|8th JANUARY - YANG ARA'S P.O.V|
Ara stood in front of the calendar hanging in her room, right beside the picture frame of her and her father. She looked at the date, 8th January.
She had one week.
One week before Jeon Corp. hosted the annual business party. One week before she had to execute the terrifying and disgusting plan assigned to her by Mr. Jeon.
She closed her eyes tight, restricting the burning tears from flowing down her pretty face. She didn't want to do this. At all. Didn't want to paint her hands dirty with the sin of potentially breaking apart the most beautiful relationship she had ever acquainted with.
But she had to.
For her father, she kept telling herself.
She sat on her bed, now gazing at the picture of her and her dad. Her world. Her mother had left the mortal world when she was only a year old. The only memory she had of her were the ones secured in photo frames. Her dad had raised her, and so beautifully. It was finally time to pay him back. She needed to do this.
She scoffed with a sad smile, yet disguised hatred when she thought about how well Mr. Jeon had convinced her to perform the sickening act. How well he had blackmailed her to make Taehyung believe Jungkook was cheating on him.
She wondered if Taehyung would believe her. She questioned how strong Taehyung and Jungkook's bond of trust really was.
Either way, she had to make the act seem as convincing as possible. Her father was at stake, she needed to do it.
At one point, she had also cursed at her dad for having tied up with a man like Jungkook's father. She hated him. She felt nothing but pure hatred for him.
She wished she could run away with her father. To a land which only served them with happiness.
But she couldn't.
Mr. Jeon had blackmailed her too well.
|FLASHBACK|
It was late when Ara heard her phone ring: 11:00 p.m. No one but her father could have been calling her at this hour. Therefore, she was terribly surprised to find Mr. Jeon's name staring back at her. She contemplated picking the phone up, but the rings seemed urgent and so did Mr. Jeon's voice when she let out a soft, "Hello?"
She expected a greeting accompanied by a quick apology for calling her so late at night. But she didn't receive either. Just one daunting line, "I need you to make Taehyung think Jungkook is cheating on him."
"What?!" She exclaimed, horrified. She had made the mistake of complying to Mr. Jeon's inhumane demands of ruining his son's relationship once. She couldn't do it again, she didn't want to.
She wasn't sure what had gotten into her that night when she had almost sexually assaulted Jungkook. That side of hers was a stranger to her, and she preferred it staying the same way.
She had ran behind Jungkook that night. To apologize to him, to make him aware about Mr. Jeon's motives, so he could run away forever. But before she had the chance to talk to him, he was already gone.
She had wished he would never return. She had hoped that she would never have to see his face again, for she didn't think she could handle the heavy burden of guilt when she would see the hatred in his eyes for her.
But here she was. Being ordered by the same repulsive father to hurt the same pure human being. But this time, the act would be a million times worse.
"Yes. Jungkook is coming here tomorrow with Taehyung. The party is in a week. You know what needs to be done."
"No! I'm not doing that again! Didn't you see the look on your son's face?! I can't-"
"Ara, if you don't, I won't hesitate to throw you and your father on the streets." His voice was low and cunningly manipulative.
Ara's heart twisted in her chest.
She knew.
She knew Mr. Jeon would not hesitate to do what he claimed he would. And it was so incredibly easy for him to do so too.
Her father, Mr. Yang, was Jeon Corp.'s biggest shareholder, owning almost 30% of the company's shares. Mr. Jeon owned 51% and the other 19% was attributed to the Stock market. But, Mr. Jeon was also the biggest shareholder of Mr. Yang's company. The only difference was that he held a big, big amount of shares. Mr. Yang's company was not listed on the Stock market, so Mr. Jeon owned 49% of it while Mr. Yang owned 51%. Mr. Jeon was the owner of almost half of his company. In a way, he was the second CEO of the company, without actually having anything to do with the internal affairs of it.
The deal struck by these two honored business men had actually started out as a very friendly affair. It was about two years back, when Mr. Jeon's company was at the brink of bankruptcy. He had sought out for help, only to get a positive response from an old friend. Mr. Yang had decided to buy 30% of Jeon Corp.'s shares. The deal had benefitted the company immensely. So much, that in the next year, Mr. Jeon had grown his company almost twice the size of what it had previously been.
Therefore, when Mr. Yang's company faced the same situation as Jeon Corp., Mr. Jeon had whole heartedly offered to buy his company's shares too. In that way, both the companies would benefit. But, the only difference was that Mr. Yang's company had been affected way worse than Mr. Jeon's, resulting in the latter having to buy almost half of all shares.
Unfortunately though, Mr. Yang has still not recovered from the immense loss and near bankruptcy. Which means that if Mr. Jeon would withdraw from owning all the shares of Mr. Yang's company that he does, Ara and her father would inevitably have to give up everything and become homeless.
On the other hand, if Mr. Yang threatened to sell the Jeon Corp. shares that he owned, it would barely affect Mr. Jeon and his vast empire.
This is what Mr. Jeon was blackmailing Ara about. He would sell his shares and lead Ara and her father to the path of total bankruptcy.
Ara sobbed, caught on such a cruel crossroad. She didn't want to do what Jungkook's father wanted her to, but she also couldn't sacrifice her father for a couple she barely knew. She knew what she had to do, even if she remained guilty for it for the rest of her life.
She spoke in a whisper, "Why are you making me do this?"
Mr. Jeon incredulously replied, "Because my son is stupidly love-struck by some dumb boy who would do nothing but ruin his life."
Ara winced, wanting nothing more than to throw all the curses in the world at this man who still had the audacity to call Jungkook 'my son'.
Mr. Jeon spoke again, his patience running short, "Will you do it or should I contact my lawyers?"
"I WILL!" Ara screamed, terrified on hearing the word 'lawyers'.
"I will." She repeated again.
'I will have to.' She recited in her mind.
"Good." Was all the evil father told her before he cut the call.
|END OF FLASHBACK|
And that's how this poor girl found herself crying in her bed, already loathing herself for making an attempt to destroy such a pure relationship.
She cried in her hands, but kept telling herself.
'I have to do this.'
'For dad.'
|9th JANUARY - TAEHYUNG AND JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V|
"Fuck, I really don't want to do this." Jungkook looked at himself in the mirror, fixing his tie. He was probably so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't even realize he was almost at the verge of choking himself.
"Careful Kook." Taehyung's voice came from behind him and then he felt two warm hands removing his hands from the tie, and instead fixing the knot for him.
"You'll be fine. We'll be fine." Taehyung reminded him and pecked his lips to comfort the younger.
It was the next day. The day when Taehyung and Jungkook would meet the latter's parents. Jungkook was wearing a suit, the perfect attire for a day at work. On the other hand, Taehyung just wore a white shirt, neatly tucked into black jeans. He wasn't going to work, he was just going to give his boyfriend moral support.
"Tae," Jungkook held his elbow and pulled him back when he began to leave from Jungkook's side.
"Are you sure you want to come with me?" He asked, his eyes over flowing with worry.
"Completely." He smiled and kissed him again to make sure Jungkook knew that he indeed was completely sure.
"Why?" Jungkook asked, his fingers mindlessly caressing Taehyung's sides. He probably wasn't even aware of performing the action. It had all become so natural now.
Taehyung looked at him in disbelief, but it looked like Jungkook hadn't seen his expression since he was too busy gazing at the tiled floor, so the older joked, "Because you look handsome as fuck in a suit and I want to see you in it as much as I can. I need to come along with you, because I know as soon as you'll be home, you'll be in your pajamas again."
Jungkook looked up with a slight laugh, wondering how Taehyung could flip such heated and serious conversations onto a lighter note so easily and effectively. He even noticed how Taehyung called this foreign hotel room 'home'. But didn't comment on it, because again, it was so natural and normal now. Anywhere with Taehyung being home.
"Do I really though?" He briefly turned to look at himself in the mirror before meeting Taehyung's gaze again.
"Really what?"
"Look good in a suit?"
Taehyung snorted, "You look good in everything babe."
Jungkook scrunched his nose, unable to believe that even after a year of dating, he still felt hot and his ears still got red after every flirty comment Taehyung made.
"You're blushing again Kook."
"Again?" Jungkook chuckled.
"Yeah, you blush every time I get too cheesy. You get those butterflies too, don't you?"
Jungkook turned around and held Taehyung by the waist, "Too? So you admit you get butterflies."
"Shut up, you get 'em too."
"Of course I do." Jungkook leaned in, pressing his lips against Taehyung's forehead before whispering, "I apologize in advance for my parents saying bad shit about you."
"You don't have to apologize Kook. It's not your fault."
Jungkook smiled before taking Taehyung's hand in his and heading out of the hotel room.
|AN HOUR LATER|
"Welcome back Jungkook!" Mrs. Jeon gleefully greeted her son before Mr. Jeon could spit out some harsh words and ruin Jungkook's mood even before the day started.
Jungkook was already taken aback by the cheerful tone his mother had for him, but when Mrs. Jeon stepped closer to give him a loose hug, Jungkook grew even more surprised.
He subconsciously looked at Taehyung who looked just as surprised he was. Except, Taehyung was smiling.
Jungkook gulped and looked down tentatively. He didn't know what he should be doing.
'Should I hug her back?'
This was all very strange to him, getting physical affection from his parents. He looked down again, in thought. He knew his mother had improved, he knew she had learnt from her mistakes. So what's the harm?
On the other hand, Mrs. Jeon relished in the feeling of being so affectionate to her son for the first time in years. She silently hoped that he would return that affection. But, after ten seconds, when she didn't feel him returning the hug, she thought this was all probably too awkward and started pulling away.
That's when she felt two arms wrapping around her as well. Jungkook didn't hug her tight, they weren't that comfortable yet. But he returned her love, and that the most important thing.
She felt her eyes brimming with tears, finally being able to give Jungkook the love he's deserved all his life. Those tears fell to her face when she heard her son speaking, "Hello ma."
Her heart burst with elation on listening to that name, the one Jungkook used to call her as a kid. She felt complete again.
Taehyung stood to the side, astonished beyond belief by what took place in front of his eyes. Jungkook was finally getting his mother's love, the most potent love in the entirety of the universe. He knew Jungkook considered their love to be the most esteemed of all. But he also knew that the feeling of a mother loving you, was different from all sorts of other loves present in the world.
He sniffled, only now realizing that he too had tears in his eyes. He looked away, not wanting to create a scene and sob his eyes out.
As much as Mrs. Jeon didn't want to pull away from her son's warmth, she had other things to do. Other things to set right.
She looked at Taehyung and walked towards him a smile.
"Hello Taehyung." She said before enveloping him in a hug too.
Taehyung looked at Jungkook with wide eyes, but instantly hugged her back, not wanting to create a negative impression on her.
Jungkook eyes were wide too, he looked at them in shock with a smile. He didn't cry, as much as he wanted those tears to release themselves from the prison that were his eyes, he was good at controlling his emotions. He was not going to cry in public, in front of his father.
Looking at the how things were going, he thought, 'Maybe this won't go as bad as I thought it would?'
As Taehyung hugged Mrs. Jeon back, he slowly spoke, "Hello ma'am."
He expected her to end the hug right there, because he wasn't her son and they didn't need this kind of affection. She must have hugged him only as a formality. But, much to Taehyung's surprise, she stood right there, and instead whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. And thank you so much for taking care of my son."
Taehyung rooted to the spot and quickly inhaled. He had stopped breathing. He whispered back, "It's okay ma'am."
When they parted, Taehyung looked at Jungkook who had a worried frown. Jungkook slightly lifted his head up in question, probably asking what his mother had told the older. Jungkook didn't trust her yet, and neither did Taehyung. This was only the beginning, she had a long way to go before she could gain even a little bit of their trust.
Taehyung shook his head with a smile, showing Jungkook a thumbs up. Making sure he knew that everything was okay.
Then the couple turned towards Mr. Jeon, the main issue. The man had stood expressionless, as still as a statue. But as soon as Jungkook and Taehyung had turned to look at him. He smiled with a wide grin, opening his arms wide, but never moving forward to hug either of the two.
"Welcome Jungkook and Taehyung! Welcome!" That's all he said before he turned his back to them and started walking towards his office.
His expression and tone were joyful, but he wasn't. It was as clear as day.
Taehyung and Jungkook looked at each other.
They both whispered in unison, "Something isn't right."
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Thursday Update!!!
I wrote a long one today 😌
I just hope the whole Mr. Yang and Mr. Jeon business shares things was clear 😬
I feel like I made it look kinda confusing 😅
Anywayss, by popular demand, I'll try my best not to make the story too dramatic. Thank you all so much for sharing your valuable opinion with me!! 🥺💜
I hope you liked today's chapter!! 💜
Today's Question: Is Taekook your ultimate ship? If not, which ship is? And what other ships do you support (In BTS)?
My answer: Tbh, I ship all the members lmao 🥴 BUT, Taekook is very much my ultimate ship and I don't ship the others nearly as much as I do Taekook. 😬 But I obviously love all of them together 🥺💜
Thank you so much for reading! I love you 💜❤
Take care lovelies
Stay safe, Stay home