Stuck With You [Taekook ff]

37 | With Matching Stilettos

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Later, all of Taehyung's friends met up at his condo. He had leftover beer still from their guys' night that Jungkook had purchased. They each grabbed a drink.

The front room was set up like an office at a detective's bureau. The coffee table was cluttered with printouts of news articles and photographs from the file folder. There was a map of New York City on the kitchen island.

Namjoon, Yoongi, and Taehyung sat in silence, their faces drawn with concern and determination. The air was heavy with tension as they each pored over the scattered evidence.

Jin was in the kitchen fixing a snack. He had to work through lunch earlier and was hungry. Jimin turned on the news but kept it turned down low. Hoseok, while sipping on his beer, watched and listened to the two helping Taehyung.

Taehyung spoke with a trembling, but deep voice. "This can't be everything. There has to be more. We're missing something... something crucial." He stared at a photograph of his boyfriend, Jungkook, taken just hours before he went missing, or rather left D.C. He had been spotted leaving the Apple Store. He must've gotten a new phone. That's why Taehyung couldn't get a hold of him. The notion that Jungkook would fix it where Taehyung couldn't contact him made a lump form in his throat.

"We'll figure this out, Taehyung," Joon assured him. "We just need to stay focused. I figure the gangsters wouldn't go after Jungkook unless he knew something. Something that could hurt them. Or something that could help them."

Yoongi, leaning back, eyes narrowing as he studied an article, "They've already taken out his parents. That means they're cleaning up loose ends. Jungkook's probably on the run again, but he's smart. If he needs help, certainly he wouldn't be hiding without leaving a trail-something subtle that maybe only you could recognize."

Taehyung took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He knew Yoongi could possibly be right, but the weight of the situation pressed heavily on him.

"He used to talk about New York a lot. Said it was big enough to disappear in... and also too big to find someone unless you knew where to look." Taehyung remembered Jungkook talking about his home back in the city before they left Vegas.

Namjoon walked over to the kitchen island where the spread-out map of New York City was on display, the areas marked where Jungkook was last seen (according to the intel from the mysterious folder of information), which also included where his parents were killed. On the map, the city looked like a labyrinth of danger.

"Jungkook's smart, but he's not invincible. If he's hiding, he's doing it in a place where he can blend in but still keep an eye on the people after him. The question is, where would that be?" Namjoon was almost asking himself as he looked over the map.

Yoongi was tapping the side of his head, lost in thought. "We need to think like him. If you were Jungkook, knowing what you do now about him and his current situation in life, where would you go? What places in the city would hold any significance to you?"

Taehyung's eyes flickered with recognition as he recalled a conversation he once had with Jungkook. He reached out, grabbing a specific photograph of a small café in Chinatown.

"Here. This café. Jungkook said he visited this shop because he had to remain anonymous. The area is super busy and he could hide in the open, he said. It's China Town and the shop would be seemingly off the radar... but there's an alleyway out back, and it connects to several other streets. He could disappear in seconds if he needed to." This was the same cafe Jungkook had said he'd watched the news and saw Taehyung on the TV screen.

Namjoon nodded. "It's a start. If he's been there recently, maybe we can track his movements. We'll need to be careful, though. If the opposition is still monitoring these areas, they might already know that he frequents this place. We could at least keep an eye on it from afar and wait for him to show up."