***UNEDITED***

"Are you perhaps brooding feelings for me? Because I'm sure as hell I've never led you on, so why so clingy?" Jimin questioned mockingly as he stood in front of his apartment, trying to unlock the door, annoyance slowly dominating his demeanor.

"Chill, Park, with this level of irritation, I may think you have some hormone troubles," offered Yoongi with his signature comportment, collected and laid back despite the uninviting atmosphere. "Let's have a man-to-man talk, sweets," the wink he shot was everything but welcomed by the irritated Jimin.

"Talk, really? And What about?" Jimin turned suddenly to give the man who was standing behind him, leaned to the car's door, a look full of distaste, "is there a mission for me again, because, you see, these days I have a feeling I'm one of your henchmen," Jimin led toward Yoongi with confident stride while shoving his keys inside his slack's pocket, "but the thing here is that I don't recall signing a contract, did I?"

"You haven't, but," Yoongi started while fidgeting with the cigarette he was holding between his fingers, and after lighting it, he resumed, "you wanna play the gangsta game, putting men behind my ass wherever I go," Yoongi let the smoke out while taking a look around his propinquities before enclosing the distance between him and the frowning man standing across, "it suits you I must admit, the big bad boy game I mean, I find it cute and makes me want to scout you."

"Spare me the humor," ordered Jimin with closed eyes while placing his hand in front of Yoongi's face in a halting motion, "make it quick I've got business to tend to and, frankly speaking, no time to lose on your bullshit."

"Neither do I, so what about you take my offer?" retorted Yoongi while crushing his cigarette on the ground and sliding his hands in his pockets, "let's talk somewhere warm if possible; I can't stand this shitty weather any longer."

Chess is all about strategy; smart moves protect the castle, while a hasty action brings it down. Pawns are often seen as weak pieces, but in reality, they are the owners of the key that opens the door to victory. While many only cared about protecting the king, sacrificing the small tower guards in the process, Yoongi valued his tiny warriors, saved them for the greater outcome, and used them to bring victory to his feet without much effort.

Jimin was his pawn, and all he needed to do was to place him in a strategic point so he could knock his rival and gain over the fortress.

"I'd rather waste my drinks than serve you," Jimin informed, dropping down on the couch while urging Yoongi with his gaze to pour the bead in his mouth out before the thin thread of patience was snapped. "I'm following you, so what? Listen, Yoongi, you may be out there playing chicken, but for me to save you time and energy, you don't scare me at all; I've unanswered questions and considerable cynicism, so I've been seeking my own answers," Jimin continued as he propped his body forward while his elbows rested on his thighs, a challenging grin gracing his plum lips, "are you satisfied with my answers now?"

A chortle replaced the eerie silence that followed Jimin's confession; Yoongi straightened his position, which had been affected by the raucous laughter, and recovered from any trace of happiness as his face contorted into snarling features, "Jimin, it's hilarious that you still think you have a choice, bro, I think you're missing something here, the moment you lied to him about his son, our paths aligned, so honestly, there's no need to sign a contract because helping me is in your best interest, and as for the persecution, I really advise you not to; man, you will be draining your wallet, I'm concerned about you." Yoongi finished with a sly grin.

"In this case, tell me the truth," Jimin locked his gaze with a grinning Yoongi; in contrast, his eyes were everything but amused, "why you're inducing venom? Listen, Yoongi; it's the last time I ask you to be honest with me; if you don't give me answers right now, honest ones, I will find myself forced to tell him about everything, and don't you dare threaten me, because really, I don't give a shit about further screwing up an already dead friendship."

"Tsk, mind yourself," Yoongi shook his head disappointed before standing up and leading toward Jimin, "it Ain't dead until I decide it is, and believe me, I won't think twice before killing it if you don't stop sniffing around me," he patted Jimin's shoulder arraying a phony sympathy as he pursued, "just do as you're told, you're much cuter when you do."

One's own gain is of high value; the more one cherishes it, the more notorious it becomes. The selfish side of a person feeds on the profit that the situation brings, and not infrequently, the gain lies beneath the suffering and dismay of another person, turning a human being into a hyena that encircles its prey and watches its end with a slavering mouth.

Yoongi's plan was not particularly complicated: He needed Taehyung's fuel tank to flood Jungkook's land and throw his lighter before watching the chaos from afar. Alas, the success of his plan forced him to pick up a dagger and inflict a fatal wound on Taehyung.

When Yoongi raided Jungkook's valuable information stash, aka his server house, he found more than traces of a shady deal between Jungkook and the mayor and definitely more tea about you than the one he had fermented and served to Taehyung on a Royal Albert china. His discovery allowed him to assess the deep connection between your childhood friend and you, more so the lengths Jungkook went to destroy your husband and ultimately save you.

Everything suddenly made more sense when he stumbled across a file containing several voice recordings and other multimedia files; one click was all he needed to connect the dots. There are worlds between premeditated murder and self-defense, and yet you managed to jump the gap and take your case in a completely different direction after several years of imprisonment and a final verdict, and you did it with a couple of videos from a surveillance camera that, strangely enough, no one argued about, even though they were so devious.

The more he scrolled and opened new videos, the more he thanked Jungkook for submitting only the one that helped you regain your freedom; Seokjin was indeed brutal, and that would earn you sympathy from Taehyung if he had seen how you were treated. So his goal was to turn Jungkook's tactics against him.

It took him a few weeks to realize that nothing could be held against you or Jungkook in those videos; no adultering when Seokjin wasn't around, no phone calls; at a point, he wished those cameras could read and record your thoughts so he can check them out as well when hope sunk to zero, the fact that Seokjin was attacking you without even telling or discussing the reasons of his rage with you was no help, so he decided to keep the files safe and far from Taehyung's reach, not willing to risk stirring Taehyung's rage toward futile directions.

If he couldn't find what could empower the desire for revenge, he wouldn't risk eliminating either; hence, he hid everything found that night besides what he deemed vital for his revenge.

Back when Jungkook had just betrayed Yoongi, the highest price he dreamt about getting him to pay was wiping him off this planet, but, with time, it started looking less appealing; it looked way too merciful to let him off this easily, and that's when the idea of stripping the man of everything started popping up on a high frequency in his brain and joining hands with Taehyung became the means he lacked to reach his aim.

To do so, he needed Taehyung to be enraged by everything in his surroundings, be it you, Jungkook, or even other persons who were not part of the plan initially, for instance, Jimin.

Yoongi had found no wood to keep the fire blazing; therefore, he decided to fetch some, even if the branches he found were wet and a bit of a hassle to light; nevertheless, he was content when he figured out your little secret and decided to use it carefully to get as much profit from it as possible.

Nothing could beat the rage that results from betrayal, especially when it involves friends and lovers, so the intelligent Yoongi decided to play the set of three queens and one ace, the winning one. Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, L/N Y/N.

It was better to reach the company early in the morning to avoid familiar faces that you wished were unfamiliar, thankfully you overcame laziness, and eight o'clock found you in the corridor leading to your office, which sadly was located on the fifteenth floor, near to the chairman and his newly appointed CEO office, luckily for you, your neighbors didn't arrive yet.

You were enjoying the coffee you bought downstairs in the cafeteria, waiting to savor it in the quiet of your office, hoping the caffeine would work some magic and make up for the missed hours of sleep, but your dreams crashed on the ground the same way your cup of coffee did the moment you opened the door and found a tired Jimin sitting on the sofa.

"You startled me, Jimin," you whisper-yelled at the man, who was amused by your clumsiness, a blissful grin adorning his plum lips as he watched you grimacing while crouching to wipe the coffee you wished had drunk on the way instead of watering the marble with it, "what brings you here this early?"

"Good morning to you too, Y/N; how are you today, my dear?" offered Jimin with a scoff gaining a sigh from you, "you can't just barge in this way, Jimin; what if someone sees you here?"

"Instead of standing there with the door open, close it, and no one will see me," Jimin stated matter of factly as your annoyance grew at his mocking tone, "and if they do, you can always use 'he is my doctor' card, it works wonders."

Albeit a bit vexed, you complied and went behind your desk to rest your body on the plush chair, hands clasped and eyes fixed on Jimin's seated form, "we've greeted each other; what else?"

"Are you off your medicines?" Questioned Jimin, and you frowned while thinking about the relevance, "it's either this or we need to strengthen the dosage, maybe; you're way too irritated," Jimin shifted in his place while you rolled your eyes, utterly unpleased by his statement, "I wouldn't have come if it wasn't important, Y/N, you know me enough to tell."

You took a few seconds before acknowledging that your comportment was indeed bitchy for free, "I know, I just wasn't expecting your visit; do you wanna drink something?" You offered with a way softer look in your eyes and a friendly grin on your lips.

However, you were soon disappointed when Jimin couldn't reciprocate your friendly behavior; instead, his face hardened while sifting through his surroundings as if avoiding your eyes before addressing you with his words, "what we were scared of happened, Y/N; I thought it's better if you know, being oblivious around Taehyung isn't of help."

Your body moved tensely as your hands left the support of your oak desk; your mouth opened slightly as the weight of his words crashed over you and bored deep into your brain, causing a quickening of your heartbeat and unsteady breathing, but you refused to give in; instead, you chose to feign ignorance, "What do you mean? It can't be what I think; please, tell me it's not."

"Calm down, Y/N," Jimin stood up hastily and led toward you; the color that left your cheeks worried him, and the sweat beads were adding to his concern loads; he grabbed your wrist and inspected your heartbeats discreetly without alerting you, his other hand patted your shoulder gently as he reassured, "I took care of it, we can say that its fine for the moment, but I can't lie and say he isn't aware."

With his words, the walls began to spin around you; with trembling limbs, you stood and looked at him; your glittering eyes forced a sigh from his mouth that assaulted his senses with an urgent need to comfort and reassure you to the best of his ability and perhaps make up for what he had done without your consent, "they had pictures of us from the hospital, my only recourse was to take the fall, I'm sorry Y/N."

You pushed him away in a sudden movement, but he didn't seem disheartened by it; his hands fell to his sides as he closed his eyes and exhaled the lump in his throat, looking into your worried eyes was heaving and quenching his shoulders, he couldn't bear it, "what do you mean? What you've done?"

"What I have done ever since I came to know about you," Jimin ran his fingers through his luscious locks and glanced at the glass wall, "I lied."

"What about exactly?" Albeit the reassurance he's been offering, you felt neither relieved nor insured; on the contrary, there was a strong feeling a wave was coming your way, and you couldn't shake it off, "I told him the child was mine."

You blinked nervously without uttering a word, and seconds later, you started feeling unstable; the headache was unbearable, your eyes were losing focus due to vertigo, and when you were about to lash at him, your feet grew weak. You stumbled; if not for the support of his embrace, you would have kissed the ground, "are you even aware of what you did, Jimin? You killed both love and friendship; he won't look at us ever again."

"Don't you think it is worth the sacrifice?" Questioned Jimin, with his hands still wrapped around your torso, but this time before you could rejoin, the door swung open, and you both turned your heads to glimpse at the intruder.

Taehyung had made a habit of disturbing your rest on a daily basis, whether for professional reasons or simply to relieve stress; he found joy in your distress and never regretted the little act of vengeance; however, when he saw you wrapped between Jimin's strong arms with your faces only a few inches apart, he felt beyond remorseful, his day could have started hundred times better had he led to his office directly without the dreadful stop he made along the way in your office.

Jimin was again pushed away, but the act wasn't welcome this time. Still, you couldn't care about the world being in flames when the man you loved was looking at you with distaste, his hand firmly gripping the doorknob while biting his lower lip to hide the chaos growing inside his brain.

"When you're done here, bring me the file I requested about Jeguk group; also, prepare a good approach; we're meeting with their deputies later," Taehyung ordered while you were walking toward him, but he didn't give you the honor to get closer as he left, slamming the door behind him.

Tahyung walked hurriedly down the corridor; he ignored the employees who greeted him and instead concentrated on massaging his temples vigorously; the audacity of your acts was boundless, testing his patience that was almost gone if not for his pride that was fighting ferociously to keep his image unscratched.

"Don't let anyone in, and don't transfer calls," Taehyung ordered while on the walk without looking at his secretary.

His words were the last thing the employee heard before the smashing and shattering sound engulfed her ears; Taehyung turned his office into a rage room, breaking and throwing everything in sight, and finally smashed his vest over the mess he had made and sat down gasping from the physical and emotional exhaustion.

Shameless son of a bitch.

Completely swallowed by anger and abhor, Taehyung didn't register that door creaked open, nor did he notice you watching his bleeding hand from the door frame; in fact, when it comes to awareness, you weren't doing much better either, letting the employees witness your weak state while you let your tears free wasn't a smart move, but screw it, you're universe just crashed in front of you. You couldn't care much about whatever gossip would surface.

You locked the door after entering his office; you advanced while glimpsing the mess that became, in less than half an hour, a new decor; you maintained a slow pace as if requesting permission, the word permission being key here because even if he had any intention of dismissing you, you wouldn't budge, so at the end, being ignored became a cue to venture further, to crouch and inspect his wounded hand when hesitation disappeared completely.

Taehyung's gaze was burning a hole in your head. Nevertheless, you kept your nerves in the fridge, and even if the cut was deep and the oozing blood was somehow unsettling, you forbade your emotions from being displayed. "I think it needs a few stitches."

"Does it?" He questioned, still looking at you as if studying your traits, trying to find traces of shame or embarrassment, inquisitive about the extent of audacity that made you jump from a flower to another like a butterfly, "so does my heart," you locked gaze with him for the first time since you entered his office, an intense look filled and at the same time void of emotions, "the ache is the same that's why." He pointed to his hand.

"Tae," you began, eyes full of hesitation and without conviction which drew a smile over his lips at the attempt, "there are more things hidden than those shown, don't believe all that you see blindly."

"What about what I hear, huh?" He asked as he exchanged the dismissive sitting position he was in for one that demonstrated his sudden interest, body leaning forward as his hand reached to your neck, palm resting on its side while his fingers laid on your nape, slowly pulling closer your body while his eyes searched for answers in your demeanor, reactions, and orbs, "should I ignore the truth? Must I make a fool out of myself to have you, please you?"

He has you cornered in a closed alley, no escape in sight, not even to try to look for words to explain or defend yourself in the vast city. Taehyung moved closer, or rather, he pulled you closer to him. His slender fingers found their way to your scalp, gently digging into the lush curls, while you just closed your eyes and surrendered to the heavenly temptation that had been personally worked on and delivered by the hell-keepers, while his lips kept testing the degree of your endurance.

"You know what's funny about all this?" He started, the teasing continued, slowly becoming unbearable and borderline painful to endure with more prods at your neck, an assault from both his hot breath and the ghost of his lips, "the truth shines brightly, but I prefer to stay under the shadows cast by your branches of lies."

You swallowed the lump in your throat with difficulty as he hovered over you, his bleeding hand curled your waist while the other left your nape to suffer its absence and rested on the pavement for support; the intoxication intensified as your lips finally got captured by his, hungrily, passionately, more so, slowly savoring the moment.

He didn't wait much longer to gain his desired reaction; after all, there wasn't a moment in which you wished for anything more than touching him, feeling him the way you were doing as he deepened the kiss; in fact, you took it as a cue to switch roles and hover over him pushing him back till you found his posture comfortable enough to part your legs and straddle him.

Taehyung welcomed you on his lap warmly by helping position you where he deemed necessary, or to be more precise, where his throbbing manhood dictated to get the required friction; his chest rocked up and down heavily as the libido grew indescribable, a growth that you severed when you broke the alleviating silence, "amid chaos, lies are pain relievers, Tae; they're solace."

"I prefer sufferance," Taehyung stated, albeit hating you a bit more than before, his body remained under the control of his heart. Despite the disgust, he pulled you in for another kiss that ended with a remarkable bite on your lower lip, "do you love him, I mean Jimin?"

You scoffed, and it irritated him how you took the topic lightly. Your answer came in the form of taking off your shirt while amused by the darkness that lodged in his inky orbs; you placed a palm over his chest, pushing him slowly until he lay on the floor, and proceeded to unbutton his black shirt at a relatively slow pace, "do I seem like I'm in love with him or anyone else besides you, Taehyung?"

Taehyung's grin was triumphant in destroying all the confidence you had managed to seek and muster; in the blink of an eye, he had turned you around and regained control of the situation, which you couldn't deny made you feel a certain way, maybe it was the masculinity hiding behind his dominant demeanor, or just the way he nipped your neck and licked behind your ear and earlobe, which was your most sensitive spot, "you're a liar, Y/N, but I don't care if you don't care about your reputation, who am I to judge," he trailed wet kisses over your chest, making you fight the anger and an intense tingling in your abdomen as he continued, "sometimes I like cheap meat too."

While you struggled not to be rattled by his harsh words, Jungkook was losing his shit while pacing rapidly down the corridor, eyes bloodshot as his fingers kept fidgeting with the solitaire ring in his hold; if physically possible, it would have broken.

"Still inside?" Jungkook questioned.

"Yes." The worried secretary answered in a low tone, "you can't go in, sir; the door is locked."

The assistant rushed out from behind her seat, trying to prevent unforgivable consequences from the unreasonable thoughts of a man in love whom the deity of affection had long forgotten, but it was in vain: "Have you cleared the floor as I asked?"

"I did, sir."

Jungkook was about to destroy, to reveal the lies, to remove the masks, when he grabbed the first thing that caught his eye, namely a fire extinguisher, and began to hammer on the doorknob of Taehyung's office until he opened it with one last mighty push with his shoulder.

"I'm collecting tabs today, Kim Taehyung."

A/N

Happy new year, sweet angels. May all your dreams come true. ✨

Yes, I know I've been late, but don't blame me too much; I was extremely busy the past few days.

So, are we enjoying this so far? If so, please do share your thoughts and vote.

Love you 💜