I am so in deep shit for my studies.
here goes this chapter tho.
it's shitty please forgive me I promise I'll do better for the next ones. I am just so tired, I knew med school in France was hard but I had no idea it was this hard. I'm sorry I can't update that much, and when I do it's terrible. I'm doing my best, I promise. Hope you enjoy this chapter anyways. ❤️
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
Yoongi stares at his palm and there's blood. It's trickling out of it, slowly but too fast for his liking, there's too much blood and it's making him feel dizzy.
Today, he's supposed to clean up the room where the cooking activities happen, and that includes the numerous plates the clumsier - or angrier - prisoners tend to break. He curses himself for being so stupid, he somehow managed to cut himself while doing his usual chores. He should've known it wasn't a good idea to carry those broken plates all at once, but blame his lazy fucking ass for not wanting to make a second trip to get the rest of them. So now he's alone in the cooking atelier, hand bleeding after he tripped and let the already broken plates shatter to even tinier pieces on the floor, and he's freaking out.
He can't go to the infirmary, he doesn't exactly want to risk getting poisoned, although he usually stays out of trouble, you never know. He might've upset someone by grabbing the last piece of a meal they wanted once, or by accidentally looking at them too long. Rich people are fucking crazy, he knows it, they'll hold a grudge over anything because they're just so goddamn bored in here.
He doesn't want to speak to Seokjin, he doesn't trust him. But he also would rather not get an infection, that would be a pain in the ass.
He winces when he tries to gather the shards still scattered on the floor with his good hand, feeling them prickle at his skin. He gives up, deciding that it would be absolutely stupid to risk cutting his other hand. So he gets up, making his way towards the exit, when a figure suddenly rushes into the room.
"What happened here?" Hoseok asks, seeming alarmed by the noise.
The brunet's eyes widen when they land on the older man, hunched over and so very small, with his pale skin and pink lips and pretty everything. However, he notices something contrasting heavily with the pallor of his skin. He sees crimson, dark and overly present on the palm of his hand, and it has Hoseok's jaw falling open in panic.
"It's fine." Yoongi dismisses before Hoseok can even speak. "I'll just go to the infirmary or something."
"No, god no!" Hoseok exclaims, hurrying towards the man who stares up at him in confusion. He carefully grabs his arm and takes him out of the room, Yoongi following instinctively. "I'll take you to Jimin. He always has a first aid kit in his office."
"Hoseok, I don't-"
"Just shut up and follow me." He interrupts him.
Yoongi blinks. "I-"
"Shhh."
Before Yoongi can protest again, Hoseok's knocking hard at Jimin's office door. It swings open almost instantly, the black-haired counselor emerging from the office.
"What's the matter?" He asks, startled.
"Nothing, doctor Park, I just-"
"He got hurt while cleaning up!" Hoseok speaks up, lifting up Yoongi's hurt hand for Jimin to see.
Yoongi is rolling his eyes at how freaked out Hoseok is. It's almost funny, because sure, it's a deep cut and it hurts like a bitch, but he's not going to die from a wound in his palm. And yet there's Hoseok, jumping everywhere and rushing and screaming as if he just got his arm amputated.
Yoongi holds back, but his lips still curve into a discreet smile when Jimin's eyes widen and he drags him inside his office with almost as much worry in his eyes as Hoseok.
A couple minutes later he's got his hand cleaned, disinfected and bandaged up. He's sitting on Jimin's desk while the two idiots hover over him, scanning him for any sign of pain or discomfort, eyebrows furrowed and worry etched onto their stupid faces. His smile stretches wider and he has to bring a hand up to cover it.
"You okay?" Hoseok worries. "You wanna puke?"
"No..." A chuckle escapes Yoongi's lips and he breaks. He snorts, laughing softly. His eyes wrinkle at the corners and his gummy smile has both the men's hearts swelling up in their chests. "You two are such fucking idiots."
"That's not a nice thing to say to the people who just saved your life." Jimin pouts.
"It was a cut on my hand Jimin, I didn't get stabbed in the neck." Yoongi points out, amused. "Idiots."
"You're the idiot." Hoseok retorts.
Yoongi arches up an eyebrow. "Wow, Hoseok, such violence in your response. I feel totally threatened and hurt right now."
Then, he hops down from the desk and stares at the guard and counselor. He smiles again and it's somehow even brighter than the previous time, his eyes sparkle, he's beautiful.
"Thank you for this." He says, simply, and leaves.
As the door clicks shut, Hoseok finally allows himself to breathe and tears his eyes away from the spot he was staring at blankly to look at Jimin, who's still frozen in place with a loving smile on his face and a glimmer in his eyes Hoseok recognizes too well.
He thinks for a second that, perhaps the look he gives Yoongi resembles the way Hoseok looks at Jimin when he falls a little bit deeper in love with him.
It has his heartbeat drumming intently in his chest like it wants a way out, like it sees the spear coming to pierce it deep and let it bleed, like it's trying to escape the hurt and doom Hoseok keeps diving into blindly, heart first.
Hoseok has always been one to think with his heart and now that it's ringing the alarm, he doesn't want to pretend he doesn't hear it.
"Are you in love with him?"
Jimin stiffens. Hoseok notices. It's already a good enough answer.
"No, I'm not, Hobi." The doctor responds, trying to appear calm, but his voice is shaking ever so slightly and suddenly Hoseok is noticing everything. "Come on, I know better than to fall for a prisoner I counsel. He's just endearing, he's been through a lot."
Hoseok hums understandingly.
Jimin sighs and it sounds too much like relief.
"Why does he voluntarily do all these chores? He doesn't even go to mandatory ed, why not just laze around instead of doing even more tiring shit?" Hoseok questions.
"He..." Jimin trails off, then clears his throat. "To put it simply, he wants to keep himself occupied, but I guess he mostly wants to help out. He says he knows he will never make up for the things he did, but he wants to at least try for as long as he can. I guess... Some guards kind of pitied him, so they let him do it."
"Is that why they also ignore him when he doesn't go to class?"
Jimin looks down at his shoes. "Yeah. Yeah, that's probably why."
He feels his heart swell up in his chest at the memory of his conversation with Kim Namjoon.
"I was there at his last trial. As a key witness," he confessed.
"I couldn't fucking stand the guilt, okay? How do you think Min's been getting away with missing mandatory for the past years?"
Namjoon is right. He is right in every way. Jung Hoseok is a better option, he is the only option Jimin should even consider, and that's why Jimin isn't allowed to let Yoongi keep whatever warm place he has in his heart.
So he buries it. He buries it deep, but nowhere near deep enough for it not to be seen through his eyes, especially by someone who watches him as closely as Hoseok.
So Hoseok notices. He notices too much, and it has him confused for a second because he can't put his finger on whatever strange reason stops him from feeling what he should be feeling. He should be jealous, worried, self-conscious, like he always is when it comes to the people he loves.
Hoseok is lost. Almost as lost as he feels when he looks at Agust D and doesn't see red, doesn't want him gone, doesn't despise him the slightest.
Shit.
"Gucci boy, I need to have a word with you." Seokjin calls, quickly trying to catch up with Taehyung as the boy walks faster away from him down the empty hallway.
"If you're going to lecture me about the dangers of having my cock sucked by Jeon Jungkook in front of everyone, you can save it."
"Kim Taehyung."
He freezes. The ashes fall off the tip of his cigarette as he keeps the smoke inside his lungs for so long nothing comes out when he exhales. A small drop of sweat trickles down his temple, muscles of his body tending up as he tries his best to keep his composure.
Slowly, Taehyung turns around. Seokjin's still standing behind him, fists clenched, something akin to worry and apprehension in his eyes. Taehyung clears his throat before his speaks to make sure his voice doesn't crack, doesn't tremble, doesn't show the smallest ounce of fear.
"Who the fuck are you?" He asks, stepping closer.
"A friend of your father's..." Seokjin trails off, before correcting himself. "Well, more like an associate."
"I know my father's associates. How come I never heard of you?"
"Because I was one of his informants. Helped him out with some cases, and to get the information he needed I had to be completely anonymous. Hence why he's never mentioned me." He explains and remains unfazed by the threatening way Taehyung glares at him, suspicious. "I'm not a millionaire, I'm not famous or particularly important in this world, but it's thanks to your father that I managed to land in this prison, where I can at least see and contact my family and friends as much as I want. To thank me for my services, he got me a fake identity and had me transferred here. So I owe him one."
"Is that why you're following me like a goddamn puppy?" Taehyung spits.
"It's only fair that I return the favor by caring for his son when he fucks up."
Taehyung chuckles bitterly and takes a deep drag out of his cigarette. His muscles relax as he eases the smoke out, though the whole thing still infuriates him.
"Of fucking course my dad would hire me a goddamn baby-sitter in prison."
"Not exactly a baby-sitter. I'm not here to play hide and seek with you and change your diapers, kid. I'm here to make sure you don't end up dead in a storage room before you get out of this place."
It's Seokjin's turn to step closer, lowering his voice as he locks eyes with Taehyung, managing to somewhat disarray him for only a split second, but that short time is enough to make him feel more confident.
"But you're making my job a real pain in the ass. Day one, you talk to the one person I tell you to stay away from and get sent down to solitary. Couple of days later you're roomies with him. The following week you're fucking him, and now you get a damn blowjob from him in the middle of the cafeteria. Now I don't know how you managed to get that man to submit to you, but either way I suggest you stay the fuck away from him. He has power, and he loves it. You may be his favorite fucktoy right now, but the moment he realizes you're dirtying his reputation and taking his power away from him, he'll do anything to make it stop. The Jeons are self-centered narcissists who seek glory and power more than anything else, and anyone who gets in their way doesn't live to tell the story."
Seokjin puts a hand on Taehyung's shoulder and gives him a friendly pat. He doesn't wait for an answer. He only looks at him intently, that meaningful look of his that screams "be careful", the one Taehyung despises more than anything Seokjin does because it makes him feel something. It's a look of sheer concern, it radiates worry, it leaves a bitter taste on his tongue because Seokjin already sort of knew how to make him scared, it's just that Taehyung chose to defy it. But now that Taehyung's name came out of his mouth and that he mentioned his father, something's changed.
Relevance is what's changed.
What's changed is that Seokjin knows who he is while nobody else does in this prison except for his counselor.
What's changed is that now Seokjin's supposedly trustworthy, his help and advice to him was always sincere and didn't hide any other intentions.
What's changed is that while Seokjin could ruin him, he chose not to. While Seokjin has power, he doesn't use it.
And it takes a great man not to fall under the charming spell of power.
Jungkook's sitting on a bench in the middle of the yard and, for once, he's not surrounded by his minions. He told them they could all go, either to see their families at visitation since it's Sunday, or to busy themselves with whatever silly occupations they have in prison.
So it's quite surprising when Choi Daehyun stomps towards him with determination, seemingly annoyed by something.
"Jeon." He calls once he's reached him. Jungkook straightens up from where he was half-sprawled out, head resting on the table behind him and gives him a bored, questioning look. "We need to talk about the... things, that have been happening recently. I'm not the only one to have noticed some slightly... disappointing changes."
Jungkook frowns. "What are you getting at, Choi?"
"That Gucci boy," Daehyun says like an insult, like the words burn his tongue as he spits them out. "He's tainting you. Making you look like some prison whore. This isn't just any prison, Jeon. Just 'cause you have power doesn't mean you're allowed to do whatever the fuck you want. We're at your service, happy to cooperate, but we're still men with reputations to hold and a certain... importance in society. So we wouldn't wanna be seen with someone who doesn't have any dignity."
Jungkook blinks. He looks up at Choi Daehyun, a guy he's always considered too stupid to do anything other than play fetch and get the drugs he makes the guards smuggle in, a low fucking piece of dirt, and he's now speaking to him thinking he can tell him what to do ?
"Excuse me?" He must be hallucinating. It has to be a fucking joke. "Are we really going to have the homophobic talk again, Choi? Wasn't the first broken arm enough, are you looking to break the other one?"
"It's not about you being with a man, Jeon, I have my own opinion about that, it's your behavior that worries not just me, but all of the men at your service."
"What behavior?"
"Behavior like getting on your knees and acting like a fucking cum bucket in the middle of the damn cafeteria." Daehyun spits and it's enough to make Jungkook snap.
"Who the fuck do you think you are ?!" He growls, getting up.
As he steps closer, hands balled up into a fist, the man doesn't budge. Instead, he stares down at him, eyes dark with something Jungkook can't stand.
Mockery.
"I am Choi Daehyun, owner of one of the biggest export companies in the country, they took away half my money after I was incarcerated for using my company as a cover for my drug business and yet I still have enough money to buy a goddamn country. I respected you because I've never seen so much audacity and power in such a young man like yourself, so I tried to ignore your... lifestyle choices, even if they go against what I believe in."
Daehyun steps closer. Jungkook's rage slowly fades into something weaker. Something he will never admit. Something he hasn't felt in a long fucking time.
The older man's face crunches up in disgust. "I never thought Jeon Jungkook would drop as low as this. I never thought Jeon Jungkook would ever get on his knees for another man. You making men your bitches, I can ignore that. It only proves you to be strong. Powerful. Domineering. But that? That was-"
"Choose your words wisely, Choi. They might be the end of you." Jungkook interrupts him.
What Jungkook feels grows stronger, despite him trying to bury it deep inside his once cold and hollow heart, as his attempt at being intimidating makes Daehyun smirk even more.
"Choose your actions wisely, Jeon. They might be the end of you."
Fear.
Fear is what he's feeling.
And he doesn't like it one bit.