Were Dripping In It

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 18: Dope

Jimin met Jungkook at the door of their Political Science class, he chuckled at the sight of the motorcycle helmet underneath his arm.

“Isn’t it a bit cold to be riding this morning?” Jimin asked, following behind Jungkook as they made their way inside the classroom and walked up the steps to the back of the room. A row of girls giggled as Jungkook passed in his black leathers and wind swept hair.

“It actually wasn’t that bad this morning,” Jungkook dismissed, placing his helmet on an empty seat and sat down next to it. That was only half a lie, it was freaking cold to ride in but Namjoon’s sultry eyes on him as he left had been worth it.

Jimin eyed Jungkook’s smirk as he sat down next to him, “Namjoon-hyung left in quite a hurry last night, anything you want to tell me Kookie?”

“Nope,” Jungkook answered, pulling out his notebook and phone. There was a message from Namjoon on the screen, Jungkook opened it and smiled at the words ‘If you get any sexier, I think you might kill me’ with a burning hot emoji at the end.

‘I thought you were into knife play, guess I’ll have to table that’ Jungkook sends with a pouting face, snickering under his breath as the professor stands at her desk and calls the class to order.

‘I’m in the middle of a meeting, baby. Don’t give me ideas.’ Namjoon texts back with a prayer hands emoji.

‘I’ll take bondage off the list then,’ Jungkook sends back, ignoring Jimin’s kick to his ankle as he stares down at his phone. He glances up to see the Professor only just starting to get her slides organized on the screen, so he takes his time getting his pencils out.

‘Jungkook,’ is all Namjoon sends back in reply. Jungkook bites his lip to stop his giggles at his boyfriend’s distress.

‘Have fun in your meeting, I have class now’ Jungkook types, adding a kissy face at the end before closing his phone and tucking it into his inside jacket’s pocket.

Jungkook spent the rest of class listening to the professor drone on and on while taking his notes and trying to ignore the suggestive looks he was getting from the row of girls in front of him. There was one girl in particular, with long blonde hair, that kept trying to catch his eye.

Jungkook desperately hoped that Yoongi’s jeweler was fast, cause it seemed like he needed those couple rings just as much as Namjoon did.

The bell rang and people were out of their seats before the professor could even call out the assigned homework for the day. Jungkook stuffed his notebook into his backpack and pulled his phone out again, he had a message from both Namjoon and Yoongi.

He opened Namjoon’s first and snorted at the reply of ‘I’ll deal with you tonight’ to his last text. He sent a quick ‘Looking forward to it’ with an angel emoji before opening Yoongi-hyung’s message.

‘Your rings will be ready tomorrow and you need to give me your stage set for next week, you have performances on Tuesday night and Saturday.’ Yoongi said with his usual cat emoji at the end of his message.

Jungkook didn’t feel that he was up to a full performance of dancing and singing, but he did have a few songs that could just be sung. He sent Yoongi his two selections before moving to stand with Jimin to leave.

“Excuse me,” a sweet voice muttered just as Jungkook was standing from his chair, he looked up to see the blonde girl smiling shyly up at him. Jimin snickered behind him, the bastard, as the girl blocked their path towards the stairs.

“Can I help you?” Jungkook asks politely, picking up his motorcycle helmet from the chair and swinging his backpack onto his shoulder.

The girl giggled, “I’m Kim Soyeon.” She bows slightly with her introduction.

“Jeon Jungkook,” he replies, bowing even shallower to her. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Soyeon smiles widely to him, “I’ve seen you perform at D-Town, it was amazing! Have you always been into dancing?”

“Thank you,” Jungkook says politely, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I’m sorry, I can’t chat, I have another class to go to.”

“Oh,” Soyeon’s expression drops and she scrambles to pull out a post-it note and write her number on it. “Maybe we can meet up after one of your performances?”

“Sorry,” Jungkook says, raising his hands apologetically, not taking the offered piece of paper. He smiles gently at her fallen face, “I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate that, he’s kinda claimed all of my free evenings. Did you have an interest in performing at D-Town?”

Jungkook asks the question with innocence, as if he doesn’t know why she’s asking to meet up with him. Ignoring Jimin’s snort behind him as he stares at Soyeon’s small shake of the head before heading down the stairs to join her friends.

“It’s never a boring day with you, Jungkook-ah.” Jimin teases, sliding over to his shoulder as they watch the huddle of girls leave the room.

Jungkook sighs, glancing down at the post-it note that was dropped to the floor before stepping over it and walking down the stairs. “I hate upsetting people.”

“It’s not like you’re wearing a sign that says ‘Come try your shot with me’.” Jimin scoffs, punching Jungkook’s shoulder as they exit the classroom. “Who would you rather upset anyway? Your actual boyfriend or some girl from class?”

Jungkook elbowed Jimin’s side, “You already know the answer to that, I’d never want to upset Namjoon.”

Jimin scrunched his nose, “It’s so weird for you to be calling Leader-hyung by his name, he’s older than you!”

“He told me to!” Jungkook says defensively, then scrunches his brow in thought. “Should I start calling him hyung?”

Jimin only shrugs as he opens the door for them to enter the history lecture hall. “How much you wanna bet that Namjoon-hyung might be into that?”

Jungkook gives Jimin a hard look as they sit down, Jimin only cackles in response before the bell for class rings.

The cold air whips around his body as he speeds down the busy streets towards Namjoon’s apartment. He pulls up in front of the tall black building and cuts off the engine. Pulling off his helmet he sees one of the guards that had taken Jin up to the apartment approach him. He hands him his helmet as he swings off his bike before heading inside, saying a quick ‘thank you’ to the man as he passes.

Another guard meets him at the elevator and takes them up to Namjoon’s penthouse, Jungkook leans back against the wall of the elevator as they slowly climb. When the doors open Jungkook steps through and comes face to face with his brother.

“You have a motorcycle!” Jin burst out, waving his arms around wildly as Jungkook passed him to go into the kitchen. “Do you know how dangerous they are! And in Seoul especially!”

“No! Are they? I had no idea!” Jungkook snarked, setting his backpack down on a bar chair, pulling off his leather jacket to hang on the back of it. Unfortunately, this was not the jacket Namjoon had given him, Jungkook had no idea where that one had disappeared to since he was taken by the Stray Kids Gang. He was really bummed about it, he had started to love that jacket.

“You really need to stop being a sarcastic little shit, I’m your hyung Jungkook!” Jin barked, blocking Jungkook’s path to the refrigerator.

“Everyone in this house is my hyung, Jin-hyung” Jungkook corrects, folding his arms over his chest as he stares at his brother. “Being blood related means nothing to me at the moment.”

Jin stares at him and takes a step back, “You think you mean that now, but just you wait. This choice of yours is going to bite you in the ass one day and I don’t want to be around to see it.”

“It’s already bitten me in the ass,” Jungkook glares, side stepping Jin and grabbing a banana milk from the fridge. “I’ve already been kidnapped and held hostage for leverage. And then I had to chase after your sorry ass, so really it’s bitten me twice.”

“You’ve been what?!” Jin yelped, he stared at Jungkook sipping on his banana milk, his face growing red with agitation. “When the fuck were you kidnapped!?”

“Just before we had to go looking for you,” Jungkook answered with a shrug, sipping through the little straw as he looked at his brother. “I think we need to sit down and talk about this, instead of just yelling at each other.”

Jin huffed as he followed Jungkook into the dining room and sat down across from him at the table, he crossed his arms over his chest as they stared at each other for a moment. The only sounds in the room was the slurping of Jungkook’s banana milk carton, he set it down on the table after finishing it.

“Alright hyung, I want you to give me all the reasons why you think I’m being stupid for trusting my hyungs, who I’ve known for years, and my boyfriend, who has done nothing to hurt me.” Jungkook says, waving for Jin to go ahead.

Jin scoffed, “He hasn’t hurt you yet, you mean. He will one day, I guarantee it.”

“How do you think he’s going to hurt me?” Jungkook asked seriously, if he was going to have to listen to his brother’s rant he might as well try to take him seriously.

“Namjoon has a lot of enemies, Jungkook. Obviously you know that, since you’ve already been taken by one. Considering they didn’t hurt you too badly, they probably weren’t any of his big enemies, so you got lucky. You might not next time.” Jin began, glancing over at the healing rope burns on Jungkook’s wrists. Luckily the bruise on his cheek was basically gone now.

“I don’t need to hear about all the outside forces I’ll be up against, hyung.” Jungkook cut in resting his arms on the table, not at all bothered by his brother’s eyes on his marked skin. “I want to hear your reasons about Namjoon and my hyungs, not their enemies.”

“How can you be so dismissive of it? Some of these people won’t be…” Jin started to say but Jungkook held up a hand.

“You’re focusing on the wrong things, Jin-hyung. I’m not going to continue this conversation if you won’t put that aside.” Jungkook said with a sigh. “But I’ll tell you why I’m not worried about any of Namjoon’s enemies, no matter how big they are. It’s because the next time they come after me, I won’t be helpless against them. I won’t be ignorant about the risks of being on the streets alone. And one day, I’ll be just as much of a threat to them as Namjoon is.”

“Why would you want that Jungkook-ah?” Jin asked lowly, his shoulders deflating in defeat. “Why would you want to become a part of a company that kills people? That tortures them for information, that puts drugs on the streets, and controls whether the city will eat or not. Namjoon could get bored one day and burn Seoul to the ground and build his own city in its place. Are you really going to be by his side standing on the ashes of millions of bodies?”

Jungkook leaned back in his chair and tapped his finger against the wooden table as he thought over his brother’s words.

“Does that put it into perspective for you, little brother?” Jin asks, leaning forward to catch Jungkook’s eye.

Jungkook raises his eyes to his brother, “Yes, it does.”

Jin started to smile but froze when Jungkook continued to speak.

“It may seem cold to you, but I genuinely could care less for the people of Seoul. When I was on the streets for three weeks, no one looked twice at me or stopped to help.” Jungkook said coldly, standing to his feet as he looked at his brother. “You weren’t home when mom kicked me out. You never seemed to be home after getting back from killing dad’s murderer, you jumped to the conclusion that I had ran away. I didn’t! I came back for two weeks while you were gone and waited for you to come back! But you didn’t! No one helped me until I came to Yoongi-hyung’s door. I’m going to stick with them hyung, they’re the only ones that have given a damn about me since they met me!”

Jungkook left his brother in the dining room and headed up the stairs to Namjoon’s bedroom. He opened the door a bit surprised to see the man lounging on the bed, Namjoon looked up and blinked as Jungkook shut the door behind him.

“Hey baby, how was…” Namjoon grunted as Jungkook flung himself on top of Namjoon, sending them tumbling down onto the mattress.

Jungkook wrapped his arms around Namjoon’s neck and settled his legs on either side of his waist. “I’m abandoning my brother, he doesn’t listen to me.”

Namjoon hummed as he wrapped his arms around Jungkook’s shoulders, “You have another hard talk with your hyung?”

“Not my hyung anymore,” Jungkook grumbled against Namjoon’s neck. “Just an idiot that my mother gave birth to.”

Namjoon chuckled and ran a hand through Jungkook’s hair, “Have you had dinner yet, baby?”

“Does banana milk count?” Jungkook asked, lifting his head to look at Namjoon and place a kiss onto his cheek.

“No baby, it doesn’t.” Namjoon replied, placing a kiss on Jungkook’s lips. “What do you want to eat?”

Jungkook hummed in thought, “Grilled Pork Belly sounds just about right, right now.”

“Then that’s what my baby will get,” Namjoon said, placing another kiss on Jungkook’s giggling lips as he moved them off the bed to order some food into their room.

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.

If this is the Ao3 Author’s writing curse I might just quit writing all together…… JK I’d go even crazier without being able to write

But here has been my week… so far

Monday: Woke up at 4AM because my dog had diarrhea in her crate then couldn’t go back to sleep because I had work

Tuesday: The washer and dryer at work was being a bitch, cause people don’t use it properly, and we almost couldn’t get all the work done because we didn’t have any dry rags

Wednesday (the start of my day!): My cat throws up at 2AM next to my face and on my phone, so I had to strip my bed and clean my phone so I could go back to sleep so that I wouldn’t be a complete zombie at work

I have no hope for the rest of the week, payday will be the only upside (even if the entire paycheck goes to bills)

I saw a meme, one we probably all know, about writing a scene we’re really excited about but having to write the scenes that make it make sense first. And some advice came to my mind.

Write the scene.

Just write the scene you are so excited to write, right now.

You can make it make sense later, but if you put it off then you won’t be as excited to write that scene cause you wrote the “boring” stuff first.

Nobody said that writing had to be linear, you can fix it later.

Write the scene 💜

Writing a fic when you're uninspired:

*writes half a sentence* *checks tumblr; no updates* *checks discord; all servers; no updates* *goes back to doc* *re-reads last three sentences* *removes last half sentence written* Hmm I want some tea ... *makes tea* *checks tumblr again; one new post* *checks discord; all servers; no updates* *checks four latest opened tabs* *remembers an old fandom you haven't thought of in years; goes to AO3 to see if there are any good fics for it* *opens three new fic tabs* *remembers that you're supposed to be writing* *writes a sentence* I'm kinda hungry ... *checks cupboards and fridge for snacks* *remembers that it's ten pm and you shouldn't snack at this hour* *remembers that you made tea; it is now cold* *drinks cold tea* *re-reads last three sentences* *checks tumblr; no updates* *checks discord; all servers; no updates* *in desperation, checks twitter; it is a cesspool of evil so you check tumblr again; one update* *reblog* Hmm, I have too many tabs open ... *opens a random tab; it is a 70K fic with 1K worth of tags that you last visited three months ago* *reads fic* Four hours later: ... I should go to bed. *closes doc* Total words written: 44

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.