House Of Cards (BTS EDITION)

The Boy pt.5

“What’s your name, mmm?” Jungkook asked, making sure to use a strong but polite tone. “How old are you?”

“Kuh-Kim Taehyung, Master Jeon.” Master Jeon, yes Jungkook liked hearing that a lot coming from those lips of his. Full and pouted, the upper slightly more so than the lower. His voice was nice to listen to too, deep but not dull or droning. It had a warm note to it. “I’m twenty.”

“Kim Taehyung, mmm.” Jungkook moved his tongue around his mouth as if tasting it and he spared a glance over at the other recruits to see that they were all staring at him. “Who do you work for, Taehyung?”

“Luh-Lim, Master Jeon.”

“Lim? Don’t know him, who does Lim work for?” Jungkook asked as reached out and grabbed hold of his arm, just below the elbow. Taehyung flinched at the sudden physical contact and muffled a shocked noise by biting down on his lip. Yet all Jungkook had wanted was to lean down and take a drag off the end of his cigarette. It had been wasting away between his fingers, ignored and neglected since his arrival. It had been awhile since he had shared a cigarette and so the lungful of smoke burnt as he held it and then breathed it out. Taehyung inhaled and Jungkook saw some of the smoke being pulled into his lungs too.

“He works property, Master Jeon,” Taehyung explained, voice no longer quivering from the cold. Jungkook could hardly feel it right now too. “But also handles lawsuits and judicial matters should they arise.”

“So you…you specialise in business then too, right?”

“No, Master Jeon,” Taehyung explained, eyes flickering up to his face as he did. “I work mostly in…in keeping his affairs in order.”

“Brains or brawn?” Jungkook asked, his own gaze moving down to study him as he did. He was aware that he was in fact taller than him. Only slightly but still taller. A glance down at his feet showed that there was the slightest heel on the back, just like his. It wasn’t a trick then, he must have been taller. Nice proportions, slim but not too thin. There might just be muscle under that shirt. He lifted his gaze back to study his face.

“Brains,” Taehyung explained. Jungkook saw that his eyes were large and rounded, framed with a thick spray of lashes that would be the envy of many women. It was hard figuring out what feature deserved the most attention, his eyes or his nose, or those lips of his.

“Are you a nerd, Taehyung?” Jungkook joked, offering him a smile as he did. This caused the young man to bark a sudden laugh at him, deep and pleasant sounding. When his lips shifted they revealed straight teeth, both rows. Now he knew what feature of his was the one deserving attention by a long shot. “So you know who’s who, yes?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon,” Taehyung agreed, a little confident now in his presence. “I know quite a lot,” he added as he took a drag off his cigarette.

“Anyone shown an interest in you yet?”

“Yeah uh, Nam, Master Jeon.”

“Nam?” He raised an eyebrow at this and then scoffed. “Nam’s not getting his hands on you.”

The courtyard fell silent for a moment and Jungkook almost relished it. He could see that Taehyung was looking at him in mild confusion. Was he trying to ascertain if his words meant that he was out for good, or was he wondering about the strong undertone of his wording? He didn’t know but he did know that Nam really wasn’t getting his hands on him. No way was a skin dealer dragging him under his wing and turning him into just another s**t for brains pimp. Or a slave. Taehyung seemed to have a talent, a talent that he found greatly interested him. He kept affairs in order, he knew who was who. He was like Woo except still a rookie, but if he were to show him the ropes…

“s**t,” Taehyung said suddenly, breaking the silence as he did, “it’s freezing uh, I mean-”

“It’s freezing,” Jungkook agreed with a nod as he watched Taehyung drop his rather terribly shaking arms down to his sides. “You know, it’s a lot warmer inside. You should join me in my meeting. You will get to stay out of the cold and see what real Haedogje Pa business looks like.” Taehyung’s expression had been something as close to neutral as he had been able to achieve because of the cold. His lips had still twitched slightly at the corners, as had his brow. But upon hearing his words Taehyung’s expression suddenly turned into something close to dumbstruck instead. His mouth fell open in an “o”, showcasing his teeth and wet pink tongue. Jungkook couldn’t help but drop his gaze to study this before looking back up at his eyes. Clearly he had not expected this and his suggestion had surprised him.

“I’m sorry, Master Jeon, I don’t-”

“Come on,” Jungkook repeated, this time in a stern tone rather than a friendly. He wanted him to know that it hadn’t been a suggestion, it had been an order. “Join me in the meeting.”

“Uh…OK, thank you for the honour, Master Jeon.” Taehyung went to drop the cigarette and so he grabbed his arm again, this time closer to his wrist. Jungkook took the nearly used up cigarette out of his fingers. His father didn’t approve of smoking, called it a dirty habit. He made sure to never smoke often enough to crave them just to please the man. If only he knew about his other dirty habits: like the certain porn star he had had holed up in his penthouse suite for three months now; like the lines of coke snorted from the cleft of his spine and the taste of another man’s c*m on his tongue.

Well, perfection was hard to achieve. His father would have to settle for as close as he could get.

Jungkook took a deep drag off it as he walked across the courtyard. He didn’t let go of his wrist but rather gently pulled him along behind him. Taehyung allowed him to do so, no attempt at resistance whatsoever. It didn’t matter if he did because he would have dragged him across the courtyard anyway. The man’s wrist was warm against his palm and he could feel something like the cold hard sensation of a metal wristwatch against the side of his hand. When he reentered the building he felt quite a few pairs of eyes on them both, more so Taehyung. Jungkook tried to locate Nam and after a few seconds he saw him down the hallway. The man might have been glaring at him from behind his shades, it was hard to tell but he did know that he was certainly taken aback by the sight. He was hoping that he had given out a nice clear message however. Just like he had with Jimin.

Hands off, this one is mine.

Jungkook guided him along the hallway and into the meeting room. He saw Woo hastily typing on his phone just beside the window and at their arrival he looked up. There was a chair on the far end of the table that was currently unoccupied and so Jungkook let go of his wrist to collect it and carry it over to go beside his chair. Taehyung watched him do this rather dumbly.

“Woo, let them know the meeting can continue,” Jungkook said as he gestured to the chair. As Woo crossed the room to step outside Taehyung finally seemed to realise what he was supposed to do and he moved to sit in the seat beside him. “Did…Lim, yes Lim, did he ever take you meetings before?”

“Yeah, Master Jeon,” Taehyung confirmed as he looked up and down the table at the files. Jungkook noted how he said “yeah” as opposed to “yes” and found that it was a surprisingly refreshing thing to hear. Much more to the point, less rigidly formal. “Lim allowed me to be a witness in several meetings.”

“Normal meetings, right?” Jungkook watched Woo step into the corridor. “This one will be far from normal.” Taehyung turned his head to stare at him, expression hard to read and that was when the other men filed back into the meeting room. Jungkook fell silent and waited for them to all be seated whilst Woo closed the doors and sealed them back in again. The scent of cigarettes and cigars, whiskey and cologne wafted across the room. When Woo was also back in his seat and the room was still and silent he decided to open his mouth again. “OK, I’m sure that there are some other things left to be discussed for this meeting but I want to cut to the chase.” Jungkook stubbed the cigarette down hard on the table. “Is there anything of importance that anyone has to say before I do?”