Seoul City

Ch. 4 - Negotiations

Taehyung's body stiffened at the mention of his best-friend's name. He was hoping to rescue Chaeyoung without revealing his identity to the Phoenixes, and he would have succeeded if not for Jeon Jungkook. Their only other encounter before this was two years ago in Japan when both the Jeon and Park family had been invited to the president's economical summit. When Jimin and Taehyung weren't handling business for the Griffins, they were working part-time at Park Corporations for Jimin's father – which is why Taehyung had been invited by Mr. Park to accompany Jimin as a way to 'expand his knowledge about the economy'. Chaeyoung was working over-time at the hospital then and couldn't attend, which is why Jungkook hadn't recognized her.

"Taehyung, was it?" Jungkook asked, a sinister look developing in the depth of his dark eyes.

There was no point in pretending any further, so Taehyung dropped the act and turned towards Jungkook with a stone-cold expression.

"Jungkook," Taehyung nodded, "nice to see you again."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Chaeyoung's brows furrowed together in confusion as she glanced back and forth between the two taller men.

Taehyung ignored Chaeyoung and kept his eyes steadily on Jungkook, his body slowly shifting into a defensive stance. They stood there, sizing each other up for a couple long seconds before Jungkook smirked and shifted his gaze to Chaeyoung. But before he could say anything, Taehyung interjected.

"What do you say we leave the girl out of this and discuss things just between us men?"

Chaeyoung gasped and elbowed Taehyung in the ribs before whispering, "Taehyung! Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself killed."

"Shh, I'll handle this," Taehyung whispered back, squeezing her hand in an attempt to send a message for her to stay quiet.

Jungkook chuckled lowly, "but girls always make things so much more fun."

"Okay, we don't have time for you two to passive aggressively challenge each other's manhood when someone is dying right in front of us," Chaeyoung said, her frustration coming to a peak.

Taehyung sighed inwardly. It appeared, Chaeyoung did not grasp the gravity of the situation they were in. But, then again, how could she? She didn't know Jungkook and what he was capable of like Taehyung did. To Chaeyoung, the value of a stranger's life was more than her own – she had proven this many times throughout her life, taking risks for others when there was no obligation to do so. Her selflessness was one of the things that made her such a good nurse.

Unfortunately, Taehyung didn't hold the same values. He wouldn't hesitate to harm others if it meant protecting her – he would always choose her.

"I'm calling 911," Chaeyoung announced when no one else appeared to care about her concerns. She took her phone out of her pocket only to have it snatched out of her hands by Jin.

"No, you won't." Jin said with a forced smile.

Jungkook rolled his eyes at the girl's naivety but shifted his attention to the man on the ground who was still holding onto his ribs. He appeared to be conscious and to have recovered enough to walk.

"Our friend here, was just getting ready to leave," Jungkook smiled down at the man meaningfully, "I'm sure he can see himself out."

The man looked at Jungkook in confusion before understanding his message and clumsily standing up, "yes, yes, thank you!"

Then, the man ran for his life through the alley as everyone watched. Taehyung was astonished that Jeon Jungkook had actually allowed one of his victims to go free.

"Happy now?" Jungkook asked Chaeyoung, flashing her a handsome smile. Taehyung had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"Let's cut to the chase, Jungkook. What do you want from us?" Taehyung asked frankly. He was beginning to grow impatient, and needed to deliver the microchip, with the surveillance footage, to Jimin in less than an hour.

"I want many things, so that's a very broad question. But let's start with why you're here, violating the rules of our agreement?" Jungkook asked, his voice hardening.

"I brought him here to celebrate, my friend, Lisa's birthday," Chaeyoung explained, meeting Jungkook's gaze unwaveringly.

"And who are you?" Jungkook asked amusedly.

"Chaeyoung."

"Well, Chaeyoung, are you aware that trespassing on Phoenix territory is punishable by death?" Hoseok jumped in on the interrogation.

To everyone's astonishment, Chaeyoung rolled her eyes at that, "let's not be dramatic, boys. We are only here to celebrate a friend's birthday. That's it. I apologize if we offended you by trespassing, but can't we just forget about this and get back to enjoying the party?"

Taehyung had to work very hard to supress a smile while listening to the fearless Chaeyoung trying to negotiate with criminals.

"I see your point," Jungkook replied, "but I have some more things I'm curious about. So, next question, do you have a boyfriend?"

Taehyung rolled his eyes in exasperation, "I don't see how that is relevant at the moment."

Jungkook shot Taehyung a glare, "you're not in the position to determine what is and isn't relevant right now."

"IHow about we settle this like real men and just fight it out," Jackson suggested, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"6 vs. 2? That's hardly fair or honourable," Chaeyoung protested, but began tying her hair into a high ponytail in preparation for the fight.

Jungkook laughed at the fact that Chaeyoung was including herself as a participant in the fight, "sorry to shatter your hopes and dreams, but we don't fight women. Contrary to what many believe, we're not beasts."

"How about a one-on-one?" Taehyung suggested.

"Tae," Chaeyoung said disapprovingly.

"Fine," Jungkook agreed, "I'll even let you pick who you'd like to challenge."

"How generous," Chaeyoung muttered sarcastically.

After a quick scan of the 5 other Phoenixes present, Taehyung returned his gaze to Jungkook.

"I choose you," he announced confidently, nodding at Jungkook. Truthfully, Taehyung had been waiting for an opportunity to fight him and put him in his place for a long time. And, he didn't like the way Jungkook was looking at Chaeyoung the entire night.

~*~

A/N: Thank you again for reading this story! As always, I enjoy reading each and every comment so keep them coming :) Exciting things are to come for this story so stay tuned. If you're enjoying what you're reading so far, feel free to give it a star or recommend it to others <3