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„Why can‘t you just sit like a normal person for once in your life?“ Jin asked, one brow arched high. He wore a thin white blouse with a lace collar and big diamonds for buttons. Yoongi had bought him the item when he and Jimin had been in Paris not too long ago, following up on a deal they‘d made with Mathis Dubois.
It wasn't exactly easy to go on a work-trip with Jimin and especially not when it was somewhere like Paris. The silver haired man wanted to see the city, go sightseeing to the Eiffel Tower and kiss his boyfriend at the very top of it or visit the Louvre and fake admiration for Leonardo da Vinci's ‚Mona Lisa‘. He wanted to have breakfast at a cute-looking café, eat croissants and eclairs, go shopping in the world-famous Champs-Élysées and take plenty of photos in front of unique boutiques along rue Saint-Honoré to send to Taehyung and make him incredibly jealous.
In Jimin's mind Paris was the perfect destination for a romantic weekend trip and Yoongi would agree if Namjoon had not ordered them to actually get business done. There was no time for acting like tourists when they would land in the middle of the night, have a meeting with Dubois in the morning and need to spend the rest of the day hunting down people they never met before. They needed to find those strangers and make arrangements in the shortest amount of time, because not only would they have to deal with covering up their disappearance in twenty-four hours but they‘d also have to find a way to make the delivery of their organs as smooth as possible. In the end they had found a way to lure that couple into their trap the next day, Yoongi had done the job and Jimin had taken care of finding the perfect sized packages for their special Valentine’s delivery . While picking out ribbons for those packages in a fancy store, Yoongi had spotted that white blouse on a mannequin in the window and brought it back home for Jin as a souvenir.
This was the first time Jin wore it and Yoongi thought that it fit him and his new curly hairstyle perfectly. The way it flattered his wide shoulders and accentuated his long arms was mesmerizing. It also made the oldest sit even straighter than he usually did because he wanted to avoid wrinkles and he moved more elegantly too, if that was even possible.
Next to him Jungkook looked like he was still a bratty teenager, forced by his rich and evil stepmom to attend a gala dinner or something. He had his feet propped up on the leather seat in front of him, looking out the window while they drove down the dark streets. He ignored any comment made about his posture, even showed Jin his middle finger when the oldest tried to get his heavy black boots down from the empty seat.
„You're being childish.“ Jin told him while sighing heavily. „No, you're being uptight. Nobody can see us anyway.“, was Jungkook's answer. „We're here.“ Yoongi finally intervened, relieved that the bickering about nothing would come to an end.
The limousine parked in front of a building downtown. The streets were almost empty except for a few people standing outside of little stores and lively bars, having come out to smoke a cigarette or take a few deep breaths of fresh air. Neon signs flickered above their heads and the smell of alcohol and sweat lingered in the breeze. Every time someone opened the door to something, music and laughter rang out.
When Yoongi assisted Jin out of the limo like a true gentleman, the security guard in front of ‚Rippers‘ moved in surprise. He hadn't been informed that his bosses would show up tonight and was clearly taken aback seeing them now. That's why the tall man quickly bowed and then almost tripped over his own feet while stepping aside and opening the door for them.
Bangtan were the owners of many bars and clubs in this area, but they visited rarely and showing up without announcing it beforehand was pretty scary as it either meant that shit was going to go down or that they were in a particular mood.
Some of their bars were just regular hangout spots with luxurious interior designs and fancy but affordable drinks. Some were used for minor drug dealing as a side business and two were to camouflage their illegal gambling business in the back of those buildings. ‚Rippers‘ , though, was an old bar. It had been renovated and reconstructed multiple times and Jimin had made a lot of changes in the last year. He had been hands on about almost everything to the very last detail and everyone thought that he had done a wonderful job.
When Yoongi, Jin and JK entered, the first thing they saw was the big stage in the back. While renovating the place Jimin had envisioned dancers in burlesque outfits doing shows regularly and to convince the others of his marvelous idea, he and Hoseok had bought some costumes and done a choreographed dance or two. Since then Jungkook had pleaded a lot of times to get a private show again, but neither Jimin nor Hobi gave in as they liked to tease their maknae with just the memory of it.
Now the stage was empty, shows were only on three days of the week and Thursday wasn't one of them. „You guys remember when Hobi hyung and Jimin hyung did that little show - “ Jungkook started again but Yoongi interrupted him instantly. „Not now. We're here for a reason, remember?“ The youngest rolled his eyes, trying to focus with this image in his head of Hoseok's and Jimin's bodies draped in feathers and golden chains.
„Let's order some drinks, shall we?“ Jin was already targeting the bar, which was the second biggest eye-catching piece Rippers had to offer. The all-white look continued with a long marble counter and numerous white shelves behind it that took up the space of the whole wall. The barkeepers stood in front of a million different bottles, always busy mixing drinks and making a spectacle out of it, decorating extravagant looking glasses or wiping away the liquor someone had accidentally spilled.
When Jin reached the counter all eyes were on him. He clearly was a presence in the midst of all the other guests, who by now were all pretty much drunk and loving life. They acted like children having no inhibitions - slouching exhaustedly over the bar, leaning against tables and laughing loudly, yell-singing the lyrics of a song they didn't know the words to. When Jin took a stand though and cleared his throat, not only the barkeeper bowed in respect and looked at him with big round eyes. All the guests surrounding him suddenly stopped making any sounds, some even held their breath.
„Hello handsome. I‘d like a pink vodka lemonade, please.“ Since everyone was pretty much quiet now, Jin didn't need to raise his voice and addressed the barkeeper in a smooth, almost velvety tone. „Oh, and can we get an Ardbeg Single Malt Whisky too? Jungkookie, what do you want?“ Jungkook looked at Jin for a second before debating over a regular beer or Soju Blueberry. „Try an irish bomb.“ Yoongi advised after a while and Jungkook just shrugged his shoulders.
When they all got their drinks, Yoongi was the first to take a sip of his whisky. The hustle and bustle had continued, though everyone stole a look at them now and then and the staff was clearly on edge. Yoongi urged their maknae to drink up fast and then ordered him the same thing that he got. Jin played with the little pink umbrella while texting Namjoon that they had arrived and after he got a message back that they should ‚ just hurry and come back home‘ , he gathered the other two and led them behind the stage.
This morning Namjoon had gotten an anonymous tip from someone claiming that he worked at ‚Rippers‘. The letter did not contain any information about the details but the guard who had received it swore that he didn't know the man that had given it to him in passing on the street. It was addressed to RM and after opening and reading the content the guard had deemed it very much necessary to show his boss. The important part was that it said that someone had died at ‚Rippers‘. A boy to be exact. A sixteen year old kid. There was only little information about the cause of his death, but the letter advised Namjoon to look into it and question the staff. That's why Jin, Yoongi and Jungkook were now at the place in person and tried to get to the bottom of things.
Jungkook choked on his drink when he saw the man guarding the door behind the stage and immediately greeted him like an old friend while coughing hard and laughing wildly. „Long time no see, my friend.“ He finally said and Jin and Yoongi shared a look before smiling politely. „Yeah. It‘s been years.“ The man answered, hugging his apparently long lost friend. Jin cleared his throat again, wanting to be introduced to the stranger and Yoongi just awkwardly took another sip.
„Sorry, guys. That's Park Sang-Hoon. He worked here since I was a teenager, I didn't know you're still here. Thought you would have your own pet store by now.“ Jungkook started laughing again and Yoongi's expression changed from awkward to even more awkward. He could by no stretch of the imagination see that tall, bald, husky man in a fucking pet store, caring for the nutrition of guinea pigs or selling lice combs for dogs.
„That's still the dream. But money’s gotta flow, you know.“ Wow, so it wasn't even a joke.
„I‘m Kim Seokjin.“ Jin finally took matters into his own hands and introduced himself, earning a bow and a handshake from Sang-Hoon. „And I think it's a wonderful idea to open up a pet store. We should definitely talk about it after tonight. Maybe we could have brunch sometime and you could tell us all about it. I'm sure Bangtan would be delighted to make a man's dream come true.“ As always he took it a step too far in Yoongi's humble opinion, but he didn't say anything, just admired Jin's willingness to meet anyone's friends outside of the seven members. „What? I don't know what to say. That'd be great. Thank you.“ The man was as surprised as Yoongi, shook Jin's hand again and couldn't quite believe his luck. „But for now we need to go downstairs. It was a pleasure to meet you.“ Jin politely ended the conversation and pointed at the door behind Sang-Hoon. The beefy man nodded obediently and opened the thick door with a hefty push, Jungkook hugged him one last time with a comment about how it was great to see him again and then the three members went down the staircase and the door was closed again.
| • |
The large space downstairs was beyond any doubt not comparable to the one upstairs. It wasn't as crowded since the bar had low prices so that everyone felt invited, and here one could usually only get in by a regularly changed password they purchased beforehand. In addition, on Thursday nights they didn't open at all and that was why the number of people present was not as high as it was on Fridays for example. The noise cancelling walls didn't need to hide an ecstatically cheering crowd at the moment. Just the staff was present, who were apparently all pretty much busy, and some regular fighters, who had earned the right to train in the ring.
The illegally run boxing club was another side business Bangtan owned. Illegal, because they allowed an unlicensed combat sport . It was definitely outside the context of a properly regulated contest and it involved participants who couldn't consent to the high level of violence involved just because the law said so. An attack resulting in actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm was deemed illegal. There technically was a system of licensing, insurance and regulation to insure that only capable individuals who fully understood and accepted the risks could fight, that there were suitably trained referees and medical help available when someone would get hurt. Rippers , though , had no such regulations in place and there was no expertise or medical personnel at ringside to mitigate any severe damage.
The three members walked right to the center of the space and were acknowledged by a woman carrying a heavy box. „You're a little early if you want to see the show, it's not tonight. The next one is tomorrow…“ She said with a confused look on her face as she clearly didn't recognize the men standing in front of her.
„Don't worry, we're not here to enjoy ourselves“ Jin answered her and looked around, trying to find the man and the woman who were in charge. Jungkook, in the meantime, was observing the training going on from afar and Yoongi sipped on his whiskey as if the only purpose of him being there was to get drunk.
„Oh, how can I help you then?“ The woman seemed to catch on to what was going on and quickly put down the box. „We‘re here for an inspection.“ Jin informed her and that's when the pair he was looking for suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They both bowed and shared a look before the man started to talk. „I’m deeply sorry, Mr. Kim… but it's really bad timing, there are lots of things to do, we run late on the schedule already.“
A clearly faked, sympathetic look was instantly seen on Jin's face, he pouted slightly as if he was pitying them for the work they had to do. It was nothing short of demonstratively mocking them for what they were complaining about even though they were paid fairly and treated generously. „I understand. So there really is no way of squeezing our unannounced inspection into your timetable?“ He tried again, sounding much more sarcastic now. The unintelligible stammering of the man came to a halt when Yoongi promptly stepped up, obviously being done with the disrespectful disobedience his hyung had to deal with here.
„Fuck this!“ he mumbled before looking around and raising his voice. „Listen up, everyone! Drop everything right now , get your asses over here immediately and line up before us. I‘m not going to repeat myself!“ Even Jungkook was taken aback by the loud command coming from the otherwise dangerously quiet man.
| • |
It indeed didn't take long before everyone was standing in a perfectly straight line in front of the three members. All of them were facing forward, staring ahead into nothing in particular as if they were soldiers in the army, waiting for another command of Bangtan.
Jin took his sweet time walking up and down the line of eleven people, glancing at everybody individually for a brief second while having his hands folded on the small of his back and strutting like a commander. He did not deem it necessary to inform them about the reason for their inspection just yet. Quite the contrary, he was putting them at ease by granting a couple of them a soft smile.
You could tell that some of the employees and fighters relaxed visibly under Jin’s reassuring beam, being fooled easily by his game of fake politeness. Others apparently were on the verge of collapsing from guilt. They squirmed on the spot, and fought back the urge to open their mouths and outright ask why the mafia members were visiting unannounced, still hoping that they would get out of this undetected.
The unjustified nosiness of some people was pissing Yoongi off more than he was willing to admit. He would have preferred to make short work of everyone who looked like they couldn't handle the silence, but he knew that his hyung wanted to handle it his way so he just opted for sitting down on a nearby chair and sipped on his whiskey again.
JK, though, stood in front of them, his tough and ready stance indicating that he anticipated the break of silence as much as at least half of the employees.
And then, when almost five minutes of uncomfortable waiting had passed, Jin stopped at the left side of the line-up. The kid he was standing in front of didn't move a single muscle. His face was child-like, he had chubby cheeks and almond-shaped eyes, his caramel-toned skin was smooth aside from a few deep scars that ran across his temples and forehead.
„Dare I ask… How old are you?“ - „Eighteen, Sir.“ The boy answered without hesitation, his rather high-pitched voice additionally indicating that he was much younger than that.
Jin merely chuckled lightly. „You don‘t look older than fifteen.“ He responded. „I‘m eighteen, Sir.“ The dark haired boy assured, still not daring to look Jin in the face. „Alright. Show me your ID then.“ - „I‘ve lost it.“
Jin cleared his throat, the polite smile on his face slowly vanishing. „Well, that‘s unfortunate , isn't it?“ - „Yes, Sir.“ The kid pressed out through gritted teeth.
Yoongi exhaled sharply through his nose, his eyebrow twitched and before he could be tempted to take matters into his own hands, he took the last sip of his whiskey.
„Has anybody else lost their ID by chance?“ Jin checked a little louder now. When nobody answered, he just took a step forward and made eye contact with the next boy in line. This one was a little taller than the first, but did not even nearly match Jin‘s height either. „What about you, son?“ - „I - I didn't lose it. I forgot it at home. I‘m nineteen, I swear.“ He was a little more intimidated by Jin's presence too, you could tell by the nervous twitch of his right eye. His voice broke in the middle of the sentence, but Yoongi wasn't sure if it happened out of fear or if the boy simply went through puberty vocal change.
„Mhm. Bullshit. My guess is you’re both underage and take me for an idiot, am I right?“ - „No, Sir.“ They immediately said in unison.
„Oh, but I think you are. And that's okay. I was the same, when I was your age. Cocky. Arrogant. Disrespectful…“ - „No hyung, back then you actually knew how to respect your elders.“ Yoongi suddenly interjected. „You're right.“ Jin glanced over at Yoongi, nodding. „But it was out of fear that I showed respect. In my head I thought that I was way smarter than everyone around me, superior even. And in my case it turned out to be true… You both, though, are in the wrong. So I‘ll give you one last, very generous chance to answer my question truthfully.“
„I‘m sixteen.“ The second and taller boy gave in quite easily with a slightly shaking voice, bowing his head to silently ask for forgiveness. Jin didn't show any reaction to that confession, simply looking at the first boy again.
„Still eighteen.“ This one spat out stubbornly and Jin's smile reappeared. „Tough one, huh?“ He countered.
„You seem to have got a lot of anger directed at me and, frankly, I don't quite understand why. Care to explain?“ - „I know who you are.“ The boy got bolder with every second it seemed. „Right, meaning what exactly?“
Sometimes it astonished Yoongi how much patience Jin could gather.
„Meaning, that I know what you do .“ The kid cockily replied.
With that Jin nodded again, stepping a few steps away in order to be able to look at everyone. „Maybe this is the right moment to clarify why we deemed it necessary to come here.“ He announced calmly. „It came to our attention that, sadly, someone here at Rippers passed away. A young boy, to be exact. Someone of your age.“ He turned to the boy who was still bowing his head and now tried to shuffle backwards a bit. „Someone who legally isn't even allowed to drink in this country. And he died because he was beaten to death . He was a fighter, like you two are. He entertained others by stepping into the ring and getting hurt.“
Jin took a second to let what he said settle in before he continued with the same authoritative tone.
„Jungkook?“ He called out and JK raised a brow. „Yes, hyung?“ - „How old were you when you worked in this very room?“
„Sixteen.“
„And who did you fight against?“
„Always against older opponents.“
„Were any of them at least in the same weight class as you?“
„None.“
„And were any of them professional boxers?“
„None.“
„Well that doesn't seem fair to me.“
„It wasn't."
With that Jin turned to the staff again, folding his arms across his chest.
„Bangtan owns this boxing club now. Things have changed. When we bought this shithole, we established certain regulations and made it clear to fucking everyone that if our rules were disregarded, we would have no choice but to hold those responsible, accountable for their actions. One of the rules we found was extremely important, was that no minors are allowed to fight here.“
Yoongi's mouth corner twitched when Jin's voice got louder and JK only nodded, still wearing an unphased expression on his face.
„Think what you may of us, I don‘t give a shit to be honest. But you can count yourselves lucky to be confronted by us and not the fucking king . What he does is to establish those laws that should keep you from drinking or marrying or driving a damn car when you're underage. Dumb as children and especially teenagers are, they break those laws and when you get caught by his guards, you won’t get treated as a juvenile offender. You won't be taken to a detention centre... Let me fill you in on one of the king's little secrets… If you break the fucking law, even the silliest one, and get caught, you get shipped overseas, sold as a slave for gold and silver. And that is when you are perceived as pretty or handsome. Otherwise they simply take your organs and sell those instead.“
„So, yes, what we do is a little different.“ Jin eyed the young boy again now. „ We actually care for you when you're underage. We don't even want to punish you for your misbehaving. We want to help you.“
The first boy, now apparently defeated, swallowed and averted his gaze.
„Who here is in charge?“ Jin plainly continued.
„It‘s us.“ The woman from before spoke up, pointing at the man on her right and herself. „But…- But we didn't know they were underage. You need to believe me.“ She shook her head violently as if to underline her statement while the man she was standing next to, nodded to agree with her.
„ Do I? “ Jin responded, walking up to them now. „Y-Y-Yes. Please.“ Her whole body shook from fear while she rapidly blinked at Jin as he came nearer and nearer. The man, clearly too much of a coward, tried to stare ahead again, not saying anything. „I w- worked here for five years now and I would have never allowed it if I knew they were still this young. Pleeease .“
Jin nodded as if in agreement with her before opening his mouth. „Oh, but you could have easily checked their age, couldn't you? Just like I did, asking for their ID.“
There was no response after that, which made Jin smile again. „And if they lost it or forgot it at home , you could have chosen to not let them fight, right?“
His expression showed fake irritation now.
„Do you want to know what I think, darling? I think you are an intelligent, hard-working and very capable woman. You know that life isn't easy for people like you, it never has been. And because you need to make a living, just like everyone else in this godless city, you need to make decisions too. The human race is vicious and cruel and you made the wrong decision, when you gave them what they wanted. They pay more when it‘s a defenseless little kid who they can watch getting hurt, right? It gets them off witnessing such brutality.“
„I didn't- … I didn’t know that.“ The woman lied, pleading with her eyes.
„No need to lie to me, darling. I know you won‘t make the same mistake again. It‘s okay. Everyone fucks up once in a while.“ Jin told her, granting her one of his amazingly curative smiles. Every single member of Bangtan knew that smile by heart now and had experienced its impact. With one little smile Jin could take away all of your pain and sorrow.
„Yes, yes. I‘m sorry. I‘ll do better. I promise. I-… We won't let them fight anymore.“ The woman now violently nodded her head yes. All blood had left her face, making her look like a ghost overcome by panic.
„Don’t worry. I believe you, my dear.“ Jin assured, moving his hand slowly up to her cheek to wipe away a stray tear of terror. His smile widened sympathetically and his eyes sparkled with kindness.
In a matter of seconds Jin suddenly stepped behind her and the following movement only looked like a sparkling flick of his wrist (maybe he was wearing a silver watch that reflected in the poor lighting from above)… but a choked out sound could be heard throughout the room… and then gruesome gurgling noises as an immense amount of thin red blood poured out of the woman‘s opened mouth and through the slit of her throat.
The room held its breath while her lifeless body flopped to the ground ungracefully as if it were nothing. Horror immediately spread out in every single heart like wildfire. The thought alone was enough to let every single vein freeze up, but the actual sight in front of them made their minds go cold as ice as well. Nobody was able to react in any way for a few seconds, still too appalled to handle what they were seeing right in front of them.
The coward, who was still standing there - and in Yoongi's opinion; unrightfully so - was now splashed with the blood from his colleague all over his shocked face and worn-out work clothes.
A guttural scream erupted from him first as he fully realized what had happened. His knees gave out on their own accord and he fell down to the ground right into the puddle of blood beside her, trying to wipe away the wetness on his chin with unmanageable trembling hands. „What have you done? What have you done?“ He choked out, not able to control his raw sounding voice.
The younger people in the line-up had different reflex movements. Some were responding to the inhumane act with a self-defense mechanism that allowed them to cover their eyes, others just turned away panting like they couldn't get any oxygen to go to their brains.
„She told you she wouldn't let them fight! You said you believe her! “ The coward full on sobbed, looking up at Jin with tears streaming down his red tinted cheeks.
„I do believe her. I made sure that she won't be able to.“ Jin coldly explained before stepping behind the man next.
„ NO! NO, PLEASE! “ He screamed at the top of his lungs, sensing what would follow, but the oldest of Bangtan already fisted his hair and pulled his head back mercilessly, so that the man's neck was exposed to Jin's dirtied knife next.
„ HYUNG! “ Yoongi's loud voice cut through the scene, sounding like he was about to scold a child who had lost its temper. Jin stilled involuntarily, the blade already cutting thin skin, but not nearly enough pressure was built up to tear actual inner organs apart yet. The oldest needed to regain some composure before he could look up at Yoongi, who was still sitting comfortably in his chair, knees spread wide. They made eye contact for a few seconds, Jin breathing heavily to suppress the anger in his chest, resulting from the interruption. Yoongi, on the other hand, matched that intense stare to show his hyung that he was not letting up. Finally Jin was able to control his burning desire to flick his wrist again and raised a brow questioningly.
„Share a little, hm?“ Yoongi finally advised, cocking his head in Jungkook's direction.
Jin, as well as everyone else present, needed some time to understand what Yoongi had just suggested. Then he straightened up, cleared his throat and gained back his usual posh posture. „I‘m sorry. Where are my manners?“ He chuckled. „Come here Jungkookie. Have at it.“