In Japanese romanization when you have a -su at the end of the word, the u is silent.

Taehyung focus

The rumbling warmth of the shuttle-van Namjoon had arranged for carrying them from Narita to Shinjuku had lulled Taehyung into a comfortable state of half-sleep. And while houses and cars passed on the outside, memories of old missions passed inside his mind. He had come far in the decade he had spent as a forger and conman. Back when he had come to Seoul with a backpack worth of necessities and no skill apart from his quick fingers and natural talent for acting, days had been hard. A half-timer's earnings were enough for a cold room at the outer ends of the city and a subway ticket to go to work every day, but not enough to support the lifestyle he had dreamed of in the lonely nights on Daegu's countryside. All he had known was that life held more for him than radishes and strawberries.

But had it not been for the mysterious Suga whose wallet he had tried to pickpocket in the subway because he had been blinded by the suit and shiny shoes of his boyfriend's lawyer appearance, he might have stalled as a simple thief. Only that lucky incident had opened the path into forgery and drag-and-drop-art. Yoongi had been his teacher whom he had quickly surpassed in whit and creativity, propelling them from shabby motels into passable hotel rooms during jobs and building that formidable front with the café that in the end turned out to be running even better than their illegal business.

From pocket thief to millionaire. He had made it.

"We're here," Jungkook's voice woke him from his happy slumber before the fitness trainer jumped out to help the driver with their luggage. Jungkook was a good student. But just like Taehyung was useless without Yoongi, the muscle man was only half as good without Jimin; they complemented each other to perfection, just like their mentors.

A little wobbly-legged Taehyung crawled out of the van and threw his head back to look at their accommodation for this week. The Hilton. Not a bad choice. "I like your taste," he praised Namjoon who looked like this was anything but his taste. The agent had probably concluded their wish in a hotel from their wish for a first-class flight. Well, even if it was like that, the agent had proven his people skills what pleased Taehyung even more.

"Can you smell this?" he asked the group when they crossed the lavish sidewalk area with Namjoon leading the pack.

"Smog?" Hoseok asked flatly, and Taehyung frowned. Sometimes his friends where boring.

"Adventure, my friend," he corrected and added with some more joy, "It smells like team spirit."

Hoseok took off his sunglasses and lifted one eyebrow. "You mean teen spirit."

Taehyung grinned.

"Oh, please, that's so 1991," Yoongi growled from behind them before he joined them in grinning like stupid idiots.

Namjoon threw them an annoyed look before he entered the lobby first and headed for the counter. "Ohayo gozaimasu," the agent greeted the man behind the desk in accent-free Japanese. Of course, their language genius could also speak Japanese. But so could Yoongi and he, so they would not have to depend on the ex-cop this time.

Japan was their territory just like South-Korea. When Jin had found solid ground on the island with his art, they had boarded the ship like rats on the search for food, pursuing the personal shopper to call them up for Japanese customers as well -not that that was a bad deal when they always got their job done.

"Just two cards?" Hoseok's confused voice demanded his attention. "Do you expect all of us to sleep in one room?"

Namjoon sighed. "I might be working for a national institution, but that doesn't mean that I can waste money on a five-star hotel that costs 450'000 Won (ca. 370 $) per night," the agent growled quietly, so that the receptionist would not hear him.

Hoseok huffed like he wanted to say something more on the matter, but Taehyung waved him off. "Let's take a look first. We can still come back and book another room, if necessary."

"The money is talking," he heard Namjoon mumble quietly and the times of Yoongi calling the gray-haired a money bag came back to his mind. How their little world had changed...

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The room was not bad, Taehyung thought when he first stepped into it. Two French beds and a large couch could fit five guys if they were not prone on demanding their space. He was used to sharing his bed with Yoongi anyway and the rest would have to find a solution by themselves.

"The couch is mine," Hoseok demanded with a reserved look and threw his coat onto the wide beige space to make a point.

"I can sleep on the floor," Jungkook offered with a side-glance at Namjoon who looked sorry now.

"No, need. I caused this inconvenience, I'll use the floor," the agent disagreed.

Taehyung looked at the two idiots with furrowed eyebrows. "The bed is wide enough for two. Why don't you share?" he asked.

The fitness trainer and the agent looked like he had said something very stupid before Namjoon enlightened him. "Maybe two of the size of Yoongi and you, but did you look at us?" He gestured at Jungkook's wide frame and his own not to be underrated shape with a questioning look in his eyes.

Well, there was truth in those words, Taehyung thought and was happy that he had a boyfriend to share his blanket with.

"I take the ground," Jungkook said again and dropped his giant backpack between the two beds. The matter was decided. So, Namjoon, after one last apologetic glance, placed his belongings on the second bed and they came together around the spacious quadratic coffee table.

"This feels like the good old times," Jungkook mumbled and smiled when he arranged his limbs to sit on the ground.

"Hongkong vibes," Yoongi sing sang and smiled at the younger.

"I feel left out," Hoseok contributed with a pout.

Taehyung ruffled the dancer's auburn hair and sat down next to him. "This time, you're in." Hoseok snorted good-naturedly and smiled as well.

"So," Namjoon began and everyone seemed to straighten up. "What's next?"

Taehyung glanced at Yoongi to check if his lover wanted to explain his next step or if he should go first. His boyfriend gestured him to speak.

"Okay, so, two things," Taehyung began and looked around at the rest. "We need to get into the surveillance system of the tower, and we need to check if one can slip into the building through a backdoor."

"Doesn't one imply the other?" Hoseok asked.

"Not this time," Taehyung disagreed. "We need to get Yoongi's toy in as fast as possible because it's not guaranteed that it'll do its job within a short period of time. Thus, to make sure we have access 'til the end of the week, Yoongi will go in through the front door as a postman," he explained. His plan was rather simple. His boyfriend would go through the ground level check point with a delivery for one of the employees of the tower and change into a caretaker masquerade to install his little helper.

"You're fluent in Japanese?" Namjoon asked the hacker astounded.

Even though the doubts were directed at his boyfriend, Taehyung felt a little mocked. "Yeah. How do you think we pulled off the other jobs here?" he retorted.

Namjoon raised his hands in apology. "Never mind." But towards Hoseok he asked, "But what about you?"

The dancer shrugged. "My old school and tourist Japanese are enough for my part of the job," he answered and leaned back with crossed arms.

Taehyung knew what was coming at him before Namjoon had even made a sound. "He's our waiter at the party," he explained to the agent who closed his mouth again and nodded in comprehension. It was clear to everyone that that meant Hoseok would steal the ID card. Also, who else could be more suitable for such a job than a former pocket thief?

"Okay, so I suppose Yoongi has some gimmick to get into the cctv?" Namjoon asked, bringing them back to the number one topic.

Taehyung shared a glance with his hacker-boyfriend, who smiled wickedly. "Of course," he answered the agent and grinned as well. "Just leave it to us."

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They had split up for the afternoon and evening. Jungkook and Hoseok had vanished to the gym at the top floor of the Hilton, Namjoon had gone to visit a temple he always had wanted to check out before meeting with the KFC guy who was currently keeping an eye on their target, and Taehyung, after buying a delivery man and a caretaker outfit in a uniform shop, had dragged Yoongi to Tokyo Tower and to Sojoji temple to buy an O-Mamori because he thought it was befitting for a tourist like him. And now they were enjoying Sushi for dinner in a small shop they had found in the area around the temple.

"We're saving our country," Yoongi mumbled quietly and bottom-upped a shot of his warm Sake, "Never thought that I'd be the one to do it." The air around them instantly changed to a serious vibe.

Taehyung had tried to repress the knowledge of their mission possibly growing over their heads. It had worked comparably well until now, so he did not see a reason to let concern catch up with them. They had outgrown the shoes of recklessness, most of their methods and techniques had been tested at least once, their skills were refined, so there was no need to doubt their abilities just because it had been Mr. Moon who (indirectly) had sent them here.

"You know that we're capable," he said just as quietly. Yoongi nodded softly and stuffed another soy-sauce-bathed shrimp-nigiri into his mouth, followed by a slice of ginger. His boyfriend held the ginger monopole (because Taehyung was not a friend of spicy things) but generously left him the sashimi. "What's more is we have Hobi and Kook," he tried to argue. "Those two are a perfect addition to us."

"For stealing IDs and... what? Looking intimidating in the background?" Yoongi rumbled and chuckled. It was true. Jungkook had even less to do than Hoseok, but Taehyung had brought the younger to learn and not to take on a part in their job. And who knew? Maybe the fitness trainer would turn out to be very helpful in the end. It was never wrong to bring an extra pair of hands.

"You know that we need Hobi and you know why Kook's here, so don't you dare criticize my choice of a crew," he huffed and sipped on his coke.

"I'm not criticizing," his boyfriend tried to appease him and leaned back in his seat, "I'm just starting to become concerned for our future." Yoongi sipped at his Sake, and before Taehyung could ask for what he meant, his lover said, "They'll become the new us. Jimin and Jungkook, I mean." Another nigiri vanished. "Our hardest competitors if you keep teaching Kook." A questioning eyebrow rose in Yoongi's face, accompanied by an and-what-can-you-say-to-your-defense look from the black cat-eyes.

Taehyung had never thought about that. He had been so happy finally to teach someone everything he knew, that the idea of grooming a competitor had never crossed his mind. But then again... "They won't," he replied after a brief silence, brushing his boyfriend's words off as nothing.

"What makes you so sure?" Yoongi wanted to know.

Taehyung smiled wickedly. "Jimin still has a sweet spot for my dick," he explained.

"A soft spot, you mean?"

"Yeah, that too."

Yoongi shook his head with a snort. "Jimin is the master of lies. He's so good at playing others that he even manages to play himself at times," his boyfriend said and took a sushi slice with too much soy sauce to feed him.

Their Cinderella might be the master of the false game, but, "Isn't that a weakness?" Taehyung mumbled over the mouthful of food.

Yoongi shook his head. "No, it's his greatest strength." A pensive look met Taehyung's glance. "It empowers him to believe and be whomever he wants to be."

Taehyung grinned mischievously. "Then we should prepare to compete."

"I'll drink to that!" Yoongi raised his Sake shot. "To being the best!"

"To staying the best," Taehyung cheered and clinked his bowl before he placed it for his lover to drink as well. He didn't like Sake.

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Some more impressions of the Hilton: