Family Ties | JJK

46: Vantae | Agust D

**

As the studio door closes behind the two boys, locking them inside, the two begin to connect to their pasts together. Isolated from the outside world, slowly they transform, as past and present collide with unknown consequences.

They shed their identities as easy as a snake sheds its skin.

At this moment they are no longer Taehyung and Yoongi.

They are Vantae and Agust D.

You see, one of Bangtan's most closely guarded secret came straight from the streets of Daegu.

Yoongi had been part of a gang, Tae also. Together they both had enough connections to get what they needed to be done.

They had promised to never return to their past, to never open old connections. It was too dangerous, some secrets needed to stay dead.

So right now Yoongi felt like his head could explode. They were on thin ice, and after every second he could see the cracks getting closer and closer.

Sensing his panic Tae holds him steady. Heads tilted together.

'Yoongi-hyung,' he says, waiting a moment for him to calm his breath.

'Yes, Tae.'

'Do you remember, every night when we would sleep together, fighting to keep our eyes open in the dark whilst the other rested in turns- watching each other's backs-protecting each other.'

'God, I try not to Tae,' Yoongi mutters, being transported back all those years to a darker time, he shivers.

'Well I do,' he admits to the others surprised face. 'Don't look at me like that. I don't remember because I want to. I remember because I have to. I need to remember where we came from, what we fought for. Because if we forget our past, we lose our identities, and sometimes the darkest parts of us, are the most important. Because from them, we grew, we fought, and we won, together.'

'Tae-' Yoongi's voice is small and fragile, at the moment he slips and lets the past rush back, he had fought so hard to move on, and when Y/N came hurtling into their life, it was scary how much he saw himself in you, it was why, he thinks, that the two of you were so close.

But even so, he hadn't been able to tell you his own secrets, even after you baring your own. Because he was still so scared, scared of being that vulnerable little kid again, who had nothing, who couldn't afford to eat, who had big dreams and bigger difficulties. He couldn't speak of that time, because he hated it so much.

Yet here was Tae, telling him how important it was to embrace the past, to remember those dark times, and see how much they have grown since then- have grown because of it.

And really, wasn't that what they had all told Y/N? Yoongi crumbled at that moment, realising his hypocrisy. He had been so busy pushing you to face your own demons and to stop hiding, that he hadn't realised his own fault.

'Thank you Tae,' he whispers, lashes blurry with tears.

The younger boy looks at him, eyes swimming with love and admiration.

'Remember our promise every night?'

'Together?'

'Together.'

**

Yoongi and Tae stare at one another as the line goes dead.

Across the country, in a safe house in Daegu, a mission is decided, guns are loaded.

In a little studio in Seoul two boys breathe for what seems like the first time since they picked up the burner phone.

'We did it.' Yoongi whispers.

Returning back to members with the full weight of what they just did, the two boys carry the world on their shoulders. Tae sits down grimly, not saying a word, whilst the boys can only sit in tense silence, waiting for the news.

'It worked,' is all Yoongi can bring himself to say, mentally tired and over-worked from navigating that deadly call. So when the four boys begin to crow at once he holds a hand up wearily and takes a moment.

'I pulled every string dropped every name, called in every favour they have ever possibly owed us, with both of our names, there was no way they could have ever said no. But this is not the end,' he looks around slowly, 'it is only the beginning, and who knows what will happen from here on...'

His warning adds a tinge of fear to the member's relief. Jimin leans towards Yoongi, voice soft, 'So what's the plan? What do we do?' He asks.

'We do nothing.' Tae whispers from where he sat. his voice commanding the room. Everybody's gaze flicks over to his hunched body.

'What?' They all argue, Namjoon voice above the rest, Jim almost jumping out of his seat in protest. Jimin sits staring at Yoongi, wide eyed and surprised.

'That's crazy,' Hoseok says eventually, the others vehemently agreeing, nodding their heads in unison- al of them astounded at the very thought of doing nothing. Of no action, no rescue, no reason.

But Tae doesn't budge, 'We can't associate with them, that would be madness-'

'They will get the job done,' Yoongi finishes his sentence. The two need no words to communicate, each knowing how precarious the situation was. They were walking along a knife-edge, with no safety net.

So when he sees the members still looking at them both in disbelief, he snaps. 'For the first time in a century, ever since the great divide, a Daegu gang will be walking the streets of Seoul. Directly under the noses of the number one Mob, the very mob they have a direct vendetta against spanning generations...

So yes you will all stay away. And pray that they succeed. Because if they don't...

Then that's our only hope-

Gone.'

**