Taehyung walked into the office, his black briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. "Good morning, Seolhyun. Did Mark call? I told him to call when he would have the documents ready."

"Good morning, Mr. Kim. No, he didn't call. Do you want me to call him?"

"No, I have a new case starting from today, anyway, so leave it to him for now."

"New case?"

"Yes, Jeon Jeongguk, nineteen years old, caught when he broke into an ice cream store with his friends. It's a mess, honestly." Taehyung sighed as he placed his coffee on the desk. He pulled a copy of the boy's case files out of his briefcase and left it there so she could write down his information.

"He's pretty." The words escaped the girl's mouth thoughtlessly as she examined his picture.

"He's a minor," Taehyung stated, his tone dour and his expression darkening a bit.

A shudder crawled down Seolhyun's spine the moment she detected his sharp look. She hung her head right away and fumbled to grab a pen to write Jeongguk's information.

Taehyung sighed once again, rolling his eyes faintly as he snatched his coffee and headed to his office. This girl can't control her hormones sometimes. He snorted at his thoughts with a couple of shakes of his head and plumped down on his chair.

He took the binder with Jeongguk's case files in his hands and read it thoroughly this time since his mind was too tired and hazy yesterday to concentrate fully. Then, he started reading the entire report of the crime written by the officer who was in charge.

"They were caught while trying to run away but we surrounded them" . . . "In the car with Jeon Jeongguk and Lee Dohyun, there was a number mentioned by Jeon Jeongguk. He said 'two' and the other seemed to know what he was talking about. It must be some sort of code. We don't know what it means until now" . . .

. . . "Jeon Jeongguk's BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) was 0.03% although he didn't seem affected by it" . . . "Three bottles of beer were found in his bag" . . . "Kang Saejun was hit with a bottle of beer. Small pieces of glass were all over his body, and the scars on his skull also led us to this assumption" . . .

. . . "Jeon Jeongguk seemed triggered when the following question was given: Don't you feel just a tiny bit remorse for hurting your family with your actions? Because you are, kid. He answered with the following: If they don't feel bad then why the f*** should I?" . . .

Taehyung rubbed his chin in thought as he reread the last sentence of the paragraph. If they don't feel bad then why the fuck should I? He questioned in his head over and over again, a strange feeling washing over him. He couldn't understand what it meant no matter how much he analyzed it.

. . . "The owner of the store stated that he didn't see anything that happened outside. With no CCTV, we can't know who assaulted Kang Saejun. The fingerprints we collected from the bottle were mixed, which means all four boys had touched it" . . .

. . . "Kang Saejun was agitated in the moment of the assault and couldn't remember the one who hit him. He stated the following; everything happened so fast. I extended my arms, ready to restrain the kid, but then I blacked out" . . .

. . . "Lee Dohyun was quite restless as he was being interrogated, especially when the questions were about Jeon Jeongguk. He remained silent throughout the interrogation" . . . "Min Yoongi was calm and remained silent as well" . . . "Park Jimin had trouble making eye contact, but remained silent until the end" . . .

Once Taehyung finished reading the full report, he closed the binder and reclined in his seat. He reached for his coffee, took a small sip, and stared at the ceiling as his thoughts rampaged in his head. There are a lot of things missing. Who hit Kang Saejun? Why was that Dohyun kid so restless while he was questioned about Jeongguk? What happened after the assault?

A high-pitched giggle jolted him out of his overthinking mode, and with brows firmly creased, he headed towards the rather annoying sound to inspect.

🥀

Jeongguk was escorted by an officer to Kim Taehyung's office. He had spent two nights in prison, and fuck, he hated every moment of it. He couldn't even drink his banana milk in there for fuck's sake.

Once they arrived, the officer pushed him inside and returned to the lobby. Jeongguk tsked, vexation covering his features as he straightened his posture and dusted his clothes. The muscles in his face eased when his eyes landed on the seemingly young and pretty girl sitting at the desk.

That dude's secretary is hot, damn. He wore a charming smirk as he approached her and leaned against the desk, crouching a bit to come to the same eye level with the girl, who was gaping at him with wide surprised eyes.

"Why is a pretty girl like you hiding in here? You should be a model, let the world worship you."

His remark — as cheesy as it was — evoked a squeaky giggle from her. She glanced away, timid, as she played with her hair and flicked it off her shoulder, biting her lower lip. "You're kind of bold."

"I can be anything you want," he said, voice deep and alluring — a voice he knew no one could resist.

Jeongguk's smirk faltered once he heard a door opening, and instead, annoyance crept over his traits. Tongue poking the inside of his cheek, he spun around and glared at the one who interrupted him while he was hitting on the hot secretary.

His clenched jaw went slack upon seeing a blonde man stand there, looking hot as fuck, as he thought at that moment. The eye contact with that beautiful creature brought a bizarre feeling to his stomach, as if it fluttered. His secretary is hot, but damn, he's so much hotter.

"If you wanted to pick up girls, you could just go to a club. Oh, but wait, you're a minor." A taunting smile flashed up onto Taehyung's face, which was replaced by a strict expression just seconds later. "Let's get to work. I'm a busy man."

Jeongguk was quite amused by his behavior; it would be a lie if he said it didn't turn him on a bit. He didn't spare the secretary another glance and scuttled behind the gorgeous and apparently busy man. Once he closed the door behind him, he trod to the desk and took his seat in front of him.

Taehyung checked some documents for a short while and sat more comfortably on his chair as he laid his eyes on him. "Let's forget what happened and never let it happen again."

Suddenly, a kind smile sprawled on his lips, and Jeongguk had to double-check to believe what he was seeing. How did he manage to look like he was going to murder him a moment ago, and then he was giving him the prettiest and most innocent smile Jeongguk had ever seen?

"Kim Taehyung." He extended his hand for a handshake, which Jeongguk accepted a few seconds later.

"Jeon Jeongguk." He tightened his grasp, wanting to show his dominance, and the corner of his lips tipped up once he espied Taehyung's smile fading.

The lawyer cleared his throat and pulled his hand away, awkward. "So Jeongguk, from now on, we're a team. In order for me to help you, you have to tell me everything that happened, okay?"

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course you can. I'm your lawyer."

"But what if you're working for the cops and you want me in jail?"

Confusion settled on Taehyung's face as he tilted his head to the side. "It doesn't really work this way."

"Oh. How would I know?" He shrugged an idle shoulder, his eyes wandering around the cozy, simply decorated office.

"With common sense?" he sneered in a fake sweet tone that drew Jeongguk's attention back to him.

"If you're being like this, can I make snide comments too?" He tugged his chair closer and propped his elbows against the desk, an artful smile sweeping over his face.

Taehyung copied his actions and smirk. "No. And there are a lot of reasons why you shouldn't. Do you want to hear them?"

"Not really interested, but I think you'll do it, anyway. You're a lawyer after all. You guys like to talk, right?"

"We don't like to talk. We like keeping things in order and putting criminals in jail where they belong. Do you belong there?" Taehyung provoked, although unsure about why he was acting this way to a kid. For some reason, he couldn't help it.

The younger huffed as he reclined, crossing one leg over the other. "No. And neither do my friends."

"Great, so let's get started, hmm? I have four other cases to deal with."

"Don't hurry through my case and do a sloppy job. I don't want to end up in jail," Jeongguk said, his tone low and grave, something that caught the older's attention.

In that moment, Jeongguk seemed like a kid who was walking on a wrong path and making all kinds of bad decisions. These kinds of cases were always the hardest ones for Taehyung.

"I won't. I don't like losing. I'll try my best to get you out of this, but you have to be honest with me, okay?" He redirected his gaze to his files once Jeongguk gave him a hesitant nod. "So, you still haven't talked to the police I suppose."

"Yes. I didn't have a lawyer to tell me what I'm supposed to say or not, now did I?"

"Oh, are you watching a lot of movies?"

"No, I'm just smart."

"You think breaking into a place and stealing is smart?"

"If you don't get caught, yes," he snickered.

"Guess you aren't smart enough then," Taehyung spat, flicking through the pages, but halted as a wave of regret hit him. "You know what, I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so mean." His remorse shined through his apologetic expression.

"No, you just do your thing. It's quite entertaining to see you try dominating our conversation, really." The younger couldn't rein back the derisive chuckle that escaped him.

"On the other hand, I'm not that sorry," he muttered, earning another chortle from Jeongguk that only festered his aggravation. "Anyway"—he drew in a pacifying breath and deflated his lungs with a long sigh—"tell me what happened. From the beginning."

"We were walking and we ran out of beers. We wanted beers. We saw that store and broke in, ate some ice cream since we were there, barely managed to drink our beer, and then, an old man appeared. We got out and tried to run away, but the cops caught us."

Taehyung waited for the boy to continue or add something, but it puzzled him when he didn't. Raising his brows and leaning back in his seat, he nodded his head once, silently telling him to resume, but Jeongguk just shrugged. "Continue."

"That's all."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"You said you'll tell me the truth."

"And I did."

"You didn't even mention the man who was found bleeding in front of the store."

There was a moment of silence as their gazes remained locked. "I don't know anything about that."

"Jeongguk." He groaned in stark frustration. "One of you smashed a bottle of beer on his head. You know who it was, so why don't you just tell me? To save me some trouble and help me keep my temper at a manageable level, hmm?" Silence prevailed over them once again as he waited for the boy to speak. "Did you do it?"

"I didn't do it."

"Then who did it?"

"I told you I don't know. I was drunk, I don't remember." Jeongguk tossed his gaze elsewhere with his murmuring reply.

"Your BAC was 0.03% and the officer who wrote the report stated that you didn't seem affected by it."

"Okay, what the fuck is BAC and what does 0.03% mean?"

"Language!" he exclaimed, his eyes bulging in shock by his audacity.

"Jeez, chill bro." The younger slunk a little lower in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.

"No bro, no curses, okay? I'm seven years older than you. Show some respect, hmm?"

"Seven years? I could swear you're twenty-two or something. You look so young, Mr. Lawyer," he teased shamelessly, paying no mind to his exasperated expression.

"Can you just focus for a minute?"

"Fine!"

"Okay. BAC is Blood Alcohol Content, which means the alcohol level one has in their blood, and 0.03% means you weren't drunk enough to not remember what happened." Taehyung studied his demeanor while he talked, noticing his discomfort with ease.

"Can you please tell me who hit the man? You won't get in trouble if you did it. I won't let you, okay? I just need to know what happened. If you did it and one of your friends gives you away, not because they're unfaithful but because the officers have their way of breaking their defense, you will get in trouble and I won't be able to help you then."

Jeongguk cracked his knuckles one by one, gaze lowered and vacant. "I didn't do it."

"Then who did it?"

"I don't know."

A sigh exploded out of Taehyung's mouth, and he sank his teeth into his bottom lip, striving to restrain his frustration. This will be a lot harder than I thought.

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