Chapter Text
Jungkook wanted life to slow down just a little bit. Ash and Emery had sent him messages since Tae’s surprise but he told them both to fuck off and that he wouldn’t be giving them any details. He genuinely hadn’t had the time to meet them for coffee, which he wasn’t too upset about. If they wanted details they could ask his husband. One thing that he learnt was not to get drunk when sex is being discussed. The couple had laughed about it in the shower afterwards. It might not have been Jungkook’s role play fantasy but it was fun and they had played around with the stethoscope to see how quickly their heart rate changed during oral sex. It was the one time that Tae list emphatically and he didn't see it as a loss at all. He hasn't let the matter drop, stating that he now had medical evidence to prove that both his mind and body were in tune and he had Jungkook-itis.
The coat and stethoscope were ready to be returned even though Taehyung wanted to hang onto them as he quite fancied the idea of being the doctor who got bent over his desk by his nurse… or patient… or fellow doctor… he wasn’t really that fussed. That conversation went well for the CEO when Jungkook pointed out that they didn’t need role play to make that happen… he’d gladly do it anyway… so the props could be returned with all medical role play scenarios deemed moot.
That’s when the dancer realised that they didn’t need role play because he’d do anything his husband wanted and he didn’t have the acting skills for intricate roles, anyway. Tae agreed that his own acting skills were extremely bad… B-movie… straight to dvd sort of bad… but he would be a willing participant if Jungkook felt like recreating a scene from Magic Mike.
The dancer was rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a smile as he was left wondering, once again, how his husband managed to run such a successful business when he seemed to think about nothing other than sex?
Life was ticking along nicely until the unexpected call from Han-Shik and now Jungkook was parking up in the car park at Purple Aura where he hoped that his husband had a few minutes to spare. He had been thinking about the call while driving, wondering if he would make it to Busan in time or whether Ryan would pass away before then? He didn’t know how he would feel if the latter happened but he also didn’t know what he was going to say to his stepfather if he got the opportunity? If Jungkook discounted Ki-Joon's birthday party, he hadn't spoken a word to his stepfather since the day he left amidst the celebration of his 18th and anything he could think of, were just questions he wanted answers to after his Mother's revelations.
The ride up in the elevator always took longer than the descent but that could be down to the fact that Tae usually insisted in accompanying him down and if they were alone, the opportunity was seized for a quick make out session. Jungkook knew when his husband was in need of some attention when the CEO put a key into the control panel of the elevator which somehow meant it didn’t stop at any other floor until it reached ground level.
“Hi Stefan, is Tae free?” Jungkook asks as he gets to the P.A’s desk.
“He’s not got any meetings. Mr Taehyung is working on some outstanding things that he wants to tie up before you go to South Africa.” Stefan was hopeful that a new personal assistant would soon be employed. The interviews were going well and the level of applicants meant that both Bo-Hyun and Taehyung could appoint a P.A each.
Stefan’s role was evolving and that in itself was exciting. They were going to have a ‘Personal Assistant Team’ where Stefan would oversee the group and line manage the admin staff. Initially, he didn’t feel that he was qualified or capable but Tae asked him to unpick everything he did as part of his current job and Stefan soon realised that he was already working at a level that made him perfect for the new role.
“No interviews today?”
“No. They’ve paused the interviews to review the candidates that have already been seen. If they can shortlist from there, they won’t advertise.”
“Will you start your new role once they have hired someone?”
“The plan is to employ two, one for Mr Taehyung and one for Mr Park. I will oversee the training and they will shadow me for a month. I will slowly start my new role alongside that, unless the mentoring takes up too much time.”
“Are you looking forward to it? I bet the overlap will be stressful.”
“I can’t wait to start and it’s exciting because I can add things to the role as I learn. We don’t know exactly what the role will fully entail yet. I am looking forward to translating and going to Europe! Mr Taehyung is usually the one to stop me from doing too much but I love working here…. So….” The young, enthusiastic P.A smiles and shrugs his shoulders. He wants to do as much as he can and gets a bit frustrated when Taehyung or Bo-Hyun hold him back, made worse when Angel sides with the CEO and COO.
“Tae doesn’t want to over work you. You should listen to him… even though he should also take his own advice.” Jungkook giggles, “Is it okay if I go through?”
“Yes, Mr Kim… Taehyung works too much sometimes but he doesn’t listen to anyone here… of course… go through. I can see that he isn’t on a call.”
“Tae doesn’t listen to anyone at home either.” Jungkook says just before knocking on the frosted glass of the door and opening it.
The CEO is chewing the end of a pen, deep in thought when his office door opens and the welcome sight of his husband comes into view. He looks up and thinks that someone somewhere was looking out for him as he was in need of seeing Jungkook.
“You must be psychic, I was just thinking about you.” Tae admits.
Jungkook walks into the modern, homely, yet minimalist space, his feet sinking into the pile of the rich carpet as he walked towards his husband’s desk. “Don’t you say that you’re always thinking about me?”
“Yes, that’s true but on this occasion you weren’t naked.” Tae grins as if he was seeking a ‘congratulations’ from Jungkook for his achievement… which wasn’t going to happen.
The dancer shakes his head and rolls his eyes, his lips turned up into a faint smile. “Are you busy?”
“Yes but I can always make time for you.”
“It can wait if you’re too busy.”
“I would say that it can’t wait if whatever it is has brought you here.”
Jungkook walks around the desk to where his husband is sitting and perches on the edge of the heavy wooden piece of furniture, leaning against it and crossing his legs at the ankles as the CEO twists in his chair in Jungkook’s direction. “I just had a call from Han-Shik… Ryan can’t leave the hospital because he had another heart attack in the night and he’s too weak now. I think it’s time to return home and make peace with him before he goes.”
The use of the word ‘home’ to describe Busan doesn’t go unnoticed by the CEO. “When?”
“I’d like to go as soon as possible because Han-Shik said that they don’t know how long he has left. I was wondering if the plane was available? And I was going to speak to Seongkwan about staying at the Paradise.”
“”I don’t know if I can clear my diary in time. My schedule is full so we can go to South Africa.”
“I don’t expect you to. I know how busy you are.”
Tae sits back in his large leather chair, a muffled creak of complaint coming from the comfy object as he pushes back. He appears like he’s about to pray as he connects the tips of his fingers in front of him before he speaks, “You aren’t going alone.”
“I won’t be alone… Kyong is coming, too.”
“That’s still alone, in my book… you aren’t going.”
Jungkook frowns so hard that creases line his forehead. “I am going. You don’t get to tell me what to do, Tae.”
“I do if you’re expecting to use my plane and contacts to stay at the Paradise… you aren’t going!”
Jungkook almost laughs with disbelief and shock. He pushes himself away from the table and turns to walk towards the door. He winces as he bites a little too hard on the inside of his mouth as he fights to keep himself under control. “Fuck you! I’ll book a flight and stay somewhere else then.”
Tae gets to his feet, “I said you aren’t going!” His chest heaves and his eyes prickle. Fear squeezes his heart and rids his mind of all rational thought.
Jungkook faces his husband from the middle of the room, “And I said, fuck you!” His finger jabs the air at the CEO, “You do not get to tell me what to do! My stepfather is dying and I will be going!”
“The stepfather that controlled you with money and paid off your father! I am not letting you walk into her territory!”
“This is not about her!”
Tae feels his composure dissipate, “IT IS! YOU ARE NOT GOING!!”
Jungkook was angry. He was angry that the husband he’d defended earlier was acting like an arsehole. He was annoyed that he’d gone to him for help, thinking that he would be of use. He was frustrated that the one time he actually asked for something, the time he felt sure that the CEO would assist him… he acts like this. “I swear to God, Tae… If you say that once more… I will be glad that I am technically not married in this country!”
Tae was losing this… whatever this was? He was once again reminded of how the one area of his life that he has very little control was his relationship. How the one person in the world who didn’t care that he was the CEO of Purple Aura, who didn’t give a shit how much wealth he had or who he knew. The one person that would walk away from it all without skipping a heartbeat… was the man he called his husband…
… and he didn’t know how to handle it. He didn’t handle it that day at St Georges when Jungkook walked away from him and he wasn’t handling it now.
“I can’t let you go… what kind of husband would that make me?”
Jungkook balls his fists at his sides and wills himself to calm down before either of them is pushed to say something neither can retract. “The supportive kind and if you can’t be that then you can fuck off. I’m going. You don’t get to let me do anything, Tae.”
“”What about her?”
Jungkook sighs heavily, “This isn’t about her!”
Tae’s eyes lose the battle to keep hold of the tears as a few escape. He has zero authority in this situation and he knows it. He doesn’t know what else to say but he’s losing… full stop.
The dancer glares at Taehyung and another sigh sounds when he sees the trail of saltiness down the cheeks of the man he loves. He’s shunted back to the day he proposed, when Tae found him in the park and Jungkook felt like they were having two completely different conversations at the same time, This felt like that.
Regardless of his knee-jerk reaction, it was unlike his husband to lay down the law like he had. There was no excuse for being so authoritative but there must be a reason?
Jungkook put his hands on his hips, “What aren’t you saying?” the tone was curt. He was irritated beyond belief and he wasn't backing down but he needed to know what was going on.
Tae doesn’t respond, he just stands there, the desk, chairs and office space between them. Words stick in his throat and he can’t speak because he just wants to reiterate his demand that Jungkook wasn’t to go to Busan and extra to that, he was kicking himself because his husband had come to ask him for help and he was behaving like a controlling arsehole. A nagging thought prodded at his brain, this whole scenario throwing up issues and solutions to problems he didn't know they had and certainly didn't want to be tackling like this.
“I’m going whether you like it or not… so you may as well tell me.”
Tae shakes his head, lips pursed together.
Jungkook feels the anger bubbling, rising as the silence from the CEO maddens him more than his words had. “What is your problem?”
“SHE IS!” Tae blurts out and then he can’t stop, “I won’t let you go and for her to get her claws back into you!” He sniffs and almost chokes as tears and mucus run, “I can’t lose you!”
And there it was… the one thing that could turn the composed, stoic businessman into an irrational, babbling mess… fear… fear of losing the one thing that he couldn't control… fear of history attempting to repeat itself and succeed… fear that he would lose the only thing in the world that he would gladly give everything up for… a fear that was ridiculous but the threat of Nuri was real.
It didn’t matter how much Tae trusted Jungkook…deep down he knew that when the choice was presented to him, he’d chosen Tae and would always choose Tae BUT he didn’t trust the lengths that Nuri would go to. That was where the fear lay…. He wouldn’t be there to protect Jungkook and he couldn’t put anything past the woman that stooped as low as she had done previously.
Jungkook crossed the room and walked to where he could hold his husband’s hands and kiss his cheek. While doing so he takes several deep breaths to keep his frustration at bay, which was easier said than done. “Tae… we’ve been over this so many times… you are the only person who can break us up… my mother can’t do anything to hurt us anymore but you… you acting like this can.”
“I don’t know what she’s capable of… if something happened to you… it would finish me… all of this… everything I’ve worked for… it would all mean nothing…”
“Nothing is going to happen to me! I have no plans to see or speak to my mother. She has nothing that interests me. I'm not open to hearing anything she has to say.”
“But she could get to you. She knew where you were for six years without you having a clue. That woman is capable of anything.”
Jungkook’s phone rings in his pocket and his heart rate speeds up when he sees Kyong’s name. He declines the call and sends a quick message to tell his brother he'll call him in five minutes.
“Tae, I don't have time to do this now. This isn't about my mother. This isn't about you or anything else. Ryan is dying…” he looks at his phone, “... maybe Kyong was calling to tell me he's already dead?! But I need to go.”
“What about South Africa?”
Jungkook blinks in silence before he moves away from his husband and this time has no plans to not leave the office. The day he left Busan on his 18th birthday, was the day he left his family behind. The opinions, thoughts and emotions caught up around his mother, father, brothers and step-father were different to the way he felt about them now. Since his mother’s reintroduction into his life, he had more facts than ever and he was closer than he thought was possible to having both of his brothers back in his life. He had two sister-in-laws and nephews. He wouldn't ever have anything to do with his mother or father, that much he was sure of and the relationship with Han-Shik was uncertain to say the least. The one person that he hadn't heard from or had the opportunity to talk to was Ryan. He hadn't realised that he wanted to have the chance until the news that his stepfather wouldn't be coming out of hospital and he had this window of opportunity.
Jungkook left the office without looking back. As the door closed he paused and sighed and as he opened his eyes, he realised that Heeju was talking to Stefan and both of them were looking at him. “Your brother might need you.” He says as he walks past without stopping. He doesn't wait for the elevator, he turns right and takes the stairs. The stairwell is quiet and he hopes that by the time he reaches the bottom, the rage he feels inside him will have dissipated enough so he can call Kyong back.
***
The clicking of the office door sounds louder than usual as the CEO remains rooted to the spot. He feels lost and annoyed but his head snaps up in the direction of the frosted glass door as soon as he hears it again and he stupidly thinks that his husband had returned.
“What has happened?” Heeju asks as she walks into the office with Stefan close by.
“Nothing.” Tae answers as he walks over to the coffee machine that is mostly redundant.
Heeju and Stefan share raised eyebrow glances and Heeju rolls her eyes before speaking. “Sure… you’re drinking coffee… there’s definitely something wrong.”
“Would you rather I left you two to it? If you would rather talk in private, I understand… Mr… Sir… Taehyung…. I just came in with Miss Kim… Heeju… because after what Jungkook said, I thought I could be useful as a friend.”
Tae looks up from where the inky like liquid drips into the white ceramic cup, “What did Jungkook say?”
“That you might need me and he looked upset.” Heeju responds.
“HE looked upset? That’s ironic when HE was the one who left.” Tae shakes his head and looks down at the cup that didn’t seem to be filling half as quickly as he’d like it to, even if the aroma was already making him grimace.
“O-k-a-y…” Heeju starts, unsure of how best to proceed, “... why did he leave?”
“Because he needs to go to ‘HOME’.” Tae says sarcastically.
Stefan looks at Heeju who looks back at him and she gesture with her hands that she is as clueless as he is. The younger sibling takes a seat on one of two chairs at the CEO’s desk, “Doodle… spill it. You’ve had an argument? About what? Why has hotty gone home? Why is that a problem?” She reels off a load of questions in the hope that her brother actually answers them instead of giving the perfect [politicians answers, which he is quite adept at.
“Should I go?” Stefan asks quietly.
“You’re welcome to stay, Stefan because you can join my sister in telling me what an arsehole I am.” Tae says as he picks up the cup that is finally full of the small amount of liquid.
“What have you done?” Heeju asks, realising that she has asked too many questions but one would hopefully get her brother to vomit verbally.
“Why are you an arsehole?” Stefan’s cheeks redden as he repeats the words back to his boss. It causes embarrassment and he cringes as he’d never use that type of language in the building and especially not within earshot of his boss, let alone about his boss!
“I told my husband that he is not going ‘home’ to Busan… it didn’t go down well.”
“You think?” was Heeju’s first reaction that had escaped her mouth before she had the chance to decide whether it was a good idea.
“Sir… it would be beneficial if you explained the situation.” Stefan wanted the whole story before he decided whether the CEO was an arsehole or whether there were any sides to be taken.
Heeju nods, “Yeah, could you just tell us everything because trying to think up questions for you not to answer them is tiring.”
The CEO doesn’t sit down, he feels too irritated, defeated and anxious to sit, so he stands by the wall of glass and looks out over the city, taking a sip of the bitter coffee before he answers the two people waiting for an explanation.
“Ryan is dying, apparently… and I say ‘apparently’ because we don’t have any proof of that, only Han-Shik’s word. The doctors don’t know how long he has but he has to stay in hospital now after another heart attack last night and Jungkook wants to go to make peace with him or find closure in whatever way he feels is right for him. He came here to tell me… he referred to Busan as ‘home’... and ask if the plane was available… I told him he wasn’t going and he blew up. He said he was going, I said he wasn’t… other words were exchanged…. I didn’t explain myself… his phone rang and he left.”
Heeju feels instantly annoyed with her brother. She gets to her feet, “Are you serious? Jungkook’s Stepfather COULD die before he gets to speak to him and you wasted his time telling him that he can’t go?”
Stefan tugs on Heeju’s arm to try to encourage her to sit back down but she shrugs him off so he speaks his initial thoughts to his boss. “Sir… Taehyung… Are you surprised that Jungkook reacted the way that he did? He came here to ask for your help and you rejected him. It was a big statement for him to do that.” He hates being unable to defend the man that has become his friend but he’d seen the changes in both men and he had understood many of the dancer’s reactions and ways long before Taehyung appeared to.
“And why does he have to ask you for the plane? Why doesn’t he have access to it? You do sound like a massive controlling arsehole, doodle!”
Tae isn’t surprised by his sister’s response but she made the point that had come up during his conversation with Jungkook. They’d always discussed everything and he’d always been the one to make bookings for flights and travel arrangements so it hadn’t come up before.
“I had the same thought about the plane but to be honest that’s the easiest part to rectify.”
“Can you answer the questions???? All you’ve done since we came in here is ignore our questions… if this is what you were like when Jungkook was here, I am NOT surprised that he left!!” Heeju was beyond frustrated.
“You didn’t ask anything that required an answer, Heeju.”
“Okay… here’s a question for you… why the fuck would you tell the man that you supposedly love that he can't go to be with his dying stepfather when you know how he feels about the whole ‘control’ thing and you know the family history?”
“It is because I know the family history that I don’t want him to go… can't you see that??”
Stefan wishes he could sneak out as both siblings raise their voices slightly and the atmosphere becomes thicker than it had been when they entered.
“No! No, I can’t! Why would you make an enemy of your husband at a time when he clearly needs your support? If you don’t want him to go on his own, why aren’t you going with him?”
“Don’t you think that I thought of that?? I’ve got too much work on… I am meant to be having a second honeymoon next week!”
“Bullshit, doodle!! Why have you reverted back to Mr CEO who puts work before anything else?”
Tae walks from the window to his desk and places both palms on the wooden surface, glaring at his sister, “Is that what you think I’ve done?? My diary is full this week because I am clearing time to spend with my husband!”
“Fuck the honeymoon!”
“Will you stop with that language!”
“Fuck off, doodle! I am well aware that we are in a professional setting but right now I am yelling at you as your sister and the sister-in-law of your husband who obviously needs someone here to support him!”
Stefan stands and waves his hands in front of him, “Please… this isn’t helping anyone. Jungkook told us that you might need someone so he left here worrying about you… even after everything and I am almost positive that he would have the same opinion of you as you do of yourself but he looked hurt, Sir.”
“I just don’t understand why you thought telling him he wasn’t going, was a good idea?” Heeju adds.
Stefan jumps in before the CEO can respond, “Why don’t you want him to go? You must feel strongly about it.”
Tae’s mind fires with complete chaos as he tries to make sense of all the reasons he has. “Firstly, that woman will undoubtedly be there and we all know what she is like. We don’t actually know what the truth is regarding Ryan’s health? I honestly wouldn’t put it past them to have conjured up this whole thing to get Kyong and Jungkook back… and I know what that sounds like but we are talking about the woman that turned up to Jungkook’s graduation whilst knowing that she was going to demolish the diner. I don’t trust Han-Shik at all. Yes, he’s proven himself to his brothers but I don’t have the same connection they do. I don’t have to believe what he says and I’m taking everything at face value. The last we heard, Nuri was jumping into bed with Jungkook’s father so that she had back-up for when Ryan died… and then suddenly, Ryan IS dying. According to Han-Shik, Ryan has been working on something but no-one knows what and he’d been operating behind his wife’s back… but now he won’t make it? All of these questions and scenarios have been going around my head… what if Nuri knows what’s been going on behind her back? It’s a little too convenient that Ryan is dying, wouldn’t you say? And that’s IF we hypothetically assume that everything Han-Shik has told us is the truth!”
“And I don’t suppose you’ve aired any of this to hotty?”
“No… I’m not tainting his mind with my thoughts. He wanted to take Han-Shik at his word and…” Tae laughs at himself as he thinks about what he’s about to say, “...I didn’t want to oppose my husband if he trusts his brother.”
“Oh the irony!” Heeju states sarcastically.
“Sir… Mr Taehyung… I think we all agree that telling Jungkook that he wasn’t allowed to go, was not the best way to go about it… especially if you didn’t explain your reasons. How did you leave it?”
Tae moves his chair to face him so that he can sit down. “He was going to go home and pack and I presume, book a flight? He was going to call Kyong back, too.”
“We aren’t having anymore airport dashes so if you want my advice… you need to sort things out with hotty before he leaves. You can’t let him go alone and let this fester… not to mention that he will be going to Busan without the support of his husband!”
“I agree, Sir… for what it’s worth, you should sort this out sooner rather than later. Even if you fly out with him, assess the situation then return? We’ve worked remotely before. The business will survive but you don’t need problems in your marriage.”
Tae sighs. If only he hadn’t been so reactive… and the irony of that didn’t escape him either.
“Call him, doodle… patch things up enough so you fly out together and then you can talk to him on the flight. If you make it to South Africa, it’s going to be the shittest second honeymoon if your husband doesn't like you.”
Stefan was pleased that the siblings appear to have calmed down. “That’s true. It’s better to postpone South Africa because of unexpected family circumstances rather than because your husband doesn’t like you.”
The CEO was well aware that the only person damaging his relationship right now, was him. He thought he was protecting his husband and his marriage but he really wasn’t at all. He would need to show support and show solidarity with Jungkook instead of the current tactics that has backfired massively.
***
“Kook, calm down.”
Kyong’s voice bellowed through the speakers of the Audi as Jungkook called him straight away to find out whether he had been calling with news about Ryan.
“Why should I? I’m fucked off!”
“Yeah and I understand why but isn’t this out of character for Taehyung? You haven’t said that he’s tried to prevent you from going somewhere before?”
“He hasn’t… that is besides the point! He stood there in his office… all lord and master of his empire and told me I wasn’t going! He’s so infuriating!”
“But… why? Why did he say that?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me what he was thinking. I get that he’s worried about eomma but that just feels like he doesn’t trust me!”
“He does trust you. Do you blame him for not trusting her?”
“No! No, I don’t blame him for that. I don’t know anyone that trusts her! But this isn’t about her!”
“No, it isn’t, you’re right but she will be there.”
“And WE will deal with that!”
“He loves you, Kook.”
“So? Loving me does not give him the right to act like such a prick. This is the first and only time I ask to use his plane and I swear if he ever corrects me with our when I say his… I may not be responsible for my actions! He has made it quite clear, so he can leave whatever the fuck he wants to me in his will but while he’s alive… it is his stuff and I don’t want it! In fact… I won’t be looking for a house until I can buy half for equal ownership.”
“At least you still want to live with him.”
“I’m really not in the mood for humour.”
“I’m not making light of the situation. All I’m doing is saying however mad you are, justifiably so, you both love each other and have something to work on and I would be trying to find out what is behind Taehyung’s behaviour?”
“I can’t do anything if he won’t talk to me. I sent Heeju in to him so maybe she’s got something out of him?”
“Anyone that knows you, knows that telling you not to do something is pointless.”
“You make it sound like I’m rebellious for no reason? I just don’t want people controlling me just for the reason that it makes them feel powerful.”
“That’s not who Taehyung is though, right?”
“I wouldn’t have married him if he was.”
“Look… I can book flights… you make sure you pack and get on good terms with your husband.”
“He needs to get on good terms with me! I am not apologising for something I didn’t do.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to apologise for the sake of it but one of you has to be the bigger person and make the first move.”
“I’ll go home and pack first… I need to think about what I’m going to say… oh… wait…”
“What?”
“Tae’s calling me.”
“Looks like Heeju talked sense into him before I managed to do the same to you, huh?”
“Fuck off, Kyong. You might be my Hyung but you didn’t need to talk sense into me.”
“Just call him back and stop being difficult. You and Han-Shik are quite similar at times, you know?”
“Whatever! Call me when you’ve booked flights?”
“I’ll see what’s available and get back to you. Drop me a message when you’ve finished yelling at your husband.”
“No one will be yelling… what happened to being the bigger person?”
“That’s Taehyung for calling you first… you were going to wait until you’d packed.”
Jungkook clenches his jaw as the call ends… it was obvious that Kyong knew what the next words out of his mouth would be. The audacity of the man! He was still annoyed when he dialled Taehyung but at this point he wasn’t convinced who had contributed to his annoyance the most? All that he knew was that he should at the very least clear the air before he leaves for Busan.