Rebel with a Cause | A JJK, KTH oneshot
Summary: Sweet, shy Jungkook has been pining over a girl for months - is he too nervous to make his move or does he realise that her links with his gang’s rivals would make any move a suicide mission?
Characters/pairings: Jungkook x f!reader, Taehyung x f!reader
Genre(s): Dystopian au, SMUT with a teeny smidging of angst
Warnings: SMUT (protected and unprotected penetrative sex, rough sex) unhealthy relationship dynamics, power imbalance and suggestions of coercion (NOT dub-con).
Note: Please see the note at the end when you’ve read!
Word count: 11.8K
Beta credit(s): 🌙 @moonleeai and 🍒 @cherrysoulth - two excellent and wonderful people who confirmed that this mostly makes sense!
When exactly did your world end? Unlike some Hollywood blockbuster, there was no defining event, instead a slew of pandemics, followed by economic and environmental collapse saw your world just decline into the nightmare-scape that it now is. Nobody really remembers the glory days of this vast metropolis anymore, its memory is erased by the effacing misery of its now ghettoised state, shut off from the rest of the country. This city is by no means unique, every other city is the same, they all hide behind high walls, all fending for themselves, mistrustful of outsiders; every passing year breeds further distrust of the world beyond the city walls, the idea of an outsider now synonymous with threat and danger.
What was the tipping point from lawfulness to lawlessness? Again, it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint, but it could be when local government and the police simply capitulated and gave in to the reigning chaos. Power never disappears though, it simply transfers, and the vacuum was quickly filled by every power-hungry bastard in the city. The struggle for power was brutal and short, by the time the rival gangs had fought it out, only two remained, each equal in influence and power, though very different in their methods.
On one side there was Park Joonggil, a CEO of vast influence and wealth, he had never been averse to breaking the law as and when it suited him before the collapse and so flourished now. Joonggil, a man of exceptional intelligence, had all the suave adaptability of a true psychopath; when society collapsed it he simply took it as another business opportunity and saw the change in his operations as ‘diversification’. Joonggil’s gang, though he’d only ever refer to it as his ‘organisation’, ‘corporation’ or ‘company’, are all shaped in his image. He expects his associates (read underlings) to present as professionally as he does, the result is a team of exceptionally suave and capable people. Though the head of a vast empire, his inner circle is small, compromising his most trusted colleagues: Kim Namjoon, his second in command, a man of ruthless intelligence with a keen mind; Park Jimin, a man of breathtaking duality who can negotiate through any situation with an unending reservoir of charm; finally, Kim Taehyung, a man who can smell an opportunity from a mile away and acts without hesitation.
The other half of this power sharing alliance already had roots in the underworld of the city before the fall. Their leader, Jang Dongsoo, better known as ‘Big Boss’, had been a gang leader all his life, his role inherited from his brutal father and the son is very much in that image. Dongsoo’s gang (unlike Joonggil he doesn’t shy away from the term) are undoubtedly more at home with the seedy underbelly of the city and are not afraid to get their hands dirty. Dongsoo views his gang as his foot soldiers and, whilst he can be terrifyingly violent, he is also paternal, watching over them with a sort of stern fatherly affection. Just like Joonggil, he too has a small band of lieutenants: firstly there is Kim Seokjin, a man who’s handsome face masks the shrewd, calculating mind behind it, not to mention the explosive rage he’s capable of; Min Yoongi is possessed of the same incisive mind, but he is far more controlled, he’s often the ‘ideas’ man, with a sharp focus that can rival any of the schemes devised by the Park Corp; finally, in the last few months Dongsoo has taken a shine to a foot soldier of seemingly immense talent who seems to be able to succeed at any task he’s given. This kid, who he’s come to refer to as his ‘golden maknae’, has made a real impression on him and he’s begun to groom him for success: his name? Jeon Jungkook.
No matter their branding, whether they’re in the sharply tailored suits of the Park Corp or the typical leather jacket, ripped jeans look of the Jang gang, the two groups are essentially the same: both are headed by men with a insatiable desire for power and wealth, both with an innate belief in their own superiority and their entitlement to devotion and respect. Both organisations maintain a rigid hierarchy that is almost exclusively male and neither are shy about trading in, or making use of, prostitution, drugs or any other racket that brings them wealth. They have little value or time for anyone outside of their circles, doing all of their business in two large buildings, that serve as housing and offices for the elites.
Across the sprawl of the city, business, districts and associations are divided between the two fairly evenly; there are very few places in the city that are truly neutral. One of these rare places is Hobi’s bar, it’s neutrality maintained by both groups; they use the bar as their meeting place when they need to negotiate or discuss anything and the arrangement works. Hobi, sunshine in human form, presents no ground for opportunity for either Park or Jang and so they see no value in trying to recruit him, instead they rely on his neutrality and the existence of his bar as a safe zone. Hobi might be all sweetness and light but he has a very clear morality that he absolutely will not compromise, no weaponry or drugs are allowed or tolerated on his premises, neither is harassment of his patrons, especially the women, these are rules that all uphold and respect.
It’s that final rule that his always mattered to you; it’s the reason you’ve always felt safe at Hobi’s and it’s why, over the years, you’ve spent so much time there, well, that and the fact that he is one of your dearest friends. Of course, spending so much time at a bar frequented by the most dangerous men in the city was bound to bring trouble sooner or later.
Sooner, as it turned out.
“Here again, I see,” smiles Hobi, gently waving the bottle in his hand.
Jungkook nods at the offer and slides his glass down the bar towards Hobi who catches the glass deftly, filling it before bringing it to the downcast man slumped at the bar.
“Are you ok, kid?” he pries carefully. He’s always cautious with Jang’s men, so many are volatile and though this kid has been haunting the bar for months now without a hint of trouble, he’s still on guard.
“I’m not a kid,” Jungkook says in little more than a whisper. “And I’m fine.”
Hobi smiles at that, deciding to give it one last shot, “Sorry, mate,” he cajoles, “I’m a neutral here, so you wanna talk about it? Is it woman trouble?” he teases.
Jungkook raises his head to look at him then, the big doe eyes swimming with emotion that is clearly aching to be released. When he speaks, his voice is surprisingly gentle, “Man, you have no idea -” he begins, before spilling the entire contents of his heart out.
Over the next hour Hobi learns a lot of things about Jungkook. Firstly, the boy really is very sweet and only a few years younger than Hobi. Secondly, he’s really quite handsome, even more so when he smiles, giving away a flash of a cute bunny grin. Thirdly, he learns that Jungkook is head-over-heels, off-the-chain, fully-obsessed with a woman that he’s been watching in this bar for months and he’s never even spoken to her. If he wasn’t so earnest, so truly and completely besotted, Hobi would be worried. Yet, there’s almost a naive purity to Jungkook, despite his gang affiliation, that suggests he’s not some weird creep or stalker, just a young man with a crush so dehabilitating that it paralyses him and makes it impossible for him to simply talk to this woman who is the obvious focus of all his desire and affection.
“She’s just so perfect, hyung,” whines Jungkook cutely, clearly comfortable now with Hobi and asking him for the kind of support and advice he’d never dare approach Jin or Yoongi for, “she’s so sweet and kind to everybody around her and I just want to talk to her, I just want her to notice me.”
Hobi presses a little harder, asking if it’s only nerves that prevent him, because he senses Jungkook is holding something back.
Now at ease with Hobi, and his tongue loosened by alcohol, Jungkook loses some more of his inhibitions and confides further, “I think she has some kind of arrangement with one of Park’s men,” he whispers and immediately sees that Hobi is going to point out that that is more than a red flag, rather it’s a carnival of flags, all with ‘leave this alone’ emblazoned on them, but Jungkook continues on, “I know what you’re going to say, but I’ve been watching her for ages and I think she’s being, like, forced into it. She doesn’t look happy at all.”
Hobi sighs, “Your a nice guy, Jungkook, but whatever the deal is, if involves one of Park’s men, for your sake and hers you should leave well alone.”
Jungkook knows the kind older man is right. The problem is, the second Jungkook sees you, he just doesn’t care.
———————————————————-
Later than night, Jungkook is so drunk that it is a mystery of physics that he is still somehow mostly upright at the bar, teetering precariously on his barstool. You’ve only just arrived, you make a habit of being around to help Hobi lock up. It’s for your protection rather than his; you help him lock up and then you walk to your apartment block together as he lives a couple of floors beneath you.
You smile brightly at Hobi and begin to stack stools and chairs on tables ready for the cleaning lady in the morning. It’s only then, as you clatter the stools around him, that Jungkook realises he’s the only one left at the bar, and he staggers to his feet in embarrassment. Th laws of physics can only be held at bay for so long though, and gravity catches up with Jungkook as he loses his footing.
He doesn’t crash to the floor though and it takes his inebriated mind several seconds to realise it’s because you’ve slotted yourself under his arm and are steadying him, moving him away from the bar stools. He hears your voice, though it echoes distantly in his drunken mind, “Hobi, can you get this kid some water?”
“’m not a kid -” is all he is able to mumble before he passes out.
The next morning Jungkook wakes, confused as to where he is. He sits up, realising his leather jacket has been taken off him and is neatly folded on the table beside him, it sits next to a litre bottle of water in an ice bucket and, practically if not a little grossly, an empty ice bucket in case the worst happened (luckily, it hadn’t). Beside these things are his keys, switchblade, phone and chapstick, all in a neat little row. He groans and stretches, shrugging off the blanket that’s been placed over him.
After several minutes where he’s checked his phone, rubbed his eyes and gulped down half the water, he hears the door to the bar unlock and open. He tenses immediately and almost reaches for knife when he pauses at the sight of your smiling face, keys in one hand, two coffees in a carry case in the other and two paper bags of takeout balanced on your arm as you try to navigate through the doorway.
Jungkook is on his feet immediately and rushes over to help you and it doesn’t take you two long to awkwardly negotiate your burden and to come to sit beside each other at one of the booths near the couch he’d slept on, the door safely locked behind you.
You’re the first one to speak, “Good morning,” you smile, “I figured you’d be hungover and hungry and a little confused,” you say gently.
He smiles awkwardly in return, “You did this for me?” he asks gratefully as you nod, “I passed out here last night, didn’t I?” he cringes.
You smile and confirm his worst suspicions, “Don’t worry about it though, as totally off-your-face drunks go, Jungkook, you’re a very sweet and pliable one.”
His eyes narrow slightly in suspicion, “How do you know my name?”
You wince then in discomfort, “You don’t remember telling me?”
Jungkook groans and puts his head in his hands. If he had a choice, he’d rather be shot than have to look up at you again. Moments from last night bubble up from the murky depths of his subconscious: he remembers waking up as you manoeuvred him with Hobi on to the couch; he remembers you telling him to empty his pockets so he wouldn’t crush anything or hurt himself in his sleep; he remembers telling you that you were lovely as you tucked him in; he remembers the feel of your fingers gently brushing the hair from his face as he started to drift off, catching your voice as you wished him sweet dreams.
He wishes that was all he could remember.
Sadly, in the moments between, he also spoke to Hobi. As he recalls, at the time he thought he was whispering, but now, in all the horrifying clarity of the day and soberness, he realises it was less of a whisper and more a sort of hoarse shout. He had told Hobi, several times, that you were ‘her’, the girl he had been pining for and fantasising about. He can’t remember the precise words, but given your evident mortification, he had made his feelings more than clear.
He groans for long minutes before you try to lure him from his hunched ball of shame, “Jungkook, come on man, your breakfast is getting cold, eat with me!”
Being rude is worse than being ashamed for Jungkook and so he raises his head, fishing the contents out of the paper bag you’ve thrust at him and thanking you repeatedly before stuffing his face as an excuse not to speak further.
Together you drink coffee and eat in silence, it’s not altogether uncomfortable as you smile continually at him in encouragement and slowly his embarrassment starts to subside. As the meal comes to an end, and the last dregs of coffee are tipped into your mouths, he tries to find the confidence to speak again to you.
Finally, as he hears another set of key in the door and watches it begin to open he rushes words out, “Can I please see you again?”
You smile, but you seem a little confused and he seeks to elaborate, “Because…”
A voice then joins in, “…because you’re the love of his life,” supplies Hobi with a grin, reenacting one of the more dramatic declarations of the night before to a groan from Jungkook, who buries his face in his hands.
He’s surprised to feel your own hands close around his wrists as you gently pull his hands from his face and it sends a delicious thrill through him. He dares to open his eyes and you are smiling kindly at him, “Ignore Hobi,” you say softly, “I’d like that; I’d like to see you again.”
It’s then that his face breaks into the widest most-bunny like smile, “Really?” he asks with childlike excitement. He notices that you are shyly embarrassed in the face of his enthusiasm and he finds it even more endearing: he was right about you all this time, you’re just as sweet as he thought you were. Whilst Dongsoo encourages Jungkook’s wide-eyed wonder with the world around him, the others, especially Jin and Yoongi, laugh at him for it, always warning him that the world is a dark place and nobody can be trusted. As Jungkook looks at you now, and finds that you’re all he thought you were and more, he knows that they’re wrong.
You speak then, “Really. I’d like to be your friend. Though things are complicated for me,” you say awkwardly, “I’ll explain when we get to know each other better.”
Jungkook smiles, certain that whatever your situation is with the Park Corp together you’ll overcome it.
———————————————————-
Over the next couple of months, Jungkook falls harder and deeper for you. The two of you hang out regularly, seemingly dating despite the fact that he seems to have made no progress beyond holding your hand on a few occasions: though he’s horny as hell and deeply frustrated, he accepts the situation as it is. He’s so head-over-heels, and it’s still such early days for the two of you, that he won’t push his luck and risk losing the relationship he’s building with you.
One night, having drinks together at Hobi’s bar, Jungkook can’t help but notice that a pair of dark, dangerous-looking eyes glare through from the group of Park Corp men at the corner of the bar and watch your every movement. Jungkook doesn’t say anything but he can see you’re aware of it and that you seem to quail under the attention. Eventually, he can no longer handle your discomfort and asks you about what’s going on.
It’s then that you smile sadly and explain your situation to him. You’d grown-up next door to, and attended the same school as, Kim Taehyung. You’d never really been close friends but you’d always been part of each others’ lives. As you grew up and felt the danger of your position in the world with no family other than sick grandparents left by your early twenties, Taehyung’s power and influence was a necessary safety net for you and he took you under his wing; you were essentially marked as Taehyung’s property. For a long time that hadn’t really meant anything, just that you had protection and could continue to live mostly free from harassment in the city, everything has a price though. Over time, it became clear what Taehyung’s was.
You seem mortified as you explain to Jungkook the nature of your arrangement with Taehyung; you’re clear that there is no love or even real affection there, just his lust and the need to fulfil his desires. You also put at end to Jungkook’s protestations that he, and the Kang Gang, can replace that protection and accept you into their fold. You see too much danger in it, too much risk for both you and Jungkook and it’s too early in your relationship to take that risk, you’re not going to free yourself from being trapped by one gangster to turn to one you hardly know.
It’s hard for Jungkook to accept, but there is such an earnest desperation within you that he lets it go, even if he’s clear that it’s something he’ll want to discuss again. He leans over the table and strokes your cheek with the backs of his tattooed fingers in a gesture of comfort; he struggles to contain his smile as you lean into his touch and then catch his fingers in yours before bringing them to your mouth where you skim your lips across his knuckles. Your eyes meet for a moment and something undefinable passes between you, simultaneously soft and gentle whilst being sharp and hungry.
“Outside, now,” commands a deep voice, and instantly you look at Jungkook in warning. You needn’t have bothered though because Taehyung only says the words in passing as he strides past your table on his way to the back door of the bar.
“Go home, Jungkook,” you say softly as you stand, clearly embarrassed.
“I’ll see you Sunday, yeah?” he checks as he gets to his feet, pulling you into a quick fleeting hug before you turn away from him and follow Kim Taehyung’s footsteps, your head hung in shame.
Jungkook is nearly at the door out of the bar, when a gut-feeling, a twist of intuition, tells him he can’t leave you like this. Quietly, moving through darkened shadows, he makes his way slowly through the bar, careful not to draw attention, until he reaches the door you and Taehyung passed through.
He presses the door open gently and it leads onto the darkness of a narrow brick-lined passage way strewn with debris and graffiti; he holds his breath as he listens for you and it then, at the far end of the alley that he hears a rhythmic thudding and spies an old structure, like a shed, that’s little more than a frame, covered over with thick sheets of milky white, partially translucent plastic, its edges lifting in the breeze.
There’s a light within, it looks like its cast from a camping lantern, and from that dull light he can see the outline of a woman sat on some kind of surface. Looming over her, from between her legs that are spread and wrapped around him, is a man thrusting violently into her. Jungkook knows it’s you and Taehyung and though sickened, if unsurprised, he draws closer.
As he nears, he begins to hear the wet sounds of your bodies joining together, the gasped breaths, moans and grunts of effort. He doesn’t realise how close he’s drawn until the wind teases at the edge of the plastic again and parts it, it’s then that he sees Taehyung pull you to him, kissing your neck and whispering in your ear as his hips slow, his thrusts driving deep now, causing you to whimper.
His eyes flicker up, and he catches the outline of another body, realising immediately that it’s Jungkook, a smirk plays at the corner of his lips and when he speaks, it’s louder and more purposeful, “I’m close,” he groans, “you’re so good for me, always so tight.”
He begins to chase his high then, battering into you with a desperate fury and you cry out, pained, “Please, Taehyung - ”
“Fucking take it,” he growls, a hand tangling in you hair, pulling it back so he can lick a wet stripe up your throat, “remember who this cunt belongs to.”
He continues to pummel you before repeating his words, “Who does it fucking belong to?” he growls as you scream out.
“You, Taehyung, you!” Jungkook watches pure pleasure write itself over Taehyung’s face as he comes inside you exactly as you speak the words.
Moments later Taehyung is pulling out and tucking himself back in his trousers, throwing a handkerchief from his suit pocket at you.
“Clean yourself up and make sure you’re home when I come over later, yeah?” he asserts before he walks away from you towards Jungkook, who has now retreated further down the alley though, knowing he’s been made, he doesn’t attempt to flee.
When Taehyung reaches Jungkook he has a dangerous smirk on his face, “I know who you are,” he begins without preamble, “you’re Jang Dongsoo’s little wonder boy, and so you think that makes you untouchable.”
Jungkook returns the smirk with one of his own, “Doesn’t it?”
Taehyung laughs coldly then, “Let’s be clear. I don’t care if you two want be besties, plait each other’s hair and paint each other’s nails and have movie nights; I don’t love her and I don’t want her. I do own her cunt though, and I don’t share, so keep your grubby little paws off her,” he commands as he straightens his tie.
Jungkook frowns, hating the way Taehyung speaks about you, “And if I don’t?”
For a moment he doesn’t think Taehyung is going to answer as the older man walks past him and reaches the door back into the bar. Yet, when pulling the handle towards him as he steps through, Taehyung looks back at Jungkook and delivers his final warning, “I mean it - I don’t share. She’s been my friend nearly all my life, but if you touch her, I’ll kill her without fucking hesitation,” he says flatly, without any feeling, and is gone.
Jungkook feels sick with shock and only seconds later, leaves the alley and the bar behind, not wanting you to know what he’d witnessed.
When Jungkook sees you on Sunday, he realises Taehyung couldn’t have only spent the rest of the night after he fucked you in that alleyway with you, but probably the whole weekend; you’ve done your best to hide the marks across your neck and clavicles, but Taehyung has clearly spent a lot of time sucking and biting the signs of his ownership across the canvas of your skin. Jungkook also hates to see the way you’re moving carefully, your body evidently aching from whatever marathon fuck session Taehyung has subjected you to.
He changes the plans he had for the two of you, and instead settles for a picnic on the rooftop of your building, abandoning the strenuous hike he had planned to one of the few green places left within the city limits. As you gather supplies, obvious eager to get out of your place, he notices that all the windows are open wide, and his sensitive nose notes the still lingering smell of sweat and sex. From his place on the sofa, he turns his head to look around, and smells Taehyung’s cologne on the fabric, making him wince internally.
When you’re finally together on the roof, he’s able to relax, especially when you’ve had your fill of the the delicious snacks he brought and you lay with your head in his lap, looking up at him as he talks to you about his weekend and the various jobs Dongsoo has had him doing.
He looks down at you fondly as you express concern for his safety, he knows you’ve never been interested in any of the details of his gang life, never really engaging but you always listen to anything that’s about him, always taking time to express worry, or to show your admiration, or to congratulate him on an achievement. It’s now of the many reasons he believes he’s falling in love with you.
He tenderly brushes the hair from your face, “Thank you for worrying about me, honey,” he says, recently he’s adopted the pet name for you and he’s hoping you’ll let it stick.
“Don’t thank me,” you say warmly, “I should be the one saying thank you! Thank you for being my friend and for everything you do for me, including this picnic,” you ramble on, trying to get him to agree to take money from you to pay towards the treats he bought; he finds it remarkably endearing.
“I don’t want anything from you,” he says earnestly; he needs you to know that his relationship with you isn’t like yours and Taehyung’s, it’s not transactional, everything that he does for you is based on his growing love for you, not what he can get from you.
When you’ve sullenly agreed not to pay him, he smiles, “I do have one favour to ask though,” he asks before he tells you of a lavish party that Dongsoo will be throwing at his Penthouse in a few weeks, begging you to come with him. He wants you to go, to stay at the building over night, promising you that you’ll be safe, that Dongsoo would never allow harm to come to you.
It takes a long time for you to agree. You disappear downstairs for a while and when you return, you say that your grandparents, ill as they are, are prepared to lie and say you’re visiting them at the city limits, in case Taehyung checks.
“I can only stay one night though,” you insist, you never talk about Taehyung if you can help it, so it’s noticeable when you do, “he can never know; he’d kill me.”
Jungkook nods heartily in agreement, pulling your body close to his in a strangling hug, and wonders if you know how true the words you have spoken are. He swallows hard in discomfort, but satisfies his conscience with the belief that being with him makes you as happy as it does him.
———————————————————-
“That dress is Gucci” says a quiet voice beside you.
You turn to face the man, he’s handsome, cat-like, clever-eyed; immediately you’re alert to the danger he could pose.
“Well?” he prompts.
“Well what?” you respond, careful to keep your tone flat, “you made a statement, you didn’t ask a question.”
He eyes you in cold appreciation, clearly deciding you’re worth his time, “That’s fair,” he asserts before he fixes you with a question, “here’s a question for you then: do you know who dresses exclusively in Gucci?”
You appraise him coldly, with more confidence than you feel, “Who are you?”
“Min Yoongi,” he replies lazily, and watches as you piece together who he is, “answer the question please,” the polite word does nothing to hide his demand.
You smile coldly, “What’s the point in this?” you ask rhetorically, “can we just skip to the point you want to make? You evidently know about my connection with Kim Taehyung, so please just be direct.”
Yoongi smiles momentarily, “I like you,” he states, with a slight narrowing of his eyes, “do you like our maknae?”
You smile genuinely then, “I do,” you say warmly, “though maybe a little less enthusiastically than he’d want. He’s a sweet guy, he’s nice to me and he doesn’t offer me his protection just so he can call me a whore and fuck me in alleys, so yeah, I like him.”
Yoongi nods slowly, “Why is Kim Taehyung obsessed with you? I don’t mean to be offensive, you’re very attractive and obviously a good person from what Jungkook says, but Taehyung could have anyone, why does he buy you expensive dresses? Why just you?”
You shrug, “Do you think he tells me?” you say hopelessly, “I think it’s power and power only. He’s known me forever. We were once good friends. He buys me things because he thinks I provide a service for him, it’s like tipping, I suppose. I’m convenient, unthreatening and he seems to enjoy the things he does to me.”
Yoongi looks at you in pity then, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he says kindly.
You shrug and blink away the tears that rise in your eyes, “It’s worth a lot,” you nod, “I understand that you’re suspicious of me, but I don’t want to be here, I don’t want your protection and I don’t want any affiliation. I’m only here because I want to be a friend to Jungkook and he asked me.”
Yoongi nods, “I understand,” just before he takes his leave of you, he keeps his voice low, “maybe give him a chance though? Maybe it’s worth being fucked by someone less brutal for a change?”
You suck air between your teeth at the crudeness of the comment, but he’s already gone, leaving you discombobulated.
The night stretches on and you’re grateful for the time you have with Jungkook because he’s seemingly in constant demand. Earlier, Yoongi asked you why Taehyung was in to you, but right now, watching women flock around Jungkook, you have to wonder why Jungkook is.
Eventually, the party draws to a close and Jungkook appears to escort you to a guest room. As he shows you around, you thank him, “Where do you sleep?” you ask innocently.
“A couple of floors above,” he smiles, “just below Big Boss,” he explains.
You nod, “I see,” and you try to hide your nervousness.
“I could stay,” he says in a low voice that you’re unfamiliar with, his eyes are dark and his expression looks hungry.
You say nothing as he steps closer, your heart beating against your ribs like a caged bird.
He’s before you now, smiling in his cute way, but there’s a dangerous gleam in his eye, “We’re in a bubble now,” he smiles, “the outside world and its rules don’t exist. There’s no gangs, no Kim Taehyung, just you and me.”
You gulp nervously as his eyes darken and his voice deepens, “Let me love you.”
Before you can respond or even breathe, he’s moving closer, one hand tucks a stray strand of hair away from your face, the other comes to rest around the back of your neck. You take a ragged breath in, and then the flat of his palm comes to rest on your cheek before his mouth meets your mouth. His lips press against yours and you yield to him, your lips parting, he seizes the opportunity to kiss you more deeply, his tongue slipping into your mouth. He runs the tip of his wet muscle along the edge of your teeth before he laughs throatily, betraying his desire. Soon his mouth is back on yours and you can feel the lust exude from him as his kisses become more hungry, more uncontrolled, more fierce.
The more he kisses you the more his grip on you changes, though the hand holding your head in place remains constant, the hand of your face travels across your shoulders and down your back until it reaches your ass, its purpose there seems twofold: firstly, to grope and knead at the flesh and secondly, to hold you in place as his grinds and rubs against you, his dick hardening as he begins to hump against you like a dog in heat, breaking his kisses now so he can pant desperately.
“The bed,” he groans into your mouth, “please can we move to the bed?”
Before you know what’s happening, you’re thrown to the bed and Jungkook is standing at the foot of it, staring down at you like you’re the last banana milk in the convenience store. He falls to his knees and undoes the fiddly, small buckles on your heels, pulling them off before kissing up your bare legs in speedy, sloppy kisses. Halfway up your thigh he meets the hem of your dress and pushes it up so it gathers at your hips, kissing all along your upper thigh where he pauses and sucks in a breath between his teeth.
Jungkook had been pleased that you arrived at the party in your revealing dress with unmarked skin, but now he sees that Taehyung was simply concealing his marks of ownership; the soft flesh of your inner thighs are painted a deep, blackish purple where Taehyung has evidently bruised every inch of you that his mouth can reach around your core. Hating Taehyung, but undeterred, Jungkook presses his lips to the soft silk of your underwear kissing through the flimsy fabric to the sensitive flesh beneath causing you to cry out, drawing another throaty laugh from him.
“Take your dress off, honey,” he commands, but his tone is clearly desperate.
You flush then, “I can’t,” you whisper, “I don’t want you to see me.”
Jungkook smiles kindly, “I want you so fucking bad,” he groans, “trust me, you’re fucking beautiful and I want to see every inch of you.”
It’s then that he notices that though you’re shy, there’s evidently more to it and he asks perceptively, “What has he done?”
You look mortified and can’t make eye contact with Jungkook as you explain that Taehyung has decided that as you’re so fond of Jungkook you must be into tattoos and so you should get one. He has been using a temporary ink over the last few weeks to test various designs. As Jungkook slowly peels your dress from you, half in dread and half in arousal as your soft flesh is revealed to him, he begins to see what you mean: all along your pelvis, under your belly button and, as he hooks a finger into your underwear, all the way down to the folds of your cunt is written “Taehyung’s” in various different shapes, sizes and styles and varying degrees of being faded out. Jungkook has done many questionable and immoral things in the service of Dongsoo, but he has never yet killed anyone and until now he’s really never wanted to. Nonetheless, if someone put a gun in his hand at this moment, he’d blow Taehyung’s brains out.
You’re so embarrassed at Jungkook witnessing your humiliation that it takes some time of him lying beside you on the bed, him still fully dressed, you only in your underwear, for you to relax. For a length of time he strokes your hair and talks softly to you of everything and nothing until you unwind in his arms and your stiff limbs soften. It’s then that his mouth finds yours again and soon you’re on your back while Jungkook lies over you, his tongue chasing yours, his hard cock pressing into you from the restraining fabric of his suit trousers.
Soon, Jungkook is fighting his way out of his clothes as he kisses you tenderly until you’re both in your underwear, kissing lazily as his rock-hard bulge presses into your dampening underwear. It’s when he finally frees your breasts from your bra that he loses control, instantly grasping at the flesh with his tattooed hands, sucking a nipple into his mouth as he teases it with his teeth before turning his attention to the other.
When he hears you whimper out, he eases the drag of his teeth on the sensitive nub. The tension deep in his gut, his heavy balls and throbbing cock are all telling him he needs to rail you senseless but his mind is filled with Taehyung brutally ramming into you in that alley way; that’s not what Jungkook wants. He wants your first time together to be a time where he shows you how much he loves you and so he slows everything down. He gently eases your underwear down your legs and, after scrabbling around in his discarded trousers for his wallet, he eases a condom down his length, finally shedding his underwear.
He rejoins you on the bed then and continues kissing you as he lays between your legs. He feels you shudder pleasurably each time his cock twitches against your thigh and he smiles as his lips cushion yours until, finally, you gasp into his mouth as the head of his cock presses against your hole. He takes your hands in his then, interlacing your fingers with his and pinning them beside your head as he kisses you deeply, pushing his cock into your tightness, surprised by how tight and resistant you are despite your wetness. When he finally bottoms out and breaks away from you so he can pant, he starts to understand why Taehyung exclusively cleaves to you an no other woman.
Jungkook smiles down at you, noticing the tears leaking from your eyes, “Can I move?” he asks and you nod fervently, clearly in discomfort.
He establishes a languid space then, fucking you deep and slowly, so that you feel every ridge and vein of his cock and he pushes into you and then drags out of your tight walls, his pelvis grinding against your clit, his hips rocking into you to bring you near the edge.
After what feels like hours of exquisite joy and torture, Jungkook’s impressive stamina starts to wain and his ability to hold back even more so. His hand comes between you then as he massages your clit and his hips begin to snap into you that bit faster, that bit more fiercely, as he feels his impending high grow ever closer.
You come without warning, faster than he expected and he grins at you, not once breaking eye contact as you give him a fucked out, dazed and glassy smile; his thrusts falter then and soon he collapses on you as he spills into the condom with a yell of satisfaction, your hands gripping his muscular back, clinging to him in your afterglow.
“I love you,” he whispers into your shoulder and feels your body tense and he pulls back to look at your nervous face, “Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to say it back,” he says generously, though he’s desperate for you to, he really doesn’t expect you to.
“I really care about you, Jungkook,” you say honestly, “Any normal woman would love you, I guess I’m just a bit broken. It will take me longer.”
Jungkook reassures you that you’re not broken and that he can wait as he shepherds you to the en-suite where you clean each other up before you climb back into bed and fall asleep in each other’s arms.
A knock at the door wakes you hours later, but not Jungkook, who’s totally at peace in the safety of his building. With difficulty you ease yourself from under Jungkook and you clothe yourself quickly in the sweats you brought with you before you answer the door. The glowering figure of Dongsoo fills the doorway as he eclipses the dimly lit corridor.
“I think we should talk,” he mutters, taking in the sprawled naked body of Jungkook in the room behind you, the smallest scrap of blanket covering his ass as he lays flat out on his stomach.
———————————————————-
“It’s agreed then,” Dongsoo says as he walks you back to your room, a gentle smile on his face and you nod amenably before you re-enter your room and shut the door softly behind you, sighing in gentle relief.
Dongsoo had taken you to his office and told you that he would claim no affiliation that you didn’t want but that he’d support your ‘friendship’ with Jungkook and that you’d always be welcome at Jang Tower. As a shrewd man he obviously added that that was entirely dependent on how Joonggil behaved; Dongsoo admitting readily that if the Park Corp found the arrangement not to their taste that he would have to rethink his decision. You admire his honesty, you know he seems to like you and that he cares deeply for Jungkook, but he won’t compromise the safety of his men, or his empire, for one woman he barely knows.
Taking a deep breath, and avoiding waking Jungkook, you climb back into bed.
———————————————————-
A month later and Jungkook is concerned: after seeing you regularly in the couple of weeks following Dongsoo’s party where you’d been to the building regularly and you guys had spent much more time together, over a week has passed since he last saw you and he feels you’re avoiding him.
His concern has brought him here, to Hobi’s, and he’s disappointed not to find you here. However, he does spy a group of Park men and an empty chair with a distinctive Gucci jacket hanging off the back of it. Following his intuition he sneaks around the edge of the club and out the exit leading to the alleyway where he hears hissed voices, though he knows he needs to get closer to hear what’s being said, it’s clearly argument between a man and a woman.
Closer now and he hears your voice; you sound exhausted and desperate, “Please Taehyung,” you beg, “please don’t make me do it any more. It makes me feel sick, like some cheap whore.”
Taehyung’s voice is cold, “You’re saying that like there’s a choice,” he says flatly and Jungkook strains to hear clearly, leaning forward; his foot grazes a bottle then, and it makes a dull ringing sound as it topples over. The silence that follows is deafening and his whole body tenses as the moment seems to stretch out infinitely.
Finally, Taehyung speaks again, “You’re a friend,” he says to you, “and you’re not a cheap whore, but you are my whore for as long as I want you so just learn to shut your fucking mouth and spread your fucking legs when you’re told or I’ll be less generous.”
The tremble in your voice allows Jungkook to imagine the tears that must now be flowing freely down your face, “Less generous than this?” you scoff, though your attempt at attitude is undermined by your clear, desperate hopelessness.
When Taehyung speaks, it’s clear he’s moving away from you and towards Jungkook who flees up the alley in response, only managing to catch scraps of Taehyung’s parting shot, overhearing a mention of those sweet, unwell grandparents you’d mentioned before.
Later, when Taehyung has swept from the bar, taking the Park Corp men with him, you emerge through the doorway and are surprised to see Jungkook at a nearby table waiting for you. He feigns surprise to see you coming through the exit door and smiles placidly as you fudge some harebrained and unbelievable reason why you’d be out there.
It’s only later in the week, back at your apartment, that the truth finally comes out, when it does, it feels like Jungkook’s world has ended.
———————————————————-
“I don’t know how Taehyung knows what’s happened between us, but he does,” you explain to Jungkook. You’re sat opposite him on your sofa, legs crossed and your hands in his, “he’s been clear. If anything more happens between us he’ll kill my grandparents,” you say.
You don’t cry, you simply sit, numb with shock and pain. Jungkook tries everything to reason with you, saying he’s sure Dongsoo will allow your grandparents to come live in Jang Tower too and you can all be together and safe. His heart shatters when you then reveal your conversation with Dongsoo and the limitations of the protection he’d afford you.
Jungkook grips your hands desperately, “This can’t be it,” he says, his voice unnaturally high and strained, “this isn’t how it ends for us!” he asserts desperately.
He’s prevented from losing control by the sound of a key scraping the lock, “That’s him,” you say, and flinch from the look of betrayal from Jungkook, “I have to do what he says, Jungkook,” you say sadly, “for my family.”
Neat as a pin in his tailored suit, Taehyung strides into the apartment looking at Jungkook in distaste, “Time’s up, kid,” he says flatly before he turns to you, “Get your shit together,” he hisses as you wipe at your eyes.
“Fuck you,” spits Jungkook, but Taehyung doesn’t rise to it and simply offers him a bored look.
“It’s time to go, wonder kid,” he says drily, before again turning to you, “The CEO wants to see you, so get your stuff, you’re coming to the Park Plaza with me.”
You release your hands from Jungkook’s, unable to look him in the eye, only whispering “I’m so, so sorry,” before you disappear into your bedroom and shut the door.
Jungkook sits in shock, staring vacantly at the closed door you’ve disappeared behind and the wall beside it. Taehyung follows his line of sight and offers a small chuckle that snaps Jungkook out of his reverie.
“Shit, isn’t it?” Taehyung says with a sneer, looking at a stylised abstract painting on the wall beside you bedroom door, “Fuck knows where she got it, or why she likes it. Turns out you can’t fuck taste into someone. Who knew?” Taehyung glances back at Jungkook, looking him up and down and the implication of what he’s saying is obvious.
Jungkook could rip Taehyung’s throat out. He’s so angry that he bounds up and vaults over the sofa, grabbing Taehyung by the lapels and shoving him forcefully across the room until they collide with the wall beside the apartment door.
“You’re a fucking bastard,” Jungkook yells, spit flying in Taehyung’s impassive face, pinning him, his fists balled into the expensive fabric of the suit, “I won’t let you do this -”
It’s then that the door opens again and the tall, imposing figure of Joonggil steps in, staring with haughty distaste at Jungkook, “You have no choice,” he says smoothly, his voice detached as though he’s dealing with a troublesome child, “I’ve spoken with Dongsoo, you are to leave and you are not to contact her again.”
Jungkook opens his mouth to retort but Joonggil simply raises an eyebrow and steps back, allowing Jin and Yoongi to enter. The appearance of his gang brothers surprises Jungkook so much that he releases Taehyung in shock. By the time he realises what’s happening, Jin and Yoongi have his arms pinned to his side and they’re dragging him from the apartment and into the corridor away from you.
Joonggil steps back into the corridor, watching Jungkook depart and then and delivers the parting shot, “Come near her again and I will kill you, her and everyone either of you have ever loved,” he doesn’t even glance back at Jungkook who’s cursing desperately over his shoulder as he’s dragged away. Joonggil simply steps back into your apartment and closes the door behind him.
Jungkook rages on through his tears as his brothers wrestle him from the building. He lets the rage overtake him to ward off the incoming tidal wave of pain and grief: no matter how romantic Jungkook is, he knows, deep in the recesses of his heart, even as it now breaks, that you’re lost to him forever.
———————————————————-
“You can come out now,” Joonggil calls as he shuts the apartment door behind him.
You emerge from your bedroom quietly and he gestures for you to approach with a small jerk of his head.
Stood before him, you look at him nervously as he evaluates you with an inscrutable expression, “You’ve done well,” he says gently, “I know it isn’t what you want, but I think it’s time to come and live in Park Plaza. At least you and Taehyung can be together properly there, even if you forfeit your independence.”
You bow deeply and thank him for his generosity, agreeing to everything he has said, careful to be deferential and respectful.
“Taehyung is lucky to have you,” he says without feeling, “and I am grateful for everything you have done. You have my gratitude,” he smiles briefly, sweeping away from you, “I’ll leave you two alone, I’m sure you need some time.”
He offers a gentle smirk to Taehyung, who has now crossed the room and is straightening the painting he’d earlier been insulting, before he leaves the room.
Now alone, you turn back to Taehyung, imitating his voice, “Shit isn’t it?” you mock, repeating his words from earlier.
Taehyung laughs, running a figure over one of the abstract faces in the painting, tracing the line of red paint that connects the nose to the mouth, “I can say that if I want to.”
“I love that painting,” you frown as he turns from the work and crosses the room towards you.
You give into him as he wraps his arms about you, “That’s why I painted it for you, my love,” he says warmly, kissing the top of your head, before changing the subject “I know you don’t want to come to the Plaza baby, but I think it’s time that we’re finally together properly.”
You pull back slightly and look up at the man you’ve loved your entire life, “All I want is to be with you, Tae, always,” you sigh. He catches your soft breath in his mouth and swallows it down with his, before his lips find yours for the millionth time. He kisses you with all the tenderness of the very first time he kissed you clumsily in his kitchen when you were both only six years old.
“Is that finally a yes?” he asks, a keening enthusiasm underlying his gentle teasing tone.
“Are you asking me to marry you again?” you smile, your stomach fluttering in excitement.
“Yes,” he says, his voice now clearly tense, his body thrumming with energy.
You nod repeatedly, unable to speak, tears flowing freely down your face as he yells in pure joy, his mouth crashing against yours as he walks you both backwards into your bedroom as you both begin to giggle giddily.
“Taehyung, be sensible,” Joonggil warns, as his most devoted colleague paces back and forth rapidly, hands clenched in fists, full of rage.
Taehyung is the angriest he’s ever been. He loves and respects his boss, but this? No. Never. Taehyung will not agree to his girlfriend, the one true love of his life, being used as bait to lure in some pathetic love-struck kid so that the Park Corp can get ahead of the Jang Gang in a trade agreement with a gang in Ilsan.
“It was a fucking joke,” Taehyung hisses, “what the fuck even is this?” he almost shouts in exasperation, looking at Namjoon in betrayal. He’d text Namjoon an hour ago, relaying the story that you’d told of him of your evening and the sweet and very drunk young guy in the bar who’d declared his undying love for you and all that Hobi had told you as you walked home. Namjoon had received the message while having a whisky with Joonggil, who’d demanded that Taehyung leave your apartment and come immediately to the Park Plaza: Joonggil had also insisted that you come along, and that’s where you find yourself now, perched uncomfortably on the end of a large, leather couch as the men around you debate.
You’ve been around these gangs for so many years now that you can read escalating danger rapidly and easily. You know Joonggil is fond of Taehyung, but he’s also something of a psychopath and you can tell his patience is wearing thin with Taehyung’s anger and refusal to do as he’s told.
You and Jimin exchange a silent but meaningful look and you realise your instincts are right; Joonggil’s patience with Taehyung hangs by a thread.
“I’ll do it,” you say firmly, “but on my terms.”
Joonggil fixes you with a cold stare as Namjoon and Taehyung look at you, all agog, “Good,” he nods, “we shall discuss terms.”
That final statement makes your blood run cold as you realise that you were foolish ever to think you had any say or control of the situation you’re in.
———————————————————-
You don’t remember first meeting Taehyung. Neighbours from your infancy, he’d always been a presence in your life, the two of you inseparable from your youngest years. You first kiss had been from a shy, 6 year old Taehyung when you gave him your last strawberry. Later, when your teenage years found you, he’d been your first real kiss.
As you grew up and the danger of the world became more apparent, you two kept your friendship secret. Taehyung knew he was destined to join his family in working for Park Joonggil, but he’d be damned if he let you get caught up in that. Nonetheless, one sticky summer found you two exploring each other’s bodies for the first time as you lost your virginity to each other in an abandoned building, one of the many clandestine places you two would meet up. You would hang out, talk, sit together, kiss and, as your friendship matured into deep love and commitment, the place where you’d fuck like rabbits, insatiable in your desire for each other.
Now, both adults, you know that Taehyung is the only man you will ever love.
———————————————————-
“Babe, I admire your loyalty, I really fucking do, and trust me, I feel sick at the thought of him anywhere near you,” Taehyung wheedles, “but you’ve been out with this guy so many times now and you’re not getting anywhere nearer Dongsoo - you’re going to have to give him more.”
You cuddle more closely into Taehyung’s sweaty chest, “After fucking me senseless, you’re telling me you want me to let Jungkook touch me?” you ask incredulously.
“You know I don’t,” he reasons, “just hand holding, a little kiss, I don’t know - just let him believe you feel something for him.”
“I do feel something for him,” you fire back, “he’s a good guy - he’s sweet and gentle and kind and I feel like shit for doing this to him,” you sigh.
Taehyung pulls you closer, he’s not jealous that you’re fond of Jungkook. He knows you’re his, always have been, always will be.
“Baby, I love you,” he sighs, “but what choice do we have? You know Joonggil, it won’t be just us in danger if this doesn’t go as he wants.”
You shudder at his words and he nuzzles into your hair, “He’d never really hurt you, Taehyung, I don’t think, not seriously anyway, or your family,” you say, mostly believing your words.
“I don’t know about that,” he wonders aloud, “but it doesn’t matter because anything that happens to you or your family is the same as it happening to mine. I am you,” he insists.
“You are me,” you return, with a soft smile.
Together, you lie in the dark, the lights from the city splashed across the walls in neon violence and you both silently wonder how you’ll make it through this situation and the strain it places on your both.
———————————————————-
Taehyung breathes heavily as he turns on the camp light, “Will he follow us out here?” he asks, looking around the dark alley.
“I think so,” you whisper.
In Hobi’s bar, Taehyung had been seething with rage as he watched Jungkook cosy up to you, until he noticed you tapping three splayed fingers against your thigh: the SOS sign the two of you had devised and he’d rushed to his feet, doing the first thing that came to mind and insisting you meet him outside. Now, in the privacy of the secluded alley, you’ve just explained that Jungkook has figured out there’s something going on between the two of you and you spool out the tangled web you’ve woven.
The two of you stand for a moment in nervous energy before Taehyung grins naughtily at you, “Well, if he’s coming, shall we give him a show?” he suggests, blood instantly flowing to his cock.
“What are you thinking?,” you ask cautiously, though your voice is laced with excitement.
“Let’s let him think I’m using you, just like you say I am,” he grins, “I won’t hurt you, babe, but let’s let him think I am. We need him to buy this story and it might put him off trying to fuck you a while longer.”
You smile awkwardly, “It’s a good plan, but honestly I don’t think he’s that desperate to fuck me,” you demur.
Taehyung moves closer to you with a dark look in his eyes as he pulls your skirt up and your underwear down before lifting you onto a nearby surface, “I bet he fucking is,” he growls and he grips your jaw to deliver a ravenous kiss to your lips, “because I always am, no matter how many times I’m lucky enough to have you.”
With a moan that gives away all of your desire, you spread your legs and yank him closer by his belt before you begin to tug at the buckle.
A little while later, Taehyung leans into you as he slows his thrusts, kissing your neck and whispering into your ear, “He’s here, don’t sound like you’re enjoying this.”
As you pretend as though Taehyung is using you, you feel cheap and dirty. Taehyung’s cold words and feigned distaste are still hurtful even though it’s only an act and it’s not hard for you to begin to cry and play the role of his whore. When Taehyung leaves you and you’re left clutching his handkerchief, the tears roll flatly down your cheeks.
That night you open your door to an ashen-faced Taehyung, “Let’s never do that again,” he says with a trembling lip, “I’d rather he touches you than see you like that again,” he says with heartfelt pain. You collapse into each others’ arms before you spend the rest of the night, the rest of the weekend in fact, inseparably close as though somehow the bond between you can be made concrete and physical through force of will. By Monday, you’re both exhausted but certain that nothing will ever come between you.
———————————————————-
Jimin looks as sick as you feel.
“That’s what Joonggil said?” you ask, numb with shock.
Jimin nods, looking bilious, “He said that you have to fuck Jungkook at the party because it’s the only way in. Only then will you have enough access to the building to find out about the Ilsan deal so we can undercut them.”
You look at each other, both abject in your misery before you say, simultaneously, “Taehyung can’t know,”
You smile drily and humourlessly at each other, more grimacing than grinning, before Jimin continues, “He’d kill Jeon Jungkook before he let him near you. He can’t be told until it’s done.”
“I understand,” you say, “I can hardly bear the thought of it, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Taehyung.”
Jimin nods grimly, “I know.”
You feel like you’re going to be sick, “Jimin, I don’t think I can tell Taehyung.”
Jimin gives a second, grim nod, “Tell me when you’ve done the deed and gotten the information and I’ll tell Taehyung.”
You’re too sickened to smile, but you manage to thank him with a vague tightening of your mouth.
———————————————————-
After fucking Jungkook and spending weeks gathering information on the Ilsan deal from your time at the Jang Tower, Joonggil finally consents to you having some breathing time while he reviews the information you’ve gathered and decides whether you’re done or he needs you to continue.
It’s been a little over a week of absolute seclusion for you. You stayed in your apartment, scrubbing your skin raw and crying, doing everything you could to avoid both Jungkook and Taehyung. Today, under Hobi’s concerned insistence, you’ve ventured out and are drowning your sorrows at the bar when Taehyung finds you.
“Any word on whether I have to keep prostituting myself out?” you ask him bitterly and you immediately feel ashamed; none of this is Taehyung’s fault and coping with the idea of you and Jungkook has been very difficult for him. He hasn’t once made you feel bad about it, being a caring, kind and supportive boyfriend despite the fact that you, his girlfriend of over ten years, have fucked another man.
“Let’s talk outside,” he murmurs, nodding towards the door to the alleyway.
Leaning against the damp cold of the brick wall outside, you feel the strength leaving you, “I can’t do this anymore,” you sob, “I hate it so much. I don’t want to do this to us. Fuck Taehyung, I don’t want to do this to him either, he’s a good guy and this is so wrong.”
He nods, trying to contain his own boiling emotions, “I don’t want this either. But what can we do? We can’t leave, nowhere will take us. I can’t leave Park Corp, he’ll kill me and if you openly disobey him, he’ll kill you or your grandparents, or someone else, and that can’t happen. Trust me, thinking that is the only thing that’s stopping me from going crazy over all this.”
“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not the one who has to fuck someone else,” you snipe.
“Trust me,” he scoffs, starting to lose his temper, “there’s nothing easy at all about thinking of you two together,” Taehyung knows you’re hurt, knows you’re suffering, and so he pushes the feelings down, deep down and away so that his anger isn’t directed at you.
“Please Taehyung,” you beg, “please don’t make me do it any more. It makes me feel sick, like some cheap whore.”
Taehyung’s voice is cold, “You’re saying that like there’s a choice,” he says flatly. It’s then that you both hear a sound and Taehyung holds a silent finger to his lips before mouthing “We have company,” at you.
Silently, you mouth back, “Jungkook?” and he nods at the likelihood of it being him.
“I’m so sorry,” Taehyung mouths before he speaks again in a loud and clear voice, “You’re a friend and you’re not a cheap whore, but you are my whore for as long as I want you so just learn to shut your fucking mouth and spread your fucking legs when you’re told or I’ll be less generous.”
Taehyung’s heart breaks at your look of betrayal, even though you know he’s playing a part, and even more so at the tremble in your voice as you weep.
“Less generous than this?” you scoff hopelessly and he reaches for your hand, squeezing your fingers briefly as he moves away from you, walking backwards up the alley, his eyes never leaving your face, beginning to threaten the safety of your only remaining family should you disobey him further: each word is a knife in both your hearts.
He’s almost at a bend now, yet before he turns away he mouths “I am you,”
You smile weakly as he pauses for your reply, and you mouth back, “You are me.”
It’s almost a year before you see Jungkook again; you’ve been careful to avoid him. Now that you live at Park Plaza you have no cause to go to Hobi’s bar, instead you two socialise near to Taehyung’s building, though never within, partly because Hobi doesn’t want to be accused of favouring a gang and partly because, within the building, you feel like Joonggil always has a beady eye on you.
It’s a surprise then, when you’re shopping for vegetables in Park territory, to hear your name called by a familiar voice.
You keep your face neutral, but soft, when you turn to face him, “Jeon Jungkook,” you reply.
He looks you up and down, taking in your relaxed unbranded daywear and it seems to please him that you’re not a Taehyung clone, “You look good,” he says, “how have you been?”
You smile awkwardly, “Oh, you know, same old,” you shrug, “What about you? You look great,” you smile. It’s no lie, Jungkook is even more muscular than when you saw him last, his tattoos now a complete sleeve with a new brow piercing too.
He nods curtly, “You live with Taehyung now,” he states. You make no reply, it’s a statement after all, and one he knows the truth of, and so you say nothing.
“I’m sorry for your situation,” he blurts out, catching your hand in his and stroking his thumb over the backs of your fingers and you’re surprised that your fingers reflexively tighten around his, holding his hand in yours.
He smiles at how you return the contact and doesn’t release your hand, the touch feeling natural between you, “I sometimes wonder if you’d have loved me as much as I loved you if we could have found a way to work out…” he trails off in thought for a moment before he shakes his head, as if to wake himself up from his thoughts, “but I guess we’d both have ended up dead.”
You can only nod in response, shifting uncomfortably.
“I hear Taehyung plans to marry you soon,” he says dispassionately, “he must treat you better nowadays?” your heart twinges at that because you can hear the hope and concern in his voice, the last traces of his lingering love for you.
You nod again, and force yourself to speak, “Things are good,” you confirm vaguely.
It’s then that a group of low-ranking Park men appear and the two of you briefly exchange goodbyes and best wishes before he turns away, his fingers slipping from yours, and you’re puzzled to find that your fingers seem to hover outstretched towards him for a moment as if to call him back.
———————————————————-
At a street corner now back in Jang territory, Jungkook pauses for a moment, leaning against a wall. Idly, he thrums his fingers across his thumb restlessly, the tattooed flesh haunted by the ghost of your touch.
Last week he’d overheard Jimin and Taehyung at one of the few luxury department stores that the city has left to offer; Taehyung was agonising over the material for his wedding suit and Jimin seemed to be in the role of advisor and emotional support. Jungkook had taken time to watch Taehyung carefully and it was evident that he was a mix of emotions, excited, nervous, tense, eager, too many to count in fact. The most prominent feeling though was written all over his face, laced into each syllable of his words, in every soft movement of his elegant fingers across the fabrics: Taehyung was clearly head-over-heels in love with you.
It caused Jungkook to wonder what had happened, his mind pulling apart every time he’d seen you together. After a long chat with Yoongi running through all his thoughts, he thinks he’s finally figured it out: Taehyung had always loved you.
The truth of it was obvious, Jungkook thought, as he pondered it. Taehyung had loved you all his life, but because of his reputation and his psychopathic boss, he’d hidden his feelings from everyone. Jungkook thinks that it must have been the threat of losing you to Jungkook that changed him, it must have made Taehyung finally reveal his feelings to you.
With that thought in mind, Jungkook decided he had to see you. He had to know how you were. Had you let Taehyung into your heart too? Now, resting his head against the sun-warmed brick behind him, Jungkook thinks you might have. Though he could feel that you still have feelings for him, as he does for you, you seemed contented, happy even, and that’s good enough for him.
Jungkook comforts himself that he isn’t like Taehyung; he doesn’t think if he can’t have you then nobody can. No, he can let you go and he hopes that you’ll be happy. With a final, bittersweet smile, Jungkook pushes the sole of his motorcycle boot off the wall and moves forward, heading home.
———————————————————-
Through gleaming floor-to-ceiling plate glass, Yoongi watches Jungkook return across the street to the building and his mind wanders back to the conversation he had with Jungkook.
The things Jungkook said have been simmering away in his mind and are now beginning to bubble and spit: he can’t help but wonder if the timing of your exit from Jungkook’s life and the collapse of the Ilsan deal that came shortly after was coincidental or something more. That deal changed the power balance in the city irrevocably; though the Jang Gang still share power with the Park Corp they have less territory and sway than they once did - Joonggil simply holds more power, land and influence now.
Jungkook’s theory made sense, Taehyung had always loved you. Fine. Yoongi gets it. But what if you’d always loved him too? What if you’d used Jungkook and betrayed him because you loved Taehyung? Yoongi feels like his theory makes equal sense, perhaps even more sense than Jungkook’s.
The boiling pot of ideas in his head now bubbles over, releasing scalding anger. Yoongi is going to do some investigating of his own, and if his suspicions prove true, then he won’t let it go: there’ll be hell to pay for you and Kim Taehyung.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Please, please, please drop me a line and let me know your thoughts! Anons are on and my inbox is always open to feedback, requests character asks, etc. Don’t be shy; sharing is caring folks 😘
UPDATE: A little drabble set a few months after the epilogue - THE KISS
A little character map for you so you can see how I visualised the characters:
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