AN: Some deep stuff ahead, thanks to our resident shoulder-angel, Hobi.  I don't know why but in both this story and in "Hitman" Hoseok has become Namjoon's Voice of Reason whenever Namjoon is having issues grasping what the hell he's doing with Seokjin. XD

Anyway, please enjoy this chapter!  Comment, vote, and share it with friends!

Also, I posted the first few chapters in a new story called "Gaia."  It's an OT7 fic that includes a variety of ships that will evolve and change throughout the story as it progresses (except for Taegi.  That ship permanently docked in the fic and has no intention to change anchor.)  Go check it out and let me know what you think!  (Read: Your author is hungry for attention, please feed her).

-----

As Namjoon sat on Yoongi's rug, blood boiling at what Jimin was telling them, he couldn't help but want to find the man responsible and beat him into the ground. Repeatedly.

He was not a violent man by nature. He typically only fought in a reactionary way, such as when he clocked that guy at the bar the other night. He only hit him after first being attacked. Prior to that incident, the last time he'd been in a fight was in high school, when he'd come bursting out of the closet like the Kool-Aid man.

That time, he'd been defending another student from some douche-nozzles that thought picking on the openly gay kid was a good idea. By the end of the day, the entire school knew not only that Namjoon was also gay, but that he packed a vicious left hook.

After that, he'd discovered that his small group of friends were some of the most amazing young men he'd ever met. He'd been afraid they'd reject him after discovering he liked men. Instead, when he returned to school after a mandatory week's suspension for fighting, all four guys had proudly shown him the rainbow flag pins they'd each attached to their backpacks. They'd have his back, they said, no matter what.

If Namjoon regretted anything in his life, it was falling out of contact with them after graduation. He promised himself that he would start the process of tracking them down once he got his life figured out.

And that was going to have to wait until after he, and five other angry men, murdered Lee Jongwoon.

"The question," Seokjin spoke up once Jimin had fallen silent, "is what do you want to happen, Jiminie?"

The dancer glanced up through wet lashes at the eldest before looking back at his knees. Yoongi, one arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders, murmured encouraging words into his hair.

"I just want it to go away," Jimin finally said, voice cracking slightly from strain. From the arm of the couch, Hoseok reached over and rubbed comforting circles on the younger man's back.

"There has to be something we can do," Jungkook spoke up from the loveseat. Taehyung, sitting next to his boyfriend, nodded a few times in agreement.

Namjoon wasn't sure if his input was welcomed but he found himself speaking before he second guessed himself. "I think there's only two real options here, and both suck." Eyes turned to him and he pressed his lips into a flat line, worried he'd overstepped.

"What are they?" Tae pressed when Namjoon didn't continue. The others made noises of agreement, staring at him.

"Uhm. Well." Namjoon scratched at his cheek and winced when his fingers came into contact with the bruise. "So, we could take it to the authorities, report him for assault. The problem there is that the police might not act very quickly on this since..." He trailed off with a twist of his lips.

"Because I'm gay," Jimin supplied quietly, shoulders hunching. Yoongi wrapped his other arm around the younger, pulling him into a hug.

"Yeah," Namjoon confirmed grimly. "And Jongwoon might also release the pictures out of spite when reported."

"What's the other option?" Hoseok asked.

Namjoon sighed deeply. "Do nothing," he admitted. "Call his bluff. If Jongwoon releases the pictures, then damage control."

"I- I can't do that." Jimin shook his head. "If my parents find out, what if they... they don't want..."

Namjoon recognized the hopeless expression on Jimin's face and looked down at the fuzzy rug he sat on, playing self-consciously with the long fibers. "There are worse things than not having a family," he mumbled.

Seokjin, who was sitting on the edge of the coffee table behind Namjoon, slipped a hand onto his shoulder, squeezing slightly. Namjoon shot a quick, thankfully look up at the older and covered the hand with his own. He hadn't exactly told Seokjin about his parents' reaction to his own coming out, but he thought he could see understanding in the other's face.

"You'll have us!" Taehyung announced firmly. "We'll always be your family. And we won't disown you for anything."

Jimin winced at the word 'disown' but didn't otherwise speak.

"If we go to the police, the outcome will be the same," Yoongi spoke up, carding his fingers through Jimin's hair. "They'll have to investigate. That shit takes time. And they probably won't be able to hold Jongwoon while they do it."

A sniffle could be heard from Jimin as the young man swiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand.

Seokjin cleared his throat slightly. "There's another option." Six pairs of eyes settled on their hyung as he shifted. "We fight fire with fire."

Namjoon had to twist a bit to fully see Jin's face. The older man was smiling grimly.

"Explain," Yoongi ordered when Jimin didn't respond.

"Thanks to my photographic memory, I recall checking him in. I know what room he's in. I know who he's here with." Seokjin let that hang there for a moment before continuing. "He's threatening to tell the world about the pictures if you don't do what he wants. I say we toss that back at him. I'm sure his wife would be very interested in knowing what her husband is doing."

The others were silent for a moment, considering what Seokjin had suggested.

"How do we prove it?" Namjoon finally asked. He didn't want to contradict the older but it was a legitimate concern.

Seokjin's eyes landed on Jimin. "We'll have to set him up." He let go of Namjoon's shoulder and moved from his seat to kneel in front of the pink-haired acrobat. He took the smaller's hands in his own, rubbing his thumbs over Jimin's knuckles. "You'll have to meet him tonight-"

Arguments erupted from everyone except Jimin and Namjoon. The former was staring at his hyung with wide, startled eyes. The latter thought he knew what Seokjin was getting at and waited to hear the whole plan before jumping to any conclusions.

"Shut up," Seokjin snapped, silencing them. "He's not going alone. Jimin, where did he want to meet you?"

Jimin hiccupped slightly. "My apartment."

"He knows where you live?" Yoongi's arms tightened as Jimin merely nodded in response.

"Has he been there before?" Seokjin pressed, getting another nod. "What day?"

"The night we all went out. Before my performance," came Jimin's soft reply. Then, as if anticipating the next question, "Around four p.m."

Seokjin whipped out his phone and started typing rapidly. "Perfect. Okay, Jimin, what time tonight?"

"Six."

The oldest typed a few more things into his phone before shoving it into his back pocket. He looked at each member of the posse for a moment before giving them a surprisingly cheerful smile. "Here's what we're going to do."

-----

Namjoon decided that this was the weirdest vacation he'd ever had, though not in a bad way. In the span of a week, he'd made a whole crew of new friends, landed a... boyfriend? Lover? – he wasn't entirely certain what to call Jin since they hadn't exactly defined it – and he'd become a spy.

At least, that's what it felt like as he sat in Yoongi's car with Hoseok outside Jimin's apartment.

Seokjin had offered to take Namjoon back to the hotel as the older man had something he needed to retrieve from the front desk before going to Jimin's, but Namjoon had insisted on seeing this through to the end. He might have been a guest at the resort but he was taking his membership in the posse seriously.

It had been decided that Yoongi would be in the room with Seokjin and Jimin when Jongwoon showed up. Ever since revealing the truth, the pink-haired man hadn't wanted to leave the chef's side, clinging to him with a desperation that hurt Namjoon's heart.

The other four men would be posted at strategic places around the apartment complex, acting as lookouts, and then as interception if Jongwoon tried to run for it before they could get enough incriminating dirt on him.

Since Namjoon didn't really have a cellphone right then, he'd been assigned to stake out the front entrance of the apartment with Hoseok. He didn't mind, though he did find himself missing Seokjin. He felt momentarily guilty about that since he didn't miss his husband one bit. He shoved it out of his mind as Hoseok offered him a candy from a bag he'd pulled from the center console.

"So," the bubbly brunet said, popping a candy into his mouth. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you mean by that whole family thing earlier? You've got a family, surely. Unless Geongminie isn't really your sister?"

Namjoon glanced at his watch, noting that they still had half an hour before they could expect Jongwoon to show up. He took a candy and slowly unwrapped it, debating if he should be upset over Hoseok calling his sister by such a familiar name. He decided that he'd let it slide; if she didn't like it, she'd tell Hoseok where to shove his cutesy nicknames with enough detail that the brunet would get the picture. "No, she's my real sister. But she's the only family I have."

Hoseok was quiet for a moment before asking, "What happened to your parents?"

Namjoon shrugged. "I imagine my dad is still working at the same business he's always worked at. My mom was a realtor last I heard. You'll have to ask Geongmin." He glanced over to see Hoseok staring at him.

"Wait." The waiter blinked a few times, lips turning down into a deep frown. "Wait. Did you get disowned?"

"Pretty much." Namjoon rolled the wrapper around in his fingers until it was a tiny ball. "Last time I talked to my mom was right after I got married, about five years ago. Called her to tell her about the wedding since she didn't reply to the invitation I'd sent." He tossed his trash into a small bag Yoongi had in the car for just that purpose. "She told me that she didn't think I could have done anything else to disappoint her but that marrying a man proved her wrong."

Hoseok looked both horrified and livid at the same time. Namjoon sighed and waved a hand dismissively before the other had a chance to speak.

"Technically, I'm still legally their son. They've never filed any paperwork to remove me from the family. But they don't want to acknowledge I exist. Geongmin says that whenever anyone mentions me or asks after me, they pretend they don't hear it."

"Jesus, Joon. I'm sorry."

Namjoon shrugged again, smiling slightly. "I keep thinking maybe one day I'll be able to go back and see them but I don't think it'll ever happen." He sighed. "Stupid, isn't it?" He turned his head to gaze out the window at the front of the apartment complex. "You'd think I'd move on, but they're still my parents, you know? Maybe when they've hated me for longer than they loved me, I'll stop hoping."

Hoseok reached over and grabbed Namjoon's hand, holding it tightly on top of the center console. "Strictly platonic," he clarified, wiggling their joined hands for emphasis. "It's hard to hug someone from a bucket seat so consider it a hand-hug."

The blond laughed slightly. "Thanks."

They were silent for stretch before Hoseok squeezed his hand. "You know we're your family now, too, right?"

Namjoon glanced over, raising his eyebrows in question.

"Like Tae said to Jimin. You'll always have us, regardless of what your blood relatives feel about you. We got into a bar fight together; we're definitely brothers."

Namjoon snorted. "I got into a bar fight," he corrected, smirking. "I'm pretty sure you just stood there and watched me get punched."

"I helped you escape. Therefore, I was part of the fight," Hoseok defended. He tried to look affronted but it was obvious by the way his lips kept twitching that he was trying very hard not to smile. "That's not the point, though," he continued. "We're brothers now, like it or not."

Namjoon's smirk melted into a genuine smile. "Five new brothers. I like the sound of that. Although Yoongi-hyung feels less like a brother and more like an uncle."

"An old, grumpy uncle," Hoseok agreed with a laugh. "The kind that always complains about having to attend family gatherings but still gives out the best gifts to all the kids." He paused, pursing his lips. "You said five. There's six of us."

"I didn't count Jin-hyung. I'm not going to date my brother," Namjoon replied sardonically.

"Oh, are you two actually dating now?" There was genuine interest in Hoseok's voice. He grabbed another candy and attempted to open it with one hand. Namjoon watched, amused, as the candy fumbled out of the wrapper, bounced off the steering wheel, and landed in Hoseok's lap. His year-mate quickly plopped it into his mouth. "Well?" he asked around the treat.

Namjoon hesitated. "I don't actually know," he admitted. "It's complicated, isn't it?"

Hoseok sucked on the lozenge thoughtfully. "It doesn't have to be."

"I'm married," Namjoon reminded him dryly. "To someone else." He returned his eyes to the building in front of them, frowning.

"This is a fact," Hoseok agreed. "You know what else is a fact?"

"What?" Namjoon leaned his head back against the seat, shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

"Your husband is a dick."

Namjoon opened his mouth, about to defend Jackie out of habit, but stopped himself. Instead, he sighed deeply. "He didn't used to be," he admitted softly. "He used to be a lot like you."

"What happened?" Hoseok's tone was gentle, almost sympathetic.

The blond's lips twisted slightly. "I don't know. When we were in school, he was a different person. He always wanted to go try new things and get in trouble for doing stupid shit. After we got married, it's like the old him just sort of gradually disappeared. By the time we moved back to Seoul, he was what you saw: always on the phone, always working. I-" He cut himself off. As angry as he was with Jackie, it didn't feel right to paint him in such a bad light.

He felt the other squeeze his hand again and he returned the gesture. "You can talk to me," Hoseok reminded him. "Whatever you say, it stays right in this car."

"What did I do in life to deserve you for a friend?" Namjoon wondered aloud, shaking his head.

"You didn't have to do anything; everyone deserves that one friend they can talk to about things."

"Who do you talk to?" It wasn't an intentional change in subject; Namjoon was sincerely curious.

Hoseok smiled. "Yoongi-hyung, typically." He must have noticed the incredulous expression flash across Namjoon's face. "He's not as savage as he appears," he insisted. "He actually cares a lot about the rest of us."

Namjoon thought back to how Yoongi had treated Jimin earlier that afternoon, holding him, whispering into his hair, petting him. It was almost like he'd been an entirely different person than when they'd first met the night of the bonfire, or even when they'd all ended up at Yoongi's apartment with Dasom. Maybe Jimin brought out the softer side of the chef, but Namjoon definitely saw a gentler man than he had witnessed before.

"You'll see it the more you associate with him," Hoseok reassured. "He's always spikey toward new people. It took him six months to smile at Taehyung."

Namjoon stared at Hoseok. "Six months?" He shook his head. "But Tae's so nice."

"So are you," Hoseok pointed out with a half-shrug. "It's just Yoongi's way; he doesn't take to new people quickly. Honestly, I was shocked when I saw he'd included you in the texts. He's already warming up to you."

The blond didn't know what he'd done to accomplish that – especially if the older man really took as long to accept people as Hoseok claimed – but he wasn't going to question it. He snagged a candy from the bag and used his teeth to help him open it, since their hands were still held. Miraculously, it worked without the sweet falling into his lap or onto the floorboard.

"Back to the issue at hand," Hoseok suddenly said, "We were talking about you and Jin-hyung. It doesn't have to be as complicated as you make it out to be."

Namjoon frowned. "And I told you that it's complicated because I'm cheating." He was disgusted at himself for saying the word out loud, but Hoseok was right about one thing: Namjoon felt he could talk freely to the brunet without fear of being judged.

"Okay, sure. Why are you cheating, though?"

"Uhm, because I'm married to someone who isn't Jin-hyung?" Namjoon wasn't sure what his friend was getting at. "That's kind of the definition of cheating."

"No, I understand why you say you're cheating. I want to know why you're doing it," Hoseok pressed. "Not to sound melodramatic, but what was it that drove you into the arms of another?"

Namjoon worried his bottom lip with his teeth, trying to come up with an answer to the question. He hadn't really considered it before, merely acting on his desires and the magnetic pull Seokjin radiated. "I was angry at Jackie," he offered uncertainly.

Hoseok didn't respond, waiting patiently and silently for Namjoon to muddle it out.

What had caused it? He ran through the events leading up to the first kiss and it all seemed to boil down at him being angry at his husband. That would have meant it was done out of spite, though, and he knew he hadn't kissed Seokjin just to get back at Jackie. He hadn't even been thinking about his husband when it had happened.

What had he been thinking about at the time? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, drawing the memories forward. It had been such a good day before the roof. Seokjin had made him breakfast and they'd eaten together. Then Jungkook took them on an exciting boat ride to a secluded island where they were able to hunt crabs, just the two of them. The picnic on the roof was peaceful, the view was wonderful.

Had it all just been because he was high on endorphins from having a good day? That didn't seem right, either. If that was the case, then it could have been anyone on the roof with him that day. Experimentally, he tried to picture someone else in Seokjin's place but couldn't think of anyone that would have fit.

It had to be something with Jin, then, something about the older man that made everything else in the world melt away. Just thinking about him sent butterflies zipping around his stomach, ricocheting through his body like shrapnel.

A thought occurred to him and Namjoon tried to replace those memories of Seokjin with Jackie, to pretend that it has been his husband with him that day. The butterflies morphed into a coiling snake that wrapped itself around his insides and squeezed unpleasantly.

Hoseok had remained respectfully mute while Namjoon went through his mental gymnastics. After what felt like an eternity of wading through a quagmire of confusing thoughts, the waiter tugged lightly at Namjoon's hand, drawing his attention.

"Why did you marry him in the first place?" he asked. The question wasn't accusatory; it sounded like Hoseok legitimately wanted to know.

It should have been an easy question to answer. Namjoon opened his mouth to spout off the usual response. They were in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, of course. Jackie was his best friend.

The words wouldn't come out. Instead, replied, "He asked me to."

Hoseok licked his lips and then rubbed them together as if he had just put on chap-stick. "That's it?"

"Well, no. I mean, we'd been together for a few years by then. Jackie had an internship in Taiwan and was able to get the right approvals for it." It sounded so weak even to Namjoon's own ears and he stared at the glovebox blankly.

"If he hadn't of asked, would you have wanted to?"

The blond chewed on his lip again. "I'd never thought about it before because it hadn't been an option."

"Fair enough. One more question?" The brunet paused, waiting for the go-ahead before asking. When Namjoon nodded slightly, Hoseok took a breath. "Say you'd never gotten married. If he asked you today to marry him, would you do it?"

Namjoon stared so hard at the dashboard that he thought it might have combusted, his breath catching in his throat at the unexpected emotions that followed the question. His mind raced suddenly at the question, zipping through years of dredged-up memories that had long since been archived in the back of his brain.

"No." Namjoon swallowed heavily, returning his eyes to the front of the apartment building without really seeing it. "No, I wouldn't."

-----

AN: Damn, we're at 21 chapters?  Who the hell authorized this?