Silence.

That's all there is in the air of the mansion as the Kims gather for dinner. The clanking sound of the cutlery is the only thing that his heard every now and then. Taehyung is absolutely confused. Since everyone in his family is mostly busy, they make sure to have dinner together and talk about their day. But today, he can feel the thick air between his father and his brother which has him absolutely confused. He is sure that his mom knows the reason too because she is not asking any questions.

Thinking that asking questions would add fuel to the fire and his father would get more angry, Taehyung decides against asking about this for now. But the former leader of Yakuza has not forgotten the incident. He makes an eye contact with his elder son, "Have you told Taehyung about the absolutely rubbish deal you've made with Jeon yet?"

Mingyu looks at his father, his face covered with embarrassment. No matter how powerful Mingyu is, he is never strong enough in front of his father. His father was a great leader and an amazing parent. It's hard to compete with him.

"What deal are you talking about, dad?" Taehyung curiously looks between the other two males. The name 'Jeon' has him really intrigued.

"Tell him, Mingyu. If you've created a problem, you better own it up." Their mother says sternly. Mingyu sighs. He looks at his brother who is sitting next to him. "I'm sorry, Tae." Mingyu says, his voice is low and he does not make an eye contact with the younger when he says that.

For some unknown reason, Taehyung's heart starts beating at a faster pace. He has a feeling that whatever it is, it's not good otherwise his parents won't be reacting like this since they are pretty chill about most things.

"I- Actually the thing is- there's someone who is after us. After the Yakuza. The person Jeon killed at your apartment, the guy who followed you and Jeon that night and also whatever happened at the Park Hyatt Hotel... I think all of it was planned. It was planned to get you--- to get us." Mingyu says. He feels really bad because he feels like an incapable leader right now.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Taehyung asks.

"I don't know. I think what happened at the Park Hyatt Hotel was to get us as I said. Beomgyu got shot and I feel so guilty. Our men trust me as their leader and I feel like I'm failing them." The leader stares at his fork while saying so.

"No, hyung. You're not. You're not failing anyone. You're a bloody good leader. Everyone has to go through challenges. Dad did too when he was the leader. I'm sure you'll find a way out of it and punish whoever is behind all this that's happening with us. I have faith in you." Taehyung smiles, his usual box-like smile and pats his brother's shoulder. This makes Mingyu feel even more guilty. His brother is an absolute angel and what he did is something the younger does not deserve.

"Th-Thanks, Tae." Mingyu looks at him with apologetic eyes, "S-So to sort this problem, I asked Jeon for help."

"Jungkook?" Taehyung is surprised. He did not expect his brother to seek help from his ex roommate. Mingyu prefers solving his problems on his own.

"Yes. I was too scared that something like what happened when Dad was the leader, would happen again and I could not think of any other way since Jungkook got hold of the person who was following you and him that night. He also gathered a lot of information lately. That's what he told me over the phone earlier today. I asked him if he could share the information with me because we already talked about this during our meeting but he said- he said that..." The older fumbles with words.

Taehyung can easily guess what's coming up next. He is born and brought up in a mafia group and he knows how everything works around here. "There's a condition, right?" He prompts his brother.

Mingyu nods. "What is it?" Taehyung asks, his heart thumping in his chest.

"He said that... uh that..."

"Wow. I've never seen you stutter this badly, hyung. Just tell me and get over it." Taehyung says, already crossing his fingers.

"Okay so he... agreed to share the information with us but on one condition. He wants me to- send you to him... and then he would fully cooperate with us and help us catch whoever is after all this." Mingyu tells him, making Taehyung's eyes bulge out of their sockets.

"What?" The fork falls from his hand. Suddenly the conversation he had with the ravenette in his office plays in his mind. He had called him his future husband. Taehyung does not know what the other had meant by that but he is pretty sure that this has something to do with it.

"Why does he want me with him? And what did you tell him, hyung? Please tell me that you said no." Taehyung whispers, pleading his brother with his eyes but Mingyu cannot really do anything about it now since what is done is already done.

"I... I wish I did. Now that I see you're not interested in going there." The leader has his head hung low.

"Of course I won't be interested, hyung. What made you think I would be interested?" The younger demands, standing up from his seat as he glares at his brother. He feels so betrayed right now.

"L-Look Tae, I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have agreed to this but I couldn't see any other way out at that time. I thought you and Jeon were close and you'd be willing to help. I thought-" Before Mingyu can continue further, Taehyung cuts him off, "Why would you think he and I are close?"

"If you weren't close to him, you wouldn't have kissed him, Tae." Mingyu says and immediately his eyes widen. He shouldn't have said this. Not in front of their parents. He did not even intend to say it but he couldn't control himself. He wants someone to understand his point of view as well. At least Taehyung should.

"Kiss? What kiss?" This time, their parents are shocked. They look between Taehyung and Mingyu back and forth.

"N-Nothing." Mingyu immediately shuts up. He does not want to make the situation worse.

"What's he talking about, Tae?" Their father asks his younger son in a comparatively softer voice. Taehyung usually calms down when he hears his voice but right now, he is the most scared of his father himself.

"I... I... back in college..." Taehyung takes a deep breath. He knows that hiding is not an option now. Knowing his father, he won't let go of this matter anytime soon and he would even investigate it. Since Mingyu knows whatever happened between him and Jungkook... at least Taehyung thinks he does, it won't be that hard for his father to find out about it as well and if he finds out that Taehyung lied to him right now, it would be a disaster. His father would be disappointed and never trust him. It's something Taehyung does not want at any cost.

"What happened back in college?" Mr. Kim demands.

Taehyung closes his eyes and takes a couple of deep breaths before continuing, "Back in college... Jungkook was my roommate. We were good friends and even project partners but... but one day, we kissed." The artist shuts his mouth after this, not wanting to give too much information.

His eyes flicker in the direction of Mingyu who has his head hung low because of embarrassed.

"You kissed Jungkook? Why would you kiss him of all people?" Mr. Kim looks disappointed.

"Dad, I don't th-think we should bug Taehyung about this. It's literally his life." Mingyu tries to intervene but shuts up again as soon as he earns an angry glare from his father.

"I wouldn't mind. I wouldn't mind if Taehyung got himself a boyfriend right now if that person loves our Taetae and respects him. But Jeon Jungkook? Another mafia leader? We would never know what were his intentions for being close to my son." Mr. Kim says which would've made a lot of sense if Jungkook had known who Taehyung really was back in college. But he didn't know. He didn't, right? Now even Taehyung has a doubt.

"B-But dad, I don't think he knew. I didn't either. As soon as I found out he worked for the Orion, I told him we could no longer be friends." Taehyung mumbles, not daring to look at his father.

"But still Tae, you should've known better." Mr. Kim says. Taehyung looks at him with teary eyes. He feels bad that his father is not understanding his point of view.

"How could I know, dad? You tell me--- was there anyone I could rely on to do some digging for me about Jungkook? No! I had no one. I was all alone and Jungkook--- he was there with me as a friend. He supported me a lot if not all the time. But at least he was there, dad." Taehyung's voice sounds so broken. Two tiny drops of tears spill out of his eyes.

Taehyung's father stares at him, guilt starts eating him up once again. He never wanted to send Taehyung away in the past but he really had no choice. When Mingyu brought Taehyung back five years ago, it had taken a lot of time for Taehyung to forgive his parents and brother completely. He was really upset about the fact that he was left alone. He had gone thorough so much shit because they couldn't take care of him and the people they had trusted Taehyung with turned out to be assholes.

"Taehyung, don't bring that up, sweetie." His mom says softly. Her eyes are blurry with tears too. When her husband had suggested to send Taehyung away, she did not agree to it at first but she also knew that her son would be safer away than with them.

Now when things are finally okay, or were okay; because something wrong is going on again, the family does not like to discuss why they had to send Taehyung away. They always restrained themselves from using that incident during their fights until now.

"Why? Why mom? It's a fact. You all can blame me for falling for Jungkook but no one fucking told me I was not supposed to fall for him. And now when I had finally made peace with the fact that Jungkook and I can't be together, hyung decided to mess this all up by agreeing to his bullshit." Taehyung lashes out. He has never felt this angry in ages. Well, getting blamed for something you had no clue about isn't exactly easy to tolerate.

"Well, that's not how you're supposed to talk to your parents and hyung, young man." His father says to him, sternly. Taehyung tries his best not to cry in front of them.

"Wow! Wow dad, wow." Taehyung sarcastically claps his hands and shakes his head. He finds this behaviour unbelievable. "So you were mad at hyung for making a deal like that with Jungkook and now you're mad at me for something I didn't even do intentionally? You know how ridiculous this sounds, dad?"

"Oh that was before I found out about you and Jungkook being a thing in the past. Now that I know of it, I don't know. Maybe you also want this. To be close to your lover."

"For the last time, HE ISN'T MY LOVER. WE ENDED THINGS AS SOON AS WE FOUND OUT ABOUT EACH OTHER'S INVOLVEMENT WITH THE GANGS." Taehyung shouts.

"STOP SHOUTING!" His father shouts back, making Taehyung whimper a bit but he tries his best not to let his words affect him.

"Honey, you need to calm down. He is just stressed. He might not even want to be at the Jeon's." Taehyung's mother holds his father by his arm and starts rubbing his shoulder to calm him a little.

Mingyu looks at the scene in front of himself. This is all his fault. His family is arguing and its all his fault. He wishes he had never agreed to Jungkook's condition. But again, he could not think of any other way.

"Do you want to be there, Tae?" His father asks, looking at his younger son with love in his eyes. Taehyung releases a shaky breath before shaking his head in negative, "I don't want to, dad. Please d-don't send me there."

He quickly makes his way towards his father and holds his one hand in both of his. All he wants right now is for his dad to tell him that he does not need to go to Jungkook's. He never wanted to involve himself with this gang shit and if he goes to Jungkook's, there's no way he won't be involved.

"I don't want to send you away, son. How can I send a piece of my heart away?" Mr. Kim becomes emotional too, seeing the vulnerable state of his son. Taehyung is his weakness. He loves his son too much. "So that means I don't have to go?" The youngest Kim looks at him expectantly.

Mr. Kim sadly shakes his head and gives Mingyu a look. "I wish I had the power to not send you away but I'm no longer the leader. All the power now rests with our boss and we have to do whatever he wants us to do." Mr. Kim says softly.

Mingyu feels his heart breaking when he sees the teary eyes of his brother. "H-Hyung, pl-please..." Taehyung moves closer to his brother. He holds his hand, just like he held his father's.

"B-But that's the only way, Tae. It would help me protect Yakuza. I want you to think carefully about this. It would be beneficial for us and..." Mingyu says something more but Taehyung tunes out. He knows for a fact that at this point, Mingyu does not only have to think about his family, but also about everyone at the Yakuza. With being a leader comes greater responsibilities. He should also help his brother if he is capable of doing so, right?

After all, he is like the Prince of Yakuza. He also has some responsibilities. While he was being trained, he was taught that even if he is not a part of the major working of the Yakuza, he should always be ready to help if things go out of hand and he is capable of helping them.

"So... so I really have to go?" Taehyung asks, leaving his brother's hand.

"I would be thankful if you do, Tae. I think Jungkook wouldn't even harm you because he likes you." Mingyu tries to reason but Taehyung violently shakes his head.

"No, hyung. He is the Jeon Jungkook! How could you believe him? Just because he liked me in the past doesn't mean he still does and... and just like you chose between the Yakuza and your family by deciding to send me to Jungkook, he would also choose Orion before anything else. He is a mafia boss too. He knows his responsibilities too." Taehyung's voice is loud and no one dares to interrupt him because they know that he is right.

"I'm sorry, Tae. I promise-"

"DON'T FUCKING APOLOGISE! ALL YOU EVER DO IS APOLOGISE!" Taehyung yells but his throat soon starts aching. He gulps and tries to calm down his breathing. "I'll do it. I'll do it for Yakuza but--- I won't forgive you for this, hyung. You took all the decisions about me without even asking me and this is seriously going to affect my career so I won't forgive you. I won't. And don't you dare come to me to say sorry." Taehyung says sternly and turns around to leave the dining room.

"Wait, Taehyung-" Mingyu tries to follow his brother but the younger cuts his voice, "Just tell Beomgyu when I have to go and I would be ready by then." Taehyung says before disappearing in the hallway.

Mingyu looks at his parents sadly who leave the room too without sparing a glance at their older son. That's the moment Mingyu knows that this is perhaps the worst decisions he took in his entire life.

~•~•~•~•~

Hey lovelies! This chapter was intense, right? What do you think will happen between Taehyung and Jungkook now? Do you think what Mingyu did was right? How would you have reacted if you were in Taehyung's place? Also, if you have any questions related to the characters, go to the previous part (Interview the characters) and ask away!

Anyway, I updated a long chapter because something really good happened in my personal life and I wanted to share the news with y'all.
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^BEST OST EVER!!! JUNGKOOK'S VOCALS ARE NO JOKE ISTG!!! FIGHT ME IF YOU DISAGREE!!! PLEASE YOU STAY ALIVE 🎶🎶

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See y'all in the next chapter.

Borahae💜

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