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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.

Ended up writing my own fic based on my own dialogue prompt 😂

Dialogue prompt:

Character A: I would never put bruises on your knees like he does, sweetheart.

Character B, with a confused look on his or her face: I work in a dog kennel, these bruises aren’t for anybody!

Character A stares in disbelief before shuffling off awkwardly.

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 19: Heartbeat

When Jungkook returned to Namjoon’s penthouse, he was still chuckling at the thought of how Professor Chan would have reacted to being replaced not even a week after he had died. There hadn’t even been a proper mourning period at the campus, apparently he wasn’t just disliked by the students. The Dean of the school had said one small word about his passing during the morning announcements, but that was all the acknowledgement the man got for his twenty years at Hybe University.

The couple rings that Yoongi had handed him before he left had burned a hole in his pocket as he thought about them all day. Having them in his hand made the fact that he had to give them to Namjoon all the more real. His stomach bubbled with nerves as he set his backpack down on a kitchen chair before walking over to Namjoon’s office.

He fidgeted as he stood in front of the dark oak door before placing a hesitant knock against it.

“Come in,” Namjoon called and looked up as Jungkook stepped into the room, he scrunched his brow as Jungkook shuffled into the room and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Should I be worried? You knocked this time.”

Jungkook scratched the back of his head, “Just a bit nervous, you don’t have to accept them. I probably should’ve asked if you even wanted something like this. Please don’t think I’m trying to pressure you into anything that you might feel is too soon and…”

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon cut into Jungkook’s ramblings. “Little one, breathe.”

Jungkook took a deep breath, looked at Namjoon’s steady face and pulled the ring box out from his pocket. Placing it on Namjoon’s desk he whispered, “Yoongi-hyung had his jeweler make them and Tae helped me pick the design.”

Namjoon picked up the ring box and opened it, he sucked in a breath as he stared down at the two silver rings in the black velvet. They were a simple matching set, thin and delicate, with a single red line of metal wrapped around the silver.

Jungkook chewed on his lip ring as Namjoon blinked down at the rings, “They’re couple rings. The red line was inspired by the Red String of Fate, I thought it might be fitting considering how we met. Do you like them?”

Namjoon blinked again and looked up at Jungkook, he opened and closed his mouth for a moment.

“Do you… hate them?” Jungkook squeaked, twisting his fingers together in his lap.

“Fuck no!” Namjoon burst out with a violent shake of his head. “No baby, I love them. It’s just… no one has ever… gotten me something like this before.”

Jungkook smiled widely and reached onto the desk, he picked up the ring box and took out the larger of the two rings form inside. He took Namjoon’s left hand into his and slid the ring onto his pointer finger. He smiled wider as he looked at how well it suited Namjoon’s long fingers.

Namjoon reached over and plucked the smaller ring out of the box. He took Jungkook’s left hand into his and slid the ring onto his pointer finger as well. They intertwined their ringed fingers, connecting the red string between them.

“It’s perfect, Jungkook-ah.” Namjoon whispered, then chuckled. “I’m sorry to say what I have to give to you in return isn’t something new.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything Namjoon,” Jungkook said as Namjoon pulled a box off the floor and placed it on the desk.

“More like returning something you lost,” Namjoon corrected, sliding the box closer to him.

Jungkook looked at the box curiously before pulling the lid off, he gasped as he saw what lay inside of it. “How did you find it!? I thought Bangchan had it destroyed!”

Jungkook pulled out the leather jacket, Namjoon’s leather jacket. The thing that started everything and held it tightly to his chest. Namjoon smiled as Jungkook buried his face into the leather collar.

“My men found it while we were cleaning out the Stray Kids Gang’s warehouse. I had it cleaned and if you look at the collar, you’ll see the other surprise I have on it.” Namjoon explained, taking the empty box off of his desk.

Jungkook pulled his face away from the leather jacket and looked down at the stitching that laid at the back collar. Where there used to just be a little ‘RM’ stitched in white lettering, there now sat ‘RM & JK’ and underneath that read ‘To Keep Us Warm Till The Spring Comes Again’.

“Oh Namjoon,” Jungkook whispered, looking up at the man with teary eyes. “I love it, thank you.”

“Of course baby,” Namjoon grinned, glancing down at the ring on his finger. “I still think I got the better gift out of the pair of us.”

“Buy me a puppy and we’ll call it even.” Jungkook teased, hugging the leather jacket to his chest happily.

“What breed do you want?” Namjoon asked, chuckling when Jungkook starts to protest his seriousness on wanting a dog at the moment. Namjoon leans his head into his hand and stares at Jungkook lovingly, listening as he starts to ramble on about all the research he’s done on proper dog training.

Saturday Morning

“Baby, I can’t just call the leader of NCT Dream Circinate and tell them I can’t make my meeting because my boyfriend wants to go out on a date.” Namjoon says gently as Jungkook pouts at him.

“What good is being the most powerful man in South Korea if you can’t have one day off?” Jungkook counters, ignoring Jimin’s snicker at the end of the table as he stares at Namjoon.

Namjoon pursues his lips and glances at Yoongi for support, he only gets a shrug in response from the man.

“Even I have a day off Namjoon-ah,” Yoongi drawls and gives Namjoon a sly smile. “I’ve been telling you for years to have a day for yourself, maybe Jungkook-ah will actually force you to do that. Quality time is important for a growing relationship, you know.”

Jungkook smiles smugly at Namjoon’s defeated sigh.

“I’ll make you a deal, little one.” Namjoon says, reaching for Jungkook’s hand and running his thumb over their ring on his finger. “I can’t blow off this meeting, but I can move my Sunday one to today. I can give you all of tomorrow, how does that sound?”

Jungkook narrows his eyes, “You promise, I’ll get you all to myself tomorrow?”

Namjoon gulps and licks his lips as he nods, letting out a shaky breath when Jungkook hums happily and returns to eating his food. His eyes narrow down the table as snickers from the rest of the men sound through the room.

“Don’t you all have somewhere to be?” Namjoon scolds, only to receive chuckles in response as they all turn back to their own plates of food and conversions with the person sitting next to them.

Namjoon huffs and rolls his eyes as he stands from the table, “One of these days I’m just going to fire all of you, the level of disrespect I’m getting in this house is unreal.”

“We already have a new boss to take your place!” Jimin teases, patting Jungkook’s shoulder as Namjoon glares at him. “I think Jungkook-ah would do a much better job than you anyway.”

“Probably,” Namjoon mutters, placing a kiss onto Jungkook’s forehead before heading towards his office. “You better treat your new boss well then, he’s dead broke though so you can forget your paycheck this month.”

“Wait! Leader-hyung, I was joking!” Jimin yelled, scrabbling out his chair to follow after Namjoon’s retreating back. The rest of the table laughed as they watched Jimin pitter behind their leader’s long stride, muttering apologies and clutching his hands together with his pleads for his paycheck.

“Way to stick it to the man, Jimin-ah,” Jungkook teases, when the door to Namjoon’s office is promptly closed in Jimin’s face. “It’s so good to see where your true loyalty lies.”

Jimin huffs as he returns to his seat and pulls his plate of food to himself, “I was going to buy some new oil for my guns, the good stuff. I hope hyung was just joking about my paycheck.”

Jungkook snorts at Jimin’s pout and pats his shoulder consolingly, “I’ll put in a good word with my boyfriend for you, Jimin-ssi.”

Yoongi chuckles at the pair as he sets down his mug of coffee, “What is your plan for today then, Jungkook-ah?”

Jungkook blinks as he thinks about it, “I think I need to start getting my apartment together, I can’t live in barebones forever.”

He also needed better sheets for him and Namjoon to sleep on when he comes over, but Jungkook was not about to tell his hyung that.

Yoongi hums in agreement, “Would you be alright with Jin going with you? It’ll be good for him to get out of the house every now and then.”

Jungkook ignored Jin’s muttering of ‘I’m not a dog’ as he looked at his hyung, “Do I need to be worried about him trying to escape?”

“I’m not going to escape!” Jin protests, still being ignored as Yoongi shakes his head at Jungkook.

“We’ll have a guard go with you and he still has the ankle monitor on, lucky for us Tae finally finished his design on it. He won’t be able to get that off as easily as previous ones.” Yoongi says, taking a long sip of the fresh coffee his husband places in front of him. “If you don’t feel comfortable going with a guard you don’t know, I can have Jimin’s schedule moved around so he can go with the pair of you today.”

Jungkook looks over at Jimin, who smiles widely at him and clutches his hands together as he says, “I would do anything to get out of this meeting, Jungkook-ah. Please say yes.”

Jungkook stares at him for a beat before nodding, Jimin cheers and hugs Jungkook before dashing off to his room to change out of his pajamas. Jungkook looks back at Yoongi, “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d rather have Jimin-hyung with me. I know I’ll have to meet some of your other men eventually and I’m sure you trust them but…”

Yoongi raises a hand to stop, “You never have to apologize to me, Jungkook, on what makes you feel safe. There will come a day where you won’t need any of us to do that for you, but for now we do it happily.”

“Thank you hyung,” Jungkook whispers, smiling as the man passes him and ruffles his hair affectionately. Taehyung follows closely after and places a kiss on Jungkook’s forehead before following behind his husband into Namjoon’s office.

Jungkook tries to ignore the eyes of his brother following him as he makes his way into the kitchen with piles of dishes. As he works at the sink Jin comes to his side and leans against the counter while he works.

“I have to admit something to you, Jungkook.” Jin says quietly, Jungkook hums in acknowledgement but doesn’t stop washing the plates in the sink and placing them on the drying rack. “It wasn't mom and dad’s money that I was sending you for school, it’s never been their money.”

Jungkook turns off the tap and looks over at his brother in confusion, “What do you mean, hyung? Whose money was it?”

Jin hangs his head as he looks down at the floor, “Mine. It was my money from all the jobs I could get, mom was sucking us dry on her cocaine addiction. That’s why I was never home. I had to work night and day just to send a bit of money to keep you in school and keep mom out of the drug pits.”

“Why didn’t you tell me hyung?” Jungkook whispers, clenching his fists in hand towel. “I had no idea about any of that. I thought you just left me. I thought I was alone.”

Jin nods, “I know, I was trying to protect you. I was trying to protect my little brother from a world I didn’t want him to be a part of. That was stupid of me and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for lying to you. I’m sorry for not being there when you needed me.”

Jungkook sniffs and leans his head against Jin’s shoulder, clutching to the bottom of Jin’s shirt with his finger tips. “You can’t take me away from here, Jin-hyung. I can’t leave my hyungs.”

“I know, I know,” Jin whispers, turning to pull Jungkook to his chest. Holding tight around his little brother’s shoulders as he shakes in his arms. “I know that now, Jungkook, I won’t. I promise I won’t, we’ll make it work with them. I’ll make it work.”

Jungkook hiccups as he clutches Jin’s chest in his arms, “You can’t leave me again, hyung. I need you too.”

Jin’s arms become like a vice around him and Jin lowers his head to rest on the crown of Jungkook’s. “I’m not going anywhere, they’ll have to kill me to take me away.”

The Jeon brothers clutched each other for a long beat before Jungkook slowly pulls away and wipes the tears off of his face.

“What made you tell me the truth today, Jin-hyung?” Jungkook asked, watching his brother wipe his own face clean of his tears.

Jin shrugs, “I talked to Hoba, he helped me put some things into perspective. I’m sorry for the expectations I put on you when it came to our parents, Jungkook-ah. I tend to forget that you didn’t grow up with them like I did, you had an absentee father and a drug addict mother. Mom may have seemed in her right mind, but she wasn’t. I had no idea that she had kicked you out of the house, I would’ve come back if I did.”

“I had no idea mom even was a drug addict, how was she able to hide it from me for so long?” Jungkook asked, thinking back over his childhood memories for any sign he may have missed.

Jin sighs, giving Jungkook a long look, “I know I wasn’t home very often, especially after you settled at school in Seoul but I was able to keep mom’s addiction controlled. I had to go back to company business to get better money and drugs for her, she would have just gone to any drug pit if I wasn’t her supplier. I tried to get her sober for years, but she was too broken-hearted over killing dad, so I never succeeded. We had a deal for her using, you would never know. I never wanted you to know about her addiction.”

Jungkook tilts his head, “So if she wasn’t really all there, how did she send me school in Seoul? And have you drive me and check over me everyday?”

Jin rubs the back of his neck, “I lied about mom sending you, I did that. I didn’t want you in Busan anymore, after what happened with that school gang. I drove you myself so I could check the area until I knew it was safe for you to go on your own. And I wanted to make sure you weren’t getting in any more fights.”

“Did she really die from a brain tumor, hyung? Or was that a lie too?” Jungkook asks softly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It was a brain tumor, stage four brain cancer. I would never lie about that,” Jin answers.

Jungkook nodded, “I believe you hyung, do you understand why I didn’t come to the hospital while she was sick?”

Jin nods, patting Jungkook’s shoulder, “I understand, Kook-ah, and I’m sorry for the harsh words I said to you for it. I’m sorry about the conclusions I jumped to when you left to live in Seoul. How can we move forward from all this?”

“Leave the lies in the past,” Jungkook says firmly, spying Jimin hovering around the corner over Jin’s shoulder. “Let’s leave the harsh words and hard times in the past, I’ve forgiven you, we can leave it behind us. And we can move forward by helping me get my new apartment together!”

Jin chuckled as Jungkook skipped past him and joined Jimin’s side towards the elevator. He shook his head fondly as Jungkook waved for him to follow them and stepped forward in their direction with a wide smile on his face.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 20: Good Day

“So, what exactly do you need to get Jungkook?” Jimin asked as they slid into the waiting SUV, buckling himself into the seat as they started driving down the streets of Seoul.

Jungkook watched as they passed D-Town before pulling his phone from his pocket, “I made a list this morning, honestly I think I need just about everything. My old apartment didn’t have very much room for me to have anything but the bare essentials.”

“I still don’t understand why you even bothered to live there,” Jimin huffed, looking over to Jin’s confused face. “Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-hyung offered to give Jungkook one of their spare apartments for years, but he insisted on finding his own place with what little money he had while working for them. I only went there once, it was a single room apartment with a tiny bathroom. It was dirty, old and didn’t have any central heating.”

“Why the hell did you move there then?” Jin asked incredulously, looking over at Jungkook’s sheepish face.

Jungkook scratches the tip of his nose as he looks away from his two hyungs staring at him, “I didn’t want to bother Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-hyung, they had already done so much for me.”

Jin narrows his eyes, “I may not have been in your life much, Jungkook-ah, but I can tell when you’re lying. We just agreed not to have any lies between us anymore, that includes you too.”

Jimin glances between the pair of them as Jungkook fidgets in his seat and Jin continues to stare at his younger brother with a hard look.

“I found out that Yoongi-hyung and Tae had adopted Jimin-hyung, I found the paperwork,” Jungkook whispered, glancing briefly at the pair before dropping his gaze back to his hands. “They never asked me if I wanted that too, I thought it was because they didn’t want to. So I moved out and tried to distance myself from them a bit, it didn’t really work and I hated living on my own.”

“Then why didn’t you talk to them, Jungkook-ah?” Jimin says softly, taking Jungkook’s hands into his. “You could have saved a lot of hurt from everyone if you had just talked to them.”

Jungkook sniffed, “I didn’t want to confirm my worst fears by asking. It would hurt too much to hear that from them.”

Jimin scoffed as he rolled his eyes, “Those two would give you the shirts off their backs if you asked them to. You never have to worry about them not wanting you, you’re their precious little Kookie baby.”

“That sounds like jealousy, hyung.” Jungkook teases, squeezing Jimin’s hands at the reassurance, kicking Jimin’s heeled boot with his clunky one. “It’s not my fault I’m the baby.”

Jin chuckles as the pair continue to kick each other’s shins, placing a hand on both their knees as the rough housing starts to increase. “No fighting children, leave that for the sparring ring, not a moving car. Let me see that list, Jungkook-ah.”

Jungkook hands over his phone before starting a thumb war with Jimin. Despite the man’s small fingers, Jimin was very skilled in evading Jungkook’s movements and holding his thumb under his. They don’t stop their little game until the car rolls to a stop in the parking garage of IKEA.

Jin leads them up the escalator and grabs a cart before they head down the endless rows of furniture and house hold items.

Jungkook’s eyes widened at the number of items that Jin and Jimin pulled from the shelves and placed into the cart. “I don’t think I have enough funds to cover all of this, hyung.”

Jimin chuckles and pulls a black card out his pocket, waving it under Jungkook’s nose. “Your boyfriend slipped this to me before we left, you don’t have to worry about paying for anything.”

Jungkook squeaked as he scrambled to follow after his cackling hyungs, pulling his phone out from his pocket to text Namjoon. ‘You don’t have to pay for my apartment needs.’ He types sending a distressed face emoji at the end.

‘I told Jimin not to tell you, I’ll be having a chat with him later.’ Namjoon sends back. ‘Baby, I don’t mind paying for things. I have more money than I know what to do with half the time. You’re little trip won’t even scratch the surface.’

Jungkook nibbles down on his lip as he follows behind his hyungs, trying to find the right words to say to his boyfriend. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful, he was, he just didn’t want Namjoon to feel like he was using him.

‘Think of it this way,’ Namjoon sends, as if sensing what was bothering Jungkook. ‘If we ever get married, it’ll be your money anyway. So, spend it how you like.’

Jungkook chuckles as his face heats up in pleasure, ‘I see the couple rings have gone to your head. Won’t even let us move in together but already talking about marrying me.’

‘Technically baby, you brought it up first.’ Namjoon teases. ‘We weren’t even officially boyfriends when you talked about our wedding day.’

Jungkook snorted at the memory and sent Namjoon a rolling eyes emoji, ‘Fine. I’ll go spend all your money, yeobo.’

‘Good boy,’ Namjoon sends back with a wide smile emoji. ‘I expect a big bill when you get back, baby.’

Jungkook rolls his eyes and stuffs his phone back in his pocket, joining his hyung’s sides as they argue over which china set would suit Jungkook’s apartment better.

“I like the blue set,” he says, choosing neither of their choices as he looks at the chinaware. “We need to look at living room sets after finishing in the kitchen.”

Jungkook does his best not to look at the very long bill that’s handed to Jimin as they finish at the checkout counter. A trail of suited men load up three SUVs with all the bags from their carts and a moving truck filled with the furniture pieces is loaded before making the journey to Jungkook’s apartment.

When they arrive, everything is taken up for them by Namjoon’s men. Jin works with some of them to put the pieces of furniture together, while Jimin and Jungkook work on washing all the kitchen ware and setting them into his cupboards. Slowly the apartment starts to come together, Taehyung steps in from the elevator a few hours into their work and smiles as he watches Jungkook argue with Jin on where his couch should sit.

“It should face the window, hyung, why would I want it to face into the kitchen?” Jungkook asks, gesturing to the wide windows that overlook a small balcony.

“Why would you want to look at your breakfast table under the window?” Jin counters, pointing to the little white table and chairs that sat on the raised ledge. “You’d also have your back to the doors, with it facing the kitchen you’ll be able to see all entrances!”

“Except the balcony door,” Jungkook points out, pointing at the glass frame door that led out to the balcony. Jimin waved at them from outside as he set up the two lounge chairs and small table, then began weaving lights through the metal balcony railing.

“Why not have it face that wall?” Taehyung suggests, pointing to the wall that stood just before the elevator hallway. “Aren’t you going to have a TV set up there anyway?”

Taehyung snickered as Jungkook and Jin muttered ‘oh yeah’ together and started moving the couch to face that wall.

“The place looks very nice, Kookie. I’m glad we were finally able to convince you to have it.” Taehyung teased, looking around at all the simple furniture Jungkook had chosen around his open living room and kitchen. “Now I just need to get the floor below you ready for the three meerkats to move into.”

Jungkook scrunched his brow as he followed his hyung down the hall towards his main bedroom, “Who hyung?”

“Jiminie, Hobi, and Jin,” Taehyung answered, waving at Jimin through the hallway windows that overlooked the balcony before turning into the open door for Jungkook’s room. “I think the three of them are about to become a thing in the near future and I want everyone under my roof when that happens.”

Jungkook blinked and shook his head, “I don’t need that image in my head, hyung. Technically they are all my brothers, in one way or another.”

“Jin is your only blood brother and Hobi won’t be your brother-in-law until you marry Namjoon, Jiminie doesn’t fit into either of those categories.” Taehyung points out, checking over Jungkook’s bathroom and running the taps.

“Jimin is my adoptive brother and my best friend,” Jungkook says, sitting down on the dark comforter of his bed as Taehyung passes to look inside the walk-in closet.

“What does that make Yoons and I, then?” Taehyung asks, tutting his tongue at the rows of black clothes on Jungkook’s hangers. Muttering to himself about buying Jungkook some more colorful clothes.

“Aren’t you and hyung technically my adoptive parents at this point? You literally talked about walking me down the aisle the other night.” Jungkook pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. Trying to be playful, but he felt that this would be the right time to have this conversation with his hyung.

Taehyung’s hand froze as he flicked through Jungkook’s black t-shirts and looked over at Jungkook with wide, shiny eyes. “You… you actually see Yoongi and I as your parents?”

Jungkook blinks at him and scratches the end of his nose in embarrassment, “I thought I made it clear how I felt about you guys, but after I saw Jimin’s adoption papers and you never asked me if I wanted that, I figured you didn’t feel the same.”

“Is that why you left, Jungkook-ah,” Taehyung whispers, moving out of the closet to kneel in front of Jungkook. “Did you move out because you thought Yoongi and I didn’t want you?”

Jungkook nods, a choked hum in his throat as tears begin to fall down his face. “Why didn’t you ask hyung?”

“Because I was scared,” Taehyung whispered, taking Jungkook’s hands into his and squeezed them tightly. “I was scared that if I asked, if I stepped over that line, that we’d scare you away. That would have been a big commitment for you and you still talked so fondly of your brother. I didn’t want to sever you from him even more than you already were. Even if you didn’t take our name, by letting us adopt you we could have driven Jin far away. It would’ve broken you, cause you still held out hope that he’d come back.”

“And he did,” Jungkook whispered, still choking on gentle sobs. “But hyung I wanted you, I wanted you and Yoongi-hyung to want me.”

“We do, we do want you.” Taehyung said fiercely, tears running down his own face as he pulled Jungkook down into his arms. “You’re my Kookie baby, I don’t care if there’s official paperwork or not, you’re mine. No one can take your place in my heart, you’ve carved your place into it like Yoongi and Jimin.”

Jungkook hiccuped as he clutched tight around Taehyung’s chest, burying his head into his neck as he was pulling into the man’s lap and was gently rocked as he held him. Taehyung hummed a familiar lullaby that always calmed him down during emotional talks, running his fingers gently through Jungkook’s hair as the tears down his face stopped.

“And to think,” Taehyung chuckled, running a hand over Jungkook’s brow. “I told Yoons that I didn’t want to have any kids, now we have two.”

“You didn’t want to adopt any kids with Yoongi-hyung, why hyung?” Jungkook asked, tilting his head up as Taehyung sighed and continued playing with his hair.

“I was very young when I was sold to the Hwarang Boys, younger than even Namjoon when he started his training under his father. I never wanted to bring up a child into this life. I know Yoongi and I would treat them better than most but I couldn’t, in good conscience, do it willingly.” Taehyung explained sadly, looking out into the room with a far off look in his eye. “Yoongi understood that, but until he walked through the door with you in tow, I didn’t realize how much he had given up by marrying me. Our relationship with Jimin is a little different than with you, we don’t treat him any less but he has a very different background. After watching Yoongi with you, I’ve realized what a wonderful father he could have been.”

“Yoongi-hyung would never regret marrying you hyung.” Jungkook says passionately, making Taehyung’s teary eyes turn to him. “He loves you, I could see that since the first day I came into his office. Your wedding picture was sitting proudly on his desk and it still is.”

Taehyung chuckles and wipes his face, “We should take you there someday, the place where Yoons and I got married. It’s where he took me on our first date, although he’ll adamantly deny that it was our first. Unfortunately for him, I disagree.”

Jungkook chuckles as he moves from Taehyung’s lap and pulls him up from the floor, “That sounds like fun hyung!”

“Maybe you can take Joonie with us, we can make it a double date.” Taehyung bursts out laughing at the look of disgust on Jungkook’s face.

“I’m not going on a double date with my parents, hyung! That’s gross!” Jungkook protests, grumbling when Taehyung ruffles his hair.

“Do you want to go and talk to Yoons about those papers, Kookie?” Taehyung asks, smiling his wide boxy smile as Jungkook nods eagerly. “Then let's go upstairs.”

Jungkook doesn’t even wait for Taehyung as he dashes out of the room, ignoring Jin and Jimin’s yelps for him as he leaps over the couch and slides into the open elevator. He’s vibrating as they rise up the few levels and plows through the apartment behind Taehyung.

“What has got the pair of you so excited?” Yoongi snarks, catching sight of Taehyung racing across the apartment and yelping when Jungkook throws himself over top of him on the couch.

Jungkook buries himself into Yoongi’s arms, clutching tight around the man’s shoulders as he tucks his head down against his neck. Yoongi runs his hands up and down his back soothingly as Jungkook settles against him.

Taehyung comes flying back into the room and shows Yoongi the papers he had grabbed. Yoongi reads them over Jungkook’s shoulder, his eyes widening at the words ‘Adoption Form’ at the top.

“Oh,” Yoongi whispers, suddenly clutching hard around Jungkook’s shoulders. “We should have had that conversation with you long ago, I knew there was a reason you moved out so suddenly.”

Jungkook nods against Yoongi’s neck, feeling Taehyung rub and hand down his back, “I was just stupid, hyung, should have just talked to you instead of running away.”

“You couldn’t have gotten very far anyway,” Yoongi whispers, placing a kiss on the side of his head.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 21: Butterfly

Jungkook woke up with his face pressed against Namjoon’s back, his leg thrown over his hip, and his arms curled around his chest. He sighed and pressed himself closer till the inch of space between them was gone. He absentmindedly traced his fingers over Namjoon’s stomach as he slowly began to feel more awake.

Jungkook just enjoys this quiet moment of holding Namjoon while he sleeps. Wishing that this moment in time could just be frozen and that there was no outside world for them to face.

Namjoon groans and shoves his face into his pillow as a light beam from the widow hits his eyelids. Jungkook chuckles as he shifts himself further up Namjoon’s body to cradle his head into his arms. Namjoon sighs as Jungkook starts running his hands through his hair.

Jungkook places a kiss on Namjoon’s neck as his eyes flutter open, continuing to run his fingers through his long dark hair.

“Is this the longest you’ve ever grown it?” Jungkook asks softly, watching as the dark strands of hair curl slightly at the ends as they rest against Namjoon’s honeyed skin.

Namjoon hums deeply in his chest, “I think this is the longest I’ve let it go, haven’t had time to go to our barber.”

“I like it,” Jungkook says, pushing the thick hair away from Namjoon’s forehead, chuckling when it bounces straight back without his hand holding it in place. “I think you just need to have it styled a bit.”

“Is that what we’re doing today? Taking me to the barber to fix my hair.” Namjoon asks tilting his head to look over at Jungkook, who leans his head into the palm of his hand to look down at Namjoon.

Jungkook hums in thought as he runs his thumb across Namjoon’s brow, cradling the side of his face in his hand. “That can be one thing we can do today, I honestly didn’t have much of a plan.”

“Well, as promised, I’m yours for today.” Namjoon says with a grin, Jungkook leans down and places a kiss against his forehead. “So, we really could just stay in bed all day.”

Jungkook grins as he continues to place kisses down Namjoon’s face until he captures his plush lips in a gentle kiss, once, twice, before pulling away. “I think we should take it easy, we’ve earned it.”

“I like the sound of that,” Namjoon hums, leaning himself more into Jungkook’s arms as they settle into the bed more comfortably. “Is there anything off the table for today?”

“No more serious talks,” Jungkook says at once, shifting his leg to be more comfortable over Namjoon’s hip. “I don’t have enough emotional energy for them.”

Namjoon chuckles, taking one of Jungkook’s hands in his to place a kiss on the palm. “I don’t think you can really plan some of those, what do you want to talk about then?”

Jungkook thinks over it for a moment, watching as Namjoon sighs and intertwines their ringed fingers together. The metal between them connects creating an endless circle of red between their fingers. “I want to hear more about you. I feel like you know so much about my life, but I don’t know much about yours.”

Namjoon tightens his fingers around Jungkook’s, “That, I believe, would count as an emotional talk, baby. My life hasn’t exactly been the smoothest.”

“I’ll allow it, I want to hear about you Namjoon. I want to know everything about you, even the parts that are ugly.” Jungkook says gently, leaning his head down against the side of Namjoon’s neck. “But you don’t have to tell me anything if you’re not ready to.”

“I can’t even think of where to start,” Namjoon says with a sigh, his thumb fiddling with their rings.

“What was your childhood like?” Jungkook asks, placing a kiss against the mole on his lower neck when Namjoon sighs again.

“I started training early, not nearly as early as Taehyung did, but by the age of ten I could assemble and disassemble any weapon put in front of me. I could take down a grown man twice my size and tell you the fastest way to have someone bleeding out on the ground. The way my father ran the company is vastly different to how I do. He valued the power of fists over words, it nearly got him killed several times.” Namjoon explained, staring out the window as he spoke. “He was tough on me, he wanted me to lead the company like he did and would get angry when I’d hesitate. Mindless violence has never appealed to me, it can be a tool like anything else but I never resort to using my fists if my words can have a faster result.”

“What about your mother? Did she agree with your father?” Jungkook asks, lifting his head to view Namjoon’s expressions better.

Namjoon shook his head, “No, she wanted him to change his methods for years but he never did. She wrote his retirement papers herself, she was a lawyer before she met my father. When it came time for him to step down, she wanted to make sure there would be no way for him to take the company back. She knew how I would change things and knew how angry my father would be about it.”

Namjoon glances over at Jungkook’s confused face and smiles, “You have to understand, Jungkook. The Bulletproof Company was started by my forefathers, the methods my father had were passed down for years. It’s how he learned from his father, he didn’t know any different and my grandfather was much crueler in correcting his son. Part of the reason I think my father is so angry with me at the moment is because I’ve succeeded where he failed. I’ve broken the family traditions and come out stronger for it.”

“I think he’ll come around then,” Jungkook muses, returning his hand to Namjoon’s hair. “He just needs to set aside his pride and see how well his son is doing.”

Namjoon chuckles, a wide smile coming over his face. “You and my mother are going to get along very well, she’s been telling him that for years.”

“Lucky you for not having any parents of mine to meet,” Jungkook grimaces, already feeling the butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the thought of meeting Namjoon’s parents.

“You have Yoongi-hyung and Tae now and personally they are scarier than my parents,” Namjoon says with a slight shiver. “Especially Taehyung, I never want to piss that man off. If we ever have a falling out, it’s all your fault. He’ll kill me before I can explain.”

Jungkook laughs as he moves his arms around Namjoon’s broad shoulders, “Why are all of you so scared of Tae? He’s harmless.”

Namjoon snorts, “He’s harmless to you, there’s a reason we call him the Tiger of Seoul. Just ask him about the day we rescued Yoongi from the Seoul Empire and you’ll understand.”

“Who’s the Seoul Empire? I thought you controlled Seoul,” Jungkook asked, making a mental note to ask his hyung about that day.

“We do, the Seoul Empire was the company that controlled it before us. It’s the company that your father’s murderer came from, during our hunt for him we inadvertently took them down. They were the leading company in all of South Korea, there was a big power change when we took their place.” Namjoon explained, placing one of his hands on Jungkook’s wrist and running his thumb over his skin. “So, you can blame Tae for my workload. He’s the one that started the chain that led us to where we are today.”

Jungkook whistled, “Damn, I need to hear this story from my hyung.”

Namjoon chuckled and rolled into Jungkook’s arms to face him properly, wrapping his arms around his waist as he placed a kiss on his cheek. “Do you want some breakfast, baby?”

“I just have one more question,” Jungkook hums, placing his arms around Namjoon’s neck. “How many relationships have you been in? Because it’s becoming increasingly obvious how little you know about dating life.”

Namjoon blinks at him and wrinkles his nose, “I don’t think dating should be something you become a master of. Every person is different, there's not an exact formula to please everyone. But since you asked, I’ve only been in two relationships before you.”

Jungkook shrugs, “I’m not judging you Namjoon, I don’t have much room to talk either, since I’ve only been in one before you. I guess I just expected something different, considering how suave you acted when we met.”

Namjoon tuts his tongue, “Suave you say, are you saying I’m not actually like that?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes playfully at Namjoon’s teasing, “No, you’ve just lost some of the mystery you had. Now that I know you snore in your sleep.”

“You snore too!” Namjoon protests, ignoring Jungkook’s yelp of protest as he rolls them over to lay on his back and have Jungkook on top of him. “You’re like a little lawnmower in my ear.”

Jungkook snorted with laughter at the imagery, “I make a cute lawnmower though.”

“The cutest,” Namjoon agreed with a nod, grinning as Jungkook settled himself over his chest. “I hate to break this light conversation, but can I ask about your ex?”

Jungkook hums as he smirks at Namjoon, “There really isn’t much to tell, I didn’t see him for very long. Despite what Jimin-hyung said, I didn't really move in with him. I was going back and forth between his apartment and my hyungs’. It was during the first year I lived with them, I didn’t want to impose on their hospitality too much.”

Namjoon nods as his brow scrunches, “I guess I fail to understand why anyone would cheat on you.”

“Ah,” Jungkook mutters, biting down on his lip ring. “That… ah I kinda understand why he did.”

“Nothing excuses cheating,” Namjoon starts to say but stops as he watches Jungkook’s face glow bright red, he scrunches his brow in confusion as Jungkook fiddles with his t-shirt. “What is it, baby?”

“It’s just… ah… he cheated on me because I wouldn't… I wouldn’t have sex with him.” Jungkook says quietly, unable to look at Namjoon’s face. “We only dated for a few weeks and it takes me some time to… want that with someone. He would have been my first and I felt like he was pressuring me into something I wasn’t ready for. He cheated on me with his best friend, it didn’t really surprise me when I caught them but it still hurt.”

“I’d never do that, Jungkook.” Namjoon says, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair before lifting his chin to have their eyes meet. “I’d never pressure you into anything, it takes me time too. To trust someone with that level of intimacy is a lot for me, there’s nothing wrong with us just taking it slow.”

Jungkook breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his head down onto Namjoon’s chest, “Thank goodness.”

Namjoon chuckled as he brushed his fingers through Jungkook’s hair, “How long has that been worrying you, baby?”

Jungkook shrugged as he ran his hands up and down Namjoon’s sides, “Not long honestly, there’s kinda been a lot going on recently that put it on the back burner.”

Namjoon hums in agreement, “Not to… ah… bring it up too much, but how inexperienced are you exactly?”

Jungkook peeks his eyes up at Namjoon’s blushing red face and snickers, “I’ve sucked dick before if that's what you’re asking, babe.”

Namjoon chokes and covers his face with his hands, “You can’t just say things like that!”

Jungkook cackles and lifts himself up to sit on Namjoon’s stomach, keeping himself raised a bit on his knees so as to not put too much weight on his boyfriend. “You’re very easy to fluster, should I be worried about that?”

Namjoon’s reply is muffled by his palms, making Jungkook laugh and tug at his wrists to pull them away from his face. Namjoon’s face is still bright red but there’s mirth shining in his eyes as he looks up at Jungkook.

“You are the only person that can fluster me so easily.” He assures Jungkook, tapping the tip of his nose with his finger. “I’d be out of a job if anyone else could.”

“What a nice way to say someone would shoot your pretty face,” Jungkook huffed, moving off Namjoon’s body. “Come on, babe, I’m hungry.”

Namjoon laughed and followed him out of the room. The pair blinked in shock as they looked over the balcony to see Taehyung and Jin sparring in the living room. Jimin, Yoongi, and Hobi all sat on the long couch that was pushed back to give them space, sharing a bowl of popcorn between the three of them.

“Do I not have a sparring ring seven floors down?” Namjoon asked incredulously as they came down the stairs. Dodging a pillow that was thrown at his head by Jimin.

“There’s no good seats down there to watch!” Jimin counters, cheering when Taehyung flips Jin over his shoulder down to the ground. Jimin jumps down from the couch as Taehyung pins Jin to the floor, counts to three while pounding his fist down before declaring Taehyung the winner.

Hobi huffs and hands Yoongi a wad of wons over to him from his pocket, Yoongi smirks as he stuffs it into his wallet. Taehyung laughs as he jumps off Jin’s groaning body, high fiving Jimin’s raised hand before offering one to Jin.

“You’ve gotten faster,” Jin grunts as he takes the offered hand, he pats Taehyung’s shoulder as he walks towards the kitchen. “Are you two hungry?”

“Shouldn’t you be resting, hyung?” Jungkook asked, following after his brother while Namjoon went to scold Jimin for rearranging his living room. “Your wrist is still in a cast.”

Jin scoffs and ruffles Jungkook’s bed head, “I’ve had to work with much more serious injuries before, Kook. This cast is nothing.”

Jungkook eyes his brother as he starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge, “Do I even want to know what your worst injury was?”

Jin shrugs as Hobi joins his side to start prepping their breakfast, the cast not even hindering his movements. But Jungkook figured that Hobi liked helping Jin in the kitchen.

“Wouldn’t it have been the time when you got your leg broken?” Hobi asked, cracking some eggs in a bowl and whisking them together.

Jin hums in thought as he slices some parsley, “That may have been, I still think getting shot is worse than broken bones. Start some rice, Hoba, we finished the last of it last night.”

Hobi moves over to the rice cooker and starts filling it from the large bag on the counter, he then moves over to the sink and starts washing the rice under the faucet. “Hand injuries are the worst though, they take forever to heal and you can never move your fingers right for a while.”

Jungkook glances at the pair as they nod in agreement to each other, he feels Namjoon slide up behind him, placing his arms around his waist and his chin on his shoulder. He rests a hand on Namjoon’s arm, “My family is weird, babe, they’re bonding over healing injuries.”

Namjoon chuckles, “I agree with you, Hobi-hyung, hand injuries suck.”

Jungkook smacks the back of Namjoon’s head, “Don’t encourage them!”

Hobi snickers as Namjoon whines and buries his head into Jungkook’s neck. He shares a look with Jin as they continue to cook side by side and watch the couple in front of them bicker while holding tight to each other.

“Does your barber live around here?” Jungkook asks as they settle around the dining room table with their breakfast. Namjoon looks over at him with scrunched brows.

“He goes to whatever base we’re at, but I was joking, baby. We don’t have to get my hair done today.” Namjoon says, running a hand through his dark hair making it more of a mess then it already was. Jungkook eyes it as it sticks out at odd ends.

“Well I wasn’t, you’re going to him today while I hunt through your closet for some jeans.” He points his chopsticks at his boyfriend’s face. “No suits today, I forbid it.”

Namjoon chuckles, “Alright baby, whatever you want.”

Jungkook grunts in satisfaction as he turns back to his plate of food, ignoring Jimin’s gag next to him.

Jungkook shoos Namjoon to the elevator before making his way back to the man’s bedroom and into his closet. He rolls his eyes at the rows and rows of black suit jackets, black pants, and white button ups. There are a few splashes of color here and there, but Jungkook doesn’t find the faded blue jeans until he’s crawling on the floor.

He pulls them out with a triumphant ‘ah-ha’ before filtering through the rows of shirts until he finds a simple white t-shirt. He hums to himself as he looks at Namjoon’s rows of jackets and spots a dark blue jean one at the very end, he compares the jeans to the jacket and nods to himself when they match.

He sets the clothes down on the bed before digging through his own small row of clothes that Taehyung had placed in Namjoon’s closet. Namjoon comes into the room, his hair looking less like a mop on top of his head, as Jungkook is tucking a white t-shirt into his black jeans then buckling the black belt around his waist.

“Much better,” Jungkook approves, smiling as Namjoon’s dark hair frames his face. “I was about to have a fit if your barber took off too much.”

Namjoon snorts, “I won’t let Yoongi-hyung show you my buzzcut days then.” He steps over to the bed and looks over at the outfit Jungkook laid out, a soft smile growing on his face. “So, where exactly are we going, baby?”

Jungkook hums in thought as he pulls on a pair of white sneakers and starts tying the laces over the little CK logo. “I had a few ideas come to mind, how much traveling have you done around Korea?”

“I’ve probably seen more than most have, but it’s never been for sightseeing.” Namjoon answers as he strips himself of his clothes and pulls on the ones from the bed. “It’s also the middle of winter Jungkook-ah, where would we even go in the biting cold?”

Jungkook huffs and goes into the closet again, pulling out two puffy jackets from the racks. “We can bundle up, I’ve always wanted to see Camellia Hill in the winter time.”

Namjoon takes the fluffy jacket from Jungkook, quirking an eyebrow at him, “That’s all the way in Jeju Island, baby. How exactly are you planning on getting us there?”

Jungkook grins devilishly at him, “A little birdie told me that you own a private jet and that you have a secure base that’s only any hour away from Camellia Hill. We can take a car from there.”

“I guess that’s one benefit of spending the millions of won it takes to upkeep that jet,” Namjoon mutters as he follows Jungkook out of the room and down the stairs. “Do I need to have a car take us to our airport base?”

Jungkook shakes his head and waves to his hyungs on the couch as they enter the elevator. He presses the button for the underground garage, pulling out a key to show Namjoon. “Yoongi-hyung gave me his key to his Porsche Boxster, since apparently you don’t own any cars.”

Namjoon eyes the little dangling key in Jungkook’s hand, “I can’t exactly drive any of them, what’s the point of owning any?”

“Good to know you are also very practical when it comes to your money, babe.” Jungkook teases and guides them over to the small black sports car as they exit the elevator.

“Yoongi-hyung controls our finances, of course I am.” Namjoon scoffs as they slide into the leather seats, Jungkook just chuckles as he starts the engine and plugs his phone in with the directions that Jimin had given him.

“Does it bother you that you have to drive me everywhere?” Namjoon asks as they’re speeding down the highway. Jungkook glances over at him briefly, taking note of the flex in Namjoon’s hand before returning his gaze to the road.

“Of course not, I’ve seen your eye prescription Namjoon. I don’t want you driving anymore than Yoongi-hyung does.” Jungkook teases, holding his hand out for Namjoon and smiling when the man intertwines their fingers. “Plus I like doing things for you, it makes me feel like I’m not just following you around all the time. There’s things that we both have strengths in, it’s nice how we can balance each other in those ways.”

Namjoon hums in agreement, “I’m glad you don’t tease me about it though, it’s one of my biggest insecurities. That and cooking, I’ve never been able to not burn something while at the stove. Other than the coffee machine, Yoongi-hyung doesn’t let me operate anything. Not even the microwave.”

“I’m terrified of microwaves, I’m always worried they’ll blow up in my face.” Jungkook shivers exaggeratedly, making Namjoon laugh which was his goal. Even if his fear of microwaves was very real. “I’d never tease you about anything that you don’t want me to, Namjoon. But you are going to have to tell me if I ever step over a line. I can’t know where it is without you telling me.”

Namjoon squeezes his hand, “I know, baby. I’m just not used to someone wanting to take care of me, other than our hyungs.”

Jungkook hums as he turns the wheel one handed into the guard tower gate of the small airport, the gate opens automatically as he rolls slowly forward and the guard on post nods to them as they pass. Jungkook drives straight towards the airplane hangar with the number seven across the side of it, parking in the little lot just outside the wide door.

Namjoon steps out and greets the small crew that waits for them at the plane before ushering Jungkook up the steps inside. They sit across from each other next to a window as the plane begins to move out of the hangar and down the tarmac.

“I am trying very hard not to get used to this, but you are making it very tough for me, babe.” Jungkook scolds as Namjoon hands him a flute of champagne.

Namjoon chuckles as he sips on the bubbly liquid and stretches his long legs to tap playfully at Jungkook’s, “Why shouldn’t you get used to this? I’m sure your hyungs have been holding back for years on how much they can spoil you, now they’ll have no reservations.”

Jungkook huffed as he took a sip from his glass, “I know, you should have seen the number of outfits Tae sent me last night. I’m starting to feel like a sugar baby.”

“Maybe for me, but to them you’re just their baby, even if you did come to them at the age of seventeen.” Namjoon chuckled as Jungkook shot him a look. “You’ll tell me though, if it really does bother you, right? And not just because you feel like you’re taking advantage of everything we have.”

Jungkook sniffed indignantly, eyeing him as he set his champagne glass down on the table ledge next to his arm. “I’m not sure when I’ll feel like I’m not taking advantage of everyone, I haven’t done anything to earn it.”

“Yes you have,” Namjoon contradicts, placing his own glass down and leans forward to take Jungkook’s hands in his. “I won’t be cliche by saying that you simply existing is enough for us, but it’s true. You told me once that I was like a breath of fresh air for you, you have no idea how true that is for us. For me. You’ve made us appreciate the things we’ve taken advantage of over the years.”

Jungkook looks into Namjoon’s very serious face, trying very hard not to cry at the touching words.

“I told you we weren’t having any emotional talks today.” He pouts, making Namjoon smile softly at him.

“And I told you, that we can’t always plan those talks. I feel like we’re going to be having a lot of them for a while.” Namjoon says, wiping the stray tears from Jungkook’s face.

Jungkook huffs as he moves from his seat to the one next to Namjoon, intertwining their fingers over the arm rests between them. “Yoongi-hyung and Tae alway make it seem like they have everything together, did you ever see them have this many emotional talks?”

Namjoon chuckles as he runs his thumb across Jungkook’s knuckles, “You have to remember, baby, that Tae came from this life. Some of our talks are hard because all of this is new for you, but yes, I’ve seen hyung and Tae fight about things. Especially before they got married, Yoongi-hyung was very hesitant about making that move for them. He thought Taehyung was too young and hadn’t seen enough of the world to make the choice to be with him forever.”

“I feel like you guys are skirting around how Tae came to be with you all the time, was it really that bad?” Jungkook asks cautiously, looking at Namjoon’s tense face.

“It’s not that we don’t want to tell you,” Namjoon assures him. “But I don’t think it’s my place to tell you, it’s not my story. When you do ask Tae about it though, you need to have hyung in the room with him. It makes him very emotional to talk about it and Yoongi-hyung is the only one that’s been able to calm him down.”

Jungkook nods in understanding, “I’ll remember that, is it safe for me to even ask though. Since he’ll react so strongly about it.”

Namjoon nods his head, smiling softly at him. “I know Taehyung-ah wants to tell you, it’s just hard for him to relive those memories. You’ll only be the second person he’s had to tell his past to, as hyung, Hobi, and I had witnessed some of it for ourselves. He’s probably told Yoongi-hyung more than anyone, but he wanted Jiminie to know. It helped the two of them bond more, since Jimin-ah came from a rough past as well.”

Jungkook sighs sadly as he leans back against the plane chair, “All of you have such rough pasts, I feel like my own issues are nothing in comparison.”

“Don’t compare them,” Namjoon says softly, squeezing Jungkook’s hand. “Your life and ours are different, because we’re different people. If you had gone through what some of us have, you’d be a very different person. But your pain is not less than ours and our pain isn’t greater than yours, they’re just different.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Jungkook murmurs, squeezing Namjoon’s hand in reassurance. “It’s just hard to see you guys in pain. When my hyungs hurt, I hurt. Your pain becomes mine and I wish I could just take it all away.”

Namjoon chuckles, placing a kiss against Jungkook’s forehead, “You already do, little one. You have no idea how much pain you’ve taken out of my life. I was an absolute wreck for a few years after we took down the Seoul Empire. I’ve only just begun to sleep better since meeting you.”

“I’m glad I can help you sleep then,” Jungkook whispers, placing a kiss against his lips, rubbing their noses lightly as they part. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, should I be calling you hyung? Since you’re older than me. Jimin-hyung keeps giving me weird looks when I just call you by your name.”

Namjoon blinks, wrinkling his nose in thought. “It doesn’t bother me that you don’t, Jiminie really is pushing his luck by mentioning all these things to you.”

“He’s my best friend, he’s supposed to bring up things like that, it’s kinda in the job description.” Jungkook tilts his head at him, a teasing smile coming on his lips, “So, you don’t want me to call you Namjoonie-hyung?”

A blush grows on Namjoon’s face, he looks away from Jungkook’s teasing face shaking his head at himself, “That’s not allowed to be that sexy, fuck.”

Jungkook snickers at him, “I better not see you blush like that when Jimin-ah calls you that.”

Namjoon shivers in disgust at the thought, “I’d rather not come between whatever is going on between him, my brother, and you brother. That seems like a recipe for disaster.”

“I didn’t realize our brothers were close like that, did it start when Jin-hyung came to you guys the first time?” Jungkook asked, pulling Namjoon’s hand into his lap to play with his fingers.

Namjoon hums in thought, “I don’t think Jin and Hobi really started anything then, there was attraction on both their sides but Jin was even more vengeful then. Even more than when we confronted him in the Voyage House, he said some very harsh words that day but it was tame compared to when he was with us. He did have a tendency to control himself more around Hobi though, they bonded during their training together.”

“I thought you trained Jin-hyung?” Jungkook says, tracing the lines on Namjoon’s palm.

“I did, but Hobi trained him first. Yoongi-hyung also played a part in training him, we all had to get him ready to face his father’s murderer.” Namjoon explained, leaning his head into his hand as he looked over at Jungkook.

“I bet Yoongi-hyung loved doing that,” Jungkook snickers at Namjoon’s snort of laughter. “Why did you make such an effort to include Jin-hyung in the first place? If he didn’t know anything when he came to you, he must not have been very useful.”

“I wanted him to be the one to take down Jang-ssi’s killer, I felt like it was my way of making up for getting him killed.” Namjoon says softly, smiling when Jungkook laces their hands together and squeezes it in reassurance. “It’s only been since meeting you that I feel that I’ve truly healed from that.”

Jungkook squeezed his hand tightly, smiling softly at him as he placed a kiss on his cheek. “I don’t care what anyone says, I know my father would be proud of you Namjoon. Even if I’m wrong about that, I’ll always be proud of you.”

Namjoon captured his lips in a soft kiss, placing a hand on the side of his face as they slid against each other. Jungkook smiles as Namjoon chases after his lips as he pulls away to take a small breath. He pecks him and pulls away to rub their noses together, giggling as Namjoon starts placing gentle kisses on his cheeks and eyelids.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 22: Wildflower

When the jet lands in Jeju Island, Namjoon and Jungkook exit down the ladder after bowing to the staff and head towards the car waiting for them. A guard greets Namjoon and hands him the key, Namjoon tosses it over his shoulder to Jungkook who catches it with ease.

Jungkook whistles as he takes in the sight of the red Lotus Emira, he slides into the leather seat and runs his hands over the dark steering wheel. “Please tell me you have one of these in Seoul.”

Namjoon chuckles as he slides into the passenger seat, “I think this is Taehyung’s, he might have another one in Seoul as well.”

Jungkook giggles excitedly as he starts the car and it purrs to life. He revs the engine slightly as they make their way smoothly out of the small airport and down the streets towards Camilla Hill. He relaxes in his seat as he takes in the rolling hills and swaying trees as they follow the map.

Namjoon sighs as he looks around at the open fields they pass and small houses, “I wish my parents had bought a house here, we used to come for vacations when I was a kid.”

“What’s stopping you from buying your own?” Jungkook asks, his thumb brushing against Namjoon’s finger as he holds his hand on the center console.

“Time,” Namjoon sighs, stretching his legs out in his seat. “Yoongi-hyung was right, I really should have given myself a day off every now and then. But it was hard to make myself stop working when it seemed like my goals were so close to being complete.”

Jungkook hums in understanding, “Tae said you’ve been traveling a lot, has that been just in Korea?”

“No, I’ve been traveling around the world.” Namjoon says, smiling at Jungkook’s noise of surprise. “I told you that we have a lot of contracts with outside companies, they’re all over the globe. I decided to do a tour, of sorts, to see them, not all of them are allowed to enter Korea. I’m also able to establish new contracts while I travel. I only just got back a month before I met you.”

Jungkook whistles lowly, “You’ve had a busy year then.”

Namjoon snorts, “Make that a busy eight years, when I finally get to retire I’m going to sleep for a year.”

Jungkook giggles and tugs Namjoon’s hand to place a kiss on his knuckles, “What are you going to do after that year of sleep, babe?”

Namjoon hums in thought, “Maybe catch up on all the books I want to read and visit museums around the world.” He chuckles at himself for a moment, “I’ve just realized how boring that makes me sound.”

Jungkook squeezes his hand, “That doesn’t sound boring to me, Namjoon. That sounds peaceful, our first date was at a museum. I’ll go with you to all of them.”

Namjoon leans over and places a kiss on Jungkook’s cheek, leaning his forehead down on his shoulder as Jungkook turns the car down a street. “Before I came into your life, what did you want to do? Where did you see yourself going?”

Jungkook hums, pulling his hand out of his to place it on the back of Namjoon’s head for a moment before putting it on the wheel. “When I started my degree I wanted to be a photographer, then I started to gain an interest in videography so I thought I’d be a film director of some sort. I honestly could never settle on one path, there were too many things that interested me. My college credits probably look like a whole mess.”

“There wasn’t something you dreamed of doing as a kid?” Namjoon asks, placing a hand against Jungkook’s chest and playing with the long silver guitar pick necklace he had on.

Jungkook hums as he thinks, glancing at the directions on the small screen as he takes the various turns. “I really can’t remember if there was something I wanted to be as a kid, there may have been a time I wanted to follow what my brother was doing. Jin-hyung was a chef before he met you guys, he taught me all the things he learned at school. He seemed so cool to me, I wanted to follow him wherever he went.”

Namjoon nodded against his shoulder, “Hobi-hyung isn’t that much older than me but I understand what you mean. Older brothers just have that influence on you.”

Jungkook gave a noise of agreement as he turned into the entrance way of Camilla Hill and pulled into a parking space. He pulled Namjoon over the console before he started to get out and placed a long kiss on his lips. He chuckled at the dazed look on Namjoon’s face as he pulled away and placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose before hopping out of the car.

Jungkook held his hand out for Namjoon as he came out of the car and joined him in front of the hood. He smiled as Namjoon slipped his hand into his and placed a kiss against his forehead before heading for the ticket booth. The puffy jackets they had brought lay abandoned in the small backseat, the weather being much warmer than they expected.

They read over the small map that the ticketing lady had given them, watching as a stream of tourists headed in one direction and decided to head in the opposite way. Jungkook heard the different chatters of Korean, Japanese, and English slowly fade the further they walked.

“How many languages do you speak?” Jungkook asks suddenly, his eyes drifting over the tall green bushes they were walking through.

Namjoon chuckles as he pulls Jungkook out of the way of another couple, “Fluently I speak about five languages, but I can hold a basic conversation in eight.”

Jungkook looked at him with wide eyes, “I knew you were smart, not a fucking genius.”

Namjoon blushed and ducked his head as his dimples popped in his cheeks, he muttered something under his breath that Jungkook didn’t catch before saying, “You seemed to have quite the vocabulary as well, your song was in English. How fluent are you?”

Jungkook shrugged, “I could hold a conversion, I took an english course my first semester and took the advanced class my second year. After I completed my required credits, I was going to go on the exchange program to travel to the States or Europe.”

“So, you’ll understand when I speak to you like this?” Namjoon asked, quirking his brow at him.

Jungkook licks his lips, “Do you sound sexy in every language?”

Namjoon smirks at him, giving him a wink as they turn a corner and enter the rows of camellia bushes in full bloom.

“Wow,” Jungkook whispered, his eyes drinking in the petals of reds and pinks sitting in the dark green leaves. He touches his fingertips to one of the delicate petals as they pass, their shoes crunching slightly on the gravel and fallen petals.

They took their time making their way through camellia bushes, avoiding any path that was too overcrowded until they reached a passage that led to an open field. The field was full of silver and pink muhly grass that stood up to their waists. There was a path that cut through the center of the field, rolling up to a hill where a single willow tree stood.

The single thought that filled Jungkook’s mind as he stood on the path and looked up towards that tree, holding Namjoon’s hand in his, was that he was going to marry him on that hill.

Jungkook pressed a hand to his mouth and felt his eyes grow teary as the sun shined from behind the tree branches. He could almost picture how everything would look on a summer’s day.

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon whispered, getting a weak hum in response as Jungkook continued to gaze up the hill. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking about?”

“I don’t want another ‘too soon’ lecture,” Jungkook whispered back, taking a shuddering breath as a happy tear fell from his eye.

Namjoon sighed, dropping Jungkook’s hand to wrap his arms behind him, placing his chin on Jungkook’s shoulder to gaze exactly when he was looking. “Tell me what you see.”

“A field of purple wildflowers in summer bloom,” Jungkook whispers, placing his hands on Namjoon’s arms. “You standing under that tree, waiting for me to walk up this path to you.”

Namjoon’s arms tighten around him, Jungkook can feel a tear drop onto his neck from Namjoon’s cheek. They gaze up the hill in silence, a promise being sealed as they hold each other.

Jungkook sighs as he stretches his legs under the cafe table, his ankles lightly bumping against Namjoon’s as they take slow sips of their warm tea. Jungkook’s eyes drift over the small cafe and its greenhouse design; plants hanging all around the room, dark wooden tables and chairs, and the everpresent smell of musky earth.

Namjoon grins against the rim of his cup as Jungkook gently rubs their ankles together. He leans forward into the table and looks at Jungkook with a soft smile. “How have your classes been?”

Jungkook snorts up a low giggle, making Namjoon smile wider, “Sorry, it’s just funny to be asked such a normal question now. And boring, honestly. I got lectured by one of my professors because I forgot the homework, but I honestly didn’t hear a word of it.”

Namjoon hums, placing his chin in his hand as he looks at him, “I guess that’s the problem with living in the abnormal, normal life becomes boring.”

Jungkook raises a brow at him, “A normal life with you would never be boring, my college class on the other hand…” he rolls his eyes.

“I wonder if there’s any life of mine that’s normal,” Namjoon muses with a sigh, his eyes drifting to where the door had swung open. And another couple walked in hand-in-hand to join the line at the counter.

Jungkook leans forward and places his elbows on the table, catching Namjoon’s eye again. “We can’t change the circumstances of our birth, we can only make the best of the life we’re given.”

Namjoon furrows his brow, “Did you just quote Pokémon?”

Jungkook snorts, throwing his head back laughing as he sinks down in his chair at the force of his laughter. Namjoon chuckles and takes one of Jungkook’s hands to pull him back up, placing a kiss against his giggling cheek.

“I love hearing you laugh,” he whispers against his skin, Jungkook smiles as he leans his forehead against his.

“You make it easy for me to do so,” Jungkook says, placing a small kiss against his lips before pulling away. “I have a question.”

Namjoon tilts his head and nods for him to continue as he intertwines their fingers on the wooden table. His thumb playing with their ring on his pointer finger.

Jungkook smiles down at their joined hands, “What made you keep coming to see me? Your nights are the only time you have free, why would you give it to me?”

Namjoon lowers his head to catch Jungkook’s gaze, “Because I wanted to see you, when I was with you I was able to forget the frustrations of my day. I could forget the world I live in, even if it was just for a moment.”

Namjoon squeezes his hand to stop his next words, “And you still do that, baby. I know we’ve had a lot of hard talks and you’ve seen a bit of this life, but you’ve made it more bearable for me. I didn’t realize how much it was dragging me down until I was able to come home to you every night.”

Jungkook placed his other hand on top of their joined ones, squeezing Namjoon’s tightly. “I need you to promise me something, Namjoon.”

Namjoon looks at him with a bit of worry in his eyes and Jungkook could guess where he thought he was going with this.

“If we ever have a big fight and I start to walk away, you need to stop me.” Jungkook says, squeezing Namjoon’s hands to stop his protest. “Just listen, please.”

He nods and places his other hand on top of Jungkook’s.

“I have a temper, you haven’t seen it yet, but when I get really angry I’ll say things I don’t mean and I tend to throw things around the room.” Jungkook admits, taking a deep breath to make himself continue. “If I get so angry with you that I start to walk away, even if you're not yelling at me anymore, you need to be the one to stop me. You can’t let me walk away, my anger will fester and then I’ll feel hurt that you couldn’t see past my anger to see how I’m hurting.”

“Then when we were arguing about your move…”

“I was able to stop,” Jungkook says with a nod, gazing straight into Namjoon’s eyes. “I wasn’t consumed enough not to see that you weren’t angry but scared and I was able to calm down. There may come a day where I can’t. You guys have mentioned my brother’s temper, I have it too. I’ve just learned to control it better, only Yoongi-hyung and Tae have seen when I couldn’t.”

Namjoon nods, pulling one of Jungkook’s hands up to place a kiss against his knuckles, “If you walk away from me, Jungkook, I’ll stop you. I’ll try to calm you down so we can talk, even if I get a knife thrown at my head.”

Jungkook laughs weakly, leaning his head down against their joined hands, “Thank you, I’ll try not to aim for your face.”

Namjoon places a hand against the side of Jungkook’s face, his thumb tracing the small scar that sat on the apple of his right cheek. “Even if you did, I’d never think the worst of you.”

“You can have a driver pick us up at home, I’m tired.” Jungkook sighs, leaning against Namjoon’s shoulder as they slowly glide through the air.

“Alright baby,” Namjoon chuckles, pushing him away slightly to raise the armrest between them and pull him onto his chest. Jungkook sighs as he settles over top Namjoon, tucking his hands against his sides. He starts humming under his breath, a mix of Taehyung’s lullaby and his song he wrote with Yoongi.

“I’m surprised by how well you sing that you never wanted to be a musician.” Namjoon observes, running his fingers through Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook hums, “That’s only been since I settled with Yoongi-hyung and TaeTae. Hyung wanted to give me an outlet beyond my gym sessions to get my emotions out. He said that music was the song of the soul that we cry out and taught me how to find my voice in it.”

“That song then, the one you sang in hyung’s studio,” Namjoon says softly, placing his free hand over the back of Jungkook’s neck. “What was your soul crying out for?”

“My brother,” Jungkook whispers, tilting his head and blinking his eyes slowly as he looks up at Namjoon. “It was the hardest for me to write and to sing. That’s why hyung asked if I’d want you to stay, it’s my most raw feelings about my brother.”

“Will you ever show it to him?” Namjoon asks, brushing the hairs that had fallen across Jungkook’s eyes as he nods.

“One day, when it feels like the right time, I’ll sing it for him,” Jungkook says, his eyes searching over Namjoon’s face. “Have you sung any of the songs you’ve written?”

Namjoon nods, smiling as Jungkook’s eyes sparkle with interest. He tilts his hips and reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone, after a moment a song begins to play through it.

Jungkook closes his eyes as he listens to the smooth beat and then he hears Namjoon’s velvet voice begin to sing.

“We’re born in the moonlight, ain’t no fantasy. Can’t breathe in the sunlight, gotta hide your heart.”

Namjoon hums against Jungkook’s cheek as the song plays, wiping the stray tears that fall down his face. Jungkook can hear the various symbolisms throughout the song, alluding to a deep loneliness felt by the singer. But there’s a hope as well, a sense of purpose to keep moving forward. Jungkook presses his face against Namjoon’s chest as the last line plays.

“Moon child you shine. When moon rise, it’s your time.”

They simply breathe together for a moment as the last of the song plays, the silence is calming as they collect themselves. Jungkook lifts his head and looks over Namjoon’s hesitant face. Pulling himself up he presses his lips against his.

Jungkook kisses him long and slow, before running his tongue along the seam of his lips. Namjoon opens for him and he slides his tongue against his, before running it around the expanse of his mouth. Namjoon’s tongue follows his movement and chases after his tongue as he retreats back into his own mouth, he groans as he feels Namjoon gives him the same treatment before they part from each other.

They breathe heavily against each other, their noses brushing as they lean their foreheads together. Jungkook slides his hands down from Namjoon’s hair to cup his neck, running his thumbs over the skin of his pulse point.

“You sing beautifully,” Jungkook whispers, opening his slightly damp eyes to meet Namjoon’s. He catches one of the tears that falls from Namjoon’s eyes. “Let me be your nightscape, as you are my moon.”

Namjoon leans down, placing a gentle kiss against his lips as he whispers, “Even if many days pass, I will be by your side.”

Jungkook smiles at the echoing words they say from each other’s deepest songs. He places another kiss against Namjoon’s lips and falls into his arms as they fly above the night sky.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter Interlude: Louder Than Bombs

Jungkook found Yoongi and Taehyung sitting on the couch in Namjoon’s living room, talking with Hobi as they looked over some paperwork. Jungkook clears his throat to get their attention.

“Do you need something, Jungkook-ah?” Yoongi asks, looking at Jungkook’s nervous face and twiddling thumbs.

Jungkook looks over at Hobi, “Can I speak to Yoongi-hyung and Tae alone, Hobi-hyung?”

“Of course,” Hobi says immediately, jumping from his seat. He pats Jungkook’s shoulder as he passes and yanks Jimin out of a corner, pulling him into the elevator with a firm hand.

“What’s the matter, Kookie?” Taehyung asks, as Jungkook shuffled over and sat down between his hyungs.

Jungkook glances between the pair, biting down his lip ring as they place a hand on his jittering fingers. “I’m not sure how to ask honestly.”

Yoongi looks him over for a moment and realization comes over his face, “You want to know how Taehyung came to be with us.”

Jungkook glances at Taehyung’s slight flinch as he nods hesitantly, “I’ll understand if you don’t want to tell me.”

“I do, I do want to tell you.” Taehyung whispers, interlacing his fingers with Jungkook as Yoongi moves around the couch to sit behind his husband and place his arms around his waist. “You deserve to know and you need to know what this life of ours is capable of.”

Jungkook nods and listens as Taehyung details the entirety of his past in the Hwarang Boys. About Peakboy. About being Vante of Daegu. About his aching loneliness before coming to the Bulletproof Company. And the day that Yoongi came to bring him back.

Jungkook has tears running down his face by the time Taehyung finishes his story and he surges forward to clutch onto Taehyung’s chest when the man can’t speak anymore. He sobs hard against his hyung as he hears Taehyung’s own sobs echo in his ear as he clutches Jungkook’s shoulders.

Yoongi wraps his arms around the pair, laying his head down where their heads meet on each other’s shoulders. Running a gentle hand down both of their backs as they shake from their tears.

Jungkook hiccups as he’s laid down across Taehyung’s chest across the couch, Yoongi places a blanket over the pair and dims the lights in the living room.

“I’ll go make some tea,” he murmurs, running a hand through both of their hair before leaving the room.

“How…” Jungkook hiccups, burying his face into Taehyung’s chest. “How did you move past that, hyung?”

Taehyung sighs, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair. “You’ll come to learn Jungkook-ah, that in this life you have to be able to move past things. You have to set aside your past and move forward in your future, otherwise it’ll get you killed. You may never experience the true harshness of this life, and I hope you don’t, because the Bulletproof Company is truly different from others.”

Jungkook takes a deep, shuddering breath as he tries to stop his choked tears. “I wish you hadn’t had to go through that, though.”

“As hard as my past is, I don’t.” Taehyung looks seriously at Jungkook as he raises his head off his chest in shock. “A harsh past will teach you a gentleness that you’d never know if you hadn’t experienced the rough edges. We could have been just like any other company if all of us hadn’t had such hard lives before coming together.”

Jungkook nods slowly, “Is that why you took down so many companies? And made yourselves the most feared, to stop the corruption.”

Taehyung smiled, wiping the tears off Jungkook’s face with his thumbs. “Yes, we can’t stop everything and we can’t save everyone, but we can do what we can. And we can offer sanctuary to those that want it.”

Jungkook nods and settles back down against Taehyung’s chest, Yoongi comes into the living room with a tray of tea and sets it down on the coffee table.

“That’s going to have a whole new meaning for me,” Jungkook mutters, sitting up next to Taehyung as they take the steaming mugs Yoongi hands them before sitting down on Jungkook’s other side. “Do you make tea for everyone when they're upset, hyung?”

Yoongi chuckles as he leans back against the couch cushions, throwing his arm over to back and allowing Jungkook and Taehyung to tuck underneath it. “It seemed to work the best. And Hobi had stints where he couldn’t drink anything heavily caffeinated, they would make his seizures worse.”

Jungkook chokes on a sip of the honey camilla tea and looks over at Yoongi in shock, “Hobi-hyung has seizures!”

“Yep!” Hobi says cheerily, waltzing into the living room with Jin in tow. The pair sit down in the loveseat across from the couch, Jin pulling Hobi to sit down in his lap as they look at Jungkook in between his hyungs. “My birth mother was a cocaine addict. I had withdrawn seizures as a baby and while growing up, it doesn’t affect me as badly now that I'm an adult.”

“It doesn’t make it any less scary to see,” Jin murmurs, running his hand through Hobi’s hair, placing a kiss on his cheek.

Yoongi huffs as he stares at the pair, “What I’d like to know is how the two of you got so cozy with each other? Don’t think I didn’t notice the looks the pair of you gave each other, but it was the most random thing to ever happen. One day you were glaring at Hobi just as hard as Joon and the next you’re pulling his ankles into your lap and giving him heart eyes.”

Jin raises a brow at him, “That was before Taehyung-ah came into the picture, how much did you observe when you weren’t making heart eyes at him?”

“I noticed Hobi’s mope fest after you left,” Yoongi sniffed indignantly, taking a sip of his tea. “And the fact that he never stepped foot in the kitchen to cook again. He had Joon and him living off take-out while we were on our honeymoon.”

“Aw Hoba, did you miss me?” Jin teases, smacking a wet kiss against the man’s cheek.

Hobi wiped his face in offense, “Shut up Jin, you stole my Jaguar! I had to buy it back from you!”

“I wondered how I sold it so easily,” Jin muttered, chuckling as Hobi huffs on his chest and looks over at Jungkook’s confused face. “Would you like to hear our side of the story Jungkook-ah?”

“Am I going to be in tears by the end of it?” Jungkook asks sarcastically, taking a sip of his tea as he looks dryly at his brother.

Jin tilts his head in thought, “Considering how easily you burst into tears, probably.”

Jungkook scowls and tosses a pillow at Jin’s head, “I do not cry easily!”

“You cried during a gum commercial,” Taehyung points out, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook sniffs at the memory, “Why did they have to make it so sad? He made those little cranes for her all his life, then she started doing it for her daughter after he died.”

“Why would you remind him of that?” Yoongi huffed, smacking the back of Taheyung’s head. “It took me weeks to get him to stop bursting into tears everytime we passed the gum in the grocery store. I still have packs of it throughout the house, he wanted to buy it every single time.”

Taehyung huffs and hands Jungkook a tissue to blow his nose in, “You might as well tell him Jin, he’s never not going to cry about it.”

Hobi chuckles and launches into the story of how Jin and him had started to bond when he came to them. Starting from the day that Hobi watched Namjoon leave with Jang-ssi for their meeting with the Seoul Empire.

“Why did my father go and not Yoongi-hyung?” Jungkook cut in, setting his empty mug down as he settled against Yoongi’s chest. “Wasn’t hyung Namjoon’s Second in Command then?”

“Not yet,” Hobi explains, playing with Jin’s crooked fingers on his lap. “Your father hadn’t officially retired at that point yet, so he was still considered the Second in Command on that day. Yoongi-hyung was set to take his place as soon as he stepped down. The Seoul Empire only asked for the Leader and the Second at that meeting, they knew about the change with Joonie but not anything else.”

“How would they have known about the leadership change?” Jungkook asked, running his fingers through Taehyung’s hair as the man laid his head into his lap.

“Leaderships within companies are alway announced to the underground,” Yoongi explained, placing a hand on the side of Taehyung’s face. “We have to know who we’re dealing with when we face each other for meetings. It’s also customary to send a gift to the new Leader, if you’re an ally. It establishes that the contract between the two companies is still valid during the power change.”

“Ah,” Jungkook murmurs and waves for Hobi to continue with his story. He laughed several times at the recounting of Jin’s clumsy first attempts at hand to hand combat, ignoring Jin’s indigent sniffs. And winced at the descriptions of Hobi’s seizure episodes.

Hearing about Jin and Yoongi’s rescue from Hobi’s perspective was interesting. It gave him more perspective on why they feared the man that laid across his lap like a cat so much.

“I didn’t know you told Jisoo to let me in that night,” Taehyung murmurs, looking over at Hobi with soft eyes. “Thank you Hobi, I would have stayed out in the hallway until Namjoonie found me.”

Hobi smiles softly at him, “Of course, I’ll never miss a chance to see hyung so smitten.”

Yoongi scoffed as he rolled his eyes, “I think you like to exaggerate that.”

“Ah no,” Jin snorts, laughing as Yoongi looks at him indignantly. “The pair of you flirted like little teenagers all the time, I’m glad I missed the honeymoon phase. That would have grated on my nerves.”

Hobi shivered in disgust, “Be glad you did, I do not enter any rooms without knocking first. I wish I could have blinded myself after walking in on them so many times.”

Jungkook joined Hobi’s shiver, “At least your room wasn’t right next to them hyung, I’ll never be able to listen to Slipknot the same way again.”

Yoongi clicks his tongue and makes no further comment, Jin laughs at the blush growing on his face.

Jimin waltzes in just as Hobi finishes telling Jungkook about the first day he had come to his dance studio, “Oh that was such a fun day, Hobi-hyung! I nearly broke my cover because I was trying so hard not to laugh.”

Jin catches his arm before he can make his way over to the couch and pulls him down to sit with him and Hobi, rolling his eyes at the wide smile that bursts over Jimin’s face.

“Are we reliving the past today?” Jimin asks, pulling Hobi’s feet into this lap as he sits shoulder to shoulder with Jin and places an arm around the man’s waist. Jin places his free arm over Jimin’s shoulders as Hobi tucks himself into his neck, letting his other arm rest behind his back to keep him propped up.

“I guess we are,” Jungkook murmurs, watching as Jimin intertwines his fingers with Jin’s hand over his shoulder and places his other one on Hobi’s thigh.

Jimin hums as he tucks himself under Jin’s arm, “Do you want to hear mine then, Jungkook-ah?”

“If you want to tell me, I’ll hear it Jimin-ah.” Jungkook says softly, watching a dark look come over Jimin’s face.

“I only wish I had been able to help Hobi-hyung take down more of that company before I left,” Jimin mutters, then begins to tell Jungkook about his life in the White Tigers and the day Hobi came to take him out.

Namjoon comes into the living room and blinks at all the teary eyes around the room. His eyes darting from the three-way couple on the love couch clutching Jimin between their chests to Yoongi and Taehyung holding a weepy Jungkook in their arms.

“It seems I missed something,” he murmurs, moving to sit down next to Taehyung on the couch as Jungkook wipes his face.

“I don’t want to hear a single emotional story from anyone for the next five years,” Jungkook says fiercely, the whole room chuckles at his words, breaking the sorrowful air around them.

“Ah I see,” Namjoon mutters, smiling softly as Jungkook gets up and straddles his lap, burying his face into his neck. “We had the big talk today.”

Jungkook huffs as he tucks his arms around Namjoon’s waist, “Not a single word, babe, or I’ll put you on the floor.”

Namjoon chuckles as he wraps his arms around Jungkook’s small waist, he leans down and whispers in his ear, “That’ll just turn me on, I like it when you manhandle me baby.”

Jungkook squeaks as Namjoon bites his earlobe, his face burning from the suggestive image.

Jin scoffs wetly, “The pair of you need to stop flirting in front of all of us, it’s gross to watch.”

“Shut up, hyung.” Jungkook huffs, glancing over his shoulder to see Jimin straddling his brother’s lap. “You have no room to judge, when you have two of my hyungs climbing all over you.”

Jin rolls his eyes, but a blush colors his cheeks as Hobi wraps his arms around his shoulders from behind and Jimin settles snugly across his chest. “You have so many hyungs Jungkook-ah, how are we going to know who you’re calling when you yell across the house?”

Jungkook hums and turns himself in Namjoon’s lap to face the room, smiling when he catches sight of Taehyung tugging Yoongi into his lap. “I technically do have different names for all of you, Yoongi-hyung will always be Yoongi-hyung for me and Taehyung-hyung has insisted that I just call him Tae now.”

“Only my closest call me that,” Taehyung says softly, kissing the side of Yoongi’s blushing face.

“I’ll probably just yell ‘Jimin-ssi’ when I need him and Hobi-hyung has told me to yell J-Hope when I need his attention,” Jungkook grins at the confused face Jin makes. “Hobi-hyung is my dance mentor as well as my trainer, he told me to call him that after I had a hard time getting a dance down. It’s his studio name.”

Jin blinks and tilts his head to look over at Hobi, “You dance Hoba, I’ll have to see that one day.”

Hobi smirks and pulls himself away from Jin, “I think we can show you now, Jimin and Kookie have learned one of my dances that’ll really blow you away Jin.”

Jin raises his brow as Jimin hops off his lap and helps Jungkook move the coffee table, the pair start stretching across the hardwoods after they move it to the side. Hobi skips across the room and starts fiddling with the large stereo while Namjoon helps Taehyung and Yoongi move the sofa back.

“So what will you yell when you need me Kook-ah?” Jin asks as he sits down on the adjusted couch next to Namjoon.

Jungkook grins widely as he bends over backwards to look at them, “You’re my hyung, Jin-hyung. I’ll scream ‘hyung’ at the top of my lungs when I need you.”

Jin looks oddly emotional at this and takes the tissue that Taehyung hands him as Hobi bounds over to the pair. They huddle together for a moment whispering into each other's ear and nodding to what Hobi tells them. Then Hobi claps them on the shoulders, pulls his phone out and presses on it before tossing it at Jin. Shooting him a wink when he catches it.

The three get into formation with Hobi at the center as the music starts playing, placing their wrists onto his shoulders as they bow their heads as they wait for the beat to drop. And when it does the three of them move so completely in sync that it blows the minds of everyone in the room.

The three of them bow to the room when the song ends, laughing when they receive loud claps of applause and Taehyung cheers loudly for them. Jungkook wipes the sweat off his brow with the end of his t-shirt, trying to hide his smirk as he catches Namjoon eyeing his flexing abs.

Jin whistles lowly as the three collapse onto the floor in heaps, “You weren’t lying Hoba, that was impressive.”

Hobi chuckles, “You should see some of Jiminie’s solo work, he truly has a captivating way of dancing. I nearly pounced him the first time I watched his body roll across the dance floor.”

“It seems I’ll be giving you two a private show later then,” Jimin teases, huffing when Jungkook kicks his shin and gags at him.

“Take it to the bedroom Jimin-ssi, I don’t want to watch.” Jungkook scoffs, smiling as Namjoon stands and offers him a hand to get off the floor. He takes it and giggles as Namjoon swings him up with ease.

Jimin eyes the pair, “I have no idea how you’re able to do that, Namjoonie-hyung. Jungkook-ah is heavy as hell, have you seen what he can lift in the gym? I’m pretty sure it’s twice your body weight.”

Namjoon looks down at him in surprise and Jungkook quirks an eyebrow at him, Namjoon’s eyes widen at the devilish look that comes over his baby’s face and starts to back away.

“Now wait a minute, baby, that wasn’t a…” Namjoon squeaks as Jungkook marches to him with sure steps and scoops him up into his arms with ease.

Jungkook nods to himself proudly, smirking as he feels Namjoon’s blushing face against his neck. “I knew I could do it, I’ve been upping my weights recently.”

“Fucking muscle bunny,” Jimin scoffs, letting Jin pull him off of the floor, eyeing Namjoon in a bridal carry in Jungkook’s arms. “He’s just going to toss you over his shoulder now, I hope you know that.”

Jungkook scoffs as he sets Namjoon back down, smiling at Namjoon’s small noise of protest, “I pick you up once to get you out of my way and you never seem to let it go, Jimin-hyung.”

“It was fucking embaressing!” Jimin yelps, shaking his finger in Jungkook’s face. “You did it in front of Hobi-hyung! I was only just starting to flirt with him, it set me back two months!”

Jungkook tosses a dismissive hand and starts walking towards the kitchen, “You flirted with him for two years and went nowhere, it’s only been with Jin-hyung that you’ve finally gotten that dick.”

Jimin chases after him with a pillow in his hand, smacking his retreating back and screaming profanities while Jungkook just laughs. The rest of the room roll their eyes at the pair, but follow slowly behind to make sure they don’t start throwing furniture at each other, again.

New chapter just posted!

Chapter 7 out of 12, posting every Monday now that I’ve finished the first draft of all the chapters!

New Chapter Posted!!