| Chapter Twenty-five |
[13k+ words]
(A/N: fluff and talks for our enjoyment hmm 🧘♀️)
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A clip from 2017.
"After watching, I knew something was not a coincidence." Hyowon said.
It was late, dark at night around the Port of Civitavecchia in the recording, and as ordinary as it was that there were workers working hard at every hour of the day, the scans detected irregular but familiar features blending in with those men who were bringing in boxes —
"Matched the face of the person from the basilica," said Jimin.
The clip was even blurry and at times pixelated due to the darkness and distance from the specific CCTV they hacked into, but they had no options in this situation. Jimin was partly watching along as he had reviewed it with their colleagues a bit earlier, the other half of his focus was on the cases he and Taehyung discussed.
"You said this was back in 2017..." Taehyung's eyes narrowed slightly and he recalled a bad confusion from when he was deeply thinking yesterday. He knew the vigilantes wouldn't like them bringing up anything about the informant at all, honestly. Not that he cared.
"Yeah." nodded Hyowon. Sunghwan's screen wasn't presented on the television, doing another file browsing in the meantime with a deep frown. Jimin stared curiously from the side.
They all squinted tensely to watch, not realizing that they had funnily leaned forward in their seats altogether.
"Huh," Sana blinked.
"There's a letter on the package." Soyun said thoughtfully and they saw the man walking off naturally then rushing out of the port in a crowd-mindful manner, "Why would anyone leave a letter there?"
"He took the letter with him." Seokjin pointed out.
"How the fuck can yall see that?" Jackson said incredulously.
"I'm naturally blessed with good eyes, I don't know." she shrugged casually and Sana laughed, perhaps used to her calm deadass-toned self compliments. But even through their lighthearted chuckles, they were focusing again when Sunghwan switched videos.
"What's this?" Namjoon inquired.
"Looks like a dinner party at some rich place. Your manor or something, Taehyung?" Jungkook pointed out relaxedly. It really looked just like that though: a gathering. Several men and a few women too, all sharing this same air of immense wealth and crimes.
"I'm not sure if I should be concerned or impressed but you're spot on. It's from a recording of one of the CCTVs in our manor..." Sunghwan said grimly. Taehyung, Jimin and Seojoon shifted in expressions, "Our manor in Seoul. This was from 2017 too and —"
"But we're telling you, that dude still doesn't look like our previous leader." Yoongi said, leaning back with a quietened yawn.
The grand room reminded her of wedding halls or simply important gatherings and almost all of them could recognize a slightly younger Taehyung in the recording, away from the rest of his own guests as his father was patronizing more overhead on the stage, clanking wine glasses with the same calm, cheeky smile. Jimin held in a giggle and teased Taehyung off-camera, "Little did your dad know that he was going to die on that very night, hm?"
Taehyung made no reaction whatsoever. Hyowon thought he heard something but was mindful of the mafiosi's silent stares. The screen continued to pan around the hall, and Taehyung saw more would come in to shake hands with his father. His younger self had decided to leave the room.
"Who's that guy, the one they keep bowing to?" Seokjin queried curiously.
"Taehyung's father. He's dead now though." Jimin answered on his friend's behalf. Soyun exhaled a silent breath as she went back to concentrating. Jungkook's gaze sharpened at the side with the vigilantes remaining still.
"Zoom in," Namjoon said.
They all stirred meticulously again and Hoseok squinted as the opacity of numbers and digits on the screen were lessened; they were zooming to stop the clip when the scanner recognized nearly the same features from the basilica and port.
"It's an 80% match? I mean, it's still high." Hyowon commented.
"Hold on." Taehyung's stern interruption meant a lot in itself. They saw the man with a mask walking out of the room, his way the opposite of the other man pacing calmly to leave through another door — he frowned with a snort, "Jimin. Come look at this shit."
Sunghwan gasped, "I thought I remembered something important —"
"The moulage artists. Taemin's team. You recognize that guy, don't you?" Taehyung said sternly and Jimin seemed serious for once, hands on the desk. Soyun could feel the tense shift in the air and Namjoon already let out a sigh as he leaned back on the couch.
"Oh my, what now?" Jungkook said sarcastically but with a frown. Hoseok's face hardened.
"What's his name again?"
"That's... Sunghwan, go back a bit." Jimin ordered and he furrowed his brows again, eyes scrutinizing the person on screen, "That's Gongyoo. Yeah, he's one of our doll makers."
"Right. Hope, when did your previous leader die?" Taehyung asked calmly.
Seokjin burst a small, wry chuckle first before Jungkook.
"Does this mean that the informant is possibly affiliated with the mafia next?"
"All our sides, actually." Soyun just realized, "Taehyung, what was the date when this happened?"
"14th of September in 2017."
Jungkook's gaze hardened and he groaned exasperatedly, "And the leader died a week before that. Just coincidentally in the same year and month, mayhaps?"
"The one at the port?" Namjoon asked, temporarily overlooking the silent yet telling expressions on the vigilante group's faces, ones that seemed hesitant to believe but confused with logic.
"No but the man really doesn't look even a bit like —"
"I mean, realistic and different-faced masks for disguises do exist." Sana said casually.
"The one at the port was a month earlier." Taehyung said. Even now, honestly, the NIS agents wondered how Namjoon could converse level-headedly with the Mafiosi who killed their chief. They were all the same though. Sitting in this room calmly as they discussed with every shred of resentment or conflicts shoved underneath.
Soyun mused thoughtfully knowing that Yoongi and Hoseok were eyeing her, "And if they're affiliated with some skilled fabricators —"
"Whose side are you on?" Jungkook scowled but she remained calm. Hyowon and Sunghwan just messaged their shoulders, Seojoon pondering by himself or just trying to not get involved in their glares, Dawon who was already half-awake looking at Hoseok who fell silent amidst their chatters, he felt ridiculous — "Can all of you shut the fuck up for a moment and think?"
Soyun listened when some of them were scoffing or still discussing amongst themselves after his sharp tone.
"Why in the hell would he be affiliated with the ones who definitely would kill him, to begin with? He wasn't that dumb." Jungkook scowled and turned to his hyungs who in contrast were staying silent, "Besides, we saw it oursel —"
"We were looking into the possibility that he might still be alive thanks to that secret affiliation." Namjoon cut in and continued, his serene gaze confronting the vigilante's hostile glare from across one another's couches. He'd admit that he was pleased with Soyun's calm focus or at the very least neutral stance at the moment but even Seokjin would pause to think away, "The only lead we have into this informant who holds the answers, the one whom Haneul is eager to get ahold of before we do are these results. It's best we don't stop just because of your personal deductions."
Jungkook's glare darkened again but he didn't bother arguing.
"We're not done yet." Jimin looked into Taehyung's way for approval before he continued calmly and they all turned to the paused screen, "Sunghwan, show these pictures."
There was an intermission for several seconds as clickings could be heard through the speakers. Jungkook was almost indifferent through the whole time ever since as though he knew people could be monitoring his expressions. The screen then showed slides and pictures that were seemingly taken from a dark, antique and elegant shop that was in a mess — it looked like a wild brawl took place there. There were blood, broken wooden chairs, a fire iron that was still half-burning intensely but a fireplace put out, collapsed coat racks, shattered vases and shards of glass all over the scene of —
"Why are you showing us a crime scene?" Seokjin said.
Soyun saw the fire iron and remembered something she assumed from yesterday's night but kept it to herself.
"What's this?" Namjoon sighed. The vigilantes fell silent as if they weren't already less talkative, "Are these pictures related to the informant?"
"They may be." Taehyung said.
"Hoseok, that's..." Jackson whispered nervously. The guy only rolled his eyes. Dawon and Yoongi discreetly sighed. Jungkook on the other hand didn't react but no comments from him was suspicious to Soyun.
"This was coincidentally on the same night but in Itaewon. No one knew exactly what happened there. Our antique store was broken into. Or rather, infiltrated and stormed." Taehyung said.
"And?" Seokjin and Sana blinked, feeling like the explanation was hanging.
"You want us to find the culprits for you or something?" Jungkook snickered casually.
"Would there be a possibility, I wonder," Jimin hummed slowly, "I wonder if the vigilantes who believed that our Corvino Family was responsible for their leader's death decided to attack one of our places for revenge that night."
Soyun felt incredulous that she only thought of it when Jimin spelled it out for them. Even so, the impassive looks in the vigilantes' eyes were confusing.
"How did your leader die again?" Namjoon asked calmly.
"The mafia killed him." Jungkook said calmly and their gazes went to him as he threw his head back with a dry laugh, one that shouldn't usually go with the reply he gave, "But no, that night wasn't our doing. If I wanted revenge for that guy, I would at least storm the front gates. An antique store from who knows where with probably low-class fighters or just shop guardians? Lame."
Taehyung chuckled serenely despite the sharp remark, "All right then. But we were also hypothetically trying to guess if we ever killed your leader."
Again, the air changed. Most of them were too concentrated and intrigued to cut in.
"We actually keep track of our killings and deeds but none of our recorded cases mentioned a vigilante or anyone important in that period of time. The informant and the guy at the party might be alive for all we know."
"He's dead." Jungkook said.
"But these do make sense, don't they?" Seokjin nodded to himself and Seojoon looked blank. Sana messaged her own head and Soyun would just agree with Hyowon's next words regardless of whether she fully took the assumptions seriously or not.
"Where was this gathering held?" Soyun asked.
"In Turin." Jimin answered.
"So far away from the antique shop, isn't it? One is in Italy and the other is in Itaewon, South Korea." Yoongi laughed mirthlessly.
"Now that we debunked this through the clip of the port in 2017 and confirmed that the informant exists," Hyowon cleared his throat, "we still don't have a clue on where to find the guy without Kim Taehyung's missing moulage artists."
"The informant is most likely not our previous leader." Hoseok said flatly, "I still stand by that."
It was ridiculous to think of even for some of them; the vigilantes were only this fiercely obdurate because they saw their previous leader's corpse. Realistically, one would just take it that the man died then. It was them insisting that their leader had been hiding himself away from them and been alive when they saw his death, logical opinions and beliefs that seemed to absolutely piss them off. Soyun would feel outrageously ridiculed if someone told her that her dead sister was secretly still alive too, for many reasons. The vigilantes could be not worried about their possibly straying deductions, perhaps just annoyed.
"But we'd appreciate it if you tell us everything you know of him." Namjoon stared at them firmly across the coffee table as the highway below colourfully shone, "Because he's still Haneul's and our suspect."
"I don't even want to argue with you all right now, good night." Yoongi chuckled nonchalantly, getting up with their eyes on him, "Dawon, we have more mattresses in the master bedroom's wardrobe don't we? Three needed because Hoseok and Jackson too —"
"You're just going to go to bed like that without sharing with us anything?" Seokjin said and whined childishly to mock them, "Yah, don't you think you guys are way too secretive for the man yall insist is gone?"
"Uhm, yeah we do have." Dawon replied to Yoongi anyway, "I thought you said that Minatozaki was going to sleep there with me though so like —"
"Are you guys going to bed?" Namjoon asked calmly, not looking up.
"Yeah. Good night." Yoongi said impassively, walking off with a visible look of annoyance on his face.
Jungkook made eye contact with Soyun when their comrades started scowling and thought that she looked slightly apprehensive, even concerned or was spacing out as she pondered by herself in silence behind the rest of their colleagues. He remained calm. He didn't blame her for not taking sides with all that he and his group were still keeping away from them, not that it would've mattered much to bother him if not for Namjoon's subtle passive-aggressiveness when she was silent.
"It's our choice to be quiet about who, you know." Hoseok chuckled in response, standing up as he sipped from his glass for the last time first. "Oh right, Miss Minatozaki can sleep with Soyun."
"I'm still using my own room." Jungkook said calmly, his gaze on his phone but knew he had just looked away from Soyun. While Namjoon raised a brow, Yoongi and Jackson just shared casual shrugs.
"All right then, good night everyone." Hoseok smiled brightly when he faced them again before walking away to his room. His sister yawned quietly.
Sana said hesitantly, "Uhm —"
"You can choose to still sleep in the room or here in the living room."
Seokjin just watched as Jungkook started eating the meals on their table like nothing just happened between their colleagues again. So long as they remain so secretive and suspiciously adamant with their disagreements, their sides won't get along anytime soon even if they would for their lives during suspense.
"Sorry for us though." Dawon chuckled, her wry gaze at the back of her own comrades.
"Unnie, I'll sleep outside with you if you want." Soyun whispered sneakily, already knowing that Sana was very unsure about being in the vigilantes' presence, just like herself at the moment. I don't feel like withstanding the pressure in the air tonight ahaha — but Jungkook had glanced with a confused eyebrow raise in her direction when she whispered so and she cursed in her head.
"You would? Okay then, I slept just fine yesterday although I was drunk —"
"You two girls can have my room, the Jackson guy is sleeping with his dudes anyway. I'll be in the living room here." Seokjin said and Namjoon got up to refill his coffee by the counter ahead.
"You got problems sleeping with me?" Jungkook asked casually and looked at Soyun as though he just asked for a pen in an exam hall. Sana and Seokjin both hid their curiosities behind slurping their drinks loudly, Namjoon's unreadable stare going to the same young lad.
HOW WOULD I DEAL WITH YOUR AURA? "No, but yeah I just —"
"Soyun can prefer where to sleep." Taehyung's voice through the screen almost startled all of them excluding Namjoon and Jungkook who then just sighed his head back, then proceeded to nonchalantly plug off the cables from Seojoon's laptops and the ones to the television. The screen went black and the room fell quiet just like that.
"I would've laughed if we were friends." Seokjin said conversationally.
"You know the one who talked just now?" Sana blinked, her voice grim with surprise.
"I forgot that Joon didn't tell you but the mafia guy is apparently Soyun's childhood friend."
"All these aside," Namjoon sighed calmly as he made way to them, bringing a glass of tea for his colleague Soyun who hadn't touched dinner yet. "Hyungsik and Adora just reported to me that the convention's attendees were stubborn as expected. They don't trust that Haneul could have anything he wants to do with the event, for one."
"Thanks," she muttered quietly. If she were to be honest, the images she saw in her dreams and from the anonymous sender days ago were still ruining her appetite as much as she hated its effects.
"Not surprising." Jungkook shrugged, eyes still on her.
"Not only that, we're still receiving no results even though Taehyung had been sending most of our men out to find the moulage artists." Seojoon groaned.
"I heard that the department responsible for the pieces of evidence for Myeongdong's case was not answering and the members we required turned out to be gone too?" Sana let out a long sigh, "But at least it's quite peaceful and quiet...?"
For now.
"You ate lunch, right?" Namjoon asked Soyun under their colleagues' voices. Seojoon preferred to use the living room but Seokjin didn't take the chance to take the other bed in Namjoon's room anyway, probably finding it cozier outside, closer to the fridge.
"Yeah, why?"
"That's good," he smiled and gave a pat on her shoulder lightly, "you should know how admirable you are for taking care of yourself and eating although you didn't feel like it."
She was dazed for a few seconds until he went away with a softer "good night", heading to his room. The clock being just half an hour past 8 PM was a reason for her to feel that the vigilantes were perhaps prickled in ways... The calm air and faces they had were confusing. In the end, she just slept in the same room as Jungkook again, deciding that she should just not mind it should he emit some mysterious and dark aura again.
And of course, he teased her for it.
"Guess you wanted to sleep here after all." he laughed from the lower bunk and she just swallowed a sigh.
"Good night."
The lights were off. Moonlight and city lights from the highway below glinting in the distance and it was silent again. Unperceived by Soyun who was actually trying to forget the complicated stuffs to just sleep upstairs, Jungkook somewhat spaced out as he stared at his ceiling, gaze deep in thoughts.
And honestly, she was afraid of seeing things again if she closed her eyes and fall into a deep sleep. Her experiences with sleep paralysis and nightmares were already terrible, not to mention the blood and guilt frequently threatening her breathing whenever these shadows intrude at night. But she slept anyway: feeling the same echoing melody under the dome again and the night of red and blue lights before the court...
2nd of May, Thursday. Soyun went to Seoul Medical Centre to sign the surgery for Sungrok. She didn't question Jungkook's choice to skip lectures on that day as she was bombarded with questions from Nayeon and Jeongyeon when she walked into the hall, not that she expected she would get away with not explaining how she couldn't be contacted for the last few days. There were no new findings from Taehyung's and Hyowon's side in Italy, no traces of Choi Min-Sik and Sung Dong-Il, no known movements of Haneul as far as they know.
3rd of May, 7:30 PM KST / 6:30 EST in New York
Jaesik had received updates on the current situation with their own moulage artists and so he had begun investigations on his own side. He was convinced that it was going to be fruitless there too but recalling Taehyung's additional note, he decided it might not be stupid to have some of their men tail Haneul's. Turned out that they didn't need to go through such hassles: the skies were still shades of sapphire as he walked over to his desk and grabbed his phone, informing his don of a curious scene.
"Someone has been assassinating his men these past few days?" Taehyung frowned as he brushed his teeth, one of his Italian men holding it the phone for him. "Who?"
"No one knows," Jaesik caressed his grey beard and pensively brooded over the scene yesterday, he and his men were blended in the streets of New York and him in the alley nearby when the person they tailed suddenly collapsed to the ground with a slashed nape. All under the daylight with the crowded sidewalk, yet done so neatly. "And it wasn't poison either. I was in the crowd with my team and the others but we didn't notice anyone suspicious."
"Even nothing from cameras and recordings?" Jimin raised a brow and hummed grimly from over his men's shoulder, the bathroom door open so they could see him eyeing the board of information. Taehyung was staring at his own reflection in the mirror.
"This has been happening since weeks ago. Consistently. One of us heard from the underground that some were mutilated and thrown into the waters of Mohawk River just a few days ago, some around other random places."
Wiping his mouth with a thoughtful look in his icy eyes, Taehyung's men knew to hand over the phone when he gave a glance. He walked back into his grand bedchamber, "How does someone know about their schedules so well, I wonder... Consigliere, keep updating me about everything over there."
Their call ended and Jimin made way to his friend's desk to sit with the same look of seriousness.
"Nicolo," Taehyung addressed, his gaze not moving away from his phone.
"Sì, capo?" the one who held the phone for him earlier turned. Jimin was absentmindedly relaxing or thinking deeply in Taehyung's armchair like it was his place, Chelsea boots on the desk but the others were not new to it.
"How about Taemin? The rest of our Puppette?"
(A/N: umm i guess yall can assume when he switch languages? im sorryshsjdhdjdn)
All of them shook their heads. They were excused but expected to stay vigilant on the lookout and continuing investigations.
"They could contact him just fine some days ago although even then, he and the whole team were strangely unable to not sound hurried. Taemin, Momo, Gongyoo, Jihyo, Yuuya, Pierfrancesco, Jay, Alfredo, Marco, LaKeith and Heeseung... All of them out of reach at once," Jimin sighed and laughed wryly, "I can even assume Haneul got to them, but not sure in which way."
As Sunghwan and Hyowon were still doing the scanning and investigation digitally below, they were darkly silent upstairs.
"This is quite frustrating." Taehyung held back a cold laugh as he went to the windows for some breather where he can see the gardens, "And I definitely don't like the way they move around freely without my knowledge throughout these years, how come I've never paid that much attention?"
The armchair Jimin rolled around with making a small sound as the blond then elbowed his young friend, "But Taehyung-ah."
He raised a brow at him, the noon barely bright as grey clouds drifted evenly aboveground.
"I happened to overhear your talk with the belladonna a few days ago, you see..." Jimin hummed solemnly and the look in Taehyung's eyes had already clouded over with a sullen hue, "I'm not against most of what you do, bro but you should really cogitate on this matter seriously if you have feelings for her as you say."
He did not meet his friend's eyes but knew the guy's rare firm gaze was still on him from the side, "I made myself clear to her twice."
"That's not what I mean, Taehyungie you know that."
Their backgrounds. Even thinking of it made him want to ruin this house of schism, crimes, poison and manslaughter but he couldn't. It was part of him now. His jaw clenched and he remained unreadably silent as Jimin went on, "We are fine with getting rid of our same enemies but Shin Soyun is not suited for your background no matter how many intriguing surprises she has herself."
He scoffed, "If you speak again —"
"It's one of the reasons you never see me play around or commit to any of these romances outside work even if I can." Jimin cut in calmly despite the cold glare against him beneath his dark curls, "It's her state and her lifestyle that will have to change."
"Then why do you insist that Jeon Jungkook or Kim Namjoon are my competitors?" Taehyung said serenely as Jimin just hopelessly groaned in his chair, "Jeon Jungkook and I especially, have practically the same conditions as those who work underground and in ashes."
"Whether that dude does anything or not isn't for me to keep up with or advise him on, you know." they only locked their gazes serenely for a few seconds. Jimin giggled casually, "While it's sweet and cute how much you're attached to your first love, I can't help but wonder if you think she would —"
"If she falls for me, she would." Taehyung said confidently with his same serene eyes, tilting his head slightly as though to dare him to contradict him again. And honestly, he might just pull out the silverware from his pocket now if he could.
"Do you think it's that easy to fall for someone like you, Taehyungie?" Jimin said again, calm and firm, "You're self-aware. You know of all the blood you spilled, all the nights you terrorized with the brutalized corpses we leave."
"You don't have to concern yourself with my matter." but he remembered well how Soyun nearly had a breakdown from images of corpses. She was never good with morbid things, she only grew tolerance for them and wasn't completely unaffected. He felt his jaw clench again as he swallowed silently almost to deny it. He went on casually without a slight difference in tone, "Tell someone to buy dog food for Yeontan when you go downstairs, we still have them but it's better to keep more."
Jimin figured that only an "if you say so" and an "okay, then" would get through him at the moment so he just softly exhaled before reminding him of their lunch downstairs, his sound walking out of the room completely estinto on the dark carpets. Taehyung's grip on his silverware only loosened then. He turned to the walls on his side that faced the gardens, his gaze dim with warmth. There were pictures, polaroids, a camera, paintings and portraits. The adorable younger days flowed back to his mind; an autumn noon under the ashy clouds was quite cold but they both preferred wintry weathers anyway.
The thirteen-year-old him leaned against the walls outside her condominium building's lobby in Daegu and god knows how he got into the security-guarded residences. He loved how it made his heart beat whenever she came into his view frame. She wore a cute strawberry red beret that matched her outfit's colour. She smiled like always when they saw one another. He would've commented on the outfit but didn't, to avoid being nervous or awkward between them. They went to beautiful parks and calm places, even an abandoned swimming pool behind SNU when she brought it up and he somehow had ways to sneak in there. They were there for his business as he joined a photography competition and she had suggestions on places, but little did she know that most of the pictures he captured the past hour had been of her.
"Taehyung, I'm sure you will win." she nodded enthusiastically. They rested on the bench for the moment with the sandwiches she made in advance.
"Honestly? I only joined because the teacher forced me to and because my Dad was against it." he snorted bitterly under his breath, "I don't like following themes and at the moment, I'm at a dead end."
"Aren't you enjoying this though?" she giggled. There were passersby around the park and they could hear cars in the distant highway, but still peaceful. Dogs walking around and kids holding hands with their parents.
"Well," his endeared gaze turned from the kid somewhere ahead in in the park to her and he chuckled softly, "outdoors like this with you are kinda fun."
"Only good vibes, you're right." she smiled as they ate their sandwiches, her hands shuffling through the pictures he took, "I actually find it cute how soft you actually are."
"What?" he looked back at her with a surprised tone, almost stuttering.
"What?" she said back, laughing softly.
"I'm not that soft."
"No, you are. The way you randomly smile when you look at kids," she said conversationally but her smile from the side too warm for him to turn away as she wasn't looking, "and the way you hold dearly to beautiful little things captured in time."
The trees rustled gently around them. If happiness was real, it'd be her. Maybe that was why he took the pictures. He just chuckled and turned to the winds when it blew, stretching his hand out to touch that free leaf before it's whisked away. He wondered why he felt so flattered by her noting these little things he did. It simply meant that she cared and saw him, that he was someone, and it felt so warm, like a cozy comforter and tea blanketing him in winter.
"Or the way you try to catch fallen leaves just to admire its tiny flight," she added randomly.
"Okay, okay I get it." he jokingly brushed it off but he knew she could see the smile on his lips from the side.
"No one asked but I do these too. I think most people do," she giggled to herself and he just gazed at her after the sandwiches were already finished in their shared lunchbox, "and I personally feel like these are very beautiful and gentle impulsiveness."
He cracked up on the outside at her sudden deep words which she knew sounded quite corny but well, she was just saying anything she wanted anyway and as long as she had fun, nothing really mattered to them. She could notice and appreciate little things of his that others wouldn't, and accepted him the way he was... Maybe that was why he wanted her by his side. He just needed her to accept some more, he thought.
Taehyung could recall everything vividly from just a picture of autumn leaves, and when his gaze panned to another, one which sparked again another one of his memories when he shielded her from the rain, both of them having to share the oversized coat over their heads and although their schoolmates teased them being close like siblings instead of a couple, he still loved that moment very much. Soyun was right that they both clung to childhood memories a lot. They were warm but chilly. Peaceful and sometimes embarrassing or dark, but beautiful and pure. Even if he had never known ignorance nor innocence since birth.
A bark came outside and a chuckle left his lips as he walked over to the door for his dog. Yeontan barked adorably when he was let in, probably in a mood to soften for affection from his owner. A warmer smile adorned Taehyung's lips as he crouched to pat Yeontan gently, yet a part of him unpleasantly recalled a dark sunset of the past and he just stifled a hiss; maybe it was because he was just reminiscing memories that suddenly another would come to the surface.
The dog that he buried came to mind. Its pleading and fearful dead eyes looking right at him in his mind.
•••
7:50 PM KST in Seoul
"Anyways... have you ever had a pet?"
There were flashes of images he had long swore to bury at the farthest back of his head; the dog under the cloudy, grey dawn outside the convenience store that day, dusk when he was walking along the sidewalk in Daegu's neighbourhood and looking around for its white fur. He'd frown slightly and look around a little more, walking by the same convenience store again and again because if he wasn't wrong, the owner said that the dog regularly visited them. He had not much to do at the inn anyway and his mom was probably napping after weeping, or still have these investigators visiting for questions again. His head ached and his heart throbbed with unbearable pain that he would have to clutch his own chest by the sidewalk occasionally as he walked along the paths... whenever they mentioned his father, not because he hated him, but because of the way they spoke of him as a criminal.
His father wasn't a criminal. He would never hurt anyone, he would never make any sort of deal and wrongdoings the adults tell him about, he knew his father wasn't that kind of person, even the witness desperately screamed so but all of them were shunned helplessly, he had to see and hear his mother cry every hour or other times, forced to face investigators that require their words and takes on some bullshit, all the while the public was being fed with utter crap and falsehoods —
"Kid, are you okay?"
He only realized that he had been crushing the drink can with his hand as tears welled up in his eyes when the cashier from the convenience store called out to him. He kept his head low and replied a quiet "yes".
"Oh, you're the kid from some days ago! You come here a lot, don't you?" the cashier was fixing her apron and looking at the sunset skies ahead too, "Are you going to buy anything else?"
He honestly didn't have the strength to return the enthusiastic, joyful tone of the adult so he just nodded to be polite, still awkward as he threw away the can into the dustbin behind him.
"No, but..." he felt strange when he looked around again. He raised his head slightly and turned to the woman, his head suddenly hurting and his vision weakening, "The dog that usually comes here. Did you see it come by today?"
He heard her gasp as his breathing grew fainter, but he could see himself standing just fine and calm with ignorance until a strange anxiousness soak up his heart from the shaky tone when the woman looked at him worriedly: "T-The dog? Uhm... Why are you asking? You haven't heard —?"
Rogues, as in the mafia. The Kims who were also known as the Corvino Family, he later learned. Jungkook remembered and never forgot.
When he opened his eyes to the ceiling of the top bunk, he had to wait a few seconds for the mild headache to deplete and the loud voices from outside his room became clearer. Probably from the kitchen.
"YOU ARE AN NIS AGENT AND THEIR HEAD CHIEF FOR FUCK'S SAKE HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW HOW TO COOK? YAAA —" there was another scream then from Dawon and Jackson including noises from a television.
"He made Yoongi-hyung complain that loud? That's a talent." Jungkook muttered with a small snort to himself as he slowly sat up on the bed, checking his watch after a nap that just hurt his head. He checked the top bunk for a moment and supposed that Soyun was still not back from their campus. Sitting on his own bed again, he grabbed his water bottle to refresh himself. "That was the closest I was to having a pet? I didn't know that was pretty sad."
"There were never requirements like cooki —"
"I just came out of the bathroom, what happened?!" Seojoon dashed outside panickedly, eyes darting around the living room instead. Jungkook was wondering if anyone was even watching the television outside.
"YEAH, YEAH WE DON'T CARE, KIM SEOKJIN JUST GET THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER —" Hoseok groaned and there were some quick thuds; Jungkook just calmly headed to the windows and heard another guy screaming back, "I'M OLDER THAN YOU, WHY WOULD I LISTEN TO — HERE YOU GO! AND NAMJOON, HOW DID THE PAN GET ON FIRE?"
"They're so loud." he groaned by himself and turned back to the scenery from their high floor. He couldn't see the Han River from this side but the highway was colourful and bright. The sky was already dark. There were no texts on his phone when he checked, was she going to be later? He chuckled amusedly, "She sure is hardworking though, going to lectures even when we're technically in the middle of an actual serial case."
"Boss, I told you to let me do it!" Sana sighed hopelessly at the side.
"What's the difference between using oil and water to cook?" Namjoon frowned indignantly and his serious tone made Yoongi even more dumbfounded.
"Oh, sounds like the commotion extinguished." he hummed relaxedly from his bed again, just scrolling on his friends' social media pages while forgetting to text them back.
"Forget it but for the sake of world peace, just stay back and wait when people cook." Hoseok sighed, wiping his sweat and grimaced at his side with "I will literally lose my mind if we somehow lose this expensive unit because of an NIS agent" under his breath. Jungkook could just sense his hyung walking over to his room by the footsteps outside the door. Yoongi had gone back to the living room with Jackson, Seojoon heaving out a sigh of relief before going into his room with Namjoon.
"Jungkook, are you awa —"
"You know you should knock first, hyung." he said casually, yawning before sitting up to face his hyung.
"Since you're awake now," Hoseok just continued conversationally and looked at his watch, the loudness from the kitchen ignored by both of them. "have you heard from Soyun yet? It's quite late."
"She probably went to the hospital for her brother again, but yeah I'll get her." since she'd need someone with the condominium's card to bring her up the floors anyway.
Hoseok looked at him with a small frown for a second, "She's downstairs already?" and he just went along with it when the younger waved his phone as he passed him. He probably checked her location through their phones again but well, it was useful when they were supposed to be working together like this.
Jungkook just grabbed a hoodie for the night's cold, eyes on his phone as he impassively passed Namjoon by the kitchen.
"Wait."
He wasn't expecting a conversation so he just looked at the guy with no exact expression.
"If she happens to be looking around peacefully at the park downstairs, don't..." Namjoon sighed quietly at the end of the sentence.
"Don't what?" he stared, taking the opportunity to grab a cold can of drink from the fridge.
"Nevermind. Anyways, just being her upstairs and don't stay out too long." before he could even frown weirdly, the man had walked away to the living room and Jungkook decided to just brush it off.
"Why does he sound like my hyung all of a sudden? Pft." he rolled his eyes, closing the door behind him. He wondered what Namjoon meant earlier as he used the lift to go downstairs, eyeing Soyun's location on the phone. There were questions he wanted to ask Namjoon himself if he was going to be honest, one of them was why he came off way too calm when Taehyung, the Corvino Family were the ones who killed his former head chief. But then again, there was himself and his fellow vigilantes just trying to co-operate with the same mafia whom they believe was their previous leader's killer. He snorted to himself while walking out of the cold lobby, "The irony."
"You have nothing to apologize for, you really don't have to feel sorry or bad, you don't have to kneel."
His eyes narrowed slightly in thinking. The girl that said these words to his mother five years ago was her, wasn't it? He didn't hear or see again after that funeral home visit though.
He went on his phone again and didn't know why he just didn't call her. He didn't need to just when he came outside. The unit blocks consisted of three tall condominium buildings and surrounding the area below other than the roads were parks, pavements and gardens inside the residence.
Soyun knew she was going to be later if she walked around the park instead of calling for one of her colleagues to tell them that she was already downstairs, but her legs felt like bringing her there. It held not the exact resemblance to the park in front of her condominium back in Daegu but the same playground equipments.
"If this was the same park..." if it was that same park, on 4th of May tomorrow, it would be the anniversary of her sister's death here. She just exhaled lowly. It was quite dark even with the bright golden streetlights around her but she approached the swings despite her heart feeling weighed by heaviness.
She saw the horrific images flash again; Taehyung and his men in black around the park with no lights when her sister was shot to death in the middle of the playground, her blood leaking to the crayon-scribbled pavements. Sometimes, it pained her so deep, so far as to stagger and vomit but none of it was Taehyung's fault, she accepted and knew that much, it was just the loss of her sister now. Grief was a strange thing. On one day, you feel nothing and just go on with your life but some other days, it could push one to the point that they couldn't or didn't want to breathe. At the moment at least, she wasn't feeling the latter but could sense her own tears prickling to well up.
She was just about to call for someone at last when she jumped in surprise because someone placed a cold can to her cheek from behind.
"Jungkook," she just sighed with relief under a groan and looked at him with her palm still warming her cheek.
"How you gonna give me that look when you're the one who let your guard down?" he said cheekily, doing it again and again until she was annoyed. Not that he'd say it aloud but her cheeks were cute.
"Just stop it, lord." she said, holding back from swearing and he just laughed amusedly, "I was just about to call for someone but you're —"
"Why were you staring at the playground so sentimentally anyway?" he asked, cracking open the canned drink. He was eyeing her for a moment, the pretty, he supposed it was the pretty outfit making him wonder if everyone at the campus glanced for a second take too.
(A/N: just wanted to show yall this pretty outfit i found on pinterest which I know OC would absolutely slay in)
"No reason," she shook her head casually and nervously added when he kept his eyes on her, "I mean, don't you like playgrounds and parks?"
"Mhm, not sure." he replied, leaning against the swing's steel frame with a relaxed feel, "Depends on at what time of the day."
"I don't know about you but parks at night time are pretty romantic." she shrugged.
"Romantic?" he blinked with curled brows before laughing, "Are you saying this moment right now is romantic?"
"I did not." she didn't know if her flusteredness was obvious but she just gave a look alongside her red cheeks. She really couldn't understand it too; they've known each other since high school of course but only as acquaintances and classmates, she had only began talking to him frequently ever since that bombed museum in Daegu on the 17th of April, and it was just the third day of May, although they've had to be stuck together throughout almost all the major hours of the days ever since, including conversations where she felt like she wouldn't dare to bring up even with Namjoon — she mumbled quietly, "We've not even known each other for that long."
"There are stories where people fall in love in just like a week or at first sight, you know." he said conversationally. Maybe their open and casual talks made it feel like they had known one another for longer than it seemed to be comfortable, "Or are you against these type of romances?"
"Eh not really, I find these pretty cute. They feel sweet but depends." she said. The leaves and bushes rustled silently around the playground, "Humans naturally are fast to feel connection and liking towards someone they are comfortable with. People tend to start expecting more positivity from those they see a lot, like familiar faces in a lecture hall. If one gets comfortable and close, it's just a matter of time and decision."
Or was it self-disclosure from their talks that expose their nature? Not that she wanted to use too many brain cells for this kind of matter.
"Why did I start this talk with someone who majors in psychology again?" he laughed, though jokingly as he wiped the little sputter from his canned drink.
"I don't want to use brains for these matters usually, trust me." she added with a small giggle.
"By that logic though," Jungkook hummed slowly as his gaze moved to her, the golden streetlights ever-beautifying the red sweater, "why aren't you falling for Taehyung then? You've known each other," he clicked his tongue and turned away his eyes to the seesaw across them, "you guys have known each other the longest."
She stared at him from the swings, uncertain why she was shut down. He grinned a little with either amusement or ridicule.
"You're double-majoring psychology and law, so I suppose it must be conflicting."
"Uhh —"
"The Taehyung guy is only nice to you though," he cut in just after her parted lips, a slight frown as his gaze went to her again, "as if being nice to someone are choices and conscious selectivity for him." he picked up the way her gaze softened but lowered to the pavements calmly, "You're grown, you should know that's a bad sign."
But they were friends. She didn't want to feel empty should that bond be awkwardly cut off and discarded like bugs. All that work and emotions put into it, she just sighed on the outside.
"He does treat you too well and you're familiar with just that though... I guess that's why you expect more positivity." he took her words boldly, his tone laid-back as he talked and he went to the other swing. The sounds of cicadas or crickets making summery noises in the night were falling away, "I wonder what happens if he turns his back on you or something?"
"You're so straightforward," she chuckled softly and talked on, "I've known him for some time and I know he has a nicer side not just to me. He'd smile at kids from faraway when others aren't looking, holds dear the pictures he takes with an old camera, and kids and animals love to flock with him. He's gentler than he seems, if you notice."
Jungkook's gaze softened but oddly, he didn't feel that warm. He found it strange that somehow, even the moonlight's presence seemed to have petered out and replaced by the light glow on them under streetlamps, just on them. And he forgot that he was not pleased for a moment.
"I think he liked what I said though even if he laughed." she giggled.
"Who wouldn't, I guess." she heard him mutter lowly before moving his gaze around to the empty park again, perhaps because he wasn't interested in the conversation about Taehyung. He should've suggested that they go inside the lobby now, but he had already spoke again.
"What of it when he kills people like serial killers do though?" he said, tongue rolling against his inner cheeks as he raised his brows at her. He continued with an easy smile that it felt like a simple quarrel, "Or should I tell you stories you've already heard of to remind you how terrifying serial killers are? Even I used to be scared."
"He doesn't kill anyone for no reason or that often." yet, it sounded just as sinful and wrong when she said it. She sighed softly, "Serial killers and assassins are literally different by motives. Taehyung doesn't kill compulsively or for psychological thrills, like you and I ourselves. Whyyyy would I be scared of him anyway?"
The stretched vocal for her last sentence indicated that she wasn't trying to sound offended in any way and he was amused for a second.
"I guess." he muttered but laughed wryly under his breath, "Why does it piss me off so much when you defend your friend like that though?" He didn't even know why he pursued this topic or how they went from talking about romance tropes to this, "Soyun. I know it's not my place to advise you or anything but yeah."
"Thanks, still. I will take care of my own matters eventually, don't worry." she gave a small smile, the air falling quiet when they both didn't speak as he stared at the night skies but her phone rang, a call from Namjoon who then switched to texting her a "are you guys there yet?" because he might not know that she was already downstairs. She looked at Jungkook, "We should go now."
"Did you go to the hospital again?" he asked as they got up and started walking.
"Yep." she nodded. Actually, she also went to Myeongdong's street for some time just to look around, "Did you sleep in the whole day?"
"Not the whole day, I worked out too."
No wonder. But it was still a wonder because he wasn't answering his friends' texts and she ended up being approached by them for some reason, thanks to that. Jungkook seemed slightly tired than other days when she noticed it as they entered the lift.
"Also," he said without looking at her, "Are you free tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" putting aside how different his question was, she just replied, "Tomorrow... Um, no. Why though —"
"You have classes on the weekend?" he frowned a little.
"It's hard double-majoring, you know. There are classes in the morning," she said with a short pause, "and I had a plan in the evening."
"What plan?" he blinked.
"Visiting my sister,"
"Oh," he scratched his head, "sorry."
"It's fine, actually I just hesitated to say it because I didn't want to make you feel like you made me uncomfortable." she smiled thinly and with ease. He just acknowledged it and she asked, "But why did you ask if I had time off?"
"No reason."
If he said so, she supposed. There were many possibilities she just made up in her head but due to how unpredictable she knew him as, she just dropped them. They could hear some screams of their colleagues from inside their unit when they were just walking out of the elevator and Jungkook wondered if they had another accidental fire. Soyun felt familiar with the voices but just accepted them as background noises even in the neat building.
"What about on Monday or Tuesday though?" he asked again, scratching his ear a bit.
She suddenly covered her gasp and turned to him, "Right, are you going to skip on these two days? Maybe I shouldn't. You see, I was selected for this one —"
"What's happening on these two days anyways?" he raised a brow and stared, unintentionally halting in the corridor. She stared and he stared back.
"You really didn't open a single group chat, didn't you." she sighed, "The lecturer said that if we don't come on the sports day, he's gonna cancel our extended deadlines."
"WHAT?" he looked at her, surprisingly in surprise from the news, "RIGHT. SPORTS DAY."
It seemed that they almost forgot about other events surrounding them.
•••
4th May, 5:00 AM EST in New York / 6:00 PM KST
The lighting from only the morning sky made everything bluish in his room, but his eyes reflecting the redness of a human's blood from his screen. He could hear chatters through the speaker, news from both Italy and New York and Jitae on a call over his shoulder.
"I've not had a single good sleep here since I've arrived, damn it." Haneul groaned lowly to his side, not repulsed to his men's corpses on the screen but rather the heat from his cup of ramen on the desk, "How is it looking right now, Jitae?"
The man put away his phone and nodded firmly with a small grin of satisfaction as he turned to his boss, "Unknown said he has a plan."
"On how to still ruin the convention despite the NIS and vigilantes?" Haneul just clicked his tongue at it, turning to his screen again, "Good."
"You don't sound happy."
"The Kims don't want to involve themselves with us and our people are being killed off every day," the guy chuckled darkly as his eyes loured over the desk and murky scenery, "it's not perfect..."
Jitae went silent.
"Bring me the reports Jihoon sent us of the NIS." and he had no plans to break him out of jail, that would only make the masses way too curious of the bigger picture sides were covering. So far, he wouldn't need the man out of jail, not with his uneven temper and personal problems against the ex-mafioso Kim Namjoon. He pondered again while his subordinate was sending him the files through their laptops then being busy on phones again; the moulage artists and Kim Taehyung were different stories, he could act up if things switch again, but now it was the undetermined serial assassination of his mobs around New York. Was it really a serial killer like the media reported, believed to be triggered by those with certain tattoos on them? Because one of his men, he knew, had their symbol on their covered chest.
"I sent you, boss." Jitae said.
"The moulage artists were for more desperate measures anyway, I won't be distracted by that." he sighed gravelly, looking through the documents personally when he usually wasn't the one to do this. "These notes and descriptions he wrote better be accurate."
"If you're looking for him, I doubt he's still recorded as an NIS agent."
"He might've not died after all though..." he muttered under his breath, a small grin creeping to his lips as he bit his nails, "Don't worry, I'm not looking for him here. You can go get Sunoo, and also arrange a flight for me to return to Seoul in..." he glanced at the calendar on his left, "...two weeks. If anything comes up, we can just delay or reschedule it."
It was normal for the people under him to just heed to his orders despite not deciphering the intentions first. Jitae exited the room, leaving Haneul to scrutinize the words on his screen.
"Son Sungdeuk, Minatozaki Sana, Choi Soobin, Adora, real name Park Soohyun... Choi Yeonjun, Park Hyungsik, Park Seojoon," he read imperfectly in his head along with most of the long paragraphs under their names skipped, "Someone's codenamed pdogg? Real name Kang Hyowon... Then there's Park Jiwon who took over as chief director." and then there were the other three: Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Shin Soyun. After their names was Bang Shi-Hyuk. He couldn't really force a smirk, "He sure had superb instincts for picking up troublesome people."
He laughed by himself, "But now he can't go around secretly hiring people anymore. He should've watched out in Rome though, carelessly letting Jihoon rub that poison on you..." he frowned slightly at his own sentence, now using his phone to reread a message long ago from Ju Jihoon, his brows furrowing —
"Boss, I dragged Sunoo here."
"But boss, I just got back from America." a younger man walked into his suite with a lazy whine then, wearing black clothes in comparison to Jitae next to him who was in formal wear.
"No excuses, kid. You've been killing less for us these days, you know that?" Jitae snorted and Sunoo scratched his head at the scowl, "Kids these days, ignoring their seniors so casually..."
"I want him to go with the others to find out about our secret admirer. Meanwhile,"
"What's the boss suddenly grinning to himself about?" Sunoo whispered quietly over Haneul's shoulders.
"I'll look into my plan with Unknown and see if we can use it."
•••
"You didn't have to follow me, you know." she giggled without turning, it wasn't like he toned down his footsteps or intended to at all. The sun was already setting and dusk was just upon them, so the winds gently hushing around them were colder than in daytime. Especially in the cemetery with green grasses all over, cool colours shading the gravestones.
Jungkook yelled casually from behind as for some reason they kept some distance, "You said you didn't mind if anyone accompanied you so. Unless I'm making you uncomforta —"
"Namjoon often came with me the years before, I was never really bothered." she said, following the pavements. There were fewer people in the cemetery at 6 PM, only the two of them and barely three others.
"I didn't ask." he frowned quickly. He had been really suspicious nowadays in her opinion but she just went along.
"I'd need someone to get me past the lobby by my side later too, actually." she added, turning to the gravestone on her right.
Jungkook walked on calmly, not hurrying to catch up or reply. He watched her kneel to place the bouquet of flowers onto the headstone from over her shoulder. She wore a calm smile that he knew was just forced acceptance, though he had never smiled in front of graves himself.
"Do you have siblings?" she asked him without looking back, still praying in front of the plaque.
"Nope." he joined shortly after, inching closer.
"Since you don't have one, would you count your hyungs as your brothers?"
"I guess I would because we're tightly close and all."
"I see..." she breathed softly, a small smile slightly curled on her lips as if she was trying to not start crying, "I would never wish upon anyone the pain of losing siblings you love." she said, slowly turning to him. "Can you leave me be for a moment? Sorry, I don't mean like —"
"Sure, don't worry about it." he chuckled quietly, getting up. He gave her a small pat on the shoulder before he went away, "You know I'd understand."
The sense of familiarity and comfortableness between them that had mysteriously grown was still puzzling for her, but she didn't question it. Jungkook was a very nice guy above the other qualities he had like the ability to piss anyone off when he wished to, and there was something else about him that she couldn't put into words. She saw him walking some distance away then, just casually leaning against a nearby tree with his crossed arms resting on his chest. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she needed him away. It just felt like him being so close would make him catch onto her calm but unusual breaths. She wasn't going to cry at all.
Jungkook discreetly looked in her way. The tree and bushes were just about six gravestones away from Shin Ryujin's. He could see Soyun talking and he let out a breathy sigh to himself. It hazed his suddenly aching head for a moment; the heavy resemblance to the dark dusk where his fifteen-year-old self was kneeling alone by his father's lonely gravestone widened his eyes slightly. He tried to cross the thoughts out again but found himself recalling the messages that he still hasn't deleted. His legs moved on his own.
"Sungrok should've come, oh my god. I'm so sorry that my sister has to see me crying every year though." she fanned herself, smacking her wet cheeks. She usually didn't do this alone so it felt awkward for a second after she came to her senses, her lashes still watery. She was just turning to fix the small vase beside the stone for a bit, and it surprised her when Jungkook had suddenly wrapped his arms around her. A tight but warm embrace. She could feel his softest breaths against her shoulder and his messy hair lightly brushing her neck.
"It would be fine,"
He was breathing quite clearly.
Is he... It didn't feel like he was talking to her. He was saying these to someone else. She just bit her lower lip and uncertainly patted his shoulder, her small movements even limited slightly and even stranger, she felt as though she should ask him instead, "Are you... are you all right?"
But he was silent.
She gently pulled away to stare at him, "You've actually been acting strange lately."
"Have I?" he chuckled, his absentminded gaze on his own arm which held her hand before she even drew away, "I just felt bad for you."
Even if she were secretly flustered here, something seemed off. Ever since the day she received the texts from Kang Haneul, something was off but he flicked her forehead before she started a question — "Oww! Wait. What was that for?"
"Nothing really." he shrugged, already walking ahead and this was the first time she left the cemetery feeling this warm but confused.
"You really are confusing." she whined inwardly and quickly got to her feet, having to catch up to him who was already by the way from where they got an entrance into the place — "Yah."
"Mhm, what is it?" he said without looking at her, a quiet sigh escaping from his lips to the side before she came.
"Why did you suddenly hug me like that?" she asked with a slight tone change as if she was complaining and he didn't know why he found that quite funny, they were walking to the parking lot, "There weren't many people but some were looking and like what if people got the wrong idea? And you've been extra mysterious these days."
He smirked, "People getting the wrong idea or you getting the wrong —"
"Why are you...?" she just gave up when he gave a cheeky grin. He wasn't able to get out his motorcycle for the day because Hoseok probably hid it somewhere. He laughed again without giving an explanation and she just went on her phone to proceed with calling for Sungdeuk, "Man, never mind."
They just went on along the sidewalk, cars and motorcycles passing by speedily in the highway beside them. It was a calm walk and she wondered if he felt so too as they looked around the random stalls by and across the streets.
"How has it been with Joong though, Hoseok still doesn't plan to turn him in to the NIS anytime soon?" she asked for the sake of finally getting an actual reply from him.
"It's because of your suggestion slipping that one time, actually. Remember when you said we could make use of him to lure Haneul?" Jungkook hummed, "They're still discussing. I'm sure your boss and Taehyung have been thinking about it too."
"Namjoon has gotten busier and so needed at the building these days though..." she mused curiously.
"So?" he raised a brow.
"It should've been the other way around. I thought it would be like that if he gave the position to Jiwon. But," they stopped to sit on the bench at their side, "I guess it's true that most things still require his supervision."
"What are you doing here then?"
"I'm a student and it's my off-day." she said, "Should we go around to get some food tho —"
"Nope."
"That was fast. And very unnatural coming from you." she stared with a puzzled look, "You're in a hurry to go back?"
"We literally have the Sports Day in two more days, I can't afford to waste all the time I have to work out." then he turned to her with incredulous doe eyes, "And aren't you joining the girls' relay race?"
"Yeah." she just recalled, "I was kinda forced to actually."
"Well, good luck I guess. I've never seen you doing sports."
"You were always gone, poofed into thin air or napping when it's not your turn during high school so." she chuckled dryly.
"I do, huh." he hummed sarcastically, looking around. He turned to her again, "I guess I can't do that later though since I want to watch your race."
She froze and looked at him, "You what?"
"In turn," they spotted a familiar car coming in the highway road. He lightly scratched his ear, "you have to watch me too. Don't miss out."
"Sure, I almost never leave the stands anyway."
"Now that's a lie, you always went around to buy drinks with your friends." he frowned.
"Ooh, how do you know that?" she giggled with amusement as they get up, waving to Sungdeuk in the distance as they did.
He grinned mischievously, "I observe everyone —"
"yeah, yeah so it's nothing special." she already guessed what he'd say, "But hopefully nothing ruins the day."
"They probably aren't going to make big moves even if they plan to attack, so it's fine by me." Jungkook said and both of them knew they were talking about their enemies. A peaceful university event would be nice after the hectic incidents.
(A/N: I actually have no idea and I'm not sure when Sports Days actually happen in South Korea omg because google confuses me but um yeah for fun and since this is a fanfic anyway — and I don't know at what time they start I'm just basing off how it do here where am from so sorry in advance 🧘♀️)
•••
Namjoon had just left his office with Seokjin, both of them had been dying to leave early but one was better at hiding their displeasure. It was 8 PM on their watches and they haven't had dinner yet, and now even when the night had fallen, they were being called to meet their new chief or sit-in head chief.
"Why does Jiwon need to see us though?" Seokjin asked tiredly, messaging his shoulders as their passing-by colleagues greeted them with bows.
"Might have something to do with the secret team I told him about." Namjoon said, unaffected by the few different stares he was receiving. It was unavoidable that some would turn wary and it was only a matter of time for him to assure them, "Or my background."
The floors were silent as they were busy with shuffling of papers and sounds of keyboard keys anyway. Sana, Hyungsik and Seojoon were one of the few who had no difference toward him at all if he passed by; two of them were in fact Mafiosi themselves and Sana was just relaxed as always, she was one of their most adaptable colleagues after all. Seokjin and Soyun had good eyes, these two have told him that her usual self was coming back after the incident with the now apprehended Lee Jongsuk.
"No news from Taehyung in the last few hours?" Namjoon hummed. Seokjin shook his head as a "nope" and they entered the lifts. The elevator began to go up and they both received some notifications from a new groupchat.
"Should we save anything for you guys later?"
"Not gonna lie, I didn't expect the vigilantes out of all people to program a group chat for all of us." Seokjin said but he was focusing on the picture of their dining table that Soyun sent, "I have to say though, that Yoongi guy cooks way better than you."
"Shut up, I was just not trained for it." Namjoon said flatly and he sighed after reading other texts from Hoseok and Hueningkai.
"You literally said that there's no difference between using water and oil for cooking, what kind of 148 IQ person are you?"
He just ignored Seokjin's intentionally loud laughter at his side, "Anyways, they want us to give them our phones for tomorrow for something." he paused for a second while Seokjin just seemed fine with it. "Oh. No wonder Yeonjun couldn't figure out the bug with Soyun's phone that one time and she looked nervous about the phone maintenance."
"I don't mind anything." he replied in the group then pocketed his phone. He didn't feel that bitter about it though but simply found it rather nice that he solved some questions in his head. The elevator's doors opened and they walked on, Seokjin hummed calmly although most would be getting cold feet when called in by their seniors.
"So they've been around her this casually since the bombing in Daegu, huh." the corridors were quiet and on their left were floor-to-ceiling windows, showing the compelling view of the city at night. He looked around before talking again, "You know, Joon, even if the president is no longer going to supervise us because he has his own matters, some higher-ups are still concerned about your background because you haven't disclosed who you worked for as a mafioso. Glad they're all determined to manage the NIS matters for us now though."
"I already made up that they're dead. Keep it low about the mafia and vigilantes when we're questioned though." Namjoon said solemnly with a small snort, "The Supreme Court is not gonna like it if they find out that we're working with Hope."
"Okay."
Namjoon knocked on the door and they were let into the empty meeting space, all the rows silent but since Jiwon was sitting ahead, the sense of gloominess in the room quickly dissipated. They made their way to the man's desk and shared handshakes.
"So why did you want to see us, sunbae?" Seokjin asked conversationally, peeking over his desk.
"We had to come here on empty stomachs and just before we leave, so I hope it isn't anything hard to digest." Namjoon added with a polite smile.
"I really like the easygoing sides of you two, but this might be a bit unpleasant." Jiwon said, clearing his throat quietly and looked at the both of them. "I've really never heard of a secret team in the NIS and as one of the colleagues Bang trusts just as much as he trusts you guys, I find it hard to believe that he didn't tell us."
Namjoon felt Seokjin's apprehensively rounded eyes poking at him before the side to make up something; now he realized something important, he shouldn't have even told of Jungkook whom his colleagues asked about and Dawon who Sana explained to them was the one who assisted her to anyone in the NIS, and not even to the president. They should've been more reserved, but Hope thought that he wouldn't be questioned.
"I trust you but not the situation," Jiwon said with a sigh, poring over his desk and the projector still screening reports on 'Corvino Family's victims' over the years — how ironic for them. They remained serious though as the man continued, "Were they really handpicked by Bang? The woman who helped out Sana... She said that she's just really secretive. But what bugged me was the sunflower scribble found in the police station after Sana was out."
"Do you really not believe the explanation we gave for that, sunbae?" Seokjin pouted coyly, shoving his elbow at the guy who just half-heartedly chuckle out of nervousness and seriousness. He swept his hair back and sighed, "We told you that the help came after Dawon got Sana out of the interrogation room. Do you really think Bang would have handpicked vigilantes then just let them run around loose? You see how reserved this newly revealed team is."
They should probably tell the vigilantes to stop marking their presence for the time being.
"Like he said." Namjoon took over calmly. Namjoon didn't doubt his senior's intentions for sure but the only ones who Bang gave his will to were him, Seokjin and Hyowon. Maybe that meant that they shouldn't include him in too deep, "Is that all you wanted to ask?"
"Sorry if I sounded demanding when I'm just here because you aren't, but yeah that was all." Jiwon said with a small sigh although he definitely knew that he was more experienced and older to be treated with more regard as a colleague, "Oh. Right, how is your investigation going? I heard that the potential victims on 9th May are still stubborn."
"Seokjin went with Hyungsik to go around the venue yesterday." Namjoon said as he paced around the room, a calm expression on his face as he looked at the projected slides on the screen.
Seokjin mused solemnly, "It's a very serious and frustrating matter. The whole floor and maybe a whole hotel could be in danger but we can't find any signs of planted killing tools yet. Haneul's men are probably going to act up during the event."
"You're continuing the investigation for Bang's death for us?"
"I have to do it alone too," Jiwon laughed tiredly, yawning at his side, "No one is actually so free these days. I might be the head director, but I'm still an NIS agent from the inspection team." he chukled and looked at Namjoon, "If Yeonjun is under you and working hard, I should look competent too as his senior."
"Fighting then, sunbae!" Seokjin winked with finger guns.
"I see, and this..." Namjoon's gaze narrowed slightly after studying the slides, "Their victims are usually not anyone from constitutional departments. Bang's case was rare." even though he was in touch with the killer himself now, he didn't know that before. He couldn't think of questions to ask Kim Taehyung in the face with their circumstances back then. Unknown was the one who tasked him on it in exchange for information, meaning that Haneul wanted Bang dead. Seokjin was silent at the moment, knowing the deeper controversy tolerating the Kims would bring.
"Right? And their works feel... commissioned." Jiwon stood up and went over to him to read the enlarged screen too, "I've been trying to find their motives —"
"Jiwon, I think this case might be related to Haneul." Namjoon said.
"I agree too." said Seokjin, eyes supporting his friend to go on.
"What —?"
"When we went to Rome, Casa Fede was hired by Haneul. It wouldn't be a surprise that Corvino Family was reached out to once." he hummed, "And my hunches say that it was a single assassination job."
"That'd really make sense and help me connect some dots but then, Haneul wanted to kill Bang? Why?"
"Jihoon wouldn't answer when I asked if Haneul killed Bang." he shrugged and walked backwards serenely, "Well then. Good luck."
Jiwon seemed to be writing down as they turned politely to leave but he sombrely cleared his throat again, "Namjoon."
They both halted and Seokjin blinked.
"It's only our concern but if you're really working with the vigilantes in secret," the man was searching his words calmly.
"Why do you think —?"
"I know you're not the type to work with them unlike Soyun or Seokjin, but it is intriguing." he laughed a little, talking across the rows of desk in the meeting hall, the city lights beside him faint through shutters.
Seokjin frowned and held his palm up, "Hold on, I understand Soyun but why do you think I would —"
"But just to tell you, Jiwon, the vigilantes would be helpful addition to our task force if they ever approach us." Namjoon gave a small, calm and almost confident smile.
"You almost remind of someone, Namjoon." Jiwon muttered and they turned back again for a moment. "A bit. The skills and your kindness. Not to mention you're actually one handsome young man," the guy laughed at his own addition and Seokjin suddenly ran his hands through his hair with style. "Of course you too."
"But who do I remind you of?" a bit amused by sudden nostalgia from a senior but rather pensive, "I've heard that from Bang too. And then told Soyun but had to say that I'm not sure myself because no one ever told me who."
Seokjin had a smart feeling in his chest that Namjoon was linking this to the possibilities they have discussed with their comrades before, that one of the vigilante, perhaps their ex-leader and the informant used to be an NIS agent.
"If Bang didn't tell you, maybe I'm not meant to tell you about it." Jiwon said, scratching his head, "It's nothing. It's just that you hid secrets so well — different in some ways, but you might become someone who actually resembles him. And that's what the higher-ups and I would be worried for."
He couldn't help but sense a sort of fear in his solemn tone. He and Seokjin exchanged a swift gaze silently before they exited the hall. Seojoon was already in front of the lobby for them when they were inside the lift accompanied by a mysterious air from the space they just left.
"That was... strange."
"Did he mean that if I really was secretly working with Hope, I would resemble this one mysterious person?" Namjoon snorted conversationally, just leaning against the walls. "The higher-ups are also afraid of this guy? I'm actually a bit concerned."
Seokjin only eyed his comrade with a calm but pensive frown from the side. Seoul, the city which they all pledged to protect might turn its back on not just one person if more complications stain the agent's name. In that case, it would be nice if the vigilantes became more welcomed by the public. They could assume that only some were supportive but even so, they were not able to be so loud with their opinion in the eyes of others. Of course, these should only be pondered over if it came down to it.
"Why did I say that in front of two good agents? I'm really aging, aren't I." Jiwon groaned to himself in the room as he shut down his laptop, pausing to bang his head once on the whiteboard and sigh hopelessly at his own laxity.
Namjoon and Seokjin walked leisurely along the corridors, watching the fireworks burst in the distance from where a ferris wheel was spinning. Lively, colourful in the darkness of the skies.
"What's the occasion?" Namjoon hummed curiously, a peaceful look on his face for once. Fireworks were just a different type of explosive, but they were beautiful...
"It's Children's Day tomorrow. Oh! And Soyun has a sports festival the day after." Seokjin noticed the smile on his face and felt a stir of unpleasantness again. His friend's lies to not be seen as weak or even tired, and finding out today that his seniors have been telling Namjoon their same observations over and over again were as worrying as they were thought-provoking.
End of Chapter Twenty-five
A/N:
Just a disclaimer; please don't see any BTS in any kind of bad light in real life because this is all imaginary and is a fanfiction. Also a reminder that you can like a character without condoning or justifying their actions. Sometimes when I write this I don't even know how I start randomly discussing about morally ambiguous stuffs. 🕴️
sorry if it's going downhill or my writing's getting boring, IM LOSING WORDS AND VOCABULARY 😭 BUT AHEM onto the next chapter I guess —?