Warning⚠️: Looooooong chapter, with heavy angst, and also turned out a whole lot differently than I expected.
Author's P.O.V
'And where are we going this time?' Jin sighs as he slips the seat belt across his chest.
'Relax. I'm not going to kidnap you or anything,' Taehyung chuckles. 'I'm not a mafia boss or anything, am I?'
Jin laughs dryly. 'Well, in another book of this particular author, you are.'
(SUBTLE SELF PROMOTION I'M A FREAKING GENIUS HAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
Taehyung shakes his head. 'Sometimes you just don't make sense.'
'I'm Kim Seokjin. I was born not making sense,' Jin comments, clicking his tongue. 'And that's what makes me special. People who make sense all the time are boring. And you don't want to be around someone boring all the time, do you? I mean, unless you were a terribly boring person yourself, which, as much as I'd like to say you are, you're not exactly-'
He receives no reply from Taehyung and looks sideways, his mouth half-opening to make a snarky remark about Taehyung spacing out. What he doesn't expect, however, is to find Taehyung sitting very still in his seat, his head turned towards Seokjin, listening to him with full attention, his eyes unusually bright and a small smile playing on his lips.
He looks positively adoring.
And Seokjin isn't used to getting looks like that very often.
He immediately snaps his head back to its original position, coughing hard to hide his embarrassment and the rapid reddening of his cheeks all the way up to his ears. He slowly turns to glance at Taehyung once more, and finds him still in the exact same position, his smile only a little wider as he watches Jin get uncomfortable.
'Stop doing that, will you?' Jin reaches over and flicks his shoulder to ease the tension. 'You're creeping me out.'
Taehyung seems to snap out of his reverie, blushing a little himself as he returns his hands to the wheel and his eyes to the road.
'Okay, so where are we going?'
.............................
Approximately half an hour later they pull up in front of a gigantic building.
'Woah.' Jin looks out of the window and gasps aloud. 'How many floors does this have, even? And what's that written on the side of it...Kim Enterprises?'
Taehyung stops the car and turns off the ignition. He screws his eyes shut, grimacing slightly, knowing what is about to come.
'You brought me to your office building?' Jin whispers, his tone deadly. 'Why would you?'
'I promise you, Jin, it's just for a look around, I-'
'I don't care. I'm going back.'
Jin starts to open the door to get out of the car, but Taehyung reaches over and grabs his arm, pulling him back into his seat with sudden force. Jin cries out as he is jerked back into his seat and swats out at Taehyung as though he were a fly.
'Let go of me, will you!'
'Come on, Jin,' Taehyung ducks and dodges to avoids his frantic swatting, trying to sound as pleading and persuasive as possible, his hand still on Jin's arm. 'I just wanted to show you around my office a bit. You're my husband, and nobody around here has even had a glimpse of you yet, I don't want them to think I'm keeping you stored away like some sort of trophy husband, okay?'
Jin turns to Taehyung, eyes narrowed to slits. 'Taehyung, this is not some sort of joke, d'you understand? I became the enemy of Kim Corporation and therefore all its employees the moment I signed that binding contract with Jeon Jungkook.'
Taehyung sighs deeply. 'Seriously, Jin? Nobody cares about any damn contract you signed around here. They're all hard-working people and professionals. They're never going to hold a grudge about a person who they've probably never met in their entire lives, plus, they don't have some sort of personal rivalry with Jeon Corp, okay? You'll be fine. Come on.'
'I really wish you had told me before bringing me here,' Jin can't help whining as he is helped out of the car by Taehyung. 'I would have worn something nicer.'
'Oh, don't worry. You'd look pretty in anything you wear,' Taehyung says, casually, and walks away.
Jin stares after him in frustration. He really, really wishes Taehyung would stop giving him random heart attacks with his sudden compliments and then pretend like none of them even said anything. It makes him do violent stuff to Taehyung. And some not-so-violent-stuff- no, no, no!
'We'd better get going,' Taehyung announces, returning after having locked the car and extending a hand to Jin, who takes it warily. 'Come on, don't look like that- we know we're stranger husbands, but they don't know that, so try and smile and laugh a little for them, will you?'
'I won't smile for anybody,' Jin mutters under his breath as Taehyung leads him towards the gate.
'Really? Not even for me?'
Jin almost cricks his neck with how fast he looks around at Taehyung- but he's already immersed in scanning the security door with some sort of card and talking to one of the guards. He'd forgotten how much of a flirt Taehyung could be when he was in the mood- and he'd forgotten how it felt like to be at the receiving end of his flirtations.
It felt good- too good. Much too good for Jin's liking.
Taehyung returns to Jin and holds out his hand once more. 'Come on, I've spoken to the security. Let's get you inside.'
Jin refuses the hand with a small shake of his head. Taehyung looks at him once, his expression unfathomable, then seems to abandon the matter as he leads Jin inside the gate and into the building.
Jin's jaw drops open as soon as he's inside. Jeon Corp looks like a complete standing joke in front of Kim Enterprises, at least when it comes to the office headquarters. The entire place is so clean and shiny he feels like he's standing on a gigantic toilet bowl with people inside it.
Speaking of it, there are hundreds of people on the ground floor, and Jin, shy by nature, immediately reddens and tries to keep his head down as Taehyung leads him across the block. It's pretty hard to, though, considering that Taehyung practically owns the place and people immediately get to their feet and bow and stare as he walks by with Jin in tow. He shoots a few surreptitious glances around at the employees- they all seem happy, satisfied, almost proud as Taehyung walks past them, occasionally waving and smiling at some. It doesn't concur with what he had heard- or any of the opinions he had formed- about Kim Enterprises and the people who worked inside it.
Before he knows it they are surrounded by a large circle of people, men and women, evidently all in important positions, because Taehyung introduces Jin to each one of them and has them shake hands. As blank-faced and stoic as Jin may try to remain as he bows and greets every other person, he cannot help the rush of adrenaline- and feelings- he gets when Taehyung introduces him as 'my husband, Kim Seokjin.' For the first time in his life, he really does feel like... Taehyung's husband. Kim Taehyung's husband.
He is exceedingly surprised by the level of courtesy the employees show him- they hardly seem bothered by the fact that the head (ex-head now, Jin thinks to himself, with a dry smile) of Jeon Corp is the one shaking hands with them right now and standing beside their founder and director. Taehyung is careful not to mention more about Jin than he, Jin, is comfortable with, and he is grateful for that. Taehyung may be a lot of things- a jerk and an arrogant prick at times, but he is kind. And he does have a big heart.
Slowly but surely, Jin can feel his biased opinions and stereotypes melt away as their tour through the building continues. Taehyung treats his employees with the utmost respect, whatever their stature might be compared to his-even more respectfully than Jungkook ever had, and that says a lot. He is calm, unhurried, and he stays close to Jin's side, a hand placed lightly upon his arm, and while Jin had thought of shaking it off when they entered, he no longer feels like doing so. The hand no longer seems like a hindrance, evidence of some lie they're enacting in front of society-it seems gentle, comforting, reassuring. It reminds Jin of Taehyung's presence, and it makes him feel safe, oddly safe. For a long, long time in ages.
It's when they step out of the lift on the second floor that things take a rapid turn of events- in a direction Jin had never expected them to.
He steps out onto the floor on Taehyung's arm, and the next second collides into a hard chest.
He is pushed back unceremoniously into Taehyung, who grabs him at once, steadying him and then turning to speak to the other man in a stern voice. 'Try and look where you're going, next time, Ken.'
Ken.
Ken.
Ken.
For a few seconds time seems to come rushing to a stop around Jin, and he grasps wildly onto Taehyung's shoulders for support, eyes shut and face buried deep into his shoulder, not daring to look up, not daring to see what he dreads to see-
'Seokjin?' Taehyung's soft, worried voice jolts him out of his thoughts, and he opens his eyes slowly, letting go of Taehyung's shoulder and turning to face the other man-
And it is him, indeed.
Ken, the face of Jin's past, the past he had tried to bury, but kept coming back to him time and again because you could not really bury the past-
'Mr Kim Seokjin?' Ken bows deeply and holds out a hand. 'Glad to meet you.'
Jin doesn't seem to hear him, standing stock-still where he is and looking directly at Ken, his entire body paralysed, with fear or trepidation or simply shock, he does not know. Things are beginning to swim, spin, revolve, engulf him-
'Mr Kim Seokjin?'
Jin blinks once, then twice. He clears his head and sees Ken looking down at him with a mildly concerned expression, but that is all. No sign of surprise or consternation. No sign of anger, hate, disgust. No sign of recognition.
Ken doesn't recognize him. He doesn't remember Seokjin at all.
And in that moment, relief sweeps through him like the waves of a never-ending tide, and he feels suddenly light- much too light. So light it feels wrong.
But then the hand is back on his arm- Taehyung's hand. It gives him a small, tight squeeze- and his body is suddenly flooded with warmth, with resolution. Taehyung is here with him. He's here for him. Nobody can hurt him now- nobody, not even Ken. And he's not going to be scared. He's not going to turn tail and run from his past like a fucking coward.
He stands very straight, bowing only slightly and takes Ken's hand, his frame going slightly rigid as he touches the cold skin- once, he had reveled in that touch, but now it only revolts him, repulses him. He shudders slightly as he shakes hands with Ken, but he holds his ground. Taehyung's hand is still on his other arm, offering silent support. Taehyung might not know what's going on, but he still knows, and he knows Jin needs him right now, and Jin is eternally grateful.
Ken stops shaking hands with Jin and looks at him for a long time, rather quizzically- Jin can feel his insides tremble with apprehension- but soon drops his gaze as Taehyung says, his voice unusually hard, 'That's enough, Ken. I think Min-jee needed you back at Payroll, go help her out.'
'On it, Sir.' And he's gone, and the space in front of them is empty like he had never met Jin in the first place.
But he did. He actually did. Jin closes his eyes, takes a deep breath in. He doesn't realize he's shivering hard until he feels the hand slipping gently around his shoulder, guiding him forwards along the corridor and into a room bathed in blinding yellow sunlight. He doesn't register being sat down in a chair, his hair ruffled slightly and the height of the chair being adjusted so he's comfortable. He only regains his senses when the blinds are drawn back, closing out the bright sunlight seeping in the windows.
He blinks rapidly, then looks around the room he's in. This could only be Taehyung's office- he hasn't ever seen a bigger one before. It is tastefully decorated, but with none of the expense or luxuriance you would expect in the office of a chabeol's son- most of the things in the room are abstract paintings, oddly soothing to the eye, and old, worn-down antiques, and gilded letters of recommendation and acclaim framed and put up on the polished white walls.
He simply looks around silently for a while, and then feels the arm of his chair dip down a little as Taehyung rests a hand on it, coming down to kneel on the floor in front of Jin, looking into his face with an anxious look in his eyes.
'Jin? Seokjin?' His voice reaches Jin's ears, but it does not register. Then the hand comes to rest on top of his arm again, and he feels the odd, flooding warmth once more in every pore of his body, the heat rush up his chest and down his neck. He looks at Taehyung. and finally sees his face clearly.
'Yes?' He whispers.
Taehyung parts his lips to speak. Jin expects him to ask 'are you okay?' in the faux-worried tone that people put on when others are in distress and they only know how to smother them with their useless, pretend displays of sympathy- but he doesn't. He only continues to kneel on the floor in front of him, the hand still on his arm, grounding him to reality. Then he hears his voice, soft and calm and gentle, talking to him. 'I'm here with you, Jin, don't worry. Calm down.'
He doesn't ask Jin what's wrong, doesn't push him to tell, spill his past- chooses to only sit in silence while Jin struggles to sort out his thoughts, his emotions. And it helps him. The silence helps him, helps him better than anything else that he's ever tried before.
Several minutes pass by and the room is completely silent, but it is not an uncomfortable, awkward, unsettling silence....it feels tranquil. Serene. Secure. Just a single room with just the two of them, each absorbed in their own thoughts even as they look into each other's eyes.
Taehyung's hand never leaves his arm, not even once, and Jin is glad it doesn't. He needs it. He craves that touch, that support. And he doesn't want it to leave, ever.
After a long, long, while, seemingly like aeons, Jin straightens up, and says in a suitably calm voice, 'I'm fine.'
Taehyung's at his side at once, looking into his face searchingly. 'You sure, Seokjin?'
'I'm fine. I just had a bit of a shock, that's all.'
'You sure you're fine?'
'Yes.'
'I'm glad.'
But he doesn't leave. He stays exactly where he is, by Seokjin's side, even though the half- crouching, half-kneeling position he is in must be rather uncomfortable.
Jin shuts his eyes tightly, then opens them once more, and begins to speak, his voice low and yet clear in the quiet room.
'I've never really told you about my past, have I?'
'No, Jin, and you don't need to.' Taehyung gives his arm a gentle squeeze once more. 'Not until you're comfortable.'
'No, no.' Jin shakes his head, pressing his lips tightly together. 'I can't back down now, not when I've finally managed to get myself to start talking about it. If I don't...I might not be able to do this again, ever.'
'You don't have to. I don't want you forcing yourself to open up to me and tell me all your secrets when I still haven't gained your trust, Seokjin.'
Jin looks down at Taehyung, at the large hand pressing lightly and comfortingly onto Seokjin's small one, at the sincere look in the deep chocolatey brown eyes. In the slight sunlight, they resemble the colour of caramel. A beautiful colour. He wonders why he's never noticed before.
'I do trust you, Taehyung.'
Taehyung shakes his head. 'No, you don't.'
'Yes, I do.'
He's met with only silence, and continues to speak, his voice shaking a bit as he does.
'My parents....they're not what they seem, Taehyung. They....they're not the rich, contented, happy couple they appear to be in public. They...they're unhappy. They're terribly, terribly unhappy. They were unhappy before I was born, and after my birth, it only made things worse.'
His voice breaks a little, and he can hear himself falter before he feels another squeeze on his arm, and it gives him the courage to go on.
'My friends....they were the only things in my life that kept me going. But as I grew up, they went going....fading...disappearing entirely. Until only Jimin was left. And he stuck by me, Jimin did. Always and always.'
'My parents, they...they didn't care about me, not a bit. Or maybe they did, but they were too wrapped up in their own troubles to worry too much about me, or show me they cared. And I wouldn't have minded, but when they....when they began to hurt me, I.....I did mind. It broke me down, little by little. It broke my trust and it built barriers around me, barriers that I built around myself.'
The hand on Jin's arm tightens a little, but he's too caught up in the whirlwind of memories to notice the slight clench in Taehyung's jaw, or the shadow that passes over his eyes.
'It made me believe I was....I was worthless, useless. It wasn't them, it was me. I made myself believe all of that, because why else would my parents have any reason to hurt me?'
'And then I....I fell in love.'
His voice rose slightly, shaking with intermittent tremors as he continued to speak. 'I...I fell in love, or at least, I....I thought I did. But it....it wasn't love. It was infatuation....mere infatuation. The infatuation that someone could give me the love I needed. The infatuation that I was getting love I did not truly deserve from this person, and that it bound me to him....'
There are tears running down his cheeks now, but he does not stop. The hand on his arm is tighter, more grounding, stabilizing, giving him strength. Strength to talk about things he's never talked about before, free himself of the burden he's always carried around with him.
'I....I didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late...and I-I-'
He breaks down completely, sobbing hard, too overwhelmed by the emotions consuming him, the dark, dark memories, the depressing, humiliating past, to register the strong arms thrown around him, drawing him close, cocooning him and enveloping him in the warmth and shelter of his embrace. But he hears the voice. Close to his ear. Deep, deep as the ocean, words that reach deep into his aching heart, breaking in the barriers with the tenderness and love filled in its every fibre.
'I'll always be here for you, Seokjin. Don't worry. I'll always be here. Right here, by your side. With you.'
I wanted this to be much better but it ended up as a load of emotional crap gaahhhh😫😫
The next one might be a lot to take, and when I say a lot, I mean a LOT. But here's the catch, I don't publish it until I get at leasttttttt a 100 votes on this chapter.
Is this blackmail? YES YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT IS COZ I AM EVIL MWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA