Judge Kim's office reeks of alcohol. The respectable man is sitting with his head bowed, back hunched forward and his forehead placed in his shaky hands as he leans on his wooden desk for support. His usually clean, shaved face is covered in a four day old beard, and the remnants of gray hair he has on his head are greasy and stink, as he hasn't showered in days.
Taehyung scrunches up his nose at the pathetic sight of his father, as he stands at the entryway with his black suitcase in hand. Unlike his father's, his eyes aren't puffy or red from crying, his breath doesn't reek of alcohol and he took a shower just this morning, styled his hair, and even put on some makeup to cover up the bags under his eyes, not from being unable to sleep, but from spending the night doing research.
You'd think his father is the one going to prison, not him.
He runs a hand through his hair, realizing he forgot to trim it. He traps a strand of it between his fingers, staring at how long it got, enough to cover his eyes when he doesn't style it.
"Taehyung." A raspy, drowsy voice says, pulling him out of his contemplation.
The boy lets go of his hair to stare into his father's swollen eyes, and if it weren't for the fact he respects his father more than anyone on the face of the earth, he would've laughed at his pitiful state.
"Yes, dad?" He replies with a slight smile.
"I made sure to keep this shit off the news. None of the prisoners there know who you are. Make sure it stays that way until I get you out of that shithole."
Taehyung smirks. Even drunk and depressed, his father never fails to impress him.
"I need to get going."
Taehyung grabs his suitcase and bows down respectfully before facing away from his father and exiting the office. He slowly makes his way out of their luxurious house, looking at the glimmering chandelier he used to fear as a child because he thought it'd crush him someday. He stands there, for a few seconds under the chandelier, blankly staring at it, before he directs his gaze back to the door before him.
He swings it open and steps out of the house. Fresh air invades his lungs, and he inhales deeply, completely ignoring the police truck in front of his house and the officers urging him to hurry up and climb in.
A smile still taunting his lips, Taehyung shoves his suitcase inside the trunk before climbing inside the car, sitting in the wide backseat accompanied by two other men: an old man with gold and diamond rings on each one of his greasy fat fingers, and a thin man in his forties with a long face wet with snot and tears. Despite his messy appearance, he is dressed in an elegant black suit, one that makes Taehyung arch his brow as he recognizes the Gucci brand logo on his belt buckle. The information he read about the prison really wasn't a joke, it wasn't some sort of fantasy place invented by the government.
Taehyung is truly going to a prison filled only with the most influent people of the country.
He recalls all the information he read. The prison is set in the countryside of Daegu, built over an old isolated land a farmer gladly sold for a shitload of money because the soil didn't give him that much of a satisfying result anymore anyways.
It's another innovation from the government in the name of "justice", to "put an end to the growing monster that was corruption". A prison designed only for the ones who hold power: the CEOs, the officials, the politicians, as well as the heirs to their fortune. Should any of them try to corrupt anyone involved with the law, the latter would only have to report the attempt with solid proof to receive double the sum, subtracted from said influent person's fortune. That, and the corrupter would still serve their full sentence at the prison.
It is deemed to be the "safest prison in the country", since in a whole ten years of functioning there has been no record of any severe breach of security, such as an escape, death or rape problem.
Taehyung doesn't really trust that information. He knows that regardless of the no corruption policy, the crimes happening inside the prison are far worse than anything else. Correctional officers aren't considered as highly as judges, officials and such, so the anti-corruption law doesn't apply to them. They could be corrupted so, so easily into concealing anything behind those walls.
The only difference from regular prisons is the privileges. Though it defeats the whole purpose of "eradicating inequalities", seen as those individuals are deemed to have more value - and ironically, therefore more rights - in society, they benefit from things regular prisoners wouldn't dream to have. The articles Taehyung read didn't include much more detail regarding those privileges, but he didn't bother looking more into it.
He'd eventually find out either way.
Taehyung swings a leg over the other, crossing them elegantly as he looks out the window. He frowns as he realizes they are tinted from the inside and don't allow anyone to see the outside, but relaxes as he thinks it is probably another one of his father's measures in case the prisoners recognize his house.
He closes his eyes carelessly and lets himself drift off to sleep.
"Kid. Get out before I make you."
An exasperating voice pulls Taehyung out of his slumber, and he opens his eyes. He stretches, delightfully feeling his bones crack as he does, and shakes his legs that got numb from the position he was in for hours. He looks around the truck and sees that it's now empty, then he looks to his right. The door is open, an armed man in uniform impatiently stomping his foot on the ground, the two other prisoners handcuffed and waiting behind him.
"Good morning." Taehyung chimes playfully, holding in a laugh when he sees the man's face turn livid as he loses all credibility.
God, how he loves taking away the power from the ones who think they hold it.
"Out. Now." The man urges him in a stern tone.
Taehyung obliges, rolling his eyes as he carefully exits the vehicle. Immediately, handcuffs click around his wrists, restraining the movement of his arms. He huffs, unable to wait for when they'd take them off him. Taehyung hates being constricted. He only likes it in certain circumstances that are much more appealing than having a prison guard with an ugly mustache guiding him around.
This is going to be a long journey.
Taehyung eyes his suitcase as it goes through security, passing under X-Rays and metal detectors, as well as several gloved hands looking through his stuff. He smirks as he sees one of the inspectors choke on air. He's been expecting this moment forever, and frankly the laugh is worth the embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, sir, but this is not allowed in the prison among personal belongings." She says nervously as she hands the dark blue dildo to her co-worker who shoves it in a rectangular box containing all the confiscated items. "You'll be able to retrieve it at the end of your sentence."
Taehyung chuckles under his breath, sinking his teeth into his lower lip to stifle his laughs.
That, until he feels someone's breath tickling his nape.
"Too bad, pretty boy." The old man who sat near him in the truck whispered in his ear, getting much too close for Taehyung's liking.
His reaction is immediate. In a second, he sends the fucker flying with an elbow to the chin. The man groans in pain and stumbles back as a tooth falls out of his now bloody mouth, bumping into the prisoner behind him and barely keeping himself from falling.
"You little shit!" He cries out, ready to charge back at Taehyung.
Just as he gets ready to throw a kick at him - Taehyung doesn't flinch or move a muscle - he's stopped by two correctional officers instantly shoving him down on the floor. Taehyung crouches down, ignoring the officers' orders to get back, and he tilts his head to the side before speaking with a smile.
"You dare breathe the same air as me again and it's not your tooth that'll fall off."
With that, he grabs his suitcase with cuffed hands and turns his back on the old dirtbag's insults and empty threats. He follows an officer to his cell under the confused looks of a dozen stunned prisoners waiting in line to get their belongings back.
"Here you go. You're in Block V. You better behave, I let it go this time but if you cause trouble like earlier again, you won't get away with it so easily." The guard threatens as he leads him to his cell inside the block. "Everyone's in the yard. Your uniform is on your bed, get changed and get out."
The man grabs a keychain and takes his time carefully finding the right one before taking the handcuffs off Taehyung's wrists. The latter sighs in relief and stretches his arms, finally looking at the guard's face. With slight surprise, he realizes that this one is quite good looking, compared to the others. He's tall, lean, has a clean face, narrow but nice brown eyes, and quite masculine features.
"I can't promise you that I won't cause any more trouble." Taehyung says, tone playful and slightly on the cocky side.
Little dimples dig into the guard's cheeks as he lets a hint of a smile taunt his lips.
"Just make sure I'm not around if you want to keep your ass safe." He warns, turning around to attend to his other duties.
As the guard leaves the block, Taehyung makes his way inside his cell. It is more spacious than he expected, definitely more luxurious than regular prison cells. The double bunk bed is rather wide, each of the two bunks probably big enough to fit two people. Upon seeing the messy top bunk and the ugly dark blue uniform sitting on the bottom one, he makes an educated guess that the latter is his.
He stares at the distasteful uniform, thinking there is no way he'll wear this.
Taehyung shows up to the yard in a fucking Gucci suit.
His favorite, actually. It makes his long, lean legs look nice and slim, and it hugs his figure nicely. He steps on the green grass with shiny loafers and casually pulls out a cigarette from the packet he bought at the prison commissary earlier. As he forgot to buy a lighter, he gets a guard to light his cigarette. He then makes his way towards an empty bench and casually sits down, legs crossed. He takes a deep drag from his cigarette, then takes the stick between his slender fingers and throws his head back to slowly ease the smoke out of his lungs.
Then as he looks back to the yard, he notices that all eyes are on him - officers and prisoners confounded. He especially minds a certain prisoner approaching him, and he's delighted to see that he's a clean-looking, handsome young man, possibly a few years older than he is. It's a shame that his broad shoulders look slumped due to the large, ugly uniform he's wearing. He bets he'd look great in Givenchy.
Finally, the man stops in front of him and offers him a friendly smile, which Taehyung gladly returns after breathing out another cloud of smoke.
"New here, Gucci boy?" He asks, and Taehyung nods in response, chuckling at the nickname. "Mind if I take a seat?"
"I don't think theses benches are my property. Make yourself comfortable." Taehyung replies, patting the place near him.
The tall man sits down, though a little further than the place Taehyung motioned him to sit in. He stays silent for a few seconds, eyeing the carefree way Taehyung smokes, his posture elegant. Almost vain.
"Although the uniforms aren't mandatory...Usually newbies are the first ones to wear them. To make themselves invisible." He finally speaks out. "They especially don't show up in Gucci the first day."
"We've got privileges in this place. I'm gonna make the most of it. I don't have to wear them and I don't want to, so I won't."
"Understandable. I'm Seokjin, by the way. You are?"
Before answering, Taehyung takes one last drag from his cigarette and stubs it out on the wooden table, throwing it in the trash can near him. He remembers his father's advice. Although Seokjin has this motherly vibe to him and a face that just screams "I'm nice and approachable", Taehyung isn't stupid enough to trust anyone here with his identity. He eyes the prisoners hanging around in the yard and wonders how many of them are here because of his father. Maybe even Seokjin.
"Keep calling me Gucci boy."
Seokjin chuckles next to him, a little taken aback by his response but understanding of his lack of trust. He sighs and sits closer to Taehyung. He still has a duty to fulfill, one that he wasn't assigned by any superior power at all, but that he carries out for his own peace of conscience.
"Let's keep this short. I'm here to explain a few things to you. Despite what the news say, this place ain't all pink and fluffy. There are rules, ones that neither the guards nor the law will explain to you."
His little speech catches Taehyung's attention. He retracts himself from taking another cigarette, placing it back into the packet and looking at Seokjin's face instead.
"That window over there," Seokjin tilts his chin upwards and Taehyung follows his gaze. "That's the nurse's office. It doesn't matter how badly you're hurt, don't go in there. He's the easiest one to corrupt, and should anyone have a little grudge against you, they won't hesitate to pay him to stick a needle of poison in your arm. If you really need treatment, come see me in block B, cell three. My cellmate's a doctor. He'll care for you."
Taehyung thanks him and nods, taking note of everything Seokjin says as he stares at the window and memorizes the location.
"We all are allowed to carry mobile phones at all times. You can just buy one at the commissary. However, they're not high-tech, no access to internet, and incoming calls are blocked. The call will only go through if it's an authorized number. The list of numbers is filtered with the exact same rules as visitation: family members, important business partners, and close friends but they'd need to go through interrogation first, those usually need more time to be accepted. There's a limit though, an hour of calling per day. And if you cause any trouble, all lines are blocked for a certain amount of time depending on what you did. Basically it's just to keep the world running, transactions going and the business flowing."
"What about other inmates?" Taehyung asks.
"What about them?"
"Can you call other inmates?"
Seokjin's eyes widen at that. He juts his bottom lip out, seemingly in deep thought.
"Never considered that possibility before. It's kind of useless, you could just walk up to their cell. Unless it's after curfew, but again I don't really see the use in it." He hums, thinking of other things he could tell him. "Ah, there's a total of twenty-six blocks, titled A to Z, each one has six cells with two prisoners per cell. You met your cellmate yet?"
Taehyung shakes his head no, and Seokjin hisses at that.
"Good luck with that..." He adds. "The guards here are pretty basic; loud, stupid and they think they hold all the power. There are only two that are worth remembering though... I believe you've met one of them if you came at this time. Officer Kim Namjoon's always assigned to the newbies."
"Tall, handsome, dimples when he's not glaring?"
"That one. He's cool, but don't fuck with him. He's the only one who has half a brain. Shit, he probably has more brain than anyone in here. He's smart. And I mean genius smart, he's figured out some fucked up plans to gang or murder someone in the prison before they even happened and busted the ones responsible. Hit 'em with ten additional years to their sentences for attempted first degree murder. Then there's another officer... polar opposite. He used to be really bright and cheerful until he started getting fucked over. Poor guy's so nice he gets lured into bad shit all the time. If you want anything, really, just scare him a little and you'll get it out of him."
Silence falls on both of them as Taehyung didn't respond, too focused on retaining all of the information given by Seokjin.
"Anything else?" Taehyung finally asks.
"Yeah... one last thing. That guy over there," Seokjin discreetly tilts his chin in the direction of a certain bench, all of a sudden looking a lot less confident. "Real young, surrounded by thugs, dark hair, handsome. A little bunny-faced if you will."
Taehyung's gaze falls on a man matching Seokjin's description. He can't help but stare. Fucking guy looks like he owns the damn place. His sharp jawline, dark hair, pouted thin lips and piercing gaze make him look much older than he is. As a guy near him seems to say something funny, the man smirks, revealing white teeth and an expression Taehyung likes. He looks like he is in charge of everything, like he has power, like Taehyung should fear him.
And yet he doesn't. Taehyung is intrigued by the guy.
"What about him?" Taehyung asks, quirking up at eyebrow as his gaze doesn't leave the man.
"Don't fucking go near him."
Taehyung jolts a little in surprise at how stern Seokjin's tone has gotten compared to the comforting, friendly one he's spoken in until now.
"I mean it. Don't approach him. Hell, don't even look him in the eyes. That's Jeon Jungkook, and he's dangerous. We don't know how he does it, or why, but the second he doesn't like someone, they're fucked. He makes them someone's bitch, gets them beaten up or even killed if he wants to, and it somehow is always swept under the rug, like that person never fucking existed. Next thing you know, he offs their family too so they don't go looking too deep into their deaths."
Taehyung should be shaking. He should immediately look away from the guy, or even leave the yard to avoid being noticed by him at all costs.
But his eyes are glimmering with a spark of pure curiosity and excitement, and Seokjin doesn't understand. He doesn't know Taehyung loves playing with fire, that he isn't afraid to get burned, because he knows he'll eventually douse the damn flame.
"This is going to be interesting, after all."
And under Seokjin's astonished stare, Taehyung doesn't avert his eyes when Jungkook looks his way. In fact, he holds his gaze, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his beautiful lips.
He then stands up, still staring deep into the man's eyes as he approaches him. The thugs surrounding him immediately shut up and clench their fists. Their jaws almost drop to the floor as Taehyung isn't unsettled the slightest by their threatening change of behavior. He just keeps walking and leans down, a smile playing at his lips as he takes the stick out of his mouth and into his long fingers, face impossibly close to the other man's.
Then, in a fucking Gucci suit, Taehyung speaks to Jeon Jungkook.
"Got a lighter?"