Irene's POV-

"I heard you wanted to talk. So let's talk."

I purse my lips as I continue to look him over.
I underestimated him but with his actions in the short time he's been here it seems that he is used to that being the case.

He lets his pretty face and innocent smile hide his true intelligence.

I find myself admiring him for coming to me instead of waiting for me to find him. I even kind of enjoy his personality, and I fucking hate it.

I found out only a week ago that he owned a unit on my floor, now he is telling me he has had it for months without me noticing? Very impressive. It's a pity that he seems to be on the wrong side as well.

"Where did you grow up Taehyung?"

"You already know the answer to that question." He smirks.

"Awe, yes. The three of us are from Daegu. Well then, what took your family out of the city?"

He purses his lips as he tilts his head.

"My mother's sister lived in Busan and her husband had gotten a job promotion that required him to travel frequently for extended lengths of time.

"My aunt had twin two year olds and a four year old at the time and my mother wanted to be closer to her sister to help with my cousins. There was a branch of my fathers current company in Busan that he was able to transfer to so it all just sort of worked out."

"How old were you?"

"I was nine."

"That would be very hard, although I would imagine you didn't have trouble making friends did you." I smile sweetly.

He leans back on the couch as he looks up at the ceiling in thought before he shakes his head. "I wouldn't say I did, no."

"I wish I could have met a young Kim Taehyung. You were probably quite the little charmer." I chuckle before moving to my next question. "Were you focused more on quantity or quality of friends?"

"My first friend was Jiminie and we hit it off immediately. I didn't go or do anything without him. We're soulmates."

I stare at him blankly. Soulmates?

"Jiminie. You mean Park Jimin?" I ask to clarify.

He smiles brightly and nods in confirmation. The way his eyes light up at the name. The fact that this is the first genuine smile I have seen tonight.

"How is it that two 'soulmates' found room in their perfect little world to include another boy. Another friend."

He pauses as he continues to smile fondly.

"Children are so open minded aren't they? When they have something they like that makes them happy they want to share it. Want others to know about it. At least, that's how Chim and I were. We had so much fun and if we saw someone that wasn't having as much fun as us we wanted to bring them in so they would have fun too."

"At this point when you decided to spread happiness, how old were you?"

"Let's say..." He purses his lips. "Fourth grade."

"So you two saw a sad boy and wanted to cheer him up?"

"We saw a lot of kids not having as much fun as us and wanted them to have fun too. To 'cheer them up.'" He says in an almost mocking tone before continuing. "If you think I didn't have trouble making friends you should see Chim walk into a room full of strangers. Within thirty minutes everyone there would know his name and he would know all of theirs." He chuckles.

"Chim?"

"Oh sorry, Jimin. I call him Chim."

I nod. Chim. Interesting nickname.

"Is there a reason some kids would be more sad than others and need cheering up?"

He leans back on the couch again as he brings his arm to stretch across the backrest. He places a teasing smile on his lips as he tilts his head.

He knows what I'm doing. I am asking about him to inadvertently get him to confirm or disprove things I do or do not know about Jungkook.

"If you're going to ask about him just ask. I'm all for theatrics, but it would save us both a lot of time if we were direct with each other."

"Does that mean you'll answer all my questions?" I say with a hint of hope in my voice as I sit up a little straighter.

"I said we should be direct with each other. That doesn't mean being honest. With that in mind, I will give your questions an appropriate answer."

"How old was Jungkook when you met him?"

"He's a year younger than me, and I was ten."

"Was he sad when you met him?"

We can't find any record of his father and I'm wanting to know if he passed away and if so, when.

"Not necessarily. He was very introverted whereas Chim and I are extroverts. We saw him and he was quiet and usually by himself. And he hardly ever smiled. We wanted him to be happy and have fun so we kind of pulled him into our little duo whether he wanted it or not." He chuckles.

Cute story, but it doesn't really answer my question how I'd hoped.

Ugh, I'll just come out with it.

"Where is his father?"

"I've never asked and he's never brought it up."

I guess that could be the truth. He really could just not want to talk about it to his friends. Would someone else have talked about him?

"Did you lie to Yeri about not being close to him anymore?"

"I hadn't seen he or Chim for almost two years. When we came to Seoul to go to school he immediately started working for Yoongi, who he spent most of his time with. The only time I would really see him was at school or I would go to his apartment every once in a while."

That checks out. We had been following him and he hardly ever went to Jungkook's building unless it is to meet with Yeri until Jungkook woke up.

"But since he's been out of the hospital, he's been living with you?"

He immediately averts his gaze from me and I see his jaw clenched tightly as he takes a deep breath. He didn't like that question.

Then again, I wouldn't want to talk about my friends "suicide attempt" either.

"He sometimes stays with me. He needs to be with someone all day and with school I can't do that. So he stays with someone in the mornings usually until I can see him in the afternoons."

"Who does he stay with the most?"

I know it's Yoongi. It has to be.

"We rotate between a few of his friends. So it depends on the day."

Shit, I guess that could be true as well. We have seen Yoongi leave alone every once in a while, although he usually isn't gone long, and every so often one of their friends has come.

They could be going to Taehyung's place... I don't know though. I'll have to see if one of my people can confirm that.

I try to hide my smirk as I say. "I heard he had to be hospitalized. That's too bad. Is that why he has to be with someone? If it is, that must be hard to juggle with you and your friends' schedules."

"Yes. It's been very hard for all of us." He says flatly, his face going back to showing no emotion.

I pull my lips into a tight line as I observe him. He isn't going to give me any more on this topic. I can tell by the building tension as he stares blankly at me that he is about to shut down so I guess I'll move on.

"You are close to his mother, yes?"

"As close as friends can be with their friend's mother." He clicks his tongue before adding, "Parents are involved in their kids' lives and if you're a part of their kid's life they might get involved in yours to some extent as well."

"Did she ever have an affair?"

I watch his face closely to see if this question will invoke a shocked or puzzled expression from him but I get nothing but his stoic, cold stare.

"If you were a parent that had an affair in the past, years later had a son and your son had a best friend, would you disclose to your son's friend that you've had an affair?" He asks with cold eyes. "I know that I wouldn't dream of doing that. No matter how close I or my son was to said friend."

When he puts it like that, no. It's not very plausible. But Yeri did say that they seemed quite close that day at lunch. Like they were good friends.

"Did Jungkook's mother talk about his father?"

"We didn't really hang out at the Jeon house to learn about their family tree."

He's such a smart ass. He keeps making me second guess my questions. Making me think that they are stupid and maybe even unimportant but I know they are important!

I want to know who his family is because that might tell me why his personal files are all military restricted and need security clearance to access. I also want to know who the hell he knows, or is possibly related to, that could've ordered that goddamn letter.

"Did they ever have family members such as cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents come and stay with them?"

"Usually holidays at my house were when family visits happened so I had my own house guests to worry about. My mother would put me to work weeks in advanced to clean the house from top to bottom for the few days people would be staying with us. I didn't really have time to take attendance of the people the Jeon's did or did not have visit them."

He is getting on my last nerve. I wish he would just answer one question with a useful answer.

Maybe I will have to bring Hyuk in to help with this. Just to intimidate though, I can't have him beating him. Especially not with whatever is going on with he and Seulgi.

Let me just try one more time and then I'll call Hyuk in.

"Did Jungkook ever talk about his extended family with you?" I ask in an annoyed tone.

He is silent as his eyes move over my face slowly. A gentle grin starts to form on his lips before he says. "You are quite beautiful Joohyun."

My breath catches in my throat. Him saying that name, my given name, so casually catches me off guard.

People always say Irene is beautiful. So I try to present myself as Irene always. Polished, well spoken and sickly sweet to everyone because Joohyun was a plain girl from Daegu. She was bullied for her ears that stuck out too far, her not thin enough frame and too round of a face.

Irene hears she's beautiful so often that the words have almost lost their meaning, but Joohyun was never beautiful.

The statement really takes me by surprise.

I don't realize how long I've been sat silently staring down at my hands in my lap until I feel the couch dip next to me.

I turn to my left and see Taehyung looking at me with concern. I watch as his eyes search mine before I see them drift just below my eyes to my cheek.

While he's this close I seize the opportunity to admire his absolutely perfect features. He is angelic.

I feel him shift on the couch as he slowly brings his hand up to my face and I wait in anticipation for him to touch my cheek. Finally he makes contact and gently wipes away a stray tear.

I start to panic as I remember my makeup and the concern must have shown in my eyes as I hear him say in a low, gentle voice. "It's okay. Nothing got smudged or displaced."

My eyes drift around his face again and I'm really trying to fight the urge to look at his lips. He's just so beautiful.

"D-did you mean that? That Joohyun is beautiful?"

"Of course." He grins sweetly. "Irene would be nothing without Joohyun. In order for makeup to look it's best it should be put on someone already beautiful. An individual needs to have delicate features that makeup can enhance. You wear the makeup, it doesn't wear you. Irene wouldn't be beautiful if Joohyun wasn't stunning." He says as he gently caresses my cheek.

I can't help the smile that comes to my face. The first genuine smile I've had in a long time.

I keep my eyes fixed on him as I remove the blanket from my lap. "Would you still like to see the rest of my apartment?"

He smiles as he stands up quickly. I'm surprised when I see his hand appear in front of me. I look at it before moving my eyes to his with an eyebrow cocked.

He rolls his eyes teasingly. "My mother would kick my ass if I forgot my civility. Even more so if it happened with you Miss Joohyun."

I take his hand hesitantly and he pulls me up with minimal effort. Once I'm a bit more steady on my feet he lets go of my hand and turns towards the exit.

He's standing still but he has a look of anticipation on his face.I can't help but crack a smile at his behavior.

"Are you actually excited to see my apartment?"

He nods quickly before he clears his throat to regain his composure before gesturing for me to walk ahead. "Lead the way."

I walk past him slowly out of the room and I hear him ask over my shoulder. "Would I be able to request that we start from the painting in the entryway? It is gorgeous and I would love to get a closer look at it."

I giggle as I turn back to him. "Of course, it's only fitting to start from the front door and work in." I say before turning the corner to the entryway. "And I'm flattered that you like my painting."

I hear him let out a small gasp of surprise. Why does everyone seem so surprised when I tell them I painted it.

"You're the artist? The painting is amazing!"

"Thank you Taehyungie." I say quietly, feeling my cheeks heating up and hoping he doesn't see.

"You're very welcome Joohyun." He smiles sweetly.

He is extremely intelligent and again, I find myself admiring him.

Fuck, I think I do like him.