15

Speed made reality inaccessible. The screech of tires on asphalt drowned out the irregular beating of Taehyung's heart, and he could only close his eyes. He wanted to avoid seeing himself die. He'd probably be the worst off if Hoseok's intention to kill them all came true.

"Do you think everything will stop when I die?" Deputy Park's voice rose from the back seat like sharp, sonorous blades.

"Your daughter will pay for her patricidal father's stupidity for the rest of her life."

"The Investors won't outlive you" his son replied. "Only a madman could keep them together under a single authority. They'll start tearing each other apart again, just as before, and "Her" will bring them down, one by one."

Taehyung only heard the impact. His body was battered by the shock and the sudden deployment of the airbag. His ears were ringing and when he opened his eyelids, streams of blood blinded him. His ribs had been shattered by the seatbelt. He managed to turn his head slightly towards the driver's seat. Deputy Park's inert body blocked his view. Only his legs had not broken through the windshield. Hoseok groaned. He was still alive.

Taehyung couldn't feel the rest of his body, and his head ached horribly. As unconsciousness took hold of him, he remembered Jungkook's smile one last time.

The hotel room was plunged into darkness. Moonlight bathed the room through the gaps in the shutters. The double bed remained unmade. There was a folded piece of paper on the bedspread. On the bedside table was a clock radio showing the time and date.

2:11 am. May 14th, 2020.

He could hear the bathtub running in the bathroom. With a vague look in his eyes, he entered. Jungkook was lying in the full tub. He was dressed. The water from the tap ran on and on, drowning his dying body. The bathwater overflowed, red, staining Jungkook's blood.

Taehyung stood petrified before the scene. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks.

- I... don't... want... to die...

The gleam in Jungkook's eyes disappeared and he died.

The impotent rage in Taehyung's eyes met the darkness of his bedroom. The clock radio showed the date April 18th, 2020. Jung Hoseok's daughter would be born on April 20th. The gods had sent him a warning. He was about to fail, about to lose everything.

His alarm went off a few moments later. He got up and mechanically put on the luxurious suit that made him want to vomit. The red tie around his neck was the rope of the scaffold. Today, Jeon Jungkook was to appear before the Investors. For the first time, Deputy Park had wished to attend. It would be the first time he'd seen Jungkook since the latter had been torn away from their family. Taehyung had missed him every moment since.

When he sat down next to the driver an hour later, the images of the accident to come wounded his mind, forcing death upon him. The gods had warned him, however: Deputy Park's death would not stop Jungkook's death. Even if he let the accident happen, he'd have to find another way to save the life of the man he loved.

"I've never seen a concert of Jeon Jungkook" Deputy Park said. "I've invested heavily in him, I chose him when I was presented with his profile, but I've never yet bothered to see him sing."

The smug look that Taehyung never lost when he was in Deputy Park's presence came through in his voice:

"I've always wondered why you chose him. At the start of his career, he was physically passable and his voice still left something to be desired."

Lies made his mouth hurt.

"You're tough"Deputy Park smiled. "If you want to make it in politics, you have to know and be known by all the loan sharks in Seoul. That's the way to get access to the poorest people. When the loan sharks' clients can't pay them back, they ask around and contact us if an interesting profile comes up. If we agree to invest, we reimburse the loan sharks and make the most of our new product. That's what happened with Jeon Jungkook. I'm not sorry we chose him, he's making us a lot of money. Sometimes we make the wrong choice... We have to exploit our products in other ways."

Taehyung looked at the him through the rear-view mirror.

"Take Jung Eun-Chae!" Deputy Park laughed. "We thought we saw exceptional acting talent in her, but she has disappointed us in many ways. To avoid losing our money, we chose to prostitute her in order to conclude commercial and financial agreements. She was a bad actress but a good whore. Her suicide cost us money and she doesn't deserve to rest in peace."

Anger knotted Taehyung's throat. He remained perfectly impassive. The images of Deputy Park's death soothed his heart. By the time they reached the huge room reserved by the Investors, dozens of eyes had turned to him. He preceded the deputy. He recognized many of them. He engraved their image in his memory. One by one, he would bring their heads down. Now that he knew the truth behind Jung Eun-Chae's murder, the very sight of the Investors' faces nauseated him. How many of the people in that room had touched, raped, beaten Jung Eun-Chae. How many of them had used physical and moral violence against Jungkook. His eyes lit up when he caught sight of Jungkook, trapped in the perfumed embrace of two women. One was caressing his face like a pet. The other had a firm grip on his thigh. He couldn't intervene, not that day.

He turned to Deputy Park and bowed slightly.

"Wait outside the door" the deputy told him. "Soon, we'll ask Jungkook to rest before performing for us. I want you to keep a close eye on him. Unfortunately, this place has no cameras."

No camera, a detail Taehyung had noted.

"Don't worry" Taehyung replied. "My men are outside, in case he decides to run away."

The door closed, forming an impenetrable wall between him and Jungkook. The minutes that followed were unbearable. Unable to stand still in front of the closed door, Taehyung had started pacing up and down the corridor between the room where Jungkook was supposed to be resting and the room where the dinner was to be held. Several dozen meters separated the two rooms.

All he heard was the rapid sound of footsteps hitting the floor before arms encircled his waist. The embrace brought tears to Taehyung's eyes, and he took hold of the familiar hands and squeezed them gently. It was a moment of sweet eternity that made them forget everything.

Once they were in the semi-darkness of Jungkook's room, the door locked and they were completely alone, the months of separation faded away.

Jungkook pushed Taehyung against the door and pressed his body against his. He placed his lips on Taehyung's, putting everything he felt for him into the kiss. The singer's fingers undid his tie and began to undo the buttons on his shirt. When Taehyung's neck was free, Jungkook's lips, burning with desire and longing, touched his skin. Jungkook's clothes quickly joined those of Taehyung. They needed to get rid of the disguises imposed on them to finally become themselves again. The other's caresses and kisses erased the pain and the lies.

The wide sofa welcomed their embracing bodies. Soon, someone would come for Jungkook. Soon, they would be separated again.

"It'll all be over soon, my love" Taehyung whispered to Jungkook.

***

April 19th 2020. The glaring date on the blackened page of the congressman's diary would be forever etched in his mind.

Deputy Park violently toppled his desk. Hundreds of pages flew out. The man standing in front of them was one of the Park house's security guards. He had just found a very old recording, several years old. All other recordings from the security camera that had captured these images had been destroyed.

April 19th 2020. On this day, Deputy Park learned the truth about his son's relationship with Min Yoon-Gi.

April 19th 2020. On this day, Deputy Park called the other Investors. The dozen or so faces appeared on the TV screen hanging on the wall of the office.

"It's time to end Min Yoon-Gi's life" he declared. "On May 14th a fire will ravage the building where Min Yoon-Gi lives. And on that day, Jeon Jungkook will die with him. His career can only end with his death."

Dozens of heads nodded in agreement.

Before that day, Kim Taehyung hadn't asked himself why May 14th 2020 had been chosen to end the lives of Min Yoon-Gi and Jeon Jungkook. He turned the pages of the congressman's diary with the slowness of a fatal conscience.

May 13th 2020: Jeon Jungkook concert.

May 13th 2020. Jungkook would give the biggest concert of his career.

On May 14th 2020, they would kill Jeon Jungkook to take advantage of the fact that he was at the peak of his career to make him a legend.