Bound to You

Jimin was utterly out of his depth. What could he even do?

Unless...

His hands shaking, Jimin pulled out his phone. He brought up his contacts list and scrolled through until he came to the one he needed.

Kim Taehyung.

He'd found Taehyung's number among his father's documents a few weeks ago and saved it, hating himself a little for doing it but doing it anyway. Since then, he had tried to delete it several times; he had, believe him, Jimin really tried, but something always stopped him. Well turned out it was a good thing he hadn't. The glass is always not half empty, see?

Rationally, Taehyung was the only person of his acquaintance who would know what to do in this...situation. It was logical to call him. Yep. Jimin wasn't calling him because he wanted to hear Taehyung's voice or feel safe or something as pathetic as that.

The phone rang four times before a woman answered. She asked for Jimin's name and contact information. She told him that she would pass it along to her boss, sounding like she didn't really believe Taehyung would call back. Jimin didn't really believe it, either.

He had half-convinced himself that Taehyung had no intention of calling him and had likely already left Korea when his phone went off later that night.

Jimin stared at the screen of his phone for a long moment before taking a deep breath and answering.

"What do you want?" Taehyung said. "I'm rather busy at the moment."

Jimin turned onto his belly, trying to fight the wave of insecurity.

Why would Taehyung want to help me?

"I need your help."

A pause.

"With what?"

"I got a call this morning," Jimin said. "Someone is very unhappy they didn't receive one hundred kidneys my father apparently owed them. And now they're..."

"Threatening you," Taehyung finished for him.

"Yeah," Jimin said with a short laugh. "Do you, by any chance, have a hundred kidneys lying around?"

It was a joke—and a bad one—but Taehyung's answer was completely serious. "I don't do any type of human trafficking."

"That's...that's surprisingly decent of you."

"I hate to disappoint, but it has nothing to do with decency. It's just more hassle than it's worth."

"You're a terrible person," Jimin said without much heat. He couldn't quite muster up the disgust he should have felt at Taehyung's unashamed cold-heartedness. He tried not to think what that said about him.

"That's why you're calling me," Taehyung said, his tone very dry. "Because I'm a terrible person. Nice guys like your Jungkook could never handle it."

Jimin's forehead wrinkled.

Um....is that jealousy I hear in the Kim Taehyung's voice?

He cleared his throat. "Anyway. That's not all. I looked through his documents, and it looks like the kidneys weren't the only shipment my father owed to people. It's...it's not looking good." Jimin closed his eyes. "I'm so out of my depth," he admitted quietly.

What is it about Taehyung that makes it so easy to admit weakness?

"I just wanted to move on with my life. But now I must figure out how to deal with those people, how to get them off my back."

"You want me to do it for you." Taehyung said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Jimin said, trying to keep his voice firm and business-like. "I didn't tell anyone it was you who kidnapped me. You owe me, Taehyung. If you don't help me, I will come clean and tell it was you."

Taehyung laughed, sounding deeply amused. "My fluffy kitten has claws."

There was a squirmy sensation in his stomach. "Stop calling me that," Jimin said, pressing his flushed cheek to his pillow. "Will you help me or not?"

Even without seeing him, he could sense Taehyung's smile fading.

"First off, I don't owe you anything, love," he said, his voice low. "I didn't ask you to lie to the authorities for me. And you should know better. Threatening me isn't the best way to get me to do something."

Jimin's chest tightened. "Are you saying you won't help?"

"I'm saying I'll need a better incentive than that."

His mouth was suddenly very dry, his heart thudding somewhere up his throat. "What do you want?"

"Thirty percent of Park Industries."

Jimin's eyes flew open. He let out a laugh. "You think I'm crazy? I'm not letting you anywhere near my company."

"Why not?" Amusement tinged Taehyung's voice again.

"I want to get rid of any illegal dealings of my company. Letting you in is very counterproductive to that."

"Sweetheart," Taehyung said, his voice so low and intimate that it made Jimin shiver. "You do realize that about seventy five percent of my business is completely legal, right?"

Jimin's brows furrowed. That was news to him.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I don't want you anywhere near my company." Anywhere near me. "So choose something else."

There was silence on the line, heavy and loaded.

"I'm afraid you don't have anything I'm interested in," Taehyung said at last. "Either agree to my price or there's no deal."

"No deal, then," Jimin said, as pleasantly as he could, and hung up. He bit the inside of his cheek, trying to ignore the stupid, illogical hurt clawing in his chest. Of course Taehyung didn't give a shit about him. Of course. Taehyung cares only about his own gain.