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Taehyung didn't come to bed that night. He was in the study when Jeongguk gave up and went to bed late that night, and he was in there when Jeongguk checked up on him the following morning. There were deep bags under his eyes.

"Did you get any sleep?" Jeongguk muttered, the clacking of laptop keys loud in his ears.

"No" Taehyung answered briefly, his eyes glued to the screen. The other two screens were on as well, which was a rare sight, Jeongguk had noticed.

"I think you should get some sleep" Jeongguk whispered, pulling his cardigan closer against his chest.

"Yeah, in a bit"

"Do you need anything? Something to drink?"

Taehyung's eyes found Jeongguk. He looked exhausted. "Yeah, that would be great" He nodded.

Jeongguk doubted he had anything to drink since the previous night. He was still in the clothes he wore to dinner, a few buttons undone, revealing his chest. His otherwise neatly combed, dyed blond hair was a mess. Glasses, that failed to cover his eyebags, rested on his nose.

Jeongguk sighed, walking to the kitchen. Jeongguk was worried about his boyfriend. He didn't quite understand what was going on. When he had asked what was wrong the previous night, hoping for an explanation of some sort, Taehyung had replied with "Don't worry about it, I will handle it" and disappeared to his study.

Jeongguk wanted more than that. Authorities? Did he mean the cops? If Taehyung was caught, would he be arrested? Would he be thrown in jail?

Anxiety brewed in Jeongguk's chest but he figured that this wasn't the time to be clingy and ask Taehyung a million queestions. He trusted Taehyung would tell him everything, now that there were no secrets between them.

Jeongguk was making Taehyung a hot chocolate when he felt hands snake around his waist and a head against his shoulder.

"Hyung" Jeongguk whispered. "Are you done?"

"For now, yeah"

Jeongguk gulped, contemplating. "W-what happened?"

Taehyung took a deep inhale. "I will tell you. Later"

"Then you should get some sleep now" Jeongguk whispered.

"I should" Taehyung whispered. "But I want something else right now"

"What?"

Taehyung pulled Jeongguk's cardigan off one shoulder, revealing bare skin. He pressed a kiss onto his shoulder, right over the tattoo of a flower.

Jeongguk smiled. "You want me?"

"Yeah. I need to relieve some stress" Taehyung whispered.

Jeongguk turned around and wrapped his arms around Taehyung's neck. "I would love to help you but I think the best thing you can do right now is sleep"

"I want you, baby" Taehyung whispered and dove into Jeongguk's neck, kissing up to his jaw and capturing his lips in a chaste kiss.

Jeongguk kissed back for a few seconds before pulling away. He sighed. "I have known you almost my whole life, Kim Taehyung"

"Full government name? Damn"

Jeongguk smiled. "I know when something is bothering you. You're trying to distract yourself"

"Is it so wrong?"

"No but..." Jeongguk sighed. "Wouldn't it help you talk to me about it?"

Taehyung took a step back, a little lost in thought. "I don't want to worry you" Taehyung whispered at last.

"There's something I should worry about?"

"No, I... I have it under control, okay?"

"Tell me, please. I want to know. I'm your boyfriend. I want to be here for you when things get difficult"

Taehyung nodded. "I know... I just..." He shook his head. "I'm not trying to keep things for you but I don't want you to worry"

"Tell me"

Taehyung sughed, giving in. "Dongsik has a friend who works in Intelligence services. He had told Dongsik that the authorities had found out about my website and are searching for who's affiliated with it. It's been about a year since they found out but they still haven't even come close to finding me"

"You didn't tell me about this earlier"

"Yeah because it's not something worth even mentioning. There had been many people trying to disrupt the functioning of my website over the years and I was able to manage all of those" Taehyung said, "I told you what I'm doing is illegal. It was only a matter of time before the authorities figured out that the origin of the website was Korea. But the authorities had never given me any trouble"

Jeongguk massaged his temples, worry taking over him.

"In this case, I'm the creator and the only moderator of the website. No one has access to control it other than me. So it's more difficult for anyone to figure me out because it's just an individual"

Jeongguk nodded. "So what happened last night?"

"So under each item or service for sale, there's a comment section. There was a user who had left like a hundred comments under such posts asking if anyone knows who's the owner and who moderates the website and that he wants to support it"

"Oh"

"Dongsik told me that last night and I had to delete all those comments. Luckily, no one had replied to them and no one other than Dongsik even knows who moderates it. Then I tried to hack and find out where this user was from. That's what I was doing all night. It was quite difficult to reach him because there was a firewall and a lot of security barriers. It was in the morning that I finally found out where he was accessing the site from. It's Seoul and the computer is from a lab belonging to Intelligence Services"

"Oh my god" Jeongguk whispered in disbelief. "So they are onto you"

"Yeah but they didn't find anything yet" Taehyung shrugged. "I panicked because I thought it was a bigger issue"

"But they won't stop trying until you're caught"

"Yeah but we're safe for now"

"For now" Jeongguk let out a deep exhale. "They will find you someday"

"I won't let that happen"

"You're just one person against the whole intelligence force" Jeongguk said in disbelief. "It's only a matter of time"

"Jeongguk, I don't want you to stress me out more than I already am"

"I'm not trying to! I'm just concerned for you... and me. And our future"

"This is why I didn't want to tell you. You're making a bigger deal out of this than what it is"

Jeongguk scoffed. "I might have no knowledge about your IT stuff but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're in danger"

"I have been in danger since the day I decided to create this website. I took a risk for what I believe in and it paid off" Taehyung's voice was stern and sharp. "I'm still fine!"

"But they're closing onto you!"

"I will handle it"

"But–"

"Don't" Taehyung snapped. "I'm tired. I'm gonna shower and sleep"

Jeongguk watched Taehyung storm off to their bedroom with a heavy heart. He sighed. The hot chocolate had gone cold. He wrapped his hands around it, his heart brewing with anxiety. He couldn't help worrying, even though there was nothing he could do.

What could possibly be the way out of this mess Taehyung was in? Was there any way out at all?

-

A loud, shrill beeping pierced through the stillness of the afternoon, shaking Taehyung awake. For a moment, his sleep-addled brain couldn't place the noise, but as the shrill continued, his body moved on instinct. That sound meant only one thing— trouble.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, throwing off the blanket and sprinting toward his study, He caught Jeongguk watching him with wide eyes by the kitchen. The cold hardwood floor bit at his feet, but adrenaline drowned out the discomfort.

Swinging the door of his study open, his eyes immediately locked onto the flashing alerts across his two monitors. Unauthorized access attempt detected scrolled repeatedly across the screen.

His fingers flew across the keyboard, his mind running on autopilot. This isn't a regular breach, he realized, his breath catching in his throat. "Fucking amateurs," he growled, quickly scanning the logs. Someone—or some group—was trying to penetrate his firewall. The attempts weren't subtle; they were deliberate and coordinated.

Taehyung was stuck in the study for the hours that followed. He was on line with Dongsik from time to time, the other man helping him out as well. Jeongguk came by a few times, once to place a plate of foot on his table and twice with some tea and biscuits.

Taehyung worked to shut down one access point after another, re-routing proxies, strengthening encryptions, and deleting traces of any sensitive data. His jaw clenched as he fought to stay one step ahead of whoever was on the other side of the breach. He and Dongsik had their suspicions that this might be people from the authorities, but he couldn't be sure. He cursed under his breath when a second wave of attempts hit. They were not giving up.

By the time the breach was neutralized, it was late in the night. His eyes burned, his back ached, and his head throbbed from exhaustion. He leaned back in his chair, releasing a long, shuddering exhale.

The sound of the door opening pulled his attention. Jeongguk walked in, a plate of food in hand.

"It's late," Jeongguk said softly, setting the plate on the desk. "I made you dinner"

Taehyung gave him a tired smile. "Thanks." He picked at the food, taking a few bites before pushing it aside, his focus already shifting back to the screen.

"Taehyung," Jeongguk said, his voice tinged with concern. "You're not eating."

"I'm not hungry."

"You barely ate anything for lunch either"

Taehyung sighed, his fingers pausing mid-type. "I just need to finish this."

Jeongguk lingered by the door, watching him with a worried expression. After a moment, he stepped further into the room. "What happened?"

Taehyung hesitated, rubbing his temples. "There was an attempt to breach the firewall. I had to reinforce everything."

"Authorities?"

"Probably"

Taehyung wasn't looking at Jeongguk but he sensed the way his expression darkened with worry. He hated worrying Jeongguk, which was why he hesitated to tell the younger anything. But Jeongguk was persistent. He loved Taehyung, after all.

"How serious?"

Taehyung rubbed his temples. "A team, not just one person. Coordinated. I managed to block them before they got through, don't worry."

"How can I not?" Jeongguk's brows deepened with worry. "They're getting closer, aren't they?"

"They haven't found anything yet"

"But they're trying! How can you sit there and act like this isn't a big deal?"

"Because it isn't!" Taehyung snapped. "I know what I'm doing, Jeongguk."

Jeongguk took a step closer, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "And what happens when they finally do find you? What happens to us then?"

Taehyung's jaw tightened. "Look, I don't need this right now."

"No, you don't need me questioning you, right? You want me to just sit back and watch while you risk everything for this—this website!" Jeongguk's voice cracked with frustration.

"Exactly!" Taehyung shouted, his voice echoing in the small room. "If you're not going to help me, then stay out of it!"

Jeongguk froze, his lips parting in shock. Hurt flashed across his face, quickly replaced by anger.

"Fine," he said, his voice low but trembling with emotion. "If that's what you want, I'll stay out of it. But don't expect me to sit around and pretend like this isn't tearing us apart."

With that, he turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

"Fuck!" Taehyung shouted, slamming his fist against the table. The silence that followed was deadly. He sat back in his chair, head dangling from the headrest and closed his eyes, letting the anger, anxiety, grief, and guilt swallow him whole. 

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