Taehyung
This has been the longest hour of my life. Peyton isn't answering my texts. Every turn my father's car has taken has made me wonder if mine will follow. Or will I be taking another route, to a different destination, away from the girl I love? Every time I fidget, my raw dick hurts, which is bad but also good, because it reminds me of our sex marathon. What is my father saying to her? If he makes her cry, I will beat his ass. At least until the bodyguards stop me.
Unbelievably, our three cars are still together as we pull into the part of the airport where the private jets take off. Before we come to a stop not far from my father's car, I am unbuckling my seatbelt and trying to climb out. There's Peyton. One of the bodyguards is helping her out of the car and she is... All smiles?
My legs are carrying me towards her as fast as I can go and all I can think is that I want to wrap my arms around her and never let go.
"Tae! Your father's taking us all to a beach resort. Isn't that fantastic?" Peyton grabs my hand and pulls me towards my father, who is out of the car and heading towards the waiting jet.
"What?" What is she talking about?
"We can't really finish our vacay in Japan so he said we're all going to one of your hotels."
"What?" Nothing she says makes sense. I can't understand why she's so happy and not upset after spending that much time with Appa. I can't understand why my father hasn't separated us. Maybe he's toying with me.
My father has paused to let the bodyguards climb the stairs into the plane and assess everything before we board. Peyton has bolted back to Cassie and Jimin, chirping the good news. My father and I stand here, awkward but trying to pretend like we aren't.
"We're going to Nay Palad."
Our new acquisition in the Philippines. "We? Are you going?" That came out wrong. But my father never, and I mean never, takes off work. I hastily add, "You have work there?"
"Ms. Abram's suggestion."
I am too shocked to speak. The earth has tilted on its axis.
"Your dad finally agreed to come with us. It's gonna be so much fun," Peyton grabs my hand again, this time swinging it.
"Mr. Kim, thank you so much!" Cassie gushes. "This is so awesome. Let's go scuba diving! Can we go scuba diving? Please?"
This last bit Cassie says to Jimin, who is smiling sweetly and nodding. I am in the fucking twilight zone. I suppose Cassie and Jimin could have bonded during all this. But he looks ... I don't even know. Besotted? Bashful? I've never seen Jimin look at a girl with genuine... anything. Except lust. I have seen genuine lust in his eyes.
And my father. He's never done a single fucking thing anyone suggested. Who are these people?
We're signaled to board, so I allow Peyton and Cassie to go first. Jimin meets my eyes and we have a silent conversation as we ascend the narrow stairs.
"Bro? What the fuck?"
"Dude, like what the fuck?"
Not eloquent, but not pointless either. Obviously we are both clueless. That makes me feel slightly less crazy. My father gestures to us to head towards the rear of the plane. "I have work to do. I will see you all when we land."
I make myself nod, while the others chorus a reply as my father disappears into the jet's tidy conference room and closes the door.
Peyton takes a seat beside her best friend and Jimin and I fall in the plush leather chairs facing them. There are a couple of bodyguards at the other end of the cabin so we aren't free to talk like normal. The girls whisper a little. Peyton gives me a tired smile before her eyes flutter closed in sleep. Soon I'm the only one awake, left to my anxious thoughts that circle like vultures.
It's dark when we land so the beauty of the island is hidden from us until tomorrow. Everyone is subdued as we are guided to our rooms. This morning's helicopter ride over the cherry blossoms seems like a week ago.
The girls are in a villa very close to ours. My father has been placed in the Presidential Villa, so thank fuck, he is on the other side of the resort. I was panicking at the thought of spending this visit to paradise with Appa instead of Peyton. I'm determined to fall asleep and wake up every day we're here with my beautiful girl in my arms. I've been denied long enough.
Before I can get my bag open to change into something more climate appropriate, my father texts me to join him in the beachside bar. Here we go...
"Walk with me on the beach."
My father, even barefooted, is impeccably dressed in tailored off white linen, shirt untucked and slacks rolled up ready for a stroll - or a photo shoot. He holds his phone up and gestures with his head toward the bar where a bodyguard stands. I know the drill. I pull mine out and place it with his on the polished teak surface.
When my father has an important conversation and wants to be sure there are no listening ears, it takes place outside, away from windows, away from phones. My stomach is in my throat. I kick off my shoes and follow him, terrified he is about to ruin my life.
Moonlight ripples over the placid little waves that lap at our feet as we crunch the firm damp sand. When is he going to speak? The tranquil air is such a contrast to my racing heart that I explode into the void that's begging to be filled. "Are you forcing me to come home?"
"Why would I?" He is not surprised or offended at my question, but instead responds with his own like he's a Socratic method professor.
I hate when he plays with me. "I have a girlfriend." Like, duh.
He's quiet for a few moments. "Ah, that's what you meant by your girlfriend was reason you were contacting me. So you're saying you and Jimin would have handled the yakuza had you been alone?"
"Yes."
My father considers this and seems about to say something, but stops.
"Why are you involved with yakuza and the Triad? They are gangsters with illegal businesses."
Appa gives me a grim smile. "Think of the Triad as one small tentacle of a conglomerate, one that you likely have heard of. It only looks legitimate on the surface. Those yakuza, just entry level managers with a side hustle gone wrong. At our level of wealth and power, there is no black and white. Only gray. All laws are bendable given enough power or money. It's the law of the jungle."
What is he saying? He's basically a mafia? Jimin's mom is a gangster?
"You and Jiminie both are ruled by your hearts. Self-sacrifice is part of your natures. Your auntie and I talked last week. We are going to groom Ji Na to take over as CEO."
I am shocked beyond words. Jimin's sister lives for hostile takeovers, but I didn't see that coming. All my life, I have been the heir apparent.
My father continues. "It's unprecedented to have a female at the helm of a billion dollar company, but she is ruthless and calculating. Sometimes Ji Na scares even me. You boys will have your places, but in the area where your gifts can blossom. You and Jimin get your talent for the arts from your grandmother."
Now he cares about my gifts blossoming?
"She was a painter and had a beautiful voice. Her father was a famous sculptor and painter."
I can feel my anger bubbling to the surface. "Why all of a sudden are you letting me do something I like? You crushed my dream of being an idol. Eomma and I begged you."
"Taehyung, there is so much more for you to understand."
"That you always get your way." My tone is so hateful it makes me flinch.
"In business, yes. In affairs of the heart, definitely not. You're no longer a child so I suppose I should tell you the whole story of why I couldn't have you be an idol."
He tells me he doesn't want any of this to change my love for my mother and that situations can be complicated. My mother had an affair the last seven years of her life, with a famous actor. It can't be true. It just can't. Eomma would never do that.
"I don't believe you. I mean, we moved to Paris, for fuck's sake."
"That's where he was filming at the time."
Cold dread washes over me. Filmed in Paris? I know the movie, one of my favorites. And the actor. He was my mother's lover?
"I bear much of the blame. I ignored her the first ten years of our relationship."
My parents had an arranged marriage. "All I did was work. I gave her a son and a comfortable life." There's hurt mixed with my father's anger. "That man stole my wife. I would not let him steal my son, making you an idol, signing you to the same company that he was contracted to."
I feel like I am outside my body, my reality shifting like sand with every word he speaks. What is real and what is illusion?
"So why didn't you off this actor instead of Eomma?
Appa blows out a long breath. "She adored you and raised you well. I loved her for that. I would never hurt your eomma."
I stop and look at him. He pauses and turns to me, raking his hair back, just like Jimin does. The weight of family crushes me. I am bound to these people, and in our struggles we sometimes hurt each other, sometimes hold each other up.
He looks up at the night sky. "Maybe it was just an accident. There was never conclusive proof. I believe the wreck that killed her was instigated or orchestrated by my business rival or maybe the entertainment company. The actor married his costar 6 months later, with a hit movie and bigger popularity.
By that time, I had destroyed my business rival, his business bought off in chunks, his despicable son in prison where he belonged. The old man died of a heart attack from disgrace.
I brought you home to be close to Jimin. You hated all the bodyguards but I was terrified at first that whoever got your mother would come after you."
He brought me home. "So are you making me come home or not?" I can't figure out the past right this second, but I've got to know what's going on in my life now.
"No. You seem to be doing well where you are. I want you to take the summer internship in London." He seems relieved to change topics.
"How do you know about that?"
My father gives me a crooked smile. "How can I run a billion dollar empire if I don't know everything?"
"Is it to keep me away from Peyton?" I don't want to be away from her all summer. He's probably going to insist I break up with her.
"I think Ms.Abrams is delightful and truly cares for you. Would you like for me to make it possible for her to join you in London?"
"Why? Why did you tell me I couldn't date at college and now you like Peyton just fine? Please call her Peyton."
"I sent you halfway around the world. You're not like Jimin. The playboy lifestyle isn't for you. I didn't want your heart to get broken by a gold digger or worse, end up tied to some common whore because of a child."
"You think I'm an idiot."
"No, Taehyung, I don't. I know from experience how easy it is to fall in love if your heart has never been broken."
I start to open my mouth but he holds his hand up. "That's a story for another time."
"Appa, why do you think I drive that piece of shit car and hide the one you bought me? It is important to me that I have friends that like me for me, and not your money."
"Have you found that in Ms... Peyton?"
Peyton. I feel a smile stretch my face as I think of her. "Yes. Even more than a friend."
My father chuckles. "More than a friend huh?"
I'm going to lay my cards on the table. If Appa wants a fight, I want to know it now. "I want to spend the rest of my life with her."
"I hope you can get Peyton on board with your plan," my father teases. Now he's smack talking? "She claims she's a decade away from getting married."
"Is that what you talked about?" I didn't mean to shriek. I just...
"Your girlfriend is a chatterbox."
I can see my father's boxy grin glow in the moonlight. That's my grin. I don't remember the last time I saw Appa smile like that. I don't know my father. I thought I knew him so well, but I don't know this man in front of me. My whole life has been a lie. And now he has secrets with my girl.
"Tell me what you talked about."
He shakes his head slowly, his grin getting bigger. "Never."
It feels good to break the tension and I find myself teasing back. "I'll make you."
"Never," he repeats, taunting me as he takes off running back up the beach. He's cackling as he goes, me hot on his heels and the bewildered bodyguard trailing behind us.
Taehyung flatly refused a smut scene in this chapter due to the overuse injury incurred in the previous chapter. He was honestly shocked by the thirst level of some of my dear readers.
I told him it was his own dang fault for being so sexy. He says he'll be ready to go in the next chapter. Sorry! I know it's Smutty Friday but who would dream of arguing with our good boy.
Thank you for reading, sweet peas!! LY