jangmi (장미) ● taejoon

t h i r t y o n e .

Namjoon let out a desperate painful cry. Whimpering as he lurched forward, his head down. His chest heaving, his nose runny. The chair arms had been scratched down to the point thick lines were shown. His nails dragging against the wood.

The woman had come back to the room under Taehyung's orders. Knife to his body, Namjoon hated ever single moment.

Taehyung leaned against a wall, crossing his arms and waiting till Namjoon spoke. "... I'm not going to ask again."

"I don't know!" Namjoon cried, "I-I don't know why, okay? I swear I'd never hurt that little girl! She's almost like a daughter to me."

Taehyung snapped, glaring. "She's not your goddamn daughter, and there's a reason why she's in danger. I don't like spending my time on people who are useless to me, so if you don't tell me the information I need-"

Namjoon pursed his lips and shook his head. "... I don't know," he repeats, "It was someone from the West gang, they've been trying to tear us down."

"West Gang," Taehyung spat out the name as if it was putrid. "Never heard of that name."

"Just stop, stop!" Namjoon hissed, flinching away from the woman, "I-I can't think with that goddamn knife cutting me open every second!"

Taehyung sighed, looking at the woman before nodding toward the door. She doesn't need to speak to understand what he means, so she leaves the room without a word. "Don't waste my time anymore."

"W-We tried to do drug trades with them a while back," Namjoon says, "... They're scammers, frauds. We gave them 5K for a fifty kilos of coke, so we could sell it off. They sold us drywall, and my men were furious. There's been fire between us ever since then."

Namjoon whimpered and winced once more as his cuts bleed past the dry blood on his skin. "I said we'd rip them apart if they tried anything ever again."

"... And they did," Taehyung gritted his teeth, "You brought my baby between a gang feud? Are you fucking serious?"

Namjoon cried out before swallowing his saliva. "... I don't know why they're targeting her, I-I don't know why," he says, "Trust me, I want her home safe as much as you do."

"This is your mess," The other growled, walking over, "This is all your mess!"

"I know it is!" Namjoon yelled back, "You've already dehumanized me enough, can you let a man get some goddamn air?"

"Man? Man?" Taehyung scoffed, "You're no man, you're no leader, you're a coward. Your breaking point is too easy to reach, you don't have the strength to have a gang nonetheless run one."

"Do you think strength is always so easy to obtain?" Namjoon laughed, "I'm dying out, I'm drained every single day being a leader. I'm starving so people are fed, I'm sleep deprived so others get a bed. The money I get is never mine, that profit is toward my men who can't any other opportunities because the world shuts people like them. What do you do, Mr. Kim?"

Taehyung glared as he raised his hand, making way for a slap to his cheek till Namjoon grunted.

"Do it! Do it then," Namjoon hissed. "I already seen what kind of monster you are."

Taehyung flinched.

[unedited]