Bond Made in Hell || A TAEJIN STORY || Arranged Marriage

50

It's been more than a month since I last published this, so please do forgive me if you notice any gaps or errors in my writing. This chapter is a lot shorter as well as not at all worth the wait :( I'm just thankful I managed to convince myself to go ahead and write. I know how much unfinished stories suck and I am not going to leave this one that way, not when when there is so much more to be revealed.

Also, thank you for getting this book more than 70k reads at a mere 50 chapters!! You guys are the best. Muah!!😘😘😘

'Well, that was a bust,' Ken groaned, as he and Jin stumbled out of the oppressive, explosive-filled atmosphere of the smuggler's den, and into the fresh, cool air of the......black market.

'Not entirely,' Jin said, quietly. 'We found out several things of importance, I think.'

'Nothing worth a broken jaw,' Ken grumbled, as he massaged his bleeding lower-lip and chin, letting out painful grunts as he did so. 'You were great, though, I daresay. That was a good one you gave that drug-dealer when he tried to grab your ass. I would have knocked him out myself, if it weren't for this aching jaw.' He rubbed it again and winced hard.

Jin did not reply, merely cracking his slightly bruised knuckles against each other and biting his lip thoughtfully. 'We know now that the person who was behind the whole operation definitely did not contact any independent dealers of explosives, illegal or not.'

'I still don't get why you're so sure of that,' Ken frowned. 'For all we know, he or she may have paid the dealers a hefty amount to keep their big mouths shut.'

Jin considered the idea, then shook his head. 'No. It couldn't be. Those dealers hadn't had any sales at all in more than three months- they confessed it to us themselves, albeit it took a great deal of threatening.'

'What if the person had purchased the required explosives and stashed them away beforehand?'

Jin shook his head again. 'No. I did my research, and it concurred with Dr Hwasa's report: the material used to blow up the car was perishable. It would last a mere few weeks after manufacture, and that gave the master-mind very little time to hatch and carry out his plan, once he had obtained it.'

'So, you're saying the person either fashioned the explosive himself, or had it manufactured by someone else, someone close to him?'

Jin nodded. 'Yes.'

Ken sighed. 'This theory has a lot of holes in it, if you ask me.'

'Who said it was the correct one?'

Ken stared at him. 'You know something.'

'I think I do,' Jin said, more to himself than to Ken. 'The problem is, it is purely based on assumption-'

'Tell me,' Ken said, impatiently. 'What have you guessed that I haven't?'

'Answer this, and think carefully before you do, Ken,' Jin dropped down on his haunches, staring intently up at the puzzled man. 'What question did I ask the boss of the smugglers?'

'You asked them if anyone from a million-dollar business corporation had come around asking about the particular type of explosive that caused the famous Kim accident,' Ken muttered. 'Though I'm not very sure where you're going with all this.'

'Wrong.' Jin shook his head. 'I did not mention any accident, Ken. Nor did I mention any particular organization the person, or the executive, might have come from. No, I merely informed them about them the details of the product I was looking for and asked them if they had dealt with, or transacted, with its kind before.'

'Yeah, and they said no,' Ken shook his head, bewildered. 'I don't get it, why are you-'

'They didn't just say no,' a small smile appeared on Jin's face. 'They said nobody had been around from Jeon Corporation to do any sort of business with them.'

'So? It's the same thing,' Ken looked confused. 'Nobody had. Jeon Corporation or not, what difference does it make....?'

'Isn't it obvious?' Jin smiled, tightly. 'Someone had been around these parts. Not necessarily before the accident, but definitely a few days later. Someone had, indeed, informed them that they would be questioned, by either the police or people of the likes of us, regarding this particular explosive, and specifically instructed them on what they had to answer. Probably bribed them heavily to say exactly what he told them to say....'

' Now, let us assume this were not so. Let us assume they had not had a tip-off, and were completely unprepared for our arrival. Why did they, then, let us get away so easily, and that too when we clearly lacked backup, and were unarmed? Even in disguise, our identities were suspicious to them from the beginning. We had discovered their hideout, for crying out loud. But they showed hardly any resistance to us, and it took us a surprisingly less amount of time- and energy- to convince them to tell us the truth. What if it was not the truth? What if they had been told to deliberately lie to us? To let us get away with a false sense of accomplishment in our minds, to throw us off the right track? How, unless, would they known that we were hinting at Jeon Corporation, in particular, especially when we were talking about an individual and not an organization?'

'Oh, my god....' light dawned on Ken's face. 'They messed up.'

'Yes, and badly so,' Jin replied, grimly. 'There is a reason why I did not involve the police in this- I had a hunch the smugglers would behave exactly as they did, and it proved right. They said more than they should have, and gave us, quite unintentionally, the answers to more than one of our questions.'

'And those are?' Ken scratched his head.

It's been years and he's still a prize dumbass.

'Someone from Jeon Corporation, if not the crime mastermind, was definitely a part of the whole conspiracy.' Jin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'And we also know that that person did have an idea we were onto them- and had either been instructed, or took it upon himself, to stop us.'

'Wait a second though....' Ken struggled to articulate his words. 'How could those smugglers have recognized us anyway? Even if they had a brief description of us from their informant....how could they have possible seen through our disguises? To them, I thought we were merely a pair of young plains-clothes detectives who needed to be driven away as fast as possible.'

'Not unless their informant was very, very clear on what our faces looked like.' Jin's face had clouded over, and he almost hesitated on his next words. 'Someone who knew we were working together. Someone who could see through every disguise of ours, especially mine.'

A face appeared in his mind, and he desperately tried- and failed- to push it away.

Jimin.

'And I think I have an idea who that might be.'

If anything about this story confuses you, please feel free to ask! (I know there's got to be a lot, since with all the time leaps and loopholes in this story, I'd be confused as fuck as well.)

In the next chapter, Jin confronts Jimin, as well as gets to know of Tae's painful past.

I'll try and make it quicker than this one. Might even update again within this week if I'm inspired enough :)