Flaw in the System

31

"73 bottles of apple juice on the wall! 73 bottles of juice! You take one down, pass it around- 72 bottles of apple juice on the wall!" Tae softly sang as he texted Namjoon on his phone, laying on the bed. He had ordered breakfast and was currently waiting for the Jeon brother's to get done getting ready.

"I-I don't think is going to w-work." Jeno picked his fingers nervously and looked at Tae. He was sure his hyung who was doing this for him could reassure him and his nervou-

"Me either but I do as I'm told." Tae said, not even looking up from his phone and Jeno gulped.

"He means," Jae glared at Tae who just rolled his eyes, "That Namjoon or Jin told us to do this. They have a lot of connections and can help you out." She comforted the taller younger.

"What do you guys do again?" He gulped and looked at Jae.

"Drug deal, hitmen, kill people- you name it. Oddball jobs but sinister." Tae said nonchalantly again and Jeno looked pale.

"I think I'm going to throw up-" He books it to the bathroom.

"Kim Taehyung!" She looked at him like he was unbelievable.

"What?" He looked at her confused and she sighed as she sat down on the bed, petting his hair back.

"Babe, they aren't used to this. He's still young, he doesn't even know the world or where he belongs. Be nice, yeah? They're not used to the life of crime." She said quietly so that no one else heard but Tae. He slowly nodded, refusing to look her way as his cheeks turned pink, reminding her of when children would get in trouble.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Sungjin asked and come through the door from the other room while trying to style his hair.

"A lot of people owe us, it just happens the two of your bosses owe us and one's a good friend of ours. We're trying to get you guys time off or something arranged so that we can keep you safe while we try to find out who's targeting us. The others will be back in a couple of days, after what happened yesterday Namjoon doesn't want to leave any of us." Taehyung explained and Sungjin nods.

"O-okay." He walks back in the room to finish and Wooseok comes in looking just as he did these last few days.

"You're not going to shower?" Jae questioned and he shook his head.

"What's the use? Dirty clothes." He shrugged.

"Did you at least brush your teeth?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not that gross."

"Dude, when was the last time you washed your ass?" Tae questioned, turning to look at him.

"Good question. Such a good question that I don't even know the answer."

"Awe dude that's so gross!"

-

"Baby first." Jae said she climbed into Tae's rental car that arrived in that morning.

"School?" Tae looked behind him .

"Busan International University." He said and Tae nodded and started driving. The car ride was silent other than the radio and Tae's humming.

It was a tad bit awkward, but they all could kill for the silence and moment of normalcy. They kept their eyes on the road and scenery breathing in fresh air and no longer moldy, hotel air.

Jae noticed she had habit of setting her hand on her tummy. It was a habit that was growing to become more natural by the hour. Her eyelids drooped as she thought of ways she can get to a clinic without anyone noticing.