1991 | s, sk 
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and so, after seeing the oppressed rebelling in the streets, they the news and believed everything the politicians said about the rebellious. what are they?

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arata nagatamaa holds his breath, watching the screen before him for that exact moment, the one that made him scream until he felt his lungs might burst.

true enough, on the camera man's monitor is just mere moments before, the manager takes in jungkook's angry glare as he questions the legitimacy of the woman known as jeon mira. the way the idiotic woman (arata really really regrets ever hiring such an imbecile) questions whether she'll still get payed, and then finally, the entrance of the stranger with the baseball cap. arata frowns briefly as he watches jungkook's eyes widen in some form of recognition when the stranger speaks, and then he feels jealously curl his stomach, making him curl his lip when the stranger brushes his knuckles against jungkook's face.

it upsets arata because jungkook is like porcelain and the man had touched him without any form of payment. and how dare he, arata thinks. he hadn't spent years grooming that boy for people to go touching him like he was something cheap. but arata really doesn't have much time to dwell on that, instead he nibbles nervously on his fist as he watches the man pull a gun from his coat before aiming it at the woman. and then, he pulls the trigger.

"gotdammmit! holy !" arata screams as if he hasn't had the cameraman play this moment back several times since it happened. his toupee of the day, a black, medium cut bob sways as he starts to run around the room then, practically singing, "holy shiiiiiiiiit."

the 5'2 manager falls to his knees, clutching his chest with a pained expression.

"whew, ooo-" the manager falls to the floor, toupee scrambling to stay on his head as he lies on his back laughing before shaking uncontrollably, "wooooooo-"

arata rolls over on his hands and knees, crawling back towards the camera man, who's eyes are still locked on the camera replaying the recent events. the japanese man grabs the camera man's leg, using it to help himself to his feet. he clutches his chest then, fanning himself with his other hand.

"play it again, play it again." he tells the camera man, referring to the shooting. he takes in a a shaky breath as the camera man complies, rewinding the clip to that exact moment.

arata holds his breath, watching closely as if he doesn't know what's going to happen. and then, in the clip, taehyung raises the gun and shoots the woman.

"Jesus" arata mumbles, falling to the floor then with a loud thump, toupee flying from his scalp in the process. the japanese man fans himself with his hand then, glancing back up at the camera man, "play it again, play it again."

meanwhile, the rest of the staff and camera crew watch on wearily. this has been going on for the past hour.

"be honest-" minjun says to yui, arata's assistant who doesn't even look remotely phased by his actions, "that guy's on drugs, isn't he?"

but yui merely ignores him, black heels clicking against the floor as she hurries to the other side of the room. she passes the staff carrying the dead woman's body away, others scrambling to clean the bloody crime scene, and then there were those trying to keep everyone calm to prevent machina from bursting into the room.

"jungkook-" yui says to the singer, "we have to leave now."

and it was true, they couldn't afford for the singer to be seen at such a place just in case things didn't work out. the broadcast had been shut off immediately after the woman had been shot. but no police or ambulance had been called. because in that case, machina would have also gotten involved and that meant death or imprisonment for everyone involved. instead, they decided to get rid of the woman's body, clean the crime scene as best as possible, and play the shooting off as a failed publicity stunt. time was truly of the essence, they now had to say only the rights things at the right time, and wait for the public's response to see if they'd truly be walking away scott free.

yui frowns at the sight of jungkook, who's face is buried in his hands.

"it wasn't her, it wasn't her..." he repeats quietly, like a broken record. and then, there was the boy sitting beside him, smiling widely beneath his baseball cap as he stares at jungkook.

"where are you going to take him?" minjun asks as he approaches them with a curious look.

"i'll figure something out." yui says as she watches arata run around the room, waving his toupee like a mad man after having watched the clip once more. the assistant sighs, waiting for him to get near her before she takes a step forward, draws her hand back and slaps him hard enough to send him crashing for the floor, toupee flying from his hands as he rolls over before presuming his usual shaking. yui adjusts her blazer then, pushing her black framed glasses up with a sigh.

"you-" yui says, turning around to look at taehyung, "do you have anywhere we can hide while this mess gets cleaned up?"

hanakei yui feels a bit uneasy as she takes in the way a smile blossoms on the man's face, somewhat lax and too welcoming in nature.

"i know the perfect place."





 

 

 

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min yoongi can feel his hands shake with anger as he rewatches a playback of the clip for a third time.

"that bastard-" he grits out in frustration as he recognizes the voice of the shooter in the live television screening, "-that ing bastard!"

he knocks over several coffee mugs and papers as he jumps from his desk. his government id lanyard sways violently around his neck as he yanks the door open to his office, storming down the hall.

"human scan necessary-" he hears, a blonde machina struggling to keep up with his swift footsteps, "emotion detected, intense anger caused by intense frustration, course of action necessary-"

" off, carol!" he shouts, because this particular machina has been working at their office for years and she's sickening.

"human identified as agent #49, as instructed by the manual user, carol will now  off." the machina repeats in a robotic voice before turning and leaving yoongi to hurry out of the office, with only one destination and person in mind.




 

 

 

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"welcome to our home." irene says kindly, smiling pleasantly at the group of people before her. taehyung is standing beside her, an arm wrapped around her shoulder as he too smiles welcomingly. and behind them is the tank, where the crocodiles are floating about peacefully.

"ah, thank you." yui says, despite the fear in her eyes as she stares at the crocodile tank, "we are happy to be here."

"i will make us some tea." irene announces before jumping down from the tank and walking to the kitchen with the grace of a goddess, taehyung smiling happily as he watches her go.

meanwhile, yui looks around the room hesitantly, despite the way her eyes always draw back to the crocodile tank nervously, arata scrambles to turn on the television to find a channel replaying the shooting, minjun, who decided to tag along, smiles pleasantly at the apartment, and jungkook plops down on the couch, burying his hands in his face once more.

taehyung jumps from the tank then, making his way to where jungkook is. he sits down beside the other boy, placing his hand on the back of the younger's neck and leaning in.

"jungkook-" he says, barely above a whisper, with a smile reserved just for the jeon boy, "haven't you realized it yet? i made our world safe again when i got rid of that faker. she can't come back - the dead don't get second chances. just like the ones who abandoned us, they won't get second chances either. i'll make sure of it jungkook, i promise-"

but jungkook just keeps his face buried in his hands, repeating the mantra, "it wasn't her, it wasn't her-"

it wasn't her.

the sound of knocking at the door greets everyone's ears. irene appears to open it, welcoming whoever it is with her pleasant voice. and then, the sound of footsteps fill the room as three more people arrive.

"just what the happened?!" ryuu exclaims, entering the room with fast footsteps, red hair dye staining his white t shirt from leaving in the middle of a dye job.

"yes ryuu, that's how we enter a room politely." michi says sarcastically as he drags in behind the younger.

"h-hello everyone." sora greets quietly with a shy smile as he enters after the other two, bowing politely.

"what the hell did you do arata?!" ryuu questions, grabbing the manager by the neck and shaking him like a rag doll as he glances at jungkook, who still has his face buried in his hands, "what the hell is wrong with the kid? why is he like that? what did you do this time, huh??"

"nothing that can't be fixed." arata rasps as the drummer squeezes his neck, though his eyes are trained on the television displaying the woman being shot.

"he set up a fake reunion between your lead singer and some woman who turned out to be impersonating his mother. of course, the imposter was a paid actress who was fatally shot by that guy over there-" minjun explains, motioning to taehyung before mumbling, "-who's name i still don't know, but this is his apartment were are in, and that was his wife who greeted you at the door, who also happens to have a very extensive crocodile collection as well .... and that's all you've missed."

"what the -" ryuu blurts out, waving a hand in front of his face to make sure he isn't high or dreaming before calling to his friend, "michi, we smoked that pot  yesterday and not today, right?"

"yep" michi confirms with a nod.

"okay, just making sure." ryuu mumbles before saying once again, "but seriously, what the -"

"please do not swear in front of the children." irene says gently as she enters with a tray of tea. she places it on the coffee table before smoothing our her white dress and giving them a smile.

"thank you." sora tells her with another bow before grabbing a cup of tea and sitting on the sofa beside michi, who's already made himself comfortable beside arata.

"i hope you all will enjoy." she tells them with another pleasant smile before turning and heading back to the tank.

"you.... did what?!" ryuu shouts, smacking arata on the back of the head before wrapping his arms around the man's neck and choking him, arata's toupee shaking from his head in the process, "you old ert! why are you always pulling like this? why are you always doing this to him? answer me!"

"you okay?" michi asks sora, who grimaces after his first sip of tea.

"too... salty." sora manages, face contorted as he grimaces once more before standing and hurrying to the kitchen in search of water.

"hey, hey, question him not me, i'm trying to watch this dammit!" arata shouts suddenly, voice deepening from its usually high pitched tone as he points at taehyung before pushing ryuu away with a sudden strength that sends the thin drummer nearly flying away.

"okay, okay!" ryuu squeaks out when the short manager raises his fist threateningly. arata makes move to adjust his toupee, only to realize it's fallen from his head. but he doesn't bother to pick it up, instead he turns back around, face glued to the screen as he watches the shooting replay on the screen for a tenth time.

"arata-san is right." ryuu says, adding the honorific suddenly as he sits between michi and arata, but not before glancing at the manager fearfully. he looks at taehyung then, who's still sitting beside jungkook, smiling at the boy, "who are you?"

"i'm jungkook's soulmate." he says, smile still on his lips as he grabs jungkook's hand and interlocks their fingers, the singer too distraught to even care, "taehyung, kim taehyung."

"jungkook is gay?" minjun questions from the other side of the room, a somewhat hopeful gleam on his face.

"hey kid, so you're gay then?" ryuu asks, moving closer to wave a hand in front of the singer's face in attempt to snap him out of his daze.

"jungkook-" michi says with a serious look then, "you know i support you in everything you do, but if you're thinking about marrying this guy, not to tell you how to live your life and all, but you two just met today and last minute weddings are always so expensive. who's going to pay for a cake? and suits? and a venue? i love you like a father, but i can barely afford a hotdog these days, let alone to fund an entire wedding-"

"no one is getting married, that is not allowed in your contracts." yui says sharply from the other side of the room where she's poking the tank wearily, only to jump and let out a shrill scream when one the crocodiles swims towards her quickly.

"well that's good because i don't even trust this guy." ryuu says, eyeing taehyung wearily, "who's to say he isn't another crazed fan?"

"not everyone is a crazed ert, ryuu-san." sora's soft voice greets their ears as he returns with a glass of water. he nods at taehyung then, "haven't you paid attention to the pictures on jungkook's wall at his apartment? isn't that the other boy in them?"

taehyung removes his baseball cap then, smoothing our his mullet and giving a hesitant smile as ryuu and michi study his face carefully.

"see?" sora says, gripping taehyung's chin gently with a small smile, "i recognize this smile anywhere, boxy and boyish, the only one that makes little brother jungkook really smile - not his tv smile, but really smile."

", it really is him." ryuu murmurs in realization as taehyung nods with a happy smile, the drummer then turns to their singer, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him, "hey snap out of it and look beside you, isn't this who you've been waiting so long to see-"

the sound of loud knocking at the door catches their attention then.

"hey, open up you ! i know you're in there!" an angry voice says before the sound of the front door barreling open fills the room, followed by heavy footsteps before an angry minted hair man comes into view, fist drawn as he approaches taehyung angrily, "you little , i thought i told you to stay out of trouble, and what do you do? go shoot some on live ing television! gotdammit, taehyung!"

the man smacks taehyung on the back of the head, prepared to hit him again when michi and ryuu quickly separate the two. michi stands in front of taehyung protectively and ryuu pushes yoongi back.

"woah, calm down man before a machina army start heading this way." ryuu tells yoongi as he pushes the man back by the shoulder, "do you need something to help get your emotions in check? perhaps a shot of heroin? or are you more of a crack person?-"

but yoongi just pushes ryuu back, holding out his arm to keep the man at bay.

"you all have two seconds to get this skinny crack head away from me." yoongi says making ryuu glare at him.

"who the hell are you calling a crackhead, you ing government puppet!" ryuu shouts, smacking yoongi's government lanyard, making the object twist around the mint haired man's neck.

"the same crackhead whose i'm about to kick." yoongi threatens, reaching for the other man as ryuu also steps closer to attack him as well. michi and sora quickly intercept the two males, but yoongi practically shoves the small sora aside, "let me at that skinny bastard."

"who are you calling skinny? you twig, i'll break your neck in half-" ryuu retorts, struggling against michi.

"okay, but aren't you guys about the same size?" michi says with a confused look, pausing momentarily, which is enough time for ryuu to side step him.

"michi-san!" sora calls out desperately as he manages to push ryuu back last minute.

"oh , sorry kid." michi says with an apologetic smile before grabbing ryuu and pulling him back by the back of his shirt.

the two men continue to try and fight each other, sora and michi doing their best to separate them. but that doesn't stop yoongi from taking his shoe off and throwing it at ryuu, the object hitting sora in the side of the head.

"did i really leave osaka for this?" sora mutters softly, rubbing at the side of his head with wide brown eyes.

"oh, you've really done it now ." ryuu shouts, glaring at yoongi as he struggles against michi.

it's only when arata finally snaps out of his daze, standing from the couch and approaching the group of men, do they stop their bickering.

"the name is arata, arata nagatamaa. you must be the manager of that talentless cretin." arata says to yoongi, motioning to taehyung before continuing with a thin lipped look, "well, i'll have you know go! run! fighting! signed an exclusive contract which excludes dating in any way, shape, or form. so this so called wedding is off, and your client here can try again never."

"what-" yoongi blurts out, staring at the elder in utter confusion, "-the are you even talking about?"

"jungkook and taehyung are gay for each other, and they may be getting married next week." minjun calls from the other side of the room, seemingly both excited at the prospect, but also bitter because he wouldn't be the one marrying jungkook.

"what the are you all talking about? jungkook isn't even in here-" yoongi starts, only for his eyes to widen when taehyung pushes jungkook's head to the side, allowing the elder to catch sight of a familiar side profile, "holy hell."

yoongi instantly gives up on his fight then, approaching the sofa where jungkook and taehyung are slowly. he stops in front of jungkook, staring down at him curiously. but now that taehyung isn't holding his head, jungkook just stares at his lap sullenly. and that's when yoongi draws his hand back before slapping the younger harshly.

"hey, snap out of it!" yoongi shouts at the younger, "don't you recognize me?"

but jungkook doesn't respond, eyes still glued to his lap before he starts to murmur something.

"it wasn't her, it wasn't her..."

and then, yoongi watches as taehyung rests his head against jungkook's, snuggling against the boy with a content smile, as if he hadn't a care in the world.

"what the hell is going?" yoongi mutters finally, confused about everything surrounding him, "did carol's metal drug me up without me realizing or am i just dreaming?"

"worry not mr. government maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan." arata says suddenly, dragging out the syllable with a playful grin before he places his hands on yoongi's chest as if they're in a romance film. he then bats his eyes lashes before looking up at yoongi with a wink, "i'll take care of everything."

yoongi cringes, looking down at arata in utter disgust.

"let me translate that for you 'cause i understand old ert really well." ryuu raises his hand with a grin, "what he means is they're probably going to play the woman's death off as a publicity stunt, arata's really good at like that. minjun over there is going to be the one to give the first report about it, and yui is going to pretend to be the fan girl who snuck in to see the interview but ended up seeing the crazy publicity stunt instead. the news and reporters will eat this up, and it'll spread around in no time. no police involvement, no machina involvement, just one smooth getaway."

"i can confirm this." yui says, heels clicking as she makes her way towards them. she extends her hand to yoongi then with a dutiful look, "arito yui, arata's assistant, if you have any questions, i will gladly answer them."

"oh?" yoongi murmurs, accepting the woman's handshake before his eyes land on her very large assets practically popping out from the top of her blazer, making his eyebrows raise, "oh"

"oh?" ryuu mimics before reaching over and peeking at sora's thin chest in his tank top, mimicking yoongi's wide eyes, "oh"

ryuu laughs loudly as sora smacks his arm with red cheeks.

"well, now that everyone's acquainted, i think we've been away long enough. we should head back so we can draft up the story and get it ready for release tomorrow." minjun speaks up, smile still on his face as he approaches the group.

"he's right, let's go boys." yui says, handing yoongi a card before gripping arata's ear tightly, but the short man just sighs dreamily as he stares at yoongi, before she drags him along by that very ear, calling back to yoongi, "if you need anything, just call."

"oh, i will." yoongi calls after her with a dreamy look as he smiles down at the card.

ryuu waits until he has yoongi's attention to flip him off, only for his eyes to widen when the government agent approaches him threateningly. ryuu then takes off, grabbing sora's hand and pulling him towards the front door.

"b-bye everyone!" sora calls out, cheeks flushed as he attempts to bow with his band mate pulling him away.

"thank you all for your ... hospitality." michi says unsurely, glancing at the odd tea, the woman in the crocodile tank, and then taehyung, who's still nuzzling against a dazed jungkook, "damn michi, you've really got to stop smoking that ."

he then grabs jungkook's arm and heaves the teenager up.

"come on kid, let's go." michi says, gripping the younger's arm to hold him steady, "you can see your boy ... friend... person, tomorrow."

"bye jungkook." taehyung says softly, watching as michi gives him a hesitant smile before walking off, helping jungkook along by the arm.

taehyung then leans back against the couch, a giddy smile on his lips as he hears the door slam shut behind the two. yoongi is busy kissing the card yui had given him as if it were her with a gummy smile.

"my husband-" irene calls from the other side of the room, head titled as she watches the crocodiles peacefully, "are you happy?"

"very, my wife." taehyung replies, slipping his eyes closed as he thinks of a certain dark haired singer, "very."

and so, he was.