It was late when Jimin woke up.
Taehyung had been sitting by his bed all day, preventing him from sneaking out to try and follow Jungkook and Hoseok. It had been infuriating to be pushed back down to the mattress and told to simply rest. Rest? Jimin didn't rest. He slept with a knife beneath his pillow. How was he supposed to be expected to sleep all day?
"Are you hungry?" Taehyung asked when he heard Jimin's shift in breathing. Just because he was blind didn't mean that he was useless. His other senses had more than made up for his loss of sight.
"No," Jimin snapped. Guilt washed over him as soon as the word left his mouth. It wasn't the other boy's fault that he was stuck here in bed. Taehyung was just worried about him. Softening his tone, he asked, "Where is Jungkook?"
Taehyung adjusted the blanket over Jimin's body. How he knew it was crooked, Jimin didn't know. "They got back two hours ago."
"Did they get the deal?"
"Yes, but barely."
Jimin slammed his hand into the wall over his head, startling Taehyung. "They should've let me go with them."
Taehyung's lips twisted together unhappily. "You're still weak."
"I can still pull the trigger on a gun."
Unable to contain his eye roll, Taehyung got to his feet, wincing a little when his joints cracked. He had been sitting for too long but he had nowhere else to go. When Jungkook had left earlier, Taehyung had been able to practically feel the undiluted anger rippling off of him. So he'd let him go off to do whatever he had to do to get a hold of his temper. Hoseok, according to the new soldier placed in front of Jimin's room, was off at target practice. And since the range was no place for a blind guy, Taehyung had opted to remain with Jimin.
"Where are you going?" Jimin questioned.
"I'm going to dinner. If you're going to be grumpy, you might as well stay here. Jungkook won't like it if you try to go against his orders."
Jimin frowned but pushed himself to his feet, swaying slightly. It seemed that the effects of the poison were still lingering but he was determined to be as far away from his room as he could. He couldn't stay in that bed a second longer. "Let's just go," he grumbled.
Taehyung listened for the tell-tale sound of Jimin's lurching footsteps as they walked through the den, following his internal map through the corridors. When he'd first come to the den, he had spent weeks walking up and down these hallways, a hand trailing along the wall, committing everything to memory.
Those first few weeks after the accident had been the hardest. Relearning how to find his way, adjusting his brain to rely more on his other senses, trying to find a positive way to look at the fact that he was now handicapped for life. Taehyung didn't want to think about what would have happened to him if Jungkook hadn't found him fumbling through the permanent darkness.
Hoseok was already seated at the long dining table when they approached. He flashed them a lopsided grin as his gaze fell on Jimin and his unsteady pace. "Did someone replace Jimin with my grandma?" the other boy teased. "She can walk faster than you and she's ninety and needs a hip replacement."
"Oh, be quiet, Hoseok," Jimin said as he reached a hand out to grip the back of one of the chairs, pulling it toward him. Taehyung offered a hand to help him but he brushed him off. "Where is Jungkook?"
Hoseok's brightness flickered for a second before returning with full power. "He's in his room. Probably cooling off a little steam. He's just upset that the Cobras have messed up yet another thing for him."
The edges of Taehyung's mouth sank into a deep frown. 'Cooling off a little steam' was a mild way to put what Jungkook did to vent out his rage. Whatever he did in there... Taehyung doubted it was very healthy.
"You should have let me go with you!" Jimin exclaimed. He made no move to brush away the silver hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. "If you had just-"
"You wouldn't have been able to do anything."
Everyone fell silent and glanced up to see Jungkook come to a stop behind the chair at the head of the table. He looked immaculate. Not a single hair was out of place and his clothes bore not even a speck of dust. But there was still an untamed look in his eyes that had his soldiers shivering.
"You could have let me try," Jimin insisted. He hated feeling useless. He needed to be back out there, at Jungkook's side, doing all he could. Here, he was no help.
Jungkook's expression darkened as he took his seat. "And watch you fall on your face the second you took one step? I can handle a simple exchange without you, Jimin. It's not my capabilities you should be questioning."
Hoseok's eyes widened and he quickly looked down at his plate.
"Oh yeah? And if you can handle a simple exchange then why did you almost lose it-" Jimin started heatedly but Taehyung smoothly stepped in, sensing that nothing good would happen if they continued bickering like this.
"Maybe we should just eat."
Jimin looked like he had more to say but he kept his mouth shut. It was an unspoken rule to never cross the blind boy. Not only because Jungkook would most likely kill whoever tried, but because they all adored Taehyung. He was the glue that held them together. He was and would always be their responsibility, regardless of the fact that he was more than equipped to take care of himself despite his disability.
Hoseok glanced back and forth between all of his friends, waiting for someone else to snap. It was a lit bomb, the flames lazily devouring the fuse.
Jungkook only dug into the food placed before him.
"I was thinking-" Hoseok tried to say, but he was interrupted by a frantic member running into the room, her gaze fixed on Jungkook.
"Cobras," she gasped, out of breath from sprinting all the way here. "The Cobras are here."
Jungkook gritted his teeth, his hand tightening around his fork as he locked eyes with Jimin.
"Am I allowed to help now?" Jimin asked, a note of sass entering his voice.
Jungkook pretended to narrow his eyes at the other boy, but inside he was glad that Jimin was feeling well enough to argue with him. "If you promise to stick beside Taehyung."
Jimin grinned. "Deal."
Hoseok rolled his eyes at the two males, pushing back from his chair. "Let's just get this over with," he muttered.
Jungkook set the pace, his footsteps brisk, Hoseok not far behind him. Taehyung had his fingers hooked in Jimin's belt loop as the two trailed behind. Taehyung was glad Jungkook had let him come, unwilling to be left behind while his friends stepped into danger. So he kept his grip on Jimin, doing his best to keep up. He wasn't sure who was supporting who more as Jimin nearly tripped over his own feet.
Three male figures stood outlined by the moonlight in the alley behind the Purgatory's den, the knives and guns strapped to their bodies gleaming in stray beams. Jungkook ground his teeth together at just the sight of them, his hand itching toward the gun he carried on him at all times. How dare they show up on his turf after everything they did? Poisoning his right hand, making him look weak, nearly messing up his deal with Jiho? They were making his gang look like a joke.
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here," Jungkook growled as his soldiers fell in beside him.
The leader stepped forward, letting the light wash over his features. Jungkook hated the smug grin that came into view. "I've got a lot of things, Vice. A competent right hand, influence, money, and a powerful gang. Can you say the same?"
Jimin shoved past his boss, ignoring the way his head spun as he stalked toward the other leader determinedly. "I'll show you competent, you little-"
"Jimin."
At the barked order from his boss, Jimin retreated. But in his head, he pictured connecting his fist with the side of the Arsonist's face. That would teach him a lesson.
"What do you want, Yoongi?" Jungkook demanded, a little of his fiery anger dimming. This was the cool, calculated boy that had become a leader. "If you so clearly have everything I don't, why even bother to come here?"
Yoongi's smirk hardened but his gaze never wavered from Jungkook's. An unreadable look passed between the two boys. For them, this ran so much deeper than just a fight for power. "Maybe I wanted a good laugh. It's rather amusing, watching you fail."
"It was amusing, watching you nearly arrested just because one of your own had been stupid enough to leave the backdoor unlocked a couple of years ago," Hoseok said with a smile.
"I told you, that wasn't my fault!" the tall boy complained, turning to the broad-shouldered boy next to them. "Jinnie, you saw me, tell them that I locked it! Someone else must've gone out after me and-"
"Namjoon, just don't talk," the broad-shouldered boy said, shushing him with a simple look.
"But I really did! I think it was Bambam because you know how he gets when he drinks too much and goes and pisses all over the walls because he says he can make drawings on them-"
"Namjoon, I swear, every time you speak, I can feel more and more of my brain cells dying."
"But Jin!"
Jungkook raised an eyebrow as the two dissolved into quiet bickers. "Honestly I'm not sure what part of this I should be more offended by. The fact that you showed up to rub your win in my face or that you somehow managed to get one by me when that's the kind of soldiers you have backing you up."
Yoongi ignored his gang members but Jungkook could see him cringing internally. He had shown up here to soak up his triumph over Jungkook, his biggest rival. And now he was quickly losing his intimidating advantage in the wake of his soldier's careless words.
And Jungkook knew it.
Trying to hide the confident grin that wanted to stretch across his face, Jungkook looked back at Yoongi. "Well, consider me very terrified," he drawled. "However shall I think to best you next?"
The Arsonist scowled fiercely, his shuttered features twisting. "Laugh all you want, but the next time you think of scoring big, I will be there to ruin it for you. This isn't over, Vice. It's only just starting."
The broad-shouldered boy tossed a condensing smile in Jimin's direction. "Hope you feel better," he said.
Jimin made a face back in return. "Do a better job curling your hair next time, bitch. You look like a bird's nest."
"It's actually a perm," Namjoon interjected, but the broad-shouldered boy, Jin, shot him a dark look.
"Not right now, Joon."
"But you look really good, Jin-"
"Thank you, baby, but not right now, please-"
Hoseok smirked. "Trouble in paradise?"
Yoongi glared at him before shifting his gaze to Jungkook's. "This isn't over. There will be a next time, and maybe then your right hand won't be back on his feet within a couple of days. And any liabilities on your side" - he shot a pointed glance at Taehyung, who had shifted to cling to Hoseok - "will only drag you down."
Jungkook's amusement quickly froze into icy anger.
His hand curled around the gun tucked into his belt, yearning to pull the trigger and have this all over with. Yoongi had been nothing but a pain in his ass. He constantly found ways to screw up everything Jungkook tried to do. He took the Purgatory's biggest clients, stole his own soldiers from him, damaged his pride and reputation. All those times he'd pulled and pulled at the threads holding Jungkook together... maybe they'd unraveled too much. Maybe this was where he finally fell apart.
And yet, there was still that part of him that hesitated to tighten his forefinger over the trigger.
"Maybe it's the liabilities on your side that you should be worried about," Jungkook said, nodding his head toward where Jin was currently still whisper-bickering with his boyfriend.
To his credit, Yoongi didn't let the disordered display faze him. "Save your worries for yourself. Would be a shame if something were to happen to your favorite pet."
With one last condescending smile that made Jungkook's blood heat, the other boy turned on his heel with an insolent carelessness, stalking off into the darkness with his chaotic comrades falling in behind him. No matter where they were or what they did, somehow Yoongi always seemed to walk away unscathed while Jungkook was left with nothing but a burning desire to rip everything away from Yoongi the way he had done to him.
Jungkook felt like driving his fist through the nearest wall. It didn't even matter that the nearest wall happened, in fact, to be made of concrete. Any amount of pain would feel better than the untempered anger racing through him. Min Yoongi was going to get what was coming to him if it was the last thing Jungkook ever did.
Jimin tore his gaze away from the retreating forms of their rivals, anxiously casting a look around for Taehyung. The boy was blind, not stupid. He had known exactly who Yoongi had been talking about when he warned Jungkook about his gang's weaknesses, what his last threat had meant.
Jimin's heart broke when he saw the tears swimming in Taehyung's sightless eyes.
Jungkook noticed them just a split second after Jimin did. Jimin didn't miss the abrupt shift on his boss's face as he took in Taehyung's pain.
"Taehyung-" Jungkook started.
Taehyung shook his head, letting his hair fall in front of his face. It formed a curtain between him and the world, locking him away with all his mistakes. He couldn't change them, but he could protect his friends from them. His fate was sealed. Why take all of them down with him?
"He's right," he choked out, looking over in Jungkook's direction. But no amount of practice could allow him to see the tortured expression on the boss's face.
"Tae, you know that's not true," Hoseok said, setting a gentle hand on his shoulder. The warmth on his face bled into his voice as he pressed closer to the younger boy in an attempt to ease his anguish. "Yoongi doesn't know what he's talking about."
Taehyung didn't say anything more but the sad smile he tried to give mostly for his friends' benefit somehow hurt more. The fact that Taehyung believed it was worse than the actual words themselves.
No one moved to stop the blind boy when he let go of Hoseok and made his way back inside the den, sensing that he needed some time alone. Jimin felt like they all could use some time alone. The Cobras had left them shaken, as always. They always found a way to get under Jungkook's skin, Yoongi in particular.
And now it seemed that he had gotten under Taehyung's as well.
His twisted words had wormed their way into his head burrowing into every insecurity and doubt he held and turning them into his own personal demons. Jimin had watched it happen to Jungkook again and again. The boss withdrew from everyone else's company, shutting himself in his room. He destroyed everything in sight, including himself.
He had a sickening feeling that Taehyung was no better.