The Shadows of power

27

Namjoon and Jin stared as Jackson, in his usual over-the-top fashion, emerged from the washroom wearing a bright pink shirt, casually adjusting his watch. Panic flashed across his face as he saw them, and without a word, Jackson darted back towards the bathroom, locking it from the outside. He turned back to Namjoon and Jin with an exaggerated look of innocence and said, "What are you two doing here?"

Jackson, Namjoon’s best friend from university, was used to chaos, but this was a new level. He shared his university days with both Namjoon and Jin, so they knew each other well. Namjoon saw an opportunity and, with a quick hand signal, silently urged Jackson to play along. With an exaggeratedly serious expression, Namjoon declared, "Jackson is a ghost hunter."

Jin blinked, caught off guard. "A ghost hunter? But wasn’t Jackson a political science major?"

Jackson, catching the cue, stammered, "Well, yeah... I was, but, uh, hunting ghosts is a... side job. Yeah, you can say that. I’m here to... uh, find some spirits."

Internally, Jackson was screaming, wondering, Where the hell am I stuck?

Namjoon, keeping up the act, asked with a straight face, "How many ghosts are inside the washroom, Jackson?"

Jackson, still trying to make sense of the situation, blurted out, "Five or six, maybe." He glanced at Namjoon, who raised an eyebrow knowingly—both were referring to the people Jackson had been... entertaining.

Namjoon, trying to keep from laughing, teased, "Have some shame, man."

Jackson shot back, "Look who’s talking, the saint of morality."

Jin, entirely innocent to the hidden meanings in their exchange, was still trying to piece together the conversation. "Wait, what? Ghosts? Namjoon, you should appreciate Jackson’s bravery. Imagine facing five or six spirits at the same time!"

Jackson burst into uncontrollable laughter, dropping to the floor as Jin’s earnest encouragement echoed through the room. The sight of Jin sincerely praising Jackson for his supposed bravery made Jackson laugh until tears filled his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the meeting room, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, Tae, and Jungkook, who had been watching the scene unfold through the security camera feed, were in hysterics. Even Sejin, usually composed, was laughing along. Jimin, Tae, and Jungkook were practically rolling on the floor, clutching their stomachs from the sheer absurdity of the situation.

Namjoon, attempting to regain some control, said, “Jin, you know this room, right? I’ll renovate it ASAP. How about you make some coffee for us?”

Jin, always eager to help, nodded and headed towards the kitchen. The second Jin left, Jackson looked at Namjoon with a smirk. “The art of lying, my friend. You’ve mastered it.”

Namjoon groaned, massaging his temples. “Do you know the mental strain I’ve just been through? People with high IQs have wild imaginations, and I had to think up this whole story about a haunted room and Cobra... all while talking to my husband!”

Jackson, laughing again, teased, “The good old life before marriage, huh?”

Namjoon froze, his eyes wide in terror. Before he could stop himself, he muttered, “The pleasurable life before marriage—"

Jackson, ever quick-witted, mimicked Jin’s voice perfectly, “Yeah? What?”

Thinking Jin had returned, Namjoon stammered, “I mean the painful life before marriage!”

Jackson fell over laughing, wiping tears from his eyes. “Even a lion becomes a deer in front of his wife.”

Namjoon, embarrassed, smacked Jackson’s head. “Wait until you get married, you’ll see.”

Just then, Namjoon’s nerves spiked as he peeked into the kitchen. Jin stood with a large knife in his hand.. The loud thunk as the knife hit the cutting board made Namjoon jump. Dashing out of the kitchen, he all but yelled at Jackson, “Go home! I’ll get you coffee another time! We’ll meet outside—bye, bye, bye!”

Namjoon grabbed Jin’s arm. “How about we head to the meeting room now?”

Jin, confused by Namjoon’s sudden rush, simply shrugged. “But I was just making coffee—”

“No, no, leave it! Let’s go!” Namjoon said, practically dragging him towards the meeting room.

When they entered, the members who had finally stopped laughing at the earlier chaos broke into fresh hysterics upon seeing Namjoon and Jin’s flustered faces. Sejin, still grinning, joined in as well. The room erupted in laughter as Namjoon spotted the security feed, realizing the entire group had been watching him and Jin the whole time.

Namjoon, flushed and embarrassed, hurried over to the PC, quickly shutting off the feed. He tried to regain control of the situation, but it was no use—the laughter continued.

“Go ahead, laugh it up,” Namjoon grumbled, clearly done with life. “Let me know when you’re done, and we can start the meeting.”

The members, unable to resist, got up from their seats and burst into another round of laughter. “Cobra! Uncle John!” Tae managed to gasp through his laughter. “Seriously?”

Namjoon slumped in his chair, his face buried in his hands, wondering how his day had spiraled into this.

After what seemed like two hours of laughter at Namjoon’s expense, the room finally settled. The members wiped their eyes, taking deep breaths to recover from the chaos. Jin, still thoroughly confused, sat beside Namjoon, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Namjoon looked around at his teammates, resigned. “Okay, enough laughing. Let’s finally see what the video clip was about…”

And with that, they prepared to move on from the madness that had just unfolded.