House Of Cards (BTS EDITION)

The Boy pt.2

Jungkook sighed and reached inside his jacket pocket to slip his phone free. He unlocked it without even looking, thumb flitting across the screen quick and precise. Woo stopped talking and instead dropped his eyes to stare at the device. When it was clear what he was doing the man made a series of noises under his breath.

“Master Jeon, your father might be busy maybe you shouldn’t call him right now?”

“He’s always busy. The key,” Jungkook explained as he pressed his thumb against the contact name and held the phone up to his ear, “is to not give a f**k. If you had to wait until he was never busy to get s**t done well…you would be waiting forever, Woo.”

He listened to the dial tone on the line as he gently ran his fingers along the armrest. Was that a nick he could feel in the leather? What sorry son of a b***h had nicked a scratch into his car? He ran his fingers back over to the spot and felt over it a few times, ascertaining that it was indeed a nick; a deep one at that. That wouldn’t do. If he had had no reason to want a new car before he had one now. The thing was ruined. On the other end of the seat he could both see and hear Woo fiddling almost nervously. It was as if he was the one calling his father, rather than the other way around. The day that his father got pissed at him was the day that the sun exploded, that much Jungkook knew. There was just three dial tones before there was a slight crackle of static on the line. That meant that his father had picked up, and right on the tail of the sound was his voice.

“Are you at the meeting yet, son?”

“No, not yet. We’re still travelling there right now.”

“Good, I have something important that I want to discuss.” Jungkook told him to explain and he heard a soft creaking sound in the background; that of his father leaning back in his seat. “There are so rather…troublesome inaccuracies with this month’s profit margins for Mapo-gu. It was brought to my attention that a certain club owner might have been dipping into profits to fund his rather depressing addiction to snuff pornography. I doubt you’ll have a problem figuring out who I’m talking about. I want you to see that his misdemeanor sends a very strong message that Haedogje Pa earnings are not a money pot that he can stick his filthy f*****g fingers into.”

“I have an idea who that will be,” Jungkook said as he turned to look out of the window. “Anything else you require?”

“Yes, a dealer didn’t give a tribute,” his father said. A tribute meaning new fresh recruit for them to assess and allow into the ranks. It wasn’t necessary that one brought one in, but with the current need to refresh the stale blood running through the empire it made sense. Anyone that didn’t offer at least a single tribute in their respective neighbourhood looked very much like they weren’t loyal to not only Haedogje Pa, but also to the new leader.

“Oh dear…and he’ll have to sit in a meeting with me. How very unfortunate.”

“Don’t discipline him, but let him know that this slight is something that must be corrected. Make him show just how loyal he really is to us. Now, I must get back to-”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about the car,” Jungkook said, and he almost heard his father changing positions on the other end of the line. He could picture his shoulders stiffening and his expression hardening, a sign that he knew what was coming. “That’s why I called you, I want a new car.”

“What type of car exactly, son?” his father asked.

“A Mitsubishi Dignity.” Jungkook watched the streets go past in a blur without really taking any of it in. His concentration was elsewhere right now, all of his focus on his father’s voice so that he could anticipate and plan his next move.

“I’m not buying you a Japanese car, Jungkook. You want a Japanese w***e? Fine. Not a car. Do you want me to piss all over my father and his father’s honour?” He rolled his eyes at this remark. All of this drama over a f*****g car. “Piece of s**t car would fall apart within a week. You want a new car? Buy a Ssangyong just like-”

“Just like you, I know but…daddy.” Jungkook was using his trump card now and he knew it. But if he played it just right then it wouldn’t matter. “We both know that Korean cars are actually s**t, not Japanese. You only drive the Ssangyong because it was a gift from the mayor. We both know you’d rather have a Lincoln MKS. At least that’s not a piece of s**t, but you’ve got to put up appearances so you can’t have it just yet. But we also both know that Mayor Jung will be gone by the next term. He’s old and fat and he’s probably going to have a coronary.” There was nothing but silence on the other end of the line at this. “So,” Jungkook stopped running his fingers across the armrest and instead lifted them up to study his nails, “a Lincoln MKS would make an excellent birthday present. Don’t you think, daddy?”

“I will buy you any car but that one, Jungkook. Not a Japanese car,” his father said in a stern tone. It was the kind of tone that would make their men drop to their knees in front of him, or would make men like Woo piss themselves. But not him. Jungkook knew that they hadn’t even gotten close to the end of negotiations yet. He was just warming up. Right now his father had likely reached up to remove a pen from his breast pocket so he could do his usual routine. Pretend to be distracted with papers in the hopes that he would leave it all alone, but it never worked. See, Jungkook had his own routine too, and unlike his father’s his actually worked.

“But daddy, I want it,” he retorted, voice bordering on something that might have passed for a spoilt whine a few years ago. Had his father been in the car with him he would have seen the petulant pout too, but he wasn’t. That usually worked to his favour. Never on his mother, she hated the pouting routine because she told him that it would create wrinkles. But his father was rather pathetic at the sight of his sulky expression. It worked even better if he c****d his head to the side like a puppy. It was rather funny just how easy it was to manipulate his father. Jungkook knew that the fact he was an only child was the reason why he had gotten his way for his entire life. There might just come a time when that didn’t happen but he doubted it. Jungkook was poised to take over the empire and that meant that he would keep getting his way, just from those that served below him rather than his only true superior.

“This car is boring, I don’t like it anymore. A brand new Dignity would look so much better. Anybody with an American Express card can buy a Mercedes-Benz these days. The key to making an impression is to stand out, right?” More silence on the other end of the line. “You didn’t want to buy me my gun, remember? Because you said that I’d get bored and want another but I didn’t. That’s because I got to pick it, and I didn’t pick the S-Class. It was a gift from Uncle Kyungsoo.”

“May the bastard rot in hell.”

“Exactly. Do you really want me riding around in a car gifted from him? It might not be a Japanese car, but it’s not a good car either.”

“…This is the last gift,” his father said, “for a whole year, Jungkook. If you ask for another thing I’ll see to it that the windows of that f*****g Mit-s**t-bishi are smashed in and the tank is turned into scrap metal.”

“Thank you, daddy,” Jungkook said in a sweet tone before pulling the phone away and ending the call. He glanced over at Woo to see that the man was looking at him in disbelief and it was enough to bring a wide grin to his lips. “Looks like I’m getting a Japanese car.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket before shifting in his seat. “Right, back to business but not your business. Important business regarding this meeting.”

“Please go on, Master Jeon.”

“Father wants me to address two associates that are out of line, one very and one edging it. I believe without a doubt that I know the first but I have my doubts about the second. I would need to see the men in reality to gauge who it might be.”