𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 ||𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐤𝐨𝐨𝐤

6- bruised and bandaged.

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Taehyung gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white against the leather as he sped through the city streets, the low hum of the engine swelling to a harsh roar in the quiet night. He'd been at his penthouse, when the call came from his uncle. Come to the mansion. Now. It's urgent.

He arrived in minutes, his tires skidding slightly as he halted in the drive. He swung the car door open, striding through the front doors without slowing, each step a firm echo that reverberated off the marble floors and down the grand, empty hallways. He didn't knock, didn't pause. Instead, he pushed open the heavy doors to his uncle's office and stepped inside, claiming the seat across from Ha Joon with the familiarity of someone who belonged—yet felt like an intruder in his own family.

"What's this about?" Taehyung's voice was low, controlled, but there was a flicker of unease beneath his cold mask.

Ha Joon looked at him for a moment, his gaze unreadable. Silently, he slid a photograph across the polished wood desk until it rested inches from Taehyung's hand. Taehyung glanced down, picking it up to examine the face in the picture.

"Park Min Cheol," Ha Joon's voice was calm. "responsible, in part, for your father's arrest. He's one of the men pulling the strings."

Taehyung's gaze lingered on the image. Park Min Cheol looked ordinary—mid-forties, neatly combed hair, sharp eyes. He could have passed for any businessman in the city, the kind of man people walked by without a second thought. But Taehyung knew better. In their world, monsters hid behind ordinary faces.

Ha Joon's eyes bore into him. "He'll be at the Lee family's event tonight. You need to make him talk, get him to confess to every detail he knows. And if he resists..." His uncle's voice dropped to a deadly whisper, "then make sure he doesn't leave the room alive."

Taehyung's jaw tightened, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the photo. There it was, the ultimatum, the line he'd known he'd cross eventually.

"If you do this," Ha Joon continued, his gaze unwavering, "you're finally in. Really in. But if you're not up for it... you walk away now, back to your life. And you stay out of family business."

Taehyung felt the familiar surge of anger, simmering beneath the surface. He slipped the photograph into his jacket pocket, then stood, his face a mask of cold determination. Not a single word left his lips as he turned and strode out, but his silence was its own declaration.

Back in his car, the city lights streaked across his windshield, his face a cold mask reflected in the rearview. This was for his father. He would do whatever it took.

Taehyung knew where to draw the line when it came to Jeongguk. The pain of betrayal still seared through him, but he couldn't bring himself to turn his rage on the person who had once been his whole world. If Jeongguk was out of reach, however, the others involved in his father's downfall weren't. He would hurt them, and he'd take his time doing it.