Ice-heart

Ch- 11 Gala Night

Taehyung's pov

I run my hand along the smooth leather interior of the Town Car. We've been in traffic for over half an hour, trying to get to the address Jungkook sent me. It's given me ample time to think, specifically about whether it was clever or terribly stupid of me to ask him to join me.

A date isn't necessary, strictly speaking. I've gone stag to plenty of these events. At the same time, it's expected, not to mention it makes networking easier and more enjoyable when you can work as a team. Several of the men/women I've dated in the past go to many of these events and understand the codes, the cues.

I have no idea if Jungkook does. It's a complete shot in the dark.

I tug at the sleeve of my dinner jacket and frown at the building site I see outside the car window. I know who's developing them, and it's not someone I have a lot of respect for. Eun Ilsung.

He's well-known for shady business practices, particularly in the suburbs and further afield. He regularly develops low-income housing and then profits enormously through increasing rents, often with stringent policies on his tenants regarding missing a day or two on rent. Builders like him didn't deserve the name. Not to mention that he had, in one way or another, hurt Jungkook by letting him go without a recommendation.

In his initial letter, he had clearly thought it was a mark against him, when his lack of a recommendation from Ilsung was practically an endorsement in itself. He'd called out the elitism of this industry perfectly.

My phone rings and any mirth disappears as I read the name on the caller ID.

"Hello, Appa."

"Taehyung," he begins, voice businesslike. "Have you read the files I sent you about the Chicago project?"

"I have, yes." I considered it to be a spectacularly stupid deal.

"And? You haven't gotten back to me about it, son. It's almost like you don't want to partner with my firm." He laughs, like the thought is outrageous.

"I have some reservations," I say carefully. "I'm flying there next week, to meet with your partners and get answers to my questions."

"Good, good. Nothing like eyes on the ground." He pauses, and I imagine him gearing up, sitting in his study in the family house in Daegu. Large bookshelves behind him filled to the brim with political biographies and Sun Tzu. "It's a guaranteed return on investment. I'm doing you a favor by offering you an in on this, you know."

Of course that's the way he sees it. My father, with his capital, doesn't need Kim & Ryu' financial backing.

But the project is dated, it's not in the right neighborhood, and more than that... it feels unethical. That argument won't work on him, though.

"I appreciate the offer," I say. "I'll get back to you after I've visited it next week and spoken to the team."

"Good, good. I might even fly out and join you." A brief pause. "It's time for you to level up now, son. You've done well so far but I want to see you in the big leagues. And come home some time, all right? It'd make your mother happy."

I grit my teeth. "I'll be home for Jin hyung's wedding in a few weeks."

He sighs, as if he'd forgotten all about his eldest child. It wouldn't surprise me if he had. "Don't remind me. I know I'm expected to make some kind of toast, and he'll skewer me if I screw it up."

That does make me grin. My eldest brother is fierce, and he had gone eye to eye with my father about his decision to be with Namjoon hyung-who hadn't exactly been what Kim Min-ho would call respectable growing up.