𝘖𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 | JJK |

12

The car pulled into the garage and Heiran shut the engine off. She had been pensive for the most part of the ride and when Jungkook probed her about what was on her mind, she gave him a vague dismissal. He wondered if she was still not over his disappearance and if that's why he was getting the silent treatment. It was probably that. Heiran held strong grudges and it usually took a considerable amount of time for her to cool down once she was angry with him. Well, it couldn't be helped. He just had to try extra hard to get her mind off of it and turn things back to normal.

Jungkook was unfastening his seatbelt when she began her usual ordering.

"Go inside and take a rest. If I catch you on your computer, you're dead meat. I'm going to get takeout for dinner."

And Jungkook had the usual reply ready at the tip of his tongue, "Yes, ma'am."

She took out her phone and began the search for good restaurants to get their food delivered, "Good. Now get out and go inside. Don't worry about the luggage, Jungkook. I got it."

Jungkook paused. He then crossed his arms and cleared his throat. "Ahem."

"What?" She asked, eyes still on her phone.

"I shan't be answering to that name from now on."

She turned her gaze to him with a rise of her eye-brow, "Why? Is your name not Jungkook?"

Heiran and her sharp tongue, he shook his head.

"From this point to eternity, I shall only answer to names such as jagi, yeobo, honey, sweetheart, darling, pumpkin, or any other creative forms of endearment," Jungkook declared.

She raised both her eyebrows in mild intrigue, "What's with you?"

"Why does even a measly forensic officer get a nickname when I, your boyfriend of seven months— actually, one year and seven months if you count high school too, haven't even properly heard you call me Oppa once—"

"Ew."

"Okay, I don't like that term either. I understand, but what about the others? You can try calling me those other names," Jungkook reasoned, tilting his head to show his frustration at the logic. She seemed thoroughly uninterested as she resumed scrolling through restaurant adverts on her phone, "I don't want to."

Jungkook huffed and crossed his arms, "Then I shan't be getting out of this car."

She rolled her eyes hard. "Fine."

Confirming her order on the phone, she got out of the car, walked up to his side with a heavy trudge, and yanked the door open. "Get out, princess."

Jungkook made a show of assessing her nickname before he decreed, "Hard pass. I shall accept 'princess' for now."

He caught the ghost of a smile on her lips and did a mental victory cheer. The ice was slowly thawing. It won't be long now.

Dinner ended just as it began, silent as a graveyard, and Jungkook finally had had enough. He released a tremendous sigh, "What are you thinking so much about? It's driving me insane."

Heiran jerked awake from her thoughts and blinked, "It's noth—"

"Don't you dare say 'nothing' again."

She sighed, "I'm just thinking about a plan. How should I go on? What else should I do? Should I start staking out outside clinics as you did? I don't even know exactly who they are, it's making me mad."

He saw the way her forehead furrowed, how frustration curled around her entire being. The questions were killing her on the inside. Jungkook sighed.

"Lys. They are the criminal organization Lys." Jungkook replied. His private detective friend had pretty useful connections and that was the sole reason Jungkook had chosen to involve him. He was surprised when his friend told him about the connection to Lys. He had been too scared to go on after he discovered it and Jungkook thoroughly understood why. No one wanted to cross the most dangerous criminal organization South Korea had seen in two decades.