ICE CREAM [ completed ]

Ninety-One

"I'm sorry, what??"

"Did I fucking stutter?" Namjoon's face is back to being serious, and it's terrifying how quickly he can flip that switch. "Throw the fucking game, Min Yoongi,"

"But why?? I have a scout here that will sign me if I win! You kept telling me to win and that's what I've been doing! Even Jungkook told me to keep playing well and I have! And now you want me to throw the game?!"

My hands are in the air and I've pushed away from the wall. My chest is pounding again and I can feel a battle with nausea and anxiety preparing for war in my stomach.

"I bet against you, Yoongi. Don't you see? God, you are so fucking dense!" Namjoon is taking steps towards me again and I start to panic. He pushes at my chest and I take stumbling steps backwards. "This has been planned from the beginning, ever since Jungkook showed me those snaps of you playing,"

"What are you talking about??" I am scared to ask but all I want are answers at this point. "What do you mean you bet against me?"

"Jungkook has been a little errand boy for me for years. He's never done anything too extreme -- mostly just being a messenger of sorts, or a spy if you need to put a name to it. He searches for vulnerable people or situations and brings me back the information. I formulate a plan and in the end we all come out on top. He uses the money for his tuition and to take care of his parents. See, Jungkook was a smart little boy and went to a smart ass high school. But his parents were poor as dirt, so he did what he had to do to get the education he needed,"

"You took advantage of him," I sneer at Namjoon.

"He made the decision to get into bed with me, Yoongi. I gave him an outlet and took care of him," Namjoon retaliates, and even though he is acting like he cares about Jungkook's well-being something tells me it's far from that.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"When Jungkook showed me your videos, I set up betters and gamblers and scouts and countless other types of useful people using my resources. I was never betting with you, Yoongi! Whenever you won, I actually lost money,"

"What? Why?!" I'm confused at this point and Namjoon is scolding me like a child.

"Because I was playing a long con! Like I said, so dense!" Namjoon hollers and I can practically hear the floors vibrate at his tone. "The betters thought they were on a roll, see? You won ten straight games and were unbeatable. But then you had to go and stop playing and become all dramatic on me, so the game changed on my end. I had to lay low, play it cool so that no one suspected that I was in deeper behind the scenes. But now? Oh you just dove right back into this all on your own, didn't you?"

"Let me get this straight. You want me to throw tonight's game because everyone is expecting me to win. In the end, you're going to make back the money you lost plus hundreds of thousands more," I say out loud and realize what an idiot I've been all along. "You've wanted me to loose this whole time,"

"Exactly," Namjoon starts to laugh now that I've figured it all out. I shake my head and double over, swearing that I might just vomit all over Namjoon's shiny shoes.

"I won't do it. Everyone is relying on me! The scout is relying on me!" I can feel angry tears start to build up behind my eyes.

"Ah, I thought you would say that. So of course I have a little something to convince you otherwise," Namjoon smugly says. I lift my head and see Namjoon reach his hand into his pocket and pull out a phone. Then he thumbs across the screen with a sinister chuckle. He starts to read out loud to me. "Jungkook where are you? Please answer me. Tell me you aren't in trouble. Why aren't you here?"

He's quoting my messages to Jungkook that I sent not ten minutes prior and I feel my heart drop into my stomach.

"You...what did you do to him??" I scream and even dare to take brave steps towards the taller man that is currently ruining my life.

Namjoon turns the phone around so I can see the screen.

"No...what is this??" I shake my head as I stare at Jungkook on the screen. He's tied to a chair and in the background is the skylight from the Polaroid photo that was sent to me inside the strange brown box the first week of the new school year. His mouth is gagged and there is currently someone burly and large pacing around him. I snatch the phone from Namjoon's hands without fear of repercussion. "Why are you hurting him?? He's been good to you! He's been loyal!"

I watch in horror as the man stops in front of the boy and brings his hand back to punch him across his face. I can hear the crack of bone and the painful cry of Jungkook's voice behind the gag. He's dirty and bloody, and my hands are shaking so bad that I might drop the phone altogether. I feel the tears coming and allow them to fall.

Namjoon rips the phone out of my hand and pockets it inside his jacket.

"Throw the fucking game, Yoongi," Namjoon pokes me in the chest and I let him do it. I'm weak now and defeated. There is nothing else I can do. "Or you'll never see your little annoying bunny again,"