i. partner in crime | vkook

11. daejeon

after more hours of jeongguk catching up from sleep deprivation and taehyung sitting patiently playing i spy by himself to pass the time on the train, they finally arrived somewhere. taehyung wasn't sure where but jeongguk dragged him out of his seat and forced him to be quiet and now they were wandering the streets like annoying tourists to find a hotel.

taehyung felt empty; both literally because he hadn't eaten in forever and mentally because he had just been ripped away from everything. in the beginning he thought it could be fun; a mysterious guy comes in and he could play detective to figure him out. but now he was basically handcuffed to him and didn't have a phone or any knowledge of where he was on the run with a literal murderer who could kill him whenever he liked.

as taehyung was bundled up in jeongguk's windbreaker anxiously fiddling with the zipper, they walked through the sea of people in the busy street. taehyung timidly followed behind jeongguk, occasionally staying a few inches behind plotting escape only for jeongguk to turn around and grab him by the wrists again.

he wasn't sure what to feel, one part of him was a storm of emotions and wanting to scream iM beInG abDuCteD and cry but the other part of him felt empty. he saw all the people walking by him, he saw the blue sky with cute little clouds and the sunshine, he saw the food carts selling tteokbokki and corn dogs, but he couldn't feel it.

on the other hand, jeongguk was on a hunt for somewhere to book a room and was ignoring the unusually quiet and apprehensive boy he was dragging along.

taehyung took fascination in the small skyscrapers in the distance, so they were definitely in a city, not another yeehaw town. cherry blossoms hung over the sidewalk occasionally dropping a few pink petals on their heads.

jeongguk brushed through all of the people and cherry blossom petals. taehyung softly glimpsed at the scenery around him through his droopy brown eyes. jeongguk was still holding on to his finger to make sure he didn't slip away and run off somewhere.

taehyung wished jeongguk would just calm down for a minute so they could talk. he wasn't sure about what, but he just wanted something normal to come out of his mouth for once.

"i'm gonna check for a place," jeongguk mumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket and powering it on. thankfully it still had some battery in it but to his disappointment there was a flood of texts and missed phone calls from hoseok. "just wait a minute, okay?"

taehyung stood patiently the breeze ruffling through his bed-headed bangs. his wide eyes were blinking while watching jeongguk put the phone to his ear with his hand still wrapped around his finger.

he felt like he was going to throw up even more; staring blankly back at the criminal on the phone in front of him. jeongguk tapped his foot impatiently, staring back boredly.

"hey, uh, what's wrong???"

jung hoseok was sitting in his office drinking an apple juice box. "oh yay you didn't kill yourself!!!" he smiled. "where you at?"

"well not fucking geochang anymore," jeongguk replied. "i'm in daejeon."

"awwww, gguk, i worked so hard to make sure you'd be safe in geochang, are you atleast in disguise?"

jeongguk looked at taehyung. "kind of."

"listen jeongguk. i know i'm all smiles and sunshine but you really gotta start getting your shit together. people are onto you and the police are after you."

"you said we own the police," jeongguk gritted.

"everything's corrupt but you'll still be arrested and prosecuted, and i'm not going to wait around and spend thousands on you just because you fucked up."

jeongguk let that sink in. "and if i don't get caught???"

"well you're gonna if you keep being a dumbass. the police know me, gguk. they know what we do and they're scared. but i can't protect you all the time especially on this little 'vacation' of yours. i have ten other hitmen who do what you do just as well, but i kept you in charge because i care about you, gguk. but i have bigger issues than this, so if you're gonna keep fucking around and waving guns at people don't expect to see me defending you in court. and you better feel real sorry for the kid you threatened because i have namjoon following him."

"you didn't need to do that."

"i didn't need to???" the words fell out of hoseok's mouth. "you want the police to find you then??? he's a distraction. he could have told everyone and you could be in jail right now. they called the local police on you, jeongguk."

"how'd you find out???"

"are you dumb??? it's all over the news. 'jeon jeongguk spotted at geochang kim bed n breakfast' blah blah blah. now they're looking for the kid that told on you because he's missing."

jeongguk looked down at taehyung's and his hands. oH fuCk now the police are looking for me AND him fUCK and mf joon is after him???? FUCK.

"right. okay," jeongguk mumbled. "okay, uh, don't call me anymore. i don't wanna talk to you."

hoseok almost threw his phone. "uH??? whAt??? oh my gosh you're an actual child—"

jeongguk hung up and shoved his phone back in his pocket. "we gotta go."

taehyung stared wide eyed at him, upset and confused why he wouldn't tell him anything even after that whole ordeal. "can't we get food?"

"no??? we gotta go," jeongguk said, trying to stay calm and pulling on taehyung's finger, picking up the pace down the sidewalk. "just listen to me for once. we gotta go. and i think i know somewhere we can stay."