Chapter 27: Hangover ain't all that pretty

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Taehyung was sure he smelled something odd.

The air- although murky, with the scent of the familiar detergent off the sheets, he could indeed smell something else.

It smelled familiar.

Was it toast?

No-

Bread.

Wait-

That's toast too.

Taehyung grimaced, grunting as he squint his eyes open. His lips clearly tugged downwards, seemingly irritated.

Rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palms, he sat up- a little dazed and feeling a soft thrumming in his head that seemed to significantly expand with each second.

He looked around, confused.

How the-

How even in the world was he in his own home and not the dingy musty room he had been staying over for the past two nights in Daegu.

Groaning slightly with his hand pressed against the side of his head, he stood up, ripping off the sheets from his legs with the other. He went straight to the attached bathroom, but instantaneously paused on his feet when he heard some extremely loud 90s electric guitar music outside his bedroom.

Taehyung frowned.

What in the name of 7am in the goddamned-

His eyebrows upturned, lot more confused than he was earlier.

Turning to the door, he slowly creaked open the wooden barrier, only to find a familiar raventte moving his hips to the song as if he were grinding or something just as equally as traumatizing as that.

"Well I'm back in black
Yes I'm back in black"

The raventte began singing- no.. screeching. Yeah.. screeching along to the lyrics of the song.

Taehyung stunned, extremely bewildered as he watched his apparent-partner's wide expanse of his back as the male danced infront of the TV with the the remote in one of his hands and a spatula clasped in his other, completely lost in his own world.

"Back in the back of a Cadillac
Number one with a bullet I'm a power pack
Yes I am
In a bang with the gang
They've got to catch me if they want me to hang-"

Pursing his lips, Taehyung shut the door close closely, wishing he didn't have to witness it first thing in the morning with his head spinning as a free bonus.

What the hell is he doing here?!

Taehyung grimaced, staggering a bit on his way to the bathroom as few memories from the night before returned to his mind.

Yes... Jungkook had come along.

The cemetery- he was there at the cemetery.

Areum was there too.

Jungkook... Jungkook witnessed their conversation...

Taehyung looked up, a nasty feeling then crawling up his spine, recalling they ended up at the local restaurant and ordered drinks.

And then...

He couldn't recall any of it.

Nothing.

Nada.

Taehyung's mind was as blank as a broken record.

Did Jungkook bring him back to Seoul? Even if he did so, Taehyung wondered how he could not wake up through the process?

Was I tired? No- Taehyung paused, grabbing onto the sink, feeling a wave swirl his brain around like a whirlpool inside his skull.

I was drunk. Taehyung recalled.

Hangover truly ain't all that pretty.

He groaned, regretting have drunk so much. Taehyung sure as heck was a heavyweight, however he did lie to his friends at the Department sayinb that he was a lightweight and couldnt handle drinks just so that they wouldnt persuade him into drinking.

And there he was, a certified heavyweight, staggering under his own weight. Afterall, he was only a mortal and he did have his limits.

He splashed water on his face, hoping to remember a bit of the events that's took place the previous evening.

What even is Jungkook doing here?

Dont entice me.

Taehyung visibly shuddered, his eyes opening wide.

You make me wanna sin.

Taehyung's looked at his reflection.

What the hell.

What the hell was that- where did that come from?

Taehyung's face then paled a shade or two.

Instinctively he looked down at his clothes.

Shirt, intact.

Pants? Same pants.

Taehyung pulled out the waistband of his Jeans and peeked in, the dark blue fabric of his briefs greeting him.

Yep. They are there. The same ones.

Taehyung let out a breath of relief.

Atleast nothing happened.

Dismissing the absolutely ridiculous thought that hit him, Taehyung proceeded to strip out of his shirt to take a quick shower.

He placed his palm on the edges of the sink, leisurely scratching the side of his neck and watching the his skin redden from the inflammation.

Taehyung squint his eyes as his reflection, spotting a small discoloration over the patch of skin above his collarbones.

He touched it, curious. It didn't hurt but it was a little itchy on the sides.

Frowning, Taehyung dismissed the insect bite and got into the shower, discarding rest of his clothes along the way.

********

Taehyung pursed his lips, his gaze clearly averted as his skin tingled all over with the obvious stare that never wavered. Not even for once.

Taehyung gripped onto his fork and snapped up at the raventte who held an evil grin on his lips the entire time.

"What?!" Taehyung barked.

"Nothing... I'm just viewing a scenary." Jungkook replied, almost immediately.

Taehyung let out a sigh, clearly exhausted.

He cleared his throat and looked away from Jungkook's piercing gaze.

"How.. Did you being me back to Seoul last night?" Taehyung opened up the conversation, not being able to keep up with the oddly tense atmosphere anymore.

"This morning... I mean- around 4am I guess? Detective Jung called me sometime later in the night yesterday, asking if I could get in touch with you since you weren't picking up any of his calls. So I told him I was with you and that you were drunk infront of me. Then he was like 'oh, he's drunk? He doesn't usually drink' and then yeah, that happened and he asked if you could make it to work tomorrow, as in today and it was extremely urgent. So while you passed out I brought you back to Seoul-" Jungkook continued rambling.

"Wait.. wait wait-" Taehyung interrupted. "This was... this- Hoseok called you when he were in the restaurant right?"

Jungkook's eyes glinted with mischief.

"Detective Kim..." he paused, a cocky smile slowly making it's way up on his lips "is it possible that you dont remember the events that took place last night?"

"The events that took place last night?" Taehyung repeated, the nasty feeling throwing his stomach in a turmoil.

Jungkook pursed his lips, biting back his smile as he out his chin his hand. He pouted slightly, almost in a mocking manner.

"Mm I was hoping you'd remember Detective Kim..."

Taehyung opened his mouth and then closed it. Unable to reply.

"Ah... it was really fun, I must admit." Jungkook grinned, his eyes glinting evily.

Taehyung grit his teeth, his fingers curling over the fabric of his pants.

"What was fun?"

Jungkook paused, tilting his head a bit as he smirked.

"You know I dont lie right? If you ask me of the truth, I'm gonna tell you all of it... so Detective Kim..." Jungkook paused, swiping his tongue between his teeth cockily and taking a complete advantage of the situation.

"... are you even mentally prepared to face it?"

Taehyung subtly gulped.

A side of him wanted to know all of it.

But then looking at how obnoxiously suggestive Jungkook was behaving- Taehyung wanted to deny his thoughts, bleach his mind, swipe the history clean.

Yep.

Taehyung simply wanted to die.

"Tell me." Taehyung breathed out through his grit teeth.

"Are you sure Detective Kim? you're literally gritting your teeth here-"

"Jungkook!" Taehyung blared, wanting the raventte to stop playing his games.

"Okay.. you called it" Jungkook simply shrugged with a smug smile on his lips.

"Well, you insisted that you wanted to drink your frustration away after you met that chick... so yeah we went that one restaurant. I had beer, you had 8 bottles of soju- seriously I'm impressed with your liquor tolerance for a mortal although your choices are pretty bad" Jungkook chuckled to himself and Taehyung pursed his lips, slightly offended but didnt say anything.

"... oh and we had few things to eat as well. And you blanked out twice, once where you ended up smacking your forehead on the table and then you got back up completely drunk. You were quite adorable Detective Kim... less meaner too..." Jungkook smiled and Taehyung stared back bewildered, his jaw slightly ajar.

"..And then you shed few tears and begged me to not look through your past. Seriously I was a little-"

"Wait what?!" Taehyung snapped up.

"Tears. You cried. I mean not all of that snot-tear sort of crying... just tearing up  so dont worry about looking ugly. I assure you, you were looking ju-"

"I begged you what?!" Taehyung almost screeched, feeling the second hand embarrassment rush to him.

He couldnt believe his ears that he infact did shed few tears infront if the raventte and asked him to not investigate his background like some poor cringy damsel in distress.

Taehyung absolutely wanted to die now.

"You past. And don't worry I'm not gonn-"

"Do whatever you want I don't really care. God I cant believe I did that. I must have been out of my mind" Taehyung mumbled, burying his head in his hands.

"Psh that's easy for you to say after making me promise..." Jungkook croaked out, his arms crossed.

"Like I said. It doesnt matter-" Taehyung grit through his teeth.

"Mmhmm" Jungkook hummed cockily "still not gonna look for it. Anyway then I had to carry you on my back all the way to your apartment. Really, Detective Kim you would be a horrible GPS... the amount of times we walked in circles-" Jungkook shook his head, feigning a dramatic sad face.

"And then yeah, I brought you back and laid you on the bed." Jungkook looked up with an air of finality.

Taehyung gawked.

His heart beating loud.

"That's it?"

"Mm"

"Really... that's it?" Taehyung asked, the turmoil inside him slowly dissipating from relief.

"Yep." Jungkook replied, popping the 'P' and his eyes calm, just as his face.

"Then why did you say it was fun and all of that?!" Taehyung almost screeched, feeling better already.

"Oh.." Jungkook paused to give a wide shameless grin "Detective Kim... were you thinking of naughty things when I said that? I just meant the drinking was fun. Really Detective Kim... you have a dirty mind."

Taehyung's face flushed red, unable to deny nor confirm.

"I- I.. no! That's not what I-"

"Oh really? Mm.. it really was such a wasted opportunity" Jungkook mumbled, chuckling to himself as he diverted his attention back to his toast.

Taehyung gripped onto his pants under the table.

Fuck- what even.

He picked up the toast and took a big bite out it, hoping it would kill his embarrassment.

"Detective Kim?"

Taehyung looked up at the raventte with his mouth full as he slowly chewed, waiting for Jungkook to speak.

"What would you do if I'd say, you jumped me?"

Taehyung almost choked on his toast.

How dare he ask something so ridiculous with a serious face?!

"What sort of question is that?! Ofcourse I wouldn't believe it!" Taehyung shot back, feeling his skin burn and face flush.

"Ah.. well- what would you do, if you did then?" Jungkook continued, a smile hovering on his lips.

"Did I?!" Taehyung blurted out almost immediately, "Did I do something to you Jungkook?!" He asked, almost fearful as he did with the red on his skin flushing upto his neck and ears.

Jungkook paused, his eyes indecipherable- almost as if he were contemplating what to say.

Then he smiled, a plain but genuinely convincing smile.

"No... you did not Detective Kim, but I'm curious." Jungkook leaned in across the table.

Taehyubg sighed, imagining the scenario.

Him jumping Jungkook-

No.

It looked vulgar.

He shuddered, frowning at the imagery although it made his skin tingle and heart pace up incredibly fast.

Absolutely vulgar. Revolting. Indecent.

You make me wanna sin.

Taehyung grit his teeth, feeling a bit hot underneath.

Shaking his thoughts away, Taehyung looked up giving a blank distressed smile to the raventte who was expectantly waiting for his answer.

"I'd simply choose to die haha."

*******

Jungkook hummed softly, patiently waiting for the Detective to return from the errand he had to run for the old couple next door (Jungkook insisted he'd accompany but the latter quickly denied)

Staring at the ceiling, he let out a groan, a little bored.

Even Jimin was nowhere around.

He propped his leg on the couch, stretching as he crossed them leisurely.

He pursed his lips, his mind empty but a hundred thoughts zipping by all at once.

He felt... distressed.

This was odd but he knew all too well, as to why-

For the first time ever since he had vowed to himself, Jungkook eventually ended up breaking it.

He lied.

Not just any lie, to a mere nobody... but a crucial lie towards none other than Detective Kim.

He didn't know why, but he couldnt just tell him the truth. Jungkook knew, his reaction would have probably amused him adding few more centuries to his immortal self but then he didnt want the Detective giving up on his from the embarrassment, just like how he had declared.

Jungkook had done something he vowed not to and it irked him- it wasnt unpleasant, just a little disturbing...but then in the end he did it all for the other's sake.

Sure, the previous night's events were still fresh in his mind.

His gaze, his lips, his breaths, his soft moans and his touches.... they were all alive in the Devil's mind.

Oh how sinful.

The Detective surpassed his imaginations and Jungkook could only shudder in silence wondering what the Male would look like sober but with his skin bare for the Devil's eyes alone.

For Jungkook, the previous night was just a trailer to what the Detective was capable of- and dear father was he aggressive.

Jungkook licked his lips, chuckling to himself.

Oh how he loved it.

Jungkook loved it so damned much.

Hearing footsteps approach, he excitedly sat up but then almost instantly let out a sigh seeing the mop of pink hair who walked in.

"What are you doing in here?" Jimin shot up, walking past the raventte on the couch.

"Goodmorning to you too Jimin. I'm waiting for Detective Kim to return from his errand" Jungkook replied, almost monotonously.

'Taehyung's back?!" Jimin's eyes subtly lit up.

Jungkook frowned.

What's he all that happy about?

"Yeah... I brought him along with me" Jungkook replied, emphasizing the me but Jimin didn't seem to notice.

"Ah-" the demon let out a scoff  "I almost started missing his constant nagging... its gonna be a pain in the ass now that he is back."

Jungkook stared at Jimin, who went on rambling how the Detective nags him about keeping empty ramen cups everywhere and how it annoys him, but as Jungkook looked more closely into the male.

He could see it.

The sparks of excitement in the Demon's eyes.

Jungkook felt his guts twist a little.

Seriously- what is he really all that happy about?!?!

Jungkook was about to pin the male and ask him if he was mental, but his attention snapped to the door when he heard familiar footsteps outside.

As if a switch had been switched on, the Devil and the Demon both jumped to their feet, walking few steps ahead at the same pace, with eyes expectant and glimmering with almost the same intensity-

The door opened and the Detective who stepped in paused right at the door- not moving an inch further.

Taehyung opened his mouth and then closed, unable to decipher the purpose of the odd atmosphere with two men looking straight at him with a gaze- that could almost be mistaken for some sort of killing intent if Taehyung didn't knew them better... that is, ofcourse for Jungkook- and Jimin on the other hand... Taehyung could still recall his ribs ache, so he wouldn't say he trusts Jimin completely yet.

"I- what the.. what are you both looking at?" Taehyung asked, dismissing the gaze as he proceeded to awkwardly remove his shoes.

"Ahh Detective Kim- welcome home!" Jungkook blurted out walking towards him and pushing Jimin away along the way, who simply snarled in return.

Taehyung pursed his lips, looking up at the raventte ridiculously.

"You're in my home." The Detective deadpanned.

"Yes I know but dont you think this is quite nice? Everytime you walk into my apartment from now on I'll say welcome home and everytime I walk into yours, you can do the same. It's even romantic, dont ya think so?"  Jungkook grinned, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"No. Get outta my face" Taehyung snapped walking past the raventte who simply pulled his lips into a taut line.

He turned back to see Jimin snickering and the Devil shot a mean glare at the male, who immediately shut up and quickly shuffled away to where the Detective was.

"Jimin, there's a package coming in later this afternoon, if you're still here then just sign it for me" Taehyung said, as he putting on his wrist watch.

"Package?" Jimin asked.

"Yeah- it's a cardboard box and there wi-"

"I know what a package is!!!" Jimin snapped, irritated.

Taehyung looked up, a cocky smile on his lips "oh... well thankgod"

Jimin's lips twitched

"ugh-" the pink haired male grimaced, moving away.

Jungkook pursed his lips, his fingers curled.

When did they become so close?!?!?

"I'm off. Dont burn down the house.." the Detective teased, as he walked towards Jungkook.

"Yeah- dont burn down the house!" Jungkook added, with a smug grin.

"IM NOT GONNA BURN DOWN THE HOUSE SHUTUP YOU BOTH!" Jimin yelled, agitated.

"Mmhmm!" The Detective teasingly  hummed, mocking as he put on his shoes.

Jungkook opened the door for the male, who stepped outside and Jungkook soon followed suit, not forgetting to send a smug smile reading I win at the Demon.

Jungkook skipped along, following the Detective to his car.

The two stepped into the vehicle and began fastening their seatbelt.

"Speaking of which- where's your car? I haven't seen it at all" The Detective asked, looking at the side view mirror.

"Oh- well I flew here Detective Kim" Jungkook replied with all honesty and a smile dancing on his lips.

The Detective turned to face him, a frown etched onto his face.

"Right" he mumbled, as he reversed the vehicle, dismissing the topic while Jungkook simply admired the male in silence.

His hair in a disarray, lips tugged into a scowl and eyes narrowed.

The Detective glanced at the raventte.

"What?"

"Mmhm nothing. Just viewing." Jungkook shrugged.

"Yeah, shameless arent we?" He scoffed.

Jungkook looked out the window, his fingers slightly hovering above his lips with the undying grin on his lips "we most definitely are"

Oh how fun.

********

The two hopped out of the car as Taehyung locked it, turning to leave from the parking lot.

They walked alongside each other, their pace slow.

"Yo! Taehyung! Jeon!" Johnny's voice beamed out and the two paused at their feet.

"Goodmorning!" Taehyung greeted looking at the male who just joined them.

"Mm.. how was your break?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Mm." Taehyung hummed, nodding slightly, not giving away much that his 'break' was just to revisit his brother's grave.

"God my back hurts. Being put for a case with a ghost for a murderer is hella hard" Johnny groaned.

Taehyung looked up at Jungkook, who met his eyes as well.

"We'll find them. Ghost or not." Taehyung replied, his eyes filled with determination.

Jungkook smiled a bit, acknowledging the gesture.

"Oh look there's Hoseok-" Johnny spoke up, and the duo turned to look at his direction.

"Hoseok-ah!!!" Johnny bellowed and the  said male jumped, clearly startled making the three of the audience snicker and chuckle.

Shaking his head, the Detective made his way towards them.

"Sorry I had to call you back in- Lieutenant's orders." Hoseok teetered on his feet.

"Its not a problem... dont worry" Taheyung assured.

"How is the case coming out?" Taehyung asked, crossing his arms.

"Ah.. those guys confessed where they got the drug from. Its somebody who goes by the name ReYi, probably one of the higher up dealers. There's nothing on the surface database though, so unit5 is set to scourge the underground database. Hopefully, something will rise up from there" Hoseok let out a sigh.

"ReYi " Taehyung mumbled, registering the name into his mind.

"It better. I'm literally put up to chase the Devil... please spare me a bit." Johnny groaned, sighing exasperated.

And Jungkook simply hummed, slightly amused with the address. "Its not all that hard to chase the devil. Draw a pentagram, sacrifice some of your blood and boom! There had be!"

"That's convinient" Johnny mumbled looking down at the floor and then groaned.

"Sure is, I suppose? " Jungook shrugged, smiling.

"But how can they just disappear and not leave any traces behind? How is it hard to find one person?!"

"You don't find the devil... he finds you" Jungkook smiled.

"You-" Hoseok paused "please keep the Devil out of this guys?"

"Why? Got your Christian panties all twisted up hm?" Johynny snickered and Hoseok promptly smacked the back of his head and making Jungkook snicker in the corner.

"Detective Kim!!"

Taehyung paused what he was doing and looked over to the voice that called out to him.

"Oh! JunSoo!" Taehyung greeted and the said male retuned the smile.

"You've got a package!" JunSoo beaned, his early twenties beauty shining through.

"Oh? I thought I had given the address to my place for this one" Taehyung munbled, confused as he took the box in his hand.

"Oh- what's this?!" Hoseok interjected, suddenly interested.

"You need to sign this.." JunSoo muttered, handing the notepad to the Detective, who passed on the package to Hoseok.

"Taehyung... theres an envelope taped to this." Hoseok said, inspecting the box

Taehyung quickly signed under his name and handed the notepad back to JunSoo.

Hoseok ripped off the envelope off the box and handed it over to Taehyung, who firmly caught onto the smooth edge of the clear white envelope.

He opened it, carefully tearing from the side and tilted the envelope to drop the contents into his hand.

There was nothing else other than a neatly folded paper.

Taehyung frowned slightly, his eyes flickering to Jungkook who was standing beside him, curious.

The Detective slowly opened the note, eyes slightly widening from recalling something that had slipped out of his mind.

The node read;

Because you asked
for my name
so delicately,
I'll show you my den.

But first, tick tock
Stop the Clock.
Or better make
a run for it.

Taehyung felt his blood freeze in his veins, eyes zipping upto the box Hoseok was holding.

And just as he thought about it, a loud beeping sound erupted out of the package, dawning horror on each one's features.

Taehyung strode forward, hoping to grab onto the package from Hoseok's hands who was frozen to his feet.

But just before Taheyung could even scrape the cardboard with his nail  he was thrown several feet away.

And then it all happened with the span of a second, blurring before his eyes was Jungkook who grabbed the package instead, hurtling ahead.

Taehyung watched helplessly from the floor stuck between the throbbing pain in his head from having it smacked against the floor and the loud beeping sound that fastened to a countdown.

Taehyung watched, his face morphing into fear.

Helpless.

His lungs burning.

The scream in his throat dying.

He raised his hands forwards in the direction the raventte was running head on with the bomb in his hands, taking it away to a safe distance of the empty training ground beside the department to reduce the impact.

The sirens in the department began blaring and something murky and thick began trickling down his head.

Hoseok was shaking his shoulders, he was speaking something as well... but Taehyung could hear none of it.

He simply watch the trail, helplessly.

"Jungkook..." Taehyung whispered, with a fearful broken tone watching Jungkook's retreating figure. His heart beating wildly in his throat, his mind messed up- terrified from the scenario playing in his head.

"Jungkook dont die... dont die Jungkook."

"Please.. I beg of you..."

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Author's Note:

Oop-

Am I tryna be evil with leaving at a cliffhanger you ask?

Haha.. absolutely.

🥰✨💕

So here it is... finally we are on the main plot of this book, with the antagonist sliding into the picture.

The plotline is crazy in my head and I hope I could relay to yall just as good it is in my mind.

Anyway-

How are yall?

Hhhhhh I'm watching AOT and its fucking me up lol. I've read the manga but shit I ain't ready for this hsjsjsjsk

Anygay

Thanks for all the love and support.

Have a wonderful day ahead

Stay safe from Rona

Love,
Jaye