"Just don't freak out," Jeongguk uttered as he shifted in his seat.
"I can assure you that I'm already freaking out so just fucking explain."
"I work for the leader of a gang," Taehyung cut in, his voice hesitant, small.
"I'm not asking you."
"Just listen, um, hyung?" Taehyung tossed him a faltering glance.
"There are two reasons you shouldn't call me that. One, I'm younger than you, and two, even if I wasn't I don't like you."
"Okay, fair enough." He sighed. "I was homeless when he found me and only sixteen years old." Although Yoongi didn't even look at him and seemed rather uninterested, he continued. "He found me at a very hard time. I hadn't eaten for two days because nobody gave me any money. It was winter, so I was freezing outside, and when I thought I'll freeze to death, he showed up.
"Kang, the leader, takes orphans and homeless kids and raises them for his benefit. Usually to deliver drugs for him, and later on to take over or work at his clubs. And when I turned twenty-one, he chose me to run Hayan Night. The people in the VIP section go there to buy or try his cocaine. I don't use it. I only sell it to them."
Jeongguk couldn't even imagine how awful it must have been for him. And he also couldn't imagine it would hurt so much to hear about his past. His heart ached as if it split open, and all he could do was gaze at him with his eyes drown in tears.
"Jeongguk, please," Taehyung whispered as he turned his head away. He couldn't see him cry anymore. It was too much for him.
Yoongi glanced at the younger and detected his tears falling. He heaved a deep sigh as he stood up and went to his previous spot. Once he moved, Jeongguk scrambled to enclose him into his embrace, clinging to him for dear life, as Taehyung slid his arm around his nape in a flash.
"Wang is our client. And Jeongguk's father buys drugs from him. Apparently, Wang takes pictures of his clients' family members or important people in their lives so he can blackmail them if something goes wrong. That's how he knows Jeongguk, and he's obsessed with him for some reason. He wants him."
"That's just sick," Yoongi said, furious. "Why the fuck haven't you quit?"
"It's too late, anyway."
"Jeongguk, this is serious. You can be in real danger right now."
"I know."
"What do you mean you know? That's it, you're not going back there."
"Hyung, there is no point now. If Wang wants me, he knows where I live. Not going to work won't help."
"Then what the fuck is going to help?"
"I will," Taehyung spoke up. "I won't leave him alone. Wang won't be able to take him by force when he'll be at the club. And I will drive him to work and bring him back myself. He won't be alone. And you live in a place with numerous houses around, so he won't try to break into yours. He is a piece of shit, but he's a coward too."
"We also have a security system and the police station is literally down the corner. He wouldn't dare to come here, right?" Jeongguk peeked at Taehyung, who was caressing his nape.
"Yes, little bun. You just can't go anywhere by yourself, okay? Either you have to be with me or your other hyungs, okay?"
"Thank you, Tae."
"Why the hell are you thanking him? He brought you into this. He is the reason you have to be careful now. He did everything—"
"He's also the one who stood up for me and took a beating for me. He's the one who stopped my father and beat him afterwards. He took care of me and protected me."
"Yeah, that's nice and all, but he's still the one who's responsible for everything. If he hadn't hired you—"
"If he hadn't hired me, I wouldn't have met him," Jeongguk cut him off again with a soft voice. "Maybe it came with a price, but he gave me so much more and taught me so many things. Hyung, I was trying to hide it, but... I was depressed every single day. I'm not depressed when I'm with him. And I don't want to stay away now. I can't."
Yoongi dropped his head as a long sigh left his lips. "You think you were hiding it. I know you didn't want to try for anything anymore."
"Hyung," he breathed out as he withdrew from Taehyung's hug. "I'm sorry for letting you down. You helped me so much, and I let you down. I made you sad."
"No, Kook." Yoongi shifted next to him. "I'm just worried about you. That's all I do. I don't want you to suffer anymore."
"I'm not, hyung. Maybe bad things happened and maybe more will happen, but I have you and Seokjin and Taehyung. And I want to learn how to beat people."
Soft chuckles filled the room as Taehyung shook his head at his cuteness and Yoongi nudged his shoulder. "You won't hit people. It's bad," Yoongi said, still smiling.
"I want to be able to protect myself. Taehyungie hyung will teach me, right?" he asked in a rather cute way as he glanced at him with the most innocent, kittenish face he had.
"That's not fair. If you call me that and look at me like that, how can I say no?"
"See? You can't, I'm too adorable to say no to." He lifted a playful shoulder, making both of them chuckle.
"You are, little bun. And I could never say no to you, anyway. All you have to do is ask, remember?"
Jeongguk's smile faltered as he remembered the conversation he had yesterday with Seokjin and Yoongi. Immediately, he locked eyes with Yoongi and then snapped his head away, uneasy.
"Wait, what just happened?" Taehyung, of course, noticed the look they shared and how Jeongguk's smiley expression disappeared.
"Nothing important," Yoongi said with a dismissive hand gesture. "How about we cook something to eat, hmm? You can stay too, gray-haired."
"My hair is silver, first of all," Taehyung said, his brows knitted together as he was still confused about what happened a moment ago.
"Same difference." Yoongi shrugged.
"And I have to return to the club. My clients won't be happy that I'm not there again."
"Can I come too?"
"If you come, I'll keep you in my house after your shift."
His lighthearted, mischievous tone made him giggle. "Yes!"
"No." Yoongi glowered at Taehyung.
"You just invited me to eat dinner with you."
"Yeah, I didn't invite you to sleep here."
"Oh, come on, hyung," Jeongguk whined with a pouty face, his puppy eyes appearing in a split second.
"You can't say no to that," Taehyung whispered to Yoongi, eliciting a deep sigh from him.
"Fine, leave, but you better take care of him."
"Of course." Taehyung beamed as he pushed himself to his feet.
"If anything happens call me." He gave Jeongguk a warning look.
"Yes, hyung, thank you." Jeongguk burst out of his seat, wincing in pain in the process as his back stung by the sudden movement, but he couldn't care less. He dashed to his room to get ready, and soon enough, he returned.
"Bye, hyung!"
"You better be careful and don't do anything stupid!" Yoongi warned, and right there, the door was slammed shut, making him snort.
The two boys broke into giggles as they closed the door and then got into the car. Taehyung set his gaze on him, a fond smile etched on his lips. "Yoongi is a little overprotective, huh?"
"A little? He's too overprotective."
"It's good, though. I'm glad you have someone to care so much about you."
"I have Seokjin hyung too. And you, right?"
Taehyung dragged his head down but didn't lose the faint smile embellishing his features. "Yes, little bun."
Jeongguk perceived that something was off about the way he said that but didn't dwell on it.
Taehyung started the engine then and drove towards the club. The ride was mostly quiet, but it wasn't awkward between them. Even when they weren't talking, it felt nice just to be around each other.
Jeongguk went to change and Taehyung rushed to the VIP section to talk with the customers who were looking for him.
During their shift, their gazes met more often than usual, and they smiled at each other every time. Jeongguk was the one who glanced away first and even his cheeks blushed. He was bashful in general and especially with Taehyung, but after his talk with Seokjin and Yoongi, he felt shy even when he just looked at him.
A few hours went by, and Jeongguk didn't have so many customers to serve. As he stood beside the bar for a while without doing anything, he decided to ask Chan to give him a glass of whiskey.
When he got his drink, he leaned against the counter and took a small sip. He smacked his lips, tasting the bitter liquid, and a satisfied sigh emitted from his mouth.
"What are you doing?" Taehyung caged him between his arms but made sure not to touch his back.
"Shit, you scared me!" he whisper-yelled. He could feel Taehyung's hot breath against his ear, and damn, his heart pranced by the proximity.
"Are you drinking without me, little bun?"
His voice was low, and Jeongguk could sense something different in his tone than usual, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. "Do I have to drink only with you?" He tried his best to ignore the churning of raging emotions that made his stomach tighten.
"Yes."
"No. I'm a big boy now."
"More like a big baby."
Jeongguk wasn't imagining things. His lips touched his ear as he answered him, and even that faint touch caused him to shudder. Not knowing what to say, he elbowed his belly, and although he barely touched him, Taehyung clutched his stomach as a subdued 'oh' spilled from his mouth, his face puckered in pretended pain.
Seeing his reaction, Jeongguk couldn't constrain his laugh and shoved him back playfully. "Who's the baby now?"
Taehyung's fake distressed expression was replaced by a smirking one as he straightened his posture. "Definitely you." He winked at him and erased the space between them with a single stride, connecting their foreheads.
Jeongguk's breath hitched as he was caught off guard, and his wide eyes peered into his confident ones. He wouldn't lie — a jumble of promising scenarios flitted through his head as they stood so close even their breaths mixed, bodies in full contact.
"V."
The said boy shot a glance at the one who called his name and sighed as he studied the look of disapproval on his face, but he didn't move away. "Can't wait to go home with you," he purred, caressing his cheek with his knuckles, and trudged towards Namjoon.
"What the—"
"Don't comment anything."
"How can I not? Are you trying to get in trouble? Anyone could have seen you!"
"I don't care anymore," he stated as they walked out of the VIP section.
"What?" Namjoon stopped in his tracks, completely staggered at his remark.
"Wang is already going to tell Kang about Jeongguk."
"What the fuck do you mean?"
Taehyung rolled his eyes as he grabbed his hand and dragged him to an empty hallway. "Remember the pictures? Wang blackmailed me. He wants Jeongguk for one night. To wreck him real good and then he said I can have him all to myself, that worthless asshole. Of course I said no, and he said I leave him no choice. Obviously he'll talk to Kang. And I don't care about what will happen to me, but Namjoon, please." He gripped his shoulders desperately, his eyes pleading him harder than his words.
"If I'm not here anymore don't let him do anything to Jeongguk. You have to protect him because once Kang calls me, I'm done, and his hyungs won't be able to protect him because they don't know what Kang can do. But you do."
"Tae, I know you care about him, I can tell, but... you're really willing to go that far for him? You're willing to let Kang kill you so you can protect him?"
Taehyung ran both hands through his hair as he shut his eyes. "It's messed up. But yes, I do. I promised I would do anything to protect him from Kang, and I will keep my promise."
Namjoon didn't know what else to say. He could only sigh and give him a sad look. "Fine, I won't try to change your mind. But let's try to keep both of you safe, okay?"
"You know that's not possible," Taehyung murmured and slouched off with heavy steps.
. . .
"Slow night, right?" Jeongguk asked with a small smile as he leaned against the counter. Yunho, who would usually return his smile, only gave him an icy glance and gulped down his drink. "What's wrong?"
"I saw you. You and V."
"What—what about me and V?"
"I saw how you were flirting. Jeongguk, what the fuck? V is not for you."
"But we're not—we weren't flirting!"
"Stop playing dumb. What do you expect from him? To fall in love and be together? V is not that type of guy. If he wants something from you is to fuck you."
"Hyung, please, don't say that. Taehyung wouldn't do anything to hurt me."
Yunho's eyes popped, swimming in tangled shock. "You know his name?"
"Yes, he—he told me himself."
"But he's not letting you call him by his name, right?"
Jeongguk avoided his gaze, awkward, as he fiddled with his hands. "He does."
Yunho huffed and shook his head. "He's that desperate to fuck you, huh?" he spoke under his breath, not meant for Jeongguk to hear, but he did.
"Hyung—"
"Don't let him ruin you completely. You're a good kid, Kook." Yunho took off, not even giving him a chance to say anything.
He pouted hard as Yunho's words bothered him a ton for some reason. Taehyung wouldn't do that to me. Why did Yunho say that?
⚜✳⚜
Goodbye world🥺😥🥵