iris . vkook

seventy one

일흔 하나

Taehyung's PoV:

"Bye, petal." Jeongguk murmured quietly, kissing me on the forehead as I groggily stirred. Normally, I'd be pissed off if somebody woke me up at 2AM, but it was Jeongguk so I wasn't bothered.

Rubbing my eyes with the back of my hands, I looked through barely-open lids at him.

Breathtakingly beautiful, he crouched before me in a simple black t-shirt and jeans, a thick and woolen jacket thrown over his shoulder. Now cherry blossom pink hair was fluffed up and pushed out of his face, some of it partially flopping over his forehead and covering a healing bruise.

He looked fresh-faced. No wounds were visible on his face as a result of him staying out of bother, leaving him with the cutest baby face - something I'd only seen once or twice. 

It wouldn't last long, he was leaving for a day or two to do drug runs, collect a report from his Boss and then a couple of meetings about his newest target. He would most definitely come back with a sheepish grin and his skin littered with injuries - a cheeky smile gracing his features as he asked me to clean him up.

"I love you, darling." He whispered, so I wouldn't wake up fully. 

Sleepily, I rested a sloppy hand on his cheek and I pouted, indicating that I wanted a kiss.

He chuckled quietly, running his fingers through my messy hair before pressing his lips against mine gently. 

"I love you." I mumbled, his gentle caress sending me back to sleep.

He rubbed over my cheekbone with his thumb, pressed a kiss to my nose and pulled the duvet back over me since I'd kicked it off at some point in my sleep. He tucked me in carefully, his touch light and gentle - much like a mother's.

"Sleep well, darling."

----------------------------------------

I think the universe hates me sleeping.

This fact is evident by Taeyong phoning me not once, not twice, but five times until I picked up. 

Jeongguk's words were wasted on me, I most definitely had not slept well. Such a shame really, I was enjoying my dream about me and him. We were having a romantic picnic, me laid on his lap as he ran his fingers through my hair and fed me strawberries under the sun.

"Hey, what's up?" Taeyong said casually, like he hadn't just spammed me, "sorry to call at such a random time, but me and Ten just found something."

Holding back the urge to simply say something sarcastic and hang up so I could go back to sleep, I bit my tongue and replied.

"Don't sweat it. What've you found?" I asked, yawning tiredly as I gazed over at the alarm clock: reading 3:46AM. 

I'd been asleep for just over an hour and he's trying to educate me on some shit that I probably won't understand.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, I got out of bed with the phone on speaker, making my way to the kitchen where I began brewing tea.

"We were reading over some reports of missions." Taeyong said, "our boss had told us to investigate this other person, but we got distracted."

"And then, I noticed that something seemed off with one of Jay's missions." Ten said into the speaker, the rustles of paper and tapping of pens sounding in the background, "basically, Jay was instructed to go to America and study an underground gang which had been in contact with a few of Jeongguk's bosses and co-workers."

"Right?" I questioned, confused (I just thought people got shot and sold drugs, I didn't expect a web of mystery), "he's dead, guys, what can we do about it? I can't do anything, I'm not even in the gang."

"That's where you're wrong. We think he's alive, there's the tiny possibility." Ten said.

I took a sip from my mug, burning my tongue and hissing at the scald, trying to formulate a reply without crying over the injury.

"Ahem." I said to cover up my noises of pain, "you're mad. He was shot. Shot. Plus, if he was alive, wouldn't he tell Boss?"

"There's no evidence for that, though. No witnesses, no CCTV, none of the prostitutes on duty that night reported anything, not even a gunshot. It was as if it never happened. Plus, why would Jiwook kill Jay for simply standing up for Gguk?" Ten replied, "he wouldn't have lost his shit that easily, especially at such a high risk of being found out."

"Besides, Jay's flight was scheduled to be a day before. How could he have been shot in Busan and on a plane at the same time?" Taeyong said, confusion laced in his voice also as he pleaded, "something is missing. Nobody saw Jay in Busan that day, nobody. We have gang members everywhere, from Jeongguk's one and from our gang. Each group is well into the thousands. Yet, no one saw Jay. Nobody saw his dead body, nobody saw Jiwook, nobody reported a gunshot. Nothing."

"And Bora was 'seen with him'. Despite her being pronounced dead before Jeongguk turned eighteen. Jeongguk came to Seoul at twenty-one, just before Jay was supposedly dead. Taeyong told Jeongguk, by his reports, that Jay was dead. But how could he have been seen with Bora, if both of them are dead?" Ten followed after, "none of it makes sense. Nothing links together, there's no leads. We've looked into it, got other people to look over it, and nobody can work out the truth."

"Guys, it makes no sense, don't fuss over it. Sadly, Jay and Bora are dead, and as much as we all wish they were alive, I really don't want you to get Jeongguk's hopes up for nothing." I said, trying to convince them that they'd overthought the situation as I drank my beverage, Brooklyn Nine-Nine ironically playing quietly on the TV.

"Yes, yes, hush." Ten said, "also, there was no proof that Jay was dead. Jiwook mentioned having a photo sent to him through text, but why would he need a photo if he did it? Whoever is in the photo is not Jay, and Jiwook has not killed him. Taeyong was told that Jay was dead, and because of the loyalty within the gang, he obviously, naturally believed them. However, we're classed as enemies for some fucking reason, so why would they tell Taeyong?"

"But why would Jay want to hurt Jeongguk by faking his death?" I asked, voice low as I recalled how upset Jeongguk would get whenever he spoke about Jay.

"That's where we're stuck. We're off to talk to Boss tomorrow, but if you see a man who looks like Jay, please tell us. You're coming with us." Ten said.

"Also, don't tell Jeongguk." Taeyong reminded, "as you said, we don't wanna get his hopes up until we know the definite truth."

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you guys tomorrow then?"

"Bring a hoodie, we'll be outside."

"Why?"

"Digging up a grave." Ten said casually, "bye!"

He hung up before I could get the chance to reply or protest, leaving me to watch the TV in silence. 

Tomorrow is gonna be weird.