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❝ the verdict is just guilty. ❞
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IT WAS ON THE NEWS all that next morning. he thought he would be concerned, but taehyung really couldn't help but smile a little as he heard the whispers and quiet murmur of televisions throughout the lobby as he walked through it as usual.

she was just sitting there, in the same spot with the same healthy breakfast and small cup of tea beside her. seohyun was a very predictable person. jungkook took his time explaining this, she was easy to manipulate and easy to read. it wasn't that hard to get what you wanted. all it took was a subtle jab from jina last night to make her feel a little ordinary.

seohyun has her engagement ring on her hand that morning after accusing her boyfriend from not treating her well enough. it was toxic, and tragic for sunwoo, but right now it's what's they needed. 

"hey, you're up early." taehyung smiled politely at the woman and took a seat across from her.

she nodded and set the newspaper down, casually holding her hands on her laps in a very display-like way. "the eggs benedict is to die for." she took another bite of the food after speaking, glancing up at the brunette and raising an eyebrow.

"oh, i was just looking for this lady from last night." taehyung remembered his lines he practiced that morning in jungkooks kitchen. "she had on a navy blue dress, black hair and pretty hands." he started to describe jinas outfit from the night before, noticing how visibly uncomfortable the lady across from him became. "my father wants a photo with me and a woman holding one of the invitations for the website. good press and stuff."

"i'll take it." seohyun offered, any chance to stick her face into some press or hotel concept was right up her alley. jungkook knew she would offer.

"wow that is so helpful." taehyung smiled innocently and got up to sit beside her. he pulled out his phone and one of the invitations form inside his jacket pocket. the diamond on her ring finger stood out like a sore thumb, all big and shiny and looking identical to the l'incomparable necklace that's plastered on every news station.

a man passing by was nice enough to take their photo, and only leaving once seohyun approved it. taehyung noticed how she zoomed in to make sure her ring was being shown off. it was must have been nice, knowing very well she was set financially for life now that she was marrying into it. the thought brought a bad taste into his mouth, but he smiled anyways and bit his goodbyes.

"disgusting." he mumbled, shoving the invitation back into his pocket as he left the hotel and skipped across the road. jungkooks car was parked there, waiting for him as usual and taehyung smiled in habit.

what wasn't normal was the window rolling down to only reveal a smiling jimin. "get in kid!" he shouted, unlocking the door and waiting for him to get in quickly.

"where's kookie?"

"did you get the photo?" jimin asked, hands already out for the brunettes phone to be placed in his palm.

taehyung just nodded and gave his phone to his friend. they sat in silence for a second, one boy a little bummed while the other was busy sending the photo to a certain ravenette. "jungkook got picked up by the police." he said it so casually. as if it was nothing.

"what!" taehyung couldn't help but scream a little. this wasn't suppose to happen, they were suppose to be the winners, they were suppose to run away and be happy tougher. none of their next plans involved police officers or any type of consequences.

the car pulled out into the street finally, jimin was still calm as ever despite the fact that his best friend was currently in custody. "relax tae, he expected this to happen." he said.

none of it made sense to the boy, how could this just be considered okay? jungkook technically didn't do anything. "he won't get in trouble," jimin started to explain, "he was with you the whole night with several witnesses. it's just based on his previous, actions and now he's just being questioned."

"he won't tell them anything right?" taehyung asked. his mind was still going way too fast, but a part of him was starting to calm down. it only helped that jimin was super relaxed right now.

"he will tell him exactly what he wants them to think." the shorter boy said, a grin was on his face as he slipped on a pair of new sunglasses, "and that's exactly what the photo was for."

it came right in time. a subtle vibration in his back pocket that had him grinning to himself.

"what's so funny jeon?" donghyun asked. he was wearing his usual uniform now, badge and all paired with a bored expression. they've been like this too many times before.

"you seem lost." was all he said. the time wasted this morning with pointless questions was only just now beginning to get on his nerves, but the text made all that go away.

donghyun didnt appreciate the remark. "i have no leads on the robbery from last night." so that's what his frustration was. "and the only person that should be my main suspect, is the only person with a solid alibi the entire night."

this was the amusing part. law officials never truly had the intelligence to really figure out a puzzle when most of the answers were given. it wasn't that hard to blame jungkook for what happened, it was the smarts needed to figure out how he did it that everyone seemed to lack — and that's what made him happiest.

"look," donghyun knew he wasn't getting anywhere, jungkook wasn't going to speak, he was too smart for that. "i know you didn't do it. but i doubt you're clueless."

jungkook slipped his phone from his pocket and glanced down at the device. if the circumstances were slightly different, he'd be having a crisis seeing those two people together in one pic, then just zooming in on taehyung and mentally complimenting the boy on how good he looked. right now though, he had a task. "i can offer a direction." he said.

"i'm listening." donghyun said.

"don't listen, just look." jungkook set the phone on the metal interrogation table and turned it around to face the other man. of course his eyebrows raised and a sigh left his lips, just mutter something about making a call and getting someone else to release him.

jungkook chuckled and took his phone back, this may have been one of the riskier job. that tended to happen when anyone got personally involved in a plan. what was harder would have been ignoring everything inside him screaming at him to follow this through. sometimes there was a doubt, it came at moment, like now as he got released from the room and started to walk down the hall. that doubt came with his lonely thoughts, nothing there to stop them. they didn't last, because all it took was a single mention of the boys name or a look, and jungkook was done for. it was a downward spiral whenever taehyung entered his mind, and the emotions were a storm that swirled inside him driving him on to keep the boy close and never let go.

that same feeling came as he walked out of the police station, only to see his car already there, and a pretty brunette running his way.

"jungkook!" taehyung gasped as they crashed into each other's embrace. it was a quick hug, and multiple quick kisses followed before they actually started to walk back to the car. "i panicked." he admitted.

the ravenette just chuckled and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, "i have everything under control, trust me."

"i do." he said, scooting closer and leaning his head on jungkooks shoulder.

it was quiet after that, no words other than the soft radio and occasional humming from jimin as he drove them all back to their home. things were starting to settle back down, slowly but surely, the speed didn't matter really, not to either of them as they sat together, nothing but time waiting for them to spend it being in each other's lives.

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