House Of Cards (BTS EDITION)

The Boy pt.4

The outside view was a courtyard. In the summer it would have been a pleasant sight but now in the very beginnings of winter it wasn’t pretty. The grassy area was just dirt covered with a thin stubble of grass and rocks, and the sunlight coming down over the tall walls was almost grey-tinged and sterile. Jungkook saw four bodies out there and all of them were tributes. He saw ill-fitting cheap suits that made him want to grimace, wrinkled shirts and worn leather shoes. Mostly he saw puffy faces that signaled hangovers or come downs and it annoyed him immensely. This was Mapo-gu’s idea of new recruits? Chubby, pug-faced, gangly young men without even the knowledge on how to look good. No self-respecting member of Haedogje Pa would be caught dead in a suit like that. Why they wouldn’t even be murdered in one and-

Jungkook’s gaze had been focused on one rather obnoxious-looking man who had been chewing gum almost loud enough for him to hear it through the closed windows. However after a few seconds someone shifted and he realised that there was actually five bodies out there; five to match up with the number of associates that had given him men of course. He was more than certain that it was indeed Ahn that had neglected to give new blood because upon entering the meeting Jungkook had been sure to make a remark about the bright new tributes. He had seen Ahn’s gaze dropping to look at the table whereas the rest had laughed in agreement. The newly revealed recruit had one arm hugged to his chest to keep his hand warm and the other up in front of his face so that he could smoke a cigarette. He could only study his profile from his standing position and so Jungkook did so.

His breath and the smoke mingled together to create a thick plume in the air and Jungkook watched him breathe a lungful out of his mouth. When he breathed in again he pulled most of the smoke into his lungs, wispy tendrils escaping his nose on the next exhale. Jungkook saw a head of dark hair that was a little too long and yet seemed to flatter his face regardless. It was hard to see the rest of his face but he could see a strong nose with a straight bridge and a rounded tip rather than a point. The man was wearing a suit but unlike the rest it was much better fitted to his frame; no creases or loose knees and shoulders. It was black and looked to be fine grey pinstripe from what he could see, and judging from the collar visible from his jacket he was wearing a white shirt with it. Was there a tie perhaps? He couldn’t see and yet he found himself very much wanting to know.

The meeting was still going on right now, he could hear Nam talking about a recent crackdown in the district to arrest pimps and yet he wasn’t listening to him. The words were floating up in the air rather than going into his head. Jungkook had suddenly found something so much more interesting than the boring bullshit his men were talking about, and it was the young stranger outside that had grabbed his attention.

The man turned around slightly as he reached up to stick the cigarette back between his lips. His hand obscured his face for a second but when he lowered it Jungkook finally got to see his features clearly. From their distance he saw large eyes and a mouth that his gaze locked onto. He pouted his lips slightly as he blew the smoke out and Jungkook felt the most pressing urge to wet his own lips. The young man shivered and huddled his crossed arm closer to his chest, as if that would make him feel better.

“…Master Jeon?”

Jungkook heard Woo’s voice and he realised that he really hadn’t been paying attention to what had been going on. When he looked away from the window he saw eyes on him and yet…he didn’t exactly have an answer to whatever he was supposed to be addressing. That meant he had three seconds or so to react before he looked incompetent, but luckily Jungkook had always been blessed with good reactions.

“What I want to know is this, Nam: are you still on profit right now?”

“Yes, Master Jeon, always on profit.”

“Then f**k the rest of it, if there’s issues with the police force you know what to do. Lodge a strong complaint to my father and I’ll see to it that the person responsible for the crackdowns gets several cracked ribs. That should remind them who’s really in charge of the district.”

“Thank you, Master Jeon I’ll be sure to do so,” Nam said from behind his sunglasses. Jungkook briefly wondered if he f****d his women in them before pushing the thought away.

“Master Jeon?” Park said suddenly, fixing his glasses as he did. “I too have a rather important complaint to lodge regarding-”

“Out, everyone out,” Jungkook almost snapped as he waved an arm. “Go for a smoke or a piss, whatever, just get out of my sight.” He could sense that this was not what happened in meetings for them, that they were all surprised by this sudden change in events. Jungkook had been to enough meetings himself to know that this certainly didn’t happen, but today was a first for everything it would seem. It took a few seconds for the men to comply to his demand and then he heard the slight scraping sounds of their chairs on the wooden flooring. As soon as the meeting room was empty Woo asked him what he was doing. Jungkook got out of his own seat and wandered over to the windows. “Who’s that man over there; the one in the pinstripe suit?” He turned to look over his shoulder at the other man. Woo got out of his own chair by the doors and moved to stand a few feet away.

“He would be a tribute, Master Jeon. I’m yet to have any information on the recruits seen as they aren’t all going to be accepted. But I’m sure that I could-”

“I like him,” Jungkook spoke over him, turning back to the window to look at the young man out in the courtyard. He was still smoking and dithering from the cold.

“What…what do you mean you like him?”

“He’s pretty,” Jungkook explained as he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “He’s pretty so I like him, it’s rather simple, Woo. The rest of them are pretty hideous.”

“The tributes aren’t supposed to be attractive, Master Jeon,” Woo said in a rather flat tone. It was enough to make Jungkook roll his eyes with a weary sigh.

“I’m aware of that, Woo, look at most of the men in this meeting. I know they’re not supposed to be but it’s a pleasant surprise.” He studied the man outside. “Not even a name?”

“No, Master Jeon, I don’t have a name.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to ask him myself,” he said before turning on his heel and crossing the meeting room. Woo made disgruntled noises at this but he didn’t even try and stop him. “Talk to Park and make note of his complaint.”

Jungkook stepped out the room and into the hallway to see that most of the men were in fact just standing around the door. They were no doubt waiting for him to call them back, not wanting to be late or risk their necks. He saw a few smouldering cigarettes and cigars and even a hip flask out in Kim’s hand. Jungkook walked down the hallway to get to the door, shoving it open to step outside. Just like earlier he was hit by the plummet in temperature and it was enough to make him take an involuntary gasping breath. He felt a shiver run down his spine and yet he couldn’t fold his arms over his chest to try and reserve heat. That would look weak and he didn’t want that. Even if it was a natural reaction to the cold he didn’t want it. Most of the new bloods were likely older than him, and if they saw him as weaker then it would not do. So instead he kept his hands in his trouser pockets as he crossed the courtyard to get closer to the gathering of new recruits.

Jungkook was used to heads turning to stare at him when he was around Haedogje Pa men. It was only natural that they did, because shortly afterwards heads would drop to stare at shoes respectfully. No one made intentional eye-contact with him, or at least not for longer than a second or so. But not the young man he had noticed from the window. No, he just stared at him openly. It was hard to tell if it was from fear, shock or something else. As he got closer he saw that his skin was tanned against his white shirt collar, just like Jimin’s skin looked against silken bed sheets. His cheeks were slightly red from the cold in a wonderfully flushed way and when he stopped in front of him that was when the man dropped his gaze.