Chapter Text
Jimin woke up smiling before he even opened his eyes. It was the kind of smile that felt embarrassing when no one was around to see it. Warm. Sleepy. Ridiculously soft.
For a few seconds, he stayed buried under the blanket, face pressed into the pillow, replaying last night in scattered flashes.
Jeongukk's hand on the back of his neck.
The way he had looked at him in the car afterwards.
Wrecked and terrifyingly honest.
Jimin groaned into the pillow and covered his face, smile never left.
The apartment felt lighter this morning. Even the sunlight sneaking through the curtains looked softer somehow.
Jimin dragged himself out of bed eventually, humming under his breath while brushing his teeth. Then undressing himself to take a shower. He was halfway through unbuttoning his shirt when he caught sight of himself in the mirror.
And froze.
Right there, low on his neck was dark purple bruise.
His eyes widened. “No way.”
Jimin leaned forward, staring closely at his reflection on the bathroom mirror. The obvious mark blooming against his skin.
Heat climbed all the way to his ears.
“Wha...”
He immediately went to his room and grabbed his phone, took a picture to send it to Jeongukk.
Jimin:
i hate you.😠
The reply came almost instantly. Which made Jimin blink.
Jeongukk:
You’re awake early.
Jimin frowned.
Jimin:
Were you sitting on your phone or something?
Jeongukk:
Not really.
Jimin:
work?
A longer pause this time.
Jeongukk:
You.
Then work.
Jimin rolled his eyes automatically, but his chest still did that stupid little flip.
Jimin:
Creepy. Also i can’t go to work looking like this.
Jimin typed and then clicked a close up shot of his neck, showing the hickey to it's maker.
There was another immediate reply.
Jeongukk:
Why not?
Jimin:
Because normal people don’t walk around with crime scenes on their neck??
In reply Jeongukk sent a picture back.
Dark office, opened laptop and cup of untouched coffee in the background.
And in the main frame, was Jeongukk's forearm. A thin, barely visible, but very red scratch mark on it
Jimin’s face burned instantly.
Jeongukk:
Looks fair to me.
Jimin actually choked on air.
Jimin:
Mr. Jeon!!
Jeongukk:
You marked me, i marked you.
Jimin dropped onto the edge of his bed, covering his face with one hand. He hated how easy it was for Jeongukk to make him flustered now.
Another message came.
Jeongukk:
Keep it covered if you want, or don't.
Jimin:
Wow...very helpful.🙄
Jeongukk:
I like seeing proof you were with me.
The blush faded from Jimin’s face slightly.
There it was again. That thing Jungkook did. Words that sounded sweet at first, until you looked a little deeper.
Jimin typed slower this time.
Jimin:
You say things that sound concerning sometimes.
Seen.
Typing.
Stopped.
Typing again.
Jeongukk:
Probably because they are.
Jimin swallowed.
The conversation should’ve felt uncomfortable. Instead it made his stomach twist in a completely different way. Because Jeongukk never lied about it.
Never softened the edges of himself around Jimin.
Jeongukk:
I spent years trying not to want anything.
Then you happened.
Jimin’s heartbeat slowed down, but picked up at the same time.
Jeongukk:
Now I think about you constantly.
Whether you ate.
Whether you slept properly.
Whether someone annoyed you at work.
Whether you’re safe.
Jimin stopped moving and breathing for a second at that.
The room suddenly felt too quiet.
Because he knew underneath the obsession, was something Jeongukk barely tried hiding anymore.
Something painfully genuine.
Jimin:
You know… normal people just say “good morning” right?
Three dots appeared immediately.
Jeongukk:
Good morning.
Jimin groaned loudly and threw himself backward onto the mattress.
Hopeless.
Absolutely hopeless.
________________________________________________________
Jeongukk had built empires out of paranoia.
That was the problem.
The moment he realized he loved Jimin, his brain didn’t move toward softness first.
It moved towards war.
He sat alone in his office long after everyone else had left the floor, city lights bleeding through the glass walls in fractured reflections. His tie hung loose around his neck now, top buttons undone, sleeves rolled up carelessly.
Untouched cup of coffee sat beside stacks of reports.
His father’s words still echoed in his skull.
"That boy is beneath you."
Jeongukk smiled. Not because it was funny. But because it confirmed something.
His father still believed he had authority over him. Still believed Jeongukk needed the Jeon name to survive.
The realization settled slowly, cold and absolute.
He didn’t need his father anymore.
Hadn’t for years.
The company’s expansion? Him.
The overseas investors? Him.
The political leverage keeping half their operations protected? Him.
Even the loyalty inside the organization had started shifting quietly toward Jeongukk a long ago.
People surely obeyed his father. But they feared and followed him.
And now that same man thought he could sneer at Jimin?
Humiliate him?
Threaten something Jeongukk considered his?
Dangerous mistake.
Three and a half months. That was all it took.
Three and a half months for Park Jimin to become the single most important thing in his life.
Not because Jimin demanded it.
He simply walked into Jeongukk's life with soft eyes and stubborn loyalty and somehow made himself unavoidable.
Now Jeongukk thought about him constantly.
Not like obsession anymore.
No.
This had become something uglier.
Deeper.
Love in someone like Jeongukk didn’t become gentle.
It became territorial.
Protective to the point of brutality.
He opened another encrypted file on his computer. This one far different from the contingency plans he'd made before.
No exit strategies.
No separation protocols.
Elimination structures and silent acquisition reports.
Weak links inside his father’s network highlighted in red.
Executives were loyal only to money. Security heads with gambling debts. Board members frustrated with old leadership.
His father had ruled through intimidation for decades.
Jeongukk ruled through usefulness.
Which meant if power shifted, most people would not fight very hard to protect the old man.
His thumb wiped slowly across his mouth.
Thinking.
He wasn’t planning revenge in anger. He was planning permanence.
Step one was isolation.
Quietly reduce his father’s influence without triggering suspicion. Remove access to certain financial channels. Redirect investor confidence. Limit internal communication routes.
Step two.
Control the narrative.
If the old man fell, the company could not look unstable. Media connections already favored Jeongukk anyway. Younger. Smarter. More controlled.
A better face for the empire.
Step three.
Remove potential threats to Jimin before they even became threats.
And if someone still insisted?
Jeongukk's eyes darkened slightly.
Then the methods would change. Because loving Jimin had revealed something terrifying about himself.
There was no line he wouldn’t cross for him.
None.
Not morality.
Not family.
Not blood.
His father thought Jimin made Jeongukk weak.
In reality, Jimin had simply given Jeongukk a reason to stop pretending to be obedient.
Suddenly his phone buzzed.
Jimin:
Minsoo is asking if i was attacked by a vampire.😡
Jeongukk stared at the message for a long moment.
His expression softened so slightly nobody else would’ve noticed. Then he looked back toward the city skyline.
Cold glass.
Dark buildings.
An empire waiting quietly beneath his hands.
Jeongukk felt absolutely certain, if anyone even thought of touching Park Jimin. They would be going to regret surviving long enough to try.