Love In Contract | Taekook

Chapter 12

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TAEHYUNG'S POV

"And you haven't heard from him since?" I shake my head as I swing my backpack onto my shoulders."Nope."
"Have you tried calling him?" Jason asks.
"I don't want to pressure Jungkook to talk if he's not ready to. He ran out of the house like he couldn't get away from me fast enough. Meanwhile,
Harin hasn't stopped asking me if we can visit his art gallery." The kid is relentless. "It's been a week, man." Namjoon claps me on the back as we step off the plane. "You should reach out, just to see where his head is at."
Yoongi puts up his hood, flicking his eyes to mine. "jimin has been in the writing cave, so he hasn't spoken to him much either." "That's okay, I don't want to put him in the middle. I'll just give Jungkook a call."

"No harm in trying," Jason agrees.
We say goodnight, and then I hop on my bike to head home. Only, I don't head home. Being at an away game helped keep me distracted, but now that I'm back, I don't think I can look my daughter in the eye while I lie to her about why Jungkook hasn't been back to see her room. Jungkook doesn't have kids, so I don't expect him to know that you can't tell a child that you're going to do something unless you plan on doing it. But he did, and now I need to end this so I don't have to keep stringing Harin along.

I know Jungkook wants to back out of our plan. I guess I just need to hear
him say it. After the twenty-minute ride into Jersey City, I park my bike in front of the gallery and pull off my helmet. Running a hand through my hair, I step onto the sidewalk and peer through the window. Jungkook is talking with a man at the front desk. At first glance, it looks harmless. But his arms are wrapped around his midsection, and his shoulders are hunched-nothing like the sassy, confident man I've become accustomed to. Whoever this man is, he's entirely too close to him, and something about the way he's looking down at him has the hairs on the
back of my neck standing up.

I rap my fist against the glass door, admittedly a little too hard, but it
gains their attention, and I don't miss the relief flashing in Jungkook's eyes
when he spots me. The man walks over and unlocks the door before cracking it open. "Gallery is closed. Come back tomorrow." I stick my foot through the opening before he can close the door. "I'm not here for the gallery." His head snaps to Jungkook. "Do you often have visitors here after hours?" His eyes widen as he scurries over, clutching his purse to his chest.
"No, I don't. He...he's..." He stammers, so I step in. "I'm here to pick him up. We have plans." His eyebrows hit his hairline as gets a good look at me. "Oh, shit. You play for the Goldfinches." He knows me, so I need to be careful. "And you are...?"
"Carter Stevens." He sticks out his hand as he puffs up his chest. "This
is my gallery." Ah, so this is his boss who's been harassing him.

I crush his hand in a firm shake as anger spikes in my gut. "Nice to meet
you." "How do you know Jungkook?" he asks, pulling his hand back and rubbing it with the other. Good. I hope it's broken. "He's my boyfriend." I slip my hand in his and tug him through the doorway until he's safely outside beside me, away from this creep. Carter's eyes narrow on him.
"I didn't know he was with anyone." "Well, now you know." I tilt my head. "It was nice meeting you, Carl."
"It's Carter." "Right, right." I turn to face Jungkook. "Ready to go?" He nods, and offers his boss a quick wave. "Night, Carter." "We'll finish our conversation tomorrow then," he says. "Sure."

I can guarantee they won't be finishing whatever conversation they were having. I unbuckle the spare helmet attached at the back of my bike. "Put this on, and don't argue with me." Jungkook swallows as he takes the helmet and pushes it over his head. I tilt his chin to adjust the buckle underneath, lowering my voice so his boss can't hear me.
"Did he touch you?" He eyes him over my shoulder. "No." I jerk the bottom of the helmet, forcing his eyes back to mine. "Look at me, Jungkook. Did he touch you?" "No. Just get me out of here."