Orange Deficiency〆Jeon Jungkook

⋆twenty one

elucidate illuminate, clear up

Jungkook

I took a deep breath, standing up with my heart hollow as I hastily walked over to the bathroom door.

“What do you want?” I asked harshly, not expecting to be a philanthropist, spitting my words out as if to show my lack of enthusiasm about this man being in my own home.

He huffed. “It's important” His eyes settled over my own, a feeling of unsettlement flashing over them. “So please, hear me out”.

I took a step back; defeated. It was just that I knew whatever he was going to say would carry some weight. He didn't seem like the kind of person to barge into someone's home at this godly hour for no reason.

He walked out, worrysome as he brushed a hand through his moon- toned hair and set himself over the couch in the living room until I signalled for him to take a seat.

There was an eerie silence for a moment, and before he could even dare to form a word, Taehyung walked into the living room and plopped onto the sofa next to me.

He looked at me, voice low. “I'm not letting him out a single word with you being here alone”.

If anything, he was on the verge of being overprotective, but I didn't mind the precaution this time. Whatever it was he was going to say, I'd rather have a second ear here to take it all in.

“Well...” I spoke amidst the deadly silence. “Speak”.

He felt uneasy, you could tell it from his gestures; the way his eyes never remained on a single spot for more than a few seconds or how he rubbed his hands together, probably thinking of what to say.

I felt deceited. The picture of the intimidating man with the sharp tongue and highly respectable posture was now fading as he was now sitting on my couch, unable to find the right words.

“Namjoon” I shifted him out of his trance.

“Right right” He moved around in his seat, making himself comfortable.

The air fell silent until he finally spoke again. “It's about your brother”.

I didn't expect to ever hear those words again. My brother? What did he have anything to do with my brother?.

My heart sunk, and I felt like falling to the ground and screaming as my head formed it's own slide show, but I kept myself together.

My eyes widened with a delay. “My brother?”.

“Yes” He replied calmly.

Taehyung was still sitting next to me, listening.

“My brother has been dead for four years” I didn't know why, but I suddenly felt my blood boil, the anger rising up in my veins.

He glanced between the two of us. “I know”.

“Well, someone reads the newspaper” Taehyung spoke for the first time, tilting his neck to the side towards me.

“Yeah, that's not-”.

“How do you know my brother?”. I asked him, face inching closer as I crossed my legs.

“I don't” He paused, eyes sincere. “That's the thing”.

I was confused, if that was even a good enough word to express my bemusement.

He knew about him, but he didn't know him? That would be possible if he'd read about his death somewhere or was a colleague, which was doubtful either way, but this man surely wasn't here to pass his condolences onto me.

I pressed my elbow onto my knee, placing my chin onto my cupped palm. “Proceed”.

Namjoon chuckled, but I was unsure as to why. “What do you know about your brother Jungkook?”.

“A lot of things” I raised my eyebrow in question. I was missing the point, for sure.

“No” He stated, his hand infront, touching the air.  His face turned serious again. “I mean, what do you really know about him? Maybe about what he was involved in?”.

“Involved in?” My expression changed to that of a curious man. “Wait, why are you asking me this?”.

“Ah yes” Namjoon exhaled. He rubbed his palms over his jeans, ridding of the sweat that had started to form between his fingers. “I should probably start elsewhere”.

He seemed hesitant, but still continued on.

“I'm probably disclosing way more information than I should here, but I'm guessing I'm only going to receive answers from you if I give some in return” Taehyung and I both nodded in agreement. “I'm Kim Namjoon, but I guess you already know that” He laughed inbetween his speech, switching off his momentary facade.

I looked around, fidgeting. This was going to take longer than it should, but I was willing to wait for once. I just couldn't help but think of Sora, what I had done to her so that this man, Namjoon, could come clean.

“I am a cop, basically” He revealed, and Taehyung and I turned to look at eachother as everything slowly started to piece together. “I work for the investigation team and I was chosen to work on a private case. So I guess you could call me a private investigator although I work for the police, not for anyone in particular” He flashed a stare our way, making sure we were following what he was saying, which we did.

“This case was supposed to be secret, it still is, so I expect the both of you to keep your mouths shut which I am guessing you will” His usual intimidating face and scaring voice were back on, so serious you crumbled under the sound of the monotony. “We have been searching for answers everywhere, following any clue and going to any place we thought might give us something. Basically, we have found ourselves to be in a dead-end”.

I ensued to watch him, engrossed entirely in his words.

But he seemed to be expecting an answer from me, and I wasn't sure what he was asking of me in the first place. “What do you want me to do Namjoon?”.

“I want you to tell me everything you know” His lips curled into an impish smile.

Taehyung fiddled next to me. “What is in it for us?”.

Namjoon stood up, eyes glowing as he approached us. “Do you not want to find out what happened to your brother?”.

“Jeongin wasn't involved in anything” I said, eyes on his back as I tried to make him turn around and look at me.

“Yeah, like you aren't either”. He chuckled, as if he had created some sort of inside joke. “I'll be at the store tomorrow, same time as everyday, you can come talk to me, tell me about your decision, I'll give you the rest of your answers then”. He said softly, seemingly desperate. “We need your help”.

A thought ran around in my head as Namjoon walked to the door, his long fingers hanging off of the handle.

“Thankyou for l-”.

I cut him off, outing my next words on impulse. “I'll help you”.

_____

Oof.

Okay so I wrote this on the bus, but what did you think? The plot is just starting here and I'm excited? Kind of?.

I'd love to hear what you have to say about this.