unrivaled

NamJoon and Jin did an outstanding job at the press conference. 

Dae was there on the dais with them.  The press was all over the venue.  Dae's face hurt from smiling. 

Jimin had been very busy, so busy they had only had brief seconds to talk and never alone. That was another heavy burden hanging over her.

All three men were spirited away for congratulatory drinks and dinner.  Dae pretended not to notice Jin glancing over his shoulder for her as he was swept along in the crowd of men and reporters.

Finally, she arrived back at the hotel.

She checked through several business and social websites.  Everything had worked perfectly.  KimCom’s share price had begun to show slight imporvement.

She dialed Tae and waited for his deep voice.

When he answered she simply said, “I am ready.”

Taehyung spent the next several minutes in conversation, knowing anything he said was useless.

Finally he said “Give me two hours.”

Dae spent the time preparing, then simply sitting, staring out into the city scape. She drew on a sweater and wrapped a shawl around her shoulders.

She knew it was useless, the cold that had settled over her had nothing to do with the falling temps outside.

Taehyung arrived and helped her into the car.  They rode in silence, Tae holding her hand while she held back her tears.

The car arrived and Tae helped her out, holding her for a moment and kissing her temple.

“It will be ok DaeDear," he promised.

She nodded, too drained to respond.

Tae stepped back and watched as she climbed the stairs, disappearing into the dark as the door closed behind her.

He moved away to safety and waited.

In silence he watched as she disappeared into the night sky, the lights of the plane finally lost in the stars. 

Tae hurt for his best friend, exiled to the City of Love with a shattered heart.

The next several weeks were chaos.

Jin called the company several times looking for Dae.  Every time it appeared, he had just missed her. 

He read several reports she had done and received approval on several design changes but he could never track her down in person.

Finally, he had enough.  He went over to Dae's company unannounced and went straight to Taehyung’s office.

Something was wrong and Tae would know exactly what was going on.

Jin stepped into the busy security center and found Tae immediately, closely monitoring old security camera footage.  He was so engrossed he did not hear Jin approach.

“Where is she Tae?” he asked, his eyes asking his friend to be honest with him.

The look on Tae's face reminded Jin why they always invited him for poker.  He was a terrible liar. 

Jin saw immediately that Tae knew something about Dae, something that was really going to piss him off.

Aware of the men around him Tae invited Jin into his office.  He wasted no time, turning to Tae and demanding again, “Where.Is.She?”

“She's gone,” Tae stated bluntly, “she left the day of the press conference.”

Jin could not think fast enough for this to make sense.

“Gone? Where? Why?” Jin was grasping to make sense of what was happening.

Before he could ask any more questions, Tae continued, “She is gone. I cannot tell you any more than that.”

He saw Jin preparing to argue so he repeated slowly, “I cannot tell you anything else.  If I do, I will be in breach of the terms of my employment and I will be terminated."

Jin frowned. Tae sounded like he was reading from the pages of some damn contract. 

Then it struck him.  It was part of the new agreement.  She had intended to keep her hiding place secret.

Tae watched as Jin slowly understood the situation.  He again felt anger at the fate causing such grief to his friends.

He quietly told him, “Jin, if I say any more, I will be forbidden contact with her and I won’t know she is safe. I won’t do that, even for you.”

Jin nodded his understanding and headed for the door.  It looked like JK just got a new assignment.

Another month passed and none of them were any closer to bringing Dae home.

One night JK met Tae at the closest bar, determined to drink the information out of him. 

Hobi was there to make sure that didn’t happen, Yoongi was there to make sure they didn’t kill each other. Jimin was just there.

After a couple of hours JK was totally frustrated, looking at the liquor bottles on the table in front of him. 

He just could not understand.  He had drunk well past his limit and knew he was stupid drunk. 

Hobi lay with his head on the table, giggling at someone on the phone, whispering “ssssshhhhh", and giggling again. 

Even YoonGi was drunk enough to be talkative.  But Taehyung? What was wrong with him?

Then JK squinted at the man across from him as he lifted his drink toward him in a toast, a slow smile growing across his face.  Slowly it dawned on JK.

“Shit! Tae is drinking Coke. He can’t do that!” he accused.

Tae laughed at him and YoonGi sighed. “Yes Tae, at least you could have the decency to be drunk. Tell the man what he needs to know!”

Tae sadly shook his head. 

Suddenly YoonGi slammed his glass on the table, startling Hobi into sitting straight in his chair.

“I am sick of this! This needs to be over.  Look at the four of us! Pathetic! NamJoon stays holed up in his office, stressing over these contracts.  Jin keeps telling him they need Dae to finish the designs but he does not know she can’t come back.  Plus, he has lost his mind over her being gone, but he refuses to admit it! And Jimin….” YoonGi paused to consider his words.

All four heads turned to the direction YoonGi was pointing, “that is the fourth woman he has turned away since we got here. Plus, he is drunk off his ass.  It is time we fixed this problem.”

They sat and stared at him.  That was the most any of them had ever heard him say. Slowly, they all nodded. 

Calling Jimin over, they spent the next hour plotting to bring Dae home and get their lives back to normal. 

It was a complicated, drunken idea, but in the end they all committed to it.

There was no way in hell this was going to work.

Update is late, but I promised!!

Ahh...at least we have a drunken plan!! With these 5 it should be interesting to say the least!!

Thank you for all your reads and votes.  In this crazy, uncertain time each comment and notification is like a hug, picking up my spirits and lifting my heart!! ❤❤❤
Stay safe, be well, and celebrate life today!!