Jungkook steps into the cavernous warehouse, the coppery tang of blood immediately filling his nostrils. Not a comforting scent, exactly, but a familiar one. The way dishsoap and laundry detergent is familiar to other people. Normal ones with day jobs and grocery lists and dogs who serve as housepets and not as guards who have been trained to rip someone's testicles off. He wonders what the average citizen's reaction would be if they ever came across a sight like the one Jungkook is currently walking up to. Projectile vomiting would just be the start.
Jungkook stops just at the edge of the pool of blood staining the concrete floor, chunks of gore and brain matter leaking from what used to be a man's head but what now resembles a smashed melon. He looks down at the mess with his hands shoved in his pockets, as if he's observing an ugly, faded carpet or a floor that needs repairing.
"Well," he says to Yoongi, standing on the other side of the blood pool. "Did he talk?"
"Not much," Yoongi says casually, wiping his hands on a rag. "Didn't tell me anything that we don't already know. 'He's fled the country, no one knows where he is.' Shit like that."
Jungkook studies the body, limbs twisted at odd angles, one blank dead eye staring up at him; the other one has been gouged out. He looks up at Yoongi. "Were you…thorough?"
Yoongi's jaw tightens, still concentrating on cleaning his hands with the rag. "Do you have any reason to think I wouldn't be?"
"That's not an answer."
Yoongi sighs, tossing the rag down, finally lifting his head to meet Jungkook's gaze. "I started with the hammer," he says, "breaking every bone in his hands and then his feet, asking him if he knew anything. He wasn't providing me with any useful information so I started in on his arms and his legs. He continued to deny any knowledge of his whereabouts, even when I scooped out his eyeball and extracted his teeth. At that point, he was pretty useless, so I put him out of his misery." His face is a careful mask of indifference as he stares across the body at Jungkook. "Does that sound thorough enough to you, boss?"
"It does but it seems we've hit yet another dead end. It makes me wonder about your commitment to finding him."
"Are you questioning my loyalty?" The unspoken word hovers in the air between them.
Again?
"I need to be thorough in my own way, Yoongi," Jungkook says. "You know that."
"Understood," Yoongi says stiffly. "We'll keep looking. We'll find him."
"Hmm." Jungkook jerks his head at the body. "Get a cleanup crew in here to take care of this mess."
He starts to walk away but then his phone buzzes, exactly at the same time that Yoongi's does and he takes it out of his pocket, checking the screen
>dove @ the BirdCage tonight<
He rolls his eyes, going to slip his phone back in his pocket when it buzzes again, displaying a message that only contains a single letter.
>M<
"A male dove?" Yoongi says, frowning at his own screen. "That's unusual."
"Not so unusual," Jungkook says indifferently, putting his phone away. "There was one only last year. Remember?"
Yoongi's eyes flick up to Jungkook, accusation passing over his face for a split second before he reels it back in. "Yeah, I remember," he says gruffly. "It's just women are usually more common for that sort of thing."
Jungkook doesn't respond to that, just heads out of the warehouse and back to the Lincoln Continental waiting outside in the darkness. Jin, who's been leaning against the car smoking a cigarette, quickly stubs it out as he sees Jungkook approach, opening the back door for him and Yoongi.
Jungkook stares out the window as Jin drives them out of the docks and back into downtown Seoul, vaguely listening to Yoongi's conversation to the gang member who's charged with taking care of the body dumps. Yet another body dumped into yet another river. And yet another colossal fucking waste of his time.
Yoongi hangs up his phone, leather creaking as he shifts on his seat. "You think we should go check it out at the Bird Cage? Make sure everything's…legitimate?"
Jungkook snorts. "You just want to go see that little whore that you're so fond of." He taps his fingers against his knee, not looking at him. "And I believe I told you to stay away from him."
"I'll kill whoever you want me to, boss," Yoongi says in a long-suffering voice. "But it'll be a cold day in hell before I allow you to tell me which whore I can fuck."
"Oh, so he's just a whore now, is he?" Jungkook says, casting a sideways glance at him. "That's funny, I could have sworn you two were on a first-name basis. What was his name again, Yoongi? Wasn't it something like Park Jim－"
"Never mind what his name is," Yoongi says harshly. Jungkook merely looks at him, waiting patiently and Yoongi relents. "That's not the reason I want to go there. With a male dove at the Cage, things might get heated if we don't show our faces, let them know that things are still under our control. We don't need to deal with a petty gang war breaking out over some new whore. We've got enough problems to deal with as it is." He runs his hands down the front of his jacket, straightening his lapels. "And while we're there, I can try and get some new leads. I bet you anything there's going to be a leader or representative from each group bidding on that dove tonight."
"So the reason you want to go there is to gather information? Nothing else?"
Yoongi gives him a curt nod. "And to check on Hobi. Make sure he hasn't done anything that goes against our code when he acquired this new dove."
Jungkook considers Yoongi, pursing his lips but Yoongi simply looks back at him, his expression neutral.
"Jin," Jungkook calls to the front seat, his eyes still on Yoongi. "Take us to the Cage."
"Sure thing, boss.
In another room at the Bird Cage, Yoongi and Jimin lie entwined together in bed, naked and close, their skin glistening with the afterglow of sex. Yoongi stares into Jimin's eyes, feeling that familiar warmth expand in his chest. A warmth that will turn into a terrible, searing ache by tomorrow morning.
"I missed you," Jimin whispers, lacing their fingers together, snuggling even closer.
"Missed you too, Chim," Yoongi says softly. He brings Jimin's hand up to his mouth, kissing his palm. "I always miss you."
"Me too." Jimin glances away from him, his bottom lip trembling and he sniffles.
"Oh, baby, don't…please don't…"
"It's just I can't stand it sometimes, Yoongi," Jimin says, his voice choked with tears. "I can't stand being apart from you, having to stay here." He swipes a hand across his eyes, his breath hitching. "When are you going to walk away from him? When is he going to let you leave?"
"I told you, baby, I can't leave right now. There's…something I need to take care of. Something that I'm responsible for and Jungkook－"
"He's evil," Jimin says darkly. "All he does is use you, he doesn't care about you, he doesn't care about anybody, he－"
"Jimin." Yoongi says his name gently, softly, but there is still a note of warning in his voice.
Jimin huffs. "Whatever. I know you can't tell me the reason but that doesn't mean I can't still hate him." He looks into Yoongi's eyes, his beautiful face shaded with anger. "And you should hate him too."
Yoongi doesn't say anything, just pulls Jimin more tightly into his arms, kissing his forehead. He feels like whenever he's holding Jimin, he's holding the only piece of his heart that's still left to him.