Crimson Redemption {K.TH} | BTS Mafia AU/FF {On Hold}

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
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Though she was tied to my chair by a pink leash, Chopa tugged at it, attempting to venture to her limits. With her paws firmly planted on the pavement, she pointed her nose towards the ground. She swayed her head back and forth like a snake, trying to pick up on any intriguing scents. Whenever another dog passed by, Chopa had to stop what she was doing. She would engage the other mutt in a two-sided butt-sniffing session before going their separate ways. Once she had enough adventuring, she sat back down on her rump and scooted forwards into a relaxed sploot. Her long tongue hung lazily from her muzzle, only moving when she licked her nose. Reaching down, I scratched behind her ear, earning a happy bark and quick lick on my hand. I was more than happy to finally spend some time with my fluffy best friend.

While Chopa was enjoying the soft breeze and observing the activity in Seoul’s shopping district, I continued my lunch meeting with Hyungsik. We quietly exchanged conversation in hushed voices, simply to avoid drawing the attention of the fellow customers around us. Our discussion contained no details of the mafia’s current activities, more so it was about finding someone- finding Taehyung. A few months back, he left everything behind and went missing. When I first arrived at the hospital after the crash, Taehyung came but then ran out into a thunderstorm, and that was the last anyone ever saw of him.

All of his belongings were left behind and he disposed of his commtacts, leaving us no way to track him. All of his essentials were back at the estate. When the mafia relocated, they packed his stuff away in boxes, which were currently sitting in my room collecting dust. No one has heard from him in the past six months, and I’m worried something had happened to him.

From across the table, I felt Hyungsik’s gaze on my person as I swiped through his tablet. Multiple tabs of information followed after another, worldwide newspaper articles of the latest crime, possible sightings, and groundless rumors filled the screen. While they seemed to be believable, I knew better. I didn’t want to doubt Hyungsik at such a time, but unfortunately, nothing seemed concrete or factual. Sighing softly, I placed the device on the table and continued on with my meal. Except, at this point, I was now pushing it around the plate.

“I want to believe he’s okay, but nothing is suggesting that he is.”
“I know Sae. I’m trying my hardest to locate him, but where I can go and what I can do is limited with what’s been going on.”

Though Hyungsik isn’t a member of any gang or mafia, he is affiliated with Crimson and Bangtan, therefore affected by the brewing war with Robyn. Because of this, his movements have been severely restricted. Normally, he is able to travel freely around the country and abroad, all without having to worry about being shot or stabbed in some alleyway. His safety heavily relies on being behind our borders, if he was found outside our territory he might return in a body bag. Now that things have gained more tension, his decade's long momentum has come to an abrupt end.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful or anything, it just feels like we’ve hit a dead end.”
Hyungsik gently shook his head and leaned closer to me.
“I know Taehyung is still out there,” he whispered softly. “I don’t want you to tell anyone else this, but a lot of Robyn’s businessmen have gone missing or turned up dead over the past couple months. Now I know you guys haven’t been moving out of your territory much these days, but what if that’s him?”

My eyes widened to the size of teacup saucers, similar to the ones sitting on our table. I remained still as he grabbed the tablet, but my eyes tracked the movement of his hands across the screen. The device was passed back in my direction and with involuntary shaky hands, I grabbed it. An extensive lift of Robyn’s associates filled the screen and I frantically scrolled through it, recognizing most names and noting some new ones. Beside each name held one of three statuses: dead, missing or alive. Majority of them were deceased and a good portion was nowhere to be found. To our current knowledge, no other gang or mafia would dare to stand up against Draco and Robyn, there was no way they would be the ones hunting down his businessmen. Bangtan hasn’t made any moves against him lately either. Could it be Taehyung?

"Why can't I tell anyone?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"There has been talk that the mafia is treating his as a traitor, however, they don't want to waste their resources. The last thing I want to do is doom our safety and divide their attention. It's better if we keep this to ourselves, in case we're wrong and this isn't Taehyung."

If Hyungsik was right about Taehyung's status, it doesn't make any sense why they would brand him as a traitor. Taehyung dedicated almost a decade of his life to the mafia, performing and completing each mission with the highest standards. Bangtan was his only family, he wouldn't hesitate to do anything for them. Their safety was one of the most important things to him, even if it meant that he got hurt in the process. Despite all of the things Taehyung has done for them, the mafia was so quick to turn on him. Did my brother and the others did not value what he's done for them? If it's true, then bringing him back to Seoul would put his life in danger.

Hyungsik was right about keeping it ourselves, however. No matter how angry I was at this rumor, it was too dangerous to divide their attention from the ensuing war. I couldn't tell my Unnies either, they need to focus on protecting Incheon. As far as everyone knows, I'm supposedly on the bench until everything is resolved. Currently, it's the perfect cover for searching for Taehyung.