Taste Of Algorithm Jinkook/Kookjin story

Coincidence

He took a picture of the transfer confirmation. He attached it to a new text message.

Kim Seokjin: Truffle oil payment sent. The account is settled. Do not send any further "samples."

He hit send. Then, for good measure, he forwarded the same screenshot to the supplier's main email address with the subject: Proof of Payment - Sample Product.

He put the phone down. He had done it. He had balanced the scales. He should have felt victorious. He should have felt free.

So why did the hollow ache in his chest feel deeper than ever?

The 48th floor was a vault of silence. Jungkook's phone lit up with the incoming text. He was at his desk, though the hour was late, the city a tapestry of light below him.

He read the message. He looked at the screenshot. The amount transferred was not just the market value; it was higher. A deliberate overpayment. A message in itself.

Taehyung, who had been reviewing security details for an upcoming merger, looked up. "Trouble?"

Jungkook did not smile. But something in his expression shifted, a subtle sharpening of focus, like a hawk sighting a movement in the grass far below. He placed the phone screen-down on the desk.

"No," he said, his voice a low, pleased hum. "Not trouble."

He steepled his fingers, his gaze turning inward, analyzing the data. "He overpaid. A significant premium. An emotional surcharge. A tax on my perceived intrusion."

Taehyung frowned. "So he's angry. He's rejecting the gesture."

"He is not rejecting it. He is engaging with it," Jungkook corrected, his eyes gleaming with a cold, intellectual light. "He is attempting to master it by applying his own rules—the rules of transaction, of payment. He believes he is ending the game by settling the debt."

He paused, letting the analysis hang in the air. "But you do not settle a debt with the bank by paying more than you owe. You only draw more attention to the transaction. You make the ledger more memorable, not less."

He picked up his own phone. He did not reply to the text. Instead, he navigated to a different app. A private, secure banking interface. He typed quickly, transferring a sum of money. The amount was exactly the premium Jin had overpaid. The memo line was blank.

The recipient was not the supplier. It was an account listed under the name Kim Seokjin.

He set the phone down. "The sample was a test. His payment was his answer. My reimbursement is my counter."

Taehyung stared. "You're... sending the overpayment back? Why?"

"Because the game is not about the oil," Jungkook said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "It is about the principle. He believes the principle is 'all debts must be paid.' My principle is 'what is mine, remains mine.' I do not accept overpayment. I do not accept his attempt to redefine the terms."

He looked out at the city, his expression one of absolute, terrifying certainty.

"He tried to close the account. I have just reopened it. And I have deposited a new variable: confusion."

In his apartment, Jin's phone buzzed. A notification from his bank. Deposit Received.

He opened it, confused. He wasn't expecting any deposits.

The amount listed was exactly the extra won he had added to the truffle oil payment. The "inconvenience fee." There was no sender name. No memo. Just a string of numbers for the originating account.