Forbidden Love ➸ Taekook ✓

- Forty-third -

The house was plunged into silence. Everyone gave each other worried, devastated looks, but no one dared say a word. Not when Jin couldn't stop crying, and Taehyung had turned to the window of his study, not having said a word since he left the Jeon house. He just stared at his garden, looking so serious and inscrutable that he was beginning to terrify everyone. Even his brother. Bangtan had all gathered at his house, and Jin had managed to tell them most of the story before everyone joined Taehyung in his office. He locked himself in as soon as he got home, but didn't hesitate to smash a lot of decorations in his path to vent his anger.

"We can't just sit here and mope." Yoongi finally said, with his usual nonchalance. "We've got to do something."

Jimin and Hoseok turned to him, glaring accusingly. Couldn't he have been more tactful? Jin was devastated and Taehyung was on the verge of exploding. But they also knew that Yoongi was just as worried as they were. He was a man of action, he didn't like to suffer bad situations.

"As I understand it, this guy lives in the USA. Jungkook and John are going to go there at some point; we need to find them before they leave the country. I don't think they've had time yet."

Everyone agreed (except for Taehyung, who didn't give the slightest reaction), but Namjoon quickly frowned.

"Okay, but what about the contract? If Jungkook really did sign it, we need to find a way to remedy to it. Because that guy could come back and demand what he's owed."

"Let him try."

Everyone's mouth fell shut at Taehyung's threatening tone. The man turned slowly, letting his cold gaze sweep over the small group.

"The most important thing is to get Jungkook back." he said. "And once he's with me again, no-one will take him away from me. Even if I have to kill to keep him."

"Okay, but let's keep to the rules if we can." replied Yoongi.

Only he would dare to speak so nonchalantly to such an angry Taehyung. He certainly knew he was walking a tightrope, but he couldn't let his friends take unnecessary risks. If they all lost their heads, he'd be there to keep them sane and protect them all. Jungkook included. He turned to Jin, who had managed to dry his tears. He felt terrible that he hadn't been able to protect Jungkook. He'd been there, everyone had trusted him to look after their youngest, and he'd failed shamefully.

"Do we know any more about this story? For example, about the debt?"

Jin nodded slowly, before sighing.

"Yes, but... I don't think that's the right way to go..."

"What do you mean?" Taehyung asked, one eyebrow arched.

"I managed to get some information out of my mother before you arrived, a little after the call..." Explained the elder Jeon. And she told me that the debt was around 150 billion dollars."

The room fell dead silent. It was a... large sum. Much more than they had imagined.

"And Jeon couldn't get his company back on its feet with that...?" Hoseok spat. "What did he do with all that money?"

Namjoon shrugged.

"I followed the development of Jdesign, in case Jin had to take over. Jungyung has made one bad decision after another for the company in recent years. He has made numerous investments, most of which have failed. You could say he's been very unlucky. He lost enough money to get into trouble, but not enough to go completely bankrupt. I'm not even surprised that he has none of the money Lim lent him left. He just can't pay it back.

"And Jdesign probably isn't worth that much anymore anyway." Yoongi added. "Even if he sold the company now, the debt still wouldn't be paid..."

Taehyung rubbed his face nervously.

"150 billion..." He mumbled between his fingers. "Even if I sold my shares in KimVerse, I couldn't raise that kind of money."

After that, no one dared speak, deeply demotivated. Getting Jungkook back didn't seem to be the problem anymore. The real difficulty would be keeping him. And they still had to find him. Because nobody knew where he was. All because Jeon Jungyung had become a bad businessman.

"You don't find that suspicious, though?" Jimin suddenly said, breaking the silence.

They all looked at him curiously, urging him to continue.

"I mean... I don't have great memories of our childhood, but I had the impression that Jdesign was doing really well. And then, all of a sudden, things get out of hand, and one of the best businessmen in the country can't sort things out?"

Hoseok, Yoongi and Jin frowned, not really understanding what he was getting at, but the Kim brothers exchanged a quick glance, eyes slightly wide, before nodding softly.

"We put 150 billion in his hands, and he hasn't managed to make the slightest profit from it..." Namjoon sighed. "You can criticise Jungyung for a lot of things, but not for being bad at his job. His investments should have earned him at least enough to relaunch Jdesign. But his projects have failed, one after the other..."

"Any man with a bit of experience in the field could have got away with that kind of money..." Taehyung added. "Even I, who'm still young, could have done it..."

"Wait," intervened Hoseok, "are you saying that someone sabotaged all his investments? That someone... tried to take down Jeon Jungyung?"

Jin had to hold back more tears. What kind of story was this? If it was true, did that mean someone was picking on their family? Why? To bring them down? The company, then his brother?

"But why...?" he managed to murmur.

"Let's not jump to conclusions." said Taehyung. "We're only guessing, and for the moment, that's the least of our worries. The priority is to find Jungkook. The rest will come later."

"And how are we going to do that? Do we have any idea where those guys have taken him?"

Taehyung dropped back in his chair, which sagged heavily under his weight, then crossed his arms over his chest, looking thoughtful.

"I'm not happy about this, but I'm going to have to ask for help."

"Whose help?"

"Secret."

Everyone could see that his mood hadn't really improved. Nothing could be done until Jungkook was back at his side. And they also knew that seeing Bangtan reunited without his little baby made him suffer just as much. Jungkook belonged here, with the people who really loved him, with him. Not with some stranger who said he was the only one who could make him happy.

"Well, I think we'll leave you alone for a while." Namjoon sighed, urging the others to head for the exit. "Let us know as soon as you know anything. You're in charge, Tae."

"Hm."

He watched them all leave the room, closing the door behind them and plunging the office back into silence. The young man took a deep breath, preventing his tears of distress from flowing, then took out his phone. His hands were still trembling, gripping the object more firmly. He managed to type in a number, bringing it close to his ear. He waited a few seconds before someone picked up.

"Hm. I need your help. Starting with finding someone's number."

~🍁~

Hi! I know, short chapter, not really interesting, and after a long wait! But I think it was a necessary one! And it's my last week of work, so after that, I will be able to start the regular updates again, and even finish the book!

So please be a little patient! Thank you, and see you soon!💕