Jeongguk laughed silently at the boy standing awkwardly by the counter fiddling with his fingers nervously and avoiding Jeongguk's gaze at all costs. Something about his stance screamed hatred, but Jeongguk couldn't quite put his finger on why, many people hated him, but he usually knew the reason.

"You like your room?" V nodded, Jeongguk noticed he didn't speak much when he wasn't working, it made him seem cute and delicate like a kitten that Jeongguk wanted to scoop up and smother with cuddles and kisses. Unfortunately, the young heir couldn't, not yet at least when V was still evidently uncomfortable in his presence but he'd get there, he just had to figure out how. Jeongguk had given V the suite on the level below which was only accessible through Jeongguk's penthouse (Jeongguk didn't know whether this was because he felt extremely possessive over V already or whether it was a matter of keeping him safe). It had everything a separate flat would have minus the front door and V had seemed astonished when it had been presented to him, though he had hidden it well.

Jeongguk had called for V after giving him an hour to settle down, making it clear that he didn't plan on him working tonight, so V had emerged from the suite dressed in grey sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. How he still managed to ooze sex appeal, Jeongguk will never know. Now they were in the kitchen ready to discuss some ground rules, V hesitantly took the steaming mug of tea offered to him and sat next to Jeongguk at the island overlooking the living room. "Do you know why you are here?" V shook his head despite having an almost perfect idea of what he would be doing, "you belong to me now, I bought you so if any other man or woman even looks at you, you ignore them and tell me immediately. If I find that you haven't told me, then you will be punished," V finally looked at Jeongguk, his left eyebrow raised slightly higher seemingly thrown off by Jeongguk's words though he didn't object so Jeongguk continued. "You will dance for me when I need you too, but I will always respect your boundaries if you don't want me to touch you, I won't. I will, however, ask you for more than dancing, but you have control over how far we go," this time, V choked on his tea, "what?"

"Nothing, just no one's ever... don't worry," V looked down at his hands expecting Jeongguk just to move on. Instead, Jeongguk cupped his chin forcing him to look each other in the eyes,

"Tell me," even though his words were a demand, there was no malice behind them. V kept his mouth firmly shut, Jeongguk's mouth turned into a thin line at the blatant disobedience from the boy in front of him. "I don't react well to disobedience V, especially not after I've been so generous," he watched the boy gulp and take a deep breath. He seemed to consider telling Jeongguk whatever he was thinking about, but he decided against it at the last second. He tore himself away from Jeongguk's light grip and made to move back to his suite,

"I'm tired. I think I'm just gonna go and rest," Jeongguk growled and stalked up behind him.

"It's barely past midday V,"

"Please Jeongguk I-" Jeongguk gripped his hips firmly, and it was more than enough to shut the dancer up,

"You're going to do as I say, now you've pissed me off, and you're going to make it up to me," with a light pat on his ass, Jeongguk sent Taehyung downstairs to change. At the same time, he moved towards the sizeable l-shaped sofa in the corner of the room, tucked into the area of the suite that sat further back than the entrance. His suite was shaped like a square 'c' curving around the lift shaft used to reach his floor level, allowing him to have areas that felt like separate rooms despite the open plan design. He planted himself in the middle of the sofa after pushing the black-marble coffee table back against the smaller couch that sat opposite. To his left, the fireplace was empty of any fire, the added warmth not being necessary for the current month.

He heard V making his way back up the stairs; his body hugged delectably by a navy-blue eyelash lace bralette and thong, the silver tracking band on his wrist also managing to look like a planned accessory to the outfit. It was incredibly sheer meaning that Jeongguk could see V's nipples and the outline of his cock if he weren't enjoying the view so much, he would have commented on the fact that this was clearly an attempt at pushing Jeongguk's buttons. The floral designs in the lace added a shot of sweetness into the attire, and it suited V very well, Jeongguk's fingers started to dig into his thighs as he struggled to contain himself. Images of V laying below him on this very sofa begging to be stuffed full of Jeongguk's cock entered his mind, god he could imagine just how sinful the other would sound in that situation.

He hadn't realised how close V had gotten until the soft brush of fingertips ran over his shoulders,

"How 'bout some music?" Jeongguk reached for his phone and let V find a song he deemed suitable before throwing to the other end of the sofa and sitting back to make V work for his forgiveness.

~

V was getting towards the end of his dance, and Jeongguk just couldn't take it any longer, he stood up abruptly and plastered himself against V's back. His hands ran up the outside of V's thighs admiring the fact that they felt even softer than they looked, he gave himself a moment to squeeze the flesh, relishing in the feel of it beneath his palms before bringing them up to rest on the boy's hips.

"C'mon V, just give me a taste," he breathed into V's ear, "you look delicious in these," he pinged the waistband of the thong drawing a sharp gasp from the other. "I could make you feel so good, fuck you nice and deep right here, have you begging for me all night long," he was just about to start pressing kisses into V's neck when the dancer turned around harshly, Jeongguk's hands stayed on his hips although now with a much more lax grip behind them.

"I've already told you Jeongguk, I don't do that, I dance, and that's it, you should have remembered that when you bought me." Although disappointed, Jeongguk relented he moved away from V and went over to the kitchen area to make them both another mug of tea each.

V still hadn't moved when he returned with the tea and placed the mug in his hands; he was looking at him like a deer in headlights, utter disbelief painted his expressions.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jeongguk made sure V continued to look him in the eye with a gentle hand on his chin.

"No one has ever respected my boundaries before; they've always just demanded and then gotten angry when I refused. Mostly they would just leave without paying but sometimes..." again V trailed off, reluctant to give Jeongguk his life story.

~

"Sometimes they hit you," Taehyung tore himself away from Jeongguk's light hold and began to walk away, he was ashamed of what had happened to him and how it had become a frequent occurrence. There had been times when he had considered giving in and letting those disgusting men have their way with him just to avoid the embarrassment of returning to his boss and fellow strippers unpaid or with a bruising hand mark painted across his cheek.

He had made it no more than five steps before he felt a pair of Herculean arms wrap tightly around his thin frame and Jeongguk was pressed up behind him for the third time that day, his arms were strapped to his sides preventing him from pushing the presence away. His ceramic mug was taken from his trembling hands and placed on the coffee table next to them; he could feel every breath tumble from Jeongguk's lips and cascade down the back of his lean neck. For a minute they stood there before reality kicked in and Taehyung ripped himself away, he couldn't let Jeon Jeongguk of all people comfort him. He was stupid; he had allowed Jeongguk into his heart and given him a piece of himself that he usually hid behind sexy clothing and the sway of his hips. 'Maybe he isn't as bad as his father?' Taehyung shook his head to rid himself of such sinful thoughts; Jeongguk – in Taehyung's eyes – was the devil's son. Taehyung could feel the slimy tentacles of grief slowly creeping up his spine as images flashed by, his head began to spin, and a searing pain cut him off from the rest of the world; the only thing he knew at that moment was despair. As the pain increased so did the spinning, he was now fisting at his hair and screaming into the air, but his ears didn't hear a sound, Taehyung could vaguely make out Jeongguk's form standing in front of him and could see his jaw moving as he spoke, but Taehyung heard nothing. Taehyung only heard the screams from his younger sister ripping through his phone's speaker; his little brother was crying 'Eomma' in the background. He could feel the terror cling to him when he dropped to his knees like he had done that fatal night, his brother and sister sobbing and begging for him to find them,

"Eomma, Appa!" he had wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone and cradle his siblings in his arms, he knew his parents had just died, and he knew that soon enough his two little angels would follow.

"Stay calm, tell me what you see," Taehyung tried to keep his voice steady, but the blood rushing in his ears was making that increasingly difficult,

"Blood, Oppa, so much blood," another sob wracked his sister; he could still hear his brother whimpering. He didn't know what to do, and he had no idea where they were or who they were with,

"What else?"

"Oppa..." she was hysterical. There was no way he was going to get any information from her. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, two ear-splitting screams tore down the phone, followed by a deathly silence.

"Eon Jin?" no response, "Jeong Gyu?" he heard footsteps and prayed it was one his siblings.

"Good evening Sir," Taehyung's grip on his phone grew even fiercer, "I am so sorry for your loss," a hearty chuckle accompanied this statement, and it tore Taehyung's heart to shreds. This man was laughing at his family being slaughtered, at his baby brother and sister crying for help only for the big brother to abandon them,

"What... did you... do?" his voice was shaking in rage, but the fucker only laughed harder,

"Your parents owed Geom-Eun Neugdae a lotta money kiddo, and they weren't coughing up quick enough," Taehyung was speechless; his parents had been involved with Geom-Eun Neugdae? The gang that controls the entire underworld of South Korea and much of the world he lived in? Why? "Do you see the black van driving towards you?" Confusion hit Taehyung like a ton of bricks when he looked up from where he had collapsed on the curb, and there was indeed a black van driving towards him.

"Whuh?"

"I'd get in unless you want to make things even worse, we know where the rest of your family are, and it only takes one word, and they all die horribly," Taehyung could feel the sneer on the other end of the line, but he didn't protest, he scrambled to his feet not even noticing the line going dead and clambered into the van.

The rest of that night was still a blur to Taehyung; he remembered having his clothing torn from his back and being manhandled into new clothes that may as well not have been there for they covered so little. He had been allowed to keep his bag, but he was told he would have to earn the right to own clothes that would cover his body. He could still feel the harsh hands of the man who had jerked him off in the back of the van, 'I'm teaching you how to please your clients,' while his hands were held tightly behind his back and his legs spread apart, he had cried and whined for them to stop, but they continued touching him (they called it a 'crash course') until the van came to a halt. That same night he had been thrown into the crowd and told to seduce any man who approached him but not to let them touch, his first lap dance had been clumsy, and the handjob he gave was even worse. Nevertheless, Taehyung had returned to his new boss with a wad of cash stuffed into the front of his boxers and the urge to vomit; after that night the cycle never stopped, the only change being Taehyung's skills becoming more and more advanced and him earning different rewards, such as comfortable clothing and his own room.

'Kim Taehyung' has long been forgotten, his family thought him dead, and everyone knew him as 'V' when choosing the new name, he'd been ordered to make it mysterious and straightforward. 'Six' and 'Lex' were other names he had toyed with, but he felt 'V' suited him best; he would always tell people it stood for victory in English, but the truth was that it stood for vile since that was how he saw himself now; someone's vile toy.

~

"What's so different about this one?" Jeongguk jumped at the sound of his advisor's voice; he had been sat on the edge of V's for just over an hour. The boy had collapsed after his break down, Jeongguk didn't know what had happened, but he assumed the names he was screaming belonged to his family. However, the thing that struck him was when Taehyung started chanting 'Geom-Eun Neugdae' until his voice gave out and he was left mouthing the words as Jeongguk desperately brought the quivering boy into his arms in an attempt to console him. Jeongguk sighed,

"I don't know, all I know is that I need to protect him,"

"Need?" Jeongguk nodded, "You've known him two days and don't even know his real name," Jeongguk bristled at that.

"Don't question me Namjoon,"

"That's my job Jeongguk," this time it was Namjoon's turn to sigh.

"This boy is mine," Jeongguk growled, reverting slightly to his usual behaviour, "I bought him, so I now own him, he is mine, and I want... I want him to tr-" Namjoon's eyes widened at the near confession, the cracks were showing again in his aggressive facade,

"You want him to what, Jeongguk?"

"To- to do as I say!" Namjoon decided to drop the subject, Jeongguk was struggling to keep his act up, and he'd spent enough time with the heir to know not to try and force anything out of him. Exasperatedly, he sat next to the younger and watched the way his eyes softened as they traced the dancer's sleeping face,

"He was chanting our name," Namjoon stiffened,

"Why?"

"I don't know, but obviously something happened. Maybe that's why V wasn't like the others when I told him my name," Jeongguk's shoulders sagged. Namjoon had never seen him like this, and he almost wanted to say that Jeongguk cared about V; however, that was impossible, Jeongguk doesn't care, ever.

"I'll ask Seokjin hyung to do a background check on him,"

"No," Jeongguk was full of surprises today, "I want him to tell me," Namjoon froze, something was wrong. Jeongguk's eyes hadn't left the boy's face, and Namjoon was now noticing that Jeongguk's hand lay gently over his wrist, what was happening to the bratty child he had known since he fifteen?

"Why did you call me Jeongguk?"

"How do I help him?"

The next thirty minutes were spent getting V comfortable and coaxing him back to reality, Namjoon could see how gentle Jeongguk was being, but he didn't comment. He was proud, maybe this 'V' would be the one to show Jeongguk the good in the world, show him that not everything revolves around being the heir Geom-Eun Neugdae.