Yoongi drove towards Mi Sung’s house in the afternoon, with Namjoon tailing him. He had two of their men with him, who were armed, to be safe everything would go according to the plan.

Yoongi turned right into the single road that led to the wanted house and parked his car in the loft, as Namjoon parked close to the said road. They knew from Taehyung that his father usually drove his Mercedes, but they had a photo of all of his cars, just in case.

Both in position, they spent an hour doing nothing but waiting. They communicated through a call, and Yoongi often texted back to Jungkook, who was asking every two minutes if they had news.

“Jeon Jungkook is so annoying,” Yoongi muttered as he jabbed his finger into the screen, sending him another text that said they had nothing yet.

Namjoon snorted, eyes scanning the passing cars. “He’s just nervous. And it’s almost eight now, so he can appear at any moment,” he pointed out.

“Keep your eyes open.”

“Always.”

Namjoon maintained his vigilance steady, his stance poised, one hand holding the wheel. His gaze flitted along with the endless cars that drove past him, on the verge of dizzying him.

Soon, his brows squeezed together as he caught a car slowing down with its right blinker flickering. “He’s here. Be ready.” He cranked the engine and sped away, then veered into the road just seconds after him.

Yoongi, with the engine on, kept his eyes locked on the road until Mi Sung’s car popped up. A roaring noise sounded from his car as he backed up instantly to block Mi Sung’s way.

Tires screeched against the asphalt as both Mi Sung and Namjoon hit the brakes. Mi Sung, specifically, produced a gasp when his seatbelt dug into his torso as he didn’t expect the sudden halt.

His frantic eyes darted all around and his breath quickened at the sight of two masked men rushing towards him. He sank back into his seat, unconsciously wishing he could magic away from there somehow. He flinched as the door was yanked open, and he threw his hands in the air the moment he realized a gun was pointed at him.

“Get out.”

Mi Sung remained frozen stiff, panting. Although he was associated with the underworld, he had never used his gun and never had someone pointing a gun at him, either. “What—What is going on?”

“Get. Out.”

With his chin tucked into his chest, Mi Sung coerced his body into moving from its overwhelming fright. He got out of the car at a glacial pace and stood still, shivering. He felt a ruthless grip on his wrist that forced his hand down, and he was found squashed against his car a second later. “What are you doing? Why—”

“Shut up,” the other guy growled as he tied his hands with a zip tie. He slipped a black, cottony sack over his head and hauled him towards Yoongi’s car.

“No! Let me go! Let me—” The feel of the gun’s barrel pressing against the side of his head strangled his distressed cries.

“If you make another sound, you’re dead.”

The other man dragged him forward and shoved him into the backseat. He got inside as well, as the other sat in the passenger seat.

Namjoon drove Mi Sung’s car further into the loft to hide it and returned to his seat with a scurry. “Good?”

“Yeah. Ma Shin-ah, hold him down.”

Ma Shin snatched his nape and pushed him into the seat, as Namjoon and Yoongi maneuvered their cars into the main road.

Muffled grunts spewed from Mi Sung at the rough treatment, though his attention was solely focused on the familiarity of their voices. “Yoongi? You’re Yoongi, right? Why—Did Jungkook order you to do this? Why? What does he want from—”

“Shut up, man,” Yoongi spat out, vexation painting hard creases over his face. “Jungkook wants to talk to you.”

“You could have just asked me to come with you, then. This is kidnapping!”

“As if you would accept that,” he scoffed. “For now, shut up. Joon, I’ll hang up to call Jungkook.”

“Okay.”

Yoongi tapped on Jungkook’s name when the other ended the call, and it took only a second for him to answer.

“Is it done?”

“Yes, I have him with me.”

“This is kidnapping, Jeon Jungkook!” Mi Sung screamed from the top of his lungs.

“Yah!” Yoongi roared. “Can we fucking beat him?”

Jungkook’s mouth tightened with the remembrance of Taehyung. “No. At least not on his face.”

“If you scream again,” Ma Shin said, clutching his neck harder for a beat, “I’ll drill my elbow into your fucking stomach.”

“That’s the spirit,” Yoongi smirked. “Anyway, we’re coming.”

“Hurry.”

  
The one-hour ride was deadly silent. Mi Sung’s anxiety had toned down by a lot since he found out the reason for his kidnapping and its instigator. But what Jungkook wanted to talk to him about was still a mystery and haunted him until the very moment the car skidded to a stop.

Ma Shin towed him out of the car and passed him to Jungkook, who was already waiting for them outside. Jungkook gripped his biceps and guided him into the house, then towards the office to his left.

He thrust him down onto the chair he had placed in the center and ripped the sack off his head. He viewed him as Mi Sung blinked and inspected the office, and a gleam of a smirk curled up the corner of Jungkook’s lips when their eyes merged.

“What do you want, Jeon Jungkook?”

The said man retreated a notch until the back of his legs collided with the desk, and he leaned against it, folding his arms over his chest. “I have so many questions for you. But you know what? I get so mad when people lie to me,” he said with a meretricious pout, pure taunt oozing out of the edges. “So please be honest with me. Because I might lose it if you lie to me.”

There was a chilling dip in his inflection at his last statement that struck a path of shivers down Mi Sung’s spine. He shouldn’t be intimidated by a guy who was twenty-five years younger than him. It was absurd. But fuck, he couldn’t help it. “Okay.”

“Great. I’m sure you know my story, hmm? Someone killed a young girl and framed me for it.”

“Yes. Kang Soo told me.”

“I think you knew even before Kang Soo told you about it.”

A lump of nervousness formed at the back of Mi Sung’s throat as his gaze dove to the floor. “How would I know?”

A muscle in Jungkook’s jaw twitched with the smirk that grazed his mouth again. “Because you took that girl to the place she was murdered.”

Mi Sung’s now bulging eyes sprinted to him as his body grew impossibly tense. “What are you talking about? How—Why would I—”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I told you I get mad when people lie to me, Kim Mi Sung. Don’t act all surprised. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t,” he flung back, voice coated in consternation.

Still preserving his facade of brashness, Jungkook pushed himself off the desk and shuffled closer with plodding steps. “Do you honestly believe I’m saying this with no proof?”

“There’s no proof because—” A brutal grasp on his chin wrenched his head up and silenced his words.

Jungkook stared down at him as traces of wrath started cracking his derisive nonchalance, fingertips gouging into the ends of his jaw. “I restored the footage you deleted. I have the video of you leading that girl to your car on my phone, Kim Mi Sung. So you better start talking because I’m losing my patience.”

“I—I don’t know anything,” he groaned, his forehead wrung in pain.

Jungkook released him with a cruel shove, nearly throwing him onto the floor. “If you don’t talk, I’ll send that video everywhere. You wouldn’t want that, right? You have a reputation to preserve.”

“There’s no video. You’re bluffing.”

Jungkook huffed a laugh. He sneaked his phone that didn’t contain a sim card out of his pocket and tapped the play button. He turned the screen to him and reveled in the instant agitation that roiled in Mi Sung’s eyes. “Unlike you, I don’t lie,” he mocked. “So talk. Before I spread this in the whole South Korea.” He pocketed his phone. “Where did you take her, and why?”

Mi Sung gulped as defeat dropped over his shoulders like a veil. “Someone asked me to take that girl to an abandoned building and leave her there. I don’t know anything else.”

Jungkook felt his big button type phone vibrate in his pocket and slid it out. His vision narrowed as he detected Taehyung texted him.

Taehyung: My mother just called me. The police are at her house with an arrest warrant for my father. I’m going there now.

Jungkook stuffed his phone back into its place. “Who asked you?”

“I don’t know. It was an anonymous call. He said he’ll pay me one billion for this.”

“So you weren’t with Kang Soo that night. You were too busy taking a little girl to an abandoned building to get her killed.”

“I didn’t know he would kill her!” Mi Sung exclaimed, genuine affront pouring from his rowdy eyes. “I didn’t know anything. I swear. I just wanted the money. And I met Kang Soo right after at our usual bar. I can’t prove it because the cameras at the bar are fake.”

Jungkook pondered over his little story with a harsh frown. “What time did you meet?”

“Um,” Mi Sung murmured as he thought back to that night. “I think... No, I’m sure it was around nine. I left an hour early from the hospital to take the girl to the location. I remember it was far from the hospital. And it took me about an hour to arrive at the bar.”

“Was anyone at the building when you took the girl there?”

“No, it was empty.”

“Was she conscious?”

“No. I had drugged her bottle of water with a strong sedative. She was out with a single sip.”

Jungkook perused his structured expression with vestiges of anxiety adorning it. “Do you really not know anything else?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I don’t believe you. And neither will the cops.”

“Don’t—Don’t show this to them,” Mi Sung begged as a new turmoil rampaged in his gut. “I really don’t know anything. I can pay you.”

A resonant scoff dripped from Jungkook’s mouth. “Money is the last thing I need right now. I need the truth.”

Mi Sung whiffed in despair. “I told you the truth. Let me go.”

“The police already have an arrest warrant for you. They probably found the footage themselves.”

Mi Sung’s head collapsed as a ravaging feeling of doom pierced through his chest. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted in a murmur. “I need to deal with this. Take me back.”

“Tell me how you got into dealing drugs first.”

“It started... four years ago. Kang Soo had come to the hospital I’m working at about ten years ago. He was stabbed in the chest. There was a complication during surgery, and they called me to help. Anyway, we became friends. A lot of my patients got hooked on the medication I gave them, and they came back asking for more. At first, I told them it was absurd to ask a doctor for drugs and sent them away. Then four years ago, someone told me he would pay me if I gave him morphine. And I did. It started by selling them morphine. And soon I started selling them Kang Soo’s drugs.”

Jungkook frowned subtly as he finished talking. Why isn’t he mentioning my father? Fuck, I can’t ask him about it. They have a meeting tomorrow. They shouldn’t cancel it. If he doesn’t end up in jail, of course. He reached for the sack from the floor and stood in front of him. “Yoongi will drive you back.”

“Is this thing necessary?” Mi Sung groaned as Jungkook slipped the sack over his head.

“Of course. You already ratted me to the cops once. And I’m having a very hard time forgetting about this.” He yanked him to his feet and dragged him out of the room. “Why did you do it, by the way?”

“I needed to keep you away from my son.”

“Why?”

“Because I know you and your father. I’ve heard how ruthless you both are from Kang Soo.”

Jungkook shoved him into Ma Shin’s hold, who was waiting for him in the living room with his three hyungs and Woo Jin. “As far as I remember, you were the one who hit his son. I would never hurt Taehyung.”

As Mi Sung maintained his silence, Ma Shin ushered him outside after he received a nod from Jungkook, with Woo Jin trailing behind them.

“Taehyung said the police are at his parents’ house with an arrest warrant for his father.”

“They probably found out about the CCTV, right?” Namjoon guessed.

“Yeah. Yoon, bring Taehyung here once you drop Mi Sung off.”

“Okay. I’ll be back.”

🥀

Hee Jin burst out of her seat at the ding that signaled the opening of the gates. Taehyung, who was sitting beside her, arose too, along with the two detectives who were waiting for him.

Hee Jin opened the door and hastened to embrace him, her firm hold conveying her restlessness. “What is going on, Mi Sung-ah?”

Mi Sung patted her back. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” He drew back and bowed to the detectives. “I’m sorry for taking so long.”

“We went to the hospital, and they said you had left,” Jae Sin said. “Where were you?”

“The father of a friend was in a bad condition and he asked me to check on him, so I went to his house.”

Jae Sin nodded and presented to him the paper he was holding. “Kim Mi Sung, you’re under arrest for obstruction of justice.”

“What did you do, Mi Sung-ah?” Hee Jin asked, barely able to confine her tears.

“It’s just a misunderstanding. Don’t worry. Just call my lawyer.”

Won Woo declared him his rights as he fastened the handcuffs and guided him to their car. Jae Sin regarded the worry in Hee Jin’s expression, but his brows flinched mildly as he glimpsed at Taehyung. He was agitated too, he observed, but not even close enough to the level his mother was. As if... he knew why this was happening. And the two detectives hadn’t mentioned the reason for his arrest.

Before he could question him, Hee Jin held on to his forearm with pleading eyes. “Can I come too? I want to be with him.”

“You won’t be able to see him until we finish with the questioning.”

“It’s okay. I’ll wait outside.”

“Okay then.”

Hee Jin turned to her son. She enfolded him in her arms, clasping him. “Will you come too?”

“No, I... He’ll have you there. And we can’t see him, anyway. But call me when you have news.”

“Okay, baby.”

Taehyung offered her a smile that embodied an awkward contour. The said smile hardened when his eyes met with Jae Sin’s probing ones, and he glanced away from him. “Let’s go, hmm?”

After Hee Jin grabbed her bag, they exited the house. She took her car to go to the police station and also called their lawyer, as Taehyung drove to his house.

Yoongi had texted him, telling him he would wait for him at his house, and Taehyung had been an ever bigger anxious mess since then. They had kidnapped his father, but since he didn’t espy any bruises on him or signs of pain, it could only mean Jungkook had kept his word, thankfully.

 
Upon arriving, Taehyung rushed out of his car and immediately slid into Yoongi’s. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. Jungkook will tell us when we get there,” Yoongi said as he sped away. “Why did they arrest your father?”

“For obstruction of justice. It has to do with the CCTV, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what we thought too. Seokjin hyung has an acquaintance who’s an officer, so we’ll find out what happened first.”

Taehyung nodded as he slunk into his seat a notch more. The rest of the ride was mostly silent as the thought of meeting Jungkook again prevailed over anything else. The whole situation had stressed him out more than he believed, and all he wanted was to nest into his embrace and never leave.

A tremor of eagerness coiled around Taehyung’s limbs at the sight of Jungkook pacing outside of the hideout, and both scurried to mesh their bodies into a tight hug.

Jungkook interpreted his harried state at once and caressed his back with reassuring swipes as he clutched him with the other. “It’s okay, angel. I’m here now, hmm? You know how much I love you, right? I’ll always be here.”

Taehyung turned into a boneless wreck in the comfort of his embrace and buried his face into the crook of his neck to lap up his pacifying, musky fragrance. “I know. Thank you.”

Jungkook smiled against the side of his head, where he drew loving little kisses. “I’m keeping you here tonight.”

“I wouldn’t leave even if you told me to.”

Jungkook untucked his face and cradled it, gazing at him with ultimate softness and a tinge of melancholy. “It’s too stressful, hmm?”

Taehyung gave three tiny nods, still clinging to him. “Seeing my mother like this... She had no idea what was happening and why. It’ll break her when she finds out who my father really is.”

Jungkook brushed his hair back and let his hand rest on his nape as he strung their foreheads together. “She’ll have you. You have to be strong for her, hmm? I know you can do it.”

His gently spoken words raised a fond smile from Taehyung, and he pressed their lips together. “You always calm me down. I’m so lucky to have you.”

Jungkook showered his smiling mouth with more kisses, eliciting quiet giggles from him. “I’m luckier.” With one more deep kiss, he snaked an arm around his waist and guided him into the house.

With everyone settled down in the living room, Jungkook narrated everything Mi Sung told him. A delicate hush emerged and enclosed them as all the new information sank in.

“I don’t believe him,” Namjoon said in a muted tone, as if vocalizing his thoughts absently. “I mean, I get one billion is a lot of money, but Mi Sung already makes a fortune. Why would he do that for a stranger? Something isn’t right.”

“My father was always greedy for money,” Taehyung said, still processing that his father indeed helped someone kill a little girl. He wasn't as shocked as he believed he would be because a seed of suspicion was already planted in him with yesterday's findings. “But I agree. I don’t believe him either. He knows more for sure.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook sighed. “For now, we have to wait and see. Seokjin hyung, call that guy. Maybe he has news.”

“He said he’ll call me.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just call him.”

Yoongi threw a glare at the younger as a disapproving groan burred in his throat. “You really need to learn how to be patient.”

Jungkook aimed a moue of mockery at him, but his focus jumped to Taehyung at the angelic giggle he released.

“You’re so cute,” Taehyung said through his suppressed laugh and squeezed him against his body.

Jungkook, now smiling fondly, planted a kiss on his forehead. The ringing of Seokjin’s phone reeled in everyone’s gaze, which grew a bit unsettled with anticipation.

Seokjin accepted the call and put it on speaker. “Hey, Bo Min-ssi.”

“Hey. I don’t have much time. Kim Mi Sung was released after a barely two-hour interrogation. He told them about Kang Soo. The detectives ascertained they were together that night through the CCTV around the neighborhood.”

“What did he say about Kang Soo?”

“That he’s his friend. Nothing about drugs, obviously. That’s all my friend from that police station got to find out. Oh, and that the chief of police got involved and ordered his men to let Mi Sung leave.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Bye.”

A thin layer of haze cloaked Jungkook’s eyes as they stared vacantly at the table. “So Kang Soo... really didn’t do this?”

“Well, this only proves that Kang Soo wasn’t there at the moment the police raided the place,” Namjoon said. “We know the girl died between eight and eleven at night. You went there around ten. Since Kang Soo met Mi Sung around nine, he could have ordered someone to kill her instead. He could still have planned all this.”

“But if he really planned this,” Yoongi put in, “would he have gone out for drinks with his friend? I mean, what level of insensitivity is this? He needed to monitor the situation.”

“That’s true too,” Jungkook muttered, his shoulders slumping in convoluted defeat.

Taehyung’s gloomy eyes surfed around their contemplative countenances, feeling the heaviness in the surrounding air stifle him. “Let’s take it one step at a time, okay? We learned as much as we could from my father. Now, let’s focus on his meeting with Hyun Joon.”

“Yeah, what should we do about that?” Seokjin asked.

“How about we put a tracker in my father’s car?” Taehyung suggested. “So we can monitor him from a safe distance. And if it’s possible... something to hear what they’ll be saying?”

Jungkook cracked a smile with a notion of amusement. “Where did you hear about all this, huh?”

Taehyung chuckled. “I’ve watched a lot of movies.”

“That’s a good idea, though,” Namjoon said. “They won’t tell us about their relationship on their own. So we have to find out ourselves.”

“How will you do it?” Taehyung asked.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go to your parents’ house to install the tracker.”

“But there are cameras. They’ll see you. And if you pass the gate, the security alarm will go off.”

“Don’t worry,” Yoongi said reassuringly. “Namjoon will deactivate their security system for two minutes. It’s enough time.”

“What if he takes a different car?” Seokjin asked.

“I’ll put a tracker in every car to be safe.”

“Can Namjoonie do this, though?” Taehyung asked, tentative. “He couldn’t hack the hospital’s security system.”

“That’s because it was reenforced,” Namjoon explained. “Your parents will probably be using a standard security system. If not, we’ll just call Chae Yoon.”

“Great,” Jungkook said. “Now that everything is sorted out, I’ll take my man and leave.” He scooped up the said man, who yelped at the unexpected action, and carried him to their room, ignoring his hyungs’ laughs.

Taehyung giggled throughout the transfer and retained his beam as the other laid him on the bed and mounted him. “I love you so much, Jungkookie.”

“I love you too, angel.” Jungkook sealed their lips in a tender kiss as he latched onto him, and they spent the rest of the night cuddling, chatting, sharing multiple moments of ecstasy, and doing everything all over again before their eyes closed against their will.

───⭒───༺🎭༻───⭒───

The long-awaited meeting will take place tomorrow! See you then💜

Four chapters left⏳🥲