of Taehyung’s tongue. His second
thought is his awareness of how desperately Taehyung wants him as Jeongguk guides his head
forward without hesitation.

Taehyung stops his teasing as he wraps his head around Jeongguk’s cock, suckling down. He grazes
his teeth around the crown, savoring the hiss Jeongguk let’s out before he’s pulling Taehyung down
further.

The muscles under Taehyung’s palms tense and quiver as Jeongguk’s cock slides over his tongue
and hits the back of his throat. Jeongguk’s breathing is ragged but quiet, and Taehyung constricts his
throat with a need to hear him get loud.

“Fuck,” Jeongguk seethes, gripping Taehyung’s jaw a bit roughly as he holds him on his cock. Tears
build over Taehyung’s eyes at the tightness in his throat and he breathes heavily, letting Jeongguk
hold him on his cock like this.

“Go on,” Jeongguk huffs, relaxing his grip enough that Taehyung can pull back. He sucks, tongue
flicking to press hard against the bottom of his length, his mouth hot and tight around him. It earns
him a low moan, one that is still too quiet for his liking.

“Mr. Jeon,” Taehyung moans as he pulls off, reaching up to curl his fingers around the base of
Jeongguk’s cock. He strokes the spit down his length, taking a moment to appreciate Jeongguk’s
already fucked out look before sinking back down.

Jeongguk is responsive, hips chasing Taehyung’s mouth every time he pulls back. His fingers are
everywhere - in his hair, brushing over his cheeks, digging into the back of his neck. His muscles are
an earthquake, spasming and twitching with every touch.

“You’re so good,” Jeongguk huffs, thighs clenching closer to Taehyung’s head as his cock twitches
against Taehyung’s tongue. He’s close, Taehyung can tell by the pace of his labored breathing and
the way his belly crunches and bends forward like he can’t help it. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

Taehyung moans, forcing himself down Jeongguk’s cock until he can feel the opening of Jeongguk’s
pants against his cheeks. It earns him the moan he’s been craving, loud and unabashed as Jeongguk’s
fingers snatch into his hair.

He’s expecting for Jeongguk to hold him down as he fucks up, not to be pulled back. He ducks
forward to move back, eyeing the swollen head of Jeongguk’s cock and the way it leaks out steady,
thick spurts of precome, but Jeongguk’s hands on his chin are pulling him up instead.

“Come here,” Jeongguk says, his voice as desperate sounding as his fingers on his skin feel.

His body throbs as he scurries back onto Jeongguk lap. The air is too hot, too heavy, and he feels as
if Jeongguk’s nearing orgasm is pulling him over the edge. He hasn’t touched himself, but
Jeongguk’s pleasure feels like his own.

“Baby,” Jeongguk moans, hands smoothing over Taehyung’s shoulders and pushing the sleeves of
his crop top further down his arms. He mouths at his bare collarbones for a moment before he bites
down, hard enough that it hurts. The pain is little compared to the pleasure that pulses through him,
making him sink further into Jeongguk’s lap.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung pleads, desperately wanting to touch himself or Jeongguk. He’s regretting his
clothes choice, because his jeans feel they’re made of the world’s most uncomfortable material.

Jeongguk moans lowly as he strokes himself quickly, fingers of his other hand digging into
Taehyung’s waist to maneuver them. It’s arousing, the way Jeongguk’s arms bulge and his veins pop
out of his forearm from the strain.

He moves them easily, groaning lowly as he pulls Taehyung until his thighs are hovering over his
cock.

“Fuck,” Jeongguk grunts as Taehyung grips his neck, wanting to tug him into a kiss. He doesn’t
though, wanting to admire Jeongguk as he comes instead.
A tremor wrecks through Jeongguk’s body as his head tilts back, eyes fluttering shut. Sweat covers
his skin and makes his bangs stick to his forehead. He comes quietly, lips parted around a harsh
exhale as he paints come across Taehyung’s thighs.

Taehyung aches. His cock twitches against his underwear, crying out to be touched but Jeongguk
focuses on Taehyung’s thighs instead, palms rubbing the come over his skin.

“Guk,” Taehyung whimpers, sinking down onto Jeongguk’s thighs with a needy roll of his hips. He
doesn’t care about Jeongguk’s expensive looking pants and Jeongguk doesn’t seem to either.

“You have such nice thighs,” Jeongguk huffs out, breathing heavily as his fingers slip over
Taehyung’s skin. “Give me your tongue Baby.”

His heart goes wild in his chest as he stills and does as Jeongguk says. Jeongguk’s eyes are dark as
he presses two fingers to the middle of Taehyung’s tongue, filling his taste buds with the taste of
come.

“Stay like that, I want a picture,” Jeongguk huffs out and Taehyung’s eyes flutter closed around a
moan. It’s difficult to stay still and not rub down against Jeongguk. He usually has a rule that his
clients can’t capture him on camera, but he’s already broken that rule with Jeongguk.

The sound of a camera shutter doesn’t happen just once, but a few times before Jeongguk finally
groans loudly and tells him he can move.

Heat swarms over Taehyung’s cheeks as Jeongguk shows him the picture. He looks a wreck, hot
and sweaty with bruising lips. The come on his tongue drips down, the camera catching the way it
looks leaking off of his tongue, and he hadn’t even felt it drip onto his thighs.

“You’re gorgeous,” Jeongguk groans as he ducks forward, his hand gripping at the back of
Taehyung’s neck as he discards the phone.

Taehyung quickly pulls his tongue back into his mouth, pressing his closed lips against Jeongguk’s
opened ones. He shivers as he swallows, as Jeongguk’s fingers dig in harder.

“Just mine,” Taehyung breathes.

He isn’t expecting the giggle that leaves Jeongguk’s lips. It’s such a contrast to the way he had been
groaning before.

“Don’t be greedy,” Jeongguk hums. “Take your pants off.”

Taehyung bites his tongue before he can tell Jeongguk to do it. But he uses it to his advantage,
turning on Jeongguk’s lap for room to slide the jeans carefully over his legs. He props his butt out as
he bends purposefully, pulling the jeans past his heels.

“Mm,” Jeongguk groans, cupping Taehyung through his soft panties. He thumbs at the edges before
forcing his fingers underneath, until his palm is touching nothing but bare flesh. “God, I want you so
bad.”

He shivers at the words, straightening up some as Jeongguk plays with him. His cock stands hard
and erect between his legs, flicking back towards his stomach with every curl of arousal in his groin.
It’s fucking hard not to touch himself, but he’s been craving Jeongguk’s hand on him for a lot longer
than he’d like to admit.

“Jeongguk, please,” Taehyung breathes as Jeongguk grips onto him and shakes his cheeks with a
force that has him bending forward again.

“Turn back around,” Jeongguk huffs, “I want to touch you.”

The first touch of Jeongguk’s hand around him has him jolting, reaching out to grip onto Jeongguk’s
shoulders. He doesn’t care if the driver can hear, he can’t stop the moan that leaves his lips as he
watches Jeongguk’s come covered hand slide down his length.

It’s wet, the quick movement of Jeongguk’s hand over the head making a slick sound fill the car. The
touch is focused on the head, his hand tight and fucking quick over him. It’s so fucking good that he
has to clench his eyes closed, though he wants to see the way Jeongguk looks at him.

“Fuck, you deserve it Baby, wanna see you come,” Jeongguk groans, his lips grazing over
Taehyung’s neck. “Wanna see you covered in mine and your come.”

There’s force in the way Taehyung tugs at Jeongguk’s hair, pulling his teeth from digging into the
skin of his neck so he can kiss him. It’s easy for Jeongguk to take over the kiss, as Taehyung can
barely manage more than moaning into his mouth.

“Close,” Taehyung warns with a high gasp. “So fucking close, Gukkie.”

Jeongguk moans as he curls an arm around Taehyung’s waist. He pulls him further into his lap,
bending him backwards like he weighs nothing at all.

Taehyung clings tightly onto Jeongguk as not to fall, and to stop the wrack in his body as the
pleasure spikes in his cock. He comes with a loud gasp, barely muffled by Jeongguk’s mouth.

His orgasm rocks through him, like every muscle and nerve in his body are working together to bring
him over the edge. Jeongguk’s grip tightens as he spasms in his hold and tilts back, allowing his
moans to filter into the air.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jeongguk groans as he grips Taehyung’s hips, lifting him again before his
tongue slides over where the come has splattered across Taehyung’s belly.

He’s fucking dirty and Taehyung thinks he’s kind of in love with it.

“Aren’t you worried about your suit?” Taehyung hums as he resists the way Jeongguk pulls him
close. It only lasts until Jeongguk shakes his head and he curls around him like any space between
them would be the death of him.

“I’ll change,” Jeongguk tells him offhandedly. “Or maybe I’ll go into the office stark naked.”

“No,” Taehyung grumbles, nipping at Jeongguk’s bottom lip. He feels the grin on Jeongguk’s lips
when their mouths press together. “You’re mine now.”

The statement sounds as possessive as Taehyung feels and his cheeks flame. He’s supposed to be
separating Jeongguk away from the organ in his chest, and he’s constantly failing.

Taehyung moves to slide from Jeongfuk’s lap but Jeongguk’s arms around his waist are like a vice
grip.

“Wait,” Jeongguk says softly, hesitantly before he peppers kisses over Taehyung’s neck.

He’s sure he’s going to go cardiac arrest soon, he thinks as Jeongguk gently rubs over his thighs and
arms and peppers kisses to every inch of his skin.
“Baby,” Jeongguk murmurs, his palms sliding across Taehyung’s shoulders and up his neck. His
touch is gentle as he cups Taehyung’s jaw, thumbs grazing over his cheeks. Taehyung can't help the
way he sinks into the touch, sighing softly as Jeongguk works out the leftover jitters from his orgasm.

“How could you be surprised that I want you for myself?” Jeongguk asks, his voice a tiny amused
and fond. “You’re so beautiful.”

Taehyung finally flickers his eyes open to take in the look on Jeongguk’s face. He doesn’t know the
emotion in his eyes but it’s strong, maybe something close to the fondness Taehyung feels for the
other man.

“And you’re so good,” Jeongguk murmurs before he presses a kiss to Taehyung’s lips. “You make it
difficult to pull away.”

He understands. He’s dreading leaving Jeongguk and not just because he’s worried about telling
Bobby that he’s not working tonight, but because he doesn’t want to let go of the warmth radiating
from Jeongguk’s body.

“Come home with me,” Jeongguk offers as he carefully tries to fix Taehyung’s shirt. He looks a bit
puzzled and Taehyung’s so fond.

“I can’t,” Taehyung says, taking over to fix the shirt himself. “My sister is sick.”

“We could have rescheduled,” Jeongguk says apologetically and Taehyung snorts, finally removing
himself from his lap.

If he doesn’t, he never will.

It doesn’t keep Jeongguk’s touch away though. Jeongguk busies himself with the side of the door
before he’s gripping Taehyung’s leg onto his lap.

The cloth is cool and Taehyung shivers and Jeongguk gently wipes at his skin and massages his
fingers up his calf and towards his stained thighs.

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh as he rubs over Taehyung’s thigh. Despite being sensitive and feeling
spent, if Jeongguk keeps touching him this way he may be ready for round two before he can will
himself out of the car.

It’s moving though and he never bothered to ask where they were going.

“You’ll find I’m a compromising man,” Jeongguk mutters as he rips open another cloth. Taehyung
huffs out as Jeongguk touches him, easing the cloth between his legs before touching over his
sensitive cock.

He isn’t used to being tended to this way, especially not so dutifully and Taehyung doesn’t know if
he wants to roll away or spread his legs wider.

“You made a mess of me and I barely wrinkled your suit,” Taehyung complains as he props himself
up on his shoulders to watch Jeongguk. “A wrinkled suit looks better with come stains.”

Jeongguk huffs out a loud laugh, groan mix. “Shut up. Will you let me take you out again? Any
night you want, I’m free.”
He lifts Taehyung’s leg to press a kiss to the ankle and Taehyung feels his face grow hot. Jeongguk
holds onto the heel, fingers stroking over the straps before moving his lips to them and groaning low
in his throat.

Taehyung has been itching to know if Jeongguk likes the outfit, it will give him a better idea of how
to dress up for him, but he’s remained pretty much quiet.

“Where?”

Jeongguk shrugs as he tosses the cloth and falls back. He doesn’t let Taehyung’s legs go though and
Taehyung doesn’t think he minds.

“What’s on your bucket list?”

“I lied about that. I was just hungry that night.”

Jeongguk barks out a laugh, eyes squeezing tightly closed. Taehyung isn’t sure if he likes making
Jeongguk moan or laugh more.

“I’m serious,” Taehyung laughs, kicking Jeongguk playfully, careful not to stab him with the heel of
his shoe and ruin the moment.

“I know, that’s why I’m laughing,” Jeongguk says. It’s almost absent minded the way he lifts
Taehyung’s leg to kiss the side of his knee, dragging Taehyung further down the seat. “Fine, I’ll
choose then. If you hate it, that’s your fault.”

Taehyung presses his lips together before he lets it slip that he thinks he’d enjoy anywhere with
Jeongguk.

“Okay, daddy.”

Jeongguk’s grip becomes a little tighter but it’s the only response Taehyung gets before Jeongguk
hits the button to speak to his driver.

“Could you take us back please, Seokmin-ssi? Unless you need to go anywhere, Baby. Does your
sister need anything?”

Taehyung warms as he shakes his head. Jin is a better adult than he is, and he’s relied on Jin to get
everything Eunae needed.

“Are you sure?”

Taehyung nods again. He likes that Jeongguk won’t stop touching him, rubbing at the leg on his lap
even when he shifts to pull his phone from where it’s been discarded. Taehyung should pull his pants
up, instead of laying there shamelessly with his soft cock out for all to see, but Jeongguk’s touch is
making a heavy ease settle over him.

“Do you like the gifts I send you? You never said.”

There’s a hint of insecurity in Jeongguk’s voice that doesn’t fit him. He doesn’t look at Taehyung,
but instead the heel on his foot like it’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen.

“I love them. My siblings love them, thank you.”

A soft smile breaks out on Jeongguk’s lips though he presses them together as if to hide it. “If you
feel comfortable telling me what they like, I can tailor it to their liking.”
He can’t handle the feeling in his chest so he jolts up like that will keep his thoughts at bay. He
struggles between pulling his leg away and pulling his pants up before finally settling on the latter.

“I don’t get to spend much time with them,” Taehyung says, ducking his head so he doesn’t hit the
ceiling as he pulls up his pants properly. “It’s been really nice, Gukkie, really. But you don’t have to
do it.”

Jeongguk frowns at this, hand coming up to reach for Taehyung but he stops like he can tell
Taehyung’s hitting the brick wall between them. “That gives me every more reason to do it. Family
is important. It's important to spend as much time with them as you can.”

“I know,” Taehyung says, a little sharper than he means to. He doesn’t want to ruin this so quickly
so he sighs, shoulders sinking as he curls against Jeongguk’s side. “That’s why I work so much, you
understand. It’s not just food, but their schooling, my schooling, their medical care. It’s a lot to pay
for and an internship is not going to pay for it.”

A million questions play on Jeongguk’s face, Taehyung knows that look well enough to spot it. But
he stays quiet for a moment as Jeongguk cups the back of his head, massaging the pads of his fingers
over his scalp.

“Is that why you started doing this?”

The way Jeongguk says it makes Taehyung wonder if he already knows the answer. Taehyung
presses his lips tightly together, a lie on his tongue but he doesn’t want to lie to Jeongguk. They keep
their eyes locked for a moment, both of them a face of stubbornness before Jeongguk breaks.

He smiles softly, leaning back against the seat. “That’s why you have a daddy now. Let me worry
about those bills, Baby, you spend time with your siblings.”

Taehyung parts his lips to argue. Part of the reason to take Jeongguk up on his offer was because he
really needed to. Jeongguk paid more and was willing to pay a lot, a lot of the time, and Taehyung
needed that kind of cash. He had a long argument with himself throughout the day, one side of him
saying Jeongguk would only ever expect what Taehyung’s willing to give in return, and part of him
reminding himself how he’s built a debt, his own debt, to add to his step father’s in the first place.

“How about this,” Taehyung says, noticing that they’ve pulled up in front of the club again. He takes
Jeongguk’s phone, holding it out for him and looking away as Jeongguk puts in his passcode.

He makes work of putting both of his numbers into a contact name. When he pulls up the photos for
his contact photo, he feels Jeongguk stiffen beside him.

He’s expecting something gross to pop up, but it’s only every picture and video of him in the most
recent. Taehyung wants to scroll and see what else Jeongguk has saved in here, but instead he clicks
on the most recent picture Jeongguk’s taken of him.

“My phone numbers,” Taehyung says, “so you don’t have to go through my bosses and you can tell
me when you want me and when you’re letting me stay home. I’m not wasting make up just to binge
watch One Point all night.”

The smile on Jeongguk’s lips is so bright as he presses a thumb under Taehyung’s chin and drags
him into a kiss.

Taehyung gasps in surprise, wanting to melt into the kiss but there’s a tap on the window that has
him pulling away.
“What is it?” Jeongguk asks in concern, reaching out to grab onto Taehyung’s wrist to stop him. He
doesn’t know what he did to make Jeongguk look like that, but realizing he’s at the club has made
him dread going to talk to Bobby.

“Oh uh, my boss isn’t going to be happy about me not coming in tonight,” Taehyung says,
“especially since I look like I’ve just been fucked.”

Jeongguk grins slightly but his brows are too furrowed to make him look amused. “Who, Bobby?”

It isn’t news that they know each other, but Taehyung is a little startled by the familiar way Jeongguk
says his name. He manages a nod and Jeongguk let’s him go.

He rushes from the car as Jeongguk steps out of it, giving Seokmin a quick nod of his head in thanks.

Jeongguk walks with that power around him again, ignoring the bouncers in the front but they let
him pass with ease. They only glance at Taehyung, who is trying his hardest to catch up to Jeongguk
without looking like he’s running.

It’s obvious they fucked or fucked around. Jeongguk’s hair is a mess and there’s come stains on his
suit. Taehyung is sure his skin is bruised and swollen more than it had been and Jeongguk hadn’t
actually cleaned the come off of his stomach after having licked some of it off.

“Mr. Jeon,” Taehyung hisses, but Jeongguk ignores him.

It’s surprising when the bouncers in front of the back rooms part for Mr. Jeon again without question.
He wonders just how well Bobby and Jeongguk know each other, especially since Jeongguk walks
down the hallway like he’s been here before.

He doesn’t look certain of the direction he’s going until he finds it, the door with Bobby’s name on
it. He only knocks a second before he’s opening it, not waiting for a response. Entitled, like rich men
typically are, but Jeongguk hadn't seemed the type.

Taehyung stays out of view, a few feet away. He’s late for his shift and he’s calling out, he wants to
stay far from Bobby’s view for now. He had hoped Bobby wouldn’t be here at all, that Jimin would
be running the show while Bobby flew to the States, but Bobby’s flight had been pushed off until the
next morning.

“B hyungie,” Jeongguk greets in a familiar way, “sorry to barge in on you. I couldn’t hear your
response over the music.”

Taehyung carefully peeks around the door, breathing out in relief when he sees only Bobby inside.
Bobby doesn’t look upset, but smiles with that eye smile of his before standing up and reaching out
to take Jeongguk’s hand. Hyungie.

As much as the name throws him off, he smiles softly at the thought of Jeongguk being younger than
him. Taehyung would have never guessed.

“Guk man, what’s up? I didn’t think you’d stop by so soon.”

Taehyung’s need to eavesdrop worsens, and he almost steps right into the office to do so.

“Just quickly, I came to get Baby,” Jeongguk says, his voice firm in a way that leaves no room for
argument.

Fire lights over Taehyung’s skin. He wants Jeongguk to use that tone with him, because even his
commanding tone is soft when directed towards Taehyung.

“Oh,” Bobby starts, the hesitancy in his voice making Taehyung freeze up. “He has a performance in
about an hour, but after that -”

Taehyung can’t see what Jeongguk does that makes Bobby go quiet. His heart is pounding roughly
against his chest at the silence that seems to last ions before Jeongguk finally speaks.

“Four for the night, four for the inconvenience and the late notice,” Jeongguk says, “Baby wasn’t
willing to cut out on his performance but it’s not a problem, right?”

“As long as you don’t bring him home so bruised, Guk,” Bobby said, voice wavering with
amusement instead of anger. He thinks, maybe. He has never been able to read Bobby as well as
Jimin so he usually reads Jimin to figure out how Bobby feels instead. “He has other clients, you
know.”

“I know. You should tell the others the same then.”

The deep tone of Jeongguk’s voice has Taehyung’s entire body flushing. Jeongguk hasn’t mentioned
the other bruises on his skin, the ones left behind by Hanbin, but there’s no way he could have
missed them.

The butterflies in his stomach make it difficult to stay still so he pushes away from the hallway and
heads towards his dressing room to clean up before he meets Hoseok to go home.

He jumps when he enters his dressing room, the lights already on and a man sitting on his couch.
The butterflies turn angry and Taehyung quickly shut the door behind him and locks it, even if he’s
never supposed to lock it.

He can’t chance Jeongguk walking in with Hanbin here. Seeing them together might make him sick.

“Baby,” Hanbin says as he lifts himself from the couch, where his arms had been stretched across the
back. “I’ve been waiting for you. Our flight has been moved to tomorrow.”

He glances at the clock and then Taehyung, eyes dragging slowly down his body. It’s obvious the
way his face grows tighter with every look.

“I told you I had an appointment tonight,” Taehyung says, swallowing thickly to steady his voice.
He remains still when Hanbin approaches, his hand reaching out to trace down Taehyung’s side.

“It seems like you’ve already had your client,” Hanbin hums, fingers gliding over his belly. The
tension in Hanbin’s jaw makes Taehyung glance down, where his own come is dried right above his
fingers. “And the night’s just begun.”

“He paid for the entire night,” Taehyung says slowly, curling his fingers around Hanbin’s wrist to
pull his hand away. “I’m just picking something up.”

Hanbin lets Taehyung move his hand around, but his other one comes up to play with the frayed
hem of Taehyung’s jeans. “You should dress like this for me. What are you wearing underneath?”

Taehyung huffs out as Hanbin thumbs the button of his jeans. He glances at the clock, wondering if
he stalls Hanbin long enough than Jeongguk will be out of Bobby’s office by the time he kicks
Hanbin out.

Bobby and Hanbin are close. He wonders if Hanbin already knows the name of his other client.
“Oh,” Hanbin says, sucking in an appreciative sounding inhale, “you definitely need to wear these
for me.”

Taehyung bites hard on his bottom lip as Hanbin’s palms slide over his hips, shucking down the
jeans to get a full view of the panties stretched over him. It would be embarrassing, the wet stain over
his cock if he weren’t worried about the way Hanbin’s fingers dug a little too harshly in his skin.

“I like these too,” Hanbin hums, finally looking back up at Taehyung. “Did he make you feel good?”

Taehyung hesitates, unsure of what to answer. “Yes, so good.”

The muscle over Hanbin’s jaw flexes again. His eyes are unreadable and a shiver drips down
Taehyung’s spine. “I didn’t come to steal you away. I originally came by to leave some money with
Jimin for you while I’m gone, but he says you don’t need it.”

His touch is soft against Taehyung’s neck until his thumb presses into the bruised flesh, his other
fingers digging into the other side of his throat. Taehyung hisses, reaching out to grip Hanbin’s shirt
like a reflex. It doesn’t hurt and Taehyung could probably break past the hold without much effort,
but it’s threatening enough that he refuses to move.

“Tell Yoongi I said hi,” Hanbin hums, letting go of Taehyung roughly before he stalks out.

Taehyung watches his back in confusion, rubbing at his throat. He knows the cameras picked up
everything, but he also knows that nothing will be done about the way Hanbin touches him.

It’s so startlingly different from Jeongguk that Taehyung feels his chest tightening. He felt so good a
moment ago and that feeling has been ripped away from him.

He knew it was too good to be true. Every good moment is always followed bad, he knows this.

Jeongguk leaps up the stairs, taking two at a time until he’s reached the top. He isn’t as tired as he’s
been, he swears he hasn’t slept as good as he did the night before in years. He woke up early enough
to make coffee and drink it before his work out, waste his time in the shower, the whole nine.

“Good morning, Mr. Jeon.”

The man that opens the door for him bows and Jeongguk returns the gesture, cupping his shoulder
through his uniform. “I’ve told you plenty of times, Sungjin-ssi, that’s my father.”

Sungjin smiles, looking flustered. Jeongguk knows he’ll never stop calling him that but Jeongguk
knows he won’t stop asking Sungjin to either. It's comfortable for him, behavior that's been beaten
into him. The majority of his father's staff are children that have been raised for jobs like this, their
families living in homes the Jeons have paid for.

His child home is massive, much too big for a three person family, but part of it had been sectioned
into a second home for Yoongi and his mother. She started working for the Jeons long before
Jeongguk remembers, and she's the only staff that his father had let live with them beside Sungjin. It
looks to be made out of stone and there’s too many windows, but it feels like home.

The house seems empty as he moves through it, but he eventually finds someone other than Sungjin
in the foyer. He sighs at the sight, announcing himself before he startles his father.

Jeon Jun-ki looks much older than he is. His face is heavy with wrinkles and his hair has been
peppered as long as Jeongguk can remember. There is a hunch in his shoulders, making his back
curve so it looks as if he’s hanging in his own lap.

Jeongguk wonders if it is Jeon Tobacco that made him age so quickly, but he knows better.

“Appa,” Jeongguk greets, kneeling before him to take his hands. His hands are the soft and silky of
old skin, but the pads of his fingers and palms are rough from the work in tobacco fields he had done
when he was quite young, when Jeon Tobacco was first starting off. “Where is nurse-noona?”

Jun-ki smiles softly, cupping a hand to Jeongguk’s cheek. “My son, I fired her.”

Jeongguk snorts before falling onto the couch across from him. There is a tea set on the table
between them, but it looks untouched. When Jeongguk takes it in his own, he notices it has gone
cold.

“I don’t need a nurse,” Jun-ki says stubbornly. “I can take care of myself just fine. I have Sungjin.”

It’s true. His father is very capable of doing things himself, but sometimes he shuts down to the point
where he doesn’t eat nor take care of himself in any way. Jeongguk’s found him in day old clothes,
sitting on the porch in the rain before. Jeongguk will find him a new nurse, though he says, “I
apologize, Appa.”

They talk quietly about the company, about Namjoon’s research for non-addictive tobacco. His
father’s grumpiness doesn’t seem to fade until Jeongguk mentions Ji-hu, and he doesn’t just brighten
but straightens his spine as well.

“I speak to him every day,” his father says, “he is quite like you. Won’t stop talking.”

Jeongguk grins as his father laughs fondly. “He wants to be an idol like I did when I was that age.”

Jun-ki groans, glaring at him as he remembers the way Jeongguk would run through the house to
show off his new dance moves and high notes. He was good, whatever. “I will be sad to miss his
rehearsal. I’m in no health to travel that far.”

He considers reminding his father that he just said he was perfectly healthy, but Jeongguk stills
because he doesn’t know what his father is talking about.

“What rehearsal?”

“Next Month, in New York,” Jun-ki says, hissing through his teeth as he adjusts himself on his chair.
“An invitation came from the dance academy a few months ago. It’s at the place.”

Jeongguk stands, cupping his father’s elbow to help him stand. He’s not balanced on his feet and his
hands shake as he reaches for mantel of the fireplace.

Whoever says heartbreak can’t actually kill you, is wrong. His father has aged sixty years since his
mother’s passed.

“Here,” Jun-ki says, handing him the invitation. It’s thick parchment with Park’s Dance Academy
written across the top. He quickly scans over it until he finds the location; Madison Square Garden.

How didn’t he know about this? He suddenly feels like the world’s worst father and he quickly
sends the information to Jin so he can book a flight to New York.

“You work too much,” Jun-ki snorts which is ironic. Jeongguk doesn’t say so, and he doesn’t
mention that he hasn’t even been focused on work lately. “Please tell me you’ve found a woman. I
could not have handled the company without your mother beside me.”

The pressure to marry has been heavy on his shoulders before he even had Ji-hu, but it has doubled
since then. Jeongguk takes it with a grain of salt, because his father’s old and fell in love years before
he was even old enough to marry.

"Grace -"

"Aish," Jeongguk cusses, interrupting his father. "I have not found a woman, Appa."

“Well if you have found a man instead, I do not judge son. As long as you’re happy.”

Jeongguk reaches over, patting his father’s brittle hand. “I appreciate it. Have you found yourself a
woman? Is this why you keep firing the nurse noonas?”

His father lets out a loud laugh. “No. The truth is that hyung of yours, Jiwon visits me often. He says
the same as you. I will not find another woman like your mother. I will never be able to love a
woman the way she deserves if she is not your mother.”

Jeongguk doesn’t say anything. It bothers him that Bobby visits his own father more than Jeongguk
does. It’s ironic, because Jeongguk sees Bobby's father more than Bobby does. “Loving someone
else does not mean replacing Eomma, Appa.”

Though impossible, his father’s face seems to gray before him as he flicks a hand at him with a loud
grunt. “Enough of this talk and get me some tea, if you would.”

“Hey Mochi,” Jeongguk greets as Jimin’s voice floats through the car from his stereo. “I just visited
my father.”

“Yeah?” Jimin says. There’s something off about his voice and Jeongguk glances at the time. It’s still
early in the evening and he doesn’t think Jimin is at work yet. He doesn’t hear any background
noise.

“He mentioned something about a rehearsal next month?”

Jimin laughs lowly and there’s definitely something wrong with his voice. Instead of the bright,
always amused sound in his voice, his words seem thick like he’s been crying. He thinks back to
when he walked into the club and saw Jimin crying as well. He doesn’t know how common that is
for him, or how his situation compares to Taehyung but he fills with concern.

“Yeah, Guk. You signed the permission slip, did you forget?”

Jeongguk groans, dropping his head on his steering wheel as he idles behind the stop light. “Yeah, I
forgot. Of course, I forgot. I’m the world’s worst father.”

“Never say that,” Jimin says quietly. "Shouldn't you have a private jet? What’s the issue?”

When the light turns, Jeongguk changes his direction and heads towards Jimin’s apartment. He really
hates the sound of his voice and he knows Bobby is out of the country for the next week, that
Hoseok is with Taehyung and something happened between him and Yoongi.

He doesn’t know what, but when Jeongguk asked Yoongi about Jimin, Yoongi nearly bit his head
off to tell him that they haven’t talked.

“No issue, I just feel bad for forgetting,” Jeongguk says, “will he be ready? It will be two months
since he’s practiced by then.”

“Of course,” Jimin says, finally a bit of brightness showing in his voice, “I talk to him every couple
of days. We work on routines still.”

Jeongguk wonders if it’s a good or bad thing that he gave his son his own cellphone. “I’m coming
over, hyung. Tell me which apartment is yours again?”

Jimin hesitates before laughing, the sound fake and forced. “Why?”

“To talk about Taehyung,” Jeongguk lies because he has a feeling it will stop Jimin from insisting he
can’t come over, “and Ji-hu.”

It works, and five minutes later, Jeongguk is leaping up the steps to Jimin’s apartment door. It takes
Jimin a moment to answer, and when he does, he seems flustered and sweaty.

He’s dressed in the most modest thing Jeongguk’s ever seen him in, a sweater so big that it hangs off
his shoulders and leggings. His eyes are red and swollen, his hair a mess around his head.

“Sorry for the mess. I stay with Bobby when he’s home,” Jimin explains as Jeongguk quickly takes
off his shoes. The apartment isn’t a mess at all, save for the empty food and ice cream cartons on the
living room table.

The only make up Jimin wears is on his throat and Jimin’s eyes widen with a flush quickly taking
over his cheeks as Jeongguk looks at them, eyes squinting to see the bruises that pop through. They
look like fingerprints, so dark they look black even through the makeup.

“So uh, what did you want to talk about? Food? I have some left over, but it’s not very good,” Jimin
says, gesturing towards the table. “A lot of the food in my fridge went bad even though Bobby has
people come out to refill my fridge. Stupid waste of money.”

Jeongguk grimaces at the name, eyes lingering over the bruises before he settles himself on the chair.
The house is quite modest and quite small, but Jeongguk considers selling his penthouse for
something more cozy like this. “I actually wanted to know why you sounded like you were crying.”

Jimin halts his attempts at making two separate plates out of to go boxes. “I wasn’t crying.”

“You were,” Jeongguk says without hesitation. “If Bobby’s hurting you -”

He’s cut off by a blurt of a laugh, a loud sound that’s too amused that it takes Jeongguk by surprise.

“Bobby doesn’t hurt me. He’s a pushover, he knows better than to ever put his hands on me like
that,” Jimin says quickly, rubbing his neck subconsciously before his eyes flick up to Jeongguk,
“And Tae for that matter, so don’t worry.”

Jeongguk wasn’t at the moment, but he feels relieved. Bobby has never been an aggressive type, it’s
usually Hanbin that’s been the fists behind the mouth. “Who then? You won’t let the man who owns
you hurt you, but you let someone else?”

Jimin’s eyes narrow at him for a moment and he slaps noodles into Jeongguk’s to go box roughly.
“It’s not about letting people do anything, Gukkie baby. ‘Let’ implies I have the choice to tell them
they can’t. Bobby may own me but there’s people that own Bobby, darling. Don’t think he pimps
out his birds because he’s some creep. He needs the money too.”

It’s defensive, the way Jimin speaks about Bobby and it throws Jeongguk off. He wouldn’t be
surprised if Bobby owed people money, he asked Jeongguk for four billon won once without batting
an eye. But he also has plenty of money of his own. “Tell me what happened, Jimin, or I’m getting
Yoongi.”

Jimin tosses his chop sticks to the table. “You’re both insufferable. It’s not important and I don’t
want to make a big deal out of it. The donors are just, a bit cruel within their kinks. And his men -
they respect him enough, but there’s something about taking the Boss’s bitch that excites them. I am
glad to have Bobby gone but I wish he were here at the same time.”

Jeongguk flinches at the harsh way Jimin speaks, his eyes starting to water. “Come stay with me. I’ll
keep an eye on you.”

Jimin huffs out another laugh, wiping at his eyes before his tears can spill. “Hoseok’s finding me a
body guard for when Bobby’s gone, I’ll be okay until then.”

“I mean it. Just until Bobby returns or you find that body guard. Do you want me to go to the Minx
to keep an eye on you?”

This time, Jimin’s laugh seems genuine and Jeongguk can’t help but smile at the fact that his tears are
going away. “Are you saying that as an excuse to see Taehyung? Because he doesn’t work there on
the weekends.”

Jeongguk snorts, finally taking the food offered to him. He’s already missing Taehyung, but he’s left
the weekends to be for Taehyung and his siblings. “No, I mean it. You’re my friend, Chim. And not
just because you mean everything to hyung.”

Jimin smiles softly and for awhile they eat in silence, the television screen black and blank in front of
him. It’s nice, until Jimin’s phone lights up over and over again and he tosses the phone from the
table.

It isn’t quick enough and Jeongguk sees Yoongi’s name before the phone crashes to the ground.

“Is that a reason behind the tears too?”

Jimin sighs heavily as he clicks the television on. He curls in on himself, knees tucking in towards his
chest. “Yoongi’s on a save Jimin kick again.”

“He loves you,” Jeongguk says instead of asking just how many times Yoongi has been on a saving
Jimin kick before. He’s never mentioned it, but it isn’t until recently that Jeongguk has found out
about Jimin’s night career.

Jimin side eyes him for a moment before squeezing his legs tighter around him. “Do you remember
when Yoongi got into Yonsei? He wasn’t going to go?”

Jeongguk nods. Yoongi’s always been stubborn about asking for money. He couldn’t afford it, and
he accused Jeongguk of going behind his back and paying for it but he hadn’t. “Yeah, what about
it?”

“I faked some scholarship fund that was awarded to him with Bobby’s help,” Jimin huffs, playing
with the blanket he drags over his lap. “The Minx had just started really so Bobby borrowed that
money from someone else.”
 The realization makes Jeongguk’s shoulders feel heavy and his belly too sick to finish the food. He
drops it back into the plate before looking at Jimin who stares at the television screen.

“Please… don’t mention it to him. I’d do it again, but I don't want him to know.”

“Did you have anything to do with his mother finally getting that restaurant too? I remember he had
been just as blown away as that.”

Jimin looks at him for a long moment before finally nodding his head. “He was so upset that she was
denied the loan to open it.”

Jeongguk rests back in the chair, this new information rattling around in his head. Yoongi will be
pissed, to say the least. Guilty, perhaps. “This is part of your debt. That isn’t too much. I can afford
that.”

Jimin huffs out a laugh, looking genuinely amused. “I’m not owing another man money, Gukkie
baby. No matter how much I like you. And that’s only the beginning of what I owe.”

“You’d never owe me anything,” Jeongguk says gently. There’s a stubborn look on Jimin’s face and
he doesn’t want to push too much. This is out of his element, he knows that. “I swear that on Ji-hu. If
you ever need help, financial or not, I’d never hold that over you. Please come to me. If it's
something I can't afford myself, I have back up accounts for the company that I can use for
emergency.”

Jimin stares at him hard and long until he tilts his chin in what assumes to be a nod. “Okay. I’ll stay
with you just, don’t tell Yoongi please and no money, Jeongguk. I'm serious.”

Jeongguk nods, fidgeting with his fingers because he hates not telling Yoongi things. Especially
things he knows that will upset him. “Okay. Deal.”

Chapter End Notes

I'd like to know what your thoughts / suspicions / favorite things etc are!! Also, if you'd
like to talk about the comeback or fics or ships or the boys in general or anything like
that I'm always eager @taehcheeks on twitter and @taecheeks on tumblr

curiouscat
 Chapter 7
Chapter Notes

Thank you for being patient with me. I've taken on extra hours at work to be able to pay
for my bills that I'm struggling to pay and I'm exhausted afterwards.

This chapter is mostly yoonmin compared to the others because I couldn't resist :3.
Thank you for all of the feedback, it really makes my entire life. After this fic, I'm
writing a full on fluff (with some angst ofc I can't resist but mostly fluff) fic so I hope
you will look forward to that.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Yoongi struggles with the padlock, his hands shaking some. He’s exhausted, dead on his feet and he
can barely keep himself up straight enough to get the lock into the door knob.

After a few attempts, he finally manages to unlock the door and swing it open. It smells like the
flavored coffee Jeongguk drinks and he pads straight towards the kitchen, craving a cup and hoping
Jeongguk already has one brewing for him.

He doesn’t know if he needs coffee or sleep. He’s here to pick Jeongguk up for their monthly bro
day, but he’s considering suggesting that they bond through naps instead.

A squeak makes Yoongi jump and Yoongi blames his exhaustion on being delirious enough that he
thinks he’s staring at Jimin in Jeongguk’s kitchen.

He rubs at his eyes, but Jimin is still there, blushing furiously. His hair is a wreck around his head
and his skin glistens with sweat.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Yoongi blurts. It looks as if Jimin’s in nothing but a long
yellow t-shirt, his bare, hairless legs out for the world to see, and it tugs at his heart.

A handful of his favorite moments with Jimin have been morning afters, watching Jimin sleepily pad
across his apartment in search of caffeine. Even when it was cold he wouldn’t throw on pants,
claiming his shorts that looked like underwear were actually shorts. Yoongi always suspected it was
meant to tease because Yoongi becomes loose lipped about how much he likes the thick of the man’s
thighs whenever they’re together like that.

He misses those moments - not just because his body craves feeling Jimin’s against his own, but
because it was domestic and his heart craves that.

“Rude,” Jimin huffs, turning away from him to grab his cup of coffee. His shoulders are tense and
Yoongi desperately wants to reach out and rub the muscles hugging them until they relax. “Good
morning to you too, hyung.”

Yoongi stares at the back of Jimin for a minute in confusion. He tries not to admire the sharp of his
shoulder blades and the way the shirt clings to his back, the material darkened with sweat. He
definitely doesn’t look at the swell of his ass against the thin fabric because he still wants to know
what Jimin is doing here.
“Did you and Guk -”

Jimin sputters into mug, making a wicked choking noise that has Yoongi reaching for him in
seconds. He recovers quickly, making a move to slap Yoongi on the chest but he just rests his hand
there instead. “Don’t be gross, why would you say something like that?”

“You’re sweaty and naked.”

Jimin snorts loudly as he lifts the shirt, revealing the bright red workout shorts that he wears that
barely reach the top of his thigh. “Guk works out in the mornings, I thought I’d join him.”

“Yeah, sure,” Yoongi says. He can’t help the way he cups the side of Jimin’s neck, or the way his
eyes latch onto a poor concealed bruise.

There’s a few, very dark and they look like fingerprints. It makes Yoongi’s insides hurt with the way
worry rocks through him. Jimin hasn’t been picking up his phone calls and he hasn’t seen him in
days even at the club, making the want to touch him hurt. Just simple touches, like a brush of his
fingers against his cheek or fingers playing in his hair.

Jimin’s clingy and sometimes Yoongi pretends to be put off by it to hear Jimin whine and pout his
lips, but he’d drop everything for Jimin’s clinginess just to comfort him.

Jimin doesn’t pull away, but looks at Yoongi with wide eyes before he sighs, bringing the coffee
back to his lips. Yoongi knows Jimin doesn’t play around with threats, but he hadn’t thought Jimin
would truly stick to not talking to him anymore.

Even if he does, Yoongi’s not giving up. He doesn’t care if he wants to continue being an escort, he
just doesn’t want Jimin doing it because he has a debt looming over his head and Bobby’s collar
around his neck.

“So what are you doing here?” Yoongi asks quietly, rubbing his palm down Jimin’s neck until it
settles onto his shoulder. It’s a good sign that Jimin doesn’t shove him away, he hopes. “Are you
okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Yoongi drops his hand, but it lingers down Jimin’s side until it finally falls. It’s obvious he isn’t, his
eyes swollen and bloodshot. And he’s here, at Jeongguk’s. Something that’s never happened before.

“Did something happen?”

They’ve known each other long enough that Yoongi would know something was wrong even if
there was a smile on Jimin’s face.

Jimin pulls away then, grabbing for the coffee pot. His body is still tense, but he hums like he’s fine
as he starts making more coffee. An obvious statement that he isn’t going to respond and Yoongi
considers ignoring this and continuing to pester when Jeongguk finally enters the room.

He’s just as bare, even more with sweat rolling down his hard chest and abs, but his shorts fall to the
knee and he rubs a towel over the back of his neck. Yoongi glares.

(Not because he’s jealous, no, but who the hell works out at this hour of the morning. He could
barely drive here.)

“Hyung,” Jeongguk greets, brows furrowing at him. Something’s definitely up, Yoongi thinks,
because there’s a look of mischief in Jeongguk’s eyes. He’s known him long enough to recognize
the way he fights off the grin on his lips is never a good sign. “What are you doing here?”

“Bro day,” Yoongi grunts as if it’s obvious. Jeongguk and Jimin share a look but Jimin still has his
back turned to him and Jeongguk only grins.

“I have to meet with Jin actually,” Jeongguk says unapologetic as he wipes at his chest, “but don’t
waste our tickets. Take Jimin-ah.”

Jimin whips around at this, and Yoongi doesn’t bother to look at his expression because he’s too
busy narrowing his eyes at Jeongguk, trying to figure out what he’s up to. He hasn’t spent a day
hanging out with Jimin since college.

They’ve only gotten a few hours here and there, maybe a quick lunch or Jimin hiding away at his
apartment before being called home, and a few nights. But the entire day? He can’t even remember
the last time he spent the whole day with Jimin.

“I have -”

“No plans,” Jeongguk says, cutting Jimin off, “you just told me you’ve intended to spend the whole
day in the guest room because the lighting is, I quote ‘amazing and you want to drown in that bed.’
No?”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh that has Jimin turning around to smack him against the chest.

When there seems to be no progression in ridding Jimin’s frown, Jeongguk claps his hands in front
of him and pouts out his bottom lip. “Come on, hyung, you owe me.”

Jimin pulls back at this, eyes narrowing dangerously. It’s alarming how quickly his expression
changes into one of disbelief to pain to closing off completely. “I told you -” but Jeongguk waves
him off before he can finish.

“Not for staying here, shut up,” Jeongguk says roughly, making Yoongi want to shove him back for
being rude to his hyung, “you’d never owe me for that. I meant tricking me into being a sugar daddy.
This wasn't on my summer agenda.”

Jimin huffs out the loudest giggle that has Yoongi’s cheeks feeling on fire and his chest just as hot.
“Gukkie baby, all I did was introduce you to Taehyung. It didn’t take much, but fine. What did you
have planned today anyway?”

Jeongguk looks like Ji-hu has just burst through the door and Yoongi’s chest flutters nervously in his
chest. It’s too easy, the way Jimin has complied and he feels relief flooding through him at a rapid
rate.

When Jeongguk and Yoongi explain, Jimin groans loudly as he shoves the cooling coffee into
Yoongi’s hands. “You guys are the worst.”

“No one’s forcing you to hang out with me,” Yoongi says quietly, sipping the coffee. Jimin has
made it exactly how he likes it, only a little bit of cream and no sugar.

Jimin’s lips part a few times, a wrinkle appearing before his brows before he finally speaks. It’s so
quiet for a moment Yoongi isn’t positive that he hadn’t imagined it. “No, I’d like to hyung.”
Things are never awkward with Jimin. Sometimes tense and painful, but never awkward. It’s always
easy being around him, even after a fight.

They are surrounded by people and loud noise, but Yoongi’s tunnel vision is in full effect. It’s
difficult not to hold his hand as they weave through the crowd, but Jimin doesn’t pull back as he
links their pinkies. He even has a small smile on his lips when they sit for lunch and Yoongi
purposefully kicks their feet together.

He’s spent time worrying about never being able to talk to Jimin again but he should have known.
Whenever they fight, it never lasts long.

In college, when they’d argue, it’d take a few days of them walking by each other pretending not to
notice until one of them would break and show up outside of the other’s door. Or Hoseok
‘accidentally’ pushing Jimin into his room though he used to be the main audience for Yoongi’s cry
sessions when he couldn’t call Jeongguk.

“I’m convinced you and Gukkie are big babies,” Jimin says as he eyes the menu in front of him.
“Bro day? Lotte World?”

“Guk loves rides,” Yoongi supplies with a smile. It’s tradition to visit the Hot Rock Cafe whenever
Jeongguk and him go to Lotte World and he gets the same thing every time, so he spends his time
watching Jimin instead of looking at the menu. “And we always bring Ji-hu. The little bro.”

“I hate rides,” Jimin hums, eyes still locked onto the menu. It gives Yoongi the chance to appreciate
the soft way his hair hangs over his forehead and the dusting of pink over his cheeks. He’s wearing
lip gloss and it’s distracting. Yoongi wonders if he still wears the watermelon flavored one.

“I know,” Yoongi laughs. “We can go shopping.”

Jimin’s smile makes his eyes fall closed, his nose wrinkling as he finally pulls his eyes away from the
menu. “You hate shopping.”

“No,” Yoongi says immediately, kicking his foot against Jimin’s. “I don’t mind shopping with you.”

Their gaze holds for a moment before Jimin pulls his eyes away first, the pink on his cheeks
darkening.

“Finally, a chance for me to fill that closet of yours with nice clothes,” Jimin says, eyes lighting up as
he closes the menu. He makes a face like he’s overwhelmed, throwing a hand over his heart. “Ah,
cherish this moment, Yoongi hyung. The moment the Sugar Baby because comes the Sugar Daddy.”

Yoongi sputters loudly, kicking his legs out under the table and accidentally making Jimin reach
down to rub his calf as he groans in pain. Yoongi’s heart lurches into his mouth when he sees Jimin
shaking, but when he reaches across the table to take his hand, he sees that it’s in laughter and not
pain.

“It’s not funny,” Yoongi insists, though his words are choked sounding from a laugh bubbling in his
chest.

Jimin’s cheeks bulge when he smiles, his head resting against his arm as he stares up at Yoongi. It
causes a tornado inside of Yoongi’s chest and he squeezes Jimin’s hand as a way to tell him.

“It’s pretty funny hyung. You look like you shit your pants,” Jimin says, his face softening before he
finally pulls himself back and his hand away. “Stop looking at me and figure out what you want to
eat.”
They don’t end up buying anything while shopping, though they spend hours hopping from one
store to another, trying on different outfits for the benefit of the other. Yoongi tries on green track
pants that he pulls up to his armpits, stuffing a floral shirt into them and Jimin laughs so hard he
swears the dressing room mirror rattles with it. Jimin’s face is a permanent state of red and crunched
eyes and Yoongi swears he hasn’t had a better day.

It’s like nothing bad has transpired between them, ever in the time they’ve known each other, and
Yoongi wants to hold onto that feeling as long as he can. The feeling of what it would be like to
have Jimin beside him without the angst mixed in the air between them.

There’s a pile of bright and dark clothes beside him, an array of costumes that Jimin has thrusted into
his arms to make him try on just to have a laugh. Yoongi is eager to please, uncaring of how
ridiculous he looks as long as Jimin laughs like it’s the best thing he’s ever laid his eyes upon.

“Hyung, let me see,” Jimin says, through the dressing room divider. “I’m ready, are you?”

Yoongi glances down at the emerald green tuxedo, grinning at how absurd it looks with the fedora
hat before he’s removing himself from the dressing room. When Jimin doesn’t first step out, he
knocks on the neighboring door and pushes it open.

His heart lurches in his throat the moment his eyes land on Jimin. He’s miles of tanned skin, strong
looking where it stretches over the curves of his muscles and supple where it rounds and jiggles with
his movements.

Yoongi can't breathe though he manages to close the door further behind him so no other eyes can
land on the bare of Jimin’s body.

“What do you think?” Jimin asks shyly, turning around so Yoongi is forced to look away from the
curve of his ass. He pulls the headband through his messy hair, so the kitten ears stand straight over
his fringe.

It’s a costume shop and Yoongi swears he saw Jimin pick out something scary to try on, not
something that makes his cock twitch with interest. The orange bodysuit clings to his hips and covers
most of his front, unlike the back which is opened and revealing his shoulder blades and the muscles
stretching across his back. Yoongi lets his eyes wander and in the far back of his mind he wonders if
the way Jimin’s legs spread is purposeful.

Orange has always been a good color on Jimin, because Jimin is the sun and belongs in hues of
orange and yellow, but now he’s burning so hot Yoongi is afraid of being burned.

“Turn around again.”

Jimin bites at his bottom lip before he does, wiggling his hips though the tail is still thrown on the
ground beside them. The orange fabric does little to cover him, the bottom curving over the top of his
ass cheeks instead of below them.

“You make a lovely kitten,” Yoongi hums, reaching for the tail to tie it on. His hands shake slightly
as he does and he spares a moment to glance at Jimin through the mirror before he lets his palms slide
over the velvety material, purposefully low so his thumbs graze over the bare skin of Jimin’s ass. “I
look ridiculous and here you are, beautiful as always.”

Jimin turns suddenly, and there’s little space between them. He plays with the tie Yoongi wears,
grinning at his fingers. “You’re always handsome, hyung. Even with that silly fedora.”

“You should buy this,” Yoongi says with a cough, his cheeks on fire. “Perform in it.”’
“I already have one, a little less - soft,” Jimin laughs quietly, eyes finally pulling up to look at
Yoongi. “Are you asking for a private show?”

Yoongi hesitates. Jimin’s been avoiding him anytime he visits the Minx, and he spends most of his
night either with that Song guy or Taehyung. Not that he minds, though he feels creepy and kind of
fucked up watching Jimin dance while Song is on his lap.

“As Jimin or Doll?”

Jimin’s teeth drag over his bottom lip as he grips onto the parting of Yoongi’s suit jacket. It suddenly
feels very hot, the air thick and making it difficult to breathe.

He wonders if Jimin knows just how much power he has, if he knows he is able to make Yoongi feel
so weak with such a simple touch.

“Depends who you want more.”

It might be a bad idea, but Jimin must have known what he was doing by calling Yoongi in like this
so he doesn’t hesitate. He cups Jimin’s jaw, guiding his head slightly to the side before he presses his
lips softly over the concealed bruises. It’s easier to speak when not looking Jimin in the eye, though
the heat of his skin under his lips makes his lungs squeeze.

“You know how badly I want Jimin,” Yoongi murmurs, lips tickling his skin. Jimin shivers, gripping
tighter onto the jacket but Yoongi pulls back.

He feels flustered as he straightens his jacket. “Buy the suit, Chim. The store is about to close.”

Jimin bites the skin around his nails as he looks out the window of the train. Yoongi is still beside
him, only his thumb moving as it scrolls over the screen of his phone.

He made it awkward. They were having such a good day and of course he’d fuck it up. He had
meant it when he said he would stop talking to Yoongi, but as soon as he had laid his eyes on him
this morning, he threw that out the window.

His brain is usually good at being the boss but sometimes when he’s weak, his heart takes over and
causes his life mayhem.

The ghost of Yoongi’s lips on his skin tickle. He had known Yoongi didn’t miss the marks left
behind by Bobby’s security. Yoongi is too smart to think Jimin had wanted them - though Yoongi
has enough experience to know how much Jimin likes it rough at times. He doesn’t know how
Yoongi figures it out, but he can tell when he does.

He knows Yoongi would caress every inch of his skin if he asked him to, and it’s selfish but Jimin
wants it. He wants Yoongi’s touch to replace the grimy one he can still feel on his skin whenever his
mind is free of distraction for a moment.

“Yoongs, hyung,” Jimin says finally, wanting to break the silence that has formed between them. It
shouldn’t be too awkward, he’s bent and shaked his ass for everyone - including Yoongi, to see just
a few days prior.

Yoongi looks up at him with a questioning brow but Jimin doesn’t say anything. Instead, he takes
Yoongi’s hand and places it around the inside of his knee. It brings a smile to Yoongi’s face and he
nods before turning back to his phone.
His fingers dig into the tight jeans Jimin wears, but he savors the heat of Yoongi’s touch. It’s enough
to calm his erratic heart beat.

When they finally get off on their stop, Jimin wants to link their pinkies together but it’s too close to
home. Bobby may not be around, and he could have had Jimin followed all day, but that had been a
different town. He’s slipped from their clutches and he’s nervous about turning on his phone again
knowing they must have told Bobby he’s disappeared.

Bobby would have their fingers cut off if he knew the way they forced their touch onto him, and
even that didn’t stop them.

“How do you and Guk end your ‘bro day?’”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh, rubbing at his chin. “We put Ji-hu to bed usually and he makes these shitty
drinks that he thinks are good while forcing me to watch the anime shows he knows I hate.”

Jimin huffs out a laugh, ducking to tuck his chin against Yoongi’s shoulder before he stops himself.
“Well, I’d like to continue the night then. I’m better at making drinks and you can pick what we
watch.”

Yoongi is still grinning wide, so wide that his gums are revealed, but there’s hesitancy in his eyes.
“Bobby won’t mind if you stay out late?”

“He’s not my dad,” Jimin says with an eye roll, knocking into Yoongi. “He’s out of the country.”

Yoongi only nods before he’s sliding an arm around Jimin’s shoulders and Jimin knows he should
pull him off, but he wants to be selfish for a moment.

“Mine or yours?”

“I can’t go to mine,” Jimin tells him weakly. He hopes Yoongi doesn’t ask, but his eyes burn for a
moment and Jimin braces himself for another argument.

It doesn’t come, though silence hangs heavily around them and it makes Jimin’s thoughts too loud.
It’s maddening almost, and he’s certain Yoongi is walking him in the direction of his home instead of
the apartment he shares with Hoseok.

“Yoongi,” Jimin says, stopping them to place himself in front of Yoongi, halting his steps. “I can’t -
go home, not yet.”

Yoongi’s face crumples, brows stitching together as he cups Jimin’s cheeks. It makes a rush of air
push past his lips, the feeling of Yoongi’s warm, soft palms on his skin. “I’m not taking you home. I
know you don’t want me to get involved Jimin but it’s unfair to ask me not to while knowing what I
feel for you and what I would do to keep you safe.”

Jimin huffs out. He’s definitely ruined it. The night seems too dark around them, despite the lamp
posts and the lights from the apartment buildings around them. He hates the look on Yoongi’s face,
the way it radiates an emotion so strong that Jimin can barely handle being at the receiving end of it.

“I’ll be safe when Bobby returns,” Jimin says, but it’s the wrong thing to say. Yoongi pulls away
from him, an angry look flickering in his eyes that has panic surging into Jimin’s throat.

He can’t even be selfish without ruining it.

“He takes care of you?” Yoongi asks, an unamused laugh slipping from his lips. His fingers rub over
the lining of his pockets, a nervous twitch that happens whenever he craves a cigarette. “As well as
you deserve? I highly doubt that babe.”

“Think you could do better?” Jimin shoots out, crossing his arms over his chest. He can feel it
coming, a stupid fight that usually ends up being mostly his fault and the fault of how stubborn and
passionate Yoongi is.

These fights are always Jimin’s fault and he knows it. He’s petty and emotional in the wrong way,
but Yoongi always forgives him and tells him he understands even though Jimin never understands
how anyone can. He can barely understand why he fights with Yoongi the way he does when all he
wants to do is kiss him and hold his hand instead.

“What?” Yoongi laughs, shoving his hands into his pockets as he storms back. “What kind of
question is that? I’ll always take care of you, better than anyone else.”

Jimin can barely breathe as he curls his fingers under the unbuttoned part of Yoongi’s shirt. He can
feel Yoongi’s heart beating hard against his sternum under the brush of his knuckles and the breath
he lets out seems to mix with the same one passing from Yoongi’s lips.

He shouldn’t. He doesn’t know if Bobby really wants him to take Yoongi on as a client but Jimin
knows he never will. He just doesn’t want Bobby to think he can hold a debt over Yoongi’s head, if
that’s what Bobby is truly planning.

But his tongue suddenly feels dry and when Yoongi’s hands curl around his waist, the pros and cons
of doing this slip away from him. “I’m hard to take care of, hyung.”

“That’s bullshit,” Yoongi whispers, pinching Jimin’s chin and making Jimin tighten his grip around
Yoongi’s collar. “And if Bobby’s made you feel that way then that’s proof right there that I’ll take
better care of you.”

Jimin pulls himself closer to Yoongi, uncaring about the lamp post that glows down on them or the
fact that they’re standing in front of an apartment building and anyone could see them from their
windows. “Where are you taking me?”

“Jeongguk’s,” Yoongi whispers, eyes scanning over his face, “you felt safe there.”

For once, Jimin can’t read the look in Yoongi’s eyes. He hadn’t wanted Jeongguk to burst into his
apartment and save the day, but the offer to be away from his apartment and not be alone had been
too good to refuse.

He craved Yoongi the moment Bobby’s security left him but he knew he couldn’t call. Not because
Yoongi wouldn’t come, he knows Yoongi would drop anything to be there before him, because he
doesn’t know what Yoongi would do if he knew how badly someone made him cry.

“Will you stay with me?”

The smile that finds its way to Yoongi’s lips is soft, just a slight quirk of the corners. “Of course, if
you want me to.”

“I want you,” Jimin whispers without hesitation, tugging on Yoongi’s collar so he knows he
understands what Jimin wants. "I mean, I want you to."

Yoongi nods, fingers brushing over Jimin’s chin before closing the space between them. It’s only a
second but it feels like hours before Yoongi’s lips are pressing against his own.
It’s been so long, but Jimin’s lips part easily and Yoongi’s mouth feels like home moving against his.
It’s slow the drag of their lips, and quiet the way they share exhales like they’re the source of each
other’s oxygen.

Yoongi is his, because Jimin hasn’t feel like he’s been able to breathe until now.

“You’re not supposed to be drinking on the job.”

Taehyung glances at Jackson before he throws his head back to down the rest of his drink. Despite
not being able to drink on the job, the Minx bartender handed him a glass without hesitation. A perk
of the boss being gone.

Jackson huffs out a laugh, fiddling with the necklace he always wears. “What’s got you so stressed
today, Baby?”

The glass clatters loudly when it slams it onto the bar, loud even over the hum of music filling the
club. It’s pretty slow and he’s not even supposed to be here, but Jimin had called him last minute and
asked him to cover him for the night.

It had sounded urgent but Jimin hadn’t answered any questions. It half sounded like Jimin was
moaning into the receiver and he isn’t sure why there is a tornado inside of him. He knows how
badly Jimin has wanted to work again, but it feels like a secret and though Taehyung would bring
every one of Jimin’s secrets to the grave with him, he looks like an accessory covering for him.

Taehyung would do anything for Jimin, but with two little ones, he needs to be extra careful not to
step out of line.

“My ass hurts and all this perfume is giving me a headache today,” Taehyung lies as Jackson hands
him another drink. He’s hosting tonight, which means no one can buy him for the night. Though the
no drinking while working rule is pretty lax anyway. It’s in place to keep the birds safe, but Bobby
can be pretty bad at remembering his own rules.

“Heads up,” Jackson says with a nod of his head. Taehyung wants to groan, but he doesn’t. He
doesn’t keep the frown of his face though when he faces the man approaching him.

Taehyung straightens, immediately crossing his legs to show off the length of them before he holds
his hand out. It’s one of the club’s donors, an older man by the name of Yang Kunhee. A rich man,
one of the biggest donors there is.

He’s slightly terrified of him from the stories he’s heard, but Bobby would flay his back if he was
rude.

“Sir,” Taehyung greets, bowing his head as he grabs Hyun-sik’s hand, “a pleasure. What brings you
to the club tonight?”

“I come on Sundays to see the host, quite a beauty Doll is, but I quite like the replacement as well,”
Kunhee flirts with a small smile on his lips.

“Thank you, sir,” Taehyung says. He hopes Jackson doesn’t stray too far and he wishes Jimin hadn’t
called him last minute so he’d have enough time to call Hoseok into work with him. Not that Hoseok
could stop a donor, but it makes him feel comfort knowing that he has someone when he needs
someone.
Hoseok has made it clear that he doesn’t care who it is. If someone touches Taehyung the wrong
way, he’s stepping in.

“Where have they been hiding you?” Kunhee asks as he sits on the stool across from him. He’s
touchy, reaching out to brush over Taehyung’s jaw. The want is clear in his eyes and Taehyung
wishes people would just come out with it instead sometimes and not waste time with small talk and
unnecessary flirting.

“I’m a very wanted man,” Taehyung hums, reaching for the drink beside him. It definitely isn’t good
drinking in front of a donor, who would probably love it if he had more substances in his system, but
he feels his bones starting to shake.

“What is your name? I’ll have to talk to Bobby about seeing more of you.”

Taehyung’s heart rate is spiking. He’s never met Yang Kunhee, but he’s on the list of donors to
avoid. Jimin never talks about time with the donors, but he’s like a ghost afterwards, nearly every
time. “Baby.”

Kunhee makes a noise of approval low in his throat. “Are you busy tonight? I’d quite like to get to
know you.”

His heart thrums so loudly it pounds against his ears. It would piss Jimin off if he left with a donor
but it would piss Bobby off if he didn’t. He’s thankful Jackson arrives to take Kunhee’s order,
distracting the old man for a minute but not long enough for Taehyung to decide the wrong move.

He rarely feels stuck with customers. Even the worse ones, he’s not as tongue twisted as he feels
now.

“I’m sorry, I -”

A rush of breath leaves his lips as a soft palm traces over his jaw before dipping down and sliding
over the front of his throat. He stiffens though his mind tells him to pull back and elbow whoever it is
petting his skin before lips brush over his ear lobe and a familiar voice has his body relaxing.

“Hey Baby.”

Jeongguk has a gruff edge to his voice but there’s a softness in his touch as he rubs circles over the
front of Taehyung’s neck, soothing over his pulse like he intends to calm his erratic heart beat.

“Am I interrupting? I’ve been waiting for you.”

Kunhee looks bothered, eyes narrowed and frowning at Jeongguk over the edge of his glass. It
makes Taehyung’s heart rate spike even more, and he’s thankful for the way Jeongguk rubs over his
pulse.

He hasn’t seen Jeongguk since Friday and he only briefly talked to him the day before. He wonders
if Jimin told him to come.

“Yang Kunhee,” the man greets, holding out a hand for Jeongguk. Taehyung turns slightly, wanting
to pull Jeongguk between them but he’s at work and a professional.

It’s unfair that Jeongguk already makes him feel safe.

“Jeon Jeongguk,” Jeongguk greets and the recognition is clear on Kunhee’s face. “I don’t mean to
interrupt but I have important matters involving Baby here, if you would excuse us?”
Kunhee looks as if he’d like to do anything but that but he nods anyway, eyes lingering on
Taehyung as Jeongguk curls an arm around his back to guide him away. Taehyung doesn’t know if
his relief will last long but he holds onto it for the moment.

“What is it?” Taehyung asks, pulling away from Jeongguk’s touch when he feels too many eyes on
him. He grabs his hand instead, taking lead to guide Jeongguk somewhere private.

“Just wanted to see you,” Jeongguk replies as he attaches himself to Taehyung’s back, seemingly
uncaring about the eyes. Guards part for them with ease and Taehyung feels his face flush under
their gaze.

“That’s not important,” Taehyung grumbles, wanting to pout.

He leads Jeongguk up a set of stairs leading to the VIP lounge. It’s frequently quieter up stairs, with
their customers much too busy with their mouths to make much noise. Everything is dulled, from the
music to the movements, to the clients’ systems because Taehyung knows there’s more than just
body parts sliding across their tongues. There's a strict rule for no drugs, but it's been getting in
somehow. Taehyung and Jimin haven't been able to figure it out.

“It’s the most important part of my day.”

Taehyung turns, grinning at the smile on Jeongguk’s lips. There’s something addicting about the
playfulness in his eyes and the way Taehyung knows how easily that look can change into
something dark. “Seriously, what are you doing here Mr. Jeon?”

There are couches spread throughout the room, taken up by clients with birds sprawled in their laps.
Alcohol and substances that Taehyung watches Jeongguk look too long at cover the tables in front of
them. There are nooks and crannies in the walls, little cubbies with curtains pulled shut for those
clients who are a little more modest. The birds are much too relaxed leaving the drugs out like that,
too carefree knowing Jimin isn't here and Taehyung is too tired to give a shit. He doesn't hate them
as much as Jimin does.

“Doll told me you’d be here.”

Taehyung sighs, pushing one of the curtains open. He’s met with an offended looking Youngjae and
a man that he doesn’t think can afford the VIP room, but he ignores it in favor of ordering them both
out. Jeongguk, in his own cute way, apologizes quietly while bowing but he looks amused when
Taehyung tugs him forward.

“Why did he do that?”

Jeongguk doesn’t make a move to get closer though it’s implied as Taehyung leans lazily against the
wall. He’s dressed up in a suit as always, though his hair sticks out messily around the ears like he
was in a rush and forgot to fix his hair.

“It’s my fault he’s not here,” Jeongguk says with a lift of his shoulder, “and he might have mentioned
a certain Kunhee has a rough grip and you’re not allowed to say no to him.”

The muscle jumps over Jeongguk’s jaw as he clenches his teeth, the playfulness quickly slipping
away but it’s quick to return. Taehyung’s thankful because he doesn’t like the way his heart jitters
because of the dark look flashing in his eyes.

“How is it your fault?” Taehyung asks, ignoring the rest of what Jeongguk says because it’s not a
conversation he wants to get into. Jimin does a good job of keeping the donors away from him,
though sometimes Taehyung wishes he would stop taking every bad touch just to protect him.
“You’re not the reason Jimin sounded like he was moaning on the phone, were you?”

Jeongguk grins, resting an elbow beside Taehyung’s head until he’s hovering over him. “Jealous?”

Taehyung slips his hands over Jeongguk’s chest, digging his fingers in just enough to retaliate. He
definitely is jealous, but he refuses to ever admit it. “You’re free to have anyone you’d like.”

Jeongguk’s lips push into a pout as he trails a finger across Taehyung’s jaw. “I don’t mean to
overstep my place while you’re working or cause you trouble. Jimin told me to come here and make
sure no one touches you.”

“And I'm sure you were more than eager to accept,” Taehyung jokes as he flattens Jeongguk’s collar.
He doesn't deny being with Jimin and Taehyung is going to go on a murder streak.

“You don’t seem to mind. Eager to drag me up here to your private orgy den.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh, eyes on the way Jeongguk’s Adam’s Apple bobs as he does the same.
“There’s a curtain.”

He can’t waste time with Jeongguk though he wants to. It would be noticeable if Taehyung ditched
out on his duties again and it wouldn’t only be him getting in trouble, but Jimin too.

As if his mind controlled events, the curtain is yanked open. He wants to groan, both at the sight of
Jay’s face and the smart ‘ so much for the curtain’ remark Jeongguk whispers under his breath.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Jay says with a grin before he bows his head gently to acknowledge
Jeongguk. “Mr. Jeon, I’m sorry to interrupt.”

Taehyung slips from underneath Jeongguk, straightening out the mesh top he wears. “I’m coming,
shouldn’t you be on stage already?”

“I would be if I weren’t looking for you ,” Jay supplies with a roll of his eyes. “Plus, someone’s here
to see you. Someone with heavy pockets.”

He can feel Jeongguk move, pressing against his back and he rolls his own eyes, stopping Jeongguk
in his tracks. “Go home Gukkie baby. Come see me tomorrow. Hobi is on his way. Tell Jimin I'm
fine."

Jeongguk looks like he wants to protest but he doesn’t. Instead, he cups a hand over Taehyung’s
cheek and kisses him. It’s a deep kiss, one that has Taehyung’s lips parting and groaning quietly
around the press of Jeongguk’s tongue in his mouth.

It’s a show off move and Taehyung finds that he doesn’t care.

“Quite the predicament,” Jay says with a disapproving click of his tongue. “Tell me what you’ve
done to convince Bobby to let you have not only Mr. Jeon but Suga as well?”

Taehyung’s heart lodges itself up into his throat and he wants to whip around and tell Jay off, but
he’s focused on the way Jeongguk’s face falls into confusion. There’s a question in his eyes that
Taehyung can’t answer.

It’s done on purpose. They’re not supposed to talk about their clients with other clients, Jay knows
this.

Yoongi isn’t even his client and he’s failed miserably at attempting to make him one like Bobby told
him to.

Jeongguk straightens himself, fixing the tie he wears as he smiles politely at Jay. “I’ll call Hope.
Please let me know when you’ve gotten home?”

The curtain closes with a tinkling laugh left behind by Jay. Taehyung needs to follow, to at least find
someone for this heavy pocketed someone that wants to see him, but he stays rooted to the spot.

“Yoongi isn’t a client of mine.”

Jeongguk rubs a palm over Taehyung’s cheek. “It’s not my business who you work with, Taehyung.
Unless that persons hurting you, then I’ll make it my business.”

“You won’t, you said you won't do anything I don’t want you to do.”

Jeongguk smiles softly before placing a kiss to Taehyung’s nose. It’s so tender that he doesn’t know
what to do other than to remain still and accept the butterflies in his stomach.

They sprouted the moment Jeongguk said his name and he didn’t realize how much he craved for
Jeongguk to call him that instead of Baby.

“It’s one of the few things I’ll ignore you on,” Jeongguk whispers. “Please call me if you need
anything before Hobi comes.”

Jeongguk doesn’t wait for a response before he softly kisses Taehyung and parts from the cubby.
Taehyung doesn’t know why he feels so strange and he rubs his hands down his thighs in hope to rid
the way his fingers shake.

It’s true, who he works with is none of Jeongguk’s business but the panic lingers in his chest at the
idea of Jeongguk thinking he might be sleeping with his best friend.

Taehyung waits a moment to collect himself before he departs for the first level. He barely makes it
towards the stage before he’s being stopped again and he’s a second away from snapping at the next
person who touches him without asking.

“Baby, there you are.”

Taehyung prays that whatever Jimin is doing is worth it because Taehyung feels his night crumbling
around him. He looks up at the man in front of him, feeling his body tense under his touch.

“You’re mine for the night. Did Jay tell you I was looking for you?” Yunbok says with a gentle
smile, reaching out to gently caress Taehyung’s cheek. “I’ll pay you triple if you promise to keep this
from my son.”

His heart pounds against his ears as he cocks a hip and fingers the opened part of Yunbok’s button
up. It’s a tempting offer and Yunbok isn’t too adventurous in bed, quick and lacking stamina. But
he’s Bobby’s father and one mess up could have Taehyung sent away.

“You’d want me to deceive my boss? I’m afraid I can’t do that, Mr. Kim. I’m quite loyal to Bobby.”

Yunbok huffs gruffly at this. “Quadruple. I won’t ask again, Baby.”

Taehyung’s ears turn red at the implication and he wonders, wishes, Jeongguk decided to stay or that
he hadn't lied about Hoseok coming.

“Your secret is safe with me, Mr. Kim. Give me fifteen minutes.”
*

Jimin hates how good things feel good at the moment but have a way of feeling awful later on. He
hates the sighs that leave his lips from the tickle of Yoongi’s fingers on his back and the way his
brain refuses to remind him that he’ll feel pain and regret tomorrow.

It’s Yoongi. He’s like a hypnotic pill that makes Jimin forget about anything that isn’t him . All he
knows is the scent of Yoongi’s bed and the way Yoongi’s calves feel tangled up with his. He only
knows the patterns Yoongi is tracing across his back and the way his lips feel when he moves kisses
across Jimin’s shoulders.

He knows nothing about the pain and regret he’ll feel in the morning though it’s something he’s felt
so often it’s tattooed itself onto his brain.

“Mm, Jimin-ah,” Yoongi hums, shifting until he’s hovering over the back of him. His lips scrape
over the back of Jimin’s neck and Jimin can’t help the smile on his face or the way he turns his head
to tell Yoongi he wants more. “Do you feel good?”

A hum vibrates in Jimin’s throat as goosebumps erupt over his skin. He hasn’t felt this good since the
last time he was with Yoongi. He swears Yoongi has ecstasy ingrained in the tips of his fingers that
he rubs over his skin to intoxicate him with.

“Do you?” Yoongi asks again, his voice husky before he nips at the curve of Jimin’s shoulder.

Jimin wishes he would drop his weight so every inch of their skin is touching. “If you were touching
me more, I’d feel better.”

Yoongi’s laugh is cascaded across his shoulder blades. “You know I’d give you anything you want,
just tell me what it is.”

Jimin wants to turn and remind Yoongi that he actually just did, but Yoongi’s thighs are clenching
around his own and his waist is falling down to pin against Jimin’s.

He’s hard again already, his length pressing into the bare of Jimin’s backside and Jimin shivers, heat
erupting in the low of his belly.

“Better?”

Jimin huffs out a laugh, wiggling back against Yoongi. He earns a small groan in return, rumbled out
against his jaw.

“What if Jeongguk comes home?”

Yoongi ignores him for a minute to trace kisses over his back, mimicking the way he had decorated
his back with invisible patterns just minutes ago. “You asked to be touched more, Jimin. I’m just
giving what you want.”

With effort, Jimin rolls under Yoongi until he’s on his back. Yoongi doesn’t hesitate to dip down, his
lips folding over Jimin’s.

There are many things in this world Jimin loves and kissing Yoongi just happens to be in the top ten.
Everything in the top ten is about Yoongi, except for Taehyung, who will always hold his number
two position no matter what.

“Plus, Jeongguk is a man now. He knows what sex is and I’m sure he knows his hyung does too,”
Yoongi says, lips rubbing against Jimin’s as he speaks. Jimin uses the space between their chests to
his advantage, his fingers exploring over the soft of Yoongi’s belly and tickling up his sides.

He settles his hands over Yoongi’s rib cage, covering the words Yoongi has inked into his skin only
a few years ago with the palms of his hands.

He can’t look at them, or the good feeling blanketing his body will disappear.

“Does that mean you’re going to fuck me again hyung?” Jimin murmurs, dropping his voice low as
he lifts his legs to curl around Yoongi’s waist, pulling him down until their chests brush. “Because if
not, I’ll take a hot bath and some food.”

Yoongi’s teeth scrap over Jimin’s jaw as his hips rock down against his, his arms boxing themselves
around Jimin’s head. He likes it this way, feeling surrounded by nothing but Yoongi. Sometimes it
makes him claustrophobic, being under someone, but Yoongi makes him crave it.

“You can have whatever you want,” Yoongi whispers, lips tickling over his already bruised skin.

A moan traps himself in Jimin’s throat, rumbling around as Yoongi sucks over the sore skin until it’s
pushed off by a soft sob that Jimin fails at holding back. Yoongi pops off with a wet sound, only to
place his mouth back over Jimin’s.

The slow pace slips away between them though Yoongi is always gentle in the way he touches
Jimin. He touches like his fingers are made out of feathers, like his intentions are to caress and never
bruise. It used to be embarrassing, begging for Yoongi to be a bit rougher with him but Yoongi’s
always given Jimin what he wants.

Yoongi pulls back, resting his butt on the back of his calves. His hands rub over Jimin’s knees before
tugging him gently, guiding him further up his lap. Jimin shivers at the feel of Yoongi’s hard length
pressing against his bum and the heavy way Yoongi’s gaze slips over Jimin’s body.

“Do you want me hyung?” Jimin asks breathlessly. He likes the way Yoongi’s paler skin looks
rubbing over the taut muscles of his stomach and how big his fingers look slipping over his waist.

He likes how pink Yoongi’s body becomes and how overwhelmed he looks as he soaks in every
inch of Jimin in front of him. It makes his own cheeks burn and his legs tighten around Yoongi’s
hips when he goes to move.

“Lube,” Yoongi explains, bending over Jimin to reach where it had been tossed earlier.

“I don’t need it,” Jimin breathes, cupping a hand around the back of Yoongi’s neck to kiss the length
of his neck. “I don’t want it.”

There’s a tension in Yoongi’s jaw when he shifts back. He doesn’t look at Jimin as he ignores him
and dumps a good amount of lube onto his fingers.

“I’m not hurting you,” Yoongi explains, slipping his slick fingers over Jimin’s thighs. He rubs the
sticky liquid over his skin until Jimin feels covered in it. It’s messy, the way Yoongi likes it and it
makes Jimin’s ears feel hot.

“I thought you’d do anything I want?”

Yoongi’s brows stitch together, lips pulling into a frown. Jimin shivers from the cold lube, teeth
catching down on his bottom lip as not to moan from the way it feels slipping down his skin. “You
should know better than to ask me that, Jimin.”
Jimin pushes himself up, hands flat on the bed behind him. It brings him close to Yoongi, so close
that the tips of their noses nearly brush.

“I’m not made of glass hyung.”

“Mm, I know,” Yoongi hums, cocking his head to the side. “You’re one of the strongest people I've
ever met. But you’re eyes are like windows and I know when you’re lying to me, Jimin.”

Jimin opens his lips to protest, but his chest hurts. “I’m not lying.”

Yoongi’s smile doesn’t falter as he reaches up and strokes his slick thumb over the length of Jimin’s
neck. “You want to be touched like this so let me touch you like this.”

Jimn shivers, moaning quietly from Yoongi’s touch. His heart races and he wants to be defiant, but
he’s being selfish today and Yoongi’s right, it is what he wants.

“You can touch me how you want,” Jimin breathes against Yoongi’s lips. “You know I’m yours.”

Yoongi’s eyes flutter shut as he presses his hand against the side of Jimin’s neck to tilt his head.
“You’ve got it wrong babe. I’m yours and one day I hope you can let me love you the way you
deserve.”

Jimin is unsure if it’s ruining the moment or making it better, but his chest is tight and he hates it. He
doesn’t have time to decide to shove Yoongi away or pull him closer when the decision is made for
him.

The knock on the door is loud, making them both jump backwards. Jimin can’t look away from
Yoongi, he desperately wants him to know that he doesn’t deserve the love Yoongi wants to give
him.

“Hyung, is Yoongi with you still?”

Yoongi doesn’t look away from Jimin even at the sound of Jeongguk’s voice. It takes a minute
before Yoongi finally pulls away, his fingers lingering over Jimin’s calves while he does.

“Ya, Gukkie, what’s up?” Yoongi calls. His movements are languid as he moves across the room in
search of his pants. Jimin is quite sure they are somewhere in the hallway that Jimin is staying in but
it’s cute watching Yoongi pout and scratch his head looking for them.

“I have to ask you something.”

There’s something in Jeongguk’s tone that has Jimin losing his want to curl his fingers around his
aching cock. He pulls the sheet over himself instead, giving himself enough time to make himself
decent as Yoongi finally opens the door, pantless with a shirt held helplessly over his crotch.

The bed is moved to the side, the door keeping Jeongguk from seeing Jimin though Jimin wouldn’t
care.

“I uh, guess Jiminie’s with you?”

Jimin smiles softly at the flustered sound of Jeongguk’s voice. He’s always found it strange how
quickly Jeongguk can go from full brooding man to a giggly or flustered child. Taehyung is the same
and Jimin wonders if that’s why they’re perfect for each other.

“What is it, Guk? You okay?”

The muscles in Yoongi’s back tense as he grips the door, shielding it like he doesn’t want Jeongguk
to look around it.

“I’m fine yeah. I just wanted to ask you something but it can wait.”

“If it’s because I’m here Jeonggukkie, you can take him,” Jimin chirps up, falling back against the
pillows to stare up at the ceiling. It would be comfortable if his skin wasn’t covered in lube and dried
come and sweat. He feels relaxed though, his muscles sighing against the fluffy mattress though there
is an ache gripping his thighs. It’s a good ache that will feel worse tomorrow, but it will remind him
of Yoongi.

“Or whatever you want to say you can in front of him,” Yoongi corrects, his voice slightly tense.
“You know that.”

A silence follows and Jimin perks up with interest. He finally removes himself from the sticky sheets
and grabs one of the shirts he had found in the dressers the first night he stayed here. He likes how
big they are on him and he swears they’re Yoongi’s.

“Are you sleeping with Taehyung?”

Jimin stills with the shirt halfway onto his body. It's whispered, but Jeongguk fails at being quiet
enough so he can't hear. Yoongi laughs, actually huffs out a laugh that Jimin knows comes with a
smile so big you can see his gums.

“What?”

“It’s not something I wanted to ask you while you were Jimin,” Jeongguk says, sounding flustered
and embarrassed.

The shirt brushes over Jimin’s thighs and he finally pops up behind Yoongi, keeping close to his
back and curling his arms around his waist to hold the shirt over his bare skin for him. Jeongguk like
a little kid with his wide eyes filled with worry and teeth chattering over his bottom lip. His head tilts
here and there in the silence, a habit of his that Jimin has noticed but doesn’t know the reason behind.

“I’m okay with it. I’m just wondering,” Jeongguk goes on, clearly lying.

Yoongi snorts loudly. There’s amusement in his voice when he speaks but Jimin can hear how
skeptical he sounds. “If you’re messing with me, I’ll kick your ass.”

Jimin brushes a kiss over his shoulder. Jeongguk isn’t joking and he grows with questions. He
doesn’t think Taehyung would tell him about Bobby making him work with Yoongi, but Bobby was
supposed to tell Taehyung not to.

It’s Jimin’s job now and suddenly his moment of selfishness and feeling good slips away from him.
Yoongi’s touch burns and he wants to pull away but he clings to Yoongi’s back, desperate to hold
onto him.

“Bobby wanted him to,” Jimin says, propping his chin on Yoongi’s shoulder. He feels Yoongi tense
under him and he dreads the moment Yoongi yanks away from him. “But I offered to so he wouldn’t
have to.”

Jeongguk’s eyes grow wide as he looks at Yoongi and then back at Jimin. His mouth falls open and
it grows awkward and tense, almost as tense as Yoongi’s body against his, before Jeongguk jerks a
thumb at the hallway.
 “I’m gonna...uh, go.”

With a kick of his foot, Jeongguk turns on his heel and practically runs down the hallway. Yoongi
doesn’t close the door but his head hangs and Jimin’s heart drops in his chest.

“I don’t know what Bobby wants from you,” Jimin huffs out quickly, pulling away from Yoongi as
he starts to shut the door though his body cries for him to stay close. “But I would never help him get
it. You know that right?”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh as he turns around, leaning back and away from him. “I know, babe. I
know the way you feel about me even if you don’t admit it.”

“That’s cocky of you,” Jimin huffs out but he feels relieved that Yoongi looks anything but angry at
him.

Though he thinks he’d prefer Yoongi be angry with him than say what he says next.

“If he wants me to be a client, I’ll give him a ring and tell him I’d be happy too. He doesn’t have to
be sneaky about it. I don't get why he tried to tell me not to?”

Jimin’s heart pounds roughly against his chest. Nothing Bobby is doing lately makes sense. “I don’t
think it’s a good idea. He knows how you feel about me. Or at least, he has an assumption.”

Yoongi lifts a shoulder in a shrug before he drags a thumb across Jimin’s jaw. “Then I guess I don’t
have to hide it from him anymore. Can finally put our picture up with my others at work.”

Jimin huffs out a wounded laugh as he drops his head against Yoongi’s shoulder. He prays Yoongi
is joking. He’s known Bobby longer than Jimin even has, but Jimin doesn’t think he knows him as
well. He doesn't know what Bobby would do.

“Don’t push him, hyung. He’s up to something and I don’t know what it is.”

Chapter End Notes

Please let me know what you think or talk to me about anything, im a hoe for friends.
Bobby's my soft bb I need to write a fic that explores his ultimate softness bye

(also, I haven't read any good taekook fics in a couple weeks so if you have any, please
send them to me)

@taecheeks - tumblr
@taehcheeks - twitter
curious cat
 Chapter 8
Chapter Notes

This chapter is one of the longer ones, so a lot happens, but I wanted to make up for the
delay.

There's a warning for domestic abuse, but it isn't described in a lot of detail.

Also, the end quotes when I write on my phone are always backwards and I went
through to change that just now, but I apologize if I missed any.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting, you guys mean the world to me <3

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“You should stay here.”

Jimin laughs under his breath at Jeongguk’s innocence. It’s in his eyes, mixed in with the worry and
sleep that still clings to him. It’s a genuine offer, but it’s one that Jimin could never accept.

“You’re safe here.”

He is, which is why Jimin has putzed around the kitchen instead of actually walking through the
front door like he’s planned. He needs to get home soon, before Bobby arrives, but he finds it’s like a
brick has grown between him and the front door.

And there’s a rope anchoring him to the sleeping form hidden amongst a pile of comforters in one of
Jeongguk’s guest rooms.

“That’s sweet of you Gukkie baby, but you know I can’t,” Jimin says, giving him a soft smile. It isn’t
genuine but Jeongguk doesn’t need to know that. “Duty calls.”

Jeongguk doesn’t try to hide the frown that drags his features down so Jimin takes the mug into his
hand and pads off, not wanting to see it.

Taehyung has told him how stubborn Jeongguk can be and he doesn’t want to be on the receiving
end of it.

He moves in the opposite direction as the door, but Jimin tells himself that he just wants to make sure
he didn’t leave anything behind. There’s no point in lying to himself, and he’s sure both Jeongguk
and Yoongi know why it’s so hard for him to leave.

He’s leaving his heart behind, but Yoongi’s had it for so long he’s used to living without it.

The guest room is quite dark with the curtains closed, but Jimin is guided by the soft snores from the
corner of the room where Yoongi lies like a crab burrowed in the sand.

Jimin places the mug on the nightstand as he sits on the edge of the bed. The hallway light allows
just enough light in for Jimin to see the outline of Yoongi’s face, his eyes squeezed closed and lips
parted.
He’s beautiful and coming to Jeongguk’s had been the worst and the best few days he’s had in a
long time. The worst, because Jimin had a taste of everything he wanted and couldn’t have. He
touched Yoongi until it felt like his fingerprints rubbed off on his skin, fell asleep beside him only to
wake up with him wrapped around his back.

Sleepy, mumbling Yoongi in the morning, pouting over a cup of coffee is a Yoongi he hasn’t seen
much of since college. Watching him tease Jeongguk and his face become a lighthouse during his
storm when they Facetimed with Ji-hu. Feeling safe and wanting of every touch he’s received.

He knew he missed it, he just didn’t realize how much.

“Goodbye lover boy,” Jimin hums, smoothing his palm over Yoongi’s forehead. “I love you.”

Telling Yoongi about Bobby wanting him to be a client had been a mistake. Jimin’s always been
good at playing pretend, but he isn’t with Yoongi. It makes him feel miserable and he doesn’t know
what Bobby is up to, if it’s safe for Yoongi to play whatever game he’s building.

He never wanted to involve Yoongi. It used to be his secret, an easy one to keep from his college
classmates and roommates. Hoseok was the first to suspect it, joking about Jimin disappearing at
night to run the Red Light District. It was easy to laugh it off, just as easy as it was to bury his
feelings for Yoongi deep inside his chest.

He didn’t want to feel them. He wanted to enjoy how easy it was being with Yoongi before he had
to drag himself away every night to the club or to the beds of Busan’s richest, most disgusting men.

It was easy until Yoongi confessed outside of a shitty club with a cigarette between his fingers and a
look in his eyes that made it unnecessary for him to say the words out loud. It felt easy, until Jimin
realized that he ran away from Bobby because he felt the same, not just because he felt like he was
suffocating.

There was a reason that every inhale he took around Yoongi felt like he was breathing fresh air for
the first time, he just didn’t think about it until Yoongi told him he loved him.

“Looks like the night has finally ended,” Jimin sighs before he bends forward and places a gentle
kiss over Yoongi’s parted lips.

He needs to mean it this time. Stay away, he just can’t say the words out loud.

Halfway home, a message from Bobby tells him he’s already fucked up and didn’t make it home
before Bobby did. Jimin doesn’t care as much as he thought he would and he slows his pace,
walking along the streets until he finds a food stand to waste time at.

Just a few days at Jeongguk and he swears he’s gained half of his weight. Bobby’s always praised
his body and has never given him a reason to think otherwise, but Jimin still always has. With
Yoongi it’s different, it’s always different.

“Sweet egg sandwich, please,” Jimin says to the cashier distractedly. He doesn’t care, but his heart
picks up the pace every time his phone vibrates. As long as he’s known Bobby, he’s rarely been at
the receiving end of his anger. He’s listened to him scream, yell, and complain, but rarely ever at
him.

Jimin had been a favorite toy of a nasty man named Heungsoo, a nasty man with bad smelling breath
and enough money in his pocket to give Jimin a reason to be whoever Heungsoo wanted him to be.
He barely knew Bobby at the time, had only seen him when he came with his father for reasons that
Jimin didn’t know at the time. He never thought he made an impression, not until Bobby showed up
with murder in his eyes and an agenda to free Jimin from Heungsoo.

He was taken away from Heungsoo and brought back to the brothel owned by one of Yunbok's
hyungs. He had worked for him before, the man who had sold him to Heungsoo. Jimin thought
Bobby to be more of a curse than a blessing because he brought him back. It didn't last long. He was
given to a maiden, Winnie, who was kind and taught him everything he knows about the power he
holds over men, though she hadn't been much older than him. She was a comfort when he returned
home, and returned to the club that had been his nightmare for many years. He met Taehyung there.

They went through the birth of the Minx Club together and that had been difficult. Many nights of
Bobby arguing with clients and being the big, scary pimp - a part that Jimin doesn’t believe fits
Bobby well.

But with Hanbin in his ear, a pressure on his back to be rougher, Jimin doesn’t know what to expect.

bb: where are you? We need to talk.

bb: i can call hope to pick you up?

bb: have you heard from Baby? B.I. can’t get ahold of him.

bb: Jimin? Come home.

Jimin sighs. He wants to detour to Taehyung’s instead, but Taehyung hasn’t responded to him the
last few days and he knows he’s probably pissed. Jimin left him with all of his responsibilities
without a single explanation.

“I’m sorry sir, but your card declined.”

Jimin rips his eyes up from the phone. He wonders if Bobby will push off the conversation to let him
sleep first. Though he just woke up, the nerves inside of him have made him feel exhausted.

“Try this one.”

“I’m sorry, this declined too.”

The nerves double inside as Jimin takes the second card from the cashier. There’s a heat at the back
of his neck as he apologizes in embarrassment to call his bank.

There’s a truth in his mind that he can’t focus on. Not even when the bank teller tells him the reason
his cards have declined is because there’s no money in either of his bank accounts.

His sudden crawl to get home becomes a race. He doesn’t know the emotion inside of him, but it’s
building, making his chest tight and his lungs feel like they could collapse from the pressure.

It’s quiet when he first opens the door, after a minute of collecting himself enough to pull his best
smile for Bobby. It’s the truth that he refuses to acknowledge that keeps him from worrying about
Bobby losing all of his money.

“Babe? You home?”

Jimin eyes the kitchen, at the opened bottles of soju lining the counter. The smell of fried food lingers
in the air, the pots and pans with caked on grease still sitting on the stove.
Bobby’s not alone.

It makes the nerves inside of him worse and he wishes he never left Jeongguk’s. Or never went
there. If he never did that, he wouldn’t feel so nervous. He wouldn’t feel like he might throw up the
moment he hears Hanbin’s voice float into the kitchen.

“Hyung, Jimin is not your business partner. He’s a whore, who works for you. You’re not a manager
at a grocery store, if you let people see you being weak, it could be your life on the line. Not just the
club. You think Sungho's gonna let that fly?”

Jimin pauses, resting his face against the cool wall at the edge of the hallway. Hanbin’s right, that’s
why it’s always him or Jimin that handles the parts that Bobby is too soft for. There are times when
Bobby shows that he can do it, but it puts him in a bad mood and Jimin’s always been willing to do it
for him.

A powerful whore, he corrects in his mind. The reason no one crosses Bobby. It would be wrong of
him to leave Bobby to fend for himself.

“You were ready to fight me when I called Baby a whore but now here you are,” Bobby huffs out.
He sounds exhausted and his words are slurred just a bit, more so than Hanbin’s.

It’s a bad sign.

“Baby would rather be doing anything than be a whore. Jimin is desperate to be.”

Jimin huffs out through his nose before pushing away from the wall. He’s Bobby’s tough exterior
and he can show Hanbin that he is.

“Baby would rather be doing anything other than you,” Jimin corrects as he saunters into the sitting
room, arms crossed over his chest. There’s a game playing on the television but it’s muted as Bobby
and Hanbin tackle the plates of food in front of them. “People are desperate for me, I’m just eager to
please.”

Bobby’s eyes are on him as he moves across the room, his lips tight and turned down. It makes
Jimin’s heart skip a beat, but he flashes him a flirty smile before carding his fingers fondly through
Bobby’s hair.

Hanbin is wrong. Jimin’s desperate for money to get away from Bobby, not to continue to work for
him.

“Have a nice trip, darling?”

Bobby’s movements are slow as he curls his fingers around Jimin’s wrist and pulls his touch away.
Jimin knows his smile falters, he can’t help it. Bobby loves to be touched affectionately, especially
by him.

“You know I don’t sleep well on planes,” Bobby hums, cocking his head. “Give me a few minutes
with Hanbin and then we need to talk.”

Jimin hesitates. He knows there’s a smirk on Hanbin’s lips but he refuses to indulge in it. “You want
me to draw you up a bath?”

Bobby tugs Jimin’s wrist closer to press a soft kiss on the inside. Butterflies erupt in his stomach,
ones that feel a lot like relief but they die quickly - killed by the look in Bobby’s eyes.
“Yeah, that’d be nice. Could you find my belt for me in the closet? The one I wore to the Seoul
meeting?”

Jimin inches his hand away unsurely. “Wouldn’t you prefer your night clothes? You need your
sleep.”

Bobby curls an arm around the back of Jimin’s thigh, fingers brushing under the curve of his bum.
“It’s not to wear, babe. I’ll be right in.”

Thankfully, Bobby’s collection of belts is small because Jimin doesn’t remember the one he wore to
the Seoul meeting. He doesn’t even remember the Seoul meeting other than being face to face with
the original man who had owned him, but Bobby doesn’t look displeased when he enters the
bedroom and studies the belt held out in Jimin’s hands.

There’s a fire inside of Jimin that has his knees feeling weak and his stomach ache. Yoongi’s texted
him since he’s come home but the idea of opening it only made him feel worse.

Worse than the bags he's found stationed across the bed, packed with Jimin’s belongings.

“What did you want to talk about, love?” Jimin asks, rubbing his palms down his legs. He had
started the bath, with bubbles and all, but it’s probably gone cold since it took Bobby longer than a
few minutes to join him.

He looks upset, Jimin thinks. Bobby won’t hold eye contact for long, eyes only flickering to him for
a moment here and there as he rolls the sleeves of his dress shirt. “I… I understand why you want to
work and I meant it when I said I would not stop you.”

Jimin tries to swallow the clog in his throat but he’s choking on it instead.

He’s worked too hard for this day to be here already.

“But I did tell you to wait until we talked about it,” Bobby says, tilting his chin to finally look at him.
“You’re not my whore, despite what Hanbin says. You are equal to me, but I still expect you to
listen to me.”

Jimin nods, shifting from the edge of the bed where he’s perched himself, back turned to his bags.
He’s thankful his hands are steady as he plants them to Bobby’s chest, ignoring the belt in Bobby’s
hands.

He knew in the back of his head that there was a possibility of Bobby finding out about him ditching
the guards, and maybe his date with Yoongi, but he was praying not.

“I’m not used to being alone, you know I hate it.”

Something breaks across Bobby’s face, but for only a second as he cocks his head. He reaches up,
touching Jimin lightly against the jaw. “You could have gone to work, but you weren’t there either.
Where were you?”

“Jeongguk’s,” Jimin says without hesitation. Bobby does idolize Jeongguk. They were raised
together, he’s closer to Mr. Jeon than his own father. He visits him every few days and had cried one
night, wishing Mr. Jeon would love him as much as he loves Jeongguk. He talks about Jeongguk's
mother as if she were his own sometimes.
It hurt to see because Bobby does deserve love. But even he can’t give it to him.

“Did he touch you?” Bobby asks, tilting Jimin’s chin higher. His eyes fall to the colorful, bruised
skin of Jimin’s neck. The marks from Bobby’s guards have long disappeared, covered up by the
ones Yoongi wanted to leave.

“No. You know how gone he is for Tae. He doesn’t want me. He just...helped me not feel alone.”

Bobby turns Jimin carefully until his back is facing his chest. Jimin shutters out a breath, staring at
the stuffed duffel bags and trying not to shiver when he feels Bobby’s breath hit the side of his neck.

“And what about Yoongi? You only ever take on the clients that want Baby? Why Yoongi? He
doesn’t want Baby.”

Eyeing the ceiling, Jimin lets out another harsh breath. Bobby is gentle in the way he runs his palms
down his sides, the edge of the belt digging in where he holds it. But Jimin still gasps when Bobby
grips onto the hem of his sweatpants and tugs them past his hips in a swift movement.

“You do so much to keep Baby safe, you always have. Yet Yoongi comes along, and you leave
your post as Taehyung’s personal security guard.”

Jimin turns, trying to eye Bobby over his shoulder but a quick tap to his bare ass has him falling still.
“What happened to Baby?”

“If I knew it was that easy to convince you to let Baby work for the donors, I would have given you
a night with Yoongi long ago,” Bobby says against his ear, rubbing a palm over the curve of his butt.
“You know they’re always on me about him.”

Jimin bites hard on his bottom lip, eyes squeezing closed. Bobby isn’t scaring him - he can handle a
few spankings or whatever Bobby wants to do with him. What he can’t handle is knowing
Taehyung was with the donors. Any of them - the only good one is Jeon, but even that would be bad
for Taehyung.

It’s his fault. He spent a few days on a fantasy island with Yoongi, just to leave Taehyung alone and
experience the nightmares that Jimin was trying to escape from.

“Is he okay?” Jimin asks, eyeing the ceiling again. “Who was he with? Not Yunbok -”

“He won’t tell me,” Bobby says, annoyance in his tone. “I’ll deal with him later. I hate doing it, you
know, but Hanbin is right. I let too much insubordination go unpunished.”

“Punish me instead,” Jimin suggests, head tilting back against Bobby’s shoulders as the strength
behind Bobby’s touch grows. “It’s my fault he was even with them. He can't say no -”

“Sh,” Bobby hums, knocking another quick slap against Jimin’s ass. “Be honest with me Jimin.
You’re a good liar but you look at Yoongi the way you look at Taehyung. I noticed. I notice
everything about you.”

Jimin turns before Bobby can stop him. He curls his arms around his shoulders and breathes in relief
when Bobby doesn’t push him back around. “I have to look at everyone that way when I want to
empty their pockets.”

For the first time in a long time, Jimin feels disgusting.

“Just a client?” Bobby hums, nuzzling against Jimin’s jaw before he pulls away. His face is hard,
unreadable. He doesn’t believe him. “If you want someone else to take care of you, then you’re free
to do so.”

Jimin lets his arms fall limp against his sides as Bobby turns around, dropping the belt to the floor.

“I cut off your allowance, but I won’t touch your money. I’ve taken my name off your account and
I’ve found a client for you. Make sure I packed everything you may need.”

Jimin darts for Bobby before he can leave the room, gently grabbing his elbow. He can’t leave
Taehyung, not again, and that’s why Bobby’s sending him away. He knows it and it kills him.

He always knew. He’s terrified of Bobby getting rid of him because he doesn’t know what he’d do,
he’d have to start over, but he’s more terrified of leaving Taehyung behind.

“Where am I going?”

Bobby sighs. There are bags under his eyes that he rubs at for a long moment before he speaks.
“America. I secured a client there while I was away. You’re only going for a few weeks unless you
decide to stay.”

Jimin drops his touch. Maybe he’s emotionally drained or something because he’s struggling to
maintain the whirlwind inside of him.

“But my dance recital is in only a few weeks,” Jimin blubbers out. “The kids are really looking
forward to it, I have to be there.”

“You will. You have a way of getting what you want, I’m sure this new client will be no different.”

Bobby walks out then, leaving Jimin standing there with a wash of panic taking over him. It’s a
worse punishment than anything he could have done with a belt and Bobby knows.

When Taehyung was younger, he would hide in the closet in his bedroom when the monster
shadows became too scary at night. It was darker in the closet, there were no shadows. There were
stuffed animals and clothes that smelled like his mother.

Later, Taehyung discovered Woojin has the same habit. There have been panicked searches through
the house in the middle of the night before Taehyung realized the closet is where Woojin would
always be. Usually his own closet, though Taehyung was never strong enough as a boy to walk
through the shadowed house to find his mother.

There were many nights he tried and found monsters sleeping beside her.

The closet keeps out the light but it doesn’t keep out the noise, Taehyung thinks. His heart is loud
against his eardrums, but so is the shouting. He doesn’t think anyone even knows he’s here, hidden
away in the dark. It’s the best that way. Jimin’s rage would only grow if he saw Taehyung.

His face throbs as badly as his heart does where it pounds against his eardrums. He hates closing his
eyes because he sees Yunbok hovering over him. Every shout Bobby lets out reminds Taehyung of
the way it felt to be under Yunbok’s painful touch, the sound of the belt ripping against his skin
making him scooch further into the closet.

Jimin has always kept Yunbok away from him and has never spoken of what it is like to spend the
night with him. No one else has, Taehyung hadn’t known what to expect.
It brings him comfort that he could keep Yunbok away from Jimin for one night, but the pain he feels
overwhelms that small spark of relief.

There’s nothing that could make him leave the closet, he thinks, until a shrill scream sounds through
the house. He doesn’t think about it as he scrambles up, heart beating rapidly in his chest. He wishes
he had Jimin when he was younger, because maybe then he would have been strong enough to find
his mother in the dark instead of his closet. Maybe he wouldn't have cared about the strange men that
slept beside her.

He finds Jimin and Bobby in the kitchen, on separate sides of the kitchen. Jimin looks unharmed,
though his face is bright red and there’s rage clear in his eyes. He wonders what caused the fight,
though he swears he heard Yoongi’s name being mentioned before the yelling started.

It makes his heart feel like it’s a moment away from collapsing in his chest. He wants Jimin to be
happy with Yoongi and his cat more than he wants anything else in his life. More than he wants his
mother back sometimes.

It’s what Jimin deserves, but instead, he turns himself into a punching bag and takes every hit aimed
for Taehyung.

“Jimin, baby, calm down,” Bobby says. His face is hard and his eyes are angry. It’s a bad Bobby
look, especially paired with the alcohol on the kitchen counter. Bobby is a better drunk than Hanbin,
but not when he’s angry. “You wanted to work so badly so I got you a client.”

Jimin huffs out a wounded laugh as he drags his fingers through his hair roughly, making strands of
hair stick out around his head. He’s colored it since the last time they saw each other, a shade of
purple so light it almost looks gray. “Fuck off, Bobby. Maybe Hanbin was right. You think with
your dick rather than your head.”

The slam of Bobby’s glass against the tiled counter sounds like a gunshot shuddering through the air.
It’s alarming, how quickly Jimin deflates. Not in submission, but in fear.

Taehyung wonders if Bobby can see it in Jimin’s eyes the way he can. It rushes through his veins as
Jimin closes the space between them, but he stays hidden on the edge of the entrance to the kitchen.

He feels like a coward sometimes. Bobby doesn’t usually have weapons on him, and though he’s
stronger, he’s smaller than Taehyung. Taehyung could probably take him if he tried, snatch Jimin
and run away.

Jin would help them find somewhere to go. Jeongguk would, he knows. There’s also Yoongi and
Hoseok, both who would give their lives to protect them. He knows it, though he doesn’t remember
when his life became so unfamiliar. He’s used to not having one, to being stuck. He’s dreamed of
getting away, but it never felt possible before.

“Do you want me to be the way Hanbin wants me to be?” Bobby says slowly, walking towards
Jimin. Taehyung puts a hand over his mouth to muffle the gasp that leaves his lips when he shoots
his hand out, fingers curling tightly against Jimin’s chin.

Jimin is strong, shoulders straight and chin tilted as he looks Bobby back with the same defiant look.
It caused Jimin a lot of grief before, and he thinks maybe that’s why Jimin is comfortable staying
with Bobby. Despite everything, Bobby treats him better than anyone else had.

“Do you want me to touch you like this every time you defy me?” Bobby goes on. Jimin whimpers
quietly as Bobby tightens his grip, forcing Jimin’s chin higher. “You worked hard to be by my side,
to not be one of my birds. You have more room to be defiant, to be honest with me when I’m wrong.
If not being tough enough is something you suggest I fix, I’ll work on it.”

Bobby’s voice turns to a growl when he’s angry. Taehyung has only witnessed it a few times,
Bobby growling at a client for touching him when he’s told them to back off. He doesn’t think Jimin
has ever been at the receiving end of it.

“Bobby,” Jimin whimpers, fingers circling around Bobby’s wrist. “I’m sorry, I just - you’re right. I
thought you wanted Yoongi’s money, so I -”

Taehyung’s heart dumps into his stomach. Confusion rattles his brain. Jimin loves Yoongi more than
anyone else, but he’s such a good actor that even Taehyung is thrown off for a moment.

“So I was just surprised,” Jimin goes on, his confidence building as Bobby softens in front of him.
It’s the magic work of his slow drawl, Jimin has always said, and the way he rubs his fingers over
Bobby’s arms, one of Bobby’s favorite things. “I thought I was doing something to make you happy.
I don’t understand why you’re taking my allowance. I don’t understand why you’re sending me
away.”

Taehyung had suspected Jimin was with Yoongi over the last few days of being missing in action
after much deliberation and deciding Jimin and Jeongguk wouldn't be together. It’s the only time
Jimin won’t tell him where he is, or if he’s with the donors. But certainly Bobby and he wouldn’t be
fighting with the donors.

He touches his swollen face lightly. Yunbok had asked him not to tell Bobby and he wonders if
every welt across his face was left to serve as a reminder of that promise and what would happen if
he doesn’t keep it.

“You’ll make double of that with this new client,” Bobby hums, loosening his hold to slip his fingers
down the length of Jimin’s neck. “Tell me Jimin, why you were so eager to rid Taehyung of the
responsibility of Yoongi? Do you not think Jeongguk and Yoongi’s relationship is strong enough to
handle a whore? You don't know them like I do. Nothing could get in between them.”

The confidence quickly slips from Jimin. He struggles to build it back, bringing in the big guns as he
slips his hands under Bobby’s shirt. “Jeongguk is a client we can’t lose, baby. Not over some
revenge plan you have against Yoongi. I have done a lot to defy you before, B, why is this the one
thing that pushes you into treating me like everyone else?”

It’s the wrong move and the panic builds in Taehyung, calling for him to step into the kitchen and
maybe diffuse the situation. Or be the punching bag in Jimin’s place because he doesn’t stop talking.

“Everyone wants me, Bobby. Why does it make you so mad that Yoongi wants me too? Hell, you
don’t even get mad at your own father for wanting me. But then again, you’re used to your father
wanting everyone but you.”

Taehyung flinches, his breath stuck in his throat. He needs to call Yoongi, or Jeongguk, or Hoseok.
He can see the anger radiating from Bobby, making the kitchen tense with it.

What the hell is Jimin doing?”

“Would it make you as mad if I were with Jeongguk? The man you’ve always wanted to be? Oh , I
see what it is. Yoongi’s Jeongguk’s best friend. You always wanted that position, is that what has
you -”

Taehyung’s eyes squeeze closed before the noise sounds, the sharp sound of skin slapping skin
echoing off the kitchen walls. Jimin huffs out a sick sounding laugh in response.

Hiding in his closet has always been Taehyung’s go to when his mother and step father fought. He
never had the strength to run out and intervene, even when he was almost a man. He wonders what
he would have done if he were there the day his mother died, but the truth makes him feel sick
whenever he thinks about it.

He wouldn’t have been able to do anything at all.

“Are you afraid of me wanting him more than you too?” Jimin pushes, a challenge in his voice. He
sounds terrifying and if Taehyung didn’t know him, he’d be worried Bobby wouldn’t survive the
fight. “I don’t blame you. He’s a good -”

Jimin’s words are cut off, replaced by a choking noise that has Taehyung pressing his face against
the wall. His heart beats too quickly in his chest, making it difficult to breathe. His fingers dig into
the plaster, fighting between keeping him glued there and pushing him off.

“Don’t test me,” Bobby seethes through his teeth, quiet like the gasping noises Jimin makes. “I may
be weak for you and incapable of hurting you, but Hanbin’s always had my back and he just
happens to want the one thing you’d do anything to protect. You’ve already fucked up protecting
him once, I doubt you want to do it again.”

A sob rumbles in Taehyung’s throat and he doesn’t think the tight press of his lips is enough to keep
it in. Not with the sob that Jimin lets out and the hoarse way he pleads Bobby’s name.

“You’re hurting me now,” Jimin croaks. There’s a scrambling across the ground and Taehyung
moves, panic washing over him.

He goes unnoticed at first as Jimin fights off the hand around his throat, feet clattering across the
ground. The fear in Jimin’s eyes only doubles when he spots Taehyung.

“You’re hurting him,” Taehyung grunts, gripping hard on Bobby’s arm. He’s definitely not strong
enough and he wonders if Jeongguk would help him build the muscles in his arms.

God, even at a time like this he’s thinking of Jeongguk.

Bobby drops Jimin immediately, making Jimin clutch his chest and gasp for breath. Those angered
eyes go from Jimin to Taehyung, but Taehyung isn’t as good at keeping his fear away. He’s good,
but no one is as good as Jimin.

“What’d you do to him?” Jimin shouts suddenly, voice hoarse and croaking. Taehyung pushes
between them as Jimin’s limbs swing, directed towards Bobby.

It’s strange, how quickly Bobby goes from angry to dumbfounded. As threatening as he had seemed
a moment ago, he hides himself behind Taehyung as Taehyung struggles to keep Jimin from
attacking.

Jimin’s always been the true boss. Bobby wouldn’t be where he is now without him. Taehyung
realized this long ago and he doesn’t think Jimin has yet.

“Who did this to you?” Jimin asks, clutching Taehyung’s cheeks carefully. He had forgotten about
the welts and bruises that cover his body, or the way a stabbing pain shoots through his body
whenever he takes a step. All he cared about was getting to Jimin. “You swore to me -”

Jimin rounds on Bobby again, who throws his hands up to defend himself. “I told you he won’t tell
me, Jimin! That means I had nothing to do with it.”

“He's telling the truth,” Taehyung says, grabbing Jimin’s wrists. He deserves to get a few hits in, but
Taehyung wishes Jimin would protect himself rather than him. Not instigate Bobby because he’s
angry with him.

Jimin drops his arms, but his eyes are intense on Taehyung. “Go to my room. Draw a bath, I’ll be
there in a second Baby.”

Taehyung wants to protest. Something is up with Jimin, making him more of an attack dog than a lap
dog and he doesn’t know what, but he doesn’t fully trust Bobby not to hurt him.

He doesn’t think Bobby will, but he’s also never seen Bobby touch Jimin the way he just had.

“Go!” Jimin shouts, pulling the sound deep from his gut and Taehyung folds.

The water is scalding. So hot that it hurts but Taehyung seeps into it. He can’t cry when he’s
drowning and being submerged in water makes it difficult to hear the shouting.

He stays under until his lungs hurt from the lack of oxygen. He tests it, trying out how long he can
stay under until his body’s fight or flight takes over. He doesn’t get to find out until there are hands
grabbing for him, pulling him out instead.

Jimin’s fight or flight has only ever kicked on when Taehyung needs it, but at least it works.

“Bobby won’t let anyone hurt you. He’s just saying that to scare me,” Jimin coos softly as he guides
Taehyung forward.

His chest hurts and he inhales as deeply as he can. Tears sting his eyes and he hates it.

He hates how good things had been going and now it feels like everything’s crashing around him.
He knew good things were too good to be true.

“Scooch,” Jimin insists until Taehyung complies. A moment later the water is splashing as Jimin
joins him, legs wrapping around the outside of his own. He sucks in a painful noise as his fingers slip
over the edges of Taehyung’s back, where the skin is welted and torn in areas. It stings, but the pain
is more of a throb than anything.

“Want to explain why you were riling Bobby up?” Taehyung breathes, tilting his chin up as he prays
Jimin won’t mention it. “You scared me.”

“I’m sorry,” Jimin whispers, voice thick with tears. His toes tickle over Taehyung’s calves as he
reaches for the lavender soap bar balancing on the edge of the tub. “I’m scared.”

It’s something he’s never admitted, even at times when Taehyung’s suspected it. It’s said with pain
and Taehyung feels it.

“What happened, Jiminnie?”

Jimin hums when he’s cuddly and it’s the only sound that interrupts the silence for a while.
Taehyung gives him his time, knowing how badly Jimin struggles when his walls break. He’d rather
that than talk about his back, which Jimin carefully washes with the gentlest touch he’s ever felt.

“Bobby's up to something and I don’t know what. I just know it has to do with Yoongi and I’m
scared,” Jimin explains, as he rubs his soapy palms over Taehyung’s shoulders, his touch firmer over
the smooth, unbroken skin.

“Using Yoongi to provoke Bobby wasn’t a good idea.”

“I know,” Jimin says quietly. “My head doesn’t work right when it comes to him. I’m so tired of not
being able to love him that I think I’m losing it.”

Taehyung shifts until he can see Jimin’s face. He touches it softly, wiping away the tears and sweat
from the heat covering his cheeks.

“Leave. I know Bobby will let you if you pushed him hard enough.

Jimin lets out a wet sob that he attempts to mask with the splash of water as he pools it over
Taehyung’s soapy back. “I would never leave you Tae and I’m so so sorry that I did. That he’s
making me leave you again.”

It’s dumb, the guilt Jimin feels. Jimin’s saved his life a thousand times over, he’s allowed to want to
save himself.

“What is it that you told me about Jeongguk? ‘You’ve been through so much shit, you deserve
something good.’ The same applies to you,” Taehyung explains as he rubs his palms over the sides
of Jimin’s calves. “I’m not mad at you for wanting to be happy, Jimin.”

“Turn around.”

Taehyung complies, though it is difficult to do so with his long legs. Though the bathtub is deep,
coming up to his chests and Jimin’s shoulders, his knees knock against the edges until he’s facing
Jimin.

“I’m giving you an order you need to follow,” Jimin says softly as he takes Taehyung’s legs and
pulls them over his own so they fit better. Seeing Jimin cry is one of the worst feelings because he
tries hard not to even though he should know by now that he can in front of him. “It’s non-
negotiable.”

Dread fills Taehyung but he takes Jimin’s hand into his own as a silent promise. Jimin would never
make him do something he doesn’t want to do, and he has a feeling he already knows what it is.

“Let Jeongguk take care of you,” Jimin says, staring at their hands instead of Taehyung’s face. “In
any way that he wants to. He’s your only client until I return, understand? I’ll discuss it with Bobby
and I know he’ll listen. I have dirt on him that I’m willing to use to keep you safe.”

Taehyung wants to sink back against the edge of the tub and push himself farther onto Jimin’s lap
but he’s nervous about the pressure on his back. He’s already struggling with the pressure in his
chest, and he doesn’t want to start suffocating.

“I told you if I have to pick up the pieces one more time, I’m ordering it,” Jimin says apologetically,
finally lifting his eyes to look at Taehyung. “I know Hanbin didn’t do this to you. I also know you
won’t tell me who did, but I’m afraid of it happening again and I need you to have someone to take
care of you when I’m not here.”

Taehyung sinks into the water, wanting to submerge his entire self in it as he feels the tears welling
over his eyelids. Jimin doesn’t let him go too far though, squeezing his hand until his arm is bulging
with the effort to lift Taehyung back up.
“Tae promise me,” Jimin murmurs, cupping Taehyung’s wet cheeks with his palms. “Promise me
you won’t put yourself in a place to get hurt and that if it happens, you go to Jeongguk.”

Taehyung laughs softly, but he rubs his swollen cheek against Jimin’s hand. “Why do you think I put
myself into this position?”

Jimin frowns at this, eyes worrying over his face. “Because Bobby doesn’t know who it was which
means he didn’t make you do it, and neither did I. The only other person that has control over what
you do is you.”

He’s right, though Taehyung could argue that his clients have control over him, and Jimin is making
him let Jeongguk have control over him too.

Though, it may already be a truth. Taehyung’s lost control of his feelings and his thoughts and the
walls he’s built up. Jeongguk doesn’t own him in the same way Bobby does, but he owns him in a
way that makes him feel more helpless than Bobby ever has.

And Taehyung wants it more than he’s ever wanted anything other than his family and Jimin to stay
by his side.

“I promise you,” Taehyung murmurs, resting his forehead against Jimin’s. “But I’m not telling him
who. If he knows about the donors, he’ll shut the whole thing down, you know that. I can tell he has
that power. You’ve noticed him with the guards, right? And Jackson? They all were flustered when
he introduced himself as Mr. Jeon?”

He had noticed it a few times, the way the guards and the bartender would straighten their shoulders
and stop whatever they’re doing just to greet Jeongguk. Taehyung knows he isn’t a donor, he’s too
unfamiliar with the whole scene, but he doubts it’s just because Jeongguk has some of the heaviest
pockets in the club.

“He does have that power,” Jimin sighs, whispering so quietly that Taehyung almost can’t hear him
under the movement of water around them. The door is closed and he doubts Bobby is standing
outside of it to eavesdrop. “Tell him it was Bobby’s guards. I hate Bobby right now but I don’t want
to ruin his life. Bobby is very close to the Jeongguk's family. I think it has something to do with this.”

Jeongguk stares at the blank computer screen in front of him, at the reflection of his own face staring
back. He shouldn’t have come into work, he’s too distracted and has been lately. It’s something he
shouldn’t let his employees see, but his much too big penthouse seemed suffocating since Jimin left.

He wanted to stop Jimin from leaving the day Bobby came home. He almost did, he should have, but
Jimin convinced him he was fine with a smile on his face that made Jeongguk believe so.

It’s been three days and he hasn’t heard from Jimin or Taehyung. Neither has Yoongi nor Hoseok.
Neither were at the club the night before and he knows calling Bobby would be his best bet but his
worry will turn to anger the moment he hears his voice.

Yoongi is also worried, though he doesn’t say much. Jeongguk knows him well enough that his
cheerfulness didn’t just come to a halt because Jimin left, but because they haven’t spoken either.

It’s different for Yoongi, of course. They’re both worried, with Jeongguk thinking something has
happened to Jimin and Taehyung and Yoongi worried that Jimin has run from him again. It’s
happened before, Jimin disappearing after a night with Yoongi. The first time had been for over a
year and Jeongguk knows Yoongi’s afraid of it happening again.
It doesn’t help that Jin is gone, out of work for the week to deal with a family emergency. It only
adds to his worry, plus Jin helps level his head when Yoongi cannot. Jin can also find any piece of
information Jeongguk may need with only a few clicks on the computer.

Jeongguk may have thrown calling Bobby out of the window but he’s all for showing up to
wherever Bobby lives. Jin would be able to find the address without a sweat.

He quickly exits out of his text message screen, at the one-sided conversation he’s been having with
Taehyung, to dial his father’s number. He hopes wherever Taehyung is, he’s grinning at Jeongguk’s
messages and planning an attack on how over dramatic he can be.

Jun-ki answers after three rings, sounding happier than he usually does. This normally would make
Jeongguk feel relieved but he isn’t sure that’s something he’ll be able to feel until he sees Taehyung
and Jimin.

It’s only been three days. It isn’t a big deal but there’s a knot in his stomach telling him that it is. He’s
called Jimin about Ji-hu’s dance recital, promising no questions about anything else, and still, there
was no response.

“Appa, I’m sorry to bother you I uh, well I am writing up invitations for -"

“Jeongguk, you’re never a bother,” Jun-ki interrupts with a smile in his tone. Jeongguk presses his
lips closed. It’s rare to hear his father sound like this, like anything other than weak and tired. When
he was younger, his father always shined bright with kindness and love. But that died when his
mother did. “I wish you called more often.”

Jeongguk groans, rubbing his temples quickly. He should, he knows. He doesn’t even visit as often
as he should, once a month maybe. He could be part of the reason the light has died in his father’s
eyes.

But it’s too much for him at the moment. He can’t think of that right now, maybe tomorrow.

“I know, I’m sorry. I’ll be better. Works been busy and I’m planning a welcome home party for Ji-
hu. Which is why I called actually -"

“Is it that time already?” His father asks with a laugh. It’s a foreign noise that Jeongguk has forgotten
the sound of. It relaxes the tension in his shoulders, just enough to bring a small smile to his own lips.
“I’m losing track of time in my old age.”

“No, it’s still a ways off,” Jeongguk hums. The tapping of his fingers against his desk seems loud
and he stops so his father won’t hear, but the agitated move relaxes him and his fingers pick up the
pace without consulting him. “Could you tell me Bobby’s address? I want to send him an invitation
but I can’t seem to find it.”

Bobby’s residence has always been top secret information. Jeongguk used to tease him about it, but
once the rumors started about Bobby’s not so legal workings, it stopped becoming funny.

“Of course, let me find it. How have you two been getting along lately? He stopped by just yesterday
but he says it’s been some time since you’ve spoken.”

“Yeah well, busy,” Jeongguk says, trying to keep his own tone as calm as his father’s. He’s never
cared that Bobby and his father were close, but suddenly he feels the irritation.

A knock sounds at his office door only to reveal Hyejin, his fill-in assistant. She’s always nervous
looking and quite jittery but Jin chose her specifically to take over in his absence and Jeongguk trusts
Jin’s judgment more than his own.

She’s doing great, but she’s not Jin and Jeongguk misses his presence though he’ll never admit it
where Jin can hear.

“Mr. Jeon sir -"

Jeongguk waves his hand impatiently. His father babbles on the phone about Bobby as he searches
for the address. He feels bad for not listening and for being rude to the assistant, something that he
hopes an apology and a bonus will make up for. Maybe a promotion. Jeongguk doesn’t even know
what she does when she isn’t filling in for Jin.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jeon,” the assistant goes on, panic in her tone. She points behind her, gesturing
towards the opened office door. She bounces on her toes, her eyes wide with worry and Jeongguk
instantly feels like the world’s biggest asshole. “There’s a - uh, there’s a Kim Taehyung here to see
you. He says it’s important, he’s insistent actually. I can't get him to leave. Do you want me to -"

“No,” Jeongguk blurts, pushing from his chair so quickly it slides behind him and clatters against the
wall. “Let him in, Hyejin-ssi, please. Appa, I have to call you later.”

He’ll have to apologize to his father too, for rudely hanging up, but right now his heart is pushing
against his sternum. It’s difficult for Jeongguk to wait in his office and he nearly fails, making it only
to the door when Taehyung steps through.

The spark of realief he had felt quickly dissipates as he takes in Taehyung’s face. It’s covered in
makeup, thick foundation and concealer that maybe covers up bruising but does nothing to mask the
swollen eye or welts against his cheeks.

No amount of makeup can cover up the look in Taehyung’s eyes. He’s nervous, but it’s unsettling. It
reminds him of the first night they spent together, the only time he thinks Taehyung has left his guard
down.

Except now it looks like he’s struggling to keep it up.

“Tae," Jeongguk says, reaching up to cup Taehyung’s face but Taehyung darts his head back so he
can’t.

He stops himself, watching as Taehyung closes the office doors behind him. There’s a grin on his
face but it looks wrong paired with his nervous eyes.

There’s rage flooding inside of Jeongguk. I don’t like face slapping . It had been the first thing that
came to Taehyung’s mind when Jeongguk asked him what he didn’t like. The way his skin swells
makes Jeongguk feel like whatever happened, it was a lot more than slapping.

“Miss me, lover boy?” Taehyung asks, probably trying to go for teasing but there’s a shake wrapped
around his words that make him fail at it.

There’s a shake in his hands too as he reaches out to fix Jeongguk’s collar. His eyes dart around,
wide and worried until he blinks a few times like that will make a brightness appear.

“Don’t ask,” Taehyung whispers quietly though they’re alone. There’s a hint of pleading in his voice
and when he meets Jeongguk’s eyes, he sees it there too. “Just - do you have a minute?”

Jeongguk bites his tongue because he’s steaming with questions but he nods and stays silent. He
doesn’t know if Taehyung will leave if he starts asking questions and he feels a bit desperate for him
to stay.

No, he’s very desperate for him to stay. He might even lock the door and hold Taehyung hostage if
he tries to go.

“You want something to drink? A smoke?” Jeongguk asks instead, gesturing a hand to the leather
couch in the edge of his office. “I still haven’t eaten my lunch if you want that. Can’t say that it’s
good though.”

Taehyung laughs softly, a genuine brightness blossoming in his eyes for a second. “A smoke, yeah
thank you. You know, I imagined your office like this. Impersonal.”

“Is that an insult?” Jeongguk asks, trying to laugh but he can’t stop looking at the swell of
Taehyung’s face and the way he walks like it’s difficult to do so. He’s dressed in a way Jeongguk
hasn’t seen him before, loose slacks and a hoodie so big that it could fit four Taehyungs in it.

“No,” Taehyung insists with a grin, Jeongguk’s compliance to not ask questions seeming to relax
him, “your home is that way too. It’s like you don’t live there.”

Jeongguk’s chest tightens as he rummages through the drawers for a pack of cigarettes that he asked
Namjoon for, specifically for Taehyung. He pours himself a drink, something to stop the tremor he
feels building in his own hands.

“Still sounds like an insult,” Jeongguk jokes awkwardly as he tosses the pack of cigarettes to
Taehyung. He doesn’t miss the way Taehyung winces as he catches the box. “Why haven’t you
responded to my texts?”

Taehyung gives him a disapproving look as he opens the pack and eases himself onto the plush
leather couch. “I said no questions, Gukkie. And it isn’t an insult, just a thing I don’t understand
about you.”

He can’t help the snort that sounds before he tosses back the dark liquid he’s poured for himself. It’s
not something he’s ever thought about before. It looks more alive when Ji-hu is home, but that’s
because he’s a tornado that he can’t be stopped during play time.

There are times Jeongguk will take the toys out and litter them around the house to feel better, and
sometimes he has to put them away to feel better.

“I never agreed not to ask them.”

Taehyung’s disapproving look worsens, but the light is back in his eyes and Jeongguk takes it as a
win. “Some I can’t answer, so you asking is a waste of air.”

“You would have known I would ask questions before you came,” Jeongguk says as he joins
Taehyung on the couch. He hesitates in the way he reaches out to touch Taehyung, but when
Taehyung doesn’t flinch back he takes it as an okay and settles his hand over Taehyung’s knee.

Silence falls over them as Taehyung inhales, head tilting back as he stares at the ceiling. Jeongguk
watches him quietly, the inside of him screaming loud when he notices the caked on makeup over his
neck.

“I need your help,” Taehyung whispers, still staring at the ceiling, “I will answer some questions, but
please - I really can’t answer them all.”

Jeongguk rubs his thumb over the bone of Taehyung’s knee. His throat feels thick and he wants to
pour himself another drink, but the idea of leaving Taehyung’s side is torturous.

“Anything you need.”

Taehyung’s voice is thick and husky when he speaks, his tone just above a whisper. He still won’t
look at Jeongguk, though Jeongguk stares at him hard with a silent plea for him too.

He hates seeing Taehyung like this. He wants Taehyung to open up to him, to be comfortable with
him, but his body thrums with a need to wrap himself around Taehyung and hurt whoever made his
eyes water.

“I need to get Jimin out of here,” Taehyung whispers, “away from Bobby. He - he wouldn’t let Jimin
work to pay off his debt and once he agreed to let Jimin work, he cut off Jimin’s allowance. He
won’t take the money either, I need your help finding a way to - I don’t know, bribe him?”

Taehyung’s words start to grow in pace as Taehyung finally rips his eyes away from the ceiling. His
cigarette burns low until it’s hitting his fingers and Jeongguk snatches it to discard it in the remains of
his drink before Taehyung burns himself.

“And you’re powerful, you’re more powerful than me. And - and I know you’re close with Bobby. I
don’t know how, but maybe enough to know something that I don’t? I didn’t want to come here but
I know I can trust you. You’d do anything for Yoongi.”

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk interrupts because Taehyung isn’t giving him a long enough pause to speak.
He reaches forward, grabbing Taehyung’s hand where it’s hidden under the sleeve of his hoodie. “I
would do this just for Jimin too. Just tell me, you have to tell me if he is okay? Or, what happened? If
I don't know anything, Bobby will know you've come to me about this."”

Taehyung nibbles on his bottom lip for a moment as he allows Jeongguk to flatten his palm until it’s
facing the ceiling. Jeongguk traces the lines over it, a move that always relaxes him and he hopes it
does for Taehyung as well.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung murmurs, the pain worsening in his eyes. “Bobby and he got into an
argument when he returned from his trip and I haven’t seen him since. I just - Bobby took away his
allowance and if Jimin is desperate enough, he’ll work with these… group of clients that are no
good. He always does, to keep them away from me, but Bobby’s sent him away -”

Taehyung shakes his head, lips pressing together. Jeongguk waits, though he feels the questions
building in his throat and ready to spill out past his lips in impatience.

“Most of them are awful. The ones who spend the most money are -” Taehyung rubs at his neck,
refusing again to make eye contact with Jeongguk. He flinches when Jeongguk reaches out to take
his hand again, removing his fingers from the bruised skin of his neck. “They’re twisted, Guk.”

“Did one of them do this to you?” Jeongguk whispers, rubbing his thumb over Taehyung’s swollen
cheekbone. “I can see it in your eyes.”

Taehyung blinks a few times, lips tugging down like he’s angry with the betrayal of his eyes. When
he stops, there are tears clinging to his eyelashes but the flicker of fear is gone from his eyes. The
block is back up, but Jeongguk continues to stroke Taehyung’s cheek until Taehyung is nudging his
head into the touch.

“That’s a question I can’t answer.”

“That’s an answer right there,” Jeongguk says, smiling softly despite the tornado of feelings inside of
him. He thinks of Kang Yunhee, the way he looked at Taehyung like like a predator stalking his
prey. The way he couldn’t help but become a predator himself, only to tell Yunhee to back off.

“It’s not who you’re thinking,” Taehyung sighs, his fingers curling around Jeongguk’s wrist.
Jeongguk expects Taehyung to pull his touch away, but he grips Jeongguk’s wrist firmly and just
holds it like he’s the one that is afraid of Jeongguk pulling away. “I can’t tell you who it is either, but
Jimin was pissed when he found out and - and I’m sure he’s going to make sure it’s him next time.”

Jeongguk pulls away. He feels restless from the way of emotions inside of him but pacing around the
office doesn’t help. He feels Taehyung watching him as he rubs at his chin, feeling the way his skin
gradually grows hotter with every thought. He doesn’t want to leave Taehyung’s side but he has to
urge to punch something and he wants that to be far away from Taehyung.

“Tell me who it is,” Jeongguk says, his tone coming out sharper than he intended. “Tell me who put
their hands on you.”

“Gukkie,” Taehyung says, the pleading returning as he pushes up to sit on his knees. “I can’t-”

“Tell me,” Jeongguk interrupts. “I won’t ask another question.”

There is a battle on Taehyung’s face as he parts his lips only to slap them closed over again. His jaw
tenses, his eyes narrow, but finally he sighs and rubs at his temples. “They’re guys that work for
Bobby, the only people he trusts other than Jimin, it’s nothing -”

“Give me one second.”

“Jeongguk-”

He ignores Taehyung’s warning tone as Jeongguk snatches his cell phone. His veins throb with the
anger that pools through his veins and the worry that grips at his chest.

It’s impossible to tell if Taehyung is lying. Part of him whispers in his ear that Taehyung is, but
another, louder part of him reminds him of how Jimin looked the first night Jeongguk had convinced
him to stay at the penthouse with him.

The same night Jimin had been hurt by Bobby’s men.

It only rings for a moment and when Bobby answers, his voice is a thick drawl that lacks the normal
excitement in his voice. Taehyung is in front of Jeongguk, eyes panicked as he grips at Jeongguk’s
suit, whispering for him to hang up.

“B! We need to talk.”

Taehyung narrows his eyes, pulling his hands away. “Hang up the phone,” he seethes through his
teeth, his voice a mix between a whisper and a growl.

‘Trust me,’ Jeongguk mouths before he turns and walks away from Taehyung. It’s difficult to remain
calm while looking at his broken face. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of Jimin for a few days now and
I’m starting to get worried. Ji-hu is upset he won’t answer his phone calls.”

Jeongguk’s heart thrums in his chest. His son hasn’t mentioned anything, but he knows him and
Jimin talk often. Jimin told him so himself. He wanted to ask Ji-hu, but bringing his attention to it
would be a bad idea.

“Ya,” Bobby says, his tone breathy. “Jimin’s out of town. He’s been overwhelmed with everything
and the dance recital coming up, so I sent him on a vacation to relax. He loves Manhattan you know,
probably the shopping.”

Taehyung is staring at him from across the room, hard. There isn’t anger in his eyes but panic and
regret and Jeongguk swears that he can see him shaking from the distance.

Guilt makes Jeongguk’s throat tight as he walks across the office in need of comforting Taehyung.
His list of people he needs to apologize to is getting long and he’ll probably have to send an apology
note and gift to every person he knows at this rate.

“That’s another thing I wanted to speak about. You know I’m headed there too, I wanted to take
Taehyung with me but you know him. Won’t leave work. Almost like he’s afraid or something, but
he’s good at hiding it.”

Taehyung’s face breaks as he grabs Jeongguk’s hand. “Gukkie baby, please don’t.”

Jeongguk doesn’t know what’s going through Taehyung’s mind, what’s making him look so afraid
with every word. He wonders how much he has to do for Taehyung to know he’ll always keep him
safe.

“I’m sure you get upset when your employees flake,” Bobby says with a laugh. “We’re running
businesses after all. He has nothing to be afraid of.”

Jeongguk strokes Taehyung’s cheek lightly, frowning at the way he flinches at the touch. He lets his
gaze warm over Taehyung until his heart pounds less with anger and more with a foreign emotion.

He wants to tell Bobby that they’re running two completely different kinds of businesses, but he
doesn’t. He doesn’t know what Bobby does to assure his workers do as he says, and Jeongguk
doesn’t think he can handle knowing - or even thinking about it - right now.

“But you bring in more income than the average customer so feel free. But I’m sending Hope with
you. Jimin’s made it very clear to me that Hoseok is not allowed to leave Baby’s side while he’s
gone.”

Jeongguk rests his butt against the desk, curling a finger under Taehyung’s hoodie to tug him closer.
He wonders what it looks like under Taehyung’s clothes, though he knows it will keep any of the
calm left inside of him disappear.

“Sounds like a plan. One more thing though, a small favor.”

Taehyung cocks his head as he curls his fingers over Jeongguk’s throat, massaging his skin until the
tips of his pointer fingers are rubbing over his pulse. It’s a vulnerable position, and with the anger
that Taehyung has looked at him with, it is reason enough for Jeongguk to worry about it.

But he doesn’t. Taehyung does trust him, he can feel it, just like he trusts Taehyung.

“I want the name of the men you had watching Jimin while you were away,” Jeongguk stays
steadily, making Taehyung freeze in his movements.

Bobby doesn’t say anything for a moment, a moment so long that Jeongguk is tempted to pull the
phone away to make sure he hasn’t hung up.

“I don’t believe it’s any of your concern, Guk. No offense.”

The laugh that Jeongguk lets out is the one he calls his business laugh. Fake and sarcastic, something
he picked up from watching his father dispute business arrangements that displeased him.

“See, I believe it is. I can shut you down quickly, B, and as much as I don’t want to, if another one
of your workers shows up to my house that beaten down again, I won’t hesitate. So this is in your
best interest as well.”

Taehyung gives him a confused expression as he digs his fingers in, though still keeping his touch
light.

“I’ll take care of it,” Bobby grits out with reluctance. “Jimin is usually in charge of Baby’s security, I
apologize he slipped up.”

This isn’t the response Jeongguk has expected and it throws him off, making him unsure of what to
say. He meant Jimin, not Taehyung, though it still applies.

“What’d he say?” Taehyung whispers urgently, ducking forward to push his ear closer to Jeongguk’s
phone. He jolts back when Jeongguk licks his cheek, an offended look on his face.

“I’m assuming you’re with Baby now,” Bobby goes on, “tell him to come home.”

Jeongguk goes rigid. He hates the idea of Bobby’s home being Taehyung’s. “He won’t be coming
home.”

He has to stop himself from gasping as Taehyung strong arms him in the chest. Red blossoms over
his cheeks, shining brightly in his eyes and it makes Jeongguk feel guilty enough that he doesn’t
push Taehyung away when he tries to eavesdrop.

Bobby scoffs over the phone. “I know you’re fond Guk, but it isn’t up to me. If you want him for
yourself, you’ll have to discuss that with my boss.”

Taehyung is so close, gripping onto the phone so it’s pressed between their ears. It isn’t what
Jeongguk meant and it makes his breath stick in his throat.

“We’ll discuss it.”

He ends the phone before Bobby can argue and before he can lose the confidence in his voice. He
doesn’t know where Taehyung has been if he hasn’t been home, but if Taehyung has avoided going
there then Jeongguk is sure it’s for the best. He wants to pry, but Taehyung has already let him in
enough for one day that he doesn’t want to push it.

Which might have already happened. He has no intention of keeping Taehyung to himself, nor is he
positive what that means. But if it means freeing Taehyung, he’s willing.

“You’re an asshole,” Taehyung grits out, slapping Jeongguk’s chest again. “I came here for you to
help, not get me in more trouble.”

Jeongguk reaches out to grab his wrist as Taehyung walks away. He just holds them, keeping him
from going too far. “I’m not letting anyone hurt you. You came here because you trusted me to help,
so let me help.”

The look of anger on Taehyung’s face as he whips around has him letting go, like Taehyung’s skin
burns to the touch.

“Bobby probably thinks you’re trying to buy me, Jeongguk. And if that’s the case, don’t you fucking
dare!”
“I’m not-” Jeongguk tries, holding his hands out in front of him. “I’ll buy your freedom though. I’m
not letting someone else hurt you.”

Taehyung snorts loudly, a painful sound that makes Jeongguk flinch. “That will just land me in
another debt, to someone else. I’m tired of it and Bobby’s not the one to mess with, not right now. So
drop it, please?”

For now, he might, but the idea is in his head and he can’t let it go. But for now, he holds a hand out
to Taehyung - a peace offering complete with an apologetic smile.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Taehyung says as he slides their fingers together.

“I’m cute, but I’m not the one to mess with,” Jeongguk whispers as he tugs Taehyung forward.
“You’ll see.”

“Yeah, okay bad man,” Taehyung huffs out with a laugh. “Now feed me some of your lunch, if you
want to take care of me so badly. I’m starving.”

“Ji-hu’s mother signed away her rights,” Jeongguk says, cheeks bulging with food. Taehyung is
surprised he has any food left to eat as he keeps scooping off of his own to place onto Taehyung’s. “I
don’t know how, the moment I saw him I - well maybe it’s a good thing because the moment I saw
him I didn’t want him out of my sight and living across the world would have made that difficult. I
only had to for about two weeks before she brought him to me and it was the worst.”

“You would have moved to America,” Taehyung says with a smile. He likes the way Jeongguk’s
eyes glow when he talks about his son. He likes it more than he probably should.

“I would have,” Jeongguk agrees with a laugh, finally swallowing his food but Taehyung instantly
misses his chipmunk cheeks. “I’m excited to see him again. I might snatch him away even though
he’s supposed to be with grandparents until the end of the summer.”

Taehyung giggles at that. He has no intention of going to America and he’s slightly annoyed that
Jeongguk would tell Bobby that without consulting him first, but it’s an argument for another day.

Right now he wants to indulge in Jeongguk’s smile and feel at peace for a few seconds. Jimin’s
ordered him to let Jeongguk do these things for him, but what Jimin doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

“You don’t have to meet him. I don’t expect you too. You can do your own thing, the entire time. I
just think you deserve a vacation.”

Taehyung suppresses his sigh. “You don’t know what I need, Mr. Jeon.”

The grin on Jeongguk’s lips doesn’t falter. “Everyone needs a vacation, Baby. If you don’t want to
go to America, I’ll send you anywhere. I just assumed you’d like to see Jimin too, but it’s your pick.”

The way Taehyung’s heart doubles over in his chest makes him shift around his seat. Jeongguk is
sweet and genuine and he can feel his guard slipping even though his muscles strain from the amount
of strength he uses to hold onto it.

“I’ll think about it,” he says, deciding it’s the best answer to get Jeongguk to drop it. Bobby might
have agreed to it but he highly doubts he will actually let him go, especially with Jimin being there.

It works, if the sigh of defeat that Jeongguk lets out is any indication. “Okay, let me know. Also, I
have a work event, next week - a fundraiser for one of my engineers. If you’d like to accompany
me?”

Taehyung pushes his food around as he thinks about it. He can’t possibly work with the way his
body is marred and Jeongguk’s the only one he thinks that wouldn’t push him into stripping off his
clothes or enjoying the welts across his back.

But Jin has plans and the only person he trusts to watch his kids has been sent to another country.

One hour with Jeongguk and Taehyung’s already breaking his promise to Jimin.

“I don’t have anyone to watch my little ones,” Taehyung answers with a grimace. “My hyung has to
work and Jimin is not here.”

The grin that’s been holding strong to Jeongguk’s mouth despite everything finally slips. “That’s
fine. I know Yoongi-hyung would help you if you ever need it. That’s not to pressure you, just
something in case you need it. He’s a good person, you know, and would be even better to you so
Jimin wouldn’t kill him.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh as he reaches for his drink. As much as he was nervous about coming to
Jeongguk, he finds comfort settling over him.

“They’re gross and in love,” he says. He stills as soon as the words slip out, knowing he isn’t
supposed to talk about it. To anyone.

He just loses himself quickly around Jeongguk and he doesn’t know how to stop

“Oh yeah,” Jeongguk hums, a fond smile returning to his lips. He’s oblivious to the way Taehyung
freezes and his eyes grow in alarm. “Yoongi hyung used to call me when he was in college to
complain about he didn’t know if he wanted to boop him on the nose and hold his hand or fuck him
into the mattress more.”

Taehyung’s laugh turns into a choking noise as he sputters his drink back into the cup, some of it
pouring from the corners of his mouth. It makes him laugh more as he feels it rolling down his chin
but Jeongguk is rushing to his aid as if Taehyung dropped suddenly to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Jeongguk mumbles, wiping Taehyung’s cheeks with his thumbs.

A heat simmers in Taehyung’s chest, but it’s an unfamiliar heat - like a candle flickering rather than
the usual arson Jeongguk does to his body.

“It’s okay, don’t apologize, weirdo,” Taehyung laughs softly, but he doesn’t push Jeongguk’s touch
away. “I should get going anyway. I haven’t been home in a couple days.”

Jeongguk’s brows furrow together but he moves back to let Taehyung stand. He lays a hand gently
over the low of Taehyung’s back, the touch careful like he knows about the ripped open skin there
even though there’s no way he could.

“I meant it when I said I want to take care of you,” Jeongguk whispers. “I understand the debt thing
but please - you’ll always be safe with me. If - when this happens, please come to me.”

The flickering candle in his chest ignites and Taehyung swallows thickly. It’s a promise he can’t
believe but he wants to.

It makes him feel like he’s choking.

“Jimin’s already my caretaker, don’t worry.”

Normally he would make a joke or a sly remark, but he feels a tiny bit desperate to rid the worried
line between Jeongguk’s brows.

“Well, he’s not here,” Jeongguk reminds him, leaving Taehyung without a response.

He kisses Jeongguk to void out the heavy silence settling over them. Jeongguk is quick to follow,
folding a hand over the back of Taehyung’s neck.

It’s slow and gentle, different from the way Jeongguk usually kisses him. There’s no intent behind it,
even when Taehyung pushes his lips to part Jeongguk’s. Even the glide of Jeongguk’s tongue over
his own doesn’t have his body sparking with a need for Jeongguk to strip his clothes. No, this need is
different and Taehyung pulls away before he can think about it.

“You can walk me out if you want. Hobi’s been out there waiting for me this whole time.”

Jeongguk smiles, eyes intent on where he rubs his thumb over Taehyung’s bottom lips. “I can do
that.”

Taehyung feels like he can breathe a little easier outside of Jeongguk’s office, though Jeongguk’s
hand never leaves his back, even when he greets his assistant.

“Hello, Mr. Jeon,” she greets, the nerves loud in her eyes. “That bill from the -"

“Forward it to me please,” Jeongguk interrupts and Taehyung swears his cheeks flush. “And it’s just
Jeongguk.”

The assistant definitely does flush as her eyes drop to the floor. “Pardon me, Mr. Jeon, but Mr. Kim
told me I must always refer to you as that or Master. It's in the list of instructions he's left before his
departure."

Jeongguk chokes, unsuccessfully turning it to a cough. Taehyung bites the inside of his cheek to stop
himself from giggling at how flushed he becomes.

“That’s uh...quite unnecessary. Don’t listen to anything he tells you.”

The flush lingers longer, noticeable even as the elevator doors close and leave them under a dim
lighting. There’s a glint in Jeongguk’s eyes, which stay locked on the elevator buttons and not
Taehyung’s grin.

“Master?” Taehyung asks, slipping his fingers down the buttons of Jeongguk’s shirt. “Is that what
you prefer? Master, not Daddy?”

Jeongguk groans, head ticking to the side and nose wrinkling. “Please no. My assistant thinks he’s
pretty funny.”

Taehyung snorts, tugging on Jeongguk’s tie gently. He’s always loved the suits and ties, but he loves
it more every time Jeongguk’s eyes widen and darken from the pull. “He is.”

“No, he’s pretty, but not funny,” Jeongguk jokes, sliding his palm over Taehyung’s cheek. The door
of the elevator opens, but Jeongguk doesn’t move so neither does he. “I’ll just never admit it, he’ll
never let me live it down.”

“And me?” Taehyung asks, the words slipping from his lips before he can stop them. He doesn’t
care about the answer, or that Jeongguk thinks his assistant is pretty. He doesn’t.

Jeongguk leans forward, lips brushing over the shell of Taehyung’s ear. “Even the prettiest of people
look ugly next to you.”

Taehyung is thankful for the thick coating of makeup that makes his face feel heavy so Jeongguk
won’t notice how his face grows warm. He turns just in case though, grinning playfully at the group
who had joined them.

His grin slips away at the familiar face and he turns quickly into Jeongguk’s side, his back facing the
man. He seems distracted, phone pressed to his ear and Taehyung hopes he didn’t notice the swell of
his face.

Jeongguk gives him a confused look before curling an arm around Taehyung’s shoulder to hold him
close. It’s protective, without question, and Taehyung buries his face into Jeongguk’s neck.

The hold doesn’t loosen until Jeongguk’s guided Taehyung out of the elevator. He can see the
question in his eyes and he braces himself for it.

“If one of my employees makes you afraid, I insist that you tell me.”

Taehyung huffs out, grabbing Jeongguk’s hand. It’s funny because Namjoon is one of the sweetest
people Taehyung has ever met and probably wouldn’t be able to hurt him even if someone offered
him billions of won to do so.

But he never explained to Jin why he couldn’t come home these last few days, and he doesn’t want
Namjoon telling him about his face before he does.

“No, it’s not like that. I have a security guard already you know, I don’t need another.”

“He’s doing a great job.”

Taehyung slaps Jeongguk against the arm. “It’s not his fault that I don’t call him. And he already
lectured me about it, you don’t need to. Don’t worry, he’s not allowed to leave my side with Jimin
gone, Jimin made sure of it.”

This doesn’t relax the hard lines of Jeongguk’s mouth but worsens it.

Hoseok still idles the SUV in front of the building and he looks less than pleased as they join him by
the car, though he smiles when Jeongguk dips down to wave through the window.

“I’ll see you, Mr. Jeon. I’ll let you know about the fundraiser.”

Jeongguk nods before he presses a kiss to Taehyung’s forehead, throwing him off. None of this is a
way someone treats their whore, but everything about Jeongguk is different than what he’s used to.

“Call me,” Jeongguk mumbles, “any time. And please, even if you don’t want to talk just send me
a symbol or an emoji or something so I know you’re okay.”

“You worry too much,” Taehyung says as his heart tightens in his chest. “And you’re demanding a
lot today.”

Jeongguk finally grins again, but it doesn’t reach his eyes as he runs the back over his finger over
Taehyung’s swollen cheek. “I do, and I am requesting. Demanding some. Feel free to demand in
return.”
Taehyung has to pull away when Hoseok honks the horn, making them both jump. He rolls his eyes
only to close them, lips pouted out for a goodbye kiss that Jeongguk quickly supplies.

Taehyung feels as if he’s sneaking back home in the middle of the night, afraid of his parents
catching him in the act. Most of the lights are off, only the flicker of the television lighting his way.

It’s happened before, Taehyung disappearing for a few nights with a bloodied or bruised face that
he’d rather hide than have his siblings see. It’s always upset Jin, he knows, but he can’t stomach the
wide, innocent eyes tearing up when they see his face.

“Taehyung?"

Taehyung freezes when Jin’s voice calls for him, only to drop his bag and pad gently into the living
room. There are arms around him in a second, a face smothering against his neck and he swears he
feels tears.

“One rule,” Jin says, no trace of tears in his voice, only frustration, “there’s one rule: you come
home. You always come home. It’s been days, Taehyung. What happened to your face?”

Jin moves away to flick on the lights, revealing the rage in his eyes and the bags under them. He only
brushes a finger across Taehyung’s cheek before leading him out of the living room.

Being best friends with Jin for his entire life has taught him that once Jin gets a set look in his eyes,
it’s best not to fight back. Taehyung feels his shoulders sagging though inside he wants to fight Jin
off and insist that he’s okay.

“Sit,” Jin orders softly, indicating the closed toilet before reaching under the sink. “And take off your
hoodie.”

The light stays dimmed as not to stretch across the hall where he knows the kids are sleeping with the
door opened like they do every night. Taehyung wants to go in there and cuddle beside them, but he
lifts his chin when Jin tells him too and stays still as he wipes off his makeup.

“Where were you?”

“At a hotel.”

Jin’s grits his teeth for a second. His touch is feather light but Taehyung still flinches when it drags
over his welted skin.

“Who did this to you?”

Taehyung flutters his eyes closed, no longer wanting to see the intense look in Jin’s eyes. It’s always
like this, which is part of the reason he doesn’t come home afterward.

It hurts Jin, he knows. Jin doesn’t understand, not truly, and he gets it. A big brother that can’t take
care of his little one, he understands why it upsets Jin.

“You know I can destroy their lives without it ever being traced back to me.”

Taehyung smiles at this, though he knows Jin isn’t joking. He’s done it before and he usually finds
out who uses their power over him without Taehyung telling him.

He doesn’t know how and he doesn’t question it.

“Especially if it’s Jeongguk.”

Taehyung freezes. It’s disorienting hearing Jeongguk’s name come from Jin’s mouth. His work and
his home are two pieces of his life he never wants to cross over, even if he’s thought about how he
thinks Jin would like Jeongguk.

“Jeon Jeongguk,” Jin clarifies when Taehyung opens his eyes. Jin stares at him for a moment and
hurt flashes across his eyes before he lets out a quiet, horrified groan. “It was him -”

“No,” Taehyung blurts, standing up so quickly that Jin almost stumbles back. “Why would you say
that? How do you even know Jeongguk?”

Jin’s hands are shaking slightly as he reaches for the cream he’s laid out on the sink. “Well, he’s the
only client I know of yours and the look you got on your face when I said his name -”

Taehyung stares, his jaw slack at his best friend as Jin dabs the cream across the crescent shape cuts
on his chest.

Namjoon must have seen them, but he can’t imagine Namjoon knowing him as an escort. Jin
wouldn’t tell him, he wouldn’t .

“I think you should start from the beginning, hyung.”

Jin glances at him quickly before focusing back on his chest. “When he sent over the television, the
card said Jeongguk but I thought maybe it was someone else. But then large amounts of money have
been disappearing from his account and Jeongguk’s really healthy right? Or he tries to be. He usually
doesn't eat much. I didn’t understand the sudden amount of trips to Panda Express, on a card he
never uses. A card that I found in your wallet.”

Taehyung turns when Jin guides him to, and he finds it easier to breathe through the low, pained
noise Jin lets out makes his heart hurt. His brain aches with his attempts to make sense of the fact that
Jeongguk and Jin know each other, and are apparently fucking close enough for Jin to know about
Jeongguk’s finances.

“How the fuck do you have access to Jeongguk’s bank accounts? How do you know about his
eating habits?"

Jin huffs out a laugh that only agitates Taehyung worse than the stinging pain in his back. “I know
your life is difficult and consuming but you could at least pretend to be following mine. I told you
about that promotion; we went out to celebrate.”

Taehyung remembers. That had been a hard day, following a hard night. The happiness radiating
from his family was a comfort, but it bounced off Taehyung’s skin instead of seeping in.

So did everything else, including the details of Jin’s promotion.

“I thought it was - ah - like a promotion to manager, not the CEO's assistant.”

“Turn around,” Jin orders as he removes his cool touch. “Do you think I could afford Woojin’s
schooling and this apartment I never stay at on a manager’s salary?”

Jin’s expression is no longer hard but it still lacks his usual brightness, which is usually only ever his
fault. “Are you close with him?”

A grin, one that reaches his eyes, finally appears as Jin wipes his hands off one of the decorative
towels hanging from the wall, breaking one of his own rules. “Ah, I see.”

Taehyung hits Jin’s shoulder for the sole reason of having nothing else to say. He’s dying for Jin to
answer his questions and he isn’t, though Taehyung isn’t in a place to make demands after upsetting
Jin the way he has.

They’re close, closer than anyone - or they used to be. They fight more now than they ever have, but
it either dies into a tense silence for a few days or it goes away completely without a word.

For Woojin and Eunae’s sake, Taehyung assumes, though he hopes it’s for their friendship’s sake
too. A lot has changed from when they were younger, but how could it not? Taehyung never
planned on suddenly having a toddler and a baby that he was responsible for, and a debt that he
shouldn’t have been his responsibility to pay back.

He wonders what he could do to show Jin just how much it’s meant to him that he never hesitated in
moving in with Taehyung, in helping him get custody of his siblings and basically becoming a single
parent. All without hesitation or complaint.

“I’m Jeongguk’s assistant, I spend most of my time with him and lately he’s been quite distracted. I
thought it was a man because of the look on his face when he looks at his phone, the same one you
wear when you say his name.”

Taehyung tilts his nose in defiance. He’s Jeongguk’s assistant, he’s not sure if he feels
uncomfortable, upset, or eager to pry for details.

“I don’t have a Jeongguk face.”

This makes Jin’s grin grow larger, digging into his cheeks. “It’s fine, I’m relieved I don’t have to ruin
his life. I’m fond of him. Come, are you hungry?”

Taehyung’s stomach responds for him, a low growl that has Jin handing him back his hoodie with a
knowing smile.

“Seriously though, are you okay?”

“I am, hyung,” Taehyung promises, “I’ll be better when you tell me Jeongguk’s dirty secrets.”

Jin snorts so loudly it sounds like it hurts. “Tell me who did this and I will.”

He takes off before Taehyung can give his rebuttal and Taehyung groans. He quickly pulls on his
hoodie before he can pass by the mirror.

After Yunbok had left him he braved the mirror and he’s avoided it since.

When he finally emerges from the bathroom and changes into clean clothes, Jin has the kitchen
counters covered with ingredients and a pot of water already starting to boil on the stove.

“If you can’t tell me what happened to you, can you tell me why Jimin didn’t stop it this time?”

Taehyung collapses at the island in the middle of the kitchen. He doesn’t want to think about it. The
fear sizzling inside of him is going to turn into a wildfire soon, he knows, leaving his lungs burn with
traces of smoke.

Bobby’s never sent Jimin away after a fight before. Their fights have never been this bad.
Something’s changing and Taehyung is afraid of what it could be.
“Bobby sent him to America,” Taehyung says, instead of explaining Jimin’s get away with Yoongi.
They never even got to talk about it though Taehyung wants to listen to Jimin talk about it.

His face always lights up like he’s surrounded by fairy lights, a soft glow radiating from his face.

“And Hoseok?”

Taehyung traces the tiles of the counter absentmindedly. “I don’t want to talk about it hyung, not
tonight. Let’s talk about Jeongguk instead.”

There’s silence for a moment before Jin finally sighs and Taehyung cheers in victory behind his
back.

“He is the one that found Woojin’s new therapist,” Jin says as he plops a handful of veggies onto the
sizzling pan. “I tried hard to not let the stress of finding a new one get to me but he forced it out of
me and the next day he found Dr. Choi. He gave me a raise because I refused to let him pay for it. I
told you it was me because I felt shameful I had the breakdown.”

Taehyung changes his mind, he doesn’t want to talk about Jeongguk anymore but he finds himself
refusing to tell Jin this and listening intently instead.

And if his heart is blossoming out of his chest he can pretend that it isn’t and Jin will never notice.

“What’s with this thing I hear about you calling him Master?”

The room lights up with the sound of Jin’s hiccuped out laughter for a moment before Jin quickly
muffles the sound with his hand to not wake Eunae and Woojin.

“I don’t,” Jin says with a final hiccuping laugh as he transfers the bowls from the kitchen counter to
the island. “I told his temp to call him that. Man, I wish I could have seen his face when she did.”

Taehyung hovers his face over the steam radiating from the top of the bowl. Everything Jin makes
smells like home, even if it’s a new recipe.

“He turned into a human tomato,” Taehyung says as he pulls back and broadens his chest, fighting
off a laugh so he can impersonate Jeongguk properly. “‘That’s uh - quite unnecessary. Don’t listen to
anything he tells you.’”

Jin dies for a few minutes and Taehyung soaks in the choked out laughter as he scoops food into his
mouth. Warmth settles through but not just because of the hot food winding down his system.

“Why does he have a temp anyway? Are you getting a new job?”

“No,” Jin responds, wiping the tears from his eyes. “You know how Woojin gets when you’re away.
He’s okay, I’m just glad you didn’t wait until you were completely healed to come home because I
don’t think he was going to be okay for much longer.”

More guilt grips at Taehyung’s chest. He’s like a poisonous weed in the luscious garden that is his
family but he’s too selfish to let Jin take them away from him. Even if it’s better for his younger
siblings and Jin.

“I’m sorry.”

A hand stops him from bringing the bowl to his lips and he squeezes on, holding on so tightly to
Jin’s hand that he feels the tears welling in his eyes.
 They don’t say anything but he can see the forgiveness and love in Jin’s eyes before he lets go and
it’s all Taehyung needs to calm his aching heart for the moment.

“Tae-Tae,” Jin says softly, licking his lips after draining the bowl, “I really do love your Jeongguk
face and I hope to see more of it.”

Chapter End Notes

Please...let me know what you think

tumblr @taecheeks twitter @taehcheeks
curious cat
 Chapter 9
Chapter Notes

There's not actually a choking kink, like fleshed out in this fic, but there's a brief
moment of it in this chapter.

Also, there is a scene where someone is being touched and is uncomfortable and really
don't want to be - if you want to know when this happens, please read the end notes
first.

This is one of the first chapters I wrote and I decided it didn't work well early on so I
decided to include it here. It's a good one, I think? Hopefully you think so too.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jeongguk watches himself in the mirror attached to the closet door as he fixes his bow tie. He’s
nervous, which is probably why he’s pushing leaving the office to the last minute.

It’s ridiculous. He’s never been nervous to see Taehyung. Not like this. He didn’t have time to
prepare as Taehyung called him just a few hours ago to tell him that Jeongguk now has a date to the
fundraiser. He’s never really worried about how he looks, he doesn’t think much about it, but
suddenly it’s his main focus.

“So I finally get to meet this secret lover of yours?” Jin asks from behind him, an amused tone to his
voice that tells Jeongguk when he turns, he’ll be wearing a smile that’s seconds away from bursting
across his face.

Jeongguk watches through the mirror as Jin drops a stack of thick folders onto his desk. It’s another
reason for his nerves, but thankfully Jin is less questioning about that than Taehyung.

“I don’t have a secret lover,” Jeongguk denies with a cool shrug of his shoulders.

Since Taehyung visited him at the office, there’s been a mumble of chatter about it around the
building. Jin’s reported it all back to him, with a whine that Jeongguk would have his ‘lover’ come to
the office when he wasn’t there.

“Yeah? Then who did you have me send a bouquet of flowers to just yesterday?”

Jeongguk flushes as he turns, smoothing down the lapels of his jacket. He’s spent a pretty penny on
flowers over the course of the last few weeks and he never even asked Taehyung if he liked them.
“He’s not a secret, I just don’t share my personal life with everyone.”

Jin snorts loudly. He too looks dressed to impress in a snug suit that hugs his waist and makes his
shoulders look broader than ever. His hair is perfectly styled to curl over his forehead and Jeongguk
doesn’t miss the brush of eyeshadow and the tiny hoops that line the shell of his ear.

He isn’t the only one in the room with a secret lover, though Jin has been more open to him about
his.

“I know everything about your personal life, Guk. I buy your underwear. I schedule you and your
son’s appointments, manage your bills. I hack private bank accounts to retrieve information for you
to take down an illegal escort business.”

He thrusts a hand at the stack of folders and Jeongguk cocks his head back to groan. He should have
known better than thinking Jin wouldn’t eventually ask questions.

Though he tried to avoid it, he had to involve Jin. It’s an important promise that he’s made, one he’s
determined to keep. He just doesn’t know how to go about doing it.

The bank records are a start. He hopes to figure out where Bobby is getting his money from and
what he’s covering it up as. There’s something about the donors that Jeongguk feels like is important,
but he needs Taehyung to tell him more about them.

If they’re men like Yang Kunhee, then they’ll have money, names that Jeongguk might recognize.
He’ll see his own and he knows Jin will too. He'd prefer to pay cash, but Jimin's been insistent on the
electronic transfer.

He’s also aware that the Minx is one of the biggest retailers for Jeon Cigars - the most expensive,
exclusive cigars made by Yunbok himself. He suspects Bobby purchases them at a cheaper price
than any of his other retailers and sells them for a higher price that they do.

Jeongguk's hoping to find out what else the Minx sells, other than cigars and men.

“I’m not trying to take it down,” Jeongguk clarifies with his hands out, palms facing Jin. “Per se.”

“I’m gonna need more than that,” Jin says with a roll of his eyes as he points to the folders. “I saw
your name in those records, Guk. But we don’t have time tonight. You’re gonna be late picking up
your sexy, secret lover.”

Jeongguk’s heart flutters in his chest at the idea of seeing Taehyung, though it’s only been a few
days.

“You’ve been snooping. How else would you know he’s sexy?”

“So you do have a secret lover,” Jin gasps dramatically and Jeongguk ignores it with a grin that he
can’t fight off of his face.

“See you there, hyung.”

The car idles outside of his office building when Jeongguk exits, with Seokmin awaiting him by the
door, despite Jeongguk’s constant insistence that he can open a door himself.

The interior had been cleaned after Taehyung entertained him the last time, but he had Seokmin
clean it once more earlier in the day just in case and the scent of leather cleaner is noticeable under
the flowery smell of the air freshener. The lighting is a soft glow and Jeongguk eyes the bottles of
champagne and cookies awaiting them.

It’s maybe a bit overboard, but he wants to spoil Taehyung to make him feel good and he wants
Taehyung to enjoy himself. The fundraiser, he prays, won’t be too boring after the speeches, not
with an open bar and hopefully Yoongi’s taken care of the music like he’s asked.

He especially hopes Jin holds back on the teasing, his cheeks flush in anticipation of it.

To maintain Taehyung's privacy, he's agreed to pick up Taehyung at Hoseok's and Jeongguk is out
of the car before Seokmin can move, his breath sticking in his throat when he finds Taehyung
standing on the curb outside.

He’s always beautiful, no matter what he wears. Though Jeongguk’s favorite look is when
Taehyung slips his bare body into whatever clothes he had stripped off of Jeongguk, he thinks this
may be his second favorite.

The all black suit is tight, clinging to his shape, the neckline dipping low and revealing the hard
curves of his bare chest. The heels make his legs look longer, curvier and Jeongguk forces his eyes
back up the length of him to take in his face.

He’s beautiful - breathtaking always, but Jeongguk likes the smudge of eyeliner and the dark stained
lips. His silver hair is curled and falling over his forehead, matching the silver earrings dangling from
his ears and the diamond choker wrapped around his throat.

“Hey there handsome,” Taehyung drawls out as he walks over, hips swinging in a way that drags
Jeongguk's attention back to them.

Jeongguk knew he was already going to be distracted with Taehyung by his side, but his neck
flushes as he realizes just how much.

“No tie?” Taehyung asks as he fingers the bow tie Jeongguk wears. He bites down on his grin, eyes
leaving the bow tie to take in the rest of Jeongguk’s attire.

It seems unrealistic that anyone’s been able to resist Taehyung’s charm. It’s been a long time since
Jeongguk’s felt so flustered just because someone looked at him.

“Can you move in those pants? They’re quite tight,” Jeongguk asks, ignoring the question as
Taehyung’s fingers slip over the heated skin of his neck.

“They’re stretchy,” Taehyung murmurs thoughtfully, a gleam in his eyes as he takes Jeongguk’s
hand to show him.

It’s a huge contrast from the way he last saw Taehyung. There isn’t anything sad in his expression.
Though Taehyung had been playful after their lunch, a dark cloud hung over him the rest of their
time together.

Jeongguk’s happy to see it no longer there but he wonders if it still is, just better hidden.

“See? Not too bad.” Taehyung whispers, pressing closer to Jeongguk as he trails Jeongguk’s hand
from his hip and around, placing it over the curve of his butt. “Now do I get a hello kiss or are you
gonna make me beg?”

“If you’re into that,” Jeongguk teases, gripping Taehyung’s butt gently and uncaring if they’re going
to be late, even though being the boss and being late to a function honoring his best employee isn’t a
good idea. “Could make you wait for the goodbye kiss if you’re going to be trouble.”

Taehyung pushes his lips out, his thick brows furrowing as he pouts. “I thought you said you’d give
me anything I wanted.”

Jeongguk laughs softly, trapped in defeat. He cups a hand over Taehyung’s cheek to brush his lips
over his.

Just a peck on the lips that has Taehyung’s pout returning the moment Jeongguk pulls away.

“You don’t play fair, Baby. You know I’m weak for you.”
A wounded noise from behind them has Jeongguk pulling his eyes away from Taehyung to find
Hoseok, sauntering from the entrance of the building. He’s dressed in an all black suit, his hair styled
with a part in the middle and a few strands wrapped in colorful thread standing out.

“I’d prefer not to watch my dongsaengs make out all night thanks,” Hoseok grunts as he adjusts the
ear piece tucked into his ear. “I’ve known this kid since he was in diapers.”

Jeongguk snorts as he pulls the door open for Taehyung. “Hyung, when I was in diapers you were in
pull ups. You’re not that much older than me.”

Hoseok sighs dramatically as he pats Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Taking care of this one really ages you.
He’s a menace. My age has doubled since I started working for him.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Taehyung says, winking at Jeongguk before he climbs into the car.

“I’ll sit with Seokmin,” Hoseok tells him with a shake of his head. “I know what that look in Baby’s
eye means and no thanks. If I even see the outline of a dick, I’m going back to guarding Yoongi.”

It’s good seeing Hoseok not looking constipated when he’s with Taehyung and Jeongguk is relieved.
He hasn’t had the guts to ask Hoseok if he’s bothered by it or just working. Jeongguk’s hated seeing
an unfriendly Hoseok, he isn’t used to it.

“What about Yoongi?”

Hoseok falters for a moment before he waves him off with a tired look on his face. “Jimin asked me
to stick around him more than usual a few weeks ago. B told a particularly...obsessive client of
Baby’s that Yoongi was the reason he’s seeing less of him. Chimmy was just worried he’d react but
he hasn’t, don’t worry.”

Jeongguk isn’t convinced, but Hoseok claps his shoulder with a smile on his face that makes his
dimples appear and eyes close and he drops it.

When Jeongguk slides into the car, Taehyung is sitting with his legs crossed and palms rubbing over
the leather seats.

“I’m excited to see Boss Guk in action,” Taehyung murmurs with a hand out to pull Jeongguk closer
beside him just to curl that hand over the top of Jeongguk’s thigh.

“Very intimidating stuff,” Jeongguk explains seriously, turning his body towards Taehyung. “How
are you?”

Taehyung rolls his eyes as he inches his hand further up Jeongguk’s thigh slowly like he might not
notice. But Jeongguk notices everything about Taehyung.

“Good. I’ve had the week off, you know - that vacation you wanted me to have.”

Jeongguk searches over Taehyung’s face. There’s no swollen skin or bruises to be found, but there’s
a thin layer of makeup that could be hiding it.

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Mm,” Taehyung hums, head working back and forth as he thinks. “Was mostly alone with the kids
in school and my hyung at work. Played a lot of video games, ate a lot, thought about you.”

Jeongguk parts his legs slightly as the tip of Taehyung’s fingers tickle the crease of his thigh. Being
this close, he can smell the sweet, perfume scent of Taehyung’s shampoo and the shea butter he must
lather across his skin whenever they see each other. There’s a glow over his cheekbones and at the
tip of his nose - highlighter, Jeongguk thinks it’s called, but it’s unnecessary as Taehyung doesn’t
need anything to shine bright.

“Me?” Jeongguk asks, pulling himself away for Taehyung before he can thumb at the zipper of his
pants. He reaches for the bottle and the glasses waiting for him. “Good thoughts?”

“Mm, very good,” Taehyung murmurs, his voice so deep it’s vibrates in his throat and nearly comes
out like a growl. The sound always makes arousal fizzle down Jeongguk’s spine. They could be
talking about Jeongguk’s monthly finances and he'd still be turned on. “I like to imagine my hands
are yours.”

Jeongguk turns, holding a glass half filled out for Taehyung to take. “What do you like my hands to
do?”

There’s a grin in Taehyung’s eyes as he sips at the glass. He licks his lips when he pulls it away, an
unnecessary move that has Jeongguk returning to Taehyung’s side.

“I think you know the answer to that, Mr. Jeon.”

“Call me Jeongguk tonight,” Jeongguk requests quietly. “I’d like you to tell me.”

Dirty talk is Taehyung’s forte, he knows, so he doesn’t understand why Taehyung drops his eyes
shyly and nibbles at his bottom lip like he’s unsure. Jeongguk doesn’t push it, just in case, but waits
quietly before Taehyung responds.

“Your hands are like erasers,” Taehyung says, taking Jeongguk by surprise. He doesn’t know what
that means, nor how to respond to it. He doesn’t know why Taehyung looks so nervous to say it out
loud, like it’s a secret that he’s struggling in sharing.

“Um, thanks.”

Taehyung huffs out a giggle, chin tucking towards his shoulders as his body shakes with it. His eyes
close as his lips stretch into a square smile that has his cheeks rounding and Jeongguk’s heart
thudding.

“When I um, have a bad client, Jimin bathes me. He washes away the feeling of being touched,”
Taehyung explains softly, capturing Jeongguk’s attention more than he already has. He doesn’t
expect Taehyung to reveal something like this, but he listens intently and quietly. “Your touch does
the same thing. I forgot what it was like to be touched without fear and you reminded me.”

Jeongguk reaches up to smooth his thumb over Taehyung’s cheek where it had been swollen the last
time they had seen each other. It makes him angry, but at the same time he feels something warm
inside of him that Taehyung finds comfort in his touch.

He had been resistant to it at first, Jeongguk’s want to take care of him. Jeongguk’s hoping he’s
starting to accept it.

“That’s one of the reasons I came to see you the other day,” Taehyung admits before finishing his
glass in one go. “I’m sorry for just showing up. I wanted to replace the memories of being touched
like that with being touched by you.”

Jeongguk ducks forward to kiss the corner of Taehyung’s mouth. “My hands are always at your
disposal.”
Taehyung snorts quietly, rolling his eyes. “Can I touch you Jeongguk?”

Jeongguk shifts, placing their glasses from where he had retrieved them, not wanting to make a mess
just hours after Seokmin cleaned his car. Taehyung doesn’t wait for Jeongguk to respond, his hand
traveling back up the length of his thigh before Jeongguk can settle back in his seat.

“I have a question,” Jeongguk says, trying to keep his voice steady as Taehyung stops his hesitant
touches and goes in for the kill. He wants to grip his fingers into Taehyung’s hair as Taehyung cups
between his legs, but he doesn’t want it a wreck before they arrive at the hotel.

“Hm?” Taehyung asks, grinding his palm down. His head is cocked as he watches Jeongguk, teeth
digging hard into his bottom lip before he swipes his tongue the indents left behind. There aren't
nerves lingering in his expression, but he looks hard - determined. Not the normal sultry look he
wears when he’s touching Jeongguk with intent.

Fuck, they don’t have enough time to do anything really and Jeongguk can’t walk into Namjoon’s
event with an erection, but he’s like goo under Taehyung’s touch.

“How do I become an exclusive client?” Jeongguk huffs, legs spreading as arousal courses through
his system. Taehyung’s half on his lap, curling over him as his other hand shifts over Jeongguk’s
throat suddenly.

His grip isn’t hard but it’s enough that Jeongguk doesn’t move against it. It excites him, having
Taehyung’s hand around his throat like this, keeping his head back against the seat as he rubs
Jeongguk through his pants. He relaxes under the touch, extending the same trust to Taehyung that
he wants Taehyung to have for him.

“What do you mean?” Taehyung asks breathlessly, lips parting as his fingers flex like he’s going to
squeeze down but stops himself.

“I want to be your only client.”

He hadn’t thought much about it, but hearing Taehyung mention his bad clients - clients that make
him wish he could erase the memory of their touches, he’s had enough. The fact that anyone
touching him makes Taehyung afraid pisses Jeongguk off.

He’s a little jealous of anyone touching Taehyung in general, he’ll admit it, but he’d keep his mouth
shut if Taehyung’s other clients were touching Taehyung in a way that he enjoyed.

Taehyung grips his fingers down then without warning, adding a pressure to Jeongguk’s throat that
has him moaning softly, hips rolling to chase Taehyung’s touch. Taehyung watches him with a
steady expression, eyes filled with that same determined look.

“I doubt Bobby will approve of that, baby,” Taehyung murmurs. “You could buy me, but I already
told you not to do that.”

Jeongguk slides his fingers over Taehyung’s thigh, digging in as Taehyung’s thumb presses down
against his windpipe. It isn’t something he’s normally into, but he thinks Taehyung could do
anything to him and he’d enjoy it.

“Plus, Jimin barred me from seeing anyone but you until he returns,” Taehyung says, releasing
Jeongguk to press a kiss over his pulse.

Jeongguk inhales deeply, uncaring about Taehyung’s hair as he cups the back of his head as
Taehyung licks over where his skin throbs from his touch. He’s hard and leaking against his briefs,
his body thrumming with a need to come, and his chest is light with relief and other emotions he
doesn’t want to think about. Not yet.

“You’re an idiot, Jeongguk,” Taehyung whispers, his tone disapproving but there’s something in his
eyes that makes Jeongguk want to kiss him until his lips fall off. “You shouldn’t let me touch you
like that.”

Jeongguk frowns, twirling his fingers through the longer strands that tickle Taehyung’s neck. The
throbbing skin makes him smile, pleased that he can still feel his touch even though he's pulled away.
“And why’s that?”

Taehyung doesn’t respond, not at first. Instead, he takes Jeongguk’s hand and holds it over his neck,
all whilst moving back until it’s him resting against the seat.

It’s confusing, but when Taehyung nods, Jeongguk flattens his palm over his throat, the choker
tickling his palm. He doesn’t understand, can’t even begin to follow what Taehyung might be
thinking.

“What if I was just trying to murder you in your own car?”

Jeongguk huffs out a confused laugh, but Taehyung looks serious - and worried. “I love when you
talk dirty to me, Baby.”

Taehyung mumbles out a laugh as well, curling his fingers around Jeongguk’s wrist and tugging like
he wants Jeongguk to apply pressure like he had. “I’m serious.”

“I trust you,” Jeongguk says as he pushes his brows together, contemplating. “Plus, you’d be caught
right away. One of my best friends is in the front seat.”

Taehyung grunts out something incoherent before pulling Jeongguk’s hand away and looking
displeased. “Most men are a bit more aggressive when they’re suddenly being choked, baby.”

“Do you want to tell me what that’s about?”

The car stops as they pull up in front of the hotel and Taehyung reaches for the door quickly, but
Jeongguk stretches over him to stop him.

“I’d like you to tell me what that was about.”

Taehyung smiles softly, pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Sometimes you think too
much about how to treat me right, I can see it in your eyes. I wanted to see what you would do
without the chance to think about what’s best to do. You didn’t even flinch.”

Jeongguk feels the wheels in his brain spinning, trying to catch up but they’re rolling off path and
into the surrounding grassy ditches.

“Every time I’ve done that with a client they’ve struck out or ripped my hand off,” Taehyung
murmurs huskily like he’s telling Jeongguk the things he wants to do to him later, “because most of
my clients like to be in control and hate not being.”

The door pulls open, the cool night air filtering into the car and Taehyung slips away from him,
hands rubbing over the back of his neck to smooth his hair.

All of Jeongguk’s arousal has faded away, but he still palms down the front of his pants to make sure
he’s in the clear before he steps out behind Taehyung.
“I don’t care about being in control,” Jeongguk whispers as he shifts his hand behind Taehyung’s
back to guide him up the marble stairs that lead to the front doors.

“I know,” Taehyung huffs out, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye before he bows his head
in thanks to the men who open the doors for them. “The clients that do are the bad ones.”

Over the last week, Taehyung has received very little dirt about Jeongguk from Jin, but a lot of
information about Namjoon’s research and the fundraiser Jeongguk has planned to help him fund it.
Seemingly unnecessary from one of the top companies in South Korea, but that was a question Jin
couldn’t answer when Taehyung asked it.

Taehyung’s also spent the week, while not with his siblings and walking aimlessly around his house,
practicing hard on greeting Jin and Namjoon like a stranger would.

Jin found it unnecessary, and maybe deep down Taehyung knows this. But he’s always kept his kids
far from his clients and Jeongguk already knows about Jin’s, he doesn’t want Jeongguk to know that
they are his too. He shouldn’t want that.

It’s been a week of constant internal dilemma. He’s only ever trusted two people in his life; Jin and
Jimin. He doesn’t know what to do with the fact that he finds himself trusting Jeongguk. He had
been nervous about doing the choking test, every time he’s done it before he’s ended up with an eye
so swollen he couldn’t open it for a week.

Jeongguk just let him do as he pleased, didn’t even grow taut under the touch. Normally Taehyung
doesn’t ease them into it, just pushes his hand against their throat without warning and brushes it off
with a sweet, apologetic smile - claiming he thought his client was into it.

Part of him had been nervous Jeongguk would strike out and crush every emotion that’s been
building up inside of him. Part of him wishes Jeongguk did, so he could stop struggling with how to
feel.

“I don’t think I understand,” Jeongguk admits shyly as he guides Taehyung through the lobby.

He smiles softly at Namjoon’s face on the board in front of the entrance, though he doesn’t have
enough time to read the words written beside them.

“Have you ever hit anyone Jeongguk?”

Taehyung doesn’t understand it either. But it’s something he’s always done. Jimin used to think it
was to punish himself. He doesn’t remember when it started, he also can’t remember when he’s ever
had a client that weren’t suffering from power trips.

Jeongguk fits the stereotype, a rich, attractive chaebol with too much money at his disposal. The only
difference is he’s younger, his youngest client other than Hanbin, but even Hanbin struggles not
having control.

He fucks like his purpose is to hurt and degrade. Sometimes Taehyung isn’t sure Hanbin even knows
he’s there when his limbs are restrained and there's a gag pushed between his lips.

“I spanked Ji-hu a few times before,” Jeongguk says thoughtfully, ticking his head from side to side.
“Punched a guy once.”

“Why?” Taehyung asks immediately, his stomach buzzing as he curls his arm around Jeongguk’s.
The sleeves are tight around his biceps, a reminder that Jeongguk could do some damage if he
wanted to.

“He punched Yoongi,” Jeongguk tells him with ease, a big smile on his face as he greets every
person he passes.

The hotel’s ballroom is quite large, almost like a basketball court. There’s a stage in the center, a bar
to the right and a spatter of tables to the left. He assumes they’re all people Jeongguk work with,
people who’ve gossiped over their bosses’ secret lover and that’s why their eyes seem to linger over
them as they walk.

He knows he looks good, but he feels dull in comparison next to Jeongguk.

“The guy was a class A dick,” Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, eyes sparkling.

Taehyung doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but he used to love reading fantasy novels. He thinks
Jeongguk belongs in them, because he’s not human and he makes Taehyung feel things that would
only be possible if he were a sorcerer.

“You never told me how to introduce myself,” Taehyung says, changing the subject because he’s
tired. He wants to enjoy his night, not ruin it by trying to make sense of things he’s never been able
to make sense of.

“As whatever you want.”

“A member of your sex slave ring?”

Jeongguk coughs into his hand, his cheeks instantly warming as he gazes around to see if anyone
overheard them. “Well, no not that.”

“You said whatever I want.”

Taehyung tries hard not to grin as Jeongguk glares at him quickly before they’re interrupted by
someone in a suit approaching with an apology for interrupting.

He’s kind as he greets then man and Taehyung is thankful that Jeongguk doesn’t introduce him yet,
respecting the fact that he hasn’t made up his mind.

He’s thought about it all day, torturing himself with how much he liked practicing introducing
himself as Jeongguk’s boyfriend. He even spent ten minutes lying face down on his bed, his head
shoved into his pillow so he could pretend like he wasn’t smiling hard at the idea.

“You can be honest,” Jeongguk says when he returns to him. “Or you can tell them that you’re my
boyfriend, or uh - date. Whatever."

Taehyung would snort by the amused, annoyed look on Jeongguk’s face but his face flushes and his
heart turns over a little in his chest. He’s thankful Jeongguk guides him straight to the bar to catch his
breath.

Jeongguk makes him become unprofessional. He’s never faltered being the perfect - whatever
someone wanted. Now he feels himself getting flustered easily and overthinking and the flirting feels
more genuine than it ever has.

The worst part is there’s a tiny voice in his head reminding him that he doesn’t think Jeongguk will
care if he falters in playing pretend and shows glimpses of his true self. He already has with
Jeongguk and Jeongguk seems fond of him still.

He doesn’t think it’s Jeongguk being naive. Someone as handsome as he is must have had
experience with relationships. Someone as close to Bobby as he is might have some experience with
this life. But Taehyung could ask for Jeongguk’s bank account information just to empty it and
Jeongguk would let him.

“Ah, there he is.”

Game time, Taehyung thinks as he turns to where Jeongguk looks and spots Jin approaching.
Jeongguk’s pretty assistant. It doesn’t make him jealous, it’s a fact, but he does wonder if that’s
stemmed from a past crush or if it’s just because Jeongguk has eyes.

“Oo, he is pretty,” Taehyung murmurs appreciatively as he folds a hand over the back of Jeongguk’s
neck. He burns to the touch, which matches the permanent flush on his face and Taehyung sips on
Jeongguk’s drink when he isn’t looking to assure he isn’t drinking too much.

Jeongguk gives him a disapproving side look before he’s reaching out to take Jin’s hands. It’s very
familiar, as is the amusement in Jin’s eyes when they fall on him.

“Ah, Master, is this that secret lover of yours?”

Taehyung might kill Jin, but it’s worth it when Jeongguk blubbers out with wide, alarmed eyes.

“So that isn’t just a pet name in the bedroom, lover?” Taehyung teases as he holds his hand out for
Jin to take. “It’s Baby. I prefer secret boyfriend, but lover works.”

Jeongguk reaches for the bar, snatching his glass to down the little that is left.

“Jin,” Jin greets, voice tentative as his eyes grow wide from Taehyung’s introduction. “I see why he
has kept you secret. There was a handful of necks breaking when you walked through the room.”

Okay, maybe Taehyung forgives him.

“No secret,” Jeongguk insists with a hard look at Jin. “This is my assistant, and he’s joking. He
doesn’t call me Master. No one calls me Master, please don’t call me Master.”

Taehyung squeezes Jeongguk’s neck fondly before he presses a soft kiss to his cheek, an excuse to
whisper in his ear. “Yes, Daddy.”

Jeongguk turns that hard look to him, but it’s softer - more amused. The incident in the car seems to
be forgotten and Taehyung is relieved that he can stop thinking about the fact that he ruined the
night.

“Joonie is quite nervous, Guk. You know he hates speaking publicly,” Jin says, concern in a tone as
he grabs Jeongguk’s shoulder for him to listen. “He’s nervous about disappointing you. You know
there are people here who disagree with his work.”

Taehyung distracts himself with ordering his drink and rubbing over Jeongguk’s knuckles as not to
intrude on the conversation. Over the last week, he has heard a lot about this too. How Namjoon’s
worked hard, just for his mentor to constantly put down his research and ideas.

“He has nothing to worry about. He has my full support.”

“Well, tell him that yourself because he doesn’t believe me.”

There’s a pleading look in Jin’s eyes that’s strange to see directed at Jeongguk. He knew they were
close by the bits Jin actually has told him, but seeing them so familiar with each other is a bit
disorientating.

“Okay, I have to open the night anyway. Hyung, will you keep my date company for a while? Since
there are so many eyes on him, I need my most trusted,” Jeongguk says, clapping Jin on the shoulder
with a devilish grin.

“Anything for you, Master,” Jin says with a dip of his head.

The familiarity between them might be strange, but he feels his insides growing warm because of it.
And even warmer as Jeongguk cups under his chin to press a kiss to his lips, like he could care less
that his employees see him. A bit of proof that there’s nothing secret about him.

Most of his clients are married or are afraid of it getting out that they like their dicks sucked by men.
It’s so common that Taehyung is used to being a secret, it’s never bothered him.

It wouldn’t bother him if Jeongguk decided to go down the same path, but his heart sighs in relief
when Jeongguk shows the same affection in private and public.

“Be good, no more randomly choking people,” Jeongguk mumbles against his lips, his own quirking
slightly. “I’ll be back soon.”

Taehyung doesn’t try to hide the fact that he watches Jeongguk walk away. His softness walks away
as he does, his shoulders broadening and chin tilting higher - but there’s still kindness in his face as
he greets those who approach him.

“Have I told you that I like your Jeongguk face?” Jin asks as he settles at the bar and gestures for
Taehyung to join him. “Almost as much as I like his Taehyung face.”

He glances at Jin for only a moment so Jin notices his disapproving look before he finds Jeongguk
again. “Where’s Namjoon? I need to tell him about that shrine of him I found in your closet.”

Jin snorts. “He already knows about it.”

It’s strange working with Jin beside him, but everything about his work with Jeongguk is strange and
different than what he’s used to. Like the way his heart grows in his chest when Jeongguk steps
beside the podium on the stage, a bright smile on his face as he curls his fingers around the
microphone.

Namjoon stands at the edge of the stage, bouncing on his toes and fumbling with his fingers in front
of him. There’s not a smile on his face, but he looks rather grim or sick, face twisted like he may
vomit.

“Kim Namjoon’s project is one that I hold very dear to my heart and has the prospects of changing
the entire tobacco industry. I must say - my specialty is not the science of things, so instead of ruining
his work, I’ll have Namjoon-nim explain to you the work he has been doing and that he hopes to
do.”

Jeongguk clasps his hands in front of him before bowing to the crowd. “All of you work hard. Let’s
together, as a team, make the dreams of the new Jeon Tobacco come true.”

Jin shifts away from him as Namjoon steps hesitantly towards the podium. The entire room is dead
quiet, letting Taehyung hear the way Jin holds his breath.
But even in the silence, he misses Hoseok sneaking up behind him and he nearly falls out of his seat
when Hoseok taps him on the shoulder.

“I know I promised not to bother you,” Hoseok says quietly with a hand cupping his shoulder and
his lips pressed to Taehyung’s ear. “But I thought you would like to know this.”

Taehyung turns slightly, head cocking so Hoseok has better access to his ear. It’s not that he made
Hoseok promise not to talk to him at all, but he didn’t want attention drawn to the fact that
Jeongguk’s date has a bodyguard.

He didn’t even want to bring Hoseok along. It is better for him to be with Yoongi, he doesn’t know
if Bobby is cruel enough to send someone after him. Jimin had made it seem like he idolizes
Jeongguk, and he hopes that means he wouldn’t do anything to hurt his best friend.

But when Taehyung told Jimin he was going to try the choke test, Jimin hung up and called Hoseok
seconds later.

“Hanbin is here.”

Namjoon’s voice floats nervously over the room as he starts to explain the basics of what make
cigarettes harmful and cancerous. An ice cold chill runs down his spine, paralyzing him as he takes
in Hoseok’s words.

He is lying. There’s no fucking way Hanbin is here.

He searches the crowd discreetly, taking in every face but Hanbin’s is not one he sees. Not until he
finds Jeongguk’s, walking off the stage.

It isn’t Hanbin’s face, but the back of his head and Taehyung feels dread course through his system.
Not only is Hanbin here, but he’s taking Jeongguk’s hand into his own the same way Jeongguk had
greeted Jin..

“You’re safe,” Hoseok explains, his tone a lot softer than it just had been. “Jeongguk, Jin and I are
all here. You’ve never been safer.”

Taehyung lets out a long exhale that captures Jin’s attention for a second. He’s not worried about his
safety, not right now. He’s following Jimin’s orders, he is working; Hanbin can't be upset with him
enough to retaliate. But an angry Hanbin that’s in Bobby’s ear creates an angry Bobby, and
Taehyung is next in line to be on the receiving end of it.

Maybe. The way Jeongguk had threatened Bobby had taken his breath away. Bobby had folded.
Jeongguk really does have the power here.

Knowing this doesn’t get rid of the feeling that he may be sick though.

Jeongguk returns when Namjoon’s research proposal is finished. Taehyung feels bad that he spaced
out for most if it and most of Jin’s praises that followed.

He’s been trying to find a reason why Hanbin would be here. He hadn’t told Bobby where he’d be
tonight, though he can’t imagine Bobby sending Hanbin to keep an eye on him either way. He’s also
been working on keeping his panic down, and keeping his thoughts about what Hanbin will do
when he sees him away.
But it isn't working.

“Miss me?” Jeongguk whispers in his ear, grabbing his attention away from his thoughts. He holds a
hand out that Taehyung accepts before he stands. “Everything okay? I saw Hoseok approach you.”

“Mm,” Taehyung insists, reaching out to play with Jeongguk’s bow tie. “I asked him to call the kids
every thirty minutes. He’s just keeping me updated.”

It isn’t a lie. Taehyung did ask Hoseok to do that, not that he doesn’t trust Yoongi enough for the
night - but Yoongi hasn’t experienced one of Woojin’s tantrums or Eunae’s bratty attitude before.
Eunae can be mean when people try to make Woojin talk when he doesn’t want to.

“Good. Are you hungry?” Jeongguk asks, pulling Taehyung closer to him. “It isn’t Panda Express,
but I promise it’s good. It should be; it was expensive.”

Taehyung snorts fondly, wrapping an arm around the back of Jeongguk’s neck. He can’t get in
trouble for being with Jeongguk, no matter how badly it pisses Hanbin off.

And Taehyung kind of wants to piss Hanbin off. Jeongguk treats him well, and he wants Hanbin to
see why Jimin chose Jeongguk as his caretaker over him.

He can’t stop thinking about what Jeongguk said in the car, about him just being his. He wants that,
though he shoves that thought deep into the dungeon of his brain where every other bad thought it
stored.

“Would it be a huge overstep asking you to feed me?” Taehyung whispers with a grin.

Jeongguk flushes, eyes dropping to Taehyung’s mouth. “You know I’d do anything you ask, even if
it’s inappropriate.

Taehyung ducks forward, just enough that their lips brush. “Inappropriate is my favorite.”

The tables filling the room are covered in white tablecloths and elaborate glass sculptures as the
centerpieces. Jeongguk leads him to the largest one, the only one that is not in the shape of a circle
but a rectangle, where Namjoon stands in conversation with another man.

Hanbin is only a few feet away, but he’s also immersed in conversation and oblivious to Taehyung.

“This is your seat, Baby,” Jeongguk says as he pulls the seat out for him. It’s on the left of the head
of the table and Taehyung isn't surprised to see Jin sitting on the right.

Taehyung has been to events like these with clients, but he always feels a little out of his element.
The silverware and dishes in front of him look to be more expensive than all of his assets put
together. Even the thick paper used for his name card looks more expensive than his life.

The Prettiest One in the Room

His bites at his bottom lip as he fingers the name card. He can feel Jin’s eyes on him but he ignores it,
not wanting to admit that he definitely has a Jeongguk face. But who can blame him? His mouth is
bound to do weird things when Jeongguk is filling his teeth with cavities.

“I thought that was for me,” Jin says with a huff, “but -”

Jin picks up his card, showing off the bold Worldwide Handsome and Taehyung barks out a laugh
louder than he means to. Jeongguk doesn’t know how familiar Taehyung is with that self proclaimed
title.

Jeongguk lifts his, showing off the boring Jeon Jeongguk written on his. Taehyung can’t help but
reach over to brush his thumb over Jeongguk’s dramatic pouted lips.

“Are my eyes deceiving me or has Jeon Jeongguk brought along a date?”

The sudden way Taehyung’s smile slips from his lips has Jeongguk crunching his brows in concern.
Taehyung swallows, easing a smile back onto his lips before he turns to face Hanbin.

“Yes hyung, this is my boyfriend,” Jeongguk introduces, pressing a hand to Taehyung’s back to urge
him forward.

Hearing those words would bring butterflies to his stomach, he knows, but instead, he feels like his
stomach is a tsunami of nerves, destroying everything in its path.

There is amusement on Hanbin’s face as he reaches out his hand. Taehyung doesn’t think Hanbin
would be the type to cause a scene at an event like this, but he doesn’t trust the friendly look on
Hanbin’s face.

“Baby,” Taehyung squeaks out as Hanbin takes his hand. It is a gentle touch, not a squeezing of his
fingers like he expects.

He doesn’t expect Hanbin to kiss the back of his hand, and he stills when he feels Hanbin’s lips over
his knuckles.

“You are quite beautiful, I understand why Jeongguk has been hiding you.”

Jeongguk laughs uncomfortably as Hanbin’s fingers linger over Taehyung’s hand. He doesn’t look
away and Taehyung wishes he could read minds just this once.

“You didn’t say who you were?”

“Hanbin hyung,” Jeongguk says before Hanbin can. “Kim Hanbin. We grew up together.”

Taehyung notes that he doesn’t mention Bobby, even though they both know him. Maybe Jeongguk
isn’t as comfortable with everyone knowing where he had came from like Taehyung had thought.

Hanbin nods in agreement before he glances down at the table and picks up the place card beside
Taehyung’s. “It must be a lucky night for me.”

Taehyung’s stomach drops when he spots the Kim Hanbin printed across the thick paper before
Hanbin returns it to the table.

Jeongguk frowns at Hanbin before he pulls out Taehyung’s seat and gestures for him to sit. His eyes
linger on his friend even as he takes his own seat and Taehyung wonders what Jeongguk’s thinking
when he reaches over to take Taehyung’s hand into his own, keeping them sat clasped together on
the table for all to see.

He’s too aware of the fact that he’s only inches away from Hanbin, so close that their elbows would
knock together if he ate with his left hand. He wishes the food were already on his plate, as he wants
to distract himself with something other than Jeongguk’s touch.

“You spoke well tonight,” Jeongguk says to Namjoon, lifting the glass waiting for him beside his
plate.
Namjoon flushes, head tilted down in embarrassment. Jin beams with a wide smile, eyes intent on
Namjoon and Taehyung wants to tell him that he loves his Namjoon face.

“You know, Bobby’s always been a bad liar,” Hanbin whispers in his ear before he joins in and lifts
his glass in a toast. Taehyung almost jumps from the sudden tickle in his ear, but he digs his feet into
the floor to ground himself.

“I hope to work by your side for a long time,” Jeongguk goes on, nodding his head before the
glasses are removed and brought to their mouths.

“I knew there was something he was lying about when he talked about his plot against Jeongguk,”
Hanbin says when Jeongguk brings the glass to his mouth and tips it back while he pretends to do
the same. “I thought he was making it up to hide the fact he’s jealous but...I think he was lying
because of you.”

Taehyung stays still, keeping the bright smile on his lips though he feels like his insides have
smacked against a brick wall. He’s amazed there isn’t a shake in his hands as he settles the glass back
onto the table.

Hanbin wears a matching smile, a friendly smile that could fool anyone. It does fool everyone as no
one seems to notice that Taehyung’s body has grown so rigid he’s afraid he might snap.

“It was Jeongguk this whole time, wasn’t it?”

Taehyung glances at Jeongguk, who is leaning across the table to say something to Jin that makes Jin
yell out an offended noise and pretend to hit him.

Plot against Jeongguk. It sits heavily on Taehyung’s chest and he wants to ask what it means but he
doesn’t want to indulge Hanbin further.

“You sound jealous,” Taehyung hums with a flirty smile, finally turning to face him. “You know
how the game plays baby. Every one of Bobby’s birds wants a daddy, it’d be stupid to not take
advantage of the opportunity.”

Hanbin huffs out a laugh at this, the amusement bright in his eyes. “Doll taught you well. Many men
want you, but you’ve turned them all away for the most powerful piece on the board. Do you even
know Jeongguk’s role in all this?”

Taehyung can’t resist the urge to glance at Jeongguk again. He’s laughing at something Jin says
before glancing at Taehyung, his features softening as he reaches out to cup his hand over
Taehyung’s.

He doesn’t know what Hanbin means, but he’s trying to rile Taehyung up to make a scene. He
knows it. Hanbin likes to spur out a reaction that he can punish him for later on, he always has.

“I hope you’re not telling him anything embarrassing,” Jeongguk says playfully to Hanbin. “I have
just as many stories about you.”

“No. I was wondering how you two met actually.”

Jeongguk widens his eyes at this, laughing awkwardly. They hadn’t come up with a cover story, but
Jeongguk seemed uninterested whether or not his coworkers knew Taehyung was being paid to be
here.

“Panda Express, if you’d believe it,” Taehyung supplies, smiling fondly at Jeongguk to ease the pit
in his stomach. “I asked if he was on the menu and the poor thing looked so embarrassed.”

He looks embarrassed now, smiling shyly as he glances at his employees and his cheeks darken with
a blush.

“It’s not every day a beautiful man drops a horrible pick up line on you,” Jeongguk huffs out with a
grin.

“Best meal I’ve ever gotten from there.”

Jin makes a choking noise, grimacing at them in disgust. “Save it for after I eat, please.”

Getting Jeongguk’s attention back onto him is successful in keeping Hanbin from whispering in his
ear again. At least, long enough until the food is served and Jeongguk is distracted by another
conversation.

Taehyung tries not to choke on his food when he feels Hanbin’s hand slipping over his leg, thumb
digging into the side of his knee. He doesn’t fidget or stop eating, even when the pressure of
Hanbin’s palm has his leg being pulled to the side until his legs are spread.

Normally, at the club, Taehyung would swat the hand and shoot out a rude remark when he’s
touched without warning. But he doesn’t want Jeongguk noticing and since Jimin is gone, the rules
of what Taehyung is allowed to do are unknown to him.

Embarrassing Hanbin in front of everyone would not be good if Taehyung wants to remain on
Bobby’s good side. But it’s tearing up his insides like knives sticking into his stomach. He’s never
felt so desperate not to be touched by someone and it’s choking him.

When he first started working for Bobby, Jimin would tell him he’d get used to it. He wouldn’t hate
the touches so much and the gross way he felt wouldn’t linger for too long. This never became true
for him.

“You can say it all you want, Guk, but this is an investment your father should be wanting,” Jin says,
a hard, defensive look on his face. “This is something that’s only rumored to exist and Namjoon
hates patents. You know he doesn’t even want the fame this could bring. He just wants to help.”

Taehyung watches uncomfortably as Jin and Jeongguk bicker. He should have listened better to
Namjoon’s speech because Jin hadn’t been specific in his explanation about what exactly it is that
Namjoon is trying to do. He thinks his goal is to make cigarettes healthier, but he doesn’t understand
how it is possible.

He didn’t even know chemical engineers worked in manufacturing cigarettes.

Jeongguk sighs as he pushes his chopsticks around his plate. “Hyung, I know. If I didn’t support
Namjoon’s research, I wouldn’t be here. I just can’t have the company fund it. Joon’s not just
working to target what makes cigarettes cancerous, he’s targeting what makes them addictive. This
company relies on that addiction to prosper, my father isn’t going to support it.”

Taehyung wants to fidget as Hanbin grazes his hand higher, fingers rubbing circles over the seam of
his pants. He considers excusing himself to the bathroom but he doesn’t want Hanbin to know he’s
affected.

He glances around for Hoseok, but he must be behind him and Taehyung can’t turn his head around
to look.
“If only you put this amount of support in both of your engineers,” Hanbin says from beside him,
making Jeongguk turn to him and Taehyung’s face burn. He appears friendly still, but there’s an icy
cold tone to his voice and his fingers dig harder into Taehyung's legs.

It feels gross being touched by another man while beside Jeongguk. He wants to touch Jeongguk to
forget about it, but that would make him feel worse. He’s never felt hesitant to touch Jeongguk
before, not this hesitant, and he fucking hates it.

Being exclusive with Jeongguk wouldn’t stop Hanbin from doing what he likes, he doubts it with the
way Hanbin boldly touches him while talking to Jeongguk. But maybe he’d feel more confident in
breaking Hanbin’s fingers if he were under Jeongguk’s protection and not Bobby’s.

The muscle over Jeongguk’s jaw flexes as he gives Hanbin a hard look. He seems to contemplate his
words, head ticking to the side for a moment before he speaks.

“He doesn’t share the same problem, hyung. His research is funded, completely funded by Jeon
Tobacco. Namjoon-ssi here does not have the same support.”

Hanbin laughs without amusement, his grip tightening over Taehyung’s thigh. He can barely
swallow the food in his mouth and he can feel Jin’s eyes on him, flicking between concern for him
and throwing daggers at Hanbin.

“That is a matter of loyalty.”

The tension is hot and heavy around them, their entire table starting to fall silent as an irritated look
crosses Jeongguk’s face.

Taehyung’s seen him playful and serious, demanding and generous, but he’s never seen this look on
Jeongguk’s face and it makes his neck hotter than Jeongguk’s had been earlier. Maybe he should
have tried the choke test when he wasn’t groping Jeongguk through his pants. He could have an
angry side that works hand in hand with the muscles hugging his arms.

“It is, and if Jiwon gets a degree in chemical engineering, I’ll be happy as can be to give him a spot
in the company. Namjoon-ssi could use an apprentice, I’m sure he’d appreciate one.”

Hanbin’s hand slides to Taehyung’s inner thigh, the edge of his wrist grazing between his legs as he
stares down Jeongguk.

The conversation is over his head, Jin looks a second away from jumping across the table and
Namjoon has his head down so far it is nearly in his bowl, the hot steam hitting his face. The handful
of other people at the table have their eyes diverted, but no one touches their food.

“Gukkie baby,” Taehyung interrupts, easing a smile into his voice in hopes of ridding the tension in
Jeongguk’s shoulders and hopefully giving him an excuse to move far enough to get away from the
hand that has made it's way between his legs. “Try this and tell me this isn’t the best thing you’ve
ever tasted.”

Jeongguk looks startled for only a moment before he’s ducking forward, lips parted as Taehyung
picks up a few pieces of red meat.

When Jeongguk takes the food into his mouth, his eyes are thankful and Taehyung just nods as he
swallows down the guilt building in his throat. Hanbin won't let up and there's a rage building inside
of him that makes him want to kick his elbow back until it collides with his chin.

“My mother always told me we shouldn’t bicker over dinner. She would whack us if we so as much
pouted. ‘Baby, we should feel nothing but gratefulness that we are able to fill our bellies.’”

“She sounds like a smart woman,” Jin says with a meaningful look in his eyes.

Taehyung nods as Jeongguk takes his hand before he can pull it away and plops a greasy, cheek
stuffed kiss to the back of it.

She’s always told him to be grateful for everything he’s given in life, even small things. His heart
hurts as he realizes he hasn’t.

Stuck between Hanbin and Jeongguk he realizes, maybe if it’s understandable that he’s cautious of
Jeongguk, he’s still been something good given to him.

Even if it does end soon, Jeongguk makes him feel something that he hasn’t felt in a long time and he
needs to be grateful for it until it ends.

Jeongguk thinks maybe he stares too much at Taehyung to know that he’s looking off. The truth of it
is that he knows little about Taehyung, but he feels it in his gut that something is wrong.

Since Jeongguk’s picked Taehyung up, he’s been a bit confusing. The incident in the car is still lost
to him, but if Taehyung needs it to feel comfortable - or whatever his reason is, Jeongguk had meant
it when he trusts him. He thought Taehyung relaxed afterwards, but he’s seemed tense since dinner.
It’s only when Taehyung must think Jeongguk isn’t looking because there’s a warm smile on his face
every time he turns to Taehyung.

But Jeongguk is always looking, he can’t help it. He’s never laid his eyes on a man more beautiful
and his heart has never been so easily fucked over by someone. Not love or anything, but the feeling
of I want to love this person and I want them to love me someday.

Not love, not yet. There’s a lot that he can learn about Taehyung before then, but he feels like he’s
on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall into the rocky depth of love below.

“Well it requires trial runs and unfortunately, longitudinal studies,” Namjoon goes on. He had
performed well, speaking for in front of everyone, though Jeongguk knows well he gets flustered
easily.

He’s still angry about his small bickering with Hanbin. He knows Hanbin is only looking out for
Yunbok’s best interest, but Namjoon has worked hard to get where he is and deserves recognition.

Not that Yunbok hasn’t worked hard, but the job at Jeon Tobacco had been passed on to him, just
like he expects Bobby to take over when he retires.

It’s absurd when Bobby doesn’t even have a college degree. He took some business courses his first
year, but that was about it.

Yunbok must have sent Hanbin to represent himself at the function. His father would support
Jeongguk’s push for a healthier, less addictive cigarette if Yunbok wasn’t in his ear. Jeongguk knows
this.

“Well thankfully, consumers believe what they’re told,” Hanbin adds with a laugh. “Spread an article
about how healthy your new cigarettes are and you’ll have a handful of people buying them without
understanding or caring what longitudinal studies even mean.”
Taehyung shifts beside him, bringing food up to his mouth as his other hand slips over his own
where it’s laid between them on the table, fingers tracing the lines of his palm. It’s distracting, but a
comfort Jeongguk needs.

He catches himself staring at the way Taehyung’s lips move when he speaks, distracting himself
from the conversation around them.

Maybe it’s the alcohol, but Jeongguk hadn’t drunk enough to even be slightly buzzed. He’s been
keeping track of the way Jin keeps refilling his glass when he thinks Jeongguk isn’t looking.

“Ah to lying and deceit,” Jin cheers sarcastically, holding up his champagne flute. "Cheers,
capitalism."

It turns into a back and forth conversation, near argument again, about whether it’s the consumers’
fault for not being informed or the company's fault for playing on the consumer's ignorance.
Jeongguk sits back and listens, pulling Taehyung’s hand under the table as he tries to eat with one
hand without getting it all over himself.

He has an opinion, but it hardly matters. Being CEO of this company has gone against his morals in
many ways, and he doesn’t like to think about it.

“What do you think Taehyung?” Hanbin pipes in, turning his eyes to Taehyung. It grabs Jeongguk’s
attention.

He hasn’t missed the way Hanbin’s also seemed distracted by Taehyung. It’s understandable, he’s
the most beautiful thing in the room.

Taehyung’s cheeks bulge with his food before he swallows, glancing at Hanbin. His fingers tighten
around Jeongguk’s and Jeongguk soothes a thumb over his knuckles.

He isn’t sure he’s ever seen Taehyung so nervous and shy. He doesn’t think Taehyung is used to
affection, especially in front of other people, but he’s not sure. He’s also not sure how comfortable it
is to be the only one not apart of the conversation. Jeongguk knows Taehyung must be smart, but he
doesn’t know how much Taehyung knows about corporations.

These are all guesses and Jeongguk wants to know what it is so he can find a way to help Taehyung
relax.

“I think... unless your cigarettes are worse than regular cigarettes, there’s no harm really being done
because people will be smoking them either way."

Namjoon grins at this but Jin only groans before huffing out his dispute. “That’s bullshit and let me
tell you why -”

“Jin,” Jeongguk says, warning in his tone. He hates using his boss voice against Jin, who doesn’t let
him usually, but he doesn’t want to embarrass Taehyung. He already looks uncomfortable as it is.

Jin stops speaking like Jeongguk’s hit a button and shut him down, but there’s deviance in his eyes.
“Nothing wrong with a little friendly debate, boss .”

Taehyung chuckles quietly from beside him, responding before Jeongguk can tell Jin that calling
Taehyung’s opinion bullshit isn’t exactly friendly. He only sighs at Jin as Taehyung warms a hand
over his knee, squeezing around him to keep him from saying anything.

“It is the consumers’ fault for believing everything they read, but it’s also companies’ fault for
manipulating them in the first place. Either way, if it works, that’d be amazing, Namjoon-ssi. I wish
you luck on your research.”

Namjoon’s smile grows as he bows his head slightly. He’s had his neck craned throughout the entire
dinner and Jeongguk worries he can no longer lift it. He doesn’t know if the red of his cheeks is from
embarrassment or the heat radiating from the bowl he’s been hiding his face in.

“Thank you. How is your work at the clinic?”

Jeongguk glances between them, wondering when the two of them had spoken as Taehyung let’s go
of his hand to cup his knee.

Taehyung halts his inching up Jeongguk’s leg at Namjoon’s words. There is a flash of something in
his eyes that has Jeongguk frowning before he speaks. “I’m working at a different one now, I’m
working for Bumin now.”

Jeongguk wants to interrupt and ask since when, but it isn’t his business. He could have transferred
after accidentally divulging the location of his regular job to Jeongguk. He’s private and deserves that
privacy.

Plus, when the hell did Namjoon and Taehyung talk?

“That’s quite different,” Namjoon says with a pinched brow, looking unsure and Taehyung only
nods before he lifts himself from his seat quickly.

“Bathroom,” he says. He leans down, pressing a soft kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek. “Eat the rest of my
dessert, I’m stuffed.”

Jeongguk flushes, knowing there are eyes on him but he can't help but have his own linger as
Taehyung walks off. His plate is empty, only a smudge of chocolate sauce left behind

“How long have you two been together?” Hanbin asks, but there’s an amused glint in his eye like he
knows Taehyung and his relationship is unconventional.

It would make sense coming from a man best friends with another who runs escorts; Taehyung's
boss especially. Hanbin and Bobby have always been close, Jeongguk’s sure he must know about
Bobby’s other profession.

“For some time,” Jeongguk lies because he doesn’t like the way Hanbin had looked at Taehyung
earlier. He didn’t like the kiss either, even if it had been innocent.

Okay, maybe he’s a little more possessive than he intends to be, but he feels like it isn’t a horrible
thing if he keeps a lot of it to himself. He’d never tell Taehyung what to do unless it was for his own
safety and even then, he folds when Taehyung glares at him.

“How is he with Ji-hu?”

Jeongguk clears his throat as he shifts in his seat and throws a hand in Namjoon’s direction. “We are
here to discuss Namjoon’s work, not my love life. Now if you’d please excuse me.”

Jeongguk pulls away from the table with a bow in Namjoon’s direction. He wants to find Taehyung
and take him home, but he can’t actually disappear too early.

Or he can. He is the boss, he has to remember that. He can do whatever he wants, and it wouldn’t
hurt anyone if he left.
He finds Taehyung in the bathroom, leaning over the sink and patting water against his neck. His
brow is wrinkled and his lips pushed into a pout, but his face relaxes when he spots Jeongguk
through the mirror.

“Are you ready to take me home, Mr. Jeon?”

Jeongguk grins as he approaches. “It’s Jeongguk.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything as he turns around, reaching to pull on the lapels is his jacket until
Jeongguk is close.

“Well, Jeongguk baby, are you going to make me wait? I’ve been good for you.”

Jeongguk ducks forward, grazing his lips over Taehyung’s jaw. He’s pulled him close enough that
they’re pressed together but it isn’t enough.

“Is everything okay?” Jeongguk murmurs against his skin as his fingers travel down Taehyung’s
neck, fingering at the choker carefully. “The affection...isn’t bothering you?”

“No,” Taehyung hums. “I want everyone to know I’m yours.”

Heat blossoms across Jeongguk’s chest and down his spine at Taehyung’s words. He wants to hear
Taehyung say that on repeat, though it has a different implication for him than it does to Jeongguk.

Taehyung tilts his head, craning his neck back as he curls his hand around the back of Jeongguk’s
head, urging him forward.

“I only want to feel your touch.”

The feeling in Jeongguk's gut as he wonders if this is why Taehyung's seemed off.

“You know you can have anything you want,” Jeongguk promises softly, lips tickling over the edge
of Taehyung’s chin.

Taehyung doesn’t respond as Jeongguk lowers his head to kiss over his Adam’s Apple. He drags his
lips gently over his skin, skipping over the choker to settle his lips over the dip between Taehyung's
collarbones.

A shattered breath leaves Taehyung’s lips as Jeongguk pulls his soft skin between his lips. The small
possessive flame inside of Jeongguk has ignited, making it flare like a wildfire.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung says quietly, hands carding through his hair. He doesn’t move to pull him
away but press him closer instead and Jeongguk complies with kisses over his skin. “I want you to
take me home.”

Jeongguk pulls back, pushing past the resistance that is Taehyung’s hands to press a quick kiss to the
corner of Taehyung’s mouth.

“I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy yourself,” Jeongguk says as he tries to pull away but Taehyung
snatches his wrists to keep him from moving too far.

“I did,” he says like he means it. “I’ve just missed you.”

Jeongguk softens - no melts into Taehyung as their lips press together. It’s innocent, almost tender,
something he didn’t realize he had craved until the other day. But it doesn’t last long before the
softness of Taehyung’s touch turns less than innocent.
Taehyung’s legs push demandingly between his own, spreading them as he moans into the kiss. It
lights Jeongguk’s skin on fire, making his fingers grip into the sink behind Taehyung.

“I’ll do anything you ask, you don’t need to seduce me,” Jeongguk jokes but when he pulls back he
swears Taehyung looks guilty for a second.

“Anything I ask? You haven’t made me yours yet,” Taehyung murmurs lowly as he slides his palms
over Jeongguk’s chest. He pushes his hips against him, melting away any of Jeongguk’s resolve.
“Weren’t you talking about exclusivity earlier?”

Jeongguk hums as he cups the side of Taehyung’s neck, appreciating the way he tilts into his touch
and reveals the slope of his neck.

“You barely even reddened the skin,” Taehyung whispers as Jeongguk ducks his head down,
breathing over his unmarked skin.

“So you like when people leave their marks?” Jeongguk asks, purposefully tickling his lips over his
pulse.

Taehyung shivers, fingers gripping into Jeongguk’s shirt. “Only the ones you leave.”

A small groan rumbles in Jeongguk’s chest as he gives in, parting his lips to pull Taehyung’s skin
into his mouth. Taehyung gasps quietly, but the sound seems loud in the empty bathroom.

He sucks softly, teeth digging into Taehyung’s skin. He savors the quiet moan Taehyung lets out. It’s
addicting, and Jeongguk wants to kiss every inch of Taehyung’s skin to create more of those sounds
that blanket over his skin and drag a heat into his belly.

“Stop,” Taehyung gasps quietly. Jeongguk does, pulling away but Taehyung pulls him back to press
a kiss to his lips.

Kissing Taehyung is just as addicting. His lips are soft and plush, his tongue slick and skilled,
working past Jeongguk’s teeth before slipping over his own. He kisses Taehyung harder, groaning
into it before pulling back just enough to suck harshly on his bottom lip.

He doesn’t want to stop, but the bathroom door opening has him pulling away. Taehyung’s eyes are
even heavier, his swollen lips parted around heavy exhales. His hands slip away, but Jeongguk
doesn’t move from where he stands between his legs.

“Oh, excuse me, Mr. Jeon. Jaebum-ssi was looking for you.”

Jeongguk rubs Taehyung’s slick bottom lip before turning to face his employee, Mark, who works in
the International Relations Department. He’s flushed to the roots as he bows his head before ducking
quickly into one of the bathroom stalls.

Taehyung snorts quietly, pushing Jeongguk back with his body. “Don’t make me wait too soon,
baby. There are other wealthy people out there that I know have had their rounds with Bobby’s
birds. And I might just be in the mood to get that little possessive part of you worked up.”

It’s meant to be teasing, but Taehyung’s eyes burn with something he can’t read.

“Who?” Jeongguk asks, reaching out to swat Taehyung’s bum playfully as he scurries for the door.
He doesn’t care if Mark can hear them or not, he wants to know.

He doesn’t like thinking about any of his employees, even the ones he barely knows, touching
Taehyung. He wonders if that is what has Taehyung looking uncomfortable and seeking Jeongguk’s
touch and marks. He never considered the fact that he works with people who could have worked
with Taehyung before. Jin could afford it, Namjoon as well.

It's not something he can think about, because he would fire them without second thought. It would
be difficult afterwards, and torturing, but he couldn't deal with someone he loved hurting another
person in the way he's assumed Taehyung to be hurt.

“Client confidentiality, I’m afraid,” Taehyung murmurs before he’s slipping out of the door and
leaving a dumbfounded Jeongguk behind.

To be honest, Taehyung isn’t sure what game he’s playing. He knows he’s playing one though. His
skin throbs from Jeongguk’s mouth and he shows it off proudly.

He can’t piss off Hanbin and maybe it’s the alcohol he’s consumed (and keeps knocking back) that
makes him want to. Maybe he wants Hanbin to know that someone else treats him better than he
ever has. That he’s lost Taehyung, hopefully for good.

Maybe he fucking wants exclusivity with Jeongguk, whatever. The thought makes him feel like his
walls are crashing down around him and he feels desperate to hear Jimin’s voice.

Hanbin’s eyes are burning into his skin when Taehyung makes his way to the table, taking the seat
Jeongguk had been sitting in. Jin looks amused when he spots Taehyung’s disheveled look, but he
sips at his drink instead of responding.

It is easy to keep his shoulders back and chin tilted high, faking confidence and disinterest. But it isn't
easy to keep the panic in his chest down, nor keep his eyes from flitting back and forth between
where Hanbin watches him and where Jeongguk strolls out of the bathroom while fixing his clothes.

“Seokjin-ssi, may I borrow your cell phone?”

Jin’s brows stitch together but he hands it over without question. Taehyung excuses himself, quickly
dialing Jimin’s phone number as he has it memorized so Bobby can’t accidentally find it.

“Doll here. How may I help you?”

Taehyung has always been envious of how low and sultry Jimin is able to make his voice. Even
though Taehyung’s voice is deeper, he worries sometimes that he sounds like he’s growling rather
than seducing.

“It’s me.”

“You okay?” Jimin asks instantly, worry in his voice. “Whose phone is this?”

“Jin’s,” Taehyung breathes into the receiver, clutching it to his ear as he settles himself at the bar.
The bartender nods at him and though he doesn’t ask for another drink, he brings him one anyway.
“I think I might have made a mistake or not? I don’t know.”

“What’s going on?” Jimin asks, his voice hushed and it sounds like he’s moving. He has no idea
what time it is in America, he’s barely been able to talk to Jimin since he’s left. Just twice, when
Jimin called him to give him this number and when Taehyung needed advice for tonight. “Is this
about the choke test?”
“Kind of? He passed with flying fucking colors,” Taehyung whines. “Even asked me if it was
possible to be exclusive with me while my hand was around his throat. He wasn’t even bothered by
it.”

Jimin lets out a delighted noise, though it is still quiet in pitch. “Baby, I don’t see how this is a
dilemma.”

“Because I want it,” Taehyung grumbles before he takes a big gulp of his drink, uncaring if it looks
sloppy. “I want that and I’m trying to deal with that problem while enjoying myself and I was feeling
really good but Hanbin decides to show his face, a sign I can’t have anything good without -”

“Wait, slow down,” Jimin says and Taehyung pretends he can feel Jimin’s hands on his shoulders,
grounding him until he can catch his breath.

“I’m at a work party with Guk and Hanbin is here,” Taehyung whispers, glancing over his shoulder.
Dread fills him because of course Hanbin would follow. He can’t see where Jeongguk has gone but
he hopes Jeongguk takes his word seriously and doesn’t keep him waiting. “Seeing him made me
mad, and he touched me like he had the right to do so. I wanted to make him mad and now I have
this hickey on my neck because I want to be just Jeongguk’s and Hanbin is probably going to fuck
me up because of it.”

He starts rambling again as he finishes his drink too quickly, and he doesn’t stop until Jimin raises his
voice and tells him to stop. “He’s not allowed to touch you, Taehyung. You won’t get in trouble if
you react.”

“I don’t want Jeongguk to - babe, I gotta go. I love you.”

Taehyung can't wait to hear Jimin’s response before he’s hanging up the phone abruptly, turning as
he feels Hanbin moving into the space beside him.

Hanbin’s smile is gentle, as is the finger he traces across the back of Taehyung’s hand. “I did mean
it. You look beautiful tonight.”

“I look beautiful all of the time,” Taehyung says around the brim of his drink.

Hanbin’s smile doesn’t falter as he sits beside him, legs brushing. He’s just as touchy as before,
sliding his hand over Taehyung’s knee and Taehyung is thankful he decided on a suit and not a
dress.

He’s well aware that Hanbin has his own record label, his own business. He can’t work with
Jeongguk, he thinks, but he doesn’t know why else he would be here.

Jimin’s words are fresh in his mind but he can’t make a scene. It’s a night that’s important to
Namjoon, and probably to Jin. Taehyung has a feeling that anger that he glimpsed in Jeongguk’s
face earlier will come back tenfold.

Jeongguk is powerful, he knew this but he’s starting to wonder just how powerful Jeongguk is.
Hanbin knows, but Taehyung refuses to ask him.

“You know, Bobby didn’t mention that Jeongguk was one of your clients.”

“He doesn’t need to tell you about every person who buys his whores, Hanbin.”

Hanbin’s lips press together at this. “I told you not to call yourself that in front of me.”
Taehyung stops himself from rolling his eyes. He doesn’t understand why the men who empty their
pockets for whores are the ones that hate the word the most. Instead, he waves his fingers at the bar
to call for another drink.

He misses Jackson and he wonders if his back has healed enough for Bobby to allow him back at the
club. He offered to wear something that would cover the marks, even argued that there would be
some clients that would get off on it, but he’s been banned until every mark is gone.

“I’m not yours tonight, darling, or any night,” Taehyung says, elongating his neck until Hanbin’s
eyes drop to where his skin throbs. His eyes scan across the room until they land on Jeongguk, who
stands in front of a man who doesn't look as if he belongs. He's dressed just as expensively as
everyone else, but his neck is coated in tattoos. “I’m Jeongguk’s. Indefinitely, as it is.”

“We’ll see about that,” Hanbin murmurs, that friendly smile still on his face.

“I’m gonna need you to move your hand.”

Taehyung startles at the sudden sound of Hoseok’s beside him. It’s alarming how a face that can be
so full of sunshine can look so mean and intimidating.

“I’m gonna need you to mind your place,” Hanbin shoots back without hesitation, his grin curling
into something more menacing.

The tension grows quickly and Taehyung springs up, pressing a hand to Hoseok’s chest. Hoseok
doesn’t have a Jimin sized protection on his shoulders like Taehyung does.

“S’fine, Hope. We’re just chatting.”

Hoseok doesn’t seem to hear him or acknowledge him at all. “Hands off.”

Hanbin huffs out a laugh, a sound that’s starting to make the hair on Taehyung’s neck stand. “I
would honestly watch yourself, Hope. You’re not in good standing with Bobby, you don’t want to
make it worse.”

Taehyung looks from Hoseok to Hanbin, wondering what he means and if it’s even true. “You talk
about Jeongguk being the biggest piece on the board, I don’t expect you want to see whose side he
chooses between Hoseok and you.”

Hanbin lets out a delighted laugh. “You’re smart, Baby. I’m glad that money Bobby spent on your
tuition was put to good use.”

He digs his fingers into Hoseok’s wrist when Hanbin reaches out, a challenge in his eyes before he
brushes the back of his fingers over Taehyung’s cheek. Hoseok grumbles something under his breath
before he’s pulling Taehyung away, probably upset that he’s stopping Hoseok from doing the one
thing he’s paid to be doing; protecting him.

“There’s a lot of people that will be upset about losing you. Yunbok too.”

Taehyung’s heart stutters in his chest, as he moves to take a step back from Hanbin, only to hit a
body behind him. He wants to apologize, but he also doesn’t want to turn his back to Hanbin.

The person behind him slips a hand over the back of his neck, and Taehyung’s body relaxes almost
embarrassingly when he feels Jeongguk’s lips brushing over his temple.

It reminds him of that night with Kunhee and how he wishes he had Jeongguk stay later, intercepting
him from going home with Yunbok.

“Hyung,” Jeongguk greets, a smile on his lips but an edge to his voice. “Should I be concerned about
your interest in my date?”

The smile on Hanbin’s lips is pleasant as he slowly pulls his eyes away from Taehyung. “Why
would you buy such a pretty thing if you didn’t want others to look? You’ve always been flashy,
Guk.”

Jeongguk’s fingers still at the back of Taehyung’s neck for a moment before he continues drawing
soothing shapes over his skin.

It doesn’t ease the fast thump of Taehyung’s heart. He was wondering if Hanbin was going to
mention knowing him, knowing what he does. He wonders if he’ll tell Jeongguk about just exactly
who he’d be taking Taehyung away from.

“That might have been your doing, hyung.”

Hanbin laughs quietly and Taehyung tries not to fidget uncomfortably. He wants to leave but he
doesn’t want to draw attention to himself more than he already has. He hates the familiar way
Hanbin and Jeongguk speak with each other.

His life is a huge joke.

“Is he one of Bobby’s?”

Taehyung freezes as Jeongguk shifts beside him, guiding himself further between the two of them.

“No disrespect, hyung, but I’d prefer if you spoke to my date as if he were a person and not an object
on my arm. He speaks eloquently and just so happens to have a lovely voice.”

Hanbin’s eyes brighten at this and he turns his eyes to Taehyung. As much as warmth fills his chest
from Jeongguk’s words, he wishes he hadn’t said them. It’s easier to remain calm when he isn’t
under Hanbin’s gaze.

“My apologies.”

Taehyung huffs out. “I’m used to being treated that way,” he says tersely before he’s standing. He
finds it difficult to breathe and he needs to call Jimin again. “Come on, Gukkie baby, take me home.”

He presses a swift kiss to Jeongguk before he takes off to give Jin his phone back, not bothering to
look back at either man watching him leave.

It is tense and uncomfortable. Jeongguk's eyes are worried and focused on him as Taehyung sucks in
a breath and tries to control his emotions from taking over. Jeongguk doesn't seem intent on saying
goodbye to anyone, but guiding Taehyung out like he can suspect it is an emergency.

"Who? Who was the man with the tattoos?" Taehyung asks as Jeongguk guides him into the lobby.

Jeongguk looks confused for a moment before understanding makes his eyes wider. "Im Jaebum. He
works in the Distribution Department. Why?"

There isn't any reason other than Taehyung trying to distract himself and distract Jeongguk from
asking about the tension between them. "The tattoos. He didn't really fit in."

Jeongguk snorts as he pushes open the door for him and the cooler night air washes over their skin.
"I'm not going to judge someone just because he has a bug inked into the side of his neck."

Taehyung sighs softly, glancing back at Jeongguk. There is amusement in his eyes but they're soft
around the edges, wide and doe like. It would be easy to fool himself into falling for him, just by
looking at his eyes. "What about the one on my neck?"

Red creeps over Jeongguk's face as he glances at the hickey sporting on the side of Taehyung' neck.
He blinks for a moment before turning his head forward. "I think you would look better with more."

Yoongi watches as Jin sits on the edge of his bed, gently coaxing Eunae awake enough to get her
from the apartment to the car. He had insisted Jin let them sleep, that he and his friend could take
Yoongi’s bed or couch if they wanted.

He’s fond - overly fond, his heart growing quickly in size. It had been a good night of watching
cartoons and drawing. A night without a troubled mind and one he needed. Taehyung had gone over
and over instructions for Woojin, but the boy had been a lot more talkative and comfortable than
Yoongi anticipated. A bit quiet at first, until Eunae told Yoongi he was afraid Taehyung wouldn't
return and Yoongi assured him he would.

Though Jimin never stays from his mind for long and he isn’t surprised that Jimin pops into his head
as he watches Jin with Eunae. He thinks of how Jimin would be with her, how he is with the kids he
teaches, how he would be if they had kids of their own.

Yoongi sighs, ruffling a hand through his hair. It’s been over a week since Jimin had left him
sleeping alone in Jeongguk’s guest room, over a week since he’s heard from him.

Jeongguk had told him he went to New York early, but it doesn’t explain why Jimin hasn’t texted
him back. In his heart, he knows and he’s trying not to think about it.

“She’s not budging,” Jin sighs. He looks exhausted, his hair in messy tufts around his head and
the tie loosened around his throat, but Yoongi isn’t sure if that’s because of the late hour or
something else.

His friend looks quite similar, though his cheeks flush every time Yoongi looks at him.

“Let them stay,” Yoongi insists again. “I can make breakfast. I probably have rice. Maybe.”

Jin snorts as he pushes himself from the bed. “I wish Taehyung were here. She always wakes up for
him. Sometimes she doesn’t go to sleep because she’s waiting for him to come home.”

"Woojin was worried he wouldn't," Yoongi tells him, though he's unsure if it's his place to say
anything.

It makes Jin look grim. "He becomes very afraid whenever Taehyung leaves the house."

This time, Yoongi doesn't comment because he knows it isn't his place.

“Here hold on,” Jin says as he pads out of the bedroom, closing the door halfway behind him. He
goes through his phone before bringing it up to his ear and holding a hand out to tell Yoongi to stay.
“Hey it’s Jin, I have something important to tell you.”

Yoongi’s face crumples in confusion as Jin holds the phone out to him.
“As a thank you for taking care of them tonight. Don’t tell Taehyung, he’ll kill me.”

He hears the muffled, quick talking and as he starts to bring it up to his ear, his heart flops around in
his chest.

“Is it Taehyung? Jin you can’t just start a conversation like that! I’ve been worrying since he called
and -"

“Jimin?”

It goes quiet for a moment as Yoongi rests against the wall, his heart beating quickly against his
sternum from the sound of Jimin’s voice. He doesn’t even notice the way Jin places a hand to his
friend’s back to guide him out, leaving Yoongi where he sinks against the wall.

“Yoongi?” Jimin asks, his voice just below a whisper.

“I’m sorry - I didn’t know he was calling you, I didn’t ask him -"

“I miss you.”

The words slowly filter through Yoongi’s brain as he sinks down until his butt hits the ground. He
clutches the phone to his ear, wishing his heart would stop beating so loudly so he could hear Jimin
better.

They have gone stretches of time without talking to each other and it’s the same every time.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Jimin says, laughing lightly and it’s a clear sign he’s lying. “It was a surprise trip, I didn’t
know I was going. A little get away you know? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. You’d love it here
though, Yoongs. I’m right outside of the big city, it’s nice.”

Yoongi taps against his knees a few times. When Jeongguk told him that Jimin was in New York, he
looked nervous and a bit downtrodden. It didn’t sound like a getaway vacation when Jeongguk told
him.

“I miss you too,” Yoongi says instead of pushing Jimin for more, though he wants to. “When are you
coming home?”

There’s another bout of silence before Jimin speaks again, making Yoongi feel worse. “Ah, oh, I
don’t know. I think after the recital. I really like it here.”

It sounds like he isn’t coming back, but Yoongi isn’t sure if his brain is making him feel that way or
not.

He’s always had trouble assessing the situation when it comes to Jimin.

“I’m thinking about going down with Guk, to see Ji-hu,” Yoongi lies. He wanted to, but he wasn’t
sure if he could get the time off of work. Though he misses the boy a lot, he knows he’ll be home in
no time at all.

But Jimin, he isn’t sure and he needs to see him.

Over the last week, it’s been in his mind a lot. There are things he needs to say before Jimin
disappears from his life for good.
“Are you sure? I know how busy work is for you.”

Yoongi sighs again, tilting his chin to stare up at the ceiling. “If you don’t want to see me Jimin-ah,
it’s okay. I won’t intrude.”

“No, it’s just,” Jimin stutters over his words before sighing quietly. When he speaks again his words
are quieter than before. “Of course I want to see you. I have to go though. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Jimin?” Yoongi says as he pushes off the wall, his body going tight with a desperation for Jimin to
stay on the phone.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

Yoongi thinks if silence were an object he could hold in his hands, he’d kill it without a second
thought. Silence is something he’s always loved, but right now he hates it.

“Yeah, I love you too.”

When Jeongguk wakes, he stares at the empty side of his bed for a while before shoving himself out
of it. He doesn’t think about it, or he tries not to as he searches for a pair of briefs and brushes his
teeth.

Taehyung made it easy to forget that the relationship between them isn’t a typical one. Not that
Jeongguk ever minds what they do have, but his brain nags him with the constant reminder that he
wants more.

He’s sure there’s a rule about falling in love with an escort, but Jeongguk thinks any rules when it
comes to love are always leaving themselves open to be broken.

Jeongguk freezes when he gets to the end of the hallway, taking in the aroma of fresh coffee and
fried food. He can hear the sound of the sizzling pan under a soft sound of humming.

There’s a smile before he emerges and takes in the sight before him. Taehyung stands over the stove,
head rocking back and forth to the beat of the song he hums. His hair is a mess around his head, his
body bare save for the over sized shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders and tickling the top of his
thighs.

It’s one of Jeongguk’s that Taehyung must have stolen from the closet and Jeongguk’s belly erupts
into butterflies at the sight.

“Hey you,” Jeongguk mumbles, announcing himself before he walks into the kitchen as not to scare
Taehyung but he jumps anyway.

“Morning baby. Did you sleep okay?”

Taehyung’s voice is thick and raspy which sleep and he rubs at his eyes before holding a hand out
for Jeongguk to grab. It’s uncharted territory, but Jeongguk moves without hesitation to plant his
chest against Taehyung’s back.

“Mhm,” Jeongguk hums before pressing a kiss to the curve of Taehyung’s neck. “This is a nice
surprise.”
 Taehyung tilts his head, a low pleased noise vibrating in his throat as he flips the eggs sizzling on the
pan. “I was going to make those toaster waffles you promised me, but to no one’s surprise; you have
a massive penthouse with an empty kitchen. All I found was the rice and three eggs. You should
probably buy yourself food when you grocery shop for me.”

Jeongguk grins against Taehyung’s jaw, hands slipping down his sides to settle at his waist. “I pay
someone to do the shopping, plus - why do I need to go grocery shopping when there’s a whole
meal right here in front of me.”

With a soft gasp of his name, Taehyung turns around with narrowed eyes but cheeks bright red.

“Shut up,” Taehyung grumbles, curling an arm around Jeongguk’s neck to bring him into a kiss.

He tries not to get lost in it, the way Taehyung’s mouth feels licking behind his teeth because he
doesn’t want the house to burn down. But it’s dizzying, especially when Jeongguk slips his hands
underneath the loose t-shirt that Taehyung wears and feels nothing but smooth skin and nothing
interrupting the path his hands make.

“I can’t,” Taehyung breathes, eyes wide and the sleep from his features gone. “I can’t stay too long.”

Jeongguk doesn’t feel any disappointment, content with having Taehyung as long as he can. “Will
you stay and eat?”

“I shouldn’t,” Taehyung mumbles against Jeongguk’s lips, not pulling away despite saying he can’t.
Jeongguk should have known by the one bowl of rice waiting for him on the counter.

“Okay, let me get my wallet, your eggs are going to burn,” Jeongguk says before a quick kiss. He’s
reluctant to pull away but he forces himself to. “Can I drive you home? We can eat in the car.”

Taehyung’s ears are now bright red as he bites down on his bottom lip, contemplating. “Yes but -
Jeongguk? I don’t want any money.”

He turns as the eggs start sizzling loudly, quickly turning off the stove and moving the plate.

“Baby -"

Taehyung whips around, hands pressing flat against Jeongguk’s chest. “I don’t want you to okay?”

Jeongguk nods. Though he doesn’t know what Taehyung means, he knows Taehyung means it.

“Okay, sure. Whatever you want.”

Chapter End Notes

*** the scene starts after 'Jin makes a choking noise, grimacing at them in disgust. “Save
it for after I eat, please.'" and ends at the pov change indicated with the asterisk ***

So... was anyone else waiting for Hanbin to find out it was Jeonggukkie not Yoongi?
Jaj, let me know what you think please?
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 Chapter 10
Chapter Notes

When I was editing this chapter, it felt a lot shorter but it's actually the same length as the
last two? Lol.

Thank you so much for the feedback, I enjoy reading your comments (I'm always
checking my email and searching through twitter to read them omg because it makes me
so happy lmao.)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The new client, Richard, isn’t the worst Jimin has ever had, nor is he the strangest. He’s middle aged
and alright looking - nothing cringe worthy but nothing about him particularly stands out either. They
don’t talk much and he never touches Jimin, but he touches himself enough to every costume that he
makes Jimin wear around the house that Jimin feels like he’s being touched anyway.

He doesn’t have any rules for what Jimin does during the day so he spends most of it by the pool or
in the city, using a card he was given when he first arrived. Richard is pretty relaxed, except he hates
being woken up and dinner has to be on time.

It could have been a lot worse of a punishment but Jimin knows it isn’t the client that’s the
punishment, but being separated from Taehyung. And Yoongi. Bobby wouldn’t punish him by
letting another man touch him, that would just be punishment for Bobby as well.

Jimin sighs as he tightens the skirt of his current costume around his waist. He bought himself a
cellphone to keep in touch with Taehyung, but he finds himself staring at it trying to fight off the
urge to call Yoongi.

The recital is in only a few days and part of him hopes that he will show up. Another part of him
doesn't want Yoongi there at all.

He can’t get it out of his head, how soft and sad Yoongi sounded when they talked for that short
time. It might be his age, but it seems like everything he’s been able to handle before he no longer
can. The weight of his desire for something else and confusion about what to do is weighing his
shoulders down so low he’s afraid of getting rug burn.

Jimin pulls on the sheer tights before strapping them to his garters. Richard is due home soon, and
whenever he lays out an outfit before he goes to work, he expects Jimin to be wearing it when he
returns.

It’s a stupid maid costume that makes him feel ridiculous but the material feels nice on his skin. He
inspects himself over in the mirror, trying out whether messy bangs over his forehead or his hair
parted and pushed back looks better but he gives up as the loud obnoxious doorbell sounds through
the house.

He’s not supposed to ever answer the door, but he’s supposed to check to see who it is to report it
back to Richard later. He thinks Richard has a second, more illegal job, but he’s yet to guess at what
it is. He hasn’t found any drugs around the house and he’s thankful; Bobby knows how he feels
about them.

Jimin pushes up on his tiptoes to see through the peephole, his heart stopping in his chest when he
spots the familiar face, distorted by the curved glass.

He rips it open, uncaring whether or not Richard returns home and finds out he’s broken one of the
rules.

“Jeongguk,” Jimin exclaims, pulling him into an embrace. He’s gone so long without speaking that
he’s been talking to himself in fear of losing his voice.

“Hyung,” Jeongguk hums, gripping him close. It hasn’t been that long but it feels like it’s been years.
His hair is lighter, his cheeks fuller, and he wears a suit that looks more like Hoseok’s bodyguard suit
than a business suit. They’ve never showed much skinship with each other, but Jimin finds himself
finding a huge comfort in the way Jeongguk squeezes him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. You shouldn’t be here but -"

Jimin’s words falter when he looks behind Jeongguk, noticing the slick black car and the two figures,
dressed identically to Jeongguk, approaching.

It hasn’t been that long , but even a day away from Yoongi feels like years and his lungs expand
with the chance to finally be able to breathe again.

“Is Richard home?” Jeongguk asks, fixing his tie. Jimin keeps his eyes on Yoongi, though Yoongi
only tilts his head in response. Unlike Hoseok, who shoves past Jeongguk to give him a kiss on the
cheek.

“He will be, why?” Jimin asks, words hesitant. As happy as he is to see his friends, the entire
situation makes his heart race.

They shouldn’t know where he is or his client’s name. And now that he thinks about it, Jeongguk’s
smile looks more intimidating than friendly. The hard look in his eyes looks wrong - he’s seen
Jeongguk scold Ji-hu before, and even then he just looked tired or frustrated. Now, there’s not a sign
of that usual softness in his features.

No, he looks more like the bosses and clients that Jimin has to submit to with a smile on his lips.

“Go get your things, Chimmy, you’re coming with us.”

Jimin can’t help the way his eyes immediately dart to Yoongi, who only nods in confirmation of
Jeongguk’s words. He huffs out a nervous laugh, suffocating underneath the tight corset he wears.

“Are you kidnapping me?”

Jeongguk laughs too as he moves past Jimin and into the house. It’s a cold sound that makes Jimin
feel like ice is sliding over his skin.

“Something like that.”

Jimin isn’t sure if he should follow or stay put, not until Yoongi brushes past him as he walks by, a
soft smile on his lips. His eyes are just as intense, but it’s a look that Jimin is more used to. Yoongi
always looks at him with a fierceness in his eyes.

“Jeonggukkie’s not to mess with right now. Bobby knows you’re coming back, Jeongguk didn’t
give him a choice.”

“Yoongi,” Jimin says softly, grabbing for his hand before he can walk away. He needs to ask more
about that, but right now he just needs Yoongi.

Yoongi smiles softly before he pulls up their grasped hands to kiss the back of Jimin’s. He’s radiating
warmth, like UV rays are leaking out of his pores to warm over Jimin’s skin. “It’s okay you didn’t
tell me. I just want you to come home.”

Jimin nods, swallowing thickly. He doesn't see the purpose in telling Yoongi something that would
only upset him.

“I think you should pack the maid outfit too,” he jokes, lightening the air around them enough that
Jimin relaxes his shoulders.

Two Days Prior

Jeongguk knocks heavily on the front door, a demand in the sound. It’s early for visits but he doesn’t
care.

There’s a small stir of nerves inside of him, but he’s able to swallow them down. Raising Ji-hu has
helped him be stern when he needs to be, though he still hates it.

Right now, he doesn’t hate it but the nerves are still there.

The face that opens the door is unfamiliar, but the smirk that takes over their lips and the way their
eyes travel along the length of him are not.

“Hello there, Mr. Jeon. To what do I owe this pleasure?”

After visiting the club a handful of times, Jeongguk is used to the workers recognizing him though
not many have approached him after he continuously turned them down, searching for Taehyung
instead.

“Is Bobby in? I need to speak with him.”

The man pushes the door back with his body following along, the smirk stuck on his face.
Jeongguk's face grows hot at the sight of his bare body, but he keeps his eyes straight ahead and
nods his head in gratitude.

“In the kitchen.”

Jeongguk sends a quick thanks to the heavens that Bobby isn’t indecent, because he’s uncomfortable
as is. He is half asleep, his hair a wreck around his head and eyes half closed as he sips at his coffee.

His eyes open quickly however when he spots Jeongguk, his back straightening as he hurriedly puts
down his mug. Since they’ve last seen each other he has colored his hair, his curly locks now
completely blonde.

“Jeongguk! What’s up bro?”

“Sorry about the unannounced and very early visit,” Jeongguk apologizes without sincerity. “I have
a flight to catch but I needed to speak with you.”

Bobby doesn’t look bothered as he waves Jeongguk along, gesturing for him to follow. Jeongguk
does, clinging tightly to the folder he holds.

Jin had placed it onto his desk the night of the fundraiser and Jeongguk has spent most of the last
week going over it with him. He thinks Jin deserves a raise because the amount of information Jin
found for him in such a short period of time had been extensive.

Bank statements and transactions not only in Bobby’s name, but the club, Jimin, B.B.E, and Hanbin
- anything, including Bobby’s closest associates, that Bobby may use instead of his own name. It
was Jin’s idea, and a good one, seeing as this led them an account under a fake name, Park
Yugyeom.

It had been Yoongi who noticed. Jeongguk didn’t feel right prying into Jimin’s account information
and neither did Yoongi, but it felt less wrong with Yoongi. He thinks it may be just his brain trying
to reason with him to lessen the guilt, but it worked.

Park Yugyeom is associated with every account they looked into. It’s filled with large deposits and
recognizable names, including - which Jeongguk has decided is a thought for another time, Jeon
Tobacco and Jeon Jun-ki.

I saw this, Jimin’s done his work at my place before. He said Park Yugyeom was him. I’m certain
that’s the same name.

It might be a long shot, Jeongguk thinks as he closes the office door behind them, but his gut is
telling him the list of names he has is correct. Taehyung won't tell him much about the donors, but he
has let it slip before and Jeongguk’s running with it.

“So what’s up? I’ve been waiting for you to come through, but if it’s about Baby you know that’s
out of my hands.”

Jeongguk hands the folder to Bobby, remaining standing though Bobby sits in the massive chair on
the other side of the desk. The desk is mostly bare save for a laptop and a few pens, the walls just as
empty. There’s a couch on the side with a soft, lavender blanket folded over the back and the books
on the bookshelves are layered in a thin coating of dust.

He pauses as he scans the pictures on the shelves. Jimin looks young, his cheeks much chubbier.
He’s on Bobby’s back, his eyes closed around a big smile as he squishes their faces together. It’s the
only other picture except for the one below it, of Jeongguk’s parents.

There’s a strength in seeing his mother’s face that has Jeongguk straightening his shoulders. She
wouldn’t stand for Bobby’s behavior, but that’s a tool he refuses to use against him. Not yet, at least.

He’s surprised Bobby’s made it into an industry like this. He’s always been submissive - it used to
piss Bobby’s father off so much he’d punish the both of them. Yunbok used to tell him he’d never be
able to be in charge, he was too soft.

Jeongguk wonders how true this still is and he hopes to use it to his advantage if he can.

“I’d like to discuss Baby, but another time. Right now I want to talk about Jimin.”

The folder is pushed to the side without a glance, a sign of disrespect that Jeongguk doesn’t take
personal. There’s a flash of something in Bobby’s eyes that’s either annoyed or angry.
“What about him?”

“I’m headed to New York in about two hours,” Jeongguk starts off, glancing at his watch. He caught
a later flight than the rest, only keeping Yoongi behind to keep him company on the flight. And, to
calm the nerves Yoongi has for the next few days. “I’ll be back with Baby in about a week, and I’m
bringing Jimin with me.”

Bobby’s reaction is slow, his lips tugging downwards like melted wax slipping down the side of a
candle. He scratches at his chin, eyes dodging away from Jeongguk for a second. “That’s very kind
of you Jeongguk, but unnecessary. I have -"

“I know he’s not on vacation,” Jeongguk interrupts as he finally takes a seat across from Bobby.
He’s thrown off by how quickly his body sinks into the cushion and he tries not to show how he
struggles not to fall backwards. “I’m also not asking, but being considerate and giving you a heads
up.”

Bobby lets out a laugh, leaning back against his own chair. He looks relaxed, eyes bright to match
his smile but his teeth clench and the muscle over his jaw is working overtime. “What did Taehyung
say to you?”

Something like disgust curls in Jeongguk’s stomach with the way Bobby says Taehyung’s name.

“Nothing. I wanted to know how Jimin and Hope let him get as hurt as he was, and he told me Jimin
was away and he didn’t call Hope.”

Jeongguk taps his fingers against the desk a few times as Bobby laughs again. He wants to rip the
grin off of Bobby’s lips as Bobby rests his elbows on the table.

He glances again at his mother. She would support him standing up for someone, for protecting
someone, but she’d also pull him by the ear if he reacted on the impulses inside of him.

Stand up to the bullies, my little bun, but do not become one of them.

“So this is about Taehyung? Not Jimin.”

No, Jeongguk thinks - only partly. Jimin can protect Taehyung well, but Jimin needs protection too.
He’s been struggling to sleep at night, thinking about Yoongi and Taehyung’s faces when they’ve
talked about Jimin being away. He’s felt sick to his stomach thinking about the faded marks on
Taehyung’s back, the ones he couldn’t mention seeing because nothing seemed worse in that
moment than ruining the soft smile on his lips.

There’s an anger growing inside of him that’s being fed by his frustration and his building admiration
for Taehyung, his want to protect. He’s always been a protector, he used to shove Bobby around so
often for teasing Yoongi that he almost spent his entire childhood in time out.

“A bit of both. I was trying to mind my business, but it’s difficult when I have an upset seven year
old on the phone, worrying because “why does Jimin-ssi look like he’s crying so much Appa?’”

It’s a lie. Ji-hu had been worried about Jimin not answering his calls and since Jeongguk last
checked, he still hasn’t. Jeongguk hadn’t wanted Ji-hu brought into it at all, it had been Hoseok’s
idea.

If you go straight to Bobby angry like this, he’ll know it came from Taehyung. Do you think that
would be safe for him?
Jeongguk doesn’t know the answer, but he knows the one person who Bobby loves the most also
loves Ji-hu the most. The fact that Bobby has a picture of his parents in his personal office only
confirms it.

Bobby finally cracks, a hand dragging over his face and when he pulls it away he looks tired. “I
speak to him every day, if I knew something was wrong -”

Jeongguk waves a hand dismissal, cutting him off. It’s a move he’s seen his father pull in many
meetings when he’s annoyed, and it’s always been successful, Jeongguk has just felt it too rude to
pull.

Sometimes he wonders if he’s the right person for his job, but that’s a thought for another time.

“I’m sure it’s all part of the job, no? Getting hurt? Being uncomfortable? Having to be silent about
rape?”

Bobby gives him a hard look, the muscle in his cheek flinching from his words. “I appreciate your
concern, Jeongguk, but it’s a monetary loss I can’t afford to lose. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Jimin.”

Jeongguk gestures towards the folder that Bobby discarded to the side. “It’ll be an even bigger one if
we have a problem here.”

Finally, Bobby glances at the folder before taking it in hand. He doesn’t look away at Jeongguk
when he first opens it, but when Jeongguk doesn’t elaborate, he does.

There’s no noticeable difference in his expression as he looks at the first page, a detailed breakdown
of Park Yugyeom’s bank transactions, the largest and most frequent amounts deposited highlighted.

Jin has scribbled down the names on the sides along with the companies they work for and own. Not
only most of Busan’s richest, but from cities across South Korea and even in the United States.
Including a Richard Walton, residence just outside of Manhattan, who transferred 1.1 billion won to
Park Yugyeom the same weekend Bobby sent Jimin away.

“What is this?” Bobby asks, dropping the folder back onto the desk, his amused mask slipping away.

“I was wondering how you cover up the club’s earnings so I did some digging. The property is
owned under a ‘Park Yugyeom’ as well, isn’t it?”

It’s an answer that Jeongguk already knows. Park Yugyeom owns half the buildings in the
downtown area, every club associated with Bobby. From regular nightclubs to brothels disguised as
homeless shelters.

“And you rent the club stage for performers and the like to perform? Or that’s what you say as a
cover for such large and frequent deposits into your account. With ties to record producers and the
new and upcoming B.B. Entertainment, people are willing to pay a pretty penny just to perform at
the Minx.”

This was Hoseok’s guess. He heard rumors like this, had seen people come in to rent the venue just
to be told they were booked up. It made it seem like the place to be, a place that they could never get
into.

Except for Monday nights. Monday nights are for outside entertainers, singers, poets, dance
performers, you name it. Well, anything legal. Bobby’s birds flock to the V.I.P or pose as servers.

Bobby looks impressed, but his eyes burn with an anger that reminds Jeongguk of Yunbok right
before he would discipline Bobby as a child.

“I’m guessing B.B.E is a cover up too. But we didn’t dig too deep into that,” Jeongguk sighs as he
reaches over to turn to the next page on the folder. All of the transactions between B.B.E and Bobby
are made directly to Bobby’s personal account.

As a cofounder of the company that he doesn’t work at, it’s a good cover up. He probably makes
actual cash that way, Jeongguk always assumed that’s why he stopped coming to him for money.

“I’m sure you noticed who supplies the club with the most money,” Bobby says, nodding his head
towards the folder without looking at it. There’s no amusement in his eyes anymore, but a challenge
that Jeongguk won’t give into.

“I did,” Jeongguk admits with a shrug. “Which, as executor of my father’s accounts I could shut that
down without consulting him. I see as much as gives to you, a huge lump sum of it goes to an
account in Japan. What's the name - Jinyoung?"

Jeongguk hesitates when Bobby's eyes grow wide and a hand fits itself to the desk like he might
lunge himself over it.

"But I’m not going to do that.”

Bobby peers his eyes at him as he folds his hands under his chin. “What are you threatening me here
with Jeongguk? Best get to the chase.”

He’s always been a smart guy, Jeongguk thinks. Maybe even smarter than him. They didn’t get
along when they were younger though they were forced to during family gatherings or schooling.
They bonded more during Jeongguk’s clubbing years, when both of them were reckless with their
bank accounts and their bodies, but it had been a short period in Jeongguk’s life and a long one in
Bobby’s.

“There’s quite a few donors there that I have enough on to have them cut ties with you and the club
completely. Call in a favor and done. Ruin your reputation. Say maybe, I don’t know, that you
cheated me, or the police wanted to talk to me and as a close friend of yours, it made me worried
they suspected you of something. Or they were looking into the transactions between you and Jeon
Tobacco - make them worry the police might come snooping into their affairs as well. Everyone
knows the whisper of Bobby and his birds, but you know these types - they deny actually knowing
anything about it. Can’t ruin their reputations.”

Bobby cusses under his breath as he falls back against the chair, his resolve wavering. “You’d do all
of that? For Jimin?”

Jeongguk nods without hesitation. He pushes the folder closer to Bobby as he stands, indicating that
he can keep it for himself.

“Jimin won’t do anything until you cut your ties with him. I’m not just telling you that I’m bringing
him back from New York.”

The anger in Bobby’s eyes rivals the one he feels. He’s built himself up for this moment, knowing he
might get a reaction and not knowing what to suspect. He feels hot around the neck, sweat building
around his hairline. Yoongi’s made it seem like Bobby has a personal attachment to Jimin, one that
makes him hold on tighter to him than anyone else.

If you threaten Bobby into getting rid of Jimin, it’s going to turn ugly, Jeonggukkie.
“I want you to let him go. I’m a kind and generous man, I wouldn’t expect you to let him go for free.
The Jeon family has taken great care of you, Jiwon-ssi."

Jimin had told him some of his debt already and how he felt the same as Taehyung - not wanting to
owe a debt to someone else. But Jeongguk hopes the two of them one day see that there’s kindness
in the world and it comes without ties.

Bobby grits his teeth before he mimics spitting to the side. “You have a huge flaw in your plan,
brother. I can tell Jimin he’s free to go until I’m blue in the face and he isn’t going anywhere. He gets
everything he wants, don’t let him fool you into thinking otherwise.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, sinking his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as he watches
Bobby. His face has grown red and shaking his hands through his newly blond hair only makes it
stick out worse than before.

“Taking your clients isn’t the only thing I can do, hyung,” he says simply, purposefully glancing at
the pictures of his parents and Bobby doesn’t even follow the gaze but realization fills his eyes.

“Your father doesn’t have a problem with prostitution,” Bobby says harshly. “He’s not going to
outcast me because of it.”

“No,” Jeongguk hums, glancing at his feet so Bobby can’t see the way confusion fills him. He
doesn’t want to think about why his father practically pays for the club with the amount of money he
transfers each month, and he especially doesn’t want to think the reason isn’t because Bobby is like a
son to him. “But he does have a problem with drugs. You do remember, my father who never
spanked me once in my life, turned your ass blue when you came over high that one time?”

They never found proof that Bobby deals with anything other than tobacco and alcohol in his club,
but Hoseok’s seen enough of his clients sniffing white powder up their noses that Jeongguk’s
decided to go for it.

He couldn’t ask Taehyung, he’s too uncomfortable with knowing the answer.

“Yeah, and I haven’t even picked up a joint since then.”

Bobby’s hair is a complete wreck around his head now as he wipes it back with a quick run of his
fingers. Anger is pouring off of him now, snaking through the air and jabbing at Jeongguk.

“I don’t think my father will believe you when I tell him every time Yoongi and I visited your club,
your birds tried to please us in other ways than sex.”

Bobby rubs at his chin so hard that Jeongguk’s afraid he may rub the skin right off. He’s glaring hard
at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk wonders if he can see that he’s lying. Yoongi was offered ecstasy once
before Jimin slapped it out of the dancer’s hand, but Jeongguk never had been offered anything but
alcohol and his own cigars.

“I’ll tell Jimin he’s free to go,” Bobby says, speaking through his teeth like the words are difficult to
say. “But if he doesn’t go, I’m not forcing him out, and I know that he’s not going to go anywhere.”

It isn’t a victory, per se, but it’s close. He thought it would take more for Bobby to agree, but deep
down Jeongguk knows Bobby is right.

There’s something tying Jimin to Bobby, or he would have left as Bobby seems easy to coerce. He
has a reason to leave, a lot more than just Yoongi, though that’s a big one. It could be the dance
studio, but Jeongguk would buy Jimin twelve dance studios if it meant he would leave Bobby’s side.
“We’ll see,” Jeongguk says before bowing his head. “It’s been a pleasure. Take care of yourself
hyung.”

Taehyung eyes the blanket of blue and the pillowing clouds that hide how far the ground is. He feels
a bit nauseous, but Woojin’s hand is tight in his own and he knows he has to keep a calm expression.

He sleeps with his head tucked on Jin’s shoulder, snoring so softly that Taehyung can’t hear it under
the plane’s engine. He can’t hear much really, not with the way his ears have clogged up.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

Taehyung turns his head away from the window to look at Jin. Eunae is on his other side. The seats
are wide and there’s a privacy curtain pulled. There’s snacks and glasses of wine stationed on the
tables before them, all courtesy of a one Jeon Jeongguk.

He hadn’t wanted to agree to the trip to America, but it was his chance to see Woojin and Eunae
perform without missing work. Jeongguk insisted on Taehyung’s privacy, booking him a hotel
separate from his own, getting him his own driver. Jin had been in charge of booking every flight, so
he made it so they would be close the entire time without arousing suspicion.

Hoseok’s somewhere else on the plane. He had waved his neck pillow in goodbye when they
separated, eyes already half shut before he found his seat.

Jeongguk had said they needn’t spend time together but Taehyung hopes they do. At least one day.
Again, he feels bad about taking Jeongguk’s money, but he had been offered such a pretty sum that
his throat clogged up and made it difficult to do so.

“Guk has me looking into the affairs of one Kim Jiwon,” Jin explains, quirking his brow. “Any idea
why my boss has me doing investigative work on your boss?”

Taehyung drags a gentle hand through Woojin’s hair, easing it from where it clings to his forehead.
He knew Jeongguk would help him, but there’s butterflies erupting in his stomach knowing he
actually is and it isn’t something he’s pushing to the back burner. He’s wasted no time in looking into
Bobby and it makes Taehyung smile softly.

It might be for Jimin but a tiny part of Taehyung hopes Jeongguk is helping because it’s important to
Taehyung too.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask your boss?”

“I did,” Jin huffs out. “He told me he couldn’t tell me and asking me was a waste of air.”

Taehyung bites at his grin. “And you still decided to help him?”

Jin scoffs at this. “Of course. I figured it was for you, but he asked me to help him track down an
address in New York. It belongs to some rich guy who runs an online business that sells sex
costumes. You’re not in New York, so it must be Jimin.”

He can only nod, heart sinking in his chest. Jimin and him haven’t spoken much, their conversations
always brought to an end quickly with Jimin saying he has to leave. It makes Taehyung sick thinking
about why.

Jimin is tough, he has been through a lot of filth and dealt with it with a smile. But Taehyung knows
first hand that it eats away at you over time. The only difference between the both of them is that
Jimin usually enjoys entertaining his clients and Taehyung rarely does, so he’s been decaying at a
faster rate.

He can’t remember the last time he enjoyed being with a client the way he enjoys being with
Jeongguk. Never, really.

Being with Jeongguk doesn’t feel like an obligation, it feels like he’s being selfish.

“I asked Jeongguk to help Jimin...get away from Bobby.”

Jin nods at this, looking away for a few minutes. Taehyung watches Woojin’s sleeping face, seeking
comfort in his soft expression, but he can feel Jin’s eyes boring down onto him when he turns back
to them.

“I thought Bobby took good care of Jimin?”

Taehyung shrugs. If he explains how the dynamics are changing, Jin might not take it well. Plus, it’s
something he doesn’t need to know. It’ll make him worry for no reason. Taehyung doesn’t even
understand it himself. He’s collected the conversations he’s overheard between Jimin and Bobby,
trying to make sense of it.

There’s pressure coming from Hanbin, causing Bobby to be less relaxed with his employees. Or at
least, less relaxed with him and Jimin. He’s also on Jimin’s tail, inching closer to learning the truth
that Jimin’s heart has never belonged to him or himself. It’s always belonged to Yoongi.

And something with Jeongguk. That’s the one thing that lingers in Taehyung’s mind the most.
Hanbin had said something about Bobby’s plot against Jeongguk, and the day Jimin and him fought
- Jimin yelled at Bobby for idolizing Jeongguk, for being jealous of Yoongi because he is
Jeongguk’s best friend.

Jiwon. He knows it’s Bobby’s name but as Jin says it now, he remembers the conversation at the
fundraiser. If Jiwon wants to get a degree in chemical engineering -

“It’s complicated, hyung.”

“And you? Did you ask Jeongguk to help you?”

Taehyung pulls his hands away from Woojin as he gives Jin a steady look. On top of investigative
work, Jin’s had other personal errands to run for Jeongguk. Paying off bills that don’t belong to him
and contacting landlords that aren’t his. He’s done everything except actually pay off Taehyung’s
debt and Jin’s helped him without hesitation. It took Taehyung forcing it out of Jin to explain why
when he went to pay his rent the landlord said it had already been paid, or when he looked in his
account, his past due electricity payment had been covered.

There was a time, just a short moment when his feelings for Jeongguk first tried to leak in, that he
thought he was okay with owing his debt to a kind man like Jeongguk. But he had thought being
Bobby’s was the best thing that could have happened to him at first too.

“You know I didn’t.”

“I know,” Jin says with a soft smile. “You should have seen his face when he told me he was
worried about you struggling yet not accepting his help. I’m the one that told him he should do it
anyway.”
It’s probably the same face he wore when Taehyung begged him not to even think about paying off
his debt. He looked as desperate as Taehyung felt but he couldn’t help it.

Just thinking about it makes him feel like he’s coming down with a fever. He wants Jeongguk to be
his only client, his only lover, but he wishes money would fuck off and die.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Taehyung says. “Less bills for you to worry about.”

Jin’s expression turns from fond to hard quickly as he reaches over Woojin to pinch Taehyung’s leg.
“It has nothing to do with me. If I’m selfish for wanting better for you than so be it.”

Taehyung glances at Eunae, who sits with her headphones snuggled on her head and her eyes fixed
on the small screen in her lap. Another gift from Jeongguk back when he first started sending gift
baskets filled with goodies.

“I’ll just owe another debt to another man,” Taehyung says. “I’m not discussing it anymore.”

Jin looks as if he may argue but he only sighs and sniffs harshly. “Bobby and Jeongguk grew up like
brothers. That should tell you there what he’s willing to do for you. He’s betraying his hyung for
you.”

Taehyung returns the hard glare but he falters, softening as the words sink in. The seat he’s in is soft
and he lets his body sag into it, wishing Jin had kept his mouth shut. He didn’t need to know Bobby
and Jeongguk were like brothers because it only makes him wonder other things. Is he as close with
Hanbin? With Yunbok?

“What about Hanbin?”

To no one’s surprise, Jin doesn’t look thrown off by this question. Having helped Jeongguk
investigate Bobby probably led to seeing how involved Hanbin is with the club, he assumes. Though
if so, Jin never mentioned Taehyung’s play pretend about not knowing Hanbin at the fundraiser.

Taehyung never thought he’d see the day he’d be comfortable talking about Hanbin with Jin or that
he’d be more afraid of a client than he is of Hanbin.

Because compared to Yunbok, Hanbin is a gentle and kind lover.

“Bobby’s father raised Hanbin when Hanbin’s mother passed away. Jeongguk thinks she was a
lover of his,” Jin explains, glancing at Eunae quickly to make sure her headphones are still in. “I
don’t believe they’re particularly close because Hanbin has been vocal about his irritation with
everything Jeongguk’s done since he took over Jeon Tobacco.”

“Why does he care?” Taehyung asks, gently prodding for more information. He never asked
Jeongguk why he was there or how he knew him, because that night he just wanted one thing - to
stop thinking.

Jeongguk gave him everything he wanted without asking. Though he asked plenty of questions
about what was okay and not okay to do, he did a lot more than just touch Taehyung’s body.

“It’s bullshit,” Jin says, sniffing loudly again. “Their families have worked side by side for that
company since it started, but once Bobby’s father retires, he’ll be the last of his line. I don’t know if
Hanbin thinks he deserves it or if Bobby does, but he never worked for it. Namjoon worked hard to
get into Jeon Tobacco.”

Taehyung wants to admire how defensive and fired up Jin gets because of Namjoon, but his chest is
sinking in and his skin is starting to prickle and he’s suddenly feeling claustrophobic. His heart
pounds loudly and it makes it difficult to focus on Jin’s words.

“That’s why Yunbok won’t support Namjoon, because he too thinks Bobby deserves the spot. Well
if that’s so, he should have forced Bobby to go to college not open up a prostitution ring.”

Taehyung reaches over Woojin to clap Jin on the thigh, making his words stop tumbling rapidly from
his lips. Eunae is glancing at them from the corner of her eye, but the music floods loudly from her
headphones.

He should probably tell her to turn the volume down, but right now it’s worked to their advantage.

“Sorry,” Jin grumbles, giving Eunae a soft smile before he’s working his fingers through her hair and
pressing an affectionate kiss to her forehead. Woojin’s fidgeted in his sleep, only to curl his body
further into Taehyung’s side, fingers digging into Taehyung’s shirt.

“I figured you knew Hanbin,” Jin says softly a few minutes later, pulling Taehyung’s attention back
to the conversation and away from Woojin’s face. “You looked upset at the fundraiser.”

Taehyung shrugs his shoulders, not wanting to elaborate. He knows he isn’t as good of an actor as
he hopes to be, but he thinks even if he was the best - Jin would always be able to read his emotions.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, hyung,” Taehyung sighs, tucking his cheek over Woojin’s
head as he pulls him close and missing the way Jin’s eyes burn with questions.

When they finally land, Taehyung feels dead on his feet. He thinks he falls asleep in the car because
one minute he’s strapping his belt on and the next, Eunae is nudging him in the shoulder to tell him
that they’ve arrived at the hotel.

Taehyung knows he shouldn’t be surprised when Jin sends them to the Penthouse Suite. It’s too
much like Jeongguk, spending money when he needn’t, but Taehyung’s jaw drops when he opens
the door to the massive, luxurious room.

Eunae and Woojin go running with Eunae crying in excitement, darting through the room and
plastering their hands to the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. The entrance to the hotel
is a living room, decorated plainly with an cream and tan colors. Most hotels Taehyung has stayed at
have always had ugly carpets or wallpaper and it’s a pleasant surprise that this one doesn't.

He takes off his shoes before stepping onto the plush carpet, the soft strands tickling his toes as he
makes his way to where Woojin is pressing against the glass. It makes him nervous, though he’s sure
the glass is sturdy enough not to break under the weight of a ten year old.

“Hyungie, look!” Woojin whispers, grappling for Taehyung to be heard. “Ah! S’a forest!”

Maybe he doesn’t feel as guilty for such an expensive room as he listens to Woojin and watches him
point to Central Park before them. He jumps excitedly, grabbing for Taehyung to tug him closer.

“Can we go? Are there tigers?”

“Maybe dogs,” Taehyung laughs as he crouches down to Woojin’s height, keeping his voice as quiet
as Woojin’s, like they’re sharing secrets. “I think it’s a dog forest.”

Woojin pulls his head back, eyes wide in amazement. “No. Way.”
When Woojin was first diagnosed, he never spoke a word, in any situation. Eunae had been too
young to talk coherent sentences herself, but while she babbled away, Woojin would just sit and
watch. When she cried he would panic, eyes alarmed as he clung onto her, but he never said a word.
Later, Taehyung would learn that the tears rushing from Woojin's eyes were not because Eunae was
crying, but because he wanted to ask for help and couldn't.

He started talking to her first, whispered words that Taehyung overheard from outside the bedroom.
He was always very quiet and never spoke much and Taehyung cried every time.

The next was Jin, one word phrases that Jin had to coax out of him once Taehyung had told him
about his whispering to Eunae. He had been going to therapy for some time and Jin went with him,
jotting down tips and ways to help for Taehyung who could never go.

He focused on anxiety disorders in school and picked the clinic with the top CBT doctors, focused
on mood disorders, wanting to learn as much as he can. There were times he became frustrated,
because after six years going to therapy, he wishes Woojin were completely better. The doctor had
told them he is improving, that Woojin being shy and quiet isn't a sign that he isn't. He's doing well
in school, talking to his peers. It's normal for him to be shy around strangers, to get upset sometimes.

Guilt is heavy in his chest because Taehyung knows many of the times Woojin gets bad again is
when he leaves. Taehyung's eavesdropped on Woojin chatting away to Jin, his voice at normal level.
But with Taehyung it's either silence or whispers.

“I love you Woojin-ah,” Taehyung hums, plopping a wet kiss to Woojin’s cheek. Woojin doesn’t
fuss the way Eunae does, but wraps an arm around his neck and tucks his face against Taehyung’s
chest. He doesn’t say it in return, but holds up a small finger heart that Taehyung bumps with his
own.

Despite his exhaustion, Taehyung wanders through the suite with his siblings, exploring the
amenities and the rooms. He stops before the last one, where Jin leans against the door frame with a
mischievous grin on his face.

“I think this is your room.”

It doesn’t stand out or seem to be much different from the others at first, except maybe for the stretch
of mirror on the wall behind the bed instead of the wallpaper like the others. But then Taehyung
spots the bouquet of flowers through it, at least five of them, and bigger than any other bouquets
Jeongguk has sent him before.

“He had me send some gifts for Eunae and Woojin but they haven’t arrived yet,” Jin whispers in
Taehyung’s ear. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him their names even though I wanted to. He wanted me
to send flowers to your Eunae and Woojin and mine, so I just purchased a couple extra for you.”

Taehyung flushes as he reaches to touch one of the day lilies sticking out. There’s a card and a box
below it but Taehyung doesn’t know if he should open it alone or not. Jeongguk isn’t unpredictable,
he should have expected this, but he’s still a little overwhelmed with surprise.

“Tae-oppa these are so pretty. Are they from your boyfriend?”

The flush grows deeper as Eunae looks up at him with big, curious eyes as she pokes her head into
the room. Taehyung laughs because he isn’t sure how to respond. She’s too young to even know
what boyfriends are, he thinks.

God, he hopes she’s too young to have one. She is, right?
“A secret admirer,” Jin answers for him, face turning red as he holds back his laughter. “Someone’s
got a crush on your oppa. Look at his face.”

Eunae’s shoulders hunch as she giggles, hand covering her mouth. Taehyung touches his cheek in
response, his fingers like ice compared to his hot skin.

“Do you like him back?” Eunae rocks herself as she asks with curious eyes. Taehyung fingers the
envelope, needing something else to do instead of think about how he feels about Jeongguk and the
fact that Eunae might have a boyfriend.

“Do you?” Jin asks, a brow quirking up and Taehyung swears he has three little siblings, not one.

He pushes open the envelope, the parchment inside thick and expensive. It’s handwritten like
always, not typed by the florist. His name on the front is written in Roman letters, hearts surrounding
it.

I told Jin to pick out flowers that were as beautiful as you, I hope he did well. Inside the box is
something I picked out myself. It reminded me of you, soft, beautiful and needing to be handled with
care. I hope to see you wearing it soon - Daddy

“I guess that answers that,” Jin huffs out after snorting. Taehyung’s biting hard on his bottom lip,
trying to control the feeling in his chest and prevent it from pushing a smile onto his lips. He’s failing
miserably. It's the first time Jeongguk has called himself that. “C’mon, let Taehyungie melt in peace.”

Taehyung’s feeling so warm that he can’t even pretend to be annoyed with Jin as he gently places
the card down. He won’t admit that he’s saved all of Jeongguk’s cards and pieces of the flowers,
though they have wilted.

Excitement fills him but he is careful when he opens the box, remembering to handle with care. The
first thing he sees is glossy, white silk. It’s smooth to the touch, his fingers slipping over the material
like running over water. He lifts it gently, watching as the fabric unfolds to reveal a dress with a low
plunging neckline and a slit up the side. It’s gorgeous, with an netted back, the straps glittering from
the light ahead. Taehyung admires it, ignoring the price tag because he’s already nervous about
touching it.

He hangs the dress over the back of the cushioned chair in the room, careful to lay it out flat so it
won’t wrinkle before he goes back to the box. His smile is full force as he spots the next set of items,
blinding white instead of shiny silver.

His excitement burns hot as he holds out the baby doll, made of material so thin and sheer that if he
were to wear it, he’d be almost naked. He holds it up against his front, eyeing the way it lands just
below his hip, high enough that it would barely cover his cock if it were bare.

It’s a message of intent, especially the matching panties with a hole the shape of a heart on the butt.
He doesn’t know where or when Jeongguk would want him to wear these items, but Taehyung
knows if he were to ask him to, he would without hesitation.

He carefully places the items back into the box before hiding it in one of the drawers. He brought
some of his own lingerie, a couple pieces to surprise Jeongguk with if they were to see each other,
but most of it is his casual clothes. Lots of loose t-shirts, tank tops and shorts as the weather is
supposed to be quite hot.

“Is he nice?”

In the doorway, Woojin stands with wide eyes. He flushes, hoping Woojin didn’t see the clothing.
Woojin does laundry at their home, but Taehyung is careful that there isn't ever anything alarming in
there.

“He’s nice,” Taehyung says with a nod. Woojin cocks his head, worried. There isn't anything
abnormal about being shy with strangers, but sometimes Woojin looks at them like he's terrified. “He
has a son about your age.”

Woojin just looks unsure but Taehyung pats him on the head, ushering him out. “Come on, you must
be hungry.”

Taehyung glances over his shoulder, admiring how strong his shoulders look and how long his legs
appear. His butt rounds just right when he cocks a hip, showing off the dips at the low of his spine.
The heart looks nice, showing off the crease between his cheeks.

He snaps the photo, angling the camera just right that he captures the way the mirror catches his
reflection from the other, showing off where he strains against the thin fabric of the skimpy
underwear. The baby doll is tossed to the side, he wants to save that for in person.

He snaps a few like this from different angles before he cups himself under the material and pulls his
cock out just enough that the head, red and shiny with precome, is sticking past the band.

The sheer shirt he has hanging off his shoulders only helps in making Taehyung feel sexy. Knowing
the way Jeongguk may react has him feeling hot, his cock pulsing back against his stomach when he
hits send. It’s easy to get himself worked up when thinking about Jeongguk. There had been arousal
lingering inside of him from the moment he thought of sending Jeongguk a thank you present.

He is thankful he packed the shirt. He did so with Jeongguk and the weather in mind. It hangs off his
shoulders and is thin enough that with the right lighting, the dark of Taehyung’s nipples and the
round of his piercings can be seen through it.

thank you for the present, baby x

His phone is ringing before Taehyung can straighten his shirt and tuck himself back in. Butterflies
erupt in his belly as he hits answer and leans back against the sink.

“Hey handsome.”

“Baby,” Jeongguk hums, delight in his tone. “You look stunning. Any particular reason I deserve a
gift like this?”

Taehyung bites at his grin. He can’t get into the explanation of Woojin being a chatterbox, so he
doesn’t. “This suite looks expensive, Gukkie. You deserve a little something in return.”

“I didn’t do it to get anything in return.”

Taehyung resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Does that mean you want me to stop sending them?”

“Only if you want to.”

Taehyung grits his teeth, letting the shirt slip until it’s hanging at his elbows. “You know Gukkie
baby, sometimes I just want you to tell me how much you want me. Honestly, unfiltered, without
worrying about whether it will make me feel obligated to give myself to you.”
“I thought it was obvious,” Jeongguk whispers, fondness in his tone. Or maybe amusement,
Taehyung can’t tell. “Will you be awake in about an hour?”

There’s a tickle of exhaustion deep down but it’s hidden under the flush of excitement he has hearing
Jeongguk’s slow drawl and from the feel of the silky clothes sliding against his skin.

“Are you with someone now?”

Jeongguk hums his response. “Just stepped into the cab from the airport. With Yoongi. Not sure he’d
appreciate hearing me go on about the things I want to do to you.”

Arousal curls down Taehyung’s spine. He says it so easily but Taehyung’s body reacts like
Jeongguk is in front of him, whispering the words against his skin.

There’s a scuffling on the line before Jeongguk huffs out a laugh. “Yeah that’s a no.”

Taehyung turns so he’s facing the mirror again. He eyes the way his fingers trail down his stomach,
stopping where the head of his cock pushes against the band, begging to be released from the
confines of the material again.

“Can I tell you how much I want you then?” Taehyung whispers huskily, a shiver running through
him as he brushes his thumb over his clothed member.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk says, warning in his tone. It only excites Taehyung more, making him want
to stroke himself off until he’s spilling moans into the receiver.

“Yes?” Taehyung huffs out, pinching his fingers around the head until he sees the material dampen
with precome.

“Be good.”

Taehyung lets out a soft moan, eyes fluttering shut for a moment before he forces them open to
watch himself. “I don’t want to be.”

Jeongguk clears his throat but he isn’t successful in keeping his voice level. Taehyung can hear the
arousal in his tone and he craves more.

“I’ll be at my hotel shortly. If you’re good until then…”

He doesn’t finish though Taehyung feels in edge waiting for it. The implication is enough and
Taehyung bites down hard on his bottom lip to keep himself from groaning.

“Don’t make me wait too long, Jeongguk.”

“Trust me, I don’t think I can.”

Current Time

Yoongi watches as Jimin stuffs his clothes into duffel bags without bothering to fold them. He didn’t
seem to unpack, most of his bags still stuffed, but he takes things out of the laundry bin and closet.

It’s quiet amongst them and Yoongi wants to break the silence, but he isn’t sure what to say. He’s
tried making jokes, but they feel as forced as they sound. Jimin’s hands shake and he smiles softly
whenever they make eye contact, but it’s awkward.

He’s still wearing the damn maid outfit and Yoongi wonders if he’s living a romcom.

“Tell me again,” Jimin says softly as he tugs on the zipper of his bag, his eyes wide with worry and
hesitancy.

Yoongi ruffles a hand through his hair. “Ah, Jeonggukkie has a lot on Bobby. He told him he’d use
it if he didn’t let you go.”

Jimin huffs out shakily and Yoongi knows he shouldn’t be surprised that he looks upset. They’ve
had this argument before, but Yoongi truly never had the ability to help him.

“He shouldn’t have done that. It’s none of his business.”

Yoongi rests against the wall, looking away from Jimin. As much as they’ve argued about it, Yoongi
still struggles with not letting it get to him. He knows Jimin is afraid, he must be, but Yoongi doesn’t
fully understand why he won’t just go when he has the chance.

“He cares about you and he can actually do something. I can’t."

“I don’t want anyone to do anything!” Jimin snaps, breathing hard through his nose. “Neither you
nor Jeongguk forced me to become who I am. It’s not your responsibility.”

Jimin has always proclaimed it’s been his choice and Yoongi’s always thought him to be lying.
Maybe because he doesn’t understand how it’s a choice someone could make, but he doesn’t think
so.

“Taehyung asked him.”

Jimin stares hard at Yoongi, deflating slowly before he grabs his bag of makeup and shoves it into
another one with more force than needed. “Well Taehyung’s an idiot. He knows - knows I could end
up in a body bag and -"

Yoongi crosses the room quickly, grabbing Jimin’s fists to keep him from pounding his amenities to
the point where they may break. He cups Jimin’s cheeks when he’s sure Jimin will stop punching
and frowns at the tears welling over his eyelids.

“What are you afraid of? Honestly. Tell me. You know you can tell me anything.”

Jimin flutters his eyes shut, his eyelashes collecting the tears that spill out. There’s a muffled chatter
coming from where Jeongguk and Hoseok are waiting for Richard, but the rest of the room falls
silent as Yoongi waits for Jimin to speak.

“When I - every time I leave Taehyung he gets hurt,” Jimin whispers, resting his cheek against
Yoongi’s palm. “He - I know it comes with the job but - and no one handles it well, but he handles it
worse than anyone I’ve met.”

He lets out a broken sob as Yoongi rubs the tears away as soon as they appear. It breaks Yoongi’s
heart to see Jimin hurt, like the pain Jimin feels is transferring itself into his own chest.

“This last time he - God, he must have been whipped or something, he had welts all over his back
and there were places skin was broken open and I couldn’t sleep because I kept imagining what it
was like for him. I let that happen to him while I was being selfish being with you.”
Yoongi hesitates and Jimin must feel it because his hands fly up to keep Yoongi’s hands on his
cheeks.

“I don’t regret being with you. That’s all I want sometimes, just to be with you but it isn’t fair for
Taehyung. He didn’t ask for any of this, none of this was his own doing like it was for me. He didn’t
grow up around this life, he was plunged into it.”

If Yoongi’s heart had been breaking before it’s crumbling into pieces as Jimin grabs desperately at
his hands to keep him to stay.

“Something’s...different with Bobby, I don’t trust him to keep Taehyung safe anymore.”

It’s ironic that Jimin cares more about Taehyung than himself while Taehyung’s only thought is to
get Jimin away from it all. Yoongi understands, he’s do the same for Jeongguk, Jimin and Hoseok if
he were in their shoes.

And they’d do the same for him, he knows it.

“What do you mean?”

Jimin shakes his head, gasping slightly as he pulls away from Yoongi’s touch without letting go of
his hands. “Nothing. I just am just exhausted and I miss my mom.”

They’ve never truly spoken about why or how Jimin started on the path he’s on, but over the years
Yoongi has stored away enough things Jimin has said to assume that it isn’t a lifestyle that’s ever
been new to Jimin. He’s always suspected Jimin’s parents have had a heavy hand in helping him
along, but his parents are a taboo subject that is rarely spoken about.

Jimin will slip up here and there, usually when they were drinking or high in college. There’s always
a sadness in his eyes when he’d mention something his mother used to do when he was a child and
Yoongi thought maybe she had passed, but he never spoke of her in the past tense.

“I have the next best thing,” Yoongi tries with a hesitant smile as he swings their hands between
them. “I have a slightly tall, silver haired man with a heart boner for a certain Jeon Jeongguk waiting
for you.”

Jimin’s face lights up at this though the tears have yet to stop. “Taehyung? He’s here in New York?”

Yoongi nods, relief flooding him at the sight of Jimin’s smile. “He doesn’t know yet, about us taking
you home. He thinks he’s going to see you at the recital and that’s it.”

“That’s mean,” Jimin huffs, but despite his words he pulls Yoongi into an excited hug. “Please tell
me he’s been okay?”

Yoongi nods as he rubs his palms up Jimin’s back. “As far as I know. It takes a lot to get Jeongguk
upset like he was, and when he’s angry he’s kind of scary. He almost had Ji-hu’s school closed
down one day when he came home crying because someone broke his favorite crayon.”

He’s expecting a laugh or a remark about how it doesn’t take much for Jeongguk to get protective
when it comes to his family, not the feel of Jimin’s plush lips pushing against his.

Yoongi doesn’t hesitate in kissing back, falling into the slow pace Jimin sets as his fingers drag
through the hair at the back of his head. He lets himself melt into it, savoring every graze of Jimin’s
lips, every slip of his tongue against his own - memorizing the way it feels in case it is a long time
before it feels again.
A scuffle from the main area of the house has Yoongi pulling away from Jimin. He instructs Jimin to
stay back but Jimin doesn’t listen, only tugs off the hat on his head and storms past Yoongi.

Hoseok has the man Yoongi suspects to be Richard pressed against the wall, his forearm digging into
the man’s throat. Jeongguk stands calmly to the side, hands tucked into the pockets of his pants as he
watches on.

Bobby and Jeongguk were raised together. Yoongi grew up in Jeongguk’s home, but as the nanny’s
son he wasn’t able to do the same things as them. Different schools, different tutoring, different after
school activities. When Jeongguk went off with Yunbok, Yoongi would stay behind. He wasn’t
allowed into Jeon Tobacco to sit in on meetings but at the end of the day, Jeongguk would share
everything he learned with him.

He’d talk about Yunbok’s discipline, how Yunbok used a whip whenever they shed a tear.
Jeongguk always hated the lectures of being in control and how to maintain it.

Fear is a tool, that’s what he says hyung. I hate that. He says if you show you emotion, you
automatically lose.

It’s a lesson that must have stayed within Jeongguk, though maybe deep down. He doesn’t seem the
tiniest bit bothered as the man shakes under Hoseok’s touch or sputters out what must either be
pleading or cursing, Yoongi can’t tell.

“Oh stop it,” Jimin huffs out as he moves himself into the threesome without hesitation. He grabs
Hoseok’s arm with the same confidence, pulling it away. “He’s not a bad guy. Not everyone who
buys a whore is a bad guy, you should know that.”

Jeongguk resolve falters for a moment as he nods to Hoseok, who drops his arms completely. It’s a
strange sight to see.

Jeongguk, who has stress walked around his apartment before, complaining he can never be as strict
as his father. He can’t discipline Ji-hu properly, worrying the company will fail without a strong
leader.

Jeongguk, who cried the first time he tapped Ji-hu on the hand for trying to hit him like he broke
every bone in the boy’s body.

“Are you ready?” Jeongguk asks Jimin before turning back to Richard and saying something in
English.

Richard definitely cusses before spitting to the ground. Yoongi hears Bobby’s name mentioned but
he doesn’t wait to see what else goes on as he plants a hand to Jimin’s back to indicate they should
go get his bags.

Jimin starts fussing with the corset the moment they step into the room again. He looks flustered, face
red as he struggles.

“What was that?” Jimin asks, deflating when Yoongi comes up behind him to unzip the costume for
him.

“Bobby said that guy wasn’t going to let you go easy. He’s fond of you,” Yoongi murmurs. “It’s
easy to understand why.”

“Oh hush,” Jimin huffs out as he slips his arms from the costume. “It’s not me, it’s the fact that he
paid a hefty price for me and he doesn’t want to be cheated.”
There’s little modesty between them but Yoongi keeps his eyes away as Jimin stumbles from the
outfit and tosses it to the side. The first time he had ever seen Jimin naked, his face had been so hot
he felt like he was coming down with a fever. It’s a feeling that never really went away, even when
lust turned into something more dangerous.

“He’s got the strength of a cooked noodle,” Jimin goes on as he grabs the clothes laid out on the bed.
“I doubt he would have put up a fight. I’m not sure why the three of you came in here like Bobby’s
thugs. You could have just sent a text and told me to meet you somewhere.”

“Would you have come?”

Jimin halts pulling his briefs up, his fists resting against his hips. Yoongi flushes further when he
realizes Jimin wasn’t wearing anything under the costume.

“Of course,” Jimin says, but there isn’t enough strength behind his words for Yoongi to believe
them.

“And if I ask you to come home with me when we return?”

It’s a question that doesn’t need to be asked, but Yoongi’s always been attracted to pain and misery.

“You know I can’t. We literally just talked about this. Like, two minutes ago.”

“What if Jeongguk pays off Taehyung’s debt? He wants to.”

Jimin stares at him long and hard before he turns to grab the tank top and tugs it over his head. He
doesn’t answer Yoongi’s question, he doesn’t say anything all. Not even when Jeongguk tells them
to come on and they set off towards the hotel.

It hurts, but not as badly as the way Jimin reaches across the backseat to hold Yoongi’s hand like
he’s apologizing.

Jeongguk's nerves are alive, making legs bounce over the seat. Or maybe it’s excitement, though it's
usually nerves when he has to meet with Ji-hu's grandparents.

Or maybe it’s leftover from Operation Save Jimin as Hoseok had deemed it. Bobby was supposed to
give the man a heads up and Jeongguk suspected he wouldn’t and he had been right.

He hadn’t meant to react, but the man had threatened and used names Jeongguk wishes he didn’t
know the meaning to. Richard’s weapon was probably only his tongue, but Jeongguk wasn’t in the
mood to be spoken to that way.

“Mr. Jeon, we’ve arrived.”

Jeongguk sighs as he eyes the small ranch surrounded by a large stretch of grass. He smiles at the
toys littering the ground, the balls and the bikes. There’s even a slip and slide stretching alongside the
driveway.

The bright red front door is the house is opening before Jeongguk can step out of his car. His nerves
slip away the moment he sees him, a smile mimicking his own on his little face as he comes charging
across the grass.

“Appa! Appa!”
It’s been close to two months but it feels like a year as he crouches and wraps his arms around Ji-hu.
He feels taller and thinner and Jeongguk pulls back to inspect him but he doesn’t know if it’s his
worried father brain making him think so.

“I missed you,” Jeongguk says before peppering kisses across Ji-hu’s cheeks. He fusses like always,
but he kisses Jeongguk back before grabbing his hand and tugging him along.

“Gram wants to know if you’re staying for lunch,” Ji-hu says as he drags Jeongguk inside. There is a
small suitcase already waiting by the door beside Ji-hu’s shoes and Jeongguk places his beside them.
“I told her no.”

“That’s rude.”

Ji-hu doesn’t seem to hear him as he calls for his grandmother. The house is decorated how
Jeongguk imagines an old person's house to be. It’s very homey and he can’t help but remember
Taehyung saying how his home doesn’t feel the same way.

“Oh Jeongguk, how was your flight?”

Ji-hu’s grandmother is a short, chubby woman with hair whiter than the walls of the kitchen.
Wrinkles cling heavily to her face, making her skin drag down to her jaw. She’s much older than his
father and her face has aged like she has lived a rough life.

“Fine, thank you Mrs. Lee. I’m sorry I cannot stay for lunch, I have reservations at -” Jeongguk
covers Ji-hu’s ears as he mouths the words “- Action Burger.”

It’s their plan for the next day, but as Ji-hu has put him on the spot, it’s the only thing he can think of.

“Well, he’s been quite a handful these last few days. Maybe some time with his father will set him
straight. I know you don’t like to punish the boy, Jeongguk, but a slap on the hand is not outrageous
for misbehavior.”

"Lao Lao," Ji-hu complains.

Jeongguk glances down at Ji-hu for confirmation, who looks up at him with wide, innocent eyes as
he shakes his head. He ignores the comment on his parenting skills. It hadn’t been his place to tell the
woman how to raise his son, but he found himself doing so when he first brought Ji-hu here.

It had irritated her, he knows, but he had been panicking about being away from him.

“I’m just hyper Appa.”

He represses his snort to give him a stern look, intimidated by the way Ji-hu’s grandmother looks at
him expectantly.

“We'll discuss it,” Jeongguk says firmly. “Give your grandmother a hug and thank her for taking
good care of you. We’ll see you in a week, Mrs. Lee.”

Jeongguk watches as Ji-hu’s grandmother fusses over him for a few minutes as they say goodbye for
now. It makes him feel warm, and maybe a little relieved that they get on so well.

He knows it’s going to be hard to drop Ji-hu off before he flies home. He already wants to take the
boy back with him and they’ve only been reunited for a few minutes.

“I love you Lao Lao, gimme more kisses please.”

Ji-hu is restless in the car, bouncing on the seat, head bobbing to the music that plays quietly
overhead. Jeongguk listens as the boy goes on about his summer, even things Jeongguk has heard a
thousand times over.

“Are we going to Action Burger, Appa?”

Jeongguk tickles his ankle, making Ji-hu squirm more across the seat. It’s a much smaller car than his
own back home, but he’s still thankful for it when they enter the busy city traffic.

“We’re supposed to go tomorrow.”

“I want to go today please.”

Jeongguk rubs at his jaw. He’s exhausted from the time change and lack of sleep, still clinging to jet
lag that will disappear right before it comes back, but he’s been counting down the minutes to this
moment and he can’t just fall asleep on his son.

“That’ll cost you,” Jeongguk says with a serious tone, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fifty three
kisses for Appa, to be delivered by the end of the day.”

Ji-hu wiggles excitedly in his seat, bending forward to stretch his hand out. “You’ve got a deal. Can
Uncle Yoongi come too?”

Large crowds make Jeongguk anxious when it comes to Ji-hu. He darts from machine to machine
before Jeongguk is aware that he’s even finished his game. At least he has Yoongi and Jimin to help
him keep an eye on the boy, though at times they seem unaware of their surroundings and only
focused on each other.

Not that Jeongguk necessarily minds, he’s just going to die of a heart attack at twenty five.

“Ji-hu!” Jeongguk calls over the rumble game noises and excited cheers.

Jeongguk breathes in relief when he spots the tuft of black hair and the neon yellow shirt with Park’s
Dance Academy written on the back. He barely steps in the boy’s direction before he realizes that Ji-
hu definitely hadn’t been wearing that when he was picked up and his ranking as father is dropping
significantly because he can’t even remember what his son is wearing.

It isn’t Ji-hu, but the boy is familiar. And clearly lost. His eyes are wide with fear and his hands are
tumbling over each other quickly in front of him. Jeongguk wants to keep looking for Ji-hu, but his
son knows what to do if he gets lost. Either scream as loud as possible or find an employee or
security guard.

He doesn’t know if it’s the best plan, but it’s worked. Though he’s gotten many dirty looks when Ji-
hu screamed at a pitch nearly deafening when they were separated at the market once.

“Hey,” Jeongguk calls softly, flinching when the boy goes taut noticeably, his eyes instantly filling
with tears. Jeongguk raises his hands up as he crouches down to his level, offering them to the boy.
“Do you need help?”

The boy doesn’t speak, but his lip starts trembling and he's swallowing over and over again.

“I need help too,” Jeongguk tries with a laugh, his panic growing because the boy looks like he’s
about to be murdered and no one around is intervening like it’s their son. “I lost my son. He goes to
Park’s Dance Academy too. I’m here with sunbaenim Jimin. You know Jimin-ssi yes?”

The boy’s bottom lip trembles worse and Jeongguk wants to groan because he isn’t just a bad dad,
he’s shitty with kids in general. His mother had assured him he’d do just fine, but he isn’t so sure.

“Jiminnie hyung,” the boy breathes. It’s so quiet that if Jeongguk couldn’t read lips, he would have
missed it.

“Do you want me to take you to him?” Jeongguk asks, nudging his offered hand towards the boy but
he's rubbing at his neck and swallowing again like there's something stuck there. “He’s probably
with my son, do you know Ji-hu? Jeon Ji-hu? He looks about your age.”

The boy stares at Jeongguk’s hand unsurely, his own shaking as he reaches out to take it. He nods,
but the movement makes his tears slip down his cheeks. He yanks his hand back before their skin
can touch, his wide eyes taking in Jeongguk again before he finally lets Jeongguk take his hand.

“Can you tell me your name?”

The boy doesn’t say anything and Jeongguk sighs. Jimin will know what to do, or at least, probably
not terrify the child. Maybe he should take parenting lessons as he babbles on to the boy, trying to
talk about anything that could possibly comfort him.

The trembling doesn’t stop but the tears do as the boy squeezes hard onto Jeongguk’s hand before
they approach the last place Jimin had been.

“Woojin-ah!” Jimin cries, bending for him the moment Jeongguk and the boy - Woojin comes into
view. He wants to feel relief that Ji-hu is there, holding hands with Yoongi, but it’s another face that
has him stopping in his tracks.

It’s only been a few days but Taehyung looks different with light, honey brown hair sticking out of
the sides of his snapback instead of silver. He’s wearing a loose tank top over jeans, another thing
that is new - at least to Jeongguk.

It doesn’t let his heart calm down after finding Ji-hu. He’s definitely going to suffer from a heart
attack soon, either because of his son or Taehyung.

“Hey sweet boy, you aren’t supposed to leave Eunae’s side.”

Woojin doesn’t let go of Jeongguk’s hand when Jimin takes his face into his. He doesn’t say
anything either, just looks at him and at the group in front of them.

Taehyung looks agitated and tense, fiddling with his hat. It’s confusing, as just the night before they
had drifted to sleep on the phone together after exhausting each other out and giggling about the
things Taehyung wants to do in New York.

“Uh, I saw the shirt and thought I could help,” Jeongguk says to Jimin apologetically. “I figured
you’d know who he belongs to. But I think I just scared him.”

Jimin glances up at him. “Uh, yeah, I do. Come Woojin baby, let’s go find your hyungs. Tell
Jeongguk-ssi thank you for helping. He’s just shy, really shy. He doesn’t do well in crowds, isn’t that
right baby?”

Jeongguk wants to insist it’s unnecessary as the boy looks quite shaken up still, but Ji-hu is stepping
up beside Jimin and tickling Woojin’s cheek. There’s something nagging in the back of Jeongguk’s
mind that he knows the boy, and he wonders if he’s seen him at the Academy before. Ji-hu is always
talking about his friends, but everyone is 'hyung' like he doesn't realize Jeongguk doesn't know who
he is talking about.

Maybe he truly is a bad parent, he can’t even remember the names of his son’s friends.

“That’s my Appa! He’s really big right? Like a superhero. Show him your muscles, Appa.”

His face grows warm as the little ones look up at him. Including Jimin, whose lips tremble with the
force he puts behind not laughing at him.

“Show me yours first.”

Ji-hu huffs out a laugh of excitement as he shoves his shirt sleeve (it’s neon yellow, so Jeongguk
hadn’t been too off) to his shoulder and flexes. His face crunches into something that’s probably
supposed to be intimidating as he growls. Woojin’s face lights up, a smile wavering on his lips.

“And you too.”

Woojin glances at Ji-hu’s face, hesitating until Ji-hu gives him a nod of encouragement. He lifts his
arm, squeezing his hand into a fist as he crunches his face iin a way that is also supposed to look
angry but he just looks terrified. Jeongguk joins along as he flexes his own arm, minus the growling,
and Woojin pushes up on his tip toes to squeezes the muscle of his bicep.

“Superhero.”

Jeongguk snorts. “You just have to work hard and you’ll be strong too.”

Woojin nods quickly, glancing at Ji-hu for confirmation. Ji-hu is quick to do so, nodding along
before he’s taking his hand.

“Come on hyungie, you have to try this one game.”

Hyungie. Jeongguk's lips tug downwards as he remembers him now. Ji-hu's best friend; the one
without a mother. Ji-hu always told him they have to be close because everyone else has mom's but
they do not.

Woojin looks back at where Jimin has stepped a few feet away, slowly inching back until he’s
almost at Taehyung and Yoongi again. He looks alarmed, eyes wide as he watches and Taehyung’s
turned around, head tilted up at a framed photo on the wall.

Jimin jumps back in front of them, tickling his fingers under Woojin’s chin. “Yes. I’m so proud of
you. Go on, I’ll talk to your hyungie.”

When they’re gone, Jeongguk finally glances back at Taehyung, who has turned back to face them.
There’s a small, soft smile on his lips that turns flirty under Jeongguk’s gaze, but there’s something
strong in Taehyung’s eyes that isn’t soft at all.

Jeongguk, however, feels himself grow tense as he realizes Taehyung probably grew uncomfortable
because of Ji-hu.

He should have introduced them, but that might have made Taehyung feel worse. Or did not
introducing him make him uncomfortable? God, Jeongguk would cut off his pinky finger to see
Taehyung and Ji-hu kick it off.

“So handsome, strong, rich, funny I guess, kind, good in bed and good with kids?” Taehyung hums
as he approaches and slides a palm down Jeongguk’s arm before squeezing gently. He blinks
rapidly, hiding the wetness in his eyes. “How did I get so lucky?"

Jeongguk finds himself grinning as he rubs his thumb over Taehyung’s jaw. He has to be careful
with Ji-hu around, but it’s a simple touch.

He doesn’t know how careful he’ll be able to be if he were around Taehyung for too long. There’s a
constant itch under the tips of his fingers that can only be calmed by the feel of Taehyung’s skin.

Ji-hu is at the age where everything is curious to him. Jeongguk’s taken back by the things he comes
up with, asking questions that leave both him and Yoongi stumped on how to answer.

“I am quite shit with kids, babe,” Jeongguk admits. “That poor boy looked as if he was about to pass
out when I tried to talk to him.”

Taehyung softens as he shakes his head, slipping his fingers under the sleeve of Jeongguk’s shirt. “I
think you did well. Made me want you more than I already do.”

“I’m all yours Baby,” Jeongguk says, his heart fluttering in his chest. “I’d like to see you later.
Maybe tomorrow?”

Taehyung seems to think this over, contemplating hard before he’s pulling away with a grin. “It’s a
date. Would you like me to wear that dress you sent?”

Jeongguk feels his cheeks warm as he glances at where Jimin and Yoongi are watching them. He
didn’t think about it before he bought it, didn’t even consider if Taehyung would like something like
that.

“Only if you want to.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes as he pulls his touch away. “Tell me what you want for once, Jeongguk, I
won’t beg.”

“What if that’s what I want?”

Taehyung bites at his grin, eyes bright before he walks backwards. “I’ll see you tomorrow,
Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk watches as Taehyung wanders off. He doesn’t think about who Taehyung is here with,
though in the back of his mind he knows that his kids must be around somewhere. Instead, he
focuses on the way his heart pumps a little harder when Taehyung’s around and how soft his new
hair looks tickling the back of his neck.

He flushes when he pulls his eyes away to find Yoongi and Jimin still looking at him, both smirking.

“What? Shut up,” Jeongguk grumbles before turning on his heel and heading in the direction Ji-hu
took off in.

Jimin crosses his legs, watching Taehyung brush out the tangles in Eunae’s hair. She is half asleep,
head jerking and eyes ripping open every time the brush touches her scalp just to fall closed again.

“Woojin spoke to him,” Jimin says, sipping at the glass he holds. He knew he missed Taehyung, but
being around him again makes him feel as if he took his first bite of food after being starved for
months. “Even took his hand.”

Taehyung frowns at this, glancing at him from over Eunae’s head. Woojin is asleep, curled up with
Jin. Jin had been worried about the restaurant, saying it was too much for Woojin but Woojin said he
wanted to go.

It changed the moment they stepped in, Taehyung had explained. He froze up like a statue and only
Eunae could get him to try the games. Jimin hates thinking about how panicked Taehyung looked
when he found them, explaining Eunae accidentally left him behind.

He’s witnessed enough of Woojin’s anxiety attacks that just thinking about them makes him feel like
he’s choking up. Some are calm and quiet, his body trembling and pouring out sweat, his lungs
working overtime for air. And sometimes he screams, grappling at his throat like he's choking and it
takes all of them to get his attention back from wherever his mind has brought him.

“Thank you for stepping in.”

Jimin looks at Taehyung sadly. “You should have. You can trust Jeongguk with them.”

Taehyung glances at Jimin, a glare in his eyes before he drops the brush to collect Eunae’s long hair
into his hands. “It’s against our rules.”

“Everything’s changed, Tae Tae. The rules are going to too.”

Jimin glances at where Yoongi sits, head tilted over the edge of the couch. He knows he’s awake, he
can by the way he constantly fidgets his fingers over his lap, but he’s been quiet the entire day.

“Plus, Jeongguk found out where I was. I think he can find out who your kids are if for some reason
he really needed to.”

Taehyung’s jaw tenses as he pulls Eunae’s hair into a ponytail, making her wince as her head rocks
from side to side, in motion with the dance of the hairband. “Yunbok works for him.”

Jimin tenses, lips hovering over the edge of the glass. Taehyung says it casually but there’s fear in his
eyes when he looks up.

“Did you know that?”

He didn't.

Yoongi lifts his head at the conversation, eyes darting between Taehyung and Jimin with an
unreadable expression. Curiosity, confusion, maybe even a little understanding. Yoongi’s always
been the smartest person he knows.

“It isn’t a problem. They’re not close.”

“Not true,” Yoongi says, curling his legs onto the couch to hug them. “Yunbok had a hand in raising
Jeongguk, but Jeongguk doesn’t like him. He has to respect him for his father’s sake, he’s done a lot
for the Jeon family. If something...happened, it will be hard on Jeongguk.”

Jimin downs the rest of his drink before clinking it loudly on the table, glaring at Yoongi as he
sarcastically thanks him for his help. “Eunae baby, would you go make sure Woojin-ah is okay
please?”

Eunae jumps up from Taehyung’s lap, pecking Taehyung’s lips quickly before she’s running off
towards the bedrooms, almost eagerly because she hates getting her hair brushed.

The city is bright and alive behind Taehyung, opposite of the dark way Taehyung stares at him. He’s
nervous or afraid of something and Jimin is too - though he thinks it’s for different reasons.

Jimin is afraid of what Jeongguk would do if he found out the way Yunbok touched Taehyung. He
knew Jeongguk would be fond of Taehyung, but he hadn’t expected how quickly Jeongguk would
grow attached to him.

Seeing how Jeongguk looked at Richard’s made Jimin suspect Jeongguk is capable of a lot more
than he had initially thought. He wonders if that is what worries Taehyung - knowing both Hanbin
and Jeongguk were brought up by one of the men who they know gets off on his pain.

“The choke test is reliable,” Jimin says.

“What?” Yoongi asks, face crumpling as he stares at the two of them. Jimin lifts himself from the
couch to rest himself on top of Yoongi’s legs, curling an arm around the back of his neck.

He has a week of being free, of being able to be affectionate, and he’s going to make the most of it.

“I choked Jeongguk to see if he would hit me,” Taehyung says as if it’s nothing, making Yoongi
gape at him. He sighs, shoulders slumping. “Of course he didn’t.”

“Why does he seem upset by that?” Yoongi whispers in Jimin’s ear and Jimin presses a finger to his
lips to keep him quiet.

“Yunbok raised Bobby, and he isn’t a sadist. Has Jeongguk ever gotten off on hurting you?”

“No,” Taehyung says a little too quickly and defensively. It makes Jimin grin. “I tried to get him to
choke me and he pet my neck instead. The worst he's ever done is push me to his knees and that's
after I begged him to. He’s probably not even a spanker.”

Yoongi makes a choking noise that he buries in Jimin’s shoulder. “He’s not. He cried once having to
spank Ji-hu.”

Jimin indicates Yoongi with a ‘told you so’ look in his eyes. “See? Jeongguk doesn’t have some
secret anger inside of him that’s going to come out onto you.”

Yoongi fidgets, almost unnoticeable but Jimin feels it under him. He doesn’t comment on it, but he
wants to.

“It’s not even my concern, hyung. Jin had this look in his eye when he asked me who - did that to
me, and I know that look. He’s going to find out whether I tell him or not. And what do you think
will happen then?”

“You’re forgetting one thing Tae,” Yoongi hums, kissing the side of Jimin’s neck before sliding
away. Jimin frowns, glancing at the anger in his eyes and the way his face reddens. “Jin won’t need
to find out, you just told me.”

Jimin stares at Yoongi in confusion, his heart suddenly picking up the pace as Taehyung jumps off
the couch, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Please hyung, don’t tell Jeongguk. I really don’t need to complicate his life.”

Yoongi stretches his neck, fingers tensing by his side. “You told Jeongguk that you’re afraid Jimin is
 going to work with that client. Did you mean Yunbok? I’m not letting that happen. I’ll cut his hands
off myself.”

Jimin hops off of the couch, closing the space between them quickly to smooth his hands over
Yoongi’s back. “Baby -”

“Don’t tell me it’s not necessary,” Yoongi says, turning to face him. There isn’t any softness in his
features, but his touch is gentle when he moves Jimin’s hands. “I know as soon as we land home,
you’re going back to him. I can’t stop you, but I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Jimin stills, lips parted. He hates the wave of emotion ripping through him, making his neck tight. He
doesn’t know why a good moment went to a bad one, why every good moment goes to bad ones.

“You don’t know that.”

Yoongi smiles, a soft smile that has him blinking until his eyes are no longer glossy. “I do. Every
time you kiss me it feels like goodbye.”

He feels stuck like a stone, speechless as he watches Yoongi slip from the suite. He wonders if this is
what Woojin feels like all the time, and it makes him feel worse.

“I’m sorry hyung,” Taehyung says, glancing nervously at the door and Jimin. “Please ask him not to
tell Jeongguk, not yet. Tell him I will.”

Jimin doesn’t say anything, only stares at the wooden door. It’s the first time, out of every time, that
Yoongi’s been the one to walk away.

Chapter End Notes

Let me know what you think please? I hope it doesn't feel like I was dumping backstory
into the story, but there will be more pieces coming together over the next couple
chapters.

Like always, please come talk to me on tumblr @taecheeks or twitter @taehcheeks

 Chapter 11
Chapter Notes

If you remember from chapter four, it was stated that Woojin was supposed to be taken
for their father's debt instead of Taehyung. This is going to be mentioned a few times,
and though nothing is descriptive or anything like that, the implication of child abuse is
there so please take care with reading and ask me if you have any questions.

This fic nearly has 500 kudos and I'm sobbing out my gratitude and flinging finger
hearts everywhere in hopes that they reach you. Thank you for every message, I read
every single one, every kudo, rec, etc. You guys are the best and I love you

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Taehyung stares out at the city, admiring the way the lights decorate the night air. It’s intimidating
being this high up, but Jeongguk had been kind enough to keep them a distance away from the glass
barrier of the balcony.

The surrounding view is almost as nice as the immediate view. Between them is a circular table,
covered in a lace white cloth and covered with flickering candles and champagne and so much food
that Taehyung’s worried about moving too much and knocking it over. Even better is the man sat
opposite of him, a shy smile on his lips as he looks down at his place where he cuts his meat into
small pieces.

Jeongguk is handsome. It’s a fact he’s been aware of from the first moment he laid his eyes on the
man. He wanted him then, that first night, and the feeling has only built. It’s grown until it feels as if
it’s consumed Taehyung’s body.

Seeing him with Woojin made something inside of him stir. He had been nervous about showing that
Woojin was his and guilty that he didn’t step forward when Woojin needed him, but now he wants
to see more of Jeongguk and his kids.

Before, Woojin would have never been gone with a man he did not know. Maybe he is improving
more than Taehyung realizes. Maybe he just senses how good Jeongguk is.

The feeling - it’s different. But it isn’t new; Taehyung’s just been in denial.

“What are you smiling about?” Taehyung asks, cocking his head at Jeongguk as he gives him his
own smile.

“You look beautiful,” Jeongguk says after a moment of consideration. “I like the hair.”

A flush swarms across Taehyung’s skin. He wishes it were a cool summer night, but there is a breeze
from the water and the height. “It looks nice with the dress?”

“It does. The dress looks lovely on you.”

Taehyung flicks a brussel sprout at him, unable to find the words to respond with. He hates the way
that he can’t even take compliments anymore without flushing.
“As beautiful as it looks, I’d hope to see you in my clothes by the end of the night.”

Taehyung thinks he should have stayed naked because the summer night is turning sweltering hot.
He cocks an eyebrow, kicking out his foot under the table to drag over Jeongguk’s.

“Wouldn’t you prefer me without any clothes?”

He’s fond of the way Jeongguk ticks his head to the side when he’s being contemplative and the way
his cheeks bulge as he munches on his food. It’s adorable and Taehyung’s feeling fond.

“It is up to you,” Jeongguk says after he swallows and Taehyung almost groans. “But I would like
you in my clothes."

It’s domestic, yet screams mine. He wants to feel like Jeongguk’s. He’s never cared about clients
wanting him just for themselves, but with Jeongguk he doesn’t know what to do.

He’s making trouble for himself, both wanting to be Jeongguk’s and wishing he would stop saying
it. It makes him hot but it also makes his heart grow.

“Yes, Daddy.”

The nickname never fails in making Jeongguk flush from the top of his ears to the base of his neck
and Taehyung rejoices in it every time. This is the man that’s pushed him to his knees and touched
him demandingly until he opened his mouth, and the same man who giggles like a boy and gets
flustered over the smallest things.

“Are you enjoying New York?”

Taehyung nods as he stuffs his mouth. He’s distracted by the small things. The way Jeongguk’s
sleeve tightens around his bicep when he brings the fork to his mouth, the wrinkles on the bridge of
his nose when he sniffs. There’s a scar over his cheekbone that Taehyung’s never noticed, so light
that it can barely be seen but he sees it every time Jeongguk looks away to smile.

He’s distracted by the soft look in Jeongguk’s eyes every time they make contact with his own. He’s
distracted by the coil of arousal it causes the and the build of something in his chest that he refuses to
give name to, but it pushes against his sternum, demanding to be let out and spread throughout his
body.

“I am. My kids love it a lot. The suite. Thank you, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk smiles softly. “I’m glad they’re having a good time.”

“Your son is adorable.”

His smile only grows more, making a shallow dimple appear over his cheek and his nose wrinkle
more.

“I would have introduced you but I didn’t know if it was something you’d be comfortable with.”

Taehyung doesn’t respond at first as he smears his steak across the remains of sauce on his plate.
He’s no longer waiting for the day his life reminds him that there is no such thing as good luck; he’s
ready to accept maybe finding Jeongguk is actually that.

He’s considerate, maybe a little too overwhelmed with wanting to not do anything wrong with
Taehyung, but it’s more consideration Taehyung’s gotten ever in his life.
He knows his worry about Jeongguk and Yunbok is outlandish, but he can’t help it. Jeongguk is his
own person, but he’s listened Jimin tell Bobby’s stories about how his father always preferred
Hanbin because he was more successful in shaping Hanbin to be like him. Bobby’s jealous of
Jeongguk too, and Taehyung can’t help but worry it’s for the same reason.

“That would be up to you,” he decides, “I’m comfortable with what you choose.”

Jeongguk looks at him for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face before he nods.
“Okay. Maybe one day.”

Warmth blossoms across Taehyung’s chest and he wants to embrace it, but it’s still difficult to gut all
of weeds of doubt in his mind at one time. Tiny steps; he’s never been able to take them.

He didn’t date much before his mother passed. Here and there, mostly hookups or flings that never
really lasted long. He fell in love after a few days just to grow bored after another. Even before his
family became a secret to anyone who didn’t already know him, he never shared much. He didn’t
have a reason to and often he wonders why clients are so quick to divulge personal stories and
information.

But maybe he understands now, sitting here with a want for Jeongguk to continue telling him about
Ji-hu and whatever else in his life is the most important.

He wants to tell Jeongguk how his mother used to brush his hair every night before bed and let
Taehyung grow it to his shoulders. He wants to tell Jeongguk what it was like the night Eunae was
born and how he felt to finally have a sister.

He wants to tell Jeongguk about every punch Taehyung took from his stepfather and how relieved
he felt when he died, even though everything in his life fell to pieces because of it.

“I’d like to tell you something,” Taehyung says, huffing out the words before he can change his
mind. Worry flashes in Jeongguk’s eyes and Taehyung hopes it isn’t anything he would be angry
about. “I know Jin hyung, and I know him very well.”

There’s silence for a moment as Jeongguk wipes his mouth with a napkin, taking longer than is
probably necessary. There’s nothing readable on his face, though his head cocks again before his
brows furrow.

“Very well as in…?”

“As in he’s my best friend. We are not blood related, but he is my brother as if we were,” Taehyung
admits, pulling his eyes away from Jeongguk. “He - he helps me raise my siblings. I didn’t know you
knew him before.”

Jeongguk’s a blank slate that Taehyung is constantly glancing at to gauge some kind of reaction
from. He’s either the epitome of expressive or completely expressionless, Taehyung’s always been
impressed with how quickly he can switch between the two.

“Woojin and Eunae,” Jeongguk says, startling Taehyung by saying their names. “That’s why you
didn’t tell - ah. At Action Burger yes? I knew I recognized the boy, it just didn’t click because Jin
wasn’t there.”

“Yes,” Taehyung says, letting out a shaky breath. Jeongguk pays for Woojin’s therapy, he must
know about his condition. He’s wondering if Jeongguk is thinking about it now, judging his brother
or wondering why he’s that way. It makes his defenses come up and maybe he’s not ready to share
everything just yet.
Small steps.

“He knows Ji-hu,” Jeongguk says and Taehyung isn’t sure if it’s meant to be a question or not. “He
says he's his best friend. I didn't make the connection.”

Jeongguk smiles bright, eyes twinkling more than the stars they can’t see because of the city lights.
He reaches across the table, hand held out for Taehyung.

Taehyung slips his hand over his, butterflies tickling at his stomach as Jeongguk brushes the tips of
his fingers over Taehyung’s wrist. It warms Taehyung to know Woojin has such a close friend,
though he feels guilt for not knowing.

“Don't laugh,” Jeongguk says so softly it’s almost a whisper. “But in every way our lives are
intertwined it feels as if it were destiny for us to meet.”

Taehyung doesn’t laugh, he chokes. His heart grows so large that it shoves his esophagus up his
throat and into his mouth. He feels overwhelmed by Jeongguk’s gaze, so much so that he has to
watch their hands instead.

“I don’t believe in destiny.”

“Me neither,” Jeongguk hums thoughtfully, ticking his head the way he does. “But we would have
met sometime. Maybe at the recital, dance practice. Maybe if Jin invited me over or a work function.
If you were at Hoseok’s and I was with Yoongi. A play date between Ji-hu and Woojin.”

“You mean, maybe we would meet in some other way than you being my client.”

The words slip out before Taehyung can stop them and his stomach drops the moment theydo.
Jeongguk frowns, pulling his hand away and Taehyung cusses at himself as Jeongguk starts to stand.

“Come here,” Jeongguk says, holding a hand out for Taehyung. He takes it tentatively, worried that
he ruined the night by mentioning the state of their relationship.

“The moment I first saw you I wanted you,” Jeongguk hums, cupping Taehyung’s cheeks and tilting
his head to pepper a kiss over the corner of his mouth. “No matter which way we met, I would have
thought the same. I wanted to see you again, before I was a client of yours and that hasn’t changed
even as a client.”

Taehyung parts his lips as he feels Jeongguk’s breath ghost over his mouth. He feels like he’s
suffocating under Jeongguk’s touch, his words wrapping around Taehyung’s lungs and squeezing
hard.

Maybe it’s the New York air. He heard rumors about New York making dreams come true, though
he’s not sure this is what they meant.

“Do I want more than that?” Jeongguk whispers against his lips and Taehyung braces himself, a
whine settling in his throat.

Yes or no, both would be disastrous answers.

Yes, because he can’t have it. Because Taehyung can’t hear Jeongguk say he has feelings for him. It
would make things confusing, it would make it harder for him. He’s selfish in that way, but he’s
okay with it.

And no, because it’d break his heart if Jeongguk didn’t want him as anything more.
“Do you?” He urges anyway, desperate to know which one it is despite himself.

The hum Jeongguk lets out is low and deep, vibrating in his throat. “Yes. I want you badly, just for
myself. Not just sex, but all of you. I want you so badly that I will take any piece of you you’re
willing to give.”

Taehyung is thankful Jeongguk presses their lips together then, giving him time to come up with a
response. He can’t.

Plenty of clients have admitted wanting him for just themselves. Not only Hanbin, but others as well.
Every client has told him how badly they wanted him, and he hears it constantly throughout his shifts
at the club.

None of them make him feel like a sparkler is going off in his chest, like the blood in his veins is icy
hot. He’s never felt the urge to say the words back, and they clog up in his throat and spill out into
his mouth to be expressed by every curl of his tongue behind Jeongguk’s teeth.

He hopes Jeongguk feels it as they kiss. He doesn’t know when he became Jeongguk’s, but
he realizes the truth of it in the moment.

“Take me to bed, Jeongguk,” Taehyung breathes between kisses, because that’s the only way he’s
ever been able to give himself. It’s the only way he can give himself to Jeongguk. “You can have
every piece of me tonight.”

Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate, curling his arms around the curve of Taehyung’s back to pull him in
deeper. Taehyung sighs into the kiss, smoothing his fingers over Jeongguk’s neck and tickling the
pads of his fingers over the stubble under his chin. His legs part, an invitation for what he wants but
Jeongguk ignores it, licking into his mouth until he’s pulled out a moan.

“Is that okay?” Jeongguk asks, rubbing his palms down Taehyung’s face before he’s kissing him
again like not doing so is painful. “You want me to tell you how much I want you?”

Taehyung whimpers as Jeongguk nips his jaw. His body is on fire, like he’s burning under the sun
though it’s tucked itself in bed for the night. He falls apart easily under Jeongguks’ touch, feeling his
cock stirring in his panties just from a few kisses and stroke of Jeongguk’s fingers.

“That when I’m not with you, you’re all I think about?”

A tremble tears a path down Taehyung’s spine as he tilts his head back, facing the blanket of dark
sky above them. He needs to stop it, keep Jeongguk from talking, but his voice is lost on him.

“I don’t know what to do with myself because I want to break the fingers of anyone who touches
you,” Jeongguk admits, kissing over his throat, his voice gentle and breathy despite his crude words.
“I want to stroke your skin like you’re made of glass but I want to dig my fingers in until you’re left
with marks that make you remember me.”

Taehyung digs his fingers into Jeongguk’s shoulders, encouraging him to do so. He whimpers at the
graze of Jeongguk’s teeth on his skin, but he keeps his kisses gentle. His hands are rougher,
desperate as they rub down his hips and up his sides.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung whispers, threading his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair to tug his head back
up for a kiss.

Jeongguk cups his cheek, his thumb stretching out to rub at Taehyung’s parted lips. There’s a dark
look in his eyes, an overwhelmed expression on his face and Taehyung knows in that moment he
trusts Jeongguk. He could do what he wanted and Taehyung would melt into every touch.

“It was difficult to enjoy the food when I wanted a taste of you instead,” Jeongguk murmurs, tugging
down on Taehyung’s bottom lip. Taehyung flutters his eyes closed, unable to handle Jeongguk’s
heavy gaze.

“Are you ready for your final entree, Mr. Jeon?”

Jeongguk snorts, a grin tugging at his lips before he pushes his thumb past Taehyung’s lips.
Taehyung moans lowly as he tugs Jeongguk deeper, curling his tongue around the digit. He doesn’t
know how he wants Jeongguk - rough or gentle, fast or slow. He just wants, he wants Jeongguk so
badly that every nerve in his body is screaming out his name.

“Turn around.”

Taehyung’s heart stutters in his chest at the tone of Jeongguk’s voice and the fact that they’re still
outside, high but not high enough to not be seen by the surrounding buildings. There’s even a
balcony over and below them he’s thinks since he heard someone else’s voice earlier in the night.

He does anyway, uncaring about any of that as he wiggles his hips for Jeongguk. Jeongguk’s palms
are gentle as they ease the straps of the dress off his shoulders, kissing each one as he goes.

“I don’t know if I want to rip the dress off or keep you wearing it,” Jeongguk hums, dreamy; like
he’s talking more to himself than Taehyung. He slips his palms down Taehyung's spine, stopping
just at the top of his butt.

“Take it off me,” Taehyung breathes, arching up into Jeongguk’s touch. He glances over his
shoulder to find Jeongguk staring down between them a moment before he feels Jeongguk’s
hardening length rubbing against him.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung moans quietly, arching further as Jeongguk presses his clothed cock between
his cheeks, his large hands gripping the curve of Taehyung’s ass like he wants to spread him. It drags
a rumble of a groan from Jeongguk’s throat, a pleased noise that has Taehyung’s ears feeling hot.

“I want to eat you out,” Jeongguk declares, his voice steady and Taehyung gasps, wanting to cover
his face as Jeongguk’s words float out into the night air for anyone to hear.

God, it’s been years since anyone has done that to him, and he had been drunk and he isn’t even sure
if Jimin remembers.

“Yes,” Taehyung breathes as Jeongguk pulls back just to slide the straps of the dress further down
Taehyung’s arms. He shivers despite the heat, anticipation building as Jeongguk slips the dress from
his body.

“You’re beautiful,” Jeongguk hums as the dress pools to the ground. He hums as his fingers tickle
down Taehyung’s spine and slip over the heart shaped hole in his panties. “Fuck, you’re so
gorgeous.”

Taehyung exhales shakily, wanting to turn but Jeongguk’s gripping his hips and pulling him back
with a strength in his touch that has him melting into it. He cares less about who hears as Jeongguk
grinds against him, his mouth working over the curve of Taehyung’s shoulder.

He reaches behind him, snagging his fingers into Jeongguk’s hair to hold him close. “Touch me,
Jeongguk.”
Jeongguk hums as his palms slip over Taehyung’s hips and smooth around his thighs to tickle
the tender, sensitive flesh of his inner thighs. Taehyung gasps at the sudden pressure of his legs being
pried apart.

Arousal stabs hotly at his belly, flooding him with warmth and need as Jeongguk kisses over his
neck and folds his palm between Taehyung’s legs. He doesn’t hesitate to grind forward, wanting
Jeongguk to know how hard he’s made him.

How badly he wants Jeongguk in the same way.

“Inside,” Jeongguk whispers, his voice edging towards an aroused growl as he pats Taehyung’s
thigh.

Taehyung can’t help but shutter, wondering what it would take Jeongguk to bring his palm down a
little harder. He doesn’t want it now, maybe some time where he can lose himself under a touch with
worrying he might drown.

It feels like that way now, but Taehyung isn’t struggling to breathe. He accepts the Jeongguk
flooding into his system and the craving for more.

“What’s wrong with here? Don’t you want everyone to see I’m yours?”

Jeongguk doesn’t stray too far, but attaches his front to Taehyung’s like keeping their bodies separate
is physically impossible. He cages Taehyung in against the glass door, arms surrounding his head
before his lips return to Taehyung’s.

“There’s a window.”

Taehyung giggles fondly as he warms his hands over Jeongguk’s chest, wanting to rip the material of
his dress shirt until it’s littering the ground beside his dress.

“Even with a nice tip, it’s rude to make the cleaning staff clean my come off the window.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, his smile grazing Taehyung’s. “Come on me instead.”

A shiver rocks down Taehyung’s spine, making his fingers dig harder into Jeongguk’s chest before
he grips Jeongguk’s chin, trying to be careful but arousal pounds through his body.

“You have a dirty mouth baby, why don’t you put it to good use?”

Jeongguk’s lips part under the pressure of Taehyung’s grip, his eyes dark with the same want and
need Taehyung feels.

He hates the sudden lack of Jeongguk against him, though he appreciates that Jeongguk doesn’t let it
last long before he’s scooping Taehyung into his arms like he weighs nothing.

Jeongguk grips onto the back of his thighs, lifting Taehyung until he has to crane his head back for
their eyes to meet. With his hands gripping into Jeongguk’s hair, he steadies himself enough that he
can rock his hips down against Jeongguk’s stomach.

He trusts Jeongguk not to drop him as he moves, even with Jeongguk’s eyes closed and mouth
distracted with layering tongue drawn shapes over his chest.

The air conditioning is bitingly cold, nipping at his flushed skin as Jeongguk carries him into the
room and leaving the door open behind them.
“Ah,” Taehyung hiccups as the cool glass touches his back and he slips, Jeongguk’s arms sagging
enough to drop Taehyung until his legs are circling his hips.

“Okay?” Jeongguk asks, brows pinching in concern as he pulls away from his attempts to bring their
lips back together.

Taehyung’s heart flutters in his chest and he tries to ignore it but it sounds like a windstorm swirling
around him. “I could have walked, show off.”

A soft grin finds its way to Jeongguk’s lips as his fingers trail over Taehyung’s arms. “Not showing
off. Wanna take care of my baby,” Jeongguk hums, leaning forward to nuzzle his nose against
Taehyung’s jaw.

He goes from soft to dirty so quick, Taehyung feels an ache in his neck from all of the whiplash.

“Your baby?” Taehyung huffs out, his chest falling quickly as he tries to catch his breath and
Jeongguk’s barely touching him.

“Mhm,” Jeongguk murmurs as he turns Taehyung until his arms are pressing against the glass and
Jeongguk’s body is hot against his back. “My baby boy?”

Taehyung bites hard on his bottom lip. It’s a question, an affectionate question. “Yeah.”

Jeongguk moves once Taehyung speaks, hands warming down before his body follows suit.
Taehyung’s breath gets caught in his lungs from how exposed he feels. He isn’t completely naked
yet, but with his legs parted and back slightly arched and Jeongguk’s nose against his cheek has him
breathing out harshly.

It’s hot having Jeongguk on his knees for him and he wants to turn, but Jeongguk’s hands are firm
on his hips and he can barely wiggle back. He stares out at the city lights, pressing his forehead to the
glass as he feels Jeongguk’s mouth hot through the material of his panties.

Jeongguk hums in appreciate before his teeth bite down over the curve of Taehyung’s ass, making
him jolt. He moves slowly, dampening the material with wet kisses as his hands knead over
Taehyung’s cheeks.

Blood flows hot through his limbs, pooling between his legs and his heart pounds in his ears when
he feels Jeongguk’s press between his cheeks. His movements are restricted because of the cloth, but
the hot of his breath and the pressure of his mouth has Taehyung’s hips arching to roll back against
the touch.

“Have you done this before?” Taehyung breathes. Jeongguk’s fingers are slipping the material over
his hips and down his legs. His fingers tickle Taehyung’s ankles before he lifts his foot, letting
Jeongguk pull the material completely off.

Part of him wants Jeongguk to say no. He feels a little possessive too, wanting to be the only one
stretched out like this for Jeongguk.

“Mhm,” Jeongguk says, his fingers returning to Taehyung’s bare skin before he groans, a deep
sound that makes Taehyung burn. “Look at you.”

Taehyung’s cock twitches back against his belly as Jeongguk nuzzles between his cheeks. His eyes
fall between his legs, focusing on the dribble of precome dripping from the slit and the way his
flushed cock twitches with every one of Jeongguk’s touches.
His eyes fall closed when Jeongguk finally does what he promised to do, his mouth closing over
him. Jeongguk sucks down gently before rolling his tongue, pulling a long moan from Taehyung’s
chest.

It sets off an earthquake inside of him, a tremor wracking through his body with every messy, wet
flick of Jeongguk’s tongue. He’s noisy about it, groaning against Taehyung’s skin and filling the
room with obscene, wet sounds that makes Taehyung’s ears hot. His cock aches, the head throbbing
and he wishes he were on the bed where he has something other then the slippery glass pane to grip
his fingers into.

“Mmm,” Jeongguk groans, fingers squeezing hard into Taehyung’s asscheeks as he pulls him back,
his tongue pressing eagerly against his hole. Taehyung whimpers, the vision of the city becoming
blurry as the window fogs more with every breath he lets out.

“Fuck, Jeongguk,” Taehyung huffs, his abdomen tensing when Jeongguk breaches his hole and he
tightens around the width of his tongue. It’s almost embarrassing how close Taehyung is; his cock
begging for just a small touch that could make him come. “Stop, stop.”

Jeongguk pulls back abruptly, his breathing loud in the quiet room. “You okay?”

“Fuck,” Taehyung groans again, resting his forehead on his arm as he tries to catch his breath. The
tension in his body makes his knees buckle, but Jeongguk’s standing in a second, hands on his hips
to keep him upright.

“I’m s-”

Taehyung turns, pulling Jeongguk into a kiss. He ruts his hips forward, rubbing his cock over the
coarse material of Jeongguk’s pants. “It’s a little unfair, don’t you think?”

“Hm?” Jeongguk asks, hands folding over the sides of Taehyung’s neck to keep him from moving
away. The touch makes Taehyung falter in his attempts at unbuttoning Jeongguk’s shirt, his fingers
digging in instead and threatening to rip it off of him.

“Your clothes,” Taehyung mumbles against Jeongguk’s lips. “I want them off.”

Another rumble in Jeongguk’s throat sounds before his eyes are opening. They’re hungry and dark,
falling onto Taehyung like Jeongguk’s a moment away from devouring him.

“Lay on the bed.”

Taehyung wants to complain but Jeongguk is walking backwards, a smirk on his lips as he starts to
unbutton his own shirt. Taehyung only hesitates for a moment before he’s following after him, heels
clicking loudly over the wooden floor.

The sound stops when he steps onto the plush carpet. Jeongguk’s bedroom is similar to his own, the
mirror behind the headboard and running to the ceiling. There’s a few suitcases opened and scattered
around, the sheets and comforter rumpled like Jeongguk hadn’t expected company.

Taehyung frowns at that. He didn’t wear the baby doll for Jeongguk but he had considered Jeongguk
bought it for him because he wanted him to tonight. But the other man hasn’t mentioned anything
about it missing.

“I quite like the sight,” Jeongguk hums, head cocking to the side as his eyes fall down Taehyung’s
completely bare body. He curls his fingers around himself, wanting Jeongguk’s attention on where
he hangs hard and heavy between his legs.
Jeongguk strains against his dress pants, the bulge pressing into his zipper obvious with every step he
takes. His chest is slowly revealed as Jeongguk teases, taking his sweet time to remove the offensive
shirt.

“I’d hope so,” Taehyung murmurs huskily as he rounds the bed, turning his body some so Jeongguk
has a better view of his ass. “I wish I had something nice to look at.”

The bed is plush and soft under Taehyung’s body and he doesn’t hesitate to fall against the pillows,
legs spreading as he digs his heels into the mattress. Jeongguk’s eyes are hot on him, his gaze
following the way Taehyung rubs his hands down his thighs before bucking his hips, making his
cock slap against his belly.

“There’s lube in the drawer,” Jeongguk says, his voice deep and heavy with lust as he cocks his head
towards the night stand, ignoring the comment. “Wanna see you touch yourself.”

Taehyung bites hard on his lip at the pleasure that pulses down his spine. “You ask for so much yet
you’re still wearing clothes?”

Jeongguk’s eyes spark with a playfulness that contrasts loudly with the dark look that had been there
a moment before.

Despite his words, Taehyung reaches into the nightstand. He keeps in his gasp. Jeongguk definitely
prepared to have someone over. There’s boxes of condoms and bottles of lube, one that’s already
been opened and Taehyung finds himself grinning as he plucks out that one, remembering the way
Jeongguk sounded on the phone his first night here.

“Please?” Jeongguk asks quietly, letting the shirt hang off his shoulders instead of removing it. He’s
slow in taking off his belt, teeth digging hard onto his bottom lip as he watches Taehyung pop open
the bottom of lube.

He’s not a fan of touching himself in front of others, but he doesn’t quite mind under Jeongguk’s
heavy gaze. His whole body flushes from it, his fingers shaking slightly and making more lube slip
over his palm than he intends.

The belt slips to the floor and Jeongguk’s hands move a little more eagerly as Taehyung slips his
hands over his thighs, smearing lube over his skin until he’s glistening. It’s cold to touch and he
shivers before taking himself in hand.

He doesn’t need the lube to make himself slick, he could have used the precome weeping from the
tip of his cock. But he pours more on his hand before falling back, feeling messy and stick as lube
dribbles over his balls and smears into the creases of his thighs and hips.

“Jeonggukkie,” Taehyung whimpers, hand cupping around his balls as Jeongguk nearly trips out of
his pants as he’s pulling them off.

Taehyung always thinks he’s beautiful, but seeing him standing before him in all of his naked glory
has Taehyung moaning, hips grinding back against his palm. He’s all hard muscle and smooth skin,
but his thighs are soft as he moves, the muscles only appearing when he kneels on the bed. His cock
is hard and erect, just as flushed and swollen as Taehyung’s and he hasn’t even been touched yet.

“Keeping the socks -” Taehyung tries to joke, but his voice falters when Jeongguk grips his ankle to
lift his leg. Jeongguk peppers soft kisses to his ankle and up, his lips caressing over the ticklish skin
of his calf before stopping behind his knee.

Taehyung curls his hips, slipping his fingers lower as the tickle of Jeongguk’s lips on the back of his
knee and the stretch of his leg into the air has pleasure rushing through him. The muscles in the back
of his thigh strain, but his body is so malleable under Jeongguk’s touch, moving like it’s controlled
by Jeongguk and not him.

“Go on,” Jeongguk hums, hooking Taehyung’s leg over his shoulder before he’s crawling forward.
He only stops when his lips are hovering over Taehyung’s, his thigh trapped between their chests.
“Go on.”

Taehyung bites hard on his bottom lip under Jeongguk’s gaze, his head tilting until their noses brush.
Jeongguk’s left just enough room between them that Taehyung can push down and rub over his
hole, but the angle is awkward regardless and he desperately wants Jeongguk to touch him.

“If you’re not gonna watch you might as well do it yourself,” Taehyung huffs, trying to sound
demanding but his voice betrays him. He sounds just as desperate as he feels, a hint of pleading in his
voice for Jeongguk to do something. He stops touching himself to touch Jeongguk instead, turning
his hand to slip his wet fingers over Jeongguk’s hard cock.

Jeongguk moans lowly, eyes fluttering closed as he moves his body to cage Taehyung against the
mattress further. He nips at Taehyung’s neck, his teeth grinding down harder when Taehyung rolls
his palm over the head. It hurts but it’s good, making a whine escape his throat.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk grunts quietly as Taehyung rubs him between his fingers, shaped like a V as
he works them over the head. Taehyung freezes, flowers blooming in his chest at the sound of his
own name.

It’s what he wants - a night where he can pretend like Jeongguk is his and not a client. The fact that
Jeongguk is willing to give it to him, without him even asking, makes Taehyung’s toes curl.

“Fuck me,” Taehyung breathes, nose knocking desperately against Jeongguk’s as Jeongguk knocks
his hips down, trapping his hand between their hips. “Fuck - make love to me, Gukkie. Wanna feel
you.”

Jeongguk kisses him long and slow, releasing his leg until it slips down to curl around his waist.
Taehyung enjoys the slow dance of their tongues and the sound of their labored breathing filling the
room, but his body pulses with need and he almost cries when Jeongguk finally touches him.

“You look like a goddess,” Jeongguk mumbles, eyes intent on Taehyung as his slick fingers work
over Taehyung’s hole. The bottle of lube nearly empty now as he fucking soaks Taehyung with it.
“You’re so beautiful sometimes I have to blink to make sure you’re real.”

Taehyung turns towards the ceiling, back arching off the bed as Jeongguk carefully works a finger
into him. He’s too overwhelmed, burning hot from the compliments, from the touches, the gazes -
just Jeongguk in general.

“Your body should be praised,” Jeongguk whispers, the words filtering over Taehyung’s skin before
he’s kissing the inside of his thigh. “Your soft thighs, fuck, I love those.”

Taehyung whimpers when Jeongguk’s teeth graze over his skin and his finger pushes deeper, curling
inside of him. Jeongguk’s mouth moves to his hips as he rattles off his liking for for them, praising
how good they feel under his palms. The realization of what Jeongguk is doing has Taehyung
whimpering, his arm coming up to curl over his face.

“Your belly,” Jeongguk moans quietly, nudging a second finger against the first - but only to tease
and turn Taehyung into a whimpering mess. He tongues at Taehyung’s belly button, pouring more
arousal into the bucket of pleasure between Taehyung’s legs until it feels close to overflowing.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung complains, threading his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair as he bucks his hips
up, a silent plea for more. Jeongguk seems to ignore him for a moment, kissing over his stomach but
when he looks up, his eyes are bright and gleaming.

“What do you want, Tae?” Jeongguk asks, nudging the second digit against him again. “You know
I’ll give it to you.”

He’s more than okay with letting Jeongguk set the pace, but the slow drag of his fingers is
maddening. He doesn’t stop Taehyung from grinding needily back, so he accepts that as a win.

“Jeongguk.”

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk groans back, a hint of a grin on his lips as he finally eases a second finger
along with the first. “You never told me if you want me too.”

There’s that hint of insecurity again and Taehyung flushes, moaning softly as Jeongguk’s fingers part
to stretch him.

At the current moment, there’s nothing more in the world he wants other than Jeongguk. But his
throat closes up and he tugs gently at Jeongguk’s hair, hoping that’s enough of a response.

And Jeongguk, lovely Jeongguk, doesn’t press him. He never does, even though there’s always a
look in his eyes like he wants to. He just scissors his fingers, biting down on Taehyung’s hips as
Taehyung’s moan grow louder with every thrust of his fingers.

He’s sweating and trembling by the time Jeongguk adds a third, his fingers pumping into him in the
same maddening pace. Taehyung will apologize later for the crescent marks forming underneath his
fingernails as he grips onto Jeongguk’s shoulders, but right now it’s a thought in the far back of his
mind.

Taehyung could come like this. He feels it in his gut, the pleasure pulsing and making his cock leak
steadily over his belly. His thighs quake, his belly tensing, and a loud moan rips from his lungs when
Jeongguk’s pinky grazes his hole.

“Fuck, you sound good,” Jeongguk moans desperately, sweat shining over his forehead. He lifts
himself enough to crawl over Taehyung, his mouth hot on chest. “Want another baby boy?”

Taehyung can only whimper, nails brutal over Jeongguk’s shoulders as Jeongguk licks over his
nipple, tonguing the ring there.

It hurts, a tiny sting making his body tense as Jeongguk pushes further. But he touches him just right,
his fingers grazing that spot that has Taehyung fucking back against his fingers with a desire to be
pulled over the edge.

“Guk - Gukkie, stop,” Taehyung pants. “Wanna come with you.”

The groan rumbling in Jeongguk’s chest sounds more like a growl than anything as he fucks his
fingers in for a second before pulling out, leaving Taehyung feeling empty. His hole flutters at the
loss, craving more and he knows Jeongguk is willing to give it without the teasing.

He can see it in Jeongguk’s eyes; the want, the same need before he kisses Taehyung urgently.

When he moves to reach for the drawer, Taehyung stops him. He moves upwards, their chests
colliding. “I want -”

“What do you want?” Jeongguk urges breathlessly, snaking an arm around Taehyung’s neck to keep
him close.

Embarrassment makes Taehyung gasp quietly as he takes Jeongguk into his arms. Jeongguk is just as
malleable as he is, allowing Taehyung to roll him away from the drawer and onto his back.

“I’m clean, I promise. I get tested regularly. I haven’t - been with anyone with you since the last time
I’ve been tested.”

Jeongguk groans as he cups Taehyung’s face. There’s a desperation in his eyes and Taehyung’s
gone, no longer wondering if Jeongguk’s words were as true as he wanted them to be.

He wants him, in every way, and Taehyung wants to give Jeongguk all of him.

“Are you sure?” Jeongguk breathes, fingers rubbing over Taehyung’s cheekbones. He briefly
wonders how shitty his makeup must look, but Jeongguk is looking at him like he’s never seen
anything as beautiful as him.

Taehyung nods as he straddles Jeongguk’s hips. He makes quick work of his shoes, rocking back
against Jeongguk’s cock as he does.

It’s exhilarating the idea, his body pumped full of Jeongguk’s come. He wants it sticking to his skin,
leaking down his legs. It feels primal, dirty, just the thing Taehyung needs to feel like he’s
Jeongguk’s and Jeongguk’s only.

“Only if you want to.”

Jeongguk cusses as he lifts himself up to curl his arms around Taehyung’s waist. It’s like their first
time together, sitting on Jeongguk’s lap. It’s something he’s come to learn Jeongguk likes, and he too
is willing to give Jeongguk whatever he wants.

“Yeah,” Jeongguk breathes, rubbing his hands over his spine before slipping over his ass. “I want
that.”

“Yeah?” Taehyung huffs out, a hint of nerves inside of him as he takes Jeongguk’s cock into hand
and nudges it against himself. “Wanna feel you come inside me, Guk.”

Jeongguk moans low and long as Taehyung rubs back against him, eyes fluttering shut. He braces
himself, breath sticking in his lungs as he rubs the swollen head against his hole. It’s slippery from
the amount of lube covering his skin but he gasps loudly as he presses Jeongguk against him, the
head slipping in with ease.

“You wanna come in me, baby?”

Jeongguk grunts, hands smoothing quickly over the round of Taehyung’s ass. He looks as if he
wants to rush it, but his hips remain still as he lets Taehyung set the pace.

“Use your words,” Taehyung pleads, voice breaking as he moans at the feel of Jeongguk pressing
deeper inside of him.

Jeongguk’s touching him with desperate hands, gripping onto his ass and rubbing over his spine. His
lips work over his neck, teeth and moans creating shapes across his skin.
“Turn around.”

Excitement floods through Taehyung and he struggles not to appear eager as he turns, knees digging
into the mattress beside Jeongguk’s hips.

He wants to see Jeongguk’s face as he grips his cheeks and rubs his cock between them, slicking
himself with the lube stuck to Taehyung’s skin. He’s thankful for the mirrors, above them and the
one on the dresser across from them, showing just enough of Jeongguk to have Taehyung groan.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk groans as his cock slaps between his cheeks, the head rubbing over his
swollen hole. Taehyung shivers, legs spanning out to press needing against him. “I love your skin.”

Taehyung digs his fingers into Jeongguk’s thighs as he whines, the sound a plea for Jeongguk to be
quiet or to say more - he isn’t sure. But the word love leaving Jeongguk’s lips has him desperate.

“Please go slow,” Jeongguk whispers, his words sounding urgent as he guides his cock forward.
Taehyung tenses, keeping himself from fucking down hard like his body wants to.

He goes slow upon request, slowly rolling his hips down on Jeongguk’s length. Moans get locked in
his throat as Jeongguk’s palms resume their rubbing over his hips and back, pulling him urgently
down despite his previous plea.

Jeongguk’s arms curl around his belly when he bottoms out, his hips coming up to grind into him.
Taehyung shakes with pleasure, moaning quietly in time with Jeongguk’s heavy breathing.

They don’t say much - and they don’t need to. The moans and grunts, the soft slick noises as
Taehyung lifts his hips and works back down is enough. It is difficult to go slow with the way his
body begs for release, but Jeongguk’s grip on his ass is taking control, moving Taehyung’s body as
he pleases.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung pleads, craning his head back in pleasure to watch the image of them above.
Jeongguk’s head is tilted down like his gaze is glued to where their bodies meet.

It makes him melt thinking how affected Jeongguk is by the idea of coming inside of him and he
struggles to keep himself from quickening the pace to give Jeongguk just that.

“You feel so good,” Jeongguk grunts with a quick thrust of his hips, his hips smacking loudly against
Taehyung’s ass before he stops himself with a noise of frustration like he too is struggling to keep
with the slow pace. “Fuck, Tae -”

Taehyung fights back against Jeongguk’s grip, shaking his ass and rolling his hips quicker despite
the fingers digging into his skin to stop him. He’s feeling desperate, his body tense and quaking as
the pleasure in his belly spreads to his limbs.

His cock twitches back against his belly, leaking steadily and his skin an angry red color. He wants
to touch himself but he only grips harder onto Jeongguk’s thighs to prevent himself from doing so.

“Harder, please, Jeonggukkie.”

Jeongguk groans as he pushes up on his knees to curl his arms around Taehyung’s chest and neck,
his hips fucking up in a quick pace that has Taehyung’s gasping with each. He likes being caged in
like this, Jeongguk clinging desperately to him as he fucks up into him with hard thrusts.

The hand over his neck doesn’t bother him as he tilts his head back, letting Jeongguk’s fingers dig in.
He can barely get out his warning before he’s being pulled over the edge, body snapping taut as his
leaking cock slaps back against his belly.

His orgasm washes over him as his cock milks out over his belly and Jeongguk’s thighs. Jeongguk
groans loudly, teeth digging into his shoulder as he buries himself inside of Taehyung, cock rubbing
hard against his prostate.

“Turn around,” Jeongguk gasps out desperately, smacking his thigh and Taehyung doesn’t care how
desperate he seems too as he lifts his hips to do just that.

Jeongguk crushes his lips against Taehyung’s the moment he’s seated back in his lap. His body
screams with sensitively but his cock is still hard, rubbing harshly against Jeongguk’s belly as
Jeongguk’s cock pushes back into him.

“Tae,” Jeongguk gasps, breathing heavily as he cups Taehyung’s cheeks.

Taehyung rocks his hips down quickly, savoring the drag of Jeongguk’s cock and the way he
twitches inside of him. He keeps his parted lips over Jeongguk’s mouth so every sharp exhale and
breathy moan rolls over his tongue and into his lungs like oxygen.

“I do,” Taehyung mumbles, curling his arms around Jeongguk’s neck as he feels his second orgasm
dragging him to the edge. “I want you too, Jeongguk. Fuck, I want you so bad.”

Jeongguk groans loudly, arms like a vice grip around Taehyung’s hips as he fucks up once - twice
before he’s coming. Taehyung shudders at the feel, kissing over Jeongguk’s jaw as he feels the hot
rush of come inside of him.

“I want you s-so bad it hurts,” Taehyung huffs out, grinding his cock against Jeongguk’s belly as
Jeongguk rocks against him, milking out his orgasm.

“I’m yours,” Jeongguk says hoarsely, his hands sliding over the sides of Taehyung’s head to guide
him into a kiss. “I’m only yours.”

When Taehyung comes for a second time it’s with Jeongguk’s name on his lips and the soft sound of
Jeongguk’s fucking his come back into him. Jeongguk whispers soft praises against his lips, making
Taehyung’s moans sound like sobs and his body aching both with pleasure and a love for Jeongguk
that he’s too afraid to accept but finds himself doing so anyways.

Jeongguk stares up at the mirrored ceiling, taking in the way Taehyung looks curled up beside him,
their legs tangled under the soft sheets. Taehyung’s breathing is even, but he isn’t asleep. Jeongguk
knows because Taehyung’s fingers trace shapes over his chest, matching the way Jeongguk ticks his
own over Taehyung’s spine.

“Tell me something.”

Jeongguk glances at where Taehyung’s cheek is pressed to his collarbone. His face is still flushed
and a bit sweaty, hair matted to his forehead and eyeliner smudged and leaking beneath his eyelids
like he had been crying but Jeongguk doesn’t think he’s ever looked more beautiful.

“Like?”

Taehyung lifts a shoulder in a shrug, glancing up at him with amusement in his eyes. “Anything.”

Jeongguk hums, gazing back at the mirror. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Jin and
Taehyung being so close. He had been terrified Taehyung was going to tell him that had been who
he was talking about at Namjoon's events; one of his clients.

It hurts more this way. He remembers Jin breaking down from stress, telling him about his worries
for Woojin and going through doctor after doctor. Selective Mutism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Separation Anxiety. Jin had listed off a thousand different disorders while crying to Jeongguk about
his struggle going from doctor to doctor before Jeongguk found one for him.

He even went to the consultation meeting with Jin. That’s what’s troubling him the most.

He doesn’t know how he got through listening to Jin talk about the worst night of his life, finding an
infant Eunae screaming her head off alone in the living room. Walking into the kitchen to find
Woojin, quiet as can be while sitting in a pool of his mother’s blood.

Jeongguk closes his eyes briefly. He’s assuming it’s Taehyung’s mother as well and he knows the
pain that comes with losing one. His mother's death had been an accident while Taehyung's - it
wasn't, and that pain Jeongguk can't quite comprehend.

My brother he - he’s told doctors before about how their father would punish them if they spoke too
loudly. He would hit Woojin when he cried.

It’s too personal of a thing for Jeongguk to say he knows, but he wants to hold on tight to Taehyung
and dig out any pain he might still be feeling on the inside.

“My mom passed away when Ji-hu was only a few months old and I used to worry with both of our
moms gone, he would miss out on that mother figure you know?”

Taehyung presses up to glance down at him, pulling his attention away from the mirror with a finger
tracing over his jaw.

“So I wanted him to spend time with his mother’s mom but - well I told you how difficult it was to
part from him but seeing how close him and Mrs. Lee makes me feel a little better.”

Taehyung continues stroking over his face as he looks down on him. His expression is unreadable,
everything about him is just soft and Jeongguk curls his arm tighter around Taehyung’s waist to keep
him close.

“You know it’s not a mom or a dad that a kid needs. But love and a nurturing hand to guide them,”
Taehyung says, his eyes following the movement of his finger. “Sometimes people have moms
they’d be a lot better off without.”

Jeongguk tilts his chin back as Taehyung’s finger slips down his throat, the pad rubbing over
Jeongguk’s pulse. He wonders if Taehyung can feel how erratic he makes his heart.

“I work with someone whose mother sold him into the life he’s living now for an eight ball,”
Taehyung goes on, a hint of sadness in his eyes. “I know dads who have slapped their babies for
crying like babies have any other way to express themselves.”

Jeongguk shifts upwards, keeping his arms curled around Taehyung before he presses a gentle kiss
to his lips. “I didn’t mean to make the conversation sad.”

Taehyung threads his fingers through the hair at the back of Jeongguk’s head, a small smile on his
face. “I said you could have every piece of me and sadness is one of them.”

It hurts Jeongguk to hear, though he knows every person has pieces of sadness inside of them. He
just aches, knowing the things about Taehyung that cause him pain.

“Tell me things that make you happy then,” Jeongguk suggests, moving until he has Taehyung fully
on his lap. He pulls the sheets over their waists, though his hands roam over Taehyung’s bare hips
underneath.

Taehyung purses his lips for a moment. “Listening to my brother talk and Eunae giggle. Puppies.
Cooking with Jin hyung, and when I bathe with Jimin after a bad client.”

The hands on his chest rub over his collarbones and up, until Taehyung is cupping under his jaw.
Jeongguk moves like a puppet on a string, the grin on his lips a mirror of Taehyung’s.

“Panda Express?” Jeongguk jokes, cocking his head as Taehyung licks his lips, his eyes heavy and
dark as they flick down to Jeongguk’s mouth.

“Mm, and this.”

Like their bodies are designed to move in sync, Jeongguk’s lips are parting before Taehyung’s ducks
his head. He sighs softly as Taehyung’s tongue slips past his teeth, licking onto his own before
Jeongguk pulls him in.

There’s a wreckage of emotions inside of Jeongguk. From happiness to longing, comfort and desire.
He feels something stronger, like all those emotions are a glass of beer compared to the whiskey that
is the one emotion screaming the loudest.

Yoongi had been right about falling too hard, too quickly. Maybe it is too soon, but Jeongguk feels it
in his heart that want hadn’t been the right word to describe his feelings for Taehyung.

“That makes me really happy,” Taehyung says huskily, his voice deeper than it had been a minute
ago.

It could be an act, a show to make Jeongguk feel the way he does. But it seems genuine, the softness
radiating for Taehyung and the openness that hadn’t been there before. Jeongguk doesn’t care if it is
real or not, not right now.

He moves them until Taehyung is flat on his back and filling the room with a soft giggle as Jeongguk
crowds over him. He is addicted to the feel of Taehyung’s mouth against his and every breath the
other man takes.

If he thought he was fucked after one night with Taehyung all those weeks ago, he’s completely
ruined now.

When Jeongguk wakes, he admires Taehyung’s sleeping form before he removes himself from the
bed. He has to bring Ji-hu to the venue to rehearse, but exhaustion is hanging heavy on his shoulders.
His back aches and his skin feels gross, but that’s something a hot shower will fix.

Jeongguk smiles as he opens the freezer, pulling out the box of toaster waffles. It had been difficult
keeping Ji-hu away from them, or at least from eating all of them, but a little chocolate sauce as a
bribe worked.

Not that Jeongguk approves of Ji-hu eating chocolate sauce for breakfast, but Jeongguk’s a
compromising man. One time won’t hurt right?
Feet padding across the kitchen floor sound catches his attention and Jeongguk turns, smiling softly
at Taehyung. He rubs at his eyes, lips pouted and his hair is tufted around his head. He’s naked,
showing off the bruises littering his body and the come sticking to his stomach. He radiates softness,
like a giant ball of cotton zombie walking through the suite.

“Morning, Mr. Jeon.”

“Hey, baby. I’m making you waffles.”

Taehyung peeks one eye open at him before he rests against his cheek against his chest. Jeongguk
doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his shoulders, kissing the top of his head. They stay like that
for a few minutes, even when the toaster pops, Taehyung doesn’t move away to let him retrieve the
cooked waffles.

“You okay?” Jeongguk asks, brushing a hand over his warm cheek. Taehyung pulls back to look at
him, even though his eyes remained closed when he nods.

“Thank you for last night, Jeongguk.”

“Anything for you,” Jeongguk hums before he presses a closed mouth kiss to Taehyung’s lips. He
looks somehow softer like this, with wrinkles on his face and make up clotting under his eyes. It
makes Jeongguk feel warm.

“It was a one night only special,” Taehyung whispers, lips quirking up some before he finally
manages to open his eyes. “You know I can’t only be yours.”

Jeongguk nods, rubbing his thumb under Taehyung’s eye to rid the specks of black. He knows this
well, and he doesn’t want to keep Taehyung from doing his job - or he wouldn’t, if Taehyung was
able to do it safely. He doesn’t really want anyone touching Taehyung at all, but he isn’t a
controlling person.

“I am only yours,” Jeongguk hums, cocking his head to the side. “We’ll work with that, yeah?”

Taehyung snorts, eyes rolling before he pulls away and snatches a waffle from the toaster. He plops
it into his mouth, eyebrows wiggling at Jeongguk.

He can’t help but smile as he watches Taehyung smile, which grows as he wiggles around and
munches on the waffle like it’s pure bliss. He has to bite at his lip to keep the smile from breaking his
cheeks, but the stretch of skin feels good.

Taehyung may not want him to buy off his debt, but Jeongguk thinks pissing off Taehyung is worth
it if he can see silly Taehyung more often. He doesn’t have to believe him that Jeongguk wouldn’t
use it against him, but at least he’ll be free and able to decide whether this is a career he wants or not.

Maybe he’ll at least find a way to do it safely.

Yoongi knocks gently on the dressing room door before easing it open. He expects the shocked look
he gets when he steps in just as much as he expects the way Jimin’s expression quickly closes off
before he turns to face the mirror.

“What are you doing here, hyung?”

The dressing room is messy, different outfits thrown across the couches and makeup scattered across
the tables. Jimin is in the process of pulling on an all black leotard, his butt rounding as the material
pushes against it.

“You didn’t answer my phone calls and I stopped by your room and you didn’t open the door for
me.”

Their eyes meet through the reflection of the mirror as Jimin pulls his arms into the black suit. His
legs are covered in thin stockings, making them appear softer than they already are.

“Yeah, because I don’t want to talk about it.”

Yoongi snorts, closing the space between them to help him adjust the back. He takes it as a good
sign that Jimin doesn’t push him off.

“I want to say one thing and then I won’t bring it up again.”

Jimin turns, a petulant look on his face. “One thing, then drop it. For good.”

They both know it’s a conversation that will definitely come up again, but Yoongi nods his head like
he always does.

“So?” Jimin asks, crossing his arms with a hint of impatient in his tone. “What is it?”

“Do you love me?”

Jimin huffs out a laugh that doesn’t hold any amusement, walking away from him as he shakes his
head. “Yoongi -”

“Just answer the question,” Yoongi insists softly, following after him. Jimin gives him a hard look as
he leans back against the wall like he wants to keep a distance between them.

As always, Yoongi ignores it, walking up to him until he’s only a few inches away. If Jimin pushes
him away, he’ll stay back, but he thinks maybe Jimin is just stubborn when he’s grumpy.

“It’s a stupid question,” Jimin deflects, frowning at him. “You’re not an idiot, don’t act like one.”

“Humor me?”

Jimin sighs, his face softening as he takes Yoongi’s into his own, cupping his cheeks with gentle
palms. His fingers caress over his warm skin as Jimin tilts his head like he’s inspecting him. It makes
the muscles of Yoongi’s back relax even though he hadn’t realized how tense he became, worrying
Jimin would push him away.

“Of course I love you.”

Yoongi’s heart sighs in his chest just like it always does when he hears Jimin tell him that. His eyes
always soften a moment before he does, his voice dropping into a whisper and the words dripping
from his lips slowly like it’s a secret.

“Do you remember like - I think it was our senior year? At that neon club party?” Jimin nods, eyes
dropping to Yoongi’s mouth when he speaks. “Some guy tried to start shit with me and you came
out of nowhere? Dumping your expensive ass drink, the one that tasted like ass but you wouldn’t
admit it, right on his head and then punched him in the dick? Or maybe you kicked him?”

A grin tugs at Jimin’s lips, eyes lighting up as he remembers. “Yeah. Why?”

“Why did you do that?”

Yoongi leans in when Jimin’s thumb rubs at the corner of his mouth, planting a hand gently over
Jimin’s stomach.

“I was drunk and he was an asshole.”

Yoongi snorts, shaking his head as Jimin’s hands slip to the sides of his throat, leaving a path of heat
across his skin. “If I remember correctly you said, and I quote, ‘of course I stepped in, hyung. You
think I’m just gonna stand by while someone hurts you?’”

Jimin’s expression turns sad like he understands. That’s one of the reasons they belong together,
Yoongi thinks. Jimin always knows what he’s going to say before he says it.

It’s cliche, whatever, but it’s true.

“Hyung,” Jimin warns, eyes bright with a sadness Yoongi hates to see. If it were anyone else,
Yoongi would think it to be pity.

“Well, imagine if you weren’t allowed to step in. Imagine what that feels like,” Yoongi whispers,
moving closer to Jimin until he can feel the heat radiating from Jimin’s body. “Because that’s what
you’re asking me to do. What I have been doing, and it feels like torture.”

He hates the way Jimin’s lips tug down into a deep frown, but it’s something that needs to be said.
Jimin’s always told him that he’s treated well, he had good clients, and sometimes he appears to be
telling the truth and sometimes he doesn’t.

Taehyung seeking Jeongguk’s help has only made Yoongi worry that it’s been more of a lie than a
truth. He’s seen the change, Jimin never use to have shadows surrounding him or a constant sadness
in his eyes. Never when they were together.

“I’m not getting hurt,” Jimin tells him quietly. “I don’t get hurt like that.”

“You’re lying.”

Jimin sighs, smoothing his hands back over Yoongi’s cheeks before he’s pulling him in, kissing him
softly on the mouth. “I’m not.”

“Is it because you love him?”

Jimin falls still. Yoongi’s heart breaks with every second Jimin doesn’t respond, his lips parted like
he’s going to but doesn’t. Seconds feel like days and Yoongi considers pressing a hand over Jimin’s
mouth when he moves like he’s finally going to speak.

“Yes. But not like that.”

There’s a hard kiss being pressed to Yoongi’s mouth that snatches his breath away. He curls an arm
around Jimin’s lower back, clinging onto him like he might drop dead if Jimin were to move away.

“Why are you such an idiot?” Jimin groans against his mouth. “You know I don’t love anyone the
way I love you.”

“But you do love him?”

Jimin huffs out in annoyance as he pulls away from Yoongi, eyes narrowed. “You said you came
here to say one thing. So either kiss me until rehearsal starts or get out.”
And Yoongi’s a weak man, crowding into Jimin’s space until the others back is pressing against the
wall. He cages Jimin in with his forearms presses around his head, his own tilting as their noses
brush.

His body thrums with need, with an ache that won’t subside until Jimin tells him that there is no love
in his heart for Bobby. It’s a wish that won’t be granted, he knows. Jimin has always loved and
loved deeply, it would make sense for him to love a man that’s been by his side for ten years.

But it hurts - because if Jimin won’t leave his side, his love for Bobby rivals the strength of love
Jimin has for him.

“If you explained things so I understood, maybe I wouldn’t be so fucked up in the head about it.”

Jimin exhales shakily, his breath cascading over Yoongi’s lips as he grips into Yoongi’s shirt. “That
means I have to understand it first.”

Yoongi accepts this with a nod before he kisses Jimin again, slotting their lips slower this time. He
presses against him until their chests touch, wanting Jimin to see the way their hearts beat as one.

He isn’t a jealous man, but he’s starting to wonder if he’s been wrong this entire time. It isn’t Bobby
keeping Jimin from leaving, but Jimin refusing to go.

Jimin moans, low in his throat, as his lips part, guided apart by the press of Yoongi’s tongue.
Yoongi’s never believed in sparks flying when one kisses or anything like that, but when his lips
touch Jimin’s - he feels something indescribable. It’s so strong he isn’t sure how Jimin can’t feel it
too.

“Yoongi,” Jimin gasps, pulling away, breathing heavily as Yoongi moves to stitch their lips back
together. He frowns when Jimin dodges it, eyes focusing up on the ceiling and he licks a gentle kiss
over his jaw. “Coming!”

Yoongi’s frown grows deeper as Jimin moves away from him, confusion settling in as Jimin jogs
towards the door.

Through the thudding of his heart he hadn’t heard the knock at the door and he huffs out when he
spots Ji-hu’s nervous face peeking through where it's cracked open.

“Um, excuse me, Appa is having a stroke.”

“What?” Jimin says in alarm, taking Ji-hu’s face into his hands. He doesn’t look upset, but his eyes
are wide with that same curious look he gets before he riddles off questions about the world that
Yoongi can never answer.

“Appa says there’s so much perfume in the room, he’s going to have a stroke. Samchon, please
help.”

Yoongi snorts loudly as he reaches out, offering his hand to Ji-hu. Jeongguk should know better than
to say these things around him. He once moaned and groaned about dying from a paper cut and Ji-hu
had been a mess of tears for an entire week. “Your father is just dramatic.”

Ji-hu nods with a serious expression. “He says I need to find you, Uncle Yoongi. His face is really
red.”

Jimin peppers a kiss to the boy’s forehead before letting him go, laughing softly. “He probably just
saw a pretty boy.”
Yoongi sends a warning look to Jimin but it only makes Jimin’s devilish smile grow. It had been
awkward being in the same room as Taehyung and Jeongguk as they pretended not to know each
other.

He knows the feeling, he understands why Jeongguk’s eyes constantly dart to find Taehyung
wherever he is. Yoongi struggles to look at anyone else when Jimin is around.

“I’ll see you?” Yoongi asks, pausing long enough for Jimin to answer.

He does by pushing up on his toes and giving Yoongi a soft forehead kiss too. His eyes are bright
but there’s something in them that matches the serious, whispered words he speaks.

“I’m figuring it out.”

Yoongi nods, squeezing Jimin’s hip gently. “I have a brain and some ears for rent if you need them.
I’ll give you a discount.”

Ji-hi tugs on his arm, pulling Yoongi away from Jimin’s laugh and into the hallway of the arena.
“Come on, Uncle Yoongi, Appa needs you.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Yoongi says with a fond smile. Ji-hu has always been high energy and
sometimes rude, but he always frowns after saying something disrespectful like he hadn’t meant to.

“Can I ask you something?” Ji-hu says with a frown and Yoongi braces himself.

“Why do you kiss sunbaenim like that?”

Yoongi blanches at this, feeling like he might choke on air as his brain slowly processes the question.

“Uh, like what?”

His face feels hot. No, it’s burning off and Ji-hu doesn’t seem to notice, practically skipping down
the hallway. He has no idea what Jeongguk would say in this situation. He'd probably die as well.

“With your tongue. He isn’t an ice pop.”

Yoongi finally chokes on air as he brings up his empty fist to turn it into a cough, making Ji-hu
frown in concern.

Fuck, he doesn’t know how Jeongguk does it. He doesn’t know what to tell a seven year old about
anything, especially this.

“Um, when you love someone a lot you kiss them like that.”

Ji-hu scoffs at this, nose wrinkling in pure disgust. “I love a lot of people, I don’t kiss them like that. I
love Appa the most but I would never kiss him like that.”

Sweat starts to build across Yoongi’s hairline as he looks around the empty backstage corridor like
there might be something around to give him an answer, but he has no luck.

“No like, the kind of love like - um, when you’re gonna marry someone.”

“Are you gonna marry him, samchon?”

This isn’t going well, Yoongi thinks, so he goes for his next best tactic: diversion. “If you win any of
those fancy medals in sunbaenim’s bag, maybe.”

Ji-hu makes a noise of complaint before he starts back on his nerves for the show, arms swinging
between them.

“You found him.”

Jeongguk stands as Ji-hu tugs him into the dressing room meant for the boys. He looks like a lost
puppy without them and Yoongi snickers.

Before the deal at the recording company, it was Yoongi who took Ji-hu to most of his after school
activities. Or his nanny, who Yoongi couldn’t stand. The smell of perfume is strong, wafting from
the mothers who fuss over their sons and there’s no sign of Taehyung or Woojin, but Yoongi still
doubts it’s the perfume that had Jeongguk dying.

“He was licking Jimin sunbaenim like an ice pop because they’re gonna get married,” Ji-hu explains
with a shrug as he reaches out for Jeongguk’s hand.

Yoongi’s hands are flying up into defense mode, head shaking in mild panic before Jeongguk can
even turn his narrowed eyes onto him.

“Not what you think,” Yoongi blurts, hands still raised as Jeongguk approaches. “We were kissing
that’s all. I didn’t even know he was there.”

Yoongi flinches when Jeongguk strikes out but he only cups the back of Yoongi’s neck.
“Congratulations on the engagement, hyung.”

Grumbling out a complaint, Yoongi shoves Jeongguk playfully in the chest. “Shut it. Don’t say a
word of it to Jimin.”

“Say what?”

The sound of Jimin’s light voice has a blush staining Yoongi’s cheeks before he can even turn. He
jumps in surprise, wondering if Jimin had followed behind them and if so, how much he had heard.
It’s true, he’d drop down on one knee right here, right now if he knew Jimin would say yes.

He’s nervous about returning home and losing Jimin again, tearing another hole into his heart but
he’s always been able to handle it. Somewhat.

“Ji-hu was concerned about our um - activities.”

A blush tints Jimin’s cheeks as he glances down at Ji-hu in embarrassment. He looks soft like this,
his blond hair flat on his forehead without any product. There’s no makeup on his face and not to
mention the leotard that clings to his limbs.

“Don’t kiss anyone like that,” Jimin says, his voice mock stern as he wags a finger at Ji-hu. “Or
you’ll be in trouble.”

Ji-hu’s eyes go wide as he groans and plants a hand to his face. “I’m never getting married
sunbaenim. I’m gonna be like Appa. Except I don’t want to have a stroke over a pretty boy, it sounds
painful.”
Jeongguk looks taken aback, flustered and his eyes narrow when he glances at a guilty looking Jimin
and Yoongi.

“It is painful,” Yoongi explains quietly, meaning it as a joke but he doesn’t find himself laughing.

“Enough,” Jeongguk grits out with one last warning look directed to Yoongi. “On stage. Come on.”

“Yes come on, your Uncle Yoongi has made me late. He’s very irresponsible,” Jimin says with a
wink his way as he ushers Ji-hu out of the dressing room and calls for the rest of the boy’s.

He feels a bit awkward with Jeongguk since the other night. They’ve never really had secrets, other
than the one that Yoongi kept about Jimin’s job, but that hadn’t nagged at Yoongi the way this one
does. That hadn’t been his secret to tell, and neither is this one, not really, but he feels it in his gut he
needs to.

On the plane, maybe. He doesn’t want to take away the smile on Jeongguk’s face or ruin his time
with his son. Yunbok has done a lot for Jeongguk, but there’s enough dislike in Jeongguk for the
man that he won’t make up excuses for him.

“Alright hyung?” Jeongguk says suddenly, pulling Yoongi from his thoughts.

He nods but it does nothing to ease the wrinkle between Jeongguk’s brows. “Come on, let's get a
seat.”

Ji-hu had been absolutely right: having strokes over pretty boys is no fun.

He watches Jimin move across the dance floor with Ji-hu’s group like he’s hypnotized. He can’t look
away, he’s never been able to look away.

In college, he would visit Jimin at his studio just to watch him dance. He’d be distracted from his
homework when Jimin moved the furniture around to make the living room a dance floor. His body
crumbled the first time Jimin ever danced for him, barely anything like he’s done in the club but it
had Yoongi feeling so on edge that he’s still surprised he didn’t come the moment Jimin finally
touched him.

He’s beautiful, breathtaking and maybe he is having a stroke. He needs to find a way to write
something like this into his next song.

“Um, hyung?”

Yoongi feels like maybe he’s drooling as he licks his lips, turning to Jeongguk. Jimin isn’t even
dancing much, just helping the children a long but he has Yoongi’s heart cheering.

He falters when he finds Jeongguk’s burning eyes. His first thought is Taehyung and he glances at
where he had been earlier, with Woojin tucked into his lap, but he’s gone.

“What?” Yoongi asks, whipping his head around to follow Jeongguk’s eyesight. He only sees the
crowd of families watching the rehearsal and empty seats.

He stills when he finds what Jeongguk is going on about, standing down by stage near the entrance
to the back, smiling at the stage the same way Yoongi knows he has been smiling too.

“What the fuck is Bobby doing here?”

It’s too soon. Being in America is Yoongi’s best bet after finding out about Yunbok, it stops him
from storming into Yunbok or Bobby’s home, gives him time to clear his head and figure out what
his best course of action is.

Now he wants to fly over the seats and give Bobby a piece of his mind.

“He owns the dance studio,” Jeongguk says, tone tense. “Of course he would show up. Fucking
great.”

“Uncle Bobby!”

The big smile on Jimin’s lips slips the moment Ji-hu shouts and runs from the group despite Jimin
instructing they stay in line until they’ve returned to the dressing room.

His body thrums from dancing and excitement from seeing his little ones perfect their routine, but the
feeling inside of him quickly sours.

Bobby crouches low as Ji-hu comes his way, enveloping him in a hug as they share smiles. Jimin
hustles the others along, tugging his eyes away in hopes that Bobby won’t say a word but he knows
before he can finish the thought that it’s ridiculous.

“Jimin-ah.”

Jimin inhales through his nose before he turns, flashing the smile that Bobby loves the most.

“Babe, what are you doing here?”

“You don’t sound excited to see me,” Bobby huffs out in amusement, but his eyes aren’t shining
with it.

“Ji-hu baby, go on with the others.”

“But I haven’t seen Uncle Bobby in seventy two years.”

Both boys look at him with pleading eyes before Jimin sighs and cards his fingers through Ji-hu’s
hair, the soft touch making him feel less on edge. It isn’t Jeongguk’s fault that he’s dramatic, it’s
clearly in his DNA.

He shouldn’t be surprised with Bobby showing up, it is his company and he’s always supported
Jimin’s dancing, but with everything that’s happened the last few weeks, he can’t help it.

Especially since Bobby doesn’t know whether he’s planning to return to him or not. He’s here to
convince Jimin to come home, he feels it in his gut.

“I am excited to see you. Just surprised.”

Jimin doesn’t mean to dodge the way Bobby reaches for him but he’s too aware of Ji-hu’s eyes on
him. He doesn’t want to confuse the boy, not after he just saw him kissing his other uncle less than
an hour ago.

He also doesn’t want Ji-hu to mention it, his heart starting to race because the boy can be quite loose
lipped. He heard his questions about their kiss and he had nearly died when Yoongi admitted to
wanting to marry him.
Or at least, he thinks that’s what Yoongi was admitting. It could have just been Yoongi’s way of
explaining romance and sex, but Jimin’s heart clenched in his chest because that’s one of the few
things he truly wants in the world. Even if it's not a legal marriage, Jimin would be fine just being
with Yoongi like they were married.

“I won’t keep you. I just wanted to see if you’d like dinner tonight? I fly back the day after the
recital. I have to make amends with a certain pissed off customer.”

Jimin’s ears grow hot but he doesn’t let his smile falter. “Amends?”

“I'm giving Song to Richard,” Bobby supplies with ease, looking unbothered. His grin falters as
Jimin tenses when he goes to touch him again, lips growing thin. “Works for me. I want you home, I
don’t sleep well without you.”

Jimin softens, letting Bobby brush his cheek with his knuckles.

Before he met Yoongi, he used to think he felt more for Bobby. He was strong and protective, but
weak and fragile and in need of the love Jimin had been willing to give at the time.

He thinks of Yoongi’s face when he asked if Jimin loved Bobby and the hurt that flashed through his
eyes because of the silence. It isn’t anything remotely close to the way he loves Yoongi, but a love
stemmed from loyalty and the things they have been through together.

“You look well rested to me.”

It’s a lie. There are bags under Bobby’s eyes and a thin layer of make up over his skin, something he
only does when his paled skin shows off that he’s sick or exhausted.

“Well thanks. You look beautiful, you know.”

Jimin turns his head when Bobby leans in, making his lips land at the corner of his mouth. He
flinches, the ghost of Bobby's fingers around his neck still present.

“Kiss me, Jimin.”

There’s a command in his voice that makes his throat feel like it’s being squeezed harder.

Bobby has no intention of letting Jimin go, but is probably thankful to have Jeongguk do the work
for him.

“Ji-hu,” Jimin murmurs softly, growing tense as Bobby’s yet to pull away. He glances nervously at
the young boy, who is glaring up at him with confused eyes.

“I wasn’t asking.”

Jimin bites the inside of his cheek before he turns, letting his lips brush over Bobby’s but never press
down. He’s feeling bold with Ji-hu there and he cups a protective hand around the back of his head
and attempts to pull him behind him.

“I’m not yours, Bobby. I said not in front of Ji-hu.”

Ji-hu tucks his head against Jimin’s side and Jimin hopes the firm, tense sound of his voice hasn’t
scared him. Something flickers across Bobby’s face before he pulls back and Jimin can’t think too
much about the fact that it’s something worse than anger.

“You are,” Bobby announces, ticking his head to the side. “And if you aren’t, I can see to it that
you’re not his either.”

Fear settles itself into Jimin’s chest at Bobby’s ominous threat but he refuses to let it show on his
face. He keeps his chin tilted high, his gaze unwavering from Bobby’s.

He’s always wanted to keep Yoongi from Bobby and he doesn’t know how he fucked it all up so
badly.

“Ji-hu, go find your Appa. Now.”

Ji-hu grumbles something but he parts from Jimin, though reluctantly. Jimin doesn’t look away from
Bobby as he listens to Ji-hu’s retreating footsteps, waiting for them to fade completely before he
moves.

He smiles softly as he reaches forward, grazing his fingers over Bobby’s throat as if petting him. He
doesn’t care that the hallway could be occupied at any moment, he can only focus on the way his
fear mixes with anger.

“If you touch him,” Jimin says slowly, voice barely a whisper as he slips his thumb over Bobby’s
pulse, “I will destroy your life.”

“That’s a threat I’m getting tired of hearing,” Bobby hums with a small smile, seemingly unaffected
by Jimin’s touch but his erratic heart rate betrays him. “I won’t touch Yoongi.”

Bobby steps forward, pushing against Jimin’s hold. “I have other ways to keep you from him.”

Jimin’s heart is stuttering and he flinches when Bobby reaches out to wipe away the bangs sticking
to his forehead. “You forget I know where your mother is, Jimin. You forget who owns her.”

His heart is thumping loudly, banging hard against his ear drums and he feels his mask slipping
despite how badly he wants to hold onto it. Bobby’s moving closer, despite Jimin digging his fingers
in.

“You forget that I still owe him. I could easily give Taehyung back, or maybe the boy he really
wants.”

A growl forms in Jimin’s throat as he pushes, his fingers digging hard enough to break skin. “He’s a
ten year old boy.”

Bobby has always been good with kids, protective of them, stemming from his lifelong wish be
taken care of and protected. It’s a lie - a façade, but it’s also a risk Jimin can’t take.

“Chung-Hoon would easily forgive my debt for the boy,” Bobby says, curling his fingers around
Jimin’s wrist to pull him off and the strength leaves Jimin’s arms as he lets him do so. “I’ve been
under his grip all these years for you. I wouldn’t even have a debt if you didn’t insist I buy Taehyung
for you. If you’re gone, there’s no reason to be under him anymore.”

Jimin huffs out, his insides starting to shake from Bobby’s words. It’s the worst threat he can make. It
isn’t just giving Taehyung abusive clients or keeping them apart from each other. It’s getting rid of
Taehyung completely and worse -

The only reason Taehyung took on his step-father’s debt was to keep it from falling on the true heir
of it’s shoulders, a three year old boy who witnessed his mother murdered and has barely talked
since.
 “It’s your choice, Jimin,” Bobby grunts as the sound of footsteps echo through the hallway. There's
fear in Bobby's eyes that Jimin doesn't understand.

Jimin doesn’t turn to look as he hears Ji-hu babbling away, too nervous that Yoongi is with him and
the sight of him will make him break.

“I was going to choose to come home,” Jimin announces with a whisper as he steps away. “I was
going to return to you. But now you’ll regret taking my choice away.”

Bobby’s smile falters as realization fills his eyes and he struggles to bring it back as Jeongguk
approaches and grips Bobby’s shoulder with a firm hand. Jimin doesn’t have to look to know
Yoongi is there, he can feel Yoongi’s eyes boring down onto him.

“Everything okay?” Jeongguk asks, an edge to his tone that would make Jimin shiver if he didn’t
know how kind and gentle Jeongguk is.

“Yeah,” Jimin answers before Bobby can. “I wanted to fly home with him the day after tomorrow
but he’s insisting I stay until Tae leaves. It’s a stupid argument.”

“He needs a true vacation,” Bobby says, nodding in turn.

“See you in a week, Mr. Kim ,” Jimin says, putting ice in the word as he turns on his heel and storms
off, feeling Yoongi’s eyes on his back the entire way.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you so so much for reading!! <3

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curious cat
 Chapter 12
Chapter Notes

There are some other perspectives added to this chapter, which I hope you enjoy! I
know there's a lack of Namjoon in this fic and I pinky promise he will be here more,
soon.

I don't know if domestic violence is a good tag or not, but there's a scene that gets a little
violent between Bobby and Jimin. Feel free to ask questions if you need to before you
read, and if you don't want to read it - skip Jimin's POV and I can tell you any of the
important details.

I made a moodboard for this fic, if anyone is interested :D

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Hoseok grunts, dropping his cigarette to the ground as he takes in the city. It smells bad and is loud,
but it’s pretty at night if he keeps his eyes tilted up. He’s used to blending in, leaned back against the
wall as people rush past him as if he weren’t more than a flyer.

He notices the glances towards Jimin, but those he expects. He’s been trained to notice everything
from the twitch of a finger to the direction someone is leaning their body. Small things help, people
always make it obvious when they’re ready to attack, even if they think they don’t.

Jimin looks like he’s ready to attack, but no one else is around. He looks impatient, bouncing on his
toes and running his fingers through his hair so often that it’s become more of a mess than it had been
right after the recital. Hoseok is supposed to pretend like he’s here in New York looking out for
Taehyung, but Bobby had filled his pockets heavily and promised more if Hoseok worked to
convince Jimin to come home to him.

The thing is, he hasn’t tried to do it. Not once. He can’t - not to Yoongi and not to Jimin. He’s done
the opposite really, but his pockets are still going to be filled.

He doesn’t want the money.

“What's taking him so long?” Jimin sighs, the cigarette between his fingers bouncing along with him.
He barely touches it to his lips, leaving it to waste away, but Hoseok would give him another if he
asked.

“They went out to dinner,” Hoseok says, scanning the street for a sign of Jeongguk’s rental. “You
were invited.”

Jimin grumbles something intelligible before flicking out the cigarette for good. Wanting to come
home instead of going out had been the first sign that something was up and asking for a cigarette
only confirmed it. “Can I ask you something, hyung?”

Hoseok nods, not liking the look in Jimin’s eyes. The best part about his job is being a shadow that
no one acknowledges, but that’s changed over the last few weeks.
Bobby notices him too much. He asks him personal questions like they’re old friends but Hoseok
knows he’s just seeding for information on Yoongi and Jimin. Hanbin had told him he’s on Bobby’s
shit list and he’s waiting for the hand to come down, but Hanbin’s also a notorious liar.

He’s watched them both say one thing to someone and switch it up and say something else to
another. Hoseok thinks they’re idiots with a game plan that will mess up when they lose track of their
stories. Bobby lied to Taehyung about not knowing Yoongi, when he's known Yoongi since they
were babies.

Honestly, he’s surprised any of them have made it this far into the game. Most of it is due to Jimin by
Bobby’s side, he knows that. He wonders if that’s why Bobby is so reluctant to let Jimin go, because
the idea of Bobby loving Jimin despite the way he treats him is a thought that’s difficult for Hoseok
to grasp.

“Has Chung-Hoon been around the club?”

Hoseok cocks his head, stomach suddenly sour and not just from the concession stand food he
munched on with Jeongguk during the recital. Chung-Hoon gives him the creeps, worse off than
anyone else.

He’s listened to Jimin and Taehyung talk about Taehyung’s time with him. Even though they’re his
friends, they, too, tend to treat him like a fly on the wall when he’s working.

“I haven’t see the bastard.”

Jimin sighs shakily, worrying at his bottom lip as he folds his hands over his stomach.

“B sends him an envelope every two weeks, but other than that - I don’t know if they correspond
with each other.”

This seems to be the wrong answer because Jimin sighs, the worry on his face turning to fear. “He
said he still owes Chung-Hoon money. For Taehyung. He never told me.”

The burning bud of his cigarette singes his fingers and Hoseok flicks it to the ground in annoyance.
He can see it, the way Jimin’s thrumming the way he does before he breaks. “You shouldn’t go back
to him.”

Jimin lets out a wild laugh that sounds more like a sob than anything. He squeezes himself tighter,
arms wrapping around his stomach so tightly Hoseok wants to peel them off before he hurts himself.
But he knows better than to touch Jimin when he’s upset. “B threatened to send Tae back to him. To
send - fuck, Hobi, he threatened to send Woojin to him.”

The nausea in Hoseok’s stomach grows. One of the reasons he’s been successful in this job is his
ability to think before he reacts, but there are times when he struggles not to knock a few of Bobby’s
teeth out.

If Chung-Hoon even stepped near the boy, Hoseok would punch him so hard in the face that his fist
would come out the other side.

“That would kill Tae.”

Jimin nods, eyes glistening and reflecting the city lights. “Jin hyung needs to take them, far. I don’t
trust it. Fuck.”

Hoseok frowns, reaching out but only hovering his hand over Jimin’s arm to make sure it’s okay
before he plants it down. That will kill Taehyung too, but not as bad as something happening to his
baby brother.

“Chim, what’s going on?”

Jimin rocks closer to Hoseok, burying his face against his shoulder for a moment. “Bobby’s on his
way to pick me up.”

Hoseok cusses, scattered thoughts forming coherent ones. He spits in disgust as he curls an arm
around Jimin’s neck, keeping him close.

The first time he had met Jimin had been at a club similar to the Minx. He didn’t realize it was that
type of club when he went in looking for a job and it had been Jimin who informed him with a flashy
smile and endearing eyes.

The second time he met Jimin was when he approached Yoongi to say hello and Hoseok realized it
was the same boy Yoongi had been going on about since the first day of their freshman year.

At first, he had kept Jimin’s secret from his best friend and he hated it. But now he wishes they had
never told him, maybe it’d be easier on both Jimin and Yoongi. Maybe Bobby wouldn’t have
threatened Jimin if he never knew about Yoongi, who knows. Hoseok hates maybes and what ifs.

“He’s here hyung,” Jimin whispers brokenly, but he hesitates to move away.

Hoseok straightens himself, hovering protectively behind Jimin as he eyes the fancy, sleek black car
that pulls up to the curb in front of him. The windows are too dark for him to see in them, but he
glares over Jimin’s shoulder like a challenge anyway.

“I need you to tell Jin that I don’t trust Chung-Hoon even if the debt is paid okay? He needs to take
Woojin - and make sure that he isn’t found.”

Hoseok’s jaw is starting to ache from the force he uses to grit his teeth. Jimin’s fingers curl into his
dress shirt, tugging gently for attention but Hoseok doesn’t look away from the dark tinted windows.

He didn’t think Bobby ever deserved to be hated because of his love for Jimin. He thinks it’s easy to
fall in love with Jimin; he just has an aura about him that drags people in. Bobby’s a man that’s never
had love but always chased it while trying hard to make his father proud.

Hoseok gets it. He too has tried hard to make his father proud and it never feels good to fail. But a
ten year old boy. No amount of pain or traumatic upbringing can excuse threatening to throw a ten
year old boy into a life like this.

Even if it’s just a threat, it’s cruel, abusive to make such a disgusting threat to keep Jimin around.
That’s the farthest thing from love that he can imagine.

Yoongi would kill him for letting Jimin go, but Hoseok also knows that Jimin has to go. Whether it’s
right or not.

“Please do that for me, hyung. You know how Chung-Hoon is. I left him a letter, in the drawer next
to my bed in case Bobby showed up before I could talk to him. It explains everything. You can read
it.”

Hoseok cranks his neck to the side, his knuckles aching and needing to be flexed. He does know
how Chung-Hoon is, he had met Taehyung around the same time as Jimin. His eyes had been
hollow and ghost like, constantly filled with a fear and pain that Hoseok never understood how the
patrons at the club couldn’t notice.

He figured they got off on it.

“How long were you planning on going back?” Hoseok grits out as he sniffles. The door to the car
opens and Bobby steps out, his nose pinched in annoyance. “You never planned on leaving him,
huh?”

Jimin’s lip wobbles but he nods, eyes bright. Hoseok had expected it. Even without the threat. He
doesn’t get it, but he felt it in his bones the moment Jimin stopped him from hurting that Richard the
dick bag.

“And what do you want me to tell Yoongi?” Hoseok says, his tone coming out harsher than he
intends. He’s been through too many Yoongi heart breaks, he isn’t looking forward to another.

It probably looks strange from Bobby’s perspective, how close they are and Hoseok knows his face
is nothing but calm and collected. He can tell Bobby’s agitated, calling for Jimin with his presence.
The bastard’s the most possessive man Hoseok has ever met.

Jimin looks away, shaking his foot for a moment before he shakes his head. “You don’t need to tell
Yoongi anything. I actually prefer that you don’t.”

The little patience Bobby was trying to show disappears and Bobby strolls over, a tense smile on his
lips but he nods politely to Hoseok. Hoseok doesn’t step back but Jimin lets go of his grip, inhaling
deep before a soft smile takes over Jimin’s lips.

It’s strange to see how good Jimin is at acting. He even makes it hard for Hoseok to know what he’s
going to do next. He could strike Bobby dead and Hoseok would never see it coming and he hates
that because he’s supposed to be the best at his job.

“Bobby, darling, you’re early.”

Bobby glances at the two before he offers a hand to Jimin. “Interrupting something? The recital
ended two hours ago, I told you I’d pick you up after.”

Jimin lets out a giggle, a nervous hint around the edges. He’s terrified, he only slips up when he’s
truly scared. It pisses Hoseok off, because after all these years - Jimin’s never been afraid of Bobby.

Nervous and maybe unwilling to make him upset, but he’s always had courage and been brave
enough to push Bobby around when he saw he could.

“It’s been such a long day, must have slipped my mind.”

Hoseok looks away when Bobby leans in to kiss him. He’d probably strike Bobby dead if he could,
but he’s got a murderous father and a violent best friend that would hunt Hoseok down. He’d go for
a few broken teeth or a busted cheekbone, but he needs to remain on Bobby’s good side to watch out
for his friends.

“Go wait in the car, doll. Tell Minho-ssi to get your things; I need a word with Hope.”

Jimin only glances at Hoseok quickly before he does as he’s told. Hoseok doesn’t brace himself,
because he knows Bobby’s always been more bark than bite. Or he’s thought. He doesn’t know why
Jimin is terrified of him now. Bobby’s threatened him a handful of times before and he’s never gone
through with it.
Bobby hates losing people. Hoseok and he didn’t grow up as closely as him and Jeongguk, but he
had been around him enough.

When Jimin is far enough away, Bobby turns with a normal bright smile on his lips. “You and Doll
seem close, that’s nothing to worry about, is it?”

Hoseok snorts as he shakes his head. “No. He’s a good friend, you know that. We lived together in
college.”

Bobby hums, quirking his brow before he reaches over to fix the tie Hoseok had loosened once they
left the arena. Too much attention on him makes him on edge, but he keeps still and lets Bobby do
his thing. He’s not packing today, but his fists are just as good as any weapon.

“You’ve made me proud, Hope. Jimin told me that he always planned on returning home. You will
get your money, but I have another reward if you’re interested. A promotion of sorts.”

Hoseok’s fingers the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. He didn’t do anything, but the money still
makes him feel guilty.

He’ll take it though and have Jimin help him find Chung-Hoon to give it to him for Taehyung. It’ll
lessen his guilt, maybe.

“Someone broke into my apartment the other day. They stole quite a bit of my things, but the most
concerning of them was the tapes from the security footage at the club.”

The smile falters off Bobby’s lips as he sniffs angrily and eyes Hoseok’s cigarette. He’s twitchy
when he speaks, nose constantly scrunching and fingers working faster and busier than they
normally do like a junkie trying to get his next fix. It’s always set Hoseok on edge.

“It’s a big concern because they only took Jimin’s and Taehyung’s. Every single tape for at least,
maybe five years?”

Heat wraps it’s way up to Hoseok’s neck as he offers Bobby a cigarette. He’s seen some of those
tapes before, most of them filled with the grimiest of porn. Some of them aren’t so bad, but porn
nonetheless.

And five years, that’s how old the Minx is. They took every tape.

“I’m not too worried about Taehyung’s. Just a word of it to Jeongguk and I’m sure he’ll burn down
all of Busan to find them. It’s Jimin I’m concerned with. I need someone I can trust to watch him
when I cannot. A full-time bodyguard.”

Hoseok huffs out a laugh, turning his head to look down the street instead of at Bobby. Bobby
wouldn’t trust anyone with Jimin, even himself probably. He knows how close Hoseok is to Yoongi,
Hoseok had actually been impressed Bobby had the sac to ask him to convince Jimin to come home.

“It’ll mean moving into mine, but I know Jimin won’t mind. He doesn’t like being alone.”

Ah .

Hoseok has to stop himself from snorting as he inhales the smoke. He pretends to consider it, though
he’s already decided on yes.

Moving out wouldn’t leave Yoongi into too much of a dilemma. They’ve been considering getting a
new apartment over the last couple months and with Yoongi’s new job -
Hoseok clicks his teeth. Bobby co-owns the damn job Yoongi’s been after for as long as Hoseok has
known him. He could fire him without second thought, leaving him broke and without a roommate
to help.

But his response doesn’t change because Yoongi’s music is out there for the world to hear. He’s
bound to either get picked up again or do something solo.

And either way, Yoongi would rather have someone he trusts watching over Jimin than Bobby.

“I have one condition,” Hoseok says, turning back to look at Bobby. Bobby looks amused, he
always looks amused and he wonders what kind of fuck off defense mechanism that is.

“Is that right?” Bobby huffs out, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.

“No conditions this time,” Hoseok explains. “Like with Taehyung. I protect Jimin from every
person. Including you. Including Yunbok. You put your hands on him and I put my hands on you. If
you hurt him, I hurt you twice as bad.”

Bobby’s smile falters but there’s still a spark in his eyes. “B.I. wanted you fired, Hope. I’m doing
you a solid here. Threats are unnecessary.”

His snort comes out before he can stop it. He drops his cigarette to stomp it, refusing to back down.
The times he has seen Bobby put his hands on Jimin have been mild, holding his wrist too tightly or
grabbing him by his chin. He’s had to decide when to step in and he knows he will soon.

He feels it brewing though he doesn’t know which side is going to snap first; Bobby’s or Jimin’s.

“If that’s a deal for you, I’ll see you in a few days,” Hoseok says as he raises a hand over his head to
wave to Jimin, who he knows is watching him. “If not, it was good knowing you, B. Remember I'm
the only person that works for you that wouldn't hurt him.”

After the recital, Jimin disappeared without a word to anyone except Hoseok. It had been Hoseok
who had delivered the news and Jeongguk’s watched the storm cloud grow over Taehyung’s head
since.

It’s their last night in New York and after a tearful goodbye to Ji-hu, Jeongguk finds the presence of
Taehyung’s body against his and the whiskey burning down his throat especially comforting.

Despite the fact that Taehyung’s smile falters when he thinks that Jeongguk isn’t looking. He doesn’t
pressure him into talking about it, but he tries to comfort him with small touches against his back and
fingers rubbing over his neck.

“I’m gonna have to pull a couple extra shifts at the club,” Taehyung announces as he settles himself
onto Jeongguk’s knee, fingers tapping anxiously at his own drink. “You know, to make up for
missing so much work.”

Jeongguk doesn’t say anything, only presses his lips to Taehyung’s shoulder. He hasn’t told
Taehyung what he has planned, paying off his debt and all, and he’s unsure of what that means for
Taehyung and the club.

He doesn’t want Taehyung to lose his job if he wants to keep it, though Jeongguk would be more
than happy to pay any expense that Taehyung might need until he finds a new one.
“And I’m thinking about dropping the clinic. It doesn’t look like I’ll move on from intern any time
soon and I can’t just wait.”

Jeongguk sighs. “What did you want to do with your degree?”

Across from them, Yoongi’s edging towards behind shitfaced, his face burning red and eyes half
closed as he snorts at everything Hoseok whispers to him. Hoseok’s pointing around, making no
effort to hide the fact that he’s joking about the people around them.

Yoongi knew it was coming. He told Jeongguk as much, but it still didn’t buffer his heartbreak.
Jeongguk wonders how long Yoongi can keep up with it all before he gives up.

Taehyung shrugs. “I don’t know. I never knew. I always wanted to work with kids. But doing what?
I don’t know.”

“I think you should do your internship full time, you know, I can -”

Jeongguk presses his lips together when Taehyung turns in his lap and cups his chin. He softens
when Taehyung bends down to pepper a quick kiss to his mouth, amusement loud in the other man’s
eyes.

“You’re stubborn Mr. Jeon.”

He presses in for another kiss, smiling through it because he’s greedy and the warmth settling around
his bones is overwhelming.

“Honestly though,” Jeongguk asks, tilting his chin so he can speak the words against Taehyung’s
mouth and still be heard, “if you could be doing anything right now, without worrying about money,
what would it be?”

Taehyung peers at him suspiciously as he pulls away. “There’s this place where I used to live. Kind
of like an orphanage. Unwanted kids. Usually deviance and stuff. Some kids have been taken from
abusive homes. I always wanted to work there.”

“And where’s that?” Jeongguk pushes, warming his hand over Taehyung’s thigh to keep him close.

It feels good being like this with his two best friends. It almost feels like they’re together, two
boyfriends out for drinks.

It kills Jeongguk’s poor heart.

“Daegu,” Taehyung says as he slips from Jeongguk’s lap but keeps his leg over Jeongguk’s when he
pouts. He hiccups out a laugh as he tickles under Jeongguk’s chin. “I want to go back there. That’s
where I was born and lived for a while before my mother moved me to Seoul.”

“I’ll take you,” Jeongguk supplies like a habit. It’s almost embarrassing how easily he’s willing to
give Taehyung the world but he doesn’t seem to mind when Taehyung’s whole face scrunches up
from his laugh.

“Dance with me instead, Jeongguk,” Taehyung hums though he presses into Jeongguk’s side,
pinning him to the booth’s wall. He wraps an arm around Jeongguk’s shoulders, a gentle hold that
feels like a fist squeezing Jeongguk’s lungs.

“No one else is.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes. “I don’t care about anyone else. Dance with me, please?”

There’s no begging needed, but Jeongguk admires the way Taehyung pushes his fat bottom lip out
and widens his eyes so much he nearly looks like a doe.

“Look at this,” Jeongguk murmurs, trying to hold back his laugh as he cups Taehyung’s cheeks. “I’ll
dance with you Mr. Kim, but you’ll have to pay for my services.”

“Oh my god,” Taehyung groans, sounding more embarrassed than amused as he pulls himself from
Jeongguk and yanks him out of the booth.

The bar that they’re in isn’t one for dancing, but there’s enough space between the tables and the
crowd around the bar to do so. No one pays them much attention, probably because Hoseok makes a
scene trying to get Yoongi to dance with him. Hoseok’s loud about it and Yoongi’s whining
resembles that of a toddler.

The music playing is a fast paced rock song Jeongguk somewhat recognizes, but when Taehyung
wraps an arm around Jeongguk’s neck he rocks slowly. There’s a warm smile on his lips, eyes soft
and heavy and Jeongguk finds his face mirroring his.

“Name your price then, Mr. Jeon,” Taehyung says, fingers playing in Jeongguk’s hair. “Anything
you want.”

Jeongguk tilts his head up, pretending to contemplate. Maybe it’s the warmth or maybe it’s the
alcohol, but his tongue feels loose and his mind won’t stray from the one thing he wants.

“Anything?” he asks, arms wrapping low around Taehyung’s back as he nuzzles his nose against his
ear. Maybe it’s Taehyung. There’s something about him that makes Jeongguk feel like he’s toeing at
the edge of crazy. “Be mine.”

There’s a breathless laugh brushing over his neck before Taehyung kisses him there, his body still
thrumming with laughter.

“See? Stubborn.”

“I mean it,” Jeongguk hums, pulling back enough that their noses brush. He rubs his hands over
Taehyung’s spine, their dancing becoming more of a small rocking back and forth than anything.
“I’ve been thinking about it since the other day.”

Taehyung’s smile falters but Jeongguk takes it as a good sign that it doesn’t disappear completely,
even though Taehyung’s tone is one of warning. “Jeongguk -”

But now that he’s spoken he can’t stop. He has thought about it a few times. Unless he’s wrong and
Taehyung doesn’t feel anything for him, he doesn’t see how it could be an issue.

He could be wrong, but Taehyung’s been vulnerable with him in a way that makes Jeongguk feel
like it’s mutual.

“I’m not asking you to stop working,” Jeongguk says, a nervous smile playing on his lips. “I’m sure
plenty of people in your line of profession have boyfriends.”

Taehyung looks like he might laugh but his eyes go wide first, his lips parting slightly likes he’s
frozen before the sound finally comes out.

“Boyfriends, huh?” Taehyung laughs, rubbing his fingers against Jeongguk’s scalp. “That’s quite
bold of you.”

Jeongguk falters, leaning forward to rub their cheeks together as a drop of insecurity hits him.
Taehyung only continues to finger his hair, laughing softly.

“I don’t think you can keep that jealousy at bay if a daddy comes around wanting to spoil me. My
clients don’t only just want sex, Jeongguk. You’re not the only one who wants me hanging off their
arm.”

A groan rumbles in Jeongguk’s throat. “I’ll destroy their careers.”

The laugh Taehyung lets out is loud and addicting, but it doesn’t help the embarrassed way
Jeongguk feels after admitting what he wants. He hadn’t realized it with such clarity until now. It’d
change nothing about their situation, but would just give Jeongguk the knowledge and warmth that
comes from knowing Taehyung isn’t acting when they’re together.

“You’re drunk, Gukkie baby.”

Jeongguk hums in agreement before he presses a soft kiss to Taehyung’s jaw. “Do you have feelings
for me that way?”

He doesn’t look at Taehyung after he says it, because he doesn’t want to see his expression. Even if
Taehyung didn’t feel the same way, he wouldn’t change anything between them. He’d just be a little
sad.

“How drunk are you?” Taehyung huffs out, his voice shaky with nerves.

“I probably shouldn’t have anymore,” Jeongguk murmurs over the shell of Taehyung’s ear before
kissing over his earrings. Taehyung’s arms squeeze tighter around him, the fingers in his hair a little
more demanding.

“I don’t know how I feel.”

Jeongguk hums in understanding. “But you feel something?”

Taehyung’s fingers tap over his neck as he curls himself into Jeongguk, their jaws brushing before he
feels the tip of Taehyung’s nose pressing against his cheek. “I feel a lot, Jeongguk. To keep safe,
you’re not supposed to trust anyone or you’ll be hurt worse. I find myself wanting to trust you
anyway.”

Jeongguk slips his hands up Taehyung’s body before cupping his neck with both. He tilts
Taehyung’s head back to bring him into a kiss, sighing at the way Taehyung is so malleable under
his touch. He can feel Taehyung’s erratic pulse against his palms as he kisses him, his own heart
trying to match the pace.

“I’d never hurt you Taehyung,” Jeongguk murmurs against his lips, savoring the feel of Taehyung’s
breath against his mouth. “I’d hurt anyone who hurt you.”

Taehyung tugs his hair a little, a needy whine escaping his lips that has the corner of Jeongguk’s lips
quirking. He wants to do everything that he can to prove to Taehyung that he can trust him, and not
just because he wants Taehyung to be his boyfriend.

He wants Taehyung to just be able to trust someone without being hurt.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung breathes and he sounds sad. Jeongguk shakes his head at the sound, not
having wanted to make Taehyung sad in any way. "I'm still struggling just making you my only
daddy."

“Just think about it, babe. No pressure at all.”

When he pulls back, Taehyung’s eyes are wide and soft but he nods, teeth digging hard into his
bottom lip. They’ve stopped dancing at this point but Jeongguk hums along to the music as he moves
his hands higher, wanting to stroke his thumbs over the round of Taehyung’s cheekbones.

“Just think about it.”

The letter lays on the bed like a bad omen. Jin has read it over three - no four - times before tossing it
aside. He wishes he could burn it or tear it to shreds or throw it and have it cause damage to
something, anything.

He runs a hand through his hair as he paces. His bags are all packed and he can hear the others
running around the suite, making sure that they haven’t left anything behind.

The sound of Taehyung’s laughter makes his heart drop in his chest. He’s going to break
Taehyung’s heart and what’s worse, Jimin asked him not to tell him why.

Just a precaution, hyung, please understand why it’s necessary.

Jin more than understands. He remembers clearly the night Taehyung had called him sobbing, his
voice filled with more panic than Jin’s ever heard in it before - and he’s heard it a lot. He rarely cried
after his mother died and that’s what Jin had thought it was. He thought finally, Taehyung’s letting
himself feel something. He hates that he thought that.

Taehyung’s stepfather was scum, everyone knew it. His parents constantly worried about Jin and
Taehyung’s friendship because of him. He was a gambler, he cheated on his wife with prostitutes, so
and so from down the street said he was a fiend. These things that they told Jin were bad but he
never thought them to be as bad as the way Taehyung’s stepfather beat on them. No one ever spoke
about that.

They didn’t understand why Jin had to stay Taehyung’s friend but he didn’t know how to tell them
that he had been the one to clean his cuts and bruises. He’s the one that would help Taehyung sneak
his siblings out of the house when it was a particularly bad night. Taehyung never came with them,
despite Jin begging him to.

If no one else is here hyung, who’s going to protect Eomma?

Despite all this, he never expected the debt, the debt owed to a man who would happily take a
toddler as payment.

He had tried to convince Taehyung that they could move, go somewhere else where they couldn’t be
found, but Taehyung had been unreasonable. There was nothing that could be said that was louder
than the panic controlling Taehyung’s mind.

He disappeared two days later and it was weeks before he finally heard from him again.

Woojin and Eunae were thrust upon him but he took them in with open arms. They were babies who
needed someone to look after them, and they slowly became his. He had been working hard for
years before Taehyung’s mother died to save money to take care of the three of them.
Now Jin thinks he better understands why Taehyung took the debt on himself, why he panicked and
saw it as the only option. It’s happening to him now, the need to do everything Jimin asks just to
keep Woojin safe.

With a grunt, Jin shoves the letter into his pocket before grabbing his things. He doesn’t know how
to go about any of it but he knows Jeongguk will help if he needs him. Maybe. He’s not too sure
Jeongguk would be happy with him for breaking Taehyung’s heart.

And he can’t tell him about Chung-Hoon. Jeongguk has an inflated head at times and he gets himself
involved in things that he probably shouldn’t. He doesn’t want Jeongguk’s blood on his hands if he
gets angry and decides to confront Chung-Hoon himself.

“Hyung, are you coming?”

Jin tries to return the smile on Taehyung’s face but it feels too weak. He knows Taehyung notices
because his own falters in concern.

“What is it?”

Jin coughs, gripping hard to his suitcase. It’s a fucked up kind of thing, Taehyung finally gets
something good in his life and he’s going to give him something that's ten times worse.

He’s been annoyed with Taehyung lately. He’s had the freedom to spend time with the little ones but
instead, he’s been with Jeongguk. Jin can’t really blame him though. There are times when he only
wants Namjoon, and Taehyung’s life is filled with nothing but bad - he deserves to be happy with
Jeongguk.

It’s unfair, but it’s his best bet. He has to give Taehyung a good, understandable reason for taking
them or Taehyung won’t let them go.

“When we get home,” Jin starts, trying to find the firm tone he uses with Eunae and Woojin when he
needs to, “the kids are coming to live with me.”

Taehyung’s reaction is slow. His face falls as his body straightens. He stares at Jin as his brows
crunch together in confusion. “What?”

Jin clears his throat. “I think it’s best that Eunae and Woojin come live with me. I - I’m not changing
my mind, I just thought I’d let you know.”

A rough laugh leaves Taehyung’s lips so abruptly it sounds like it hurts his throat. “You’re telling
me?”

The pain in Jin’s chest hurts worse than anything he’s felt before, almost as badly as the idea of
Woojin ending up in that man’s hands.

Taehyung had been a ghost of himself the first time they reunited. It’s gotten better, but that
Taehyung has yet to return. He thinks that Taehyung disappeared when his mother married his
stepfather. It’s been a lot longer than seven years since there hasn’t been a shadow clinging to
Taehyung.

“I don’t want to discuss it now.”

Another laugh, this time the anger is wild in Taehyung’s eyes.

It’s gonna break his heart but he’ll understand. Telling him why will just make him panic, you know
this hyung. Taehyung never does well when he panics.

Jin isn’t sure who decided he was the one to be the level headed one, the one not allowed to panic,
because he sucks at it. He’s had practice with Eunae and Woojin, but it’s nothing like this. Making
them eat their vegetables and forcing them apart when they’ve glued themselves together until
they've thrown tantrums had been difficult, but not this difficult.

“Well, that sucks for you, hyung. You can’t just drop a bomb like that and expect me just to say
‘yeah, here you go.’ They’re my siblings.”

It’s a low blow, but probably called for. Taehyung’s always referred to them as a unit, a whole
family because that’s what they are. Blood’s never mattered, Taehyung has said as much. He knows
it’s just stemming from Taehyung’s anger, but it pisses him off.

“I’m the one that takes care of them because you’re never around,” Jin snaps, chest heaving with the
effort it takes not to let all of his emotion out. It all feels wrong, and Jin is choking. “And what if one
day Bobby or someone gets pissed off at you enough that they take it out on them instead. Huh?
What if Chung-Hoon decides he still wants him? They’re safer with me.”

Taehyung glares at him, death in his eyes and body trembling before he turns on his heel and storms
out.

Jimin sighs as he brushes the hair out of his eyes. The music thumps through the walls and he wants
to go out and perform, but he isn’t allowed.

Bobby’s taken nearly everything from him. No more hosting, no credit card, even Taehyung’s old
clients have been given to the other performers. He doesn’t understand why he’s here, but he feels
more trapped than ever.

“I told you, you’re a business partner,” Bobby explains from where he sits behind his desk, studying
the cameras across from him. “How do you see that as a punishment?”

Jimin huffs out a laugh as he turns. The worst part is that he doesn’t know how to act. He’s always
pressed the buttons a bit, been comfortable in being less submissive than the other birds. But now, he
doesn’t know how dangerous it could be for him.

“Oh yeah? Then why don’t I get paid?”

Bobby rolls his eyes as he kicks his feet up. Jimin doesn’t know how he can watch the videos
without being disturbed. He’s not even turned on, just impassive.

“You have everything you want.”

Jimin huffs. He feels like he’s suffocating in Bobby’s big office. He’s barely wearing anything, made
to dress like a performer just to hang off Bobby’s arm. Normally he likes the outfits. They make him
feel pretty but now they just make him feel like an accessory.

“That’s not true,” Jimin whispers.

There are so many things Jimin wants that he can’t have. But he’s never deserved anything. His
mother used to tell him so.

“You want Yoongi hyung,” Bobby says, his voice flat. “That’s too bad, Jimin-ah.”
Jimin’s ears burn but he refuses to respond. His fists curl with an urge to punch every time Bobby
mentions his name. They haven’t talked about it because it’s a dangerous topic. It’ll be their worst
fight, Jimin knows this.

“What I want,” Jimin starts, stalking over to Bobby, “is to make money to pay Chung-Hoon off so I
can get some fucking sleep.”

This finally tugs Bobby’s attention from the screens. “Paying Chung-Hoon off isn’t going to stop
him from getting what he wants. He did me a favor handing over Baby, I owe him.”

Bobby moves like a puppet when Jimin nears, falling back into his seat and legs spreading. There’s a
grin on his lips that Jimin returns, though the anger inside of him makes him feel like it's malicious.

“Are you telling me Chung-Hoon’s mentioned Woojin? Or are you just guessing that would be
something he’d ask of you?”

“He mentioned him.”

The grin stays on Bobby’s lips until Jimin grips him hard, thighs tight around his waist as he shoves
him back. It could be dangerous for him, but he doesn’t give a shit as he digs his fingers into
Bobby’s skin. He’s livid, seeing red.

“If you even touch a hair on his head, I’ll destroy you,” Jimin whispers, his tone sweet like Bobby’s
a client that he’s trying to arouse. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked. I’m still right here. Tell him to
back off or it will be hell for you.”

Bobby pushes back against Jimin’s hand, his fingers curling around his wrist as if to tug him off but
he doesn’t. “If I threaten Chung-Hoon, what do you think will happen, Jimin? Your mother sleeps in
his house and he knows what you mean to me. I threaten him and it’s goodbye to Mrs. Park.”

Acid slips through Jimin’s veins. He’s always known Bobby loves him, but he loves in a desperate
way that makes him act out too harshly on the fear of losing people. Jimin thinks maybe Bobby
could have been sweet if he had grown up with someone loving him. Maybe if only the Jeon’s had
loved him, because Jeongguk’s turned out more than alright.

“She can rot for all I care,” Jimin says, voice shaking,

It makes Bobby angry. There are a few things in this world that makes Bobby truly angry to the
point where he can no longer hide it and mothers are one of them.

“She’s your mother, Jimin.”

Jimin spits to the side. There are times when he misses his mother so badly it hurts, but he doesn’t
know if he misses his mother or the one that he remembers from when he was too young to notice
how bad she was.

“She let Chung-Hoon have me. Not quite mother material, darling. Even you hate your own mother.
Don’t act surprised I’m more concerned about helping a young boy. You know when you were his
age, you wished someone protected you.”

He can’t stop, he’s trembling with rage and Bobby just lets Jimin hold him down. He doesn’t
struggle against it but he flinches when Jimin’s voice drops low and cold.

His mother used to teach him how not to lose himself from emotion, how to only move through life
with the mindset of surviving, but he is failing her now. He always fails when it comes to protecting
his family.

“That’s why you clung so tightly to the Jeons, because they nurtured you. If you don’t do anything
to protect that boy, then I’ll just start calling you Yunbok. He would have sold you for less than a
rock if you didn’t follow his every word. You probably wouldn’t even be pimping out whores if it
weren’t for how desperate you are to please Daddy.”

Jimin gasps as he suddenly is being lifted into the air just to be dropped hard on his ass, the pencils
sprawled across the desk digging into his skin. Bobby’s away from him in a second, his breathing
loud in the quiet room.

Adrenaline rushes through him. They’ve fought like this before and it’s always slightly terrifying. He
never knows what Bobby’s going to do when Jimin pushes him.

He’s hoping to push him so far Bobby says fuck it and finally lets him go. Bobby has too soft of a
heart to actually kill him and that fucked up love he has in his heart for Jimin would keep him from
letting anyone else kill him too.

“Hard to hear, Bobby darling? You do all this shit for him and you still won’t see a hint of his
inheritance.”

Jimin knows Bobby doesn’t want the money, but it still hurts anyway. Bobby was supposed to be
tailored into a scientist, getting a good education and one day taking over Yunbok’s job at Jeon
Tobacco. Yunbok refused to pay for his college.

He wanted a different legacy. To rule the streets of Busan and Bobby has always been easy to
control.

“Desperate to please Daddy? Then I should have strapped you down and kept you the whore he
thinks you are,” Bobby shouts, pointing a dangerous finger at him as he paces across the room. “But
you’ve always had my back more than him that I thought fuck it, I’m making you who you deserve
to be. By my side. I didn’t take you from that wrinkle ass dick that was abusing you because I
thought you’d make me a pretty penny or suck a good dick, Jimin. I did it because I wanted you by
my side. I wanted to protect you.”

A smash has Jimin flying from the desk, arms coming up to cover himself but Bobby’s across the
room. There’s glass on the ground, his hand shaking through the air and Jimin can see specks of
blood covering his knuckles.

“You don't know what I've done, what I've lost to take care of you. I’ve given you everything Jimin,
why do you think I even have a debt to that fucker in the first place? You don't know - what I have
to do and you still fucking -”

Another smash and Jimin is scurrying across the room to stop him. He grabs desperately at Bobby’s
arm, trying to hold him back only to get his back smashed against the wall instead.

“Bobby, stop. Please stop.”

Bobby hits the wall beside him before his lips come crashing down, his body caging over Jimin.
Jimin plants his palms hesitantly to Bobby’s chest, feeling the way it rises and falls heavily like his
own.

“Sorry,” Bobby murmurs before he tucks his face against Jimin’s neck. “I’m sorry Jimin. You drive
me fucking nuts.”
Jimin breathes shakily, not wanting to say another word. He wanted to push Bobby into getting
angry, but he didn’t want Bobby to hurt himself. Maybe he wants Bobby to hurt him, so he’ll have
more of a reason to hate him.

Maybe if he loses any pinch of love Bobby has for him, it’d be easier to walk away. He doesn’t
know. He wishes he did.

“We’ve been through everything together. I’ve given you everything and you still want him. Not
me.”

“B-”

Jimin’s cut off when Bobby presses a hand to his mouth, pressing his head harder into the wall but it
doesn’t hurt. His eyes are unfocused like he’s drunk or high and there’s sweat starting to drip down
his forehead. God, that is one problem he does not need right now. “Tell me the truth, Jimin.”

The nerves erupt inside of Jimin, making him want to gasp out and refuse to say a word. He shakes
his head, keeping his lips pressed shut under Bobby’s palm. He’s never wanted Bobby to know
about Yoongi, he’s never wanted Bobby to realize that he doesn’t love him back.

Another loud crash next to his head has him flinching as Bobby’s fist comes down so hard against
the wall that wind brushes over his ear. His body curls lower with a desire to hide, but he’s trapped
where he stands. There's tears slipping from his eyelids and dancing over his cheeks. He no longer
has the upper hand.

And the truth to Bobby’s question will only make him lose it more.

“Tell me, Jimin.”

“I do,” Jimin whispers, pushing himself closer to the wall as the words rush frantically from his lips.
“I love him, I do.”

Jimin braces himself but Bobby just pulls away harshly, leaving him cowering against the wall.

“I'm not paying off Chung-Hoon, it’s the only thing that will keep you from leaving me. I won’t let
him have Woojin, but if he truly wants him there’s nothing that I can do about it.”

The door slams loudly when Bobby walks out of it and Jimin sinks to the ground, his legs coming up
to press his knees against his chest.

Stepping inside of his apartment for the first time after being away has Taehyung breathing in deeply,
the smell of home filtering through his system and relaxing his bones. He sighs, leaning back against
the door as he takes it all in.

People go on vacations to relax but he feels more exhausted than he did before he left. He can barely
pick up his feet and he’s thankful Eunae and Woojin offered to go down to get the rest of their
luggage despite being tired too.

“We should talk tonight,” Jin says as he drops the suitcase on the kitchen floor. There’s anxiety in his
eyes and stubbornness in his jaw and Taehyung’s relief quickly leaves him. “I know it’s late and
we’re both tired, but we should talk.”

He’s tried not to think about it. It was hard enough that Jin told him Jimin flew home with Bobby,
but what’s worse is what followed after it.

I think it’s best that Eunae and Woojin come live with me. I - I’m not changing my mind, I just
thought I’d let you know.

It is for the best. But those few words made Taehyung feel like his world was crumbling to pieces
around him. Jeongguk drunkenly asking him to be his boyfriend had seemed like the worst possible
thing to happen to him until Jin dropped that bomb.

He hadn’t meant to spit out the my siblings, but it had been out of anger, defensiveness. He’s never
been good at being upset, his tongue has a mind of his own. He either freezes still and hides, or he
turns into a person that he doesn’t recognize.

“Are you ready to tell me why you suddenly decided that? Without talking to me about it?”
Taehyung asks coldly, though he doesn’t want to fight. “Because you came off kind of harsh, hyung.
If we discussed it first, it would have gone a lot smoother. I’m not exactly opposed to it, it’s just hard
on me.”

It would be better, deep down he knows, but his heart is making him want to kick Jin out completely.

Everything he’s done was to take care of his siblings and provide for them and Jin is taking them
away anyway. He would have never been okay with Jin suggesting to take them away, no matter
how he did it, but he could have done it kindly.

Taehyung isn’t the only one who had a life he didn’t want thrusted upon him. Jin didn’t even have
siblings, yet one day he had a baby and a three year old to take care of. Babies that weren’t his
responsibility at all. He used to take them at night when his step father was high, but that was only a
few hours.

He stuck Jin with his siblings while just expecting him to take care of them and he did. He shouldn’t
be surprised that Jin feels entitled to them. They’re more his than anyone's.

“I will. But it isn’t sudden. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Maybe we should talk about it
when we’re not tired, I can see you’re about to fight me.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh. He’s right again, but it’s driving him crazy. “That’s silly, hyung. Why
would I want to fight you when you’re breaking my heart?”

Jin looks at him for a long moment, sadness in his eyes but Taehyung can’t feel remorse for his
attitude. He doesn’t move when Jin turns around to walk away even though he does want a fight.

He’s afraid, more afraid than he’s been in a long time.

He’s gone all the time, he’s starting to miss family dinner. He’s disappeared without explanation and
came home bruised and bloody plenty of times. He wasn’t there for Woojin when he needed him.
The boy isn’t going to understand that Taehyung didn’t come to him to protect him from a client
knowing of his identity; he’s only going to see that he was scared and Taehyung turned his back.

Taehyung sighs, wanting to curl in on himself but he’s too exhausted to even cry. He tries to reason
with himself that them living with Jin will be no different than it is now, but he’s too tired to fight
with his emotions.

It’s always been at the back of his mind, something happening to them because of him. He doesn’t
think Bobby would touch them, but Hanbin? He isn’t so sure.
“Taehyung!”

Jin’s sharp voice, piercing through the apartment has him pushing himself from the door. He calls
him again, his voice hinting at the edge of frantic and making Taehyung pick up the pace though his
body fight against him.

“What -”

Taehyung stumbles when he hits Jin’s back, his hands reaching out to grab him for support when he
sees it.

Pinned across Eunae’s walls, covering nearly every surface are photographs that even from a
distance Taehyung can make out enough that horror starts to fill him.

“Hyung, I -”

There’s hundreds of photos of him. He can’t move at first, can only stare in horror until he’s running
across the room to see them more clearly. They’re all taken from the ceiling, the same exact spot
where the security camera is in Taehyung’s dressing room.

He’s with different clients, body bent in different angles or wrapped up in different costumes as he
pleases them. Some he recognizes, some he doesn’t remember at all.

Taehyung’s fingers shake as he reaches out for one he remembers, eyeing the side of Jeongguk’s
face. Taehyung’s on his lap, head thrown back with Jeongguk’s fist between his legs. His eyes start
to blur as he tugs it down, just to find another of him and Jeongguk a few inches away.

There’s more of him with Jeongguk than anyone else. He can’t even appreciate how beautiful they
look together as he realizes these are on his sister’s walls.

Pictures of him spreading his legs for random men on display for his sister to see.

“Hyung -” Taehyung gasps desperately though he doesn’t know what he wants to say. He doesn’t
know if he’s trying to explain or ask for help.

“What is this Taehyung?”

“I -” Taehyung shakes his head, hand stilling over the photographs like they might burn if he touches
them. The obvious answer is that they’re stills from the security camera in his dressing room, but
what they’re doing here, who put them here and why are questions that he can’t answer.

Jin’s always known what he does, but to have Jin see it in action makes Taehyung feel like he might
vomit.

“They’re coming to mine tonight. I’ll call Jimin.”

His voice is harsh, but it’s shaking and the sound drags a sob from Taehyung’s lips. It’s the last thing
he needs before he breaks. He reaches up, tugging each photo from the wall as fast as he can, the
room filling with tearing noises. He doesn’t even hear Jin close the door behind him, keeping him
closed off so Eunae can’t see.

Each photo fills him with disgust. Men’s hands on his body, digging in until he bruises, using his
mouth until tears are streaming from his eyes and still not stopping.

It’s wrong, it looks wrong mixed in with the plushies on the shelves and the drawings that were once
there are now torn from the walls and scattered across the ground. It’s the worst part of it all, seeing
Eunae’s innocence on the ground while the things that ruined his are on display.

He falls to the ground, trying to bring the drawings together to make sure they’re not destroyed. He
stops when he finds the framed photo that had been up, one that had always been difficult for
Taehyung to see.

He folds himself over his lap, clutching the photograph of his smiling mother hard against his chest
as the sobs in his chest take over.

Time ticks by too slowly and too quickly. It feels like hours and only a few seconds by the time his
sobs have quieted enough for him to get to work. He feels numb as he moves through the house to
find a garbage bag, his neck prickling with fear that whoever did this might be close.

He has no idea who could have done it. Bobby is the only one with access to the security room. He
could be angry with Bobby for sending Jeongguk to get Jimin back, but what purpose would this
serve?

He’s shoving the photographs into a bag when a knock sounds from the door. He stills, quickly
shoving the bag aside before closing the bedroom door.

Jimin has a key, he wouldn’t knock, and anyone else it could be can’t see the photos on the wall.
Because he doesn’t want anyone to and because it’s illegal.

It dawns on him quickly, the fear pooling in his gut making him so sick he nearly doubles over.

Who knows how many copies there are or whose hands they might end up in. His worst fear had
been his kids seeing them, then Jeongguk, but it could be ten times worse.

He’s always known he’s risking jail time, but it’s completely different than being faced with it.
That’s a threat Bobby could be sending him, but it still doesn’t make sense. If Taehyung goes down,
it puts Bobby at too high of a risk. These photos are of Taehyung in Bobby’s club.

Taehyung hesitates with the thought. Jimin would be at a risk too. And it’s him that has control of the
funds and the club. He’s Park Yugyeom, not Bobby.

The knocking grows louder, an urgent sound that makes it harder to get to the door with the way his
stomach threatens to unload.

“Taehyung! Open the door!”

He wants to wipe his eyes and try to appear calm but the urgent sound of Jeongguk’s voice has sobs
breaking from his chest. He had thought that he had already cried himself out but it overloads him,
making his throat ache like the sounds are ragged and cutting up his insides with their sharp edges.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk says, softer this time but still loud enough to be heard. “Baby, I hear you,
please let me in.”

Taehyung struggles to lift himself up right, pressing himself against the door as he tries to catch his
breath but Jeongguk doesn’t stop talking and the concern in his voice has Taehyung’s eyes growing
sticky and neck wet with tears.

“I’m going to uh - kick the door down if you don’t let me in.”
The door is barely opened before Jeongguk’s pressing against him. Strong arms closing tightly
around his chest, Jeongguk’s body following him to the ground. He doesn’t even care if the door is
closed, he just nestles into Jeongguk’s chest and lets it all out.

Jeongguk’s heart beats rapidly against his cheek, his fingers petting through his hair as he rocks him.
He doesn’t know for how long he cries but Jeongguk never interrupts, doesn’t move him until his
sobs soften and his face throbs with the force of his tears. He doesn’t understand how one person can
cry so much, how it benefits evolution in any form to just be taken over by sobs.

“Come on, love,” Jeongguk hums, continuing to rock him for a moment before his hands are folding
over Taehyung’s cheeks to lift his head.

Taehyung keeps his eyes closed, not wanting to know what Jeongguk looks like watching him in the
state he’s in. He never wants clients to see this side of him.

Client - Jeongguk’s so much more but the thought only makes his chest ache more. He doesn’t want
Jeongguk to see what a fucking mess he is. Jeongguk thinks he wants him, but he barely even knows
him. Would he still want him if he's seen how many men Taehyung has been with?

“Can you stand? Let's wash you up, yeah?”

Taehyung lets Jeongguk move him, his body too weak to do what Jeongguk’s hands guide him to
do. He keeps his eyes mostly closed, knowing that even if they were opened they would be too
swollen and achy to see much.

Cool water presses against his cheek and Taehyung gasps, eyes forcing themselves open. Jeongguk’s
expression is one of concentration, his eyes filled with concern as he presses the a cool towel under
his eyes.

“Do you want me to run you a bath?”

It’s a sign that every tear has been pulled from Taehyung’s body because his chest cracks at the
suggestion but nothing comes out. He only nods, sniffling in response and wishing it didn’t feel so
good that Jeongguk remembered that Jimin gives him baths to make him feel better.

“Hold this to your face,” Jeongguk murmurs quietly and Taehyung regrets saying yes as Jeongguk
pulls away.

They sit in silence, just Taehyung’s hiccups and the sound of running water fills the room until
Jeongguk’s satisfied with the amount of water in the tub. He’s gentle as he pulls the cloth from
Taehyung’s hands and even gentler as he helps him strip, easing the sweaty clothes from his body.

It’s intimate, more intimate than the night Taehyung wanted to kiss ‘I love you’s over his skin even
though he knows this isn’t what this is. It’s close, teetering on the edge enough that his mind could
be tricked into falling over. It’s more intimate than any other time Jeongguk’s stripped his clothes
from his body. There’s no demanding needy touches, there’s no touching at all, just the brush of
Jeongguk’s knuckles when he slips his fingers under his clothes.

He needs it, his body craving the intimacy badly as he slips in the tub his arm flings almost in a panic
as Jeongguk starts to move back. Jeongguk only smiles softly and nods like he knows what
Taehyung needs.

And he does. Taehyung doesn’t want to think about how he feels about it, but instead lets himself
soak in the feel of Jeongguk’s body as he slips in behind him a few moments later. He’s drained
enough not to care about the warmth filling his chest. It’s not enough to ease the tired static inside of
him, but it makes him feel like he isn't seconds from crumbling apart.

“Jin took the kids,” Taehyung whispers into the air, head tilting up as Jeongguk massages soap
across his skin, clouding the steaming water. He should have never gave Jeongguk any piece of him
because he finds himself desperate to give more. “For good.”

Jeongguk doesn’t say anything as he digs his fingers into Taehyung’s back, rubbing at his muscles
and easing a soft groan from Taehyung’s chest.

“Why?”

Taehyung shrugs, his fingers sinking in the water to slip over Jeongguk’s bare calves. “Because I’m
never home. Because he takes care of them better than me. I don’t know.”

He prepares himself to listen to Jeongguk agree, maybe even admit to knowing. He doesn’t know
how close Jin and him are in that way, but he’s assumed close enough.

But instead, Jeongguk presses a kiss below his ear, humming softly. “I’m sorry, Tae. I know
everything you do is for them.”

The nickname coming from Jeongguk’s lips has the warmth wrapped around his heart and trying to
soothe it doubling and he sinks back, planting his back to Jeongguk’s chest. Jeongguk doesn’t
hesitate in wrapping his arms around him, holding him tight.

“Did you fight? Jin sounded upset when he called me.”

Taehyung can’t help but wonder what Jeongguk would think if he saw the photographs. He feels
ashamed and embarrassed, something that he’s never felt about his job before. He can’t bring himself
to tell Jeongguk, worried that that shame will consume him.

“Yes,” he lies, turning his head to rest his cheek against Jeongguk’s chest.

He finds solace in the steady thump of Jeongguk’s heartbeat, his own heart slowing until it can match
his pace. When the water turns cold, Jeongguk eases him out of the tub with careful hands and soft
kisses to his cheekbones. It’s ruining any chance Taehyung has at stopping himself from loving
Jeongguk and it makes more tears slip from his eyes.

“What is it?” Jeongguk murmurs, brushing the tears away before he pulls the towel tighter around
Taehyung’s shoulders. “Let’s get you dressed, okay?”

Taehyung nods, feeling a bit like a child that’s unable to put into words what’s wrong. He doesn’t
even ask if Taehyung wants him to stay, he just knows Taehyung does.

“Where’s your room?”

Taehyung stills, a flutter of panic in his chest. He hadn’t even checked the other rooms. It didn’t even
cross his mind to check his or Woojin’s.

“Wait here,” Taehyung huffs out before he’s quickly walking out of the bathroom, leaving Jeongguk
without a towel. After a small rest his emotions are alive and awake, ready to consume him again.

Taehyung presses into the door frame of Woojin’s room, crying quietly as he eyes the untouched
walls. His relief only fills him more when he sees his own bedroom is untouched, but the confusion
as to why they were into Eunae’s room only makes the images flashback in his mind and his tears
come out steadily.
“Shh,” Jeongguk says, suddenly behind him despite Taehyung telling him to stay put. Taehyung’s
thankful that he didn’t listen. “Come on, let’s get you something to wear. Don’t cry, Taehyung, it
breaks my heart.”

“I can’t stop,” Taehyung huffs out, feeling pathetic as he drops his gaze to the ground and clutches
tightly onto the towel. There is a chill starting to creep over his body and he knows Jeongguk must
feel it too.

“That’s okay,” Jeongguk whispers, guiding him into the room. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Taehyung nods as he sniffles, wishing he could tell Jeongguk just how badly he needs him to keep
that promise.

Even after a full nights sleep, or a full day as Yoongi woke up half past seven at night, he feels
exhausted. His feet drag and his shoulders hang, he needs ten cups of coffee or another day of sleep.

He settles himself on the stool, leaning over the island in the middle of Jeongguk’s kitchen. He
suspects Jeongguk’s been missing in action because of Taehyung, but he’s feeling selfish and in need
of his best friend.

He isn’t surprised to see the apartment empty but he sighs, wishing it wasn’t. Just being in
Jeongguk’s apartment would be comforting if it weren’t cold and seemingly unlived in. He misses
the toys scattered around and the music that used to be constantly playing. He misses Ji-hu’s laughter
and his constant call for him whenever he wants to show him something that’s ten times more
exciting to a seven year old than an adult.

Mostly he just misses Jimin, but it’s easier to focus on things that he truly hasn't lost and are
guaranteed to come back.

With inspiration, he rips open Jeongguk’s empty cabinet and sneaks out a bottle, uncapping it before
he pads off towards the stereo.

The music leaks into the apartment as Yoongi moves around, dragging out Ji-hu’s toys to leave them
scattered across the living room. He takes out the blankets hidden away and folds them over the
couches. He huffs in surprise when he finds throw pillows and he does just that, throws them and
allows them to stay wherever they land.

Not thinking about Jimin doesn’t go well as he remembers the few times in college their attempts at
cleaning the apartment turned into pillow fights and make out sessions that always felt like more even
when Yoongi tried to deny that it did.

The first time Jimin kissed him he knew. It had been rushed and heated and just as nice as the soft
ones they shared later on. He touches his lips every time he thinks about it, wishing he could
remember the exact moment he fell in love with Park Jimin.

Maybe it was the moment he met Jimin, or maybe the first breath he took like he was born to love
Jimin.

An hour goes by and Yoongi forgets that he is alone as he bobs his head to the music, emptying
bottle after bottle until he’s drunkenly redecorated Jeongguk’s apartment. The walls are covered in
crooked photographs that look straight if he closes his eyes and it makes him laugh, though he
forgets his joke about the frames being as straight as himself as he dials Jeongguk’s number with the
intent of telling him.
“I’m spicing up your life,” Yoongi rambles off as he presses the phone to his ear, listening to
Jeongguk’s ringtone. “Not as spicy as Taehyung but -”

“What’s that about Taehyung?”

Jeongguk’s sudden voice in his ear has another laugh knocking from Yoongi’s ribs.

“Man he’s spicy. Real picante, you and him. Need some milk.”

There is music coming from the background, making it difficult for Yoongi to hear Jeongguk even as
he steps into the hallway where his own music dies out. He could use some more photos here too,
there’s only a few of Ji-hu pinned to the wall. He pouts, wondering why Jeongguk hasn’t hung up
one of them yet.

“Hyung are you drunk?” Jeongguk sounds less amused and more worried. Yoongi wishes he would
stop worrying about him. He’s asked him if he’s alright nearly ten times a day since Jimin left.

He’s the hyung here. He knows how to take care of himself just fine. He’s supposed to take care of
Jeongguk, not the other way around.

“Are you at a club? Why didn’t you invite me? Rude.”

“I’m at the Minx.”

Yoongi’s smile fades as he drops the bottle to the ground, uncaring where it tumbles and pushes
open the door to Jeongguk’s bedroom. It’s almost as bland. He remembers the day when Jeongguk’s
walls were covered floor to ceiling in posters and pictures of half naked men that always made his
mother embarrassed to enter the room.

“Is he there?”

No ache comes but he knows it will. He should have known Jimin would leave - he thought maybe
he pushed Bobby away for good at the venue because he showed up at Yoongi’s hotel room that
night before they had all gone out for dinner.

But he wasn’t choosing Yoongi, he was saying goodbye.

He doesn’t even want Jimin to choose between anything, though he is worried Jimin won’t leave
Bobby because he loves him. It makes his heart hurt. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt so bad if Bobby took
good care of Jimin.

“You know he is, hyung.”

“Does he look okay?”

Yoongi kicks a shoe lying on the ground, a small evidence of someone occupying this empty
bedroom before he falls to the bed. Something digs into his back but he ignores it to stare up at the
ceiling and try not to focus on how the room spins around him.

“He looks beautiful as always hyung. What are you doing to my house?”

Yoongi lifts himself when the spinning makes him nauseous and tugs the offensive item that is under
his back to his lap. It’s a manila envelope, a heavy one that has something square pressing into the
front.

“Have you been home since you landed?”

“No, Tae needed me. I’m here at the club now, making sure he’s alright.”

Yoongi smiles at that. He might be miserable and heartbroken, but he doesn’t want Jeongguk to be.
“Ah, to be young and in love. I better be the best man at your wedding.”

He thinks Jeongguk makes a choking noise as Yoongi slowly untied the string keeping the folder
closed.

“It kind of feels like love but not wedding love. Not yet. It hasn’t been that long, hyung.”

“Not yet, I fell in love with Jimin the first time I heard him speak,” Yoongi whispers quietly. He
wonders if Jimin is happy that their plan worked, getting Jeongguk and Taehyung together. “I’m
opening a package on your bed. I hope it has dirt on you.”

“What package - hold on hyung.”

Jeongguk disappears and Yoongi considers hanging up before something gross sounds in his ear.
He’s heard Jeongguk moan before and it isn’t something he’s too interested in hearing again. He
thinks that’s why he’s at the Minx, but knowing Jeongguk, he could be there to check up on Jimin
because he knows that Yoongi is too much of a coward to do so.

Not yet at least. He’ll find Jimin soon. He can never breathe without him and his feet always take
him to the other man whether he likes it or not.

(He always likes it, it just hurts a lot too.)

Yoongi holds the phone between his ear and shoulder as he tries to pull out the box. But it isn’t a
box, rather a stack of glossy photographs.

He forgets about the phone and doesn’t pay attention to where it tumbles as he stares at the top
photo. It’s Taehyung, his whole body on display as he kneels. Yoongi knows he should shove the
photograph back into the envelope but there’s pain in Taehyung’s eyes and ropes tied so tightly
around his body that his skin is red around them.

It’s just as red as his hair - the only sign other than his young face that it’s an older picture. He moves
it aside, a gasp forming in his throat as he reveals another picture of Taehyung, this time from a high
angle, his back bent in a painful looking position in front of a man that looks old enough to be his
grandfather.

There’s one after another, and Yoongi stares at each in horror until his eyes land on Jeongguk’s face
and he remembers he had been on the phone with him.

Yoongi drops the stack, scrambling for his phone to find Jeongguk again. Jeongguk’s talking,
unaware that Yoongi dropped the phone in the first place.

“I don’t know what I’m doing hyung but it feels right. Paying off his debt, I don’t even care if he
hates me for it. I want him to be happy, hyung.”

“Jeongguk,” Yoongi says, interrupting and not even listening to a word Jeongguk says as panic fills
him. He doubts Taehyung sent photos like this to Jeongguk. He looks like he’s in pain in quite a few
of them. “We have a problem.”

Jeongguk doesn’t say a word as Yoongi hurriedly explains. He tries to shove the scattered photos
back into the envelope, not wanting to see any more intimate photos of Taehyung but he stops at one
in the middle.
 “There’s one of Woojin,” Yoongi mumbles, staring at the small boy where he’s walking hand in
hand with Taehyung. It doesn’t match any of the others - all ones of Taehyung bare and with clients.
The panic inside of him is growing, making his voice more slurred and breathy. This is wrong . “The
rest are of him in the dressing room, from like the cameras, but this one is just them outside their
apartment building.”

There’s a moment of silence from Jeongguk as Yoongi apologizes profusely for looking at them,
trying to shove the pictures back in without looking at them.

“Hyung, I have to go.”

Chapter End Notes

Like always, I'm so happy to know what you think!! Things are going to slowly - or not
so slowly, start revealing themselves and I am excited for you to read it!! The next
chapter is also quite angsty, but I promise a lot of soft is coming xxx
 Chapter 13
Chapter Notes

OHH sorry for this chapter please still love me

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jeongguk had tried to get Taehyung to call out of work, but he had already been out for a week
because of their trip. Even though Jeongguk had paid him a hefty sum to come to America with him,
he understands. But, Jeongguk had been worried when they woke up and Taehyung’s eyes were
swollen shut and he caught sounds of Taehyung crying in the shower.

He denied any crying when Jeongguk joined him, and he pushed his questions away with an attempt
to distract Jeongguk with wandering hands, but Jeongguk didn’t want that. He kissed Taehyung
slowly under the stream of the shower head, but that had been it.

He doesn’t know if it will make Taehyung uncomfortable with him being here at the club, but it feels
wrong to be away from him after last night. Taehyung had been inconsolable and Jeongguk wants to
be there if the tears come back. He wants to be there as soon as Taehyung needs him.

“He’s blowing it tonight,” Jackson, the bartender, says from behind Jeongguk. There’s an easy grin
on his lips but his eyes flick to Jeongguk nervously as he fiddles with the bug shaped pendant around
his neck. “You should probably take him in the back before Bobby sees.”

Jeongguk frowns as he watches Taehyung. There’s nothing flirty about his smile, even when he
approaches the men waiting for him. His hips don’t shake like they normally do when he walks up to
clients. He looks like an angel with the gold ribbons crossing over his chest, but a sad angel that had
just lost his wings.

He isn’t trying to hide his displeasure. It’s a dangerous move. It’ll either feed into the drunk men’s
disgusting fantasies or make them angry and volatile.

“Where is B?” Jeongguk asks, not letting his eyes stray far from Taehyung when he seats himself in
someone’s lap. He had come for other reasons too, ones that might break his promise of never
hurting Taehyung.

He was going to wait, but Hoseok had announced that he’s no longer working for Taehyung, and
seeing the way Taehyung had cried over losing his siblings, Jeongguk can’t control his actions when
he’s feeling like this.

It had been a lie when he told Taehyung that he didn’t believe in destiny. He does; he always has.
His mother used to tell him frequently that he had been brought into the world to do good; that it’s
his destiny to do so. He doesn’t feel like Taehyung’s a charity case, but Jeongguk’s able and wanting
to get him out of this mess - to do what he wants and have his siblings back.

Plus, the amount of ways their lives are interwoven is a sign. Every important person in Jeongguk’s
life, other than his son, is an important person in Taehyung’s.

He doesn’t necessarily believe in soulmates, but his soul feels a little bit more at peace when he’s
beside Taehyung. When Taehyung’s hurt or could be hurt, his soul shakes inside of him, demanding
that he do something and Jeongguk can’t ignore it.

“I don’t know,” Jackson hums. “Ask B.I.. He and Doll can find Bobby anywhere. Sometimes I
swear they got a tracker on him.”

Jeongguk pulls his eyes away from Taehyung long enough to find Hanbin closer to the crowd of
onlookers. His eyes are on Taehyung too and there’s something in his expression that has
Jeongguk’s skin crawling. Like a lion watching his prey right before he strikes.

Hanbin’s lips pull up some before he turns, stopping when he spots Jeongguk. His smile only grows
and Jeongguk hadn’t been desperate enough to find Bobby to talk to Hanbin, but Hanbin is
approaching him and giving him no choice.

“I just had to visit,” Hanbin admits with a laugh, raising his glass to Jeongguk. “After seeing him at
Namjoon’s charity event, I wanted to see him in all his glory. A beautiful thing he is.”

Jeongguk clenches his jaw until his teeth grind together. Hanbin’s still watching Taehyung, his
tongue flicking out to wet his bottom lip. “He’s not an object, hyung.”

Hanbin’s eyes are blazing when he turns back to him. “They get paid to be objects, Guk. It’s their
job. Do you think people at work didn’t know that Taehyung was an object on your arm?”

There’s something rolling in Jeongguk’s stomach that makes him want to react, but he keeps himself
level headed. He’s annoyed and it’s only growing.

Taehyung’s head tilts back when the man he is with rubs a hand up his neck. Jeongguk doesn’t miss
the way his lips tug into a frown and his eyes stare up at the ceiling. It’s difficult to watch, it’s
difficult to know when is the right time to step in. He doesn’t want to get Taehyung in trouble, but
he’d break every finger in the club if it meant Taehyung didn’t hurt anymore.

“Is that why you’re here then? For him?”

Jeongguk considers saying fuck all to being level-headed when Hanbin glances back at Taehyung
with the same hungry look before he nods.

He doesn’t like the idea of anyone else touching Taehyung, not just because he’s jealous, but
because Hanbin thinks of Taehyung as an object. The only people who deserve to touch Taehyung
are the ones who think touching Taehyung is the closest thing to touching a god.

No one should be touching him when his expression is clearly one of discomfort. Taehyung looks in
pain and Jeongguk’s struggling to remain in his seat. Even when Taehyung moves away from the
man’s lap, Jeongguk has to keep himself from running across the club when he notices his shaky
legs.

“I hate to break it to you, hyung, but that isn’t happening.”

There’s amusement in Hanbin’s eyes when he turns back to face him. Jeongguk hates how Bobby
and he always look amused when he’s annoyed with them. “You can’t be possessive of a whore,
Guk. It makes you look desperate.”

Jeongguk places down his glass before he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Taehyung has
disappeared, he just caught a glimpse of the gold before he disappeared towards the VIP section.
“He’s not a whore. Not after tonight.”
He misses the anger that flashes in Hanbin’s eyes as he walks away. He heads towards the VIP
section first, wanting to give Taehyung a heads up and a sorry in advance about what he’s going to
discuss with Bobby when his phone rings.

He doesn’t see Taehyung in the VIP section and he considers that he’s gone into one of the private
booths, but most of them are opened and he sighs, listening to Yoongi slur into the receiver.

When he makes his way back down from the section, he spots Hoseok first. He wears his usual
tough, don’t fuck with me expression with his arms tight across his chest. He looks more annoyed
tonight, foot tapping restlessly against the floor when Jeongguk approaches.

“Hold on, hyung,” he says to Yoongi, who he doesn’t think has listened to a word he’s said anyway.
It’s a problem for another time, in a few hours maybe. He can’t handle a drunk sobbing Yoongi well.
Usually, he just needs someone to tuck him into bed but he becomes difficult when he’s drunk,
insisting that he’s the hyung and he doesn’t need his dongsaeng taking care of him.

The annoyed look in Hoseok’s eyes disappears when he spots Jeongguk; his eyes instantly lighting
up. He’s dressed in all black where he stands at his usual post, though he had been stationed in
different areas throughout the night as if he were following Jimin around.

Jimin hadn’t said a word to Jeongguk, only nodded in greeting when he passed by. Jeongguk isn’t
offended; he knows that Jimin probably doesn’t want to talk about the fact that he ditched all of them
after their efforts to bring him home and keep him safe.

“I knew you wouldn’t stay away,” Hoseok says, a joking tone to his voice. “You might as well be
Baby’s new bodyguard.”

Jeongguk snorts at the idea. “Listen, hyung, is Bobby in his office? I need to speak with him.”

Hoseok nods, but the amusement dies in his eyes. “He’s with Chim.”

Part of Jeongguk knows that Jimin won’t leave Bobby without Taehyung. It’s another reason
Jeongguk is doing what he’s doing. But he’s not sure if anything will get Jimin out of this life
anymore.

“Can you keep an eye on Tae for me while I talk to him? I mean, keep Hanbin from him?”

There’s no hesitation in the way Hoseok nods and Jeongguk is surprised by the flash of anger in his
eyes when he searches for Hanbin behind him. “Yeah, I’ll keep that bastard away from him.”

Jeongguk wants to ask, but he glances at the other guard who’s clearly listening but pretending that
he isn’t, and he decides not to. He brings the phone back to his ear again, hoping Yoongi hasn’t
fallen asleep waiting for him to return.

“Hyung, you shouldn’t be pissed off your ass when I’m angry like this, I need you to keep me in
check and Hoseok already has his hands full,” Jeongguk clips, feeling tense as he moves down the
corridor. The music fades and the lights darken, reminding him of a dungeon. “I don’t know what
I’m doing, hyung, but it feels right. Paying off his debt, I don’t even care if he hates me for it. I want
him to be happy, hyung. But I’m so fucking annoyed. I don’t know if I’m thinking clearly.”

Jeongguk stills when he hears the horror in Yoongi’s voice. He only feels it build inside of him,
mixing in with the rage as Yoongi explains what he’s found. His soul is no longer telling him to do
something to protect Taehyung, but it’s beating its fists against his insides until he’s lurching down
the hallway.
“Hyung, I have to go. Send me the first one. I’m with Bobby now.”

“That’s not a good idea -”

“Send me it,” Jeongguk snaps before he hangs up the phone.

His father used to tell him to never react in anger or fear. It’s important to catch your breath first, then
react. Jeongguk tries and sometimes he’s successful, sometimes he’s not.

He’s barely opened the photo Yoongi sent before he’s storming off, grunting at the guards who stand
in front of Bobby’s office door.

The plan he had was in coming here to not take no for an answer, even if Bobby pulled the needing
to ask his boss first thing out of his ass. But he was going to be kind. He’d pay off the debt
completely, every cent, and even offer some for any monetary losses Bobby might suffer. He doesn’t
want Taehyung to worry that Bobby may come back with his hand out.

He isn’t feeling too kind now.

“Mr. Jeon, you can’t -”

Jeongguk ignores the guard that is posted outside of Bobby’s office, confirming he’s indeed inside.
The door slams open, rattling against the wall and making the figures before him jump.

Jimin jumps from the desk that he’s perched his butt on top of. Alarmed, he quickly scrambles to pull
up the thin material that hugs his thighs until he’s covered. Bobby is slower to move, taking his time
to stand before he’s sliding his arm around a flustered Jimin’s back.

“Jimin, if you’d excuse us,” Jeongguk says coldly, eyes diverted as Jimin fumbles with making
himself decent. Seeing him with Bobby like this has his anger only growing. Yoongi’s at his
apartment, crying about missing Jimin and Jimin is fucking around with Bobby; it’s pissing him off.
“Get Taehyung, we’re leaving.”

“Guk, what is this -”

“I’m sorry if you thought that was a request,” Jeongguk grunts, stopping just in front of the desk to
slam down his checkbook. It hits the wood so hard that it bounces back up. “Write down the amount
you need and the name of every person who has access to your security footage here.”

Jimin hustles across the desk despite Bobby trying to keep him beside him. He pushes a hand against
Jeongguk’s chest, his other clutching a robe against his chest. There’s anger in Jimin’s eyes but
Jeongguk doesn’t back down.

“Don’t be disrespectful. You barged in here and -”

Jeongguk interrupts him from continuing as he holds the phone up, showing off the picture of
Taehyung in the dressing room, trapped in a vulnerable position with fear bright in his eyes. The
reaction is immediate; Jimin’s face falling in horror as he snatches the phone from Jeongguk’s
fingers.

It’s a personal picture, not one from the ceiling of the dressing room like Yoongi had explained. This
one is taken from whoever had made Taehyung look so terrified. Whoever sent it to him knew it
would piss him off, but he doesn’t understand the purpose.

He doesn’t care either. He wants to destroy whoever made Taehyung upset like that.
“Do you want to explain to me why a stack of photographs like this were delivered to me? There’s
more, stills from the security footage here. I want everything you have of him deleted. Everything, I
don’t even want his name written down.”

“Jeongguk -” Bobby tries, walking around the desk with his hands held up but Jeongguk ignores the
white flag he’s waving and shoves him, hard, jostling Jimin while doing so. Jimin squeaks, gripping
hard onto Jeongguk’s arm like he’s going to pull him off but he lets him go instead.

“If you think my threats end with you, you’d be mistaken. I’m not in a haggling mood, hyung, he’s
not yours anymore.”

“Bobby,” Jimin says, his voice too soft for the tense air. It’s too soft for the rage in his eyes as he lifts
the camera to show him. “You’re the only one with access to the cameras.”

Bobby’s mouth falls open for a moment and Jeongguk swears that he sees the panic in his eyes
before his entire expression hardens. He moves but Jeongguk moves faster, his arm flying out to
press hard against Bobby’s arm to keep him back. He’s strong enough to fight against him, though
he would have to use all of his effort, but Bobby doesn’t struggle.

“There’s pictures of Woojin too.”

Jimin is like a tornado, shoving between them and Jeongguk only moves an inch to let him in, not
wanting to be too far if Bobby strikes out. Jimin hits him in the chest, so hard that Bobby grunts like
the airs been shoved from his lungs. “Write down the damn number. Only what you owe Chung-
Hoon. Don’t scam Jeongguk out of his own money. I did everything you asked. Everything .”

He’s gone just as fast, pushing out of the room with his hand still clutching tightly to Jeongguk’s
phone. Jeongguk doesn’t break his gaze from Bobby, who looks shell-shocked for a moment before
turning angry.

At the back of his mind, Jeongguk notes that Bobby looks like pure shit. But he’s too pissed to care,
even when Bobby shoves hard against him to move away from where Jeongguk has him pressed
back against the wall.

“What did Jimin mean by that?” Jeongguk grits out as Bobby grabs the checkbook and starts writing.
It would be almost amusing how Bobby looks like a kid being scolded if Jeongguk weren’t so
pissed. “‘Scam me out of my own money’?”

Bobby peers up at him as he digs in his drawer, pulling out a thick notebook. He flips to through the
pages until he stops on one with a small picture of Taehyung clipped to it.

Jeongguk wants to be sick. He looks young, his cheeks full and rounding out where they’re forced
up by the fake smile on his lips. He realizes he doesn’t even know how old Taehyung is or how old
he was when he became apart of this life.

“Do you remember when I borrowed all that money from you?”

Jeongguk feels uneasy, the hair standing up at the back of his neck. “You did a few times. I want that
folder. Everything you have on him, I'm giving to him.”

Bobby huffs out a nervous laugh, shrugging. There’s a list of numbers on the page, a few scribbled
out here and there. There are names, too, and Jeongguk tries his best not to appear obvious as he
reads them.

“I wasn’t going to ask you for everything I needed, I was going to ask my father too - but he refused.
I didn’t want to ask you again, but Jimin really wanted him.”

Jeongguk slowly processes Bobby’s words as Bobby scribbles his name across the check. Part of
him wonders how long Bobby will prevail for since he backs down so easily.

Part of him doesn’t care. Bobby and his mission to take over Busan can burn.

“I’m not following.”

“You lent me half of what I needed to buy Baby for Jimin. I still owe the guy the rest. Everything
Baby makes goes to him,” Bobby says like he’s exhausted with trying to explain it.

Jeongguk feels like his entire world is tilting over and he’s surprised he’s able to form one coherent
thought. Suddenly destiny doesn’t seem as exciting as it had been before.

“Not to you?”

Bobby shakes his head as he tosses the checkbook at Jeongguk with a pinch of annoyance in his
tone. He slips the folder across the desk too, not putting up a fight. “I figured you wouldn’t kill me if
I didn’t pay you back. The threats are unnecessary, by the way. I told you he was yours to take as
long as my boss approves.”

Jeongguk grits his teeth, still trying to make sense of what Bobby is saying.

Taehyung would have never gone with Bobby if Jeongguk had never lent him the money for it.
Maybe. He has a feeling Jimin is stubborn enough to make it happen anyway. Either way, it doesn’t
make him feel any better.

“And does your boss approve? I’m not in a mood to dance around, B. I’m leaving here with
Taehyung whether he likes it or not.”

“He’s going to tear me a new one for not telling him about any of this and I’m already on his bad
side,” Bobby huffs, rubbing a palm down his face and suddenly seeming tired. “I had nothing to do
with the pictures, Jeongguk. My shit was stolen like a week ago.”

“Your boss?”

Bobby shakes his head, smiling at that but he looks more tired and less amused. “My boss is Jimin,
you idiot. He doesn’t realize it so don’t tell him, but he’s got me by the gnads. I can threaten him all I
want but if Jimin were just to up and leave, I wouldn’t stop him.”

Jeongguk grunts at this, holding his arms over his chest to keep himself from striking out. “Not a
smart thing to tell me, B. There’s nothing keeping me from telling him.”

There’s a flash of pain in Bobby’s eyes and he flinches at Jeongguk’s words. “The one thing about
Jimin is he’ll take the threat seriously. I might not act it out, but someone will. Jimin knows this. He
can’t risk it.”

“What's the threat?”

This time, Bobby’s eyes are full blown worried and no attempt at masking them works. He only
shrugs a few times before handing Jeongguk the checkbook. “I can’t tell you that, Guk. Baby’s
yours, now get the hell out of my club and don’t come back.”

Jeongguk stares long and hard at Bobby. Taehyung and Jimin seem afraid of him at times, but he’s
the least intimidating thing Jeongguk’s ever laid his eyes on. His family has always been kind to
Bobby, but he’s always wondered why Bobby seems so much like a child with him.

He’s a pimp and controls half of Busan, yet he folds under Jeongguk with ease. He makes threats
that make Jimin afraid, yet he looks like a broken puppy when he tells Jeongguk that he can leave at
any time.

“You should let him go,” Jeongguk says softly.

Bobby snorts, looking broken and Jeongguk doesn’t miss the way he itches over the inside of his
arm. “Because he loves Yoongi, right? If you knew why he needed to stay, you'd want him to.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. “Because whatever threat you made, you looked guilty when you
mentioned it. Which probably means Eomma would hate you for it.”

Bobby’s lips part as he stares back at Jeongguk before they snap shut and his nostrils flare. “Get
out.”

Taehyung’s morning had started off okay. It would have been perfect if he didn’t have to think about
the night before, though Jeongguk had been successful in helping him clear his mind. He pushed
away his attempts at sex, but Taehyung is thankful because he didn’t actually want that. He just
wanted to stop crying and stop Jeongguk from asking him why he was.

Since then, it’s turned to shit and stayed that way.

He’s never truly enjoyed the random groping and catcalls, but he’s never despised it to the point
where he couldn’t fake his enjoyment. Now, every touch makes his stomach curl and his body feel
on edge. The hand against his throat made him feel like he was suffocating and it took everything in
him not to punch the man in the nuts just to let him go.

It doesn’t help that Jeongguk’s eyes are following him around, though he feels safer knowing the
other man is present.

He thought it couldn’t get worse until Hanbin showed up, all bright smiles and dark eyes as he took
his place beside Jeongguk by the bar.

Taehyung couldn’t handle the nerves riddling through his stomach so he disappeared into his
dressing room. There’s something fundamentally wrong about them knowing each other. Someone
like Hanbin shouldn’t know someone good like Jeongguk.

Even in the dressing room, away from the hungry eyes and the demanding touches, he doesn’t relax.
He knows whenever Hanbin steps foot into the Minx he’ll show up behind him not too long after, so
he isn’t surprised that only a few minutes pass before he does. He wishes it were Jeongguk following
after him, but he knows Jeongguk is going to give him his space.

“Baby, I’ve missed you.”

Taehyung straightens the straps around his hips, focused on the mirror. He’s too drained, physically
and emotionally, to deal with Hanbin.

He feels like he’s cracking. He didn’t think he could crack anymore, but here he is - an eggshell
being smacked against the side of the pan. Maybe he’s going crazy, he kind of feels like it. People go
crazy from stress and pain all of the time.
“I was just talking to Jeongguk about you. He seems quite infatuated with you, not that I could blame
him.”

Taehyung cocks his head to the side, trying not to react. He hates the fact that they know each other,
that they’ve discussed him. He wonders what Jeongguk would do if he told him about the things
Hanbin has done to him.

Jeongguk had been quick to dig into Bobby’s personal information despite growing up with him.
What would he do to Hanbin? Yoongi said it would hurt Jeongguk to know about Yunbok.

He stills, wondering if Yoongi actually went through with telling Jeongguk. The tears threaten to
touch his eyes when he thinks about it, how disgusted Jeongguk must be with him.

“I’m irresistible,” Taehyung hums before he turns, keeping himself backed up against the vanity as a
caution for Hanbin to stay away. He blinks rapidly, trying to go for flirty but really he just wants the
tears gone.

There’s something predatory about the grin on Hanbin’s lips and the way he moves like he’s
preparing to attack. It makes Taehyung clench his fingers around the edge of the vanity, but he is
trapped.

God, he’s so fucking sick of being trapped.

“I’m not surprised he wants you for himself. Runs in the family. Ol' Jeon's quite a fan of whores,
kept one locked up in his house for years.”

Taehyung’s ears burn but he doesn’t flinch or think too much about Hanbin’s words. He doesn’t
want to know how Hanbin knows that Jeongguk wants him for himself because the answer might
break his foundation completely.

It would mean they actually did talk, that Hanbin’s telling the truth.

And he's learning that he can't trust a word of Bobby or Hanbin's. Not after knowing Bobby grew up
beside Yoongi and pretended not to know him.

“Rumor has it he killed her when she decided she had enough, but who knows.”

Hanbin moves close enough that he can probably hear the rush of Taehyung’s blood through his
veins from his pounding heart. He stays rock still as Hanbin reaches out, but his body betrays him
when Hanbin grabs his chin.

He jerks back hard, eyes flying shut but Hanbin’s grip is forceful, making it difficult for him to look
away.

“He’s quite the fan of that mouth of yours. Says he could keep his dick between your lips for hours,”
Hanbin murmurs, pressing his thumb down on Taehyung’s bottom lip. “Maybe that’s why he wants
you so badly. His own personal cock warmer, just like his Appa had.”

Heat rushes down to Taehyung’s chest, burning his heart as he tries to pull his head back but
Hanbin’s touch is relentless. He knows, deep down, that it doesn’t sound like anything Jeongguk
would say but he’s cracking. He doesn’t know how Jeongguk is around his friends, how different he
is. He’s only seen him together and at a work event.

It kills him thinking about Jeongguk saying this. It’s to be expected. He is a whore, one that
Jeongguk pays a hefty sum for with the intentions that Taehyung please him. He thought Jeongguk
might see him as a little more than that, he had hoped at least.

Whenever that hope became alive in his chest was the moment Taehyung ruined his own life. He
knows better than to have hope, especially hope of being loved, hope of being seen as anything other
than a whore.

“I gave him some tips on just how you like to be choked,” Hanbin says, fingers slipping to tickle
down the length of his neck. “Hard and relentless, until you’re begging to be let go. I’ve never seen a
man look so eager before. I didn’t know Jeongguk and I were so alike.”

“Don’t touch me,” Taehyung breathes out harshly as he reaches up to press his hands to Hanbin’s
stomach to keep him back but Hanbin is like Jeongguk, ten times stronger than him. Jeongguk could
hurt him at any time if he wanted to and there isn’t enough strength in Taehyung’s arms to stop him.

“Maybe he’ll take some pointers from Daddy Dearest, lock you up tight, take you when he wants.”
Hanbin huffs out a sardonic laugh. “Who knows? Maybe he’ll share you with the old man, he’s quite
fond of him.”

Taehyung shoves Hanbin with as much force as he can muster in his shaking arms, but the other man
doesn’t seem disturbed by it. He’s cracking, and he’s cracking quickly. He can’t even protect
himself.

“Don’t make Jeongguk out to be someone he’s not just because you’re upset I’m not yours
anymore.”

Hanbin laughs harder, dancing back, his eyes blazing. He looks mad, a bit wild. Taehyung’s never
seen him like this and it ignites a fear inside of him so strong that he can’t help the way his body
trembles under Hanbin’s gaze.

“Don’t be foolish, Baby, Guk’s just like the rest of us. He practically owns this club, just ask him.
Ask him just how much money Jeon Tobacco supplies the Minx with each month. Do you know
why he’s powerful? Because Bobby owes Jeongguk and his father everything. That’s why as soon
as Jeongguk wants you, he’ll let you go. Even if his precious Doll doesn’t allow it.”

It isn’t true - it’s a blatant lie but Taehyung’s brain is taking off. Hanbin looks so confident in his
words and Taehyung’s seen how easily Bobby does what Jeongguk wants.

He thought it was because it was what Jimin wanted too.

“You call Bobby weak but here you are groveling for a whore just as much as he is.”

Hanbin’s expression flickers for a moment, eyes darkening but he just laughs again. “Bobby is weak.
He thinks Jimin loves him. Jeongguk and I both know what you’re good for and nothing more. A
tight hole desperate to be fucked. Words straight from his mouth.”

Taehyung feels like he’s choking and he wants to breathe in relief when Jimin barges in, but his best
friend looks pissed. Enraged, his face burning hot and eyes narrowed sharper than knives. He has
barely seen him since he left after the recital, only quickly when he entered the club, and the sight of
him has him tipping over the edge.

“Get the fuck out before I have you escorted out,” Jimin says without more than a glance in Hanbin’s
direction. The anger is radiating off of him in waves, filling the room until Taehyung’s breathing it in
and suffocating on it.

Hanbin looks smug as he throws his hands up and walks back, but his eyes narrow when they pass
over Jimin.

When the door shuts, Taehyung’s body sags and the pressure in his throat becomes difficult to
swallow. He can’t let all of his pieces fall apart but he doesn’t know how much more he can take.
They’re becoming too difficult to hold onto and their sharp edges dig into his palms until the blood
pours and spatters across the floor.

“Get dressed, Tae. You’re going with Jeongguk.”

His tone isn't kind though it’s gentler than the way he spoke to Hanbin.

“What?” Taehyung asks, pushing from the vanity as he eyes the clock. He still has four hours of his
shift. He can feel Hanbin’s touch everywhere and he wants to scrub his skin until it rips but he has to
wait. He’s already missed too much work.

Hanbin’s words have seeped into his brain and ingrained themselves in like parasites just like his
touch has made him feel like there’s grime there that will never come off.

Jimin sighs, his angry expression softening. “I said you’re going with Jeongguk. And uh, drop your
keys off with Hoseok before you leave.”

Taehyung stares at Jimin, unable to move other than the tremble that lingers in his limbs as he
processes his words. Drop off his keys?

“He paid off your debt, Tae. I - you’re not one of Bobby’s birds anymore.”

And with a simple sentence, the cracks in his foundation grow. They spread across him, making him
crumble into pieces and puff into the air like dust. He can’t comprehend the words at first, staring
hard at Jimin’s mouth as the tears start to shake in his vision.

“You sold me to Jeongguk?”

Pain crosses Jimin’s face as he shakes his head. He has no right to feel pain. He did this. “It’s not like
that.”

For the first time in a long time, Taehyung has to be away from Jimin. He has to be. He can’t breathe
more than the soft gasps that pass his lips in attempt to.

In a matter of two days, he has lost his kids and now his job and probably Jimin.

“Tae -”

“Why did you?” Taehyung gasps, every emotion from the last few days filling his chest with full
force. He directs it at Jimin, though a whisper at the back of his mind tells him that he should have
seen this coming. His voice is raising, sounding panicked and distant in his own ears. “Why would
you - why did you do that?”

“Tae!” Jimin screams, the look in his eyes a mix of pleading and frustration. “It’s better for you. You
don’t have a bodyguard anymore and Bobby - he isn’t letting me control much anymore. It’s gotten
really bad, Tae, and Jeongguk loves -”

“Why would you do that?” Taehyung sobs out. He can’t think straight. He hadn’t made a huge dent
in paying Bobby back, but he was getting there. “Why would -”

“Look!”
Jimin clutches Taehyung’s chin, an apologetic look on his face as he holds a phone in front of him.
His first thought is that it isn’t Jimin’s, the second is the photo of himself.

Another fucking photo.

“They sent pictures of Woojin,” Jimin whispers, voice trembling and desperate for Taehyung to
understand. “Tae, Bobby still owes Chung-Hoon. He mentioned Woojin -”

It’s ironic that Jimin chose this moment to show him what he looks like terrified. He feels terrified
now, and it’s reflected back in photo him’s eyes.

“Who? Who sent you this?”

He can’t think about Woojin, about what Jimin is saying. The panic that washes over him makes him
feel delirious, like the night they tried to come for him the first time.

It had been awful. Taehyung knows he had been pathetic, sobbing and begging as he pressed
himself up against the kid’s door like a blocker. He had been scrawny and the men bulging with
muscles. He had never felt so scared in his life, and it wasn’t because the man was pushing
Taehyung to his knees to see how well he would perform for Chung-Hoon all whilst Chung-Hoon
watched, but because Taehyung was afraid it wouldn’t be enough to get them away from his brother.

“It was sent to Jeongguk.”

Taehyung grabs the phone before he tosses it, uncaring where it smashes as he brings a hand up to
his mouth to try to catch his breath. Or covering his choked sobs, he doesn’t know, but his body
aches with the way they wrack through him.

It’s too much - the photos, Jeongguk going behind his back, Jimin - Woojin .

It’s too fucking much.

Everything he went through, all of that fear, it felt minimal to what it felt like thinking he’d lose
Woojin. As much as he hates what’s happened to him, he’d do it again every time if it meant it
would never happen to his little brother.

A sweet boy whose eyes water when he laughs too hard, even though his laugh is quiet and always
muffled by his hand. A kind boy who pets his hair when Taehyung’s upset even though he works
hard not to show him. A soft boy who likes to be tucked into bed and has to have his plushie pressed
against his chest.

A tiny boy, whose smaller than the rest of the kids but his eyes are so big that Taehyung’s sure the
galaxy of stars could fit inside of them. A boy who will never be able to grow up without pain
regardless of how hard they work to assure that he has the best life.

“What do you mean he - Jimin, you told me - Woojin’s supposed to be safe!”

“I didn’t know!” Jimin shouts as he tries to grab for Taehyung, a robe in his hands that he presses
against him to put on. “Please calm down, he’ll be fine. I know he’ll be fine. Just go with Jeongguk
and -”

“I’m not going with Jeongguk,” Taehyung snaps, the words leaving his lips without consulting his
brain first.

He used to be afraid that he’d become like his step father, raging and spewing at the mouth when
upset. He can’t help it as the panic sets in, his hands shaking as he rips the robe from Jimin.

“Every cent Jeongguk gives Bobby will go straight to Chung-Hoon. I’ll even chip in if it’s not
enough. He won’t touch Woojin. I’ll kill him myself if I have to.”

Taehyung stops his attempts to leave, breathing heavily as he stares down Jimin through teary eyes.

All of it to take care of his siblings, to keep Woojin away from it all. Seven years and he hasn’t
achieved either one of those things. They’ve been taken away from him and Woojin being in this life
is a fear that has returned to him. He thought it was gone for good.

“So I’ll just go,” Taehyung starts, voice shaking as he points towards the front of the building, “be
someone else’s and still not know if it will keep him safe? But I’ll do it? When am I just going to be
my own? I want to own myself, Jimin. I want Woojin to be fucking safe and happy. I told Jeongguk
not to do this and he went behind my fucking back!”

Jimin’s crying now, fat tears streaming down his cheeks as he tries to grab for Taehyung but
Taehyung pulls away. He storms down the corridor and pushes past the guards, ignoring Hoseok's
calls for him. It’s muffled in his ears as he shoves through the crowds. He doesn’t care who he walks
into, he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see this club again.

Going home is not an option. Being alone terrifies him, especially right now when his own mind is
threatening to explode on him, but he’s so pissed at Jeongguk that he isn’t positive that he won’t hit
him. He doesn’t know where Jin is but he can’t go there, he can’t lead anyone to Woojin.

He wonders if Jin knew, if that’s why he had taken them. If so, why didn’t he say anything? How
could he have found out?

How did anyone even get photos of Woojin? How did they get photos of him? The only one with
access to the security systems is Bobby. Why would he threaten Woojin? Taehyung hasn’t done
anything that bad enough to warrant this kind of punishment.

Taehyung huffs out a breath as he pushes open the door, letting the warm air hit his skin. There’s a
line of people waiting to get in, some he recognizes, but he walks past everyone without an idea of
where his feet are taking him.

“Taehyung -”

“Don’t,” Taehyung snaps, clutching his robe together as he walks past where Jeongguk awaits by his
car. He should have known he would run into Jeongguk some time, but he was hoping Jeongguk
was still discussing his purchase with Bobby and he’d be able to escape before he was finished.
“Don’t talk to me.”

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk tries again, pushing from the car to reach out for him. His grip is strong but
it’s gentle. Taehyung doesn’t struggle to pull his arm away, Jeongguk just lets him go.

“Come on, get in the car please.”

Taehyung lets out a wild laugh that he knows sounds crazed but he can’t stop himself. It drags the
attention of those in line to them. “I told you not to do that, Jeongguk. I told you! And you went
ahead and did it anyway, without consulting me. Congratulations, Mr. Jeon! You’re now the proud
new owner of your own whore, your own personal cock warmer!”

He can hear Jeongguk chasing after him as he storms away but he doesn’t stop. The fast movement
of his feet only makes it harder to breathe, his nose starting to clog as he hands the night sky every
sob in his throat.

He wants the sea. He can go to the sea. His mother used to burn candles that were supposed to smell
like the sea and had a box full of shells strung together. She never wore them, but she’d take them
out of the box and hold them for a while at a time.

Taehyung wants to go to the sea and drown.

“Tae! What are you talking about? Stop. Get in the car so we can talk.”

“So you can take me home and get off,” Taehyung shouts over his shoulder. He has no idea how to
get to the sea from where he is, but he knows one of these roads will lead him there. “Your ‘I want to
take care of you’ act works real swell, Jeon. But you’re just the same. Your words are real sweet, it
almost makes me forget that you come around just to get your dick wet. It was probably your plan all
along, you and Hanbin, best pals, chatting away about what a good fuck I am. He likes it when I cry,
too, do you get off on that?”

This time, Jeongguk’s grip isn’t gentle. It doesn’t hurt, but Taehyung struggles to get him to let go.
He doesn’t stop trying, even when Jeongguk wraps his other arm around his back and holds him
tight to his chest.

“I don’t talk about you to anyone,” Jeongguk tries, voice tense and desperate, his eyes moving a mile
a minute over Taehyung’s expression. “Not like that at least.”

“Let me go,” Taehyung says, his voice losing its strength. His body wants to cave into the warmth
Jeongguk provides because he knows - deep down, maybe he’s wrong.

Every time they’re together it leads to sex, but Taehyung is just as much to blame as Jeongguk.
Hanbin’s parasites are in his brain and he can’t shake them.

Hanbin . Someone who would be able to guess Bobby’s passwords enough to get into the security
room.

“Get in the car, please. I know you’re angry with me, just let me explain.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Taehyung says, but he doesn’t move. He’s pissed and wants to shove
Jeongguk as hard as he can, but his fingers wrap around his coat and hold on tight. God, he’s so
fucked . “How am I going to make the money to pay you back without a job Jeongguk?”

The panic starts to well up again and he thumps his fist down onto Jeongguk’s chest. He barely
budges, even when Taehyung thumps his hands down over and over again. He lost his job , not just
his clients. He was fired from the club. Only Bobby’s birds can work there.

There’s no way he can begin to pay Jeongguk back, except be exactly what he’s always been. A
whore, Jeongguk’s property.

“You know I’ll pay for anything you need until -”

Taehyung laughs again as he pushes Jeongguk. “Just perfect. And I’ll just drop to my knees
whenever you snap your fingers.”

“Taehyung, it isn’t like that!” Jeongguk grunts, face reddening and eyes sparking with anger.
Taehyung almost feels relieved by it. He wonders how much like the others Jeongguk can be when
he’s angry. He grabs Taehyung’s hands to stop him from punching and holds them tight against his
chest.
“You wanted me for yourself Jeongguk and now here I am, yours to use as you please. Nice trick
with the boyfriend thing, really great job at wrapping my heart around your finger. Wanna stop at the
store on the way home. Get some rope to tie me to the bed or something since that’s where you’ll be
wanting me?”

The anger grows in Jeongguk’s eyes but he takes his hand off of Taehyung, letting him breathe.
“Stop saying shit like that and get in the fucking car, Taehyung.”

Taehyung goes still under the tone, glaring hard at Jeongguk. He’s breathing heavily, glaring at him
as he throws a hand in the direction that they had come from. They’re at a stand still for a moment
before Taehyung whips on his heel and storms back to where Jeongguk had parked the car.

Sitting up front would allow him to get away from Jeongguk but the seat is empty when he drops
himself begrudgingly into the passenger seat and Taehyung wants to scream when the driver's door
opens and Jeongguk appears, Seokmin nowhere in sight.

“Taehyung, I’m sorry for cursing at you but your words really upset me,” Jeongguk starts hesitantly
as he seats himself, the anger completely gone from his face. “I don’t want anything from you. Just
for you to come home, and relax. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

Taehyung keeps his eyes out of the window instead of looking at Jeongguk. Come home. They
don’t have a home together even if it’s something Taehyung’s dreamed about before. “Take me to
Yoongi hyung.”

He’s wanted desperately to be Jeongguk’s - but not like this. Not with a debt over his head and the
safety of his brother at risk. He never wanted to owe anyone for Woojin again.

Jeongguk doesn’t say a word as he pulls off and Taehyung is thankful. He doesn’t want to think
about Woojin or the photographs, of what Jeongguk might have seen.

It’s toxic, the fire fueling inside of him that’s brought on by the nagging voice in his mind that he
might be wrong. Maybe another day he’ll realize that he’s being unfair, but he focuses on his anger
at Jeongguk because it’s the only emotion he can handle.

“I won’t touch you,” Jeongguk says softly, interrupting the silence as Taehyung watches the flash of
lights through the window. “I want you to stay with me, to keep you safe, but I won’t touch you.
That’s not why - I care about you, Taehyung. That’s all. I never said anything to you for any other
purpose than telling you the truth.”

Maybe another day, he’ll let himself believe Jeongguk’s words. But for now, he remains quiet,
letting the silence return.

Jeongguk respects it this time, keeping quiet until he pulls up in front of a tall building. Taehyung
blanches at the familiar doors before whipping his head to glare accusingly at him.

“Yoongi hyung is at mine,” Jeongguk admits sheepishly as the valet approaches. “He found um - I
have something to show you. Someone sent them to me.”

Dread falls upon Taehyung’s shoulders and he bites his lip, knowing what Jeongguk is going to say.
Yoongi saw them too .

“How many were there?” Taehyung asks.

Jeongguk shrugs, not seeming surprised that Taehyung knows about them already. “Quite a few I
think.”
Taehyung's laugh sounds like a sob, his throat raw from screaming. “So that’s what spurred this on?
A couple photographs kicked your jealous kink into full gear?”

“Tae -” Jeongguk starts, warning in his tone but Taehyung holds his hand up to quiet him.

“Just get out of the car, Jeongguk.”

The elevator ride is awkward with the anger steaming from Taehyung and filling the small shaft. He
should have gone somewhere else, but he doesn’t have anywhere to go. He wishes Jeongguk had
told him that Yoongi was here, but at the same time, he still wouldn’t have had anywhere else to go.
Jeongguk wouldn’t have left him by the sea no matter how hard he begged.

And as angry as he is, he can’t deny that he feels safe with Jeongguk. His stupid heart wants to be
both as far away and as close as possible to the other man.

The first thing Taehyung notices upon entering the penthouse is that it is a disaster, pillows and toys
thrown across the living room, empty bottles lingering around. Jeongguk cusses quietly behind him,
head hanging.

The second thing is the man lying on the carpet. Yoongi’s sprawled on the floor as they enter,
singing along to the music that plays quietly from Jeongguk’s surround sound. Close up, Taehyung
can see the tears staining his cheeks and he sighs.

“Up, hyung,” Taehyung coos as he lifts Yoongi’s head.

He’s the only person that Taehyung thought he could be comfortable around at the moment. He’s
never been much of a talker, at least not to Taehyung, and he’d let Taehyung cry in peace. But
seeing him like this makes Taehyung wonder if he’s wrong.

“I’m sorry,” Yoongi mumbles, his indecipherable as he half slurs and half chokes them out. “I didn’t
mean to look at them.”

Taehyung clicks his tongue softly. “Come on, you should get into a bed.”

“Leave me on the cold hard ground,” Yoongi sighs before he falls back onto Jeongguk’s very plush
carpet. “Let me sulk even though I have nothing worth sulking about compared to you and - and -”

Taehyung stands before the tears start again. He knows that Jeongguk will care for him, though
currently he’s leaning against the wall and watching them like he’s afraid to approach.

“Where are they?”

The pathway to Jeongguk’s bedroom feels different when he isn’t being carried there or stumbling
backward with his body glued to Jeongguk’s. He hates it, actually. He hates that his hard life just
gets worse with each passing day.

He knew never to believe in blessings and he wonders when exactly he forgot that.

“I had hyung put them in my safe, just in case.”

Taehyung sits himself on the edge of the bed as Jeongguk walks into his closet. He moves
awkwardly, a look Taehyung thinks he hates.

“Are you going to explain to me what all that cock warmer stuff was about back there?” Jeongguk
asks, his tense voice filtering out from the closet. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way.”
You didn’t. Taehyung remains quiet.

Jeongguk emerges with a manila envelope in hand and an expectant look on his face. When he
realizes that Taehyung isn’t going to speak, he sighs. He looks exhausted and Taehyung knows
Jeongguk barely slept the night before because he didn’t either.

“I wasn’t jealous, I was pissed off,” Jeongguk explains as he hands Taehyung the envelope.
“They’re private and could hurt you. You look scared in them. I’t isn't jealousy. I want to break
every person that made you look like that.”

Taehyung takes the envelope and sets in his lap. It feels heavy, like there are thousands of photos
inside. It feels almost as heavy as his chest.

“I heard you own the club. That Jeon Tobacco supplies B with a lot of money.”

“It does,” Jeongguk says softly and without hesitation. The admission makes Taehyung’s heart feel
like it’s being juiced for every last drop of pain inside of it. “But that’s my father’s doing, not mine. I
didn't - and don't know anything about it.”

Taehyung can’t look at Jeongguk so he stares in his lap. He wonders how much of what else Hanbin
had said is true. He feels confused, disoriented, and just plain upset.

“Is that why you’re angry with me?”

Taehyung shakes his head, his eyes starting to blur again as he tries to focus on opening the package
and not Jeongguk’s face. “You weren’t supposed to break my trust. I needed you not to break it.”

Jeongguk remains quiet as Taehyung pulls the stack from the manila envelope. He watches the drops
of tears slide over the glossy coating over the photos, annoyed that there are even enough tears inside
of him left to be cried out.

They’re more or less the same, except the one of Taehyung tied with rope. He hates that he doesn’t
remember it, or who’s behind the camera taking it - because then he’d know who it was.

That year had been a rough year. He lost a lot of his will to keep going, even though nothing really
happened to cause it. He just felt exhausted, a lot like how he is feeling now. It would have
continued if it weren’t for Jimin taking over control of his clients and Jin finally finding a good
therapist for Woojin.

He could laugh. Jeongguk saved him back then before he even knew him.

“Taehyung, I’m sorry.”

Taehyung hesitates over the picture of Woojin, a bright smile on his face as he looks up at Taehyung.
He doesn’t remember when this was either, though he tries hard to remember every time Woojin
smiles at him. He holds the photo up for Jeongguk, finally getting the strength to look at him.

He’s surprised to see Jeongguk’s eyes just as watery as his own and it makes him mad. Jeongguk has
no right to be upset.

“They wanted him,” Taehyung says, voice thrumming with anger. He doesn’t want to let it go again,
he’s starting to feel too much like his stepfather. He needs Jeongguk to understand, he desperately
needs Jeongguk to understand how much he’s hurt him by buying him. “Not me. None of this was
supposed to be me. It was Woojin who was supposed to pay the debt, not me.”
Jeongguk’s brows push together in confusion but Taehyung doesn’t have the energy to explain. “Tae
-”

“I couldn’t let that happen,” Taehyung says, the picture shaking and bending from how tightly he
holds onto it. “He was supposed to be safe. I went through all this to keep him safe, and none of it
worked.”

Jeongguk reaches for him but he flinches back so violently that his head aches from it.

“Now I owe another man a debt for him,” Taehyung says, flinging the photograph at Jeongguk.

“I’m not going to -”

“I don’t know that!” Taehyung screams, lifting himself from the bed. His chest hurts from how quick
and rough the words are ripped from his body. “There’s nothing you can do to convince me that
years from now you won’t come back with your hand out! It’s happened every time, Jeongguk. Like
now. He promised to take me instead of my brother and seven years later, I find out that’s not true.”

He doesn’t know if Chung-Hoon wants Woojin or if Bobby’s just threatening Jimin, but he doesn’t
care. Bobby told him that he was paid off, Chung-Hoon would never be a worry.

“I shouldn't have had hope!”

Jeongguk doesn’t flinch when Taehyung swings, his fist colliding with the hard of Jeongguk’s chest.
He doesn’t stop and Jeongguk doesn’t stop him, only lets him bang his fists against his chest until his
body feels too heavy to keep going.

With gentle fingers, Jeongguk pulls Taehyung’s fists from his chest and holds them in his hands. He
kisses his knuckles and Taehyung huffs out a grunt, wishing Jeongguk would just leave him be.

“I’ll have a contract written up,” Jeongguk mumbles against his knuckles, his tone patient and soft.
“I’ll make it clear that no repayment is required, will that make you feel better?”

Taehyung can’t even think about a contract, his body feels too heavy and his neck is starting to hurt.
“I just want to go to bed, Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk hums as he drops Taehyung’s hands, but he looks distraught watching him cry. “Help
yourself to anything you need. Do you - you don’t want me to stay?”

Taehyung does want him to stay but he shakes his head, wiping at his puffy eyes. It’s ridiculous
because they’re standing in Jeongguk’s bedroom, but Jeongguk nods in acceptance.

“Stay as long as you like, Tae, but only if you want to. I’m gonna get hyung into bed.”

Jimin stands outside the apartment door, glaring at the number in front of him. He had left the club
after Taehyung had stormed out, unable to face Bobby. He went to the sea, walked around the shore
for a while and dug his toes into the sand but it wasn’t enough to truly calm him down. He still is
nervous to face Bobby, afraid he’ll let anger get the best of him and Bobby will snap.

He truly believed that Bobby wouldn’t hold his threats, but he doesn’t know why else there would
be pictures of Woojin.

He unlocks the door when he feels like he’s caught his breath enough to face him. He can’t be the
way he used to be, he has to earn his standing again. Business partners. Jimin could laugh. He feels
more owned that he had before.

It isn’t surprising that Hanbin is the first thing he sees, but it’s annoying. He’s tired and drained and
he wants Taehyung.

Taehyung looked at him with hate in his eyes while he broke down and Jimin doesn’t have the guts
to find him. He can’t be looked at like that again, not by Taehyung.

“Hey, Doll,” Hanbin hums, a grin on his lips. “Bobby’s a bit busy at the moment.”

Jimin grits his teeth and keeps his eyes downcast. He can’t tell what kind of mood Hanbin is, but
since he just lost Taehyung for good, he’s assuming not a good one.

“Where is he?”

“In his office,” Hanbin says as he approaches. “On the phone with Chan. Owns those clubs that
Bobby has been trying to get his hands on?”

Jimin pulls back a little as Hanbin touches him, but he doesn’t swat his hand away when he feels
Hanbin’s knuckles graze his cheek. “Why? It’s like three in the morning.”

Hanbin shrugs, eyes gleaming. He knows, and the mischief in Hanbin’s expression makes Jimin’s
stomach drop. It can’t be good if he’s amused by it and petting Jimin’s cheek like he does before his
touch becomes painful.

“Just tell me,” Jimin says lowly, “or I’m breaking down the door and figuring it out myself.”

Hanbin narrows his eyes as he pinches Jimin’s cheek roughly, making Jimin squeak and shove his
hands into his chest. “B’s just come into a nice sum of money. Can finally afford the amount Chan
asked for.”

Realization dawns upon Jimin and he pushes away from Hanbin quickly. He doesn’t care about
Bobby being on the phone as he yanks open the office door. Bobby doesn’t look at him as he talks
on the phone, his legs up on the desk table. There’s an aura of calm around him and Jimin feels
desperate to shatter it to the point that Bobby never feels calm again.

“I have to go Chanwoo-ssi. Good doing business with you.”

“That money is for Chung-Hoon,” Jimin blurts before Bobby can hang up. “Jeongguk’s money is for
Taehyung’s debt.”

Bobby’s face is blank as he pulls his legs down and stands. “I told you I wasn’t paying off the debt,
Jimin.”

“As business partners, don’t you think you should discuss big purchases like this with me before you
make them?” Jimin asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he feels himself start to panic.

“I’m not in the mood, Jimin. Please get out of my office.”

“If something happens to Woojin, I will kill you,” Jimin seethes, his voice steadier than he thought it
would be. Bobby stares at him hard. “I will be the one to end your life and it will be my face that you
see last. The last thing you see before you die will be how much I hate you.”

Jimin turns on his heel before he storms out. He makes sure to slam his bedroom door shut before he
locks it. He has a hidden cell phone somewhere, one that he never really needed but just in case. He
digs around for it, ignoring the knocking at his door when he finds it.

He scrolls through his phone, ignoring the rock in his gut as he slips into his closet and locks that
behind him. Jimin's never had to share the code to his door, but he knows Bobby will figure it out if
he thinks hard enough.

He’s never told Bobby that he hates him because he never has. But it feels accurate. Jimin doesn’t
regret the words, he knows that they hurt Bobby and he wants to hurt Bobby until he’s begging for
mercy.

“Kitty speaking. Would you care to explain why you’re calling at three in the morning?”

Jimin’s heart slams against his sternum at the familiar voice. He can’t speak. He feels like cotton has
been shoved down his throat. It’s been a long time since he’s heard her voice. It brings a warmth to
his chest that sizzles out too quickly.

It’s been a long time since he’s felt her warmth but he searches for it too often.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Jimin squeaks out quiet, his face hot and starting to bud with sweat. “It's me.”

The line goes quiet for a long time, so long that Jimin is afraid that she’s hung up. Bobby’s made it
into his room, he can hear him walking around and Jimin holds tight onto the doorknob of his closet.

“Jimin? Are you okay?”

Jimin’s knees buckle underneath him. “I need your help. I’m okay. I just...need your help.”

“Jimin -”

The tone is no longer soft, but one of warning. A quick reminder that her softness faded a long time
ago, just as quickly as it has now. At least, her softness faded for him a long time ago. Even after
being cold towards him, she held babies like they could crumble right there in her hands. She stroked
Chung-Hoon’s cheeks like she was trying to paint love over his skin with the tips of her fingers.

Fuck, Jimin doesn’t know what he did wrong to lose that from her but he can’t focus on that now,
not while he’s crumbling.

“You owe me,” Jimin huffs before she can continue. “I wouldn’t need your help if it wasn’t for
you.”

He presses his forehead to the door, breathing out shakily. He can no longer hear Bobby on the other
side but he knows he’s there. This will hurt him more than anything. It will hurt Jimin too, but he’ll
find peace in Bobby’s pain.

“What is it?” Kitty asks. It’s a good name for her. She purrs like a kitten when she wants something
but she’s all claws and hissing when things don’t go her way.

Jimin can’t find his voice as he closes his eyes, trying to strum up enough courage to speak. The tears
make his eyes feel heavy and they slip over his cheeks when he finally manages to get his words out,
though they sound weak and afraid.

Kitty stays quiet while he speaks, explaining quickly what he wants before he loses his nerve. Fear
 snakes its way through him but he needs to be tough, he needs to do this for Woojin.

No one protected him when he was little and there were too many nights that he prayed for someone
to do so. The boy already goes through so much even though he has three siblings that flood him
with love and protection.

“Chung's retired,” Kitty explains quietly. “Well, he still owns the club and profits of course. But
someone else turns the tricks, baby.”

Jimin sighs, sinking to the ground with his back pressed tightly against the door so he can curl an arm
around his knees.

“Please try. The debt is owed to Chung. It’s Bobby’s debt. It’s Tae’s debt.”

Kitty makes a sigh of understanding. “I’ll speak to him, but the boy is very important to him. The
amount of money you could earn him might not be enough, though I know the new boss will be very
happy to have you. She's been trying to find you.”

Jimin’s neck prickles at this. He knows a lot of Seoul’s biggest street leaders. He’s snuck his way
into their pants many times to knock them down a notch for Bobby. It never bothered him at the
time, but if they’d be happy to have him, it could be for less enjoyable reasons.

“Who is it?”

Kitty laughs without amusement. “It’s me, of course. You know Chung trusts me more than anyone
else. Aren’t you proud of your Eomma, Jimin-ah?”

Chapter End Notes

Pieces of the past are going to start unfolding over the next few chapters and hopefully
things mentioned before will start to make sense! Destiny is important, remember that ;)

I made a yoonmin moodboard for this today if you'd like to check it out!

And I always love your feedback and I'm always desperate for more ;) Or just come talk
to me about anything from bts to ships to life whatever!

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 Chapter 14
Chapter Notes

This is quite a short chapter, I apologize about that, but I don't want to put too much in
one chapter and it be overwhelming with information and backstory. This chapter
deserves the hurt/comfort tag

Also, there's a warning for talk about child abuse - nothing descriptive, but it's talked
about in the second scene so please take care with reading.

Thanks again to Zainab for always having my back and making me realize i've always
been using whose wrong kdjfa;lkjda

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Work has been nearly impossible. He hasn’t been able to write a single line or come up with a beat
he likes. Donghyuk keeps bothering him, coming to his studio to work and running away when
Yoongi snaps at him.

He can’t help it. He thinks he needs a break, a getaway. He needs his mother more than anything.
It’s been some time since he’s last seen her, years really. They talk often, but he hasn’t returned home
to Daegu since college. There’s no reason, he just...hasn’t.

With an approaching come back though, Yoongi will be lucky if he can even go to his home here in
Busan. He’s used to it being empty after work with Hoseok working late into the night, but now that
Hoseok has moved out, it feels more empty than before.

As much as he misses Hoseok and wishes Hoseok would explain his sudden leave, his answer had
been enough for Yoongi to be okay with it.

I’m taking care of your heart, hyung. That’s all you need to know.

There’s a knock on his studio door that has Yoongi closing out of the program with a huff of
annoyance. He wasn’t accomplishing anything anyway, but he thinks he’d be able to get something
done if Donghyuk stopped bothering him all the time.

(Its unfair, he knows. Dedication is good; it’s why they’re both here, but Yoongi's exhausted and
irritable lately.)

“Ya, what do you want?”

It isn’t Donghyuk that steps into his studio, but Hanbin. At the company, Hanbin wears striped suits
with red ties and his hair gelled back to make him look like a real pompous ass. It’s still strange to
see. Yoongi’s used to his leather jackets and hoodies and the snapbacks that would make his ears
stick out funny.

They knew each other the least growing up. He wasn’t allowed at Yunbok’s whenever Jeongguk
went, though Yoongi never minded. Jun-ki would spend time with him while Jeongguk was gone
and Yoongi always knew it wasn’t him deciding that the servant boy had to stay behind.

“A bit rude hyung,” Hanbin says. There is no smile on his lips as he approaches, though his chin is
tilted in an attempt to demand attention. Yoongi is too tired to deal with him today.

He leaves him alone for the most part, though there have been times in the past that Hanbin has
unloaded an ungodly amount of work onto him. He’s always assumed it was because of Bobby’s lie
that he and Taehyung were together.

Finding the words to tell Jeongguk about what Hanbin's done to Taehyung has been difficult. With
Taehyung away from them, Yoongi is isn't in a rush to tell him either but Jeongguk will be pissed if
he finds out Yoongi knew and didn't say anything.

But Jeongguk’s been reckless lately. He has good intentions, but Yoongi’s trying to get his own shit
together for the sake of helping Jeongguk with his. Jeongguk doesn’t think when it comes to
Taehyung and he doesn’t want to imagine what Jeongguk will do when he finds out.

“I apologize. I’m a bit tired.”

Hanbin grunts as he perches his ass onto Yoongi’s desk, showing no concern for the expensive
equipment beneath him.

“I’m letting you go.”

Yoongi raises a brow. There’s no lead up, no hesitation in the way he speaks, not even a hint of
guilt. “What?”

There’s also no remorse in Hanbin’s eyes. Actually, he looks a little pleased with himself as he
crosses his arms before his chest. Sitting on the desk makes sense now - he’s above Yoongi, looking
down on him.

“The other company heads and I have decided that you’re no longer fit for this company. We’re
firing you.”

Yoongi snorts out a laugh as he leans back in his chair. “You and Bobby, you mean.”

Hanbin doesn’t react nor respond. He only looks down at Yoongi smugly. Yoongi already knows
what he’s thinking. He’d been struggling to get noticed for some time and Hanbin had a hand in
getting him there, now he’s taking it away.

But Yoongi couldn’t care less. It’s been bothering him that he’s filling Hanbin and Bobby’s pockets.
Every time he thinks of Hanbin possibly putting his hands on Jimin, he wants to break his face.
Every time Bobby’s name is even mentioned, Yoongi feels like he could go on a murder spree.

“Okay.”

Hanbin startles at this, the pleased look finally slipping from his face. “Okay?”

Yoongi nods as he lifts himself from his chair and collects the notebooks filled with failed song lyrics
into his arms. “Yeah. I’ll clean up my stuff now. I’m taking the equipment I bought myself though.”

Hanbin stands after him as Yoongi starts pulling his things together in a box hidden in the closet that
he never threw away. His collectibles, his photos, smaller pieces of equipment.

“You’re not going to ask why?”

“No,” Yoongi huffs out as he plops the box on an empty desk. “You and B won’t be successful
long. You act like children; you do things not based on sense but as petty acts of revenge. I rather not
work for a company that is destined to fail.”

There’s a spark of anger in Hanbin’s eyes. “We won’t fail without you.”

Yoongi lifts the box with effort. “Ah, Hanbin-ssi. I said you would be your own failure. It has
nothing to do with me. You might want to get your ears checked; those are important in the music
industry.”

The confidence that had been holding tight to him while he left work leaves the moment he’s in the
familiar hallway leading to his apartment. He rests his forehead against his door for a moment,
dropping the box of his stuff from work so it clangs loudly on the ground.

He’s saved up enough money to be okay with bills though he already is planning on downsizing
now that Hoseok is gone. His name has gotten out there enough, he’s produced two top hits; he
knows he won’t be jobless long.

But he’s feeling kind of breathless. He doesn’t care about losing his job, but being jobless only adds
to his already miserable feeling life. He’s lost a lot in a small slot of time.

Yoongi frowns when he pushes open his front door and kicks the box in to see the lights on. He can
hear the distant buzz of the television and he heads towards it. He doesn’t realize that Strawberry
isn’t running by his feet as soon as he enters until he spots the kitten.

His heart lurches into his throat at the sudden sight of Jimin. He’s curled up with his knees towards
his chest and the cat tucked between his chest and legs. His head is bent as he makes soft cooing
noises.

Jimin looks awful. His hair is matted at the top and there are bags bruised under his eyes. The clothes
he wears are Yoongi’s, a shirt that Jimin must have dug out from the deep of his closet and a pair of
joggers that Jimin bought for him back in their college days.

“Hey.”

Jimin’s head snaps up at the sound of Yoongi’s voice. He’s pressed into the pillows of Yoongi’s bed,
the television ignored. There are bowls of food half eaten on the nightstand and a carton of ice cream
that weeps onto the wood beneath it.

“Hey, hyung,” Jimin whispers, voice croaking as he nuzzles his chin over the cat’s head. “I hope you
don’t mind that I’m here.”

“Of course not,” Yoongi mumbles as he pads in and strips his jacket off. He has questions, worries
about why Jimin looks so ruined, but he doesn’t know if he can handle a fight right now. “You’re
always welcomed here.”

Jimin smiles softly as he stretches his legs out to carefully place Strawberry beside him. “I want to
spend the night here.”

Yoongi hesitates where he’s unbuttoning his shirt, glancing at him. He can’t help the huff of laughter
that leaves his lips.

He’d give Jimin the world even if he beat him to the ground first. He doesn’t think it’s right to Jimin
to expect it though.

“Jimin -”

“I didn’t choose him.”

His attempts at taking off the uncomfortable work shirt stops as Yoongi stares at Jimin. He’s
worrying at his bottom lip, body curling in the way he does when he’s trying to make himself
smaller.

“I didn’t choose him,” Jimin repeats, eyes watering, “I - I wasn’t given a choice at all.”

Yoongi crosses the carpet to sit on the edge of the bed, close enough to Jimin that he can press his
toes into Yoongi’s hip.

“Babe, what happened?” Yoongi coos softly, reaching out to brush back his greasy bangs. He hasn’t
cleaned himself. It makes Yoongi sick with worry. He used to always joke that you’d know if Jimin
were replaced by a clone if he didn’t shower at least twice a day. “What did he do to you?”

Jimin sniffles as he shakes his head and rests it against his knees as Strawberry goes off running. “He
didn’t do anything. I did it.”

Yoongi frowns. He cups his palm over Jimin’s cheek, thumb stroking out to catch the tears that are
threatening to spill. He’s never seen Jimin look this broken before and it’s tearing him apart. “Tell me
what’s going on.”

Jimin moves instead, pushing on his knees before he’s sinking in front of Yoongi with his hands
cupping Yoongi’s cheeks. Yoongi’s a puppet to Jimin, molding into the touch with ease. He curls his
fingers around Jimin’s wrists, clinging onto them as Jimin’s lips press down against his.

The touch of their mouths has a soft sob pulling from Jimin’s but he keeps on kissing Yoongi until
there are tears splattering against Yoongi’s cheeks and soft sobs rolling over his tongue. Yoongi
wants to pull away, but he lets Jimin kiss him until he’s ready.

He’s breathing heavily by the time Jimin pulls away, just far enough to rest their heads together as he
squeezes their eyes closed.

“I’m leaving.”

Yoongi hesitates at the words whispered so quietly that he can’t be sure he’s actually heard them.

“I’m getting away from Bobby. I’m not his anymore.”

“What?”

Jimin huffs out as he pulls back, his hands clinging to Yoongi’s as he settles them in his lap. He hates
the puffy red of Jimin's eyes. He wishes he could suck ever tear out of Jimin’s body so he never has
to shed another one.

“Jeongguk gave Bobby the money for Taehyung’s debt. The entire thing. He was supposed to give it
to - to Chung-Hoon.”

Yoongi nods. Jeongguk had told him as much. He woke up the next day in Jeongguk’s guest room
with the worst hangover in his life and walked into a kitchen filled with so much tension that it made
Yoongi’s head hurt worse.
“If he pays it off, Chung-Hoon can’t come after Tae or - or Woojin. Bobby said if I didn’t return to
him, he’d make sure Chung got Woojin.”

A chill rushes down Yoongi’s spine, his heart aching as Jimin presses his eyes closed and weeps
softly. He thought he felt murderous before, but it’s nothing like the anger building inside of him
now. He thinks of the pictures of Woojin, smiling so happily up at his hyung as they walked.

Bobby used that against Jimin: a ten year old boy. Yoongi wants to kill him.

“I’m sorry,” Jimin whispers and Yoongi is quick to shake his head, shushing him but Jimin doesn’t
listen. “I didn’t want to tell you, I should have. I’ll choose you every time hyung, you know that.”

Yoongi doesn't respond but collects Jimin into his arms, kneeling over the bed until he can wrap his
arms around Jimin’s shaking frame and hold him into his chest. “Don’t apologize, Jimin-ah. I
understand. Please don’t be upset.”

Jimin clutches weakly at Yoongi’s chest. “He - he still won’t pay the debt. Even with Jeongguk’s
money.”

With his feet pressing in to the bed, Yoongi rocks Jimin gently. It is one of the few things Jimin has
told him about his mother - the way she used to rock him. It had been one drunken night that he
whispered into Yoongi's ear that he missed the way it comforted him.

“So I called him.”

“Who?”

“Chung-Hoon.”

Dread rips through Yoongi and he presses his face into Jimin’s hair, not wanting him to continue. He
squeezes Jimin so hard that he’s stretching in his arms just to breathe.

“He’s agreed to leave Woojin alone if I come with him,” Jimin whispers. “Taehyung too.”

“Jimin, no.”

Yoongi doesn’t know much about Chung-Hoon, but he knows the story of how Jimin met
Taehyung. He knows how upset Jimin had been when he was trying to buy him - though at the time
he had no idea what was going on. Jimin had lied and said he had a friend that was hurt, but he
admitted to the truth a few years later.

“Yoongi -”

“You can have my entire savings.”

Jimin wipes at his eyes but it does little to stop the tears streaming from them as he pulls back.
Yoongi’s afraid to let him go, clinging onto his arms. “I’ve already made the deal. But it’s okay, I’ll
be fine. Chung-Hoon has a soft spot for my Eomma.”

Yoongi almost spits but he chokes on it instead. “What?”

Jimin bends forward, burying his face in his hands. Yoongi brushes his fingers through his hair,
wanting for Jimin to continue but patient enough to let Jimin take his time.

The longer Jimin takes to explain maybe the longer he’ll stay around, giving Yoongi enough time to
figure out a way to run away until they find some place for him to hide.
“She works for him,” Jimin murmurs, his face crunching up like each word is painful to say. “He's
owned me since birth. She introduced me to Taehyung because I was in charge of training, but I took
him away instead. I think she might have known I would.”

Yoongi stays quiet as he listens. Jimin never speaks of his mother and his want for Jimin to get it all
off of his chest is more important to him than his curiosity.

“She sold me to the big drug lords when she wanted to get high,” Jimin whispers, still hunched
forward and Yoongi doesn’t know if he should hold him or give him his space. “I had a lot of
experience on how to please men from a young age. She used to pimp me out to these old men who
Chung-Hoon wanted to please.

“Bobby bought me when I was sixteen. Before I met you, hyung. It was a good thing at the time. I
continued to work for Chung-Hoon under the disguise I was loyal to him but really I was trying to
steal his customers for Bobby. It was easy; everyone wanted me. They didn't care about who they
were paying.”

The tears have slowed but Jimin won’t look him in the eye. He fiddles with the sleeves of the shirt he
wears before Yoongi slides their hands together to intertwine their fingers.

Sixteen, and even before that. Yoongi feels sick.

“He wanted quite a lot for Tae. I don’t think that’s how much Taehyung really owed him, I think he
was considering the money he’d lose too. I didn’t know he still owed him.”

Jimin presses up on his knees then to climb off of the bed. Yoongi follows after him, his hands out
like a reminder that Jimin can hold onto them at any time.

“I can’t let them go near him, Yoongi. He’s a boy, he’s a broken boy. I can’t let them touch him.”

“Shh,” Yoongi hums as he reaches for Jimin, fearful he’s going to turn frantic again. He wraps his
arms back around him, tugging Jimin to his chest despite his shake of the head like he doesn’t want
him to. “Shh, Chimmy, it’s okay.”

The anger dissipated after a few days just to mold into frustration. Taehyung isn’t sure which is
worse.

He’s waiting for Jeongguk to tell him what he wants, but Jeongguk barely talks to him. He isn’t rude
or ignoring him, but he leaves him be most of the time.

It’s frustrating. No one drops a couple billion won on someone and doesn’t expect anything in return.
Experience has taught him this. Even for someone as rich as Jeongguk, it isn’t pocket change.

Taehyung is also restless. He is nervous to return home but Jeongguk’s apartment is too big and too
empty. Seokmin has been instructed to take him wherever he wants to go, but he doesn’t have
anywhere he can.

He wishes he truly did have a bucket list. But he’s never had this much free time on his hands. He’s
picked up two extra days at the clinic and had reached out to one of his old, not so bad clients just to
start saving in case Jeongguk comes to him with his hand out.

The club isn’t something he misses but it feels… odd not being allowed in. He’s tried. Once to see
Jimin who hasn’t answered any of his phone calls and another time to get his job back. It’s quick,
easy money, and Taehyung needs to start paying off the debt over his head.

(He’s also a little heart broken and missing the soft way Jeongguk used to touch him but he refuses to
admit it because he hates how he feels now, knowing he shouldn’t ever fall for a client. So it won’t
be added to the list of why he’s having a horrible week.)

“Taehyung?”

Taehyung jumps from where he’s sulking in front of the mirror, attempting to do his makeup but he
isn’t feeling it. Jeongguk rarely looks for him to speak lately, not saying much other than a quick,
polite greeting when they walk by each other.

His next plan of attack is seduction. Everyone cracks under that and Jeongguk is a good lover. At
least he’ll be able to feel like he’s paying Jeongguk back and maybe he’ll enjoy it.

“Sorry, just needed the closet,” Jeongguk mumbles as he heads towards it.

Taehyung’s definitely not thinking seduction because Jeongguk is padding into his room with
nothing but an undershirt and tight briefs on, revealing the muscle in his butt and the strong thighs
that are bare and shining in all their glory.

He’s definitely not thinking about the fact that Jeongguk has let Taehyung take over his bedroom
and acts like it now belongs to Taehyung.

They haven’t talked about it and they probably won’t. He feels bad when he catches Jeongguk
sleeping on the couch, but the man has plenty of beds that he could be sleeping on instead.

“Don’t apologize; it’s your room.”

Jeongguk only grunts in response before he’s disappearing into the closet. Taehyung watches him
go, chewing on his bottom lip as he tries to figure out what to say.

He wants to break the tension but he doesn’t want to forgive Jeongguk, even if he's gone from angry
to accepting that he has no control in this. His mother’s voice is in the back of his mind, telling him to
be grateful, but he’s struggling.

Being grateful means accepting the idea that he’s truly free but if that were to change - if Jeongguk
proved to be like the rest, it would kill him. Actually kill him. He doesn’t know how much he’ll be
able to take. He just wants Jeongguk to prove him right before any hope inside of him starts to build.

“I’m going to take Seokmin for about an hour,” Jeongguk says as he pads back into the open room,
his pants now on and arms sliding through a crisp dress shirt. “After that he’s all yours.”

Taehyung fidgets with the shirt he wears, hanging off his shoulders and falling down low to the top
of his thighs. He wonders if Jeongguk will recognize it as his own.

“I don’t have anything to do until tonight.”

Jeongguk accepts this with a nod and Taehyung wants to groan, wishing Jeongguk would pry a
little.

“I have a client.”

If Taehyung hadn’t been staring at Jeongguk so hard, he would have missed the way he tensed up
and his fingers froze their attempts at buttoning. It only lasts a second before Jeongguk resumes the
buttoning

“Will you be safe?”

Taehyung considers telling him no, wondering if Jeongguk would force him to to stay here, but he
nods instead. “Two strokes and he nuts. Pretty vanilla, pays well.”

It’s awkward. It’s so fucking awkward and he hates it.

“Please call me if you need me,” Jeongguk says as he pads over and for a moment, Taehyung thinks
he’s going to reach out and touch him. “I’ll be out so, if it - if they don’t treat you right or you need
anything, just call me.”

“Out?” Taehyung asks with a cock of his head, wanting to ignore the serious look in Jeongguk’s
eyes. It makes his heart flutter and he’s not in the mood to deal with the traitorous organ.

Jeongguk tilts his head to the side a few times, his eyes locked on Taehyung but not focused before
he speaks again. “Yeah, today’s going to be a bad day so I uh, figured I’d get a drink or two. If
you’re um, after, I’d like it if you could come.”

Taehyung feels like he’s shrinking into himself under Jeongguk’s gaze. He reaches out, unable to
keep himself from fixing the part of Jeongguk’s collar that sticks up.

He wonders why his heart and brain won’t agree. They’re both working towards the same goal;
keeping Taehyung alive and healthy. But it’s like a war zone inside of him instead.

“Who are you going with?”

Jeongguk takes a step closer when Taehyung’s knuckles brush over his neck, but his hands lay limp
by his sides.

“Probably hyung. He lost his job yesterday and I haven’t heard from him since.”

Taehyung is about to smooth his fingers over the goosebumps decorating Jeongguk’s neck when
Jeongguk reaches up to pull his hand away. It’s gentle and the feel of Jeongguk’s skin finally on his
own again has the fluttering in his heart flying down to his belly.

“Only if you want to join us,” Jeongguk murmurs as he lifts Taehyung’s wrist.

Air squeezes out of his lungs as Jeongguk nuzzles his nose against the vein of his inner wrist. His
inhale is soft but loud in the silence between them. It makes him feel too much, the spark of hope
making its way to his chest.

If he has to be owned by anyone, maybe he should be grateful they’re tender.

“Nothing beats a bad day like alcohol and mind blowing sex,” Taehyung breathes shakily,
attempting to go for a joke but it fails.

Jeongguk freezes, body tensing before he eases Taehyung’s hand away.

“That’s not -“ Jeongguk hesitates with a shake of his head. “Forget I said anything.”

Ice settles over Taehyung’s skin and wraps around his stuttering heart. The frustration builds and
Taehyung can’t stop himself from reaching back out to flatten his palm over Jeongguk’s chest.

“It’s okay if you want that,” Taehyung whispers, slipping his palm over the crisp shirt and waiting
for Jeongguk’s next move. He doesn’t move at all. “It’s what I’m here for.”

Jeongguk’s jaw tenses when Taehyung slips his thumb between the buttons of his shirt. He means to
pull Jeongguk closer but instead he just pops the button open as Jeongguk refuses to be pulled.

He doesn’t look angry, but sad. It radiates from his eyes and Taehyung can’t look because he’ll feel
it too.

“Tae,” Jeongguk whispers.

Taehyung jumps when Jeongguk’s hand is suddenly on his chin. He wonders, hopes that Jeongguk
is giving in but he only tilts his head back until their eyes meet.

“It’s not what you’re here for and if you feel that way just go. No one’s stopping you.”

It’s said softly and quietly and Taehyung isn’t sure if it sounds like Jeongguk doesn’t mean it or if he
just doesn’t want him to.

Taehyung won’t admit the reason he focuses on Jeongguk trapping him here is because he refuses to
accept the fact he feels safe and cared for under Jeongguk.

The truth makes him think too much and he doesn’t want to think about the fact that he’s the one that
doesn’t want to leave.

“Don’t feel ashamed of wanting it, Gukkie babe,” Taehyung murmurs as he leans his body close
enough that he can hold Jeongguk’s sides. It makes his breath hitch and his lips ache with want and
he can’t stop himself from watching Jeongguk’s mouth when he speaks.

“I don’t,” Jeongguk says, not clarifying whether he means he isn’t ashamed or if he doesn’t want
him.

The latter makes something hot and angry burn inside of Taehyung and it hurts . He doesn’t know
what he’s doing as he palms over Jeongguk’s body and presses them together.

The idea of Jeongguk not wanting him truly never occurred to him, the idea of their fight ruining
them for good has a panic growing inside of him that guides his movements like a puppet master.

“Just take what you want,” Taehyung breathes as he pops open another one of Jeongguk’s dress shirt
buttons. Jeongguk’s hands remain still by his side. “I’m used to it. Whatever you’re doing with me
has me on edge and I’m waiting for you to strike.”

Jeongguk finally moves, leaning forward until his lips brush Taehyung’s ear. “I told you. I don’t
want anything from you. I’m not taking anything either.”

Taehyung leans into Jeongguk but Jeongguk moves away so Taehyung never feels Jeongguk's lips
truly touch his skin.

“I’m telling you it’s okay. I’m giving myself to you.”

Jeongguk pulls back from Taehyung completely. He looks wrecked, chest falling quickly and the top
buttons of his shirt pulled open to reveal his reddened skin underneath. It travels up to his neck and
over his cheeks, drawing attention to the anger and hurt in his eyes.

It’s soft, not scary, but it hurts just as bad.

“If you’ve never wanted to be with me truly, that’s fine. I rather have that then you pretend because
you feel like you have to,” Jeongguk says as he’s walking backwards.

Jeongguk feels like death. Truly. He feels like he’s hungover with a bad case of pneumonia while
just finding out that his mother passed all over again. He feels like the biggest pile of miserable shit
out there.

He stares at the email on his computer, tapping hard at his chin to relieve the urge to smash his fist
into the screen. He can feel Jin’s eyes on him but he doesn’t acknowledge him. He feels like he’s
getting to the point where he may say something he doesn’t feel and he hates that.

I just want to meet him, J. While he’s here.

Jeongguk is going to break every computer that exists just to keep her from emailing him again.

“Jeongguk,” Jin says as he clears his throat. There’s concern on his face and a hesitation that is rarely
ever there.

“I’m not in the mood.”

It had been a shit week after the whole club incident. Being awkward and uncomfortable around
Taehyung has his heart shattering into pieces. The words Taehyung had yelled at him have been
floating around his mind so often that he finds it difficult to sleep.

There’s something painful and uncomfortable about the fact that Taehyung won’t leave. Being
around him, even like this, and having him protected, makes Jeongguk happy. Thinking that
Taehyung won’t leave because he feels like he can’t makes him sick.

It’s ten times worse than the pain of knowing that all this time Taehyung had been acting. That
doesn’t hurt too much, he’s not naive, his heart didn’t care about what Taehyung’s didn’t feel.

He left the house this morning, trembling as his body betrayed him with want for Taehyung and his
heart pulsed with love and sadness. He doesn’t know why Taehyung’s gone from hatred to avoiding
to pushing himself onto Jeongguk like that.

“I know, but you asked for this.”

Jeongguk looks back at Jin. After that, Jin dropped the bomb that he was moving and he’d appreciate
it if Jeongguk didn’t tell Taehyung. He doesn’t know if Jin knows that Taehyung no longer works
for Bobby and Jeongguk doesn’t know if it’s his place to tell him.

They haven’t talked about why Jin took the kids or why he’s moving without telling Taehyung, but
he thinks it has something to do with Woojin.

That’s been another thing eating away at Jeongguk. It took everything in him not to show how angry
he was when Taehyung told him that it was supposed to be Woojin and not him.

“Grace just asked me to see Ji-hu. Will it piss me off more or make me feel better? That’ll determine
if I want it now or later.”

Jin’s eyes go wide at this, his mouth falling open. He stays like that for a moment before he speaks.
“It can wait.”

Today couldn't get more shittier but the fucking email came. Ji-hu's mother requesting to see him.
At first he had just stared at it in confusion like his mind refused to accept what he was reading.

You don’t have to tell him who I am. I just want to see him.

Jeongguk doesn’t give a flying fuck what she wants truly.

“What are you going to do?”

Jeongguk shrugs but the urge is building and he releases it by flicking the pen he holds hard to the
side. It isn’t too effective, it just makes him frustrated.

“I have half the mind to fly to America right now and bring my son home. She doesn’t have the right
to think about him, let alone request to see him.”

It’s unfair. He hadn’t been angry when she left. Not as angry as he feels now. He was more afraid of
raising a child on his own and confused as to how she hadn't fallen in love with him the moment she
saw his face. His mother had told him some people just aren’t ready for children and some won’t
ever be. That’s okay, he knows it, he doesn’t know where all this anger inside of him is coming
from.

“Just take a breather,” Jin suggests carefully. “Focus on one problem at a time. You’ve been like this
all week, I know there’s other shit going on.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh. “That’s putting it lightly, hyung.”

Jin grins as he finally moves through the office to take the seat across from him, the tension gone.

The hate and pain in Taehyung’s eyes is what sticks to him the most. He sees it every time Taehyung
hesitates around him, just like Jin had been doing.

He hates it.

“Okay, focus on something mindless. I have some forms that need your signature and a couple more
nanny applications.”

Jeongguk groans. He doesn’t want to do that either. He wants to throw a tantrum or something but
he’s an adult and it’s frowned upon.

“No? We can talk about why nearly two billion won was deposited out of your account last week?”

Jeongguk falls back in his chair, glaring at the amused look on Jin’s face. It slips away quickly, Jin’s
brows knitting together as he pushes his lips out in a pout.

“I assumed it was a good thing,” Jin says apologetically. “It’s uh, more than Taehyung’s debt.”

Jeongguk taps his fingers on the table, his eyes focused on the movement as he contemplates what to
say.

“It was supposed to be a good thing.”

Jin hums in understanding. “It was for Tae then?”

He feels himself slipping into the trap of talking about his feelings. He hasn’t wanted to burden
Yoongi with his problems as his hyung is dealing with his own life crises. Jimin has been completely
unreachable and Hoseok is almost as difficult to get a hold of. He needs to talk about it but he knows
Taehyung won’t hear him.
He’ll hear whatever voice is in his head that tells him Jeongguk is a threat. He gets it though. He
doesn’t know what it feels like to be owned by other people, he doesn’t know what Taehyung’s
gone through.

“He told me I was the ‘proud new owner of my own personal whore’ or something,” Jeongguk
mumbles. That hadn’t even been the worse but Jin flinches. “I knew he’d be mad, but I wasn’t
expecting that much anger.”

Jin reaches over to grab Jeongguk’s hand. He hadn’t realized he had been digging his fingers so hard
into the table that his skin had started to turn white around his nails.

“He thinks I want to own him and use him,” Jeongguk huffs out. His throat feels tight but not as tight
as his chest. “I literally don’t want a single thing from him other than for him to do what he wants.”

Jin blinks a few times in contemplation before he speaks. “Tae has not been shown...kindness. Even
before all of this, uh, bullshit. He only knows what he’s experienced so that’s what he’s going to
see.”

Jeongguk accepts this with a nod. He understands it to an extent. They haven’t known each other
long but Jeongguk feels like they knew each other well enough for Taehyung to see that he isn’t like
that.

“He’s been staying at mine. I don’t know if he feels forced to stay or if he’s afraid to go home.”

Something dark and angry clouds Jin’s eyes as he pulls his touch away. It’s a strange look on the
man’s face. He’s rarely anything but smiles. Even when work is particularly stressful or he’s
complaining, there’s always a spark of amusement and mischief in his eyes.

“I know about Woojin,” Jeongguk supplies quietly, hesitantly. “Well, I know Tae’s worried he’s not
safe. I’m assuming that’s why you left with them.”

Jin nods but his lips are pressed tightly like he doesn’t want to say anything more but after a moment
they part. “I didn’t want to do that to Taehyung. Or the kids. But I know - I hope Tae will
understand. He got into this life to protect them and I’m just trying to do the same.”

Jeongguk stares back at the email taking up his screen. He doesn’t read it, just stares hard at the
formal way Grace had signed her name below. It’s a different last name in her email. She could have
married, had kids of her own - kids she was ready to have.

“Is it me protecting Ji-hu if I say no? Or is it me hurting him?” Jeongguk asks with a glance towards
Jin. If he weren’t angry and exhausted maybe he’d be able to see that she was being kind and even a
little hesitant.

“I’m protecting Woojin and Eunae but I have to listen to Woojin cry every night because he hasn’t
seen Tae,” Jin mutters with understanding in his eyes.

Jeongguk nods. It doesn’t really answer his question but he understands the advice. “Bring them
here. A, uh, family work day or whatever. I’ll bring Taehyung.”

For the first time that week, Jeongguk feels lighter - maybe even a little excited when Jin gives in and
agrees. He wants to run home and tell Taehyung now, force Jin to get the kids and them bring them
to work tonight.

“Thanks, hyung. Maybe I’ll get to see Taehyung smile again.”

Jeongguk didn’t realize how much that bothered him until the words slip from his lips.

When Jeongguk gets home, it’s only a few hours past dark. The shades are all drawn up, revealing
the stretch of city lights and a moon that is hard to see. The lights in the apartment are on, but they’re
dimmed to the lowest setting.

In front of the windows is Taehyung, back turned to him as he looks out across the city. His bare
toes wiggle against the glass, his head rocking back and forth to music Jeongguk hadn’t noticed until
now.

He doesn’t know what time Taehyung had an appointment but it seems a bit early for him to be
already home, clad in Jeongguk’s clothes and halfway through the bottle of wine that sits on the table
in front of the couch. The sight always does something to his belly, twisting it until it pops into his
chest to say hello to his heart.

Taehyung slips a foot up the window as he sips at the glass that had been resting beside him; the
color a deep red. His bare leg is soft and smooth looking, his ankle and the bones in his feet so
delicate they look as if they would snap just from under his gaze.

Jeongguk clears his throat after a moment of ogling. He didn’t really feel in the mood to get a drink
like he thought he would so he stayed late at the office instead, staring at that god damn email. He
called his father, he called Yoongi, but neither could tell him exactly what he should do.

At the sound, Taehyung jerks. His foot slips from the glass to land to the carpet and the red liquid
sloshes against the sides of the glass from its movements.

He’s surprised to see the glasses perched on Taehyung’s nose and the way his hair is flat over his
forehead and trying to touch his eyes. He frowns at Jeongguk before he turns back to look at the city.

“I thought you were going out?”

Jeongguk pulls his tie loose as he leans against the wall. “Got stuck at the office.”

Taehyung doesn’t respond as he inches his foot back up the glass. It isn’t awkward, Jeongguk is too
tired to feel awkward. The calm in the air mixed with the dimmed lights just makes Jeongguk feel
heavy.

“How was, uh, work?” Jeongguk asks.

Taehyung lifts a shoulder into a shrug. Jeongguk sighs, pushing from the wall to approach him.

He had said he’s on edge, waiting for Jeongguk to strike. Being quiet and avoidant isn’t going to
prove to Taehyung that he doesn’t have any bad motives but he can’t help but be nervous as he takes
a seat beside him.

“It’s pretty, right?”

Taehyung glances at him before he rolls his head to his shoulder. Jeongguk joins him with his foot
on the glass, his socked toes sliding beside Taehyung’s bare ones.

“I hate the city.”

Jeongguk leans back on his hands, bending back some so Taehyung doesn’t realize he can’t look at
the city when Taehyung is right there, making it look ugly in comparison.

“I used to hate the city, at least. It’s pretty, but I feel trapped. I hate feeling trapped.”

His lips pout after he says this, his nose wrinkling under the arch of his glasses. He looks softer than
he ever has before with the way the shirt hangs off his shoulders and bunches around his hips.

Promising not to touch Taehyung had been a promise that Jeongguk is struggling to keep. Not just
something sexual, but to brush the bangs from his hair or rub at his lips until his frown disappears.
He’s content with the space between them though he also wishes to slide an arm over Taehyung’s
waist and pull him close until the only thing he can smell is the scent of Taehyung’s skin.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” Jeongguk asks. Please stay . “Any family?”

When Taehyung turns, there’s no amusement in his eyes but a grin tugs at his lips. “No, not really. I
have a father somewhere but the bastard dipped when I was a baby. There’s Jin’s parents but they’ve
hated me ever since I abandoned Jin with my kids and ruined his life.”

Jeongguk frowns at this. “You didn’t really have a choice.”

Taehyung shrugs again before he pulls his legs back to fold them criss-crossed. “They don’t know
that.”

There’s a moment of silence that follows as Jeongguk adjusts to the same position Taehyung is in.
He smiles when Taehyung does, savoring the easiness in the air that has found its way back to them.

He hopes so at least.

“You aren’t curious as to why I didn’t mention a mother?”

Jeongguk mimics Taehyung’s careless shrug but he bites his lip in guilt. Taehyung’s eyes are curious
for a moment before they soften in understanding.

“You knew.”

It isn’t a question but a statement. Jeongguk can’t lie so he doesn’t. He doesn’t know what to do
when Taehyung moves closer until their knees knock together.

“Jin told me once, before I knew you,” Jeongguk explains quietly. “I’m sorry Taehyung.”

Taehyung reaches over to take Jeongguk’s hand into his own, turning it so his palm faces up.
“Before she died she gave me a number to call if I ever needed help. I forgot about it. I wish I
remembered now.”

A shiver drags up Jeongguk’s spine from the feather light touch Taehyung traces over the lines of his
palm.

“You have me,” Jeongguk murmurs, keeping his eyes focused on their hands. “I know you don’t
believe me right now, but I’m not - I just want you happy and safe.”

Taehyung hums as he slides his fingers over Jeongguk’s, only stopping once his hand is fitted
completely over his. “Part of me believes you.”

Jeongguk doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until he lets it out. Taehyung’s fingers slide between
his but he doesn’t clasp down, he just holds their palms together loosely.
 “The other part is just terrified.”

He squeezes down then before he folds over, resting his head upon their clasped hands. Jeongguk
sighs before he reaches out to brush the bangs from Taehyung’s forehead. Jeongguk is afraid to see
him cry again but he doesn’t, he just lays there.

“I can’t promise you’ll never hurt,” Jeongguk says as he bends over to rest his forehead against
Taehyung’s cheek, “but I promise to do everything I can to make sure you don’t.”

They stay like that for a while, bent over with their cheeks pressed together until Taehyung’s
breathing signals he’s starting to fall asleep despite the uncomfortable position.

“Please stay with me tonight,” Taehyung whispers, eyes heavy as Jeongguk tries to maneuver them
into a standing position. He squeezes onto Jeongguk’s hand, refusing to let go.

Jeongguk’s heart does the same, tightening its hold around his love for Taehyung so tightly that it’s
hard to breathe.

“Of course.”

Chapter End Notes

Thank you so much for reading!! I can't wait for your feedback, I always look forward
to it.

I'm on twitter @taetungie and tumblr @softbubby

moodboards

I'm in the process of going through the earlier chapters and making sure I haven't
forgotten anything because after I started posting, I changed the direction of the story. I
also have about 40k of extra material in another document and I want to make sure I'm
not confusing those. Like the first scene with Jk and Tae here was originally paired with
a scene in the next chapter. I also wrote who introduced Tae and Jimin before, but I
can't find it anywhere lmao
 Chapter 15
Chapter Notes

Hi, hi, hi!! I want to thank you for 600 kudos so in the next couple of days I'm posting a
part for a new yoonminseok fic if anyone is interested. Please look out for it!!

Also, thank you so much for the feedback, you always make my life amazing. Please
enjoy this chapter as things start to come to a head. I'm not positive how long this will
be, but I currently have 19 chapters written and I'm thinking at LEAST 3 more after that
though to be honest this was only supposed to be like ten to begin with, so idk lol

See the end of the chapter for more notes

There isn’t as much tension between Jeongguk and Taehyung, but Taehyung still wishes he could
have the tender touches and the gentle kisses. He’s been deprived of it for so long that he misses it
now, more than ever.

But Jeongguk is relentless.

A night with an old client only made him miss Jeongguk’s touch, but the man is stubborn and
Taehyung’s constantly being forced into thinking maybe Jeongguk is genuine and it’s annoying.

Jeongguk won’t touch him at all, not when he drops into his raspy flirty voice that always makes
Jeongguk’s eyes a little darker. Not when he leans into his space, making his body seem inviting.
Even when Taehyung’s stripped of his clothes at the exact time Jeongguk always comes in to change
out of his work clothes.

Not that he does that on purpose, or anything. He just wants to know why Jeongguk gets flustered
by the sight of his bare body but still doesn’t fucking touch him.

They talk more although they don’t talk about why Taehyung is still crashing at his place or the fact
that he’s still taking on clients. They don’t talk about Jimin at all, who has been nearly impossible to
get a hold of. They don’t talk Taehyung joining Jeongguk for breakfast and planning his day around
making sure he’s home for dinner when Jeongguk is.

After realizing Jeongguk takes his coffee after his morning workout, Taehyung decides to join him
for that too.

Working out has never been his favorite thing, but it’s something Taehyung’s always had to do
regularly. He thinks he’ll start doing it more often as he pushes his way into the home gym and spots
Jeongguk.

Taehyung’s not a stranger to Jeongguk’s body, but his eyes latch onto him like it’s something new.
His skin is glistening as he runs, his focused expression angry looking as he watches himself in the
mirror. It’s hot, Taehyung can admit after a week of reminding himself that the reason their
relationship is so highly sexual is because of him too.

Jeongguk slows when he spots Taehyung, brows rising under the strands of hair that cling to his
forehead as he peels his earbuds out. The muscles in his back dance and pop as his shoulders move
and Taehyung suddenly feels less inclined to join Jeongguk and to just stand and watch instead.

“Tae, need something?”

Taehyung shakes his head as Jeongguk hops from the treadmill and pads across the room to a water
bubbler.

“I was just curious. I haven’t been up here before.”

“Want a tour?” Jeongguk asks, breathing heavily before he tilts his head back. Taehyung looks away
as Jeongguk’s Adam’s Apple bobs when he swallows, his body more flushed than it had been a
moment ago. He’s clad in Jeongguk’s workout clothes and he wonders if it’s appropriate to strip off
the bright yellow shirt to match with Jeongguk or not.

They don’t talk about Taehyung’s knack for wearing Jeongguk’s clothes but Taehyung’s prepared
an excuse anyway; he hasn’t gotten a chance to go home yet. But Jeongguk doesn’t ask, though his
eyes linger over him a little longer than usual when Taehyung’s padding around in his shirts.

“I’ve never seen a penthouse suite with two floors.”

Jeongguk huffs out a breathless laugh. “My grandfather designed it. The Jeons’ own the building.”

Taehyung blanches. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised. “This is yours? The whole building?”

“It will be,” Jeongguk says as he drags his shirt from where it rests over the water bubbler. He
doesn’t put it on but rather wipes his face with it and Taehyung thanks the heavens above. “If my
Appa doesn’t sell it before he passes. Come on.”

The first thing Taehyung had noticed when he had started his search for the gym was the massive
opening room, filled with a tv bigger than he’s ever seen before and enough gaming equipment to
make the gaming store from which it came look bland. There were even arcade machines from back
in the day lining the wall.

“Ji-hu comes up here more than me,” Jeongguk explains as he leads Taehyung down the hall.
“There’s a bedroom up here, but he likes this room the best.”

Opening the door, Jeongguk reveals a room filled with toys. There’s a blanket fort in the corner and
large marvel stickers adorning the wall; different superheroes flexing their muscles or arms stretched
forward as they fly. The siding of the wall is topped with a series of colorful crayon drawings and
Taehyung cringes at the sight.

The one time he had drawn on the wall, his hand had been smacked so hard he still feels the pain of
it when it rains.

But what should he expect from a seven year old who basically has his own apartment?

Taehyung sighs at himself. He hasn't seen Jeongguk and Ji-hu in action yet really, he can't make
assumptions.

“I couldn’t get mad,” Jeongguk admits with a small smile on his lips, reading Taehyung’s mind. “He
said, ‘Appa, I drew you and your Eomma,’ and I don’t know, I couldn’t get mad.”

Taehyung softens as he sinks against the door frame despite wanting to press closer to Jeongguk.
“How did she die?”
Jeongguk’s brows lift again as if he’s taken aback by the question. His face seems to freeze like that,
and after a few seconds, Taehyung considers snapping his fingers in front of him to see if he’s okay.

“Car accident. The driver - my father’s driver, had been on a lot of drugs. No one noticed, I guess. I
never understood how; my father has always hated drugs. Even gets a little queasy over Tylenol and
shit.”

Taehyung wants to hold Jeongguk as sadness touches his features but he stops himself. He thinks of
what Hanbin had said, wondering if that whore had been Jeongguk’s mother.

Rumor has it he killed her when she decided she had enough, but who knows.

Jeongguk has the body and enough anger inside of him to cause some serious damage, but looking at
the sadness in his eyes tells Taehyung he wouldn’t be pleased with his father if what Hanbin had said
was true. It would break him; just like Yoongi said it would break him knowing Yunbok touched
him the way he had.

His heart is soft, Taehyung thinks. There’s an innocence about him that tells Taehyung he hasn’t
gone through the kind of trauma that makes you dark and hurt even when the pain is supposed to be
gone.

If he can accept Jimin and Hoseok’s want to protect him, why is he struggling so much with
accepting Jeongguk’s?

“It really destroyed him,” Jeongguk says before he clears his throat and smiles softly. “I’m going to
see him today, but Seokmin-ssi will be here if you need to go anywhere.”

Taehyung nods, biting his lip. He wants to implore more, questions popping up in his head one after
another, but he remains quiet. He’d prefer if he could go the rest of his life without ever having to see
Jeongguk look sad again but he also wants to know everything there is to know about Jeon
Jeongguk.

He wants to know how much of what Hanbin had said true and how much is false. He also just
wants to know more about Jeongguk. He’s been giving Jeongguk pieces of himself, despite not
wanting to. It’s like he can’t control his mouth sometimes, or the urge to give himself completely to
Jeongguk.

“I’ll probably stay in and look for apartments.”

Jeongguk nods. They’re close when he turns in the doorway, their bodies practically touching and
Taehyung can feel the heat radiating from his sweaty skin. There is no tension between them, though
Taehyung’s stomach tightens to keep himself from plastering his body to Jeongguk’s.

“You’re moving?”

Taehyung shrugs, glancing down at the hard planes of Jeongguk’s stomach because Jeongguk’s eyes
always burn bright and it makes it hard to hold eye contact at times. “You’re right about me not, um,
being safe there. And you said I’m not forced to stay here, right?”

There is a sadness back in Jeongguk’s eyes that Taehyung doesn’t know what to do with as he
sneaks a curious glance at his expression. He isn't expecting it by pushing Jeongguk to see if he'll be
forced to stay.

“There are apartments here. I’m sure there are some that are unoccupied.”
“I can’t afford these apartments, Jeongguk.”

The serious look doesn’t leave Jeongguk’s face but when he reaches up to touch Taehyung, his pout
looks more confused than anything before he drops his hand. “I told you not to worry about that.”

So fucking close, Taehyung thinks, cursing at himself as he prays for Jeongguk to touch him. He
doesn’t even care how at this point. He’s been touch starved over the last few days and his life force
is weakening.

“I’d feel a lot better if you let me work to pay you back. Or tell me what you want in return. I know
you don’t understand what it feels like, but it’s suffocating knowing someone has something that
they can hold over you.”

Jeongguk moves closer and Taehyung’s breath sticks in his lungs like he truly is suffocating. Even a
centimeter away from each other, Jeongguk doesn’t touch him. He drew up a contract and
everything that he insisted Taehyung sign, assuring him that he wouldn’t ask for the money back, but
Taehyung doesn’t trust a piece of paper.

Maybe he trusts the look in Jeongguk’s eyes when he promises he wouldn’t do that, but he’s trying
not to let his walls down.

After every fight, every punch in the gut, his mother used to promise that she would leave his
stepfather. She promised that he wouldn’t feel the pain his hands could bring or hear the foul words
that used to leave his mouth any more. She promised that they would find a home just for the four of
them and they would find happiness away from him.

This was a promise that was never kept. Even after he was finally free of his stepfather, the promise
of finding happiness away from him was broken too.

“I’m not stopping you from working, Taehyung.”

Taehyung debates for only a moment before reaching out. He doesn’t know if he feels annoyed
or needy of Jeongguk more. What he does know is that the sound of his name leaving Jeongguk’s
lips makes his bones feel like mush.

“Most people who buy whores make better use of the money they spent.”

He’s just curling his fingers under the brim of Jeongguk’s trackies, his knuckles brushing hard, wet
skin, when Jeongguk grabs his hand and pulls it back.

The touch is gentle when Jeongguk pins it to his side. “I don’t own you, Taehyung. If you want to
pay me back, that’s fine, but I won’t accept the money.”

“So services,” Taehyung challenges, not wanting Jeongguk to let go of where he strokes his thumb
under his wrist. He’s always made his life more difficult than he needs to; Jimin used to tell him this
all of them time when he first started working with Bobby. “There’s something I can do to service
you, Mr. Jeon, to make up the cost. I don’t like having a debt over my head, no matter how many
times you promise not to keep it there.”

Jeongguk softens and Taehyung doesn’t miss the way his gaze drops to his lips when he speaks. “I’ll
think of something then. Are you good with computers?”

Taehyung mentally rolls his eyes as he slips down the door frame a little so the lower half of his body
leans into Jeongguk. He’s careful with the drag of his tongue over his bottom lip, making sure
Jeongguk is watching when he does. “That’s not what I meant.”
The way Jeongguk lets of his grip and moves away is quick and sudden. “I’m not touching you,
Taehyung.”

Taehyung remains still as Jeongguk pads off, sighing to himself.

It’s the worst day of the year. Jeongguk dreads it and he feels bad that he does. He should find solace
standing here, clutching onto his father’s hand. He should find peace or comfort, but all he feels is
pain.

He misses his mother and seeing her face upon the stone only makes him ache more. His father’s
weeping adds to it, but he squeezes his fingers and becomes the strength that his father lost when she
passed.

It’s especially worse this year as Jeongguk feels drained from the last couple of weeks. It’s better
between him and Taehyung, but the urge to hold his hand is growing worse. He’s ignored Grace’s
emails and thankfully he hasn’t received anymore in the last few days, but he can’t stop thinking
about it.

It’s not so much anger - anger drains him, but just confusion and frustration. It has been seven years
and it isn’t the first time Ji-hu’s visited his grandparents. It’s just the first time he has visited them
without Jeongguk.

He is worried that Grace will go to her parents’ house regardless. He isn’t sure if this makes him
more nervous or relieved that he won’t have to make the decision.

He shakes his head. No, he needs to grow the balls and make a decision. It’s for Ji-hu.

A strong hand cups the back of his neck and Jeongguk relaxes under the touch. Yoongi’s beside him
like always, well aware of the fact that giving his father his strength drains Jeongguk.

It’s also a touch to ground himself, Jeongguk knows. They aren’t the only ones to visit the grave site;
there have been people stopping by throughout the day. They usually pay their respects and leave,
and some stay beside them.

Bobby is one of them, flanked to his father’s left side like he’s a son that deserves to be there. It
pisses Jeongguk off like no other, but it’s a day for his father and he knows it means a lot to him.

“You don’t have to stay hyung,” Jeongguk whispers over his shoulder.

Yoongi shrugs, but his hand squeezes tighter around the back of Jeongguk’s neck. “I’ll leave when
you do.”

They don’t leave for another hour so, waiting patiently for Jun-ki until he is ready to go. He looks
worse for wear, but he swats away Jeongguk’s attempts to help him walk back to the car. He has
been firing all of his nurses after a few days and it’s a stress that he’s unloaded onto Jin, though part
of him does feel bad because it is his responsibility. They both have a lot going on, but Jin took it
with a reassuring smile.

“Come for dinner would you?” Jun-ki requests, taking Jeongguk’s hand. “Yoongi-yah you’re always
welcomed. Jiwon and that pretty boy of his made quite the meal.”

Jun-ki doesn’t seem to notice the tension that falls around them. Yoongi clears his throat, eyes
focused ahead of them and Jeongguk has to put effort into not reacting the way Bobby smiles softly
at the ground.

“Yoongi hyung can’t today, Appa. He’s moving home at the end of the week, remember?”

It’s another cause behind his trouble but he knows Yoongi will return. He needs some time with his
mother. Jeongguk understands.

“Aish,” Jun-ki spits. “I hear your music every day on the radio. Your dream, son. It is no time to run
back to Daegu now. I am proud of you.”

Yoongi only nods as he reaches for the door to the car. “Thank you.”

“His company let him go,” Jeongguk supplies without looking at Bobby. He isn’t feeling friendly
today, though a whisper in his mind tells him not to start trouble on a day like this. It’s a day for
healing, not falling apart. “It’s the perfect time.”

Jun-ki turns to look at Bobby, disapproval on his face. Bobby is quick to bow his head under the
gaze and Jeongguk feels like he’s twelve again, wanting to stick his tongue out when Bobby gets in
trouble instead of him.

“Fix it,” is all Jun-ki says before he’s climbing into the car.

It stays awkward until him and Yoongi part ways. The tension does not leave however, and he can
feel his father’s eyes flicking between where he and Bobby sit in the car as far away from each other
as possible.

“Explain.”

Jeongguk jerks his head from where he’s staring out the window, watching the streaks of green from
the trees they drive by. “Explain what, Appa?”

Jun-ki throws a hand in Bobby’s direction as he grunts. “Today is a day we honor your mother. She
would hate this fighting between you too. Tell me what it is about.”

“There’s no fighting,” Jeongguk assures as he reaches over the seat to hold his father’s hand again.
It’s true, for the most part. He hasn’t seen Bobby since Jeongguk stormed into his office and took
Taehyung from the club. But Jimin’s been completely unreachable and Yoongi heart is shattered into
a million pieces, so he’s feeling protective. “Disagreements on lifestyles, maybe.”

Bobby keeps his head down, staring at his lap. He looks even worse than he had before. The bags
under his eyes are angrier. He has lost weight, his jaw bone poking out of his skin and it’s painful
looking.

Jeongguk can’t help but think about the fear in Taehyung’s eyes when he tries to explain his feeling
about the debt, and people holding it over him. Bobby had been one of those people, one of those
people to make Taehyung afraid. He doesn’t care if Bobby looks like shit.

“Don’t be like that son,” Jun-ki huffs, squeezing Jeongguk’s fingers. “Do not judge a life you do not
live.”

It’s difficult not to roll his eyes or grunt in displeasure at that. He doesn’t know what Bobby
threatened Jimin with, but he knows it’s bad enough that he looked guilty to the point where he
could be sick. It’s bad enough that Jimin is afraid of it, despite Taehyung already being out of his
grasp.
“He’s not judging, Abeojinim. He has a whore himself,” Bobby huffs out, eyes blazing with a
challenge as he stares at Jeongguk. Jeongguk tenses, a chill swiping down his spine.

It’s a strange topic to have in front of his father, even though he has assumed his father is well
acquainted with what Bobby does. It’s just...odd thinking about his father like that. He knows Jimin,
and maybe -

Jeongguk feels suddenly car sick at the idea of his father knowing Taehyung.

“Don’t say that word,” Jun-ki snaps, anger flicking in his eyes for a moment before he turns back to
Jeongguk.

“I don’t, Appa,” Jeongguk insists softly. “Taehyung is a friend of mine. I simply paid off the debt
that Bobby has been holding over his head.”

The car stops but neither one of them move as Jun-ki stays where he is sitting between them. He
seems to be contemplating something, his lips rubbing together like he does when he’s trying to think
of something to say.

“Jeongguk, come with me. Jiwon, help that boy of yours.”

Jeongguk wants to ask but his questions are answered when he spots Jimin in the kitchen, working
alongside one of the maids. He goes completely still when he spots Jeongguk, eyes widening in
worry as Jeongguk stares back. There’s an apron wrapped around his waist and Jeongguk doesn’t
miss the fact that he’s wearing long sleeves and a turtleneck, despite the hot weather.

“I thought you were leaving.”

He said goodbye, Jeonggukkie, it feels like for real this time.

Jimin hesitates, lips parted and eyes wide. He’s frozen in place, hands placed over the raw fish on the
counter in front of him. “I am. Tomorrow.”

Yoongi had broken into his apartment earlier in the week to sob about Jimin visiting him to say
goodbye. He had gotten angry, tossing things around the apartment but refusing to tell Jeongguk
where Jimin was going and with who. He worried over how shitty Jimin looked and Jeongguk can
see it now. He too has bruises under his eyes and cheeks that seem thinner than before. His shirt
hangs off of his body and the silver color he’s colored his hair makes his overall appearance more
dreary.

“You should call Tae then, before you go.”

It’s the last thing he says before he follows after his father, who has made his way into the library.
It’s a room that only his mother had visited and has not been entered by anyone other than the maids
since. The room is filled with boxes more so than books, the shelves empty and Jeongguk wonders if
it was his father who emptied the room out. He can’t imagine him letting anyone else touch his
mother’s belongings.

“When I met your mother she was working at a club in Daegu. I had gone to visit Yunbok hyung
during the break and he wanted me to see this new club his brother had opened. We were quite
young, I think, not even able to drink.”

Jun-ki pauses as he moves through the boxes before letting out a soft ‘ah’. It isn’t as bad as every
other year, where Jun-ki can barely say his mother’s name let alone talk about her.
“Yunbok bought her for me,” Jun-ki says quietly as if he’s sharing a secret with Jeongguk that can’t
be said out loud. He spreads his hands over the top of the box gently as he stares down at it like he is
afraid to open it. “For the night. I kept going back, I fell in love with her.”

Jeongguk is slow to take in the information behind handed to him. If it’s difficult talking to his father
about just prostitutes in general, it’s hard to imagine his mother was one.

What the fuck.

His father says it with ease too, the words slipping past his lips almost like a sigh of relief.

“So Eomma-?”

“Yes,” Jun-ki says softly as he finally finds the courage to open the box. “She felt a lot of shame. It
scared her some nights, her worries about you finding out and hating her for what she has done. I
will not let those fears come true, even if she is not here to see it. You’ve grown up very privileged
son, not everyone has.”

Jeongguk pads across the library floor to peer into the box Jun-ki’s opened. There’s an assortment of
photo albums, old ones with cracking spines and a musty smell to them. There are envelopes and
fabrics covered in sequins rolled and stuffed between.

He’s taken aback by the anger in his father’s voice, though vibrating quietly around his words.
Jeongguk feels that way about Taehyung, defensive and protective, but he would never judge his
mother. He could never hate his mother, even if she didn’t have a reason for living the life she did.

“I’m not judging,” Jeongguk whispers as Jun-ki pulls one of the photo albums from the box, dust
coating the top. “I am having a hard time thinking about Eomma as - that, but not because I find that
she should have felt shame. But because of the things that people do to, um, escorts. It hurts me
thinking about those things happening to her.”

He can’t imagine it at all. There’s no point in being angry or hurt; it was in the past. But he feels it
anyway.

“Hm,” Jun-ki responds. There’s a flicker of that anger in his eyes when he looks at Jeongguk. “I
married your mother as soon as I could and brought her to Busan with me. She was allowed to leave
because of me, but not all of her sisters were.”

The album reveals a few pictures of his mother when she was younger, younger than he is now. She
looks happy and bright in all of them, her smile stretching high into her cheeks and revealing bunny
teeth. In one, she has her arm wrapped over his father’s shoulder, a hand on her hip and Yunbok on
her other side. He looks so much like Bobby at first, Jeongguk has to remind himself that it can’t
possibly be him.

“The Royal Blue,” Jun-ki explains, fingering over the picture’s background where the club’s name
shows. “They were not her actual sisters, you see, but quite like you and your hyung. She was the
oldest out of the three. They grew up in an orphanage together right outside of Bukgu. They were
called the Trinity.”

Jeongguk had known about his mother growing up in an orphanage, though he never heard his
mother mention anyone she had grown up with. He also knew that his father and her met through
Yunbok, one of the reasons Jun-ki feels so indebted to the man. But the rest Jeongguk is struggling
to take in.

There’s much he must not know about her life and it didn’t occur to him. There was never a mention
of having a family or friends either; she always told Jeongguk that she never had any.

My little bunny, you gave me family. It is why I love you so much.

“She lost touch with them for many years after she had you. Since she passed, I found letters she had
written to them and tried to find them myself. I’ve found only one so far. I’ve yet to hear back from
her.”

Jun-ki turns the page and there are more women with his mother. He taps on the face of one woman,
whose face is bright with a smile so big her eyes are squished closed and her cheeks become
mounds. She isn’t dressed much; clad in a bikini top and shorts that hug her hips so tightly the chub
of her thighs bulge out underneath the material. There are kitten ears tucked into her pink hair and
her tongue stuck out between her teeth like a cat.

“Park Yuri. We called her Kitty, back in the day.”

She looks somewhat familiar in the other pictures, but Jeongguk can’t quite put a finger on how. Her
lips are quiet full, her heavy lidded eyes surrounded in a dusty pink eyeshadow that looks nice with
her tanned skin. He loves the way his mother smiles at the woman in the picture, her eyes fond and
just as bright.

“Kitty,” Jeongguk repeats, straining his brain to remember if his mother had every mentioned her -
even offhandedly. “Did she come today?”

Jun-ki sighs as he shakes his head and stuffs the closed photo album into the box. “She was not as
lucky as your mother; unable to leave. You may take these if you wish, son. But return them. There
are letters from your mother to herself in there as well. She said back then maybe she knew she
would have you, and if you ever grew to hate her, she would want you to read them. She did not
choose this life of hers and neither did Bobby.”

Jeongguk accepts the last part with a nod, a tired sigh hidden in his throat.

He misses his mother and wishes she were here to tell him all this herself. Maybe she would be able
to help him with Taehyung, or at least, help him better understand so he can give Taehyung
everything he needs.

“Thank you, Appa. I miss her. I would never hate her. I mean that.”

Jun-ki smiles softly as he pats Jeongguk’s shoulder a few times. “She is always with you, let that
comfort your heart.”

“Does it comfort yours?”

There’s a moment where Jeongguk is nervous that he overstepped as his father frowns, his wrinkles
as deep as the ocean around his mouth.

“No, no, not truly.”

Taehyung is pulling out the big guns, metaphorically speaking as he flexes in the mirror and frowns
at the baby bulge poking out from the skinny limb. He has lost weight at some point, but he’s
thankful to see that his thighs still look plush and when he rocks his hips for the mirror, the rounds of
his ass still jiggle.
He’s done trying to figure out what he’s doing and has decided just to go with it. It took him awhile
to accept Jeongguk as a client, as being comfortable with someone as good as him. Now he wants it
back, even if it’s still far off from what he really wants.

The cards are out on whether or not Jeongguk’s a smooth talker because it’s coming from a genuine
place, but he has a gut feeling everything Hanbin had said had been bullshit.

Wanting to drown in self pity, Taehyung had gone back through all the photographs left behind of
him after Jeongguk had left for the day. There was one thing that stood out more than his rotten gut:
Hanbin wasn’t in any of them.

Hanbin, who visits his dressing room more than any other client. Hanbin, who he has been pleasing
in that room for years. There were none of him.

Taehyung slides his fingers over the silky material as he sighs. He's no longer angry with Jeongguk
but he’s struggling with being grateful like his mother would want him to be. He doesn’t ever have to
see Hanbin again thanks to him. He doesn’t have to see anyone he doesn’t want to again, thanks to
Jeongguk.

Even if Jeongguk wants him just for sex, he’s kind enough to let Taehyung have his space.
Taehyung doesn’t want space though, he wants to be smothered by Jeongguk.

It’s fucking frustrating, his mind. It won’t decide what he wants to feel from one moment to the next.
He’s embarrassed about the way he had pushed himself onto Jeongguk this morning, but he couldn’t
help himself.

“Tae?”

The sound of Jeongguk calling for him has Taehyung’s nerves picking up. He’s on a mission to
seduce Jeongguk until he breaks. He just wants to be touched, to feel the comfort of Jeongguk’s
hands and the warmth of his body. He just needs Jeongguk to take before he goes mad from
waiting.

The worst part about his job is after sharing his body, after being with someone on an intimate level,
after being hurt and needing comfort - he doesn’t get it. He needs to be coddled.

Since their fight, he hasn’t been able to find any source of comfort to fight off the constant battle
inside of him as Jeongguk won’t touch him, both Hoseok and Jimin won’t answer the phone, and
he’s too afraid to go to his siblings. He’s starting to feel desperate, like he may crumble if someone
doesn’t cup his cheeks soon.

He had never gotten a chance to wear the baby doll for Jeongguk and since Jeongguk had been the
one to pick it out, Taehyung decided it’s his best weapon. Even if Jeongguk touches him roughly, he
always strokes Taehyung’s skin afterwards and he needs that. He’ll take whatever just to have it.

The baby doll is soft against his skin, barely covering anything except for where the straps lie. His
white panties are visible under the material and he’s coated his skin in so much shea butter that he
glows like he has been standing in the sun all day.

“In here!” Taehyung yells as he does a double take in the mirror to make sure he looks alright before
he fluffs his hair.

“Do you wanna go for drinks?” He hears Jeongguk call, his tone sounding tired. “I could use -”

Taehyung leans into the mirror, pretending to fix the eyeliner that isn’t smudged under his eyes. He
knows Jeongguk must be in the doorway, he can feel his eyes burning onto his back. The way he’s
turned makes it so his ass pops out from underneath the lingerie, his legs slightly spread and
hopefully inviting.

“What’s that?” Taehyung asks, straightening as he turns around and flashes an innocent smile
towards Jeongguk.

There’s a flush in Jeongguk’s cheeks but other than that he just looks exhausted, his shoulders
slumped, tie hanging loose around his neck and shirt unkempt. His hair looks like he’s haphazardly
pat it down though it had been neat and combed when he left this morning. The thought that
someone’s hands caused that takes Taehyung by surprise and he hates the way it makes his heart
sink in his chest.

“I was going to see if you wanted to join me for a drink but if you have a client it’s fine.”

Taehyung could scream.

“I - I can cancel,” Taehyung says, clasping his hands behind his back. He suddenly feels less sexy
and more awkward in the baby doll.

“So you do have a client?”

Taehyung’s lips part for a moment. He has only seen the client three times since he’s been fired and
he isn’t eager to again. He had planned on lying, bringing out a jealous Jeongguk, but that plan is
quickly starting to look like a bad idea.

“Jealous?”

Jeongguk shakes his head as he rubs at his temple. “If you’re still out when I am, join me? I’ve had a
bad day and I think I just want to end it with you, even if that makes it worse.”

His heart drops as Jeongguk turns and starts walking away, despite it being his bedroom and not
Taehyung’s. It feels wrong letting him go, but Taehyung’s stuck.

Even if that makes it worse.

Jeongguk isn’t touching him because he’s a kind guy, he’s not touching him because he hates him.

He should have known. Instead of being grateful that Jeongguk freed him from Bobby, he screamed
at him, punched him, took over his house.

It makes him feel sick and his skin crawl.

“Jeongguk?” Taehyung calls, running after him because his heart is pounding against his sternum
and begging him to do so.

The other man hasn’t strayed far, he’s only a few yards away when he stops and turns around. He
really does look like shit and it makes Taehyung ache with a need to comfort him.

“I’ll cancel.”

Jeongguk holds up a hand as he shakes his head. “It’s fine, really. I should hang out with hyung a
little alone before he leaves.”

Taehyung frowns. “Yoongi?”

Jeongguk nods as he pushes the door open to the guest bathroom. “He’s going to Daegu for awhile.
Taehyung? You look really nice tonight.”

Taehyung feels like the biggest ass as he watches Jeongguk push into the bathroom without waiting
for his response.

If his father knew that he was nursing a bad case of the blues with a dark liquid that burns his throat,
Jeongguk would probably lose his inheritance. But it’s been awhile since he’s had a drink and he
needs one.

He had lied about meeting up with Yoongi because that’s one man who needs to stay far from liquor.
He hadn’t wanted to ruin Taehyung’s plans by being selfish. After everything, he doesn’t even have
the right to request Taehyung cancel his plans just because he needs him.

Jeongguk sighs. He still hopes he comes. There aren’t many bars in the area that aren’t owned by
Bobby - or Park Yugyeom, but so far he hasn’t seen any familiar faces. There have been a few
servers that have whispered suggestive things in his ears, but they’ve left him alone once they’ve
realized that he isn’t interested in any of them.

Sex might be the answer to unwind the stress from his body but he isn’t interested. Not with just
anyone. There has been a coil in his belly that only Taehyung can fix and it makes him feel gross.

His attraction isn’t gross but he wishes his body would stop reacting every time he sees Taehyung’s
bare skin. Taehyung already feels like an object to be used that way and Jeongguk is desperate to
prove him wrong.

It doesn’t help that he’s taken to wearing minimal clothing around the penthouse and tonight -

Jeongguk throws back another shot at the memory of Taehyung in the lingerie that he had picked out
for him. He had known it would look good on him and his body warms because he was right. He
hates that his mind constantly goes to thinking of Taehyung in a sexual way when his heart boner for
the other man is just as big as his dick boner.

“Jeongguk, hey son.”

Jeongguk glances at the heavy set man that sits beside him. He had been one of the many faces to
pay their respects to his mother today. He looks too old for the club, hair peppered and a white
goatee wrapped around his lips, but Jeongguk’s been scolded once already today for judging so he
won’t again.

It makes him think of his mother. What she went through, if the same things that happened to
Taehyung have happened to her. He doesn’t even know the details yet it makes him angry.

Yunbok has many siblings, it could be any of them.

“Sungho.”

The man nods as if Jeongguk could have forgotten him. His mother had hated him, it makes him
wonder if this is the brother that owned the club.

“It’s been quite long since I’ve seen you. You’ve grown.”

Maybe his father shouldn’t have told him anything. Jeongguk feels like he’s losing himself to the
anger and frustration inside of him; reacting in ways that he probably shouldn’t. His mother would be
upset with him he thinks. She’d be proud of him for protecting Taehyung, but she wouldn’t tolerate
him using threats to get what he wants.

She wouldn’t be okay with him threatening Bobby. He never understood why they connected the
way they did, but regardless of a reason, they still had.

With a wave to the bartender, Jeongguk orders a shot for two. “Eighteen I think. The funeral. What
are you doing in town?”

“I haven’t paid respects to your mother in some time,” Sungho explains, a frown tugging at his lips.
“And I have some business to tend to as well, investments and the nine. Yunbok has been nagging
me to visit for awhile now. He won’t stop bragging about that son of his.”

The shot glasses slide across the bar and Jeongguk offers one to the older man. It’s difficult for him
not to take the shot and throw it back right away. Just the mention of Bobby has Jeongguk rattling
inside.

“Nothing too impressive,” Jeongguk grumbles with a laugh as he smacks the shot glass back down.
If he takes it as a personal insult, good.

Sungho grunts at this, his lips quirking up some. “The boy is too soft for the streets; he gets it from
his mother. But he has done well so far. It will catch up to him eventually or ruin the innocence
inside of him.”

Jeongguk doesn’t respond. He wants Taehyung here. To hold his hand or see him smile, he isn’t sure
which he wants more. He just wants the comfort of the other man’s presence.

Jeongguk throws back a shot every time Sungho mentions his mother, trying to resist the urge to ask
him questions that he doesn’t want to know the answer to. He changes the topic to the company at
times, but the conversations always seem to lead back to his parents.

Time ticks away and Sungho’s face turns redder. Jeongguk’s sure his is the same, but he refuses to
ever admit when he’s drunk. It’s caused many blackouts before, but he’s stubborn.

“I have to take this,” Sungho says, flashing his phone and the name 'Kitty' on it before slipping from
the stool beside him.

Jeongguk glances at the clock, sighing to himself because of the late hour. He should go home, but
he’s afraid of it being empty which will cause his thoughts to stray to where Taehyung is too often.

He considers calling him, but he doesn’t want to overstep. Taehyung has never spoken of a good
client before but he hopes that Taehyung would only work with one now that he has the option. He
hopes Taehyung isn’t the type to put himself into danger when he doesn’t have to.

When slender fingers slide over his shoulders, Jeongguk thinks it’s another server ready to promise
him a fun evening, but he registers the vibration of a familiar hum and the soft lips he could
recognize anywhere brushing over his jaw.

He still considers pushing Taehyung away, but his head is heavy and the only thing he wants at the
moment is him.

“I think you’ve had enough, Mr. Jeon,” Taehyung murmurs, a teasing hilt to his voice.

“I’m not even drunk,” Jeongguk hiccups as he turns, a smile finding his face before his eyes even
land on Taehyung.

“Your face is flushed.”

“That’s because I’m next to you.”

Taehyung smiles softly as he cups Jeongguk’s cheek.

Maybe he is drunk, but he swears he wasn’t before Taehyung - the forever intoxicating Taehyung,
came into view.

He doesn’t want to stop though and alcohol isn’t the only thing that makes his head swim. It’s the
feel of Taehyung’s lips pushing against his own. And maybe he is drunk because he doesn’t
remember who leaned in, all he knows is it feels like heaven when Taehyung’s lips form against his
own.

“Sorry,” Jeongguk mumbles, though his hands clench into Taehyung’s hoodie. It takes a minute for
him to realize the makeup is gone from his face and the smell lingering on his skin is his own
cologne, not another man’s.

He has liked the idea of Taehyung wanting to sleep in his bed more than any other room in the
house. He doesn’t understand the feeling, just like he doesn’t understand why he’s so aggravated by
the idea of Taehyung being okay with someone else taking care of him but not okay with Jeongguk
doing so.

Maybe he gets the debt thing. Or he would, if Jeongguk were holding a debt over Taehyung’s head.
But he isn’t, he never will, he’s desperate for Taehyung to understand that.

“Don’t apologize, baby, kiss me all you want. I need you to.”

“If I did that, I’d never stop,” Jeongguk mumbles out with a laugh, lips dragging over Taehyung’s
parted ones as he speaks.

He likes when Taehyung smiles. It’s something like the sun or some poetic bullshit like that and there
has been a cloud over him for the last few weeks that has been driving Jeongguk mad. He caused
that cloud, he helped plummet Taehyung into a sad place and it makes him ache.

“What?” Taehyung huffs out, cupping under Jeongguk’s chin. His head feels heavy and he sighs as
he rests his weight on Taehyung’s palms. “What about the sun?”

Jeongguk wrinkles his nose, wondering if he said that out loud. He lets out a giggle at the thought.
“You’re like the sun, Taehyung. Don’t be angry with me.”

Taehyung presses a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Let’s get you home, you big baby. I thought you
were angry with me.”

The sound that leaves Jeongguk’s lips sounds distant and he would be embarrassed by the noise if he
were sober. Taehyung could break his heart into a thousand pieces and he still wouldn’t be able to be
mad at him. He wants to tell Taehyung about his day, about Bobby and what his father told him.

Jeongguk freezes as he reaches for a distant thought. Kitty.

“I’m angry with him.”

“Him?” Taehyung asks in concern, eyes wide with something Jeongguk can’t read but it makes him
sad. “Him who?”

“A dick,” Jeongguk says as Taehyung helps lift him from the bar stool. Okay, definitely drunk, he
thinks as his world tips and he clings to Taehyung for dear life. His father definitely shouldn’t have
told him about his mother because he’s got half the mind to burn down every one of Yunbok’s
siblings’ houses. He’d fire Yunbok just for being associated with them. It has to be him. Not many
people are named Kitty. “He shouldn’t have came to her grave today. One of them hurt her.”

“What?” Taehyung whispers, pulling back as his brows push together. “Who?”

Jeongguk shakes his head. He doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. He hates that he wanted
Taehyung there with him earlier. It’s too personal, he’s pushing Taehyung into things that the other
man doesn’t want too quickly.

Well, he doesn’t know what Taehyung wants but Jeongguk knows he doesn’t want what he does.

“My - Sungho.”

Taehyung follows where Jeongguk points to. His fingers dig into his back, and Jeongguk stumbles
when Taehyung flattens against him.

“Gukkie baby, we have to go.”

Jeongguk frowns at the way Taehyung’s eyes widen in alarm. He holds Taehyung tight, a drunken
promise that he’s here to protect him. “Why - why are you scared?”

God, he’s drunk. He can’t be drunk when Taehyung is scared.

“We just have to go baby, okay?”

Sungho is heading their way when Taehyung slips behind Jeongguk, urging him to move but his
body is too big and too heavy. He feels like he can barely walk and he might be sick.

“Who is it? Did they touch you? I’ll kill them.”

Taehyung grunts something at him but he doesn’t look amused. “Why are you so heavy?”

“It’s the love for you,” Jeongguk grumbles, holding his hand over the back of Taehyung’s neck. He
wants to kiss him, but he promised that he wouldn’t touch him. Why did he do that? There’s
something else he needs to be focusing on, but Taehyung’s mouth is right there.

“Jeongguk, are you leaving?”

Jeongguk’s brought out of his trance when he feels Taehyung’s entire body goes rigid beneath him.
It makes him remember the fear in Taehyung’s eyes only a moment ago. Or awhile ago? Jeongguk is
too drunk to follow time.

“I am,” Jeongguk huffs as he turns to face Sungho, who looks amused. “Somebody thinks I’m a bit
too drunk to be out.”

Taehyung’s behind his back, fingers gripping into his shirt until Jeongguk can feel his knuckles
grazing his spine. He’s shaking, or maybe Jeongguk’s spinning. He’s going to be sick.

“Ah, boyfriend?”

Okay, so there are times when Jeongguk is definitely jealous. He’s slightly possessive, right now he
can admit that. He can’t not admit that when he’s thinking about knocking out an old man for just
looking at Taehyung.

His father would be angry with him. Sungho is his father’s hyung, they had seem friendly at the
memorial. Maybe it isn't him, but Jeongguk wants to hit him instead because he looks at Taehyung
like Hanbin does, with amusement and a hunger like he could eat Taehyung whole.

“Tae -” Jeongguk starts but Taehyung is pinching him hard at the hip and making him gasp out in
pain. Sungho’s face crumples in worry as he puts a hand out like he’s afraid Jeongguk might
collapse. “This here, sir , is the love of my life.”

Sungho chuckles but Jeongguk doesn’t. He means it. Don’t look at him, he thinks as Taehyung tugs
on his shirt to urge him to leave.

“Well, I won’t keep you. It was good seeing you Jeongguk. I’ll be in town for a few more days for
business if you’d like to meet up again. Taehyung, it was nice to meet you.”

Jeongguk frowns at the man, trying to chase a thought in his brain that he can’t catch as Sungho nods
and walks off. He feels Taehyung relax and he wonders if the shaky soft sob that he hears is from his
own lips or Taehyung’s.

“Jeongguk, please, lets go.”

He’s crying. Jeongguk turns, trying to ignore the way his world spins so he can inspect the glossy
sheen of Taehyung’s eyes. “What did I do?”

“I’m bringing you home,” Taehyung says, mouth wobbling and Jeongguk can’t help but touch his
thumb to the bottom lip as a silent plea for it to stop shaking. “And then I’m going to see Jimin,
okay?”

Jeongguk nods. “Okay. What’s wrong?”

Taehyung huffs out a quiet noise, eyes narrowing at him. It’s such a fast change from how soft
Taehyung had just been with him that his world tilts around him. “Don’t act like you don’t know
him. I’m starting to really wonder if there’s things you’re not telling me, Jeongguk. But why should I
expect you to? You don’t owe me anything; I owe you.”

He can’t help but stare in confusion as Taehyung storms off, leaving Jeongguk tilting where he
stands. He hesitates for a moment before he goes after him, hitting many things on his way out the
door.

Seokmin is idling in front of the bar as if Taehyung never intended to stay. Jeongguk wonders how
he found him, he can’t remember telling Taehyung where he’d be.

“I don’t understand.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh. The fear is loud in his eyes and his shaking has grown worse. It reminds
Jeongguk of their fight. God he hated that.

“So you’re telling me you don’t know who that is,” Taehyung yells, the tears pooling down his
cheeks. “You’re telling me you didn’t know that? You were having a fucking drink with him.”

Jeongguk can barely speak, he holds his hands out, wobbling on his unsteady feet. He glances at the
bar a few times, confusion making his mouth hang open.
“I don’t - that’s Yunbok’s brother. His hyung. I didn’t know you knew him?”

“What?” Taehyung breathes, the anger gone before he presses the heels of his hands to his eyes and
moans in pain towards the sky.

“He - he came to pay respects to my mother. Today - today is the day she - she -”

Taehyung is suddenly in front of him and Jeongguk jerks, having missed when Taehyung closed the
space between them. God he’s fucking drunk and he feels tears choking him, making his throat tight
and he doesn’t know why.

“Come on, forget it. Let me get you home.”

Jeongguk clings tightly to Taehyung, letting him guide him to the car. “I’m sorry Tae. Don’t cry. I
hate when you cry. I never want to make you cry, I’m -”

There are lips pressing against his, interrupting his babbling. Taehyung kisses him hard, bruising,
leaving him gasping for air when he pulls back a moment later.

“Get in the car please. I really need to see Jimin, and call Jin and -”

Jeongguk grabs Taehyung’s hands, trying to steady himself and focus but it’s fucking hard with the
way the world spins around him. “You’re not going there without me. Call Jin, we will go to see
Jimin tomorrow. Together.”

“Guk -”

“I’m too drunk to protect you,” Jeongguk pleads, his stomach turning as he becomes too dizzy to
focus on Taehyung, “and I’m going to be sick. Right now.”

It’s worse than Jimin had imagined. Bobby can barely hold himself up as he makes his way through
the kitchen. There are tear streaks down his cheeks and his eyes are swollen closed, his eyelids
trembling like he’s trying to open them.

Jimin reaches for him immediately, cooing as he cups his cheeks. It makes him sick to his stomach,
but Bobby’s been more aggressive as of late, especially when he’s drinking. After his threat to kill
him, Bobby’s been almost unrecognizable. Being soft is the only thing that keeps Bobby soft. “Baby,
what is it?”

“She would kill me if she knew - knew I touched you like that. If she knew what I was doing. I
promised to take care of you."

Jimin coos again, wiping Bobby’s bangs from his sweaty forehead. It’s a new thing, the angry way
Bobby bites his fingers into Jimin’s skin. It terrifies him. He had done it at Jun-ki’s, making Jimin run
from the mansion before Jeongguk could see the marks Bobby had left behind. “Come on darling,
let's get you into bed okay?”

“Jeonggukkie can’t know.”

It’s the same thing he says every time and Jimin’s yet to understand what he means.

“What happened?” Jimin asks, wiping Bobby’s eyes as he moves him into the bedroom. There are
broken items across the ground and empty bottles littering the nightstands. Her picture is on the bed,
mixed in with ones of Jimin throughout the years.

He had only been gone a few hours, wandering through the city and trying to fight off the urge to
search for Yoongi. He failed, but Yoongi hadn't answered the door when Jimin knocked.

Maybe he’s hurt Yoongi beyond forgiveness.

“Jeongguk said she’d hate me. She does hate me. I owe him.”

Jimin’s heart thuds rapidly in his chest as he helps remove Bobby’s sweaty clothes. He doesn’t want
to say the wrong thing to make Bobby more upset, but Jimin thinks he’s past the point where he’ll
remember a thing. His eyes are unfocused when he manages to open them and they don’t stop open
long.

“He - he could tell me he was going to murder you in front of me and I’d have to let him.”

Jimin pinches Bobby’s chin to force his head up. He’s always been good in these situations, dealing
with the drunk and the fucked ups. He’s good at de-escalating a situation just as much as he is good
at making it escalate to begin with.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here, aren’t I? Right here.”

It’s a lie. He’s leaving bright and early in the morning, which he knows is why Bobby started his
drinking to begin with. That, the day, and the visit from his uncle. Jimin hadn’t warned him that he
was leaving.

Bobby doesn’t seem to be listening at all as he grips Jimin with a weak, desperate fist. He grips him
everywhere, his arms, hips, shoulders, just for his arms to droop like they’re too weak to hold up. He
mutters nonsense, about Jimin leaving him, rattling off Jeongguk’s and his own name a few times,
but none of it makes sense.

“Do you want a bath? To lay down? I’m right here.”

“You can’t tell him.”

“I won’t,” Jimin assures as he guides Bobby to the bed so he can find clean clothes for him.

“Hanbin will, for revenge. For Taehyung. He wants Taehyung so bad he’ll kill him to keep him
from, from.”

Jimin tenses, fingers shaking as he guides Bobby onto his side in case he gets sick. His own stomach
turns over, from Bobby’s words and the needle laying out on the nightstand.

“Jeongguk.”

He busies himself with stripping the rest of Bobby’s clothes before searching through his drawers,
looking for his softest shirt and the Pooh Bear doll he keeps stuffed at the bottom. He can’t focus on
the words, or his heart won’t calm down enough for him to be there for Bobby.

“Come on, here’s your bear,” Jimin says as he hands Bobby the doll. The tears are flooding out now,
his eyes rolling back whenever he opens them. Pressure builds in Jimin’s face, his eyes watering as
he watches Bobby’s break down.

He’s high. It terrifies him. There were a few times he found his own mother like this, when he was
too young to be of much help. He still doesn’t know what to do.
“They take everything away. He’s a bastard and I’m afraid of him. He’s taking you too.”

“Who?” Jimin asks though he tenses afterwards because Bobby isn’t going to make sense. But it
takes him off guard because both Bobby’s best friend and father are ten times scarier than Jeongguk.

“I couldn’t help it,” Bobby goes on, the tears streaming from his eyes at a faster rate. “I had no
choice. He won't let me forget it.”

“Shh,” Jimin says, petting Bobby’s hair and giving up on getting him dressed. “Don’t think about it.
It’s okay.”

“He would have killed me if I - I didn’t. You'll die if, if you leave me.”

Jimin sighs, climbing over Bobby to curl behind his back, making sure he sticks to laying on his side.
He tucks his face against Bobby’s neck as his body shakes with quiet sobs.

There are things neither one of them tell the other, but they ended up in the same place because of
them. Maybe it’s why Jimin hadn’t been able to leave him, he doesn’t know, and his heart breaks
that he is, that everything is ruined between them.

“He just - just killed her and made me - made me- he fucking made me! You can't die too.”

Jimin wraps his arms around Bobby, trying to calm the way his body trembles violently. He clutches
hard to the stuffed animal, tucking it close to his face.

He doesn’t ask, but he thinks he knows. The only thing that hurts Bobby more than anything is the
loss of Young-Mi, the woman who gave him the stuffed bear.

"Jiwon," Bobby whimpers, burying his face into the bear. "I have to -"

“Go to sleep,” Jimin adds before he starts humming, rocking Bobby but he doesn’t calm. He clutches
to Jimin harder, his body trembling like an earthquake has been set off inside of him.

“No,” Bobby hums, “you’ll be gone in the morning.”

Jimin glares up at the ceiling. He thought leaving Bobby, hurting him, would make him feel
victorious. It’s only making him feel like shit.

It's the old Jimin who cared for Bobby that is making him feel bad, but he can’t shake it. He
shouldn’t care; Bobby didn’t care about his heart when he threatened Woojin.

It feels like hours before Bobby finally stops shaking and his snores fill the room. Jimin feels trapped
underneath him, but he doesn’t move until he’s sure Bobby won’t wake.

He glances at the needle on the nightstand. Bobby’s going to ruin himself once he’s gone. He
shouldn’t care. He can’t care.

Life is going to become ten times harder on him and he needs to focus on surviving, protecting
Woojin.

When he steps out of Bobby’s room, he frowns at the light that slips into the hallway from his own.
He hasn’t been in there, he just came home after a series of worrisome texts from Bobby.

He shouldn’t have left Jun-ki’s, but it had been too much. Even attempting to sit through dinner with
the tension between Bobby and Jeongguk had been unbearable. Jeongguk kept mentioning Yoongi
leaving, his eyes like daggers being tossed over the table.
 They should have been directed at him, not Bobby. It isn’t Bobby breaking Yoongi’s heart, but
Jimin.

Jimin relaxes when he pushes open the door to find Taehyung sitting on the edge of his bed. The
feeling doesn’t last long when he spots Taehyung’s face and the tears that stream down his cheeks.

“Hobi let me in.”

Jimin rushes to him, kneeling in front of him to take his hands into his own. He doesn’t know how
much he can deal with tonight, but he’ll always find energy in himself to take care of Taehyung.

“What is it, Tae? What happened?”

“He’s here. He was at the bar with Guk. Why is he here? You said Woojin was safe!”

“What?” Jimin breathes, pushing up in his knees to cup Taehyung’s cheek. He hates seeing
Taehyung cry, he hates that Taehyung is in this life.

“Chung-Hoon,” Taehyung breathes out, his voice barely a whisper. “Chung-Hoon was at the bar
with Jeongguk. He didn’t want me to come here but I had to.”

Jimin’s heart grips in his chest. The idea of him being anywhere near Taehyung makes him angry,
even if Jeongguk was there too.

He hasn’t told him yet and truly he never planned on it, but the fear in Taehyung’s eyes has the
words slipping from his lips with a desperation to calm him. It’s been difficult ignoring his phone
calls but he knows he’d break the moment he heard Taehyung’s voice.

“He’s not going to touch Woojinnie. That’s not why he’s here Tae, that’s not why.”

Taehyung shakes his head, his lips pressed so tightly together that it looks as if he’s straining to keep
them closed. When he opens them, a ragged exhale tears through the quiet between them.

“I don’t want to go with him either. I can’t leave my family, you, I don’t want to leave Jeongguk.”

Jimin strokes over Taehyung’s cheeks, squeezing gently as his own heart breaks. He doesn’t want to
leave Taehyung, he promised he never would.

“Tae, listen to me. I’m going. I’m going with Chung-Hoon. I called Kitty and she set it up.”

There’s confusion on Taehyung’s face for a long moment before realization sets in and he lets out a
pained noise. “Oh Jimin-ah no, Minnie no .”

Jimin nods, breathing heavily through his nose as to not let his tears fall but he’s failing. He can’t
show Taehyung how afraid he is. “Bobby won’t pay the debt, not even with Gukkie’s money so I -
made a deal with Chung-Hoon. He takes me instead, forgets about you and Woojin.”

He isn’t sure Taehyung is listening as he buries his face into Jimin’s shoulder and cries, the sounds
quiet but like they’re being torn from Taehyung’s throat and ripping up his insides.

“Don’t cry, you’re safe. Woojin’s safe.”

I don’t know if I am, Jimin thinks to himself as he clings tightly to his best friend. “We’ll all be fine.”

Chapter End Notes

Chapter End Notes

twitter @taehcheeks tumblr @taecheeks and

 Chapter 16
Chapter Notes

BEFORE you read. There are some mentions of suicidal thoughts and depression. With
the depression, there are mentions of not eating because of it which may be triggering to
some. If you have questions before you read, please don't hesitate to ask.

A lot of your comments tell me you're expecting big shit to go down with Taehyung,
but I've decided to give him a little break because he deserves it so he's sad and stuff, but
he's okay. I want taekook's relationship to build before the shit actually goes down, so I
hope this doesn't disappoint.

Also, I posted the yoonminseok fic here for you all in thanks of 600 kudos. I Thank you
ily.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Jimin rubs his hands over his thighs anixiously under the table until it feels as if the fabric of his jeans
might rip. Despite this being a routine, something they’ve done every morning since Jimin left
Busan, it still leaves him on edge with a stomach full of knots. Even with Hoseok a few tables down,
strapped and ready to kill if need be.

“How’s your food? You’re not eating much.”

Jimin hesitates before he brings a big chunk of rice to his mouth and chews slowly. His stomach
aches just by the idea of eating anything. Chung-Hoon’s eyes are on him, watching him as if he
wants to make sure Jimin swallows.

He does. It’s been awhile since he’s been under Chung-Hoon’s care rather than Bobby’s, but he
remembers clearly that he needs to behave. Chung-Hoon hates having to tell someone to do
something twice.

“It’s very good,” Jimin says, voice slow and quiet. The restaurant is pretty empty except for a few
stragglers here and there. He doesn’t think the place is actually opened yet, but he hasn’t been able to
figure it out.

Jimin hates being here: this restaurant out of any possible restaurant Chung-Hoon could have brought
him to. There are thousands here, and it has to be this one. Min’s Kitchen.

He hates the idea that Chung-Hoon is here before opening because he runs the streets of Daegu, that
Yoongi’s mother suffers from her restaurant being in his territory.

“You’re quite frail,” Chung-Hoon says, his lips tugging down and if Jimin didn’t know better he’d
say the man looked genuinely concerned. “If Bobby was not treating you well, you should tell me.”

He shakes his head as he takes another bite. Lately, Bobby’s been treating him like shit. But before
he never really did. Not like this, at least. Bobby would threaten and put him in line with a hard
smack on his ass and a promise to do more, but he never went through with it.

It’s something he’s trying to remind himself, to keep himself calm. Bobby threatened Woojin to keep
Jimin around and that failed. What will he do now that Jimin has managed to slip from his fingers?

The thought makes the food in his mouth taste rancid.

“He treated me well. The, um, situation with the boy made me a little stressed. He’s very important to
me.”

I don’t want him near you and thinking about it makes it hard to eat or sleep.

Chung-Hoon nods like he understands Jimin’s silent thought. His face lacks concern like he is
unbothered by kidnapping a ten year old boy. “You know Jimin, I understand your concern for the
boy’s safety, but he isn’t in danger. I wouldn’t hurt him. Those were never my intentions.”

“Don’t go near him,” Jimin says, the words slipping from his tongue before he can stop them. They
come out a whisper, weak and much more desperate than Jimin ever wants Chung-Hoon to hear
him. “I don’t care about your intentions. We made a deal.”

There’s a fire burning bright in Chung-Hoon’s eyes and Jimin waits, bracing himself for a
punishment. It doesn’t come. Instead, Chung-Hoon nods and brings the chopsticks up to his mouth.
It doesn’t help Jimin relax; his eyes dodging back to Hoseok and the kitchen and wondering if Mrs.
Min is back there. If she’s telling Yoongi he was here.

“We did,” Chung-Hoon agrees, “and I take my deals very seriously. Your boy is safe and your
mother is quite happy to have you home.”

“My home is Seoul and Busan,” Jimin says, a bite to his tone. It hasn’t been as awful as he’s
expected it to be this last week, but he knows it’s coming. Kitty’s Korner is just like the Minx, except
it seems more like a den filled with rich men drinking whiskey and smoking cigars than a strip club.
His body is just as bare, just as touched, but he doesn’t mind that.

There’s the brothel he’s worried about. It’s members only, but Jimin’s lost his ability to decide who
he takes into bed. He can’t tell them no if they’re paying and Hoseok’s still trying to figure a way to
smuggle a gun past the guards.

His other option isn’t much better, but it leaves him feeling a bit safer. He can’t die on the livestream;
they’ll lose followers.

There’s no benefit in being the boss’ son though he suspects these breakfasts with Chung-Hoon are
uncommon amongst the other whores. He’s already starting to get clients, and get into arguments
with other dancers that result in him insisting that he isn’t trying to steal any of their clients. It’s his
natural charm that drags them in but Chung-Hoon’s attention on him is constantly mentioned by the
others.

“Your mother grew up here. That’s why she brought the club back home. Her home.”

Jimin doesn’t answer. He doesn’t want to say something rude again because he’s already slipped
twice and Chung-Hoon isn’t going to let him go without punishment once they leave. His mother
might be the boss, but Chung-Hoon started the whole game, he’ll be the top in charge until he dies.
He has no heirs, Jimin doesn’t know who it will pass on to after that.

He prays not Bobby. Bobby can’t handle Busan without him, let alone Seoul and Daegu. Maybe it
will be given to Hanbin; raised as a nephew though they don’t share blood. He wonders how Bobby
would feel about that.

Jimin wonders why he cares.

“You need not be shy,” Chung-Hoon says as he glances over his shoulder where Hoseok is
watching them. He doesn’t try to hide the hatred in his eyes even though Jimin insisted he do so for
his own safety. “Your guard over there looks at me like he’ll shoot me dead if I even glance at you.
You can tell him to back off.”

Jimin shakes his head. There’s a warmth in his chest from how true his words are. He doesn’t feel
safe, but he feels a bit closer to being so with Hoseok around. “I can tell him whatever you want but
he’s protective.”

“That’s good,” Chung-Hoon says with a hearty laugh as he pops a piece of egg into his mouth. He
chews it with his lips closed before he speaks. He reeks of money and power, but he would be
deceiving to anyone he knows that he pimps out children and beats women. Or used to. Retirement
sounds like a joke since Jimin sees him around too often. “He needs to learn his place though. Kitty’s
fondness for your guard won’t keep me from putting him there if I need to. I’ve already allowed for
him to stand in while you’re with clients, but I’m not going to be so lenient all of the time.”

Hoseok’s teeth are gritting, he is far away but Jimin can tell by the way his eyes are narrowed. His
expression only softens a bit when their eyes meet.

Kitty is oddly interested in Hoseok to the point where it’s a bit uncomfortable. He’s been around his
mother with men and women before, it’s not something he’s particularly uncomfortable with. But
Hoseok is his friend, and when his mother flirts, he wishes he could rip his eyes out. Hoseok flirts
back to appease her, resulting in many smacks to the chest from Jimin.

“Do you have breakfast with all of the kittens?”

Chung-Hoon looks taken aback by this question before he shakes his head. “No. I want you to feel
comfortable, Doll. I told my nephew I would take good care of you to ease his mind and I intend to
do so. You’re Kitty’s son, and Kitty is apart of the family.”

Jimin’s stomach turns over and he moves his food around the plate with his chopsticks instead of
bringing it to his mouth, even under Chung-Hoon’s watchful gaze. Bobby’s his actual family and a
part of old Jimin wants to remind him of that for Bobby’s sake.

“Did you know your mother was with me from the very start? She was quite young when she started
working for me? I helped raise her.”

There’s a twinge of pain in Jimin’s belly and he swallows down the tight feeling in his throat. He
wipes at his mouth to hide his shaking fingers. Chung-Hoon talks so calmly, casually like talking
about sex trafficking children is akin to talking about the weather.

“Fifteen, I believe.”

“Is that when you started fucking her?”

Chung-Hoon’s expression is hard when he places his chopsticks on the napkin beside his bowl and
folds his hands together. Maybe Jimin has a death wish, whatever, he already said his goodbyes to
the people that matter.

“I’m afraid that you’re confused of the state of your mother and I’s relationship,” Chung-Hoon hums.
He doesn’t look like Yunbok as much as Bobby does, but the similarity is still there.

“Am I?” Jimin huffs out with a sarcastic laugh, scraping his eggs to the side of his plate until the yolk
covers the entire surface. “You are, or were, her pimp, no? I am not new to this industry, Mr. Choi,
as you know.”
Jimin had been younger than fifteen when Kitty pushed him into this, with a hand guided by Chung-
Hoon.

There’s a slight grin on Chung-Hoon’s lips. “I didn’t mean to imply that we have never fucked. Your
mother has a way of getting what she wants and I’ve heard you’re quite the same.”

A curl of disgust makes its way up Jimin’s throat and he suddenly stills, not liking the pace of the
conversation. This is what the breakfasts could mean, though Chung-Hoon could take him anytime
and he’d be powerless in stopping him unless he truly wanted to die.

He thinks about it sometimes, if he should. But the truth is as long as Yoongi is out there he can’t. He
can’t pass up the hope of one day seeing his face again, no matter how unlikely it seems.

It’s the echo of Yoongi’s voice in his mind, his slow drawl and the slight whine in his voice when he
says Jimin’s name. It’s Yoongi’s smile, the way his lips pull back enough to reveal his gums and his
eyes squeeze together. It’s all the memories of Yoongi tracing the length of his fingers while he talks,
eyes darted away and words trailing slowly from his lips like he’s put a lot of thought behind them.

It’s all these things of Yoongi’s that live inside Jimin’s heart and keep it beating.

“Is that how you weaseled your way into my clients’ pants and brought them to Bobby? Or the way
you’ve snuck your way into my nephew’s home, making him see you as a partner rather than
someone he owns? Hanbin says he’s quite gone for you; it affects his ability to make decisions.”

Jimin keeps his shoulders straight though his chest pounds against his sternum. He knows of Bobby
and Chung-Hoon’s relationship, but the fact that he’s been in contact with Hanbin lately has him
feeling sick. Hanbin would be able to get into Bobby’s security systems, he’d be able to get
Taehyung’s home address from Bobby without trying.

And seeing as Bobby’s been a little too needle happy as of late, it would have been even easier.

“Yes,” Jimin says without hesitation. “I’m quite good at what I do, and quite valuable. Kitty taught
me to survive, and the best way to survive is beside the boss.”

Chung-Hoon points a piece of beef at him, pressed between the tips of his chopsticks. “Your mother
is a smart woman, though it’ll ruin my reputation if I tell you you’re right. You will be by my side as
well, untouchable even by my hands if you do one thing for me.”

Jimin nods to tell him to go on but his insides are yelling at him not to. Chung-Hoon may feed him a
good meal and promise not to cause him harm, but Jimin knows a front when he sees one. He knows
this isn’t Bobby, but a true threat - a man who won’t care if Hoseok pulls out his gun because Jimin
will already be dead before he can touch his belt.

“Kitty wants Busan next; she wants Bobby out of the game,” Chung-Hoon says slowly, eyes locked
onto his plate but it’s still just as intimidating as if he were to glare at Jimin while he spoke, “you
know Busan well. You know Bobby well. I want you to help me take it from him. However you
want. If what Hanbin says is true, it shouldn’t take long.”

Jimin drops his eyes to the plate, at the smear of egg yolk that would resemble what this restaurant’s
floor would look like, but red, if he even tried to say no. “It will not be difficult.”

He can’t care, he can’t care. The implication is there. The only way to truly take the streets away
from someone. Jimin can’t do that, but Hoseok might be able to.

“It’s already mine,” Jimin announces quietly before he picks up a scoop of his egg and finally shoves
it into his mouth.

Taehyung cries for four days. Four days where he can’t eat, he can’t sleep, he can barely strip
himself from Jeongguk’s bed without his toes touching the ground and causing his entire body to
ache.

The only reason he is moving about today is because Jeongguk insisted, begged, tried to bribe him
with food to join him at work today. He knows Jeongguk is probably angry with him that he went to
Jimin’s alone, if he remembers anything from that night. Taehyung doesn’t think he remembers
much, except that Taehyung had been upset.

He doesn’t want to get out of bed, but the last four days, Jeongguk has been patient and kind. He’s
tended to him and made him soup, helped him into the bath even though he refused it at first. He’s
brushed his hair and washed Taehyung’s face, even when Taehyung’s refused to leave the bed.

Jeongguk hasn’t asked any questions either, he hasn’t pushed him into talking about it, though
Taehyung knows that Jeongguk knows Jimin is gone.

Yoongi is in just as bad of shape as he is. He left the day before for Daegu, but first stopped by
Jeongguk’s to whisper angrily behind the door where Taehyung slept. Jeongguk had been stubborn
about Yoongi going into the room because ‘I don’t know if Tae wants to see anyone right now’ until
Yoongi dropped the bomb.

The argument only grew from there.

Precious, precious, stubborn Jeongguk, determined to save Jimin from Chung-Hoon. He’d die trying,
it doesn’t matter who he is or how much power he has or whatever. Chung-Hoon’s strong, he runs
half of the country - not just half a city like Bobby.

Taehyung prays he isn’t doing anything behind his back, because the thought of something
happening to Jeongguk has his chest closing up tight and his need to hide under the blankets grow
even stronger.

Seeing them together haunts him. If Chung-Hoon knows Jeongguk, he probably knows Ji-hu.
They’ve probably been around him, Yunbok too.

The idea that the hands that have dug hard into his neck and ripped into his back might have touched
Ji-hu makes it too difficult to eat sometimes. He doesn’t even know the boy yet, but his heart aches in
a want to protect him the way it does for his siblings.

“Come on,” Jeongguk whines, nose wrinkling as he tilts Taehyung’s chin upwards. His lips are
pouted as he hovers the sponge over his face and it would be adorable and amusing if Taehyung
didn’t feel the way he did.

Jeongguk is gentle as he dabs the concealer under his eyes but he can’t help but wonder if Jeongguk
is ashamed to bring him to his place of work without any makeup on. Maybe he’s embarrassed that
Taehyung looks like he’s knocking on death’s door while Jeongguk himself looks as if he’s just
walked out of Heaven’s gate.

“I used to help my Eomma,” Jeongguk explains quietly as he blends the cream over his skin. “I don’t
actually know if I’m good or whatever, but it looks alright?”

Taehyung inspects himself in the mirror. He did do a good job, though the dead look in his eyes
makes the bags underneath them appear through the thin layer of cover up.

With a nod, he turns around to allow Jeongguk to continue. If it makes the man happy, maybe it will
make up for Taehyung burdening him the last few days with his sad coma.

He studies Jeongguk’s face as he gets back to work. His eyes are focused, lips slightly parted and
brows furrowed. He smiles whenever their eyes meet and it makes butterflies erupt into Taehyung’s
stomach.

It upset him to see how friendly Chung-Hoon had been with Jeongguk. He’s replayed the night over
in his head a thousand times, trying to make sense of it.

Jeongguk had called him a dick, had seemed aggravated when he spoke to Taehyung and he seemed
genuinely lost when Taehyung accused him of knowing Chung-Hoon.

He feels bad knowing he needs to trust Jeongguk more, to treat him better. He doesn’t understand
why it’s so difficult. When someone’s broken his trust before, their actions or their words always
foreshadowed it. Taehyung’s searching for that in Jeongguk and finding nothing.

When Jeongguk is finished, Taehyung’s cheeks are a little too rosy and the mascara is smudged a lot
on his eyelids, but he straightens it with a slide of his finger. Jeongguk combs out his hair and helps
him into the comfiest shirt he can find, not questioning it when Taehyung insists on wearing one of
his.

“Where are we going?”

Jeongguk slips on his own shirt, a soft lavender button up that has Taehyung’s stomach rolling with
dread.

He isn’t in a place where he can pretend to be happy or boyfriend-y. He knew the time would come
that Jeongguk would expect him to, but right now isn’t a good time. Whatever work event it is,
Taehyung hopes Jin isn’t there. Seeing Jin’s face will make him break down in front of all of
Jeongguk’s employees.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“Jeongguk -” Taehyung says tiredly as Jeongguk quickly buttons his shirt.

“You’ll love it,” Jeongguk insists, his eyes so bright and hopeful that Taehyung gives in with a sigh.
“For once, I’m not giving you a choice to say no.”

Taehyung’s stomach is in knots but Jeongguk looks so soft and fond when he says it that he finds his
feet trailing after Jeongguk.

The surprise ends up actually being Jeongguk’s work building and Taehyung frowns in confusion as
Jeongguk holds a hand out for him to help him out of the car, an excited smile playing at his lips. He
looks like a kid about to enter Lotte World, bouncing on his toes and teeth constantly rubbing over
his bottom lip like he’s trying and failing at not smiling.

“Are you going to explain?” Taehyung asks with a whine and a suspicious glance at the building.

The gleam in Jeongguk’s eye is loud and warm and Taehyung wants to bask in it’s rays. “No.”

The first thing Taehyung notices is the security that covers the front door which hadn’t been here the
last time Taehyung had visited Jeongguk at work. There had been a security guard, but only one.
Now there is a handful of them, who only glance at Jeongguk with a head nod and eyes glazing over
Taehyung like he isn’t there.

The second thing that he notices is the building is quite empty. He wonders if that is why it’s so well
guarded, but there must be times when the building is unoccupied and he isn’t sure why Jeongguk
would want it protected. There’s a lab inside somewhere, but he’s not convinced that there’s a lot of
people around ready to risk jail to steal some microscopes.

The third thing that Taehyung notices is that Jeongguk’s floor isn’t empty. He hears the muffle of
talking as he walks to the office. Jin’s desk comes first, and Taehyung’s heart leaps in his throat as he
notices the shoes on the ground beside it.

“Guk -” Taehyung starts, bending down to pick up Eunae’s hot pink flip flops. He stills when he
hears it, the sound of her laughter coming from Jeongguk’s office.

He forgets about Jeongguk behind him as he barges into the office, the tears already hot against his
eyelids. He hates crying in front of them, but he can’t help it when he catches Woojin’s giggle as
Eunae spins him in Jeongguk’s chair.

“Tae-hyungie!”

There’s little strength in his legs to begin with but they completely give out as his siblings run to him.
He buries his face into Eunae’s hair, hugging Woojin’s head close to his own. He swears that he’s
never felt as good as he does right now, feeling their bodies pressed against his own and them
wrapped in his arms. They giggle against him, fussing about his tight hold but they don’t let him go.

“I missed you,” Eunae giggles, rubbing her nose against his cheek in an attempted butterfly kiss.
“Why are you crying?”

When Taehyung pulls back, Eunae is looking worriedly at him but her eyes are bright. Woojin’s
aren’t, they’re big and round and fearful.

“Oh,” Taehyung huffs, laughing as he rubs their heads, “I’m just so happy to see you. I’ve missed
you so much.”

Eunae glances behind her and that’s when Taehyung notices Jin, watching them with glimmering
wet eyes. He nods in their direction but he stays back and lets Taehyung have his moment.

They’ve talked on the phone, of course, but even then Taehyung has been nervous of his phone calls
being traced. Jeongguk bought him a new phone, giving him a number that Hanbin doesn’t have, but
he’s still so nervous that he’ll be the reason Chung-Hoon finds Woojin again.

Especially after seeing him, here in Busan, close to his family. He doesn’t trust Jimin’s deal, but he
has to. Thinking about Jimin going with him for no reason is too hard to bear.

“Jin oppa said you can’t move with us because of work?”

Taehyung stands, wiping his face roughly before he presses a kiss to Woojin’s forehead. He still
looks stressed and when Taehyung moves, Woojin instantly moves after him. He doesn’t seem to
relax until Taehyung’s taken his hand into his own.

He holds tight, squeezing his promise of I won’t leave you and I won’t let you go into Woojin’s palm.
He used to whisper that into his hair after his mother died, when Woojin would scream and scream
and then go quiet, just trembling in his arms.
It was a promise he's broke too many times to count.

“That’s um, right yeah.”

Behind him, he can feel Jeongguk lingering in the doorway and it’s confirmed when Eunae glances
at him. Her lips pull into a small smirk, amusement in her eyes and Taehyung groans internally.

So often she reminds him of Jin. They may not be blood related but Eunae hadn’t barely been alive a
year when Taehyung had left her and Woojin with Jin. He’s always been the only caretaker really -
she’s always been more Jin’s than his and it’s obvious in her mannerisms and her love for mischief.

But it’s also in the way she cares for Woojin despite being younger, the laugh that always whips
from her lungs and fills the apartment whenever Taehyung’s needing a reason to smile.

“He said not every boy has a hyung like you and that they get really sad so you’re gonna be his
hyung for a little while because everyone needs a hyung. So I’m okay with it but I’m gonna be sad
too so can we share?”

Taehyung hesitates, glancing at Jin whose eyes are widening with panic with every word that slips
from her lips. “What?”

“Eunae, that’s not -” Jin starts, holding a hand out as if to stop her but she talks over him. Woojin
clutches hard onto his hand, pulling it closer to his chest.

“You’re gonna be Ji-hu’s hyung so he isn’t sad. You’re gonna teach him how to be a good hyung
for when he has a baby brother.”

Jin is shaking his head, lips parted and pouted like he’s trying to come up with something to respond
to the look Taehyung gives him. He jerks his head to the side a few times before laughing. Jeongguk
makes a choking noise behind him and Taehyung wants to turn to look at him but he can’t turn his
eyes from Jin.

He rocks back on his heels, hands clutching behind his back and swinging. He blinks a few times,
cocking his head to the side before he finally looks to Jeongguk and speaks, cheeks brightening red.

“So, Jeongguk, I found a perfect nanny for you.”

Since the moment he stepped into his office, Woojin’s eyes have been flicking over to him
constantly. Jeongguk tries to keep a kind smile on his face as not to startle the boy, but he isn’t sure
how good it is. Eunae looks like she’s up to no good every time she glances at him, a mischievous
smile on her lips like it’s permanent. It reminds him of Jin.

He doesn’t know if he’s allowed to be in the room with them, but he wants to make sure that
Taehyung is safe. He’s given every one the day off, hired the best security team in the country in
hopes that Taehyung isn’t afraid of visiting his siblings. Jeongguk wants him to enjoy it.

Seeing him the way he’s been the last week has broken Jeongguk’s heart. He’s seen depression
before, with his father. It’s frustrating not knowing what to do. This had been his best idea, but he
had to push it off because Jin disappeared with the kids when Chung-Hoon came to town for Jimin.

Taehyung has been a mess since. Jeongguk wishes he remembered more from that night, worrying
that Taehyung may have needed him and he had been too drunk to help him. He woke up in his
guest room to the sounds of Taehyung crying in his actual bedroom.
“For when he has a baby brother.”

Jeongguk chokes on an inhale. He’s not against having more children, but he’s not ready for it. He
can barely handle one and usually his nanny does most of the work for him. Hell, Jeongguk can’t
even pick out a good nanny. He pushed it off onto Jin because he can’t handle the stress of it.

Jin looks guilty as hell, his eyes bright with it and Taehyung’s entire body goes tense. He’s missing
something and he wants to sink away when Jin looks at him.

“So, Jeongguk, I found a nanny for you.”

He stares blankly at Jin for a few seconds as Taehyung turns to look at him and then back at Jin.
“What?” they both say in unison.

“Hear me out,” Jin says hesitantly, hands darting out in front of him. Woojin is still looking at
Jeongguk, his head cocked slightly as he moves into Taehyung’s side and presses his cheek there. “I
never said anything about you having another kid, it just - I didn’t know what to say when she asked
for how long.”

Taehyung takes a step forward, jostling Woojin a bit but he cups a hand around his head to hold him
close. “What are you talking about?”

The nervous laughter Jin makes comes out in hiccups. His face is starting to turn red and Jeongguk
can only look at him in confusion. His mind isn’t putting the pieces together fast enough. Eunae
keeps looking at him, blinking constantly the way Jin does and it makes Jeongguk feel the way he
did the first time he met Grace’s parents.

“Well, Guk put me in charge of finding him a nanny because he sucks at it. He hates everyone that’s
applied and he will hate everyone else that could apply. He doesn’t hate you. Trusts you.”

Taehyung makes a strange noise as Jeongguk contemplates Jin’s words. It could relieve Taehyung of
his unnecessary stress to pay him back. He had gone over a bunch of different ideas of what
Taehyung could do, hoping it would bring Taehyung peace despite Jeongguk really not wanting
anything in return.

“Trusting me with a credit card he doesn’t use is a lot different than trusting me with his son,”
Taehyung says under his breath, his voice steady but there’s an emotion in it that Jeongguk can’t
name.

“I’d trust you with him,” Jeongguk says before he can stop himself. “This is actually perfect if you
think about it.”

Jin’s face lights up as Taehyung stares at Jeongguk blankly. He’s tense again and Jeongguk takes a
step forward hesitantly like he’s afraid of Taehyung breaking into a thousand pieces across his office
floor.

“You’re already staying with me and you wouldn’t have to find a new apartment unless you wanted
to.”

“It won’t conflict with the clinic,” Jin supplies, gesturing a wild hand at Jeongguk behind
Taehyung’s back to encourage him to keep going. “Ji-hu is in class when you’re at work. You’d be
able to pick up more days.”

“You can see it as a way to pay off -” Jeongguk hesitates, glancing at Eunae who stares up at him
with bright eyes, “the um, thing.”
Taehyung’s eyes narrow slightly as he pulls Woojin closer to his hip.

“Oh really? And how much do you pay your nannies?”

“The exact amount you think you owe,” Jeongguk says, grinning slightly when Taehyung flushes.

“And look at this,” Jin says, dragging Taehyung’s attention back to him and breaking the gaze
Taehyung and Jeongguk share, “you won’t miss any of the dance recitals because Woojin and Eunae
are in Ji-hu’s class. And also play dates. Lots of them.”

Taehyung’s lip wobbles as he pets his hand over Woojin’s hair. His eyes have turned into wide
crescents but Jeongguk still can’t read what the emotion in them is. “Are we stuck in this office or
can we explore?”

Jeongguk is confused by the question for a moment before he steps out of the way of the door.
“That’s why there’s security,” he says quietly as he nudges his head towards the security camera in
the corner. Normally he doesn’t allow one in his office but today is a special circumstance.

Taehyung accepts this with a nod and puts both hands behind his siblings head before he guides
them out, lips tugged down. Jeongguk glares at Jin, throwing a hand at them quietly as they leave the
room.

“A little heads up would have been nice,” Jeongguk whispers harshly. “Or consulting me at all,
actually.”

Jin doesn’t look bothered. “You told me 'just hire someone, I don’t care anymore hyung’ remember?
This will be good for the both of you. You won’t have to worry about a nanny, or Tae living
somewhere unsafe. Tae will be able to be around kids again. He loves kids, Guk. He’s really good
with them.”

“He told me he’s waiting for me to strike and drop a bomb of what I’m expecting as repayment,”
Jeongguk mutters thoughtfully, cocking his head. Jin’s eyes brighten more. “This would be a good
thing, yes? I don’t want to make him do anything though.”

Jin snorts loudly. “Knowing you, you’ll still pay him.”

Jeongguk grins. “Of course, hyung.”

When they find Taehyung and the kids again, it’s in the cafeteria. It isn’t big or lavish and most of his
employees go to the restaurants or food stands on the same street around their building instead.
There’s vending machines and the food Jeongguk and Jin had cooked the night before placed out on
one of the display tables.

They’ve already helped themselves, plates and bowls full of food between them. Woojin wiggles
across the seat, feet kicking under the bench as his lips move like he’s speaking. He’s quite small, his
toes barely reaching the floor below him. Eunae is beside Taehyung, giggling along as she eats, her
chopsticks going into Taehyung’s bowl other than her own.

“I’m gonna be in the office,” Jeongguk whispers to Jin.

As he starts to turn, Jin clutches onto his arm with a smile. “Stay. Taehyung won’t mind. Woojin is
really excited to see you again. He asked if you would be here when we were getting ready this
morning.”
Jeongguk glances at the boy, unsure. It hurts to see him giggle as he thinks about Chung-Hoon, the
reason they’re hidden in the locked down building in the first place. There are times that Taehyung
radiates such gentleness that Jeongguk is almost afraid of breaking him with a simple touch and
Woojin is the same.

“I won’t scare him?”

“Maybe,” Jin admits, a hand on Jeongguk’s back to encourage him forward. “Don’t treat him
differently, he picks up on that. Just think of him as really shy and don’t be offended if he doesn’t
answer questions or look at you.”

Jeongguk isn’t worried about that. Both Woojin and Eunae constantly glance at him and it makes his
ears feel hot.

They’re ten and eight, Jeongguk reminds himself. Nothing to be intimidated by. He already has the
approval of the oldest sibling, he wants it from the little ones too.

“Jeongguk-ssi made the japchae,” Jin says to announce their presence as they both pad over.
Taehyung’s cheeks are rounder than ever with food, his lips pursed together and eyes widening in
surprise at their sudden presence.

Jeongguk’s heart soars at seeing Taehyung eat. He’s had to basically force him to the last couple of
days and even then, Taehyung took the smallest of bites, chewed them for too long and swallowed
like it hurt his throat to do so.

“It’s yummy,” Eunae says before she takes a big bite as if to show him, her cheeks bulging as she
forces the food into her mouth.

“Hey, easy,” Jin scolds gently as he takes the seat next to Taehyung.

It leaves Jeongguk beside Woojin. The boy glances up at him curiously but goes back to his bowl
and Jeongguk relaxes slightly when he takes a bite.

“Thank you, Miss,” Jeongguk says, bowing his head towards Eunae until she giggles, pressing a
palm over her mouth as not to spit out any noodles.

“I’m Eunae,” she says when she swallows. She pushes up on her knees and curls an arm around
Taehyung’s neck as he feeds her another bite.

“Jeongguk,” he says before glancing at Woojin. He bites his lip, not wanting to startle the boy but he
isn’t looking at him. “And you’re Woojin?”

Woojin rips his head up, glancing at him and then Taehyung before he nods. “Ji-hu’s Appa.”

Jeongguk nods, smiling softly. He curls his shoulders some, sinking lower to seem less big beside
him.

“Oppa’s boyfriend,” Eunae supplies, a stern look on her face as she corrects her youngest brother.

Taehyung chokes so violently that noodles fly from his mouth and Jin hits him hard in the back,
attempting to help. Woojin startles as Taehyung’s eyes water from the choking and Jeongguk arm
jerks out to touch his back when Woojin stands up, not wanting him to fall. He yanks his hand back
when Woojin glances worriedly at him and tenses under the touch.

“Sorry,” Taehyung gasps, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes are watering, his
face growing redder than Jeongguk’s ever seen it before. “What did you say?”

Eunae shrugs as she picks a piece of meat and plops it into her mouth. “That’s what Jin oppa said.”

All eyes turn to Jin, who also is red in the face again. “In my defense, I did say that.”

Taehyung slaps him in the shoulder. When he glances at Jeongguk it’s only for a moment before he
goes shy and turns down towards his food.

“BUT,” Jin says loudly before dropping his voice into a scolding whisper, “I only said that because
you left a picture behind at the apartment.”

Jeongguk feels his neck grow hot as Taehyung tenses, glancing at him again. They haven’t talked
about the pictures and Jeongguk doesn’t know what Taehyung has done with them. He didn’t realize
he had been in any of them, though he isn’t surprised to hear that he was.

“Innocent,” Jin whispers with a reassuring pat to Taehyung’s back.

“You were kissing,” Eunae explains and there’s a touch to his wrist that has Jeongguk looking at
where Woojin gently brushes the gold watch there. He pulls his fingers away quickly, eyes wide and
apologetic. Jeongguk gives him a reassuring smile before he takes it off and hands it to him. “Ji-hu
says you can only kiss someone like that if you’re gonna get married but you can’t marry someone
who’s not your boyfriend?”

Eyes turn to him and Eunae cocks her head, demanding an answer. Neither Woojin and Eunae look
exactly like Taehyung the way Ji-hu looks so similar to Jeongguk, but the eye shapes are the same
and the pouted lips are. Jeongguk suspects Woojin will grow to have the same boxy smile but they’re
both short, unlike Taehyung.

“Ji-hu told you that, huh?” Jeongguk asks as he finally gets up the nerve to grab a bowl and steal
some of the food sitting between them. He had been afraid of moving too much and startling Woojin
but Woojin plays with his watch with a small smile on his lips and Jeongguk finds it safe.

He tries to remember what Jin said; to not treat Woojin differently. He finds it difficult not to walk on
eggshells around him because he’s desperate not to make him upset.

Eunae and Woojin exchange glances before they both nod, Eunae a bit too excitedly. “Yeah. Jin
oppa is going to marry Namu, right?”

This time it’s Jin who chokes, his mouth just as full as Eunae’s had been when he scolded her. It
takes him a minute to swallow as they all share their giggles over food.

“Okay, that’s enough for now. Eunae please stop being nosy, it’s rude.”

Yoongi doesn’t feel the sense of lightness and relief that he thought he would feel as soon as he sees
his home. It hasn’t changed any since he’s last visited. The Jeon home is more his childhood home
than here, but his mother grew up in Daegu before working for Jun-ki and it is her home.

She won’t stop fussing over him, squeezing his cheeks and telling him that he needs to eat more. He
isn’t surprised when she pulls him into the kitchen first, a determined look in her eye to get him fat
and round by the time he leaves. He lets her do as she wishes, knowing there isn’t any point in trying
to get her to stop. Her head is harder than a rock.
“So tell me, tell me, how does it feel to be a star, baby?”

Yoongi flushes, glancing around the kitchen. There’s a man’s watch in the tray beside the
refrigerator and he frowns. It’s out of place among the kitchenware, like it’s been thrown there
absentmindedly. “It’s nice Eomma. I’m looking for someone to sign me.”

Jinju looks over her shoulder, frowning before she goes back to the dough she is rolling over the
counter. “What about the company? Hanbin’s right?”

A grunt passes his lips before he can stop it. “Long story. It’s better anyway.”

His mother sighs, her eyes burning with more questions but thankfully she knows when not to push
it. “And Jeongguk? How’s Ji-hu doing?”

“Good, good,” Yoongi hums, nodding along as he speaks. He doesn’t want her to mention Jimin, he
prays that she doesn’t mention him. “Ji-hu is in America right now but he’s coming home next week
I think. Hobi moved out uh, so I might stay with Guk for a little bit until I find a place. Or here, if it’s
cool.”

Jinju walks over with her powdered hands and places them onto his cheeks, squishing them. “Of
course my little dumpling. You’re always welcome here. But -”

The moment her eyes grow unsure, Yoongi’s stomach drops into his butt. Even though she smiles,
the look in her eyes makes him worried. Especially when she diverts them and rubs her palms over
her apron - something she used to slap his hands for doing.

“I think there’s something I should tell you, Yoongi baby. I didn’t know how to tell you over the
phone. No, the truth is you’ve never been a fan of me dating and I knew you would fuss.”

Yoongi’s stomach has dropped so low it’s left his body.

She turns her back to him as she starts forming the dough shape. She hums for a few minutes before
she speaks, Yoongi’s eyes glued to her back. “Well, he’s a very nice man Yoongi. You’ll like him
quite a lot. He bought me the farm I always wanted. We can go spend some time there together.”

Yoongi glances at the man’s watch again, dread rushing through his veins. His mother’s never dated
much, or at least, not to his knowledge. He doesn’t know what happened to his father, he doesn’t
really care.

But his mother is right. He has fussed the few times she’s gone on dates. He’s always scowled at
those who pursued her, even if he hadn’t realized he was doing so. He's been scolded a lot over his
life time for it.

“Does he live here?”

“Of course,” Jinju says quickly before she tenses. “I mean, well.”

Jinju turns, resting her palms on the edge of the counter as she stares at him, a hesitant look in her
eyes. Yoongi’s stomach drops.

“Well, we married last April,” she says, making Yoongi fall still.

Yoongi nods, finally coming back to. He huffs out a quiet laugh. It sounds a little hysterical despite
the fact with all the shit going on right now, he should be happy his mother is happy.
It’s just - his mother.

“You could have told me that over the phone.”

“You could have come home.”

Silence falls around them as they connect eyes. His mother’s expression is soft and loving and
Yoongi drops his eyes into his lap in shame. He could have. Daegu isn’t that far of a travel, yet
they’ve lived like they’re an ocean length apart.

It makes him feel selfish. He’s been so wrapped up in his own life that his mother couldn’t even tell
him that she was getting married.

Maybe she’s lonely. It’s always been the two of them, even when they were living with the Jeons.
They had a section of the house to themselves, their own apartment. Yoongi would help her around
the house before she shooed him off with Jeongguk.

When Yoongi left for college it was the first time they were really apart. When Jun-ki fired her, they
drifted even more.

Guilt pours through him and he feels the frown tugging hard on his lips.

“I know, Eomma. I’m sorry. I’ve been going through a lot. That’s no excuse, I know.”

Jinju clicks her teeth before she’s on him again, rubbing a palm over his cheek and cooing. “That’s
why you should come home more often, sweet boy.”

“Have you been lonely, Eomma?”

Her touch slips away as she smiles softly. There’s something in her eyes that Yoongi can’t read and
he reaches out, taking her hand into his own. The ring is there, glistening over a wrinkled finger. It
looks expensive, like the jewelry Mrs. Jeon used to wear for fancy events.

“I know that look, Yoongi. Don’t feel bad for being wrapped up in your own problems. Your
Eomma is strong,” she says.

Yoongi rubs his lips together, unsure. “I didn’t think about how upset you would have been after
Jun-ki fired you until now. You had worked for him for a long time.”

Her expression is soft. Yoongi had been with Jimin, their bare toes touching as Jimin whined about
his homework when his mother called him to tell him she was returning to Daegu. She wanted to
open a restaurant, but Jun-ki hadn’t left her with enough money. He hadn't left her with any money.

Yoongi had raged on Jeongguk, though he felt bad afterwards because Jeongguk had looked like a
wounded animal and just let Yoongi yell at him even though it hadn’t been his fault. A few weeks
later, his mother had her restaurant.

Jeongguk’s denied having anything to do with it and Yoongi’s wondered if it had been Jun-ki, trying
to make up for ruining his mother’s life.

“He’s a very wounded man, Yoongi. He’s living but he’s not alive. I hold no anger towards him,
only understanding. He apologized only days after letting me go, crying so hard on the phone it
broke my heart.”

It had been an awful time after Jeongguk’s mother passed. The brightness and joy that had come and
surrounded them after Ji-hu was born had disappeared so quickly.

“I think Jeongguk’s in love.”

Jinju brightens at the change of topic. “Oh he deserves it. He has so much love in that heart of his.
Just as much as you. Speaking of. I know this surprise visit of yours must have something to do with
-”

There’s the sound of door beeping open and Jinju presses her lips shut and pats his cheek in
excitement. Yoongi would be glad for the interruption and pushing his mother away from the Jimin
conversation if it were for any other reason other than meeting his mother’s new husband.

“That’s him now. Please be nice, Yoongi love. He’s a good man, I promise you.”

Yoongi grunts. His need to be home and be comforted is going to be difficult watching his mother
and a man together. It’s not something he wants to deal with right now, or ever really. It’s selfish so
he won’t say a word, he’ll try to be as pleasing as possible.

He wants to call Jimin so bad it physically fucking hurts.

The man in question is a big man, tall and thick shouldered. He’s older, his hair peppered and his
goatee white. He wears a suit, his round belly pushing out against the buttons of his dress shirt.
There’s a hesitant smile on his lips when he spots Yoongi, who grows tense under the gaze, but it
quickly changes in recognition.

“Jinju love, you didn’t tell me your son was visiting? I could have stayed home from work!”

“He surprised me,” Jinju hums happily as she pinches Yoongi’s cheek. Yoongi doesn’t like the
overall look of the man and he isn’t biased because it’s his mother. He isn’t. He was hoping his
mother would marry Jun-ki after his wife’s death. Much after it, of course.

(Jeongguk had hit him hard when he confessed this and Jun-ki ended up firing her instead, so he
hasn’t mentioned it since.)

“Well son, how are you? How was your trip?”

Yoongi frowns as he bites the inside of his cheek. He’s too friendly, too familiar though they’ve
never met. He’s not his son and Yoongi hates being called that. It’s stupid for him to be annoyed by
friendliness but Yoongi can’t help the mood from filling him anyway.

“Good,” Yoongi says without any oomph and his mother pinches him. “Just fine, thank you for
asking.”

He’s carrying a briefcase that he places down on the kitchen counter before he presses a kiss to
Jinju’s forehead. He turns to him, a smile on his face and Yoongi doesn’t like it. He looks rich, his fat
fingers covered in rings that cost more than Yoongi’s life.

“Your mother tells me you’re working for B.B. Entertainment?”

Yoongi shakes his head. His mother can have every cent she needs from him, but no one else. The
man might look as if he doesn’t need money, but he’s learned those with the most always want more.
“I was fired.”

The man raises his eyebrows at this. “I’ll have to give Hanbin a call.”
A chill rushes down Yoongi’s spine as he freezes at the sudden mention of Hanbin. He can feel his
mother watching them with careful eyes but he can’t help it. His mother’s husband smiles softly,
bowing his head in apology.

“If you wish, of course. Hanbin is my nephew, he can be quite hard headed.”

His mother turns then, smiling softly as pats her husband - gag - on the chest. “Yoongi baby, you’ve
met before do you remember? Kim Sungho. Yunbok-ssi’s eldest hyung. He used to come to your
birthday parties that the Jeons threw for you.”

Yoongi glances at him and back at his mother before he stands from the counter and walks off to his
room without a word. He sees her smile start to turn into a frown when he turns his back to her, and
he feels bad because there’s no way she could know.

His life is a fucking joke. He’s run from home to forget about Hanbin and Bobby and what they’ve
done just to run straight into their uncle.

The light flickers into the hallway where Taehyung hesitates. He’s drained after today but in a good
way; a satiated way. He already misses his kids but there’s now a hope inside of him that he’ll see
them again sometime soon.

It had bothered him thinking that they wouldn’t be okay without him and though it still hurts to think
that they don’t need him, he’s relieved to see that they’re okay. He never doubted that Jin would take
care of them well.

After a moment of gathering his courage, Taehyung coughs lightly to announce his presence.
Jeongguk stirs, glancing over the back of the couch where he lays. He looks sleepy, his hair sticking
out in tufts and hand marks on his cheek. As soon as they had gotten home he had changed into a
white shirt and sweatpants, a look that Taehyung didn’t realize would affect his heart so much.

“Hey, you alright?”

Taehyung nods, leaning into the wall. He doesn’t feel like being alone anymore. Actually, the idea of
laying in Jeongguk’s massive room by himself is unsettling. After days of wanting to be alone and
shoving Jeongguk away, he wants to pull him close.

“Do you need something?”

It isn’t cold, but Taehyung stiffens, ready to retreat before Jeongguk pats the cushion and invites him
over. Jeongguk must realize because his words are softer when he speaks again.

“Wanna watch with me?”

The way his heart hops in his chest and his feet stutter over the floor makes him feel a bit pathetic,
but he doesn’t stop himself from curling beside Jeongguk anyway.

He stops Jeongguk from moving away by settling against his chest, tucking his face there with his
back to the television. Jeongguk only stiffens for a moment before one arm curls around Taehyung’s
waist and the arm he had under his head slips under Taehyung’s to idly play with his hair.

It’s like his body relaxes further with Jeongguk’s warmth and affectionate touches. He can’t help the
way he clings to him, pushing into him until they’re pressed tightly together. Their legs intertwine as
Taehyung pushes a knee between Jungkook’s thighs and hooks their ankles.
Jeongguk doesn’t mention it, only hums quietly. His heart beats steadily against his sternum and
Taehyung nuzzles against his chest, breathing softly over his collarbone. It's unfair of Taehyung, to
be so cruel, the push and the pull, yet Jeongguk never complains.

“Did you enjoy today?” Jeongguk murmurs as if he’s afraid to disrupt the quiet settling over them.

“Yes, thank you.”

The feeling that came with seeing his siblings after this last week of hell had been indescribable. He
hadn’t wanted to leave them but he left with a promise to see them soon, which is more than he had
before.

Now that he knows Jin is okay with him seeing them he feels like a few of his pieces have been put
back together. He wants to be worthy of them, to deserve to be around them and love them the way
they deserve. When Jin took them, even though it had been for a good reason and Taehyung knows ,
it had hurt almost as badly as losing his mother.

Jeongguk falls quiet for a moment, his fingers rubbing over Taehyung’s scalp. “Sorry about the
nanny thing. I promise Jin didn’t talk to me about it.”

Taehyung pulls away some, his eyes on the way Jeongguk’s throat moves as he swallows. He wants
to kiss him there, or stroke his Adam’s apple gently with his fingers but he does neither.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jeongguk goes on, talking under his breath like he doesn’t want to say the
words out loud. Taehyung whispers in his mind for Jeongguk to look at him, but his eyes stay
planted on the television.

He isn’t sure. He hadn’t thought about it at first, wanting to put all of his energy into his siblings. It’s
not a bad idea, but he isn’t quite sure what to make of it.

“We can talk about it, though later, please? I’m sleepy.”

Jeongguk nods, the arm around Taehyung’s waist tightening. “Of course, babe.”

Taehyung doesn’t know if it’s a slip of the tongue but it gives him enough confidence to tilt his head
until his lips brush under Jeongguk’s chin.

It’s nerve wracking. It’s never been so difficult to ask for someone to kiss him before.

“Jeongguk?”

Jeongguk looks down at him and he starts to pull back as their noses touch from how close they are
but Taehyung pushes forward instead, his knee digging into Jeongguk’s thigh for leverage. The
brush of his lips is a question, the way they part a plea.

“Tae,” Jeongguk says hesitantly, but his palm flattens over Taehyung’s spine and keeps him pressed
close.

It’s enough to encourage Taehyung further, his lips pressing more firmly until they’re slotting against
Jeongguk’s in a way that makes warmth wrap over his skin.

The hand in his hair slides to his neck, angling Taehyung’s head until the strain there subsides.
Jeongguk kisses him back tenderly, the drag of his lips slow as if he has the entirety of his life to
spend kissing him.
 There’s no heat behind it, only warmth. Jeongguk kisses like he knows Taehyung needs it and
Taehyung hopes that Jeongguk needs it too.

Taehyung pulls away first, letting his lips linger against Jeongguk’s for a moment before he nuzzles
his face back against his chest, feeling like he may finally be able to fall asleep.

Chapter End Notes

some of you predicted the nanny thing way before in the earlier chapters and I was
shook lmao. I have like 206k written so far for this chapter and I'm thinking around 25
chapters altogether. Not set in stone since this was supposed to only be like ten to begin
with lmao

I post previews and stuff on twitter if you're interested @taehcheeks and i'm taecheeks
on tumblr. Also curiouscat. I love receiving questions and knowing how you guys feel
about the fic!!!

This one was short, but I promise the next chapter is longer and my man Joon is finally
making a comeback T T
 Chapter 17
Chapter Notes

Please read: I'm now at @taehcheeks on twitter and @taecheeks on tumblr. I'm hoping
to change my ao3 soon too just a heads up so you don't get confused if you've
subscribed.

Secondly, there was no intention of bringing actual choking kink into this fic or daddy
kink but it kind of slipped out in this chapter so there's that.

The next few chapters are going to have a lot of back story thrown in and secrets
revealed. I've read over it a thousand times to make sure it's not confusing, but author's
always see things differently than readers so if at any point you're confused - don't be
afraid to send me questions.

Also, there will be violence over the next few chapters both implied and described.
Namjoon is finally here, he was supposed to be in it a lot more but nearly my entire plan
for this story has gone somewhere else while I've written it lol.

Lastly, over 700 kudos!!! Thank you so much I love you all T T. I have no idea how
this chapter got to be so long it's 23k?? I've never written a chapter that long??

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Hoseok spits on the ground before he hugs his chin to his arm. It rests over the top of the hot car, the
metal burning him through the thin sleeve of his shirt but he doesn’t flinch back. He peers, eyes
narrowed under the yellow shades hugging his nose.

He normally doesn’t leave Jimin alone for more than a few minutes at the time if he can help it, but
Jimin had kicked him out after he found out that Hoseok managed to sneak his gun into the brothel.
He knows it has more to do with the fact that Jimin's stressed than actually angry with him.

Jimin’s spiraling. Before, if Hoseok hadn’t known Jimin, he wouldn’t be able to tell that Jimin has a
brewing storm of pain inside of him. Now it seeps out of him and heavies the air around them. It
comes out in snapped remarks and frustrated noises when Hoseok hasn’t done anything.

When they first met, Jimin had been working in a shotty club a district over from their campus.
Chung-Hoon owned it, though it was rare for him to make an appearance. He remembers the one
time Chung-Hoon had, the fear in Jimin’s eyes as he tried to convince Hoseok to leave, but then
stood up to Chung-Hoon with a bored look in his eyes. He had even rolled them at one point but
now Jimin can’t even take a scolding from his mother without tears brimming his eyelids.

Hoseok’s worried that he’s about to break for good. He doesn’t know what to do to be of comfort, if
it’s wrong of him to insist on staying when Jimin yelled at him to get the fuck out, but not being
around him has him on edge.

Needing the comfort of her smile and the constant fawning she always does over him, Hoseok’s
sought out his other favorite Min. She’d know what to do, give him advice on how to take care of
Jimin even without him telling her who he needs to take care.
It was fate pulling him to where he needed to be.

He shouldn’t be staring so obviously but Hoseok couldn’t give two fucks. He feels confused, a little
worried, and wishing he had better vision as he takes in the scene before him.

It’s fucking Yoongi, Min Yoongi, of all the people in this world, standing outside the apartment
complex. He looks a little uncomfortable, eyes big and lip trapped between his teeth, but it’s the
wrong look to give the man that he’s talking to. His first thought upon seeing him was that he was
here to see his mother. His second was that maybe Yoongi was enough of an idiot to chase after
Jimin because his heart controls his actions more than his brain.

As much as Hoseok wants to punch Yoongi in the neck just thinking about him doing something so
reckless, if anyone knows how to take care of Jimin it’s him.

The man he’s talking to deserves a look of pure hatred and rage, and both those emotions are gone
from Yoongi’s expression. He wonders if he knows who that man is. When Hoseok first saw them
together, he was sure he had been mistaken. But a double take and a triple take and Hoseok can’t
deny what he’s seeing.

Yoongi is talking to Chung-Hoon. Possibly offering him a deal as he talks slowly and with his hands
the way he does when he’s explaining something that he’s serious about. Possible different scenarios
run through Hoseok’s head and he frowns at all of them.

He’s a good actor, he’s very good at keeping his expression blank and bored if need be, but when it
comes to Jimin, Yoongi’s so easy to read an infant could do it. He wouldn’t be able to hide how
weak and desperate he was for Jimin to come home with him no matter how hard he tried. Especially
not enough to fool Chung-Hoon.

But there’s no way it could be just a coincidence. There’s no reason for them to know each other at
all except for Jimin.

If it were possible to storm between them without Chung-Hoon possibly taking it out on Jimin,
Hoseok would. Anything Hoseok does wrong is taken out on Jimin because Chung-Hoon knows
Hoseok would take any blow for Jimin without a second thought.

A beat forms under Hoseok’s fingers as he taps away at the hood, watching the interaction. He knew
Chung-Hoon owned apartments here, it was his business to know. He didn’t like Chung-Hoon being
so close to Yoongi’s mother, but there are over six hundred apartments inside the tall building and
Chung-Hoon looks like a penthouse suite kind of guy. Mrs. Min is doing well, but nothing close to
that.

He isn’t expecting the way Chung-Hoon reaches out and pats Yoongi’s shoulder in a fond way.
Yoongi glances at it, a scowl forming obviously on his face and Hoseok huffs out a laugh that he
buries into his forearm. No one looks at Chung-Hoon like that and has a face afterwards.

What the fuck are they doing?

The scowl remains on Yoongi’s face though Hoseok can tell that he tries to smile here and there,
making him look more constipated than anything. It would be amusing if Chung-Hoon wasn’t
constantly touching Yoongi as they talk. It’s too… friendly .

It makes his hip tickle and fingers ache with the urge to pull out the piece tucked under the band of
his pants but there is nothing hostile about the interaction. Plus, it’s broad daylight and they’re in
public. Not that that would stop him if something were truly happening to Yoongi.
Hoseok hasn’t been allowed to get between Kitty and Jimin any time she slaps him for disrespecting
Chung-Hoon. Jimin threatened to have him banned if he tried, frustrating him with his weird
obsession with needing to be loved by the woman, and the urge to cause some damage is growing
stronger inside of him day by day.

It’s difficult to sit back and watch Jimin’s skin blossom red and blue, break open and leave scars
behind. He hates sitting back when Jimin sobs out but Jimin made him promise he wouldn’t move
unless he used his safe word, unless Hoseok saw a danger that Jimin didn’t.

They’ll kill you if you don’t walk right, Hobi. Please, I’m begging you.

Chung-Hoon’s fond of Min’s Kitchen, taking Jimin there nearly every morning. It was the worst
kind of coincidence, especially for Jimin who’s technically the owner and in love with the other
owner’s son. He wonders if Chung-Hoon knows that because Yoongi certainly doesn’t. He could be
close to Jinju because of it, but Hoseok can’t imagine a flower befriending a pesticide.

Chung-Hoon owns these streets. Maybe they know each other that way. He collects tax from a lot of
the store owners on his property; Mrs. Min must be no different even if she makes the best hangover
stew in Daegu.

When Yoongi and Chung-Hoon get into the same car, Hoseok cusses quietly and rushes into his
own. He’s good at being discreet, at being a fly on the wall, but Chung-Hoon’s got a third eye when
it comes to bugs.

Hoseok suspects he isn’t the only one. He’s blended into the intricately decorated walls of the brothel
enough that men have slipped up around him, not realizing he was there. Undercover or infiltrating,
Hoseok can’t tell, but he’s heard the whispered horror stories of what Chung-Hoon has done to his
men who have wronged him, from big betrayals to showing up a few minutes late to a drop off.

He keeps his distance and when Chung-Hoon stops in front of Min’s Kitchen, Hoseok keeps going.
He only glances to make sure Yoongi still looks calm, though slightly awkward and drives right by.

When he looks up into the rear view, he catches Chung-Hoon’s gaze and a shiver runs up Hoseok’s
back.

Taehyung glances warily at the cart stocked full of home goods. Jeongguk looks unbothered, eyeing
the shelves with a curious look as he pushes the carriage beside him. His arms don’t strain, but his
veins poke out from underneath the skin of his forearms and Taehyung wonders if he’s picked out
too much.

“What about this?” Jeongguk asks, nudging his head towards a lamp with a base the shape of a
gargoyle.

“We’re going for soft and homey, not whatever that is,” Taehyung huffs out with a shake of his
head. He wants to tuck his chin over Jeongguk’s shoulder but he doesn’t know where they stand.

Certainly being his new nanny complicates things a bit. He feels less like Jeongguk’s whore but he
doesn’t feel any closer to being Jeongguk’s lover like he had before. Maybe friend, he isn’t sure yet.

Jeongguk shrugs, seemingly unattached to the gargoyle lamp as he points to the simple golden one
beside it. The deal was Taehyung would nanny if he could decorate, since Jeongguk’s home is now
his - even if temporary.
It had been a joke at first, but now here they are in the home goods store with a cart full of
decorations and fabrics that Taehyung has picked out after ignoring Jeongguk’s unhelpful
suggestions.

“What about this?”

There’s an eagerness in Jeongguk’s eyes like he’s excited to please so Taehyung gives in and tucks
the lamp post into the limited space in the carriage. They’re going to need a second one if Jeongguk
wants to continue shopping though Taehyung is feeling uneasy by the price tags.

He’s never been able to spend money like he has a bottomless pit of it. Even when he was bringing
in millions of won a week, he had to be frugal because anything that he didn’t use on the kids had to
go back to Bobby and it was never enough.

For a long time he had been resistant of Jin’s help, but Jin had stopped telling him when payments
were due and paying for them himself. A big raise from his new boss made Jin nearly threaten
Taehyung to stop using his money for anything other than his debt.

It’s ironic and Taehyung would laugh if his heart didn’t clench every time he thought about it, but
Jeon Jeongguk’s been helping him since even before they met.

He still doesn’t believe in destiny but sometimes when he looks at Jeongguk, he wants to.

“I think we’re done?”

Jeongguk pouts when he looks at the carriage. He holds an air of power around him at all times,
walking through the store like he owns it, but then he pouts and makes his eyes big like a child.
Taehyung’s fond.

“You didn’t get anything for your room.”

Taehyung wants to remind Jeongguk that it isn’t technically his but he could mean the one he’ll
move into when Ji-hu comes home. Jeongguk hasn’t mentioned it at all but Taehyung suspects he
won’t want his son to see the nanny sleeping in his Appa’s room while Appa sleeps wherever he
sleeps at night.

He probably doesn’t want the boy to see them sleeping together, either. Taehyung has to find a way
to get Jeongguk to sleep in bed with him before the boy comes home and the chances of it happening
are null. He just wants to know what it feels like to wake up next to the man and he regrets missing
out on it before.

“I haven’t decided which one I want. Does one have a better view?” Taehyung tries, fiddling with
the decorative glass vases he has placed in the basket beside his bag.

Jeongguk’s pout forms into a frown as he pushes the carriage down the aisle of lamps and turns
towards the bedroom section. “I was under the impression you were going to stay in mine? You’ve
already rearranged it the way you like and you can kind of see the ocean, I know you like that.”

Butterflies erupt in Taehyung’s belly and he nibbles on his bottom lip, unsure. He doesn’t know
himself why he feels better in Jeongguk’s room, more so than anywhere else in the house. He doubts
it’s because it smells like Jeongguk and it’s the only room that really feels like Jeongguk.

It’s probably his bed. It’s the biggest bed that Taehyung has ever seen. And it’s comfortable, great
for his back. And it is true, he likes that he can see the ocean while lying across the pillows in the
mornings. That’s probably the reason, though he doesn’t remember ever telling Jeongguk that.
“I didn’t want to confuse Ji-hu.”

Jeongguk waves a hand of dismissal, but there’s an anxiety flickering in his eyes. They haven’t
discussed much about how often Jeongguk’s brought his partners around his son, if he actually ever
has. He knows it’s been awhile since Jeongguk has dated - not that they’re dating or anything close
to it, but their relationship even in its simplest explanation could be confusing to Ji-hu.

It’s not even a relationship that they can explain to a seven year old boy. God, what did Taehyung
get himself into?

“Be where you’re comfortable.”

Taehyung warms, unable to resist the urge to knock their shoulders together as they walk. “We
should probably talk about the job requirement, ground rules, things Ji-hu likes and dislikes.”

“Yeah,” Jeongguk agrees with a cock of his head, “I have a binder.”

“A binder?” Taehyung snickers.

The way Jeongguk flushes is adorable and Taehyung cooes, tickling under his chin as they turn
down the aisle of bedding. Kiss me, kiss me . It’s a constant mantra going off in his head whenever
he’s around Jeongguk.

“Yeah. Hopefully it isn’t too overwhelming. It’s just his schedule and things he likes and things I
don’t like. I fired a nanny once because she would force Ji-hu to eat carrots to the point where he
would start crying uncontrollably and she would yell at him. Honestly, there’s no point to force feed
him something if it’s just going to make him so distressed he gets sick.”

Taehyung softens as Jeongguk frowns at the memory. He grabs the first bedding set that he sees, a
pastel pink adorn with white flowers. “So no carrots.”

Jeongguk chuckles, the tension in his lips releasing. “No carrots.”

They shop for a little longer, quietly discussing Ji-hu’s schedule until Jeongguk maneuvers them to
the cash registers. He swats away Taehyung’s attempt to pay, despite it being Jeongguk’s own credit
card that he was going to use and Taehyung flushes.

“Since you’re not actually paying me and still paying for all my things does that mean you’re still my
sugar daddy?” Taehyung asks, whispering in Jeongguk’s ear as he inserts his credit card into the
machine.

Jeongguk flushes a deep red, eyes flying up to glance at the bored looking cashier who is paying
more attention to his nails than them. It feels better, working off the debt Jeongguk has on him this
way. Taehyung feels less like he’s doing something to please Jeongguk and doing it more so because
he wants to.

It feels good and the bubble of hope inside of Taehyung is there to stay, regardless of how much
Taehyung has tried to pop it before it’s grown too big.

“No.”

Taehyung frowns deeply, making sure Jeongguk sees his disappointment. “What if I want you to
be?”

He is obvious in the way he trails his fingers down Jeongguk’s spine over the thin shirt he wears.
Jeongguk tenses under his touch but the corners of his mouth quivers like he might grin.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

Taehyung hesitates as he fiddles with one of the belt loops over Jeongguk’s butt. “Appropriate or
not, that’s still what you are, Mr. Jeon. I see the way you look at me, unless I’m reading it wrong. Do
you not want me anymore?”

Jeongguk glances at him, his eyes wide in alarm and brows crinkling but he doesn’t say anything as
the cashier offers them their receipt and a robotic sounding ‘have a nice day’.

He tries to be patient and wait for Jeongguk to respond but it’s difficult. He’s been trying to figure it
out but it’s confusing. Jeongguk’s gone from being openly desperate for him to so closed off, only
his eyes following after him, that Taehyung can’t tell. He’s been slipping up more and touching him,
but he retreats quickly like he’s been shocked when their skin touches.

Jeongguk doesn’t say anything as they exit the store nor when they load the bags into the back of his
SUV. It’s making Taehyung grow tense and the ease and happiness he felt while shopping with
Jeongguk is starting to turn into something uglier.

“Why do you think I don’t want you?” Jeongguk finally says as he drops the last bag into the trunk.
He’s still frowning and looking genuinely confused like Taehyung just told him that ketchup used to
be used as medicine.

That same confusion fills Taehyung, turning into a defensiveness that he’s trying to work on. “You
don’t act like it. I practically flaunt myself in front of you and nothing. You used to look at me like
you would devour me on sight and now nothing.”

The frown on Jeongguk’s face deepens as he stares at him, his face blank like he’s shut down for a
moment. Maybe he’s thinking about their kiss like Taehyung is. Jeongguk did kiss him back, and for
awhile, but he doesn’t know.

“What is it that you want me to do?”

Taehyung lets out an annoyed noise as he shrugs. “I don’t know. Push me up against the wall
sometimes I guess. Kiss me and more, maybe - you know. Just look at me like you used to. If this
isn't - what it was before, stop paying for my shit.”

He turns around the car to hop in before Jeongguk can respond. He feels embarrassed and he isn’t
sure why. He’s never had to beg for attention before, it’s always been given to him with a simple
sway of his hips. But it’s never been attention that he’s wanted.

He wants all of Jeongguk’s attention on him at all times. He’s finally accepted that. He wishes
Jeongguk were so willing to give it to him again.

The driver side door opens and it feels a lot like the night of their fight as Jeongguk apologizes
except Taehyung isn’t as angry. He isn’t angry at all, just worried that Jeongguk’s going to admit to
having lost his desire for him.

Maybe Taehyung took too long and lost something that feels like a good thing.

“Do you want me to do that because you want me to or you feel you have to let me have your way
with you because you think of me as your daddy?”

Taehyung startles at this. It’s a fair question. He’s constantly been bringing up the debt, calling
himself Jeongguk’s whore. He doesn’t know if the nanny job will truly make him feel as if Jeongguk
won’t hurt him, but it feels better than just waiting and doing nothing to pay him back.

Jeongguk’s admitting to being his daddy has his stomach curling but not in disgust. He had always
liked the idea, though he also hated it just as much. Jeongguk never makes him feel like he’s being
owned - or at least, Taehyung likes the idea of being Jeongguk’s.

“Both.”

Jeongguk sighs as he starts the engine. “That’s why. I’m not touching you if you don’t truly want me
to and I’m not going to keep making you feel like it’s my dick speaking and not my heart.”

His words make Taehyung sink into the seat, nibbling on his lip. His heart . “It’s usually your dick
that’s talking when it comes to sex, babe. It’s that way for everyone that has one and a sex drive.”

Jeongguk side eyes him, looking both amused and exasperated. “You know what I mean.”

“I don’t.”

A sigh leaves Jeongguk’s lips as he reaches over and takes Taehyung’s hand into his own. It’s a
simple touch but it has Taehyung’s heart soaring.

“Do you still think I asked you to be my boyfriend because I was trying to smooth talk you and get
you into bed?”

Taehyung shrugs. It did get him into bed with Jeongguk that night but he doesn’t mention it, instead
turns Jeongguk’s hand over to trace his palm to focus on something that isn’t Jeongguk’s face.

“When you kissed me the other night is it because you think you owed me for getting you to your
kids?”

This is startling and Taehyung rips his head up, unable to keep the shock from his face.

“What? No?”

Jeongguk’s face falls for a moment in surprise, jaw slack as he looks at Taehyung for a little too long
before pulling himself back together and turning to the road.

Taehyung swallows, feeling uneasy. It definitely had not been why he kissed Jeongguk but he gets
it, he gets why Jeongguk would assume that. The truth of it was it was only pure desire and need that
made him want to be kissed by Jeongguk.

“I like affection,” Taehyung admits, keeping his eyes diverted. “I need it a lot and to be coddled at
times, especially after something upsetting. I haven’t been in a long time, since everyone lef - since
everything happened and that was upsetting. I like it when it comes from you, even if I shouldn’t ask
for it.”

He’s selfish because when Taehyung couldn’t get out of bed, Jeongguk had showed him so much
affection. But he hadn’t wanted it at the time. He wanted to be alone even though he hated when
Jeongguk would leave him alone.

“You should,” Jeongguk says, voice firm as he squeezes Taehyung’s fingers. “I’ll give you anything
you want as long as you want it. You can tell me these things.”

Taehyung lets out a soft laugh as he lets go of Jeongguk’s hands. “Please touch me more.”
And to his relief, Jeongguk nods, a soft smile playing on his lips.

“Daddy.”

The car jerks and Jeongguk flushes, making Taehyung’s grin grow. Daddy is something he’s more
used to, maybe he can work with that until things become easier between them again.

“I- I’m not.”

Taehyung snorts, reaching over the divider between them to slip his fingers over Jeongguk’s thigh.
“Not all daddies get sex out of it, babe. Some just like the company, some like feet pics. That’s a
thing I think. I see the way you look at me when I wear heels, you kiss my ankles like they’re
delicate.”

Jeongguk glares at him, fingers tightening around the steering wheel. Taehyung keeps his touch
playful and light, drawing circles over the seam on the inside of his thigh.

“I don’t have a foot kink,” Jeongguk grunts. “You are delicate. I have a delicate kink. A Taehyung
kink, if you will.”

It’s Taehyung’s turn to flush and he does, his face turning bright red and he squeezes Jeongguk’s
thigh in retaliation. No one’s ever thought of him as delicate before. It implies fragile, that he requires
gentleness. He does and only Jeongguk’s ever understood that.

“I don’t judge, Gukkie babe.”

“Shut up,” Jeongguk grunts but he’s grinning. “I definitely do not have a foot kink.”

Taehyung moves his hand as he pushes on the heel of his shoe until it slips off. He bites hard on his
bottom lip as he pulls his leg up to toe his way up the dashboard and into Jeongguk’s vision.

Jeongguk’s laugh comes out embarrassed and like he’s kind of in pain. “Stop. I’m really not into
feet.”

Inching his foot closer, Taehyung turns in his seat until the seatbelt is stretching and his back is
touching the glass window. Jeongguk narrows his eyes at him before glancing at his foot and back to
the road.

“Get your stinky foot away from me,” Jeongguk whines, a flush starting to creep up his neck and
panic in his eyes.

Taehyung wiggles his toes. “Tell me you’re my daddy then.”

The flush burns deep, moving to his cheeks. That’s why he said it, to see the way Jeongguk turns so
red. He loves it more than he probably should, especially when it spreads over his chest.

When Jeongguk doesn’t respond, Taehyung moves his foot closer, bending his knee until he can
stick his foot between his outstretched arm and leg. Jeongguk gasps when Taehyung pushes down,
grinding his heel between his legs.

“I’m your daddy,” Jeongguk grunts as he peels Taehyung’s foot out of his lap. Jeongguk looks like
flames might start licking over his skin with how hot he burns. “I’m your daddy, are you happy?”

“Mm,” Taehyung murmurs, pulling his foot back to his side of the car.

Jeongguk looks relieved, breathing out a long exhale. They share a few amused glances before
Jeongguk shakes his head. “You’re confusing, Tae.”

Taehyung hesitates before he deflates. He tries not to let the grin slip from his lips but he can’t help it.

It’s the truth, he knows it, but he doesn’t know how to sort out his mind.

Jeongguk isn’t quite sure what Taehyung means by being touched more but he tries. He tickles his
stomach when they pass each other, he plays with the strands of hair behind his ear as it has started to
grow long. He keeps his hand out and ready for when Taehyung wants to take it and sometimes he
intertwines their fingers on his own.

The urge to kiss him grows stronger than ever but Jeongguk hesitates. The memory of their last kiss
lingers in the front of his mind all the time and it’s hard not to watch Taehyung’s mouth whenever he
speaks.

They fall into something that’s easy and comfortable once they spend the day decorating Jeongguk’s
home. It had been hard not to kiss him then, and it’s hard not to kiss him when they curl up on the
couch at night to pretend to watch television before Taehyung pads off to bed.

Well, it’s difficult not to kiss him at any point of the day. He even finds himself thinking about it
whenever he’s at work. He doesn’t know if Taehyung is still working with clients since accepting
the nanny position, but part of him hopes that he isn’t even if it’s unfair.

It’s confusing trying to figure out what Taehyung wants from him. He doesn’t want a debt or be
owned, but he’s pushing Jeongguk into calling himself a daddy. He’s not, he’s technically
Taehyung’s boss.

Jeongguk stills at the thought. Maybe he prefers daddy over boss too.

“You headed home soon?”

Jeongguk stares out at the stretch of city he can see from his office window for a moment longer
before he turns to find Jin in his doorway.

“Yeah, why are you still here?”

“Waiting for Joonie,” Jin admits with a grin. His hair is now a bright blond, Eunae’s choice, and
Jeongguk is still getting used to it. Not that it doesn’t look good, Jin can pull off any color, but
Jeongguk still finds himself straightening into CEO mode when he spots the blond hair before he
relaxes and realizes it’s Jin. “And I was on the phone with an officer in Daegu.”

Jeongguk jerks, frowning at his assistant from across the room. He hates the way Jin hesitates after
saying something like that. He hasn’t spoken to Yoongi in a few days -

“Nothing’s wrong. He uh, he reached out to me after Taehyung’s mother passed. Offered to help me
with the kids, with anything. I uh, didn’t trust the offering but I was calling to see if it was still on the
table.”

“Why?”

Agitated and nervous is one emotion that Jeongguk would never associate with Jin, but right now he
looks it as he rubs his hands over his legs and cranks his head to the side.
“To help Taehyung.”

“With what?” Jeongguk asks, his tone harsher than he intends. Jin’s eyes go kind of wide before they
narrow and Jeongguk deflates.

Jin’s eyes jerk slightly when he talks, he swallows too often between his words and Jeongguk’s belly
swoops with dread. He talks a lot about the kids even when Jeongguk doesn’t ask and Jeongguk’s
suspected it’s so he will report back to Taehyung, who is still too afraid to call often.

He may be the boss of this company but Jin’s his hyung and slightly terrifying. It’s just caught him
off guard, saying Taehyung needs help when he’s been trying to give it to him.

“I have one of the biggest mob bosses in South Korea possibly following after Woojin. There’s also
a chance that someone has pictures of Taehyung committing illegal, very illegal acts that could have
him imprisoned, Guk. I need help.”

Jeongguk deflates further, sighing as he wracks a hand through his hair. He hadn’t forgotten about
the photographs after he handed them off to Taehyung, but he hadn’t considered someone still had
copies of them. He trusts Jimin deleted everything of Taehyung at the club per Jeongguk’s request,
but if Bobby truly didn’t have anything to do with it, it is a threat.

“How do you know he’ll help you and not just arrest Taehyung?”

Jin looks disgruntled and Jeongguk prepares himself for the fast, defensive way Jin speaks when
Jeongguk questions him. “When he first reached out to me, he had all these questions about some
man I knew nothing about. Taehyung didn’t tell me the details when he left me, just that some guy
had come to collect a debt for his step father and he had to pay it so they'd leave Woojin alone. It
wasn’t until a couple days ago that I remembered that the Detective was pushing me for information
on Chung-Hoon. He’s desperate to put him behind bars, Guk. Tae is nothing compared to Chung-
Hoon. Just a guy low on the totem pole.”

It’s a lot of information at one time but Jeongguk nods, rubbing his chin. The problem isn’t that he
doesn’t trust Jin and thinks he’d do something that would put Taehyung in danger, it’s just he’s not
willing to trust anyone when it comes to Taehyung’s safety. When it comes to Woojin and Eunae’s.

And if Taehyung is unimportant in the grand scheme of things, why did this detective reach out to
Jin? How did he know to reach out to Jin?

“I want to talk to him.”

Jin’s eyes go wide, mouth falling open for a moment and when it turns into a grimace Jeongguk
narrows his eyes. He backs up slowly and Jeongguk finds himself following, a demand for an
answer in his eyes.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

Jeongguk huffs out of his nose. “Why?”

There’s a moment where Jeongguk is sure Jin is going to avoid the question and run out of the office
but his shoulders slump instead. “Well because - your mother was apart of the investigation. She
worked for Chung-Hoon at the time.”
There’s a beat of silence as Jeongguk stares at Jin, eyes searching his expression and finding no sign
of joking. There’s always a little bit of amusement that leaks into Jin’s face or words when he’s
fucking around.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I told Detective Mun my name was Jeon Jeongguk.”

If Jin weren’t his hyung he’d probably punch him or pretend to, as he couldn’t actually ever do that.
But the want to is there, building inside of him.

“Why would you do that? If he already knows you?”

“I didn’t think he would remember me and well, because Jeon Jeongguk knows Chung-Hoon.”

A laugh rips from Jeongguk’s mouth. He’s too tired for this, for whatever game Jin is playing with
him. Jin always knows how much he can handle and how much he can’t, so why he’s pushing him
when he’s been a zombie all day and now quickly crawling over the edge, he doesn’t know.

Any talk of Chung-Hoon automatically makes Jeongguk’s body flare and fall exhausted a moment
later.

“Fuck off, Jin.”

“I’m serious.”

Jeongguk rubs his temples for a long moment, pressing as hard as he can until it hurts worse than the
headache that’s starting to build there. “I would know if I knew Chung-Hoon, hyung.”

“Not if he goes by his birth name, Sungho.”

Silence falls between them and Jin is starting at him expectantly, almost desperately like he needs
Jeongguk to understand. If he needs him to that badly, Jeongguk thinks, he should just spit it out and
tell him

“Sungho? As in Kim Sungho? My father’s hyung, Kim Sungho? Uncle Sungho?”

Jin nods.

Another laugh threatens to escape Jeongguk’s lips but it doesn’t. It turns into ice and shreds through
his stomach instead.

His parents met when his mother was working for one of Yunbok’s hyungs. In Daegu, in the early
nineties. This officer Jin is talking to was doing an investigation in Daegu, in the early nineties, on
Chung-Hoon.

She worked for Chung-Hoon at the time.

It’s been a long time since Jeongguk’s felt his world crumbling down around him. That had been
because of his mother too. His strength, the woman who wiped his tears and held him when he
sobbed over a small bundle of baby in his arms. The woman that brushed his hair and tickled his
nose and called him her little bunny.

The woman that laughed and laughed and kissed Jun-ki so often that Jeongguk thought all parents
were like that and always craved to find someone that he couldn’t fight off the urge to kiss. The
woman that told him that he only ever must put love into the world, even if he doesn’t always receive
it back. The woman who always smiled so brightly that Jeongguk had always been sure there was
never pain in her heart. She worked for Chung-Hoon.

“Bullshit.”

“No bull,” Jin repeats back just as quickly. “Is it that hard to believe? Bobby had to get it from
somewhere. His father’s probably in on it too.”

Jeongguk grits his teeth, pacing across the office. Bullshit. Jin isn’t the type of him to lie for any
reason, but Namjoon and Yunbok don’t have the best work relationship. Taehyung’s never
mentioned Yunbok, but if Yunbok introduced his parents -

It could be true. It would make sense. He used to be a mean bastard when they were younger,
though always a bit harder on Bobby than anyone else. Bobby did have to start somewhere, though
the idea of Yunbok training Bobby into being a pimp is hard for him to wrap his head around it.
Jeongguk doesn’t really know how anyone becomes a pimp anyway.

Jun-ki knows about Bobby’s activities, he wonders if his mother did. How would she approve?
Jeongguk doesn’t want to think about her being abused, but if she worked for someone like Chung-
Hoon, she must have been. Taehyung is a good actor but he hadn't been able to hide the fear in his
eyes when Chung-Hoon was mentioned.

Taehyung. Jeongguk stills as his heart punches him hard in the sternum. It hurts, knocks a breath
from his lungs that feels like his last because he suddenly doesn’t have the ability to inhale.

“I had a drink with him the other night, after Eomma’s memorial. Taehyung was there.”

Jin’s face falls as horror makes Jeongguk’s stomach twist. It can’t be true, that means Jeongguk did a
lot more than just not be there for Taehyung while he was upset about Jimin leaving. He was the
reason Taehyung saw Chung-Hoon, that Chung-Hoon saw Taehyung.

“I know.”

“You do?” Jeongguk asks, nibbling on his bottom lip. He feels as if he could cry, or throw up so he
starts pacing again, trying to rid the feeling inside of him. There’s a lot he doesn’t remember from
that night, after sitting down next to Sungho and being annoyed that he could have hurt his mother.
“Did he hurt Tae? Is that why he had been so upset?”

“No,” Jin says, his expression sadder than Jin’s ever seen it. He reaches out, grabbing Jeongguk’s
shoulders to keep him from pacing.

“I want you to look into Yunbok,” Jeongguk announces because that’s easier to deal with than the
fact that Sungho has hurt Taehyung too. Jeongguk will kill him and Yunbok; he doesn’t give a shit
about them being elders who have raised him. Blind respect is bullshit.

He wishes his mother were here to help him make sense of this all. He wishes she could tell him
everything. If Chung-Hoon and Yunbok are brothers, he wants to know why his parents and
Yunbok decided to raise their children beside each other. There’s an entire box of answers his father
had given him, hopefully, but he wants to hear it from his mother’s mouth.

God, he just wants to hear her voice. He’s always missed the sound of it, the way she would play
with his hair and whisper to him as he fell asleep, but now the need has grown so quickly that he
feels desperate for just one more moment of it.

“And do what exactly? He’s all over Bobby’s bank records but he’s rich and Bobby’s father; it isn’t
really suspicious.”

Jeongguk rubs at his lips, thinking. It’s difficult to do so when he wants to storm down a few floors
and burst into Yunbok’s laboratory. He doesn’t even know if he should be mad yet, but his want for
protecting Taehyung has him feeling a little fuzzy in the head lately.

“Anytime I’ve ever asked you to find out information, you can do it without hesitation. Why are you
hesitating?”

Jin perks up at this, eyes intent on Jeongguk’s for a long moment. “Okay, okay,” he yelps, giving in
with his hands throwing out in front of him. “I’ll figure something out Jeongguk, but I need you to
promise me something.”

Jeongguk grunts.

“Be careful about how you approach the situation if Yunbok is apart of it, okay? Neither Tae nor
Jimin are in Bobby’s control anymore, nor under his protection. You have to think a bit about your
company okay? And - remember who his brother is. Chung-Hoon can come and take Woojin even
without a debt being owned if he really wanted to okay, don’t piss him off. Don’t be stupid about it.”

Something unsettling fills Jeongguk. Jin’s right. If this company didn’t mean a lot to his father and
give his son a comfortable life, he wouldn’t give a shit about it crumbling. He agrees with a quick
jerk of his head.

He can’t promise not to piss off Chung-Hoon, but he’ll find a way to do it and keep everyone safe.
He has to rid the urge inside of him to break the man’s neck. Jeongguk’s never been much of a fan of
violence outside of movies, but he feels a sudden passion for it burning inside of him.

“Jun-ki called too. You should call him back and ask. It’d be easier than me sneaking around
Yunbok-ssi.”

Jeongguk jerks his attention back to Jin. He hasn’t spoken to his father since he had given him the
box. It isn’t like him. He tries to speak to his father at least once a day. He regrets the amount of time
he missed talking to his mother when he had the chance.

He doesn’t want to admit to being a coward. He doesn’t want his father thinking he judges his
mother. He also doesn’t want to hear his father try and convince him that he needs to get along with
Bobby.

Bobby, Chung-Hoon’s nephew. His only nephew, the only male in his line. Jeongguk doesn’t know
a whole lot about how street empires work, but he assumes Bobby would be the one to take over.
Why would Chung-Hoon hold a debt over Bobby’s for Taehyung’s if Taehyung was Bobby’s either
way?

There’s a piece missing as he tries to connect all of his thoughts. It’s at the tip of his tongue, right
there at the edge of his brain but he can’t reach it.

“He wants you to keep an eye on Bobby,” Jin huffs with a laugh that doesn’t reach his eyes. There’s
an anxious touch still to his features and he probably knows it’s a bad idea to pass on Jun-ki’s
message at the moment. “Says he’s not doing well.”

Jeongguk grunts. “Is that all?”

“That you should call him,” Jin goes on, cocking his head before he glances towards the box of his
mother’s things. “He wants to meet your boy. His exact words.”
There’s mischief in Jin’s eyes and Jeongguk can’t give into it, no matter how hard Jin is trying to
ease the tension he can see growing inside of him. He picks up the box without a glance towards Jin,
deciding maybe at home he’ll be more comfortable opening it. He has to now.

Before he had been too nervous to read about his mother living that life. He wanted to know about it,
but he just couldn’t find the nerve to open the box and start. He wanted to know about the girls his
mother grew up with and her life when she was younger than he is now, but he knew it was going to
hurt. Now, he needs answers, and this box or the ones at his father’s home might contain them.

“Go home, Jin.”

“How come you didn’t tell me you told Appa about Tae? And your boy nonetheless? I’m surprised
Jeongguk, he’s your employee.”

“I didn’t,” Jeongguk says without looking at Jin. He’s really not in the mood for jokes any longer,
though he appreciates Jin’s attempts to lighten the atmosphere. “Bobby basically told Appa that I
bought him. Most people wouldn’t automatically think that meant he’s my boy, but my Appa has a
bit of a personal experience similar to mine.”

Jin’s forced grin falters some, forming into a grimace.

Jeongguk warms his hand over the top of the box. “It lead to a nice bonding moment with my father
where he told me Eomma was a prostitute. So it’s been a little difficult to talk to him. If you excuse
me, hyung, I think I need to go before I explode from the amount of things about my life that aren’t
making sense any longer.”

He can feel Jin’s eyes on him as he heaves the box into his arms and heads towards the door, done
with the conversation. There’s questions in his brain that make him feel as if his skin is coming off of
his body, scenarios playing in his mind that make him jerk.

Chung-Hoon touching Woojin, touching Taehyung, Jimin. Now he has a face to put to the man and
he hates it. He’s been around his son, so has Bobby and Hanbin. Yunbok. All these people have
touched his son; he’s left Ji-hu in Yunbok’s care before.

Suddenly the anger inside of him seems too much to handle and he needs to go; to run until his brain
falls out of his ears and smashes into the pavement.

“Ask him about everything. Just - just don’t tell him about Mun yet, you don’t know how close he is
to Yunbook or Chung-Hoon. Be prepared for that.”

Jeongguk doesn’t say a word, doesn’t open his mouth because if he does he might start screaming
and never stop.

Jeongguk takes his time getting home, despite craving to see Taehyung. He’s dreading sleep because
that means he’ll be closer to having to board a long ass flight without being able to shut his brain off,
but it also means in just a day’s time he’ll see his son. He focuses on that as he walks through the
aisles of colorful flowers, touching over the petals gently and smelling each bouquet. It relaxes the
anger inside of him, enough that he feels safe going back home to Taehyung without scaring him.

He wants tonight to be just for Taehyung before he pulls Ji-hu into it, the tornado of chaos that he is.
He’s nervous about them meeting and them getting along, though his son likes everyone. He wants
to forget about everything that Jin has told him and just take care of Taehyung, make it up to him for
being the reason he crossed paths with that monster again.
One day they’ll talk about it, when he returns maybe. He’s afraid of the answers, knowing if Yunbok
has touched him. If his father has. It’s bad enough knowing Bobby’s touched him.

Bobby. Another issue Jeongguk has to deal with. His mother’s other little bunny. She’d lecture him
about him taking care of Bobby, despite Bobby being the hyung. Would she still say the same if she
knew Bobby was following in his uncle’s footsteps?

When the car smells of fresh take out and sweet flowers and the rage has calmed enough to push
away for now, Jeongguk finally steers towards home. He’s given Seokmin some time off before Ji-
hu returns and has reconfirmed his hatred for driving even more, especially since he almost crashed
with Taehyung’s foot grinding hard between his legs.

He definitely doesn’t have a foot kink but honestly, if it’s attached to Taehyung in any way he likes
it.

There’s music flooding through the apartment when he arrives, just loud enough to be heard.
Taehyung’s nowhere to be found when Jeongguk calls for him, setting the food and flowers in the
kitchen.

He hopes it isn’t suggestive or seen as anything other than an attempt to make Taehyung smile again.
He has no idea about what Taehyung wants him to be or wants them to be, so he’s deciding to just
go with what he wants to do until Taehyung tells him to stop. He wants - needs to see Taehyung
smile so he can focus on something good rather than all of the toxic things in his mind.

“You’re home.”

“Yeah, I -”

Jeongguk falters when he takes in Taehyung. He’s wearing a loose shirt, so see through that
Jeongguk can make out the shape of his chest and long enough that it tickles his thighs. Jeongguk’s
eyes immediately fall there, at where the shirt stops over black lace hugging the thick of his thighs.
He’s no stranger to garters, but Taehyung’s are clipped to thin black, lace stockings rather than a
dress shirt.

The heels - Jeongguk blanches and feels his face grow hot before he rips his eyes to take in
Taehyung’s face instead. He likes when Taehyung dresses up, when he wears his clothes. With both
right now, Jeongguk feels as if he could combust.

“I stopped a few places after work. I picked us up dinner but -”

There’s a sway in Taehyung’s hips, just a slight rock back and forth as he approaches. “Are those for
me?”

Taehyung touches the flowers delicately, a small smile on his lips before he smells them. It makes his
smile grow and Jeongguk’s heart flutter in his chest.

“They reminded me of the bed set you picked out so, I thought you’d like them.”

There’s a flush in Taehyung’s shiny cheeks. Despite being dressed up, his face is bare and freshly
washed, his hair lying lazily over his forehead.

Maybe he’s in the middle of getting ready to go somewhere - in that. Jeongguk’s stomach plummets.
It is selfish of him to ask Taehyung to stay, to make him feel like he has to in any way, but Jeongguk
doesn’t know if he can handle it if he leaves dressed like this for someone else.
“I love them Gukkie,” Taehyung murmurs, hiding his reddened cheeks in the bouquet. “What’s the
special occasion?”

It’s Jeongguk’s turn to flush, more so than he already is. He tries not to look at the way Taehyung’s
body presses against his shirt when he leans into the flowers, at the curve of his butt and the red he
can see pressing into the thin material.

Red and black. It’s a strong contrast to the soft colors Taehyung normally wears.

“I was just thinking about you.”

“I was thinking about you too,” Taehyung whispers like a secret and the tone in his voice is one that
Jeongguk hasn’t heard in some time. It makes his stomach coil hot, the hairs on the back of his neck
standing in interest. It isn’t playful like Taehyung can be, or sarcastic and painful. It’s said with
intent, with want.

Taehyung smells like lotion, the scent radiating off of him like he bathed in it, is the first thing
Jeongguk thinks when he comes near. The second is the touch, Taehyung’s fingers breathing over
the lower part of his abdomen. It’s intoxicating, just being close to Taehyung when he has that look
of intent in his eyes.

Realistically, or maybe morally, Jeongguk should pull back. But he’s missed this, and he’s not so
sure anymore if Taehyung flirts because he wants to or feels like he needs to.

His admission that he wants to be touched more felt genuine, like Taehyung was embarrassed about
it.

Jeongguk doesn’t know what they are or what their boundaries are anymore but maybe they need to
learn each other again, learn each other as - whatever they are.

“Can I touch you, Jeongguk?” Taehyung asks, keeping a small distance between them though his
fingers linger. “I want to.”

Jeongguk nods before he can think about it but he doesn’t regret it when Taehyung’s eyes brighten.
The touch on his stomach is a little firmer but just as gentle, his fingers exploring the feel of muscles
under Jeongguk’s dress shirt. A simple touch, but it lights Jeongguk’s skin on fire.

Before Taehyung, it had been quite some time since he had been with anyone and he had fared better
than he feels now.

“I’m sorry I’m confusing,” Taehyung whispers, head tilted downwards like he wants to watch the
way his fingers dip into the curves of Jeongguk’s abdomen. “I used to like sex a lot and then - well,
you made me enjoy it again.”

Jeongguk shivers as Taehyung’s palm slides upwards until he tugs, pulling Jeongguk closer. He isn’t
quite sure what to do; whether he should touch Taehyung back or let him do as he pleases. He wants
Taehyung to let his walls down and he’s afraid any sudden movements will make him freeze.

He gets tiny pieces of Taehyung here and there. Tiny glimpses of how Taehyung’s mind works and
how his life’s been. Over the weeks, he has learned more about what Taehyung likes and heard
many stories about his siblings. He wants to know everything, explore every inch of his body and his
brain.

“I said those things out of fear,” Taehyung says quietly as he pops open the button of Jeongguk’s
shirt, his knuckles grazing over Jeongguk’s hot skin. “Even if you planned on using me, I’d let you
and would probably still enjoy how well you fuck me. I do want you to touch me because I feel like
that’s what you want, but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing I promise. I want to please you,
Jeongguk.”

“Tae,” Jeongguk starts, but Taehyung stops him with a shake of his head.

“I don’t know how I feel. I know I’m confusing.”

Jeongguk nods. He’s told him this before. Part of me is just terrified.

Taehyung finally glances up at him as he tickles his fingers higher, grazing over Jeongguk’s throat.
He cups him gently, his thumb stroking over Jeongguk’s pulse. It beats erratically, his heart thumping
fast to the circulate the amount of his love he has for Taehyung through his body before his heart
overdoses on it.

“The idea of you not wanting me hurts,” Taehyung admits, their bodies pressing close together but
Jeongguk still doesn’t touch him. He doesn’t know how he manages it, as his skin screams at him to
connect with Taehyung’s. “I’m sorry that this may confuse you more. I need you tonight, Jeongguk.
Even if you end up hurting me in the long run, part of me doesn’t care anymore. Another part of me
knows you won’t, that I can treat you the way people have treated me in the past and you’d take it
without fighting back. You’d give me control and you’ll never truly take it away.”

Jeongguk wants to push, to ask more, but Taehyung’s flexing his fingers over his throat and pushing
forward to catch the soft gasp Jeongguk lets out against his lips.

“Please?”

Every word leaving Taehyung’s mouth is true. Jeongguk would let him take take take if he needs to.
He’d let Taehyung get his frustration out on his skin and do whatever he fucking wanted to do as
long as it made him feel good, better, more trusting of Jeongguk.

Jeongguk reaches up to finger through Taehyung’s soft hair, anchoring his head back to kiss him
deeper. Taehyung makes a pleased noise at this, grip tightening around Jeongguk like he wants to
push their bodies together until they become one.

It’s different than their last kiss, which had reminded him of tanning, basking under the sun rays.
This is more like being consumed by the sun, the heat rolling through him in waves. Jeongguk licks
over every moan, swallows every whimper Taehyung lets out. He isn’t sure who is more audible as
every time Taehyung sucks on his bottom lip, a groan rumbles loudly in his chest, every nip and bite
has Jeongguk gasping out Taehyung’s name like a whisper or a praise.

It isn’t rushed, nor is the way Jeongguk strokes over Taehyung’s back like he’s reconnecting with
the shape of him. Taehyung is just as handsy, slowly undoing a button of Jeongguk’s shirt every time
he warms his hands to his front. He constantly grabs Jeongguk’s throat, squeezing and flexing his
fingers gently before dragging his hands to his shirt, tugging on it like he’s too impatient to unbutton
it.

They don’t pull away until it’s hard to breathe, but Taehyung seems unaffected by the lack of air as
his lips instantly move to lap soft kisses and gentle bites over Jeongguk’s throat.

“Tae,” Jeongguk groans, fingers gripping into the side of Taehyung’s shirt to tug it over his hips. His
skin is soft and smooth, only interrupted by the silky material covering his hips. “Is this for me?”

Taehyung leans Jeongguk back against the counter as he warms his hands over the part of his chest
that is revealed by the open shirt. Butterflies wreck through him under Taehyung’s gaze, arousal
stemming down his spine by the look of pure want in his eyes.

“I did a little shopping today. I thought getting out of the house would make me feel better,”
Taehyung explains, practically purring. “I saw this and uh, thought maybe it’d make you want me. It
isn’t soft like the colors I normally wear -”

Jeongguk interrupts Taehyung with another kiss, squeezing the flesh of his hip affectionately. “I
know there are things that you are struggling to believe but that’s not something you should question.
I want you, all of you. I don’t care if you’re confusing, I am patient and willing to help you figure it
out.”

Taehyung nods, smiling almost shyly. His teeth scratch over his swollen bottom lip and he flutters his
eyes bashfully despite looking like sin. “Well if that’s the case, I can toss what I had planned right
out the window.”

He moves suddenly and Jeongguk frowns, reaching out for him like a knee jerk reaction to
Taehyung retreating from him.

“Sorry,” Jeongguk murmurs, instantly pulling his arm back but there’s a grin being thrown over
Taehyung’s shoulder and a sparkle in his eye.

“Come on, Gukkie baby, you still deserve it.”

Jeongguk hesitates at that, mouth falling open in an attempt to find a way that Taehyung doesn’t owe
him anything as Taehyung leads him to the living room.

Taehyung takes one glance at him and groans. “If I have to believe you want me then you have to
believe I want you. I see it in your eyes, please don’t keep asking me the way you do. It’s angsty and
I’m just, I want to forget about the angst.”

Jeongguk’s heart shoots into overdrive as Taehyung pouts. He thinks he understands suddenly, at
least more than he had a moment ago.

“What if,” Jeongguk starts as he closes the space between them again, “I asked like this.”

The new living room is a little off putting. Taehyung’s definition of homey means a little messy - his
tattered couch a big eye sore in the middle of the room but after a few nights cuddling with
Taehyung on it, he’s starting to fall in love with it.

Taehyung’s a little messy too, their relationship or whatever it could be called, a little messy, but
Jeongguk’s past the point of falling in love with it

He slides a palm over Taehyung’s neck, tilting his head back some with a thumb pressed to his jaw
bone. His eyes linger over Taehyung’s expression, watching his hesitant look morph into arousal.

“Do you want me, baby boy?” Jeongguk murmurs lowly as he soothes his thumb over Taehyung’s
jaw.

Taehyung licks his lips, eyes dropping to Jeongguk’s. The heat that radiates from Taehyung’s eyes
find its way to Jeongguk’s core, settling there until every nerve in his body turns aflame. “Can I
show you?”

Jeongguk nods. He brushes his lips over the corner of Taehyung’s mouth. “You can do anything you
want to do.”
It had been whispered but Jeongguk hopes he had heard it loud and clear. Taehyung needed to know
he’d still have a grip on control even if he’s willing to give it up. Jeongguk wants to prove to him that
he’ll always have it with him. He can all of it if it makes him trust Jeongguk.

“You sure? You’re not gonna be able to touch me for a while.”

The corners of Jeongguk’s lips tug down slightly but he hopes it isn’t enough for Taehyung to
notice.

“If you do, I might have to handcuff you.”

Jeongguk’s stomach pools with arousal. Definitely about control. Jeongguk slides his hands down
Taehyung’s sides one last time. “That’s more like an incentive to break the rules.”

Taehyung’s lips quirk up as he walks backwards, his face the cover of a book filled with dirty
thoughts. “You don’t look like a man that likes to be held down, Mr. Jeon.”

There’s an embarrassing amount of eagerness in his steps as Taehyung wiggles his finger for him to
follow. The grin on Taehyung's lips is cocky, like he's pleased with how easily Jeongguk follows
him.

“You’d be surprised,” Jeongguk murmurs, crowding into Taehyung’s space until he feels
Taehyung’s breath on his lips. “You could tie me up and use me as you please and I’d ask for more.”

The exhale Taehyung lets out is shaky but quiet. His fingers curl around Jeongguk’s tie, tugging
gently. “Oo, the sub jumped out.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, ducking forward to caress Taehyung’s lips with the sound. “Show me
what you planned?”

Taehyung hums in pleasure before he nods and pulls away, his tongue rubbing over his bottom lip
like he wants the after taste of Jeongguk’s kiss. “Sit on the couch, baby.”

Anxiety lingers in his system as Jeongguk sits, legs spreading in anticipation of Taehyung taking a
seat in his lap but Taehyung’s walking away.

When the music starts to play louder, Jeongguk understands why. He swallows thickly, trying to
push off the on edge feeling that pulses through him before Taehyung even starts to move. His eyes
are intent on Jeongguk, his gaze unwavering as his fingers slip up his chest. They are slender and
delicate looking when they slide over his throat, his head tilting back as pleasure touches his face.

Jeongguk bites his cheek, rubbing his palms over his thighs as he spreads his legs further. It’s torture
watching Taehyung caress himself while Jeongguk can’t, but it’s hypnotizing the way Taehyung’s
body rocks to the slow, dirty beat that fills the room.

When his arms lift and he turns, the shirt Taehyung wears lifts up enough to reveal the bottom curve
of his plump ass. Jeongguk groans when Taehyung bends slightly forward, shaking until the round
curves jiggle.

“Tonight I’m getting loose, loose,” Taehyung mouths along as the shirt slips higher, revealing the red
fabric that arches over Taehyung’s cheeks. “Her shirt is getting loose, loose.”

Arousal pounds down Jeongguk’s spine as he eyes the sheen of Taehyung’s skin, glistening over his
ass cheeks and dampening the edges of the red fabric. Taehyung always likes it so wet, so messy and
obscene . Jeongguk can’t deny that he does too, not when his cock presses angrily against the teeth
of his zipper and Taehyung hasn’t even completely removed the shirt yet.

“I was thinking about you all day,” Taehyung says, turning forward. He licks at his lips as he eyes
Jeongguk. He doesn’t take the shirt off but rocks his hand up it instead. It allows Jeongguk to see that
Taehyung’s just as eager as he is, despite moving so slowly and teasingly before him. “I was
thinking about when we first met.”

Jeongguk licks his own lips, hands rubbing over his pants to force away the urge to cup himself and
relieve the pressure building between his legs. His body vibrates with want and desire and it fills the
room until he feels as if he’s being suffocated with it.

“What about it?”

There’s a gleam of mischief in Taehyung’s eyes as he struts forward. His body bends as he finally
removes the shirt, teasing it over his head until it lands somewhere on the ground.

“I wanted you as soon as I saw you,” Taehyung says, hands roaming down his front and only
stopping when his fingers edge the lip of his red panties. “You carry yourself like you’ve got a big
cock, babe.”

Jeongguk grins, leaning his elbows on his knees to be closer to Taehyung. Taehyung pulls back the
band of the panties only to smack it against his skin before turning around again.

His fingers itch to touch, to reach out and pull Taehyung onto his lap as Taehyung bends and dips
and smacks his ass cheeks together in a way that has Jeongguk’s heart thrumming in his chest.
Delicate, obscene, angelic; there’s a litany of words mulling through Jeongguk’s mind in an attempt
to describe him.

There aren’t enough words to describe him. Jeongguk will have to make his mission to learn every
language in existence until he can find the proper way to explain Taehyung.

“Are you implying that I don’t actually have a big cock?”

Taehyung’s giggle is breathless as he pushes a hand to Jeongguk’s chest to guide him back.
Mentally, he cheers as Taehyung follows, kneeling on the couch around his thighs but hovering over
him enough that their bodies don’t press into each other. But physically he tenses, a gasp building in
his throat that will betray how desperate he is for the other man.

“It’s such a nice cock, Guk,” Taehyung purrs as he slides his fingers over Jeongguk’s bare chest.
“Take off your shirt.”

Jeongguk tilts his head back as he complies, quickly undoing the buttons that Taehyung hadn’t
gotten earlier before slipping the material off of his shoulders.

“Actually all of you is nice,” Taehyung hums appreciatively. He tuts his teeth when Jeongguk
reaches up to grab Taehyung’s hips, stopping him before he can.

The muscles of Taehyung’s thighs jump when he lowers himself. He’s wet, soaking the front of his
panties and Jeongguk groans in frustration. He wants to touch Taehyung where the head of his cock
pushes against the band like a demand to be free. He wants to kiss him and take him into his mouth
and feel him around his fingers.

Jeongguk moans softly as Taehyung cups him, his grip firm as he touches him through his clothing.
Taehyung returns the moan, eyes fluttering shut as he lowers himself further into Jeongguk’s lap.
“Such a nice cock, baby. It always takes too long for me to prepare myself for you.”

Jeongguk nibbles on his bottom lip, remembering the sheen on Taehyung’s skin. He needs to touch
him. “Did you prep for me?”

Taehyung nods, sliding his palms over Jeongguk’s chest and arms. “You took so long to get home.”

“I’m sorr -”

Jeongguk’s words cut off when Taehyung’s hand slips up his chest to cup his throat, squeezing
down. He hadn’t realized he had gripped onto Taehyung’s thighs until Taehyung tells him to stop. It
doesn’t hurt nor does it stop his breathing, but it’s a touch that has Jeongguk shuddering beneath him.

“You never listened to the no touching rule well,” Taehyung huffs out with a grin. His hips drop an
inch, hovering so close to Jeongguk’s lap that he can feel the brush of his cock over his thigh. “I
never really minded.”

Jeongguk tilts his head back, hands limp by his sides and a breath stutters from Taehyung’s lungs, a
soft overwhelmed sound.

“You would really let me do anything to you, huh?” Taehyung breathes, his tone a hint of wonder
and desperation. He lowers himself more until Jeongguk can feel the head of his cock catch on his
thigh with every roll of Taehyung’s hips. “Will Mr. Jeon turn into a whiny baby?”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, grinning as he licks his lips. It feels good the way Taehyung slides over
his thigh, his weight trapping him to the couch. Jeongguk chances a look between them, adding
pressure to his throat that Taehyung doesn’t let up on, wanting a glimpse of the way the muscles in
Taehyung’s thighs bulge and flex when he moves.

He doesn’t focus on the arousal pulsing through him or the way his cock throbs under his pants. He
focuses on the tiny pants that Taehyung lets out as he fucks his thigh, on the look in Taehyung’s eyes
as he keeps Jeongguk where he wants him, using him.

Fuck. Jeongguk tenses his thigh, tightening his muscles and Taehyung stutters against him, leaning
forward until his breath is brushing over Jeongguk’s mouth. It pushes weight onto his throat and
Jeongguk chokes lightly, feeling the strain in his face as his skin grows hot.

“Do you like being used like this?” Taehyung whispers, their noses brushing. He trembles, hips
rocking hard down against Jeongguk’s thigh.

Jeongguk gasps quietly as he reaches up, his hand hesitating but Taehyung’s eyes flutter shut and his
hips falter. He doesn’t grab down as hard as Taehyung, only cups Taehyung’s throat until he can feel
the way his Adam’s Apple bobs under his palm when he swallows.

Taehyung’s hand slides to the back of the couch, his hips working down against Jeongguk’s thigh
with more purpose. He pants quietly, whimpering and letting out soft moans, his earlier demeanor
slipping away as Jeongguk strokes his thumb over his pulse.

Curling his other hand around Taehyung’s waist, he pushes up from the back of the couch until their
chests press together. A moan stutters from Taehyung’s lips, loud and unabashed and Jeongguk grits
his teeth, fighting off the urge to wrap his hand around his length to help him along.

“Gukkie,” Taehyung murmurs, lips skating over Jeongguk’s chin as Jeongguk warms his hand from
Taehyung’s neck to stroke over his cheek instead. “Will you fuck me?”
Jeongguk groans quietly as he nods. Taehyung’s glistening with sweat, his fingers digging into
Jeongguk’s shoulders as he stills, twitching against Jeongguk’s thigh. “You don’t want to come
first?”

Taehyung shakes his head. “I want you to use me too.”

Hesitation fills Jeongguk as he pulls back to search over Taehyung’s shy expression. He rubs his
palms over Taehyung’s thighs, thankful he can finally touch although he had never truly been
granted permission. Taehyung nibbles on his bottom lip, eyes fluttering when their hips align.

“Please Jeongguk,” Taehyung says, glancing up at him quickly as he starts to unzip Jeongguk’s
pants. Just the small amount of pressure has Jeongguk bucking up into Taehyung’s touch.

Jeongguk runs his fingers down Taehyung’s cheeks and up his jaw, fiddling with his earrings for a
moment before he smooths his hands down Taehyung’s forearms. Taehyung doesn’t move, still on
his lap as he lets Jeongguk’s wandering touch cover his skin. “Okay. Stand up.”

A wrinkle appears between Taehyung’s eyebrows as he startles at the command but he complies
anyway. Jeongguk doesn’t want to lose Taehyung’s touch but he’s breathless by the sight of
Taehyung’s long legs before him.

Jeongguk smoothes his hands down Taehyung’s back as he kisses under his belly button, gently
nipping his skin. Taehyung’s fingers brush through his hair, pushing it from his forehead and when
he tugs too hard Jeongguk retaliates with snapping his panties back against his skin.

Jeongguk ignores where his cock strains and soaks into the material to kiss along the lace band,
dragging his hands down the back of Taehyung’s thighs to spread them. Taehyung is receptive,
letting out a shaky moan every time Jeongguk kisses a new inch of skin.

He is gentle when he removes the garters, glancing up to watch Taehyung watch him. He grins for a
moment, trapped under Taehyung’s stare of want.

“I’m gonna undress you babe,” Jeongguk murmurs, nuzzling Taehyung’s clothed cock as he takes
the sides of the red panties between his fingers. A sharp exhale leaves Taehyung’s lips but he doesn’t
move but turns still. “But I want you to do something for me.”

Taehyung nods without hesitation, tongue flicking over his bottom lip and Jeongguk can’t help the
heat that washes over him. He thought Taehyung had wanted control but he’s giving it away, maybe
to see whether or not Jeongguk will let him have it back.

“Guk, what is it?” Taehyung whines as silence falls as Jeongguk slips the red lace further down
Taehyung’s hips. His cock smacks against his belly with a slick slap, glistening Taehyung’s skin
with precome.

Jeongguk admires the strength in Taehyung’s delicate looking legs as he pulls the panties off of him
one leg at a time. There’s a flush growing quickly over Taehyung’s skin, a red prettier than the
material.

“I want you to fuck my face.”

“What?” Taehyung breathes, his voice hoarse and so fucking deep that Jeongguk moans at the sound
of it. He takes a step forward when Jeongguk urges him with gentle hands on his hips, his cock
hovering a few inches from Jeongguk’s face.

“Go on,” Jeongguk says firmly, hiding the way his heart pumps heavily in his chest. He licks his lips,
fingers curling around the base of Taehyung’s cock to guide him forward.

The confidence that Taehyung had been portraying earlier has disappeared now as Taehyung
tentatively pushes past Jeongguk’s parted lips. He looks nervous, bottom lip trapped between his
teeth and his fingers moving through Jeongguk’s hair like he’s unsure. Jeongguk hums, wrapping his
lips around him and letting his eyes fall closed for only a moment as Taehyung slides over his
tongue.

It’s hesitant, the tiny jerks of Taehyung’s hips, even when Jeongguk grips him and urges him further.
He strokes into him gently, hips pulling back and cock bobbing against Jeongguk’s bottom lip. It’s
when Jeongguk pushes forward, meeting Taehyung’s stroke and feeling the way Taehyung’s cock
hits the back of his throat that finally has Taehyung losing a bit of his hesitancy.

“Guk,” Taehyung groans, fingers tightening in Jeongguk’s hair as he jerks his hips once more,
fucking so deep that tears sting in Jeongguk’s eyes. He swallows, constricting the muscles in his
throat around where Taehyung’s cock settles deep. Taehyung stays like that, grinding forward and
moaning quietly as Jeongguk grips into his thighs in response.

His jaw aches and throbs when Taehyung pulls back again. Spit trails from his lips to the tip of
Taehyung’s glossy cock, which is now so swollen and red that Jeongguk thinks he could be a touch
away from coming. Jeongguk ducks forward, catching the wire of spit and smearing his lips over the
slit of Taehyung’s cock until he feels precome glistening over his mouth and dripping onto his chin.

“Holy fuck,” Taehyung breathes, trembling like his legs might give out. Jeongguk pulls him into his
lap before he can, planting him on the edge of his knees so his heels hang off the side of the couch.

“Good?” Jeongguk asks as he wipes the precome from his lips and holds his fingers over
Taehyung’s. There’s no longer hesitation in his eyes and Taehyung takes his fingers without
question, sucking greedily until spit is bubbling out the side of his lips.

“C’mere baby boy.”

Taehyung shifts onto his knees, crawling up Jeongguk’s lap until he’s hovering over him. His eyes
are warm, not as intense and Jeongguk kisses over his chest gently, hooking one hand to pull his
thigh to the side.

There’s dried lube covering Taehyung’s ass, the skin between his cheeks sticky to touch when
Jeongguk glides his fingers over it. Taehyung clings onto him, arching back when Jeongguk slips
between his cheeks.

He can’t help the moan that leaves his lips when he presses his fingers inside of Taehyung.
Taehyung’s hole takes him just as greedily as Taehyung’s mouth had, swallowing three of
Jeongguk’s fingers without resistance. It’s fucking hot knowing Taehyung touched himself thinking
about Jeongguk, that he opened himself up alone in their bedroom with the purpose of wanting
Jeongguk inside of him.

“Did you come when you fingered yourself?” Jeongguk wonders, spreading Taehyung with a thumb
pressed into his ass cheek as he rubs the stretched out hole, spreading and pushing and tugging his
fingers until Taehyung’s arching forward, panting quietly. “Did you?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung breathes, clenching around him as his body trembles like he could come again.

“In my bed?”

Taehyung moans quietly, gripping the back of Jeongguk’s neck tightly as he nods. “Yes, Gukkie.”
Jeongguk hums in appreciation, rubbing his lips over Taehyung’s throat. “You like my bed a lot,
babe.”

A soft whimper leaks past Taehyung’s lips as Jeongguk pushes his fingers back. He bites on
Taehyung’s neck, jittering his teeth over the skin until Taehyung’s grip on him tightens.

“Will you join me in it?”

Jeongguk groans lowly as Taehyung clenches around him, the thighs around his waist trembling. He
can’t tease for much longer. His body aches to be with Taehyung’s.

“Kneel up.”

Taehyung presses his knees into the couch without hesitation, his hands sliding to the back of
Jeongguk’s neck. He whines when Jeongguk pulls his fingers away, eyes dark and heavy with
arousal as he looks between them.

There’s an excitement building inside of Jeongguk that has him fumbling with his own zipper.
Taehyung grinds against his chest like he’s desperate for it, the head of his cock just touching
Jeongguk’s collarbones.

“Do you have lube?” Jeongguk breathes once he’s managed to get his pants undone, his body
tensing as his hand moves over his cock. He lifts his hips up enough to push the material down so he
can get a proper hand around himself, the cool air around them making his cock beg to be touched.

“Yeah,” Taehyung breathes, rocking down so his cock slips down Jeongguk’s belly. Jeongguk bites
back a groan when he lowers himself just enough to bump against the head that Jeongguk squeezes
his fingers around. “In the cushion.”

Jeongguk grinds up, his head falling back at the feel of his cock slipping over Taehyung’s skin.
Taehyung touches his cheeks, thumbs rubbing over his skin and moving under his eyelids for
featherlight touches. He reaches between the cushions, sighing once he touches the bottle and the
box shoved there.

“Prepared,” Jeongguk huffs out with a laugh as he grabs Taehyung’s thigh to tug him down into his
lap.

The gasp Taehyung let’s out is louder than expected, spurring Jeongguk to grip his thigh and hold
him down against his lap. Pleasure pools through his limbs as their bodies meet, Taehyung grinding
down and rocking against Jeongguk’s cock.

They’re both rock hard, his nerves spiking at every touch and Taehyung’s flinching back towards his
belly with every roll of his hips. Impatience grows inside of Jeongguk and he doesn’t want to let it
go, but one glance at Taehyung has Taehyung’s head nodding and Jeongguk moving.

He hurriedly rips open a condom and slicks himself as Taehyung pushes back up on his knees to
give him room. The idea sparks into his mind and Jeongguk is moving without warning.

His arms hook under Taehyung’s knees as he stands, making Taehyung yelp and grab at his
shoulders in a panic. He’s flushed, sweaty, looking fucked out before they even fuck and Jeonggukk
is a little in love.

A lot in love. God, Jeongguk knew the moment he laid eyes on Taehyung in that club months ago
that he would fall in love with him. He falls quickly, he knows that, but how can anyone take one
look at Taehyung and not fall right into love?
“What you wanted right?” Jeongguk grits, straining as he moves and keeps Taehyung in his arms.
“You wanted daddy to fuck you like this?”

The words are slipping from his lips before he can think about them and maybe he’d be embarrassed,
but Taehyung’s eyes are rolling back as his head tilts and his gasps are sweet.

The wall offer supports but Jeongguk only loosens his grip on Taehyung enough to pull their hips
together. Taehyung’s ankles press into his back as Jeongguk palms over his ass, spreading him to rub
against him.

“Please Guk,” Taehyung breathes, rocking his hips back to meet Jeongguk’s teasing thrusts. He
strains one arm around Jeongguk’s neck to reach behind him, pulling a gasp from Jeongguk’s lips
when his fingers grip at his cock.

The first press of Jeongguk against Taehyung has Taehyung growing taut, his nails digging into
Jeongguk’s neck just as sharply as the point of Taehyung’s heels scraping over his back, scrambling
for purchase. Jeongguk grits his teeth, trying to calm the overwhelming growth of his heart in his
chest as he pushes forward.

His heart swells and pushes into his throat as Taehyung’s tight heat wraps around him, tugging every
nerve in his body into his groin. The strain in his arms is worth the way Taehyung trembles as
Jeongguk pushes deeper, the little pants leaving his lips like music to Jeongguk’s ears.

He flattens against Taehyung, pushing him into the wall as he bottoms out. Jeongguk peppers kisses
over the length of his neck as Taehyung fingers his hair, tugging gently to encourage Jeongguk to
move.

“You’re so sexy Tae,” Jeongguk groans, the weakness he has for Taehyung clear in his tone. It
makes Taehyung whimper quietly, his grip hardening in Jeongguk’s hair. “A masterpiece.”

“Shut up,” Taehyung complains breathlessly as he bucks his hips down against Jeongguk’s length.
“Just shut up and fuck me, please.”

Jeongguk had meant it when he said he’d give Taehyung anything he wants. He pulls out just
enough to fuck his cock back in again, savoring the yelp from Taehyung when their skin smack
together.

The moans tearing from Taehyung’s lips are loud and desperate, his deep groans vibrating in his
chest and rushing over Jeongguk’s body like they want to grab hold and take control of him. He
gives into it, handing over all of his composure easily as he fucks his hips faster and grunts into the
base of Taehyung’s neck.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung moans lowly, gripping roughly at the back of Jeongguk’s neck until his skin
feels sore.

Jeongguk pulls Taehyung from the wall, his cock twitching at the sound of his name leaving
Taehyung’s lips. His hands slip over the sweaty skin of Taehyung’s thighs but he props him higher
and pulls his cock from Taehyung.

A long whine leaves Taehyung’s lips as he buries his face into Jeongguk’s neck. Jeongguk’s body is
throbbing with pleasure, with want, for desire and love for Taehyung. He nearly trips over the carpet
as he carries Taehyung, stopping only to press him against his bedroom door and kiss him.

“Guk,” Taehyung whispers, his tone softer than it had been as he breathes the word over Jeongguk’s
lips. “I want you.”
Jeongguk groans lowly as he kisses Taehyung again, taking his time to feel every inch of
Taehyung’s mouth before he pushes open the bedroom door.

It is a mess. Messier than the rest of the house. There’s clothes strewn across the floor and his sheets
and comforter are tangled at the end of the bed. The thought of Taehyung touching himself,
anticipating Jeongguk to come home and touch him in return, his legs kicking all over the bed and
messing the sheets, has a ball knotting in Jeongguk’s stomach.

“You made a mess,” Jeongguk hums as he props Taehyung to the bed just to crawl over him.

A grin pulls at Taehyung’s lips as he slides his palms up Jeongguk’s chest and to his neck to pull him
close. “Are you going to keep fucking me or do you want me to clean -”

Jeongguk kisses Taehyung before he can continue. He thinks he’s addicted to the taste, the way their
lips fit together like they were designed to be there. He’s in love with the soft of Taehyung’s skin and
the way his thighs feel wrapping around his body.

He loves the way Taehyung whimpers into his mouth when Jeongguk slides back into him and the
way he eagerly rocks up against him, whining in impatience.

Jeongguk wants to leave the words across every inch of Taehyung’s skin but Jeongguk can’t say a
word when Taehyung grips hard to his throat and flips them.

He props his feet on the bed as Taehyung takes him again, sitting upright in his lap with a grip over
his throat. Jeongguk meets each roll of Taehyung’s hip with a hard thrust of his own, making
Taehyung jolt and press more of his weight down on where he holds Jeongguk. His heels push into
Jeongguk’s calves, his stockings fallen and sagging around his ankles.

“Fuck, Guk,” Taehyung grunts, legs quaking and tensing as his cock flaps wetly against his belly.
“Do you trust me?”

Jeongguk nods without hesitation as he grips Taehyung’s hips, slowing the movement so he can
grind deep. Taehyung’s eyes flutter shut, his lips parting around nothing. He jerks underneath him,
biting hard on his bottom lip and tensing his body as not to come too early.

He almost fails when Taehyung presses a thumb down on his windpipe. Jeongguk’s fingers bite into
Taehyung’s hips as his gasp comes out choked and desperate.

Taehyung’s eyes are burning onto him as he rocks down, his thumb rubbing circles over his skin
before pressing back in.

There’s lips on Jeongguk’s, tasting the puffs of air that manage to escape his mouth, as his eyes
flutter closed. The ball in the pit of his stomach tenses and pulses, waves of pleasure rippling through
his body and tugging his hips up until they smack roughly against Taehyung’s.

Taehyung gasps loudly before replacing his fingers with his mouth, whimpering and licking over
Jeongguk’s skin as he trembles above him. The chants breathed above him are hard to decipher,
whispers of Jeongguk’s name and gasps of ‘please’ despite the hard smack of Jeongguk’s hips and
his willingness to give Taehyung everything he wants.

Jeongguk rolls Taehyung to his back when the muscles in his stomach tense and his cock pulses with
the need to come. He quiets his whines with a kiss, his arms curled around Taehyung’s head and
tongue moving like it has a craving to slip down his throat.

Nails dig into his shoulder, grappling for support as the steccato of Taehyung’s moans grow.
Jeongguk grunts as Taehyung clenches around him, pulling him - ripping him over the edge.

Taehyung gasps like it hurts but he tugs his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair to prevent him from
pulling back. Instead, he kisses Jeongguk as Jeongguk jerks his hips with every streak of come he
milks out into the condom.

The wash of pleasure of him is like being taken by an undercurrent, relentless and forceful, grabbing
him and pulling him under until he drowns. He sinks his weight onto Taehyung, his arms shaking in
attempt to keep himself from crushing Taehyung beneath him.

“Guk,” Taehyung whines, his hips circling up towards him. He’s trembling like an earthquake has
taken hold of him, despite Jeongguk being wrapped around him. “Guk, pull out please.”

Jeongguk nips once at Taehyung’s bottom lip before he pushes back on his knees and gently pulls
his softening cock from him.

The sight before him is beautiful. Taehyung’s tan skin slick with sweat and darkened with arousal.
His stomach glossy and cock an angry red, laying in a pool of smeared come. The muscles in his
thighs tense and quiver, jumping when Jeongguk smoothes his palms over them.

“Holy fuck,” Taehyung breathes, eyes flitting shut. Jeongguk can’t resist the urge to kiss him, letting
his lips slide over the jut of Taehyung’s hips.

“You okay, babe?” Jeongguk asks, eyeing up at him as he flicks out his tongue to trail over the
Taehyung’s belly.

Taehyung doesn’t look at him, his chest still heaving, but he reaches blindly for Jeongguk’s
shoulders and nods his head so quickly it looks as if his chin is trying to race with his heart beat.

“Want a bath?”

Taehyung nods again but he digs his fingers into Jeongguk’s shoulders and jerks his hands, a quiet
tug like his arms are too weak to do more.

Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate to climb over him, their slick bodies sliding together just right until he can
plant a kiss to Taehyung’s nose.

“In a sec though,” Taehyung breathes. “Just -”

He nods before Taehyung can continue. He kisses over his cheeks and his eyelids when they fall
closed. He eases Taehyung’s bangs back to press kisses there before rolling away from him.

Taehyung’s body rolls after him like they’re tied by a string. He pouts, when Jeongguk tucks him to
his side and takes his hand to trail his fingers over it.

It takes forever for Taehyung to stop trembling, even with his eyes focused on where their fingers
touch and play with each other. Jeongguk can’t look away from Taehyung and the small smile on his
lips that he seems to be struggling to hold back.

There’s things that they need to talk about it and it’s difficult for Jeongguk not to blurt them out, but
he needs a moment to clear his head and he knows Taehyung doesn’t need every moment of his life
to be a reminder of his past.

“Gukkie,” Taehyung murmurs, his leg shifting over Jeongguk’s to press between the two. It doesn’t
look as if they’ll be taking a bath soon, despite their gross skin.
“Yeah love?” Jeongguk breathes, fighting back a yawn because he doesn’t want Taehyung to know
he’s becoming an old man that can’t stay up past ten.

“You should call me hyung.”

Jeongguk tilts his head, looking down at where Taehyung still rests against his chest, mesmerized by
their hands. It tickles, the light brushes of their fingertips, and it makes Jeongguk feel warm in a way
that is much softer than how he had been burning earlier. “I’m the hyung though.”

Taehyung’s thick brows furrow as his lips pout. “I’m older.”

“No,” Jeongguk grumbles, fingers twirling the hair behind Taehyung’s ear. “I’m literally older than
you.”

A laugh leaves Taehyung’s lips as he pushes himself up so they are eye level. “I literally googled
you, Jeongguk. I’m twenty six this year.”

They aren’t far apart in age, though Jeongguk has definitely thought Taehyung to be younger. It
makes him realize how much they don’t know about each other yet Jeongguk’s heart still hurts with
love for him.

“I’m hyung. Call me hyung.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes but he looks fond as he tickles under Jeongguk’s chin. “Okay hyung . Are
you gonna beg for me to call you oppa next?”

Jeongguk wrinkles his nose as he curls sideways, guiding Taehyung to his back. Being separate from
Taehyung feels like torture at the moment. He only feels peace within when they’re touching as
much as possible.

“You literally threatened my life so I would call myself your daddy.”

Whatever Taehyung is going to say cuts off when Jeongguk moves his hand between his legs,
cupping his soft cock gently. He swallows, a stubborn expression taking over his face.

“I didn’t threaten you.”

“Mm,” Jeongguk hums as he strokes Taehyung, wanting to feel him pulsing against his hand again.
“You tried to give me a foot job while I was driving. We could have died.”

A giggle escapes Taehyung’s lungs as he curls an arm around Jeongguk’s shoulders and pulls him
closer.

“So you do have a foot fetish?”

Jeongguk groans as Taehyung twitches against his hand. “I do not.”

He nuzzles his nose against Taehyung’s as Taehyung exhales softly, hips rocking up against his
hand despite the tremble that has returned to his body.

“Yeah, alright daddy. You can admit if you want to suck some toes. I’ve dealt with weirder.”

Jeongguk makes a noise of complaint before he plops a kiss to Taehyung’s lips. He drags his palm
over the head of his cock, teasing just to hear the soft hiss that passes between Taehyung’s mouth to
his.
“How about I suck you off instead?”

Taehyung’s teeth grip roughly at his bottom lip, eyes darkening as he nods. “Yeah, Guk.”

Jeongguk shakes his head, his strokes growing confident as Taehyung hardens in his hand.

They can discuss stuff later. Right now Jeongguk wants to feel the peace that comes with being with
Taehyung and his heart grows a little thinking Taehyung feels peace with him too.

Taehyung rolls his eyes, dragging Jeongguk closer. “Hyung, please.”

Yoongi has decided coming to Daegu has not been helpful in any way. He considers going back
home earlier than planned. Ji-hu will be there and that boy has never failed to make him feel at peace.

Seeing his mother with a husband has been uncomfortable but he’s trying. Sungho is nice enough
and he’s trying really hard to bond or whatever, but Yoongi just isn’t in the mood. It would break his
mother’s heart if he didn’t get along with him or if he left earlier than planned but all the signs are
pointing to going home.

Including the biggest sign: Hoseok standing at his front door.

“Ayo Yoonie, miss me?”

Yoongi leans against the door frame. His first glance at Hoseok made his heart pick up with worry,
worry that there was something wrong. Hoseok does look agitated; eyes jerking around and his
cigarette flying up to his lips too quickly between inhales. But Yoongi doubts that’s the way Hoseok
would greet him if something bad had happened.

“Yeah, Hope,” Yoongi says as he slides onto the porch and closes the door behind them so Hoseok
can finish his cigarette. He wonders how long Hoseok has been out here as he eyes the buds on the
ground below them. “What are you doing here in Daegu?”

Hoseok eyes him over quickly. “You didn’t know we were in Daegu?”

Yoongi hesitates. “No?”

His heart picks up again. Jimin’s here too? He can’t be.

“Then why are you with -”

Hoseok’s mouth presses closed as the door swings back open to reveal his mother. She wipes her
hand over her apron, readying her hands to fuss over Hoseok’s cheeks.

“Hobi! Sweet dear, smoking is going to kill you,” Jinju scolds but there’s no bite in her words.
“Come in baby, I’ve missed you.”

She presses a kiss to the tip of Hoseok’s nose and shakes his cheeks. Yoongi frowns, wondering
why Hoseok glances at the door so warily instead of cooing over his mother like he normally does.

“I’m okay, Jinju-ssi -”

Jinju swats him on the shoulder, her smile fading at Hoseok’s hesitancy. “Come in, I insist. Don’t tell
me you’ve planned on visiting Yoongi but not I? You live together! Surely you’re happy to get away
from him; he’s been so grumpy. I hope you’ve brought an explanation for that.”
She goes on as he walks inside, knowing the boys will follow and they do. Hoseok tosses aside the
cigarette before he claps on Yoongi’s back for him to go in first.

It feels weird. Hoseok looks weird. He’s tense and not as warm with Jinju as he normally is. When
they were in college, Hoseok visited his mother more than Yoongi did. Yoongi had to ask him for
her address.

“So baby, couldn’t be without your hyung for too long that you had to follow him back home?”

Hoseok huffs out a laugh as he digs his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He’s in his work
uniform and when he moves, Yoongi can see his piece poking into his shirt.

Yoongi considers smacking him for bringing it inside his mother’s home. Hoseok isn’t stupid, never
has been, but he is right now.

When they enter the living room where they had been sitting in before Yoongi ran out in discomfort,
Sungho practically flies from his leather couch and onto his feet. He looks alarmed, borderline angry
for a moment and Yoongi snorts thinking that he’s never had company before.

“I uh, no I just moved here with Jimin,” Hoseok replies like a whisper, glancing at Sungho. Yoongi
doesn’t like the look on his face, the same expression he’s seen him wear while watching Taehyung
with clients at the Minx.

Jinju whips around at that, eyes wide. She glances too often at Yoongi, probably putting together the
pieces she’s been given; Yoongi’s best friends moving and Yoongi’s refusal to speak about Jimin,
his sudden return home.

“We’ll talk about that,” Jinju says under her breath before she wraps an arm around Hoseok and uses
her other to indicate Sungho.

“Hobi love, this is my husband Kim Sungho. Dear this is Yoongi-yah’s best friend, my sweet Hobi.”

Yoongi grins internally at the constipated look on Hoseok’s face right before he cools it and bows in
greeting. He probably finds the idea of his mother being married just as odd as Yoongi does.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sungho-ssi. I hope you’re taking good care of Jinju-ssi. She’s like a mother to
me.”

Sungho doesn’t look as alarmed now as he smiles at Junji but he looks far from friendly, much
different than he had been when Jinju first introduced him to Yoongi. “She’s my queen. I would
never let anything happen to her.”

Yoongi almost gags.

“Oh shush. Are you staying for dinner?” Jinju asks as she turns and pats Hoseok’s cheeks fondly.

The hackles are rising as Sungho continues to look at Hoseok even when he sits, something in his
eyes that unsettles Yoongi. It can’t be jealousy - Jinju is very affectionate to the both of them, to any
child, even though she did claim Hoseok as hers with an emphasis that seemed unnecessary.

The day he had brought Jimin to meet his mother had been the most mortifying day of his life. Jimin
hadn’t stopped teasing him about how his mother squeaked at him and told him many times that
Yoongi was her ‘precious lil dumpling.’

It can’t be a threat. Hoseok can come off hard and intense sometimes when he’s working, but he’s
soft and all smiles with Jinju at the moment. Even if his smile is tense and Yoongi wonders if he’s
imagining things because he’s growing agitated with curiosity as to what’s wrong with Hoseok.

Sungho’s eyes glance towards Hoseok’s belt and it clicks. Jinju has never been quiet about her
dislike for weapons, and it’s a sign of disrespect for Hoseok to ignore this and bring one inside
anyway.

“Actually, Yoongi and I have plans if that’s alright with you? I promise to stop by more often.”

Jinju doesn’t look disappointed but almost relieved. Everyone is weird today and Yoongi just has a
headache that can only be cured by Hoseok bringing him to Jimin.

“Bring Jimin with you. Even if Yoongi and him are in a fight. Shush,” she says when Yoongi’s lips
part to deny it. “I miss that boy. He tells me more about their relationship than my selfish son here.
I’m not going to be alive forever, Yoongi baby, I would like to be here for your wedding.”

Sungho’s eyes finally pull away from Hoseok and to Yoongi, his face hard and Yoongi keeps
himself from arguing and being disrespectful. It would be inappropriate for him to scold Yoongi but
he knows that look even if he didn’t grow up with a father. Jeon Jun-ki had never been one to punish
with a striking hand, his expressions were enough.

“That’s our signal to go,” Yoongi whines, grabbing for Hoseok. The only thing that could make this
more uncomfortable is Jinju going on about how badly she wants Jimin to be her son in law.

They don’t have plans and Yoongi needs to stop by his room to change out of his pajama bottoms
but he feels like he might crumble if his mother keeps talking about them with so much hope in her
eyes.

It’s another reason he’s uncomfortable in the house. His mother doesn’t quite get the clue that he
doesn’t want to talk about Jimin. Jimin had said goodbye and Yoongi will never lose his hope of
seeing him again, he just doesn’t know when and he’ll go crazy if he he worries about it.

“It was nice meeting you, Sungho-ssi.”

Sungho manages a smile and Yoongi can feel his eyes on them as he pushes Hoseok out of the living
room and towards his new bedroom.

Yoongi shoves Hoseok as soon as his bedroom door closes, making Hoseok’s face twist in offense.
“Why did you bring a piece to my mother’s? You know how hard she hugs?”

Hoseok’s confusion slips away and turns into anger as Yoongi quickly strips from his pajamas. “I
didn’t know your mother was here, Yoongi. I didn’t know you were either.”

Yoongi hesitates with his pants around his ankles. What?

“What?”

Hoseok starts pacing, the heels of his hands pressing into his forehead. It’s been awhile since
Yoongi’s seen him this stressed, since college exams he thinks.

“Last time I checked, your mother lived in those apartments down the block from the restaurant,”
Hoseok goes on, whispering, “not on some farm.”

“She has both - anyway, why are you so stressed that my mother moved?” Yoongi asks, tossing the
pants at Hoseok to get him to stop pacing. “That’s what happens when you get married.”
A long, painful groan sounds from Hoseok’s lips before he flings himself onto Yoongi’s bed,
teetering on the edge.

“That’s the issue, hyung.”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh as he pulls a pair of tattered jeans from his dresser. He doesn’t mind when
Hoseok lights up, but he’ll take the fall for it when his mother complains.

At least he goes towards the window to toss it open and lean the lit end outside.

“Yeah, I think it’s fucking strange but Sungho isn’t the worst .”

“No, he literally is the worst.”

Yoongi side eyes Hoseok. Even he hadn’t been that dramatic about it, and it’s his mother. “You
don’t know him. I hate him too but it’s kind of unfair to Eomma.”

“You won’t feel that way after I tell you this,” Hoseok grits out, the anger in his voice surprising
Yoongi. “His name is Chung-Hoon, hyung. Choi fucking Chung-Hoon.”

It feels as if it takes hours for Yoongi’s head to turn from the dresser to Hoseok, his eyes radiating an
anger that Yoongi’s rarely ever seen coming off of Hoseok. He may be callous looking while on the
job, but Yoongi’s always know Hoseok to radiate sunshine.

“What?”

Hoseok sighs before he inhales deeply, for hours. Yoongi’s heart starts to race as if he’s the one
that’s been chain smoking.

“Hyung,” Hoseok starts, his tone desperate for Yoongi to understand. “That’s that fucking piece of
shit in your living room right now is Chung-Hoon. THE Chung-Hoon.”

Yoongi’s heart pounds so angrily that his ears start to vibrate. His pants go forgotten half pulled up
his legs but he can’t move enough to finish getting dressed.

“Stop fucking with me.”

He knows Hoseok isn’t joking, he can tell. It’s not something Hoseok would ever joke about. But -
but, he has to be.

“No bullshit. I see the man every day,” Hoseok says seriously as he stubs his cigarette out roughly.
He rubs at the ash for a minute, anger swirling off of him like the smoke that had been trailing back
into the room. “When I saw you together I thought you were up to something stupid for Jimin. I was
gonna - I don’t know what I was thinking but I wanted to tell him to refuse to see you again. That’s
why I came here, even knowing he might kill me right there on that porch, I couldn’t let you do some
stupid shit.”

Hoseok’s words filter through Yoongi’s brain slowly. He’s barely listening, too focused on trying to
make sense of what Hoseok is saying.

It can’t be. His mother is kind and warm. She donates food to the orphanages around and cries
whenever she reads about children getting hurt. She’s always told him that children are God’s most
precious, that they must be protected above all things.

Chung-Hoon’s a fucking child rapist, or at least plays a huge part in making it happen.
He’s the reason Jimin is gone, is terrified. He allowed Jimin to be sold at a young age, to men older
than him. His mother would never marry a man so scary, so cruel.

“You’re saying,” Yoongi starts, but his tongue is feeling heavy and he isn’t sure at what he actually
wants to say. “Is that why he looked so startled to see you?”

Hoseok shrugs, his fingers shaking out beside his hips. “Probably. I don’t think anyone knows he
has a wife. He’d be dumb to let that information out. It’s a weakness you know. They say that’s why
he doesn’t have a heir, he doesn’t want to give anyone something to use against him. What do we
do?”

Nausea rolls around Yoongi’s stomach. “We have to tell Eomma.”

He isn’t expecting the panic that flickers in Hoseok’s eyes before he starts shaking his head. “We
can’t hyung. Chung’s not gonna let that slide. He might not kill you but it won’t stop him from
killing me. Or torturing Jimin worse than he already has.”

Yoongi holds a finger up, emotions cracking hard through his body and tumbling his insides worse.
He holds a hand to his mouth, praying that he keeps down the few chips he had tried to eat earlier.

It pounds through him. He wants to go back into the living room and shove his fingers into Sungho,
Chung-Hoon’s eyes so he can never be blessed with seeing Jimin’s beautiful face again.

“Tell me hyung,” Yoongi says after a moment of letting his stomach settle. “What did he do to Jimin.
Is he okay? Take me to see him. Get me away from here before I murder that bastard. Cause I might.
I really feel like I fucking could right now.”

Hoseok gives him a pointed look. “I can't take you to Jimin, he wouldn’t forgive me.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Yoongi grumbles before he grimaces in apology. It isn’t Hoseok’s fault that any
of this has happened, but Yoongi feels his anger wanting to be released. “I have to see him. You
can’t tell me he’s been hurt and then just expect me to send you off with a ‘get better soon’ card.”

Hoseok debates it for a moment before he nods and gestures to Yoongi’s legs, a look of
understanding on his face. Yoongi hurriedly pulls his pants back up.

His heart beats angrily as they make their way back into the house but thankfully, his step father is no
longer in the living room. There’s regret inside of him as he kisses his mother goodbye and he
wonders if she feels him trembling.

She must be safe for now, right? Yoongi might be uncomfortable with their marriage (he absolutely
despises it now) but he always noticed that Sungho looks at her the way he thinks he looks at Jimin.

It’s gross and disgusting and doesn’t make him feel better but he doesn’t worry for her safety. He’s
seen with his own two eyes that Sungho backs down to her easily, always a fond smile on his lips
when she scolds him. If he hasn’t told anyone about their marriage, keeping her a secret because
she’s his weakness, she’s safe.

He hopes, at least.

“I was wondering why Chung takes Jimin to your mother’s restaurant every morning,” Hoseok
whispers as they step into the warm summer air. “The food’s next level of course, but it makes sense
now.”

Yoongi doesn’t respond. His heart hurts. He wonders how badly Jimin’s is pained every time he
steps into his mother’s restaurant. Jimin must be trying not to think of him just as Yoongi is, but he’s
reminded of him every morning.

“Why does he do that?”

“He wants Busan and he knows its thanks to Jimin that B even has a piece of it. I think he’s buttering
him up, but he ain’t always so sweet and he definitely hates me.”

“You should tell me what he’s done.”

Hoseok waves a hand of dismissal. “There’s no point. Just make sure you talk a lot about how much
your mother loves me so I don’t end up dead in a ditch because I found out about his family.”

It feels as if the drive to Jimin takes hours but Yoongi thinks that has more to do with his anxious
mind than anything. The streets are a blur around him, Hoseok’s nervous fingers dancing on the
steering wheel and the constant opening of the window merely a hum in his ears.

The calm that tries to break itself into Yoongi before he collapses is torn away when Hoseok finally
stops the car. It’s a small apartment building compared to the rest around it, but it blends well enough
with its shabby and broken brick walls and cloudy mirrors.

For the King of Seoul, Yoongi had expected something high class and radiating big money energy.

“This is where Jimin lives?”

Hoseok hums, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel again. “Yeah, kinda.”

His tone doesn’t sit well with Yoongi and he fidgets. He desperately wants to see Jimin but he’s
suddenly nervous. They’ll fight, probably. Maybe he’ll upset Jimin, maybe the sight of him will
remind Jimin that Yoongi’s never giving up on him even if he knows Jimin wants him to.

“What’s that mean?”

“It’s a brothel, hyung,” Hoseok says bluntly. “So uh, just prepare yourself.”

Yoongi feels like he’s choking. “You could have given me more time to,” he grunts, punching
Hoseok’s arm.

The nerves grow tenfold as they make their way into the building. There’s security at the front that
only glance at Hoseok before letting him by and into the lobby. It’s pretty drab and gray, the floral
wall paper peeling around the corners and bubbling along the middle. If Hoseok hadn’t told him they
were stepping inside of a brothel, Yoongi wouldn’t have known.

“Hey there handsome. Who is this with you?”

Hoseok turns as a voice floats through the lobby, announcing the arrival of an older woman who
descends a rickety staircase.

“Kitty,” Hoseok introduces, bowing his head when the woman struts towards them. “She runs the
place.”

One look at her face tells Yoongi who she is. There’s no denying the resemblance. The same full lips
and round cheeks, the sharp jaw and their eyes would be identical if it weren’t for the slight scar
above one of Jimin’s.

Her face isn’t marked with as many wrinkles as it should though it doesn’t appear to take on the
plastic look surgery causes. Her skin is smooth and she’s almost completely bare, just a pink silk robe
over her shoulders, underwear, and a bra that’s so small that her breasts bubble over the top.

“Jeon Yoongi,” Hoseok says with a tap to Yoongi’s chest and Yoongi quickly bows his head in
greeting. “An old friend of mine and a client of Doll’s. Figured he’d like to say hello while in town.”

They didn’t talk about lying but Yoongi’s suddenly grateful. He nods in agreement.

Kitty looks him up and down appreciatively before tapping under Yoongi’s chin to inspect him.
“Hmm. You are quite pretty. Doll’s always been a fan of pretty things.”

“Then I guess he’s his own number one fan.”

Amusement fills Kitty’s eyes as she pats his cheek. “Cute. Hope baby, take Mr. Jeon to his room.”
Her grin turns less amused and into something that has nausea returning to Yoongi’s belly as she
turns to Hoseok. “If you want to watch them this time, do. But if not, come join Eomma for a drink,
would you?”

Hoseok only nods his head in agreement, smiling softly and it’s enough to appease Kitty until she’s
winking and walking away. Yoongi glares at the side of Hoseok’s head until he finally notices.

“Don’t tell me your fucking Jimin’s mother, Seok-ah. I can’t handle that much in one day.”

Hoseok’s eyes go wide, expression twisting in disgust before he looks around and then hits Yoongi
square in the chest. “Don’t be disgusting. She flirts like she might die if she doesn’t but she just likes
to talk when she’s got some alcohol in her. Why she likes talking to me, I don’t know but I’m
collecting information so I go with it.”

Yoongi calms some but he glances at Hoseok suspiciously. It helps not to focus on the half naked
bodies he walks by. It truly distracts him from the moans that vibrate against the walls as Hoseok
turns the down a corridor of rooms.

“Learn anything good?”

“She loves Jimin a lot, but that only comes out when she’s near blacked out and sobbing so hard it’s
hard to understand,” Hoseok whispers as they approach a shiny set of elevators. Hoseok takes out a
key hanging from his waistband and Yoongi turns his eye away from the metal tucked under his belt.
“She’s got some sisters that died or something. They left her with Chung and she used to be angry at
them. I’m trying to find out more but it’s difficult. My gut tells me it’s important though.”

The inside of the elevator is gold. Light carpeting and darker gold railings lining the windows
covering the walls. It’s such a difference from the shabby first floor that Yoongi almost hesitates to
walk inside.

“Can’t have guns upstairs but I have one hidden in Chim’s room. Smuggled it in, don’t ask me
how.”

Yoongi grimaces. “I don’t want to know. What I want to know is what Kitty meant by if you wanted
to watch ‘this time.’”

In the mirror, Yoongi can see the way Hoseok flushes, an odd look of worry touching his features.
“When he gets the wrong vibe from a client he asks me to sit in - in case, you know. It’s a good
thing, I’ve had to push off a few of them.”

Yoongi deflates, dropping his gaze. He wants another life for them all, so he doesn’t have to feel this
rampage of emotions inside of him all of the time. He hates the idea Jimin feels unsafe, he is glad
Hoseok is here to help him, but he wishes none of this existed.

“You’re a good friend, Hobi. I love you, you know. If I haven’t said it.”

Hoseok punches him in the arm, smiling at the awkward tension that suddenly falls on them. He
doesn’t say it out loud to anyone really, mostly just Ji-hu and Jimin, but he’s realizing that maybe he
should do so more often.

“You don’t have to,” Hoseok says as the ding sounding in the elevator announces their arrival. “I’m
proud of you for not exploding yet.”

Yoongi grunts. “I think I’m getting to the point of feeling so much anxiety and emotion that I feel
numb now. I’ll be shocked back when I see Jimin.”

“I told you were an old client so I could bring you to his private room.”

The floor Hoseok brings them to is more like what Yoongi had been expecting. The rugs are soft and
expensive looking, the room twinkling from the diamond chandeliers overhead. They step into a
living room, adorn with leather furniture and a bar in the corner. It isn’t empty, there’s a few men on
the couches with a naked girl moving between their laps. Yoongi quickly diverts his attention.

Hoseok hands his gun over to a man that’s three times Yoongi’s size before they go further.

“He’s with me,” Hoseok grunts with a pat to Yoongi’s shoulder. “Here for Doll. Call Kitty if you
wish but you know what time it is so if you have the nuts to disturb her, go for it. You won’t have
them afterwards.”

The guard grunts and nods his head, never looking at Yoongi.

Yoongi starts to feel nervous again as he follows after Hoseok. He keeps his eyes ahead and tries not
to look anywhere. It makes him feel ill, thinking about Jimin here.

With Bobby he had a bit of control, Jimin had swore it to him, even if that didn’t make him any safer
as he took every bad client away from Taehyung. Yoongi doesn’t know what he has here, but he
knows he has a lot less power than he did before.

Hoseok finally stops at the end of the hall and knocks gently on the door. “Jimin-ah.”

Yoongi wipes his sweaty hands on his jeans. He isn’t just nervous to see Jimin, he’s afraid he’s
going to throw Jimin over his shoulder and kidnap him and be murdered by the security guards for
trying.

It’s almost worth the attempt when he first lays his eyes on Jimin.

The door opens and Yoongi feels his breath get stuck in his lungs. The day’s events slip from him
and he can only look at Jimin, who looks at Hoseok first with wide eyes and his teeth worrying at his
bottom lip.

“Jimin.”

It comes out of his mouth before he can stop it. He isn’t embarrassed about how overwhelmed he
sounds. The longing is clear in his voice and it hasn’t even been that long.

Jimin’s eyes widen more and Yoongi knows he should expect the upset look, but he doesn’t expect
the way he shoves Hoseok hard in the chest and looks away from Yoongi without greeting.

“Why did you bring him here?” He seethes under his breath. “Are you stupid? Just -”

Yoongi moves before he can stop himself, gently grabbing Jimin’s hands with an urge to calm him
down, to keep him from being upset. He hates that he upsets Jimin so much, that Jimin feels so much
pain because they love each other.

“Jimin, please. I made him.”

“I already said goodbye,” Jimin whimpers, sounding broken as the tears appear in his eyes. He
doesn’t fight off Yoongi’s touch, but lets Yoongi hold his fists between them. “I can’t say it again, I
can’t.”

Yoongi huffs, guiding Jimin back into the room in case there are cameras in the hallways. He doesn’t
hesitate to hold Jimin the moment they’re past the threshold, his body screaming at him to wrap
himself around Jimin’s trembling body.

“You don’t have to. You should have known it wasn’t true when you said it last time. I’ll always
find you, Jimin. My soul can’t function without you.”

Jimin bangs a weak fist against his chest. “Shut up.” He moves away, wiping furiously at his eyes.
“What are you doing here?”

Yoongi doesn’t respond but kisses Jimin instead, folding his mouth gently over his lips just to ease
the ache in his own. Jimin gasps quietly, fingers digging desperately into Yoongi’s shoulders.

Even when apart and uncertain about where they’re going with each other, the love is always there
loud and demanding to be acknowledged.

“Are you hurt?” Yoongi whispers against his lips, touching over him softly as much as he can. “Are
you okay?”

Jimin nods furiously, lying to Yoongi but he doesn’t push it. Instead, he steps back and takes in
Jimin.

It’s been a short time since they’ve last seen each other but Jimin’s ribs are cracking through his skin
worse than he’s ever seen. There are angry bruises lining his hips and welts across his belly and
thighs. The need to throw up returns at the red lines over Jimin’s wrists and the scratch marks across
his neck.

“Stop,” Jimin says desperately, pulling from Yoongi and scurrying away quickly to pull out a robe
from his closet. Yoongi doesn’t miss the stripes of welted skin on his back or the patch of missing
hair above his neck. “Don’t look at me, please.”

“Jimin -”

“Please don’t.”

Yoongi looks at the room instead. It’s incredibly neat, bare save for the furniture and the rumpled
comforter thrown over the bed. He focuses on the color, the rich red to calm the riptide in his
stomach.

There’s never been a time in his life that he has felt like this. Uncontrollable and unsure of what to do
about it. He has to call Jeongguk just to calm himself. He’s always a voice of reason despite never
listening to it himself.

“Tae’s living with Guk,” Yoongi says, going for conversational in hopes that it will calm Jimin. “Tae
blew up on him like we expected he would. But he’s still there so, maybe that’s good. They’re in
love, it’s gross.”

Jimin nods, hugging himself tightly. As they both just stand there it’s a bit awkward but Yoongi
doesn’t care, he can’t leave.

He won’t leave again without Jimin. There’s an idea brewing into his mind and he’s allowing it to
grow, regardless of whether or not it could actually work.

“That is good. So good. And you? How are you?”

“Okay,” Yoongi lies, smiling but Jimin can always tell when he’s faking it. “I’m staying with
Eomma. It’s good to see her. She’s mar-”

The cough behind him alerts him to the fact that Hoseok’s still in the room with them, quiet like a fly
on the wall.

He’s right. Mentioning Chung-Hoon slow Sungho slash Yoongi’s new step father would take Jimin
in the opposite direction of calm.

“She misses you,” Yoongi modifies, holding his hands out with his palms up as an offering. Jimin
glances at Hoseok with a frown but doesn’t hesitate to take Yoongi’s hands.

Yoongi feels like crying in relief.

“I miss you too,” Yoongi whispers like a secret as he pulls Jimin close again. He smells different, too
perfume-y, but Yoongi nuzzles against his neck to take him in either way. “How long can I stay?”

“Not long,” Jimin whispers back regretfully and it’s followed by the sound of the door closing softly
behind them. “I don’t want you to give them your money.”

Yoongi doesn't know if he can leave knowing another person will come in and mark up Jimin’s
body even more, cause him pain. Even if Hoseok’s in the room to protect him, Jimin will still feel
fear.

“And I don’t want to leave so I guess we're at an impasse.”

Jimin snorts before his lips brush over Yoongi’s temple. The trembling has stopped but Jimin holds
on so tightly to Yoongi’s hands that he feels as if his fingers could break.

“It’s not torture all the time, you know,” Jimin tells him, ignoring the fact that he’s admitting that it’s
torture sometimes. “I get to dance a lot, I’m not always here. Just sometimes. They make films really,
that’s the most I do here. My - Chung-Hoon says only I have a pretty enough face for them.”

It hadn’t occurred to Yoongi now that Sungho, Chung-Hoon whatever, has seen Jimin so intimately.
Rage flickers inside of him. He’s sat at the dinner table with this man, watched his mother’s crappy
dramas beside him.

He’s done things that Yoongi can’t, refuses to imagine before coming home with a smile on his lips
and his mother fusses over him for being exhausted after work. Yoongi had been slightly bothered
by the idea of Hoseok seeing Jimin intimately, even if it’s for his protection, but Sungho seeing him
too has his body flaring with rage.
“Shh,” Jimin says suddenly and Yoongi realizes he’s trembling as Jimin cups his face. There’s a soft
smile on his lips as he brushes his thumbs over Yoongi’s cheekbones.

“I’m supposed to be comforting you, sorry,” Yoongi murmurs in embarrassment.

Jimin shakes his head. “We can take care of each other at the same time, babe.”

Kissing Jimin is enough to push oxygen back into his lungs for a moment. He pets Jimin’s cheeks
and brushes his fingers through his hair while Jimin clings to him. It makes it harder to leave.

It strikes him for a moment, the idea. He hesitates in the kiss before he deepens it. Jimin gasps quietly
but he doesn’t pull away so Yoongi continues, kissing Jimin until all the love seeps from his heart
and pours into Jimin instead.

Jimin pushes back, taking control of the kiss and it’s push and pull until Yoongi’s legs are hitting the
edge of the bed and Jimin’s toppling over him.

“Hyung,” Jimin breathes hoarsely as he pulls away, his chest rising and falling as he tries to catch his
breath. Yoongi drags his palms over Jimin’s spine, draws circles over his back and kisses his
shoulders. “You should go.”

“I’m staying,” Yoongi tells him simply. “Come here.”

Jimin looks like he may argue but he only sighs and tucks his face into Yoongi’s neck. He’s a heavy
weight on top of him, crushing him into the mattress but there isn’t another place where Yoongi’d
rather be.

“Can we stay like this then?” Jimin whispers almost insecurely like Yoongi may say no even though
Yoongi’s always made it obvious he’d give Jimin anything he asked for.

“Of course, baby.”

Jimin hums, nuzzling against him before he kisses his neck softly. Despite his words, the kiss grows
into something more, Jimin’s teeth digging into his skin and sucking until Yoongi hisses quietly.

“So no one gets any ideas,” Jimin murmurs before licking apology kisses over his new mark. “I don’t
even want them thinking about touching you.”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh as he brushes his fingers through Jimin’s hair. A calm falls around them,
brought on by the soft of Jimin’s breath smoothing over his skin and the way his heart beats steadily
against Yoongi’s chest. He isn’t surprised when Jimin heavies and his breathing slows. He constantly
feels like there is a buzz underneath his skin, making it difficult to sleep at night when him and Jimin
are away from each other like this. He can only imagine it being ten times worse for Jimin in this
place.

When Jimin is upset, he has a habit of making himself small against Yoongi’s body and clutching on
tight even in his dreams. Yoongi hums, playing with Jimin’s hair softly and rubbing his lips over his
cheekbones until his fingers release.

It isn’t until Jimin’s snoring out loud, lips open and nose wrinkling with each inhale that Yoongi
finally slips away. He doesn’t want to - no, he rather cut off his foot than leave Jimin’s side, but
staying beside him isn’t going to get Jimin out of this.

He breathes in deeply, tip toeing carefully as not to startle Jimin. It’s a hunch. Hoseok may be quiet
and mysterious at times but Yoongi knows him like the back of his hand. Hoseok’s patterns may be
hard to figure out, but they’re always consistent.

Yoongi watches Jimin smack his lips a few times as he nuzzles his face into the mattress. He waits
for a loud snore before he moves the nightstand beside the bed to the side - which is surprisingly
heavy for its size. He doesn’t want to imagine what’s in there, shaking his head at the ideas that pop
up first as he peers behind it.

“Ah,” Yoongi hums in victory though his heart skips a beat. He’s never touched one before, though
he’s seen plenty in his life. Jun-ki used to have a larger security team around the house, always
equipped like their lives were at risk at any moment.

It too is heavier in his hand than he expected as he pulls it from where it’s hidden behind the
nightstand. He glances nervously at Jimin before tucking it into the waistband of his pants, shivering
from the cold metal.

There had been no metal detectors anywhere that Yoongi had seen. He doesn’t know why Hoseok
had to sneak it in but Yoongi doesn’t think it’d be a problem sneaking it out.

“Jimin,” Yoongi murmurs, feeling awkward as he bends to kiss his lips over Jimin’s cheeks. The
metal digs into his stomach and he’s afraid of moving with it, even though he’s sure - or hopes, that
Hoseok would keep the safety on when leaving it in Jimin’s care.

“Yoong,” Jimin murmurs, lips pouting and eyebrows furrowing as he reaches blindly for Yoongi.
“Come back to bed.”

Yoongi kisses him softly, ignoring the thudding of his heart. “I have to go baby. But don’t worry,
I’m coming back for you okay,” Yoongi whispers before pressing another kiss to Jimin’s lips. “And
next time, we’ll leave together.”

Namjoon eyes the metal door and the sign in front, worried. He fidgets, nibbling on his bottom lip
and flicking his eyes constantly to the camera in the corner of the hallway. Jin had shut it all down,
but Namjoon can’t help the anxious butterflies going wild in his stomach.

He’s in love with Jin. He’s known this for awhile, but it’s confirmed now that he’s willing to break
into his boss’ office just because Jin asked. Jin hadn’t even given him a reason, just that Jeongguk
asked him to look into Yunbok.

If Jeongguk’s behind it, Jeongguk won’t fire him. Not that Namjoon thinks Jeongguk ever would.
But Namjoon’s hands are shaking because it’s Yunbok. He’s terrifying, a quiet scary like black
clouds slipping into the sky on a sunny day. He rarely says a word to Namjoon unless it’s telling him
he’s doing something wrong or his research papers are bad. Jeongguk says Yunbok praises him but
Namjoon is also well aware of the fact that Yunbok thinks his research is bullshit.

It’s not supposed to be Namjoon that takes over Yunbok’s position when he retires. It’s always been
the next in line. But Namjoon wasn’t the one that decided not to send Yunbok’s son to college.

“Come on Joonbug,” Jin whines from beside him, though there’s a fond smile on his lips when he
does. He leans against the wall, wagging his eyebrows. “I like a bad boy.”

Namjoon swallows. “That’s definitely not me hyung, you should find someone else.”

Jin is all bright smiles as he closes the space between them and kisses Namjoon’s forehead. It’s new
for them. They’ve shared kisses here and there before, but ever since Jin came knocking on his
apartment door at midnight with two children and a mask of pain on his face, the kisses happen much
more often.

“Breaking and entering for me,” Jin goes on before he closes his eyes and practically moans in
pleasure, “so hot.”

Namjoon shoves him with a grin, his nerves calming. “Shut up. I actually need Lee’s work on
Naphthalene and G6PD as a cite reference. The publisher wants my work tomorrow but I can add it
in last minute. This is for purely selfish reasons hyung, nothing to do with you.”

Jin moans again, making Namjoon flush. “Breaking and entering to stay up and be productive? Take
my clothes off right here.”

“You know, being close to the boss has started getting to your head,” Namjoon says as he shakily
punches in the code to unlock the door. He’s accidentally seen Yunbok open it like, twelve times.
“You have no fear; you think you’re untouchable.”

The door clicks open and Jin pushes his hand away to open it for him. “Oh, I’m very touchable Joon.
If you ever wanted to see for yourself.”

The light flickers on and before Namjoon can look around there’s lips brushing over his cheek. Jin
grins at him playfully before he’s stepping back again.

Yunbok’s office is huge; nearly as big as Jeongguk’s. Instead of a section for an assistant though, it
cuts off into a lab that Namjoon hasn’t been allowed into.

Whatever. He doesn’t want to be apart of Yunbok’s search to make nicotine more addictive, more
dangerous. His research is going in the opposite direction. He knows it’s crazy, the idea of a healthy
cigarette. But there’s already so many crazy impossible things that have been created in the world.

Like Jin.

Namjoon shakes his head, his face growing incredibly hot even though Jin’s can’t hear his thoughts
and is too busy shuffling through filing cabinets to pay attention to Namjoon.

“What are we looking for?”

Jin shrugs. “Something incriminating.”

Dread fills Namjoon’s belly and he hesitates. He doesn’t think Jin would ever put him in a bad place
without a good reason, but he wishes Jin knew that he could trust him enough to explain what is
going on.

But he doesn’t push or ask, he quietly helps Jin move through files. He notes the name of a few
research papers and gets caught up reading them until Jin is elbowing him with a fond look on his
face.

“Why haven’t you asked why I want to do this?” Jin asks quietly as he pads across the room to
Yunbok’s computer.

“I have.”

“Well, I wasn't expecting you just to give up after me telling you no once, to be honest.”

Namjoon grins, moving to the filing cabinets that Jin hadn’t touched. There are years of records and
research stored in the office and Namjoon feels a little in heaven. He’s thought about sneaking into
Yunbok’s office before to take a look through his files, though for only research purposes.

“You can tell me if you want hyung, but I’m not going to force you.”

There’s a sigh leaving Jin’s lips, his eyes rolling as he flicks his fingers quickly over the keyboard.

Jin’s searched for a lot of weird things for Jeongguk but Namjoon’s never commented. Jeongguk is a
good man and Jin’s a good man and wouldn’t do anything he thought was wrong.

“Well, I’m going to tell you, but I can’t tell you everything.”

Namjoon nods in understanding, remaining quiet so Jin doesn’t lose his nerve to share. There’s been
a lot of questions brewing in his mind since he’s met Jin, but he's stayed quiet and waited for Jin to
be talk.

He has. He’s told Namjoon about the day Taehyung’s mother was murdered and the day Taehyung
disappeared. Jin’s parents weren’t supportive of him taking care of the kids, had wanted to drop them
off at an orphanage until Jin fled with them, afraid they would actually take them away. He’s never
told Namjoon where Taehyung went when he disappeared, just how happy he had been to have him
back.

Namjoon knows Taehyung is a prostitute, but it isn’t his business to mention it. There are things Jin
says at times that made Namjoon wonder, and it became clear to him when he overheard Hanbin and
Taehyung talking at his charity event.

“The man who killed Taehyung’s mother wanted to kidnap Woojinnie.”

Namjoon jerks up, stilling where his fingers grab around the bottom drawer to open it. Jin isn’t
looking at him, but his eyes are focused on the computer screen.

“Well, I don’t know if he actually did kill her. It's my guess. The police don't agree.”

“How did you guess it?” Namjoon asks, trying to sound calm as he pulls open the drawer. It makes
him sad knowing Jin has those memories in his brain. He doesn’t know how Jin could have handled
walking in on that.

He can’t imagine the pain of it. Not just finding her, but he sees the fear in Jin’s eyes when he talks
about losing Woojin and he can’t imagine that feeling.

“I can’t tell you that.”

Namjoon accepts this with a nod and Jin sighs, glancing at him.

“I can tell you who. His name’s Choi Chung-Hoon. He’s a mob boss originated out of Daegu.”

There aren’t folders in this drawer, but packets and boxes. Namjoon’s heart thumps uncomfortably as
he touches the small clear packets, his lips opening to call for Jin but he closes them so Jin doesn’t
stop talking.

It’s bad. His face feels hot. Jeongguk would fire Yunbok over this, would fire Namjoon if he even
suspected Namjoon was involved.

“What does that have to do with Yunbok?” Namjoon asks, struggling to keep his voice calm.

“You okay Joon?” Jin asks, concern in his voice as Namjoon turns over the packets one by one to
see with a logo that looks like waves on them. “It’s because his real name is Kim Sungho.”

I’m Kim Sungho. Is Yunbok in? No? Tell him his favorite hyung stopped by, would you?

Kim Sungho had been at the lab just a few weeks prior. The day of Jeongguk’s memorial for his
mother. His stomach twists more so than it already is at the idea of being a foot away from a
murderer.

“You - you think Yunbok-ssi’s hyung killed Tae’s mother?” Namjoon asks, his voice quiet because
he can’t seem to speak the words any louder. “I don’t understand, hyung.”

“Joon,” Jin says firmly as he pushes from the leather chair to walk over to him. “What is it?”

Namjoon lifts his hands when Jin kneels behind him, showing off the handful of packets filled with
white and yellow powder. “This.”

Jin turns Namjoon’s hand over, making the packets drop back into the drawer. “You can’t touch
them Joon. Do you know what that is?”

“Yeah,” Namjoon says with a frown. “I know what drugs are hyung. I’m a chemical engineer.”

Jin shakes his head quickly, pulling the drawer open more. There is a folder in there, but it’s pushed
to the way back and shoved behind small cigar boxes. They all have locks on them, making
Namjoon wonder if the packets are actually supposed to be in them and not thrown haphazardly for
anyone to see.

“Nah. Haven’t you read the news? This has been popping up in Seoul. The moms at the school
meetings talk about it, worrying it’s going to spread to the younger children. It’s a crisis in North
America that spread really quickly.”

There’s a gray tinge starting to flush over Jin’s face as he pushes the boxes away after his attempts to
find one that is unlocked.

“It’s fentanyl and heroin. Though it looked like he had coke there too.”

Namjoon opens his mouth in horror. That mix is asking for a death sentence “How does anyone
survive that?”

“They don’t,” Jin says, his hands shaking some as he finds a box that he can open. “Jeongguk’s
going to flip out if Yunbok has anything to do with this.”

It makes sense, if Yunbok’s brother is a huge mob boss. Not that Namjoon knows much of how any
of this works. He’d hate to assume if Yunbok’s brother is a criminal he must be too, but with the
drugs in front of him he can’t help it.

Namjoon plucks the folder from the back as Jin digs through the box, pulling out empty plastic bags
and unused needles, his frown growing more and more.

“Mrs. Jeon’s driver had something like this in his system when they crashed,” Jin murmurs under his
breath. “There’s no way Jeongguk will let this fly even if he’s only using it. This doesn’t look like
he’s using it though.”

Namjoon doesn’t comment. He doesn’t know much about Jeongguk’s mother. He’s met his father a
handful of times when he’s visited Jeongguk or Yunbok and for such a small and fragile looking
man he had been quite intimidating. Namjoon would never guess Jeongguk and him were related.
There’s kindness in Jeongguk that he’s never seen in Mr. Jeon.

He flips open the folder as Jin moves to the drawer above it and stills. He’s expecting chemical
compounds or maybe a list of suppliers or buyers or whatever, not a photograph.

Namjoon is aware that he gasps but he doesn’t hear it over the way his heart thuds as he stares down
at the photo. It’s disturbing, his stomach churning at the sight of marred, purpled skin. There’s streaks
of blood around the shoulders, sliding off the man as he lays on his stomach.

It makes him gag when his eyes fall on the side profile. It’s a familiar jaw, his face crunched in pain.
There’s so many tears that the pillow his head rests on is wet.

“Hyung.”

There’s horror in his voice and his hands shake as Jin comes back to his side, concern in his tone. It
feels like time stills when Jin looks at the photo. Pain takes over his expression quickly as he takes it
from Namjoon.

Jin pulls it away with shaking hands to look at one underneath. It’s Taehyung on the same bed, but
he’s facing front. Namjoon quickly takes the photo away from him.

There’s raw fear in Taehyung’s eyes and a hand around his throat that squeezes so hard the knuckles
of the man’s hand are white. There’s a red string wrapped around the man’s wrist and Namjoon
could throw up.

“Joon, I -”

“Shh,” Namjoon says, quickly stuffing the photos into the folder. “Don’t think about it. We have to
call Jeongguk.”

To his surprise, Jin shakes his head as he wipes the tears that are starting to slip from his cheeks.
“This is so much worse than the first ones.”

“What?” Namjoon asks as he hurriedly tries to press the folder where it had been. He’s suddenly
very thankful that Jin had turned off the security cameras.

“That - that night I came to your apartment is because someone broke into Tae’s house and left
pictures like this in Eunae’s room. Jeongguk got some too.”

Namjoon frowns, taking Jin’s shaking hands into his own. He doesn’t know the details of Jeongguk
and Taehyung’s relationship, but he’s always noticed the way Jeongguk’s eyes light up when
Taehyung’s mentioned or when he’s texting him. Jin is constantly whining that they aren’t married
yet.

“I’m not supposed to tell you, it isn’t my secret to tell,” Jin huffs out, a little frantic sounding and
Namjoon pushes up on his knees quickly to take Jin’s face into his hands.

Jin’s never broken down. He’s strong. He told Namjoon he cried after finding Taehyung’s mother
but he swallowed it down and never shed a tear again because he can’t in front of the kids.

“It’s okay, I won’t say a word. I promise you that, Jin. On my life.”

Jin nods, eyeing the ceiling with an intense stare as he wipes at his eyes and sniffles. “Okay. We
can’t call Jeongguk. He’s on his way to the States right now and he’ll murder Yunbok.”
 Namjoon slumps onto the ground so he can rub his forehead. His heart is racing against his chest and
when he closes his eyes, he sees the image of Taehyung on his eyelids.

“Even if he didn’t take those photos. Jeongguk will kill him to find out who did.”

“He did,” Namjoon sighs, his voice coming out quieter than a whisper. “Yunbok used to wear that
red string around his wrist all the time. He stopped a few weeks ago.”

Anger spreads across Jin’s expression as his eyes narrow. “Take me home, Joon, before I find him
and kill him myself.”

Namjoon grabs Jin’s wrists before he can take the folder again. “You can’t take them. You have to
call Jeongguk.”

“He’s on a plane,” Jin says a little desperately but he relaxes under Namjoon’s touch. “I can’t leave
those here. It’s Taehyung. I know there’s more in those folders, of him vulnerable. I can’t deal with
someone looking at them.”

Namjoon tugs Jin closer as he eases the drawer shut. “We’ll tell him. When he gets back. Okay?”

Jin nods, a frustrated look on his face. “I shouldn’t. I can’t, but I want to tell you everything
Namjoon. I don’t have anyone to talk to but Tae and I can’t tell him everything I feel. I should have
known. Yunbok is Bobby’s father.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Namjoon nods and squeeze Jin’s fingers. He doesn’t know what Bobby
has to do with it and he has feeling he doesn’t want to know. “Come on, I’ll take you home. And
you can tell me everything, okay? I won’t speak a word of it.”

Chapter End Notes

So, I've only really kept up with the fentanyl issue within where I live and my country
so I don't know about it in any other countries so if this is inaccurate in any way I
apologize. I'm a little insecure about this chapter so I'm hoping it isn't horrible.

Please let me know what you think

curiouscat
 Chapter 18
Chapter Notes

Hello!!! I am sorry for the late update, I lost track of time a bit. I wrote a new yoonmin
fic that was only supposed to be a quick pwp and ended up being a whole fic and
started kinktober and commissions and then I realized more than two weeks had gone
by since I posted lol. So here I am!!

So, things are going to start unfolding pretty quickly before everything comes to a point.
Pay attention to detail and remember nodus tollens means the realization that the plot of
your life doesn't make sense to you anymore and this is my interpretation of that
meaning.

Finally some Tae + Ji-Hu! I've been waiting for this since I started writing the damn fic
lmao

also update* I'm sorry, I forgot to warn for mentions of drug use. There will be some
scattered throughout, but the act of actually doing it will never be written.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Taehyung stares up at the ceiling, trying not to drown in the emotion that has covered him like a
blanket. The night before, he had hoped to wake up caged in Jeongguk’s arms with soft kisses
pressed to his forehead or some romantic bullshit like that, but the bed is empty save for himself, and
the sheets across the spot beside him are cold to the touch.

There are tears in his eyes and he tries not to focus on them but he feels like he’s suffocating. He
woke up quite late, past twelve, too late in the day for Jeongguk to be beside him if it were a work
day but it isn’t. He shuffled around the house, even worked his way up to the gym and ignoring the
fact that Jeongguk’s keys weren’t hanging in the kitchen like normally, before making his way back
to bed with a heavy heart residing in his chest.

He hopes that he didn’t push Jeongguk into something he didn’t want or he wasn’t good enough for
him the night before. He doesn’t know what he’s done to have him leave him after a night together.
Maybe it had been wrong of him to sleep with Jeongguk. They’ve yet to establish their boundaries
but Jeongguk’s shown that he isn’t willing to do something he thinks is wrong.

But many men have slept with him before even though they’ve felt it to be wrong outside of the
moment.

Taehyung pushes himself up from the bed. The curtains are closed, but he knows the sun is bright
behind them. He keeps them shut so the room mimics the way he feels, but it still isn’t dark enough
for him.

He glances around. The room is a bit tidier than it had been the night before, like Jeongguk had
cleaned up before running out. The clothes they had pulled from each other’s bodies and about the
apartment are now sitting on top of Jeongguk’s laundry basket. The closet is slightly ajar, and
Taehyung freezes when he spots the suitcase thrown haphazardly by the door.
Taehyung falls back into bed, eyes back to the ceiling as he tries to figure out what that means. It’s
not filled, so that must be a good sign. Unless he used another one. He shakes his head, pressing the
heels of his hands to his eyes because he needs to stop the negative thoughts. Jeongguk is a busy
man; it probably doesn’t mean anything.

That thought would work if it weren’t for the fact that Taehyung calls Jeongguk throughout the day,
sending him a few texts here and there and trying not to sound too needy, but he never responds.

He starts to worry, wondering if something has happened to him. Jeongguk never ignored him before
last night - he always answered him promptly, eagerly, like he was waiting for his call and
unashamed about letting Taehyung know that he was.

He considers calling Yoongi, but he doesn’t want to add worrying about Jeongguk to Yoongi’s list
of problems. He doesn’t know if Yoongi has many problems other than his Jimin problems, but that
type of pain is the consuming kind that feels like every problem in the world is upon you.

Seokmin checks on him a few times during the day, looking to see if he needs a ride anywhere
before Taehyung dismisses him. Taehyung instead cleans the entire suite, moving the furniture
around and dusting in places that he would never think to dust. He doesn’t touch the upstairs, not
wanting to mess with Ji-hu’s area before the boy comes home and hates him before they can even get
to know each other properly.

It’s dark when Taehyung finally gives up on trying to reach out to Jeongguk. He throws his phone to
the side, hoping it smashes so the urge to call him again will go away. He wants to call Jimin too, but
he hasn’t been able to.

Taehyung feels so trapped.

Being with Jeongguk was supposed to make him feel more wanted, but that’s not how he feels at all.
He considers calling Seokmin back as the walls seem to close in around him, but he freezes up at the
idea of leaving the apartment. Jeongguk, Hoseok, and Jimin are unreachable. Taehyung wouldn’t
call Jin away from the kids even if he were in imminent danger, and he realizes he’s not just hurting,
he’s afraid.

It’s been a whisper inside of him since the night he came home to Eunae’s trashed room. It never
grows louder because he feels safe in Jeongguk’s apartment. He had upped the security after the
photos showed up in his apartment. It’s one of the reasons he doesn’t want to leave, though he has
yet to admit to himself that he feels safer with Jeongguk than with the dozens of security officers in
the building.

There’s something about the man, maybe his confidence in his ability to take care of him that makes
Taehyung feel safe in a way he never has before. His heart doesn’t feel safe, but Taehyung almost
doesn’t care because there’s never been a time where he’s had the peace of mind that he’s truly just
safe .

Maybe when he was younger, when it was just him and his mother. She was gentle and sweet, her
voice rarely ever over a whisper. She used to tuck the softest stuffed animals around him whenever
he became scared.

There’s flashes of memories, of her soft voice and the tiny smile on her lips when she would tell him
to hide away amongst the stuffed animals. He frowns at the memory, wondering if he’s imagining it.
She was the one who taught him to hide in the closet when scared, where the large teddy bears were
stored. She bought one every year before they moved in with his stepfather, who ended up trashing
them.
It is unsettling, the thought of her rushing him into the closet. He shakes his head, hating the way it
makes his chest clench. It’s just his mind, desperately trying to get him to remember some time with
his mother when everything felt alright but truly he had been too young to remember any of it.

It’s a little past nine when a loud thump at the door has Taehyung rushing from the couch to answer
it. While he tried to distract himself from thoughts of his mother, he tried to convince himself that
maybe Jeongguk forgot his phone or was unable to get to it. Maybe he left his keys with his phone.

Taehyung stills as he peers through the peephole, eyeing a too upclose distortion of Bobby’s face.
He’s smashed, eyes barely opened and so flushed that it looks as if he’s been lying in the sun all day.

“Guk, open the door.”

A chill seeps down Taehyung’s spine. If Bobby thinks the apartment is empty, he may find a way in.
The security team must be around, though Taehyung has no way to reach them without opening the
door and Bobby finding him alone is the worst possible scenario.

“Guk, open the door. I n- I need to talk to you.”

Taehyung presses his weight into the door as Bobby jiggles the locked handle. He jumps when
Bobby bangs loudly beside his head and Taehyung closes his eyes, wishing Jeongguk were here.

Feeling safe around Jeongguk is a lie his heart has told him. It’s almost laughable how safe he feels
around the man who is not only close to Yunbok and Bobby, but possibly Chung-Hoon. Compared
to Chung-Hoon, Bobby is a soft, angsty boy that only strikes because he’s pushed to do so by
Yunbok or Hanbin.

“J-jeongguk is sleeping,” Taehyung says, his voice wavering. He watches Bobby go still, frowning
before a small smile takes over his face.

“Baby? Oh it’s good to hear your voice.”

Bobby sways where he stands, stumbling a bit before he holds himself up with a hand to the door.

“You need to leave.”

Taehyung stops looking out the peephole when he sees Bobby frown. He’s going to throw up. He
needs to find his phone but the idea of Jeongguk not picking up when he’s panicking has him
panicking more. He’s choking on it, the worry clogging up his throat and pushing against the walls
of his esophagus.

“Let me talk to Guk - it’s, important,” Bobby slurs. “It’s - he needs, he needs to know, Baby. He
needs to know I didn’t mean - I love her, I didn’t want to.”

He’s fucked up. His voice is slurring and he hiccups between his words, stumbling over the carpet.
It’s a bit pathetic but Taehyung has a heart and it feels bad watching Bobby. This isn’t his drunk
aggressiveness but the drunk crying Bobby that Jimin’s told him about it.

Jimin leaving ruined him. It was supposed to feel good to see, but it just makes his stomach twist.

“Please let me in.”

“I - I can’t,” Taehyung says, grabbing the knob when Bobby yanks at it again. “Jeongguk will kill
you if you put your hands on me.”
“I won’t!” Bobby shouts out, face twisting in pain. “He can kill me, I don’t care. I just need him to
know that I’m sorry.”

It goes quiet for so long that if Taehyung weren’t looking at Bobby through the peephole, he’d
assume he left. Bobby’s lips are moving but he can’t hear what he says through the door that
separates them.

“Please let me in. I’ll - I’ll tell you who sent the photos.”

Ice trails down Taehyung’s spine as he gawks through the peephole. He wants to be angry but it
doesn’t fill him as much as he thought it would. He’s been trying hard not to think about the photos.
If it really is Hanbin, Hanbin can’t actually do anything with them. It would tear Bobby down as
Taehyung’s in his club in nearly all of them, and Hanbin’s a bastard but he’s a loyal bastard.

“I’ll tell you why.”

Taehyung pulls away from the door, struggling. Bobby could be lying just to come in and murder
him. If he wasn’t so fucked up, where Taehyung could probably take him if he tried, he’d be wary of
it.

But Bobby is fucked up and begging. If his heart weren’t racing the way it was, Taehyung would
feel a bit smug about having Bobby like this for him.

“If you even think about touching me, I’ll wake Jeongguk up to kill you. You know he’ll do it.”

He can hear the low groan Bobby lets out before he even opens the door. The truth in his own words
surprise him. Jeongguk and Bobby grew up together like brothers, but Taehyung has no doubt in his
mind Jeongguk would destroy Bobby if he were to hurt him again.

Taehyung is surprised to see Bobby can stand straight, but his eyes are glossed over and pupils
blown wide, his skin clammy. He moves slowly, his fingers scratching over his arms and jaw
rocking back and forth and telling Taehyung it isn’t alcohol that caused his current state.

Fuck, Taehyung wants to shove Bobby back outside but he looks sick and Taehyung doesn’t want
to be responsible for Bobby dying in Jeongguk’s hallway. Jeongguk has to return sometime and even
though he hates Bobby right now, Taehyung knows it would still hurt his heart.

“Sit, I’ll get you some water.”

“Wake Guk,” Bobby says as he shakes a hand through his now faded purple hair. “I have to tell
him.”

“If it’ll piss him off, you should probably wait,” Taehyung says, trying to sound calmer than he is as
he distracts himself with fetching Bobby water.

What are you doing , what the fuck are you doing is a mantra in his head that he can’t shake. Jimin
will kill him for putting himself into a situation like this. But Jimin isn’t here. No ones here.

God, Taehyung feels like an idiot.

“He’ll hate me,” Bobby hums as he slumps into a seat. “It’s f-fine. Nothing is worse than Jimin
hating me.”

Taehyung hands Bobby the glass of water. He looks more pathetic like this, slumped over and eyes
half opened - but Taehyung’s been around enough people addicted and burdened with pain that he
feels for Bobby a little - just a little. A pinch, nothing more.

“He hates me so much he - he goes to Chung. I fucking hate Chung.”

Taehyung sighs before he walks away, the hair standing up at the back of his neck as he expects
Bobby to come running after him while he searches for his phone. There’s no one he can text to
come save him, everyone is gone but Jin and he doesn’t want to take Jin from the kids. There are
people from the club, but Taehyung isn’t sure who he trusts enough to give Jeongguk’s address to.

When Taehyung returns, the glass of water has tipped over in Bobby’s lap and dampens the carpet
under his feet. Taehyung sighs, taking the glass from him and making Bobby jump where he leans
into the arm of the chair.

“I didn’t want to hurt Young-Mi. I didn’t want to hurt Jimin. I wouldn’t let Woojin be hurt.”

“Don’t say his name,” Taehyung snaps, making Bobby flinch. “I’m calling Jackson to get you. You
shouldn’t have came here.”

“No, Tae, I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me too.”

Bobby reaches for him but his movements are slow and uncoordinated, easy for Taehyung to duck
away from. He hastily calls Jackson, hoping his shifts are still the same at the nightclub. He’s got the
body to be a bouncer, but his face had been too friendly for it.

“Ah, Tae. Everything okay?”

“Bobby’s at mine,” Taehyung says with a sigh. “I’m fine just, can you come get him? I think he’s on
something.”

Jackson swears. “Yunbok’s been pushin’ this new strand of H. It’s got some chemical in it. Shit’s
bad in the States. We’ve been trying to keep it out of the club you know, alcohol is enough of a risk
with these guys. Youngjae said he suspected B was fucking around with it.”

Taehyung pads far away from Bobby, though he doesn’t move after him. He doesn’t move at all.

“I think you need to take him to a hospital.”

Another curse and a promise to be there shortly, Taehyung hangs up.

This was a bad idea.

“Are you going to tell me who sent the photos or not?”

Bobby’s head leans back against the chair and Taehyung’s heart starts in his chest. He can’t care, he
can’t, but he finds himself pushing Bobby forward and tapping at his cheeks. He doesn’t seem to be
at risk, but a different kind of fear leaps up into his throat the idea of having to save a dying Bobby.

“Binnie.”

Taehyung sighs, glancing anxiously at the door. He had already suspected Hanbin, but hearing it has
his fear doubling. He knew Hanbin wouldn’t react well to Bobby losing him.

“Why?”

Bobby huffs out a laugh, but it sounds pained. “Chung told him to keep an eye on him. On - your
brother.”
Taehyung clutches Bobby’s cheeks, tilting his head as desperation floods through him. None of the
pictures in Eunae’s room had been of Woojin, those had been sent to Jeongguk. “Why? Why does
he still want him?”

“Woojin,” Bobby mumbles, eyes fluttering behind his eyelids like he wants to open his eyes but
can’t. “Is his.”

“He’s mine,” Taehyung grunts in frustration before letting Bobby go with a push. He doesn’t care if
Bobby flinches when his voice raises or that he’s too fucked up to make sense. “Why would he send
them to Jeongguk then? What was the point of that? Why does Chung-Hoon care about that?”

Bobby groans, eyes clenching closed. “He - he only cares about the boy. The others were just
Hanbin. There - there’s a difference between knowing someone’s a whore and seeing it in action.”

The sound of Taehyung’s hand landing against Bobby’s cheek is loud, reverberating through the
room. Bobby’s hands come flying up as he yells and grabs for his face.

There’s a want to hit him again building inside of him rapidly, but he curls up in on himself and
Taehyung can’t do anything but stare and trying to calm the erratic beating of his heart. The sight
makes his heart ache, the memories of Woojin after his mother had passed flashing into his mind.

He had been so tiny, curled up in himself and refusing to go anywhere near Taehyung. He had
latched onto Jin for the first few days and even that had taken a lot of effort. Taehyung remembers
how scared he had been every time he had curled in on himself like that.

“Fuck you. You have no right to judge a whore.”

“I’m not,” Bobby says, whispers. There are tears streaming down his cheeks full force now and
Taehyung wants to scream. He never thought he’d go face to face with Bobby and he didn’t expect
it to be like this. He wants an eye for an eye but even more, he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to cause
someone the pain they’ve caused him. “You have to tell him.”

Taehyung scoffs. “I’m not telling Guk whatever it is you came here to apologize for. I don’t owe you
anything.”

Bobby shakes his head, eyes swelling up so quickly that Taehyung is amazed he can even open
them. “No, about Binnie. Tell Guk all of it.”

Taehyung falls quiet though the fear is loud inside of him. One of the reasons Taehyung had been
upset about Jeongguk getting the photographs is because Bobby had been right. There is a difference
between knowing someone’s a whore and actually seeing how easy it is to stuff a cock in them. He
didn’t want Jeongguk to see that.

He also doesn’t want Jeongguk to know that he’s begged for Hanbin before, whether forced to or
not. He doesn’t want Jeongguk to know Yunbok has broken him. He doesn’t want to know what
Jeongguk will do.

“Why do you want me to do that? Hanbin is your best friend.”

Bobby shakes his head, wiping his face. “I lost everything because of him. Baby, I’m sorry.”

A sob gets stuck in Taehyung’s throat and he walks out of the room, not wanting Bobby’s apologies
especially when he’s fucking high. He needs to stop the shake in his limbs but he has nobody to call.

He shuts himself in the bathroom, falling to the floor to scroll through his phone for someone.
Anyone. He stops over Hoseok’s name, relief flooding him.

Hoseok will always answer, he has to. Even if he’s doing whatever the fuck he’s doing with Jimin,
he has to.

The tears start falling the moment Hoseok does.

“Tae? Taehyung, what is it? Are you okay? Breathe, Tae Tae. What happened?”

It takes a few minutes before Taehyung finally can calm down enough to explain and the sound of
Hoseok’s calm voice keeps the panic from washing over him.

“Okay, you’re an idiot for opening the door but you’re safe,” Hoseok says, his voice neutral.
“Though you should probably go check on him and make sure he hasn’t OD’d in Jeongguk’s living
room.”

Taehyung stays still, not wanting to go anywhere near Bobby yet.

“Guk has security devices set up all over the house. These little white boxes, they blend in to the
walls pretty well. Have you seen them?”

“Yes,” Taehyung breathes. He hadn’t thought anything of them. Jeongguk’s suite is high tech.
There’s a speaker system that controls his lights , he has a machine in his closet that dry cleans his
clothes.

“There’s a button on the bottom of them, press it twice if you’re in danger okay? It alerts the security
team. Press it a third time and the alarms go off in the entire building.”

Relief fills Taehyung, but only slightly. “Any advice as to what to do with everything Bobby’s going
on about?”

Hoseok sighs, sounding more tired than Taehyung’s ever heard him. He wants to ask about Jimin, to
insist on talking to him, but it would hurt him too much for Hoseok to tell him no.

“He does that a lot when he gets upset. I’ve heard him through the door before, Jimin’s been quick
about rushing him away when he gets like that. He always cries about hurting some woman, being
forced to hurt some woman. Jimin’s protective of him for some reason - you know I don’t fucking
get it, but I can ask him.”

“Young-Mi,” Taehyung says softly. “I think that’s her name.”

It falls quiet on the phone for a moment and when Hoseok speaks again, the knife in his tone has
Taehyung flinching. “He said that?”

“‘I didn’t want to hurt Young-Mi,’ is what he said.”

Hoseok cusses, the curse coming out like a harsh exhale. “I’m gonna figure it out Tae, okay? Don’t
mention any of this to Guk, okay? Not yet. Unless Hanbin comes near you, got it?”

“Got it, hyung.”

“Alright, love you Tae. Call me if you need me. I’m gonna go find Jimin. Give him a kiss for you,
right?”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh, nodding as tears brim his eyes. “Yes, please hyung.”
It feels like hours before Jackson finally knocks on his door, saving Taehyung from impending panic
as Bobby’s eyes start to roll back again. Jackson hustles to his side, pulling back his eyelids before
patting him hard on the face where his skin is stained with the shape of Taehyung’s hand.

“I always wanted to do that,” Jackson says with a grin but his eyes are hard on Bobby as he finally
manages his eyes open. “You awake princess?”

Bobby wrinkles his nose but doesn’t say a word.

“Hospital,” Taehyung insists.

Jackson sighs, lifting Bobby with little struggle. “I’m surprised you care enough.”

Taehyung crosses his arms to stop himself from shoving them to finally get out. He’s always liked
Jackson enough, but he needs to lose his cool and he doesn’t want anyone around when he does it.

“It’s not my place to decide if someone dies or not, hyung.”

Jimin rubs his fingers over the smooth, leather fabric of the couch. It’s brand new and there’s an urge
inside of him to dig his nails in until it tears. He resists slightly, only dragging his nails over the
material while he listens to Hoseok talk.

Well, he hasn’t really been listening. Hoseok really isn’t talking about anything of importance, just
trying to talk over the noises filtering out from the hallway. Jimin can tell because Hoseok speaks
louder than usual, like he’s putting effort into it.

“Jimjim? Are you listening?”

He doesn’t pretend that he has been as he lifts his eyes away from the leather and slowly looks to
Hoseok. His face is crumpled in a frown for a moment before he reaches out to take Jimin’s fingers
away from the couch.

Jimin smiles softly, resting against his arm as Hoseok plays with the tips of his fingers like Yoongi
always does when they’re like this. He’s surprised Hoseok noticed but he appreciates it. “No. I was
listening to Cosmo get murdered. That’s what’s happening, right?”

Hoseok grins slightly but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He thought since his mother has moved up from
side whore to running the game, that she would have her own home. Maybe she does, but she has
Jimin living with her kittens in the brothel. It’s noisy - always so noisy. Not just the loud, choked
moans that are currently being heard, but yelling and laughter that makes his goosebumps erupt
across his skin.

Everyone is nice, he tries to remind himself. Even if they’re suggestive and touchy, they respect his
space and there’s one woman who always visits him after a client to check up on him even though
Jimin insists that he’s fine. He actually prefers being with clients because his mother doesn’t bother
him then. Nor does Chung-Hoon.

Hoseok is always around too. He feels bad that he’s dragged Hoseok along with him, but he thinks
he’d be suffering a lot worse if he was completely alone. He’s been spoiled over the last couple
years, allowed to have friends and feel love and he thinks he’d die if he’d lost it completely.

He didn’t really need the universe to tell him that things can always be worse but it chose to anyway.
“Are you nervous?”

Jimin hesitates, keeping his eyes on where Hoseok’s fingertips are pressing against the front of his
own instead of looking at him. He isn’t nervous. Sex is sex, whatever. He’s long separated himself
from it in situations like this. He’s a little nervous of the cameras and if Chung-Hoon’s going to be in
the room or not. He’s nervous of the pain, though he thinks it will probably feel dull to the ache in
his chest.

“No. You’ll be there right?”

Hoseok smiles softly as he nods, intertwining their fingers. It had been difficult convincing his
mother to let Hoseok stick around. He was one of Bobby’s men technically, even if that is far from
the truth.

“Of course. You say your SOS word and I shoot on sight.”

Jimin groans, pulling his knees up towards his chest. He hates weapons of any kind and Hoseok
usually keeps his well hidden and away from conversation. It’s come out too frequently since Jimin’s
arrived though and it’s unsettling.

The one in his room is unnerving, even if it’s tucked away and hidden well enough that he doesn’t
ever have to see it.

“Your confidence amazes me hyung,” Jimin laughs though it really isn’t anything to laugh at. He’s
been doing that lately - laughing at things that might make him seem twisted and sick but it relieves
the ache in his chest. “You’re a bit terrifying; where did that come from?”

A loud slapping noise fills the room and Jimin flinches, listening to the newbie paired with Cosmo
cry out. He can almost hear his mother’s encouraging words. It probably causes the biggest ache -
the way she is so sweet and tender to the new kittens she’s teaching.

“I’m good at reading people, Jimjim. Your mom’s afraid of men,” Hoseok says quietly. There’s been
a ghost in Hoseok’s eyes ever since he ran out of the room the night before when his phone rang.
He’s refused to talk about it, and Jimin wonders if it’s Yoongi. Surely Hoseok would tell him if
something happened to Yoongi? “She can read them well, she knows when they’re dangerous - you
can see it when a new client comes in, it’s the small details you need to look for. If she sees I’m
dangerous, even though I won’t hurt her, it works to our favor.”

Jimin doesn’t respond. He wouldn’t want Hoseok to hurt his mother. Even if she hurt him first. It’s
his mother, she’s been through a lot of bad things in her life - Jimin just doesn’t know when he’ll
stop making up excuses for people who really hurt him.

Kitty could beat him to an inch of his life and he’d still want Hoseok to keep his hands off.

“I didn't mean to bring Yoongi here. I didn’t know he was here in Daegu until I ran into him.”

This takes Jimin’s attention away from their intertwined fingers. His heart stutters in his chest just
from the sound of his name but he deflates, body tensing in preparation for what Hoseok might say
next.

He can’t shake Yoongi’s touch, his warmth, his comfort. It makes him angry. He had been trying
hard to forget Yoongi because it makes all of this easier. But that had been ruined the moment
Yoongi stepped through his door.

Now, the craving for Yoongi is back and worse than ever.
“I thought he came here to get you back.”

“You thought?” Jimin asks in concern. He doesn’t like the way Hoseok scooches closer and even
lifts Jimin’s legs and throws them over his own to pull him into an embrace. It isn’t an obvious move
for comfort, Hoseok has tended to pull him into cuddles a lot since they’ve been here, but Jimin
knows him better.

It’s dangerous and Yoongi’s an idiot if that’s why he’s here. The idea of him being anywhere near
Chung-Hoon makes him feel sick.

“Yeah well, he didn’t even know you were here. Now that he does, I’m sure a Save Jimin plan is
starting to take motion in that idiotic brain of his.”

Jimin resists Hoseok’s attempt at snuggling and Hoseok looks he’s been caught in the act when Jimin
gives him a look that demands an explanation. This is bad - very bad, regardless of who Yoongi is
here to see. Jimin spends every morning at Min’s Kitchen with Chung-Hoon, he could run into
Yoongi at any second.

He won’t be able to control himself, his emotions from showing on his face and he refuses to give
Chung-Hoon any of his weaknesses.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re going on about or do you want to fight?” Jimin says lowly.

Hoseok is unable to answer when his mother appears in the room, calling for him. She looks slightly
annoyed but she smiles upon seeing them, even wiggling her eyebrows and it makes Jimin want to
pull back from Hoseok quickly.

“Hope baby, will you excuse me and my son for a moment? I’m sorry to break up your moment. I’m
going to have to insist.”

The power move is unnecessary but Jimin is sure that Kitty hasn’t had to deal with and accept
someone as defiant as Hoseok. He isn’t going to move or leave until Jimin gives the go ahead and
Jimin is feeling too needy to do so.

“It’s fine, Eomma. You can speak in front of him.”

Jimin does move away from Hoseok though. Kitty looks disapproving though her smile is sickly
sweet when she reaches over to pet Hoseok’s cheek.

“Jimin darling, you should be careful about trusting the Kim’s men. Even if you are fucking him.”

Jimin doesn’t bother correcting her about the state of his and Hoseok’s relationship. It makes her
keep him around and if she thinks he’s with Hoseok, she won’t find out about Yoongi.

“Hope is probably the only one in this building without a drop of loyalty in him to the Kim’s,” Jimin
says with a sigh. “He’d kill Bobby for a liter of sprite probably.”

Hoseok snorts, nodding in agreement but he doesn’t say a word.

“Well at least go stand over there and look pretty and be a good little bodyguard, won’t you baby?”

Kitty is good at making her voice sound genuine and not condescending. Or maybe that’s her
fondness for Hoseok. Jimin’s chest lurches with longing for his mother when she pushes the hair
back from Hoseok’s forehead as she speaks.
Hoseok gives him a reassuring squeeze to the back of his neck as he moves and Kitty takes his place.
His mind strays to Yoongi as Kitty places a bag of makeup onto her lap.

“You’re so pretty love, you don’t even need this,” Kitty says as she pulls out a stick of concealer.
Her voice is low, nearly a whisper. “No wonder your boy is so protective of you.”

“He’s not my boy,” Jimin mutters to himself as he closes his eyes and tilts his chin and waits for
Kitty to start working.

She does quietly for a moment, dabbing concealer across his face. He’s broken out like crazy since
arriving to Daegu and he knows the bags under his eyes will look like death on camera.

“When I’m done,” Kitty starts, whispering fully now, “I want you to put this bag of makeup with
your things.”

Jimin perks an eye open but his mother’s expression is one of concentration, focusing on the way the
cotton pad dabs over Jimin’s skin.

“There’s a number in the blue lipstick container. I need you to call it when it’s time. Tell her your
name and ask for Mun, she’ll know who you are. Got it?”

Kitty’s eyes are now focused on his own, a seriousness in them that he hasn’t seen in a long time. It
only grows when Jimin doesn’t respond.

His gaze flickers to Hoseok quickly, whose focused on the hallway towards the production room
rather than them.

“Got it. Call Mun. When?”

“You’ll know,” Kitty says, her expression relaxing some. “I know Chung asked you to help him get
Busan.”

It wasn’t a secret meant to be hidden from his mother but since Chung-Hoon had told him during
their private breakfasts instead of in front of her, he decided not to bring it up.

“For you.”

Kitty blinks a few times, pulling her hand back and away from Jimin’s face. “I don’t want Busan. I
want you and Bobby out of Busan. Do you know the relief I felt when you called me? I had been
trying to find a way to get to you.”

What ? Jimin doesn’t know what to say or to make of the look on his mother’s face. Accusing her of
lying wouldn’t go over well and his stomach is already a mess at it is; he doesn’t think he can handle
a fight.

“Mun has been trying to take Chung down for years. He’ll help keep your name out of it if you help
him.”

Jimin glances anxiously towards the hallway. What? Chung-Hoon is down there somewhere. He
doesn’t know why his mother is risking telling him this now when they’re alone together plenty.

Unless she’s testing his loyalty.

There’s sweat building over his neck and Hoseok’s eyes are back on them, a hand on his belt.

“Why do you care about Bobby?”

It feels like the safest question though the idea of something happening to Bobby makes his stomach
feel like a bottomless pit. He shouldn’t care - he’s angry, he hates Bobby, it’s probably what he
deserves.

It isn’t. He doesn’t deserve the same downfall as Chung-Hoon.

Kitty glances over her shoulder before she’s pulling out another tube of cream. “I was very close to
his mother. She took care of me well and I never returned the favor. I owe her. He’s a soft boy,
Jimin. You must know that.”

Jimin sighs, slumping some. Bobby’s mother is one thing they rarely ever talk about. To Bobby, his
mother doesn’t exist. It was the Jeons that treated him like they were his parents and even them he
rarely talked about.

“Chung will kill you when he finds out that you know about this.”

It goes quiet for a moment as Kitty dots the cream over his cheekbones before blending in. It looks
like she’s struggling and Jimin isn’t sure what to do when she blinks back tears.

“I’ve done a lot of horrible things in my life. I’m willing to go down with Chung for it, I deserve that
punishment and if I must die instead well, maybe that’s God telling me that’s what I deserve instead.”

Jimin considers cancelling the production as his stomach twists painfully. There are tears budding in
his own eyes and he doesn’t know why the idea of losing his mother hurts so badly. She never cares
about losing him. Shit, she has lost him and Jimin doesn’t trust that she is telling the truth when she
said she was trying to get him out of Busan.

“I don’t think that’s a good God to believe in,” Jimin whispers as the sound of heavy footsteps alert
them to Chung-Hoon’s arrival.

“Change of plans,” Chung-Hoon grunts in greeting as he cups his hand onto Hoseok’s shoulder
forcefully. “Go get changed.”

Kitty frowns as she turns. “What’s that Papa?”

The grin on Chung-Hoon’s face can only be described as malicious, unlike his faked friendly one he
normally wears. Jimin has to keep himself from shivering, but he fails.

“It’ll work better with Hope. The new twink will make us lose our viewers.”

Chung-Hoon grabs Hoseok’s chin suddenly and Jimin jerks, ready to pull Chung-Hoon’s nasty
hands away from Hoseok, but his mother’s sharp nails dig into his thigh to stop him. Hoseok can
handle his own, knows when and how to react to a situation but Jimin’s heart is beating madly.

“He’ll do just fine.”

Hoseok pulls his face away roughly, his expression a mask of annoyance.

No, no. Jimin nearly shakes his head but Chung-Hoon’s turning that malicious grin towards him. He
keeps a face of indifference but he feels as if his heart may soon break out of his chest.

“He isn’t one of my kittens,” Kitty says, tension whispering into her tone. “He may be beautiful but
I’m not profiting off of one of Bobby’s men.”

Chung-Hoon considers this as he glances back at Hoseok. “He doesn’t seem to be too keen on
leaving your kitten’s side. He can’t stay here for nothing.”

Jimin moves to stand up, ignoring his mother’s nails. He’s felt worse. “I think a solo video is better
anyway,” Jimin says, his voice calm despite the panic welling inside of him. “I’d get hard a lot
faster.”

Hoseok crumples his nose at him and Jimin would laugh if it weren’t for the seriousness of the
moment. It’s bad enough Hoseok is here with him, he can’t allow anyone to force Hoseok into this.

It must be the wrong thing to say as Chung-Hoon glares at him, his hand slipping over his own belt.
Jimin tries to remain calm as he makes his way to him, trying to come up with something quick.

“Or, I could -”

The smack that comes has Jimin flinching, tears brimming his eyes as he brings his hands up to cover
his face. It wasn’t hard enough to leave a lasting mark, they have to go live shortly, but his skin
throbs from the blow.

“Kitty you really should discipline him more,” Chung-Hoon says with a tired sigh. “It’s rude to
interrupt.”

“I’m sorry,” Jimin huffs as he tries to blink away the tears in his eyes, bowing slightly only to he
yanked back up by the chin. He remains still as Chung-Hoon’s grubby fingers dig into his cheeks.
“Please forgive me, sir.”

Chung-Hoon cocks his head as his finger pushes against Jimin’s cheek, digging into his teeth until
his lips part. He gasps quietly, fear trembling through him.

Hoseok is agitated beside him but he won’t move unless Jimin gives him the go ahead. Jimin made
him swear it. The way he cocks his head and his feet jerk over the floor like he might pounce any
second though has Jimin feeling like maybe he’s in more danger than he thinks.

“It’s me or him,” Chung-Hoon grunts as he shoves a finger past Jimin’s lips and he tries not to gag at
the taste.

“I’ll do it,” Hoseok says with a shrug and amusement in his eyes though Jimin knows him well
enough to know he isn’t truly laughing inside. He said it too quickly, his eyes too focused on where
Chung-Hoon touches Jimin. There’s anger there and something else, something like an apology. “I
don’t mind. I don’t see why you’re putting up a fuss, Doll. Am I that ugly?”

Chung-Hoon laughs happily as he releases Jimin. Jimin doesn’t relax much, but he isn’t trembling as
bad. “I would like to see if that mouth of yours feels the way your mother’s does, but you two will
make my pockets quite full. Let’s see, go on.”

Jimin blanches, unable to stop himself from looking around as if to say this isn’t even where they’re
filming. He is definitely going to throw up, especially when Chung-Hoon rests his hand back on his
hip, the threat returning for no reason.

Weapons aren’t allowed in the brothel. He knows Hoseok’s gun is in his room - but that’s too far for
Hoseok to get in time. The knife under his belt will do little against Chung-Hoon if he’s carrying, no
matter how good Hoseok is with one.

There’s something horribly wrong. Chung-Hoon had skipped their daily breakfast together that
morning and now he’s slapping him, touching him in a way he hasn’t since the last time Jimin had
been under his reign.
“Go on. Show us if the chemistry is right.”

Jimin longs to turn back and look for his mother but gentle hands are stroking his cheek and lips
brush over his ear. It makes it difficult not to shed the tears, the sudden tenderness to the touch. The
sudden wrongness he feels.

“Think of Yoongi,” Hoseok murmurs so quietly that Jimin almost misses it. “Close your eyes.”

Jimin glances at Chung-Hoon, who is watching them with dark eyes full of victory. They’re
supposed to be going for a rough scene, which is why he had been so nervous. It’ll hurt him, cause
him pain. Jimin trusts Hoseok more than anyone else here.

But it’s Hoseok . Not only one of his best friends but Yoongi’s. And this isn’t his lifestyle, Jimin
doesn’t want it to be.

“I’m really okay with it,” Hoseok promises, petting his cheek lightly. “It’s a small price to pay to
protect you.”

Jimin turns, finding Hoseok’s apologetic eyes. They’ve always been close - he knows. He also
knows Hoseok is here to protect him for Yoongi, someone he would never betray. It isn’t for selfish
reasons that he’d put himself out there - but for him and the fact they both can tell Chung-Hook isn’t
in the mood for no.

It’s about survival and Jimin’s always been good with surviving.

“Okay, come here, hyung.”

Taehyung can feel the eyes before he opens his own and he smiles softly, taking his time to wrinkle
his nose and pout out his lips for Jeongguk. His heart leaps into his chest as his mind plays catch up,
reminding him of Jeongguk’s disappearance the day before.

When he opens his eyes he jolts as they land not on Jeongguk, but a much tinier version of him
sitting criss crossed on the bed and looking at him with wide, curious eyes.

“God damn - I mean heck, God... heck.”

The boy doesn’t seem disturbed, though he perks up when Taehyung quickly sits up and pulls the
blankets higher up his body. He’s thankful he hadn’t gone to sleep naked the night before, though it
feels like he could be naked under the sheets.

The night before. He can’t think about it. It took him forever to fall asleep, trying to make his mind
think of anything other than Bobby and Chung-Hoon. Even thinking about Woojin hurt.

“Are you Appa’s friend? He told me not to wake you.”

Taehyung lets out a nervous laugh. He’s seen pictures of Ji-hu before but it’s disorienting seeing in
person the striking resemblance between him and his Jeongguk. He’s practically a cloned copy of his
father.

“Yes, Taehyung. You can call me Tae Tae.”

“Why are you in Appa’s bed?”

He hesitates, lips falling open as he looks around the room. He remembers falling asleep behind the
couch, not tucked into Jeongguk’s bed. He must have sleep walked, or Jeongguk carried him to bed.
His heart jostles at the thought.

Jeongguk put him in his bed even though his son is home. He told Taehyung to be where he was
comfortable and he knows where that is, even if they haven’t really talked about why. Taehyung
suspects Jeongguk knows, if his persistence is anything to go by.

“I, um, had a nightmare.”

Ji-hu’s eyes go wide, his jaw falling open as if Taehyung had told him he had super powers. “Oh
man. I have those too. But Appa says the walls are monster proof and nightmares are because you
didn’t go to bed at your bedtime.”

Taehyung snorts, fondness washing away the agitation residing in his chest. “I did stay up awfully
late. Are you sure they’re monster proof though?”

The boy nods, a serious look in his eyes as he crawls closer to Taehyung. Taehyung pulls the
comforter further up his hips, feeling the bare of his legs slide across the silky sheets and not
knowing just how bare he is.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

There’s a curious expression still on Ji-hu’s face as he cocks his head and examines Taehyung once
more. It makes him flush and want to shrink under the covers, though it’s ridiculous because he’s
only a seven year old boy.

“I also heard food scares away monsters.”

A hopeful look fills his eyes and Taehyung sighs, his fondness growing so quickly but he doesn’t
mind it this time. “You’re right. I really could eat. Do um, do you want something too?”

Ji-hu gleams instantly, eyes shining bright as he nods his head eagerly. “If you wouldn’t mind, Tae
Tae.”

Thankfully, Taehyung isn’t completely bare as he stretches out of the bed. Ji-hu flies from it,
bouncing on his toes as Taehyung pulls on a pair of sweats folded on the window bench. He barely
has them to his hips when Ji-hu is grabbing his hand and tugging him out of the bedroom.

“Is your Appa sleeping?”

Ji-hu nods his head. His hand is extremely tiny inside of his own and his heart pangs with a need to
have his siblings here. “In my room. He said you were sleepy and I couldn’t bother you.”

The boy stops, eyes wide as he looks up at Taehyung. “I’m sorry.”

Taehyung smiles softly before he tickles under his chin. He even has the same bunny smile that
Jeongguk lets slip sometimes. “It’s okay. It’ll be our secret?”

Ji-hu side eyes him for a second before returning to tug him towards the kitchen. “Can I help you
cook?”

“Yeah. I can’t cook a lot, though.”

“Can you make congee?” Ji-hu asks with a quirked brow. All of the lights are off in the house but
the curtains are open, allowing the sun to filter into the living room and stretch into the kitchen.
The spilled water has dried though Taehyung can still make it out on the carpet. There’s suitcases
thrown in the chair now instead of Bobby.

Taehyung can’t believe he thought Jeongguk left him for some reason other than picking up his son.

“Auntie Gracie makes the best congee,” Ji-hu says as he jumps into the kitchen and lets Taehyung’s
hand go. “Oh and pancakes?”

“I can make pancakes,” Taehyung compromises. He still has to teach Jeongguk how to grocery shop
properly, but Jeongguk’s gotten a little better at making sure there’s always necessities in the house.
“Is Auntie Gracie who you stayed with in the States?”

Ji-hu twitches his head to the side the way Jeongguk does when he’s deep in thought, lips slightly
parted, except Ji-hu doesn’t look as if his mind has left his head the way Jeongguk does.

“No, I stayed with my Grammy. Auntie Gracie lives in Cally, um Calla -”

“California,” Taehyung corrects with a laugh. He’s thankful to find that he has all the ingredients for
pancakes though he’s tempted to throw the chocolate chip waffles in the toaster and call it a day. But
it’s his first time with Ji-hu and he wants the boy to like him. “That’s pretty cool.”

Ji-hu scurries off, coming back with a stool in his arms that he places at the edge of the kitchen.
Taehyung takes out everything for pancakes, lining them over the counter before grabbing the
vegetables he had chopped the night before but never managed to cook for Jeongguk’s rice.

“Do you wanna come? I’m gonna ask Appa if I can go for Christmas.”

The hope that shines off Ji-hu’s face has Taehyung’s cheeks warming. He’s never met a little boy so
friendly and talkative. Not even Eunae compares and sometimes Taehyung’s worried she’s going to
befriend a stranger and disappear.

“Maybe. You know, my birthday’s pretty close to Christmas so if you go to California, you can tell
your Appa to get me a birthday present.”

Ji-hu snickers, his small hand covering his mouth as his shoulders shoot up to his ears. “You want
one of these? I’d share mine with you but it’s too little.”

He extracts a necklace from underneath his shirt delicately. He shows off the tiny cicada pendant,
made of a murky green stone that hangs from the black rope. “Auntie Gracie says that even if we feel
down and don’t have a night light for a long time, we are like these um, c-cicadas and will gain
strength and fly high up into the sky again.”

Taehyung warms, touching the pendant delicately. He wonders why his chest hurts suddenly. “Your
Auntie Gracie sounds like a smart lady.”

Ji-hu sighs dramatically, seemingly distressed as he shoves the pendant back under his shirt. “My
grammy says she’s dumber than a bag of rocks.”

Taehyung can’t help the laugh that rips from his throat.

Maybe if it were another day, another time, another situation, than Hoseok would be angry. But he
can’t be, not when he feels Jimin’s skin still on his own despite scrubbing it until he felt as if he
might bleed. Not when Jimin’s moans tease his brain and make his heart heavy.
Not when Yoongi looks at him with guilty eyes when Hoseok’s done the one thing that could ever
make Yoongi hate him for good.

“I know you took my gun.”

Hoseok whispers, eyes glancing around the nearly empty cafe where they had agreed to meet. As
soon as he noticed the gun missing, he knew where it had gone. He had rushed Jimin back to his
room after the livestream, wanting the weapon on his person if Chung-Hoon wasn’t done with him
but it had been gone.

He didn’t mention it to Jimin, who hadn’t noticed either. His eyes had been withdrawn, a ghost
settling in there and it makes Hoseok’s heart hurt in a way that he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“I’m getting Jimin.”

Hoseok scrubs his face roughly. Yoongi and Jeongguk are going to be the death of him. Taehyung
almost killed him the night before. All of his friends are idiots and they all need him, but he’s only
one man.

“What are you gonna do? Storm into the house with a gun in hand and demand he let Jimin go? I’m
sure Chung’s been face to face with a gun and much scarier men than your bony ass. What if he goes
after Woojin in retaliation? Hurt Jimin if it doesn’t work?”

Yoongi pouts his lips, eyes diverting. Hoseok sighs. There isn’t really anything else they can do and
even if it is dangerous, Hoseok’s down. He’s been building a plan since Taehyung called the night
before, trying to figure out just what to do with the information Taehyung had given him.

And Yoongi isn’t stupid, though this all screams idiocy. He’s actually quite brilliant and that paired
with his love for Jimin and the lack of empathy Hoseok has for hurting someone who deserves it,
they could accomplish something .

“Do you think your Eomma knows?”

“No,” Yoongi says, nearly snapping at him before he deflates. The stress is wearing on him, making
dark bruises stand out strikingly against his pale skin. “There’s no way she knows and still sleeps
beside him at night.”

“If he’s keeping her hidden it’s a weakness, remember. Use that against him. Or shoot him dead. He
might expect it though since he - he knows about us being friends.”

Hoseok hesitates, glancing at his lap. He knows that’s why Chung-Hoon pushed him into filming
with Jimin. Revenge or a warning. Whichever one, the smile on Chung-Hoon’s face right before he
pulled Hoseok out of the room as Jimin tried to hide his tears was enough to tell him that he
succeeded.

He can still feel the pressure of Chung-Hoon’s fingers on his neck, hear the warning his tone when
he told Hoseok to play carefully. He hates his stupid promise to Jimin, wishes he could shoot Chung-
Hoon dead himself.

“I’ve never used a gun before.”

It’s quiet the way Yoongi speaks, nervous. It’s terrifying really, the idea of Yoongi going anywhere
near a gun. But Jimin had slipped him a phone number, a note given to him by his mother as a way
to get help from Chung-Hoon. They could use that as help, back up.
“I’ll teach you,” Hoseok says. “You don’t actually have to hurt him, just threaten him. Do it when -
when Jimin is with Kitty.”

She’ll help him get out, he knows it. There have been too many times Hoseok has listened to a drunk
Kitty ramble on about her love for her son. He’s wiped away her tears and assured her that Jimin
knows it, even if it’s a lie.

“I’ll have a fake client booked for Jimin around the time we’re going so he can get out and wait for
us. We can leave, run, whatever. I’m pretty sure two of his men are moles. Officers, you know. I
caught one of them on the phone with his commanding officer. Might be dumb as a rock, but we can
get him on our side.”

Yoongi goes paler. The idea of running is worst case scenario, but if Yoongi’s desperate enough to
steal a gun, running should be easy. They won’t even have to run for long once Hoseok tells Yoongi
about Young-Mi.

The world isn’t only going to flip upside down when Hoseok tells Yoongi about Young-Mi, but it’s
going to throw itself into the air and smash into the ground. Chung-Hoon’s going to look like a
friendly neighbor compared to the rage that’s gonna take over his friends once Hoseok voices his
suspicions.

“I don’t think he’ll hurt me,” Yoongi says, eyes in his lap. “I think he really loves my mother. It’s
sickening.”

Hoseok hums in agreement. It’s hard to think that a man like that could be capable of love, but he
guesses it’s possible.

“Do it at home,” Hoseok hums thoughtfully, though part of his brain screams at him for being on
board with this. “Don’t give him enough time to hurt you and cover his ass before Eomma comes
home.”

Yoongi nods, his fingers trembling on the table. The food between them goes untouched, both of
them too nauseous to eat.

“I don’t know if I have the courage.”

Hoseok kicks his foot out, nudging Yoongi with his toes. His heart lurches up into his throat but he
knows this is the moment. It isn’t courage, but anger, something even more deadly - even if that
anger might be directed towards Hoseok.

“I have something to tell you.”

The nerves are clear in Yoongi’s eyes. They don’t have time to teach Yoongi about poker face
though he usually does just fine on his own. He remembers the first time he told Jimin how blank
Yoongi’s expression can be sometimes and Jimin had looked at him in utter belief.

Yoongi hyung? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not smiling.

Hoseok wants that time back, those endless gummy smiles on his best friend’s face. But even saving
Jimin, he isn’t sure it will happen anytime soon.

“I um, I wanted to wait to tell you but I don’t think I can. But I think it might piss you off enough
that you won’t need courage so I’m gonna try.”

Yoongi’s expression breaks into concern and he perks up. It really should wait, but now he’s holding
onto two secrets. “What is it Hobi?”

There’s sweat pooling at the back of Hoseok’s neck. He hadn’t been afraid when Chung-Hoon
grabbed him, he hadn’t been afraid the countless amount of times he had to fight someone off of
Jimin.

But he had been terrified to touch Jimin and now that fear has doubled. Blurting it out is his best
option but his tongue feels swollen. It’s easier to tell him about Young-Mi and that would only
distract him from channeling his anger towards Chung-Hoon.

“I slept with Jimin.”

The words hang in the air for a long moment. For hours it feels like. Hoseok’s face burns hot under
Yoongi’s blank stare right before it molds into something like rage.

That’s the look he needs to give Chung-Hoon.

“You what ?”

It’s loud, making a few heads turn towards them but Yoongi doesn’t seem to notice. Hoseok
flinches, heart trembling in his chest because Yoongi is never loud when he’s angry. He quietly
simmers and Hoseok has always thought that was the worst.

This is the worst.

“He told you he does film right? Like live -”

“And so?” Yoongi urges gruffly, not bothering to lower his voice. Hoseok is used to be a fly on the
wall, hidden from view, and now too many eyes are on him.

Eyes have been on him all day. It makes him antsy.

“Listen hyung,” Hoseok says desperately, voice a whisper as he leans his elbows on the table to get
closer even if Yoongi might hit him, “he said it was either going to be me or him. Jimin looked
terrified at the idea, I couldn’t let Chung touch him and I was in a building full of his men without my
gun.”

Yoongi deflates like a balloon leaking air, slowly as realization fills his eyes. He taps his fingers over
the table rapidly, glancing around them like he’s avoiding Hoseok’s eyes.

“I didn’t want to but I still feel like shit about it, man.”

“Did you come?”

If Hoseok were actually eating his food he might choke, but his plate lays untouched before him and
his stomach clenching tight around nothing. Yoongi looks dead serious, eyes still narrowed angrily
despite him curling into his seat.

“It wasn’t easy hyung.”

“Why? Jimin’s beautiful.”

Hoseok rolls his eyes, sighing in exasperation. “What do you want me to say, hyung? I hate this
conversation. We were surrounded by people and Chung and it was - a bit rough. Not the ideal place
to fuck your best friend’s would be husband if it weren’t for the circumstance.”
Yoongi narrows his eyes. “So tell me about your ideal way to fuck Jimin then?”

Hoseok groans loud and long, knocking his head hard on the table. He’s thankful Yoongi isn’t angry
with him, not directly at least, but he didn’t think Yoongi would want details either.

“There is no ideal way. I didn’t want Jimin, I wanted to keep Chung away. And Jimin was a wreck,
man, he was pissing Chung off and didn’t get into it until I told him to think about you. Do you
really think I would tell you this if I had some secret desire for Jimin?”

Yoongi has the nerve to look a little smug the moment Hoseok mentions how he smoothed Jimin into
the scene, keeping him from pissing Chung off because he couldn’t get hard. Hoseok only sighs, a
bubble of laughter trying to replace the static in his chest.

They have always been the closest, Yoongi and Hoseok, but the younger ones have always been his
biggest weakness. There’s a vulnerability to Taehyung and Jimin that causes a protectiveness, a
fondness, to flare up inside of Hoseok. He can’t handle the idea of something happening to them,
especially when he can do something to prevent it.

“As soon as we’re alone, I’m punching you, as hard as I can,” Yoongi says quietly. “And then we’re
never talking about this again.”

Hoseok relaxes, sinking into his seat. “Good. Now, let’s focus on this Chung-Hoon plan.”

There is so much tension in Yoongi’s jaw that Hoseok worries the joint may break. His eyes are
deadly, the anger in them worse than they had been a moment before. “If he tries to keep Jimin from
leaving with me, I will kill Chung-Hoon, Hobi.”

Jungkook wakes with a start, feeling over the small bed and heart launching into his throat when he
doesn’t feel Ji-hu there. It takes him a moment to realize they’re home and he’s tucked into his son’s
bed. Even if he’s running around on his own, the building is filled with guards and alarms and
enough security footage to keep Jeongguk from rushing out of bed.

The thought of Taehyung has him jerking from under the comforters.

When his plane had landed he had woken up to a dozen messages from Taehyung and a message
from the head of security, alerting him of a visitor; Kim Jiwon. He had rushed home to find
Taehyung curled up behind the couch and clutching his arms so hard in his sleep that Jeongguk was
afraid of prying them apart and accidentally breaking them.

He had inspected him over carefully to make sure he wasn’t hurt, only finding the bruises left behind
by Jeongguk and the tight grip he had on his arms while sleeping, before putting him to bed.

It had taken Jeongguk some time to fall asleep, a buzz inside of him that wasn’t quite anger or fear
but a mix of them both. Sleeping beside Ji-hu helped, as he has the tendency to search for his hair in
the night to twirl.

The bedroom is empty when he dips his head into it, the bed still ruffled from Taehyung. He sighs as
he takes off, nerves finding his belly.

During the long plane trip, Jeongguk has thought about seeing Taehyung with his son. He kept
himself busy with imagining different scenarios that always led to him thinking about more and more
before he distracted himself with something else to think about.
He can’t think about those things but he can’t deny he wants more and more from Taehyung and
he’s going to work hard to get there with him if Taehyung wants it too.

Ji-hu’s giggle filters into the hallway when he nears the end and Jeongguk warms, a smile coming to
his lips before he can stop it. He slows his walking, turning the corner just enough to see them.

There’s pots and pans on the stove and plates of food lined out across the counter. Ji-hu is his normal
energetic morning self, tapping excitedly on Taehyung’s hip.

Taehyung looks half asleep, hair ruffled and his eyes puffy, but a boxy smile stretches across his lips
and his nose wrinkles when he bends down to watch Ji-hu.

“Like this,” Ji-hu says excitedly as he pinches his fingers in front of him. “Baby shark du du du.”

“Oh oh, I know this one. Appa shark du du du.”

Taehyung’s voice comes out deeper than normal, vibrating past his lips and Ji-hu turns into a fit of
giggles. He jumps on his toes, clapping his arms in time with Taehyung’s singing. His singing
doesn’t last long as he chokes out his own giggles. Jeongguk’s never seen him laugh so hard, his
face straining so badly it looks as if his skin could break.

“Shh,” Taehyung says, suddenly serious as he pushes a finger to his lips. “Don’t wake your Appa.”

“Because he’s grumpy in the morning?”

Taehyung snorts and Jeongguk's face grows hot. Hiring Taehyung as his nanny suddenly feels like a
horrible idea because Ji-hu has no filter and will spill every single one of Jeongguk’s secrets.

“Yes,” Taehyung agrees as he turns to put a skillet on the stove. “Get your stool.”

Jeongguk sinks around the corner a little more as Ji-hu rushes to where his stool for the counter is.
He isn’t a small boy for his age but his eyes barely make it over the edge of the counter when he’s
standing by himself.

“Appa is grumpy every part of the day, Tae Tae.”

Jeongguk’s smile slowly slips into a frown as he glances back into the kitchen.

“Is he?” Taehyung asks lightly.

Only their backs are visible but Jeongguk likes the way they look side by side, working over the
stove together.

Ji-hu nods his head quickly. “Ya, Uncle Yoongi says he has a stick in his butt.”

Jeongguk steps out, ready to scold Ji-hu for repeating that but Taehyung gasps dramatically and
Jeongguk’s curiosity peaks.

“Oh that’s right. I forgot about that. He got it removed by a doctor.”

Jeongguk might scold them both.

Ji-hu whips his head around and Jeongguk knows his expression is one of alarm by the panicked
sound of his voice. “Really? Did it hurt?”

Taehyung shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. But you know your Appa, he’s a big baby. Cried
and cried and cried until the doctor gave him a lolly to stop.”

Ji-hu puts his hand to his mouth, shoulders shaking as he snickers.

“What’s that?” Jeongguk asks, the amusement clear in his voice as he announces himself. They both
jump, throwing alarmed looks over their shoulders.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t in love with the two of them beside each other.

“Tae Tae had a nightmare so we’re making breakfast,” Ji-hu says, the words rushing from his lips.

Taehyung nods in agreement, both of their eyes wide like they’ve been caught doing something bad.

Jeongguk snorts as he pinches Taehyung’s bare hip, his chest brushing over Taehyung’s back as he
leans to kiss Ji-hu’s cheek.

“You didn’t wake Taehyung, did you?”

It’s obviously a lie as Ji-hu glances at Taehyung and quickly shakes his head. He’s always been bad
at lying and he gives himself up more times than not.

“No the nightmare did. He didn’t go to bed on time but I told him the apartment is monster proof.”

Taehyung tenses under Jeongguk’s touch and a flare of protectiveness lights inside of him. He had
sure Taehyung would be fine for one day, especially with the amount of security within the building.

Maybe he should look into rehiring and reassuring his home is monster proof. Bobby shouldn’t have
been let up to the penthouse so easily. Whoever placed the photographs in his apartment shouldn’t
have been able to do so, but Jeongguk assumed it was one of the maids that had come into his
apartment.

“It’s fine,” Taehyung says quickly, eyeing Jeongguk. “I didn’t know where you were yesterday.”

He moves away as he takes the frying pan to the stove and Jeongguk secures a hand to Ji-hu’s back
instead so he doesn’t topple climbing down from the stool.

“I thought I told you I was getting Ji-hu?”

Taehyung glances at the boy uncomfortably, completely different than he had been a moment ago.

“I thought I did something wrong.”

It’s whispered, barely audible but Jeongguk hears it and his heart leaps into his throat in response.

“Of course not,” Jeongguk says, confused. He doesn’t know how comfortable Taehyung is being
touched like this, in front of Ji-hu, so he tentatively strokes the back of his finger against Taehyung’s
jaw and waits for him to shove him away. “I’m sorry.”

Taehyung leans into the touch for a moment before he waves a hand of dismissal at Jeongguk. “It’s
fine. Misunderstanding.”

It doesn’t make Jeongguk feel any better even if Taehyung smiles when he says it. “I promised Ji-hu
the beach today, if you’d like to come?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Ji-hu cheers. “Can we visit Uncle Yoongi too! I miss him!”
“Uncle Yoongi is visiting Jinju-ssi,” Jeongguk explains as he runs his fingers over the back of
Taehyung’s neck to squeeze reassuringly. Each touch hesitant, each touch relaxing Jeongguk further
when Taehyung doesn’t pull away.

“I wanna see her too,” Ji-hu says stubbornly, his eyes bright with hope.

Jeongguk sighs, handing over his cellphone. “Why don’t you call him and see when we can visit
him? Remember to tell him that you start school in a few days.”

When Ji-hu runs off with the phone like Jeongguk had been hoping, the urge to pester Taehyung
with questions becomes hard to ignore. So he doesn’t.

“Are you okay?” Jeongguk asks as he rubs his palm over Taehyung’s shoulder and presses a kiss to
the hinge of his jaw.

“Yeah, you?”

“Tired. I know Bobby was here last night.”

Taehyung tenses but Jeongguk only nuzzles his jaw and presses closer to his back, gauging every
reaction.

Just because Taehyung wanted him the other night doesn’t mean he wants this all the time. He
wanted hard sex and the loving touches that came after them, this is different.

“He was pretty drunk and looking for you to apologize about something,” Taehyung says as he turns
in Jeongguk’s arms. “I had Jackson take him to the hospital.”

Goosebumps rush up Jeongguk’s skin as Taehyung’s palms slide over his chest before cupping the
side of his neck.

“Jackson?”

“The bartender from the Minx.”

Jeongguk presses a quick kiss to Taehyung’s mouth as he hears the pitter patter of feet so he can
move away before his son joins them again. “Why the hospital?”

One more kiss because Jeongguk’s addicted and Ji-hu pops into the room just as Jeongguk’s fingers
are lingering at Taehyung’s side to pull him into a deep embrace.

Taehyung glances at Ji-hu, his face flushed a deep red before he taps two fingers on the inside of his
arm.

It’s a stress that Jeongguk doesn’t really need but his father could possibly disown him if he found
out Jeongguk knew. He wishes he didn’t. He hopes Taehyung is lying, or is wrong.

“See, Uncle Yoonie.”

The tension in Jeongguk’s mouth relaxes a little as Ji-hu flashes Yoongi’s face at them. It’s quite
close to the screen and pixelated but Jeongguk warms. It hasn’t been long but he misses Yoongi.

“Ah, Ji-hu that’s the pretty boy I was telling you about.”

Taehyung’s ears go red and he quickly turns around to finish breakfast.

“The one that gives Appa a stroke?” Ji-hu asks, his mouth too close to the phone.

He takes off into a run when Jeongguk calls after him, giggling wildly as he makes Jeongguk chase
him around the apartment. It isn’t until Jeongguk’s pushing back into his bedroom that he’s able to
scoop the boy into his arms and throw him over his shoulder. Ji-hu screams and kicks wildly, blurts
of laughter leaving his lips before Jeongguk gently tosses him onto his bed.

“Give me that phone,” Jeongguk growls playfully and Ji-hu hands it over without a fight.

Even with the quality of the Facetime, Jeongguk can see how shitty Yoongi looks. His hair is a
wreck over his head and he looks as if he hasn’t slept since he left Busan.

It makes his heart ache. He knew whether in Busan or Daegu, Yoongi wouldn’t stop worrying about
Jimin any less.

“Hyung,” Jeongguk says as he plops himself to the edge of the bed and allows Ji-hu to wrap himself
around his back, his arms tight around Jeongguk’s neck. “When are you coming home?”

Yoongi’s eyes flick away from the camera for a moment, lips pouting out. “Not for awhile, I think. I
don’t know.”

There’s something about his voice that has Jeongguk’s shoulders broadening, a rush of worry
making the protective part inside of him flare up. “Hyung, what is it?”

“Guk,” Yoongi says, expression hard and angry in a way that Jeongguk’s never seen on him before,
“does your Appa still have that house in Osaka?”

The worry increases but Jeongguk keeps quiet, not wanting to alarm the wiggling boy on his
back. Osaka is a secret place. It had been his mother’s, only his mother’s. Jeongguk himself had only
gone once.

“Yes?”

Yoongi glances away from the phone once more. “I need you to ask him if I can go there. Just for a
few nights.”

“Hyung -”

“I will explain,” Yoongi says. “Later. Okay? Please just ask him.”

There’s a storm inside of him. A vicious storm ripping up his insides and swirling through his empty
stomach. It rattles his bones and sends his nerves flying until his hands tremble with the force of it.

Yoongi breathes in deeply, willing the tremble away. He has to do this and he has to do this right.

The metal is heavy in his hands and cold against his skin. Hoseok is standing at the end of the
hallway, waiting until he gives his nod of approval before opening the door.

Chung-Hoon sits behind his desk, a concentrated look on his face as he stares at the computer before
him. He doesn’t acknowledge Yoongi and it aggravates him.

This is the biggest boss in Seoul, in Daegu, and soon Busan. Yoongi is just...Yoongi.

“We need to talk.”

Chung-Hoon is slow to look up, a bored expression on his face but his eyes are cold. “I figured your
friend would squeal. I had half the mind to gut him when I saw him come into my home. He knows
better.”

There’s sweat trickling down Yoongi’s neck, but he can’t focus on his words. Hoseok told him he
would go straight to fear, to threats. Hold your anger, hyung, it’s the only thing getting you through
this.

“Does Eomma know?”

There’s a flash of something dark in the man’s eyes and Yoongi reacts, shifting the gun in front of
him the moment Chung-Hoon stands.

He raises his arms, a smirk growing on his face as he eyes Yoongi’s gun. “I’m not going to hurt you,
Yoongi. I love your mother too dearly for that. The gun is unnecessary.”

Yoongi raises his hands higher. He doesn’t care any longer if he shakes or if his aim is probably shit.
Jimin, Jimin, Jimin. Jimin’s never had anyone try to save him before. Yoongi’s always backed off so
easily and he never should of. He should have gotten Jimin when it was easier, when his only threat
was Bobby.

“I said, does Eomma know?”

“Put the gun -”

“I said,” Yoongi interrupts, his firm voice surprising him, “does Eomma know? I can tell by your
face that she doesn’t, that you’re afraid for her to. I don’t have a problem telling her. It would
actually be a great pleasure of mine.”

The grin on Chung-Hoon’s face grows as he quirks a brow. “Your mother knows I used to run a
brothel and ran a small drug gang back in the day. We knew each other back then.”

It’s difficult not letting his surprise show. He had been sure his mother would be completely ignorant.

“Does she know you’re still doing it? Whoring out men and prostituting children?”

Chung-Hoon scoffs and Yoongi jerks, the storm inside of him pushing clouds into his brain. He
doesn’t care about any answer he receives.

“If you’re threatening to tell your mother anything, let it at least be the truth. I don’t prostitute out
children and every man under me has come to me willingly.”

“Jimin didn’t,” Yoongi grits. “You were going to take a ten year old boy, he sent himself instead.
Willing or not, I’m not sure Eomma would agree that it’s alright.”

The rage in Chung-Hoon’s eyes is clear now but the grin on his lips doesn’t falter. He makes a noise
of understanding before he spits to the side. “I’m going to give you some fatherly advice, Yoongi.
Don’t think with your dick. I know it’s difficult, especially with Jimin. Many men have told me how
good -”

“Don’t talk about him,” Yoongi snaps, losing a bit of his cool as he jerks his gun and Chung-Hoon’s
hands jerk up in response.

Good, be afraid, Yoongi thinks even though he could shit his pants at just the idea of shooting
someone, even Chung-Hoon.
“No?” Chung-Hoon asks with a quirked brow, telling Yoongi that he’s far from afraid. It’s going to
be difficult to keep any fear in him, but the flashes of anger in his eyes encourages Yoongi. “Here I
thought that’s why you came to me, to talk about your Jimin. Imagine my surprise when your mother
told me about your love for him, just a few hours after I had him drooling over my cock.”

He’s trying to get in your head, Yoongi thinks but it’s difficult to ignore. Hoseok promised him that
Chung-Hoon hasn’t touched him, that Hoseok has made sure that he didn’t.

He needs Chung-Hoon to stop mentioning Jimin before Yoongi loses all of his gusto. He had come
here to talk about Jimin, but Yoongi’s not sure he can handle it.

“I won’t tell Eomma, but I have conditions.”

It’s a horrible decision, one he hopes his mother understands. It’s one he hopes that he’ll be able to
break sooner than later, after making sure Jimin and Woojin are safe.

Chung-Hoon looks like he’s contemplating him for a moment, lips down in a frown and eyebrows
quirked. “I’m assuming letting Jimin go is one.”

“Yes,” Yoongi says without hesitation. “The other is Woojin. Baby’s brother. The one you tried to
take when he was only three.”

The anger is back, flickering in Chung-Hoon’s eyes so quickly that a rush of fear pushes through
Yoongi’s body and escapes from his lips in the form of a small gasp. “You can have Jimin. He’s no
loss to me. The threats are really unnecessary, though I admire your loyalty.”

Yoongi waits, unsure what to say. He wasn’t expecting any of this to go his way. Hell, he didn’t
know what to expect at all.

“Another bit of advice son is learn to be loyal to those who are loyal back.”

Yoongi steps forward when Chung-Hoon moves but the man raises his hands to tell him he’s not
doing anything and waits. Yoongi nods and Chung-Hoon turns the computer screen around.

He only glances at the screen but the scene in front of him makes him nauseous. If Hoseok hadn’t
already told him, he’d probably lose everything right now. It had felt like being hit by a truck when
Hoseok had told him. The punch hadn’t made him feel any better, just made him feel like shit.

Chung-Hoon knew he was coming for him, had the video up and ready for him. He tries not to let
the thought deter him but he feels his strength slipping away.

“Hope was quite eager to fuck your boyfriend, son. Jimin was hesitant but not for long. Requested to
star with Hope again.”

Yoongi knows not to glance at the screen but he can’t help it. Hoseok hadn’t told him just how
rough he had to be and despite knowing the reasons, it still makes pain wrap around Yoongi’s heart.
Whether it relieved him or not, the urge to punch Hoseok returns.

“Honestly, I’d rather have my boyfriend fuck my best friend than find out I’m married to a monster
like you.”

Chung-Hoon laughs. “I’m not a monster, Yoongi. Put the gun away and sit so we can discuss this
like men. I wouldn’t want you to ruin your mother’s life because of some hearsay you came upon
about a situation that has nothing to do with you.”
Yoongi doesn’t move, even when Chung-Hoon moves closer. “I’ll sit as soon as you get rid of
Jimin. Kick him out, ban him, I don’t care. Let him go and don’t try to take him back.

“He’s mine. When I want him, I’ll have him. But he’s free to go with you as long as he doesn’t
return to Bobby’s side. It would make your mother quite happy if you were to mar -”

“Make the call,” Yoongi grunts. The only thing worse listening to Chung-Hoon talk about Jimin is
hearing him talk about his mother. “Put it on speaker.”

Yoongi isn’t dumb enough to think he has the upper hand, that Chung-Hoon is doing anything he
doesn’t want to. But there’s a breath of relief teetering in his lungs that he can’t let out or the rest of
his storm will flood out and downpour down his cheeks.

If Chung-Hoon lets Jimin come with him, they can run. They can find a way to buy time and make it
seem like Jimin is still working for Chung-Hoon, but they’ll be together.

The phone rings for what feels like hours before a sweet, feminine voice sounds through the phone.
“Papa, what is it?”

Chung-Hoon’s eyes are dark and amused but he doesn’t speak, not even when Yoongi nudges the
gun towards him.

“Tell Doll to pack his things and bring him to the farm. I’m outsourcing. He’ll do better taking Busan
if he’s actually in Busan. Have Lee take your post.”

“The farm?” The woman breathes, a worry itch to her tone. “Papa, I don’t think - he’s done nothing
wrong.”

Chung-Hoon’s eyes flit over to Yoongi. “Don’t fear, Kitty. I won’t hurt your boy. Don’t make me
wait.”

There’s some fuss on the line but Chung-Hoon quickly ends the call. “If Jimin can get me Bobby’s
top clients, I won’t call for him to return to Daegu. It’ll be easy enough, he just has to spread his
pretty legs. It makes men go mad, they’ll quickly break their loyalties to Bobby.”

It snaps inside of him and Yoongi moves without thinking, smashing the gun across the side of
Chung-Hoon’s face. The yell he lets out is shocked and pained as he falls into the desk, knocking
against the computer where Jimin’s shouted moans play.

Don’t let him think you’re a pushover hyung. Make him afraid of you.

“And now Woojin.”

Chung-Hoon grunts, spitting again as he clutches a hand over where blood seeps down from his
cheekbone. He’s huge compared to Yoongi and Yoongi’s minimal strength and the blow hadn’t
been enough to knock him out.

“Striking me after getting what you want makes me hesitant to do it again,” Chung-Hoon grunts, still
sounding amused. “You are a good fighter, Yoongi. You could take my reins without a problem.
Your loyalty would make men loyal to you.”

This time it’s Yoongi’s turn to laugh. “I wouldn’t work for you no matter what you offered.”

“I’ll call all of my men off of the boy. There’s currently three keeping an eye on him. I know he lives
with Kim Seokjin, I know he goes to therapy three times a week. I know when his dance classes are
and that Kim Namjoon always brings over a gallon of chocolate ice cream and two stuffed animals
when he visits.”

Yoongi stills, his heart racing in his chest. He can’t - he can’t possibly. But Chung-Hoon keeps
going, listing off too many details of Woojin’s life to be lying.

“Turn the video off.”

Chung-Hoon glances at the screen, looking mad with the blood sliding down his neck, covering his
hand yet still giving Yoongi a toothy smile.

“Really? This is my favorite part,” Chung-Hoon says, hitting the volume until Yoongi can hear the
angry slap of skin and the garbled moans Jimin lets out.

“Really? Thought kids were more your thing?”

“I understand why you assume that. I wouldn’t touch the boy. He’d be more protected under me than
any of you. But there’s little I can do with a mute, even with proper training.”

Hoseok’s voice joins Jimin’s and Yoongi has half a mind to put a bullet through the screen just to
shut it off but Chung-Hoon does just before he can.

“I didn’t want to pimp him out, Yoongi. I’d kill any man who touched him. I wanted a heir, someone
to carry on my legacy. You can tell your mother if you please. She knows about Woojin already.”

“You’re lying,” Yoongi snaps. His arms are starting to ache but he can’t falter, he can’t. His mother
would never hurt a child, ever. There’s nothing Chung-Hoon can do to convince him otherwise. She
doesn’t have to know that Yoongi is close to him to care either. A child must be protected, she’s
always told him this. “Why would you want him as a heir?”

Chung-Hoon scoffs. He moves too quickly for Yoongi to react, effectively grabbing the gun before
Yoongi can register the fact that he’s moving.

He doesn’t turn it on him, rather places it into a drawer and slams it shut. “Why would someone
become a heir? You’re not stupid Yoongi. Or at least, I thought. It was stupid of you to bring a gun
into your mother’s home.”

Yoongi doesn’t falter, back straight although his heart pounds with so much fear that his body starts
to ache with it. “My mother would let me shoot you dead if she knew what you were doing.”

“Maybe,” Chung-Hoon says. “Or maybe not. Will she kill you knowing you’re working for me to
save your boys? I wouldn’t think so.”

“I never said -”

“I want one thing from you, because though your mother might not kill you - she’d definitely kill me
for getting you involved. Just one thing and I’ll call my men off of Woojin and I’ll let you go. But
Jimin will continue to work for me. He will get me Busan and then he too will be free enough to be
with you.”

Yoongi waits without interruption. He doesn’t want Jimin’s freedom so they can be together, that’s
just an upside to it. He wants Jimin’s freedom for Jimin’s happiness, but he doesn’t waste his breath
in explaining it.

“You know Jeon Jeongguk, yes?”

No, no, no .

Everything stops around him. He thought that had just been an expression but he feels it, the way his
breathing stops and everything is frozen in the office.

“Yes.”

“The biggest source of H in this half of the country comes directly from him. It’s destroying the
streets, hurting my business. I want you to shut it down.”

“I don’t understand.”

Chung-Hoon peers his eyes at him before he lets out a hearty laugh. “I’d suspect you were lying but
you’re an open book. You’ve looked as if you’ve been pissing your pants the moment you walked
into my office. Which, I’m thankful you did. I no longer have to wait to form a bond with you to get
access to the Jeon building.”

“I still don’t understand.”

There’s the sound of the car door shutting outside and Yoongi’s heart leaps further. His mother can’t
see this, Chung-Hoon had been right about that. He hopes Hoseok makes himself discreet or at least
hid his gun.

“My brother has created a monster of H inside of Jeon Tobacco. He hasn’t told you?”

“Jeongguk wouldn’t allow that,” Yoongi says without thinking. The words are too true to even
consider them being false. “Trust me. If it’s happening, he doesn’t know about it.”

Chung-Hoon considers this with a cock of his head. “If you’re correct, then tear the lab down. I want
everything, every pinch of powder, every sheet that has even the simplest formula on it. I’ll give you
one of my men to help. If you’re wrong, kill him. Both of your boys will be safe if you do this for
me.”

Yoongi jumps up, backing towards the door as Chung-Hoon approaches. “I know I’m right.”

There’s the grin again, big and sadistic. “Then it should be an easy job for you. When it’s done, I’ll
call my men off. But if you hide the boy before then, I will find him and take him from you."

“Why do you care about him so much?” Yoongi seethes. He’s nearly being pressed against the door
but he won’t back down. He’s tiny in comparison to the man, frighteningly so, but he’s always been
smaller than Jeongguk and able to wrestle him down when they’ve play fought.

He isn’t afraid of Chung-Hoon’s request. All he has to do is tell Jeongguk that it exists and Jeongguk
will shut it down immediately. His loyalties to Yunbok aside. Drugs are a huge no in the Jeon
household. It’s almost ironic as they supply the world with a drug, a legal drug, but old man Jeon
would disown Jeongguk without hesitation if he were even to attempt to dabble in anything
hardcore.

But Yoongi doesn’t trust that his request to kill Jeongguk will disappear, even if Yoongi does as he
says. He’s seen enough crime movies to know that much.

“You haven’t caught on yet?” Chung-Hoon says lowly. “Heirs are made by birthright, Yoongi. But I
have no use for a mute, even if he is my only son. I should have known. His mother was a stupid
broad that ran away from the safety I provided to be live her life being beaten by a drunk every day.
She begged me to breed her when I found her again, begging for some kind of mercy. It was
 pathetic. Even then she couldn’t do that right.”

Yoongi presses against the door, staring at Chung-Hoon who looms over him like a giant. His heart
pounds so loudly his ears are starting to hurt from the force of it. He replays every word in his mind,
needing to make sure he doesn’t forget a single one.

“Now go help your mother and tell her we’re having company for dinner while I clean up. I’m sure
she’ll be happy to see Jimin. I want you out of the house by the time night falls and remember my
terms or I’ll forget yours.”

Chapter End Notes

I would love to know what you think!!! Find me on twitter tumblr or curiouscat <3 <3 I
post updates and previews for this fic and others primarily on twitter <3
 Chapter 19
Chapter Notes

Holaaaa!! I know the updates have been a bit scattered so I'm updating twice this week.
This chapter and the next were originally one but after some modifications, it became
two so I want to update them together or close together.

Please be warned for acts of violence and implied rape (not descriptive but there's two
sentences where it's implied, used as a threat). If you'd like to know before you read,
please don't hesitate to ask.

(also my dumbass phone always autocorrects Jun-ki's name to something stupid every
time and I'm pretty sure I found all of them but if I didn't, I apologize.)

See the end of the chapter for more notes

There’s sweat pooling in the lines of his palms where his hands are clenched in his lap. It never
happens when he’s nervous and Taehyung wonders if he’s agreed to too much too quickly and
underestimated just what he can handle.

It’s strange, and he’s trying not to think about it too much, but everything he’s gone through doesn’t
feel as nerve wracking as being so domestic with the Jeons.

But the nerves aren't from Ji-hu talking his ear off like they’re best friends though they’ve just met
earlier in the day, or Jeongguk looking at him with the softest expression on his face. It isn’t making
him nervous that he’s seconds away from meeting Jeongguk’s father.

The nerves kick in the moment Seokmin opens the car door, revealing a place that Taehyung has
been a handful of times before. The fact that he never considered Mr. Jeon and Jeon Jeongguk to be
related has him feeling so overwhelmed and stupid he could throw up.

It just doesn’t connect in his mind. Mr. Jeon is one of the most fragile, weakest men he’s ever laid his
eyes on. Everything about Jeongguk screams strength.

“Tae Tae!” Ji-hu calls, scurrying to him when he jumps out of the car to take his hand. There’s
concern in his eyes like he can sense Taehyung’s inner turmoil, but then he smiles big and swings
their hands. “Have you met my grandpa? He’s the oldest man on Earth.”

Taehyung can’t help the nervous giggle he lets out when Ji-hu talks so seriously and when Jeongguk
snorts loudly behind him.

“Yah, don’t let harbeoji hear you say that.”

“Yeah, I’ve met him,” Taehyung says coolly, eyes flicking to Jeongguk because it’s something he
needs to know before Taehyung walks through the door of his family home and it becomes obvious.
He’s been failing at keeping himself impassive like he prefers to be.

He’s never been good at hiding his emotions completely like Jimin and it’s a wonder to him that
Jeongguk hasn’t realized just how far Taehyung has fallen for him.
“I think.”

Ji-hu doesn’t seem to notice when Jeongguk’s hand slides to his back, his tense smile burying into
his ear.

“Taehyung -”

“I’ve been here,” Taehyung says, pulling back to look up at Jeongguk, whose bright eyes scream
tortured. He keeps his tone serious, needing Jeongguk to understand when he can’t explain around
little ears. “So I’m not sure but, the man I was left with was very kind. Never stopped talking about
his wife.”

Jeongguk holds his gaze for a long moment, eyes hard and searching before he nods.

It’s the truth. Jimin has brought him here after Bobby had taken him from Chung-Hoon. His first
client under Bobby. He had been terrified but Mr. Jeon never left his chair except to offer Taehyung
more food because my dear boy, you look as if your limbs could snap at any minute .

He visited a few more times, always accompanied with Bobby. He helped Mr. Jeon’s maid, an older
woman with a gummy smile that only appeared when she was in the kitchen. When Mr. Jeon
snapped at her, screaming and tossing the plates from the table in front of him, Bobby took him home
and never brought him back.

Taehyung wonders if that same anger is inside Jeongguk. He wonders how fair it is to assume that a
child must be so much like their parent when Taehyung was raised by a man who used his fists to
express any of his emotions.

“Told me many embarrassing things about his son. If I knew he was so fine, maybe I would have
come more often.”

“Ah,” Jeongguk says, embarrassed, face reddening before he pinches Taehyung’s hip. It’s the
second time he’s done it today and each time it’s made something ignite inside of him. “I can have
Seokmin bring you home if you want. But um, we have to talk about this.”

Taehyung only has the chance to shake his head when Ji-hu squeezes his hand impatiently, nose
pinched when he looks up at the two of them.

Despite the truth of how kind Mr. Jeon had been to him, the fact that he already knows Taehyung is
a whore bothers him. Men think differently of whores when it’s them in their bed compared to when
it’s them holding the hand of their grandson.

He wants to pull his hand away when the doorman opens the door, but Ji-hu holds on so tightly he’s
worried of hurting the boy’s feelings.

Jeongguk greets the doorman warmly, with a clap to his shoulder and a bow of his head.

“It’s been quite bad,” the doorman whispers and Taehyung diverts his attention though his ears
strain, “but he is quite chipper today. I think it’s due to Ji-hu’s return.”

There’s a new tension in Jeongguk’s body and a tighter smile on his lips when he guides Taehyung
into the house.

Ji-hu takes off running the moment his shoes are off, calling out for his grandfather. The touch on his
back travels to his neck, where Jeongguk squeezes lightly before Taehyung feels lips brushing over
his cheekbone.
The anxiety that has been plaguing him has seemed to seep into Jeongguk, his eyes searching him
intensely and Taehyung can hardly breathe as he tries to understand what Jeongguk is thinking.

“I know I said we need to talk about this and I meant later but, I need to know. Are you sure he was
kind?”

Taehyung sighs softly at the fear flickering in Jeongguk’s eyes. He understands then. Jeongguk may
not know the way Taehyung’s been mistreated by others who are like his family, but he knows he
has been mistreated.

“He never touched me,” Taehyung promises as he hooks two fingers under Jeongguk’s chin. Maybe
he shouldn’t have told him, but if Taehyung is visibly upset and won’t tell Jeongguk why, he’ll
torture himself until he finds out.

His heart grows and flips in fondness.

Jeongguk still looks unsure but he nods his head and doesn’t say a word as the sound of footsteps
joins the mix of soft and tense between the two of them.

“Ah Guk-ah! Have you finally decided me worthy to meet this boy of yours?”

Heat rushes to Taehyung’s temples as he turns to face Jeongguk’s father. This boy of yours. It implies
being more than a nanny, which is all Taehyung technically is supposed to be.

The way Jeongguk folds a hand over his lower spine reminds Taehyung that he’s far from just being
a nanny.

“Yah, Appa, please don’t embarrass me,” Jeongguk whines. “This is Taehyung.”

There’s recognition in Jun-ki’s eyes and suddenly the hand on his back isn’t only wanted, but needed
so desperately that when Jeongguk’s fingers flex, Taehyung panics like he’s moving away and has to
stop himself from grabbing for him..

“Taehyung-ssi, it has been some time. I hope you are well.”

Good thing I told Jeongguk , Taehyung thinks as he bows and accepts the shaking hand held out
towards him. Jun-ki looks just as haggard as he had when they first met, though he’s aged a
considerable amount since. Taehyung doesn’t remember ever seeing him with such a bright smile
before; he only ever smiled softly when he spoke of his son.

“I am, Mr. Jeon. I hope you are too.”

Jun-ki reaches behind him, hand cupping the back of Ji-hu’s head until it pops around his hip. “Ji-hu
here says you’re his new nanny?”

The look in his eyes is one of amusement and Taehyung flushes harder. He doesn’t seem perturbed
by the idea of a whore nannying his grandson, nor the way his son lifts his hand to grab the back of
his neck reassuringly again.

“I am.”

Jun-ki laughs softly. “Good, good. Come in, come in.”

Taehyung follows after them with a gentle nudge, though he feels like fleeing when he hears Ji-hu
badly whispering to his grandfather about Jeongguk’s pretty boy giving him strokes.
There’s no manual about how to act in a situation like this and Taehyung wishes there were. He
wouldn’t know how to meet Jeongguk’s father even if he didn’t know him, but the fact that he does
makes it even harder. He keeps himself beside Ji-hu, finding comfort in the innocence he holds, as
Jun-ki and Jeongguk sit together to talk.

“Are you Woojin hyung’s hyungie?”

Taehyung glances between them where Ji-hu has spread out a box of action figures. They’re sat
criss-crossed on the ground at the edge of the living room, a few yards away from where Jeongguk
and Jun-ki are. He feels Jeongguk’s eyes on him every so often, but he pays more attention to the
wide, curious ones right in front of him.

“Uncle Yoongi told me.”

“I am,” Taehyung says, picking out the pieces left behind in the toy box. “Do you know him well?”

Ji-hu nods. “He sits behind Jimin sunbaenim’s desk during dance class,” he explains as he takes
every piece handed to him. “He doesn't like the kids in class, only me."

There’s a pang in Taehyung’s chest but he only smiles and watches as Ji-hu collects pieces that look
like they go together to build a transformer. “Eunae helps him, yes?”

“Oh yeah. One time she punched Hajoon because he was laughing at hyung.”

Taehyung jerks his head up, but Ji-hu is still looking at his toys. Neither Jimin nor Jin have told him
anything like that. There’s a bit of pride inside of him for Eunae, even if it’s unacceptable behavior.

“Sunbaenim made Hajoon sit behind his desk for three practices with Woojin hyung.”

Taehyung bites at his smile and hands Ji-hu another piece. His eyes light up and a silence falls over
them, though Taehyung notices that Ji-hu talks to himself. It’s quiet and under his breath, but it’s
nonstop.

“I don’t know why you’re asking such questions, son.”

Attempting to be discreet, Taehyung glances at the two Jeon men on the couch. He had been
avoiding looking at Jeongguk for so long that he doesn’t know when Jeongguk had started to look
agitated but there’s a look on his face that Taehyung’s only seen when Taehyung was injured.

“I’m asking because I need to know the answer,” Jeongguk replies, his tone a lot less friendly than it
had been earlier.

“And if you discover that Yunbok and his hyungs have their hands in brothels across the country
than you will what? Become a hypocrite?”

Taehyung diverts his eyes when Jeongguk glances towards him. His heart is thudding against his
chest and he tries to calm it so he can continue to eavesdrop.

“Appa -”

“You’ve brought the conversation up,” Mr. Jeon interrupts, "if you didn’t wish to discuss this in
present company, you shouldn’t have asked me in present company.”

Another glance and Taehyung watches Jeongguk look as if he might deflate but a stubborn look
crosses his expression.
“I’d simply like to know if Yunbok-ssi is as cruel as his hyungs.”

The silence is heavy, only interrupted by the frantic beat of Taehyung’s heart. He is, Taehyung
thinks immediately, but it isn’t something he wants Jeongguk to know. He’s safe from Yunbok, from
Hanbin, from Chung-Hoon, he wants Jeongguk to let it go.

But something must have happened because Jeongguk’s asking the right questions now and
Taehyung doesn’t know how he found out.

“As cruel as Sungho,” Jeongguk whispers, his voice low but it travels enough for Taehyung to hear
it as he strains his ears.

“Tae Tae,” Ji-hu interrupts, thrusting a half made LEGO transformer towards him. “What do you
think?”

“Good,” Taehyung murmurs distractedly. Ji-hu quirks a brow but he smiles and hands Taehyung the
next piece.

“I see you’ve read your mother’s letters?”

“No. Not yet.”

There’s only silence that follows and Taehyung is too nervous to risk a look towards Jeongguk. He
listens to Ji-hu’s soft whispering instead; focuses on the way he wiggles on his butt and jerks his
head the way his father does when he’s concentrating.

He doesn’t chance it until a nurse comes in, carrying a tray with bottles and a cup of water. He
watches the man move before lowering the tray in front of Mr. Jeon and Taehyung lets his eyes settle
on Jeongguk.

There’s a distant look in his eyes as he chews on his thumb nail, his leg shaking where it’s hooked
over the other. His eyes lift and meet Taehyung's but the distant look in them doesn’t appear.

“I’ve given Yoongi hyung permission to rest in Eomma’s home in Osaka,” Jeongguk suddenly says,
his eyes slowly dragging back to his father. “Eomma would have allowed it.”

“Is he in trouble?” Mr. Jeon asks with concern falling into his tone.

“I believe so.”

Taehyung perks up at that, blatantly eavesdropping now and he only flushes slightly when Jeongguk
catches him. The hard look softens for a moment and Taehyung doesn’t hesitate to push himself from
the ground to be near him.

“Do you remember the man that visits with Bobby hyung?”

Jun-ki nods, eyes following Taehyung who slips his butt across the cushions to be close. “Jimin-ssi,
yes. Wonderful boy.”

“He works under Sungho,” Jeongguk explains as if he’s talking about the weather. It makes
Taehyung queasy. He’s been trying not to think about it, about Jimin with that man again, and he
hates being reminded of it.

There’s a moment where father and son only hold each other’s eyes but Jun-ki breaks the silence
first. He looks pained as he shakes his head and holds a finger to his top lip.
“No, that cannot be right.”

It catches Ji-hu’s attention, the stress upon his grandfather’s face and he sneaks over. His eyes are big
and wide as he sits by his feet.

“Yoongi hyung and Jimin are close, Appa. It causes him a pain that makes men do stupid things.”

Jimin will kill Yoongi if he tries anything, Taehyung knows. He doesn’t know Yoongi well enough
to know if he’d be the type to go after Jimin, but Jeongguk does and Taehyung suspects he wouldn’t
voice a concern he truly doesn’t have.

“Jimin sunbaenim and Uncle Yoongi are getting married,” Ji-hu chimes in before he glances at his
father for confirmation.

Jun-ki doesn’t seem to hear him as he looks off into the distance, the finger he has against his lip
shaking. “Call Yoongi-yah and tell him he may rest at your mother’s home but he is not to leave until
I say.”

Taehyung’s heart thuds hard against his sternum. There is a look of anger in his eyes now, one that
makes Taehyung’s skin crawl and his body tense as if the feeble old man may lunge and attack him.

“There is not a man more cruel than Sungho, my son. Yunbok hyung does not compare.”

Jeongguk scoffs, adding to the tension fueling around them. Taehyung wonders how much they’ve
spoken about this before and why Jeongguk is doing it with him present. He feels as if he shouldn’t
be here, even if he knows more about Sungho than the two of them.

Taehyung thinks there is many ways to be cruel and that both Yunbok and Chung-Hoon are equal,
even if they have caused him harm in different ways.

“If buying men makes a man cruel, than both you and I are none the better.”

Taehyung folds in on himself, eyeing where he’s pressed his hands between his knees. He isn’t
wrong, the act itself isn’t cruel but the men always seem to be.

“Distrusting Yunbok for his associations with Sungho does not make me a hypocrite, father,”
Jeongguk says, eyes pulling away from Taehyung. His jaw tenses and ticks, his fingers playing
anxiously over the arm of the couch. Little details that betray the steadiness of his voice. “I’m not
kidnapping babies.”

The statement hangs heavily in the air, the tension loud as Jun-ki and Jeongguk hold each other’s
gaze. Taehyung eases himself into the back of the couch when he feels Ji-hu brush against his legs.

His eyes are still wide with worry as he peeks over the table and grabs a handful of the snacks laid
out between them. So far they have gone untouched and unnoticed but Ji-hu’s retreating hand
catches the older Jeons’ attention.

“Ji-hu, be a good grandson and fetch me the library key.”

Ji-hu stops his attempts to reach into a bowl of chips before he nods and scurries off, disappointment
on his face. Taehyung could laugh if he weren’t feeling too tense.

“Kidnapping babies,” Jun-ki repeats the moment Ji-hu is out of earshot. “I will agree that Sungho is a
cruel man, but that’s quite the accusation.”
“It’s not an accusation, Appa.”

The old man doesn’t look surprised or angered, but rather sadness creeps into his eyes as he stares
back at his son. It feels intimate and Taehyung wants to go but the moment he attempts to,
Jeongguk’s body jerks as if in a panic after him.

“I don’t judge a man for selling his body though I do judge the man who has forced him into it. Just
as I don’t judge a woman who was put into that life as a child, but I do judge the man that would
place her there.”

There’s a hint of anxiety in Jeongguk’s tone and Jun-ki’s stare is unwavering. Taehyung wonders
where any of this came from. He’s never known Jeongguk to be good at hiding his emotions, yet
Taehyung hasn’t seen anything other than exhaustion brewing.

Or at least, he thought any stress on Jeongguk’s face had to do with the uncertainty between them,
not because he knew of Sungho.

“Yunbok does not have the same hand in the game as his hyungs,” Jun-ki finally says, speaking
slowly, “but that does not mean he doesn’t enjoy the benefits of his brother’s power and I’ve heard
he’s not the gentlest of men. But mind you, I have never seen him intimately in that way to know
how he truly treats his partners.”

Taehyung’s heart thuds in his chest and he keeps his eyesight down, knowing the moment Jeongguk
sees his face then he’ll know the truth.

“As for children, you know Yunbok has never been kind to his sons, but he’s been kind to yours. If
that is what you're worried about, you should not be.”

At the mention of Ji-hu, he comes tumbling into the living room with a key held proudly into the air.
The tension snaps quickly, a smile pulling at Jun-ki’s lips.

Taehyung breathes out, relaxes into the touch at his neck as Jeongguk shifts closer.

“Thank you, lil bunny. Now help me up.”

The moment the door closes behind Yoongi, Hoseok regrets everything. It’s cracked enough that he
can hear, or he could be able to hear if his heart wasn’t trying to beat itself out of his chest.

He believes it true. Chung-Hoon won’t hurt Yoongi, not permanently. But the worry that he is
wrong is present, nagging, cause Hoseok to stand too close to the door and ready himself to pounce
at any second despite the fact that Chung-Hoon wouldn’t have any qualms about killing him the
moment he stepped through the threshold.

The first sound of a thunk and a garbled noise has Hoseok jumping forward, his hand skating over
the wooden door to push it open just to be yanked back by a firm hand clutching hard on the back of
his neck.

He doesn’t collide with the wall like he expects but he’s pressed firmly into it. The man in front of
him holds a finger to his lips, eyes narrowed in a warning.

“You go in there, you're dead,” he seethes through his teeth.

Lee Jooheon has a face that could kill, but his fingers are light where they hold Hoseok down against
the wall and his voice isn’t threatening, but warning.

Hoseok shoves him away in annoyance. He knows. He also should have known he wasn’t capable
of sitting still and waiting behind the scenes while Yoongi puts himself in danger.

“I’ve been on this for almost six years “ Jooheon whispers, pushing Hoseok back. “I’m not having
you fuck it up just because you’re boyfriend in there gets a little banged up.”

He’s pushing back, planting Hoseok back against the wall and Hoseok lets him. Jooheon is the only
thing keeping him from flying into the room Yoongi and Chung-Hoon are in. He’s bigger than
Hoseok in size, just as strong, and he holds a piece on his belt that looks as if it could blast Hoseok’s
entire chest apart.

It isn’t comforting knowing he’s undercover, just as Hoseok had expected. He’s still harmful in a
massive mob empire, posed as a guard who stands as if he’s a second hand man behind the boss.
Hoseok knows it takes violence to get to that position.

“If it happens again, I’m getting Yoongi out,” Hoseok breathes. He doesn’t want to be overheard
although he knows Chung-Hoon is smart, must suspect that Yoongi didn’t come alone. Unless he
thinks Yoongi to be dumb -

Which he is, in a sense, pulling out a gun and pointing it at someone like Chung-Hoon, clearly afraid
yet doing it anyway.

“And with you dead how far will he get? He’s a bit of an idiot when it comes to that Jimin of his.”

Hoseok huffs out a laugh. “If he’s so dumb, why are you here with us?”

Jooheon curls his lips, showing his teeth. “Bringing down Chung isn’t my only order, I told you that.
I need Jimin for the other and he isn’t going to trust me but his boyfriend just might vouch for me if I
prove myself trustworthy.”

He finally moves back, but only an inch. He keeps his fingers planted to Hoseok’s chest, keeping
him back in case Chung-Hoon suddenly emerges from the room.

“Yah, you’d be more trustworthy if you told me exactly what it is you want with Jimin. Because
Yoongi vouching for you or not, I won’t let you near him. And if I don’t let you near him, Yoongi
won’t either.”

Jooheon’s jaw ticks. His eyes search over Hoseok’s face before he grabs for his belt. Despite his trust
that Jooheon won’t shoot him dead here, his heart lurches into his throat.

“I need to find Taehyung,” Jooheon says before he whips his gun forward and digs it hard into
Hoseok’s breast bone. “Kookangie, come here.”

Hoseok’s breath catches at the appearance of another one of Chung-Hoon’s men. He’s another
familiar face, a man who Hoseok has seen patrol around the brothel. He’s always made Hoseok
uneasy with how quiet he is, never saying a word or even making eye contact when spoken to.

“Found this one creeping around,” Jooheon says, cocking his head to indicate Hoseok. “Where’s the
kid?”

“Put your gun away,” is what the newcomer says. “The wife just got home.”

Hoseok’s heart thrums inside his chest. She isn’t supposed to be home so early, they had made sure.
They even called her on their way here to confirm.

“Don’t move,” Jooheon growls as he slides the weapon back into its holster.

He doesn’t plan on it, but he can’t help the way his body jerks forward as the office door opens and
Yoongi steps out. A hand to his chest keeps him planted back but he can’t focus on anything other
than Yoongi.

Other than his face being paper white, Yoongi is seemingly unharmed. He only glances at Hoseok
for a second, a soft look in his eyes before Chung-Hoon emerges from behind him.

Chung-Hoon looks murderous, his expression made worse by the gash highlighting his cheekbone.
Hoseok’s mind runs as he glances between the two, half of him proud if Yoongi did the damage and
the other screaming when he realizes Yoongi is no longer holding his own weapon.

“Go,” Chung-Hoon grunts, pushing Yoongi forward. Hoseok remains still, fighting off the need to
rip his hands away from Yoongi. He doesn’t need to as Chung-Hoon lets him go just as quickly as
the thought surfaces, only to grab Hoseok instead.

The breath is choked from him the moment Chung-Hoon’s hand curls around his neck, squeezing
hard. Hoseok remains still despite his body screaming to fight back.

Chung-Hoon is larger but Hoseok is quicker, stronger. It’s the look in Yoongi’s eyes like he might
attack if Hoseok moves that keeps him still.

There are no words spoken, but the thumbs digging into his windpipe are enough for Hoseok to
understand. It feels weak the way he gasps when Chung-Hoon lets go, but his chest is aching and his
vision is spotty.

“Has my wife seen him?” Chung-Hoon grunts at Jooheon. Hoseok scrambled to grab for the wall,
shaking his head at Yoongi who looks like he might close the space between him.

“Yes sir,” Jooheon lies, his face hard and unreadable.

Chung-Hoon wrinkles his nose, staring at him for a moment. Hoseok barely has time to breathe in
enough to ease the ache in his chest before pain blossoms across his cheekbone.

The pain vibrates upwards to his temple and across his skull, deep like his brain has rattled from the
blow. Tears well in his eyes despite the fight not to shed them and Yoongi is there, arms curling
under his armpits to lift him though he hadn’t realized he was falling.

“Nothing you’ve done will go unpunished, Min Yoongi,” is all Chung-Hoon says before it goes
quiet.

Ears ringing, Hoseok forces himself to stand, Yoongi’s grip on him uncomfortably tight. He’s saying
something, his lips moving but Hoseok can’t make out the words through the static in his ears.

“I’m fine,” Hoseok huffs, hoping his voice doesn’t betray them. Chung-Hoon has gone, taking
Jooheon with him but he sees the other guard lingering in the hall. “Hyung, I’m fine.”

Yoongi doesn’t look fine. His eyes are wide with alarm and hurt and Hoseok shrugs away, wanting
to prove he is. A touch to his cheek and he can feel the blood there, making his stomach twist
violently with nausea.

He sinks into the office, wanting to escape Yoongi’s hands that follow after him but he stops when
he spies the computer screen facing them. He can’t help the way he doubles over at the sight, the
reminder.

It hadn’t been to punish Hoseok, but to shove it in Yoongi’s face. Hoseok had been fine to take the
punishment, but he would have agreed if he knew it would be used against Yoongi.

He doesn’t care about ruining Chung-Hoon’s carpet as he makes a mess of it. He'll take the
punishment - he’ll do whatever to get Yoongi and Jimin the hell out of here.

“Come on,” Yoongi huffs, grabbing his chest to help lift him. “Let’s clean you up for dinner.”

A laugh tumbles from Hoseok’s lips. His teeth ache and he wonders distantly if one is broken. Or his
jaw, or his face.

“Nah, staying will piss him off more. I can go. I can get Jimin.”

Yoongi looks as if he’s being tortured, eyes watering but his eyes blink at a rapid rate to keep any
tears from falling. Hoseok really needs to run, to escape the way Yoongi looks at his face like the
gash there is what is causing him pain.

“He’s coming here.”

Yoongi glances at the computer before swallowing thickly and focusing back on Hoseok’s face. He
wipes the blood that trickles down his cheek and Hoseok hates the way it stains his hands. It looks
wrong there.

He understands more so now than he did before why Jimin had been so closed off with Yoongi
about this life. It doesn’t fit him. It feels fundamentally just - wrong for him to even be the tiniest bit
involved.

“What?” Hoseok asks. He’s set up a fake client for Jimin for the entirety of the afternoon, making it
so his lack of presence around the brothel wouldn’t be suspicious. “What happened with Chung,
hyung? How the fuck are you breathing when it looks like you’ve attacked him?”

Yoongi shakes his head, suddenly breathless. The stupid fucking video plays behind them and
Hoseok wonders if one day they will laugh about this like old men rehashing on their university
days. “Sungho agreed to let him come with me on the pretense that when he needs Jimin, if he needs
Jimin, Jimin will have to return. But he’s coming here and then we’ll go. That is all that matters.”

Hoseok gapes at Yoongi. Going in, he had belief that Yoongi would accomplish something. Both
protecting Woojin and Jimin were equally important, but it’s not until Yoongi speaks that Hoseok
realizes which one he wanted to be more successful.

“Hyung, what about Woojin? Should we be calling Jin hyung now that Chung-Hoon knows he’s a
weakness of ours? Explain now, actually. He took your gun away so I know that isn’t the reason he
agreed to let you leave with Jimin.”

Yoongi glances away from his eyes and dread spreads throughout Hoseok.

“Now, hyung.”

Yoongi narrows his eyes but there’s a shake in his fingers as he wipes away the sweat on Hoseok’s
forehead. “You were right about Eomma being his weakness, Hobi. I think the only reason he caved
into letting Jimin go was because she never stops talking about how much she dreams of us getting
married.”
When he paces, Yoongi shakes out his hands, chest heaving and Hoseok understands the feeling.
There’s a strange type of adrenaline, a feeling too close to that of panic, that fills the body after
something like this. Hoseok has gotten into fights that have resulted in people pulling him off with
bloody knuckles and an urge to keep fighting. He’s stared at Chung-Hoon and envisioned the many
ways karma could be best delivered and had to go for a run afterwards, just to relieve the static inside
of him.

Yoongi looks that way now, breathing out in a way that makes his cheeks round like bubbles.
There’s a bounce in his step, but there’s something in his eyes that reminds Hoseok of the day when
Yoongi realized he had to call Jeongguk and tell him his mother passed.

“He’ll back off Woojin too. I - I think he’s desperate for something or none of this would have
worked, Hoseok. I might have pissed my pants. Fuck.”

Hoseok leaps across the office, hands out to catch Yoongi’s chest as he bends forward. It’s just like
that day. Yoongi hadn’t even considered the fact that Jeongguk’s father would be the one to tell him.
He automatically assumed it was his responsibility, as Jeongguk’s hyung. That’s why he could
swallow his fear down enough to do this, for Jimin and Woojin and maybe even a little for Hoseok,
but it’s catching up to him now.

“Breathe,” Hoseok huffs, crouching low to watch Yoongi’s face as he inhales through his nose. “If
you didn’t piss your pants, I’d be impressed.”

Yoongi laughs, but there’s no amusement in his expression. “He needs me to do something for him.
And something tells me he has been trying and failing, that’s why he’s so easily giving into some
bony kid with a gun he doesn’t know how to use. Because I’m one of the few people who can do it
for him and he said something about no longer having to form a bond with me just to get me to do
it.”

Dread seeps into Hoseok but he keeps his face impassive as he mimics the way Yoongi should
breathe. It isn’t until Yoongi nods his head and straightens that Hoseok lets his chest go, but remains
close in case that fear returns. “What is it?”

No matter what it is, Hoseok already knows he’s absolutely against it. There’s nothing Chung-Hoon
could ask for that he’d be okay with Yoongi doing.

“He said Yunbok-ssi is creating H? In his lab. The one at Jeon Tobacco. He wants me to destroy
everything - get formulas and shit for him. The drugs too.”

His eyes divert, barely focus on Hoseok while he speaks. He swallows too much, his hands
clenching into his fists by his sides and -

“What aren’t you telling me?” Hoseok urges. He listens for the sound of footsteps but there are none.
He doesn’t know what Chung-Hoon has played for right now, but he knows with Jinju in the house
he won’t kill him. Or at least, he doesn’t think so. “Jeongguk is going to kill Yunbok when he finds
this out, you know that right?”

Yoongi nods, nibbling on his bottom lip and finally, finally looking at Hoseok straight on.

“I know. He thinks Guk knows about it but I swore to him that he doesn’t. Jeongguk’s absolutely
going to lose his shit when he finds out. It’ll be easy. He’ll let us in and take it all without question.
Fuck , he has to.”

Hoseok huffs, his head hurting so bad it’s difficult to think straight. The one time he and Jeongguk
ever truly fought is because Jeongguk thought he had been high - even though he wasn’t, it had been
hard to convince Jeongguk of that.

“Hyung, I need you to go into this with the mindset that none of this will be easy. Breaking my face
is probably the gentlest thing Chung-Hoon is going to do to punish you.”

Yoongi nods in understanding, lips tight but Hoseok doesn’t think Yoongi knows as much as
Hoseok means, even if he thinks he does. Chung-Hoon is good. Even if they anticipate everything
he could use against them, they will still miss something he’s found.

“And nothing he asks you to do is going to be easy. Especially something like this. It involves his
blood. Even if it sounds like he’s going against him, it’s his brother hyung.”

Something flickers in Yoongi’s eyes and the dread inside of him worsens, his stomach threatening to
unload again.

“He - he said if Jeongguk resists, I have to kill him. But he’s not going to. You know I wouldn’t do
that.”

Hoseok shoves Yoongi away, worrying he might be sick again. “If Chung ordered you to kill him,
hyung, he’s going to be dead whether or not he hands the drugs over with a smile and a gift basket.”

Yoongi rakes a hand through his hair anxiously. Hoseok wants to ask more about their conversation
but they can’t. They’ve already been hidden away for too long, he’s surprised no one has come to
find them.

“I gotta go hyung. I’ll call Guk, okay -”

They’re interrupted by a gasp, the sound of Jinju’s concern making Hoseok want to fly out the
window to escape her grasp. She stands in the doorway, eyes on them for a moment before she’s
crossing the space between them with giant strides.

She’s gentle when she touches Hoseok, tilting his chin to inspect his wound.

She doesn’t ask.

The anger in her eyes makes her look scarier than Chung-Hoon.

“Come with me Hobi-ah. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Hoseok ducks his head down, trying to hide the swelling of his face but fingers press harder into his
chin until he has no choice other than to look into her eyes.

“Eomma -” Yoongi starts, panic in his voice but she holds up a hand to stop him.

“We’ll talk later, dumpling. For now, turn that off and go wash up for dinner.”

Though her voice is calm, it’s the only thing calm about her. She radiates anger the way Yoongi
does, the way Hoseok has learned is best to; quietly.

Shame fills him quickly as he realizes the computer is still playing, that Jinju has seen, and he stalks
off behind her hoping that she doesn’t ask questions that he can’t answer.

Hoseok straightens when they emerge from the office, maintaining an impassive expression as he
finds the same henchman still at his spot at the end of the hallway. Jinju pays him no mind as she
guides Hoseok to the bathroom. He wonders what she thinks all of this is. She isn’t dumb, she must
know there’s something going on. Something close to the truth.

The farm is a place that Hoseok had only visited briefly once before but it feels like the Min’s. It
reminds him of the Jeon guest house Yoongi used to live in growing up and he wishes that it
comforted now as much as it used to. But he can’t think of a single thing that would give him
comfort right now. Maybe seeing Woojin and Eunae with Taehyung - safe and well fed. That’s a
thought that sometimes trickles into his mind when it’s too quiet and his chest aches too much.

Maybe Jimin and Yoongi, with their hands intertwined and matching rings around their fingers. Or
Jeongguk with Ji-hu, both of them smiling at the same time. Chung-Hoon lying dead on the ground
at his feet.

“Come in baby,” Jinju says, gesturing to the bathroom. “Let me take a look at you.”

It’s quiet as Jinju pulls out a first aid kit and starts to tend to his face. There is a heaviness around
them brought on by the tight set of her lips and the look in her eyes as if she’s searching for
something to say.

There’s something about the situation that makes Hoseok feel like she already knows what happened
and he’s surprised when she asks who did this to him.

“I’m fine, Jinju-ssi.”

Jinju narrows her eyes as she dabs alcohol onto his skin. She isn’t gentle this time. “That doesn’t
answer my question, Hope-ah.”

It had been Jinju who had given him the nickname; Hope . He doesn’t even remember why
anymore.

Hoseok sighs, avoiding eye contact as her gaze makes him nervous. The plan was to threaten
Chung-Hoon with telling Jinju, Hoseok doesn’t know what the plan is now.

“When did you meet Ch - Sungho?”

Jinju’s eyes widen a small fraction before she purses her lips. “When I was quite young. My first job
was at a restaurant not too far from here. He was a frequent customer.”

That long , Hoseok thinks in despair. It doesn’t make sense for Jinju to even know a little about
Chung-Hoon and still be with him, but Hoseok doesn’t understand how she couldn’t know.

“We lost contact once I moved to Busan to work for the Jeons. I saw him a few times when he
visited with them, you know the Kim brothers and Jun-ki oppa are like family, but it was not until I
moved to Daegu that we reconnected.”

“Were you uh, in a relationship back then?”

Jinju laughs as if Hoseok told a joke. “Oh, no, no. He was infatuated with someone else. A friend of
mine. I hated him back then. One of those pure types of hatred, where every time I saw his face I
wanted to shove my chopsticks into his eyes.”

This time, Hoseok laughs as the image forms in his mind. It gives him a strange feeling of
satisfaction, except -

“What changed?”
Silence follows as Jinju inspects her work and slowly puts away the medical supplies. Hoseok
watches her, an anxious feeling in his belly until she taps his unharmed cheek fondly.

“Nothing changed my dear boy. I hate him now just as much as I did when I was a girl.”

The topic of Chung-Hoon and Yunbok had slipped into small talk, small talk that feels tense by the
way Jeongguk simmers beside him. He’s moved closer across the couch, wanting to offer Jeongguk
comfort with their knees touching and his hand close if Jeongguk needs it.

He has a few times, absentmindedly reaching over to play with Taehyung’s fingers or trail his own
across the back of his hand.

It makes the anxious moths in Taehyung’s belly feel like butterflies.

He relaxes fully when Jun-ki and Jeongguk start discussing the company. Taehyung follows along as
best as he can but he empathizes with the bored look on Ji-hu’s face as he climbs all over his
grandfather, despite Jeongguk telling him to stop.

Jun-ki chuckles when Ji-hu collapses dramatically across his lap, whining softly for his grandfather’s
attention. “Still adjusting to the time change, I see. It sounds as if this little bunny is ready for bed and
it is barely time for supper.”

Ji-hu perks up at that, forcing his eyes open wide. “I’m not sleepy!”

His lie is betrayed by the yawn that follows, dragging quiet laughs from the men around him. “Sleep
is important, Ji-hu. You can dream of those puppies your Appa won’t let you have.”

Jeongguk groans in complaint as Taehyung throws an offended look at him and Ji-hu’s lips push into
one of the most endearing pouts that Taehyung has ever seen.

“Appa, why?” Jeongguk complains. “You know we can’t get a dog.” He glances at Taehyung,
startled when he sees Taehyung’s pout. “We’re not home enough for a dog.”

“I hear you’re barely at work these days,” Jun-ki says gently, amusement in his eyes as he glances
between the two of them. “Which, speaking of, I would be careful, Jeongguk. I wouldn’t put it past
that assistant of yours to take over when you aren’t looking. Soon these cigarettes will say Kim
Tobacco.”

It’s said jokingly but the amusement in the old man’s eyes falters as he looks pointedly at Jeongguk.
It feels like a scolding is coming and Taehyung grins at the idea of seeing Jeongguk being lectured
like a boy.

There are times when Jeongguk looks young and innocent like a child, like he has the same carefree
mind a child has. Taehyung knows that this isn’t true, isn’t possible for an adult to truly have, but he
likes when he sees Jeongguk like that. It makes him feel light knowing there’s moments where
Jeongguk isn’t burdened by any of the pain life is willing to hand out.

“They probably should,” Jeongguk admits with a laugh though his cheeks have turned rosy. “The
company would have collapsed if it wasn’t for Jin hyung.”

Ji-hu struggles with staying awake, curling further into his grandfather’s lap like he wants to hide his
sleep heavy eyes. It brings a smile to Jun-ki’s face and to Taehyung’s.
He’s fond of the boy and he knows that fondness is only going to grow stronger, but Taehyung for
once isn’t afraid or hesitant of the feeling in his chest. He’s always loved children more than adults.
Their love is pure and long lasting as long as you’re good to them, and even sometimes when you’re
not.

The thought brings Jimin to his mind and Taehyung feels his shoulders sag. Jimin has always loved
his mother unconditionally, even when he shouldn’t have. He hopes she has changed, that Jimin
doesn’t have to live with the reminder of his mother not loving him every day on top of everything
else.

“I don’t doubt your words son,” Jun-ki says, voice straining as he attempts to pull Ji-hu upwards.
Jeongguk moves to help but his father waves him off with a grunt. “If you cannot have a puppy, visit
your Uncle Bobby my boy. He just purchased a dog of his own to keep himself company and I
know he’d like to see you.”

The tension returns, seeping into the air and Jeongguk squeezes Taehyung’s fingers. “I don’t think
that’s a good idea,” Jeongguk says quietly.

The anger that Taehyung had once seen on Jeongguk’s father’s face many years ago returns, his eyes
far from unkind as they turn onto his son. “I am not asking it of you, Jeongguk. Visit Jiwon-ah. He is
not well.”

Jeongguk scoffs. Taehyung wonders if he was trouble to raise as he looks at his father with that same
damn stubbornness in his eyes that Taehyung is so fond of. “No disrespect, Appa, but I don’t care.”

Ji-hu looks warily at his father as he wraps his arms around his grandfather’s neck. Taehyung pats
Jeongguk’s thigh in warning, glancing at Ji-hu so Jeongguk understands. Maybe it’s the long flight,
the lack of sleep, the constant stress Taehyung has caused him, but he looks so wound tight like he
might snap at any second.

“I think it’s time you read your mother’s letters, Jeongguk-ah. You have a kind heart, your mother
would be displeased if it’s changed.”

It’s the worst moment of the entire day the way Jeongguk glares at his father, lips parted slightly like
he’s surprised by his words. Taehyung finds it an unfair comment, his chest aching with the need to
tell Jun-ki so but it isn’t his place.

But it’s never been Jeongguk’s place either and even if Taehyung had been upset at the times he’s
gotten involved, he’s thankful for them all the same.

“Excuse me, Mr. Jeon,” Taehyung says, throat dry from not saying a word this entire time. “I don’t
mean to talk out of turn but, Bobby-ssi has done cruel things and I do not think it’s Jeongguk’s heart
being unkind.”

Sweat builds over the back of his neck when Jun-ki turns to look at him, cradling Ji-hu to his chest.
His eyes aren’t harsh though, instead as gentle as the small smile on his lips. He ducks his head
before he nods it.

“You are right, Taehyung-ssi. But I think it is unfair to come from a place of hatred before knowing
of the good things he has done as well,” Jun-ki says slowly, eyes finding his son again. “Read your
mother’s letters, Jeongguk, and then decided whether or not to give up on your hyung.”

Jeongguk’s jaw ticks but he doesn’t say anything as Jun-ki slowly shifts to place a now sleeping Ji-
hu on the sofa beside him. His knees crack when he stands and he reaches for the walker beside
where he’s sitting for balance but decides it against it once his legs are straight.

“Taehyung-ah, would you join me for a moment?”

Taehyung stiffens, his eyes going wide and hands still around where he’s attempting to catch
Jeongguk’s fingers again. Jeongguk goes just as rigid, although the confusion shows more on his
face than Taehyung allows to show on his.

He snaps out of it quickly, trained not to be rude, and stands.

“Just the two of us,” Jun-ki clarifies, his tone firm but fond as he holds up a hand at Jeongguk, who
is half out of his seat like he is going to follow.

“Appa -”

The concern in Jeongguk’s eyes has Taehyung’s heart stuttering a bit but he shakes his head until it
relaxes. Jeongguk is overprotective, assuming things, but is helpless to fight against his father even if
he has been trying.

“It’s fine, Gukkie,” Taehyung says with a light smile as he reaches over to stroke Jeongguk’s cheek
until he relaxes.

“We’ll be in the library.”

Jeongguk’s face crumples more and Taehyung can only glance at it for a second before he follows
after Jun-ki.

The library has a series of locks on the door that Jun-ki takes his time in unlocking before gesturing
for Taehyung to enter. He can’t help the way his eyes flit around or the way his lips turn down into a
frown at the rows and rows of empty shelves.

There are boxes stacked along the walls and over what Taehyung assumes to be the reading area, but
there isn’t much for as many locks on the door as Jun-ki’s father has.

“Has my son been treating you well, Taehyung-ssi?”

Taehyung is taken aback by the question. There looks to be genuine concern on the old man’s face,
so strikingly different from the way he had just been looking at his son. “Yes, Mr. Jeon.”

He moves to help when Jun-ki lifts a box that he seems to struggle with. His arms are like sticks, a
tremor in his fingers that Taehyung hadn’t truly noticed before.

“In truth?” Jun-ki presses with a light smile. “You hesitated just then.”

He hesitates again. The old man is hard to read, though kind, Taehyung is reminded that he seemed
defensive over Yunbok and his hyungs. Defensive over Bobby, though Jeongguk’s hatred for his
hyung might be a bit too intense.

Maybe. Taehyung doesn’t really know of their relationship to be sure.

“No one has treated me as well as your son, Mr. Jeon. He - he’s relieved me of my debt to um -”

The smile on the old man’s face grows as he waves his hand to cut Taehyung off. There’s something
knowing in his eyes that has Taehyung dropping his gaze as warmth tickles his cheeks.

“He’s not spoken much about you, in respect for your privacy I’ve assumed. But I saw a change in
him the moment you came around. There’s been a ghost in his eyes for a long time, only
disappearing when Ji-hu is around. I haven’t seen that ghost in many months. Have you told him that
we’ve met previously?”

Taehyung nods. He doesn’t think he’s aided in getting rid of Jeongguk’s ghosts, but filled him with
new ones. “He’s worried that you’ve hurt me.”

Jun-ki trembles the way a man much older then he would. His lips shake when he presses them
together and the muscles of his face jump around as he struggles to open the box. Taehyung helps
him, apologizing quietly as he takes over.

“He should know better of his father,” Jun-ki says lightly, the set of his mouth falling firm. Their
voices are the same, Taehyung hadn’t noticed before. “He’s asked of Yunbok because of you, I’ve
assumed. Yunbok has always helped himself to those who work for his son like he has some kind of
entitlement to them.”

Taehyung falls still, his hands freezing where they hold the flaps of the box. There’s letters inside,
notebooks and what appears to be clothing.

“No,” Taehyung breathes. It’s the truth from his eyes - he’s never told Jeongguk about Yunbok, but
he wouldn’t be too surprised if Jeongguk managed to find out anyway. “I haven’t spoken to
Jeongguk about my treatment but -”

“He’s intelligent and determined,” Jun-ki supplies with fondness. “It’s not something he’s gotten
from me. I am a weak man. I always have been.”

Taehyung pulls away when Jun-ki digs through the box, remaining quiet as he’s unsure of what to
say. It’s strange being invited here and it’s even weirder to be talking about Jeongguk.

The worst part is he feels the urge to, to answer all of Jun-ki’s questions. Maybe he truly does want
the truth out and Jun-ki might be able to buffer Jeongguk’s reactions. Even when simmering with
anger, Jeongguk fell quiet under his father’s gaze.

“My weakness has granted me some of my biggest regrets,” Jun-ki goes on. “My wife requested
things of me after her death, things I could not do because of the grief that plagued me. It’s still here,
that grief. It has only grown as I’ve come to witness the results of my inaction. I am devastated to
hear that Park Jimin is in the hands of Sungho again. Do not tell my son this, but he isn’t wrong for
being hesitant of the Kim’s. They are not a kind family.”

Taehyung wonders if that is why the old man had look so taken back when Jeongguk had told him,
though Taehyung doesn’t know why he should care. Maybe because he’s protective of Bobby, who
has been so broken since Jimin left.

Jun-ki pulls out an envelope, teared at the edges. It shakes in his grip, but Taehyung can still make
out the letter in his hands.

If his heart had been beating badly before, now he’s nearing the edge of cardiac arrest.

“I thought Bobby finding you to be a second chance that I did nothing to deserve to make amends
but I failed even at that. Telling Bobby to care for you was a weak attempt. Deep down I knew he
wouldn’t. His fear of his father is greater than his fear of disappointing me worse than he already has.
I’ve forgiven him for things that no man would forgive someone for. He has grown too comfortable
with the fact that nothing he does will change my care for him.”

Taehyung doesn’t take the envelope when it’s handed to him. He even shakes his head like he’s
afraid of it, making the old man frown.

“It is my fault as well. I trusted him greatly. He is quite weak like me, so I cannot judge. Despite his
love for Park Jimin, he could not protect him the way he promised he would.”

Jun-ki forces the letter towards Taehyung, insisting that he takes it until Taehyung’s fingers brush
over the coarse material.

“I - I don’t understand anything you’re saying.”

Jun-ki laughs softly. “I knew who you were the moment you stepped into my house. You look just
like them. Your father used to be teased by his eyebrows but I’m quite sure your mother was fond of
them.”

Taehyung glances at the envelope again, at the writing scribbled onto it. He can’t stop shaking his
head because no . “You knew them?”

“Well,” Jun-ki clarifies as he places the envelope down, close enough so Taehyung knows he can
still take it. “I’ve met you once, when you were quite young. You never stopped talking and talking;
it drove your mother crazy. My wife was so fond of you I was worried she would steal you and
make you her own.”

Jun-ki pulls a stack of photographs, frowning so deeply his wrinkles look like oceans around his
mouth, searching through the photos before making a soft 'ah' sound.

The handwriting on the envelope had been enough to drag Taehyung’s heart into an unstoppable
pace, but when his eyes fall upon her face, it completely stops. It smashes into his sternum like a car
crashing, his ears ringing like breaks squealing and pain shooting through him like he’s been crushed
under the heavy weight of metal.

She’s young, maybe in her early twenties if not younger. She’s wearing one of her rare smiles, her
face squished up against his own. He can’t be more than four or five, too big to be held still.
Taehyung remembers the first time his mother told him that he was too big to be held and she was
probably right, but he had been hurt by it.

It’s proof that Jun-ki knew his mother but his brain refuses to accept it. It had been his step father
wrapped up in all of the gang shit that led to her death; she had nothing to do with it.

“Is that -”

Taehyung hesitates before he slides his finger across his mother’s face and to the woman standing
beside her. She too is smiling, her lips stretched into her cheeks and revealing teeth that make her
look like a bunny. She holds a child around the same age as him, the same bunny smile on his face.

He’d recognize him anywhere, especially as he spent the entire day with the child version of him.
They look even more alike as children, barely any difference between the two of them. Under the
crushing weight of confusion, of alarm, Taehyung feels a fondness for the innocence he sees - the
innocence he still wants Jeongguk to feel.

“Jeongguk, yes,” Jun-ki murmurs, “and my wife, Young-Mi.”

To say Jimin is terrified is an understatement.

The farm. No one goes to the farm with the idea that they will be able to leave. No one except Kitty
knows where the farm is and even her eyes are big with worry. He had been in his room, waiting for
a client that Hoseok had booked, when Kitty came bursting into his room in alarm.

There’s bits and pieces of his memory left from when he was a child and Kitty would do the same
thing; run into his room and make him hide under the bed or in his closet. He doesn’t remember
much other than how scared he had been staring up at the springs of his mattress and he has that
feeling now, settled and moved into his chest like it’s about to become a permanent resident.

“I have to tell you something, baby.”

Chung-Hoon is sending him back to Busan; probably back to Bobby. Jimin doesn’t know if he can
go back. He’s betrayed Bobby and even though it was justifiable, Bobby might -

He doesn’t know what Bobby will do but he knows how dangerous men can be when their hearts
are broken.

“Yes, Eomma?” Jimin asks as he watches the green flash by as they make their way into the
countryside. He did everything Chung-Hoon asked of him. He doesn’t know why he’d be in trouble.

Maybe it will be a good thing. If Jimin dies, he’ll never have to see Yoongi’s look of betrayal when
he tells him that he slept with Hoseok.

“I’m sorry.”

Jimin pulls his eyes away from the window to his mother. He’s definitely going to the farm to be
killed. His mother has never apologized for anything in her life, unless she was facing Chung-
Hoon’s ready to strike hand.

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” she repeats, more firmly this time like she’s forcing herself to say the words, “for giving
you the life I have given you. It’s all I’ve known and it wasn’t until my unnie died that I realized how
much I hated it. I thought I was safe and protected, living a better life than I could have but that
wasn’t the truth. I could have given you something more, something a good mother should be giving
her son.”

Jimin lets his eyes fall into his lap, not wanting to feel the emotion brewing inside his chest. He’s
annoyed by her words, but he also desperately wants to hear them.

It’s too fucking late for an apology but Jimin still wants it. Even if he understands. He felt safe and
protected with Bobby, it was Yoongi that made him feel like there was something else he could have
in life. He would have been fine living that life as long as possible if it were not the pain in Yoongi’s
eyes every time he stopped himself from kissing Jimin.

“I was selfish to everyone. My unnie left to have a baby, to start a new life. I was angry at her for
leaving me, that she found a man who was willing to spend every last cent of his to take her away,”
Kitty goes on, eyes sparkling with tears that she blinks away. “Our little sister ran away, ran from
Chung-Hoon and she should have. He started working her when she was still too young to even
have her first kiss. But I was angry at her because he was angry at me after she left. I had to be
punished the way she would have been if she were found and I was pregnant with you at the time,
but he didn’t care. I was angry because she was his favorite, the best tended to, and I thought her
selfish for leaving, for wanting more.”

Kitty sniffles quietly, nose twitching back and forth. “That’s why I want to help Bobby, too, Jimin-
ah and I hope that you understand. I have no right to ask you. My unnie left when Bobby was still in
her belly. She wanted to take care of him and I spent a long time resenting her for that instead of
making sure Chung-Hoon stayed away from him. I helped him train Bobby because I was angry and
fuck , Jimin-ah there is little your eomma regrets more than that.”

Jimin sinks into his seat, absorbing the information that’s being handed to him. He doesn’t know if
he believes it or if the ache in his chest is because he does.

Or maybe it’s because Kitty’s talking about wanting to save Bobby more than saving him, her own
son. Because there is little she regrets more than having a hand in raising Bobby in this life, including
forcing Jimin into it. It makes her apology useless.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

Kitty looks at him again as she turns down a long, dirt path. It’s so long that Jimin can’t see anything
but fields of green up ahead. “Because I’m afraid Chung is taking you from me again. He didn’t give
you to Bobby because he gave a shit about him. He did it to hurt me.”

Silence falls around them. Jimin feels the same way. Except he doesn’t know if he’s just going to be
sent away or killed.

If he’s sent away, what happens to Woojin? The deal was Jimin would work for Chung-Hoon to
keep him from the boy, but if he’s dead -

“You need to keep Chung away from Woojin. From Taehyung. Apologies don’t mean anything to
me, but this will.”

Kitty hesitates, hurt crossing her face for a moment before she nods and reaches over to hold out a
pinky for him. It’s something stupid they used to do all the time when Jimin was little. He’s always
wondered if he fabricated his mother’s sweet moments for him, but he considers maybe he hadn’t.

He thinks even people with horrible, abusive parents can find moments that they were good - that
their need to be loved by their parents were fulfilled. Maybe for one moment, a few seconds. Maybe
none of it matters anyway.

“When you call Mun, tell him about Taehyung. He will help him too.”

Jimin doesn’t want to let go of his mother’s finger but he forces himself to. Jimin is angry with her
but his anger for his mother has never been enough to get him to stop caring for her. “Tae is probably
the safest out of all of us since Jeongguk’s bought him. Even if he hates me for making it happen.
Both Yunbok and Bobby seem too hesitant to go against Jeongguk.”

The car falters, jerking to a stop before Kitty starts driving again. Her fingers agitate over the steering
wheel and she glances too many times at Jimin for his comfort.

“You know Jeongguk? Jeon Jeongguk?”

“Yeah,” Jimin trails off, frowning. “Bobby, like, idolizes him.”

He doesn’t mention knowing Jeongguk through Ji-hu or Yoongi. He has some trust for his mother,
that this Mun guy will help, but he doesn’t trust her completely.

The car suddenly pulls to the side and Jimin’s startles when his mother puts her face into her hands.
She trembles a bit, but she flinches away from the hand Jimin tríes to pay reassuringly on her
shoulder.
“What do you mean he bought Taehyung?”

Jimin hesitates at the question. Nothing in life is starting to make sense anymore and he feels like he’s
been dragged into an alternate reality. “He paid off the debt Taehyung owed Bobby, that Taehyung
owed Chung.”

Kitty shakes her head when she lifts it, keeping her face turned from Jimin so he diverts his eyes. She
used to cry a lot when he was younger but as he grew, the only times she cried was when there was
a needle laying beside her.

“What is Jeongguk?” Jimin asks tentatively. “I don’t understand why he holds such power over
everyone. Even at the Minx, people look at him and treat him as if he’s the boss of Busan but he has
no experience in this life, it’s obvious. The first time he came into the club he looked like a thirteen
year old boy looking at a set of tits for the first time.”

Kitty sighs, hands folding back over the steering wheel as she leans into the seat. “Bobby and
Yunbok are afraid of him. Of Jun-ki, his father. Get on the Jeon bad side and Yunbok loses his
career, his stability, his reputation, maybe even his life. He needs the lab in Jeon Tobacco, the access
that gives him to other countries. Jun-ki’s got connections all over Asia, ties with gangs that make
Chung-Hoon look like the Holy Mother.”

Jimin nods though he doesn’t fully understand. Jeongguk had been terrifying when he came for
Taehyung, but not so scary that it makes sense for Yunbok to be afraid of him. He’s a boy still really,
unfamiliar with the street game.

Or at least, Jimin thinks so.

“Jun-ki has a lot on Chung-Hoon, on Yunbok, he’s respectable and is protected by Kuroi Okami, the
Guowangs. People will believe him if he ever speaks out on what he knows, if he ever reveals the
diaries his late wife has written about her time working for Chung. If he ever - ever spoke out about
what happened to her.”

Staring at his hands, Jimin tries not to react. He shouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore,
especially since Jun-ki isn’t shy about buying whores to spend time with. But the news of Jun-ki’s
ties to the Guowangs has his stomach tightening in a knot. He’s only heard Bobby mention them
here and there before, but his fear of them has always been loud.

The car pulls off again as Jimin processes the information. It’s only giving him more questions and
he doesn’t know what questions will make his mother stop talking, but they’re running out of time.

“What are in the diaries?”

Kitty shrugs. “She was the oldest of us, protective. She took every hit, every punch, every nasty man
directed our way. She’d slip into Chung’s room to keep him out of ours. She wasn’t allowed to keep
her children. It wasn’t until Jun-ki wanted her that Chung let her go and I was too selfish to be happy
for her. I was mad she left me after everything she did to protect me.”

There’s regret in her tone and Jimin feels for her, wishing he could get rid of the urge to hold her
hand to comfort her.

“You were close with her?”

It falls silent as Kitty turns into a driveway that stretches far into a field of green. The house at the
end is large, bigger than the barns in the distance and seemingly as wide as the stables Jimin can just
make out.
“She was my unnie I told you about,” Kitty whispers, her voice call although her knuckles are white.

It makes Jimin nervous knowing his mother is nervous too.

“The one that left when she was pregnant?”

Kitty nods and Jimin feels a pit grow in his stomach.

“What do you mean she wasn’t allowed to keep her children? Eomma that doesn’t make sense. You
said -”

Kitty doesn’t seem to hear him as she pulls to a stop, a low pained noise pulling from her throat.
Jimin follows the gaze though he wants Kitty to explain. It’s the worst bit of information that Jimin
has been given the entire ride.

A woman is walking hastily from the house, her face so scrunched with anger that it takes Jimin a
moment to recognize her.

Jimin wonders if you can pass out from being shoved a heap load of confusing information at one
time.

“Jinju?” Jimin breathes as he quickly pushes from the car. There’s an ache in his chest, an urgency
inside of him to be in her arms. It’s been so long since he’s seen her. Her face has always brought
him comfort, warmth, a feeling of family that he’s never had before.

The ache only grows when his mind finally catches up, reminding him that Kitty’s supposed to be
bringing him to Chung-Hoon, not to Yoongi’s mother. That he’s never told Kitty about Yoongi, let
alone his mother.

“Jimin-ah,” Jinju breathes, clutching his face desperately. Her eyes are wild but she blinks a few
times until they’ve softened. “Hey, baby, why don’t you go in the car? I have to talk to your
mother.”

“My mother?” Jimin asks in confusion, clutching for her. He hasn’t seen her since him and Yoongi
were still in college. When Jimin had bought the restaurant for her and listened to her for hours and
hours, going on about every single thing she has planned for their wedding. “How do you know my
mother?”

The smile on Jinju’s lips is gentle and just for him as she pinches his cheeks. “Go get back in the car,
darling. Everything is okay.”

Jimin doesn’t move because he isn’t a child and because he physically can’t. Not when he hears the
annoyed tone of his mother’s voice, directed at Jinju. He used to wonder if his mother would be
jealous of him thinking of Jinju as a mother more so than his own. He used to wonder if it would hurt
her. He used to want it to.

“What’s going on?” Kitty asks from behind him, the door slamming shut. “This isn’t supposed to be
happening yet.”

The smile slips from Yoongi’s mothers lips quickly and Jimin desperately wants it back. It’s all gums
and tiny teeth, just like Yoongi’s.

“I’d ask you the same thing! I swear Kitty, you’re trying to mess things up. Trying to make up for
your wrongdoing? What a load of shit. You’re getting old, Yuri. It’s time for you to start acting like a
grown up and not a child.”
It’s whispered, but the daggers in Jinju’s voice has Jimin flinching. Yoongi’s always said she rarely
yelled, always soft spoken unless she’s laughing and excited like her son.

“Me? How about you tell me why your son stepped into my brothel the other day? Pretending to be
a Jeon no less! But I’m not here accusing you of anything even though that could have destroyed
everything .”

Jinju falls still, although her narrowed eyes don’t soften any. “He didn’t.”

“Oh he did,” Kitty snaps, whispering just as angrily. “Talk to your boy unnie, we’re only going to
have one chance at this. It can’t go wrong.”

There’s more questions filling Jimin’s already busy brain but he keeps his lips pressed closed as the
two mothers stare the other down. It seems to last forever and he tries to come up with something,
anything to break the tension between them. It only breaks apart when the door is opening again.

A chill rushes down Jimin’s spine as Chung-Hoon steps out, intimidating in the way he rolls the
sleeves of his pressed dress shirt up his forearms. There’s a new bruise on his face, a cut running
from his cheekbone to his temple. Jimin applauds whoever caused him the pain.

“Kitty darling, why don’t you take Jinju to that nice boutique you found last week for a few hours.”

Both women stiffen but their faces remain undisturbed. First Jeongguk’s mother and now Yoongi’s,
Jimin isn’t sure what to make of it all. He feels it now, that same type of blinding anger he felt when
he realized Yunbok touched Taehyung. He wonders if he’d be strong enough to kill Chung-Hoon
just to get him away from Jinju.

Hell, he’d cut his eyes out just to get them to stop looking at her.

“Oh honey, what about dinner?”

Chung-Hoon wears his friendly smile though his eyes are ice when they glance at Jimin. “I insist.
You deserve a break. Plus, Yoongi and I could use some time together. That male bonding you
wanted, eh? There are things a father and son should share that aren’t appropriate for women’s ears.”

Jimin has to dig his toes into his shoes to keep himself from running off. There’s an alarm going off
in his head and he hates the way Yoongi’s name fills him with panic instead of the usual gooey mush
it usually makes him feel. The world spins around him, making him dizzy and the words he throws
up are too hard to hold back.

“Yoongi’s here?”

His mother slides a hand over the back of his neck, a gentle smile on her lips despite the nails digging
painfully into his hairline as a warning.

Chung-Hoon quirks a brow, appearing confused. “Yoongi invited you for dinner, didn’t he?”

There are three sets of eyes on him, forcing him to nod even though confusion is holding tightly onto
him. No, no, no . Yoongi can’t be here. He can’t . He can’t fucking be here.

“Then come on,” Chung-Hoon hums, wiggling his fingers to call him over. “His friend is here too.
I’m assuming you know Hoseok?”

Danger signals go off in Jimin’s head because Chung-Hoon knows he knows Hoseok, but he’s
stuck, unable to turn around. He couldn’t possibly anyway, not with Yoongi inside and so close to
Chung-Hoon.

He couldn’t take Chung-Hoon if he tried, but his small body is made up of love for Yoongi and it’s
powerful enough to fight Chung-Hoon off long enough to get Yoongi away. His mother put him in a
lot of martial arts classes, wanting to train him to be one of Chung-Hoon’s fighters.

Maybe she truly didn’t plan on him being a whore. He wonders if it matters.

“Kitty and I will go shopping tomorrow, honey. I haven’t seen Jimin-ah in so long.” Jinju smiles
sweetly as she pets Jimin’s cheeks. “There’s much we should catch up on. I have some changes to
the wedding plans.”

“It’s okay,” Jimin hums, cupping his hand over hers. She must know how dangerous he is, he
doesn’t want her to be hurt. “How about we get breakfast tomorrow morning?”

He won’t be here tomorrow. Hell, he no longer knows if he’ll even survive dinner. Jinju looks
terrified, though trying to hide it.

Jinju hesitates, struggles with whatever she is thinking before she nods and leans forward to kiss his
cheek. Her lips brush over it instead, moving until they’re by his ear.

“He won’t hurt you if you cooperate. He won’t hurt Yoongi, trust me on this. Stall baby, your
Eomma and I will get him out of here.”

Jimin doesn’t believe her and when she pulls back, Jimin can see in her eyes that she doesn’t believe
herself either.

“Coffee tomorrow,” Jimin responds with a sweet smile. Survive, survive. There is a lot of things
Jimin has learned in life and that’s always been the most important.

Chung-Hoon holds a hand out to him when he approaches, that friendly smile still holding his
mouth. When he introduces himself, he isn’t sure if he should feel relieved or not. Both women
know who he is, there isn’t a point in playing games and pretending like they don’t know each other
unless there’s something Jimin isn’t seeing.

“Kim Sungho. I’ve heard so much about you.”

It’s said loud enough for Kitty and Jinju to hear but Jimin can’t speak. He’s mouthed off to Chung-
Hoon before, yet now he’s too afraid to even be polite. It feels as if his tongue has been ripped out of
his mouth and shoved down his throat.

“Come inside. Yoongi and Hoseok are waiting for you.”

The pounding of his heart grows as Chung-Hoon guides him inside. He can’t even hear the lock of
the door under the thundering in his ears. Other than a restaurant, Jinju really wanted to own a farm.
Now she does. Jimin wonders why he thinks of that as he steps through the door.

“Listen to me,” Chung-Hoon says, the friendly smile gone as he grabs Jimin’s chin with angry
fingers. There’s tears pooling in his eyes but he swallows them down and gives Chung-Hoon the
same angry look back.

Yoongi is here. It isn’t time to be weak. He needs the same umph inside of him he calls to when he
needs to protect Taehyung.

But that is different. Dealing with Bobby is different. Jimin always knew he would get his way, or at
least that Bobby would never kill him.

“You’ll be a good boy and do everything I say, understand? And both your friends will leave with
you, mostly unharmed.”

Jimin nods though it’s difficult with the way Chung-Hoon holds so tightly to his chin. “What do you
want with me? I’ve been good.”

Chung-Hoon coos mockingly as he rubs Jimin’s sore skin. “You have. You’ve done no wrong Doll,
but your boyfriend has overstepped. It’s a classic move, punishing one by making them watch the
ones they love most hurt.”

His fingers pull away only to tug at Jimin’s shirt, stretching the neckline until it lays messily low.
Jimin remains still, wishing his heart would as Chung-Hoon continues to tousle him like he’s a
moment from tearing all of Jimin’s clothes off.

What the fuck did Yoongi do?

Fuck, if he could live his life without Yoongi he would kill him for getting himself involved.

“You’ve dressed pretty without me asking,” Chung-Hoon hums. Jimin had, hoping to use his skin as
a way to remind Chung-Hoon that he’s not something to be lost. Men crave his body, it isn’t a secret.
He’s made him a lot of money because of this.

Bile rises in Jimin’s throat when Chung-Hoon takes his hand and guides it to his belt. He’s almost
thankful that he doesn’t lead him between his legs, but his heart lurches when he feels the cool metal.
Chung-Hoon smiles in delight, a twisted look in his eyes.

“I took this from your boyfriend. He’s inexperienced but passionate. A little training and he’d be
perfect. Maybe even right hand man material. God knows I could use a good right hand man.”

No, no, no .

Jimin is screaming on the inside but he keeps his lips shut as Chung-Hoon laughs. He strokes Jimin’s
face with his index finger, clicking his teeth. “I’ve decided on a way to punish him, but now that I
see you here, there are many things I could do. It could take hours, until he’s fully broken and
desperate.”

Jimin breathes heavily through his nose, his body tense so he won’t flinch under Chung-Hoon’s
chest. “Make him watch every one of my men take you and claim you for their own.”

Jimin turns away as he feels his tears start to betray them. Chung-Hoon only laughs once more
before he turns and takes off, forcing Jimin to quickly catch his breath so he can follow after him.

It’s Jimin’s worst nightmare coming to life and the urge to kill Yoongi becomes stronger.

The first thing Jimin sees when he steps into what he assumes is the dining room is one of Chung-
Hoon’s guards standing beside where Hoseok sits. Hoseok’s face is marred on the side, a butterfly
bandaid keeping it together, the wound matching the one on Chung-Hoon’s face. He smiles but
Jimin can’t return it.

“Your Eomma told us to eat without her.”

Jimin bites hard on his cheek to stop the sob in his throat when his eyes land on Yoongi. He’s
unharmed though another guard stands behind him, one that Jimin recognizes from the brothel. He
always follows close to Chung-Hoon, and he’s scary but he makes jokes that have Jimin and the
other kittens laugh at times when they need it.

Yoongi’s staring hard at Jimin but he doesn’t say a word. He’s tense, but looks calm compared to
how Jimin feels. There’s no color to his skin, paler than usual and the bags under his eyes are ten
times worse than when Jimin had last seen him.

“Why?” Yoongi asks, blunt and disrespectful. He’s even cocky about it.

“Here,” Chung-Hoon says, ignoring Yoongi to place a hand to Jimin’s back, the touch burning.
Yoongi agitates in his seat but Jimin sends him a warning look as he lets Chung-Hoon guide him to
his seat.

It’s across from Yoongi and Chung-Hoon sits between them, claiming the head of the table. Jimin
has to look away from Yoongi or he might drop dead from the way his heart trembles inside of him.
Looking at his hands doesn’t help. He thinks of the way Yoongi’s fingers look pressed between his
own, the thought shifting into ones of Yoongi’s fingers wrapped around the cold metal of a gun.

He can’t imagine it. It feels wrong. Surely Chung-Hoon had been lying, but clearly Yoongi has done
something to piss him off.

“She had business to take care of. Yoongi-yah, be a good host and make your guest a plate. Are you
hungry, Jimin?”

Jimin nods, remembering from their breakfasts together how displeased Chung-Hoon is with his lack
of eating, even if he’s too sick to actually do so.

“Jimin-ah,” Yoongi says, his voice soft and Jimin hates that his body bursts with fondness at the
sweet way Yoongi calls his name. He doesn’t say anything else but he knows that look in Yoongi’s
eye.

It’s okay, I’m here.

That makes it far from okay. It makes it worse. Jimin could handle being alone with Chung-Hoon; he
can’t handle this.

He doesn’t know how to act or what to say as it turns quiet, only the sound of their plates being filled
tinkling through the room. It drives him mad, the on edge feeling as he waits for Chung-Hoon to tell
him what he wants.

Something’s going to happen other than Jimin coughing up the water he tries to drink to ready his
queasy stomach for the oncoming food. It’s like he’s watching a horror movie and waiting for the
jumpscare.

It doesn’t happen until Jimin’s taken a few bites under Chung-Hoon’s expectant gaze. He’s always
enjoyed Jinju’s food, but now it tastes rotten.

“Jimin,” Chung-Hoon says, startling him and making his chopsticks clatter against his plate, “I’m
sending you back to Busan tonight. There’s some things we need to go over before you leave.”

Jimin only nods, avoiding the gaze he feels from Yoongi. Yoongi must know how they know each
other. He’s been trying to figure out why Yoongi has a gun and why Chung-Hoon seemed so ticked
off by it. There’s only one possible reason but Jimin’s been telling Yoongi to let it go for years.

He told him, he’s told Yoongi to drop it. He’s doing this for Woojin. It isn’t a risk he can take.
Chung-Hoon already knows Woojin is a weakness for him and he said it earlier, punishing someone
by making them watch their loved ones get hurt is the most effective.

“Although, I must admit I’m concerned about where your loyalties lie. I’m afraid of sending you
there for you to turn on me.”

The room falls still, tension whipping around like a tornado. No one moves or says a word except for
the guard standing behind Yoongi. He walks off, heading to where Jimin assumes the kitchen is
located.

“I-I’m loyal to you,” Jimin says, eyes holding Chung-Hoon’s gaze. Whatever Chung-Hoon wants he
can have it if he just lets Yoongi leave and forgets he exists.

The friendly smile is back as Chung-Hoon bows his head slightly. “You haven’t done well in
proving it. I trusted your mother when she insisted that you wouldn’t bring a threat into my business,
yet your bodyguard brought a gun into my home with the intention of using it on me. You did not
return with the desire for me, but out of loyalty to Baby, to Baby’s family.”

Jimin swallows the thick ball growing in his throat.

“And you promised to be good for me today, but it was not to prove that you’re good for me but
rather, so I won’t hurt those who put a gun to my face. Sit.”

Jimin jumps at the sudden loudness as Chung-Hoon lifts a hand to Yoongi, who has half risen from
his seat. There’s anger in his eyes, rage that Jimin’s never seen on Yoongi’s face before, not even
towards Bobby.

This whole time he has been calm, whether for Jimin’s sake or Hoseok’s, who sits at the opposite
end of the table vibrating quietly with anger, Jimin isn’t sure.

But now he’s livid, his eyes just as cold and murderous when the flicker towards Chung-Hoon that
Jimin’s fear for him grows worse. Jimin thinks Jeongguk learned to be stupid about love from
Yoongi.

“Am I supposed to trust that when I send you back to Busan, you won’t return to Bobby and inform
him of my plans? I know how often you bed my dongsaengs. Should I be certain that you won’t
squeal about my operation the moment they flash a few thousand won at you. Or maybe Yunbok-ssi
likes to shoot you up before he fucks you, make you babble. You are quite similar to your mother.”

It’s meant to be an insult, his words are meant to hurt him, but Jimin doesn’t care. He doesn’t want
Yoongi to hear it, but he doesn’t care.

“I - I won’t, sir. I don’t want Bobby to have Busan.”

“Why?”

Jimin glances at Yoongi, who now sits but looks ready to pounce any minute. Idiot, his stupid idiot.

“I don’t want him to die.”

Chung-Hoon smiles at this, all teeth and poison. “Once again, your actions are not out of loyalty to
me but to others. Jooheon, please if you would.”

The guard that had been standing behind Yoongi returns with his hands held out. Fear rips through
Jimin, sweat starting to drip from his hairline as the man approaches Yoongi once more.
“Please,” Jimin breathes, panic washing over him. “Don’t touch him.”

“Who would you say you’re the most loyal to, Jimin? Yoongi here put his life on the line for you and
though it didn’t work how he planned, I can see that he’d do it again. A true act of loyalty. I’m
actually quite honored by it. No one has ever showed me this kind of loyalty.”

Chung-Hoon’s voice is calm but stern as he takes the items from the guard. He’s seen them before,
watched the flame light up the end of the metal before it had been seared into someone’s skin.

“Sad if you think about it, that he would die for someone that’s so willing and ready to fuck his best
friend. To fuck anyone really, not even for pay. Tell me, have you slept with Jeongguk as well? It is
a good time to be honest about things, Jimin.”

Jimin can’t help the way he shakes his head, eyes finding Yoongi’s through his tears. Yoongi doesn’t
look surprised.

“Jimin, I don’t care,” Yoongi says immediately, starting to move but he’s stopped when the guard
behind him grabs his shoulder roughly and shoves him back into his seat. “You know I know you.”

“Bullshit,” Hoseok huffs, his tone annoyed. Jimin just might kill him too. There’s a challenge in his
eyes, like they’re really in a predicament to do anything but take what Chung-Hoon is giving them.
The guard that stands behind Hoseok has a face so blank it’s almost unhuman. Jimin has seen him
before too, seen him whack his weapon so hard against someone’s head that their skull broke. All
whilst expressionless. “His loyalties to Woojin and Bobby are no different than yours. You’ll punish
him for protecting the same boy you’ve been trying to protect?”

Chung-Hoon laughs as he takes the lighter that was handed to him and brings the flame to the small,
metal branding tool he holds. He only glances at Hoseok for a moment, nodding. “You are correct,
Hope. But it’s not his loyalties that he is being punished for. He’s not being punished for wanting to
protect mine.”

Jimin feels the fear start to seep lower, his body starting to ache with it when Chung-Hoon slowly
turns his eyes to Yoongi.

“Yoongi, I am quite looking forward to you working for me but your first lesson is that you do not
challenge me and go unpunished. My wife’s son or not.”

Yoongi struggles against the hold the guard on him but the guard barely budges. Jimin is too afraid to
search for Hoseok, terrified to take his eyes off of Yoongi. The room is gone from him, there’s
nothing else but Yoongi and his own heart beat, though there never was much difference between
the two.

“Jimin, please stand and take off your shirt.”

Jimin does, though he isn’t sure how he can find any strength in his legs to do so. He keeps his eyes
locked with Yoongi, shaking his head some as a plea for Yoongi to remain calm. His movements are
robotic, his brain disconnected from the rest of him.

“I’ll do more than the one task,” Yoongi blurts as Jimin’s shirt falls to the chair behind him.

How often has Yoongi seen his bare body? He’s seen more of him than just his chest and yet Jimin
feels so exposed and hated under Yoongi’s stare.

The first time they laid together, Jimin thought Yoongi looked at him like he was seeing something
beautiful. He didn’t even need to say anything, Yoongi looked at him like he was overwhelmed by
the sight of him. He touched him the same way, their rushed and desperate grabbing turning into
something that made Jimin feel like he was melting into the stupid truck covered sheets Yoongi had
on his bed because he forgot to do the laundry.

“I might take you up on that offer,” Chung-Hoon chuckles as he admires the metal that now glows
red. “But you’re not getting what you want this time Yoongi. If I spoil you too much, my men will
start screaming nepotism. I can’t have that.”

It isn’t fear that rushes through Jimin as Chung-Hoon steps near, but sadness. How hard did he try to
keep Yoongi away from all of this? To not give him too many details about how people have used
and abused his body. He knows Yoongi’s suspected it, seen the bruises, but Jimin’s never given him
detail.

Now he’s going to see it for himself.

The worst part is that Yoongi’s going to see just how easily Jimin lets people ruin him.

The way his heart cracks and crumbles in his chest, he wonders if he’ll pass out as his body attempts
to protect itself from the feeling. He can handle pain, but he can’t handle the look in Yoongi’s eyes.

“You’re wrong about my loyalty wavering,” Jimin breathes, surprising himself with how steady his
voice sounds. He wants Chung-Hoon’s anger focused on him. He’s seen him blind with rage before.
Anger and power, a sickness in men that makes them become the opposite of what they think they
are; weak. “But you are right that it doesn’t belong to you.”

His body tenses when he feels the heat but the pain doesn’t come. Yoongi lurches from the seat,
pushing past the guards hand only to be grabbed again. He doesn’t hurt him and Jimin is encouraged
by it.

Anyone else would have gotten a blow to the ribs for moving. He’s seen it before. He’s wonder if
that’s what happened to Hoseok’s face. But this is Chung-Hoon’s wife’s son. A wife that Chung-
Hoon has kept hidden.

It’s a weakness that Jimin can’t really wrap his head around yet, but he knows that much. The guard
won’t hurt Yoongi, even if his knuckles are white with how hard he grips him back.

“And you can brand me all you want but that won’t make me loyal to you. I’m loyal to your family,
but that’s as close as you’ll ever be. You’re right about how much it hurts seeing your loved ones
hurt. I wonder how Jinju-ssi will feel when she sees your brand marked on my skin.”

Jimin closes his eyes, not wanting to see Yoongi’s face when the poker hits his skin. He holds his
breath waiting for it, but the heat disappears as a shrill sound fills the room.

He flinches before he realizes it’s a phone going off.

“Stay quiet,” Chung-Hoon says, raising the hot poker inches from Jimin’s face before he answers the
phone. He looks livid, a vein popping out over his temple and face so red it’s like his skin is trying to
mimic the hot end of the poker. Despite this, his voice calms out calm and almost bored sounding.
“Hey, my love.”

It’s Jinju. Jimin can tell by the shrill sound of her voice. He’s heard her like this once before, when
she called Yoongi to tell her that Mrs. Jeon had passed.

They’re all connected somehow. Maybe even Taehyung too. He wouldn’t be surprised at this point.
 Nothing beats finding out Jeongguk is more involved than any of them.

Part of him had felt guilty for involving for Jeongguk, but not too much - he helped Taehyung get
out. The only thing that had been important to Jimin. He wonders if it would have happened even if
Jimin didn’t meddle.

“A fire?”

Yoongi is mouthing something that Jimin can’t make out, his eyes intense and desperate for Jimin to
understand as they flicker between Chung-Hoon and him. He strains his ears to listen to Jinju, but
between her sobbing and the distance of her voice he can only make out a few words: flames,
restaurant, come.

Stall .

Chung-Hoon cusses as he closes the phone, his knuckles turning white where his fist squeezes
around it and calls for the guard behind Hoseok. Jimin chances a look, finding Hoseok bent forward
with a piece pushed to the back of his skull.

Hoseok had been in this life almost as long as he has, but Jimin’s the one that’s put him in danger.
He's always been smart enough to avoid it.

“There’s an emergency. I need you to call Hyungwon and have him meet me at the restaurant.”

Jimin’s breath hitches when the hot poker is handed off to the guard. The guard doesn't even look at
him. Robotic. “Right on the hip bone. Where everyone can see. Make Yoongi watch,” Chung-Hoon
grunts, thrusting a finger at where Yoongi struggles against the other guard. “And send me a picture
before he leaves. If you don’t do it, I’ll cut each of your fucking thumbs off.”

The guard doesn’t flinch and his blank expression doesn’t change at all. He finally looks at Jimin
though, and maybe his expression isn't as blank as Jimin had suspected. His eyes can read. It reminds
him of Yoongi. He's like Yoongi, a hard to read expression with easily read eyes.

Chung-Hoon grips Jimin’s hair before he goes, rage simmering off of him as he yanks his head back.
“You will be sent instructions, clients I want you to secure for me. You won’t go to Bobby, but
Hanbin, understood?”

Jimin nudges his head a centimeter in understanding.

“What was that?”

“Yes, sir,” Jimin seethes through his teeth.

Chung-Hoon lets him go roughly, knocking him off balance but the guard grabs his elbow before he
can fall. His anger is worse than it had been, radiating off of him in hot waves and threatening to set
Jinju’s farm on fire too.

“Kill the bodyguard before you go. In the barn, I don’t want a mess and Jinju will kill you if she has
to clean blood off of her linoleum.”

Chapter End Notes

I can't find the words to truly express how much feedback means to me. I really love
your comments and your theories and everything! I truly makes my week so please feel
free to share with me!! <3 <3

twitter @taehcheeks (I post sneak peeks here for NT and other fics)
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curiouscat :D :D
 Chapter 20
Chapter Notes

Here's the second part of chap 19!! I hope you enjoy it.

If you follow my twitter, I post some hints usually but I'll post some big ones here so
skip this if you don't want to know them. So I forgot about korean ages when I was
plotting out the kids' ages but I remembered when I was outlining the timeline for the
adults. Ages are important. Especially with the kids -- there's things mentioned in
previous chapters that have to do with their ages that will hint at things to come.

Thank you for all of your feedback, I got behind in responding so I'm still trying to catch
up. It really means the world so thank you thank you so much.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

October 8th, 1991

To my sweet baby boy -

Jeongguk glances up from the aged paper to glance at his son, who sleeps peacefully in a pile of
plushies. He had been holding on to one rather tightly, making Jeongguk worried about leaving, but
now his arm lays lax over the middle.

It had been difficult keeping him awake long enough to allow him to go to bed somewhere near a
proper time. At one point, Jeongguk thought he was going to snap even though Ji-hu didn’t deserve
it and it would have been unfair. But Taehyung had been there, taking over until Jeongguk could
catch his breath.

I vowed once you’ve found freedom from my womb you would be able to keep it, but it seems as if I
will fail. I have kept my other promise though. I will not leave your side. I will watch you grow and
help mold you into a man that is hopefully nothing like your father. He’s a cruel man, my son, but
hopefully you will feel that the love I have in my heart for you, even if I can’t fully express it a way a
mother should. I anxiously await the day you are born.

Jeongguk frowns, sinking into the rocking chair some. His father’s never been a cruel man, at least as
he’s known him. And from the stories his mother has told and the look in her eyes when they landed
have upon him, it doesn’t make sense to him that she would think him to be cruel.

He sighs, folding the paper up gently as not to rip the delicate material. Every envelope seems to be
written as a diary entry, some never addressed to anyone one, some only addressed to ‘my sweet
boy’ or ‘my sun and stars.’

If Jun-ki had been cruel to his mother, it makes him too sick to continue reading. But he doesn’t
move, rather sits there and watches his son for a few moments.

Taehyung had seemed off once they left his father’s and he’s insisted that he’s fine, but since arriving
home he has shut himself in Jeongguk’s bedroom, only coming out when Ji-hu cried about wanting
to go to bed and cried about Jeongguk getting frustrated and telling him he had to eat dinner first.
The idea of Taehyung being with his father had been upsetting enough but the idea of Jun-ki hurting
him made Jeongguk feel like he was losing his mind. Taehyung insisted that he hadn’t, that Jun-ki
never touched him, but he’s been quiet since they were alone in the library.

It had been torture not interrupting them just as it is torture now, trying to give Taehyung alone time
if he needs it.

He’s normally good with self control but he’s finding it difficult to do as he shoves the letter back
into the pile by his feet and lifts the box they’re in to bring to his room.

He knocks first, or attempts to as he tries to hold the box at the same time. It isn’t full rather just filled
with the letters that Jeongguk wanted to read first, including the only one with his name written on it
though he didn’t have the guts to do so.

When there’s no response, Jeongguk hesitates but he opens the door slowly in case Taehyung has
fallen asleep.

Taehyung hasn’t. He lays across Jeongguk’s bed, clad only in a pair of his sweatpants. There’s a
hand cupped on the pillow in front of him that he stares at, only pulling his eyes away when he
notices Jeongguk.

It’s a photograph Jeongguk thinks before Taehyung quickly shoves it underneath his pillow.

“Sorry to bother you,” Jeongguk says sheepishly. He nudges the box upwards to indicate it. “Wanted
to put this away.”

Taehyung shifts up, hands flat on the bed and eyes wary as he watches Jeongguk walk the box to his
closet. He looks as if he’s been crying and Jeongguk finds it difficult to keep his control.

“That’s a lie. I actually have to talk to you.”

Taehyung tenses visibly before he shuffles into the pillows and curls into himself, arms wrapping
around his legs and shoulders slumping until he appears small.

“I meant it when I said I want every piece of you, to learn every piece of you. I’m patient and I don’t
mind giving you time to open up to me. But there is something I need to know and I promise it’s the
only time I’m going to pry.”

Taehyung doesn’t flinch back when Jeongguk offers his hand and he’s relieved when Taehyung
takes it into his own. It allows him to move closer, their hips pressing together as Taehyung pulls him
to the bed beside him.

It’s strange seeing Taehyung so quiet. Even at his father’s house, where he had barely spoken a
word. He isn’t used to it and he hates it more than anything. Sometimes he craves the sound of
Taehyung’s voice so badly that he has to come up with an excuse for calling him while he is at work
just to hear it.

“It’s really important that you’re honest with me. No matter what. Please?”

It's desperate sounding but Jeongguk doesn’t care. His thoughts are driving him crazy and he is
desperate. Taehyung looks at him with wide eyes, but he nods and Jeongguk has to trust that he
won’t lie.

“Are you sure my father didn’t hurt you?”

Taehyung doesn’t hesitate as he nods again, but he does divert his eyes to play with Jeongguk’s
hand. “I promise, Guk. He never touched me once.”

“You looked upset after the library.”

The touch tickles, but it’s comforting the way Taehyung traces the lines of his palm. “Is that a
question?”

Jeongguk smiles softly. He wants to know why, but he promised not to pry. “No. Just concern. If he
upset you -”

“He didn’t,” Taehyung says quickly, lifting Jeongguk’s hand to press his lips to the middle of his
palm. “He wanted to make sure you were good to me. I told him that you were. He said some stuff
that didn’t really make sense, but he didn’t hurt me.”

Jeongguk warms. He’s glad Taehyung feels that way because it’s what he deserves, even if
Jeongguk is still trying to figure out the best way to give him what he needs.

But something had upset Taehyung. He had seemed nervous, but never upset. Not until -

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk says suddenly as he reaches up to hook a finger under Taehyung’s chin. He
needs to see his face when he answers, to see if there’s truth or dishonesty in his eyes when he
responds. “Has Yunbok?”

Jeongguk’s stomach grows heavy and tightens at Taehyung’s response. His eyes flicker open wide,
in what looks to be panic before he shakes his head.

“You’re lying. Please don’t lie to me.”

Pain drags through Jeongguk at the way Taehyung’s eyes water before he blinks rapidly to rid them
of the tears. It isn’t just pain but anger and that feeling of protectiveness he has for Taehyung. It fills
him rapidly, making him want to lose control again and demand Taehyung tell him what happened.

“Guk -”

“It’s important,” Jeongguk interrupts, edging towards pleading as he tries to keep his anger from his
tone. He doesn’t want Taehyung to misinterpret it as being directed towards him. “If anyone I know
has hurt you, I need to know. I - I don’t know Yunbok’s involvement with anything, but with his
relationship to Sungho and Bobby leads me to think he has to be involved somehow and I just -”

Jeongguk stands up and Taehyung’s hand squeezes painfully around his own. “I want to show you
something.”

Reluctantly, Taehyung lets him go to bring the box back to the bed. He hates how small Taehyung
looks for once. He likes it when they’re intimate, curled up together, but not when Taehyung’s eyes
are wide and afraid.

Don’t be afraid of me , Jeongguk thinks as he opens the box. “My Eomma worked for Sungho -
Chung-Hoon. Knowing how afraid you and Jimin are of him, knowing how he tried to hurt your
brother, I am afraid to know what he’s done to my mother. My father gave these to me and I’ve been
too cowardly to read them because of it.”

Jeongguk doesn’t wait for a response as he pulls out one of the photo albums he had gone through
before scanning the letters. They are mostly happy ones, his mother with her friends and his father.
But not all of them.
He doesn’t understand why they’re included.

He flips the pages until he finds it, one of his mother with a forced smile and barely any clothes on.
A much younger Sungho has an arm slung over her shoulder, a shit eating grin on his lips and a cigar
hovering an inch away from them. His stomach churns again as he looks at it.

“Oh,” Taehyung breathes, finally speaking as he takes the album from Jeongguk. He eyes the photo
below the one of Sungho instead, where Jeongguk’s mother sits with her two foster sisters and
Yunbok. “Oh.”

Jeongguk pushes closer to him when he noticed Taehyung’s fingers shaking as he touches over the
photo.

“Has he hurt you, Tae?”

The response is too quiet, like a rush of breath passing Taehyung’s lips rather than a word. Jeongguk
presses his fingers back to Taehyung’s chin, hating the growth of tears in his eyes.

Those same tears make their way to Jeongguk’s, but from the inability to contain the amount of rage
he feels when Taehyung nods his head.

“Tell me.”

The tears slip as Taehyung shakes his head and pulls away from Jeongguk to wipe hastily at his
eyes.

“Tae, I need to know.”

“No,” Taehyung huffs, a sob holding onto his words as he quickly shakes his head over and over
again. “You don’t need to know.”

“Taehyung, I do -”

Jeongguk goes quiet as Taehyung tosses the photo album, using all of his strength until it crashes to
the ground loudly. He doesn’t care about the album, kneeing across the bed to grab Taehyung as his
breathing starts to become harsh.

“You don’t need to know,” Taehyung argues, fear in his eyes again .

“Okay, okay,” Jeongguk gives in, tone soft as he warms his hands over Taehyung’s shoulders to
keep them from shaking. There’s a tremor inside of him too, nerves that he’s made Taehyung upset.
“Okay, it drives me fucking crazy, but okay. I’ve hated the idea that anyone’s hurt you, Tae. I have
since Yoongi hyung first told me you had a bad client.”

Taehyung grips tightly at Jeongguk’s shirt, tugging him close. “I don’t want to talk about it
anymore.”

“That’s fine,” Jeongguk says immediately, despite the questions screaming at him to be said out loud
in his mind. “You just need to tell me if anyone I bring you around has hurt you so I won’t. Can you
do that? It doesn’t matter who it is. If they hurt you, they’re away from you.”

Taehyung nods, shuffling closer until his head is against Jeongguk’s chest. He isn’t crying, but
Jeongguk isn't relieved because he trembles and clutches on tightly.

“I want to bash his head in, but I also just want to keep you safe, make it so you feel happiness,”
Jeongguk whispers like a secret. “You make me feel so angry, Taehyung. When I found those
photos - I wanted to, I don’t know, tear down Busan until I found out who sent them. When you
came to me broken, I wanted to comfort you but also find who did it and give them twice the amount
of pain.”

Taehyung makes a choking noise that sounds half like a laugh and half like a sob. He pulls back,
showing the smile on his face and the lack of smile in his eyes.

“That’s why I can’t tell you, Guk. They’re like your family. You just met me a few months ago.”

Jeongguk scoffs. It doesn’t matter, he wants to tell him. Time doesn’t really matter. He fell in love
with Ji-hu the moment he learned about him, before he even looked like anything resembling a baby.
The first time he met Jimin he accepted him as family. Meeting Woojin and Jeongguk knew he
would take a bullet for him without hesitation.

The first time Jeongguk laid his eyes on Taehyung, he knew he wanted to give him everything.

“Who? Yunbok and Bobby? If it weren’t for my parents, I wouldn’t have a thing to do with them. I
always thought Yunbok to be cruel. As for Sungho, I didn’t grow up around him. But even if I did, I
wouldn’t show respect or care for a man who would do that to a young boy. Or anyone. My mother
always hated him and I never knew why until now. These people have been around my son too, it’s
one of the reasons I needed to know so desperately. Whoever sent those photos knew where I live, I
fear they’re someone I know, someone who has been alone with my son.”

Taehyung’s eyes widen with realization and his teeth snatch hard onto his bottom lip before he parts
them a few times and Jeongguk waits impatiently for him to speak.

“You do know them. Who sent them.”

Jeongguk stills, hands stopping where they rub down Taehyung’s neck. The tears are back, slipping
down Taehyung’s cheeks. He accepted a while ago that Taehyung will be hesitant about what is
growing between them, but he needs Taehyung to know that he should never be afraid of Jeongguk,
of telling Jeongguk something.

“Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Tell me. Before I let them into my home and allow Ji-hu to be their next victim.”

Taehyung huffs out in desperation, pushing and pulling at Jeongguk like he wants him away and
closer at the same time. It’s a dirty tactic to pull but he’s desperate to know. He isn’t afraid of anyone
touching his son, not anymore than a normal parent might be.

Maybe he should be, Jeongguk isn’t sure. Part of him reminds himself that whoever it was has
already been around Ji-hu for years and hasn’t hurt him, but another part of him wonders if that
matters. Min Jinju worked for his father for almost twenty years, close as can be, before he raged on
her and fired her without offering a dime for her to leave with. Jeongguk has been protective, though
annoyed, of Bobby for years, but he’d turn on him in an instant and destroy the world he’s created if
it meant keeping Taehyung safe.

His father’s words had hurt but they had been true. Jeongguk loses a bit of his kindness when it
comes to Bobby and his mother would be disappointed in him. He wonders if his mother would
understand anyway.
“You can’t react, Guk. Chung-Hoon’s dangerous. If you attack him the way you did Bobby, he
won’t hesitate to kill you.”

There’s fear and concern in Taehyung’s expression and maybe at another time, Jeongguk will smile
at the idea that Taehyung cares for him too, but right now his heart throbs and punches his chest so
hard that he can barely breathe.

“I won’t, Tae. Please tell me.”

Taehyung’s lips are on him then, wet and salty from the tears. He kisses desperately, angrily, sobbing
into Jeongguk’s lips and Jeongguk lets him, holding the side of his face gently.

The answer is whispered between the kiss, dancing over Jeongguk’s lips. Jeongguk stills but
Taehyung doesn’t stop, kissing him over again like he’s pleading with Jeongguk to forget the name.

He can’t forget, nor can he keep his promise about not reacting. As often as he’s wanted to fuck up
Bobby for treating Taehyung badly, he knows Bobby is weak and he’s given his mother his word to
look after him. It’s why he feels bad about being unkind, it’s why his rage has been contained.

There’s never been love in his heart for Hanbin.

“Tae,” Jeongguk breathes, pulling back despite Taehyung’s attempts to deepen the kiss and crawl
onto his lap. “Why?”

Taehyung manages to push himself into Jeongguk’s lap, arms tight around his neck. Jeongguk
smoothes his hands down his back, kneading at the tense muscles there.

“You were never supposed to know. Fuck, you were never even supposed to happen. I was fine. It
was hard and hurt, but I was fine. I didn’t need to be saved and everything’s gotten worse since you
came around but my heart has been feeling better and I feel selfish for feeling that way.”

Jeongguk continues to rub Taehyung’s back, but this time it’s to relieve the tension building in his
own body. Everything’s gotten worse since you came around.

“I didn’t mean to make things worse for you, Tae.”

Taehyung shakes his head, frustrated as he grabs Jeongguk’s cheeks. Despite the look on his face,
his touch is gentle, a caress of his palms.

“You make my heart feel so good, even though I’m afraid of it and resistant to it, I can’t truly deny it.
But I’ve lost Jimin because of those stupid fucking photographs and I’m pretty sure Hanbin only sent
them as revenge for me leaving him for you. I was never fucking his but he sure thought so.”

His eyes go wide, lips smacking shut. Realization fills Jeongguk and he almost tosses Taehyung
aside to call Seokmin to drive him to Hanbin’s.

“He was the bad client,” Jeongguk breathes before he’s maneuvering Taehyung off of his lap. His
rage makes his heart pound into his ears, muting the words that rapidly leave Taehyung’s lips. “I’ll
get those photos back for you, Taehyung.”

“Guk, stop,” he thinks he hears Taehyung say before hands are grabbing him, keeping him from
reaching the closet. “He wasn’t bad, I promise. Just childish, upset he isn’t getting his way. You
promised.”

Jeongguk doesn’t believe him. He’s lying again. “That's why he looked at you like that. Tae, why
didn’t you tell me? I made you sit next to him for God’s sake.”

“I didn’t care,” Taehyung says, grabbing Jeongguk’s boot when he manages to get ahold of it. “I’m
fine, he didn’t hurt me.”

“You’re lying,” Jeongguk says, trying to keep his tone soft. “When you came to my office, face
swollen and bruised -”

“That wasn’t him, I promise, I swear on Woojin,” Taehyung breathes desperately. “Jeongguk please
just come lay with me, please. Calm down, you promised not to react.”

Jeongguk’s laugh feels harsher than he intends it to. Jeongguk has always felt like a decent person,
but he’s aware that anger and emotion can make you feel far from it. He’s only felt rage like this
once before; when his mother passed. “He has photographs of you, Taehyung. They can hurt you
and I’m not letting it happen.”

“He could use them anyway. You pissing him off might give him a reason to,” Taehyung huffs as he
tosses the shoe before planting his hands hard to Jeongguk’s chest. “Calm down and deal with it
tomorrow. Or not. It isn’t your problem to get pissy about it.”

It’s an urge he can’t fight well, not even with the pressure on his chest or the desperate look in
Taehyung’s eyes. Pushing it off seems like the worst idea, but Taehyung is begging him to stay and
he can’t say no.

“It is my problem,” Jeongguk clarifies gently. “You’ll have to accept that one day.”

Taehyung huffs out, sounding a bit annoyed as he clings to Jeongguk. “No, Jeongguk.”

“Tae, I have to at least -”

“Jeongguk -”

“I’m going over there, now, Taehyung -”

“Our mothers knew each other.”

Jeongguk stops pushing against Taehyung’s hands. There’s anxiety in Taehyung’s expression now,
his eyes pleading.

“What?”

“Will you stay?”

A noise of complaint leaves Jeongguk’s lips. His head is starting to pound, pain erupting across his
forehead and it’s nauseating. Taehyung’s hands leave his chest to cup his face, his thumbs stroking
under his eyelids. He’s exhausted from his long flight, from his busy mind, from his anger.

“That’s what your father told me in the library.”

Taehyung gives him a long look, assuring he doesn’t move before Taehyung shifts back across the
room and to the bed. He retrieves the photograph he had shoved underneath his pillow, his hands
shaking again.

“I don’t understand it,” Taehyung mutters, more to himself than Jeongguk. “I need you to tell me a
truth too. That’s fair, right? A truth for a truth.”
He hands the photograph over and Jeongguk frowns. The sight of his mother always causes a pang
in his chest. She’s young in the photograph and so is he. He’d guess five, a little too big to still be
perched on his mother’s hip.

The woman beside her is familiar, one of the women in his mother’s photo albums. The child in her
arms is familiar to, his brows thick and eyes big and bright.

Jeongguk flicks his eyes back to Taehyung, finding those same eyes but the brightness has been
sucked out of them. He flips the photograph over, eyeing the date. 1997. He was four in this
photograph.

“Do you know her? Did you know she was my mother?”

Taehyung is whispering but the plea in his tone is loud.

“What?” Jeongguk breathes in confusion. She has the same boxy smile as Taehyung, as Woojin, he
hadn’t noticed before.

“I’ve been freaking out, Jeongguk. Our lives are intertwined in too many ways. You know Chung-
Hoon, Bobby, Yunbok, my mother. I can’t stop thinking, I don’t know, that there’s something
you’re not telling me. That you’re more involved than you admit.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. Seeing a young Taehyung makes his confused heart feel a little at peace
though seeing him beside him is disorientating.

“I’m not. I don’t know her. I-I’ve seen her in other pictures, but I don’t know her.”

“Guk,” Taehyung pleads, stepping into Jeongguk’s space. “Why'd you find me? Why were you so
adamant about saving me?”

“I wasn’t trying to save you,” Jeongguk clarifies, firm. “I wanted you, I wanted to take care of you. I
want to protect you. I never knew about you until we met at that club.”

He knows why Taehyung is asking, he understands how it looks.

Taehyung looks unsure, eyes searching quickly over Jeongguk’s face. “Why did you want those
things if you didn’t know me?”

Jeongguk lets out an exasperated breath, clutching Taehyung’s cheeks. He wishes he better
understood the doubt in his eyes, the reasons Taehyung is so unsure even when Jeongguk’s bleeding
with the truth of everything he says.

“I - I don’t know, I just did. I told you I believed in destiny.”

He isn’t sure what to do about the fact that their mothers know each other. He has to read her letters
now more than ever because he knows it means something. His fingers tremble as he finds the
photograph and offers it back to Taehyung.

“Don’t you believe in it a tiny bit, too?”

Taehyung bites hard on his bottom lip, his fingers slipping over Jeongguk’s where they hold the
photograph. “I don’t know, Guk. I kind of think you wanted to fuck and caught feelings quickly.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh as a smile finally wavers on Taehyung’s lips. “Yeah, maybe.”

There’s a soft look in Taehyung’s eyes when their eyes meet, sadness and amusement mixing around
like he’s unsure which to feel. It falls quiet for a moment as they both process everything and
Jeongguk is surprised when it’s Taehyung who speaks first.

“I don’t care if it was destiny or if it was planned or if it was you just being weak for a good
dicking,” Taehyung murmurs, lips quirking up some, “I’m just happy it was you.”

A lump forms in Jeongguk’s throat and he swallows it down, falling silent. There’s things he wants
to say, but he doesn’t want to overwhelm Taehyung. He doesn’t want to interrupt him as he stares
back at the photograph in his hands.

The silence is okay, nothing tense about it despite their slight argument just a few minutes before. He
knows Taehyung only shared this with him to keep him from running off towards Hanbin, but he’s
thankful he shared it nonetheless.

It feels as if something has broken between them and Taehyung will let more of himself seep out and
into Jeongguk. Jeongguk is permeable, ready to take every drop Taehyung offers him.

Taehyung’s eyes are glossy when he looks up at Jeongguk and offers him the photo again. “When C
- Chung-Hoon came to take Woojinnie, he told me it was to pay off my father’s debt. I thought my
mother was innocent and I’m not, I’m not saying she wasn’t but I’m starting to wonder if she was
more involved than I thought. In these pictures she looks - she looks like she was like me. A whore.”

Jeongguk remains quiet, sinking back against the wall. He wants to guide Taehyung back to the bed
to relax, but he is afraid any sudden movement will shut Taehyung down and interrupt his attempts at
opening up.

“Jin found her. She had been stabbed multiple times. In the kitchen. Woojin was with her, sitting
beside her. He - he was covered.”

Taehyung closes his eyes, hands waving over his body but he doesn’t go into detail. Jeongguk’s
heart aches and he gives up trying to remain still, though he’s hesitant in hovering his hands over
Taehyung’s before gently taking them into his own.

“Eunae was in her crib, in the nursery. I painted it purple. I think they were supposed to be napping.
Chung-Hoon could have taken him then, and I’m so fucking thankful he didn’t.”

Taehyung squeezes Jeongguk’s fingers like he wants to break them.

“He didn’t come for months after that. I always wondered why he waited. What made him change
his mind.”

Jeongguk brings Taehyung’s hands up, kissing over each of his knuckles. He knew these things
already, more or less, but it means something that Taehyung is sharing and sharing without
hesitation.

“He told me he would make me feel pain, a punishment to hurt my father. It didn’t seem important to
correct him that it was my step father and that I hated him. He made me feel pain. A lot of it. That’s
all I felt for a long time. Just pain. Until I met Jimin.”

Jeongguk lets out a breathy noise across Taehyung’s knuckles. His heart thuds rapidly, banging
against his ears. There’s a distant look in Taehyung’s eyes and Jeongguk wonders if he even realizes
Jeongguk is still there.

“When Bobby took me from Chung-Hoon it felt like a prayer had been answered. God, I was so
relieved. I thought; no more pain, just a regular shitty life. I could find my siblings again. Bobby
would pay for me to go to college so I could get a real job and pay off my debt. I learned my prayers
had never been answered. I was hurt, badly, over and over again. Sometimes I wouldn’t tell Jimin
because I knew he would just hurt himself trying to protect me. I realized if I paid off my debt I
would never be able to take Jimin with me. I could never take care of my kids, I made Woojin worse
by not being there. I put everything on Jin hyung and made him just deal with it.”

Taehyung sighs, eyes focusing on Jeongguk as he slides a hand over his cheek. His thumb presses
into where Jeongguk’s dimple would be if he were smiling.

“Meeting you felt similar. Prayers answered. But I already knew to be wary of that feeling. And I
was right to be wary. Meeting you had a domino effect that caused some of my worst fears to
become alive again,” Taehyung whispers the words warmly, like he’s being affectionate when he’s
not. His touch is gentle, his thumb rubbing over Jeongguk’s skin. “My prayers weren’t being
answered. I never prayed for love and I definitely didn’t pray for someone to pay off my debt
because I really fucking didn’t want to be owned by anyone ever again.”

Jeongguk curls his fingers around Taehyung’s wrist, keeping his palm planted firmly to his cheek.
He parts his lips to tell Taehyung that he doesn’t own him but Taehyung shakes his head, quieting
him.

Love, love. He wonders if Taehyung feels that way, or close to it. Jeongguk does, he knows it. He
doesn’t know if it is in love, Jeongguk’s never really known the difference between love and in love.
He thinks in love feels like the way he loves Ji-hu, Yoongi, his parents, Jin. Taehyung.

He doesn’t think it matters, either way. There’s no need to find a difference between the two. It’s just
a word and there isn’t a word that can truly explain how he feels for Taehyung.

“I don’t really know where I’m going with this,” Taehyung laughs breathlessly as his eyes start to
water. “As much as I told myself to be wary and not get used to it, I have and now I’m afraid of
losing it so. I’m not trying to be difficult and when I ask you not to get involved, it isn’t because I’m
being stubborn. If you get hurt, if you get hurt because of me, I will be pissed. I’m not ready to open
up yet but I need you to know this before you do something stupid. Don’t fucking get hurt Jeongguk
because I don’t know how much more pain I can take.”

Jeongguk nods when Taehyung nods, his lips pressing shut around his last word. He frowns, thick
brows pushing together as he stares at Jeongguk.

“Okay,” Jeongguk says before he kisses Taehyung. “Okay. I’m not going anywhere, Tae. Don’t be
afraid.”

Yoongi can’t stop staring at Jimin, who doesn’t want anyone near him. It hurts to see it, to feel how
mad Jimin is at him. It radiates across the car in waves, mixing in with the tension and pain that’s
already settled between them.

He knew he wasn’t going to get out of threatening Chung-Hoon unharmed, but he hadn’t been
expecting all of this. Hoseok said it wasn’t going to be easy, and Yoongi knew it.

Yoongi really didn’t think it would be this hard, though. He should have known. But he had been so
focused on one thing, he couldn’t think about everything. He knew there would be pain, bad pain
that he couldn’t imagine, but he didn’t know Chung-Hoon would be able to see so easily in what
he’s most afraid of.
Branding Jimin when all he’s ever wanted is Jimin to own himself.

“Jimin.”

Jimin flinches from where he rests his face against the window of the car. It’s tinted, though Jimin is
covered in a mask and a hat so low it would be hard to see his face anywhere.

“Jimin, I’m sorry.”

The words float in the air between them for a moment before Jimin moves. He leans over, wincing
and hissing between his teeth in pain before his head rests against Yoongi’s thigh.

He feels so much that for a moment, Yoongi can barely breathe. He takes a second to gather himself
before tentatively pushing Jimin’s cap aside to pet his hair. It echoes in his memory, the pain that had
taken over Jimin and he had been forced to watch, to not do anything. Jimin hadn’t made a sound.

“Jimin, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

Jimin shakes his head but doesn’t say a word. There’s a panic buried inside of Yoongi that Jimin is
going to hate him for good, but they’re on their way to somewhere safe and it would be worth it.

After Jimin had crumpled in pain, Jooheon had finally let him go so he could scoop Jimin from the
ground. Jooheon had warned him that he would keep him held back if he put himself in danger. He
kept him from jumping Chung-Hoon and Yoongi doesn’t know if he’s grateful or not.

They have to listen to Chung-Hoon, as not to reveal themselves, but Yoongi wants to cut the other
guard, Changkyun’s hand from his wrist for hurting Jimin.

Most of it is a blur, Jimin insisting on calling a number and the guards doing so. When Jimin was
strong enough to move, he refused to let Yoongi touch him but he knew the pain that brought him
would be worth it. He couldn’t watch Jimin struggle. Such a small wound, but the pain had looked
as if it flooded Jimin’s body completely.

The gun had gone off before either one of them could stand and Yoongi lost any ability to. His legs
still feel weak even now as they’re sitting.

They’re on their way to this Mun man now. Yoongi isn’t fully sure that he’s safe but Jimin had been
so convinced and Jimin has always been better at seeing danger than he is.

“Don’t say it again,” Jimin rasps, clutching onto his thigh. “Don’t apologize again.”

“But -”

“Don’t,” Jimin sighs like he’s tired. “I love you, Min Yoongi, even though you’re an idiot.”

Yoongi’s body crumples in relief, the force of it so strong that tears come to his eyes and a rush of air
pushes from his lungs. “If I wasn’t such an idiot you wouldn’t be sporting Chung’s brand. Hoseok
wouldn’t -”

The sounds of Hoseok’s screams had been just as haunting as Jimin’s silence. He shrieks, high
pitched shrill sounds leaving his lips that almost remind Yoongi of his excited laughter.

There had been a time where Yoongi thought nothing could top the worst night of his life; seeing
Jeongguk for the first time after his mother passed. There had never been a pain greater and tonight
he knows to never think something like that again. It could always be worse, even if he doesn’t feel
it. He had to think about it all day, Chung-Hoon’s words telling him to kill Jeongguk, Hoseok’s
words about how Chung-Hoon will find a way to kill him either way.

It’s too much in one day, the amount of pain he feels.

“Shut up,” comes from the back of the SUV, the tone aggravated. “Not everyone comes from a
battle unwounded, hyung.”

Yoongi turns without jostling Jimin too much to take in Hoseok sprawled out in the backseat. His
nose is pinched in annoyance but there’s a smile in his eyes.

“It skimmed me, you idiot. These are trained officers, I wasn’t afraid.”

It’s a lie. Hoseok had pissed his pants the moment Jooheon’s gun had gone off but Yoongi won’t
mention it.

“Do you think he’ll believe you’re dead?”

Hoseok shrugs, but winces as he does. “I bled a lot. Nearly died.”

“I thought it just skimmed you?”

Hoseok hushes him with a flick of his middle finger.

Jimin turns on his back, staring up at the roof of the car. He had cleaned and bandaged his own
wound after they had gotten in the car and though Yoongi can’t see the brand, it hurts just looking at
the bandages.

“You okay back there?” Jooheon asks, glancing in the rearview mirror. “When Chung calls you’re
gonna have to answer and you’re going to have to sound as upset as someone who just lost their best
friend.”

Yoongi nods, training his eyes back on Jimin. He is that upset. Yoongi won’t feel relief until they’re
on an island somewhere far, with different names and Jimin’s toes in the warm sand.

“I need to call Jeongguk before the word spreads.”

Jooheon shakes his head. “You can’t. There are eyes on Jeongguk. He too has to look as if his best
friend just died.”

Yoongi sighs. His head pounds. He hasn’t eaten today except for the few nervous bites of his
mother’s food. He needs to call her too before she worries. There was a fire. He knows her heart is
crushed and he needs to be there for her, but he can’t.

“Why do they have eyes on Jeongguk?”

Jooheon and Changkyun exchange glances and Yoongi wrinkles his nose at the fact that they don’t
even bother trying to be discreet about it. They both look scary, Jooheon with his mean mug and
Changkyun with a face so impassive it’s like there’s no one in there at all. But it had been different
once Chung-Hoon left. Jooheon smiled brightly as he helped Hoseok from the ground, making jokes
to lighten the mood. Changkyun had been apologetic, clutching Jimin’s hands as he explained why
he had to do it - why he had to take a photo.

“Your friend’s father has a lot of incriminating information on Chung. His mother wrote these diaries
of sort, for her sons. Chung mentioned Jun-ki threatened him with them once but he’s been unable to
find them. Mun’s been looking for them too.”

“They were hidden in his library,” Yoongi huffs in annoyance.

Changkyun grins at that. “Yeah well, he sent us to look for them and our orders from Mun were to
just make sure they were there so he could obtain them legally.”

“We’ve got some of our men on Jeon too. Some of our men working under Bobby,” Jooheon goes
on. “Not to mention that the son has fucking Guowang’s protection. They’ve got guys on him too.”

Hoseok makes a choking noise before he groans in complain. Even Jimin’s eyes widen at that.
“You’re bullshitting.”

“Kitty said the same,” Jimin whispers, eyes diverted like he’s talking to himself rather than the rest of
them.

Changkyun turns in his seat to look at Hoseok, a smile on his lips. “Chung-Hoon touches Jeongguk
and he loses everything. Most of Chung-Hoon’s business relies on his ties to China. They’ll be
completely cut off if Chung-Hoon goes after any of the Jeons.”

Hoseok and Yoongi exchange glances and Yoongi wonders if him and Hoseok are thinking of the
same thing. Of Chung-Hoon’s order for Yoongi to kill Jeongguk.

It seems possible for Chung-Hoon to give the order but completely separate himself from it. Maybe
Hoseok had been right.

“How is that possible?” Hoseok asks as he pulls his eyes away and meets with Jooheon’s in the
mirror. Yoongi swears he sees his cheeks tint pink.

Jooheon shrugs. “The grandmother, we think. It’s hard to infiltrate them. We barely know anything
about them. But we think it has to do with the grandmother. The one in America.”

Yoongi sinks into the sink, glancing out the window. He wonders if Jeongguk knows. The idea of
Jeongguk not telling him something like this is absurd to him. He can’t stand Ji-hu’s grandmother, for
good reason most of the time.

Jimin whines slightly and Yoongi pulls his attention away from them to tentatively cradle his face.
His cheeks are wet but he finally manages to make eye contact with him.

“I’m pissed at you.”

Yoongi nods. “I know.”

“I’m going to punch you.”

“You can.”

“I don’t want to.”

Yoongi smiles softly at the wrinkle over the bridge of Jimin’s nose. “Didn’t I tell you I wouldn’t give
up on you?”

“You’re a fool.”

“A fool for you.”

The wrinkle on Jimin’s nose grows deeper but there’s a smile wavering at Jimin’s lips. It doesn’t last
long as he struggles to lift himself from Yoongi’s lap.

“If Chung-Hoon figures out we’re not going to Busan he might hurt someone. I have to call Tae -”

“I have to tell you something,” Yoongi breathes, ducking forward so the words are only for Jimin.
He doesn’t know what it means, what leaking this information will cause. He knows how Taehyung
will react; broken. “Sungho said Woojin was his son.”

Jimin doesn’t say anything and Yoongi wants to pull back to see his expression but he’s selfish and
nuzzles against the soft hair over Jimin’s ear instead.

“That can’t be.”

“I know,” Yoongi murmurs in agreement. “It doesn’t make sense.”

It takes effort but Jimin pushes up to follow Yoongi when he lifts his head. He glances at the
undercover policemen in the front before looking to Hoseok and Yoongi.

“That really doesn’t make any sense,” Jimin whispers, looking between them. He winces as he turns
towards Hoseok and Yoongi can’t stop the way he reaches out to grab him. “None of this makes any
fucking sense. Nothing that happened today makes sense. Your mom is somehow involved.
Jeongguk being in the mafia maybe, or at least involved with it somehow. Taehyung didn’t know
Chung-Hoon before this, he would have recognized him if he had gotten his mother knocked up. He
was like sixteen when she got pregnant.”

Yoongi shrugs because Jimin is right and he has no fucking clue what to say. Jimin seems to forget
about his wound, eyes rocking back and forth as he thinks hard. Yoongi cocks his head, reaching out
to pet his arm. He’s too tired to think about any of it, even though he knows he should. He just can’t.
He can only focus on the three of them and getting to a place where they can call Jeongguk and
Taehyung.

“Before I arrived, Kitty was talking about her sisters, the ones she grew up with in the orphanage,”
Jimin goes on before he shakes his head. “And I’m telling you I’ve been fucked up since.”

“Bambi and Vanity,” Hoseok supplies with a bored tone. “She cries a lot about them when she’s
drunk.”

Hurt flickers across Jimin’s features and Yoongi would swat at Hoseok if he weren’t injured.

“Yeah,” Jimin whispers. “She said her unnie left when she was pregnant, when she was pregnant
with Bobby.”

This grabs Hoseok’s attention, making him pull up where he’s lounging across the backseat. Yoongi
stays still, not at all surprised Kitty and Bobby’s mother knew each other and unsure why Jimin and
Hoseok seem so alarmed.

“No way.”

“I don’t get it,” Yoongi admits just as Hoseok whispers out a ‘holy fuck’ with a look on his face like
he’s been told the secret to curing cancer, or ending world hunger.

“I asked her why Jeongguk is so important, why even the biggest bosses seem to be afraid of him, or
at least won’t touch him,” Jimin whispers, eyes back onto Yoongi. His expression softens as he leans
his cheek against the back of the seat and Yoongi can’t resist to scooch forward, closer to Jimin and
his warmth.

Yoongi was the only one to leave the battle unwounded but watching Hoseok and Jimin hurt is a
pain worse than anything Chung-Hoon could have done to his body.

“Kitty said the Jeon’s have a lot on Chung, stuff that could ruin him. I think there’s more to it, like
this Guowang thing. The Kim’s have never been afraid of some threat like that. And why would a
gang like that be protecting Jeongguk without getting anything in return? Unless Jeongguk is
exchanging them something? I doubt money is something they’ll go to war for, they’re the biggest
fucking gang in South Korea.”

“I doubt it,” Yoongi says slowly, confused as he tries to follow the conversation but struggles. “I
really doubt Jeongguk has any idea about it.”

“She also said,” Jimin starts, glancing at Hoseok as he grabs Yoongi’s hand, “that they have this
information because Jeongguk’s mother worked for Chung. That she was abused more than any of
them because she took every hit meant for them, her duties as the unnie.”

Jimin gives him a hard look, pleading for him to understand but he doesn’t. He sighs, gripping
Yoongi’s fingers tightly.

“The same unnie that left when she was pregnant with Bobby.”

“No,” Yoongi says, though his brain hasn’t caught up yet. It refuses the information, not allowing
him to process it. “No, Jimin, what are you saying?”

Yoongi wonders if enough trauma and stress to your body can affect your brain. He’s aware of
Jimin’s words but they don’t make sense. He might as well be speaking another language, because
even Jeongguk’s name seems unfamiliar as it leaves Jimin’s lips.

“I’m saying I think she was trying to tell me Bobby and Jeongguk are - are like actual brothers.”

The laugh that escapes Yoongi’s lips sounds deranged, he knows, but he can’t help it. It’s absurd.
It’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.

It’s outrageous.

“Jimin-ah, she could have been talking about two different people.”

Jimin shrugs. “I don’t think so, hyung.”

“Me either,” Hoseok says, eyes on the ground before he lifts them slowly. There’s a sadness there
that Yoongi hadn’t expected. “Which fucking sucks because I was really looking forward to telling
Guk that I think B has something to do with killing his mother.”

Tap, tap, tap .

The sound is driving him fucking nuts. He wants to toss the pen across the room but it’s apart of the
plan.

Tap, tap, tap .

It speeds up and Jin wonders if he could get away with shoving the pen into Yunbok’s neck instead
of throwing it across the room. He doubts Jeongguk would fire him, even for murder. He’s quite safe
in his job, though he’s sure if Jeongguk were to witness one of his fights with Taehyung than maybe
that'd change.

“I don’t really see why you must be here, Mr. Kim. With Mr. Jeon’s absence, I’m sure there is a lot
that you should be doing.”

Jin grits his teeth, finding comfort in Namjoon. He sits behind Yunbok, his eyes wide with warning.

There is a lot that Jin should be doing; especially figuring out what the fuck to do about what him
and Namjoon found. He considered calling Jun-ki but Jin and him don’t really get along. He
considered calling Yoongi, who would know what Jeongguk would do even better than him. He
really should just call Jeongguk but -

Over the years Jin has known Jeongguk, it’s only been work and his son. He only smiled when he
spoke about his son. For years, Taehyung has been the same way - only smiling with him, Woojin
and Eunae. It’s been differently lately and he’s afraid of ruining it with this.

He doesn’t think Namjoon understands that. They should tell Jeongguk. Jeongguk will be pissed
when he finds out they hadn’t. But Jin can handle this, himself.

There’s a nagging thought at the back of his mind that he can’t handle at all but he’s good at shoving
things to the back of his mind.

“Sorry, I’m just - it’s hard focusing on cancer sticks when my life is falling apart.”

Yunbok gives him a blank look through his protective goggles before he glances back at whatever is
on his lab table. Namjoon explained it two times already but Jin had been too distracted to listen.

He should have known Yunbok wasn’t going to push for details and he almost bounds across the
room to kiss Namjoon when he gives him an awkward look and probes for more.

Jin sighs, sinking into the desk. He glances at the lock before he sticks the pins into them, keeping
the rest of his body straight as he starts to pick it. They haven’t been able to get in at night again and
Jin is too impatient to keep waiting.

“Have you heard of that drug going around? With the um, fenta? Fenton bull?”

Yunbok glances up at this, adjusting his protective glasses. “Fentanyl. It’s highly dangerous.”

Jin stills with his hands by the lock. He wants to shove one of the pins up Yunbok’s nose.

Tap, tap, tap.

The tapping of the pencil hides the sounds of the lock becoming undone, but Jin still fucking hates it.

“My dongsaeng overdosed,” Jin lies with a sigh, slowly moving his fingers again. “It’s getting so
bad, I’m thinking about taking the kids and going to somewhere else. Maybe another country.”

Yunbok watches Jin for a second before he drops back down to his work. “I don’t think that’s best,
son. There are drugs no matter where you go. Worse drugs, different drugs, other harmful
substances. People always find a way to have them. It’s one of the few consistencies amongst people
world wide.”

Jin winks at Namjoon and Namjoon jerks, hand flying out and smacking into a glass cone thing. It
goes flying, clattering loudly without shattering.
Namjoon curses, ‘accidentally’ hitting something else until glass smashes under his desk.

Yunbok jerks up, turning quickly around to reach out to Namjoon and Jin grabs his chance to yank
open the locked drawer. His bag rests between his legs, just under the drawer and he quickly empties
as much as he can into it.

“Namjoon-ah, please be careful,” Yunbok scolds and if Jin weren’t busy, he’d snap at him for being
harsh to Namjoon. “You’re a buffoon. Would it kill you to go one day without ruining something in
my lab?”

Namjoon hangs his head after peering at Jin. “I’m sorry, Yunbok-nim. My hand slipped. It must be
the coffee this morning. My hands are shaking greatly today.”

Jin quickly closes his bag before he stands and rushes over to Namjoon. He touches him gently, a
palm over his chest. “It’s okay, Joonbug. Let me see your hands.”

They aren’t damaged and Jin had been worried about it, but Namjoon bruises himself so often for no
reason that he might as well do it once for a good reason.

“Is it bothering you that me and the kids might leave?”

Namjoon nods, not looking up and Jin is thankful. He’s a shitty actor usually, terrible at lying.

“Woojin says you guys can Skype.”

A hand grabs his wrist, fingers digging into the veins on the inside. Jin yanks his hand away from
Yunbok, glaring.

He was hoping to see any sign that Yunbok knows more about fentanyl, prying to see for any slip
ups. Everyone is aware that the company will fail if he is not backing Jeongguk and the idea of him
leaving implies that Yunbok might lose his lab. So he’s expecting frustration, or maybe an eagerness
to keep him here. He isn’t expecting the anger in his eyes.

Yunbok coughs, smiling gently. “I’m sorry I just - if you leave, Jeongguk will be running around
here like a chicken with it’s head cut off. And Namjoon.”

He glances at Namjoon, who quickly drops his head down again although his shoulders are tense
and he glares at the hand that had grabbed Jin.

“Well, he’ll be a mess as well. And I can’t afford to lose any more equipment.”

Jin wrinkles his nose. “You’re well off. As is Jeon Tobacco. I doubt Jeongguk would mind buying
you more. Unless -”

Namjoon’s head snaps up and his eyes are wide, warning. A warning Jin ignores. He’s pissed.
Feeling the tight grip of Yunbok’s fingers around his wrist makes him remember the thoughts that
had plagued him through the night; what it felt like for Taehyung to be wounded so greatly.

“When we last spoke, he didn’t seem pleased with you. I thought perhaps it had something to do
with Hanbin firing Yoongi.”

Yunbok’s lips curl for a moment before the smooth out into a firm line. “I’m not responsible for what
Hanbin does. If he does not listen to me, he does not listen to me.”

Jin huffs out an unamused laugh. “Yes, true. I guess you could say the same if Jeongguk decides to
ignore his father as well. His father’s demands that he keep you on, that is.”

The hand is back, curling tight around Jin’s wrist and Namjoon grows large and tense, eyes harsh on
Yunbok. He’s old, both of them could take him easily, but Jin doesn’t think he would make a move.

He looks conflicted, aggravated. Jin has assumed Yunbok needs access to a lab to create the drugs he
is making. He can’t afford to lose the one he has and Jeongguk might not fire Jin for murder but he
isn’t as fond of Yunbok.

“Young Jeon has no reason to fire me,” Yunbok says, letting Jin’s wrist ago like he hadn’t realized
he reached out for it.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Yunbok-nim,” Jin says ominously, feeling a bit more smug than he
should. He isn’t untouchable, not really. “Jeongguk promised his Eomma to take care of Bobby, I’m
sure you know what a promise like that means to Jeongguk. But he broke it easily when it came to
Taehyung. He’s strangely protective of him.”

Yunbok’s eyes widen, just a small amount but enough for Jin to notice. His jaw tightens before he
points to the door. “I think it's time for you to leave.”

“Oh certainly,” Jin says before he bows, deeply. “Though, I do advise that you make yourself scarce
when Jeongguk-ssi returns from spending time with his son. With what Bobby’s done to him, what
Sungho has done, I’m sure he’ll be looking into you next.”

Namjoon has moved closer, away from his desk to be near them though Jin thinks he could handle a
punch better than Namjoon. Maybe not. There are biceps the size of his head hidden underneath that
labcoat of his.

“He can if he’d like,” Yunbok says calmly, an air of confidence surrounding him but Jin knows
better. “I said get out.”

Jin puts two fingers to his temple in a salute before he walks off, reaching to grab for Namjoon but
Namjoon already has his hands on his back as he guides him out of Yunbok’s office.

It isn’t until they’re a few feet away that Namjoon shoves him. It’s gentle but enough to tell Jin that
he’s annoyed.

“What the fuck, hyung? You basically just threatened Yunbok-nim?”

Jin grits his teeth. “I don’t know,” he whispers to Namjoon. “Just seeing his face pissed me off. You
know the only reason I started taking over Jeongguk’s guest lists to his events is so I would know if
Bobby was there? Because I’d probably kill him the moment I saw him? I can’t really contain myself
when it comes to Taehyung. You don’t know the shit he’s been through. When his abusive ass step
father died I threw a fucking party.”

Namjoon deflates, his fingers gentler when they cross down Jin’s back to urge him down the corridor
further. “I understand. I really do.”

There’s a knot suddenly in his throat and he wants to swallow it down but he can’t.

“I’m just - you said someone had pictures of Woojinnie like they were following him. What if this
pisses him off and he goes after Woojin?”

Jin glances down the hallway, empty for a work day. Many people don’t show up when Jeongguk is
off and Jin’s never really cared much. He is a social person but he can grow tired of people quickly.
“I’m sending them to Osaka,” Jin whispers, an admission he hasn’t said out loud yet. He didn’t plan
on confronting Yunbok, but with everything going on he had been sitting on the idea for a few days.
It’s a risk he can’t take, even if he didn’t do anything like he just did. “Jun-ki pays for a house in
Osaka. I don’t think anyone is supposed to know about it. But I do his finances for Jeongguk so.”

Namjoon looks worried, eyes wide but he only nods and rubs at Jin’s back. “Okay, hyung, I’ll come
with you.”

The area is quiet, maybe too quiet. It feels unsettling but nothing is as bad as the silence that sits
between Yoongi and him.

Jimin glances across the room where Yoongi sits by the window, a cigarette burning in between his
fingers and eyes out towards the parking lot. The motel is dingy and dark, probably dirty and
infested, but Jimin’s seen worse. There’s barely anyone here, a motel off in the middle of nowhere.

He aches from the plane. It had been nice, expensive but boring inside just as Jimin has learned that
Jeongguk likes. He isn’t surprised to know that Jeongguk has a private plane, although he wonders
why Jeongguk flies through commercial airlines instead of using his own.

He wonders how long has Yoongi had access to it and why Yoongi’s never kidnapped him and flew
him out of the country before. He knows the answer though, because Jimin would have told him no
before.

They should probably be asleep. Jimin is exhausted, but he’s haunted by the guilt in Yoongi’s eyes
every time he looks at him. He’s spent the entire airplane ride trying to come up with anything that
makes sense but now his brain aches and he just wants.

Jimin unfolds his legs from underneath him. There’s an ache deep in his bones and across his skin
but he ignores it. Every time he winces pain crosses Yoongi’s features.

“Hyung,” Jimin whispers, calling Yoongi’s attention. Hoseok had insisted on staying with Jooheon
and Changkyun and giving Yoongi and Jimin their alone time, but Jimin wishes he were here. It
would be less tense.

Fuck, he hates this. It’s never tense with Yoongi. That was something he could always count on.
Even if they argued or they snapped at one another, it lasted a second and it was never tense.

“Jimin-ah.”

It’s soft, wounded. If he weren’t so tired maybe Jimin would sob. Maybe he still will. Maybe he
doesn’t want to. Not until he’s sobbing in relief.

Jimin doesn’t give Yoongi time to move before he’s settling into his lap. He doesn’t give Yoongi the
chance to move his cigarette away before he’s curling an arm around Yoongi’s neck and kissing him.

Yoongi’s head tilts back as his lips part, submitting underneath him for Jimin to do as he pleases. He
doesn’t want to cry he just wants to kiss his hyung until his lips are numb and his tongue might just
fall off. Yoongi kisses back like he wants the same thing, a hand folding over the back of Jimin’s
neck to keep him there.

His kisses are soft but wet, their tongues darting over each other just enough to feel. It reminds Jimin
of late nights in college, when Yoongi would kiss and kiss and kiss and Jimin would worry whether
or not Yoongi would still be willing to kiss him if he knew.
Now he does and he kisses him just the same. He’s seen it with his own eyes and he still kisses Jimin
like he could waste away the rest of his breath doing so.

“Hyung,” Jimin murmurs, sliding his fingers down Yoongi’s face. His cheeks are wet and Jimin
kisses him again.

He truly has no idea how safe this Mun man is, but he’ll kill the next person that stands in his way of
being free, of being Yoongi’s. Jimin has always hated Chung-Hoon but now he wants to destroy
him, wants to watch him suffer and he needs this Mun to help him. Even if it doesn’t work, he has to
risk it.

Yoongi groans and tightens his grip, kissing deeper, harder, until Jimin feels as if Yoongi’s lost all of
his breath and is trying to steal his own. He can have it. Jimin would give it to him willingly.

The ache in his hip is a reminder of the burn, the brand. It means nothing to Jimin, but Yoongi looks
tortured by it. He’s always been branded, even if not physically. He’s never belonged to the brand -
he’s always belonged to Yoongi.

It’s easier belonging to Yoongi than to himself, because he knows Yoongi wants Jimin to only
belong to Jimin. And there’s a part of him, buried very deep inside, that makes him not want
anything to do with himself.

“Jimin-ah,” Yoongi murmurs, breathless as he pulls away with a slick sound. “Oh, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin slides further into Yoongi’s lap, curling his legs around his waist and settling his cheek at the
curve of his shoulder. The tense silence is gone. He likes that he can only hear Yoongi’s breathing,
the sounds of their hearts beating quickly.

“We should talk about it,” Jimin whispers, watching the way he tickles his fingers over Yoongi’s
collarbone. “About everything that happened.”

Yoongi hums. He can feel the vibration against where he presses to Yoongi’s neck. And his
heartbeat, thudding light.

Jimin had been so afraid of it stopping that the fear truly isn’t gone. It still sits inside of him and he
isn’t sure it’ll ever truly disappear.

“I’m sorry I never did anything before.”

Jimin shifts, frowning at Yoongi’s words before he presses their foreheads together because he can’t
take the look in Yoongi’s eyes. “I never wanted you to.”

“I know,” Yoongi breathes, pained, wounded. It sits between them for a moment before Yoongi
swallows. “I know Jimin, I know. But I should have. Years ago. I shouldn’t have just sat back when
you told me to.”

Jimin sighs, sliding his palms across Yoongi’s cheeks. “I like that you respected me enough to do
that, though. No one has ever let me decide anything, not truly. Bobby did but, he still gave me an
ultimatum - Tae or me. It wasn’t a true choice. And I never realized putting that on you would be
such a burden, hyung, I’m so sorry for that.”

He kisses Yoongi softly again when he sees Yoongi might argue before pulling back, just enough
that he can pull down the edge of his sweatpants. He feels Yoongi tense beside him as he reveals the
bandage and Yoongi sucks in a sharp breath when he removes it.
“I’m angry but you were brave,” Jimin breathes. The skin is disgusting and marred and he’ll always
hate it, but he would take every inch of pain to keep it away from Yoongi. “And it’s just a scar. I’ve
been scarred many times before. He can brand me all he wants but I’ll never belong to anyone but
you.”

Yoongi’s face scrunches like he’s about to complain.

“It’s okay for us to belong to each other,” Jimin clarifies. “Whatever happens after this just - just keep
yourself safe okay? I need you to promise me that. I can handle this stuff, I promise. I can’t handle
losing you.”

Yoongi looks conflicted, his eyes flickering between the burned skin and Jimin’s face. Jimin knows
he won’t promise that, he feels it in his bones, but it’s enough for now.

“You should call Taehyung.”

Jimin frowns as he fixes the bandage back over his skin. He should, but he’s trying not to cry and he
knows the moment he hears Taehyung’s voice he will. But Yoongi clearly doesn’t want to talk about
it right now and Jimin understands.

“He’s probably with Jeongguk still, I hope at least. And I don’t know if I can talk to Jeongguk.”

“Why?” Yoongi asks, relaxing once Jimin’s pulled his sweatpants back over his hip.

“Why do you think Hobi thinks Bobby had a hand in his mother’s death? He wouldn’t say and I just,
Bobby loved Mrs. Jeon like she was his own mother?”

Yoongi wipes a hand down his face, sighing as he leans back against the wall he sits in front of. “I
don’t know. Young-Mi died in a car accident. The driver worked for Jun-ki -"

“Wait,” Jimin murmurs, freezing, “Young-Mi?”

Yoongi nods, brows furrowing. “Yeah, Young-Mi. Jeon Young-Mi. She took Jun-ki’s last name
because she didn’t have her own family until him. That’s what she told me.”

Jimin nibbles on his bottom lip, gazing out towards the empty and dimly lit parking lot. It’s a
common name. Bobby could have meant anyone -

“What is it, Jimin-ah?”

Jimin shrugs, letting out a quiet laugh. It sounds a bit hysterical and Yoongi’s frown deepens until he
looks like a grumpy old man.

“Jeongguk is going to kill Bobby.”

Despite his laugh, the words are hiccuped out like a sob.

There’s concern on Yoongi’s face as he takes Jimin’s hands into his own.

“He won’t, Jimin-ah. He might want to but he won’t.”

Jimin shakes his head. He’s too tired. He doesn’t want to cry because he can see his tears mirrored in
Yoongi’s eyes.

His heart hurts for Bobby and he’s pissed about it. Pissed that Yoongi has to see this too.
“You didn’t see him when he came to get Tae. He looked like he might murder Bobby then and he
has a whole Chinese fucking mafia behind his back apparently.”

Thumbs brush his tears away. “You know the only time I ever saw Jeongguk hurt anyone was
because they were hurting someone he loved. Me, actually. So he might fuck B up a bit, but Jimin,
he deserves it.”

Jimin shakes his head and rapidly rubs the heels of his hands to his eyes to rid the tears. “No, I know,
I know. I’m just so fucking exhausted.”

Yoongi hums, a soft sound like he’s trying to lull Jimin to sleep.

“It’s okay to care for him,” Yoongi whispers, looking genuine despite the tear that slips over his
eyelid. “I’ll make sure Guk doesn’t kill him.”

Jimin frowns as he slips from Yoongi’s lap, desperately wanting to crawl under the blankets that look
as if they’ll be scratchy and uncomfortable. But they need to do something, even if they can’t tell
Jeongguk all of it. Chung-Hoon can find they ran past Busan at any minute.

“I should - should call him, see if he knows anything about the drugs.”

Yoongi doesn’t let Jimin go far. He tangles their hands again, squeezing his fingers. “I know who to
call. We should call him anyway you know, in case.”

There’s a chill that covers Jimin the moment Yoongi pads off and he follows. He didn’t have the
chance to pack anything but Yoongi had. There’s a small suitcase on the edge of the bed that he digs
through as Yoongi calls someone. He sighs in contentment as he finds one of Yoongi’s sweaters and
he quickly lifts it over his head.

“Hyung. I’m sorry for the late hour but it’s important. Yeah. Well I’m both okay and not okay so
difficult question to answer.”

The blankets are as uncomfortable as they look but Jimin pulls them over his legs and to his chest
anyway as he watches Yoongi pace around the front of the bed. Yoongi looks at him here and there,
smiling softly.

Jimin doesn’t believe people have to deserve love but he wonders what he’s done to deserve
Yoongi’s. Yoongi wouldn’t have to deal with any of this if it wasn’t for him.

“So it is true?” Yoongi asks, glancing at Jimin. “Yeah I agree. I don’t want to be the one to tell Guk
but one of us needs to. Wait what do you mean?”

Jimin perks up and Yoongi hits speaker as he sits on the edge of the bed, his pack resting against
Jimin’s knees.

“I mean, I don’t fancy telling Jeongguk that Yunbok has fucking fentanyl laced Heroin in his lab,
Yoongs. Like any other drug would be bad yeah, but that’s what the driver was on. That’s ten times
worse.”

It’s Jin. He’s never heard Jin sound so devastated.

“The driver?” Jimin whispers, brows crunches in confusion as Yoongi slides a hand over his face
and holds it there.

“I’ll deal with it,” Yoongi murmurs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I need you to convince Guk to
take Tae and the kids, Eunae and Woojin too, somewhere. There’s eyes on him and it will look bad
if he suddenly disappears. Jimin and I leaving may, may cause some backlash. I can’t explain
everything now.”

Jimin curls around Yoongi’s back, resting his cheek to the back of his shoulder. He’s crying, softly
and his body shakes with it. It’s the worst of everything that has happened today; seeing Yoongi cry,
seeing pain in his eyes.

“You’re with Jimin?”

“Hi hyung,” Jimin says softly, pressing his chin to Yoongi’s shoulder as he rubs his back.

“Oh good,” Jin breathes, relieved. “Thank god, are you okay Minnie?”

Jimin sniffles, refusing to cry when Yoongi is. “Yeah, I’m perfect. How’re my babies?”

There’s noise in the background, a deep voice mumbling something that Jimin doesn’t recognize.

“Good. We’re in Osaka for a bit. Since those pictures of Woojin showed up I’ve been thinking about
leaving and with everything -”

like you threatening Yunbok, don’t leave that part out hyung -

“Who are you with?” Yoongi asks, tension in his voice. They were told to only use a burner phone
and it had made Jimin anxious. Anxious to trust anyone, especially with the news that there are
moles surrounding Jeongguk and that means Taehyung too.

They may be trying to take down Chung-Hoon, or Bobby, but Jimin and Taehyung have worked
closely with both. They could take them down just as easily. No one will care that they’re forced to
do the things they do; they’ll only care that they’ve done them.

“Namjoon,” Jin answers swiftly. “You can trust him, Yoongs. I trust him. And I didn’t threaten
Yunbok, I simply mentioned that Guk isn’t going to be happy if he finds out what he did to
Taehyung.”

The dread seeps into the air as Jimin pushes closer to the phone like it will make any difference.

“What did he do to Taehyung?” Yoongi asks as Jimin says, “why would you do that?”

There’s sweat hot on the back of Jimin’s neck. Yunbok is violent. He’s always been, that’s why he’s
always offered to take him on instead of Taehyung. That’s why he was so angry when he saw what
Yunbok did to Taehyung. It’s why he’s never understood how Bobby and Yunbok could be father
and son.

Bobby can be cruel because he’s forced to be, trying hard not to receive backlash from his father.
But Jimin would never truly call him cruel .

“Cause I saw,” Jin says angrily, hurt in his voice. “There was a picture okay? I saw. And all night I
thought about what Taehyung must have felt and he touched me and I thought about his hands on
Taehyung and I -”

His voice breaks off and the distant sound of Namjoon’s voice can be heard trying to soothe him.
Jimin presses his eyes closed, exhaling into Yoongi’s skin.

“We’re in Osaka,” Yoongi says, his voice the calm that Jimin needs. “We’ll meet up with you. But
one of us has to call Jeongguk because uh, there’s one more thing.”

It’s been hanging in the air quietly between them since the guards told them they couldn’t tell
Jeongguk. He had to believe it, had to believe Hoseok died.

“Chung-Hoon ordered Hoseok dead so, so we have to let Jeongguk believe it. Use that to get him to
Osaka, okay? The drugs don’t fucking matter. That’s one thing we can deal with later.”

It really isn’t, Jimin thinks. Chung-Hoon wants them, has already texted Yoongi’s normal phone
with directions to give to Hanbin.

Jimin thinks of the needles, of the high look in Bobby’s eyes and he wants to vomit.

“You need him to get Bobby here,” Jimin whispers. Yoongi grows tense beneath him. “Just, just get
Bobby here too.”

Jin goes to say something that sounds argumentative but Jimin is pulling away. There’s a sinking
feeling inside of him as he rolls over to think. He’s scared again though he isn’t exactly sure what he
is afraid of.

It’s only a few minutes later that a warm body is curling beside him, around him. His arms circling
Jimin’s waist and holding him close. “Sleep. We can’t do anything right now but sleep. Exhaustion
makes it harder to think.”

Yoongi’s fingers brush over the bandage and there’s tears wet at the back of his neck. He takes
Yoongi’s hand, curling it between his palm and holding it to his chest.

He’s right. There’s nothing they can do when their minds don’t even work right. And that’s what
Jimin is afraid of; watching his world and the people in it fall apart and not being able to do a thing
about it.

Jeongguk looks at the phone beside him, lit up with a string of messages from Jin. It’s unlike him to
request a vacation last minute but Jeongguk feels too guilty to complain. His father had been right;
he’s barely worked since Taehyung came around. He’s put too much on Jin and Jin is probably
dealing with the same Taehyung things as he is.

He sighs, flipping the phone over. It’s already late, late enough that using the excuse he was asleep
will work. He wishes he could sleep but there’s a pile of read letters on his nightstand that have kept
him awake.

The last one sits on his thighs, his name scribbled on the front glaring at him. He isn’t sure why this
one is the one he’s most nervous of. He’s read details about things to his mother that have made his
heart hurt, he’s read things that made him wonder why she goes between calling his father evil and
her savior.

He’s read letters to his father that felt too personal, letters to his son that have made him cry. He’s
read letters to her sisters; Kyungsoon and Yuri - Kitty, a name that rings familiar to him. He’s read
some to Jinju that have confused him.

Now he stares at one to him. The others have been addressed to her little bunny but they haven’t
made sense. This one is Jeongguk, my sweet Jeongguk .

He’s careful as he opens the envelope, terrified of ripping it. He wishes his mother were here, he
wishes Yoongi were here. He inhales deeply, shaking his head and mentally rolling his eyes at the
fear he has of some words.

To my sweet Jeongguk,

I have been sitting here for a few hours now trying to find a place to start. It's harder than I’ve
imagined. I cannot deal with the idea of leaving you without you knowing why, though I wish to not
leave you at all. It is a pain greater than I’ve ever felt before and I’ve felt quite a lot of pain in my
short life.

There is something that I have done that may cause me harm, but it is for good reason. Do not feel
guilt, it is too much to bear with the weight of pain that comes with losing a mother. I wish for you to
only feel the love that Ji-hu has brought you. I can see it in your eyes, even as you lay in front of me
asleep with him beside you.

I want to tell you my story, my sweet boy, in hopes that you understand what I have done.

My eighteenth year, the orphanage in which I was living was shut down. I was broken thinking I
would lose those whom I had grown up beside like sisters. They were younger, there was still hope
they could find homes even if it had always seemed impossible.

I was selfish and wanted them with me. When a man came to take the youngest into his home, I was
devastated. He saw this - and he offered me a place to live, a job, until I was able to provide a home
for Kyungsoon and Yuri myself.

Maybe it was my age that made me naive enough to believe that my prayers had been answered. I
do not regret my decisions as if I had chosen to go without them, then they would have gone through
a hell worse than what they were given. I protected them, kept them from being touched for as long
as I could.

His name was Kim Sungho, though I have heard he goes by something else now. He grew up
alongside your father, his family helped Jeon Tobacco become what it is today though the Kim
family has always been involved in a different type of drug. They’ve used their connections within
your father’s company, the company dollar to help fund the creation of the drugs they push
throughout the streets of Daegu, Seoul, and I’m afraid soon Busan.

Sungho doesn’t have as much of a hand in the drugs, but his evil is just as harmful. He sells bodies,
souls, takes away lives just as bad as drugs do. For a long time, he owned mine. I have shame
telling you this my sweet boy but I know your heart can take it.

For a period of my life, I was a prostitute. I slept with men I did not know, for money, to keep them
away from my girls, to just please Sungho because his anger was unbearable. I kept them safe for a
long time, trying to find a way out before Sungho brought our youngest, Kyungsoon, into this awful
life we lived.

When the opportunity arose, I was unsure and nearly unwilling. I did not want to believe my prayers
were being answered again. But they were - in the form of your father. He promised me often he
would take me away and Sungho would let him, but I would not leave Kyungsoon and Yuri.

I believe your father had a hand in this although the stubborn bastard denies it until this day. Not
soon after his proposal did a man arrive in our lives. He was an officer, a rookie cop that had gotten
himself into the investigation on Sungho. He was determined and passionate and I believed he would
get us safe for he took Kyungsoon away from Daegu, took her somewhere she could be free.
I needed to be safe, more so than before. Sungho wanted a heir to take over when he became too
feeble to lead. It had been a secret, his difficulty in getting women pregnant. No one knew he had his
dongsaengs sleeping with his chosen women to bring him a son. I knew, as I was one of them.

When I first felt the life inside of me, I knew and hoped my sisters would understand my need to
leave. Yuri didn’t. She wouldn’t leave, betray Sungho, and I could not let Yuri be arrested for the
crimes of Sungho.

My first child was taken from me the day after she was born. I begged and pleaded and it broke me
worse than I have been broken before. My pain meant nothing to anyone, as I had to lie with men
again in hopes of one day bringing the Kim family a boy.

I am ashamed to tell you that your father bought my freedom and betrayed many of his morals for
me. He promised to turn a blind eye to the Kim’s workings in his company, he promised that the
Kim’s would always have a place within his company and he promised that the second child in my
stomach would be raised to be the heir. I believe he thought it to be a compromise, a way for me to
not truly lose my child again.

It destroyed me worse than before when they took him. I still feel this pain today. Do not think of
your father as cruel for I was always going to lose the child. But your father brought me as close to
him as possible, turned a blind eye to me loving another man’s child and even loved him himself like
he was his own son.

I discovered Yuri would not turn on Sungho as she was with child herself. She felt Sungho would be
her best protection, she wanted the child to be heir, but neither Yuri nor I were ever his first choice. I
could give him child after child and it would not be enough for him. He didn't want Yuri to bare his
heir, so he refused her, but still her loyalty remained the same.

Shortly after your birth, I reunited with one of my sisters. Kyungsoon found me. She had not been
free. She told me how she fled with the officer, how she grew scared of betraying the only father she
had ever known but she hadn’t regretted it. She wanted my help, she wanted to get Sungho for good.

It was a long time before I knew why Kyungsoon felt this new passion. I refused to help, scared of
losing another son. I did not know our fear was the same. She had escaped, had a son of her own.
She needed my help in keeping him safe and I could not.

I wept for a long time when she found me again, her son in her arms. I was the unnie, supposed to
protect my family and I had failed her. Her stomach was empty and her limbs thin because she
could only feed one of them.

I help her flee, helped her find a new identity and hide from Sungho. She had to hide from me as
well, as your father and the Kim’s remained close. It broke my heart but this is one thing I do not
regret.

It was many years before I spoke to her and Yuri again. Much had changed. My pain had been
replaced with love. My worry went from every minute looking at your face to only when you slept. I
worried for your hyung, although I intervened with love and affection. I made him soft, and though I
do not regret this my sweet boy, it has caused many of the problems that plague me today.

Sungho did not want a soft boy. When I reunited with Yuri, she told me as much. She had been filled
with regret, with apology, with new understanding as her son had been given away. Her loyalty to
Sungho kept him from killing the boy, but she lost him all the same. She knew he was looking for
Kyungsoon again and we didn’t know how to stop him.
I did not worry for your safety. Your father had long assured you would be safe from harm. His
standing with the Kim brothers was a strong one. Your father has always believed himself to be
weak but I have seen him the day he made those men swear not to lay a finger on you and he had
their tails tucked between their legs.

When your father sent you to the States and I to Osaka, I worried. I worried we were once again in
danger and he was not telling me.

Your father announced his retirement for when you came of age. He bought the streets of Busan,
even abandoned buildings, he sold his soul to dangerous men and filled their pockets. I thought he
had gone mad, but it was insurance. If something were to happen to you once you took over the
company, it would be given to Min Jinju-ssi until your son was of age. The Kim’s would no longer
have access to their share of profit, their labs, their connections.

They would lose Busan, as your father gifted it all to your hyung. If something were to happen to
him, they would go to you and then Min Jinju-ssi.

I feared if they were take you before you had a child, his plan would fail. But you returned home
with a sweet boy and though relief is what I should have felt, it was not.

As I write this letter, I know your father is on the phone - not trusting his own insurance. He’s in
contact with evil men, but these evil men can protect you - Ji-hu. I am worried again that there is
something he is not telling me, that something is coming for us. But there is something I have not
told him as well.

It breaks my heart to write this knowing you may feel this pain soon. But I have a plan set in motion
my sweet boy. I have lost a sister, a baby sister, at the hands of Kim Sungho. I will not lose child to
him, not again.

Trust in your parents. I believe he will come for me soon, but trust in your Eomma that he will not
lay a finger on you, on your sweet boy. I have stolen something great from the Kim’s, something that
even my death will not grant them. If your father can secure his connections, the fear the Kim men
will have of you will be even greater.

I ask that you do not fear and you do not feel pain, although these are impossible tasks to be placed
upon you. Please forgive me as I ask one more. My death will be a great burden upon your father or
I would ask him. He is not a weak man for it, but your heart is stronger.

I wish to find the children of my sisters and send them to safety in case Sungho comes for them next.
It is why I have my home in Osaka. I have found one, his name is Park Jimin. He is in our hands
now, safe as he can be without growing suspicion. I am search of the others, Kyungsoon’s children,
but I cannot reach them without being seen.

Promise me, my little bunny, you will find them if I fail and bring them to Osaka until they are safe. I
have people who will help you, who you can trust. I have asked the same of your hyung, but he is
under the hands of the Kim family and it is a miracle that we were able to secure Jimin.

I have left a list of names of those who will help you, and a picture of Kyungsoon and her children. I
know I should not ask, but I do not know how long I have left.

I love you, my sweet boy, my Jeonggukkie. I am sorry that I have not told you the truth, but I have
given you everything else of me that is true. My love for you is a love I have never felt before and that
love is strong enough to hold on tight to you until your last breath. Be good my boy, remember to
always think with your heart. Take care of your Appa and love. Love and love until you can’t love
 any longer.

Jeongguk blinks away his tears, ignoring the ones that slip down his cheeks. He glances away from
the letter, the words blurry from his crying, to take in Taehyung’s sleeping form.

He sleeps with his mouth open and eyebrows clenched, his hand laid limp over Jeongguk’s thigh
after falling asleep drawing circles over his pants.

It should be overwhelming, but exhaustion hangs to him at the late hour. He doesn’t know what to
make of it all as he opens the envelope to retrieve the photograph inside.

Destiny , Jeongguk thinks, glancing again at his lover beside him before finding him in the
photograph. He’s younger, maybe seventeen, as Woojin is only a toddler in his lap. Eunae is in her
mother’s, her face so tiny and red as if she had been born only a few days prior.

“I found him Eomma,” Jeongguk whispers into the night air. “He’s safe.”

Chapter End Notes

hello hi feedback is begged for ily

@taehcheeks
 Chapter 21
Chapter Notes

Hiiii!! Hello! This is quite long so hopefully it makes up for the time between updates
(25k)

I've gotten questions about how long this will be and I'm thinking four more chapters,
but my chapters are getting longer and longer so I'm not quite positive. This chapter and
the next are the climax though so after that will be closing in on the end, I'll talk more
after that so I don't spoil anything.

There will be discussion / implication of child abuse when it comes to Chung-Hoon. I'm
not descriptive with it, but please be safe with reading and don't hesitate to ask me if you
have any questions. Also, if you ever find that i have not tagged something properly,
please let me know. Thank you!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

A few months before his mother died, a few days after Jeongguk had come home with Ji-hu, he had
woken up to her sitting on the porch outside of his family’s home. She had a blanket covering her
shoulders although the air hadn’t been too cold, a hot cup of tea in her hands and a look in her eyes
that had worried Jeongguk.

As far as he can remember, she was always smiling. Even then, when she pat his hand and asked
him to feel the air. The morning air, my little bun, it always tells you when something is going to
happen.

She always said strange things like that, like she believed in so much more than what they knew of
life. Jeongguk didn’t understand at the time, though he had never said. He wonders if something had
happened that day.

He wonders if he understands now, what she means. The morning air. It feels like that time in the
night, when it’s so late and quiet that you feel as if you’re the only one in the world awake. It feels
like when you wake up on the day of something you’ve been impatiently waiting for.

It feels more than a morning should.

It feels like the morning his mother died.

That day, there had been a knot of dread in his chest that had no source. It left him on edge, tensing
whenever he answered the phone.

It was the reason there were tears in his eyes the moment he heard Yoongi say his name when he got
the phone call that day.

Jeongguk sighs, wishing he had a balcony to walk out onto as he sits on the edge of the kitchen
counter. Coffee brews behind him, filling the kitchen with the smell of it. He doesn't like coffee, but
it reminds him of his mother, of Yoongi.

He scratches at his chin, staring at the sun peeking out between the buildings in his view.
It feels like the morning Ji-hu came home.

That day, Jeongguk could identify the source of the knot in his chest. Seeing Grace, seeing Ji-hu. Ji-
hu becoming his.

His mother had stayed the night at his new home, waking him up to a table filled with food for
breakfast and her fingers soft when she caressed his hair like she did whenever he needed comfort.

The morning air felt like waking up on your first day of vacation, waking up in a place that you’re
not used to.

Those two moments changed everything in his life; one good and one bad. That’s how Jeongguk
feels, with everything that’s happened the night before and over the last few months with Taehyung.
He wonders if that is what his mother had meant - though he isn’t sure what had changed for her.

He thinks of the photograph. He should have been jarred when he spotted Taehyung’s familiar face,
when he realized destiny had a little more to do with it than Jeongguk thought. But he just felt - he
feels like a kid again, rushing home to show off his high marks.

His mother wanted him to find Taehyung and the kids, and he hadn’t known, but he did anyway. He
wonders if she would be proud, relieved. If she would be disappointed with him that he hadn’t found
Taehyung sooner, that Jeongguk hasn’t been successful in making him happy. That he hasn’t been
able to protect Woojin fully.

Jeongguk breathes deeply, until his lungs feel as if they’re being filled with coffee beans. Someone
had helped her find Jimin. He wonders if it had been Bobby. The thought of it settles oddly inside of
his chest. There’s too many questions that come with it and Jeongguk wonders if that’s why the
morning feels the way it does.

Jarring, because he has a brother out there, a brother his mother has never spoken to him about until
that letter and she hadn’t bothered to mention a name.

The clues are there, enough for the name to be at the front of Jeongguk’s mind but it isn’t settling
with his thoughts well. His father assured that his mother would watch the boy grow, and it can’t be
Yoongi. Jinju and Yoongi are identical and -

The idea of his mother being forced to sleep with men to give Sungho a child makes an anger like
he’s never felt curl inside of him. He has a handful of them and only one works so closely beside
Jeongguk.

Only one has a child that grew with his mother’s hands guiding him.

He calls Yoongi a few times as he waits for Taehyung to wake up. There’s things he needs to take
care of, but he doesn’t want to disappear on Taehyung like he had the other day. It goes to voicemail
each time and the feeling in the air worsens, the dread knotted in his chest becoming uncomfortable.
His attempts at drinking coffee stop and he searches out the only thing to make him feel more
comfort than both his mother and Yoongi combined.

There had been anger and hurt in his heart, but the moment the tiny bundle that was Ji-hu had been
placed in his arms, he hadn’t felt any of it. That feeling was overwhelming and he had cried until he
worried Ji-hu may drown under his tears. He forgot about Grace, who lingered about with tears in
her own eyes as she handed him off. He forgot about the lectures he had gotten from his parents
about becoming a father before he established himself in the company and having a child with a
woman who was not his wife. He forgot about his fear that he was now going to raise a person, an
actual human, by himself.

Jeongguk can’t forget his problems as easily now, but he still feels that same comfort when he walks
into Ji-hu’s room and takes in his sleeping face. He has an arm curled tight around a doll his mother
had made for Jeongguk when he was a boy; the rabbit from Winnie the Pooh that is now so tattered
and even missing an eye.

He wonders what it had been like for his mother, giving birth to a child and experiencing that
overpowering feeling of love, just to have them ripped from her hands.

Jeongguk wonders what it felt like for her to watch her child grow up as someone else’s son, to be
raised like and by the men that abused her throughout her life.

Jeongguk wonders how she became the woman he knew as the one who always smiled, even when
she was sad looking, she was smiling.

Jeongguk wonders how it felt for Grace to place Ji-hu into his arms, turn around and leave him
behind.

He feels separated from himself but more whole than before. Not that he felt like he was missing
something, but he has a better understanding of his mother.

A better understanding of why she loved Bobby so strongly.

It’s information that he isn’t sure what to do with. He doesn’t feel lied to, but he isn’t happy that his
parents never told him. He wants to confront his father and Bobby so he can know if his thoughts are
true, but he also wants to forget that he found out.

It’s too much information, really. His parents, Taehyung’s mother, his brother, a sister. He focuses
all on the most important part of his mother’s letters; her need to keep him and Ji-hu safe.

It just sits with him, lulling around inside like a numbing agent had been given to him alongside the
plethora of information. What did she do? She said she was to explain but she really hadn’t and the
way the letter is unsigned, he wonders if she had been cut off from writing.

Taehyung wakes while Jeongguk watches his son sleep, mind running over thoughts of him being in
danger and him never knowing it. He wishes his mother were here so she can tell him what to look
for, what to do, who he should protect Ji-hu from.

What did his mother mean when his father was on the phone looking to protect them further?

What is Jeongguk supposed to do about the fact that he promised Taehyung he’d never make him be
around someone who hurt him, yet one of those people could be Jeongguk’s brother ?

He quickly pushes the thought from his brain as it turns into something sour as he watches his son.
He doesn’t know what he’d do if he were in his mother’s position but there’s a dark thought in his
mind that almost makes him feel angry at her for letting her son be raised that way.

It isn’t fair and Jeongguk wishes he could punch his brain for even making him think it.

He wishes he could take his entire brain out of his head for an hour or so, just to grant himself some
peace from his busy mind.

“You okay?”
Jeongguk looks up to find Taehyung leaning against the doorframe, everything about him soft from
the messy hair around his head to the fluffy socks on his feet. Jeongguk nods, easing himself from
the bed as not to wake Ji-hu.

“Yeah, just thinking.”

Taehyung cocks a brow, a hesitant smile on his lips as he lets Jeongguk into his space. “Your
mother’s letters?”

Brushing the tips of his fingers over Taehyung’s cheeks, Jeongguk hums. He likes how Taehyung
looks in the morning, his eyes swollen and heavy with lingering sleep. There are hand prints on his
cheeks from where he had a hand trapped underneath and against Jeongguk’s chest and Jeongguk
traces them, smiling softly at the fact that he gets to see Taehyung like this.

“Don’t think differently of her.”

It’s whispered, spoken with hesitancy and Jeongguk frowns. He traces Taehyung’s lips, rubbing at
the corners of his mouth when he finds his smile has turned downwards.

The morning feels heavy. Jeongguk just can’t decide if it feels good or foreboding.

“I’m not,” Jeongguk murmurs as he pushes the corners of Taehyung’s lips up. It works in gaining a
genuine smile, his lips tugging back into that boxy grin that makes Jeongguk’s heart do jumping
jacks in his chest. “Though I think I might understand you a little better.”

Taehyung’s lips part like he might argue but Jeongguk kisses him quiet. It’s a gentle kiss, just their
lips brushing over another, Jeongguk’s thumbs rubbing over Taehyung’s cheek bones as Taehyung’s
fingers curl loosely around his hips.

They kiss until Jeongguk has melted into him, the touch and taste of Taehyung calming the storm of
anxiety that’s waiting to go off inside him before it does. Though the kiss remains gentle,
Taehyung’s breathing is labored when Jeongguk pulls away enough that their noses still touch.

His mother had been wary of believing something good was happening to her, the same way
Taehyung had admitted to being with him. It had hurt Jeongguk watching the conflict on his face
when he explained and Jeongguk wonders if his mother’s words will help him.

He wonders if his mother ever got rid of that wariness and could fully trust his father. He wonders if
Taehyung will ever believe that he can fully trust him.

Jeongguk wonders and wonders, thinks and thinks. His mind spins so fast, it must be the cause to the
heavy feel in the air. The tension in his body and mind seeping out and filling the empty space
around him.

“Not like, saying your experiences or feelings are the same, I have no idea,” Jeongguk whispers,
tickling his fingers from Taehyung’s cheek to his neck. He feels his pulse, the steady beat of it a sign
that he is alive and breathing and truly existing right in front of him. “But things she said reminded
me of you. You can read them if you want.”

Taehyung shutters out a breath when Jeongguk replaces his touch with his lips, gently kissing over
Taehyung’s neck. It’s an innocent kiss, a quiet apology, a promise to never be one who hurts him.

The neck is a vulnerable area; it means a lot that Taehyung allows him to touch him there when
Taehyung’s experienced just how vulnerable it is.
Jeongguk frowns, nuzzling against Taehyung’s neck. He hates how his thoughts are everywhere,
and how easily he goes from feeling warm to his whole body stiffening as he thinks about how his
mother’s neck broke during the accident that took her life.

“No, Gukkie baby, that’s your Eomma. Those are private.”

“I think you should read them. I think she would want you to,” Jeongguk insists, caging Taehyung
against the hallway wall with an arm leaning beside his head. He’s lightheaded, addicted to the
feeling of Taehyung beside him like this. “There’s some things she said that I want to talk about but I
don’t know how.”

Understanding fills Taehyung’s expression and makes it soften. It’s true, that is one of the reasons
Jeongguk wants him to read, but the other is because maybe he’ll find peace in their similarity.

Maybe he’ll find comfort in knowing there was someone trying to protect him.

Maybe it’ll help Jeongguk tell Taehyung that Bobby might be his brother because he doesn’t know if
he can say the words out loud.

“Ji-hu,” Taehyung breathes, nudging his head to the mostly closed bedroom door. “He’ll wake up
soon.”

“Just kissing,” Jeongguk says, lowering his lips over Taehyung’s but hesitating if Taehyung truly
doesn’t want to.

Taehyung nods, a sigh rolling off his tongue before he tilts his head and connects their lips again. It’s
just as gentle but Taehyung’s fingers aren’t. They grip so tightly into the material around his hips that
Jeongguk is worried it might rip. He doesn’t acknowledge it but he eases back enough that he’s no
longer trapping Taehyung to the wall, giving him room to pull away if he needs to.

He doesn’t, but instead pulls Jeongguk back close to him, licking into his mouth with a sigh that has
Jeongguk’s heart growing too big for his chest.

There’s too much unfolding that Jeongguk isn’t sure how to feel. There’s too much in his life that
just doesn’t make sense, moments he looks back onto and wonders how he missed it all. But this -
the feeling in his chest, the feeling of Taehyung, Jeongguk is sure of how to feel.

It feels too right to let go of it; the one thing keeping Jeongguk grounded when he feels as if he might
succumb to all the confusion and lose his mind.

It feels right, a bit like destiny, coming into his life when Jeongguk’s normal support systems can’t
hold him together. Yoongi and Hoseok are gone off, keeping themselves afloat in a pool of their own
burdens, but Taehyung is still here, securing his hands onto to Jeongguk to keep him from breaking
even if he doesn’t intend on being that person for Jeongguk.

“Guk,” Taehyung breathes, pulling back from the kiss with a wet sound. “Ji-hu.”

Jeongguk presses his forehead to Taehyung, trying to catch his breath before he untangles himself
with one last quick kiss to Taehyung’s swollen lips.

His heart pounds loud against his ear drums but he can still hear Ji-hu’s daily routine of saying good
morning to his favorite plushies. Taehyung keeps him there for a moment, eyes searching his face
before his grip finally relaxes.

“I have some work today,” Jeongguk hums, “if you and Ji-hu want to spend the day together. If not,
Seokmin-ssi can watch him.”

“No, I can,” Taehyung says, smiling softly before he ducks quickly away. “There’s the sleepy boy.”

It feels right watching Taehyung bend to Ji-hu’s level and hold his cheeks, shaking them gently until
Ji-hu’s sleep heavy eyes open. Ji-hu giggles, his hand instantly going up to play with Taehyung’s
hair.

In the moment, it feels like the only truth in Jeongguk’s life. The air feels heavy, the morning
signaling something to come, but Jeongguk focuses on the warmth in his chest and the sight of Ji-hu
nuzzling his face into Taehyung’s chest.

There’s a heaviness in the air. It smells like rain but the sun shines too brightly above, not a cloud in
sight. It feels as if it’s late in the night, the time of night when the city feels dead and empty, but it’s
the early hours of the morning. Just before the city wakes up and becomes busy and filled with life.

The moisture in the air clogs Yoongi’s lungs, or maybe it’s the smoke he tries to inhale.

Maybe it’s the guilt, spurred on by the warmth of Jimin’s skin and the reminder it’s now marred and
claimed because of Yoongi.

Yoongi wonders why his brain keeps reminding him of it. Maybe it’s his punishment for causing it;
his brain torturing him with images of it.

“Hm?” Jimin hums, quirking a brow at him. He sits with his knees pulled up, an arm propped over
them and his chin on top. He reaches out with his other arm, gently playing with the ripped pants on
Yoongi’s knees. The ground they sit on is dirty, but so are they. The hotel has barely any water
pressure and the water it spits out is too brown for Yoongi’s liking. “What is it?”

Yoongi flicks his cigarette, uninterested in it. It’s just a habit, a craving for comfort. But his fingers
aren’t itching for the comfort of the filter, but for the comfort of Jimin. Yoongi resists the craving,
despite it being harder to do. There’s a heaviness about Jimin too. “Nothing?”

Jimin wrinkles his nose before rolling his eyes but there isn’t anything judgmental in his gaze. “Are
you going to tell him?”

“No.”

Gentle fingers on his knee bone, a wrinkle in Jimin’s forehead as his eyes widen in a way that makes
Yoongi’s ache. It isn’t in surprise, but pain.

“You have to tell him.”

Jimin’s like that; making things seem simple even when they aren’t. Yoongi has always appreciated
the strength because he’s needed to leech off of it just to do what he needs to do before.

“Yeah, I also have to tell him Hoseok died and I can’t fucking do that even though it’s not true,”
Yoongi huffs, an edge to his voice. “How am I supposed to tell him this?”

More guilt fills him as Jimin gives him a hard look, eyes narrowing. He tugs on the ripped jeans,
pulling Yoongi’s leg down so his foot pushes into him.

There have been times when Yoongi’s doubted Jimin’s loved him the same but he’s really always
known. It’s in the smallest of things, in the way they cling to the other, in the way Jimin takes
Yoongi’s rare snapping at him even when Yoongi should be bowing before him and asking for
forgiveness.

“If he finds out about Hoseok from someone else, we’ll know they believed us,” Jimin says softly,
eyes growing warm and searching and Yoongi knows he knows it isn’t just that. “But Bobby? You
need to tell him about Bobby. But don’t say anything about his mother. We don’t know if it’s true
yet.”

Yoongi doesn’t respond as he glances at the sky. Not a cloud, though Yoongi feels surrounded by
them.

There’s something in Jimin’s eyes when he mentions what Bobby could have done. It’s a sadness
that Yoongi doesn’t quite understand. He can’t think about Jimin and Bobby.

Thinking about Jimin and Bobby makes Yoongi think of how everyone Jimin has loved has hurt
him. It makes him feel nauseous, thinking how Jimin so easily forgives Yoongi for putting him in
danger and causing him pain because that’s what he’s used to from people he cares about.

The way Jimin had looked at the fried skin on his hip this morning, in the dingy mirror of the motel’s
bathroom, Yoongi knows that even a good reasoning, a good explanation for why it happened, it
isn’t enough. Yoongi saw Jeongguk after his mother died, he doesn’t want Jeongguk to have to go
through that again if he doesn’t have to. He can’t call Jeongguk because he’ll ruin all of it.

And Bobby? Telling Jeongguk what Hoseok thinks without knowing for sure will be more
unnecessary pain.

Yoongi doesn’t know what to do about the fact that he doesn’t want to tell Jeongguk because he
thinks Jeongguk will kill Bobby and it will make the sadness in Jimin’s eyes grow.

“Hyung.”

There isn’t much around them, the motel they are staying in one of the most secluded that Hoseok
could find. There’s barely any cars in the parking lot and Yoongi has been chain smoking for hours
and hasn’t seen a single person.

It makes him antsy. It’s easier to blend in with a crowd.

“Yoongi.”

Yoongi turns to Jimin, sniffling his nose as he pushes up straight. He lights another cigarette. The
way smoke makes his chest tight is easier to deal with than the way Jimin makes his chest feel.
“Jimin-ah.”

Jimin smiles softly, blinking the dew from his eyes a few times. “Come here.”

And for the first time ever, Yoongi doesn’t want to. He’s afraid of touching him, of seeing him
wince, of having to keep thinking about that Yoongi’s now a reason that he hurts.

Jimin doesn’t wait for him to move but moves instead like he knows. He probably does. He pushes
down Yoongi’s other leg before sliding onto his lap and taking the cigarette from his hand to stomp it
out.

There’s guilt inside of him that makes him afraid to touch Jimin, but he’s weak and can’t resist when
Jimin folds his hands over Yoongi’s cheeks and he kisses him.
It’s tender, slow. Honey drips through Yoongi’s veins, heat coating his skin as Jimin’s fingers slip
over his nape and tangle into his hair. He sighs when Jimin deepens the kiss, lips parting and mouth
opening as easily as his chest did to allow Jimin to steal his heart all those years ago.

Jimin traces his tongue over Yoongi’s teeth. He sucks and nibbles on Yoongi’s bottom lip until the
only thing Yoongi can think about is Jimin, Jimin, Jimin . Gentle words are whispered into his
mouth between sighs and sharp exhales. A pinch of pain finds it’s way to Yoongi’s neck from the
way Jimin keeps his head craned back, but he refuses to move away.

He doesn’t know how long they stay there like that but Yoongi is breathless and his lips feel swollen
when Jimin pulls away. He doesn’t move far thankfully, only rests their foreheads together and lets
his own harsh breathing mix in with Yoongi’s.

“You’re an idiot.”

“So you’ve said.”

Jimin wrinkles his nose as he pulls back an inch to scan Yoongi's face. He reaches between them,
shifting a palm over Yoongi’s torso where his tattoo is hidden beneath his clothes.

“We’re alive.” It’s whispered, brushed against Yoongi’s lips. “And we’re together.”

It’s something that should make an easiness settle over Yoongi, something that should make him feel
relieved . But it’s in the air, the storm floating above that’s ready to fall down onto them at any
moment.

“Stop looking at me with guilt in your eyes.”

It’s quieter than a whisper and when Yoongi tries to pull his head back, Jimin’s fingers knot into his
hair and he refuses to let him move.

“You could have gotten killed,” Jimin murmurs, eyes wide and unwavering where they gaze down
at him. “So I’m pissed at you. Not because of this. I’d let that bastard brand every inch of my skin if
it meant kept him from touching you.”

“Jimin,” Yoongi huffs, chest tight.

Everyone calls Yoongi stubborn. Jimin is the first to laugh and joke about it. But it’s Jimin that’s
stubborn. He’s missing the point. The point is to stop anyone from hurting him, from touching him.

“And I’m tired of crying,” Jimin whispers like a secret. His face breaks out into a smile but it’s sad.
The fingers in his hair loosen to trail down Yoongi’s cheek, chasing after the tear he didn’t let go.
“We need to be happy that we’re together in case we don’t get to be for long.”

Yoongi swallows, nodding. He doesn’t want to think about it but it’s true. They’re running a bit
blind here and anything could happen, but Yoongi is running beside Jimin with their hands
intertwined and it would take cutting his arm off to separate them.

And even then, Yoongi doesn’t think it’d be successful.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

Jimin softens, his body relaxes as he nods. He tickles over Yoongi’s tattoo, fingers slotting in the dips
of his ribcage. The smile on his face seems more genuine now.
“Gukkie has always gone on this thing about destiny,” Yoongi says, twirling his fingers in the air
and around the word. “It’s bullshit but sometimes I think about it, and about you, and how I met you
right before the worst year of my life.”

Jimin’s weight is a comfort in his lap. He smells of cheap soap because Jimin doesn’t care about the
quality of water when he’s dirty and Yoongi’s cigarettes and nothing like he usually does but Yoongi
wants to inhale until he’s choking on Jimin.

“If I hadn’t asked you to move in as quickly as I did I would have been alone when I found out
about Young-Mi, about Eomma being fired. When I found out I couldn’t get into that school, you
remember? I wouldn’t have made it through without you.”

Jimin shifts from Yoongi’s lap until he’s more comfortable, keeping a leg over Yoongi’s thigh and
his body curled around his side.

“I’m glad Hoseok agreed to let you move in. He didn’t even know you and -”

“He did,” Jimin says quietly. He rests his chin on Yoongi’s shoulder and Yoongi feels satiated, a
little of his nerves at peace for the time being. “We met when I was at uh, work. He introduced
himself as J-Hope and I remembered you always whining about ‘ Jimin-ah, he keeps calling himself
J-Hope Too Dope. ’”

Yoongi laughs. It’s a contagious feeling, undoing the last knots in his chest and he bends forward,
laughing against Jimin’s knee until his chest aches.

It isn’t a time to laugh, not with everything going on, but Yoongi thinks that makes it the perfect
time.

Jimin giggles beside him, weighing down onto Yoongi and Yoongi feels like he could suffocate but
it’s good. It’s so good.

It’s only for a minute, the laughter dying when J-Hope Too Dope himself pops his head out of their
hotel room’s door with a serious expression on his face.

“Maybe Guk is right about the destiny thing,” Yoongi whispers, admiring the light in Jimin’s eyes.
He’s missed it and he’s desperate to make sure Jimin never loses it. “Who knows.”

Jimin presses a kiss to his nose. “Don’t think too hard about it. There’s already too much to think
about. Destiny or not, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is I’m in love with you, Min
Yoongi and finding you was the best part of my life.”

Yoongi breathes in, his lungs feeling too small to hold the amount of oxygen he needs to deal with
Jimin’s words. For a moment, he can pretend that it’s the only thing that matters. That Jimin, being
with Jimin, is the only thing that matters.

“And when this is all over,” Jimin goes on, whispering quietly with eyes so wide it reminds Yoongi
of a puppy that’s being scolded. “When this is all over, you and I are going to be somewhere far
from all of this, being together the way we should be.”

A smile softens the tension in Yoongi’s mouth and he nods, reaching between them to tickle under
Jimin’s chin, wanting to pull him in for a kiss. “I love you, Park Jimin.”

Jimin’s eyes wrinkle around the corners when he smiles and he touches Yoongi’s rib cage again,
where the same words are inked on his skin.
It had been a dare. Hoseok’s fault. Yoongi pretended like it was a great deal; tattooing someone’s
name onto his skin. But even if Jimin were to leave him and never see him again, Yoongi wouldn’t
mind. It’s one of the biggest truths in his life and being away from Jimin would never change that.

Even if Jimin were to choose Bobby and attempt to hand him back his heart, his heart would always
stick with him and the words on Yoongi’s skin will remain true.

“Mun’s here,” Hoseok announces as Yoongi cocks his head forward to close the space between him
and Jimin. He’s nervous again suddenly and Jimin keeps hold of his hands like he knows.

“He’s gonna help,” Yoongi promises though he has no idea. Jimin nods, accepting the promise that
he shouldn’t be making.

“Don’t mention Tae,” Hoseok whispers as he holds the door for him. “Jooheon mentioned wanting
to find him and it just - until I find out why, just don’t mention him. The only people that can be fully
trusted are us three, got it?”

“And Jeongguk,” Yoongi adds.

He doesn’t like the way Hoseok hesitates, even if he ends up nodding.

The hotel room is small, appearing more so with the six of them crammed inside. Jooheon and
Changkyun stand by the windows, the curtains drawn closed. Hoseok stays beside them, body tense
and eyes narrowed suspiciously at the newcomer.

He’s younger than Yoongi had expected; maybe in his late forties. His hair is peppered gray, his
mustache thin over his lips. His brows are thick, standing out amongst his fine features and the
wrinkles around his eyes are the only thing that indicate he is older. He stands immediately, hand out
as Yoongi approaches.

“Mun Woojin,” he greets with a tense smile. Yoongi is reluctant to let Jimin’s hand go but he does,
wanting to be strong for Jimin.

Jimin’s always been stronger but he falters beside Yoongi, making himself small where he presses
into his side. Yoongi knows for once it’s Jimin who needs the strength and he needs to give it to him.

“Min Yoongi.”

The smile grows on Mun’s face. It’s friendly enough. “Min Jinju-ssi’s son, yes? You look like her.”

His eyes flicker to Jimin and Jimin clutches the back of Yoongi’s shirt so hard it grows tight around
his chest.

“I think you should explain first,” Yoongi says, wanting his eyes off of Jimin. “What it is that you
want and what it is that you can do to help us? Kitty said you would.”

Mun nods, retreating as he sits back on the table made to hold their suitcases. Yoongi guides Jimin to
the edge of the bed, hating the way Jimin makes himself small.

He’s seen Jeongguk in boss mode enough that he thinks he can channel some of that energy. He’s
seen him in deals, unwavering and borderline cruel looking to anyone that doesn’t know him.
Yoongi wants to be that kind of intimidating, a shield between Jimin and Mun.

“I can. I can help you flee, if you wish. I can make sure neither of you become involved when we
take down Sungho.” He glances at Jimin again, lips parted as if he is searching for something to say.
“If you help me, Jimin-ssi, you’ll have immunity. Your involvement with The Family is great and I
can assure that you will not face repercussions because of it.”

“The Family?” Hoseok asks, arms crossed over his chest as he glares at the detective. Yoongi can’t
tell what he thinks of him and Yoongi doesn’t trust his own nerves to decide.

Part of him always knew Jimin could get into a lot of trouble for the things he’s done, but he’s
always buried those worries. A lot of it has been forced upon Jimin. It wouldn’t be fair if he had to
be punished for it.

“Sungho is one of four brothers. He is in charge of them all, but they’re spread out amongst different
cities. We refer to them as the Family because of this,” Mun explains carefully. He talks with his
hands, holding them together like a prayer and opening them constantly like he too is nervous. “And
because that is how Sungho refers to himself and those most important in his operation. I have been
trying to take down Sungho for the better part of twenty years now. Because of his connections and
the fact that he doesn’t directly stick his hand into anything has made it difficult. There are no paper
trails. Every time we find a name that he may be using, it’s gone. He’s had people infiltrate our
department, destroy evidence, it’s been a tiresome chase. We’ve had our fingers in the grasp of
people he considers part of the Family, but we’ve lost them.”

Mun lifts a briefcase on the floor to beside him to open it. The inside is filled with folders. His suit is
wrinkled like it had been shoved inside a bag and hastily pulled out and on. Staring closely, Yoongi
sees the bags under his eyes and there’s more wrinkles around his mouth that he hadn’t noticed
before.

“Too many are afraid to speak out against him or they don’t trust our promise of immunity and
anonymity. For a long time, I gave up. But I was approved of another investigation, an undercover
operation. These things take a horrible amount of time. My men have to rise in ranks and build trust
and if there’s one thing Sungho does not do, that’s trust anyone. So my men have aimed for the trust
of those most important to Sungho. That’s where you come along.”

“I am not following?” Jimin interrupts, his voice low as he circles an arm through Yoongi’s and
squeezes. “We may not be able to help. I don’t know who would be referred to as the Family.”

Jimin looks to Yoongi as if to confirm his words, but Yoongi doesn’t know.

“I am sure you can help me,” Mun says. “I have a list of the Family in here. You know more of them
than you realize. Just as you know many of my men because they’re keeping their eye on one of the
most important members. The man who I know just happens to be heads over heels for you.”

Yoongi is unsure if it’s his own body that grows tense or if it’s Jimin’s, but it makes the air tense
around them. Mun realizes, throwing his hands up in apology.

“I don’t mean to overstep. But Kim Bobby is the only heir to Sungho’s empire. Who would you say
he cares the most about?”

Jimin doesn’t say anything for a minute. Such a long that moment that both Yoongi and Hoseok
fidget to tell Mun off for upsetting him.

“It isn’t me,” Jimin says with confidence. “You want me to get information out of Bobby? My
mother said you would protect him."

Mun shakes his head quickly, hands still in the air. There’s scars on his palms that Yoongi had
thought were just the normal lines that take over one’s palms. “You misunderstand me. Bobby has
my full protection, but he's refused to comply.”

Mun offers a manila folder to Jimin, eyes intent on Jimin to take it but it’s Yoongi who takes it and
holds it until Jimin is ready to take it himself. He doesn’t think Jimin is ready to let go of him yet and
Yoongi understands the feeling.

“What else?” Hoseok asks when Jimin doesn’t reply.

“I need what you know of anything, really. A testimony, anonymous if you wish, of what you’ve
seen and had been forced to do. I need anything you can give me on Kim Hanbin.”

Yoongi wrinkles his nose, glancing at Hoseok. It should be him taking charge here but it feels like
it’s on Yoongi; the least involved, the least knowledgeable about these things. But Hoseok remains
quiet, his face a brick and eyes like daggers.

“He’s not as involved,” Jimin says quietly, eyes on the manila folder. “He helps with bank accounts
and his company is used as a cover for a lot of the money coming in, a cover for the club’s profits.
All of the employees are listed as trainees under B.B.E, including myself.”

Mun frowns at this, his elbows digging into his knees as he holds his folded hands beneath his chin.
Yoongi’s breath gets stuck in his lungs and his heart thuds painfully in his chest. It’s something he
didn’t know - even working so closely with B.B.E.

He wonders if Jimin would have ever told him. Yoongi’s seen the list of trainees before, watched
some of their videos as Hanbin spoke with him about debuting another group.

It makes the guilt still inside of Yoongi overflow and he can’t look at Jimin though he feels Jimin’s
eyes on him.

“We believe the youngest Kim brother, Yunbok, works with Hanbin. We've discovered he's been
using Jeon Tobacco to smuggle drugs out in the form of cigars. There’s been an influx of drugs
amongst the street of Busan; but especially Heroin. The bags are branded with a wave, like an ocean
wave. It’s the same that is used on the label of Mr. Kim’s record label.”

Heat prickles at Yoongi’s neck and he feels Jimin squeeze harder around him. He doesn’t want to
think about Jimin being branded the same way. He wants to tell Mun what Jin had told him, what
Sungho had told him, but he doesn’t want to offer him any information yet.

“The drugs and whatever you can give me about his crimes against you, can bring Sungho to prison
for a long time. He deserves to be there for the rest of his life and I don’t care if we have to charge
him with a handful of petty crimes to get him there. Also, if you have access to any of the files at the
Minx.”

Yoongi finds that he agrees, but there’s a hesitancy inside of him. If Mun wants to get Sungho on
drugs, he could get Jeongguk too - if what Sungho said about them being in his company is true.
Kim Yunbok and Jeon Jun-ki are close like Yoongi and Jeongguk are. Yoongi wonders if Mun is
planning, or would plan, to take down the Jeon’s too just to get his hands on Sungho.

Or if he thinks the Jeons have something to do with it all.

“So that’s all you want? Information?” Yoongi asks. “Your men over there told us you wanted letters
too; letters written by Jeon Young-Mi.”

Yoongi hears Hoseok exhale sharply as Mun hesitates, lips pressing tightly together before he
speaks.
“That’s correct. I had worked with Young-Mi when I first started on the original investigation against
Sungho. She was close to providing me with information that could take Sungho down but she
backed out shortly before she married Jeon Jun-ki.”

There’s nothing in Mun’s expression that shows distaste, but Yoongi wonders. His foot taps against
the ground as he thinks and he can feel Jimin’s eyes on him again.

“How do you know about them? The letters?” Hoseok pushes.

Mun gestures towards the folder Yoongi holds. He looks at Jimin too often, and the threat of Jimin
possibly going down in this investigation hangs in the air. “Jimin, do you know much about your
mother’s early times with Sungho? When she first started working with him?”

Jimin shakes his head and takes the folder but he only sits it in his lap.

“Of her sisters?”

“No. My mother and I don’t share much.”

Suddenly, Mun looks tired but he forces himself to perk up and rest back against the wall behind
him. “I’ll tell you everything I know. Information in exchange for information. It’s important for you
to know, for you to know that none of you are here by coincidence. And hopefully it will help me
gain your trust. I promise to be completely transparent about everything I require from you.”

Hoseok, with his face scrunched in a look that makes even Yoongi feel intimidated, takes the folder
from Jimin, stretching across Yoongi to do so. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that is all you want, that
that’s all it takes for you to clear a history of crime like Jimin’s, like Bobby’s, from their names. Why
are you so determined to take down Sungho?”

With a glance at the contents of the folder, Hoseok frowns at Mun until he responds.

“When I first started this investigation, I was too young to be apart of it but my captain at the time
thought my age to be perfect. All of Sungho’s lackeys we’re young, his prostitutes young. He
thought my age would help me build a better trust amongst his girls. It did.”

Mun rubs his thick eyebrow for a second, frowning. “Her name was Kyungsoon. I would sit with
her at a cafe close by the club, the one Yoongi’s mother worked at for some time. I did for weeks,
talking to her about nothing until the conversation started as something. She invited me to the club, it
was the in that I needed. I was a fake client and she trusted me, easily. She looked like a grown
woman but she was only fifteen, though I did not know that at the time. Children, they’re trusting.
Especially children that have been deprived of the love they should have had.

“Kyungsoon had fallen into the hands of Sungho earlier than that. She had no family, no home, only
her two unnies that she had grown up beside like sisters. They were terrifying, not as trusting. I
considered quitting the first time I met the eldest, who nearly broke my finger just for looking at
Kyungsoon.”

“Young-Mi,” Hoseok interrupts, pulling a photograph from the folder. It’s a very young Young-Mi,
maybe twenty or so. Yoongi finds himself looking for Bobby in her face instead of Jeongguk.

He feels strange when he finds it. He wonders how he’s missed it.

“I knew her as Bambi,” Mun explains. “Kyungsoon said it was because of her eyes but she thought
of her better as a bunny.”
He smiles at the memory, eyes distant and from the corner of Yoongi’s vision, he can see Jimin’s lips
turn into a frown.

“She tried to kick me out of the club because I refused to be with another girl. It was not because I
wanted Kyungsoon, but I had already earned her trust. It would be a setback to have to do it over
again. So I told her. I told Bambi who I was and what I was doing.

“She kicked me out,” Mun explains with a laugh, rubbing a hand down his face. Yoongi doesn’t find
anything particularly amusing about the conversation but he tries a smile, feeling like it looks more
constipated than anything before he gives up. “She said she would ban me from the club if I ever
came back, if I ever looked at Kyungsoon again. But a week later, Jeon Jun-ki showed up at my
office.”

The bed dips as Hoseok sits beside him, their thighs touching. Yoongi glances at the folder, of the
other photograph paper clipped to the first page. It’s of Kitty, her face fuller and pinker. Unlike
Young-Mi, she is smiling.

It’s a wicked smile, one Jimin replicates often when he’s teasing.

“He told me in order to get Bambi to work with me, I would have to get Kyungsoon out. I didn’t
know it at the time but Sungho was in need of a heir and Bambi was trying desperately to keep him
away from Kyungsoon. It’s disgusting but she was his favorite. Kitty told me there were times she
was willing, willing to birth a child for Sungho but he wanted Kyungsoon, only Kyungsoon.”

Jimin gasps quietly, lips parting as he stares at Mun but he doesn’t interrupt. Yoongi wishes to take
him out, take him somewhere far away, because he doesn’t know if the either of them are ready for
any of this.

But they have to act quickly. They should have arrived in Busan by now and he doesn’t know how
long it will be until Sungho finds out they haven’t. Hanbin could be waiting for them, sitting at the
train station with a phone in his hand ready to call Sungho when they don’t appear.

Or, he could have already called him. He could already know.

“I do not know what happened,” Mun says with regret. “We devised a plan to take Kyungsoon
away, and it was successful. I - I feel shame to admit the things I had to do to convince her to leave
with me, but she was safe. Her disappearance caused a lot of pain to Kitty and Bambi.”

Hoseok flips to the next page, revealing a photograph of another woman that Yoongi doesn’t know.
Vanity is scribbled into the corner and he wonders if it is Kyungsoon. She looks far from a grown
woman, except her eyes lack the innocence a child should have. They’re cold, almost dead like and a
chill rushes down Yoongi’s back.

“They refused to help, after giving me their word they would if I took Kyungsoon away. I could not
tell Kyungsoon I was officer as I was to still keep her trust. My captain wanted me to take advantage
of our closeness to get more information on Sungho.

“I couldn’t keep that a secret for long. I was fond of Kyungsoon, we had grown close, and the idea
of her being used like that tortured me. We were the law, investigating Sungho so he would stop
using these women for his own gain. But my captain wanted us to do the same.”

Hoseok hands off the folder and Yoongi lays it flat on his lap. He doesn’t know Kyungsoon but it
hurts his heart. She had been young, young like Jimin when he first had to give away himself. It
hurts more to see her face. Mun said she had been trusting, so easily, at a young age and it hurts.
He thinks about Ji-hu, how friendly he is with anyone that crosses his path. How he loves his Uncle
Bobby and probably still would even if he was old enough to understand the bad things he’s done.

Yoongi thinks of Young-Mi, the pain she must have felt watching Kyungsoon go through this and
the pain she continued to feel to see Bobby go through the same. He wonders if that is why the Jeons
had been so kind, never raising a hand to any of them, to balance out the abuse Bobby was receiving
from his father.

Jimin gasps quietly, chin hooking over Yoongi’s shoulder as he tentatively reaches to touch the
photograph. He doesn’t, his finger hovering over her face and shaking.

“That’s why,” Jimin breathes, the rest of him shaking against Yoongi. Alarms go off in Yoongi’s
head but Jimin has him so he can’t hold him unless he shoves him off first.

It captures Mun’s attention and he’s pushing forward again, eyes on Jimin.

It’s starting to bother Yoongi, how focused in on Jimin Mun is. He doesn’t look threatening but he’s
an officer of the law and Jimin’s a prostitute.

“You said,” Jimin says hesitantly, glancing between Yoongi and Mun. He sounds terrified, the same
way he had sounded the day before when he pleaded with Sungho not to hurt him. “You said
Sungho was trying for a heir with, with Kyungsoon.”

Mun nods. Despite his intense gaze there’s something gentler about his features when they’re on
Jimin more so than the rest of them. “He did, try that is. We thought we got her out before he could
touch her but he had been, for years. But, I - I believe Sungho was only successful with Young-Mi. I
believe Bobby to be his only blood heir, through his youngest brother. Young-Mi had a daughter,
before, but we’ve never been able to find her.”

They haven’t gotten a confirmation of Bobby and Young-Mi’s relation, but Mun says it as if they’re
already supposed to know about it. And a daughter .

Yoongi wonders how the fuck Jeongguk is going to deal with all of this when he can barely deal
with it himself.

Jimin lets out a shaky exhale but he doesn’t relax as Mun looks at him as if there’s more to say.
Successful , the word makes Yoongi’s mouth taste bitter and he hadn’t even been the one to say it.

“I believe Kitty was punished for becoming pregnant and was prevented from carrying more children
when Sungho found out the child was not his. I do not know your father, Jimin, but I know it was
none of the Kim men.”

Jimin turns away from Mun to rest his cheek against Yoongi’s shoulder. He hasn’t been of much
help, of much strength. He feels like there’s a lot missing and he doesn’t know how long he can sit
here before he demands Mun just get to the point.

He doesn’t know why Jimin seems upset at the idea that he isn’t one of the heirs.

“None of this answers how you know of the letters,” Hoseok jabs in, face hard and just as annoyed
and tired as Yoongi feels.

“I know of the letters because she told me about them. I was living with Kyungsoon when Young-
Mi left for Busan with her husband and we kept in touch for many years after Kyungsoon left me.
She deeply regretted not helping me, and she desperately wanted to help me find Kyungsoon.
Young-Mi bought a home for her somewhere in Japan, a safe place she could go instead of running.”
There’s pain that flashes in Mun’s eyes as he looks away from them. There’s a vulnerability there.
He’s sharing something personal and Yoongi wonders if it’s a ploy to get them to trust them.

“Young-Mi and I had a deal. I would not get my confessions unless I met every one of Young-Mi’s
requests. She wrote her story in letters to her son’s in case something happened before she could go
on the record herself. She wrote them in letters that I could not access without her husband and son’s
approval.”

Mun looks uncomfortable for a moment, the frown on his lips bringing out the wrinkles around his
mouth. Hell, Mun could be twenty five but his face heavy with wrinkles due to this investigation
alone.

“I failed all of them,” Mun says, laughing weakly. There’s pain flashing in his eyes. “Young-Mi
desperately wanted Kyungsoon safe and as did I, yet I even failed that one.”

“Where did Kyungsoon go?” Yoongi asks and he regrets it the moment Jimin lets out a shaky
exhale. Left me. It’s personal.

“She died,” Jimin whispers at the same time Mun’s face grows grim.

“I don’t know,” Mun says, wracking a hand through his messy hair. “She disappeared one night after
I told her of my captain’s plans and it took me so long to find her again, that I didn’t even care why
she left. I was happy to be reunited with her.”

Personal. Yoongi frowns, watching the way Mun’s gaze drops to the ground and his fingers slide
over each other.

“Where is she now?” Hoseok asks. “Why can’t she help you with all of this?”

Mun looks up, lips in a thin line for a few moments before he speaks. “She was murdered, we
believe by Sungho. I know in my gut by Sungho. I just can’t prove it. I’d love to get the bastard
imprisoned for it but at this time, I don’t give a shit what gets him behind bars.”

There’s an anger radiating from the detective when he speaks that Yoongi recognizes. It isn’t the
anger of a man trying and failing at defeating another. It’s personal, deeper.

“You loved her,” Yoongi comments as Mun goes rigid. “That’s why this means so much to you.”

Hoseok huffs out when Mun doesn’t respond, but his eyes go wide with the truth. “Should have
started with that, man. If you want their trust the best way is to convince you’re doing it for the love.
These two are all about that.”

Jimin straightens, the nerves gone from his face as he finally takes the folder from Yoongi. He
caresses Kyungsoon’s face, a gentleness in the touch that makes Yoongi’s heart hurt. He knows her,
Yoongi can tell by the delicacy in Jimin’s fingertips and the way he looks down at her like a child
would look at their mother.

“That’s why you want to find Taehyung,” Jimin says, glancing at Jooheon who still stands
expressionless by the window and back to Mun. “You think he can help you. Well he can’t. So I will
only work with you if you promise not to go near him. Don’t mention anything about this, about
heirs or anything.”

Mun opens his lips, face scrunching in confusion, or offense. Either or, it makes Yoongi tense and
want to curl his body in front of Jimin as a protective shield. It stays tense like that for a moment,
silence between them and both Hoseok and Yoongi readying themselves to jump to Jimin’s side if
need be.

Yoongi doesn’t understand what Taehyung has to do with any of this and he knows Jimin will tell
him, but Jimin is looking at Mun as if he’s trying to kill him with his gaze and any of his trust for
Mun disappears.

“Taehyung is not an heir,” Mun replies first, arms crossing over his chest. “Sungho kept Kyungsoon
to himself and he struggled with procreating. That is why his brothers helped him.”

Yoongi’s stomach turns and he feels like he could be sick. His mother sleeps beside this man at
night. He’s going to fucking throw up.

“Sungho did procreate,” Jimin says. He’s no longer small, but growing like a bird whose feathers
have been fluffed. Yoongi’s always fonded over how easily Jimin grows strength when it comes to
Taehyung. Taehyung deserves a love like that. “So how do you know Taehyung is not an heir?”

Yoongi is not following and he stares hard at Jimin’s mouth like it may help him process the words
better. He doesn’t understand what Taehyung has to do with Kyungsoon.

Mun glares hard at Jimin. “What did you mean he did procreate?”

Jimin’s lips snap shut, refusing to offer more, his eyes turning into the same daggers that fly from
Hoseok’s.

“I know because Kyungsoon didn’t become pregnant until after she was taken from Sungho,” Mun
says simply. Yoongi dislikes the defensive way he speaks and the fact he no longer looks friendly
when looking at Jimin. “I want to find her children, to keep them safe. I still have a lot of her
belongings that should be theirs. I want to know where her grave is.”

It goes quiet for a moment, the sadness filling the room so quickly that Yoongi nearly drowns in it.
He can see the truth in Mun’s eyes when he speaks. It’s raw, the pain there but Jimin doesn’t falter. It
would be impossible to convince Jimin to do something once he’s set his mind to it, especially when
it comes to Taehyung.

“No,” Jimin says, without faltering. “There is a reason Kyungsoon left you in the middle of the night.
You said you are ashamed of the things you had to do to convince her to leave her sisters.You won’t
go anywhere near him, any of them. And you will not get the letters, not if you didn’t hold up your
end of the bargain.”

It’s said that with such acid in his tone that even Yoongi flinches. Mun falters afterwards, lips
pressing hard against each other as he nods in acceptance.

Jeongguk taps his fingers on his knee, watching the streets pass him by. There’s chatter around him
but he doesn’t listen. Even if he tried to, there’s too much on his mind to focus on anything else.

With everything dropped upon him, there’s one part that’s easy to focus on. One thing he can fix
now, and it’s important enough that it’s okay to push everything else aside for the moment.

The others he’ll figure out. He needs to speak to his father, to someone just to make sense of it all.
But his focus is Taehyung, his safety. Ji-hu, his safety.

The rest - it’s past things. He’ll figure them out.

“Mr. Jeon? Did you hear me?”

Jeongguk pulls his eyes away to the man beside him; Shin Wonho. They first met a few years ago
when Jeongguk was in search of someone to run the security in his building. He’s smart and strong,
helping Jeongguk improve both the alarm system in his home and security staff. He’s never feared
for Ji-hu since, not while they were home at least.

It proves his loyalty with how easily he agrees to join Jeongguk, though Jeongguk won’t ignore the
thought that he may just be doing it in guilt for allowing Bobby onto the penthouse floor the other
night. Maybe fear of losing his job.

“I asked if you could tell me why you needed so many men to visit Mr. Kim. I do not intend to
overstep, but if there is a plan in motion, I would like to offer my expertise.”

Jeongguk taps his fingers again. He doesn’t have a plan, not really. But it isn’t irrational. He knows
that anytime one plans things out like this, it goes off track because no one can truly anticipate what
another may say or do.

He could never anticipate the fact that he was ever a threat to begin with.

“I am in search of something and I intend to find it before I leave,” Jeongguk explains quietly. “I
would like you to search his apartment.”

Wonho’s eyes bulge. “M-Mr. Jeon, that -”

Jeongguk holds up a hand, feeling a bit like an ass but he can’t help it. “If you help me without
further question, I’ll forget that you completely disobeyed my orders while I was away.”

Wonho doesn’t deflate but he offers Jeongguk a nod instead. “Yes sir. I have spoken to Minhyuk-ssi.
He’s been displaced.”

With a sigh, Jeongguk shakes his head. “No, no. There is no need. I spoke directly to you that that no
one be allowed to the penthouse floor other than my father, Seokmin and Taehyung. You were on
that night, not supervising your men well enough. You are of equal blame and I would prefer not to
displace you as well.”

For a moment, it looks as if Wonho might argue back but he presses his lips tightly together and
offers Jeongguk a curt nod. “Yes sir.”

It makes him wonder if this is what men of power are supposed to like, simple obedience out of fear
of losing their jobs. Jeongguk really isn’t a fan of it but right now he needs it.

“I’m looking for pictures,” Jeongguk finally admits. “Of Taehyung.”

Wonho nods without question but there’s a look in his eyes that makes Jeongguk wonder if he
already knows. He never considered the way it may look, Taehyung and him together. He doesn’t
give a shit truly.

“And Mr. Kim has these pictures?”

Jeongguk nods. He isn’t actually sure if Hanbin would hold onto them. It isn’t a situation where he
can figure out what he would do to make a guess.

“To hurt Taehyung.”

Jeongguk sighs. It isn’t a question but a comment so he doesn’t answer. Taehyung had made him
swear not to do something stupid but it doesn’t feel stupid. And it’s Hanbin, not Chung-Hoon, so he
prays he’s forgiven.

Even if he isn’t, it’ll be worth it.

Tension grows inside of him as they enter Hanbin’s apartment building. He passes by security
without a hitch, dropping his name and for once liking the advantage that comes with being well
known.

He’s never been to Hanbin’s apartment, although he’s picked Bobby up from outside before. He
wonders where Bobby is, if his father knows he had been brought to the hospital.

Part of him knows his father would forgive Bobby for poisoning himself when he would disown
Jeongguk for doing the same. He wants to be a brat about it, scream favoritism despite having zero
interest in going anywhere near something like that.

He’s never been jealous of his parents’ attention for Bobby, only slightly thrown off by how much
they love him like a son. Even understanding why doesn’t change that feeling.

The thought occurs to him that Hanbin may not be home when he knocks on the door, that the flank
of strong men behind him is unnecessary. But he’s relieved when the door slides open and reveals
Hanbin.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Hanbin’s eyes glaze over Jeongguk and the men stacked behind him
before a smirk appears, but it aggravates Jeongguk anyway.

“Guk!” Hanbin huffs, amusement in his tone. “What’s this?”

Maybe Jeongguk is more irrational than he likes to admit, or maybe he’s just drained, because he
didn’t plan for his hand to strike and meet with Hanbin’s nose, but the anger inside of him has tugged
him into it. The crunch sounds sickening and a twisted moan of pain escapes Hanbin’s lips as his
hands fly to his face.

“What the fuck,” Hanbin grunts, voice muffled behind his palms as he stumbles backwards.

Jeongguk steps aside to let his men in. The amusement slips away from Hanbin and the rage there
appears, loud in his eyes the way it’s screaming loudly inside of Jeongguk. He’s losing his grip on it
and Jeongguk doesn’t think he’ll be able to secure it even if he tries.

“I know you sent me those pictures of Baby. I want every copy you have. I’ll tear down the walls if I
have to so I suggest you save us the hassle and tell me where they are.”

The laugh Hanbin lets out before he cracks his neck and sniffles is laced with malice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jeongguk squeezes his fist, grits his teeth, glances away, but it does little to calm down his urge to
punch him again. He had prepared himself for this. He knew Hanbin would give him a hard time, or
look amused, but he hadn’t prepared himself enough.

“I don’t think you’d do anything with them,” Jeongguk spits as he comes near. It’s a wonder he can
keep his voice calm. “The ones of him in the club would destroy Bobby’s career and I can’t expect
you to be so eager to disappoint Appa Yunbok.”
Hanbin only glances down the hall where half of his men had disappeared. A nervous tick. Hanbin’s
eyes turn back to him, smug.

“I can tell you one thing, Appa Yunbok has a few copies. Have you seen them? I’m surprised you
didn’t notice. He has always loved the whip and Taehyung surely does look beautiful when broken.”

There’s a pounding in Jeongguk’s ears but he swallows and ignores it. Hanbin is deflecting and
Jeongguk can only focus on his anger on one thing. He’s admitting to it. Hanbin has always been
prideful like that and Jeongguk is glad they don’t have to go through the game of denial.

Jeongguk’s grip is slipping, slipping quickly.

“Wow, quick to throw the man who helped raise you under the bus, hyung,” Jeongguk says with a
tone of surprise. “The lack of loyalty to him shows just how much of a hand he had in shaping you.”

Hanbin grits his teeth. “You’ve always sat on a high horse, Jeon. You’ve turned on Bobby, your
hyung , for a whore without thinking twice. It isn’t different.”

Jeongguk’s heart thumps hard in his chest. He doesn’t want to talk about Bobby.

Another laugh, this time one that sounds wild. “You’ve always been this way. If you want
something you expect to get it. You’re the poster child for being a rich spoiled brat, Jeongguk. A true
chaebol. Taehyung isn’t yours just because you want him.”

“Awkward,” Jeongguk huffs out, channeling Hanbin’s amusement to give him a crooked smile. He
has to get out of here before his hands do something worse than bruise his nose. “It sounds like
you’re talking about yourself, hyung.”

It’s tense, a tight rubber band between them ready to snap at any moment. It doesn’t break when
Wonho enters the room although Hanbin’s expression grows angrier.

“Here, boss.”

Wonho places a package against his chest, one that feels too light to carry a stack of photos but
Hanbin’s nostrils flare and all amusement is gone and Jeongguk knows it’s the right package. It
shouldn’t have been that easy to find, but Hanbin’s always been a bit cocky and probably didn’t
think anyone would come searching for them.

The security in his apartment building sucks and his house is empty, allowing Jeongguk and his men
to search it. He’s too confident.

“Taehyung only belongs to himself,” Jeongguk announces quietly. “He’s not mine and he’s not
yours. But if you come anywhere near him or his siblings again, I’ll want you dead and like you said,
I always get what I want.”

Jeongguk turns to leave, comfortable with Wonho flanking behind him. He finds it strange that
Hanbin never fought back, but he’s always been good with his words. It’s how all his fights started
when he was younger, it was always why Yunbok whipped him a little harder than anyone else.

“I find it strange,” Hanbin says, bringing Jeongguk to fall still although he knows to keep walking
before he punches him again. “This is your main concern right now after what happened to Hobi? Or
does he not matter as much since he doesn’t get your dick wet?”

He knows he shouldn’t but he turns anyway. There is no amusement on Hanbin’s face, no sign to
show he’s making shit up. Not that Jeongguk trusts that he isn’t, but he also hears Yoongi’s voice
ringing in his ear from the day before.

Yoongi never explained why he needed to hide away in Japan. He hasn’t been answering his calls
all morning -

“Well what is it? You speak of loyalty yet your hyung died only hours ago and here you are, fighting
over a man who will run here with his mouth open and knees ready for the ground just for a promise
of a handful of won.”

The race of his heartbeat hurts . Jeongguk refuses to show his hurt or his confusion.

It’s not right . Yoongi would have called him immediately.

“Because that’s what he is, Jeongguk. A whore. A whore who will turn on you in seconds for
someone with heavier pockets. Can you blame him? He has kids to feed. But he’ll stomp over yours
to do so.”

It’s white noise. Even if it wasn’t, Jeongguk wouldn’t listen. Your hyung died only hours ago.

It’s not possible.

The morning air felt heavy and the afternoon air hurts.

A grin slips back onto Hanbin’s mouth. “You didn’t know.”

It’s an observation, not a question, but Jeongguk doesn’t seem it worth a response either way. He
turns on his heel as Wonho calls for the others and has to hold his breath as not to run through the
building before the door is closed.

The panic still trickles in, drowning him by the time he’s slid into his car, phone to his ear as
Yoongi’s voicemail plays.

His mother said she loved the countryside because the air felt cleaner when you breathed it in.
Jeongguk never agreed until now, with every inhale he takes getting stuck in his throat before it can
reach his lungs.

He calls again and again, the sweat starting to build at the back of his neck with every ring. He calls
Yoongi, Hoseok, Jimin, over and over.

There’s a cracking in his chest as worry fills him. Yoongi wouldn’t ignore him, not this often. Not
unless something was wrong.

“Wonho-ssi, I need you to track Yoongi’s phone,” Jeongguk says as he brings the phone away from
his ear to hang up and dial again. The panic is loud in his voice and making his ears throb.

Wonho doesn’t hesitate before he pulls out his own phone. “Mr. Jeon sir, I am sorry -”

“I need you to track his phone,” Jeongguk snaps.

He’s losing it. He no longer has a grip on his anger at all. It’s been freed and it hurts .

His attempts at calling someone, anyone, finally work out as the phone finally answers. He hears the
sound a familiar woman’s voice saying his name, the tone sounding shocked.

“Jeongguk? Oh Jeongguk thank god, I’ve been trying to call you but your assistant won’t transfer me
to your phone.”
“Jinju-ssi,” Jeongguk breathes, holding a hand to his face. He hasn’t spoken to her in years, not after
the day his father decided to fire her after twenty years of service. He had felt too guilty, depositing
millions of won into her bank account that she had returned to him only days later. “I can’t get ahold
of Yoongi hyung, is he okay?”

“Jeongguk I can’t talk long,” Jinju whispers urgently. “Are you alone?”

Jeongguk glances at Wonho, whose on the phone with someone to track Yoongi’s phone, his brows
furrowed in concentration. Every now and then he glances at Jeongguk and Jeongguk is afraid the
free rage inside of him with lash out at Wonho for being the closest person to him.

“No.”

Jinju cusses quietly. “Your mother has a house somewhere yes? Don’t tell me where. Just go.
Emergency business trip. Ji-hu is safe but you are not. Do not tell anyone where you’re going. No
one.”

“I - I don’t understand. What happened?”

“I will call you when I get a chance, baby. I really must go.”

“Jinju-ssi please . Hoseok -”

“I’m so sorry, Jeongguk.”

She hangs up before Jeongguk can respond and he considers tossing his phone across the car but he
holds it tightly in his hand before dialing Yoongi’s number again. There’s panic washing over him
and he feel like he might crumble if it goes to voicemail again. He should care about his men seeing
his tears but they build in his eyes anyway. He doesn’t glance away so Wonho won’t see, but
glances away so he doesn’t scream at Wonho for the look of concern in his eyes.

With everything happening, this is one thing Jeongguk can’t handle.

It had been in the morning air and Jeongguk had ignored it.

It is easy being with Ji-hu Taehyung thinks as he sits across from him and watches him eat. His
cheeks bulge, his lips pursed in a way that makes him look like a rabbit as he munches. He wiggles
in his seat, full of joy.

Taehyung wishes he still felt the innocence and pure joy of a child. He wants to make sure Ji-hu feels
that way as long as possible.

“What do you want to do today?”

Ji-hu shrugs as he shoves more food into his mouth. Taehyung has always been good with children
but he isn’t sure what to do to keep Ji-hu occupied in the house. Not that Jeongguk told them they
couldn’t leave but he’s nervous to.

Jeongguk is going through a lot right now, had looked completely lost this morning. Taehyung
doesn’t need to make it worse by accidentally losing his son.

“What do you want to do today, Tae Tae?”

Taehyung smiles, resting his cheek against his fist. He’s not too hungry himself, his belly aching
from just looking at the food in front of him. It had been nice with Jeongguk this morning, finding
comfort with each other, but he wishes he could take the pain from Jeongguk’s eyes.

It had been difficult opening up but Taehyung felt he needed to. He needed Jeongguk to understand
how much he can’t lose him, even if Taehyung doesn’t want to ever admit to needing someone other
than his kids and Jin.

“I might cut my hair,” Taehyung says before he puffs his cheeks and blows out, making the long
bangs tickling his eyebrows rise up. It gets a giggle out of the boy. “What do you think? It’s too long,
huh?”

Ji-hu shrugs as he munches. “I think you should color it pink.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh. He hasn’t been able to color his hair anything interesting in years. He’s
gone silver and blond, but any bright colors on the birds have always been denied by Bobby.

“Pink is pretty.”

“Mhm,” Ji-hu hums. “I like pink and green a lot .”

“Well it’s decided then,” Taehyung says, resting back in his chair. He doesn’t want to leave the
house, but he thinks Seokmin might be alright with running to get him some hair products.

Part of him wonders if Jeongguk would like his hair pink but he mentally rolls his eyes at himself. He
knows he could shave his head and Jeongguk would still find him attractive. He also wonders why it
matters.

“I’ll ask Seokmin-ssi to pick us up some hair colors and how about I give you a trim too? Make you
look fancy for your first day back to school.”

Ji-hu grins, his smile so big that his bunny teeth pop out. “Okay. Thank you, Tae Tae.”

Thirty minutes later, Taehyung feels regret at suggesting cutting Ji-hu’s hair. He won’t stop
squirming in his chair and trying to push up to look in the mirror with every snip. Taehyung nearly
has a heart attack when he moves with the scissors so close to the side of his neck.

He wonders if Jeongguk would laugh or hate him if he left his son with an atrocious unfinished
haircut.

“Ji-hu, you need to sit still.”

Ji-hu wrinkles his nose, arms crossing over his chest beneath the towel that Taehyung has covered
his front with. He’s always had the same trouble with Eunae, who would never sit still long enough
for him to cut her hair and he ended up finally giving in and paying for it at a salon in worries that it
would be to her toes before she would learn.

“Appa says it’s okay that I can’t sit still! I have a lot of energy because I am a growing boy!”

Taehyung bites at his grin. “Well, right now it’s important. These are really sharp and I don’t want to
hurt you.”

Ji-hu’s pout remains but he tries to stay still, only squirming here and there and shaking his feet
where they dangle over the chair.

“Can we call Uncle Yoongi?” Ji-hu asks, whines, as Taehyung kneels in front of him, scissors
hovering over the wet strands of hair that cling to his forehead. His eyes are big, reminding him of a
deer.

“When we’re done,” Taehyung tells him, though he isn’t sure. They had gotten so caught up with
everything that he hadn’t been able to ask Jeongguk what he meant about Yoongi possibly being in
trouble.

He misses Jimin so much it hurts and he can only imagine how Yoongi feels.

There’s the sound of the front door opening and Seokmin’s voice follows immediately, announcing
his arrival. Since Bobby arrived unannounced, Jeongguk had a word with his security team about
who is allowed access to the penthouse floor, but every time Taehyung hears the door open he still
wants to grab Ji-hu and run and hide.

“I have brought your hair products, Mr. Kim,” Seokmin says as he enters the bathroom, a bag in
hand. “If that’ll be all, I must pick up Young Bobby for Mr. Jeon. I should be done in the hour if you
need my services again.”

Ji-hu’s nose wrinkles as a piece of hair hits the tip and topples off. “Seokmin-ssi, can I go with you? I
haven’t seen Uncle Bobby in twenny years.”

Normally, Taehyung would laugh at the dramatics but his stomach twists. The comfort Ji-hu has with
Bobby reminds him of how close he is to Jeongguk’s family.

“Aren’t you going to help me color my hair?” Taehyung asks in mock worry, letting his eyes grow
big with it. Ji-hu mimics the action, quickly nodding his head.

“I’m sure your Uncle Bobby would be very happy if you called him, Little Ji-hu,” Seokmin says
before he bows his head and takes his leave.

It’s impossible to get Ji-hu to remain still after that and Taehyung gives up, making sure his hair is
somewhat even before he removes the towel and wipes the hair from his cheeks. He tickles them,
making Ji-hu giggle and he can’t help the smile on his face when Ji-hu grabs his cheeks in return.

“Okay, Tae Tae, your turn,” Ji-hu giggles as he grabs for the bag Seokmin had given them. The
items inside dump onto the floor and Ji-hu’s eyes go round with apology.

“Don’t worry,” Taehyung hums as he grabs the box of gloves. “How about you put these on while I
mix together the color?”

It takes Ji-hu as long as Taehyung thought it would for him to open the box, a little too roughly
which resulted in gloves flying across the floor, and he’s finished mixing the bleach. It takes Ji-hu
just as long to slip his fingers into the gloves, which are too big and cause him to pout.

“Here,” Taehyung says as he puts on his own and wraps a band around Ji-hu’s wrists to hold the
gloves in place. “Watch me put on the bleach and then you can put on the pink, okay?”

Ji-hu nods excitedly, wiggling. He does watch with rapt attention, eyes never straying from
Taehyung. He giggles when Taehyung makes faces at him in the mirror and makes them back until
the bathroom has filled with their laughter.

It feels good. The feeling of missing his siblings is present, but it doesn’t hurt. He’ll call them when
his hands aren’t covered in bleach and his scalp doesn’t tingle. It’ll excite Ji-hu too, he knows, and
suddenly he feels rushed to finish his hair.
Taehyung allows Ji-hu to apply the color, carefully instructing and taking over more often than Ji-hu
likes. Ji-hu focuses with a tongue between his teeth and Taehyung bites at a fond smile when Ji-hu
constantly looks in the mirror at himself more than he looks at Taehyung’s hair.

He rubs the color through the strands of hair, making them stick out around his head and Taehyung
decides Ji-hu’s laughter may be one of his favorite sounds.

During the years before Bobby had bought him, the memory of his siblings’ laughters had been the
only thing keeping him together. There were times he thought he couldn’t properly remember
Woojin’s giggles or how Eunae looked when she smiled. He never knew if he was going to see them
again, if he was going to be able to get out to find them.

He had been terrified if he did get out, he wouldn’t be able to.

It’s why he’s pissed at Jin for taking them again, even though he knows. He knows it’s for what’s
best at the moment, until they can figure out what to do about the pictures. Taehyung considers
letting Jeongguk confront Hanbin. Maybe Hanbin will back off and he can be with his siblings
again.

Maybe Hanbin will become worse and hurt them more.

“You gotta wash it out,” Ji-hu says, tugging on Taehyung’s hand with his now bare one and
glancing at the watch there where he had been counting the minutes. “When is Appa coming home?
He says I canna call Uncle Bobby without asking him first.”

Taehyung pulls the shower head from the top of the shower and letting it hang at the bottom before
he kneels over the edge of the bathtub. “I don’t know. Why don’t you call him? My phone is in the
kitchen.”

Ji-hu runs off as Taehyung rinses the solution from his hair, watching the red swirl into the drain. He
wonders if it will come out darker than he wanted, but he once had red hair before his mother died
and he liked it a lot.

His step father had hated it, tugging him harshly but the hair until he promised to color it back.

Taehyung frowns, as he presses a towel to his face, crunched over the edge of the tub. He’s been
thinking of them a lot lately; his mother and step father. With everything else going on, it’s the last
thing he should be thinking about but they’ve been in his mind all the same.

“Appa didn’t pick up,” Ji-hu says as he comes running back into the bathroom, phone in hand. His
eyes go wide when he spots Taehyung. “Oh wow, Tae Tae, you look so cute.”

Taehyung huffs out a laugh as he wraps the towel around his head and shakes it through. “Do you
think your Appa will like it?”

His cheeks grow hot as soon as the words leave his lips because it isn’t something he should be
asking a seven year old boy. It also isn’t something he should care about.

Ji-hu nods excitedly. “ Oh yeah. He’s going to be so surprised.”

Taehyung smiles, reaching out to pull Ji-hu onto his lap where he sits on the bathroom floor. Ji-hu
helps rub the towel over his head after placing the phone to the ground.

“Do you know why Appa looked sad this morning?” Ji-hu asks under his breath, eyes growing big
as he pats Taehyung’s head with the towel.
He hesitates, dropping his gaze from the boy. He picks up on a lot, maybe too much for a boy this
young. “No. I think he was just tired.”

Ji-hu presses his lips together, looking unsure. “Can we make him dinner to make him feel better?”

“Of course,” Taehyung says without hesitation. He lifts Ji-hu from his lap before standing. “And
cake?”

Ji-hu’s eyes grow wider with excitement and he bounces on his toes, clapping his hands. “Yes! I
love cake. Appa and I love cheesecake!”

The boy is bounding out of the room before he even finishes and Taehyung holds a hand to his face,
letting his body flood with laughter.

His phone rings as he pads out of the bathroom to follow after Ji-hu. It isn’t Jeongguk calling back
but an Unknown Number. It rings twice before it hangs up and Taehyung frowns.

It is one of the first times Taehyung and Ji-hu are together alone and Jeongguk didn’t answer when
Ji-hu called. It’s strange. Taehyung expected Jeongguk to be the type to have his phone at the ready
the entire time he was gone.

Unless Jeongguk trusts him enough with Ji-hu. He isn’t sure what to do with that kind of trust. He
would never hurt Ji-hu, but he isn’t sure he’s done anything for Jeongguk to trust him so easily.

When the phone rings a second time, it’s a video call. The number isn’t blocked but it isn’t one
Taehyung recognizes. He doesn’t even have time to read the entire thing before it’s hanging up
again.

By the third time it rings, Taehyung’s heart is pounding as he answers so quickly that his ringtone
barely has a chance to start playing. Jimin used to call him like this when he stole his clients phone
but it can’t be.

A choked gasp leaves his lips when Jimin’s face appears on the screen. He cradles the phone
between his hands like it’s Jimin’s cheeks. “Minnie?”

“Tae,” Jimin cries softly, a smile lighting up his face. “Tae, I missed you so much are you okay?”

Taehyung nods, tears brimming his eyes but he’s too aware of the way Ji-hu is watching him, half
hidden behind the island in the middle of Jeongguk’s kitchen.

“Yeah, yeah. You? Are you okay? Where are you calling me from?”

Jimin hesitates and Taehyung notices how awful he looks. He’s pale and his face seems sunken in,
his eyes swollen and red rimmed.

When they had first met, both of them had been much more plump. Chung-Hoon had a thing about
eating, forcing food down their throats until Taehyung’s stomach would protest from it. Taehyung
wonders if that has changed or if Jimin is too sick to eat.

“I’m perfect. I’m with hyung.”

He moves the camera so Taehyung can see Yoongi there, pressed close to Jimin’s side. His brain
goes into overdrive, questions forming and he remembers Jeongguk saying Yoongi might be in
trouble. It doesn’t take him long to guess why.
The idiot. Him and Jeongguk are made to be best friends.

“Minnie, I have so much to tell you,” Taehyung breathes. He didn’t know when he would get a
chance to speak to Jimin again. He sinks into the living room couch when he starts to feel himself
tremble. There’s a bad feeling starting to trickle into him. “Are you coming home?”

Another hesitation and the excitement in Taehyung fully dies, turning into something heavier.
There’s a problem. Something happened and Taehyung doesn’t know if he can handle knowing
what it is.

“I don’t know. I have a lot to tell you too. Is Jeongguk there?”

Ji-hu bounds over excitedly, grabbing onto Taehyung’s shoulder to peer at the phone. “Jimin
sunbaenim! Why ya crying?”

Jimin quickly wipes at his face and Taehyung curls an arm around Ji-hu so he doesn’t have to
struggle on his tip toes. He should tell him to go off, so he can talk to Jimin alone and figure out what
happened, but Ji-hu gets sent away often when adults are talking and he always sees how sad the
boy looks about it.

He’s soft for him, Taehyung thinks. There’s so much for Ji-hu to be protected from but he also wants
to hold Ji-hu’s hand and keep him from feeling like he’s being sent away.

“Oh, I’m not. I am just tired. Say hello to Uncle Yoongi.”

Ji-hu’s entire face lights up before he moves it too close to the camera, showing only his eyes and the
top of his nose.

“Uncle Yoongi!” Ji-hu cries in delight. “I miss you so so much.”

“Hi bun,” Yoongi says, waving his fingers and he too sounds tired. From the background it looks as
if they’re in a hotel room. “I miss you too. Are you being good? Where’s your Appa?”

“Work,” Ji-hu sings. “Me and Tae Tae are spending the day together. We’re gonna make a cake
because Appa looked sad this morning.”

Yoongi smiles, or tries too. It’s enough for a seven year old but the effort behind it doesn’t go
unnoticed by Taehyung. It doesn’t last long before it falters, taking in the last of Ji-hu’s words.

“Why was he sad?” Yoongi asks.

Ji-hu shrugs, not backing his face away from the camera. “Dunno. You told me sometimes Appa is
sad, remember Uncle Yoongi? Because he misses his Eomma.”

There’s a pressure in Taehyung’s chest that is so heavy it feels like he can’t breathe. He never talks
about his mother’s passing with his younger siblings, but maybe that’s different. She’s their mother
too and Woojin was there when she died, affected more so than any of them.

Jin says it’s okay to talk about it, to talk about her, but Taehyung just can’t.

“I remember,” Yoongi says thoughtfully. “I think cake is a good idea. Your grandmother used to
make him chocolate cheesecake with strawberries.”

“I love that kind,” Ji-hu says, cocking his head to the side. “Are you on your honeymoon?”

Taehyung chokes out a laugh, tears prickling his eyes as Jimin does the same. It makes Yoongi’s
smile more genuine.

“Yeah, yeah. But we’re almost home now. I asked Seokmin-ssi to feed Strawberry but maybe you
can ask your Appa if you can watch her? So she isn’t lonely? Until I get back? Strawberry will make
Appa feel better with cuddles, too.”

Ji-hu nods so fervently his nose boops the camera. “Yeah I love Strawberry. Tae Tae is strawberry
too.”

He moves to touch Taehyung’s hair but the sound of the door opening has him taking off as fast as
his little feet can carry him.

“I think that’s Gukkie now,” Taehyung says but he stops when he sees the state of Jeongguk.

It makes fear spike through him. He’s ashen, eyes wide with panic and fingers shaking around the
phone he’s holding to his ear. He barely notices Ji-hu, who stops in front of him with wide eyes. The
excitement has died in the little boy and he looks hesitant to approach his father.

“Jeongguk, what is it?” Taehyung gasps as he runs over to him. Ji-hu looks at him panicked and
Taehyung tries to keep his own from his face but it’s difficult when it’s flooding through him and
threatening to drown him.

“Son, go to your room for a minute? O-okay?”

Jeongguk curls a hand around Ji-hu’s head and Taehyung’s stomach drops at the sight of dried blood
on his knuckles. There isn’t a lot and it isn’t his own.

“But Appa -” Ji-hu starts, an upset look slipping into his eyes

Taehyung drops to his knees, distantly aware that Jimin is saying something to him. He cups Ji-hu’s
cheek, rubbing it soothingly. It doesn’t seem to work as the boy’s bottom lip starts to tremble and he
sniffles.

“Go on to Appa’s room. Pick something out for him to wear for dinner? It’s okay, don’t worry.”

Ji-hu glances at his father before he nods, sniffling again. He lets Taehyung kiss his nose before he
runs off.

“Jeongguk, what is it?” Taehyung asks as he stands. He cups Jeongguk’s cheek the same way, his
panic rising when he feels his skin sticky with tears.

“It’s Hobi. He - he fuck,” Jeongguk cusses, furiously dialing his phone again. There’s so much pain
in his voice that Taehyung feels his words. “Fucking Yoongi won’t answer me.”

Taehyung stills, processing Jeongguk’s words. Jimin and Yoongi would have started with that
wouldn’t they? But Jimin’s tears -

“He’s here,” Taehyung blurts, thrusting the phone into Jeongguk’s face. Jimin is on the screen, eyes
wide and alarmed and the light shines just enough for him to see the tears on his cheeks. He’s
quickly replaced by Yoongi who looks just as pained.

No, no .

“Guk -”

“I've been calling you!”

Taehyung clings to Jeongguk, face pressing into his shoulder as he snakes his arms around him from
behind. He remembers the feeling, the fear.

The day his mother died, when Jin didn’t show to pick him up, he had called and called and called
until it felt as if his fear was going to swallow him whole. He had been angry with it, barely able to
understand that something was wrong because he was so mad at Jin for making him afraid.

“Guk, calm down, who told you?”

Taehyung rubs Jeongguk’s chest, burying his face into his shoulder blades. Who told you.

The pain is thick in his chest and he presses into Jeongguk and squeezes even harder.

“Does it matter? You didn’t? You didn’t bother to call me fuck, hyung what happened? Please tell
me you’re joking. This can’t be true, fuck -”

Jeongguk’s voice is rising and Taehyung tries shushing him but he knows this too. Despite how
badly it hurt to be told his mother passed, it had mostly been a blur. It had been a washout of pain.
He had screamed at Jin like Jin had been the one to kill her.

He rocks Jeongguk, shushing him but it’s as if Jeongguk doesn’t even know he’s there until his hand
comes up and he grips Taehyung’s wrist tightly, securing it to his chest.

“Jeongguk,” Jimin says firmly, almost angrily, the way he used to speak to the other birds when he
needed them to listen. Taehyung is surprised by the lack of empathy, from both of them. “You need
to calm down.”

“ Calm down? Are you fucking -”

“Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk goes rigid in his embrace at the sound of Yoongi’s voice and Taehyung peers over
Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“He was shot,” Yoongi says firmly, the phone shaking some as it turns away from him and Jimin to
the bed beside them and the man sitting there.

Hoseok.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Guk. I - I didn’t know how to, h-he passed,” Yoongi says apologetically,
keeping the phone on Hoseok who waves with a sullen expression on his face.

Confusion mixes in with the relief that touches Taehyung’s heart. Jeongguk is still shaking so he
doesn’t let go, only rubs his lips at back of his neck and hums softly to calm him. His chest rises and
falls so fast that Taehyung is afraid if he removes the pressure of his hands than Jeongguk’s chest
will break completely.

The phone jostles some and Jeongguk’s weight is sinking into Taehyung’s chest. It’s a moment later
a notepad appears, slim fingers sliding behind it with a pen from the hotel, the words Stay Osaka
printed along the side.

He writes quickly and Jeongguk brings the phone closer to his face like his son had, but the word he
writes is clear as day; Sungho.

“When?” Jeongguk asks, his voice steadier but there’s pain still laced between his words.
It’s more trouble than Taehyung imagined.

“Last night. I’ll tell you more when I get home -”

“Yoongi -”

Yoongi’s face appears back on the screen. “I’ll go to yours first thing, okay? I love you Gukkie, it’s
okay, yeah? I’m sorry for not calling. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. What happened to your hand? You
need to remain calm, Gukkie. Don’t let anger control you, okay? It’ll scare Ji-hu, Tae.”

Jeongguk’s shoulders sag as he rubs a hand down his face. Taehyung returns his lips to his neck,
murmuring soft encouragements into his skin. It will scare him, but he finds that he trusts that
Jeongguk won’t turn the rage onto him enough to risk him possibly doing just that.

“Nothing,” Jeongguk murmurs. “I’ll see you tonight, hyung.”

Yoongi looks as if he may say something else but Jeongguk is hanging his phone up and tossing it
until it clatters to the ground. His shoulders tremble and shake before he let out a sob that is quiet, but
cracks loudly through the silence around them.

“Gukkie, he's fine,” Taehyung whispers, squeezing him tightly. He doesn’t know how fine Hoseok
actually is, but he isn’t dead.

“I’m not.”

It’s whispered, so quiet Taehyung thinks he’s misheard and he buries his lips into Jeongguk’s
shoulders to quiet his own wounded noise. He stays like that for a moment, squeezing and
squeezing. He doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know what Jeongguk is feeling and he just wishes
he could comfort him the best way he needs.

Taehyung lets go when Jeongguk pulls from him, fingers itching to reach for him before he can go.
He wants - needs to be a comfort to Jeongguk.

But Jeongguk doesn’t stray far, he moves closer, tears streaming down his face and dripping from his
chin.

His hands are still shaking as he cups Taehyung’s cheeks and brings their lips together. The kiss is
salty and Jeongguk’s mouth trembles as much as his hands do. Taehyung kisses back softly, letting
Jeongguk use his touch until he’s calm.

“We need to get you cleaned up,” Taehyung says into the kiss as he tries to wipe Jeongguk’s tears
away with his palms cupping his cheeks. Jeongguk doesn’t stop, but continues kissing Taehyung like
he wants to until he drops from the lack of oxygen.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Taehyung murmurs as Jeongguk pulls back.

The answer is in Jeongguk’s eyes and Taehyung sighs, placing a kiss to his mouth. He doesn’t do
much more as he hears the tiniest of sniffles coming from the hallway.

Jeongguk’s face scrunches. “I scared him,” he murmurs, pain in his eyes as he pulls away. “Hyung is
right, I need to calm down but I can’t.”

Taehyung nods, squeezing the junction of Jeongguk’s neck and shoulders reassuringly. “I’ll help
you.”
It seems difficult for Jeongguk to pull away. Taehyung understands. Bottling up his pain and making
sure a smile is on his face at all times when his siblings around is the hardest thing he’s ever done.
He’s failed plenty of times.

Ji-hu is peeking around the corner, eyes wide and watery. He hesitates until Jeongguk holds his arms
out.

“Come here baby,” Jeongguk murmurs, bending down to his height.

It hurts Taehyung’s heart watching the way Ji-hu grabs Jeongguk’s cheeks as Jeongguk wraps his
arms around his waist. They’re both red eyed but Jeongguk blinks until his tears are gone.

“Did I scare you?” Jeongguk whispers and Taehyung takes a step back, giving them their privacy.

Ji-hu nods as he sniffles and squeezes his father’s cheeks.

“I’m sorry little bun. I didn’t mean to. No need to cry, Appa’s fine.”

Another sniffle and Ji-hu is curling his arms around Jeongguk and burying his face into his neck.
Jeongguk’s voice drops lower as he rubs his back a few times before lifting him.

“Do you want some milk? I could go for some milk right now.”

Taehyung smiles softly as Ji-hu nods against Jeongguk’s neck. He pads off towards the kitchen first
so Jeongguk doesn’t have to let go, though he wishes to tend to Jeongguk’s hand to make sure he
isn’t injured.

It’s disturbing, the sight of blood on Jeongguk. He hates it so much his stomach aches, even if it
doesn’t belong to Jeongguk.

“Uncle Yoon - Yoongi says we have to go get Strawberry so she - so she isn’t lonely,” Ji-hu
whimpers.

Jeongguk hushes him, rubbing his back. He locks eyes with Taehyung and Taehyung understands.

They fled the country and it doesn’t sound like they’re coming back.

It’s something Taehyung has always wanted for him and Jimin, for Jimin and Yoongi, but the
sudden heaviness of it all makes his fingers shake around the banana milk.

“We’ll go get her baby. Thank Tae Tae for the milk.”

Ji-hu’s lips are still pouted when his father places him down to take the milk. Jeongguk shakes his
head when Taehyung tries to offer him one too.

He places the milk in the refrigerator and offers a soju instead.

“I am going to Osaka,” Jeongguk says under his breath as he accepts the drink. His hands are still
shaking. There’s tears in his voice. “I talked to Yoongi’s mother today and she said I should and
hyung is there. Jimin. And Jin.”

“Jin?” Taehyung asks as he pets his fingers through Ji-hu’s hair. His tears have dried as he sips at the
milk in content.

“He said a vacation but, I have a feeling it’s for something else now. It was very sudden and I didn’t
think anything of it at first.”
The feeling in Taehyung’s stomach grows worse. Jin hadn’t bothered to call him, to tell him. The
kids have always been more Jin’s than his but it hurts.

“He, he mentioned talking to an officer before he left, about helping keep Woojin safe. He didn’t tell
you this?”

Jeongguk softens when he takes in the look on Taehyung’s face. He knows it must be bewilderment
or offense. Fear maybe, that Jin’s so worried he’s involving the police.

“And with Yoongi in Osaka,” Jeongguk murmurs, patting Ji-hu’s head absentmindedly. “I don’t
know. I feel like I need to be there.”

Taehyung nods, his heart heavying. He doesn’t want Jeongguk to leave, even if it’s only temporarily.

He’d be all by himself and it’s selfish, he knows . But Taehyung never claimed to be anything other
than selfish when it comes to Jeon Jeongguk.

“I want you to come with me,” Jeongguk says, glancing at Ji-hu. “So I know that you’re safe.
Because I’m selfish, I’m not letting you say no.”

Taehyung laughs. He knows if he really didn’t want to go, Jeongguk wouldn’t force him, but the
look in Jeongguk’s eyes tells him he might go mad if Taehyung stays behind.

“The only thing, Ji-hu starts school in the morning.”

Jeongguk looks like he may cuss, but stops himself by glancing at Ji-hu, who looks between them
with equally as wide eyes.

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning. I mean first thing. It isn’t far of a travel.”

Taehyung’s stomach jitters again. He doesn’t want Jeongguk to even leave for a few minutes. It feels
like something is brewing and it makes him anxious to be alone.

Jeongguk takes his hand into his own as he leans forward. “And then we’ll figure things out and
when my head is clear, I can show you how much I love the pink.”

There’s pink on Taehyung’s cheeks and he laughs wetly, the sound breaking the tension in his
cheeks. He wants to say something, something foreign to him, but he doesn’t want to burden
Jeongguk with it when he is already dealing with so much.

Loving someone shouldn’t feel like a burden but it doesn’t change the fact that it does.

After getting lost and driving for over an hour, Jin wants to drive through the front gate when they
finally, finally find the Osaka home. It’s already late into the afternoon and they’ve wasted a lot of
time.

He almost screams when he punches the code into the machine and opens the gate to see a field of
bright colors so long that he can’t even see the house. The GPS had provided him with nothing, and
if the code hadn’t worked, Jin would worry he was breaking and entering into someone else’s land.

He technically still is since he hadn’t asked either one of the Jeon men to come here. But it isn’t his
fault when he can guess every single one of Jeongguk’s passcodes for anything .

“Are you sure this is it?” Namjoon asks as he walks beside him, Eunae in his arms and clinging to
his neck. Woojin drags between them, his hands in both of theirs and his eyes blinking sleepily.

“I think."

The fields surrounding them are covered in flowers and trees with bring pinks, reds, and fluffy
greens and whites. It’s beautiful, especially with how bright the sky is above them.

They almost walk right by the house where it’s hidden amongst the colors if it weren’t for Woojin
letting go of Jin’s hand to point to it.

It’s all wood and glass doors, windows stretching from ceiling to floor, one of the prettiest houses Jin
has ever seen. He knows there’s a cleaner hired to take care of the house, he pays her monthly (very
generous) pay.

Woojin takes off in a run towards one of the windows, ignoring Jin’s yell to keep his hands off the
glass. There’s a dog on the other side, a big fluffy white thing with its tail curved over its butt.

“Doggy,” Woojin says, a bright smile on his lips. He is so close to the window that his nose touches
the glass and the dog wags its tail furiously before jumping onto the glass.

“Does someone live here?” Namjoon whispers as Jin coaxes a hand to Woojin’s chest to pull him
away. “I told you you should have asked Jeongguk first.”

“He didn’t answer any of my texts,” Jin huffs under his breath. That part is true. “Maybe it’s just the
housekeeper.”

Their question is answered when a woman appears behind the dog, a startled look on her face. Jin
flushes, waving awkwardly because she definitely isn’t the housekeeper.

And if she is, she’s made herself home. She wears nothing but a silky robe and slippers despite it
being late into the day, hair tied into knots around her head. There’s a cup of tea in her hands that
sloshes over her fingers as she hastily closes her robe. She doesn’t wave back, but glares at them.

He follows the direction she moves, unsure as to where the entrance is. He finds it, a big set of
wooden doors that push open to reveal the woman.

“Who are you?” she snaps, unfriendly. Jin places a hand to Woojin’s head, maneuvering him behind
his legs. “And what are you doing at my house?”

“Jin,” Namjoon whispers under his breath.

“Unless you’re a sixty something old man that has a failing kidney, I don’t think you own this
house,” Jin responds flatly. “And you don’t look like a sixty year old man. Can’t tell about the
kidney, though.”

The woman sinks back a bit, eyes flicking to Woojin and Namjoon. She looks unsure and less angry.

“Well who are you and why are you here?”

“The owner’s son sent me here.” He pushes Woojin further behind his back as he tries to struggle
against his touch and peer at the woman. “So who are you? I’ll call the police if you’re trespassing.”

The woman’s eyes grow wide and she clutches at the door as she might shut it. “The owner knows I
am here. My name is Kim Jiwon. Ask him yourself.”

The housekeeper, Jin thinks, relaxing some. He thinks he might just live in a house like this too if it
were abandoned.

“W-why did he send you here?”

“Don’t worry, we won’t tell Jun-ki that you’ve called his home yours,” Jin jokes, but the nerves
linger on her face. Namjoon looks just as unsure as he watches them.

“Weekend getaway with the boys,” Namjoon interrupts with a smile when Jin doesn’t say anything.
He’s trying to come up with something that isn’t the truth. He doesn’t trust anyone to know that he’s
trying to hide his brother.

“And if I call Jun-ki, he’ll confirm this?”

They nod even though Jin truly has no idea. He knows it would be okay with Jeongguk because of
Woojin, but the old man he isn’t sure.

She still looks unsure but she steps aside, giving them room to enter. Jin bows his head in gratitude,
guiding Woojin to his side.

“Jin,” Jin greets. “And this is my brother.”

Woojin doesn’t look at her when he steps by, clinging tight to Jin. Her face softens as she crouches
beside him, holding out a hand.

“What’s your name?”

The only response she gets is Woojin tightening his grip onto Jin. He doesn’t look at her, his eyes
searching somewhere else - for the dog, probably.

“He isn’t being rude,” Jin says.

She nods, still smiling. “It’s okay. I didn’t talk when I was little either. Haru, come here boy.”

Woojin lets go when the dog approaches and he tugs away from Jin hesitantly, though he watches
him over his shoulder to make sure he’s close by.

“This is Joon and my sister.”

Eunae blinks sleepily before she nuzzles back into Namjoon’s neck.

If Jiwon notices that Jin doesn’t offer their names, she doesn’t say anything.

“So a guys getaway,” Jiwon says, fingers tapping at her mug as she slides her other arm around her
middle. “D-does that mean young Mr. Jeon and Mr. Min are joining you as well?”

The inside of the house is spotless and shiny, the decor more modern than Jin had expected of
Jeongguk’s family. It’s more like Jeongguk’s penthouse than his father’s home, seemingly unlived in.

Jin thinks as it should, but there’s shoes by the door and photographs on the wall. He can see the
living room a ways down, the entertainment center filled with DVDs and books. Blankets over the
couch.

“I don’t know,” Jin responds, suddenly uncomfortable. It’s as if he’s entered into a stranger’s home
and he doesn’t know if she’s going to leave or not. “If I knew anyone was living here -”

“Oh no, Jin-ssi,” Jiwon says, waving her hand with a flustered look. “I do not live here. I will - I can
go. Just let me get dressed.”

She turns impossibly pink before she heads off, practically sprinting away from them. Namjoon
glances at Jin, frowning and he can see the wheels spinning in his head.

“Let’s take a look then,” Jin says, eyeing Woojin who now sits on the floor with Haru half on his
lap. “Hoseok said he would do a food run before he arrives.”

He gently eases Eunae from Namjoon’s arms and helps her to stand. She pouts, rubbing her eyes but
a brightness fills them when she eyes her brother with the dog.

“Come on,” Jin encourages, though Woojin looks like he may cry if he parts from the dog. “We need
to call hyungie too.”

Woojin perks at that, accepting the hand offered to him.

The place is massive, expensive, and Jin shouldn’t be surprised that the kitchen is just as fancy but he
finds himself gaping when he steps into it. It’s perfect, the appliances brand new and more high tech
than anything he has ever seen before. He touches over it gently, admiring the gleam of the steel and
the sparkle of the counters.

It’s spotless too. Jun-ki will be pleased to hear it as he pays his housekeeper more than Jeongguk
pays him.

“Jin-ah. Do you believe she doesn’t live here?” Namjoon whispers as he admires the refrigerator,
decorated in alphabet magnets and pictures. There’s no one Jin recognizes.

He pulls it open to inspect the inside and it’s completely full; there’s even containers of left over
meals inside. He doesn’t know why she would lie about living here, unless she doesn’t want Jun-ki
to know.

The house is unused and beautiful, he doesn’t blame her for occupying it.

He closes the door at the sound of footsteps and the twinkle of nails on linoleum. Jiwon returns fully
dressed, jeans now on and a soft sweater on top. Her hair is still twisted into knots around her head
but her nervous smile is gone.

“Would it be okay if your little sister and brother take Haru out? While I get my things?”

“Oh, yeah. We really don’t mean to push you out.”

Haru goes running across the kitchen where there’s a glass sliding door. A glance outside shows
gardens surrounded by those bushes people shave back to look like animals. Namjoon would know
the word.

“Jun-ki told me there would be visitors, but he hadn’t told me when,” she says with a laugh. She has
a gentle face when she glances at Woojin and gestures a hand to the door.

“Don’t go far, stay near the door,” Jin instructs as Eunae takes his hand to follow after the dog.

He hesitates when Jiwon closes it behind them. This place looks like a safe zone, but his kids being
out of eyesight makes him uncomfortable.

He is about to say so when Jiwon turns around, the gentle expression gone from her face.

Namjoon is grabbing for him when she reaches behind her back. She moves before Jin can react,
arms flying in front of her.

The metal in between her hands is just as shiny as the brand new kitchenware.

Jin’s heart beats frantically in his chest. Behind her, he can see Eunae and Woojin circling after the
dog, unaware of the way Jin raises his hand in front of himself.

“Only one person is approved to be here by Jun-ki. You are not him. Who are you and how did you
find this place?”

He can hear the heavy way Namjoon breathes, his fingers digging hard into the back of Jin’s neck.
She’s in the way, between them and the kids and he knows that’s why Namjoon grips onto him so
tightly.

“I am here with Min Yoongi,” Jin says carefully. Yoongi had the Jeon approval; he should have just
waited for him. But the kids had been cranky and hungry . “I’m supposed to meet him here.”

Jin tenses when she takes a step forward, keeping the gun steady in her grip. It’s low enough down
her torso that it would be hidden if Eunae or Woojin were to turn and look into the kitchen. He's
thankful.

“You said you didn’t know if Mr. Jeon and Mr. Min were coming.”

Jin hadn’t said anything about Yoongi because he doesn’t think Yoongi wants anyone to know
where he is. He says as much and Jiwon cocks an eyebrow at him.

“Who are you?” Jiwon asks, ignoring his words.

“Kim Seokjin,” Jin responds quickly. He nudges his head towards Namjoon. “My boyfriend, Kim
Namjoon. Or, not yet my boyfriend. We haven’t talked about it -”

Namjoon squeezes his neck and Jin stops. She’s inching closer, eyes like daggers and looking
unconvinced.

“We work for Jeon Tobacco,” Namjoon says, his voice sounding a lot calmer than Jin feels like his
sounds. “If you call Mr. Jeon, he will confirm that.”

“How do you know of this place? Only the Jeons and I do. He only told Min Yoongi.”

Jin swallows, wondering if he should lie or tell the truth. “I do all of Mr. Jeon’s finances because he’s
incapable. I’m the reason there’s lights and heat in this house. I make sure his housekeeper is paid.
I’m starting to understand why he pays you so much.”

Jiwon peers her eyes, cocking her head to the side a few times like Jeongguk does when he’s
thinking about something. He takes it as a good sign, but he doesn’t remove his hands from where
they’re placed over his chest. His bones aren’t big or thick enough to keep a bullet from piercing his
chest, but he needs to feel like it’s covered somehow.

“If Jun-ki trusted you with the location of this place than you would know I’m not his housekeeper.”

The words are said with malice, eyes filled with distrust. His heart jumps, not because she steps so
close that if she stretched out her arms the gun would press into his sternum, but because Woojin
glances towards the kitchen.

“Call him, please, I insist,” Namjoon says, his tight grip betraying how calm he sounds. Jin knows he
wouldn’t be able to even pretend he were calm if a gun was pointed at Namjoon. “The gun is truly
unnecessary. Neither one of us is here to harm you. We’re here for safety. Neither of us are armed.”

The gun falters, dipping low for a second as Jiwon turns her attention to Namjoon. There’s a flicker
of something in her eyes that Jin thinks his words work, but he refuses to relax until the gun is tucked
away.

“You call him,” Jiwon insists, nudging the gun towards Jin. “Safety from what?”

“My brother,” Jin says, slowly lowering his hands to reach for the phone in his pocket. The gun
straightens again and Jin considers he might throw up all over the sparkling clean tile floor. “Woojin
is his name. Please put the gun away before he comes inside. He’s suffered a lot of trauma and I
can’t have him see this.”

“Woojin,” Jiwon repeats, the gun dipping low a second time. “Is your sister Eunae?”

Jin freezes his hand around his phone, half out of his pocket. His heart thunders so loud in his ears he
can barely hear what Namjoon says in response. His mind is focused on one thing, ducking away
from the gun and grabbing both of his kids.

They’re too big for him to carry but he’d try it. He’d break off his arms and legs trying to run them
away as fast as he could.

There were many times he used to have to when Taehyung would call him and tell him that his step
father was on an abusive streak again, but he could carry them easily in his arms then. There were
too many times he had to sneak a tiny Woojin from his parents’ home, wrapped in a blanket against
his chest. When Eunae was born, he prayed Taehyung’s mother stopped having children that he
couldn’t carry away.

Jin would have found a way to grow a third arm to do so, but he needed her to stop having children
who would grow up with bruises etched into their skin.

“How do you know that?” Jin asks, the panic clear in his voice. Woojin nears towards the kitchen
door but Eunae is calling him back, pointing excitedly at the dog who rolls around on the ground.
“How do you know their names?”

“Call him,” Jiwon insists, pointing to the phone. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?” Jin spits. His heart is starting to make his face throb, his skin growing hot. “I
don’t know you but you know my kids -”

“They have one older brother and it isn’t you,” Jiwon snaps, raising the gun so it’s level with Jin’s
nose and he stops, feeling Namjoon go rigid beside him. “Lie to me again and I shoot. If Jun-ki
confirms you’re allowed to be here, you can keep the kids. But if he doesn’t, they’re coming with
me.”

Jin’s fingers shake as he enters the passcode into his phone. He wishes she would lower the gun
before they see. It’s making his throat clog up. Despite the warning in his head, he can’t get his
fingers to stop shaking.

She knows who they are and she’s threatening to take them .

It feels like hours that the phone rings before finally Jun-ki answers and he almost gasps out in relief,
the panic inside of him threatening to spill out of his mouth.
“Seokjin-ssi. How may I help you this evening?”

Jin swallows. He doesn’t know what Jun-ki knows about Yunbok, or Chung-Hoon. But he does
know they’re all close and telling them where he’s run Woojin off to is the last thing he wants to do.

But if no one knows this place, he doesn’t think he will easily hand off the address to either of them.
He has a bodyguard slash housekeeper here. It’s that important to him.

“I’m in Osaka,” Jin says. “I’m meeting Yoongi here in Osaka. At your home.”

There’s silence for a moment before Jun-ki responds. “Did Jeongguk send you? What is wrong?”

There’s nothing in his voice that betrays whether or not he’s okay or angry about this.

Jin almost lets out a sound of relief but there’s still a gun a few inches away from his face. “Yes. He
didn’t tell me it was occupied. Jiwon-ssi is a fantastic bodyguard, sir.”

Jun-ki laughs and the gun lowers, pointing towards the ground but she holds it firmly in her hands. “I
would have warned her of your arrival if you had told me, Seokjin-ssi. I hope my son does not
continue to give out the location of his mother’s home, but he said Yoongi was in trouble? Has he
sent you to look out for him?”

The grip relaxes on the gun but her body doesn’t. She watches the two of them carefully, but it’s
enough for Namjoon to loosen the hold on his neck. It hurts but without it, Jin would have taken off
in a run.

“Yes, sir. I am waiting for him now.”

Jun-ki sighs, a low noise that sounds tired. “Please have him call me when you’ve met with him. I’m
terribly worried. Please trust in Jiwon if you need anything. She is a good bodyguard indeed.
Yoongi-yah should know this but he is stubborn. Anything he needs, he can call me. I look at him as
a son and that offer extends to you as well, Seokjin-ssi.”

A proud smile takes over Jiwon’s lips and it’s borderline wicked looking.

“Thank you Mr. Jeon, sir. I am sorry for bothering you. I’ll have Yoongi call you as soon as we
meet.”

His heart pace hasn’t slowed but it’s trying to get there as Jiwon deposits the gun into the back of her
pants again. She holds out a hand, a smile on her lips but Jin doesn’t want to take it. She puts her
hand away, understanding in her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I have to be careful,” Jiwon explains, looking far from apologetic. “And Jun-ki asked me
to help Yoongi if he needs it so, if you need help too. I’m here for my safety as well, and I’ve been
able to keep this place a safe space for seven years now.”

Jin reaches for Namjoon, relaxed when Namjoon takes his hand without question. “How do you
know my siblings’ names?”

Jiwon frowns at him for a long time before she starts to walk off. He doesn’t follow but instead jogs
to the door, almost desperate to have his kids in his arms. “Inside now.”

They look disappointed but they trudge inside. Woojin’s eyes are wide and he grabs for Jin’s hand
before Jin can reach for his.
“How are you related to them?” Jiwon asks as she returns, an envelope in hand. “Did their brother
not survive? We have no record of you.”

Jin takes the envelope, unsure how to answer that. Did he not survive what? No record of you .

“I raised them.”

Jiwon purses her lips, looking unsure. “And Taehyung? Where is he?”

Woojin looks at her then, tugging on Jin’s hand. He offers his phone to him and he cradles it to his
chest. The background is of Taehyung and the two little ones. Woojin had chosen it himself.

“I don’t find it important to tell you that.”

Jiwon doesn’t look offended but gestures to the envelope. “You know Jun-ki, you’re close enough
that he lets you handle all of his finances yet he does not know of your siblings?”

There’s an anxiety whispering back into his chest as he fiddles with the open part of the envelope.
There’s no reason a woman he’s never met before, in a place he’s never been, would know his kids.

There’s no one who knows his kids that don’t know who he is.

He didn’t know Ji-hu didn’t know about his children, but he doesn’t talk to the man often. Most of
his interactions with the old man are through Jeongguk unless Ji-hu is visiting the company to see
Jeongguk.

“Jeongguk is supposed to take charge of his finances, but he has his hands full,” Jin says, still
hesitating with his thumb slipping into the open flap. “How do you know he doesn’t know my
siblings?”

Jiwon sighs, taking the envelope from him with impatience. She opens it easily, removing a square
piece of paper from it. It’s a copy of a photograph, copied onto a piece of paper in black and white.

“I know, because he’s been searching for them for years. They were in Seoul before they
disappeared, but he found them and Taehyung. But just recently he lost the two youngest again.
They disappeared a few weeks back and he had been devastated.”

It’s a picture he took. Jin remembers, though it had been so long ago. Taehyung’s face is chubby, his
eyes lit with the happiness that stayed in his eyes for days after Eunae was born. His step father had
left them when his mother was getting ready to give birth, but he didn’t stay gone long enough.

Jin thinks it’s the last time Taehyung’s been fully happy.

“I need to call Jeongguk,” Jin says, taking the photo from Jiwon. “I need to leave.”

Jiwon reaches out, grabbing Jin quickly. “No, they are safe here. I promise you. I will not harm
them. I won’t even tell Jun-ki unless you tell me I can. He won’t hurt them either. He’s always
wanted to protect them.”

Jin stares back down at the photograph, handing it off to Namjoon who reaches for it. There’s
confusion in his eyes, the same confusion Jin feels.

“I’ll leave,” Jiwon finally says, hands going up in the air. “I won’t tell a soul you’re here. Just stay,
please. Keep your brother safe.”

“Who are you?” Jin asks, feeling overwhelmed.

“My name is Kim Jiwon. You can call me Winnie.”

“Yeah, you said,” Jin grunts. He waves a hand around the house. “What is this? This connection you
have to Jun-ki? Why should I trust you when you just had a gun pointed at me?”

Jiwon sighs as she tugs at one of the knots in her hair. It comes undone and she quickly twirls it
again in her fingers. “I’ve been in hiding for seven years. You’re unfamiliar to me. I had every
reason to pull a gun out on you.”

“Hiding,” Jin repeats, taking a step back. “From?”

Jiwon glances out the window, anger in her eyes as if she’s expecting to see whatever she’s hiding
from in the glass.

“His name’s Kim Chung-Hoon, have you heard of him?”

Ice pours down Jin’s back and he reaches for Woojin on instinct, holding a hand to the back of his
head. He glances up at Jin with wide eyes, showing the phone that’s going from the calling screen to
Taehyung’s face.

“Woojinnie!” Taehyung coos into the camera and it makes Jin’s chest feel like it’s breaking.

“I’ve heard of him,” Jin says. Woojin doesn’t say anything but he’s crying quietly, Jin knows by the
way the brightness slips quickly from Taehyung’s expression and his voice softens.

“Woojinnie, don’t cry. Come on. You don’t want to see hyungie cry too, do you?”

“No,” Woojin whispers, his voice so faint it’s hard to hear. “No, I just miss you hyungie.”

Jin’s chest hurts worse. He considers trusting Jiwon, just for long enough that he can find a way to
fucking kill Chung-Hoon and make sure Taehyung and the kids never have to be separated again.

“I used to work for him,” Winnie supplies, “but I escaped and have been in hiding since. Jun-ki was
afraid your siblings disappeared because Chung-Hoon took them.”

Just mentioning it, even though it isn’t something that happened, makes Jin’s blood boil.

Jun-ki had been looking for his kids and knew nothing about him. He wants to scream until she
explains everything to him. Jin trusts Jeongguk, but it doesn’t extend to his father.

“It’s who Yoongi is running from,” Jin says. He can trust Mr. Jeon with at least that.

Winnie nibbles on her bottom lip. “Is he with a man? Named Jimin?”

Jin hates this. All of this. It isn’t settling with him. She knows too much, but if she truly is on the run
from Chung-Hoon than the chances of her knowing Jimin make more sense than her knowing the
kids.

Maybe that’s how she met Taehyung too. But Jin knows for a fact no one that Taehyung has ever
worked with knows about the kids except Jimin and Hoseok.

“I don’t know.”

“Is that Taehyung there?” Winnie indicates Woojin with a tilt of her chin.

Jin turns Woojin, half shoving him behind his body. Woojin startles and he hears Taehyung ask him
what’s wrong.

“If you’d excuse us for a moment.”

With a hand pressed to the back of Woojin’s head, Jin guides them from the kitchen. He’s relieved
when Winnie doesn’t follow behind, though he’s still nervous about her intentions. He doesn’t know
if he should leave Namjoon and Eunae alone with her, but Namjoon proved himself to be much
more fit in front of a gun than Jin had.

“Hyung, what is it?” Taehyung asks as Jin kneels behind Woojin to look into the camera. Jin is
relieved to see that he looks good, his face a bit fuller and his hair now a bright pink. “And where are
you?”

“Osaka,” Jin answers. “I told Jeongguk. Did he not tell you?”

Taehyung frowns for a moment, daggers in his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

They have a rule to never fight in front of Woojin and Eunae, but Woojin holds the phone as if he
might have a tantrum if Jin tries to take it away from him.

“We found something,” Jin says slowly, eyeing Woojin so Taehyung knows he can’t explain in front
of him. “In Yunbok’s office. That was sent to you and Jeongguk. It was too close to us.”

Taehyung’s eyes grow wide with understanding, hurt flashing across his face.

“Yunbok and Chung-Hoon are brothers. Yunbok sees me every day, sees the pictures on my desk,”
Jin says as he cups the back of Woojin’s head and presses a kiss to his temple. “Remember the first
time we moved away? The reason?”

Taehyung nods as he nibbles on his bottom lip. The reason had been to protect Woojin, to get him
far away from the place where those men tried to kidnap him.

“It’s the same reason now,” Jin explains. “Tell Jeongguk, he’ll know where we are.”

Taehyung nods again, his lip trembling underneath the grip of his teeth. “He’s coming to you. I love
you hyung. I’m sorry I put so much on you.”

“Hyungie,” Woojin whispers softly, moving his face close to the screen before Jin can respond.
“You said don’t cry.”

Woojin pulls roughly away from Jin and Jin falters but doesn’t go after him. He sighs when Woojin
sinks to the floor, curling in on himself and holding the phone close to his face.

There’s never been a time where Jin has felt resentful. There was never a time that Jin had hesitated
in helping Taehyung protect his siblings. There’s been regret that Jin never protected Taehyung
himself. When he turned of age, he should have kidnapped Taehyung and the kids and got them as
far away from home as possible, before all of this happened.

But that’s his only regret. He’d take every inch of worry and pain that came with the kids just to take
care of them. They aren’t his, but they feel like it and he hates the way that Taehyung looks so
broken when he apologizes.

“You’re okay, baby,” he hears Taehyung say. “I told you, I just miss you, but we’re going to be
together really soon, okay? All four of us.”
*

There’s a static in the air that is settling over them. It’s full of uncertainties and questions, more
questions than they had before.

Hoseok doesn’t truly care for every fine detail. He wants to know why a man would waste over half
his life chasing another man when he loses every time. If it’s pride, that’s dangerous, stupid. He’s not
risking it.

But for love? It’s just as dangerous, just as stupid, but he knows what it feels like to want to hurt
someone that hurt someone you love and Hoseok thinks it’s the only thing that might truly bring
Sungho down.

He doesn’t know how Jimin picked up on it and he didn’t. Maybe Jimin can read love better than he
can. But it had been obvious after he said it.

Mun loved that Kyungsoon girl and whether it was familial, platonic, or romantic; it’s kept the dumb
bastard chasing after Chung-Hoon for years.

There’s more Jimin had picked up on; Hoseok is sure of it. The anger and distrust that had suddenly
jumped from Jimin when he spoke of Taehyung was enough to tell him that.

“Have you checked the wound today?”

Hoseok turns from where he watches the smoke trail. He isn’t feeling like smoking it, he just needed
an excuse to get away from the room.

Seeing the look on Jeongguk’s face had rattled him. So far, he’s been handling everything as fine as
one possibly can, he’s good at tense situations, but he can’t handle that.

If Chung-Hoon had truly killed him, he would have came back to life just to kill him for making his
friends feel the pain of loss. Or at least haunted the shit out of him as a ghost.

“Yeah.”

Jooheon eyes him, a grin on his lips before he plucks the cigarette from his fingers. He cocks his
head towards the room he shares with Changkyun, the room Hoseok had tried to sleep in the night
before to give Yoongi and Jimin their privacy. “Come on.”

Hoseok stomps on the cigarette. He follows after him, wondering if Jooheon had caught onto the fact
that he wants to be away from everything. It makes him uncomfortable; he doesn’t like when people
can read his emotions.

Mun stands when Hoseok enters but Hoseok doesn’t acknowledge him more than a nod of his head.
Changkyun rests against the bed, an arm pillowed under his head and his eyes wandering to where
Jooheon leads him to the bathroom.

“How long you two been cops?”

Jooheon raises his eyebrows as he shuts the door behind them. The first aid kit is still out from the
night before, joined by another kit Jooheon had pulled from his trunk. He hadn’t felt comfortable
sharing a room with the two guards, but he felt uncomfortable taking an eye off of them and he knew
Jimin and Yoongi needed some alone time.

It had been alright. Neither asked him anything or brought up everything going on. Jooheon put on a
shitty comedy and it was alright.

“Oh, Kookangie ain’t a cop. An informant of sorts. He was our in to the club,” Jooheon explains as
he helps Hoseok unbutton his shirt. His eyes are sharp, cat like, intimidating at times but bright
before they close into slits when he laughs. It reminds him of Yoongi and maybe that’s why Hoseok
feels himself relax under Jooheon’s gaze. “I applied as soon as I was able. The same as Mun, he
thought my age would help and that’s why he put a rookie in. I’ve been more gang trained than cop
trained.”

Jooheon pulls back the bandage as Hoseok’s fingers shake in attempts to. There's a pinch of pain as
the tape sticks to his skin, but it’s why he avoided looking at this morning.

“Is there a difference?”

Hoseok huffs out a laugh that sounds pinched with pain. “Nah man.”

It isn’t the best place to bring up a conversation in case it ticks off the guard. They’re in a small
bathroom and the wound in his side makes it so it would be easier for Jooheon to grab his gun than it
would be for him to pull it from his waistband.

But Hoseok has been good at reading people and he knows a lot of his mistrust is coming from
inside of him, not what is around him. He doesn’t think Jooheon will cause him harm, especially
since they’re trying hard to earn Yoongi and Jimin’s trust.

Maybe they deserve it, it’s undecided. But for now, Hoseok will trust that they’re smart enough not
to hurt him. Not until they get what they want.

“Who are you more loyal to then? The gang or the force?”

Jooheon grins, but doesn’t answer as he extracts gloves from the first aid kit to slide them onto his
hands.

“Mun.”

Not the gang, not the force, just Mun.

Hoseok bites his cheek when the cleaner hits opened skin.

“Why?”

“Why do you ask?”

Jooheon holds his gaze for a moment, that smirk never leaving his face. It reminds Hoseok of Hanbin
except it’s less of a smirk and more of just an amused smile.

“When Yoongi hyung said the location of Young-Mi’s letters, you and Changkyun exchanged a
look that I don’t think you wanted anyone to see.”

It had been quick. Hoseok doesn’t miss those kind of things.

Jooheon doesn’t look caught or smug. But he dabs hard against the wound until Hoseok is gritting
his teeth.

“You’re a good guard. I lied about knowing they were in the library,” Jooheon compliments. “Our
informant at the Minx said so and you haven’t disappointed. I want Jeon’s letters and I already told
you why. It isn’t a secret.”
It unsettles him that he had been around an informant at the Minx at one point. Hell, apparently he
was around one of the baddest gangs in China too and he didn’t even know. He’s not that great of a
bodyguard.

He’s starting to wonder if he found out about Jooheon being an informant on purpose. He had
overheard him, talking to his captain, thinking Jooheon dumb for slipping up. But maybe it had been
on purpose.

His mind searches over things Jooheon has said to him but he comes up blank. Jooheon watches him
and pouts when he doesn’t get an answer.

“Mun wants to find all the kids taken from the three. The trinity he usually calls them. They’re part of
Sungho’s Family. As fucked up as it is, he loved them a lot,” Jooheon explains resting his palms on
the sink around Hoseok’s hips. It’s too close but Hoseok doesn’t find it in himself to care. “We had
the locations but a few weeks ago we lost three of the kids; Kyungsoon’s kids. And as Sungho sees
his girls at his family, he sees their children as his as well.”

Jooheon wrinkles his nose, cocking his head and Hoseok doesn’t know what the searching look
means. He’s hard to read and Hoseok doesn’t know if he hates it or loves it.

Mun acted like he wanted Taehyung to ask him where to honor his mother. Hoseok knew there was
more to it. That information is easily attainable. Jimin knows the answer, Hoseok knows the answer.
He could have just asked them.

“They weren’t the only kids though. Not only Young-mi’s children were taken from her. Someone
Kookangie grew up with was taken too.”

Hoseok feels heat on his neck when Jooheon places his hand to it. It is the farthest thing from a
sensual conversation but Hoseok feels his heart thump in the way it does when he thinks someone is
going to kiss him.

Jooheon’s eyes drop to his mouth like he might. Hoseok doesn’t miss it.

“She was taken around the time Young-Mi died. He thinks the letters might say where she is or
where she could be. Or maybe Young-Mi knows where the stolen kids go, something that will help
us find her.”

The grin returns and Hoseok hooks his hands around the sink, legs spreading unconsciously though
Jooheon makes no move to slip between them. Maybe he trusts Jooheon more than he realizes.

“Mun’s driven by his love for Kyungsoon, wants to protect her kids. Changkyun wants his long lost
friend and you? What is it for you?”

There’s a light in Jooheon’s eyes as he reaches up and strokes Hoseok’s cheek.

“I want to cut off Chung-Hoon’s hands before he ever has the chance to touch a child again. It’s
nothing personal for me. But it doesn’t need to be. It’s disgusting. I was determined to prove myself
as a good cop but over the last year, listening to Chung-Hoon talk, having to watch him -”

Jooheon presses his lips together in disgust and shakes his head.

“I want him dead before he can touch anyone else.”

Hoseok nods, growing tense as Jooheon’s hand slips back to his neck and touches over his pulse. It
beats steady and Jooheon searches his face. He’s reading Hoseok just as Hoseok is reading him.
“I’ll cut off the left, you can have the right,” Hoseok offers and Jooheon grins, finally stepping in
between the space of Hoseok’s legs.

“Now that we have secured Yoongi and Jimin, we won’t have much time,” Jooheon says, words
slow, dripping from his lips like honey. “We have to move fast. Mun wants to break down Chung-
Hoon as soon as possible.”

“What do you need?” Hoseok breathes, eyes watching the way Jooheon’s mouth forms the words.
“What’s the plan?”

A breath stutters in Hoseok’s lungs as Jooheon pushes a thumb underneath his chin so their gaze
meets. “We need to get into Jeon Tobacco and we need enough evidence against Chung-Hoon to
secure a warrant. If Chung-Hoon gets spooked and has enough time, our whole operation will
crumble.”

Hoseok wrinkles his nose, wanting to pull away but he likes the way Jooheon looks at him.
Whatever. “Are you trying to seduce me into helping you?”

Jooheon grins again, eyes lighting up as he rubs his thumb over Hoseok’s chin. “No. You’re
supposed to be dead, there’s not much you can do to help. I’m a fly on the wall, Hope. I notice
everything. You can’t expect me to miss you staring at my mouth.”

Hoseok bites his bottom lip, repressing his grin. “Likewise.”

Jooheon ducks his head forward but Hoseok presses a hand to his chest, keeping him back. He stills
without hesitation.

“Answer one question,” Hoseok whispers, letting his voice fall dirty. He doesn’t care if Jooheon
can’t be trusted in the long run. Jooheon won’t kill him in this tiny bathroom right now. He will
worry about later, later. Maybe a good quickie will release the knots formed up Hoseok spine
enough for him to clear his head and think. “Is Mun planning on taking down the Jeons too? Raiding
Jeon Tobacco puts Jeongguk at risk.”

Jooheon looks surprised for a moment before he shakes his head. “Nah, Mun owes Young-Mi too
much to screw over her son. He has been honest with you. He didn’t pull his weight in their bargain
but it’s not because he didn’t try to. No one was expecting Kyungsoon’s death. It changed
everything.”

Hoseok runs his hands up Jooheon’s chest. “Who is undercover?” Hoseok asks as he cups Jooheon’s
neck. Jooheon’s grin grows. “That’s around Jeongguk.”

“You said one question,” Jooheon reminds him, hovering so close that Hoseok can feel his breath on
his cheek.

“It’ll be worth answering two,” Hoseok promises lowly.

Jooheon wrinkles his nose. “I’m not asking for anything. I rather you give me what you want to give
me,” he tells him softly, teeth skimming over his bottom lip. “We have a couple guys on him. A
member of his security team. One of his son’s teachers, an employee at Jeon Tobacco. Half of the
staff at the Minx is from Guowang or works for Mun. Satisfactory?”

Hoseok grins, gripping onto Jooheon’s shirt to tug him close despite the twinge of pain in his side.
“You’re trying to distract me.”

“No,” Jooheon hums, nose skimming Hoseok’s. “I’m smart enough to know that distracting you
won’t work. We’re sitting ducks right now, I’m just trying to keep busy.”

Hoseok parts his lips, chin tilting to breath over Jooheon’s mouth. “Make it quick. You do owe me
for shooting me and all.”

Jooheon lets out a loud laugh that can probably be heard by the other’s outside of the door before he
leans forward and closes the space between their mouths.

Ji-hu clings to Jeongguk as he makes arrangements, despite Taehyung’s attempts to get him to help
with dinner. Jeongguk doesn’t mind if it keeps a smile on his face, though his constant tripping over
him has given Jeongguk enough heart attacks for the rest of his life.

Jinju’s words echo in the back of his mind as he walks around the suite, checking the alarms. Don’t
trust anyone . He wonders who she had meant by that. Ji-hu is safe.

He wonders what she meant by that . Safe from who? And if Ji-hu is safe, does that mean he isn’t?

Jeongguk scrubs at his temples. If Ji-hu is safe than surely Taehyung is safe beside him. He hopes.
He doesn’t have a choice. Yoongi isn’t coming back, he feels it in his bones.

Just a few hours. They’ll be fine. Surely. Seokmin will stay with them, Taehyung has that bartender
from the Minx he trusts enough to come to him if he desperately needs him to. The entire apartment
is filled with security, Jeongguk had called in every member of his staff -

Don’t trust anyone. It’s driving him nuts. He’s tried calling her back, desperate for more of an
explanation, but her phone is off.

“Appa,” Ji-hu grunts, grabbing onto Jeongguk’s sleeve and tugging for his attention. His eyes are
wide like doe eyes. “Why were you angry earlier?”

Jeongguk plays with a small box on the wall, located beside the front door. It’s nearly hidden, the
door frame off the wall just enough that Jeongguk can curl his fingers around it and press the
emergency button hidden there if need be.

He doesn’t know what to say. I thought Uncle Hobi was dead but really he’s just pretending
because he may or may not be on the run from one of the biggest mob bosses around ? How does
one put that into kid words? Seven years he’s been a father and he still finds it difficult.

“I was angry because it's my last day with you before you go back to school but work has called
Appa to Japan.”

Ji-hu pouts, following after him. He can feel Taehyung’s eyes on him where he works in the kitchen.

It should be him cooking, apologizing for stranding Taehyung alone again, but he can barely sit still.
He needs to find Yoongi, as soon as possible. He needs to touch Hoseok, hold him, hug him,
something just to know he’s actually alive.

Part of him still feels that pain inside of him, that fear he had earlier. He just needs Hoseok physically
in front of him for a moment.

“I want to go too.”

Taehyung smiles softly and Jeongguk feels himself gravitating towards him, his body craving the
calm that he feels when beside him.

“You’re gonna stay with Tae Tae,” Jeongguk says as he scoops Ji-hu up to sit him on the kitchen
counter. He’s getting too big to be picking up and it makes Jeongguk’s heart heavy. “But you can’t
stay up late, you have school in the morning.”

Ji-hu wrinkles his nose. “But Appa -”

“We can call Woojinnie,” Taehyung suggests with bright eyes as he offers Ji-hu his chopsticks and
the piece of meat between them. “Wouldn’t you like that? He called me a few minutes ago when you
were with Appa but we can call after dinner.”

It works in removing the pout from Ji-hu’s face as he thrusts his fists in the air in excitement.
Jeongguk plops a kiss to his nose, which results in Ji-hu grabbing his shoulders to smother his cheeks
with more.

A deep giggle rumbles in Taehyung’s chest and Jeongguk doesn’t think about the way he grips on
the edge of Taehyung’s shirt to tug him closer. He doesn’t think before his lips are grazing over his
cheek before Taehyung is tensing.

Jeongguk stills, fingers still gripping Taehyung’s shirt. There’s an apology on his lips that gets
interrupted by the brush of Taehyung’s mouth at the corner of his own.

“Come on, Ji-hu, help me finish up while Appa finishes his work?” Taehyung asks, shifting a hand
to the boy like nothing happened.

Ji-hu is looking at them with curious eyes and it makes Jeongguk blush furiously. Ji-hu taps his
cheek, eyes expectant in Taehyung and Taehyung lets out another giggle before he plops a kiss to Ji-
hu’s cheek as well.

It’s difficult to pull away from them and Jeongguk’s body heavies when he does. He keeps himself
going with the thought of Yoongi, calling back the number they had video called him with.

It goes to voicemail but a second later a blocked number is calling him.

“It’s me,” Jimin says as soon as the phone answers. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Jeongguk says though he rubs his temples. “Are you?”

Jimin lets out a quiet laugh. “I don’t know the answer to that, to be honest. So much has happened in
the last day.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m on my way to yours now, if you want me to pick up anything?”

There’s silence for a long moment. With the round about way Yoongi had taken to tell him he was in
Osaka and the blocked number, Jeongguk isn’t sure how much he can say.

“Actually yeah, that’s why I called.”

Jimin’s voice is quiet and unsure, something that’s unusual for him. Jeongguk grows tense as he rests
his butt on the edge of his desk and waits.

“I have no right to ask a favor of you,” Jimin says, his voice even lower. “But I'm going to anyway.”

He’s said it a thousand times over that he’d help Jimin anytime he needed it so he stays quiet now,
not wanting to scare Jimin off when he finally asks for help.
 “I need you to bring B with you.”

Jeongguk bites his bottom lip in surprise, cussing softly when pain explodes across his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Jimin quickly says. “I just - there’s things we need to discuss. All of us. Please
Jeongguk, I wouldn’t ask if it -”

The rest of what he says goes through one ear and out the other as Jeongguk rubs at his temples.
Bobby is the last person he wants to see today.

“Jimin, I don’t know.”

“ Please ,” Jimin says, a desperate edge to his voice. “I know it’s unfair of me to ask, just - please.”

Jimin doesn’t know, not really. But how could he? There’s a lot worse things happening in Jimin’s
life than finding out he has a long, not so lost brother. It feels selfish for Jeongguk to feel like he
could throw a tantrum over it, and Jimin has never really asked him for help before.

Not for himself.

And at least Jeongguk won’t have to worry about Bobby showing up announced with Taehyung at
the suite while he’s gone.

Jeongguk sighs. “What does hyung say about it?”

Silence. Despite Jimin not being physically with him, he feels the tension in the quiet.

The morning has drifted into afternoon and it still feels off.

“I haven’t told him I’m asking you. But - he’ll have to get over it, it’s part of the deal with Chung.”

Jimin stutters too much, sounds too unsure. It causes Jeongguk’s frown to deepen, wondering what
the fuck Yoongi got himself into.

“I’m on my way hyung. I’ll bring B, but you owe me.”

There’s an intake of breath on the other line. It’s unfair to say, Jeongguk knows the things Jimin is
used to doing in return for favors, but it isn’t anything like that.

“Okay, just name your price. Anything.”

Jeongguk tells him, quietly as he pulls together the last of his things. Jimin remains quiet as he speaks
and his voice is barely audible when he responds.

“I will, Jeongguk. See you soon.”

Chapter End Notes

please tell me what you think?? i'm really interested in knowing

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curiouscat
 Chapter 22
Chapter Notes

Hello! I am sorry for the delay, I was working on a few things for Christmas and some
commissions. This chapter and the next are a bit of a rough read, there's a lot of emotion
and there will be mentions of past sexual assault, violence, and implications of child
abuse. We're really close to the end, this and the next chapter will bring us there, but
they won't be the last chapter because there's still some stuff with taekook that needs to
happen. There's little taekook in the next two chapters, but hopefully you understand
why!

Also, there's one scene where one of the male characters shoves a woman character in
anger. I wasn't sure if that was something that needs to be warned about, so I'm warning
just in case!!

So thank you so much for reading! I know the heir stuff can be confusing, but I want to
clarify that heir doesn't necessarily mean his child. Ie: Bobby isn't Sungho's child; but
him and Young-Mi's daughter are the only children in the next generation of his
bloodline that are known about (before Woojin).

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Taehyung clutches the phone in his hand, struggling to hold his smile when Woojin’s watery eyes fill
the screen. He’s sunk to the kitchen floor and he prays Jeongguk and Ji-hu don’t walk out from
wherever they’ve gone to and find him this way, but there's no strength in his legs.

“You’re okay, baby,” Taehyung mutters, trying his best to sound reassuring. “I told you, I just miss
you, but we’re going to be together really soon, okay? All four of us.”

Part of him doesn’t care if Ji-hu misses his first day of school. Actually, a big part of him finds the
first day of school to be extremely insignificant to everything going on right now. He wants to fly to
Japan beside Jeongguk and hold his siblings. He should. He needs to.

He’ll leave when Jeongguk returns. He’ll talk to Jin, come up with a plan that works for the both of
them. Something that keeps Woojin and Eunae safe. He knows Jeongguk will let him stay in his
mother’s home if he needed to.

Taehyung doesn’t want to run. But he will.

“How about I come see you in a couple days?” Taehyung tries. He hears it in his own voice that he’s
failing at holding it together. Woojin’s face is too close to the camera but he pulls back a bit at that.
“Join you on vacation?”

Woojin nods, sniffling. “There’s a doggy here.”

Taehyung’s smile feels more genuine as his nose scrunches. “No way. What’s their name?”

Another sniffle. Silence. Taehyung hopes Jin hasn’t left Woojin alone, even if he’s on the phone
with him. Woojin hates being alone, especially when he’s upset. “Haru.”
Taehyung wants that. A safe home with a dog, his siblings and Jin. Namjoon wouldn’t be able to
come; not everyone can leave Jeongguk. It’d be unfair to make Jin choose. Maybe he wouldn’t agree
to leave with him.

There’s a sudden pain in his chest.

This was all supposed to be easier. But he knew it already; he knew just because he’s past one bad
thing doesn’t mean things will get better.

“I love you Woojinnie. Give Haru and Eunae some love for me, okay?” Taehyung peppers an
obnoxious amount of kisses at the screen until there’s a spark of something brighter in Woojin’s eyes.
“I’m gonna call you after dinner, okay?”

When the phone hangs up, Taehyung tucks his face into the crook of his elbow and tries his best not
to cry. Not with Jeongguk and Ji-hu wandering somewhere about the house. Not when Jeongguk’s
had a much more shittier day than him.

Often he has dealt with Woojin’s tears. Never has he been able to handle them. Even when they’re
simple tears shed, from a scraped knee or teasing from his sister. It’s harder when Woojin cries
because he misses him.

Taehyung stays there a moment, until he hears Ji-hu’s voice and he quickly scrabbles towards to his
feet. He had been attempting to make some food before Jeongguk left for Japan, but so far he’s done
nothing but flick through the living room television for something to fill the silence. He tries again,
distracting himself as best as he can.

(Which is not at all. His mind moves too much and he’s thankful when he’s finally joined by
Jeongguk and Ji-hu.)

Being around the Jeons is good in a comforting way but also bad. It makes him feel guilty for being
here instead of with his siblings and it makes him miss his siblings even more.

Taehyung’s distracted when Jeongguk kisses him, just a brush of his lips that Ji-hu watches with big
eyes. Jeongguk looks at him with equally as big eyes, like kissing Taehyung hadn’t been on purpose.

And Taehyung’s mind is all over the place as Taehyung kisses the corner of Jeongguk’s mouth
because he wants this too. He wants to share kisses with Jeongguk between cooking, in front of his
son and in front of his siblings. He wants to take care of them together; wake the three up and ready
them for school. Make their breakfast and help them with their homework.

Taehyung feels like a mess.

When Jeongguk leaves the two of them to continue cooking, a smile finally on his lips, Taehyung
feels Ji-hu staring at him. He covers the fish he pulled out in seasoning, wondering if Ji-hu would
mind their special dinner for his Appa being just microwaved ramen instead.

“Tae Tae,” Ji-hu says, still sitting on the counter beside him. He kicks his feet, tucking his fingers
between his thighs. “I’m sad when Appa leaves.”

Taehyung glances at him as he checks the oven is preheated. He doesn’t want to move far in case Ji-
hu wants to get down, but he doesn’t want him sitting too close to the hot surface either.

“He’ll be home in the morning, baby,” Taehyung says gently. “We’ll have a lot of fun, I promise.”

Ji-hu sighs heavily, glancing at Taehyung from the corner of his eye and Taehyung suppresses a
laugh at the dramatics. His head hangs for a moment, lips pressing out into a pout and he glances at
Taehyung again.

“Maybe he won’t come back.”

“Why do you say that?”

Ji-hu shrugs his shoulders. He removes his hands from between his thighs to play with the necklace
still hanging from his neck. He looks like a small man like that, nibbling on his bottom lip and staring
off like he’s plagued with distressing thoughts.

Maybe he is. Taehyung knows well that children aren’t truly free from distress just because of their
innocence. Especially if their innocence has been ruined. Taehyung doesn’t think Ji-hu has but he
doesn’t know.

“You can tell me when things make you sad or worried,” Taehyung tells him, focusing on the raw
fish he scoops into his hands rather than Ji-hu so he doesn’t feel pressured under his gaze. “I won’t
tell your Appa.”

Maybe that’s wrong of him to say but he doesn’t regret it. He feels Ji-hu’s eyes on him again and he
waits, but Ji-hu doesn’t say a word.

They cook in silence. Silence in the room at least. Taehyung’s mind is loud as it wanders over things,
jumping from one thought to another. He doesn’t stay on one thought too long, especially ones that
cause a pang in his chest. Ji-hu is just as silently loud, fidgeting over the counter and chewing hard
on his bottom lip. He looks at Taehyung so often with curious eyes that Taehyung is sure the boy
can tell something is wrong.

Taehyung is shutting off the stove and removing the pots and pans cooking on top when a bell
sounds loudly through the kitchen. Ji-hu jumps as if he’s going to fly from the counter and Taehyung
helps him down, though he keeps a hand on his shoulder so he won’t open the door.

His heart thumps heavily in his chest. Jeongguk didn’t tell him anyone was coming. His security is
safe though, he knows. Jeongguk made sure of it after Bobby visited.

Taehyung peers through the peephole and bites his bottom lip hard. Another bell sound and Ji-hu
struggles against his grip to open the door.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung calls. He can’t ignore the door. There’s panic in his voice, he hears it.

He wonders if Ji-hu would understand if he shoved the door closed as he tried to open it.

“Jeongguk!”

The sound of Jeongguk’s footsteps relieve him enough that he finally lets Ji-hu open the door. Ji-hu
squeals in delight before jumping over the threshold and into his Uncle’s arms.

“What is it?” Jeongguk asks, his face pale. He’s half dressed in his suit, the shirt still unbuttoned and
flapping at the sides as he jogs towards them. His brows are furrowed but he falters when he spots
who is in the doorway. “Shit.”

A firm hand presses to Taehyung’s spine, fingers tickling before Jeongguk pushes himself in front of
Taehyung.

Taehyung told himself he would never let himself do this. He would never sink into a man’s side and
let himself feel protected. Not so quickly; but he does.

“I told you I was picking you up.”

Taehyung feels stupid cowering behind Jeongguk so he straightens his spine and pretends he’s fine.
He had been just fine the other night, alone, but Bobby doesn’t look high this time. He doesn’t look
unstable enough that Taehyung trusts that he can take him if he needs to. He looks like shit, but his
eyes are focused.

Ji-hu clings to him, fingers in Bobby’s purple hair as he giggles and points to Taehyung’s pink hair,
whispering something to him but Bobby’s eyes are on Jeongguk instead.

“I got a call and was told to meet you here,” Bobby says as he smiles and pinches Ji-hu’s cheeks.

There’s something burning in Taehyung’s chest. He thinks of Bobby’s hands and the way they’ve
touched him, touched Jimin, the other birds. He wants to rip them from Ji-hu.

“Ji-hu come here,” Taehyung demands. He doesn’t miss the way Bobby flinches or the way
Jeongguk’s back tenses. It would be confusing to Ji-hu, who only knows Bobby as an Uncle, but he
needs them separated. Now. “Please.”

“Go on,” Bobby murmurs, patting a hand to Ji-hu’s shoulder.

Taehyung feels ridiculous but he calms when Ji-hu pads away from Bobby, even if he is looking at
Taehyung with wide eyes like he’s about to get scolded for something.

Ji-hu has known Bobby a lot longer than he’s known Taehyung; it’s unfair of him to confuse the
child when Taehyung won’t be around for long.

“Who called you?”

Bobby straightens, fidgeting with the cuffs of his shirt. “Jun-ki.”

Ji-hu is looking at Taehyung expectantly and Taehyung falters. “Um, go get Appa’s suitcase, would
you?”

He hates sending Ji-hu away, especially when he pouts, but he needs him away from Bobby. Ji-hu
doesn’t argue, but he glances back at Bobby and Jeongguk before he goes.

Taehyung doesn’t even know if Jeongguk packed a suitcase.

“Jun-ki,” Jeongguk repeats, confusion in his voice. His shoulders are still tensed, muscles moving
under his shirt as he buttons it. Taehyung rubs a palm to his shoulder blade, wishing to relax the
muscles there. “I didn’t tell Appa I was leaving.”

“I don’t know man, he told me to meet you here. He also told me -”

Ji-hu returns quickly, without a suitcase, but he jumps behind the hallway wall to hide. Taehyung
pretends not to notice him but he slips his hand up the back of Jeongguk’s neck, squeezing as he
whispers that Ji-hu’s back and eavesdropping.

“He told me we need to use this trip as on opportunity to discuss things,” Bobby says reluctantly.

“What things?”

Jeongguk’s voice is a lot colder than Taehyung had expected it to be.

“I don’t know.”

Bobby is lying. It’s evident in the way he diverts his eyes and shrugs over and over again, shrugging
too big like he’s trying to get his shoulders to touch his earlobes.

“Seokmin-ssi is downstairs. I’ll be there in a second. Ji-hu say goodbye to Uncle Bobby.”

Ji-hu comes running into the room to jump at Bobby. Jeongguk turns, eyes away from them and
Taehyung knows he trusts Bobby not to hurt Ji-hu but Taehyung hates the way Bobby’s arms wrap
around him.

Jeongguk hasn’t seen the way Bobby’s hands look wrapped around Jimin’s throat. He hasn’t felt the
sting of them when he’s being punished. Even when he was gentle, there was always a threat behind
his touch when it came to Taehyung. Taehyung was something to be used against Jimin.

“It’s fine,” Jeongguk murmurs, squeezing Taehyung’s hip. His eyes are soft and warm as they find
Taehyung’s, such a contrast of the way his voice had sounded when he spoke to Bobby.

“Tae,” Bobby starts and Jeongguk tenses again, attempting to turn but Taehyung clutches so hard to
Jeongguk’s dress shirt that it pulls from where he’s tucking it into his pants. “I’m sorry for the other
night.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything but glances at Ji-hu. His eyes are wide as he takes Bobby’s hand and
looks at the hospital band around his wrist.

“And I’m sorry about Hobi.”

“Don’t,” Jeongguk snaps, making Ji-hu flinch and release his hold on Bobby. He looks worriedly at
his father. “Don’t talk about him.”

Bobby boops Ji-hu’s nose and Ji-hu sneaks away towards his father. Jeongguk still doesn’t turn
around and Bobby stares hard at his back like he’s begging him to.

“I’ll find Seokmin-ssi,” Bobby says before closes the door.

Taehyung doesn’t wait until it’s fully shut before he’s walking towards it and pressing it closed to
lock it.

“You didn’t tell me he was coming.”

Jeongguk turns, his face grim as he tucks his pants back in. “I didn’t know he was.”

“You didn’t tell me you were meeting at all.”

Jeongguk doesn’t need to, Taehyung knows. But Taehyung feels angry. He isn’t angry at Jeongguk,
he’s mad that Bobby touched Ji-hu but he can’t say that out loud. Jeongguk won’t understand how
badly it makes his chest ache.

And he doesn’t want to hurt Ji-hu or make Jeongguk worry.

“Tae,” Jeongguk sighs. “Jimin asked me to bring him to Osaka with me. I don’t know why. I didn’t
get a chance to tell you, it just happened like twenty minutes ago.”

Taehyung frowns at this, nibbling on the inside of his cheek. “And you agreed?”

“It’d get him away from you while I’m gone,” Jeongguk says before he presses his lips shut and
glances at his son. “I want this day to be over. I’m exhausted.”

Ji-hu reaches for his father’s hand and tangles his fingers with him. “I’ll tuck you in, Appa.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh that matches the weak one that leaves Taehyung’s lips. Taehyung wants
the day to be over too. The air feels too heavy and there’s anxiety riddling his body and he isn’t
exactly sure why.

“I’d love that, baby, but I have to go soon. Be good for Tae Tae, okay?”

Ji-hu frowns at this but Jeongguk bends over and peppers kisses to his cheeks until he lets out a soft
giggle.

Jeongguk goes to fetch the bag that Ji-hu never ended up getting for him as Taehyung brings Ji-hu to
the kitchen to fill his plate with food.

He doesn’t want Jeongguk to go. He wonders if Jeongguk will stay if he asked him to, but that
would be unfair.

He doesn’t know why he suddenly feels so weird about Jeongguk leaving. Maybe it was the sight of
Bobby’s face, the memory of his fear from the other night when Bobby came here when he was
alone.

He sits Ji-hu in front of the television with his plate of food, whispering gently for him not to spill
any of it before he joins Jeongguk in the bedroom.

There’s a suit jacket pulled over his now buttoned shirt and Taehyung grabs for it, pulling Jeongguk
into his space.

Jeongguk gasps quietly but doesn’t hesitate to press his lips against Taehyung’s and he doesn’t
hesitate to drop his bag and secure a hand to Taehyung’s neck. Taehyung’s back hits the wall and he
only pulls Jeongguk closer, wishing their kiss could rid the tight feeling in his chest.

“I don’t want you to go,” Taehyung whispers, breathes against Jeongguk’s lips. He feels
overwhelmed, crazy, like every tired thing that hangs heavily on his shoulders is pulling him to
pieces.

“I won’t be gone long,” Jeongguk promises, shifting so their bodies align like two puzzle pieces. He
breathes heavily into Taehyung’s mouth, tongue snaking out to taste the words Taehyung wants to
speak.

“Just stay, a moment longer,” Taehyung pleads.

Jeongguk doesn’t stop Taehyung from pushing off the dress jacket that he had just pulled on, nor
does he stop Taehyung’s fumbling hands between their hips, pulling down trousers and underpants
and freeing half hard cocks. He kisses Taehyung hard, messily, urgently, giving into the sudden need
Taehyung has for him and letting Taehyung do as he pleases.

There’s a cry in Taehyung’s throat when Jeongguk presses him into the wall, their hips dancing and
rocking, that matches the way his eyes tear from the hard pressure surrounding him. Jeongguk grips
Taehyung’s arm, planting it above his head as he moves down with purpose, teeth nipping and biting
like he too wants to forget about the world for one second.

“Guk,” Taehyung moans quietly, gripping hard into Jeongguk’s dress shirt so it wrinkles. “Please
don’t go.”
There’s a broken look in Jeongguk’s eyes as he reaches between them, fingers curling over the both
of them and he lets go of Taehyung’s wrist to cover his mouth, muffling the sob Taehyung finally
lets out.

There’s soft lips on his throat that contrast with the hard way Jeongguk had rubbed off on him after
he comes. He’s whispering something but Taehyung can’t hear it over the way his heart thuds in his
ears.

He keeps making a fool of himself. He wonders why Jeongguk keeps him around.

“Do you really not want me to go?” Jeongguk breathes, warming his hands down Taehyung’s sides.
His legs tremble from orgasm and he feels bad he’s going to make Jeongguk late because there’s
come dripping down his pant legs.

“I’m being silly,” Taehyung says shakily, turning so he can shift his lips onto Jeongguk’s again. “I
don’t know what’s going on so I’m, I don’t know, panicking thinking something bad is going to
happen.”

Jeongguk runs a gentle finger down Taehyung’s wet cheek, eyes following the movement like he’s
concerned by the moisture. “I have been feeling like that too. But you’re safe. I wouldn’t leave if you
weren’t.”

“Not worried about me,” Taehyung mumbles. He rests his palm against Jeongguk’s cheek, trying to
catch his breath.

He's afraid Jeongguk won't return.

Jimin and Yoongi won’t. They’ll run and go far and Taehyung will break without Jimin by his side.
Hoseok might go too, somewhere, probably sticking close to Yoongi and Taehyung’s heart will hurt
every day without him.

And Jin will stay away, maybe take Namjoon with him, definitely take the kids. And Taehyung
won’t survive without them; he won’t be able to make it each day without being with them.

It would leave Jeongguk alone. And Taehyung would do that even knowing if Jeongguk were to
leave his side it would hurt worse than anyone else beside his kids leaving him.

“Wait to worry until we know what’s going on, huh?” Jeongguk says, a bit of a smile to his lips as
he arches a brow at him. “There may be no reason to worry.”

Taehyung nods, nibbling on his bottom lip. “We need to talk when you get back.”

Jeongguk looks at him for a long moment before he nods. He plants a kiss to Taehyung’s lips before
he pulls back and starts tugging his pants back up.

“You might,” Taehyung says, gesturing wildly to the pants, “want to change those.”

He huffs out a laugh that feels good, but he has to turn away before the laugh makes his chest break
completely.

The heavy morning air doesn’t disappear as the day progresses and the sky turns dark. Yoongi’s left
Hoseok to deal with planning with Mun. There isn’t anything for him to do really except keep Jimin
calm. He doesn’t know anything about police raids or drug factories. He’s too tired to focus on what
they’re talking about anyway and he isn’t sure how Hoseok has it in him to.

They need to get to Young-Mi’s cabin. Yoongi is hungry and desperate for a softer bed to sleep in.
But he doesn’t want Mun to have the address.

He wonders if Jeongguk would let him and Jimin lay low there for awhile, if everything doesn’t go
as planned. It’s stupid to wonder; Jeongguk would do anything for him if Yoongi asked for it.

“Jeongguk is on his way,” Jimin says as he pads into the hotel room. He closes the door behind him
and plants his back to it. “Do you think he’ll give Mun his mother’s letters?”

Yoongi stands to walk to Jimin as he shakes his head. “Not if you tell him that you don’t want him to
have them. He’ll trust you.”

Jimin doesn’t look sure. He sucks on his bottom lip, curling in on himself. “You know even if
Jeongguk doesn’t know about Yunbok’s operations, he could still go down. He could still lose Jeon
Tobacco. I’m sure he has a good enough lawyer to make sure he isn’t charged with anything, but he
could lose the company. The media will be all over it.”

Yoongi shrugs. It’s true. He knows for a fact that many of South Korea’s most richest dabble in
drugs and prostitution, more than Jeongguk, but the media will chew him up and spit him out. He
wonders if the media would care that Jeongguk only dabbled in prostitution for the purest reasons.

It’s a thought that almost makes Yoongi laugh.

“He hates that company.”

“You won’t be able to run away with me.”

Yoongi falls still, hands freezing where they’re attempting to cup Jimin’s cheeks. Jimin sniffles
loudly. The bags under his eyes are dark and angry looking and they both need sleep. Exhaustion
and emotion are a horrible mix together.

“That’s bullshit,” Yoongi murmurs. “Nothing will keep me from you again.”

“Jeongguk will.”

It isn’t said like Jimin’s angry about it and Yoongi frowns, cocking his head as Jimin warms his
hands over Yoongi’s stomach before wrapping his arms around his waist. “You can’t leave
Jeongguk’s side. After all this, he’ll need you.”

It’s a truth. Even if this goes as planned, if Chung-Hoon gets taken down, Jeongguk’s world is about
to be rocked. Even if he doesn’t lose the company - which is something Yoongi thinks Jeongguk will
deal with better than finding out Bobby is his brother. That he has a sister. That Hoseok thinks
Bobby killed his mother.

“Jeongguk has Taehyung,” Yoongi murmurs, but it isn’t easy. He has always been a rock for
Jeongguk but he’s never been allowed to be a rock for Jimin before.

Choosing wouldn’t be an option and he doesn’t see why he has to, but Jimin looks truly bothered by
it.

Jimin wipes at his cheeks. “I fucking am so tired of crying.”

Yoongi nods at the change of subject. He presses his lips to Jimin’s cheeks, kissing over the damp
skin “Sleep. I’ll wake you when we leave.”

Jimin shakes his head. “We should join Mun and Hoseok. We need to know the plan too. You know
Hoseok wants in on the action. He wants us to stay here in Osaka and join Mun, but Mun won’t let
him.”

“Do you trust him? Mun?” Yoongi asks, caressing Jimin’s neck. “You seemed angry when he asked
to see Taehyung.”

A shaky exhale leaves Jimin’s lips, eyes fluttering shut as Yoongi traces where his pulse beats
against the skin under his jaw. “I don’t know. I’m so desperate to be free that even if he’s failed over
and over before, I’m willing to risk failing again.”

Yoongi frowns at that but he places it against Jimin’s skin, replacing the touch of his fingers. Jimin’s
fingers are soft in his hair, rubbing through the strains and nails scraping over his scalp.

The air feels heavy and Yoongi wants it to feel heavy in a good way, kissing Jimin’s skin until the
ice in his chest melts.

“He must have done something bad to Kyungsoon for her to leave him and hide for so long,” Jimin
whispers, a breathy sound as the space between their bodies become smaller. He grips at Yoongi’s
neck, pulling him in closer. “She chose to live with a man who beat her children rather than Mun. He
must have done something horrible to break her heart.”

Yoongi lifts his head at that but doesn’t move away. Jimin’s eyes are closed, his brows pinched and a
smile wavers at his lips as Yoongi presses his thumbs between his eyebrows to rub away the stress.

“How do you know that?”

Jimin flickers his eyes open, rubbing his hands over Yoongi’s shoulders. “Mun convinced her to
leave her home, her sisters. I remember being that young, being bought by a man who promised me
they’d take care of me and spoil me. I remember how much it felt like being in love.”

A kiss interrupts his words, Jimin leaning forward to brush his lips over Yoongi’s as if to distract him
from the sadness in his words. It doesn’t truly work. Yoongi hates thinking about it; but it’s a fact
about Jimin and he wants to know every fact.

Even if those facts make Yoongi’s heart ache.

“That’s why I thought I loved Bobby,” Jimin murmurs as he pulls back. “Before I met you and
realized what being in love really felt like.”

They really don’t have time to waste but Yoongi finds he doesn’t care. “You think Kyungsoon loved
Mun?”

He thinks of the way Jimin had caressed her photograph in a way that seemed familiar, like Jimin
cared for her. He doesn’t want to push but he wants to know.

“Yes,” Jimin says, frowning at the words. There’s a sadness in his eyes when he says it and Yoongi
leans forward, kissing each of his eyelids like a silent prayer for him not to cry again. “She named
her son Woojin.”

Yoongi frowns. His prayers weren’t answered and he really needs to say fuck it to everything and
force Jimin to sleep.
“It’s ironic,” Jimin says, huffing out a wet laugh. “Chung-Hoon managed to get an heir, an heir from
his favorite girl, and she named him after the man who took her away from him.”

Red creeps up Jimin’s neck and touches his cheeks, his grip turning painful on Yoongi’s shoulders
but Yoongi wouldn’t pull away even if his bones were breaking under Jimin’s touch.

“It’s so fucked up,” Jimin breathes, turning so his watering eyes are anywhere but on Yoongi.
“Woojin is only ten, hyung. She left before Taehyung was born, over twenty six years ago. That
means that bastard found her again. That hiding did nothing. That always happens. Every good thing
never fucking lasts.”

“Jimin,” Yoongi finally interrupts, shifting a hand under his turned cheek to bring Jimin back to
facing him. “Breathe, baby. I’m not following.”

He inhales deeply, holding it in until Jimin copies the movement. They exhale together, even though
Yoongi’s lungs burn from the wait of Jimin’s lips forming his exhale.

“Kyungsoon is Taehyung’s mother,” Jimin says sadly. “He always kept a picture of her tucked
underneath his pillow. Our first fight ever was the day I found it there. He thought I was taking it.”

Yoongi frowns. “You’re not serious.”

Jimin nods but doesn’t speak as he focuses on his breathing until his inhales are uninterrupted. “It’s
strange right? Kitty, Young-Mi, Taehyung’s mother. Mun helped get all of them out, all of their
children out, except for me. And all of them are back, under Chung-Hoon’s grip or suffering from
the fear of him. Now it’s my turn for him to free and it isn’t looking too good.”

Part of Yoongi wants to laugh at how ridiculous it is that Jeongguk’s feelings of destiny seem a little
more true. Another part of Yoongi wants to cut his brain out of his head.

“Chung-Hoon is going down,” Yoongi says with confidence but he has no idea. He just needs it to
be true. “I’ll call Jun-ki.”

Jimin grabs Yoongi hard when he tries to move. He doesn’t even know what he would say to Jun-ki,
but he knows he can help. If it weren’t for his son, maybe even for Bobby, Yoongi thinks he would
have taken his life after his wife died. He’d do anything for his kids, like force himself to live.

Even if he has a questionable choice of hyungs, Yoongi won’t believe he has anything to do with
this. Young-Mi wouldn’t be with a man like that, though Yoongi doesn’t know why she would be
with a man that was so close to the men who had raped her.

He shakes his head. It isn’t his right to judge. If she wanted to be anywhere near Bobby, she’d have
to be around Yunbok.

And somehow, the Jeons have some of the biggest gangs watching over Ji-hu. He doesn’t know
what it would take to get that kind of loyalty, but Yoongi assumes Jun-ki must have done a lot to
assure it.

It’s enough proof Yoongi needs to know Jun-ki would never let anyone hurt what’s his. He’ll tell
Jun-ki what Chung-Hoon told him to do to Jeongguk and he’ll help stop him. Somehow, Yoongi
knows it.

“And say what? You don’t know his involvement,” Jimin hisses. “Wait for Jeongguk to get here.”

“Jeongguk doesn’t know anything about this,” Yoongi huffs. “Chung-Hoon let Jun-ki take one of
his best girls. They may be closer than we know and that may be used to our advantage.”

“Or disadvantage,” Jimin says. “Jeongguk wouldn’t turn on you, no matter what. What if Jun-ki and
Chung-Hoon are close like you two?”

Yoongi pinches his nose. “I doubt it, Chimmy. Chung-Hoon -”

The truth is he doesn’t know and he falters. Jimin won’t trust the fact that Yoongi just feels like he’s
right.

“You don’t know him like I do. He has always been the closest thing to a father I’ve ever had.”

“I know him well.”

The words hang in the air between them. Jimin’s jaw is tight but his eyes are worried as they look
over Yoongi.

“Bobby can’t handle seeing him dying,” Jimin says, the words rushing from his lips. “So I would go
and tend to him when he fires his nurses. He gave Bobby the money to buy me from Chung-Hoon.
In exchange for company. Nothing - nothing like that. But sometimes I go over to the house and sit
with him or make him dinner.”

Yoongi stares at Jimin. Part of him knew that Jun-ki and Jimin had met. Jun-ki had referred to him as
Bobby’s boy at Young-Mi’s memorial. He knew Jun-ki gave Bobby and the club a lot of money; he
assumed it was because Jun-ki always held Bobby close to his heart in a way that seemed strange to
Yoongi and Jeongguk.

They’re interrupted by a knock at the door, right behind Jimin’s head. Jimin jumps forward, pushing
into Yoongi and the frown on his mouth relaxes.

“I love you,” Yoongi says, just so Jimin knows before he opens the door. He doesn’t want to get to
the point where their exhaustion takes over and they fight. He doesn’t think he can handle that

Yoongi's body hurts as much as his chest does and that’s what he’ll blame it on for the way he drops,
eyes pooling in his eyes at the sight of his mother.

She takes him into her arms, fingers splaying over the back of her neck to rock him. He doesn’t
really care who sees, his sobs quiet but painful as he buries them into his mother’s neck. She’s so tiny
underneath him but he feels like a child again, when his mother would wrap her arms around him
and hold him close until it felt like he could bury himself into her chest and disappear there.

“It’s okay my boy,” Jinju murmurs, a hint of pain in her voice. “Eomma’s here.”

Yoongi pulls back, his eyes heavy and sight blurry but he quickly wipes it away to focus on the
purple blossomed over her cheekbone. There’s a smile on her lips and in her eyes and Yoongi
doesn’t understand how mothers do it.

“It’s fine,” Jinju whispers, wiping his tears. “He doesn’t know I helped you. I just -”

The smile disappears quickly as her eyes water. “This whole time, I’ve done well pretending as if I
do not know what he does. That I do not know what he’s involved in. But when he told me, when
he told me Kookangie called.”

She presses her lips hard together and Yoongi cups her cheeks, hoping to provide her with the same
comfort she gives him.
“I couldn’t pretend not to know that Kookangie’s story of a gun going off wasn’t true,” Jinju says
with a firm voice. She’s strong, keeping her tears back so they’re only shining in her eyes. “I
couldn’t pretend not to want to murder him for what he did to Hoseok. I left as soon as I could after
that. I’ve done well pretending to love Sungho, but I couldn’t pretend anymore.”

“Eomma,” Yoongi murmurs, tucking his forehead against hers. The sight of her bruised skin makes
him angry but his body is too tired to fight it. “Hobi is okay.”

“I know. Mun told me,” Jinju whispers. “But that pain is still in my heart.”

Yoongi nods in understanding. He never had that fear, but he saw the way that pain lingered in
Jeongguk’s eyes even after they showed him Hoseok was still alive.

“We don’t have time to waste,” Jinju says as she inhales deeply to get rid of the watering in her eyes.
She pats Yoongi’s cheeks. “I am going to explain everything to you baby. But right now we need to
move quickly. Jimin, your mother is here as well.”

Jimin stands a few inches off, hands tucked into his chin. He doesn’t react to his mother being here
with them.

“Mun told me you’re going to Young-Mi’s,” Jinju says, “I need you to go there now. I told
Jeongguk to meet you there.”

“You spoke to Jeongguk?”

“I’ll explain everything,” Jinju repeats. She gives him the look that used to mean he better not argue
when he was younger and it still works now as an adult. “But I really need you to go. I don’t need
you here when Sungho shows up. There isn’t a safer place than Young-Mi’s. She’s assured it.
There’s a woman there that will help you. Her name -”

“Eomma,” Yoongi interrupts the words flying full speed from his mother's mouth. “What do you
mean when he shows up?”

Jinju finally stops speaking, holding onto Yoongi’s hands as she looks at the two of them. “He didn’t
question Jooheon and Kookangie leaving because he ordered them to follow you to Busan, to assure
that you would do as he asked you. He knows you didn’t make it there. But that is part of the plan.
We need to get Sungho here.”

“Shitty plan,” Yoongi grunts, pulling away from his mother.

“It isn’t,” Jinju scolds. “We need to keep him from Busan and Daegu tonight. Mun is striking
tonight. Kitty gave him the locations all his factories, the times for operations. Mun’s pulled in
officers from across the country. He wants to take everything of Sungho’s.

“I need him out of Busan because I told Jeongguk not to take Ji-hu with him,” Jinju says and the
look in his eyes has Yoongi’s heart starting in his chest. “He was supposed to be safe. Jun-ki assured
he was safe.”

Yoongi’s heart thuds in his ears and he feels Jimin curling into his back. “Eomma, what are you
saying?”

“It wasn’t part of the plan, but it’s too late now. Jeongguk and Bobby are already on their way here.
They’ll land soon.”

Yoongi takes a step forward. “Eomma, what are you saying?”

Jinju breathes heavily through her nose. “I’m saying, one of Mun’s men in Busan said Hanbin and
Chung-Hoon have been in touch today. And it was about Taehyung. Mun just got the call before I
got here.”

There are hands clutching hard into Yoongi’s shirt and Yoongi doesn’t know if Jimin is holding onto
him for support or trying to keep him from jumping into the water that separates Japan and Korea to
get to Ji-hu.

“They won’t hurt him, Yoongi-yah,” Jinju says quickly. “Hanbin won’t touch Ji-hu without
Sungho's okay and it’s an okay he’ll never get. It’s a death sentence. So we need to interrupt Sungho
from traveling to Busan like he’s planning for Taehyung’s sake. That’s what we’ve done. Don’t
worry. Ji-hu is safe.”

Yoongi is glad Jimin holds onto him because he still wants to run.

“How?” Jimin asks. “How are we getting him here? I don’t think he cares enough about us to follow
us because we ran? He’d send one of his men to do it.”

The sadness is back and Yoongi is breaking under the gaze as Jinju looks to Jimin.

“Your mother,” she says. “Your mother told him she followed you to Osaka because you led her
there. You led her to Woojin and she took him.”

The moment the plane lifts from the ground, Jeongguk wants to turn around and go back home. He’s
unsettled leaving Taehyung and Ji-hu alone but he has Seokmin with them and his security. He’ll
only be gone until the morning.

Besides, Jeongguk doesn’t know what trouble Yoongi, Jimin, and Hoseok have gotten themselves
into. It might be best not to bring Taehyung along. It could be more dangerous for him.

Jeongguk doesn’t know. But he can’t bring Taehyung around when his old boss is sat crammed in
the spacious, but not big enough airplane with him.

It hurt like hell listening to Taehyung plead for him to stay and Jeongguk left him anyway. It still
hurts thinking about it. Jeongguk can’t get the desperate look in Taehyung’s eyes out of his head.

“Abeoji didn’t tell me where you were taking me.”

Jeongguk drags his eyes away from the window slowly to take in the man across from him. He looks
worse for wear; his hoodie swallowing him whole and his cheeks sunken in, making his cheekbones
sharper than usual. There’s dark circles under his eyes and a dead look in them that makes Jeongguk
feel unsettled.

They’ve never looked as blank as they do now.

When they were younger, they were balls of energy. That’s what his mother used to say. She used to
laugh about how energetic they were, how tired she became just by watching them. Bobby always
burned bright, even after a beating from his father. He’d laugh and shrug it off through the tears in
his eyes, making jokes.

Jeongguk remembers crying once to his mother, upset after he watched Bobby get punished. He
remembers crying hard even though he was quite little at the time. He remembers telling her he
wouldn’t mind sharing his parents with Bobby so Bobby could be happy.
It makes his stomach ache, remembering. He wonders what his mother felt in that moment. If
Jeongguk accidentally broke her heart.

“You know, you shouldn’t just hop on a plane and go wherever someone is taking you without
question. Especially someone who you fought with the last time you saw them.”

Bobby huffs out a laugh, eyes void of amusement as he glances out of his own window. “I didn’t
fight with you, Guk. It was you who came in ready for battle.”

Jeongguk presses his lips together. He wants to get through the flight as painless as possible and
there is no point hashing up what happened with Taehyung right now, not yet. Maybe another day,
when Jeongguk feels less like a loose cannon and can handle a conversation like that maturely.

"If this is about me coming to yours the other day, I didn’t mean to end up there. I didn’t mean to
bother Taehyung, I’m sorry if I did.

It’s whispered, vulnerable. Jeongguk finds he misses the loud, energetic Bobby. He’s never been too
keen on people hurting, even if they’re people he’s had problems with. There’s demons covering
Bobby and Jeongguk doesn’t know what they are, but he sees the way they weigh him down.

He doesn’t want Bobby to suffer that way. He wonders if his mother had seen them as well, if
Bobby’s demons became her own.

God, he can’t even imagine it. He think he’d lose his head if he had to watch Ji-hu with someone
else, someone who was hurting him. It had bothered Taehyung to see Bobby and Ji-hu together,
Jeongguk knows, but that’s different. Jeongguk knows Bobby wouldn’t hurt Ji-hu, whether out of
care for the boy or just respect for his father.

Grace hadn’t done anything comparable to what Yunbok has done to his mother; yet the idea of Ji-
hu being with her is too much for Jeongguk to bear. He always thought his mother to be a strong
woman, but he’s starting to realize how strong she really had been.

“You did,” Jeongguk admits without bite. He watches Bobby’s profile, finding that he searches for
similarities. “Why did you go to my house?”

Bobby lifts his shoulders in a shrug before he buries his hands into his lap, fumbling. Like this, he
doesn’t look like a man of his profession. He looks small, broken, like the birds he runs.

“I had to tell you something.”

Jeongguk can barely hear him over the engine of the plane, and it’s quiet compared to those of
commercial lines. He waits in silence, but when Bobby offers nothing he speaks again.

“What is it? Does it have to do with the things Appa says we must discuss?”

“Where are you taking me, Jeonggukkie?”

There’s in a twitch in his lips that makes him want to smile but he doesn’t. “I’m taking you to Jimin.”

The reaction is immediate. Bobby’s eyes rip from the window, glaring at Jeongguk and it isn’t
excitement or happiness on Bobby’s face; it’s fear.

“Why?”

“Because he asked me to.”

Bobby bites on his bottom lap, sinking further into the chair. “I won’t see him.”

Jeongguk had spent the better half of his time driving to the airport trying to remind himself of his
father’s words; to not judge a life he doesn’t live. He only knows a small part of what Bobby’s gone
through throughout his life. He doesn’t know if what he is doing is forced or not. His mother had
done things she didn’t want to but had to. It was the life.

It doesn’t make up for any of the pain he caused, but Jeongguk, for the first time, wants to talk to
Bobby about it.

Another time. Not now. Not when he’s searching his face for any sign of his mother’s.

“You were right, you know. If Eomma knew the things I’ve done to him, threatened him with, she’d
hate me for it.”

The words hang in the air between them. Jeongguk had been angry when he said them and he
believed them at the time, but now he’s not so sure.

Now he doesn’t know what his mother would feel about any of this.

It’s been a long time since Jeongguk has allowed him to feel the grief he first felt when he lost his
mother, but it’s slowly seeping it’s way back into him.

“I don’t know,” Jeongguk admits. “For some reason, there’s a lot of things my parents will look the
other way with you that with me they would disown me over in a second.”

Bobby stares hard at him. “Both of your parents know about the worst thing I’ve ever done and they
forgave me. Yet they would turn their back on me in an instant if they knew what I’ve done to Jimin.
What I threatened him with.”

Woojin. Jeongguk thinks his mother would hate him for it, as she wanted Woojin to be found - to be
kept safe. Because she grew up worrying about her little siblings, still children, under Sungho’s care
and Bobby threatened Jimin with the same. Because Woojin is a child, an innocent, broken child that
is working to heal.

Maybe Bobby is right. Maybe he is wrong. Maybe Jeongguk is realizing he really didn’t know his
mother at all because he can’t even guess.

“And this is why you’ve done this,” Jeongguk says gently, gesturing towards Bobby’s hand where
his hospital band around his wrist peeks out from his sweater. Ji-hu had spent too much time looking
at it earlier and Jeongguk hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about it. He knows he’ll ask questions
and he trusts that Taehyung will find appropriate answers. “Because Eomma would be disappointed
in you for treating the man you love this way and you can’t handle it.”

Bobby shakes his head, sniffling hard as he wipes at his nose and forces his eyes out of the window
like he’s trying not to cry. He used to cry a lot when they were younger, whenever his father pulled
out the whip. It would make him get punished more with every tear, until his father taught him to
stop crying from the pain. But when his father left, he would laugh and laugh because the tears
always returned the moment the man was gone. Jeongguk’s never understood people who could do
that.

Jeongguk’s been whipped before by Yunbok, who claimed discipline like that was the best way to
raise good men. His mother had raged, grabbing the whip from Yunbok and threatening to use it on
him if he ever tried it again.
He’s seen the marks on Taehyung’s back, fading and barely there but tiny, hard to see scars near his
shoulders. Bobby let that happen to him because Bobby was raised that way. He let his father touch
other people like that. Maybe Young-Mi would truly hate Bobby if she were still alive.

“No. I have guilt because - because the last thing she asked me to do before she died, the only thing
she’s ever really asked me to do, was to take care of Jimin and that is something I didn’t do.”

Jeongguk flinches, crossing his arms over his chest to cover the act. “And what was the worst thing
you’ve ever done? That she won’t hate you for compared to this.”

Bobby fidgets, playing with his hands and shifting around in his seat. Jeongguk wonders if he shows
when he’s upset like this all the time. Taehyung’s told him that Bobby is different with him than
anyone else, backing down without hesitation.

A soft boy, his mother had said. Too soft for this lifestyle. Jeongguk doesn’t think it’s a bad thing
except for Bobby is in this life and being soft is the worst thing he can be.

For awhile, Jeongguk finds the silence meaning the conversation is over. He doesn’t push it, settling
with his own thoughts and questions he has about Jimin. He doesn’t know enough about Jimin’s life,
he realizes. Yoongi’s never spoken about it, nothing before Jimin in college.

He feels guilty. He considers Jimin a close friend but he knows nothing about him, really. His mother
cared deeply for him, enough that she wanted to secure his safety.

But she hadn’t, really. Jeongguk understands Bobby’s guilt. He too feels bad he couldn’t do as his
mother asked, and he hadn’t even known she asked it.

“My father killed my mother.”

The sudden interruption of silence has Jeongguk flinching.

“He made me watch it. He made me help him.”

Jeongguk stares down into his lap. He’s only met Bobby’s mother a handful of times. She rarely left
the house when they were younger and always seemed more like a maid than anything. The last time
he had gone to the Kim’s, before he had gone to America, was the last time he had seen her.

“I didn’t stop him,” Bobby murmurs and it feels as if he’s talking more to himself than Jeongguk. “I
almost did, I wanted to. She told me not to, begged me not to fight him. He made me tell her that I
hated her, so those were the last words she heard from me. It’s the biggest lie that has ever left my
lips and I know she knew that, but it doesn’t make me feel better. She still had to hear it.”

Bobby looks at Jeongguk now, no longer fidgeting. The tears drip slowly down his cheeks. “She
told me she forgave me and that she loved me. She - she said, ‘it’s okay, little bun. Eomma forgives
you. Eomma loves you.’ Those were her last words. But he makes me watch it every year. He makes
me remember what she looked like before she died and reminds me that I had to touch her dead
body, that I had to cover up her death to make it look like an accident.”

My little bun .

A knot forms in Jeongguk’s stomach, his chest growing heavy. It’s past his imagination; he can’t
even try to grasp the pain of that. He can’t help but picture his own mother, the way she would have
looked. The way her voice sounds every time she had called one of them bun. It’s a thought that
forces itself into Jeongguk’s head so suddenly that he blinks in attempt to get it away.
“That was the worst thing I ever did. Not killing her, but making it seem like an accident. I told Jun-
ki about what I did and he didn’t even hesitate. He told me he forgave me right away.”

He wonders why he had never heard of her death. Why his father never told him of Mrs. Kim’s
passing. He wonders how long it’s been and why Bobby hasn’t mentioned it before either. It clearly
pains him. The look in his eye is the same look Jeongguk finds in Jun-ki’s eyes when he’s not doing
well with missing his mother.

He wonders why the hell he needed Jun-ki’s forgiveness.

“How long has it been?”

Bobby nibbles on his bottom lip before he speaks the words desperately, a sob in his tone like he’s
confessing something horrific. It is horrific but Jeongguk realizes that’s not why Bobby sounds like
that when he hears the answer.

“Seven years.”

The same year his mother died. The same year Ji-hu was brought to him. The same year that
Jeongguk realized what his mother meant by the morning air feeling different like it had this
morning.

My little bun .

“How?” Jeongguk interrupts suddenly, quietly. He doesn’t want the answer but the words leave his
lips anyway.

He’s been struggling all day with who his mother’s son is, though he knows Bobby must be the
answer. He’s wondered if Bobby knew. If all this time, Bobby knew they were brothers. If he hurt
seeing Jeongguk grow up under her gentle hands and live a life with little hardship until he was an
adult. If it hurt Bobby.

Jeongguk had felt bad about it, but now he doesn’t give a flying fuck. He’s lying about his father’s
forgiveness. His father wouldn’t forgive something like that.

“How did you cover up her death?”

Bobby sniffs hard, his eyes on Jeongguk though it looks as if he is struggling to hold the eye contact.
The tears stream faster now and Jeongguk doesn’t give a shit about what his father says about not
judging a life he hasn’t lived.

Bobby said that his parents forgave him for the worst thing he’s ever done. He said the worst thing
he’s ever done is help kill his mother.

He told his mother he hated her before she died. It was the last words she heard.

His parents forgave him for that.

It’s fucking bullshit.

“A car accident. We drugged the driver.”

The words sit in the air for a moment, hanging between them as Jeongguk tries to ingest them. The
knot grows inside of him, ripping at his insides. Clawing away at him to be unleashed and dig into
Bobby instead.
His parents forgave Bobby for that. Jeongguk wonders if his father would forgive him for killing
Bobby.

He made me tell her that I hated her, so those were the last words she heard from me.

My little bun. Eomma forgives you.

“Get out.”

Bobby’s eyes grow wide, mouth falling open. Jeongguk’s voice is calmer than he feels, the scream
inside of him coming out quiet.

“Get the fuck out,” Jeongguk snaps, pointing a finger towards the back of the plane where another
room is. It’s sectioned off, but not secure enough for Jeongguk not to break it down when the anger
takes over.

He can’t hear, he can’t see. Rage is a consuming emotion and Jeongguk is drowning. He wants to
scream, he wants to shove his aching fists into any hard surface he can find. He’s never understood
wanting to hurt someone until now. He understands now how people can hurt someone.

Jeongguk stands from his seat before Bobby can move and leaves himself. The door behind him
slams, shattering the silence worse than Jeongguk had.

Yoongi feels like shit. His body feels too heavy to hold up as he makes his way through the trees and
flowers that look as if they would be beautiful in the day time. Jimin is there beside him, squeezing
his fingers.

The glow through the trees is their saving grace. Yoongi felt as if they would wander forever trying
to find the house, hidden so well from sight. Yoongi’s not used to seeing the stars in the sky in the
city and he finds his eyes focusing on them more.

Yoongi can't get ahold of Jeongguk and he's afraid. Taehyung hadn’t answered either and Jimin had
been too nervous to keep calling, afraid that if someone was watching their phones that someone
would catch on and Chung-Hoon would grow too suspicious to follow them here..

Jimin hasn’t said a word since Jinju told him what Kitty had planned. Yoongi hates the silence but he
lets Jimin have it for now, unsure what to say. He only wants his words to be comforting, but he
doesn’t think they exist for something like this.

Yoongi punches in the code that Jeongguk had given him to open the front door, squinting to see it
in the dark. The doors are massive but they don’t make a sound when opened.

He hears the distant sound of giggling and Jin’s laughter and Jimin is gone in an instant, running
down the hallway.

Yoongi is slow to follow as he secures the door. It’s a good thing that this house is so hidden because
the hallways are made out of windows. They’re probably as indestructible as a window can be, but if
anyone were to find this place, they’d be able to see everything inside.

“Jimin oppa!” Eunae cries where she holds Jimin and bounces excitedly.

It’s an expensive looking kitchen, Yoongi thinks as he takes it all in. There’s already food covering
the counters where Jin and Namjoon stand. There are photographs covering the front of the fridge
and all kinds of labeled containers lining the walls. It looks lived in and Yoongi frowns, wondering if
Jin had done all this today to make the kids comfortable.

Woojin is in the corner, sat on the ground with a dog in his lap. He watches Jimin and his sister,
unblinking.

“Hey bud,” Yoongi greets quietly as he lowers himself beside him. His chest feels tight when
Woojin glances at him. Kitty’s using Woojin as bait and though Kitty truly won’t be close to Woojin
to use him, Yoongi feels a fierce protectiveness over the boy. He doesn’t think they should stay in
Osaka if Chung-Hoon is coming, rather keep moving until they’re halfway across the world. “Did
Jin hyung buy you a dog?”

Woojin shakes his head as he buries his fingers into the short fur at the dog’s neck. The dog wiggles
over Woojin’s lap, covering more of it and pressing his nose into Yoongi’s thigh as if he might push
him away.

“It’s Winnie’s.”

“You need to be careful with Jiminnie,” Jimin says, clutching Eunae’s cheeks and kissing them. “I
have an ouch.”

“Who is Winnie?”

Woojin doesn’t seem to hear him as he looks to Jimin and Eunae. Eunae’s face fills with concern and
she looks to Jin instantly.

“Jimin oppa has an ouch,” Eunae says again, reaching for Jin to pull him close. “Let me see.”

“No,” Jimin says instantly, defensively.

Woojin bends over and buries his face into the dog’s neck.

“It’s a small ouch,” Yoongi says, hesitating before he rubs Woojin’s back. “Don’t worry. Why don’t
you go give him a hug? It won’t hurt him. He missed you?”

Woojin buries his face deeper, holding the dog in a way that looks uncomfortable but the dog doesn’t
move.

Yoongi sighs, standing up to greet Jin. Seeing him is a relief, even if his eyes don’t smile as much as
they normally do.

“I thought there was a strong no dogs rule,” Yoongi jokes as he takes Jin’s hand and pulls him into a
hug. “Wanna make a bet how long it will take Guk to cave and get Taehyung one too?”

Jin grins a little more as he holds onto Yoongi. “It’s not ours. There’s a woman here. It’s her dog but
he’s taken quick to Woojin. Won’t leave his side. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Wait until Jeongguk gets here,” Yoongi says. He doesn’t want to talk about it twice. “While we
wait, can you show me that this house is secure?”

Jin looks at him for a moment, worry in his eyes before he nods. “Yeah. I had the woman here do the
same. I don’t get the windows, man.”

He walks off for a moment and Yoongi takes his time to say hello to Namjoon and Eunae before
shifting his hand over Jimin’s back. He looks worriedly at Woojin, who won’t leave his dog to greet
Jimin. He won’t even lift his head to look at him.

“He spoke to Taehyung today,” Namjoon offers quietly. “I don’t know what was said but it upset
him a lot. Jin said he hasn’t been doing well since Jin took them from him."

Jimin’s frown deepens and he pulls away from Yoongi to close the space to Woojin.

It takes a moment but Woojin eventually lifts his head from the dog and leans it against Jimin instead.
Eunae watches before she goes to Namjoon and lets him lift her into his arms.

Melancholy and fear has set over everything, like the earth has been covered in a blanket of grim. He
expects the clouds to move in so the moon will be gone from them, and the sun will too be hidden in
the morning.

Jin returns a moment later, a woman following behind. She’s tall and slim, her arms strong under the
shirt she wears. Her hair is knotted around her head and Yoongi frowns. He knows her, somehow.
He definitely does.

“This is Winnie,” Jin says as he indicates Yoongi. “I believe you’ve been expecting Yoongi?”

Winnie nods, holding out a hand. Her lips part but it isn’t a woman’s voice he hears, but Jimin’s.

“Winnie?”

Jimin is still beside Woojin, an arm curled around his back but his eyes are wide and his lips are
parted in surprise. He seems frozen, holding onto Woojin before he’s lifting himself from the ground.

Yoongi doesn’t have enough time to stop Jimin from crossing the ground and shoving her hard in the
chest.

“You bitch,” Jimin grunts. “What are you doing here?”

“Jimin!” Jin says, holding an arm out as Jimin attempts to strike again. Yoongi catches his wrist and
stares in shock at the rage pouring from Jimin’s eyes. “The kids.”

Jimin doesn’t seem to hear them. He looks murderous, body trembling. Yoongi has rarely seen Jimin
look as angry as he does now. The only times before have been when he was upset about Taehyung
and couldn’t tell Yoongi why.

“What are you doing here?” Jimin spits again.

The woman - Winnie’s eyes are wide with hurt as she looks back at Jimin. “I can explain.”

“Yeah, do,” Jimin says, no longer fighting against Jin but Jin holds an arm out anyway. Winnie is
taller than Jimin and looks as if she could kick him to the ground, but Jimin’s got enough rage in his
eyes to make up for the muscle that he no longer has. “You were supposed to take care of him and
you left. You disappeared. You knew it was going to take me time to get him out, you fucking
promised to stay beside him until I could.”

Winnie looks just as murderous as her lips snap together and her jaw tenses. She pushes into Jimin’s
space, stabbing her finger into his chest.

“I had to go. It was my last chance to get out. I knew you would take care of him.”

Jimin spits at Winnie’s feet. “You were the only person keeping people out of his room. You were
the only person who could tell Chung to leave him alone.”
Fingers spread between the spaces of Yoongi’s and Jimin squeezes so hard that he feels as if the
bones in his hand could break.

“I know,” Winnie whispers, regretful. She holds her hands out towards Jimin and Yoongi tenses,
unsure as to what either of them are going to do. “I know. There’s so much I have to tell you,
Minnie.”

“All of us,” Jin says, voice firm as he glances between the two of them. He too looks suddenly
angry. “Now. Namjoon, love would you -”

Namjoon nods, pulling away from the counter with a curious Eunae in his arms before he heads to
Woojin to take them both from the kitchen.

“Jimin, I had to leave."

Jimin scoffs, offended, pulling from Yoongi. They don’t have time for this. “Two years. It took
Bobby two years to get him out.”

Winnie nibbles on her bottom lip. Yoongi wants to ask her what her real name is, if Winnie is it,
because he knows her. There’s something so familiar about her that there’s no way that he doesn’t
know her.

“Yeah, well you’re lucky he got out,” Winnie says, no bite to her words. “Bobby was supposed to
take care of you two.”

Jimin cusses, waving an arm at her. “Bobby’s a bastard just like his father.”

Winnie watches Jimin move around the kitchen and the anger in her eyes grows and grows, her body
starting to fume as she watches Jimin pace.

Jin glances at Yoongi, the same bewilderment he feels in his eyes.

“I think we should lie down,” Yoongi says, padding towards Jimin to catch him. “Until Jeongguk
gets here. You need a break, Jimin-ah.”

“I’ll fuck him up, Jimin,” Winnie says, the rage in her voice making her words seem true. “He swore
he would take care of you and if he hurt you, I’ll hurt him. Jun-ki says he takes care of you well.”

It’s obvious she must know Jun-ki if she is here in his home but the sudden mention of him takes
Yoongi by surprise.

“Who are you?” Yoongi asks finally, taking Jimin into his arms. “I’m sorry but, the only people who
know about this place are the Jeons and I’m the closest one to them and even I’m not supposed to
know.”

Winnie glances to Yoongi but her wide, deer like eyes are still on Jimin. “I used to work under
Chung-Hoon. I was raised by him and his men. I knew Jimin because of this. I was the one that
introduced him to Taehyung.”

Jimin wrinkles his nose, rubbing at his wet eyes.

“The Jeons offered me this home as refuge,” Winnie explains, crossing her arms over her chest.
There’s a weapon at her belt, pressing into the tight shirt she wears. It makes Yoongi uneasy. “A
place to hide from Chung.”
“Why?” Jimin asks. He holds his hands up before dropping them. “Why didn’t you tell me? We
could have left together.”

He sounds betrayed, eyes looking at Winnie like she’s done him a horrible wrong. Yoongi's never
heard of her. But then again, Jimin kept the secret of his work from him for many years.

“Your boyfriend is right, Minnie. You need sleep,” Winnie says, her voice holding an authoritative
tone to it that has Yoongi tensing and Jimin’s shoulders drooping. “There’s rooms down that hall.”

“I need to eat,” Jimin says and Jin jumps at that, reaching for him.

Jimin looks to him with wide eyes, wide dead looking eyes.

“Do you have a bath tub?” Yoongi asks as he presses a kiss to Jimin’s temple. “I’ll run you a bath
before Jeongguk gets here. It should be soon.”

“Yes,” Winnie says gently, apologetically before she waves at them to follow the way.

It’s a toxic combination, everyone being at their wits end. The night sky is dark but it isn’t as late as it
feels and he wonders when Mun plans on making his move. They can’t wait too long, he would
think, though late into the night would be a good time to strike.

“I am sorry, Jimin,” Winnie says as she pushes open the door to the bathroom. Yoongi steps aside,
giving them privacy though he strains his ears to listen. “I hope you understand. I found my mom, I
had to leave.”

Jimin looks at Winnie for a long time before he nods. “I’m glad you found her, Winnie.”

Jeongguk would like to take his time and admire the grounds around his mother’s home, but he
walks quickly. His heart is pounding and he tries to calm himself down enough, but there’s a sudden
desperation inside of him to get to Yoongi and Hoseok as fast as possible.

He needs to see Hoseok with his own eyes and he just - fuck, needs Yoongi. Not turning around and
his burying his fist into Bobby’s face is the hardest thing he’s ever done and he really isn’t sure how
he hasn’t failed yet.

It would be unfair to take it out on Jimin, but Jeongguk just isn’t thinking straight today and he even
feels angry at Jimin for making him be around Bobby.

It’s been a long time since he’s been at his mother’s. He actually can’t remember when, but he
remembers where the doors are and he knows his way through the house.

He doesn’t know the woman standing in the kitchen though and he halts when he stumbles upon her.

“Oh!” she huffs. Her hands are buried in the sink and she quickly wipes them off on a towel hanging
from the stove. “Hello um, you must be Jeongguk? We haven’t met properly. I tend to this house for
your father.”

Jeongguk relaxes as he holds out his hand. He wants to watch Bobby to make sure he hasn’t gone
anywhere near Jimin but he also hopes Bobby has taken the hint to fuck off as far away from him as
he can.

“Winnie,” the woman says as she takes his hand. She looks terribly nervous, her eyes wide like a
deer and her smile more of a grimace. “Kim Winnie.”

“Winnie,” Jeongguk repeats. “I’m sorry Winnie, but I’m looking for my friends. I don’t really have
time to chit chat.”

The woman, unoffended, snorts. She waves a wet hand towards the hallway. “Yoongi is sitting
outside of the bathroom because apparently he can’t be too far from Jimin and Jin and his boyfriend
are putting the kids to sleep.”

Jeongguk glances down the hallway she points to.

“Ms. Winnie, may I ask a favor of you?”

Winnie’s eyes sparkle brightly as she snorts in response.

“I brought someone else along with me and I really cannot be around him right now. Could you find
him somewhere to go? I’m afraid I don’t know this place well.”

The light quickly dies from Winnie’s eyes and she looks worriedly behind him. “Is it Bobby?”

Jeongguk hesitates before he nods. “You know him?”

“Your father told me he was coming,” Winnie says. The concern growing on her face is confusing,
as is the quick way she circles around Jeongguk to head in the direction that Jeongguk had came
from.

He walks down the dark hallway until he finds Yoongi. He sits on the floor, arms thrown over his
bent knees and his head hanging. Jeongguk clears his voice and Yoongi quickly rips himself from
the ground.

Yoongi pulls him into a hug before Jeongguk can look too long at his red rimmed eyes. He squeezes
him hard and Jeongguk feels like his chest might break from the pressure.

“I’ve been trying to call you,” Yoongi says. The sound of bath water running is muffled behind the
door he had been sitting in front of and Jeongguk swears he can hear humming too. “Where’s Tae?”

“Home with Ji-hu,” Jeongguk explains. He can finally breathe now beside Yoongi; his anger still
there but simmering as he grounds himself. “I’ve got the entirety of my staff on them tonight because
I didn’t like leaving them behind. But I don’t know what’s going on hyung.”

Yoongi looks at him for a long time before clapping a hand to Jeongguk’s shoulder. “Good. Good. I
don’t really know what the fuck is going on either. I have stuff to tell you but you look like you’re
about to murder someone and it’s a lot, Guk.”

Jeongguk doesn’t think anything can be more shocking that his conversation with Bobby. “Trust me.
The only thing that can top the amount of shit I found out today is if you told me something like
you’re actually Chung-Hoon or something.”

Yoongi laughs weakly. “What if I told you Eomma’s married to him?”

For a long moment, Jeongguk stares at Yoongi’s face, waiting for it to break out in a laugh at the lie.
He could use a laugh, something - anything to ease his chest. But it never comes, and Yoongi just
looks grim.

“Okay, maybe that. Start from the beginning hyung. Tell me everything.”
They talk for what seems like a while. Or Yoongi talks and Jeongguk listens, trying to absorb
everything Yoongi tells him that’s happened over the last few days.

Ironically, the hardest part of it all to believe is Yoongi confronting Chung-Hoon with a gun. He
can’t imagine it no matter how hard he tries. And Jeongguk seems to lose his ability to speak and
understand Korean when Yoongi tells him about Woojin.

“You’re telling me Woojin is his son?” Jeongguk asks, focusing hard on Yoongi’s mouth to help him
understand. “Wait, tell me one more time about all this heir business. My mom told me in her letters
that uh - she said she had two children with um, Chung’s brothers.”

There’s something sad that creeps into Yoongi’s eyes. He doesn’t want to tell Yoongi he knows who
it is. Not right now, not when he wants to hurt him. If anyone would understand, it’s Yoongi. If
anyone might hate Bobby as much as he does, it’s Yoongi.

But Yoongi is kinder than he is. He’d act cordial to him despite it all and he’d expect Jeongguk to,
too. Yoongi doesn’t lose himself to emotion easily, or ever.

“Yeah, I guess - I don’t know, I guess since he couldn’t procreate, his only option was to pass the
business onto his brothers’ children. Hence why Bobby is next in line, because he’s Yunbok’s son.
Um.” Yoongi looks at Jeongguk for a moment, nerves lingering in his eyes as he swallows thickly.
“And um, Mun says your mother’s kids were taken away. He doesn’t know what happened to them.
But all of Chung’s heirs are his nieces and nephews. Except for Woojin, his son.”

“How’s that possible?” Jeongguk asks, but Yoongi doesn’t get a chance to answer when there’s a
familiar voice calling for them.

Jeongguk moves quickly, leaping from the ground until Hoseok’s body is bouncing against his. He
holds him hard, maybe too hard because Hoseok groans in pain, but he can’t stop it.

“Hyung -”

“I know,” Hoseok says, breathless from the way Jeongguk holds onto him. He pats his back a few
times. “I know, Gukkie. Don’t worry, Chung couldn’t kill me if he tried.”

A snort sounds from behind Hoseok and Jeongguk pulls away to find an unfamiliar man. He has
striking features, sharp and pretty, but somehow intimidating.

Maybe it’s the gun’s lining his belt and the fingerless gloves on his hands. The shocking orange hair
that somehow clashes and looks nice beside Hoseok’s deep red. Or maybe it’s the way he glares
hard at Jeongguk when Hoseok’s voice hints that he’s in pain.

“Jooheon,” Hoseok introduces and Jeongguk doesn’t miss the pink that creeps up Hoseok’s bruised
neck. “Uh, works for Mun. Undercover.”

Jooheon holds a gloved hand out in greeting. His neck too is stained purple. “Jeongguk, been
wanting to meet you for a long time. I work undercover, infiltrated the Family to help take down
Kim Sungho. Mun wants to know if you’d like a guard to stay with you tonight?”

“I’d like to meet Mun,” Jeongguk says tiredly as he shakes Jooheon’s hand.

Jeongguk vaguely remembers the living room of his mother’s house when he steps into it. Yoongi
stayed behind to be with Jimin and Winnie and Bobby are nowhere to be found, but there is still a
small crowd of people standing amongst his mother’s things.
Relief touches him when he sees Jin’s face and Jin reaches out to squeeze his hand like he knows.
It’s strange seeing him so serious and so tired and Jeongguk wonders if Jin would accept a six month
paid vacation. A year, two. However long he needs.

“Jeonggukkie.”

Jeongguk can’t breathe when Jinju cups his cheeks and kisses his nose. It’s been a long time since
he’s seen her and she offers the same comfort that Yoongi’s presence does.

“Oh you’ve gotten so big,” Jinju murmurs. “A grown man now. Yoongi-yah showed me pictures of
Ji-hu, he’s so handsome.”

Jeongguk holds her hand to his face. “You should come see him sometime. He’d love you. He loves
Yoongi more than anyone.”

He can’t stop thinking about what Yoongi says when she pulls away. About Jinju being married to
Chung-Hoon. He doesn’t understand it. It has to be some covert mission, or something. It’s
impossible. Min Jinju is the nicest person Jeongguk’s ever met.

“This is Mun,” Jinju says, pulling Jeongguk to the graying man who has his eyes planted onto him.
“Mun Woojin. He -”

“I’ve heard of you,” Jeongguk interrupts gently. “My mother told me to reach out to you if I needed
help.”

Mun’s thick eyebrows rush up towards his hairline. There’s another guard standing behind him,
whose eyes are diverted like he doesn’t want to make eye contact “Is that so?”

“Should she not have?”

Mun shakes his hand quickly. “No, no. Your mother and I worked together for a long time trying to
take down Sungho and keep her sisters safe. We had deals; she’d help me in exchange for
something. I failed her often so I’m surprised she trusted me enough to refer me to you.”

Jeongguk takes this in. “What did she ask you to do?”

Mun sighs. His eyes are droopy around the edges and covered in wrinkles. Deep wrinkles, but it
seems like he’s quite young. His mouth is shaped like a heart and he rubs his tongue at the corner of
them often when he speaks. “Many things. She asked me to find her sisters’ children and keep them
safe. She asked me to take care of her youngest sister and keep her safe as well, but she is dead now.
I don’t know how much you know, Jeongguk -”

“I know that,” Jeongguk says as he reaches into his pocket to pull out where the letter from his
mother is folded. “She asked me to find them too.”

Mun holds the photograph in his hand gently. He looks at it for a long time, a really long time
actually, until Jeongguk fidgets uncomfortably with the need for it back. Glancing at Taehyung, even
as young as he is in the photograph, makes it easier for Jeongguk to breathe.

“Were you successful?”

“Yes,” Jeongguk says, glancing at Jin who peers over his shoulder to look at the photograph. His
eyes grow wide a bit and he very carefully shakes his head.

It confuses Jeongguk. Two of the three in this photograph are in this very house yet no one bothered
to tell Mun.

“It stays as is, though,” Jin interrupts. “Jimin instructed us not to tell Mun the location of Taehyung
and the others.”

Mun glares at Jin for a moment. “It’s irrelevant right now. We have to move very soon, Jeongguk. I
just came to introduce myself and quickly go over what’s going to happen tonight before I leave with
Kitty to set up. Kitty.”

The woman that steps up towards Mun is familiar. Jeongguk recognizes her from the photographs
and even if he didn’t have them, he’d know right away she was Jimin’s mother.

“Oh Jeongguk, it is good to finally meet you,” Kitty whispers as she takes Jeongguk’s hands. There
are tears in her eyes. “We don’t have much time, but I insisted on meeting you first. I - I know I don’t
deserve to, but I -”

“It’s okay,” Jeongguk says as she squeezes her hands.

“Let’s sit,” Mun says, gesturing towards the couch. “I’ll explain everything quickly.”

Jeongguk turns to do so but he freezes when he spots Bobby emerging into the room, Winnie’s hand
held in his. It’s even more upsetting when he steps beside a wet haired Jimin, who clings into
Yoongi’s side.

Jimin sinks into the hot water. There’s nothing he can do but wait. That’s all any of them can do, is
wait. He itches to call Taehyung but he’s already called him too many times today. His mother and
Jinju are on their way to the safehouse with Mun, and they just have to wait.

He sinks until the water covers his face and filters into his nose. Carbon dioxide sticks to his lungs,
determined to be freed but Jimin doesn’t let it out until his chest aches too much and his body pushes
up on his own.

He does it again and again until a hand curls under his head and pulls him out.

Jimin gasps loudly, eyes burning as they take in Yoongi’s worried look. He falls to the side of the tub
once he’s pulled Jimin into a sitting position.

“What are you doing?” Yoongi asks.

Jimin shrugs, listening to the water dripping against the ground as Yoongi pulls Jimin’s hand out of
the tub to hold onto.

“I asked Jeongguk to bring Bobby here.”

Silence. He doesn’t know if they’ve arrived yet, but he needs to warn Yoongi before they do. He’s
been too cowardly to do it until now.

“Okay,” Yoongi says, expression unreadable. “You don’t have to tell me why.”

Jimin frowns at Yoongi. His fingertips are pruned and tickle under Yoongi’s touch.

I’m not going to tell you who to choose Jimin, but that you need to. If you choose Bobby, I need you
to leave Yoongi behind. Cut ties, stop giving him hope.
It isn’t why he asked for Bobby here, but he understands the suspicions. Jeongguk had freed him
from the man in New York, threatened Bobby, just for Jimin to leave with Bobby again.

Jeongguk doesn’t understand what it’s like and he isn’t cruel about it, but it had been unfair of him to
say.

Jimin just didn’t need to be reminded of how many times he’s broken Yoongi’s heart. Not right now.

“I’m sorry.”

Yoongi’s face crumples into a frown, lips pouting slightly before he speaks. “For what, baby?”

“I love Bobby.”

There’s a moment of silence before Yoongi nods, squeezing his hand like he understands what
Jimin’s trying to say.

“I don’t want him hurt, even though I should. I shouldn’t love him, I know. But I can’t quite explain
it.”

Yoongi cocks his head to the side, frowning. “You sound defensive.”

Jimin breathes out through his nose. “I am.”

Yoongi grins and presses it to the back of Jimin’s hand. “This is a conversation for another day,
baby. It’s been a long fucking day and it’s gonna be a long night. Let’s talk about this another day,
after we sleep.”

Jimin nibbles on his bottom lip and nods. Yoongi is smiling softly but his eyes are. He looks too
tired. Jimin wants to keep talking, for him to understand he never meant to hurt him.

“I understand, so, there’s no need to be defensive with me.”

It’s whispered, but Jimin nods.

“I don’t want to hurt you. If this doesn’t work out and somehow I have to go back -”

It hadn’t been a fear until he spoke to Jeongguk.

“Shh, shh,” Yoongi says, pushing up on his knees. Despite being tired, there’s a frantic edge to
Jimin’s voice but Yoongi appears calm in response. He is gentle when he takes Jimin’s hands into his
face and even more so when he kisses his forehead. “I promise you, Park Jimin, you aren’t going
back. Ever.”

Truly, it isn’t something anyone can promise and it isn’t something Jimin can ever believe, but he
nods. Yoongi is right; it’s a conversation for another day.

Yoongi helps him dry and get dressed into his gross clothes before they head to where everyone is.

Jimin can’t breathe when his eyes land on Bobby. Bobby looks at him too, staring back and he looks
like utter shit. There’s a hospital band around his wrist and his eyes are swollen like he’s been crying.
His hand is curled around Winnie, the familiarity between them confusing.

Of course they know each other, Jimin isn’t surprised by that. But he’s surprised by how effortlessly
Winnie touches him. She had claimed she would kick his ass for hurting Jimin and Taehyung, but
here she is, looking at him as if she might just cradle him in her arms.
“Here,” Jeongguk is saying, arms crossing over his chest where he sits across from Mun. Hoseok is
beside him, arms crossed just like Jeongguk’s and his eyes keep glancing towards Bobby as if he’s
expecting him to make a move.

“Not here, this house,” Mun corrects. “We’re meeting him at another location. It is important that he
comes to Osaka and stays out of Busan. Have you been caught up on the events that have led up to
this over the last few days?”

A hand guides Jimin away and he sits down on the plush couch, nearly drowning in it. Yoongi
doesn’t stray far, sitting between his legs the way Jimin likes because he can play with his hair this
way. Jeongguk sits beside him, legs spread and warming Jimin’s thigh.

Bobby doesn’t move the entire time Mun talks. Everyone stays silent and Jimin is surprised that
Jeongguk doesn’t interrupt, even with questions. His face is hard, hard to read as he stares at Mun
like he doesn’t want to miss a word. The only time he looks away is to glance into his lap, at a
photograph he holds in his shaking hands.

It’s Taehyung with the kids. An old one, Jimin wonders how he came across it. It makes him warm,
knowing that he looks at Taehyung that way.

If anyone deserves to be free, it’s Taehyung. If anyone deserves to be loved gently and fiercely at the
same time, it’s Taehyung.

“We have to be careful. Sungho knows about my vendetta against him. We are, if you will, enemies
of a sort. I’ve taken a lot from him. He knows my moves as well as I know his,” Mun explains. “I am
working hard to make sure not even the tiniest of drop of information leaks and alerts Sungho or his
men that I’m moving tonight.”

“Vendetta,” Jeongguk repeats.

Mun nods, sighing as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Your friends will catch you up, Mr. Jeon,
but I stole something important from him -”

“Is it the same thing my mother stole?”

Mun’s lips clamp shut, eyes shifting towards Bobby before he shakes his head.

“No,” Mun says. “I stole away Kyungsoon, the youngest of the three. His favorite girl. I helped her
go into hiding. Your mother stole a child from him. Her daughter.”

Jeongguk breathes in sharply and Jimin feels that same pressure in his chest. He wants to hook a
hand into Jeongguk’s and squeeze it, but Yoongi is already doing it.

“That’s why he had her killed,” Jeongguk whispers, gazing back at the photograph in his lap. Jimin
looks at Yoongi briefly. Jeongguk seems to know more than they thought.

“I think she thought so,” Mun says grimly. “I’m sure that was part of the reason.”

“And the rest?”

Mun looks haggard. “I think you should talk to your father, Jeongguk. For now, let’s focus. You all
are to stay here. But I need you to call Woojin’s guardian and assure that they do not leave the house
tonight. Wherever they are.”

Jimin forces himself not to glance at Jin and he prays no one else does.
“Why?” Yoongi asks, squeezing Jeongguk’s fingers. “He told me himself that he does not want
Woojin as a heir because of his illness. Why would he care?”

“I've been told he's his son,” Mun says. “He’s Kyungsoon’s. In his own twisted way, he loved her,
and he’s possessive. He won’t hurt Woojin, and he won’t let anyone else hurt him. This life style
makes you paranoid, you see, and he doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know if you will hurt the boy.”

Jimin huffs out a sarcastic laugh. “Taehyung is Kyungsoon’s as well and he’s hurt him quite a lot.”

Mun holds Jimin’s gaze for a long time. The frown on his face deepens until it seems like the corners
of his mouth are drooping off of his face. “I don’t think we should get off track here, Jimin.”

A voice clears and Jeongguk tenses so quickly beside Jimin that Jimin’s afraid he’s pulled a muscle.
Bobby appears, Winnie behind him.

“He’s right. It’s a solid plan. It was wrong of me to threaten you with Woojin,” Bobby says, eyes
focused on Jimin. “I knew he wouldn’t hurt him. I don’t know if he would have taken him, but I
know he would have been treated like a king under Chung-Hoon.”

Bobby takes a step forward, eyes still focused on Jimin.

“You used to ask me why I tried so hard to please my father and it isn’t just because he’s forced it
into my head that I have to,” Bobby says, hesitantly. He stops moving forward when Jeongguk
moves as if he’s going to stand between them. “It’s because if I am a good heir, if I run the Family
the way Uncle Sungho wants me to then he’ll have no use for Woojin and he’ll leave him alone. So
far it’s worked.”

If Yoongi were not holding onto his hand so hard and Jimin’s weight wasn’t forcing him into the
side of the couch, Jeongguk would leap from it. His body is buzzing with every word Bobby says
and he can’t fight off the heavy breathing, the way his fingers curl.

“How brave of you,” Hoseok grunts, hand shifting anxiously over the piece in his belt. “Very
valiant, running an empire to keep Woojin out of it.”

“You don’t have to believe me,” Bobby says, his gaze unwavering from Jimin. “Young-Mi wrote
me the same letter as Jeongguk, except I had been trying to help her before she -”

Jeongguk’s going to fly across the room. His chest moves too quickly. Jimin’s chest is heaving the
same, his eyes like daggers on Bobby but they soften at times.

Jeongguk wonders if Jimin has made a decision yet. He tries to focus on that thought to distract
himself, but it isn’t working.

“It’s true,” Mun offers, glancing at Bobby. There’s so much tension in the room it feels as if
Jeongguk is drowning. “Bobby here is the one that helped Young-Mi find her daughter. Helped find
Jimin. Kyungsoon."

The woman from earlier, Winnie, is protective of Bobby. It’s strange behavior from a housemaid, the
way she holds his hand and clings to him. She looks tender when she gazes at him, sad. It reminds
him of the way Yoongi holds onto his hand right now, and the look in Yoongi’s eyes whenever
Jeongguk squeezes onto his hand too hard.

“No matter what you say, it won’t lead us to believing Bobby has good intentions,” Jeongguk
interrupts, leaning forward to rest his elbows onto his knees and clasp his hands in front of himself.
“We can waste the night talking about it but the fact remains that my mother asked Bobby to take
care of Jimin and he did not. Nor did he take care of Taehyung - a person that my mother wanted
protected. So instead of talking about it, tell me what you have planned and why the fuck the bastard
is even here.”

Eyes flock to Jeongguk, but he doesn’t care. He can feel Yoongi staring hard at him and so does
Jimin, though Jimin looks more curious than anything. Hoseok huffs out a noise, sounding proud.

Mun stares at him for a long moment. “I have men outside of every known factory and place of
business of Chung-Hoon’s. We are moving in tonight. If all goes to plan, we’ll have enough to not
only arrest him, but his brothers as well. We have known locations of his drugs, his brothels, and
their homes.”

Kitty moves forward, holding a hand over Mun’s shoulder. “I’ve called Sungho here. I told him I
burned down his wife’s restaurant and taken his son in revenge for him taking mine.” Her eyes
glance at Jimin and he tenses, turning solid and hard against Jeongguk. "I had to tell Mun about
Woojin for his help. And Bobby - Bobby's plan is a good one."

It’s ironic. Jimin had told Jeongguk how he had owed Bobby money for buying Jinju that restaurant
and now his mother has burned it down to free him.

“I have a small force with me. Sungho will only bring his best anywhere near his son and he believes
Jooheon and Kookangie are on Yoongi and Jimin’s tails here in Osaka,” Mun goes on. "Kitty is sure
he will come alone."

Behind Mun is Jooheon, who steps up this time, hand never leaving his belt. “I told Chung that you
did not go to Busan but Osaka. He believes you to be meeting up with Kim Seokjin for Woojin. And
we'll use that as how Kitty came in possession of the boy."

Jeongguk tenses. He must know the kids are here if he knows about Jin, who is glaring hard at him
from the corner of the room before he turns on his heel and heads out like he can’t bear to listen any
longer.

“Why do you need him out of Busan so badly?”

There’s a silence that follows and this time, it’s Yoongi that squeezes Jeongguk’s hands. There’s fire
in Yoongi’s eyes when he glares back at Mun.

“Yeah, explain why your plan is shit.”

“Kim Hanbin called Sungho today, in request of a torture scheme he wants to act out on. I have it set
up for Hanbin to be at his house when the police arrive, standing amongst the illicit pornography an
informant of mine says he has in his home.”

“You liar,” Jimin starts, pushing forward and Yoongi is quick to grab his knee.

“He doesn’t,” Jeongguk says, glancing at Jimin in confusion. He didn’t think of Jimin to be that close
to Hanbin to be defensive. “I took it from him today.”

Yoongi looks wildly at Jeongguk, alarm in his eyes. Mun doesn’t look as pleased.

“It’s the only thing we have on Kim. The closest thing we have is the connection between the drugs
in Jeon Tobacco and the symbol of BBE but that will do nothing in court. He has knowledge of a
video that can secure those guilty of Young-Mi’s death, but I doubt he’ll squeal.”
Jeongguk stares hard at Mun’s mouth. A video. His body trembles at the thought, his hands
squeezing onto Yoongi’s so hard that he feels they might break under his fingers.

A video. They took a fucking video.

Bobby had said that his father makes him watch it; but Jeongguk hadn’t really made sense as to what
Bobby meant by that until now.

“It’s not.”

If Bobby speaks one more time, Jeongguk swears he might give into the anger inside of him. It’s
boiling over, making him dizzy. He doesn’t care if Mun is a police officer. He doesn’t think there’s
enough people here to pull him off of Bobby.

Bobby steps forward, reaching out and Winnie is beside him again, squeezing his hand. Jimin’s got a
hand on Jeongguk’s thigh, keeping him pressed into the couch like he can feel the way Jeongguk
vibrates with hatred.

“I will go on the record and assure you to give you enough information to secure my father, my
uncles and Kim Hanbin.”

Everyone turns to look at Bobby this time, who plays with his hands as he stares at Mun.

Mun doesn’t look convinced. “What’s your price?”

“You keep Jeon Tobacco out of it,” Bobby says without hesitation. “And you ignore Jeon Young-
Mi’s request to keep me safe.”

Kitty moves this time, mouth falling agape. “It was my request.”

“I don’t care,” Bobby says, his confidence growing as he looks at Mun. “We don’t have much time,
so decide quickly.”

“Bobby,” Jimin whispers and it’s enough for Jeongguk to give up holding his rage back. He doesn’t
get it, he doesn’t understand why Jimin is so protective of Bobby and open about it even with
Yoongi right in front of them.

“I won’t forgive you, no matter what you do.”

Bobby looks hurt when he glances at Jeongguk but Jeongguk doesn’t care. He hates the way Bobby
looks at Jimin and he hates the way he thinks about those hands touching his mother.

He doesn’t care if he was forced. He’s angry.

He hates that his mother had to live her life watching Bobby get abused and hurt. He hates that his
mother needed to show him as much love as possible just for the last words she ever heard were
Bobby saying he hated her.

He fucking hates and hates .

“Is it a deal?” Bobby asks, looking at Mun. “You have men at Jeon Tobacco, call them off.”

Mun looks at Bobby for a moment. “Not until I know this is good information.”

“Bobby,” Kitty pleads quietly and even Jimin is looking at Bobby worriedly. Jeongguk wonders if
he knew. There would be no way.
No way. Jeongguk can’t handle something like that.

“Put me on the record,” Bobby says to Mun. Everyone is tense, quiet, waiting for Bobby to speak as
Mun fumbles with a recorder in his pocket.

Bobby’s shaking visibly and it’s difficult for Jeongguk to stay still when he watches Jimin stand up
and slip his hand into Bobby’s trembling one.

“Bobby, go on,” Winnie urges so quietly that it’s hard to hear over the way Jeongguk’s heart
thrashes.

“My name is Kim Jiwon,” Bobby says. “And on August 11th, 2011, I, along with my father Kim
Yunbok and best friend Kim Hanbin, killed my mother.”

There’s a hand on Jeongguk, somewhere. It feels like there’s hands everywhere, suffocating him. He
sees red, his body thrumming with his heart. Yoongi is there, he knows it, he feels it. Hoseok too,
there’s an arm around his chest, it smells like Hoseok. The arm is tight, there’s whispering in his ear
and Jeongguk is suffocating. There aren’t enough hands to hold him back but right now they’re
trying, trying to keep him from stopping Bobby from saying her name.

“Jeon Young-Mi.”

Jin wants to be with the others, listening to everything that is going on, but he can’t handle all of the
talk about Woojin. Even though Woojin sleeps, breathing softly, Jin can’t make himself worry that
he’s going to be snatched away right before his eyes.

He’s devastated. Woojin had been improving a lot, and the doctors told him there would be times
where it would seem bad again, that trauma never truly leaves a person. But Jin feels it’s his fault;
he’s been crumbling being away from Taehyung.

Even if Woojin were old enough to understand, Jin wouldn’t tell him why. It would make him afraid
of living and Jin is trying desperately to get Woojin to live without fear.

After awhile, Namjoon finds him, shifting a soft hand across his shoulders and making him jump.

“I’ll stay with them,” Namjoon says quietly. “Jeongguk looks like he’s going to snap at any moment
and I think he’ll need you too.”

“I don’t know if I can listen to it. He’s just a kid.”

Namjoon nods in understanding. “I know. But you should probably tell them about the stuff you
found when we stole from Yunbok’s office.”

Jin feels his stomach jittery. He doesn’t want to. They found drugs and more pornography, more
pictures of Taehyung. And there were videos that Jin was too afraid to watch. He wouldn’t dare, not
the names scribbled onto them. Namjoon had only made it a few minutes in.

It’s ballsy, not even hiding what they’ve done. Anyone can break into Yunbok’s office and find the
evidence right there, just like Jin had.

Jin stands, legs shaking. Namjoon holds onto him for a moment before kissing his forehead.

Jin is tired of being the strong one, but it’s his nature.
The rising voices grabs Jin’s attention as he makes his way back to the parlor. Namjoon had been
right; Jeongguk looks murderous. His face is beet red and Hoseok is behind him, the veins of his
arms popping out from how hard he holds onto Jeongguk’s chest.

Yoongi has his hand, half on his lap and Jin frowns, taking in the sight of Jimin and Bobby holding
hands in the middle of everyone. Winnie has Bobby’s other hand.

“I have proof,” Bobby says, voice firm but his body is trembling. “There’s a video inside my father’s
office, bottom left drawer. He - he makes me watch it every year on August 11th. To remind me.
You cannot see his face but - but you can hear his voice. She says his name.”

Jimin’s face breaks and he glances to Jeongguk, but there isn’t the same sympathy there. It doesn’t
even look like Jeongguk with how twisted his face is as he glares at Bobby.

Mun sits in front of them, a hand held recording device in hand and Jin wonders how much he’s
missed.

“We’ll need to access Jeon Tobacco for that,” Mun says, clicking off the recorder. “Unless you get it
for us.”

Everyone looks a mix or horrified and upset, other than Mun and the men behind him. The woman
that had came with Mun cries softly, her hand held over her face. The other older woman moves
through the room to sit beside Jeongguk.

Jeongguk flinches violently when the woman touches his knee but he seems to relax when their eyes
meet.

Jin understands what they’re talking about and his heart hurts.

It had been him who had to tell Taehyung about finding his mother in the kitchen. It had been the
worst moment of his life; worse than finding her. It isn’t him telling Jeongguk that his mother passed
away, but that she died a much more brutal death than he had known.

“I have it,” Jin says, announcing himself. “I um, I broke into Yunbok’s office after finding
pornography of Taehyung in there. I wanted to get all of it, so I emptied out the drawer I found it in.”

Jeongguk breathes heavily, nose flaring with every breath.

“There’s folders and drugs and a dvd,” Jin says, nervous suddenly. “Namjoon only saw a few
minutes of it. Jeongguk, I’m sorry -”

“No,” Jeongguk snaps and Hoseok’s grits his teeth when Jeongguk tries to pull from him. “I don’t
fucking want to see it. Don’t say her name. I need everyone to stop talking about -”

He’s cut off by a ringing sound, the people in the room jumping from the sudden blaring noise. Even
Jin jumps, grabbing for his heart as it pounds roughly against his sternum.

Hoseok is whispering something into Jeongguk’s ear and he looks mad, chest rising and falling so
quickly that Jin is sure he would have a stroke if he weren’t so healthy.

“It’s fine,” Mun says, holding up his vibrating phone and pulling it to his ear. “Please give me one
second, this is my informant on Hanbin.”

Jeongguk looks anything but fine, similar to the cellphone that had been vibrating just as angrily. Jin
thinks Jeongguk is going to attack a moment before he lurches past Yoongi and Hoseok’s hold.
It’s slow, like time has been stretched as Bobby grabs for Jimin’s arm so tightly his knuckles turn
white. But it isn’t slow, it’s chaos in a second the moment his fingers land onto Jimin’s skin. His eyes
are latched onto Mun, who is snapping at two men who look like guards, face angry and a vein
popping over his temples.

There’s a yell as Jeongguk moves and Yoongi and Hoseok follow. Jin rushes in despite his wanting
for Jeongguk to tear Bobby a new one. He doesn’t understand the sudden anger but he needs to stop
it before Jeongguk does something he regrets.

“Get your hands off him,” Jeongguk grunts at the same time Jimin gasps out an ‘it’s fine’, but Bobby
is still holding on tightly to his arm. “I said don’t fucking touch him.”

Bobby lets go immediately to fling his arm in front of him, forcing it into Jeongguk’s chest to push
him back. Jimin tries to squeeze between them, trying to push them apart but it’s like Jeongguk can’t
see anything but Bobby. Winnie grabs onto Jeongguk’s arms, but it’s useless.

“Jeongguk, I know -”

“Why are you defending him?” Jeongguk snaps, shoving Jimin out of the way.

Jin catches Jimin as Yoongi grabs for Jeongguk, pulling hard on his shirt to move him back. His
strength isn’t as great as everyone around him, but he’s the only one that manages to get Jeongguk
back for a second.

There’s a sound of a fist hitting bone and a low groan before Hoseok is helping Yoongi, who cusses
as Jeongguk struggles against him.

“Later,” Hoseok grunts, breathing as heavily as Jeongguk as he shakes out his fist.

“You need to go,” Bobby says, desperately as he clutches at his face. There’s tears in his eyes.
“Jeongguk, you need to go home.”

It sets Jeongguk off further. Jin’s never seen him like this, tears in his eyes and anger pouring off of
him as he struggles against Hoseok’s hands. He’s been angry before but Jin has never seen him so
out of control.

“I need to go home? Fuck you, Bobby. You -”

“Jeongguk.”

It’s softer, but it’s the only voice Jeongguk hears, his eyes flicking towards her and the anger in his
face turns to one of concern.

It’s an older woman with round cheeks and cat like eyes. The woman that had been sitting beside
him only moments ago.

“Jooheon, get Wonho on the phone now. Minhyuk, I swear if a hair on Taehyung’s head is harmed,
I’ll fucking wring your neck.”

It’s quick, the way everything stops and eyes turn to Mun. His face is red, up to the tip of his ears, an
anger on his face that competes the one spurting from Jeongguk.

“Jeongguk, you need to call Taehyung,” the older woman says urgently. “There’s people coming to
your apartment.”
“What is going on?” Jimin snaps, pulling from Jin and Jin doesn’t know when Yoongi got so close
but he’s right there, holding onto him.

“Who?” Jeongguk asks, yells, eyes wide.

“Hanbin,” Bobby answers, flinching when Jeongguk looks to him.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen,” Mun says, to who, Jin doesn’t know. His heart is pounding in fear
and he doesn’t know what he needs to be afraid of.

But it doesn’t sound good. Someone’s coming for Taehyung.

“Explain,” Jeongguk snaps, but he’s moving, pulling out his cellphone.

“Put it on speaker,” Jimin whispers, desperate as he clutches onto Jeongguk’s rapid moving chest.

“I don’t have time to explain,” Mun grunts. “Kitty and I need to go. Jinju can explain but Jeongguk
-”

The phone rings and rings, Jin’s heart dropping every time he hears the sound.

“Jeongguk, you’re gonna have to let it happen.”

It’s a riot, the sounds of protests blending together into an angry hum. The phone rings and rings.
Mun has his hands up, talking loudly but it’s nothing compared to the anger darted at him.

“Let it happen ?” Jimin shouts. The tears are shining in his eyes. “What the fuck do you mean, let it
happen?”

“Yes, let it happen,” Mun shouts back and Yoongi flares up, nostrils big as he takes a step towards
Mun to keep him back. “We can’t compromise ruining tonight. Hanbin is working with my men. If
he has Ji-hu in his home, we can get him on kidnapping charges and wait on the video. They’re
under strict order not to let anything happen to -”

“I’m leaving,” Jeongguk interrupts and Mun goes still for a moment, eyes blazing onto Jeongguk.
“And correct me if I’m wrong Mun, but that sounds a lot like you knew this was going to happen.”

“I didn’t,” Mun insists. “Hanbin was given order from Chung not to make a move until they were
together.”

“You knew he might,” Jimin spits and Jin can’t focus. He doesn’t want to be the strong one any
more. Not when he has to worry again about Taehyung’s safety. “You knew he wanted to.”

“I’m not sitting around and fucking talking about this,” Jeongguk grits out.

“Hanbin won’t hurt him,” Bobby tries but Jeongguk ignores him, dialing the phone again.

“Jimin, you try. I’m calling security.”

Jimin is quick to oblige, pulling at Yoongi until Yoongi hands him a phone that looks as ancient as
Jin feels.

“What does Hanbin have to do with this?” Jin asks no one in particular and no one answers in
response.

He should have taken Taehyung with him too. Separating him from the kids had been the wrong
move, in every way possible. It had been stupid to leave Taehyung alone. He should have been with
his family. Even if they hide away forever, change their names and become new people, they should
stick together.

“He won’t hurt him. If he did, he’d be dead before the morning sun rises,” Bobby goes on, quickly.
He doesn’t seem to fear Jeongguk’s rage, getting into his space so Jeongguk can hear the words.

“Get the fuck away from me,” Jeongguk seethes before he clutches the phone to his ear and steps
away. “Wonho-ssi, I need you to go to my apartment now. I need you to wake up Taehyung.”

It goes quiet, tense as Jin watches the way Jeongguk’s back harden as he listens to whatever the man
on the phone says.

And when he speaks, his words are like ice, or a sparkler, setting a fire of worry inside Jin so quickly
he feels nauseous from the impact.

“What do you mean he just left? With who? You didn’t stop them?”

Taehyung is a little in love with Ji-hu. He giggles a lot, bunny teeth popping out as he lets out these
squeaky noises that remind him of Jeongguk. He pouts and begs for the cake that he had originally
wanted to save to eat until his father came home but Taehyung gave in.

He is soft when he gets sleepy and he cuddles against Taehyung’s thigh like they’ve known each
other for years, promising him that he’s not too sleepy for one more episode of the show they’re
watching.

He falls asleep somewhere through the first half of it, but Taehyung doesn’t move him in case he
isn’t in deep enough sleep yet. He sits there, the television playing quietly as he stares at the box of
letters Jeongguk had left for him on the bed.

It’s an invasion of privacy. These letters weren’t meant for him to read. But his interest is piqued. He
wants to know if Jeongguk’s mother wrote about his mother. He wants to know if she was different,
different than the Kyungsoon he knew.

His mother never spoke much about her past. She told him once that she didn’t have a family and
that his father had been nice to her before he left her. Sometimes she would tell him stories about
girls she grew up with; how one of her friends liked Winnie the Pooh and the other used to brush her
hair before bed. Taehyung had guessed she didn’t go to school because she wasn’t well educated,
but they never talked about it.

Taehyung waits a bit, staring at the box before he finally opens it. There are only a couple of letters
inside, the rest in another part of Jeongguk’s room. He touches the envelopes for awhile, trying to
muster up the courage to open one before he quickly takes one and opens it before he regrets it.

September 8th, 1994

My sweet sister,

I hope this letter finds you and if it does, that you read it. I have good news to share. Jun-ki and I
have given birth to another child, a child that is mine and mine only. I can’t express my joy, and my
fear. There are too many dangerous men around that sometimes I wonder if I should send him off to
wherever it is that you’ve been hiding to keep him as safe as you.
I could not part from him even if it were something that would be better for him. I am afraid Sungho
will try to take him but Jun-ki assured me that will not happen. I don’t know if I trust it. Jun-ki is a
wonderful man, but he hasn’t lived the life of broken promises before.

I hope wherever you are, you are feeling joy. I should not share this secret as it may cause you to
run, but it is Woojin who gave me this address. I wish that you would not run from him. I know the
pain, but when he speaks of you - I see nothing but love. But even true, good love is hard to trust,
isn’t it?

The love I have for you is something you can always trust. And I hope that you return to me one day.
I will not let anyone harm you, I just wish to see you - speak to you, feel your chubby little cheeks
under my palms. Your unnie loves you, Soonie and your unnie knows the pain you feel. Please do
not bear it on your own.

Taehyung folds the letter up before finishing it, gently tucking it back into his envelope. He’s read
enough. He doesn’t want to read more.

Jeongguk left him the letters addressed to his mother.

Taehyung sniffles before he eases out from underneath Ji-hu. He’s heavy, to heavy to be carried and
Taehyung doesn’t want to part from him, but it’s for selfish reasons. Taehyung has been feeling too
selfish lately.

He wants to call Jeongguk, but he knows he needs Yoongi, he doesn’t want to interrupt.

Ji-hu wakes some as Taehyung tucks him into bed but Taehyung waits until he’s snoring again, his
arms tucking a stuffed rabbit into his chest. It looks as if it’s seen better days and Taehyung smiles
softly, thinking of the Piglet stuffed animal that Woojin used to sleep with when he was still a baby.

The house feels too empty and too quiet with Ji-hu asleep so he decides to turn in himself, even if it
isn’t too late in the night yet. He doesn’t like how big the apartment is, though he appreciates that
there aren’t any squeaky wooden floorboards beneath his feet.

He doesn’t like how empty Jeongguk’s bed feels when he’s alone, but he likes the way it smells of
Jeongguk’s cologne. He spreads out across it, nuzzling into the pillow that Jeongguk had laid on the
night before. It takes him awhile to sleep, feeling restless by the fact that everyone is so far away but
it comes eventually.

Taehyung hates dreaming, but he doesn’t mind when it’s of his siblings running and smiling. He
doesn’t mind that Ji-hu is now running and smiling with them, and he definitely doesn’t mind that
Jeongguk is beside them as they watch them.

“They’re cute,” Jeongguk laughs as he curls an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders. He knows not
to feel protected under a man’s touch but he does under Jeongguk, especially when he pulls
Taehyung into his side.

Taehyung tucks his face into Jeongguk’s neck, giggling softly. “They are.”

It’s warm. The sun beats down on his face. Jeongguk is warmer, eyes like the sun and his smile the
sunrays. His favorite memories from when he was younger was the beach. It was the only time it
was just him and his mother after his step father came around. His mother would smile at the sun
and Taehyung would mimic it, listening to her speak quietly about how it felt to be exposed to the
world like that.

It made her feel small but his mother always talked about it like it was a good thing. Taehyung thinks
 he understands now as he feels small curling into Jeongguk.

“I love them.”

Taehyung bites at his smile. “I do too. They’re ours, you know.”

Jeongguk is blinding, like the sun, when he smiles. Taehyung wonders if he knows, if he’s told him
enough. Taehyung wonders if it is possible to tell him enough. He’ll try, until he loses his voice.

“Yeah, they’re ours baby.”

There’s no more worry about the kissing, even when the kids squeal and make grossed out noises.
Jeongguk laughs into it it, squeezing Taehyung’s cheek. He doesn’t hold back any longer, kissing
Taehyung the way he wants to even with curious eyes on them.

“I love you,” Jeongguk says, whispers like it’s a secret.

Taehyung’s been told that by many people. It’s only mattered from his siblings and Jin, Jimin. It
matters now. Taehyung doesn’t care that he should probably run and not sink further into
Jeongguk’s embrace. He wants Jeongguk to say it until he loses his voice too.

“I love you, Taehyung. But you need to wake up.”

Taehyung wrinkles his nose. He doesn’t want to. He likes this dream, likes the feeling in his chest.
He wants this one day, someday. But he has to leave. He doesn’t want to leave.

“I said wake the fuck up, Taehyung.”

Taehyung jolts, pain thrumming in his head. He keeps his eyes clenched shut, eyelids bursting with
white dots as he chases onto the feel of dream Jeongguk.

“Rise and shine, sleepy head.”

His heart kicks on, pounding roughly against his chest as he registers what woke him. There’s
something hard pressing into his neck and he knows that voice. That voice is in his dreams too, his
nightmares. That voice tells him he loves him too, when there’s fingers digging into his neck and
pain exploding across his back.

Taehyung can’t move, panic washing over him as he realizes that he isn’t dreaming anymore. He’s in
Jeongguk’s bed, without Jeongguk but not alone.

Ji-hu is only a few doors down and Taehyung can’t move to get to him.

“There you are pretty,” Hanbin says, his voice close to his ear. “Dreaming of something nice?”

Chapter End Notes

Your feedback means the world, so thank you for leaving it!! I will see you soon, I
promise there won't be a long wait before the last chapter it's already finished <3 I've
written Ji-hu's pov in the next chapter and I am so excited to share it.

I post snippets and previews on my twitter if you're interested @taehcheeks

tumblr @taecheeks
curiouscat
 Chapter 23
Chapter Notes

PLEASE READ!

There is a lot of violence in this chapter and nasty things said. It was hard to write in a
lot of ways. Please note the new tags; this chapter has minor character death. If you wish
to know when it occurs, please read the ending notes first.

This story is almost done, I'm so sad about it lksjdfldk. I have three chapters outlined, so
I put it at 26 because I don't want this fic to be long to the point where it's ridiculous and
overdone. But I also don't want to stop writing it lmao

I'm so excited to share Ji-hu's POV with you.

Lastly, I have a new taekook fic that has some humor and light angst in it if you're
interested. It's a fwb, teach me how to kiss fic where JK loves frogs. It's here if you're
interested.

Thank you so much for reading!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Appa says it’s okay to be afraid sometimes but Ji-hu doesn’t like it. His heart hurts when it moves too
fast and it makes him more afraid when it is hard to breathe.

He says it’s okay to cry but Ji-hu doesn’t like that either. It feels funny, like something is pressing
into his face and he hates it.

Bang .

Squeezing his bunny helps the bad feeling in his chest but not enough. It grows worse when he hears
voices, voices he doesn’t recognize outside of his room.

Ji-hu snuggles into his blankets, trying to hide beneath the mounds of plushies there. There’s a place
upstairs that Grandpa showed him to hide, but Tae Tae doesn’t know about it and Ji-hu doesn’t want
him to feel the funny scared feeling in his chest either when he can’t find him.

His bottom lip wobbles as the voices grow louder. Where is Tae Tae? Appa is gone, too far away
and if Ji-hu calls him when it’s so dark out he’ll be in trouble.

It hurts the way his body grows tight like those pants Jimin sunbaenim wears when the door opens.
He tries to remember what Appa told him about bad guys coming into the house but he can’t
remember.

“Quiet, he’s asleep.”

It hurts the way he bites down on his bottom lip to be quiet because there’s a cry in his throat that he
doesn’t want to let go.
They are shadows in the dark, monsters that have come because he was bad and stayed up too late.
He told Tae Tae he couldn’t, he told him.

“Oh the little guy is awake.”

A squeak leaves his lips and Ji-hu clamps Rabbit over his mouth. The monster moves closer until his
night light catches him, but this monster isn’t afraid of the light. Lights are supposed to keep the
monsters away.

“Hey buddy, it’s okay. I’m Uncle Bobby’s friend.”

Grandpa told him that some people look really nice but aren’t. Don’t talk to strangers, Ji-hu has
always been bad at that. This man has a nice smile but he is big, bigger than Appa. His arms are
really big and he is twelve feet tall.

Ji-hu whimpers when the man kneels down. Appa has been mad at Uncle Bobby. He doesn’t know
why but he doesn’t like when Appa is mad.

“Don’t be scared,” the man says. He talks nicely, quietly like Appa does when he’s had a nightmare.
“You’re Ji-hu right?”

Where is Tae Tae? Ji-hu thinks as he nods his head behind Rabbit.

“I like that rabbit. Is it the one from Winnie the Pooh?”

“Jackson come on. Get the kid before Hanbin gets impatient.”

The monster doesn’t look so nice when he looks at the other monster with him. Ji-hu burrows back
further when the monster reaches out to touch his Rabbit, the nice smile on his lips again.

“I like Winnie the Pooh too,” the monster says and Ji-hu eyes him warily. “My favorite is the tiger.”

“Tigger,” Ji-hu breathes.

The monster nods. He looks happy. “Yeah, Tigger. He’s funny, yeah?”

The bad feeling is in his chest but it doesn’t hurt as he offers the monster his Rabbit. He squeezes
tight though so the monster won’t take it.

Appa also told him some people look scary but aren’t. He should be nice to everyone, even the
strangers he’s not allowed to talk to.

It’s confusing.

“You know,” the monster whispers like a secret, “your Appa asked me to come get you and I told
him you’d be afraid. But you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

Ji-hu wrinkles his nose. Appa doesn’t have any friends, just Uncle Yoongi and Uncle Hobi.

“What is your name?”

“Jackson.”

Jackson. Appa doesn’t know a Jackson.

“Where is Tae Tae?”

The monster lifts a brow but jeez his eyes on the Rabbit. “Appa is trying to wake him up.”

Ji-hu pushes up quickly from his bed. His heart goes really fast but it doesn’t hurt. The funny feeling
is back in his face though and his throat feels like he swallowed bread before chewing it enough.

“Appa is here?”

“Yeah,” the monster says, holding a hand out to him. “Wanna go and show him that you aren’t
afraid? Big boys don’t get scared, right?”

No, Ji-hu thinks. Appa told him even the biggest of boys get afraid.

“You’re not a monster?”

The monster’s eyes grow really big as he pokes himself in the chest. “Me? No way. Do I look like a
monster?”

Ji-hu nods.

The monster laughs but Ji-hu didn’t tell a joke. Maybe he laughs a lot like Uncle Hobi. Ji-hu loves
when Uncle Hobi laughs.

“Pinky promise, I’m not. Come on, -”

Bang .

Ji-hu leaps when his door flies open. It isn’t another monster though, but Tae Tae.

Tae Tae looks angry, more angry than Appa has ever looked.

“Get away from him.”

Tae Tae doesn’t yell but Ji-hu doesn’t like his voice. It’s like a growl, like the mean dog outside the
ramen shop Appa likes.

“Tae -”

“I said, get the fuck away from him.”

Ji-hu wants to hide but Tae Tae’s face is redder than his hair and he shakes a lot. Ji-hu has to be
quick, darting from the bed and straight towards him.

Grandpa says hugs are the best medicine and he wants to hug Tae Tae. Someone hugs him instead,
arms wrapping around him from behind and Ji-hu doesn’t like this hug at all.

“No need to scare him,” says someone behind Tae Tae. Hanbin-ssi, Uncle Bobby’s friend. Ji-hu
likes that he always has candies in his pockets and sometimes wears bandages on his face even
though he doesn’t have an ouch. It’s funny but Grandpa doesn’t like him and neither does Tae Tae.

Tae Tae looks sad when Hanbin-ssi pushes past him. Ji-hu’s feet touch the ground again but when
he looks to him to run again, Tae Tae shakes his head.

“I told you not to touch him,” Hanbin says, angry at the monster.

“How do you expect me to get him out of bed without doing so? He isn’t a dog. He isn’t going to
come running for a treat.”
“You bastard .”

Tae Tae growls again and this time Ji-hu shakes his head because that’s a really bad word.

“Tae -”

“Let him go,” Tae Tae growls. “You want me to walk right past Jeongguk’s guards with him, but
how do you think that’s possible when he looks petrified? You’re upsetting, I said let him go.”

The monster no longer holds him and Ji-hu runs. He grabs Tae Tae’s face. There are tears in his eyes
and Ji-hu hates them a lot.

“You’re okay,” Tae Tae whispers, cupping his cheeks. His hands are big like they can touch his
entire face. “You know how you told me Appa said you get nightmares when you go to bed late?”

Ji-hu nods, frowning because he’s angry Tae Tae made him stay up late.

“Yeah?” Tae Tae whispers, rubbing Ji-hu’s hair from his forehead. “That’s all this is, baby. A
nightmare. Did Appa tell you how to get them to go away?”

Ji-hu glances behind him at the monster. With his arms crossed over his chest he looks even scarier.
He has those kind of muscles that look like someone took a bunch of rocks and shoved them under
his skin.

“No.”

Tae Tae smiles and rolls his eyes. “Silly Appa. It’s so easy. Monsters only come when they’re really
hungry and want to eat your fear. So you just gotta not be afraid. If you’re not afraid they gotta go
somewhere else to eat.”

Ji-hu sniffles. “You look scared.”

Another smile. He likes when Tae Tae smiles and shows his teeth. He likes that Appa always smiles
when Tae Tae does too.

“Well, I’m trying to get them to come to me instead so they leave you alone,” Tae Tae murmurs. No,
Ji-hu doesn’t like that. “But you have to not be afraid and help me, okay?”

Ji-hu nods. He doesn’t know how to be not afraid but he will try if it means the monsters will go
away.

“I want to call Appa.”

“We will,” Tae Tae promises. He kisses his forehead and Ji-hu likes that. It makes his chest not hurt.
“Come on.”

He takes Tae Tae’s hand when it’s offered to him and sneaks into his side. He doesn’t like when Tae
Tae lets go but he doesn’t feel scared when he places his hand against his head to secure Ji-hu to his
hip.

He feels scared. He tries not to but the monsters follow. There’s a lot of food in the fridge but they
only eat fear and Ji-hu can’t get rid of it.

“Remember, you’re taking him to his grandfather. He had a nightmare and you don’t know how to
get him back to sleep.”
Tae Tae says something but Ji-hu doesn’t listen as they walk to the front door. He doesn’t like when
Tae Tae growls.

Appa told him what to do if bad guys come. He remembers.

He clings to the door frame when Tae Tae tries to walk him out of it. He’s gotten a lot taller, maybe
he can reach now. He tries, feeling for the box Appa hid there.

“Ji-hu please,” Tae Tae says. He sounds sad but Ji-hu clings tighter, pushing up on his tip toes.

He’s lifted from the ground and Tae Tae is there, sliding him up the door frame. His eyes are big and
he nods, a small nod like it’s a secret.

Ji-hu presses the button as quickly as he can, three times. He remembers. Appa will be proud.

“Move,” someone grunts and Tae Tae is stumbling, his arms squeezing Ji-hu as tightly as his chest
squeezes his heart.

“Don’t try it. I’ve got men working here, disabled the alarms.”

Hanbin-ssi is not nice today. Ji-hu wraps his arms around Tae Tae to make a mean face at him. Appa
says it’s rude but Ji-hu is angry.

“Don’t be bad, Ji-hu. There’s more monsters downstairs and they aren’t as nice as Jackson. Isn’t that
right Baby?”

Ji-hu curls his face into Tae Tae’s neck. His heart beats a lot and his skin is hot. He’s scared and Ji-
hu can’t be.

It is quiet, just the sounds of the elevator as Ji-hu clings to Tae Tae. The monsters didn’t get in the
elevator with them and he wonders if they are gone for good.

There’s no alarm like Appa said, promised. He hopes Tae Tae calls him because he’s mad at him too
for lying and Appa told him to tell him when he’s mad.

“Tae Tae, are they gone?”

Tae Tae rubs his back, rocking him even though he is big now and not a baby. “No baby. But they
will be soon okay? You just have to be really good so they don’t get mad.”

“Where are we going?”

Tae Tae doesn’t answer for a long time. Ji-hu listens to the elevator beep with each floor, counting
three before Tae Tae responds.

“Nowhere,” Tae Tae tells him. “When I put you down, you’re going to run okay? Run really fast
and really far even if your legs hurt. I’m gonna keep the monsters away.”

Ji-hu pulls back and Tae Tae is smoking but not in his eyes. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Well you have to,” Tae Tae whispers. “You have to find someone to help us, okay? You know
around the corner, at that store that sells the pretty jewelry? There’s always a police officer there.”

Around the corner. Ji-hu doesn’t know. But he can find it. Grandpa says he’s an excellent finder
because he’s always finding the things Grandpa loses.
It must be really bad if Tae Tae wants him to find the police. He tries not to be scared, but that makes
him more afraid.

“Be good,” Tae Tae whispers as the elevator doors open and they face the lobby. Only Wonho-ssi is
there, smiling nice at them.

Ji-hu wonders if he is a monster too because he doesn’t see anyone else. But no, he can’t be. He is
nice. He helped Ji-hu learn to speak words with his hands to surprise Woojin hyung. He didn’t even
squeal on him when Ji-hu showed him a bad word with his fingers.

“Nightmare,” Tae Tae says when Wonho-ssi says hello. “Won’t stop asking for his grandfather.”

Wonho-ssi frowns but smiles when Ji-hu looks to him over Tae Tae’s shoulder. He’s like a police
officer too. He has the bad metal at his hip and a uniform and Appa says he’s there to protect their
home.

But Tae Tae hasn’t put him down yet.

Ji-hu lifts his hands, focusing as he tries to remember the way Woojin had showed him. Tae Tae’s
heart is beating really fast but Wonho-ssi isn’t helping.

Ji-hu grunts as his fingers form the right word but Tae Tae is running.

The night air hits Ji-hu’s face before his feet hit the pavement and he only listens to Tae Tae’s quick
“go, now, fast” before he turns on his heel and runs. He runs fast, fast like the way Jimin sunbaemin
twirls in circles during practice. He runs, even when he hears Tae Tae yell really loudly like he’s
been hurt.

A few weeks before his mother died, his parents got into a brutal fight. Jeongguk had walked in on
it. His mother’s words were cruel, acid. It was rare to see her so angry, to hear her cuss. She had hit
his father, Jeongguk remembers watching her shove him into the chest and bang on it like Taehyung
had when he was upset to the point of panicking.

He had been angry with her. She hadn’t hurt him, but he had been angry with her anyway. She
always taught him not to use his fists, not to say nasty things if you didn’t mean them. She had told
him sometimes people get pushed and pushed and pushed that they lose a piece of themselves for a
moment.

Jeongguk understands now. His mind and body are at a disconnect, or he’s at a disconnect from his
mind. He doesn’t know who it belongs to. Hell, he doesn’t know how the fuck it’s still working if
he’s being honest.

“Mr. Jeon sir, I couldn’t be sure. Mr. Kim said he was taking little Jeon to see your father. I had no
reason to suspect -”

“You said he signed for fucking help ,” Jeongguk shouts into the receiver. He can’t breathe. His
brain is working overtime, straining itself too much that it can’t remember how to. “Why would my
son sign for help if he didn’t need it?”

Jeongguk didn’t even know his son could sign.

“Mr. Jeon, sir. He was with Mr. Kim -”

Jeongguk squeezes the phone in his hand so hard it hurts as he tugs it from his ear. He wants to thrust
his fist into the wall but Yoongi is there, grabbing onto the wrist. There’s a phone pressed to his ear
as well and he speaks softly, but his brows are furrowed in a way that Jeongguk knows he is pissed.

The worst thing about it is there’s nothing Jeongguk can do in Japan. He doesn’t know what to do.
He can fly home, lose reception for an hour and go fucking mad, or he can stay here and do nothing
and go fucking mad.

He’s going fucking mad.

Wonho is still speaking when he brings the phone back up to his ear and Jeongguk hangs up on him
before calling his father. Mun’s shouting out orders at his guards and into his phone. Jeongguk feels
like he’s drowning.

The only good thing is Mun has the police all over Hanbin already. He has men on Hanbin. He
prays it’s enough to intercept him.

“Appa,” Jeongguk huffs into the phone as soon as he hears his father’s voice. “Appa, I need you to
go to my apartment.”

“I got an alarm alert on my phone,” Jun-ki says, a hardness to his tone that Jeongguk hasn’t heard in
a long time. Jeongguk hadn’t gotten a notification to his phone and his is the primary. “I am under
suspicion that a few of the men on your security team are working underneath the Kims.”

Jeongguk glances at Bobby, who is pressed up against the wall by Winnie’s back. Hoseok is
breathing heavily in front of them, hand on his waist where his gun is tucked.

Good, Jeongguk thinks. He’s never been one for violence, doesn’t find it to be answer, but he finds
that people’s beliefs can sometimes be situational.

“I need to speak to Mun.”

“Appa -”

“Son,” Jun-ki says harshly. “I need to talk to Mun, I know you’re with him. Try to calm your heart.
Nothing is going to happen to Ji-hu. I don’t have time to tell you anything but trust me. I have one of
my men looking for him now.”

Jeongguk can’t hear over his heartbeat. He’s angry. Why the fuck does his father sound so calm?

He remembers when his mother died; how trashed the house became when his father raged before he
finally broke down. The shattered pictures, the destroyed television. He had even tossed over the
armchair. Jeongguk doesn’t want that reaction, but he feels like his father should understand that he’s
inching towards it.

“Your men? What do you mean by that? What do you mean they’re looking for him? How can I be
calm if no one fucking knows where he is? That’s my - my boy, Appa -”

His voice breaks off, hitching as he starts to lose his breath. Why does no one fucking understand?

“Jeongguk!” Jun-ki snaps and Jeongguk pulls the phone from his ear again, squeezing hard. “Put
Mun on the phone and then get your ass back to Busan!”

Jeongguk shoves the phone into Mun’s chest. He knows he shouldn’t, he knows. He knows, but his
brain isn’t working when he shoves Hoseok out of the way and pulls all of his anger into his fist.
The crunch sound isn’t enough, he punches again. There’s hands on him, Winnie pressed against his
chest, shoving hard. She’s strong, but nothing is as strong as Jeongguk’s anger, his fear.

He punches and punches, until there’s pain in his shoulder and the feeling in his chest starts to break.

“Stop it!” Jimin shouts, shoving Jeongguk hard into the side. His eyes are wild with tears. There’s
blood on Jeongguk’s hand and it drips from Bobby’s face as he leans his weight on the wall.
Jeongguk isn’t done. “Stop!”

“Stop defending him!” Jeongguk yells, shaking his fist as he steps towards Jimin. The crack in his
chest is spreading through him until Jeongguk feels as if his body has been taken over by an
earthquake that’s been set to destroy everything.

Yoongi is there in a second. He doesn’t put as much effort into the push but he shoves Jeongguk’s
chest, his eyes just as wild with anger. “Don’t, Guk. I get it, okay. But you need to calm down. Calm
the fuck down.”

The room is filled with the sound of heavy breathing, or maybe that’s just Jeongguk’s. He stares hard
at Yoongi’s hard expression, trying to focus on getting his lungs to operate properly.

“Calm down,” Yoongi says, softer this time. “They’re setting up the plane now. We can leave in
thirty minutes. For now, you have to breathe. Get your mind together so we can get Ji-hu, okay?
And then you can beat the shit out of him if you want, okay? I’ll help.”

Jeongguk nods, exhaling out of his nose sharply. There’s tears streaming down Bobby’s face worse
then the blood slipping from his nose. He can’t calm down. There’s no way he can possibly be calm
but he has no choice. Unless he tears down this entire house, he has to calm down.

“Jeongguk, no one will hurt Ji-hu,” Mun says, handing him back his phone. Jin is there with a rag,
trying to wipe at his hands but Jeongguk pulls away from the touch. “I’m sure you saw it in your
mother’s letters, that your father sought out protection for him? Well he did. He works with a foreign
gang, the Guowang. They’ve got men littered all throughout the Family. Their number one goal is to
protect Ji-hu and well, they steal a lot of money too but.”

Mun presses his lips together. Jeongguk’s lungs aren’t up and running yet but his chest doesn’t hurt
as bad as he breathes in.

“I instructed the team that’s on Hanbin tonight to proceed with caution. That there might be a child
with them. They called your father to come get him. Your hyung is right, you need to calm down.”

Jeongguk considers spitting on his feet but he knows his mother would come down from whatever
afterlife she went to and spank him. She may have never had to use her hands to punish him, but that
would be the one thing she would have hit him for. “He has my son, I’m not calming the fuck
down.”

“Well he has mine too,” Mun snaps, shoving Jeongguk in the chest when he tries to move. It’s tense.
Everyone has their eyes on them. “Unfortunately for me, I don’t have the fucking mafia on my side
with strict orders to protect him. So I get it. Don’t think I don’t understand, that I’m not doing
everything I can right now. But there isn’t much to do in fucking Japan and I’m not losing my
chance to get Sungho locked up for good so this will stop happening.”

“Your son,” Jeongguk spits. Someone gasps quietly, maybe Jimin. He’s been crying, Jeongguk
might feel bad another day but right now he can’t. Bobby’s breathing is loud, his painful hisses and
sputtering leaking into the room. No one is helping him but Winnie, who Bobby shoves away with a
grunt.

Mun presses his lips into a thin line, his thick brows shoving close together. The corners of his eyes
droop, the only difference is the wrinkles. He has the same nose mole, up close like this Jeongguk
can see it.

“His mother left me in the middle of the night, a few weeks after he had been born,” Mun says softly,
so quiet Jeongguk isn’t sure everyone else can hear. “She was mentally ill after all the trauma she
went through. She grew paranoid I would take him from her the way her sisters had lost their
children and she left. I haven’t been able to find them since. Kitty told me you bought him, my son.
It’s one of the reasons I’ve wanted to meet you.”

With a heavy breath, Mun rubs a palm down his face. Everyone is watching him. He looks a lot
older than he had the first time Jeongguk laid eyes on him. The last part is quieter, his words only for
Jeongguk.

“Kitty and I are going ahead with the plan. You all need to go back to Busan as soon as you can. I
ask that you do not say a word to Taehyung about what I told you,” Mun says as he paces forward,
his voice louder this time. He stops though when he looks down the hallway.

Jin is moving in an instant, as is Jimin when they spot Woojin hiding at the edge of the hallway. It
makes him think of Ji-hu and fear makes his stomach threaten to spill. He’s crying, hiccuping with
his chest moving fast and eyes darting around the room in panic.

“Come on, let’s go to bed. It’s okay, shh.”

“Hey,” Mun says, bending low and offering a hand to him like he’s a dog. The actual dog is by his
feet again, curling around his legs and getting in Jin’s way when he tries to guide Woojin back. Jimin
is there too, shooing the dog away but the dog yaps at Jimin.

“No,” Jimin huffs, hiding Woojin behind his body so Mun can no longer see him. “He’s panicking,
can’t you see?”

Mun stands, tucking his hands into his pockets as he watches Jimin and Jin guide Woojin back to
wherever he had been to calm him down.

There’s pain in his eyes when Mun turns back around.

“I should warn you though,” he says to Jeongguk, “I don’t plan on arresting Sungho. I plan on
killing him. I’m not taking any chance for that bastard to get away with anything.”

Ji-hu runs hard and fast. He’s really good at running and he’s strong; his legs don’t get tired as fast as
the other kids’ do. But his heart hurts even when he breathes the way Jimin sunbaenim taught him
and it isn’t supposed to. It isn’t good to keep running when his chest hurts but he has to. He promised
Tae Tae.

He doesn’t know where the jewelry store is but he didn’t want to disappoint Tae Tae. He can run
fast but he has little legs and the monsters have long ones. He will find some store; as long as he
finds the police than Tae Tae will be happy.

A yelp leaves him when his feet fly off the ground. Something hard presses against his mouth and he
swings his fists. Appa told him never to punch someone but he does. Maybe he won’t be angry if Ji-
hu beats up a monster to keep Tae Tae safe.
“Stop, stop. I’m not gonna hurt you. Please be quiet.”

It goes dark when the monster runs Ji-hu around another corner. He’s afraid of the dark because
monsters live there. He wonders if this is the monster's home and he’s taking him back to eat him.

Tae Tae didn’t tell him how they eat the fear. Do they have to eat him to get to it?

Ji-hu clamps his teeth down hard at the salty skin against his lips. He’ll eat them first if they even try.

“Please - oh, fuck did you just bite me?”

The monster is really strong and holds him too tight. He kicks his feet too, kicking the monster’s legs.
The kneecaps. He’s seen it on television, but this monster’s legs don’t buckle from underneath him.
Ji-hu has too little of legs.

“Just - hold on -”

The hold lessens and Ji-hu hurries and squirms his body out of it but the monster is so strong. Ji-hu
slips down the monster’s legs, but with one arm the monster still keeps him plastered to his body.
Something cold presses against Ji-hu’s ear and he jerks away, moving his head as far as it can go
until his neck hurts.

“Ji-hu, Ji-hu calm down.”

Ji-hu goes still at the voice in his ear. The monster scoops him up again, securing him to his chest.

“Take the phone, little one.”

And Ji-hu does, grabbing the phone and pressing it so tightly to his ear it hurts. The monster holds
him with two hands now, but he doesn’t cover his mouth.

“Grandpa?”

The funny feeling in his throat is back.

“Grandpa, a monster has Tae Tae!”

“Quiet, son, quiet!” Grandpa says loudly.He’s angry. Grandpa never gets angry, ever. “You have to
be really quiet okay? I sent my friend to save you from the monster, is he there?”

“No a monster has me too!”

“He isn’t a monster, he’s a pretend monster. A monster hunter that has to lie to the other monsters so
he can ruin all their monster plans.”

The monster jumps Ji-hu up his chest. He isn’t heavy but he keeps slipping down the monster’s
body. Maybe he’ll slip far enough that he can run. His legs might start hurting soon if he keeps
running.

“He has a cicada just like you. Remember Auntie Gracie gave it to you?”

Ji-hu nods, sniffling. Auntie Gracie said that the cicada necklaces meant family, but he wasn’t
supposed to tell Appa.

He doesn’t like lying to Appa so he told Grandpa instead and asked him to.
“I remember.”

“Ask Jackson-ssi to show you.”

Ji-hu tries to turn in his hold. Jackson is the same monster from his bedroom; who likes Tigger.
“Grandpa told me to tell you to let me go right now!”

The monster laughs but he doesn’t let him go. He’s a good pretend monster because he looks mean
and is acting mean. He laughs a lot at things that aren’t funny, though.

There’s no way he has a cicada. Auntie Gracie said it was only family and Ji-hu doesn’t know this
monster. There are no monsters in his family.

“Be nice, Ji-hu. He’s Grandpa’s friend and he’s going to bring you to my house but you have to be
good. You can’t be loud or the real monsters will come out.”

Ji-hu wishes he liked the monster so he can hide his face against his chest the way he does to Appa
when he has a nightmare.

“Are you there?”

“I’m going to get Taehyungie.”

Light floods through the alleyway and the Jackson monster puts him on his feet, but his hand is firm
when it wraps around his own. It doesn’t hurt but Ji-hu doesn’t like it.

Maybe he is a pretend monster, that’s why he can stand in the light when other monsters can’t.

“Tae Tae is scared,” Ji-hu whimpers. “I want Appa.”

Grandpa knows it’s okay to cry so he does. He cries harder when the monster tugs him to a car and
opens it.

He’s scared, he’s still scared and the monsters are going to smell it and come after him.

“Call Appa right now. You remember his phone number?”

“I don’t want to go with the monster, Grandpa,” Ji-hu cries quietly. There’s a booster seat already
there and blankets. Soft looking blankets. But the car is all dark and scary looking. He tugs away
from monster Jackson’s hand, but his grip is tight.

“It’s okay baby,” Grandpa says softly, “I pinky promise you’re safe okay? Jackson-ssi is going to
bring you right here. Sungjin is there, you like him yes?”

Ji-hu doesn’t like when the monster straps him into the booster seat, even if he’s tucking blankets all
around him and placing a bag into his lap that Ji-hu looks down at and sees candy in. His favorite
candies.

He pushes a few pieces around until he sees a tiny Winnie the Pooh statue. He glances at the
monster. Maybe he is a friend of Grandpa’s because this comes from Grandpa’s special library.

“Let me see your cicada,” Ji-hu demands. He uses his mean voice that Appa uses when Ji-hu does
bad things.

The monster smiles a lot. He doesn’t think monsters are supposed to smile at all. He pushes a hand
under his shirt and pulls it out.
It’s just like the one Ji-hu wears, but he keeps his hidden under his shirt like Auntie Gracie told him
to. He doesn’t think he was supposed to show Tae Tae either, but he likes Tae Tae a lot.

“Do you know Auntie Gracie?” Ji-hu sniffles. His chest doesn’t hurt so much but he’s still scared.
He isn’t good at not being scared.

Jackson monster nods. “I do. She’s my friend.”

Ji-hu side eyes the monster before he buries his hand into the candy. “Grandpa, please get Tae Tae
away from the monsters.”

There’s pain dripping down his back , making his face throb. A fist had landed to his cheeks the
moment Taehyung had dropped Ji-hu to the sidewalk. It kept him from seeing how far Ji-hu got, if
he got anywhere at all.

Nausea makes his stomach ache. He prays to a god that he struggles to believe in that Ji-hu got away,
that he ran far and fast. It’s unsettling not knowing where he is or how he is, but Taehyung can't
afford to panic.

Hanbin had dropped him in the middle of his living room, pushing him to his knees and clasping his
hands behind him before getting ripped away by a pissed off looking Yunbok. There’s a guard at the
corner of the room, a somewhat familiar man that Taehyung’s seen from the club. He keeps his eyes
away from Taehyung and Taehyung keeps his eyes away too.

There's a fear inside of him, but his body has buried it deep and tried to flood him with numbness,
shutdown all of his faculties to keep his heart from giving out. It's always amazed Taehyung how he
can shut down when the emotion is too much for him. How he had stopped crying and gone numb
once he realized those who came from Woojin would take him instead. How he seems to pull away
from himself when a client is too much, too rough.

It feels like that now. That fear is there, deep down, but he's shutdown around it - numb to it.

“What? Have you lost your goddamn mind? You’re not an idiot, Hanbin, so please tell me what
possessed you to kidnap Ji-hu? Are you suicidal? I would bet that fucking Guowang is already on
their way.”

“I wouldn’t touch him. I don’t hurt kids. I’m not Sungho.”

“And then what were you going to do? Drop him off to his father and pray he doesn’t tell him who
ripped him from his bed in the middle of the night? He knows who you are, Hanbin. All of this for a
whore ?”

Hanbin laughs loudly. Their voices float from the room they’ve hidden themselves in. Taehyung
doesn’t understand why they've taken the conversation somewhere else if they were just going to
scream so he could hear anyway.

That fear makes his heart jump as he wonders how far Ji-hu got. He doesn’t know if it was the best
plan but he didn’t have enough time to come up with something better. Ji-hu is tiny, he can slip
through legs and fingers easier than anyone else can.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Abeoji, but you sure have a special place for that whore in your heart too.
A bit of revenge streak, huh? Your hate for Mun makes you look just as obsessed as I am. At least I
admit to it.”

“And who ruined that for me? Stealing my photographs so I couldn’t show Mun how ruined I’ve
made his son! You’re doing the same to Jeongguk, yet you dare to judge me.”

Taehyung hangs his head, eyeing the ground. He isn’t naive enough to think he can trust anyone
completely, especially people in this life, but Jackson had often talked about his hate for Hanbin.
They weren’t friends necessarily, but Taehyung listened to him talk about his sisters and they shared
drinks together. He saved Taehyung from a few bad clients and would warn him to stay on the stage
or in his room when the donors showed up unexpectantly.

Bile rises to his throat as he remembers the way Jackson had held Ji-hu. There’s tears in his eyes
before he can blink them away. Maybe Jackson is cruel and doing it because he is, or maybe Hanbin
forced him to help him along. Taehyung doesn’t know; it doesn’t fucking matter anyway.

He forces the tears to stop, wishing his hands were untied so he can wipe away the ones sticking to
his cheeks when Hanbin emerges from where he had been fighting with the man who raised him. He
looks annoyed, nose flaring as he cocks his butt on the end of a desk in front of him.

“What do you want?” Taehyung asks. His throat feels dry and he needs water but he isn’t dumb
enough to ask for it. “What’s the point of me being here?”

It’s quiet for a moment, with Hanbin just watching him before he finally speaks. “Did you know
your mother was a whore? That the last thing she did was beg for it? God, she knew she was going
to die yet wanted one last taste.”

Taehyung curls his fingers around each other, squeezing as hard as he can to ground himself.

“She wasn’t supposed to die. All she had to do was hand over the kid, you know? Chung tore my
ass apart for letting it happen, like I could have stopped it.” Hanbin huffs out a laugh. “Crazy broad,
stabbed herself right in the gut.”

It's a lie but it doesn't matter if it is or not. Taehyung is brimming with annoyance about why he's
here, what this has to do with anything, and where the fuck Ji-hu is. He breathes hard through his
nose, trying not to react at all and have Hanbin think his attempts at baiting are working.

“Crazy but smart. Covered that baby in so much blood there was no way we could smuggle him out
in broad daylight, not before Jin showed up. That cop friend of hers made it impossible to return. I
don’t think he slept. He looked like a mad man. I’m sure if he could find a way to keep his eyes open
twenty four seven just to watch your house, he would have.”

Another laugh. Taehyung focuses on Hanbin’s shoes, struggling to focus. The fear is being dug out,
sinking into his body until his heart starts to hammer against his sternum and his world is tilting; the
feeling setting in that if he lifts his head he might pass out.

“Had to distract him you know. Get him away from the kid.”

The door opens again and Taehyung cocks his head to the side to the look, slowly as his stomach
rolls with nausea. Yunbok enters, looking more haggard than Taehyung's ever seen him.

“Oh hey, perfect timing. I was just telling Taehyung here why Young-Mi died.” Hanbin greets,
waving a hand towards Taehyung. “Small fucking world.”

Silence and amusement slips away when Yunbok strikes out, gripping onto Hanbin's collar so tightly
his body bows off of the desk he's perched on.

“Shut your mouth. Jeon is on his way here.”

Taehyung rips his eyes from the floor, a rush of breath leaving his lips as the fear escapes finally and
runs wild through his body.

“Why would you call him?” Hanbin asks, remaining still despite Yunbok's grip tightening so his
collar digs into his throat.

“I don’t have a death wish. I want to make sure he knows I had nothing to do with this. Where’s the
kid?”

Hanbin laughs loudly. “Oh man, Abeoji. What are you going to do when I have to tell him we lost
him?”

Taehyung side eyes the guard, who stands still in the corner of the room. Their eyes meet then as the
guard nods, the edge of his mouth lifting into a smile that almost looks excited. It's gone a second
later when Taehyung tugs at the bounds around his wrists and the guard shakes his head in warning.
He lifts his hand like he's fixing his a button on his shirt, but he discreetly tilts his chin down to
indicate it. It's covered in ink, but in the dim light, Taehyung can't make out what it is.

“You lost him?” Yunbok roars. His face goes white as he shoves Hanbin away. “He's seven. Who’s
going to kill you first? Guowang or Sungho?”

Hanbin wipes at his shirt. “Sungho’s busy getting the kid from Osaka. He’s got bigger concerns than
Guowang.”

The guard shakes his head slowly, eyes wide but Taehyung doesn't understand.

“If you believe Min is going to hurt Woojin, you’re just as much of an idiot as my hyung.”

Taehyung rips his eyes away from the guard. The fear is worse, pounding through him so quickly he
loses the feeling in his limbs.

“Leave Woojin out of this. Don’t you think he’s dealt with enough? I don’t get why you’re so
obsessed with my baby brother.”

Both men glance at him. Yunbok’s frown deeps but Hanbin’s smile grows. “It’s nothing to do with
us, Baby. That Min Yoongi has a bit of a revenge streak. Pissed off at Chung for taking his beloved
Doll and stole Woojin in retaliation. Handed him right over to Kitty.”

Taehyung exhales sharply. It’s a lie. It’s a fucking lie. Yoongi wouldn’t do that. Jimin wouldn’t let
him do that. There’s no reason Kitty would even want Woojin. She never took the kids, that was
never her job.

Maybe. Kitty treated her own son like shit.

But Jimin wouldn’t. Yoongi loves Jimin too much to hurt him that deeply. Taehyung knows this. It
has to be true.

“You’re lying.”

Hanbin only laughs more. “I was hoping to make you suffer, feel pain. Looks like all I have to do is
keep you here while your life crumbles away. Shall I go back to my story?”
The guard moves off the wall as his phone rings. Hanbin only spares him a quick glance before his
eyes fall to Taehyung. He shoves his hands into his pockets, looking too pleased with himself.

“Did you figure out how we got the cop off of your house?” Hanbin asks, smug.

“I don’t know any cop.”

Hanbin snorts. “Whether you know him or not, he was there. Worked with Jeon Young-Mi to find
you.”

“Shut up,” Yunbok snaps, eyeing the front door. "If you keep talking, you'll have to kill him."

“She was our in,” Hanbin says, ignoring Yunbok, before he puts a finger to his neck and slips it
across his skin like a knife. “We hinted she would die; she reached out to him and bingo. House free
of Mun Woojin. You would have thought he was in love with her instead with the way he ran to
Busan after she died.”

Taehyung breathes heavily through his nose as Hanbin laughs, oblivious to the way Yunbok’s ears
steam.

“So ironic, that we killed Young-Mi to get to you and I just, I just wonder what Jeongguk would
think? That you were one of the reasons for his mother dying?”

Taehyung is failing, and failing badly. He can’t breathe at all. He can’t keep his face impassive and
he knows Hanbin is lying.

He doesn’t get to react when the silence rattles with the doorbell. The color leaves Yunbok's face
quickly as he glances to Taehyung. "If you say a word about this, I'll make you watch as I tear him
to pieces."

Anger flares alongside the fear and he keeps his eyes on Yunbok, unblinking before he nods in
agreement.

The man that walks through the door is unrecognizable. He's not the same weak, lip trembling man
that Taehyung is used to. Jeon Jun-ki is strong shouldered, radiating an air of power that could rival
the baddest of street bosses by the tightness in his jaw and the death in his eyes. He’s terrifying,
really, making Taehyung drop his eyes.

There is no relief upon seeing Jun-ki. The man is as much of a mystery as anyone making Taehyung
indecisive as to whether or not he is a threat. Jun-ki doesn't even look at him, eyes sweeping over
where he kneels and settling on the guard instead.

Yunbok and him are like brothers. He's heard enough to know there is a bond of loyalty between
them. Taehyung wonders if that's why the eldest Jeon is so decrepit, if he already knows about what
Yunbok's done to his wife.

“Where’s my grandson?” Jun-ki asks. It would sound neutral if it weren't for the look in his eyes.

Hanbin secures his arms over his chest, looking pointedly at Yunbok. For once, there is no
amusement lingering in Hanbin's features.

“You don’t know,” Jun-ki says as he shoves his hands into his pocket and paces to the side, eyes on
the ground. Taehyung's been around enough bosses to know the calm nature is an act to hide the
exact moment they'll pounce with rage.
The laugh Jun-ki lets off is startling. Even Hanbin and Yunbok flinch.

“Well, thankfully for you, I do know where he is. It’s humorous that you think you’d get away
touching anyone in my family again. Did you really think I would let you?”

Jun-ki seems pleased when he speaks, amusement sparking in his eyes as he looks at the two Kim
men. Taehyung thinks he’d prefer to see the old man screaming. He must be confident for coming
alone, and by the looks of it, he doesn’t have any weapons at his belt.

"Jun-ki," Yunbok starts, but Jun-ki holds a halting hand in front of him.

“Speaking of,” Jun-ki says, “I believe you owe me.”

Yunbok snaps his lips shut in response, eyes glancing towards where the guard rests along the wall.
The guard isn't paying attention, eyes on the ground and a phone pressed to his ears. “Name your
price.”

Hanbin opens his mouth but stops himself under Jun-ki's deadly gaze. Jun-ki turns again, eyes
washing over Taehyung like he isn't there. Part of Taehyung wants to feel trusting, as so much of the
old man reminds him of Jeongguk. The way he cocks his head to the side, breathing through his
teeth like Jeongguk does when he's in deep thought.

“Taehyung leaves here with me. Unharmed.”

Taehyung’s heart jolts in his chest. He doesn’t know what that means; if it will be worse or better.
Surely better. He knows Jeongguk feels something genuine for him; maybe Jun-ki wouldn’t hurt
someone his son cared for.

“No.”

Jun-ki turns on his heel, eyes falling onto Hanbin. “Do you feel that is an unjust request? I feel like
I’m going easy on you, son. There’s not much one can offer in retribution for killing one’s wife,
other than death. But I’m not asking you for that, even if it would be fair of me to do so.”

Everyone seems to slowly process the words, the air growing tense. There's panic in Yunbok's eyes
but Hanbin's hardens.

“Bobby told you,” Hanbin deadpans. “I told you there was a reason for him running.”

Jun-ki smiles and it’s all teeth and disgust. “He told me yes, the day after it happened. That’s not why
he’s running. I sent him to Osaka with my son. I think it’s time Jeongguk knows the truth, don’t
you?”

The sound of Jeongguk’s name has a gasp forming over Taehyung’s tongue and he can’t breathe.
Why, why? With everything going on right now, this isn’t something Jeongguk needs.

He feels tears prickling at his eyelids and he hates this. He hates this soft feeling Jeongguk has put in
his heart. He shouldn’t be focusing on Jeongguk right now; but himself. And Ji-hu, the kids.

But god does his heart hurt for Jeongguk.

“I believe there’s video evidence, is there not?” Jun-ki goes on, looking at Yunbok now. The older
man’s face is so pale it's nearly translucent. “I have to ask, hyung. What is the point of making
Bobby rewatch his mother’s death?”
Yunbok’s jaw tenses as he grinds his teeth. Jun-ki raises a brow as he waits, looking patient but
Taehyung doubts it.

His knees are starting to ache from where they dig into the ground. The guard is still not paying
attention but Taehyung watches as he glances at the three men, and shifts something in the band of
his jeans when he sees they aren’t watching. He doesn’t seem to care about Taehyung’s eyes, he’s
met with Taehyung’s too often to not be aware of the fact that Taehyung is noticing him.

“It’s his punishment.”

Jun-ki huffs out a laugh at the scared sound of Yunbok’s voice. “Punishment? For what? You made
him kill his mother and he did. Is that not punishment enough?”

“Sungho’s orders,” Yunbok squeaks. Jun-ki’s arms are crossed over his chest as he watches them
and waits for him to continue. “To get Mun away from the boy, we had to lure Mun away.”

“That’s why you killed my wife?” Jun-ki says, rage slipping into his tone, his composed facade
slipping.

“Part of the reason,” Yunbok says, the confidence growing in his tone. The guard’s fingers slip
under his belt and Taehyung eyes the shape of a piece under his clothes. Nerves bubble in his
stomach, he’s restrained from moving and this guard is going to shoot Jun-ki.

“Your wife stole something from Sungho. And Bobby helped her. That’s why he must be punished.
Sungho kills those disloyal to him, he spared Bobby.”

Panic rushes through Taehyung as the guard pulls a gun from his pants, the warning on the tip of his
tongue. Jun-ki is laughing, turning around and unaware. Jun-ki finally looks at him, but he ignores
the way Taehyung cocks his head towards the gun in warning.

No, no. Whether Jun-ki is trustworthy or not, Jeongguk needs him.

"Jun - jun," Taehyung starts, his words not coming out loud enough.

“She did not steal anything from Sungho. If I remember correctly, the child was stolen from my wife
first. A day old, how sick,” Jun-ki says, poison slipping into his tone as he loses control of his
composure. Something in his shirt sleeve slips into his palm, and the light catches on the metal before
Jun-Ki turns. “She merely told her the truth, did not force her to leave. If Sungho had loved her
properly and given her a reason to stay, she wouldn’t have left without hesitation when her mother
showed up.”

It’s swift and quick the way Jun-ki moves, grabbing Hanbin with a hand at his throat, metal digging
into his skin, and another twisting into his hair. The guard pushes from the wall quickly, gun rising
so it's settled in front of him and directed towards the men in front of them.

Pointed at Hanbin, not Jun-ki.

“Take out your gun, Hanbin-ssi," Jun-ki whispers into his ear.

Hanbin swallows thickly, rage on his face as he does what he’s told.

“Point it at Yunbok.”

The guard steps forward and Taehyung can’t breathe. His heart pounds as Hanbin brings the gun
upwards. It’s a dangerous move. Jun-ki is weak, Hanbin could easily slip out of his grip and shoot
him before the guard can get a bullet in.

“Should I tell him to shoot?” Jun-ki asks, looking at Yunbok, whose hands are rising slowly. “You
made Bobby kill his mother, tell him he hated her. After she lived a life in pain because she couldn’t
love him openly the way a mother should. I can’t imagine the pain she felt before she died. It makes
me sick.”

The gun falters between them and Taehyung notices the fear in Hanbin’s eyes as he stares back at
Yunbok.

“I should make Hanbin here do the same. An eye for an eye, and all that. Make Hanbin kill his
father. Is that the debt you wish to pay instead of giving me Taehyung? I've let you live for seven
years, have guilt finally found you?”

The declaration stands loud in the room for a moment before Jun-ki huffs out a laugh that mocks
Hanbin’s.

“Oh, you didn’t know? Your father has a problem sticking his dick everywhere. The maid, the
gardener, the woman he hired to be Bobby’s mother. I can’t imagine how many children he has out
there,” Jun-ki murmurs. Yunbok’s eyes are frantic looking and he shakes his head. “My wife . I
knew what you did to her, yet I still stuck by your side because she asked me to. For Bobby-ah. And
I did. And what did you do? You killed her.”

Hanbin squeaks when Jun-ki shoves him forward, forcing the gun against Yunbok's chest.

“You took away the love of my life,” Jun-ki says, his voice trembling but it’s hard. “I’m not letting
you do the same thing to my son.”

A loud bang has Taehyung flinching hard, but it isn’t a gun. It’s the door, the wood breaking before
it smashes into the wall from the force behind opening it. Taehyung sees the boot of something long
and thick that had been used to open it before the room starts to fill with smoke and so much noise
that he can’t breathe.

There’s hands on his, yanking him up. It’s the guard from the wall. He quickly unties him before the
police are in front of them, guns out as they yell from him to get back to his knees.

Jeongguk paces down the hallway. He has fifteen minutes left before they have to leave for the
airplane. He wants to go now, not waste a second longer, but Yoongi asked him to give Jimin a
moment with his mother and Jin wanted to get the kids together.

Despite the lack of sleep and the overflow of emotional turmoil, Jeongguk isn’t tired. No, he’s wired.
So wired that his hand doesn’t even ache though he’s quite sure he’s broken a knuckle or two.

“Guk,” Yoongi says softly, leaning against the hallway wall as he watches Jeongguk pace. “There’s
nothing we can do right now.”

“I know,” Jeongguk snaps. He brings his finger up to nibble it between his teeth. It’s the worst part.
There’s nothing they can do. He has to trust his father’s words but he isn’t going to trust Ji-hu is safe
until he’s in his hands.

And Taehyung. This is his fault, he knows. He provoked Hanbin, but Hanbin deserved it.

“We should talk about it.”

Jeongguk glances at him. “Talk about what? A million and one fucking things have happened today,
hyung, you should be more specific.”

Later, Jeongguk will feel bad for being so harsh. And though it’s unfair, he knows Yoongi won’t
hold it against him. Maybe that’s why more of his anger comes out towards him.

“Your mother.”

“Don’t.”

“Jeongguk -” Yoongi sighs, swiping a hand through his hair. “We have to talk about it.”

Jeongguk squeezes his fists together. “He’s my brother, did you know?”

Yoongi watches him for a long moment before he nods. “I found out the other day.”

“I have a sister too,” Jeongguk says as he shoves his fists into his pockets. “I have no idea how to
fucking handle that information and yet, not only do I have to deal with that, but I have to deal with
the fact that Bobby knew my mother was his mother and he fucking -”

Jeongguk bites hard down on his bottom lip, shaking his head. He’s wired, but his body is too tired
to cry. He’s a bit dehydrated too, his mouth filming over and his tongue sticking to the roof. His
body is hot and sticky like he’s come down with a fever.

“He was forced,” another voice says, joining them. It’s the woman, the maid. She has a soft look in
her eyes but her mouth is hard. “And I think maybe you shouldn’t push him to talk right now. Not
when he’s worried about his son. You won’t get anything out of him.”

Jeongguk glares at her. She has been nothing but kind to him, but she’s cradled and protected Bobby
when Jeongguk had every right to take his anger out on him. She has a point though; it’s something
they shouldn’t be talking about now.

But he doesn’t know her and she’s been coddling Bobby and he feels a bit of animosity towards her.
The anger inside of him knows no bounds and he can’t control who it lashes out onto.

“Who are you?” Yoongi blurts, crossing his arms. There’s bags under his eyes too and Jeongguk
doesn’t know how he hasn’t collapsed yet. Yoongi has been through hell and back too, he’s told
Jeongguk as much, and he knows Yoongi is feeling the same pain and panic inside of him because
of Ji-hu.

“I told you. I worked under Sungho. My name is Winnie.”

Yoongi peers his eyes at her. “You’re real cuddly with Bobby.”

“We grew up together.”

Jeongguk watches the strange tension rippling from Yoongi.

“Impossible. I grew up with Bobby,” Jeongguk says. “I’ve never seen you before.”

Winnie’s eyes narrow dangerously as her jaw clenches. “Any questions you have you should ask
your father, Jeongguk.”

And with that, she turns on her heel and storms out. Jeongguk doesn’t understand and he doesn’t
have much time to think about it when his phone comes to life.
It isn’t a number he recognizes but he answers it quickly anyway. He’s expecting Hanbin to call him
at any moment, brag about having Taehyung or giving off a list of demands. Or his father, telling
him he has Ji-hu.

What he doesn’t expect is the angry sob from his son that he gets.

“Appa! I am so angry at you!”

He’s hysterical, hiccuping out his words. It sounds like something is in his mouth and Jeongguk feels
his knees buckle from underneath him. Yoongi is there in an instant, eyes wild with worry as he
holds onto Jeongguk.

“Ji-hu? Ji-hu, where are you?”

“Ji-hu?” Yoongi breathes, tears forming in his eyes and his body shakes as he holds Jeongguk.

“You said the button would make a loud alarm and it didn’t! You lied and now the monsters have -
they have Tae Tae!”

Jeongguk clutches a hand to his face. He can't handle the rage of emotions washing through him,
from pain to relief. The fear is still there and it's building in his throat, ready to pour out of his mouth
if he doesn't swallow it down for his son.

“Listen baby, I didn’t lie. The alarm alert went to Grandpa’s phone. I’m coming to you now, that’s
why you have to tell me where you are.”

His entire body is shaking from the tsunami inside of him . There’s more hands on his back, helping
him straighten up but his legs feel numb.

“Tell Appa where you are, baby. Are you hurt?”

“No,” Ji-hu sniffles. There’s a noise that sounds like he’s eating something, or Jeongguk hopes that’s
why his mouth sounds full. “I’m scared.”

“It’s okay to be scared,” Jeongguk says, exhaling out of his mouth slowly to calm himself. It’s
impossible to do. “I told you that. Where are you?”

“I’m eating candy.”

“Ji-hu, answer the damn question!”

The phone is yanked from him and Yoongi is glaring hard at him as he hits the speaker.

“Appa didn’t mean it,” Yoongi says into the phone. “It’s Uncle Yoongi.”

“I’m sorry,” Jeongguk breathes. God, he can't breathe. It's making his chest ache and his knees
buckle. “I’m sorry, Ji-hu, I’m scared that I don’t know where you are.”

“I’m sorry,” Ji-hu whimpers quietly. “I’m going to Grandpa’s. Don’t be scared, the monsters will
come.”

Relief washes through Jeongguk so roughly a sob leaves his lips. “I’m so sorry for yelling, Ji-hu.
You’re with Grandpa?”

The relief doesn’t last long when Ji-hu whispers out a soft, “no.”
“Tae Tae?”

“No.”

Jeongguk squeezes his fists together. It’s Hoseok behind him and behind Hoseok, Jimin lingers at the
edge of the hallway like Ji-hu does when he’s eavesdropping. His eyes are still red rimmed and there
are fresh tears on his cheeks.

Jeongguk’s hands are still covered in specks of blood.

“Tae Tae is with the monsters. He said he would be afraid so they would leave me alone but I ran
and a monster got me, Appa! Grandpa says he’s a pretend monster and he gave me lots of candy and
he’s family.”

Jeongguk paces. He’s thankful Yoongi has the phone because he is afraid he might crush it between
his fingers. Ji-hu doesn’t have any family except for him and his father. Blood family, that is, as
Yoongi is more family than anyone else and Ji-hu isn’t with any of them.

“You talked to Grandpa?”

“Yes,” Ji-hu hums. “He called me and told me to go with the monster to his house. I have the
figurine from Grandpa's library.”

“Ji-hu,” Jeongguk starts but he swallows his words down. It isn’t time for scolding Ji-hu about going
with strangers. He doesn’t think Ji-hu would mistake his grandfather’s voice, but it doesn’t sit well
with Jeongguk. “Let me talk to the monster.”

“No,” Ji-hu murmurs. “I don’t want to stop hearing your voice. I told you, I’m scared, Appa.”

Jeongguk’s heart grows too big in his chest. “Okay, okay. Put the phone on speaker then baby.”

There’s the fumbling sound over the phone and the air is tense as they wait. Jeongguk can’t breathe.
He feels his anger starting up again at whoever took his son, imagining horrible things even if he
doesn’t have a face to put to them.

“What’s the monster’s name?”

“Jackson.”

Hoseok’s eyes narrow before he glares at Jimin. Jimin’s eyes are wide in shock.

Jeongguk rages. The man that had came into his home just a few days prior to take care of
Taehyung. He’s probably the reason they were able to get in. He had seemed kind, friendly. His fist
smashes into the wall before he can stop it, and he barely registers the pain that shoots up to his
shoulder.

“Where are you taking my son?”

“What he says is true,” Jackson says immediately and Jeongguk’s blood is boiling. Hoseok is
grabbing his hands, forcing himself between Jeongguk and the wall. “I’m taking him to your
father’s.”

“How do you have him?” Jeongguk snaps.

There’s a long sighing sound on the other line. Like someone has the balls to be annoyed by his
anger, when they’ve taken his son out of his house.
“I’d prefer not to talk about it with little ears,” Jackson says and he’s right, Jeongguk knows that, but
he can’t calm himself down. “Your father said a man named Sungjin is there. Will he make Ji-hu feel
safe?”

“Yes,” Jeongguk snaps, harsher than he means to. He doesn’t trust it; he can’t. “Where’s my father?”

Quieter, Jeongguk turns to Hoseok. "Look into it," he begs before snatching the phone from Yoongi.
He doesn't care if anyone follows, he has to leave. He has to move before he breaks his elbows
punching the walls.

“He’s going to get Taehyung.”

“Where is Taehyung?”

“I believe Hanbin is taking him back to his house.”

“Appa, Hanbin-ssi was mean,” Ji-hu adds, his voice sounding far away.

Jeongguk digs his nails into his palms until he feels calm enough to speak. “Did he touch you? Hurt
you?”

“No,” Ji-hu says, his voice coming closer. “But Tae Tae was really angry. He doesn’t like Jackson
monster. But I don’t think he knows he’s a pretend monster.”

Jeongguk prays that he really is because there's nothing he can fucking do in Japan. He knows
Hoseok has followed because he hears him, snapping into his own telephone with demands for
information. “Appa is coming to you. But stay on the phone with me, okay? Tell me when the
monster scares you.”

Ji-hu giggles quietly. “The monster has bigger arms than you Appa. But he laughs a lot like Uncle
Hobi.”

It isn't just Hoseok behind him, but everyone. They're slipping out of the home, the fear wrapped
around them and making the night air feel like the dreaded morning. Jin and Namjoon are the farthest
behind, guiding out sleepy children that rub fists at their eyes.

"I think it's legit," Hoseok says, grabbing Jeongguk's elbow as he shows him the phone he's talking
on. Jooheon, the bodyguard's name is there. "Jooheonie says Jackson works for your father."

Folding a hand over the receiver of his own phone, Jeongguk asks, "and you trust Jooheon?"

There's a lift in Hoseok's shrug as he sighs. "No. But I trust that he's being honest about not wanting
any kids to get hurt. Ji-hu included."

Jeongguk accepts this with a nod, putting the phone back in his ear. Mun's running from the house
and Jeongguk silently begs that he stay away. If he asks for them to wait a second longer, Jeongguk
will use his face as he used the wall.

“Jackson,” Jeongguk grunts into the phone. “Who do you work for?”

There’s silence for a minute and when Jackson responds, he has turned the speaker off. “I work for
your father, sort of. My boss works with him and we’re to report to Jun-ki if we see movement.”

“Movement,” Jeongguk repeats. “What does that mean?”

“My main job is to smuggle funds from the club,” Jackson whispers. "But I'm second under my boss,
if there's any plan to hurt or touch Ji-hu, it's reported to me first.”

Jeongguk stops moving, glancing at Mun. What had he said earlier about an entire mafia protecting
Ji-hu?

“One of my associates alerted me to Hanbin's plans so I volunteered myself to be the one to take him
from your home. He bit me, by the way.”

“Good,” Jeongguk murmurs as Jackson laughs. He’s uneasy with Ji-hu being with Jackson, but
there’s no way he could have known about Sungjin unless he knew his father. It isn’t his real name.
“Give me a reason to trust you.”

“Your father told you he sent men to get your son. He meant me,” Jackson grits out.

“No offense, but I don’t know that for sure,” Jeongguk snaps. “Why did my father not go after him?”

Jackson laughs lightly. He is starting to understand what Ji-hu meant about him being like Hoseok,
laughing often. “He is going to get Taehyung. He told me that he isn’t going to let them hurt you the
way that they have hurt him when they took his heart and soul.”

Jeongguk pauses, digesting the words. His father often called his mother that. Whenever Jeongguk
would tend to him, ask him if he was well, he’d reply ‘how well can a man be that’s lost his heart
and soul?’

It used to make his mother laugh, when he’d grab for her hand and remind her that she was. It might
be easy to see the lengths that Jeongguk would go for Taehyung, that he feels a lot more than just
like towards him, but only his father would be able to know that Taehyung is becoming to feel a lot
like Jeongguk’s heart and soul.

“I believe you,” Jeongguk says. It doesn’t make him feel any better, though. There isn’t quite panic
inside of him now, but a strong urgency to get home and get to his son.

“No need to thank me, by the way. Here, he wants to talk to you again,” Jackson says, a tint of
amusement in his voice.

“Appa, will Tae Tae be okay?”

It isn’t something he can focus on, not right now. He doesn’t know if his father has gotten to
Taehyung. If it is too late. He doesn’t even know what Hanbin would do to him and he can’t think
about it.

“I hope so,” Jeongguk says as he looks to Mun. Mun grabs his hand in farewell, nodding his head in
luck. Or maybe an apology as Jeongguk thinks it’s in his eyes.

Hoseok rushes up to them to take Jeongguk’s hand in his own. Ji-hu is babbling along, seemingly
content and it is the only thing Jeongguk can hope for right now. He needs Ji-hu as calm as can be,
to be as ignorant as he can be until Jeongguk can get to him.

“I’m staying behind,” Hoseok is saying and there’s a disagreement rumbling from around them.
Yoongi being the loudest about it and Jimin quiet, his lips pressed together as he watches on. “I’ll
explain later.”

Jeongguk grips Hoseok’s shoulder, pulling him in. Hoseok has that look on his face that says he
can’t argue with him and Jeongguk is too tired to. “Love you, Hobi.”
“I love you Uncle Hobi!” Ji-hu cheers in response.

Hoseok huffs weakly. “I love you too, bun.”

When Jeongguk’s calmed enough that Jimin doesn’t think he’ll go on a murder spree, he sneaks out
of the room. He can’t handle the sight of Bobby’s bloody face or the way Jeongguk looks at him like
it’s Jimin who murdered his mother.

It makes a sob form in his throat. He understands it isn’t Jeongguk, but it’s unfair.

He especially doesn’t know what to do by the fact that Taehyung’s fucking father is in the other
room. Taehyung hates the man; always claimed he ditched his mother when he was younger.
Taehyung used to tell Jimin he felt stupid for thinking maybe they wouldn’t have this life if he stuck
around.

And maybe he would have, maybe he wouldn’t of. Jimin doesn’t know, but he doesn’t want
Taehyung to feel that way again.

“Jimin-ah.”

Jimin glances at who followed him out and a laugh leaves his lips. She looks sad, her hands clasped
in front of her. She flinches at the laugh, but Jimin can’t help it.

“What do you want?”

Kitty swallows as she makes her way over to him. “I wanted to talk to you before we went our
separate ways.”

Jimin sniffles. He doesn’t trust her. He wants to. Mun said they were going to kill Sungho and he
knows, he just knows his mother isn’t going to go through with it. She’s too loyal to him.

But despite it, he lets his mother sink down to the ground with him and he holds her hand because as
much as Jimin hates her, he loves her too.

“I told you this and I know, I know it doesn’t mean anything but I want you to know that I am
sorry,” Kitty says, focusing on their clasped hands. “I don’t have an excuse for it and I’m not going
to give you one. You deserved better and I want you to have it. I want you to be free and be able to
love that handsome man of yours.”

Jimin huffs out a sad laugh, sniffling back his tears.

“I watched Young-Mi lose her children. I thought myself lucky that I didn’t lose mine,”
Kitty explains softly, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. “But every time I messed up, he would
take it out on you. He would make you do something no matter how much I begged him not to. So I
had to let him. I fought with him the night he gave you to Bobby.”

Her breath comes uneven as she sniffles too. Her eyes are gleaming with tears but she refuses to look
at him. Like this, she looks a lot older than she actually is.

“Oh god I was angry. I beat him and he beat me back. I couldn’t work for weeks. And then Young-
Mi called me, told me she had you.”

Jimin frowns. He never met Young-Mi and he tells his mother so.
“I know. She couldn’t have Chung know she was coming for you. She meant Bobby bought you.
And you know? I screamed at her. I thought she took you because I didn’t help her take him down
when he took her children. I thought she was doing it to hurt me, not to protect you. I thought she
took you away from me when I pushed you away from me first.”

The tears are a heavy flood down Kitty’s face now and Jimin is unable to stop himself as he wipes
them away.

“I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad, just telling you so you know,” Kitty says. “I love you
so very much, Jimin. And I’ve never done enough to show you how much I really do.”

More tears well up in Jimin’s eyes and he blinks them back. “It’s okay. After all this is over, maybe
we can - I’m not making promises, but maybe we can work on it.”

She sniffles so violently it looks like it hurts. She is gentle when she cups his cheeks, breathing out a
soft cry. “Oh baby, there is no after for me. Half of the stuff Mun has on Chung implicates me too.”

Jimin presses his lips together to stop himself from sobbing. He shakes his head, squeezing his hand.
“But I want to try again with you.”

“I don’t deserve it,” Kitty huffs out, shaking her head. “Please learn that, Jimin. I never taught it to
you; but don’t hold onto people who do you badly. Even if you love them a lot.”

She means Bobby, he knows. But he isn’t holding onto Bobby. He wishes people would stop
thinking that just because he doesn’t want Jeongguk to pummel his face in.

Bobby was forced to kill his own mother and forced to watch it, every single year. He doesn’t think
he deserves to be beaten for it but he isn’t going to run back to him just because he feels sad for him.

“Please be safe then,” Jimin says, squeezing her hand. He eyes Hoseok lingering by the edge of the
hallway, eyes round and worried as they glance to him. Jooheon is beside him, reaching for Hoseok
and Hoseok turns away softly to give Jimin his moment.

“I will,” Kitty says, smiling and the feeling in Jimin’s gut worsens when she notices she’s lying. “I
love you.”

Jimin bends forward, tucking his face against her chest until he can hear the steady beating of her
heart. “I love you Eomma.”

Kitty sobs softly as she cups a hand to the side of his head and strokes his scalp. “I love you too,
Jimin-ah.”

They stay like that for what seems like forever before Hoseok clears his throat. Jimin extracts himself
slowly from his mother. He’s too tired to know how to feel but he squeezes her hand.

“I hope you kill the son of a bitch,” Jimin murmurs.

Kitty smiles. “Oh I will, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin follows after Hoseok, taking the hand that’s offered to him as they walk. The living room has
emptied save for Changkyun, who doesn’t look at them as they pass. He’s a quiet presence, but
threatening. He seems almost bored, but his eyes turn angry and cold in a flash.

“I need you to do something for me, hyung.”

Hoseok slows, eyeing Jooheon behind them who falls back to give them privacy.

“I’m afraid for my mother,” Jimin murmurs. He isn’t sure what he wants or what he wants to say. “I
don’t trust Mun.”

Hoseok nods, eyes focusing onto Jimin and Jimin feels judged. Hoseok isn’t judging him, his
expression is soft, but Jimin feels dumb for wanting so badly to protect and love his mother.

“I want you to stay and protect her.”

There is a frown taking over Hoseok’s mouth as he squeezes Jimin’s hand. They’ve yet to find
Yoongi and Jimin thinks his chest might shatter if he doesn’t find him soon.

“I already owe you so much,” Jimin breathes. “Please.”

Hoseok huffs out a sigh. “You don’t owe me anything, Jimin-ah. I’ll help you because you’re my
friend, not because I want something in return.”

And Jimin knows this; he never expected Hoseok to want something in return, but he still feels bad
in asking.

“And hey,” Hoseok whispers, a smile making the corners of his mouth lift as he eyes over Jimin’s
shoulder, “if I stick around, I get to look at Jooheon’s ass a bit longer.”

Jimin huffs out a laugh, elbowing Hoseok's shoulder.

The police aren’t kind as they yank Taehyung from the ground. They don’t care about the scrapes or
the raw skin around his wrists as they clasp metal around them.

They don’t even care that he’s a victim here as they shove him down the steps leading up to
Hanbin’s apartment.

The guard is still beside him. Also handcuffed. Hanbin is somewhere behind him, cussing. Taehyung
feels dazed, ears ringing and vision fuzzy around the edges.

The officer holding onto him is saying something but Taehyung isn’t listening as he searches for Jun-
ki, unable to find him. It isn't he first police raid that Taehyung has been in, not while living with a
criminal like his step father, but the fear still pounds through him as he struggles to grab a hold of
himself.

It doesn’t help that they’ve strapped metal cuffs to his wrist.

The front of the building is covered in the lights of police vehicles and ambulances. Taehyung’s
stomach topples over at the sight of them. The raid had been a commotion of loud noises; yelling and
screaming. There was a gun going off at one point, probably into the air to get everyone to calm
down.

He prays Jun-ki wasn't hurt.

"Officer, can you - can you tell me if Jeon Ji-hu was found?"

The officer holding Taehyung grunts, shoving Taehyung forward without answering. He's rough,
making Taehyung stumble over his feet and showing no care for the way Taehyung's knees buckle.
“This Taehyung?” a man says as he runs up to them, also clad in uniform. The badge on his chest
reads Sohn Hyunwoo . He grabs for Taehyung, but the officer pulls him back. “Mun said to bring
him to the house with the kid."

“He’s under arrest,” the officer holding onto him says. The cuffs bite angrily into his wrists as
Taehyung's body sags. “You have the kid?”

“Yeah,” Hyunwoo says, frowning as he goes to grab for Taehyung again. God, please let it be Ji-hu.
“Why is he under arrest?”

“He was caught on camera taking the boy from his home. He was reported missing, possibly
kidnapped, by his grandfather not moments later.”

Taehyung struggles against the hold, spitting. “Bullshit. I had a gun to my head to do it.”

A metaphorical gun, technically. Hanbin had told them there were guns on them at all times, but
Taehyung isn’t sure how true that had been.

The first officer snorts. “Yeah, that’s what they all say.”

Panic washes through Taehyung as he pulls again. He can’t panic. He’ll just call Jeongguk and
Jeongguk will tell him. If Jeongguk even knows what has happened yet. Surely he knows if Jun-ki
knows. Jeongguk will know he didn’t take Ji-hu out of the house willingly. He has to.

Taehyung breathes out in relief when he spots Jun-ki. There’s red splattered on his pristine shirt and
bile rushes into Taehyung’s mouth.

If anything happens to him, Jeongguk will break for sure. He looks too weak to handle this, but
Taehyung hadn’t expected him to hold himself so strongly against Yunbok and Hanbin either.

“What are you doing officer?” Jun-ki says, forcing himself between the two police men. He no
longer looks as calm as he did talking to Yunbok, but rage is in his eyes and his strength seems to be
slipping away from him. “This man hasn’t done anything wrong. Do you always arrest people who
have been kidnapped? I haven't pressed charges.”

“Sir -”

“Let him go,” Jun-ki grunts. “Or not only will you lose your job, but if you have a partner or spouse,
they will lose their job too.”

“Sir,” the officer says, tugging on Taehyung harshly. “I am just doing my job. Now step out of my
way before I have you arrested as well.”

Taehyung struggles as the officer moves him away from Jun-ki. “Mr. Jeon, Ji-hu.”

Jun-ki steps out of the officer’s way but he follows after them. “He’s fine, don’t worry. I have him.
He’s scared but okay. And you’ll be too. Trust me.”

He doesn’t care if he goes to prison; that had always been a possible reality for him. The sob that
leaves his lips is because he's relieved, relieved Ji-hu is safe. It is the only thing that he wants. That
and to find out if his siblings are safe too. Once he gets to the station, he can call Jeongguk and find
out. He should be in Japan by now.

God, Taehyung can’t imagine the fear Jeongguk must be feeling. The helplessness.
Taehyung stops listening as Jun-ki’s arguing with the officer turns to promising to get him out as
soon as possible. He feels bad for not trusting the man, he can see it in his eyes that he has good
intentions. He looks like Jeongguk.

It makes his heart grow, thinking of what Jun-ki called him. The love of Jeongguk’s life. It isn’t true,
though Taehyung thinks it could be one day. He wonders if Jeongguk thinks he took Ji-hu from his
home. He understands why it looks like that. It would destroy him if Jeongguk believed it, even for a
second.

Taehyung stares at the stretcher being carried down the steps. There’s a body on it and glancing
around the street, Taehyung can calculate who it is. He doesn’t know how hurt he is, but Taehyung
thought his stomach would feel less rotten about it.

“Taehyung, trust me,” Jun-ki says, forcing himself past the cop so the words are only for him. “You
will be home tonight.”

“Sir, get back,” the police officer snaps, shoving Jun-ki aside before pushing Taehyung into the back
of his car.

The cruiser is silent as the cop pulls off, only the sound of Taehyung’s heart beating loudly in his
chest. It’s quiet for a few minutes and Taehyung is aware of the way the cop smiles into the rearview
mirror when he looks at him.

“You know, there’s undercover police that work with Sungho and Bobby. That’s how this
happened,” the officer says. Taehyung doesn’t care how any of it happened. He’s happy that it’s
over, even if it isn’t fully over for him. “But Mun is an idiot if he thinks Sungho doesn’t have the
same ties within the police station. That old cow always underestimates Sungho. It’s why he’s failed
so often.”

Taehyung glances at his feet. He doesn’t know who the fuck Mun is and why everyone keeps
mentioning him. Taehyung feels too numb to even glance at the officer.

“We’ve had our eyes on Jeongguk. The guard of his; Wonho, one of Hanbin’s men. Once he started
sniffing around, Sungho was worried Young-Mi wasn’t done, that she was using her son now.”

Taehyung might throw up and he grimaces at the bile taste in his mouth.

“Me, well, I grew up with Sungho. I even knew your mother.”

Taehyung turns his head from the window as he realizes what the officer is saying. The officer
laughs, pleased with himself that he’s gotten Taehyung’s attention.

“God she knew how to suck a cock,” the officer says, moaning in delight. “I asked if I could see if
you knew too and well, Sungho said it was prohibited. I think he wants you to himself. Not that I can
blame him, your mouth just looks like it’s meant -”

The officer's words are cut off by a loud screeching sound. It feels as if time moves in slow motion,
Taehyung's eyes on the green light hanging above them, the sound of metal crunching distant. He
doesn't register the skidding tires of the car, or his head moving until pain throbs over his temple.

He doesn't realize the car he's in has even been hit until the car's coming to a stop, silence filling the
empty street.

Pain ricochet’s through his head, the glass of the window cracked from where he had hit it. He sees
the blood in the cracks before he feels it slipping down his face. It's confusing, the sight of it, and his
vision blurs as he realizes it's his own.

“You’re not coming along.”

“I am,” Hoseok argues, glaring at Mun. It isn’t just him, but Jooheon, who has lost his normal smile
that he always flashes at Hoseok to glare at him just as angrily as Mun. “If you send me home, I’m
calling Sungho’s men and alerting him to your plans.”

Mun closes his fists at his hips, cussing through his teeth. It’s a lie; Hoseok would never do that, but
Mun doesn’t know that. Jooheon and him have gotten somewhat close over the last few days, but
Jooheon doesn’t know him enough to know if he would or not.

“Why?” Mun snaps. “We don’t have time to argue with this.”

Kitty lingers at the edge of the room, eyes hard on Hoseok and Hoseok tries not to glance towards
her. He knows why Jimin asked him to stay. He gets it. She looks at him like she knows too.

“Because,” Hoseok says unhelpfully. "You're right, we don’t have time the time. So let’s go.”

With another infuriating glare, Mun turns on his heel and heads out of the house. For once, Hoseok
is nervous and unsettled. He listened intently to Mun’s plan for tonight and it’s a solid plan, but
Hoseok is a fucking wreck of nerves.

They have one chance to take down Sungho. To take down everyone that might retaliate. He had
wondered why Mun wasn’t just taking it one man at a time and now he understands. Mun can’t
afford retaliation; he has a child and knowing Sungho, he probably knows.

Hoseok wonders if Jimin asked him to come along because it’s only he that Jimin trusts. He wonders
if Mun and Kitty are unsuccessful, if Jimin is expecting him to be the one to put a bullet in Chung-
Hoon’s head.

He would, in a heartbeat. He thinks of the way he had grabbed Jimin, the way he forced Jimin to do
things that had tortured him to do. He thinks about the way his hands looked smacking into Yoongi.
The pain in Yoongi’s eyes, the fear in Jimin’s.

He thinks of Woojin, and the way Jin had spent his time before leaving trying to get him to calm his
breathing as he started to panic. The dog hadn’t left him be and Winnie had even offered them to
take the dog with them but they didn’t. It’s somewhere now, whining his head off with Winnie and
Bobby. He wonders if he should buy Woojin a dog too, if that dog will respond to him the way this
stranger dog had.

“Stay hidden,” Changkyun murmurs as he steps beside Hoseok. “Or stay in the car. There’s no
reason for you to be in there. I know you don’t know Jooheon well yet, but you’ll distract him.”

Hoseok chuckles. “Jooheon’s good at what he does. I’m not sure I’ll distract him.”

“You will,” Changkyun says under his breath. Jooheon and Mun walk ahead of them, Kitty flanking
behind them with Yoongi’s mother. Yoongi’s mother will stay behind and they whisper quietly
about it, Hoseok only picking up a few words here and there. “He’s good at knowing when people
need protecting and he just naturally does it.”

Another laugh slips from Hoseok's throat, grabbing the attention of Jooheon. His wide eyes soften
greatly when they land on Hoseok, his lips pushing up some in a smile Hoseok doesn't return. "I
don't need protection."

Changkyun grins. “Everyone does.”

He jogs away when they’ve met back in the living room. Winnie and Bobby are both there, Winnie
gently tending to the blood on Bobby’s face. Hoseok is quite proud of Jeongguk, though he wishes
to never see Jeongguk look as rabid as he did then. It scared him and not much scares him.

“We’re leaving. Jinju is staying to keep an eye on you. I do not want you leaving the house,” Mun
instructs, pointing to Bobby. “We don’t know yet if we’re using your confession. The news is
reporting the son of Jeon Jeongguk has been kidnapped by the nanny.”

Hoseok flares, glaring at the tired look on Mun’s face. Bobby’s eyes are too swollen but his mouth
falls open in surprise.

“Taehyung wouldn’t,” says Bobby when Hoseok opens his mouth to say the same.

“I know. Will Jeongguk know that?” Mun asks, glancing at Hoseok who nods to confirm his words.
Relief washes over his features. “But don’t leave, either of you.”

There’s a hand shifting over Hoseok’s back and a moment later Jooheon is shoulder to shoulder to
him. He doesn’t look at Hoseok but nudges his chin forward.

It’s Changkyun, making his way to Winnie, who pries her hands from Bobby to look up at him.

“I see you’re nervous,” Jooheon says, offering him something small that looks to be an ear piece.
“But I have faith that everything is going to work out, do you know why?”

Hoseok watches as Changkyun holds Winnie’s bloody hands in his own and brings them up to his
chest, uncaring if the blood stains his white shirt.

“Because Mun wanted to find his son and help Young-Mi, and helping Young-Mi brought Mun his
son. Because Changkyun wanted to find Winnie and he wanted to bring down Sungho, and bringing
down Sungho brought him Winnie. Everything is working out.”

Hoseok rolls his eyes, but he appreciates the loud look in Changkyun’s eyes as he speaks to her.

“That just means we’re up for something bad.”

Jooheon laughs. Hoseok is starting to realize it’s easy for him to laugh, even in situations like this.
“Your pessimism is so hot.”

Hoseok goes to grunt out a ‘fuck off’ but lips are sliding over the corner of his mouth and a hand is
grabbing his to tug him out of the house.

The car ride to their destination is a quiet one. Mun repeats the plan and Jooheon whispers to
Changkyun. There’s a hand on Hoseok’s at all times and he doesn’t need it but he appreciates it
anyway.

His mind wanders. He is nervous. He wants to see Chung-Hoon dead. But he thinks of Jooheon’s
words and he isn’t being pessimistic. Not everything can work out, it isn’t realistic. The others won’t
get service on the plane to keep him updated with Taehyung so he has to just deal with the fear of
not knowing until this is over. He has to forget about his worries and his angers and deal with this.
He watches Kitty in the front seat, head hanging and eyes on her lap. Hoseok is glad that Jin had
taken the kids. He is uncomfortable with Chung-Hoon and Woojin being in Osaka together. There's
something deep in his gut telling him not to trust Mun, and he wouldn't trust Mun not to use Woojin
as actual bain.

Hoseok is usually good at his job, focusing and noticing every detail. But now he is not. Too much
has been going on that he’s worried his distractions will fuck everything up.

The plan is to meet at a Jeon Tobacco property. It’s a warehouse, where Jeon products are sent
before being distributed across Japan. It’s owned by one of the gangs that Jun-ki had called before
his wife had died to protect Ji-hu. Mun explains quietly that all foreign ties Jeon Tobacco have come
to be after a deal set to assure the safety of his grandson.

Hoseok wants to ask about them, about Guowang, but it isn’t important. He doesn’t say anything at
all, but stares out the window and tries his best to keep his mind blank. It isn’t as successful as he’d
like it be, but he grits his teeth and deals with it.

“Would it be pointless to ask you to stay in the car?” Jooheon asks, lips brushing against the shell of
Hoseok’s ear.

Hoseok huffs out a quiet laugh. “Yeah.”

“Why did you want to be here so badly?”

Jooheon’s full attention is on him and Hoseok shifts until his cheek is touching the headrest so he can
look at him. His eyes aren’t as amused as his lips make him seem.

“What’s Chung’s thing with kids about?”

“Fuck if I know,” Jooheon says, not pushing Hoseok to answer his question. He waves his fingers
through his orange hair, shaking strands away from where they stick to his forehead. “You should
ask him.”

“Oh okay,” Hoseok snorts. “I’ll just be like, ‘excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt this whole trying
to kill you thing, but why are you a pervert?’”

Jooheon has a nice laugh and Hoseok likes when it presses to his mouth. With his eyes open he can
see the way Jooheon’s nose wrinkles and the way his eyelashes look when they touch his
cheekbones.

He closes his own eyes, focusing on the touch of a mouth against his for a moment until his heart
feels a bit more at ease.

“Don’t be so nervous,” Jooheon whispers against his mouth. “You look a wreck. It’ll be okay.”

Hoseok glances at the rearview mirror, at his impassive face and blank eyes. It’s unsettling that
someone can see past them.

When they arrive to the warehouse, there is a car waiting for them. The headlights dim when Mun
and Kitty approach, Changkyun flanking behind them and Hoseok peers his eyes as he watches the
back door of the car open.

The car door opens, revealing a small boy. He jumps, running towards Mun to take his hand. It's
dark, making it hard to see the boy properly, but everything moves in slow motion as Hoseok's
breath is taken from his lungs.
He reaches for the door lever, fingers shaking as his heart thrashes. It can't be. Hoseok watched him
leave with Jin, had seen the way Jin cowered so protectively over Woojin when Mun approached
him.

It can't be him.

Jooheon’s hand is hard on his thigh, fingers digging in and it’s slow - it all moves slow as the boy
steps into the light.

There’s hands on his as he attempts again to open the door holding him hostage. Jooheon hisses,
trying to pry his hands away before he gives up with a cuss and lets Hoseok go. He doesn’t let him
go for long though, chasing after him as he strides forward towards Mun.

“We’re supposed to wait until they’re in,” Jooheon hisses, his toes at Hoseok’s heels. They were,
that was the plan, even though Hoseok insisted to have Kitty in his sights at all times. They were to
keep watch and sneak in back when Chung-Hoon arrived.

It’s changed now that that Hoseok has his eyes on the boy. It can’t be Woojin, even if it looks like
him. Hoseok won’t believe Mun is that stupid. Jin wouldn’t allow it. Woojin wouldn’t take a
stranger's hand so easily.

“Hey!”

Kitty whirls around a moment before Mun does. The boy sinks into Kitty’s thigh as Hoseok falls
before him, just as Jooheon calls, “Hob, it isn’t him.”

It isn’t. The boy is a real good fucking look alike though. He stares up at Hoseok with wide, curious
eyes but there isn’t any fear in them. His hair is cut in the same bowl shape and he’s even wearing
the exact same Power Rangers shirt Woojin has.

“He’s still a kid,” Hoseok grunts, glaring at Mun as Jooheon collides with his back and wraps around
him. “Why the fuck did you bring a kid?”

“Shut your mouth,” Mun hisses, but his face is a blanket of calm. “You should know one must
prepare for everything, including Chung sending someone along first to make sure his son is actually
here."

Hoseok glances at the little boy, who cocks his head as his eyes travel to the gun at his hip like he
knew it would be there. It makes sense and Hoseok is relieved they didn’t bring Woojin into this
situation, but it’s still a child.

“What’s your name?”

“Jisung.”

Hoseok holds out his hand but the boy just looks at it with the same curious interest in his eyes, as if
he’s looking at something new.

“Where did you come from?”

“My mom’s belly.”

With a huff, Hoseok gives up to follow everyone inside. The warehouse is dark and they keep it that
way, only turning on a small light in the back. It hangs from over head, revealing a wall of filing
cabinets. The smell of nicotine is strong and Hoseok glances at the boy who wrinkles his nose.
Jooheon touches lightly over his back when he crosses behind him to inspect the place with
Changkyun. He heads in the opposite direction, pulling his gun out in front of him as he adjusts his
eyes to the darkness and fixes the ear piece until his ear.

“Sungho will come alone,” Mun says, the sudden sound of his voice in his ear making Hoseok jump.
He’s on edge.

Hoseok considers digging into the shelves stacked throughout the building until he finds a cigarette
strong enough to calm the shake in his chest. There are stupidly expensive cigars that Jeongguk has
gifted him once, ones that tasted like ass and Hoseok had told him so. He came out with an infused
cigar to make it taste better and even inscribed ‘Hope’ in golden cursive at the bottom of every box.

Hoseok’s hands falter as he remembers the box. He quickens his pace, eyeing the shelves until he
finds what he is looking for.

A light passes the row he pads along and he stills until Changkyun’s blank express glances over him
before he heads to the next row. Hoseok doesn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it earlier. The
memory of Jeongguk talking about Yunbok working hard on a new cigar is in his mind.

The box has the same golden cursive at the bottom. The Double B standing out against the black
leather box. Hoseok can feel the waves patterned into the material as he takes it from the shelf.
Jeongguk had joked about how peculiar it was that Yunbok insisted on the wave pattern, since
Yunbok hated the beach.

He opens it carefully, taking in the smell. They look like regular cigars, thick and wrapped with the
emerald band and Jeon’s insignia near the top. He touches over them, eyeing up and down the
hallway before he removes them.

There is only a row of five inside, squeezed between the walls of the box. Beneath them is a flat
board, the same black as the rest of the box. Hoseok turns the box to the side. It’s much thicker, as if
there should be a stack of three or four cigars per line instead of the one.

He’s familiar with the box, as he’s helped unload these same cigars into the back storage room of the
club. He’s handed them to Jackson when he restocked the shelves where they keep the cigars behind
the bar. He’s fetched them for customers when Jimin was trying to keep them distracted from
Taehyung.

He should have known, really. He never opened them because he hates cigars after trying the ass
flavored one Jeongguk gave him. He should have known when he patted down customers before
joining Jimin in a room and finding nothing on them, but watching them leave high off something
other than an orgasm.

Hoseok pulls back the flat surface. It’s packaged in plastic, wrapped tightly around what would look
like a brick if Hoseok didn’t know what was inside.

There’s a whistle through the warehouse and Hoseok quickly packages the box back together and
stacks the drugs on the shelf filled with Double B cigars. The nerves are back, riddling inside of him
and he tries not to think of Taehyung or the fact that Jeongguk could lose everything after this as he
pulls his gun out in front of him again.

He focuses on the thought of Jimin as he slides his back down the shelf and peers into the open
space. There’s a flash from above and he spots Changkyun on a higher level. It’s too dark to see him
completely, but he is mumbling into the earpiece to tell Hoseok that it's him.
It’s stiff for a moment, the air still as Mun leaves Kitty to stand alone with the boy. The boy seems to
be at peace, not worried as Kitty kneels before him and says something under her breath. There’s a
sweet smile on her face as she rubs her palms down his cheeks.

The boy isn’t at peace for long as Kitty brings up a piece of fabric and wraps it over his eyes.

“It’s better for him.”

Hoseok was so focused on the boy that the sudden sound of Jooheon’s voice behind him makes him
jump. Jooheon’s hand cups over his mouth to mute the yelp that threatens to leave his lips.

He’s really not at his best today and his heart pounds knowing he is going to be the one to make a
mistake.

“We don’t want him haunted by the images of guns and shit,” Jooheon murmurs into Hoseok’s ear.
There’s the length of his gun pressed between their bodies, large enough to stretch from hip to
shoulder. He knows it isn’t the only one Jooheon has, that there’s a gun at the bottom of his spine
and strapped to his ankle too. “And he looks more like Woojin like this.”

He does. It makes Hoseok uncomfortable watching Kitty pull the boy behind her. It takes a lot of
effort to remind himself that it isn’t Woojin standing before him, but it's still as disorienting and
upsetting as it would be if it were Woojin.

Car lights flashing across the warehouse has Hoseok tensing. Jooheon quickly steps out from the
dark to press a kiss to the side of Hoseok's neck, adjusting the gun strapped to his chest to hold it out
in front of him.

“Looks to be alone,” Changkyun says in the ear piece. "Coming in now."

There's another kiss pressing to Hoseok's neck, parted lips that suck gently before Jooheon moves
away. There's a flutter in his belly that turns sour when Jooheon lifts his gun and points it directly at
Kitty.

There is no panic in her eyes when she glances his way, but her fingers squeeze into the boy’s chest
as she presses him to her body. Jooheon and Changkyun had been assigned to find Woojin until
Chung-Hoon arrived. It explains why they’re here, Hoseok knows to trust it, it's part of the plan, but
he fingers his own gun just in case.

He isn’t naive to think he can trust someone as easily as he wants to trust Jooheon. He doesn’t trust
him enough to break a promise to Jimin.

There’s muttering in the piece in his ear. Mun giving instructions, Changkyun describing the car
outside. Both Mun and Kitty agreed that Chung-Hoon would come alone, trusting that his two
closest guards would be enough protection. But it doesn't feel right to Hoseok. Nothing feels right.

“Give me the boy.”

Jooheon’s voice floats through the warehouse, echoing from the walls. There’s another flash of light
and Hoseok lifts his eyes to see Changkyun’s gun pointed at Kitty as well.

“It’s part of the plan,” Hoseok hears in his ear but he grits his teeth. Jooheon is good, eyes narrowed
at Kitty as he creeps towards her.

“Chung will be here any moment,” Jooheon keeps going on. “Do you really think you’re going to
leave here?”
There’s a heavy thumping in Hoseok’s chest as he creeps closer without pulling himself from the
dark. It’s so loud, his heart, that the sound of doors opening sound far away and faded.

He was never afraid of Chung-Hoon, only ever pissed as he watched over him and Jimin at the
restaurant. Pissed when he made Hoseok betray Yoongi and watched him do so with an amused grin
on his lips. Pissed when he touched Jinju’s cheek and called her sweetheart.

He’s pissed now when Chung-Hoon steps into the light. He’s alone. Or at least, he looks alone.
Hoseok lets his eyes wander, searching for movement to see if his company has slipped into the dark.

“Kitty,” Chung-Hoon greets, a pleasant sound to his voice but his jaw is tense and his eyes are hard
when they glance behind Kitty’s legs. “Tell whoever is with you to step into the light.”

Kitty doesn’t say a word as Jooheon creeps forward, back curving.

“No?” Chung-Hoon huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “You didn’t bring any chairs, must we
have this conversation while standing? Your old legs will get tired.”

“You’re older than I,” Kitty grits out.

Chung-Hoon laughs. “Yes, I am. But after so many years of keeping your legs spread, they become
useless quickly.”

Hoseok grinds his teeth until his jaw aches. He slips into the next row, keeping his eyes stitched on
Kitty.

Maybe the blindfold was a good idea, he thinks, as he watches Jooheon circle behind Kitty, the gun
pointed right over the boy’s head. He can’t imagine how scared the boy must be. He’s terrified of
something happening to him and Hoseok doesn’t know anything about him but his name.

“Says you, who likes being in between them more than anyone else,” Kitty says. There’s a tremble
in her voice but it isn’t fear - it’s pain.

Chung-Hoon clasps his hands in front of him before stepping forward. Hoseok tenses as Chung-
Hoon closes the space between him and Kitty, reaching out to press a curled finger under her chin.

“It’s true, I quite like you. You’re a good girl, so why must we do this?” Chung-Hoon breathes, but
his voice echoes in the warehouse. “We’ve been together for a long time, Yuri baby. Why must you
betray me now?”

Kitty keeps her chin tilted high, eyes loud with anger. Chung-Hoon’s so focused on Kitty’s face that
he doesn’t glance up when Mun moves through the shadows. The boy fidgets behind Kitty but
Chung-Hoon doesn’t move to him.

Maybe Chung-Hoon trusts Kitty too much to bring back up. Too high on his horse to think someone
like her would actually betray him?

“You gave my son away.”

Chung-Hoon is quiet as he strokes his finger over her cheekbone. “I did. He made me so much
money too. He’s so pretty, I should have kept him to myself. Had him in my bed instead of you.”

Kitty’s fingers tighten on the boy and the boy grimaces, showing his teeth.

“He is loyal. Still on your side even after everything you’ve done.” Chung-Hoon sucks air through
his teeth. “Where is he, by the way? I’m surprised he gave you the boy so easily.”

“Changkyun has them,” Jooheon responds behind Kitty. “Min and Jimin.”

“You didn’t hurt Yoongi, did you?” Chung-Hoon says, a hint of anger in his voice and Hoseok feels
that same anger at the mention of Yoongi’s name. “My wife may be a bitch but I do love her and I
do not wish for her to feel the pain of losing a child. It's a great pain, I'm sure you know.”

Jooheon huffs out a laugh, his grin wicked and so believable. “You told us to hurt Jimin, sir. That’s
going to hurt Yoongi.”

There’s a moment of tense silence before Chung-Hoon grips Kitty’s chin and forces her eyes onto
him. He looks like he’s being gentle when he strokes her skin with his thumb, but his eyes are
murderous.

“I do not wish to kill you,” Chung-Hoon murmurs, cocking his head. “Give me my son and come
with me. You’ll be punished, sweet girl, but I may let you live if you come with ease.”

“You’ll let me live,” Kitty grits out, grabbing Chung-Hoon’s wrist tightly. Mun slips to the side,
fingers waving in the dark but Hoseok doesn’t understand the signal.

Jooheon must as he steps forward, pushing forward until the gun hits the back of Kitty’s head.

Hoseok steps forward, fingers gripping tight onto his own. Changkyun is in his ear, whispering for
him to remain still but Hoseok is stuck. He doesn’t know if he trusts the weapon behind Kitty or the
man holding it.

“I know where Winnie is.”

It’s quick, the way Chung-Hoon’s face transforms from amused cruelty to rage. There’s fire in his
eyes as he lets go of Kitty’s chin to grab her neck instead.

“I helped Bambi find her,” Kitty grits out, her voice hoarse from the fingers squeezing. Whoever
Winnie is to Chung-Hoon is a lot, as Chung-Hoon shakes with the rage that consumes him, his
composure completely gone. Kitty doesn’t let go of the boy, but Jooheon scoops a hand behind his
head and forces him behind him instead.

The fucking blindfold, Hoseok thinks as he waves his fingers to call the boy over and realizes he
can’t see it to come to him.

“It felt so good to see how quickly Winnie chose to leave you for her mother,” Kitty whispers, her
tone poisonous. “A woman she didn't even know."

Chung-Hoon spits, pushing Kitty’s head back until she lets out a choked noise. “Where is she?”

Kitty gags loudly but Chung-Hoon looks as if he sees red, unaware of the fact that he makes it
impossible for her to respond.

“Where is Winnie?” Chung-Hoon roars and Hoseok gives in, stepping out into the light with his gun
in front of him.

Mun whispers harshly at him but Chung-Hoon doesn’t even notice as he grabs Kitty’s collar, letting
go of her throat for her to gasp out loudly.

Hoseok grabs the boy, tugging him behind him as he points his gun to Jooheon’s back. He watches
Jooheon tense when it touches between his shoulder blades, but he doesn’t move.

“Hobi, what are you doing? Get the fuck back.” Changkyun snaps into his ear.

It’s too late when Chung-Hoon’s eyes glaze over Hoseok behind them. He lets out a twisted laugh.

“What is this?” Chung-Hoon murmurs, expression lit with mirth. “A dead man walking. I’ll be
damned.”

Hoseok doesn’t move, though the hairs on his neck stand up at the idea of there being eyes on him
that he can’t see. If Chung-Hoon has men, there could be guns on him right now.

“She’s closer than you think,” Kitty murmurs, pulling Chung-Hoon’s eyes back to her. Hoseok can
see the wheels spinning in his head, he knows he’ll figure out why Jooheon hadn’t killed him the
way he was supposed to. “Everything you’ve built is being destroyed right now. And she helped.
She helped destroy you, as did Bobby. The two you hoped to continue on your fucking legacy.”

There’s a loud sound echoing through the warehouse as Chung-Hoon slaps Kitty across the face.

“Don’t touch her,” Hoseok grits, lifting his gun until the barrel is over Jooheon’s shoulder. He
doesn’t step closer, doesn’t hear the way Jooheon cusses under his breath.

“Tell me where my daughter is,” Chung-Hoon snaps, yanking Kitty hard until her body jerks closer
to him. “I won’t make you watch Jooheon shoot Hope again.”

The words are spat at Jooheon and Hoseok realizes how much Chung-Hoon trusts him.

"She's Young-Mi's, not yours," Kitty grits out, eyes filling her tears. "You're infertile, remember?"

Hoseok isn’t sure if he trusts Jooheon or not, and he pushes the gun to the back of Jooheon’s head
until the barrel buries itself into the bright orange hair he likes so much. If he’s wrong, he’ll apologize
later with something nice - but he can’t take the chance of being right.

“Hoseok, what the fuck!” Changkyun gasps in his ear, followed by Mun cussing before he too steps
out into the light.

“No one is shooting anyone,” Mun announces as he circles forward, his gun stretched out and
pointed straight at Chung-Hoon. “You’re outnumbered, Sungho. Your men are on my side.”

Hoseok doesn’t move the gun, even when Mun’s eyes flicker towards him as if his words were
meant for him.

Chung-Hoon grits his teeth. He doesn’t let go of Kitty and Kitty is trembling now. Hoseok wonders
if she is losing her strength in fighting.

“Put the gun down,” Jooheon whispers, tilting his head slightly to look at Hoseok but Hoseok pushes
the metal against his scalp to tell him to stop. His heart hurts from hammering so loudly.

“I’m surprised you let this whore even near Woojin,” Chung-Hoon says, eyes on Mun. “Did you
know how Woojin came to be? Did you know Yuri was the one who found Kyungsoonie again? Ah
you should have seen her face when I showed up on her door step.”

Hoseok doesn’t know how he’s surprised by Mun being Taehyung’s father. Their faces are quite
similar, especially when he’s angry. He looks as twisted and mad as Jeongguk had looked earlier as
Chung-Hoon speaks.
“She was so happy. Wasn’t she, Kitty baby? Wasn’t your baby sister so happy to see her daddy?”

There’s tears in Kitty’s eyes when she nods. Hoseok wonders again if this is why Jimin wanted him
to come; if he knew his mother would back down.

“She always came back to me. Always begged for it,” Chung-Hoon laughs, yanking Kitty down by
her hair. Mun flinches, his finger flexing over the trigger. “God, she was so eager. That’s what I
liked about her. What was your favorite thing?”

“Shut up,” Mun says. “Hobi take the boy somewhere.”

Chung-Hoon only flicks his eyes toward Hoseok and the boy for a moment before they’re back on
Mun. Kitty whimpers quietly, the tears dripping from her eyelids from how tightly he holds onto her
hair.

“Your son is the same way,” Chung-Hoon pushes. “God, when we came for Woojin he got on his
knees so fast. ‘ Please, I’ll make you feel good. I’ll show you I can make you feel good. ’”

“Don’t,” Changkyun whispers. “He’s baiting you, Mun.”

Chung-Hoon licks his lips. “I took him up on it, of course. The boy wasn’t lying, his mother taught
him well. All my babies have taught their children so well. Unfortunately, the fact that he looks like
you is a huge turn off.”

“You’re under arrest,” Mun goes on, clearly struggling to ignore him. “You’re just wasting time. Let
her go and put your hands up.”

Chung-Hoon laughs loudly. “Did you think I’m alone? Good luck trying to get out of here alive,
Mun. I gave Kitty the decency to talk to her alone, saving her the humiliation but my men are all
outside.”

“You’re under arrest,” Mun continues and he hears Changkyun cuss again before the sounds of his
footsteps sound through the warehouse. “For the murder of Kim Kyungsoon and Jeon Young-Mi. I
have a confession.”

“A confession,” Chung-Hoon snorts. “Kyungsoonie killed herself, you idiot. Young-Mi died in an
unfortunate car crash. Two of my three girls. I am quite broken over it. I hate that I have to kill the
last.”

His eyes flicker when Changkyun appears and a chill slips down Hoseok’s spine as Changkyun
walks straight to him instead of Chung-Hoon.

“Put your gun down,” Changkyun grits out, death in his eyes before he turns to Mun. Mun stares
back at him just as hard.

“You were on the streets when I found you. I fed you, gave you a bed, and this is where you end
up?” Chung-Hoon whispers. “You sided with those that took Winnie from you?”

“Winnie chose to go,” Changkyun says. His gun is lowered lazily by his side and Hoseok is envious
by the leisurely posture as his arms start to ache. “Let’s end this, already. I’m bored. I got the call.
They’ve taken five of your factories and they’ve detained all of your brothers. Except Yunbok of
course, I heard he isn’t doing too well.”

Mun glances at him. “What happened?”

“Jun-ki happened,” Changkyun sighs, his expression turning into one of boredom. “Seems no one is
loyal to you, Chung. Didn’t you instruct that nephew of yours not to touch Taehyung? God, it seems
like you’re gonna have a problem with Guowang now. He scooped Taehyung right from the Jeon
apartment, little Jeon in tow. But don’t worry, they’re a bit busy right now. Aren’t they Mun?”

Mun grunts in response. “They should be outside, already. I never realized how big Guowang was
until they swarmed the parking lot and started buzzing around like the cicadas they are.”

Hoseok stills at the truth. Not only did he not trust them, they hadn’t trust him either. They left out
too many details.

“What do you want?” Chung-Hoon snaps, his resolve faltering. Hoseok feels as if he can breathe for
a moment, letting his arms sag just an inch. Jooheon doesn’t move despite the metal pulling from his
head. He keeps it lowered at his right shoulder, eyes on where the right finger hovers over the
trigger.

“I want you dead. Hoseok get the fucking kid out.”

Hoseok lifts his lips to argue but Changkyun is turning on him. He moves faster, knocking his gun
into Hoseok’s so it falls from where it’s pointed at Jooheon.

“Cover his ears,” Changkyun grunts as he pushes Hoseok back by the chest. “We’re on your side,
you dumb wit.”

“Take off your blindfold and go hide,” Hoseok grunts to the boy. “Cover your ears.”

There’s a challenge in Jooheon’s eyes as he looks at him but Hoseok refuses to go anywhere.

“I’ll leave when you let Kitty go,” Hoseok says, pushing past Jooheon. Jooheon holds an arm out,
trying to push him back but Hoseok ignores it.

Chung-Hoon raises an eyebrow. “You want her?”

Kitty gasps when Chung-Hoon pulls her to stand. Her legs wobble and Hoseok reaches for her,
hands out and a thought in his mind that this is wrong, something is wrong. It isn’t this easy. But it’s
deep down in his brain, his mind too focused on getting Kitty the fuck out.

Too focused, that he doesn’t see it coming. He barely registers the loud ringing or Jooheon calling
out. The men moving around him seem a blur as he watches Kitty’s body buckle and feels the
splatter of something wet against against his face.

There’s a loud ringing in his ear. The pain in his head makes him feel nauseous. He struggles to pull
his thoughts together, his brain like liquid mush that may leak out of his ears. It’s hot, too hot in the
crushed car.

“Fuck,” Taehyung moans, hanging his head down towards his lap. His body throbs in pain as the car
slows from the force of a fire hydrant on the side of the road, now spurting water onto the pavement.
His heart lurches in fear as he stares as the officer in the driver’s seat, his head resting against the
steering wheel.

“Are you alive?”

Taehyung can barely hear his own voice from the pounding in his ears. The officer doesn’t move.
There’s too much blood on his face for him to be, but Taehyung feels covered in blood and he’s
breathing just fine.

Unless he is dead and his ghost body is handcuffed to his real body.

Taehyung groans. The seat belt digs into his chest and the metal cuffs dig into his wrists. If he is
alive, he’ll die soon. He can’t move. He can’t call the ambulance, though he isn’t sure he would trust
it. Not now.

He wonders who he would call in his last moments if he could. He wants to hear Woojin and
Eunae’s voices. Jin’s. He wants to feel Jeongguk’s lips against his one more time. He should have
kissed him longer before he left. He should have told him how he felt, even if he was scared.

He isn’t scared now, though he sobs quietly as he tries to twist underneath the seat belt. It isn’t a sob
for himself, but because of the car that crushed into the side of them. At the familiarity of it and the
thought that Jeongguk might just lose everyone and everything.

It isn’t fair to him and Taehyung lets out a sob. At least this way he doesn’t have to make the choice
to leave Jeongguk. Maybe this way Jin doesn’t have to choose to leave with Taehyung or stay beside
Jeongguk.

Maybe this way, Jin doesn’t have to find a way to get them to be all together again.

God, Taehyung thinks, wrenching hard underneath the seat belt. Woojin can’t be without him. He’ll
never recover from it.

The fear comes then, wrenching hard through his body as he becomes desperate to get out of this
confines. He pulls on the handcuffs until his wrists ache, twisting until it feels as if his spine might
break.

Fear becomes unbearable as the door of the other car opens. He grows more afraid at the face, at the
memory of what the officer had said. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised. Ji-hu had pressed the
alarm and it had never gone off. He had been on duty when Bobby got through security. Someone
let Hanbin through, even after Jeongguk spoke to him.

Taehyung cusses when Wonho steps out from the car. There’s blood on his face, but he looks
unfazed as he closes the distance between the two cars.

“Get away from me,” Taehyung spits when the door is wrenched open. There’s blood in it, filling his
mouth from biting into his lip. He notices it and now his mouth aches and throbs as the blood he spat
out is quickly replaced. “I know you work for Hanbin.”

“I do,” Wonho says, quickly unbelting him. His voice is calm and it pisses Taehyung off. “I started
in Sungho’s crew as an undercover cop. I didn’t think I’d get pressed into the shitty position of
watching Jeon. Do you know how boring it is? It didn’t get interesting until you came around.”

Taehyung flinches when Wonho grabs him to pull him out of the car. It’s smoking now, the ground
slowly starting to glisten from gasoline and the water spraying high into the air before splashing onto
the ground.

“We need to get out of here.”

“I don’t trust you,” Taehyung snaps, wiggling from his hands.

Wonho snorts. “Well, you’re gonna blow up here. So whether you trust me or not, you’re coming
with me. Mun will kill me if I let you die.”

“Who the fuck is Mun?” Taehyung moans, pain shooting up his back as Wonho pulls him into a
sitting position. Another man steps out of the front seat, and this is a man Taehyung wants to trust.
The idea of him not being trustworthy would be too much - Jeongguk trusts him more than anyone
else except Yoongi.

“Hello Mr. Kim,” Seokmin greets, reaching out for Taehyung. There’s blood spotting his forehead
and at the collar of his work shirt. The front of Jeongguk’s SUV looks as if it won’t take them far.
“Let’s get out of here before this car explodes, shall we? I’m afraid I can’t take you to the hospital. It
isn’t safe.”

Taehyung hesitates before he lets Seokmin wrap a gentle hand around his shoulder. His chest feels
tight. Seokmin looks strange with a gentle smile on his face and blood on his body.

They met the first night Taehyung met Jeongguk. When he fooled around with Jeongguk in the back
seat of this same SUV, running away from Hoseok. He remembers the taste of ice cream on
Jeongguk’s tongue and the way he laughed when Taehyung tried to guess what he did to make so
much money.

He thinks about how often Seokmin sat in the front while Taehyung made obscene noises behind
him. How polite he was even afterwards, acting like nothing happened. He thinks of Jeongguk
telling him that Seokmin has been working for the Jeons since he was a child.

The distrust must be clear in his eyes because Seokmin nods his head and whispers, “you can trust
me. I’ve been sent to you by both of the Mr. Jeon’s. Would you like to call him? I’m afraid he hasn’t
stopped calling since he landed back in Korea.”

Taehyung tenses when Seokmin digs into his pocket before opening the back of the SUV before
him. Seokmin hesitates when he realizes that Taehyung’s hands are still cuffed. “I will cut those off
of you once we are safe. But we really must go now, Mr. Kim.”

He dials his phone before handing to him and offers him a hand to help him climb into the back of
the SUV.

It reminds him too much of Jeongguk and the sound of Jeongguk’s voice has another sob forming in
his throat, threatening to spill out into the quiet air.

“Hello? Seokmin?”

Wonho sits in the back seat with him, hand coming up to hold the phone to his ear. Taehyung has no
idea if he trusts anyone. But he’ll either die in the crushed car or at the hands of Wonho. At least this
way, he can tell Jeongguk how feels. He gets a chance to talk to him one more time. He can tell him
the things he needs to tell Woojin and Eunae before he dies.

“It’s me.”

There’s a moment of silence, a drop of quiet before Jeongguk breathes out harshly. “Tae. Oh baby,
are you okay?”

Taehyung hangs his head. He doesn’t know if he is crying or still bleeding, but he feels it drip from
his cheeks. “I’m going to die.”

“No you’re not,” Jeongguk insists. He sounds exhausted and as if he’s been crying. “Seokmin-ssi is
bringing you to me. He’s bringing you right here, and you’ll be safe with me.”
Taehyung watches the buildings that pass by as Seokmin drives. “Wonho works for Hanbin.”

There’s more silence as Wonho sighs loudly beside him. He said something about being undercover
but Taehyung doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t trust a single fucking soul.

“It doesn’t matter,” Taehyung murmurs as Jeongguk starts to say something. “Give Woojin and
Eunae a kiss for me and -”

Even now, thinking it’s his last chance, Taehyung doesn’t know how to say it.

“Tae, listen to me, you’re not going to die. You’re going to see me in a few minutes, okay? Wonho-
ssi isn’t going to hurt you.”

There have been many times Taehyung thought he would die; but none of them have felt as real as
this. He thought he’d be more panicked, but it’s sadness. It’s more sadness than he’s ever felt in his
life. As if all of the tears he’s ever cried have returned to him to be shed at one time.

Taehyung glances at Wonho, who stares ahead of him despite holding the phone to his ear as if he’s
trying to give him privacy.

“Jeongguk, if we had more time together, I know I would have fallen in love with you. I was starting
to.”

Jeongguk cusses quietly and Taehyung sighs, resting his head against the cold glass so he can watch
the buildings and doesn’t have to hear Jeongguk’s response. “Can you drive past the beach?”
Taehyung asks Seokmin.

The cold glass feels nice against his forehead, the opposite side of where the skin has broken and
bruised.

“Mr. Jeon instructed me to bring you right to the house,” Seokmin says.

He wonders how long they are going to lie before they just give up and admit it. He doesn’t
understand why they’re all playing this game when they could have just left him to die on the road.

“Please take me to the beach, Seokmin-ssi.”

“Mr. Jeon wants to talk to you,” Wonho says, offering Taehyung the phone but Taehyung shakes his
head and looks back out the window.

He wants to call Woojin and Eunae, but he can’t. He doesn’t think saying goodbye would be good.
He doesn’t think he could do it. Instead, he presses his lips to the cold window and whispers them
there.

“Okay! Okay!” Wonho snaps, his voice fading into the background as Taehyung closes his eyes and
lets himself drown in memories he wants to hold onto.

He flinches when the metal touches his ear, and Wonho looks apologetic as he forces the phone
there.

“You listen to me, Kim Taehyung. You’re coming to me. You’re not going to die. Jin is here, the
kids are here. Jimin is here. Ji-hu is here. I am here and you can trust me because you’re kind of late
to catch up, baby. I’ve already fallen in love with you.”

Taehyung wrinkles his nose, staring down at his lap. He whispers when he speaks, his voice feeling
too hoarse and his throat too scratchy to speak louder. “I never thought you would kill me
Jeongguk.”

“Okay,” Jeongguk breathes. “You’re not going to die, Taehyung. I love you. You’re okay. You’re
safe. You’ll see, just give it a few minutes.”

Hoseok has seen people die before. He doesn’t know how people get immune to it. The idea of
talking to someone, of them breathing, living, and then suddenly not, is something he struggles to
understand.

Even when he sees it happen, he doesn’t get it. It’s twisted, and disturbing. Even when there is blood
splattering against his cheeks and he’s watching her fall to the ground, his mind doesn’t process it.

Even with her in his arms, his voice far away from him as he calls for her. There’s a thundering
around the room, more sounds, drowning out his voice, but he calls for her.

There’s hands on him, pulling him back. There’s gunfire, but Hoseok calls for her. Her eyes are
open, reflecting the lights hanging over head.

He broke his promise.

He’s being dragged back, but he won’t let her go. He calls for her. She’ll hear soon, when the noise
disappears.

Dark swallows him and there’s hands hard onto him. “Hoseok! Hobi. Get it the fuck together!”

Hoseok huffs out. He can barely see Jooheon in the dark. He looks pained. There’s someone else
beside him, whimpering quietly.

“Stay here, do not move,” Jooheon urges. “You’ve been hit again. I think you’re in shock.”

Hoseok glances at Kitty in his lap. He doesn’t feel any pain, he doesn’t even know where he’s been
hit. Jooheon doesn’t wait for him to respond before he’s darting off.

It’s unsafe to just sit here. He doesn’t know where here is. He can hear the thundering of gunshots
and screaming. Beside him is the boy, who hides into his back. The boy trusts him so much and he
doesn’t even know him.

It feels like hours of noise. He’s better at this, usually. This is his job, he can handle this normally.

He can’t handle it with Kitty dead in his arms.

When the warehouse floods with light, Hoseok sees that Jooheon hadn’t put them in one of the aisles
like he had thought, but a small room. The pain hits him as he starts to stand, exploding across his
arm when he presses it to the ground to stand.

Blood soaks down his arm, sticking to his shirt. Hoseok cusses, unable to lift himself. Kitty is a
heavy weight on his lap. Too heavy. His clothes are heavy, soaking in blood.

“Close your eyes,” Hoseok huffs painfully to the boy. “Don’t look.”

Hoseok tries to stand again when the door is wrenched open. He wants to push the boy behind him
but it’s Jooheon again.
He falls to his knees, not looking at Hoseok. There’s pain in his eyes as he grabs for Kitty. There’s
blood on him too, covering his cheeks and splattered down his chest. It’s on his hands and in his lap
and Hoseok wonders if any of it is his.

“Fuck,” Jooheon breathes, hands shaking as he brushes his thumbs over Kitty’s eyes. “He had some
guy up in the rafters. Kookangie got him the moment his gun went off. Are you okay?”

Hoseok isn’t okay. He’s good at handling things but he isn’t today. Not now. Not when he’s looking
at Jimin’s face on the ground.

“A lot of Chung’s guys were ours. He only brought a few with him and instructed them not even to
come inside. He’s with Mun now.”

“He isn’t dead,” Hoseok breathes, staring down at the ground. She looks so much like Jimin.

Jimin’s heart is going to broken. He’s going to be free and he’s not going to be able to enjoy it.

Hoseok broke his promise.

“Oh,” Hoseok huffs, closing a hand to his mouth to keep the sob trapped. “Oh.”

“No, he isn’t dead,” Jooheon says gently as he reaches up for him. Hoseok can’t look away, can’t
stop the soft ‘oh’s that rip from his throat. “Hey, it’s okay. Hey.”

Hoseok isn’t like this. He doesn’t tremble and cry easily. He doesn’t become afraid easily. He
doesn’t hurt easily. He doesn’t accept comfort easily unless it’s from the people closest to him, and
even then he’s more willing to give comfort than receive it.

“Hey, come on, we gotta get her and the kid out of here. Why don’t you call your friends, huh? See
if Taehyung is okay?”

Hoseok had forgotten. He wants to call, but he can’t. They’ll know.

With much coercing, Jooheon helps Hoseok stands. His body hurts, is on fire. He needs to go to the
hospital. Removing the bullet himself will be too painful and he’s lost too much blood in the last few
days. Too much, maybe that’s why he feels delusional and he’s crying.

It’s worth the pain when he spots Chung-Hoon on the ground, Mun standing over him. He’s been
handcuffed and there’s blood on the ground. Kitty’s blood, maybe his own. Maybe someone else’s,
but it’s soaking into his clothes.

He’s laughing, even when Hoseok steps forward and puts as much force into nailing his foot into the
middle of his stomach.

Hoseok barely has his foot away before he loses his breath and falls backwards, eyes on the bright
light hanging from the ceiling being the last thing he sees before he passes out.

The pretend monster, Jackson-ssi, told Ji-hu to sleep until Appa comes home but he can’t. He doesn’t
think there’s monsters at Grandpa’s, but he isn’t sure. Sungjin sits with him for awhile and keeps his
nightlight on, but he doesn’t want to sleep until he sees Appa.

Ji-hu perks up at the sound of voices. It’s his Appa; he sounds angry. Ji-hu doesn’t make a sound, he
doesn’t like when Appa is angry. He had been angry at him earlier and Ji-hu is happy that he had
apologized but it still made him sad.

“Shh, quiet your voice,” Appa says before the door is opening.

Ji-hu flies backwards and closes his eyes to pretend to be asleep. His heart hurts again though and he
doesn’t stay down long after Appa sits on the edge of his bed.

“Appa,” Ji-hu exclaims, flinging his arms around him.

He likes when Appa curls his arms around his back and squeezes him close. He knows one day he
will be too big for hugs like this, so he squeezes harder so he won’t forget what it’s like.

Plus, that funny feeling is back in his chest and hugging Appa makes it feel better.

“I’m so sorry,” Appa says and it sounds like he’s crying. Appa crying is worse than angry Appa.
“I’m so sorry for everything that happened tonight, baby.”

Ji-hu pulls back and wipes at Appa’s tears. He really hates them. “It’s okay, Appa. I am okay. Where
is Tae Tae?”

“He’s almost here,” Appa says softly. “He has a couple ouches, so Grandpa’s nurses are going to
take care of him first before you can see him, okay?”

Ji-hu’s heart really hurts now. He sniffles, nodding. “Is he really hurt?”

“No,” Appa breathes, rubbing Ji-hu’s shoulders. “Ji-hu, I want to talk to you about what happened
tonight.”

Ji-hu flops down to the mattress so he can sit on his butt. “I had a nightmare, but it’s okay because I
stopped being afraid when I heard your voice so the monsters won’t bother me. That’s why the
monsters went away and brought me to you and Grandpa.”

Appa looks at him for a really long time. He’s crying. Tae Tae must be really hurt. Ji-hu wants to cry
too, but he can’t or the monsters might come back.

“And - and Tae Tae said he’d be afraid so the monsters would - so the monsters would eat him
instead and they did, didn’t they Appa?”

Appa doesn’t say anything and Ji-hu feels frustrated. He knows it’s frustration because his fingers
ball up into fists and Appa says that’s what happens when you’re frustrated.

“Yeah,” Appa finally says and Ji-hu feels angry, hitting his fist to the bed. He knows he isn’t
supposed to punch just because he’s angry, but it’s the bed and not the monster’s face. “But he’s
okay and he’s safe now. They only got a tiny bite. He’s more scared than in pain. He was really
worried about you. Please stop punching the bed baby and talk to me.”

Ji-hu punches the bed again. It doesn’t make his fist go away. “I’m angry Appa.”

“I know,” Appa says. He holds Ji-hu’s fist, pushing his thumb under his fingers until his fist goes
away. “It’s okay to be angry. Why are you angry?”

“The monsters!” Ji-hu yells, squeezing his hand into a fist and around Appa’s finger. “And Tae Tae
is hurt! And my chest hurt and I was scared!”

Appa is crying again and Ji-hu lets his finger go. He knows Appa doesn’t want him to see by the
way he blinks a lot. He pushes up on his feet so he can wipe them away. “I ran fast and hard, Appa.
Tae Tae told me to. Is he proud of me?”

“Oh I’m sure,” Appa says with a big smile. He doesn’t like that he’s smiling and his eyes have fat
tears in them. “How about you come out and have some ice cream with Uncle Yoongi and I while
we wait for Tae Tae and Grandpa? Maybe it will make you feel less angry.”

Ji-hu pushes up from the bed, excitement filling him. He runs fast and hard again until he can throw
his arms around Uncle Yoongi’s legs. He isn’t angry, but excitement to see him.

He’s kissing Jimin sunbaenim again but he pulls away when Ji-hu grabs him. Jimin sunbaenim is
crying, his face red and eyes so swollen that Ji-hu doesn’t think he can see.

He thinks Appa is lying about how hurt Tae Tae is because Jimin sunbaenim is crying a lot.
Sometimes adults lie to kids. Grandpa said it’s because kids don’t understand adult things but Ji-hu
does. He's almost eight.

“Hey,” Uncle Yoongi says as he scoops Ji-hu into his arms. The tall guy from Appa’s work is there
too, resting against the kitchen door. “Hey little bun, you okay?”

Ji-hu nods. Appa rubs his back before making ice cream and Uncle Yoongi kisses his face a lot. He
doesn’t feel scared anymore.

“You know who is here?” Jimin sunbaenim says, petting his hair. He’s still crying but he’s smiling
too. “Woojinnie and Eunae. They’re sleeping though.”

Ji-hu perks up. He loves them, they’re his best friends. “Where are they sleeping?”

“You can wake them up later,” Appa says firmly. He scoops ice cream into a bowl but the spoon
clatters to the bowl when Appa takes off in a run.

Uncle Yoongi puts him down and tells him to stay put but Ji-hu doesn’t listen as he tip toes to follow
them. He sees Seokmin-ssi first and Appa rudely pushes him aside.

Ji-hu bites his bottom lip as Appa grabs Tae Tae. He looks really hurt. A lot of blood on his face. He
quickly runs back to the kitchen counter, grabbing the bowl with a scoop of ice cream and the roll of
paper towels underneath the sink.

“Ji-hu, I said to stay put,” Uncle Yoongi says but Ji-hu darts between him to Tae Tae.

“I stopped being afraid just like you said,” Ji-hu says, offering the paper towels to Tae Tae. He looks
really scary with blood on his face and his eyes are really red. “It’s for me, but I think you should
have it.”

Ji-hu doesn’t understand why Tae Tae cries when Ji-hu offers him the bowl of ice cream, nor why
Uncle Yoongi takes Ji-hu’s shoulders and pulls him away and quietly tells him to let Tae Tae be.

“Come with me.”

Ji-hu watches Appa and Jimin sunbaenim take Tae Tae as Grandpa reaches for him. He takes his
Grandpa’s hand, hiding the way his lip wobbles behind it.

“Don’t cry, bun. Appa will be right back.”

“Is he hurt bad?” Ji-hu asks as he follows Grandpa. He takes him to the secret library. He looks
really tired as he sits on the plushy chair and pats his lap for Ji-hu to climb onto it.
“Sometimes pain here hurts a lot more than physical pain,” Grandpa says as he tickles his fingers
over Ji-hu’s heart. “And being afraid can really hurt so I want you to talk to Grandpa about it.”

Ji-hi curls an arm around Grandpa’s shoulders. “I want to see Grandma.”

Grandpa sighs softly and Ji-hu curls into him so he can play with his necklace from Auntie Gracie.
He always keeps a photo of his Grandma right next to the chair and he offers it to Ji-hu.

She’s pretty, like the most beautiful woman to ever exist in the world. This is his favorite picture too,
where she smiles big and holds onto him. He is very tiny in the picture, fitting between her arms.
Grandpa is on one side and Appa is on the other, but he doesn’t look at the camera but at him.

Ji-hu hugs it close to his chest. He’s really tired and he’s afraid of the monsters coming to his
nightmares again. He tries to stay awake but when it gets too hard, he thinks about Grandma
laughing so he can dream about that instead.

Smoke filters in front of him. It’s quiet out here, but nice. The moon shines across the surface of the
pool. The bugs are chirping and that empty feeling of the city being asleep sits in the air. It’s so late,
making his body feel as if he’s going to float off in another dimension but he forces his burning eyes
open to watch the smoke float into the air.

It’s over, it’s all over, and it doesn’t feel like it. Yoongi thought it would feel better. More exciting,
but nobody looks relieved. Jeongguk looks a second from losing his mind, from ripping all of his hair
out. Taehyung’s eyes are dead and Jimin -

Yoongi feels his face breaking at the thought of him. The pain in his eyes when he saw Taehyung,
the worry in his eyes after he ran after him and Jeongguk.

How bad it will hurt him when he tells him that his mother died.

Yoongi pulls his eyes to the cell phone again. Mun turned out to be trustworthy, but he’s a fucking
prick. It’s impersonal, it isn’t something one should text.

Sungho detained. A lot of injuries. H was shot, bringing him to the hospital. Lost a lot of blood. Kitty
didn’t make it.

Yoongi watches the smoke. It isn’t just one thing. He doesn’t just have to tell Jimin about his mother,
but he has to deal with once again, worrying about one of his best friends.

The door pushing open reveals Jeongguk, but Yoongi doesn’t pull his eyes away from the smoke.
Jeongguk moves like a zombie as he takes off his shoes and rolls up his pants.

He sits beside Yoongi, dipping his feet into the water like Yoongi has.

“Jimin won’t leave his side.”

Yoongi huffs out a laugh. “I didn’t expect him to.”

“He thought Seokmin was going to kill him.”

“Can you blame him?” Yoongi murmurs, kicking his feet. He won’t forget the way Jeongguk looked
when Taehyung called, the relief and fear in his eyes. The sadness when he told Taehyung that he
was in love with him.
What a hell of a time for a confession.

“No,” Jeongguk murmurs. “I don’t even know who I trust. Other than you.”

“Mun arrested Sungho,” Yoongi murmurs, pulling his eyes away from the smoke to look at
Jeongguk. Jeongguk, despite being exhausted, has enough energy in his face to smile.

Yoongi had been afraid when Jeongguk lost it. Not afraid of Jeongguk, but afraid for him. He still is.

Jeongguk cusses. “He said he would kill him. I believed him.”

Yoongi nods. He did too. “Hobi got shot. They’re bringing him to the hospital.”

Jeongguk’s eyes grow wide and he immediately goes to his phone but Yoongi stops him. “I already
tried calling him. Um, one more thing. Kitty died.”

Jeongguk falters, his face blank for a moment before it breaks. “Oh no.”

“Yeah,” Yoongi says before he brings the cigarette to his lips so he can blow the smoke towards the
moon. Smoking allows him to pretend the tight feeling in his chest isn’t pain. “Jimin was worried he
wouldn’t be able to enjoy being free because it wouldn’t last. That something bad would happen.
And now he can’t enjoy it for even a moment.”

Jeongguk takes the cigarette from him to bring to his own lips. Yoongi doesn’t like the sight of it.
“You should wait to tell him. Until he has Taehyung.”

Yoongi glances at his now empty hands, at the way his pale skin looks floating in the water. He
doesn’t know where to focus his mind, which part to talk about first. Or if they should talk at all.
Maybe they should let the silence stay around them until they sleep. Yoongi needs about seven days
of rest.

“It’s scary,” Jeongguk murmurs, kicking his feet until Yoongi feels his toes against his heel. “It’s
scary how dead Taehyung's eyes looked. I think it scares Jimin too.”

“It does,” Yoongi responds. He needs to be with Jimin but he had to step away to catch his breath, to
call Mun. He should be with him now but he knows Jimin sit outside of Taehyung's room all
night. “Hoseok better be okay.”

Jeongguk sighs, curling forward to rest his cheek on his knee. Yoongi’s chest tightens when he starts
to cry but he rubs his back, letting him filter the air with the sobs that he needs to let out of his chest.
Yoongi understands. It’s built up over the days and it came out as anger, and now it’s coming out as
relief and worry.

It lasts awhile, Yoongi’s tears shed and drying on his cheeks by the time Jeongguk finally huffs out
his last weak sob. He doesn’t move though, keeps his body curled in on itself. They’re no longer
alone, but Jin stands where the sliding door is still opened.

“I called Mun,” Jin whispers as he pads over to them. “He said -”

“I talked to him.”

Jin sits beside Jeongguk, not taking his shoes off as he adds his hand to Jeongguk’s back. “Shit, man.
It doesn’t feel as joyous of a moment as it should. I think it is too early to feel relieved.”

Yoongi nods. He wonders if they ever will feel truly safe.

Jeongguk brings himself to sit up right when more people filter onto the patio. Namjoon joins them
before Sungjin does, announcing guests despite the early hour of the morning. Jeongguk extracts
himself from the pool when the guests step onto the patio.

It’s Jackson, from the club. Yoongi quickly climbs to his feet when he spots Jeongguk stalking
towards him.

He slows when Jeongguk holds out his hand instead of throws it. Jackson looks as if he was bracing
for a punch to when he relaxes and takes the hand.

“Thank you for bringing me my boy,” Jeongguk says. “I’m not sorry he bit you though.”

Jackson smiles and Yoongi makes sure a fight will not happen before he extracts himself from the
two to wander inside. It’s quiet, very quiet as he walks through the living room. The library is open,
the first time Yoongi’s ever seen it open since Young-Mi passed away, and he props his head inside
to see Ji-hu sleeping on his grandfather’s chest. Jun-ki doesn’t see him, his eyes unfocused and he
doesn’t interrupt as he slips away.

He walks slowly past the room Jun-ki gave to Eunae and Woojin, peeking his head in and spotting
Taehyung curled behind Woojin. He doesn’t inspect to see if he’s sleeping, removing himself to find
Jimin.

There are too many rooms inside the Jeon home and he feels like he might become frantic as he
peeks into each room and doesn’t find Jimin. He could have sworn he would be beside Taehyung,
but he hadn’t seen him in the room.

When Yoongi finally finds Jimin, he’s in a room Yoongi hesitates to open. He used to play in here
when he was younger. He used to get in trouble for covering Jeongguk’s face in Mrs. Jeon’s
expensive powder and drawing on Jeongguk’s face with her even more expensive lipstick.

They used to dress up together in too big of clothes. Bobby joined them sometimes. Mrs. Jeon was
never angry, but laughed and laughed when they showed up in her hats and dresses.

Jimin sits in the middle of it all, butt perched on the vanity seat. It hasn’t changed a bit, probably
hasn’t been touched since Young-Mi passed. Her brush is laid out on the vanity, her makeup spread
out beside it like it had been left that way before she died.

Jimin doesn’t look up when Yoongi enters. There’s something in his hands that he looks at,
something framed.

Yoongi watches him until he realizes he’s crying. It’s a soft sob, a harsh breath, hiccuping like he
can’t catch his breath before it pours out of his mouth.

“Hey,” Yoongi murmurs, but he rushes across the dressing room to kneel in front of Jimin. He tries
to extract the photograph from Jimin’s hands but he clings onto it with all of his strength.

Yoongi hurts so bad when he glances down and sees it, a young Young-Mi and Kitty embracing.
They’re really young, maybe before either one of them were taken by Sungho.

“Ho-Hoseok called,” Jimin chokes. “He was shot.”

“I know,” Yoongi says. The pain grows in Jimin’s eyes, pain and panic that makes his breathing
come out unevenly. He can’t feel relieved that Hoseok called, not in this moment.

“He lost a lot of blood,” Jimin says, his words coming out harsh and choked. “Because - because he
 was shot twice this - this week.”

Yoongi pushes upon his knees, cupping Jimin’s face between his hands. Jimin sobs out. He’s trying,
Yoongi can tell, but he can’t breathe.

“Calm down,” Yoongi murmurs. He breathes in through his nose and he sees Jimin trying to mimic it
but he fails. “Catch your breath.”

“He’ll be okay.”

“That’s good,” Yoongi murmurs, inhaling again before exhaling out of his mouth and when Jimin
does, he chokes on his breath.

“Eomma -”

“I know.” Yoongi pulls Jimin into his chest, wrapping his arms around Jimin and holding him close.
“I know.”

Chapter End Notes

The scenes with death are both in Hoseok's POV and start in Hobi's first POV after
“Take off your blindfold and go hide,” Hoseok grunts to the boy. “Cover your ears.”
and ends with the asterisk (*).

Thank you so much for reading! I have been working on responding to comments, I
always read them when I first get them, I'm just not to great at responding right away.
Thank you so much for the comments, they really mean a lot. I pinky promise the next
chapters are going to focus on taekook, thank you for being patience with the lack of
taekook the last few chapters. I love you all!

as always, i'm here on twitter @taehcheeks tumblr @taecheeks and curiouscat and
would love to talk to you about fic, the boys, anything. <3 <3
 Chapter 24
Chapter Notes

Hello my friends!! I've gone through and edited the previous chapters (I hadn't meant to,
I just wanted to read them over and make sure I wasn't leaving anything to be open
ended) and wtf this is so long lmao. I didn't mean for it to get this long.

I'm a little unsure about this chapter but I hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry if there are any
mistakes, I edited it quickly.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

When the truck pulls up to the Jeon House, Taehyung’s heart starts racing again. The fear hadn’t
disappeared, not truly, but his body has been numb since he said goodbye to Jeongguk.

He still doesn’t trust the men around him. He doesn’t know if Jeongguk is truly inside the way they
promise him he is. No one is touching him, thankfully, though Jun-ki has reached out like he might
before stopping himself.

After they picked up Jun-ki from the police station, they hadn’t said a word to each other. Jun-ki
seems to be aware of Taehyung’s fear, distrust, his need for silence.

“Sungjin, please go get my son,” the old man says to the doorman as he walks up the stairs in front
of Taehyung. “Tell him we are here.”

Taehyung feels numb but there’s a sob growing in his chest as he walks into the Jeon home and the
house erupts. He can’t breathe when he sees Jeongguk’s face, his eyes wide and wet as he comes
running into the foyer.

Yoongi and Jimin are behind him but he doesn’t get a chance to look at them as Jeongguk’s grabbing
his cheeks carefully to inspect him.

“Tae,” Jeongguk breathes, rubbing his thumbs under the swollen skin. One of his eyes has closed up
and there’s a throbbing pain on the side of his face where it had smashed into the police car’s
window. “Oh, Tae, I’m so sorry.”

Taehyung closes his other eye, letting the tears build there as Jungkook holds him. The sob in his
chest is one he doesn’t want to let go.

Panic washes over him as Jeongguk pulls back but he only goes far enough to give space to the small
body trying to fit between them. The sob in Taehyung’s chest breaks when he sees those big worried
eyes.

“I stopped being afraid just like you said,” Ji-hu says, offering the paper towels to him before the
bowl of ice cream he holds. “It’s for me, but I think you should have it.”

There’s a harsh tremor in Taehyung’s hands and he desperately wants to touch Ji-hu, apologize, hold
him in his arms, but Yoongi is pulling Ji-hu away before he can.

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Jeongguk murmurs, holding him tightly. “Come on, we need to get you
cleaned up.”

“I’ll take his ice cream,” Taehyung breathes, voice hitching. “I’m so sorry, Jeongguk.”

“Shh,” Jeongguk hums, “shh, baby, don’t say anything. Let’s just get you cleaned up.”

There’s panic washing over him, quickly. It makes his chest ache with the need to breathe. He’s felt
numb for too long and now it’s all taking him by force.

He remembers what it’s like, being scared when he was younger. Hiding in his closet as his parents
fought, when his mother had men over. He remembers how much Woojin would cry, even though
he was too young to understand the screaming around him. He’s watched Woojin grow up with fear
built so deep inside of him that it’s rooted and impossible to yank out.

He can’t cope with the fact that another child has to go through that; has to live with fear inside of
them. That another child may grow up to be distrusting and hurting all the time like him.

“It’s okay,” Jeongguk repeats as Taehyung feels his legs weaken beneath him. There’s hands on his
back and Jeongguk is sinking to his knees as Taehyung falls to his own. “Hey, catch your breath.”

“I’m sorry,” Taehyung hiccups. His other eye is swelling from the force of the tears that leave him.
“Ji-hu-”

“Is okay,” Jeongguk says desperately. “He’s okay, I promise you. The monster idea was brilliant. He
doesn’t seem to understand. He’s just angry at me. He was really worried about you. I know he’s so
happy to see you.”

Taehyung huffs out another sob. A seven year old boy shouldn’t be worried like that about a grown
adult. “Did he get hurt?”

“No,” Jeongguk promises as a hand on Taehyung’s back bends him forward like Jimin used to do
when he started to panic. “No, he’s perfectly okay. I’ll tell you everything okay, but I want the nurse
to look at your head first. Seokmin-ssi said you hit your head.”

“Punched,” Taehyung breathes. He feels dizzy, the room spinning as he holds his head up. There are
arms around him now, Jimin clinging to his back and it’s suffocating but Taehyung doesn’t want him
to let go. “I told Ji-hu to run as soon as we left the building.”

“I know,” Jeongguk assures him and there’s a brush of lips against his own. Jeongguk is crying, it
doesn’t look right on him. There’s so many things Taehyung has to tell him and he doesn’t know if
he can handle the tears. “You did so well. I was so afraid something was going to happen to you. I’m
so glad you’re here with me. Fuck Taehyung, you have no idea.”

Taehyung feels safe stuck between Jimin and Jeongguk, and he hates that he feels that way when he
knows he shouldn’t.

There’s soft kisses being pressed to his mouth until Taehyung’s breathing has calmed. It hurts too
much to open his eyes, exhaustion hanging heavily onto his shoulders. It takes the both of them to
help him to his feet, but thankfully he doesn’t have to stand up too long as Jeongguk guides him to
sit.

The nurses, Jun-ki’s nurses, tend to him quietly. Silence fills the room and Taehyung isn’t sure if he
needs it or hates it.

“Eunae and Woojinnie are here,” Jimin pipes up. “Sleeping. Hobi hyung stayed back with the group
meeting Chung-Hoon. We - we haven’t heard back from them yet.”

With much effort, Taehyung forces one of his eyes open. Jimin’s eyes are wide with worry and he’s
curling into himself. There’s an awkward amount of space and tension between him and Jeongguk.
Yoongi is no longer with them, probably off tending to Ji-hu while Jeongguk is busy with him.

He should go to his son instead of being with him, but Jeongguk has that stubborn look in his eyes
that tells him he isn’t going anywhere.

“Meeting Chung-Hoon?” Taehyung whispers in confusion.

Taehyung listens as Jimin and Jeongguk explain quietly, shifting back and forth throughout the story.
Taehyung’s head aches and he’s tired, making it so he can only follow bits and pieces.

He figures out enough that Jungkook knows about what Bobby has done from the way his jaw
tenses and anger flashes in his eyes when Jimin tells him that he thinks Bobby has been working
with the police this entire time.

“Him and Mun seemed close, familiar. I - I don’t know it for sure, but I think he has more to do with
the moles amongst Chung-Hoon’s men than he lets on. Mun made it seem like he wasn’t a part of it,
but I don’t believe much that he says.”

Taehyung grunts softly as antiseptic is applied to his wound. Something sharp pinches into his skin
and there’s a hand on his back, keeping him from lying backwards.

“We can’t give you stitches here,” the nurses explains with an apologetic look as she holds up a box
of butterfly bandages.

“It’s okay,” Taehyung murmurs, feeling dizzy again. The idea of a needle anywhere near his face is
a disturbing one. “Mun. Who is that? Hanbin kept mentioning him.”

Another bound of awkward silence and Taehyung doesn’t miss the way Jimin and Jeongguk
exchange looks despite being careful not to acknowledge each other this entire time.

“Mun Woojin,” Jeongguk says gently, grimacing. “Uh, he’s been investigating Chung-Hoon for a
long time.”

The cop - Hanbin had constantly mentioned a cop. The cop that watched his house; the cop they
killed Young-Mi to distract.

“He helped your Eomma get out,” Jimin says, even softer, “when she was a little girl.”

Taehyung cocks his head as the nurse pulls away to inspect the job done. Maybe that had been the
Woojin that Young-Mi mentioned in her letter to his mother.

“I’m tired,” Taehyung says when the nurse frees him to go. “Can we talk tomorrow? I want to see
Woojin and Eunae.”

Jeongguk nods quickly, grabbing for his hands to hold onto him.

“You should go to Ji-hu,” Taehyung whispers. “Tell him I’m sorry.”

There are soft fingers against his neck and slipping under his jaw before Jeongguk kisses him. It’s
gentle but it makes Taehyung feel a lot, too much. Jeongguk kisses him like he’s never going to kiss
him again. Taehyung doesn’t want him to stop.
“Rest, okay?” Jeongguk murmurs before he passes Taehyung to Jimin. “Help yourself to anything
you need. I put clothes in the kids’ room, I figured you’d want to be with them first.”

There are things that Taehyung wants to say, things he needs to hear Jeongguk say, but he only nods
and holds the silent words to himself.

Stepping out of the makeshift hospital room, he bumps into a body. Or a body rams into him, arms
squeezing him. Jin holds him tight and they don’t say anything. They don’t need to as Taehyung
clings back, fingers digging into his shoulders.

When Jin pulls back, it’s in his eyes, the words that hang between them. Taehyung nods, squeezing
his shoulders. They don’t need to say it outloud, he knows.

His breath hitches when Taehyung finally gets to his younger siblings. They sleep peacefully, curled
in each other and their hands folded together. They used to sleep like that when they were younger
and it makes Taehyung’s chest ache.

He’s careful in maneuvering himself onto the bed after changing into Jeongguk’s clothes. It hurts in
places, but nothing hurts as bad as his chest does when he presses it behind Woojin’s small back.

Woojin pouts, waking up as he looks over his shoulder. “Hyungie,” he yawns, his breath hitching as
he looks as if he may cry.

“Shh,” Taehyung hums, pressing his lips to Woojin’s temple. He circles an arm around the both of
them, thankful they’re still small enough for him to hold at one time. “Shh, go to sleep, hyungie is
here.”

Jeongguk tries hard to fall asleep. He is too restless, but he lays with Ji-hu’s head on his chest until he
is sure Ji-hu won’t wake. Jeongguk wanders throughout the halls, peeking in rooms to make sure
everyone is there. He sticks to Taehyung and Ji-hu the most, constantly checking on them and his
heart racing a moment before he peeks his head in like he’s afraid they won’t be there.

Yoongi and Jimin are hard to find, but Jeongguk sighs in relief when he does. He rests his head
against the doorframe of his mother’s dressing room, silently watching them. They’re awake,
Yoongi’s head in Jimin’s lap as Jimin is curled over him. His eyes are swollen but unfocused as he
plays with Yoongi’s hair.

Despite his exhaustion, Jeongguk stays awake as the dark sky turns into light. He’s not the only one
awake as he makes his way to the kitchen to start coffee and finds his father there, a cup of tea in his
hands and staring aimlessly out the window overlooking the yard until Jeongguk joins him.

“Jeongguk.”

Jeongguk feels bad for the swoop of anger in his chest, so he doesn’t say anything. He’s too tired,
too tired to be angry at his father so he accepts the arm that’s held out to him.

“You should be sleeping,” Jun-ki says, squeezing Jeongguk tightly before letting him go. “You look
like you may drop, my son.”

“I feel that way,” Jeongguk yawns. “I can’t sleep though.”

“They aren’t going anywhere,” Jun-ki promises with a knowing smile. “I understand the feeling. I’ve
gone through the same thing.”
“I was never kidnapped,” Jeongguk says, harsher than he intended. He grimaces in apology as he
grabs for the coffee pot.

“No,” Jun-ki says with a confirming nod, “but the threat was always there. Your mother was plagued
with that worry for a long time, Jeongguk. She used to stay awake for nights on end, just watching
you sleep and making sure no one took you in the night.”

It doesn’t make sense for there to be any room, any energy , left in his body to feel pain but it’s like
his heart is being stabbed with each of his father’s words. It’s a numb pain, not ricocheting through
his entire body, but still there.

“She lost two children,” Jun-ki explains. Jeongguk already knows this, but he doesn’t know if his
father is aware. “They were taken from her. She was terrified you would be too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jeongguk asks quietly, so quietly he’s not sure his father can even hear
him. “About Bobby.”

He can’t say the rest of the words out loud.

Jun-ki sighs, looking away for a long moment. Jeongguk feels tense as he waits, trying to distract
himself with making the coffee but it doesn’t work well.

“Bobby was never supposed to know,” Jun-ki finally says. “It was part of the deal that was more
forced upon us than agreed upon. Your safety was assured and Bobby would be raised close to our
home as long as he was never told who his mother was.

“I think he always knew. Your mother loved quite loudly and he was very attached to her. But she
did tell him when you were still quite young. He was upset about his parents not loving him. He was
-” Jun-ki presses his lips together, choking up as his eyes start to water, “he was upset because they
hurt him badly. The woman he knew to be his mother didn’t stop his father from beating him. He
was upset and your mother couldn’t take it, she told him.

“He didn’t understand at first, of course. But he was so happy. He was happy to have a little brother,
that it was you. She told him he couldn’t tell anyone though, to keep you safe, so he promised he
wouldn’t. And he didn’t. Neither of you were supposed to know.”

Jungkook frowns. He doesn’t have it in him to feel bad for Bobby, not right now.

“There are going to be things that give you reason to hate him, Jeongguk. And it’s okay to hate him.
It’s okay to be angry with him, to want to see him hurt. Human emotion is not easily controllable, so
you will feel hate in your heart.” Jun-ki sighs and Jeongguk can’t look at him. “But I want you to
remember he is your blood. He was born from the same womb as you and your mother loved him
with every part of her she could. And she forgave him. I want you to look at me and see how
emotion can deteriorate a person. Don’t let hate deteriorate you.”

Jeongguk huffs, angry again. He doesn’t want to talk about it. He doesn’t want to be angry with his
father, with his mother. “Just because she forgave him, doesn’t mean I have to.”

“You’re right,” Jun-ki says, inching closer to him. He cups Jeongguk’s cheek and Jeongguk flinches,
hating the tears in his eyes. He’s too tired. “I’m not asking you to do anything, Jeongguk, but give it
some time before you make a decision.”

Jeongguk wipes the back of his hand against his eyes, throwing away the tears. “Okay, Appa.”

“Your mother knew,” Jun-ki sighs, looking distraught before he rubs a hand over his face and the
expression turns neutral. “She knew they would use him against her. I think she knew the exact
moment she would die because when she left home that day -”

It goes quiet for a moment and Jeongguk considers telling his father that it can wait, that they’re both
too tired for this. But he remains quiet, only the thunder of his heart interrupting the silence.

“Her goodbye felt permanent. It didn’t sit right with me and I searched for her until the police phoned
me that she was in an accident. It wasn’t until after that Bobby confessed to me that she was dead
before he put her in the car. He was forced to do the things he’s done and he’s been a shell of himself
since.”

Jeongguk reaches out, taking his father’s hand. It feels as if a balloon is growing in his chest, too
much oxygen being pushed into it until it feels as if it may pop. He can’t breathe thinking about it
and Jun-ki is squeezing his hand with as much strength as he can muster.

“I’m sorry, Appa,” Jeongguk says because he can’t think of anything else. It hurts imagining his
mother’s last moments, thinking how his father’s gone these years knowing the truth and not sharing
it. It hurts imagining what it would be like having to watch it the way Bobby had.

Jun-ki gives him a smile but it’s soft and shaky as he kisses Jeongguk’s forehead firmly. He breathes
in, breath hitching with tears before clearing his throat, “we’ll talk more after you’ve slept. There’s
someone here to see you.”

Whipping around, Jeongguk spots Taehyung in the doorway. He looks awful, bandages keeping his
skin together over his forehead. One eye swollen with a bruise and the other with tears. A busted lip
Jeongguk can still taste the rust on his tongue from kissing him.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Taehyung mutters, eyes dropping to the ground as Jeongguk wipes
hastily at his tears.

“You came at the right time,” Jun-ki promises. He reaches out to touch Taehyung’s shoulder in
farewell, but he hesitates before dropping his hand. “Take care of my son as he takes care of you.”

“Thank you,” Taehyung whispers, his voice small. “Thank you for bringing me home.”

Jun-ki touches him then, a hand to his forearm. “If you ever wish to talk, I am here for you, son.”

Taehyung doesn’t respond as Jeongguk reaches out to him, his eyes following after Jun-ki before he
folds into Jeongguk’s chest. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Really? You must be tired.”

“You too,” Taehyung says, circling his arms around Jeongguk’s waist. “I think I rather be tired than
have nightmares.”

Pain makes itself home in Jeongguk’s chest as he rocks Taehyung against him and buries his nose
into his hair.

“Have you heard from Hoseokie yet?”

Jeongguk hums, eyes closing. He knows the pain Jimin feels, and he knows Taehyung understands it
too, but he wants to give Taehyung a few minutes to heal himself first before he tends to his best
friend.

Maybe he’s selfish, he doesn’t know. He just can’t handle another moment of Taehyung looking so
broken.

“He’s okay. They detained Chung-Hoon.”

“Good.”

Taehyung lifts his head, eyeing Jeongguk before he reaches up and traces his features. Jeongguk
remains still as he lets him, lets Taehyung take as long as he needs to touch his face.

“I’m sorry.”

“Please stop -”

“No listen,” Taehyung breathes, cupping Jeongguk’s cheek. “I’m not apologizing for my actions, I
feel sorry that you’ve gone through the hell you went through the last few days.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, making Taehyung’s nose wrinkle. “It’s little compared to what you went
through.”

“Not a competition,” Taehyung murmurs. “Even if it happened in the past, I know it feels like a fresh
wound.”

Taehyung rubs a hand to Jeongguk’s chest, his skin hot against him. “I’m sorry about your mother.
About Bobby. That you now know the fear of losing Ji-hu and that it’s going to stick to you for a
long time. I’m sorry there’s anger in your eyes.”

Jeongguk squeezes Taehyung tighter around the waist carefully in case he’s hurt where Jeongguk
can’t see.

“I am more - I don’t know the feeling, but it isn’t anger. Maybe confusion? I feel like so much
doesn’t make sense. Like, my life doesn’t make sense anymore.”

Lips press to Jeongguk’s and Jeongguk accepts it with a sigh. Taehyung’s fingers are gentle against
his cheek bone, brushing at the tears Jeongguk hadn’t realized he shed. “I understand.”

They embrace each other, soaking in the warmth their bodies create as Taehyung presses a thumb to
Jeongguk’s bottom lip and kisses him deeper. It’s innocent for the most part, just needing the other
for comfort. There’s a wetness on Jeongguk’s cheek that he isn’t sure is from himself or Taehyung,
and it’s the taste of salt and blood that has Jeongguk pulling from their kiss.

“Come on,” Jeongguk murmurs, kissing Taehyung’s forehead. “We’ll rest on the couch until
everyone wakes.”

Taehyung follows and he lets Jeongguk tuck him in with enough blankets to keep everyone in the
house warm. Jeongguk lays in front of him, crowding Taehyung into the back of the couch and
Taehyung happily accepts with an arm around his waist and lips at the back of his neck.

He wants to watch the news, but it makes his chest ache when he sees his mother’s face on the
screen and quickly changes the channel. It isn’t until Taehyung is pulling the remote from his hands
that the balloon in Jeongguk’s chest breaks.

Taehyung coos softly, hands slipping over Jeongguk’s wet cheeks when Jeongguk turns to him.
“Shh, baby. You need sleep.”

Jeongguk knows he shouldn’t be the one breaking, that he should be holding himself together for
Taehyung but it washes over him like a flood.

“I know,” Taehyung hums, curling his fingers into Jeongguk’s hair and holding him close. “Ah
Jeonggukkie, it’s okay.”

Taehyung holds him until the tears leave him and exhaustion takes over, his eyes falling closed
where his face is buried against Taehyung’s pulse.

When he wakes again, it’s darker in the living room. Taehyung is curled around him, his hot breath
cascading over Jeongguk’s neck and indicating that he is still asleep. Jeongguk doesn’t want to
move, his body aching, but he blinks a few times before easing himself away.

He makes sure Taehyung doesn’t wake, watching him roll until his face is snuggling into the couch
before he walks away.

It is dark outside. They must have slept through the day though Jeongguk doesn’t see how that is
possible in a house with three kids and Jin inside. He searches until he finds them in the den. It must
be late as the three children sleep where they’re tucked between Jin and Namjoon on the ground.

Jeongguk’s heart lurches as he leans against the door frame. Jun-ki and Yoongi are there as well,
sitting on the couch with there eyes on the television where the news plays.

“- where he will be charged with first degree murder. CEO of Jeon Tobacco, Jeon Jeongguk, has
declined to comment.”

Jeongguk frowns. No one asked him to comment on anything, that must have been Jin or his father’s
doing, but he’s glad because he doesn’t know what he would say anyway.

“Kim Yunbok, a long standing friend and business partner of Jeon Jun-ki, has also been charged
with the murder of Jeon’s wife, Jeon Young-Mi. It is unknown at the time the motives behind the
Kim brother’s actions. To you, Seungkwan-ssi.”

Another person pops up on the television and Jeongguk recognizes the building they stand in front of
as his own.“Thank you. Yesterday afternoon, Jeon Jeongguk’s son was taken from his home while
Mr. Jeon was overseas for business. Sources say his son, Jeon Ji-hu, 7 years old, was taken from the
penthouse apartment by his stay in nanny, Kim Taehyung.”

The anger Jeongguk had felt earlier comes back full force as a video pops up of Taehyung, head
hanging with a police officer maneuvering him away from Hanbin’s building. He looks up, showing
the camera and everyone watching his face.

“Little is known about Kim Taehyung and his connections with the Kim family. The head officer on
the case has declined to comment on his involvement in the kidnapping of Jeon Ji-hu. Taehyung’s
has escaped custody and his location currently is unknown.”

“Bullshit,” Yoongi snaps, interrupting the news reporter on the television. He punches nothing in
front of him. “Stupid shit . Why isn’t Mun covering that?”

“Officers found Jeon Ji-hu being forced into an SUV a few blocks from Jeon’s home, the car
belonging to Kim Hanbin and has since been return to his family.”

Another scoff from Yoongi. “So he can make up that lie but not cover up Tae? The cameras must
have caught Tae telling Ji-hu to run?”

“The Kim Family has been under investigation for many years for their involvement with street
drugs, prostitution, sex trafficking, and the kidnap and murder of countless children and adults.
Detective Kim Woojin had been on the case as an undercover officer in the early nineties, but had
been unsuccessful in securing charges against Kim Sungho. Have you word from the detective?”

Jin has joined in on Yoongi’s cussing and Jeongguk just watches quietly as the first newscaster
reappears on the screen. The woman talks some more, but Jeongguk doesn’t listen, not until his
mother’s face appears back on the television.

There’s a body pressing to Jeongguk’s spine and he pulls back enough to see Taehyung wrapping
around him, eyes heavy as he rests his cheek to Jeongguk’s shoulder. The television reflects in his
eyes, his mother in the dark of Taehyung’s pupils.

“A confession for Jeon Young-Mi’s murder was obtained by the police. It implicates the involvement
of Kim Yunbok and Kim Hanbin, co-founder of B.B. Entertainment and the man being charged with
the kidnapping of Jeon Ji-hu. Detective Mun Woojin has denied speculation that his co-founder, and
Yunbok’s son, has any involvement with the death of Jeon Young-Mi.”

Yoongi bounces from the couch, rage on his face as he snaps off the television. “So you’re telling me
he’ll speak out against a murderer, but not his own son?”

Jeongguk grows tense, standing still before he clears his throat loudly. Yoongi whips around, eyes
wide and he deflates quickly. Taehyung’s eyes are closed again, his brows pinched.

Someone has to tell him but Jeongguk doesn’t know what would be the way to. Jimin? Him?
Forcing Mun down here to do it himself?

“Shit, I didn’t know you were there,” Yoongi says, stumbling across the carpet to him. “How are
you feeling, Gukkie? Tae?”

Yoongi presses a hand to his forehead, eyes apologetic and soft. “Ji-hu wanted to wake you but I
wouldn’t let him. He sat beside you on the couch for a long time.”

It’s whispered and it makes Jeongguk’s heartache as he looks over Yoongi’s shoulder to find Ji-hu
clinging to Woojin.

“How long was I out?”

“It’s a little after nine,” Yoongi explains, smiling at Taehyung. “Hope is on his way back. He’ll be
discharged today. Jimin uh, left to go back to him. He wouldn’t let me come. He wanted me to be
with you and told me I had to take care of Taehyung.”

Taehyung opens his eyes at this and stands straight, but doesn’t let Jeongguk go. Jeongguk’s heart
dumps in his chest and he hopes that Jimin only went back to Japan for his mother and Hoseok, not
Bobby.

“Have you talked to Mun?” Jeongguk asks. “It was Bobby that confessed, not Yunbok. We were all
there.”

Jun-ki stands up at this, his hands shaking and Namjoon is quickly getting up to help him. “I got a
confession from him,” Jun-ki announces, smiling gratefully to Namjoon as Namjoon guides him to
them. “Bobby won’t be implicated.”

“But Appa -” Jeongguk starts but Yoongi’s hand is on his chest and and Taehyung is wrapping his
arms around his shoulders. He glares at Yoongi. He would never hurt his father. “But Appa - he -”
“I know,” Jun-ki says. Yoongi only steps aside when Jun-ki makes an attempt to stand between
them. Jeongguk’s chest is too tight and he’s thankful for the way Taehyung’s arms are tight around
him, keeping his heart in place. “There were things your mother has asked of me to do that I did not.
I am not going to ignore her dying wish, my son. You don’t have to understand it, but you must
accept it.”

Jeongguk grits his teeth hard, he doesn’t want to.

“Bobby will only return to set his affairs in order,” Jun-ki goes on. “So you do not have to ever see
him again unless you choose to. I’d like him to be able to say goodbye to Ji-hu, but that is your
choice, my son.”

Namjoon helps Jun-ki past them, guiding him down the hallway despite Jun-ki telling him he no
longer needs help walking. Jeongguk feels numb now, the emotion drained from him but his heart
kicks at the idea of Bobby anywhere near his son.

“It’s okay,” Yoongi says, rubbing Jeongguk’s chest. “I told you we could kick his ass again and I
meant it.”

Jeongguk manages a soft laugh as he grabs Taehyung’s hand. He clutches onto it immediately,
thumbs rubbing over the skin that had broken on Bobby’s jaw.

“I made a deal with Jimin,” Jeongguk admits quietly. “I told him he had to finally make up his mind.
You or Bobby. And that was it, no more going back and forth.”

Yoongi’s face grows hard, eyes glaring as he moves his hand back. “You had no right to do that.”

“I know,” Jeongguk admits, hanging his head in front of his hyung. “You’re not the only one who
gets to take care of me. I need to take care of my hyung, too.”

The hard expression on Yoongi’s face softens some, but his eyes are still narrowed. “That’s not how
this works, Jeonggukkie. You have a lot to worry about right now; don’t let my love life be a burden
on you. What Jimin does isn’t any of your business.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Jeongguk argues. “I’m thankful you are and we need you, but Jimin needs
you more and you should be with him.”

Yoongi looks conflicted, mouth hardening. “He insisted that I stay.”

“You should go,” Taehyung whispers. “I’ll take care of your dongsaeng if you go take care of my
hyung. Jeongguk is in safe hands with me.”

Jeongguk wants to argue that Jeongguk doesn’t need care but Taehyung is pulling away to wrap his
arms around Yoongi. Yoongi looks startled before hesitantly wrapping his arms around Taehyung.

He whispers something that Jeongguk can’t hear and Yoongi nods. “Thank you hyung.”

“Don’t hug me,” Yoongi says when Jeongguk takes a step forward. But it goes ignored as Jeongguk
wraps his arms around him and Yoongi doesn’t push him off, but squeezes back. He knows he’ll be
overwhelmed with the media coverage and the accusations of Taehyung, and he’ll want Yoongi by
his side to keep him calm talking to Mun, but he knows how badly Yoongi needs to be with Jimin
right now.

Maybe it was unfair for Jeongguk to get involved.

Taehyung leaves to sit opposite of Jin, running his fingers gently through Ji-hu’s hair before touching
Woojin’s cheek. He can’t reach Eunae but his eyes do.

“I have to tell you something,” Jin says, interrupting the silence. He coughs awkwardly, looking
strained. “Woojin is Chung-Hoon’s son.”

Yoongi pulls from Jeongguk’s embrace, surprise in his widening eyes.

There is no reaction from Taehyung. He doesn’t even seem to be paying attention as he watches
Woojin and where he’s rubbing his knuckles over his cheek.

“That’s not possible.”

“I don’t know,” Jin says, eyes worried as he watches Taehyung. Jeongguk doesn’t know what to do,
but stay close so Taehyung can reach him as he needs to. “But that’s why Chung-Hoon’s kept tabs
on him. That’s - that’s why he came for him, I think. He seemed like he was obsessed with Eomeoni
from what I’ve heard.”

Taehyung stares hard at Woojin. Jeongguk does too, watching the little boy but he sees no
similarities. He looks a lot like Taehyung and Jeongguk wonders if Taehyung is looking for traces of
Chung-Hoon in his little brother too.

“Hanbin said he was there, when she died,” Taehyung whispers, his voice so small that Jeongguk
peels his hand away from his brother’s face to hold it. “He said my mother stabbed herself so she
could cover Woojin in blood. That she was smart doing that because he wouldn’t have had time to
clean him up and take him outside in broad daylight. Did she know you were coming?”

Jin looks at Taehyung for a long time before he nods. “I had talked to her not long before I showed
up at the house. That’s why I broke in, because I knew she was in there.”

Taehyung nods, but doesn’t say anything. It stays silent for a moment and Jeongguk’s heart breaks
when he watches the tear fall from Taehyung’s face and into his lap.

“Do you think she meant to die?”

Jin looks troubled, eyes catching on Jeongguk’s but he has no idea what to tell him.

“I don’t know,” Jin says quietly. “I don’t know, Tae.”

“I was angry when I thought it was my step father. I was angry when I thought it was Chung-Hoon,”
Taehyung whispers, his voice like a hum as he plays with Jeongguk’s fingers, “I can’t be angry with
her.”

Jooheon has a pretty face with eyes filled with sunshine, but it isn’t the face Hoseok wants to see the
moment he opens his eyes. He’s thankful though that he’s not alone, even if he feels like he should
be.

“Where’s the kid?”

Jooheon grins, sinking back in the chair he has stationed beside Hoseok’s hospital bed. “Good to see
you too. How are you feeling?”

“Like I got shot,” Hoseok grunts as he sits up. It takes effort and it hurts but it could be worse. “The
kid?”

The hospital door opens then and Jimin comes in, coffee in his hands. His eyes are swollen and
latched to the ground and it hurts .

“Hyung,” Jimin gasps, crossing the room to be his side. He puts the cups down before placing the
back of his hand to Hoseok’s forehead. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything? I should call
the nurse.”

Hoseok ignores the pain to reach for Jimin, holding him so he can’t rush out. The pain is in his chest
is harder to ignore. “I’m sorry.”

Jimin looks at him and he doesn’t hide the sadness in his eyes well. He nods his head once before
sniffling. “I’m going to get the nurse.”

It’s silent when he leaves and Hoseok stares up at the ceiling and tries not to remember the way Kitty
looked falling into his arms. Jooheon respects his need for quiet though Hoseok doesn’t understand
why he lingers around, even when Jimin returns.

Hoseok feels as if his heart may skip out of his chest when Jimin sits beside him and takes his hand
while the nurse checks him over. He can’t look at his face, at the similarity.

“Yoongi wanted to be here. I forced him to stay with the others. Guk was a bit scary yesterday. I
think Yoongi’s the only one that can keep him reeled in.”

Hoseok nods, watching the nurse leave and wishing she would stay so he’d have an excuse to avoid
looking at Jimin.

“Guk was scary because his life just got flipped upside down. His son was taken and he had to listen
to the man who killed his mother talk about what he did to her.”

“I know,” Jimin says, eyes wide when Hoseok looks to him. “I know. That’s why he’s with him.
You should have seen it, when Guk got to Ji-hu.” Jimin breathes through his teeth, choking. “He
flew through the house. He didn’t even ask where Ji-hu was, he just ran.”

Hoseok squeezes Jimin’s fingers as Jimin bends his face over their hands, the back of his becoming
wet with quiet tears. Tears he knows aren’t just for Jeongguk and Ji-hu.

“It’s okay to be upset about other things,” Hoseok tells him softly as he side eyes where Jooheon is
pretending not to be there.

Jimin nods but he doesn’t get to respond as the door opens to more guests. Jooheon looks as if he’s
bracing himself for an enemy, protective, before recognition flickers on his face and he relaxes.

The small boy is familiar, the one from the warehouse. The woman behind him isn’t.

“Hey,” the boy shouts before he’s galloping across the room. The woman chases after him, keeping
him from jumping onto the hospital bed with an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry. He hasn’t stopped asking about you,” the woman says. “Jisung, be careful.”

There’s a curious expression on the boy’s face as he cocks his head. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” Hoseok says with a nod. “Are you okay?”

It bothers him, angers him, that Mun put a child in danger.

Jisung nods. “Abeoji says I did really good because I wasn’t afraid. I don’t get afraid. And I know
you helped protect me like Jooheonie hyung?”

Hoseok grits his teeth, glancing away and finding Jooheon watching them. “You were brave.”

The boy gives him a pleased smile as he moves away. “Heal well and quickly, Hoseok-ssi.”

Discomfort settles into Hoseok as he watches Jisung and the woman with him leave. Jimin looks
confused as Hoseok glares at Jooheon.

“Is anyone going to explain where Mun got a fucking child? One he had no qualms about putting in
danger?”

Jooheon opens his mouth to explain but the sudden overwhelming rage is washing over him and
Hoseok doesn’t give him the chance to speak.

“What makes him different from Sungho? That kid can’t be more than ten! He might have been safe,
but he isn’t safe from nightmares? From the damage fear causes?”

Jooheon looks away and Hoseok follows the movement, finding Mun standing in front of the door.
He’s showered and wears a suit that looks expensive, his hair combed neatly. The only sign he even
went through anything is the bags under his eyes.

“He’s my son,” Mun explains tiredly. “He’s a strong boy.”

Hoseok spits, he can’t help it. Jimin is beside him in a second, his expression still confused as he
grabs for his hand. “I don’t like you, Mun.”

“I never claimed to be a good man, nor a decent one,” Mun says as he fixes his tie. “I knew Sungho
the men Sungho would bring with him were loyal to me, just as you knew you couldn’t trust
Jooheon.”

Hoseok refuses to look at Jooheon, even when he sighs.

“Sungho wouldn’t trust just anyone knowing about or being near his son, nor would he want anyone
to see that both his wife and his most trusted betrayed him unless he was close with them. My men
are the closest to him. Kitty and Jisung were the only two in there that weren’t in danger until you
stepped in.”

Hoseok wants to look away but he can’t face Jimin. The words aren’t true, can’t be true, but he can’t
deal with the idea of them being right.

“In a few days time, I’m meeting with the heads of Guowang and Sungho’s men to discuss our next
steps. Guowang is taking over as we speak and I wish to offer Sungho’s men a deal if they give in. I
would like you there, Hoseok. And you, Jimin.”

Finally looking at Jimin, Hoseok tightens his grip on Jimin’s hand to make sure he doesn’t leap
across the room like the murderous look in his eyes says he might.

“They aren’t as loyal as to Sungho as we had expected,” Mun continues. “Or we shouldn’t have
expected. There’s a lot more children involved than we realized. Those who work for him do so to
keep their children safe, not because they’re loyal.”

Jooheon laughs at this, a malicious sound that doesn’t fit with his normal cheery expression.
“Changkyun told you that.”
Mun nods, hands clasping in front of himself apologetically. “I’ve been honest with everyone. My
only concern here has ever been Kyungsoon and her children. The rest didn’t matter unless it helped
me. But I am a man of my word and will do as I promised. That means making sure you are safe
from arrest, Jimin.”

Jimin is staring down and it’s enough for Hoseok, who sits up to hide Jimin behind him as he kicks
Mun out.

“Think about it,” Mun says before he finally leaves.

Jooheon crosses the room once he’s gone, standing in front of it like he’s guarding the room. And
maybe he is. Hoseok doesn’t trust that Sungho truly came alone, that there’s no one still loyal to
Sungho and ready to retaliate.

“He ordered me to shoot her,” Jooheon says finally. “If she turned on us and gave Sungho Jisungie. I
wouldn’t have done it for Mun, or to betray anyone, but to keep the boy safe. We didn’t know if we
could trust her. You had every right to distrust me. He’s right; you are good at what you do.”

Hoseok grunts at this, squeezing Jimin’s hand as he notices Jimin’s face turning red. “I would have
killed you if you did.”

Jooheon gives him a lazy grin. “Love it when you talk dirty to me, babe.”

Hoseok huffs out, rolling his eyes. Jimin manages a small grin, but tears are slipping from his eyes.
“Jooheonie, can you give us a minute?”

There is silence that follows before the sound of the door opens and closes. It’s enough to get Jimin
to break and curling into Hoseok’s thigh, resting his head there as he sobs quietly.

“Jimin-ah, I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t trust Mun,” Jimin says instead, ignoring the conversation they should be having. Hoseok
isn’t surprised. “Taehyung’s wanted for the kidnapping of Ji-hu and he’s done nothing about it. It’s
all over the news.”

Hoseok’s guilt turns to anger as he turns to glare at the door to his hospital room. “Call Jinju-ssi. She
seems close to Mun and I trust her.”

He rubs a hand over Jimin’s temple, brushing back his hair. What Jimin needs is Yoongi, but Jinju is
the next best thing.

There are moments where Jimin finds he must be dreaming. As often as he’s wanted to escape her,
he now misses her so badly his entire body feels weighed down with it.

She didn’t deserve someone mourning her, but he can’t help it. He is mixed between being angry
with himself, ashamed he cares, worried about Taehyung and just sad .

Seeing the way Jeongguk ran for his son when they were reunited made his heart hurt, wondering
what it felt like to have a parent care so much for him.

His mother waited too long to show him she did.

“Come here, eat something.”

Jimin lifts his eyes to where Jinju stands before the oven, a soft expression on her face. He hadn’t
wanted to come here but she had insisted and Hoseok seemed eager for her cooking and eager to
discuss Mun.

“I’m not hungry, Eomeoni.”

She scoffs at this as she starts to make a bowl of food for him anyway. “No point in being sad and
hungry, Jimin-ah. You look as if you may disappear into thin air at any moment. When was the last
time you ate?”

Jimin wishes he could and he diverts his eyes when he catches Hoseok looking at him like he knows
he wants to.

He wishes Yoongi were here, wishes he hadn’t been stubborn and insistent that he stay behind. Jinju
gives him the same warmth Yoongi does, but not enough.

“I’m not sad. I ate at the hospital,” he lies. Hoseok glares at him for doing so.

“You are,” Jinju says without hesitation. “You feel how you feel, Jimin-ah. There is no reason to
hurt yourself more over it.”

It goes quiet as Jimin accepts more food than he thinks he can eat. He shifts the food around more so
than he eats it, only bringing it to his mouth when he feels Jinju’s eyes on him.

He wishes he wasn’t this sad. He wishes he knew what his mother wanted when she passed. There
won’t be a funeral and Jimin isn’t sure if he is thankful or regretting it.

“Why don’t you stay with me for a few days, baby? The both of you?” Jinju finally says, breaking
the quiet. “Let me take care of you while you heal.”

Jimin doesn’t need to tell her why he can’t when the reason steps into the kitchen, eyes as wide as
they can be despite being swollen and bruised.

Bobby’s hands fly up at the sight of them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was here.”

Jimin is out of his seat before Hoseok can call his name to sit back down.

There was once a time, long ago, when Bobby was the only comfort Jimin ever had.

“B,” Jimin says hesitantly but Bobby won’t look him in the eye. He’s clean, but he looks more ill
than he had a few days prior. “Can we talk?”

Bobby lift his head. Despite looking unsure, he nods his head.

Hoseok makes a loud noise of complaint behind him when Jimin takes Bobby’s hand to guide him
out. The shuffle of the chair tells Jimin he intends to follow too, but Jimin knows he isn’t in any
danger.

Jimin doesn’t know what he wants to say or why he even called Bobby.

“I um -”

“I’m sorry,” Bobby says, squeezing Jimin’s fingers before Jimin can say a word. “It doesn’t mean
anything but I want you to hear it and know I mean it.”

He’s right. It doesn’t mean anything.

“Why?” Jimin asks quietly. “Why didn’t you tell me what they were putting you through?”

Bobby laughs at this but there isn’t amusement in his tone. “I didn’t want you to know.”

“I would have helped you.”

Bobby shakes his head, rubbing his thumb over Jimin’s knuckles. It’s strange how gentle Bobby is,
reminding him of the Bobby that he used to have, so many years ago.

“You couldn’t have.”

“Tell me everything now. Before I say goodbye.”

There’s pain in Bobby’s eyes but they both knew it was coming. He sits once they’ve reached the
living room, Winnie awaiting there, but she leaves when she spots the two of them.

It’s quiet for awhile but Jimin doesn’t feel it to be awkward. The sadness is heavy in the air but Jimin
no longer knows what he’s truly sad about.

He’s getting what he wants. To be free of his mother, Chung-Hoon, Bobby. He’s free and Taehyung
is too.

“My mother insisted I help her find you,” Bobby finally says. “It was a coincidence that my uncle
asked me to take you, to punish Kitty for reaching out to my mother for help. He had given me the
funds to start my first club in Busan and to take you with me. I sought you for Eomma, pretended
that it was for Sungho, but when I saw you, I wanted you by my side.

“You seemed excited about taking Sungho’s clients and starting up the club and so I just - I don’t
know, didn’t tell you that Eomma wanted you here in Japan. I wanted to open the club with you, and
give you the chance to screw over Sungho but I had to still prove myself to him as a leader. I still had
to do as Jun-ki needed me to and get Guowang their money through the clubs to protect Jeongguk.”

The name is said with such tenderness but there’s hurt in Bobby’s eyes when he speaks it.

“I think Yunbok suspected me of being too loyal to Jun-ki and that is when he’d force me to watch
the videos. It’s when -”

Bobby hesitates, scratching over the small scars on the inside of his arm.

“That’s when he first made me use,” he whispers and the sadness around them multiplies. “He told
me he would make Jeongguk watch them if I didn’t. He told me -”

Jimin reaches for Bobby’s hands as they start to shake, eyes blurring.

“He told me if I did anything stupid like let you go he would do the same thing to you,” Bobby
finally huffs out. “He’d make sure you ended up like me, like Kitty. He told me if I didn’t put you in
your place, your mother would be buried beside mine.”

It’s like being slapped in the face and Jimin can’t breathe.

“But please don’t think I’m excusing what I’ve done. Seeing you with Yoongi - you were right, I
was always jealous of him. He got to be Jeongguk’s hyung when it was supposed to be me.
Thinking of you and him - that was all my own action. I lied to Baby about not knowing him so I
could see if Baby would lie for you. It was me who chose to punish Baby for lying, even if I knew
forcing him on Yoongi would upset both you and Jeongguk.
“I was afraid of you leaving me because of Yunbok but also because of me. It stopped being just
Yunbok doping me up but I started doing it myself because - I don’t know, not a moment went by
that I didn’t think about what I did to Eomma. I became desperate to do as both Yunbok and Jun-ki
needed me while keeping you safe and Jeongguk happy -”

“You threatened Woojin.”

The words slip from Jimin’s mouth before he can stop them and he’s surprised how soft his own
voice sounds.

Bobby nods. “I know. To get you to stay. I would have never, even though I knew he’d never be
hurt.”

“Because he’d be the heir? Bobby you’re supposed to be the heir and look how hurt you are. You’re
going through withdrawal right now, aren’t you?”

There’s a sag in Bobby’s shoulders as Jimin pulls him closer.

“I know, I’m - I’m not trying to excuse anything. Just explain like you asked.”

Jimin sighs, wiping away Bobby’s tears. “Thank you for explaining.”

“I really am sorry,” Bobby murmurs, sniffling and closing his eyes as Jimin cups his face.

This time, it means a lot more than it had.

“I know it might not be enough, but I’ve given you everything. Put everything in your name. The
apartments, the cars, my share of the clubs and all the royalties from Jeon Tobacco. I even have
Jeongguk’s money still. You can give it all to Baby. There was never a debt.”

Jimin presses his lips shut, pulling away from him. He wants to be angry, to yell and scream at
Bobby for all the lies, but he can’t do that.

“It isn’t enough but it should have been yours, anyway.”

“I don’t want it. Give Jeongguk his money back but keep the rest.”

There’s a throat clearing behind them and Jimin finds Hoseok there, standing off a ways as he shakes
his head for Jimin to stop.

“Throw it away, if you want. I don’t need it. I’m - I’m going away for sometime to get help and I’ll
probably stay here with Winnie.”

At the mention of her name, Bobby looks to the hall but it’s only her dog there.

“I was given her name so my mother couldn’t find her,” Bobby murmurs. “Any record of Kim Jiwon
my mother would assume is about me; not her. The only good thing I ever did in my life was reunite
them before she died.”

Jimin doesn’t understand but he drops his eyes to his lap as Bobby whispers quietly to himself.

“Not fully good maybe, as taking her to Eomma took her away from you when you needed her to
care for Baby. But I needed to do it. Once I found out who she was, I needed them to meet.”

Understanding then, Jimin gasps quietly. He glances back at the dog and at Bobby’s twisted face.
“She’s the baby. The first one that was taken away.”

Bobby nods. “Eomma took her from Sungho. She was important to him. The only person next to
Jinju and Kyungsoon that he loved. I think he knew I had something to do with it, I’m not sure.
That’s why he made me - made me do what I did to her.”

“He loved her so much he made her train kidnapped children how to be good whores.”

Jimin had seen a lot of Winnie when he was younger. There were a lot of other children working for
Chung-Hoon. Kids who were trained in which ever way Chung-Hoon saw fit. Kids whose parents
were loyal to Chung-Hoon and kids who didn’t even have parents.

Bobby’s eyes slide to his then as he nods. He doesn’t get a chance to reply and Jimin is thankful, he
doesn’t want to hear it, when rushed footsteps echo through the room.

Turning, Jimin’s heart leaps into his throat as Yoongi jogs into the room. He’s flushed and his eyes
grow wide as he comes to a halt beside Hoseok. Jimin has to blink a few times, to clear his tears and
to make sure it’s really him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t love you back,” Jimin murmurs so only Bobby can hear, pulling his hands away
so Yoongi doesn’t assume the worst, “and that I pretended that I did.”

Bobby shakes his head, folding his hands into his lap. “Hyung took care of Jeonggukkie better than I
ever could. I know he’ll take care of you too.”

It washes over Jimin quickly, making him him inhale deeply to release a shaky exhale.

“I hope you heal well and find peace quickly, Bobby-ssi,” Jimin mutters as he stands, desperate to
leave before the feeling consumes him and he feels too guilty to say goodbye, “even if you don’t
think you deserve it.”

Bobby bows his head. “Goodbye, Jimin.”

Yoongi’s eyes are latched onto him as Jimin moves, eyes concerned and soft, contrasting with
Hoseok’s narrowed ones.

Jimin feels like he can breathe again when Yoongi takes his hand into his own, even if his exhale
comes out choked. Even if his chest hurts and Hoseok and Yoongi cling to each side of him as his
tears fall.

Not because of saying goodbye, but because life fucking sucks in so many ways and Jimin’s ole
worry of good things never truly existing returns so quickly. The tears come because he’s terrified of
what’s to come, what pain he has to endure next.

Despite the days that have passed, the fear still lingers heavy in the air. Or heavy in Taehyung’s eyes.
He brushes it aside with a quick smile towards Jeongguk but Jeongguk sees it.

He sees it in Taehyung’s refusal to leave the house and the panic in his eyes when Jin decides the kid
have to go back to school. He sees it in the frowns he thinks he’s hiding with smiles sent Jeongguk’s
way when their eyes meet and how much tighter Taehyung clings to him.

Jeongguk doesn’t say a word but lets Taehyung use him as he needs because it’s only been a couple
days and it’s going to take a lot longer to be better.
“You sure you’re okay?”

Taehyung hums, trailing a finger down Jeongguk’s jaw before he kisses the side of his neck. His
fingers are still shaking and he’s still pretending like Jeongguk hadn’t woken up to him crying. He
hadn’t been there when Jeongguk had fallen asleep and he had smiled upon finding him when he
woke, until he realized he woke to the sound of soft sobbing.

Smoothing a hand up Taehyung’s back to cup his nape, Jeongguk doesn’t mention it. He still has the
fear that someone will come in and take someone from him, hurt them. He doesn’t think it will go
away, so he understands.

Jeongguk’s been thinking a lot about his mother.

Taehyung curls an arm around Jeongguk, bringing their lips together. They haven’t done anything
though Taehyung has tried, a dead look in his eyes and hands moving like habit. It feels more like
desperation for warmth, comfort, the way their lips drag over each other.

The morning air is lazy as is Taehyung’s tongue, tracing over Jeongguk’s bottom lip before he’s
crawling further forward.

“Distract me, Guk,” is all Taehyung says before he’s pushing Jeongguk onto his back and tangling
their legs.

“If you talk to me,” Jeongguk tries, though he’d never force him to if Taehyung really didn’t want to.
He needs to though, one day. “Or anyone.”

Jimin hasn’t been here and Jin says Taehyung hasn’t said a word about what’s happened.

“After,” Taehyung promises, lips skating over Jeongguk’s jaw.

“Tae -” Jeongguk says, trying to persuade but Taehyung’s lips are latching hard onto the side of his
neck. “Tae, don’t keep it locked up.”

Taehyung huffs out, seemingly annoyed as he pushes up on his hands and stares down at Jeongguk.

“I woke up to a gun pressed to my head and all I thought about was Ji-hu. All I still think about is Ji-
hu and him getting hurt and being afraid and how I don’t trust the people around me and it terrifies
me and I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

Jeongguk flinches at the sharpness of Taehyung’s words. He pushes up on one hand, using the other
to cup Taehyung’s neck and feel his racing pulse. “Me too. I understand.”

The tears are back and Jeongguk feels like an ass for causing them. “No, you don’t.”

It’s something Jeongguk could argue with easily but Taehyung’s closing his eyes and forcing the
tears to slip down his cheeks. Jeongguk kisses them away instead before he presses their lips
together.

“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” Taehyung whispers against his lips. “I want to pretend like
nothing happened, just for a couple minutes.”

Jeongguk nods, shifting until Taehyung’s pulled into his lap. It’s slower this time, more hesitant the
way Taehyung touches over Jeongguk. It’s difficult to focus on his touch now that Jeongguk’s mind
is busy too, but he tries to when Taehyung’s hands shift under his shirt and his hips grind down
against him.
Taehyung pulls back, hips rocking but he’s frowning at Jeongguk. Jeongguk tries to rid it, hands
skating down his sides and rubbing his thighs but the atmosphere doesn’t change.

“Tell me again,” Taehyung whispers as he guides Jeongguk’s shirt over his head. Jeongguk frowns
too, flexing his fingers in the flesh of Taehyung’s thighs to pull him close. “That you love me.”

Jeongguk melts, nuzzling against Taehyung’s throat. “I do, Taehyung. I knew I would love you.”

The gasp Taehyung lets out sounds more sad than anything. Jeongguk sighs, pulling away. “Tae, we
don’t have to do this right now. I can tell you don’t want to.”

He isn’t sure that they can as Taehyung rubs their hips together harshly like he hates the fact that
they’re both still soft.

“No, I do. I want to, please?”

Jeongguk feels conflicted, unsure if Taehyung really wants this or just thinks he does. But he
complies, guiding Taehyung to his back so he can crawl over him. He whispers the words back into
his skin, layering them over his chest and neck as he slips beneath the blankets.

He’s lifting Taehyung’s shirt to kiss over his hip bones when Taehyung’s leg flies up, knee clocking
him in the chest. Jeongguk grunts out in pain, head trapped beneath the blanket as Taehyung
scrambles away.

“Ji-hu baby, hey.”

Jeongguk hides his face under the blanket for a moment, but he knows his son is aware of the adult
sized lump beneath it.

Ji-hu’s head is cocked to the side, his lips pouted as Jeongguk emerges from his hiding place, face on
fire. “Ji-hu, you should knock before entering.”

“You said I didn’t have to,” Ji-hu reminds him.

Shit. He did. He told Ji-hu whenever he needs him he can come in, no matter what time it is and he
has, nearly every night. He won’t admit to the nightmares but he clings onto Jeongguk and trembles
until he falls asleep.

“What are you doing?”

Taehyung laughs quietly, the sound reaching his eyes as he nudges Jeongguk with his shoulder. It
relaxes the tension in Jeongguk’s chest, seeing Taehyung’s face glow with it.

“I um, there was a bug. In the bed.”

Ji-hu steps further into the room and a second later he’s climbing onto the bed. He knees over the
sheets until he’s climbing into Taehyung’s lap.

Jeongguk goes still as Ji-hu touches the tears left behind on Taehyung’s cheek. “You had more
nightmares? Is that why you’re with Appa?”

It’s quiet a moment before Taehyung nods and takes Ji-hu’s hand into his own.

“Me too. Grandpa gave me this to help me sleep,” Ji-hu says as he extracts something from his
pocket. Unfolding it, Jeongguk sees a glimpse of his mother’s face before he’s handing it off to
Taehyung. “You can borrow it. Grandma will protect you too.”
Taehyung smiles as he holds the photograph delicately. “Why don’t you hold onto it for now?”

Ji-hu takes it back with what looks to be relief on his face like he hadn’t wanted to give it up in the
first place. “Appa is good at protecting too. The monsters that are here told Grandpa they can’t come
in because Appa will break their noses.”

“What?” Jeongguk and Taehyung ask in unison.

Curling an arm around Taehyung, unbothered, Ji-hu nods. “Grandpa sent me to wake you because
the monsters - the pretend ones are here. Jackson-ssi. Some of them look scary but Grandpa pinky
promised me that they’re family.”

There it is again; the monsters that are family. Neither his father nor Ji-hu will explain it to him and
he grows frustrated. “The ones with the bugs?”

Ji-hu glances down at the necklace dangling from his throat. He won’t tell Jeongguk where he got it
or what it means, but that Jackson-ssi had the same one. Jeongguk tried to take it from him, not liking
the association, but Ji-hu had broken into tears.

“Yeah,” Ji-hu says proudly. “Grandpa wasn’t lying?”

Jeongguk shakes his head but Taehyung is tensing up beside him. The truth is, he has no idea if he
trusts them - but he’ll trust them enough to explain what the hell is going on. Jackson did bring his
son home after all, was the one to make sure Hanbin wasn’t successful in harming him. Jackson had
explained it to him the first night, that he had only gotten involved to make sure Ji-hu wasn’t harmed.

“Where are they?”

“In the guest house.”

Jeongguk shifts a kiss to Ji-hu’s forehead as he untangles himself from the blankets. “How about you
and Tae Tae go find the others, eat some breakfast and then go out for the day?”

Taehyung’s eyes are wide with something Jeongguk can’t read as Jeongguk pads over to where he
had left his wallet, picking up his shirt on the way.

Jun-ki had told him this day would come. Not only would Guowang come, but Mun as well.
Jeongguk wasn’t offered any more information.

“I can stay in here.”

Jeongguk hesitates handing the wallet off. It’s fear in Taehyung’s eyes.

“Go wherever you want, Tae. Take Woojin and Eunae too,” Jeongguk says as he hands Ji-hu his
wallet with a kiss to his forehead. “The distraction you wanted.”

“I’ll - I’ll be fine,” Taehyung insists.

Aware of Ji-hu’s eyes on them, Jeongguk still cups Taehyung’s jaw and presses a gentle kiss to his
lips. He lets it linger, tasting the worried gasp Taehyung lets out. “Go. Don’t worry. No one will
touch you.”

It’s difficult pulling away but Ji-hu is taking over for him, shifting closer to Taehyung so he has
someone to hold.

“Don’t worry, Tae Tae. I’ll protect you,” Jeongguk hears Ji-hu say as he pads off into the bathroom.
“Sungjin-ssi has been teaching me um fight moves. Wanna see?”

He cleans quickly, but they’re gone when Jeongguk returns to get dressed. He keeps his outfit
simple, business casual with a fine pressed shirt and pants, the sleeves rolled and collar unbuttoned.

There’s nerves inside of him because Jeongguk has no idea why his father’s insisting he joins them.
Jeongguk wants to, wants to understand, but he knows little to be any help in the conversation.

Despite the promise to talk later, Jeongguk and his father haven’t. It’s been quiet but busy around the
house, Jun-ki constantly on the phone or in his office. Jeongguk has been just as busy, tending to
Taehyung and Ji-hu and trying to deal with Jeon Tobacco’s affairs. The media coverage and press
conferences have given him a massive headache. Trying to convince the media and the police that
Taehyung had nothing to do with Ji-hu’s kidnapping has been the biggest burden of all.

So far, he’s been unsuccessful.

“Aye, looks like you need a good ol’ going out and baggin’ bitches kind of night.”

The pressure in Jeongguk’s chest releases when he spots Hoseok’s smile, stepping into the living
room. He holds Hoseok’s hand tight, hoping it’s enough to replace the hug he wants to give him.

“I think I’m done with that,” Jeongguk jokes back. Yoongi and Jimin are with him, sat together
around the table with their knees touching and hands clasped together. Jeongguk finds his smile
growing. “How are you?”

“Shitty,” Hoseok hums, tugging Jeongguk forward. “Here, eat something. It’s been a long time since
you’ve had some of Eomma Min’s food.”

“Jinju-ssi is here?” Jeongguk asks as he sits on the ground across from Yoongi. His father can wait.

“Came back with us,” Yoongi says, his cheeks round with food. “It was real awkward when she
walked into the kitchen and saw Jun-ki and Ji-hu there. They haven’t spoken.”

“It’s been a long time.”

It should be Jeongguk tending to Hoseok but Hoseok frowns at him and forces him to accept his
bowl being filled with too much food. The table between them isn’t too large and there’s bowls sat
on the ground around them.

“Where’s Tae?”

Jeongguk stops mid chewing when Jimin speaks, his voice small and quiet. “He took Ji-hu to get
something to eat. I’m supposed to be meeting with my father right now but you said Eomma Min and
I couldn’t resist.”

Jimin doesn’t respond but stands up and heads out of the living room and towards the kitchen.

“I’m glad he’s returned with you,” Jeongguk whispers once he’s gone.

Yoongi’s eyes are hard. “Mind your business, Guk. Saying goodbye to Bobby was hard on him.”

“Yeah and I don’t get -”

“Guk,” Yoongi interrupts, “we all know how upset you were and we get it, but you should
apologize to Jimin. You were harsh to him. You don’t know what he’s been through.”
Jeongguk nods as he stands, no longer hungry. Hoseok calls him back but he ignores it.

It isn’t anger but guilt, because he knows. He knows there’s a lot he doesn’t understand and probably
won’t. He isn’t even angry with Jimin; he’s pissed everyone has this caring for Bobby and won’t
understand why he doesn’t.

Down the hall and on the furthest side of the house is where Yoongi and Jinju used to live. Jeongguk
assumed it changed to house whoever now works for his father, so he’s surprised when he steps
inside and finds it filled with people he doesn’t know.

Many of them, Jeongguk would guess to be gangsters. He doesn’t see any weapons and he’s
probably stereotyping the tattoos and intimidating builds when people look at him with friendly
smiles. He recognizes Jackson and another person he thinks is from the club. He stops when he spots
Wonho.

Wonho is bending low in front of him when he approaches, hands grasping out for his. “Forgive me,
Mr. Jeon sir. I would have never let little Jeon go if I thought he’d truly be in danger. I knew he
would be safe.”

Jeongguk wishes to be angry but he can’t. “Thank you for risking your life to bring Taehyung
home.”

With wide eyes, Wonho bows rapidly in apology until Jeongguk stops him. “I’ve worked
undercover for many years, Mr. Jeon. I’ve been looking for him for a long time. If you’ll have me,
I’ll continue to protect you and your family well.”

A few yards behind stands Mun, eyes on Jeongguk as he listens to whatever Jooheon beside him
says.

“Do you work for Mun?”

Wonho nods again. Looking around, Jeongguk finds many familiar faces. Security from home and
work, men his father have had over before, even people from Jeongguk’s company.

He’s uncomfortable.

“I was to work undercover with Hanbin. Hanbin assigned me to keep an eye out on you but I’ve
only ever reported enough to maintain my cover.”

Excusing himself instead of responding, Jeongguk searches for his father to find him beside a man
younger than himself. His rolled sleeves show off the ink from elbow to fingertip, matching the black
coating of his neck and chest.

Jeongguk eyes over the cicada at the center of his throat and he knows he won’t be able to quiet his
questions for too long.

“My son, come here,” Jun-ki says, pulling Jeongguk close. “You’ve slept in late, are you feeling
well?”

“Yes, Appa. I was with Taehyung.”

Jun-ki smiles. Out of all of them, he has been the least gloomy. It’s nice to see but Jeongguk wishes it
were for other reasons.

“When I meant for you to care for each other, that isn’t what I meant,” Jun-ki jokes and Jeongguk
stills, trying to remember the last time his father told a joke. “I want you to meet someone. This is
Park Jinyoung. He’s in line to take over Guowang when his father passes. Jinyoung-ah, this is my
son.”

Jeongguk bows his head in greeting, taking the inked man’s hands into his own.

“It is good to finally meet you, Jeongguk-ssi. You’re a legend amongst my men.”

Heat warms over his face. “An undeserved title.”

“It truly is,” Jinyoung hums, amused. His face is closed off but his eyes shine. “Your father has told
me how out of the loop you are with everything which is why I wished for your presence here today.
You should be, as it’s a matter that concerns your son.”

Jeongguk goes still, wanting to look to his father but he doesn’t. He thinks Guowang is friends with
his father but it doesn’t change the fact that Jeongguk is talking to the son of the leader of some
massive, dangerous mob .

He thinks.

“My son?”

Jinyoung nods, sipping at the glass he holds, but it is Jun-ki who speaks.

“Guowang’s offered protection for our family for many years. In exchange for profit. I know you’ve
been curious about the money that goes through the Minx from the company, but the Minx is a filter.
Jimin-ah’s created what looks to be a fake account, but it is in the name of Jinyoung’s lover, Park
Yugyeom. Half of it goes there and the other is pulled out and stuffed into the pockets of those in
Guowang who work there.”

“That’s one way,” Jinyoung says with a small smile. “We have men in the company as well, but we
never take more than the agreed profit. We benefit from them working beneath a boss that pays his
employees fruitfully.”

Jeongguk is very uncomfortable.

“I don’t understand what this has to do with my son.”

“We wish to continue our arrangement. Now that Sungho and his strongest men have been put
behind bars, we wish for Guowang to gain some more power within South Korea. We’ve taken over
Bobby’s clubs and clientele so far,” Jinyoung explains, “and we wish to push our product as Yunbok
had with the use of Jeon Tobacco.”

Jeongguk finally turns to his father and sees the hesitancy on his face.

“One of my initial agreements with Yunbok, in exchange for your mother’s freedom, was that he
could use Jeon Tobacco. Not just for money laundering purposes, but he uses the actual cigars to
pack his product into and sell them exclusively at his clubs.”

Jeongguk’s discomfort turns ugly, twisting inside of him.

“You expect me to agree to this for Ji-hu’s safety?” Jeongguk asks, clarifying.

Jinyoung holds out a hand and shakes his head. “Ji-hu will be safe and protected regardless of your
action or inaction. He is family. This would be a partnership, Mr. Jeon. Your profit will grow as will
ours. Bobby’s share in the clubs will go directly to you.”

“I don’t want it,” Jeongguk says immediately.

“You will not be safe,” Jinyoung goes on. “Your son will be, you won’t.”

“I’m not worried about my safety.”

“Taehyung’s?”

Jeongguk stares at the smirk on Jinyoung’s face where Taehyung’s name had just been formed. It
makes the anger inside of him grow.

“You must be aware that Sungho’s group is much too large to detain them all. Many have gone into
hiding but they’ll return. You must be aware that Taehyung is still considered a suspect in your son’s
kidnapping.”

Jeongguk turns, eyes searching for Mun who is still watching him. He is well aware of that fact and
he isn’t sure why Mun hasn’t called off the manhunt for Taehyung. Taehyung needs to leave the
house, to get better, and this is making it difficult.

“You see the power we hold? Even the police are willing to come to an agreement,” Jinyoung tries.

“You never clarified what this has to do with my son if he’s already protected?” Jeongguk says,
changing the subject before his rage grows. He hadn’t handled it well last time it got out of control.
“And what do you mean by him being family because as far as I’m concerned, the only family he
has is me and his grandfather.”

“We can discuss that,” Jinyoung replies with a wolfish grin. “We wish that the company stays within
the Jeon family. Ji-hu must take over once you’ve retired. And he is very much family, Mr. Jeon. It is
not just Jeon blood in his veins.”

The atmosphere is gloomy. Taehyung wonders how long it’ll stick around, if it’s his fault because
even watching his siblings smile he can’t find himself to be happy.

They’re playing a game, one Taehyung hasn’t been paying attention to. He’s aware of Woojin’s
worried glances and Jin’s attempts at distracting him. Even Ji-hu is aware, constantly trying to pull
Taehyung back from his thoughts. Nothing’s working.

He’s busy thinking about the worry in Jeongguk’s eyes and the resistance to touch him. He’s
thinking of Ji-hu asking why they’ve kissed the way they have and admitting to his nightmares.

He’s thinking of his own and how he keeps waking up startled from dreams of the children
disappearing into the night.

“Kids, why don’t you give Tae and I a minute?” Jin says, patting Woojin’s head and dragging
Taehyung’s attention from his thoughts. “Go get cleaned up for lunch.”

Woojin looks worriedly at Taehyung, reaching out for him and Taehyung forces himself to smile as
he rubs his fingers.

It isn’t pain. Not quite numbness either. He’s afraid to leave the house, he feels trapped inside of it.
His thoughts are scary but he can’t get rid of them. He really wanted Jeongguk to distract him but it
had felt wrong; forceful.

“Woojin’s progressed a lot,” Jin starts off, rubbing his chin. “He’s quiet and shy, but his doctor says
it isn’t anything abnormal. He talks in school and he talks when prompted. He has friends. The
doctor is thinking about changing the diagnosis.”

Taehyung nods, glancing at the hands in his lap. This is good news, he should be smiling.

“He talks to me a lot, has started to tell me a lot about his thoughts. I told him it was my decision to
have us live separately,” Jin says carefully. “He was angry with you and I couldn’t let him blame
you. He is angry with me now and he has every right to be. As do you. It was a mistake and - and I
believe we should live together again. But - but once you’re sure that this is done.”

Jin makes a frustrated noise, rubbing a hand down his face. “A couple years ago, you came home
hurt.”

Taehyung looks at Jin then, at the stress in his features and the pain in his eyes.

“You had gotten angry at Woojin before you left because he was misbehaving.” There’s tears
slipping down Jin’s cheeks and Taehyung’s heart clenches so painfully in his chest that tears start to
build in his own eyes. “He thinks you leave because of him. He was so angry at himself when we
left that he was hurting himself, punching things, banging his head.”

It’s too much, too soon. Taehyung folds over himself until his forehead hits the table in front of him.

“Every time you leave, even for a few minutes, he’s afraid you’re going to get hurt. You know there
isn’t a lot of research about this, Tae, they don’t even know if it’s correlated but I think -”

It goes in one ear and out the other as Taehyung tries to grasp onto the fact that no matter how hard
he’s tried, with everything, that it’s never worked. He tries to deal with the fact that even though he’s
obviously breaking apart, Jin doesn’t think that this might destroy him to hear.

Jin is still talking when Taehyung stands. He’s aware of his name being called but he walks off,
ignoring it. He doesn’t know where he’s going or where he can go, he just needs to leave. He should
have left like Jeongguk insisted, but he had been afraid. Maybe he should just let the police charge
him for kidnapping, so he doesn’t have to hurt his siblings any longer.

Taehyung doesn’t stop until he turns the corner and slams into someone else. Apologies are tumbling
from his lips as the man grabs his hips to keep him from falling.

He yelps, shoving the man away. The guard - the same guard from Hanbin’s house, he’s sure of it.

“What are you doing here!” Taehyung screams, shoving him further. Part of him knows the guard
had been on Jun-ki’s side, but the memory of him is dragging back the fear associated with that
night. How he had stood there, doing nothing.

“I work for Jun-ki,” the guard yells. “My name is Bambam!”

The sound of someone running echoes down the hallway as the man yells at Taehyung to stop
shoving him. He can’t, he’s being absorbed with fear.

He hears Jin somewhere as another man joins them, an unfamiliar man with bright orange hair and a
gun held out in front of him. It falters the moment he takes in Taehyung and the guard, but
Taehyung’s stomach rips into his throat and threatens to spill from his mouth.
“Tae, it’s okay,” Jin is saying behind him over the echo of pounding feet.

“Put your gun away Jooheonie,” another familiar voice snaps before Hoseok appears. He shoves
past the second man to take Taehyung’s face into his hands. Taehyung grabs for him, body trembling
as he glances over the bandages covering Hoseok’s body. “It’s fine, they’re with us.”

“Hyung,” Taehyung huffs, tucking his chin over Hoseok’s shoulder.

“Jeongguk told you not to come into this part of the house,” Hoseok snaps at the guard, who flinches
back at the daggers flying from Hoseok’s eyes.

“I’m really sorry,” the guard - Bambam says. “I was just looking for the bathroom.”

Taehyung’s screams must have echoed through the house because more people rush into the small
hallway, alarm on their faces. They all halt when they take in Taehyung, except for Jeongguk who
nearly rips Hoseok aside to grab for him.

“What happened?” Jeongguk asks, his face pale and eyes angry.

“Nothing, I - he was at Hanbin’s and I -”

Jeongguk sighs as he curls his arms around Taehyung’s shoulders and holds him so tightly Taehyung
feels as if he could break.

“And I didn’t recognize - with the gun. Pointed at me.”

He’s rambling, but he can’t stop. He needs to, before Woojin sees. Before he hurts Woojin worse.

“Shh, it’s okay. I told them not to come in here,” Jeongguk whispers as he rocks Taehyung. “I’m
sorry.”

Feeling ridiculous, Taehyung insists it’s fine as he wipes his face into Jeongguk’s shirt. There’s too
many people around and only a few of them know well enough to leave the hallway. He’s had a
hard enough time opening up to Jeongguk, he can’t be this way in front of so many people.

“I wouldn’t let anyone in that would hurt you,” Jeongguk promises quietly.

Hoseok huffs, a sarcastic noise that captures Taehyung’s attention. Jeongguk glares at him in
response, grappling for Taehyung as Taehyung pulls away.

“I’m fine,” Taehyung insists, rubbing the tears from his eyes. “Just - scared me.”

“I’m sorry, Tae. I didn’t think.”

Taehyung shakes his head. “Not your fault. I’m sorry.”

“S’cool man,” Bambam says with a swift punch to his shoulder. Jeongguk flares up like he might
attack. “I’m Guowang.”

As he says this, he holds up his hand, showing off a tattoo of some type of flying bug.

Bambam falters when Taehyung doesn’t take his offered hand. “I work with Jackson?”

Following Bambam’s gaze, Taehyung finds Jackson standing amongst the crowd. Rage curls inside
of him even though he knows Jackson is the reason Ji-hu is safe.
He’s thrown off by the other familiar faces; a few of Bobby’s birds and someone he is sure he’s seen
with Jeongguk before. He has the same bug tattooed onto his neck.

A cicada.

The same that hangs from Ji-hu’s neck.

“They work with my father,” Jeongguk explains. “They’re here to discuss what to do now that
Sungho is gone.”

“We protect the Jeons,” Bambam says cheerfully. “And since you’re a Jeon, we’ll always have your
back. No need to be afraid.”

It goes quiet as Jeongguk’s face grows bright red. He clears his throat, taking Taehyung’s hand.
“Come on, lets go rest.”

“No,” Taehyung sighs. “Go finish.”

“You should join us, Taehyung,” someone says and Jeongguk tenses, a vein appearing over his
temple.

It’s an older man with an unkind face and eyes so when he looks at Taehyung it’s as if he’s looking
at a ghost. Taehyung shrinks in front of Jeongguk, twisting his fingers into his shirt.

He knows that man. From somewhere.

“You should fuck off,” Hoseok grunts harshly, hand flying to his belt but there isn’t anything there.
“I told your father not to let him in the house, Guk. This is why!”

Taehyung trusts Jeongguk wouldn’t intentionally let someone dangerous in, but Jeongguk’s lived his
life unknowingly around dangerous people. Hoseok’s always been able to spot them when even
Jimin couldn’t.

Taehyung clings harder to Jeongguk when the man approaches.

“Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt or come off abrupt. My name is Mun Woojin and -”

“Come on, lets go Tae,” Jeongguk says, shifting a hand to his nape.

Taehyung remembers his face, though it had been younger at the time. Images pop into his head but
he can’t pinpoint exactly how he knows him. But it makes his heart stutter with fear.

“I knew your mother very well.”

There’s a rumble of protests from around Taehyung but Taehyung doesn’t listen.

He remembers, sneaking out of the closet after his mother had hidden him inside. She had many men
come over, but he was a frequent visitor. Taehyung had been afraid of him because he had to hide.
But he smiled a lot.

At the time, Taehyung thought the strange men hurt his mother from the sounds he would hear. She
would cry when this one left.

“You were a client of hers,” Taehyung whispers as he shrinks against Jeongguk, hiding like he had
when he was younger. “I remember you.”
The same Mun Woojin that had been mentioned in Young-Mi’s letters?

“What?” Hoseok asks as the man’s face falls. “Oh you lying son of a bitch.”

The man starts to talk again but Jeongguk’s moving Taehyung back with gentle arms. “Come on
love. Namjoon-ssi made tea.”

Taehyung watches the man’s face, the worry in his eyes before he lets Jeongguk take him to the
kitchen, giving in because Jeongguk is urgent about getting out of the hallway. Taehyung doesn’t
mind; he felt the need to rush out with so many eyes on his vulnerable state.

“It’s hard for me not to insist that you and Ji-hu are beside me at every given moment,” Jeongguk
admits as he pats the kitchen counter for Taehyung to sit. “Sometimes it hits me out of nowhere, the
panic that makes me need to see you.”

Jeongguk waits for Taehyung to climb up before he heads towards where the tea is set up.

“I just mean, don’t apologize for being scared, for not being okay yet. There will be a few unfamiliar
people here for the next, I don’t know, week or so. I can make them meet somewhere else.”

Taehyung sniffles as he shakes his head. “No. It’s your father’s home. I’m always going to be afraid.
They can lock up Chung-Hoon’s entire family but he’s built an empire. There’s thousands of people
who are loyal to him and the threat will -”

Taehyung hiccups out a sob as Jeongguk forgoes the tea to grab his hands. He brings them up to his
mouth, kissing over his knuckles.

“You know I don’t know a lot about this stuff,” Jeongguk says with a small smile, “so I may not be
as reassuring as I want to be. That’s why all these men are here. Next steps or something. Jooheon-
ssi says those closest to Chung went into hiding. A lot of people here infiltrated Chung’s family. You
may recognize them. If it’s hard on you, we can leave, but I promise you - I promise with every in
me that you are safe and I’m making sure you stay that way. You need to talk about this eventually,
Tae. Take your time, but please know you can tell me.”

Taehyung huffs out. He knows, but he isn’t good with talking about it. “Jin hyung wants me to move
back with them.”

Jeongguk goes still, eyes stuck on their clasped hands as he swallows. “You should.”

How can he? When he’s the reason Woojin suffers? When the truth is that being safe is something
he’ll never have? Even if he does, the fear of danger will always be there.

He can’t voice the words out loud and doesn’t want to face the pity in Jeongguk’s eyes a moment
longer. He wants Jeongguk to tell him he can’t, that he wants Taehyung to continue living with him
so Taehyung has an excuse to hide his fear.

“Jeongguk,” Taehyung murmurs, “is that man the detective?”

Jeongguk seems distracted by the silence and the play of their hands. He looks confused for a
moment before he nods, his body tensing up.

“Then why does Hoseok hate him?”

“I don’t know,” Jeongguk admits as he lets go of Taehyung’s hands to cup his neck. Like this,
standing between his legs, Taehyung can grip onto his shirt and squeeze his legs around his hips as a
silent plea not to go. “I think he doesn’t know if he can trust him and he’s played some dirty tricks to
get here. He didn’t really explain.”

Taehyung sighs, pressing his forehead to Jeongguk’s. “Your mother mentioned him in one of her
letters to my mother.”

“You recognized him.”

It isn’t a question but Taehyung nods. “She used to hide me in the closet when she had men over. I
thought they were scary.”

Jeongguk frowns as he rubs his thumbs over Taehyung’s pulse. “He was one of them.”

Another nod and Jeongguk is pulling back to inspect his face.

“He isn’t trustworthy because his stories don’t add up,” Jeongguk says hesitantly. “He told us the last
time he had seen your mother was before she had you.”

Taehyung is tired . His brain, tired. He wants to figure it out but if he thinks one second more, his
brain is going to seep out of his ears. He has been muddling over Woojin belonging to Chung-Hoon
like crazy the last few days and it just isn’t making sense to him.

Why would she go back to him?

“There’s a lot I didn’t know about my mom, I guess,” Taehyung sighs before he’s pulling Jeongguk
close.

Quiet washes over them as their lips mold together. Thankfully, Jeongguk lets him kiss him as he
pleases, ignoring how wet Taehyung’s cheeks become and the taste of tears over their tongues.

The pressure of Jeongguk’s body against and around his own is enough to rid the one in his chest,
breaking it and pushing out a sob that has Jeongguk gripping his chin.

“Tae,” Jeongguk tries, gasping against his lips but Taehyung squeezes his eyes closed and traps
Jeongguk’s lip between his own to get him to quiet.

When they pull apart, Taehyung wishes he could pretend the tears on Jeongguk’s face are his own
and not from Jeongguk’s red, swollen eyes. He wishes he could kiss and touch Jeongguk the way he
could before, but the pain wrapped around his heart doesn’t let him.

“Come on, let’s do something,” Jeongguk says huskily, rubbing Taehyung’s forearms before
propping another kiss to his lips. “We should go somewhere, all of us. You, me, the kids. Jin and
Namjoon. Get our minds off of all of this.”

“Jimin?” Taehyung asks as he lets Jeongguk help him from the counter, tea long forgotten. Jimin had
come to see him earlier and it had been difficult seeing Jimin break into angry sobs the moment they
embraced.

Something happened and Jimin’s excuse of it being Bobby is hard to believe. Though it would
explain the tension between him and Jeongguk.

“Whoever you want,” Jeongguk promises. “All of us. You’ll feel safe?”

Taehyung buries his face into Jeongguk’s chest. He hates feeling weak, small, vulnerable. He hates
wanting Jeongguk to tend to him and how his body betrays him and shows Jeongguk anyway.
“I can’t promise.”

Jeongguk rubs his smile into Taehyung’s hair. “We’ll try then. I could use a break. Another minute
with those men, I think I might lose it.”

“Why?” Taehyung asks in concern and Jeongguk’s smile falters.

“They talk about my son like he belongs to them. Keeps calling him family,” Jeongguk murmurs. “I
want to know why but I’m afraid of how angry it’ll make me and I’ll hurt someone.”

Taehyung has wondered if Jeongguk has anger inside of him that could slip out and turn against him.
He didn’t believe so, enough that he doesn’t think he could ever be afraid of Jeongguk hurting him.

“Gukkie baby, I don’t think you have it in you to hurt someone.”

Jeongguk sighs when Taehyung folds a hand over his cheek. “I hurt someone when you and Ji-hu
went missing. I’ve never felt anger like that.”

It should alarm Taehyung but he finds his stupid heart growing. He knows it’s because Jeongguk’s
son, but he had mentioned him too. He’s seen the ripped open knuckles, but hadn’t said a word.
“Who? You worried for me like that?”

“Ah Tae,” Jeongguk murmurs. “Of course. I felt like I was going mad.”

Taehyung pulls away from Jeongguk but only to catch his hand and drag him out of the kitchen.
He’s terrified to go out but he reminds himself he had been hidden away in Jeongguk’s home when
Hanbin had came for him. He could get arrested; but he’ll take the chance.

“Let me treat you for your worries,” Taehyung says with a cock of his head, wanting the dreary
atmosphere to lighten. “I’ll buy us lunch. The others can fend for themselves.”

Jeongguk grins, following after him. “You don’t have to, baby.”

Taehyung shrugs, hating the way Jeongguk refers to him as his work name, even if it might be from
habit. “I have the money. Plus, a baby should take care of their daddy too, not just the other way.”

He turns, missing the way Jeongguk’s grin falters as his brows crease together.

It takes some time for them to get everyone together and leave. Taehyung’s stomach growls with
hunger as he lets Eunae do his makeup after she insisted and then made Woojin try on a hundred
different outfits. Jeongguk has to excuse himself from his father’s meeting and smuggle Hoseok
away without creating alarm.

The restaurant Jeongguk chose is an expensive one that’s usually busy and Taehyung tries not to
cling too hard to Woojin as they step inside, but it’s deserted save for the staff.

“Is this safe?” Jin asks under his breath to Jeongguk in front of him. “You know Tae is wanted.”

Taehyung secures the mask over his face a bit more, thankful that he chose a beanie to hide his pink
hair.

“Would they suspect me to be out to dinner with a man who kidnapped my son?” Jeongguk bites
back. “I’ve been working hard to get the charges dropped, hyung.”

It makes him sick knowing people think that of him and he’s never really cared about what people
think of him before.
They’re led to a back room that’s just as empty and Taehyung knows Jeongguk is behind it when he
smiles and pulls his chair back for him. It’s the first time ever that all of them have been together and
Taehyung feels safe.

(It helps that Hoseok dragged Jooheon along, the man Taehyung had been introduced to as the one
who was ready to blow the house down when he heard him scream earlier.)

He doesn’t miss the tension though. It’s loud between Jeongguk and Yoongi and Jimin looks
between them sadly before sitting with Yoongi at the opposite end of the table. Taehyung hates it,
even more so when Jimin looks at him with apologetic eyes.

“What’d you do?” Taehyung asks as he helps Woojin into the chair beside him where they’re tucked
into the corner, hidden more from view. Ji-hu has insisted sitting beside Woojin, squeezed between
him and his Uncle Yoongi. It wasn’t until Yoongi sat down and Hoseok sat across from him that
Jeongguk looked more comfortable in sitting so far away.

“Hm?” Jeongguk asks, holding up the menu.

“What’s going on with you and Jimin?”

Jeongguk tenses, eyeing Jimin. “I yelled at him. About Bobby and then I uh, beat Bobby up and
shoved Jimin when he tried to stop me.”

Taehyung gapes at the side of Jeongguk’s reddened face. He had been expecting Jeongguk to lie or
to push it off until later.

“You don’t understand,” Taehyung says, frowning. God, neither does he. “About Jimin and Bobby
-”

“I know that,” Jeongguk says, looking at him again. He can feel Jin’s eyes from across the table but
Taehyung can’t look away from the pain in Jeongguk’s eyes. “I’m sorry I don’t understand why
people care for him after what he’s done but I would hope everyone has enough understanding to see
why I don’t.”

Taehyung deflates under Jeongguk’s frustrated whisper and rubs Jeongguk’s cheek instead. “I’m
sorry.”

Jin interrupts with a cough and a nudge of his head towards Woojin, who is watching them
worriedly. Jeongguk is tense, but he slides his hand under the table and grips Taehyung’s thigh like
he’s trying to ground himself when Taehyung turns to his brother.

“Come on, what do you want to eat?” Taehyung asks, leaning down to his level.

Woojin glances at him but doesn’t respond. Taehyung holds in his frustrated noise.

“You have to pick for me too. Hyungie is very hungry.”

Woojin looks hesitant but the corner of his mouth flickers up before he points at the menu. Taehyung
keeps his focus on his baby brother and he’s thankful for the way Jeongguk continues to touch his
leg beneath the table.

Lunch goes over without another hiccup, the room growing with the sound of their laughter and
conversation. It’s easier than Taehyung had thought it would be to become distracted and laugh. It’s
easier to fill his belly and pretend like everything’s okay and they’re not returning to a house full of
mobsters.
It’s easy to fall into Jeongguk’s embrace when he curls an arm around Taehyung’s shoulders, his
other hand intertwined with Ji-hu’s. Taehyung clings Woojin to his side but doesn’t notice how
Woojin continues to watch Taehyung every time he and Jeongguk interact.

They leave the restaurant and Jin worries loudly about being out too long and Taehyung getting
caught. Taehyung finds he doesn’t want to go home just yet but Jin has a point. Sungho has men on
the force, the officer that had first arrested him had told him as much.

“We should return,” Taehyung sighs, dragging his fingers through Woojin’s hair. “We can make
dinner and make Mr. Jeon’s house a blanket fort and watches movies, hm?”

Woojin bounces on his toes as Eunae cheers loudly.

“We can play with my toys!” Ji-hu exclaims as he starts to take off in a run towards the car.
Jeongguk tenses like he may run after him but Jimin is moving first, catching Ji-hu by the arm to stop
him.

“Don’t run off, you’ll give me a scare,” Jimin scolds softly.

Taehyung watches as Jeongguk watches them before he’s letting go of Taehyung to walk over them.

It feels tense as Jeongguk takes Jimin’s hand from Ji-hu. Not only Taehyung feels it but Yoongi
tightens up and Hoseok steps in closer like they don’t trust their long time best friend. It’s silent for a
long time, just Jeongguk and Jimin looking at each other before Jeongguk finally breaks the silence.

“Ji-hu, don’t you think you should start calling sunbaenim Uncle Jimin?”

Jeongguk and Ji-hu are both taking off then, Jeongguk lifting the boy over his shoulders as Yoongi
jumps at them with his fists curled. Jimin’s smile erupts across his cheeks as he watches them, hands
clasping together in front of his chest.

The sound of laughter has Taehyung’s smile feeling genuine and he bends down to rub it into
Woojin’s cheek. “How about tonight you, Eunae and I spend time together just the three of us?”

Woojin’s eyes light up as he nods. “Okay, hyungie.”

“Hyungie is going to come live with you again, is that okay?”

For a moment, Taehyung is worried it isn’t but then Woojin is grabbing his arm and jumping. It’s
overwhelming how quickly Woojin’s happy noises turn to soft sobs that has Taehyung pulling him
into a hug.

For the first time in awhile, Taehyung’s tears don’t come from a deep rooted sadness or fear.

Woojin clings to him worse then ever, insisting on sitting beside him in the car and refusing a seatbelt
to sit on Taehyung’s lap. He’s heavy, much to heavy for it but Taehyung lets him anyway.

“Hyungie,” Woojin whispers, playing with the long hair behind Taehyung’s ear that had slipped
from his beanie. “Is Ji-hu and Ji-hu’s Appa coming to live with us too?”

Taehyung glances at where Jeongguk sits across from them, snuggled between Ji-hu and Eunae.
Since the SUV was destroyed, he’s gotten an even fancier one that Taehyung’s teased him about
since. “No, they have their own home.”

Woojin frowns at this, brows crunching together. “But Ji-hu said you’re getting married.”
A laugh bursts from Taehyung’s lips, capturing everyone’s attention. Woojin goes red, chin tucking
down until Taehyung carefully guides him back up. “Don’t listen to Ji-hu.”

A pout forms on Woojin’s lips as he shrinks into Taehyung’s side. “Ji-hu said that’s why you didn’t
live with us before.”

Taehyung goes still. The worried eyes are on him but he focuses on Woojin. He knows Jin is eager
to interrupt, the concern loud in his eyes and probably pushing him to take over.

“Hyung told me,” Taehyung admits quietly, so only Woojin can hear. Woojin shifts on his lap,
cupping Taehyung’s head and hovering close to his like he’s hiding from everyone around them.
“Hyung told me you think I leave because I’m angry with you.”

It’s immediate the way Woojin’s eyes water.

“And that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,” Taehyung whispers with a forced laugh. “Every time I
leave, I miss you and Eunae so much. I’m so sad when I’m away from you.”

“I’m sad too,” Woojin says under his breath.

Taehyung cups Woojin’s face, overwhelmed as he kisses his cheeks. “I could never be truly angry
with you, baby. I would never really leave you, I won’t leave you. You gotta trust hyungie on that,
okay?”

Woojin sniffles as he nods. Someone else sniffles too but Taehyung doesn’t turn to see who it is.
Woojin touches the healing cut on Taehyung’s forehead and then the bruises on his cheek bone, tears
welling up in his own eyes. “Were you scared when the monsters came?”

“Mhm,” Taehyung hums. “But I had to keep them away from Ji-hu just like I’m gonna always keep
them away from you, got it?”

He holds up his finger and Woojin hesitates before he wraps his own pinky around him and lifts his
thumb to press against Taehyung’s.

“And you know you can always tell me things too. But if you want, tell Jin hyung and I won’t make
him tell me unless you’re hurting okay?”

Woojin nods before he rests his head into the crook of Taehyung’s neck. Pulling away, Taehyung
finds Jeongguk’s eyes on him and he smiles softly. Jeongguk returns it but the sad look is back in his
eyes.

Thankfully, Woojin doesn’t fall asleep though his eyes are heavy. He still requires Taehyung’s help
getting from the car as they arrive at the Jeon house. There’s less cars than there had been when they
left and Taehyung hopes that means all the strange men had left.

Jeongguk is there the moment Woojin’s feet are on the ground, curling an arm around Taehyung’s
shoulders. He kisses him softly and though Taehyung considers what it may look like, if he should
hide it from his siblings, he lets Jeongguk because he needs it.

There’s a giggle around them, the kids and Jimin included.

“Appa loves Tae Tae,” Ji-hu cries, wiggling against Woojin as he grabs him into a hug. “He loves -
oh my!”

Jeongguk pulls away when Ji-hu shouts, his yell vibrating through the air. He’s off and running in
 seconds despite Jimin's earlier warnings, bolting towards the entrance of his grandfather’s home.

Jeongguk’s breath hitches, his grip on Taehyung turning painful as Yoongi cusses loudly from
somewhere behind him, even Hoseok looks enraged, pacing in front of them. Ji-hu cries out, an
excited shrill to his voice as jumps into the arms of an unfamiliar woman that walks out of the door
with Jun-ki beside her.

“Auntie Gracie! I missed you so much!”

Chapter End Notes

I hope you like this chapter! I'm mulling over a bunch of ideas for my next fic to start
writing, though my other WIP is my priority. If you have any things you'd like to read,
feel free to send them my way!!
 Chapter 25
Chapter Notes

Hello!! I'm so sad that this is almost over with T T. Thank you to everyone who's stuck
on this journey with me, whether you've been here from the start middle or just binged
read it now that it's almost over. I love you so much and your feedback has really meant
the world to me. There's still another chapter, but I wanted you all to know how much I
love and appreciate you because I'm behind on responding to your comments. (I read all
of them and pls they mean so much to me. I hope you stick around for the next stories I
have to share, because I have a couple coming after this one.) This story has been a bit
difficult and challenged me in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed writing it so much and I've
grown super attached to the characters and this universe. No promises, but maybe there
will be side fics one day because I'll miss them so much

since i'm feeling mushy, I really wanted to shoutout one of my favorite fanartists if you'd
like to take a look at her work. I love her so much and i want to share it to the world.
Here's a couple of my all time favorites x x x. Please show her a lot of love!!

And lastly, I have a series of moodboard, visuals for this fic that I'm going to be working
on over time. If you're interested in seeing what I have done already, they are here.

If you have any fanartists/writers you really enjoy, please recommend!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Auntie Gracie! I missed you so much!”

The carefree air that had been surrounding them slips away, replaced by a tension that is confusing to
Taehyung. Jeongguk grows taut, his lips parted, eyes dazed where they’re locked on the entrance of
his father’s home.

Taehyung hooks an arm through Jeongguk’s, resting his chin to his shoulder but Jeongguk doesn’t
seem to notice him. His hands are frozen, half held in front of him like he’s in shock. Concern floods
Taehyung and though he doesn’t know what’s wrong, he wants to take Jeongguk away and tend to
him until he feels better.

It isn’t only Jeongguk who’s distressed, but Yoongi as well, who paces and thrusts a hand through
his hair. There’s a coldness in his eyes that doesn’t fit well with his normal personality and he sounds
vicious when he speaks.

“What is she doing here?”

Taehyung looks back to the woman beside Jun-ki. Jeongguk has spoke ill of Ji-hu’s mother and
grandmother before, though still respectful, but he’s never mentioned any one else on the other side
of Ji-hu’s family.

The woman lowers to scoop Ji-hu into her arms. She’s quite small, even in the sharp heels she wears.
She’s dressed professionally, as if she’s stepped out of a business meeting with her pencil skirt and
dress shirt tucked neatly around her waist. Her eyes reflect her smile as she kisses Ji-hu’s forehead,
though proving difficult as Ji-hu jumps around and grips to her so she can’t.

The crease between Jeongguk’s brows deepen and Yoongi makes a harsh noise in the back of his
throat that has Jimin and Taehyung exchanging confused glances.

Jimin shrugs, grimacing slightly. It seems to be only them that is confused as Jin hangs his head,
rubbing at is temples in distress too.

“Auntie Gracie, did you know about the pretend monsters?” Ji-hu yelps as he grabs at her chest.
She’s gentle, prying his fingers away so the necklace he tries to take hangs limp over her breasts. He
pouts, but clutches her face between his hands instead.

Jun-ki stands beside them, fingers reaching for the back of Ji-hu’s head as he stares hard at Jeongguk.

Taehyung grows taut himself as the tension around them grows and he tickles his fingers down
Jeongguk’s arms until he’s touching his palm to interlace their fingers.

Jeongguk squeezes his hand so hard Taehyung is sure he hears his bones cracking.

“Ji-hu, go inside.”

Jeongguk’s voice travels across the driveway despite how softly he speaks. The sound of his voice
grabs Yoongi’s attention, making him turn around and rest a hand to Jeongguk’s chest as if to stop
him but Jeongguk doesn’t move a muscle.

The woman pulls away from Ji-hu then, her smile slipping into something more anxious. Ji-hu looks
the same, a pout forming on his face as he looks back to his father.

“But Appa -”

“Do as your told, go inside.”

It isn’t stern, but breathless.

“What about that blanket fort?” Jimin intervenes with a smile, skipping towards the front to reach for
Ji-hu. “We should get started right away, yes?”

It’s tense and Taehyung doesn’t understand the way Jeongguk and the woman stare at each other as
Ji-hu slips inside. The woman clutches onto the bag around her shoulder, unmoving like she’s afraid
to go anywhere near Jeongguk.

“Jeongguk,” the woman says and it seems to be enough to pull Jeongguk from his strange trance. He
flinches, fingers flexing over Taehyung’s before letting go.

“What are you doing here?” Jeongguk asks, his voice flat.

It triggers everyone to move, Jin and Namjoon quickly hustling the kids inside with polite nods of
their heads in greeting. Hoseok and Yoongi remain outside, eyes harsh and unforgiving on the
woman.

Concern unloads into Taehyung’s chest when he follows behind Jeongguk and can see the cicada
resting over her breast. Guowang .

Taehyung wonders if this is why everyone is so tense. It makes him uncomfortable, them being in
the house at times, but Jeongguk’s assured him a thousand times over that they’re safe. That they’re
here for that purpose specifically; to make sure he and his family remain safe.

Jeongguk’s done nothing but assure Taehyung feels safe and comfortable and Taehyung wants to do
that now, but he isn’t sure where the threat is.

“I - I didn’t know you would be here,” Auntie Gracie says, fumbling over the strap of her purse as
her heel clacks nervously against the step. “I had to speak to your father. My husband -”

“How does he know you?”

The woman parts her lips, speechless and the waiver in Jeongguk’s voice has Taehyung curling
around his arm in an attempt to comfort him. His chest rises and falls quickly, his breath coming out
in sharp little gasps. There’s red creeping up his neck and for once, Taehyung hates the sight of it.

“I asked how he knows you.”

Jun-ki steps forward, holding a hand up as if he’s about to scold Jeongguk but the woman is quickly
letting go of her purse to stop him. It’s familiar, gentle the way she curls her fingers around Jun-ki’s
wrist. “We met when he visited my mother in America.”

After Ji-hu had come home from his grandmother’s, he had talked frequently to Taehyung about his
Auntie Gracie. Taehyung cocks his head to the side, confused as to how Jeongguk didn’t know this.

“I tried emailing you,” the woman says quickly. “You weren’t responding and I - I had to see him,
Jeongguk. It was only going to be the one time, I didn’t know he would be here today.”

“Well he is, so you should go,” Yoongi snaps, restless as he fumbles with a pack of cigarettes from
his pocket.

“Do not be rude,” Jun-ki interrupts. “You act as if she’s done some wicked crime -”

“Abandoning your child is a wicked crime!”

Eyes fall to Yoongi, whose face grows redder with each word. There’s a cigarette between his
fingers but he doesn’t light it, his fingers are trembling too much.

“Jeongguk told you if you changed your mind, you should do it before Ji-hu is old enough to realize
there’s ever been a time that you were gone,” Yoongi spits, not as harshly as before but he vibrates
with it.

Oh, oh . Taehyung hides his gaping mouth behind Jeongguk’s shoulder as he finally understands.

“And the reason is because now that he knows you, it will hurt him when you’ve left him again,”
Yoongi grunts before he inhales, the breath catching in his lungs. He cusses, shoving the cigarette
behind his ear before he storms inside, not bothering to avoid bumping into Grace.

Silence follows for what feels like ages, Taehyung unsure what to say, what to do. It’ Jeongguk that
finally breaks it, his voice numb of any emotion.

“It’s been a long day. If you’d excuse me, father, I promised the kids a movie night.”

Jun-ki opens his lips to say something but Jeongguk is pulling away from Taehyung, ignoring the
both of them to follow after Yoongi.

“I’m sorry, Grace-ssi, I’ll talk to him until he understands,” Jun-ki is whispering. “Please understand
he’s been through a lot recently.”

Taehyung walks past them awkwardly, bowing his head quickly before escaping.

Jeongguk, I’m telling you that I will not be in his life.

I don’t understand, Grace. Ji-hu needs his mother -

He needs a parent that will love him, Jeongguk. That isn’t me.

It’s a muffle, all a muffle. He is distinctly aware of Yoongi ranting, Hoseok inputting here and there.
Taehyung is there, touching over his knuckles and rubbing his fingers.

You can’t just leave him.

I don’t fucking want him, Jeongguk.

Jeongguk flinches, the familiar pain lurching in his chest. It’s been awhile since he’s thought about it,
years really. She had gotten so defensive, angry with him when he fought about her being in his life.
It hadn’t been a long fight, a handful of conversations while she had still been pregnant.

He tried again when Grace had given him Ji-hu, telling her if she changed her mind he would be
young enough not to remember her words. But he hadn’t wanted to share then either, protective as
he held the small baby to his chest and remembered her angry words. But he hadn’t wanted to raise
his voice, not while Ji-hu slept.

When she had turned her back to leave, anger filled Jeongguk so quickly. He didn’t care if Ji-hu
grew up without a mother anymore, it was better than someone who could say those words to him.
He had given Ji-hu to Yoongi, following after her so his mother and him couldn’t see the way
Jeongguk failed at composing himself.

If you leave, don’t fucking come back.

“Gukkie,” Taehyung whispers, head tilting to the side before he’s cupping Jeongguk’s cheek. “You
okay, baby?”

Jeongguk hums, nuzzling into the touch as he closes his eyes. He can still see it there, stitched to the
back of his eyelids, the way her face looked when he yelled at her.

“You know when she left, I was angry,” Jeongguk confides quietly, “and I stopped being angry until
she emailed me. I no longer thought it was wrong of her to leave Ji-hu if she didn’t want to be a
mother, if she couldn’t love him properly then she shouldn’t be around anyway.”

Taehyung nods, using his other hand to cling back to Jeongguk’s.

“I told you I was afraid he would feel it, missing his mother,” Jeongguk whispers. “I sometimes
thought that he had because he told me he was best friends with Woojin because they didn’t have
mothers and they needed to stick together.”

Pain washes in Taehyung’s eyes as his lips part but he doesn’t say a word, doesn’t interrupt.

“I’m angry now because she met him with the intention of never seeing him again. Coming into his
life just to leave again,” Jeongguk goes on.
The pressure in his chest is overwhelming as he exhales, just for his breath to catch and then there is
two hands on his face, thumbs wiping at his eyes before they shed tears.

Jeongguk can’t get the rest out, not with the sobs forming in his chest. Not with the way his mind
keeps running over Ji-hu’s delighted face when he saw his mother. His words come out choppy and
choked until Taehyung is tugging him into his chest.

It had been disorienting when he saw Grace, so much so that he was sure lack of sleep was catching
up to him and it was hallucinating. It felt as if his mind wasn’t working; like he couldn’t process what
he was seeing.

When Grace admitted to just wanting to see him once and never again, Jeongguk felt his heart
shattering the same way it had back then.

Yoongi’s fingers caress over the back of his neck, giving him the strength to breathe through his nose
and stop his sobs. Yoongi’s angered face softens when their eyes meet. It stays quiet for a moment,
anger and hurt brewing in the air before Taehyung breaks the silence.

“Come on, Gukkie baby, you have a little one that notices more than you think,” Taehyung
murmurs, tilting Jeongguk’s chin upwards. “Go to him.”

Jeongguk nods. Ji-hu notices everything. He knows he needs to be more careful, but he hadn’t been
expecting to see her face.

Jeongguk pulls Taehyung into a quick kiss before he’s inhaling to catch his breath. He shoves his
hands into his pockets and follows Yoongi out towards where Jimin and the kids are setting up an
elaborate blanket fort.

“I’ve never met anyone who owns so many blankets,” Jimin says as he throws a hand towards the
tower of blankets. He’s cheerful, a big smile on his lips that make his cheeks round but his eyes
betray how concerned he is.

Ji-hu sits by himself, hands tucked between his legs. His eyes are wide when Jeongguk looks to him,
but he quickly drops his gaze to his feet. He reaches up, fiddling with the necklace hanging over his
chest.

The same necklace he had just seen on Grace. The same symbol that all of the men who had met
with him and his father had somewhere on their body.

He is very much family, Mr. Jeon. It is not just Jeon blood in his veins.

“Ji-hu,” Jeongguk calls, holding a hand out. “C’mere baby.”

Ji-hu looks hesitant to do so but he runs over and takes Jeongguk’s hand. His pout grows, head still
hanging as Jeongguk leads him from the living room and back to where they’ve left Taehyung.

Taehyung is still there, head hanging and a hand pressed over his eyes. It takes him a moment to
realize he’s not alone still.

It doesn’t hurt when Ji-hu lets go of Jeongguk’s hand to rush over to Taehyung and climb onto his
lap instead of stay with him. It’s his favorite sight; the two of them. But it makes Jeongguk ache
knowing that Taehyung is right; Ji-hu notices more things than he realizes and it affects him.

“Did Auntie Gracie give you that necklace?”

At least, Jeongguk thinks, Grace hadn’t gone over his head and introduced herself as who she truly
is.

Ji-hu nods, eyes wide as he tucks his head into Taehyung’s neck. “ Nai Nai told me not to tell you.
I’m sorry, Appa. I told Grandpa.”

Jeongguk shakes his head, reaching out to brush his cheek. He doesn’t focus on that, or he’ll struggle
to keep his emotions away from Ji-hu’s little eyes. “I’m not angry with you.”

It takes a moment but then Ji-hu is climbing off of Taehyung’s lap and into his own. He’s too big,
but Jeongguk doesn’t want him to grow and not be able to cuddle with him like this.

When Ji-hu still fit in his arms, Jeongguk didn’t like other people holding him. Even Yoongi had to
convince him to let him go. It took him awhile to trust no one else would drop him, that no one
would hold him tight and run away with him.

It hurt so greatly when Ji-hu was taken from him, that even though he’s safe now and the threat is
gone; Jeongguk is terrified of it happening again.

It’s the only reason he’s willing to take Jinyoung’s deal. When Ji-hu is older, he’ll understand why
Jeongguk’s forcing him down a path. Hopefully he’ll do it right, convince Ji-hu it’s something he
wants to do. Not force him and have Ji-hu rebel against him.

“You’re not?”

“No?” Jeongguk laughs, taking the necklace between his fingers. “Of course not. Don’t you know
Appa loves you so much?”

Ji-hu smiles softly, reaching up to play with Jeongguk’s hair. “Yeah. Ji-hu loves Appa a lot.”

Jeongguk hums, the knots in his chest releasing. He can feel Taehyung’s eyes on them, can see the
soft smile on his lips from his peripheral. “Oh yeah? How much?”

With a noise of complaint, Ji-hu plops a kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek. “So much. I love you the most.
More than Uncle Yoongi.”

Laughter rumbles for the room and the tension in Jeongguk’s shoulders slips away. “Oh yeah? But
he’s your favorite.”

Ji-hu sighs, resting his face against Jeongguk’s neck. “You’re my favorite, Appa. Tae Tae, too.”

They hold each other’s gazes for a moment, Taehyung smiling softly before he reaches across the
table to touch their fingers.

It’s been different; the softness, the trust more evident. It makes Jeongguk’s heart swell thinking that
Taehyung seeks him for comfort and trusts him that his intentions are honest. It isn’t perfect yet, but
it’s a breakthrough.

A voice clears behind them and Jeongguk keeps his fingers against Taehyung’s as he turns to see his
father in the entrance. He grows tense, wishing Taehyung was closer so he could hold his hand
properly.

Grace stands there behind his father, head hanging and eyes on the ground.

“Taehyung-ssi, Ji-hu, please excuse us.”

Jeongguk puts Ji-hu to his feet as he stands. There are nerves back in the boy’s eyes when he looks
to his father, like he had noticed Jeongguk’s apprehension towards Grace. “Appa -”

Fingers squeeze at the back of his neck and lips touch his jaw. Taehyung is there, eyes wide with
worry as he traces Jeongguk’s eyebrow bone. He doesn’t seem to care about the audience as he cups
Jeongguk’s cheek and there’s a thickness growing in Jeongguk’s throat. He can’t speak, letting
Taehyung touch him until he feels a warmth in his chest and a comfort to the buzz attempting to take
over his body.

“Do you want me to stay?”

Jeongguk doesn’t want to be here at all.

“No. You’re supposed to have alone time with your siblings,” Jeongguk murmurs. He had overheard
Taehyung, had seen how excited Woojin became that Taehyung was going to move in with them
that he started crying.

It feels selfish but Jeongguk doesn’t want Taehyung to go, even if it is right for him to do so. Even if
he should.

“Don’t think you can’t interrupt,” Taehyung says, eyes serious. “Text me if you need me, Gukkie
baby.”

It grows tense and Jeongguk wants to be a child and run away as the room empties of Taehyung and
Ji-hu. He can’t look at his father or Grace, sitting back down and trying not to crush his fist through
the expensive table.

“He’s soft like his mother,” Jun-ki murmurs as he approaches. “She was loud when she was
younger, but very quiet as a grown woman. Clung to your Eomma like her life depended on it.”

Jeongguk shifts uncomfortably as Jun-ki sits across from him. It feels surreal having Grace in front of
him. After so many years, she hasn’t changed much. Her hair is no longer a short bob, her face a bit
more mature. But still the same Grace.

“Appa, what is this?”

Grace hesitates before slipping her coarse overcoat off of her shoulders. The necklaces around her
throat, hanging beside the cicada, are expensive looking. Jeongguk notices the ring on her finger,
remembers her mentioning a husband when his eyes fall to her stomach.

It’s a small bump, barely there, but noticeable. Especially when she curls a hand over it before sitting
across from him.

“Jeongguk,” Grace starts.

“Why are you here?”

Grace’s eyes grow wide as she clears her throat and looks to Jun-ki for confirmation. “The men that
your father are working with, Guowang? Has he told you about them?”

Jeongguk nods as he rubs at his upper lip, peering his eyes at her. He’s trying hard to keep his
emotions in check, but he finds himself growing angrier with each moment. “The basics. I’ve met
some of them.”

“It wasn’t planned,” Grace says, eyes staring at the hands she clasps onto the table. “My family is
important in Guowang. My mother’s brother served beside leader Park since they were children.

“One of ours met your hyung before you came to America. He had proposed a partnership with
Bobby that he required him to spy on some lover of his in University.”

Jeongguk swallows thickly, stomach tumbling. It’s hard to remain calm when Grace mentions the
one person he feels more anger towards than her.

“Yugyeom wanted more than what Bobby was offering. He wanted a way into Korea, into the
streets of Busan and Chung-Hoon’s family but Bobby wouldn’t do more than sell to him. That’s
how I knew Bobby. I wasn’t expecting to meet him again.”

It had been so long ago that Jeongguk doesn’t quite remember it. They had partied often, which
resulted in a lot of scolding from his mother. The week Bobby had visited him in the States had been
much of a blur. A week of irresponsibility and he met Grace then, a few times. A few times of not
remembering her, even after they had slept together, before she forced her way into his life and made
sure he remembered her.

“It was a lucky coincidence,” Grace laughs sarcastically. “According to my mother. When I - when I
first decided -”

It grows tense and there’s tears dripping from Grace’s eyes, splashing onto the table though her voice
remains steady.

She clears her throat, eyes finding Jeongguk. “When I first decided I did not want Ji-hu, my mother
told me that I must keep him. He would be a heir to a massive company in Korea, that he would be
the grandson of Jeon Jun-ki.”

Looking to his father, his face is crumpled and lip curled in disgust. But he sighs, washing away the
expression as he folds his hands underneath his chin. Neither him nor Taehyung have told Jeongguk
what happened while they were at Hanbin’s, though Jeongguk’s heard whisperings of how
passionate Jun-ki had been about getting Taehyung home safely.

It’s made Jeongguk appreciate his father more than he already had, making his hesitations go away
and feel nothing but trust and love towards his father.

This is threatening to disrupt that, but Jeongguk tries his best to be understanding because so far his
father has had reasons for everything he’s done. Some of them Jeongguk is still struggling to accept.

“You’ll remember I was raised beside Yunbok and his brothers much like how you’ve been raised
beside Yoongi-yah,” Jun-ki cuts in quietly. “For any enemy of the Kim brothers, I am a target.”

“Right,” Grace breathes. “I wanted no part of it. I wasn’t interested in Guowang, in joining. When I
told you of him -”

Jeongguk squeezes his fists when her eyes drop to the small swell of her belly.

“I saw how much you wanted him. I wanted you to have him,” Grace admits. “My mother and I
fought often. She didn’t want me to give him to you. He was Guowang, he was to be raised that
way. I didn’t want him to be. I wanted him to eat off a silver spoon and grow up in a house with way
too many fucking bedrooms. Not grow up learning how to wield a gun and be forced to marry some
girl to expand Guowang’s connections”

Grace sniffles, her voice growing angry. “You fought me so hard, I was so angry. I couldn’t tell you
why I didn’t want him and I hated you so much for making me feel bad. That’s why I said those
awful things.”

There’s a tight feeling in Jeongguk’s chest as he drops his gaze. He feels his father looking at him but
he can’t meet his eyes. Shame makes him afraid, the sound of Grace’s pained voice hurting his heart
and his fingers are shaking when he texts Yoongi to come quickly.

“Here,” Jun-ki says, offering Grace a tissue. “I had some knowledge of Grace’s ties to Guowang
from my years around Sungho and Yunbok. I knew of her mother’s ties, sent to America to secure
relations and trade.

“I had sent you to America to escape a threat that had fallen upon us. Your mother had heard from
both of her sisters after many years. Kyungsoon had written to tell her she was afraid of Sungho
coming for her son and Kitty called to tell her that Sungho had given away her son to a man known
for his violence towards the children he buys.

“Your mother was afraid Sungho was coming for all of the Trinity’s children. When you came home
with the news of Ji-hu, her fear tripled. She was working hard to find them but she only found Jimin
before the news of Kyungsoon’s death reached her. Sungho and Kyungsoon were...close, I guess
you could say. He was distraught over her death, let a lot of things slip.

“There was someone else your mother was looking for that your hyung had located during one of
Sungho’s breakdowns. Something precious to her and Sungho, something that Sungho would be
even more irrational about losing. Your mother took them from him.”

Jeongguk remembers the letters, his mother writing about stealing something from Sungho that he
could never get back even after her death.

“She knew he would know it was her and she was afraid he would come for you and Ji-hu instead,
to punish her. I contacted Grace’s mother then and I asked for her help.”

The conversation is interrupted with a clearing of the throat and the pressure in Jeongguk’s chest
breaks when Yoongi stumbles into the kitchen.

Yoongi stills as he takes them all in but then he heads over and sits beside Jeongguk. He doesn’t
hesitate to cup his hand around the back of Jeongguk’s neck, squeezing when Jeongguk lets his head
hang so he can wipe the tears in his eyes. No one opposes his presence, though Jeongguk’s thoughts
form responses, expecting them to.

Both his father and Grace know of his relationship with Yoongi, how Yoongi’s cared for him like a
hyung should his entire life. He thinks about it now, how Yoongi has always been there the moment
anything awful has happened to him. No hesitation, no regret.

Jeongguk hopes he’s done enough to show Yoongi how much it means to him.

“A relationship was quickly formed between I and Guowang,” Ji-hu continues. “Anything they
wanted from Bobby, from the company, they could have in exchange for protection. I made Grace-
ssi stay right now because I need you to hear this, Jeongguk. I wish for Ji-hu to know his mother.”

Jeongguk looks up then, glaring as Yoongi sucks in a breath beside him. He doesn’t know why his
father is getting involved after years of staying silent. He doesn’t know why his father expects to
dump information on him and then hit him with that.

“Ji-hu’s protection is priority because he is my son,” Grace says. “Not only is my mother’s family
important to those of Guowang, my husband’s is as well. I married him for this purpose. We were
always arranged to be married and I fought it until this, until I needed to secure Guowang’s
protection. We -”

Grace makes a face. “We are not in love. He has a lover, actually. It’s political. We get along just
fine. My dream of not having a child grow inside of Guowang can no longer come true. Not only
will he be raised alongside this violence, he’ll be trained to one day be able to lead it.”

Jeongguk stares hard at her, feeling his insides soften and conflict as he realizes what she’s trying to
say.

“Park Jinyoung,” Jeongguk murmurs and Grace nods.

Grace went against everything she wanted to assure Ji-hu’s safety. A baby she didn’t want, that she
screamed at Jeongguk to take.

Maybe he had misread desperation as anger and cruelty.

“This is why I wish for Ji-hu to meet his mother,” Jun-ki interrupts. “If the children Grace bear are
raised knowing their hyung, they will protect him and his family without an arrangement. Jinyoung
wants us to promise Ji-hu’s future in the company, but I do not wish to force my grandson if he
doesn’t want to take that life.”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh. He was never given much choice in the matter but he’s always heard
grandparents are different with their grandchildren than their actual children. Yoongi squeezes his
neck until Jeongguk catches his breath.

“I think this is something that requires some time to think about before a decision can be made,”
Yoongi says, speaking for the first time. His words are hesitant, his eyes burning into the side of
Jeongguk’s face. “If you understand, Grace-ssi. Jeongguk has been through a lot, a lot of information
thrusted at him. Could you give us some time?”

Us, because Yoongi knows Jeongguk will need his help. Jeongguk almost smiles at the thought,
relaxing under Yoongi’s touch.

“Of course,” Grace says immediately. She reaches out like to touch his hands but hesitates.
Jeongguk’s the one to take them.

It’s odd and Jeongguk needs to cry or punch something.

“What did my mother steal from Sungho?” Jeongguk asks as Yoongi’s hand rubs down his back,
attempting to release the tension in his muscles.

Jun-ki stares at him for a long time. It seems forever that the man’s mouth grows into a frown and he
stays silent.

“Bobby was not your mother’s first child,” Jun-ki says. “She was forced to have Bobby because her
first child was not a son. Just like Grace will be forced to have another if the child in her womb now
is not a boy.”

Jeongguk’s heart squeezes in his chest. He knew this, already, but it doesn’t stop the sudden mention
of it from surprising him.

“Sungho raised her as his own child. She lived in his home, she called him Papa. She was raised as
your mother’s sisters were, taught to please men. Winnie already hated him, it was easy for your
mother to take her from him.”
If time felt slower earlier, it completely stops now. Jeongguk stares at his father as his memory
catches up.

The woman in Japan, washing the dishes. The woman who clung to Bobby. Winnie.

“I’m going back to America in a week. But I travel back and forth often.”

Jeongguk hums as he walks beside Grace. She’s been looking at him with the widest of eyes but
looking away whenever Jeongguk turns to look at her.

He sees the regret and pain in her eyes. If it wasn’t genuine, she wouldn’t be trying to hide it.

Out of everything that’s been thrusted into Jeongguk’s lap lately, believing her intentions for giving
away and staying away from Ji-hu were good and protective, is the hardest for him to wrap his head
around.

“You don’t live with Jinyoung?”

Grace shakes her head, folding her hands in front of her lap. “He lives with his lover in China. I’ve
got a home in California. It’s nice, warm. Jinyoung’s secured connections with a man who runs a lot
of clubs in the San Fran area. I’m a representative for Jinyoung there.”

The hallway is decorated with family photographs and bookshelves that Grace occupies herself with
to not return Jeongguk’s gaze. He can’t stop looking at her.

It’s strange, now that time has passed.

“I like it. By myself. I see some things that disturbed me at first, but you grow used to them,” Grace
murmurs, more to herself than Jeongguk before she finally looks at him. She flushes and drops her
gaze. “I wasn’t planning on coming into Ji-hu’s life just to leave, Jeongguk. I told you I meant not to
see him again because I meant I wouldn’t see him again unless you allowed me.”

Jeongguk clasps his hands behind his back. Maybe all of his emotion has been sucked up because his
heart doesn’t hurt when she speaks like he thought it would. A small smile finds his lips when they
reach the end of the hallway and Ji-hu is the first thing that Jeongguk sees.

He had sent Yoongi to find him after requesting to speak to Grace alone and that’s where Ji-hu is,
cuddled on Yoongi’s lap, gripping tight to his shirt. Jimin is beside him, playing with his hair and
there’s a pout on his lips that slips away when he spots Jeongguk. His eyes grow wide with curiosity
but he doesn’t move from Yoongi’s lap.

“He’s smart,” Jeongguk says, “and very sweet. Strong. With everything that happened, he’s been
doing quite well. Better than me, to be honest.” Jeongguk laughs awkwardly, fidgeting with his
fingers. He hates not knowing what to say. “When he asks me about you, I tell him what I know.
That you loved the color yellow and you used to pluck daisies for the vase on your window sill. You
liked to dance and you could speak more languages than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Their eyes meet and Grace is smiling, lips trembling some but she presses them tightly together as if
she doesn’t want anyone to notice.

“Grace, I didn’t know what to do then. And I don’t know what to do in a situation like this. I hope
you understand that I need a bit of time to figure it out.”
It’s Yoongi that pulls Ji-hu from his lap, whispering and guiding him towards his parents. Ji-hu
hesitates, looking at Jeongguk like he might be scolded.

He really does pick up too much and Jeongguk sighs, bending down to hold his hands out for him.

“Come here,” Jeongguk murmurs. “Why don’t you hang out with Auntie Grace a little before she
leaves?”

Grace whips around to him, eyes wide and they water quickly but Jeongguk can’t return the look.
He isn’t sure yet, he feels uncomfortable. He kind of wants to curl up on Yoongi’s lap the way Ji-hu
had been or find Taehyung and wrap around him instead of doing any of this.

He stays beside them anyway, leading them towards the other living room. Ji-hu’s a chatter box in
seconds, gleaming brightly and skipping over his feet as he grabs Grace’s hand. He bounces between
English and Korean, small attempts at Mandarin that has Grace laughing sweetly.

They find Taehyung there, sat beside Woojin with Eunae on his lap. He pats the couch when he sees
them, smiling softly against Eunae’s hair.

“This is my best friend Woojin hyung,” Ji-hu announces, tugging Grace towards them. “His little
sister, Eunae and Appa’s fiance, Tae Tae. He saved me from the monsters.”

Grace sends a soft smile towards Jeongguk, an eyebrow rising. Her eyes are teasing, as if no time or
animosity has occured between them. “Fiance?”

Jeongguk avoids Taehyung’s gaze, which is just as amused. “Ji-hu-ah is convinced if you kiss
someone, you’re getting married.”

“That’s what Uncle Yoongi told me!” Ji-hu argues defensively as he takes Woojin’s hand with his
free one. “Right, hyung?”

Woojin flushes, his eyes wide like they always are whenever he looks to Jeongguk. He bows his
head towards Grace.

“It is nice to meet you, Auntie Grace.”

He turns to Taehyung, grabbing his collar to pull up and whisper something in his ear. Taehyung’s
eyes linger over Jeongguk, making him flush more when mischief finds Taehyung’s eyes.

“You’d have to ask Jeongguk-ssi that, baby.”

Woojin looks at Jeongguk and then sinks into the couch like he’d rather do anything else than that.

“Come on, let’s not interrupt,” Jeongguk hums as he cups the back of Ji-hu’s head to lead him out.

“You can stay,” Taehyung says, grabbing for Jeongguk before he can move. He interlaces their
fingers, tugging. “If you need the comfort.”

Jeongguk smiles before he sits. Eunae is quick to leave her brother’s lap to sit on Jeongguk’s, a grin
on her lap as she squeezes Jeongguk’s cheeks. Ji-hu pats the couch beside Woojin for Grace to sit.

“Are you really going to marry Oppa?”

Jeongguk sends a panicked look to Taehyung. He doesn’t help, only laughs.

The look is to make sure he says the right thing, nothing inappropriate. Jeongguk doesn’t know what
Taehyung has told his siblings, what he wants him to know, so Jeongguk goes with the truth.

“I would marry your Oppa but I haven’t asked him yet.”

There isn’t a question in Jeongguk’s mind. Even if it’s been a short time, Jeongguk would commit to
spend the rest of his life beside Taehyung. He’s grown up listening to his parents talk about how
quickly they fell in love, how his father saw his mother and just knew.

Just like Jeongguk, when he first saw Taehyung in a crowd of people. Beautiful people, naked
people, people trained to take everyone’s attention. Nothing about him stood out expect everything
about him stood out to Jeongguk.

His hyungs laugh that Jeongguk falls quickly but he never falls like this. He’s never even thought
about marriage before except when Grace first told him she was pregnant. And that wasn’t because
he wanted to be married, but because he thought it would make his parents less angry with him.

The amusement slips from Taehyung’s face and into Jeongguk’s. Jeongguk presses his lips together,
fighting off his grin.

Eunae’s eyes grow wide as she wiggles with excitement. Jeongguk’s amusement only grows as
Taehyung’s eyes narrow at him.

“Eunae, don’t bother Mr. Jeon with nonsense.”

Jeongguk hesitates when a teasing grin takes over Taehyung’s lips. It makes his heart flip, wondering
if Taehyung’s always going to do that when Jeongguk tries to talk about his feelings. It has been
awhile since he’s seen that look, heard that lilt in his voice that Eunae won’t understand but
Jeongguk’s seen enough to know Taehyung uses it as a shield.

“Not nonsense,” Jeongguk murmurs, reaching over to take Taehyung’s hand into his own. “Married
or not, prepare to spend your life with me beside you.”

It’s whispered, an attempt for only Taehyung to hear. He sees Taehyung falter in his attempts to be
seducing, his eyes growing wide before he squeezes Jeongguk’s hand.

“You can stick around,” Taehyung finally says, clearing his throat. “You’re alright.”

“Fuck off,” Jeongguk laughs, making Eunae gasp in horror and swat his chest for being bad.

It’s strange, the six of them being together, Jeongguk thinks as he sits back and takes it all in. It’s
even weirder having Taehyung and Grace near each other. Jeongguk wonders what she would think
if she knew how him and Taehyung met, if maybe she’d understand more than Jeongguk expects.

He rubs his lips as he watches Grace and Ji-hu talk quietly with Woojin. He can feel Taehyung’s
eyes bearing into him, but the silence between them remains. It doesn’t take long for their fingers to
interlace again or for lips to be brushed over the corner of his mouth.

Eunae is resting back against his chest but she peeks up at them when Taehyung cups Jeongguk’s
cheek, guiding him until their eyes meet.

“Are you okay?” Taehyung murmurs.

Jeongguk hopes Taehyung feels this too, the moment the air shifts between them when they’re like
this. He hopes the feeling in his chest is one that comforts Taehyung as well and that even if
Taehyung never marries him, he’ll be okay with Jeongguk remaining by his side.
Jeongguk nods, playing with Eunae’s hair. Her eyes are too curious, too amused, but Taehyung
doesn’t seem to mind if she sees. “Handling it better than I thought I would.”

“I’m proud of you,” Taehyung says, long lashes fluttering to touch his cheekbones when he blinks.
Jeongguk still feels as overwhelmed by his beauty as he did the first night seeing Taehyung spread
out across his bed. “Even though I’m angry with you.”

Jeongguk shifts up, keeping an arm around Eunae not to toss her off of his lap. Taehyung’s pressing
his lips tightly together, brightness in his eyes before he wraps an arm around the back of Jeongguk’s
neck.

“You’ve made it so I have to stick by your side forever too,” Taehyung murmurs. “Asshole.”

Jeongguk is unsure what Taehyung means, if he’s talking about the stupid fucking debt again or
something else, but he can’t ask when Taehyung pushes forward to kiss him.

It’s just a press of their lips, a gentle brush, but it is in front of his siblings, Grace, Ji-hu. Jeongguk’s
face burns when Taehyung cups his cheeks, hiding the way his mouth parts and he sucks harshly on
Jeongguk’s bottom lip.

It only lasts a second, enough to have Eunae giggling in a mix of disgust and enjoyment, before
Taehyung pulls back.

“Ah Gukkie baby,” Taehyung sighs, laughing lightly before he relaxes back against the couch. “If
you’ve ever tried to leave my side it would be hell for you.”

Jeongguk bites at his grin, tucking it into Eunae’s hair so Taehyung can’t see how big his cheeks
bulge because of it.

As the days pass, Taehyung is becoming more and more restless. Jeongguk helps him go out
undetected at times, but it isn’t often and not enough. He feels trapped again, and he hates it.

He hates it even more when the kids are gone, when everyone else is at work and it’s just him and
Jun-ki. Sometimes it’s just him and the maid staff when Jun-ki pulls Jeongguk into a meeting with
the men with cicadas.

Jimin stays with him often, but he’s busy with taking care of Bobby’s affairs. Selling his things,
working with Jun-ki to push the clubs towards Guowang, getting rid of B.B. Entertainment. But he
tries to be around Taehyung and that means enough that Taehyung doesn’t feel like pure shit.

Today is another day to be alone. He is dreading it a bit and wonders if he could call someone to take
him out. He considers asking Jeongguk to stay home from work, knowing he would, but he’d feel
bad as Jeongguk had just been complaining about how much work he has missed. Since both Jin and
Jeongguk were out, everything seems to be a shit show that Jeongguk works from his father’s office
until late in the night.

For now, Taehyung basks in the quiet of the morning and the warmth of Jeongguk beside him. He
sleeps soundly, though his eyes move against his eyelids like he might wake soon. Taehyung traces
his collarbones and the slope of his neck, finger circling over his chin to touch at his bottom lip.

Taehyung’s been trying to get better and not think, not be afraid. Both Jin and Jeongguk have found
someone for him to talk to. He’s been pushing off helping Jin find a place to move to because part of
him doesn’t want to leave Jeongguk’s side, even if all of him wants to be beside his siblings.
Jeongguk’s been tense, stressed from work, Guowang, Grace.

The idea of leaving his side had disrupted his sleep often in the night and his eyes didn’t close until
he was comfortably tucked into Jeongguk’s side. Jeongguk only woke up for a second when
Taehyung crawled into his bed, but he hadn’t hesitated to wrap around him before falling back into
his dreams.

Taehyung doesn’t know what to do about the fact that he’d take every nightmare if it meant
Jeongguk never had them.

Taehyung kisses him softly, pressing his lips to Jeongguk’s parted ones. It rings loudly in his head. I
would marry your Oppa. He knows he was just saying that to please Eunae, but Jeongguk does kiss
him in front of his son like he doesn’t care if Ji-hu sees. He’s protective when Guowang is in the
same room as Taehyung and holds his hand so often, it feels like something’s missing when he isn’t.

When Jeongguk says something he wants Taehyung to know he means, his eyes are bright and
serious. He had looked that way when he told Taehyung he’d always be by his side. As much as he
struggles to accept his own, similar feelings, he needed Jeongguk to know too.

There’s no denying the fact that losing Jeongguk would hurt like his heart is being ripped from his
chest. After everything that’s happened, after Taehyung’s been forced to accept his comfort and
feelings, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Jin is discussing leaving, going far, and Taehyung doesn’t know how to tell him because he doesn’t
know if he can.

“I’d marry you too,” Taehyung murmurs as he presses another kiss to Jeongguk’s chin. “Maybe not
soon, but one day.”

Jeongguk’s lips rub together as Taehyung trails his kisses lower, pushing the blanket that rests over
Jeongguk’s torso to his waist. Jeongguk doesn’t move much in his sleep, not much more than his
head or his arm to pull Taehyung closer when he rolls away.

Jeongguk also doesn’t sleep with a shirt. Taehyung had crawled into bed with him while he was
sleeping and was delighted by the sight. He’s lost a bit of weight and Taehyung’s made it a mission
to make sure he’s eating properly, even if he has to yell at Jin to force Jeongguk to eat while they’re
at work. Even if he has to say fuck the cops looking for him and deliver Jeongguk the food himself.

He lets his fingers linger over where Jeongguk’s ribs press into his skin. He’s lost a lot more weight
than Taehyung’s realized. It makes his heart clench as he rubs his palm over him. He’ll try harder to
make sure Jeongguk eats.

It’s hard to deny the feeling when it blossoms so abruptly in his chest from the need to make sure
he’s okay.”

“I love you, Jeongguk.”

There’s no response other than Jeongguk breathing out softly as Taehyung moves his lips over
Jeongguk’s pulse, touching lightly over his chest to feel the beat of his heart.

“I love you so much,” Taehyung murmurs against his skin, running his fingers down to Jeongguk’s
stomach. “I wish I was better at telling you.”

Fingers catch at the back of his neck as Jeongguk curls towards him. His fingers slip through
Taehyung’s hair, rubbing gently as he hums.
“Taehyung,” Jeongguk murmurs, eyes still closed as his arm tightens to pull Taehyung closer to him.

“I wish I was better at showing you,” Taehyung whispers, pulling his head back to watch
Jeongguk’s face to see if he wakes as he trails his hands lower.

Jeongguk exhales, nuzzling their noses together when Taehyung’s fingers stroke lightly between
Jeongguk’s legs, the tips brushing over the outline of his cock. There’s lips on his a second later, a
soft pressure that vibrates as Jeongguk hums.

“What’re doing?” Jeongguk mumbles, half asleep as Taehyung strokes him again. “You.”

With a giggle at Jeongguk’s slurs, Taehyung puts pressure in his touch and Jeongguk’s eyes are
opening fully. He blinks a few times, gaze unfocused before he curls even more into Taehyung to
kiss him.

It’s slow the way their lips dance over each other. Jeongguk’s humming turns to sharp exhaling as
Taehyung cups him through his briefs. He grows hard quickly, though the pace of their mouths don’t
change.

Jeongguk grips Taehyung’s jaw firmly, pushing his lips against his until Taehyung opens for him.
He moves to hover over Taehyung as he licks into Taehyung’s mouth but Taehyung fights him back,
guiding him until Jeongguk’s burying his head into the pillows.

“Let me,” Taehyung breathes, nuzzling his nose against Jeongguk’s jaw to kiss his neck. Jeongguk
huffs out when Taehyung squeezes lower, fondling his balls before stroking him through his briefs.
His legs kick out, fingers catching in Taehyung’s hair to pull him back into a kiss.

It’s a lazy morning, a quiet morning. The kids are gone and Jeongguk should be getting ready for
work, but Taehyung distracts him selfishly with a hand working beneath the band of Jeongguk’s
briefs. It’s been a while since they’ve touched each other, like it’s been a century since Jeongguk
went to Japan and Taehyung was taken from his home.

Home. What’s he supposed to do about Jeongguk being home so quickly?

“Fuck,” Jeongguk grunts, fisting into Taehyung’s shirt as Taehyung’s palm rolls over the head of his
cock. Taehyung leans up, watching the pleasure wash over Jeongguk’s face. His neck gets so red,
his lips parted sinfully as his hips rock up to chase Taehyung’s touch.

Taehyung wants it. Wants mornings like this for the rest of his life. Not just fucking either, but
waking up with sleepy morning kisses and making coffee and stupid frozen waffles for the kids
while they get ready for school. He wants stupid domestic things so badly.

“Gukkie baby,” Taehyung breathes, the slick sound of his hand working over Jeongguk filling the
room. Jeongguk’s moans are quiet, not much more than soft grunts and long exhales despite being
alone. “I love you.”

Jeongguk’s brows are twisting in pleasure, eyes closed from Taehyung’s gaze but they open at
Taehyung’s words. His hips falter in their rhythm and Taehyung bends forward, catching
Jeongguk’s lips with his.

“I’d marry you if you asked me. One day.”

Jeongguk sits up then, guiding Taehyung back. His eyes are wide, mouth hanging open almost
comically but Taehyung still burns under his gaze, wanting to hide.
“One day,” Jeongguk repeats, cupping Taehyung’s hip to push his fingers under his shirt. His hand
is warm as it maps over his ribs and curls to his spine, pulling the shirt up with it. “One day.”

Taehyung exhales shakily when he nods. He doesn’t feel comfortable offering this information,
admitting to the feeling in his chest even if he already has. Even if Jeongguk looks at him like he
knows.

“I love you too, Tae,” Jeongguk murmurs, leaning forward to plant the words to Taehyung’s lips. “I
love you so fucking much.”

It isn’t slow after that. Jeongguk kisses hungrily, messily as he strips Taehyung from his clothes.
Their touches over each other are desperate, fast. Pleasure and warmth wraps around Taehyung as
Jeongguk takes him into hand, stroking him quickly as he licks praises over the slope of his neck.

Taehyung swats his hand away when Jeongguk bites down hard on his neck, sucking a bruise that
won’t last as long as Taehyung wishes it to. He pushes Jeongguk back again, throwing a leg over his
hip so he can’t move before settling into his lap.

It’s like the first time they were together when Jeongguk pushes up on his hands to kiss Taehyung as
Taehyung curls his hand around the both of them. He strokes them quickly, trying to catch his breath
as pleasure takes over him.

“I love you,” Jeongguk says again, belly rolling and clenching as he trembles beneath him. His
fingers are harsh in Taehyung’s hair, but it only makes his hips buck, body melting into the pace of
Jeongguk’s.

When they come it’s at the same time, Jeongguk’s hand tight on the back of Taehyung’s neck and
twisting in his hair, Taehyung’s teeth gripping onto Jeongguk’s bottom lip to stop him from saying
the words again because it makes his chest feel too tight.

It doesn’t stop Jeongguk for long as he threads his fingers through Taehyung’s hair and kisses them
into his mouth. He says them again with nails caressing down Taehyung’s back, hands rubbing at his
hips and slipping lower to ease the tremor in Taehyung’s thighs.

“I love you too,” Taehyung breathes, overwhelmed.

He doesn’t realize there’s tears on his cheeks until Jeongguk’s thumbs are rubbing over them and
Jeongguk’s pulling back, a frown on his lips and concern in his eyes.

Taehyung shakes his head when Jeongguk parts his lips, knowing Jeongguk will ask. Jeongguk
always knows how to ask the right questions at the wrong time, seeing through every facade
Taehyung’s ever attempted to put up. He doesn’t get a chance to anyway as Jeongguk’s phone rings
from where it’s on the nightstand.

Jeongguk keeps an arm around Taehyung’s waist like he doesn’t want him to move as he reaches for
it. “Do you want me to stay home with you today? Or you wanna come to work with me?”

It’s sweet for Jeongguk to offer. He probably realizes how much Taehyung hates being home even if
Taehyung hasn’t mentioned it. Jeongguk’s always noticing things about him.

“No, it’s okay baby,” Taehyung promises, rubbing his hands over Jeongguk’s chest because he’s a
bit addicted to feel of his heart beat.

Jeongguk frowns when he looks at the contact name, tensing before he thumbs over Taehyung’s
spine soothingly.
“Jeongguk speaking.”

Taehyung nuzzles into Jeongguk’s neck, focusing on the beat of his heart against his lips and the
vibration as he speaks. He wants to spend the day like this, laying curled up beside Jeongguk. It
would be so selfish of him to ask but he thinks Jeongguk likes how selfish he can be.

“I’m home,” Jeongguk says, leaning back against the pillows so Taehyung can lie on top of him
properly. His fingers dance over his spine, little circles created over his skin that relax the muscles
there. “Yeah, he’s with me. I don’t know if anyone else is here, I’m still in bed. What? You asked. I
didn’t say we did anything.”

Taehyung chuckles as he presses up. The amusement slips away quickly as Jeongguk flings forward,
nearly colliding their heads and making Taehyung fly from his lap.

“What do you mean?” Jeongguk grunts, a flicker of anger in his eyes. He taps Taehyung’s thigh,
nodding his head towards where Taehyung’s briefs are thrown haphazardly on the bed. “I told you
you’re not going anywhere near him. We made that perfectly clear.”

Fear makes Taehyung’s fingers fumble over the material. He doesn’t like the sharpness in
Jeongguk’s voice even though he doesn’t know who he is talking to. He trips trying to get the
underwear on as Jeongguk waves a hand at him to hurry.

Jeongguk hands Taehyung his sweatpants before he’s rolling out of bed himself and tugging on his
own briefs.

“Mun, I told you -”

There’s a crash from somewhere in the house and Taehyung yelps, fear rocking through him harder
as Jeongguk cusses.

“You fuck,” Jeongguk grunts, punching his phone into the air before bringing it back to his ear. The
flush in his skin is no longer from arousal, but from rage. “You’ll regret this.”

In a flash, Jeongguk’s throwing the phone aside and rushing over to Taehyung, tripping as he pulls
his briefs over his legs. Confusion and panic makes Taehyung’s hands tremble and his head search
for Jeongguk’s closet. It’s nothing but a small wardrobe, one that Taehyung couldn’t hide in like he
craves.

“It’s okay,” Jeongguk assures him, breathless. “Mun won’t hurt you, okay? I promise. I promise on
Ji-hu’s life.”

Taehyung doesn’t understand. He can’t breathe, his chest expanding and falling quickly. Jeongguk’s
look is intense as he grips Taehyung’s face. It’s gentle, but there isn’t anything gentle about the
expression on Jeongguk’s face.

There’s another crash and shouting and Taehyung can’t hear the shaky exhales he lets out over the
pounding of his heart.

“What’s going on, Guk?”

“I promise,” Jeongguk says, eyes wide. He strokes Taehyung’s cheeks, pressing a kiss to the tip of
his nose. “Don’t panic. You’ll be fine.”

“What’s happening?” Taehyung snaps before Jeongguk presses a hard kiss to his mouth. It knocks
Taehyung’s breath away, but that only worsens the tight feeling in his chest.
“I’m not gonna leave your side,” Jeongguk goes on, pressing their foreheads together.

The next crash is louder and Taehyung yells as the door of Jeongguk’s bedroom swings open, pieces
flying to the ground. Jeongguk doesn’t let him go, though he flinches. Instead, Jeongguk turns
Taehyung behind him, his stance protective.

“Sorry,” the man that enters says. He’s dressed in a suit, his police badge hanging from his neck. It’s
the same man that had introduced himself as Mun Woojin, the same man that both Jeongguk and
Hoseok had been not shy about hiding their contempt towards.

There is regret in his eyes and Taehyung feels the urge to shrink behind Jeongguk, to hide in his
closet just like he had when this same man visited his mother.

“It has to look believable,” Mun says. “Only a handful of my men know the truth.”

The men behind them are also wearing badges on their chests or hanging from their necks, just as
easily recognizable as Mun. Jooheon is there, his bright orange hair standing out. The other cop is the
same from Hanbin’s, the officer that had tried to take Taehyung from the first officer. The same
officer that tried to get Taehyung to Mun.

“Get the fuck out,” Jeongguk grunts, reaching behind him to cup Taehyung’s hip.

“Kim Taehyung,” Mun says, ignoring Jeongguk as he looks to Taehyung and Taehyung swears he
sees pain in his eyes. “You’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Jeon Ji-hu. I need you to come with
me.”

Taehyung’s heart pounds as he shakes his head and backs up. “I - I didn’t.”

“I know,” Mun insists, holding his hands out. There are cuffs in one and Taehyung’s going to throw
up. Jeongguk thrusts a hand into the air, stopping Mun from moving closer. “We need to make it
look like you did, though. I need you to trust me.”

“I don’t,” Taehyung breathes.

“I don’t either,” Jeongguk grits out. “I never pressed charges against anyone but Hanbin.”

Mun shoves Jeongguk’s hand away. “Don’t interfere before I arrest you for real, Jeon. Wouldn’t you
want Sungho’s men to think Taehyung was on his side? To think he’s in prison and not hiding away
at your home, ready to be taken again?”

Taehyung watches as Jeongguk grips Mun’s hand when he starts to move again and Taehyung
pushes from behind him to curl his fingers around Jeongguk’s wrist to stop him. Mun hadn’t looked
to be joking when he threatened to arrest Jeongguk and Jeongguk would be dumb enough to get
arrested for him.

“How do I know you won’t hurt me?” Taehyung breathes, his trembling voice failing him as he tries
to sound strong.

“Because you’re not going with him,” Jeongguk grunts.

“You’re coming with me whether you trust me or not,” Mun says, his tone softening when he looks
to Taehyung and grabs a shirt that’s bundled up on the dresser. “Please put this on and let me cuff
you.”

Taehyung struggles when Mun grabs his arm, even though the touch is gentle. It’s out of instinct,
fear surging up in his throat that’s amplified by the murderous look in Jeongguk’s eyes when he tries
to peel Mun’s hand away. More police officers are flooding by the door though Jooheon and the
other officer are shoving them off, telling them Mun has apprehended the culprit .

“You can trust me,” Mun murmurs as he pulls Taehyung’s arm behind his back, the room filling with
the sound of Jeongguk’s protests. There’s tears budding in Taehyung’s eyes when Jooheon struggles
to tug Jeongguk’s hands behind his back too when he lurches to push Mun off of him. “I wasn’t a
client of your mother’s, Taehyung. I was married to her.”

The room is quiet save for the sound of a pen scratching over paper. Taehyung doesn’t like this
silence as much. He rubs at the marks left behind by the cuffs before settling them in his lap. He lets
his eyes wander over Mun across from him and to the wall, where he wonders if Jeongguk is.

Jeongguk wasn’t cuffed, but he didn’t calm until Mun let someone he trusted in the back of the cop
car with him. He refused to leave Taehyung’s side the entire time but he didn’t fight when Mun
pushed Taehyung into the interrogation room with him.

“I turned the audio off,” Mun says finally. “I have to make it look like I’m interrogating you, but I
know you’re not guilty of anything, Taehyung-ssi.”

“Why then?” Taehyung grits out. “Why am I here?”

Mun looks tired, the wrinkles around his eyes deep and stretching out from the corners of his eyes.
He doesn’t truly look intimidating, his expression more annoyed and frustrated than angry and
threatening. The frustrated look disappeared once Jeongguk was barred from the interrogation room,
and it’s much softer when he looks to Taehyung.

“You’ll look loyal to Hanbin,” Mun explains, resting his elbows on the table between them. “We’ll
report you refused to give names, confessed to it being a solo adventure. Guowang won’t come after
you for touching Ji-hu, Jeongguk’s made a deal with them so they’re sworn to protect you as well. It
won’t affect the case against Hanbin; we’ve got him in the bag.”

Taehyung flares his nostrils as he stares at the wall again. He’s overheard things here and there about
the Jeon’s meetings with the Guowangs and all of it has made him uncomfortable.

He’s always been a bit thrown off by the idea of Jeongguk being involved in any of this and he
doesn’t want Jeongguk to start now. Not because of him, at least, even if he isn’t the only reason.

“What was the deal?”

Mun pretends to write things down whenever Taehyung speaks. “I don’t know. I’m sure you’ve
noticed that your boyfriend is quite untrusting of me.”

There is silence again as Taehyung looks away from the wall. He’s too tired to react, though he likes
the way it sounds to call Jeongguk his boyfriend. Mun sighs a few times, eyes on Taehyung but
Taehyung refuses to meet them.

“Your friends have a right not to trust me,” Mun says. “I’ve lied about a lot of things and they’re
starting to realize that. I’m going to tell you things, answer questions you have, and I won’t lie to
you. I promise.”

Taehyung searches his face. He’s seen it a handful of times. He thinks Mun had come around often,
though Taehyung wasn’t allowed to be out of the closet when his mother had men over. He doesn’t
believe him, but he wonders what kind of bullshit responses Mun has for him anyway.

“What did you lie about and why?”

Mun rubs his lips. “It was true that I took your mother from Sungho when she was still a girl. I did
not tell your friends that your mother would only come with me if I promised to marry her, and I had
to forge documents because she was too young to do so. I had to create her a new identity. I did not
tell them this because I was twenty three at the time.”

Disgust worms his way into Taehyung’s chest. “Did you do it to be a creep or to help her?”

A smile flickers at Mun’s lips. “To help her. I was assigned to the case because I was the youngest
cop on the force. Your mother was the first person under Sungho that I met and we became close.”

There’s something in Mun’s eyes that makes Taehyung soften, makes him feel conflicted about his
hesitancy to trust him. It would make sense not to share that information with anyone. “What else?”

“I told your friends that she left me and I could not find her until she died, but that was untrue. She
came back a few years later. I lied because I did not want your friends to judge your mother.”

Taehyung scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Judge her for what?”

“I thought she was returning to be with me,” Mun murmurs thoughtfully. “She lied about that. After
we - uh, reunited, she told me I had to pay.”

There’s a sinking in Taehyung’s chest as the pain flashes in Mun’s eyes. He believes Mun loved his
mother, he doesn’t think someone could fake how genuinely pained Mun looks.

“It was to feed you though she told me she had given you away,” Mun continues. “I told her she
didn’t need to do anything for money, I would happily give it to her but she felt like that was a trick.
I loved your mother dearly, I didn’t mind being with her though it made my heart ache often. If that’s
what she wanted to do, I’d give it to her. She never believed me that I didn’t expect something, I just
wanted to take care of her.”

Taehyung searches for Jeongguk again, wishing he could see him. His heart hurts, heavying as he
realizes his mother would have understood him. That someone else out there would understand his
hesitancies, his fears. Jimin tries to, but he’s so big on making Taehyung feel better that his words are
more encouraging and optimistic than validating.

There’s things about Mun’s words that make him start to understand Jeongguk a little bit more too.

“Your mother was very ill, Taehyung,” Mun tells him. “She panicked often, and left for years on
end, suddenly. There were times I had no idea if she was even getting the money I transferred to her
account, but I still sent it. We met when you were seven, do you remember?”

Taehyung shakes his head. He remembers sneaking out of the closet and spying on his mother, but
he doesn’t remember meeting any of the men.

“I had been investigating Sungho again when an informant reported that your mother was with him,”
Mun says. “I found her again that way and I didn’t want your friends to judge her for going back to
him. I knew about you, I was a threat. Sungho didn’t know about you, she felt safer that he wouldn’t
touch you if he didn’t know about you. I guess. Your mother’s stories often didn’t match up.

“I staked out the club he owned at the time so I could follow her home. I had never been sure if she
had really given you away or not. I didn’t care what she needed the money for. I watched her come
home and kiss your cheeks on the lawn. You don’t remember?”

Another shake of his head. He wants this to be over with. He wants to release the pressure building
in his chest but he refuses to do so in front of a man he doesn’t know. A man his mother didn’t trust,
that Hoseok and Jeongguk both openly hate.

Jeongguk may be biased, overprotective, but Hoseok is just as good at spotting dangerous men as
Jimin.

“You told me your name was Hyunjin and you’d call the police if I stepped onto your lawn.” Mun
laughs and it’s a familiar sound, but Taehyung can’t remember where he’s heard it. “Your mother
was furious, sending you inside and her threats were more about murdering me while I slept if I ever
came near you again. She broke down, begging me not to take you away from her. She was afraid I
would, even when I promised her I would never touch you. I never gave her a reason to think that,
Taehyung, but everyone she knew had their children taken away.

“She moved to Seoul then, so I couldn’t find you again. But she reached out to me again a few years
later, needing more money. This happened often. Your mother would worm her way into my bed
and pocket and I never cared, I always let her. I don’t want your friends to know these things about
her. She left Chung-Hoon when he got too curious about you, running away to and from him as
often as she had done with me.”

Taehyung sniffles, frowning at the tears that slip out. There’s a thump outside but Mun holds up his
hand and waves at the double mirror behind him.

“Do you know if Chung-Hoon truly is the father of my brother?”

Mun frowns, curling his fist under his chin. Taehyung has a lot of questions, but that one is the most
important. He never knew it was his mother that was working with Chung-Hoon’s men, he always
was told it was his step father.

“I don’t know,” Mun answers. “I said goodbye to your mother before he was born. It was our last
time together. I divorced her a few weeks later because she asked me to. I know your mother worked
on and off with him over the years. She never talked to me about their relationship.”

There’s another thump and Mun sighs, handing a tissue to Taehyung. Taehyung wipes at his face.
“Your boyfriend out there is protective. Does he treat you well?”

Taehyung nods. “I feel a lot like my mother did. It’s hard to trust someone doesn’t want to take
something from you when that’s all you know. Please don’t be angry with her.”

This Kyungsoon, this version of his mother, was not someone Taehyung knew. He didn’t see her as
ill, though a lot of his memories of her she was expressionless or bruised. He would have never
imagined his mother doing any of these things.

But he wants to protect her. It’s a forceful surge in his chest, his need to defend her. Because he
understands.

He needs Jeongguk to understand him this way, to continue being patient with him even if it’s selfish
of Taehyung to ask.

“I’m not,” Mun says, folding his arms in front of himself. “I never was. At times I was frustrated,
hurt, but I would have stayed married to her and stayed waiting for her my entire life if I had to. I
would waste away waiting to hear her laugh again.”
Taehyung barely remembers how it sounded. He looks away, finding Hoseok’s face outside the door
to the interrogation room. His expression is hard but it softens when he looks to Taehyung. It’s
threatening when he looks at Mun.

“Hanbin said she killed herself.”

There’s tears in Mun’s eyes when Taehyung looks back to him. He exhales, trying to catch his
breath and his hands are shaking on the table.

“She was very sick, Tae,” Mun says. “I don’t know how true it is, but I would believe it.”

Hoseok bangs on the door when Taehyung gasps out from the sudden lurch of pain in his chest and
quickly wipes his hands over his eyes.

Mun clears his throat, hands flat on the table. “You may have to go away for a few years Taehyung.
I’m under the impression that was the plan anyway.”

Taehyung nods. It’s the best bet. To be safe, to keep Woojin safe, now apparently to look like he’s in
prison for kidnapping. Taehyung hasn’t told anyone that the places Jin has been looking into are far
away, because he can’t bear it.

It’s why he’s so distressed about leaving Jeongguk. It isn’t just moving out of his home, which
Taehyung will miss even if he were close. It’s moving far, not seeing him, not contacting him.

Missing him.

“I would like to do for you as I’ve done for your mother,” Mun finally says. “I have been putting
money away each month, and I wish to give it to you.”

Taehyung grows tense. “I - I. In exchange for?”

Mun holds up a hand to stop him, smiling softly. “Nothing. I swear it. I don’t want a thing.”

Taehyung doesn’t believe him. “I’m okay, thank you.”

“The money will be in an account for you and it will stay there until you use it,” Mun tells him as he
stands. “Come, there’s another reason I brought you here.”

The suspect in the case of 7 year old Jeon Ji-hu’s kidnapping has been apprehended today. There
has been a manhunt for Kim Taehyung, 26, led by Detective Mun Woojin for the last month. The
culprit was finally located thanks to an anonymous caller.

Jeongguk grits his teeth as the news reporter disappears and he sees his own face. There’s rage in his
eyes and it could easily be mistaken as being directed towards Taehyung. Mun told him to stay back,
to make it so no one knew they were together but the idea of leaving Taehyung’s side was a
miserable one.

He looks back to him now, where he sits in front of Mun, crying softly. Jeongguk can’t help the way
he slaps onto the double sided wall, warning Mun to stop whatever he’s doing that makes Taehyung
cry.

When Hoseok bursts into the security room, there’s rage on his face but he side steps Jeongguk to go
straight to the door.
There’s still tears in Taehyung’s eyes when he steps out and Jeongguk is thankful no one stops him
from grabbing him. He kisses them away, whispering apologies against his lips until Taehyung is
pushing him away with a shake of his head.

The shake in his fingers have yet to subside, still lingering about alongside the anger from when
Jooheon had pulled his hands back to keep him from Mun. Taehyung notices, curling his own
around Jeongguk’s to calm them.

“It’s bullshit you did this,” Hoseok grits out when Mun steps out. His sunglasses are pushed into his
hair, making it stick up and with the anger in his eyes, he looks a bit mad. “I told you to stay away
from Taehyung. Whatever Jeongguk has threatened you with, I’ll double it.”

“It’s a good plan,” Jooheon interrupts, a fond smile on his lips as he looks to Hoseok. He sinks over
just to get elbowed away. “He’ll have to go away for a short time, somewhere far, but -”

“What?” Jeongguk asks softly.

The conversation fades as Jeongguk takes in Taehyung’s face; his wide eyes and raised brows. His
bottom lip trembles and when he looks away without response, Jeongguk knows it’s true.

He already knew Taehyung was leaving, but he hadn’t thought it would be too far. He can’t go too
far, not with Jin’s job at Jeon Tobacco and his kids going to school here.

Not after promising to stay by his side and threatening Jeongguk never to leave his.

Mun hangs his head, rubbing his temples. “Jooheon-ah would you please bring in the actual
culprits.”

Taehyung buries himself into Jeongguk’s chest at the words, Jeongguk curling his arms around
Taehyung’s shoulders when Mun gestures for them to stand back. Taehyung’s trembling, crying
softly and Jeongguk lets him use him as a shield from everyone noticing.

Hoseok coos as he wraps around Taehyung’s back, kissing his hair. Covering him from the men that
are dragged roughly through the room by Jooheon and another officer.

There’s a smug look in Hanbin’s eyes as he holds Jeongguk’s gaze. His face is swollen and bruised,
purple blossomed over both sides of his face.

Yunbok avoids his gaze, eyes averted as he’s thrown into the interrogation room beside him. His
face is almost hard to recognize from how messed up it is. Jeongguk briefly remembers he had been
shot in the shoulder, but an inmate uniform hides the damage.

“I want to give you the opportunity for your own justice,” Mun tells Taehyung as he approaches and
Jeongguk finds himself curling into Taehyung like a wall between the two men. “I know what
they’ve done to you.”

Taehyung pulls away but keeps his fingers fisted into Jeongguk’s shirt. He looks at Jeongguk for a
moment, smiling softly. “Can Jeongguk come in with me?”

“Of course,” Mun replies. “I’m turning the cameras off, but the door will remain unlocked. Don’t kill
them, please.”

Jooheon huffs out a laugh. “Mun almost did, it took four of us to get him off of Yunbok.”

Jeongguk doesn’t like Mun, but he’s thinks he can be trusted when it comes to Taehyung. The need
to protect Taehyung has been the only consistent thing about him.

Well, he isn’t positive yet. Maybe he wants to protect Taehyung but he needs to be more transparent
about it. There could have been a lot less stressful way to get Taehyung charged with the kidnapping
of Ji-hu rather than ripping him from Jeongguk’s home.

Hanbin’s still grinning when Jeongguk leads Taehyung into the room with a secure hand to his back.
It’s uncomfortable and Jeongguk’s rage has returned, brewing loudly inside of him. Taehyung walks
with his chin high, shoulders back and Jeongguk knows he needs the control right now.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Hanbin hums. “Baby, I’ve missed you.”

Taehyung pushes Jeongguk back like he can tell Jeongguk’s tightening his hands into fists.

“Why did you do it?” Taehyung asks. “Why did you take my photos? What were you planning on
doing to me?”

Jeongguk swallows, looking away because he doesn’t think he’ll be able to keep calm if he hears the
answer. He’s thankful Yunbok’s face is so torn because Jeongguk is still struggling with knowing a
man he’s so close to is so cruel, has hurt Taehyung so badly.

Knowing what he did to his mother.

“You wanna know?” Hanbin asks, licking at his broken bottom lip as his elbows land on the table.
“Too fucking bad.”

Taehyung cocks his head to the side. “I’m the head witness for this case. You tell me and I won’t
give them your name.”

Jeongguk glares at the back of Taehyung’s head, at the pink that has faded so much it is a dirty
looking color. It’s a bit greasy from not being washed, sometimes Jeongguk has to force Taehyung
into the bath or shower.

“Taehyung,” Jeongguk whispers, grabbing for Taehyung’s wrist but it goes ignored.

“Tell me.”

Hanbin’s eyes are bright when they glance to Jeongguk. He stays quiet for a minute, humming.
“You’re that desperate to know? You must know that whether you squeal on me or not, there’s
enough evidence to ensure I’ll be found guilty.”

He leans back, eyes peering over Jeongguk and Taehyung. Yunbok looks like he’d rather be
anywhere than here and Jeongguk hopes he’s suffering.

“How about this, I’ll tell you if I get to tell Jeongguk something.”

Taehyung stiffens. The silence has returned and Jeongguk wonders if Mun has shut off the audio like
he had with Taehyung. “Deal.”

There’s a look of victory on Hanbin’s face, cheeks rounding over his smug smile. “Good boy. The
reason is I wanted Jeongguk to know you weren’t his,” Hanbin says simply, shrugging. “Abeoji here
wanted the pictures of you in pain to give to Daddy Dearest. He fucked over Appa and my uncles
quite badly, didn’t he?”

Yunbok flinches and glares at Hanbin. “Your father stole from my family. He took Kyungsoon away
from hyung. He deserves to see your skin torn, your body used just like his wife’s was. What
happened to you wasn’t anything close to what happened to your mother when she returned.”

Taehyung exhales sharply, his calm facade crumbling. Taehyung doesn’t know who his father is but
he doesn’t ask. Instead, he steps closer and avoids Jeongguk’s attempt to grab him as he swings his
fist.

The crunch of Hanbin’s nose is loud, echoing through the quiet room. “I was never yours.”

Jeongguk rushes behind Taehyung when he swings again. Hanbin’s cuffed to the table, unable to
pull away. He takes Taehyung’s hand into his own, securing them to Taehyung’s chest as he wraps
behind him.

As much as he wants to see Hanbin smashed in, smashing in Bobby’s face hadn’t made him feel any
better. It broke his knuckles and made Yoongi angry with him.

“I am Jeongguk’s,” Taehyung grunts. “I should kill you for coming near my brother, you sick fuck. I
don’t care if he’s Sungho’s son or not. He’s a fucking child.”

Hanbin groans, head hanging back as the blood rushes down his chin and neck.

Jeongguk pulls Taehyung back as tears start to leave Taehyung’s eyes, his expression turning a bit
crazed with rage. But Taehyung pulls away, aiming for Yunbok. He’s stronger than Jeongguk’s ever
noticed, fueled by the power of emotion inside of him.”

“That’s for what you did to me. This is for what you’ve done to Bobby.” Taehyung punches
quickly, grunting hard. “This is for what you did to Jeongguk’s mother.”

Taehyung elbows him hard before swinging with both fists and all of his strength, making Yunbok’s
head swing back. Jeongguk pulls him off when he goes to hit again as Yunbok’s head hangs, his low
groan the only sign that Taehyung didn’t actually kill him. Taehyung’s trembling as Jeongguk holds
his arms around him, his chest rising and falling so fast Jeongguk’s afraid he might start to panic.

“You’re shit,” Taehyung spits. There’s tears rushing from his eyes and he doesn’t bother to hide
them. “Are you not tortured by the things you’ve done?”

Hanbin spits, the blood splattering across the table. “Deal is a deal, baby boy. Jeonggukkie, listen
up.”

Jeongguk’s chest squeezes at the sound of Taehyung’s voice, his own eyes brimming. He pulls
Taehyung behind him as he starts to shake. “Spit it out.”

He looks crazed with the wide of his eyes and the blood dribbling down the lower half of his face. It
only worsens when he laughs. “Bobby’s always been in love with the idea of you two being close,
so heartbroken over the fact that you loved Yoongi hyung more. It’s very sweet to see how much
you hate him. It’s what the traitorous bastard deserves.”

Jeongguk breathes through his nose as he parts from Taehyung, walking around the desk to perch
himself beside Hanbin. He’s helpless like this, cuffed to the chair but there isn’t an inch of fear in his
eyes.

“Is that all?”

Hanbin spits again, anger in his eyes. When he speaks it’s quiet, whispered, but the empty room
echoes with it. “You can act as if you’re different Jeongguk, stay on your high horse, but you bought
a whore just like all of us. Hide him wherever you want, my men will find him. If you think Uncle
Sungho isn’t watching every move you make, you’re a -”

A gurgling noise leaves Hanbin’s lips when Jeongguk strikes out. His ears pound as he wraps his
hands around his throat, the control leaving him as his arm shakes with the force behind his touch.

There’s pushing and shoving against Jeongguk until Hanbin’s being pulled free and gasping for
breath. It takes Jeongguk a moment, blinking away the red cornering his eyes, to realize Jooheon,
Taehyung, and Hoseok had pulled him off.

“Fuck, I really want you to kill him,” Hoseok grunts as he shoves Jeongguk towards the door. “But
not today. You’re too pretty for prison.”

Jeongguk can’t stand a moment without Taehyung, reaching blindly for him until their fingers
interlock. Taehyung clings to his entire arm, curling towards his chest. It’s upsetting because
Hanbin’s right.

“He isn’t right,” Taehyung murmurs like he can’t tell what Jeongguk is thinking. “You’ve always
made it clear you never wanted anything from me. You never expected anything from me. That’s a
huge fucking difference, Jeongguk.”

With a huff, Jeongguk nods. “You never believed me, though. I made you feel just like them.”

Taehyung’s brows furrow as he cups Jeongguk’s cheek. “No one ever made me feel like you,
Jeongguk.”

It doesn’t matter who is around, Jeongguk needs the touch of Taehyung. Taehyung embraces him,
kissing over his mouth and clinging to his back.

“I promise. It’s difficult for me to show it but you always made me feel good. Cared for. I may have
not trusted it but that was not because of anything you did, Gukkie baby.”

Jeongguk nods, nuzzling into Taehyung’s neck until his body feels calm enough to let go. There’s
silence surrounding them and it isn’t until Jeongguk pulls back that he realizes everyone is still
around them. Mun is pretending to be busy, moving over papers on a desk but he keeps glancing at
them.

Jooheon and Hoseok are blatantly staring, twin grins on their lips as they nudge their elbows and
squeal over them the way Eunae does.

“Stay calm,” Taehyung murmurs, turning from Jeongguk but he doesn’t let him go. “Mun.”

Mun pretends to be surprised, like he hadn’t been eavesdropping.

“Who - who is my father?” Taehyung suddenly says, his voice hoarse.

The tension is loud as Hoseok falters wrestling with Jooheon, both of their grins slipping away.

“Yunbok said he sent those pictures to my father, to hurt him. Who is he?”

The sound of Taehyung’s voice, the pleading and anger in his words when he looks to Mun tells
Jeongguk that he already knows. He moves around Hoseok, who attempts to stop him because he
isn’t finished.

“He said I’d be torn like his wife. My mother.” Taehyung is starting to panic, Jeongguk tries to step
in front of him so he can catch his breath, but Taehyung is pushing him aside. “When did my mother
leave you? How old were you when she had me?”

Mun pushes from the wall, shoving his hands into his pockets. Years of being an officer has worked
in helping him keep his face impassive and Jeongguk hates it. “Your mother left me shortly after you
were born.”

Taehyung’s nostrils flare as his bloodied fists curl around his hips. “When you married her? You
slept with her.”

The impassive expression breaks then, shame in Mun’s eyes before he nods. “She thought I was a
client of hers from the Blue. We slept together before we married.”

Taehyung swings, this time hitting Mun in the chest. Mun doesn’t stop him, doesn’t flinch.

“No wonder she didn’t trust you,” Taehyung sobs, swinging again. “That’s why you lied, wasn’t it?
Because she was a child. You didn’t want them to judge my mother, you wanted them not to judge
you for being no different than those men in there.”

There’s tears building in Mun’s eyes and Jeongguk doesn’t step in this time as he realizes what
Taehyung means. Taehyung’s fists aren’t as strong, but he shoves Mun back and makes him stumble
anyway.

“Bastard,” Hoseok grunts, stepping forward but Jooheon is grabbing his shoulder to pull him back.
“Sick bastard.”

“I didn’t tell you I was different. Everything I told you was true, Taehyung. I am ashamed for what I
had to do to convince your mother to come with me.”

“I’m going to be sick,” Taehyung sobs and he’s turning, searching for Jeongguk. He gasps out when
Jeongguk grabs for him but he doesn’t stop looking around like he’s lost. “I need to leave.”

“You can’t go together,” Jooheon says, tries to stop them but Hoseok smacks his chest. “Hold on,
just a second, I’ll help you out so no one notices.”

“Taehyung,” Mun starts, reaching for him but he stops when Taehyung jerks his fist forward. “I
understand you’re angry with me, but I still need you to work me while we put in you in the witness
protection program. And then you can stop contact with me.”

Taehyung huffs, frantic. “Get away from me. Get the fuck away from me.”

There’s stacks of boxes lining the walls and scattered across the floor where the tables and couches
had once been. The lighting is purpled, the music playing so softly that Yoongi can barely hear it
over the thud of his own heartbeat.

The majority of the morning had been beside Jimin, sitting as he signed over everything to
Guowang. Park Yugyeom. Yoongi had been uncomfortable that even that was planned, and Jimin
looked as if he had been punched in the stomach when he came strolling in through the front door
beside Jackson.

The afternoon was spent cleaning out the club; going through the dressing rooms and meeting with
the other birds. Jimin refused to sell anyone, even if their debt to Bobby and him were great. The
loyalty to Bobby was surprising to Yoongi, but it was even greater to Jackson.
Yoongi doesn’t know much about this stuff, but he thinks Jackson was placed here with his
charming personality just for that reason.

Now that the sun is slipping below the horizon, Jimin’s shooed the movers out of the club. He had
asked Jackson first, whispering so shyly about wanting to say goodbye that Yoongi pretended not to
hear because he didn’t think he was supposed to.

“I wish I could have done this with everyone watching,” Jimin murmurs, his voice barely louder than
the quiet music.

Yoongi’s eyes flutter closed, fingers flexing over the couch. Jimin is a pressure in his lap that had
started out as light and teasing, but now he grinds down with a purpose that makes Yoongi’s toes dig
into the cold floor.

“I was banned from lap dances from anyone,” Yoongi reminds him cheekily.

He flicks an eye open, watching as Jimin releases the lip he holds onto tightly with his teeth and
frowns.

“I think the boss had a thing for me,” Yoongi sighs, voice stuttering as Jimin grinds down harshly in
his lap. He grins at the wrinkle over the bridge of Jimin’s nose before he pushes up, forgetting the no
touching rule to cup his hand around the side of Jimin’s neck.

It’s been a slow process. Jimin doesn’t talk often about what makes him look distant, about what
causes his tears to come out and why he tries to hide them. There are times he’ll tell Yoongi, but he
doesn’t want a response or to talk about it.

Yoongi gives him his hand and his heart instead, comforting him without words whenever he can.
Selling Bobby’s things seems to trigger it the most and that’s when Jimin stays silent the most.

He doesn’t need to explain it and Yoongi doesn’t think he needs to understand it completely either.
Just like Jimin doesn’t understand Yoongi’s anger towards Grace, he’s still there with his fingers
around Yoongi’s wrist to keep him at bay whenever he walks in on Grace and Ji-hu on the phone
together.

Yoongi shifts until Jimin’s flat against the couch, the sparkles threaded in the cushions glistening
under the purple above them. Jimin is Heaven, hair spanning out and the flush in his cheeks dark
beneath the colored lights. His eyes flutter closed, lips parting sinfully when Yoongi links their
fingers again, addicted to the feeling of their hands connected.

There’s moments when it’s nerve wracking, when they still bicker about things. Jimin fighting off
moving in together, refusing to tell Yoongi why until he blurts how scared he is. Yoongi becoming
frustrating when Jimin calls the institution Bobby’s admitted himself to, or asks Jun-ki about his well
being. The nightmares of Jimin’s skin burning, waking up to Jimin screaming out for his mother in
the middle of the night.

They’re working on it, and they’re working on it together.

Yoongi kisses Jimin as their bodies rock together, the music forgotten about and Jimin’s stupid lap
dance that meant to be a joke. Jimin sighs into his mouth when he comes, his fingers so tight in
Yoongi’s hair that his scalp throbs when he lets go.

The beat of his heart is erratic as he slumps over Jimin, their shirts shucked up into their armpits as an
attempt to not get messy that failed. Jimin’s fingers tickle his spine, rub down his back until he can
slip his palm over Yoongi’s and squeeze playfully.
It’s light as Yoongi laughs, rubbing his nose over Jimin’s. “I love you.”

Jimin pushes up, guiding Yoongi with him. “I love you too, baby. I would stay right here with you
all night, but we haven’t even touched the office yet.”

Despite his words, Jimin doesn’t move from beside Yoongi. He traces Yoongi’s features for a
moment, a smile in his eyes before he adjusts his clothes and stands up.

The office is a place Jimin’s been dreading the most. Yoongi knows from the way Jimin looks at it
whenever he passes by. Knows it by the way Jimin lingers in front of the door, inhaling deeply
before he finally unlocking the door.

It’s messy. The chair that should be behind the desk is across the room. There are a few picture
frames askew on the wall, a few broken. The desk is a mess of papers and books, some drawers half
opened and their contents spilled on the floor.

Jimin lets out a shaky sigh. “We should just box everything and go through it later.”

Yoongi pulls in the stack of boxes in the hallway as Jimin heads to the filing cabinet first. He doesn’t
really know where to start, feels uncomfortable going through Bobby’s things. After a moment he
decides to start with the desk, propping an empty box on the chair he drags over.

It’s not a good idea as he stares at the photograph ripped from the wall, laying in the center. The
woman in it is younger than Yoongi’s ever seen her photographed, her black hair long and
waterfalling over her shoulders. Her smile matches the small boy in her arms, little bunny teeth
sticking out over her bottom lip.

It takes a moment for Yoongi to realize that it isn’t Bobby in his mother’s arms, but Jeongguk. He
had never seen the similarity but he sees it now staring down at the photograph. It makes his heart
ache for some reason, thinking about Bobby in here, staring at a picture of the mother he wasn’t
allowed to have and the brother he wasn’t allowed to help raise.

It only makes him feel worse when he lifts the photograph and spots the needle below.

He quickly trashes it before Jimin can see.

“Do you think um, you should bring this to B?”

Despite saying goodbye, Jun-ki had requested Jimin to visit the institution with him. Jimin hasn’t told
him what he’s thinking about it but he looks conflicted whenever Jun-ki brings it up.

Jimin is frozen where he stands, arm half in a deep filing cabinet drawer. There’s a frown on his face,
eyebrows knitted as he stares down at whatever it is.

“Jimin-ah?”

Jerking up, Jimin looks confused for a moment before he shakes his head and pulls out what looks to
be a necklace. “Yeah?”

“You okay?” Yoongi asks, cocking his head to the side as concern fills him.

There’s a look on Jimin’s face he can’t read as Jimin holds up the necklace, showing off the necklace
and Bobby’s name hanging from the bottom.

“Yeah,” Jimin says before he tosses the necklace into the box. He clears his throat, blinking until the
look goes away and he throws a hand to indicate the photograph Yoongi holds. “That’s Jeongguk,
isn’t it?”

Yoongi nods, handing off the framed photo when Jimin approaches.

“Young-Mi was beautiful.”

Yoongi hums in agreement. He had been as close to Young-Mi as his own mother, being raised by
both. After she had passed, Yoongi was so worried about Jeongguk’s well-being and his pain, that it
took him a few weeks for him to really feel his own.

“I’ll give it to Jun-ki.”

Jimin attempts to take the photograph but Yoongi is curling his fingers around his wrist, stopping
him. Jimin breathes out unevenly before meeting Yoongi’s eyes.

“It’s okay if you visit him,” Yoongi murmurs before letting go.

“Let’s just finish up?” Jimin says, eyes on Yoongi until he nods.

The rest of the packing is spent in silence, only interrupted here and there when Jimin shows Yoongi
something he finds funny. The sky is dark by the time they’ve decided to call it a night, leaving the
office almost empty except for the furniture and boxes lining the walls.

It’s cool outside, a slight breeze as Jimin locks up the club and takes Yoongi’s hand again. The
silence follows them for awhile, wrapping around them to keep them warm. Yoongi doesn’t mind it,
though his mind nags at him to interrupt here and there because he can never shut off his thoughts.
They walk slowly, exhaustion settling in by the time they reach their apartment building.

They moved in a few days after returning to Japan, once Jeongguk forced the apartment onto them.
Jimin sold his old one, signed off the rights to Bobby’s suite - the building also owned by the Jeon
Family. There’s only a few assets left and though Jimin seems eager to free of them, he still takes his
time.

“Hyung,” Jimin murmurs when they reach their apartment, turning towards Yoongi instead of
unlocking it. The security has been replaced by Guowang, though Jeongguk looks unsure to trust
anyone but his close friends.

Yoongi isn’t sure what Jeongguk is doing with Guowang, he won’t talk about it, but every time
Yoongi sees Mun in the meetings with them, he’s uncomfortable.

“It feels weird, selling the club. I was excited to open it.”

Rubbing his palms down Jimin’s arms, he nods. “I know.”

“That necklace felt like a brand.”

Yoongi glances between them, at the brand hidden beneath his clothes. He doesn’t say anything;
doesn’t understand the feeling.

“Which is why I don’t understand why I feel bad.”

“You don’t have to understand,” Yoongi murmurs. “Might make you feel worse trying.”

Jimin huffs out a weak laugh. “You sound like your mother, hyung.”
“She’s a smart woman,” Yoongi responds proudly, earning a wrinkled nose thrown his way. It falls
quiet afterwards, Jimin smiling softly as he looks at Yoongi and Yoongi doesn’t move, offering Jimin
his time if he needs to say more.

“Jackson-ssi offered me a job.”

It’s soft spoken, anxious sounding and matching the nervous look in Jimin’s eyes when he admits
this. Yoongi freezes, his hands still around Jimin’s elbows.

“Just for booking,” Jimin quickly says. “The old clients will trust a familiar face. Financing and
laundering. I wouldn’t have to ever go there, see anyone.”

Yoongi breathes out, chest tight. “I won’t tell you that you can or can’t do something Jimin-ah.”

Jimin doesn’t relax at this, though he presses his palms to Yoongi’s chest. “I know. But, we are - we
are together now, hyung. We have to consider each other before we make decisions.”

The words still bring a smile to Yoongi’s lips, though it isn’t anything they had ever discussed and
said out loud. It’s true nonetheless. The apartment behind them is theirs, they parent a cat, share a
bed, hold each other’s hearts.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Jimin repeats, perking up with an arched eyebrow.

Yoongi nods. “Working for Guowang would assure they would protect you, yeah? I’m sure there
are people loyal to Chung-Hoon and them that won’t be happy with you.”

Jimin nibbles at his bottom lip, nodding. “Yeah.”

Sighing, Yoongi presses a kiss to Jimin’s forehead. “It’s late, Jimin-ah. Let’s -”

“Especially because I am now officially the owner of B.B. Entertainment.”

It’s spoken so quickly that Yoongi doesn’t understand. He also doesn’t understand the wide eyed
look Jimin wears or the way he vibrates with something that doesn’t match with the damp mood
around them.

“I’ve been on the phone with a few of the managers beneath Hanbin and I asked them if they’d be
interested in staying within the company, though there would be new owners and we’d change the
label of course.”

Jimin’s bouncing on his toes now as he cups Yoongi’s neck. He exhales sharply and Yoongi
crunches his brows together, confused at Jimin’s excitement.

“I’m working up the contracts now. I was thinking MYG Entertainment.”

It takes a moment to sink in and when it does, Yoongi’s eyes grow wide. He pulls back from Jimin,
disconnecting from him.

“MYG?”

Jimin nods, biting at his smile. “Yeah. I know it isn’t original, using the owner of the label’s initials
but -”

He’s cut off when Yoongi grabs his jaw and kisses him, hard. Jimin giggles into it, hands fisting into
Yoongi’s shirt. He bites at Jimin’s smile, smothering his cheeks with more nips and pecks until the
hallway is echoing with Jimin’s giggles and excitement.

“You’re kidding.”

“No.”

“God, I love you.”

Without looking, Yoongi punches in the apartment code to unlock the door, unwanting to pull away
from Jimin. Jimin stumbles backwards, clinging to Yoongi when the door flings open.

There’s the echo of meows from Strawberry, who immediately runs around their feet. The television
is on, leaving a soft glow throughout the dark apartment.

The sudden damp mood is a light with glee as Jimin jumps to wrap his legs around Yoongi’s waist.
He’s heavy, making Yoongi trip until he can support Jimin’s weight by pressing him against the
living room wall.

“ In the case of Jeon Ji-hu, the second culprit accused of his kidnapping has been apprehended
today. Twenty six year old Kim Taehyung was located by the NPA this morning - ”

Jimin flies from Yoongi’s grip so quickly that Yoongi nearly stumbles. He runs to the television,
where Taehyung’s picture is shown before changing to a video taping.

It’s outside of the local police department. Taehyung’s wearing his pajamas, a holey shirt that
belongs to Jeongguk. He’s cuffed and confusion fills Yoongi as he spots Jooheon behind him,
guiding him into the station.

Jeongguk is there, rage on his face and his neck bright red. It’s noticeable even given the distance
and the busy crowd of police and media around them.

Jimin is fumbling with his phone, eyes watering and unblinking, refusing to leave the screen.

“Hope, what the fuck.”

With a worried exhale, Jimin paces around the living room, Strawberry at his heels. He shucks an
anxious hand through his hair before turning on his heel and planting himself to Yoongi’s front.

The sudden laugh Jimin lets out surprises Yoongi. It’s a full body laugh, one that has Jimin leaning
back and clinging to Yoongi at the same time. His face scrunches with it and he’s loud, the sound
echoing around the room.

Despite his confusion, Yoongi laughs awkwardly, addicted to the sound of Jimin’s joy.

“Okay, tell him to call me. I love you.”

Jimin hangs up and buries his face into Yoongi’s chest to continue his laughter. It seems to last
forever though Yoongi doesn’t dare interrupt. It’s been a long time since Jimin’s laughed to the point
there’s tears slipping out of the corners of his eyes, and his hand is grabbing at his belly in pain.

It isn’t until Jimin’s choked out laughs sound more like sobs that Yoongi grabs for his cheeks and
lifts him from his chest.

“I wanted Mun not to be a dick for Tae’s sake,” Jimin huffs. He’s still laughing, still crying and
Yoongi can’t quite make out if it’s happy or sad. “At least not to Tae. God, I wanted one of us to
have good parents.”

Yoongi wipes at Jimin’s tears as his face crunches together in pain. “You know Eomma looks at you
like you’re her child,” Yoongi reminds him softly. “And you know she’s already trying to adopt
Taehyung next. She has been pushing the marriage agenda worse than ever.”

Jimin smiles sadly, nuzzling into Yoongi’s palms. “I know but -”

“I know,” Yoongi murmurs. “What did he do?”

“Arrested Tae to make it look like he’s still on Hanbin’s side or whatever. And then Hobi said Tae
freaked out when he realized who Mun was.”

Jimin pulls away, linking their hands and tugging Yoongi with him. “He went to back to Jun-ki’s.
We should go there.”

Yoongi nods, following Jimin back towards where they had came. The melancholy is back as
Jimin’s shoulders slump and Yoongi hates it; hates that there can’t be a moment of happiness that
lasts. But they have their rest of their life to find it, to create it, beside each other.

“Would you marry me?”

Jimin stops mid step, body tensing. It’s slow the way he turns, eyes as wide as Yoongi’s feel. He
hadn’t meant it to blurt it out, the thought cross his mind for only a second before it spilled from his
lips.

“What?”

Yoongi rubs at the back of his neck. “Would you marry me? Once the affairs are sorted, we can have
the time to focus planning on a wedding.”

Jimin is staring at him, eyes avoid of any emotion but surprise. He lets Yoongi’s hand go, standing
there and staring.

“You can’t just blurt that kind of thing out.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

There’s a hand flying out, shoving into Yoongi’s chest before he can brace for it. It isn’t painful, but
Jimin does it again, hiccuping out a sob. “You can’t just say that.”

“I want to marry you,” Yoongi sighs, clutching Jimin’s hand and kissing his knuckles. “And I think
planning a wedding would be happy, something to focus on that only feels good.”

Another hiccup and Jimin is curling his fingers in Yoongi’s shirt. His eyelids always get swollen
when he cries, pressed together so he can’t see. He clings to Yoongi with one hand but doesn’t move
closer.

“I want to marry you, Park Jimin,” Yoongi murmurs this time, softer, his voice full of the warmth in
his chest that he has only for Jimin. “I’ve always wanted to; I’m not just saying it. I don’t care how
rough things get or how sad they are sometimes, I want to be beside you the entire time.”

Jimin glares at him for a minute, making Yoongi smile and his heart grow in fondness as he cups
Jimin’s cheeks. They’re wet, soaked with tears that steadily pour from

“Why are you crying?”

Jimin wrinkles his nose at him. “It’s perfectly normal to cry at a time like this.”

Huffing out a laugh, Yoongi presses their foreheads together. His heart is beating wildly, breaking
against his sternum like it’s determined to break free and return to it’s true owner just a few inches
away.

“Think about it, just -”

“Of course I would marry you,” Jimin interrupts, his voice below a whisper. “I’ve always wanted to
marry you too, Min Yoongi.”

Officers say Kim Taehyung refuses to offer information as to who else was involved in the
kidnapping of Jeon Ji-hu, despite being offered a plea deal. Kim Hanbin has been charged with the
kidnapping of Jeon Ji-hu after the police located the boy inside one of his vehicls. He has also been
charged with the murder of Ji-hu’s grandmother, Jeon Young-Mi.

“You shouldn’t be watching this.”

Taehyung turns from where he’s shoving clothes into a suitcase. Jeongguk watched him punch shirts
angrily for a few minutes before interrupting. The television plays, the same reporter that’s been
updating them on Ji-hu’s case for weeks disappearing to show yet another picture of Jeongguk’s
mother.

For a long time, Jeongguk’s always sought the comfort of his mother’s face but now it hurts looking
at her.

“I don’t know why I’m angry,” Taehyung sighs, glancing back at the screen as Young-mi’s face
disappears to be replaced by Mun. It’s from today, shortly after they left him at the station. “My
mother always told me my father was kind. Not that he was a fucking pervert.”

Jeongguk pads into the room to plant himself to Taehyung’s back. He kisses the back of his neck as
he wraps his arms around his waist.

“We’re still unaware of the reasons behind Ji-hu’s kidnapping, but we do know that the culprit and
Ji-hu’s father had a personal relationship,” Mun says on the screen, lips close to the microphone held
in front of his face. Taehyung tosses a bundled up shirt at the television.

“He made me feel bad for him,” Taehyung grits out. “I felt bad that he loved my mother so much but
she couldn’t trust him. I felt bad because I hate that I still worry you’re going to expect something
from me. She never got over that fear and I don’t want to keep being afraid of that.”

Jeongguk hums, turning Taehyung to face him.

Taehyung rolls his eyes when Jeongguk rubs at the corner of his mouth, attempting to pull them up
so that he can smile. He hasn’t smiled all day, only once when he pretended that nothing was wrong
when his siblings came home from school.

“I knew,” Jeongguk admits under his breath. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”

The way Taehyung’s brow crunches together, eyes searching Jeongguk’s face, makes Jeongguk’s
chest fill with a guilt that’s too difficult to bear.

“I was also afraid if he turned out to be shit, it would hurt if you knew who he was.”
Taehyung exhales, blinking as he looks away from Jeongguk. Jeongguk loosens his grip so
Taehyung can pull away if he wants to, but Taehyung tightens his hold onto him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Taehyung finally says, looking back to him as he rubs his hands over Jeongguk’s back.
“He’s rushed up my leaving and I don’t want to leave your side, especially not angry. I promise. I’m
not angry at you.”

With a sigh, Taehyung presses his forehead to Jeongguk’s. “I don’t want to hide. I don’t know what
I’m really upset about right now.”

“I know love,” Jeongguk hums, rubbing his arms. The idea of Taehyung being far away is enough to
unsettle Jeongguk. He’s already started looking into relocating the company, or building a corporate
office wherever Taehyung decides to go. Even if Taehyung doesn’t want him to go too. “It’s only
for a couple years. I told Jin to get a house you’d really enjoy.”

Taehyung wrinkles his nose. “Don’t spend your money on me. I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll be there so often you’ll get sick of me,” Jeongguk murmurs with a smile. “I promise. Do you
think I’m going to let you get too far from me?”

The laugh Taehyung lets out is sweet, genuine. He wraps his arms around Jeongguk, peppering a
kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You better not. You’re clingy and I’m just starting to get used to it.”

There’s a growth inside of Jeongguk’s chest, a pressure that doesn’t hurt as he curls his arms wraps
around Taehyung to keep him close. It’s like a balloon growing, but instead of being filled with
oxygen it’s blown up with his love for Taehyung.

“Do you remember when we were in New York?” Taehyung asks quietly, smiling as Jeongguk
starts to rock them.

“It wasn’t that long ago,” Jeongguk laughs. “I’m not old enough for my memory to start going yet.”

Taehyung’s eyes sparkle with the smile on his lips, squeezing Jeongguk until their bodies are pressed
as close as they can be. “Do you remember what you asked me?”

This, Jeongguk doesn’t know. He’s sure he’s asked Taehyung a lot. He knows he has a way of
demanding, putting pressure on Taehyung in a way he doesn’t intend to. But it’s been hard backing
off when he’s determined to prove to Taehyung that his feelings and actions are genuine. He’s
determined to make Taehyung feel loved and to let out the overwhelming feeling inside of his chest
every time he looks at him.

“No?” Taehyung asks, frowning quickly as his gaze drops to Jeongguk’s mouth. “Guess you didn’t
mean it then -”

Jeongguk makes a noise of complaint as Taehyung moves like he’s unwrapping himself from
Jeongguk. The amusement in Taehyung’s eyes is the only thing that assures Jeongguk the frown
gripping onto his mouth isn’t genuine.

“Tell me, baby. What was it?”

Taehyung rolls his eyes, snaking a hand around the back of Jeongguk’s neck and planting the other
to his chest. “If you don’t remember -”
 “I’ll beg,” Jeongguk blurts.

It makes Taehyung laugh loudly, his boxy smile breaking out to bunch up his cheeks and turn his
eyes into crescents. “Is that what you’re into Mr. Jeon?”

This time, it’s Jeongguk’s turn to pretend frown despite the flutter in his belly. Taehyung plays with
the collar of Jeongguk’s shirt, a suggestive look on his face that could easily distract Jeongguk if he
wasn’t determined.

“Tell me,” Jeongguk says, softer

The teasing smile lifts from Taehyung’s lips as Taehyung’s eyes search over Jeongguk’s expression.
He looks like he might reconsider it until he sighs, sliding his fingers from Jeongguk’s collar to his
pulse.

The touch over his neck is light, gentle, Taehyung’s palm covering his throat as he brings their lips
together. It’s just as light, their lips brushing and Jeongguk notices the insecurity in Taehyung’s eyes
before he lets his own flutter shut.

“You asked me to be your boyfriend,” Taehyung reminds him, quietly, as he rubs over Jeongguk’s
pulse. “I was wondering if the offer was still on the table?”

And despite the weeks of pain and worry, the day filled with anger and exhaustion, Jeongguk’s body
ignites with a feeling so overwhelming it thrusts a pressure up onto his throat as if Taehyung were
clamping his fingers down.

“I’ll consider it.”

It comes out broke , not at all as apathetic sounding as he intended his joke to be. Taehyung’s
amusement grows as Jeongguk chokes up, though his eyes are warmer than Jeongguk’s ever seen.

“Are you going to cry?”

“Shut up,” Jeongguk grunts in mock offense before he’s grabbing Taehyung’s cheeks to kiss his
words into Taehyung’s mouth. “Of course the offer is still on the table.”

Chapter End Notes

Listen ,,, I'm trying to give my boys some super soft mushy moments because they
deserve them. I've had this part planned since like chap 2, 300k+ later and I finally get to
share it lmao. I was also thinking about including a Bobby POV either in the next
chapter or as extra content I'll make available soon on twt. What do you think?

I can't wait for your thoughts! <3 thank you so much for reading, I love you all.

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curiouscat
 Chapter 26
Chapter Notes

Warnings; the first part of this chapter shows a bit of a the Young-Mi video. It's only
slightly detailed, but I think it could be a bit hard to read. I also really indecisive about
adding Bobby's pov in the chapter or adding it as extra content, but I decided to add it
here and in that scene there's talk about addiction recovery and cravings and alcoholism.

SO, this was only supposed to be one chapter but I'm updating two today because I
thought the epilogue fit better as a stand alone chapter. It's quite a long update, but I am
so sad about it ending lol.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The no smoking sign stands out, red paint on a white background, contrasting with the gray walls.
Hoseok blows his smoke at it, frowning before he stamps it in the over filled ashtray.

Across from where Hoseok stands, Jooheon is watching him. There’s warmth in his eyes that
disappears when he looks at the scene between them. There’s a window between the two of them,
but it isn’t two sided and the audio plays loudly from the speakers above them.

Hoseok hates that he’s in there, even if there is a gun in his hands.

Mun stands on the same side as Hoseok, pacing uncomfortably as he puffs on his own cigarette.
He’s aged a million years in only a few months but Hoseok could care less if he were to drop dead
from the stress of it all.

When Jeongguk suggested having someone on their team keep an eye on Mun, Hoseok had jumped
to volunteer. Even if being around the man makes his disgust curl in his gut.

Whatever it is in his chest for Jooheon is enough to make it go away.

“I told you. I’m not guilty.”

Mun spits, glaring through the window where Chung-Hoon sits with a smug looking smile on his
face. He talks with a member of Mun’s team, the deputy beneath Mun in ranking. Also the only
person seemingly able to keep their cool around Chung-Hoon.

“I want to play you something, Sungho-ssi,” Deputy Oh says as he indicates the computer between
them. The image frozen on it is one Hoseok can’t stomach, even if he’s been warned; Young-Mi
with the fabric between her lips and blood dripping from her hairline.

Chung-Hoon looks away, face twisting in disgust and surprise. He’s terribly good at acting, Hoseok
thinks. If he didn’t know anything about the situation, he’d think Chung-Hoon was truly displeased
with the sight of Young-Mi.

“I had nothing to do with this.”

“See, I believe you did,” Deputy Oh says as he hits play. The echoes of Young-Mi’s muffled
begging fill the room and Hoseok flinches, clenching his teeth. Jooheon’s eyes are on him, he can
feel them burning into his forehead but he refuses to let himself crumble.

It’s been his job over the last couple of months to keep his shoulders straight and his arms strong to
hold up those around him. He can feel it between them all, the overcoming and the healing. But
sometimes there’s a break, a step back, and Hoseok is there to pull whoever it is through again.

It’s usually Jeongguk, though Hoseok doesn’t think he’s admitted it to anyone. Hoseok hears him in
the middle of the night, screaming out Ji-hu or Taehyung’s name, wandering the halls constantly to
make sure Ji-hu is in bed. He’s found him often curled around the boy or asleep outside his bedroom
door.

When Hoseok wakes him and helps him calm down or into bed, there’s an agreement between them
that they don’t talk about it.

“We knew he would plead not guilty,” Changkyun says from across the room, where he watches
Mun walk around with a vein throbbing over his temple.

“I know,” Mun grits out. He thrusts a hand at the window, at the video of Young-Mi. “There’s going
to be reporters. You know Jeon’s son is going to be present at court, do you think he needs to see his
mother like that?”

Hoseok softens. As much as he doesn’t trust Mun, there’s moments where he’s confused as if maybe
he should reconsider his distrust. He had come to Hoseok after Taehyung left, requesting that he help
him give Taehyung a part of his monthly income so his location would be safe even from him.

Only a few people know of Taehyung’s location. Hoseok thinks one of the few things keeping
Jeongguk sane since he left is his work with Guowang, assuring that Taehyung and his kids are safe
and secure.

Please, baby close your eyes.

Hoseok looks back to the screen. Young-Mi is looking right into the camera, a plea in her eyes but
not to Yunbok. He can be seen here and there, though shots of his face are never clear. Bobby’s
voice is in the background, so quiet that Hoseok wonders if Young-Mi could hear his constant
apologies.

You stole from Papa, Bambi.

It’s clearly Yunbok’s voice before his hand appears and grabs roughly at Young-Mi’s chin. There’s a
red string around his wrist, the same string that are in the photographs of Taehyung.

“Now, correct me if I’m wrong Mr. Kim, but your girls often referred to you as Papa, did they not?”

Mun steps closer to the double sided mirror, his nose nearly touching the glass as he plants his hands
to his hips.

“My daughter Winnie did.”

As cool and calm as Changkyun is, always maintaining an air of apathy, he reacts whenever Chung-
Hoon mentions Winnie. Whenever Young-Mi’s daughter is mentioned at all. He spits now, a ‘not
your child’ that is unnecessary but Hoseok watches as Jooheon’s eyes search for him as if he’s heard
it.

“Your child with Jeon Young-Mi.”

Chung-Hoon looks back to the computer, where Young-Mi is also trying her hardest not to break.
Hoseok knows, he sees the hate and determination in her eyes whenever she looks away from
Bobby.

“I was only aware of Young-Mi having one son with her husband.”

The deputy doesn’t respond as he rests back in his seat and indicates the video playing with a lazy
wave of his hand.

Chung-Hoon grows agitated, shifting in his seat and the anger in his eyes growing as Young-Mi
loses her ability to keep the screams in. He grits his teeth, spits, fights against the cuffs bounding him
until he finally slams his fists onto the table they’re chained to.

Jooheon lifts his weapon in response, aiming it for Chung-Hoon. It goes ignored, though Hoseok
prays Chung-Hoon is tortured by the thought of his right hand man betraying him.

Just as tortured as he is watching Young-Mi, who Hoseok thinks looks so similar to Winnie he isn’t
sure how he’s missed it.

“Turn it off.”

“Are you ready to admit that you’ve aided in the murder of Jeon Young-Mi? Or should you hear the
way she talks about her Papa some more? Reminds you of your daughter doesn’t it? She looks quite
like her here.”

There is murder in Chung-Hoon’s eyes and he growls when the video continues to play. Bobby’s
sobs have grown and Hoseok can’t bear listening, his own strength failing him as he turns his head
so no one can see how tight his throat becomes.

“We’re willing to offer you a plea deal, Kim. Eighty years. No capital punishment.”

Chung-Hoon scoffs. “Eighty years. I’m an old man, Oh. By the time you go through a capital
punishment trial, I’ll be dead already.”

“You’re not being charged here with petty theft, Kim. You’ll be spending the rest of your life in
prison whether you plead guilty or innocent. The jury isn’t going to like a man who makes a child
watch his mother die.”

Deputy Oh points at the computer, where the screen is starting to shake from what Hoseok assumes
is Bobby’s hands.

Tell her, boy. Tell her what you told me.

I - I - I hate you, Eo- eomma. For what - what you’ve - you’ve done.

It isn’t convincing, Bobby is obviously pained, his words choked and begging but Hoseok grunts,
thrusting his fist towards the wall when he hears it.

Pain rips up his knuckles and pounds into his elbows. He shakes off his hand, ignoring Jooheon’s
scolding eyes to look back at Chung-Hoon.

Oh my little bun, I forgive you.

Chung-Hoon grits his teeth, his chest moving rapidly. “Turn. It. Off.”

There isn’t much Hoseok is afraid of in the world, but he would be scared if the look in Chung-
Hoon’s eyes was ever directed at him. The deputy looks unfazed but he taps at the pause button.

“You’ll have to watch this every day. The warden of your prison just happens to owe me a favor.”

“Turn the recording device off,” Chung-Hoon seethes, spit forming at the corners of his mouth until
he looks like a wild man.

Mun looks pleased, cussing in victory. There’s a smug look on his lips as he crosses his arms and
gets closer to the mirror again. “Fucker.”

Chung-Hoon looks just as pleased as he meets Mun’s eyes through the glass while the Deputy turns
off the recorder. The room fills with silence, Chung-Hoon’s lips moving and Hoseok struggles to
read his lips.

The deputy turns in his seat, curling his fingers towards Mun to come in. Hoseok is quick to follow,
a step behind Mun when he opens the door so he can stick his ear in and eavesdrop.

“I have a demand,” Chung-Hoon starts.

“This isn’t quid pro quo, Kim.”

Chung-Hoon grins, his earlier discomfort gone now that Young-Mi’s video is paused. “I thought you
liked it? A favor for a favor. Isn’t that how you got my Kyungsoonie? Offered her a fancy home in
exchange for a belly full -”

There’s a crunch noise and Hoseok turns his head just in time to catch Mun pulling his hand back
and shaking it. Jooheon presses the tip of his rifle to Mun’s chest, a warning for him to stay back.

“What’s your demand?” Jooheon says, still looking at Mun until he calms.

Chung-Hoon is cocky, growing taller by Mun’s reaction. “Kyungsoonie often told me what you
liked in bed, Mun. I know the things you said to her, you kinky bastard.”

Mun grits his teeth. “Spit it out. What do you want?”

It goes quiet as Chung-Hoon holds Mun’s gaze, the expressions on their faces polar opposites. Mun
looks murderous, Chung-Hoon looks as if he’s just been freed from prison, clear of all charges.

“I want to speak with Baby and Doll. Alone.”

The hate in Mun’s eyes worsens, his fingers tightening back into fists and Jooheon presses the
muzzle of his rifle even harder into Mun’s chest.

“Alone. No audio, no security. No Jeon Jeongguk and his little cricket gang.”

“Taehyung is currently in solitary confinement,” Deputy Oh replies but Chung-Hoon’s laugh

interrupts him.

“Would you truly like me to believe that Jeon pressed charges on his most beloved? I’m still in touch
with my informants, if you think there’s anyone keeping my men from hurting your son other than
me, you’re mistaken.”

Mun’s nostrils grow wide as he exhales. He gives in to the baiting, forcing past Jooheon’s hold on
him. He goes right to Chung-Hoon, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him back until his chair is
tipped on its back legs.
“You won’t go anywhere near him.”

“I know where he is. A small village right outside of Seoul, close to the mountains. A fake little
Taehyungie in Japan. He’s a good look alike though,” Chung-Hoon grits. “You can’t hide him from
me. You either cooperate or I give my men the word to off him. He can spend the rest of his life
buried beside his mother. I might just bury his little sister -”

Mun cusses, tossing Chung-Hoon aside so his back falls to the ground with a loud clang. Chung-
Hoon’s head sags back, face filling with pain as Jooheon lifts his chair back up. There’s blood
dribbling over Chung-Hoon’s bottom lip that he spits onto the table.

“You touch my son, I’ll destroy yours,” Mun grits out, pointing an angry finger at him.

Anger reaches Hoseok and he has to breathe through his nose to calm himself. He doesn’t care if
Mun is just saying it to piss off Chung-Hoon, he’d break both of Mun’s hands if he went anywhere
near Woojin.

Chung-Hoon laughs, looking mad as his split lip coats his chin red and dribbles onto the front of his
prison uniform. “Like you’d touch the boy. Kyungsoonie named him after you to make you think he
was yours, to take more of your money. You’ve always been a stupid in love bastard.”

The amusement slips from Chung-Hoon’s expression as he says this, his eyes mirroring the hate in
Mun’s.

“Set up a meeting with Jimin and Taehyung. Only they will get me what I want.”

“What do you want?” Mun demands.

Chung-Hoon wipes his chin on his shoulder, body bending in order to do so. The mad look reaches
his eyes and when he laughs, a chill rushes up Hoseok’s spine.

“Don’t worry, you can watch when I have my way with them.”

Hoseok turns on his heel, walking off until cool air touches his nose. He’s failing at keeping his
composure, and failing completely. He piles the ground with cigarette buds, his chest aching by the
time the outside door opens and Jooheon joins him.

“You know, you don’t have to actually follow every one of Mun’s moves,” Jooheon hums with a
smile as he plucks the cigarette from Hoseok’s fingers. “You know you can trust me.”

Hoseok wrinkles his nose as he leans back against the wall. Jooheon is quick to crowd into his space
and Hoseok is quick to let him.

“If I remember correctly, when I asked who you’re most loyal to, you said Mun.”

For a moment, Jooheon just watches his face. He has the ability to look soft and teasing at the same
time and it is usually maddening, though Hoseok would never admit out loud that he loves it.

“And I am. But I’m not blinded by it. You distrust him a little too much, babe.” Jooheon reaches
forward, tipping Hoseok’s chin with a gentle press of his fingers. “You and him are trying to protect
the same people and I want to protect them for the both of you.”

It’s the only conversation they have that comes in between their playfulness and as always, Jooheon
distracts him and ends it with a kiss to his lips.
“If you think Mun or I will let anything happen to Taehyung-ssi, you’re wrong,” Jooheon says as he
pulls away, that same teasing lilt to his mouth. “Focus on the dance academy, bringing home the
bread so I can retire and be a stay at home dad.”

Hoseok shoves Jooheon playfully. It’s a joke, but Hoseok’s stomach swoops at how easily Jooheon
mentions a future together even though they haven’t even defined what they are in the present yet.

Because they’re nothing, really, fuck buddies that sometimes have heart boners for the other. Maybe
Hoseok has the biggest heart boner when Jooheon comes over and plays with Ji-hu. He’s over often,
so often it’s like he’s moved into the Jeon home too.

Jeongguk doesn’t mind; Hoseok thinks Jeongguk prefers the house to be as crowded as possible. It
had been obvious the moment Taehyung left that Jeongguk was dreading returning to the massive
penthouse with just Ji-hu. It was even more apparent when Hoseok barged into his apartment with all
of his belongings and Jeongguk looked as his whole body crumpled while releasing the worry from
his shoulders.

“You can’t quit your job,” Hoseok says with a roll of his eyes, grabbing for Jooheon’s hands to pull
him in. “You look hot like this.”

Jooheon tilts his head, his mouth stretched into a wide grin that he guides to Hoseok’s. It’s been a
relief having someone like him, someone who can break the tension and ache in Hoseok’s body so
easily. Hoseok is thankful for the help in holding his arms up long enough to support his friends.

“Your uniform kink is showing,” Jooheon jokes as he grabs Hoseok’s hands and quickly
manhandles him so his chest is pressed against the wall. There’s a swoop in Hoseok’s belly as he
giggles, but Jooheon is quickly pulling away as the door opens.

There’s heat in Hoseok’s face when Mun steps outside the doors and Jooheon is embarrassed, biting
at his bottom lip to muffle his laughter. Mun doesn’t seem to notice them curled into each other as he
lights the cigarette dangling between his lips.

His knuckles are bleeding and Hoseok considers maybe he isn’t lying about one thing: his need to
protect Taehyung

“Sungho can try to touch him,” Mun announces quietly. “I’ll rip his hands off and choke him with
them.”

Jooheon gives Hoseok a look, an ‘I told you so’ that Hoseok responds with an attempt at swatting at
him but Jooheon grabs his hand and interlocks their fingers instead.

The sun is bright, blinding as it bursts through the curtains that Taehyung had forgotten to close the
night before. The heat is comforting on his front, though not as nice as the heat against his back.

Jeongguk is curled around him, face nestled at the back of his neck and arms tight around his waist.
They’re bodies are completely bare, their skin touching from where their legs are tangled to their
chest and back.

It’s nice and Taehyung’s heart swells at the thought of having this again. He’s missed it so much,
being beside Jeongguk. Not just the way Jeongguk caters and tends to him, but also just being near
him, waking up to the scent of his cologne on his sheets.

It’s only been about two weeks since Jeongguk has visited, but two weeks too long. It’s risky for him
to come anywhere near here, being high profiled means it’s harder for him to stay hidden from
Chung-Hoon’s men.

But Taehyung is selfish and he’s starting to realize that Jeongguk is a little selfish too.

The video calls don’t satiate Taehyung enough and Jeongguk calls him so often, Taehyung’s worried
he’s the reason that Jeongguk’s been working on the weekends to catch up on work. But Taehyung
isn’t any better; calling Jeongguk every few hours to make sure he’s eating. He had been pleased
when Jeongguk arrived at his front door, his cheeks chubbier and his bones no longer sticking out of
his skin.

Taehyung stretches, smiling when Jeongguk whines in complaint and curls into him further. He
reaches for his cellphone, wanting to snap a picture of Jeongguk’s pouted lips.

“Come back,” Jeongguk insists, stretching after him to curl further into his torso.

There’s a long list of notifications waiting for him. Many of them are from Jimin, who texts him
paragraphs a thousand times a day about wedding plans. There’s a few from Woojin and Ji-hu which
means they stayed up late taking selcas and using every filter out there. His heart skips a beat the
blocked number listed and Hoseok’s short, ‘Call Me’ message.

Jeongguk shifts so his face is on Taehyung’s chest as Taehyung dials Hoseok’s number. His breath
is hot as it cascades over his skin, his weight a heavy pressure that is more comforting than anything.

Gaining weight is something Taehyung had wanted for Jeongguk, but now he’s worried about
Jeongguk’s sleep schedule. He wakes up too often to messages sent in the middle of the night and
when he does visit, he sleeps like he hasn’t slept in years.

“Tae.”

There’s no greeting, no warmth in Hoseok’s voice and Taehyung slides his fingers through
Jeongguk’s hair to ground him.

“What is it?” Taehyung asks, quiet as not to wake up Jeongguk again. He wakes up often when it’s
still dark, but it’s difficult to wake him after the sun’s risen.

“It’s shit, that’s what it is,” Hoseok grunts. “I need you to meet with me and Mun.”

Taehyung freezes, glaring up at the speckled ceiling. Hoseok is blabbering again, going on about
understanding why Taehyung wouldn’t want to, but it goes in one ear and out the other. He hasn’t
spoken to or been contacted by Mun since his staged arrest, though there’s been a suspicious amount
of money deposited into his account every month. He had accused Jeongguk of it, but Jeongguk
always admits when he sneaks Taehyung money.

Mun had mentioned giving him money, but Taehyung thought their last interaction was enough to
show that he didn’t want it.

“What?” Taehyung breathes.

Hoseok sighs and Taehyung imagines the way he rubs his face when he’s irritated and shakes out his
hands like he might throw fists. “Chung-Hoon requested to see you and Minnie.”

Horror threads itself through Taehyung and he wants to shrink until he’s completely hidden beneath
Jeongguk’s bare body. His stomach hurts suddenly, pain thrusting through every inch of him.
“I - I can’t.”

“I know,” Hoseok says, softer this time. “No one is going to force you. I just - I don’t know what he
wants, but Mun’s trying to get him to admit to Mrs. Jeon’s murder. Plead guilty.”

Panic washes over Taehyung and Jeongguk nuzzles his chest as it starts to rise and fall rapidly, his
eyes moving rapidly behind his eyelids like he might wake up.

“We’ll explain. I just need your permission to bring Mun over. Unless you’re more comfortable with
meeting us somewhere.”

Taehyung doesn’t respond at first. The home Jeongguk had bought for him is quite secure, hidden
out in the middle of nowhere in a small village that houses a few hundred people. There’s security
day and night. Jeongguk’s made it so only the leader of Guowang and the security he’s assigned to
him knows of his location.

Even Yoongi and Jimin haven’t been told where he is, as a precaution. It’s been torture not seeing
Jimin.

“I - I don’t know.”

“Think about it,” Hoseok says. “But don’t tell Jeongguk. He’ll flip, okay?”

Taehyung lets his arm fall limply, phone still in hand, when Hoseok hangs up. He stares up at the
ceiling, trying to calm his body because somehow, his quiet reaction is enough to wake Jeongguk.

There’s a lazy smile on Jeongguk’s lips when he first pushes up, one eye cocked open and pieces of
his hair sticking out around his head. Being the cutest thing Taehyung’s ever seen, he finds it hard to
calm his heart.

“Mornin’,” Jeongguk murmurs, pressing a kiss in the middle of his chest. There’s hands rubbing over
his sides as Jeongguk kisses him again. Normally, Taehyung’s skin would be prickling and his legs
spreading, but his gut aches in such a way that he can’t even distract himself.

He tries though, knowing Jeongguk likes to be touched in the morning. But Jeongguk lifts his head,
concern on his face.“Baby, what is it?”

Taehyung swallows. Hoseok is right; Jeongguk can’t know. He loses himself a bit when it comes to
Taehyung. He had heard the stories of how Jeongguk behaved when they had been taken, and he
had seen it once when a member of Guowang showed up in a part of Jun-ki’s house he shouldn’t
have been. Jeongguk had mistaken the fear on Taehyung’s face and the hand on his arm as someone
hurting him.

“Nothing, I - just, a bad dream. Please continue. Please, Gukkie baby.”

Jeongguk stares at him for a moment. “Tae, you know I’m not going to touch you unless you want
me to.”

“I want you to,” Taehyung insists, but his breath is hitching, betraying him.

Jeongguk is hovering over him in a second, trailing his fingers down the side of Taehyung’s face
before curling a hand around his neck to pull him up into a sitting position. “Shh, baby. Breathe in
through your nose.”

It is difficult to calm down, even as Jeongguk helps with his breathing. He excuses himself for the
bathroom, leaving a doe eyed Jeongguk on his bed before he closes the door and tosses the contents
of his stomach into the toilet. Giving the early hour of the morning, nothing comes up but his body
heaves in attempt.

“Tae,” Jeongguk calls from outside of the bathroom door. “Do you need me to get you something?”

Taehyung curls an arm around the rim of the toilet, face throbbing and tears streaming from the
corners of his eyes. At least Jeongguk will think the choked sound of his breathing is from throwing
up.

He should have known this would come.

It took some effort in convincing Jeongguk that he could leave Taehyung alone, that Taehyung
wanted to be alone. He feels bad for lying, wanting nothing but the comfort Jeongguk breathes, but
Taehyung doesn’t know if he can handle Jeongguk reacting to the sight of Mun at his house.

The guard, Dowoon, is a soft teddy bear who doesn’t look as intimidating as he probably should. He
laughs and jokes a lot and is always messing with Woojin and Eunae. But he is nothing but business
when someone new shows up to the house. Jeongguk had hand picked him for Taehyung and
Taehyung wonders if it’s for his sunny personality, giving him the illusion he isn’t being babysat at
every moment.

Taehyung wracks around the house nervously, attempting to move things and clean things just to get
rid of the anxious feeling messing up his stomach and keeping him from holding food down. He
jumps out of the skin when the doorbell sounds through the house and Dowoon’s friendly face turns
what he thinks is supposed to be intimidating.

His eyes are harsh on Mun, though soft when they fall onto Hoseok. The usual grim expression
Hoseok wears around Mun is gone, replaced by bright eyes and a brighter smile as he bounds over
the threshold and brings Taehyung into an embrace.

“Taehyungie, I missed you,” Hoseok says and the sound of his voice is enough to choke Taehyung.
“Are you okay?”

Taehyung nods as Hoseok pulls away, rubbing his arms and inspecting his face.

“I want you to come home soon,” Hoseok sighs dramatically, “I can’t take your boyfriend’s
moping.”

“Is he okay? Honestly.”

There’s a pull at Hoseok’s mouth for a moment but he smiles a second later. “As okay as all of us.”

That doesn’t make Taehyung feel relieved.

Hoseok pulls him into another hug, this time to whisper in his ear. “Mun says one thing you don’t
like, I’ll gut him.”

Taehyung nods, knowing Hoseok isn’t joking. He bows his head in greeting, much preferring the
sight of the ground and the tip of his socked toes than the look in Mun’s eyes.

“Taehyung-ssi, I hope you’ve been well.”

“As well as one could be when they can rarely leave the house and not see anyone they love.”

Mun’s lips part but he closes them quickly and nods. “I can put in a word to get you out of the
house.”

Taehyung shakes his head. Jeongguk does often enough, sending an army of Guowang to take him
somewhere when he can’t come himself. He knows Taehyung hates to be trapped, but this time
there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Leading them inside, Taehyung guides them to where he’s set tea up in the living room. He isn’t
surprised Dowoon follows as well. It had been difficult in getting him to promise to keep this
between them, away from Guowang and Jeongguk’s ears. He’s either loyal or unwilling to deal with
the consequences of not doing his job properly.

Taehyung doesn’t fully trust it and he wouldn’t be surprised if Jeongguk or Jinyoung come bursting
through the front door at some point.

“Straight to the point please,” Taehyung whispers.

Hoseok sits right beside him, the pressure of his body against Taehyung’s enough to keep him from
crumbling apart like he wants to.

Sometimes he wonders if he’s always been weak or if meeting Jeongguk has made him so. He’s
been through shit before, Hanbin hadn’t even hurt this last time the way, not even in the way he pays
to hurt Taehyung. But there’s one thing about being hurt and one thing watching or fearing someone
you love getting hurt.

It’s Ji-hu’s face he sees in his nightmares, curled up in the corner of his bed, screaming at the shadow
that curls over him to take him away and Taehyung can’t get inside to help him.

Mun sits across from them, elbows tucked over his spread knees and hands clasping together
between them. It’s disorienting seeing the similarities between them. Taehyung’s always felt like he
looked the least like his mother out of his siblings, with Eunae holding so much of her features it
used to hurt looking at her.

“Our team’s goal is to get Sungho to plead guilty. Save it from going to trial, from taking over the
news. There’s graphic evidence that I think needs to be tucked away, not shown. Kept from the
Jeon’s.”

Taehyung looks at Hoseok then, but Hoseok’s glaring too hard at Mun to notice.

“Taehyung-ssi, I don’t know if Jeongguk’s told you, but Jun-ki’s health is deteriorating quite a bit.
He didn’t do well with the death of his wife and it seems to me as if he’s falling into old habits. He’s
frail, Jinju-ssi has reported to me that he’s been lying about eating.”

Pain tugs at his chest. Jeongguk’s expressed his worry in small comments here and there, but
Taehyung suspects Jeongguk’s just as unaware as he is.

“He had developed a drinking habit then. It’s one of the reasons Jinju-ssi reached out to me, offering
to help infiltrate Sungho’s life. She hadn’t wanted to see Jeongguk lose both of his parents, and she
says she’s been witnessing those same behaviors now.”

“Jeongguk screams in his sleep,” Hoseok says, softly as he cocks his head and says the words only
to Taehyung.
It hurts. It hurts even more because Taehyung knows the exact fear that holds Jeongguk away from a
peaceful sleep. He struggles with it too. Some nights are good, some aren’t.

Taehyung wishes they’d stop mentioning Jeongguk. They don’t need to use Jeongguk against him.

“And I have plenty of people on my ass trying to get this done with, cleaned up and shoved under
the rug. I want to see Sungho burn, trust me. But I want this to be over with. Sungho is very
receptive to Young-Mi’s video, her resemblance to Winnie. But a heartless, cold man can only be
tortured so much and I refuse to bring Woojin into it.”

Taehyung inflates, teeth grinding at the mention of his brother.

“Chung-Hoon specifically asked to see you and Jimin,” Hoseok explains, much softer than Mun.
“He won’t tell us why, just that you and Jimin will be able to help him.”

Taehyung huffs out. “What did Jimin say?”

Hoseok nods, staring at his lap. “He agreed. Yoongi’s been worried about Jun-ki seeing the video of
Young-Mi, about what that will do to his health.”

“Does Yoongi know about this? Meeting Chung?”

With a snort, Hoseok shakes his head. “Yoongi would lose his poor mind if he knew Jimin was even
in the same building as Chung-Hoon.”

Taehyung glances out of the window, where Jeongguk’s footprints are still etched into this snow
from Taehyung forcing him out of the house a few hours ago.

“There’s nothing I can do for him,” Taehyung admits. He had the least exposure to Chung-Hoon
after he had been taken. A few weeks, and meetings here and there, enough to see his cruelty, but he
was sold to Jimin quite quickly after he started working for Chung-Hoon. “And if it has anything to
do with Woojin-ah, you know I won’t do it. No matter what the consequences are.”

“I have an idea,” Hoseok pipes up, glancing between them. “I have an idea at what he wants. And I
think only Jimin can get it for him, but he wants you there to torture Mun. He fucking hates Mun,
which you know, I get.”

Mun glares at Hoseok but Taehyung swears there’s a hint of fondness there. It slips away when Mun
meets Taehyung’s eyes, the sadness taking over in a quick sweep.

A majority of his life, Taehyung has hated his father. He blamed a lot on him for abandoning them.
When he was younger, he used to wonder if his father never left, if he would have to listen to his
mother getting beaten, if he would have had to sneak his siblings out in the middle of the night.

He used to wonder if he would have gone through any of this if he stuck around. Taehyung doesn’t
think it would have made a difference, now.

“Did my mother love you?”

Mun’s eyes grow wide at the sudden question. He squeezes his fingers together, the knuckles turning
white. “I think she did in her own way. But like I said, she didn’t trust anyone to not take you.”

“She trusted my step father with us and shouldn’t have.”

A bound of silence has Taehyung regretting bringing up the sad subject. There’s too much in Mun’s
eyes that he doesn’t want to see.

“I can’t speak for your mother, Taehyung,” Mun finally says. “I can tell you anything you want to
know, but it would be from my own perspective and the best I could do about her perspective is
guess. I told her I would never harm you, that I just wanted to get to know you. I don’t think she
believed me.”

Taehyung nods, the knot forming in his chest and Hoseok must know as he reaches into Taehyung’s
lap and threads their fingers together.

“Should she have? Trusted you?”

Mun nods without hesitation. “The only thing I wanted to do was be your father and be beside her.”

He says it the way Jeongguk speaks, eyes serious with the need to be believed. It’s the same
expression Jeongguk gets when Taehyung slips up. Those slip ups are lessening, but they still
happen. It’s only been three months and progress is progress, but Taehyung hates the moments he
finds himself wanting to flee, when he distrusts that Jeongguk is there for him and not to get off.

No matter how often it happens, Jeongguk is quick to assure him that the only thing he wants is
Taehyung’s heart and he’s okay waiting for it.

“I’ll do it,” Taehyung says. “But I want you to assure me nothing will happen to me or Jimin.”

Mun nods again. “You have my word, Taehyung-ssi. I put your life before mine.”

Everything is white, from the walls to the bedding. The only color is the black desk chair and the
clothes. There’s a few frames that bring some color to the room, but the photos have been taken out
and help make the room feel empty.

There is color outside of the window, but even then that’s all white. The green grass is covered in
layers of snow, unmarred by footsteps. The sky adds a bit of blue, but it’s filled with puffy white
clouds.

The window pane is cold to the touch, sending a shiver down his spine. He digs his fingers into the
glass anyway, wishing it would disappear so he could tumble over the side.

“Bobby-ssi.”

Bobby turns from the window, spotting the nurse in her all white attire. Whoever thought this type of
atmosphere would be healing was wrong. She holds out her hands, clothes folded on top of them.

“Your father is here for your release.”

Bobby looks back out the window. He’s free to go outside but he has avoided it. He doesn’t feel as if
he deserves anything but the stuffy, blinding white walled room he’s been assigned to.

“I’ll be right there,” Bobby murmurs as the nurse plops his clothes onto the edge of his bed.

“Would you like any help packing, Bobby-ssi?”

Bobby shakes his head, dismissing her so he can change. Even the gowns are dreary and makes him
feel worse. He doesn’t think he’s ready to leave, but his argument with the doctor had been fruitless.
He signed his release papers and delivered them to his door without word.
Time moves slowly as Bobby strips from his hospital gown and pulls on the old, unfamiliar clothes.
They aren’t the clothes he had came in, these ones smell like Jun-ki’s laundry detergent and are
tighter on him.

He stares in the mirror, touching over his chest and wondering if Jun-ki knew they were Jimin’s.

The purple of his hair has faded into a sickly color, clinging to the ends as his hair has grown so long
he has to pull it into a ponytail to keep it from his eyes. His skin has regained its color, his cheeks
fuller, but he can’t help but think he still looks sickly.

It’s been three months and there’s still that itch in his veins. Bobby doesn’t think it will ever leave.

It feels strange walking through the hallways on his own, waving goodbye to the other patients and
nurses that have tried to bond with him over the last three months. It’s dread in his chest, worry that
he will mess up again.

“Make sure give us a call when you’re settled, Jiwonnie. We want to make sure your new nurses are
treating you well.”

Bobby nods, signing the papers at the receptionist desk.

He promised he wouldn’t be returning to South Korea, but he’s still here, hidden away in a
rehabilitation clinic that costs more money than any normal working person could afford and about to
be moved to a new one. He knows Jun-ki has placed protections on him, he knows the man too well,
but he wishes he wouldn’t.

It’s been three months and Bobby still can’t close his eyes without seeing the look of hatred in
Jeongguk’s.

He hesitates before opening the door to the waiting room. Closing his eyes, part of him wishes Jun-ki
won’t be alone. It’s a selfish thought, one that’s more than he deserves.

Bobby breathes in through his nose as his eyes fall onto the old man. He looks sickly, his face
sunken in and hand shaking where it holds a cane. He should be sitting not standing and Bobby
quickly rushes to his side to hold his elbow.

“Abeoji.”

Jun-ki smiles at him. There’s yellow around his irises and splotches over his wrinkles skinned. He’s
been drinking again, the jaundice setting in. Bobby’s not sure he ever stopped.

“My boy,” Jun-ki greets with a smile. “I’m so happy for you to come home.”

Bobby bows his head. “You’re not well?”

Jun-ki waves a hand at him like he always does. He could be dying and insist that he’s fine. “Come
on, this place smells like bleach.”

Worry fills Bobby as he takes Jun-ki’s arm and guides him out of the hospital. It’s been so long that
he’s smelled fresh air that his eyes fill with tears the moment it hits his nose. The jacket Jun-ki had
brought for him does little to keep away the chill, but he likes the way the cold air bites his skin.

“There’s a lot to catch you up on,” Jun-ki goes on as they walk to the car. “I didn’t want to tell you
anything that would interrupt your progress.”
Bobby’s heart clenches. He had been banned from watching the news after he broke a television
when they mentioned his mother’s video. They didn’t show it, but Bobby’s seen it enough that it
played over in his head the moment it was mentioned.

Therapy seems pointless sometimes.

“We’ve began expanding to Seoul,” Jun-ki starts. “Jeongguk wishes to be close to Taehyung-ssi.
Poor boy is head over heels, can’t stand being away from him. Ji-hu asks about you every day.”

A thickness in his throat has Bobby swallowing painfully. “What have you told him?”

“I left that in Jeongguk’s hands,” Jun-ki explains. “As far as I know, Jeonguk has not told him a
thing except that you’ve moved.”

Bobby looks down at his feet. Ji-hu’s been someone to show up in his thoughts more than he
anticipated. His mother, Jimin, Ji-hu. He thinks about them more than a few times a day. It’s one
thing that hurts the most, that Jeongguk may never let him see him again.

One of the best days of his life was when he met Ji-hu for the first time, only a few months old. He
had been in his mother’s arms, smiling big and showing off the one tooth trying to grow through his
gums.

I know Jeongguk will need your help to raise his son.

Despite his mother’s words, after she passed, Bobby tried to put much distance between him and
Jeongguk. Ji-hu included. It wasn’t easy; he saw Ji-hu often when he visited Jun-ki while Jeongguk
was at work, and Jun-ki tried to force a relationship. Pushing Bobby to reach out to Jeongguk
whenever he needed money, using the excuse that Jeongguk controlled his finances.

“Jinju has moved in,” Jun-ki murmurs with a clearing of his throat. “She has insisted on tending to
me but she’s a right pain in my ass.”

Jun-ki laughs, glancing at him so he can see the look in his eyes.

“Jimin and Yoongi-yah’s wedding has been set for the spring.”

The amusement slips away and the clouds above seem dreary when Bobby’s heart pangs. If he’s
thought about anyone nonstop; it’s been Jimin. The regret, the anger at himself, at everything. The
anger he tries not to feel when he thinks about how he too loves Yoongi, just like Jeongguk had.

Bobby breathes through his nose and exhales slowly. One of the reason he’s sure he’s been released
early is his constant lying about how it doesn’t hurt, how he’s accepted it and started his work on
moving on from it.

It’s a lie. But Bobby’s accepted that that’s what he does; he lies. He’s been taught to. His father
always whispering in his ear to tell the Jeon’s that that the bruises on his body were accidents. His
mother whispering in his ear to never tell Yoongi that Jeongguk’s his baby brother, not his.

Jun-ki telling him to convince Uncle Sungho that he’s taken over Busan and Jimin to expand the
Family, spending the last seven years trying to hide how he’s laundered money into Guowang’s
pockets.

Partying beside Jeongguk in America and pretending that the powder up his nose and the booze in
his system is for fun and not to hide the fact that it hurt to be around him.
Sneaking into the bathroom to wrap a cloth around his arm every time he bruised Jimin, hiding what
he was doing so Jimin didn’t know how badly it hurt to hurt him.

Bobby feels dizzy suddenly, the ache in his chest thrusting into his neck so suddenly his head spins
from it.

“I’m sorry,” Jun-ki murmurs, squeezing Bobby’s wrist. Ahead of them is Seokmin, opening the
doors of a SUV that Bobby hasn’t seen before.

“Why is Seokmin driving you?” Bobby asks, changing the subject before he nods to the driver in
greeting.

“I think your brother has placed him on me to keep an eye on me,” Jun-ki laughs. “He’s just as bad
as Jinju-ah. Convinced I’m not taking care of myself. He needs to worry about himself. That boy of
his isn’t quiet about his concern for his father, crying on my shoulder about how his Appa screams in
the middle of the night.”

Bobby glances at the frail, trembling fingers wrapped around his wrist and considers Jinju and
Jeongguk are probably right. He listens to Jun-ki scoff over Jeongguk’s insistence that he’s fine and
he wonders if either of them realize how alike they are.

He helps Jun-ki into the car carefully, making sure he doesn’t slip on the slush beneath the car before
climbing in behind him. It doesn’t smell like home like the last SUV had, but still holding onto that
new car smell and leather.

“Bobby-ah.”

Bobby freezes at the sudden mention of his name. It isn’t Jun-ki, who smiles worriedly at him. But
it’s from across the seat, a good amount of space between them but not enough.

There’s a shake in his fingers at the sudden rush of pain inside of him. He wants to numb it, already
craving something he shouldn’t when he lifts his eyes.

He’s as beautiful as always, glowing but not from the sparkles and diamonds. Glowing from self care
and love probably, Bobby thinks as he takes in Jimin.

Everything about him is as white as the hospital walls. From the color of his hair, so pale the gold
there is hard to see, from the fluffy scarf around his neck and the peacoat keeping him warm. The
only color is his dark jeans and the gray gloves on his hands.

“Jimin-ah.”

Jimin huffs out, lips cracking a smile but the nerves are in his eyes. Bobby looks to Jun-ki for
explanation, but his attention is out of the window like he’s absorbed in the sight of snow.

“I hope it’s okay that I’m here,” Jimin murmurs, rubbing his fingers together. “I asked Jun-ki to
request your early release.”

Bobby sinks into the seat beside Jun-ki, staring ahead at Jimin like he can’t believe he’s there. He
can’t. He doesn’t know if it’s supposed to be the world torturing him or the world reminding him that
he isn’t ready to be released.

But they had said goodbye.

“Why?”
“I need your help,” Jimin says, the shake gone from his voice. He rubs his lips together, eyes
widening in a way that always made Bobby’s heart turn to mush and he prays Jimin isn’t using that
against him.

He wouldn’t need to. Bobby owes Jimin more than he’s given him and he’d given him anything else
he asked for.

“What is it?”

“Sungho has requested Jimin’s presence,” Jun-ki answers for him. “And Taehyung-ssi’s. He won’t
tell anyone why, but he requested this after Mun offered him a plea deal. Mun wants to stop this from
going to trial, from exposing the video of your mother before she passed.”

After Bobby had admitted himself to the hospital, he had spent what felt like years sick in bed. The
tremors, the heat, sweat slicked skin, the nausea. He felt like he was dying as he came off the drug in
his system, body aches and nightmare.

It doesn’t feel as bad as how Bobby feels right now from Jun-ki’s words.

“He wants Winnie.”

Jimin nods quickly, relaxing some. “Yes, that’s what we assumed. Um, Mr. Jeon said he doesn’t
think anyone could convince Winnie to meet with Sungho. Except for you.”

Bobby turns, looking at the darkly tinted windows and wishing he could see the color of the sky
better. It would be wrong of him to ask Winnie to do something like this, knowing the contempt and
anger she has for him. Knowing she’s gone eight years without speaking to Sungho and wants to go
the rest of her life too.

“Anything you want in exchange -”

“No,” Bobby interrupts before Jimin can finish. He shakes his head, holding up a hand. “I don’t
want anything. I’ll call her now but I can’t promise anything, Jimin-ah.”

Jun-ki reaches over, pressing his thumb hard over the inner part of Bobby’s elbow. He presses over
the thickened skin until it hurts.

Jimin watches the movement and Bobby looks away, unable to handle the look in his eyes.

Despite knowing home meant Jun-ki’s home, Bobby wishes they had gone somewhere else. He’s
never told anyone how much he hates it here, how much it hurt forcing himself to come here to care
for Jun-ki. Even after Jun-ki tore down every reminder of his mother, he still feels her in every inch
of the house.

He wonders if Jun-ki is punishing him by walking out of the living room, leaving him alone with
Jimin. It would only be fair of him to. He’s only been anything but kind and understanding since the
day Bobby broke down in front of him, falling to his knees as he confessed to what he had done. He
knew Jun-ki would punish him more than just filling him with guilt one day.

Jun-ki has always hidden his alcoholism from Jeongguk, but he’s always let Bobby see. Always
shown Bobby that the loss of his wife has taken away his strength. Jun-ki loves him, he knows, and
Bobby believes he truly forgives him, but Jun-ki makes sure Bobby gets to see him killing himself.
“How have you been?”

Bobby flinches at the sudden sound of Jimin’s voice, though he’s too aware of his presence.

“A lot better.”

Jimin’s eyes are wide as they follow Bobby where he paces around the room, trying to muster up the
courage to ask Winnie to see the man who once abused her.

“That’s good,” Jimin says. “That’s really good.”

“And you?”

Fidgeting with his fingers, Jimin doesn’t respond at first. It falls quiet, awkward as Bobby tries to
distract himself with the phone Jun-ki had handed off before he left.

“Good. Good, Hope-ah took over the dance academy. I work from home, working for the company,
which is great. You know I hate getting out of my pajamas.”

The laugh Bobby lets out feels genuine and the smile on Jimin’s face is bright, the pity leaving his
eyes.

“I heard about the wedding. Congratulations.”

And as quickly as the smile had came, it disappears.

“Thank you.”

Bobby clears his throat. “Why did you come, Jimin? We said goodbye. You could have asked Jun-ki
to ask me.”

Jimin’s eyes grow wide again, frozen before he closes the space between them. Bobby can’t help but
grow taut as Jimin hesitates before sitting across from him.

“Jinju-ssi is worried about Mr. Jeon,” Jimin starts. “Ji-hu told her he caught him dumping his
medicine. I overhear Jeongguk often telling um, hyung, that he’s worried too. He found him one
night sitting outside of Young-Mi’s memorial, drunk and his hands nearly frozen. Jun-ki didn’t
remember it happening.”

Bobby inhales as deeply as he can. “There’s nothing I can do about this, Jiminnie.”

“If it goes to trial you’ll see it too,” Jimin says softly. “The video.”

“I see it every time I close my eyes.”

“Do you want Jeongguk to?”

It’s not spoken harsh, but Bobby flinches as if he’s been slapped. Jimin’s eyes are still soft, he isn’t
trying to be cruel but there’s a flare of hurt inside Bobby at his words. Jimin knows that his father
used to threaten to send it to Jeongguk if Bobby didn’t cooperate.

“Winnie will help you,” Jimin says sadly, “if you tell her it’s for Jeongguk, won’t she?”

Bobby nods, rubbing the crease of his elbow. “I’m sure she will.”

*
It feels a bit like prison, the high fences surrounding the yard. At least they aren’t barbed, Jeongguk
thinks as he walks along the border, watching the kids roll around in the snow.

The air is filled with laughter and yelling, the darkening sky allowing the moon to glow across the
ground. The cold bites at his cheeks, which are scrunched and tight feeling from smiling so much.

Jeongguk stops pacing when he comes up behind Taehyung. Taehyung jumps a little when
Jeongguk wraps around him, clasping his gloved hands over Taehyung’s belly.

It’s a moment of bliss, pure bliss cozying up to the back of Taehyung as they watch their kids.

“They should go in soon,” Taehyung sighs, sinking into Jeongguk’s chest. Jeongguk nuzzles his
cold cheek against Taehyung’s scarf, the material scratchy against his skin. “Ji-hu’s face is red.”

Jeongguk laughs, eyeing the scarf Ji-hu had given up wearing after a few minutes where it’s been
tossed to the side. Woojin had chased him a few times, trying to wrap it back around his face but Ji-
hu had fussed until Woojin gave up.

“Not yet,” Jeongguk murmurs, kissing Taehyung’s jaw. “We have to leave in the morning and I
want to drag the night out as long as I can.”

Taehyung turns in Jeongguk’s embrace, grabbing the lapels of his jacket. He too is red in the face,
his bunched up cheeks barely covered by the scarf. The thick hat he wears pushes his black hair into
his eyes, which has grown so long since they first met that it covers the entirety of his nape now.

“Do you have to really?”

Jeongguk nods, leaning in. “Ji-hu has school. I have an important meeting tomorrow. We’re working
with an overseas company and moving forward with our expansion project. It’ll be a busy day.”

Taehyung pouts, eyes growing wide and it makes Jeongguk’s chest ache and his heart grow so big at
the same time that Jeongguk can hardly breathe. “Please? I have a hard day tomorrow and I want to
come home to you.”

“Why is it going to be hard?” Jeongguk asks in concern.

The pout grows. “Woojin has therapy. Jeonggukkie, please stay.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” Taehyung asks, fluttering his eyelashes before he sticks his bottom lip out as far as can
go.

“That,” Jeongguk grunts in offense, pulling away. He scoffs, hands going to his hips. “I can’t believe
you.”

Taehyung clasps his hands, hanging his arms as his shoulders curl forward and his eyes grow
impossibly wider. He rocks back and forth, killing Jeongguk.

Jeongguk turns, cussing softly as he rubs his forehead in distress. “Stop.”

“Please stay,” Taehyung murmurs and Jeongguk can’t look at him because he hears it in his voice
that the damn pout is still there. “Don’t you want to stay with your baby?”

“Stop,” Jeongguk complains, cupping Taehyung’s cheeks and bringing him into a kiss to quiet him
and distract himself from Taehyung’s cuteness. “You’re an ass.”
Taehyung looks proud of himself as he wraps his arms around Jeongguk’s waist. “Aren’t you
supposed to give me what I want, daddy?”

Jeongguk wrinkles his nose at that. It’s whispered so the kids can’t hear over their giggling and the
amusement in Taehyung’s eyes is too loud.

“You’re a brat.”

Wiggling his eyebrows, Taehyung leans forward until their noses touch. “Gonna punish me?”

Jeongguk nods, humming as he rubs his hands down Taehyung’s arms. “I am.”

He pulls away then, Taehyung’s mouth falling open some and offense in his eyes as Jeongguk leaves
it at that and walks away.

When they finally go inside, the cold sticks to his skin even as he undresses from his cold clothes. Ji-
hu fusses when he pulls the wet material from his skin, clearly sleepy as the tears slip over his eyelids
when he sees how red his skin has became from the snow.

“It’ll go away,” Jeongguk promises as he helps Ji-hu into his warm clothes. “Go curl up with hyung
under the blankets.”

Ji-hu sniffles, hiccuping out his last cry. “I don’t want to leave.”

“I know,” Jeongguk says, smiling as he bends down so he can be eye level with Ji-hu. “We’ll come
back next weekend.”

Ji-hu wipes at his eyes. “You said that last weekend.”

Jeongguk stands up, hands on his hips. “Appa didn’t plan on working so much last weekend.”

With a huff, Ji-hu pulls on his sweater and takes off from the bathroom without a word. Jeongguk
sighs, leaning against the bathroom door.

Taehyung and the kids being far away hasn’t just been hard on him.

“What’s up?”

Jeongguk turns his head but stays against the bathroom door when Taehyung emerges from a
bedroom, his hair wet. He’s changed into a sweater that hangs from his shoulder and hides his hands
and a pair of pants that are so thick that Jeongguk knows he’ll complain about being too warm later.

“You and Ji-hu are teaming up against me,” Jeongguk complains.

Taehyung grins but there’s a hint of worry in his eyes. They haven’t had a long weekend like this
together with the kids since Taehyung left. Jeongguk couldn’t really afford to leave work, but he
used the excuse that Jin and Namjoon were leaving for the weekend and Taehyung couldn’t be alone
with the kids.

The new secretary is sweet, but isn’t quite at Jin’s level yet and Jeongguk had been spoiled with less
work because of Jin.

“Have I told you I love him?” Taehyung murmurs as he hovers over Jeongguk.

It makes Jeongguk’s chest blossom worse than ever.

“I love that you love him,” Jeongguk murmurs, slipping his hands under Taehyung’s sweater until he
gasps from the cold of his palms. Despite it, he lets Jeongguk use his skin to warm them. “He loves
you.”

Taehyung traces a finger down his cheek before pinching his chin. He holds him for a moment, eyes
softening. “He told me you scream in your sleep.”

Jeongguk’s mouth falls open as he stares at Taehyung’s. It only happened a few times and Hoseok
had woken him. They haven’t talked about it since, but he hadn’t known Ji-hu knew.

Ji-hu really is too aware of everything.

“Only sometimes.”

It isn’t the right answer as Taehyung’s face scrunches even more in concern and he plops a kiss to
Jeongguk’s lips. “What are the dreams about?”

Jeongguk turns away. The television light flickers down the hallway and he listens for the sound of
the kids’ voices. It’s just a muffle but he is relieved to hear Ji-hu doesn’t sound upset anymore.

“You and Ji-hu. Eomma,” Jeongguk murmurs. “I promise, it doesn’t happen often. But sometimes -
it’s only been a couple of months since everything. I hate you being away from me and not being
able to see you safe with my own two eyes makes it harder for me to calm down.”

Taehyung sighs, touching over Jeongguk’s face, neck, and arms. Taehyung is more aware of things
than he lets on, knowing how much Jeongguk needs to be touched when he’s stressed. He looks
apologetic for bringing up something sad, but he doesn’t say it.

“I have nightmares too,” Taehyung murmurs, cocking his head. “But they’re not every night, so?
Progress?”

Jeongguk smiles, nodding. “That’s all one can hope for.”

Taehyung stretches and curls his arms around the back of Jeongguk’s neck. “You know what I was
dreaming about that night? The night I was um? Taken? What I like to think about when my
nightmares come back?”

There’s warm breath over his cheek as Taehyung leans in and Jeongguk flutters his eyes closed. He
basks in Taehyung’s warmth, tracing over his spine until he feels a calm and serenity settle over him.

“What was that, babe?”

“You,” Taehyung says, resting his head to Jeongguk’s shoulder. He plants a hand over Jeongguk’s
chest. “Us with the kids. You telling me you loved me.”

There are times when Taehyung still struggles with Jeongguk’s affection, when he gets defensive
and protective of himself. There’s still times when he tries to distract Jeongguk with sex because he
doesn’t know how to respond to Jeongguk’s casual reminders of their future together.

But it’s not as often. Taehyung is trying hard. There’s progress.

Jeongguk pulls his fingers from Taehyung’s sweater to cup under his jaw. He lifts Taehyung’s head
gently, pulling him in. Taehyung parts his lips immediately, accepting the kiss Jeongguk presses to
his lips. He kisses Taehyung deeply, sighing into his mouth and licking at his lips until Taehyung
shudders against him.
“I love you,” Jeongguk reminds him. “You, Woojin, Eunae.”

Taehyung shudders again, eyes clenching closed as he fists into Jeongguk’s shirt.

“I love that you love me.”

A rush of breath leaves Jeongguk’s lips before he kisses Taehyung again. He knows it’s hard for
Taehyung to accept it; it just means enough that he’s trying to. It means the world that he has.

Taehyung is the one to pull away, a soft smile on his lips as he takes Jeongguk’s hands and pulls him
from the door. “Come on, baby. We have a family to watch movies with.”

There’s knowing in Taehyung’s eyes. He’s aware of how Jeongguk’s heart thumps up his chest and
shoots out of his mouth.

“Keep saying stuff like that and I’m taking you to the bedroom.”

The hallway fills with Taehyung’s laughter and there’s three pairs of little eyes on them when they
emerge. They scooch into the middle of the couch when Jeongguk and Taehyung join them and
despite not wanting to part from Taehyung, he likes the way they are. He reaches behind the three of
them, catching Taehyung’s hand to hold it as he tries to pay attention to whatever is on the screen.

As anticipated, the kids put a fight to go to bed when Ji-hu is already tucking himself in. It makes
Jeongguk sad seeing how strict Ji-hu is with following his bedtime and how worried he gets when
Woojin begs to stay up late.

Woojin gives in always, settling to appease Ji-hu. He stays in the same bed as him, letting Ji-hu cling
to him and play with his hair when he sleeps.

He talks to Ji-hu until he does.

This time it’s Taehyung wrapping his arms around Jeongguk’s middle, chin propped on his shoulder
as Jeongguk peeks into the boys’ room. They’re whispering as not to be caught and Jeongguk is
hiding for that same reason.

“We won’t be brothers. Hyung isn’t my dad, silly.”

“I want to be brothers though, hyung.”

Jeongguk smiles softly at the whine in Ji-hu’s voice. He can see Woojin curling towards him,
pressing a finger to his lips.

“You’re already my brother, Ji-hu. Don’t worry.”

“Do you really think Appa and Tae Tae are going to get married?”

Taehyung’s arms squeeze tighter around Jeongguk’s middle. There’s lips scraping over the side of
his neck and breath brushing his skin when Taehyung laughs.

“Oh yeah. Hyung told me your Appa has a big hard head and if he wants to get married, he’ll make
sure it happens. Chaebeol’s always get what they want.”

Ji-hu grunts. “What’s a chaebeol?”

Jeongguk turns around slowly, focusing on the round of Taehyung’s eyes. He looks horrified for a
moment before he breaks out in a smile, covering his mouth and taking off in a run.
Carefully as not to make any noise, Jeongguk chases after Taehyung. He could easily catch up, but
he lags behind until Taehyung pushes open his cracked bedroom door.

Taehyung squeaks when their bodies collide and Jeongguk doesn’t give him a minute to catch his
breath before he’s capturing Taehyung’s hips in his hands and his mouth with his own. He waddles
Taehyung back until his knees hit the bed.

There’s a giggle leaving Taehyung’s lips when Jeongguk crawls over him. There’s hands fisted in
his shirt before Jeongguk can kiss Taehyung again, the shirt pulled from him before he’s completely
hovered over Taehyung.

“I do not have a big head,” Jeongguk murmurs, caging Taehyung’s head in with his arms. His hair is
splayed out around his head, forming a halo.

Taehyung grins as he presses a leg up, grinding it between Jeongguk’s legs. “You sure?”

“Shush,” Jeongguk huffs before nipping at Taehyung’s jaw. “Woojin’s going to think I’m an
asshole.”

“You are,” Taehyung says with a grin as he continues to knead his leg between Jeongguk’s. His
hands wander, rubbing over Jeongguk’s chest and scraping at his shoulders. “You forced me to fall
in love with you.”

Taehyung is wiggling down before Jeongguk can register his words. He spreads his hot breath
across Jeongguk’s stomach, his hands slipping low. His body only follows as Jeongguk kneels up.

The sight makes Jeongguk breathless as he cups a hand behind Taehyung’s head. He holds himself
up with a hand behind his back, his mouth hovering over the band of Jeongguk’s pajamas. It looks
uncomfortable, his torso curved between Jeongguk’s legs, but it’s so hot when his eyes flick up
towards Jeongguk that he forgets about Taehyung’s back for a moment.

Jeongguk gulps, rubbing Taehyung’s scalp before he attempts to pull away. Taehyung doesn’t let
him, gripping hard on the band of his pajama bottoms.

“Talk to me first,” Jeongguk breathes. His dick is betraying him, twitching against it’s confines as
Taehyung tugs on the band his tongue darts out. “You - you can’t drop something like that and not
talk about it.”

Taehyung pulls away, planting his other hand behind him as he looks up at Jeongguk with a frown.
“I tell you I love you all the time. You get this look on your face when you say it that I feel bad if I
don’t say it back.”

Jeongguk nudges Taehyung’s shoulder playfully, eased by the teasing grin on his lips that he’s
joking. “Shut up. It’s different when you say it like that.”

Taehyung bites at his grin, peering his eyes up at Jeongguk. “You’re a strange breed, Mr. Jeon. Most
men don’t complain when someone’s trying to suck their dick.”

Deflection, Jeongguk thinks as he sinks down and wiggles back until he’s sitting on top of
Taehyung’s lap. He cups the sides of Taehyung’s neck, tilting his head up but only teases his lips
over Taehyung’s before planting them to his forehead instead.

“I’m not complaining. If it makes you more comfortable telling your brother how you want to spend
your life with me instead of me, just leaving me here to suffer in worry and anticipation -”
Taehyung wrestles Jeongguk off of his lap before he can finish. He clamps his thighs around
Jeongguk’s waist and his grip is tight when they grab Jeongguk’s wrists and plant them above his
head. He leans down, so close their noses touch and there isn’t just a swoop in Jeongguk’s belly, but
an entire aroused tsunami.

“I already told you one day,” Taehyung tells him softly. This close, Jeongguk can’t read Taehyung’s
expression and Taehyung doesn’t let him tilt his head back so he can. “Okay?”

Jeongguk can tilt his head just enough so he can press their lips together. “Okay.”

“Can I suck your dick now?” Taehyung whispers, voice tilting into deep and dirty before his teeth
catch Jeongguk’s bottom lip and tug hard. “Being domestic really gets my dick wet, babe. Who
would have known?”

Jeongguk huffs out a laugh, but it doesn’t sound as amused as he intends it to me. Arousal twists
down his spine as his heart balloons.

“Anything you want,” Jeongguk murmurs, pushing up to fist a hand in Taehyung’s hair. “Anything
you want, daddy will give you.”

Taehyung’s eyes spark bright, cheeks bunching over his cheeks as he smiles. He barks out a laugh at
the same time he moves for a kiss, making their teeth clack against each other.

“If you can propose to me exactly how I’ve always pictured it in my head, I’ll marry you. So take
your time, Jeon.”

Jeongguk doesn’t know if it’s the arousal or his heart that’s making his mind fuzzy or his chest ache
with the need to breathe, but he knows Taehyung is going to win in his begging for Jeongguk to stay
another day because he’s going to die here on this bed.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Nope,” Taehyung huffs before he pushes Jeongguk’s chest until he lays flat. There’s no more
teasing as he grips Jeongguk’s pants and tugs them down, no more hesitation in the way Taehyung
bends and kisses at his stomach as the cool air breathes over Jeongguk’s cock. “And you only get
one chance, so take your time.”

Jimin taps against the surface of the island in the middle of the kitchen, watching Yoongi’s bare back
as he moves along the counters. He keeps his smile hidden behind his fist, admiring Yoongi as he
hums and bobs his head to the music playing.

Yoongi turns, spoon in hand as he belts out the lyrics and turns back towards the fried vegetables like
nothing happened.

The laughter fills the kitchen and it’s enough to keep Jimin’s heart feeling light enough that he can
convince himself he won’t collapse. The truth is, he’s been up all night with his nerves for today. He
knows Yoongi’s noticed because Yoongi shifts awake easily when Jimin doesn’t sleep well.

“Eat up,” Yoongi murmurs, waving his arms at the table he covered in food. “Eomma would be
proud.”

“She would,” Jimin murmurs as he snatches the utensils that Yoongi offers him. “Have you talked to
her? How’s Jun-ki?”
Yoongi sighs as he starts to scoop food and plop it into Jimin’s plate. “Still lying about not eating. Ji-
hu caught him dumping his medicine in the toilet.”

Jimin sighs, heart dampening in his chest. “He’s a grown man but he’s acting like a child.”

Yoongi glances at Jimin but doesn’t deny it. “Can I be honest with you? I don’t think Abeoji wants
to live anymore, but he doesn’t want to hurt Jeongguk by ending it himself. Jeongguk thinks he’s just
been sick this whole time.”

The pain in Jimin’s chest lurches and he looks at his plate, no longer hungry. Maybe he understands
that kind of pain, understands the difficulty to keep going. He hates the pain in Yoongi’s eyes when
he talks about it and he hates the fact that he’s lying to Yoongi.

Seeing his wife moments before she dies will do him in for good, and all because the media gets off
on shock value.

“I think you should spend the day with Guk,” Jimin says, lightening his tone and offering Yoongi a
smile. “It’s been so long since you two have seen each other for more than a few moments and I
know he is always depressed after coming back from seeing Tae.”

Yoongi grins, nodding. “He isn’t coming back. I spent an hour on the phone with him this morning
while he debated the pros and cons of skipping work. It seemed to be an easy choice though he
pretended to be stressed. Jackson-ssi is bringing Ji-hu back to Busan for school and I’m getting him
after.”

Jimin giggles, a warmth spreading through him. He’s happy their plan worked. He’s happy
Taehyung is being loved the way he deserves.

“He also asked me to ask you what the ideal way to propose to Tae would be. Uh - shit, he also
asked me not to make it obvious he was asking.” Yoongi shakes his head, cussing quietly at himself.
There’s pink touching his cheeks as he catches Jimin’s amused eyes and quickly looks down at his
plate like he’s never seen food before.

“A proposal? Already?”

Yoongi sighs, pushing his utensil through his food. “Jeongguk doesn’t do anything slowly or
rationally. He’s always been able to get what he wants and he’s not a dick about it, but he always
goes for what he wants without thinking twice about it.”

“Jeongguk loves a lot,” Jimin adds, cocking his head at the fond smile on Yoongi’s lips. “Makes
sense, since he was raised by you.”

Yoongi looks at him again, flushing deeper. “Jeongguk was raised by a lot of people, Jimin-ah.”

“Mostly you,” Jimin murmurs, folding a hand under his chin. He hopes Yoongi doesn’t notice that
his lacking appetite, especially since he worked hard to make so much food this morning. “Did you
know B was envious of it?”

Yoongi places his utensil down, swallowing. “Bobby was in Guk’s life just as much as I was, Jimin-
ah.”

“Not defending him,” Jimin murmurs with a soft smile, reaching over the table to take Yoongi’s
hand. He pouts until Yoongi’s fingers are sliding through his own. “He’s being transferred to another
facility today. Jun-ki wants him close to Jeongguk when Jeongguk moves.”
“He wants to force their relationship,” Yoongi adds, not commenting on how Jimin knows this. It
wouldn’t be surprising if Jun-ki told Yoongi that Jimin sometimes calls to inquire about Bobby, to
see if he’s okay. He didn’t tell Yoongi about seeing Bobby because he can’t tell Yoongi about him
meeting with Chung-Hoon until it’s over. It bothers him, keeping it in. “He’s overestimating
Jeongguk’s empathy.”

“I don’t think he is,” Jimin murmurs. He lets go of Yoongi’s hand to saunter around the table,
smiling when he curls his legs and settles half onto Yoongi’s lap and half on the ground. “I’m
meeting Winnie for coffee today. You should ask Jeongguk to come home to meet her.”

Yoongi leans back onto one hand and wraps the other around Jimin, pulling him farther onto his lap.
His hand settles over the scarred skin on his hip. It no longer hurts, Yoongi no longer looks like he
hurts when he looks at it. Even if the tattoo Jimin had placed over it doesn’t hide the way the burn
morphed the shape of his skin. “Do you think if I ask Tae to let Gukkie go, he’ll kill me?”

Jimin giggles, pressing their foreheads together. “Definitely.”

The day is lazily spent until it’s time to leave. Jimin works from their makeshift office, or pretending
to as he spends a majority of time going through articles about Chung-Hoon and Yunbok’s arrests.
He searches back, looking for the coverage of Young-Mi’s and Kyungsoon’s death but it becomes
too much and he closes out.

Jimin misses his mother more than he expected to.

Yoongi leaves first to pick up Ji-hu, bending over the office desk to kiss Jimin before he does. It isn’t
long after that Mun texts him he’s there.

He’s nervous, but he calms some when Hoseok appears at the front door, a friendly smile on his face
and a hooked arm out to walk him to Mun’s SUV.

Bobby and Winnie are inside and Jimin grabs for Winnie’s hand in greeting. Beside Bobby, he sees
the similarities. Jimin thinks three Jeon children resemble each other so much he’s not sure how he
missed it before.

“You came.”

Winnie nods, folding her hands into her lap as Jimin buckles himself in. “I’m strong, Jimin-ah. There
are many things I want to say to Papa and this is my chance to say them. He’ll regret asking to see
me.”

Jimin smiles softly as Hoseok presses an elbow to his shoulder. A sign of comfort for him.

In the front is Mun and another one of his officers whose name Jimin forgets. It’s usually Changkyun
in the passenger seat as Jooheon always insists on sitting beside Hoseok, but neither are here.

“Where’s your honey?”

There’s a pink tinting Hoseok’s cheeks as he clears his throat. “It isn’t a good idea for Mun to be the
one to pick up Tae and I trust Jooheonnie more.”

Jimin smiles at Hoseok. He’s happy for him too, even if he insists him and Jooheon are just ‘friends
who touch each other casually.’
“Jeongguk was with him this morning. How he’s managing to get here without Jeongguk noticing?”

“Therapy,” Hoseok tells him, looking relieved that Jimin stopped talking about Jooheon. “Taehyung
told Guk that Woojin has a session that he needs to be apart of. He’s actually sending Woojin and
Eunae with Jin to house hunt.”

Jimin pulls back, frowning. He doesn’t get to talk to Taehyung as often as he’d like, and he hasn’t
seen him in so long. One of the reasons he had agreed to see Chung-Hoon is so he can see
Taehyung. “House hunting?”

Hoseok’s grin tells him that there’s more to it than that. “I can’t tell you, Jimin-ah. Let’s just say,
Taehyung thinks Jin is house hunting for them to hide in another place but that’s not it.”

Jimin pulls from Hoseok, crossing his arms. “It’s something to do with Jeongguk, isn’t it?”

He sees Winnie and Bobby perk up at the mention of Jeongguk’s name, though they had been
whispering to themselves as not to eavesdrop. Bobby quickly diverts his gaze, eyes falling back into
his lap.

“I can’t say.”

“It is,” Jimin murmurs, pinching Hoseok’s side.

It’s easy, for a moment, to forget about where they’re going as he bickers with Hoseok. When they
pull up to the prison, Jimin wonders if Hoseok distracted him on purpose.

He’s out of the SUV before it’s fully stopped when he spots Jooheon leaning against a smaller car,
arms crossed. He doesn’t see Taehyung immediately, but when he does he bounds across the space
separating them.

His face is covered mostly, a mask over the lower half and hair pushed over his eyes by a hat. His
scarf is wrapped high up to his ears and he’s layered in so much clothing, Jimin knows he must be
sweating, but Jimin wraps around him anyway.

“I missed you so much,” Jimin tells Taehyung before he grabs his cheeks. “Have you been eating?
You look thinner.”

Taehyung’s eyes turn into crescents over his mask and Jimin knows he’s smiling. “Of course I’ve
been eating. Have you met Jeongguk? I think he hired that guard to make sure I eat because
Dowoon-ssi watches every bite.”

Jimin giggles, elated for a minute as he continues to hold onto Taehyung’s cheeks. He forgets about
everything for a minute, letting him have this feeling in his chest like Yoongi’s told him to.

Even when it’s bad, try to focus on the things that feel good and cling hard to them.

“Yoongi told me you call him during every meal to make sure he’s eating,” Jimin says, a knowing
smile taking over his lips. “And you make him show you that he is.”

Taehyung pushes away, eyes narrowing.

“You love him, it’s okay, admit it,” Jimin taunts over Taehyung’s complaints. “You can admit it
because Yoongi maybe also asked me how I thought you’d like to be proposed to.”

Taehyung giggles. “Fucking cheater.”

Jimin feels his jaw drop when Taehyung shakes his head and follows after Hoseok’s call. He didn’t
seem surprised, which means he must have known.

Many times Taehyung has told Jimin he wishes to never, ever be married. To never be like the
parents he grew up with and how he didn’t think he could ever trust a person enough to give them
the rest of their life.

Now Taehyung looks amused.

“Should I not tell him that you said you would punch anyone who tried?”

Taehyung snorts but he diverts his eyes. “I told Jeongguk if he could propose the way I’ve always
dreamed, I would accept because I want him to focus on that and stop hinting at it. Maybe it’ll take
him long enough and by then I’ll be ready to say yes.”

It’s spoken confidently, without sadness, and Jimin’s happy of his progress. “How have you
dreamed of it?”

“I haven’t,” Taehyung admits as he takes Hoseok’s hand. “I never dreamt anyone would propose to
me.”

The happy atmosphere quickly dissipates as Mun steps in like the plague he is. His eyes meet
Taehyung’s for a second, making Taehyung tense before he turns them around with a hand waving
for them to follow. His face is serious as he leads them inside the prison, jumping through the
security stops with a flash of his badge.

The atmosphere turns incredibly heavy and worrisome as Taehyung reaches between them and takes
his hand into his own.

“We have to meet every demand, even if I don’t like it. You’ll be alone,” Mun says, finally breaking
the silence over them. “Jimin and Taehyung first. Winnie, you’re on standby in case you’re not what
Sungho is going to ask for.”

Taehyung’s hand tightens around Jimin’s even more as Mun opens a door for them and grabs
Taehyung’s shoulder before he can.

The distrust is loud as both Jimin and Hoseok quickly flock into Taehyung’s sides. Jimin knows
Hoseok’s distrust is starting to break some, probably because of Jooheon, but Jimin is glad it isn’t
gone completely.

“You have my word,” is all Mun says before he lets Taehyung go.

Jimin holds his breath as they walk past the double mirrored room. Chung-Hoon can’t see them but
he’s staring out like he can. Jimin’s heart races when he sees his arms crossed, cuffs gone.

“He’s been searched, completely,” Mun explains. “He wants the door locked but don’t worry, we
have a way in.”

“He doesn’t have cuffs,” Taehyung says. He does well at keeping his voice steady but Jimin is tuned
to the waver in it.

“Part of the deal,” Jooheon says before Mun can, his voice softer than Mun’s would have been. “He
won’t hurt you and we won’t search you.”

Jimin huffs, unsure. Maybe he should have told Yoongi after all. Or told him he loved him one more
time. They don’t know Chung-Hoon like he does, he always has tricks up his sleeves. Jimin didn’t
want a weapon, he’s always been good with his hands and feet. “If he thinks he’s a dead man, no
threat can stop him.”

Jooheon and Mun exchange looks before Jooheon steps up. “Winnie will.”

Winnie’s eyes widen at this and she stares at them and then at Chung-Hoon for a long time before
she nods. “He’ll listen to me.”

This morning, Taehyung had woken to the smell of food cooking. It was later than he meant to sleep
until, his alarm turned off and phone silent. His heart ached thinking Jeongguk had slipped out before
he could say goodbye but it grew when he spotted Jeongguk in the kitchen, walking around in his
briefs as he cooked.

It was good, even when Dowoon walked in on Jeongguk bending Taehyung over the island in the
middle of the kitchen. It was good when Jeongguk washed his hair and rubbed at his back, even if
Jeongguk was too vocal about how tense Taehyung was.

It was really nice when Jeongguk kissed worriedly over his cheeks before he left, knowing
Taehyung hates therapy sessions. Even if it was a lie, it was a nice gesture.

He’d take a therapy session over this anyday.

The door opens and Mun stands against it, keeping it open for Jimin and Taehyung. He glares hard
at Chung-Hoon, who doesn’t even look his way. His eyes are on Taehyung instead.

Everyone was certain Jimin was the one he wanted here.

“Shut the door now, Mr. Mun.”

Mun looks like he might threaten Chung-Hoon but he clamps his lips shut when Taehyung smiles
and nods in assurance.

The smile slips away when he turns back and Chung-Hoon is still looking at him.

“Come here, Baby. Lock the door first.”

Jimin’s hand catches on Taehyung’s wrist as he steps forward. They’re supposed to do as Chung-
Hoon says, go with the flow, stay as calm as possible and not let him get to them. But Chung-Hoon
is already getting to him.

“Mr. Jeon must train you better, you used to listen well. But maybe he’s soft like his father, who
never liked to admit he bought a whore either.”

Taehyung pulls Jimin’s fingers away and moves forward. His insides are shaking as Chung-Hoon
curls a hand to his hip and guides him into his lap.

Maybe it is Jimin he’s targeting because Jimin’s always been loud about Taehyung being his
weakness.

“Smile,” Chung-Hoon murmurs, waving a hand under the thick hair over Taehyung’s nape. He
shivers when his knuckles touch his skin. “I won’t hurt you, Baby. I want your father to see, that’s
all.”
They were right, but it doesn’t make Taehyung feel any less sick.

“He did a lot of bad things,” Chung-Hoon continues. “Your mother came to me often for work.
Bruised and battered. I wanted to kill whoever touched her but she loved him.”

Taehyung breathes through his nose, staring at the blank wall ahead of him. He’ll break if he looks at
Jimin, whose eyes are wide and angered. He doesn’t know enough about Mun to know if Chung-
Hoon is lying, but he knows enough about Chung-Hoon to know he likes to press and press until
you break.

But Taehyung refuses to break and the sharp metal tucked under his sock is the only thing giving
him strength.

“I remember one day she came to me, shaking because he had choked her. Held her too roughly,
forced her face into a pillow -”

“Stop,” Taehyung breathes. “If you’re trying to make me hate him, don’t worry. I already do.”

Chung-Hoon hums. It isn’t the truth; Taehyung doesn’t know how to feel. But he doesn’t want to
hear it. “I remember how much you hated when anyone ever touched your throat.”

Jimin is half out of his chair when Chung-Hoon grabs Taehyung’s neck. His touch is light, stroking
over his pulse and the bruises Jeongguk had left behind.

“I guess that would be thanks to my dear baby brother.”

Taehyung turns, trying to swallow about the tight feeling in his throat and the way it worsens when
Chung-Hoon presses down when Taehyung leans down. He cups the back of Chung-Hoon’s chair,
glaring down hard at him. “Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want.”

Chung-Hoon laughs. “What happened to the sweet boy that begged on his knees?”

Taehyung wrinkles his nose. “I got pissed off.”

“Turn back to your father,” Chung-Hoon hums, amused. His voice grows louder as he waves. “Hey,
Woojin-ah. I know you’ve got a recording device in here somewhere.”

Taehyung glances to Jimin, who shrugs. Mun never mentioned it. He shifts back on Chung-Hoon’s
lap like asked, trying not to let his tears slip when Chung-Hoon takes his hands into his and holds
them against his thigh. His throat throbs, the pain lingering on his skin as a reminder that Chung-
Hoon can easily do it again.

“Doll, would you tell me what time it is.”

Jimin frowns but glances at the clock behind them. “Almost five.”

“What time does Yoongi have to pick up Ji-hu from school?”

It goes tense quickly as Jimin’s eyes blow wide and his lips part. It only lasts a second before Jimin’s
face is one of indifference.

He’s following them and he wants it known.

“It’s not important.”

Chung-Hoon sucks air through his teeth. “It’s pretty important, actually. Would you like me to tell
you why I’ve asked for you to be here?”

No one responds, but Chung-Hoon laughs again the silence.

“I’m going to tell you why you want them to take me to trial. They should want me to die in prison,”
Chung-Hoon starts off, his hands still trapped around Taehyung’s hands, “because even in prison, in
solitary confinement, I’ve had you watched and reported. I won’t hurt you today but I have set it up
so someone you love will die today.”

Taehyung goes still as the panic washes over him and Jimin remains impassive. But Taehyung
knows him enough to see the tightness in his jaw and the murder in his eyes.

“And I will keep doing it,” Chung-Hoon goes on. “Every day you will wake up wondering if this is
the day another person you know dies. And I say know, because even the barista at your favorite
coffee shop isn’t safe. While I sit in prison, you’ll imprison yourself with fear.”

Taehyung glances around, looking to see if Chung-Hoon had been right. If there’s recording devices.
If Mun and his men are already calling around.

“I thought I’d start off with the Jeon boy,” Chung-Hoon sighs as if he’s deciding on what to eat for
lunch. “Get the worst one out of the way.”

The panic is washing over Taehyung and he can’t breathe. His chest rises and falls quickly as he
looks towards the wall, hoping and praying someone can at least read his lips.

Jimin isn’t impassive anymore. His eyes are wide and alarmed as he glances at Taehyung.

Yoongi’s with Ji-hu.

“You won’t touch him,” Jimin murmurs. “He dies, Winnie dies.”

Chung-Hoon scoffs. “Do you think I care about that bitch? She betrayed me. You’ve seen what
happens to those who betray me. Don’t be fooled by my softness for your mother. I gave her too
many chances.”

Jimin’s nostrils flare as he stands up. “Let Taehyung go.”

“What time is it, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin huffs through his nostrils, glaring at the clock. “Two to five.”

Chung-Hoon laughs. “I hope you can hear this Mun. It’d be interesting to see if you can get to him in
two minutes.”

Hoseok crosses his arms, staring hard at the window. He might lose his mind, but Jooheon has a
hand cupped hard around the back of his neck. The sight of Taehyung on Chung-Hoon’s lap has his
blood boiling.

“This was fucking stupid,” Hoseok grunts. “Mun has enough charges to get him locked up until he
dies, why is he focused on the Jeon case?”

Jooheon sighs, rubbing Hoseok’s neck before pulling him close. “High profile. It isn’t Mun’s choice.
He has a boss too, you know. And that cockwad wants Chung to go to trial. The department’s
numbers have been low and this will look good for them.”
Mun paces around again, but he can’t smoke in here. The prison guards standing around aren’t any
of his men. He looks agitated as Chung-Hoon talks about him hurting Kyungsoon, the vein back.

He frowns when he catches Hoseok looking at him. “If you want to believe what he says, I can’t
stop you.”

“Why do you look worried I might?”

There’s a warning squeeze to the back of Hoseok’s neck but he ignores it and throws a knowing
look to Mun.

“There’s plenty of things I have done that Taehyung can hate me for instead of a lie.”

Mun turns then as a guard taps his chest and indicates the room. Taehyung’s face is bright red, eyes
wide with worry every time Chung-Hoon isn’t looking.

Hoseok considers fighting off every person in the room to get Taehyung out of there.

“Shit,” Jooheon says, pulling away as Chung-Hoon looks past Jimin’s head and directly where they
are standing on the other side of the glass. There’s no way to see them, but he knows. Chung-Hoon
knows they’re all there.

“I’ve set it up so someone you love with die today.”

The room erupts in a frenzy, the noise muffling in Hoseok’s ears as he processes Chung-Hoon’s
words. The vein in Mun’s forehead is pounding so hard at the skin over his temple it’s sure to break
through. The look on his face could rival the one in Chung-Hoon’s.

Hoseok yanks his phone from his pocket, unsure of what to do, who to call. Everyone Taehyung and
Jimin love are either here or spread throughout the country.

“I thought I’d start off with the Jeon boy.”

Rage consumes Hoseok so quickly his vision goes, hands trembling as he dials Yoongi’s number.
He quickly turns on his heel, but stops to look back into the room.

Yoongi will kill him if he leaves Jimin beside Chung-Hoon and there’s no way for him to get back to
them in time.

“Gimme your keys. Ji-hu is with Yoongi,” Hoseok grunts as he rushes up to Jooheon, who is staring
intently into the room as Mun talks rapidly to someone on the phone.

“No, you’re staying here.”

“Oh bull -”

The sound of Yoongi’s voice in his ear has his irritation seeping away and his chest blossoming with
worry.

“Hyung,” Hoseok breathes into the receiver. “Where are you?”

“Picking up Ji-hu,” Yoongi hums.

“Jackson-ssi is already at Ji-hu’s school,” Mun yells, grabbing Hoseok for his attention as he
indicates the phone to his ear. “He’s got the guy already. Found him lurking outside of the school.”
“Jackson is there,” Hoseok huffs. It would be unlike Chung-Hoon to send only one man. “You and
Ji-hu have to go with him, okay?”

“What?” Yoongi asks. “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know. Just a precaution,” Hoseok says, staring back at Chung-Hoon. He’s back to playing
with Taehyung’s hands like he’s mesmerized with them. “Please, don’t hang up the phone. Get to
Jackson as soon as possible.”

“What are you going to do?” Jimin demands and Mun hushes them in response.

They have nowhere to start. Hoseok feels stuck and he fucking hates it. There isn’t a point to telling
them this other than to torture them. If he knows as much as he claims to do, he must know that
Jackson is always in arms reach of Ji-hu.

And when it comes to Ji-hu, Jackson shoots first and asks questions later. He must know that they
actually can save Ji-hu in two minutes, even a distance away.

“One of my men is on him now,” Chung-Hoon says. “He was eager to be the one to kill him.”

Taehyung flinches when Chung-Hoon turns Taehyung’s arm and touches the vein on his wrist.
“Don’t you think it will be a good sign of revenge? Young-Mi took one of mine and now I’m taking
one of hers. Poor girl used to never sleep, worrying that I would come for him.”

He isn’t talking about Ji-hu, Hoseok realizes at the same moment it’s spoken out loud.

“Jeongguk,” Bobby blurts. There’s little to no color in his face as he starts to shake. “It isn’t Ji-hu, it’s
Jeongguk.”

Hoseok huffs, watching as a pleased smile twists on Chung-Hoon’s mouth. “One minute, Mun. Do
you think you can get all the way to that little town near Seoul before Taehyung-ssi’s house blows
up?”

The moment Taehyung leaves, Jeongguk slumps onto the living room chair. He should have at least
insisted he drive Taehyung, even if Taehyung was strict about picking up Woojin himself. At least
he took his guard, Jeongguk thinks.

But the house is even bigger than his penthouse and he’s bored. He plays a few games on his phone,
calls Yoongi to remind him about picking up Ji-hu and starts to wander through the house.

It’s been forever since he’s had nothing to do and Jeongguk kind of hates it.

He wanders outside, sticking rocks and sticks to Ji-hu’s crumbling attempt at a snowman to give it a
face. He wanders back inside, cleaning the kitchen from breakfast and into the bedroom to change
the sheets.

After an hour, Jeongguk considers leaving the house and going wherever it is Taehyung is.

After two hours, Jeongguk falls asleep on the couch just to wake up a short time later when his
phone goes off. His heart soars when he sees it’s Taehyung.

“Hey baby.”

“Hey,” Taehyung murmurs, the smile in his voice. “Woojinnie had a bit of a hard session, so I’m
going to take him out a little before we come home, okay? Spend some time with him?”

Jeongguk nods, wiping at his sleepy eyes. “Is Eunae with you?”

“No. Jinnie picked her up,” Taehyung says. There’s an edge to his voice that Jeongguk doesn’t like
and he wonders just how bad the session is.

“We can talk about it,” Jeongguk tells him, curling his legs up and sinking into the couch. “If you
want.”

“No,” Taehyung sighs. “Maybe another day. Don’t worry, I’m still with Dowoon. I didn’t expect to
be gone this long, sorry for making you stay there alone.”

Jeongguk hums. “I’m fine, baby. I’m going through all your stuff. That panty drawer of yours -”

“Shush,” Taehyung laughs and there’s a smacking sound like he’s covered his face with his hand.
“Is it really okay?”

Jeongguk tilts his head back.

Before, Taehyung was broken by his want to be with his siblings and support them at the same time.
Now that he’s spent so much time with them, he wonders if Taehyung still feels that urge to be with
them every minute. If so, Jeongguk wants Taehyung to get as much time with them as possible.

“Of course, love.”

“Please wait for me,” Taehyung whispers, his voice vulnerable. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“You don’t have -”

“Blah blah,” Taehyung interrupts loudly. “I know. I love you, Jeongguk.

Jeongguk gazes up at the ceiling for a minute, smiling like an idiot at himself. “I love you too,
Taehyung. You know I’ll always wait for you.”

“Okay bye,” Taehyung quickly says, his voice hitching before he hangs up the phone.

There’s a funny feeling in Jeongguk’s stomach and when he sits up, resting his elbows to his knees,
he wonders when the day started to feel so dreary.

It’s his paranoia, Jeongguk knows. He’s been talking to someone too, a nice woman that Ji-hu likes
more than he does. His fear has made him paranoid, he gets it, but he hates how he feels like
something bad is going to happen and the fear feels so real.

It’s the reason he can’t sleep. When he wakes in the night with an ache in his gut, it’s only relieved
when he rushes to Ji-hu’s room to see him there. It’s harder with Taehyung so far and Jeongguk
doesn’t want to wake him in the middle of the night by calling him.

Sometimes he gives in and calls and sometimes sits with the feeling, unable to sleep because the fear
that something happened is so intense he can’t calm it.

To get rid of the anxious feeling, Jeongguk searches through the house until he finds Namjoon’s
work out room. He is grateful to see the treadmill as he strips from his shirt and fills a bottle waiting
on the shelf with water from the cooler.

There’s a handful of playlists on his phone that he searches through. Some made by Ji-hu that
consists of the same song but thousands of different versions, a few made by Taehyung that
Jeongguk’s learn to appreciate more at night. He clicks on Yoongi’s, filled with songs he’s produced
and songs from the groups signed under his old and new label.

Jeongguk is surprised when the first song that comes on as he starts to run is one of Yoongi’s, his
voice filling the small workout room.

Exercise has always been a gateway for Jeongguk. When he’s stressed or overworked, he’d run until
his legs couldn’t hold him up anymore. He used to think it was bogus that exercise would lift the
mood, but it’s always worked for him.

It isn’t working now. Jeongguk glances at his phone where it’s propped in the holder, trying to fight
off the urge to call Taehyung and ask him to come home now. He’d leave him and the kids alone,
hide away, but there’s a burning urge in his stomach to just have Taehyung here.

Jeongguk slows the treadmill when he gives in, but his phone lights up with an incoming call before
he can. Jinyoung.

“What is it?”

“You need to get to Busan,” Jinyoung says without greeting. Straight to the chase, like he’s always
been. “Ji-hu is with Jackson.”

Jeongguk is jumping off the treadmill before Jinyoung’s finished. He grabs his shirt as he runs by
and heads towards where his keys and jacket are. There isn’t anything else he needs. “What
happened?”

“Sungho’s threatening,” Jinyoung says. “We found a guy outside of Jackson’s school and he killed
him but we’re not taking the chance there’s more.”

“I’m coming,” Jeongguk says as he struggles to put on his shoes while standing. “Where’s Yoongi?”

“With him,” Jinyoung explains. “Ji-hu baby is still shy around Jackson.”

A beep on his phone has him pulling away as finally slips his shoe on. It’s a number he doesn’t
recognize so he ignores it.

“He kidnapped him, Ji-hu is too young to fully understand it,” Jeongguk says a little sharper than
necessary. His phone beeps again and he grunts, eyeing Mun’s name now there before he ignores
that too. “I just need to get Taehyung and I’ll be there.”

“Taehyung is in Busan.”

Jeongguk hesitates pulling on his jacket.

“What do you mean - who the fuck -”

His phone beeps again and he rips it away from his ear in aggravation.

Sometimes it isn’t paranoia, he thinks, as Hoseok’s name lights up his screen. He doesn’t hesitate in
answering this time, the sudden fear in his chest making him sound breathless.

“What is it hyung?”

“Get out the house now,” Hoseok yells, panic in his voice. “Get out, Jeongguk!”
Jeongguk’s feet move before he can register what Hoseok’s saying.

“Sad, we caught him shopping for engagement rings,” Chung-Hoon sighs as he slides his hand back
to Taehyung’s throat. This time his grip is tight as he tilts Taehyung’s head back. The door bursts
open then and the hand is suddenly gone.

“Call it off,” Winnie snaps, handing Chung-Hoon a phone. “Now.”

Chung-Hoon pushes the phone away, his grip so tight on Taehyung it’s starting to hurt. Taehyung is
already struggling to breathe, even without the hand holding him down. “Why would I do that,
baby?”

“Papa, please.”

This only makes Chung-Hoon laugh harder. “Did you think I would forgive you for leaving me
Winnie? Do as you say because I love you?”

Chung-Hoon spits at her feet.

“You left me and now you’ll have no family, either. They’ll get picked away just as quickly. Maybe
Bobby next.”

Rage covers Winnie’s eyes as she smacks Chung-Hoon with her phone. It jostles Taehyung from
Chung-Hoon’s lap and the room suddenly fills with people. There are hands on him, helping him
from falling and Jimin’s eyes are wide.

The blade strapped to his ankle digs into his skin but there’s too much chaos to pull it out. Jooheon
and Changkyun are moving Chung-Hoon back, holding him for the fists Winnie throw at him.

“Please call it off.”

“It’s 5:01,” Jimin breathes, hands shaking as he takes Taehyung’s attention away from the fight.
“Tae Tae.”

The pain in Jimin’s voice worsens the pain in Taehyung’s chest. Chung-Hoon baits with words, but
wouldn’t lie about this. If he was lying, they’d have nothing to be afraid of.

“Come on,” Bobby says, blocking them from the guards rushing in to pull Winnie off. He keeps his
arms spread, staying between them and the chaos.

It can’t be, it can’t be. But he knew of the village, that Jeongguk was there. Knew that Ji-hu was
with Yoongi, didn’t seem surprised that Winnie was here.

A wave of panic rushes into Taehyung and he can’t breathe. The only time he’s ever felt this pain
before is when those men came for Woojin. It’s just as intense, his insides being shredded apart by
fear and panic.

“He has to be okay,” Taehyung blurts to no one, the plea loud in his voice. “I need a phone.
Someone give me a phone.”

Bobby is fumbling to give him his as they step out of the interrogation room but it falls from
Taehyung’s hands as he spots Hoseok.

He has his fingers tugging hard in his hair, face straining. His tears well up quickly as he sees
Hoseok’s, the pain etched in his face as he paces around the room with a phone to his ear. He’s
frustrated slamming his fist into the air before dialing the phone again.

“He hung up,” Hoseok huffs. “It’s going straight to voicemail now.”

The horror of the statement sits heavy in the air, everything going still around Taehyung as he
processes the words. He can’t; his mind refuses to accept what Hoseok is implying.

It’s Bobby that shocks Taehyung out of his frozen state, gripping his calf and taking the knife from
where it’s taped to his ankle.

He’s gone in a second, running back into the visiting room and the yelling that follows a second later
has Taehyung clasping his hands over his ears, knees buckling underneath him.

When Jackson had told Jeongguk how fast Ji-hu had ran from their apartment house and Hanbin,
Jeongguk had been proud. It had been difficult to catch him, Jackson had even admitted that Ji-hu
ran faster than him.

Jeongguk had been proud because Ji-hu got that trait from him.

“I think the house - the house is going to blow - just run, Guk!”

His jacket is half off, whipping at his back. He doesn’t keep the phone by his ear but in his fists, arms
pumping as his feet crush into the mushed up snow across the yard.

It isn’t until he’s half down the driveway that he slows, spotting a black SUV with windows so dark
he can’t see through them.

There’s a man behind it and Jeongguk stops as he watches the man throw his arm with all of his
strength at something behind the vehicle.

“Hey!” Jeongguk shouts, running the rest of the driveway. “Hey you have to get out of here!”

The man stumbles back when Jeongguk pushes at him. There’s another man on the ground, head
sagging and eyes closed.

His gut lurches at the sight of blood. Jeongguk is quick to push the man off, though confusion fills
him when the man doesn’t fight back.

“You’re fine,” the first man says, pulling away from Jeongguk to wipe his wrist over his mouth,
showing off his bloodied hand.

It’s disorientating how quickly a grin slides onto his lips.

“Park Yugyeom.”

The man holds his bloodied hand out, glancing at it before he wipes it on his pants. Jeongguk’s heart
is racing as he glances back at the house, fear pounding into him and telling him to keep running.

“Sorry, Mr. Jeon. Park Yugyeom. Your house is going to be fine. No need to run, Naruto.”

When Jeongguk doesn’t take his hand, he turns to the man dying beside them and spits.

“What? What is going on?” Jeongguk asks. He realizes he must have dropped his phone and the
panic isn’t subsiding. He’s afraid to get closer to the house and he yanks his hair, trying not to let it
consume him. “Who the fuck are you?”

Yugyeom frowns at that. He’s in all black, the only color from the gold around his neck and
covering his arms. His demeanor has changed from the way he pummeled the man, his posture more
relaxed and Jeongguk would even call him delicate looking.

“Has Jinyoung not mentioned me?” Yugyeom asks in disappointment. He pulls down his already
low, stretched out collar showing the tattoo over his heart. It’s Jinyoung’s name with a cicada flying
over it.

It clicks then and though Jeongguk feels less distrusting, his panic hasn’t calmed down.

“He - he did. Nonstop, actually. What are you doing here?” Jeongguk asks as he rips around, seeing
that the house is still intact.

“Did you think Jinyoung wasn’t going to have someone on you as well? You’re a Jeon, no?”
Yugyeom asks with a laugh. “And good thing, huh? I found this asshole trying to blow you up.”

Yugyeom finishes speaking with a sharp kick to the man’s face, making Jeongguk flinch at the
sound that follows.

“Shame, I was waiting to see how long it would take you to notice me. You’re not very aware of
your surroundings, Mr. Jeon. But Jinyoung did choose me for you because of my ability at staying
hidden.”

Jeongguk turns away, hands going to his forehead to try and catch his breath. “What the fuck!”

“Will you help me?” Yugyeom asks, still looking a lot calmer than Jeongguk when he throws a hand
towards the man. “Can’t just leave him here, ya know?”

“What?” Jeongguk asks. “I’m not touching him.”

The amusement slips from Yugyeom’s eyes. “I just saved your life, you’re welcome.”

Jeongguk sighs in defeat when Yugyeom reaches down for the man and Jeongguk does help, trying
not to retch as he lifts the man into the back of the SUV.

He fails at keeping it in once the trunk has closed and Yugyeom doesn’t pay him mind as he pulls
out his phone.

“Yug. Yeah he’s with me. Ungrateful, I understand why Jinyoung says he’s a hard headed asshole.
Yeah okay. No I’m well aware of your crush on Mr. Jeon, Jackson-ssi, no need to defend him.”

Jeongguk lifts up, wiping at the spit on his mouth as Yugyeom thrusts the phone towards him. “Who
told you to run?”

“Hoseok.”

Yugyeom hums at that. “Call him.”

There’s a tremor in his hands as he takes Yugyeom’s phone. He doesn’t want him to see but he
doesn’t care at the opportunity to call Hoseok.

The panic in his voice is what had Jeongguk so quick to run and guilt fills him knowing he must be
worried.
“Where’s Taehyung?” Jeongguk grunts as the phone starts to ring. “Jinyoung says he’s in Busan.”

Yugyeom nods as he leans back against the SUV, arms crossed over his chest. “He’s with that guard
of yours and Jimin.”

The phone keeps ringing as Jeongguk wonders why Taehyung just didn’t tell him where he was
going.

Yugyeom clicks his fingers. “Speaking of, is Yoongi hyung another one of your mother’s lost
children? I really can’t keep up with who’s who sometimes. He’s not a Jeon, but we’re protecting
him too, so I’ve assumed he’s one of your long lost bros.”

Hoseok’s phone goes to voicemail. Yugyeom is still talking, seemingly uncaring that his questions
aren’t being answered as Jeongguk dials the phone again, this time calling Taehyung.

If Hoseok is with Taehyung than it isn’t only Hoseok that might be worrying. Jeongguk feels like
he’s being pulled apart in different directions.

It answers in a second. “Hello?”

“Tae -”

He feels his knees weaken at the sound of his voice, the panic inside of him rising when Taehyung’s
voice turns into a sob.

“Jeongguk? Oh fuck, are you okay? Where are you? Jeongguk?”

“I’m fine, catch your breath. What is going on?”

Jeongguk is moving back towards the house the moment Taehyung lets out a sob. He needs to get to
Busan, quickly. Yugyeom lets him go, but remains leaning against his trunk.

Taehyung is hard to understand, his words choked. Jeongguk hears ‘afraid’ enough times to get
angry at whoever caused this.

“I love you so much, Jeongguk. I’m sorry,” Taehyung sobs. “Oh fuck, you’re okay. If you try to
take this phone away from me again, I’m ripping your fucking hands off, Hobi.”

Jeongguk falls to the ground when he finds the phone, his butt sinking into the wet, cold ground.

“I’m okay baby, catch your breath. I’m coming to you now. I’m fine, I love you so much.”

Jeongguk hugs the phone between his ear and shoulder as he takes his own. It’s wet and the screen is
black and he tosses it. Taking the train home will take too long and he needs to be with Taehyung
now. If Yugyeom is keeping tabs on him like he says, maybe he knows how to access his jet.

“I’m so angry at you,” Taehyung huffs and Jeongguk can imagine it, the way he paces around and
spits out his tears the way he had that day at the club. It feels like centuries ago now. “Why did you
make me feel this way? So now I have to worry about you too? If anything happens to you it will
feel like I’ve died myself.”

Jeongguk lifts his leg and buries his smile against his knee. When he laughs, Taehyung cusses at him
and his smile grows even more.

“Taehyung.”
Taehyung stops his rambling, the hitch of his breath loud in the receiver.

“I love you.”

It’s shaky, the sob, and quiet. “You don’t know how much I love you, Jeongguk.”

He does, Jeongguk thinks, because he loves Taehyung just the same.

“Let me talk to Hoseokie.”

Taehyung laughs at this, the sound twisted. “If you think I’m hanging up this phone before you’re
right in front of me, you’re an idiot Jeon.”

The train ends up being Jeongguk’s quickest way home. Taehyung had gone behind his back, with
Hoseok’s help, to get his private jet and it’s currently in Busan instead of Seoul where Jeongguk had
left it. It’s maddening waiting, but Taehyung never hangs up.

He puts the phone on speaker to let Hoseok explain everything and Jeongguk smiles softly when
Hoseok’s breath hitches over his, ‘I love you.’

It is late, late into the night when the train arrives. Yugyeom had remained quiet beside him, no
longer hidden. They had buried the man in the backyard, having to tear away the snow angels and
snowmen just as they had to tear away the peace from this weekend.

“There won’t be threats anymore,” Yugyeom finally says as they pull up in front of Yoongi’s
apartment. “Jinyoung was waiting it out, not wanting to start a war, but you weren’t the only one
who had one of Sungho’s men on you today.”

Jeongguk is eager to get inside but Yugyeom isn’t moving, hands still on the steering wheel.

“Jackson-ssi found someone outside of Ji-hu’s school today, waiting. Jinyoung’s ordered a hit on all
of Sungho’s men. We’ve got an informant still, we finally have all their names. You might see their
death’s on the news the upcoming weeks, but feel assured they won’t get near you again.”

Jeongguk swallows. He’s too tired to react though he isn’t sure how he should anyway. Relieved?
Still afraid? He just needs to be with his family.

“Sungho won’t be a problem again.”

Jeongguk turns at that, looking at the pleased look on Yugyeom’s face. Maybe years of this life has
numbed him to this because Jeongguk doesn’t understand how someone can be so easy going after
this.

“What does that mean?”

Yugyeom claps his hands on the steering wheel. “Bobby killed him today after he realized it was you
he was going after.”

And without another word, he yanks open the door and jumps out of the car.

He feels dead on his feet but he comes alive when they step into Yoongi’s apartment and the first
thing he sees is Taehyung.
Taehyung is out of his seat in a flash, wrapping around Jeongguk before he can move towards him
first. The embrace is tight, so tight Jeongguk feels as if he’s being pulled through a juicer but he
clings back just as hard.

He clings harder when Taehyung starts to shake.

“It’s okay,” Jeongguk says, threading his fingers through the hair of Taehyung’s nape softly. On the
way home, Hoseok and Taehyung had explained the day’s events and Jeongguk wishes to wipe
away every lingering ghost of Chung-Hoon’s touch.

Relief finally fills him as he reminds himself he’s dead and his family is all here, safe.

“It’s okay,” Jeongguk says against Taehyung’s cheek. “Told you we’re safe now.”

Taehyung pulls back and hits Jeongguk weakly in the chest, just placing his fist there with a look of
frustration on his face. It’s quiet around them and everyone seems to be diverting his eyes except for
Yugyeom, who’s watching them with that same grin he’s been wearing since they met.

“Safe! I don’t call that safe, Jeongguk.”

Stepping back is difficult because he doesn’t want to let Taehyung go, but Jeongguk holds out his
arms to show how unharmed he is.

“Still as handsome and perfect as always,” he jokes, but his voice breaks and betrays his attempts at
hiding how bad today’s shaken him.

Taehyung swats at him but there’s a ghost of a smile on his lips. He catches Jeongguk’s hand,
pulling him back. “You’re not allowed to leave my side again.”

“For a minute, he is,” Yoongi says as he steps up and grabs the back of Jeongguk’s neck. “Tell your
boy here to let hyung have you for a minute.”

It makes Jeongguk choke when Yoongi pulls him in and Taehyung refuses to let his hand go.
Everything’s okay but the emotion sits heavy in his chest.

Jeongguk clears his throat, waving his clasped hand towards Yugyeom. “This is Park Yugyeom. He
stopped the guy.”

Yugyeom bows his head. “Yoongi, Jimin, Hoseok, it’s good to see you again.”

“Huh,” Hoseok huffs from where he leans against the opposite wall. “Unbelievable. Never thought
I’d see your face again.”

“We went to college together,” Yugyeom explains, noticing the confusion around them. “Guowang
has been around longer than you’ve thought and we always will be.”

Taehyung squeezes Jeongguk’s hand harder.

“We sure will,” another voice adds and Jackson is padding into the room, Ji-hu following after him.
His hair is pinned back to his head, eyeshadow matted messily over his eyelids. “This monster has
got your back huh, little one?”

Ji-hu bounds over to them, arms out and Taehyung lets go of his hand for Jeongguk to grab him.

“Jimin sunbaenim let me play with his makeup because the grownups had to talk,” Ji-hu exclaims,
grabbing Jeongguk’s cheeks. “Is Jackson monster pretty?”
Jeongguk huffs out a laugh. “He is. Why don’t you go finish? I think he could use more eyeshadow.
But give Appa love first.”

Jackson narrows his eyes at that while Ji-hu plops an enthusiastic kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek, but he
smiles happily when Ji-hu takes his hand again and tugs him out of the room.

“Is it true?” Jeongguk says quietly as Taehyung leads him to where the rest sit around a table, the
food on it untouched and only cups of tea in each’s hand. “About Chung-Hoon?”

Taehyung nods but doesn’t speak. He sits Jeongguk down and immediately starts filling a bowl of
food for him. His hands shake but he glares when Jeongguk tries to insist he isn’t hungry.

Despite the sour feeling in his gut, he accepts the food for the look of relief on Taehyung’s face that
follows.

“Mun’s pissed,” Jimin says, interrupting the quiet as Taehyung slides onto Jeongguk’s lap and takes
his utensil from him. He prods food at Jeongguk’s mouth until his lips part to accept it.

“Because he has to cover it up,” Hoseok grunts. “Too many people saw so it won’t be easy.”

Taehyung’s eyes are intense on him as he cups under Jeongguk’s chin and plops more food into his
mouth. Jeongguk curls an arm around his waist, keeping him close.

“Ji-hu should be in bed.”

“He was upset you missed dinner so I let him stay up,” Taehyung admits quietly. “He could read the
mood, I think. I didn’t want him to have nightmares.”

Jeongguk rubs his hands up Taehyung’s sides. “I’ll go put him to bed now.”

There’s worry in his chest when Taehyung follows after him, not letting much space between their
bodies. But there’s a warmth there too every time Jeongguk looks up at Taehyung and sees his wide
eyes watching him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jeongguk promises, taking Taehyung’s hand halfway through the
hallway towards where Ji-hu does Jackson’s makeup. “I’m safe.”

“I was so scared,” Taehyung admits, pulling into Jeongguk’s side. He traces Jeongguk’s jaw gentle,
his voice quiet so it isn’t heard. “I don’t want to lose you, Jeongguk.”

A soft laugh leaves Jeongguk’s lips as warmth floods through his body and he takes Taehyung’s
hands, holding them to his chest. “I think I’ve made it pretty clear that you wouldn’t lose me, even if
you’ve tried. I’m a hard headed chaebeol, remember?”

Taehyung laughs weakly, pressing his cheek to their clasped hands. “No, I only remember you’re the
love of my life.”

Jeongguk makes a pained noise, arching back like he’s been wounded but it’s from the way his heart
pounds against his sternum. “Don’t say those things,” he fake complains, grinning at Taehyung’s soft
smile. “You know they turn me to mush.”

There’s something adolescent about sneaking kisses in the backseat of a car, which is hidden beneath
a bush wall separating them from Jeongguk’s car and Jun-ki’s house.
It reminds him of being a teen and doing the same thing to his mother. It fits, as the last time
Taehyung felt this carefree was when he was that young.

“You didn’t have to come,” Jeongguk murmurs as he rubs his palms down Taehyung’s spine, arms
curling around his back to stitch their bodies together. Their noses knock as they kiss, their smiles
making their teeth clack against each other.

Taehyung reminds himself not to get hard because they do have to go inside soon, but it’s difficult
with the path of warmth Jeongguk’s hands leave behind and the way his lips feel against his skin. He
tries not to rock up against Jeongguk’s stomach but Jeongguk’s hands slip low and guide him there.

“I told you you aren’t leaving my side,” Taehyung sighs as he grips Jeongguk’s chin and holds him
there.

“And how am I going to work?” Jeongguk laughs as his hands slide beneath Taehyung’s dress shirt.

“Quit.”

Jeongguk laughs against the side of Taehyung’s neck. His teeth graze over his pulse and Taehyung
needs to get off his lap as he nears the danger zone.

“And how can I spoil my sugar baby if I do that?”

Taehyung grips Jeongguk’s chin harder. “I thought you were now a boyfriend trying to propose?”

Joking, he attempts to pull back but Jeongguk follows with hands gripping tight at his hips until
Taehyung’s back is hitting the seat in front of them.

“Shush.”

“Make me,” Taehyung says against his mouth. The urge to untie Jeongguk’s tie is strong, but he
already looks a wreck and Ji-hu should be arriving any minute. “And don’t threaten that you will,
you never keep your word.”

Jeongguk grins lazily, mouth parting but Taehyung dodges his kiss.

“You can’t be rough, you’re too mushy.”

Jeongguk grunts something unintelligible as he bites at Taehyung’s throat. Turning his head,
Taehyung freezes at the sight of Ji-hu standing outside the car.

So wrapped up in Jeongguk, Taehyung hadn’t noticed Jackson’s car pull up behind them.
Thankfully the windows are tinted, but not enough.

He pushes Jeongguk back as Ji-hu’s face forms into a frown and his hands fly to his hips in a stance
that reminds Taehyung of how his mother looked when she caught him like this.

“Ji-hu,” Taehyung explains as he quickly climbs from Jeongguk.

The laugh Jeongguk lets out is a deep belly laugh, forcing a smile onto Taehyung’s face.

Jackson looks amused as they step out of the car and try to discreetly fix themselves. He cups the
back of Ji-hu’s head as Ji-hu huffs in complaint.

“Why do adults kiss so much!” Ji-hu whines. “I want to go inside.”

Jeongguk scoops Ji-hu into his arms and plasters kisses all over his son’s face until Ji-hu’s whines
turn into giggles.

There have been nerves clinging to Jeongguk all day and Taehyung is glad that they seem to be
gone, even though he knows they’ll return the moment he goes inside.

He takes Jeongguk’s hand as they walk up to the house, silently telling him he’s there.

“Is Jackson-ssi your new nanny?” Taehyung hums in amusement as they enter and Jackson helps Ji-
hu from his shoes. “Am I out of a job?”

Jeongguk laughs, still clutching onto Taehyung’s hand as he takes off his own shoes. “When we
marry, you’d be a lot more than a nanny, Taehyung.”

The realization makes Taehyung’s heart tighten in his chest. Jeongguk just smiles softly at him before
he bends down and takes off Taehyung’s shoes. He hasn’t even proposed but he talks about it so
easily like he already knows he’s going to marry Taehyung, anyway.

And he is, but Taehyung likes to pretend he is undecided because when Jeongguk pouts, Taehyung
feels a warmth that settles the ache in his chest.

The house is relatively quiet as Jeongguk tells Ji-hu to be quiet, sneaky. It’s a surprise after all, one
that Jeongguk had paced around well into the early morning hours trying to convince himself not
back out of.

“They’re in the dining hall,” Jinju greets as she enters the entrance hall. “I’m proud of you,
Jeongguk-ssi. This means a lot to your father.”

Jeongguk bows his head with a nervous smile.

The chatter can be heard as they make their way to the dining hall and Jeongguk’s body grows tense.
Taehyung glances worriedly at Ji-hu when he hears the tense tone of Jun-ki’s voice. Maybe they
should have called ahead.

“I don’t understand why you would do something like this! A bad man or not, it’s another life. Your
mother -”

“Told me to always protect Jeongguk,” Bobby’s voice follows, harsh sounding and they both freeze.
“I thought Uncle Sungho - I thought he did as he was threatening to and I wasn’t going to let him
live with a second of satisfaction over it.”

Taehyung tugs Jeongguk a bit forward, needing to interrupt the silence before Ji-hu hears too much.
There’s quiet for a moment when Jeongguk finally gives in and moves, his expression unreadable.

“Appa!” Jeongguk calls before stepping into the dining room.

It isn’t just Bobby and Jun-ki, but a woman too. Taehyung recognizes her immediately and he feels
himself shrink into Jeongguk’s side.

She’s a face associated with too many bad memories; the first few weeks of being beneath Chung-
Hoon. She had always been kind and he knows now she isn’t a threat, but the conditioned fear inside
of him spikes.

Jeongguk is frozen still, even as Ji-hu rushes forward towards where Bobby sits at the head of the
table. Ji-hu lets out an overwhelmed cry of happiness, the tears quickly starting to fall as he hugs his
uncle.

Concern worries it’s way through Taehyung as Jeongguk exhales sharply, his body starting to
tremble as he stares at Winnie.

“Jeongguk,” Jun-ki greets, surprise on his face. Bobby looks hesitant but smiles largely as Ji-hu grabs
his cheeks and forces his attention on him.

It’s supposed to be a step towards peace and healing, allowing Bobby to see Ji-hu again. Taehyung
knows the anger and hurt is still inside of Jeongguk, but he also knows part of Jeongguk wants to
forgive Bobby for his mother. He had came up with this on his own, though at first he was going to
make someone else bring Ji-hu here.

“Jeongguk,” Winnie says when Jeongguk doesn’t respond. She stands hesitantly and it’s tense
despite Ji-hu excited chatter filling the room. “I’m Jiwon. Winnie.”

Jeongguk still doesn’t respond and he’s unblinking when she approaches.

“I’m happy to finally meet you. Properly this time,” Winnie says as she holds her hands out and
Jeongguk’s tightens painfully around Taehyung’s.

“I didn’t realize how much you looked like her,” Jeongguk breathes, the words so quiet that even
Taehyung can barely hear them where he’s pressed to her side. “How much you look like my
mother.”

Winnie smiles softly, taking both Jeongguk and Taehyung’s clasped hands like she knows Jeongguk
isn’t willing to let go.

“I mean, um - our -”

“I know what you mean,” Winnie says as she smiles and Jeongguk’s breath hitches again. “I lived a
long time beside Bobby before he realized who I was.”

Jeongguk clears his throat, straightening like he remembered why he came. “It’s nice to meet you,
Winnie. I am um, sorry to interrupt. I heard Bobby was in town and I thought he’d like to see Ji-hu.”

Not once does Jeongguk look to Bobby, but Bobby looks to Jeongguk with a shocked expression on
his face.

It feels strange; like everything Taehyung’s past sense doesn’t make sense now while compared to
his current life. Past Taehyung was the one bruised and battered at Bobby’s table, looking for Jimin
to care for him and shy that he interrupted and would be punished for it. Now it’s Bobby who looks
apologetic and battered, shrinking into himself under Jeongguk and him.

“I missed you so much, Uncle Bobby,” Ji-hu says as he forces himself onto Bobby’s lap. “Appa says
you don’t feel well. Are you okay?”

There’s a soft smile on Bobby’s lap that Taehyung has never seen before, not even directed at Jimin,
as he nods. “Much better now, bun.”

There’s a soft sob that breaks the tension in the room and Taehyung’s body tightens as he takes in
the old man. His eyes are red rimmed and swollen as he presses his shaking fingers to them.

Jeongguk finally lets go of Taehyung’s hands to rush over to his father. He kneels before him, taking
his shaking hand.
“Appa, are you okay?”

Jun-ki nods but he doesn’t say anything as he presses his trembling lips together. The tears build as
Jun-ki seems to try to catch his breath.

“Your mother,” Jun-ki croaks, pressing his lips back together as he places Jeongguk’s hand into his
lap. “You don’t know how much - how much your mother wanted this. The three of you together.”

Pressure builds in Taehyung’s chest and throat as he backs up some, giving them their moment of
privacy but staying close for Jeongguk.

Jeongguk bows his head in his father’s lap, forehead pressing to their clasped hands. Winnie wipes at
her eyes and Bobby buries his face against the back of Ji-hu’s head.

“I wish she were here to see it.”

The silence that follows is interrupted by a hiccup sob from Ji-hu, who suddenly has fat tears
building in his eyes again. The fall quickly, his breath hitching and hiccuping.

“What’s wrong?” Jeongguk says as he lifts his head.

“I don’t know!” Ji-hu cries. “Grandpa is crying!”

“Happy tears,” Jeongguk says as he stands and Taehyung sees the red in his eyes. Ji-hu curls into
Bobby instead of going to Jeongguk and Jeongguk hesitates, looking strangely at Bobby who can’t
meet his eyes.

Jun-ki clears his throat, wiping his eyes. Those eyes find Taehyung and he frowns, fingers curling to
beckon him forward.

“Why are you hiding in the shadows?” Jun-ki laughs, trying to force away the sadness. “I’ve heard
my son is taking his sweet time in marrying you, but you are already family. Come in here son in
law.”

The smile on Jeongguk’s face is what beckons Taehyung forward. It’s blinding, though shy when he
glances towards his father.

“Come, sit, eat,” Jun-ki orders, waving his hands. “Give me an hour with my family.”

There’s a hand on Taehyung’s back as Jeongguk guides him forward. The table is big enough that
Taehyung can sit without being next to anyone, but he sits beside Jun-ki as Jeongguk seems to want
to sit as far from Bobby as possible.

It’s progress just being here. Taehyung has been trying hard to focus on the small things of progress
they’ve both been making because he knows it may be awhile until they’re both healed.

Jun-ki takes Taehyung’s hand, squeezing it with the little strength in his arm.

“Thank you for making my son look so happy,” Jun-ki murmurs and there’s still tears in his eyes.

“You’re welcome, Mr. Jeon.”

Jun-ki laughs loudly. “Please, call me Abeoji.”

Taehyung nods, his throat too tight to respond. When he turns to look at Jeongguk, Jeongguk is
already looking at him with the most intense look in his eyes.
 Jeongguk’s hand slips beneath the table, squeezing Taehyung’s thigh.

“They’re gonna get married,” Ji-hu exclaims, explaining to Bobby. “But Appa is taking forever .”

“Enough,” Jeongguk laughs, flushing. “Can we talk about something other than my love life?”

Jun-ki hums. “We can discuss why you both look -”

He waves a hand towards them before pressing his neck and Taehyung quickly cups his own,
remembering the way Jeongguk’s teeth had gripped at his skin in the car.

The dining hall erupts in laughter and it feels like healing.

It feels like progress when he sees the amusement on Jeongguk’s face and the smile on his lips.

It feels a lot like the love Taehyung never wanted when Jeongguk looks to him and his smile softens
to something just for him.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jeongguk murmurs quietly when the conversation turns and
the eyes are no longer on them.

Taehyung leans into Jeongguk’s space, hooking his chin to his shoulder. His life may feel different in
a thousand ways, but Taehyung thinks he’s finally accepted that he’s allowed to have it.

“I heard you were looking for a husband.”

Jeongguk glances at his father to make sure he isn’t listening because his cheeks turn bright red and
he bites at side of his lip, hiding his grin.

“Perhaps.”

Taehyung smirks, cracking an eyebrow as he searches for Jeongguk’s hand under the table. “Well, I
hope you find one.”

Jeongguk groans, catching his father’s attention as he squeezes Taehyung’s hand. “You’re lucky I’m
fond of you, Kim Taehyung.”

Softening, Taehyung nods and looks back to his food. “I’m lucky you are too.”

It was true, Taehyung didn't need a hero but Jeongguk had a helping hand in saving him anyway.

Chapter End Notes

I know, I know you're probably thinking why more stress lol, but I just wanted to show
they're safe. I really would like to hear about your thoughts on this fic, and these
updates!

Well! Let me get emotional for a second. It's been almost a year since I first started
writing this and listen, half of this wasn't planned. Nor was it supposed to be this
suspenseful or this long. But I truly enjoyed writing it and sharing it. I want to say thank
you to every person, whether you've been here from the start or somewhere in the
middle or are reading this long after I've posted it, that the support and the feedback has
meant the world to me. I've written like a 400k fic but yet struggle to find the words to
express my gratitude. Just know that I love you so much and thank you so sosososososo
much. This was difficult at times, I cried a lot writing this last chapter and other parts of
the fic. So seeing your kind messages has always relieved my worries.

I have future fics I'm already working on, if you'd like to keep up with me and my
writing please follow me on twitter @taehcheeks where I post previews, ways to request
fics, and polls for future fics. You can also find me on tumblr, @taecheeks and
curiouscat
 Epilogue
Chapter Notes

I blame Maya for this being two chapters long and I blame the fact that I've been binge
watching kdramas that end in this and end in me sobbing from soft. This is on the
shorter side, but I hope it makes you smile as much it did while I wrote it.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Taehyung wakes to the sound of laughter. It’s wild cackles that have Taehyung smiling as he buries
his head into the pillow.

Jeongguk’s voice follows, quieter, but Taehyung can still hear the way he warns the kids not to wake
him.

He takes his lazy time getting out of bed, the rumble in his stomach finally forcing him to. He
searches sleepily for his underwear and scratches his fingers through his hair, probably making it
messier.

Once dressed, Taehyung pulls himself from the bedroom and towards the sounds of giggling. He
warms at the sight he finds, the three kids sat around the table and Jeongguk rushing around the
kitchen. He watches them for a few minutes, smiling at it all.

Woojin speaking, Eunae laughing. Ji-hu accepting the food Woojin dumps into his plate. Jeongguk’s
scrunched brows and the way he cusses at something burning on the stove.

Jeongguk whips around, cheeks bright red when Taehyung clears his throat.

“You’re awake,” Jeongguk says as the kids cheer out a unified, ‘Happy Taehyungie Day!’

Taehyung frowns at that, moving in the kitchen to kiss Jeongguk good morning. “Taehyungie Day?”

The red on Jeongguk’s cheeks slip down to his throat. “Uh, yeah. A day just for you.”

Jeongguk turns, waving dramatically to present the box of frozen toaster waffles waiting on the
counter. “I made a promise and I intend to keep it.”

Taehyungie chuckles, kissing Jeongguk again because he can.

The kids cry in complaint but Jeongguk shushes them as he guides Taehyung to sit at the table with
them. They’re all fully dressed while Jeongguk and he are both still in pajamas, Jeongguk in a white
shirt and crumpled gray sweatpants.

“Jin hyung is coming to pick them up,” Jeongguk explains as he hurries back to the toaster waffles.
“Until later. I have something to show you.”

Taehyung perks up at that, turning in his seat to watch Jeongguk. “What is it?”

“A surprise silly,” Ji-hu explains.

“A surprise?” Taehyung asks. “But it isn’t my birthday.”

Ji-hu is wiggling in his seat, too excited before he leans to Woojin and cups his ear to whisper in it.

“Can I tell him hyung?” Ji-hu whispers loudly.

“No!” Woojin grunts, but he looks fond as he pushes Ji-hu away.

“Jeongguk-ssi gave us money not to tell you,” Eunae explains with a smug look on her face. “Lots of
money.”

“Shh,” Jeongguk gasps, betrayal in his eyes.

It has been a hard couple of months as Taehyung wanted Jeongguk close to him but he’s had to
return to Busan for work and for Ji-hu’s schooling. But it’s been safe, happy.

It’s hard to believe sometimes. The nightmares still reach them both and it’s harder when Taehyung
wakes to an empty bed, but they’re becoming less and he’s no longer hesitant to call Jeongguk when
they happen.

The summer is closing in and Taehyung is dreading taking Ji-hu to the airport. He’s dreading the
worry that will grip at Jeongguk because he’s agreed to send Ji-hu to California to meet his baby
sister. As joyful as the news had been, it came paired with the dread that Grace must have a boy.

It’s ridiculous, truly, but she had been smiling when Ji-hu video called her the day after the baby was
born.

“I’ll give you money to tell me,” Taehyung says with a grin.

Eunae peers at him. “Okay. Whoever gives me the most money wins.”

There’s an outcry of protest from that, both from Jeongguk and Woojin but Eunae is giggling as
Taehyung pads off to steal Jeongguk’s wallet.

She accepts the won with a big smile, pocketing and zipping her lips shut.

“You were raised by Jin,” Taehyung says as he sinks into his seat. “The devil’s spawn.”

Eunae giggles again, kicking at him from under the seat as Jeongguk places a stack of toasted waffles
in front of him. There’s a kiss to his temple and a warm hand over his nape accompanied with it.

“Tell me,” Taehyung murmurs, glancing at Jeongguk waits for him to take a bite.

“No,” Jeongguk replies, tickling his chin. “Eat up baby, I worked hard on those.”

It’s nice and Taehyung is almost sad when Jin and Namjoon arrive to pick up the kids. This weekend
had been their first in their new home together and though Taehyung had missed Jin there, he's
happy for him.

He’s happy Jin gets to start living the life he wants and not the one that Taehyung thrusted upon him.

“We’ll be back in time,” Jin says as he helps Woojin in his shoes. “I want tears, Jeongguk. Fat ugly
ones.”

Jeongguk just smiles at that, crossing his arms. “I’m sure once he looks at your face, there will be.”
It’s nice, the way Jin and Jeongguk bicker and laugh at each other. Taehyung doesn’t believe in
destiny like Jeongguk does, but he wonders if there’s someone out there looking after him, making it
so his hyung and Jeongguk get on so well.

“You’re not my boss yet, Guk. I don’t start back at Jeon Tobacco until next month, so watch
yourself.”

The smile on Jeongguk’s face is fond as he claps a hand to Jin’s shoulder. “I can’t wait to have you
back.”

The redevelopment in Seoul is taking longer than anticipated but Jeongguk’s been just as antsy as
Taehyung about being apart. He hasn’t told Taehyung, but Taehyung’s snooped enough to know
he’s been looking for a home closer to him, that he’s enrolled Ji-hu in the same school as Woojin and
Eunae.

It’s an elite school, costing more money than Taehyung ever thought he’d be able to afford to send
his kids to. But Jeongguk had done so without hesitation, using some excuse that the three of them
needed to be close to one another.

“You should. I’m surprised the company is still standing since I’ve been gone.”

Jeongguk shoves Jin back towards the door. “Get out. I have a man to love.”

Jin looks offended, eyes wide as he clasps his hands over Woojin’s ears. “Jeongguk, the children.”

Namjoon snorts, taking Ji-hu’s hands. “He might not be your boss, but he’s still mine so careful,
hyung.”

“We’re partners,” Jeongguk corrects before he kisses Ji-hu on the cheek. “But still keep it in check.”

Ji-hu comes to Taehyung next, reaching for him and pulling him down to his eye level. “I love you,
Tae Tae. Have a good Taehyungie day.”

He holds out his finger for Taehyung to wrap his own around it, twisting their hands until their
thumbs press together. “I will.”

“Will Jackson monster be with me today?”

Taehyung sighs, crouching down. Even Ji-hu sometimes gets scared, too upset to leave either of their
side. Sometimes Woojin does too and Eunae’s somehow adopted the role of taking care of both of
them.

But they’re all healing.

“He’s always with you, you know,” Taehyung promises. “He keeps you safe, right?”

Ji-hu nods and fingers the cicada around his neck like a habit. “Who’s your monster? Dowoon-ssi?”

“Your Appa,” Taehyung replies when he catches Jeongguk’s eyes, saying it loud enough for
Jeongguk to hear.

The kids are barely out of the door when Jeongguk’s pressing him into it, a glare in his eyes that’s
too soft to be serious as he insists he’s not a monster.

“Mm, you are,” Taehyung laughs as Jeongguk’s lips scrape over his cheek. “Now explain to me,
Taehyungie Day.”
Jeongguk pulls away, mirth in his eyes. “I wasn’t planning on talking much. With the kids this
weekend, it’s been a long time and we have plans in a few hours.”

Taehyung follows after him like they’re a string connecting them. There’s that swoop of arousal in
his belly, coming so easily just from the implication.

“What was your plan then?”

“Do you remember?” Jeongguk starts, taking Taehyung’s hand and tugging him towards the
hallway. “Our conversation in New York?”

“No,” Taehyung says. “I don’t remember a lot of talking.”

Jeongguk wrinkles his nose at that. “You told me things that made you happy.”

Taehyung’s heart swoops this time, wondering how Jeongguk would remember something from
what feels like ages ago.

“And today I want it to be filled with things that make you happy.”

It’s just a random Sunday, not even close to a holiday or his birthday. There’s no anniversary that he
can think of and he frowns at Jeongguk’s bright smile.

“I’m hurt you don’t remember what today is,” Jeongguk says as he pushes the bathroom door open.
“I guess you’ll just have to guess.”

Taehyung pouts at this but it doesn’t last long when Jeongguk kisses him and glides his arms down
Taehyung’s forearms. He only pulls away to turn on the bath and pour bubbles in, returning to
Taehyung to strip him slowly.

“You said you liked baths,” Jeongguk murmurs as he strips off his own shirt. “Well, with Jimin
hyung but I was hoping you’d like them with me too.”

Taehyung’s warm as he swats Jeongguk’s hands to take care of his sweatpants himself. “I’d prefer
Jimin-ah, but I guess you’re okay.”

There’s a goofy grin on Jeongguk’s mouth before they kiss and it’s nice.

It’s nice and Taehyung can no longer remember why it was so hard to admit that he was in love with
Jeon Jeongguk before.

The water is hot when Taehyung slips into it and Jeongguk is quick to slip beside him. He never
imagined having a tub that could comfortably fit one person let alone two, and he lets him savor it as
he sinks in until the bubbles touch his chin.

“Tell me what today is.”

Jeongguk’s hands slide over Taehyung’s torso, his thighs pressed around his hips. There’s a path of
tingles left behind from his touch and the butterflies grow as Jeongguk’s hands slip over his body,
looking for his own.

“No. Let me wash your hair.”

Taehyung flexes his fingers between Jeongguk’s squeezing tight and not letting go. “Tell me.”

Jeongguk is stronger than him, tugging their hands easily up and out of the water to pull Taehyung
up and into his arms. He kisses at the back of his neck, nuzzling there until Taehyung tilts his head to
the side.

A shaky breath leaves his lips as Jeongguk sucks hard enough to bruise. He slips his fingers from
Jeongguk, reaching behind him to grip at Jeongguk’s hair and keep him there.

Technically he’s still in hiding, pretending to be locked away, but after Guowang assured them that
they had offed all of Chung-Hoon’s men, he started looking for jobs. Jeongguk was uncomfortable
with the idea, worried and scared, but they compromised with Taehyung finishing school at home
and working part time if Guowang could assign him a second guard.

It’s meant he has to swat Jeongguk away when he bites at his throat, but today he lets him do as he
pleases.

Taehyung moans as the feeling grows between his legs, Jeongguk’s mouth working over his neck
and his free hand cupping the front of it to keep him still. He doesn’t stop until Taehyung’s distracted
enough to loosen the grip on his fingers.

Jeongguk pulls his hand and mouth away at the same time, leaving Taehyung hard and panting to
reach for the shampoo.

“Unfair,” Taehyung breathes, but he sits up and lets Jeongguk soak his hair with water. “Please tell
me.”

There’s kisses pressed to the top of his spine as water cascades down his neck and shoulder. He
doesn’t think they’ll make it to far into the washing if Jeongguk keeps it up, but Taehyung doesn’t
care either way.

Lips snag on his ear and Taehyung moans, attempting to twist around but Jeongguk is strong.

Despite the need to be touched, it’s nice when Jeongguk massages the soap into his hair. He hums,
slumping as Jeongguk slips his fingers down his neck and back to relieve the muscles there.

When Jeongguk rubs the conditioner through the strands of his hair, his lips find his neck again and
Taehyung melts back against him.

The water is cool but Taehyung burns hot as Jeongguk’s hands slip down his torso. Sweat builds at
his neck as he grabs for Jeongguk’s cheek, twisting enough to press a kiss to Jeongguk’s lips.

It’s sweltering when Jeongguk wraps a hand around him and it’s maddening how slow he goes. He
isn’t as hesitant about taking and he doesn’t interrupt as often about making sure Taehyung is okay
because Taehyung has been working on being more open about when he’s not.

The problem is Jeongguk truly could touch him anyway he wanted because he does it so tenderly
that Taehyung’s never wanted to protest before. He knows when Taehyung isn’t in the mood, even
if Taehyung insists that he is.

Jeongguk’s cock presses into his back as Taehyung moans, thighs tensing in time with every stroke
of Jeongguk’s fist. He tries to focus on the movement of their mouths, the water sloshing as
Taehyung rolls his hips to meet every stroke.

When the pleasure builds, he grips hard at Jeongguk’s neck, keeping him close and using him for
support as his weight sinks down onto him.

“A year ago today,” Jeongguk breathes, voice hitching as Taehyung starts to tremble. His eyes are
blown out and dark, his chest heaving and he isn’t even the one being touched. “A year ago today I
went out with my hyung to some shotty club downtown Busan.”

Taehyung’s eyes fall closed as Jeongguk rubs his thumb over the head of his cock, collecting the
precise that washes away with the water. He bites hard at his bottom lip, trying to muffle his moans
because Jeongguk talks quietly.

“We went out to bag some bitches.”

Taehyung’s laugh breaks off as Jeongguk reaches low, cupping his balls and thumbing over them.
He gasps when Taehyung grabs his cheek, fingers digging in like his body’s naturally begging for a
kiss.

Jeongguk supplies, stopping his story to suck on Taehyung’s bottom lip before he’s pulling away.

“Guk,” Taehyung pleads, rocking up when Jeongguk slowly rubs his palm down his length. “Please,
your dirty talk sucks.”

Jeongguk hums, cheeks burning beneath Taehyung’s palm. It isn’t obvious he’s moving but
Taehyung can feel it, feel the way he gently grinds against Taehyung’s back.

“Do you remember that night?”

Taehyung smiles, pulling from Jeongguk despite the throbbing between his legs that begs for release.
More water sloshes to the ground as Taehyung climbs onto Jeongguk’s lap, one arm curling around
his shoulders and the other gripping gently over his neck to tilt his head back.

Maybe Taehyung doesn’t remember the exact date, but he remembers that night. He remembers the
want to be free and the way Jeongguk looked sitting on the couch and under the neon lights.

He doesn’t remember exactly what was said but he remembers not wanting to leave and hating that
he had to.

Taehyung rocks down as he kisses Jeongguk, Jeongguk’s hands gripping at his hips. He doesn’t
answer out loud but he knows Jeongguk knows by his silence, his giving into letting Taehyung have
his way.

He’s thankful that Jeongguk is stubborn. He always believed Jeongguk always makes it go
Taehyung’s way, but if it had Taehyung would had ran off too long ago.

It becomes difficult to kiss as Taehyung nears climax, his hand tightening and flexing over
Jeongguk’s throat as his hips stutter where they rub over Jeongguk’s. He lets go when Jeongguk
grabs his nape, fingering into Jeongguk’s hair instead and letting his face crumple into Jeongguk’s
neck as the ball of pleasure in his abdomen lets loose.

“I remember,” Taehyung breathes, nudging their noses together as he rubs off against Jeongguk.
Jeongguk’s nails bite down hard into the flesh of his hips, dragging Taehyung against him.

He kisses Jeongguk over the marks left behind on his neck as Jeongguk comes, hands rubbing
soothingly over his shoulders. Jeongguk sits abruptly, hips rocking up against Taehyung and
Taehyung wishes they had enough time for more, his body already aching for it when Jeongguk
thrusts up against his ass to milk out his orgasm.

“I don’t bathe with Jimin-ah like this,” Taehyung jokes as Jeongguk exhales sharply, body still
trembling from post orgasm. He’s determined though, grabbing for the soap despite his shaking
fingers.

“Good,” Jeongguk huffs, bringing the soap to Taehyung’s back and holding him close.

“The waters gross now,” Taehyung says, flushing, but Jeongguk only responds with a hum.

The pampering doesn’t end as Jeongguk pulls Taehyung from the tub and insists on patting him dry
and applying lotion to his damp skin. It feels childish when Jeongguk even insists on dressing him,
though he truly doesn’t mind the attention.

And he doesn’t mind when Jeongguk gets distracted with his thighs and between his legs as he pulls
the soft cotton fabric of his panties up, wasting more time they don’t have.

But Jeongguk doesn’t seem to be in a rush as he applies Taehyung’s makeup (something he’s
improved greatly in) and dresses him in a thin, satiny shirt that dips low and pants that are so tight
that Taehyung swats at Jeongguk’s chest when he struggles to pull them over the swell of his ass.

And he really doesn’t mind it when Jeongguk smudges the gloss on his mouth with kisses and
whispers of how beautiful he is.

“Tell me where we’re going at least?” Taehyung pleads as he takes over straightening Jeongguk’s
tie. Jeongguk might be set out to take care of him but Taehyung has been trying to show Jeongguk
the same amount of care.

It’s hard, sometimes, because Taehyung has never met anyone who takes care of others quite the
way Jeongguk does.

“You’ll see.”

Taehyung’s curiosity is peaked when they get into Jeongguk’s private jet, wondering where
Jeongguk could possibly take him. He doesn’t remember mentioning any place that he wanted to go,
but when they arrive, Taehyung should have known.

Panda Express. Taehyung laughs in delight as Jeongguk guides him inside, the same one they visited
that first night.

“I’m paying,” Taehyung says as he grabs Jeongguk’s hand, tugging him inside. “I owe you, Mr.
Jeon.”

Jeongguk’s mouth parts quickly for rebuttal, but Taehyung is quick to thrust a finger against his
mouth to quiet him. “I owe you a lot.”

There’s gentle fingers curling around Jeongguk’s wrist. “You don’t owe me a thing, love.”

It seems like forever ago that Jeongguk had drawn up that contract, promising to never ask for the
money he used to pay off his debt back. They had fought when Jeongguk got it back from Bobby,
who never used it like he claimed.

Jeongguk is hard headed because Taehyung lost that fight and all of the money Bobby gave back to
him ended up in an account for Woojin and Eunae.

“Let me do this,” Taehyung murmurs, uncaring about public affection as he pulls into Jeongguk’s
space. “You’re my baby too, after all.”
The red in Jeongguk’s face is enough to let Taehyung knows he won. He rushes up to the counter,
ordering enough food to feed them for the week before whipping out his own debit card with pride.

The one Jeongguk had given him is still stuck inside his wallet, a back up card just in case.
Taehyung’s been insistent on using his own money from his part time job, from the money that
Mun’s given him, but Jeongguk too often deposits money into his account.

“Thank you,” Jeongguk murmurs, curling around Taehyung’s back.

“Thank my father,” Taehyung hums as he slides the card away and turns to press a kiss to
Jeongguk’s cheek.

“Has he reached out to you?”

Taehyung shakes his head, his belly starting to rumble despite his big breakfast. “No, and I’m taking
my time deciding if I want to.”

Jeongguk hums, wrapping his arms around Taehyung’s chest. “That’s fair. But today is about you
and only happy things.”

Taehyung turns, peering at his boyfriend. “Tell me what today is about.”

In a second, Jeongguk is pulling away, suddenly entranced by the process of the food being placed
in to go dishes.

It’s apparent Jeongguk recreating the night they first met as he drags Taehyung off to each
destination they stopped in on his quest to complete his bucket list, even finding the same ice cream
place they had gone to. They end up in that same park Taehyung realized he wanted Jeongguk more
than he thought, making out against the same tree until the want in the pit of Taehyung’s belly has
his public affection threatening to become public indecency.

Sneaking home takes longer, and requires Jeongguk’s private jet rather than his car. It’s better this
way though, less noise to travel and more room for Jeongguk to take Taehyung the way he’s been
craving since this morning. The perks of a private jet with privacy doors, Taehyung thinks in elation.

He feels fucked out and relaxed, beyond bliss enough to fall asleep before they land.

He wakes to soft touches and kisses, Jeongguk adjusting his hair and fixing his smudged make up.

“One more surprise.”

As before, Jeongguk doesn’t explain but Taehyung doesn’t mind as let’s Jeongguk take him
wherever. The mention of home has him expecting it to be that, but Taehyung doesn’t recognize the
area nor the massive house Jeongguk stops in front of.

Taehyung glances out his window as the lights of the house shine through the darkening night sky.
He eyes over Jin’s truck in the driveway before turning to Jeongguk, finding him staring at him
instead.

“I don’t like being away from you.”

Taehyung softens at the confession, smiling at how shy Jeongguk seems even though it’s always so
easy for him to be open about his feelings.

“I hate it too.”
It isn’t as easy for Taehyung to be open, but he’s been trying.

Jeongguk inhales deeply, taking Taehyung’s hands.

“Move in with me again.”

Taehyung laughs, heart fluttering. It feels safe enough to do so, but it hasn’t been that long and if it
were safe, he’d already be back in Jeongguk’s penthouse with the second half of his family.

“I’d love to.”

“Here,” Jeongguk says, eyes gleaming. “This house.”

Turning back to look at it, Taehyung knows his mouth is hanging open.

“What?”

Jeongguk grins, pulling Taehyung’s hand up to kiss it. “I finalized everything. I had movers bring
everything down this week.”

Taehyung has to bite at his grin to keep his smile from breaking through. He likes to play hard to get,
make Jeongguk pout, make Jeongguk rough, but sometimes it’s hard.

“The school is close by. The company will only be a short distance away. Jin hyung’s house even
closer. I thought you’d like a house to start fresh in, one without bad memories.”

Taehyung is head over heels in love with Jeongguk.

“What about your father?”

Another kiss to his knuckles. “It's only a few hours away. He has Jinju-ssi, Bobby.”

They have lived together before but it feels overwhelming, like a big step. Taehyung finds himself
nodding anyway.

It’s a big step because it isn’t just him, but Eunae and Woojin too. Jeongguk doesn’t seem hesitant in
including them. He never has. His ability to refer to them all as his family so easily makes Taehyung
feel like the mush he always claims Jeongguk to be.

“Woojin wanted his own room but I put an extra bed in Ji-hu’s and ours just in -”

Taehyung is kissing Jeongguk before he can finish. It’s mixed with laughter and smiles and
Jeongguk struggles to pull away.

“Is that a yes?” Jeongguk huffs as Taehyung grabs his tie and pulls him over the console.

“Yeah, of course, Mr. Jeon.”

A lazy grin covers Jeongguk’s face as he cups Taehyung’s cheeks and presses a single, gentle kiss to
his lips.

“Come on, we have one more thing.”

“You said one more thing the last time,” Taehyung whines, his nerves hitting him suddenly as he
steps out of the car.
It’s in the back of his mind what this night is for, he’s been waiting for the day Jeongguk asked. He
hadn’t expected to wait so long since it’s something Jeongguk used to nag about, but it’s Jeongguk -
who will overdue it to make sure Taehyung is comfortable.

The door opens before they get to it and Taehyung smiles as Ji-hu appears. He’s wearing a little
tuxedo, bow tie and all, hair gelled and neat on his head. He bows, deeply, almost tumbling when
they reach the top step.

“Welcome sirs,” Ji-hu says, his face red when he straightens. “If you’d please take off your shoes
and um coats.”

Jeongguk is smiling so big it looks like it hurts and his eyes scream pride and adoration for his son.

“Oh my, Mr. Tae Tae, you look dashing,” Ji-hu compliments as he takes Taehyung’s coat from him.

Jeongguk snorts as Taehyung laughs, bending over to cup Ji-hu’s cheeks to kiss his forehead.

“Tell me the surprise now, kid,” Taehyung teases.

Ji-hu shakes his head, adamant. “Nope. Apps says this is very important. He said I could name the
dog if I didn’t tell you.”

Taehyung stills. “What dog?”

Ji-hu calls for Eunae and a second later she appears, a furball in her arms. She too is dressed up,
wearing a dark purple dress and white stockings, her hair curled with a flower crown draped across
her skull.

“I really like Jeongguk-ssi, you never let us get a dog,” Eunae says as she hands the tiny black and
brown dog to him. It yips playfully, licking Taehyung’s chin.

“It was on your list of things that make you happy,” Jeongguk explains before he extends an arm out.
“I have to get something but why don’t you go with the kids to the parlor.”

The parlor Taehyung thinks as Jeongguk grins at him. The dog continues to squirm but he’s cute
and soft and just wants kisses.

The dog reminds him of Jeongguk, Taehyung thinks amusedly as Taehyung follows after the little
ones.

The first thing Taehyung sees is the old tattered couch from his old apartment. It’s an eyesore
amongst the expensive, sparkling decor but Taehyung loves it.

The second is the fireplace, sending a dance of light across the room and glinting off the crystal
chandelier. There are photographs already propped on the shelf above it and he has an urge to look
over and see them, but the music starts to play.

Taehyung doesn’t notice the piano until he turns to search for it. He hides a smile in the dog’s neck at
the back of Yoongi’s head and Jimin, who sits facing him beside him.

It is evident what this is and just the thought has Taehyung breathing shakily into the soft fur.

There’s tears in his eyes before Woojin steps out. He wiggles his fingers in a wave, fidgeting his feet
nervously over the ground. There’s a piece of paper in his hands he holds up in front of him and
Taehyung remembers.
Tell me things that make you happy then.

Listening to my brother talk and Eunae giggle. Cooking with Jin hyung. Puppies and when I bathe
with Jimin after a bad client.

“Hi hyungie,” Woojin starts, quiet and the music reduces in volume too. “Jeongguk-ssi - um, he told
me to say anything I want to talk about because you um, are happy when I talk. And I wanted to say
I’m sorry if it made you sad that I didn’t.”

Taehyung opens his lips to tell him it doesn’t but Woojin keeps going and Taehyung doesn’t want to
stop him. He stares hard at the paper in his hand, talking quickly as he reads off the words.

“I don’t want to make you sad. The doctor says I’m a lot better now, but I used to - used to get
scared when you left. And sometimes you looked sad when I did speak. Sometimes I just can’t and I
don’t know wy and the doctor says it’s okay and Jin hyung says it’s okay too. But please don’t be
sad because I’m doing a lot better.”

Woojin glances over the paper for a second and freezes. Taehyung doesn’t register the tears in his
own eyes until then.

“Keep going,” Taehyung says with a smile. “Happy tears.”

Woojin nods, glancing back at the paper but his hands are shaking a little more. “Ji-hu used to be sad
he didn’t have a Eomma, but I told him it was okay and he didn’t need one. I - I didn’t need one
because I was raised well by Jin hyung and you.”

Taehyung squeezes his fists by his side, trying hard not to let out the sound bunching up in his throat.

“But I think of her a lot even though I was too young to remember. And I miss her and sometimes
I’m worried one day I’ll miss you.”

Behind him, Jimin tucks his head onto Yoongi’s shoulder and his eyes are closed over his tears.

“But Jeongguk-ssi pinky promised me he was going to take care of you like you cared for me. He
said he wouldn’t marry you unless Eunae and I gave our - our blessing and at first I said no.”

When Woojin glances at him again, Taehyung gently puts the puppy in his arms to the ground to
close the space between them. On his knees, Woojin is a little taller than him, growing quickly but
Taehyung takes the paper from him to hold his hands and look up at him.

“It’s okay,” Taehyung murmurs just for him. Woojin immediately bends down, pressing their
foreheads together.

“Why are you crying?” Woojin mumbles, cupping Taehyung’s wet cheeks.

“Because I love you,” Taehyung explains with a smile. “And you’re so silly thinking I would ever
leave you.”

“You have.”

Taehyung rests back on his calves, holding his pinky out. “I promise to never again. Hyungs have to
keep their promises, remember?”

He has gotten better. There’s still the panic attacks, the nightmares, the tantrums that sometimes
Taehyung can’t understand what started them, but he’s been doing a lot better. Good grades in
school, other friends than just Ji-hu, sleeping through the night in his own bed. Not worrying as
much when Taehyung leaves for work.

There’s a small smile on Woojin’s lips as he takes Taehyung’s finger. “I remember. I promised to
stay beside Ji-hu and raise him well. I’m not as afraid with him because I’m supposed to take care of
him.”

The feeling in his throat grows and Taehyung stays quiet until it subsides. The music still plays and
Taehyung wonders if it is Woojin who told Jeongguk about this song, a song he used to him to get
Woojin to sleep.

“Being your hyung has always made me strong,” Taehyung tells him. He wishes he could tell
Woojin how much, how many things that felt impossible to do were easy when it came to protecting
him. “But you’ve always been stronger than me and I’m proud of you.”

Woojin grins, his shoulders relaxing some. “Can you marry Jeongguk-ssi so I can keep my promise
to Ji-hu?”

Taehyung snorts, his face burning hot. He rubs Woojin’s hands between his own, until they no
longer shake.

“I will for you. But he’s a sneaky one, using you against me instead of proposing himself.”

A throat clears and Taehyung turns, finding Jeongguk standing off to the side. He hadn’t seen him
come in though any other time Taehyung would swear he could find Jeongguk anywhere.

He’s still in the same suit, the same messy hair that Taehyung’s hands wrecked, still breathtakingly
handsome. His hands are clasped in front of himself and the fire reflects of the wet streaks beneath
his eyes.

“I’m not finished,” Jeongguk says with a smile. He bows deeply. “Thank you for your help Woojin-
ssi, and your blessing. You as well, Miss Eunae.”

Eunae giggles from somewhere behind them and Woojin nudges Taehyung to stand. Taehyung
doesn’t think he has enough strength in his legs to do so.

They aren’t alone and it’s more than just the kids, Yoongi and Jimin. He sees Hoseok and Jooheon,
Namjoon and Jin. Jackson, Dowoon, Jinju and even Jun-ki, who is being guided to the couch by
Changkyun and Winnie.

Everyone is here and Taehyung wonders if they sneaked in once Woojin hadn finished with his
letter.

“Sorry,” Jeongguk says and his voice is shaky in a way that makes Taehyung’s chest throb. “No one
would help me unless they could be here.”

“Not true,” Jimin says, but he looks the most guilty. Yoongi’s stopped playing the piano to turn
around and though Taehyung is used to much more eyes on him than this at one time, he feels
suddenly unsure how to be in front of an audience.

Jeongguk clears his throat and Taehyung swears he’s never seen him so nervous, not like this. He
cocks his head to the side, playing with his own fingers and a breath of relief passes his lips when
Taehyung takes them into his hands.

“Do you know why I wanted to remind you of our first night together and that night in New York?”
Taehyung shakes his head. He can’t speak; he can’t breathe well. Jeongguk hints at this enough to
know it was going to come one day, but it had gotten to the point where Taehyung just assumed
Jeongguk was going to show up with a whole wedding planned one day without the proposal.

“I only kind of believed in destiny and I didn’t believe in love at first sight at all, but those two nights
made me question how true they might be.”

If Taehyung weren’t choking up, he’d consider pinching Jeongguk, a habit whenever Jeongguk says
ridiculous things.

“And I still don’t know if they are because come to find out there’s a lot of things that weren’t
coincidence,” Jeongguk huffs with a laugh, glancing at their clasped hands. “But I do know the
moment I saw you I wanted you and the moment I found out all the ways our lives were connected, I
knew you were supposed to be in mine.”

There’s a coo from somewhere and Taehyung smiles and glances to his feet shyly, watching the tear
drop from his eyes and disappear on the ground.

“And I know sometimes it’s hard for you to accept my love and I never mean to force you to, never
mean to make you uncomfortable, but every time I look at you the urge to tell you how much I love
you is so strong it’s hard to fight off.”

Usually the tightness in his chest is bad. Taehyung has lived a long time with only it meaning bad,
but he’s learned over the last year it could mean good too.

“Because you deserve to feel that loved and everyone here in this room loves you that much,”
Jeongguk tells him, that same intense look in his eyes he gets when he assures Taehyung things like
this.

“Get to the point,” Taehyung sniffs, joking to ease it and he looks up to see a smile so big on
Jeongguk’s lips that he understands again why Jeongguk’s mother called him her little bunny.

“At hyung’s wedding, he told Jimin-ah how he came into his life when he needed him the most. And
I was sitting beside you thinking how that is true for us too. Over the last year so much that has come
out has made me feel like I’m living someone else’s life, that mine didn’t make sense anymore. But
you were there.”

Taehyung shakes his head, wanting Jeongguk to stop because a lot of those pains he’s had over the
year were because of him.

“And I know you,” Jeongguk says with a watery laugh. “I know you probably blame yourself for
some, but you shouldn’t. Finding you and loving you was the second best thing to ever happen in
my life. And despite everything bad, you and our family gave me strength.”

The tightness in Taehyung’s chest forces itself out and he tugs Jeongguk forward, hiding the sound
against his lips. Jeongguk is quick to let his hands go and pet his palms down the side of Taehyung’s
face.

“I love you Taehyung,” Jeongguk whispers so only Taehyung can hear, their foreheads pressing
together. “And I’m going to keep loving you even long after my life has ended.”

Despite knowing where this was going, Taehyung’s heart leaps in his chest when Jeongguk pulls
away to kneel. He can’t handle it, the way his heart thumps and chokes him as Jeongguk reaches into
the pocket of his jacket. H
He can’t handle the pressure in his eyes and the way he hiccups out. He used to wonder if it was
Jeongguk that made him feel weak but he’s starting to realize that emotion doesn’t make one weak. It
makes them strong, even if the emotion comes out in shaking hands and tears. He’s still strong.

“And I’m going to remind you every day and nothing can stop me,” Jeongguk says, eyes bright.

Even the ring isn’t as bright as Jeongguk’ eyes, though the light catches on the edges of the diamond
and shine. It’s big, the band a white gold and inscribed with letters that Taehyung can’t read at a
distance. Jeongguk’s hands are an earthquake as he takes it from the box and he clears his throat,
letting out a just as shaky breath.

“Will you marry me, Kim Taehyung?”

It had been true; Taehyung never imagined marriage. Not even before he was pushed into a life that
made him not even want to touch another man. Marriage was bruises and fighting and children that
no one loved.

Marriage was never gentle and patient. Love was never gentle and patient.

Jeongguk is gentle and patient, holding the ring for him with nothing but that brightness in his eyes
as Taehyung stares down at him. Even when it feels like forever and Taehyung can barely see
through his teary eyes, Jeongguk waits.

And Taehyung knows Jeongguk will keep waiting until Taehyung is ready, even if it’s not today or
tomorrow or next year.

Taehyung is nodding before the conscious thought to do so reaches him.

Jeongguk lets out a loud breath of relief as he takes Taehyung’s hand. The shake in his fingers makes
him miss his finger a few times and the laugh in Taehyung’s chest breaks the tension in his body

There’s clapping maybe, but Taehyung can barely hear it under the thundering of his heart in his ears
as Jeongguk stands and kisses him like his life depends on it. His fingers dig into the sides of
Taehyung’s face as Taehyung clutches to his suit jacket, chest cracking when he tastes the tears on
Jeongguk’s lips.

“About time,” Taehyung murmurs as Jeongguk’s thumbs rub under his eyes.

“Was it like how you imagined?” Jeongguk lets out a shaky laugh. Taehyung hates how red
Jeongguk’s eyes get when he cries, hates the sight of it, but it makes him feel warm that Jeongguk is
that happy.

“Exactly,” Taehyung promises.

It isn’t just an engagement, but an entire engagement party as the music floods overhead and their
friends and family stick around late in to the night. There’s dancing and food and so many kisses that
Taehyung wonders if his mouth is going to fall off before the night is over.

The cool air is a relief to Taehyung’s lungs, though he craves the stab of smoke.

“Hyung, can I bum?”

Yoongi turns from where he’s propped over the balcony on the second floor, overlooking a field of
grass so large that Taehyung imagines they’ll have to get more dogs. “Yeah. Congratulations, Tae.”

Taehyung murmurs his thanks as Yoongi hands him the cigarette. It’s been a long time since he’s
smoked. He can’t even remember when he last had, because being stuck inside meant he couldn’t
easily go to the store and neither Jeongguk and Dowoon were willing to buy him cigarettes.

It’s really the only thing Jeongguk tells him no to.

“You okay?” Yoongi hums, eyeing him as Taehyung lights the stick between his lips. “Jimin-ah was
worried Jeongguk would overwhelm you.”

Taehyung laughs as the smoke burns his throat. “I love him a lot.”

“Talking about me?”

Taehyung grins as he turns, finding Jeongguk sauntering onto the balcony. His tie is loosened, the
top of his shirt unbuttoned by Taehyung’s hands. His face is red and sweaty because he had been
kidnapped by the kids and Jimin to participate in their dance competition on the living room floor.

He’s quick to wrap around Taehyung’s back, not saying a word about the cigarette as he kisses
Taehyung’s neck. He can smell the wine on Jeongguk’s tongue but he doesn’t mind because it
matches the taste on his own.

“Yes.”

“Don’t listen to anything Yoongi hyung says,” Jeongguk murmurs, rocking Taehyung. “It’s all a
lie.”

Yoongi grunts in offense at that, flicking out his cigarette as he swats at Jeongguk. “I was telling him
how you had a meltdown after you met because he wore lace panties.”

Laughter fills the air, drowning out Jeongguk’s complaints and attracting those inside. Jimin is quick
to find them, sinking into Yoongi’s side and complaining as he yanks the cigarette from Yoongi’s
lips to bring to his own.

Soon the balcony isn’t as empty as Jin and Namjoon join them, Hoseok dragging Jooheon along.

It had made Taehyung nervous having them all there, but it makes his chest ache as much as the
smoke does.

“Thank you for all coming,” Taehyung says Jeongguk finally steals the cigarette from him to put out.
It’s only been a year but it feels like it’s been his entire lifetime that they’ve been all together like this.
“I hope you know you’re all my family.”

There’s a cry of awe, Jimin’s cheeks bunching up as he curls his arms around Taehyung’s waist
because he knows it’s coming. Jimin always knows.

Everyone is on him in a second, hands grabbing him and holding him. He likes the feeling, savors it
for the nights when he only has his own hands to hold himself together. Because even if he is
technically alone during those times, he isn’t.

“I’m taking full credit for this,” Jimin says happily as he pulls back and looks to Taehyung. Jeongguk
is back against his back, fingers gentle on his nape even when the others pull away to let him
breathe. “Getting you and Jeongguk together. Don’t say hyung’s never done anything for you.”
 Taehyung cackles, shoving Jimin playfully away. Jimin doesn’t know just how much he’s done for
Taehyung, even before he met Jeongguk. “Shut it.”

There’s more laughter and smiles and the feeling inside of Taehyung’s chest grows. There’s a smile
on his face that makes his chest ache and he doesn’t think it’ll go away, especially since every time
he looks to Jeongguk it grows more.

Taehyung intertwines their fingers, dragging Jeongguk to the edge of the balcony. The moon is
bright, breaking through the tall trees stretching high above them. “The night I met you, I wanted to
feel what it was like to be free. You know I hate being trapped.”

Taehyung turns towards Jeongguk, planting a hand to his cheek. “I know what that feels like now.”

Chapter End Notes

No promises, but I hope one day to add a side fic for this series. I'll miss them :c

End Notes

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