Joker ㅣ Vkook

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Taehyung, are you in there?" Jimin asked as he lightly knocked on the door.

He heard footsteps approach him, and the door was opened to reveal Yoongi with a stressed out appearance present on his face, and Taehyung in the background with an awkward smile plastered on his face.

"Jimin-hyung-"

"What the fuck do you want, you sly little son of a bitch." Yoongi sneered, his face contorting into one of disgust.

"I just want to talk. I brought cake-"

"Let him in, Yoongi-hyung," Taehyung intervened, "I was expecting him anyway."

And so, Yoongi hesitantly stepped aside, allowing Jimin to step into the room, cake in hand, with a nervous smile on his face.

"Come, sit down." Taehyung said, gesturing towards an empty seat opposite him and next to Yoongi. Jimin obliged, taking a seat, carefully placing the cake on the table beforehand, and Yoongi followed after him with a groan, shutting the door and slumping into his seat next to Jimin.

"I take it you want to talk about everything?" Taehyung asked, smiling gently.

"Y-yea...I brought cake, it's chocolate. I- uh- I remember you said you liked chocolate cake when we were younger so I just...you know." Jimin replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yes, I do remember saying that..." Taehyung said as he took the cake in hand, "But people change Jimin-hyung. What if I said I didn't like chocolate cake anymore? What if I said my favourite cake flavour was vanilla or mocha? What would you say then? There are many different ways a person can change, Jimin-hyung. Just like flavours on a cake, we change so easily, and so have I."

Jimin lowered his head, his cloud of guilt that hung over him growing larger each second that passed. It leeched every inch of happiness from him, and he fumbled with the tips of his fingers, avoiding meeting eyes with the younger male that sat opposite him.

"I know that...I-" Jimin quietly said, "I'm so sorry Taehyung, I just want to make things right between us."

"I told you to bring Hoseok."

"I know-"

"Why isn't he here?"

"Because he refused!" Jimin exclaimed, "He didn't want to come, but I did. I want to fix things, and he doesn't. Please, Taehyung, give me this chance."

"Fine." Taehyung said dismissively, shrugging his shoulders. "I forgive you, on one condition."

"Please don't say it has anything to do with Hoseok-"

"No. Far from that, actually." Taehyung said as he looked at Yoongi with mischief gleaming in his eyes. "Have you heard about my little tale about the two Jokers?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jimin caught Yoongi nodding in response to Taehyung's question, and he stood from where he sat and went to fetch something from Taehyung's bedside table. He picked up two cards and placed them in front of Taehyung as he made his way back to his seat. With a small thump, Yoongi was once again sat beside Jimin, but he didn't look irritated at all. Instead, he looked nervous, and Jimin saw how the older male gulped down his anxiety.

"These two Jokers have a story..." Taehyung started, pushing the cards towards Jimin. "One of them is good, they live with an unliftable weight stuck on their shoulders, trying to provide for themselves or their family whilst being mocked, whereas the other is bad, committing cruel acts of crime to prove an impossible point like some kind of sick joke."

"Let's say...I want to play a little game." Taehyung said, eyeing the older male. "Let's say that the good Joker wants to take all of that weight off of his shoulders. One day, as he's performing in front of the King and the Queen, he's trying his best but they aren't satisfied. His career is on the rocks and his sanity is on the line after years of being pushed around and roughed up by the bad Joker. When things couldn't get any worse, the bad Joker is brought before them, the good Joker is roughly pushed aside, and he watched as the King and Queen laughed heartily at the bad Joker's acts that were nothing new at all. He watched as they threw small bags of money at the bad Joker, and as he watched he was dragged away by the royal guard and he was thrown out of the castle with no money in hand. He lost everything in a matter of seconds and he only had two options left; to give up with his life and kill himself and leave his poor starving family alone, struggling with poverty, or to kill the bad Joker and take back what was rightfully his in exchange for what's left of his sanity. In shorter terms, he would become a psychopath. It's your call, Jiminie-hyung."

Jimin's gaze averted from the cards and to Taehyung, and he opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't find the answer to Taehyung's little game. So he shut his mouth and gave it a little thought, narrowing his eyes as his concentration grew stronger.

"Do you want to hear what the others said?" Taehyung asked, snapping Jimin out of his train of thought.

Jimin swiftly nodded in response, no words leaving his mouth as he listened closely to Taehyung.

"Namjoon-hyung said that the good Joker should kill the bad Joker and take revenge for stealing everything away from him. He said that killing himself showed weakness, and weakness was something that he never liked to see in people as it meant that they were giving up."

"Jin-hyung said that he should kill himself, because if he became psychotic he could do unimaginable things to his family and the rest of the kingdom. He said he would rather see a tear-stained teddy rather than a blood-soaked one."

"Jungkook said that he should go psycho and kill the bad Joker, saying that the bad Joker had ruined the good Joker's life, and the bad Joker had done enough harm already and it was time for him to pay. He said that the good Joker needs to toughen up, even if it meant losing every inch of happiness he had left."

"Yoongi-hyung said he should kill himself because going psycho meant that he would hurt people important to him, but either way the good Joker will always be hurt no matter what. However he said that the psychotic Joker will never be there for his family the same way, but if he killed himself then he would always be with his family, as a phantom, and people would take pity upon the struggling family who was coping with a terrible loss, and it would not only teach people a lesson, but it would change them too."

"Now, Jimin-hyung. You've heard their choices and their justification; tell me which path you choose for the good Joker."

(A/N)

And this is where the chapter ends! Not without your help, of course. I know some of you like to theorize and read between the lines to see where the story will go, and this is one of those moments where you, the reader, get to do so. This chapter is not only key to what happens in the next, but it drops some clues behind each character and drops a major hint as to which 'Joker' Taehyung is.

So get commenting, and comment which path Jimin should choose for the good ol' good Joker.

Also I SWEAR TO GOD there will be Taekook moments in the next chapter, so you can have a slice of mystery with a big dollop of fluff on the side. Enjoy! ;)

-desperatae