Indebted...

Part-19

Jungkook's pov

Returning to my desk after a quick trip to the restroom, I saw that a pile of mail had been delivered. I suspected that, as per usual, most would be addressed to Taehyung. He was currently out of the building, but he'd been clear that he would pick me up from Kim-Verse at the end of the workday.

In the week that had gone by since the incident with Jeff at the bar, Taehyung had ... well, I couldn't say he spent time with me, but he avoided me less than usual. He hadn't attended so many late external meetings, so we'd eaten dinner together on his free evenings - sometimes at the office, sometimes at home. He'd also accompanied me on my visits to papa, eomma and appa, and even to Joon and Jin hyungie.

It had been a calm week. I hadn't had any further contact from Daehyun or Hana. There hadn't been a peep out of Hiah either. It had just been ... normal. But I wasn't confident that it would last.

Now, standing at my desk, I screened Taehyung's mail, separating the letters he'd need to respond to personally. Only once that was done did I flick through my own mail. Tearing open a brown bubble envelope, I slipped my hand inside and pulled out a small jewelry box. I double-blinked. A gift from Taehyung-sshi? I doubted it. Since he was out of the building, I couldn't even ask him. It had better not be a damn gift from Haneul. I'd thought he'd given up trying to stupidly "win" me back.

I opened the box, expecting to see earrings or something. I felt my face scrunch up as, instead, I found a USB flash drive. The fuck?
I glanced inside the envelope. There was no note, just as there was nothing written on the envelope itself that would indicate who sent the package. Picking up the flash drive, I pursed my lips and glanced at my computer. I should put my "gift" back in the box and deal with it later

But curiosity won out, and I soon found myself inserting the flash drive into my computer. A few clicks on my keyboard later, I discovered there was only a single folder saved to the memory stick. It had been named: "Just thought you should know." I frowned. What the hell was this? My scalp prickled. Part of me wanted to eject the damn thing from my computer and put it back in its box. But, again, curiosity overrode my wariness. Using the mouse, I double-clicked on the folder to open it. I felt my frown deepen. Nine photographs had been saved into the folder, all titled from "Pic1" to "Pic9."

My heart began to pick up speed, because I had the distinct feeling that I wouldn't like what I was about to see. I clicked on the first small thumbnail to enlarge it. I found myself looking at a side-on view of Taehyung standing on the doorstep of a house. A slim brunette male stood in the doorway, clad in only a tank top and shorts. My stomach did a slow roll. God, please don't let this be what I think it is.

Licking my lips, I enlarged the second photograph. The camera lens had zoomed in so that I could see Taehyung inside the house. He stood in the living room facing the brunette, who was a mere foot away. I flipped to the next photo. Now they were standing closer, and his hand was cupping his chin. My chest went tight, and I swallowed hard.

In the next picture ... oh God, he was in the process of peeling off his tank top. I hissed out a breath and shut my eyes. I didn't want to look at the other photos. Hadn't I seen enough? No. No, I had to know what else there was to see.

I took a deep breath and continued down the list of pictures. The next two were also taken at his house, but they were clearly taken on a different day from the first three-his and Taehyung's clothes were different. They weren't in his living room this time. They were in his goddamn bedroom. I gripped the mouse so tight I was surprised it didn't crack. In one image, he and Taehyung were standing near his bed, facing each other, and he was holding a pink sweater ... as if he'd just stripped it right off him. In the following picture, he was on his knees in front of him, his head bowed in a somewhat submissive pose, his bangs shielding his face.