In The Heart of Darkness

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Yoongi stood from his chair as a knock came to his office door.  Hoseok moved behind him, on guard as always, his hand hovering near his gun holster.

"Come in."

The door opened and Taehyung slowly stepped in, clean shaven, clean smelling, and just overall clean. Yoongi gave him a tight smile, gesturing for him to have a seat in front of his desk.

Taehyung walked over to the black leather chair and slowly lowered himself into it, the creek of the leather echoing throughout the room.  His face was lacking the extreme levels of pride it was boasting a short while ago.  He gripped the arms of the chair and as Yoongi sat down, he raised his eyes.  "So, what's going on?" he said softly.

Yoongi notes the slumped shoulders and somber face. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, a slight squeak accompanying his movement.  He sighed as he observed his "new" brother. It wasn't a good feeling to see him so defeated.

Looking up at Hoseok, Yoongi nodded and Hoseok pulled a small envelope from his breast pocket. He slid it across the desk to Taehyung.

"What's this," mumbles Taehyung, reaching out to pick it up.

"Open it."

Taehyung looked puzzled as he ripped the envelope open and pulled out a card.  His eyes scanned the card and he looked up, seeming to be even more confused. "A masquerade gala? You got this too? Are we supposed to go to this? It doesn't even say where it's at!"

He tossed the card on the desk and sat back.

"It says the location will be announced.  I can only assume Lee is trying to prevent people getting into the venue early. I can only assume it's his raging paranoia flaring up again."

"Lee?! This is his deal? No. Haven't we had enough of him?" Taehyung growled and folded his arms.

"All the more reason for us to get rid of him, Taehyung," said Yoongi quietly. "Look, we need to work together. This isn't going to be easy, but he won't expect us to retaliate since we've been so sidelined. Probably wants to flaunt our weakness to our organization. Either that, or he wants us to retaliate and validate his excuse to kill us all.  Either way, we can't keep letting him bully and push us around. We need to act smart and take care of him once and for all."

Taehyung looked at his brother with lowered brows and a small snarl on his lips. Yoongi was right. Lee had done enough to all of them. He was a thorn in the flesh for each of their families. He slowly closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He still hadn't been able to completely wrap his mind around the fact Yoongi was his brother, but he was tired of fighting against everything. Resignation set hard on his expression.

When he opened his eyes once more, he met Yoongi's with a hard and cold gaze. "Alright. What is the plan?"

* * *

Jieun answered the soft knock at her door with surprise. On the other side of the door stood Yoongi, his coat on his arm. "Yoongi, what's up?" She smiled and stood back to invite him in.

He stepped inside her room and looked around a moment before turning to her. "We've been invited to a party. I'm fairly certain you aren't equipped for that, so I've come to take you shopping."

He smiled brightly, his lips pursed into a line, waiting for her answer.

Jieun blinked a few times and then laughed nervously. "Is this a fancy party?"

"Mm. Very."

"Oh...I don't think I belong at a party like that. I don't know the first thing about these kinds of-"