Christmas Eve, 2019
Perfecting a tie knot was an art.
Many a day Jimin took pride in his appearance, but today, he'd specifically picked out a red and green accessory because it was his first Christmas with Yunhee, and he couldn't wait to see her gush over the sickeningly sweet gesture.
It was his idea to head out on a last minute date, but now she waited for him in the living room while he showered, shaved, and changed into a suave suit. Any second, he would hear her shout up the staircase like a foghorn and order him to get his peachy behind downstairs.
Knot wrapped to precision, Jimin fastened his shirt cuffs with the two gold buttons and slipped into his jacket while shimmying closer to the mirror to inspect his chic, black hair.
'Nice-'
'Jimin!'
The colour drained from Jimin's cheek, the panic in Yunhee's voice almost unmanning him as his eyes zipped to the door.
That was no ordinary call.
Swiping his Raptor off the nightstand, Jimin bounded out of the bedroom in a blind panic, his terror mounting as he raced along the landing and took the stairs two at a time.
An enemy must have broken in. They were here to eliminate him. Worse, they were here to abduct his girlfriend in exchange for money.
Ready to put a bullet in the intruder who dared invade their home, Jimin barrelled into the living room with his gun aloft, but came to a skidding halt when he found no immediate threat.
The seven foot tree decorated with tacky tinsel and baubles, the gift-wrapped presents beneath, the pinecone wreath and festive lights draped across the mantelpiece.
Everything was in order.
And then there was Yunhee, standing next to the sofa with glittery antlers poking out of her head. There wasn't a trace of blood on her, no immoral doppelgänger fondling her assets with a shit-eating grin.
She appeared to be absolutely fine.
Relief swept over Jimin, replacing the deep fear that something terrible had happened to her, but after giving him the fright of his life and almost dying of a heart attack, the relief very quickly transformed into boiling fury.
He was going to kill her.
'What the devil are you playing at?' he bellowed as he marched towards Yunhee with a ferocious expression. 'You can't just-'
Jimin stopped dead, his anger fizzling to guilt when Yunhee launched a green and red hoodie at his chest. He watched it fall to his feet with a plop, grimacing when he saw the discoloration on the front before he lifted his gaze to hers with a sheepish smile.
'We talked about this,' Yunhee reproached.
'We did,' Jimin said as he holstered his Raptor with a nervous laugh. 'Darling-'
'Don't you "darling" me! You've ruined my Xmas sweater, just like I said you would.'
'Um,' squaring his teeth, Jimin flipped his palms face up and inched as close to Yunhee as his nerves would allow. 'I can buy you a new one?'
Every muscle in his body tensed up the second the offer slipped from his mouth.
Now he was in the doghouse.
As predicted, Yunhee exploded and picked up the jumper to repeatedly whip his bicep.
'What is wrong with you! You have a wardrobe full of Armani and Vuitton and yet you still insist on wearing my cheap sweaters! How many times do I have to tell you not to eat food when wearing my clothes!'
Hunched over and trying to protect his hair, Jimin caught her gaze and said, 'Does that mean I can wear them when not eating food?'
'Are you kidding me?' Yunhee blustered, smacking his torso one last time before determining she'd punished him enough.
'That's a no, then.'
To his disbelief, rather than stride out of the living room in a funk to discard the hoodie in the wash basket, Yunhee manoeuvred it over her reindeer headband and slipped her arms through the sleeves.
Jimin gawped at the greasy stain sitting right between her breasts as she tugged it over her t-shirt. 'You're still going to wear it?'
'Yes. Just to humiliate you in public.'
'But this was supposed to be a "date" date!' Jimin whined while throwing his head back in exasperation. 'God, you're disgusting.'
'Ha! Says the one who dropped ramen on my sweater.'
'Darling, please.' Forgetting about his nifty comb over, Jimin cockily trailed his fingers through his gelled hair until they got wedged midway. 'Shit. Now look what you made me do!'
Yunhee giggled when Jimin eased his nails out of his scalp. Distinctly calmer, she shuffled over and stretched up onto her tiptoes to repair the damage with a reassuring smile on her cherry-gloss lips.
It was tempting to kiss them, but Jimin had a sneaky suspicion that he was not out of the woods yet.
'So, hotshot,' she whispered while rearranging the strands atop his head, 'did you bribe anyone on your travels today?'
'I would never!'
It was not Jimin's intention to sound so defensive, but it was a difficult feat to conquer when he had in fact bribed (maybe threatened, but Yunhee didn't need to know that) a revolting tycoon into staying away from an associate's sixteen year old daughter.
As far as Jimin was concerned, the arsehat had gotten off lucky.
It was either that, or castrate the fucker and fling him into the murky depths of the Han.
The trials and tribulations of being a Mafia King.
After switching the deeds back over to the rightful owner's name, they'd taken back the House of Cards. Jin and Joon oversaw the club, but every once in a while, Jimin would head into Itaewon to make sure everything was running smoothly, and to check that his comrades hadn't killed anyone during his absence.
There wasn't usually much to report. They continued to adopt their quid-pro-quo approach, helping families and small companies pay off their initial debts. Although, Jin spent the majority of his time at Mee's apartment while refusing to admit that he'd certifiably moved out of the mansion.
As much as he loved the club, these days, Jimin's priorities lay elsewhere, and he and Yunhee used their time and energy putting plans together for the Park Areum Association with the goal to complete the project within a year.
It was an exhausting task on top of everything else, but very much worth it, just like the hours he'd secretly liaised with Tae to track down Hahm Sook.
After many journeys through the vortex and numerous conversations proving that good and evil, parallel universes, doppelgängers and hocus pocus did in fact exist, Yunhee and her grandma were at last reunited.
Overwhelmed and grateful beyond words, Yunhee had kissed him stupid that day, and there was no forgetting the night she'd found out that Sook wished to relocate to their world so that she could remain close to her long lost granddaughter.
Naturally, the "local" Jebu-ri Island had become a frequent road trip for the couple at the weekend, and not long after Sook left the beach house in the parallel universe, Jinnie and Mee bought the dwelling and settled in by the sea.
Last Jimin heard, the National Library of Korea had re-employed the redhead, where she now worked part-time with a nauseatingly large diamond on her finger.
Hobi spent Saturday afternoons lazing in Yunhee's company, while Jungkook spent Sunday mornings on the phone complaining of a raging hangover and no recollection of the night before.
As for Jimin's enigmatic childhood pal, he'd barely stopped to take a shit since leaving.
After a whole month of darting back and forth and coordinating preliminary affairs, Tae was ready to officially move into the mansion and begin his mission.
Suga had taken it upon himself to join him because he was "worried about such a little man being alone in such a big house", and Jimin had heard on the grapevine that Joonie was already rifling through the shitstorm of paperwork Taehyung had left behind.
It appeared the Scarlet King already had two brilliant comrades in the making.
Jimin thought it was ideal. Not only were he, Jin and Joon assisting Tae and co, they worked as a unit across the board, notifying each team of any problems that needed to be dealt with in either world.
Two bathtubs. Two stones.
One gateway between a double empire that spanned two universes.
'Are you even listening to me?'
Jimin sidled closer to his irritated girlfriend after realising he'd completely zoned out. Ensuring that his clean white shirt was a million miles away from the hoodie he'd accidentally soiled, he wound his arms around her waist and coyly played with her silver earring.
'I was a good boy at work today. I promise.'
'You're a terrible liar, Park,' Yunhee remarked as she brushed lint from his shoulders. 'Don't think I won't get it out of you after a few drinks. It's either that, or I call Jin or Joon and ask-'
'If you do that, you can forget about all the distasteful things I was going to do to you later. In fact, I think I'll sleep in Jin's old quarters.'
'Suits me.' Reversing out of his embrace, Yunhee turned and breezed towards the living room door with an unmistakable spring in her step. 'Let's roll, bigwig! Your sexy partner in crime needs feeding!'
Jimin nodded in dreamy agreement, mesmerised by her swaying hips and curvaceous backside until she disappeared into the foyer. But Yunhee was heading out without him. She'd hotwire the car and leave his smitten arse at home if he didn't get moving.
Triple-checking his hair in the foyer mirror and determining he looked magnificent, Jimin hurried outside and down the front steps, thrilled to see his brand new set of wheels waiting for him on the driveway.
'Hello, baby,' he murmured as he approached the bright white Lexus LFA Nürburgring. 'I've missed you.'
The sports car was just how he remembered, invoking a range of bittersweet memories that he was in no hurry to forget. Taking it for a spin through the city, rescuing a damsel he barely knew from Taehyung's club, driving away into the sunset-
'Did you steal this one, too?'
Jimin's excitement diminished when he clocked Yunhee jabbing a thumb at the vehicle while leaning against the bumper.
'As if!' he pouted.
Okay, so the initial car wasn't exactly his, but did the details of their strenuous early days really matter? Back then, it was about character building. Staying alive. Sparks flying. Exposing his raw soul to the ludicrous creature that was Hahm Yunhee.
Oh, and falling head over heels in love with her.
'When are you going to let that go?' Jimin asked as he opened the car door for her. 'If I hadn't stolen that bad boy, we wouldn't have gotten away, and Taehyung would have killed me and eaten you for breakfast.'
Yunhee scoffed, taking her sweet time to climb into the passenger seat after purposefully pushing a little too hard off the bumper. 'Need I remind you that I was the one that burned rubber that night?'
Jimin's eyebrows slowly crept towards his hairline. 'So?'
'So...I think you should let me drive this evening.'
Resting his forearm on the roof, Jimin ducked inside the car and husked, 'Not a cat in hell's chance.'
He slammed the door with a Cheshire Cat grin, whistling a merry tune as he strode around the trunk and slid behind the wheel.
'I can change into a dress if you want?' Yunhee murmured as she cast her gaze over his tailored outfit.
Buckling himself in, Jimin held the fob against the key-reader, appreciating the heavy thrum of the roaring engine as he glanced at his girlfriend.
He couldn't help but smile like a fool when he saw her. Sitting there with her incredible beauty and unkempt locks. Biting her lip like butter wouldn't melt while her painted nails fiddled with the preposterous antler headband.
There was no way in any world he wanted her to change.
'Fuck the "date" date, Little Legs. Let's go grab a Hahmburger.'
*
New Year's Day, 2020
What century had Taehyung lived in?
The ballroom was ghastly. Kitschy furnishings that screamed "I am a Renaissance Lord". Old-fashioned magnolia coving. Gold and white damask tiles. Baroque drapes that blocked out the light.
And to think, this was one of thirty-three rooms that he was going to have to tackle.
The French balcony doors offering a view of the gardens could stay, but everything else had to go. What he needed was a clean, blank canvas to declutter his mind and allow him to start afresh.
'Eurgh!'
Wiping his dusty hands on his trousers, Tae abandoned the hideous curtains and pivoted around to find his new associate, Min Yoongi aka Suga, lingering in the doorway with a filthy scowl.
'Please tell me you're going to redecorate?'
'First thing on the 2020 agenda.' Flopping to the ground, Tae propped his head against the garish wallpaper and peered up the glass roof with a prolonged sigh. 'I'll call a few renovators in the morning to get some quotes. Hopefully they won't run a mile when they hear my voice.'
'Need any help?' Suga questioned as he took a seat beside him.
'Why else do you think I agreed to let you join me on this crazy quest?' Tae muttered, his eyelids fluttering closed as the afternoon sunlight warmed his skin. 'I'm going to need all the help I can get.'
'And after seeing the state of this mansion, I'm going to need all the alcohol I can get.'
'The dungeon is already fully stocked with wine and whiskey. Have at it, mate.'
The two men shared a wicked chuckle before falling into a relaxed stillness. Being comfortable with silence came with confidence, and despite the work ahead and the hardships to come, that was exactly what Tae felt as he sat in the empty ballroom beside his good friend.
'Happy New Year, Scarlet King.'
'Happy New Year, Underboss.'
***
10th February 2023