Chapter Twenty-Eight . . .|
-take. me. home.

     Jeongguk sucked in a sharp breath, trying to walk without the crutch by his side. It had been two progressive weeks since he kidnapped Taehyung back into his custody. His knee was still killing him as was his abdomen wound.

He hated that he looked so weak and could barely walk on his own. Jeongguk didn't let it stop him from anything.

Any meeting he had, he would request that Jimin help him there and to make it look like he was doing just fine. If caught with a visible physical disability, Jeongguk would be at risk for anyone who desired to takeover Jeon Undergrounds.

He wasn't all of an idiot.

It was hard, however. He would get throbbing pains and would fight back the urge to stand and lean on something.

One time, the pain became so unbearable that Jeongguk had to cut the meeting short because 'his oven was on'. No one dared to question him and how accurate his statement might have been.

Later that same day, he was yelling in pain and damn near crying. Yes, this man is a scary and rich son of a bitch but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a pain tolerance.

Going back to current day, Jeongguk would practice daily walking without support. He had gotten better, don't assume wrong, but it just wasn't good enough for him to pull off the 'I swear I'm okay' look.

He pulled his fingers through his black locks, feeling exhausted already and the day just started. The mafia leader huffed, slipping out his phone and calling Mr. Park, needing to get to Mr. Kim to a new designated room since he couldn't be trusted in his old one.

Jeongguk didn't blame the young adult for trying to escape, but that just meant that Taehyung had to be locked away in a not-so nice appearing room. One that looked more like a cell than an actual bedroom.

That all went down like this.

     "I was thinking on expanding." Jeongguk said, limping with the crutch that supported his body weight since he injured knee couldn't do such thing.

"We don't have all the room in the world to keep expanding like this, Jeongguk." Jimin uttered.

The younger hummed. "I don't want to expand here. I want to be far across Seoul, be at every end so it really is like I'm the king of Seoul."

"Is that a great idea?"

"Sure it is!" The mafia leader chuckled. "Why isn't it? Soon, we can spread throughout Busan. Don't tell me you wouldn't want to be in charge of a specific place around Seoul, or even Busan!"

"No, not really." Jimin answered. "I just think we should give it some time. Clearly you're not in the best condition and we can't take any chances with growing right now. You just stole from Hoseok and you want him to find a weak spot?"

". . ." Damn, Jeongguk knew how correct Jimin was. "I'm not in the worst condition, I think I'm still pretty mobile." He uttered.

Jimin snatched away the crutch, causing the proclaimed mobile adult to stumble and try to catch himself with the wall, leaning against it so he wouldn't fall flat on his face.

"Mobile?"

"You're such a dick for that, I was caught off guard." Jeongguk winced under his breath.

"Off guard? Alright then, walk right now since you know what I was trying to do." Jimin stood back so he wasn't used as a guide, eyes watching Jeongguk's every move.

Jeongguk took a shaky step, trying to pick up his good leg but all of the pressure was applied directly on the leg that couldn't withstand the said pressure. "Okay, you proved your fucking point, give me the crutch back. I clearly still need it." He sounded to be in defeat.

The elder obeyed, handing over the mentioned object so Jeongguk could walk again. He looked down the hallway and his eyes grown two times its normal size. "Damn it . . ." He breathed. "Um, J-Jeongguk, maybe you should go back to your office."

"Huh? Why?" Jeongguk hadn't seen nor had he caught on just yet, readjusting the crutch so it was under his armpit. "What's with the sudden change?"

"Okay, if I tell you, you can't freak out."

"That just means I'm going to so you might as well come out with it now."

"Taehyung just might have left his room."

"The fuck do you mean?" Jeongguk looked down and took notice to the damaged metal and door which looked like the lock and knob was broken. "Taehyung left his room."

"That's what I mean."

"Shut up, where the fuck is he?! I didn't temporarily lose my ability to walk for nothing!" The mafia leader tried to rush down the hall to get to Taehyung's room, losing balance and collapsing to the ground. He landed straight on his aching knee, quickly rolling on his back while his leg was clutched in his arms. His face showed nothing but pure agony.

"Shit, Jeon-"

"D-Don't worry about me," the aforementioned was obviously hurting. "Go f-find that fuck!" He cried out, pushing himself to sit upright so he wasn't laying on his backside anymore.

Jimin wanted to make sure Jeongguk was okay but he was yelled at to go find Mr. Kim so he did just that.

     "Taehyung? It's Jimin." The latter called for the nth time. "I know there's no actual way for you to escape and you're really only hurting yourself by doing this, you can get in more danger than what you already are so, like, come out?"

He was actually becoming paranoid that Taehyung hurt himself in some type of way or someone saw him and took him away.

"Christ above!" Jimin ran his hand through his hair, looking around the corners. He was becoming more and more upset as the minutes flew by.

Jimin opened a door to a closet that stored away brooms and mops, just cleaning supplies in general that the maids would use to make sure Jeon Undergrounds looked presentable.

When Jimin flicked on the lights, he jumped so high, seeing the end of a broomstick in his face that was hidden before. It startled him to death.

"Take. Me. Home." Taehyung said, showing really nothing in his eyes.

"I- Mr. Kim? You need to work on your hiding skills." Jimin sighed. "What were you trying to accomplish?"

"I feel like part of me believed I could get away."

"I told you you can't." Jimin remarked.

"Do you know what it feels like to be locked away with no faith that you'll ever get out? At least I gave it a shot, I can say I tried." He lowered the broomstick. "Just take me back to my room and lock me away again." He knew he was captured and no way in hell would Jimin let him go.

"You broke your lock."

"So?"

"Jeongguk isn't very pleased with your choice of actions so you'll be locked away somewhere else unfortunately." Jimin informed. "I'm not too sure where at but I just know it'll be somewhere else for now."

Taehyung let out a deep sigh, looking down.

     Jeongguk was told the rest of what happened after he fell to the ground since he wasn't actually there to witness any of it himself firsthand.

Now, the mafia leader didn't want to, but to put it in short, after Jimin had retreated Taehyung, the aforementioned got hit with the crutch right in his side and was beat. Jeongguk had so much built up anger from falling all because Taehyung decided to run away and never actually made it that far.

Did he regret it? Not really but something that killed him inside was watching Taehyung scream and cry for him to stop hitting him but it wasn't enough to make him actually want to give a damn.

     Jeongguk shook his head, hearing Jimin's voice which snapped him from the memories.

"What do you need?" Jimin asked over the phone.

"Just come to my office and we'll discuss it here, Park."

"Okay, but someone is here for you."

"Who?"

"Hoseok."

"Hoseok? The fuck does he want?"

"He didn't specify but he doesn't have any weapon on him and just said it's business related but that's as far as I know."

". . . Send him up but with you and guards at his side." Jeongguk said with a hint of uncertainty, not sure if he wanted to talk to Hoseok or not. He knew that when Hoseok said 'business', he meant to talk about getting back what was his and rightfully so.

Jeongguk should have ended Hoseok on spot, that's for sure. He went over to his desk and pulled out his pistol, slipping it into his waistband.

________

A/N
I think this story will end soon :(