Chapter Four

New Owner

The next morning felt electric.

Jungkook stood at the back of Taehyung’s office building, watching the crowd gather in the luxury auditorium.

Employees, partners, the whole designer team.. even Mr. Cha, the old CEO... filled the room with low murmurs.

Taehyung sat near the front with Jin and Jimin. He looked small among the sea of crisp suits, fingers nervously twisting a pen. He did not know why his heart thudded so loud.

Mr. Cha climbed the podium first. He cleared his throat, papers in hand, eyes bright with a strange mix of pride and relief.

“Good morning, everyone,” he began. “I have an announcement. Of course that's way we're here.”

Whispers rippled like a small wind across the room. Mr. Cha smiled and then looked straight ahead. “I sold the company early this morning.”

The murmur turned into shocked gasps. People exchanged confused glances.

He continued, voice steady and smooth. “Mr. Jeon Jungkook will be the new owner of this company.”

A single, stunned silence dropped into the room. Then it erupted.

“How? He bought a whole company in a day?” someone whispered.

“How is that even possible?” another voice asked.

Taehyung’s hand went cold on the pen. He glanced toward the entrance and saw Jungkook step in the calm, composed, wearing a suit that made him look sharp enough to cut glass.

Jungkook walked to the podium as if he owned the air itself. Taehyung’s breath hitched.

Jungkook’s smile found him across the room. He smirked just enough to make Taehyung’s stomach twist.

You mischievous bunny, Taehyung mouthed under his breath.

Jin elbowed him. “Did you say something?”

“Mmm nothing,” Taehyung said quickly, forcing a small, innocent smile. He tried to look composed, but his heart pounded like a drum.

Jungkook gave a short speech... polite, minimal, with that cold clarity he used in boardrooms. He spoke about synergy, growth plans, maintaining creative freedom. He spoke like a man who lived inside profit margins and strategy decks.

They all signed the papers.

By noon, the company legally belonged to Jeon Jungkook.

After the formalities, Mr. Cha woong began the introductions. He walked Jungkook through the rows, whispering names, titles, and small bits of history.

“He is our design department leader, Mr. Lee Wong,” Mr. Cha said, turning toward a tall man with sharp eyes.

Jungkook’s calm expression hardened for a some moment. He remembered the file his man had sent last night...

Lee Dong Wong’s background, behavior reports, complaints. He remembered the thin line that led from petty rudeness to purposeful cruelty.

Lee Wong’s profile scrawled in his head like a warning.

Lee Wong, 35... A divorcee. Rumors of one-night stands. Disliked for perversion. Parents unhappy. Harasses juniors.

Jungkook did not like the word harassment.

He watched Lee Wong nod at a few employees, his voice smooth and practiced...Lee Wong smiled too.

Jungkook let himself cool down only when Mr. Cha guided him further and announced another name...

“He is our junior designer, Kim Taehyung,” Mr. Cha said, smiling kindly.

Taehyung bowed. The polite, small bow that held years of practiced humility. His cheeks were faintly pink. He kept his head down like he was used to not being seen.

Jungkook bowed, too... gracefully, perfectly. The room buzzed.

People whispered. “Did you see? Mr. Jeon bowed to someone.”

“He bowed for first time. Did you see that?”

Jin and Jimin nudged Taehyung and both mouthed questions... Taehyung gave a small laugh, trying to hide the panic under his ribs.

Of course they would be curious. Of course they would gossip. Of course they would be eager to know.

“Who doesn’t know the coldly, Mr. Jeon Jungkook?” Taehyung said lightly when Jin teased him. He tried to shrug the attention away. His heart was a small bird trapped in his chest.

Behind the smile, Jungkook watched him with a predator’s focus.

He listened when people introduced themselves. He nodded at polite greetings. He let the public face play out because business required it. But his mind was already at work, cataloguing small offenses, storing names like coins in a jar.

When an employee came forward to introduce himself enthusiastically as a junior who admired Taehyung’s work, Jungkook’s eyes flicked to Lee Wong.

He felt the anger rise... not loud, not immediate. It was a slow, deep boil.

He had seen the art on Taehyung’s desk the night before. He had seen masterpieces hidden under polite rejections. That knowledge burned.

Lee Wong’s smug smile, the way he spoke over juniors, the way his hand lingered too long near a junior’s sketchbook... those details stacked in Jungkook’s mind.

The thought came like a splintering promise.

You are doomed, Lee. A low, private growl vibrated somewhere in Jungkook’s stern chest.

Mr. Cha guided Jungkook to the CEO cabin in a nervous blur. The executives whispered behind them, throwing curious glances toward the young, gentle junior who had just bowed and sat down again.

Jungkook’s eyes never left Taehyung. He watched him fidget with his cup of tea, watched the small movements that no one would notice unless they loved him.

Taehyung glanced back once. Their eyes met for a second, a secret handshake in the middle of all the public noise.

Jungkook smiled softly at him. The smile was for no one but Taehyung. Then, as if reading the room perfectly, he turned his jaw to stone.

Lee Wong would be watched.

Lee Wong would be tested.

If Lee’s cruelty was intentional... if he had been the one to humiliates and hurt Taehyung.. then he had just stepped into the wrong room.

The company was no longer Mr. Cha’s safe little kingdom. It was Jungkook’s now. The rules would change.

He leaned in slightly toward his aide, voice low and steady.

“Pull all HR files, incident reports, CCTV footage in the art studio... Show me everything related to Mr. Lee Wong.”

The aide nodded, face pale but obedient. Jungkook’s tone left no room for refusal.

He walked to the CEO cabin with Mr. Cha, but his mind stayed by Taehyung’s small bowed figure.

Protective. Possessive. Calm on the surface. Burning underneath.

Lee Wong met Jungkook’s eye from across the room and smiled, the sort of smile that meant business as usual.

Jungkook’s reply was a small, almost invisible smirk. It chilled the air between them.

“Consider this your warning,” Jungkook thought quietly.

“You are doomed, Lee,” he murmured, again, barely audible.

No one heard him.

But Taehyung did. He felt the promise fold around him like armor. And he was aware of this already.

Lunch time…

Taehyung walked toward the canteen while scrolling on his phone, eyes focused on the new messages from Jimin about cafeteria menu. He didn’t notice someone watching him from the corridor corner.

A rough tattooed hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled him into an empty small room near the back hallway.

Taehyung gasped, already inhaling to scream... but a warm palm quickly covered his mouth.

His eyes widened… then slowly softened when he recognized the familiar touch and he felt relaxed.

“Shh. It’s me.” Jungkook whispered.

Taehyung nodded and made a small sound through the hand, “Mmm.”

Jungkook frowned. “What?”

Taehyung rolled his eyes and pointed at Jungkook’s palm that was still covering his mouth.

“Oh... sorry.” Jungkook chuckled, removing his hand and grinning.

He pressed Taehyung gently against the wall, caging him between his arms. The scent of Jungkook’s perfume wrapped around him instantly.

Taehyung sighed in relief. “What was that? What if someone came and saw us? And what if...”

His anxious words suddenly stopped when Jungkook leaned in and kissed him deeply.

Taehyung stiffened for a second, then melted into the sweet kiss instantly... His fingers softened on Jungkook’s shoulder.

Jungkook pulled back just a little, eyes soft. “I-I missed you,” he whispered, brushing their noses gently.

Taehyung looked down shyly. “Me too…”

Jungkook’s soft smile changed into his teasing smirk.

“So I’m coldly, huh?” he said, repeating the words Taehyung said earlier to Jin and Jimin.

Tae giggled softly, hiding his face in Jungkook’s hard chest. “Yes… but for me, you are my warmth.”

Jungkook chuckled, hugging him tighter. His arms circled Taehyung’s waist slowly, almost like he was memorizing his form.

“Let’s go on a date,” Jungkook murmured, drawing small circles on Taehyung’s waist with his thumb.

Taehyung hummed happily. “This time… I will choose the place.”

Jungkook pecked his cheek gently. “As you wish, your highness.”

Taehyung giggled again, rubbing his nose lightly against Jungkook’s. Jungkook leaned forward and pressed tiny kisses, one on Taehyung’s nose mole, one on his lip mole, one near his eye mole, then both cheeks.

Taehyung blushed and whispered, “You’re obsessed with them…”

Jungkook smirked. “You’re too obsessed with my lower lip mole and neck mole too. Did I complain?”

Taehyung slapped his chest lightly. “So what?”

Jungkook tilted his head. “Then kiss me too… there.”

He was joking.

But Taehyung surprised him.

Taehyung leaned forward and kissed Jungkook’s lower lip mole softly… then gave a small light suck.

Jungkook’s eyes fluttered shut.

That tiny action burned through his control.

He pulled Taehyung close again and captured his lips, kissing him deeper, sucking him gently, until Jungkook groaned lightly.

“Jeon Taehyung…” Jungkook breathed, breaking the kiss but not moving away. “Enough… or I will lose my control.”

Their foreheads touched, breaths mixing, hearts racing fast. Taehyung smiled shyly and closed his eyes. “Okay…”