Chapter nineteen ||십구 장
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19| Interrogation Room
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"What the fuck is that!" Taehyung groaned when my alarm went off in the morning. I grabbed for it and turned it off and he pulled me back against him.

"Sorry." I yawned.

"S'ok." He answered sleepily. "You know there is only one single thing that could make waking up with you in our bed any better." Taehyung smiled against my shoulder.

"And what would that be?" I laughed, already knowing what he was going to say.

"If you were naked." He said as his hand wandered under my tank top. "You should definitely sleep naked from now on Princess."

I giggled and moved away from him.

"Where are you going?" he moaned as I got out of bed.

"I'm getting in the shower, I can't stay in bed all morning, I have school."

"Shit, I forgot about that, does this mean we have to get up at the ass crack of dawn every day."

"Monday through Friday." I nodded.

He groaned and rolled over in the bed, burying his head in the pillows and I smiled at him, although he couldn't see me. Once I was showered and dressed we headed downstairs to be met by JaeIn in the kitchen.

"Good morning." She smiled brightly. "Sleep well?"

"I was sleeping really fucking well until the alarm went off." Taehyung grumbled and I laughed. "What do you want to eat Princess?"

"Anything I'm not fussy."

"Ok, I'll surprise you." He said looking pleased.

"Bearing in mind the only thing he knows how to make is cereal, I wouldn't get too excited y/n." JaeIn laughed.

"You've ruined the surprise now mom." Taehyung pouted.

"Do you want me to make you something?" JaeIn asked.

"No cereals good. Thanks."

I ate my bowl of cereal and Taehyung dropped me to school. Jessi made a bitchy comment and I ignored her, everything was going great until lunch when Mrs Choi walked in to the dining hall and headed in my direction.

"Y/n. Your father's here, I need you to come with me."

I frowned, but got up and grabbed my stuff before following her to the office.

"Y/n, we need to go." My dad said not looking me in the eye.

"Go where? What's happened?"

He looked at me briefly but didn't answer.

"Is it Taehyung?" I gasped feeling a bit light headed.

"No! It's not him." He scowled. "Let's go." He signed me out of school and led me to the cruiser.

"Dad?" I asked as we pulled onto the road, but he still didn't say anything.

We pulled up to the station and I got out, following him inside and into his office. "What's going on dad?" I asked again because his silence was beginning to worry me.

"You're not in any trouble y/n, but I want you to do the right thing."

"What are you talking about?"

"Hello again." The door to my dad's office swung open and Detective Park strolled in with Eunwoo close behind him.

"Dad! What did you do?" I gaped at him.

"Y/n, you need to answer Detective Park questions." My dad said still not meeting my eyes.

"I'm leaving." I stood up. I couldn't believe he was doing this.

"Y/N!" My dad bellowed and I froze. "You are going to do this."

"No, I'm not."

Detective Park set up some paperwork on the table and got comfortable in my dad's chair.

"Now Y/n, you are in a relationship with Taehyung Kim, is that correct?" He asked looking at me intently.

I made for the door but Eunwoo blocked it.

"Move." I demanded.

"y/n..."

"Move!"

"No."

"I swear to God Eunwoo, you better get out of my way."

"Y/n."

"Am I under arrest?" I asked Detective Park, ignoring Eunwoo.

"No, of course not, I just want to ask a few questions." He smiled reassuringly.

"Well I want to leave, can you stop me?"

"No." he admitted.

I nodded. "Move" I said to Eunwoo once more.

"You see what they've done to you y/n. This isn't you. Why are you acting like this?"

I took a deep breath and turned to the desk.

"Detective Park, I spent all summer with the Kims here in Busan. I never once saw them do anything illegal. I have never heard them talk or say anything about any criminal activity and as far as I know they are decent, law abiding citizens that are being needlessly persecuted by my father and Officer Eunwoo. I'm sorry they wasted your time calling you out here for nothing." I said firmly. "Any more questions?" I asked him as my dad and Eunwoo gaped at me.

"Just one." He said and I nodded for him to go ahead and ask.

"Do you know who killed Mr. Jeon?"

"What the hell!" My dad shouted at Detective Park looking shocked. "That's what you want to talk to her about? You can't."

"He's only asking if she knows or not." Eunwoo said petulantly and my dad glared at him. "Maybe if she knew she might realise who she's involved with and be a little bit more forthcoming with any other information she might have about the Kims."

"Eunwoo! What has gotten into you? Your job will be on the line if you give her any details about that, those records are sealed."

"It's just a question Chief. I am entitled to ask if she knows about it or not, I haven't given her any details. If she now finds it necessary to ask her boyfriend about Mr. Jeon then who knows how she'll feel about answering my questions in the future." Detective Park shrugged.

"With all due respect you don't know my daughter at all and I won't have you use her like this to get to them." My dad frowned at him.

"Who the hell is Mr. Jeon?" I asked frustrated, because I didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

"You don't even know who he is?" Detective Park asked me disbelievingly.

"No! I've never heard of him."

"Of course you haven't." Eunwoo scoffed. "This is exactly what I was trying to tell you Y/n, you've moved into their house, yet you have no idea who that family are!" He threw his hands up in frustration.

"Is that what this is? You want me to think that one of the Kims did something to this guy so I change my mind about living with Taehyung. That's why I'm here?"

I was mad, this was just another attempt for him to tell me I didn't know who the Kims really were. I didn't know who this Mr. Jeon guy was or why they were specifically asking about him, for all I knew Taehyung or one of the others might well have killed him, but I didn't care.

"You are not going to change my mind about Taehyung, so stop trying. Jesus dad, you pulled me out of school for this?"

"I wanted you to answer any questions that might help Detective Park present investigation. I didn't know they were going to ask about Mr. Jeon." My dad shook his head like something was disturbing him.

My phone started ringing, startling us all and I rushed to answer it.

"Princess?" Taehyung sounded a little frantic. "Are you ok? Why are you at the station?"

"I'm fine."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I sighed, aware of the three sets of eyes watching me intently.

"Are you with your dad?"

"And Eunwoo and Detective Park."

"Oh! Ok..., well, um, call me when you're done and I'll come get you..., er, fuck..., I mean, if you want me to..., uh, I don't know what you're doing at the station, so... shit, maybe you don't want to come home with me. Princess ...did you...have you changed your mind? Do you...fuck, you probably can't talk right now..., um, ok. What should I do?" He finally asked and I could just picture him running his hand through his hair while he had his panic on.

I shook my head, he and his incessant rambling never failed to bring a smile to my face.

"You should come get me right now."

"Yeah?" I could almost feel his relief through the phone.

"Yeah."

"Fuck! Ok, uh, well, I'm kinda already outside Princess."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I'll be out in a minute." I told him and hung up.

"I'm done here." I turned and told my dad and he nodded.

"Warned you to keep your mouth shut did he?" Eunwoo said nastily.

"You know what Eunwoo. Taehyung has never once asked, implied or warned me to keep my mouth shut about anything." I glared at him. It was true, Jennie had, but Taehyung had actually never mentioned it. "He doesn't have to, because he's done nothing wrong."

"I suggest you ask him about Mr. Jeon."

"I suggest you go to hell." I flew out of the room before Eunwoo could even think of stopping me. I ran out of the station and down the steps into the waiting arms of Taehyung.

"You ok Princess?"

"Yeah, we should go." I eased myself out of Taehyung's arms and got into his car.

"What happened?" He asked once we'd pulled onto the road.

"My dad came and got me from school and bought me to the station. I didn't know Detective Park was going to be here."

"So your dad came to school, said come with me and you just went?"

"Uh yeah."

"Without asking any questions?"

"Well I asked, but he didn't answer them."

"Ok, um, can you not do that again in the future please? Because besides almost giving me a heart attack, it's pretty fucking dangerous to just go with someone when there's a mob boss after you."

"It was my dad."

"I know, but you didn't know where he was taking you or who would be there. What if he hadn't been taking you to the station, what if he was taking you to meet someone who works for Kai?"

"He would never do that Taehyung!"

"Not knowingly he wouldn't, but these people aren't amateurs Princess, they can infiltrate everywhere, just like we do."

"I didn't really think about it like that." I admitted. "Did you really think I was going to go home with my dad? That I was going to leave you?" I was amazed that that had been his concern when he called.

"Uh, it might have crossed my mind." He blushed.

"Why haven't you ever asked me to keep my mouth shut?"

"Sorry?" He glanced at me confused.

"It was just something Eunwoo said. Got me wondering. You've never asked me not to say anything about your family. I mean, just now, when I said I was with Detective Park, you didn't threaten me, even when you thought I was leaving you."

"I'm not going to threaten you Princess."

"Would you kill me?"

"What!"

"If I told them everything, what would you do to me?"

"Nothing, shit Princess, do you think I would hurt you?" He looked at me aghast.

"No, not at all actually."

"Ok, so what are you really asking?"

"Just, obviously I know all these details about you or Jin and Yoongi, and you're implying that I'm free to leave and say what I like."

"You are."

"I could completely screw you over."

"Yep, Detective Park probably has wet dreams about the day you leave me and go to him with everything you know."

"Ew! Gross." I smacked him. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you. You're putting me in a really powerful position and I don't understand why. I'm not going to, but theoretically I could bring down your whole family and you're saying you'd let me."

"Theoretically, you could cause us a few problems, but it's a chance I have to take if I want to be with you. I'm not going to tell you can't say anything, or that you can't leave, because then I'd never know if you're with me because you want to be or just because you're scared I'd do something to you if you left. We can't live like that. I love you Princess, I don't want you to ever be scared of me. I want you to stay with me because it's what you want, not because you think you have no other choice because I'm a Kim. Do you... is that what you think?"

"No!"

"Good. Obviously I'd prefer you not to repeat certain things you've seen or heard, but you haven't so far, and I guess I just always trusted you. I don't think we could be together if I thought that you were going to run to the police or you thought I'd hurt you if you left me. That would be some pretty fucked up shit right there."

I nodded, he was right we could never live like that.

"So what did Detective Park want?"

"They wanted to know if I knew who killed some guy."

"What guy?"

"Some guy called Mr. Jeon." I shrugged.

His reaction was immediate, his body tensed, his face paled and his breath caught. It was all the confirmation I needed, I didn't know who Mr. Jeon was, but I knew without doubt that it was Taehyung who had killed him.

"Did they tell you I killed him?" He asked, there was an edge to his voice that I hadn't heard before.

"No. They just asked if I knew what happened to him."

Taehyung nodded but didn't say anything. He pulled out his phone and called someone. He called and called, getting no answer and he seemed to get more stressed the more times he tried. He looked...distraught.

I sat back and tried to work out why he was reacting this way to this particular killing. He joked about killing people, he seemed to have no problem with threatening to kill someone, so what was so different about Mr. Jeon?

"What happened?" I asked softly.

"I'm sorry Princess. I can't." He choked, his eyes looked cold and empty and the pain emanating from him was almost palpable.

When we pulled up to the house, Taehyung got my door almost robotically.

"I have to be somewhere Princess." He said to me.

"What? Where? What's the matter?"

"I just have to check something and then I'll be home, but it'll be late." He kissed me briefly, too briefly on the lips.

"Taehyung, what's going on?"

"Please don't go anywhere. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise we can talk then."

I nodded more confused than ever, but I knew he needed the reassurance that I'd be waiting when he got back, and I would.

"I love you Princess." He said as he got back into his car. He watched me walk up the steps to the house and as soon as I had my hand on the door he sped off down the drive.

JaeIn and Jennie appeared as soon as I pushed the door open.

"Y/n are you ok?" JaeIn asked all concerned, coming over and hugging me before leading me into the sitting room.

"I'm fine." I was. I was more worried about Taehyung.

"Where's V?" Jennie asked.

"He said he had to be somewhere, so he just went."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, he made a load of calls in the car and didn't get an answer and then when we got here he said that he had to check something and he'd be back late." I didn't understand what had happened at all.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No. We were talking and everything was fine and then I told him that Detective Park had asked about Mr. Jeon and he went...funny." I finished lamely.

"Motherfuckers!" Jennie said, as JaeIn gasped. "Fuck! Jungkook! Jimin!" Jennie yelled.

"Jennie I don't understand." I said to her.

"Mr. Jeon was Jungkook's father."

"Oh!" Taehyung had said Jungkook's parents were killed, but never any more on the subject. Jennie had never mentioned this before.

"But, I thought that Taehyung..." I trailed off, I was fairly sure that Taehyung had killed him, but that made no sense.

"Killed him?"

"Uh, yeah."

"He did, Mr. Jeon was the first person V ever shot." Jennie confirmed my theory. "Look, let me sort V out and then I'll tell you everything."

"Ok." I sank down on the sofa in the living room trying like mad to make any sense out of all this, but I was struggling. The first person Taehyung had ever killed was Jungkook's father, but they all now lived with him and Jungkook was his best friend. I understood why Taehyung had had such an unusual reaction to me mentioning it now, but nothing else was adding up.

"What's happening Peaches?" Jungkook strolled in. "Hey Little y/n, you're back. Did V bust your ass out of jail?" he laughed.

"kook they asked her about your dad."

"Fuck! Does V know?" Jungkook got serious really freaking quick.

"Yep and he's gone. Jimin! Where the fuck are you?"

"I'm coming. Shit Jennie, where's the fucking fire!" Jimin yelled from somewhere before appearing a few moments later. "What's up?"

"V's gone, I'm guessing to Seoul to see Rose, you need to track him and warn Rose that she's gonna have to deal with V in a few hours. Phone the school, if they try and refuse to let him see her..." Jennie trailed off with a grimace.

"What happened?" He was already pulling out his phone.

"They asked Y/n about Mr. Jeon."

"Shit. How was V?" Jimin asked me.

"Uh, quiet and, um, not Taehyung , more like V, but different, he seemed upset?"

Jimin nodded and left the room.

"Should I try to catch him?" Jungkook asked.

"No, he'll be long gone, fucker drives like a lunatic when he's on a mission. I'm sure once he sees Rose he'll be fine. He said he'd be back tonight right?" Jennie asked me.

"Yeah."

Jimin came back in with his laptop, he clicked away for a few minutes while JaeIn paced.

"Ok, he's heading towards Seoul. He made a shitload of calls to Rose's mobile, but she's still in class so she can't answer. JaeIn, have her pulled out and tell her to phone him." Jimin instructed and she ran to the phone. "Kook, get hold of Yoongi, have him wait at the school for when V gets there. I'll keep tracking him, just in case he changes course."

Jungkook nodded and went downstairs, Jimin tried to call Taehyung but he didn't answer.

"Don't keep trying, if he gets pissed, he'll throw the fucking thing out the window and then we won't be able to contact him at all." Jennie advised. "Until he speaks to Rose he's gonna be stuck in his own head. Fuck knows how far this will set him back." She glanced at me.

JaeIn came back in and took a seat beside me, she held onto my hand. "Rose is going to try and get hold of Taehyung. Maybe if she can speak with him, he won't have to go all the way to Seoul to see her."

"Yoongi's going to the school now, he'll stay with Rose." Jungkook announced coming back into the room.

"Ok, so I guess now we wait and see what V does. If he's true to form he'll go see Rose and then come home." Jimin said giving them a wary look.

They were all so worried about him, but I wasn't totally sure why. I let them get on with doing whatever they were doing, I wanted someone to explain, but I wanted to know Taehyung was going to be alright first.

After a few minutes Jungkook and Jimin went downstairs to the basement together, leaving me with JaeIn and Jennie.

"Is Taehyung...I mean, is he going to be alright?" I asked.

"Physically yes. Emotionally, I can't really say just yet. How do you want to do this?" Jennie asked pragmatically.

"Huh?"

"Do you want to ask what you want to know or do you just want me to tell you what happened?"

"Uh, to be honest I'm still struggling with the fact that Taehyung killed Jungkook's dad, and you seem remarkably ok with that. I don't understand, why did he just take off and why do you think he's going to see Rose? None of this is making sense."

Jennie sighed.

"Sorry." I told her. I had just bombarded her with a load of questions and this might be difficult for her to talk about.

"Jungkook's dad was an evil, sick, fuck. I'd have killed him myself if I'd had the chance.

"Uh..."

"V took off because he has to know that Rose is alright."

"Why?"

"Because jungkook's dad was holding a knife to her throat when V shot him." Jennie said plainly and I gasped. "And every time it's mentioned V goes right back to that moment. He has to know she's ok, it's almost like he has to reassure himself that he saved her."

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Do you remember a while back when I told you we all owed V a lot?"

I nodded, recollecting her mentioning something like that when we'd been talking about Taehyung.

"Well that's because he saved us all from him, but to save us he had to become a killer, that's why we all jump into action when something like this happens, because V is one fucked up angry little boy, who never dealt with what happened."

"What did happen?"

"Jungkook's dad, he was high up in the Kim family, he had everything, but he got greedy, he started taking money from a rival family to give them information, but he was sloppy, he knew Jin was on to him and he panicked. That day, V and Jungkook and Rose they were all at our house for a sleepover. We were watching a movie in the lounge with my mom."

"Jungkook's dad stormed into the house and announced we were all leaving, he was crazed, angry. My mom, she told us all to go upstairs, but he pulled a gun out and told us to stay exactly where we were. He'd always had a mean temper, but I'd never seen him so out of control. He was muttering about killing the Kim kids and my mom was trying to reason with him and he just grabbed Rose. Rose screamed, she opened her mouth and just screamed her fucking head off and she didn't stop. My mom, she ran at him, begging him not to hurt any of us and he just...he just shot her." Jennie shook her head like she still had difficulty believing it.

I didn't say anything, what could I say, nothing would be anywhere near enough to convey how I felt hearing that story.

Jennie seemed to pull herself together and steeled herself to continue. "So Rose is still screaming bloody murder and my dad, he drops the gun and tries to shut her up. I froze, Jimin ran to my mom and Jungkook tried to get to Rose, we were all panicked, shocked, terrified, but not V, he calmly walked over, picked up the gun and pointed it at Jungkook's dad."

I nodded, that sounded like Taehyung.

"You have to understand y/n, this was a long time ago. It's been nearly eight years."

"But...,that means...No!" I did the math and the results were too horrifying to think about.

"V was just a little boy, and Jungkook's dad, he laughed, he fucking laughed at him. He pulled out a knife and held it against Rose's throat. He said V had one chance to kill him or we were all dead. He taunted him when V didn't shoot, told him he was pathetic, that he was nothing, that he was a scared little mommy's boy with a fucking stupid name. He dared him to take the shot and gave him ten seconds before he slit Rose's throat. The sick fuck actually started counting down."

I shook my head, I didn't want to believe it, it was too much, too horrid, too terrible. My heart ached for all of them, but mostly for Taehyung. My Taehyung, who had been forced to become a killer at such a young age.

"V, he had no choice, he was shaking, fearful, he didn't want to do it, but it was shoot or watch Jungkook's dad kill Rose. I think he wanted a way out, he knew he'd never get out alive after screwing Jin over, but he was too much of a coward to shoot himself, so he made a seventeen year old boy do it for him." Jennie looked disgusted.

"There was an investigation, but V was never charged, he was a minor and it was self-defence. The records are supposed to be sealed. The Detective you saw today should never have asked you about it." She said angrily.

"Taehyung, he disappeared that night, V was... I don't know, born, created? I'm not sure how to explain it, but he changed in front of us. We all saw it, the second he decided to take the shot, he changed. Taehyung was gone and in his place was this persona. V, who was hard and cold and empty, he locked it all away, and nothing could touch him."

"I don't know what to say." I managed to whisper, they were all living with this traumatic event and I'd had no idea, it was all too horrific to think about.

"You don't have to say anything Y/n. Just be here for him when he gets home, we lived eight years with him being cold and unfeeling and we just got him back, we don't want to lose him again."

"Ok." I told her. I'd do whatever they needed.

"I need to see if anyone got hold of V yet." Jennie stood up abruptly and left the room.

I watched her leave and turned to JaeIn. "I don't know..., I can't imagine, it's just too terrible, for all of them."

JaeIn nodded sadly.

"Jennie told you what happened, but the effects? We're all still living with them. Rose didn't talk for two years, even now she hardly says anything. Jennie, she rationalises it, she blames Jungkook's dad being a traitor for what happened, it's made her fiercely loyal, to everyone in this family, but more than anyone, to Taehyung. She might not act like it, but if it ever came down to it, she would be on his side above anyone else, Jungkook included."

I nodded for her to continue.

"Jungkook, I think he's the most ... healthy, but he just wants everyone to be ok. He feels that he should have done something more, being that his dad was the root of the problem, he thinks it should have been him, not Taehyung that saved them. Jimin, he hid in his computers, he makes sure that everyone is trackable and safe, it's almost an obsession, but he'd still drop everything for Taehyung. They all feel like they owe him something. They almost blame themselves for Taehyung becoming who he is."

"It wasn't their fault."

"I know that, deep down, they know that, but you didn't see the change. Taehyung, shut himself off, he became V, he begged Yoongi to train him. He started working out, he wouldn't let anyone call him Taehyung anymore, the light in his eyes was gone, he was always such a happy little boy, so clever, so kind and overnight he turned into someone we didn't recognise. Until he met you y/n, I don't think I'd seen my son happy since that morning when he went over for a sleepover with Jimin. I sent him off a lovely, funny and mischievious little boy and he came back distant and broken." She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry y/n, it's got to be a little overwhelming for you, it's not your responsibility to fix him, but we've all seen the change in him since he met you. He loves you y/n. He has a good heart, he's damaged and dangerous and god knows he's difficult, but his heart, I believe that's pure, especially when I see him with you."

"I love him." I told her. What I'd learned today only made me love him more.

"I know you do sweetheart. He'll be home later, don't worry, once he's seen Rose he'll be back, but you need to be prepared for V. He might not be Taehyung." JaeIn said sadly.

I helped her make some dinner, mainly to keep my mind off things and we all sat and ate. It was sombre and quiet with very little said. After that we hung out in the lounge, but again the mood was tense. We heard from Yoongi that Taehyung had made it to Seoul, that he had seen Rose and was on his way home. The mood lightened somewhat, but everyone still seemed to be waiting for him to get back.

I made my excuses and headed upstairs. I had a lot to think about. I wanted to help Taehyung, if Jennie was right, then he'd never dealt with what happened, but I didn't really know how to help him. I was way out of my depth. I didn't know whether keeping quiet about it, or pushing him to talk about it was for the best. I didn't want to make anything worse for him.

I decided in the end to see what happened. I'd let him lead the conversation, and go from there. I couldn't plan what to say because I had no idea what mood Taehyung would be in when he got home.

I showered and got into bed, taking out the book I needed to read for my English homework. I needed a distraction to stop me watching the clock. I was so engrossed in the story that I jumped when he walked through the door.

"Princess." He said, no smile, no kiss, no happiness in his eyes. It was merely an acknowledgement that I was in the room.

"Taehyung!"

"You ok?" He asked, watching me cautiously.

"I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He nodded. "I went to see Rose."

"I know."

"Jennie told you?"

"Uh huh."

"Everything?" He asked.

"Yeah...., Taehyung, I don't know what to say, I can't imagine what it was like for you."

"Why would you try to imagine what it was like?" He frowned. Great, he was in full blown V mode. I put my book down and sat up.

"I wouldn't, that's not what I meant. I'm just saying what happened was terrible, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that. Do you want to tell me about it?"

"I shot him. I had to and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"I know that, I'm asking about you, how you felt."

"I felt like I had to kill him Princess."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. I knew this was hard for him to talk about.

"That must have been difficult."

"Kill or be killed, it's not that fucking difficult." He shrugged.

"You were a kid!"

"So?"

"So you had to do something awful to save your sister. You must feel something."

"That man was a vicious, traitorous, mean motherfucker who deserved to die."

"I agree, but that doesn't make it easy to shoot someone."

"It's very easy. You aim and fire. I do it all the time."

"You promised we could talk when you got back." I was getting cross.

"We are talking."

"I don't want to talk to V!"

"What?"

"I want to talk to Taehyung. Not V!"

"You're talking to me Princess. V, Taehyung, whatever, it's the fucking same."

"Not to me. V is cold and hard and unfeeling. Taehyung is funny and loving and kind. V is all business and frightening. Taehyung is understanding and adorable. V can do terrible things but Taehyung never could. I love you Taehyung. I love all of you. V, Taehyung, whatever, but right now I want Taehyung. V might kill people all the time, but I'm pretty sure Taehyung only ever shot one person!"

"Um, you're kinda making me sound like I have a split personality disorder."

"Because you freaking do!" I yelled. "It's V who thinks it's kill or be killed, V thinks what happened wasn't that difficult, V thinks it was easy to shoot his best friend's father when he was seventeen years old, but what does Taehyung think? Taehyung, the little boy who had no choice? The little boy who was fun and young and happy before all this happened? Taehyung, who according to everyone, has only just come back and whose family love him so much, so, so, much that they would do anything to keep him around, because they missed him. My Taehyung, who I love with all my heart? What does he think and feel? Because the fact you just drove a six hour round trip to check that the sister you saved was ok proves you feel something!"

"Of course I fucking feel something Princess! I watched my sister scream so much that she damaged her vocal cords and didn't say a single fucking word for two years. I watched Jungkook see his own fucking father kill Jennie's mother, while she fucking pleaded with him not to hurt us. I saw the look in his eye when he said he would kill us all and I realised he meant it and it was up to me to stop him. I had to take the shot, knowing if I missed it would be Rose that died not him. How could I not feel fucking everything?"

I gaped at him, I hadn't really expected him to lay it all out there like that.

"I know that my family probably told you I didn't deal with it or what the fuck ever, but I did. I dealt with it in my own way. I trained, I learned, I fought back, because I decided that no one was ever going to make me feel that fucking helpless again. They think I was cold and distant, but did they really expect me to be the same, carefree, normal seventeen year old after I'd shot my best friend's dad? I was never going to be that boy again. It would be impossible to be the same person after something like that happens. It's totally implausible, because what happened changed fucking everything. They think it changed me, well yeah, of course it fucking changed me, but no more than it did them. It changed who we all are. Every single fucking one of us."

"Rose doesn't talk, Jimin hides himself in his computer, Kook tries to make everyone happy, and Jennie, she comes off like a cold bitch, but really she just wants a loyal loving family. All of them changed and the only reason they treat me differently is because I'm the one that took the shot."

I was stunned, Taehyung was far more aware of things than his family gave him credit for. I couldn't help but wonder who he would be if he'd never had to take that shot, but it didn't matter, I loved him for who he was now.

"I am not a fucking idiot Princess. I know how they feel, I know that they worry and I know that they all freak the fuck out when I have to go check on Rose, but sometimes it's what I need to do. I don't know why they all panic and track me and wait to see what I'm gonna do. I always do the same thing. I go see her, I make sure she's ok and then it's over with. It is what it is. I'm sure you could analyse it and I'm sure there'd be some deep and fucking meaningful explanation, but what's the fucking point, it works for me. Rose gets it even if the others don't."

He ran his hand through his hair and looked at me. There was nothing I could say. I was in awe of him. He was self-aware, he said he'd dealt with it in his own way and he had, what he'd said made sense, he wasn't pretending what happened was unimportant or nothing. He acknowledged that it had had a huge impact on him, on them all, he knew that they were all living with the after effects of that night. If he needed to go to Rose sometimes when he was reliving what happened it was hardly the worst thing he could do. In fact, given his nature, it was a pretty sensible solution.

"I love you Taehyung." I told him, because it was true and I couldn't think of anything better to say to him.

"Can we go to bed now?" He sighed.

I nodded. He had explained, he'd talked to me, that's what I'd asked him for and just like always he'd given it to me. I couldn't ask for anything more.

I pulled the covers back and he stripped down to his boxers and climbed in beside me, pulling me onto his chest.

"Please don't cry Princess." He said softly, wiping the tears I didn't know I was crying away with his thumb.

"Don't you ever cry?"

"No!" He scoffed. "Christ Princess, what's the point of crying, it doesn't change anything."

"It's ok to be sad Taehyung." I said leaning up to kiss him.

"I know." He pulled me tighter against him. "But that doesn't mean I have to cry."

"It might make you feel better, you know, like a release."

"You know what would make me feel better and give me a release? Sex. Crying would make me feel like a dick and probably give me nothing more than a fucking headache."

Taehyung and V, he was always going to be both.

Taehyung clung to me all night, his hold on me never faltered, even when I knew he was in a deep sleep. He might say he was over it, but his actions said otherwise. I held on to him just as tight, because I knew he needed the comfort. I didn't have much to offer him in the wider scheme of things, but I could give him this. If he needed me close to make him feel better, then that's where I'd be.

I had trouble falling to sleep, and stayed awake late into the night. My mind whirled with all the new information I'd learned today. Taehyung may have killed Mr. Jeon, but he saved Rose, Jungkook, Jennie, Jimin and himself as well. I was amazed that Detective Park had brought it up. He'd seen the file and the report, he had to have known that Taehyung was just a kid. It made me sick to think that he was willing to use what happened that night as a way to turn me against the Kims.

I wasn't that naïve, I know Taehyung does terrible things, I've seen him kill people, threaten people, he is nowhere near perfect, but there is nothing anyone could tell me about him that would make me believe he was a bad person. I'd only ever seen him kill people who were a threat to him or someone he loved. It was business, he didn't go around shooting innocent people however much he joked about it.

I didn't set my alarm for the next morning, deciding that I needed to be here with Taehyung rather than at school. I figured if anyone deserved a mental health day it was me. In the end it didn't matter. He shook me awake before I'd had anywhere near enough sleep and informed me it was time to get up.

"Stop!" I moaned as he continued to try and wake me. "I'm not going to school today."

"Yes you are."

"Why?" I whined.

"Because skipping school two days after you moved in with me is not the way to convince people that you made the right decision and however much the idea appeals to me, we can't spend the rest of our lives in bed."

"Actually Taehyung, you have enough money that we can!"

"I know, but you said you didn't want my money Princess." He smirked. "Besides, a high school experience and an education are two things that I cannot possibly buy you and you need both."

"Ugh, why do you have to be so damn sensible and clever and..."

"Handsome and sexy?"

"Annoying!" I threw the covers off me and stalked over to the bathroom while Taehyung laughed.

I got in the shower, tired but pleased that he seemed on form this morning, yesterday had been a setback, but I was hopeful that it was only temporary. He seemed back to his normal self this morning, so I was looking forward to a fun weekend with the Kims.

My day at school passed quickly and quietly, Jessi didn't even have anything smart to say at lunch, which was a hugely pleasant surprise.

Friday after school I called my dad, I wanted to check on him and I needed to keep up some kind of relationship with him. I loved him and while I knew he might not like Taehyung or the things he had heard about him, he would know that what happened to Mr. Jeon was not Taehyung's fault. Now that I thought about it, it was obvious he had been uncomfortable about Detective Park bringing it up.

"Hey dad."

"Y/n! I was going to call you later." My dad sounded happy to hear from me.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"I'm good. You were gonna call?"

"Yeah, some guy called me just now, about a scholarship you applied for. He wants to meet you at the house Monday at six, to interview you as a candidate."

"Really, what scholarship?" I asked excited. I hadn't even heard back from any colleges, so this was unexpected.

"I think he said he was from Seoul. I didn't know you even applied there."

"Yeah I did, it was last minute but, uh, it seemed like the right place for me."

"And Taehyung." He sighed.

"For me and Taehyung." I agreed. "Look dad..."

"Y/n, I can't say I'm thrilled with your choices, because I'm not, but you, er, love him, or whatever. I want you to be happy and if he makes you happy then I guess I'll have to learn to accept that. I don't want to lose you and if you ever, uh, change your mind, or something happens, you can come home anytime."

"Thanks dad." I knew he didn't fully trust Taehyung and I couldn't blame him. But he was willing to overlook what he knew about the Kims in order to be my dad and that meant a lot to me.

"So I'll come by Monday?"

"Yep. I could pick you up from school. We could have some dinner or something, if you like?"

"I'd like that." I smiled. He was trying, and I loved him all the more for it.

I said goodbye to him and turned towards Taehyung.

"Guess what!" I said excitedly.

"What?" he smiled.

"I'm in the running for a scholarship to Seattle! Someone's coming to interview me on Monday."

"Coming where?"

"To my dads. The guy called and said he wanted to meet at six on Monday, so my dad's going to get me from school and we'll get some dinner before."

He frowned. "Uh..."

"Come on Taehyung, it's not a big deal. Sam and Embry will be there! Don't pretend they don't still follow me around."

"Who is it you're meeting?" He ignored my accusation.

"I don't know. Some guy from Seoul University I think."

"You think!"

"Taehyung if I can get a scholarship for next year then I won't have to worry about tuition or housing costs."

"Yeah, because the millions of dollars sitting in the bank could never cover that." He rolled his eyes. "I don't even know why you applied for a scholarship in the first place."

"Because at the time I had no idea my boyfriend was a multi freaking millionaire."

"Well now you do, so there's no need to meet this guy, whose name you don't know, who you think is from Seoul. I mean, fuck Princess, could those details be any more vague! I at least need a name so Jimin can check him out."

"Sorry, but that's all my dad said." I shrugged.

"Your dad's the Chief of fucking Police! You think he'd know how to take someone's details properly. Surely the first thing they teach them at the academy is how to write shit down on a bit of fucking paper, it's not exactly rocket science."

"Well Taehyung! I'm sure if he'd known that you wanted to run an illegal background check on the guy he would have taken down much better details." I said getting defensive, he was my dad and I know he could be a bit naïve at times, but that didn't mean Taehyung could say stuff about him.

"Sorry." he mumbled. "I didn't mean to imply that your father was incapable. I'm just not comfortable with you meeting someone when you have no idea who. Can't he come here?"

"If he comes here and sees me living in a freaking mansion, he's never going to offer me a scholarship."

"And God forbid you don't get a scholarship that you don't even need, that would be tragic." He said and I glared at him. "You know if you do get it, you're keeping someone who genuinely needs it from going to college." He arched an eyebrow at me and I had to bite my tongue from saying something really rude to him, he was such a smartass.

"I'm meeting him and I'm having dinner with my dad." I said firmly.

"Then you need to get his name." He said just as firmly.

"Fine!"

"Fine." He nodded. "Call your dad back."

I took out my phone and dialled my dad. Taehyung handed me a piece of paper and a pen, he mimed writing stuff down with a smirk on his face and I gave him the finger.

"Y/n?"

"Hey dad." I sighed. "I was just wondering if you had this scholarship guy's name?"

"Uh, yeah, hang on. I jotted it down on a napkin somewhere." I almost groaned as I heard him rummaging around. "Um, I can't seem to find it but I'm sure it was Mr....Biers, yes that's it. I gave him your cell number, he said he'd call you to confirm that the time was ok."

"Did you get his number?" I asked as I wrote down the name.

"No, sorry y/n, I was in the middle of something."

"Ok, well I guess I'll wait for him to call me." I said.

"Jesus motherfucking Christ!" Taehyung hissed and I turned to find him staring at me wide-eyed, both his hands scrunched in his hair muttering a string of words that began mostly with F.

"Uh, thanks dad. I'll see you soon."

"See ya y/n." my dad said cheerily.

"What now?" I asked Taehyung.

He took a deep breath. "I'm gonna try really fucking hard not to say anything bad about your dad Princess. But fuck! He gave out your fucking cell number?"

"Yeah, so?"

He looked at me incredulously.

"Phone him back, find out if this guy called the station or the house?"

"I can't phone my dad again, he's gonna wonder what the hell's going on. My dad's at the station, so I guess he phoned there."

"Did you put your dad's work number on your scholarship applications?"

"Uh....no, I don't think so."

"So why the fuck is this guy phoning your dad at work and getting your cell number?"

"I don't know!"

"Exactly! The whole thing reeks of a fucking set up Princess and if it is your dad has played right into their hands. He's pretty much confirmed that you'll be at his house Monday night and given out your cell number, Kai has people who are nearly as good as Jimin, they can track your phone just as easily as we can. Fuck!" He pulled out his phone. "Jimin, you need to get back here...I think Kai's coming for the Princess...., uh huh...., and he might have her fucking cell number...her dumbass father ...yeah? Fuck you!" he hung up.

"I need your phone." He held out his hand. I handed it over and he left the room for several minutes.

"Where did you go?" I asked him when he came back.

"I threw your phone in the incinerator."

"What do you have an incinerator for?" I asked before it hit me why the Kims might need one. "Actually don't answer that."

"I need the details of every scholarship you applied for. We can check this Mr Biers out against your list, that should make the process a bit less time consuming. Although I doubt the guy exists." He led me over to the desk and I sat down.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"You're acting like you're mad."

"I'm not, I just, I can't think about you when I have to work, it clouds my judgement and I make mistakes and I can't afford to do that. I need to work out if Kai is behind this, and thinking about you just makes me fuck up."

"Uh, ok."

"Shit, that didn't come out right. I just get so caught up in wanting to keep you safe that I can't see the bigger picture."

"What do you mean?"

"Like at my party? We left and I walked you right into a set up because all I could think about was getting you as far away from Kai as possible and I didn't think it through properly, otherwise I would have seen that coming. I don't want something like that to happen again, so I need to concentrate and distance myself a bit until I can figure out what's going on."

"So I'm a distraction, I'm making it harder for you?"

"No! Well...,yeah, sometimes, but only in a really good way." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh my God!" His mood swings were something else. One minute he's all serious business and the next he's a horny teenager. If I was honest I much preferred the horny teenager. "I thought you needed to concentrate on work." I arched my eyebrow.

"I do! But when you mention distractions and making things harder, especially while you're sitting at this desk, it makes it almost impossible to concentrate on anything other than all the things I want to do to you on it."

"Well I can always sit somewhere else." I laughed getting up.

He pulled me to him and kissed me hard. I relaxed into it as he explored my mouth with his tongue. He grabbed my ass and lifted me so I wrapped my legs around his waist. "Sit right here." He said, pulling away and sitting me on the edge of the desk. He pushed me back so I was lying flat, undoing my jeans and pulling them and my panties down in one go.

He pushed my sweater up slightly, so my bottom half was completely exposed to him and bent to kiss my stomach.

I lifted my head and gaped at him, shocked by this unexpected turn of events and more turned on than I cared to admit.

He kissed down, down, slowly down, until he finally had his mouth exactly where I wanted it. He took one long lick between my legs, before he plunged his tongue inside me.

My back arched and my head flew back as he worked his magic. He sucked and licked and swirled and flicked, while I writhed and moaned on the desk. He held my hips down firmly as my orgasm overtook me. He didn't stop as I convulsed in pleasure, waiting until I went still before he stood up.

"Fuck Princess." He undid his jeans, pushing them and his boxers down quickly. He held my waist, moving me so that my ass was hanging off the desk a bit and pushed into me with a moan.

He moved slowly at first, watching as he slid in and out of me. His gaze left where we were joined and he met my stare, his eyes full of lust and love as he started to move quicker. I couldn't do anything but lay there and he used his thumb to rub at me. All too soon I was falling apart again and Taehyung joined me seconds later.

"Taehyung..." I panted, I didn't really know what to say.

He slipped out of me and kissed me quickly on the lips. He handed me my panties and jeans and I sat up and shimmied them on, not moving from the edge of the desk.

"Desk sex! I think it might be my favourite." He said as he pulled his jeans up and stood between my legs.

"I think it might be mine too." I told him, as he tucked my hair behind my ears.

"I love you Princess." He kissed me softly. "I'm sorry I was rude about your dad, he doesn't know what's going on."

There was a knock on the door and Taehyung shouted. "What?"

Jimin strolled in, took in our position and dishevelled states and laughed.

"So I raced home in a panic because we have a situation and you two were fucking on a desk?"

"Pretty much." Taehyung admitted, while I blushed and wondered if I'd ever get used to how open the Kims were with each other.

"Shit, you'd think someone trying to kill your girlfriend would dampen your libido V."

"You'd think." Taehyung agreed. "But apparently not." He shrugged.

Jimin snorted. "So what do you need?"

Taehyung ran a hand through his hair and kissed me. "I'll be downstairs Princess." He told me and he left the room with Jimin.

I slipped off the desk, our brief interlude was clearly over, so I set about making my list, hoping against hope that Mr Biers was who he said he was and that Taehyung was wrong about Kai coming for me on Monday.

_________________________________________

(a/n)
Let all pray that 2021 isn't a flop.
And let me know what you think about this chapter xx.