I don't know why the fuck I'm here. Jeongguk heaved a sigh as he stood in front of the multi-story building, holding a plastic bag in his hand. Shut up, you have to. He pushed his droopy shoulders back, another sound of frustration flying off his mouth, and finally stepped inside.

He arrived soon at the office and flirted with his secretary a bit, making her giggle with his witty, saucy remarks. Boredom struck him earlier than he thought, and he knocked on Taehyung's door, waiting until he heard a firm 'come in' from inside.

His jaw ached from keeping that pretended cordial smile on his lips for so long while he chatted with the older. Playing the nice guy was always one of his most hated things to do, but he did it amazingly well.

He bundled off minutes later and took the bus to go to Yoongi's house where his friends were already gathered.

"It was about time. Why are you so late?" Yoongi questioned, but a frown of bemusement swept over his face as he watched the boy storm towards Dohyun and grasp him by his shirt.

"Why the fuck did you do that?"

"W-what—what are y-you—"

"Stop that! You know what I mean."

"Okay, okay, let's just calm down, hmm?" Yoongi interrupted, grabbing his shoulder to pull him back.

Although Jeongguk could easily shove him away, he chose not to, and instead perched on the couch away from Dohyun, who was still gazing at him with fearful eyes. "Why did you take the blame?" His voice came out calmer than before.

"I panicked, okay? That lawyer was saying you confessed and I-I couldn't just stay silent."

"I told you to stay silent though, didn't I?"

"Jeongguk, you can't go down for this. I can't let that happen."

"I fucking did it though. Why shouldn't I go down for this if I was the one who did it?"

"Then why haven't you confessed?" Seokjin asked, a thread of irritation creeping into his voice as the younger's behavior left him disappointed.

"Because I don't want to go to jail."

"You should have thought about that before you did what you did. And not only you but all of you! What the hell were you thinking this time? If you just had stayed at my house that night nothing would have happened!"

"If it didn't happen that night, it would have happened another time. What's the point to start with the what-ifs? It has already happened," Jimin uttered, hesitant, even though he knew the older was right.

A heavy silence veiled them as all boys kept theis heads lowered until a question Jeongguk wanted to ask for a while now flashed up into his head. "Did that shithead talk to all of you?"

"You mean your lawyer?" Yoongi asked with a chuckle and received a firm nod. "Yes, and why are you so mean? He's just doing his job."

"Your lawyers didn't come to talk to me."

"Maybe he's more invested in the case. Don't be disrespectful," Seokjin warned.

"Whatever. I have to act nice, anyway." Jeongguk let his head fall back with the sigh that exploded out of his mouth.

"Why?" asked Dohyun.

And the curly-haired boy squeezed his eyes shut as he recalled yesterday's events.

"Look, baby—"

"Don't call me that," Jeongguk snarled. He had told her repeatedly not to call him by anything other than his name.

"Fine. I know we said we can afford a lawyer, but remember when our restaurant's kitchen caught on fire ten days ago? The damage is greater than we thought and we have to renovate the whole kitchen."

"So you're telling me that you don't have money to pay for my lawyer. Or more precisely that you're choosing to spend your money to renovate the whole kitchen instead of helping your son not to end up in jail."

"This is your wrongdoing, Jeongguk." Joongki's tone was strict. "You need a lawyer because you screwed up in the first place."

"Fuck off, seriously," Jeongguk spat out, his words filled with aggression, as he jolted out of his seat.

His father snatched his hair with one hand and fisted his shirt with the other. "I told you to not talk to me like this."

Jeongguk slapped his hands away and jostled him with enough force to make him stagger. "And I told you to not play the good father figure with me." He neared him with one big stride, his eyes burning with detestation. "You're just a piece of shit. Just like her." He pointed at Hyekyo before turning around. "Don't talk to my lawyer ever again. I'll figure something out."

He called Yuju once he went to his room, and she almost came running as it had been a while since the last time Jeongguk had invited her over. She also brought him cigarettes, just as he told her, and they spent an hour with Jeongguk relieving his stress and fury and Yuju getting the best sex she ever had.

"So you have to suck up to your lawyer so you can eventually ask him for a discount or something?" Yoongi snickered as the situation was rather amusing to him.

"It's not fucking funny, okay? I have to pretend to like him and flirt with him. Not that he's bad looking or something, but it's too much fucking work!"

"You don't actually like him though, right?" Dohyun asked warily.

"No, I don't."

"Jeongguk, my father can help you, you know that," Jimin chimed in.

"Your father hates my guts."

"True, but I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." Jeongguk leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, as his brows bumped together in thought. "I think... just flirting with him won't be enough."

"What does that mean?" Seokjin didn't like where this was going.

"Maybe I should get in his pants or something. Sex is if not everyone's, almost everyone's weak spot."

"You don't have to go overboard. I'm sure if you just explain your situation, he will understand. He seemed like a nice guy." Sadness settled in Jimin's eyes as he felt bad for the lawyer. Playing with an innocent man's feelings like that didn't seem right. "And I told you I'll ask my father to help you. Don't do something you'll regret again."

"Why would I regret it? On the contrary, I'll have fun, lots of fun." A wicked smile tugged at his lips as he thought his plan was perfect.

"I don't think you should do it," Dohyun said, his voice small and tentative.

"Shut up, Dohyun. You already screwed up everything. We said not to say anything about who hit the man and you fucking did," he growled while he took his cigarettes out of his pocket and placed one between his lips.

Dohyun's features contorted with hurt at his harsh words. He jumped to his feet a second later and dashed out of the house, ignoring his three friends who called out his name.

"Why are you such an asshole?" Seokjin snapped at him. "Can't you see that Dohyun likes you?"

His muscles paralyzed at the question, wide round eyes staring at him in a daze. "What?"

"Oh my God," Seokjin exclaimed. "How can you be so dense, seriously? Why do you think he left every time Yuju joined us at lunch? Why do you think he's following you around and always doing whatever you ask him to do? Why do you think he took the blame for what you did? He has feelings for you!"

The cigarette between his fingers was long forgotten as his expression had petered into a shocked one. Was he really that dense he couldn't even see that Dohyun had feelings for him? The answer was apparently yes because he had no idea about it.

"And you led him on," Jimin voiced out falteringly. "You always flirt with him."

"To be honest, he's flirting with everyone," Yoongi cut in.

"How is that any better? The point is Dohyun has genuine feelings for you, and you played with them. Even if you didn't know, you did," Jimin continued.

Jeongguk crushed his cigarette into the ashtray, grabbed his jacket, and vanished from their sight. He was infuriated. But he didn't really know why. He had to deal with so many things, but he didn't want to do anything. He hated so many responsibilities. He hated how messed up his life was. He also had to start going to university from Monday again like all of them, and it was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

. . .

After eating lunch at home — if he could even call that home anymore — he retreated to his room to play games on his laptop.

He phoned Yuju a while later once again as nothing seemed to help his frustrated mood. He had to find another hookup, though, because honestly, she was getting a little boring. Always doing the same things, always being completely obedient, never taking initiatives.

Jeongguk could use a challenge. Someone to intrigue him, someone to spark a fire inside him that would keep him enthralled, excited, on a high he never experienced before.

Dohyun crossed his mind once he hung up the phone with Yuju. He could start something with him, but for some reason, after what his friends told him, he felt slightly bad for him. Dohyun was his friend since high school too, and he couldn't play him more than he already had. Even though he had no idea that his actions were leading him on and hurting him, he still felt bad.

After spending an hour with Yuju, he sent her off with a cold 'bye' and shut his bedroom door in her face like usual. To be honest, he didn't know why she kept coming back to him, but he wasn't complaining that much.

What surprised him was a call from his lawyer two hours later. He told him to come to his office if he was free and who was Jeongguk to deny? He could continue his plan, so meeting him twice that day was a very good chance he absolutely wouldn't miss. He also had to step up his game even more.

Finally arriving at his lawyer's office, he resumed his way to the door with furrowed brows since Seolhyun wasn't at her usual seat. He shrugged it off, and with Taehyung's permission to enter, he slid the door open. "Where's your cute secretary?"

Taehyung raised his weary eyes and laid them on the younger. "She went home. I don't make her work all day," he said, a tinge of irritation in his tone, as he massaged his temples.

"Why are you working all day then?" Jeongguk sat across from him, his gaze resting on his drained face.

"Because there isn't enough time to get all the work done in eight hours. I have five cases in my hands that are quite a pain in the—yeah. With yours being on the top." Taehyung's sleep-deprived mind couldn't recall the conversation he had with his friends at that moment, nor his new rules which were: one, be nice to him. Two, don't provoke him.

And he broke both of them the very moment he set his eyes on him.

Jeongguk, remaining mellow despite his peeved tone, hummed as he slanted forward. "I think you're a bit sensitive because you're tired. Are you getting enough sleep?"

The inquiry had Taehyung gaping at him in utter surprise. Why the hell was he so nice to him? Why didn't he respond with a snide comment or tauntingly, something to match his cocky attitude? Instead, he could sense sincere concern in his voice. "Not really, but it's okay."

"It's not okay. If you're sleep-deprived, your brain can't function properly and you get tired faster. I thought you were smart, Mr. Kim."

His astonishment skyrocketed then, eyes growing bigger, jaw going slack, but he composed himself as fast as he could. "Did you just call me Mr. Kim?"

"That's your surname, right?"

"Yes, it is, but you... Anyway." He decided to leave it since he didn't want the younger to start calling him Mr. Lawyer again. "And I am smart. I broke your code. With a little help."

"You did? I'm amazed, really." A grin spread over his lips with a hint of admiration. "So what does two mean?"

"It means stay silent. You told Dohyun to stay silent, right?"

"Yes."

"But why only to him? I mean, why did only the two of you stay silent until I told you to confess?"

The younger directed his gaze to the desk in front of him, rhythmically brushing his knuckle against the edge. "Dohyun is a bit... should I say sensitive? He can't control his emotions very well, so we often need to remind him to stay silent when we do things like these and especially if we're caught. Although we had never been caught until three days ago. And I didn't confess because I didn't have a lawyer."

"He doesn't seem like the guy who enjoys breaking into places and stealing, though. Honestly, none of you do. Why are you doing this?" Taehyung spoke in a soft tone, not wanting to trigger him.

But Jeongguk's subdued tapping halted at once as his body grew rigid. "Everyone has their reasons for doing what they're doing. The reason isn't important."

"The reason is the most important," Taehyung argued back, leaning against the desk, as worry sparkled in his eyes. "If you find and fix the source of your trigger, you'll fix your trigger as well."

Jeongguk sensed anger simmer inside him for some reason — so intense it stirred him to look askance at him despite his efforts to constrict it. "I thought you were a lawyer. I didn't know you were a shrink too." He scrutinized as the older nibbled his bottom lip and released a nasal sigh. "What?"

"I didn't say anything."

"You were biting your lip. When you do that, you want to say something."

"Who plays the shrink now?"

Jeongguk's stony expression eased with the mild chuckle that fell from his lips at his lighthearted question. "Fair enough."

"And this is only the third time we see each other. How can you even notice that?"

"It's not that hard if you're observant. And I am, especially when the thing or person I observe interests me."

The statement was out there and it had been made with great confidence and a smidgen of incitement, catching the older completely off guard. "Interests you in what way?"

"You know, just excites me, exhilarates me, challenges me."

"I challenge you?"

"Is this the only thing you got from what I said?" His voice dropped to an alluring whisper as he folded his arms over the desk to get closer, but it still wasn't close enough to be satisfied.

They held eye contact in the silence that reigned over them, but Jeongguk was the first to break it as he allowed his eyes to wander on his handsome characteristics, taking in the surprise mixed with confusion that adorned them. He rose to his feet and trudged around the desk, his fingers skimming the wooden furniture as he made his way to him.

"No, no, stop," Taehyung said the moment he realized what he was doing and stretched a hand out before the younger got to pass the side of his desk. He stood up, agitated and tense. "What are you trying to do?"

Jeongguk, although mildly startled by his sudden jittery behavior, he inched closer, finally passing the desk and standing a step away from him.

Taehyung didn't know why he let him get so close; something about the younger's eyes had him hooked and rendered him unable to move.

"Nothing. I had an urge to see you up close for some reason."

"Jeongguk," he whispered, feeling as if there weren't enough oxygen in his lungs, something that caused his breath to quicken. "There are boundaries. You're too close right now."

The corner of Jeongguk's lips twitched involuntarily as he made yet another tiny step towards him. "Then why aren't you moving away?"

Taehyung couldn't utter another word at this point. He didn't know, nor could he comprehend what was happening. His breath hitched visibly when the younger trailed his fingers along his dress shirt's collar, and maybe he wasn't sure a moment ago, but he was now; Jeongguk definitely smirked this time.

"You don't want to move away," Jeongguk uttered as his eyes absorbed his surprisingly even more beautiful from up close traits, his fingertips still tracing the clothing. "You like this as much as I do." He slipped a finger into his dress shirt, feeling his chest blaze just by how smooth his skin was.

His bold action was like a wake-up call for Taehyung, leading him to grip his wrist into a bruising hold and fling it away. From perplexed and anxious, his eyes glinted with outrage as he shoved him, and this time, he managed to send him stumbling back. "Get out."

Sheer bafflement showed up on his face as everything seemed to be going rather well until a second ago. What happened now? He couldn't understand. "Mr. Kim—"

"I said get out." Taehyung's booming voice echoed in the office fiercely.

He stood there, gazing at him with a torrent of questions swirling in his eyes, and with no other choice, he accepted defeat for the time being and exited his office.

Taehyung collapsed onto the chair the moment he was left alone. What the fuck is wrong with you? He rested his elbows against the desk and grasped his hair, screwing his eyes shut. Why the hell don't you have even an ounce of self-control, Taehyung? A shaky whimper seeped through his lips when he squeezed his aching erection, created by none other than the nineteen-year-old Jeon Jeongguk.

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Oh my lord🥴🥵