Bullets & Bondage

#11 Background Checks

Hoseok drives you in his red Mercedes back to Jimin's house. Upon parking, you hear squealing and barking from inside.

The front door is thrown open and Haneul races out, throwing herself at you.

"Mommy!" she squeals.

You pick her up and kiss her cheek, brushing dark hair from her face.

"I missed you," you say, squeezing her tight.

"I missed you too," she replies, resting her head on your shoulder.

"Who's that?" Haneul asks, pointing to a smiling Hoseok.

"That's Hoseok, he's another of Daddy's friends, like Uncle Tae and Uncle Jimin," you explain.

True to what Jimin had said, a white wall in his house was stained with marker drawings.

"Is that you with me, Ayden, and Daddy at our house?" you ask, pointing to a drawing in pink.

"Yes," Haneul says proudly.

"I did this one," Ayden adds, pointing to a weirdly shaped blue-colored car.

"Very nice," you compliment.

"Were Uncle Tae and Uncle Jimin so much fun today?"

"Of course we were," Tae says, appearing from the kitchen with a plate full of fried chicken. "Jimin had to take care of something, he left a couple of minutes ago," he tells you.

Tae and Hoseok share a knowing look.

"Could we by chance get in on that chicken?" Hoseok asks, helping himself.

Everyone seats themselves in the dining room around the large table, sharing some fried chicken and fruit punch.

The front door opens again and Tae and Hoseok are at their feet in a flash, startling Haneul, who quickly climbs in your lap for safety. Bam begins profusely barking.

"Relax guys," you hear Jin say, "I just wanted to bring some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies."

"Word of advice, don't eat Jin's brownies," Tae jokes.

"Dude, that was one time," Jin says, setting the platter of cookies on the dining table.

"Your Seokmin, right?" Ayden asks Jin, brow scrunched in concentration.

"Seokjin," Jin corrects, "just call me Uncle Jin, though."

You all help yourself to Jin's cookies, chicken, and fruit punch, before Tae and Jin have to leave, leaving you with Hoseok. You settle the kids for an afternoon rest and make yourself a cup of tea.

"How are you feeling?" Hoseok asks you, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"I'm fine," you reply, dunking the tea bag into the hot water.

There's a moment of silence.

Bam comes into the kitchen and lies down, wagging his tail.

"What kind of missions do you guys take part in?" you blurt out suddenly. "Jimin had to leave late at night a couple of nights ago, because of something about a 'suspect.' And why did he have to leave today for something? What something is he doing?"

Hoseok takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"We're assassins, Y/N, we're hired by people, mainly the NIS or CIA, to kill bad people," he tells you. "We call them suspects, not targets. We've traveled all over the world and have prevented many homicides, abductions, human trafficking, gangs, and drug dealings."

"Oh," you whisper, "and that's the stuff Jungkook took part in? Were all of his business trips actually doing those things?"

"Most of them, at least. A few have actually been for the Arlinks Company," Hoseok replies.

"The phone call, I'm assuming you heard Jimin having that night, was about a suspect who was notorious for drugging women and then raping them. Jimin was hired to take him out."

Your mouth turns sour.

"I'm not sure what the assignment for today is, but I know Namjoon and Yoongi went with him," Hoseok says.

"As Namjoon already said, we're assassins who do wrong things for the right reasons."

"How long was Jungkook one?" you ask.

"He joined the group when he was twenty-one and left when he was twenty-eight. So, seven years."

You need to sit down, suddenly feeling light-headed. "That's practically how long I've known him." You run your fingers through your hair in disbelief.

"What's your background, Hoseok? Does Chaehyun know anything?"

"My home was very strict, my father expected me to get straight As in everything, and anytime I didn't please him, he beat me or neglected me of food. So, I ran away with my sister when I was sixteen. She was an adult and quickly took legal custody of me and we began our new lives. It wasn't until I learned that my father had raped my mother and then brutally killed her that I decided I was going to spend my life preventing that kind of stuff."

"You were just sixteen years old?"

He nods. "We all came from bad backgrounds. Most of us went to live with other family, except for Jungkook and Jimin, who were adopted through foster care. Namjoon ran away at eighteen and survived on his own."

"How old was Jimin?"

"Five," Hoseok answers, "and he still remembers every day just how badly he was neglected."

You blink back a few tears and take a sip of your tea. "I had no idea of any of this stuff."

Hoseok gets up and takes out the bowl of pineapple slices from the fridge, setting it down on the round, kitchen table.

"How'd you all come together?" you ask.

Hoseok finishes two pineapple slices before answering.

"Did you know that we have a name for our group?" Hoseok says.

"No," you reply.

"We're known as The Bullets, for our ability to kill swiftly, like bullets. It started with Namjoon, the son of a notorious gang leader in Ilsan. He decided that he wanted to do everything exactly opposite of his dad, and so, he formed his own group, just like his dad has," Hoseok explains.

"How did he recruit Jungkook?" you ask.

"Jungkook was the sixth member to join. He'd heard about a couple of guys in his hometown who'd apprehended someone police had been trying to get for a while. He knew then that he wanted to join that group and just straight up walked up to Namjoon and was recruited soon after."

"Why do you guys kill people instead of putting them in jail?" you inquire.

"Putting bad guys in jail is for the police," Hoseok says, "we don't work at all with the police. We're specially trained and hired to kill the guys who are really, really bad."

"What do you mean when you guys say specially trained?"

"I could easily kill someone with a push pin while being blindfolded, or dismantle a bomb with a safety pin in pitch-black darkness. We all had to endure grueling martial arts and gun training, among many other things."

You're suddenly very aware of the fact that you're sitting right now in a room with a specially trained assassin who could easily kill you in an instant if he wanted to. You had no idea just how terrifying that actually was.

"But you can still trust me, Y/N," Hoseok says, noticing your sudden unease. "I only kill bad people. I care about you and about Jungkook. I'm going to do everything I can to help bring him back alive, while still keeping you and your family and my members safe."

"Thank you," you say, misty-eyed. "Do you think you could teach me just a few things? You know, in case those guys who ransacked my house come after me again?"

"Certainly," Hoseok replies, "and I'm sure the other members would love to pitch in as well."