Were Dripping In It

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 15: My Time

“So, what exactly happened to the Stray Kids Gang?” Jungkook asked as he moved about the kitchen, making some dinner while Namjoon sat at the counter working on some paperwork with his dark rimmed glasses perched on his face.

“Hmm,” Namjoon hummed in question, his hand not faltering from his steady writing as he listened to Jungkook repeat his question.

“I mean, how did you guys put a stop to them so easily? They seemed like a big group,” Jungkook said as he rinsed some chicken breast in the sink before setting it in a marinade sauce to soak while he worked on chopping some vegetables.

Namjoon chuckled, “They were actually relatively small for a company, only a hundred lackeys in all. And that included the eight that made up Bangchan’s Inner Circle. As to what happened to them, well Tae was relatively tame honestly. Nothing our doctors couldn’t fix, most are being integrated into our outside territories. None can be trusted in Seoul.”

Jungkook nodded as he pulled a cutting board out and started slicing some bell peppers, “Is that what you do with most gangs? Integrate them into yours?”

“Unfortunately no,” Namjoon states firmly, flipping a page over to start filling out the back. “The Stray Kids Gang was a bit of a special case, there was only a handful of men within it that was truly on Bangchan’s side. We were trying a new method of infiltration with them, instead of outright fighting the company head on we slowly replaced their men with our own.”

“Then if most of the men were yours, why were you so mad at Han when he was starting to turn on you?” Jungkook asked, moving to chop some green onions next.

“Han was the closest to Bangchan, one of his most trusted at the time, he had been undercover the longest. When he started to show signs of turning against us, we needed to move fast. He could have revealed our entire operation to him.” Namjoon explained, running a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t Bangchan knowing that worried us, it was our methods getting out. If even one man got word to the underground about our operation, we’d never be able to use it again. And there are much bigger companies we would need to use it on. The Stray Kids Gang was a test for that method.”

“What did you do with Bangchan? He obviously wouldn’t have fallen in line easily.” Jungkook pointed out, shivering slightly at the memory of the man’s cold eyes.

Namjoon nodded, “You’re right, he wouldn’t. Which is why we have him locked-up in the Voyage house.”

“Weren’t you just worried about Jin-hyung escaping that place,” Jungkook asked, pointing his chef’s knife at Namjoon as he spoke. “How do you know he’s not going to escape?”

Namjoon smiled serenely at him, unbothered by the sharp object pointed at his face. “Because Bangchan is not Seokjin, thank goodness, he hasn’t had the type of training that your brother has. And Seokjin knows that house like the back of his hand, he could escape in his sleep.”

“I suppose that is the difference between them,” Jungkook murmured in agreement, returning his blade to the cutting board to chop some lettuce. “Does it bother you that I’m questioning your decisions about these things?”

Namjoon’s pen paused and he looked at Jungkook seriously through his lenses, “No it doesn’t, it honestly makes me happy that you feel like you can challenge me about these things. Even if you don’t understand all the reasons why I’m doing it, but that’s only because you don’t have all the information like I do. I hope it's not too bold of me to say, but I want you to be my partner Jungkook, not my subordinate when you join my company. I’ll always want to hear your opinion on things.”

Jungkook felt his cheeks heat with pleasure at Namjoon’s honesty, he smiled softly as he gazed at the man across from him. “I’ll continue asking then, you’ll get sick of my questions eventually.”

“Never,” Namjoon promised, smiling back before returning to his paperwork.

Jungkook chuckled as he placed all of his chopped vegetables into separate bowls before pulling the chicken out to chop it into small, bitesize cubes. “What exactly is involved in the training for your crew?”

“It’s actually pretty similar to military training,” Namjoon started to explain but paused when a thought occurred to him, he looked up at Jungkook. “Have you done your military service yet?”

Jungkook shook his head, meeting Namjoon’s gaze. “I’ve been waiting for my letter to arrive for the last two years, but it hasn’t.”

Namjoon clicked his tongue, “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you end up at least starting our version of boot camp before you leave for your service, you’ll be more than prepared for it.”

Jungkook nodded as he placed the cubed chicken back into the marinade and started washing his hands. “Did you do your military service already?”

Namjoon nodded and chuckled at Jungkook’s quiet murmur of ‘no wonder you’re so buff’. “I completed it as soon as I was of age. While my company doesn’t control anything to do with the military, you could say we have a certain influence to speed things up. Most of my men go through their military service immediately after passing our training, we don’t need them being called to serve in the middle of a mission.”

“Would you do that for me?” Jungkook asked, wiping his hands on a dish towel before starting to pull out various pots and pans.

“If you’d like,” Namjoon said softly, pulling a different stack of papers over to him. “I can start the process of claiming your records from them tomorrow. Even if you choose not to go through our training, you can at least choose when you will serve your military time.”

“If you keep doubting that I’ll go through on becoming part of your crew, I’ll throw this knife at you.” Jungkook threatened, pointing the chef knife at him.

“Violence is very sexy on you, baby.” Namjoon chuckled, not even glancing up from his papers. Jungkook rolled his eyes as he continued making their dinner, he was just starting to heat the oil after starting the rice maker when Jin walked into the kitchen.

Namjoon didn’t even glance at the man as he sat down in the stool next to him and started looking over the papers across the counter.

“You’re still fighting the drug cartels, Namjoon-ah, it’s been two years.” Jin scolded, flicking through various papers with his crooked fingers. The cast on his left wrist not hindering his movements at all. “They still won’t come to an agreement.”

Namjoon hummed as his pen continued to flow over the page in front of him, “They haven’t liked our changes to the contract they’ve given us.”

“Too many loopholes to benefit them, I guess.” Nodding when Namjoon hummed in agreement. “Why aren’t you just plowing them over and demanding their cooperation?”

Namjoon gave Jin a swift look before returning his gaze back down as he flipped another page over.

“Ah, I forgot.” Jin hummed in amusement. “You’re a pacifist, would rather try and talk to them for two years instead of just beating them bloody.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes and set his pen down, fixing a look at Jin. “Do you know how well connected the NCT Gang is?”

“Here we go again, I have not missed your lectures.” Jin muttered under his breath, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at Namjoon.

“They are the largest and oldest drug dealers in history, most of the drugs around the world come from them. They have the largest underground manufacturing plant in the world. If I knew where it was, I’d have their operation in my hands before they could blink.” Namjoon states coldly, placing his linked hands on the counter. “It’s their most guarded secret, one I’m determined to know. So yes, I’ll continue arguing with their silly little contracts for another two years until they tell me.”

“What? Has Hoba lost his touch?” Jin scoffed, unfazed by Namjoon’s cold eyes. “Just sicc your big brother after him, I’m sure he’ll find their ‘secret lab’ in no time.”

“He’s tried, like I said it’s well hidden. There hasn’t been a record of its last location for fifty years.” Namjoon countered, sighing heavily as he dragged a hand down his face. “That's why I’m even entertaining their negotiations in the first place. Hobi needs more time to find it so we can make our move against them.”

Jungkook listened to all of this while he fried the chicken in the hot oil and sauteed the vegetables in some butter and spices.

“You make it sound like it's some lost treasure from a pirates movie,” Jin scoffed, rolling his eyes as Namjoon goes back to his paperwork. “Yah Jungkook-ah, are you sure you’re making that sauce right?”

Jungkook leveled a look at his brother over his shoulder, “Are you sure you’re allowed to judge my cooking skills? Don’t you have some soul searching to do, or maybe some meditation?”

Jin blinked, “Have you always been this sassy?”

Namjoon snorted when Jungkook simply stuck out his tongue as an answer before turning back to the stove top.

“How long do I have to wear this?” Jin asked as they sat down at the dining room table, lifting his leg to show off the ankle monitor on it.

“Until I can figure out how to wipe your memory of all the secrets you know,” Namjoon says with a smile, popping a piece of fried chicken into his mouth.

“You can’t put my brother into a coma, Namjoon,” Jungkook scolds before stuffing his face with a scoop of rice, humming happily as he chews it.

Jin blinks as he raises a scoop of food to his mouth, he looks over at Namjoon in shock. “You let him talk to you like that?”

Namjoon shrugs, “Why shouldn’t he? He’s my boyfriend, he can talk to me any way he likes.”

Jin opened his mouth then shrugged, stuffing his mouth with his scoop of food as he looked between the pair. His eyes narrow as he watches them pass small bowls of food to each other and as Namjoon opens a bottle of water for Jungkook, placing it in front of him before opening his own.

“You two,” Jin cuts in, making the couple look over at him as he points his chopsticks at them, “are way too cozy to have only dated for three weeks, what gives?”

Jungkook stared at his hyung in confusion, “I have no idea what you mean hyung.”

Jin narrows his eyes and opens his mouth to say something but the sound of the doorbell cuts him off.

“You don’t have a door, we came in through the elevator.” Jungkook says in confusion, looking over at Namjoon.

“It’s the intercom bell,” Namjoon explains, but doesn’t get up to see who it is. A moment later, Jimin comes around the corner. “You have the code Jiminie, why did you ring the bell?”

“Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t interrupting anything.” Jimin says slyly with a shrug, moving into the seat next to Jungkook and waving off the offer of food from him. “You asked to see me Namjoonie-hyung.”

Namjoon nodded, leaning back against his chair. “I want you to tell Jungkook what you found out about his BioChem professor.”

“Oh him,” Jimin says with an eye roll. “He was a real creep, Jungkook-ah, I don’t know how you put up with him.”

“I didn’t exactly have much of a choice,” Jungkook muttered, stuffing a piece of fried chicken into his mouth.

“Well he’s a class A creeper in more ways than one. His ‘tutoring’ session he tried to have you come to, was a cover for luring his students to his house.” Jimin explains, pulling out his phone and handing it to Jungkook. “He buried all of his victims under the foundation, most of them have been missing for the past few months but there are older bodies too. He’s been at this for a while.”

Jungkook swallowed thickly as he scrolled down the list of names and faces of the victims of his professor, some were young. Too young to be college students. “What did you do to him?”

Jimin hummed happily as he recounted, “I hung him by his intestines from his chandelier, then left an anonymous tip to the police. I think he finally died by the time they arrive on scene, whether it was from the blood loss or the choking we’ll never know.”

“It was probably the blood loss,” Jungkook says, setting the phone down and leaning back against his chair. “I assume you cut more than just his stomach to get to the intestines, shock would have entered the body as the blood left him. He probably wouldn’t have even felt his lack of oxygen.”

Jimin blinked, “I’ll remember that for next time then.”

Jungkook hummed as he tilted his head up to the ceiling, resting his head against the back of the chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, “If we find out another one of my professors is secretly a serial killer, I’m quitting school on the spot.”

Jin looks over at him, “You really think joining Namjoon’s company is going to be safer than staying at school?”

“Did the word safer come out of my fucking mouth, hyung?” Jungkook asked, not even moving to see the man blink in shock. “No, I don’t think it’ll be safer or easier or whatever the fuck you think I’d think it is. But at least I’d be informed upfront on who is trying to kill me and who isn’t.”

“Technically it would be safer,” Jimin cuts in, laying a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder. “You have the most powerful man in all of South Korea at your beck and call. Only the truly stupid would try and lay a finger on you.”

Namjoon placed his hand on the table top, offering it to Jungkook. Jungkook places his hand into it without hesitation, dropping his head to look at him. “No one can do anything to you without your permission, but if it’ll make you feel safer, I can have Hobi give you some light training while you are still at school. As much as I would love to hide you away from the world, I can’t. You might not have any family on the outside that would report your absence, but the school would. That’s one of the reasons why I want you to finish this semester.”

Jungkook nodded, “I didn’t even think about that. If Hobi-hyung has the time, I’d like for him to train me a bit.”

“He’ll make time for you,” Namjoon promised, placing a kiss on his knuckles. “Jimin, can you keep an eye on Seokjin?”

Jimin nodded as Namjoon led Jungkook out of the room, up the stairs, and into a pair of double doors at the far end of the balcony walkway. Jungkook doesn’t even glance around the large room, as soon as he clocks the large bed, he shuffles over to it. He kicks off his house shoes and scoots inside the covers, laying across the mattress on his stomach.

He hears Namjoon shuffle behind him for a moment before joining him on the bed. Jungkook sighs as Namjoon lays against his side, his heavy, warm weight across him like a weighted blanket. Namjoon presses his forehead against the back of Jungkook’s neck, his breath hits his skin with a warm waft sending goosebumps down his spine.

Jungkook lays his hand over Namjoon’s on his stomach and closes his eyes. As he drifts off to sleep the last thing he feels are Namjoon’s lips against the back of his neck.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 13: Do you think that makes sense?

“I want to speak to my brother today,” Jungkook announced at breakfast the next morning. All eyes turn to him as he fiddles with the t-shirt he was borrowing from Namjoon, he looks up at them. “I want to talk to him before we move him to the new place.”

Namjoon and Yoongi glance at each other for a moment before nodding their consent to Jungkook.

“You can see him today,” Namjoon agrees, taking a sip of his coffee. “The doctors told us yesterday that he woke up and is in good health. Apart from a broken wrist and a slightly crushed windpipe, they say he’ll make a full recovery in a few months.”

Jungkook winced then paused, “I didn’t break his wrist.” He whispers in confusion, narrowing his eyes at the sheepish look on Taehyung’s face.

“I owed him a broken wrist,” Taehyung muttered, flexing his left wrist on the table and giving no other explanation but Jungkook could guess what he meant.

“Does anybody else ‘owe’ my brother a bodily injury that I should know about?” Jungkook inquired, looking around the table with his arms crossed. He gives a sigh of relief when everyone shakes their heads. “I also have another announcement to make this morning.”

The men blink at him as they wait for him to speak, side eyeing the smirk on Namjoon’s face with suspicion.

“I’ve discussed it with Namjoon and I’ve decided to go through the training process to become a part of the Bulletproof Company,” he pauses to sip on his coffee, “after I finish my semester at Hybe University, of course.”

“Why wait?” Jimin asks with a wave of his hand. “You could probably get both done at the same time without breaking a sweat.”

Jungkook chuckled and pointed a finger at his boyfriend across the table, “You can take it up with him, that was his stipulation on all of this.”

Namjoon shrugged when the eyes of the table turned to him in disbelief, “It gives him time to change his mind if he wants to, about joining us and about me. And it gives us time to prepare the men for the whirlwind that will be entering the company soon.”

Jungkook scoffed and rolled his eyes, he opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by Yoongi’s own scoff of protest.

“No amount of time is going to prepare anyone for the muscle bunny that’s about to hit our streets, they might as well count their prayers now.” Yoongi chuckled and pushed himself away from the table. “We have a meeting at noon, don’t be late Namjoon-ah.”

Namjoon hummed in acknowledgement as Yoongi left the room chuckling as he went. Taehyung sighed happily as he watched his husband walk out, placing his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand, a dreamy look on his face.

“I can’t believe these two are still this disgusting with each other, even after seven years.” Jimin mutters, side eyeing his hyung in disgust before following Jungkook’s lead to clear the table of their dishes and carry them back into the kitchen.

“You’ve been with them that long, hyung?” Jungkook asked, setting the dishes into the sink and starting the water to wash them.

“Yep and let me tell yah, it made the days between my initiations pass by disgustingly quickly.” Jimin said, lifting himself up onto the counter to watch Jungkook clean.

Jungkook looks over at Jimin in confusion, “Initiations? You had to do multiple?”

“I was a scout for my previous crew,” Jimin starts to explain. “I had to prove my loyalty to them, being a scout comes with a certain level of mistrust. I basically spied on hundreds of companies and stole their secrets right under their noses to give an edge to the company that sent me. Namjoon-hyung had to make sure that I wouldn’t do the same to him. It’s only been for the past three years that I’ve truly become a part of the Inner Circle.”

Jungkook nods as he places the clean dishes on the drying rack next to the sink, “What made you join Namjoon’s crew?”

Jimin shrugs, “The Bulletproof Company took down the one I was a part of. They were doing a sweep through Korea, taking down any companies that stepped out of line. As the new powerhouse, it was their right to do so. Hobi-hyung was the one that came to take the White Tigers out, he only spared me. I earned the title the Last White Tiger of Busan after that day.”

Jungkook paused his scrubbing to look at his friend, “Do you have any regrets about being here?”

“Hell no,” Jimin bursts out, chuckling at Jungkook’s blink of surprise. “The White Tigers were tyrants, Jungkook-ah, they got what was coming to them. I have no regrets coming to the Bulletproof Company. This crew has been the closest thing to family I’ve ever known.”

“Aw Jiminie I knew you loved us!” Taehyung burst out, running into the kitchen and pulling Jimin down for a soul crushing hug.

“Tae, you’re squishing me!” Jimin whined through squished cheeks, but didn’t push the taller man away. Taehyung crushed him tighter against his chest while Jungkook chuckled at the pair as he finished the dishes.

“Are you ready to go see your brother, baby?” Namjoon asked, sidestepping the pair to stand behind Jungkook as he finished the last dish.

“Yep,” Jungkook nodded, wiping his wet hands on a dishtowel. “Lead the way!”

“Have fun in the sex dungeon, kiddos! Make sure to clean up any mess you leave!” Jimin cackled after them, making Namjoon choke and trip over his feet as he led Jungkook out of the room.

“It's not a sex dungeon!” He protested indignantly, his voice a bit squeaky as he looked wide eyed at Jungkook.

“It's not?” Jungkook pouted as he walked around Namjoon. “Well, that’s disappointing.”

Namjoon gulped at the sultry look Jungkook threw him over his shoulder, before shaking himself and continuing leading them towards the fireplace in the foyer. He pulled a hidden lever behind one of the bricks, making a hidden staircase appear before them.

Jungkook whistled lowly as the lights flickered onto the stone stairs, “You must have been dying to show me that.”

“It’s a cool feature on this house,” Namjoon agreed with a smile, gesturing for Jungkook to follow him as he descended. “There’s a series of tunnels that branch off from here, under the main house. They lead to a secondary location in case we ever need to make a quick escape without being spotted.”

Jungkook hummed in understanding as they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a stone passageway that branched into several directions. Namjoon led him down one of the right paths until they came up a series of jail cells.

“I’ll wait right here, if you need me, he’s on the last cell on the left.” Namjoon whispered, stopping in front of the guard’s desk. The guard on duty bowed to the pair and handed Namjoon a file to look over.

Jungkook nodded, took a deep breath, then made his way down the passage. The cells he passed were not empty like he thought, all of them had an occupant who was moaning in quiet pain to some injury. Jungkook held his head high as he passed them, trying not to flinch at the exposed wounds or bloody bandages. He came up to his brother’s cell and looked at the man laying across the bed with a cast on his left wrist and a line of bruises around his neck.

Seokjin’s eyes widen as he comes into view and he sits up in the bed as Jungkook stands in front of the cell door, “How nice of you to come visit me, brother dear. I’d offer you something to drink but the water rounds won’t come for another hour.”

Seokjin’s voice is hoarse as he speaks but Jungkook is relieved that this won’t be a one-sided conversation.

“Do you want me to continue this pointless banter, or get straight into why I’m really here?” Jungkook asks, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning into the bars as he looks at his older brother.

Jin sighs heavily and moves to sit against the stone wall of his cell, “Might as well get it over with, I’d like to wallow in peace with the sounds of groaning men to keep me company.”

“Why did you lie to me about our father? You told me he died on an oil rig,” Jungkook accuses at once. “And then you lied to me again about his journal when I brought it to you. You told me that he liked to write stories to tell you when he came home. Why would you lie about all of that?”

“Because I had to,” Jin answered tiredly. “After I got back from getting revenge on our father’s murderer, I never wanted you to know anything about this life. I wanted you to grow up normally, like any other boy your age. Especially after learning that our mother was a part of this life as well.”

Jungkook absorbed this information with a blank face, but inside he was reeling from the news that his mother had been in a gang as well. “Why didn’t she help you get revenge, or did she?”

Jin shook his head, “She was part of the company that killed him. The man that killed our father was her brother, our uncle. She had helped him plan the assassination of Namjoon, but she never expected our father, her husband, to be there. It broke her to know that the plan she had a hand in creating led to the love of her life dying.”

“Why did they want to kill Namjoon in the first place? Weren’t the companies coming together to make peace that day?” Jungkook pressed impatiently as Jin paused.

Jin scoffed, “Rival Companies are always trying to take out the leader of others, it's the way of life here. And with Namjoon only just taking his father’s place they saw the Bulletproof Company as weak. They thought they could just eliminate him and take over the whole operation. Obviously they were very wrong, you got lucky Jungkook-ah, your new boyfriend is even more powerful than his father ever was. Nobody has tried to take him out since that day. The carnage he left sent quakes through the underground world that still haven’t stopped shaking those that are left behind to remember it.”

“Then why… why did you even pull the stunt you did in Morocco? What was even the point if you knew it was that dangerous to go after them?” Jungkook whispered, clutching the bars in his fists as he stared at his brother. “Do you have a death wish or something?”

Jin laughed coldly, “Death wish? If only it was that simple, I was clouded by grief and anger. When mom died all the anger and sorrow I had buried from our father’s death came back to me. I couldn’t think straight. When I heard you on that damn airplane, everything rushed at me about how stupid I was being.”

“I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if I wasn’t there,” Jungkook muttered, shuttering at the thought.

“So, dear brother, where does that leave us now?” Jin drawled, raising his hands behind his head, ignoring the cast as he leaned back into them. “Are you going to let me rot away in this cell while you play house with your boyfriend. The only family you have left in the world, abandoned for a man you’ve probably only been with for a month at most.”

Jungkook leaned back from the bars, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do with you yet, but unlike you, I won’t be forgetting your existence while living my life. For now enjoy the sounds of groaning men around you, I’ll make sure to tell Namjoon to leave you in peace, for the time being. See you later, Jin-hyung.”

“Now wait a minute! What do you mean by that?! Jungkook! Jungkook-ah!” Jin called after him, pressing his face against the bars as Jungkook backed away.

Jungkook kept his pace steady as he walked away from his brother’s yells and he joined Namjoon’s side once again. Unaware of the cold, dark eyes following his path as he left the lines of jail cells.

Jungkook shook his head when Namjoon started opening his mouth and pleaded with his eyes for them to go back upstairs. Namjoon nodded in understanding, grabbed his hand, and led him back through the passageways. He pulled the lever to shut the hidden door behind them, before pulling him up to his private office.

Namjoon sat on the couch and watched as Jungkook paced back and forth scrubbing his face with his hands. “Are you okay, baby?”

“No,” Jungkook whimpered, dropping his hands from his face. “My whole life has turned upside down and I don’t even know who I am anymore. Everything about my family has been a lie. I could deal with my father being in a gang, that makes a hell more sense then the bullshit Jin-hyung told me. I could deal with Jin-hyung being in a gang, because he honestly seemed like the type anyway. But my mom… and her being the reason my dad died. And it being an uncle I’ve never met to have done it, that’s… that’s a lot Namjoon. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”

Namjoon caught Jungkook’s arm as he passed him again and gently pulled him down to sit on the couch, running a soothing hand through his hair. “I don’t know baby, I really don’t know.”

Jungkook sighed and leaned his head against Namjoon’s shoulder, “Any family secrets of yours that you can share to make me feel better?”

Namjoon chuckled as he wrapped his arm around Jungkook’s back, “Despite what you may think, my life hasn’t been all that dramatic with family problems. The only piece of drama we have is that Hobi is my adoptive brother.”

“What? Really?” Jungkook gasped, lifting his head to look at Namjoon’s nodding head.

“My father found him abandoned in a rival company’s warehouse. My mother had me shortly after he was brought home, she raised us together as brothers. I never knew he wasn’t my actual biological brother until the discussions of leadership in the company came up. I assumed Hobi would take the role as the eldest and was shocked to find out he wasn’t blood related. While my parents love him as a son, he has no claim to the leader role. It’s fortunate that Hobi had no aspirations to lead the company, so we never fought over the claim.”

“How very fortunate indeed,” Jungkook sighed. “And here I am with a mountain of emotionally traumatizing family members. I’m a super villain in the making.”

Namjoon chuckled deeply at Jungkook’s dramatics, before sobering up. “You know that you’re family doesn’t define you, right? Their past, their choices, aren’t a reflection on you. And I may not have known your mother, but I knew your father, he was a good man. He taught me everything I know, he gave me the wisdom to take a step back and think before moving to action. I see a lot of him in you actually.”

Jungkook pulled his head away from Namjoon’s shoulder to give him an incredulous look, “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear, Namjoon, that my boyfriend sees his father in him. Best thing I’ve heard all day, really.” He snarked, making Namjoon groan in agony.

“You know what I mean,” Namjoon whined, throwing his head back to hit the back of the couch. “You have his passion, his drive, his good nature, and his patience. You got being a little shit all on your own!”

Jungkook giggled at Namjoon’s snark, snuggling back into his arms, tucking his feet underneath him on the couch. They sat in silence for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts as they enjoyed each other’s presence.

“I talked to Yoongi-hyung this morning,” Jungkook muttered, getting a hum from Namjoon in acknowledgement. “He’s insisting that the vacant apartment is mine now, won’t take any money from me for it. Also told me not to worry about moving my stuff in there from my old place, ‘hyung will do it’ he told me and just walked off. So, I guess I’m moving there now.”

“So, that’s where he ran off to,” Namjoon mused, his fingers dancing across Jungkook’s tattooed arm across his chest.

“How’s your own moving process going?” Jungkook asks, playing with one of the buttons on Namjoon’s black dress shirt.

“We’re basically ready to be there by tomorrow, the cleaning crew will be done by tonight and the preparations for moving Seokjin will be finished in the morning.” Namjoon answered, glancing at his watch to check the time. He sighed, “And now I have a meeting to attend with the Enhyphan Gang, Yoongi-hyung will have my head if I’m late.”

Jungkook whined as Namjoon untangled himself from him, placing a kiss on his forehead before leaving the room. He sighed in the empty room as he got more comfortable on the couch, his thoughts wandering back to everything that Jin had told him. Jungkook couldn’t quite wrap his mind around the idea of his entire family having been in the mafia, in some shape or form, then just lied to him about it.

A knock at the door, broke his circle of thought. He titled his head to see Hobi poke his head inside.

“Namjoon is in a meeting with Yoongi-hyung,” Jungkook answered Hobi’s confused face.

“Ah,” he nodded and stepped into the room. “What are you still doing in here then, Jungkook-ah?”

Jungkook shrugged as Hobi picked his feet up, sat down, and dropped them onto his lap. “Just didn’t feel like moving anywhere at the moment.”

Hobi nodded, massaging his ankles with his warm hands as he looked at him, “Do you wanna talk about it? Hyung can help.”

“I really wish you could, hyung.” Jungkook sighed, sniffing lightly.

“Aw Kookie, talk to me please,” Hobi whispered, taking one of his hands into his. “It might help to just talk about it with someone else, I know Joonie probably talked to you. But sometimes you need a friend’s ear.”

Jungkook nodded and took a deep breath before telling him everything that his brother had told him. Detailing all of the lies that Jin had given him his whole life.

Hobi whistled lowly, “Fuck, that’s a lot to be unloaded on you. Did Namjoon say anything that helped?”

Jungkook sighed, “He said that my family’s past doesn’t define me, that I didn’t make the decisions that they did. So, their past mistakes aren’t a reflection on me.”

“He’s right, you know,” Hobi agreed, squeezing Jungkook’s hand. “Your family may have played a part in bringing you into this world and shaping your early years, but you’re a grown man now. The decisions you make now have nothing to do with them. They may have given you morals and guidance, but you ultimately choose to follow them or not. Unfortunately you can’t change the past, so don’t let it stop you from enjoying your present and creating your future.”

“When did you get so wise, hyung?” Jungkook teased, laughing when Hobi smacked his ankle on his lap. “But thank you hyung, that helped. I’m still upset about what they did, but I’ll try not to let it get to me too much.”

Hobi patted his ankle, “Atta boy, you can be upset about it but don’t let it ruin everything. They don’t deserve that kind of power over your life.”

Jungkook nodded feeling much more relaxed after his hyung’s words. “I think Namjoon is worried about how well I’m taking all of this. He won’t say so but I think he’s worried that it’ll hit me one day and I’ll just up and run.”

Hobi snorted through a laugh, “I’ve known you for about two years now, Kookie, I know how tough you are. Joonie has nothing to be worried about there.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Hobi looked at him for a moment before sighing heavily, “I’m sorry to add to your list of people that’ve lied to you, but I’ve known that you were Jin’s brother since I met you.”

Jungkook stares at him in shock, “What?”

“Jin didn’t tell me your name,” Hobi says, looking away from Jungkook’s hurt face. “He only said he had a younger brother. I knew he was trying to protect you from this life, so I kept it a secret. Even from Namjoon and Yoongi-hyung. When you walked in the door of my dance studio for the first time, I knew right away you were Jin’s younger brother. That purple heart pin that you always wear told me. Jin showed it to me and told me to look out for you, if you were ever to show up on our doorstep. ”

“Why didn’t you tell me hyung? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” Jungkook whispers, his eyes pleading for Hobi to explain.

“Because I made a promise,” Hobi whispered, squeezing Jungkook’s hand and looking over at him tearily. “I made a promise to Jin to protect you and to not tell you the truth. I thought Jin would tell you himself and he made me promise never to ever tell you. I’m sorry that I lied to you Jungkook-ah, but I’m a man of my word, I couldn’t break that promise.”

Jungkook nods slowly, wiping the stray tears off of his face. “I understand hyung. I don’t like it but I can’t change the past now.”

Hobi huffed a quiet laugh, “You are always so understanding, Jungkook-ah. You have no idea how rare that is to find in people.”

Jungkook shrugged, “You know my past hyung, what’s the point of not hearing people out when they want to be honest with you. I don’t want to be vengeful when I don’t know if you had a good reason for not telling me.”

“That’s very wise of you Jungkook-ah, I hope Jin will come around. I know how much you’ve missed having your big brother with you.” Hobi says softly, tightening his hold on Jungkook’s hand.

Jungkook swallows thickly as Hobi’s kind eyes look down at him, “Do you think he’ll ever understand how hard it was for me? It was like one day I didn’t have him anymore, just one day and I was all alone.”

“He will,” Hobi whispered, pulling Jungkook up to hold him against his chest. “When he calms down a bit, you’ll be able to talk to him. You’ll be able to explain everything to him, it’ll knock some sense into his thick skull.”

Jungkook chuckled as he clutched Hobi’s shoulders and laid his head down into the crook of his neck, sniffing lightly as the man’s vanilla body wash.

“Can I say something else I’ve wanted to talk to you about. About Namjoon.” Hobi says after a moment, rocking Jungkook gently in his arms.

Jungkook hums in agreement as he snuggles into Hobi’s chest. Taehyung and Yoongi liked to do this with him when they had a hard talk with him, Jungkook never felt more loved then when he was in one of his hyung’s arms.

“I just want to say to be careful with him.” Hobi whispers, tightening his arms around Jungkook. “He’s my little brother and he’s more innocent than you’d think. The expectations our father put on him made him grow up so fast. Despite how he acts sometimes, even being our Leader, he’s not the eldest. I know you two will become good for each other, but I just want you to know to be careful with him.”

“I will hyung,” Jungkook swore solemnly. “I’d never purposefully hurt him, it would hurt me too if I did.”

“I know,” Hobi chuckled, peering down at him with a sly look. “The pair of you are such tender hearts, you’ll probably burst into tears in the middle of an argument and forget why you were even mad in the first place.”

Jungkook wanted so badly to retort but he had nothing, because he knew it was true. He rolled his eyes at Hobi’s delighted cackle when he didn’t respond to the jab.

“Come on, that’s enough hard talk,” Hobi said, patting Jungkook’s shoulder and setting him down to stand. “Let’s go blow off some steam.”

“Where are you taking me?” Jungkook asked, letting Hobi pull him out of the office and down the long corridor of doors.

“One thing I’m going to miss about this house, after we leave, is this.” Hobi explained, throwing a random door open and flicking the light on. Jungkook blinked at the sight of a dance studio with its pale wooden floors, dark paneled walls, and a large mirror facing the doorway.

Hobi skipped over to the stereo at the far left side of the room and plugged his phone into it.

“Any requests?” He asked, scrolling through his playlists.

Jungkook hummed in thought as he came over to his hyung’s side, pulling Namjoon’s t-shirt off as he went and folding it onto a small table next to the stereo.

“I don’t want to get it all sweaty.” He explained to Hobi’s side eye, as he tightened the drawstrings on his sweatpants. “I really enjoy the choreography from my song, do you think the two of us could do it?”

Hobi laughed, “Let me call Jiminie while we warm up, the three of us can make it work.”

Jimin joined their warm up stretches as soon as he entered the room, kicking his shoes off to the side and wiggling his eyebrows at Jungkook’s bare chest. Hobi walked them through the steps with Jimin until they got their flow together.

Jimin picked up on the choreo easily and Jungkook felt the troubles of his day melt away as he focused on the movements of his body and feet. His song blasted through the room on repeat as they rehearsed the steps. He couldn’t help but sing along as they danced about the room.

After a few runs of his song, Jimin insisted that they just mess around with random music blasting through the speakers. Yoongi passed by the studio door to find them break dancing across the floor and challenging each other to do various dance moves with rap songs blasting through the room.

“You boys having fun?” He asked, after turning the music down to a reasonable level as he looked down at the panting bodies on the floor. He chuckled when he got weak thumbs up in reply, “Tae ordered some take-out for dinner, come downstairs and eat.”

That got them all off their feet instantly and scrambling down the stairs with Yoongi following slowly behind, chuckling under his breath as he turned the stereo and lights off.

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.

Finally bit the bullet and changed my Ao3 username, I have never felt more free!

I hope I don’t confuse my reader too much 😂

🦀 Kudos Crab 🦀

If you are scrolling and see Kudos Crab, your fics will be blessed!

You will get good comments and kudos!

You will beat your writers block!

GO AND WRITE!

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter Interlude: Epiphany

Jin watched as his younger brother shuffled to the elevator, blushing a bright red and stuffing something into his pocket that Yoongi handed him after Namjoon had headed into his office.

“Do I even want to know?” He asked, looking at Yoongi cackling in his seat and Taehyung smiling fondly at his brother’s retreating back.

Yoongi shrugged as he turned his eyes to Jin, the scar over his right eye had healed significantly since the last time Jin had seen him but it still had a faint redness to it.

“If Jungkook-ah wants to share that with you, that’s his business.” Yoongi drawls as he takes a sip of his coffee. “You have something you want to say, Seokjin?”

Jin sighs and lounges himself across his chair, being mindful of his cast as he leans his arm over the back of the chair next to him. “I do not miss your mind reading skills.”

“It’s served me well in taking care of your brother,” Yoongi dismisses, a hard look in his eye as Jin flinches. “Teenagers can be very volatile at times, I’m just glad he never learned to properly throw a knife at that time.”

“He never threw any knives,” Taehyung counters, resting a hand on the back of Yoongi’s neck. “It was a chair.”

“When did the pair of you get married? When I left you two were still dancing around each other like a couple of teenagers.” Jin asks, glancing down at the pairs’ matching silver wedding rings.

“About nine months after you left,” Yoongi answers with a shrug. “Don’t try and change the subject, Seokjin. What did you want to tell us?”

“Should I even bother telling you? You probably already know,” Jin scoffed, rolling his eyes. “And just call me Jin, I’m getting tired of hearing my full name around here.”

Yoongi blinks at him, the only outward sign of surprise he shows. “I think I am going to need you to tell me, it seems my mind reading skills have lessened with you since you left.”

Jin smirks, but then looks at the couple seriously, “Thank you for taking care of my little brother when I wasn’t there. I don’t want to even think about what would’ve happened to him if he hadn’t shown up on your doorstep. I had no idea that our mother had thrown him out while I was working, or that he had been on the streets for three weeks.”

“Why weren’t you there Seokjin? Why was he alone?” Taehyung asks softly, clenching his fist on the table.

“I was working to feed him and put him through school, our mother was a drug addict and was draining all our money from the retirement funds.” Jin answered, watching as Taehyung’s fist relaxed at his words. “When my brother was kicked out, I was in Australia on a mission for the Red Velvet Ring. I didn’t hear that he had left until I got back five weeks later, I was cut off from all communication for that mission.”

Realization comes over both the men’s faces and they nod in understanding together.

“What’s you plan now, Jin?” Taehyung asks, tilting his head when Jin chuckles. “Does Kookie know about all that?”

Jin shakes his head, “No, but I’ll tell him. He deserves the truth. I’ll be speaking with Namjoon next, if he agrees then I’d like to stay. Under what capacity, I don’t know, but I’m staying wherever Jungkook wants to be.”

Yoongi nods and smiles, “That’s good to hear then, I hope you won’t be as much of a bastard with him around.”

Jin scoffed, rolling his eyes as he stood, “Trust me, I’ll still give you hell Yoongi. Only this time you’re subjecting yourself to it willingly.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” Yoongi contradicts with a sniff, ignoring his husband who cackles in delight next to him.

Jin chuckles fondly under his breath as he leaves the dining room, unwilling to admit that he’s missed the two bastards. He stands in front of Namjoon’s office and takes a deep breath before raising his fist to place a firm knock on the dark wood.

“Come in,” Namjoon calls, he raises his brow as Jin enters and sits down in one of the desk chairs. “Are you coming in here to lecture me? Cause I don’t…”

Jin raises a hand to stop him, “I’m not here to lecture you, or give you the shovel talk, or anything like that. I’m here to apologize.”

Namjoon blinks and leans back into his chair, “You’re going to… apologize. To me? For what?”

“For jumping to conclusions about you and my brother, I should have gotten all the facts before tossing accusations around. And I should have given you all the facts as well.” Jin explains, then takes a deep breath before giving Namjoon all the dirty details about his absence and the true source of funds for Jungkook.

Namjoon listens impassively, rubbing his mouth with his finger as he ponders over everything Jin tells him. “So the funds that the Stray Kids Gang stole were actually yours?”

Jin nods, “If you’re still willing, I’d like that money to be returned to Jungkook. It was supposed to be his in the first place.”

“Of course,” Namjoon nods, pulling a sheet of paper out of his desk and handing it to Jin. “I’ll be showing this to Jungkook, when I think he’s ready to know, but you deserve to see it. It’s everything that the Stray Kids Gang used your money for.”

Jin took the paper and skimmed over the list, not at all surprised by what lay on it. He looked back up at Namjoon, “Are you really going to show him this? Why are you making such an effort to include him?”

Namjoon shrugged, “Jungkook expressed his wish to join the Bulletproof Company and he wants me not to lie to him. When he completes his training, he’s not just going to be some lackey, he’s going to be my partner. I need to know what he can and can’t handle before I start trusting him to help me run all of this. I want to trust him but I’m not stupid, I know there’ll be things he won’t react well to, so I need to know before he’s in charge of anything.”

“You always were one to plan ahead,” Jin chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. “Does Jungkook know that you’re testing him? Does he know that you want him to be your partner?”

Namjoon scratches the end of his nose as he shifts his eyes away from Jin’s knowing ones, “He knows that last bit.”

Jin clicks his tongue but lets the subject drop, “Now about that kidnapping stunt, how the hell did they get him? Have your men lost their touch? The Stray Kids are insignificant, they barely had control over the one block they had.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes, “I wasn’t having any of my men tracking Jungkook and I still don’t. I want him to trust me, I need to trust that he’ll tell me if he needs something to make him feel safe. I’m not going to go behind his back and do it for him.”

“How many mafia romance novels did you read before coming to that conclusion?” Jin teases, snorting when a blush colors Namjoon’s face. “That’s good to hear Namjoon, it’ll pay off in the end. I wasn’t lying when I said that Jungkook will be the best of us. I should have phrased it better, but I was angry. You know how I am when I’m clouded like that.”

“All to well, Seokjin.” Namjoon agrees, his face turning somber. “I still have flowers sent to Jang-ssi’s grave, I’ve been wondering how to approach Jungkook about seeing it. Or if he’d even want to know where his father is buried.”

“I’ll ask him, that’s more of family business.” Jin says, standing to his feet as Namjoon nods in understanding. “You can call me Jin, Namjoon. I think I’m going to be around for a while, so I’ll need a job too.”

Namjoon snorts at Jin’s retreating back, “I’ll let you know if I have something for you, Jin.”

“You do that,” Jin chuckles, waving a hand as he leaves the office and heads into the kitchen. He passes Jimin leaning against the counter as he starts washing the piles of dishes in the sink.

“Are you my babysitter for today?” Jin asks as Jimin slides up next to him and starts drying the dishes with a hand towel.

“Yep!” Jimin says cheerfully, setting the dry plate down on the counter and taking the next dripping one from Jin. “I’m skipping class today because Hobi-hyung needs to stop by the training camp.”

Jin hums, “Is Hoba still having trouble keeping the greenies in line?”

“Not when he’s there,” Jimin scoffs with an eye roll. “They’re mad annoying though when he’s not, I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with training any of them. I just get to beat them up when they step out of line.”

Jin chuckles as he rinses a coffee mug and starts scrubbing it. They do the dishes in silence for a few minutes, just handing the glassware between each other with the sounds of running water echoing through the kitchen.

“So, you and Hoba then,” Jin drawls, making Jimin snort which makes Jin laugh awkwardly. “Sorry, that was random. Should have started off better.”

“No! That was perfect!” Jimin cackles, his shoulders shaking with laughter. When his giggles die down he looks over at Jin, “I’m not quite sure what I’d classify Hobi-hyung and I at the moment, he kinda gave me a bit of a shock last night when he told me he’s into multiple partners.”

Jin hums in agreement, nodding his head. “Shocked me too, honestly. Did he get all flustered about it?”

Jimin grins devilishly, “Like a little virgin getting his first kiss.”

Jin snorts, “I don’t think there’s anything ‘virgin’ about that man.”

Jimin hums in agreement and starts moving to put the clean and dry dishes into their cupboards. Jin joins him after washing his hands at the sink.

“Are we going to have a discussion about how we’re both into the same man and that man wants to be with both of us?” Jimin asks, huffing when Jin shoos him to the side as he placed the mugs in the top shelf after he was unable to reach it.

“How exactly do you even have that discussion?” Jin asks, trying to hide his smirk at Jimin’s pout as he places the mugs on the shelf with ease.

Jimin shrugs and continues to hand him mugs, “No idea, never had to have one.”

“Then we’ll wait for Hoba to have it, he’ll probably know.” Jin says, shutting the cupboard door and turning to face Jimin. “He is the middle ground in this situation.”

Jimin hums and looks Jin up and down as he folds his hands behind his back, “So you aren’t the type like Hobi-hyung? You’ve never had multiple partners.”

Jin raises a brow at him and leans back against the counter as he crosses his arms over his chest, “Despite how pretty my face is, the answer to that would be no. I only had one steady girlfriend before my father was killed and after I left the Bulletproof Company I was too focused on helping my family eat every day to date.”

Jin quietly files away Jimin’s small flinch at the word ‘pretty’, it would be something to ask about later.

“Are we assuming too much then? About whether you’re even interested in a relationship with us?” Jimin asks, raising his brow at him.

Jin looks at him for a moment, “I’m not exactly opposed to it, who would say no to two handsome men wanting to be with you?”

Jimin smirks, “Your deflection game is on point Seokjin, but I’ll get the real answer from you soon enough.”

Jin rolled his eyes, a smile creeping up on his face. “So, what’s your suggestion for moving forward?”

Jimin hums, tapping his chin in thought, “We’ll take it slow, since you’re not absolutely against the idea of all three of us. We can take our time getting to know each other.”

Jin huffs and nods in agreement, “I guess my life wasn’t normal to begin with, why should my love life be?”

“That’s the spirit!” Jimin cheers, smacking Jin’s shoulder. “Come on, I heard you’re rusty on some training. Let’s go spar!”

Jin laughs and follows Jimin into the elevator, leaning against the wall inside as they descend down to the sparring floor. The smile on his face stays as Jimin chats happily next to him about all the different moves he’ll put him through. He could practically taste the sparing mat in his mouth as the numbers on the elevator countdown.