No Harm List | BTS Mafia AU

Dorito Breath

It was a mostly quiet afternoon at the bakery. Which gave you plenty of time to let your mind wander.

Hoseok had text you last night, after Jungkook had left, asking if you guys could meet up and maybe grab a meal. It was the first direct text of wanting to make amends between the two of you so far.

You hadn't replied yet. Because you still had no clue what to expect when you finally saw each other again. Should you guys talk about everything, should you avoid it and try to go back to normal? You missed him, and you wanted to be able to forgive him.

But the wound left from his lies was still tender, and you didn't know if it was one that would heal over time.

You tried not to dwell too hard on the thought that he was a killer. That he might have taken mothers and fathers and children from loving families. You try to tell yourself anyone who crossed BTS must truly be bad.

After getting to know the other members of the inner circle, you could make yourself believe they were good people. Maybe there was some good in taking a little evil out of this world.

You laughed at yourself in disgust. You were a doctor, what did you believe in other than the moral foundation that life was priceless. It should never be taken. You wanted to give people as many chances as they could in this world.

You lost your mother at a young age to a sickness similar to Hoseok's mom. While your memories of her were starting to get foggy with time, you do remember watching her fight.

She fought until the day her doctor told her it was a lost cause, and then you watched her slowly fade away. That doctor sapped your mother of her hope. And while you had no way of knowing if your mom could have maybe beaten the sickness, hearing those doctor's words almost hurt more than losing her.

You always wondered, what would have happened if you had a doctor that believed in her? If your mom was still a part of your life? You dad remarried, and while your stepmom wasn't inherently a bad person, she was pretty supportive of you at times, you always wondered if your life would have been different if your mom stayed in the picture. If you would be different.

You were so lost in the swirl of your consciousness that you didn't even hear the ring of the bell when Taehyung entered the store.

You didn't even notice when he slipped past you behind the counter where, you were busying yourself with mindlessly stacking coffee cups at the coffee station. Until he walked up to you, strawberry tart in hand and said, "Earth to Dorito Breath," as he waved his hand in front of you.

You blinked rapidly before grunting in displeasure at the name.

You 'earned' the name Dorito Breath your first week of work. You were running a little late for your shift but didn't have time to grab a meal, so you settled with a bag of chips to munch on as you walked to work.

Only it was the family-sized kind, not the little singlets that would probably be more appropriate for an on-the-go setting. Taehyung and Jimin didn't let you hear the end of it when you entered the bakery, fingertips coated thoroughly in sweet chili dust.

When you tried to defend yourself saying you were hungry, their only response was you worked at a bakery, and Jin let you snack on most of the pastries and sandwiches for free. Jimin gave you a long lecture on how you could have fed yourself something with nutrition instead of dusty cardboard for lunch.

Since then, Tae had dubbed you Dorito Breath, claiming your potent air would scare off the customers when you took their order.

His comment had been effective enough for you to self-continuously munch on a few mint leaves throughout your shift.

"What do you want?" You grumbled, watching as he picked every strawberry from the tart before slipping it back into the display.

Unsanitary asshole.

"Ahh, did your mother teach you those manners?" You hissed as you grabbed the tart from the case before a customer walked in.

Taehyung smirked at you, "My mother gave up on teaching me pretty early in life."

You rolled your eyes, "I think I would too if you were my child,"

A change in emotion flashed across his face too quickly for you to identify. You decided to change the topic before you risked hitting a sore spot. You and Hobi weren't the only ones with family issues in this city. In fact, it was a running theme in Alcorn.

"What do you want, V? Jimin isn't even here," you sighed, leaning against the countertop.

"I can't just come by to get a cup of coffee?" Taehyung asked in a mocked, hurt tone. Your eyes rolled again.

"No, because you don't even like coffee, you put so much cream and sugar in it, it looks white," you teased.

"I'm sorry for not enjoying your bitter bean juice, it's a mockery to my delicate taste buds. But at the end of the day, I need to stay awake as long as possible," he added profoundly with a shrug.

"Why don't you just drink energy drinks?" you asked, and Taehyung fixed you with a look, the predatory kind that made you freeze in place and made your heart beat flutter. He chewed his gum a little obnoxiously, smirking as your eyes fell to his lips.

"Because my dear Ella, you don't sell energy drinks here, and I need every excuse to see you," he replied in his deep baritone.

You huffed, turning your back at him to effectively break from his trance, "You're so full of shit," your murmur as you continue stacking the cups. He chuckled as he made his way beside you, standing so close you could feel the heat radiate off his arms, helping you make the stacks even.

After a moment, he asked softly, "Have you talked to Hobi recently?"

You looked to him, taken a little off guard by the personal question, "Not recently," you hesitated for a moment before adding, "I don't know what to say."

Tae studied you for a moment, you could see the conflict in his eyes as he said, "He cares about you, and in the end, he did what he did to protect you."

"It's not just the lying," you sighed, leaning against the counter. "I just, I don't know what to think. He's killed people Tae," you said softly, worried that saying it too loud would somehow trigger another loss of life. Taehyung's eyes darkened at your comment.

"Ella, you have a right to need time to process everything, but I must remind you, it's Alcorn. This city is corrupt and filled with terrible people. If you're not made of money, you have to kill to survive."

He took in your shocked silence as his cue to continue, "Look, I would like to tell you that not everyone in BTS is a killer, I would like to tell you that the people we do kill are the bad ones that deserve to die. We strive for that, but at the end of the day, we have our motives and family to protect. I would like to tell you any kind of good news that might make you feel safe and help your moral compass see true North, but I can't because that would make me a liar."

You shook your head in disbelief, "That's terrible,"

He smiled a feral grin, "We are terrible sweet, Ella. Alcorn and everything in it is terrible."

He took in your fearful expression, and he sighed as he found himself caught up in the moment and the bitter disdain for this city.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and when he opened them, they were soft. His whole expression changed to a more comforting one.

In the back of your mind, you remember Jimin telling you how on top of drug dealing, Tae was an excellent spy, he could change faces like someone changes their clothes. Knowing that did nothing to prepare you for the whiplash you got from experiencing it up close.

A/n: why do you think Tae really came to talk to her?? Thank you for reading please remember to vote for the chapter and comment on your fav moments!!!