"Where'd you get the jacket?" Jung Hoseok asked Jimin as he walked past The Kims front doors, sand dusting off the bottom of his shoes. The Kims held base in an old mansion built off the coast of Busan's beaches. The building was only one story, but it spanned wide with large arches for windows, navy blue walls, and the scent of the ocean perpetually in the air.

Jimin glanced at his new leather jacket, the material swallowing him and the sleeves pooled around his arms where a red-stitched dragon hit his knuckles instead of his wrist. He threw the right-hand a shrug and the dragon-stitch crinkled with the movement. "Gift from a friend."

"Right. Well, The Don's asking for you." Hoseok said, clocking the dried blood on the jacket's neck.

"Right now?" Jimin blinked in suprise. "He usually lets me shower first." He said. Honestly, Jimin really did need to shower. There was blood on his wrists, sweat covering his neck, and the scent of coffee clung to his skin like a bad cologne. His body screamed to have the water turn hotter and hotter as it hit his back and Jimin could lose himself under the steam for hours. But, he knew better than refusing a direct order from his Don. His body was littered in enough bruises and scars to show for it. 

Hoseok flicked his brows up and Jimin sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Office of Lobby?" Jimin said. Usually he never had to ask. The Don's office was where his feet naturally stepped to go. It was a small, private space. The only window in that room was a circular opening in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to pool into the room like it was bleeding into it. But with the way Hoseok had waited for Jimin to return from his hit and the strange quiet in a mansion littered with guards, Jimin guessed today might not be a usual day. He hoped Hoseok would prove him wrong. The Lobby was the name for the building's ballroom. It was a massive space where card tables and cigar booths decorated the floor. The leader of The Kim Mafia used it for ceremonial purposes - or more specially, when he wanted to make a show of someone.

"Lobby." Hoseok answered and Jimin's heart sank, but he didn't let any of his disappointment show on his face. Instead, he jumped the leather jacket and started to head down the hall towards the ballroom. His shower would have to wait.

Hoseok quickly stepped in line with Jimin, and the assassin let himself fall into the familiar rhythm of the two of them preparing to see their Don. He found comfort in the way Hoseok never let Jimin step too far ahead of him. His eyes were always trained on Jimin's hands while his own never strayed too far from the gun holstered on his hip. Jimin savored it; Hoseok was one of the few people in Busan who watched Jimin with caution instead of hunger.

Many Kim guards eyed Jimin curiously as the pair passed through the halls. Jimin didn't walk like they expected for someone coined The Kims' Whore. He never did. He walked with his shoulders back, his chin high. Like he watched mike's mic and knew that he was that bitch and will forever be that bitch. Seeing Hoseok, their superior, on guard with Jimin always added to the confusion. Some gossiped that Jimin was the family's assassin, others enjoyed the fantasy of Jimin under them too much to notice the truth, and the third kind were those who didn't see a difference whether he whored himself to The Kims or killed for him.

When Hoseok and Jimin turned a corner out of view of the guards, Hoseok took Jimin by the shoulder and pushed him against the wall, looking around to make sure no one was coming their way. Jimin's body immediately called to action, his hand reaching for the knife in his sleeve to stab Hoseok through his ribs - then hesitated. Hoseok seemed worried. Not for himself, but for Jimin.

"We don't have long." Hoseok said. The door to The Lobby loomed behind them, laughter and the hum of conversation pooling from the crack between its hinges. "But you should know that you're not going to like what you hear in there." Hoseok warned and Jimin slipped the knife back into his sleeve, his brows furrowing. His tenuous relationship with Hoseok always leaned towards friendship, but the older had never warned him of a meeting before. It could get them both killed if The Don found out he's said anything. "Just, don't show any shock on your face in there. I don't know what The Don will order me to do if you do." Hoseok's grip loosened on Jimin and the right-hand stood back with a pale face.

Jimin blinked again. The two of them weren't close. There was a time, once, where Jimin thought the they could become friends, but Taehyung worried it would make people question Jimin's real rank and ordered a stop to it. "Why are you telling me this?" Jimin asked, trying to read Hoseok's out-of-place empathy like someone had handed him a stick of dynamite with a ribbon tied around it.

Hoseok frowned. He looked behind him again to make sure no one was coming. "Because I don't agree with it." He said quickly and quietly. A shiver ran down Jimin's spine. He wanted to pry for more, scream 'don't agree with what,' but then a guard walked past, and the words were lost to the salt in the beach-side air. Jimin was hard to shake, killing people for a living will do that to a person, but Hoseok risking his life to warn Jimin about the Don's intention made him pause.

Two men with large guns strapped to their backs walked up to The Lobby's large wooden doors, completing a guard rotation. They bowed towards Hoseok when they saw him, snickering at Jimin pressed against the wall. Hoseok instantly stepped away, his expression a mask and Jimin similarly let his own steel one slip on. The guards opened the doors at Hoseok's nod and Jimin's pulse hammered as they walked passed.

The Lobby was packed. The crowd wasn't unusual necessarily, but having to preform his happily seductive, glad to be of service, beautiful idiot act in front of all these outsiders was just another thing standing between Jimin and his precious shower. The Kim Manor didn't only house in-gang operations; The Lobby also made money off of Busan's wealthy, luring them in with drinks and cigars and gambling. If the guests knew Jimin, they knew him as a whore, and Jimin would be expected to behave as one. Smiling and seducing and bowing to people he could kill as easily as he could fold a piece of paper.

The tables were rotting with men and women draped in suits and finery, cigarette smoke choking their lungs. The outer walls of the ballroom were marked by Kim men in dark clothes and large guns strapped over their shoulders. The inner tables of The Lobby held high ranking Kim members; cards thrown between them with grins traded as easily as gambling chips. In the back of the ballroom, isolated from the crowd, sat The Kim Don himself. His son stood behind him, hands clasped behind his back in a crisp maroon suit. Jimin's eyes went directly to Taehyung's. He savored the second of warmth either man risked sharing before tearing his gaze away and heading straight for his Don.

The Kim leader was a massive man dressed in a black suit with a maroon silk shirt underneath as red as the bottle of Ruby Pinot Noir next to him. A cigar was burnt out on the table, the char dusting heavy iron rings decorating his thick fingers. Jimin glanced at the largest one, an angry twist of metal with The Kims crest in the center. It was crude work of a bluebell flower with hands clasping over it, symbolizing loyalty above all else.

Jimin bowed a full ninety degrees and stayed in that position with his eyes cast down to the floor. Hoseok mimicked the movement. Their Don took his time before he addressed them.

"I take it he's dead?" The Don asked and Jimin, still bowing, nodded.

"The Dragons are no longer a threat. Their leadership should crumble once they find the body."

The Don brushed a finger over the heavy crest ring. "Good." He said. "Well done, Jimin."

Jimin blinked. It was rare that anyone used his actual name in The Lobby. "Thank you, sir." He said, waiting for the catch Hoseok warned him about. The Don's chair scraped back on the floor, his steps echoing as he approached Hoseok and Jimin. Suddenly, a hand was cupping Jimin's cheek, pulling him up from his bow. Jimin steeled himself, keeping the shock from ripping down his spine as the cold Kim-Crest ring pressed into his skin.

The Don tsked, pushing Jimin's chin this way and that, assessing his face. "You know Taehyung, it's not too late to go with our original plan. He'd make us a lot of money if we go the other route." The Don said to his son and Jimin could see a flicker of apology in Taehyung's eyes. To everyone else in the room, Taehyung was a picture of disinterest and unwavering loyalty, but Jimin knew Taehyung too well not to see him tap his finger against his leg.

"He's more useful to us in Seoul." Taehyung said. Jimin frowned, resisting the urge to look over at Taehyung. Seoul? What do I have to do with a city halfway across the country?

Taehyung waited for his father to wave him on before continuing. "Since we have Busan secured, our partnership in Seoul will help us expand financially without having to do the work ourselves. The Jeons agreed to spread Drive in their streets for a cut of the profit. I think it's smarter to place Jimin in their gang and have him climb their ranks so if The Jeons ever turn on us we can take them out from within. No one knows who Jimin is, so we'd have the upper hand."

The Don sighed, giving Jimin a little fatherly slap on the cheek. "It's up to you, boy." The Don directed towards Jimin. "I would have preferred we work with The Parks, but those idiots would sooner overdose on Drive themselves before they sell it. So, Jeons it is. But I do have a counter proposal for you, Jimin, if you'd rather stay in Busan. We send you to Seoul until you're useful or you stay here with a small change in profession."

Jimin felt like someone punched him in the lungs, but he kept his face expressionless thanks to Hoseok. Leave Busan? After everything he'd done for the Kims, he couldn't imagine taking off to a different city. And, to do what exactly? Sit and wait till they decide the Jeons are a threat? Jimin ached to look at Taehyung, to have the hurt and betrayal he felt splash across his face. He bit the reaction back.

"What 'change?'" Jimin asked, surprised by the boldness in his own voice. The Don didn't seem to appreciate the tone either as a large hand turned slapped him across his cheek and his heavy loyalty-ring cut Jimin's skin. The chatter filling the room suddenly stilled as the sound echoed. Jimin kept his balance and saved himself the humiliation of tumbling to the floor as blood dripped from his lip into his mouth.

"Tone, boy." The Don said. "Don't forget your place."

Jimin bowed his head in respect, but his thoughts raged. The Jeons were one of many gangs in Seoul, not even the most threatening one. The Parks were idiots, The Jades conniving, but The Jeons were a complete tossup. If it wasn't for Hoseok's warning, Jimin might have thrown up trying to figure out what counter-proposal could possibly be bad enough to make Seoul the appealing choice.

"Taehyung will give you the rundown of your second option later tonight, I'm sure. He'd know best in that particular area." The Don chuckled with a cruel gleam in his eyes as he returned to his seat. He pulled out a new cigarette, waiting on a kid who was only just old enough to enter The Lobby to run over and light it. "You have till tomorrow morning to choose, Jimin. Seoul or Busan. We've got no use for an assassin anymore."

* * *

"Seoul, seriously?" Jimin said once the door fully closed to Taehyung's lavish room. It was the largest bedroom in the building with a half oval wall made of bullet-proof glass that faced the ocean. "You want me to infiltrate a lackluster gang to just what - sit tight and wait? For how long? Your family could care less about Seoul, so why send me away?"

Taehyung was sitting down in a velvet chair near his bed, swiveling a dark alcohol in a glass. A couple hours had passed since The Lobby Meeting; Jimin had waited until their usual time to find Taehyung in his room so it didn't look suspicious. After a moment, Taehyung flicked his eyes up at his assassin, lingering on the boy's hips before leveling his gaze with Jimin's own.

"Jimin, who's left for you to kill here?" Taehyung said, putting his drink down and leaning his elbows on his thighs. "My dad's set you against the head of every rival that tried to stand against us. For years. Who's left?"

"But why send me away, Taehyung?" Jimin said, using his name behind closed doors instead of his title. There were no eyes on them to make Jimin an example of; Hoseok nowhere to beat Jimin if ordered to for the disrespect.

Taehyung reached for Jimin, pulling him to his chair by Jimin's hand and setting his drink aside. He looked up at him from his seat before standing up with his palm cradling Jimin's cheek. Jimin let himself melt into the touch, closing his eyes at the familiar feeling.

"You're beautiful, Jimin. I know it, I've always known it, but now so does my father."

Jimin frowned, "You're sending me away because I'm hot?" He waited for Taehyung to break into a smile. It never came.

"Jimin-ah, my dad is in the business of maintaining the empire he built, not growing it."

"The empire I built."

Taehyung frowned. "I'm saying there's no one left to oppose him, no one left to even try. Want to know what my dad wants to do with you? Do you know how much money people would spend to fuck the assassin who wiped out every other faction in Busan? He wants to reveal who you really are, that's why he used your name in The Lobby and why he didn't hide your kill. He wants people to know you're our assassin so that he can actually whore you out for it."

"What? Taehyung, you can't be serious." Jimin blinked.

Taehyung brushed Jimin's cheek with his thumb. "There are people who like that thrill; like knowing you've killed people, people they've known, or they've hated. Jimin, my dad already made a list of names that have bid for a night with you. It'd make us millions. This mission in Seoul was a way to get you out of here, out of Busan before any of that could happen. My dad might not want to grow out of Busan just yet, but I know his ambition. Having one of our own in Seoul while The Jeons spread Drive there is a more strategic idea. I'm trying to protect you by sending you away."

Jimin couldn't breathe. His skin felt like it was drawn too tight around him. He took Taehyung's hand away from his cheek.

"You'd make it real?" Jimin said, his voice cutting  through his throat. All the taunts, all the touches, all the looks he'd stomached for six years for a secret Taehyung had asked him personally to keep to hide their assassin in plain sight. The Kims' Whore. It was a cover. A Lie. A way to get people to underestimate him. It was never supposed to become real.

"Not me." Taehyung said, reaching for Jimin but Jimin stepped out of the touch. "My dad."

It took a lot to rattle him, his entire position as an assassin relied on that skill. Staring at Taehyung now, Jimin truly felt shaken. The tall man with his sun-kissed skin and lopsided smile looked like a stranger and not someone he'd woken up countless mornings to. Jimin didn't feel saved: he felt cornered. "But you would have made me do it if your dad said no to your Seoul idea. You wouldn't have fought him further on it. I know you. That's why you think the solution is throwing me out of Busan. This is my home, Taehyung. The solution isn't running away."

"What choice would I have if he shot it down?" Taehyung hissed. "I might be his son but that's never stopped him from threatening me too. So don't sit there and pretend like there would be anything I could possibly do! I have no real power here, Jimin. Not while he's alive."

"Taehyung, everything that's left of my dad is here. You're making me leave that behind too." Jimin repeated, a disbelieving laugh caught in his throat.

"There's nothing left for you to do here, Jimin." Taehyung said, running his hand down his face. "What are you going to do, kill us next? You already have the reputation of a whore; it wasn't like my dad came up with the idea out of nowhere."

"Nice, Taehyung." Jimin said.

Taehyung frowned, sitting back down in his seat and taking a long sip of his alcohol before rubbing his eyes. "Look, sending you to Seoul gives me time to change his mind permanently on the whole sex idea. If you stay, I'll have to watch the role destroy you instead."

"Destroy me or destroy you?" Jimin asked. "You don't let me talk with anyone, Tae. Every time I've gotten remotely close to Hoseok, you pull me back and remind me of my place. Every guard I've ever talked to suddenly doesn't want anything to do with me after a couple of days. I do all my missions alone, get targets directly from you, information only from you. The only people I talk to longer than a couple minutes are the ones I kill because anyone else you make sure never try again. So is this really about you worrying over me? I'm not arguing to...you know...whore myself. I couldn't do it, but damn Taehyung don't pretend this whole Seoul idea is just because you care about me."

Taehyung sighed. "Jimin, I stomach you killing people on a daily basis. I could stomach you sleeping with them too."

"You stomach me killing people?" Jimin said. The room draped in velvet and finery that once felt like a safe haven was starting to cave in on him. "Tae, you're the son of a Mafia Boss. The people I've killed have been on your orders."

Taehyung frowned. "Look, it's your choice. Busan or Seoul."

It was the wrong thing to say.

"My choice?" Jimin yelled, taking a step back like Taehyung had burned him. "It's let complete strangers fuck me or leave the only home I've ever known on a 'precaution.' You can't seriously be calling this a choice."

"Jimin-"

"Do you know what that feels like, Tae? To have people whisper behind your back and sexualize you on a daily basis all because of a rumor you and your dad spread? But to make that lie true? To live it?" Jimin shook his head and the tears were starting to burn like fire on his skin. Air was as good as poison in this tiny room. "There's no choice here. Fuck you for acting like that is one! And fuck you for not letting me help find a different way out of this! Why didn't you warn me? Why didn't you talk to me? Why am I only finding out about this today?"

"Keep your voice down." Taehyung said, shooting up from the chair. "Are you out of your mind? What if someone hears you?"

"And what if someone does?" Jimin yelled back.

"They'll kill you for it! We're not kids anymore, Jimin! It doesn't matter the context, you can't fucking be yelling inside this place!"

"But the moans are fine, right?" Jimin spat back. "Those you never try to drown out."

"Jimin." Taehyung said, heartbreak in his voice. "I put my neck on the line convincing my dad to let you do this infiltration mission. I could have been killed for questioning him. The Jeons are a mid-level gang, it's not like I'm sending you to The Jades. Nothing is going to go wrong with the Drive Deal. You won't have to kill anyone. So just lay low and wait for me to fix things."

Jimin's skin crawled. "How long have you known?" Jimin asked, staring at Taehyung. Jimin's dad was the family's assassin before him. Jimin had grown up playing games with Taehyung, making up worlds in the corners of the mansion when his dad was gone on missions. When they'd grown into teenagers, innocent touches became nervous ones. Then Jimin's dad was shot during a gang war six years ago, throwing Jimin's entire early adulthood into overtaking his assassin role. That grief filled Jimin with a hallow emptiness that only Taehyung's kindness, his sweet touches, his gentle voice, clawed Jimin out of. Jimin had dedicated his life to fighting for Taehyung since then and never stopped to wonder if Taehyung would fight for him in return.

"Two months." Taehyung answered.

"Two months." Jimin mouth the words. "You knew for two months that your dad wanted to whore me out and didn't think to tell me once."

"Jimin, please." Taehyung called out, reaching for Jimin as he shook his head and started for the door. The movement caused the drink to shatter onto the ground. "I didn't know how to tell you what my dad was planning. It took weeks to convince him to spread Drive into Seoul and then even longer to tie you into the plan."

"Warning me, Taehyung, letting me help you find a better solution or any autonomy over this decision at all, that would have been protecting me. What you did - that's not protection, that's not love. It's not even a choice." Jimin shook his head. "I'll go to Seoul so you have your easy kill when you need it, but there could have been another way out if you had just talked to me." Jimin said. Taehyung frowned and the mole near his eye crinkled with the expression. When he didn't say anything back, Jimin sighed, reaching for the best weapon he had in front of him: the door.

The second it swung open, the world beyond Taehyung's room came crashing back. Two guards flanked the door and maids scattered down the hall while a couple laughed around the corner, heading to The Lobby for a drink. Jimin paused, giving Taehyung the opportunity to call after him where people would hear Taehyung admit that Jimin meant something to him outside of his maroon room.

A heavy silence met Jimin instead and so after a second he shut the door. A hallow sort of feeling started to carve through his chest as he looked down at the handle. His hand lingering on it like his fingers couldn't quite let go. Once the door to Taehyung's room shut, everything they ever shared would always close with it.

Jimin glanced at the guards who were snickering at him as he walked away. The yelling hadn't gone unnoticed. Jimin checked his watch, knowing that before the night ended Hoseok would seek him out and beat him for raising his voice on The Don's orders. It gave him about an hour to do something about the tears lining his eyes.

Jimin welcomed it. He hoped Hoseok would beat him hard, knowing Taehyung wouldn't lift a single finger to stop it. In a couple of hours, Jimin lost his city, the empire he had single handedly claimed for The Kims, and the one bond he'd relied on to stay human throughout it. No beating could hurt more than that.

_________
A/N:

How's everyone doing? Who do you feel like is in the right here?

We'll meet JK soon, I promise <3

Also hehe welcome to the beefy chapters.

- Violette