Hate You With Love || MAFIA AU

Chapter 12:: Devotion

Azure meowed at him as Taehyung raised a brow. 
"Look. I know for a fact I'm kidnapped. But we're travelling and I've got no cash with me, nothing. At least let me use my credit card?"
"So they can track your credit card location through your recent transaction?" He asked. You sighed and said, "Gosh. If I get lost, I'll end up begging."
"You won't get lost." He said. You sighed and said, "Right, it's me who'll end up in a mess. Why would you even care?"
You rolled your eyes and continued eating. Taehyung stared at you before saying, "You won't get lost. Because I'm protecting you."

"How funny." You said dryly and rolled your eyes, again. 
"I'm not joking, Choi Y/N." He said. You almost choked on your food and looked at him in disbelief. He just called you— Choi Y/N, your real name. 
You frowned, staring at him as he looked at the food saying, "2 months and 19 days, you're under my protection. So don't worry about meaningless things like being a beggar." 

Okay— that line of his made you feel stupid but— protecting you? He was the one who you needed protection from. You wanted to argue but didn't, you kept quiet. Jo was completely tense. He thought the table might flip but the way it was calm with that arising tension every now and then, he was grateful at least the table didn't flip.

—Evening 

"She bought all of this?" Jo asked Taehyung who nodded. 
"Sir... are you okay?" 
Taehyung just sighed and said, "She tried her best to piss me off. But I won." 
"But sir... it was over a thousand dollars. Maybe kidnapping the actual target would be better... why am I so dumb?!" Jo asked himself and sighed. 

"Not really. This woman's fun." Taehyung said, a corner of his lip tugging upwards indicating a smirk. Jo frowned and asked, "She legit argues with you all the time and insults you... makes sure to bother you to the point you'd burst and always tries to run away." 
"I've heard Lee Tzuyu is a calm woman, unlike her best friend. Maybe she would've listened to us by now." 

Taehyung didn't reply. He just stared at the shopping bags you never opened.
"There's something else, Jo. It's not just that she's a fathead but she's strange and I really dislike her traits so much... it makes me so angry at times I want to push her off a 100-floor building."
Jo was confused. 
"But..." Taehyung's voice trailed off 

He wanted to say something which he didn't quite understand. He wanted to admit that you made him feel like he was a really disgusting person and you hated him the most anyone ever could yet at the same time, your 2 sentences made him feel like you didn't hate him that much. You made him confused and amused, everything about you. He wondered how someone could be so harsh yet so dumb. He didn't know what to say about you.

You weren't someone he was pleased with but also not someone he purely despised. You were someone who confused him a lot. And he knew for a fact that no one else could ever confuse him that way. 

The face of you glaring at him flashed in his mind as he said, "She hates me like no one else ever did. And I like that— the way she hates me." 

"You like that..?" Jo asked, pure confusion evident on his face and voice. He wanted to say something else but he didn't. He didn't mention how your hatred was so different and strange to him. There was something hidden in your hatred, a dedication. And that dedication made him wonder how devoted you were to your emotions. And how devoted you were to your hatred for him. 

"Sir, is the plan going well?" Jo asked. Taehyung simply nodded.
"Make sure Joel doesn't dare to collect her information."
"Did he notice her?"
"Yeah."
"Gosh, that b*stard." 
"Joel's just a lowly gangster. He won't be able to track her information but we need her safe from that fucker." 
"Okay, sir." 

Jo nodded and turned around but his face's colours drained seeing you standing there blankly. 
"Miss..." He gulped. Taehyung turned around to see you standing there, with a blank face. You could sense his lips quiver as he turned around completely, the blank face still evident. You just gulped as Jo asked, "Since when were you..."
"Ah, I just came. Why? Were you badmouthing me?" You asked, frowning. He immediately shook his head. 
"No, of course not! You should check the clothes! These bags seem luxurious, yeah." Jo said and went out of the room. 

"How much did you hear?" You heard the deep voice ask as you looked at him, with a frown.
"I just came."
"I'm not a fool." 

You scoffed and looked away, sighing. Why did he read your face like that? How did he even know? 
"Just the Joel part." He looked down and said, "It's only for my gain. Don't get delusional." 
"I won't. I know you don't care about me, it's all for your own gains."

You knew where you just poked. You knew it well. Even if that was the truth, it would still poke him. It would prick right in that spot where it pricked you when he said that line to you, in the mansion. "You shouldn't have saved your best friend, to begin with. You're the one who tried to become a great friend and got yourself in this." 

No matter what a person has in mind, getting called out like that really bugs everyone. And you knew it'd bug him too unless he was a complete inhuman like you called him. 

His look at you was calm and cold. Just that simple blank eyes made a shiver run down your spine. At this moment, you felt like you had both known other for so long and were having another one of your fights. But the reality was that— you and he just had the worst relationship that could ever exist. A kidnapper and the kidnapped. More than that, the hatred somehow extended. Maybe it was you who extended it but he seemed completely supportive of that like he also wanted this hate to drag along until the end of time. And you were doing exactly that. 

"Exactly. Anything I do is all for my own gains, it has nothing to do with you. It's good you know it beforehand. I thought you were delusional..." His deep voice hit your ears in an unpleasant way. The words should've been reassuring but they annoyed you. They bothered you. 

11 days since you knew him and he made your blood boil in such a way no one else could ever succeed. This guy on your blacklist was surely getting a platinum award very soon.