Family [BTS mafia ff]

75 | Apologies

I took a subconscious step backwards. I felt like melting away into the ground upon hearing Seokjin's words.

Just as I expected, Seokjin took a step forward and inclined his head. "What do you say Hee-Ra?" He whispered in a hushed tone.

"I-I..." I stammered at the thought. I fumbled around with my fingers and looked up to the sky for answers. Not that it helped much.
I casted a quick glimpse at Seokjin who looked back at me with pouted lips and twinkling eyes.

I heaved a sigh into the palms of my hand. I couldn't waste any more time. I didn't want to lead Seokjin on any longer.

"Seokjin... I'm sorry." The words rolled off the tip of my tongue so naturally that it made me question myself.

Seokjin didn't add a word to my response, instead he looked at me with a pitiful look. It hurt to see such a downhearted expression on his face. And whenever I did see that expression, I was always the root cause of it.

"I know I shouldn't get too deep into it, but is it okay if you can tell me why?" He asked, placing his hands on my cheeks.

"I don't think I'm interested in you the way you're interested in me. I'm also falling for someone else, I'm sorry..." I rambled on before taking Seokjin's hands off my face.

I didn't want to see the look on his face after I said those words. I was already feeling a wave of emotions: guilt, sadness, and pity.
But as though Seokjin could read my mind, he lifted my chin up.

"I understand, thank you for letting me know." He whispered quietly as he forced a weak smile. He caressed my hands gently before pulling me into a tight hug.

Seokjin rested his head on my shoulders. I could feel the dampness from his tears on my clothes. We let the silence swallow the atmosphere between us, rather than adding anything more.

Suddenly, my phone broke the silence. It rung endlessly which made the whole situation between Seokjin and me so awkward, so quickly.

I pulled out my phone to see Namjoon's name plastered across the screen. "Erm, it's Namjoon—"

"You can go Hee-Ra." Seokjin cut in.

"But Seokjin..."

"Go, I need to get over these feelings and if you stay any longer I don't think it'll be possible." He chuckled which made me grin weakly. I knew he was suppressing his heartbreak for my sake, but he was ultimately right too.

I wasn't going to lead him on any longer.

"I'll see you around, then?" I said and Seokjin nodded back simply in reassurance.

———————————————————————

I burst through the office doors to see Namjoon at his desk. His fingers were tapping the wood frantically, creating a rhythm that screamed panic.

As soon as he caught sight of me, Namjoon stood up.
"Hee-Ra... I need your help." He groaned, rubbing his temples as he always did whenever he was in a difficult situation.

"What's wrong?" I asked, perching myself on his desk.

"Adriano is flying in around 2 days from now." He spoke, clenching his fist in frustration.

"Adriano? You mean Credente's boss Adriano Romano? But they told us they'd be coming 3 months from now!" I yelled, jumping off my seat.

"They must've rushed the process or lied to us or something." Namjoon replied.

I nodded slowly taking in the new information. "Well it shouldn't be a problem if you meet with them, right?" I told Namjoon who was hastily drinking water, causing it to spill down onto his shirt. He shook his head and let out a heavy sigh.

"That's the problem Hee... I have a scheduled meeting with the Atsumori-kai in two days and I can't delay this one."

"Atsumori-kai? Why are we in contact with the yakuza?" I questioned, arching an eyebrow is confusion. I knew Bangtan were in contact with many mafias from different countries like Italy and Russia but no organizations from Japan was I aware of.

"It's complicated but they got into brawl with the mafia down in Busan, Busanedal, and so Busanedal called us so I'm heading to Osaka with Seokjin and Yoongi to check out the scene." Namjoon explained briefly, handing me a document to take a look at.

"So we're lending a hand to the Busan group against Atsumori-kai... that's a risky move Joon."
I remarked, skimming through the front of the document which consisted of basic information on both Busanedal and Atsumori-kai.
They were two powerful syndicates and their collision with each other could affect Bangtan in certain ways, especially if the Busan guys asked for our assistance.

A breathy laugh escaped Namjoon's lips as he sat back down on his chair and put up his legs onto the desk.
"We aren't helping Busanedal." He scoffed.

"So why should you go to Osaka if we aren't helping Busanedal?"

Namjoon's eyelids dropped into a sharp glare as he hunched forward. The corner of his lips curled up into a sly smile which automatically told me he had a plan up his sleeve.
"We're going to help Atsumori-kai wipe out the entirety of Busanedal."

My eyes widened and I clicked my fingers as I caught onto his drift of plan. "So that way Atsumori-kai can trust us or help us out when we need them!" I exclaimed, slamming the paper in my hand down.

Namjoon clicked his fingers, "Correct, it will be a huge win for us in the long term and the yakuza would be doing us a huge favour if they get rid of Busanedal... you know one less competitor in this game."

"Joon you have to share me some of your knowledge!" I spoke which caused us to break into laughter.

"Back to the main subject, I need you to meet up with Adriano in my stead." Namjoon spoke in a gentle yet firm voice.

"I can delay the meeting, Namjoon you need to be there!" I refuted, shaking my head.

"No Hee-Ra, Adriano is notorious for being impatient, if we don't meet with him immediately, the deal could be void and we'd be missing a golden opportunity to turn the tables for Korea's drug market." Namjoon addressed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Okay then, in that case, I'll go with Jungkook and meet up with Adriano." I gave in, knowing that I had no chance against Namjoon's demands.

"Good, all the details should be in the file Yoongi brought you that day." Namjoon explained before I left his office without any further questions.

I headed to my own office which was opposite to Namjoon's. It was smaller in size but I viewed it like my personal haven— naturally because I spend most of my hours in there.

I opened my locker,  grabbed the thick file titled Credente and took a good look through it. I also read the paper Namjoon handed me in more depth.

From what I gathered, Atsumori-kai were a major narcotics distributor in Japan and Credente were developing a new drug named LMF which could change the Korean illicit drug market massively.
And in both scenarios, Bangtan would use both syndicates to gain the the most profits and uphold its title as one of the most powerful Mafias.

It was a perfectly executed plan and Namjoon trusted me to lead a half of it.

I dialled Jungkook's number after reviewing all the information.
"Hey Jungkook, I need to discuss something with you."

A/N:
Hello readers!!
I'm aware this chapter is very business-heavy and can be kind of boring but I wanted to try and keep the mafia element in the story since I do drift away from it sometimes 🥲

Please do vote and comment your thoughts though!! —🤎