A Criminal Romance | Vkook

A break while the plot thickens

"...Tae?"

The boy hummed softly in response, his eyes fixed on the road.

"We've been sitting in silence for a while...is something bothering you?"

"Well, no- I mean...well, what's stopping you from talking?"

Heeyeon sighed, looking for an answer.

"...It's hard talking back here when it's too still up there."

Junghwa hummed in agreement. "Jungkook's quiet, too...something seems strange."

"Maybe he doesn't feel like talking, Jjong."

"He's right there, guys, why are you talking about him and not to him?"

Taehyung glanced at the boy next to him, who was patiently sitting there, letting the conversation play out.

"...Kookie? Is something wrong?"

"So we've all been sitting here for 10 minutes, not talking, because we all thought something was bothering everyone else?", asked Heeyeon with an exasperated tone.

"Unnie...maybe something really is bothering him."

Heeyeon sighed.

The silence resumed for a while longer before Taehyung finally spoke again.

"Jungkook, you're clearly upset, and I've been sitting here, not knowing what to do...I've never seen you like this before. Just... tell us what's wrong..."

The boy's eyes widened at the sudden confrontation. "I...You- I don't..."

"Is it Jin? Did he upset you?"

Jungkook looked down.

"Wait, what? What did Jin say?", asked Junghwa, finally finding words herself.

"Tae, you've never had an outburst like that, it's scary, I was really worried-"

"Guys, let him speak. I'll tell you what Jin said later." Taehyung's eyes moved back and forth from the road to Jungkook.

More silence before the younger looked up again.

"Tae...he was right. Not about me, or Chief Min, but I just... don't blame him. I can't."

The elder sighed.

"Jungkook, you do have to judge people sometimes. And blame them. I'm in the wrong for a lot of things. If I didn't make that deal with you, I'd be in prison right now. And that would only be fair."

"...I would've let you go."

Taehyung gasped, his hands almost slipping off the steering wheel, as the words came out of the younger's mouth.

"What? Are you-"

"Yes. I'm serious."

"Jungkook...you can't do that. You can't-"

"Yes, I can. I couldn't live with myself if you'd been locked up while your dad never had to pay for anything. You want me to blame someone, it's him."

"We all blame him, that doesn't mean he's the only one to blame."

"Why are you acting like this?" Jungkook raised his voice involuntarily, surprising even himself, "You didn't think that way when you wrote Junghwa that letter."

Taehyung sat still for a few moments, in shock about everything the younger was saying.

Finally, he tried his best to respond.