taehyung's eyelids clamped shut as he felt a palm roughly come into contact with his right cheek, the sudden impact sending his head to the side. it stung so bad that he didn't even need to guess that there must be an immediate bright red handprint staining his face right now.

"what did i say about staying away from that fucking jeon punk?!" his father snarled at him, the hand which he just used to slap his own son was now resting at his side with bony fingers clenched tightly into a fist. "you just never seem to listen, do you?" he continued after harshly kicking one of the chairs next to him.

taehyung remained silent, biting down onto his lower lip as hard as he could in order to try and distract himself from the tingling pain of his father's slap.

his father had somehow found out about taehyung and jungkook's reconciliation the day before, yet luckily or unluckily, did not find out about the entire ordeal involving bogum's inhumane acts towards jungkook back in high school. nonetheless, mr. kim was beyond furious that taehyung not only talked to jungkook, but also decided to mend everything between them by being friends again.

"why are you so against me keeping contact with jungkook?" taehyung finally spoke up after a short while of simply deep breathing and glares fueled with anger. his hand came down onto the surface of his desk with a powerful strike of raw fury. "he hasn't done anything wrong to deserve your damn loathing. why can't you just leave him alone?!"

another cruel slap on the same cheek.

"he hasn't done anything wrong? don't be ridiculous, taehyung," his dad responded with a click of his tongue. "the more you hang around him, the more he is slowly tainting you. you're a kim! do you understand how embarrassing and unprofessional it is for a kim like yourself to be seen prancing around with the likes of him?"

"jungkook is a human being. stop talking about him like he's a disgusting object," the younger male spat, clutching as his violently reddened cheek.

"that just proved my point of him tainting you," mr. kim murmured under his breath before shaking his head in disfavor. "say, why are you always defending him, taehyung? don't tell me you have feelings for the boy!"

"why are you always attacking him for no apparent reason?" taehyung retorted instantly. "you're being ridiculous, father," he added, the word 'father' leaving a bitter taste on his tongue.

"you didn't deny my other claim. i won't allow you, my own blood and kin, to have feelings for somebody like jeon," remarked mr. kim.

"your own blood and kin? do you really see me like that? because it never really seemed like it," taehyung irritatedly stated, mentally smirking when he managed to catch the brief widening of his father's eyes. "and no, i do not have feelings for jungkook. i... i took bogum back for a reason, and that reason being i genuinely love him. you can choose to believe me or not, i don't really care."

"what i do care about is that you should stay the fuck away from jungkook. he doesn't deserve to live through your bullshit and we're just friends. if you truly see me as your son, you'd be happy that i've found a rare friendship that's worth building and treasuring, instead of trying to mercilessly shoot me down for hanging out with a so-called punk who has a unique career," he finished.

"this friend of yours isn't worth keeping. trust me, that friendship will do you no good, tae—"

"you don't get to decide that," taehyung interrupted his dad with a pointed look.

his father quietly stared at him.

"leave me and jungkook alone and you'll get what you wanted. shares from bogum's company, right? i'm already together with bogum and i can guarantee that you'll get your shares soon," taehyung then paused, planting a hard gaze right into his father's eyes. "but that'll only come if you listen to me for once and stop targeting jungkook. otherwise, i'll break up with bogum tonight and he won't even spare a second thought about handing you a single penny."

mr. kim stilled for a second before breaking out into a humorless chuckle. "still as cunning as i hoped you would be. you're really a kim, aren't you?"

the blond CEO didn't bother answering the rhetorical question and resumed glancing over at his father like a daunting hawk.

"fine. i'll take your word for it, son. you and jeon better remain as just friends because if i discover otherwise, that kid's life will quickly turn into a living hell with just a little snap of my fingers," mr. kim warned, a malicious undertone weaved into his statement. "mark my words and don't continue to piss me off, kim taehyung."

"don't you fucking dare to lay a finger on him," taehyung muttered lowly as his father prepared to leave the office room.

"that'll depend on the choices you make," "but you are a kim, so i trust that you'll make the right decisions, son," were the last words he said following the door to the room being slammed closed.

after he made sure that his dad had left the building for good, taehyung leaned back in his office chair and let out a long sigh. rubbing his temples with a grunt of stress, there was merely one thought running through his mind at that moment,

i need to talk to jungkook.