Hate You With Love || MAFIA AU

Chapter 33:: Crack

You saw him taking a small plate as he put 3 cookies on them. Staring at the plate and then at the tray, he took one more and placed it on the plate. You frowned, wondering what he was doing but your face straightened as he kept the plate in front of you saying, "Don't let them go to waste. It was hard to make them." 
"Sure." You said, a little flustered by his act of kindness. You looked at his plate, it barely had any food. All he got was some chicken and rice. You took some beef curry in a bowl and said, "Well, in case you don't know, I'm a huge fan of beef. So... I'll share it with the cook." 

He stared at the bowl before looking at you. You frowned asking, "Anything wrong?" 
"No." He answered shortly and gulped. This was the first time you were being friendly to him. Well, you often were but it always seemed like it was out of force. That's how you put the situation as well. But this time, you genuinely acted nice without putting up a show. He was pretty confused and you sensed it too. 
"I mean, I'm at my house and I'm pretty... happy and emotional, I guess." You said, thinning your lips. He nodded and continued eating as you looked at him. He took a bite of the beef curry, coughing a little. 

He quickly drank some water. He seemed uncomfortable and you couldn't sense why. You just continued eating, shrugging it off. 
Suddenly, music was heard in the room as you looked in the direction of Jo. It was one of your dad's favourite songs, 'Every Breath You Take- The Police' 

"Dad's favourite." You whispered. Taehyung seemed to have heard you but he focused on his food. Some time passed by and everyone was eating while Jo was singing along again and again. 
"Don't you know this song?" Jo asked as you said, "Of course, I do!" 
"Then, sing along?" He asked. You hesitated a bit and took a sip of the wine saying, "It's weird. We're not even friends to vibe together." 
"Well, we can be friends now! We're in this together!" He said.
"Together in what?" You asked, frowning. 

"In this house," Taehyung spoke as if he refrained Jo from speaking further. You sighed and said, "My singing voice is quite nice."
"Well, nothing beats Mr Kim's voice!" Jo said. You gasped as Taehyung looked at Jo, his eyes widened a little.
"He sings?!" You asked. Jo nodded and said, "Well, he once did... and I heard him. And it's the best voice I've ever heard in my life." 
You looked at Taehyung in disbelief as he said, "He's drunk." 
"And he's saying the truth." You said, smirking a little.

You saw Taehyung frowning a little as he looked at the food, trying to ignore whatever look you were staring at him with. 

"Every breath you take~~" Jo sang along as you chuckled hearing his broken voice.
"He really is passionate." You chuckled. Taehyung looked at you and then at Jo, a soft smile appearing on his face. You stared at him, a weird feeling appearing in your guts. You gulped, looking away. You had no idea why but every time you saw him smile, you realized that you felt happy. Was it because his beautiful smile made you like him or was it because you liked him? Neither seemed logical. Both were equally ridiculous to you. 

And you were doubting yourself for even thinking of this. 

Shrugging off any weird thoughts, you reminded yourself that even though the past 15 days, he had the utmost impact on you and the way he smiled almost 5 times in 15 days was really not good for your health, this shouldn't mean anything. That this was temporary—they were temporary. This would end, they would end. 

"I'll be watching you~" You sang along, trying to divert yourself from noticing how he was smiling or how his head dipped, causing him to look lovely for that very little moment. A moment which you could've sworn you hated but you didn't swear on it. You weren't sure yourself. 

These days, you felt yourself admitting to weird facts which you'd usually deny. Such as—them being nice and kind... sometimes. And how you were coming to 'not' hate them anymore.

"Every breath you take~ Every move you make~"
"Every bond you break~ Every step you take~"
"I'll be watching you..." You saw Taehyung's lips move. But no noise was heard. A soft smile appeared on Jo's face as you both made eye contact. Taehyung thought no one noticed him silently singing along but all of you did. 

'Since you've gone, I've been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby, please'

The lyrics of the song echoed throughout the room along with your voices. It was lively. As if you didn't hate one another, as if this moment was normal—and not between kidnapped and kidnappers but... friends, acquaintances. It made the entire situation change, the whole atmosphere changed. It was like those days, a warmth—a sort of happiness. A light of hope and faith.

An hour later, you all were sitting in the living room as you looked at the men in front of you.
"So... this is the reason we're here," Jo explained. 
"You found a chip where you heard my dad say the evidence is in Canada?" You asked. Jo nodded. 
"It's ridiculous to think that you wouldn't tell me details about the gold mine but you're telling me about my dad's voice clip." You said, frowning.
"Well, it's because... it's better for you to know that your father is the one who wanted you to know this. We had a suspicion that your father would be involved but we were confirmed through this." Taehyung spoke. You nodded and said, "But I still don't believe that my uncle could do anything bad. I'll see the evidence that lies in this house by myself." 
"Alright." 

"So, you're helping us to find the thing right?" Jo asked as you nodded saying, "Right. But only if you also let me hear the voice clip. I don't know if I can trust you... my uncle..." 
Taehyung noticed how your eyes were becoming moist. Every time the mention of your uncle came, you always shrugged it off. You always denied it. You said that they were the bad ones but if they had the proof, you'd also be one of the dumb ones. You'd also be betrayed. The uncle you had taken care of you ever since your parents left you would be the one to betray you. They were the only people left with you and there was no way you could handle that pain.

You felt Taehyung's body shift closer to yours, his knees brushing with yours. You looked at him. He seemed to be looking somewhere else but what he just did couldn't be a coincidence. It had to be intentional, this knee thing. It had to be a way of him making sure you were there. Of making you sure that he wasn't betraying you. 

You looked at Jo who clicked on something on his phone and the next words made your world stop for a second. 

'I'm sure of it. They know what they're up to. If the evidence is destroyed, the innocent people who are rotting in jail will die. The date is soon... before those innocent families suffer because of them... we have to find the evidence.' 
'Honey... the evidence might cost you your life.'
'But it'll never be more than the lives of those people who are suffering in jail for months now. Maybe 10 years from now, they'll be going through their sentences... which they don't deserve.' 
'Where is the evidence?'
'In the gold mine...'
'But if they find the location, they'll win.' 

'They're my own pals... but, I won't cut them any slack in this. The location will be here in Canada while we fight in Seoul.' 
'In here?'
'Yes, our house... and somewhere only our daughter will know. Which means, the location will be safe from them in case anything happens to me.' 

The voice clip stopped. It ended. 

You were sitting there, tears streaming down your face as you stared in front of you, at the phone. And you felt your heart crack as the next sentence was heard, 

"You'll know everything you need to. You have to help us... your dad lost his life for this."