jangmi (장미) ● taejoon

s e v e n t y e i g h t .

  Namjoon stayed in a daze as the car drove past the rundown streets of his neighborhood. Streetlights flickered and some were dim, the lights in the houses weren't able to offer much to the sidewalks. He could see the stares people gave to the car since Jimin's car didn't really belong in the neighborhood. There was no worries though since this side of the neighborhood was populated mostly by the mortala, nobody would mess with their leader's home and Jimin's car if it was parked in it.

Taehyung placed his hands on Namjoon's shoulders before pushing him down to his chest. Sliding off the leather jacket he wore, and placed it over Namjoon's chest. "... This is where you live? I thought you'd be living a little bit more of a better place than this considering your work..."

"... No this is my home," Namjoon says, not bothered by the gesture,"... I live around my men, I stay close to my gang whenever they need me. It's not like I have enough money to move anyways..."

"You're a teacher," Taehyung looks down at the man and pushes his hair away from his eyes gently. Watching Namjoon's eyes narrow tiredly. "... That should be able to get you somewhere."

"Don't you know teachers don't get paid much these days?" Namjoon shakes his head slightly, "... I give up my teacher salary most of the time to add onto the paychecks for my men, so I don't have much to keep. Sometimes, I only live off 118,000 won a month. I learn to survive with nothing, so my people have everything."

"... Namjoon use to give up his salary so my brother could get his school supplies every school year," Yoongi brought up, glancing at the front mirror to see the two in the back as he sat in the passenger seat. "... My little brother always needed new clothes and shoes since he grew a lot through the years. When you live in a neighborhood like this, you learn to be frugal. Kids learn to be humble since there was nothing to be greedy with."

"... Your little brother, he grew up here?" Taehyung asked.

"Since he was a baby, this place was his home," Yoongi says, "... Namjoon made this place a little bit more put together when he started the mortala. We may be gang members, but we all have each other's back when it comes to families and fights. Consider it a community if you don't think about all the shit we go through for money."

"Don't you want to live somewhere better?" Taehyung placed a palm on Namjoon's cheek and rested his head on his thigh. Feeling the man's head begin to slip, he glances at Namjoon who begins to drift to sleep under the streetlights. "... This place doesn't..."

Jimin turned the corner, and glanced over his shoulder. "... That's the difference between mafias and gangs, Taehyung, Gangs are born from poverty, mafia are born from wealth."

"They make gangs because they need money,"Jimin sighs, "We make the mafia because we want money."

"We make families through pact," Yoongi looked over at Jimin before narrowing his eyes and looking out his window, "... You're only family if it runs in your blood. Do you even care about your men, Taehyung? Or they all just chess pieces to you?

"Namjoon never treated anything less of a human being," Yoongi tsked, "We call it a home not just because we all grew up here, you know?"

Taehyung looked out the window, and listened to the fainted snores from the sleeping man on his lap.

"... You called it home because Namjoon made it home, right?"

[unedited]