Out of all the places Taehyung expected to be at on a stormy Thursday night, he definitely didn't think that he would end up at a police station.

The weather outside is absolutely freezing but that's not exactly why his hands are shivering. The nerves rattling his body are harsher than the wild weather.

"Right this way, sir," a young lady says while leading the boy to a room. Taehyung fiddles with his fingers as he walks, practising what he's going to say in his head. He doesn't exactly know what to say.

The lady smiles at him as she gestures towards a room and then leaves him behind. Taehyung stares at the dull grey door for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts and frankly himself before finally entering.

Jungkook is seated behind a glass barrier, his head in his hands as his tired gaze penetrates the empty desk below him. He doesn't hear Taehyung come in; Not until his name is spilt past those worried lips.

"Taehyung!" Jungkook exclaims while looking up, dull eyes flaring with emotion. "H-how did you come here?"

Taehyung sighs, "took a taxi."

Jungkook frowns, "no like- did they let you go from camp?"

Taehyung nods, "I just told them I was feeling unwell and needed to go back to the dorm."

Jungkook nods and then silence falls upon them.

The unasked question is burning past the glass barrier, melting it apart and binding the two males together with a weighted tension.

Finally, Taehyung sighs, deciding to break the silence. "Jungkook, wh-what- why are you here? What did you do?"

Jungkook lets out a heavy sigh, his head dropping back in between his hands. He doesn't speak for a while and Taehyung only watches as the ravenette tugs his lucious locks of hair.

"The place you worked at, Lim Cafe. There was a reason I told you to stop working there."

Taehyung nods, patiently waiting for the boy to continue.

Jungkook sighs and then sits up straight, eyes staring directly into Taehyung's. "Taehyung, those aren't just normal people who own a cafe..."

Taehyung tilts his head curiously, noticing how the ravenette looks oddly anxious as he speaks.

"They're part of the mafia."

Taehyung splutters as his eyes widen, "w-what!?"

"That coffee shop is just a small side business, it's almost like an alibi to hide what truly goes on behind the scenes."

Taehyung is still floating with shock, his body still not fully comprehending Jungkook's words. Mafia? Didn't they just exist in the movies?

Jungkook runs a hand through his hair before continuing, "When I first came to the school, me and Yoongi went job hunting and found a job at the cafe. We thought it was just a normal job, working with normal people and doing normal things. But we were so wrong."

"A few months into working for that place, the manager asked us both to do small errands and threatened us saying that if we didn't complete them, we would get fired."

"We should have left when we had the chance. But we were young and naive. We both knew, even at that time, that the contents of those packages weren't legal but we still continued to run 'errands'. At some point, we just stopped working for the cafe and our job was mainly to deal with the drugs. We don't even get paid anymore. We were threatened under gunpoint to stay loyal to them and obey their orders."

"By this point, there was no way out because it wasn't just our jobs at risk. It was also our lives."

Taehyung's brows are furrowed as he intently listens to Jungkook's story. "W-why didn't you just call the police on them?"

Jungkook laughs lightly, shaking his head fondly at the boy's naivety. "Bambi, they happen to be one of the biggest mafias in Korea, they have eyes and ears everywhere. Do you really think we could have just called the police and lived on with our lives? They would have escaped the prisons but we wouldn't have been able to escape their wrath."

Taehyung shivers at the thought of what he almost got himself into. "S-so i-is that the reason why you paid them? So I wouldn't be involved with the mafia?"

Jungkook nods, "yeah, I didn't want you getting caught up with what I am going through now so I made a deal with them so they would let you go."

Taehyung pauses his nervous tapping and looks up, "a deal?"

Jungkook nods, "y-yeah. They had 5 kilos of coke that they needed to deal. It's a risky job, even for them. I told them I would do it if they let you go."

Taehyung stares at the other in awe, his heartbeat fastening. "Y-you put yourself at risk for me? B-but why? You could h-have got caught b-by- you did get caught by the police! Why would you risk yourself like that for me when I did nothing of the sort in return?"

Jungkook tilts his head down and shrugs slightly, playing with a string on edge of his pants.

Taehyung frowns. "M'sorry," he says sadly. "T-this is a-all my fault. I-If I-I listened and just stopped working there- you wouldn't be here right now."

Jungkook looks up and shakes his head, "no Bambi, you couldn't stop working there cause of the payment, remember? And either way, I would have ended up here sometime sooner; They were getting more demanding with the deals and were threatening me more and more."

Taehyung feels his heartbreak for the other. He can't imagine how trapped he must feel.

"A-are you going t-to work for them forever?" he asks sadly, tilting his head down to hide his watery eyes.

"I'm going to move far away from here as possible when I finish school- hey, look at me," Jungkook cuts himself off as he notices the smaller boy's sniffles.

Taehyung hesitantly looks up with teary eyes, his lower lip wobbling as he fights back tears. He feels touched that Jungkook would try to protect him like that but also upset over the fact that Jungkook is now receiving such a severe consequence.

Jungkook's heart tightens at the sight of the boy, "Why are you crying?" he asks softly.

Taehyung sniffs, "I-I just- even though you say it's not my fault- y-you probably wouldn't be here i-if it wasn't for me," a tear runs down the boy's cheeks and he quickly wipes it away but another follows right after. Soon the boy is silently crying as Jungkook watches him with sad eyes.

Jungkook reaches through the small space of the glass barrier and grabs onto his hand that was resting on the desk. He pulls it closer and softly strokes his thumb across the smooth skin.

"Bambi, look at me," he calls out gently.

Once again he looks up, his teary eyes glimmering as they peak from his wet lashes. He blushes through his tear-stained cheeks at the tender look on Jungkook's face and the sight makes Jungkook want to oh-so-badly kiss him.

"What happened today is not your fault, it's not mine either. It's no one's fault, alright?" He speaks calmly. "What happened today was just a case of bad luck and nothing else. So I don't want you going around and thinking this is your fault, okay? Cause it's not."

Taehyung nods slightly before wiping the tears off his face. He grips tighter onto Jungkook's hand before looking up at him with a worried expression.

"How long would you have to stay in jail for?"

Jungkook sighs, "I-I don't know. They're going to question me soon but obviously I can't tell them who's behind this. They'll probably charge me with illegal substance handling which could get me a minimum of 5 years imprisonment."

Jungkook's throat tightens at the thought, his head feeling heavy from all the stress.

Taehyung's eyes widen, "f-five years." He wants to burst out into tears again but he doesn't. He's not the one in the vulnerable situation, Jungkook is. He needs to try to be strong for him, just like Jungkook is to him.

"What about your parents?" He asks gently. "They're rich, they can probably bail you out of here."

Jungkook's face hardens with anger at the mention of his parents. He scoffs, "they probably don't even know I'm here and even if they did, they would just disown me instead of actually helping. If not that, they might try to use this as leverage against me to get me to do the shit they want. I'd rather rot in hell than let them have their ways."

Taehyung sighs sadly as he stares at the boy. Jungkook Is trying his best to not show it but it is clear. He's scared. He's vulnerable. No one is there to protect him or help him and all he can do is let hell have its way with him. Taehyung can't bear to watch that happen. He won't let that happen.

Suddenly, with a look of pure determination shadowing over his timid features, Taehyung stands up.

"Bambi? Where are you going?" Jungkook calls out confusedly.

Taehyung stops and turns around, a soft small smile appearing on his lips. He doesn't say anything but the smile is so reassuring that it makes Jungkook's tense shoulder relax.

Taehyung knows what he has to do.

~

"H-how?" Jungkook asks as he steps out towards Taehyung, the guards finally uncuffing him and realising his red-rimmed hands.

Taehyung looks up and there's a glint in his eyes. Jungkook furrows his brows because something feels wrong. Taehyung is looking at him but his gaze is almost hollow; As if he's not looking at Jungkook but actually right through him.

"Tae, how'd you get me ou-"

"The taxi is waiting at the front. I've already signed your bail papers so we can leave now." The smaller says in a monotone voice.

Jungkook pauses his actions and stares down at the smaller. "Bail papers? Taehyung are you insane? The bail costs more than $60,000-"

"No need to worry about that, Jungkook. Now if you don't mind, I'll be off."

Jungkook feels utterly confused. Is this the same boy that was crying while holding his hands a few hours prior? Cause if it is, it certainly doesn't feel like it.

"Where are you going? The ravenette asks as he follows the blue-head.

"To the taxi."

Both boys exit the prison and then enter the taxi, a tense silence building up between them like a bubbling pot of poison.

Jungkook doesn't have a clue what is going on. One minute he's in prison and the next, he's sitting beside Taehyung in a tense taxi ride. He feels like there's something the boy's not telling him. In fact, the boy isn't talking to him at all!

"Taehyung," Jungkook calls out quietly, turning his head to see the small boy staring out the window, mindlessly watching the downpour outside. The boy barely responds, slightly nodding his head to show that he is listening.

"What's wrong?" Jungkook asks as he leans in closer, his hand gently placing itself on Taehyung's lap. Taehyung's eyes suddenly widen and he shoots his gaze towards the taxi driver.

The man is driving casually as he nods his head along to the faint melody playing on the radio. Taehyung sighs out a breath before turning his towards Jungkook. Jungkook is shocked to see those doe black eyes glaring at him.

Is Taehyung mad at him? But why?

~

Jungkook is really taken aback by the sudden change in Taehyung's behaviour. He feels like Taehyung is angry at him but he doesn't know why.

They both enter their dorm room and the stale smell of worn-out furniture invites them in. Taehyung chucks his backpack towards his bed before heading towards the bathroom.

The ravenette sits down on his bed and shoves his head into his hands. He doesn't know what just happened. One minute he's in camp, the next minute he's in jail and now he's back in his dorm, but his dorm doesn't feel the same. Taehyung doesn't feel the same. He knows that something's wrong, he can sense it in the boy's whole aura.

So that's why when Taehyung comes out of the shower, Jungkook stalks towards him and bombards him with questions.

"Taehyung tell me what's wrong? Tell me what happened? Why are you upset?"

The small boy is taken aback at first but his surprise is soon replaced with anger. "I'm fine, goddammit! Just leave me alone!"

Jungkook freezes at the tone of his voice. Taehyung is never one to raise his voice so being on the receiving end of his very rare outbursts feels like a slap across the face. Was Taehyung angry at him for not telling him about the mafia? Yeah, that has to be it.

"Bambi, look I'm sorry for not telling you about the mafia. I was sworn to secrecy and didn't want to put you at risk by having you know such a threatening secret-"

"Yeah whatever, I don't really care," he says while ignoring the way Jungkook's face falls.

Jungkook doesn't know how to feel. He's never seen Taehyung act so...cold. Not even after all the times he treated him like shit. Never once has Taehyung snapped at him. So why now?

Jungkook slowly turns around and wordlessly walks over to his bed. He flops down and closes his eyes, desperately waiting for sleep to overcome him and for him to wake up to find out this is all a dream.

But it is a sleepless night, that night. No dreams are dreamt. But the nightmares are felt.

Both boys silently lay metres apart, feeling more distant than ever.

Taehyung's heart feels heavy as its beats against his chest. He feels horrible. The scene of him yelling at Jungkook plays over and over again in his head like a broken record player. He hates this. He hates it so much.

And it's pathetic how he can't do a thing about it. He can't tell the boy what's going on. He can't stop acting this way towards him. He can barely do anything.

So he does the one thing he can do.

In the quietest whisper he can manage, he calls out miserably, hoping the other would hear him,

"I-I'm sorry, Jungkook."

But Jungkook doesn't hear him.

The thunder booming outside is just too loud.

-

A/N: I was a busy busy girl this week. Not only was a feverishly studying for a physics test but I also did many other things.

Likeeee,

Write a chapter on one of my favourite author's stories. The book is called 'Stranger Danger' and its by: 

xBlackJae

(I wrote chapter 3) hehe

Anddddd, I published my first one-shot.

Please go check it out guys!!
Thank you for reading this chapter, I love youuuu ❤️❤️❤️