Valvet Bonds - Chapter Three — The Weight of a Crown

The alley felt colder once Taehyung turned his back. Jungkook followed him, hesitant but unwilling to be left behind. The air around the man was suffocating, as though the shadows themselves bent to make room for him.

Two sleek black cars waited at the mouth of the alley. Suited guards straightened the moment they saw him, bowing low without a word. Their gazes darted toward Jungkook, confusion and suspicion flashing in their eyes, but Taehyung didn’t give them the chance to speak.

Kim taehyung

“Open the door.” His tone was enough.

Jungkook slid into the back seat after him, the leather cool under his palms. The door shut with a final click, muffling the outside world.

The car moved silently through Seoul’s streets, neon lights bending against the rain-streaked windows. Jungkook sat stiffly, sneaking glances at the man beside him. Taehyung’s profile was sharp against the dim light — calm, composed, untouchable. He looked less like a man and more like a crown carved from stone.

Jeon jungkook

“Where are we going?” Jungkook finally asked, his voice quiet, uncertain.

Kim taehyung

Taehyung didn’t look at him. “If you want to live, don’t ask questions.”

The words fell like cold steel between them. Jungkook lowered his eyes, but inside, something stubborn refused to give way. ---

Kim Taehyung had not chosen this life. This life had chosen him.

He was born into the Kim Syndicate — Seoul’s most feared Mafia dynasty. His father was a ruthless lord, his mother a strategist whose whispers could bring men to their knees. From childhood, Taehyung learned that trust was fatal, affection a weakness, and survival the only law that mattered.

At seventeen, everything shattered. Betrayal ripped through the syndicate, old allies turning traitors. The Kim mansion became a battlefield. Taehyung could still hear gunfire ringing in the marble halls, smell the blood that stained velvet curtains. His mother’s desperate cries. His father’s hand gripping his shoulder one last time.

“Survive. Whatever it takes.”

Those were the only words left to him.

By eighteen, Taehyung was no longer a boy — he was a killer. By twenty, he had gathered the loyal remnants of his father’s empire and crushed the traitors who had fled. By twenty-five, rivals spoke his name in fear: Lord Taehyung.

Now twenty-seven, Kim Taehyung ruled an empire built from ashes. His syndicate stretched across Seoul — smuggling, weapons, the black markets that oiled the city’s shadows. Politicians owed him favors. Rivals bent to his will. The world saw him as a man who could not be touched.

But beneath it all, the wound never closed. The ones truly responsible for his family’s fall were still out there, somewhere in the dark. His empire was not peace. It was a weapon — sharpened for vengeance. ---

The car slowed, pulling Jungkook from his thoughts. His eyes widened as he peered through the rain-blurred window.

The mansion rose before them, its iron gates stretching like the jaws of a beast. Guards stood on either side, weapons gleaming under the floodlights. Beyond the gates sprawled a fortress of black stone and glass, its walls high, its windows burning gold from chandeliers within.

Jungkook’s throat tightened. It wasn’t a house. It was a kingdom built on fear.

Jeon jungkook

“This is… your home?” he asked, voice barely steady.

Kim taehyung

Taehyung finally turned his head, eyes catching his in the dim light. “No.” His lips curved faintly, cold and precise. “This is my throne.”

The gates creaked open, the cars rolling forward across the gravel drive. Behind them, the gates slammed shut with a metallic finality that echoed through Jungkook’s bones.

Taehyung’s gaze lingered on him as the car pulled closer to the towering mansion. His words came low, smooth, and absolute.

Kim taehyung

“Remember this moment, Jungkook. From the instant you stepped into my car, your life stopped belonging to you. From now on, it belongs to me.”

Jeon jungkook

Jungkook’s breath hitched, fear curling in his chest, but determination steadied his voice. “Then I’ll make it worth something.”

For a fleeting second, something flickered in Taehyung’s eyes — amusement, perhaps, or curiosity. But it vanished as quickly as it came.

Kim taehyung

“Follow me,” he ordered as the car came to a stop.

The doors opened, the rain still falling. Jungkook stepped out, heart pounding, staring up at the mansion that now marked the end of his old life. The beginning of something far more dangerous.

The crown of Seoul’s underworld had just claimed him.