CHAPTER 49

Tiger's head rests on Jungkook's chest, while the tattooed boy keeps him close, an arm still embracing his waist, breathing peacefully.Tiger raises his body to have a better look, Bunny . . .Carefully, he removes Jungkook's arm from his waist and places it down. Jungkook turns his body to him, whining almost inaudible, but he keeps his eyes closed.Tiger lets out a sigh of relief and silently leaves the room, wandering around the new house—Where are they?He goes downstairs trying not to make a sound, Is everyone sleeping or what?He doesn't hesitate to open every cabinet in the kitchen until he finds some cereals and a bowl.Thank god they've milk, haha, well, not anymore.He throws the carton after pouring the last drop and makes his way to the living room. He sits on the floor, resting his elbows on the table in front of the sofa.He almost drops the wooden spoon at the sound of feet walking downstairs. He turns his head hoping it would be Jungkook."Bubba, you woke up already?" Seokjin kisses the top of his head and sits next to him. "You should have woken me up."Tiger fights the urge to roll his eyes. "Why?""What do you mean? So I can make you breakfast."Tiger holds the bowl with both hands and raises it at the high of Seokjin's eyes. "Here's my breakfast, see?"Seokjin raises an eyebrow. "Tae, don't you prefer a bowl of rice or soup instead? Since when do you enjoy western breakfast?"Tiger places the spoon down. "Not gonna lie, that sounds so much better. Can you make it?"Seokjin frowns and blinks a few times. "Tiger?""What?"Seokjin stands up slowly, almost stumbling with his own feet. "I thought you—never mind.""Where are you going?" Tiger asks, as Seokjin walks to a side of the room.He scoffs to himself, He didn't have any problem in staying while he thought I was Taehyung."Laundry—but you know what? Let them do it," he lets go of the clothes he grabbed, falling right back on the chair. "I've to cook every day for them, I'm not doing laundry today. I love them, but I'm their boyfriend not their maid."Tiger laughs at this, chewing on the food seconds later."Do you want seaweed egg soup with meat? After what happened yesterday," Seokjin pats his own shoulder, "we all need a comforting meal."Tiger clears his throat, walking with Seokjin to the kitchen. "About yesterday," he bites his lower lip, "what happened?""Not sure, Jungkook and Taehyung didn't say anything. We'll talk later." Seokjin stares at him for a moment, placing the pan on the electric stove. "By the way, why did you take over? Did something happen last night?"Tiger lowers his head and bites his lower lip, suddenly remembering Jungkook's words, Jungkook's light touches, Jungkook's lips, Jungkook's heartbeat—"Are you giggling? Woah, Tiger, after all these years I've never seen you smile, not even once, and now you giggle? Unbelievable."Tiger clears his throat and meets Seokjin's eyes with a poker face. "I'm not. Whatever, do you have some ice?""The knee still hurts?" Seokjin questions walking towards the freezer."Yes - how do you know?""Taehyung couldn't walk properly yesterday because of it." he explains, filling a blue ice pack. "Put cold on it for now, but perhaps you need hot. Let's wait for Jungkook.""Bunny? Why?"Seokjin turns his head with an eyebrow raised. "His biggest weapon is his body," he speaks slowly, "he must understand about its injuries, don't you think?""Ah, yeah, I see."Seokjin tilts his head. "I know I'm not the right person to ask you this, but, are you okay?"Tiger tries his best to smile. "Never been better."* * *"Bae, don't put me this face." Yoongi whines, expecting to make Jimin smile."Where's my Tae bear? We can't know what happened yesterday if he's missing.""Bae," Yoongi cups his cheeks, "the kiddo was with him, remember? Now stop pouting and come down with me, they're waiting for us."Jimin sighs but nods. "I hope he leaves soon."Yoongi holds him by his waist and places him on the floor, Jimin's butt leaning on the table."Why do you want him to disappear so bad?""I just want Taetae back—he would be happier without him."Yoongi kisses his forehead—he actually believes Taehyung can keep living happily because Tiger takes care of all the negatives, but keeps it to himself because Jimin would probably stop talking to him for a day."Finally," Hoseok cheers, "what took you so long?"Jimin and Yoongi sit in the last empty corner of the sofa.Jimin doesn't say anything, his eyes on Tiger, and said boy keeps his eyes on Jungkook even if the younger sits right next to him."I wanted to make out with him five more minutes." Yoongi makes up, and all of them groan."What? My bae's the cutest, how can I resist these lips? They're begging me to kiss them all the time."Jimin hits his arm, laughing. "Bae, what are you saying?"Tiger doesn't miss the nostalgia in Jungkook's eyes while staring at them, but he doesn't have the need to ask."Loves, can I have your attention please? A quick reminder we're not on vacation, even if we're in Busan.""Busan?" Tiger raises his voice, almost standing up. "What the hell are we doing in Busan?!""Hey, Tiger," Jungkook places a hand on his thigh, "what's wrong, buddy?""Now I understand why that lunatic almost killed us. Where were we yesterday?" Tiger only looks at Jungkook."Uh—Joon can explain it.""We had a plan," Namjoon begins calmly, "but it didn't go as planned.""Hell it didn't." Tiger clenches his jaw, his eyes darkening. "They almost killed Bunny.""How do you know?" Jimin spats before Namjoom can question him."No need to know.""Tiger," Jungkook says softly, "it's okay, maybe it will help them know you both better."Tiger shakes his head. "It only happened once, they don't need to know about it. It only concerns me, right? Then let it go."Jungkook holds his stare a few more seconds before turning to Namjoon. "Tiger didn't take over, Taehyung was with me all the time. I can tell you my version - actually," Jungkook takes a breath, remembering Taehyung's words. "He told me something.""Taehyung?" Yoongi leans forward."Yeah, yesterday night before falling asleep—good thing I've him as a roommate now, huh? After one of her men hit my head and I passed out, Taehyung told me she brought him to a lab. She didn't say anything, but there was a man as well, maybe Buffalo. He doesn't remember anything after that, only waking up in my -" he clears his throat, "I found him lying unconscious in the woods -""In the woods?" Seokjin almost gaps. "What the fuck did that bitch to my bubba?""I dunno, but thankfully he woke up."Jimin clears his throat. "Well, if Tae bear has already told everything to Jungkook, I guess we can move on to the next point.""Which is?" Hoseok asks and takes a bite of his apple, his gaze on the leader."Mimi. What exactly happened yesterday, Jungkook?"The younger explains everything, from exploring the factory to talking to Mimi, to fighting those men. He lets aside the previous conversation he had with Taehyung, and how Mimi let slip she did the unforgivable to Tiger—his nausea comes back at the mere thought."Shit, can I kill her?""Yoongs, that's the whole plan what do you mean?""Well—sorry cutie pie, I just want to kill her even more now."Seokjin hums. "We'll do it.""Hold on, there's something I don't understand." Jimin begins, his eyes widening. "Why did she take Tae to a lab? What was she thinking?"Jungkook shrugs. "Whatever it may be, it doesn't look good.""Guys, we need to stay focused more than ever." Hoseok states, putting the remains of the apple on the plate. "We met a lot of psychos as a team, but she . . . I mean, it's not what she does—there's nothing new—but how she does it. Destroying those mother fuckers selling those kids took us time, but was way more easier than killing or kidnapping this woman. What is she? A goddess?""If she's a goddess then I'm Satan looking like the hottest man."The boys laugh at Yoongi's comment but Tiger, who senses Taehyung closer as the boys start relaxing."Tiger, are you okay?" Jungkook holds his fist, opening it gently to hold his hand.Tiger shakes his head with a small smile. "I need fresh air. Can you come with me?""Sure."They walk towards the back garden, even if it keeps getting colder Tiger doesn't mind—everything's better than staying locked with the Bangtan Boys."Jinnie, may I talk to you for a sec? There's something you can do."Seokjin follows Namjoon to his own room without questioning him, while Yoongi and Hoseok stay on the sofa pampering a pouting Jimin.Seokjin sits on the chair in front of the desk, while Namjoon stands in front of him."Do you think you can collect more information about Mimi?"Seokjin stares at his feet for a second. "I can try, but I'm running out of resources. I swear to god that bitch," he lets out a heavy sigh, "how does she do it? I can't find anyone with more deeper information about her. Almost as if she didn't exist. No records, no witnesses, no ex colleagues, no nothing! Can someone delete all their existence while staying alive?"Namjoon smirks. "Yeah, our Suga."Seokjin chuckles softly. "Joonie, I'm serious. Something tells me we don't know her as much as we believe we do. We're missing something, but what?"Namjoon extends his hands and Seokjin holds it, standing up."We need to know more about that lab—that's the key, that's her key."Seokjin gulps, wrapping his arms around his neck. "Do you think it has something to do with Tae? What if she knows about Tiger? What if she tries to do something to them? Or hurt Taehyung doing something to Tiger? My goodness, what if she's a psycho scientist?"Namjoon narrows his eyebrows. "I don't find any kind of logic between the three. Mimi can't hurt Taehyung with Tiger. Jin, you didn't forget, right?""About what?""Tiger's just a product of Taehyung's brain to keep him safe. Tiger's Taehyung defence mechanism. Tiger's not his own person nor Taehyung's twin nor an evil soul possessing him. Tiger's just . . . Taehyung being sassy. How can I explain it for you to understand it better?" he raises his gaze at the ceiling for a moment. "Look, see it this way: Taehyung has two control levers instead of one. One of these levers activates depending on which part of the brain takes control, that's why they don't remember their experiences. When side A is on, side B is off. When side B is on, side A is off. One Taehyung, two different faces."Seokjin nods. "Mm-hmm, right. So we only have side A?""You've the WWHSJ side."Seokjin tilts his head. "WWHSJ?""Worldwide Handsome Kim Seokjin.""Namjoon?""Hm?""Did someone break a stick on your head, too?"