House Of Cards (BTS EDITION)

Damn Good Bluffer pt.2

“Seven months,” Namjoon repeated as he shifted on the desk slightly. Taehyung lifted his gaze to see that he was looking across the department; across the rather small office floor. It reminded Taehyung of a classroom somewhat, the long rectangle shape and the several tables inside, the cork boards here and there covered in pinned up photographs and sheets of text. It felt like they should really have a larger department but apparently that was unnecessary. “In that time I’ve seen you go from making simple database entries to making links between data accounts that have led to convictions.”

“Only once or twice I didn’t-”

“Thirteen convictions and five pending trial,” Namjoon interrupted. “That’s more than once or twice. How would we have ever arrested Crazy Choi if you hadn’t connected that single call he made to Do Hyungwon? Huh? Not me. I didn’t even imagine that Choi would be stupid enough to agree to meeting someone by call, yet you remembered. You remembered the location and that got a confession from Do.”

“Hmm…” Taehyung made a noise as he nibbled on his lower lip.

“Crazy Choi was the most prolific arrest this department has made in ten years Taehyung. All ‘cos of you.” Namjoon touched his shoulder briefly at this, as if to drive the point home. “That’s something. We’ll go back to this later but let me explain. We’ve got reason to believe that you might just be the guy we need for this Taehyung.” He shifted to reach over and lift one of the files off the desk. Namjoon opened it up and glanced at something inside, eyes running over something that could have been a photograph or a sheet of paper. Taehyung just stared at him and tried to not wriggle in his seat in discomfort. “You know The Boy, right?”

Namjoon was asking a pointless question and they both knew this. Of course Taehyung knew The Boy, he had been tracking and compiling cross-references of the gang for months now. Taehyung knew names and faces, ages and occupations. He practically knew their designer suit of choice from the amount of time he spent looking at photographs and recordings of the near hundred men that belonged to the empire. So when Namjoon asked him if he knew The Boy he knew that he did.

“What about him?”

“Been seen a lot recently, I’m talking daily. Hoseok got quite a few choice shots of him.” Namjoon must have been looking at one such shot. “You know how rare it is to see him. So what does that mean?”

Taehyung also knew that Namjoon was aware of the fact that he knew this too. It was pretty obvious how he had gone from an invisible force to suddenly being seen everywhere. His time to step on the chessboard was approaching; there was a new player in the game. He didn’t say any of this of course, because he didn’t need to. His silence was all that Namjoon needed to hear. After a few seconds Namjoon looked up at him, lifting an eyebrow as he did. The movement was languid and yet authoritative and so Taehyung lifted a hand and held it up to him. Asking for the file. The other man handed it to him and so he turned it around and checked the photograph.

As expected Hoseok had once again proven his skills at being in the right place at the right time. That not only applied to his delivery of arrest warrants, or his perfectly timed raids that always snared a few rats in their nets. Hoseok also had the greatest lucky streak that Taehyung had ever seen. He knew that his coworker had enrolled in military duties right after high school, and from there he had used the experience in being placed in the department. If Taehyung was the mastermind behind the computer screen then Hoseok was the mastermind of working on the streets. And it was that lucky streak of his that had resulted in these shots.

The photograph in front of him had been taken from either a sidewalk or inside a building, perhaps a café. Though there were multiple bodies it was clear where the focus was supposed to be. It was supposed to be on the young man stepping right out of the suit store to cross the sidewalk and enter the Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousine. Black suit, fitted and designer. Didn’t need to be an expert to see that. Taehyung had no doubt that the waistcoat alone likely cost his monthly pay packet and his wages weren’t exactly low. In the shot The Boy was reaching up to undo a jacket button, the one right in the centre. His attention was elsewhere, looking at a man to his left rather than in the direction of the car.

Taehyung flicked to the second and sure enough there was a closer shot. This time his face was more than a profile. His black hair was swept back off his brow neatly to reveal a rather conflicting visage. Looking at his face Taehyung saw neither a boy nor a man but something trapped between. Eighteen he might have been, but he had yet to lose the lingering vestiges of his teenage years. His features seemed too large to be called mature from his large eyes (deer eyes Taehyung thought for some reason before pushing the thought away) to his prominent nose, to that tight little pout of a mouth of his. Despite his features being masculine, his strong eyebrows and nose, his height and frame, Taehyung couldn’t shake his initial feeling upon studying him.

He was an adult child. He was trapped between two worlds. The young man on the photograph had a spoilt look on his face - it was in his mouth, that pout. Yet the way he held his shoulders showed that he was also authoritative.

The third and final shot was so crisp and clear that he could see the most minute details on his face. The rather deep scar on his left cheek that wasn’t noticeable in the further shots was now unmissable. Taehyung could practically count his eyelashes, soft pretty little curls of black. He was glancing down the street, brow lightly furrowed as he squinted from the strong sunlight.

“Sungah’s gonna be pissed Hoseok beat her to these,” Taehyung joked as he looked up at Namjoon. “These are fantastic shots. Probably the best ones we’ve got of him.”

“Best ones the department’s gotten since he was about…eleven,” Namjoon agreed with a nod as Taehyung looked back at the photograph.

Yes, the young man on the photograph was the same even when he looked so very different. Gone was the short height and sloping small shoulders, the youthful innocence. No more long hair and teeth in need of braces. He had grown up from the database photographs that they had of him. Taehyung knew that he would look very different from his middle school photographs too. He had certainly grown up well, and so had he.

“Looks nothing like that dried up fucker,” Taehyung remarked as he looked at the shot. “Mrs. Jeon must be a looker and a half.”

“Don’t have a f*****g clue, I’ve never seen her. Jeon keeps them sheltered remembered.” Namjoon reached down to pull the file from his hands. Taehyung spared a quick final glance at the photograph before it was out of sight once more. “But not anymore. No, Jeon Jungkook is finally hitting the streets like the heir that he is.”

“And we got the best shot of him possible. Goddamn, Hoseok won’t shut up about this for months.”

“We think that he’s getting groomed to take over, and that means right now we’ve got a way in. Times are gonna be turbulent for them with power and influence shifting everywhere,” Namjoon explained as he placed the file down and folded his arms over his chest. “That’s where you come in.”

“Is it?”

“Yes, it is,” the other man agreed with a vigorous nod. “See, we’ve got reason to believe that they’re going to start…investing in some new meat. There’s going to be a purge, that much we know. Like with all power shifts, the old’s going to make way for the new.” Namjoon paused for a moment as if collecting his thoughts. “We got a tip off an informant. They’re bringing in boys, not old men, not middle-aged men. We’re talking young blood. You need to bring in a new generation for an empire to last.”

“OK, so why me? Why not this informant? Why can’t they do it?”

“Two simple reasons. One,” Namjoon held a hand up and a single finger, “they’re too old and they have tender connections right now. We need them to stay exactly where they are, rather than go deeper.” He lifted his second finger, making the peace sign at him. “Two, they’re our ticket into the gang. That’s why we need you Taehyung. We need someone that can’t possibly be linked back to the department.”