"It's right here, just at this corner." Jeongguk's quiet voice filled the space between them.

Hiro's head swiveled to his right, hands pushing the car wheel toward the same direction until the vehicle pulled beside the sidewalk, next to the building where Jeongguk resided. The car remained parked there, a silence falling over the two men while they removed their seatbelts.

He couldn't help but notice that the boy seemed... distracted. Unlike himself.

After all, Jeongguk merely looked blankly ahead, teeth gently dug into his bottom lip. And Hiro stared at the boy's side profile, noting the way his cheeks were blushed red, probably from the cold. But one in particular seemed more red than the other. Perhaps, and he hated thinking such a thing, but it was the kind of lingering red that would stain pale skin from impact.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hiro's words soon came in a whisper. A gentleness that Jeongguk could appreciate, though the numbness in his chest distracted him with his own busy thoughts.

So he merely gave a nod, and reached his hand to clasp the car door handle. "Thank you for driving me home, hyung." Jeongguk's head lowered in a polite bow. "I really really appreciate it."

Hiro's concerned brows narrowed, until he finally gave a low sigh, quiet beneath his breath, and turned to exit the vehicle.

"Hold on, I'll walk you up to the front."

Jeongguk's eyes widened before he let a chuckle slip past his lips. "I can walk twenty feet by myself, you know," he let his feet reach the ground before stepping out of the car as well.

Hiro returned the small laugh and walked around to reach the younger's side. "Yes, well. If something were to happen to you within those twenty feet I feel as though I'll hear a mouthful from Bangtan. You seem very precious to them."

Jeongguk's lips parted, eyes blinking in repetition, taken aback by the man's sudden statement.

"I-I don't think that's r-really the case.." He mumbled out, evidently flustered.

"Riight.. sure," Hiro gave a playful light bump at his arm. "So that's precisely why their number one captain ran to your rescue all on his own, right?"

Jeongguk didn't say anything, his gaze lowered to the floor while they approached his apartment building. He squeezed his grip over his bag strap and lifted his head upon reaching the small set of stairs, and saw that an unexpected man was seated over the concrete steps, waiting.

The man looked up at the two and quickly rose to his feet, stepping down to level ground and slipping his hands to his pockets.

"Jeongguk.." He spoke. "Welcome home."

Hiro glanced at the guy, then looked back toward Jeongguk, whose expression told him that the man's presence was clearly unexpected.

"Oh, h-hi Seojun.." Jeongguk responded after a while. "What, um... What brings you here?"

Seojun gave a bashful smile, one hand reaching to scratch at the back of his head. "Ah, well... Um, I.." he trailed off, took a moment to collect his thoughts before he finally cleared his throat and continued. "I saw you leave school. With Kim Taehyung, and-..."

Jeongguk simply looked at him, waiting on his explanation.

"I know it's-... I know it's late into the night, but... I was worried. I still don't fully trust the guy, and you two left so discreetly, so..." He lowered his hand back down to his side. "I wanted to make sure you got home safely."

"I'm fine.." Jeongguk quickly pushed the words out, then motioned to his left. "My hyung here drove me back."

Seojun looked toward Hiro, and the two's eyes met.

"Does he.. go to our school?"

Jeongguk shook his head. "No, he's—"

"—Uh, Jeongguk's had a long night," Hiro suddenly interrupted, landing a careful hand to the younger's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll appreciate a long bath before bed, so.. Is it possible you can give him a call, maybe tomorrow?"

Seojun's mouth drew open, watching the coaxing gaze in the other male's eyes. There was a curt pause, and then he exhaled softly, finally taking the hint.

"Right." He gave a courteous smile. "That's a... good point, yes. Good night, Jeongguk."

The boy's big eyes gazed innocently back at him. "Y-Yeah. Good night, Seojun."

"See you at school, yes?"

A nod. "Y-Yes."

Hiro gave a friendly grin and waved at the younger. "See you later, Jeonggukie!"

Jeongguk returned the smile, then bowed at the two men before retreating up the steps, into his apartment building, the large door finally clicking shut behind him.

※ ※

The ashtray over the nightstand sat full to the brim with crushed cigarettes. Sunlight seeped into the bedroom through translucent curtains, and Taehyung—or rather V, woke up to the white ceiling above him, and a heavy pounding in his head.

He lifted his hand over his face, let a quiet grunt slip past his throat, then forced himself to sit up while the weight of a thousand boulders crashed over his head.

"Fucking hell.." he hissed, kicking the blankets off him only to realize he was naked over his own mattress. He dug his fingers into his disheveled hair and heard approaching footsteps begin to near his bedroom.

He looked up, watched as a short haired woman walked in, her wet strands dipped into a towel she held. Their eyes met, and a smile was quick to form over the woman's lips.

"You're awake," she chirped, dabbing the towel near her scalp. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your shower."

Taehyung's mouth fell open as he readied a response, but not a single word came out. In fact, he was completely lost just then. He had no idea who this woman was, how she ended up in his apartment, and what exactly had taken place in his bedroom last night. But he'd woken up to such a scenario plenty of times before — enough times to put two and two together.

"Why aren't you saying anything..?" The girl suddenly pouted, tossing the towel to a nearby chair and approaching the bed frame. She climbed onto the mattress, lowered herself while she looked up at him with batting eyelashes. "I even made you breakfast and prepped it all up for you in the kitchen. Something's gonna have to help you wash down that hangover, you know..?"

Taehyung gazed back at her with a stone cold look over his face. The more he looked at her, the more he found himself caring less about her presence. In fact, it was even starting to become a nuisance, really. But before he could think to voice those thoughts out loud, the woman placed her hand over his thigh.

"What more could you want me to do for you, oppa..?" She spoke in a lowered, sweet tone. "You're quite the difficult man to please.."

She smooched over his skin, at the inner thigh, and trailed wet kisses up until her tongue slipped out, licked a strip at the tip of his cock.

Taehyung refrained from rolling his eyes and yawning, though it was much harder than expected since the urge for a good yawn after having woken up was quite strong. Nevertheless he was still slightly amused by the woman's willing actions, so he didn't utter any retaliation, and instead watched while she slipped his dick past her lips and began to coat it in her saliva.

"Mm.." He hummed softly, reaching one hand to hold at the back of her head. "You just can't resist shoving a large cock into your throat, hm..?" He tilted his head to the right, observing her carefully while he uttered his next words. "How pathetic.."

The woman gave a whine at those words, a pitch that nearly hit that of a certain boy's. Except, the boy that entered his thoughts just then had a much more angelic whine. An adorable whimper. One that would always make him want to fuck him harder. So simply alluring.

Taehyung closed his eyes, imagined that boy's face when he'd fuck into him. How his tongue would dart out, eyes rolled back. How his brows would rise while he gave babbling whines and moans and cute squeals. Oh lord, how he loved his little squeals. If he slapped at his ass hard enough, he'd get to hear plenty of them.

He was his little playboy bunny.

"Mmn..." Taehyung let a moan slip out, head falling back as he pushed his now throbbing erection deeper into the woman's throat. His cock became slippery with her saliva, his slit moist with precum that she would quickly lick off so that more could accumulate.

Her head found a rhythm to bob to while she struggled to fit his entire length inside her mouth.

"Daddy.."

He recalled a voice in his head. A cute one. One that would utter the nickname with pouty lips.

And before he knew it, a lavish stream of semen spilled from the head of his cock, dumping down the woman's throat seamlessly.

"Ahh.. fuck, Jeon." He grunted beneath his breath, hissing in from the lingering pleasure, the hand propped behind him digging into the bedsheets.

The woman remained there, letting the stream of cum run dry before she pulled back and wiped her lips, a large frown forming over her face.

"My surname is Kang... Not Jeon.." She huffed out in a glower.

Taehyung slowly opened his eyes, head hung to the side as he looked at her blankly.

"Mm.. Right," he spoke slowly. "My bad."

But his nonchalant response only seemed to anger the woman more, because she scrambled from the bed in an instant and glared toward him with fire in her eyes.

"Asshole.." she muttered, then reached to grab her purse from the rug and swing it quickly over her shoulder. "Don't even bother buying me a drink next time."

She gave one last huff, stomped her way out the bedroom and then the apartment entirely, slamming the door shut behind her.

And Taehyung, he found himself sitting there, lingering in his bed, unsure why that particular boy had invaded his head just then. His eyes remained fixated over the wall, nails digging into the pads of his fingers.

It took him a moment to regain himself, to push such thoughts to the back of his head while he scrambled to the edge of the bed and let his feet hit the carpet below him. Just like that he was doing his usual morning ritual — brushing his teeth, taking a shower, drying his hair. Then it was finding a comfortable change of clothes, and just as he had zipped up his trousers he heard a sudden rattling of the front door knob.

He slipped a shirt over his head, while footsteps neared his bedroom once more. When his head emerged from the shirt collar Taehyung spotted his gang leader standing there by the doorframe, his arms crossed and a displeased look over his face.

"Well good morning," Taehyung's husky voice pushed the words out, slightly amused at the older's sudden appearance. Though the subtle smirk on his lips had aggravated the man more than he'd let himself show.

"Is this amusing to you?" Namjoon spoke in an assertive voice, brows in a permanent frown. "Why must I come in here to check up on you, just to run into a half naked woman cooking up breakfast in your kitchen, hm?"

Taehyung merely blinked at the man.

"I scared the shit out of the poor girl... Had to leave and come back later just hoping she'd have more clothes on next time." Namjoon tapped his finger impatiently over his crossed arms. "You're being a real scum bag, you know that?"

Taehyung let out a huffed breath, hands reaching to push his long bangs away from his eyes. "What the fuck are you on about?"

"Does Jeon Jeongguk know you've been fucking some stranger all night?"

A curt laugh. "Why would that be any of his business?"

Namjoon stared back at the man in silence, narrowed eyes scrutinizing those eyes of his. He slowly uncrossed his arms, walked a few steps closer toward the other, and grabbed at Taehyung's collar vigorously, pulling him closer in a shove.

"You better be fucking joking with that shit.." The gang leader whispered menacingly beneath his breath, the two men's noses a mere inch apart. "You're in a relationship now, V. Whether you like it or not."

Taehyung pushed the older back, causing Namjoon to stumble a step backward. "Taehyung is in a relationship. Not me."

Namjoon collected himself, straightened his shoulders and looked directly at the alter, hands parting and clenching into fists. There was a wave of silence that fell between them, where neither of them could speak a word, where their thoughts remained scattered, rendered indecipherable in their heads.

They watched each other calmly, although the atmosphere around them had built up with ineffable intensity.

And once he had ran down the frustrations in his veins, Namjoon finally pierced through the silence.

"This isn't the man I raised you to be."

No response. The two held firm eye contact, seemingly observing one another cautiously.

And Namjoon continued. "I understand there were things you've learned, in the past. Things that kept you alive and breathing, that got you where you are now." His hands tightened back into fists, nails nearly piercing at his palm. "But that's enough. You don't have to fight in a war that's already been won.."

Taehyung's lips slowly parted, his accelerated heartbeat losing its momentum.

"I taught you new things. Taught you the right way to be a man and yet... I've never once seen you put those lessons into action." Namjoon's shoulders slumped. "I'd like for it to be untrue. And I'd hate to think it, but.." A slight pause. "Is it possible that I've... wasted my time on you, all along..?"

The other male's eyes gradually enlarged, a numbing silence succumbing him as he realized the older man's intended words. His gaze fell back to the floor, concurrently felt the air flee from his lungs, a compressed feeling grasping his chest.

Namjoon watched him calmly, a twitch at his lowered brow.

"There are no more enemies left here for you, V.." He concluded, feet turning toward the hall as he uttered the last words. "No one except yourself."

※ ※

Seokjin lowered the large bottle of wine in hand, let the liquid pour into the target glass. His gaze glanced ahead of him, where Yoongi sat beside the table with some documents in hand.

And then he lifted the bottle back up, pushed the cork back in and watched as the door swung open. A couple more Bangtan officers trickled their way in, settling themselves over empty seats on the long table. And behind them came strands of red hair sweeping past angered eyes.

The fellow captain watched as Hoseok burst into the room, peeked at Yoongi from across the table, and made a beeline toward where Seokjin himself was standing.

"How long will this meeting be?" The man spoke in a lowered voice. "I'd appreciate not having to be around that assface for too long."

Seokjin let out a quiet sigh. "It shouldn't take too long. We're just waiting on our leader and his right hand captain. Now go take a seat, Hoseok."

The red haired let out an annoyed grunt and pulled the closest chair beside him before plopping down over it. An array of chatter broke out among the seated gang members, and Hoseok overheard a rather loud voice speaking near him.

"Did'ya hear? Apparently some newbie from that small indie gang got knocked up by her sunbaenim.." The man gossiped, and Hoseok recognized the voice to be Ranger's.

"Seriously?" A lower-ranked soldier replied in a gasp. "Isn't that another pregnancy between gangs? How's that shit gonna work out when it's a bigger group dealing with some nobodies?"

Hoseok turned his head to look toward his fellow gang mates, then let out a condescending chuckle. "Oh yeah? Another pregnancy, you say?" He spoke up, causing the men beside him to turn toward him. "For all we know that sunbaenim of hers could be right here, in this very room. A father of two now, perhaps?"

The men all turned their heads again, this time their eyes settled at the very man Hoseok was shooting daggers with in his stare.

Min Yoongi, who looked up from his stack of documents and peered at the set of eyes on him, particularly the venomous ones belonging to Hoseok's.

He refrained from causing a scene by keeping a calm composure. And with a clear of his throat, the older spoke in a warning tone. "You should keep comments like that to yourself, Mister Jung."

Hoseok nearly scoffed. "I'll think about it. Right after you keep the horny bastard between your legs locked tightly inside your pants."

"Hoseok," Seokjin's voice cut in, a glower in his brows. "Don't. Not now."

Yoongi opened his mouth to cut into the other's remark, but before he could the heavy door behind them swung open once more, and Kim Namjoon emerged into the room with a powerful stride, his eyes laser focused as he marched straight towards the front, a quiet Taehyung following behind him, seemingly distracted.

"Are we all ready?" Their leader spoke, and the men in the room corrected their posture and turned obediently towards the tall man.

"Yes sir!!" The room erupted with shouts of those words, while Taehyung moved to take a seat beside Hoseok, a slump in his stance.

Yoongi lifted his gaze, stole a glance at the red haired man who returned eye contact, murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

Then the two looked away from each other, refocused their attention toward their leader, and let the unspoken tension between them make humble beginnings as mere smolder, yet to set itself ablaze into more dangerous flames.

※ ※

Jeongguk sat at his dining table, poking the tip of his spoon over his breakfast — a simple bowl of cereal. His cheek pushed into the palm of his hand, elbow propped upon the table surface as he let a gentle sigh leave his throat.

A sudden rumbling startled him, at first. Until he realized it was only the loud vibrations coming from his phone beside him. He let his eyes glance over the screen, at the caller ID of the person once again trying to reach him.

'Kim Taehyung'

The vibrations persisted, until they came to a stop, and his phone returned to display his lockscreen of innocently patterned bunnies.

Another sigh left him.

It had been like this all weekend.

Taehyung, who would call his phone. Over and over. And him, who would ignore the calls. Pretended not to notice them.

He just couldn't bring himself to grab the device, to push it against his ear and utter a response. Couldn't bring himself to hear that addicting, deep voice that would push into his ear canals like sweet molasses, would trickle into his brain, grab at his heart strings.

If he heard Taehyung's voice now, he knew he'd give in to him.

He always did.

But Jeongguk was scared that it was V who was still fronting. That V would be the one on the other line when he'd pick up the phone. And truthfully, Jeongguk just wasn't sure what it was he should say to him, after what had happened Friday night.

He gave a low grumble, dropped the spoon to hang beside the rim of the bowl while he dug his hands into his hair, shuffled his fingers messily through the strands. His phone then gave two pulsing vibrations, and Jeongguk snapped his head to look back up at the screen.

'i won't be in today either. sorry.'

His lips pursed into a frown as he read the text he'd been waiting for all morning, from his best friend, who was still reluctant to show up at school grounds.

Jeongguk's heart sunk deep into his stomach. It's not like he'd blame Jimin for hiding. He, of all people, understood how necessary solitude could be for a processing state of mind. And yet, he couldn't help but worry the more the days went by.

He slowly took hold of the spoon again, rushed to finish his breakfast and finally stood from his chair. It seemed he'd have to walk himself to school today. Asking Taehyung if he'll pick him up as usual would be too awkward now, and surely he'd be safe during a walk if it was a bright Monday morning, no?

After grabbing his bag from the couch, he boldly exited his apartment, took strides past the lobby and toward the cool blowing breeze outside. And beyond the steps he saw a man leaned over a nearby pole, loitering at the corner.

Jeongguk's eyes narrowed while he strolled cautiously toward him, his brow rising in slight confusion.

"Seojun... You're here again.." He spoke up, the sudden words causing the man to finally look up from his phone.

"Ah, yeah, um.." The man gave a sheepish smile. "I was waiting for you. Thought maybe we could walk to school together?"

Jeongguk blinked back at him, a somewhat relieving feeling washing over his skin. Despite what their past had been like, Seojun will still always be his high school sweetheart. Jeongguk wouldn't quite say they had reached the 'friends' stage after all that happened just yet, but he found it strangely endearing how the man seemed to be putting in the effort to rekindle things with him, platonically.

"O-Oh..." The boy cracked a small smile. "Yes, that would be-.. That would be nice, sure."

Seojun's eyes widened, perhaps in surprise to see the boy's gentle smile, one that he subconsciously found himself returning.

And that's how the men found themselves walking down the pavement, side by side, shoulders nearly brushing together every few steps. At first, they were quiet. It had been much too long for them both, since they've last had a conversation about mindless things. The kinds of comfortable every day, trivial things they used to talk about before.

But it was different now. It felt much too different. As though they were completely different people than they were before.

And it was true. They were no longer innocent, naive teens. No longer holding up a relationship they had built up for far too long, both too scared to break it off.

The two boys were men now. And through the calm silence, it seemed they had both grown to understand that.

"I went home last week.. Back to Busan, to visit my father." Seojun spoke up at some point to make light conversation, the school campus beginning to come into view in front of them.

Jeongguk held his hands in front of him, eyes suddenly growing wide. "Oh, right. Um, how-... How is he..?"

Seojun refrained from chuckling. "He's okay. Doing much better than before. We get scares every now and then, but you already knew all that."

Jeongguk gave a short nod, bit down gently over his lip. He'd known about Seojun's weak father for quite some time now. A man who'd always end up in the hospital because of his weak heart, incidents that would worry his family more often than not. It was an odd feeling, to hear updates on a man he knew so well growing up, since he and Seojun would visit each other's homes all the time back then.

They had drifted apart in the months they went on without speaking, that much was true. But Jeongguk didn't like such awkwardness. He much rather preferred a pace like this, instead. Of the two catching up over lost time, rather than live on despising each other over an incident — of young love.

Because, yes. Their love had been much too young.

But their friendship could stem from their newly attained maturity.

"How's your mother? Is the bakery doing good?" Seojun continued the casual atmosphere they had built up, and Jeongguk lowered his head.

"It's good, yes.." He said softly, a wave of guilt falling over him once he had realized how much he had failed to keep in contact with his parents lately. Perhaps he felt as though he was letting them down, becoming familiar with gang members. Criminals. He couldn't be too sure they would understand, felt as though they'd regret letting him go off to Seoul on his own the way he'd always dreamed of doing. "I haven't-... spoken to her in a while, though. I've been... busy, after all. But she's doing good."

"Busy?" Seojun perked a brow, glancing toward the boy. "You mean how you're busy endangering yourself, hanging around criminals?"

Jeongguk lifted his head to look at him. "You're really going to bring this up again?"

"I'm worried about you." Seojun then paused, looked off toward the horizon before exhaling a quiet breath. "That Hiro guy told me. How it was that you two met."

Jeongguk's mouth dropped, bulged eyes watching the other in lingering shock. "Wha— He... told you that?"

Seojun didn't meet his gaze, though gave a slow nod. "I practically begged him to tell me. I think he saw how concerned I was, and... Well, I always knew something was up. Kim Taehyung's name has quite the large reputation, so... It's not inaccurate to say that he's a very dangerous man, Gguk."

The boy's jaw clenched, an exasperated breath leaving him before his eyes caught glimpse of a figure standing in the distance by the school gate. He felt his entire body freeze up in that single moment, and upon following his line of sight Seojun, too, noticed the man that stood there, piercing eyes digging into them both from afar.

The usual blunt by his lips, a thin string of smoke rising swiftly from the tip.And Kim Taehyung's carnivorous eyes that glared behind the gliding fumes, dark pupils fixated on them, watching, as though to mark an opponent.

To mark on his prey.

✱