Jeon Jungkook.

The air in the courtroom smelled of disinfectant and falsehood. When the verdict was read, Jungkook didn't even flinch. His jet-black eyes swept the rows and found the only thing that mattered: Taehyung's tear-stained face. Taehyung was brilliant. His lower lip trembled, and his dilated pupils were filled with universal sorrow. He pressed a handkerchief to his eyes and looked as if his world was collapsing. Jeon Jungkook, king of the underground empire, the possessive man who never forgave a sideways glance at his lover, was now going to prison for ten years. And Taehyung, his sweet, submissive boy, was sobbing in public. Jungkook knew. He knew the setup was Taehyung's doing from the very first second. It was masterful. The boy leaked the information to his competitors and covered his tracks so perfectly that even Jungkook's security team didn't immediately figure out what was going on. But Jungkook understood. Because Jungkook could feel Taehyung's skin on his skin.

"I'll wait for you, do you hear?" Taehyung whispered as the guards were already placing bracelets on Jungkook's wrists. Taehyung leaned forward, and Jungkook inhaled the scent of his perfume. Sweet apricot and gunpowder. "You will," Jungkook mouthed, and those short words held a threat, not hope. For a second, Taehyung felt as if even the walls of the courtroom were covered in frost. But he quickly pushed the fear aside. It was worth it. At least a little freedom. At least a little air. Three hours later, Taehyung was emerging from the back entrance of the Elysium club with two cocktails in his blood and a stranger's hot breath on his neck. The tears had dried up, as if they had never been there. They'd been replaced by a heady euphoria. No curfew. No phone calls demanding his exact location. No "Who are you laughing with on the phone, bitch?" Taehyung danced in a way he hadn't danced in two years - since he got involved with Jungkook. "Kim Taehyung, stop shaking your ass in front of that trash," came an icy voice through his invisibility earpiece, which Taehyung didn't even take off in the shower. It was the head of security, left by Jungkook to "watch the house." "The owner sees everything."