HEARTBEAT | VKOOK - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Walking through the large double doors, the first thing anyone could hear was the loud music blasting through the speakers and resonating around the whole mansion.
It stunk like sweat and alcohol and Jeongguk could feel the pulse of the music pounding in his temples. Bodies swarmed the dance floor, prominently attractive males and females, which was an obvious surprise for Jeongguk due to the fact that he never knew the couple of the mansion had a lot of companions.
Perhaps they were all sticking around for the money and power the Kim's possessed.
The panic starts like a tightening of the chest, an enemies fist clenched around you entirely, as if the muscles are trying not to let another breath in, but instead to die.
That's exactly how he felt right now as he attempted to push his way out of the bustling dance floor, face pulled into a look of distaste as he pushed a random male trying to get all over him.
A deep sigh of relief left the ravenette's lips as his hands reached out for the door to the backyard. Jeongguk inhaled a lungful of fresh air once he stumbled out of the mansion and into the backyard.
Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was a bunch of people, male's and females smoking around and chattering nosily. The obnoxious noise from the people made a frown appear back on his face as he shook his head in slight disappointment, craving to feel the peace that's been disrupted by obnoxious people.
The only reason he endured all of it silently was for the happiness of his beloved best friend, who was overly excited to hear Jeongguk coming with him to the party. A sad Jimin was the last thing he wanted to see if he decided to leave alone.
Averting his gaze from the unknown guys having the best time of their life, Jeongguk walked away, poking his inner cheek with his tongue with an exasperated look- a habit he always had whenever he was genuinely annoyed or upset.
"Ah Jeonggukie! Come here!" A familiar high pitched voice yelled from somewhere in the distance over the loud chattering and noises from the guests, catching Jeongguk's attention as he swirled in his feet to the direction of the voice, eyes landing over a familiar short figure waving him over with the brightest grin on his face, shirtless with only a pair of swimming trunks.
A soft smile gradually formed on Jeongguk's lips at the sight of the happy blonde grinning widely at him. Jeongguk skipped his way over to the blonde, eyes then falling over the large pool surrounded by people and some of Jimin's friends in the water, splashing each other.
"Jeonggukie!" Jimin ran over to the ravenette, grabbing his wrist and dragging him away to the pool. The aforementioned male's eyes met Taehyung's dark piercing ones for a split second before the younger looked away, distracted by Jimin's high pitched voice and the small shiver that ran down his spine.
"Jeongguk! Come join us!" Hoseok chimed from inside the pool, a bright smile adorning his incredibly handsome and bright features that represented the ones of the sun. The aforementioned male laughed it off, shaking his head. "No thanks, I'm good."
"Ah come on, Jeongguk." Jimin whined, making Jeongguk whip his head to the male, "I didn't bring any clothes with me!"
"It's fine, come with me." Jimin then dragged him away towards the mansion again, this time by a second door that led to the kitchen, avoiding the bustling dance floor that could take ages for them to reach the bedrooms.
A long flight of stairs later and barging into a certain room, Jimin scurried away to the walk-in closet, leaving Jeongguk to admire the interior of the bedroom.
"Here, grab these." Jimin tossed a pair of shorts to the younger who caught it immediately, a surprised look replacing his frown as he gazed at the swimming trunks.
"Do I really have to do this?" Jeongguk whined, pouting sadly but the older wasn't buying it.
"You need to have some fun. You're finally free from the trap of the devil, Jeongguk. You deserve to enjoy and be happy." Jimin stated firmly, crossing his arms over his bare chest as a serious expression dawned his features.
"Alright, I guess." Jeongguk mumbled, sighing dejectedly and scratching the back of his neck. He then turn to walk into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
"I'll wait outside! Don't be shy, you better be there!" Jimin yelled, loud enough for Jeongguk to hear before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Changing into the dark blue shorts, Jeongguk walked out of the bathroom, donning a black T-shirt since he didn't want the others to notice his every evident scars and worry about him.
Jeongguk checked himself out on the mirror for a moment, fixing his hair a bit. He didn't know why but he felt the need to fix himself and present his best appearance to Jimin's friends. You could say they became his friends too in a span of minutes since they were very welcoming and friendly.
Well, except for one arrogant brat who refused to speak to the male, rather stare at him from afar.
Another flight of stairs later, Jeongguk reached the kitchen and walked out of the mansion, finding his way back to his friend who lifted someone from their chair along with Hoseok, earning grunts of protests as they carried the male to the pool, dropping him into the water.
Jeongguk watched as Hoseok and Jimin high fived each other, laughing their asses off and literally rolling on the ground at the way the someone, also known as Yoongi groaned and yelled profanities at the two, followed by the laughter and chuckles of Jin and Namjoon.
However, amidst all the chaos, a deep chuckle reached his ears from afar, making him look up to the owner of the sound, accidentally making eye contact with Taehyung as he laughed softly, shaking his head.
He stood a few meters away from the pool, wearing black shorts and a white T-shirt, hair messily falling over his eyes and his attitude being that of a teenager instead of a responsible CEO stressed and pressurized with the profits of the company.
Taehyung seemed carefree, his previous attitude towards him from before, absent as he had a boxy smile on his face, watching his friends goofing around with a drink in his hand. Jeongguk watched him with a small subconscious smile playing on his lips. Although it was dark, the older male somehow seemed attractive and bright to him, nothing like the CEO he saw a week ago at the park or the person he met an hour ago in the living room.
Jeongguk was distracted by the male's laugh at some joke Seokjin said to notice a certain short male lingering behind him with a mischievous grin on his face.
And before he knew it, he was pushed abruptly from behind, making him stumble and fall into the pool with a loud splash, the water splashing many around the pool as they grunted and backed away.
Jeongguk duck his head out of the water, breathing heavily and coughing a bit as some of the water managed to go down his throat. He glared at the older male who laughed uncontrollably, rolling on the ground along with Hoseok and the others who were in the pool.
"What the hell, hyung?!" Jeongguk yelled, shooting him an exasperated look, clearly pissed and embarrassed by the whole situation.
"You should've seen your face." Jimin laughed hysterically, unable to hold himself from bursting into a fit of laughter bubbling in his chest. Jeongguk frowned at the older before whipping his head to look at a certain someone, who chuckled lightly at him, smirking subtly.
Their eyes met again for the fourth time that day and Jeongguk was the one to look away, unable to hold the gaze for more than a few minutes as it felt weird and awkward for him to be staring at someone for so long.
"Fuck you." Jeongguk cursed under his breath, lifting himself out of the pool and playfully glaring daggers at the male who laughed in return. "It's only Yoongi who can, bunny boy."
"Ew! I didn't mean that!" Jeongguk facepalmed himself, dragging his fingers over his face in utter annoyance, failing to notice the way Taehyung checked him out, eyes lingering over his back before trailing down to his ass, the shirt sticking to his body and making him appear even more attractive to Taehyung's surprise.
Damn, I never knew he had a nice body.
Scratch that, I never said that, ew.
Taehyung frowned to himself, averting his gaze as he chose to look at something more interesting than the younger's ass, scolding himself internally.
"Hey, I got a joke," Jin started, gaining the attention of every one of his friends as he cleared his throat, "What do you call an ice-cream that parties too hard?"
"Just say it." Yoongi gave him a bored look, gesturing for him to continue whatever bullshit he had to say.
"Out of CONEtrol." His windshield laughter resonated around the whole backyard, laughing uncontrollably as he clutched his stomach, struggling to breathe. Yoongi shot him a bemused look, scoffing lightly and rolling his eyes. Jeongguk and the others giggled whereas Taehyung just smiled, shaking his head softly before taking a sip of his drink.
A moment later, the laughter died down as Seokjin took his time to get back his composure, "What is it called when a short person waves at you?"
"Hyung, don't you dare-" Jimin widened his eyes threateningly, however, Seokjin wasn't buying it.
"It's called MICROwave." He broke into another fit of laughter again, making the others sigh as they knew the older male was clearly drunk out of his mind to think straight, blabbing nonsense or anything that comes into his mind. However, Namjoon seemed to chuckle at the joke, quickly covering it up by coughs as soon as he recieved the glares from the shorter male.
Jeongguk watched them giggling, arguing and having the time of their life, enjoying the way they'd debate over the most ridiculous things. It was hard to believe that they were a powerful group, consisting of two officers, lawyer, a skilled programmer, a cafè owner and the CEO of the most powerful company in South Korea. They seem like a bunch of teenagers living their best life whenever they're with each other and that alone melted Jeongguk's heart.
Jeongguk was too distracted by a story Hoseok was saying to notice the presence of someone beside him. "They're funny, aren't they?"
A deep voice rang in Jeongguk's ears, startling him as he whipped his head to look at the male beside him. One look at the male and Jeongguk was back to his usual bored self, all the astonishment sparkling in his eyes fading as he turned to stare back at the group in the pool, an inaudible sigh leaving his lips.
"I guess. How does someone like you have friends like them?"
"You don't know me, boy." Taehyung chuckled, taking a sip of his drink as he watched the others argue over a random topic.
"I don't think I need to know you either anyway." Jeongguk mumbled, a smile appearing on his face when Jimin stated something funny, causing the group to break into a bundle of laughter.
"Same."
A moment of silence settled between the two as they continued to watch the others joke around or splash each other with water. However, Taehyung grew bored of it gradually and decided to initiate a conversation.
"Jimin likes you a lot, huh?" Taehyung queried, taking a quick glance at the younger's side profile before turning back to the other again.
"Of course, we've been friends for like...3 years or something?" Jeongguk mumbled, uncertainty laced in his voice as he thought back to the time of their first encounter.
"Mm, but he never really mentioned you to us though." Taehyung commented, eyes scanning the whole area as he sipped on his drink.
"I don't know about that." Silence dawned over the two again, an uncomfortable one as they were both lost in their heads, questioning their own self why they were even trying to converse.
"Never knew kids like you come to such parties." The sarcasm dripping in his voice didn't go unnoticed by the younger as he turned to look at the older.
"Firstly, I'm not a kid and secondly, you don't know me either." Jeongguk frowned before turning away.
"Feisty much." Taehyung mumbled, words slurring slightly due to the fact that he was a bit drunk.
"How did you even meet Jimin? You don't even like to talk."
"I met him at a cafè, now could you please shut the fuck up? For a stranger, you're really annoying me." Jeongguk mumbled, annoyance clearly evident in his voice, however, to his luck, Taehyung never listens to anyone when he's drunk.
"You're mean, kid. Being mean is bad." His words slurred together, voice deep and hot breath fanning over Jeongguk's ear. That's when Jeongguk knew the male was facing him as he whipped his head, their faces inches apart as they stared into each other eyes.
"You're beautiful. . .like an angel..." He mumbled dreamily, eyes trailing down every feature of Jeongguk's face. "Your moles are so cute. Stimulates me to kiss you."
"What the hell!?" Jeongguk yelled, pulling his face away from the older who watched him like he's the most precious thing in the world. A Taehyung in his right mind would never dare to take a step close to the younger after their first encounter.
"Don't goooo, don't leave me like she did, I'm all alone." The older whispered the last part to himself, unnoticed by Jeongguk who walked away from him, trying to get away as fast as possible from the drunk CEO.
However, Taehyung followed after him, refusing to leave the younger as he babbled mindlessly about some random business partner, saying how his face reminded him of a cartoon character and how hard he wanted to laugh but had to hold back.
"Oh my fucking god, Kim Taehyung! Stop it already." Jeongguk yelled, getting even more pissed by the second as he stalked towards the main doors of the mansion, pulling them open and attempting to push his way out of the crowd, hoping the older would get lost in the crowd and give up on him to find his next victim to explain his boring life to.
However, the hand clutching the back of his shirt tightly went unnoticed by the younger as he was too busy pushing people around to make way for himself, attempting get away from the crowd that suffocated him to no end.
Once he reached the living room, Jeongguk took in a deep breath, inhaling a lungful of oxygen since his airways felt constricted from the heavy crowd. But his relaxed expression crumbled to a frown once someone leaned over his back, mumbling incoherent words drowsily. Only then, did Jeongguk acknowledge the hand clutching his shirt tightly.
Jeongguk's eyes widened once he turned to fully face the male, allowing the male to lean over his well defined chest, mumbling how he wants to see his son so bad and how he reminds him of his dead wife. The poor male began tearing up at the mention of his wife.
"Ah fuck, he's out of his mind." Jeongguk mumbled, attempting to hold him up straight, however the male whined like a child, wanting to snuggle into his chest, like he was his own damn pillow.
"Jeongguk-ah! I've been searching for you!" A voice yelled from somewhere in the kitchen, causing Jeongguk to peek into the kitchen cluelessly, eyes landing over a short figure grinning at him sweetly from the door to the backyard. "I need to leave now! My dad called me over for some important work. Don't worry about me and go home, okay?"
Jeongguk's brows drew together and lips parted slightly in utter shock, and before he could even protest or complain the male about the older clinging onto him like a koala, Jimin disappeared out of the door, leaving Jeongguk to groan and cry internally at his own misery. "What have I gotten myself into?"
"The hyungs..." His eyes lit up, glimmering in hopes of handing the older male to his friends who could take care of him. Jeongguk dragged the male out of the door of the backyard with him, attempting to find his bunch of friends amidst the crowd.
A frown decorated his bunny his face once he reached the pool and couldn't spot any of his friends in the water, rather faces of unknown males flirting with girls or winking at him. Jeongguk rolled his eyes in utter distaste and looked around the bustling area, only for his hopes to be crushed awfully when he couldn't find any of Taehyung's friends who could handle him or possibly take him home.
The thought of ditching the older and leaving the party crossed his mind, however, he shook his head, denying the idea.
What the hell am I thinking? It's Jin hyung's place! I could just leave him in one of the guest bedrooms. Jeongguk thought, sighing and shaking his head at his own stupidity before dragging the drunk older with him towards the door to the kitchen and up a flight of stairs.
It also caused him to lift the older in a bridal style and carry him all the way upstairs due to the fact that his legs hurt from walking too much. As if mine don't, stupid brat.
Reaching the hallway, Jeongguk scurried away to the bedrooms, leaving Taehyung to lean over a wall and slide down to the ground, tears pouring out of his eyes as he thought of his dead wife. And in no time, Taehyung was a sobbing mess.
Jeongguk opened the door to the first bedroom, scrunching his nose in disgust when he saw a couple making out on the bed. He ran to the other door, opened it, almost puking at the same sight.
Once he was done checking every other room, only to see all of them occupied by random couples, he made his way to Namjin's bedroom.
Jeongguk whacked his fists on the door thrice before twisting the doorknob and opening the door, only to see Namjoon hovering over Jin and kissing him deeply. However, upon hearing the door open out of nowhere, they pulled away and shrieked at the sudden appearance of Jeongguk who sighed, slapping his forehead in utter disappointment.
"Sorry hyung." With that, he rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and running back to the hallway where he left Taehyung to cry alone. However, to his surprise, Taehyung wasn't there when he reached the hallway.
"What the-" Jeongguk's face was pulled into a frown as he looked around, searching for the brunette. I could leave him in here but. . .as a CEO, doesn't that risk his chances of being kidnapped?
He isn't a normal CEO anyway, the boss of the most powerful company in Korea, drunk and powerless is an advantage for many or worse, he could be killed too for he has a lot of enemies. It's not the right thing to do, is it?
Minjun. . .
"Taehyung!" Jeongguk yelled once his eyes landed on a brunette dancing randomly with a girl downstairs. The girl placed her hand over his chest, trailing her fingers down his body and whispering seductively into his ear.
A scowl etched on Jeongguk's face as he grabbed the male's wrist, pulling him away from the girl who frowned at him before walking away. "Yah Taehyung! Have you lost your mind? What the hell were you doing?"
"It's fuuun." Taehyung slurred, moving his body to the rhythm of the beat, making Jeongguk frown at him with his hands on his hips.
Jeongguk looked away, running his fingers through his hair before looking back at the older, grabbing him by the wrist. "How much have you drunk? You shouldn't have such a low alcohol tolerance."
"Let me go! I wanna have fun." Taehyung whined, struggling to free himself from the younger's grasp who only rolled his eyes. "You're not even acting your age. It seems like I'm the older one and you're the younger."
"I guess there's no choice." Jeongguk grumbled under his breath, dragging the male out of the mansion through the emergency exit since the main exit was crowded and Jeongguk wasn't in the mood to suffocate himself.
He reached the parking lot in no time and found the keys to the older's black car after a while of searching through his pockets. Jeongguk pushed the male into the car and closed the door, climbing into the driver's seat before starting the car, heading to the only place he was familiar with and knew the older would be safe for the time being, Jimin hyung's place.