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"A coward judges all he sees

by what he is."

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Lights glistened over his onyx rises as he ambled beneath the street lights in middle of a dark and desolate road. He had been held up overtime today as well and he wanted nothing else than to surrender to the comfort of his duvet. His stomach was grumbling and there was not a single store open in this time of the night. The other co-workers who were beside him told him to stay back but there was this unknown reason that compelled his feet to go back home.

It was exceptionally late and streets of Seoul were devoid of any life.

Lately, his mind has been in a chaotic mixture of ordered situations. He was forgetting things. So unlikely of him. His dreams were getting weirder and weirder by night and he was on the verge of getting fired because his concentration was ripped away. He even forgot the count of the times he was scolded that week.

But most troubling of all were his uncanny dreams. He felt his dreams were slowly morphing into realism and his last inch of sanity was evaporating rapidly. They were so conflicting that sometimes he forgot how to even form basic expressions. As if his mind was reverberating in a different emotion while his dreams reflected another. He often woke up feeling quite confused and unaware of his surroundings.

Even Jimin made a remark that he was slowly turning into a 'master of poker faces'.

Walking up the stairs, he missed one step and was only a centimetre away from colliding with the floor. But he still took the stairs because the option of taking the elevator was eradicated once and for all.

Punching in his code, he opened the door to find the lights of his apartment still lit up. Astonished, he made his way to the living room to find Younggeum sitting on one of the high-chairs with a palm propping her cheek that didn't allow her neck to snap out of her vertebrae column because of drowsiness.

Snickering lightly, he flung his coat over the hanger and tip-toed into the kitchen. He didn't even see a reason why he should do this, it was his house for crying out loud, he should be able to do everything that his heart desires. But instead, he found himself tip-toeing over to the girl he had offered a shelter for one night.

Carefully sliding his arms under her neck and other down her knees, he kicked back the chair and lifted the petite figure up. Barely making past through the small door, Taehyung placed her body down on on the sheets and covered her up with the duvets. Somehow, he felt a sense of deja vu convulsing through his body but he wasn't able to connect with the recollection that brought this feeling.

"Good night," He muttered and closed the door shut.

At least he could do only much after what she had done for him. And that also calls another meeting with a friend of his whom he was sure would take care of this situation much better than him.

He took a seat on the couch as his fingers fished for his phone. When he opened up the chatbox, he contemplated if he was doing the right thing by contacting him. She would surely leave soon, right? Was there a need for the law to be involved or was he was just being paranoid?

Taehyung:

DONT IGNORE ME MAN

IK YOU HAVE SEEN MY PREV MESSAGE YOU IGNORANT IMBECILE
ISTG ILL SELL YOUR SOUL IF YOU DONT REPLY-

Joon:

ITS FUCKING 12 AM YOU NOCTURNAL DONKEY
JEEZ ILL CLEAR MY SCHEDULE KAY?

Taehyung:

DONT CAPSLOCK ME YOUNG MAN-

And there went the loud gongs of Taehyung's grandfather clock.

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Taehyung basked in the first rays of sunshine as his feet thumped impatiently on the floor of an empty café. His fingers were warming up because of the hot cup of coffee as his eyes brazed over his surroundings cautiously. His wrists turned every second of his time there and his mind was in a conflicting battle of whether he should wait there as a diligent friend or dash to his office.

Much to his relief, the door of the café opened with a jingle and a tall man entered who let his gaze wander aimlessly in the café until Taehyung excitedly waved his arm around.

"There you are," Taehyung remarked when the man finally settled down in his chair, "Took you long enough."

"I'm having a really bad hangover so don't irk me."

"Ah," he smacked his lips, "why do you even grab a drink with your colleagues after every vital case? It's not like you like them or something."

"I have to maintain a healthy work relationship if I don't want to get slandered," he sighed, "But anyways, why'd you call me here? You know every minute is important for me? A criminal might be on loose as we spea-"

"Cut the crap Joon, you said you'd clear your schedule earlier so that means you've nothing to right now," Taehyung chuckled, "and even if a criminal's out in the air then I know you would do nothing unless the work was assigned to you only."

"You got me good," the man clicked his tongue out of annoyance, "Now spill."

"I want you to check someone for me, she's currently residing in my house. I will send her photo via texts," Taehyung began lowering his tone, "And also look into this person as soon as possible." He slid a brown envelope on the table as his eyes looked around to see if anyone was looking in their direction. The man carefully rolled the strings around and took out paper containing the basic details of a person. His name, his photograph, his age, family, affidavit and so-called clear criminal record.

"That's two people you're asking me to look into," he cocked an eyebrow, "all of a sudden, why?"

"The guy's more urgent, don't worry I will pay you handsomely." Taehyung dodged the question and placed some bills on the table before getting up, "Friends don't pay each other you know right?" He asked.

"I'm not paying you," he tipped his hat, "I'm paying for your services."

The man exhaled loudly as the door of a café shut close behind him. His eyes fell on the envelope as an uncontrollable urge to groan engulfed him.

"This is a work for the international sevice intelligence agency, then why am I doing this?!"

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"Hey Jimin!"

The said man dropped his files when a hand clasped on his shoulder. He slowly turned around to see a grinning Taehyung stretching his cheekbones from one end to other.

"Why are you so chirpy today?" He asked whilst gathering the disarranged papers.

"Don't be so shrewd man," he kneeled down to to take up some papers, "I don't have to appear gloomy just because the partnership meeting was scheduled today. My presence was needed there no matter what."

"Don't you despise him?" Jimin arose finally after arranging the files less into a nest and more like a bunch for an important meeting.

"I do," Taehyung fumbled with his cuff links, "But I've got a lead on the Kim Corporations that you wouldn't believe."

"Really?" Jimin squawked when his feet accidentally tangled up on their own and the papers were almost flying out of his hands again, "What did you get your hands on?"

Taehyung stopped walking abruptly before he pivoted around to look at Jimin straight in the eye, "That's a secret." And he placed his index finger on his lips while smiling a gruesome smile that promised nothing else but trouble.

The duo dramatically pushed open the glass doors and all the heads turned their way. A single paperclip fell down to the ground averting everyone from their stances and onto Jimin who was frantically pushing up his glasses and was trying to find the paperclip.

"Ah, Mister Kim and Mister Park," a man arrived to greet them with gritted teeth, "We were just going to start, I believe the meeting's been delayed enough." He harshly grasped on Taehyung's shoulder and began laughing hysterically to which the others soon followed after but the latter felt nothing but excruciating pain convulsing down his spine but he had to keep his smile up.

"Mister Choi," he grimaced, "why don't you take a seat and let me lead the meeting?"

"Sure, Mister Kim," the man reluctantly agreed.

"Don't let a catastrophe happen like last time or you know what would happen next," the man gingerly patted his shoulders, "Hareon group is a huge asset to my company, don't mess it up." He whispered and sauntered to his seat.

"Sorry about that gentleman," Taehyung clasped his hands with an insinuating smile with his gaze dead set on a certain person, "The meeting shall commence now."

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"Uh Officer Kim?"

"Yes?" He answered without his eyes diverting away from the screen.

"How can I testify honestly if you keep getting addicted to your scree-"

"Ah yes my apologies," Namjoon shut down his laptop that moment and stared at the woman across him who held an accusing finger pointed towards him, "You can now go on. I promise I won't get distracted but I need to record your testimony."

"Sure," the woman sighed, "As I was saying, RBSON-D has affected my husband very severely, he's coughing up blood and his immunity has been weakening ever since. The doctors say it's a side effect of overworking but I know that just stressing over stuff doesn't let blood pour down the drain-"

"Namjoon!" A deep voice boomed inside the office that caused both of them to get startled, "I believe you've got enough cases to get on to rather than listening to this lady blabbering nonsense. I heard she even approached the higher-ups before coming to us! Can you believe how outrageous and disrespectful is that? Stop feeding on her lies and look into the case of chairman of the labour union!"

The said man clicked his tongue and looked apologetically at the woman who was looking down on her hands, "I'm sorry, he often gets his anger out if he doesn't find someone to thump his work on. How about you write down your number and address before you leave?" He offered to which the woman weakly nodded and grabbed a pen from the pen stand before beginning to scribble down numbers on a sheet of paper.

As he was about to leave the room, he turned back once again with a bashful smile, "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name," he admitted rubbing his nape our of embarrassment, "What was it again?"

"It's Park Mirael." She answered waving her hand around dismissively.

"Okay Missus Park, I'll try to get back to you within a week or so."

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A/N: Any theories? 👀