Link In Pinned Post - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter Interlude: Epiphany

Jin watched as his younger brother shuffled to the elevator, blushing a bright red and stuffing something into his pocket that Yoongi handed him after Namjoon had headed into his office.

“Do I even want to know?” He asked, looking at Yoongi cackling in his seat and Taehyung smiling fondly at his brother’s retreating back.

Yoongi shrugged as he turned his eyes to Jin, the scar over his right eye had healed significantly since the last time Jin had seen him but it still had a faint redness to it.

“If Jungkook-ah wants to share that with you, that’s his business.” Yoongi drawls as he takes a sip of his coffee. “You have something you want to say, Seokjin?”

Jin sighs and lounges himself across his chair, being mindful of his cast as he leans his arm over the back of the chair next to him. “I do not miss your mind reading skills.”

“It’s served me well in taking care of your brother,” Yoongi dismisses, a hard look in his eye as Jin flinches. “Teenagers can be very volatile at times, I’m just glad he never learned to properly throw a knife at that time.”

“He never threw any knives,” Taehyung counters, resting a hand on the back of Yoongi’s neck. “It was a chair.”

“When did the pair of you get married? When I left you two were still dancing around each other like a couple of teenagers.” Jin asks, glancing down at the pairs’ matching silver wedding rings.

“About nine months after you left,” Yoongi answers with a shrug. “Don’t try and change the subject, Seokjin. What did you want to tell us?”

“Should I even bother telling you? You probably already know,” Jin scoffed, rolling his eyes. “And just call me Jin, I’m getting tired of hearing my full name around here.”

Yoongi blinks at him, the only outward sign of surprise he shows. “I think I am going to need you to tell me, it seems my mind reading skills have lessened with you since you left.”

Jin smirks, but then looks at the couple seriously, “Thank you for taking care of my little brother when I wasn’t there. I don’t want to even think about what would’ve happened to him if he hadn’t shown up on your doorstep. I had no idea that our mother had thrown him out while I was working, or that he had been on the streets for three weeks.”

“Why weren’t you there Seokjin? Why was he alone?” Taehyung asks softly, clenching his fist on the table.

“I was working to feed him and put him through school, our mother was a drug addict and was draining all our money from the retirement funds.” Jin answered, watching as Taehyung’s fist relaxed at his words. “When my brother was kicked out, I was in Australia on a mission for the Red Velvet Ring. I didn’t hear that he had left until I got back five weeks later, I was cut off from all communication for that mission.”

Realization comes over both the men’s faces and they nod in understanding together.

“What’s you plan now, Jin?” Taehyung asks, tilting his head when Jin chuckles. “Does Kookie know about all that?”

Jin shakes his head, “No, but I’ll tell him. He deserves the truth. I’ll be speaking with Namjoon next, if he agrees then I’d like to stay. Under what capacity, I don’t know, but I’m staying wherever Jungkook wants to be.”

Yoongi nods and smiles, “That’s good to hear then, I hope you won’t be as much of a bastard with him around.”

Jin scoffed, rolling his eyes as he stood, “Trust me, I’ll still give you hell Yoongi. Only this time you’re subjecting yourself to it willingly.”

“I’m doing no such thing,” Yoongi contradicts with a sniff, ignoring his husband who cackles in delight next to him.

Jin chuckles fondly under his breath as he leaves the dining room, unwilling to admit that he’s missed the two bastards. He stands in front of Namjoon’s office and takes a deep breath before raising his fist to place a firm knock on the dark wood.

“Come in,” Namjoon calls, he raises his brow as Jin enters and sits down in one of the desk chairs. “Are you coming in here to lecture me? Cause I don’t…”

Jin raises a hand to stop him, “I’m not here to lecture you, or give you the shovel talk, or anything like that. I’m here to apologize.”

Namjoon blinks and leans back into his chair, “You’re going to… apologize. To me? For what?”

“For jumping to conclusions about you and my brother, I should have gotten all the facts before tossing accusations around. And I should have given you all the facts as well.” Jin explains, then takes a deep breath before giving Namjoon all the dirty details about his absence and the true source of funds for Jungkook.

Namjoon listens impassively, rubbing his mouth with his finger as he ponders over everything Jin tells him. “So the funds that the Stray Kids Gang stole were actually yours?”

Jin nods, “If you’re still willing, I’d like that money to be returned to Jungkook. It was supposed to be his in the first place.”

“Of course,” Namjoon nods, pulling a sheet of paper out of his desk and handing it to Jin. “I’ll be showing this to Jungkook, when I think he’s ready to know, but you deserve to see it. It’s everything that the Stray Kids Gang used your money for.”

Jin took the paper and skimmed over the list, not at all surprised by what lay on it. He looked back up at Namjoon, “Are you really going to show him this? Why are you making such an effort to include him?”

Namjoon shrugged, “Jungkook expressed his wish to join the Bulletproof Company and he wants me not to lie to him. When he completes his training, he’s not just going to be some lackey, he’s going to be my partner. I need to know what he can and can’t handle before I start trusting him to help me run all of this. I want to trust him but I’m not stupid, I know there’ll be things he won’t react well to, so I need to know before he’s in charge of anything.”

“You always were one to plan ahead,” Jin chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest. “Does Jungkook know that you’re testing him? Does he know that you want him to be your partner?”

Namjoon scratches the end of his nose as he shifts his eyes away from Jin’s knowing ones, “He knows that last bit.”

Jin clicks his tongue but lets the subject drop, “Now about that kidnapping stunt, how the hell did they get him? Have your men lost their touch? The Stray Kids are insignificant, they barely had control over the one block they had.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes, “I wasn’t having any of my men tracking Jungkook and I still don’t. I want him to trust me, I need to trust that he’ll tell me if he needs something to make him feel safe. I’m not going to go behind his back and do it for him.”

“How many mafia romance novels did you read before coming to that conclusion?” Jin teases, snorting when a blush colors Namjoon’s face. “That’s good to hear Namjoon, it’ll pay off in the end. I wasn’t lying when I said that Jungkook will be the best of us. I should have phrased it better, but I was angry. You know how I am when I’m clouded like that.”

“All to well, Seokjin.” Namjoon agrees, his face turning somber. “I still have flowers sent to Jang-ssi’s grave, I’ve been wondering how to approach Jungkook about seeing it. Or if he’d even want to know where his father is buried.”

“I’ll ask him, that’s more of family business.” Jin says, standing to his feet as Namjoon nods in understanding. “You can call me Jin, Namjoon. I think I’m going to be around for a while, so I’ll need a job too.”

Namjoon snorts at Jin’s retreating back, “I’ll let you know if I have something for you, Jin.”

“You do that,” Jin chuckles, waving a hand as he leaves the office and heads into the kitchen. He passes Jimin leaning against the counter as he starts washing the piles of dishes in the sink.

“Are you my babysitter for today?” Jin asks as Jimin slides up next to him and starts drying the dishes with a hand towel.

“Yep!” Jimin says cheerfully, setting the dry plate down on the counter and taking the next dripping one from Jin. “I’m skipping class today because Hobi-hyung needs to stop by the training camp.”

Jin hums, “Is Hoba still having trouble keeping the greenies in line?”

“Not when he’s there,” Jimin scoffs with an eye roll. “They’re mad annoying though when he’s not, I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with training any of them. I just get to beat them up when they step out of line.”

Jin chuckles as he rinses a coffee mug and starts scrubbing it. They do the dishes in silence for a few minutes, just handing the glassware between each other with the sounds of running water echoing through the kitchen.

“So, you and Hoba then,” Jin drawls, making Jimin snort which makes Jin laugh awkwardly. “Sorry, that was random. Should have started off better.”

“No! That was perfect!” Jimin cackles, his shoulders shaking with laughter. When his giggles die down he looks over at Jin, “I’m not quite sure what I’d classify Hobi-hyung and I at the moment, he kinda gave me a bit of a shock last night when he told me he’s into multiple partners.”

Jin hums in agreement, nodding his head. “Shocked me too, honestly. Did he get all flustered about it?”

Jimin grins devilishly, “Like a little virgin getting his first kiss.”

Jin snorts, “I don’t think there’s anything ‘virgin’ about that man.”

Jimin hums in agreement and starts moving to put the clean and dry dishes into their cupboards. Jin joins him after washing his hands at the sink.

“Are we going to have a discussion about how we’re both into the same man and that man wants to be with both of us?” Jimin asks, huffing when Jin shoos him to the side as he placed the mugs in the top shelf after he was unable to reach it.

“How exactly do you even have that discussion?” Jin asks, trying to hide his smirk at Jimin’s pout as he places the mugs on the shelf with ease.

Jimin shrugs and continues to hand him mugs, “No idea, never had to have one.”

“Then we’ll wait for Hoba to have it, he’ll probably know.” Jin says, shutting the cupboard door and turning to face Jimin. “He is the middle ground in this situation.”

Jimin hums and looks Jin up and down as he folds his hands behind his back, “So you aren’t the type like Hobi-hyung? You’ve never had multiple partners.”

Jin raises a brow at him and leans back against the counter as he crosses his arms over his chest, “Despite how pretty my face is, the answer to that would be no. I only had one steady girlfriend before my father was killed and after I left the Bulletproof Company I was too focused on helping my family eat every day to date.”

Jin quietly files away Jimin’s small flinch at the word ‘pretty’, it would be something to ask about later.

“Are we assuming too much then? About whether you’re even interested in a relationship with us?” Jimin asks, raising his brow at him.

Jin looks at him for a moment, “I’m not exactly opposed to it, who would say no to two handsome men wanting to be with you?”

Jimin smirks, “Your deflection game is on point Seokjin, but I’ll get the real answer from you soon enough.”

Jin rolled his eyes, a smile creeping up on his face. “So, what’s your suggestion for moving forward?”

Jimin hums, tapping his chin in thought, “We’ll take it slow, since you’re not absolutely against the idea of all three of us. We can take our time getting to know each other.”

Jin huffs and nods in agreement, “I guess my life wasn’t normal to begin with, why should my love life be?”

“That’s the spirit!” Jimin cheers, smacking Jin’s shoulder. “Come on, I heard you’re rusty on some training. Let’s go spar!”

Jin laughs and follows Jimin into the elevator, leaning against the wall inside as they descend down to the sparring floor. The smile on his face stays as Jimin chats happily next to him about all the different moves he’ll put him through. He could practically taste the sparing mat in his mouth as the numbers on the elevator countdown.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 19: Heartbeat

When Jungkook returned to Namjoon’s penthouse, he was still chuckling at the thought of how Professor Chan would have reacted to being replaced not even a week after he had died. There hadn’t even been a proper mourning period at the campus, apparently he wasn’t just disliked by the students. The Dean of the school had said one small word about his passing during the morning announcements, but that was all the acknowledgement the man got for his twenty years at Hybe University.

The couple rings that Yoongi had handed him before he left had burned a hole in his pocket as he thought about them all day. Having them in his hand made the fact that he had to give them to Namjoon all the more real. His stomach bubbled with nerves as he set his backpack down on a kitchen chair before walking over to Namjoon’s office.

He fidgeted as he stood in front of the dark oak door before placing a hesitant knock against it.

“Come in,” Namjoon called and looked up as Jungkook stepped into the room, he scrunched his brow as Jungkook shuffled into the room and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Should I be worried? You knocked this time.”

Jungkook scratched the back of his head, “Just a bit nervous, you don’t have to accept them. I probably should’ve asked if you even wanted something like this. Please don’t think I’m trying to pressure you into anything that you might feel is too soon and…”

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon cut into Jungkook’s ramblings. “Little one, breathe.”

Jungkook took a deep breath, looked at Namjoon’s steady face and pulled the ring box out from his pocket. Placing it on Namjoon’s desk he whispered, “Yoongi-hyung had his jeweler make them and Tae helped me pick the design.”

Namjoon picked up the ring box and opened it, he sucked in a breath as he stared down at the two silver rings in the black velvet. They were a simple matching set, thin and delicate, with a single red line of metal wrapped around the silver.

Jungkook chewed on his lip ring as Namjoon blinked down at the rings, “They’re couple rings. The red line was inspired by the Red String of Fate, I thought it might be fitting considering how we met. Do you like them?”

Namjoon blinked again and looked up at Jungkook, he opened and closed his mouth for a moment.

“Do you… hate them?” Jungkook squeaked, twisting his fingers together in his lap.

“Fuck no!” Namjoon burst out with a violent shake of his head. “No baby, I love them. It’s just… no one has ever… gotten me something like this before.”

Jungkook smiled widely and reached onto the desk, he picked up the ring box and took out the larger of the two rings form inside. He took Namjoon’s left hand into his and slid the ring onto his pointer finger. He smiled wider as he looked at how well it suited Namjoon’s long fingers.

Namjoon reached over and plucked the smaller ring out of the box. He took Jungkook’s left hand into his and slid the ring onto his pointer finger as well. They intertwined their ringed fingers, connecting the red string between them.

“It’s perfect, Jungkook-ah.” Namjoon whispered, then chuckled. “I’m sorry to say what I have to give to you in return isn’t something new.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything Namjoon,” Jungkook said as Namjoon pulled a box off the floor and placed it on the desk.

“More like returning something you lost,” Namjoon corrected, sliding the box closer to him.

Jungkook looked at the box curiously before pulling the lid off, he gasped as he saw what lay inside of it. “How did you find it!? I thought Bangchan had it destroyed!”

Jungkook pulled out the leather jacket, Namjoon’s leather jacket. The thing that started everything and held it tightly to his chest. Namjoon smiled as Jungkook buried his face into the leather collar.

“My men found it while we were cleaning out the Stray Kids Gang’s warehouse. I had it cleaned and if you look at the collar, you’ll see the other surprise I have on it.” Namjoon explained, taking the empty box off of his desk.

Jungkook pulled his face away from the leather jacket and looked down at the stitching that laid at the back collar. Where there used to just be a little ‘RM’ stitched in white lettering, there now sat ‘RM & JK’ and underneath that read ‘To Keep Us Warm Till The Spring Comes Again’.

“Oh Namjoon,” Jungkook whispered, looking up at the man with teary eyes. “I love it, thank you.”

“Of course baby,” Namjoon grinned, glancing down at the ring on his finger. “I still think I got the better gift out of the pair of us.”

“Buy me a puppy and we’ll call it even.” Jungkook teased, hugging the leather jacket to his chest happily.

“What breed do you want?” Namjoon asked, chuckling when Jungkook starts to protest his seriousness on wanting a dog at the moment. Namjoon leans his head into his hand and stares at Jungkook lovingly, listening as he starts to ramble on about all the research he’s done on proper dog training.

Saturday Morning

“Baby, I can’t just call the leader of NCT Dream Circinate and tell them I can’t make my meeting because my boyfriend wants to go out on a date.” Namjoon says gently as Jungkook pouts at him.

“What good is being the most powerful man in South Korea if you can’t have one day off?” Jungkook counters, ignoring Jimin’s snicker at the end of the table as he stares at Namjoon.

Namjoon pursues his lips and glances at Yoongi for support, he only gets a shrug in response from the man.

“Even I have a day off Namjoon-ah,” Yoongi drawls and gives Namjoon a sly smile. “I’ve been telling you for years to have a day for yourself, maybe Jungkook-ah will actually force you to do that. Quality time is important for a growing relationship, you know.”

Jungkook smiles smugly at Namjoon’s defeated sigh.

“I’ll make you a deal, little one.” Namjoon says, reaching for Jungkook’s hand and running his thumb over their ring on his finger. “I can’t blow off this meeting, but I can move my Sunday one to today. I can give you all of tomorrow, how does that sound?”

Jungkook narrows his eyes, “You promise, I’ll get you all to myself tomorrow?”

Namjoon gulps and licks his lips as he nods, letting out a shaky breath when Jungkook hums happily and returns to eating his food. His eyes narrow down the table as snickers from the rest of the men sound through the room.

“Don’t you all have somewhere to be?” Namjoon scolds, only to receive chuckles in response as they all turn back to their own plates of food and conversions with the person sitting next to them.

Namjoon huffs and rolls his eyes as he stands from the table, “One of these days I’m just going to fire all of you, the level of disrespect I’m getting in this house is unreal.”

“We already have a new boss to take your place!” Jimin teases, patting Jungkook’s shoulder as Namjoon glares at him. “I think Jungkook-ah would do a much better job than you anyway.”

“Probably,” Namjoon mutters, placing a kiss onto Jungkook’s forehead before heading towards his office. “You better treat your new boss well then, he’s dead broke though so you can forget your paycheck this month.”

“Wait! Leader-hyung, I was joking!” Jimin yelled, scrabbling out his chair to follow after Namjoon’s retreating back. The rest of the table laughed as they watched Jimin pitter behind their leader’s long stride, muttering apologies and clutching his hands together with his pleads for his paycheck.

“Way to stick it to the man, Jimin-ah,” Jungkook teases, when the door to Namjoon’s office is promptly closed in Jimin’s face. “It’s so good to see where your true loyalty lies.”

Jimin huffs as he returns to his seat and pulls his plate of food to himself, “I was going to buy some new oil for my guns, the good stuff. I hope hyung was just joking about my paycheck.”

Jungkook snorts at Jimin’s pout and pats his shoulder consolingly, “I’ll put in a good word with my boyfriend for you, Jimin-ssi.”

Yoongi chuckles at the pair as he sets down his mug of coffee, “What is your plan for today then, Jungkook-ah?”

Jungkook blinks as he thinks about it, “I think I need to start getting my apartment together, I can’t live in barebones forever.”

He also needed better sheets for him and Namjoon to sleep on when he comes over, but Jungkook was not about to tell his hyung that.

Yoongi hums in agreement, “Would you be alright with Jin going with you? It’ll be good for him to get out of the house every now and then.”

Jungkook ignored Jin’s muttering of ‘I’m not a dog’ as he looked at his hyung, “Do I need to be worried about him trying to escape?”

“I’m not going to escape!” Jin protests, still being ignored as Yoongi shakes his head at Jungkook.

“We’ll have a guard go with you and he still has the ankle monitor on, lucky for us Tae finally finished his design on it. He won’t be able to get that off as easily as previous ones.” Yoongi says, taking a long sip of the fresh coffee his husband places in front of him. “If you don’t feel comfortable going with a guard you don’t know, I can have Jimin’s schedule moved around so he can go with the pair of you today.”

Jungkook looks over at Jimin, who smiles widely at him and clutches his hands together as he says, “I would do anything to get out of this meeting, Jungkook-ah. Please say yes.”

Jungkook stares at him for a beat before nodding, Jimin cheers and hugs Jungkook before dashing off to his room to change out of his pajamas. Jungkook looks back at Yoongi, “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d rather have Jimin-hyung with me. I know I’ll have to meet some of your other men eventually and I’m sure you trust them but…”

Yoongi raises a hand to stop, “You never have to apologize to me, Jungkook, on what makes you feel safe. There will come a day where you won’t need any of us to do that for you, but for now we do it happily.”

“Thank you hyung,” Jungkook whispers, smiling as the man passes him and ruffles his hair affectionately. Taehyung follows closely after and places a kiss on Jungkook’s forehead before following behind his husband into Namjoon’s office.

Jungkook tries to ignore the eyes of his brother following him as he makes his way into the kitchen with piles of dishes. As he works at the sink Jin comes to his side and leans against the counter while he works.

“I have to admit something to you, Jungkook.” Jin says quietly, Jungkook hums in acknowledgement but doesn’t stop washing the plates in the sink and placing them on the drying rack. “It wasn't mom and dad’s money that I was sending you for school, it’s never been their money.”

Jungkook turns off the tap and looks over at his brother in confusion, “What do you mean, hyung? Whose money was it?”

Jin hangs his head as he looks down at the floor, “Mine. It was my money from all the jobs I could get, mom was sucking us dry on her cocaine addiction. That’s why I was never home. I had to work night and day just to send a bit of money to keep you in school and keep mom out of the drug pits.”

“Why didn’t you tell me hyung?” Jungkook whispers, clenching his fists in hand towel. “I had no idea about any of that. I thought you just left me. I thought I was alone.”

Jin nods, “I know, I was trying to protect you. I was trying to protect my little brother from a world I didn’t want him to be a part of. That was stupid of me and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for lying to you. I’m sorry for not being there when you needed me.”

Jungkook sniffs and leans his head against Jin’s shoulder, clutching to the bottom of Jin’s shirt with his finger tips. “You can’t take me away from here, Jin-hyung. I can’t leave my hyungs.”

“I know, I know,” Jin whispers, turning to pull Jungkook to his chest. Holding tight around his little brother’s shoulders as he shakes in his arms. “I know that now, Jungkook, I won’t. I promise I won’t, we’ll make it work with them. I’ll make it work.”

Jungkook hiccups as he clutches Jin’s chest in his arms, “You can’t leave me again, hyung. I need you too.”

Jin’s arms become like a vice around him and Jin lowers his head to rest on the crown of Jungkook’s. “I’m not going anywhere, they’ll have to kill me to take me away.”

The Jeon brothers clutched each other for a long beat before Jungkook slowly pulls away and wipes the tears off of his face.

“What made you tell me the truth today, Jin-hyung?” Jungkook asked, watching his brother wipe his own face clean of his tears.

Jin shrugs, “I talked to Hoba, he helped me put some things into perspective. I’m sorry for the expectations I put on you when it came to our parents, Jungkook-ah. I tend to forget that you didn’t grow up with them like I did, you had an absentee father and a drug addict mother. Mom may have seemed in her right mind, but she wasn’t. I had no idea that she had kicked you out of the house, I would’ve come back if I did.”

“I had no idea mom even was a drug addict, how was she able to hide it from me for so long?” Jungkook asked, thinking back over his childhood memories for any sign he may have missed.

Jin sighs, giving Jungkook a long look, “I know I wasn’t home very often, especially after you settled at school in Seoul but I was able to keep mom’s addiction controlled. I had to go back to company business to get better money and drugs for her, she would have just gone to any drug pit if I wasn’t her supplier. I tried to get her sober for years, but she was too broken-hearted over killing dad, so I never succeeded. We had a deal for her using, you would never know. I never wanted you to know about her addiction.”

Jungkook tilts his head, “So if she wasn’t really all there, how did she send me school in Seoul? And have you drive me and check over me everyday?”

Jin rubs the back of his neck, “I lied about mom sending you, I did that. I didn’t want you in Busan anymore, after what happened with that school gang. I drove you myself so I could check the area until I knew it was safe for you to go on your own. And I wanted to make sure you weren’t getting in any more fights.”

“Did she really die from a brain tumor, hyung? Or was that a lie too?” Jungkook asks softly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It was a brain tumor, stage four brain cancer. I would never lie about that,” Jin answers.

Jungkook nodded, “I believe you hyung, do you understand why I didn’t come to the hospital while she was sick?”

Jin nods, patting Jungkook’s shoulder, “I understand, Kook-ah, and I’m sorry for the harsh words I said to you for it. I’m sorry about the conclusions I jumped to when you left to live in Seoul. How can we move forward from all this?”

“Leave the lies in the past,” Jungkook says firmly, spying Jimin hovering around the corner over Jin’s shoulder. “Let’s leave the harsh words and hard times in the past, I’ve forgiven you, we can leave it behind us. And we can move forward by helping me get my new apartment together!”

Jin chuckled as Jungkook skipped past him and joined Jimin’s side towards the elevator. He shook his head fondly as Jungkook waved for him to follow them and stepped forward in their direction with a wide smile on his face.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 20: Good Day

“So, what exactly do you need to get Jungkook?” Jimin asked as they slid into the waiting SUV, buckling himself into the seat as they started driving down the streets of Seoul.

Jungkook watched as they passed D-Town before pulling his phone from his pocket, “I made a list this morning, honestly I think I need just about everything. My old apartment didn’t have very much room for me to have anything but the bare essentials.”

“I still don’t understand why you even bothered to live there,” Jimin huffed, looking over to Jin’s confused face. “Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-hyung offered to give Jungkook one of their spare apartments for years, but he insisted on finding his own place with what little money he had while working for them. I only went there once, it was a single room apartment with a tiny bathroom. It was dirty, old and didn’t have any central heating.”

“Why the hell did you move there then?” Jin asked incredulously, looking over at Jungkook’s sheepish face.

Jungkook scratches the tip of his nose as he looks away from his two hyungs staring at him, “I didn’t want to bother Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-hyung, they had already done so much for me.”

Jin narrows his eyes, “I may not have been in your life much, Jungkook-ah, but I can tell when you’re lying. We just agreed not to have any lies between us anymore, that includes you too.”

Jimin glances between the pair of them as Jungkook fidgets in his seat and Jin continues to stare at his younger brother with a hard look.

“I found out that Yoongi-hyung and Tae had adopted Jimin-hyung, I found the paperwork,” Jungkook whispered, glancing briefly at the pair before dropping his gaze back to his hands. “They never asked me if I wanted that too, I thought it was because they didn’t want to. So I moved out and tried to distance myself from them a bit, it didn’t really work and I hated living on my own.”

“Then why didn’t you talk to them, Jungkook-ah?” Jimin says softly, taking Jungkook’s hands into his. “You could have saved a lot of hurt from everyone if you had just talked to them.”

Jungkook sniffed, “I didn’t want to confirm my worst fears by asking. It would hurt too much to hear that from them.”

Jimin scoffed as he rolled his eyes, “Those two would give you the shirts off their backs if you asked them to. You never have to worry about them not wanting you, you’re their precious little Kookie baby.”

“That sounds like jealousy, hyung.” Jungkook teases, squeezing Jimin’s hands at the reassurance, kicking Jimin’s heeled boot with his clunky one. “It’s not my fault I’m the baby.”

Jin chuckles as the pair continue to kick each other’s shins, placing a hand on both their knees as the rough housing starts to increase. “No fighting children, leave that for the sparring ring, not a moving car. Let me see that list, Jungkook-ah.”

Jungkook hands over his phone before starting a thumb war with Jimin. Despite the man’s small fingers, Jimin was very skilled in evading Jungkook’s movements and holding his thumb under his. They don’t stop their little game until the car rolls to a stop in the parking garage of IKEA.

Jin leads them up the escalator and grabs a cart before they head down the endless rows of furniture and house hold items.

Jungkook’s eyes widened at the number of items that Jin and Jimin pulled from the shelves and placed into the cart. “I don’t think I have enough funds to cover all of this, hyung.”

Jimin chuckles and pulls a black card out his pocket, waving it under Jungkook’s nose. “Your boyfriend slipped this to me before we left, you don’t have to worry about paying for anything.”

Jungkook squeaked as he scrambled to follow after his cackling hyungs, pulling his phone out from his pocket to text Namjoon. ‘You don’t have to pay for my apartment needs.’ He types sending a distressed face emoji at the end.

‘I told Jimin not to tell you, I’ll be having a chat with him later.’ Namjoon sends back. ‘Baby, I don’t mind paying for things. I have more money than I know what to do with half the time. You’re little trip won’t even scratch the surface.’

Jungkook nibbles down on his lip as he follows behind his hyungs, trying to find the right words to say to his boyfriend. It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful, he was, he just didn’t want Namjoon to feel like he was using him.

‘Think of it this way,’ Namjoon sends, as if sensing what was bothering Jungkook. ‘If we ever get married, it’ll be your money anyway. So, spend it how you like.’

Jungkook chuckles as his face heats up in pleasure, ‘I see the couple rings have gone to your head. Won’t even let us move in together but already talking about marrying me.’

‘Technically baby, you brought it up first.’ Namjoon teases. ‘We weren’t even officially boyfriends when you talked about our wedding day.’

Jungkook snorted at the memory and sent Namjoon a rolling eyes emoji, ‘Fine. I’ll go spend all your money, yeobo.’

‘Good boy,’ Namjoon sends back with a wide smile emoji. ‘I expect a big bill when you get back, baby.’

Jungkook rolls his eyes and stuffs his phone back in his pocket, joining his hyung’s sides as they argue over which china set would suit Jungkook’s apartment better.

“I like the blue set,” he says, choosing neither of their choices as he looks at the chinaware. “We need to look at living room sets after finishing in the kitchen.”

Jungkook does his best not to look at the very long bill that’s handed to Jimin as they finish at the checkout counter. A trail of suited men load up three SUVs with all the bags from their carts and a moving truck filled with the furniture pieces is loaded before making the journey to Jungkook’s apartment.

When they arrive, everything is taken up for them by Namjoon’s men. Jin works with some of them to put the pieces of furniture together, while Jimin and Jungkook work on washing all the kitchen ware and setting them into his cupboards. Slowly the apartment starts to come together, Taehyung steps in from the elevator a few hours into their work and smiles as he watches Jungkook argue with Jin on where his couch should sit.

“It should face the window, hyung, why would I want it to face into the kitchen?” Jungkook asks, gesturing to the wide windows that overlook a small balcony.

“Why would you want to look at your breakfast table under the window?” Jin counters, pointing to the little white table and chairs that sat on the raised ledge. “You’d also have your back to the doors, with it facing the kitchen you’ll be able to see all entrances!”

“Except the balcony door,” Jungkook points out, pointing at the glass frame door that led out to the balcony. Jimin waved at them from outside as he set up the two lounge chairs and small table, then began weaving lights through the metal balcony railing.

“Why not have it face that wall?” Taehyung suggests, pointing to the wall that stood just before the elevator hallway. “Aren’t you going to have a TV set up there anyway?”

Taehyung snickered as Jungkook and Jin muttered ‘oh yeah’ together and started moving the couch to face that wall.

“The place looks very nice, Kookie. I’m glad we were finally able to convince you to have it.” Taehyung teased, looking around at all the simple furniture Jungkook had chosen around his open living room and kitchen. “Now I just need to get the floor below you ready for the three meerkats to move into.”

Jungkook scrunched his brow as he followed his hyung down the hall towards his main bedroom, “Who hyung?”

“Jiminie, Hobi, and Jin,” Taehyung answered, waving at Jimin through the hallway windows that overlooked the balcony before turning into the open door for Jungkook’s room. “I think the three of them are about to become a thing in the near future and I want everyone under my roof when that happens.”

Jungkook blinked and shook his head, “I don’t need that image in my head, hyung. Technically they are all my brothers, in one way or another.”

“Jin is your only blood brother and Hobi won’t be your brother-in-law until you marry Namjoon, Jiminie doesn’t fit into either of those categories.” Taehyung points out, checking over Jungkook’s bathroom and running the taps.

“Jimin is my adoptive brother and my best friend,” Jungkook says, sitting down on the dark comforter of his bed as Taehyung passes to look inside the walk-in closet.

“What does that make Yoons and I, then?” Taehyung asks, tutting his tongue at the rows of black clothes on Jungkook’s hangers. Muttering to himself about buying Jungkook some more colorful clothes.

“Aren’t you and hyung technically my adoptive parents at this point? You literally talked about walking me down the aisle the other night.” Jungkook pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. Trying to be playful, but he felt that this would be the right time to have this conversation with his hyung.

Taehyung’s hand froze as he flicked through Jungkook’s black t-shirts and looked over at Jungkook with wide, shiny eyes. “You… you actually see Yoongi and I as your parents?”

Jungkook blinks at him and scratches the end of his nose in embarrassment, “I thought I made it clear how I felt about you guys, but after I saw Jimin’s adoption papers and you never asked me if I wanted that, I figured you didn’t feel the same.”

“Is that why you left, Jungkook-ah,” Taehyung whispers, moving out of the closet to kneel in front of Jungkook. “Did you move out because you thought Yoongi and I didn’t want you?”

Jungkook nods, a choked hum in his throat as tears begin to fall down his face. “Why didn’t you ask hyung?”

“Because I was scared,” Taehyung whispered, taking Jungkook’s hands into his and squeezed them tightly. “I was scared that if I asked, if I stepped over that line, that we’d scare you away. That would have been a big commitment for you and you still talked so fondly of your brother. I didn’t want to sever you from him even more than you already were. Even if you didn’t take our name, by letting us adopt you we could have driven Jin far away. It would’ve broken you, cause you still held out hope that he’d come back.”

“And he did,” Jungkook whispered, still choking on gentle sobs. “But hyung I wanted you, I wanted you and Yoongi-hyung to want me.”

“We do, we do want you.” Taehyung said fiercely, tears running down his own face as he pulled Jungkook down into his arms. “You’re my Kookie baby, I don’t care if there’s official paperwork or not, you’re mine. No one can take your place in my heart, you’ve carved your place into it like Yoongi and Jimin.”

Jungkook hiccuped as he clutched tight around Taehyung’s chest, burying his head into his neck as he was pulling into the man’s lap and was gently rocked as he held him. Taehyung hummed a familiar lullaby that always calmed him down during emotional talks, running his fingers gently through Jungkook’s hair as the tears down his face stopped.

“And to think,” Taehyung chuckled, running a hand over Jungkook’s brow. “I told Yoons that I didn’t want to have any kids, now we have two.”

“You didn’t want to adopt any kids with Yoongi-hyung, why hyung?” Jungkook asked, tilting his head up as Taehyung sighed and continued playing with his hair.

“I was very young when I was sold to the Hwarang Boys, younger than even Namjoon when he started his training under his father. I never wanted to bring up a child into this life. I know Yoongi and I would treat them better than most but I couldn’t, in good conscience, do it willingly.” Taehyung explained sadly, looking out into the room with a far off look in his eye. “Yoongi understood that, but until he walked through the door with you in tow, I didn’t realize how much he had given up by marrying me. Our relationship with Jimin is a little different than with you, we don’t treat him any less but he has a very different background. After watching Yoongi with you, I’ve realized what a wonderful father he could have been.”

“Yoongi-hyung would never regret marrying you hyung.” Jungkook says passionately, making Taehyung’s teary eyes turn to him. “He loves you, I could see that since the first day I came into his office. Your wedding picture was sitting proudly on his desk and it still is.”

Taehyung chuckles and wipes his face, “We should take you there someday, the place where Yoons and I got married. It’s where he took me on our first date, although he’ll adamantly deny that it was our first. Unfortunately for him, I disagree.”

Jungkook chuckles as he moves from Taehyung’s lap and pulls him up from the floor, “That sounds like fun hyung!”

“Maybe you can take Joonie with us, we can make it a double date.” Taehyung bursts out laughing at the look of disgust on Jungkook’s face.

“I’m not going on a double date with my parents, hyung! That’s gross!” Jungkook protests, grumbling when Taehyung ruffles his hair.

“Do you want to go and talk to Yoons about those papers, Kookie?” Taehyung asks, smiling his wide boxy smile as Jungkook nods eagerly. “Then let's go upstairs.”

Jungkook doesn’t even wait for Taehyung as he dashes out of the room, ignoring Jin and Jimin’s yelps for him as he leaps over the couch and slides into the open elevator. He’s vibrating as they rise up the few levels and plows through the apartment behind Taehyung.

“What has got the pair of you so excited?” Yoongi snarks, catching sight of Taehyung racing across the apartment and yelping when Jungkook throws himself over top of him on the couch.

Jungkook buries himself into Yoongi’s arms, clutching tight around the man’s shoulders as he tucks his head down against his neck. Yoongi runs his hands up and down his back soothingly as Jungkook settles against him.

Taehyung comes flying back into the room and shows Yoongi the papers he had grabbed. Yoongi reads them over Jungkook’s shoulder, his eyes widening at the words ‘Adoption Form’ at the top.

“Oh,” Yoongi whispers, suddenly clutching hard around Jungkook’s shoulders. “We should have had that conversation with you long ago, I knew there was a reason you moved out so suddenly.”

Jungkook nods against Yoongi’s neck, feeling Taehyung rub and hand down his back, “I was just stupid, hyung, should have just talked to you instead of running away.”

“You couldn’t have gotten very far anyway,” Yoongi whispers, placing a kiss on the side of his head.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 21: Butterfly

Jungkook woke up with his face pressed against Namjoon’s back, his leg thrown over his hip, and his arms curled around his chest. He sighed and pressed himself closer till the inch of space between them was gone. He absentmindedly traced his fingers over Namjoon’s stomach as he slowly began to feel more awake.

Jungkook just enjoys this quiet moment of holding Namjoon while he sleeps. Wishing that this moment in time could just be frozen and that there was no outside world for them to face.

Namjoon groans and shoves his face into his pillow as a light beam from the widow hits his eyelids. Jungkook chuckles as he shifts himself further up Namjoon’s body to cradle his head into his arms. Namjoon sighs as Jungkook starts running his hands through his hair.

Jungkook places a kiss on Namjoon’s neck as his eyes flutter open, continuing to run his fingers through his long dark hair.

“Is this the longest you’ve ever grown it?” Jungkook asks softly, watching as the dark strands of hair curl slightly at the ends as they rest against Namjoon’s honeyed skin.

Namjoon hums deeply in his chest, “I think this is the longest I’ve let it go, haven’t had time to go to our barber.”

“I like it,” Jungkook says, pushing the thick hair away from Namjoon’s forehead, chuckling when it bounces straight back without his hand holding it in place. “I think you just need to have it styled a bit.”

“Is that what we’re doing today? Taking me to the barber to fix my hair.” Namjoon asks tilting his head to look over at Jungkook, who leans his head into the palm of his hand to look down at Namjoon.

Jungkook hums in thought as he runs his thumb across Namjoon’s brow, cradling the side of his face in his hand. “That can be one thing we can do today, I honestly didn’t have much of a plan.”

“Well, as promised, I’m yours for today.” Namjoon says with a grin, Jungkook leans down and places a kiss against his forehead. “So, we really could just stay in bed all day.”

Jungkook grins as he continues to place kisses down Namjoon’s face until he captures his plush lips in a gentle kiss, once, twice, before pulling away. “I think we should take it easy, we’ve earned it.”

“I like the sound of that,” Namjoon hums, leaning himself more into Jungkook’s arms as they settle into the bed more comfortably. “Is there anything off the table for today?”

“No more serious talks,” Jungkook says at once, shifting his leg to be more comfortable over Namjoon’s hip. “I don’t have enough emotional energy for them.”

Namjoon chuckles, taking one of Jungkook’s hands in his to place a kiss on the palm. “I don’t think you can really plan some of those, what do you want to talk about then?”

Jungkook thinks over it for a moment, watching as Namjoon sighs and intertwines their ringed fingers together. The metal between them connects creating an endless circle of red between their fingers. “I want to hear more about you. I feel like you know so much about my life, but I don’t know much about yours.”

Namjoon tightens his fingers around Jungkook’s, “That, I believe, would count as an emotional talk, baby. My life hasn’t exactly been the smoothest.”

“I’ll allow it, I want to hear about you Namjoon. I want to know everything about you, even the parts that are ugly.” Jungkook says gently, leaning his head down against the side of Namjoon’s neck. “But you don’t have to tell me anything if you’re not ready to.”

“I can’t even think of where to start,” Namjoon says with a sigh, his thumb fiddling with their rings.

“What was your childhood like?” Jungkook asks, placing a kiss against the mole on his lower neck when Namjoon sighs again.

“I started training early, not nearly as early as Taehyung did, but by the age of ten I could assemble and disassemble any weapon put in front of me. I could take down a grown man twice my size and tell you the fastest way to have someone bleeding out on the ground. The way my father ran the company is vastly different to how I do. He valued the power of fists over words, it nearly got him killed several times.” Namjoon explained, staring out the window as he spoke. “He was tough on me, he wanted me to lead the company like he did and would get angry when I’d hesitate. Mindless violence has never appealed to me, it can be a tool like anything else but I never resort to using my fists if my words can have a faster result.”

“What about your mother? Did she agree with your father?” Jungkook asks, lifting his head to view Namjoon’s expressions better.

Namjoon shook his head, “No, she wanted him to change his methods for years but he never did. She wrote his retirement papers herself, she was a lawyer before she met my father. When it came time for him to step down, she wanted to make sure there would be no way for him to take the company back. She knew how I would change things and knew how angry my father would be about it.”

Namjoon glances over at Jungkook’s confused face and smiles, “You have to understand, Jungkook. The Bulletproof Company was started by my forefathers, the methods my father had were passed down for years. It’s how he learned from his father, he didn’t know any different and my grandfather was much crueler in correcting his son. Part of the reason I think my father is so angry with me at the moment is because I’ve succeeded where he failed. I’ve broken the family traditions and come out stronger for it.”

“I think he’ll come around then,” Jungkook muses, returning his hand to Namjoon’s hair. “He just needs to set aside his pride and see how well his son is doing.”

Namjoon chuckles, a wide smile coming over his face. “You and my mother are going to get along very well, she’s been telling him that for years.”

“Lucky you for not having any parents of mine to meet,” Jungkook grimaces, already feeling the butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the thought of meeting Namjoon’s parents.

“You have Yoongi-hyung and Tae now and personally they are scarier than my parents,” Namjoon says with a slight shiver. “Especially Taehyung, I never want to piss that man off. If we ever have a falling out, it’s all your fault. He’ll kill me before I can explain.”

Jungkook laughs as he moves his arms around Namjoon’s broad shoulders, “Why are all of you so scared of Tae? He’s harmless.”

Namjoon snorts, “He’s harmless to you, there’s a reason we call him the Tiger of Seoul. Just ask him about the day we rescued Yoongi from the Seoul Empire and you’ll understand.”

“Who’s the Seoul Empire? I thought you controlled Seoul,” Jungkook asked, making a mental note to ask his hyung about that day.

“We do, the Seoul Empire was the company that controlled it before us. It’s the company that your father’s murderer came from, during our hunt for him we inadvertently took them down. They were the leading company in all of South Korea, there was a big power change when we took their place.” Namjoon explained, placing one of his hands on Jungkook’s wrist and running his thumb over his skin. “So, you can blame Tae for my workload. He’s the one that started the chain that led us to where we are today.”

Jungkook whistled, “Damn, I need to hear this story from my hyung.”

Namjoon chuckled and rolled into Jungkook’s arms to face him properly, wrapping his arms around his waist as he placed a kiss on his cheek. “Do you want some breakfast, baby?”

“I just have one more question,” Jungkook hums, placing his arms around Namjoon’s neck. “How many relationships have you been in? Because it’s becoming increasingly obvious how little you know about dating life.”

Namjoon blinks at him and wrinkles his nose, “I don’t think dating should be something you become a master of. Every person is different, there's not an exact formula to please everyone. But since you asked, I’ve only been in two relationships before you.”

Jungkook shrugs, “I’m not judging you Namjoon, I don’t have much room to talk either, since I’ve only been in one before you. I guess I just expected something different, considering how suave you acted when we met.”

Namjoon tuts his tongue, “Suave you say, are you saying I’m not actually like that?”

Jungkook rolls his eyes playfully at Namjoon’s teasing, “No, you’ve just lost some of the mystery you had. Now that I know you snore in your sleep.”

“You snore too!” Namjoon protests, ignoring Jungkook’s yelp of protest as he rolls them over to lay on his back and have Jungkook on top of him. “You’re like a little lawnmower in my ear.”

Jungkook snorted with laughter at the imagery, “I make a cute lawnmower though.”

“The cutest,” Namjoon agreed with a nod, grinning as Jungkook settled himself over his chest. “I hate to break this light conversation, but can I ask about your ex?”

Jungkook hums as he smirks at Namjoon, “There really isn’t much to tell, I didn’t see him for very long. Despite what Jimin-hyung said, I didn't really move in with him. I was going back and forth between his apartment and my hyungs’. It was during the first year I lived with them, I didn’t want to impose on their hospitality too much.”

Namjoon nods as his brow scrunches, “I guess I fail to understand why anyone would cheat on you.”

“Ah,” Jungkook mutters, biting down on his lip ring. “That… ah I kinda understand why he did.”

“Nothing excuses cheating,” Namjoon starts to say but stops as he watches Jungkook’s face glow bright red, he scrunches his brow in confusion as Jungkook fiddles with his t-shirt. “What is it, baby?”

“It’s just… ah… he cheated on me because I wouldn't… I wouldn’t have sex with him.” Jungkook says quietly, unable to look at Namjoon’s face. “We only dated for a few weeks and it takes me some time to… want that with someone. He would have been my first and I felt like he was pressuring me into something I wasn’t ready for. He cheated on me with his best friend, it didn’t really surprise me when I caught them but it still hurt.”

“I’d never do that, Jungkook.” Namjoon says, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair before lifting his chin to have their eyes meet. “I’d never pressure you into anything, it takes me time too. To trust someone with that level of intimacy is a lot for me, there’s nothing wrong with us just taking it slow.”

Jungkook breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his head down onto Namjoon’s chest, “Thank goodness.”

Namjoon chuckled as he brushed his fingers through Jungkook’s hair, “How long has that been worrying you, baby?”

Jungkook shrugged as he ran his hands up and down Namjoon’s sides, “Not long honestly, there’s kinda been a lot going on recently that put it on the back burner.”

Namjoon hums in agreement, “Not to… ah… bring it up too much, but how inexperienced are you exactly?”

Jungkook peeks his eyes up at Namjoon’s blushing red face and snickers, “I’ve sucked dick before if that's what you’re asking, babe.”

Namjoon chokes and covers his face with his hands, “You can’t just say things like that!”

Jungkook cackles and lifts himself up to sit on Namjoon’s stomach, keeping himself raised a bit on his knees so as to not put too much weight on his boyfriend. “You’re very easy to fluster, should I be worried about that?”

Namjoon’s reply is muffled by his palms, making Jungkook laugh and tug at his wrists to pull them away from his face. Namjoon’s face is still bright red but there’s mirth shining in his eyes as he looks up at Jungkook.

“You are the only person that can fluster me so easily.” He assures Jungkook, tapping the tip of his nose with his finger. “I’d be out of a job if anyone else could.”

“What a nice way to say someone would shoot your pretty face,” Jungkook huffed, moving off Namjoon’s body. “Come on, babe, I’m hungry.”

Namjoon laughed and followed him out of the room. The pair blinked in shock as they looked over the balcony to see Taehyung and Jin sparring in the living room. Jimin, Yoongi, and Hobi all sat on the long couch that was pushed back to give them space, sharing a bowl of popcorn between the three of them.

“Do I not have a sparring ring seven floors down?” Namjoon asked incredulously as they came down the stairs. Dodging a pillow that was thrown at his head by Jimin.

“There’s no good seats down there to watch!” Jimin counters, cheering when Taehyung flips Jin over his shoulder down to the ground. Jimin jumps down from the couch as Taehyung pins Jin to the floor, counts to three while pounding his fist down before declaring Taehyung the winner.

Hobi huffs and hands Yoongi a wad of wons over to him from his pocket, Yoongi smirks as he stuffs it into his wallet. Taehyung laughs as he jumps off Jin’s groaning body, high fiving Jimin’s raised hand before offering one to Jin.

“You’ve gotten faster,” Jin grunts as he takes the offered hand, he pats Taehyung’s shoulder as he walks towards the kitchen. “Are you two hungry?”

“Shouldn’t you be resting, hyung?” Jungkook asked, following after his brother while Namjoon went to scold Jimin for rearranging his living room. “Your wrist is still in a cast.”

Jin scoffs and ruffles Jungkook’s bed head, “I’ve had to work with much more serious injuries before, Kook. This cast is nothing.”

Jungkook eyes his brother as he starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge, “Do I even want to know what your worst injury was?”

Jin shrugs as Hobi joins his side to start prepping their breakfast, the cast not even hindering his movements. But Jungkook figured that Hobi liked helping Jin in the kitchen.

“Wouldn’t it have been the time when you got your leg broken?” Hobi asked, cracking some eggs in a bowl and whisking them together.

Jin hums in thought as he slices some parsley, “That may have been, I still think getting shot is worse than broken bones. Start some rice, Hoba, we finished the last of it last night.”

Hobi moves over to the rice cooker and starts filling it from the large bag on the counter, he then moves over to the sink and starts washing the rice under the faucet. “Hand injuries are the worst though, they take forever to heal and you can never move your fingers right for a while.”

Jungkook glances at the pair as they nod in agreement to each other, he feels Namjoon slide up behind him, placing his arms around his waist and his chin on his shoulder. He rests a hand on Namjoon’s arm, “My family is weird, babe, they’re bonding over healing injuries.”

Namjoon chuckles, “I agree with you, Hobi-hyung, hand injuries suck.”

Jungkook smacks the back of Namjoon’s head, “Don’t encourage them!”

Hobi snickers as Namjoon whines and buries his head into Jungkook’s neck. He shares a look with Jin as they continue to cook side by side and watch the couple in front of them bicker while holding tight to each other.

“Does your barber live around here?” Jungkook asks as they settle around the dining room table with their breakfast. Namjoon looks over at him with scrunched brows.

“He goes to whatever base we’re at, but I was joking, baby. We don’t have to get my hair done today.” Namjoon says, running a hand through his dark hair making it more of a mess then it already was. Jungkook eyes it as it sticks out at odd ends.

“Well I wasn’t, you’re going to him today while I hunt through your closet for some jeans.” He points his chopsticks at his boyfriend’s face. “No suits today, I forbid it.”

Namjoon chuckles, “Alright baby, whatever you want.”

Jungkook grunts in satisfaction as he turns back to his plate of food, ignoring Jimin’s gag next to him.

Jungkook shoos Namjoon to the elevator before making his way back to the man’s bedroom and into his closet. He rolls his eyes at the rows and rows of black suit jackets, black pants, and white button ups. There are a few splashes of color here and there, but Jungkook doesn’t find the faded blue jeans until he’s crawling on the floor.

He pulls them out with a triumphant ‘ah-ha’ before filtering through the rows of shirts until he finds a simple white t-shirt. He hums to himself as he looks at Namjoon’s rows of jackets and spots a dark blue jean one at the very end, he compares the jeans to the jacket and nods to himself when they match.

He sets the clothes down on the bed before digging through his own small row of clothes that Taehyung had placed in Namjoon’s closet. Namjoon comes into the room, his hair looking less like a mop on top of his head, as Jungkook is tucking a white t-shirt into his black jeans then buckling the black belt around his waist.

“Much better,” Jungkook approves, smiling as Namjoon’s dark hair frames his face. “I was about to have a fit if your barber took off too much.”

Namjoon snorts, “I won’t let Yoongi-hyung show you my buzzcut days then.” He steps over to the bed and looks over at the outfit Jungkook laid out, a soft smile growing on his face. “So, where exactly are we going, baby?”

Jungkook hums in thought as he pulls on a pair of white sneakers and starts tying the laces over the little CK logo. “I had a few ideas come to mind, how much traveling have you done around Korea?”

“I’ve probably seen more than most have, but it’s never been for sightseeing.” Namjoon answers as he strips himself of his clothes and pulls on the ones from the bed. “It’s also the middle of winter Jungkook-ah, where would we even go in the biting cold?”

Jungkook huffs and goes into the closet again, pulling out two puffy jackets from the racks. “We can bundle up, I’ve always wanted to see Camellia Hill in the winter time.”

Namjoon takes the fluffy jacket from Jungkook, quirking an eyebrow at him, “That’s all the way in Jeju Island, baby. How exactly are you planning on getting us there?”

Jungkook grins devilishly at him, “A little birdie told me that you own a private jet and that you have a secure base that’s only any hour away from Camellia Hill. We can take a car from there.”

“I guess that’s one benefit of spending the millions of won it takes to upkeep that jet,” Namjoon mutters as he follows Jungkook out of the room and down the stairs. “Do I need to have a car take us to our airport base?”

Jungkook shakes his head and waves to his hyungs on the couch as they enter the elevator. He presses the button for the underground garage, pulling out a key to show Namjoon. “Yoongi-hyung gave me his key to his Porsche Boxster, since apparently you don’t own any cars.”

Namjoon eyes the little dangling key in Jungkook’s hand, “I can’t exactly drive any of them, what’s the point of owning any?”

“Good to know you are also very practical when it comes to your money, babe.” Jungkook teases and guides them over to the small black sports car as they exit the elevator.

“Yoongi-hyung controls our finances, of course I am.” Namjoon scoffs as they slide into the leather seats, Jungkook just chuckles as he starts the engine and plugs his phone in with the directions that Jimin had given him.

“Does it bother you that you have to drive me everywhere?” Namjoon asks as they’re speeding down the highway. Jungkook glances over at him briefly, taking note of the flex in Namjoon’s hand before returning his gaze to the road.

“Of course not, I’ve seen your eye prescription Namjoon. I don’t want you driving anymore than Yoongi-hyung does.” Jungkook teases, holding his hand out for Namjoon and smiling when the man intertwines their fingers. “Plus I like doing things for you, it makes me feel like I’m not just following you around all the time. There’s things that we both have strengths in, it’s nice how we can balance each other in those ways.”

Namjoon hums in agreement, “I’m glad you don’t tease me about it though, it’s one of my biggest insecurities. That and cooking, I’ve never been able to not burn something while at the stove. Other than the coffee machine, Yoongi-hyung doesn’t let me operate anything. Not even the microwave.”

“I’m terrified of microwaves, I’m always worried they’ll blow up in my face.” Jungkook shivers exaggeratedly, making Namjoon laugh which was his goal. Even if his fear of microwaves was very real. “I’d never tease you about anything that you don’t want me to, Namjoon. But you are going to have to tell me if I ever step over a line. I can’t know where it is without you telling me.”

Namjoon squeezes his hand, “I know, baby. I’m just not used to someone wanting to take care of me, other than our hyungs.”

Jungkook hums as he turns the wheel one handed into the guard tower gate of the small airport, the gate opens automatically as he rolls slowly forward and the guard on post nods to them as they pass. Jungkook drives straight towards the airplane hangar with the number seven across the side of it, parking in the little lot just outside the wide door.

Namjoon steps out and greets the small crew that waits for them at the plane before ushering Jungkook up the steps inside. They sit across from each other next to a window as the plane begins to move out of the hangar and down the tarmac.

“I am trying very hard not to get used to this, but you are making it very tough for me, babe.” Jungkook scolds as Namjoon hands him a flute of champagne.

Namjoon chuckles as he sips on the bubbly liquid and stretches his long legs to tap playfully at Jungkook’s, “Why shouldn’t you get used to this? I’m sure your hyungs have been holding back for years on how much they can spoil you, now they’ll have no reservations.”

Jungkook huffed as he took a sip from his glass, “I know, you should have seen the number of outfits Tae sent me last night. I’m starting to feel like a sugar baby.”

“Maybe for me, but to them you’re just their baby, even if you did come to them at the age of seventeen.” Namjoon chuckled as Jungkook shot him a look. “You’ll tell me though, if it really does bother you, right? And not just because you feel like you’re taking advantage of everything we have.”

Jungkook sniffed indignantly, eyeing him as he set his champagne glass down on the table ledge next to his arm. “I’m not sure when I’ll feel like I’m not taking advantage of everyone, I haven’t done anything to earn it.”

“Yes you have,” Namjoon contradicts, placing his own glass down and leans forward to take Jungkook’s hands in his. “I won’t be cliche by saying that you simply existing is enough for us, but it’s true. You told me once that I was like a breath of fresh air for you, you have no idea how true that is for us. For me. You’ve made us appreciate the things we’ve taken advantage of over the years.”

Jungkook looks into Namjoon’s very serious face, trying very hard not to cry at the touching words.

“I told you we weren’t having any emotional talks today.” He pouts, making Namjoon smile softly at him.

“And I told you, that we can’t always plan those talks. I feel like we’re going to be having a lot of them for a while.” Namjoon says, wiping the stray tears from Jungkook’s face.

Jungkook huffs as he moves from his seat to the one next to Namjoon, intertwining their fingers over the arm rests between them. “Yoongi-hyung and Tae alway make it seem like they have everything together, did you ever see them have this many emotional talks?”

Namjoon chuckles as he runs his thumb across Jungkook’s knuckles, “You have to remember, baby, that Tae came from this life. Some of our talks are hard because all of this is new for you, but yes, I’ve seen hyung and Tae fight about things. Especially before they got married, Yoongi-hyung was very hesitant about making that move for them. He thought Taehyung was too young and hadn’t seen enough of the world to make the choice to be with him forever.”

“I feel like you guys are skirting around how Tae came to be with you all the time, was it really that bad?” Jungkook asks cautiously, looking at Namjoon’s tense face.

“It’s not that we don’t want to tell you,” Namjoon assures him. “But I don’t think it’s my place to tell you, it’s not my story. When you do ask Tae about it though, you need to have hyung in the room with him. It makes him very emotional to talk about it and Yoongi-hyung is the only one that’s been able to calm him down.”

Jungkook nods in understanding, “I’ll remember that, is it safe for me to even ask though. Since he’ll react so strongly about it.”

Namjoon nods his head, smiling softly at him. “I know Taehyung-ah wants to tell you, it’s just hard for him to relive those memories. You’ll only be the second person he’s had to tell his past to, as hyung, Hobi, and I had witnessed some of it for ourselves. He’s probably told Yoongi-hyung more than anyone, but he wanted Jiminie to know. It helped the two of them bond more, since Jimin-ah came from a rough past as well.”

Jungkook sighs sadly as he leans back against the plane chair, “All of you have such rough pasts, I feel like my own issues are nothing in comparison.”

“Don’t compare them,” Namjoon says softly, squeezing Jungkook’s hand. “Your life and ours are different, because we’re different people. If you had gone through what some of us have, you’d be a very different person. But your pain is not less than ours and our pain isn’t greater than yours, they’re just different.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Jungkook murmurs, squeezing Namjoon’s hand in reassurance. “It’s just hard to see you guys in pain. When my hyungs hurt, I hurt. Your pain becomes mine and I wish I could just take it all away.”

Namjoon chuckles, placing a kiss against Jungkook’s forehead, “You already do, little one. You have no idea how much pain you’ve taken out of my life. I was an absolute wreck for a few years after we took down the Seoul Empire. I’ve only just begun to sleep better since meeting you.”

“I’m glad I can help you sleep then,” Jungkook whispers, placing a kiss against his lips, rubbing their noses lightly as they part. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, should I be calling you hyung? Since you’re older than me. Jimin-hyung keeps giving me weird looks when I just call you by your name.”

Namjoon blinks, wrinkling his nose in thought. “It doesn’t bother me that you don’t, Jiminie really is pushing his luck by mentioning all these things to you.”

“He’s my best friend, he’s supposed to bring up things like that, it’s kinda in the job description.” Jungkook tilts his head at him, a teasing smile coming on his lips, “So, you don’t want me to call you Namjoonie-hyung?”

A blush grows on Namjoon’s face, he looks away from Jungkook’s teasing face shaking his head at himself, “That’s not allowed to be that sexy, fuck.”

Jungkook snickers at him, “I better not see you blush like that when Jimin-ah calls you that.”

Namjoon shivers in disgust at the thought, “I’d rather not come between whatever is going on between him, my brother, and you brother. That seems like a recipe for disaster.”

“I didn’t realize our brothers were close like that, did it start when Jin-hyung came to you guys the first time?” Jungkook asked, pulling Namjoon’s hand into his lap to play with his fingers.

Namjoon hums in thought, “I don’t think Jin and Hobi really started anything then, there was attraction on both their sides but Jin was even more vengeful then. Even more than when we confronted him in the Voyage House, he said some very harsh words that day but it was tame compared to when he was with us. He did have a tendency to control himself more around Hobi though, they bonded during their training together.”

“I thought you trained Jin-hyung?” Jungkook says, tracing the lines on Namjoon’s palm.

“I did, but Hobi trained him first. Yoongi-hyung also played a part in training him, we all had to get him ready to face his father’s murderer.” Namjoon explained, leaning his head into his hand as he looked over at Jungkook.

“I bet Yoongi-hyung loved doing that,” Jungkook snickers at Namjoon’s snort of laughter. “Why did you make such an effort to include Jin-hyung in the first place? If he didn’t know anything when he came to you, he must not have been very useful.”

“I wanted him to be the one to take down Jang-ssi’s killer, I felt like it was my way of making up for getting him killed.” Namjoon says softly, smiling when Jungkook laces their hands together and squeezes it in reassurance. “It’s only been since meeting you that I feel that I’ve truly healed from that.”

Jungkook squeezed his hand tightly, smiling softly at him as he placed a kiss on his cheek. “I don’t care what anyone says, I know my father would be proud of you Namjoon. Even if I’m wrong about that, I’ll always be proud of you.”

Namjoon captured his lips in a soft kiss, placing a hand on the side of his face as they slid against each other. Jungkook smiles as Namjoon chases after his lips as he pulls away to take a small breath. He pecks him and pulls away to rub their noses together, giggling as Namjoon starts placing gentle kisses on his cheeks and eyelids.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 22: Wildflower

When the jet lands in Jeju Island, Namjoon and Jungkook exit down the ladder after bowing to the staff and head towards the car waiting for them. A guard greets Namjoon and hands him the key, Namjoon tosses it over his shoulder to Jungkook who catches it with ease.

Jungkook whistles as he takes in the sight of the red Lotus Emira, he slides into the leather seat and runs his hands over the dark steering wheel. “Please tell me you have one of these in Seoul.”

Namjoon chuckles as he slides into the passenger seat, “I think this is Taehyung’s, he might have another one in Seoul as well.”

Jungkook giggles excitedly as he starts the car and it purrs to life. He revs the engine slightly as they make their way smoothly out of the small airport and down the streets towards Camilla Hill. He relaxes in his seat as he takes in the rolling hills and swaying trees as they follow the map.

Namjoon sighs as he looks around at the open fields they pass and small houses, “I wish my parents had bought a house here, we used to come for vacations when I was a kid.”

“What’s stopping you from buying your own?” Jungkook asks, his thumb brushing against Namjoon’s finger as he holds his hand on the center console.

“Time,” Namjoon sighs, stretching his legs out in his seat. “Yoongi-hyung was right, I really should have given myself a day off every now and then. But it was hard to make myself stop working when it seemed like my goals were so close to being complete.”

Jungkook hums in understanding, “Tae said you’ve been traveling a lot, has that been just in Korea?”

“No, I’ve been traveling around the world.” Namjoon says, smiling at Jungkook’s noise of surprise. “I told you that we have a lot of contracts with outside companies, they’re all over the globe. I decided to do a tour, of sorts, to see them, not all of them are allowed to enter Korea. I’m also able to establish new contracts while I travel. I only just got back a month before I met you.”

Jungkook whistles lowly, “You’ve had a busy year then.”

Namjoon snorts, “Make that a busy eight years, when I finally get to retire I’m going to sleep for a year.”

Jungkook giggles and tugs Namjoon’s hand to place a kiss on his knuckles, “What are you going to do after that year of sleep, babe?”

Namjoon hums in thought, “Maybe catch up on all the books I want to read and visit museums around the world.” He chuckles at himself for a moment, “I’ve just realized how boring that makes me sound.”

Jungkook squeezes his hand, “That doesn’t sound boring to me, Namjoon. That sounds peaceful, our first date was at a museum. I’ll go with you to all of them.”

Namjoon leans over and places a kiss on Jungkook’s cheek, leaning his forehead down on his shoulder as Jungkook turns the car down a street. “Before I came into your life, what did you want to do? Where did you see yourself going?”

Jungkook hums, pulling his hand out of his to place it on the back of Namjoon’s head for a moment before putting it on the wheel. “When I started my degree I wanted to be a photographer, then I started to gain an interest in videography so I thought I’d be a film director of some sort. I honestly could never settle on one path, there were too many things that interested me. My college credits probably look like a whole mess.”

“There wasn’t something you dreamed of doing as a kid?” Namjoon asks, placing a hand against Jungkook’s chest and playing with the long silver guitar pick necklace he had on.

Jungkook hums as he thinks, glancing at the directions on the small screen as he takes the various turns. “I really can’t remember if there was something I wanted to be as a kid, there may have been a time I wanted to follow what my brother was doing. Jin-hyung was a chef before he met you guys, he taught me all the things he learned at school. He seemed so cool to me, I wanted to follow him wherever he went.”

Namjoon nodded against his shoulder, “Hobi-hyung isn’t that much older than me but I understand what you mean. Older brothers just have that influence on you.”

Jungkook gave a noise of agreement as he turned into the entrance way of Camilla Hill and pulled into a parking space. He pulled Namjoon over the console before he started to get out and placed a long kiss on his lips. He chuckled at the dazed look on Namjoon’s face as he pulled away and placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose before hopping out of the car.

Jungkook held his hand out for Namjoon as he came out of the car and joined him in front of the hood. He smiled as Namjoon slipped his hand into his and placed a kiss against his forehead before heading for the ticket booth. The puffy jackets they had brought lay abandoned in the small backseat, the weather being much warmer than they expected.

They read over the small map that the ticketing lady had given them, watching as a stream of tourists headed in one direction and decided to head in the opposite way. Jungkook heard the different chatters of Korean, Japanese, and English slowly fade the further they walked.

“How many languages do you speak?” Jungkook asks suddenly, his eyes drifting over the tall green bushes they were walking through.

Namjoon chuckles as he pulls Jungkook out of the way of another couple, “Fluently I speak about five languages, but I can hold a basic conversation in eight.”

Jungkook looked at him with wide eyes, “I knew you were smart, not a fucking genius.”

Namjoon blushed and ducked his head as his dimples popped in his cheeks, he muttered something under his breath that Jungkook didn’t catch before saying, “You seemed to have quite the vocabulary as well, your song was in English. How fluent are you?”

Jungkook shrugged, “I could hold a conversion, I took an english course my first semester and took the advanced class my second year. After I completed my required credits, I was going to go on the exchange program to travel to the States or Europe.”

“So, you’ll understand when I speak to you like this?” Namjoon asked, quirking his brow at him.

Jungkook licks his lips, “Do you sound sexy in every language?”

Namjoon smirks at him, giving him a wink as they turn a corner and enter the rows of camellia bushes in full bloom.

“Wow,” Jungkook whispered, his eyes drinking in the petals of reds and pinks sitting in the dark green leaves. He touches his fingertips to one of the delicate petals as they pass, their shoes crunching slightly on the gravel and fallen petals.

They took their time making their way through camellia bushes, avoiding any path that was too overcrowded until they reached a passage that led to an open field. The field was full of silver and pink muhly grass that stood up to their waists. There was a path that cut through the center of the field, rolling up to a hill where a single willow tree stood.

The single thought that filled Jungkook’s mind as he stood on the path and looked up towards that tree, holding Namjoon’s hand in his, was that he was going to marry him on that hill.

Jungkook pressed a hand to his mouth and felt his eyes grow teary as the sun shined from behind the tree branches. He could almost picture how everything would look on a summer’s day.

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon whispered, getting a weak hum in response as Jungkook continued to gaze up the hill. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking about?”

“I don’t want another ‘too soon’ lecture,” Jungkook whispered back, taking a shuddering breath as a happy tear fell from his eye.

Namjoon sighed, dropping Jungkook’s hand to wrap his arms behind him, placing his chin on Jungkook’s shoulder to gaze exactly when he was looking. “Tell me what you see.”

“A field of purple wildflowers in summer bloom,” Jungkook whispers, placing his hands on Namjoon’s arms. “You standing under that tree, waiting for me to walk up this path to you.”

Namjoon’s arms tighten around him, Jungkook can feel a tear drop onto his neck from Namjoon’s cheek. They gaze up the hill in silence, a promise being sealed as they hold each other.

Jungkook sighs as he stretches his legs under the cafe table, his ankles lightly bumping against Namjoon’s as they take slow sips of their warm tea. Jungkook’s eyes drift over the small cafe and its greenhouse design; plants hanging all around the room, dark wooden tables and chairs, and the everpresent smell of musky earth.

Namjoon grins against the rim of his cup as Jungkook gently rubs their ankles together. He leans forward into the table and looks at Jungkook with a soft smile. “How have your classes been?”

Jungkook snorts up a low giggle, making Namjoon smile wider, “Sorry, it’s just funny to be asked such a normal question now. And boring, honestly. I got lectured by one of my professors because I forgot the homework, but I honestly didn’t hear a word of it.”

Namjoon hums, placing his chin in his hand as he looks at him, “I guess that’s the problem with living in the abnormal, normal life becomes boring.”

Jungkook raises a brow at him, “A normal life with you would never be boring, my college class on the other hand…” he rolls his eyes.

“I wonder if there’s any life of mine that’s normal,” Namjoon muses with a sigh, his eyes drifting to where the door had swung open. And another couple walked in hand-in-hand to join the line at the counter.

Jungkook leans forward and places his elbows on the table, catching Namjoon’s eye again. “We can’t change the circumstances of our birth, we can only make the best of the life we’re given.”

Namjoon furrows his brow, “Did you just quote Pokémon?”

Jungkook snorts, throwing his head back laughing as he sinks down in his chair at the force of his laughter. Namjoon chuckles and takes one of Jungkook’s hands to pull him back up, placing a kiss against his giggling cheek.

“I love hearing you laugh,” he whispers against his skin, Jungkook smiles as he leans his forehead against his.

“You make it easy for me to do so,” Jungkook says, placing a small kiss against his lips before pulling away. “I have a question.”

Namjoon tilts his head and nods for him to continue as he intertwines their fingers on the wooden table. His thumb playing with their ring on his pointer finger.

Jungkook smiles down at their joined hands, “What made you keep coming to see me? Your nights are the only time you have free, why would you give it to me?”

Namjoon lowers his head to catch Jungkook’s gaze, “Because I wanted to see you, when I was with you I was able to forget the frustrations of my day. I could forget the world I live in, even if it was just for a moment.”

Namjoon squeezes his hand to stop his next words, “And you still do that, baby. I know we’ve had a lot of hard talks and you’ve seen a bit of this life, but you’ve made it more bearable for me. I didn’t realize how much it was dragging me down until I was able to come home to you every night.”

Jungkook placed his other hand on top of their joined ones, squeezing Namjoon’s tightly. “I need you to promise me something, Namjoon.”

Namjoon looks at him with a bit of worry in his eyes and Jungkook could guess where he thought he was going with this.

“If we ever have a big fight and I start to walk away, you need to stop me.” Jungkook says, squeezing Namjoon’s hands to stop his protest. “Just listen, please.”

He nods and places his other hand on top of Jungkook’s.

“I have a temper, you haven’t seen it yet, but when I get really angry I’ll say things I don’t mean and I tend to throw things around the room.” Jungkook admits, taking a deep breath to make himself continue. “If I get so angry with you that I start to walk away, even if you're not yelling at me anymore, you need to be the one to stop me. You can’t let me walk away, my anger will fester and then I’ll feel hurt that you couldn’t see past my anger to see how I’m hurting.”

“Then when we were arguing about your move…”

“I was able to stop,” Jungkook says with a nod, gazing straight into Namjoon’s eyes. “I wasn’t consumed enough not to see that you weren’t angry but scared and I was able to calm down. There may come a day where I can’t. You guys have mentioned my brother’s temper, I have it too. I’ve just learned to control it better, only Yoongi-hyung and Tae have seen when I couldn’t.”

Namjoon nods, pulling one of Jungkook’s hands up to place a kiss against his knuckles, “If you walk away from me, Jungkook, I’ll stop you. I’ll try to calm you down so we can talk, even if I get a knife thrown at my head.”

Jungkook laughs weakly, leaning his head down against their joined hands, “Thank you, I’ll try not to aim for your face.”

Namjoon places a hand against the side of Jungkook’s face, his thumb tracing the small scar that sat on the apple of his right cheek. “Even if you did, I’d never think the worst of you.”

“You can have a driver pick us up at home, I’m tired.” Jungkook sighs, leaning against Namjoon’s shoulder as they slowly glide through the air.

“Alright baby,” Namjoon chuckles, pushing him away slightly to raise the armrest between them and pull him onto his chest. Jungkook sighs as he settles over top Namjoon, tucking his hands against his sides. He starts humming under his breath, a mix of Taehyung’s lullaby and his song he wrote with Yoongi.

“I’m surprised by how well you sing that you never wanted to be a musician.” Namjoon observes, running his fingers through Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook hums, “That’s only been since I settled with Yoongi-hyung and TaeTae. Hyung wanted to give me an outlet beyond my gym sessions to get my emotions out. He said that music was the song of the soul that we cry out and taught me how to find my voice in it.”

“That song then, the one you sang in hyung’s studio,” Namjoon says softly, placing his free hand over the back of Jungkook’s neck. “What was your soul crying out for?”

“My brother,” Jungkook whispers, tilting his head and blinking his eyes slowly as he looks up at Namjoon. “It was the hardest for me to write and to sing. That’s why hyung asked if I’d want you to stay, it’s my most raw feelings about my brother.”

“Will you ever show it to him?” Namjoon asks, brushing the hairs that had fallen across Jungkook’s eyes as he nods.

“One day, when it feels like the right time, I’ll sing it for him,” Jungkook says, his eyes searching over Namjoon’s face. “Have you sung any of the songs you’ve written?”

Namjoon nods, smiling as Jungkook’s eyes sparkle with interest. He tilts his hips and reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone, after a moment a song begins to play through it.

Jungkook closes his eyes as he listens to the smooth beat and then he hears Namjoon’s velvet voice begin to sing.

“We’re born in the moonlight, ain’t no fantasy. Can’t breathe in the sunlight, gotta hide your heart.”

Namjoon hums against Jungkook’s cheek as the song plays, wiping the stray tears that fall down his face. Jungkook can hear the various symbolisms throughout the song, alluding to a deep loneliness felt by the singer. But there’s a hope as well, a sense of purpose to keep moving forward. Jungkook presses his face against Namjoon’s chest as the last line plays.

“Moon child you shine. When moon rise, it’s your time.”

They simply breathe together for a moment as the last of the song plays, the silence is calming as they collect themselves. Jungkook lifts his head and looks over Namjoon’s hesitant face. Pulling himself up he presses his lips against his.

Jungkook kisses him long and slow, before running his tongue along the seam of his lips. Namjoon opens for him and he slides his tongue against his, before running it around the expanse of his mouth. Namjoon’s tongue follows his movement and chases after his tongue as he retreats back into his own mouth, he groans as he feels Namjoon gives him the same treatment before they part from each other.

They breathe heavily against each other, their noses brushing as they lean their foreheads together. Jungkook slides his hands down from Namjoon’s hair to cup his neck, running his thumbs over the skin of his pulse point.

“You sing beautifully,” Jungkook whispers, opening his slightly damp eyes to meet Namjoon’s. He catches one of the tears that falls from Namjoon’s eyes. “Let me be your nightscape, as you are my moon.”

Namjoon leans down, placing a gentle kiss against his lips as he whispers, “Even if many days pass, I will be by your side.”

Jungkook smiles at the echoing words they say from each other’s deepest songs. He places another kiss against Namjoon’s lips and falls into his arms as they fly above the night sky.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter Interlude: Louder Than Bombs

Jungkook found Yoongi and Taehyung sitting on the couch in Namjoon’s living room, talking with Hobi as they looked over some paperwork. Jungkook clears his throat to get their attention.

“Do you need something, Jungkook-ah?” Yoongi asks, looking at Jungkook’s nervous face and twiddling thumbs.

Jungkook looks over at Hobi, “Can I speak to Yoongi-hyung and Tae alone, Hobi-hyung?”

“Of course,” Hobi says immediately, jumping from his seat. He pats Jungkook’s shoulder as he passes and yanks Jimin out of a corner, pulling him into the elevator with a firm hand.

“What’s the matter, Kookie?” Taehyung asks, as Jungkook shuffled over and sat down between his hyungs.

Jungkook glances between the pair, biting down his lip ring as they place a hand on his jittering fingers. “I’m not sure how to ask honestly.”

Yoongi looks him over for a moment and realization comes over his face, “You want to know how Taehyung came to be with us.”

Jungkook glances at Taehyung’s slight flinch as he nods hesitantly, “I’ll understand if you don’t want to tell me.”

“I do, I do want to tell you.” Taehyung whispers, interlacing his fingers with Jungkook as Yoongi moves around the couch to sit behind his husband and place his arms around his waist. “You deserve to know and you need to know what this life of ours is capable of.”

Jungkook nods and listens as Taehyung details the entirety of his past in the Hwarang Boys. About Peakboy. About being Vante of Daegu. About his aching loneliness before coming to the Bulletproof Company. And the day that Yoongi came to bring him back.

Jungkook has tears running down his face by the time Taehyung finishes his story and he surges forward to clutch onto Taehyung’s chest when the man can’t speak anymore. He sobs hard against his hyung as he hears Taehyung’s own sobs echo in his ear as he clutches Jungkook’s shoulders.

Yoongi wraps his arms around the pair, laying his head down where their heads meet on each other’s shoulders. Running a gentle hand down both of their backs as they shake from their tears.

Jungkook hiccups as he’s laid down across Taehyung’s chest across the couch, Yoongi places a blanket over the pair and dims the lights in the living room.

“I’ll go make some tea,” he murmurs, running a hand through both of their hair before leaving the room.

“How…” Jungkook hiccups, burying his face into Taehyung’s chest. “How did you move past that, hyung?”

Taehyung sighs, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair. “You’ll come to learn Jungkook-ah, that in this life you have to be able to move past things. You have to set aside your past and move forward in your future, otherwise it’ll get you killed. You may never experience the true harshness of this life, and I hope you don’t, because the Bulletproof Company is truly different from others.”

Jungkook takes a deep, shuddering breath as he tries to stop his choked tears. “I wish you hadn’t had to go through that, though.”

“As hard as my past is, I don’t.” Taehyung looks seriously at Jungkook as he raises his head off his chest in shock. “A harsh past will teach you a gentleness that you’d never know if you hadn’t experienced the rough edges. We could have been just like any other company if all of us hadn’t had such hard lives before coming together.”

Jungkook nods slowly, “Is that why you took down so many companies? And made yourselves the most feared, to stop the corruption.”

Taehyung smiled, wiping the tears off Jungkook’s face with his thumbs. “Yes, we can’t stop everything and we can’t save everyone, but we can do what we can. And we can offer sanctuary to those that want it.”

Jungkook nods and settles back down against Taehyung’s chest, Yoongi comes into the living room with a tray of tea and sets it down on the coffee table.

“That’s going to have a whole new meaning for me,” Jungkook mutters, sitting up next to Taehyung as they take the steaming mugs Yoongi hands them before sitting down on Jungkook’s other side. “Do you make tea for everyone when they're upset, hyung?”

Yoongi chuckles as he leans back against the couch cushions, throwing his arm over to back and allowing Jungkook and Taehyung to tuck underneath it. “It seemed to work the best. And Hobi had stints where he couldn’t drink anything heavily caffeinated, they would make his seizures worse.”

Jungkook chokes on a sip of the honey camilla tea and looks over at Yoongi in shock, “Hobi-hyung has seizures!”

“Yep!” Hobi says cheerily, waltzing into the living room with Jin in tow. The pair sit down in the loveseat across from the couch, Jin pulling Hobi to sit down in his lap as they look at Jungkook in between his hyungs. “My birth mother was a cocaine addict. I had withdrawn seizures as a baby and while growing up, it doesn’t affect me as badly now that I'm an adult.”

“It doesn’t make it any less scary to see,” Jin murmurs, running his hand through Hobi’s hair, placing a kiss on his cheek.

Yoongi huffs as he stares at the pair, “What I’d like to know is how the two of you got so cozy with each other? Don’t think I didn’t notice the looks the pair of you gave each other, but it was the most random thing to ever happen. One day you were glaring at Hobi just as hard as Joon and the next you’re pulling his ankles into your lap and giving him heart eyes.”

Jin raises a brow at him, “That was before Taehyung-ah came into the picture, how much did you observe when you weren’t making heart eyes at him?”

“I noticed Hobi’s mope fest after you left,” Yoongi sniffed indignantly, taking a sip of his tea. “And the fact that he never stepped foot in the kitchen to cook again. He had Joon and him living off take-out while we were on our honeymoon.”

“Aw Hoba, did you miss me?” Jin teases, smacking a wet kiss against the man’s cheek.

Hobi wiped his face in offense, “Shut up Jin, you stole my Jaguar! I had to buy it back from you!”

“I wondered how I sold it so easily,” Jin muttered, chuckling as Hobi huffs on his chest and looks over at Jungkook’s confused face. “Would you like to hear our side of the story Jungkook-ah?”

“Am I going to be in tears by the end of it?” Jungkook asks sarcastically, taking a sip of his tea as he looks dryly at his brother.

Jin tilts his head in thought, “Considering how easily you burst into tears, probably.”

Jungkook scowls and tosses a pillow at Jin’s head, “I do not cry easily!”

“You cried during a gum commercial,” Taehyung points out, running a hand through Jungkook’s hair.

Jungkook sniffs at the memory, “Why did they have to make it so sad? He made those little cranes for her all his life, then she started doing it for her daughter after he died.”

“Why would you remind him of that?” Yoongi huffed, smacking the back of Taheyung’s head. “It took me weeks to get him to stop bursting into tears everytime we passed the gum in the grocery store. I still have packs of it throughout the house, he wanted to buy it every single time.”

Taehyung huffs and hands Jungkook a tissue to blow his nose in, “You might as well tell him Jin, he’s never not going to cry about it.”

Hobi chuckles and launches into the story of how Jin and him had started to bond when he came to them. Starting from the day that Hobi watched Namjoon leave with Jang-ssi for their meeting with the Seoul Empire.

“Why did my father go and not Yoongi-hyung?” Jungkook cut in, setting his empty mug down as he settled against Yoongi’s chest. “Wasn’t hyung Namjoon’s Second in Command then?”

“Not yet,” Hobi explains, playing with Jin’s crooked fingers on his lap. “Your father hadn’t officially retired at that point yet, so he was still considered the Second in Command on that day. Yoongi-hyung was set to take his place as soon as he stepped down. The Seoul Empire only asked for the Leader and the Second at that meeting, they knew about the change with Joonie but not anything else.”

“How would they have known about the leadership change?” Jungkook asked, running his fingers through Taehyung’s hair as the man laid his head into his lap.

“Leaderships within companies are alway announced to the underground,” Yoongi explained, placing a hand on the side of Taehyung’s face. “We have to know who we’re dealing with when we face each other for meetings. It’s also customary to send a gift to the new Leader, if you’re an ally. It establishes that the contract between the two companies is still valid during the power change.”

“Ah,” Jungkook murmurs and waves for Hobi to continue with his story. He laughed several times at the recounting of Jin’s clumsy first attempts at hand to hand combat, ignoring Jin’s indigent sniffs. And winced at the descriptions of Hobi’s seizure episodes.

Hearing about Jin and Yoongi’s rescue from Hobi’s perspective was interesting. It gave him more perspective on why they feared the man that laid across his lap like a cat so much.

“I didn’t know you told Jisoo to let me in that night,” Taehyung murmurs, looking over at Hobi with soft eyes. “Thank you Hobi, I would have stayed out in the hallway until Namjoonie found me.”

Hobi smiles softly at him, “Of course, I’ll never miss a chance to see hyung so smitten.”

Yoongi scoffed as he rolled his eyes, “I think you like to exaggerate that.”

“Ah no,” Jin snorts, laughing as Yoongi looks at him indignantly. “The pair of you flirted like little teenagers all the time, I’m glad I missed the honeymoon phase. That would have grated on my nerves.”

Hobi shivered in disgust, “Be glad you did, I do not enter any rooms without knocking first. I wish I could have blinded myself after walking in on them so many times.”

Jungkook joined Hobi’s shiver, “At least your room wasn’t right next to them hyung, I’ll never be able to listen to Slipknot the same way again.”

Yoongi clicks his tongue and makes no further comment, Jin laughs at the blush growing on his face.

Jimin waltzes in just as Hobi finishes telling Jungkook about the first day he had come to his dance studio, “Oh that was such a fun day, Hobi-hyung! I nearly broke my cover because I was trying so hard not to laugh.”

Jin catches his arm before he can make his way over to the couch and pulls him down to sit with him and Hobi, rolling his eyes at the wide smile that bursts over Jimin’s face.

“Are we reliving the past today?” Jimin asks, pulling Hobi’s feet into this lap as he sits shoulder to shoulder with Jin and places an arm around the man’s waist. Jin places his free arm over Jimin’s shoulders as Hobi tucks himself into his neck, letting his other arm rest behind his back to keep him propped up.

“I guess we are,” Jungkook murmurs, watching as Jimin intertwines his fingers with Jin’s hand over his shoulder and places his other one on Hobi’s thigh.

Jimin hums as he tucks himself under Jin’s arm, “Do you want to hear mine then, Jungkook-ah?”

“If you want to tell me, I’ll hear it Jimin-ah.” Jungkook says softly, watching a dark look come over Jimin’s face.

“I only wish I had been able to help Hobi-hyung take down more of that company before I left,” Jimin mutters, then begins to tell Jungkook about his life in the White Tigers and the day Hobi came to take him out.

Namjoon comes into the living room and blinks at all the teary eyes around the room. His eyes darting from the three-way couple on the love couch clutching Jimin between their chests to Yoongi and Taehyung holding a weepy Jungkook in their arms.

“It seems I missed something,” he murmurs, moving to sit down next to Taehyung on the couch as Jungkook wipes his face.

“I don’t want to hear a single emotional story from anyone for the next five years,” Jungkook says fiercely, the whole room chuckles at his words, breaking the sorrowful air around them.

“Ah I see,” Namjoon mutters, smiling softly as Jungkook gets up and straddles his lap, burying his face into his neck. “We had the big talk today.”

Jungkook huffs as he tucks his arms around Namjoon’s waist, “Not a single word, babe, or I’ll put you on the floor.”

Namjoon chuckles as he wraps his arms around Jungkook’s small waist, he leans down and whispers in his ear, “That’ll just turn me on, I like it when you manhandle me baby.”

Jungkook squeaks as Namjoon bites his earlobe, his face burning from the suggestive image.

Jin scoffs wetly, “The pair of you need to stop flirting in front of all of us, it’s gross to watch.”

“Shut up, hyung.” Jungkook huffs, glancing over his shoulder to see Jimin straddling his brother’s lap. “You have no room to judge, when you have two of my hyungs climbing all over you.”

Jin rolls his eyes, but a blush colors his cheeks as Hobi wraps his arms around his shoulders from behind and Jimin settles snugly across his chest. “You have so many hyungs Jungkook-ah, how are we going to know who you’re calling when you yell across the house?”

Jungkook hums and turns himself in Namjoon’s lap to face the room, smiling when he catches sight of Taehyung tugging Yoongi into his lap. “I technically do have different names for all of you, Yoongi-hyung will always be Yoongi-hyung for me and Taehyung-hyung has insisted that I just call him Tae now.”

“Only my closest call me that,” Taehyung says softly, kissing the side of Yoongi’s blushing face.

“I’ll probably just yell ‘Jimin-ssi’ when I need him and Hobi-hyung has told me to yell J-Hope when I need his attention,” Jungkook grins at the confused face Jin makes. “Hobi-hyung is my dance mentor as well as my trainer, he told me to call him that after I had a hard time getting a dance down. It’s his studio name.”

Jin blinks and tilts his head to look over at Hobi, “You dance Hoba, I’ll have to see that one day.”

Hobi smirks and pulls himself away from Jin, “I think we can show you now, Jimin and Kookie have learned one of my dances that’ll really blow you away Jin.”

Jin raises his brow as Jimin hops off his lap and helps Jungkook move the coffee table, the pair start stretching across the hardwoods after they move it to the side. Hobi skips across the room and starts fiddling with the large stereo while Namjoon helps Taehyung and Yoongi move the sofa back.

“So what will you yell when you need me Kook-ah?” Jin asks as he sits down on the adjusted couch next to Namjoon.

Jungkook grins widely as he bends over backwards to look at them, “You’re my hyung, Jin-hyung. I’ll scream ‘hyung’ at the top of my lungs when I need you.”

Jin looks oddly emotional at this and takes the tissue that Taehyung hands him as Hobi bounds over to the pair. They huddle together for a moment whispering into each other's ear and nodding to what Hobi tells them. Then Hobi claps them on the shoulders, pulls his phone out and presses on it before tossing it at Jin. Shooting him a wink when he catches it.

The three get into formation with Hobi at the center as the music starts playing, placing their wrists onto his shoulders as they bow their heads as they wait for the beat to drop. And when it does the three of them move so completely in sync that it blows the minds of everyone in the room.

The three of them bow to the room when the song ends, laughing when they receive loud claps of applause and Taehyung cheers loudly for them. Jungkook wipes the sweat off his brow with the end of his t-shirt, trying to hide his smirk as he catches Namjoon eyeing his flexing abs.

Jin whistles lowly as the three collapse onto the floor in heaps, “You weren’t lying Hoba, that was impressive.”

Hobi chuckles, “You should see some of Jiminie’s solo work, he truly has a captivating way of dancing. I nearly pounced him the first time I watched his body roll across the dance floor.”

“It seems I’ll be giving you two a private show later then,” Jimin teases, huffing when Jungkook kicks his shin and gags at him.

“Take it to the bedroom Jimin-ssi, I don’t want to watch.” Jungkook scoffs, smiling as Namjoon stands and offers him a hand to get off the floor. He takes it and giggles as Namjoon swings him up with ease.

Jimin eyes the pair, “I have no idea how you’re able to do that, Namjoonie-hyung. Jungkook-ah is heavy as hell, have you seen what he can lift in the gym? I’m pretty sure it’s twice your body weight.”

Namjoon looks down at him in surprise and Jungkook quirks an eyebrow at him, Namjoon’s eyes widen at the devilish look that comes over his baby’s face and starts to back away.

“Now wait a minute, baby, that wasn’t a…” Namjoon squeaks as Jungkook marches to him with sure steps and scoops him up into his arms with ease.

Jungkook nods to himself proudly, smirking as he feels Namjoon’s blushing face against his neck. “I knew I could do it, I’ve been upping my weights recently.”

“Fucking muscle bunny,” Jimin scoffs, letting Jin pull him off of the floor, eyeing Namjoon in a bridal carry in Jungkook’s arms. “He’s just going to toss you over his shoulder now, I hope you know that.”

Jungkook scoffs as he sets Namjoon back down, smiling at Namjoon’s small noise of protest, “I pick you up once to get you out of my way and you never seem to let it go, Jimin-hyung.”

“It was fucking embaressing!” Jimin yelps, shaking his finger in Jungkook’s face. “You did it in front of Hobi-hyung! I was only just starting to flirt with him, it set me back two months!”

Jungkook tosses a dismissive hand and starts walking towards the kitchen, “You flirted with him for two years and went nowhere, it’s only been with Jin-hyung that you’ve finally gotten that dick.”

Jimin chases after him with a pillow in his hand, smacking his retreating back and screaming profanities while Jungkook just laughs. The rest of the room roll their eyes at the pair, but follow slowly behind to make sure they don’t start throwing furniture at each other, again.

We’re Dripping In It

Chapter 27: Make It Right

Warning ⚠️: Mentions of Killing at young age, Physical Violence, and Past Child Abuse

*

A Few Weeks Later

Jungkook enters the sparring floor of Namjoon’s apartment complex with sure steps and blinks as he sees Jin and Hobi dancing around the room together with wooden katanas. Jimin waves him over from the corner and pops some popcorn in his mouth as he returns his gaze to the fighting pair.

“They’ve been at it for an hour,” Jimin says, his eyes dancing as Hobi flips over Jin’s head and swipes down at him only for his blade to be blocked. “I think Hobi-hyung is having fun.”

“I know you just call hyung, Hobi, Jimin. You don’t have to censor yourself with me.” Jungkook teases, elbowing Jimin’s side as he sits down next to him and takes a handful of the popcorn.

Jimin huffs, “I’ve been tempted to just call him what Jin does, but I’m not sure if he’d like that. It seems to be their thing.”

“Communication is important, Jimin-ssi.” Jungkook scolds lightly, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “If you don’t tell them what you want, they can’t give it to you. They aren’t mind readers.”

Jimin sighs as he watches Jin and Hobi cross blades and try to shove each other across the room, only to end up staying put with their blades creaking between them. “They keep telling me that, I’m not sure when I’ll feel like I’m not a bother to them.”

“If Jin-hyung didn’t want you, you’d know.” Jungkook states plainly, making Jimin shift his gaze to his stern one. “My brother has never been one to beat around the bush. The day he came back to pick me up after I stayed with his girlfriend, he broke up with her as we were walking out the door. He handed her an envelope of cash for her time and told her to keep the engagement ring.”

Jimin’s eyes widened, “He was going to marry her?”

Jungkook nods once and looks over at his brother trying to kick Hobi’s shins, “Jin-hyung doesn’t love in halves, the moment he knew Hobi-hyung was worth the wait he ended things with her. You wouldn’t be in the picture if my brother couldn’t see the same in you.”

Jimin sniffed and nodded as Jin and Hobi finally called it a tie and set their blades back on the stand.

“Jungkook-ah!” Hobi greets, waving him over enthusiastically. “When did you get in?”

“While you and hyung were sword flirting,” Jungkook sasses, laughing when Jin rolls his eyes at him and looks over at Jimin curiously as the younger man walks up to him.

Jimin throws his arms around Jin’s waist and buries his head into his chest, Jin wraps his arms around Jimin’s shoulders and looks at Jungkook questioningly.

Jungkook shrugs, “You should probably talk to him hyung.”

Jin nods and pulls Jimin away from him slightly only to lift him into his arms and carry him towards the elevators, “We’ll catch you up later, Hoba. You need to do Jungkook-ah’s training session.”

“Alright,” Hobi murmurs, watching as the Jimin buries his head into Jin’s neck and the doors close after they enter the elevator. He looks over at Jungkook, “Jiminie was upset about something again, wasn’t he?”

Jungkook nods as he sits down on the floor and begins stretching, “I do not envy the three of you, it’s hard enough making sure I don’t toss something at Namjoon’s head when he’s being evasive with me.”

Hobi chuckles and sits across from him to start his own stretches, “You guys seem to be making it work though, I haven’t seen my brother this happy in years.”

Jungkook smiles widely at that, making Hobi chuckle at him as they continue to stretch out over the mats.

“I have a question hyung,” Jungkook says as Hobi hands him a wooden blade for their training session, Hobi nods for him to continue. “Namjoon has told me that he wants me to be his partner when I join the company officially. What exactly is that going to involve?”

Hobi clicks his tongue as he swings his blade through the air to stretch out his arm, “You won’t be like Yoongi-hyung, you won’t be his Second but your word will be just as firm as his. Only Namjoon’s word will be higher than yours, which means that the underground needs to see you as much as a threat as they see him. They can’t see you as a weakness they can use.”

Jungkook nods and readies his blade as Hobi gestures for them to start, “How do I make sure they see me like that?”

“Take cues from the room,” Hobi says, swiping his blade at Jungkook then knocking a swipe from him. “We don’t use our real names with other companies, we use our titles. When in doubt, if you’re in a room with someone you don’t know, always use the company titles.”

“Got it,” Jungkook grunts, dodging a swing from Hobi’s blade. “How will I know all the titles though, you guys don’t exactly wear name tags.”

Hobi chuckles side swiping at Jungkook as he dances around him, “You already know Joonie’s, it's RM. Jimin is White Tiger, Taehyung is Tiger of Seoul, Yoongi is Agust-D, Jin is WWH, and mine is Jack in the Box or just Jack. Most leaders will declare themselves at meetings, it’s how we keep track of each other.”

“Good to know,” Jungkook huffs, flipping over Hobi’s blade as he tries to swipe at his stomach. Hobi cuts at his legs next, making him roll across the floor to dodge it but Hobi has his blade at Jungkook’s neck before he can rise.

Hobi chuckles at Jungkook’s annoyed huff, “Don’t feel too bad Jungkook-ah, this is my weapon of choice. It’ll take you a while to get an edge on me with it.”

Jungkook nods, allowing Hobi to help him off the floor. “There’s more than just knowing the company titles, isn’t there?”

“Of course,” Hobi scoffs, gesturing for Jungkook to set his blade away with his. “Today will be an information session, we can train your hand to hand combat later.”

He gestures for Jungkok to sit on the mats in front of him, they cross their legs over each other as they face one another.

“When you face anyone, Jungkook-ah, you have to show them no fear. Even if they have a gun pointed at your head. They don’t know you, they don’t know what you’re capable of, it's going to put them on edge right away.” Hobi explains, pulling his phone out and handing it to Jungkook. “I’ll send you copies, but I want you to start reading up on all the companies that are in Korea. Both the allies and enemies are going to be a danger to you until you’re able to get your name out.”

“But it wouldn’t be my real name,” Jungkook says, scrolling through the list of files on Hobi’s phone.

“No, you’ll get your company title the day you shed your first blood.” Hobi smiles softly as Jungkook looks up at him in shock. He shrugs, “It’s tradition, the first time you kill someone changes you. You’ll be a completely different person afterwards, you need to give that person a name.”

Jungkook gulps, “Then Namjoon… he was…”

“He was thirteen when our father shoved a gun in his hand and told him to shoot a mole in his company.” Hobi says coldly, his fists clenching in his lap. “I was only sixteen when he did the same to me, Taehyung was seven, Jimin was ten, and Yoongi-hyung was fifteen. Jin chose his name after killing his father’s murderer, but he had killed before that.”

“It doesn’t… it doesn’t get easier does it?” Jungkook asks cautiously.

Hobi looks at him for a moment, “When you’re facing your enemy it does, when you’re facing your friend it’s the hardest thing in the world. Killing another human being is never easy, but when it's life and death for you or the other person, you’ll usually choose yourself.”

Jungkook nods, trying to control the tremor in his hands and worry lines that come over his face. Hobi places his hands on Jungkook’s shaking ones and looks at him softly.

“It’s okay to show weakness to me Junkook-ah,” he says gently, squeezing his hands. “I’m going to help you. So that the day you need to make that choice, you’ll be ready for it.”

“Thanks hyung,” Jungkook says softly, taking a deep breath as he looks back at the phone on his lap. “Namjoon won’t… he won’t think of me differently, will he? If I become rougher through this life.”

Hobi hums and shrugs as he lets go of Jungkook’s hands, “That’s something only my brother can answer, but I know he won’t abandon you just because you get your hands dirty. He saw your scars, Jungkook-ah, did he mock you for having them?”

Jungkook shakes his head, “He looked at me the same as ever when I showed him, like he…”

Hobi chuckles at Jungkook’s hesitation, patting his head. “The pair of you are so sweet to each other. Willing to move heaven and earth to stand next to each other, yet hesitant to say those three simple words.”

Jungkook blushes and rubs his earlobes in embarrassment, Hobi bursts out laughing at him. Then the elevator dings and an armed guard enters the sparring floor.

“Is someone asking for me, Lee?” Hobi asks, looking up at the man as he bows to them.

“The Boss, sir.” Lee answers, looking over at Jungkook as he stands and helps Hobi to his feet.

“Jungkook-ah I would like you to meet Lee Chan, the Dino of the Bulletproof Company.” Hobi introduces, placing a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder as the two shake hands. “Lee this is Jeon Jungkook, I’m training him and he’ll be Namjoon’s partner in the future. Any questions he has, you can answer truthfully.”

“Yessir,” Lee nods, looking at Jungkook with new eyes. “Are you Seokjin’s brother?”

“Younger brother, yes.” Jungkook says with a nod, following as the pair head towards the elevator. “Although I’m told I’m the less annoying one.”

Lee grins, “Let’s hope so, I have not missed your brother shooting holes in our walls.”

Jungkook gives a long suffering sigh as the doors close, making Hobi burst out laughing.

Hobi is still chuckling when they exit the elevator onto the penthouse floor, Jungkook turns into the kitchen as the two men head for Namjoon’s office. He pulls out some leftovers as he looks over the files Hobi had given him to read.

He skims through the various reports of the different companies across Korea as he places his warmed food onto the counter. He’s overwhelmed by the sheer number of them, his eyes lingering on the few that he’s heard his hyungs mention in passing. After reading the brief overviews he starts looking over the various trades that each company has with the Bulletproof Company.

He tilts his head as he looks over the report written about the Red Velvet Ring’s recent shipments of cotton and their small rivalry with a crew called PVRIS. He clicks on the files for that crew and notes that their main trade of cotton and indigo dye had no current main buyer.

Jungkook bites his lip as he looks around the kitchen for one of his hyungs, he spots Lee leaving Namjoon’s office. The man looks over to him and raises his brow as he walks closer.

“You look like you have a question,” Lee says, peering over his shoulder to see what Jungkook is reading.

“Hobi-hyung told me to read up on the different companies, this one is fighting with the Red Velvet Ring but I think their trade seems better.” Jungkook says, looking nervously as Lee gazes at him in question. “Do you guys have a sample from each of their shipments that I could compare?”

Lee nods and gestures for him to follow, Jungkook stands from his chair and stands next to the man as they descend to the basement floor. Lee leads him through the rows of working men and women to a pile of crates at the end of an assembly line. He gestures for two of the men to open two pine boxes sitting side by side in front of a stack about to be loaded on a truck.

The boxes are nearly identical and Jungkook can’t see any company markings on them but as soon as they are opened he can see at once the difference between the two cottons inside. He picks up one small fluff ball from each box, feeling them between his fingers and comparing them in his hands.

“What’s your opinion on them?” Lee asks, folding his hand behind his back as he looks at Jungkook.

Jungkook drops the cotton balls back down in the box, he pat the left one, “This one is the better product, whoever takes care of fields knows what they're doing. They’re making sure to pick the right plant, nourish it correctly, and pick the cotton at the right time.”

He places a hand on the right box, “Whoever is sending you this isn’t doing that, they’re rushing the process. Not giving the cotton enough time to grow, it’s not as soft as it could be and if you look,” he pulls out a piece from the depths, revealing a bit of branch piece, “they’re rushing the picking process. They don’t care what they’re sending out, they just want to sell it and get their money.”

Lee hums in agreement, gently guiding Jungkook to round the boxes to see the painted insignias on them. The box Jungkook had chosen as the better product was from the PVRIS crew.

“Has Hoseok-ssi taught you how to write a report yet?” Lee asks, calling another one of his men over to hand him a tablet.

“No, but wouldn’t I need a company name to write a report?” Jungkook asks, taking the tablet as Lee hands it to him, looking over the blank format.

“You can use your initials for this,” Lee assures him, giving him a smirk as he looks up. “I’ll teach you how to do it, this was your discovery. It’ll be your report that I put on the Boss’s desk.”

Jungkook sits down on one of the closed boxes as he follows Lee’s instructions and listens to the sounds of loading and unloading of shipments around him.

*

Namjoon came into the room chuckling and smiled widely at Jungkook laying against the headboard scrolling on his phone.

Jungkook looked at his amused boyfriend’s face in confusion, “What?”

“Nothing baby,” Namjoon dismisses, biting his lip to stop his chuckles as he heads into the closet to change out of his suit. “I just had a very interesting report hit my desk this evening.”

“Ah I see,” Jungkook teases, going back to his phone as Namjoon walks back to the bed. “Was it so horribly written you didn’t understand a word of it?”

Namjoon snorts and crawls into the bed to place himself onto Jungkook’s lap, his stomach laying across his legs and his arms crossed over his pelvis. Jungkook looks down at him from the edge of his phone, smirking as Namjoon tilts his head up to him.

“Do you need something, yeobo?” Jungkook asks, giggling when Namjoon presses his face into his stomach.

“Keep calling me that, I like it.” Namjoon demands, wrapping his arms around Jungkook’s waist. “It was a very good report, little one. I’m very impressed.”

“I better get a new pair of indigo blue jeans as a payment,” Jungkook snickers, setting his phone down on the bedside table, running his hands through Namjoon’s hair. “We should get matching pairs, you need more jeans.”

“Why are you so against my suits?” Namjoon pouts, nuzzling into Jungkook’s navel.

Jungkook leans down to whisper in his ear, “Because your ass looks so good in them, I’ll be putting you in leather pants next.”

Namjoon groans lowly in his chest, “You’re such a fucking tease.”

Jungkook cackles in delight, lifting Namjoon slightly so that he can shuffle down underneath him. He parts his legs to have Namjoon sit properly between them and wraps his arms behind his lower back.

“Am I making it hard for you, yeobo?” Jungkook teases, placing a kiss against the mole under his lower lip.

“I think I signed up for that the moment you teased me about buying that first drink,” Namjoon grumbles, sighing when Jungkook takes his lips into his own.

Jungkook runs his fingers up and down Namjoon’s spine through his t-shirt as Namjoon sighs into his mouth. With inching fingertips he pulls his shirt up a sliver to touch the soft skin as his waistband, Namjoon groans at the soft touch. He parts from Jungkook’s lips and drops his head down onto his collarbone, taking slow deep breaths.

“Baby,” Namjoon warns when Jungkook starts to trace the curve of his spine without the barrier of the shirt. “Didn’t we have a talk about taking it slow?”

“Ah,” Jungkook hums, digging his nails slightly into Namjoon’s skin, making him squeak slightly. “So when you said slow, you were meaning absolute snails pace.”

Namjoon huffs and lifts himself off of Jungkook’s chest to look at him sternly, “Jungkook-ah…”

Jungkook smirks up at him, “If I’m making it too hard for you, babe, I can go sleep somewhere…”

Namjoon stops him just as he’s beginning to slide out from under him and off the bed, pulling him tight against his chest and rolling them onto their sides. Jungkook chuckles as he snuggles himself into Namjoon’s arms and stops his wandering hands.

“Fucking tease,” Namjoon grumbles under his breath, tightening his arms around Jungkook’s shoulders after he reaches across him to turn the light off in the room.

Jungkook sighs as the room is bathed in darkness, pressing his face against Namjoon’s breastbone and breathing in his soothing scent. Allowing the feeling of Namjoon’s slow, steady breaths to ease him into sleep.

Brief scene in Yoongi’s POV during the first few chapters of ‘We Started It’

This is an unused scene that I wrote around the time I was finishing ‘We Started It’ and currently have no inspiration to continue but I thought it would be interesting to share.

*

Yoongi didn’t know what to make of their new help, of the man that called himself Vante of Daegu. Although really he wasn’t exactly a man, the boy was barely over seventeen but there was awareness about him that made him seem older than he was.

Yoongi had been shocked to find out that the insolent member of the Hwarang Boys, who had been spinning circles in his chair like a child, was the infamous Vante. He eyed the boy as he stared out the window of their moving SUV, his long brown hair fell like waves across his face. It hid nearly half of his face with its length, but Yoongi was grateful for it. What he had seen of Vante, no Taehyung’s, face had left him nearly speechless.

The boy was utterly alluring with his cupid bow lips, tanned complexion, and deep brown eyes. Yoongi tore his gaze away from the boy and pulled out his phone to message Hobi, needing anything to distract him.

‘Has Seokjin returned from his mission yet?’ He asked, mentally rolling his eyes at the pain in the ass that was Jeon Seokjin.

‘No, he’ll probably be back by the time you arrive.’ Hobi answers immediately. ‘How’s the new guy looking?’

Yoongi glanced back up at Taehyung, who was sitting impassively as he looked out the window at the passing buildings. ‘Not sure yet,’ he texts back to Hobi.

*

Yoongi isn’t sure what had woken him up, he rolled over to see the clock blink 4:37AM and groaned, trying to just roll over into sleep again. Then he hears it, the sound of shuffling in the kitchen. Instantly alert, Yoongi rises from his bed and heads for the kitchen with sure steps.

Yoongi curses as he catches sight of the slumped figure on the barstool, Taehyung’s eyes swivel over to him as he clutches his chest in relief.

“Why are you sitting in the dark? You scared the shit out of me!” Yoongi grumbles, switching on the kitchen light, Taehyung blinks under the sudden light. Yoongi sees deep bags under his eyes, now that his hair is pulled away from his forehead, and there’s a haunted look in his eyes.

“Sorry,” Taehyung mutters quietly, the haunted eyes follow Yoongi as he moves into the kitchen and starts the coffee machine.

If he’s going to awake at this hour, he’s going to have some damn coffee to make it through the day. He offers to make some for Taehyung, only to get a ‘Sorry, I don’t drink it. Too bitter’ as he smacks his mouth childishly at the thought of the taste.

Yoongi keeps his scoff under control as he asks, “You drink tea?”

*

If you’d like to read more, check out my Ao3! The full story is there just in Taehyung’s POV. There’s a link in my pinned comment to one of my stories that’ll take you straight to my page!

Unused scene from ‘We’re Dripping In It’

This scene takes place at the end of chapter 45 ‘A Brand New Day’ while Namjoon and Jungkook are traveling back home in Seoul after their reconnection on Jeju island.

I didn’t include it because it didn’t quite fit the mood of the chapter or the chapter that was to follow, so I cut the scene out.

*

“Jungkook-ah,” Namjoon murmurs, knocking his ankles lightly against Jungkook’s as they sit across from each other on the jet. Jungkook blinks and looks up from his book, breathing a little easier when Namjoon looks at him softly. “Baby, I have… I have an odd question for you.”

Jungkook raises his brow at him, setting his book aside to give Namjoon his full attention, “What is it yeobo?”

Namjoon takes a deep breath, “I don’t… I don’t want you to think that I doubt you, but how… how do you know you’re going to be happy with me forever? We’ve only really been together for a little over five months, that’s not long enough to know how committed you are to someone. We’re still, technically, in our honeymoon phase and we’re still learning so much about each other, so how…?”

Jungkook looks at him for a moment, chuckling lightly at the hesitant look on Namjoon’s face, he crosses his arms over his chest. “I have a counter question for you, Namjoon. How long do you think it takes me to start becoming clingy to someone?”

Namjoon blinks at the question, tapping on the side of the seat with his finger as he thinks, “I don’t know, maybe a few weeks. But why would…”

“It takes me months Namjoon,” Jungkook interjects, smiling softly when Namjoon’s eyes widen. “And how long do you think it takes me to stop being so clingy? To finally feel like someone won’t toss me aside and leave me completely alone?”

Namjoon eyes him, “I assume it doesn’t take five months.”

Jungkook snorts, “More like two years, that’s how long it took me to stop clinging so hard to Tae and hyung.”

Jungkook chuckles as he moves himself into the seat next to Namjoon and takes his hand into his, he runs his thumb softly over their shared couple ring on his pointer finger. “One of the reasons it was so easy with you was that you’ve never lied to me, evaded my questions, yes, but never lie. Even in the beginning. And that spoke volumes to me Namjoon, I was getting attached from the moment our eyes met across D-Town, I was honestly only half sure you’d show up and I never expected you to reserve time in the VIP section.”

“I don’t like lying to people,” Namjoon admits softly, tightening his fingers in Jungkook’s hold as their eyes meet. “I know it’s odd, but I have to give so many lies to people on a daily basis that I get sick of it. I created my Inner Circle to be people I knew I didn’t have to do that, to not have to put on the mask and just be myself.”

Jungkook nods in understanding, “I know you worry about us going too fast, Namjoon, but can you honestly see us being anything but married at this point? If we really weren’t so committed to each other then the month of my undercover mission wouldn’t have hit either of us so hard. If our love was only based on being around each other, it wouldn’t have lasted while we were apart.”

Namjoon clicks his tongue, smiling slyly at him and leaning forward to place a kiss against his forehead, “No one has ever been able to argue so thoroughly with me, you never leave me any room to counter you.”

Jungkook giggles, leaning his forehead against Namjoon’s, “I love you Namjoon, there’s no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with. Or the next one.”

“I love you Jungkook,” Namjoon whispers, placing a gentle kiss against his lips, “I’ll find you again, I promise, I can’t go another life without you.”

Jungkook looks down at their joined hands and the couple ring that weaves a circle of red between their fingers. He sealed in his mind that if he and Namjoon were to ever live another life with the Red String of Fate then their string would be attached to their pointer fingers. It was their first connection to each other and Jungkook wanted it to guide their path to reunite them every time.

*

If you want to read the full original chapter, the fic is linked on my page. It’s the first pinned post! A new update is coming tomorrow, so look out for that!