Jeongguk watches Taehyung wake up with curiosity.

It isn't at all as he expected. He'd expected Taehyung to continue sleeping soundly, but that wasn't the case. Taehyung woke with a start, gasping a little and taking in his surroundings.

"Bad dream?" Jeongguk guesses. He's still sitting upright in bed, typing away on his laptop. His back is stiff and his eyes are reddened, but he pushes away his own discomfort and focuses on his charge.

Taehyung glowers at him. "Fuck you," he hisses, and shoves the blanket over his head.

"Good morning, too," Jeongguk replies nonchalantly. "We have - well, I have - my first meeting with the task force at 8 AM. I would like to shower before then. Can we go?"

"Go fuck yourself!" Taehyung snarls, and oh, this is new. Taehyung was snappy yesterday, but he wasn't this confrontational. This could prove to be difficult for the investigation.

Jeongguk waits five, ten minutes. It's 7:50. If he doesn't shower now, he's going to be late.

"I am sorry to do this, Taehyung," Jeongguk says, closing his laptop with a slight click, "But it seems as if I'll have to drag you along with me."

No response from under the covers.

"Taehyung?" Jeongguk tries, pulling down the covers slightly.

A fist emerges from under the blankets and punches Jeongguk straight in the jaw. He staggers back, shocked. "Ouch," he says, lightly touching his face. He's sure it'll bruise. "What was that for?"

Taehyung sits up in his bed, grinning nastily at Jeongguk. "For locking me up with you," he spits, "For taking away my freedom for your stupid idea of justice."

"I do not understand," Jeongguk says as calmly as he can, but his head is throbbing, his eyes are red and bloodshot, and he hasn't been able to sleep for months because of the man in his bedroom, and he's not going down without a fight. "You robbed several truckload's worth of jewelry. You escaped prison four times. You are a felon, Taehyung. Did you really think you were going to get away with this?" He pauses. "Did you think that I'd let you get away with this?"

Taehyung gets up and lunges at him, but Jeongguk's been trained in several forms of martial arts. He ducks and swings at Taehyung's stomach, knowing it'll knock the wind out of him. It succeeds, and Taehyung flops back in bed, dragging Jeongguk along with him.

This is good. He has the upper hand, now. Jeongguk pins Taehyung's shoulders back, but Taehyung's damn clever, and he lifts his right arm just enough. Just enough to twist the chain between their handcuffs around Jeongguk's neck.

Uh oh.

He does not have the upper hand now.

"Rotten fuckin' detective you are," Taehyung grins, tightening the chain ever so slightly. If he wants to, he can strangle Jeongguk easily. "Didn't you think of this, genius?"

And Jeongguk's sure that Taehyung can see the fear, the sheer panic, in his eyes. Because his life is literally in Taehyung's hands, and this plan was a big fucking disaster, and how did he not see this coming? How did he not think this through? Blind, stupid rage at himself floods Jeongguk. Because he hates to lose. Every detective hates to lose.

Especially to a criminal. Especially to Taehyung.

"I won't lose to you," he pants, because even if they're his last words, he'll say them. He needs to say them. He needs to believe them. "You...you bastard." He lets go of Taehyung's shoulders and flips Taehyung over - or at least, he tries - and they both go tumbling off the edge of the bed, wrapped in chains and their bruises and their bruised egos.

The door bursts open. "Jeongguk!" Hoseok screams, rushing forward. "Oh thank God, you're okay. We saw it all on the surveillance cameras."

My task force is here, Jeongguk thinks, gratefulness flooding him. I'm not dead. I'm alive.

Jung Hoseok, Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon, and Bang Sihyuk are at the door, guns drawn.

"Kim Taehyung," Sihyuk's voice booms, "If you try to strangle Jeongguk, we won't hesitate to shoot."

Jeongguk and Taehyung fumble out of their binds and stand up, slowly. Taehyung puts his hands behind his head, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't trying to kill him," he deadpans. "It was only a friendly brawl."

"If you kill my boss, I swear to God I'll kill you," Yoongi says, and it sounds like he hasn't had his coffee yet this morning. "For all the time we spent catching you...you little shit. Don't ever dare to hurt my boss ever again."

"I was just trying to show a vulnerability in his system," Taehyung enunciates crisply, in the same way that Jeongguk speaks, and Jeongguk feels his ego get bruised even more by the childish mockery. "Either of us can easily strangle the other, if one of our guards is down. That's all."

The task force is silent. One by one, they lower their guns.

"Can we please have some privacy, now?" Jeongguk asks, a little miserably. "And can we delay our meeting by an hour? We haven't eaten yet."

"Sure, boss. You're still crazy, though," Yoongi says, and all of them shuffle out of the room.

"Jeongguk, a word?" Sihyuk asks, and by the tone of his voice, Jeongguk knows he's in trouble.

"Not now, please," Jeongguk practically begs. His entire faith in himself is partially crumbling, and it's only eight in the morning. His great plan has almost got him killed by his prime suspect, and that isn't how he'd like to go, sleep-deprived and asphyxiated to death.

"Fine. I'll only ask this. Are you sure about what you're doing?" Sihyuk's voice is cold and clipped. "Because I'm not sure anymore. I need you to be sure, at least."

You push yourself too hard.

Yes, Jeongguk finally admits to himself. Yes, I do.

"I'm sure," he only answers woodenly. "I'm sure."

He isn't sure.

---