"I'm sorry babe! I promise I'll buy you a new one. Just please don't be mad."
Taehyung heard a thick apologetic voice draped with regret coming from the same hall that Yoongi pulled him away from.
After coming up with his 'code name', Yoongi and Taehyung were subtly dismissed by the ravenett, which seemed as if they were being gotten rid of, in the grey-haired male's opinion. He shrugged off this notion, nonetheless.
"No Joonie! This is the third time this month! Don't talk to me for half an hour."
Another shrill voice retorted, coated in utter fury.
Taehyung heard Yoongi sigh beside him as they made it to the living room where an unusual picture unfolded.
A tall man with silver locks was picking up scattered shards of a supposed vase, while another man with broad shoulders and brown hair was looming over him. The brunet was fuming red and his arms were crossed in disapproval. They didn't seem like the stereotypical gangsters that one would expect, however, they seemed like a bickering husband-wife couple and Taehyung internally smiled.
The brunet was about to scold the silver-haired more but the newcomers got his attention and his expression swiftly morphed into a sweet one.
"Oh, Yoongi...hi!"
The brunet greeted Yoongi though a tinge of reluctance in his tone since a stranger got to witness his savage side.
"Who's this young man?"
Jin asked as he smiled at Taehyung.
"I'm Taehyung, nice to meet you."
Taehyung immediately bowed and pushed his hand forward, smiling his boxy smile which was enough to make the brunet forget his previous anger and smile back at him.
"Aww, your such a cutie. I'm Kim Seokjin, you can call me Hyung or Eomma."
Jin grabbed Taehyung's hand and pulled him into a hug which Taehyung wasn't expecting but hugged back nonetheless.
"Look Joonie! Isn't he adorable! And he's a Kim too like us! We can adopt him!"
Forgetting his promise to not talk to Namjoon for half an hour, Jin expectantly looked at him. While the other three people in the room clearly remembered but did not feel the need to remind him. And Namjoon was the happiest at his boyfriend's forgetfulness.
"Sure Jinie whatever you want! I'm Kim Namjoon by the wa-"
"He's my clumsy boyfriend and I'm worldwide handsome."
Jin intervened and Taehyung couldn't help but laugh. They were one cute chaotic couple. He looked towards Yoongi who just rolled his eyes at Jin's statement.
"Yah don't forget to clean the mess!"
Yoongi pointed towards the broken glass that still littered around the floor. And Namjoon wanted to murder him so bad because-
"Yes, Joonie I want this clean."
Jin narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend but his gaze softened once he looked at Taehyung.
"As I mentioned earlier, my boyfriend's super clumsy and he ended up dropping my favourite vase for the third time this month. Anyways how rude of me! Have you eaten sweetheart? Let me feed you!"
And that's how Taehyung found himself on the table being served with delicious japchae made by Jin and there was no denying that he had magic in his hands.
'Gangsters can be great cooks'
Though it was later that Taehyung got to know that Jin was the doctor at the Black Spade and didn't take much part in the action. Soon the dinner table that already occupied Taehyung, Yoongi, Jin and Namjoon was joined by other few gang members.
They were Minjae, Jackson, Daniel, Felix and Mark. And they were what one would call 'Gangsters' because of the tattoos, piercings and the muscle that packed their bodies and Taehyung was a little intimidated by the dark aura surrounding them but as the introductions passed and they sat together, Taehyung was reassured that they all were as friendly as Jin and Namjoon, yet for one who stayed up in his dimly lit office.
No one asked Taehyung about his previous job because Yoongi might've already told them about Jimin's nonexistent theory of depression and he was partly glad for that.
Taehyung immediately became friends with Minjae because they mostly shared the same interests such as their love for japchae and the same mental age.
"Why, Tae Hyung! I must say, your hair colour is quite pretty!"
One of the gang members, named Felix, who was the youngest, commented on his grey locks.
Taehyung beamed at his remark and thanked him but he felt Minjae roll his eyes at Felix and Taehyung slightly frowned as the younger was quite cheerful a while ago but didn't press the matter further.
As dinner rolled down Jin told Minjae to show Taehyung to his room. As the two newly made friends walked side by side Taehyung couldn't help but ask the one thing that's been itching him for a while.
"Hey, Minjae? I wasn't expecting you all to be so welcoming and I'm so thankful for it but...what's with Jeongguk? Why's he so...out of it?"
Taehyung knew he shouldn't be asking such questions because one acting in a particular way is one's personal choice, however, he was a researcher and was here for research, thus prying into such matters was part of his job.
Minjae on the other hand just shrugged at his question.
"Honestly, Hyung? I have no idea. When I was recruited a year and a half ago I ended up asking the same question to everyone but they didn't tell me either. But I must say that he's one secretive person. He only talks around Yoongi, Hoseok, Jin and Namjoon. And...and..."
Taehyung closed into Minjae as he felt like the younger was not going to talk any louder.
"...we have this room on the east side. Nobody's allowed to go there and I'm sure even you were told that."
Taehyung nodded hastily.
"Yeah so about that...I'm not sure but he goes there almost every night."
"Have you ever tried to find out what he does there?"
Taehyung queried further.
"I don't wanna get killed at a young age Hyung. Curious or not but intervening in Jeongguk Hyung's business is...is out of the question."
Taehyung gulped.
So even the gang members feared their leader.
~~~
The next morning Taehyung was woken up by the sound of gunshots.
'Did they find out? Oh my God, it's been barely a day and I've been found out! Seojoonie Hyung is gonna be so disappointed in me.'
Squeezing the pillow tightly that he had been cuddling he curled up into a ball under the comforter as the gunshots came to a stop. Taehyung took a ragged breath and built up the courage to finally peek out from the comforter. He expected a stoic Jeongguk with a gun pointed at him. Fire burning in his eyes, standing in his handsome glory.
But the room was empty and the door was shut.
'Seriously, why would Jeongguk come in person to kill me when he can just ask someone else to get the job done.'
Pushing himself out of bed he made it to the door but the gunshots started again and he flinched hard. He moved towards the open window that gave a perfect view of the backside of the mansion which he had explored last night. And that is where he got his answer.
A bunch of trainees were doing target practice with guns.
'Aish Taehyung!'
He looked at the time and it was 9:00 am. Doing his morning routine he went downstairs to the living room, hoping to not get lost on his way. But to his luck, he found Minjae on his way who claimed that he was coming to wake him up for breakfast.
After breakfast with Jin, Minjae offered Taehyung to show him around and get him familiar with the workings of the gang to which Taehyung obviously agreed since he was here for the exact reason.
Taehyung was shown the room where the weaponry was kept, the IT room where he met the Hacker, Jung Hoseok and Taehyung could promise he saw a halo on his head and sunshine being radiated through his eyes. He instantly liked him. Then Minjae took him to the library and being a nerd his entire life, Taehyung found it the best place in the mansion. He also found Namjoon there and Minjae told him how the man was a genius and spent most of his time there.
And lastly, Taehyung was shown the gym. And honestly, Taehyung wouldn't lie but he got shy looking at all those muscular men working out. And Minjae teased him about having a muscle kink but Taehyung was keen on denying the younger yet he couldn't help but flush over the thought of that stranger he met at the mall and the feel of his muscles under his touch.
But seeing all those muscular men working out at the same time was too much for Taehyung.
"Hyung your gay is showing."
Minjae joked and Taehyung gave him a playful glare. He looked at the working out men once more but was slightly disappointed when he didn't spot a particular ravenett he thought he would see.
"Where's...where's Jeongguk?"
Taehyung hesitantly asked the younger. It was strange not seeing the gang leader himself training.
"Oh, Jeongguk Hyung left this morning."
"On a mission of some sort?"
Taehyung tried to not be obvious with his curiosity. He had to be nosey for his data collection.
"Oh no. Not on a mission. It's one of his frequent visits to I don't know where. He tends to make these disappearances every month."
Taehyung frowned.
'Oh so the gang leader poofs out every month and the members don't know where. And the Eastside room that I've been prohibited from going to. Some interesting things will be added to my journal soon and I'm sure Seojoon Hyung will be pleased with the information.'
Taehyung was adding up the collected information and was trying to forge it into a picture but he knew it was too soon for that.
"And besides even if he was here you wouldn't get to see much muscle of his. Because that man doesn't do much other than Weider, lifting weights and treadmill."
"Wait! No punching the sandbag thingy?"
Taehyung asked with shock evident in his voice. As much as he's known, most gangsters use the punching bag as their means to release their frustration.
Minjae laughed at the elder's choice of words.
"No. I rarely see him use his fists. Even when we are out on missions."
Taehyung's frown deepened.
To a normal human being, this shouldn't faze them much. But being a researcher, this study was becoming more complex with every new information that he got. The previous notions he has had of gangsters were being broken and were leaving being tons of questions that needed to be answered for his research to be precise.
Later that day Taehyung took out his journal and tried to draw a character sketch of each gangster that he'd met so far. But the space under the heading of Jeon Jeongguk was left empty and the grey-haired male had no idea how to fill it.
~~~
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