Jungkook's mouth twisted unhappily, coming to a rest somewhere between a frown and a scowl. He ran his finger down the barrel of his gun slowly. The simple movement soothed him. Or maybe it was the image of finally blowing Yoongi into oblivion that calmed his fraying edges.
The Cobra that stood in front of him shifted uneasily as he awaited his answer, sensing the shift in the boss's mood.
"You can tell Yoongi to shove it up his ass," Jungkook said at last, a lethal smile playing across his face. "If he wants the thumb drive, he's going to have to come pry it from my cold, dead hands."
Yoongi's soldier's eyes widened as the realization that he'd have to return to the Arsonist with nothing hit him with the force of a train. "Vice, please-"
Jungkook froze. "What was that?"
The soldier, wisely, remained silent.
"Did you just say 'please'?" Jungkook asked, dipping his head to meet the soldier's eyes. The Cobra swallowed hard but refused to break. "Is that what Yoongi's been teaching you in your little daycare, huh? Manners?"
He scoffed at the thought of Yoongi swaddling babies in blankets and rocking them to sleep. And this was the gang that was threatening his reputation. After how hard he'd worked to make a name for himself, to become someone worth being proud of, all of it was in jeopardy from a group that would more likely point their gun the wrong way and shoot themselves in the head than hit a motionless target a foot away from them if Yoongi wasn't standing over their shoulder the entire time.
"But what about the-" the soldier started.
Jungkook had to give it to him, at least he had determination.
But maybe that was just the fear talking.
"I won't give you the information that will get me thirty billion won just because you asked nicely," Jungkook spat. "Now get the fuck off my territory." He was fed up with playing allies with the Cobras already and they had barely even exchanged a passing glance in the last four days. When this was over, he was going to enjoy bashing his nemesis's head against a rock.
Knowing if he lingered any longer he wouldn't have the option of leaving fully intact, the Cobra dipped into a curt bow and scurried into the shadows before Jungkook could change his mind about letting him go.
Jungkook sighed as he ran his fingers through his dark hair, messing it up even further. He quirked an eyebrow at the figure waiting for him in the silhouette of the den's entrance. "How long have you been standing there?" he murmured as they fell into line down the hallway.
"Long enough," Jimin replied. The elder gnawed on the edge of his bottom lip, trapping it between his teeth anxiously. "What did Yoongi want?"
The other boy laughed humorlessly. "The thumb drive, if you can believe it. That little shit really thought I would just hand over the one thing that possesses all knowledge of the mission so he can go for the money without us."
Jimin frowned as they turned the corner, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why don't you? Go for the money yourself, I mean."
Jungkook clenched his jaw until the muscles ached. Because I can't do it by myself. Because I need his help. The words swirled around in the air between them, but he couldn't bring himself to make them tangible. If he did... That'd mean they were true.
"I see," Jimin mumbled. He pulled the younger to a stop just before the corridor opened up into the main room, his grip on his arm growing more insistent with every word that poured from his mouth to cement their meaning. "I know you need all of us for this to work, but please be careful with what you ask of Taehyung. He will push himself beyond the limits of what he's capable of without even realizing if you allow it. Just... keep him safe."
Something tightened in Jungkook's chest at the simple thought of Taehyung coming to harm. Ever since the day he'd found the beautiful boy wandering the streets calling out hoarsely for help, he'd known there had been something different about him. Despite having been dealt a losing hand by life, he refused to let that stop him from trying to feel empathy for every person he met. It was far more than he could say for himself or any other member of his gang. There were no limits to what Jungkook would do to protect him.
"You know I would never let anything hurt him," Jungkook said softly.
That was one thing Jimin didn't doubt. But still... He couldn't sit back and watch Taehyung pave the road to his destruction and not say anything. There was a time in Jimin's life when he was breaking further every single day, morphing into a person he didn't recognize in a world he told himself he'd never enter. Taehyung had been the hand that had lifted aside that darkness and pulled him through - not to the light, but to a place in between. The place he was meant to be all along. Taehyung helped him find himself again and Jimin was determined to do everything in his power to return the favor.
Giving Jungkook a small nod, Jimin released his arm. Together, the two took the final steps between them and the main room, coming into the den's center.
"There you are!" Hoseok exclaimed cheerfully as he jumped up from where he was teaching one of the younger recruits a card game they'd made up a few years ago. "I was starting to wonder if Yoongi finally managed to get the advantage on you. What did that filthy Cobra want?"
Taehyung, who was silently sitting at the base of a wall removed from the soldiers milling about, glanced up at the sound. Jungkook felt a blush overtaking his cheeks as Taehyung's gaze eerily found his, remembering the warmth of his body pressed up against his not too long ago. Since that night, he had barely had time to see the older boy, too busy dealing with a never-ending stream of problems, and now he got flustered every time they were in the same room together.
That was a fact Jimin hadn't missed. But no matter how hard he pressed, he couldn't seem to convince Taehyung to tell him what happened that night between him and the boss.
"He was just a messenger sent to take the thumb drive," Jungkook said at last, determinedly keeping his attention away from the boy across the room. "Yoongi's stupider than I thought if he thinks I'd just blindly hand over the one thing he needs to do the mission by himself."
"You admit you gave him some credit then?" Hobi drawled with a slow smirk, earning a swift glare from their leader.
Jungkook opened his mouth to snap a taunt back at Hoseok but a gentle voice speaking had him holding his tongue.
"You should be careful with Yoongi," Taehyung said quietly, unmoved from his spot against the wall. "He wants you to think this was him revealing his hand and to think he won't try anything again so soon. He's dangerous."
The edge of Jungkook's lips tugged upward. "And I'm not?"
Taehyung blushed furiously, ducking his head. Jimin glanced between the two boys once more in confusion.
"So if you're so dangerous," Hoseok started as he propped a leg up on a nearby chair, "then what's our plan?"
Jungkook's smile vanished as he looked toward his soldier, the dark thundercloud consuming him again. There was nothing he wanted more than to announce to his gang how they were going to drag Yoongi down once and for all. But he couldn't.
Jimin's eyes widened as he quickly jumped to intercept the conversation, sensing Jungkook's unraveling control. "Why don't we wait?" he suggested. "Yoongi's bound to mess up at some point. Then, when he's weakest, we can strike. He won't be able to retaliate."
Fingers ceasing to fiddle with the hem of his shirt, Taehyung frowned a little at the sudden interruption. He'd been expecting Jungkook to launch into his elaborate plan, a wicked grin in his voice as he dragged out every description of Yoongi's destruction. He certainly hadn't expected Jimin to cut in.
Hoseok stood up straight, a question written across his face, but Jimin shook his head at him.
Without another word, Jungkook turned and strode out of the door. He hated that they had to walk on eggshells around him, hated that they had to watch what they said as if he was a little kid. He was their boss. He was supposed to take care of them, not the other way around. He hated himself for not being able to give them the leader they deserved.
They deserved someone who could take them the final steps to the finish line of the race they'd been running ever since Jungkook became head of the Purgatory. Someone who could be worthy of the title. Someone who could deal with their biggest problems - problems like Min Yoongi.
He wanted to prove to them that there was a reason he was chosen to lead them. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to. Yoongi was there every single time the end seemed to be in sight to send him back another twenty steps.
And now the fate of his gang was riding on him.
Slamming his door behind him, Jungkook slid the lock home, running his fingers through his hair. He needed a plan. He may not have been able to accomplish the mission without Yoongi's sharp gaze and ruthless mind, but he did have something the older boy didn't - a gang that lived up to their reputation. And for now... that'd have to be enough.
But he was sick and tired of simply being enough.
A sudden bout of thick, suffocating anger rushing over him, Jungkook's arm shot out and slammed the glass sitting on his desk to the ground. It shattered with a resounding crash. Dark pleasure spread through him. There was something so satisfying at being the one to bring around something else's end instead of drowning in his incompetence. He started to reach for the small mirror hung on the wall to silence his reflection's mocking, but a soft knock on the door halted his movements.
"Jungkook?"
The rage disappeared almost instantly at Taehyung's gentle voice. Glancing down guiltily at the broken glass on the floor, Jungkook slowly let his arms fall to his sides.
"Jungkook?" Taehyung called again. "Can I come in?"
Not bothering to fix his dark hair since it wouldn't matter either way to Tae, Jungkook wordlessly undid the lock and let the door swing open. He started to ask what Taehyung wanted but before he could get the question out, the other boy had crossed the room and grabbed Jungkook's hand, pulling him after him onto the boss's bed.
Jungkook frowned in confusion as Taehyung looped an arm around his waist, silently cuddling up behind him. "What are you doing?" he murmured.
"Screw Yoongi," Taehyung said, his breath ghosting over the skin on the younger's neck. Jungkook was having a hard time paying attention to anything else other than every point where their bodies met. "You don't have anyone you need to measure up to, Jungkook. You only have to do what you think needs to be done."
If this were anyone else, Jungkook would have kicked them out the second they reached for his hand. But it wasn't anyone else, it was Taehyung. The blind boy had always been his weakness.
"Do you know something about running gangs that I don't, Taehyung?" Jungkook teased as he twisted around in Tae's arms to bring them face to face.
"Who says I don't?" Taehyung shot back with a lopsided smirk.
Jungkook smiled to himself as he buried his head in the crook of Taehyung's neck and let himself relax for the first time in a long time.