Over and Out

Chapter Sixteen and a half

"You knew that was going to happen?" Jin did very little to hide his disbelief as he and Jungkook surveyed the scene in front of them. Standing on the edge of the patio, they stood watch as a few guards took to the woods with flashlights, in search of Loren's body. He was surprised that Jungkook would even sanction anything like this—he had never had any qualms about the trail of bodies left behind him. The death of the man tonight was unexpected; he knew that Loren was being used as bait of a sort, but hadn't imagined that he was anything more than an artificial figure, a means to an end - he felt a twinge of sympathy for the guy, who had clearly been tossed aside by both parties. That Jiyong, infamous enough for even Jin to know of, would choose to terminate such a useful asset, suggested there was much more at play here than he had realised. His companion didn't seem to share such a sentiment—how else would he have had the girl in the right place at the right time to witness it all. Speaking of the girl, Jin swivelled slightly, catching a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye, a figure curled up, unmoving in the corner of the balcony above.

"I had a feeling that they would rather cut their losses than lose them outright to me." Jungkook shrugged, eyes cold as they stared out at the jagged outlines of the trees ahead of them. In the many years of knowing him, Jin found that trying to guess Jungkook's intentions, or exactly what shape his plan was until it had all played out, was a pointless exercise. He often thought that the man's strategic prowess was wasted on his current livelihood, though he had to admit he could not picture him thriving in any other profession.

"And the girl?" He couldn't help but ask, tipping his head up at her. Jungkook's eyes flickered briefly up at her, before settling back in front of him.

"Needed the reality check." Came the short reply. Jin scoffed, kicking at a pebble on the path.

"To what ends? I don't see how a traumatised girl is of any use to you."

"She'll get over it. She'd be stupid not too. And when she does, we have a highly trained, highly knowledgeable member of the organisation in our hands."

"If she's so highly skilled, what makes you think she won't run at the first chance?" A waft of smoke floated down—another glance upward showed that she had gotten a cigarette, absentmindedly taking another drag, before handing it over to Jin, who had stayed behind. "Looks like she's already on the mend."

"Good. I don't think she'll run. If she was fucked before, the fact that they left her means she thinks she won't be able to step back into their territory unconcealed without a target over her head."

Jin frowned, mind running. "Why did they leave her? Nothing suggested that they suspected her, or, like she said, why would they bring her here in the first place?" His frown deepened as Jungkook's smirk grew.

"She left the group and missed the signal to regroup. We know from our source that they rely on word of mouth and sight when they're in the field. When she didn't show up, they probably assumed she got caught and cut their losses." A shout from a little way away suggested that the body had been found- the group moved to the man who had raised his voice. Jungkook caught the arm of one of the guards, giving him curt instructions. Satisfied that his men would finish the job, he turned, walking back into the thrum of the house, still teeming with guests.

Rushing to catch up, Jin carried on with his questions. "Okay, so you have her where you want her—what's next? You actually think she'll agree to your plans?"

"I'll simply give her the facts and let her come to her own conclusions."

"And if she says no."

"I'll have her killed." The nonchalant tone did very little to conceal how sincere Jungkook was being; Jin never got over how little value human life seemed to have to him, although there were times when he had seen the opposite also seem true. "Unless she does it herself, through liver failure." Confused, he looked up; Jungkook was staring with a blank expression across the room—following his line of sight, a shocked laugh escaped him as he spotted the girl in question. One hand hiking up her long dress, she had joined a group of others, dancing in a gaggle, all of them nursing bottles of some sort of alcohol. 

This was part of these parties that always mystified him—that sophisticated splendour could so quickly become home to raucous behaviour. The crowd was everchanging and yet entirely indispensable, the same characters dressed in slightly different clothes. He had no idea where Jungkook found these people, and yet they always showed up without fail. Of the hundreds of people, he recognised only a few, some who were being trained, and others who he had come to know over the years. The rest were brought in weekly, like hired extras, installed in to sell the façade that Jungkook worked so hard to keep up. They would be fed the next morning and sent on their way, making place for their equally vacuous counterparts the next week. It was a continuous cycle, and Jin was slight surprised to see the girl fit in so effortlessly into it. he could only hope that this was only a temporary distraction in her journey.

"Straight from the bottle." He quirked an eyebrow at his companion, who paid him no notice. "That's one hell of a coping mechanism."

"It's rather strange seeing what happens to people when they gain a little freedom after having to live a certain way." The other man remarked idly, grabbing a champagne flute from a nearby waiter.

"It's not like that place forbade them from having fun.  The place didn't exactly have a squeaky clean reputation. In fact I think they rather encourage it, no?" Jin joined him, as they both stood tucked away to the side, observing the clusterfuck occurring in front of them.

"Oh they most definitely did. But not her. I think she had limitations that only she held herself towards. Which makes me think that loyalty isn't the only reason she was so dependent on them."

"Oh?" Jin took another gulp, considering the girl again, who had now moved onto shots instead, face open and animated as she fell into laughter with the group around her, who looked to all the world to be her best friends, not the strangers he knew they were. As they watched, one of them tall and handsome, steadied her, pulling her into him by the waist as she laughed—she did nothing to stop him, her hand resting on his shoulder. Amused, Jin mused that somehow this and the sudden clench of Jungkook's jaw, the deep swig he took of his drink, were somehow related. Certainly the man's fixation with the girl was of note; sure he was attracted to her, but it ran deeper than anything romantic or physical (thought those factors couldn't be entirely discounted, he was sure). He wasn't sure that it was respect - there were very, very few people that Jungkook respected - but it was closer to that than anything else he could put into words. "So what exactly do you think was keeping her there?"

Jungkook considered, before snapping his fingers, handing his glass to the staff member who arrived at his elbow. Taking a last glance in her general direction, he shook his head slightly. "I don't know. But I intend to find out soon." With that he took his leave, stalking away, leaving Jin bemused, to try and come to his own conclusion.

A/N. So um.. yeah! I think that writing these little 'half-chapters' really helps me when it comes to figuring out motivations and world-building, and I thought I might as well publish this - I thought a different POV might be interesting too. Sorry that this wasn't a full update - but hopefully it wasn't too bad!