Namjoon ended the call and he pulled his phone away to stare at the screen for a few seconds before lowering it down onto the table. After all of that waiting, fretting and sweating over everything that had happened over the last eighteen or so hours he finally had the answer that he had been desperately hoping for. It felt rather strange now knowing that everything was alright after it had all seemed to have gone so wrong, but it was comforting too. Namjoon finally felt like he could breathe again and the lack of worry was a wonderful feeling, no more crushing weight on his chest dragging him down. No need to check the news religiously every three minutes just in case an update was released, no more pacing and restlessness plaguing him so that he could hardly sleep or eat.

Taehyung was alive . Injured and beaten down but still very much alive. It was enough to make him let his breath out in a soft laugh and before he could stop himself he was actually laughing without a single care. Laughing in a mixture of relief and joy, laughing because he now felt light and filled with relief; not manically but rather just jubilantly.

"Is he alive?" Hoseok asked in a cautious tone, even when it was a pretty stupid question. Of course Taehyung was alive, he had just been talking to him for several minutes now and had said his name multiple times in his presence. But he completely understood his teammate's want to confirm it and be certain. So he held his hand up to him, giving him an 'OK' sign with his fingers whilst the last few soft giggles escaped. "Oh, thank fuck."

Namjoon logged into the database that he had set up for their exchange of information and with several clicks of his mouse he located the latest recording. He deleted it without so much as a blink. There, all physical proof of their conversation had been erased and there was nothing to possibly link back to their department.

"You mentioned the word 'shot', someone being shot; what happened?" Hoseok asked as he folded his arms on his desk. "Who got shot at?"

"They're both alive, The Boy is unharmed from what I know but not Taehyung, he took a bullet for him." At his words he saw Hoseok's expression shifting, hardening at the corners of his lips. "In the shoulder, he said he received treatment of some kind so hopefully everything is fine."

"What a pair we are, both all stitched up like fucking rag dolls." Hoseok shook his head at this. It had been quite some time since his stitches had dissolved but the sentiment was still fitting. "Let's hope he doesn't get any permanent damage, shoulder injuries are risky in general and getting shot even more so. There's so many chances of ligament or cuff damage. Remember that time I damn nearly tore a ligament during a raid? I can't fucking imagine the pain he must he going through. But hey, with an injury like that Tae could retire on a hero's pension the second he's finished working undercover."

"Don't give him any ideas..." Namjoon muttered under his breath as he eyed the phone again. The rectangular disposable phone was a cheap and rather ugly block of grey plastic but looking at it right now was like looking at The Holy Grail. It was the bearer of great news and he strongly had to resist the urge to lift it up and kiss the device in relief. "Guess what?" Hoseok raised his eyebrows at him, curiosity all over his face. "Jeon already knows about the pornography server hack. Taehyung had to contact him and he told him about a problem, something to do with ceasing production. So that means that Jeon knows, he has to or else he wouldn't have told Taehyung that."

"...This is too much luck for one man," Hoseok remarked with a head shake. His expression was one of sheer disbelief. "First Tae survives a hit job and now Jeon's covering his ass. Hey, let's hope that his luck extends that much further so he can pull off the operation."

Namjoon made a noise in agreement as he turned back to his monitor. Yes, that really would be a blessing. There was no denying the fact that Taehyung was currently having a string of lucky escapes but it couldn't last forever. Their teammate needed to get out of hot water as fast as he could and avoid getting into trouble again for as long as possible, lay low and try and not test the waters again for awhile. Hoseok's joke had been very accurate, it really was too much luck and it would soon run out at this rate. But the most worrying part of it all was that there was a very high chance that Taehyung wasn't ever going to get out of danger because he had joined Haedogje Pa in the most deepest of turmoil: the power shift. For Taehyung things might only ever get slightly calm before danger and trouble came out of nowhere. The casino shootout was proof enough that nothing could really be predicted anymore, especially not from outside of the gang. If Taehyung himself could barely stay ahead then there was no chance that they could, for Namjoon had a feeling that the team were still so very far behind him.

A quick glance at the corner of his screen showed that they were currently an hour ahead of Taehyung's timezone, edging very close to the evening and that meant that his shift was almost finished. But just because his shift would be finished didn't mean that his workload had eased off in any way. No, he still had to perfect his appeal to ensure that everything looked good for the meeting with their superiors tomorrow. Even with the knowledge that Jeon was making a move to solve the problem he still needed the other men to think that he was clueless about it all. He had just created a folder to store the video files inside as evidence, password protected for extra security, when Sungah stepped into the office. She seemed to be in a rush, hectic and on edge, and she walked right over to them.

"I heard things going around the station," she said in a quiet voice. "Things about that cyber squad bust...things about Taehyung."

They both stared at her without talking, pinned in place by both her words and her gaze. God, Sungah really should be higher ranked than Assist Inspector with her intuition and sheer determined nature. What exactly could they say to her? Namjoon had not even thought of the possibility of having to talk to the team about this just yet. He had been far too occupied thinking about their superiors but of course there were the others to think about: Sungah, Youngjae and Daesu. After a minute of silence she shifted and looked across the office in the direction of the door. Then she moved to close it and turned back to them, clearly much more comfortable now that she knew that no one passing could eavesdrop on them.

"Look, I saw some shit busting open prostitution rings," she stated as she held a hand up defensively. "I've seen true filth, true horror. If you think gay pornography can affect me it can't. I've seen child prostitutes branded like cattle at a farm auction and that's not even the worst of it. I don't feel a thing about what I heard earlier from around the station, but I feel for Taehyung and I just want to know if he's safe right now," Sungah continued in that near whisper. "I don't give two shits about anything else, Christ guys, we more or less know that Taehyung has murdered at least one man. This is nothing, right? It's just sex , and I don't give a shit about it. Not after what I've seen."

Yes, just like Namjoon and his years undercover, Sungah had seen some true horrors. Her words rang true,for horror seemed the only fitting word for it all. She had witnessed the kind of depravity and lack of basic human empathy that flourished within the Haedogje Pa prostitution circuit: the kidnappings, the abuse, the endless spiral of bleakness. Namjoon could look right into her eyes and see that she was being completely genuine with them both right now. Sungah didn't care about the files or the charges, she just simply cared about Taehyung.

"Yeah, if only everyone else thought that way too," Hoseok remarked under his breath. "We've got evidence that he starred in the recordings, not that he committed any murders."

"There's been charges for an arrest warrant drawn up for both The Boy and Taehyung," Namjoon explained slowly. "I've got until tomorrow morning to prepare and present an appeal to try and have the charges dropped and the warrants withdrawn."

"Has Taehyung contacted you?" she asked as she lowered her hand and instead folded her arms across her chest. "I don't need details, just let me know if he's alive so I can sleep tonight. That's all that I need."

"...He's alive," Namjoon said in a quiet voice. "Don't spread this outside the department but he's alive. I just don't want anyone knowing that right now because it gives me an advantage for my appeal; lambasting our superiors for treating a possibly dead officer as a criminal when he should be seen as a hero."

"Shit, that's good," Hoseok said as he turned in his seat to look at him. "That's real good."

"No way, no, this operation isn't going down. Not like this, not after everything." Sungah reached up to run a hand through her hair roughly, mussing at her bobbed lengths. "You need to promise me, Kim, promise me you'll pull off your appeal and save the operation."

"I promise I will," Namjoon said with a nod. This seemed to comfort her and Sungah let her breath out in a soft sigh as she stopped playing with her hair.

"I mean, we all know that Jeon is probably going to bury it but that doesn't matter. We're a team, so let's act like a goddamn team, right?" she suggested with a nod, one that seemed to be more reassuring for herself rather than for them.

"Speaking of the team," Namjoon said, "what do you think about the others?"

"I think Youngjae could have a problem, he's a church goer. Maybe not, I'm just assuming based on the few church goers I know." She folded her arms across her chest again and paused for a moment. "Not sure about Daesu, he's an old man but he's served this department for so long now. He might just have a little more maturity than we're allowing him." This made Hoseok snort laughter, the idea of Daesu being immature with his salt and pepper hair and rather deep-set wrinkles a rather funny mental image. Truthfully Namjoon wasn't at all certain how the two other men would react because this was different. This wasn't trying to read their thoughts whilst they worked, figuring out what they were going to say so he would have the perfect reply. This was a matter that was rather personal and not at all dependent on facts or knowledge, rather their own possible prejudices. "Whatever the case, I'm hoping that Taehyung bringing down Haedogje Pa will be enough to make anyone that has a problem with him shut their goddamn mouths."

"Damn right," Hoseok agreed with a vigorous nod.

"Right, I'm going to clock out. Kim, work on that appeal. You need any references, any support just call me, I'll pick up no matter what, even at 4am. Jung, get some rest. The sooner you rest and heal up fully the sooner you'll be back on the streets." Sungah collected her coat from the back of her chair. "Hopefully I won't walk in here tomorrow and find out Taehyung is one of the most wanted men in the country."

Sungah left the office a minute later and left the two of them alone. After a momentary silence Hoseok asked him if he had a plan of any kind sorted out. Namjoon thought it over before giving him a reply, wanting to be able to give him a proper answer rather than be brusque and not helpful. Yet he quickly discovered that he really didn't have a proper answer to give. He hadn't exactly formulated a plan at this point.

"Go home, order takeaway food, spend the entire night staring at my laptop screen. Maybe cry," he joked. "No, no I'm still working on a plan. I think I should build up a personal argument, use my undercover work to my advantage and try and win our superiors over."

"You ever filed an appeal before?" Hoseok asked, and when he said that he hadn't his teammate continued. "I've done a few but never in response to charges for one of our own, only ever an appeal for court convictions after raids. It's probably similar, I dunno. I need legit legal info to file for an appeal but I don't think you will for this, there's nothing to try and overrule but just charges to remove. It's probably less complex than court conviction appeals."

"Sounds like you could be helpful," Namjoon remarked as he sat back in his chair. "How do you feel about takeaway jajangmyeon?"

"What, you mean it's finally a dinner date?" Hoseok asked in surprise before letting out a sudden laugh. "Jajangmyeon and case appeals, wow, talk about romantic."

Takeaway food hardly constituted as a proper meal but that hardly mattered to either of them by the time they were finally back at his apartment room half an hour later. Namjoon powered his laptop up and had his file prepared beside it, ready to check over all of details. It was rather strange knowing that they were going through such a level of work when it really didn't matter in the end. Jeon would bury the warrants under stacks of money and the pornography charges would end up being pinned onto another bunch of men he would prefer take the fall. Yet here they were, preparing an appeal and acting as if they didn't know this fact.

Hoseok was clearly too hungry to give a fuck about absolutely anything, cheeking mouthfuls of jajangmyeon so that he could grab a chunk of pancake and shove that in his mouth too. Namjoon just simply knew that he needed to eat something because he was looking at a night spent working again. That wasn't exactly rare, he was starting to get used to it now. Ever since Taehyung had infiltrated Haedogje Pa it seemed that he didn't really do much sleeping.

"Right," Hoseok cheeked a mouthful of the noodles and crossed his legs up on the settee as if he owned the place. "I think our main strength for this appeal is the fact we were given the green-light to go through with the operation, yeah? This wasn't incognito, this wasn't going against orders, our department was given explicit permission to insert an undercover officer. So we did, we inserted Tae."

"...So we play up our department's innocence in regards to his behaviour," Namjoon stated as he watched Hoseok chewing the mouthful of food. There was a smear of sauce in the corner of his mouth and he reached up to rub it away with the pad of his thumb. "Doesn't that risk putting the blame more on Taehyung?"

"Which is where you come in," Hoseok argued, "you tell them that what happens undercover, that stays undercover. You've got records, got personal experience. None of our superiors do, none of them are undercover officers, they all worked in typical fields: homicide, national security, typical bullshit desks. They had it easy yeah, working their way up to the top. Not like us. So you tell them that, you say: no offence, but you guys are fucking clueless."

"Somehow I doubt that will go down well," Namjoon remarked with a slight smile. "But we do have the upper hand, particularly in regards to my work. I'd rather not have the files cracked open but..." Hoseok grabbed another thick clump of noodles between his chopsticks and he shoveled them into his mouth without another word on the matter. "Well, all the shit I had to do was in another country. I had hundreds of miles to keep my activities hidden from view. They weren't showcased all over a pornographic website right here in the capital."

"Mmm-" Hoseok dropped the chopsticks and gestured at him suddenly, trying to let him know that he had something to say. After a few quick chews he swallowed. "Singapore, remember Singapore."

"Play up the potential hero role," he said with a nod. "An officer dying for the sake of the law, it's a great advantage. Ridiculous but true." Namjoon sighed and reached up to bury his face in his hands. "This entire thing is fucking ridiculous."

"Download and view all the porn you want but make it?" Hoseok snorted with a head shake. "That's the illegal part, talk about fucking stupid."

"All of this over pornography, pornography ," Namjoon stressed. "Not mass murder, not drugs and human trafficking, but pornography. Like any department would ever have a chance of bringing The Boy down with such a charge." His teammate remained silent as he stared at the remains of the jajangmyeon. "So...green-light, undercover, hero; that's the plan?"

"Sounds like our best bullshit excuses all rolled up into one," Hoseok said with a nod. "Even without Jeon's assistance I think we could've won them over."

The apartment room fell silent for a minute, neither one of them wanting to break the quiet. But then his words seemed to hit Namjoon and he couldn't help but start laughing. Hoseok tried to look serious for all of three seconds but then he joined in too, snorting and dropping his chopsticks into the container so he could wipe sauce off his mouth.

"God, it's a good thing Tae isn't relying on our appeal, huh?" Hoseok said as he grabbed a napkin and cleaned his fingers with it.

It wasn't much longer after finishing the takeaway food that Hoseok ended up falling asleep on the settee. He was rather discreet about it, for one second he had been awake and talking and the next his head was drooping as he started drifting off into sleep. So Namjoon told him to lie down in the bed instead, much too busy and stressed to imagine sleeping tonight. Maybe he could a take a quick nap for two hours but nothing more than that. His teammate mumbled something nonsensical at him but did as he told him to, getting off the settee and crossing the apartment room.

"Goddamn it, Taehyung," Namjoon muttered under his breath as he stared at the laptop screen in front of him, at the zipped and password protected folder that contained the video files. "You're really making us work hard too..."

He worked into the morning, not moving once from the settee unless it was to use the bathroom or get a glass of water. Sleep didn't come to him even when he knew that he should try and rest. It was impossible sleeping when he knew what was coming tomorrow and so he just kept his head down and carried on working. He cross-referenced past appeals, researched and examined every legal journal he could find in regards to witness protection, undercover work, rights of officers in the field: absolutely anything that he could use in his defense for Taehyung. When it turned 7am he forced himself to make breakfast and then get ready for work.

When he exited the bathroom he saw that Hoseok was curled up in his bed, deeply asleep and clearly not at all planning on waking up any time soon. Good, the other man deserved rest and it was his day off. He might as well leave him to sleep, let him finally recover from his injury seen as he had yet to really do that and had worked his usual hours stuck behind a desk. Namjoon finished fastening up his trousers and then crossed the room to collect the file that he had put together last night. Satisfied that it had everything that he might need, should their superiors request evidence, he slipped it into the crook of his elbow. Before leaving the room he scrawled a note out and left it on the coffee table along with the spare key and the takeaway remains, just in case Hoseok needed to leave for any reason whilst he was at the station. He was hoping that he might just sleep for the entire day instead.

The drive to the department was just fifteen minutes in total and as a result he ended up entering the building much too early for the meeting. That meant he was left awkwardly waiting around the break room just so he could drain three cups of coffee and watch everyone entering the department through the small window. He saw his superiors showing up one by one, all dressed up in their official uniforms and if he hadn't been nervous for almost twenty-four hours already he most certainly would have felt a little nervous by now. Just waiting outside of the meeting room five minutes before he was supposed to enter was enough to have him pacing up and down.

Namjoon had been in been in several meetings with his superiors over his time working for the department but never to this level. He had been in the presence of Superintendents and a Senior Superintendent. One time even a Superintendent General. On the other side of the door he was about to open he knew that there were several men and not a single woman, the knowledge of which was sadly not at all surprisingly to him. There would be Superintendent Generals: Lee and Park, a Senior Superintendent General: Moon, and last but most certainly not least, Chief Superintendent General: Kwon. All of titles, a lot of power and a lot of age. Namjoon had none of these things, was still technically only an Inspector and yet here he was...standing in front of a meeting room filled with the most powerful men in the district. He hadn't even brought any of the team along with him, everyone Assistant Inspectors excluding Sungah who was almost at Inspector level just like him. Technically there was only one member of the team that was still a policeman, Taehyung of course. He had no title and yet Namjoon knew that his own current title meant very little right now. He might as well be auxiliary police for all it was worth.

Namjoon knew that he should get it over with and so he reached over to grab the door handle and pushed it open, stepping inside the room. It was only small, with white walls and deep blue tight pile carpet, and there was a long table set in the centre around which the four men were sitting. Namjoon closed the door and then gave a deep and swift bow before straightening up.

Kwon was at the head of the table and he was dressed up like he was going to fucking war, official cap stuck firmly on his head, breast of his navy blue uniform jacket decorated to show his position. The other men had their hats on the table and rather plain uniforms save for the badges pinned to their breasts. Namjoon was wearing basic office wear and his badge was currently shoved inside his pocket.

"Please be seated," Kwon said, voice a rather deep baritone. So Namjoon took the only available seat in front of him and placed his file down, folding his hands neatly in front of him. "We have much to discuss."

"Yes, Sir, we do," he agreed quietly as he prepared himself for the onslaught that was coming.

"I think we should keep this brief men," Kwon remarked with a quick glance over the table. "We all know what we are here to discuss, we have all read the files relating to the case. Kim, Inspector Kim, is it?"

"Yes, Sir."

"It has come to the department's attention that you have put forward an appeal to have the charges for..." Kwon opened his own file and scanned something before continuing, "Officer Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook dropped."

"I have, Sir."

"Then please, present the case that you have prepared in defense of your appeal."

"With all due respect, Sir," Namjoon stated as he shifted in his seat. "Our department was told several months ago that we had won the right to finally insert a mole into Haedogje Pa with the intentions of gathering enough Intel to cinch an arrest warrant for The Boy. Our department acted upon superior orders." He paused and glanced across the length of the table to see that all eyes were on him. It was an unnerving experience. "I was ordered to choose a man for the job from our team and I picked the only suitable candidate that we had. Officer Kim was that candidate. This current operation has come about from countless years of work by my department, a great deal of which was done before I even enrolled in the force. I believe that the charges for Officer Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook are putting the operation in danger."

"Any news on Officer Kim yet?" Park asked curiously and there was a ripple of voices at this, all wanting to know.

"We have no news on his current whereabouts or status," he lied through his teeth. "For all we know Kim is dead right now. He could very much have died for the sake of this force and yet here we are, debating on fact that he should be arrested and sentenced like a common criminal."

"He engaged in criminal activity," Moon said in a matter of fact tone. "It's therefore logical that Officer Kim is treated like a criminal."

"Chief Superintendent General, do you know the ins and outs of undercover operations?" Namjoon asked, deflecting the man's words away and instead focusing on Kwon. The man remained still in his seat, didn't seem to even blink or breathe. "I do, I did a year undercover for this department. Do you wish to access my files? You have permission to do so, all of you have permission. You can see the criminal activity that I had to participate in too, but you can also see the fact I brought down the largest smuggling ring for heroin into this country and was part of a select team that brought in over two-hundred convictions in three different countries."

The meeting room was so silent that he was certain that he could hear the other men breathing. Namjoon decided to take that as a good sign, a sign that he had finally hit the right note. Of course using his undercover work had shut them all up, just like he had expected.

"Officer Kim, Kim Taehyung, he could bring down that entire empire if he managed to secure enough information on The Boy. Haedogje Pa's future will be destroyed, countless men will be arrested, the streets will no longer be under their dictatorship. We can't risk this operation for the sake of charges for the creation and sale of pornography." Namjoon paused and let this hang in the air for a few seconds, sorting through his thoughts. "Keep the charges, they can be used as another nail in The Boy's coffin when we have a warrant for his arrest by means of infiltration. But if you put out an arrest warrant for Kim and The Boy now you risk the entire operation, you risk an officer's life, and the case won't even make it to court."

"What do you mean by that, Kim?" Lee asked as he shifted in his seat almost uncomfortably.

"I mean it won't stand," Namjoon reiterated. "The Boy won't take the fall for this, it's not big enough. But Kim will, he will take the fall and it could very much be his death if it comes out he's an undercover officer. Do you want to risk the life of one of our own for a charges that won't secure The Boy...or do you want to have so many goddamn receipts on him that you could bury him alive under them?"

"If the media gets wind of a pornography bust that results in no convictions," Moon said, "then there will be a great many people wanting more information. Otherwise our department looks very incompetent."

"Then keep looking into the files, try and find other men that can take the fall and result in a few convictions," Namjoon argued. "There's a wealth of Haedogje Pa pimps that could be roped into this, after all they supplied actors for the main content of the website. Yes? This case can still result in charges and convictions, it can still look good in the media: cleaning up the internet, whatever spin we can put on it. But the charges for Officer Kim and The Boy...they won't end well for the department."

"You're the son of one of our Superintendents aren't you, Inspector Kim?" Kwon asked out of the blue.

"Yes I am, Sir," he agreed with a soft nod.

"I can see you taking such on such role in the future like your father."

"Thank you, Sir." Namjoon waited to see what came next, for more questions to be sprung on him that he would have to rapidly argue against for the sake of it. Yet the meeting room fell silent, very silent. He spared a quick glance over his assembled superiors to see that they were all looking at the table or files in front of them, deep in thought. Or at least pretending to be. Namjoon already knew the outcome of this case because Taehyung had told him about Jeon on the phone, on the recording that he had since deleted.

"We shall review the case," Kwon said eventually as he folded his hands on the table. "Review it in light to the issues you have presented today, Kim." At his words there were a series of noises in agreement. "This is a very serious incident on the behalf of the department. Officer Kim's actions not only risk the sanctity and image of the force, they are quite frankly abhorrent. But judge a man not by his wrongdoings, should they result in action of course."

Namjoon could only bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep himself quiet and ignore his bullshit.

"This current operation is a very sensitive matter, one that it would perhaps be wise to not disturb," Kwon added. "But the operation could result in evidence that could supply charges for a great many more men than Jeon Jungkook alone. We could drag down a great many other high-ranking Haedogje Pa men, you are correct in that regard and you are also dismissed, Inspector Kim."

"Thank you," Namjoon said as he got to his feet and gave his superiors a deep bow. Then he collected the file up into the crook of one arm and he turned on his heel to leave the meeting room. He closed the door behind him and took a few steps before stopping to lean against the wall. It finally felt like he could breathe again and he closed his eyes as he took a deep inhale.

Namjoon knew that his words had meant nothing. He knew that Jeon would have already long started wiring all kinds of cash and blackmail material around to bury this matter. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that he had given his superiors a show that made him look completely innocent; the impassioned words of a man defending his own. Not at all like he was the man that had passed department information along to Taehyung.

Judge a man not by his wrongdoings? It was almost laughable that Kwon could look him in the eye and say that when Namjoon knew that most - if not all of- the men inside were pocketing money from Jeon to quite simply make charges and murders disappear just like the other superiors all over the capital. Taehyung could knock them down a peg or three if he managed to pull this off. He could see them all arrested and charged and the best part was that his superiors had no choice in the matter of the charges; the arrest that could save their asses from a corruption scandal in the future. If they pissed Jeon off then they wouldn't be around long enough to find out if Taehyung really could complete his mission and blow it all up in their faces.

"Which he will..." he muttered under his breath as he opened his eyes again. "He's going to complete it, I know he will."

Namjoon didn't pray but he supposed that his words could constitute as a prayer.

For nearly twenty-four hours now Jimin had been sitting on the end of the bed with his phone in hand: waiting. He had plugged it in, the thin wire stretched across the bed like a pink snake, just to make sure that the battery wouldn't die on him and he would miss a call. Missing a call would be the worst thing to happen to him and he could barely stand the thought of putting it down for even a second. Maybe Jungkook would call him back soon, would reply to the near hundred attempted calls he had already tried? Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe Jungkook wasn't answering for safety reasons, or maybe he was dead?

Jimin hadn't ate, hadn't slept since he had seen the news whilst in the den with Yoongi. For several minutes he had almost been convinced that he had imagined the whole thing, the bold black headline on his phone screen almost screaming at them both. But then it had became terrifyingly clear that it had been no hallucination but reality. So much for getting stoned and eating Chinese food for the whole weekend. No, he had been rushed back to the apartment block in the early morning hours after roughly a single day in his company and since then he hadn't moved from his spot on the end of the bed.

On the chaise lounge Wangbi was happily sprawled out to her fullest length, chin on her forelegs and ears lazily twitching every few seconds. She looked at peace, lazily napping as if nothing important had happened at all. As if one of her daddies wasn't M.I.A. right now and possibly dead. Jimin supposed that that really meant very little to a cat, and on the trail of that thought he found himself wishing that he was a cat. Being a cat meant that there wasn't much to worry about save for when the next meal would appear and how many belly strokes one could amass over the day.

"Wangbi?" At his voice her ears gave a mighty twitch and then her eyelids opened, emerald eyes looking right at him. "He's going to be OK, isn't he?" Wangbi just rolled onto her back with a rumbling purr as she stretched her spine and long limbs. "Yoongi lied, lied out of his ass..."

OK so it wasn't Yoongi's fault, that was a little mean. The other man had tried to comfort him in the only way that he had been able to do at the time. He should mutter less snarky remarks and be more thankful that Yoongi hadn't kicked his ass out of his den but had actual talked to him. Talked to him just for the sake of it without some incentive waiting at the end of the finish line like everyone else. He had actually made him feel like a human for a short amount of time before all hell had broken loose and destroyed the sensation. Shit, Yoongi had actually made him forget about Haedogje Pa for a few hours and he had found marijuana strangely pleasant after two shared joints over half a menus worth of Chinese food.

Jimin sighed and reached up to rub at his eyelids roughly with one rolled up fist, phone held tightly in the other. He could feel them starting to itch, demanding he close them and rest but he couldn't do that. Not until he knew what the fuck had happened.

"Stupid fucking casino," Jimin muttered under his breath. "Stupid fucking-"

There was a ringing sound from somewhere in the suite and his heart leapt right up to the back of his throat.

Jimin dropped his hand and stared at his phone for a few seconds, seeing that the screen remained dark and it wasn't vibrating in his hand. Had he just been mistaken, had thought that he had heard the sound? Was he even awake right now? He could have just drifted off and- yet there came another loud ringing sound. Jimin jumped in shock and whirled around to look at the intercom system on the wall. He saw that it was turned on, the screen bright blue and alerting him to an incoming message.

"Ah!" Jimin almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to cross the suite. When he reached the system he hit the button so hard it was a miracle that he didn't break the machine. "Hello?"

" Master Jeon has returned, " Dongjun explained on the system screen and Jimin could have cried in relief at his words. Even if he was an ass and he still hadn't forgiven him for the 'princess' jibe yet he was so relieved by his face and words that he didn't even care. " Unlock the door in advance. " The call ended abruptly and Jimin stared at the black square for a moment in slight confusion. He didn't know why he needed to unlock the door but he just crossed the suite and did so, holding the door open and waiting in the doorway. It was a strange request, one that caused a sense of discomfort and anxiety to start swirling in his stomach that the lingering remains of his last Valium dosage couldn't seem to quell.

Jimin saw why Dongjun had told him to unlock the door the second the carriage doors opened and several bodies stepped out just a minute later. First came Jungkook, Taehyung and Hongsuk as a trio and he saw that Taehyung was being supported by them both. As if he was...was injured in some way and he needed their assistance. Jimin stepped aside to let them pass and then Siwon was trailing behind them, carrying their bags under each arm with very little effort.

"Kookie, what-"

"Get him on the bed," Jungkook spoke over him as they dragged Taehyung across the suite in the direction of the bed. Jimin stared after them in dumb horror and when he heard Taehyung crying out in pain he felt the most pressing urge to reach up and snag hold of the neckline of his bathrobe. "Gently, gently."

"Fuck," Taehyung cursed, voice a broken whine as he was lowered onto the bed.

"Kookie, what happened?" Jimin asked breathlessly, fingers now tangling up in the silk tightly and creasing it. "What's going on?"

"Taehyung was shot," Jungkook explained as Hongsuk crossed the suite again. Siwon left the bags by the door and then he was closing it shut and leaving the three of them alone in the suite. Jungkook tried to get the other man into a better position and so Jimin raced over to help, lifting his head up for him so that he could stack the pillows under him. "He was shot in the shoulder in The Gold Monkey Casino attack but he's received surgery and-"

"Suh- surgery ?"

"and the bullet has been removed," Jungkook continued in a strangely calm voice, as if this entire ordeal wasn't terrifying for him. Jimin felt a little bit like he had been shot too, his breath leaving his lungs in a hard wheeze that made his stomach hurt. "He received surgery, he's perfectly fine, babe."

"Buh-but he doesn't look fine ," Jimin argued as he looked down at Taehyung.

The other man was wearing a pullover instead of his usual work shirt, light grey, and it was currently soaked through with sweat. His entire body seemed to be covered in sweat and he was breathing much too quickly for Jimin's liking. This was not good and he didn't care what Jungkook told him. If Taehyung was perfectly fine then he would be sitting upright right now, looking a little bit inconvenienced but otherwise handling the injury well. A 'fine' man didn't need carrying into a room, whimpering and sweating, with skin close to the shade of grey of his clothing.

"It was the travelling, the boat ride," Jungkook replied as he brushed Taehyung's hair back off his brow for him. "He should have been resting and healing up but we had to move, had to get back to Seoul, it's safer here. Now he can rest as long as he needs, he can recover properly."

"Darling, can I talk to you? Alone?" Jimin asked, letting go of the front of his bathrobe as he did so that he could snag hold of one of his wrists. "Please?" Jungkook allowed himself to be pulled across the suite into side bedroom. "Shit Kookie," Jimin pressed him up against the wall hard, the impact of his back hitting it a rather loud thud in the current quiet of the suite. "I told you to not go to Singapore, I told you-"

"I know. I know, babe-"

"and look what happened," he carried on over him, "you nearly died! What did I say? Don't go there and yet you didn't listen to me, you put yourself in danger, you put Tae in danger and-"

Jungkook reached up to cup his face in his hands, palms against his cheeks and thumbs digging into his cheekbones ever so slightly. Jimin stopped talking at his touch, letting his breath out in a weary sigh as he closed his eyes. The feel of his skin against his, warm and smooth and alive , was just so relieving and he couldn't seem to figure out why. Jimin reached up to touch the backs of his hands, tracing his fingers along his skin as he took a few slow intakes of breath to try and calm himself down.

"I'm sorry," Jungkook said in a whisper-soft voice. "I know you told me to not go and I know you were right but I had to go, babe, you understand that. Right? I had to go because daddy told me to go, it was important."

"I was just so scared," Jimin confided in a quiet voice. "You wouldn't pick up my calls and there were photographs all over the news of the building and-and people being wheeled out in fucking body bags. I just-" he took a shuddering breath, "I was so fucking scared."

"They can't kill me, babe," Jungkook said as he slipped his arms around his waist and pulled him close. Jimin felt his fingers snagging hold of the silk tightly as the younger man burrowed his face against his neck, breath warm on his skin. "They tried and they failed, they won't try again."

"Tae? Is Tae going to be alright?" Jimin asked as he turned his head and felt his hair against his lips. Jungkook mumbled something against his throat, vibrations causing little waves of pleasure to course through him. "He could have died for you. I can't believe he nearly died for you, Kookie."

"Mmm, I'll kill whoever it was that hurt him," Jungkook said as he pressed open kisses against his throat and he felt his fingers reaching down to cup onto his behind, digging in tightly. "I'll tear them limb from limb."

Whether it not Taehyung was lying in the other room in a semi-conscious state didn't really seem to stop Jungkook. The other man moved to force him up against the wall and then he was pressing up against him again, body against body, hips grinding against his in lazy circles. Jimin could feel his erection digging into his lower stomach through his trousers and then Jungkook was tugging on the belt strings off his bathrobe. He wasn't entirely certain how they ended up on the bed but it just seemed to happen, hands pulling and pushing, thighs wrapping around hips tightly. He didn't even bother removing his bathrobe as he was dropped onto the bed. Jimin grabbed the bottle of lube that was always left on the pillows and amply squeezed it out onto his fingers whilst Jungkook started removing his clothes; slipping his fingers inside himself even when it was cold.

"Shit, I've needed this since-" Jungkook wrenched his belt open hard and then started unzipping his trousers, "that stupid night at the casino. Masturbation just isn't the same."

"Come and get it," Jimin spread his thighs open wide for him, fingers sinking in deep to the knuckles as he did. "It's all yours."

Jimin could tell that Jungkook was desperate because he was always like this after murder. He was used to him returning back to the suite with the scent of gunpowder lingering on his skin, burnt and highly unpleasant to his nose. Sometimes Jungkook hadn't even bothered removing his gloves as he had grabbed at him, had slipped the lubed up leather inside of him whilst still tangled up in his clothes. But this was different, was a level of desperate that Jimin had never felt before. Jungkook couldn't seem to find a rhythm at all, couldn't pace himself as he slipped in as deep as he could and propped himself up on his elbows. He even kissed him and it had been so long since Jungkook had kissed him during sex that Jimin was shocked.

"You don't realise how...how," Jungkook said breathlessly, hips not relenting once from their quick and hard thrusts and his lips against his throat, "easy it is to die until-"

"Kookie."

"until you nearly do," he continued over him, hands wrapping around his wrists and pinning them down onto the mattress. "It's suh-so easy and fast and-"

"Uh...darling," Jimin threw his head back against the pillows, feeling the other man's breath and mouth against his throat as he did. "Slow down, yuh-you're going too fast." Jungkook's hips were practically bucking against him now, frantic and frenzied as he went as deep as he could. Jimin dug his heels down into his lower back, toes and fingers curling from the friction and the breathless sounds that the other man was making. He wasn't going to last long at all, he could tell that it would be over very fast.

"All of the bullets and, fuck , buh...blood it was so-ah!" Jungkook's hips snapped against his once, twice and then a final third time as he orgasmed. Jimin felt his entire body trembling as he collapsed on top of him with a deep moan of pleasure, face still pressed against his throat. After a few seconds of heavy breathing and stillness Jungkook shifted to look down at his face.

"You...you didn't cum, babe?"

Jimin felt rather stupid, lying with his thighs spread wide open and his wrists pinned to the mattress; his stiff cock still eagerly demanding attention. It was very obvious that he hadn't and it was only in that moment that it became apparent to him this was the first time that he hadn't achieved orgasm right before he did; the usual chase that Jungkook had learnt to perfect. It was also obvious why. Jungkook had gotten carried away and ejaculated prematurely like one of his old clients, too excited to control and pace himself.

After a moment of silence Jungkook shifted to get off the bed without another word and he crossed the room to enter the ground-floor bathroom. Jimin stayed perfectly still on the bed, just staring up at the ceiling mirror. He listened to the pattering of the shower from the other room and the softest sound of Taehyung whimpering coming from the main area for several minutes and then he felt something stirring in him, something that felt almost close to disgust before he pushed it away and ignored it. Now was not the time for such thoughts, they could come later with a bottle of champagne in tow. Right now Taehyung and his injury was more important so he really needed to stop thinking about his own sorry ass for five minutes.

"I have a meeting to attend," Jungkook explained as he stepped into the room again, towel around his waist and damp hair neatly brushed back off his brow. Jimin dragged himself upright to look over at him. "Sadly I can't stay and watch over Taehyung so I need you to do so."

"OK, but I've never had to care for someone like this before. What if I make a mistake?" Jimin asked from his position on the bed, silken robe still undone and hanging off his shoulders.

"You won't make a mistake," Jungkook disagreed as he slipped the towel free and tossed it at him. Jimin spread his thighs open to try and clean himself up, seeing a wet patch on the sheets under him. "Taehyung doesn't need a doctor, just a nurse. It's basic instructions not complex, and even if it was complex you would still be able to follow them, babe."

Jimin shifted to get up off the bed, fixing the robe shut as he left the bedroom to step into the main area. He saw that Taehyung was still lying on the bed across the room in a slump and so he went over to sit down on the edge beside him. A quick touch to his brow showed him that his skin was feverishly hot. So Jimin pulled his hand away and watched the younger man stepping into the room to go up the stairs and into their private bedroom to get dressed. When he returned a few minutes later his phone was already in hand and his suit jacket was folded across his other arm.

"Who are you calling, darling?"

"Min," he said as he shifted to sit on the end of the chaise lounge. Jungkook's gaze shifted from him to Taehyung for a moment. "He can supply me with drugs to treat him with."

Jimin looked down at Taehyung whilst Jungkook waited for the call to go through. The other man was lying on the bed still and silent, eyes open but clouded over from a strong mixture of pain and exhaustion. He heard the younger man greeting Yoongi before jumping right to business.

"Min, I need morphine," Jungkook explained down the line. "At least five days worth along with antibiotics to fight any infections. You can supply that for me, yes? Not for me, for Taehyung. He requires treatment. Yes morphine...I've been told this, I'm aware of the risks. He needs morphine," he repeated in a stern tone. "Have you ever been shot, Min? No, but I bet you know how much it fucking hurts because of your father."

Jimin could almost hear the deathly silence down the end of the line even from across the room. Jungkook had touched a nerve with that one it would seem, a raw and painful nerve that he didn't really understand. He studied the younger man for a moment before turning his attention back to Taehyung. He had his lower lip snagged between his teeth and he could see a sheen of sweat beading along his hairline so he brushed his hair back off his brow and wiped his skin clean for him. Then Jimin reached down to gently lift Taehyung's head and place it on his lap so that he could massage his scalp tenderly.

"Are you OK, baby?"

"No," he replied in a harsh croak. "It hurts, it fucking itches."

"Yes, yes that's the exact dosage Kang prescribed," Jungkook carried on talking down the line and so Jimin glanced back over his shoulder at him. "Yes, that too. Do we have a deal, Min?"

"Wait, Kookie."

"Just a moment," Jungkook pulled the phone away from his mouth and cupped his hand around it. "What, babe?"

"Ask him to come here," Jimin suggested as he continued softly massaging Taehyung's head. "So I don't have to leave him alone and get escorted to the den to collect the order. It's smarter and safer. He can teach me how to administer injections too, just to make sure I don't make a mistake." Jungkook thought this over for a moment, eyes almost boring into him as he did and he waited to see what he would do.

"Min, come to the apartment instead there's been a change of plan. Jimin requires assistance." Jungkook paused for a second and then laughed. "I can't care for him, I'm not a fucking midwife. I have to leave to sort out business affairs."

Jimin sighed and turned his attention back to Taehyung. Clearly Yoongi wasn't going to agree to come, which would leave him stuck caring for Taehyung on his own. The idea alone was enough to make him feel uncomfortable. The other man was in agony, sweating and shivering agony and Jimin could sympathise greatly with him. He knew what it felt like to be wracked with such pain but sadly he hadn't had morphine back then to stave it off. No man wanted to fuck drug-addled and numb whores, it kind of ruined the fun.

"I'll send more files in return for your assistance," Jungkook offered as he leaned back on the chaise lounge. Wangbi lifted her head to study him for a moment. "I back-up everything, I still have all of my files. I know what ones you like." Jimin looked at him, fingers still tangled in Taehyung's hair and gently pressing into his skin as he rubbed concentric circles over and over. Jungkook actually smirked to himself and he wondered what the hell he was talking about. "Money for the drugs, files for the assistance. Three files. Yes? ...Good, I'm glad that we came to an agreement, Min." He shifted on the seat with that smug expression still on his face. "He will be expecting you."

"Files? What files?" Jimin asked curiously as he watched the younger man getting to his feet and ending the call. He shoved his phone into his pocket.

"Don't worry about the files," Jungkook replied as he slipped his suit jacket on. "Just wait for Min to arrive, he can sort this issue out."

Jimin stayed in place after Jungkook left the apartment suite, allowing Taehyung to use his lap as a pillow as he played with his hair for him. He didn't really know how long it would take Yoongi to get to the block but however long it would take Taehyung was waiting for far too much time. Jimin could empathise with him but he didn't truly know how badly a bullet wound hurt. Judging from his current state the answer was a lot. He should have been doped up in a hospital receiving constant care, not lying in a penthouse suite after travelling for most of the day by boat like an immigrant fleeing from a war-zone.

"Tae?"

"Yuh...yeah, Jimin?"

"I'm so fucking glad that I met you," Jimin said in a soft voice as he stroked his brow, "that Kookie met you. You saved his life so you saved my life too." Taehyung didn't say anything in reply to this and so he hunkered forward and pressed a kiss against his clammy brow. "I love you."

"...Love you too, Jimin," Taehyung sighed out as his eyelids fluttered.

There was a series of rather erratic knocks on the door nearly an hour later and so Jimin gently lifted Taehyung's head up and placed it back down on the stack of pillows. The other man let out a soft whimper of pain at the movement. Then he got to his feet and crossed the suite to open it. Standing there in the hallway was Yoongi, looking so very out of place. Small, so very small and rather awkward. For once he wasn't dressed only in a pullover and a pair of underpants but actual clothing: a white tee under a heavy black parka and a pair of terribly distressed jeans. They were so worn and torn that there didn't seem to be much denim left and Jimin stared at the sight of his rather bruised thighs and slightly pink knees before lifting his gaze again to his face.

"Hey," Jimin said as he shifted to lean against the door frame. "Thank you for this, Yoongi. Seriously thank you."

"Uh, don't mention it," Yoongi said as he reached up to play with his hair. "Master Jeon ain't here, right?" He shook his head and the other man shifted from foot to foot on the spot. "He OK?"

"Come inside, I can tell you all about it," Jimin said as he moved out of the doorway to let him inside the suite. Yoongi shuffled past him and then dropped to get out of his shoes, an equally battered pair of black Docs that were scuffed to hell and back. "Jungkook is safe, both he and Tae got back here this morning from Singapore. But as you know, poor Tae took a bullet keeping him safe during the shootout at the casino."

"Shit, we both saw the news," Yoongi said with a nod as he struggled out of his second boot. "It was like a Bond film or something, scary shit."

"Juh-Jimin?" Taehyung called from across the room, voice sounding confused to his ears. "What's going on?"

"Yoongi's here to help me take care of you, baby," Jimin explained. "I asked Kookie to ask him to come here instead of going to him so he could be my assistant."

"...OK," Taehyung said in a quiet voice from the bed, still lying propped up on the mountain of pillows. He was still out of it, half-conscious, half-asleep.

"Got my swag bag filled with morphine and Keflex," Yoongi announced with a rather amused expression as he held up the black bag. It was designer, that much Jimin could see. Nice, quality leather. Taehyung didn't laugh at his remark and so he made a soft noise under his breath. "Sounded a lot funnier in my head... Uh, get him a glass of water, no booze," he instructed as he shrugged his coat off and let it fall on the floor in a messy puddle. "Also some scissors."

So Jimin crossed the suite to get to the kitchen, grabbing a glass and a pitcher from a cupboard that he proceeded to fill up with chilled water from the dispenser on the front of the refrigerator. He located a pair of scissors in the kitchen drawer and carried everything back over to them, placing the glass and scissors down on the dresser so that he could tip the pitcher. Yoongi grabbed the glass when it was full, shifting to sit down on the edge of the bed and press the glass against his lips. As Jimin placed the pitcher down he saw him delicately tipping it to allow Taehyung to sip at the water.

"Fill this up again, yeah?" Yoongi asked as he held the empty glass out to him. Jimin did as he requested and held it out for him but the other man was too busy to accept it.

He saw just how thin and pale Yoongi's arms were whilst he opened the bag and started rooting around the contents. The tee seemed to hang off his thin frame, the neckline too low, the arms ending near his elbows. He wondered if the other man ever left the den, finding the sight of his tendons shifting under the thin skin of the backs of his hands strangely fascinating to watch. He pulled out a variety of things: a bottle of prescription meds, a sealed syringe, a small vial of morphine, a bottle of antiseptic and then finally a baggie with joints in it. They were all placed down on the mattress and then he was uncapping the prescription bottle. He tipped a large green pill out and into his palm.

"You ate anything?"

"Can't eat," Taehyung muttered. "It hurts too much."

"OK, well you're gonna eat something after this," Yoongi retorted as he accepted the glass again and dropped the pill in it. "No way in hell am I doping you up on morphine for three days straight without food. That'll fuck you up." The pill started dissolving in the water and Jimin watched him slipping a joint free from the baggie to stick in his mouth. "Drink this," Yoongi explained around the unlit joint as he shoved the glass at him again. The liquid inside was murky, slight specks of the tablet still floating in it. Taehyung accepted it with his good arm, looking at the contents with distrusting eyes. "Yeah, it's gonna taste nasty but drink it. It's good for you."

Whilst Taehyung knocked the mixture back Yoongi lit the end of the joint with that same cheap orange lighter and took a deep toke. As he breathed the smoke out the other man almost gagged as he swallowed. His lips pulled down in a grimace at the no doubt bitter taste.

"Maybe you shouldn't get stoned during this?" Taehyung suggested in a quiet voice as he eyed the joint between Yoongi's lips. Jimin took the glass out of his fingers and placed it on dresser again before moving to sit on the other side of the bed.

"I need to get stoned to even consider doing this," Yoongi retorted, biting down on it slightly as he did. "I ain't a doctor, Kim, I'm a producer. I don't shoot junkies up, I don't go anywhere near fucking junkies, they're nuts."

"You're not a junkie, Tae," Jimin said as he reached over to pat the top of his hand. "He's not talking about you." When he spared a quick glance over at the other man he saw Yoongi's brows twitching at his words. "By the time this is over we'll all be stoned anyway, right?"

"Exactly," Yoongi declared as he reached over to grab the scissors off the dresser. Rather than try and get Taehyung out of the pullover he opted for cutting it open instead, snipping from the neckline right down his left arm to the cuff so that he could pull the fabric away. With another series of cuts and he was pulling most of it free in scraps. He placed the scissors aside and then started fiddling with the safety pin. Yoongi slipped it out and began unravelling the bandages. "Shit, I'm stoned pretty all the time anyway so it's not like you'll see me sober." As soon as the used bandages were free the sight it revealed was a surgical dressing. Jimin eyed it to see that there was a rather hideous patch staining it, a mixture of red and yellow spreading out across the cotton. Yoongi took a deep toke on the joint and then held it out to him and so Jimin accepted it from him, holding it between his thumb and two forefingers. "Here comes the fun part."

"Can't you give me the shot first?" Taehyung asked as he tried to look at the dressing. Jimin took a toke on the joint and closed his eyes so he didn't have to look at his wide eyes and see how scared and in pain he was.

"No, that comes after," Yoongi argued. "After you've been cleaned up you get the shot, not before. It'll numb all of the pain then."

"I'll clean him up so long as you...you do the injection," Jimin offered as he took a second toke off the joint, hoping that he would take him up on the offer. For a few seconds Yoongi just stared at him and then he reached inside the bag to pull something else free: a pair of gloves and a packet of cotton batten pads.

"Latex," Yoongi remarked as he handed him the gloves. "Kinky."

"What? You like latex?" Jimin asked as he handed him the joint back and pulled on the first glove and felt it snapping in place. "I've messed around with it a few times, don't really get it. Jungkook kind of likes it though; says it feels great against his cock."

Yoongi turned back to Taehyung's shoulder without a reply, joint held tight between his teeth. Jimin got the feeling that he might have made him a little flustered, just like that day in the den when he had choked on a lungful of smoke because of him. Taehyung was much too busy staring up at the ceiling mirror to really pay much attention to either of them. Yoongi picked at a corner of the dressing and then started peeling it free. It must have gotten stuck to his skin for Taehyung made a few whimpering noises until he managed to peel it off his shoulder completely.

"...Christ," Yoongi breathed out as he dropped the used dressing on the mattress without a care. Jimin finished securing the second glove and he finally eyed the sight that the bandages had hidden from view.

Taehyung's shoulder was a mess, a torn up mess barely held together by the thick black stitches that covered the hideous wound. They had pulled taut and made the skin raise up into puckered welt. It was definitely going to scar, was going to leave a fleshy bump behind even after the stitches had been removed. The skin around the stitches was a deep pink that stood out against his tanned skin. It looked inflamed, hot and painful. But Jimin could see that the wound wasn't currently suppurating through the stitches. That was a good sign. Taehyung eyed his shoulder for a moment before rolling his head back to look up at the ceiling.

This was what taking a bullet for another man looked like: a mass of torn and stitched up flesh, clammy skin and gnawed lips. This didn't look very heroic to Jimin's eyes.

"OK, let's clean you up, baby," Jimin said in a soothing voice as he got one of the pads out of the plastic bag and soaked it in antiseptic. Jimin wiped the area around the stitches with the pad and upon Yoongi's request he lightly reached down with his free hand and pressed around the stitches. His skin felt rather hard and hot through the latex.

"Feel any swelling?"

"No," he replied as he started gently wiping over the stitches. Taehyung flinched at this but didn't make a sound. "No swelling so far, that's good right?"

"Yeah, he ain't bleeding internally so that's pretty good," Yoongi said with a reassuring nod as he collected another clean roll of bandage from his bag.

As soon as he was done cleaning up his shoulder the pair of them wrapped a bandage over the wound again. It was a joint effort because Jimin had to support him in a seating position and hold his injured arm outstretched so that Yoongi could wrap it around and under his armpit before feeding it around his upper ribs. Jimin told him that he was doing good, that he was so strong for putting up with the pain and Taehyung just gritted his teeth until Yoongi was securing the bandage in place with the safety pin.

"Now you get the shot," Yoongi explained as Jimin slowly lowered him back onto the pillows. The other man prepared the syringe with speed, showing that he had done this in the past, pulling back on the pusher to fill up the dosage and then making sure that there was no air trapped in the syringe. Yoongi checked his inner elbow for a vein first, pressing his thumb down as he gently turned his arm to get a better angle before pricking him with the needle. Jimin saw it go in and then he dropped the pusher and injected him, slipping it free a second later.

Taehyung almost sank down into the mound of pillows, breath leaving his lungs in a lovely sigh. Looking at his face Jimin was struck by how blissful he looked from the injection; half-lidded and dreamy eyes, slack lips. Talk about orgasmic, Taehyung looked like he was in heaven right now.

"Can I talk to you a sec?" Yoongi asked in a quiet voice, cocking his head in the direction of the bedroom as he got off the bed and dropped the used syringe on the dresser.

"Of course," Jimin said with a nod as he shifted to get to his feet and crossed the room. He heard the other man following after him and he stepped into the room and stopped to lean against the wall. Yoongi eyed the still wet patch on the bed sheet a few feet away for a moment before dragging his eyes away again to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"Shit, Jimin, I dunno if we should be shooting him up with too much morphine," Yoongi said in a low voice. Jimin saw the way his eyes slid over to look at Taehyung through the open doorway before settling back on his face. "It's fucking nasty, I'm talking habit-forming after extended use. If you're shooting him up with that junk three, four times a day he could get hooked on it."

"He needs something to numb the pain. Isn't there something else you could substitute it with, less addictive?"

"...No, there ain't many drugs that can block pain out that ain't addictive," Yoongi muttered as he reached up to start running his fingers along his lips. "Morphine, Meptid, OxyContin, they're all basically fucking heroin. We're pumping him full of heroin , Jimin. Master Jeon can't have a fucking junkie as a partner."

"Tae might not get addicted to it," Jimin argued. "We can wean him off it, lower the dosages starting tomorrow now he can rest and not move so much. Three times a day max, and then two and then just a single dose. If Jungkook can stave off getting addicted to cocaine after several months of using then we can stave Tae off getting addicted to this too, right?"

"It's different," Yoongi argued. "Master Jeon ain't using coke to fight off pain, he's using it for pleasure. His brain associates the rush with pleasure, yeah? But Kim's brain's gonna start associating the morphine with pain and his brain's gonna start lying about the pain so he can get the pleasure." Jimin stared at him and felt an uncomfortable sensation in the pit of his stomach at his words. Yoongi knew what he was talking about on what seemed like an intimate scale and his words were frightening. "My old man messed around with heroin, well Fentanyl mixed with heroin, after he took a bullet just like Kim," he explained in a quiet voice. "He was a crazy motherfucker already and that poison made him even worse. I don't like that shit, it messes your brain up, turns it into fucking jam."

"But I can't leave him in pain, Yoongi. That's not fair. I can't be left to care for him like that, not with him crying from the pain; it's too much."

"I just don't like it, is all." Yoongi folded his arms across his chest and Jimin watched him scratching at one of his inner elbows until he caught him staring and stopped. "But if Master Jeon wants him doped then we'll have to dope him."

Jimin looked through the doorway to see that Taehyung looked to be asleep. His eyes were closed and lips slightly parted, chest rising and falling softly. Good, he hoped that he was asleep just so that he didn't have to feel any pain right now. But now that Taehyung had been seen to that meant that Yoongi was probably going to leave, to go back to his den and leave him alone with the drugged and injured man.

"You got anything else?" Jimin asked as he shifted to lean back against the wall. He crossed one ankle over the other and he noted that Yoongi's gaze dropped to study this before lifting back up to his face. Maybe lingering on his thighs for longer than considered polite and completely understandable. After all he had stared at his thighs like that too. "Jungkook's busy today, correcting a problem with a failed business transaction. Tae's out of action for a few days so they can't go see daddy dearest and have a round table circle-jerk or whatever. I'm bored."

"Got some more joints but that ain't really a party..." Yoongi remarked as he shifted from one foot to the other in that same awkward fashion as earlier. "Besides, I should probably go and-"

"Don't," Jimin said a little too brusquely. "Don't go just stay for a little while, please?" At his words he saw Yoongi seizing up, shoulders lifting and fingers rolling up into tight little fists. "We can just smoke and play with Wangbi or whatever. Just don't leave me stuck in this suite with him. I'll end up drinking a whole bottle of champagne and knocking back Valium until I end crying up over the toilet like usual."

"...Shit Jimin," Yoongi muttered under his breath. "Talk about emotional blackmail."

"I don't want to be left alone with him, Yoongi," Jimin reiterated in a quiet voice. "I'm scared something might happen to him and I won't know what to do." The other man shifted again, scratching at his inner elbow now without even the slightest care as he dropped his gaze to stare at the floor. "I trust you, I know that he's safe in both our hands."

After a minute of awkward silence and avoided eye-contact, of fidgeting and second-long glances, Yoongi finally relented and stepped back into the main area. Jimin took that as a good sign and he watched him collecting the baggie off the bed beside Taehyung as he followed after him.

"Wangbi~" Jimin called in a sweet tone before hunkering down and tsking and rubbing his fingers together. At the sound she shifted to get off the chaise lounge and padded over to them and he heard Yoongi making a surprised noise as she strolled past to sit down in front of him. "Who's a beautiful queen, hmm? It's you ," Jimin said as he cupped her face and leaned forward to press a kiss on her nose and the top of her head.

"Never seen a cat like that before," Yoongi remarked as he sat down on the edge of the bed and slipped the joints out of the baggie. "She do tricks?"

"She's well trained, follows orders. Kind of like me," Jimin said, nose rubbing against the flat plane of the top of her skull.

"Tell me about it," Yoongi muttered underneath his breath in agreement. He shoved one of the joints into the corner of his mouth and then reached down to slip the other between his lips too.

"Stroke her," Jimin said as he let go of her face, rolling the stick into the corner of his mouth too. "Go on, you can stroke her. She's very friendly."

Yoongi shifted to so that he could sit down on the floor beside the bed too, crossing his legs and holding a hand out to the cat. Wangbi sniffed at his fingers for a second, learning his scent, and then nuzzled against him. Yoongi let out a surprised laugh at this, the same guffaw that Jimin had heard a few times and found rather endearing. Then Wangbi was settling down on the floor between them both, tail lightly swishing along the marble.

"Half a joint ain't enough for me," Yoongi muttered as he retrieved the lighter and lit his own stick. "But no more for you after this, this one's enough for you." Jimin just remained silent and allowed him to light his joint too, taking a deep toke and holding it in his lungs. It started itching after a few seconds, that disgusting taste making him grimace as he breathed it out again. "Master Jeon'll probably kill me for letting you fuck around with more drugs..."

"Yes? Well he lets me fuck around with complete strangers every two or so days, like drugs matter."

"...What am I here for, Jimin, seriously?" Yoongi asked as he carried on stroking the cat, eyes shifting over to look at Taehyung lying asleep on the bed. "Is this 'cos you want me to watch over Kim or is it something else? Be honest with me, I don't give a shit, just tell me."

"I just...wanted to talk. You know? Like we were talking the other day. I liked it, it was nice having someone to talk to."

"Don't you talk to Master Jeon? Or Kim?" Yoongi asked, furrowing his brow slightly.

"Not really, not about silly things," Jimin said as he held the joint between his fore and middle finger. He noted that Yoongi held his rather strangely, thumb under it and all fingers holding the length save for his pinky finger which stuck up slightly. "They're too busy to hear about silly things."

"Silly things like...your entire life?" the other man retorted, catching him off-guard with his blunt words. He tried to not wince as he took another toke off the joint and let the thick smoke float out his mouth in a ball.

"Yes, that sounds about right," Jimin agreed with a soft nod as he watched the smoke dissipate in the air, wispy white tendrils spreading out.

"OK, so talk," Yoongi said with a shrug, free hand sitting on the top of Wangbi's head rather comfortably.

"I don't know what's going on anymore," Jimin said in a quiet voice, watching Yoongi's pretty fingers teasing one of Wangbi's ears. "There used to be order, I like order. Makes me feel safe but...but now it's just chaos and I'm scared. I haven't been scared for a long time." The other man looked at him intently, eyes not leaving his face once. "I feel like I'm fucking twelve years old again, I hate it."

"What happened when you were twelve?"

"...Something bad," Jimin muttered under his breath, joint hovering in front of his lips. Wangbi's fur seemed to ripple as he looked at her, stripes and dots moving around until he blinked and they settled again. "Something I've never told anyone about before." Yoongi seemed to think this over for a moment before taking a toke off his own joint, a slight inch or so ash hanging off the end.

"So, it's just one of those silly things yeah?"

"Tell me about your daddy and I'll tell you," Jimin offered.

"Not much to tell, my old man was fucked up. Working for Jeon for three decades does that to you, 'specially after you take a bullet to your knee during your service. Think there was something wrong with him, y'know? Like up here?" Yoongi tapped at his temple for emphasis. "Dunno what but he wasn't right in the head, even before the accident he wasn't right . He'd be gone for like, weeks at a time, and then come home and cause hell."

"What kind of hell?" Jimin asked as the cat yawned and stretched on the floor between them with a series of rumbling noises.

"He'd beat the shit outta my mom until she was crawling around the floor like a fucking seal. After the accident he'd to make me shoot him up, when he'd gotten that bad that he couldn't do it himself. I was like...ten at the time, learning how to shoot someone up with fucking China White when I should've been in school studying." Yoongi laughed under his breath at this, flat and unamused. "Fucking prick, I started using early just to block all of that shit out. He used to threaten to pimp me out after my mom disappeared, I really thought that he'd do that back then."

Jimin stared at him dumbly, suddenly finding that he had lost the ability to talk or even breathe. He had known Yoongi for a couple of months now and yet he had had no clue about any of this. Did Jungkook, did Taehyung? He was suddenly struck with the knowledge that Yoongi hadn't chosen this life either, just like him. He hadn't decided to join Haedogje Pa of his own volition but had been dragged into it too because of his father. Like Jungkook who had been born as an heir with his fate decided before he had even been able to walk. Like him, who had never wanted to be sold to thousands of people, used and abused to the point of falling apart on the inside. Yoongi was just like him. Only Taehyung had chosen this life and what a strange decision that had been to make.

"I think he murdered my mom..." Yoongi said in a soft voice. "I think he did and that's why Jeon killed him. It wasn't the police, I know it wasn't 'em, just another cover-up like the rest. I told you, my old man was a mad dog so Jeon put him down before he snapped and got even worse. He took me under his wing after that. I wasn't allowed to mingle with Master Jeon, y'know being a drug-addicted fourteen year old, but he still took me in. That's why I'm still here today, breathing and working for Haedogje Pa." Yoongi tapped ash off the end of the joint and sniffed. "Your turn."

"...When I was twelve I was bought for a party, for a sex party," Jimin explained slowly. "There were men and women there, at this big pension just outside of the capital. I should have known that there was something wrong about the place, you know? Like the fact that the flooring was covered in tarp. But I didn't think, I was twelve years old and being dragged around by a bunch of adults that were telling me that it was going to be a fun evening. They started playing a game, and kids just love games. It was supposed to be a fun game."

Yoongi was staring at him unblinkingly, hanging onto every word that he said as if he were a preacher delivering a sermon that would grant him salvation. But there was no salvation to be found in this sermon rather just damnation and horror.

How long has it been since he had thought about this? How long had it been since the nightmares had plagued him again, like clockwork? Thanks to the Valium or the sensation of Jungkook's warm body beside him in bed he couldn't seem to recall but the thoughts were always there: lying in wait. Now that he was talking about them again he was probably going to bring them right back to the surface and that would be a mistake. But he had promised to tell Yoongi so long as he had told him about his father so it only seemed right. Jimin closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath and he found that he could almost see the pension in his mind. He could see and smell that disgusting blue tarpaulin even now and he felt a chill running down his spine.

"I wasn't hired to play games, I was told explicitly by Nam that I wasn't but they roped me in anyway. There was a gun, we were told that we were going to play Russian Roulette with blanks. It was a fun game, Yoongi," Jimin said between his clenched teeth. "A fun game that me and seven other kids had to play."

"...Shit."

"It got to my turn and nothing had fired and at that point I was crying and telling them I wasn't allowed to play games or I'd get in trouble. One of the women, she finally gave in and told the rest that I was untouchable, that I had only been hired for sex and that Nam would get pissed off if anything happened to me. I was told to just press the gun against the girl beside me instead, right against her head to finish the game."

"Jimin-"

"The gun was loaded, it was fucking loaded, Yoongi, I shot her in the head." Jimin stubbed the joint out on the flooring without a care and reached up to bury his face in his hands. "Her head fucking exploded, the kids started screaming, I started screaming and the adults were fucking laughing at me. It could have been me, it should have been me and that's why I can't fucking touch guns."

"Shit, Jimin," Yoongi almost moaned at him. Jimin took a few deep breaths and then lowered his hands from his face with an uneven sigh.

"I was twelve fuh-fucking years old Yoongi," he whined, "working for Haedogje Pa and a murderer. Nam told me that I could have a break and that bastard gave me a single week off before selling me off again. I had nuh-nightmares and pissed the bed for almost a year and nobody gave a single fuck about me." Jimin took a quick intake of air and let it out again in a rather forced and pained laugh. "Jungkook knows I'm scared of guns because he pulled one on me once, trying to be sexy or something. I fainted just looking down the barrel. He knows I'm scared but he never once asked me why I was scared."

"Shit, Jimin, I'm so fucking sorry," Yoongi said in a near whisper, fingers still buried in Wangbi's fur but no longer stroking her.

"Only Nam knew about that and now he's dead, so only you know about it." Jimin shifted to lean back against the side of the bed. "I used to feel safe with Jungkook, really safe but with all this happening I feel like I'm in danger again," he said in a quiet voice. "I feel like I'm playing another game and that this time no one will be there to stop me from taking a bullet."

"Oh yeah? I know three men that'd stop that: Master Jeon, Kim and me," Yoongi retorted as he stubbed his own joint out on the flooring. Hopefully neither of them had damaged the marble.

"None of you would take a bullet for me," Jimin argued. "I'm just a whore, you wouldn't do it. The lie is sweet, Yoongi, very sweet but it's still a lie." Yoongi held his gaze for a few seconds and then he dropped his eyes back down to look at Wangbi instead. "I appreciate the sentiment."

"If Master Jeon didn't care about you then why'd he go to such lengths to keep you safe?" Yoongi argued. "Sheltered, yeah, but safe. This apartment block, the bodyguards, all things to keep you safe like how Jeon used to hide him and his mom away." Jimin didn't reply to this as he ran his tongue around his dry mouth. "He cares, I'm sure that he cares. In fact I'm pretty sure that he does in some fucked up way."

"Hmm, daddy dearest would be so pleased to hear his son fell in love with a whore."

"Stop calling yourself a whore," Yoongi said in a surprisingly stern voice.

"Why? It's the truth."

"If you're a whore then I'm a fucking junkie."

The penthouse suite fell silent at this, a heavy and rather uncomfortable silence that Jimin found he didn't like in the slightest. But there was nothing that he could say to break it. Eventually Yoongi saved him the trouble and did so himself.

"You didn't decide to become a whore, Jimin, you didn't choose that. I didn't choose to have a psychopath for a father and get addicted to Fentanyl before the age of fourteen but y'know, shit happens. But what happened then...that ain't now. You ain't a fucking whore, Jimin," Yoongi reached up to rub at his brow almost as if nursing a headache. "I'd take a fucking bullet just to get you to stop saying that shit." He dropped his hand back to his lap and for a moment they just stared at each other. Then Jimin felt his lips twitching at the corners and he had to bite down on his lower lip to stop himself from laughing. "In fact!" Yoongi declared, "I'd take a whole fucking clip!"

So much for trying to not laugh.

"You're not funny," Jimin said even as his shoulders started shaking and he felt a rather giddy burst of giggles threatening to escape. "Seriously Yoongi, you're not funny and-"

"No, a grenade!" Yoongi said as he pointed at him. "I'll take a fucking grenade!" That was what cracked him up and before he could help himself he was laughing, throwing his head back against the bed because he just had to. It was weird, they had been talking about some heavy shit and yet he was giggling like mad and suddenly none of that seemed to matter to him right now.

"What about nah-napalm?" Jimin asked as he covered his mouth and tried to stop himself from laughing. Yoongi grimaced at this and his expression started him off again, had him laughing until he was squeaking and there were tears running down his cheeks. After one particularly fantastic squeak Yoongi let out a guffaw and reached up to fiddle with his hair.

"You get the giggles," the other man said with a slight smile on his face. "Yeah, it does that to you sometimes. Weed just makes me hungry most of the time."

"Well, there's no Chinese takeaway joints in the area but there's a restaurant that delivers here personally," Jimin said as he wiped at his cheeks and sniffed a few times, swallowing down a couple more giggles. "I'll bet you've never had filet mignon as good as theirs."

"...I ain't had it ever," Yoongi remarked.

"Then stay with me," Jimin suggested, "until Jungkook returns. Stay with me and you can try it. We can open some champagne, keep an eye on Tae. Please?"

Yoongi dropped his eyes to study Wangbi again, the cat lying on the floor between them taking a lazy nap with her whiskers occasionally twitching. Jimin waited for a reply, almost impatiently fidgeting with his bathrobe belt as he did. After perhaps a minute of silence the other man muttered something in agreement.

"...Thank you."

"You're welcome," Yoongi replied and this time there wasn't a hint of sarcasm in his voice at all but rather a slight smile at the corners of his lips.