Chapter Text
His feet hit the pavement, breaths coming out in pants, lungs burning with minimal air entering it, as his legs pumped and pumped and pumped. He zig zagged his way through the crowd, weaving in and out, daring to glance behind his shoulder, smirking as he saw the two men struggle to follow him. He wanted to laugh, but he couldn't waste precious air on it.
He had been made. His cover was blown and his target was forced out of the building.
But Jungkook didn't care.
The chase was the best part. He never did like it when things came easy to him.
His target this time was a Minister of Parliament who had been embezzling money from the country; taking funds from Wildlife Reserves, from the Funds to Feed the Homeless, from charities and many, many more. He had taken over a million dollars and no one dared to call him out on it. That is until someone hired his agency to kill him. It was far easier than exposing him and being targeted as a whistleblower. Plus, this way, the blood isn't on their hands. It's on Jungkook's.
Jungkook's job wasn't the typical assassin's job where all he did was get to the top of a building and kill his target. His job was a bit more complicated than that. He would assimilate himself into wherever it was that he was posted, blend into the background, gain their trust, get the evidence that he needed, and when they least expected him to - He would kill them.
Jungkook entered an alley, back against the cool wall as he attempted to catch his breath. He took his gun out of holster, keeping it by his side, the silencer already screwed on as he attempted to collect himself. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, giving him more energy as he waited patiently for the two men to find him.
He already sent the evidence to Jimin, and even had him hack into his target's phone and track him. If he wanted, he could have him dead right now. But as Jungkook said - He loved the chase. He got off on the thrill of it. He got off on knowing that the Big Bad Man who stole all the money was fearing for his life, second guessing everyone in his life and their relationships with him, suspecting everyone he crossed paths with, rewinding his life to try and see who exactly would want him dead.
He loved the strife he was causing.
"I think he went this way," A voice said, just outside the alley.
Jungkook got ready, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited patiently for the men to turn into the alley. He took a quick look of his surroundings to see what exactly he could use, just in case - Two metal trash cans and an old rusted fire escape. He could work with that.
"There he is!" The second voice boomed as they charged straight into the alley, eyes narrowed as they looked at Jungkook.
Jungkook smirked as he tucked the gun back into its holster, both hands free to fight.
The first man charged at him, carelessly, and swung his fist. Jungkook scoffed, dodging it quickly and standing back up.
"That's the best you can do?" Jungkook goaded, smug look on his face, "Let me show you how it's really done."
Jungkook swung his fist, aiming straight for the jaw.He swung a second time, the weight behind this punch tripling before he landed it on his gut. He could hear his fist hit the skin, a familiar sound that barely phased Jungkook, but for some reason, this time, it was more fulfilling than ever. He heard the sound of skin slapping skin echo off the walls, bouncing around before reaching his ears. A smug smirk was on Jungkook's face before he knew it. He pulled back, landing a third punch to the gut before the man doubled down in pain, landing on the floor, clutching his side.
"Pathetic." Jungkook spat down, kicking the man in the side.
He turned around to see the other man, backing himself up on the wall, scared.
"You want a turn too?" Jungkook said, cocking an eyebrow, standing over the man who was groaning in pain.
Jungkook saw him attempt to get up and swung his foot, kicking it in the same place he punched his gut, "If you want to stay alive, stay the fuck down."
He looked at the other man who looked like he wanted nothing more than to escape, "Here's what's going to happen," Jungkook said, looking over both of them, "I'm going to go and finish my job, and you're going to take him to the hospital. I swear to god, if you say anything about what happened, I will come back and finish the job. And trust me when I say, I will bring you so close to the edge of the death so many times, that you'll be begging the Grim Reaper himself to come take you away."
The man was practically shaking in his boots, eyes flittering between Jungkook and the man at his feet, bleeding, writhing in pain.
"I hope he has insurance." Jungkook muttered, looking at the both of them before walking away from the alley, not bothering to glance behind his shoulder. He knew they wouldn't do anything; not if they value their lives.
Jungkook took his phone out from his pocket and opened up the map.
"Where are you, you dirty, corrupt fuck?" He spat out as he waited for the tracker to finally stop moving.
"Of fucking course you went there out of all places," He muttered out, rolling his eyes.
Jungkook looked around him, trying to find something he could use to get him to wherever Joo Wan was. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a motorcycle, with the helmet on the seat. He didn't think twice as he walked over to it and started to hot wire it. Before he revved off, he dialled Jimin's number and stuck the phone underneath the helmet so that he could talk handsfree.
Ring Ring
Ring Rin-
"What'd you need, Kook?" Jimin answered.
"Joo Wan is in a safe house," Jungkook said, raising his voice a little so that Jimin could hear him through the rushing winds and the sound of traffic.
"I see the tracker," Jimin said.
"Are there any cameras in the safe house that you could hack? I need to know how many people are in there, or else I'll be going in blind," Jungkook said.
"Give me a second," Jimin said over the click clacking of the keyboard, "No cameras in the safe house."
"Shit." Jungkook cursed.
"But there are traffic cameras and cameras from the opposite building I could hack into," Jimin told him, the noises of the keyboard getting louder and louder with each passing second as Jimin worked as fast as he could.
"How long?" Jungkook asked as he weaved his way in and out of traffic.
"A couple of minutes," jimin said before asking, "Where are you?"
"Riding."
"And you're on the phone?!" Jimi nearly screamed at him.
"You do realise that you've literally hacked the goddamn President and the Military and I quite literally kill people for a living," Jungkook said, "Me breaking a couple of road traffic rules shouldn't be your main cause of concern."
"It's dangerous," Jimin told him, "Not only for you but the people around you."
"Jimin," Jungkook breathed out, "I am a dangerous person! I kill people for a living!"
"Four guards came out of the car," Jimin said, suddenly serious, "Two standing guard outside the building.I don't know where the other two are. I can't see anything else from these cameras."
"It's more than enough information," Jungkook said, seeing the familiar street where the safe house was, "I'll see you later."
"Jungkook." Jimin said, just before Jungkook hung up.
"Yeah?"
"Stay safe."
Jungkook nodded, even though Jimin couldn't see him. He pulled over, hiding the bike in an alley, throwing the helmet on the seat. He peeked out of the alley, and down the street, he could see the two guards outside the door. Jungkook took his gun out of the holster, emptying the bullets into his hand and stuffing those into his pockets before he took out 6 tranquiliser bullets. He put them into the gun and cocked it.
He walked out, gun hanging by his side and just as he approached the safe house, he brought his gun out and shot twice consecutively. He watched as the realisation hit both of their faces before they passed out in front of the door. He stepped over them and opened the door, and walked in.
He barely got a step in before he was being tackled to the ground. His gun flew out of his hand and onto the wooden floor, away from him. Jungkook landed with a thud on the ground, his back taking most of the impact as the air was knocked out of his lungs. A normal person would be on the floor right now, clutching their stomach and trying to gain their breath back. But Jungkook wasn't normal. This was what he trained in. He was made up of years of endurance, gunshots and stabbings, all wrapped up in one person. The scars on his body were proof enough that Jungkook was built to take more than one hit before crumbling. With a grunt, ignoring the burning from his lungs, Jungkook pushed the person off of him, scrambling on his knees to reach for his gun. The person growled and pulled Jungkook back by the ankles, refusing to let him move an inch towards the gun. Jungkook turned, and delivered a strong, powerful kick upwards to the man, hitting him in the ribs. He took this opportunity to lurch forward and grab the gun. He turned around as quick as he could while cocking the gun, and within a second, his finger pulled the trigger, landing the tranquiliser dart straight to the man's thigh. The man looked at Jungkook and fell straight on his face to the floor.
Jungkook fell back onto the floor and let out a breath of relief. He had one more guard to go before he could get to Joo Wan and kill that asshole. This kill was definitely going to be worth it.
He got off the floor, not wanting the exhaustion to hit him all at once. He could still feel the adrenaline in his veins, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He cocked his gun again, and walked into the next room. In the middle of the room was Joo Wan, and right next to him was the guard, with his gun pointed straight at the door, and now, pointed straight at Jungkook.
Jungkook scoffed and pulled his trigger, and watched as the man fell onto the floor, leaving Joo Wan with no protection.
"Four guards?" Jungkook scoffed, "That was childs play."
"What do you want? Money? Is that it?" Joo Wan said desperately, "I have a lot-"
"I know." Jungkook said, emptying out the barrel of his gun, "I even know how you got the money. Embezzlement."
"I-Is that what this is about?" Joo Wan nearly sobbed, fear filling every crevice, "I'll put it back! I'll put everything back! Just please, don't-"
"Funny isn't it," Jungkook said calmly as he took one bullet out of his pocket and reloaded the gun, "Just a few seconds ago you were offering me everything, and now, just like that, you're going to give it all up?"
"Please just-"
Jungkook didn't let him finish. He cocked his gun and aimed it straight between Joo Wan's eyes. He didn't even flinch as he pulled the trigger. The bullet entered the middle of Joo Wan's forehead with a shlup. There were a few seconds where the only thing that could be heard was the soft sizzle of the gun. Everything was silent. This was Jungkook's favourite part. He loved watching the second of realisation where the person on the other end of the gun knows that they fucked up, and that there's nothing they can do about it.
A second passed, blood trickled down Joo Wan's forehead, onto the bridge of his nose, and then a thud, as he falls face first into the hard wood floor.
Jungkook put the gun back in his pants.
His work here was done.
"Where did you aim for this time?" Jimin asked, spinning in his chair as he looked at Jungkook who was scarfing down a cup of ramen.
"Middle of the forehead," Jungkook said, pointing straight at his forehead, "Right for the Frontal Lobe. Boom."
"Ugh! Lame!" Jimin scoffed, "You did that last kill too. You've got to switch it up."
"Last time was different! He had a gun!" Jungkook defended.
"It was a Nerf gun!"
"It was dark! All I saw was the gun!"
"You're so-"
Knock Knock Knock
"Come in." Jimin called, eyes fixed at the door.
"Boss is asking for you, Jungkook."
"Be right there, Kang." Jungkook said, taking one last bite of his ramen before shooting out of the chair.
"You just came back a few hours ago. Why does he want to see you now?" Jimin asked, taking the cup noodles out of Jungkook's hand, sipping from the soup.
"Guess I have to find out." Jungkook said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
He walked to the office, knocking a couple of times and waiting until the he got an answer from the other side to enter.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" He said, hands folded politely in front of him.
"Ah, Jungkook," The man said, leaning back against his chair, "Come. Sit."
"Thank you, sir," Jungkook said and sat down in front of him, back straightened.
"Well done on the Joo Wan case," Chul, the Director said, "The evidence you got was amazing and enough to take down quite a few people."
"Joo Wan might be a little hard to take down considering...that I...you know," Jungkook said.
"Killed him?"
"Yes, sir."
Chul smiled, almost sinister, "There's plenty of other people that need to be taken down too."
Jungkook sat in his chair, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
A cream coloured manilla folder was pushed to the other side of the table.
"Your new assignment." Chul informed him, leaning back in his chair, waiting patiently for Jungkook to read it.
Jungkook's eyes skimmed over the pages of information. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"This is my new assignment?" He asked, as if the answer would change.
"Is something wrong?"
"He's a professor at a university. What harm could he possibly have caused?" Jungkook said.
"Humans are deceiving creatures, Jungkook," Chul said, "Never believe the facade that they project."
Jungkook looked back at the folder, "He's worked in homeless shelters, organised rallies for innocent people to get out of jail, he's built an orphanage.."
"He's your assignment!" Chul barked out.
Jungkook flinched, crumpling the paper in his hand a little.
Chul breathed out, calm and slow, "Look, Jungkook, you're one of my best agents. I give you these assignments for a reason. Professor Kim Namjoon is hiding something. I need you to get everything you have on him."
"Yes, sir," Jungkook said, obediently.
"Jimin has put your student profile on the university server already. Go to him for further information on when you start," Chul said, "Dismissed."
"Thank you, sir," Jungkook said, standing up.
"Oh, and Jungkook?" Chul called out just as Jungkook was about to leave his office.
"Sir?"
"Don't forget," Chul said, "He's dangerous."
Jungkook was sat in the middle of the class, his book bag next to him, a pencil and a sheet of paper in front of him as he watched students filter in. Some were holding coffee in hand, others looked hungover, and some were giggling and laughing with their friends as they tried to find seats to accommodate their entire friend group.
He couldn't help but wonder if this was how his life would have looked like had he been a normal 23 year old. Would he have gotten into the university of his choice? Would he have found friends? Would they have gone out to parties at night, drinking their stress away till odd hours of the night even though they had class in the morning? Would he not know the smell of a gun after it fired bullets? Or how hard it was to wash fresh blood off his hands? How cold soda was the best way to get dried blood off of clothes? How grown men sobbed and cried as they begged for their life? How it felt to be so desensitised to death and flesh, and blood?
Would he have been normal too?
Before his thoughts could spiral any further, the teacher, who he recognised from the folder as Kim Namjoon, walked in with a warm smile on his face.
He set his bag down and set up the laptop to the projector.
Jungkook watched, rapt in attention as he took in every movement. Chul said that he was dangerous, so he had to be. He had to be hiding something big for someone to want him dead. What was it? What did Law Professor Kim Namjoon do to warrant a death sentence?
"Good morning everyone!" Namjoon greeted with a clap of his hands, "And welcome back to Law and Ethics. I hope you had a nice break and had a chance to think over the question I asked you at the end of last class."
With a click of a button, the slide changed.
"Today, we're going to talk about equity." Namjoon said, and immediately the students started to type and write as though every word he said was gospel.
But Jungkook just sat back, and watched.
"Last week we saw how rigid and unforgiving Common Law was. We saw how unfair decisions were and how it felt like the law was useless because it only helped people who fell in that particular situation in which the law was written for. When the law said, 'He who murders someone shall get punished,' it meant that women wouldn't get punished because they aren't a he, they're she. So, how exactly did was the law fair? How did it account for every situation? "
The slide changed again.
"And that's what I asked you last week," Namjoon said, dimpled smile on his face, "The answer to last week's question is - Equity. Equity literally means fairness. It was created and developed to deal with the unfairness that Common Law had. It filled in the gaps, softened the rigidity, smooth over the cracks that Common Law had. 'He who murders someone shall get punished' means that anyone who committed the act of murder would be punished. Equity isn't a legal right; it's a solution to a problem. It's the moral compass that is within us. We, as people know, that it's wrong to kill people, to hurt people, to lie.."
Jungkook squirmed in his seat, feeling Namjoon's eyes on him.
"Equity is a great tool in justice, because sometimes, the law doesn't work in favour of people. Sometimes, the law is harsh, and hard, and rigid. Equity steps in and takes over. It delivers justice, makes everything fair," Namjoon said, eyes narrowing, face scrunching, "And people need to be punished for the crimes they commit, and the law doesn't always deliver adequate sentences."
And suddenly, it was like Namjoon remembered that he was in class and sobered up. The harsh expression was gone, replaced with a smile, not quite reaching his eyes, neither were his dimples out. He was hiding something. Jungkook could tell. He just needed to know what.
"Let's look at some examples, shall we?" Namjoon said, clicking away from the slide into another one.
Jungkook could tell that he loved what he did. He could see the passion in Namjoon's eyes, could see how he explained things slowly and with precision, and how he asked questions and even when the answer wasn't right, he would encourage them and tell them that they weren't wrong, but they weren't exactly right either. He would tell them that their try was good and that it just needed to be built on.
"I'll see you next class," Namjoon said as everyone started to pack, "Don't forget to do the readings and read up on the cases I put up on the board!"
Jungkook waited patiently as he watched all the other students pack up and leave, filing out of the class as quickly as they could.
Jungkook packed slowly, folding up his empty sheet of paper and dumping his pencil carelessly into the bookbag. He stood up and walked down the stairs of the lecture theatre.
"Excuse me," Namjoon said.
"Me?" Jungkook asked.
Namjoon nodded and smiled at him, dimpled and deep, "Hi. I make it a point to know all of my students, especially ones in my Law Class. I don't think I've seen you around before."
"I'm Jeon Jungkook," He said.
Jungkook made it a point for all of his targets to know his real name. He wanted them to know who was staring in their face when he killed them. It was cynical how he thought of that as a small mercy.
"I actually haven't declared a major yet, and I was hopping around from one class to the other trying to see if something excited me," Jungkook said, rolling with the story that he and Jimin had crafted.
"I'm glad you decided to give Law a chance," Namjoon said. Jungkook could hear the sincerity and warmth lacing his voice.
He still couldn't figure it out. How was this man dangerous? If anything, he seemed..passionate about his job.
"So," Namjoon said, "How are you liking law so far?"
"I still can't figure it out," Jungkook said, "It seems...too..."
"Straight and narrow?" Namjoon said.
"Something like that," Jungkook told him.
"That's the beauty about law, isn't it, Jungkook?" Namjoon told him, "If you know the law in and out, you can meld and mould it to fit your narrative. If you know the law, you know how to use it to help you get out of situations. You may think that the law is straight and narrow, but if you use that to your advantage, you'll learn that the law is all about who's more powerful and how you use that power to help you."
Jungkook just stood there. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe it wasn't passion that Jungkook was seeing in Namjoon. Maybe it was power. Jungkook didn't know for sure. But he did know one thing - Kim Namjoon was hiding something, and Jungkook was going to be the one to find it and take him down.
"Will I see you in my next class, Jungkook?" Namjoon asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"You'll be seeing a lot more of me, Mr. Kim." Jungkook said like a promise.