The sight of the kitchen table in front of him, covered in plates and bowls all along the length, was something that he hadn't expected. Taehyung had been planning on downing several cups of coffee for breakfast at 6am like he had for the last few days, yet here he was a rather reasonable hour of 8:30am standing in Jungkook's penthouse suite. He was more than surprised by this for they usually would have been halfway across Seoul by now in the back of his car. At the end of the oaken table Jimin was sitting in a spot that looked to be for Jungkook yet the young man didn't seem to care for he was standing just behind him.

Taehyung saw a large platter close to the centre on which a selection of fruit had been placed. All around it were small side dish bowls, with rice and finely sliced chunks of egg and meat inside. High-class, most certainly not like his usual breakfast of cold leftovers or fried shit. The bowls were porcelain and they clashed against the dark oaken wood. There were two glass pitchers on the table, elegantly shaped and filled with water and orange juice. No champagne in sight, not even coffee.

"Sit down, Taehyung," Jungkook said despite the fact he was standing up himself. There was a glass of orange juice in his hand and he was picking at the food rather than eating it properly; popping grapes into his mouth or accepting offerings from Jimin's chopsticks. "Do you not eat breakfast? It's like you've never seen a table before."

"No, no nothing like that just..." Taehyung paused for a few seconds and he heard Jimin laughing softly from the other end of the table. Laughing at his bewilderment of course. "It's a surprise, Jungkook."

"Mmm, I do love surprises."

He lifted his eyes from the table to look at Jungkook and he felt a little twinge in his chest at the smile on his face. Ah yes, surprises. Just like what had happened last night. The light bondage and the consequent blowjob in his apartment room. Taehyung was still confused by the events and maybe a little ashamed, but it had paid off. Here he was standing in the penthouse suite, a guest for breakfast with the pair of them. Talk about an upgrade. Taehyung supposed that he should have been surprised but he really wasn't. It was just mild shock and nothing more than that.

"Come on, sit. Before I have to force you into the fucking chair." Taehyung took that as a cue to hurry his ass up before he pissed him off. After all Jungkook's moods were still very unpredictable to him currently. Maybe after a few more days he would be able to figure him out better.

Taehyung felt rather strange taking food from the table this way, like he was stealing almost. But Jungkook had told him to eat and so he moved to collect several things. A bowl of rice went to the side and he added a few servings of meat to the small porcelain plate in front of him, along with two halves of the eggs and small bunch of the grapes. He thought that the idea of eating fruit with a savoury meal would be disgusting and yet rapidly found that it was not the case. After a mouthful of the chicken a ripe and sweet grape was actually rather complementary. He was eating like a fucking king and this morning his team had likely gulped down sugar-laced coffee and junk food. Hoseok had a thing for bagels that he couldn't even begin to understand.

"Today is a busy day, Taehyung, I would advise eating a large breakfast," Jungkook said as his fingers fiddled absentmindedly with the ends of Jimin's hair. Taehyung paused in the process of pulling a grape free from the vine and he looked up at him. Should he ask him what he meant by that? Or should he leave it until The Boy decided to explain?

"You helped Jungkook with his gun last night, didn't you?" Jimin asked as he picked a chunk of boiled chicken up between his chopsticks and held it out. Wangbi shifted to get onto her hind legs, stretching up with effortless grace as she snatched the chunk from him. Watching her swallow the chunk and then lick at her furry mouth contently was like watching a wild animal. "Helped him clean it?"

"I...I did," Taehyung agreed as he looked up from the cat and at her owner. There was something hanging in the air that alluded to the idea that Jimin wasn't talking about guns alone. After all, hadn't Jungkook made a rather wonderful analogy between guns and cocks just yesterday evening. Swallowing the grape juice was suddenly harder than it should have been. "Jungkook told me that you don't like guns. So I helped him, I refilled the magazine for him. I didn't do much cleaning during my conscription. Mostly just...handling."

Why the fuck did all words relating to guns have to sound so euphemistic?

"Taehyung might be lacking in experience but he was very helpful," Jungkook remarked as he lifted his glass and took a sip of the orange juice. Taehyung felt his bare toes wanting to scrunch up in embarrassment and he dropped his eyes to look at the plate. "He knows how to work a gun."

Oh, it was most certainly about the blowjob.

"Do you like guns?" Jimin asked as he carried on feeding scraps to Wangbi, seemingly uninterested in his food. He glanced between the cat and him as he did, expression showing interest. Was this a trick question? Was he even talking about guns right now?

"I don't like 'em but I don't hate 'em," Taehyung replied as he played with the rice, moving the spoon in the sticky mound. "I just kinda understand 'em. When you serve conscription duty they...they teach you about respect. The leftenants, the generals, they teach you that a gun ain't a toy."

"Oh?" Jimin's eyebrows lifted in interest at this. He was looking at him intently and for some reason Taehyung found his interest rather nice. He could see that Jimin was actually listening to him, actually wanted to hear what he had to say. "Please continue."

"Guns are...are dangerous," Taehyung explained, "but guns don't kill people, people kill people. The gun is just the delivery method. In the wrong hands a gun is lethal, but in the right hands it ain't."

"Hmm," Jimin purred as his lips lifted up at the corners, "that's an interesting way to look at it."

"Babe, eat, stop feeding her," Jungkook said in a voice very close to an order as he looked down at him. "I made breakfast for humans, not for Wangbi. Keep feeding her like that and she will only want caviar and fucking pheasant every day." Jungkook had made the food? That was enough to surprise Taehyung for he had imagined a maid or hired chef would have done so.

"She's been good, it was a reward for being good. Like Taehyung's rewards," Jimin replied. Taehyung had been in the act of chewing and at this he paused, the chicken suddenly losing flavour on his tongue. Turning to moist ash. What a wonderful way to remind him that he was really nothing more than a pet. "I was thinking of maybe going on a diet because-"

"No diet."

"I saw a few boys at Choi's latest fashion event and they were so thin and pretty. I looked fucking fat next to them and-"

" No diet," Jungkook surprised Taehyung by actually reaching out and grabbing a handful of his hair tightly in his fist. Jimin didn't even make a surprised noise, barely did anything more than blink. "You'll lose muscle mass. That's a selling point. If I wanted a fucking twink in my films then I could have picked any of those men but I don't." Jungkook let go of his hair and then affectionately smoothed it down with quick strokes of his fingers. "Besides, I like you this way." Taehyung saw the way that he smiled at Jimin as he said this, all sweet touches and words. As if Jimin's own thoughts and wishes about his body were irrelevant. Well, he guessed they both had something in common.

Both pets.

"Yes Master, " Jimin drawled in a rather dry tone. When Jungkook moved away to cross the suite the other man turned to look at him. Taehyung saw him rolling his eyes condescendingly and he was too surprised to even react to this. Clearly Jimin was used to this attitude because his expression hinted that he might have often rolled his eyes when no one was around to see him do so. Jimin had just opened his mouth to speak again when there was a buzzing sound from the suite. Taehyung turned his head to see that the intercom system was alerting to an incoming call and so Jungkook hit a button on it and the screen jumped to a livefeed of one of the bouncers on the ground-floor.

" Master Jeon, there's a delivery for you. " Taehyung recognised the man as Dongjun. " Express delivery of suits and papers from Sharp. "

"Ah, that would be Hodong. Escort them up," Jungkook said before cutting the feed off. "Impeccably timed as always. Just in time for the gala."

"Gala?"

"Yes gala, you're accompanying me this evening, Taehyung. I have a job for you."

Taehyung found it very hard to finish eating the food on his plate at this. As it was Wangbi came sniffing around him when Jimin stopped handing her scraps, brushing her head against his knees and then sitting under the table to look at him with those emerald eyes of hers. Had Jungkook not just scolded the other man for feeding her he might have just risked losing a finger to give her a chunk of chicken but he didn't want to piss him off. Perhaps sensing his discomfort Jimin made sure to tell him that he wasn't allowed to diet either, grinning widely as he did so. Taehyung just shoveled rice into his mouth and chewed until he couldn't really taste it.

It took perhaps two minutes until the door across the suite was being opened and in stepped two women. They looked to be middle-aged and they were carrying various things. One with glasses and her hair pulled back in a severe bun was carrying several suits in protective covers and the other had a box.

"Compliments from Lee," she said as she bowed forward, long hair falling over her face in a curtain, and held the box out to Jungkook. It was the exact size of a shoe box except it looked to made from leather rather than cardboard. He accepted it from her without a word.

Each one of the suits were stored in a vinyl bag to keep them dry and free from dirt, clear vinyl so that the contents were visible. Jungkook had them displayed on a wood and silk screen a few feet away from the bed, metal hanger heads lightly clanging against the wood until all seven suits were hanging. Then the women were leaving the room and the sound of the door clicking shut echoed across the suite.

"Ah, Hodong is a man after my own heart," Jungkook announced as he placed the lid down and reached inside to pull out a shoe. Taehyung could see that they were loafers and they weren't leather but looked to something else instead. Soft and smooth black, and on the rounded toes there was a thin little cap of gold. "Calfskin, divine. The entire wardrobe sorted for the evening."

Despite there being seven suits only two of them were of interest. The other five were apparently day suits, just jackets and a plain shirt along with pressed trousers. They looked very nice but they were simple cuts, the kind to wear to meetings and nothing more. The other two were evening suits and Taehyung saw that there was a marked difference in appearance. He knew exactly which ones would be worn to very important events and galas from a single glance.

If breakfast had been a surprise then the fact he was suddenly dragged into an impromptu fashion show between the two evening suits was even more so. Jimin moved to sit on the edge of the bed as if it was something like a photo shoot. The first was a three-piece evening suit, the jacket and trousers black with very thin pinstripes and the waistcoat solid black. Jungkook made sure to remark about how nice and narrow his waist was as he adjusted the strap on the back of it and then slowly roamed his hands over his sides. Taehyung decided to take it as a compliment. The second evening suit was something he guessed would be called a tuxedo, also black but with silken lapels that had a lovely gloss to them. After being made to try on both suits Taehyung got dressed back into his rather cheap clothes.

"This is the one," Jungkook remarked without even asking either of them their opinions. He reached out and ran his fingers across the black suit jacket, the one with the silken lapels. "We must match, so this is the one."

"Black is so boring, don't you think that he would look better in some colour?" Jimin asked as he reached up and ran his fingers along Taehyung's outer thigh. The contact caused a shiver to run down his spine but he didn't move away from his touch. "Blue would look nice. Also greys. All shades."

"I like the one with the waistcoat," Taehyung added as Jimin moved his hand away from his thigh. Yet Jungkook told him that he was wearing a three-piece and therefore he couldn't. Too much of a clash apparently.

"This is the one," he repeated as he pulled the jacket off the bed and lifted it up. He held it against his face, the silken labels on his skin. His thumb slipped free to lightly stroke against his cheekbone. The contact was feather soft and Taehyung took a sharp little intake of breath. "You look good in silk, Taehyung..."

"Very good," Jimin agreed from the bed. "At least let him wear a white shirt. It would look wonderful with his skin." But Jungkook repeated what he had told Hodong that day in the store; all black always.

"Jungkook, what...what's gonna happen tonight?" Taehyung asked in a quiet voice.

"The plan of action tonight is very simple," Jungkook explained as he held the jacket out to Jimin. The other man took it out of his hand and that allowed him to place both on his shoulders. "You will enter the gala with me at exactly 8pm. Then, after some boring chitchat you're going to leave at 8:30. There's a building exactly three blocks east from the hotel that you're to go to. It's a warehouse. Inside you will collect something very important to me. There will be a man there I want you to take care of."

Taehyung knew that he didn't mean sexually.

"He's a traitor trying to sell me out and I want him dead after you get what you need from him. You will be searched for weapons by my men and they will remove your gun. But you will have a nice 'hidden' blade on you. Get the information from him sweetly if you want but take care of him. Then return to the hotel."

Jungkook explained this all smoothly, confidently. It hinted at a perfectly rehearsed plan and yet he was forgetting something important. Something very important. Taehyung was a part of the plan and there was a very high chance that he would fuck it all up.

"What'd he do? The traitor?" he asked. Maybe Jungkook would give him a little more information if he did, important information. After all, he had just been told that he was going to have to kill a man. Taehyung would like to know why, if possible. It could help him in trying to get the information too.

"He's one of my father's men. A man called Ahn, Ahn Kangho. Upon sensing his own immediate dismissal from Haedogje Pa at the behest of my succession he's decided to cause trouble. More trouble than he's worth," Jungkook said with a shrug, fingers moving along his shoulders ever so softly. "He's working for someone to try and rouse some kind of rebellion against me. I want him dead."

A sign of rebellion? It was something that he needed to alert the others about, as soon as possible. He had no doubts that Namjoon would find this very interesting.

"I'll give you the details later. Just know that I want him dead," he finished as he moved his hands down the front of his shirt and back to his waist. That now rather constant habit of his. Taehyung felt unsure about the fact his hands felt so at home there. "You can do that for me, can't you, Taehyung?"

"Yeah," he agreed with a slow nod. "I can do that, Jungkook."

"Good," Jungkook smiled at him warmly.

To say that he was nervous was a major understatement but that was nothing new. These days Taehyung was always nervous, it was a feeling that he was very much used to now. If he felt anything close to calmness them there was something...wrong with the situation. Very wrong. So sitting in the back of the Mitsubishi Dignity with his fingers playing with the cuffs of his sleeves he felt almost normal. It was strange, that he could go from rather mundane daily situations to thinking that this was normal too and Taehyung guessed that the strangest part was how used to it all he was getting.

Strange and scary.

Taehyung knew that he was going to have to kill a man tonight. That part was non-negotiable. Yet he didn't really feel a thing. He was cold and his heart kept doing fast little skips in his chest, but otherwise he felt eerily fine. He supposed it was because it had finally sank in for him. This was his life right now, no backing out, no escape. It was his life until he somehow managed to pull this all off or he was caught and presumably killed. Jungkook hadn't told him what happened to traitors just yet but he knew that it ended in death. What about rats? He imagined that that was even worse, but right now he wasn't going to think about that.

Had the envelope gotten to Namjoon yet? Had he opened it and checked the files? The office worker had told him that it would reach the department by the early afternoon at latest. What did Namjoon think? Taehyung didn't know, he couldn't really think. Would his superior report what he had sent him? He hoped not because he was uncertain what would happen. Considering the risk that he had taken to get that USB pen into their hands he would be mighty pissed if it ended up in an industrial grinder. That would be his luck though, and the knowledge that that just might happen was enough to make him groan softly under his breath.

"Taehyung?" Jungkook asked, reminding him that he wasn't alone with his thoughts and was in fact in his company. Taehyung shifted and stopped playing with the shirt cuff. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, Master Jeon, just feeling a little...nervous," he spoke in a soft voice, as if he didn't want the chauffeur to hear him. Jungkook repeated the word 'nervous?' back at him and he could hear the amusement in his tone. "Yeah, I've never done anything like this remember?"

"You said that last night, Taehyung, and you performed just right." The mention of last night was enough to have Taehyung wetting his lips. He heard Jungkook shifting and waited for his hand to land on his knee like always. Except it didn't. It reached over to settle on the back of his neck, fingers and palm rather cool on his skin. Then he was slowly rubbing at his skin and it took Taehyung a few seconds to figure out that he was actually massaging his neck. "Taehyung, what you did to Nam. That was the finest piece of art I've seen in a long time. My hired thugs couldn't cut that well. I always had to do it, but you."

Jungkook's fingers pressed down perfectly into his skin; pliant and soft to his touch. Taehyung closed his eyes and he could trace his fingertips much easier. It crossed his mind briefly that he could have felt this last night too. Had the younger man not been tied up, he could have felt his fingers touching his neck like this.

"You, Taehyung, are an artist, and I've decided how I want you to deal with him," Jungkook said as he leaned over close enough to almost press his mouth against the side of his head. "Ahn has a wife and two kids. I want to give them all a little piece of him, to remember him by." Taehyung turned his head ever so slightly to look at him and there was a sadistic smile on his lips. "Remove his eyes and tongue. My men can send them to his family. After that do whatever you want. I don't care about the disposal. He's not going to become a piece of art, I don't give a fuck."

"OK, Master Jeon," Taehyung said as he swallowed hard. "I can do that." Jungkook's fingers carried on massaging at the back of his neck, almost in a sign of comfort. At least now he had an idea what happened to traitors. He still didn't know about rats. The smile on the young man's face said everything, he didn't need to hear that one word. Taehyung just turned his attention back to the window beside him, watching the evening views go past until the vehicle was pulling up outside the hotel.

The hotel was a tall building. In fact it was massive, a towering structure of glass and concrete. He held the door for Jungkook and he ran his eyes up the exterior, trying to count the stories as fast as he could. He got to twenty-five before he had to drag his eyes away and slam the door shut. The doorway was a revolving door of glass and gilded golden metal. There was a concierge standing just inside and outside two men that looked like bodyguards. Big men, just like Jungkook's hired thugs. The entrance had a red carpet rolled out over the step all the way along the sidewalk. Taehyung briefly wondered if this was a showbiz event before he realised that all of the people inside were going to be very rich and very powerful. It was enough to make Taehyung feel rather small and stupid.

"Have you never been to a hotel before?" Jungkook asked sarcastically as he reached down to button his suit jacket. He made sure to pull down on the waistcoat first to straighten it out.

"Uh, a few times. As a kid," Taehyung explained as he fiddled with his own jacket. At least the black shirt didn't really show creases...or nervous sweat patches. "It's been awhile."

"Yes? Well try to not stare," Jungkook remarked as he finished securing the buttons and crossed the sidewalk. He reached out to touch his elbow lightly, guiding him towards the entrance. The men on the door didn't even check them, didn't ask for a name. Taehyung thought that that was a blessing because he didn't like the idea of a roaming hand feeling a bump around his forearm and discovering the hidden flick knife strapped in place, snug in a leather holster that Jimin had nimbly fastened for him earlier. That would have certainly have made things weird.

They stepped inside the hotel, Taehyung pushing the door for him and allowing him to step out. The concierge on the door held a silver serving platter out to them, covered in flutes of champagne and a few glasses of wine. Jungkook took a glass of deep red wine and lifted it to his nose to sniff at it. Taehyung politely declined a glass, not wanting to drink anything right now. That could come later, after the important part was done with. An easy way to get numb and to forget.

"Smells cheap, will more than definitely taste like piss," Jungkook muttered as they started walking across the main area.

Taehyung saw that it was a massive open hall, with twin sets of stairs leading up to a balcony overhead. Lots of people were inside, maybe a hundred or more bodies in tuxedos and sparkling and glossy evening dresses. The floor was a maple wood, the banister and balcony railing clear glass and gilded golden metal like the entrance doors. Taehyung spared a quick look up at the lofty ceiling to see a glass chandelier the size a car dangling from the fixture, a tiered object like a waterfall of cut crystal pieces. Then he dropped his eyes straight ahead and tried to not stare too much.

"Ah, Master Jeon," a middle-aged man with slicked back hair called. "Glad you could make it this evening." Taehyung eyed the man to see a golden tan and teeth so white and capped that he thought about Howon and cringed internally.

"Of course, a true businessman always makes time," Jungkook replied, once again in what Taehyung liked to think of as 'professional mode'. "And I am very true, Hyungsik."

"Oh dear," the man said before laughing. Taehyung saw his hand move to waist of the woman standing beside him. "We were just discussing the fact that Master Kim wasn't present."

"He isn't?" Jungkook asked before sparing a quick look around the hotel hall. Maybe the others didn't see it but Taehyung sensed something coming off him that showed that he was pleased. Master Kim Jinwoo perhaps? He thought that that was the case.

"Probably still in China," an older man said as he fixed his glasses. "I believe that that was where he was last."

"No no, Donghae, he returned three days ago," Hyungsik corrected as he sipped at his own serving of wine. Jungkook hadn't touched his. "His father is in Taiwan right now, that's what you're thinking of." The older man made a series of noises at this, seemingly in agreement.

"Master Jeon, would know, I'm sure they've been in touch. Yes?"

"No, not even remotely," Jungkook clarified, speaking through his teeth as he did. "Much too busy for idle chitchat, Donghae." This made the old man laugh for some reason and Jungkook just set his jaw.

"After all this is just a charity gala, Master Kim must have a hundred charity auctions a year. I'm sure this one gala means nothing," Hyungsik remarked with a smile. A few of the guests gathered around laughed or agreed verbally and yet Jungkook said nothing.

There was the beginnings of a rather spoilt-looking pout on his lips. Either Jungkook didn't like not being the centre of attention or he didn't like Master Kim being it. It was hard to tell but Taehyung found the expression strange. Not only because he had never seen it before but because of how human it looked. His fingers were tight around the wine glass and he wasn't even bothering to swirl it around for effect. Clearly he wanted this conversation to end, fast.

"Master Kim is doing fantastic with his investments, I'm not surprised that he couldn't arrive this evening," the woman said with a smile. "Why I heard that this month alone he's brought in close to-"

Jungkook upended the glass of wine right into the plant pot in the middle of the conversation, even with the guests looking at him. When a serving boy passed he stuck the empty glass on his tray and then made an act of wiping his fingers on his jacket ends, as if removing dirt.

"I'm sorry, you were saying, Jisoo?" But the woman just made a soft noise and shook her head, signalling that her point was irrelevant. Taehyung saw her smile falter ever so slightly at the corners. "Ah, I thought we were discussing something important. Evidentially not. Regardless of whoever showed their faces tonight, it must be very apparent that my father isn't present."

"But of course, Master Jeon," Hyungsik agreed, and at his side Jisoo nodded much too enthusiastically. "Your father is quite possibly the busiest man in the entire country. Some would say the world." Another series of laughs, clearly Hyungsik was the comedy entertainment. Taehyung thought he had seen better comedy on a KBS drama.

"I'm afraid only I'm present for the evening, or at least until business calls me too."

"Is this an associate of yours?" another man asked, this one tall and thin with greying hair. He gestured at Taehyung rather unabashedly, as if he was several classes lower than them and could be pointed at. Taehyung was too anxious to really care.

"Yes, an associate," Jungkook agreed. One side of his mouth lifted at this as he reached around and Taehyung felt his hand on his waist for a few seconds before he removed it. Not before everyone saw the action though. "A rather fan-tastic associate," Jungkook dragged the word out for emphasis, "but you must excuse us. I have to make my rounds of course." The other guests fervently agreed with him and Taehyung moved to follow him across the rather large entrance hall. Jungkook grabbed champagne off a passing server this time and he quaffed it hard and fast.

"Fucking Donghae," Jungkook muttered as he reached up to wipe at his lips. "I swear he's developing dementia. Every time we see each other he mentions bloody Jinwoo. Either he's going fucking nuts or he does it on purpose. I never mention the newest escort on his arm. He should learn some fucking respect."

Jungkook was clearly irritated though it barely showed in the following interactions. Maybe only in the way he drank three more glasses of champagne over the duration of the conversations and ignored the hors d'oeuvres going around. Taehyung also ignored the food even when there was a hollow under his ribs that told him to eat. Maybe it was better to murder on a full-stomach? He didn't know but he did know that he would probably puke if he ate anything. Taehyung just followed him around like a puppy until it drew close to the time that he was supposed to leave. Jungkook made a scene of checking his phone in front of a small gathering of guests and when he glanced at the screen he made a soft noise under his breath.

"Shit, I must have an issue checked but I can't leave now. Not when I'm due to speak ah, Kim?" He turned to him with a smile on his face. "Please step outside and make a few calls on my behalf. Just be sure to explain the situation, my men will understand." He felt his fingers lightly squeezing at his elbow and he took that as the sign to leave.

"Of course, Master Jeon. I'll return as soon as the calls are made." Taehyung turned on his heel and hastily scanned the ground-floor area in the hopes of finding a fast way through the press of bodies. Then he cut across it, hearing a woman talking to Jungkook as he did.

"...having a handsome man like that call you 'Master'? Must be rather exciting and..."

Then he was too far out of earshot to hear the rest, to hear whatever Jungkook had to say on the matter. He cut around couples and small gatherings of avidly chatting guests, around servers that made sure to ask him if he would like something with fake smiles. Taehyung ignored them and exited the building to step outside onto the street. He could feel a light sheen of sweat on his brow and he knew that that was a sign of his nerves. But nerves weren't important right now. What was important was getting to that warehouse he had been told about; east of the hotel. Taehyung started walking at a rather calm pace and as soon as he was out of sight around the corner he started running. He was on a schedule and he couldn't afford to waste too much time without pissing Jungkook off. He didn't stop running until the sight of the building came into view; recognisable because of the few black cars parked in the lot beside it and a man on the door. Bald man with a head tattoo.

"Master Jeon sent you?" Taehyung nodded at him and the man moved to grab the shutter and pull it up. He gestured with his free hand for him to step under and into the warehouse so he did so. At his arrival he heard an indignant voice complaining.

"Great, another one. The circle jerk is complete now, huh?" The man had a husky voice, a sign of too many cigarettes or cigars. Not unpleasant to listen to however. "Fucking great. Search him."

"Just here to talk," Taehyung said in a reassuring tone as he let himself be patted down by the bald thug. Over his chest then down to his hips, along his stomach to both thighs and then even his ankles. The man lifted the ends of his trousers to show no hidden blades but just bare ankles. He sighted the man sitting close to the centre of the large room, on one of two chairs.

Ahn Kangho was perhaps in his mid-forties, hair a little too long like Lim but neat rather than crazy. He had light stubble on his face and was currently wearing a black suit with a white shirt. Both looked rather wrinkled, perhaps from hands grabbing at his clothes. It was hard to tell. His face didn't look trustworthy but he also didn't look like a bad man. Not like Nam, who had looked slimy from the start, or Jungkook who looked like the boy next door until he was smashing a man's teeth in or tied to a chair with his cock straining against his trousers.

"You're kidding me. I knew this was a set-up the minute it entered the building. Shouldn't have fallen for it, taking Woo's call as a real call. Should only have came here if Jeon himself called me but I messed up. Trusted Woo too much clearly."

Taehyung didn't have a clue how Kangho had ended up here at all. He just knew that there was information that he needed and the way to get it was from him. So after consenting to the pat-down and having his gun taken off him and placed on a table he moved to sit in the other chair facing the man. The wood creaked under his weight and he could feel Kangho's gaze on his face the entire time.

"Don't know you. You're not Jeon's so you're clearly his," Kangho said this word in disdain, sneer on his face as he did.

"Master Jeon wants info," Taehyung said, deciding to go straight to business just like Jungkook did. "Info on some rebellion you've been trying to assist. Sound familiar, Ahn?" Kangho didn't even blink at him. The man had likely seen things like this hundreds of time, had made been on the receiving end a few times too. "You should really 'fess up, Ahn, you're in the shit now."

"Not gonna happen, son. Go back to your fancy dinner or wherever the fuck you came from, and whilst you're at it try to not blow that monster under the table, huh?"

"That kinda info...I gotta say, Ahn, if you gave me that info right now I'd call him. I'd call Master Jeon right away and tell him just how fucking loyal you are, doesn't need to end badly." Taehyung paused for a moment and then an idea struck. "You could walk right outta here tonight. Got a wife and kids right? Two daughters? You could kiss 'em goodnight."

"Don't even mention my family, you piece of shit."

"I'll bet they're beautiful. All little girls are; real princesses. You could see 'em again, your wife too. Just give me info, Ahn."

"Eat shit," Kangho retorted with a deadpan expression.

This wasn't working. Taehyung had a schedule to stick to and fucking Kangho was refusing to comply with him. So he shifted to get out of his chair and made a show of fixing his jacket as he took a few steps to get closer to him. Then he swung his fist out without warning to punch him right in the mouth. The blow was hard, enough to knock his head back and daze him, so Taehyung grabbed hold of his throat and shifted to pin him into the chair with one of his knees.

"Rope," Taehyung said without taking his eyes off him. He saw one of the thugs moving out of the corner of his eye and felt Kangho trying to buck free from under his weight. He just moved his knee right onto his crotch and applied weight until it was enough to have him stop wriggling like a worm. His heart was hammering in his chest and yet he kept his grip firm. "Look man, I tried to play nice but you kept jerking me around."

Kangho just spluttered indignantly at him as the other man came over with the rope. It was as if he hadn't even imagined this. Even Howon had shown that he had known his time was up despite having done no real wrong. He supposed being around Jeon had made him feel rather immune but Taehyung knew one thing. No one in Haedogje Pa was ever immune to death or torture. They just staved it off for awhile, maybe a few years maybe a few decades. But they were all caught out in the end when they stepped out of line.

"Hold him for me, he's a slippery bastard," Taehyung remarked as he shifted to get off the man's lap. The thug with the pate tattoo held him firmly by the arms and so he wrestled to drag one wrist and pin it to the rickety armrest. Not ideal but at least there was spacing between them the seat, meaning he could tie him up just like he had done to Jungkook. No room for movement, he was going to need it because the man was most certainly going to move. By the time he was done with him he was going to be positively bucking and so Taehyung started securing him to the chair. It didn't take him that long at all before he was looping the rope around his chest and wrenching hard to bind him to the chair.

"Fucking young pups like you and his kid are the reason Haedogje Pa's gonna fall apart. It's not about business anymore, or honour or respect. Jeon's a good man but his son is a fucking monster," Kangho spat at the floor as he secured his second wrist to the chair arm. "Sadistic faggot. When he's not fucking other men like an animal he's cutting them to pieces and playing with 'em like a baby with a jigsaw puzzle!" Taehyung dropped to his knees to work on his ankles, making sure to not accidentally get the man's saliva on his trousers as he did.

When he was finished securing him Taehyung went back over to his own chair and removed the gloves from his jacket, then the jacket itself so that he could delicately place it on the back. If he got dirt or a single crease on it Jungkook would get pissed off. He quickly got the gloves on and then he moved back to stand in front of him. That was when he decided to roll his shirt sleeves up and reveal the knife strapped to his forearm. Ahn's gaze flickered to it and then his expression shifted to one that showed he felt rather stupid.

"Ahn, Master Jeon told me you had an 'acidic tongue'. He should've told the truth, you talk shit." Taehyung reached up to slip the wooden handle free from the leather harness. When he pressed his thumb down on the mechanism the knife swung out like a pendulum to point straight at the man. It wasn't like Jungkook's butterfly knife, which required a complex series of quick finger and wrist movements to slip free, but rather a simple flick knife. The blade was longer and thinner with a wickedly sharp tip and he just knew that it would serve its purpose to perfection.

"I'll have to cut it out if you don't stop," Taehyung retorted as he moved and pressed it right against the man's throat. The flat side first, just as a warning. "Names."

"I told you, I'm not saying anything. I don't work for Jeon's son I work for Jeon," Kangho retorted, as if the pressure of the blade on his throat was nothing at all. If only he knew the truth.

"Gimme a name, Ahn. I'm getting bored and there's a party waiting for me," Taehyung said as he twisted the blade and this time pressed the edge against his Adam's Apple. The sharp edge actually cut his skin ever so slightly though that was not his intent. "If you don't gimme one I'll cut it out of you. Not just your tongue, I'll slice you up like a fucking pig. You're not the first man I'll have done this to. Want me to feed you your own cock? 'Cos I will. Ask Nam I'm sure you've seen the news."

"Kim! It was Kim alright!" Kangho snapped at him, trying to sound pissed off but really just sounding scared.

"You're gonna have to narrow that down for me man," Taehyung retorted as he kept the knife pressed firmly in place. "I know maybe...fifty fucking Kims."

"Kim! That's all the guy told me!"

Taehyung studied his face and he saw that the man wasn't lying to him. His expression was perfectly honest even through his fear and it was enough to make him feel rather strange. Kim as in Kim Jinwoo; the supposed childhood friend of Jungkook? The one mentioned at the gala? He knew that there had been conflicts, Jungkook's behaviour earlier proved this point, but this? This seemed so much more than that. Or was it possible that he was talking about Jinwoo's father instead, the Kim?

"Who's the other guy? Who set you up for this, huh?" Taehyung asked in a soft voice. "Who's the selfish bastard that fucked you over?"

"Lee Yoo...Yoo-something. Ah shit," Kangho cursed and closed his eyes, clearly trying his very hardest to recall his name. "Lee Yoochun! Works in Seodaemun-gu!"

"...Never heard of him."

"Works mostly for Kim, course you haven't heard of him, you dumb bitch!"

"Oh?" Taehyung raised his eyebrows at this and pulled the blade away from his throat. "Do you think it's a smart idea to call the guy holding a knife against your throat a bitch?"

"Anyone who works for that faggot is a dumb bitch."

"Hmm, well this dumb bitch was given very strict instructions on how to deal with you. Where's the box?" Taehyung glanced up and he saw one of the thugs reaching inside their jacket pocket to pull out the thin box. He opened it to show a nice crushed velvet interior. Purple. Not that big but it really didn't need to be. "Y'know what's gonna go in that box? Bits of you." Taehyung could hear the words coming out his mouth but it was as if he was reading a script. As if somewhere across the district Jungkook was controlling him just like he had with Nam. It was The Boy's words coming out of his mouth not his own. He had his hand firmly up his ass like a ventriloquist dummy and he was making him talk just like a real human would.

He was just a dumb bitch puppet after all.

"Y'know why? 'Cos you were a dumb fuck and you didn't cover your ass. I saw the photographs, heard the recordings, I saw all of that shit and my god, Ahn. How the fuck have you managed to live this long? I'm honestly surprised Jeon hasn't smoked your turncoat ass by now."

"I'm not a turncoat, I'm trying to rescue his empire before it collapses."

"It's not a house of cards, Ahn, it's not gonna collapse." Taehyung shifted his gaze to look at the thug that had helped hold him in the chair earlier and at his silent gesture the man grabbed hold of Kangho's head. "Jeon wants Master Jeon to succeed after him. If you refuse to follow his decision, then you're a turncoat. It's that simple."

"You told me if I gave you names-"

"Yeah yeah, does Jeon practice parlay, Ahn?" Taehyung interrupted. "Does he negotiate with his enemies and let 'em free for a scrap of info?" He saw the man's face hardening at him. "Like father, like son. How's your honour feeling right now? After you ratted a brother out to save your own ass?" Now he didn't feel like Jungkook's puppet. Now he felt like Namjoon interrogating someone. It was like he was a vice officer all over again. All that was missing was the one way glass and his badge.

"You'll regret this. Jeon, that fucking abomination of a son of his. Even you. You'll all regret it," Kangho said in a surprisingly even tone. "When the time comes you'll regret it." He moved to get close to him, trying to figure out what to go for first. What the first step of the dance would be. "That little monster will regret crawling out of his poor mother."

Taehyung didn't know how he managed to keep his hand steady. His entire body felt numb and yet he managed to reach up with his free hand and wrench Kangho's eyelids open as wide as they could go. It made the man make a series of noises yet he didn't shout or start crying like he had expected. The sight it revealed was the entirety of his eyeball, the smooth curve of it sitting snug in his eye socket. Taehyung saw his way in however, for it was right in the corner of his eye, a slight entrance. He hovered the blade over this section and lowered it.

"Keep still or this will go right through," Taehyung muttered. "Maybe even right into your fucking brain. That might actually be a good thing..."

The flat of the knife slowly rubbed along the surface of his eye as he tried to get the perfect angle. When he did he slipped the blade between his eyeball and the curve of his orbital socket. He didn't know if this hurt for Ahn was making no more noise than usual, no screams to alert him that it did. Just breathing unsteadily through his nose as he squeezed his mouth shut. Taehyung shifted his wrist ever so slightly and then came the pressure. He applied a hard push onto the handle and watched as the blade first unrooted, then started to force his eyeball out of the socket. That was when Kangho started making noises through his clenched jaw. When it finally came free it did so with a rather sickly popping sound and Taehyung dropped his hand to catch it. The eyeball was still attached to the optic nerve and he briefly wondered what that even meant.

Could Kangho see in that eye right now?

Taehyung knew that when he severed it the pain would come. Only then. So he took a deep breath and sliced at the thin stretch of nerve so that he had only the eye on his hand. When the blade parted the nerve Kangho's screams were like nails on a blackboard and he tried to fight back. All that happened was that he rocked ever so slightly with the chair. Step one complete, now for step two: the second eye. Taehyung leaned over to place the severed one in the box the thug was holding for him and he moved onto the next. Having already removed the first he found the second easier and he didn't hesitate in adding pressure. Another popping sound, another eyeball landing in his palm and leaving sticky little patches on the leather before he cut it free and placed it in the box. More wailing and frantic rocking from Kangho, some screamed words that seemed like begs for mercy.

Step three and four to come, the dance was really picking up now.

The sensation of grabbing his tongue between his thumb and fingers was a hideous one. He could feel the warmth and wetness even through the leather gloves, the pulsing of his muscles as he tried to pull it free. Taehyung tried his hardest to not focus on it as he angled his wrist and told the man to hold his head steady for him. The thug went one better, clamping his jaw tight to keep his mouth well and truly open. The sight was eerily familiar. He was aware of how much this was like to what Jungkook had done to Howon. Tied to a chair, playing dentist with a hammer and a set of pliers. Except now he was playing surgeon with a flick knife. Completely different and yet exactly the same. Jungkook had removed something, had knocked and torn parts free with ruthless pulls of his wrists. He was just plucking and sawing things free instead.

Taehyung found that the blade cut through the man's tongue just as smoothly as it had cut through Nam's cock. Unlike that situation however there was blood, a lot of blood. He recalled there being a major artery in the tongue and so he shifted to ensure that he wouldn't get hit by any of the spray. It took just a few seconds of sawing until the blade sliced through to the other side and Taehyung held it up to look at it for a moment. Then that went into the box with the two other parts and he looked back at Kangho.

Taehyung thought that there were no words to describe the sheer nightmare that was his face. It was the kind of hideous that would haunt his nightmares; the hollow pits where his eyes should have been and the dangling threads of nerves. When he jerked his head they shifted and dangled like shoelaces and with every mighty attempt at a shout he tried his stump of a tongue jerked up and down and caused more blood to pump out over his chin.

He had done that.

Shit he had just done that. It was like a slap across the face and it snapped him out of whatever spell he had been under. The walls he had put up to keep it all out had been knocked down by a fucking bulldozer and Taehyung was aware of reality again. Horribly and terrifyingly aware.

"Fuck, the gun, brother, gimme the fucking gun!" Taehyung yelled, unable to control the volume of his voice. Considering what had just happened he was surprised he wasn't screaming pure nonsense at the other man. One of the hired thugs grabbed his Cz75 and hastily moved to hand it to him. Jungkook had told him to finish it whatever way he wanted and Taehyung couldn't think of a faster and more painless way that this.

He had never shot anyone before and yet Taehyung found himself handling it all surprisingly well. Could Kangho hear this? Right now could he understand what was going to happen? Or was he in too much agony to even process anything more than the sheer agony that he was in? Taehyung hoped that he couldn't but he supposed that whatever the case it really didn't matter anymore. Right now Kangho was nothing more than a target to him, one from the shooting range. He didn't even have to worry about the distance because he was standing beside him. His headshots had been very good regardless of distance anyway. He wanted to say sorry but he knew that he couldn't. Only Jungkook could say "sorry, just business" and not him. So he just held his tongue as he cocked the hammer back, hearing it drop with a crisp click before he pulled the trigger.

There was a deafening roar as the bullet kicked free of the chamber. There was no high pitched zip as it flew through the air however for the impact was much too close. No, the bullet shot out the gun and right into Kangho's temple. Taehyung assume that it would lodge inside but it didn't. It punched out the other side of his head and took most of his skull with it, a spray of blood and brains erupting to land on the floor with liquid splashes. A little blood misted back to try and hit him too. Maybe it did, Taehyung didn't feel anything at all. He was too cold for that.

Shooting range targets didn't explode with chunks of meat, just little clouds of paper taking to the air.

There was a mark around Kangho's head from where the muzzle had been pressed. Black marks that looked like scorch marks. He could even see a little curling wisp of smoke taking to the air from around the bullet hole. Jungkook hadn't lied about the lethality after all.

"...Master Jeon instructed me," Taehyung explained as he flicked the safety back off and lowered his arm. "The...the goods are to go into separate envelopes. Each one addressed to Ahn's family, his wife and his two daughters. He wants 'em delivered personally to the family by tomorrow morning. Don't damage the goods, not after what I just had to fucking go through." He shifted to shove his gun back into his armpit holster and then roughly removed his gloves as he crossed the room to collect his jacket and leave the building. He slipped it on as he stepped outside and then moved so that he could lean back against the wall of the warehouse.

Taehyung closed his eyes as he rolled his head back and he thought about what Jungkook had taught him. To breathe, in and out, in and out. His throat felt much too tight and he was certain that he was wheezing as he breathed in through his nose and back out of his mouth. He had just mutilated and murdered a man with barely any assistance at all, nothing more than a set of hands to hold a man still for him.

Because Jungkook had asked him to.

There was something that he kept thinking of, that he couldn't force away. It was how the bullet had punched out of the gun just like how Jungkook had described it would. Of how the moment he had pulled the trigger his fear had just...ceased to exist. All over, no more cries of pain and thoughts of Kangho. Just a smoking hole on the side of his head and silence in the warehouse building. A wonderful relief from it all.

Taehyung took a few final breaths and then he started walking down the street. No point in dwelling on what had happened now, he was currently in too much shock to do so. But later...later the bad thoughts and fear would come back to haunt him. They always did. Hopefully not in the form of vivid nightmares. In his haste to get to the warehouse earlier he hadn't really scanned the area. So when he saw a pay phone and he stopped walking for a moment to stare at it. He had no money, no way at all of using it. But in the future wouldn't a pay phone be a wonderful method of communication? Just as simple to use as the disposable phones. Then he carried on walking back to the hotel and tried his hardest to not reflect on what he had just done.

When he stepped back inside he saw that barely anyone looked his way. Not without Jungkook by his side. Locating the young man was rather hard but after a minute of frantic searching he saw him up on the balcony with a small group of followers, persistent hanger-ons. Taehyung ascended the stairs, once again taking several deep breaths to look calm as he walked along the stretch of balcony. Jungkook spotted him and for a second his expression looked surprised before going back to his professional smile.

"If you will excuse me, business calls," Jungkook said as he swiftly broke away from them and moved to reach him.

"I did it," Taehyung said as he leaned close to him. "Just like you requested, Jungkook. The business deal has been brokered."

"...Follow me," Jungkook said after a moment of thought. They went down the stairs and along the ground-floor in the direction of the restrooms. Taehyung followed along behind him and stepped inside the male restroom. Then he was being pulled along the tiled floor towards a large cubicle. Once inside Jungkook closed the door and slipped the lock over securely.

"Tell me," he ordered in a low voice. "Details now."

"Ahn gave me two names. I'm gonna look into the first one and find out who the fuck he's talking about. The second..."

"Who's the first?" Jungkook asked, concentrating on the important part first. Taehyung told him the name. Lee Yoochun. "Don't know him, find out and inform me. The second?"

"Jungkook, I feel I...I should do some research first. Just to be certain that Ahn wasn't lying to me. He might have lied to cover himself. I don't wanna report false info just in case."

"...OK," Jungkook said after a moment of thought. "Tell me what it was like with Ahn. I wish I could have been there but I had to stay here instead. Give shitty speeches about kids with cancer."

"It was..." Taehyung paused and he tried to sort his thoughts out. Jungkook asked him how he had killed him. "I shot him. In the head after the removal. I didn't think it would be like that. His head uh...it kinda exploded." Jungkook made a noise at this, something almost like a purr. "There was a mess."

"You know I love mess. How much of a mess? And the removal?"

Taehyung was more than certain that Jungkook was enjoying this too much. Sadistically so.

"Removing the eyes wasn't hard. They...when I applied pressure they came free very easily." Jungkook reached up with one hand to cup at his cheek and he murmured about how pretty his eyes were. Hopefully not pretty enough for him to want them removing from his skull. "The tongue was a little harder. Slippery."

"Could you feel his pulse?"

"...Yeah, actually I could," Taehyung replied, finally figuring out what that sensation had been. He didn't need to be told to explain this, rather he just continued. "It felt like a throb, I guess? Really fast and hard and-"

"Fuck," Jungkook cursed breathlessly as he grabbed hold of his waist and pulled him close. Their hips slammed together hard and the cry of surprise that escaped Taehyung's lips was muted by the younger man mouth clamping over his. Jungkook kissed him roughly, much too roughly. He could taste champagne on his tongue as he forced it into his mouth, and his hands moved along to grab at his ass with that same level of roughness. He tried to kiss him back but it was hard to do so. Jungkook broke the contact to take a quick intake of breath and kissed him again, this time not as roughly. Taehyung had just managed to attune himself to his tongue, to explore his mouth with his own, when the young man broke the contact.

"Shit, this calls for a celebration." Jungkook untangled himself and he slipped his fingers inside his suit jacket to reach into the inner pocket. After a momentary fumbling he pulled something free and Taehyung looked at the object. It was a glass vial, small and thin. There was a stopper in the top and a slight chain attached to it, and on this chain was a little glass spoon. One glance showed him exactly what it was: cocaine. He didn't even need to see the white powder inside because he knew that it was, the vial alone was proof.

"Jungkook, I dunno if you should-"

"Too much champagne to drown out the guests," Jungkook interrupted with a laugh. "But this is an instant pick-me-up. I'll be practically sober after a hit. I usually have fun with Jimin with this. Cocaine is a party drug after all." Jungkook pulled the stopper out. "I refuse to snort this off the back of my hand or a fucking toilet seat. Not when I'm used to using Jimin as a surface. Taehyung, sit on the seat, unbutton your shirt."

Taehyung didn't really know what he was planning but the only way to know was to follow his instructions. So he placed the toilet seat down to perch on the cover and then he reached up to fumble the top buttons of his shirt open. When he was at his ribs Jungkook told him that it was enough, that he could stop. Taehyung had just lowered his hands when the younger man's fingers seized hold of his hair tightly and pulled back hard. He let out a surprised gasp and then realised that Jungkook was exposing his neck for a reason.

Jungkook used the spoon to gather up a small amount of the cocaine and then he was tipping the glass spoon to spill it onto his skin. Taehyung could feel the soft sensation of it dusting along his clavicle and then the spoon poking at it to neaten it into a line. Satisfied by this arrangement Jungkook reached inside his pocket to pull a slip free, something gala related. He rolled it into a tight tube and bent down over his chest. He pressed his thumb against one nostril as he held the tooter in the other and then he snorted the line up.

"Oh fuck..." he groaned as he tipped his own head back, blinking rapidly a few times and then twitching his nose. "I needed that." Jungkook sniffed a few times and then he lowered his head to look at him. Taehyung still had his own cocked back, to expose his throat and chest to him. "Not the best location but I'll find a better one next time."

"What'd you mean by that, Jungkook?" Taehyung asked as he moved to lift his head back up.

"Want a hit?" Jungkook asked rather than answer his question. He shook the vial invitingly and raised one eyebrow in that languid fashion of his.

"Nuh...no thank you, Jungkook," he said in a low mumble as he reached up to start buttoning his shirt again. The young man tossed the tooter aside without a care.

"Wait, let me clean you up." Jungkook gathered the remains onto his fingers, rubbing them along the dip of his collarbones, and before Taehyung could even figure out what he was doing he felt the young man's fingers forcing themselves into his mouth. He jerked his head back in surprise as the hard press of his fingertips almost dug into his gums and then Jungkook pulled his hand away.

"That should give you a taste," Jungkook remarked with a smirk, clearly amused at his own joke. Taehyung stared at him in dumb confusion and he lifted his fingers to lick them before laughing at him. Actual laughter that he had never really heard before. Not the usual business chortle or breathless 'haha' for effect, but an actual series of rather sweet giggles. Taehyung wanted to be pissed off at him and yet he found it annoyingly hard to do so hearing that laughter coming from his grinning mouth. It even made even his nose wrinkle up when he did.

"Jungkook, will that...will I get high off that?"

"Mmm, for a few minutes maybe seen as you've never used before," Jungkook remarked as he lowered his fingers from his lips and recapped the cocaine vial. "Not high enough though, and trust me. When you feel it, you will want to feel it again." Taehyung fumbled his shirt buttons closed with rather unsteady fingers and Jungkook watched him do so as he took a few more sniffs.

"What does it feel like? Snorting it?" Taehyung asked to break the silence of the cubicle.

"Hard to explain, burns a little," Jungkook explained as he shoved the vial into his jacket pocket. "But then there's a kind of drip. A steady drip down the back of your throat and it just feels so good. "

Taehyung thought about the sensation of Jungkook's cum shooting right into his mouth and how some had spilled down his throat and he swallowed hard. Jungkook however was too distracted sliding the cubicle lock over to see this. He stepped out and crossed the bathroom to get to the sinks and so he got off the toilet seat to follow him.

"You feel numb but also there's a rush. A powerful rush right in your centre. Pure power, Taehyung." Jungkook made sure to dab water inside of his nose to wet it, to stop the skin from drying out and cracking; rotting. After doing so he adjusted his jacket in the sink mirror and then turned around to roughly straighten him out. "You would look better with some skin on show. You're not a fucking nun, Taehyung."

Jungkook popped two of the shirt buttons open with some consideration. Perhaps some of the cocaine was still stuck to his skin for he moved his head forward quickly and Taehyung felt the hot wetness of his tongue darting along to the dip between his collarbones. Then he moved his head back and proceeded to fix his hair, muttering that he needed it cutting because it was too long.

"Can...can we leave now?" Taehyung asked as he followed him out of the restroom and into the main hall. There were too many people and he wanted to leave so badly.

"A little longer now, Taehyung." Jungkook's mouth brushed against his ear and one hand shifted to settle wonderfully on his waist. "Can't leave so suddenly, it looks rather suspicious. So we're going to mingle some more. A few female guests complained about you disappearing like that. I think they wanted to see your face a little more." Taehyung stayed still and silent as he looked across the reception hall. "Really burn it into their memories so they can use it tonight when their old fat husbands are sloppily fucking them."

With that Jungkook pulled away just in time to smile and reply to an approaching guest. Perfectly composed, almost eerily so. He was an amazing actor and Taehyung just hoped that he could reach those levels too. He thought he was doing well right now, for no one in the hall had a clue what he had just done. The young man was scarily good at playing his role out, carrying a champagne glass but no longer drinking from it. Smiling and talking and holding eye-contact the entire time. It was a little hard for him to do that however.

Taehyung couldn't feel his mouth.

It was everything, from his tongue to his gums, all the way back to his very teeth. They felt weird, floating in his skull in fact. He didn't know whether he loved or hated this sensation because he just knew that the numbness would soon spread out and encompass his body too. Not just his head.

It was as he was trailing along behind Jungkook that he felt the first kick hit him. Luckily the slight amount meant that he felt himself starting to come back down within just several minutes. But those first minutes were the most strangest experience of his life. It was nothing even close to getting drunk, that almost light and foggy feeling. Taehyung was too aware, too sensitive to everything around him. Hypersensitive in fact. Just the slightest sound or movement was too much, a punch instead of tap, a scream instead of a laugh. It just made him too sensitive to it all and Taehyung felt himself slipping in and out of it all as he crossed the room, as hands reached out to touch him.

When Jungkook finally relented and decided it was time to leave, the performance was over, Taehyung could have cried in relief. The little rush of cocaine had faded at that point and left him feeling a little woozy. He followed him out and to the car and almost collapsed into the backseat.

"Starting tomorrow," Jungkook said as he reached up to rub at his nose, "I'll have to detox. Cleanse my system from all of this shit. Can't afford to get addicted. Not to cocaine, that shit will wreck me. Should probably drop the champagne for a few days too." He settled back in the seat. "Jimin won't like that."

"Master Jeon? Are we finished?"

"With work duties, yes," Jungkook explained as he twitched his nose a few times. "You know what comes next, don't you, Taehyung?"

Taehyung wanted to say something mundane. Food, which his hollow stomach craved. Sleep, which he probably wouldn't do anyway. He would stare at the mirror above his bed or the wall across the room and think about Kangho's fucked up howling face. Yet he knew exactly what Jungkook was talking about, and when he opened his mouth a familiar word came out.

"A reward."

"Yes, Taehyung, a very special reward," Jungkook said with a wide smirk.

Taehyung wasn't at all surprised when he climbed into the elevator carriage and Jungkook hit the button to the penthouse suite. He had known that this was going to happen the entire drive back to the apartment. In the ride up the young man received a message about the goods being prepared for dispatch and a cancelled order. Taehyung took that to mean Kangho's body, which he assumed was being dumped somewhere across the capital. This seemed to greatly please him for he had a smile on his face when he slipped his phone back inside his suit jacket.

"Jungkook, what exactly is my reward?" Taehyung asked in a quiet voice as he stared at the carriage flooring, at his shoes. Clearly he was allowed to wear them inside now, a strange privilege.

"What do you think it is?" Jungkook reflected the question back at him smoothly. He had a very strong idea that he knew but he wasn't going to say. He just knew that it was not a gun. The carriage doors opened and Taehyung let him step out first to go to the door. As like last time he opened it by pressing his thumb onto the keypad and then pressing several buttons. "I'll have to allow you into the system," Jungkook explained as he hit enter, "so you can enter freely."

Though Taehyung wasn't surprised by the fact he was entering the penthouse, he had to admit that he was surprised by the sight of Jimin. Jimin, lying on the dining room table close to the entrance much like a pet cat. In that black silk bathrobe he almost looked like a cat and that was when he caught sight of something else. A glint of metal around his throat.

Jimin was wearing a collar. A black collar. It was studded with gold along the front and there looked to be a tag on it though he couldn't possibly read it.

"Have fun, darling?" Jimin asked as Jungkook removed his shoes. Taehyung decided to copy his action and he stepped out of the loafers and stayed right by the door.

"Not really, I missed the fun because I was stuck at the gala. If I had been allowed to bring you though..." Jungkook moved to get to the dining room table and he leaned over to kiss him. "I'm sure if would have been a lot more fun."

"What about Taehyung? Tae, can I call you Tae?" He quietly confirmed that he could and Jimin smiled at his whilst Jungkook stroked at his hair. "Did you have fun?"

"I uh...I was working," Taehyung explained.

"Well work's over now, dear. Time for play," Jimin remarked as he reached for a bottle of champagne. He had already removed the cork earlier and he just lifted it to pour out three flutes, the golden liquid bubbling as it spilled into the glass. "Come, don't stand there by the door like one of his boring old men. You're a guest."

What Taehyung wouldn't do for something a little stronger than champagne. Like soju. Or absinthe. Or maybe not booze at all. That would probably be smart and yet he moved to accept the glass from him.

"You've been working hard, right?" Jimin asked in a soft voice, own glass in front of him untouched. Taehyung didn't want to swallow a drop until one of those two did. "Working hard to please Master Jeon?" Jungkook took a deep swallow of his champagne and his hand trailed down Jimin's neck to his back.

"Yeah," Taehyung replied, feeling rather stupid as he did. His conversational ability seemed to have ran dry at the sight of Jungkook lightly caressing his hand along his lower back to his thighs. "Yeah I've been working as hard as I can." Jungkook slipped his fingers under the hem of his robe and he didn't get very far before Jimin was shifting with a surprised noise to knock his hand away.

"Not yet, darling," Jimin scolded in a rather husky voice. "Don't be greedy, hmm?" Jungkook just grinned at him, that same grin from the bathroom earlier that made his nose wrinkle ever so slightly. "Look, Tae's a little nervous. We have to help him relax."

"I know a great many ways to do that," Jungkook retorted as he lightly swirled his champagne glass.

Taehyung didn't really know at what point he felt himself starting to get a little tipsy. Perhaps it was after five glasses of champagne, a second bottle opened up alongside the first. Jimin got him to pop the cork and laughed sweetly when some of it spilled to land on the table. Maybe he didn't realise how much he was drinking because the other man somehow managed to make him feel a strange giddiness that seemed to make his nerves ease off. Jimin was incredibly warm and friendly, maybe a little too touchy and flirtatious, but he still made him feel oddly comfortable in the penthouse suite. Comfortable in a way that Jungkook couldn't.

It didn't really register with Taehyung just how convenient that all was.

"Babe, I need you to pose for me," Jungkook remarked as he checked his jacket pocket. He had taken it off at some point and had even rolled his shirt sleeves up. He was still in his waistcoat however. When he pulled the cocaine vial free it became obvious what he meant by pose. "So we can have a little more fun."

Jimin giggled and stretched out on the chaise lounge just across the suite in the most slowest and erotic fashion Taehyung had ever had the pleasure of witnessing. First he got onto his knees, and then onto his hands. From this position he lowered himself until his chest was brushing against the satin and his hips rocked down smoothly so that his ass was still perked upright. Bare ass on perfect display from his position a few feet away.

"How do you want me to pose?" Jimin asked in a rather seductive tone, purposely moving his hips slightly as he did. "The usual?"

"What do you think, Taehyung? Where's the perfect spot on his body to do coke off?"

"His thighs," Taehyung said without even thinking, the words slipping free. "You should use his...his thighs." This made Jimin start laughing sweetly, that wonderful laugh of his echoing through the suite.

"That's where you can snort it from, I think I'll go with the usual."

At his words Jimin shifted to get into position smoothly. He got onto his knees to allow Jungkook to sit on the end of the chaise lounge and then he was shifting to get on his lap. Taehyung watched him moving until he was sprawled across his legs on his stomach and then the bathrobe was being pulled up to his ribs. Jungkook poured some of the cocaine out onto the dip of his lower back and then he sorted it into three thin lines. Jimin stayed in place, arms and head dangling over the end of the furniture. Jungkook took a tooter he had made a moment ago from a rolled up won note and he bent his head to snort the lines up, pausing for a few seconds between each one. When he was done he spanked Jimin rather hard and the other man got off his lap.

"Your turn," Jungkook said as he rolled his head back and closed his eyes. Jimin took the vial out of his hand and he shifted on the chaise lounge so that he could spread his legs open. The bathrobe shifted obscenely and Taehyung tried to not stare as he watched him lightly tapping a dab of cocaine out onto his thigh. The white clashed against his golden skin beautifully. Sea foam on sand.

"I...I dunno if I should," Taehyung muttered as Jimin used his finger to get it into a neat line. The powder on his finger went right into Jungkook's mouth. "I mean I should just-"

"Come on, Taehyung," Jungkook said as he reached up and tugged on the collar, forcing Jimin's head back as he did. He made a breathy noise at this. "You want him to, don't you, babe?"

"Yes," Jimin said as he looked down at him. "Please, Tae, I want you..." He didn't finish this trail of thought and it was clear why.

Taehyung thought about what had happened earlier at the hotel. That had been just the affects of having a dab of powder rubbed into his gums. What the hell would a whole line do to him?

"It'll be fun, Tae," Jimin said as he lightly cocked his head at him. A lock of messy hair slipped forward and Taehyung felt the most pressing urge to reach up and tuck it behind his ear. He had to stop himself from doing so. "Want to know something about coke?"

"What?"

"It'll keep you up all night," Jimin explained with a mischievous smile. "All of that energy surging through you. Really gets the blood pumping." The sound of a sudden burst of warm giggles escaping his lips made Taehyung stomach do a strange little lurch up to his ribs. "We can go hard all night long right, darling?"

"The sun will be up before we finish," Jungkook agreed from the end of the chaise lounge, one arm still placed on the top and lazily bobbing his foot because the cocaine in his system demanded he twitch and shift incessantly. His other hand was still snagged around the back of Jimin's collar.

Taehyung didn't even need to ask them what they meant by this because it was so very obvious. If he snorted this line of cocaine then he knew exactly what would happen. He wasn't sure if the knowledge scared or excited him. But he did know one thing and that was how the slight dabble had made him feel earlier. Alive. Too hot. Excited. Hypersensitive. The line of powder clinging to Jimin's skin would be that and so much more. Not just a teaser that left his heart racing but the real deal; all of those pleasurable sensations flooding his system.

What would fucking feel like?

Taehyung eyed the cocaine for a few seconds and his tongue felt too dry in his mouth. He had to move it around, along the backs of his teeth and lips to try and produce saliva again. He looked up at Jimin first, seeing that lovely smile of his, and then Jungkook. The young man's expression was urging him on, to just give it a shot. To just try it.

"It will feel good," Jungkook said in a rather sultry tone. Soft, voice barely above a whisper.

Taehyung dropped his head over Jimin's inner thigh as he stuck the tooter into his nose, pressing hard with the thumb of his other hand to block his free nostril. Then he snorted the line up with a quick jerk of his head.

He guessed that he would find out.