❦ chapter ²⁶ ❦

jungkook walked through the busy halls of his gang building. his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans, head down, covering his dark eyes.

the corridors were filled with different people who looked like normal prestige office workers to the naked eye, but if you look closer you'd see the scarred parts of their bodies (after fights) and guns attached to their belts. the main thing that gave out their true identity, of course, was the signature tattoo of the malgeun pi gang - the black crow. it didnt matter where you had the tattoo imprinted, what mattered, was its presence on your body.
jungkook had the tattoo on his ankle, something that was pretty much never visible to people since he wore jeans, but that was the main point of it - he had to keep it a secret.

the geomeun gang also had their own signature tattoo, it was the dark sun. jungkook once saw it behind taehyung's ear and thought it was a very clever way to hide a tattoo, since his hair was long enough to cover it.

jungkook greeted some of his fellow friends on the way and after having a little chit chat with them, finally got to hoseok's office.
after passing the two guards he was about to open the door but heard a bundle of voices coming from the inside.
he hesitated only for a while and then opened the door after knocking.

as he entered, he saw hoseok, who was sitting on the couch opposite of some man, while jimin was making tea near one of the corners of the office.

"oh, you're finally here, jungkook, please take a seat." hoseok invited jungkook over, gesturing him to sit on the couch.

jungkook nodded and came over to the leather couch as he gave the man a glance. hoseok and him were probably discussing some murder plan. jungkook glanced at the young man that was sitting on the couch with his feet and hands crossed. when the stranger reached over the table for some papers, jungkook's eyes widened after seeing a tattoo on his wrist - the dark sun tattoo.

who the hell is this man and what on earth is he doing on our territory? does hoseok know who he really is?

jungkook furrowed his eyebrows with confusion as he looked at the man and then at hoseok. he leaned back on the couch pretending to not be suspicious of anything.

"do you want some tea, jungkook?" jimin came from the behind and whispered to jungkook in a strangely polite manner.

"oh um, I'd prefer a cup of coffee." jungkook smiled back at jimin.

"dark and no sugar as always?" jimin questioned.

jungkook nodded and glanced back at hoseok who was intensely discussing some topic with the man.
"I'll get to you in a sec, jungkook, meanwhile you can scan through these informative papers for your next mission." hoseok handed jungkook a folder with some papers in it.

"han jineul?" jungkook asked as he viewed some man's profile.

"yes, that's correct." hoseok averted his gaze on the younger.

"let me guess I have to kill him and get you the money?" jungkook looked up at hoseok only to see him nod. "he looks like a tough one... he's 87 I'm pretty sure his house is guarded by dozens of men."

"mhm, and that's why we have to go the trickier way around." jungkook raised his head to the man who spoke with a soft voice while studying han jineul's house plan.

"what's your idea?" hoseok asked and quietly thanked jimin who brought everyone their drinks, placed them on the table and sat on hoseok's lap afterwards.

"well, han is obsessed with animals, as it is stated under his profile, he has about 30 different types of animals with him in the house. he is old and obviously cant take care of all of them at once, so.... he invites over veterinarians to help him." the man explained and leaned back on the couch.

"well then, this makes everything easier! jungkook will just have to dress up as a doctor and get in the house." jimin exclaimed and smiled.

"actually... things arent that easy..." the young stranger stated as he rubbed the back of his head. "um, han jineul only accepts female veterinarians in his house because... you see, he kind of likes to um... have a little fun afterwards with the women, if you know what I mean..."

"oh HELL no!" jungkook spoke up in a loud voice, full of disturbance.

"jungkook, listen, it's an important mission-" hoseok tried calming down the younger.

"nah ah, no! I am most definitely NOT dressing myself up as a fucking female veterinarian with having chances of getting sexually abused by an old grandpa!" jungkook interrupted with annoyance.

"jungkook!!!" hoseok yelled at the younger angrily. "I don't need your attitude right now, this is your mission and you must do it."

"I understand that I must, and I agree to do it, but not this way! are you serious? I dont want to dress as a woman, and most of all, how the hell will anybody even believe I'm a female?!" jungkook continued bickering.

"calm the fuck down, jungkook, I understand this sounds a little absurd but it's a one time thing, just do the mission, get your part of the income and continue with your every day life."

"why cant jimin do it? he can pull of a woman more than I can."

"jimin doesnt have the skills for this." hoseok said and looked at the frowning jimin on his lap. "no offense, jimin, but I am giving this mission to you, jungkook, because you're the best man that works for me and I trust you, so please just do what I'm asking you to do."

jungkook scoffed and rolled his eyes with annoyance.

"I can help jungkookie with his groom." jimin whispered to hoseok softly and kissed his cheek, calming the elder down.

there was a moment of silence before hoseok spoke again:
"oh right, jungkook, I just remembered that I gave you a mission a long time ago... about that stripper guy."

"oh, kim taehyung?" jungkook mumbled and chuckled uncomfortably.

what was he supposed to tell hoseok? he mustn't find out about everything that had happened between the two. and what was jungkook supposed to do? tell him that he just cant find any information on him? hoseok would immediately know it's a lie, jungkook isnt ranked as the best criminal in their gang for no reason.
the thoughts of telling hoseok the truth should never even cross jungkook's mind, because that just won't work... and hoseok would most likely kill him for adopting feelings for somebody from their rival gang. the entire situation was too absurd to even think about.

jungkook suddenly noticed the slight confusion and shock in the gaze of the unknown man who turned to look at jungkook. the younger couldn't understand the emotion the man was trying to hide. what made him change his expression so abruptly?

"I totally forgot about that, hoseok, I... have been busy with other work so I kind of forgot about taehyung..." jungkook lied.

"okay then, it's alright, I never gave that mission much value, but after you'll be done with this one, could you try and go back to that taehyung guy? I'm very curious about him. I just cant help but feel like I know him from somewhere...." hoseok said the last part more to himself rather than anybody else in the office.

jungkook nodded silently but in his head he was screaming, literally.
what was he supposed to do now?
why did he have to get himself into this mess with taehyung? he just should've killed him in the first place...

"oh right, I completely forgot to introduce you two!" hoseok looked at the man who was sitting opposite of him.

jungkook straightened his posture and glanced at the man, he thought hoseok would never tell him his identity.

"jeon jungkook, this is our secret employee -

kim seokjin.
I've told you a lot about him, remember?" hoseok said and smiled.

jungkook's eyes widened and his mind went blank.
this was the kim seokjin hoseok kept on telling him about? he never knew how he looked yet he always heard about him from hoseok.
things still didnt make much sense for him. was this another kim seokjin? then who on earth were yoongi and namjoon from the geomeun gang talking about?
they clearly said he died in a fire yet here he is...

"nice to meet you." seokjin took out his hand for a handshake.
jungkook hesitated for a second before shaking their hands together.

"uh, yeah, hello..." jungkook stuttered out and smiled awkwardly. "anyways... I'll go now, I guess."

jungkook, who was still dumbfounded, gather some of the papers and finished up his coffee before leaving the room.

"come to my office today after lunch, I'll help you with the groom." jimin said and winked at the younger.

"okay sure." jungkook nodded and exited the office.

he got to the elevator and waited for it to arrive as he glanced through the papers in his hands.
the elevator arrived and jungkook was about to walk in but was stopped by a familiar voice.

"jungkook! wait, please!" jungkook turned around and saw kim seokjin who was running torwards him.
he stopped next to jungkook as he panted heavily trying to catch his breath, which took him a moment.

"w-what is it?" jungkook asked with concern.

"jungkook... you've got to tell them.. please I beg you, jungkook." seokjin whispered quietly with fear filled eyes as he grabbed onto jungkook's shoulders.

"tell what?" jungkook asked full of confusion.

"tell... tell namjoon I'm still alive..."

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