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We’re Dripping In It

Prologue: Magic Shop

The day Jeon Jungkook’s life turned completely upside down, he was running late for class. He had no thoughts in his head beyond his pounding feet on the concrete streets of Seoul. He turned down an alleyway, hoping that it would cut through the rows of buildings faster. The scene he stumbled upon froze him in his tracks.

It should have made Jungkook run, it should make him scream in fear. The sight of blood should at least make him a bit queasy, but he feels none of these things. He barely feels any surprise as the towering man glares at him over his whimpering victim.

He was late, bloody knuckles and whimpering cries be damned, he was late.

“May I pass?” He asked, gesturing to the street just beyond the dark alley. “I’m late for class.”

The glaring man’s face twists in confusion, he stares down at Jungkook for a moment, probably taking in his paint splattered jeans, rumpled t-shirt, and beaten black backpack. Jungkook doesn’t shift on his feet as the man’s dark eyes scrutinize him. He simply waits to see if he will be free to attend his photography class today or if he’ll be joining the whimpering man on the cold asphalt.

“Why aren’t you wearing a jacket?”

Jungkook jerks at the man’s question, his voice is much deeper than he had expected.

“Ah.. forgot, I was in a rush.” He explains, feeling thoroughly chastised when the man clicks his tongue in response.

The man tosses his victim to the ground and takes two long, sure strides towards Jungkook. In one swoop he takes off his large leather jacket and places it around Jungkook’s shoulders.

“But you’ll get cold,” Jungkook protests, as the man zips the jacket up for him. This seems to amuse the man because he simply chuckles as he backs away.

“Don’t worry about me, little one, I won’t be out for much longer. Run along to class now.” He says in a low tone, before giving a swift kick to his crawling victim before he gets too far.

Jungkook gives a hasty bow and quiet ‘thank you’ before continuing his way through the alley, slipping his arms through the jacket as he walks. It’s still warm from the man’s body heat and there’s a scent to it that makes Jungkook want to burrow into the collar. He denies himself the pleasure and keeps his steady pace towards the main road leaving the groaning sounds behind him.

Once his feet hit the sun kissed pavement, his mind returns to the urgency of getting to class. He frantically looks for a familiar street before choosing the right direction to head in. The university campus is only five blocks away and he books it, taking no notice of the passing cars or pedestrians until he’s huffing up the steps towards the Visual Arts wing.

Jimin is typing furiously on his phone at the entrance and glares at Jungkook when he throws the doors open.

“You almost made me late! Why weren’t you answering your phone?” He demands as he huffs to catch up to Jungkook’s steady stride towards their class.

“Forgot to charge it last night.” Jungkook answers as they slide into the room and take their seats. The bell rings for attendance and Jungkook gives a great sigh of relief to have made it in time.

“Where did you get that jacket? I’ve never seen you wear that one.” Jimin whispers to him as assignments are passed out by the TA and the professor starts his lecture on camera lighting.

Jungkook is so deep in his frantic notes that he barely registers Jimin’s question, he blinks in thought for a moment before replying, “Ran into a dude on my way to class, I forgot my jacket and he gave me his. Said he didn’t want me to be cold.”

“Oooohhh,” Jimin whistles lowly, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Was he hot? Did you get his number?”

Jungkook’s mind fills with the man’s tall build. The way his broad shoulders had filled the black turtleneck he had been wearing. His handsome face that Jungkok could only glimpse in the shadowed alleyway and his dark alluring dragon-like eyes.

The unbidden image of the man he had under him; beaten, bruised, and bleeding, comes to the forefront of his mind. He tries to shake the image as he replies to Jimin’s question, “Couldn’t really tell, it was kinda dark and happened so fast. So no, I didn’t get his number.”

“Shame,” Jimin sighs and thankfully drops the subject.

Jungkook has less success driving the mysterious man out of his head for the remainder of class. When the bell rings he jolts in his seat in surprise making Jimin cackle in delight.

“Come on, lover boy, let’s go bother Hobi-hyung at his dance studio.” Jimin teases as he drags him from his chair, ignoring his groans of protest.

“Why are you making me third wheel your flirting attempts with hyung?” Jungkook moaned but was ignored as Jimin kept his fast pace towards the dance studio across campus. He sighed in resignation and mentally hoped he wouldn’t miss his evening class because of Jimin-hyung’s dick.

Hoseok and Jimin were so wrapped up in their flirting that they didn’t even notice Jungkook slip out the door. He sat in his mandatory BioChem lecture wondering for the millionth time why it was a required credit for a Visual Arts major.

After an hour and a half of droning on and on, Professor Chan finally released them into the night. The stars twinkled above Jungkook’s head as he walked across the empty campus green. His breath fluttered in front of him as he digs his hands into the borrowed jacket. It keeps him warm for the entirety of his walk to his apartment.

Jungkook glances down the alleyway as he passes, not surprised to find it empty under the lamplight. He shuffles away still reeling slightly from the scene he had stumbled upon that morning. He bounds up the stone steps of his complex and tries not to cough at the strong smells of cigarettes and weed as he makes his way down the hallways to his apartment door.

The dingy room flutters under the harsh yellow lighting, the aging building quakes under his feet with the movement of the nearby subway. Jungkook barely takes notice of either of these, a common occurrence in the single room apartment he could afford near the campus. He places his backpack on the lone chair and fishes around in his cupboard for anything that resembles food.

A single packet of Jin Ramen is all that's left and he bemoans the lack of funds in his bank account for a grocery run. He prepares the ramen with practice ease then sits down at his shaky table with it. With the hot ramen set on the table, he begins working on the loads of homework between mouthfuls of noodles. Taking more care than usual as he ate to avoid any drops getting on the leather jacket.

The apartment is cold, almost as cold as the outside streets, he reasoned that’s why he kept the jacket on even now. But with his bed calling to him hours later he couldn’t put it off any longer. He slips the jacket off, shivering as the cold air hits his bare skin, and places it on the back of his chair.

He quells the urge to poke around through the jacket as he gets ready for bed, even though there’s no place in the tiny apartment that he can’t see it dangling. It seemed to mock him as he slipped on a long sleeve shirt and thick sweatpants from his portable wardrobe and as he stood in his half bathroom brushing his teeth. It’s only when he’s sitting on his mattress, the only decent piece of furniture in his whole apartment, that he gives into the curiosity and pulls it onto his lap.

Even though he knows the front two pockets are empty, he checks them anyway. There’s not even a hint of lint in them. Opening the jacket up he checks the inside pockets, expecting them to also be empty, but is pleasantly surprised to find a small notebook in the right side pocket. Setting it aside he checks for any other clues to the owner of it. Other than a little ‘RM’ in delicate white stitching on the inner neck of the jacket there’s nothing.

He sets the jacket back on his chair and picks up the small notebook, it’s also black leather and frayed around the edges. Taking a deep breath Jungkook tries to mentally prepare himself for the possible contents inside as he opens it. And it’s nothing that he’s expecting.

The handwriting is neat, if a bit scratchy and rushed as if the man was hurrying to write the words that came to his mind. At first Jungkook thinks they’re small poems, but the more he reads, he realizes that they’re song lyrics. Beautiful songs, full of emotions and meaning. There’s vague scratches throughout the pages to take or add words.

When Jungkook finally reaches the blank pages, it’s nearly completely full, he’s left feeling very confused about its owner. Of this mysterious RM. The man he met in that alley this morning and the man who wrote these words seemed to be worlds apart.

Jungkook has a hard time meshing the two together as he sets the notebook safely back inside of its pocket and tries to go to sleep. But the ghost of the man haunts him in his tossing and turning, his soft deep voice chases him into his dreams.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 1: Pied Piper

The next day Jungkook tries to ignore the jacket as he gets ready for his classes and tries to forget how warm he felt inside it. Tries to forget the beautiful words written in the notebook. But he doesn’t want to leave it behind, who knows, fate might be kind to him again and he’ll be able to return it.

With a resigned look to himself in the mirror, he slips the jacket back on, this time over a gray hoodie before picking up his backpack. He dodges the various seedy neighbors and yelling couples that litter the hallways until he’s on the street.

He checks over his missed messages from yesterday as he makes his way towards campus. He feels a pang of remorse at seeing Jimin’s frantic messages for his near lateness yesterday, but scoffs when he sees nothing after he had left him to flirt with Hobi-hyung. There’s one message from his brother Seokjin, reminding him to eat healthier, but there’s nothing else. He breathes a sigh of relief, thankful not to have missed any call-in from work for that night.

He decides to pass through the alleyway again today. Half hoping, half not, that he would run into the owner of the jacket again. He doesn’t.

He steps out onto the street from the alleyway telling himself not to feel bummed about it. He makes it halfway through his day before Yoongi, his boss, sends him a message about work and his plans for grocery shopping after class fly out the window.

The club that Yoongi owns, D-Town, is popular for underground shows; rappers, unknown artists, musicians, and freestyle dancers. Jungkook has worked as a bartender for him ever since he came to Seoul. Yoongi was the only person to give the scrappy, disheveled kid from Busan a chance.

He texts Yoongi back an agreement for the late shift tonight, then sends a message to Jimin not to wait up for their shared class tomorrow morning. And to save him some notes for it like a good hyung. He snickers at Jimin’s sassy reply before pocketing his phone.

The club is packed by the time Jungkook is ready for his shift, having placed his stuff in the employee lockers and mentally prepared himself for the long night. He helps Jisoo finish her line of customers before taking over the bar alongside Taehyung.

“How’s classes going, Kookie?” Taehyung asks after an hour of driving drinks out. There's always a pause just before a show starts on stage and they take full advantage of it to catch up and drink some water.

“Busy, as usual.” Jungkook answers with a shrug. “It’s just the start of the new semester, I’m not too stressed yet.”

Taehyung hummed as he sipped his water, “That’s good to hear, you gonna pick up more shifts then?”

Jungkook can only shrug as an answer before a new swarm of customers come up to the bar. What he truly enjoys about working at D-Town is that there’s no charming or low-key flirting with customers to get good tips, there’s no need for it. Most that come usually tip well because the show of the night is the main attraction, the alcohol just an added bonus. Plus Yoongi paid them well enough not to rely on tips.

“Who’s performing tonight?” Jungkook asks, after the swarm goes back to the dance floor, the lights dimming to signal the start of the show.

“I think it’s just some returning artists, nobody new tonight. Hey, when are we gonna finally have you up there, huh?” Taehyung nudges Jungkook in the arm and pouts at him. “Yoons has been saying for weeks that he thinks you’re ready to be up there.”

“He has?” Jungkook scrunches his brow at Taehyung’s nod. “I just.. I don’t know. I don’t think any of my music would fit this scene.”

Taehyung shrugs, “So what, you remember that lo-fi dude from last week? He killed it, even if you could barely hear him over the screaming crowd.”

Jungkook laughed at the memory, “Yeah, I guess I can't be that bad.”

“Exactly!” Taehyung cheered, clapping his shoulder. “Talk to him about it before you leave, you know he’ll be upstairs all night anyway.”

Jungkook eyed his hyung’s fond smile, “You let him stay that late, for shame hyung, letting your husband work all night with no rest.”

“Oh he’ll get plenty of rest later, trust me.” Taehyung rumbled with an exasperated eyebrow waggle, making Jungkook gag.

“Keep your bedroom life out of the sanctuary of my bar, please!” Jungkook whined, turning to finish cleaning the empty glasses on the bar.

Taehyung just cackled loudly as he turned to organize and restock their selection of vodkas and whiskey. The rest of the night passed with relative ease, the rotation of artists on stage kept the crowd thoroughly entertained, giving the bartenders something nice to listen to as they worked. Yoongi had a strong vetting system before allowing anyone on his stage, ensuring that every single one was a near hit for the night.

When 3am hit the clock everything began to shut down, last calls for drinks were given and the final band began to play until the club was empty. Once the doors were locked behind the last customers, the cleaning crew entered the room and began their rounds. Taehyung and Jungkook set to work getting the bar ready for the next day before calling it a night.

“Come on, you’re not getting out of this, let’s go up to Yoongi’s office.” Taehyung stated firmly, clutching Jungkook’s arm as he put the leather jacket back on.

Jungkook barely had time to grab his backpack and close his locker before he was being pulled up the long stairway towards Yoongi’s office. Taehyung didn’t even bother to knock on his husband's door, just waltzed right in and plopped down on the couch. Jungkook, ever polite, hovered at the door until Yoongi glanced over to him from his desk.

“Ah Jungkook-ah, how have you been?” The older man drawled, setting his pen aside from the papers he was writing on.

“I’m good hyung, thank you. Tonight was a busy one.” He answered, plopping down in the seat in front of the desk.

Taehyung stretched one of his long legs to poke Jungkook’s thigh, “Yah! Jungkook-ah, ask him before I do!”

Yoongi looked expectantly at Jungkook, completely ignoring his pestering husband on the couch. “You need something Jungkook-ah? Hyung can help.”

“It’s just… hmmm… I think I’m ready. I think I’m ready to perform one of my songs.” Jungkook stuttered out, fidgeting with his fingers as he spoke.

Yoongi broke out into a wide, gummy smile, “Yeah, you think so? That’s wonderful Jungkook-ah, what song would you like to sing? We can have you in as the main event on Saturday.”

Saturday was the biggest night for D-Town. Yoongi only reserved his best performers for that night. To be giving Jungkook a spot, and it being his first performance ever, was huge.

“Wait hyung that’s…”

“Perfect, Yoongles! Just perfect!” Taehyung cut up, leaping up from the couch and rushing over to crush the older man to his chest. “Kookie will do so well, I know he will! Saturday night is perfect for him!”

“But..” Jungkook tried again, but stopped at the look Yoongi was giving him in between Taehyung’s arms. It was a stern but proud look.

“You will do well enough for our Saturday crowd, Jungkook. I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise. And if you agree to it, I know just the song you should sing.” Yoongi said gently.

Jungkook eyed the pair in front of him, Yoongi’s parental face in full effect and Taehyung’s beaming one, before hesitantly nodding his consent. Taehyung cheered and danced about the room while Jungkook and Yoongi began to discuss the song.

Jungkook only left after Yoongi was satisfied with their plan for his stage and Taehyung’s pestering for them to head home had become too much to ignore. He waved off their comments on having him stay the night at their penthouse as he closed the door behind him. He caught a glimpse of Yoongi’s gentle smile as he tugged Taehyung down for a kiss, the softness of their embrace made a twinge of loneliness pierce through his heart. The feeling didn’t leave him until he was halfway home, the cold early morning air making him clutch the leather jacket tighter across his body.

Without even realizing it he had taken himself back towards the alleyway, the peaking morning sun spilled between the two buildings eliminating it in an eerie glow. It was empty but Jungkook didn’t dare step through the passage. Without glancing twice, he began walking the long way around the buildings until he was on the street on the other side.

He glanced down the alleyway one last time, still empty, before heading up to his dingy apartment. This time he laid the jacket down on his chair as soon as he stepped inside and went to bed with an empty stomach.

The next day he headed for the closest grocery store. With his wallet much heavier from his paycheck last night, he confidently filled his cart with essentials. And to please his Jin-hyung, he added some healthier options with his piles of ramen packets. With giddy steps he carried his laden bags back to his apartment and set them nicely inside his cupboards and fridge.

Glancing at the clock Jungkook was shocked to see that he was nearly running late for an afternoon class. Rushing out the door he didn’t even hesitate to take the alleyway as a shortcut. Only it wasn’t empty this time.

Just as he was rounding the corner a tall figure stepped out from the alleyway. If there hadn't been quick action on both their parts, Jungkook trying to come to a screeching halt and the man grabbing him firmly around the waist, they would have fallen to the ground.

“Woah there, little one, where are you going in such a hurry?” A deep voice purred above Jungkook’s ear.

Jungkook jerked in surprise, his eyes widening as he got an eye full of the handsome face of the owner of the jacket. The dim shadows of the alley had done this man no justice. Jungkook was utterly speechless at the attractiveness of the man. His eyes sparkled with mirth as he gazed down at Jungkook and right in the corner of his cheek Jungkook thought he saw a hint of a dimple there.

“Cat got your tongue, little one?” The man teased with a smirk, and yes there was a dimple poking out of his honey colored cheek.

“Ah.. sorry…” Jungkook stuttered, slowly backing out of the man’s arms. “Just late for class… again.”

The man raised an eyebrow, folding his hands behind his back as he took a step away from Jungkook to survey him fully. “Is that a common occurrence for you? Being late?”

Jungkook vigorously shook his head in denial, “No, I try not to make it a habit.”

The man hummed a pleased tone, “That’s a good boy.”

Without knowing why, Jungkook blushes at the tone and the dark look the man has fixed on him instead of feeling creeped out by it.

“I believe you have something of mine,” the man continued, looking down at the jacket that Jungkook is wearing.

“Oh right, of course.” Jungkook moved quickly to unzip the jacket and take it off his shoulders, but was stopped midway by a pair of hands. He looks up in confusion at the man gently shaking his head.

“No, no you can keep the jacket. Please, it looks good on you.” He says with a chuckle, before reaching inside the jacket to the inner pocket where the notebook sits. Jungkook sucks in a breath at how close the man comes to him as he slips the notebook out. “I’m talking about this.”

“Oh,” Jungkook gasps, trying to shake himself from his stupor as the man backs away again with the little black book in his long fingers. “Your lyrics… they’re beautiful.”

“Ah,” the man ducks his head bashfully, Jungkook is shocked to see a slight red tint to his cheeks. “Should have known you might have snooped, but thank you. I hope this,” he gestures the notebook in his hand before slipping it into his pocket, “can just stay our little secret. I have some people that don’t need to know this side of me.”

Jungkook can only nod in response, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion but he doesn’t dare ask. The man smiles and softens his face, sending shockwaves through Jungkook’s body, then begins to back away.

“I’ll see you around, little one, keep my jacket safe will you?” He winks then turns and walks out of sight before Jungkook has a chance to even ask his name.

Jungkook is still in a bit of a stupor on his way to class. He doesn’t fully shake himself from it until he’s at Yoongi’s practice studio that sits on the third floor of D-Town. It's where all auditions and practice runs of performances are held. Yoongi introduces him to the six dancers that will be performing with him, some he recognizes from training in Hoseok’s studio. Speaking of the man, Hobi waltzes into the practice room sipping on a Starbucks.

“Hyung, what are you doing here?” Jungkook gasps in shock.

“I’m going to be helping you with the choreography,” Hobi answers with a shrug, pulling his sunglasses on top of his head as he takes another long sip of his iced americano.

“Ugh, how can you drink that shit. Buy the real stuff from a better cafe next time.” Yoongi sneers as he passes Hobi, the other man simply winks in reply before tossing his empty cup in the trash can.

“Alright!” Hobi said cheerily with a clap of his hands. “Let’s get this thing started!”

Hobi was as grueling and hard headed as Jungkook remembered, he pushed all of them to panting states as they ran through the choreo over and over again. Never once was he cruel, firm yes, but not cruel. They only had a few days to get everything together, they had to make the most of every hour of practice.

By the end of the night, Jungkook is sweating buckets and he can’t feel his feet, but they’re nailing it. With every run they’re getting better, him and the dancers becoming completely in sync.

After running it one last time, Hobi clapped his hands in delight. “I think you guys have nailed it! We can stop here.”

They all dropped like flies to the ground, groaning and panting in relief while Hobi simply cackled in delight.

“I expect this same energy tomorrow afternoon, so get some rest tonight!” He laughed at the groans he gets in response as he heads out the door.

Jungkook thanked all of the dancers individually, bowing to all of them as they left one by one until he was the only one left in the room. With his body still buzzing from practice he walks over to the stereo and plays his song again.

The song Yoongi had chosen. The one that Jungkook had spent hours, days, working on. And now it was alive, it played in the room. He flopped onto the floor, unknowingly using the borrowed leather jacket as a pillow and listened to the song blare through the speakers.

Taehyung found him hours later, snoozing on the practice floor and gently shook him awake, guiding him up to the penthouse of the building; his and Yoongi’s home. Jungkook barely noticed Yoongi looking up from the couch as they entered the apartment. Taehyung said something to him that Jungkook didn’t hear as he was guided into a guest room and tucked under the covers. He felt a hand comb through his hair and his shoes being pulled off his feet before everything went dark.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 2: Standing Next to You

Jungkook groaned as a light beam hit his face, he buried his face into the pillow under him and took a long whiff of the laundry detergent Taehyung liked to use. He blinked and looked around the room in confusion, not remembering being moved last night from the studio. He gazed around at the guest room in Yoongi and Taehyung’s penthouse, taking note of the empty spaces from when he used to live in this room.

He had expected Taehyung to have set up his art studio in here, like he said he would, but the room still looked as empty as when he moved out. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as the smells of food drifted through the crack in the door. He could hear movement from inside the kitchen and moved off the bed to see who was awake.

He turned the corner of the hallway and saw Yoongi hard at work at the stove. Jungkook’s unruly hair smacked him in the face as he went to sit at the breakfast counter that looked into the kitchen.

“Morning, Jungkook-ah.” Yoongi greeted, placing a hot cup of coffee in front of him.

“Thank you, hyung.” Jungkook murmured after a sip, clearing his throat from the roughness of sleep.

Yoongi shrugged, “Think nothing of it, our guest room is always open to you.”

He turned back to the stove and started setting food onto three plates when Taehyung wanders in, he drowsily places a kiss on Yoongi’s forehead before reaching for the steaming cup of tea his husband hands him.

“Do you have class today, Kookie?” Taehyung asks, his voice like gravel as he sips his steaming mug. The two of them sit on either side of Jungkook as Yoongi sets their plates of food down on the counter. They start eating as Jungkook pulls out his phone to look at his schedule.

“I just have a Math class at one o’clock, then its torture time with Hobi-hyung.”

Yoongi and Taehyung both chuckle at Jungkook’s groan of pain at the very idea of more hours in the studio with his dance mentor.

“I can drive you to class,” Taehyung offers, tossing Jungkook’s protests aside. “I have an errand to run on that side of town anyway, I won’t be able to pick you up after class but I can at least give you a ride there.”

“Thanks hyung, I appreciate it.” Jungkook murmurs, smiling widely when Taehyung simply ruffles his hair affectionately before continuing to devour his food.

Taehyung doesn’t let Jungkook leave the apartment without insisting that his sweaty pants and shirt need to be put through a wash. And that he will absolutely not be going to class smelling like a gym.

Jungkook finds himself being forced into a pair of dark blue ripped jeans and a semi-fitting white T-shirt, nothing like the black baggy clothes he usually wears. He slips the leather jacket over his shoulders as they head out the door. His clunky boots hitting the pavement with surety now that its warmth encases him.

Jungkook tries not to shrink at the double glances he gets as he makes his way across campus, Taehyung really had to take their flashiest red convertible to drop him off at the entrance. And his yell of ‘Have a good day at school, Kookie baby!’ did not help matters at all. Thankfully he wasn’t approached by anyone and Jimin wasn’t at the school to tease him, but it was one of the more embarrassing moments he’s had in a while.

As he makes his way back to the studio after class. He unconsciously begins to hum his song as he walks. Completely absorbed by going through the choreography in his head that he almost steps into a busy street, only to be yanked back by a swift hand.

“Why do I always seem to find you nearly getting in trouble, little one?” A chuckle sounds from a very familiar source.

“I seem to be a magnet for it,” Jungkook grumbles, making the man chuckle even more. “Thanks for the rescue, I don’t think even being plastered across the pavement would’ve saved me from my hyung’s wrath for being late for dance practice. So, you’ve really saved me twice today.”

“You dance?” The man quirks an eyebrow at him, slowly releasing the grip he had on Jungkook’s wrist.

Jungkook nods with a slight shrug, “It’s a fun hobby.”

“An interesting hobby, I’d say. Any good?”

“I’m not sure what would classify as good when it comes to dancing,” Jungkook says, trying to be diplomatic, but there’s a look in the mystery man’s eyes that makes him blurt out. “If you want to see for yourself, I’m performing at D-Town this Saturday at 12 o’clock. Do you know the club?”

A smirk forms on the man’s face, amusement colors his tone. “I’ve heard of it, Saturday you say.” He hums at Jungkook’s confirming nod. “I think I can make that, if you promise me a drink after your performance. I’ll give you my honest review then.”

Jungkook blushes and decides to be a bit cheeky, “I’ll agree to a drink, if I can get a name for the one buying it.”

The cheekiness seems to have paid off, the man bursts out into a delighted laughter, his dimples coming out in full force and his eyes crinkling into craters. Jungkook can’t help but smile at the man’s delight.

“You can call me Namjoon,” he answers, still smiling. “And I’ll get your name on Saturday.”

“Looking forward to it, Namjoon-ssi.” Jungkook says with a matching smile.

“Just Namjoon, little one.” He corrects before turning to walk down the street. Jungkook watches his retreating back until he completely disappears into the crowd. With a skip in his step he continues his way to the studio, more determined than ever to get the choreo perfect for Saturday night.

Jungkook spends the whole evening driving himself hard through practice and if Hobi is at all surprised by his sudden burst of energy, he doesn’t show it. He simply drives them harder to get it just right and praises them when they nail it. By the end of the night they’ve begun incorporating Jungkook actually singing the song and Hobi concludes the practice very pleased with their results.

“I believe after tomorrow you will be ready for that stage,” He tells Jungkook confidently, patting him on the shoulder as they part ways at the door.

Jungkook, after much persuading, stays with Taehyung and Yoongi again but only after stopping by his apartment for some spare clothes. He spends the whole of Friday meticulously singing his lyrics until he feels he knows them backwards and forwards. The last run of the choreo they do for the day is on the actual stage in D-Town, as Friday is their day off. Hobi takes full advantage of the empty space.

“It feels different on the stage as well,” He explains as they get themselves into formation. “You need to get a feel for it before performing to a live audience.”

Hobi is right, there is a whole different feeling to being on the stage, even if they are looking out to an empty bar and dance floor. Jungkook has never felt anything so electric as he performs, an actual mic in his hands as he sings through the dance. The sound of clapping resounds across the room as they end the practice run.

“Brava! Brava!” Taehyung yells as he runs across the dance floor. “You’re gonna kill them tomorrow, Kookie!”

Jungkook laughs as Taehyung bounds onto the stage and pulls him into a tight hug, he pretends to whine about being all sweaty as he clutches his hyung right back. He spies Yoongi walking across the dance floor with lazy steps and a gummy smile on his lips as he looks up at them.

“I look forward to seeing the real deal tomorrow night, Jungkook-ah.” He says, holding out a hand for the pair to jump down from the stage. He pats Jungkook's shoulder as they walk towards the private elevator. Jungkook waves to his dancers before following his hyungs onto it, leaning against the railing as they rise up to the penthouse.

“Go shower before dinner, Kook, you can sleep after we’ve fed you.” Taehyung snickers as he drags Jungkook out of the elevator and pushes him into the spare bathroom.

Jungkook falls into the guest bed with wet, fluffy hair and a belly full of food, feeling more amped up for tomorrow night than ever before.

Taehyung insists on dressing Jungkook himself on the big day, he bats away any of Jungkook’s feeble protests.

“I won’t hear it Kookie, you need to look banger tonight.” He says, tossing clothes down on his and Yoongi’s bed as he goes through his closet. He makes Jungkook try on various pairs of pants and shirt combos until he’s satisfied. Somehow it comes out to be a more simple outfit than he was expecting.

“You don’t need to be too flashy, your talent is what’s going to shine the brightest tonight.” Taehyung says over his shoulder as they gaze into the mirror together.

He has Jungkook in a black pair of dress pants and a black belt that cinches his small waist. The boots he wears almost disappear into the pants, but are practical for all the dancing he’s about to do. Then there’s the shirt, it’s simple and white but cut into a low V that nearly parts completely between his pecs. The short sleeves make his sleeve of tattoos on his right arm more prominent.

“Simple is better,” Taehyung states firmly, handing Jungkook some dangly earrings to put in his various piercings. “And you make simple look smoking hot.”

“Thanks hyung,” Jungkook says with a smile, butterflies fluttering in his stomach as he steps out of the room.

The hours tick by so slowly that Jungkook fears he’ll tear a hole in the hardwood floors of Taehyung and Yoongi’s apartment with his pacing. It’s not until Hobi comes up to fetch him and he’s standing behind the curtain of the stage, surrounded by his dancers and hearing the sounds of the crowd, that he begins to feel calmer.

He takes a deep breath, vaguely hears Hobi give some word of encouragement and pats him on the shoulder, before it's time to go out. And the music starts. And everything fades in the background.

“Play me slow, push up on this funk and give me miracles,” Jungkook sings into the mic, staring out into the crowd on the dance floor.

Jungkook feeds off the energy of the crowd, it’s nothing and everything like they’ve practiced. Every movement is fluid and seamless. Jungkook doesn’t miss a beat as he sings and his eyes, they can’t help but meet another pair of dark ones from across the club. It doesn’t distract him, no, it fuels him through the song to have those eyes on him.

The moment where he sets down his mic for the choreography he can almost feel the look he gives the crowd ‘you see how I dance with the mic?’ he seems to say ‘now see me without it’. Then he’s off and the crowd goes absolutely wild.

“Standing next to you,” Jungkook sings after picking up the mic, ending the song with a bow to the screaming crowd. There’s a pause to take in the applause then the stage goes dark and Jungkook follows his dancers off the stage.

Taehyung nearly tackles him as he comes around the curtain, Jungkook laughs as his hyung bounces them around for a moment before helping him get loose from the wires in his ears. Hobi pats his shoulder before going to each of the dancers to give his congratulations to them. Jungkook listens to Taehyung ramble on about how well he did while he cleans off the sweat from his face, but all he can think about is the pair of dark eyes that followed him throughout the song. Yoongi pulls him aside just before he’s about to walk out into the club.

“Someone is waiting for you in the VIP section, said his name is Namjoon.” Yoongi whispers to him, his eyes glittering with something that Jungkook doesn’t understand. Yoongi gives Jungkook an approving nod, wiping the confused expression on his face.

“Thanks hyung, for everything tonight.” Jungkook breaths, pulling the older man into a quick hug before darting towards the VIP section that sits on the second story overlooking the stage and dance floor.

The bouncer at the front nods to Jungkook and opens the door for him. The glass encased room is practically empty as he steps in and the sounds of the club below are muffled when the door closes. Jungkook spots Namjoon leaning against the bar that looks down over the stage. Their eyes meet across the room and Jungkook feels himself being drawn in until he’s standing next to him.

“When you said you danced,” Namjoon greets with a sly smile as Jungkook slides into the seat. “I wasn’t quite expecting that. I’m very impressed, little one.”

“Enough to buy me that drink?” Jungkook asks with a smirk.

“Of course,” Namjoon laughs as he calls the bartender over. “And to get your name.”

“Jungkook, Jeon Jungkook.” He answers, then gives his order to the bartender and takes a sip of it before setting it down on the bar.

“Jungkook,” Namjoon says his name slowly, like he’s tasting it on his tongue. “It’s nice to meet you, Jungkook.”

“Likewise, Namjoon.” He replies with a smile, sliding his hand into Namjoon’s offered one to shake. Their hands linger for a moment before they settle into the bar booths and sip on their drinks.

“So other than dancing, what are your other ‘hobbies’ as you call them.” Namjoon asks, a slow, easy smile on his face.

Jungkook snickers, “What would you call it then?”

“Raw untapped talent.” Namjoon says at once, smiling at Jungkook’s wide eyes. “I call it like I see it and I so rarely see a talent like yours. And you said it’s your first performance?”

Jungkook nods and blushes at Namjoon’s disbelieving scoff. “It’s true, this was my first time ever being on a stage. In front of a crowd. It’s the first song I’ve ever written myself, then performed it.”

“Song writer. Singer. Dancer. Is there anything you can’t do?” Namjoon asks incredulously, probably sarcastically, but Jungkook pretends to ponder it for a moment.

“I don’t know how to fly a plane, or play the violin.” He says with wide, blinking eyes and a sly smile. Namjoon looks utterly endeared by it.

“Probably couldn’t do brain surgery either, now that I think about it.” Jungkook adds as an afterthought, making Namjoon laugh, Jungkook joins him with a low snicker.

“You are truly something else, Jungkook.” He says, gazing at him with deep adoration. “I don’t think I’ve laughed this hard in years.”

“Ah you’re welcome,” Jungkook says with a small smile, glad to have brought some joy into the man’s life.

They spend the next few hours of the night and early morning just talking. Jungkook finds Namjoon to be an interesting person to talk to. And he’s shocked to find how much they have in common regarding art and music tastes. Jungkook has never met someone that he’s so easily fallen into conversation with.

By the time closing hours have approached, they’ve gravitated to sit on one of the long couches that line the VIP room and have been debating animatedly about the benefits of synthetic grass.

“Even if it were to help the environment and water intake of the city. You are still ripping up the earth and soil to put down plastic grass that serves no purpose, beyond not consuming water.” Jungkook protests passionately as he gestures with his hands at Namjoon.

“We’re in the middle of drought, what would your solution be to lower the amount of water Seoul consumes?” Namjoon asks, leaning his head into his hand on the ledge of the couch as he looks at Jungkook.

“I would first see where the water consumption is at its greatest and find a way to limit that first. Before trying to put synthetic grass in everybody's yard.” Jungkook huffs, rolling his eyes when Namjoon laughs but is unable to keep the smile off his face for long.

“Do you have a guess as to where the most consumption would be?” Namjoon asks, his eyes crinkling like half moons as he smiles.

“If I had to give a random guess it would have to be bath houses.” Jungkook says with a nod. “Public bath houses would have to consume a ton of water for their customers. To ensure proper hygiene they would, not only, have to clean their facilities regularly but also have clean water inside the tubs. I’m sure some do a good job of recycling and filtering their water supplies but that wouldn’t account for all of them.”

Namjoon hums in agreement, “And what would your solution to that be?”

Jungkook hums in thought, “In an ideal world? A central piping system for public bath houses that filters and recycles the water across Seoul. The amount of water needed for, let’s say, a hundred bath houses is calculated. Then stored in a facility that pumps, filters, and recycles that water for all of them. Any unusable water can be transported to farms, as long as it’s been tested to be safe to return to the soil.”

“And if it isn’t?”

Jungkook waves his hand in a general direction, “We do have an ocean you know, it can return to there to be purified by natural causes. There should probably be a study on the lasting effects of adding dirty bath water to the oceans, though.”

Namjoon chuckles, bringing Jungkook out of his rambling thoughts, “Your mind is a very interesting place, little one. I’m glad I’m getting a chance to get to know it.”

Jungkook desperately wanted to counter his words with something witty or clever but a wide yawn broke across his face before any words could form on his tongue. Namjoon chuckled and ran a gentle hand through Jungkook’s ever growing dark hair.

“Tired, little one?” He smiled at Jungkook’s sleepy, happy hum of reply as his eyes fluttered closed under his hand. “Let’s get you to bed then, hmm.”

“I’m staying with hyung and Tae, they live upstairs.” Jungkook murmured sleepily, as Namjoon helped him to his feet. He must have been more tired than he thought, because Namjoon caught him around the waist before he toppled over from standing.

“I’ll take you up to them then,” Namjoon said easily and waited for Jungkook’s hum of agreement before sweeping him up into his arms.

Jungkook is barely aware of leaning his head against Namjoon’s neck. Or of the steps he takes inside the empty club towards the elevators. Or when they arrived inside Yoongi and Taehyung’s apartment. There is a gentle murmur of voices that causes him to snuggle deeper into the warmth that encases him, then he’s being moved again and feels himself being lowered onto a soft surface.

A hand brushed through his hair, Jungkook leans into the gentle touch.

“I’ll see you again soon, little one.” A gentle voice whispers above him, then he falls asleep.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 3: Your Eyes Tell

Jungkook groans as he returns to the waking world, burying his head onto his pillow to block the sunlight. He shuffles a bit to get further into the blanket, making a noise of confusion when he feels a soft t-shirt brush against his skin. He blinks as he looks down to see a dark black band-tee instead of the low cut white one and he can feel his bare legs brushing against the sheets. One of his hyungs must have gotten out of his stage clothes after he fell asleep.

He groans in embarrassment at the memory of Namjoon carrying him to bed, smacking his forehead and muttering ‘I’m such an idiot’ under his breath. He should have known better than to drink alcohol straight after a performance, it always made him sleepy.

Sunlight pours out of the window, eliminating the room in a warm glow as he sits up running a hand through his ruffled hair. Smacking his lips he looks around and spots two notes sitting on the bed side table. Scrunching his brow he picks up the first note.

Kookie!

You did so great last night! So proud of you! Yoongles and I just headed out for some grocery shopping. Help yourself to any food in the fridge. Please stay over for dinner too! Hobi-hyung and Jiminie will be joining us tonight as well.

Love,

Tae

Jungkook chuckled at Taehyung’s rushed note, full of the man’s excited personality. He set the note down and picked up the second one, he was instantly more alert to the address written inside.

Little one,

Truly still very amazed by your performance last night. Your hyungs were very proud of you and I am as well. I hope we can see more of each other.

XXX call or text me at any time, I’ll always have time for you.

Namjoon

Jungkook felt a flutter in his gut as he read the note and saw the number written at the end. He forced himself to at least get some coffee before pulling out his phone to send a message to Namjoon. He started off with a simple ‘Good morning’ and a thank you for attending his performance last night and for the drink they shared. Jungkook felt a pang that he couldn’t say ‘thank you’ taking him safely to his hyungs last night, but he really didn’t want to embarrass himself further. The reply came almost instantly and his hot mug of coffee was abandoned for their back and forth conversation.

Yoongi and Taehyung returned home, laden with groceries in their arms, to find Jungkook giggling on their couch with his phone in hand.

“Glad to see that you’re making the most of your day off,” Yoongi commented lightly as he passed. Taehyung bolted to the kitchen and threw his bags down on the counter, ignoring Yoongi’s yelp of protest, and threw himself on the couch next to Jungkook.

“Who are you texting, Kookie? You’re blushing like a little virgin over there,” He teased, trying to snatch the phone from Jungkook’s hands to see the messages.

“No one, hyung, no one!” Jungkook squeaked, clutching the phone tight to his chest and burrowing himself into the couch away from Taehyung’s grabby hands.

“That doesn’t seem like no one!” He sang, trying to tickle Jungkook's sides to make him vulnerable and drop his phone. He did not succeed because a foot pressed hard against his chest, shoving him to the other side of the couch.

“Alright, you two! Knock it off!” Yoongi called from the kitchen, as the rough housing started to gravitate off of his couch. “Come and help hyung put these groceries away!”

“Coming!” Taehyung and Jungkook yelled together, but not before giving each other one last shove as they entered the kitchen.

“I married a child,” Yoongi bemoaned with a sigh, watching the pair with fond eyes.

While Taehyung and Yoongi started their usual playful bickering, Jungkook weaved around them placing the groceries they sporadically handed him into their cupboards. They continue their discussion even after everything is put away and Jungkook has gravitated back to the couch and powered up their video game console.

He ran through two matches on Overwatch before Taehyung plopped down next to him and demanded they play Mario Kart together. The hours ticked by as they played round after round. Jungkook mainly winning and Taehyung cackling when he finally did manage a win, until the sounds of Yoongi’s cooking filled the air.

“Hobi and Jimin will be here soon, so get off that game!” Yoongi called from the kitchen, just as a knock at the door to their apartment sounded through the room.

“I got it hyung!” Jungkook called, tossing his controller at Taehyung and leaping towards the door.

“JK!!!!” Hobi burst out as the door swung open, his arms held out for a hug.

“J-HOPE!” Jungkook replied by throwing his arms around his friend and ushering him inside.

“What am I?! Chopped liver?!” Jimin yelped indignantly at being left in the doorway.

“Close the door behind you Jimin-hyung!” Jungkook hollered back, laughing at his squawk of protest. Jimin grumbled under his breath as he entered the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Taehyung rose from his spot on the floor and went over to greet Jimin, pulling him in for a tight hug and kissing the side of his head. Jimin wraps his arms around Taehyung’s waist and buries his head into his chest. The pair have a brief whispered conversation before pulling away from each other and following Hobi and Jungkook into the kitchen.

“All you hooligans better help set up the table, since I married a useless mess of a husband that won’t even help me in the kitchen!” Yoongi barked as the four of them entered his space.

“You didn’t say you needed help Yoongles,” Taehyung squawked in protest and flittered over to Yoongi’s side to help him finish their dinner.

Hobi and Jimin went straight for the china cabinet and began pulling out the dishes from inside. Jungkook busied himself with the utensils and goblets, teetering behind Jimin as he placed the plates down.

By the time they finished setting up the table, Yoongi and Taehyung were bringing out the plates of food. Conversation flowed over the passing of dishes and pouring of drinks. Yoongi only began to dig in after seeing the angry scowl on Jungkook’s face, knowing like they all did that it meant that he really liked the food.

“Are we going to be seeing another JK performance anytime soon?” Jimin asked with an eyebrow wiggle, he yelped when Hobi smacked his arm.

“He just performed last night, what more do you want from the boy?” Hobi hissed, ignoring Jimin’s protest of ‘this is an abusive relationship’ with an eye roll. “Hyung is very proud of you, Jungkook-ah. You did very well last night, you’ve earned your rest.”

“Thank you hyung!” Jungkook cheered, raising his glass of beer to him.

“Truly Jungkook, everyone in that club was very impressed with you. If you had stayed out longer, instead of running off to the VIP section, you would’ve heard the cheers for an encore.” Yoongi teased with a sly smile.

Jimin sat up in interest, “You went up to the VIP section, Kook? Why? Did you have a hot date?”

Jungkook ducked his head away from the prying eyes of his hyungs but nodded shyly. The table chuckled as they spied the blush blooming on Jungkook’s face and the pout growing on his lips for being teased. Jungkook tugged at his earlobes in embarrassment as his hyungs cooed at him.

“Is that who you’ve been texting all day?” Taehyung cooed, pointing excitedly at Jungkook’s phone on the table.

He nodded again and took a sip of his beer, “He’s nice, I invited him to come to the show the day before. I wasn’t expecting him to reserve time in the VIP section.”

“I hope you at least got a name,” Jimin teased, poking the boy’s ribs.

“Of course I did,” Jungkook scoffed, batting Jimin’s hand away. “His name is Namjoon, I didn’t get a family name.”

Yoongi shrugged, “Some people are private like that, I’m sure he has his reasons. He’s been to our club before, good customer. Never had any complaints about him from staff.”

“I wonder why I’ve never seen him before then?” Jungkook wondered out loud.

“He usually came on the days you weren’t on shift,” Yoongi explained with a shrug as he raised his whiskey to his lips. “He’s more of a morning person anyway.”

There seemed to be a bit of a private joke in that phrase, which Jungkook doesn’t understand but he’s distracted by Jimin and Taehyung’s teasing remarks before he can look too closely at it. They spent the rest of the night trying to whittle out any information they could from him about Namjoon, while Yoongi and Hobi huddled at the end of the table deep in conversation.

When Jimin and Taehyung couldn’t gather any more from Jungkook, they dragged him into the living room and powered up the games again. They sat huddled on the floor in front of the TV, periodically elbowing each other’s sides as they kicked each other off the map in the game. While Yoongi and Hobi sat themselves down on the couch behind them.

After they played their tenth round of Mario Kart, Yoongi clapped his hands to get their attention.

“Alright kiddos, time for bed!” He teased, chuckling at their groans of protest. “Pretty sure at least two of you have classes tomorrow, need to get plenty of rest for it. Hobi, Jimin-ah, you’re free to use our empty apartments downstairs. The renters moved out last week, but they’re fully furnished if you don’t want to make the journey home tonight.”

Yoongi waved off any of their protests, stole Hobi and Jimin’s car keys, and told Taehyung to show them to the apartments for the night.

“You like having us over, don’t you hyung.” Jungkook teased as he helped the older man clean up the piles of dishes from dinner.

“What makes you say that, Jungkook-ah?” Yoongi dismisses with a dry look that makes Jungkook chuckle.

“Hey! That’s my job, sho sho, you know the rules of this house.” Taehyung protested, batting Jungkook away from the sink and taking over the dishwashing. “You have class in the morning, go get some sleep.”

“Night hyungs!” Jungkook called over his shoulder as he headed back to the guest room.

“Night Kookie!” Taehyung coos back, smacking Yoongi’s shoulder when the man says a simple ‘goodnight’ before trying to leave Taehyung to do the dishes alone. “Come back here, Yoons. I helped you cook, now help me clean.”

“I did most of the cooking,” Yoongi protests. “You only helped after I called you out on playing video games.”

Jungkook chuckled to himself as he shut the door on the couple’s banter. He checked his text messages as he snuggled down into the covers, Namjoon’s parting message made his heart flutter.

‘Hope you had a good dinner with your hyungs. Sleep well, little one.’

He fell asleep with a smile on his face with the gentle murmur of his hyung’s washing dishes in the background.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 4: Stay Alive

Jungkook woke up dreading his Monday classes, he groaned as he rolled off the mattress into the bathroom. His phone pinged with a message as he brushed his teeth, he nearly choked on his toothpaste at the good morning message from Namjoon. He spat into the sink and hurried to reply with shaking thumbs.

Jungkook still felt a bit nervous talking to Namjoon. The early ‘getting to know you’ jitters filled him despite the fact they had spent the entire day yesterday chatting back and forth. His stomach rumbled as he pulled a black t-shirt over his head. Jungkook debated with himself on whether he should bother Yoongi-hyung for some breakfast or if he should head to the small cafe on his way to class.

His stomach twisted at the thought of waking his hyung before 8AM, so the cafe it would be. He laced his boots up, slipped Namjoon’s jacket over his shoulders, and grabbed his backpack before silently heading out the door. He patted himself on the back at his silent escape when Namjoon sends him a text asking about his plans for the day.

He spends the journey to the cafe just outside campus making light conversation with Namjoon. The nerves he felt from this morning slowly eases into giddiness the longer he talks to him. Namjoon has an easy way of speaking, even through text, that instantly puts Jungkook at ease. It makes him look forward to getting to know the man more.

The line at the cafe is moderate when he arrives, he checks the time of his first class of the day and breathes a sigh of relief at seeing that it’s been moved to 9:30 AM instead of the usual 9AM time. He orders himself an iced americano and a breakfast sandwich and steps off to the side to wait for it. He starts to send a text to Jimin only to catch sight of the man entering the cafe.

“Jimin-ssi!” Jungkook calls to him, earning a wide grin as the man waves enthusiastically as he enters the line to order.

“Jungkook-ah!” Jimin greets, sliding up next to him as he waits for his own order. “Ready for Photography class this morning?”

Jungkook groaned, taking a long sip of his coffee when it slid to him, “No, the homework was so tedious to get done. Why do all my classes suck this semester?”

Jimin chuckled, grabbing his own drink and food, ushering Jungkook out the door with him. “Just think, one more year and you are out of here.”

Jungkook sighed, “I guess that’s the dream, isn’t it? Finish college, get the degree, then go fight for a job in that field.”

Jimin paused on his sip of caramel latte, “Isn’t that why you went to college? I know working for Yoongi-hyung at D-Town isn’t where you want to stay forever, didn’t you want to become a film director?”

“I don’t know what I want to do anymore.” Jungkook answered honestly, taking a bite of his breakfast sandwich.

“It’s okay not to know, you know.” Jimin assured him, patting his shoulder. “Life can take you on a journey you never expected. Who knows, maybe by next week you’ll know what you’ve always wanted to do and it’ll fall right in your lap.”

Jungkook pondered this with a hum of thought. What did he always want to be? What did he want to do for the rest of his life? He had no idea, but maybe Jimin was right. Maybe it would come to him sooner than he thought, he would just have to wait for it.

“Now, I held back at Yoongi-hyung’s house last night, so I need you to give me all the juicy details of your hot date on Saturday night!” Jimin probed with an eyebrow wiggle. “Rumor has it he carried you to bed that night, so scandalous Jungkook-ah!”

Jungkook groaned at his friend’s teasing tone but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face at the memories of Namjoon’s eyes on him as he performed. It had been electric to have his dark eyes follow his every movement on the stage. And when their eyes met across the club, the feeling still sent a shiver down his spine.

Jimin kept poking his side as they walked to class, pestering him as they went until Jungkook finally told him the details of his meet up with Namjoon. Jimin listened with rapt attention as he finished his coffee and croissant.

“Sounds like you found yourself quite the man Kook-ah, where did you meet him again?” Jimin asks, opening the door for them to step into class.

“Bumped into him when I was late for class.” Jungkook answers as close to the truth as he dares. It’s not that he doesn’t trust his friends, but he really doesn’t want them to be suspicious of Namjoon before Jungkook can even be sure how much he trusts him.

So far all the interactions with Namjoon after the alleyway have just done more to confuse him. How can the man write such beautiful lyrics and beat up random dudes in a back alley? He was a complete enigma to Jungkook at the moment, but it sent a thrill down his spine to discover more about him.

In the middle of class, Jungkook got a message from Yoongi to stop by his studio when he could. Saying that he wanted to work on another one of Jungkook’s songs. Jungkook sent an enthusiastic reply and checked over his schedule for an opening. It just so happened that his BioChem class was canceled, Professor Chan caught a cold, so he could head to the studio immediately.

Jimin offered to walk him over to Yoongi’s studio but Jungkook declined, knowing that he had a night class and would be late if he walked him across town. He waved to Jimin as they parted at the campus green, making his way to the streets outside the campus.

He arrived at D-Town just as the city of Seoul was starting to get out of work. He entered through the back entrance that led directly to the personal floors of Yoongi’s building. Jungkook took the elevator to the sixth floor, where the music studio resided.

“Yoongi-hyung!” Jungkook called as he stepped off the elevator, tossing his backpack onto the floor at the entrance way, hung his jacket up, and slipped his shoes off. He wandered into the studio space, passing the rows of instruments as he made his way towards the back room where the recording booth sat. He knocked at the closed door and waited for his hyung’s voice to allow him entry.

“Ah Jungkook-ah, good you’re right on time.” Yoongi greeted, turning to look at the young man as he entered and then froze in the doorway, staring at the man sitting next to him. “Don’t mind Namjoon, he just came to bother me about some work. How was class today?”

“You didn’t say you two know each other so well hyung,” Jungkook squeaked, staring at Namjoon with wide eyes as the man in question just smiled at him. “You made it sound like he was just a random customer.”

“Unfortunately not,” Yoongi groaned rolling his eyes, huffing when Namjoon smacks his shoulder lightly. “Namjoon-ah helped Taehyung and I get D-Town started. Helped us find this place, remodel it, and bring in our first customers.”

“I just threw money at you, hyung, it’s not that big of a deal.” Namjoon dismissed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Ignoring Yoongi’s scoff he smiled at Jungkook softly, “Hey Jungkook-ah, long time no see.”

“Hey Namjoon,” Jungkook greeted with a small wave, finally entering the room and letting the door shut behind him. He shook himself from his stupor and walked over to peer over Yoongi’s shoulder, “What are we working on today hyung?”

“You know that little demo you started about a week ago, ‘Stay Alive’,” Yoongi asked, pulling up the song on his files as he spoke. “I tweaked the melody on it and added some back-up vocals. I’d like you to sing through the song with the improved music and see if it feels better. Do you want to listen to it before stepping into the booth?”

Jungkook nodded as he looked at his hyung’s creation on the screen, just from the look of it he could tell it was going to sound amazing and it did. It sounded beautiful, so soft and soothing. After listening to the whole instrumental, Jungkook knew exactly how he was going to sing the song.

Without even glancing at Yoongi or Namjoon, he flittered over to the sound booth that stood in front of Yoongi’s desk behind a wall of glass. He pulled the headphones over his ears before powering the ipad Yoongi had set up on the music stand. He flicked through the documents of songs until he came to the one he wanted.

“Do I need to kick Namjoon-ah out, Jungkook-ah?” Yoongi asked through the booth speakers as Jungkook skimmed over the lyrics of his song.

He glanced up at both men behind the glass looking at him over the top of Yoongi’s computer screens. He shakes his head and smiles, “Nah, he can stay if he wants.”

Namjoon smiles and gives a thumbs up, it makes Jungkook giggle before looking back at his lyrics. He reads over the words and starts doing a few vocal warm-ups until he feels read to sing.

“You ready, Jungkook-ah?” Yoongi asks, getting a thumbs up in reply. “Alright, music playing and recording beginning in three… two… one…”

The soft piano and gentle backup vocals comes through the headphones, Jungkook closes his eyes as he leaned into the booth mic.

“Please stay alive,” he sang softly. As the song flowed through his ears, Jungkook sang to the rhythm that Yoongi had created. The emotion that he poured into the song came from a place deep inside his heart. The lyrics spoke to an old pain of his past that was only beginning to mend.

“Please you stay alive,” he sang as the song came to an end. There were light tears in his eyes as he opened them to see Yoongi and Namjoon staring at him in open mouthed shock.

He blinked at them, “Was that good? Do you need me to run through it again?”

Yoongi gaped at him, “If you could sing that song any better Jungkook-ah, you’d put the entire music industry out of business.”

“Hyung!” Jungkook whined in embarrassment, laughing self consciously as he pulled the headphones off and placed them back on the music stand. He turned the ipad off and stepped out of the recording booth.

“You know I’d never lie to you Jungkook,” Yoongi told him sternly, patting his shoulder before turning to the recording and adjusting it with expert hands. “You ever want to perform again, my stage is yours.”

Jungkook smirked at him, “Would you pay me more to be a regular performer?”

“I would have the contract written before Taehyung could tell me ‘I told you so’,” Yoongi states with a nod. “He’s been on my case for years to put you under contract as a stage presence at the club. I’ll never hear the end of it if it actually happens.”

Jungkook pulled a spare chair from a corner and placed it between the two men, sitting down on it backwards he looked at his hyung with interest. “Why haven’t you asked then hyung?”

Yoongi shrugs as he continues to mess with the recording, “I didn’t want to put any pressure on you to do something you weren’t ready for yet. You needed to come to me about performing first, then I’d approach you about it after you realized it was something you’d want to do. I can get plenty of bartenders, but a talent like yours only comes once in a blue moon.”

“Hyungie!” Jungkook whined, burying his burning face into his hands. Groaning when Yoongi just chuckles and pats his shoulder.

“Is that something you’d be interested in, Kook-ah?” Yoongi asks, Jungkook peeks at him through his fingers and nods. Yoongi smiles, “Then I’ll get the contract started as soon as I finish with the last touches on your song.”

Jungkook jerks up at a sudden thought and looks at his hyung with wide eyes. “You're not gonna tell Tae right now, are you?”

Yoongi freezes in his chair for a moment before going back to his work. Jungkook stares hard at Yoongi’s tense back, then hears a bang from behind him.

“Hyung…” Jungkook starts to say only to jerk in surprise when the door to the studio room is flung open. Not even questioning how Yoongi told his husband so quickly, those two had a form of telepathy that was beyond understanding.

“My baby is going to be on stage!” Taehyung screams as he enters the room, throwing himself on top of Jungkook’s back. Jungkook grunts at the impact and huffs when Taehyung’s arms circle his neck tightly.

“Tae!” Jungkook groans as the man bounces with excitement making his hair become a puff ball on top of his head. “Tae, get off!”

Jungkook stands from his chair and steps away from the recording equipment, fighting Taehyung to get off of his back. But the man just wrapped his legs around Jungkook’s waist and clung to him like a koala.

“Please don’t rough house in my studio,” Yoongi grunted, not even turning to look at the pair as Jungkook tried to wiggle Taehyung off of him. Namjoon watched the exchange in amusement, trying to keep his laughter quiet as he watched Jungkook tug at Taehyung’s arms around his neck.

After a moment of fruitless struggle, Jungkook threw himself backwards onto the floor. Taehyung wheezed as his back hit the hardwoods and Jungkook’s weight crushed him into the floor. He tapped Jungkook’s arm as he coughed and the younger man rolled off of him.

“I don’t know how Jiminie rough houses with you all the time,” Taehyung moaned as his breath came back to him, he sat up and rubbed his back. Jungkook chuckled at his place on the floor as Taehyung glared down at him. He placed his hands behind his head and crossed his ankles, getting completely comfortable across the cool floor.

“Why are you still on the floor, Jungkook-ah?” Yoongi asked, looking over his shoulder to see the young man and his husband chilling on the ground behind his chair. “And why are you joining him Taehyung-ah?”

Both men just shrugged in response as they got more comfortable, Taehyung leaning his head against Jungkook’s shoulder and throwing a leg over his waist. Yoongi rolled his eyes at them, muttering under his breath as he turned back to his screens.

“Yoons! Play Kookie’s song for me!” Taehyung whined, stretching his leg to kick his husband’s chair with his foot. Yoongi gave a long suffering sigh before tapping away at his keyboard and allowing the song to filter through the speakers.

Jungkook closed his eyes as he listened, he never could get used to the feeling of hearing a song he had created come to life for the first time. He felt Taehyung gently rub his stomach as the lyrics echoed through the room. Taehyung knew better than anyone what this song meant to him. He beat the negative thoughts out of his mind as he tried to focus on the beautiful melody he and Yoongi had created together.

“That was beautiful, Jungkook-ah.” Taehyung sighed after the song ended, he tightened his grip around Jungkook’s left rib cage. “Are you going to perform that on stage?”

Jungkook shook his head slightly, “No, I don’t think so. I think that one can be just for us.”

Taehyung hummed in agreement then sprang up to his feet, Jungkook blinked up at him as he stretched his arms above his head. “Come on, Kookie, let's go make some dinner. Are you staying, Namjoonie?”

Jungkook took Taehyung’s offered hand to pull him off the floor and tried to quell the disappointment when Namjoon shook his head.

“Sorry Tae, I’m already late for a meeting.” Namjoon explained, standing from his chair and patting Yoongi’s shoulder as he passed. He followed the pair out of the room and into the elevator.

“You really should take more time off Joon,” Taehyung scolded, pressing the button for the seventh floor and the lobby. The elevator rose up first and the doors slid open to reveal the penthouse apartment.

Namjoon hummed in agreement, “Jungkook-ah,” he called as Jungkook stepped off the elevator, Taehyung didn’t stop his stride into the kitchen as Jungkook turned to look at Namjoon. “I didn’t get to say this earlier, but your song was beautiful, it truly left me speechless.”

Jungkook blushed, “Thank you.”

Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he caught the elevator doors from closing, “I’d like to take you out on a date sometime, would that be agreeable to you?”

Jungkook smiled widely and nodded, “I’d like that Namjoon-ssi.”

Namjoon waved a hand, “No need for formalities. Would tomorrow be too soon?”

Jungkook chuckled and shook his head, “I have a short day tomorrow, you can pick me up after my dance class with Hobi-hyung.”

“It’s a date then,” Namjoon smiled, his dimples popping before he released the elevator doors. He sent Jungkook a wink just as the doors closed in front of him and the elevator started its descent.

Jungkook felt like he was floating as he entered the kitchen. He sighed happily as he joined Taehyung at the kitchen counter and started chopping some vegetables with him. The pair quietly worked next to each other, both lost in their own thoughts.

“Why haven’t you guys mentioned Namjoon before, hyung? You guys seem close.” Jungkook asked as he diced a carrot.

Taehyung didn’t falter as he continued to slice the beef into strips, “Honestly, he’s been traveling a lot lately and he’s always so busy with his job. It just never came up in conversation. Namjoonie wanted to keep it on the down low about how much he’s helped us over the years.”

Jungkook nodded and moved to start chopping an onion, “You and hyung have always been a bit private, I suppose.”

Taehyung paused and placed a hand on Jungkook's shoulder, making him look over at him. “We’d never hide anything from you, Jungkook-ah, unless we thought it was necessary. Lying to you is the last thing we ever want to do, I want you to understand that.”

Jungkook nodded at Taehyung’s serious tone, more than used to Yoongi and Taehyung saying something so cryptic to him. After all these years being friends with the couple, he’s learned not to press too hard on things that just didn’t make sense. It used to bother him when he was younger and first came to live with them, but over the years he’s learned they’ve never been malicious in what they haven’t told him. And there was always an undertone in their conversations that one day they would be completely honest with him. Jungkook looked forward to that day.

“I understand hyung,” Jungkook said with another nod, smiling at his hyung’s relieved face. “I know you and hyung only want the best for me.”

Taehyung nodded and placed a swift kiss on Jungkook’s cheek, “Always Kook, we always want the best for you.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes at his hyung’s affection but secretly he loved it. Taehyung had always been more physical with his affection than Yoongi, always more expressive. It had taken Jungkook a while to get used to it, to accept it for what it was.

Yoongi’s way of showing affection had always been quiet and subtle; making sure Jungkook had a meal before work, making sure he was on shift with someone he knew at the bar, and always having time for him in his studio. The pair complemented each other in every way and worked together to make Jungkook feel safe in their home.

Words could never express how grateful Jungkook was to his hyungs and he hoped one day he could pay them back for everything they’ve helped him through.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 5: Best of Me

Jungkook spent his morning class giddy for his date with Namjoon. He practically skipped to the first dance class of the semester with Hobi, hoping that it would be an easy day overall.

He was wrong. So very wrong. Dance practice was brutal, Hobi did not ease up at all on the new choreography he wanted them to learn and Jungkook’s body was still sore from Saturday.

Jungkook was not ashamed of the light limp he had walking out of the dance studio. He felt like had a full leg cramp as he hobbled down the stone steps. As he descended he moved to pull his phone out to send a message to Namjoon. Only to catch a glimpse of the man as he stepped off the last step.

“Hey Jungkook, are you okay?” Namjoon called, rushing over to his side before he could limp any closer.

“Oh yeah, just a really hard practice today.” Jungkook answered with a slight wince as he tried to not put any weight on his left leg.

Namjoon noticed his wince of pain and frowned in concern, with a nod to himself he pulled out his phone and began typing away on it. “I have a better idea for today.”

“I’m really okay, you don’t have to worry about me, I bounce back pretty quickly.” Jungkook tried to protest, waving his hands. “You really don’t have to change any of our plans.”

“I think you’ll like this, here lean on me. I have a car coming around to the front.” Namjoon ignored any further protests from Jungkook as he placed an arm around his waist and pulled one of Jungkook’s arms around his broad shoulders. “If you keep protesting, I’ll just pick you up and carry you.”

Jungkook shut up immediately, making Namjoon chuckle, and leaned his weight on the man more comfortably. Thankfully the walk wasn’t long, but Jungkook was relieved when they arrived at the waiting SUV, stepping inside gratefully when Namjoon opened the door for him. It only takes a moment for Namjoon to round the car and slide into the seat next to Jungkook.

“Do I get any hints to where we’re going at least?” Jungkook asked as he gazed out of the window at the passing buildings and beeping cars.

Namjoon chuckled lowly in his chest, Jungkook turned to look at the amused look on his face. “Trust me, you’ll like it. And if you don’t,” he shrugged “you get to choose the next date.”

“You’re bold today,” Jungkook teased, trying to cover up how much he blushed at the prospect of a second date. Namjoon only smirks in reply and shoots him a wink that has him ducking his head away as his face heats up even more.

The further they drive the more Jungkook’s mind races with possible places; a park, a mountain view, a fancy restaurant, but nothing is quite setting in his mind. Then they are pulling up to a series of buildings that are familiar to him. They park and Namjoon rounds the car to open Jungkook’s door and give him a helping hand out of the door.

“You can leave your bag in the car,” he reassures him, slipping the backpack off Jungkook's shoulders and setting it on the seat. Namjoon settles his arm around Jungkook's waist again and keeps to his steady pace as they enter the modern art museum.

“Are you really going to be walking me around all day?” Jungkook asks honestly, as Namjoon opens the glass doors for them to enter.

“What I have in mind won’t require much walking.” Namjoon replies slyly, waving at the bowing staff as they walk through security unhindered.

“I called ahead.” He explains to Jungkook’s confused face. “My company has donated to this museum for years. It comes with certain privileges.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to ask more questions but Namjoon ushers him inside the elevator before he can. He presses the button for the seventh floor and they slowly rise up, watching the floors pass below them through the glass overlook window. The doors opened to an empty floor with wide windows overlooking the small garden between the art buildings. Namjoon leads him towards the back, raising a curtain that obstructs a room from view for him to step through.

Taking in Namjoon’s easy smile Jungkook ducks under his outstretched arm and gasps at the scene before him. Lanterns flicker in the dark room, coating it in a warm gentle glow. It adds to the ambiance of the ancient design, Jungkook feels like he’s stepped through a portal to the Joseon Dynasty.

The room is lined with dark wood pillars, scrolls of ancient art scenes hang on either side of the walls, and at the far end, behind a wall of glass, stands an ancient water clock. Two pillars of solid bronze stand tall with twin dragons carved into the metal, behind them stands a diagram of how the water clock would have worked in ancient times. Sitting in the midst of all of this, is a low couch the Namjoon ushers Jungkook to sit down on.

“How did you… Namjoon, this is beautiful.” Jungkook gasps, his eyes darting to each delicate painting on the walls and back to the bronze pillars.

Namjoon settles down on the couch next to him and simply allows him to take in the view for a moment, before explaining. “Most of these works are donations from my company. I’ve always admired the Joseon Dynasty, it's one of Korea’s most well known ancient periods. It brought much of our modern culture, etiquette, and Korean language. But I’m curious what you find so fascinating about the period, you mentioned it several times when we talked about art.”

Jungkook’s eyes widened in excitement and launched into a long monologue about his passion over the development of art during the Joseon Dynasty time period. Namjoon listened to every word with rapt attention, asked just the right questions to keep Jungkook going, and never failed to add his own comments and opinions on the matter.

When the discussion of the art period ended, Namjoon pulled out an audio guide for them to listen to. After the last recording played and hunger began to set in, Namjoon had one of the staff members bring in the light lunch he had ordered.

“You really thought of everything,” Jungkook said in awe, making Namjoon blush lightly.

“I like to be prepared,” he said with a shrug, pouring some wine into one of the glasses that was brought.

Jungkook raised his eyebrow at it, but took the handed glass without another comment. He returned his gaze to the water clock, his eyes drifting over the details of the twin dragons upon it.

“The history behind that piece is truly fascinating, I’ve never seen one in person. It’s beautiful.” Jungkook said with a sigh. “I bet it sounded just as beautiful, to be crafted so well.”

“It’s amazing how they constructed it, all those moving pieces to signal every two hours for the guard change. Many of the techniques used on ancient water clocks are still seen in modern wrist watches. Such humble beginnings for the advancements we’ve made today.” Namjoon praised, sighing at the beauty of the mechanics that make up the water clock.

They gazed at the bronze pillars in silence as they sipped on the wine, both contemplating various nuances of its creation. The sudden burst of a phone ringing pulls them both violently out of their thoughts.

Namjoon gives a sheepish look to Jungkook as he pulls out his phone, “Sorry, I thought I told him not to disturb me.”

“It’s alright, take it if it’s important.” Jungkook insists, smiling as he sees Namjoon’s shoulders drop in relief.

“I’ll be right back,” he promises, standing and swiftly walking under the curtain as he answers the phone.

Jungkook watches his long strides out of the room, until he disappears behind from view, and returns his gaze to the water clock. He’s relieved not to hear Namjoon’s voice sound angry from the other side of the curtain. While he can’t hear the words being said, at least it's not upsetting him.

As the minutes tick by, Jungkook finishes his glass of wine and turns his attention on one of the paintings hanging on the left wall. It’s a beautiful black and white landscape piece with a small mountain range, curved trees over a river bank, and a light silhouette of a gazebo overlooking the river. He spies the name in a corner plaque on the wall, ‘Keimyung Gok Amdo’ by Shin Yoon-buk, pseudo name Hyewon, painting dated: unknown.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Namjoon’s sudden voice makes Jungkook jump slightly. He tears his eyes away from the painting to look at the man standing behind him. “I think it’s one of my favorite pieces.”

“I can see why, it is a beautiful piece.” Jungkook agrees, shifting on the couch to look up at him better. “Did your call go well?”

Namjoon smirks down at him, placing a hand on the back of the couch near Jungkook’s shoulder. “It did, which unfortunately means I need to be getting you home to handle some work.”

Feeling bold, Jungkook places his hand on Namjoon’s and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Namjoon’s eyes jump down to his hand at the gesture, a smile growing on his face.

“Thank you for bringing me here today, Namjoon. I enjoyed it.” He says softly, before slowly rising to his feet. His leg felt much better after the hours of letting it rest. He feels completely steady on it as he joins Namjoon’s side to leave the room.

“I’m glad,” Namjoon whispers, raising the curtain for him once again. Jungkook does his best not to skip out of the room but it’s a near thing. The giddiness he feels in the moment is unreal.

“Are you staying with your hyungs again?” Namjoon asks as they enter the elevator and hits the button for the lobby.

“I think it’s time I stop mooching off my hyungs,” Jungkook says with a chuckle, scratching the back of his head. “If it’s not too much trouble, you can just drop me off back at campus. My apartment isn’t too far from there.”

Namjoon scrunches his brow for a second before the expression is wiped off his face, it’s so fast that Jungkook almost thinks he imagines it. He nods, “If that’s what you want, then that’s what will happen.”

Jungkook tries not to think too deeply on the implication of that statement and simply gives his thanks as they exit the elevator. The staff bow to them again and Jungkook returns it hastily as he follows behind Namjoon. The SUV is waiting for them at the entrance and once again Namjoon opens the car door for him before rounding the vehicle to sit next to him.

The drive back to campus lulls Jungkook into a gentle drowsiness that only ends when Namjoon is opening his door and giving his hand to pull him out of the car. He slips Jungkook’s backpack over his shoulders before placing a swift kiss on his cheek.

“I’ll see you soon, little one.” He whispers into his ear, before taking a step back and smiling at him.

Jungkook can only smile back in response and watch as Namjoon climbs back into the car, then continues to stare as it disappears into traffic. The cold air brings him out of his thoughts of Namjoon’s soft lips on his cheek, making him shake himself a bit before making his way towards his apartment. He sends a quick message to Yoongi and Taehyung, telling them not to worry about him tonight, as he enters his apartment and flops down on his bed.

It’s only after Namjoon sends him a goodnight text does Jungkook find himself falling asleep. Happy thoughts of the day spent with the man, and the kiss, float around in his head as he drifts off.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 6: Boy Meets Evil

Jungkook’s new position at D-Town keeps him busy and suddenly the free time he used to have is gone. Between classes, homework, dance and vocal practice for his performances, there was hardly any time for him to do more than fall into bed when he got home. Occasionally he’d crash at Yoongi and Taehyung’s guest room but he tries not to intrude on their hospitality too much.

If it had been anyone else, a budding relationship would have been pushed to the side but Jungkook makes an effort to text Namjoon everyday. And Jungkook is pleased to find that the man’s patience and consideration knew no bounds. More often than not, the pair would find the time to meet up after Jungkook’s nightly performances.

Namjoon came nearly every night and saved a spot for them on the couch of the VIP floor.

“How are your classes?” Namjoon greeted with a smile, handing Jungkook a bottle of water as he sat down on the leather couch next to him.

Jungkook groaned, taking the water gratefully as he took a long sip. “I think I got placed with some of the worst professors this semester. We’re barely a month in and I’m already loaded with a packet of homework from each of my classes, plus two different papers due in two weeks.”

Namjoon winced sympathetically, “I’m sorry to hear that, I’m sure your new schedule at D-Town hasn’t helped.”

“Serves me right for putting off the required credits for my major,” Jungkook gripped bitterly, brushing his sweaty bangs out of his face. “Probably should have stayed a bartender, I would have had more time to study.”

“While I’m sure that would make things easier for you,” Namjoon said, smiling kindly at him. “I can see how much you love being on stage. The hard times will pass and you’ll thank yourself later for sticking through it.”

Jungkook sighed, leaning back against the couch. “I hope you’re right, anyway enough about me. What’s been going on with you? Did the visit with your family go well?”

Namjoon smiled widely, his dimples popping in his cheeks. “Yes, the visit with my parents went well. It was nice to see them after so long, I rarely have time off to go to our family home. I took those pictures like I promised.”

“Oh!” Jungkook gasped eagerly, scooching closer over to Namjoon as he pulled out his phone and started showing him photos of his family dog, Moni. “Oh my god, he’s adorable!”

Jungkook drank in the photos of the fluffy white american eskimo dog, giggling at the various silly photos Namjoon took of the excited puppy. He gaped at the beautiful scenic photos Namjoon took as well, listening with rapt attention as Namjoon explained where he was on his parent’s property.

“This place sounds huge,” Jungkook whispered, looking at Namjoon in shock.

Namjoon shrugged and tucked his phone away, “It’s only a hundred acres, mostly woodland and mountain. My mother didn't want to retire to a farm life but my father wanted to be in nature, so they compromised.”

“I’ll say,” Jungkook muttered, trying his best to keep his composure to how wealthy Namjoon’s family seemed to be. “It’s a beautiful place, I’m glad they have the time to enjoy it.”

Namjoon hummed in agreement, “They’ve earned it and retirement life is suiting them better than I thought it would. I was really going home to check on them, but they seem to be adjusting to the quiet life quite well.”

Jungkook nodded in understanding, then decided to change the subject before Namjoon could. By now he knew Namjoon didn’t like talking about his family too much, so he never pressed, figuring they were just extremely private people.

“I’m sorry we haven’t been able to meet often outside of the club,” Jungkook apologized, biting his lip piercing nervously. The metal ring twisted through his teeth and dug through this skin, the dull pain distracted him from his stomach bubbling nervously. Since the art museum, neither he nor Namjoon had been able to find the time to meet outside of D-Town. And Jungkook was starting to worry that the man would grow bored with him.

Namjoon shook his head, “You don’t have to apologize Jungkook-ah. If it wasn’t your work taking up time, mine would. I’m just glad we’re able to meet up regularly at all.”

Jungkook smiled, “I guess I shouldn’t complain then, I don’t think you’ve missed one of my shows this past week. At least I’ll have one regular listener.”

“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that,” Namjoon chuckled, peering at him slyly. “I’ve seen a lot of regular faces since you’ve started performing. I don’t think Yoongi-hyung is ever going to have to worry about booking a big name here again.”

Jungkook blushed and scratched the back of his head, “Hyung was very insistent that I focus on my classes and performances when he made my contract. I think Taehyungie-hyung wanted to frame it after I signed it.”

Namjoon chuckled at Jungkook’s exasperated groan, “Your hyungs have really taken you in. How long have you known them?”

“I think it's going on about four years now,” Jungkook said after a moment of thought. “I lived with them the first three years I was on my own in Seoul. They helped me a lot while I was getting to my feet here.”

“What did you come to Seoul for?” Namjoon asked, putting Jungkook at ease with the gentle conversation.

“I went to high school here in the city, when the travel between my hometown and Seoul became too expensive I started looking for a place to live. I just happened to hear someone talk about D-Town needing new bartenders during my search and decided to try my shot.” Jungkook explained, remembering how intimidating he found Yoongi-hyung to be at first. His cold business attitude and thin red scar over his right eye would intimidate any seventeen year old. But the man had softened the moment he learned of Jungkook’s situation and immediately gave him both a job and a place to stay.

Namjoon opened his mouth to ask another question but was cut off by his phone going off. He sighed heavily as he pulled it out and looked at the caller ID, “One of these days I’ll get a night off without interruptions.”

Jungkook watched as Namjoon silenced his phone but the look on his face said that he would have to leave. He gave Namjoon a gentle smile, “It’s alright, I’m glad you were able to come at all and have some time to talk.”

Namjoon looked remorseful but Jungkook stopped any apologies with a wave of his hand before taking one of Namjoon’s hands in his.

“Please don’t apologize, any time we can get is enough.” Jungkook said softly, squeezing Namjoon’s hand.

Namjoon nodded and squeezed Jungkook’s hand in return, “The day neither of us are too bound up with schedules, I’ll take you somewhere special.”

Jungkook grinned widely, “I look forward to it then.”

“Are you going to your apartment tonight?” Jungkook nodded. “Do you need a ride there?”

Jungkook shook his head, most nights he agreed to Namjoon dropping him off or calling a cab for him, but tonight he wanted to walk under the early morning sky. “It’s alright, I’ll walk this time.”

Namjoon looked like he was going to protest but his phone vibrated loudly in his pocket, he glared down at it. “It seems I won’t be getting a moment’s peace until I answer. Text me when you get home.”

“I will,” Jungkook promised, blushing when Namjoon placed a goodbye kiss on his sweaty forehead before leaving the VIP floor. He sighed as he watched the door close behind the man, finishing the water bottle in two gulps before making his way down to the employee locker room. He tried to console himself with what Namjoon had said, this schedule of theirs wouldn’t be forever, eventually they’d be able to go out on normal dates.

He pulled his sweaty stage clothes off and placed them in the employee hamper before pulling on his spare sweats from inside his locker. He pulled on Namjoon’s jacket before grabbing his backpack and heading out the door, desperate to be home and shower off the grim from the stage. The cold early morning air hits his face as he exits the back door of D-Town, the streets are empty as he makes his way down the familiar blocks.

When he turns on the street corner near his complex he does a double take at the group of men that are loitering near the narrow alleyway, the one where he first met Namjoon. There’s a cloud of cigarette smoke hanging over the mens’ heads, he nearly coughs at the intense smell as he passes. None of the men even glance at Jungkook, much to his relief, and he tries to keep his pace steady as he continues towards his complex.

A scuffle of feet sound behind him and Jungkook forces himself not to glance back, to keep moving forward. He’s almost under the lamp light in front of the front door when someone throws their arms around him. A cloth is placed hard around his mouth and nose before he has time to react. He kicks and flails around wildly, making contact with the men’s solid bodies, until his vision goes dark.

The last thing he thinks before his body goes limp in the stranger’s hold and his consciousness leaves him, is how much his hyungs are going to worry when he doesn’t show up for work tomorrow.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 7: The Untold Truth

Jungkook wakes up to a pounding headache and an aching back, there’s a harsh light shining in his face that makes him blink blurry until his vision comes into focus. He tries to move his arms to rub his face but can’t. Shaking his head slightly to clear the fog in it, he looks down to see himself tied to a chair. He twists his wrists experimentally, the tight rope burns against his skin binding them together behind his back.

A slow clap sounds through the room, making him jolt to find the source. A man steps out of the shadows, a smirk on his face as he drags a chair to sit on in front of Jungkook.

“So, sleeping beauty has finally graced us with his presence, I’m not a patient man you know.” He drawls, tutting and wagging his finger in disapproval.

“Well, excuse me for being knocked out cold.” Jungkook coughs up, his throat feeling dry and rough. The man chuckles at his boldness.

“Let’s see how bold you stay while I have you,” he muses, getting up roughly from his chair and pulling a cork-board out the shadows into view. Jungkook flinches as the metal legs drag across the concrete floor until it sits under the swinging lamp.

His eyes widen as he takes in the various candid photographs on the board. All of them are moments of him and Namjoon. The few times they met randomly on the street. Jungkook on stage at D-Town and Namjoon in the crowd looking at him, then sitting in the VIP section sharing a drink. Namjoon picking him up for their first date and then dropping him off with a kiss.

“Are you beginning to understand now?” The man asks, tapping lightly on some of the photos. “My men and I have been tracking you from day one, it's not often you get such leverage from someone so high in the ranks. But this just fell right in our laps, it was amazing!”

“Who are you?” Jungkook gaps in shock, desperately trying to loosen the ropes around his wrists as subtly as he could.

“Oh, have I not introduced myself? Forgive me,” he bows dramatically. “I am Bangchan, the leader of the Stray Kids Gang.”

“Never heard of you,” Jungkook scoffs, tossing his head back to get his hair out of his face as Bangchan sneers down at him.

“You really should have, I control your block after all. That path you walk to campus, mine. The building that you live in, mine. That alleyway that you dare cross every day, mine. I could own your very life, if I choose to.” Bangchan sneers, reaching forward to grip Jungkook’s hair and force his head back painfully.

Jungkook clenches his jaw to keep from spitting in the man’s face, “What’s it to me? I can just move.”

“Nobody leaves without my permission! Nobody!” Bangchan barks, tossing Jungkook’s head aside to stand in front of the board again. “You are going to tell me everything you know about the Rap Monster of Ilsan,” he jabs his finger into Namjoon’s smiling face, a photo taken with Jungkook’s back in view. “I need to know everything you know, then maybe we’ll have an edge when we meet him.”

“How is knowing his sushi order going to help you get leverage on him, exactly?” Jungkook asks, tilting his head at the man who nearly vibrates with anger at his words. Knowing full well that Namjoon hated seafood, but he needed to keep Bangchan talking while he tried to work on loosening the ropes.

“You must have something!” Bangchan barks, slapping Jungkook across the face. “Useless date information is nothing to me! I need to know his weakness! I need to know his strategies!”

Jungkook spits on the ground, his cheek stinging from the slap, trying to will the pain tears in his eyes away. He raises his head to look Bangchan in the eye, “He’s allergic to pine nuts.” He lies through his teeth, nearly getting his left wrist out of its hold.

Bangchan screams in frustration and raises his hand to strike Jungkook across the face again, Jungkook braces himself, only for it to be stopped mid-air by a firm hand.

“Strike him again and you won’t have a hand,” Namjoon growls, coming into view from the shadows. His hand tightens painfully on Bangchan’s wrist making the man whimper in pain.

“Namjoon,” Jungkook gasps in shock, taking in the sight of the man gripping Bangchan’s wrist with white knuckles. Namjoon’s jaw clenches as his eyes flicker over to Jungkook and catch sight of the small red mark on his cheek.

“How did you get it? My men…” Bangchan whimpers then yelps as Namjoon tosses him aside, he hits the cork-board before falling hard to the ground. Namjoon moves quickly to kneel behind Jungkook’s chair. He hears Namjoon’s slight intake of breath at the sight of his loose wrists before pulling the rope off completely.

“I don’t have time for your childish games,” Namjoon growls, tossing the rope aside and pulling Jungkook up from the chair and into his arms.

“Are you okay, little one?” He whispers into Jungkook’s ear, ignoring Bangchan’s moans of pain.

Jungkook can only nod as he takes a shaky breath and clutches onto Namjoon’s jacket. He barely hears Bangchan’s protests as Namjoon begins to walk them out of the dimly lit room, but he feels Namjoon’s rumbled reply.

“The next time you kidnap a leverage victim, you should check exactly who you’re stealing from. I entered your compound because I own it. I own everything that you are Bangchan of Stray Kids. The streets you walk and prowl on. This building that you meet in. The very supplies that you put on the streets. In just two words I can have your whole operation terminated and disbanded. So, don’t even try to think you have any leverage on me.” Namjoon growls, before sweeping Jungkook into his arms. He stops in the doorway and looks over his shoulder at the gaping man, “And one more thing, if I see any of those photos in the hands of any of my true rivals, you won’t even have a pot to piss in when I’m done with you.”

Namjoon’s long strides take them out of the warehouse and past the long rows of bowing men, Jungkook buries his head into Namjoon’s neck as they pass. He tightens his grip on Jungkook as he ducks them into the back of an SUV and barks an order to ‘drive’ as the door closes behind them.

Namjoon pulls Jungkook’s head away from his neck to look over his face, then takes his wrists in hand to check the damage as well. He breathes a sigh at the red marks on his wrists and the small blooming bruise on his face from the ring Bangchan had been wearing.

“How did they get you?” Namjoon asks softly, rubbing the marks with his thumb.

“I was walking home, they came up behind me and put a cloth to my face. It hit me so fast I didn’t have time to react, I gave them as much of a fight as I could.” Jungkook says softly, taking a shaky breath to calm himself.

Namjoon nods, a small smirk coming to his face before dropping it, “You did, you actually hit several men that jumped you. Gave one a bloody nose and a nasty bruise to another.”

Jungkook hums in acknowledgment and after a moment of hesitation, twists his fingers to be laced with Namjoon’s. Namjoon takes a shuddering breath as he squeezes Jungkook’s hand, he squeezes back twice as hard.

“If I hadn’t arrived when I did, what exactly was your plan after getting out of those ropes, little one?” Namjoon asks, running a thumb across his whitening knuckles.

Jungkook looks down at their joined hands, “I didn’t have much of a plan actually. Figured I could knock Bangchan out when he wasn’t expecting it and then find a way out of wherever he had taken me. How did you find me? How did you even know they had taken me?”

Namjoon smirks as Jungkook raises his gaze back to his face, “I wasn’t lying when I said that I own everything that man has, we also have a mole in their ranks. I was informed the minute you were grabbed, I would have been there sooner if they hadn’t taken an unexpected detour at the last second.”

Jungkook nods as he listens to Namjoon’s explanation, his brow furrowing as questions start to pop into his head. Who exactly was Namjoon?

“You have questions,” Namjoon says hesitantly, his eyes speaking to the nervousness that his voice doesn’t.

“Will you answer them? Honestly and without trying to cover the truth, no matter how grim it is.” Jungkook counters with his eyebrow cocked.

Namjoon nods, “I’ll give you nothing but the truth, I never meant for you to find out like this.”

“But you were going to tell me, eventually.” At his second firm nod, Jungkook presses more. “When exactly would have been the right time then? After officially becoming a couple? Moving in together? Our wedding day?”

Namjoon snorts and tries to control his laughter, “Have you really thought that far ahead with me?”

“Now is not the time Namjoon!” Jungkook scolds indignantly, trying to contain his helpless giggles.

Namjoon’s expression turns somber after a moment, “I never would have let it get to any of those points without telling you the truth,” he says seriously, clutching Jungkook’s hands like a lifeline. “I never wanted to lie to you about who I am or what I do. A relationship built on lies is no relationship at all. I’ve seen it time and time again, I refuse to repeat history. But I will admit to the lie of omission, I should have been clearer with you from the start.”

“We met in an alleyway with you beating up a man with bloody knuckles,” Jungkook deadpanned, leveling a look at Namjoon’s sheepish face. “I think I’ve had some idea of what you are and what you do. Even since the beginning.”

The mix of emotions on Namjoon’s face tells Jungkook that he's both pleased by this revelation but nervous about it. Jungkook is hopelessly endeared by the man’s confusion. He removes one of their joined hands to smooth the crease between his eyebrows.

“Stop thinking so hard,” he teases “you’ll develop wrinkles before you turn thirty.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes playfully, swatting his hand away before taking it in his again. They gaze into each other's eyes for a moment and Jungkook becomes very aware of how he’s sitting on Namjoon’s lap. He tries not to shift across the man’s thick thighs as Namjoon brings his hand to his lips and places a kiss on the knuckles.

“Can you hold off your questions until we get to my place? I’d like us to have privacy while we talk.” He whispers against his fingers, his eyes never leaving his.

Jungkook can only nod in response, his throat feeling oddly clogged for a moment. The overwhelming feeling of wanting to bury himself in Namjoon’s arms consumes him, but he feels hesitant to do so. Namjoon seems to sense his hesitation and moves a hand to cup the back of his neck. Jungkook gives into his need and lays his head against Namjoon’s neck.

“You’ve had quite the day haven’t you, little one.” Namjoon soothes, running a gentle hand down Jungkook’s arm as he brings his body closer to his own. Jungkook can only give a weak hum in reply, which makes Namjoon grip on him tighter. “Just lean on me for now, I’ve got you now. You’re safe.”

Jungkook lets out a shaky breath and clutches onto Namjoon’s hand like a lifeline. He squeezes his eyes shut and presses his face against Namjoon’s skin, trying to banish the images of that dimly lit room and Bangchan’s cold eyes from his memory. He takes slow, calming breaths trying to will the tears that threaten to fall away. Namjoon rumbles nonsense words above his ears, he barely registers them but it helps keep him in the present.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 8: Awake

The car rolls to a stop after it’s climbed up a gravel road, the door opens to reveal a large mansion standing in front of a sunset sky littered with mountain peaks.

Namjoon keeps Jungkook in his arms as he exits the vehicle, taking long strides into the house. Jungkook glances around at the marble flooring and empty halls until Namjoon pulls a door open for them. The room looks like a private study with a large mahogany desk in front of a large window, bookshelves around the walls, and a small living room set up in the center of the room.

Namjoon doesn’t say a word to Jungkook as he sits him down on his couch. He walks over to a tall cabinet and pulls out a small medical box before kneeling down in front of him.

He places the box on the coffee table and pulls out a small bottle of ointment. Gently he takes Jungkook’s hands into his and spreads the ointment over the darkening rope marks on his wrists. He then takes Jungkook’s chin in his hand and tilts his head to the side before putting a bit of the cool liquid onto his cheek.

“That should help keep them from bruising too badly,” Namjoon murmurs as he places the ointment back into the box. He sits down on the couch next to Jungkook, keeping a respectable distance between them.

Jungkook takes a deep breath as he wipes the stray tears that had escaped against his will. Namjoon wordlessly hands him a tissue and waits patiently for him to gather himself.

“I’m not exactly sure where to start,” Jungkook murmurs with a dry chuckle, wiping his face before peering over at Namjoon.

Namjoon nods in understanding, “It’s not the easiest thing to explain either, but I promise to be honest about it.”

Jungkook nodded, sniffing a bit before plowing through his hesitations to ask the most burning question, “Who are you?”

“My name is Kim Namjoon, son of Kim Gong-Yoo the Goblin of Ilsan. I am the Leader of the Bulletproof Company, the Rap Monster of Ilsan and the RM of Seoul.” He answers in a commanding tone, it speaks to the power those titles hold even if Jungkook doesn’t understand them.

“And what exactly does that mean?” Jungkook asks, scrunching his brow in confusion.

Namjoon pursed his lips in thought, “The easiest way to explain it, is that I control the company that was started by my forefathers. And that company runs the underground crime network of Seoul, as well as other provinces around South Korea. There is nothing that goes on in the city that we don’t know about. Any imports of goods in and out has to be approved by us. Any company activity is heavily monitored and regulated. We are currently in the process of gaining full control of the drug cartels that run through the cities unregulated.”

Jungkook blinked, “So you basically run the asian mafia.”

Namjoon barks up a laugh, “I suppose that’s one way to put it, yes. Some of my men might see that as childish to call us a mafia but it's close enough to the truth.”

“This doesn’t seem to be a recent thing, you said your forefathers have been in this?” He asks, trying to put the pieces of this hidden empire together.

Namjoon nodded, “The company is old, has been around for centuries, probably since the creation of Korea itself, but my company has only had absolute power for the last eight years. Currently, there is no one more powerful within South Korea than me.”

“Do you control the government? The police?” Jungkook can’t help the shocked face he makes when Namjoon shakes his head.

“There’s more to power than just controlling what people can and can’t do Jungkook-ah,” he explains with a gentle laugh. “Korea cannot run without its supplies, no matter how much the government or police try to govern their people. If they have no food, no water, no clothes, they have nothing. We don’t need to control their every movement, or their laws, we just need to control what keeps them alive, what keeps them happy. I’ve worked long and hard to get us to this point. I’m proud to say that we’re at our most peaceful time in years. The company wars for territory and supplies have been near bloodless for the last two years. Words will always speak louder than broken bones. Even if you do have to get your hands dirty from time to time.”

Jungkook glances down at Namjoon’s hands, they flex slightly under his gaze, “That day in the alleyway, who was that man that you were… getting your hands dirty on?”

“Ah,” Namjoon ducks his head sheepishly. “That was the mole we had in the Stray Kids Gang. His name is Han and he wasn’t listening to orders. While my company has become the big fish in the ocean of Seoul we still have some small fry that will shake the waters. The Stray Kids Gang is one of them. He just needed to be reminded who he owed loyalty to.”

“Do you often do that yourself? Isn’t that dangerous?” Jungkook protests with a worried look.

“He was a special case,” Namjoon explained with a reassuring smile. “I trained the boy myself and set him on the mission personally, so I was more than a little disappointed with how he was behaving. The only way to get my message truly across, was to go myself.”

Jungkook nodded in understanding.

“Besides,” he added with a smirk. “If I hadn’t been there that morning, I wouldn’t have met you.”

“I suppose not,” Jungkook agreed, smiling slightly.

“Your reaction that morning, I still can’t quite understand it. I can’t even understand how you are still calm with everything I’ve told you.” He continues looking at Jungkook with a bit of awe in his eyes.

“Ah,” Jungkook rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, “That might be because all of this isn’t quite a shock to me.”

Namjoon leans back against the couch and eyes him in interest, “Is that so?”

“Hmm, my father… his name was Jeon Jang Hyuk,” he pauses at Namjoon’s wide eyes and nods his head. “I see that you’ve heard of him, he wasn’t really around when I was growing up. He died when I was young, but he left me a journal when I turned sixteen. He never went into heavy detail about his missions or any names, but I could gather from it that he was a part of something big. And whatever it was had gotten him killed. The end of the journal detailed all the plans he had for me and my brother when he retired.”

Namjoon ran a nervous hand through his hair and took a shaky breath, “I didn’t know Jang-ssi had left a journal to his youngest son, or that he even had one. I only knew of your brother, Seokjin.”

“You know my brother? You knew my father?” Jungkook whispers in shock.

“I worked with both of them,” Namjoon says shortly, but then sighs to himself. “I promised to be honest with you, but I am not sure how you’re going to take what I’m about to tell you.”

Jungkook reaches forward and takes one of Namjoon’s hands in his, waiting for the man to meet his eyes. “Namjoon, please just be honest with me. How did you know my father?”

Namjoon stares at him for a moment then squeezes his hand before releasing it, “Your father was my father’s Second in Command and my mentor. He was set to retire at the same time as my father, but he wanted to oversee one last mission. My first mission as Leader of the company. It was on that mission that he lost his life, a member from a rival company we were negotiating with wasn’t happy with our demands and pulled a gun on us. He moved before anyone could react and shot your father right in front of me. It was the first innocent blood that was spilt on my watch, under my command, and I completely blame myself for his loss.”

Jungkook has no words and Namjoon can’t look him in the eye, so they sit in tense silence as the minutes tick by.

“My brother…?” Jungkook murmurs in question.

“When Seokjin learned of your father’s death he wanted revenge, he spent months training under my hand until we were able to bring the man who killed him to justice. The company that he was a part of was brought to ashes for his disgrace. They were the leading company in Seoul and our war with them brought new territory to us. When Seokjin finished his revenge he disappeared. But we heard whispers that he was working with other rival companies of ours from time to time.” Namjoon explained slowly, watching Jungkook with hesitant eyes.

Jungkook gives one swift nod as he takes in this information. He leans back against the couch until his head sits on the arm rest, stretches his legs out and places them on Namjoon’s lap. He crosses his arms over his chest as he thinks.

“Brother was in the mafia. Father was in the mafia. Was my mother involved as well?” Namjoon is quick to shake his head and Jungkook allows himself a sigh of relief. “At least I don’t have more family members lying to me. Do you think my mother knew anything about what my father did?”

“I didn’t even know he was married until Seokjin showed up at my door, demanding revenge for his father’s death.” Namjoon answers with a shrug.

“How did he find out then? If my father kept his life here a secret even from them?” Again all Namjoon could do was shrug and give a face of ‘your guess is as good as mine’.

“Your brother wasn’t exactly forthcoming on how he came to find us. Your father could have left a journal to him on his deathbed for all we know.” He mused aloud, allowing his hands to rest on Jungkook’s ankles when he made no move to remove them from his lap.

“That sounds like Jin-hyung, he likes to keep his cards close to his chest.” Jungkook mutters bitterly. “Did he blame you for our father’s death?”

Namjoon nodded, “When I told him the full story when he first came to us, he did. He made training and working with him very difficult in the beginning. His last words to me before he disappeared was that he’d never forgive me for what happened to his father. That he would always blame me for his death.”

“I don’t. I don’t blame you Namjoon. I don’t think my father’s death lies squarely on your shoulders.” Jungkook says after a minute, making Namjoon blink at him in shock.

“But I… I led the mission, I was the one in charge of ensuring our safe passage to and from the mission. And I failed. He died on my watch. He died… he died because he jumped in front of me… that gun was aimed at me and your father jumped in front of it.” Namjoon admitted hoarsely, swallowing harshly at the memory.

“Did you make him jump in front of that bullet?” Namjoon shakes his head. “Did you ignore his son when he asked for revenge?” He shakes his head again. “Did you already have plans of taking revenge before Jin-hyung showed up at your front door?”

“I had already started a war with the company before Seokjin arrived, no one left that warehouse alive that day. Apart from the man that killed your father, he slipped out before the carnage started.” Namjoon said, his expression clouding with anger at the memory.

“Then I don’t blame you Namjoon,” Jungkook said softly, making the man raise his eyes to him. “My father must have known the risks when he went on that mission. He must have thought there was a good reason for him to be there. He also made the choice to jump in front of that bullet. I don’t think he would have if he thought you weren’t worth the sacrifice. He must have seen what I do, you’re a good man Namjoon. I know he died without any regrets for dying for you.”

“You… you can’t know that for sure…” Namjoon whispers hoarsely, a stray tear falling down his face.

Jungkook sat up abruptly and moved himself to straddle Namjoon’s lap, taking the man’s face in his hands. “You are, you are a good man Namjoon. You’ve been showing me that since the day I met you and you put your jacket on some poor college student that was late to class. I do know that my father didn’t regret what he did, because he mentioned you in the journal he left me. Not by name,” Jungkook cut in as Namjoon opened his mouth to ask.

“He only mentioned the son of his boss that he was training. He always spoke about how kind you were. How, even in the anger of youth, you never took it out on people that had done nothing to you. He saw a great leader in you and felt privileged to be the one that helped build you into the man you are today. So no, I don’t believe he regretted dying for you, even if he was leaving my brother, my mother, and me behind.”

Namjoon sniffed and tilted his head back trying to stop the tears from flowing, but Jungkook pulled his head down to his shoulder and hugged him tightly as the sobs began to shake him. He held the man that led an empire but now cried over the loss of a man who had trained him, loved him, and died for him. Jungkook shed a few tears for the father he never knew but also sent a word of thanks to him for saving the man that was now held in his arms.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 9: Begin

When the storm of emotion had passed from their hard conversation, Namjoon and Jungkook made themselves more comfortable across the couch. Jungkook held no hesitation as he laid himself against Namjoon’s side and started fiddling with the small buttons on the man’s white shirt.

It took a moment before Namjoon wrapped his arm around Jungkook’s shoulders and laid a hand on his arm. Then began to slowly run his fingers through Jungkook’s long hair while he asked all his questions about Namjoon’s hidden empire.

“Is anyone else I know evolved in this?” He asks, his head tilted against Namjoon’s chest to look at his face. Basking in the feeling of the man’s fingers running through his hair.

Namjoon chuckles, “Unfortunately most of the people you know are, given enough time we probably would have met under very different circumstances.”

Jungkook raised his head in shock, “Yoongi-hyung?”

“He’s my Second in Command.”

“Taehyung-hyung?”

“He’s the best hacker in the entire underground. If he wasn’t so attached to us, I’d have a hard time keeping the other companies away from him.”

“Surely Hobi-hyung isn’t involved.”

Namjoon nodded solemnly, “I’m afraid so, he’s our main trainer for new recruits. He puts everyone through the wringer, both on and off the dance floor. He’s also the best tracker in the business.”

“Jimin-hyung?” Jungkook asked hesitantly, groaning at Namjoon’s nod and thumping his head on the man’s chest.

“He’s our best scout, no one can get information from rival companies like he can.” Namjoon hummed, chuckling at Jungkook’s groan.

Jungkook lifted his head, “Then what is he doing at my campus? What? You send your best scout to get a contemporary dance degree for funsies?”

Namjoon chuckled and shook his head, “No, we got intel that one of the college professors at your school is an escaped operative from the company that killed your father. We may have taken over Seoul but there’s still a few stragglers that escaped the carnage. Jimin was sent to find him and gather information before we took him down.”

“And you thought posing him as a dance student would be the best course of action?” Jungkook asks incredulously, scrunching his brows. “Why not a computer major or a math major or something like that?”

Namjoon shrugs, “I didn’t choose his major, I just gave him the parameters of the mission. He must have seen some logic in the choice, or just wanted to have some fun while he was there.”

“What a life he leads to be able to go to college for fun,” Jungkook muses with a pout, making Namjoon laugh and pat his head consolingly.

“You have no idea how many times I nearly burst out laughing when one of your hyungs shot me a look over your shoulder.” Namjoon chuckles, running his fingers through his hair again. “I don’t know how they were able to keep the secret from you, they are not subtle at all.”

“Don’t make me feel worse about being the only one out of the loop?” He moans before joining Namjoon’s laughter at his childish whining. “What did Jin-hyung do when he was with you?”

“He was the best marksman we’ve ever had and an even better escape artist. If he hadn’t disappeared, he would’ve been in my Inner Circle and trained my men.” Namjoon says, a wistful pride in his voice. “It’s extremely fortunate that you made friends with my entire Inner Circle, before meeting me. They are twice as protective of you than they are of me. Yoongi-hyung gave me quite the earful when he learned I was meeting you. I’m just glad I didn’t get the shovel talk from Tae,” he shivered at the thought, making Jungkook giggle.

“That’s because Tae knows you won’t do anything, Namjoon-ah.” The pair looked up to see Yoongi standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, a deadpan look on his face. “He doesn’t need to give you the shovel talk, he’ll just get his shovel the day you truly fuck up.”

Namjoon gulped audibly, “Good to know, hyung.”

“The pair of you seriously,” Jungkook sassed, sitting up as Yoongi made his way across the room and sat down in an armchair. “I am not a child you know.”

“No, you are our child,” Yoongi countered, pouring himself a glass of whiskey, waving off Namjoon’s protests to pour it for him. Yoongi’s eyes dance over the small injuries on Jungkook’s face and wrists, then down to the medical box on the coffee table. He breathes a sigh of relief, “Good work Namjoon, on getting Jungkook-ah so quickly, I did not want to call on Tae just yet. He would have torn that place apart, I assume Joon has given you his self-deprecating speech about our line of work.”

“Asian mafia and cause of my father’s death, yes.” Jungkook said with a nod, grinning as he heard Namjoon choke on air.

Yoongi choked on his whiskey and stared at the pair with wide eyes, “Excuse me?”

“Jungkook is the second son of Jang-ssi,” Namjoon explains, pouring himself a glass of whiskey as well. “Seokjin is his older brother.”

“Ah, so your Jin-hyung is that Jeon Seokjin, guess we’ll never be completely rid of the bastard now,” Yoongi chuckles. “He’s not gonna be happy about this development.”

Namjoon groaned at the thought and took a sip of his whiskey, he offered one to Jungkook who shook his head. “How long do I have till he storms my doorstep to steal you back?”

“Jin-hyung is traveling at the moment, after our mother passed away last year he said he wanted to see a bit of the world before settling down somewhere.” Jungkook informed him, smirking at Namjoon’s sigh of relief. “I think he said he was in Morocco when we last talked on the phone.”

Yoongi and Namjoon both froze mid-sip of their whiskeys, looked at each other then at Jungkook, who eyed them both in confusion.

“You don’t think…” Namjoon started but cut off at Yoongi’s nod and groaned loudly, swallowing down his whiskey in one go. “Damn that man.”

“What?” Jungkook asked, looking back and forth between the pair of them.

“You tell him, I need something stronger.” Namjoon groaned, waving at Yoongi as he stood and walked over to his liquor cabinet and began sorting through the bottles of aged whiskey.

Yoongi sighed as he places his glass down on the table and starts to refill it before leveling a look at Jungkook, “Has Joon told you which territories in South Korea we operate in?”

Jungkook shakes his head, side eyeing Namjoon as he tosses back another shot of whiskey at the liquor cabinet without even flinching.

“We currently mainly operate within Seoul, but we also control Ilsan, Busan, Gangwon, Icheon, N. Gyeongsang, and Daegu. We also have contacts outside of Korea but no territories, mostly contracts with outside companies that sell and trade stock with us exclusively. One of those trades is in Morocco. Has Seokjin mentioned any other locations that he’s been to? How long has he been gone?” Yoongi asks, swirling his glass of whiskey in his hand.

“He only left last week, he only told me when he landed but he didn’t mention where else he was going to go.” Jungkook answered, the pieces were starting to form in his mind of where Yoongi was going with this.

“Good,” Yoongi nodded. “Then we haven’t been compromised yet, he probably hasn’t even started whatever he’s planned. What I’m guessing is that Seokjin went to Morocco with the purpose of shutting down our contact there. For what reason I could only guess, but we need to put a stop to it as soon as we can.”

“And by that you mean…” Jungkook eyed his hyung up and down to ascertain what he planned to do with his brother.

“Find him and bring him back here,” Namjoon interjected, returning to his seat next to Jungkook. “Alive, preferably in handcuffs.”

“I wouldn’t harm your hyung on purpose, Jungkook,” Yoongi said gently, running a hand through his blonde hair. “The man was irritating to no end, but in the loosest terms he was our friend. We’ll have less success with him not pulling a gun on us.”

“Why do you think he’s wanting to compromise your overseas contacts?” Jungkook asked, grasping for a reason why his brother would be over there in the first place.

Yoongi shrugged, “Seokjin was a vengeful motherfucker, perhaps he’s still not forgiven Joon for what happened to his, and your, father. And now wants to slowly dismantle his empire from the outside.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, it’s been years, no one can hold a grudge for that long.” Namjoon groaned, rubbing his face. “Please tell me that your mother didn’t die in a company related incident, Jungkook.”

Jungkook shook his head, “No, she had cancer. Stage four brain cancer, the doctors caught it too late but she passed peacefully in her sleep.”

Namjoon muttered a quiet ‘thank god’ before realizing what he just said and started profusely apologizing to Jungkook, who just laughed at the poor man and patted his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, babe, I’m glad you didn’t inadvertently cause another one of my parents' deaths either.” Jungkook chuckled as Namjoon blanched at him.

Yoongi chuckled, “Keeps you on your toes, doesn’t he Joon?”

“You have no idea,” Namjoon sighed happily, gazing adoringly at Jungkook before turning to his Second in Command. “We should start with contacting the Saharan Conduit and inform them to be on the lookout for Seokjin but not to engage. I’m sure they’ve had eyes on him as soon as he landed there.”

Yoongi nodded and pulled out his phone, “Should I call the rest of our boys as well?”

“Might as well, the sooner we deal with this the better. He’s already been there a week, that’s long enough in my opinion.” Namjoon sighed, pulling his suit jacket off and placing it behind him before rolling up his white suit shirt sleeves, exposing his firm honeyed forearms for Jungkook to ogle. “Hopefully we won’t have to go and get him ourselves.”

As soon as Taehyung entered the office, he was in front of Jungkook taking the younger man’s face in his hands as he inspected the red mark on it then gasping at the rope burns on his wrists.

“What the hell happened to my baby!” He exclaimed, his eyes turning deadly as he looked at Namjoon.

“I didn’t do it!” Namjoon yells at once, raising his hands in surrender, his eyes wide and fearful as he rushes to explain. “The Stray Kids Gang got a hold of him, I went and got him out.”

Taehyung fixes his eyes on Yoongi, “I want them disbanded by tomorrow. Our little experiment with them is over, they're lucky I’m not asking for their heads.”

Yoongi nods and steps over from his chair and places a hand on his husband’s shoulder, ignoring Jungkook’s whine at being babied by his hyung. “Namjoon-ah put ointment on them already, they’ll heal up in no time.”

Taehyung nods at his husband’s reassurance, taking a seat next to Jungkook on the couch, holding tightly to one of his hands. Yoongi sits on the arm of the couch next to Taehyung and runs a soothing hand through his husband’s hair. Jungkook squeezes his hyung’s hand in reassurance, reminding him silently that he’s safe.

Jimin and Hobi take seats across the couch, pulling their chairs closer to create a more intimate circle. They all look to Namjoon to start and the man clears his throat before speaking.

“Thank you all for coming at such short notice and late in the night,” He began gently. “A situation has been brought to our attention that needs immediate resolution. Jeon Seokjin has been in Morocco for the last nine days, near the Saharan Conduit. The objective is to bring him back to Korea alive and relatively unharmed.”

Groans sounded through the room at the mention of Seokjin’s name, Hobi got to his feet and grabbed himself a glass of whiskey before sitting back down. Taehyung glanced over at Yoongi and the two of them had a silent conversation with their eyes before turning back to the rest of the men.

“Has he been in contact with any of their members?” Jimin asked, the only one not to have a strong reaction to Seokjin’s name. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his fingers intertwined under his chin as he gazed at Namjoon.

“No,” Yoongi answered, placing his phone on the coffee table for them to look at the messages he’s been sending. “Our contact said that Seokjin has made no move to speak with any of their members, even the ones that are undercover. Somehow he’s been able to evade all of their forces over the past nine days, but they have eyes on him. That’s all they have.”

“So, he’s rusty or he’s playing with them about his movements.” Hobi observed, tapping his chin in thought. “Do we know what his objective is?”

Namjoon shook his head, “We only have guesses at this point. According to our contact, Seokjin has made no demands or moves against their company, as of yet. They’ve only kept an eye on him because his name is on their records.”

“Are the Saharans making any demands on his capture?” Hobi asked, glancing down at the phone on the table but not picking it up.

“Yes,” Yoongi sighed. “They want an additional supply of one hundred kilos of Ecstasy in trade. As well as a member of the Inner Circle to deliver it to their doorstep and escort Seokjin off their hands.”

No sounds of protests were made to their demands, Namjoon simply sat forward and placed his chin in his hand as he thought over it. He looked over at Hobi, who nodded at the silent question in his leader’s eyes.

“Very well,” Namjoon sighed, leaning back with his arm across the back of the couch behind Jungkook’s shoulders. “Hoseok will be on point and deliver their demands, once they offer proof that they’ve apprehended Seokjin and have him under lock and key, unharmed. I want to make it clear to them that they lose ten kilos for every cut, scrap, or bruise they inflict on him. He’s going to put up a fight, but I don’t want him bleeding on my carpets when he comes.”

“And if they kill him?” Yoongi asks, glancing at Jungkook’s tense body. He reaches a hand around Taehyung to pat Jungkook’s shoulder lightly.

“Then they get the same fate as the Seoul Empire, be sure to remind them what happened to them when they crossed us.” Namjoon said coldly, receiving a nod from everyone around the room.

“Jungkook,” the room froze as Namjoon turned to the man sitting beside him. “Do you have anything to add or any questions?”

Jungkook looked as shocked as anyone to be addressed in such a serious matter. “Me?” He squeaked.

Namjoon nodded gently, a small smile on his face, “He is your brother after all, you more than anyone should be involved in bringing him home.”

“Oh,” Jungkook breathed, “If my brother is as good as you are alluding to, what is your backup plan for if he escapes and running loose in Morocco? At the moment we have the element of surprise, that’ll change after the Saharans confront him.”

Namjoon nodded in approval and hums from his other hyungs around the room made Jungkook blush from the praise.

“That’s why we are sending Hobi to deliver the goods,” Namjoon explains. “As the best tracker in our unit, he’ll be able to find him in less than 24 hours, even if Seokjin had a five day head start. Taehyung will be on point here at base to give detailed instructions as they’re needed. Cameras are the way of the world after all and Hobi will be taking our unmanned drones with him. This isn’t our first manhunt.”

Jungkook nodded, “Who's going to be the backup for Hobi-hyung in case he runs into trouble? I have a feeling that my brother is going to expect that you’ll send him first.”

“Without knowing the level of their skill sets, who would you suggest going as backup?” Yoongi asks, his expression open to whatever Jungkook had to say. It overwhelmed him a bit, to be so trusted with something so important as their lives.

“Jimin-hyung,” Jungkook answers after a moment and he gets nods of approval for it, even from the man himself who smirks in delight.

“Good choice, Seokjin has never met Jimin. He joined shortly after Seokjin left, so anything that Jimin does will catch him off guard.” Namjoon says proudly, placing a hand on the back of Jungkook’s neck and giving it a gentle squeeze. He smirks as he feels Jungkook’s small excited shudder under his hand before dropping it. “Any more questions or concerns? From anyone?”

Namjoon looks at each member of his Inner Circle as they give him gentle shakes of the head, no one protests their current plans.

“Very well then, get some rest, we’ll start tomorrow. The guest rooms have been prepared for you.” Namjoon says standing to his feet and offering his hand to Jungkook, smiling widely when the younger man takes it without hesitation.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, kiddos!” Jimin teases as Namjoon leads him out of the office and down the hall. A loud smack sounds in the room. “Ow, Hobi, that hurt!”

“Shut up Jimin, stop teasing Kookie.” Hobi grumbles, an indigent yelp is heard in reply.

“Hobi do we need to have another talk about laying your hands on Jiminie?” Taehyung asks sweetly, Jungkook could almost hear Hobi’s gulp before he was led out of ear shot as Namjoon tugs him further through the house.

Jungkook barely registers the long hallways filled with doors and wide windows that look out into the night sky. The adrenaline from the day is slowly starting to wear off and leaving him feeling sleepy as Namjoon’s warm hand guides him. They came to the end of the hallway with two matching doors on either side of a window nook. Namjoon opens the right door and gestures for Jungkook to enter.

The room is modest, but barren of character, the walls a warm cream with white drapes over the windows. The bed sits in the middle of the room and has an earthy green comforter on it. The only light eliminating the room are the two Tiffany lamps on either side of the bed. But all Jungkook cares about is how comfortable that bed looks right now.

“I know you must be dying to go to sleep, but could you give me a moment to grab you some clean clothes.” Namjoon says softly then points to the door to the right side of the bed, “That’s the bathroom, feel free to wash up. I’ll place the clothes on the bed. My room is right across from yours, if you need me don’t hesitate to knock.”

“Thank you Namjoon,” Jungkook whispered, turning to face the man in the doorway. “Thank you for everything.”

Namjoon smiles, his dimples popping beautifully on his face, “Of course, sweetheart, it's the least I could do.” Jungkook opened his mouth to protest but Namjoon held a hand up to stop him. “I’m sure you can argue with me all night long, but it's been a long day and you need rest. We can continue this in the morning.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Jungkook swore, making Namjoon roll his eyes and mutter ‘I’m sure you will’ under his breath as he closed the door behind him.

Jungkook chuckled under his breath and made his way to the bathroom, he switched the light on and blinked in shock at the size of the room. There was a double sink, a free standing claw tub under a low window, and a glass enclosed shower. Jungkook whistles quietly at the white marble throughout the room, before turning on the shower. He stripped himself of his dirty clothes, dumping them in a pile before stepping into the warm water.

The tension in his shoulders instantly begins to melt as a heated blast of water hits his skin. He tilts his head to allow his hair to get thoroughly soaked, allowing the water to run down his face. He tries not to let the memories of the day run through his head as he washes himself from top to bottom, but the little reminders on his body keep it close to the forefront.

The rope burns on his wrists, the stinging of his cheek, and the slight burn in his nose from the chemical he had breathed in that knocked him out. His hands shake slightly as he remembers the harsh rope against his skin. The sound of dripping water that was in the background of the dank room. The scrapping of metal as Bangchan dragged the cork-board across the room. And those pictures, all those intimate moments between him and Namjoon, that had shaken him the most.

The memories weren’t exactly tainted, now that he knew someone had been watching him but he felt as if, even now, there was nowhere safe for him. He tries to shake the thought away as he turned off the water and stepped into the steaming bathroom.

Of course he was safe here, he reasoned to himself, this was Namjoon’s house, no one would dare enter without his knowledge. He ran a towel through his hair, repeating to himself that he was safe, safe in Namjoon’s home.

He kept the mantra going in his mind as he wrapped a towel around his waist and pulled a new toothbrush from under the sink. He stares at himself in the mirror as he rapidly scrubs his teeth, eyeing the faintly red mark on his cheek. He hoped the ointment Namjoon put on it would keep it from bruising too much.

His reflection in the mirror also showed how much he needed a good night’s sleep. There were dark purple bags under his eyes, too many nights of late studying on top of his performances at D-Town. And his skin was paler under the warm lighting.

He stepped out of the bathroom, towel still around his waist, to see a pair of sweatpants, a large t-shirt, and a clean pair of boxers on the bed. Jungkook’s stomach bubbled with warmth at Namjoon’s simple gesture, he pulled the clothes onto his body and was instantly covered in the man’s familiar scent. He placed the towel back in the bathroom, switched off all the lights, and slipped into the bed.

There was no clock to watch the minutes tick by in the room, all he could stare at was the dark canopy above him. Even with the heaviness behind his eyelids and the softness of the mattress just coaxing him into sleep, he couldn’t. He tossed and turned trying to make himself fall asleep.

Finally he huffed, sat straight up, and threw the covers off. He swung his legs off the bed, debating back and forth as he made his way towards the door. It opened without a sound and he looked out into the dimly lit hall. Namjoon’s door was slightly ajar, spilling a beam of light from inside out onto the floor. He stared at it for a moment, took a deep breath then walked towards it and knocked lightly on the door frame.

“Come in, Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon called softly.

Jungkook nodded to himself and pushed the door open, the room was everything and nothing like he was expecting. There was a record player under the window with piles of vinyls leaning against the stand and on the window seat. There were bookshelves lining almost every wall from floor to ceiling, covered in books of all sizes and colors. And plants, there were all sorts of little plants all throughout the room.

The bed, large with a dark green comforter, mirrored the spot from Jungkook’s room. Namjoon sat atop the bed, nearest the door, now dressed in loose sweats and a t-shirt with a book in hand and dark rimmed glasses on his face. He looked at Jungkook in question as he entered the room.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jungkook explained, rubbing his arm nervously. “Could I…”

Namjoon patted the spot next to him on the bed wordlessly and Jungkook wasted no time crossing the room and burying himself under the covers next to him. He scooted as close as he dared to where Namjoon was sitting, already feeling much better in the man’s presence.

“Worried about your brother?” Namjoon asked, still flicking through his book slowly.

Jungkook shook his head, he wanted to tell Namjoon what exactly was bothering him but the words just wouldn’t come out. Namjoon blinked for a moment then set his book aside, pulling his glasses off as well and set them on top of the hard cover. He reached over and ran a hand through Jungkook’s damp hair.

“That warehouse really shook you up didn’t it, little one.” Namjoon guessed softly, exhaling gruffly at Jungkook’s nod.

“It was… it was the photographs that really bothered me.” He whispered, swallowing back the lump that was building in his throat.

Namjoon hummed in realization, “That bothered me as well, does it help to know that the man who took them will never be able to hold a camera in his life again?”

Jungkook grimaced at the implied image but nodded, “It does, oddly enough.”

Namjoon hummed, “How can I help you sleep, little one?”

“Can you… can you just… hold me, please?” Jungkook whispered, clutching the sheet tightly in his fists.

“Oh sweetheart, you never have to beg me for that.” Namjoon soothed, immediately moving to lay down next to Jungkook and pull him into his arms. “There we go, just let me be your strength for right now, you can let go. It’s just us here, just you and me.”

Namjoon’s soothing words broke the dam within Jungkook, he broke into wracking sobs and clutched onto Namjoon’s shirt like a lifeline. Namjoon’s arms were tight around his body and he stroked his hair as the tears flowed down his cheeks.

The last thing that Jungkook remembered before he fell into an exhaustive sleep was Namjoon’s plush lips pressing against his forehead and a whisper of ‘Sleep now baby, I’ve got you’.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 10: House of Cards

Jungkook awoke to the sounds of voices coming from far away and the slight wafts of food being cooked. An arm shifted over his waist as he groaned and pushed his face into his pillow. Namjoon chuckled deeply behind him and placed a kiss against the back of his neck.

“I’m gonna go to the kitchen, baby.” He whispered, before sliding away from Jungkook and getting off the bed.

Jungkook groaned at the loss of warmth, slowly coming back to the waking world. He rolled over to his back and blinked the sleepiness slowly out of his eyes. He stretched and moaned as his joints popped, before sitting up and blinking blurry at the dark room. Rubbing his eyes he shifted off the bed and started making his way down the hallway, towards the sounds of voices and smells of food.

“Namjoon-ah, are you going to answer me honestly now,” Yoongi’s voice reached Jungkook’s ears, making him freeze in his tracks. “I understand wanting to involve the boy in our plans, it is his brother, but don’t you think you gave him a bit too much credit last night.”

“What do you mean by that?” Namjoon countered as Jungkook pressed himself against the wall and barely breathed as he listened to the conversation. Neither Namjoon nor Yoongi sounded angry, but the undertone was very serious.

“I mean that you looked to both Jungkook and I for approval last night, even if you are dating him, he’s not a part of the crew. And you’re skipping a lot of steps in the food chain if he is.” Yoongi argued. “For fucks sake, he hasn’t even gone through an initiation.”

“Neither did Taehyung, when he joined us.” Namjoon countered gruffly.

“Don’t you dare bring my husband into this! His situation was completely different!” Yoongi barked then took a deep breath after Namjoon swiftly apologized. “I’m not saying that Jungkook-ah isn’t capable, he’s a fucking smart kid but he didn’t come from this life, no matter who his father and brother are. Your soft spot for him is going to step on some toes eventually and I’m trying to stop the train wreck before it happens.”

A palpable pause hung in the air, Jungkook could only shutter a breath when Namjoon spoke again.

“Is that your only objection to him? That he’s ‘skipping steps’ as you say to be a part of the company.”

“Does he even want to be a part of the company?” Yoongi countered.

“If he does then he will go through the initiation and training like everyone else, last night was a fluke. Because it is his brother and if Jungkook does well on this mission, which I know he will, I will consider this his initiation. For whenever he chooses to join us or not.” Namjoon explains calmly. “But I don’t think it’s just last night that’s bothering you.”

“No it's not,” Yoongi agrees with a sigh, there’s a pause as if the men are just staring at each other for a moment. “What happens on the day that Jungkook asks you to leave the company? That he sees something that he can’t live with, something that we do on a daily basis, and asks you to stop. What are you going to do?”

Namjoon hums and Jungkook holds his breath waiting for his answer.

“If you had asked me that a few weeks ago, I would have said I’d leave everything for him. If you had asked me after our first date, I would have said that I would try and compromise with him. But now, after last night,” Namjoon pauses and there’s a smile in his voice as he speaks again. “I’d say he’d never ask me to do that. We are going to fight over certain things, that’s a given, but when Jungkook chooses to be a part of this life, he’s going to be all in.”

“And you really think he will? For you?”

“In some ways he already has, he just doesn’t know it yet. But I’d never force his hand, I’d never take his choice away from him. The day he chooses this life is the day he tells me he does.” Namjoon answered with firmness.

“And if he doesn’t?” Yoongi pressed stubbornly. “Are you going to just let him go? With everything he knows now?”

“If in doubt, Seokjin will take him far away from me and keep his cards even closer to his chest this time. But to answer your question, yes I will let him go. If he tells me to. If all hope of having him in my life is gone.” There’s a sad note to Namjoon’s voice as he says this, it almost makes Jungkook tear up. “Are you satisfied hyung? Have I answered all of your questions?”

“I only have one more,” Yoongi says, his voice turning teasing. “He’s not going to be taking my place as Second, is he?”

“Aw hyung, are you worried about being replaced?” Namjoon teases with a chuckle.

“No you asshole,” Jungkook could hear Yoongi’s eye-roll even from behind the wall. “I’m worried about not getting my fat paycheck to supply my husband’s Gucci addiction.”

Namjoon bursts out laughing, “Has he bought Yeontan and Holly matching Gucci collars yet?”

Yoongi groans in pain, “He has a whole damn jewelry box for them.”

With the new turn of subject, Jungkook felt it was safe for him to move. He’s surprised to find that the wall he hid against did not immediately turn into the kitchen, but above it. He wanders further into the balcony room that overlooks the stoves until he comes to a staircase.

“How big is this house?” Jungkook mutters as he gazes around, descending the stairs that led straight into the kitchen.

“Too fucking big,” Yoongi groaned. “We have two cleaning crews to keep up with the amount of dust this place collects.”

Jungkook giggled at his hyung’s groaning as he slid up next to Namjoon, wrapping his arms around the man’s waist. Namjoon’s arm went easily around his shoulders and looked down at him in amusement.

“Good morning,” Jungkook greets with a smile and raises himself on his tiptoes to place a kiss on Namjoon’s dimpled cheek.

“Good morning baby,” he replies, placing a returning kiss on Jungkook’s forehead. “Did you sleep well?”

Jungkook hummed happily and nodded his head, ducking his head against Namjoon’s chest at the sound of Yoongi muttering, under his breath, ‘damn honeymoon phase’.

“Now hyung,” Namjoon tuts, reaching across Jungkook to start a cup of coffee for him. “I seem to remember a very extravagant couple in their honeymoon phase not too long ago. Does the third emergency cleaning crew we had to hire that year ring any bells, hmm?”

“Yah Namjoon-ah,” Yoongi warns in a long drawl. “Choose your next words very, very carefully. I know where you sleep.”

“Tickling my feet isn’t going to work anymore hyungie, I wear socks to bed.” Namjoon deadpans, staring down at Yoongi. Unsuccessfully keeping the stern look on his face as Jungkook starts to vibrate with laughter against him.

“What’s so funny?” Jimin teases as he slid into the kitchen, Hobi and Taehyung in tow behind him. Taehyung is instantly behind Yoongi, wrapping his long arms around his husband’s waist and resting his chin on his shoulder.

Namjoon simply shook his head as Jungkook snorted in laughter and Yoongi looked at the pair in exasperation as he sipped his coffee, resting a hand on top of his husband’s.

Soon all of them were gathered around the long dining room table with food spread across it. They ate and discussed light topics until the plates were completely empty.

“To start us off,” Namjoon began, setting his mug down on the table, conversations ending as he does. “Does anyone have any objections to Jungkook’s presence or in-put on our current plans?”

“Namjoon,” Yoongi started to protest but stopped when he raised his hand to stop him.

“I will not be cornered in my own house again with objections that everyone should hear,” Namjoon says coldly, holding two fingers in the air. “Only two people have the privilege of doing that to me and they are sitting on my left and right.”

All eyes blinked as they eyed Yoongi sitting at Namjoon’s right hand and Jungkook at his left. Jungkook shifted a bit under the eyes of his hyungs, he felt Namjoon’s hand slide under the table onto his thigh and give it a gentle squeeze.

“Any and all objects will be heard here and now, so speak if you will. There will be no ramifications, this time.” Namjoon encourages and warns as he glances around the table.

“Is this the only mission Jungkook will have a say in? I can understand it being his brother, but beyond that…” Hobi spoke up, shifting a look at Jungkook that seemed sheepish.

“That… that has yet to be determined.” Namjoon answers slowly, the hand on Jungkook’s thigh tightening slightly. “For now, let’s focus on the current mission and Jungkook’s role in it.”

“What exactly will his role be?” Jimin asks curiously.

“His word will be heard in final decisions made in the capture of his brother and when we are on mission he will be assisting Taehyung in surveillance. Is that an issue for anyone?” Namjoon explains, completely straight laced in his words.

“Then I have no issues with him being here,” Hobi says with a small smile.

“Neither do I,” Jimin agrees with a shrug, looking over at Taehyung who nods as well.

“You’ve been quiet Jungkook-ah, do you have anything to add?” Yoongi asked, his eyes trained on the young man sitting across from him.

Jungkook’s hand went to Namjoon’s on his thigh, to which he turned it to thread their fingers together, “I know I have no place here, I have no right to voice my thoughts about what should be done to get my brother. He’s causing trouble for all of you and I have no experience to truly be of any help, however,” Jungkook pressed on before Namjoon could interject, he leveled a look at the man that made him shut his mouth immediately. “However, I’m not completely useless. I may not know the rules of your company but I can catch on pretty quickly. I know that if you give me your trust, like you have for the entirety of our friendship, that I won’t let you down. Failure is always a possibility but not something I accept easily.”

Taehyung chuckled, “That’s our Kookie, always so competitive.”

His chuckle is echoed around the table and Jungkook ducks his head blushing at their warm looks towards him.

“I never meant to doubt you Jungkook,” Hobi said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “This life ours can suck you in without even knowing it and it's a bitch to be spat back out. The circumstances of this mission is different but anything that comes after, you need to make sure this is what you really want. That the sacrifices that come with it, the pain and death, is worth it.”

Jungkook nods in understanding, squeezing Namjoon’s hand in his, as murmurs of agreement echo around the table.

“None of you chose this life, it chose you?” Jungkook looks each of his hyungs in the eye as they nod in agreement, sadness in their eyes. “So, no one is born for this life. They are made for it, carved and beaten to fit the mold that it requires. Your choice was taken from you to be here and you’re not taking away my choice for me to sit here. I wasn’t completely honest about how I met Namjoon. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought you would tell me to stay away from him, but I’ll tell you now.”

All eyes shifted between the pair in curiosity, Jungkook takes a deep breath, “My first meeting with Namjoon was in an alleyway on my way to class. He was beating a gang member until his knuckles were bloody. But instead of turning on me, or threatening me, when I stumbled upon them. He offered me his jacket off his back and sent me on my way.”

“Was that the day you came into photography class a little dazed with that big leather jacket on?” Jimin asks, pointing an accusing finger at Jungkook and at his nod he gasped, “You hoe, you should have given me all the juicy details! You’ve been holding back!”

Chuckles resonated around the table, there’s palpable relief emulating from everyone. Making Jungkook feel at ease at telling them the truth. Namjoon’s hand squeezed his and he turned to see an amused look on the man’s face.

“Are we ready to return to business then?” Namjoon asks, receiving nods in reply. “Alright then, Yoongi do we have any update from the Saharans?”

Yoongi fished his phone out from his pocket as he spoke, “They started making their move to capture Seokjin after we agreed to their demands, I’ve been receiving updates every hour from our contact. Currently, they’ve tracked him near the airport in Marrakech. They think he had a bug placed on them and learned of their plan. He may be trying to get on a plane to escape.”

“Do you believe he knows that it’s us that have asked for his capture?” Taehyung asks, taking the phone from his husband to scroll through the messages that were sent.

Yoongi shrugs, “Any code that we could have used to hide our identity from him wouldn’t have worked, he knows all of them.”

“Then we need Hoseok and Jimin on a plane heading that way today,” Namjoon broke in, giving a look to the pair who nodded and stood from their seats. “Take the class one jet, we’ll send the Saharan’s payment after you and only if they capture Seokjin before us. Take one of our consultation gifts from them, just in case you beat them to the punch.”

The two men nod in understanding then make their way swiftly out the door, tapping away at their phones as they go.

“Taehyung,” Namjoon says, making the man look up from his husband’s phone. “Get on point and see if you can find Seokjin through the cameras in the area and take Jungkook with you.”

Taehyung nods with a wide smile, drops his husband's phone on the table and places a kiss on the man’s cheek below the man’s scar. He skips out of the room calling for Jungkook to follow him.

Yoongi’s eyes follow him hungrily, “Fuck, I love that man.”

Jungkook stands to follow after Taehyung, dropping Namjoon’s hand as he goes, only to be pulled down for a swift kiss on his own cheek before being ushered to follow. Taehyung cackles loudly as Jungkook’s blushing face joins him in the hallway.

“Shut up hyung,” he mutters, smacking the man’s arm. Taehyung just laughs louder and loops his arm with Jungkook’s.

“Today is going to be so much fun!” Taehyung giggles happily, forcing Jungkook to take long strides next to him as he skips down the hallways until they reach a pair of double doors. He throws them open dramatically and pulls Jungkook inside to sit down in the pair of swivel chairs facing a wall of screens and a large desk of keyboards.

Taehyung happily begins to switch on various screens and jumbled up instruments that make no sense to Jungkook. He watches in awe as his hyung brings up security cameras from all around the world until they land in Morocco. On one screen there runs a face recognition scan overtop the crowded streets, with Seokjin’s amused picture sitting in the corner.

“We’re so lucky that Seokjin has such a distinct face, that’ll find him in no time.” Taehyung hums, continuing to tap away at his keyboard making images fly across his screen at lighting pace.

“Doesn’t everyone have a distinct face?” Jungkook asks, his eyes glued to the face scanner screen as it bobs and weaves through various faces in the crowd; mainly Asian travelers.

“Face recognition isn’t like in the movies, Kook,” Taehyung giggles as he swivels across the desk to another keyboard and another screen that has lines of code rolling up at a steady pace. “The computer can only find the parameters you set for it, so you have to be very specific when you are looking for someone. If used right you’ll find your person every single time, if not then you’re just looking for a face among other faces.”

“So, smart computers are not a thing in the hacking world?” Jungkook teases, his eyes drifting on the numerous screens that are connected to cameras in Morocco, showing the city streets with cars and people moving about.

“A computer can only be as smart as the person that programs it,” Taehyung says sagely, rolling next to Jungkook again as he adjusts some of the cameras to now face a large airport. “Which is why you usually have multiple people programming a super computer, all those lines of code work together to make some hint of intelligence for it. But it can never beat the human mind, Kookie, always remember that.”

Jungkook nods as he watches Taehyung flicker through various cameras throughout the Marrakech Airport.

“Won’t it be harder to find him here? With all the foreigners traveling.” He asks, glancing back at the face scanner screen that's now flickering through faces at lightning speed.

“I believe that was his goal, Seokjin was a bastard but he’s smart and he knows our methods. He’s going to make this as difficult as possible.” Taehyung hums, clapping his hands together happily making Jungkook blink at him in confusion. “Oh! I do love a challenge! Let us find our little alpaca among the sand cats.”

Jungkook watched in awe as his hyung flickered through various screens, moving from one end of the desk to the other adjusting every instrument as he went. He adjusted the face scanner a few times, making it slow down through its line of faces, until it was only showing faces of Korean men that looked eerily similar to his brother. Taehyung was in his element, dancing from screen to screen with his fingers tapping away on the various keys like the beat to a song, it was as if he was born to be in this room.

“How well did you know my brother?” Jungkook asks as Taehyung settles behind the code screen once again.

Taehyung shrugs, “As well as anyone could know Seokjin I suppose, he kept all of us at a distance while he was with us. Never tried to bond, he was here to get revenge for his father and that was it. Most of us have seen it before, it didn’t bother us, I've seen it more than anyone else. The company I came from was created for revenge, it was their speciality.”

“What made you come to Namjoon’s company?” Jungkook asks curiously, watching as Taehyung’s fingers danced across the keyboard.

“Namjoon started a contract with our crew for their hunt for Jang-ssi’s murderer. But he was really after my help, my hacking skills are very well known in the underground circles. They called me Vante of Daegu, before I became the Tiger of Seoul.” Taehyung explains, a coldness coming over his eyes that Jungkook had never seen before. He looks over at Jungkook and his expression softens, “The memories of that name still haunt me to this day.”

“You don’t have to tell me hyung, if you’re not ready.” Jungkook says softly, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder.

“You’d think after all these years it wouldn’t affect me so much,” Taehyung chuckles hoarsely. “You have no idea what my Yoongi saved me from, Kookie. What the Bulletproof Company set me free from.”

“I’m glad they did,” Jungkook whispers, tightening his hand on Taehyung’s shoulder.

Taehyung chuckles wetly, “You know when I met Yoongi, he was such a little tsundere from the beginning. I was smitten within a week, much to his annoyance.”

Jungkook smiles at his hyung's soft words, “So you stayed for Yoongi-hyung?”

Taehyung shook his head and glanced at Jungkook’s shocked expression, “After I helped them get their revenge, I returned to Daegu with the Hwarang Boys. The contract I was under with them didn’t allow me to stay.” Taehyung shrugs nonchalantly but then smiles his wide boxy smile as happier memories come to his mind. “Then Yoongi came for me, he found the contract and the loophole that allowed me to leave. So I left and haven’t looked back since. He didn’t make it smooth sailing after that though. The little kitten gave me a fair chase in my pursuit of him, the sneaky bastard.”

Jungkook chuckles at his hyung’s endearments towards his husband, glad that he was back to his usual bubbly self. “You’re gonna have to tell me more about your epic love story with hyung later, Tae.”

Taehyung hums, “Preferably with my Yoons in the room, I love watching his face bloom with that pretty blush.” He then leveled a look at Jungkook, “You’re also going to have to tell me all about your little romance with our beloved leader, you’ve been holding out on us! For shame, Kookie, I thought you loved us!”

Jungkook rolls his eyes, “We’ve only been on like three official dates, calm down hyung.”

“You’ve at least kissed him right, Namjoon seems like the type to kiss after the first date.” Taehyung paused at Jungkook’s silence and slowly turned to look at him. “You haven’t kissed.”

Jungkook shakes his head, “Not on the lips, no.” He mumbles, blushing at Taehyung’s gasp of surprise.

“You’ve kissed his dick before even kissing his lips!” Taehyung gasps then yelps when Jungkook smacks his arm.

“No hyung! There’s something called a forehead and cheek kiss you know! You whore, get your life together!” Jungkook scolds, giving his hyung another smack for good measure.

“Owie Jungkookie,” Taehyung whines, rubbing his arm in pain. “You don’t need to hit me so hard, it's not my fault that your love life is going at a snail's pace.”

Jungkook gasped indignantly, “We are going at a perfectly normal romantic pacing, thank you very much.”

“I still kissed Yoongi before he ever held me in my sleep, but you do you boo, you do you.” Taehyung sang as he returned to tapping away on his screens.

Jungkook opened his mouth to retort but the sound of an alert cut him off, the pair turned to look at the face scanner as it flashed green. It had found Seokjin, standing in a crowd near a coffee shop, sipping on an iced americano and wearing dark sunglasses. Immediately Taehyung began focusing more cameras on the man at as many angles as he could and sent a message to Yoongi to inform the Saharans they had found him.

Jungkook watched with bated breath as a crew surrounded his brother, spoke to him softly, and slowly escorted him out of the airport. Taehyung kept a steady camera angle at all times as they marched him out the front doors and into a white SUV. Then they followed the car through the streets until it reached the edge of the city, heading for the mountains.

Taehyung cursed as they watched the vehicle disappear around a bend, slamming his hand against the desk. “They’ve taken out all the cameras leading to their base and Hobi hasn’t landed yet with my drones. We’re going to have to hope that he doesn’t escape before they get there.”

“Didn’t he go a little too easily?” Jungkook asks hesitantly, still staring at the empty street that his brother disappeared on.

Taehyung hums in thought, “There’s nothing we can do now if this has been Seokjin’s plan all along. We’re just going to have to wait till Hobi and Jiminie get there.”

The hours ticked by as they waited, Taehyung fiddled with a few screens for a moment before deciding to just give Jungkook a tutorial on them to pass the time. By the time Taehyung got the signal that his drones were online, he had walked Jungkook through half of his equipment and was pleased to find him a natural at guiding the cameras to the right spot. ‘I’m a film student, hyung, what do you expect?’ Jungkook had protested before focusing on the new screens from the drone surveillance that was now hovering over the hidden base.

They watched Hobi exit the private jet with a long katana on his back and greet some men on the tarmac. They spoke for a few minutes before the other men nodded and waved for someone to join them. Out from the plane hangar came a huddle of men in black suits with Seokjin chained between them.

The drone zoomed in on his face, taking note of the bruise that now adorned it and the gag around his mouth. Hobi called a team of men from his own jet and the groups met half-way on the tarmac. More words were exchanged before Hobi shook one of the men’s hands and Seokjin was turned over to them.

Jungkook held his breath as they entered the jet one by one, until Hobi stepped inside and it closed behind them. The drones returned to the underbelly of the jet and Taehyung switched to the cameras from inside. They watched as Seokjin sat down in a seat in front of Jimin with a guard on either side of him. Once Hobi sat in his seat next to Jimin the plane began to take off.

“This seems too easy,” Taehyung whispers, staring hard at Seokjin through the screen. “What is he playing at?”

He pushed himself over to another screen and began typing away at it, Jungkook stayed glued to the face of his brother trying to read him through the screen. Seokjin’s face was guarded and cold, something that Jungkook had never seen before.

“He’s not wearing a tracker, a bomb, or a wire as far as my scanners can see.” Taehyung mutters to himself, returning to the jet’s cameras as the plane begins to soar through the air. “And the Saharans haven’t aimed any weapons at our jet.”

“You think Jin-hyung could have made a deal with them to do that?” Jungkook asks, getting a shrug in reply. An unsettling feeling pooling in his stomach.

Taehyung gave an unsure hum as he gazed at the screen next to him. They watched with bated breaths until the plane leveled and they were sailing smoothly out of the air. Taehyung watched the sonar of the plane very closely as they crossed over the continent of Africa. He breathed a gentle sigh of relief when they left the air space of Morocco, only to gasp when Seokjin jerked in his seat.

“What the hell?” Jungkook gasps, watching his brother throw hands at the two guards sitting next to him and Hobi diving off his chair to try and restrain him.

Even with Seokjin’s hands tied together he put up a fair fight against the men inside the plane. He knocked down the two guards next to him, kicked Hobi across the aisle, and tossed Jimin off his back when he pounced on him. He was slowly making his way through the men as he charged towards the cockpit.

“Is there a speaker on the plane?” Jungkook shouts at Taehyung as Seokjin gets closer and closer to the door. Taehyung moved to action so fast that Jungkook blinked and there was a mic in front of his face with a green light at the bottom of the pad. Taehyung gave him the thumbs up and Jungkook shouted into it, “Hyung! Stop!”

Seokjin froze mid-step, he looked around wildly for the sound of Jungkook’s voice until his eyes met the lens of the camera that was trained on him. His eyes widened as realization colored his face, but the gag around his mouth made it impossible to speak.

“Sit back down and stop giving Namjoon’s men trouble! You are coming home, whether you like it or not, even if I have to bring you back myself.” Jungkook threatens, glaring at the screen. “I’m not talking to you until you’ve landed and brought here.”

Seokjin glared at the camera for a moment, before returning to his seat. The men that he put on the floor slowly got back to their places while Jimin rushed over to Hobi’s side and pulled him back onto his seat.

“Nice save, Kookie.” Hobi breaths, massaging his knee that had been kicked. “Stay on the line, yah, just in case he does that again.”

“We’ll be watching until you pull up to base, hyung.” Jungkook promised, before turning the knob on the pad to turn off the mic. He breathed heavily as he leaned back into his chair, anger still coursing through his veins.

Taehyung patted his shoulder, “You thought quickly there, Kook, good job. Whatever his plan was, it’s been derailed now. I don’t think he’ll be moving until he sees you.”

“I’m counting on it,” Jungkook said solemnly, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands.

“He wouldn’t have gotten very far, even if he did get into the cockpit,” Taehyung and Jungkook turned to see Yoongi in the doorway, he smiled at the pair before stepping into the room and laying his hands on Taehyung’s shoulders.

“There’s a reason Namjoon told Hobi to take that jet, the cockpit has a failsafe on the outside.” Yoongi explains, intertwining his hand with Taehyung’s that came up onto his. “Jimin would’ve known to activate it as soon as he entered, it would’ve locked him and the pilots inside. The plane would go into auto-pilot and the room would fill with a gas that would’ve knocked them out cold. Then Jimin would be able to take control of the aircraft. He has a pilot’s license, as does Hobi.”

Jungkook breathes a sigh of relief, “Do you have backup plans for everything, hyung?”

“We have backup plans for the backup plans, Kook, it's necessary in our line of work.” Yoongi reassures him, but smiles proudly at him. “You did good though, Jungkook-ah. That gas is a bitch to replace, the canisters always make me nervous when they arrive at the warehouse. One wrong move and we’re all asleep till Christmas.”

Jungkook and Taehyung chuckle at Yoongi’s attempt at lightening the mood, they face the screen again when Yoongi glances at it. Seokjin was still in his seat, staring down at his bond hands in front of him.

“I have not missed that bastard’s face,” Yoongi murmurs, tutting his tongue. “I can take over on watch, Jungkook. Go and get yourself a break, we’ll call you back if Seokjin tries something again.”

Jungkook nodded and rose from his chair, letting Yoongi take his spot, and heading for the door. Just before he slipped out into the hall, Yoongi called out to him.

“If you want to find Namjoon, he’s in his private study. Up the stairs from the kitchen, third door on the left.” Yoongi chuckles at Jungkook’s blush and shoos him from the room with a wave of his hand.

Jungkook left the room gladly after seeing the sultry look Taehyung was giving his husband and shut the door swiftly behind him. He headed straight down the hall towards the kitchen with swift steps, breathing a sigh of relief at not being able to hear anything from where he stood. He shivered at the memories of having to blast music in his ears when he had lived with the couple, it was like hearing his parents going at it.

The hours had ticked by so fast while he was working with Taehyung, he didn’t even realize he was hungry until he stood in front of the fridge. Never one to deny himself anything when it came to food, he pillaged Namjoon’s stocked fridge and made himself a quick bowl of kimchi fried rice.

“Damn,” he moaned as he took his first mouthful, his brows scrunched in ecstasy as he devoured his food. He periodically cursed the goodness of it as he ate until nothing was left inside of the bowl. He washed his dirty dishes before making his way up the stairs towards Namjoon’s study.

The door was slightly ajar, like his bedroom door last night, a silent invitation for Jungkook to enter but he still knocked on the doorframe. Waiting for the quiet ‘come in Jungkook-ah’ before pushing the door open. Namjoon looked up from his desk of papers, his dark rimmed glasses back on his face, and smiled at Jungkook as he slid in.

“Have fun in Tae’s workshop?” Namjoon asks, as Jungkook sat in the seat across from his desk.

Jungkook rolls his eyes good naturally, “You make it sound like we were just playing with woodcarving, not stopping my brother from crashing a multi-million won airplane.”

Namjoon chuckles, “Yes, Yoongi-hyung told me about Seokjin’s little fit. And how you stopped him, well done little one. I’m glad we won’t have to replace the gas canister on that jet for this trip, hyung hates doing that job.”

“I still don’t understand what my brother was thinking, nothing that he’s done has made any sense.” Jungkook says with a sigh, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

“If he’s willing to talk when he arrives, we’ll find out, so don’t worry about it right now.” Namjoon soothed, tapping a long finger on the surface of his desk. “There’s actually something I want to discuss with you, well two things.”

Jungkook straightened in his seat, fully focusing on Namjoon, trying not to jump to the worst conclusions.

“I know that you heard what Yoongi-hyung and I were discussing this morning,” he leveled an amused look at Jungkook’s sheepish one. “I don’t blame you for being curious and I won’t scold you for eavesdropping, it’s the best way to obtain information from people after all. However, I would like to have a discussion with you about your place in the Bulletproof Company myself.”

“Ah,” Jungkook hums, tilting his head in confusion as he looks at Namjoon.

“Fuck, it seems too early to have this conversation,” Namjoon sighs, running a hand through his hair, making it fall from the slicked back style he had it in. “Your position within the company needs to be addressed and whether you are willing to go through the process of becoming a member. And ultimately rising through the ranks to become a part of my Inner Circle.”

“You… you would want me to be a part of your Inner Circle.” Jungkook gapes, blinking in shock as Namjoon nods. “I don’t think being your boyfriend qualifies me for that Namjoon, as far as I can tell you only have the best of the best there.”

Namjoon blinks, mouthed the word ‘boyfriend’ with a dreamy look on his face before shaking himself from his stupor, “I’m sure you’ll show yourself more than capable of being in my Inner Circle, after you go through the proper training. That is, if you agree to do it.”

Jungkook narrows his eyes suspiciously and crosses his arms over his chest, “How do I know that you won’t rig these tests? Make sure I can’t possibly fail at them and rise through the ranks as fast as possible.”

Namjoon chuckles, “Baby, I think you’ll have my head before even Hobi does, if I tried to do that.”

Jungkook hums, still narrowing his eyes at him, “I’ll go to Hobi-hyung to make sure you do keep your word on that.”

“Are you actually considering it?” Namjoon asks, raising his brow at him. “You won’t be the same man once you’ve come out the other side.”

“I’ve been thinking about it since you told me who you truly are. And about what it could involve in the future.” Jungkook admitted with a sigh. “I don’t think I’ve been the same since I met you in that alley, Namjoon, but I think you’re worth the changes I’ll face, as long as I have you next to me.”

Namjoon stood from his chair, rounded the desk and knelt in front of Jungkook, taking his hands into his own. “I don’t want you to just make decisions about your life just for me. You can still have a normal life, finish college, get a job, buy a house. You can still have that, without entering my dark world.” He whispered looking deep into Jungkook’s eyes, hesitation brimming in them. “I just… I don’t want you to make a decision that you’ll regret later.”

Jungkook shifted their hands so that they were interlaced together, “Life is full of regret, the true challenge is being able to live with those mistakes and move past them. But I don’t ever think choosing to follow my heart would be a mistake, or something I’ll regret.” He leaned forward placing his forehead against Namjoon’s. “There have been so many moments that I could have turned the other way, to say that it was too much for me, but I haven’t. Every new fear I’ve faced with you, and come out the other side stronger for it, has made me hungry for the next one.”

Namjoon rose up on his knees until they were eye level, their noses brushed against each other as he shifted his face to look over Jungkook’s. His eyes searched until he seemed like he found what he was looking for and he smiled, his eyes flickering down to Jungkook’s lips. Jungkook tilted his head slightly and met Namjoon half way, their lips met. Those plush lips that Jungkook had been dreaming of were now against his.

His eyes closed to the sensation of softness and pressure, then Namjoon was pulling away, making Jungkook surge forward for his lips once more. He slid his hands up Namjoon’s neck and through his hair, gripping it tightly as he pulled Namjoon’s bottom lip between his teeth, making the other man groan in pleasure.

Their teeth clanged against each other as they tried to devour each other’s mouth. Tongues twisted as Namjoon gripped Jungkook’s waist and pulled him to straddle his thick thighs on the floor. Jungkook groaned as Namjoon’s arms tightened around his back and his tongue slid against his. Jungkook’s hands drifted down Namjoon’s chest until he could grip the bottom of his dress shirt. His fingers were just beginning to slide up the defined abs under the fabric when a knock interrupted them.

“Fuck,” Namjoon groans deeply, pulling away with heaving breaths. Jungkook’s head falls down against his neck, breathing just as heavily. “This better be fucking important!”

“Hobi and Jiminie have arrived with Seokjin, so stop sucking face and get your asses down here.” Yoongi called through the door, his footsteps echoing as he left the hall.

Namjoon ran a hand down Jungkook’s back as they collected their breaths. He placed a kiss against his forehead as Jungkook sighed against him.

Jungkook wanted to do nothing but stay on the floor with his boyfriend. But his brother was waiting downstairs and he needed to see him. Needed to talk to him.

“When we’re done downstairs, I still have something else I need to talk to you about.” Namjoon says softly, as he helps Jungkook to his feet and straightens his dress shirt from Jungkook’s wandering hands.

Jungkook licks his throbbing lips, “It better end the same way the last one did, cause damn that was hot.”

Namjoon laughs then winks, “Might end better without any interruptions.”

“Promises, promises.” Jungkook teased, skirting around Namjoon with an eyebrow wiggle, cackling as the man swatted his ass as he passed.

“You are going to get me in so much trouble,” Namjoon sighs, opening the door for Jungkook, rolling his eyes when he gets a smirk in response. “Come on, let’s go face your elusive elder brother.”

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 11: Tear

By the time Namjoon and Jungkook had made it to the living room, the light atmosphere from the private study had been completely replaced by a united force of seriousness. Jungkook walked next to Namjoon with sure steps, his lips still tingling from the kiss, but his mind focused on the silhouette of his brother’s wide shoulders in front of the fireplace.

The rest of Namjoon’s Inner Circle sat around on the couches inside, the body guards stationed at the doorway nodded to the pair as they entered and closed the doors behind them. Seokjin turned at the sound, his eyes widening at the sight of Jungkook, his mouth and hands still bound.

“We can take those off him now,” Namjoon states coldly, folding his hands behind his back as he stares at Seokjin. “This is going to be a two sided conversation after all.”

Yoongi nods and stands to remove them, both sets of ropes are cut with a long knife from his side sheath and tossed to the floor. Seokjin rubs his wrists and flexes his jaw as Yoongi takes his seat next to his husband.

“What the hell are you doing here, Jungkook!” Jin barked, twisting his wrists to ease the pain. “You’re supposed to be at school! Not…”

“And you were supposed to just be on vacation not trying to infiltrate a foreign gang, hyung!” Jungkook countered angrily, crossing his arms across his chest. “I guess neither of us are men of our word. Mother would have been ashamed.”

“Of you or of me,” Jin spat coldly. “The woman wasn’t exactly a saint either, but we both know who her favorite was.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t her favorite, hyung, that was you. But we’re not having this argument again, let her rest in peace. We have other things to discuss. Like what the hell were you thinking? Why did you even go to Morocco, it clearly wasn’t for the mountain view.”

Jin scoffed, “Like you’re any better, what the hell are you doing with Kim Namjoon of all people? Do you even know who he is, who he truly is!? What he’s done to our family?”

“Who? Him?” Jungkook asked, jutting a thumb at Namjoon who stood impassively next to him. He tossed a dismissive hand, “Picked him up in an alleyway and he’s stuck to me like glue ever since.”

“This is no joking matter, Jungkook!” Jin shouted, stomping his foot in anger. “That man is dangerous! He’s a liar and a killer! He killed our father in cold blood!”

Jungkook stared at his brother as he panted in anger, he tilted his head and placed his hands behind his back as he contemplated his words, “How exactly did he kill our father in cold blood?”

Jin looked triumphant for a moment before launching into his rant, “He forced our father to go on a mission the day he was supposed to be leaving this life. He promised that it was going to be safe, that it was just a diplomatic mission, but it wasn’t. It was a set up, I know it was! Namjoon didn’t want any competition in the long run of taking over his father’s company, so he had to eliminate anyone he saw as a threat. What better way then have a rival company do it and blame his death on them! He only went on his revenge plot against them to cover up the secret, getting their territory was an added bonus.”

Jungkook listened to his brother's words impassively, glancing at the furious looks of his hyungs sitting around the living room. Many looked like they wanted to pounce on Jin to take back his cruel words about their Leader. Only Hobi’s face looked sad instead of angry. He shifted on his feet to glance at Namjoon, not surprised to see the man wearing a blank look on his face but Jungkook could see a glimpse of a fist being clenched.

“He’s probably told you so many lies about how our father was his mentor and how he mourned his death, but it's all part of his nasty lies! He’s trying to trick you! Turn you against me and have you on his side!” Jin added, taking a step towards Jungkook as he spoke.

“How exactly would he benefit from having a college student on his side, hyung?” Jungkook asked incredulously, raising his brow at him. It didn’t seem to deter Jin for a moment, he was on a roll.

“He can shape you and mold you into the perfect weapon for him. Why do you think I’ve spent all these years hiding you from him! Ever since you were a kid you’ve been talented, you would have taken to this world like a duck to water. You’d be better than everyone in this room in a month, the ultimate weapon!” Jin didn’t stop, even when Jungkook flinched at the passionate words being said.

“I’ve encouraged anything in your life that would keep you away from this world, but I wanted you to be strong too, capable of putting up a fight if you needed to. But I had to keep you away, once you got a taste,” Jin shook his head sadly, “it's in our blood. Our father, mother, me. We thrive in this world, I didn’t want it to taint you too.”

“And your best idea for keeping me out of it was to leave me unattended and run off to Morocco to fight another gang?” Jungkook countered, trying to see his brother’s logic.

“Not fight them!” Jin countered immediately, “And not to join them either, I was gathering blackmail on them. If I could get them in the palm of my hand then I could shut down the trade between them and Namjoon. Then I’d move onto the next company on the Bulletproof Company’s payroll until I had all of them. Then I’d be able to cut Namjoon completely off from the outside world! Without those trades he would crumble, the empire would fall and I would finally be able to complete my revenge for my father!”

Silence followed Jin’s passionate shout, Jungkook stared at him blankly. A beat passed, then someone clapped slowly. Yoongi stood clapping his large hands, but he wasn’t looking at Jin, no, he was looking at Jungkook with a proud look on his face.

“Well done, Jungkook,” he praised, smirking at Jin’s confused face. “That wasn’t even planned and he played you like a violin. We would have never gotten that from you, no matter how long we tortured you. So thank you for falling for it.”

Jungkook gave a mock bow to the room, his eyes never leaving his brother’s face as he smirked. Internally, he was thankful to his hyung. There was a tremble in his hands from his brother’s harsh words, but he could feel his control coming back to himself after Yoongi stood at his side.

“What…?” Jin gasped, looking around in confusion, eyes wide with shock and hurt. “Jungkook-ah…”

“Sorry hyung,” Jungkook shrugged, feeling Namjoon step close behind him placing a hand on his lower back. “Namjoon beat you to the punch, despite what you may think, our father did not die in some evil plot. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to convince you of that, but it’s the truth, you just refuse to see it. I understand that you’re grieving our father’s passing, but that’s no reason to try and take down the largest gang in South Korea.”

“No, no, Jungkook, he's lied to you, he’s…” Jin started to protest, shaking his head violently in denial. “How can you believe him over your brother? Your own flesh and blood.”

Jungook gave his brother a hard look, “If there’s anyone that’s lied to me in this room, it's you hyung. You lied to me about who and what my father was. You lied to me about how he died. You lied to me about why you were leaving the country! All you’ve ever done in my life is a lie! So, yes, I believe Namjoon over you, because never once has he lied to me.”

Jungkook felt another hand being placed on his back and saw out of the corner of his eye Taehyung beginning to stand from his seat.

“You can’t know that for sure!” Jin yelled back, clenching his fists. “You’ve always been too trusting Jungkook-ah and I’m telling you right now, this won’t end how you think it will! You can’t just dismiss our father’s death so easily!”

Jungkook sighed looking at his brother in pity, “I’m not going to argue with you, hyung. Our father is dead, no amount of revenge or anger is going to bring him back. We need to move on.”

“That’s easy for you to say!” Jin barked, a tear falling from his eye. “You never knew him, not like I did! Not like mom did! You were too young, you barely have any memories of him, but I do! And I can’t let go so easily!”

Jungkook scowled in anger, “I don’t have clear memories of him because he was never in my life hyung! Not like he was for you! I spent my entire childhood being angry at his absence but I refuse to allow that anger taint my adulthood. And you can’t let your grief taint yours, you need to let it go.”

Jin scoffed and turned away from him, crossing his arms over his chest. Jungkook sniffed and tried to ignore the tears running down his face, his anger fading from his body as he shook his head and turned away to leave. Taehyung stood behind him and moved to pull him to his chest, but a hand yanked his arm roughly and pulled him away from the small huddle the four of them had made. He looked at Jin in shock as Yoongi and Taehyung’s expressions turned deadly.

“If I have to drag you out of this place kicking and screaming, I will!” He growled right in Jungkook’s face. “I don’t care whose body I have to step over, I am not leaving you here with him!”

Jungkook yanked his arm out of Jin’s grip and took a step back, “We have no intention of letting you leave at all, hyung. You’ve already proved yourself a danger to us to be out on your own, you won’t be leaving this house at all.”

Jin growled and moved to grab Jungkook again but he side stepped him. He waved a small hand at his hyungs as he allowed Jin to chase him around the room, getting increasingly more frustrated as he dodged his hands.

“Jin-hyung this is childish,” Jungkook sighed, side stepping out of his way again. “Give it a rest before I put an end to it.”

Jin scoffed and stopped his movement to roll his eyes at his younger brother, “This isn’t like our night fights Jungkook, you have no chance of beating me.”

Jungkook clenched his jaw, “I’ll take that as a challenge then, bring it on hyung.”

Jin started to scoff but was cut off by Jungkook throwing a punch dead center in his chest, making him wheeze and stumble backwards at the force. He stared at Jungkook in shock, rubbing his chest, as Jungkook placed himself into a boxing stance. He raised his eyebrow challengingly at his hyung, making the man growl and charge at him. This time Jungkook met him head on, dodging his punches and throwing his own at any part of Jin’s body that he could.

He stood his ground throughout the exchanged punches, grunting lightly when Jin managed to land one or two on his shoulder or ribs. Slowly he started to back Jin up, trying to corner him between the walls. Jin glanced at this and quickly maneuvered away from the tight spot Jungkook was backing him towards. Jungkook continued to pursue around the room, blocking Jin’s fists with his forearms.

Jungkook’s gaze is locked on Jin’s frantic movements and when the opportunity to grip onto his hyung’s arm comes, he takes it. With two firm hands he gripped Jin’s arm, shifted his weight, planted his feet, then tossed his hyung over his head bringing him down on the ground with a loud smack. Jin wheezed and coughed as the wind was knocked out of him, curling around himself in pain. Jungkook took a step back, not relaxing his stance as he stared down at Jin’s whimpering body. It was well timed because Jin jumped to his feet and tried to pounce on Jungkook, only to be twisted around until Jungkook had him in a headlock.

Jin clawed at his arms, kicked his legs trying to get his shins, but Jungkook widened his stance to avoid the kicks. He barely flinched as Jin’s nails dug into his skin. He kept squeezing until Jin’s fight against him became weaker and weaker, not letting up even when Jin’s smacks against his arms were just light taps.

“Tap the fuck out.” Jungkook growled into his ear, only getting a small shake of the head in response.

“And you call me competitive.” He scoffed as Jin’s breaths became choked. He waited a beat or two, until Jin’s body was becoming limp in his arms before dropping him to the ground. His heart pounding in his ears and his breaths coming out as pants.

He stared down at his brother’s limp body, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Jin’s chest rise up with a breath.

“There’s been enough death in our family, hyung.” He muttered to him sadly. “Please don’t make me add you to that list.”

Jungkook backed away as Jimin and Hobi came over to check over him, his back knocked straight into a warm embrace as he watched his hyungs call their men into the room to take Jin away.

“Good job, baby, you’re okay. He’s okay, you just knocked him out. Our doctors will take care of him now.” Namjoon whispered in his ear, his words melting Jungkook into his embrace. “There we go, little one, you did so well.”

Jungkook took a shaky breath as he gripped one of Namjoon’s arms in his shaking hands, he tilted his head to the side as Namjoon placed a kiss on the side of his head. “I’ve never… I’ve never choked him out before. He always tapped out before I could.”

Namjoon shushed him as he tightened his arms around his body, “Enough of that, you did what you had to. He wouldn’t have stopped, it was the only way. We can try and talk to him again later, we’ll try again.”

Jungkook sighed as Namjoon’s words washed over him, he twisted around in his arms to face him and looped his arms around his waist, placing his head against his chest. “I’m tired, Namjoon, take me to bed.”

Namjoon bent down and scooped him into his arms. Jungkook moved his arms around his neck, his legs coming around his waist, and kept his head buried into Namjoon’s neck as he was carried out of the room. Taehyung moved forward and placed a soothing hand down Jungkook’s back, placing a kiss onto his hairline before letting Namjoon leave.

“We’ll debrief in the morning,” Namjoon murmured as he passed Yoongi, who ran a hand through Jungkook’s hair and opened the door for them to leave the room. Namjoon didn’t break his stride as he climbed the stairs and made his way down the halls.

“This house really is too damn big.” He groaned, pushing his door open and placing Jungkook on the bed.

Jungkook rolled to the center of the bed, wriggling to get under the covers. Once he was comfortable he made grabby hands at Namjoon, who chuckled and pulled off his suit jacket.

“Are you patient enough to let me change my clothes?” Namjoon asked, moving to hang his jacket inside his closet. He chuckled at the low whine Jungkook gave in response, but continued to remove his suit from his body.

Jungkook stopped his whining as he watched Namjoon strip in front of him, the closet in full view from the bed. Namjoon pulled his belt off next, hung it, then untucked his white dress shirt. He unbuttons the shirt from the bottom to the top, pulling it off his bare shoulders without a care. Jungkook’s eyes drink in the expanse of honeyed skin, watching with a watering mouth as Namjoon’s back flexes as he slipped the shirt on a hanger and placed it on a rack.

His abs constricted as he bent slightly to unbutton his pants, dropping them quickly and kicking them aside before grabbing a pair of sweatpants. His thick thighs flexed, making Jungkook almost moan out loud, as he stepped into them and pulled them up to his waist. The long drawstring of the pants dangled suggestfully between his legs.

Namjoon pulled a loose shirt from a hanger and pulled it over his head as he walked towards the bed. Jungkook stared at the defined pecs and flexing abs until they disappeared under the shirt and Namjoon’s smirking face popped out.

“You did that on purpose,” he accuses breathlessly, as Namjoon crawls onto the bed and slides next to him. “You’re trying to distract me.”

Namjoon chuckles as he pulls Jungkook into his arms, “Did it work?”

Jungkook hummed, pretending to think, “I don’t know, I think I need a second viewing just to be sure.”

Namjoon tapped the tip of his nose playfully, “I see how it is, you just want me for my body.”

“Yes,” Jungkook answers cheerfully, giggling at Namjoon’s offended gasp. “And your money, I have student loans you know.”

“Got it,” Namjoon said with a mock serious nod. “Body and money, I’m basically your escort.”

Jungkook bursts into laughter at Namjoon’s serious but pleased face at this statement. He laughs even harder as Namjoon clutches him tight to his chest and rolls them so that Jungkook is on top of him. He lifts his face and places a kiss under Jungkook’s bottom lip, square on the mole where they matched. Jungkook hums happily as Namjoon continues to trail kisses down his jaw as his giggles die down.

“Hi,” Jungkook greets as Namjoon pulls back, his face breaking out in a big smile.

“Hi baby,” Namjoon chuckles, grinning widely back at him.

Jungkook hums happily, crossing his arms over Namjoon’s chest and resting his chin on top of them. His legs spread to lay on either side of Namjoon’s hips as he gets completely comfortable laying across his body. “I think I remember you saying that you needed to discuss something else with me, but we got interrupted.”

Namjoon hums in agreement, moving one of his hands behind his head while the other rests on Jungkook’s lower back. “I did, are you alright to talk about it now? You’ve had a long day.”

Jungkook shrugged, “It can’t be any worse then what I’ve already heard.”

Namjoon nodded, “We’ll have it now then, I don’t think you should go back to your apartment. What I mean is,” when Jungkook scrunches his eyebrows in confusion, “I don’t think it's safe for you to live there anymore. The Stray Kids Gang picked you up from there. Being my boyfriend means that you’ll catch the eye of several of my enemies, I’d rather have you somewhere safer.”

“Namjoon,” Jungkook started with a scolding tone, making the man’s eyes widen and hurry to continue.

“I don’t mean live with me, Jungkook, I know it's too soon for that.” He said quickly, running a soothing hand up and down Jungkook’s back. “The apartment under Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung’s is vacant, I was going to suggest that you move there.”

“Lead with that next time, you bastard.” Jungkook huffed, smacking Namjoon’s chest in protest, Namjoon huffed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I can afford the rent though.”

“He probably won’t even charge you for it,” Namjoon assured him with a shrug. “We own the building anyway, he only rents the apartments out because Tae thinks it's ‘fun’ to be a landlord.”

“I couldn’t ask him to let me live there for free,” Jungkook protests with a pout. “Plus how do you even know I’ll like that apartment anyway, I could find a better one somewhere else.”

Namjoon scoffed, “At your income, doubtful. Better pay then when you were a bartender, but not nearly enough for a college student in the middle of Seoul.”

“You should have him pay us more then,” Jungkook argued, poking Namjoon’s cheek right in his dimple. “Or is the Rap Monster of Ilsan scared of our hyung?”

Namjoon groaned as he tilted his head back in agony, “Please don’t tease me about that name, I chose it when I was like thirteen, I thought it was cool. And for your information, everyone else in that club is employed with both Yoongi and I, they’re getting a dual income.”

Jungkook blinked, “Please don’t tell me you own my college campus as well. Because I seriously cannot deal with that on top of everything else.”

“Alright then, I won’t tell you.” Namjoon teased, laughing at Jungkook’s indigent squawk. “But no, I do not own that college.”

Jungkook groaned and let his head drop down onto Namjoon’s chest, “What drama do I now live in?”

“One with a happy ending I hope,” Namjoon sighed, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook hummed as his eyes closed to the sensation of Namjoon’s nails against his scalp, “Just have to avoid miscommunications, I hate those tropes.” He yawned and snuggled deeper into Namjoon’s chest.

“Do we need to have a weekly debriefing of our troubles and challenges as a couple?” Namjoon asked, sounding only half serious. He only got a weak hum in reply making him laugh softly as he continued to pet Jungkook’s hair as he slowly fell asleep in his arms.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 12: Just One Day

Namjoon insisted that Jungkook go to class when they woke up the next day, he ignored all of Jungkook’s protest as he shooed him out the door.

“Namjoon!” Jungkook whined as the man slipped his backpack over his shoulders. “It’s literally Friday, I only have one class today. You cannot tell me that it's necessary that I go just for one class. And it’s BioChem of all things!”

“Which makes it all the more necessary,” Namjoon countered, zipping up Jungkook’s jacket and gently guiding him out the door. Ignoring Jungkook’s protest of ‘but I’m a Visual Arts major, what do I need biology for?’ as he spoke, “You already missed two days of classes, you should at least attend today. I know that you want to stay and speak with Seokjin, but it can wait. The man hasn’t even woken up from last night, so there’s no point in you waiting here.”

Jungkook grumbled under his breath as Namjoon ushered him over to the SUV waiting for him, opened the door, and almost lifted him into the car when Jungkook just stood in front of it with his arms crossed.

“Sweetheart,” Namjoon murmured gently, as he buckled him into his seat. Jungkook refused to look at him, his arms still crossed and a pout on his lips. “Your pouting is adorable but please don’t be mad at me about this. Of all the things, making you go to class is not the worst thing that’s happened.”

“You clearly have not done BioChem with Professor Chan,” Jungkook said fiercely, looking at Namjoon angrily despite the amused smile on the man’s face. “He has it out for me, I’m telling you! He always calls on me during class! It makes him look smarter than he is! Do you know the process of cellulose development in natural forest crops? He asked that in the middle of a lecture about glycogen!”

“You seem to be pretty knowledgeable in a class you hate,” Namjoon observed slyly.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes at him, “It’s not the information that I have an issue with, it's being called on in the middle of class and asked to answer in front of everyone! I sit in the back to avoid that!”

“Ah I see,” Namjoon nodded, placing a kiss on his cheek. “It’ll be good for you then, I’ll have the car wait for you until you’re done.”

“Namj…” Jungkook started to protest, only for his boyfriend to swiftly back away and close the car door before he could start his next wave of protests. He huffed as the car began to roll down the driveway, watching through the tinted window as Namjoon made his way back inside the house. His phone buzzed inside his pocket, he pulled it out and saw a text from Namjoon saying ‘Don’t pout baby, it’s only for a couple of hours.’

“Easy for him to say,” Jungkook muttered at the screen, sending him a stream of angry emojis in response. He got a blushing face and kissy wink face emoji in response, it made him giggle in spite of his irritation. He spent the rest of the drive texting back and forth with Namjoon until they pulled up to the campus. By that time Jungkook was sending hearts and kissy faces back to his boyfriend instead of angry ones.

He sent a quick message to Namjoon, once he was seated at the back of the class, letting him know he had arrived safely and would now be focusing on the awful lecture. He blushed at the ‘good boy’ text he received in response before he tucked his phone into his pocket.

Professor Chan stood at the head of the class and began taking roll as soon as the bell stopped ringing. He was one of the only professors that was notorious for always taking roll at the start of class and would mark anyone as tardy that showed up late. He rolled right into the lecture as soon as he placed his clipboard on his desk. His no-nonsense tone kept everyone from messing around even in the very back of the lecture hall.

Jungkook focused on writing his notes, checking the board every now and then to write any key points, nibbling on his pencil eraser as he listened. He tried to mentally prepare himself to be called on, it happened every single lecture but it somehow always managed to catch him off guard.

“Jeon-ssi,” Professor Chan called through the room, his gaze meeting Jungkook’s as he raised his head at the sound of his name. “What would the ionic bonds between the elements of Na positive and Cl negative be called?”

Jungkook held back a sigh of relief, this was something he could answer for once. “It’s Electrostatic, Professor Chan-ssi, a non-covalent interaction between elemental bonds.”

Professor Chan hummed and nodded then continued on with his lecture, as if he hadn’t stopped to ask Jungkook at all. Jungkook returned to his notes, trying to keep his breath of relief to himself. The professor did not seem happy at all that he was able to answer his question so easily. He just tried to focus on his notes until it was over, ignoring the hard stares the professor seemed to give him.

The bell rang to end class, but everyone waited until Professor Chan dismissed them before packing their bags.

“Jeon-ssi, please stay behind for a moment.” He called, as Jungkook was making his way down the steps towards the door. Jungkook blinked but stepped down to stand in front of the man’s desk.

Professor Chan waited until the whole room emptied before speaking, “Jeon-ssi, how long do you think I’ve been a professor here at this university?”

Jungkook blinked in confusion, “I’m sorry sir, I don’t know.”

“Twenty years,” he answered, nodding at Jungkook’s quiet praise at such a long career. “And in those twenty years I have learned to scope out the troublemakers in my class rooms. And do you know who that is in this class?”

“No, sir.” Jungkook answered, but was already dreading the answer to come.

“That would be you, Jeon Jungkook.” Professor Chan said slowly, standing from his chair and coming uncomfortably close to Jungkook as he spoke. “I won’t bother to explain why, boys like you will never understand what’s being told to them. You are assigned my extra tutoring sessions on Monday afternoon, 2PM on the dot. I expect you to be there next week, you may leave.”

“Thank you sir,” Jungkook murmured, bowing as shallowly as he dared before quickly walking out of the room. The feeling of his professor’s cold eyes following his exit sent a shiver down his spine.

The uneasy feeling stayed with him as he hopped into the SUV and throughout the return trip to Namjoon’s house. He couldn’t quite shake it even as he entered the house and made his way up to Namjoon’s private office. He didn’t even bother to knock on the door this time, unaware of the conversations dying inside the room as his gaze zeroed in on Namjoon.

He thought he heard the vague mumblings of his name and someone saying ‘give him a minute, I think he’s zoned out’. And ‘it always freaks me out when he does this’ from someone else, but he wasn’t sure.

All he knew was that he needed to be in Namjoon’s arms, he crossed the room with sure steps and straddled the man’s lap. Namjoon’s arms came around him automatically, soothing circles running over his back and tight grip on his waist.

Jungkook buried his head into Namjoon’s neck and breathed in his earthy cologne and the scent that was simply Namjoon. He pressed his hands under Namjoon’s suit jacket to cup the back of his shoulder blades through the fabric of his suit shirt.

“Why do you always wear such nice suits?” Jungkook murmured against his collarbone that peeked out from his open shirt collar.

“What would you rather I wear?” Namjoon asked, leaning his head down to Jungkook’s ear. “I can’t exactly walk around in sweatpants all the time.”

“Don’t you own a pair of jeans?” Jungkook asked incredulously, leaning back to look at Namjoon properly. The weariness from class finally leaving him in the arms of his boyfriend.

“Did something happen during class, baby? You seemed upset when you came in, you didn’t even knock this time.” Namjoon asked with a chuckle, amused rather than angry at Jungkook barging into his office.

Jungkook shrugged, “My professor was just being an ass as usual, but he was on another level today. Said some really creepy shit and gave me extra tutoring. I have an A in that class, I don’t understand what he’s trying to do.”

“Give me his name,” Namjoon smiled serenely at Jungkook's narrowed eyes. “Just to look him up, nothing bad I promise, just want to check that he doesn’t have anything to hide or a reason to lure you somewhere.”

“Fair enough,” Jungkook nodded, laughing at the look of surprise on Namjoon’s face at his easy reply. “I only found out recently that my entire friend group and family are a part of the asian mafia. I’m going to be a little more cautious about those around me now.”

Namjoon nodded in approval absentmindedly running his hands up and down Jungkook's thighs on either side of his hips. Jungkook rested his hands on the sides of Namjoon’s neck, playing the ends of his dark hair.

“His name is Professor Chan Hwan, please don’t mess with him too badly, I still need to keep a good grade in that class.” Jungkook teased, running his fingers over the small hoops in Namjoon’s ear lobes. Namjoon chuckled and opened his mouth to respond only to be interrupted by a mock whisper behind them.

“Do you think they’ve even noticed us in the room?” Jimin muttered, not even trying to really lower his voice.

“Hush, let them have a moment. They’re so cute.” Taehyung, actually whispering, muttered back, probably poking Jimin’s side in protest to his interruption.

Jungkook glanced over his shoulder to see all of his hyungs sitting around in the various chairs in Namjoon’s office watching them with amused faces. He spied the coffee table covered in pieces of paper, maps, and pencils. He looked back at Namjoon sheepishly.

“I walked in on a meeting, didn’t I?” Wincing when Namjoon nods solemnly in reply. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”

“I know you didn’t,” Namjoon acknowledged with a gentle smile. “Fortunately for you, I rarely use this room for anything other than my meetings with my Inner Circle. So, you never have to be worried about who you are barging in on. The same cannot be said for the other offices, so you need to be mindful of that.”

Jungkook nodded and muttered a quiet ‘sorry’ again, but Namjoon shook his head. “I’m not scolding you Jungkook-ah, I never want you to be scared of coming to me when you need me.”

“Yeah,” Jimin piped in. “You could probably burst into a meeting with our most feared rival, asking Leader-hyung where the banana milk is and he’d probably just simper at you.”

Jimin yelps as Hobi smacks the back of his head, but there are nods of agreement around the room to what he says. Jungkook smacks Namjoon’s chest when the man also nods in agreement, he mutters a quiet ‘ow’ as he rubs the spot and gives Jungkook puppy dog eyes.

“You shouldn’t just let me do something like that,” he scolds, shaking his finger under Namjoon’s nose. “I don’t want to end up doing something that could end up hurting you in some way!”

A hand pats the top of Jungkook’s head, he leans into it as he hears, “There, there little cub, you’ll be fine.” From Taehyung who then loops his arms around Jungkook’s shoulders, unbothered by the fact that he was still in Namjoon’s lap. “Your hyungs will take good care of you now.”

“Tae, you’re starting to squish me, get off!” Jungkook grumbled, elbowing him in the ribs but it was unsuccessful. Taehyung’s grip just gets tighter across his chest as he buries his nose into the top of Jungkook’s head, humming happily. Jungkook sighs in resignation and huffs at Namjoon’s amused face as the man leans back to observe the pair. “You’re not gonna help me? Your poor, defenseless boyfriend from the clutches of the evil TaeTae.”

Namjoon chuckled, “Sorry baby, you’re on your own. I’d never get between the Tiger of Seoul and his prey.”

Taehyung hummed happily, rocking back and forth slightly with Jungkook in his arms. Jungkook grumbles at the manhandling and tries to wriggle out of Taehyung’s grip unsuccessfully.

“Yoongi-hyung! Get your husband!” Jungkook growls as Taehyung starts to try and drag him off of Namjoon’s lap, unfortunately because Jungkook wrapped his legs around Namjoon’s waist, he ends up dragging the entire chair across the floor.

“He don’t bite.” Yoongi deadpanned, playing along with the little game. More than used to Taehyung and Jungkook’s teasing way of showing affection to each other; Taehyung giving it willingly and Jungkook pretending to protest it.

“Yes, he do!” Jungkook shouts back making everyone cackle as Taehyung obliges the allegation and bites down on Jungkook’s shoulder playfully. Jungkook yelps in surprise as Taehyung’s teeth dig into his skin through the fabric of his t-shirt.

“If you make a hole in my favorite shirt, I’m going to get out of my boyfriend’s lap and pommel you.” Jungkook threatens, side eyeing the older man on his shoulder. Taehyung simply continues to naw on the meat of his shoulder with happy sounds.

“Does this happen often?” Hobi whispered across the room to Yoongi in concern.

“Yes.” Came the responding answer from around the room with tones of absolute fondness.

“So, what super secret meeting did I barge in on or am I not allowed to know?” Jungkook asked, turning his gaze back to Namjoon, deciding that ignoring Taehyung would be the best way to get him to go away.

Namjoon gazed at him in amusement, “We were just discussing the plans concerning your brother. As much as I’d like to leave him here under lock and key, he knows this house too well. He’s escaped it multiple times before, plus it’s not the prime location for our business needs at the moment. We’re looking through some of our other properties in the city to see which would work better for our current needs.”

“Ah,” Jungkook hummed, trying to ignore the wet patch that was growing on his shoulder. “How many houses do you guys have?”

Namjoon hummed in thought and tapped his chin, “Five, if we’re not including the apartments but if we are then ten, excluding the family house. Company business is forbidden there, by order of my mother.”

“Are those only your business homes then? You don’t have any personal homes.” Jungkook asked, scrunching his brow.

Namjoon smiled serenely at him, “Everyone of those houses and apartments are my home, whether it’s for business or personal use. My mother just likes to have peace in her house since my father retired, talking business with him usually leads to an argument between us.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Do you have a favorite house?” Jungkook inquired, wincing slightly as Taehyung’s teeth dug a little deeper into his shoulder for a moment.

“I do,” Namjoon nodded, leaning forward to flick Taehyung hard on the forehead making him yelp and finally release his bite on Jungkook’s shoulder. He places a hand on the wet patch of Jungkook's shirt, pulling it down slightly to see the damage caused by Taehyung’s teeth. He clicks his tongue at the teeth shaped indents before tucking his shirt back over his shoulder. “The apartment that I find myself always drawn to is a few blocks away from D-Town.”

Jungkook rubbed his shoulder, rolling the soreness out of his arm as he spoke, “Then why don’t you stay there then? Does it meet all the requirements you need in a base at the moment?”

Namjoon nodded, “It’s actually the best one for what we need.”

“Then why don’t you…”

Namjoon sighed and fixed a look on Jungkook, making him blink in confusion at the man’s sudden frustration. “Could you guys give us a moment please.”

He spoke the question gently, but there was an undertone of a command in it, the room emptied immediately. Taehyung waved as the door closed gently behind them, his forehead still bearing a small red mark from Namjoon’s flick.

Once the sounds of footsteps passed from outside the room, Namjoon lifted Jungkook off his lap and placed him on the couch then returned to his chair. The distance between them confuses the hell out of Jungkook, he crosses his arms and waits for Namjoon to explain himself.

Namjoon rubs the back of his neck, his face is tenser than Jungkook has ever seen. His jaw clenches as he tries to find the right words. “I’m worried, Jungkook. I’m worried that I’ve intruded into your life too much already. We already agreed that you would be moving into Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung’s spare apartment and if I move to live literally a block away, I feel like…”

“I didn’t agree to move fucking anywhere.” Jungkook interrupts angrily. “You made a suggestion and then I fell asleep before we came to any sort of conclusion. Even if I did agree to move there, you living a block away from me wouldn’t be ‘intruding on my life’ as you say. You’re my fucking boyfriend Kim Namjoon, intruding on my life is kinda your job at this point!”

“We aren’t doing any of this in the right order, Jungkook!” Namjoon says gruffly, clenching his fists in his lap. “We’ve been on three official dates and now we’re talking about…”

“Hold on, I’m sorry,” Jungkook huffed, holding a hand out to stop Namjoon. “Since when are you the expert in how relationships work?”

Namjoon’s eyes narrow dangerously at Jungkook’s words but he presses on with a matched angry look at the man.

“I don’t know what fucking book you’re pulling this out of, but you can’t base how everyone else’s relationship works to how ours will.” Jungkook growls, clenching his fists under his arms. “We didn’t exactly meet under the most normal circumstances, so how exactly are you expecting the rest of our relationship to go?”

Namjoon huffs and drags a hand through his hair, “I’m not basing this off of anyone else!”

“Then where is this obsession with doing things in the ‘right’ way coming from?” Jungkook huffed, then paused as he took in Namjoon’s tense posture. It suddenly occurs to him that Namjoon wasn’t angry, he was scared. He takes a deep breath to calm the bubbling anger under his skin.

Jungkook moves from his seat to kneel in front of Namjoon’s chair, he cautiously places his hands over top of Namjoon's clenched fists. “Please just talk to me Namjoon, don’t try and make me angry at you over something trivial. Don’t try and push me away because you’re scared.”

Namjoon’s hands shake underneath Jungkook’s, even as he shifts them to rest their palms together. He let out a shuddering breath, “I… I’m sorry Jungkook… I… I don’t know why I did that, I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m fucking terrified. I’ve never felt like this for anyone. You’ve become a fixture in my life in such a short period of time that it almost feels like a dream. I’m so scared of waking up one day and finding it all to be a lie, or a ploy, or a delayed response. Normal people don’t react the way you do.”

“Well, tough shit cause I’m not normal Namjoon.” Jungkook scoffs, he holds his hand to stop Namjoon’s protests. “No, it's my turn now, so shut up and listen to me.” He straddled Namjoon’s lap, pulling his shirt off in one fluid motion, tossing it across the room. Namjoon’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of his bare chest, his tattooed arm, and the faded scars that run from his ribs down to his belly button.

Namjoon raises a shaky hand and hovers over a long scar that cuts across the entirety of Jungkook's left rib cage. Jungkook moves his hand to touch him, shivering at the warmth of it against his chilled skin.

“You can touch me,” he whispers reassuringly to Namjoon, running his hands soothingly over Namjoon’s forearms as his gaze roams over Jungkook’s scared chest.

“Who did this to you?” Namjoon whispers, raising his gaze to Jungkook’s, his eyes burning with a quiet anger.

Jungkook took a shaky breath, “Growing up without my father was tough. I was always teased at school, always the target for the worst bullying. To add to that, my brother was always angry and my mother was constantly in tears. They were mourning a man I never knew and in the process ignored the pain I was going through. I lashed out, I got into fights everyday. Some I won, some that led to these,” he indicated to a few of his smaller scars with a wave of his hand.

“As I got older, the fights got uglier. Scraps and little scars turned to cigarette burns and jagged knife cuts. There was a gang in the school that particularly liked to mess with me, their leader gave me the long one on my ribs. I was taken to the hospital. Jin-hyung came to get me, apparently being called for his little brother needing over a hundred stitches was enough to wake him up.”

Jungkook scoffed quietly at the memory of that day, his hyung storming into the hospital room screaming at Jungkook for worrying their mother. Jungkook standing on his hospital bed shouting back and exposing all of the scars he had to him. The ashen look that had colored his brother’s face at the sight of his mangled teenage body would haunt Jungkook for the rest of his life and cut him deeper than any of the wounds.

“Things were better after that,” Jungkook continued, shaking himself from the memory. “My mother had me moved to another school in Seoul, she didn’t trust any of the ones in Busan anymore. She had Jin-hyung drive me every single day and made him check me over to make sure no new scars appeared. Things weren’t perfect but I had my mother back, I had my brother. They were finally taking the time to look past their own pain to just see me.”

Namjoon caught some of the tears that started to fall from Jungkook’s eyes as he took a deep breath at the sudden onslaught of emotions. He sniffed and pushed through the tears to continue what he needed to say to Namjoon.

“I’m showing you these because I’m not as innocent as you think I am, I am not delicate and I’m not fragile.” Jungkook huffed, rolling his eyes. “I may not have been through the same shit as you have but I’ve been through some shit. I found out my father was possibly a part of a huge gang when I was sixteen years old, because he left me a journal in his will. My brother used to drag me out of bed late at night after school to teach me self defense moves. He’d push me until I could pin him to the ground and nearly choke him out.”

“I tell you all this because there is nothing that you can do to make me think we’re moving too fast. Or doing things the wrong way, or acting not ‘normal’ because we’re not. Neither of us are normal Namjoon,” he whispered softly, gazing into the man’s eyes as he cupped his face in his hands. “The most normal I’ve ever felt has been with you. You are the cleanest breath of fresh air I’ve ever had, you make me feel safe, you make me feel free. I don’t need to guard my emotions under lock and key with you. When I’m with you I’m not scared of anything.”

There was a four letter word on the tip of Jungkook’s tongue, and as hypocritical as it was, he thought it was too soon to say it just yet.

Namjoon’s posture froze for a moment then sagged in relief, Jungkook blinked as the man leaned back in his chair and tilted his head up to the ceiling, his hands resting on Jungkook’s hips. Jungkook crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at his boyfriend.

“You’re starting to make me think that you had a previous partner that brought up all these issues. Is that what this is? You moved too fast and scared someone off and now you think you’ll do the same to me?” Jungkook asked, narrowing his eyes at Namjoon’s limp body.

Namjoon shook his head, running a hand down his face. “No, that’s not why I did that. Jimin made this off hand comment just before you came into the room and it kind of shook me a bit.”

Jungkook blinked then started to move off Namjoon’s lap, “That’s it, I’m gonna kill him! Jimin-ssi!”

Namjoon barely has time to try and stop Jungkook’s storm of movement out of the office. He scrambles to follow Jungkook down the stairs to where the rest of the group was waiting for them. Jimin turns at the call of his name and yelps at the sight of Jungkook charging at him, throwing his chair to the ground as he tries to run away.

“Come back here you little shit!” Jungkook huffs, leaping over the dining room table that Jimin ran around to escape him.

“What did I do!” Jimin screams, tossing a chair at Jungkook before bolting in another direction. Jungkook caught the chair with ease, placed it back next to the table, and pursued Jimin into the living room.

“What the fuck did you say to my boyfriend!” Jungkook shouts, diving over the couch and catching Jimin into his arms before rolling both of them onto the floor. Jimin screams in shock at being pinned to the floor. He kicks and punches wildly at Jungkook’s body only to be flipped over onto his stomach, his arms pinned behind his back and his legs crushed under the weight of Jungkook’s body.

“How the hell are you so heavy?” Jimin groans into the hardwood floor. Wiggling around to try and get free but with no success, Jungkook leans down to whisper in his ear.

“Tell me what you said to Namjoon before I got home and maybe I’ll consider letting you go.” He threatens, tightening his grip on the older man’s wrists in his fists.

“OW! OW! Okay! Okay! I told him that the last boyfriend you moved in with, you ended up breaking up after a week! I was just saying that you guys needed to slow down.” Jimin huffs then yelps when Jungkook smacks the back of his head.

“That’s because Mingyu was cheating on me, you asshole! And he was an absolute slob!” Jungkook raged, smacking Jimin’s head emphasis. “Why would you bring that up when you didn’t know all the facts!”

Jimin mumbles something under his breath making Jungkook grip his hair and yank his head back, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that. Could you repeat what you just said?” He growls against the side of Jimin’s face.

“I said,” Jimin spat, gritting his teeth. “Stop being such an insecure little bitch and fight me for real!”

Jungkook scoffed and opened his mouth to retort only to be yanked off of Jimin’s body.

“YAH! Let me at him! I wasn’t finished!” He yells, as Namjoon’s strong arms come around his waist. Hobi yanks Jimin from the floor and pulls him away as Jimin fights to get at Jungkook as well. The pair glare at each other as they are held back, Jungkook tries to wriggle out of Namjoon’s tight grip as Jimin is slowly backed away out of the room by Hobi.

“Baby, calm down,” Namjoon tries to soothe, dodging a kick from Jungkook’s legs. “You’re gonna end up putting half my crew in the hospital if you don’t calm down.”

Jungkook ignores him as he continues to try and escape his boyfriend’s hold.

“Are you sure it's a good idea to let the boy be trained, Namjoon?” Yoongi asks, peaking into view as Namjoon wrangled Jungkook into a full body pin onto the floor. “He’s taken out two members of our elite crew without any training already, he’ll be unstoppable within a week under Hobi’s hand.”

Namjoon sighs in relief when Jungkook finally lets himself lay limp underneath him, “Didn’t you say something about ‘stepping on toes’ just yesterday hyung.”

Yoongi scoffed, “Who cares about toes being stepped on, Jungkook will just put them in a coma if they tried anything. Yah Jungkook-ah, that’s enough fighting now. Get up and apologize to your hyung. He didn’t mean anything by the comment. Even if it wasn’t his place to say, chasing him around the house doesn’t solve anything.”

Jungkook deflates even further into the hardwood flooring, he turns his head to look at Yoongi’s stern face. He pouts and nods, mumbling a quiet ‘I’m sorry hyungie’.

Yoongi nodded in understanding, patting Namjoon’s back to get him to stand, giving Jungkook a hand and tapping his chin as his head hung in shame. “Yah, hyung’s not mad Kookie, just go say sorry to Jiminie.”

He huffs as Jungkook hugs him tight around the chest and buries his head into his shoulder, but places a kiss on his hairline before shooing him out of the room to find Jimin.

Yoongi sighs fondly as he watches the boy wander off towards the kitchen before turning his gaze to his gaping leader.

“How did you do that?” Namjoon asks in awe, watching Jungkook’s back slowly retreat from view then looks down at his Second.

Yoongi shrugs, “I’ve known the boy since he was seventeen years old, I know how to deal with his moods. Taehyungie basically adopted him as soon as he saw him.”

Namjoon blinked as Yoongi gestured for him to sit in the living room with him.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen him run around the house shirtless in a while. He showed you his scars,” Yoongi observed, waiting for Namjoon’s nod before sighing sadly. “It took a year before Taehyung and I were trusted enough for him to tell us. That ex-boyfriend of his, Mingyu, really messed him up for a while. He mocked Jungkook’s scars, calling him weak for getting bullied to that point.” He held up a hand to stop Namjoon’s incoming rant. “Don’t bother looking for him, you won’t. Tae took care of him the night Jungkook came to our house in tears.”

Namjoon nodded in satisfaction, “How did Seokjin not know that Jungkook was in contact with you guys all these years?”

Yoongi scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Seokjin may love his brother but he honestly doesn’t give a damn about his life. They barely speak to each other, apart from a few text messages throughout the week but he never calls or visits. That’s half the reason why we didn’t know it was our Seokjin that was his brother. If he hadn’t pulled that stunt in Morocco he probably wouldn’t have even known about you and Jungkook until he got a wedding invitation.”

Namjoon frowned at this revelation, “Has he been alone all this time? Until you came into his life, has he just been alone?”

Yoongi nodded sadly, “I believe so, he came to Seoul with nothing. The day he walked into D-Town looking for a job, I wasn’t even going to hire him but then I learned that he had nowhere to stay, no job, barely any money, and just his backpack full of clothes. I hired him on the spot and haven’t looked back since.”

“Why didn’t you ever try and bring him into the crew?” Namjoon asked cautiously, scrunching his brows. “He seems exactly the type we’d usually take in off the streets.”

Yoongi for once looked sheepish, “Normally I would have, hell even Taehyung suggested it time and time again over the years but I’ll admit that I’m a bit overprotective of him. I didn’t want him to get hurt more than he already has. I wasn’t exactly hiding him from this life but I didn’t expose him to it either. If he stumbled upon something I would have been honest with him, but I wanted him to have some peace, even if it was for a little while.”

Namjoon hummed in understanding, “I guess we’re both trying to keep him safe from this life.”

“You said once that if he chooses it, you’d respect his choice. Even if he hasn’t verbally told you yet, I think it's safe to say that he has.” Yoongi smiled at the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen. “Sounds like the boys made up, let's go make sure they don’t break our kitchen before we leave this place.”

“Ah hyung,” Yoongi pauses mid-turn to look back at Namjoon’s cautious face. “Should I be worried about Jungkook’s outburst at Jimin just now?”

Yoongi chuckled, “I forget that you haven’t been around these boys as long as I have. Let’s just say that little tackle in the living room was the tamest of their fights, but you don’t have to worry about them ever really hurting each other.”

Namjoon blinked in shock, unable to imagine how bad their ‘fights’ could get after what he just saw.

“Just ask Taehyung about the dumpling incident, that’ll put everything into perspective for you.” Yoongi said with a chuckle, waving for Namjoon to follow him to the kitchen.

Namjoon chuckled nervously and followed his hyung into the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway to take in the sight of Jungkook happily helping Taehyung by the stove while Jimin and Hobi sat on bar stools behind them adding commentary to their cooking. Yoongi stepped forward, trying to take over from the two cooks, but Namjoon hung back and simply watched for a moment.

He watched Jungkook’s bunny smile grow as his two hyungs insisted that he try a taste of the food for approval. He laughed under his breath at the angry scowl that appeared on Jungkook’s face but moaned its praise with a declaration of how good it was. He watched as Jimin pouted for a bite of the food and opened his mouth eagerly when Jungkook offered him a spoon full.

Hoseok stepped away for a moment and joined Namjoon in the doorway, “The house feels more complete now, doesn’t it?” He commented, nodding to the four around the stove.

“Still missing one, I think.” Namjoon mused with a smile, Hoseok sighed next to him and nodded.

“I hope Jin will make an effort for his brother, I don’t think he realizes how much Jungkook needs him. Even with us in his life, he still needs his big brother.” Hoseok murmured with a gentle shake of his head.

Namjoon hummed, “He’ll figure it out, it’s just going to take time. I think Jungkook’s presence is going to change a lot of things around here.”

“He already has,” Hoseok says with a smile. “He’s made you happier than I’ve seen in years.”

“I hope I can do the same for him,” Namjoon sighed, his eyes trained on Jungkook giggling as Taehyung scolds him for still being shirtless around the hot oil.

Hoseok pats his shoulder, “I wouldn’t think too hard about it Joonie, just enjoy every moment and live in the now.”

Namjoon nodded and clapped his hand onto Hoseok’s shoulder, they smiled at each other, then stepped into the kitchen and joined the rest of their friends. Namjoon slid behind Jungkook, smiling down at him when he turned to him, his eyes sparkling with galaxies as he gazed up at Namjoon and his smile wide on his face. Namjoon placed a kiss against his forehead, ignoring the hoots and hollers around them, sliding his hand across Jungkook’s bare waist as he brought him closer.

Jungkook settled against Namjoon’s chest in contentment, sighing happily as Namjoon tightened his grip around him. The chatter and cooking around them fading as they simply held each other for a moment.

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.

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 16: Still Life

Jungkook wakes up laying across Namjoon’s chest, his face buried into the man’s neck and his legs tucked between his. He groans as Namjoon rolls them over onto their sides but sighs happily when he feels Namjoon’s arms tighten around his body.

Jungkook blinks as some hairs tickle the tip of his nose, he puffs a breath to banish them away only for them to fall straight back onto his face. He huffs as he pulls his head back from Namjoon’s neck, finally free from the man’s fluffy hair as he lays his head against the pillow.

Jungkook sighs as his eyes come into focus on the sleeping face of his boyfriend. His dark hair sticks out in all directions and his lips forming a gentle pout in his sleep. Jungkook is utterly endeared by the sight, his eyes drifting from the mole that sits under his plush bottom lip, the one that rests near the hidden dimple in his right cheek, and his cute button nose.

“It’s rude to stare you know,” Namjoon murmurs, his voice impossibly deep from sleep, as his dragon-like eyes slowly blink open.

Jungkook hums running a hand through Namjoon’s hair trying to tame it a bit, “I think I’m allowed to stare, boyfriend privilege and all that.”

Namjoon hums, closing his eyes again as he leans into Jungkook’s gentle hand. “What time do you have class today?”

“I don’t even know what time it is right now,” Jungkook chuckles, placing a small kiss against the mole under Namjoon’s bottom lip. “I honestly don't even know what day it is.”

“It’s Wednesday, I think.” Namjoon murmurs, placing a returning kiss on the tip of Jungkook’s nose.

“Then I have a Pottery class at ten and a Mathematics class at three,” Jungkook answers, raising his head to look at the side table clock, it reads 8:30AM in a cool blue. “And it’s 8:30 now.”

“It’s time to get up then,” Namjoon sighs, turning out of Jungkook’s embrace onto his back, he stretches his arms over his head with a groan. “What good is being the most powerful man in Korea when you have to attend meetings at 9AM?”

Jungkook laughs gently as he sits up and stretches his arms above his head, “I don’t know, maybe you should do something about that.”

Namjoon hums in agreement as he steps out of the bed and makes his way inside his closet. “Do you want to stop at your apartment for some clothes, or borrow some of mine?”

Jungkook joins him inside the closest, taking in the rows of business clothes and shoes. “If you have any normal clothes, I’ll borrow those. I haven’t even been to my new apartment yet.”

“Yoongi-hyung told me that he set everything up for you last night,” Namjoon said, handing Jungkook a black t-shirt from the depths of his white button ups. He pulls off the loose t-shirt from his own body, tossing it into a nearby hamper, before pulling on a red button up over his shoulders. He doesn’t button it as he hands Jungkook some loose sweatpants.

Jungkook takes the borrowed clothes, tossing his worn ones into the hamper, while Namjoon pulls on a black pair of slacks. Namjoon starts looking through his ties, still not buttoning his shirt up as he hums in thought.

“Tie or no tie?” He asks, looking over at Jungkook as he’s pulling on the black t-shirt over his head.

“No tie,” Jungkook answers after his head pops out of the shirt, tugging his arms through the sleeves, he smirks at Namjoon’s flexing abs. “You gonna leave it open as well?”

Namjoon chuckles in amusement as he places a silver watch on his wrist, “I might, think it’ll convince the Red Velvet Ring to play ball with me this year?”

Jungkook frowned at the thought and shuffled over to button Namjoon’s shirt up himself. “Even if it did, no one else is allowed to see this. It’s mine now.”

Namjoon laughs in delight as Jungkook pats his chest once his shirt is completely buttoned, “I don’t think Seokjin should be worried about me being the possessive one in this relationship.”

“As long as you know,” Jungkook teases, sliding his hands around Namjoons waist as he looks up at him with a sly smile. Namjoon groans as Jungkook slides his hands down his lower back, down to cup his ass in both hands.

“Baby,” Namjoon moans, placing his hands on Jungkook’s shoulders. “We both have things to do this morning, we don’t have time for… that.”

Jungkook pouts playfully before releasing his hold on the man’s perk behind, “Why do you always have to be the responsible one?”

Namjoon places a kiss on his lips as an apology, “Sorry baby, someone has to be.”

Jungkook mutters under his breath as he follows Namjoon out of the closet and down into the kitchen.

Jimin groans dramatically as he flops down on the kitchen counter, holding his phone limply in his hand. The sound of his game playing echoes off the marble countertop. Jin rolls his eyes as he comes over to the sink to place a dirty cup inside before returning to the stove. The smells of food make Jungkook’s stomach grumble as Namjoon walks straight to the coffee maker.

“You guys trust my brother not to poison your food?” Jungkook asks as Hobi shuffles out of his way to open the fridge, he ‘ohs’ excitedly when he sees the rows of banana milk inside and grabs one with eager hands.

“Jin would never disgrace his cooking by poisoning it,” Hobi says with a chuckle, watching Jungkook sip on the yellow carton with vigor. “Back when Jin used to be with us, we had a dinner rotation. I always looked forward to his nights, he never put too much garlic in his cooking like Tae did.”

“That’s cause the bastard knew I was allergic to it,” Jin huffed, flipping a Pajeon in the pan in front of him. “I always had to order take out on the nights he cooked.”

Hobi chuckled at the memory as he moved to help Jin finish at the stove and carry plates to the dining room. They were just finishing the last of the Pajeon off the large center plate when Yoongi and Taehyung walk into the room.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Yoongi asked, taking his seat at Namjoon’s right and Jimin shuffled over to let Taehyung sit next to his husband.

“I have a meeting in,” Namjoon looked at his watch, “fifteen minutes with the Red Velvet Ring about their rivalry with the small company in Yongin. I need them to resolve their issues faster because their last trade of cotton was neary compromised before it reached us.”

Yoongi hummed, “You better wait until after the meeting to tell Irene that you’re a taken man now. She’ll cut it off before it even starts.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes and takes a sip of his coffee, “That woman could never take no for an answer.”

Jungkook listened to the conversation between his bites of the crunchy green onion pancake. He now had the sudden, unexplainable urge to go out and buy him and Namjoon couple rings.

“Ah Jungkook-ah,” Yoongi drawled, pulling Jungkook from his thoughts as he pulled a key out his pocket and slid it across the table. “Before I forget, here’s the key to your apartment. It’s been cleaned and all the personal items from your old apartment have been moved in. If there’s any furniture you need, just let me or Tae know, we’ll get it for you.”

“Hyung, you’ve already done so much for me.” Jungkook whined softly, taking the little silver key from the table and placed it in his pocket.

Yoongi shrugged as he fluffed his own blonde hair, “Never deny your hyung’s the opportunity to spoil you, Kook. We’ll just do it behind your back anyway but I’m sure you don’t want Tae’s design skills in your apartment.”

Taehyung pouted, “You don’t like my design choices, Yoons? I thought you loved that modern art piece I brought home last night.”

Yoongi sighed, “That’s not what I said, I did like that balloon, bobble, whatchamacallit thing that you brought home. It looked good on the coffee table, matched the white marble.”

“Like and love are not the same thing Yoongi. Last night you said you loved it, now this morning you say you like it. Which is it?” Taehyung demands, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks at his husband.

Yoongi purses his lips, “You were wearing that shirt I liked, of course I said I loved it.”

Taehyung continued to badger Yoongi on the art piece, unaware of the five other men slowly getting up and leaving the room. Namjoon placed a swift kiss on Jungkook’s cheek before heading for his office. Jungkook hummed happily to himself as he followed behind Jimin as they left the apartment for class.

“Are you still attending Hybe University hyung? I thought you found the guy you were looking for, wasn’t it my BioChem professor?” Jungkook asked as the elevator steadily descended.

“Oh him? No, he wasn’t the guy we’re looking for. He was too obvious and not connected to any companies. Just the run of the mill, ordinary serial killer.” Jimin answered, chuckling at Jungkook’s side-eye. “So, I’m still on mission at Hybe, you won’t be rid of me that quickly JK!”

“How do I know you’re not also coming to babysit me?” Jungkook asked, following Jimin inside the SUV before it merged into traffic towards the university.

Jimin looked over at him, “The only babysitting duty I’m on is with Seokjin, I have no orders from Namjoon to watch you like that.”

“Would you tell me if you did?” Jungkook asked, fiddling with the purple heart pin on his backpack strap. A gift his brother gave him that now held new meaning after what Hobi had told him.

“Of course,” Jimin scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’d also tell Namjoonie-hyung to shove it, you don’t need babysitting like that. It would be a waste of time, he clearly hasn’t seen what you lift at the gym.”

Jungkook giggled as they pulled up to the campus entrance, Jimin pulled them to a stop just before they walked through the metal gates. Jungkook looked over at him curiously as Jimin leveled him a very serious look.

“I want you to know Jungkook, that you are my best friend first.” Jimin said, clutching Jungkook’s shoulders. “Even if there comes a time where I do need to be at your side to protect you, I’m not going to see you as incapable of defending yourself. We’ll fight side by side if it comes to that.”

Jungkook pulled Jimin into a tight hug, “Thank you hyung, that means a lot.”

Jimin chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Jungkook’s waist, patting his back. “Come on, we’ll be late for class.”

Jungkook received a message from Hobi to stop by Yoongi’s dance studio at D-Town when he wrapped up his classes for the day. He gave no other explanation, even with Jungook’s string of questions as to why his hyung wanted to see him there. So, Jungkook stepped into the dance studio after Jimin had dropped him off feeling very confused. Hobi was waiting for him and smiled as he looked around at the practice dummies that were now scattered around the wooden floor.

“Joonie told me that he’d like me to start training you,” Hobi greeted as Jungkook came over to him after setting his backpack down on the floor. He smiled softly at Jungkook’s hesitant nod, “Now that you know the truth about us, I can be completely honest with you. I’ve already been training you since you started taking my dance class at Hybe.”

“Eh, hyung I don’t think knowing how to pop and lock on the dancefloor counts as gang training.” Jungkook says cautiously, feeling relieved when Hobi chuckles at him.

“First, let me correct you on some terminology.” Hobi starts, pulling a dummy closer to them as he speaks. “Gangs are for the school grounds, we don’t use that term in the underground. The mafia is strictly reserved for the Russians and the Itialians, they’ve coined that word completely which basically means they own it. We’re a company or a crew, when you don’t know a company’s name always go with those terms.”

Jungkook nods in understanding as Hobi makes him start stretching before they get started. “Company or crew, got it.”

“Good and second, you may not have realized that many of the dance moves I teach will serve you well in a hand to hand fight. You’ve already demonstrated it when you fought Jin in the living room when we brought him back from Morocco.” Hobi continued, guiding Jungkook through a long stretch. “Dancing makes you incredibly aware of your body and its movements. Everytime Jin moved to strike you, you anticipated where he was going to hit and tensed that part of your body to lessen the blow.”

“I didn’t even realize I had done that,” Jungkook grunts as he bends over backwards and touches his hands to his toes, completely curving his back.

“I know, that’s why I’m going to make you aware of it now. That way you’ll be able to fully control your body by muscle memory, not luck.” Hobi explained, pulling him to his feet as he finished his pretzel stretch. “Your weight training and boxing classes are a given in what they teach you in defending yourself. I also think you and Jin mentioned that he would train you during your school years?”

Jungkook nodded as he stood, “Jin-hyung taught me some moves, but I’ve never used them on anyone besides him.”

“Apart from when the Stray Kids Gang picked you up, you probably haven’t come across anyone that you’ve had to.” Hobi assures him, guiding him to stand in front of the dummy. “I’m going to show you some techniques that I saw that night that you need improvement on, then you’re going to fight me.”

Jungkook gulped nervously and follows his hyung’s instructions carefully. He found himself very surprised how easily the movements came to him. Hobi guided him gently through the movements, much like he did when he was teaching a new choreography. Jungkook felt at ease with the familiarity.

“Good, you’re getting it!” Hobi praised as Jungkook aimed a well punch in the center of the dummy, making it topple to the ground. “I think you’re ready to try with me. Take the gloves off, we’ll just stick to the bandages for this.”

Jungkook pulled the black boxing gloves off his hands and tightened the boxing bandages around his knuckles and wrists. Off to the side, Hobi started wrapping his own knuckles and wrists in a red bandage with practiced hands.

“You don’t need to be worried about holding back with me Kookie,” Hobi assured him as they squared up in front of each other. “I only have two rules for this fight; don’t break my stereo and don’t break any bones.”

Jungkook nodded before dodging the first swipe Hobi threw at him, undercutting a punch to the man’s side in response. They danced around the room, exchanging punches and kicks at each other. Hobi talked the entire time as they fought; praising any well placed hits Jungkook made, correcting any blows that made contact too hard against Jungkook’s body, and constantly adjusting his fighting technique, forcing Jungkook to adjust right back.

Unlike his fight with Jin, Hobi left no openings for Jungkook to toss him around the room and place him in a choke hold. But Jungkook did notice that the man seemed to favor one leg of the other, keying into the weakness he struck. With one hard kick to the right knee, sending Hobi to the ground, he moved swiftly to wrap his arms around the man’s neck.

As soon as he squeezed tight around Hobi’s neck the man tapped out. Jungkook released him immediately and caught him before he fell to the ground.

“Good eye, Jungkook-ah,” Hobi panted, taking a gulp of the water that Jungkook handed him. “It’s going to take you time to notice weaknesses like that faster, but you did well in executing the take down.”

Jungkook panted as he sat down next to his hyung and took a big swig of his own water, his bangs hitting his forehead in a sweaty mess. “How much were you holding back, hyung?”

Hobi chuckled as he leaned back against his hands, “You held up pretty well, Kook. Most of my first time trainees couldn’t have lasted five minutes in a ring with me, much less get a hold of me. Yes, I was holding back but if you had come to me as a trainee I’d already be moving you to my level five class.”

“Oh,” Jungkook breathed, pulling his shirt away from his body to blow air against his chest. “Is that because you’ve been secretly training me already? And Jin-hyung taught me some things?”

“That could be part of it,” Hobi said with a nod, but smiled slyly at him. “But you’re also very physically adept Jungkook-ah, you pick up moves very quickly. I think you’ll have no trouble getting through the training, even if you had neither of those things to get you started.”

Jungkook nodded, grinning proudly as he laid himself out on the cool wooden flooring. Hobi chuckled and patted his knee before standing up, taking his wraps off of his hands as he walked to the end of the room.

“I have to go take over from Jiminie,” he tells Jungkook as he pulls the younger man up from the floor. “Your brother needs constant eyes on him, so we’re taking shifts. Get some rest now, Kookie, I’ll tell you when the next session is. Just send me your class schedule, we can work around that.”

“Thanks Hobi-hyung,” Jungkook says, unwrapping his bandages from his hands. “I’m sorry you’re having to watch my idiot older brother.”

Hobi shrugged and tossed his duffle bag over his shoulder, “It’s not the first time we’ve had to deal with Jin, at least this time he’s not trying to escape us twenty-four seven.”

Jungkook waves goodbye to Hobi in front of the elevators and rides up to Yoongi and Taehyung’s apartment. The sounds of jazz greet him as he enters the floor, as he turns into the living room he sees Taehyung deep in a painting session. Sitting on a tall chair in front of a large easel and canvas, a glass of red wine in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, painting delicate petals of flowers across a dark background.

Jungkook takes a seat on the couch behind the painting station and just watches as his hyung switches between his brushes and paint as he sips on his wine glass.

“How was your training session with Hobi, Jungkook-ah?” Taehyung asks after a moment, not even looking over at the couch as he paints the green stems of the wilting ruby roses.

Jungkook smiles at his hyung’s slouched back, “It was fun, Hobi-hyung taught me a lot. I was even able to put him in a headlock when we spared.”

“Atta boy,” Taehyung praises, setting his brush down and finishing his last bit of wine before turning to Jungkook. He has a delicate pair of gold wire glasses on the bridge of his nose, as he smiles they glint in the lamplight. “Do you want to join Yoons and I for dinner tonight, before going down to your apartment?”

Jungkook nods eagerly, “Why did hyung give me a key? The elevators go straight into the apartments.”

Taehyung chuckles as stands from his chair and wipes his paint stained hands on a cloth, “Did you forget? That’s the private elevator, the renters have a separate entrance that leads to the doors of the apartments. We don’t need anyone just wandering into our home.”

“How did you keep the renters from using the private elevator in their apartments? Or is it not connected to those two?” Jungkook asks, following Taehyung into the kitchen and sits down in a bar stool when he shoos him away from helping with dinner.

“They’re connected,” Taehyung says with a sly smile, pulling his chef knife out of the knife block. “The elevator is just hidden on those two floors, unlike the other ones. And we don’t tell the random renters of the apartments about it.”

“That’s sketchy hyung,” Jungkook chuckles as Taehyung starts slicing some carrots. “How does that pass the home inspections?”

Taehyung just winks at him as he continues to work on their dinner. While watching him work, a thought reappears in Jungkook’s mind from this morning.

“Hey hyung?” Taehyung hums in question as Jungkook pauses and fiddles with his lip ring. “Would it be too soon for me to… get Namjoon and I couple rings?”

Taehyung pauses his knife movements and looks up at Jungkook, “Is this about that Irene woman Yoongi mentioned this morning?”

Jungkook digs his teeth into his lip ring harder and nods, Taehyung softens his face.

“You don’t have to worry about Namjoon being unfaithful, Jungkook-ah.” He says softly. “And not because he knows what will happen to him if he does, but because he’s not that kind of man. He loves with his whole heart, leaves no room for someone else to come in and take up space.”

Jungkook blushes at the mention of that four letter word, “It’s not him I’m worried about, I guess I’m just a bit possessive of him. I don’t want anyone looking at him without knowing that he’s mine now.”

Taehyung chuckles, “I guess you never did grow out of that ‘what’s mine is mine and what’s yours in mine’ phase. But I understand what you mean, Kookie, I was the same way with Yoongles before we got married.”

Jungkook hummed as Taehyung returned to his prepwork, “So, do you think I should get them?”

“Have you looked at some?” Taehyung asks as he starts pulling out some pots to begin cooking with.

Jungkook scratches his nose in embarrassment, “I might have.”

Taehyung chuckles in delight, “Show me.”

Yoongi finds the pair huddled over Jungkook’s phone making noises of agreement or disapproval to each other while dinner simmers on the stovetop.

“What are you two doing now?” He asks, stepping over to the stove to check on the food before it starts burning.

“Get those two Kookie, I think they’re perfect.” Taehyung says to Jungkook before going over to Yoongi’s side, placing a kiss on his forehead, and starts getting the dinner moved onto plates for them to eat. “Just helping Kookie find some rings for him and Joonie, Yoons.”

“Couple rings, hyung.” Jungkook says quickly when Yoongi turns a wide eyed look at him.

Yoongi sighs in relief, “Thank goodness, I’m not ready to walk you down the aisle yet.”

“Wouldn’t I walk him down the aisle?” Taehyung objects, grabbing a bottle of soju to go with their dinner as they sit down at the dining room table.

“We can both walk him,” Yoongi amends, scooping a bowl of white rice for Jungkook and handing it over to him. “Seokjin will probably have to be chained down in his seat and gagged to keep him from objecting.”

Taehyung hummed in agreement, pouring their shot glasses of soju, “Jiminie and Hobi can be the best men, do you think we should have Doctor Wook officiate like with our wedding?”

“That man really does need to retire at this point,” Yoongi comments, throwing back his shot of soju. “Jisoo is only a few months away from completing her doctorate and she has enough experience to take his place easily enough now.”

“Jisoo is a part of the Bulletproof Company?” Jungkook asks, looking up from his plate of food in shock.

“She’s one of our best nurses,” Taehyung says, running a thumb across Yoongi’s cheek over his scar. “She helped take care of Yoons while he was healing.”

Yoongi hummed as he began digging into his plate of food, glancing briefly at the questioning look Jungkook was giving him. “That is a story we’ll tell you another day, I want to see those rings that you want to get. We have a jeweler that does all of our pieces, he knows Joon’s size.”

Jungkook nods and slides his phone down the table to Yoongi, he gets a hum of approval for his choice as Yoongi looks over the simple design on the silver ring pair.

“Good choice, Jungkook-ah, I think Joon will like them.” Yoongi says, sliding his phone back to him and pulling out his own, probably to message his jeweler.

Jungkook hums happily, glancing back down at the photo of the rings. “Thanks hyung, hopefully I don’t freak Namjoon out too much when I give them to him.”

Taehyung chuckles as he pours Yoongi another shot of soju into his glass, a mischievous light coming into his eyes. “Take a video of it, if he does. We have a group chat full of photos and silly gifs of each other, Hobi mainly takes them.”

Yoongi huffs and rolls his eyes when Jungkook turns his gaze excitedly at him, he pulls out his phone and hands it over. Jungkook takes it eagerly, opens the group chat labeled ‘Bangtan Idiots’ and scrolls through the rows of photos and gifs.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 17: Reflection

Jungkook left his hyungs’ apartment, after being shooed away from helping with the dishes, and took the private elevator down to the fifth floor. When the doors opened he stepped into the dark space and flicked on a light in the hall. He turned and watched as the door to the elevator slid closed, seamlessly integrating itself with the wall. If he hadn’t spied the small call button hidden as a light switch, he’d never know there was an elevator posing as a wall.

He chuckled to himself, wandering further into the apartment, taking in the empty space. The apartment layout was similar to Yoongi and Taehyung’s penthouse, it was just smaller. It was cozy, Jungkook could already tell how much he was going to like living here and mentally cursed himself for not taking the offer from Yoongi-hyung sooner. Independence was overrated anyway.

He made his way into the main bedroom and placed his backpack onto the mattress as he headed into the bathroom. As he washed himself and pulled on some loose sweats to sleep in, Jungkook took this rare moment alone to just reflect on what had happened to him over the past few days.

He had been kidnapped, then saved by his boyfriend. Found out that said boyfriend was the leader of the asian mafia. Then found out that his entire family was also a part of this secret society, as well as all the friends he’s made over the years living in Seoul. Then his brother decided to be an idiot, piss off the leading company of South Korea, and now was locked up in his boyfriend’s house. And he was being trained to fight properly while still going to college for a Visual Arts degree.

Jungkook wondered if he had much sanity left to think of any of this as ‘normal’. Though there weren’t many moments in his life that he concerned himself ‘normal’ by any means. It wasn’t exactly ‘normal’ to have your older brother teach you how to put a grown man into a choke hold at the age of thirteen. And it wasn’t ‘normal’ to have scars running down your body because of fights at school.

In Jungkook's opinion, his current state of life seemed to be right on par with his past. Only now he felt more connected to those around him than ever before. His relationship with Jin had never been on the best terms, but with new revelations he felt that the two of them could become more like brothers than before. There were no secrets between them anymore and there never would be, if Jungkook had anything to say about it.

The conversation with Namjoon about his past on the street also drifted back into his mind, he still needed to talk to his hyungs about why he had left them last year. But it never seemed like the right time to do so, Jungkook wondered if he’d ever be ready to talk to his hyungs about that. He knew it would hurt them to know what Jungkook thought when he had seen Jimin’s adoption papers. That he had assumed they didn’t want to do the same for him.

Jungkook rolled onto his back as he pulled the covers up to his chin. Even if it had only been for a few nights, he found himself already missing being wrapped around Namjoon as they fell asleep. He felt like all his troubles just melted away when he was in his boyfriend’s arms. He rolled over to his side and tried to will himself to sleep.

“Stupid ‘too early to move in with each other’ bullshit,” Jungkook muttered to himself, cursing his past self for even protesting the idea. While he did agree, logically, with that statement it didn’t help him currently. And the ache in his chest was starting to grow. The minutes seemed to tick by at snail's pace as he tossed and turned in the effort to chase after sleep.

He glaring at his phone laying on the nightstand, wishing he could ask Namjoon to come over. As if sensing his narrowed eyes, the phone lights up and pings with a text message. He reaches out of the clutches of his blankets and pulls the phone to his face. He smiles at the message from his boyfriend.

‘If I send your brother to an early grave, how angry would you be with me?’ Namjoon asks, with an eye roll emoji at the end.

Jungkook types back, ‘Depends, who do I get as a replacement?’

‘You can have Hobi, he’s annoying me again. Seems like a fair trade to me.’ Namjoon sends back.

Jungkook giggles, kicking his feet at Namjoon’s silliness. ‘That may sway in your favor then, I’ll be sure to put Jin-hyung’s favorite flowers on his grave everyday.’

‘I’ll inform him then,’ Namjoon types back and Jungkook gets a ding from another text message. He bursts out laughing at Jin’s message of ‘Stop giving your boyfriend ideas! The knife sharpening tools give me a headache’ and he sends a simple shrug emoji in response before returning to his conversation with Namjoon.

‘Tell Hobi-hyung that I want a car for my birthday, to make up for all the years he’s missed.’ Jungkook teases.

‘We'll see if we can make room in the budget for it,’ Namjoon sasses back, sending a tongue out emoji at the end.

‘Well I hope so, remind him that my favorite color is black,’ Jungkook writes back, sincerely hoping that Namjoon wasn’t taking him seriously. He might have a heart attack if the man hands him any set of keys to a new vehicle.

Namjoon sent a laughing emoji in return, after a moment he sends ‘Why are you still awake, little one?’

‘I could ask you the same thing,’ Jungkook countered, a warm bubble bursting in his chest at Namjoon’s sweet nickname for him. It was honestly Jungkook’s favorite out of his arsenal of pet names, coming a close second to ‘baby’.

‘Baby,’ Jungkook can almost hear the scolding tone through the phone. ‘Go get some sleep, I’m sure you have a busy day tomorrow. You need your rest.’

Jungkook bit his lip as he typed out, ‘Just having a hard time falling asleep.’

A bubble appears as Namjoon types a message, but then it disappears and reappears, this happens a couple of times. Jungkook snickers at Namjoon’s hesitation and decides to help him by saying, ‘I’m just not used to sleeping alone anymore, you’ve spoiled me with your cuddles and now I miss it.’

‘Oh baby, how can I help you sleep?’ Namjoon asks and Jungkook has no idea how to respond. He stares at the message, his thumbs move to type out a message but he can’t seem to put into words what he needs right now.

The logical part of his brain says to just have Namjoon call him and talk to him until he falls asleep. That the separation between the two of them is a good thing, couples live apart from each other all the time. But the larger part of him, the emotional part, just wants to ask Namjoon to come over. To just fall asleep in his arms again. Jungkook isn’t sure which side to listen to.

‘I’ll give you two options, baby, and you can choose which you want. Okay?’ Namjoon sends and Jungkook replies a hesitant ‘ok’ back.

‘Alright, option one or option two, baby. And I’ll do whatever you choose, I promise either one will make you feel better.’ Namjoon promises, sending a purple heart emoji at the end of his message.

Jungkook has no idea what Namjoon has in mind so he just goes with the safest bet, ‘The first option.’

‘Alright, give me a moment baby.’ Namjoon replies and Jungkook lays across his bed staring at his phone, waiting for whatever he had asked Namjoon to do. There’s a knock at his front door, echoing across his apartment, his phone pings with a message from Namjoon ‘You can open the door, baby, it's just me.’

Jungkook chuckles as he hops out of bed and heads down the hallway to the apartment door. He peeks through the peephole and sure enough Namjoon is standing in the hallway in his sweats, house shoes, and a long black coat with his phone in his hand.

Jungkook unlocks the door and opens it, “What exactly was option two then?”

Namjoon smiles at him, “I come through the private elevator.”

“Do that next time, I want to keep this door locked.” Jungkook says, pulling Namjoon through the door and burying himself into the man’s arms as it closes behind him.

“Come on, let's get to bed.” Namjoon chuckles, pulling his coat off and hanging it on the hooks by the front door as Jungkook clings to his chest. He chuckles as Jungkook simply tightens his arms around him in response as he locks the door. Namjoon tugs Jungkook away from him, ignoring his whines as he does, and lifts him into the air.

Jungkook giggles as he throws his arms around Namjoon’s neck and his legs around his waist, he places a kiss against Namjoon’s dimpled cheek as he starts walking them towards his bedroom.

“You know, you’re the only person that’s ever been able to lift me and carry me around everywhere.” Jungkook observes as Namjoon settles them down onto his mattress and pulls the comforter over them.

“I’ll make sure I always can then,” Namjoon murmurs, placing a kiss onto Jungkook’s forehead. “Now, sleep baby. I’m here now, you can sleep.”

Jungkook sighs and tucks his head against Namjoon’s neck. He drifts off almost instantly with Namjoon’s gentle breaths against his cheek.

“When we first started talking about me moving out of my old apartment, why did you jump to the conclusion that I thought it was too soon for us to move in together?” Jungkook asks, leaning against the doorframe as Namjoon brushed his teeth in the mirror.

Namjoon’s eyes met his through the reflection, before he spat into the sink. “Was that not what you were going to say?”

Jungkook bit his lip as he looked up at Namjoon as he walked over to him in the doorway, “No I was, but I think I’ve changed my mind about that.”

“Baby,” Namjoon says gently, laying a hand against the side of Junkook’s neck. “I think you were right, it would be too soon. We've only been officially dating for about a week.”

Jungkook scowls and turns away to head into the kitchen, “I’ve known you for over a month, Namjoon. And I haven’t been seeing anyone but you.”

“I’m not saying that I have, Jungkook-ah.” Namjoon says, following behind him and sitting down in the barstool as Jungkook moves into the kitchen to start some breakfast. “I’m just saying that by normal couple standards, it would be pretty fast for us to move in together now.”

“I want you to give me three reasons why you think we shouldn’t live together and not a single one can include the word ‘normal’ for it to count.” Jungkook states, he glances at Namjoon as he moves around the kitchen making their breakfast.

He internally thanked his Yoongi-hyung for stocking his kitchen with proper food and not just the thousands of Jin Ramen packs from his old place. All those were tucked safely in a cupboard in the corner that he hoped Namjoon would never open. He pulls the leftover rice from the fridge and the carton of eggs before moving to the stove and placing some pans on it. He makes quick work of heating the rice in an oiled pan and setting the second pan on low heat for frying the eggs.

Namjoon followed his movements with gentle eyes and took the mug of coffee from him gratefully, “So us only dating for a month, as you say, doesn’t count as a reason?”

Jungkook thought about it for a moment, “Weren’t you the one that gave me the speech about how the passage of time is just an illusion and that humanity has just wanted to control their way of life by measuring it? And all because I wouldn’t agree with you on the fact that mint chocolate chip ice cream is disgusting.”

Namjoon sniffed, “It tastes like fucking toothpaste and chocolate, it is disgusting. It’s like brushing your teeth then immediately going to eat a chocolate bar.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes, picked up his own cup of coffee to take a sip, and watched the eggs frying in the pan, “Three reasons, give ‘em to me Namjoonie.”

Namjoon tuts his tongue in thought, tapping one of his long fingers on the black marble countertop in a gentle rhythm. “Alright, reason number one: Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung have forbidden company business at D-Town. So, I can’t set up base here or have Seokjin live here either.”

“Two things to that,” Jungkook counters, raising two fingers in the air and ignoring Namjoon’s long suffering sigh. “One: you don’t need to set up base here, the apartment can just be a place where you can step away from work for a bit. I honestly think you need it, Namjoon, even if you just come here to sleep. And two: I can always move into your apartment if traveling between mine and yours becomes impractical.”

Namjoon purses his lips, “Are you going to counter every one of my reasons before I give you all of them?”

“Yep!” Jungkook grins widely at him as he scoops the rice into two bowls and flips the fried eggs on top of them.

Namjoon snorts and takes the bowl that Jungkook hands him, “Fine then, my second reason; I think you like the idea of living with me, more than you’ve actually thought what it’ll be like if we live together.”

“How so?” Jungkook asks, sliding into the chair next to Namjoon with his own bowl of food. “Do you think I haven’t had enough time to think about everything it would involve?”

“I suppose time does have a large factor in my reasons,” Namjoon sighs before placing a scoop of his rice and egg into his mouth.

“You know, if you’re scared Namjoon, you can just tell me.” Jungkook says gently, looking over as Namjoon hunches over his bowl and peeks over at him out of the corner of his eye. “I’ll understand that, I do understand that. Moving in together is a big deal, if you don’t feel ready then,” he shrugs, “I can wait. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

Namjoon hums and straightens in his chair as he leans back looking over at Jungkook, “That’s definitely a factor in this, there’s been a lot of revelations that have come into your life recently. I don’t want you to jump into anything just because you feel like you have to. I’m not going anywhere either, you know.”

Jungkook nods, “Then what should we do instead?”

“How about we give it two months?” Namjoon suggests, tapping his spoon on the rim of the bowl in thought. “Two months of meeting up like we usually do. I’ll still be able to come to your performances at D-Town and now we can meet in your apartment instead of the VIP section.”

“And the sleeping situation? What’s your solution for that?” Jungkook asks, scooping a pile of rice into his mouth.

Namjoon scratches the back of his head, “That I have no idea, how long were you trying to fall asleep for before I messaged you?”

Jungkook shrugged, “I can’t remember, but I was getting nowhere with it until you came. Sleeping together regularly is a ‘normal’ couple thing to do, you don’t have to move in with me for us to have that.”

Namjoon’s eyes become soft and he reaches over to brush his bangs out of Jungkook’s face, “Stop looking at me with those puppy dog eyes, baby. It’s really hard to tell you no when you do.”

“It’ll be my permanent face then,” Jungkook teased with a wide smile. “What exactly are your reservations on us sleeping together every night.”

“You’re making it sound like I don’t want that,” Namjoon gripped, resting his hand against Jungkook's neck as he ran a thumb across his jawline. “I’ll admit that I’m a bit worried that we’ll become a bit codependent on each other, if we don’t have regular time apart.”

“We will have time apart,” Jungkook countered and raised his hands to count on his fingers. “I have school, you have work. I have my performances at D-Town, you have work. I have my training with Hobi-hyung, you have work. My day doesn’t exactly revolve around you, it’s going to be like when we were meeting before the Stray Kids Gang got me. Only now we can have more time together at night, if you stay over. Which probably will be the only time either of us will have with our current schedules.”

“I’ll tell Hobi not to add negotiation to your training,” Namjoon says slyly, leaning his head into his hand as he listens to Jungkook. “You’ll have all of Korea in the palm of your hand if you were any better at it.”

“Can we alternate between our apartments? I want to talk with my brother more when I can.” Jungkook pleads, jutting his lip out into an exaggerated pout. Namjoon leans forward and places a kiss straight on it.

“Of course, baby,” he agrees after pulling away. “How about any night you don’t have a performance, you can come to my apartment.”

“I like the sound of that,” Jungkook agrees, placing another kiss on Namjoon’s plush lips. He pulls away with a gasp, “Oh that reminds me, we didn’t finish our conversation on boundaries.”

Namjoon blinks, scrunches his brow for a moment before realization comes across his face. “You’re right we didn’t, was there something else you needed to add?”

Now it’s Jungkook’s turn to blink at him, “Namjoon, babe, you didn’t tell me what your boundaries or deal breakers are. This isn’t a one sided relationship here, I’m going to respect your needs as well.”

Namjoon stared at him for a moment, before surging forward and placing a hard kiss against Jungkook’s lips. Jungkook followed Namjoon’s pacing for a moment before pulling away breathlessly.

“Stop distracting me!” Jungkook whines as Namjoon starts placing kisses down his jaw and neck. Namjoon chuckles as he pulls away and lays his forehead against Jungkook’s.

“You’re very easy to distract, baby.” Namjoon teases. “Should I be worried about that?”

“Only when it's you,” Jungkook teases back, rubbing their noses together. “Boundaries Namjoonie, what are they?”

Namjoon hums, “I’ve never had to set any before, how about if something comes up I’ll tell you.”

“I can work with that,” Jungkook answers, glancing over at the clock. “It’s almost 9:30, which means I need to get ready for class.”

He laughs as Namjoon groans as he hops off his chair and skips over to his room to get changed.

“Do you think it would look odd to make my entrance way by the elevator, like at Yoongi-hyung and Tae’s apartment?” Jungkook asks as he joins Namjoon in the elevator and presses the button for the basement garage instead of the lobby.

Namjoon looks over at him in confusion, “No it wouldn’t, it’s your place you can set it up how you like. Why are we going down to the garage?”

“I’m going to ride to school, it’s too far to walk everyday and I’m not letting you have someone drive me either.” Jungkook answers, zipping up his leather jacket and tucking his backpack over his shoulders, connecting the straps across his chest.

Namjoon follows him curiously out of the elevator and down the rows of Taehyung and Yoongi’s cars until they come up to a black motorcycle. Jungkook steps right over to it and picks up the helmet that sits on the seat. After pulling the helmet over his head, buckling the strap under his chin, he swings his leg to straddle the bike.

“I’ll text you later, babe.” Jungkook says, looking up at Namjoon through his open visor. Smirking at Namjoon’s wide eyes as he starts his engine and revs it to allow the rumbling engine to echo through the garage.

He pulls the bike up from its tilt, kicking the kickstand up, before putting it into first gear to start rolling forward. He shoots Namjoon a wink before rolling out of the garage at a higher speed then he normally would. He's showing off, sue him.

He revs the engine one more time before speeding down the streets of Seoul towards Hybe University. Weaving smoothly through traffic, enjoying the thrill of the hot motor underneath him and the cold wind against the patches of bare skin from his clothes.

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 Interlude: Daydream

Hoseok found Jin clutching his head and bowed over the dining room table as he left his office from a meeting. He caught a glimpse of Jungkook’s back retreating up the stairs and disappearing into Namjoon’s room. He looked back at Jin and sat down in the chair next to him, clearly the brothers had another spat.

Hoseok leaned back in his chair and waited for Jin to speak. He was just starting to think of what he should order for dinner when Jin spoke up.

“I didn’t know he was on the streets, she didn’t tell me.” Jin whispered hoarsely, into his hands. He pounded his fist onto the table in anger. “She lied to me!”

“That seems to be your mother’s M.O. at this point, I’m sorry to say.” Hoseok murmured, ignoring the glare that Jin threw his way. “Why weren’t you there Jin? Why weren’t you home to watch over your brother?”

Jin sniffed and looked back down at the table, “We were broke, dirt broke. Mom was still using, it was draining any funds we had from her retirement and from what dad had left us. I barely had enough to send Jungkook to school in Seoul and afford his travel there, but I was making it work. I took as many jobs as I could, I stayed out of company business but it wasn’t enough. So, I started taking the odd job from any company that would hire me. I was working to feed him when he ran away to live in Seoul.”

“He didn’t just up and leave, Jin. He was kicked out. He probably didn’t even know what you were doing for him.” Hoseok said softly, looking over at Jin’s slumped form.

“I know that now, I didn’t then.” Jin said softly, his hands slumping on the table top. “All this time, I’ve been thinking that you guys corrupted my little brother. Not that you saved him from much worse.”

“I told you that I kept my promise Jin, I kept him safe and trained him while he was with me, secretly of course. But all the credit goes to Yoongi-hyung and Tae, they’ve taken the most care of him. They’ve treated him like the son they can never have.” Hoseok says, laying a hand on Jin’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what to do now, Hoba. How do I mend this?” Jin whispered, looking over at Hoseok with shining eyes.

“Be there for him now,” Hoseok says softly, brushing a hand through Jin’s hair before resting it against the back of his head and scratching the short hairs there. “Don’t fight with him about his choice about being here, he’s already made up his mind. Get to know him, spend time with him, and listen to him. He’s a good kid, he’s got a big heart. If you show him how much you care about him, he’ll let you in. It’s just going to take some time.”

Jin sighed and leaned his head against Hoseok’s shoulder, “It’s not fair how good you are with words.”

Hoseok chuckled and placed his arm around Jin’s shoulders, “You can blame Joonie for that, you need to have a way with words to compete with him.”

Jin chuckled hoarsely and laid a hand on Hoseok’s stomach, “I’m going to have to apologize to everyone, aren’t I? I’ve been a bastard this whole time.”

“You’ve always been a bastard,” Hoseok chuckled when Jin smacked his stomach in response. “An apology would be nice, but I would have a conversation with everyone. They need to hear your side of the story, they’ll understand.”

Jin hummed, “I’m sorry, Hoba. I shouldn’t have left the way I did.”

“I knew you weren’t going to stay Jin,” Hoseok sighed, placing a hand on top of the one laying on his stomach. “It didn’t make it hurt less when you did, but after killing your father’s murderer I knew you wouldn’t stay.”

“I’m sorry for just leaving a note though, I should have said goodbye properly.” Jin sighed at the memory of his sudden departure all those years ago, Hoseok hummed in acknowledgement. “Did you ever find your birth parents?”

“I did,” Hoseok sighed, leaning his head back against the wooden chair as Jin settled over his chest. “They’re dead in a ditch somewhere, drug overdose. Serves them right.”

“You don’t mean that,” Jin scowled lightly, intertwining their fingers over top Hoseok’s toned stomach.

Hoseok scoffed, “They sold their son for their drug addiction, then promptly died of an overdose from those drugs. Karma killed them, I’ve had enough time to be thankful for it.”

“Are you still having any episodes?” Jin asked softly, running a thumb across Hoseok’s knuckles.

Hoseok hummed, “Not often, I’m more determined than ever to help Namjoon take control of the drug cartels. I don’t want any other parent to have to deal with what mine did when they brought me home. I don’t want anyone else to grow up with the lasting effects.”

“Are you going to shut them down, once you have them?” Jin asks, making a confused noise when Hoseok makes a negative one.

“I wish we could, I wish we could just destroy all the drugs across South Korea, but people will just get them from somewhere else. We can’t stop that, but we can stop the mass produced junk from getting on the streets.” Hoseok explained gently, running his other hand up and down Jin’s shoulder. “Right now, the stuff that’s being put on the streets is killing people. Namjoon and I want to put a stop to that, we want to make sure that the doses are controlled and as safe as they could be.”

“You can’t stop all of the corruption.” Jin pointed out lazily.

“No, but we can sell our better product at half the price. We’ll run the rest of the dealers out of the country.” Hoseok chuckled, picking up one of his legs to stretch it over the seat of another chair.

Jin hummed, “So, what’s been going on between you and Jimin? I sense tension.”

Hoseok frowned and looked down at the crown of Jin’s head on his chest, “Tension? Do we seem angry with each other?”

Jin scoffed, Hoseok could practically feel the eye roll against his chest. “Not that kind of tension, Hoba. Sexual tension, you dummy.”

“Oh,” Hoseok murmured. “Right that, Jimin and I have only really started flirting with each other for the past two years. I’ve been hesitant to start anything with him, because of the kind of company he came from. I saved him from it and he needed time to heal from his past. Yoongi-hyung and Tae have helped him a lot with that.”

“Don’t wait too long Hoba, he’s not going to wait around forever. And he’d be a fool to let you slip away, like I did.” Jin sighed, removing himself from Hoseok’s embrace and started moving out of his chair. Hoseok reached a hand out and grasped Jin’s, he looked down at the man in question.

“I didn’t slip away, Jin, you just haven’t caught up to my pace yet.” Hoseok said, standing to his feet, he leaned forward and placed a kiss against Jin’s cheek. “Get some rest, we have work to do tomorrow.”

Hoseok slipped his hand out of Jin’s and walked up to his room, he caught a glimpse of Jimin’s door swiftly closing and sighed as he passed it. Pausing in front of the door he whispered, “Come talk to me when you’re ready, Jimin. I don’t need miscommunication on both sides.”

He moved to walk past to his room but stopped when the door swung open. Jimin glared at him, his face streaming with tears.

“What the hell do you mean by that?! It seemed pretty obvious what you meant!” Jimin whispered hoarsely, clutching the door knob in his hand with white knuckles.

“Did it?” Hoseok asked, stepping towards Jimin with a challenging look. “Then you weren’t listening hard enough.”

Jimin scowled and moved to shut the door in his face, Hoseok hesitated for a second before slamming his palm against the door and pushed himself into Jimin’s room. He let the door swing closed behind him and got into Jimin’s space.

“Are you going to listen to me Jimin, or are you going to continue jumping to conclusions?” Hoseok asked softly, his nose brushing lightly against Jimin’s. He caught Jimin’s fists in his hands and pushed him to the bed, forcing him onto his back onto the mattress and straddling his waist. He planted Jimin’s hands above his head, holding tight to his wrists as the man struggled underneath him.

“Jimin,” Hoseok scolded, dodging a headbutt from him. “Be reasonable here.”

“You’re the one pinning me to the bed!” Jimin grunted indignantly, thrusting his hips up to try and flip them over but was unsuccessful.

“Fine, then you can just listen while I hold you still.” Hoseok sighed, adjusting his weight to keep Jimin’s legs from kicking him. “I’m not choosing between you and Jin.”

Jimin froze and stared up at him in confusion, “What do you mean by that?”

Hoseok wished he could scratch his nose in embarrassment, his cheeks felt hot as he looked down at the comforter and not at Jimin’s confused face. “What I feel for the two of you is different. I don’t like you in the same way that I like Jin and vice versa and I’ve never been one to… settle with just one person. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Hoseok glanced back at Jimin’s face blinking at him as he tried to process what he was hinting at. Then it clicked and Jimin deflated on top of the bed.

“Does Seokjin know that? About you?” Jimin asked as Hoseok slowly released his hold on Jimin’s wrists.

Hoseok scratched the back of his head, “Yes, it came up in conversation once, but I wasn’t with anyone when he came the first time around.”

Jimin hummed and placed his hands on Hoseok’s thighs that were still on either side of his waist, “What exactly happened between you and Seokjin? I know he left after killing his father’s murderer but you guys seemed close just now.”

Hoseok sighed, “Nothing really ever happened, we just bonded easier than the others. I trained him before Namjoon did, but it never led to anything. Jin was too focused on finding the man that killed Jang-ssi and I needed to keep my brother from burning himself to the ground.”

“What did Seokjin mean when he said you have episodes?” Jimin asked, tilting his head as he looked up at the man.

Hoseok blinked for a moment, “Haven’t I told you that my birth mother took drugs while pregnant with me?”

Jimin blinks back at him and scrunches his brows, “No! I didn’t even know you were adopted!”

“Oh,” Hoseok murmurs, giving Jimin a sheepish look. “Namjoon’s parents found me in a rival company's warehouse, my birth parents sold me for their drug addiction. I had withdrawal symptoms as a baby and while growing up. They aren’t as bad now, I’ll only get them if I’m not sleeping well or I’m under too much stress.”

“So how did Seokjin find out?” Jimin asked, clutching his hands on Hoseok’s hips.

Hoseok shrugged, “I told him, it helped us bond. And then he witnessed some of my seizures, it was a very stressful time then. I’m thankful for it though, it helped me keep Jin under control. He listened to me better than Namjoon and Yoongi, especially after seeing me like that.”

Jimin nodded in understanding and his gaze returned at a teasing one, “So, when you say that you feel differently for each of us, what do you mean by that?”

Hoseok scratched the end of his nose and looked away from Jimin’s sultry eyes underneath him. He mumbled incoherently as Jimin started running his hands slowly up Hoseok’s chest.

“What was that? You were mumbling,” Jimin teased, sliding his hands up to Hoseok’s shoulders and suddenly flipping them over so that he was on top and straddling Hoseok’s waist.

Hoseoked looked anywhere but at Jimin’s teasing face, “I’m not sure what you want me to say, Jimin.”

Jimin hummed as he settled over Hobi’s pelvis, running his hands up and down Hobi’s chest. “I want you to tell me what you feel about me and Seokjin, and how you want us to move forward.”

“Well, I like both of you. I’m attracted to both of you,” Hobi mumbled, catching Jimin’s hands before they wandered lower on his stomach. “But I don’t want to pressure either of you into a relationship with me if both of you hate each other.”

“I don’t hate Seokjin, I barely know him.” Jimin countered, twisting their fingers together. Smiling when Hobi finally meets his gaze, “And he can’t be that bad if you were willing to share your past with him. I’m willing to see where it goes with the three of us, if Seokjin is willing. This needs to be an agreement between all of us.”

Hobi nods in agreement, “What do we do if Jin isn’t willing to try?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Jimin says with a shrug, before leveling Hobi a very serious look. “I can share you with him, Hobi, but only him. I understand your preferences, but we’re not immediately looking for another person if Seokjin doesn’t agree.”

“I know that, Jimin, I didn’t mean it like that.” Hobi assured him, pulling him down to hold him against his chest. “I’ve usually joined someone else’s relationship, not start my own. I was shocked how long I liked Jin for, then you came along and the feelings for both of you just grew, even in his absence. I’d never try to force you into a relationship with someone else. It’s Jin for us, or no one.”

Jimin hums happily as he settles across Hobi’s chest, tucking his legs between the other man’s. “You have good tastes in men, I must say. Have you seen how hot that man is, damn I would have jumped his bones if you hadn’t.”

Hobi snorts as he reaches over and turns off the lamp, bathing the room in darkness. “Trust me I know, try sparring with him some time. It’ll take every level of self control you have after hearing the sounds he makes while being tossed onto the mat.”

“I’ll spar with him tomorrow then,” Jimin says cheerily, pulling the comforter over the top of them. He smiles as Hobi’s chest shakes with his sunshine laughter, closing his eyes and tucking his face into the man’s neck as he starts to drift off. The smell of Hobi’s vanilla body wash soothing him into a gentle sleep.