M06; STATUS
LOCATION;
CLUB EUPHORIA
TARGET;
PROBABLY IN THE PARTY
MISSION;
ONGOING
O N G O I N G . . .
T H E
B E H A V I O U R
VALENTINA HADN'T EXPECTED the party at Club Euphoria, but as Seokjin pulls up to the club, nostalgia hits her. It's been a while since she last saw this place, the place where it all started.
Parking the car, Seokjin turns off the ignition and slides out of the seat. He runs around the car to Valentina's side and opens the door for her. She gets out and thanks him.
Seokjin locks the car by pressing a button on his key. He, then, wraps his arms around the small of Valentina's back, pulling her towards him as they walk into the club. They don't need to show ID, because as they approach the door, one look on Seokjin's face and the bouncer bows in respect, opening the door wide. Seokjin nods in acknowledgement as they walk inside.
Inside, the club thrums with the sound of party music, the peace of the night that's outside doing a 180 degrees change.
Valentina doesn't know how to feel at the moment. All she cares about is getting drunk off her mind and forgetting the mission and all the complications that have came with it. Complications like feelings, trust, and guilt.
"Everything okay?" Seokjin asks, his mouth near her ear so that she can hear him clearly through the noise.
She nods, turning to speak in his ear. "Yes. I'm fine. I just need a drink."
Seokjin places a kiss on her cheek, and steers her towards the direction of bar. Elbowing their way through the sweaty bodies, they reach their destination. Valentina's brows furrow as she looks at a familiar bartender.
"Sam, my buddy," Seokjin says.
Sam looks up at Seokjin, his eyes widening. His lips tug up into a smile. "Man, it's been so long since I last saw you. Where have you been, bro? I mean I did what you told me to, but God. It's been weeks."
Seokjin chuckles, doing some sort of weird bro shake, fish bump with Sam. "Nowhere. Everywhere. I forgot to thank you for the. . .security, man. I appreciate it."
Sam waves him off. "Nah, dude. It's nothing. So, what brings you here? To score some ladies, I assume."
Seokjin's eyes widen as he juts his head in Valentina's direction. He let out a nervous laugh once he sees her raised eyebrow. "I'm here with my girlfriend."
Sam's mouth forms an O. Then, as if a light bulb goes off in his mind, he points at Valentina. "I remember you."
She gives him a tight lipped smile, suddenly feeling nervous. Where does he remember me from? She thinks. I haven't came here with any of my colleagues, have I?
"Really? From where?" She asks, anticipating his response.
"You once came here with that guy ㅡ what was his name again?" Sam wracks his brain. "Josh? Jacob?"
Jake, Valentina thinks as her eyebrows rise on her forehead. She's relieved that at least he doesn't remember his name. She doesn't want him to, so she plays along.
"Josh," she says. "Yeah, I remember that."
Seokjin's brows furrow as he turns to look at her. "Who's Josh?"
Valentina gives him a very sweet smile, batting her eyelashes, as she cocks her head. "Why? Are you jealous?"
"Hell yeah, I am. Who the fuck is Josh?" He asks, his voice surprisingly calm as compared to his raging eyes.
Rolling her eyes, Valentina leans up to place a kiss in his cheek. "No one, babe. He's just a coworker."
That does it. The word babe has a strange effect on Seokjin when it comes out of Valentina's mouth. While he stands there in some sort of trance, Valentina shakes her head, turning towards Sam, who's biting his lip to stop himself from laughing.
"Please give me a drink," Valentina starts, "Something strong."
"How strong?" Sam asks.
She thinks for a moment, then, says, "Strong enough to make me forget."
Sam raises an eyebrow, but doesn't comment on it. Instead, he gives her a polite smile. "At your service, ma'am."
Valentina stills. The words make her stop thinking about everything else for a minute, except one thing. Does he know the real me? She shakes her head. It's not possible, she chants in her mind. It's just a catchphrase. Anyone can say it. It doesn't mean anything.
Seokjin comes out his state of trance, and hollers, while still gazing at Valentina. "Make it two."
"At your service, Sir." Sam mock salute to Seokjin.
Valentina sighs in relief. See, just a normal thing.
Once they've gotten their drink, they gulp it down pretty quickly, despite the initial burn of the alcohol. One shot turns to two turns to three.
Valentina's not lightheaded at all, nor is she loose mouthed when she's drunk. In fact, she can handle her liquor pretty well. She remembers everything the next day.
Seokjin on the other hand finds himself getting tipsy by the third shot. He wraps both his arms around Valentina, nears her ear and whispers, "Let's dance."
Valentina's about to refuse, but thinks better of it, and nods. "Alright. Let's go."
They make their way to the centre of the dance floor, some annoying pop song playing in the background. Not that Valentina cares. All she cares about is letting loose and feeling free for just a night, free of all the worries in the world.
Seokjin's hands feel warm on her body, the proximity between them getting smaller and smaller. What happened in Seokjin's room before she left him hanging comes to her mind, and she finds her thoughts drifting to possibilities of what could've happened if she hadn't stopped him.
A shiver runs down her spine as illicit possibilities come to her mind. Their small moment didn't only leave Seokjin frustrated, but Valentina too.
Which she feels again now as she finds her body almost touching his. Not wanting to go down that lane, she forces herself to think about something else. Thankfully, the thought of the guys come to her mind.
While they move to the rhythm of the music, Valentina looks around, not seeing any of the guys. Seokjin notices her wandering gaze.
"Who are you looking for when I'm right here?"
"Where are the guys? Weren't they supposed to be here too?" She asks, looking up at him.
"Oh, they are here."
"Where? I don't see them," Valentina questions, looking around again, but not finding a single one of them.
Seokjin chuckles. "Not here. In other part of the club. Wanna meet them?"
Hell yeah, she thinks, if that means putting some distance between you and I. She doesn't voice her thoughts, though. "Yeah, sure."
"Alright."
They stop dancing. Seokjin encloses his hand around hers, taking the lead as he makes the way through the crowd, while she follows him. They walk to one side of the club, and enter a room. Much to Valentina's surprise, there's a staircase there. Valentina didn't even know this place existed.
There are two guards standing here too. Seokjin nods in acknowledgment and they let them pass.
"Come on," Seokjin's says, and tugs her towards him. Climbing the stairs, they reach the upper floor, where there's a balcony at one side and another door at the other side. A scary looking guy stands in front of the door.
Once again, only a look at Seokjin's face is enough. The guy bows and opens the door.
Brows furrowed, Valentina follows Seokjin into a very dimply lit place that reeks of drugs, alcohol and colognes. The music is considerably low here, a psychedelic slow trance playing in the background.
Rather than a dance floor, there are couches and tables, and bongs. Many of them. Men and women who seem to be from high society sit on various couches, some with drinks in their hands, some with with cigars, some with bongs.
Valentina doesn't get much time to observe the place, because Seokjin tugs her hand. She turns to look at him. "What?"
He gesture to a bar in the middle of the place. "Let's go."
She lets him steer her towards the bar, only for her eyes to widen as she sees a hidden place behind it. There's a whole section hidden by the floor to ceiling bar counter, which restricts others from seeing what lies behind. The whole place is concealed from others.
Three sofas form a circle, a table in the middle. It is just as dimly lit as everywhere else. The only difference is that only the guys are sitting there. No one else.
"Yo, look who's here." Hoseok is the first one who notices them. He smiles widely as he sees Valentina. "Hey, Tina. Welcome to our private club."
Valentina lets out a scoff in disbelief. "You own this whole club?"
Yoongi chuckles. "Nope. Just a part of it. We're share holder of this club."
What the fuck? She thinks. They must be filthy rich to own this club.
"Well, at least, some part of it. Most of it is owned by Seokjin hyung," Jungkook adds, making space for Valentina and Seokjin.
"Wow," Valentina praises. She turns to look at Seokjin who sits down next to her and puts an arm over her shoulder, pulling her towards him. "I didn't know you were filthy rich."
Seokjin smirks. "What can I say? I'm a hard working man."
"Hard working, my ass," Valentina mutters, rolling her eyes.
Everyone looks at her with amusement in their eyes. She crosses her arms over her chest, self conscious at the fact that everyone's staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing," Hoseok waves off the matter.
It is only now that Valentina notices two guys missing. "Where are Jimin and. . . Taehyung?"
"Taehyung said he might not come to the party. He's going to stay at his home tonight," Yoongi explains.
"Oh." Valentina says, sounding disappointed to herself. She hopes nobody else thinks so too, because why the hell would she be disappointed if he's here or not. It doesn't matter to her.
"What about Jimin?"
"Jimin's here," a voice says.
Valentina turns to look at the source of voice. She whistles when she gets a look of him. "Talk of the devil and the devil is here," she mutters, not unkindly. "Who did that to you?"
Jimin smirks, sitting opposite to her, a drink in his hand. He gestures to a huge blotch of something on his white shirt. "This, my friend, is the tell tale sign that ㅡ " he starts.
"That some unfortunate woman threw her drink on him," Jungkook cuts him off, shaking his head as if tired of his friend's antics.
Valentina purses her lips to hold her laughter. Jimin notices it, but instead of glaring or getting offended, he smiles, and takes a sip of his drink, making a face at the bitter taste.
"This tastes like shit," he announces, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'm not surprised to know that you know how shit tastes like," Valentina says.
Jimin scrunches his nose in disgust while others laugh at her joke.
"You wound my heart," Jimin says, placing a hand over his heart, mock sadness lacing his voice.
Valentina snorts, waving him off. "Get used to it."
Seokjin nears her, nuzzling his nose against her neck. "That's my girl."
She turns around to give him an amused grin. He pecks her neck, and then turn towards Hoseok. "So, where's the booze?"
"It's here," Yoongi says.
Valentina hadn't noticed him get up and go to a wooden cupboard at far corner of the lounge. He returns with a few bottles in his hands. Jungkook places a few goblets on the table.
"What's this?" Valentina asks, curiosity lacing her tone.
"Years old wine. The finest there is," Yoongi answers.
Valentina's brows rise high on her forehead. "Well, you guys have taste."
Jungkook who's filling the goblets says, "Well, Taehyung introduced us to this taste. He's the one with such rich taste."
Oh. Taehyung's proving to be quite a mysterious person, Valentina thinks. Which makes her more curious as to what he's hiding behind those dark eyes of his.
Her thoughts wander to his lips, the ones that kissed her so suddenly, it almost knocked the breath out of her. What secrets do they hide? She shakes her head. Stop thinking about that, you idiot.
Seokjin hands one goblet to Valentina, who gives him a small smile, and picks up the another one for himself. He clicks the glass with hers. "To us," he says.
"To...us," Valentina mutters, and takes a sip of the wine. It taste rich. Instead of flavours of tropical fruits, it tastes of caramel, honey, nuts, and dark citrus compote. "This tastes so good. What is it called?" She turns and stares at Seokjin inquisitively.
He shrugs. "Taehyung knows the names. We just drink it."
Oh.
While Valentina savours the taste of the wine, Seokjin takes out something from a bag that's placed under the table. Valentina only notices it when he takes out a few packets of some powdery looking stuff.
Her brows furrow. "What is this?" She asks.
"Coke," Seokjin answers, nonchalantly.
Valentina's eyes widen as she sputters out some of the wine. She wipes it off from her chin and glares at Seokjin. "What the fuck, Jin?"
"What?" He asks, setting the powder on the table, not looking at Valentina.
"Don't what me. Those are fucking drugs, Seokjin. Cocaine. You're doing cocaine?" She asks incredulously, and looks between the guys, who look anything but guilty.
"Chill, babe. It's nothing serious. We do it once in a while to relieve stress, you know," Seokjin answers.
Valentina turns to look at Jungkook, who's the only one who seems to be guilty. "Don't tell me you do this too!"
He shakes his head. "No no no. I don't. Only Seokjin hyung does. And sometimes, Jimin." He looks at her so innocently with doe eyes that Valentina almost melts. But then she remembers the task at hand.
She turns to look at Seokjin now, fixing him with a deathly glare. "Why did I not know about this?"
"You never asked," he answers, ever so casually.
"Is that something I was supposed to ask before dating you? Oh Seokjin, do you do drugs? Do you do cocaine?" Valentina's voice rises an octave.
Seokjin chuckles, then hides it behind his hand upon seeing Valentina's expression. He wraps his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm lightly. "Relax. It's not like I'm an addict. I just do it when I'm extremely stressed and need something to get high on."
The words extremely stressed don't go unnoticed by her. She assumes that maybe he's stressed because of their upcoming plan. But she also knows him well enough to know that something like that won't make him this stressed.
Valentina sighs, and looks up at him through her eyelashes. "Are you going to do it even if I ask you to stop?"
He bites his lip, and then shakes his head. "I won't do it as much as I usually do. Just an inhale. Really small quantity."
"Seokjin!"
"I promise I won't do much."
The morally correct agent is itching to knock some sense into Seokjin. But Valentina's not here as an agent. Not for tonight, at least. She knows that she should force him not to do it, but she knows better than that. She knows how a druggie won't listen to her even if she tries her best.
"Well, then I won't sit here and watch you waste away your life like that," she says.
Seokjin rolls his eyes. This behaviour is so odd even for him. It's so off putting that Valentina doesn't know what's going through his mind right now. "Have you ever seen someone coke before?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, no. But. . ." Valentina starts.
"No buts. I'm going to show you how it's done," he states. Removing his arm from around her shoulder, he leans forward to the table and pinches up some powder in between his thumb and forefinger, and places it on his palm.
"Seokjin, stop it," Valentina says. Her heart is beating wildly for some reason. The mixture of fear and adrenaline is strangely addictive, but she doesn't like it.
She tries to stand up and leave, when a hand clamps tightly around her wrist, almost painful. Seokjin tugs her down, a fire raging behind his eyes. "I told you to fucking watch me," he growls.
Valentina eyes widen as she's forced to sit down.
"Hyung," Jungkook starts, but shuts up as he sees Seokjin's glare on him.
"Let go, Seokjin." Valentina tries to free her wrist. "You're hurting me."
Seokjin's grip loosen up a little bit. "I'm sorry. I just... I don't want you to leave, okay. I want you to accept me as I am, no matter how fucked up that is."
Valentina's eyes lock with his and behind his dark eyes, she sees vulnerability and a raging storm, as if he's hurt and angry and scared.
"Will you?" He asks.
His question hangs in the air as Valentina stares at him, wide eyed. His grip on her wrist tightens and she feels scared for the first time in his company. She's weapon less. She doesn't even have a pocket knife with her. She won't be able to overpower him if he tries to harm her.
He won't harm you, she tries to calm herself. He will never harm you.
So, she nods, albeit a bit reluctantly. "I will," she whispers.
His grip on her arm vanishes in a second. Valentina rubs the red skin on her wrist.
You're going to pay for that, you bastard, she thinks.
She looks up to see Seokjin inhaling that pinch of powder through his nose, his eyes closed.
Her heart beats faster now, her chest rising and falling faster. She gets up. Seokjin's eyes open.
"I'm sorry. I need fresh air," Valenfina says hurriedly.
Seokjin raises his hand to grab her wrist, but she's quick.
She shakes her head. "I said I need fresh air, Seokjin. You got what you wanted. I saw you snorting that shit up. Now let me have what I want, and that's fresh air. Don't come after me."
With that she leaves their private lounge, making her way out of the private club area altogether. Her heart is beating so wildly, it feels like it'll explode out of her chest.
Deep breaths, Val, deep breaths, she reminds herself as she barges out of the door. Her sight falls on the balcony, a sigh of relief escaping her mouth.
The relief is too short lived, as someone who she doesn't expect stands in front of her.
Oh fuck.
* * * *
NOTE: I DONOT SUPPORT DRUG ABUSE, IT IS SO BAD FOR HEALTH AND UNCOOL. DON'T DO DRUGS. STAY IN SCHOOL, KIDS. (But for now, stay at home kids.)
So this chapter was quite something. Apparently our seemingly perfect Seokjin isn't so perfect after all. Please refrain from relating the member in this book to how they actually are in real life.
Thoughts? I genuinely want to know what you think is up with Seokjin? Did you expect how he behaved with Valentina?
Stay at home. Stay safe, and healthy.
Love, Rose.