Royal Azaleað
1979 Words
Jungkook pulled the phone away from his ear and took a slow, steadying breath.
'Why was this so difficult?'
He could stand in front of a room full of executives and dismantle an argument in five sentences.
But talking to him?
Apparently, that was where his confidence went to die.
He pressed the phone back to his ear, this time gripping it a little tighter.
"Hey..."His voice came out softer than he intended. He cleared his throat.
"Hi. How are you doing?"
Across the room, Mrs. Kim immediately noticed the faint panic flashing across the boy's face. She nudged his arm.
'Keep talking.' She smiled innocently.
He could hear Jungkook breathing through the phone.
For some reason, that made his own heart flutter.
"I'm good," Taehyung answered softly. "Thank you."
Jungkook's lips curved into a tiny smile.
"Okay....."
"Umm..How's the new home nurse?" Mrs. Kim's eyes widened.
There it was.
That nervous little softness in her son's voice.
She looked at Taehyung, who was sitting perfectly still, listening to every word as though Jungkook were saying something profoundly important.
He stared at the floor as if the answer to his next reply might magically appear between the tiles.
Mrs. Kim watched him suffer for three painfully long seconds.
Then she mouthed: Say something.
Taehyung frowned. Like what?
She rolled her eyes. Anything!
"Um..."
His voice became quieter.
Mrs. Kim pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing.
'These two hopeless boys.'
She sighed. "Hello, Kook."
Jungkook immediately straightened.
His nervous expression vanished as though someone had flipped a switch.
"Hey, Mom."His voice was suddenly relaxed. Confident. Normal.
Mrs. Kim almost laughed.
'Oh, so that's how it is.'
"How was your day?" she asked.
"Not bad. I'm just having coffee."
"Coffee again?"
"Mom."
"What?"
"You know I'm allowed to drink coffee, right?"
"I know. I'm just reminding you that coffee isn't a food group."
Jungkook smiled."I ate."
"Good." She glanced toward Taehyung.
He was listening quietly, hands resting neatly in his lap. Mrs. Kim smiled.
"And don't worry about things here, okay?"
"How's everything?"
"Fine. The new nurse is good. Very polite, very attentive, and he actually knows what he's doing."
She glanced at Taehyung again.
"He's taking good care of me and our vi-hoo."
"That's good."
Jungkook relaxed slightly.
"I told you I'd find someone reliable."
"You did."
She paused.
Then her eyes sparkled with mischief.
"But you never told me how you found him so quickly."
Jungkook hesitated. "Mom..."
"What?"
"I was looking for someone for you."
"And?"
"And thankfully, I found someone."
Mrs. Kim smiled. "Aww."
Jungkook narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"Such a caring man."
"Mom."
"Your boyfriend is going to be very lucky."
Silence. Absolute, devastating silence.
Jungkook's eyes widened.
"Mom--"
Across the room, Taehyung froze.
'Boyfriend?'
His fingers tightened slightly against his palm.
'He has a boyfriend?'
For some inexplicable reason, the thought sent a strange ache straight through his chest.
Of course he could have a boyfriend.
A man like Jungkook probably had people lining up for him.
Taehyung lowered his gaze immediately.
His heart had suddenly become far too loud.
He blinked once.
Twice.
'Why do I even care?'
He didn't. He absolutely didn't.
Probably.
Meanwhile, Jungkook looked like he was considering throwing his phone out the window.
"Mom, please."
Mrs. Kim laughed. "What? I'm just saying." Her smile grew wider.
"Oh, look at you. Speechless."
"Mom."
"Fine, fine. I won't tease you."
A beat. "Much.." she completed her sentence and gently laughed.
Jungkook groaned. "I'll call you later."
"Alright."
"And take care of yourself."
"I will."
"Both of you."
She glanced toward Taehyung. The boy finally lifted his eyes. She smiled knowingly.
"Don't worry."
The call ended with a quiet beep.
She lowered the phone slowly. And headed toward the kitchen.
Then, just before disappearing through the doorway, she glanced back.
Across the room, Taehyung remained silent.
He was still staring at the floor.
And despite everything he had just heard.. A tiny ache tugging at his eyes.
He was slipping, and he knew it. He had come to Japan to bury his past and the pain that came with it, not to fall for a stranger who had unraveled him from the moment they met.
Yoongi's warning echoed in his mind, sharp and unrelenting: "Nobody can be trusted."
Revealing his true identity was out of the question, and building a bond on deception was a risk he refused to take. He had to guard his heart and step back from the edge of the pit opening before him.
He couldn't afford to lose himself in the process. He wouldn't dare. He needed to act completely normal. If his mind betrayed him, he would simply put distance between himself and the doe-eyed man. He couldn't be foolish and careful at the same time.
Taehyung made up his mind.
Before his traitorous heart could overrule his mind, Taehyung locked his feelings away. He would not dare to fall. He would survive.
_____________âĻ
Seoul was still celebrating.
The streets surrounding the presidential district glittered beneath thousands of lights. Government buildings were covered in flags, while enormous screens replayed Kim Namjoon's inauguration to cheering crowds. His face was everywhere, the newly elected president smiling beneath fireworks, shaking hands and promising a new beginning.
From the thirty-second floor of the presidential office, however, Namjoon watched the city in silence.
His inauguration had been less than twelve hours ago, but the celebration already felt distant. Reaching the top had taught him something quickly, the moment you became powerful, people stopped congratulating you and started looking for ways to bring you down.
The doors opened behind him.
His chief secretary entered without knocking.
One look at his pale expression told Namjoon this wasn't about another political problem.
"What happened?"
The secretary placed a phone on the desk.
"Woo-seok."
Namjoon's expression hardened.
"He's in Taiwan?"
"He was. He left Elysium twenty minutes ago."
Namjoon picked up the phone.
A photograph showed Woo-seok and his chief of staff - walking across a private airfield, dressed in black. Five people followed him.
"Who are they?"
"We're still confirming their identities."
The secretary opened the files.
"Elena. Twenty-seven. European. Multiple languages and several passports. We believe she's trained in infiltration."
"Mina. Twenty-five. Korean-Taiwanese. Information broker. Excellent memory and contacts in several industries."
"Sora. Twenty-nine. Former private-security contractor."
"Adrian. Twenty-one. American. Almost nothing unusual in his records."
Namjoon gave a faint smile.
"Clean records are sometimes the most suspicious."
The secretary opened the final file.
"We haven't identified the fifth."
Namjoon's gaze sharpened.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing yet."
That bothered him.
Woo-seok was too careful to choose five people randomly. These weren't ordinary associates. Each seemed to have a different skill, and he had personally collected them from Elysium.
He knew Elysium was never just a house of desire. Every "pet" was trained for a purpose.
Seduction, infiltration, manipulation, even destruction.
Their services were quietly bid on by powerful clients across the world.
Behind its velvet rooms and whispered pleasures, Elysium dealt in something far more dangerous.
It didn't sell pleasure.
It sold power disguised as pleasure.
"He's rebuilding his network," Namjoon said.
"Do you think he's coming back to Seoul?"
The secretary brought up the flight information.
"The aircraft is already heading here."
Namjoon looked at the map.
If Woo-seok wanted to disappear, he had countless places to go.
Instead, he was coming straight to Seoul with five carefully selected people.
It was a warning.
"Put the airport under quiet surveillance," Namjoon ordered. "No arrests. Track them the moment they arrive."
"Yes, sir."
"And find out why he chose these five."
Two hours later, Namjoon's intelligence room was filled with photographs and reports.
Four identities had been confirmed. Elena, Mina, Sora and Adrian.
The fifth remained unknown.
Every available team was working on them.
Then a flight officer suddenly spoke.
"Sir, the aircraft has changed course."
Namjoon turned toward the screen.
"Where?"
"Busan."
The aircraft had begun turning south.
"Why?"
"We don't know. The flight plan was changed a few minutes ago."
Namjoon studied the map. Woo-seok had deliberately changed direction.
"What does he have in Busan?"
Nobody knew.
"Find out," Namjoon ordered. "Send a team."
The order went out immediately.
On the aircraft, Woo-seok sat calmly beside the window.
Mina was watching a small tablet.
"The signal went through."
"Good."
Elena looked at her.
"What signal?"
"The old Busan one," Mina explained.
Woo-seok glanced at the others.
"Years ago, one of my operations used a particular communication signal in Busan. Namjoon's people still have records of it."
Sora understood.
"So if they detect it..."
"They'll connect it to Busan," Woo-seok said.
Mina had sent a short transmission through the old relay. It contained nothing important. It simply carried the same signal Woo-seok's old Busan network had used.
That was all they needed.
The signal suggested Busan. The flight path appeared to confirm it.
Namjoon would connect the two himself.
Elena smiled faintly. "So they'll think we're going back to your old warehouse."
"They should."
Less than an hour later, a team reached the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Busan.
There was nothing there.
No guards.
No vehicles.
No people.
The place had been empty for years.
The team searched the building and reported back.
"Nothing, sir."
Namjoon stared at the flight map.
Something felt wrong.
Then his analyst looked up from the passenger records.
"Sir..."
Namjoon turned.
"The aircraft manifest lists six passengers."
His eyes narrowed.
"Six?"
"Yes. But we've only identified five."
Namjoon looked again at the photograph.
Woo-seok at the front.
Five people behind him.
Five visible faces.
And one passenger who had never appeared in any photograph.
His expression slowly changed.
The Busan stop hadn't been about collecting someone.
It had been a distraction.
Woo-seok had given Namjoon's intelligence team five people to investigate, then used an old Busan signal to send them chasing an empty warehouse.
The five recruits weren't the real threat.
They were bait.
Namjoon stared at the aircraft approaching Seoul.
"Find the sixth passenger."
On the plane, Woo-seok looked out at the city lights appearing in the distance.
He knew Namjoon would eventually realize something was wrong.
But by then, his attention would already be divided.
That was the entire purpose of the Busan deception.
Woo-seok hadn't needed to hide the truth.
He only needed to give Namjoon a believable lie and let him discover it for himself.
______________âĪïļâðĨ
Namjoon and Minho had barely stepped outside the office when Minho's phone rang.
He answered, listened for a few seconds, and his expression slowly changed.
Namjoon noticed immediately.
"What?"
"Sir... someone has sent a bouquet to the front gate."
"So?"
"There's a note attached."
Namjoon stopped walking and turned toward him, one eyebrow raised.
Minho swallowed.
"Sir, I think... it's Woo-seok."
Namjoon's expression hardened.
"He sent royal azaleas. The guards checked them thoroughly. They're fresh, purchased from Gwacheon. Nothing dangerous was found."
He hesitated.
"But..."
"Where's the note?"
A guard approached and placed the bouquet and its small envelope on the table nearby before stepping away.
Namjoon stared at the flowers.
Royal azaleas.
Then at the note.
For a moment, he couldn't move.
Woo-seok had discovered something.
Something Namjoon had hidden from everyone-something only Minho knew about.
And if Woo-seok knew...
Namjoon's fingers tightened around his phone.
The first blow had landed without warning, and it had struck far closer than he had ever imagined.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number he had never intended to call in a moment of panic.
Once.
Twice.
Nothing.
His breathing tightened.
The number was switched off.
For the first time that night, Kim Namjoon felt genuinely afraid.
_____________âĪïļâðĨ
A new character will be revealed in the next chapter. I know you can predict who it is. Am I right?
Get ready for more surprises.
Happy ReadingðŦīð
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