🥀
Happy Hour was soon going to meet its end. Within the next ten minutes, the preplanned raid would destroy the bar and of course, Jeon Wonwoo himself.
When Seungkwan heard the recording on Taehyung's phone from the day they had met, he was assured that this was legit. The illegal business of the bar was about to shut down. The rest of the police force was on its way already, everything according to plan.
"Good, but are you sure that Wonwoo is still there? What if he ran away already?" Seungkwan asked, ready on his toes.
"Exactly. I will go in right now and check the atmosphere. I'll give you a call the moment I clear it up. Be ready and stay in hiding." Taehyung worded out and hurriedly made his way inside the bar.
This was the final breakthrough. Nothing could go wrong.
The same alcoholics, the same drug addicts, the same disgusting scent hitting his nose, Taehyung knew for a fact that there was no way this place would see the sunrise of the next morning. Sitting down somewhere on a stool near the dance floor, he observed the setting for a good minute. People could be seen sneakily walking upstairs to the first floor, rest were already wasted. It was Taehyung's cue to understand and start the drill.
"Officer Boo Seungkwan." He called up the guy almost instantly as he stealthily walked out through the back door of the bar that he had taken a note of the last time he had visited.
"Sir."
"All clear, bring in everyone. Your time to shine."
Taehyung didn't know the name of the girl he had met last time. But all he did as he hung up the phone to make an easy escape was smile to himself as his thoughts drifted to her beautiful and curious smile.
🥀
It was morning. Taehyung had had a good sleep last night, knowing that his first move was successful. The first person he had decided to completely mess up was seated across from him in the interrogation room. Wonwoo was handcuffed, a scowl on his face, something about his body language told Taehyung that he was still slightly high. Just a minute ago, Taehyung had made him hear the recordings from the secret room and his conversation with the girl. There was clearly no way out for him.
"Is the bar owner your uncle?"
No response.
"Mr. Jeon Wonwoo, the evidence is before everyone and you don't seem to be defending yourself at all. Does this mean you're guilty?"
No answer. All he did was shoot invisible daggers with his eyes towards a very calm Taehyung.
"Are you aware of the heroin addicts that you have created? Maybe you've heard of a very recent case which corresponds to a deceased person named Kim Il-han. Do you think you hold any fair share of responsibility?"
All the officers, including Yoongi and Taehyung's parter Jimin were shocked as they heard him behind the glass panel. They could obviously hear and understand what was going on. What seemed like a simple drugs case had some linkage to Il-han? Jimin was so confused, he had no idea what Taehyung was thinking. And the mere thought scared him.
Wonwoo stood up from his spot in pure anger, finally holding up his stand against something. Taehyung wasn't fazed, this was the part that excited him.
"I did not kill him."
"I never mentioned anything about you killing him."
"But you definitely meant that."
"Could you please sit down, you're blocking the light."
"I know you think I murdered him. Everyone in the bar who knew him thinks that. I hated him, yes. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna fucking kill him!" He banged the table in between them in utter frustration, going absolutely insane.
Everyone behind the glass panel who were watching the scene unfold were dead worried. What even was going on?
"Sit down, stop trying to intimidate me. Won't work."
"Why are you beating around the bush? I'm literally telling you what you wanna know."
"Sit down."
"Kim Taehyung!"
"Sit."
"Let me go!"
"I will leave you to rot in absolute hell and never show my face again. Right now, I am the one you listen to. Sit down and we'll talk."
Taehyung managed to send chills down everyone's spine. The ones who were concerned about him or the situation were now worried about the convict and Jeon Wonwoo too felt himself sinking back to his spot, eyes lowered to the ground. Kim Taehyung was not an easy interrogator. He should've known better.
The flow of the questioning had switched from the interrogation of heroin supply to Il-han's murder. And nobody witnessing this had the courage to lead Taehyung otherwise. In fact, they had figured by now that this was his plan all along.
"Did you hate Il-han?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He humiliated me in front of the bartenders. Nobody had the courage to do that. Of course, I took offence!"
"Since then, did you do anything to bother him or make his life problematic?"
"He still continued to buy drugs from me. But we never really got on good terms."
"Did you ever forcibly drug him?"
"No."
"That's a lie."
Wonwoo went silent for a slight moment before quickly gathering himself.
"Okay, okay. A few months before he passed, he was actually trying to overcome his addiction. But I got him back to it."
"See, there you go."
Wonwoo rolled his eyes as the detective encouraged him to speak further as if he were a little child.
"Who was Il-han's boyfriend at the time he died?"
"I told you, I really don't know."
"Not convinced but won't push it further."
"I really-"
"Anything you wanna confess before I leave you? If you're hiding something regarding Il-han's case or his possessions? Just know that your so-called secret room, your house, your bank locker, every thing that belongs to you is being checked."
Wonwoo gulped. The thought flashed through his head but he decided to go totally against it. Taehyung could see that he was considering the revelation but he gave up on it.
"I don't have anything." There was a weird hesitance and fear of unknown in his voice. The detective did not miss it.
"Okay, we are all done now."
🥀
The night was like any other; calm and nonchalant in its onset and persistent in its unpredictability. Taehyung, who was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling couldn't help but think of Jungkook.
Who did that to him? The thought alone was killing him.
Jungkook definitely knew. But he did not say it. He didn't want anybody to know about what had happened...not even Seokjin, his only friend. Something was oddly suspicious about the boy since the very first day but now that it had come to this, Taehyung didn't know how to make the younger speak up. He knew so much yet he decided to stay mum. There had to be a good reason for it.
Interrupting his thoughts was a violent thunderbolt in the dark night sky.
Taehyung was alerted, shifting in the bed to face the giant glass in his room. The sky looked beautiful. Soon, it had started to rain. Everything about the atmosphere and the weather reminded him of Jungkook. How he had been so timid and horrified of the lightning and thunder, how he dearly wanted somebody by his side, how his glistening eyes would ask for help without uttering a word...and how his entire aura would change as he indulged in a conversation.
He was indeed the most beautiful person Taehyung had known. Even prettier than the sky that briefly lit up every now and then with its lightning.
As the rain got faster, he could only wonder how the younger was feeling. Where he was, what he was doing, if he was still awake at an ungodly time of 2 AM...With a slight reluctancy, Taehyung picked up his phone and looked for Jungkook's contact. As he dug in deeper inside the comfort of his blankets, he called up the younger with a heartbeat increasing every second.
It took about a minute but the call was finally answered.
"Hello..." A small voice answered from the other end, making Taehyung break into the biggest smile ever. He sounded so soft and tiny, even the ruffling of the blankets was very prevalently heard.
"Are you alright?"
"You're asking...because of the weather?"
"Yeah, what else?"
"Right, uh, I'm okay." The younger spoke rather clumsily, the comfort of his bed was long forgotten since he now had Taehyung talking to him.
"I guess..." He continued, completely buried in the blanket at this point. Only his eyes peeked out, trying to get hold of the onset of thunder by judging the lightning in the sky.
The sound of rain accompanied their comfortable conversation and occasional silence. Taehyung smiled yet again, Jungkook's voice alone was enough to ignite a weird spark within him.
"Why are you still awake? I honestly thought you had slept." Taehyung questioned, trying to not lose the flow of the talks.
"Can't sleep lately. I-" Jungkook stopped mid-sentence, a gasp leaving his mouth as he shut his eyes in horror. A violent sound of thunder interrupting his words was enough for him to curl further into a ball inside the safety of his blanket and within the security of Taehyung's voice.
"It's fine. Breathe."
Jungkook complied. Taking soft and deep breaths, completely overlooking the fact that Taehyung could hear him. It was a comforting lullaby-like sound to the elder, making him aware of the presence of this beautiful boy. Taehyung closed his eyes as he heard him breathe, it felt as if he was right there next to him. And Taehyung loved the sound of that.
"Better?"
"Yeah." Jungkook answered soon after, suddenly becoming a lot more at ease. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to speak up finally.
"C...can you please continue talking to me? It feels way better this way." Jungkook had his eyes shut in embarrassment as he spoke, almost cussing himself out in his head.
Taehyung grinned.
"Don't worry, darling. I won't hang up until you say so."
Jungkook's heart quite literally skipped a beat. While one of his hands were firmly gripping onto the phone held next to his eager ear, the other one flew towards his chest at an awfully fast rate. Oh no, he was so lost in Taehyung's voice and his thoughts, he could barely even breathe.
"Mr. Kim..." Jungkook whispered, almost shy and flustered.
"Is it fine..you know- for...you to be s-so nice to me?"
"Well, why not?"
"I'm closely related to Kim Il-han...I-I'm still a...suspect to you." Jungkook's speech was wobbly and so were his thoughts. The sky was unpredictable tonight.
"You are. But you're also a victim. Did you forget what happened a few days back? Have you even fully recovered yet?"
"Yes."
"No. You have cold, your voice gives it away. You are still hiding beneath loads of blankets as you talk to me right now. And don't tell me it's because of the thunder, I know it's not."
"I'm sorry."
Another sound of thunder, this time a chain of lightning bolts altogether. Jungkook was crying silent tears as he left the phone next to him on speaker and hugged his body, trying to calm himself down. This was one weakness he had that he really hoped he had gotten rid of in childhood itself. However, it grew onto him and became a bigger menace as he grew up.
"I can hear you crying, Jungkook. Anything I can do?"
Taehyung knew that the younger probably wouldn't be able to respond but there was something about the silent pleas in his heavy breathing that told him he had to be of help.
"Just...don't stop talking."
"Oh, I see. You fancy my voice, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Being weird and honest today, I see. What colour underwear are you wearing today?"
"Bla- what?"
"I was just testing the waters, Jungkook. You sound so scared." Taehyung chuckled, a boxy smile adorning his face.
"I am scared, what do you mean."
"Okay, Mr. Scared, do you wanna hear a story?"
"Please, anything."
Taehyung recited and the younger intently heard. By the time they reached the end, Taehyung realised that there was a strange lack of response from the other end. Usually Jungkook would talk a lot to distract himself. However, he had completely stopped talking at one point.
Taehyung was confused but that was until he heard the calm and pleasant breathing of the terribly exhausted boy on the other end. Soft snores soon accompanied and left the elder in awe. Jungkook seemed like he urgently needed that sleep. For whatever reason he had been sacrificing his sleep until now, he could finally lay in peace and quiet.
The rain hadn't stopped yet. The thunder was also prominent occasionally. The only difference was that Jungkook was in a state of relief and calm while Taehyung couldn't help but smile the more he heard his soft snores and thought of the boy's dreamy face.
"Good night, Jungkook."
🥀
I am very happy as I finish this chapter. Firstly, cause there was an appropriate amount of fluff which was literally lost until now?? And secondly because I will be taking a much awaited nap right after. Ugh this feels amazing.