Park Soomi

"I just, I can't let you see Taehyung."

Taehyung?

"Who said anything about Taehyung?"

Next thing I knew, Misa was slowly trying to squeeze her way out of the room. Yoongi and I both glanced over as she stealthily shuffled along the wall with her head lowered, thinking she could somehow exit the room without disrupting us.

But eventually, she got stuck at the doorway and finally raised her gaze.

"Oh, don't mind me. Carry on. I'm just gonna go, if you could, you know, umm..." Misa awkwardly waved her hands around Yoongi, gesturing towards the lack of space in the doorframe.

Yoongi swiftly stumbled to the side, and all the while, Misa kept a huge smile plastered on her face. But the moment she was on the other side and out of Yoongi's vision, she dropped the act and looked at me with an expression screaming, "good luck."

"Okay, so what does Taehyung have to do with any of this?"

"What do you mean? Weren't you just telling Misa you needed to see—" Yoongi abruptly stopped in the middle of his sentence as if a lightbulb finally went off in his head. "Wait, what were you talking about?"

Or I guess the light was at least flickering.

"I'm worried that Seokjin's in trouble. What were you talking about?"

Yoongi wouldn't answer the question, his gaze drifting off to the side to avoid eye contact. And that was when a lightbulb finally went off for me.

"Did you look through my phone? This is about Taehyung's text, right?"

"Well, I wasn't trying to look for anything. I just, umm, saw it."

"Why would you—" I bit my tongue before I could say anymore, my hand clenching into a fist in an attempt to control the tension stirring up inside me.

Not now, Soomi. You don't have time for this.

I took a deep breath, gradually releasing my fist and allowing the anger to subside.

"Do you know where Seokjin lives? You probably got that info from one of your unnecessary background checks, right?"

At first, Yoongi seemed taken aback by the sudden switch in topic, but he quickly became responsive to sway the conversation further away from Taehyung.

"I've seen the report, but I don't exactly remember. Hoseok probably still has the file."

"Okay, can you ask him?"

"I might not be able to get a hold of him right now. He's working with management to finalize closing up this case." Yoongi announced the news so casually that it almost went over my head. Almost.

"Closing?—" I found myself instinctively wanting to inquire further, but I managed to catch myself before getting sidetracked. "Nevermind, can you please just get Seokjin's address? We need to go find him. Now."

Yoongi didn't ask any questions, sensing the urgency in my voice. He gave one quick nod before leaving the room, and I let out a shaky sigh.

I didn't understand the mix of emotions I was suddenly feeling. Was it disappointment? Relief? Regardless, what I did know was that I hated how much the news bothered me. I hated that sinking feeling building up in my chest.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I was almost relieved when Yoongi returned to save me from my own thoughts.

"I got the address. Let's go."

━ ⋆⋅✯⋅⋆ ━

I hastily exited the vehicle once Yoongi parked the car in front of the apartment complex. My phone was still ringing faintly in my hand, but at this point, I wasn't anticipating an answer. Instead, I diverted my attention to the building's call buttons, but in my rushed state, I couldn't seem to locate the right number. That was when I finally felt Yoongi's presence, his hand reaching around me and instantly finding the button to buzz Seokjin's room.

My heart pounded in anxious anticipation as we waited for a response. It felt as if my heart would explode out of my chest when the gate finally opened.

But my mind quickly escalated instead to a state of confusion as I laid eyes on the unfamiliar person before us.

"Were you the ones who buzzed for 405?"

"Umm, yeah. We're looking for Seokjin?" I asked. His eyes immediately widened in realization.

"Oh, Jin? He's not here right now. He left earlier today."

"And you are...?"

"Right, my bad. I'm Seokjin's friend. I've been staying with him for a while." He smiled while bowing. I mumbled a short greeting in return, but Yoongi remained quiet, seemingly examining the building.

"Do you know if something's happened to him? I've been trying to get a hold of him all day."

"Ah, well, that would explain why his phone has been going off every other minute the last hour," he said with a laugh. "He forgot to bring it with him."

"Oh, I see." I nervously laughed along with him, unsure what to make of this new information. I had been so worried all day that the sudden reassurance of everything being okay felt weird. I turned to see Yoongi's reaction, but he seemed unfazed, staring at the man intensely.

"Sorry that he's not here right now. But I'll let him know to call you when he gets back," he said with a smile and nod.

"Wait—" But before I could ask any more or even thank him, the gate was closed.

"Huh, maybe I was just worried for nothing," I mumbled, lost in thought, as I mindlessly began walking towards the car. It wasn't until I reached for the door handle that I noticed Yoongi wasn't behind me. I turned around to see him kneeling near the apartment gate as if he were fiddling with something near the rocks on the ground.

I watched curiously but quickly got into the car the moment he got up. Sitting with crossed arms, I zoned off into nothingness, but my mind was far from empty.

"What were you doing back there?" I questioned as Yoongi got into the car.

"Nothing. Just dropped something," he responded while starting up the engine. I was taken aback by the curt response.

"Sure took you a long time to pick it up." I finally looked at him, but his eyes were on the road. He must've felt my stare digging into him because, after a few seconds, he finally sighed.

"Fine. Something seemed off about the guy. I'm just taking some precautions."

"Like?" I pushed for more details. He hesitated to answer.

"I didn't see any security cameras, so I bugged the entrance. Just a temporary measure until someone can come keep watch."

I couldn't help but notice that Yoongi seemed annoyed. Does he have a problem with me?

"So what, were you planning not to tell me?"

"Look, just drop it, okay? I didn't want to worry you. That's all."

My mouth gaped open at the tone of his voice. Okay, so he's definitely annoyed.

But why? If anything, I'm the one who should be mad. I turned away from him in frustration. With Seokjin's situation seemingly resolved, for the time being, there was nothing left to distract me from the anger piling up from this morning.

And the rest of the drive home felt like a ticking time bomb, the pent-up aggression ready to explode at any second.

━ ⋆⋅✯⋅⋆ ━

"Isn't there anything you have to say to me?" I waited the entire ride for any mention of this morning's events, but, the moment we stepped into the house, Yoongi began walking away like nothing happened.

He exhaled sharply before facing me.

"Soomi, I don't want to start anything right now."

"How about apologizing for looking at my messages?" I blurted out. "And for even thinking that I'd go back to Taehyung. Like, what do you take me for exactly? Do you think I'm easy or something?"

"No, what?" Though just seconds ago Yoongi was ready to leave, he suddenly got very defensive. "For the record, you're the one who's been texting him a lot recently. Not my fault I misunderstood Misa's loudmouth. Anyone would've thought what I did. Besides, I was just trying to look out for you."

"I haven't had time to even think about Taehyung! Hell, if you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't even have remembered his text after worrying 'bout Seokjin all day."

"And who's fault is that? I could've helped you, but you didn't say a word to me! In fact, it seems like you never tell me a goddamn thing." And there it was, the thing that had been getting Yoongi so worked up. I finally seemed to have struck a nerve, and suddenly everything started making a bit more sense. But that didn't mean I liked what he was suggesting.

"Well, excuse me for being so worried 'bout how tired you seemed that I didn't want to make it worse! Okay? You're not the only one who wants to keep things to themselves and not burden other people."

"But you can't be doing that! How many times do we need to have this conversation until you realize you need to let me do my job. I'm supposed to be the one looking out for you."

"Well, your oh-so-important job is basically done anyway. So you can quit acting like you care."

And there it was. It was as if we reached the eye of the storm, a moment of stillness after weathering through the escalating turbulence. Suddenly, neither of us had anything to say, and I finally realized that I hadn't been using today to distract myself from being angry.

The whole time I had been trying to distract myself from this very realization. The realization that I was sad about Yoongi leaving. The realization that I didn't want things to go back to the way they once were.

The realization that I just hated how it always seemed to be about the job with Yoongi.

Flight finally kicked in after exhausting the fight response, and I made my way to my room. But it seemed like Yoongi wasn't done talking this time.

"Soomi, what's going on—"

"You're really unfair. You know that?" I turned around to see him following me in. "You know how I feel about you. So how could you just ask me not to worry about you? How could you even imagine that I'd go back to Taehyung when, just the other day, I confessed to you. Or did you already forget?"

"No, of course I didn't forget." Yoongi's voice softened, and it just made me hate the whole situation even more. Him seeming to care always made things more difficult.

"So what then? Is all of this just about your job? Or is this just some amusing game to you?"

"You still don't get it, do you? This stupid assignment is the whole problem. And it's just painful that you don't see it, that I wasn't supposed to let you see it."

"Just help me out here, Yoongi. What can't I see, huh?" At this point, I felt mentally exhausted. I could've been spewing complete nonsense, and I wouldn't have known.

"That I care about you." My heart began beating faster as Yoongi closed the distance between us. "That my need to protect you has nothing to do with the job anymore, but I couldn't let you know that." My expression softened further, never realizing these were the extents he went to. "That I don't want you back with Taehyung out of jealousy, but I've been using the job as an excuse. That..."

He paused just centimeters away, his eyes growing darker.

"That I want you so bad it hurts, and if it weren't for this damn assignment, I'd have you up against this wall, and I would make you mine."

I felt my back lightly touch the wall, and I looked up at him with parted lips. It was like my mind had drawn a blank for the last few minutes and the realization of our current position finally settled in.

"We can't..."

But in this silence, with both our hearts beating loudly out our chests, Yoongi's hand barely grazing the back of my neck, my eyes glued to his lips, we both knew we were thinking the same thing.

The job's as good as done.

Yoongi's lips were suddenly on mine, my back now fully pressed against the wall from the impact. My arms snaked around his neck, hand running through his hair as I deepened the kiss. My clothes started lifting from the friction, and Yoongi impatiently bunched up the fabric in one hand, his fingers now exploring the bare skin underneath.

My brain still hadn't processed what exactly was going on. Everything leading up to this felt like it played out in two times speed, and now the world suddenly slowed down. It all felt surreal, but I had thrown any ounces of reality, of reason, of caution, out the window.

And instead, I let Yoongi's presence consume my entire being and take over all my senses. His lips, his touch, his scent, his breath. It all became so distracting that I almost missed the vibrations coming from my back pocket. But the excessive onslaught of buzzes and rings grew increasingly harder to ignore.

Yoongi's hand glided down my back before settling in my jean pockets, the weight of my phone soon gone and replaced by the warmth of his touch.

I broke away from the kiss after hearing a thud across the room, wondering if the impact damaged my phone. But I was reassured by its continued buzzing in the distance, and my attention couldn't stay off of Yoongi for long.

A breathy gasp escaped my lips as he suddenly gripped my thighs and lifted me up against the wall. I instinctively wrapped my legs around him, and seconds later, he was making his way towards the bed.

He lowered me onto the mattress as the sound of messages pouring in rang faintly in my ear. There was a brief moment where we simply stared at each other, wordlessly speaking through our expressions, through some intangible feeling in the air. The realization dawned on us that this was actually happening.

And just like that, I didn't give another thought to my phone the rest of the night.

——
{a/n}
Wow it's been over a month. Sorry about the long wait TT

I know this chapter probably isn't the best because of lack of time, but I hope y'all still enjoyed the longer chapter and story progression! I'll try to get chapters out every 2 weeks moving forward, but check my bio for updates!