The 7 Princes - His POV - Yoongi

Chapter 6 - Caught

The bell jingled as I opened the restaurant door. The smell of stew and barbeque hit my nose, releasing the stress from my muscles.

"Yoongi!" my mom called from the kitchen, her smile lighting up her entire face. "You're just in time. Come help me carry these vegetable boxes."

I should have known I'd be put to work as soon as I walked in.

Oh well. If Mom kept smiling like that, it didn't matter how much work I had to do.

I carried in the crates of vegetables and set them down in the kitchen. Mom patted me on the back.

"You were always my favorite."

"You're welcome," I said, kissing her cheek. "Can I get a table?"

She raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"I'm meeting someone."

Her eyes narrowed and she raised a finger at me. "If you're getting into trouble again, Min Yoongi, I swear..."

I grabbed her hand gently and put it back down. "I'm not in trouble, Mom. Don't worry."

Despite my tone, she slapped me in the arm anyways. "Don't you dare think about going back to your old ways. You have a good job now, and you make an honest living. If you get mixed up with that damn gang again..."

"You know I left that life years ago. I don't want to go back."

It was the truth. I didn't.

But somehow, I still had myself mixed up in this job from Jin. I suppose I could have turned him down... but how do you turn down a king?

Mom sighed, patting her heart. "You better not. I'd rather lose this restaurant and our house than visit you behind that wall of plastic again."

My stomach knotted. I remembered how broken she was every time she came to see me in jail. The lines on her face, the way she blamed herself for my poor upbringing, how she told the officers that if Father was still alive I would have grown up right.

None of it was her fault, but she kept blaming herself for it. I didn't want her to do that ever again.

"I'm just meeting with an old friend." I said. "He's new to town. I want to show him some of your amazing barbeque."

I'm not sure whether or not she believed me, but a smile came back to her face. She nodded, pointing to a table in the corner of the room.

"Don't go getting yourself into trouble anymore, Min Yoongi." she said, putting my face between her hands.

I patted them, smiling at her. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Mom brought out the pork and side dishes, and I started the barbeque. I didn't even have to look up when he walked in. I could smell his arrogance and bad cologne across the room.

"Yoons!" Jackson said, sitting in front of me. "What's happening?"

I took a shot of soju. "Glad you could make it."

Sort of.

"Of course. You know I got your back."

I couldn't argue with him there. Jackson had always backed me up. If there was a job that needed to be done, Jackson was one of the few people with both the skills and courage to pull it off.

The problem was that he was a wild card.

Mom looked at me from the corner of the room, frowning. I don't think she recognized Jackson, but I'm sure she had an idea of what kind of person he was.

I won't go to jail again, Mom. Don't worry.

"How's the girl?" he asked.

"Uncomfortable," I replied. "It will make our job a lot easier. So don't get creative."

He laughed, sucking down a pork wrap. "You afraid of having fun?"

"I don't want either one of us behind bars again. Just stick to the script and we'll both make it out okay."

He leaned back, slowly chewing. "Are we still on for the festival?"

I nodded. "She seems to like me enough. I can convince her to go. I'll leave her alone for a minute. You scare her a bit."

The smoke from the barbeque highlighted his twisted grin. "That'll be fun. You know, she's kind of pretty. We might be able to -"

"Hey." I said, slamming down my chopsticks. "Remember what I said. Don't touch her."

He held his hands up innocently. "Sorry. Didn't know she was your girl. I thought she was a job." He laughed. "Or maybe she's both?"

I picked the chopsticks back up and gripped them. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He put another wrap in his mouth. "Don't worry about it."

"I mean it, Jackson. Those are the orders from the king."

He giggled through his full mouth. "A king's servant now, eh? Didn't you join us to tear down the monarchy?"

"That was a long time ago. Now, I want to make an honest living."

"Pfft honest living? Tons of people make honest livings. They're all miserable for it too. The reason we all got together back then was to change things. We all knew you were the smart one. You'd change things." He paused. "That's why I took the heat for you back then. Or did you forget the six months I did for you?"

I nodded, staring at my rice bowl. "I never forgot." I sighed. "But I'm still the lead on this. Remember that."

He eyed me for a moment, then gave a half shrug. I ordered more soju and beer. It didn't take much for Jackson to get plastered.

"A toast!" he yelled, holding up his glass as if he hadn't already drank three bottles of beer. "A toast to the bright, happy futures we'll have once that paycheck rolls in. Right, Yoons?"

I clicked the glass, but I didn't smile. Bright futures?

Y/N's innocent, troubled face flashed through my mind.

Did I deserve a bright future after taking away hers?