UNDER HIS SPELL { taekook }

二 ; ３５

"Thank you, enjoy your time!" Seokjin gave a customer service smile, then waved off the two customers that went on their way to their reserved karaoke room. The man slumped a little behind the front desk, then pulled his phone out to check his messages, none of which had alerted him on anything new. And as he returned the device to its snug holder, he looked up to see Namjoon come in from the front door, a hood over his head and hands stuffed into its pockets.

"Let's go," was all the gang leader said, making a swift motion with his head to signal the man to follow after him. Seokjin called over one of the bartenders to tend to the front desk while he was gone, then quickly tagged behind Namjoon, walking after him as they maneuvered their way down to the basement of Abyss—where all their underground business would take place.

"You're late, Joon," Seokjin scolded, arm brushing beside the other man as they strolled past a guard or two. Then they finally arrived at one of the isolated meeting rooms.

"I left as soon as I heard the news," Namjoon huffed, hands pulling from his pockets to begin making himself tea at the corner table. "Is the Acre guy still being interrogated?"

"Yeah, V said he'd let us know when he gets some info out of him," Seokjin sighed, watching the younger male as he looked through the array of tea flavors they had in stock. "Yoongi told me he wasn't carrying a gun though, at first."

"Who, V?"

"Yeah."

"Wasn't he the one who fired the shot?"

"Yes, but... When he first entered Club Micro he was unarmed. Which means somewhere in between—perhaps in the storage room he visits frequently, he picked up a gun. What if that place gets found out by cops and they find that shit? He has to keep his own weapons to himself."

"Right, but..." Namjoon trailed off, his focus directed on pouring the now boiled water over a mug. "V knows what he's doing. He's smart. I'm sure he has his reasons for doing things, like keeping an extra gun hidden or earning the trust of that club goer. Uh... Sushi, was it?"

"Suzo."

"Ah, yeah—Suzo." Namjoon dipped the tea bag and began to fling it up and down, then turned his head to look over at Seokjin. "When was the last time Taehyung has fronted, exactly?"

The older scratched back of his head. "Shit, it's... been over two weeks now."

Namjoon blinked slowly and nodded, turned back to his tea. "That's a long time to go by without being conscious."

"Yeah. It's just like before, isn't it... Isn't there a way to coax him back to us?"

The gang leader hesitated, placed a hand over the table and leaned forward. "I don't know, Jinnie. If Taehyung hasn't fronted in that long, it could only be due to two feasible reasons. Either, one—he's being shut out by the others, and can't claim control. Usually V would be the one to do this, though Vante can get excited about things and assert his own dominance at any given moment. He's the most spontaneous one, after all." He raised the mug over his lips. "Or the second reason—Taehyung's emotionally distressed over something. Maybe he has emotions he can't quite work through, so he's letting someone else go through the painful process of living every day life..."

Seokjin gulped quietly, watched as Namjoon began to blow softly over the heated beverage.

"Then how do we go about both possibilities..?"

"Hm.." Namjoon exhaled a weary breath. "If it's the first reason, then... We just have to let the alter dominating the wheel to do whatever the fuck they need to get done in order to be satisfied and let their guard down. That way Taehyung can go ahead and regain control." He took a careful sip of the drink. "But if it's the second reason then we're screwed. Because, who knows how long that can take? Really, there's nothing we can do but let things play out either way."