Were Dripping In It

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 14: Respect

On the morning that Jin was set to move to the new location, Jungkook insisted on being in the car with him. Namjoon had tried to protest the necessity of it but a firm look from Jungkook shut him up.

“You didn’t have to come with me, you know.” Jungkook murmured, side eyeing his boyfriend as he tapped away at his phone while his brother glared hotly at him from the seat across.

Namjoon shrugged, unbothered by Jin's angry eyes on him. “I needed to be at the apartment today anyway.”

Jin scoffed with an eye roll, “He just couldn’t bear you leaving his sight. Get used to it Jungkook-ah, this one’s got a possessive streak a mile wide.”

“Why did you need to be at the apartment today?” Jungkook asked, ignoring his brother completely.

Namjoon hummed, “I always check after the cleaning crews when we move to a new base. Adjustments sometimes need to happen and I’d rather not find out while I’m living there.”

“Oh, like what? Too many dust bunnies under the couch?” Jungkook snickered, giggling when Namjoon poked his side at his teasing. Jin rolled his eyes at them, muttering under his breath as he glared out the window.

“More like wiretaps and hidden cameras,” Namjoon corrected with an easy smile, still tapping away at his phone like he hadn’t just shocked Jungkook once again.

“See what you’ll have to live with Jungkook,” Jin sneered, glaring coldly at Namjoon before turning his gaze to his brother. “You really want to live with that for the rest of your life?”

Jungkook huffed and finally met his brother’s gaze, “How exactly do you expect me to move on in my life after everything I’ve learned already, Jin-hyung? Unlike what you may think, I wouldn’t just be leaving Namjoon if I decided to walk away. I would be leaving all of my hyungs too and for what? For you to boss me around again? No thank you.”

“How the hell did you even end up being friends with all of them? Without me even knowing?” Jin muttered in confusion, scrunching his brows.

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “That’s what happens when you stay out of your brother’s life for the past four years, he makes friends.”

Jin opened his mouth to retort but Jungkook cut him off.

“After I moved to Seoul for my last year of high school, I got a job at Yoongi-hyung’s club. Him and Taehyung-hyung basically took me in until I was able to afford a place of my own. Then I met Jimin-hyung when I started at Hybe University. And I met Hobi-hyung when I started his dance class.” Jungkook said with a shrug, ignoring Jin's gaping face.

“You’ve been living with them for four years!” Jin gasped, staring at Jungkook with wide eyes.

“Technically I only lived with them for three years,” Jungkook corrected, ignoring Jin’s squawk of ‘that doesn’t make it any better!’ “I wanted to live closer to the campus at the time, so I moved to the only apartment I could afford while also paying for my tuition.”

Jin scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, “Our parents left us a ton of money Jungkook, your tuition should have been covered. I was sending you envelopes of cash every month!”

“No you weren’t,” Jungkook countered, equally as confused as his brother. “I never received any money from you.”

“I mailed them every month!” Jin insisted passionately. “I’ve had one sent on the first of every month, it would have covered your rent, food, and tuition for the semester.”

“Where the hell did you send them then?” Jungkook blurted. “And why did you send envelopes of cash! Why didn’t you put the money in a bank account? Then you could have sent it directly to my account!”

Jin rolled his eyes, “There’s not exactly a central banking system for all companies. Most of the means of getting money shouldn’t have a trail for the government to follow, which is why most transactions are in cash.”

Jungkook blinked at him and nodded his head, “That… that makes sense. So where, pray tell, have you been sending all this money? Because I obviously haven’t been receiving it.”

“The Stray Kids Gang has been taking them,” Namjoon cut in, making the brothers look at him. He looks up from his phone and smiles at their gaping faces. “I noticed an increase in the company’s funds over the years, it was too consistent to be a heist or robbery, but I could never find the source. You sent money to Jungkook as soon as he started college, correct?”

“So the PO box I was sending them to was compromised,” Jin muttered, ignoring Jungkook’s indigent ‘you didn’t even tell me to go to a PO box, what kind of brother are you?’ He glances over at Namjoon with raised brows, “Do I even want to know what they’ve been doing with the money?”

“Probably not,” Namjoon answered with a smile, then raised his phone back to his face, “We’ll cover the lost funds, since it was technically stolen right under your nose.”

“Oh Namjoon, you don’t have to do that!” Jungkook interjected, waving his hands frantically at him.

Namjoon laid a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder, “The money is yours Jungkook-ah, besides most of it will be returned to you anyway. Yoongi-hyung told me this morning that the Stray Kids Gang has been dealt with, along with all their assets. So really the money is just coming back to you from them.”

Jungkook blinked and started counting on his fingers, “But it's only been two days!”

Namjoon smirked and patted his shoulder without saying another word as he returned to his phone. Jungkook stared at him in shock then turned to his brother who rolled his eyes at the pair.

“Yah Namjoon-ah, aren’t you showing off a bit too much there?” Jin scolded with an incredulous look. “Did you burn down their homebase too?

Namjoon glanced briefly at him, “No, we needed that building. And says the man with the company title of WWH, standing for World Wide Handsome.”

“Seriously hyung,” Jungkook snickered, making Jin scowl but it looked more like a pout.

“Still a better alias then Rap Monster,” Jin scoffed with a wheezy laugh.

“I go by RM now,” Namjoon corrected, his eyes not leaving his phone but Jungkook could see the light blush on the tips of his ears. Jungkook tried to hide his giggles but he was unsuccessful, he got louder as Namjoon side eyes him playfully.

Jin eyed the pair of them, “How long has this,” he gestures between the two of them, “been going on? Since you’ve known the rest of the crew so long, I assume you met through them.”

Jungkook shook his head, “I wasn’t lying when I said I picked him up in an alleyway. I bumped into him on my way to class while he was beating up a gang member.”

Jin blinks, twice, “And you decided he’s the one you wanted to date?”

Jungkook raised his hand to place it under Namjoon’s chin, showcasing it to Jin. “Have you seen how hot he is? Of course.”

Jin rolled his eyes, “You’re avoiding my question, Jungkook-ah. How long have you been seeing him?”

Jungkook gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck, “Two… no, three weeks I think.”

“What the f…” Jin’s exclamation was cut off by the car pulling to a stop and Namjoon opening the door for them.

Jungkook followed swiftly behind Namjoon as they exited the car and entered the tall apartment building. Trying to escape his brother’s scolding as quickly as possible. Jin huffed as he shuffled behind them, two black suited guards following close behind his broad shoulders as they entered the elevator.

“We are not done with this conversation.” Jin hissed in Jungkook’s ear as they rose up the ticking floors. Jungkook rolled his eyes, pouting as he skirted to Namjoon’s other side to avoid him. Scooting up close to his boyfriend as he peered around him to stick his tongue out at his glaring older brother.

Namjoon peered down at him from the edge of his phone as Jungkook wrapped his arms around his waist and continued to make faces at his brother. He chuckled lowly in his chest as he placed an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders. The elevator dinged and Namjoon ushered Jungkook into the apartment space.

“Wow,” Jungkook gasps as he steps into the large penthouse. He can see right away why this place was Namjoon’s favorite.

The wide windows overlooking the bustling streets of Seoul gave a natural light to the expanse of the penthouse. Everything from the kitchen, the living room, and the balcony of the second floor was tastefully arranged like Namjoon’s room at his huge house. There were wooden accents, books, and, of course, plants everywhere.

“Please take Seokjin to his room,” Namjoon says to one of the guards that came with them. The guard nodded and Jungkook watched as he walked his brother up the stairs, onto the balcony and into a door above the living room.

“How exactly is he safer here than back at the house?” Jungkook asked, following Namjoon into the kitchen and looking over the shiny appliances with interest.

“The Voyage House has always been a last resort for me to use,” Namjoon explained, handing Jungkook a bottle of water from the fridge before taking one out for himself. “It’s so large that I mainly allow my men to use it as a second home in between missions. In the midst of all the chaos, Seokjin could easily slip away right under our noses. Here I can keep a personal eye on him.”

Jungkook moved about the room, sipping on his water, as Namjoon spoke. “What’s your plan with Jin-hyung? Obviously he can’t ever go out on his own, he knows too much, but he can’t stay locked up in your house for the rest of his life either.”

Namjoon hummed in agreement and sat down on the long leather couch. Watching as Jungkook drifted between his book shelves that lined the walls and the windows that overlooked the outside balcony.

“I would ultimately hope to have Seokjin back on our side, but that’s going to take time. For now, just having him here will be enough.” Namjoon said, chuckling as Jungkook ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ at the various art pieces on his walls. “Baby, come sit down. You can explore the house later, I need to talk to you about something.”

Jungkook groaned and made his way over to the couch, “I feel like half of our relationship has been nothing but these ‘we need to talk’ conversations.”

Namjoon gave him a look as he sat down on the cushion next to him, “These talks are important, you know. If you want to avoid miscommunication then we’re going to have to communicate.”

“Oh really, who would’ve thought?” Jungkook sassed rolling his eyes, yelping when Namjoon flicks his forehead.

“Sassy,” Namjoon tsks, but smirks despite himself as Jungkook rubs his offended forehead. “I want to talk about our boundaries and deal breakers in our relationship going forward.”

“Ah,” Jungkook hums, nodding his head. “Yeah that sounds like an important one to have.”

Namjoon chuckled and looked at him expectantly, clearly thinking Jungkook should start them off. He leaned back against the couch and thought about it for a moment.

“I don’t think I could handle you lying to me. Even if you think the truth could hurt me, I don’t want you to lie about anything.” Jungkook states quietly, fiddling with his fingers.

Namjoon sighs, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he stares off into the room, “I expected that, but unfortunately I can’t always promise to be honest with you.” He turns his head to look at Jungkook. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you Jungkook, my life has been nothing but giving people lies. The world I occupy is built on lies, it keeps us safe, it keeps us hidden. What I can promise you is that I’ll be as honest where it concerns you.”

“I don’t expect you to tell me everything about your work Namjoon,” Jungkook cuts in, taking one of Namjoon’s hands in his. “That’s not what I mean when I say I want you to be honest with me. I want you to be honest about our relationship. I want you to be honest about things that happen to my brother.”

“I want to be honest about everything with you,” Namjoon whispers, threading their fingers together. “But I know I can’t, not until you’ve gone through the proper training. Not until my men can see you as an equal and not as a security risk.”

Jungkook nodded, “I understand that, but can we at least have some sort of way of letting me know when you can’t tell me something, instead of lying about it.”

“Like a code word?” Namjoon asks, looking amused when Jungkook nods seriously.

“I’ll drop the subject immediately, no questions asked.” Jungkook states, then points his finger in Namjoon’s face, leveling a very stern look at him. “Which means you can’t just use it willy-nilly. It's reserved for the moments when you honestly can’t tell me anything about what is going on.”

Namjoon nods in agreement, “I understand, hmm… how does the word ‘Moonlight’ sound to you?”

Jungkook scrunched his brows, “Where did you pull that word from?”

Namjoon chuckles and pulls out a small notebook from his pocket. Jungkook recognizes it immediately, it’s the little black book of lyrics he had found in his leather jacket. Namjoon opens it to a page and hands it over to Jungkook to read. “This is a song I wrote a few years ago. I remember a line from your song ‘Stay Alive’ that you worked on with Yoongi-hyung. That word, ‘Moonlight’, is in both of them.”

Jungkook looks over the scratchy handwriting, “We were born in the Moonlight.” He murmurs aloud, running his finger over the line across the soft paper.

“Hide in the Moonlight, that’s the line from your song.” Namjoon murmurs back, taking the notebook as Jungkook hands it back to him and places it back into his jacket. “It’s a word that has significance to both of us, in different ways. And it’s something you don’t just say in regular conversation.”

“I like it,” Jungkook says softly, smiling as Namjoon looks over at him. “We’ll use that as our code word for when you need me not to ask any questions.”

“I hope I don’t have to use it. Does it bother you that your hyungs lied to you? Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung I mean, since you’ve known them the longest.” Namjoon asked, looking shocked when Jungkook shakes his head.

“My hyungs lying to me is different from my brother.” Jungkook starts to explain, fiddling with his fingers. “They’ve always been cryptic about things since I met them but they always reassured me it was for my good. And, I don’t know, I just trusted them. They took me off the street when no one else would, I didn’t see it as any of my business to pry into what they didn’t want me to know.”

Namjoon hesitates looking over at Jungkook’s fidgeting form, “Would it be too much of me to ask about your time before coming to D-Town?”

Jungkook sighs, biting down on his lip ring. “It’s never an easy conversation to have, Namjoon. But you can ask.”

Namjoon takes both of Jungkook’s hands in his, “Before I do, I want you to know that there’s nothing you can tell me that will make me think differently about you. All of us know what it’s like to experience something horrible in our lives and have had to do horrible things to survive it. There’s nothing you can say that’ll scare me away.”

Jungkook looks at him for a moment, taking in his sincere face and the tight grip on his hands before nodding. “I believe you, Namjoon. It probably isn’t as bad as I think it is, compared to what you guys have gone through.”

Namjoon shrugged, “That’ll depend on everyone’s perspective, for you this was your darkest time. It’s as bad as you feel it is.”

Jungkook nods, taking a deep breath before he starts pouring his heart out to Namjoon. “Jin-hyung had disappeared again, he said he would only be gone for a few days but it was longer than that. And he didn’t answer any of my calls or text messages, my mother became erratic the longer he was gone. I started staying away from the house more, only checking in to see if hyung had come back. After two weeks with nothing, my mom had enough. She said if I wasn’t coming home anyway, I shouldn’t come back at all. She didn’t even let me pack or leave a letter for Jin-hyung. The only things I had were my school books and some extra clothes in my backpack, she took my phone too.”

Jungkook clenched his fist to keep himself from touching the scar over his right cheek bone, he was not quite ready to tell Namjoon exactly how he got it.

“I had enough money to get to Seoul, I knew I needed to stay in school and I hoped I would find some sort of job or place to stay while I was here. Nobody would like twice at me, I was too young to hire anywhere and nobody cared that I didn’t have a place to stay. I slept in any alleyway that seemed safe, I was honestly starting to give up before I heard about D-Town’s opening. Yoongi-hyung was the only person that didn’t immediately send me away and he took me to meet Taehyung-hyung right after having me sign a contract. They let me live with them, fed me, clothed me, gave me a phone, and drove me to school everyday. I was supposed to start working for them after I turned eighteen but they wanted me to finish school first.”

Jungkook rubbed his arm as he thought over his memories, “I started having outbursts and fights at school when I got in contact with Jin-hyung again. He wouldn’t even let me explain, just jumped to the conclusion that I had run away and left mom alone. I took it out on Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-hyung, even though they had been nothing but nice to me. I think they understood that I wasn’t angry with them, I just didn’t know how to express the hurt I was feeling. But it was when I threw a chair at Yoongi-hyung that they sat me down and made me talk it all out. Hyung told me that they didn’t know that the brother I was talking about was the Jeon Seokjin they knew. Otherwise they would have been honest with me from that point on.”

“After I was able to get all that hurt out into words, they helped put the pieces of me back together. I don’t think they’ve realized how much they’ve acted more like my parents than my biological ones ever did. They joke sometimes about getting adoption papers for me, even if I am twenty-three, but sometimes I wish they were serious. Especially after I learned that they had papers for Jimin-hyung, I moved out of their apartment after that. It hurt to think they didn’t actually want me like that.”

“I don’t think that was ever their intention,” Namjoon says softly, wiping the tears from Jungkook’s face. “They probably didn’t think it was their right to offer you something like that. Jimin asked for it, that’s all I know about their situation. You should talk to them about it, I’m sure they never meant to hurt you.”

Jungkook nods, swallowing down the lump in his throat. “I started to realize that after I saw that Tae hadn’t made my room into an art studio. It was as if they didn’t want to fill the space I had left behind.”

“That’s probably exactly it, baby.” Namjoon says softly, placing a kiss against his forehead. “You occupy such a large space in their hearts. They probably wouldn’t even think twice about giving you their name, if you wanted it.”

Jungkook hums, “Do you understand a little better why I don’t want you to lie to me?”

“Yes baby, I do,” Namjoon says softly, pulling back to look at him properly. “I want you to know that I don’t want to hide anything from you. It’s just necessary for now.”

“I understand Namjoon, I won’t hold it against you.” Jungkook assured him softly, then leveled a stern look at him. “I make no promises though, for after I’ve passed all my training. After that, there should be nothing that you can hide from me.”

Namjoon chuckled, smirking at him as the air around them lightened, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I still can’t believe you’re making me finish college before I start training,” Jungkook huffed, crossing his arms over his chest again. “I can do both!”

“Can you?” Namjoon challenged leaning back against the couch. “Can you balance your grades, go through vigorous training that will leave your body quaking, and your performances at D-Town?”

Jungkook pursed his lips before sighing in defeat, “Fine, you might have a point there.”

Namjoon nodded, trying not to look smug about it. “I only want you to finish this semester, you can decide after if you want to start your training or finish your degree. Either way, it’ll be your choice to become a part of my crew or not.”

Jungkook didn’t want to fight with Namjoon after the hard conversation they had already had, so he simply nodded in response. After a moment, Namjoon speaks again.

“I’ve noticed, since the night that I rescued you from the Stray Kids Gang, you’ve been much more… physically affectionate with me.” He murmured, his posture completely relaxed against the couch cushions.

“Does it bother you?” Jungkook asked, trying to sound nonchalant but internally reeling from the possibility of needing to hold back his more affectionate side from his boyfriend.

Namjoon shook his head with a light chuckle, “No it doesn’t, that's not why I’m bringing it up, baby. I’m just… curious about what’s changed since then. You used to be so hesitant before.”

“Ah,” Jungkook hummed, internally sighing in relief as he tucked himself against Namjoon’s side. “Are you gonna start claiming I have Stockholm Syndrome if I say that you rescuing me that night was really hot?”

Namjoon snorted as he laid his arm over Jungkook’s shoulders, “No I won’t, that’s not how Stockholm Syndrome works. I only have to worry about your brother possibly having that.”

Jungkook snickered at the thought, but highly doubted that would happen to Jin-hyung. “To be honest, after I learned the truth about you all the hesitation I had before just vanished. I was really confused after I met you in that alleyway and then started meeting you more afterwards. I couldn’t quite understand the kind of man you were, everything you did just confused me.”

“Looking at it from your perspective, I suppose I would be very confusing to you,” Namjoon mused, fiddling with one of Jungkook’s hands. “What made you want to learn more? If you knew I was holding back, why did you continue to see me?”

Jungkook chuckled as he enjoyed the feeling of Namjoon’s calloused fingers against his palm, “You obviously don’t have much experience in the dating world, babe, but that’s kinda how you start a relationship. Discovering new things about each other, taking time revealing your true self to the other person, and, yes, even holding some things back until you feel like you can trust them.”

Namjoon hummed, “I bet you don’t usually meet potential partners in back alleys beating some dude to a pulp though, so what was it about me that made you want to take that chance? I could’ve been a serial killer for all you knew.”

“I can’t pinpoint to exactly one thing,” Jungkook murmured, linking their fingers together, running his thumb across Namjoon’s knuckles. “It was just a collection of little things that told me there was more to you then met the eye. Your notebook of songs in your jacket. Giving me your jacket because you were worried I'd be cold. Coming to nearly every performance at D-Town. Meeting me in the VIP section, even if we were only able to talk for five minutes. Just all those little things, I could probably name even more.”

“I think I understand,” Namjoon said softly, placing a kiss against Jungkook’s forehead.

“Do you?” Jungkook asked, tilting his head to look at him. Namjoon nods wordlessly, smiling softly at him. Jungkook smiles back as he leans forward and places a gentle peck on the man’s soft lips.

“Good,” he murmurs, inches away from Namjoon’s mouth. The man leans forward and captures Jungkook’s lips into another sweet kiss. There’s nothing heated about this one, unlike their first, just gentle caresses and sighs as they glide against each other.

Were Dripping In It

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