Sugar Rush

3

The day was gloomy. There was a bright sun shining outside the window, but the mood in the building was really gloomy. The former chairman was going to visit them and Seokjin was going berserk about the same. He was screaming orders to whoever was in his sight. Everyone avoided Seokjin like a plague but every now and then, someone stumbled would stumble upon him and get yelled at. Exactly at 3 in the afternoon, there were screeches of the tires in front of the building. Seokjin sprinted towards the entrance with a whole group of people following him. As soon as Seokjin reached the entrance, the bodyguard opened the door of the car. A very old man came out of the car. He looked like he was in his 70s. Seokjin bowed to him, "Abeoji."

Mr Kim nodded, "You don't have to terrorise the workers every time I come."

Seokjin smiled embarrassingly, "I will keep that in mind." He invited Mr Kim into the building, "Please."

They went to Seokjin's office. As Seokjin kept giving everyone orders, the crowd narrowed down to him, Hoseok, and Yoongi. Mr Kim sat on the single couch and sighed, "How is everything going?"

Seokjin sat on the longer couch beside him followed by Hoseok and Yoongi, "It is going smoothly. Though not smoothly as it would have been under you." Seokjin smiled.

"Aish, this kid." Mr Kim chuckled, "You flatter me." He looked at Hoseok and Yoongi, "How are you guys doing?"

"We are doing fine." Hoseok bowed and smiled, "Hyung takes good care of us."

Yoongi nodded in approval, "He treats us just as he did back in the school."

Mr Kim nodded. There was a knock on the door and then a lady came in with tea and snacks. He placed it on the table in front of them and left after bowing. Mr Kim hummed, "I came here because Munsu called me. He warned me that you won't have this year's annual consignment of the land near Gasan-dong."

Seokjin scoffed, "I am already in talks with the mayor and the commissioner. That land is ours. I don't understand why people are so mad after that land?"

Yoongi cleared his throat, "There is a rumour circulating in the market."

Seokjin looked at Yoongi, "What rumour?"

"Fifteen years ago, the then-mayor was caught in a smuggling case." Yoongi said with a serious expression, "It is said that before he got caught, he had hidden the smuggled goods in one of the government lands. There are rumours that he hid the goods in this land."

Seokjin smirked, "So whoever gets the land, gets the goods?"

Hoseok shook his head, "Legally, no. But if we prove that we didn't find anything there, then the goods belong to us."

Seokjin looked at his father, "What did he smuggle?"

Mr Kim looked at the tea on the table, "Gold. Approximately 200 kgs of gold. But no one knows the exact figure. It can be more, it can be less."

Seokjin laughed in disbelief, "Wow."

Mr Kim stood up followed by everyone in the room, "Make sure you don't lose the contract."

Seokjin chuckled, "Oh, that land isn't going anywhere. It is coming home."

Mr Kim patted his shoulder, "Good. I know you won't let me down."

As soon as Mr Kim left the room, Seokjin slumped down on the single couch and rested his head on the backrest, smiling like a maniac, "Ah, sweet Jesus!" He looked at Yoongi with raised eyebrows, "You knew this the entire time, didn't you? That's why you persuaded me to buy that land."

Yoongi smiled sweetly, "I came to know about it two years ago. But we didn't have enough finance then. I am still not sure if the gold is hidden there or not."

Seokjin hummed and sat up, "Call Minchan. Tell him to dig this case carefully." He leaned closer, hands on his knees, "Tell him to be very careful and discrete." Yoongi nodded. Seokjin looked at Hoseok, "Keep the team ready as soon as you hear from Minchan. We can't let Gasan-dong slip from our hands now."

~

Namjoon came home very tired. He sighed as he slumped on the sofa and closed his eyes. It had been two weeks since his scholarship was taken away. He was trying to get as many jobs as he could making sure that his scores stayed intact. He had three jobs already and he was looking for a fourth one. There was a lot of rejection when he looked for it. As he sighed again, the file slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

"Hyung?"

Namjoon opened his eyes and smiled, "Jungkook-ah."

Jungkook knew the smile was fake. Namjoon's eyes had sadness and dejection clear in them. The usual shine in his eyes was replaced by the mild fear of failure. "Are you alright?" He didn't know why he asked the question. Obviously, Namjoon's going to say yes.

Namjoon sighed, "No." He chuckled humourlessly, "I am not fine, Kookie-yah. But don't worry, okay? Hyung is going to be okay soon. So don't worry."

Jimin came out of his room and saw Namjoon sitting on the sofa. He went there and smiled at him, "Hyung, I made food for you. Let's eat, yeah?"

Namjoon nodded, "Let me shower first. Where is Taehyung?"

Jimin shrugged, "He said there was something important and rushed out of the house."

Namjoon nodded and dragged himself to the bathroom. When he came back, the dining table was set and his three musketeers were sitting on the table. He must have taken a long time in the shower when he didn't hear Taehyung coming home. He dumped the towel in the laundry basket and joined the table. "When did you come?"

Taehyung smiled, "Just now."

Namjoon nodded and started eating from his bowl.

"Hyung..." Taehyung cleared his throat and tilted his head, "I... umm. I went to some places that were looking for a part-timer and I came across the orphanage you were in. They had this pamphlet on their wall. I thought you might get help from here."

Namjoon took the pamphlet and read through it quickly, "Oh, I didn't know they did this too."

"What is it?" Jungkook asked with huge, curious eyes.

Namjoon scanned through the pamphlet once again, "They are lending loans to the children who have passed out of the orphanage and have money problems." He looked at Taehyung and smiled, "Thanks Taetae. This is near Heechul hyung's cafe. I will surely check this out tomorrow."

~

A sigh left his mouth as Namjoon entered the university the next day. It was really hard to keep up with the work and studies but he wasn't going to let it hinder his confidence. But what could even do when every class, the students kept talking about the fees and the luxury they had. Clubs and hotels, cars or bikes, costly jewellery. Namjoon didn't care about luxury very much. He just wasn't interested in it. He was happy with his education and his friends. But the problem was that he didn't have money to pay the fees. What is going to do about it? The last date was a week away and he still had no way to get the money.

"Oh, Kim Namjoon. You haven't dropped out yet?"

Namjoon rolled his eyes, "Kang Miso." He turned to her, "You haven't gone for plastic surgery yet?"

Miso scoffed, "You can't even afford to call the clinic to set an appointment, what would you know about beauty?"

Namjoon smirked, "Right. I won't know anything about beauty. But I know one thing for sure. I don't need plastic surgery to be handsome."

Miso groaned but then sighed and smiled, "You know what? I don't have to argue with you on this. You will be thrown out of the school next week anyway."

Namjoon's eyes gleamed with anger. His eyes turned red, "We will see about it." As Miso went away to sit in her seat, Namjoon closed his eyes tightly. He did say 'We will see about it' but he knew Miso was right. If he didn't pay the fees he would be thrown out of the university. He groaned, "Fuck!"