serpents and sons | taekook

The Erudite

****

Honestly, Jeongguk should have known.

Taehyung blinks back at him with a look of unfiltered surprise, lounging back in one of the many chairs spread across the penthouse suite. The floor to ceiling glass windows of the expansive room bathe everyone in the light of the sun, nearly blinding Jeongguk as he stares right back.

His eyes drop down to his phone, double checking the information of the text he'd gotten just last night.

Nope, he thinks, this is the right place.

"You know," Taehyung's voice pulls him back to attention and Jeongguk's cheeks flush at the slow drawl of his voice, "this wasn't quite what I meant when I said to let me take you out again, sweetheart."

"That's-!" Jeongguk's blush burns brighter, but there's a low laugh and they both turn to the third presence in the room, seated behind the large half-circle of desks across the suite.

"Ah, I'm the one who called him here, Taehyung," the third man says and Jeongguk is immediately put at ease by his wide smile and his dimples. He swipes his hair from his eyes, standing up with a bow of his head. "Kim Namjoon," he introduces, and Jeongguk steps closer, a hand outstretched towards Namjoon.

Their hands meet and Jeongguk barely holds back a gasp at the strange feeling he gets, not unlike the sort of serenity he gets from Taehyung. His head snaps up and Namjoon's expression softens, eyes almost sparkling in the light. There's a sort of depth in his eyes that Jeongguk is unfamiliar with- something in how he stands, how he shakes Jeongguk's hand.

Taehyung keeps strange friends, he thinks, and there's a huff from the man himself.

"I can't deny I feel a bit left out of the hand-holding," Taehyung calls, and Jeongguk quickly pulls back.

Namjoon barks out a laugh, waving a hand at him. "Ignore him, please. He can be such a child sometimes."

Jeongguk can almost feel Taehyung's pout behind him and he bites back a smile.

Namjoon waves a hand again, this time towards one of the chairs, and Jeongguk quickly takes a seat. There's a shuffle as Taehyung makes his way closer too, taking the one adjacent to Jeongguk. "Now, to business."

Taehyung speaks up, crossing an ankle over his knee. He's in a sweater this time, Jeongguk sees, a forest green knit wrapped around his broad shoulders. "I've been in the very slow process of gathering information for a small," he ruminates for a second, wiggling his fingers, "you can call it a 'takeover'. His name is Kang Joonho, his family runs Dive Pharmaceuticals. You've probably seen them in the news recently."

Jeongguk's brow furrows in thought and he slouches back in his seat. "Didn't the COO or something just get charged with possession?" He had heard something about it that morning as he'd turned the news on while he got ready, barely listening as he went about his morning routines. Taehyung and Namjoon nod, the man behind the desk shuffling through some papers.

"We were the ones who tipped the police off," Taehung smiles and Jeongguk can't help but mirror it, that calmness washing over him again. "One of my brothers, Seokjin, has been working quite diligently to get the information we need."

"But there's something we're just too high profile to get our hands on, frankly," Namjoon looks a little sheepish as he says it and Jeongguk can see how it sounds a bit ridiculous. "There's a hard drive that Joonho's secretary keeps in her possession at all times. We believe it contains the receipts of his more...illicit dealings."

"Like drugs?" Jeongguk isn't dumb. He's more than fully aware of what goes on in the backstreets, in the seedier parts of town.

Taehyung waves a hand dismissively. "Could be drugs, could be scandalous hotel records, could even just be unauthorized background checks. We won't really know until we get our hands on it."