"Hi Y/N." Taehyung said. My lips parted slightly in shock. I felt my body go stiff in Taehyung's hold. My eyes widened and a sudden rush of adrenaline filled me. I put my palms flat against Taehyung's chest and pushed him back. I stumbled backward lightly, my breathing heavy. Sehun stepped up to my side, putting a hand on my shoulder and protectively moving in front of me. Taehyung stepped forward.
"Don't." I warned him.
"Please Y/N." He said. I shook my head.
"If you want my friendship back, you're going to have to earn it. Maybe Chanyeol forgave you for leading us on, for putting your best friends after your mafia, but I haven't. You'll be lucky if I ever do. You left us in the dark, Jinwoo."
"First of all, Ms. Y/L/N, you should know he's not your Kim Jinwoo. He's Bangtan Boys' Kim Taehyung." A smooth voice spoke from behind Taehyung.
Taehyung said nothing to the scathing comments coming from the figure beside him.
A small chuckle spilled from the shorter man's lips. "It's your fault that we had to take them in anyway, hyung." The man's piercing gaze alighted on me. "We have two of EXO's members in our custody. They won't talk, either of them. However, you," he jabbed an index finger in my direction, "you are going to get them to talk, now that you're here. And if you refuse, I will happily kill off that friend of yours, Chanyeol. We don't need you here. You should be thankful that Joon hyung even allowed emotions into this. Because thanks to him, you aren't being tortured by EXO right now. If I were you, I would be sure to do everything we ask while you're here." He was fuming. I could practically be waves of annoyance flowing off him.
"Enough, Jungkook." Namjoon told the younger man. All eyes turned to the leader of Bangtan, standing in his white dress shirt and black pants on the stairs. A chill crept down my spine as the man called Jungkook went rigid, instantly quiet. I felt Sehun's hand on my shoulder tighten. This time, he made an obvious effort to put me behind him. A smile pressed at my lips, despite the situation, and I obliged his paranoia, stepping behind his taller figure.
Namjoon had one hand lightly splayed across the wooden railing. A lazy, dangerous air of confidence surrounded him like a shield. His dirty blonde hair was parted to the side, gelled into position. The muscle shifted under his shirt as he slowly walked down the stairs. The mafia leader's eyes glinted dangerously in the light of the chandelier above him as he stopped in front of Jungkook. I watched with my eyes wide. Namjoon's stare bored into the black haired boy. "Go. Jin needs assistance with their friend." Jungkook stubbornly shook his head. Namjoon's lips twitched in a smile. "Kook, you have thirty seconds to go find something else useful to do, before I decide to stop being your sparring partner for a two weeks."
Jungkook crossed his arms. "Fine then. I'll just ask Hoseok hyung to spar with me. But I'm not leaving."
Namjoon was obviously struggling not to grin at the maknae's behavior. He reached a hand out and ruffled the younger man's hair lightly. "All right, Kookie. Do some maknae bonding with Sehun over there, and I promise to spar with you every day for a week."
Jungkook seemed to consider for a moment. He put his hands on his hips. "Starting tomorrow morning?"
The smile finally broke through the leader's lips, his dimples showing on his cheeks. "Yes, Kook. Starting tomorrow morning."
"Fine." Jungkook grumbled. "I'll do it. But don't ever ruffle my hair again." He turned away from Namjoon and walked up the stairs. Sehun looked to me, an obvious question written across his features. I nodded.
"Go." I told him. "I'll be fine." He hesitated for a moment, then hurried after Jungkook and disappeared up the stairs.
I turned to Namjoon and Taehyung, expecting his business air to suffocate me, but was shocked to see Taehyung running a hand through his hair, a grin gracing his handsome face, and dimples still making their appearance on Namjoon's cheeks. Suddenly the heavy air of anticipation was gone as I watched the mafia leader burst into laughter. I was dumbfounded as Taehyung's fell into the wall, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably as he held his face in his hands and laughed.
"Did you see his expression?" Namjoon gasped. "Wait until Hoseok hears about this!" He started cracking up again.
"I- That was amazing, Joonie." Taehyung held the wall for support. "'Maknae bonding.'" Both men stared at each other for a split second, then doubled over laughing again. A couple minutes later, when they finally regained their composure, Namjoon cleared his throat, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Can- can you go help Jin? I wasn't just trying to get that kid out of here when I asked him to help Jin. He actually does need help."
Suddenly, Taehyung's eyes darkened. "What about Hoseok? And Yoongi?"
Namjoon groaned. "Are all of you intent on questioning my authority these days? Sometimes I feel like I'm not even leader anymore."
Taehyung rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall. He chuckled, "All right all right, I got it. Wouldn't want you to take away my sparring privileges with you, right?"
Namjoon barked a small laugh. "Thanks." And with that, Taehyung was gone from the room, leaving me with the now-not-so-intimidating mafia leader. He stood up straight, and for the first time, I realized how lucky I was. Namjoon was, despite all his jokes, a very capable leader. He could control his seven person mafia with a single wordless stare. He would certainly have no qualms about killing off me and Chanyeol, and if he did, nobody could question his decision. In fact, there was no reason why he had to cooperate with Taehyung. It would be easier for him to kill us. I was extremely lucky, I realized, that the fearless leader of Bangtan Boys was not as cold-blooded as people made him out to be.
So I wasn't afraid. I took a step forward. "You certainly don't seem the ruthless leader of Bangtan that you've been made out to be."
Namjoon smiled tiredly. "Would you believe me if I said I'm the only member of Bangtan that's never killed someone before?" I froze in place, my foot pausing midair. I couldn't find words to respond. "Yeah, most people wouldn't. It's all right, it's to be expected. Here, let's go talk in peace in the living room. I'll explain everything." He moved toward the opening on my right. As I hesitated to follow, he turned around and scratched the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "You can trust us, you know. I'm sorry that your welcome wasn't exactly ideal, Jungkook has trouble understanding that sometimes things don't go according to plan. You're welcome here, though. You and Chanyeol. Any friend of one of our members is a friend of everyone in BTS."
I didn't feel like arguing the fact that Taehyung and I weren't exactly friends at this point, but I understood what he meant. It was enough for me. I smiled in thanks and followed him to the living room.
It wasn't what I expected. The walls were lined with pictures of the boys, grinning, joking around. It was...happy. Not like EXO, where the mafia always seemed to come before personal relations. One picture caught my eye, and I moved to stand directly in front of it. It was the largest framed picture, with all seven of the BTS members. Something in my heart ached as I scanned the image. Taehyung was smiling with that ridiculously boxy grin of his, one hand raised above his head, fingers forming a peace sign. There was Jungkook in the center, an adorable bunny like smile gracing his lips, Namjoon's hand perched adoringly on his shoulder. Jimin stood to Namjoon's left.
"Nice, isn't it?" Namjoon said from behind me. I turned around, and he handed me a glass of water. "Sorry, we're out of drinks. Yoongi tends to down a pack of beer every week." He laughed.
I giggled. "It's fine, thank you." I gestured to the picture with my free hand. "Who's who?"
I took a sip of my water as he pointed to the man beside Taehyung. He was smiling only faintly, but his gaze was warm, loving. "That's Seokjin. He does all our doctoral stuff, and besides me, he's killed the least. Kind of like the mother around here." He moved his indication to the man on the right of Jungkook. "Yoongi. He's got the most authority in our little family." I raised a brow, and Namjoon nodded knowingly. "Yoongi is kind of like our representative. He's the second oldest. He's the one who keeps everyone together. Like our foundation." I glanced at the genius man beside me. His admiration for the older man was obvious. Namjoon continued, "Jung Hoseok is the guy on the far right." My eyes traveled to the chocolate haired man beside Jimin. I almost started in surprise at his seemingly carefree thumbs up, the way his eyes seemed to shine with irreplaceable happiness. "Hoseok is...well, he's our sunshine, I guess." The mafia leader smiled faintly. "He's the third oldest. If you need an uplift, he's the person to go to."
I had another drink of water, the glass now half empty. "How so?"
"He's always been the most level headed person around here. I don't think I've ever seen him get truly angry. Hoseok has always been full of energy, always a bouncing personality, bright." Namjoon turned to me, motioning to the couch. "Here, have a seat. We should talk about everything. I'm sure you're confused." I nodded, following him to sit opposite him, and set my glass on the table. He gestured to me, "Throw anything at me."
I took his words to heart. "All right. First of all, as inconsequential as this may seem, I'd look to know something about Kim Jongdae."
"Ah, Chen. What do you want to know?"
I shifted uncomfortably. "He wasn't supposed to be there."
"Meaning?" Namjoon frowned, confused.
"That morning, when you guys took Baekhyun and Minseok, they weren't the only ones to go. Jongdae came that morning to my room to tell me that he was going with Baek, Minseok, and Xing to speak with you about the situation, and to meet with Monsta X for a deal or something. Did you guys know that there were four of them?"
"No." He shook his head. "Actually, only two people came. Byun Baekhyun and Kim Xiumin. They came to practically threaten us to back off. I guess their leader, Suho, knew about the relationship between you, Chanyeol, and Tae."
I nodded. It made sense, because Chanyeol had told Junmyeon about Jinw-Taehyung, but he'd never told me when. "But what about Yixing? And Dae?"
Namjoon sighed, leaning into the couch. "I really only know their real names, so I don't know who Yixing is. Jongdae, of course as you know, is Chen."
"That's fine. Chen is the main issue. I just don't understand why he was there, when he threatened Sehun. He shouldn't have been. He went missing." I said dismissively.
Namjoon's frown increased. He leaned forward suddenly. "Or that's just what they told you." He said, a dark seriousness clouding his earlier expression. "They've lied to you and Chanyeol about enough of their mafia, maybe Chen and this Yixing guy's disappearance were a setup. Think about it. They must have used their disappearance to test whether or not you were innocent. After what Chanyeol told Suho, EXO had no way of knowing whether or not you knew about Taehyung, and if you did, whose side you were on. If you were on our side, Tae's side, then they would've had to kill you. But of course, that would be suspicious for Chanyeol and Baekhyun."
"They must have intended from the beginning for only two people to make it here." I realized.
"But why four?" BTS's leader wondered. "Their 'test' could've worked the same with just two."
Suddenly everything clicked. "SEVENTEEN. And Monsta X." I said. "EXO didn't trust me, but of course they didn't trust you guys either. So they sent four people. Two people to come here, to discuss your 'attack' on me. They definitely didn't expect for you to capture them. That was unprecedented. But Chen and Yixing, that was on purpose. They must have gone to SEVENTEEN, making use of their alliance. While they kept tabs on me, Yixing and Chen were backups. If it turned out that I was allied with you, then they could instantly pull an army out to counter you- with SEVENTEEN. If it turned out that I was on their side, then Yixing and Dae would have come back after using SEVENTEEN to infiltrate Monsta X. MX is new, and I know EXO wanted to crush them. Chen told me before he left that he had business with Monsta X, it wasn't a lie. He did, just not the business I thought. Not an alliance." My voice by this point was shrill, laced with panic, horror at the whole carefully laid out plan. "Namjoon, it's not just BTS that's in danger. Monsta X, we have to help them. Please! They're new, they're only seven. They don't have anyone else, no resources the way you do."
"We'll figure it out, Y/N. This whole setup is too elaborate. I don't understand half of what they're thinking. You're right, they definitely were planning a domination. I think I know where this is going, and believe me when I say you had nothing to do with this. You, Chanyeol, Taehyung, and three of you just complicated things for them. Now they've lost five members. They're in no position to-"
I shook my head, interrupted him. "No. They're as strong as before, if not stronger. They lost, in all honesty, their least powerful members. I mean besides Minseok, and maybe Chanyeol. But even Yeol isn't that powerful compared to who else is in EXO. EXO has old members, past ones. I'm sure they've already called in The Foundation."
The mafia leader's gaze shot up at this. "The Foundation? It's real?"
I nodded. "Yes. It's three people. Wu Yifan, Huang Zitao, and Luhan. I don't know much about it, but I've met all three of them. Trust me when I say they're dangerous. I don't know what you guys are truly capable of, but those three..." I shook my head in disbelief, "They're on a different level."
A silence passed over the room. I absentmindedly drank the rest of my water, thoughts of conspiracy rushing through my mind. After what seemed like hours, Namjoon spoke again. "All right." He said finally. I hastily scrambled to my feet as he stood quickly. He stared at me for a moment, then walked me to the doorway we had come through earlier. "Let me show you your room."
I almost choked. "My...room?" I said dumbly.
He grinned. "Yep! You're not a prisoner, you know. What's got you so surprised?"
"I-nothing. Thanks, Namjoon."
His grin widened. "Joon." He said firmly. "You can call me Joon."
I opened my mouth to respond when Jungkook and Sehun came barreling in, breathless.
"He's gone!" Jungkook panted. I caught a glimpse of the blood running down his lip and forehead as he leaned over, resting his hands on his knees. "Hyung he's-"
"Kook and I went downstairs, he was going to take me with him to the interrogation room to check on hyung and-" Sehun interruped, panicked. He had a bruise on his cheekbone, and blood was seeping out of a knife wound on his thigh.
"Who?" Namjoon interrupted. "Who's gone?"
"Kim Xiumin!" Jungkook exclaimed. "He escaped!"
A/N Yo yo yo that was an intense update holy fudgesicles!!! Also if anyone's interested, here's the picture of them seven gods: