Too Much for Me (DISCONTINUED)

Part 9

"Did you see his expression?" Namjoon gasped. "Wait until Hoseok hears about this!" He started cracking up again.

"I- That was amazing, Joonie." Taehyung held the wall for support. "'Maknae bonding.'" Both men stared at each other for a split second, then doubled over laughing again. A couple minutes later, when they finally regained their composure, Namjoon cleared his throat, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Can- can you go help Jin? I wasn't just trying to get that kid out of here when I asked him to help Jin. He actually does need help."

Suddenly, Taehyung's eyes darkened. "What about Hoseok? And Yoongi?"

Namjoon groaned. "Are all of you intent on questioning my authority these days? Sometimes I feel like I'm not even leader anymore."

Taehyung rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall. He chuckled, "All right all right, I got it. Wouldn't want you to take away my sparring privileges with you, right?"

Namjoon barked a small laugh. "Thanks." And with that, Taehyung was gone from the room, leaving me with the now-not-so-intimidating mafia leader. He stood up straight, and for the first time, I realized how lucky I was. Namjoon was, despite all his jokes, a very capable leader. He could control his seven person mafia with a single wordless stare. He would certainly have no qualms about killing off me and Chanyeol, and if he did, nobody could question his decision. In fact, there was no reason why he had to cooperate with Taehyung. It would be easier for him to kill us. I was extremely lucky, I realized, that the fearless leader of Bangtan Boys was not as cold-blooded as people made him out to be.

So I wasn't afraid. I took a step forward. "You certainly don't seem the ruthless leader of Bangtan that you've been made out to be."

Namjoon smiled tiredly. "Would you believe me if I said I'm the only member of Bangtan that's never killed someone before?" I froze in place, my foot pausing midair. I couldn't find words to respond. "Yeah, most people wouldn't. It's all right, it's to be expected. Here, let's go talk in peace in the living room. I'll explain everything." He moved toward the opening on my right. As I hesitated to follow, he turned around and scratched the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "You can trust us, you know. I'm sorry that your welcome wasn't exactly ideal, Jungkook has trouble understanding that sometimes things don't go according to plan. You're welcome here, though. You and Chanyeol. Any friend of one of our members is a friend of everyone in BTS."

I didn't feel like arguing the fact that Taehyung and I weren't exactly friends at this point, but I understood what he meant. It was enough for me. I smiled in thanks and followed him to the living room.

It wasn't what I expected. The walls were lined with pictures of the boys, grinning, joking around. It was...happy. Not like EXO, where the mafia always seemed to come before personal relations. One picture caught my eye, and I moved to stand directly in front of it. It was the largest framed picture, with all seven of the BTS members. Something in my heart ached as I scanned the image. Taehyung was smiling with that ridiculously boxy grin of his, one hand raised above his head, fingers forming a peace sign. There was Jungkook in the center, an adorable bunny like smile gracing his lips, Namjoon's hand perched adoringly on his shoulder. Jimin stood to Namjoon's left.

"Nice, isn't it?" Namjoon said from behind me. I turned around, and he handed me a glass of water. "Sorry, we're out of drinks. Yoongi tends to down a pack of beer every week." He laughed.

I giggled. "It's fine, thank you." I gestured to the picture with my free hand. "Who's who?"

I took a sip of my water as he pointed to the man beside Taehyung. He was smiling only faintly, but his gaze was warm, loving. "That's Seokjin. He does all our doctoral stuff, and besides me, he's killed the least. Kind of like the mother around here." He moved his indication to the man on the right of Jungkook. "Yoongi. He's got the most authority in our little family." I raised a brow, and Namjoon nodded knowingly. "Yoongi is kind of like our representative. He's the second oldest. He's the one who keeps everyone together. Like our foundation." I glanced at the genius man beside me. His admiration for the older man was obvious. Namjoon continued, "Jung Hoseok is the guy on the far right." My eyes traveled to the chocolate haired man beside Jimin. I almost started in surprise at his seemingly carefree thumbs up, the way his eyes seemed to shine with irreplaceable happiness. "Hoseok is...well, he's our sunshine, I guess." The mafia leader smiled faintly. "He's the third oldest. If you need an uplift, he's the person to go to."