Worlds Apart - Taekook - Book 2

Chapter 235 - Allegiances

"Would you prefer it if I drove?" Tae asks, as he buttons up his dazzling white, collarless shirt. Since meeting Jungkook and found that he needed a more relaxed casual wardrobe, he rarely wore suits out of work hours (even if Hobi always tells him that HIS version of casual isn't actually casual at all). Today, however, he was wearing a more smart, casual look because nothing about the brothers reuniting felt casual or relaxed for him.

Jungkook throws his hoodie back in his closet. He'd intended to wear it but his husband appeared to be quite formal in his chosen outfit and Jungkook always felt like a pauper next to him so he had to rethink and revise. "What? Why?" He asks, taking a step back so he can peer around the corner where Tae is now combing his hair.

"You seem kind of nervous so I thought I would offer to drive."

"I'm not nervous... it would be helpful if Han-Shik was more organised and told us where we are meeting and if my husband didn't look like a model all the time."

"You said he was going to book somewhere and send details by 2pm so there's still time and they only flew in early this morning. Your husband looks like a model, huh?" The CEO says with a smile. He'd been trying not to let the disorganisation get to him because he knew it was irritating both Kyong and Jungkook already. Han-Shik wanted to book somewhere for them to eat, insisting that he wanted to organise it. Jungkook was annoyed because he had no time to see if there was a dress code and Kyong was annoyed because he'd spent too many years dealing with Han-Shik's disorganisation. Tae believed there was another reason for apparent lack of organisation. One that involved Nuri and a surprise guest but he hoped he was wrong. He just couldn't shake the feeling that she was involved and the thought made him angry and sad because if he was right, he could see this being the last time that the three brothers would be together.

"You always look like a model. I don't know what to wear! I hate clothes and I hate not knowing where I'm going."

Tae could just about make out what his husband was saying as Jungkook was back in his closet rummaging through racks. "Do you want a coffee?" The CEO didn't like clothes or not knowing where they were going either and there wasn't anything he could do about the fact that his husband thought he looked like a model so he deduced that the best thing to do was to make coffee and leave him to it.

"No, thanks... wait..." Jungkook fiddles around in the large pocket on the right leg of his black cargo trousers as his phone beeps with a notification. His thumb print unlocks his phone screen and the group chat notification shows:

BROS
I have booked a private dining space at Bicena, with a table for 6 in case Jara and Emi want to join us - H

Jungkook is about to ask where that is before another message appears:

BROS
Bicena is on the 81st floor of the Signiel - H

Jungkook's stomach sinks like a lead weight had crashed through his insides. It hadn't occurred to him to ask his brother where they were staying, let alone consider the prospect that there was a chance that he would be staying at the same hotel his Mother stayed at all those months ago.

The silence is deafening. Tae can't see his husband or hear the hangers being swiped along the rails anymore. "Jungkook, is everything okay?" He asks, taking steps closer to the walk-in closet.

The dancer looks up from his phone as Tae appears in the entrance, "I know where we are eating... Bicena..."

Tae knows the Michelin starred restaurant immediately and it serves to ramp up his suspicions and concerns about Nuri. He's in two minds whether to divulge his thoughts to his husband, he hasn't wanted to mention Nuri's name or create worries where there might not be any. In an ideal world, Jungkook would be able to focus on the impending get together with his brothers and meeting his sister-in-law for the first time and Tae would be on alert and catastrophizing in silence. Tae remembered when he put measures in place at the end of year show 'just in case' Nuri showed up and he was glad that he'd been prepared... this felt just like that.