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Don continued. "Jungkook's parents were killed in a house bomb close to nineteen or twenty years ago. His dad was Jeon Chang-min and his mother was Jeon Areum. I knew of his dad. We called him Changy. Changy was adopted into a very wealthy family as a baby. Changy's dad was an honest businessman, working as a lawyer for an insurance company. But his dad, Jungkook's great grandfather was a different type of businessman."

Don looked into Jungkook's eyes. He looked mortified.

"What type of business was he into?" Taehyung asked. Was it prostitution? Running illegal gambling rings?

"Old man Jeon made his wealth in Las Vegas. He was the owner of three casinos. Back then, gambling was against the law but the cops were all being greased by Jeon. Of course, he used some of that wealth to invest in property in his hometown, New York. Not here in Manhattan, but in both Chinatown and Koreatown. Then the casino game changed and he was forced out, taking his money with him."

"What does all of this have to do with Jungkook? Today, right now?" Taehyung asked because he knew Jungkook was too engrossed and stunned to ask follow-up questions.

"Well, the old man not only took his wealth and skipped town but it was said he stiffed his business partner. The low lives in the casino industry back then considered Jeon to have run off without paying his debts and with stolen money. To this day, it's never been found."

Don continued. "Now is where we get to Jungkook. Again, Changy was his parents' only child. When his dad died, he was said to have inherited Old Jeon's wealth. Then, when Changy and his wife were murdered, that wealth transferred to Jungkook."

"No, I'm sorry you're mistaken," Taehyung chimed in, shaking his head in denial. "We're talking about two different Jungkooks. My boyfriend's parents were alive very recently. And they weren't killed 20 years ago." Both Taehyung's and Jungkook's anxiety was growing.

"Yes." Don eyed Jungkook. "Well, his adopted parents were Lars and Sophie Crass. Lars and Changy were best friends growing up and were in business together later in life, nothing criminal like Changy's grandfather—they ran a legit real estate business. So when Jungkook's biological parents were killed, somehow he was placed in some type of foster care system. To keep him safe, the Crasses secretly adopted him and changed his name to Justin Crass."

Jungkook's chills that had started earlier reappeared and it seemed he broke out into a sweat. Here is the part of the story he's familiar with. He recognized his name, Justin Crass. He just didn't know his name was changed to Justin. He knew the Crass name was added, but not his first name. He assumed Jeon Jungkook was a made-up name to use for safety reasons only.

"Wow. What does all this have to do with the people who are trailing him and possibly trying to kill him?" Taehyung asked. He raised his voice slightly and Jungkook reached for his hand to calm him, even though he himself had fallen to pieces on the inside.

"Getting to that. Naturally, you know that both the Crasses and the Jeons left their wealth to Jungkook. But in case something happened to the young heir, it was all in the care of Gerard Benson. Lars found a biological distant relative and planted the goods in her home to keep the money and assets safe. Gerard of course knew all of this. And once Jungkook turned 21, he should have gotten access to all that money left to him. But somehow, Crass, out of wanting to protect Jungkook, made sure that the cash remained hidden and anything in the banks would be monitored by Gerard."

Jungkook and Taehyung both wondered who the relative was that Don spoke of. Taehyung looked at Jungkook questioningly but didn't get a readable response. Jungkook knew of no said relative who had a home that had millions hidden inside of it.

Stuck With You [Taekook ff]Where stories live. Discover now