PERSONA ✓

25.

Dead ends were not something that Jungkook liked.

He liked getting clues that lead somewhere, getting leads that helped answer their unanswered questions, helping the team by using his skills.

It had been weeks and there was no lead on whoever had mind controlled Hoseok. That left Namjoon to go out and stop petty, small crimes, instead of getting to the bottom of this lingering problem.

The ring that had controlled Hoseok was with Jeongguk day and night. The technology in it had been fried, likely during Namjoon and Hoseok's fight at Seoul City Bank. That was both lucky and unlucky; lucky because the ring couldn't control anyone anymore. Unlucky because that would have been a nice piece of technology to pull apart and examine, maybe even get some clues from.

So yes, Jungkook was frustrated. Aside from that, tensions in their team were high, and he didn't like that one bit.

Jungkook was one of the nerdiest kids at school, being able to hack into any device on the planet, reading large books and binging TV series that were 10 seasons too long.

So of course, when he found out his best friend/brother, Namjoon, was a freaking superhero, he lost his crap, because he could be a sidekick of sorts, helping from behind the scenes.

And they had a superhero team, just like in the countless comics Jungkook reads. So when their team has any issues or tensions, it nags at Jungkook a lot.

Even when their team split, Jungkook was almost in tears that day. He couldn't let that happen again, but what could he do? With Hoseok on the team, of course there was bound to be higher tension.

"Hey, Jungkook, where should I put this?"

Jungkook blinked and turned from where he was untangling some cords. "Ah," he said to Yoongi, "take those to the basement please."

Yoongi nodded and headed off with two speakers in his hands.

Jungkook had decided that it was best if the team moved their base of operations to somewhere other than Jungkook and Namjoon's shared bedroom.

The basement had a lot of space and was easy to access from both the entrance of the house and the bedroom. With Namjoon's permission, Jungkook began moving their equipment down there.

"Hey, Hoseok, can you pick these up? I don't have super strength."

Hoseok, who was previously unplugging some cords from an outlet, nodded and picked up two TV screens, one on each hand.

Jungkook took a second to think, wow, super strength is cool, before grabbing a bundle of cords and heading for the door. "C'mon, let's go."

He heard Hoseok's steps follow him. As they went down the steps of the basement, Hoseok mumbled, "I don't think he likes me."

Jungkook frowned as he neared the door to their nee headquarters. Pressing his thumb on the keypad, the door slid open and he entered, switching on the lights. In the middle of the room was a large white desk, shiny and new, holding one computer already. There were computers already set up, showing maps and monitors of the city, as well as diagrams of Persona and Shadow, including their vitals and improvements for their suits.

It was very high-tech. In other words, Jungkook would want to live in this basement if he was allowed.

At the other end of the room stood Seokjin, plugging in another TV screen. He spared a quick wave, and Jungkook noticed his sling was gone.

"You don't think who likes you?" Jungkook set down the cords on the desk and turned to Hoseok, who set the computers down. He lowered his voice so Seokjin wouldn't overhear.

"Taehyung," said Hoseok. "I don't think he likes me. He's always glaring at me."

"Yeah, well, I would be, too," Jungkook said with a shrug. "I mean, you did kidnap his brother—"

"I what?"

"Yeah, 'n you broke his arm too—"

"I what?"

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. "You really don't remember, huh?"

Hoseok looked devastated, to say the least. He glanced over at Seokjin, who was oblivious to the conversation going on behind his back.

"I don't... I can't remember...." Hoseok's gaze went from looking at Seokjin guiltily to dropping to his shoes, and Jungkook immediately felt bad.

"Hey, s'alright," Jungkook said. He awkwardly squeezed Hoseok's shoulder. "Taehyung'll come around. Maybe," he added uncertainly.

The door opened and Jungkook dropped his hand. Jimin entered, chewing on chocolate bar.

"Hey," he said, "how's it going in here?"

"We'd be going faster if we had another pair of hands," Jungkook said dryly. "You took a snack break?"

"Yes, sir." Jimin gave a mock salute.

"And you didn't bring me anything?"

Jimin tossed a chocolate bar over to Jungkook. Jungkook caught it and began unwrapping it, chewing with a satisfied expression.

"You're the only person in this household I ever trusted," Jungkook said dramatically. He then noticed Seokjin struggling with setting up the TV. "Oh, Hoseok, could you go help Seokjin hyung with that?"

Hoseok jumped at the mention of his name, but nodded hastily and headed over to Seokjin's area.

"What'd you say to Hoseok?" Jimin asked.

"I reminded him that he kidnapped 'n broke Seokjin hyung's arm," said Jungkook. "I know when he first broke out of the mind control, he told us he couldn't remember much, but I thought he'd at least remember that."

As Jungkook watched Hoseok approach Seokjin, he noticed a piece of paper fall from his pocket. Jungkook didn't say anything, instead bending down and picking it up when Hoseok wasn't looking.

"What's that?" Jimin asked.

It was folded and crumpled, ripped at the edges. Jungkook began unfolding it, squinting at the scrawl written on the page.

"It's an address," Jungkook realized. His eyes trailed down to the writing on the corner of the page. It said one single word: Persona.

"What the hell does that mean?" Jimin asked. "That's not this address. Why would it say Persona in the corner?"

"Hoseok," Jungkook called. Hoseok turned and gave his attention. Jungkook held out the piece of paper, and Hoseok's eyes widened. "Care to tell us what this is?"

Seokjin's attention had been caught as well. Hoseok stammered, "W-where did you—"

"It fell out of your pocket just now," Jungkook said. His voice was a flat sort of tone, a tone he rarely ever used. "Whose address is this? Why did you write Persona on the page, too?"

"I..."

"Actually, it's better if you explain while the whole team is here." Jungkook slipped his phone out of his pocket, clicking on Namjoon's number. He held the phone to his ear. "Yeah, hyung? Come down to HQ, we've got something going on."

"Why? What's going on?" Came Namjoon's voice through the phone.

"Well," Jungkook began, fixing Hoseok with a suspicious gaze, "let's just say Hoseok has some explaining to do.