Engima | bts mafia au

8.

Taehyung didn't sleep the whole night.

Maybe it was the way his friend still clung to him even when Taehyung faced the other way, or maybe it was the way the younger hummed so sweetly in his sleep. It haunted him; he haunted him. Jungkook made his heart flutter in ways Taehyung didn't really believe were possible. A quick glance at the clock widget on his phone is all it takes for him to be whisked away from whatever fantasy world he managed to get himself into.

I can't be late, not after the stunt I pulled the last time I was there.

He carefully wiggles out of Jungkook's arms - and by some miracle, he didn't wake the sleeping boy up. He fondly watches as Jungkook adjusts, grabbing the pillow Taehyung was using and promptly burying his face in it. A sudden whine makes Taehyung freeze. Did he wake him up? The whining progresses to some sort of cry muffled in the pillow as the younger tries moving away from... whatever he was scared of. Taehyung takes the moment to slowly back out of the room before Jungkook wakes up. A loud scream sends him bolting across the hallway into the bathroom, cracking the door just enough so it doesn't slam shut. He calms his breathing and takes notice of a foreign sound: crying. He's heard every person in this building cry, with the exception of Namjoon, but Namjoon's bedroom is too far for him to hear the man crying. Could it be Jungkook?

The boy's chest heaves with sobs as he holds himself - something he's gotten used to after a while. Taehyung is about to leave the bathroom but he freezes in place when he hears Seokjin bustling down the hallway.

"Jungkook, dear, it's six in the morning... What's wrong, bub?" His soothing voice asks. He sits on the bed next to the boy and Jungkook immediately clings to the oldest.

"Mom... I saw her... I was, I was shot... hyung what if I can't save her?"

Seokjin doesn't comment on the honorific, he lets Jungkook say whatever he needs to. "Love, it was only a nightmare, okay? They mean nothing. They just want to scare you. You will save your mother and father, and all three of you will be happy together. I promise you."

If Taehyung said his heart did not shatter at the poor boy's broken voice and heart-wrenching words, he would be way more than lying. A sudden need to go in that room and hold Jungkook, tell him everything is going to be alright because they have each other, seeps its way into his mind.

"W-Where's Taehyung..?" He hears Jungkook ask between breaths. Seokjin sighs a little to himself.

"I'm not sure, bub... Maybe we'll see him later in the morning."

A sniff and a silent "okay" sends Taehyung walking out of the door in a hurry, hastily making his way down to the front door and out that one as well. He can't handle another second of listening to Jungkook cry. It was about to positively kill him.

/\/\//\\//\\///\\\//\\//\\/\/\

"I swear to god, Hongjoong, if we drove all the way out here at six fucking thirty in the morning without a good reason, I'm really gonna be mad." Taehyung can hear Seonghwa groaning as he walks into the ally. Quite fitting and totally not obvious at all, San mentioned once they arrived. No one said a word after that once Hongjoong gave San a look that scared the spirit right out of him. Seonghwa was just now starting to get brave.

"Start talking." Taehyung speaks up and sees all eight heads look his direction.

"Lovely choice it was, actually showing up here," Hongjoong chuckles in disbelief.

"Yeah whatever, I'm tired, let's get this over with. I don't want to go through with your cheesyass plan any longer than I have to."

"Cheesy, maybe, but have you seen how vulnerable that boy is? If he gets close enough to you, he won't even bat an eye if we crush his spirits. We'll flip the switch on his opinion on Bangtan faster than you can say your own name."

"Don't you dare make my fucking brothers look like the bad guys to that poor kid." Taehyung spits without breaking eye contact with the concrete under his feet.

"You're ludicrous. Absolutely ludicrous." Hongjoong spits with a laugh. Taehyung doesn't spare a single glance up as the leader backs him against the wall, forceful lifting his chin to face him. "I dare you to say that again."

"You are not making my goddamn brothers look like the enemy, you sick bastard."

Hongjoong expertly unsheathes his knife in one single swift movement, holding the blade against Taehyung's cheekbone.

"You're a brave one. I give you props for that." He draws a hiss from the older as he presses the knife against his skin, slowly dragging it diagonally on his cheekbone. "I'm not joking when I say I will cut out that tongue of yours. All it does is cause you trouble, hm?" He taunts the man as he presses the tip to his face, twisting it just the slightest bit when Taehyung doesn't respond. It's enough to draw blood and cause pain but not quite enough to cause any severe damage.

"Shit, yeah, I get it!" Taehyung attempts to push Hongjoong off but he stands firm. The feat was quite surprising given the younger isn't quite as broad as Taehyung is. Hongjoong simply takes the knife away from the latter's face.

"Glad I could get the message across for you. Anyways, back to the subject at hand. I don't care how you feel about the members of Bangtan. I don't care how you feel about Jungkook. I only care about how Jungkook feels about you. You think my plan is too cheesy? Cool. I'll kill you and move on to someone else, someone who can actually do his job."

Taehyung stiffens at the last sentence, speaking carefully through gritted teeth. "Not once have I failed to follow through."

Hongjoong gives a dark chuckle as he eyes his knife. "I know you pride yourself in being a man of your word. So far, you've failed to prove you aren't. But," he pauses, looking Taehyung in the face, "now you're close to proving me right. You have 72 hours. After that, well - let's just say you won't have to worry about anything anymore."

Hongjoong turns on his heel and walks down the alleyway, becoming shrouded in the darkness. Hongjoong's crew (as he likes to call it) passes by without a word, Seonghwa not bothering to even look at Taehyung, whereas Yeosang gives him a fleeting apologetic look.

72 hours.