BLOOD MONEY || bts mafia au

thirty nine.

"That was amazing!" Jungkook said, smiling brightly as they stepped away. "Just do the same on Yuta and you'll do great!"

Mark beamed at the praise, all his insecurities fading. "Really? Oh my god, my heart is beating so fast. Thank you so much, Jungkook! I feel so much better about it now."

"You'll have to let me know how it goes."

Mark flashed the other boy one last smile over his shoulder. "You'll be the first person I tell."

Yoongi couldn't stop replaying the scene over and over in his head - Jungkook and Mark alone in the training room, Mark's arms around Jungkook's neck while their heads were bent close together. He clenched his jaw until it ached, shaking his head to clear the image.

He had never felt this kind of anger before. Especially not directed toward Jungkook. The boy with the bunny smile he loved so much, the frightened kid he'd taken in, his best friend... He had never expected him to betray him like this.

And it hurt. God, it hurt so much. Because he knew that Jungkook knew about his crush on Mark. He had known, and yet he'd still gone beyond Yoongi's back. He had known, and he had still stolen him right under his nose.

How much had he done for Jungkook over the years? Befriended him, taught him the ways of the street, let him stay at his house, listened to his troubles, fought for him, carried him to the infirmary when he was bleeding out, watched over him all throughout the night just to make sure he was still breathing. All just for this?

It stung even more because, worst of all, he'd allowed himself to think that maybe, just maybe, Mark had felt the same way about him. But instead, he was sneaking off to meet his best friend.

Yoongi wanted to storm out of the den, to set it all on fire and walk away, but he'd been stopped by the General calling a meeting. It took everything in Yoongi to keep walking toward the main room, to try to maintain his composure as he stepped inside and immediately spotted Jungkook and Mark on one side of the room.

Jungkook lit up when he saw Yoongi, waving him over excitedly, but Yoongi remained where he was by the entrance, watching him with unreadable eyes. Jungkook's smile died, his hand falling down to his side, but he tried to shrug it off, turning back to Mark, who was saying something on right.

It made Yoongi angry all over again.

His thoughts were interrupted by the General's voice, calling him back to the reason why he was even here.

"I'm sure you're all aware of what transpired with the Shadow."

Murmurs erupted about the room. Yoongi's jaw clenched at the thought of Ten, but it carried another undercurrent as he remembered just who was the reason for the overprotective feeling he got whenever the former right hand was mentioned.

The General's gaze was hard as he continued. "He has assembled a gang on his own. They call themselves the Kingmakers."

This time the murmurings were louder and less restrained. It was a bold move for Ten, who had now been without a gang for less than a month. They couldn't be very well trained, could they?

The General's voice cut through the dissent. "It is my best guess that the first thing he will do once they are at full strength is go after us. That is why we're to attack tonight before they have any more time to prepare."

That now spawned a couple of cheers, nods rippling throughout the room while eyes shone with anticipation and determination. Yoongi felt his hands curl into fists, already itching to aim them at something solid. He needed the distraction right now, the feeling of something breaking beneath his touch.

But the General wasn't finished. "Before we are to do that, I think we should appoint the new right hand."

More cheers, which were hushed with a raised hand. Yoongi felt his heart beating hopefully in his chest, thinking that maybe something would go his way for once today. He'd been personally brought into the gang, after all. It couldn't be too much of a jump to assume that he could be in the running for the position.

But the General's gaze fell on the other side of the room and Yoongi felt his heart being torn in two for the second time that day. "Jeon Jungkook will be the next right hand."

The Purgatory seemed to be split on this decision, half of them erupting in cheers of assent while some stared blankly, some even going as far as openly sneering at the young boy across the room. Jungkook was not an incredibly well-liked person, not after what had happened with Ten. Ten's most avid supporters had left when the former right hand did, but the remaining stragglers who aligned with him at one point did not change their view of Jungkook just because Ten was gone.

Jungkook's big eyes were wide with surprise, a deer caught in the headlights. Any other time, Yoongi would be laughing at the sight, cooing at how adorable he was while giving his hair an affectionate tousle. But this wasn't any other day. And all Yoongi could do was stare from the doorway as Jungkook was chosen for the job that should've been Yoongi's.

The operation had been Yoongi's. Jungkook was just a kid working for him, a lost puppy he took in because it amused him. He'd never wanted this to be his life, he'd just wanted an escape from his perfect rich little life with a trust fund that Yoongi could only dream of. Jungkook at least had a dad - no matter how negligent he may be. It was more than Yoongi could say.

What made him more qualified for the position than Yoongi? It wasn't age, it wasn't experience. It wasn't popularity. Yet, the General had chosen him and not Yoongi.

"You're right hand now," the General said, holding out a hand to Jungkook, who had drifted closer, unsure. "From now on, you're to be known as the Vice."

The General had held out his hand to the raven-haired boy, clearly wanting to say something else, but Yoongi had seen enough. Spinning on his heel, he stalked down the hallway, overtaken with rage once more. First Mark then the position of right hand? Jungkook was from a wealthy family - he already had so much more than Yoongi. What else did he need? What more did Yoongi have to take? Jungkook had already taken everything he'd wanted.

Yoongi entered the first empty room he found, slamming the door hard shut behind him while he tried to collect his thoughts. They had a few hours until their attack on the Kingmakers. Yoongi needed to regain his composure, to think of his next steps.

He paced around restlessly, feeling the need to blurt it all out loud, to have someone to confide in, but he knew he was alone in this. But he couldn't stop thinking of a certain doe-eyed boy, desperately wishing for his best friend. And so, in the solitude of the empty room that didn't even belong to him, Yoongi sat and cried.