Happy squeals and the thump of little feet echoed through the halls of Kim House, causing the butler, Mr Park, to raise his eyebrows and flick a meaningful look at Hana the maid, who was hovering at the edge of the room.

Hana slipped out of the room silently while Mr Park attempted to head off any irritation at the table, by refilling wine glasses.

“Can you please control your brat?” The eldest present snapped sharply before taking a long drink of her wine.

The youngest looked up from his place 3 seats down from her left.

“She’s not a brat.” 

To his right, another woman thumped him on the arm and hissed in disapproval.

“Show some respect. We can see where she gets it from.”

The meal continued in a tense silence, everyone present trying to just get through the ordeal as fast as possible and get away from the woman who was glaring at each of them in turn from her position at the head of the table.

Meet the Kims, the 6 children of Chairman Kim, of Kim Corp, a huge conglomerate encompassing oil, tobacco, entertainment and property companies across Asia and beyond. Known more for his lethal business prowess than his fatherly care, his children were each expected to be business leaders, ready to take the reins when he finally decides to concede a little power.

The eldest, Mari, 35, sharp eyed and as lethally minded as her father, took no nonsense from anyone, not least her siblings and their, sigh , illegitimate mistakes who were at present running around in her house, making noise, when she was trying to preside over dinner. 

There was another thump from above, followed by a wail and then a piercing scream.

“Taehyung!” she snapped, this time more venomously, and pointed to the ceiling. “Go and make that stop.”

Taehyung got up from his chair and left the dining room without another word. There was no point. Mr Park gave him a silent reassuring nod as he passed, but nothing that would draw attention or censure from his older siblings.

“How much longer do we have to put up with him?” muttered Jihye, the second eldest. She had figured out at a very early age that it was easier to follow her sister’s lead than show any signs of independent thought. Now at 33, she had no plans to start showing empathy where Mari had decided none was due.

“He has as much right as any of us to be here.” Seokjin, third child and eldest son, drawled in a tone that suggested he was saying it as much to annoy his sisters as he was to show any brotherly affection to the youngest.

Jihye had opened her mouth to retort, when were once again disturbed, this time by a much deeper voice yelling.  

“Call an ambulance!” 

Mr Park dashed up the stairs and skidded to a halt as he looked on in horror at the scene before him.

Hana was crying in the corner of the master bedroom, the child was being cradled in the arms of her father, who was on his knees in a pool of blood, next to the very dead body of Chairman Kim.

Jeon Jungkook, ace detective, golden boy of the Seoul Central Precinct, was on his way to collect his dinner when he got the call.

“The chief said he wants you to go in person.” the dispatcher explained. “This is a high profile case and he can’t afford any mistakes.”

Jungkook accepted his fate with good will. It wasn’t the first time his evenings had been interrupted by a case. He asked them to send all the details to his tablet and told the dispatcher he would be there within the hour.

He pulled into the restaurant car park and was met by Min Yoongi, owner of the establishment and his best friend and neighbour.

“I made you kimbaps, so you can eat on the go.” he handed the bag through the window. Yoongi was well versed on Jungkook’s erratic work patterns and this wouldn’t be the first time that he’d made emergency car picnics.

“How did you know?”

“Hoba called me.” Yoongi leaned on the roof of the car.

“I was looking forward to my barbeque.” Jungkook allowed himself a little grumble. His friend ruffled his hair in sympathy.

“It will be in your fridge when you get home. Just take care kid, come back in one piece ok?”

“It’s a high class murder, not a shoot out in an alley.”

“You think rich people can’t hurt you as much as poor people?” Yoongi tutted and flicked him on the ear,

“Text me when you get home.”

“I will.” Jungkook took a big bite out of his kimbap and grinned up at his friend. “Love you Yoongi.”

“Yeah, good.”

“Say it back.”

“You will be late.”

“They can’t go anywhere until I say so. Say it back.”

“...”

“Say you love me.”

Yoongi sighed hard, but couldn’t stop the smile that crept on his face.

“I love you kid. Now get lost, I have a restaurant to run.”

Jungkook gave him a blindingly bright smile and blew a kiss as he drove off.

Jungkook pulled into the driveway of the mansion, past police cars with flashing lights and people in uniform milling around.

He was ushered into a space next to the coroner’s van. His passenger door opened and the sunniest person on the planet slipped in next to him with a grin.

“Hello Jungkookie! What took you so long?”  

Jung Hoseok, coroner for the District of Seoul. Human embodiment of sunshine, the brightest smile in the whole police department and the most unlikely person to spend all day working with dead bodies, ever. 

“I was across town getting my food.” Jungkook gestured to the bag and Hoseok rooted around in it, pulling out a paper bag with his name on it.

“Yoongi-ya..” Hoseok sighed as he took a bite out of an immaculately constructed sandwich.

“I see you had an ulterior motive for letting him know I was being called out” Jungkook tutted, frowning appreciatively at his own food. 

“When are you going to make an honest man of him?”

Hobi looked sad for a fraction of a second before schooling his face and smiling softly at his younger friend.

“When it’s legal, Kookie. Not before then.”

The same sex marriage laws had been a bone of contention for their small friend group. Jungkook was of the opinion that if he found the one he wanted to put a ring on, he’d fly to the ends of the earth to make it happen. 

Hoseok felt that working for the government meant he should try not to blatantly defy it, even if getting married abroad wasn’t illegal, it wasn’t recognised at home.

Yoongi felt that the government could go fuck itself, but he respected the man he loved more than the need to overthrow the ruling powers. 

Now, however, was not the time to get into another circular debate where they both ended up frustrated.

“Tell me about the victim.” Jungkook asked, pulling up the file on his tablet to flick through.

“Kim Jung Hoon, known as Chairman Kim publicly. Male, 65 years old. Founder and majority shareholder of Kim Holdings. Found at 8.45 pm this evening, dead on the floor of his bathroom, a single stab wound to the back of the neck.” 

“Who found him?”

“His 3 year old granddaughter and the housemaid. The poor little girl was covered in his blood.”

“Oh my god, that’s terrible.”

“Yeah. Tough little thing though. She’s clinging to her dad, who is also now covered in blood. The maid is in shock.”

“Tell me about the child’s dad. Are there other kids?”

“I’m just here for the dead body Kookie, everything should be in the file.” Hoseok opened the car door.

“I’ll tell them you are on your way up. Don’t take long, I want to move the victim to the morgue in the next hour please.”

Jungkook nodded and opened the first document.

Household:

Kim Family

Kim Jung Hoon - 65. Chairman Kim Corp

Kim Mari - 35 Daughter. Managing Director Kim Oil

Kim Jihye - 33 Daughter. Managing Director Kim Tobacco

Kim Seokjin - 31 Son. Managing Director Kim Agency

Kim Namjoon - 29 Son. Chief Environmental Officer and MD Kim Holdings

Kim Ariel - 29 Daughter. Chief Engineer, MD Kim Holdings

Kim Taehyung - 27 Son. Graduate, SNU

Kim Daisy - 3 Granddaughter (child of Kim Taehyung)

Household Staff:

Park Sejin - 57 Butler

Park Iseul - 53  Cook and housekeeper

Park Jimin - 27 Son, Estate Manager.

Lee Hana - 21 Live-in maid

Jungkook whistled to himself as he read through the list of companies under Kim Holdings.

“This is like stepping into some kind of European period drama, they even have a butler..” He checked the names one last time and got out of the car. Time to meet the Kims.

His first stop was to view the body, so that it could be removed to the morgue. It was laying on the floor across the threshold of the ensuite bathroom attached to the master bedroom. Chairman Kim was on his front, blood trailing from a small wound on the back of the neck down to a pool on the porcelain tiled floor.

The detective put on his paper shoe covers outside the room and walked close so he could crouch down as near to the body as he could without touching the blood. 

There was a trail of little footprints and skids in the puddle.

“The footprints there belong to the child and the skids are where her father dropped to his knees when he found her.” Hoseok pointed out. 

“Anyone else in the room?”

“The maid was there in the corner. She didn’t attempt to come closer.”

“Murder weapon?” Jungkook looked around at all the little marker flags where the forensic team were taking pictures of evidence.

“Nothing we have found, but from my cursory glance at the wound, a thin flat blade. Straight into the carotid artery. He would have bled out and died in about 15 seconds.”

“The assailant would have got blood all over them, right?” Jungkook got up from his crouching position and spun around, looking at the nearby walls and floor. Hoseok nodded and pointed to an area of the wall next to the bathroom door.

“You can see here, the highest part of the blood spray would have come from when the victim was stabbed while standing. This area here,” he gestured to a circular part that had almost no spatter, “Is where the assailant got in the way of the arterial spray. So yes, they will have got blood on them.  Unfortunately the child and then the father coming in messed up any footprints that they may have left.”

“What about the time of death?”

Hoseok checked his tablet,

“Judging by body temp and the stickiness of the blood pool, I’d put the time of death between 6 and 9 o’clock this morning.”

“This morning? How come no one found him until the evening?”

“Once again Detective, that’s your job, not mine.” Hoseok gave him a blinding grin and finger guns.

Jungkook took one last look round and then gave the happy coroner the go-ahead to remove the body. He wrote some questions in his notebook and then turned to one of the officers on duty and asked them to show him where the family were waiting.

Detective Jeon was shown into a formal sitting room at the front of the house. There were several people seated around the room, all looking varying levels of tired and serious.  In the corner, a tall man was holding a sleeping child in his arms. 

“Hello everyone, thank you for your patience. My name is Detective Jeon Jungkook of the Seoul Central Police Department and I am leading the investigation into Chairman Kim’s death.”

A woman who looked like she ate insolent young people for lunch stood up and stepped forward.

“Detective, this is outrageous. We have been waiting here for over two hours. I insist that you let us retire to our rooms.”

Jungkook was not intimidated, he had met plenty of entitled people who felt they were more important than the investigation.

“And you are?”

“Kim Mari. I am now the head of this family.” There was a snort of derision from the man in the chair at the opposite side of the room. She gave him a glare that would have made a lesser person cry, and turned back to the detective.

“Why are we being kept confined to this room?” She pointed across to the man holding the child.

“At least let my brother take the child to bed.”

Jungkook took note of the way she said “the child”. It didn’t sound like there was much love lost there.  He turned to the brother and offered a sympathetic smile.

“You are Mr Kim Taehyung and this is Daisy?” The little girl was draped over her father’s chest and her cheeks squished on his shoulder. There was a little dark patch on his blue chambray shirt where she was drooling.

For the first time, Jungkook was able to get a proper look at the man, as he lifted his face and his eyes peeked from beneath his long dark fringe.

Jungkook’s breath caught in his throat.

The detective had dated his fair share of hot men, he’d been called hot himself plenty of times, but this man put all of that to shame. Chocolate brown eyes with a sparkle of amber framed by long black lashes, a straight long nose and perfect lips. 

One of the perfect eyebrows, above the perfect eyes, raised in question and Jungkook realised he’d been asked a question.

“Detective? Is it ok if I take my daughter to bed?” His voice was like molten caramel poured over chocolate fudge cake on a cold day. Jungkook summoned all the power of his professional training and concentrated on the job at hand.

“If I could just have a quick word, then you can go.” He smiled. “I believe we can use the dining room to speak privately?”

They moved through to the adjacent room and Jungkook helped Taehyung with the chair as his arms were occupied.

“Thank you for your patience Mr Kim, I appreciate it has been a very difficult few hours for you both. Please can you tell me what happened, starting at the beginning of your day until now.”

Taehyung looked confused by this, but complied nonetheless.

“I recently graduated. My father allowed me to spend the summer here with Daisy until she starts school in September and I start my new position in the family business.”

“What position would that be?”

“I studied both business and film, so I think he was planning for me to work with Jin in the entertainment branch. We were going to solidify plans next week, now that Jin is back from London.”

Taehyung’s voice cracked and Jungkook could see tears well up in his eyes. 

“Take your time. I know this must be very difficult for you.”

Taehyung wiped his eyes with his free hand and took a deep breath.

“Daisy has a little bed in my room as there are no spare rooms. We were woken up at 7.30 by Mrs Park. She brought us drinks, tea for me and warm milk for Daisy. Daisy played with her dolls while I showered and then I got her washed and dressed. I think we made it down to the kitchen by 8am?”

“You went to the kitchen?”

“We always try to eat breakfast there so we can see friendly faces.” Taehyung gave a little sigh.

“My father and siblings usually all leave by 7am to get to the city office, so these last few weeks we’ve been eating breakfast with the Parks most days. They have always been very kind to me.”

“Who was with you at breakfast?”

“Mrs Park was there the whole time. Mr Park and Hana came in to have a cup of tea at 9 and then left again. They would have eaten long before I woke up. Jimin came in and we spoke briefly.”

“What about?” The detective was writing everything down, no doubt creating a detailed timeline. Taehyung thought hard trying to remember back to that morning.

“It wasn’t anything of substance. I think he was telling me about his date from the night before. A girl from our old university.”

“You studied together?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. My father paid for him to attend.” 

Jungkook was surprised. Chairman Kim was not living up to his reputation as a cold hearted businessman.

“Anyway, then at 9.30 Jimin drove us into the city. We had an appointment at 10.30 to tour one of the pre-schools I am looking at for Daisy. He dropped us at the building and then collected us outside at 12 noon. We went to get lunch at the mall and then I got some new clothes and shoes for her and had a fitting for some suits that my father had ordered for my new position.

“We arrived back at the house around 4.30 pm. We went up to our room and put the shopping away. Then I sat with Daisy in the kitchen when she had her dinner at 5pm. I took her up for a bath and then we watched some cartoons together before she went to bed at 7. Then I dressed for dinner and came down to the dining room at 8.”

“Which cartoons?”

Taehyung smiled at the question.

“Are you familiar with preschool television, Detective? Daisy is a big fan of Peppa Pig.”

Jungkook returned the smile and nodded.

“I have watched some Peppa in my time.” he made a note and then looked back up.

“Who was present when you had dinner?”

“My five older siblings and myself.”

“Was it unusual for your father not to join you?”

“Not really. He often got held up at work. In fact it was more unusual that the five of us were all there together. Most of the time it’s just me and Daisy, so I eat dinner in the kitchen with her.”

Jungkook noted that down. He could see that this young man had a good relationship with the staff, unlike some of the very wealthy and privileged people he’d met in his career.

“But Daisy was not eating with you this evening?”

“No, she’s three. She always eats much earlier. Mrs Park told me that my sister, Mari, had asked for dinner at 8pm as she would be coming home with Seokjin after collecting him from the airport at 6.30pm. When Mari is home, she prefers me to keep Daisy out of sight and eat at “Adult Meal Times”.”

Taehyung did air quotes for the phrase. Jungkook suspected that the young father much preferred eating early with the toddler and to be honest, he didn’t blame him.

“So you were served dinner at 8. Then what happened?”

Taehyung recounted the story of hearing Daisy running around upstairs and Mari getting annoyed. Mr Park had sent Hana the maid up to catch her and put her back to bed.

 The next thing they knew, the young maid was screaming. Taehyung had run up the stairs and found his daughter standing in a pool of her grandfather’s blood. The little girl was scared, probably from the maid screaming as well as the body and without thinking, he had skidded across the floor and dropped to his knees to pull her into his arms.

He remembered yelling for someone to call an ambulance and then being led away from the body, still with Daisy clinging to him.

“Thank you Mr Kim. I will have more questions no doubt, and we will need to take a proper statement from you, but for now, if you can let our forensic team take your clothes, you can both go to bed. Please don’t leave the house without telling me or one of the officers on duty.”

“Thank you Detective. I understand.”  

Jungkook stood and held out a hand to help Taehyung up out of the chair, the sleeping child a dead weight on his chest. As Taehyung stood, he lost his balance a little, being top heavy, and stumbled into Jungkook’s steady hold. They both froze as the child grumbled a little in her sleep and then settled again, turning her head so her face was pushed into her father’s neck.

Taehyung realised he was still holding on to the detective and took a step back, blushing.

“I’m so sorry, I hope I didn’t get your shirt dirty?”

Jungkook looked down and there was a little smudge of rusty red that must have come off the little girl's leg as they fell against him.

“Oh don’t worry. Hazard of the job I guess… But let’s get you both cleaned up so you can get some rest.”

He called one of the officers who was standing by the door.

“Please accompany Mr Kim upstairs and ask the forensic team to take his and the child’s fingerprints and clothes, then let them go to bed. 

Taehyung followed the officer out of the dining room and Jungkook stared after him, zoning out until someone clearing their throat snapped him out of it. 

“Sorry to disturb you mid thought, Sir.” It was Choi Soobin, one of the young detectives on Jungkook’s team. He had a wicked twinkle in his eye as Jungkook finally paid attention.

“Who would you like to see next?”

“Who is the most annoyed?”  Jungkook asked with resignation. It was now almost midnight. Soobin grimaced and pointed to the name at the top of Jungkook’s list.

Kim Mari.

Kim Mari swept into the room with well practised efficiency. She was used to commanding a room and people obeying her without question. Jungkook suppressed a smirk, she reminded him of one of his aunts who felt like she had the right to boss all the Jeons around. His father said differently and Jungkook had observed their power struggle all his life.

He had learned early on how to keep his head down and out of their notice, and suspected that the younger Kims would have their own coping strategies.

“Thank you for waiting Miss Kim. I am sure you appreciate the importance of getting statements of everyone’s whereabouts for the time of the incident as soon as possible after the fact.”

“You already know we were all having dinner together,” she snapped, “I can’t see how getting all six of us to repeat the same thing is constructive use of your time.”

Jungkook fashioned his expression into a neutral, patient smile.

“You need to let me know your movements today starting from when you woke up this morning, including anyone you saw or spoke to.”

“Why?” she screwed her eyes up at him.

“Just answer the question please.”  Jungkook should get a medal for his superhuman levels of patience. He would ask the chief about getting one.

“Fine.” she snapped.

“I woke up, went for a run, showered, and went to work. Collected my brother from the airport and came home.”

“What time did you wake up? Can anyone corroborate your movements?

“My alarm goes off at 5.30 am every morning. I run for 40 minutes in the grounds and then shower. Mr Park brings in my coffee and toast at 6.30am and I leave the house by 7am. 

I arrived at the office by 7.45, my secretary can confirm that. I was in my office until 3pm when I left to drive to the airport and collect my brother Seokjin from arrivals. I have the valet ticket in my purse. We arrived home together around 7pm and dinner was served at 8.”

“Did you see anyone else in the morning, other than Mr Park?”

“No. I didn’t actually see Mr Park, I was in the shower, but the tray was in my room when I got out.”

“Does Mr Park bring all of your trays?”

“Only mine and my father’s. Hana brings the others.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. You should ask Mr Park.”

“I will.” Jungkook turned a new page of his notebook and tapped the page with his pencil.  “Do you know of anyone who wished your father harm?”

“I am sure there are dozens. My father didn’t get to where he is..  Was without making enemies on the way.”

Jungkook noted the correction in her sentence, there was no emotion. Mari’s voice didn’t waver and her face was impassive. Maybe she was still in shock, or maybe she wasn’t that upset about her father.

“Thank you Miss Kim, that will be all for this evening. You may go to your room once the officers have finished searching it, but please don’t cross any police tape. Please don’t leave the house without notifying us where you are going.” Jungkook signalled to the officer on the door and he showed Kim Mari out.

It was 2am by the time Jungkook finished taking the last preliminary statement from the Kim siblings. 

None of them had seen anyone else in the house, other than the servants, until they returned for dinner that evening. None of them found it unusual to have not seen the Chairman. They assumed he had driven himself to work early and not returned. Jungkook made a note to find out why the servants hadn’t noticed that his car was still in the garage or found him in the bedroom earlier in the day. 

Detective Choi interviewed the staff while Jungkook was talking to the Kims and they agreed to compare notes first thing in the morning at the station, before heading back to the house.

After posting officers outside the master bedroom and around the house, Jungkook finally made it to his own bed at 3am. He hoped Yoongi had his phone on silent as he dropped a text to say he was home, and passed out on his bed with all his clothes on.

Jungkook was rudely awoken from a dreamless sleep at 8am by the incessant ringing of his work phone.

“Sir, you need to come in straight away.” Soobin sounded excited. Jungkook wondered where he got his energy from. He yawned audibly down the phone and then asked what the emergency was.

“We’ve found the murder weapon in Mr Kim’s room.”

“In the master bedroom? Why didn’t they find it last night?”

“No, not Chairman Kim’s room. His son. Mr Kim Taehyung.”

It was a miniature replica sword. 20 cm long, silver plated, with a woven leather handle and flat single edged blade. The blade was engraved on one side with the word ‘Appa’

“There are traces of soap,  blood and tissue on the blade and in the crevice where the handle is joined. We took fingerprints from the handle. Everything has been sent to forensics.”

“Where exactly did you find it?”

“In the top drawer of the writing desk in Kim Taehyung’s room.”

“Damn.” Jungkook swore under his breath. His initial impression of the man had been that he was genuinely distressed about the death of his father. After interviewing all of the Kim siblings the night before, Taehyung had been at the bottom of his suspect list. Finding this knife bumped him right to the top.

“Where is he now?”

“He’s in the garden with his daughter. Shall I get someone to fetch him?”

“No, I’ll go myself.”

Soobin had intercepted him on the driveway to look at the knife in its evidence bag.  They parted ways outside the front door, Soobin heading to the incident room and Jungkook to find Taehyung and Daisy.

He let himself in and walked through the house, to the huge kitchen at the back. There was a door leading from the utility room out to the garden. It was where people would take off their muddy shoes before walking into the rest of the house. 

Jungkook undid the old fashioned sliding bolt and let himself back out into the fresh morning air.

It was still only 10am, but he supposed Taehyung had his hands full with his daughter. It made sense to keep her outside away from all the police and forensic people in the house.

The garden was huge. There was a paved area the width of the house with a covered sunroom that could open out along half of it.  A flat perfect lawn stretched out for about an acre, divided by a gravel path lined with flowers. An archway covered in roses split a tall hedge and beyond it was a tennis court, swimming pool and sauna. To the far right, it looked like construction was beginning on a small cabin or playhouse.

Apparently there were also horses and stables next to the cottages where the Parks lived.

Jungkook followed the central path and as he approached the hedge, he heard a squeal of laughter coming from beyond it. He allowed himself a secret smile at the happy sound and felt a pang of regret that he was about to ruin their day.

They were sitting in the little thin margin of grass that surrounded the tennis court, making daisy chains. 

Taehyung looked up and smiled as he approached.

“Good morning detective.” He held up a string of flowers,

“The gardener leaves the daisies behind here for us. The rest of the garden is so immaculate, you can’t find a blade of grass out of place.”

He tied off the last stem into a loop and gently laid the garland around his daughter's neck. She clapped happily and immediately held up a pudgy fistful of weeds.

“Nuvver one Papa!” She grinned up at him, her pretty smile, the copy of her pretty father’s. (Jungkook chastised his brain for this unhelpful comment. This was really not the time.)

“How do you ask nicely?” Taehyung asked her affectionately.

“Peeeease!” She sang and dropped the grass and flowers into his lap. He laughed at the mess and leaned down to give her a peck on the head.

“I can never say no to you can I?” He picked up a flower and expertly slit the stem with his thumbnail.

“Have you come with any news Detective?”

Jungkook glanced at the little girl who was happily pulling grass out by the roots and throwing it into the air.

“I need to go over your statement again Mr Kim.”

“Why?”  Taehyung laid the daisy chain down, but remained calm so that his daughter’s play wasn’t disturbed. He was a really gentle father

“We found a knife in your room that could be the murder weapon.”

Taehyung froze. Still ever so aware of the child, but no longer able to multitask, his fingers crushed the delicate stem he was holding.

“What?!” he whispered, “A knife? I don’t have a knife. I don’t keep anything dangerous in the room because of Daisy. It can’t be mine.”

Jungkook crouched and tickled a dandelion on the little girl’s hand. She giggled and grabbed at it. 

“Shall we go inside Mr Kim? You can take a look at it and tell me what you know.”

Daisy toddled ahead, chasing a butterfly across the lawn. Jungkook walked alongside Taehyung, who was nervously picking at his sleeves, the flowers long forgotten in the long grass behind them.

They’d set up the incident room in one of the estate’s out-buildings. It was occasionally used for business meetings, so had all the furniture and equipment they needed, while staying well out of the view of reporters who had started to camp at the end of the driveway shortly after dawn.

After handing Daisy over to Mrs Park, Taehyung followed Jungkook into the barn, looking around at the people gathered inside. Jungkook showed him into a sectioned off area where they could sit and talk privately.

“This is my sergeant Detective Choi.” Jungkook motioned to Soobin who let himself into the little anteroom and shut the door behind him.

“This morning, our officers found this knife during their search of your rooms.”

Jungkook pulled forward the evidence bag with the knife inside it. Taehyung’s eyes widened in horror as he looked at it.

“That’s not mine.” he gasped.

“Do you recognise it?”

“Yes.”  Taehyung dragged a tired hand over his face, the despair clear in his expression. “It’s a letter opener. It was my father’s. I gave it to him for his 50th birthday. Mrs Park helped me order it because I was too young to buy it myself.” 

A single tear dripped down his cheek and fell to the table.

“I didn’t know he still had it.” He reached a finger to touch it, but drew back hesitantly.

“They used this?” he whispered. 

Jungkook had a hard time staying impartial as he watched the grief play out on the youngest Kim’s face. 

“Do you have any idea why it was in your room?”

Taehyung shook his head. He couldn’t take his eyes off the evidence bag.

“I haven’t seen it in years.”

“It was in the drawer of your desk, hidden under some notebooks.”

“Detective, I only came back from university a week ago. I haven’t touched that desk since I left for college six years ago.”

“You had your daughter living with you there?” Jungkook was curious. He wasn’t sure what it had to do with the case and by the look on Taehyung’s face, neither did he, but as the detective, Jungkook reserved the right to ask any questions he liked.  

“Yes. I have an apartment in the city near the university. I was able to study a lot at home and use the University childcare facilities when I needed to attend in person.”

“That must have been a lot of hard work. Is her mother part of her life?”

Taehyung clenched his jaw briefly, not unnoticed by the detective.

“No, she is not.”

“Is there some bad feeling between you?”

“What on earth does she have to do with my father’s murder?” Taehyung snapped. 

“You have denied seeing this paper knife for several years or having used the desk that it was found in. If what you say is true, the perpetrator deliberately left the murder weapon in your room, likely to implicate you in the murder.”

“It’s my job to find out who would want to kill your father and have you blamed for it.”

The reality of what the detective was saying made Taehyung go cold. His chest clenched with the deep ache of sorrow and fear.

“Jimin lived with me in the city while we were both studying for our Bachelor’s degrees. He returned here after graduating because my father offered him the position of estate manager. 

“When I started my Master’s, I was on my own a lot and had a one night stand with a woman I brought home from a student party. She was gone in the morning and I didn’t think I’d see her again until she turned up at my door months later with a pregnant belly and a letter from her parents' lawyers.”

“They were demanding I marry their daughter or get money as compensation for ruining her reputation and prospects.”

Jungkook recalled his thoughts the day before that he was tangled up in some kind of 1800’s scandal.

“Her prospects?” he asked in disbelief.

“Daisy’s mother is from a family who used to have some money and influence. It seems that she knew exactly who I was when she saw me at that party. I have no memory of the night beyond arriving. My father suspected she spiked my drink so she could orchestrate the pregnancy but of course by the time it came to it there was no way to prove that.”

Jungkook clenched his fist under the table, hearing about sexual assault never got easier, no matter how many times he’d had to deal with it.

“They were hoping she would marry back into wealth to restore the family coffers. I took the letter to my father and his lawyers tore the threat to pieces. He almost tore me to pieces as well.” Taehyung gave a sad half smile. “He looked so disappointed in me.”

“Surely he didn’t blame you? What happened?” Jungkook tried hard to quell the anger in his voice. 

“My father insisted on an Amniotic DNA test. It confirmed that the baby was mine. My father absolutely refused to let me marry her, which I was really appreciative of. There was no question of a termination because they deliberately left it too long to reveal the pregnancy, so then they said unless we paid them, they would go to the press and ruin our family reputation.”

Taehyung’s eyes filled up with tears and he scrubbed at his face. 

“Father said that he wasn’t going to let his first grandchild be raised by classless swindlers, so he called his lawyers and made them sign an airtight NDA in return for a huge amount of money.  Father paid for her to stay in a private hospital until the birth and once Daisy was born, she signed over all parental rights and left the baby with me. We haven’t seen or heard from them since.”

“How much money did your father pay them? Do you think they came back for more?”

“1 billion won.”

Jungkook whistled. 

“That’s a lot of money.”

“I would pay ten times as much for Daisy.” Taehyung said, a tear finally escaping his eye and dripping onto the table.

“Father would have as well. He loved her a lot.”

Jungkook slid a box of tissues over the table and made a note in his pad.

“Are there any other ex lovers with a grudge or current partners in the picture?”

“No, Detective, I had no steady boyfriends or girlfriends throughout university and I certainly didn't have the time or energy for hookups after the baby was born.”

Jungkook subconsciously stored that nugget of information.1

“Tell me about your siblings.”

Taehyung blew his nose noisily and wiped his eyes.

“What do you want to know?”

“Are you all close? Is your family a happy one?”

Taehyung snorted derisively.

“I would be lying if I said we were all best friends. My oldest sisters never showed me much affection, they resented my parents getting married so soon after their mother died.

“Seokjin seems indifferent mostly, although he never went out of his way to be unkind. Out of all of them, I have the most normal sibling relationship with Namjoon and Ariel. They are two years older than Jimin and me, so we would travel to our elementary school together, but not play together much. They had each other and I had Jimin. They left for boarding school when I was 7.”

“And as adults? Are none of them married or in relationships?” Jungkook asked. 

“None of them are married. I have no idea if they have lovers. They all work for different branches of the company. I’ve been in full time education up until two weeks ago, so aside from compulsory family dinners, we don’t see each other very often as a whole. I would say that the twins are the closest of us and actually friends. They sent Daisy gifts for each birthday, which was kind. Once they visited mine and Jimin’s apartment when we were still living together and I think Namjoon gave me a potted plant.”

He smiled at the memory.

“They are almost always together, but out of all of my siblings, I probably have seen them most.”

“Jihye follows Mari around like her lapdog and Mari allows it. I rarely see Seokjin, he has his own friends and keeps to himself.”

“But you all live in the family house?”

“No. Not full time. They all have their own places in the city.”

“Then why were you all here yesterday?”

“It's the anniversary of their mother’s death tomorrow. We are all expected to gather and attend a memorial together.”

Jungkook wrote it all down, underlining things and writing question marks in the margins next to sentences. Taehyung watched him wearily. 

“Ok, that’s all for now Mr Kim. You can go back to your daughter. You know the drill, don’t leave the premises without letting an officer know where you are going.”

Jungkook stood up and waited until Taehyung had left the room before turning to Soobin, who was hovering.

“What do you think, boss?”

“I don’t know. My gut instinct still says that out of all the children, he's the one who shows the most genuine grief at his father passing.” 

Jungkook flicked through his notes.

“They all say they were alone in their rooms at the time of the murder, until they left for work, except for Seokjin who was in an aeroplane on the way from London. 

“Ariel, Namjoon and Taehyung all spoke to the servant who brought their morning trays as corroborated by Hana and Mrs Park respectively who say that all three were fast asleep when they came in to wake them.

“Mari went for a run, unseen and was in the shower when the tray was brought. 

“Jihye says that she heard the tray being left, but that she was in her closet.

“None of them have an alibi for the earliest time the murder could have occurred, because they all claim they were in their rooms asleep, apart from Mari who was running round the estate”

Jungkook closed his notebook and put it back in his pocket.

“Why did none of the servants discover the body earlier? Did you ask them?”

Soobin nodded and flicked through his notes.

“Mr Park and Hana both confirmed that they had already cleaned the master bedroom and bathroom the day before the murder. As it is a big house and only the Parks and Hana live on site, a cleaner comes in on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to do the heavy cleaning, like vacuuming and bathrooms while Mrs Park and Hana do all the laundry. 

They would only have gone into the bedrooms to deliver and collect the morning trays. Hana said that when she went to collect the trays at 9am, both the chairman’s and the eldest two Miss Kims’ trays were all on the hall tables outside their doors, so she didn’t go into their rooms.”

“Was that usual?” Jungkook looked up.

“Apparently so. She said the younger Kims were more likely to leave the trays inside where they were left, but the Chairman and the two older daughters have been in the habit of leaving them outside when they leave for work. She assumes it is for privacy as the Chairman was always adamant that his room was out of bounds unless you were invited or had a sanctioned reason to be there.”

“Hmm.” Jungkook made a note to check that with Mari and Jihye later.

“What about the chairman’s car? Why did no one notice it hadn’t left the garage?”

“There are two enclosed garage spaces. The Chairman’s car is one of four that he keeps in one and the children park theirs in the other when they visit. Park Jimin said that he had been busy driving Mr Kim Taehyung and his daughter all day, so hadn’t had occasion to go into the Chairman’s garage at all.”

Jungkook sighed. It seemed like the perpetrator had picked the perfect day and circumstance to get away with murder.

“Soobin, can you show me Taehyung and Daisy’s room and where you found the knife?”

Jungkook needed to retrace the killer’s steps. 

As they walked, Jungkook narrated his thoughts and Soobin recorded them.

“Chairman Kim’s estimated time of death was between 6 and 9am. Mr Park says that he took in coffee at 6am and the chairman was alive and well,  sitting up in bed waiting for his drink. They exchanged a few words and then he left, no later than 5 minutes past six.  

He helped Hana deliver the other trays at 6.30am. 

Mr Park could hear Mari’s shower going when he delivered her tray. 

No one remembers seeing Mari leave or return from her run.

Hana did not see, but heard Jihye in her walk-in closet, when she left her tray.

Hana confirmed waking up both twins when she entered their respective rooms and opened their curtains.

Mrs Park confirms she woke up Taehyung and Daisy at 7.30am. 

We know that everyone in the house had either left for work or was in the kitchen by 8am, after which time, the ones remaining at the house can all corroborate each other’s alibis.

So the murder must have happened at some time between 6am when he was last seen alive and 8 am.”

They reached Taehyung’s bedroom and Soobin showed the detective where the letter knife had been found. 

Wearing gloves, Jungkook sifted through the items that had been in the drawers. There were various items of stationary including a student diary from 2015 and a scientific calculator with worn out batteries.

“Have these all been dusted for prints?” Jungkook checked. Soobin affirmed they had.

“There were a couple of partial prints on the edges of the calculator, but otherwise it was clean.”

“Isn’t that unusual? I would expect it to have at least some old prints from when Taehyung last used this desk.” He tapped the diary. “I understand them polishing the furniture, but polishing the contents of the drawers?”

Soobin shrugged. Jungkook pulled open the drawer at the other side of the desk and pointed to the contents.

“Get this all dusted for prints as well and let me know if you get any matches on any of them.”

“Yes sir.”

Soobin left to go and chase up forensics. Jungkook took a minute to look around the room.

The door opened on the left hand side of the room with the desk against the wall. It was just far ahead enough to open the door fully, without hitting the table.

The door to the ensuite bathroom was to the right of the desk, the bathroom itself being behind the wall to the left. 

There was a large window with a deep sill for sitting in the middle of the wall opposite the door. There was a small bookcase forming a divide and a child’s bed in the far right corner. 

Taehyung’s bed was against the inner wall, to the right of the entrance. 

Jungkook went out of the room and back in again.

The door handle was on the left, the door opened inwards and when fully opened, formed a barrier between the large bed and the corner where you would stand as you came into the room.

Mrs Park said that she had brought the tray inside the room, opened the curtains and woke up the two youngest Kims. 

Something occurred to him and he turned on his heels and ran back down to the kitchen.

“Mrs Park, thank you for giving your statement to my officer yesterday.” Jungkook said politely to the housekeeper, who was busy stirring a huge pot of something bubbling on the stove.

“Can I ask why it’s you that wakes up Mr Kim and Daisy each morning?”

Mrs Park gave an affectionate chuckle.

“That boy is a sleep monster. I’ve been waking him up since he was little. Daisy takes after him. Sometimes it takes me a good 10 minutes to get them to even notice I’m there.”

“So do you think someone could walk into his room while he and Daisy were asleep and they wouldn’t notice?”

“A bomb could go off in the hallway and they would sleep through it.” Mrs Park turned to him and pointed her wooden spoon at him.

“Is that what happened? Did the murderer go into my baby’s room?”

“I’m afraid I can’t give details, Mrs Park. But rest assured that I am fully committed to keeping you all safe while we hunt for the killer.”

Jungkook found Taehyung and Daisy in the back garden again, this time playing with a bouncy ball.

“Mr Kim, can you tell me where you think your father would have usually kept the paper knife?”

Taehyung looked up at him wearily.  It was not even lunchtime and he was still reeling from finding his daughter covered in blood over his father’s murdered body and being told that it had been done with the gift that he had given him.

The detective’s face was kind. Daisy ran up to him happily and offered him her ball with her grin that was the image of her daddy’s. Jungkook crouched down and took it from her, saying thank you very nicely and making her giggle.

Taehyung was grateful to anyone who showed his baby kindness, goodness knows she didn’t find much here with her blood relatives.  The only person in his family who he had truly trusted was his father, and now he was dead. Suddenly the overwhelming grief swept over him like a wave, the tears coming before he could stop it. He curled over on himself and wept. 

He became aware of hands patting him on the head and rubbing his back. 

Daisy had dropped her ball in alarm when her daddy had made the first noise. She raced back to his side and wrapped her tiny arms around his prone form.

“Daddy? Daddy? Don’t be sad. Don’t be sad.” She repeated the same croon he used with her when she cried and tried to rock him.

The nice man came over and kneeled next to them. She looked at him worried.

“Daddy’s sad. I dunnos why.” Daisy’s huge eyes filled with tears and her little chin started to wobble.

The nice man rubbed daddy on the back and she thought that was a good idea, so she patted daddy on the head. 

Eventually after what felt like a very long time to the 3 yr old, Taehyung raised his head and opened his arms to pull her into a cuddle.

He kept telling her he was sorry, but she didn’t know why. 

“Daddy’s a good boy. Not naughty.” she said and he gave her a squeeze.

The kind man was sitting next to them on the grass. He was holding a tissue and Daisy reached over to take it and pat her daddy on the face with it.

“Daddy, clean your face. No more tears today.” 

Jungkook let the pair of them take their time. He felt that Taehyung’s grief was truly genuine and couldn’t help but hope that he wasn’t guilty.

It was about 10 minutes later that the three of them walked back into the house and to the Chairman’s study.

It was the first room on the right when you came inside the front door.  Taehyung led him inside and pointed to the desk that sat in the middle of the room, facing the window.

“He liked to see who was coming up to the house.” Taehyung said. “If he wasn’t in his office in the city, he would work here. Mr Park leaves any mail that arrives during the day, in here on the desk.  My father came here after dinner, most evenings.  I imagine this is the most logical place to keep his letter opener.”

Jungkook put on a pair of gloves and looked at the desk. On the top was a blotter, some pens and a spilled pile of opened letters. They were all from different parts of Kim Holdings. A quick skim over didn’t show anything suspicious.  He opened the top drawers and pulled out some more papers, a desk diary and a long slim box.

Taehyung gasped.

“That’s the box!” Jungkook looked at him in question.

“I’m sure that's the box that the paper knife came in. If you open it, there should be a blue velvet cushion and the indentation of it.”

Jungkook opened the box and sure enough, it was lined with deep blue velvet that had a place where a small knife could lay.

“Did your father usually leave letters out on the desk like this?” he asked the man who was looking sadly at the gift box. Taehyung frowned at the question and cast his eyes over the scattered letters and pens.

“No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it untidy. I mean, if he was at the desk, then he would have his things out, but …” He trailed off.

“What is it?”

“I just realised that this is the first time I’ve ever been in here without his permission. Without him here.” He trailed a single finger over the edge of the desk and looked like he might be about to cry again.  Jungkook didn’t want that to happen and tried to come up with something to distract him. He didn’t have to think too hard, because there was a thump from under the desk and a little yelp that distracted Taehyung completely.

“Daisy?!” he exclaimed and ducked down to look beneath the massive mahogany desk.

The little girl was sitting on her bum, pouting and rubbing her head.

“I bumped my head daddy.” she whined. Sadness forgotten, he leaned in and pulled her out of the cramped space. In doing so, her feet knocked over the waste paper basket.

Jungkook reached down to pick it up and stopped when he saw it was full of discarded papers and envelopes.

He emptied the contents onto the blotter and sifted through, trying to match each letter to an envelope.  The easiest was a handwritten letter and matching envelope. It was a letter of apology for not being able to attend the memorial service, from one of the senior directors in the company. 

Jungkook managed to account for every letter with an envelope, leaving one without any content. It was a manilla A4 envelope, the kind that documents were sent in. There was a franking mark instead of a stamp and the date was marked two days before. He peered at it, trying to make out the words.

“Have you heard of Choi Associates?” he asked. Taehyung nodded.

“Yes, they are a legal firm in the city. They aren’t my father’s regular lawyers but he has used them a few times for non company things. They dealt with my allowance while I was at university and arranged the apartment for me and Jimin.”

Jungkook held up the envelope.

“Looks like we have a missing letter. Do you have any idea what was in this envelope?” Taehyung shook his head. 

“No idea. I told you, I haven’t ever been in this study without my father. The last time was the day we came back from the city.”

“What day was that?”

“A week ago, we arrived on Thursday evening and I was asked to see him here as soon as I walked in.”

“What did you talk about?”

“We didn’t speak for long. He said he was looking forward to spending some time with Daisy over the summer and that we had to book a time to talk about my role in the business. Then his phone rang and I was dismissed.”

A bell rang in the distance and Daisy perked up in her father’s arms.

“Lunchtime!” she announced with a clap. Taehyung nodded and asked the detective if they could go.  Jungkook nodded, 

“Thank you for your help this morning. If you find out what this letter might have been, please let me know. Oh, and please don’t mention this or the paper knife to anyone.”

Taehyung said he wouldn’t and left the room with his daughter. Jungkook sat down at the desk and stared at the envelope in his hand. This was important, he could feel it in his gut.

His stomach rumbled loudly. Time to feed his gut.

He found Soobin and together they drove back to the city, picking up lunch before visiting Hobi for the results of the post mortem.

As the pathologist had surmised the day before, the Chairman had died from excessive blood loss due to the stab wound to the neck.

Forensics had matched the paper knife to the wound as well as traces of blood left on the blade. 

“Fingerprints?” Jungkook asked. Hoseok opened a tab on his screen and pointed.

“This is where it’s a little unusual. There was one full clear set of prints.”

“That’s good isn’t it?” Soobin asked. 

“The knife had been washed clean, not just wiped. The traces of blood have soap in them. Then on top of that, a full handprint.”

“So either the killer took the trouble to clean up after themselves and then stupidly carried it with their bare hand, or they are framing someone.”

“Have you got a match for the prints?”

“The right hand of Kim Taehyung.”

One of the things that Jungkook had taught Soobin was how to make a great murder board. He sat at the table now as he watched the younger detective write up on the whiteboard and stick pictures of each of the Kim family.

“The most obvious theory is that one of the other children is framing Taehyung. Why him specifically?”

“Because he’s only a half brother?” Jungkook suggested, “And Taehyung suggested that his father was very fond of Daisy, so perhaps they saw their share of an inheritance becoming diluted even further by not only a half sibling, but a grandchild as well.”

“The prints on the items in the desk drawers are a mixture of Taehyung’s and Park Jimin’s.”

“Which items?”

“The calculator from the left hand drawer had Taehyung’s partial prints on the edges. The right hand drawer contained a couple of old exercise books, a mathematics study guide and several pens and pencils. Everything in that drawer had a clear layer of dust over the prints. There was no evidence that anything had been disturbed for months, maybe years.”

“So Taehyung’s statement could well be true.” Jungkook looked down at his notes and then up at the whiteboard, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

“I wonder what side of the bed he sleeps on.”

Soobin had unfortunately taken a sip from his water bottle at that moment and choked at the words of his boss.

“I’m sorry sir, what?”

“Mrs Park says that Taehyung has always been a heavy sleeper and it takes her several minutes every morning to wake him. I checked out the layout of their bedroom. I think it was entirely possible for the perp to open the door and access the desk drawer without disturbing Taehyung or Daisy. But what if they actually came further into the room and pressed the knife into Taehyung’s hand while he slept?”

“I’m not sure why you need to know which side of the bed he sleeps on?”

Jungkook met Soobin’s eyes and tutted at the laughter he found in them.

“I need to know how easy it would be to access his hand while he’s asleep, obviously.”

“Obviously.”

Jungkook pulled out his phone and quickly dialled the Kim residence. Mr Park the butler answered.

“How may I help Detective Inspector Jeon?”

“Can I speak to your wife briefly please? I just have a further question.”

“Of course Sir. If you would be so good as to hold.”

Jungkook waited a moment as the call was transferred to the kitchen.

“Detective Inspector?” Came the gentle voice of the housekeeper.

“Hello Mrs Park. I have a further question that may sound strange, but please try to answer.”

“I will try my best.” she replied, wondering what on earth it was she was about to be asked.

“Can you tell me what position Taehyung was in on his bed when you went to wake him on the morning of the Chairman’s death?”

Mrs Park gave a surprised laugh.

“That is not what I was expecting you to ask me!” she chuckled.

“Oh? What did you think?” Jungkook asked, curious.

“Something about his character I guess, but let me think… hmmm…  I walked in and put the tray down on the window seat because there was no room on the desk. Then I turned and he was fast asleep on his right side, hugging his old panda toy. Daisy was in the bed with him, she must have got in, in the night.”

“Where was she lying?”

Mrs Park gave another chuckle,

“Starfished on her back, head almost hanging over the left hand edge and  her feet laying on Taehyung’s knees”

Jungkook tried to sketch out the positions on a notepad as Mrs Park spoke. He looked at it and tried to think how the killer could have got Taehyung’s hand print.

“Can you remember the placement of Taehyung’s hands?” he asked.

She thought for a moment.

“His left arm was draped over the toy, his right arm was out straight and the hand was hanging over the edge of the bed.”

Jungkook made a note on his drawing with a smile.

“Thank you Mrs Park, you’ve been most helpful.”

When Mrs Park put the phone down, she turned to see Taehyung staring worriedly at her from where he was seated at the kitchen table. She rushed over and patted him on the shoulder gently.

“Don’t worry little bear, that detective is a sharp man. He seems careful. I think you should trust him.”

Taehyung nodded. 

“I do trust him. It’s my family I can’t trust.”

Jungkook was now convinced that Taehyung was being framed. He outlined his theory to Soobin and the other detectives who agreed that it was a good theory.

Soobin had instructions to go to Choi Associates and find out what had been in that envelope.

Jungkook was going to visit the elder Kims at their offices. Try and catch them off guard.

He arrived at the entertainment company, headed by the eldest Kim son, Seokjin. The receptionist asked him to wait as they called up and soon he was being escorted in an elevator to the 50th floor that could only be accessed with a pass.

“Detective.” Kim Seokjin drawled lazily from his desk as Jungkook entered the palatial office. It had glass walls on two sides and you could see the whole south side of the city, beyond the river and to the mountains in the distance.

Jungkook pulled his eyes away from the view and focused on the ridiculously handsome man who was making sitting correctly at a desk look like a photo shoot for Vogue. He briefly marvelled at how incredibly beautiful all of the Kim children were. It must have been their mothers, because while undeniably handsome, Chairman Kim hadn’t been a face you did a double take at, whereas all of his children were stunners. 

“Thank you for agreeing to see me Mr Kim.” Jungkook was aware of the employee behind him slipping out and closing the door with a barely audible click.

“I wonder if I could go over your statement again and ask a few more questions.”

“I am at your disposal Detective.” Seokjin raised an eyebrow and indicated a chair for Jungkook to sit in. Jungkook sat in it. There was no reason not to. He was about to launch into his first question when Seokjin pressed a button on the desk phone and asked for refreshments to be brought through. The anonymous voice barely had a chance to respond before Seokjin had ended the communication. Jungkook saw in him the confidence of a man who had never been crossed in his life. 

Far be it from Jungkook to say no, he gratefully accepted a cup of coffee and a tiny chocolate brownie from the plate of sweets that was offered.

“What parts of my statement did you want to review Detective?” Seokjin asked when they had both taken a sip and a bite.

“Your alibi is the most rock solid of all your family. I haven’t ruled you out as a co-conspirator, but there is no way you could have stabbed your father while 33000 feet in the air.”

Seokjin nodded his acknowledgment of the summary,

“What makes you think there was a conspiracy?”

“The evidence suggests that although the crime may have been on the spur of the moment, the reasons may apply to more than one of your siblings.”

This piqued Seokjin’s interest and he sat forward.

“What do you mean?”

“I came here to ask the questions today Mr Kim.” Jungkook said firmly but with a smile. He opened his notebook and tapped on a line with his pencil.

“I’d like you to tell me what you know about your father’s will and the distribution of assets on his death.”

Seokjin regarded him silently for a few moments and then must have decided that resistance was futile when Jungkook held his gaze without blinking.

“As far as I am aware, each child gets an equal division of shares in Kim Corp. My oldest sister gets the estate, but my father stipulated that all of his children could use the house as their home. None of us can sell it without the agreement of all five children.

“That’s the will he made after his divorce from Taehyung’s mother. I haven’t been told of anything more recent.”

“You think there was a more recent will made?”

“I suspect that he made amendments after Daisy was born. I remember there being several communications between him and the firm of solicitors that dealt with family law rather than the business.”

“How did you come to see these communications?”

“It was three years ago. My father had just brought Taehyung and the baby home from the hospital and I happened to be home for the weekend. I wanted something to eat and found Mrs Park holding her in the kitchen while Taehyung and father were in the study. Mrs Park told me that it was a meeting with lawyers about the baby. Daisy happened to take a liking to me and it ended up that I carried her back to meet them as the lawyers were leaving. I recognised them as the Chois and made it a point to ask Mr Park to tell me if any letters came from them in the coming days.”

“And he complied?”

“He’s our servant, Of course he complied.” Seokjin snapped. It was Jungkook’s turn to raise an eyebrow. Seokjin realised what he had said and had the decency to look ashamed.

“Mr Park is an excellent butler and runs our household like a well oiled machine. He is incredibly loyal to my father and wouldn’t have divulged anything that was confidential. He just told me when father received letters from Choi associates, not what was in them.”

“So you have no idea if a whole new will was made, or just an amendment for the child?”

“No.”

“OK. Thank you. Please can you tell me how you and your siblings from your father’s first wife feel about your younger half brother?”

Seokjin gave a surprised laugh. 

“You are pulling no punches today I see.  It’s probably no surprise that my older sisters resented Taehyung’s mother and weren’t too happy when he was born. Mari was really angry with my father when he got married again. She was only 7 but she made such a fuss that he ended up making us all stay at home with a nanny and got married abroad without us. He brought his new wife home a month later, already pregnant.

“I was only four so I don’t actually remember this firsthand, but I have heard it recited by Mari and her lapdog so many times, I feel like I was there.”

He took a sip of coffee.

“We were all sent to boarding schools after Father and his new wife came back. Only the twins stayed home with their nanny and Mrs Park, so I can’t say I had a relationship with either my step mother or my new baby brother. In fact, I made closer friends in school than I ever had with my own siblings. 

“I don’t resent Taehyung, Detective. I don’t view him any differently than I do Namjoon or Ariel. I was too young to remember my mother because she died when I was 2. When the Twins and then Taehyung were born, they were all as small and uninteresting to me as each other. I was raised by nursery maids and school staff.”

“Have your older sisters ever demonstrated their resentment in more than words?”

“Mari makes no secret of her feelings about Taehyung. She was overjoyed when she learned about his indiscretion. I think she hoped that he would finally fall out of favour with father. But when our father acknowledged Daisy as his grandchild and actually paid Taehyung’s way out of the mess, Mari was livid. So of course was Jihye. She’s never had a single original thought in her life.”

“Do you think Mari would go so far as to frame Taehyung for your father’s murder?” Jungkook asked. Seokjin looked at him for several seconds.

“Honestly Detective? I couldn’t rule it out.”

“And the twins? Do they harbour similar feelings of resentment to your half-brother?”

“Not that I’m aware of. But then, I’m barely aware of anything they do. They have been a closed unit since they were born. They have each other and they don’t need anyone else.”

Jungkook made a note of this comment. It didn’t exclude the twins from suspicion, if anything, it meant they could be hiding more than anyone else suspected.

“Finally, for today, do you know what your father’s plans were for Taehyung in the family business?”

“We were due to meet on Monday morning to discuss it. My father wished for Taehyung to head a new subsidiary of the entertainment company. We have just acquired a number of theatres and Father thought that Taehyung would excel in the oversight of live productions.”

“How did you feel about that?”

“I think it’s a great opportunity for him and an area of the business that I didn’t want to take on personally. Having him on board will be beneficial to me. He aced both his degree and masters. There's both a keen business brain and talented performer behind that pretty face you know.”

Seokjin smirked at Jungkook, who tried to look as if he had no idea what the other man was implying. Seokjin had seen the detective do a double take when he first saw his little brother, and fully intended to use it to his advantage.

“Thank you for your candour Mr Kim. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Don’t be a stranger Detective, I’m sure Taehyung would be happy to see you once he starts here full time next month. He could give you a tour of the facilities.”

“I’m very hopeful that we will have wrapped up the case long before then Mr Kim.”

“Even better. You can visit in a friendlier capacity than you are now. Goodness knows my little brother could do with some good friends around him.”

“Are you not his friend?”

“As far as I can while being a member of this family,” Seokjin looked almost regretful, “I certainly want to be a better brother.”

Jungkook smiled as he took his leave. 

“I think he would appreciate that Mr Kim.”

Tracking down the twins was a little more tricky. Neither of them were at their office. They headed up the construction and real estate arm of the Kim empire, and had adjoining offices in the top floor of a building that their father had built. 

Jungkook was greeted by their private secretary, Miss Lim. She was an immaculately dressed woman in her 50s, tiny but undeniably in control of her domain. 

She told Jungkook that the twins had left together for a business lunch some 3 hours ago and she hadn’t heard from them since. Jungkook questioned her about their movements on the day of the murder and she confirmed that both Namjoon and Ariel had arrived at their usual time of 8.30 am and were in meetings about a new construction project all day.

She showed him their offices, which were divided by a partition wall that could fold back, making one huge room. Miss Lim said that most of the time the twins left it open.

“They seem to be an extremely tight unit. Do they have friends or partners aside from each other?”

Miss Lim pursed her lips at the question. 

“Their relationship is undeniably close, Detective, but there is nothing improper. They have business contacts who they dine with regularly, but no, I would say that their best friend is each other. Suitors have come and gone, but none have measured up so far.”

“You sound like you know them well, beyond what a secretary would normally be party to.”

“I have been working for them since they graduated five years ago.  Chairman Kim hired me to guide them through the beginning of their leadership of this branch of the business. Before that I worked in the legal team who cared for their family matters. Especially after the death of the first Mrs Kim, as I was tasked with finding suitable nannies for all of the children. 

“I dare say I became very fond of the twins as I have been involved in their lives since they were born. I think that’s why Chairman Kim knew I would look after them here.”

Jungkook was suddenly glad that the twins had gone awol after lunch. He didn’t think he would have got this kind of information otherwise.

“What can you tell me about the second Mrs Kim? Is she also deceased?”

Ms Lim pursed her lips again.

“Not that I am aware of. She upped and left when the youngest master Kim was just a toddler. I can’t say I was surprised.”

“Why not?”

“She was nothing but a gold digger from the beginning. She barely paid any attention to the baby once he was born and made a huge fuss that the other children had nannies but that she was expected to care for her baby by herself.”

Jungkook flinched internally. The urge to find Taehyung and hug him rose and he had to squash it again.

“No matter that the reason they had nannies was because their mother was dead and their father remarried when she was barely cold in her grave.”

She paused to take a calming breath, maybe realising that she had told the detective more than she should.

He smiled sympathetically.

“I can see that you care for the children greatly. They were lucky that they had people like you and Mrs Park in their lives.”

She relaxed a little.

“We tried our best. As you say, Mrs Park basically raised Master Taehyung herself, alongside her own little boy. It was a comfort to know that he wasn’t alone.”

“Was the Chairman an affectionate father?”

“Not at first. He was proud of having a large family and they never wanted for anything materially. But from my observations, they were all much closer to their nursery maids than him. After his second wife left, he made some attempt to see the children regularly at family meals at least once a week with the little ones and then in the school holidays when they were all at boarding school.”

“Was it a surprise when he acknowledged Taehyung’s daughter and provided for her?”

“Yes and no. I don’t think he would have ever disowned the young master, or any of the children, but I expected the mother to be paid off. I didn’t expect him to bring the child home and dote on her. That was a side of him none of us had seen before.”

“Can you think of any reason why someone would want to kill the Chairman and harm the family?”

“That is two questions, Detective.” She sat back in her chair and took a sip of her water. 

“The Chairman was a powerful business man. He didn’t take bribes or deal with substandard contractors. He definitely had enemies in most areas of his business.

“But the family? I can’t think why anyone would want to harm the twins or Master Seokjin. Miss Mari and Miss Jihye, however, both deal in multi billion dollar turnovers, I don’t doubt they have bitter rivals. 

“Master Seokjin is well loved in the entertainment industry and has a keen eye for talent. If anything, people are trying to get in his favour, not the opposite.

The twins are careful with the construction deals they make. Master Namjoon is very environmentally conscious and all of their recent projects are carbon neutral and ethical. Miss Ariel is an engineer and Master Namjoon studied Environmental science and Ecology. They both wanted to transform this arm of Kim industries for good.”

“In stark contrast to Oil and Tobacco?”

“Exactly. They are very well aware of the murky origins of their family wealth.”

“What about Taehyung? Can you think why anyone would want to harm him or Daisy?”

Ms Lim did not miss the informal way he mentioned their names.

“Master Taehyung has just finished his education. There is no reason for any business rivalry.”

“Not even from within his family?”

“I can see that you have already discovered some of the family’s dirty laundry Detective. Why don’t you just ask me exactly what you want to know?”

Jungkook smiled at her appreciatively. He didn’t think she was as fond of Taehyung as she was the twins, but he didn’t detect any resentment either.

“Ok Ms Lim, I’ll be straight with you. We have reason to believe that someone in the household has attempted to frame Taehyung for the murder of his father.”

“Well that does put a different light on things.” she looked out of the window for a moment in thought.

“I cannot believe that Master Namjoon or Miss Ariel would have any reason to kill their father or frame their brother. The Chairman encouraged their plans to make the business more ethical and allocated money for them to do it. Now he has died, the core business will pass to Miss Mari who has far fewer scruples. They will have to fight to carry on as they have been.

“As for Master Taehyung, they bear him no ill will that I know of.  I watched them grow up together. Of all of the children, they spent the most time with him and the Park boy. They even send gifts for the little girl occasionally. Master Namjoon discovered a carpenter who makes toys from recovered wood and I know he commissioned a beautiful elephant jigsaw for her last birthday…  No detective, I can’t believe my twins had anything to do with this.”

“What about the older siblings?”

She smiled tightly.

“Miss Mari never forgave her father for remarrying and having Master Taehyung. She was 7 or 8 at the time, and in the last three decades her resentment has turned into cold, hard cruelty. Whether or not she was involved in the murder, there is no denying that she will be overjoyed at the outcome. One thing is for certain though, if she did do it, she would never be stupid enough to get caught.”

There was the noise of approaching voices and a second later, Namjoon, Ariel and another person walked into the office. Ms Lim stood up and greeted them, quickly explaining that Jungkook was there hoping to speak to them. 

“Hello Detective. As you can see we have a business meeting right now.” Ariel began but Namjoon interrupted her.

“I’m sure that our associate won’t mind waiting for a few minutes. Detective, would you come into my office?”

“Thank you Mr Kim. Miss Kim. I appreciate your time.”

Jungkook reviewed their statements from the previous evening and added a few extra questions about their expected inheritance and how they felt about their younger brother and niece. 

Both twins smiled at the mention of the little girl and Namjoon lit up telling Jungkook about the latest toy that Ariel had designed and he had commissioned.

“It's a wooden dollhouse that she can build in any configuration. The rooms all fit together on each side so she can make a tower or a bungalow! Ariel designed the pieces. She’s a genius, Detective. Our visitor outside is the carpenter we use for bespoke commissions. He’s going to make it from wood we reclaimed from one of our old buildings.”

“That all sounds very interesting Mr Kim. I am sure that your brother will appreciate your kindness to his child.”

Namjoon frowned at that.

“She is our niece detective. We may not seem like a close family, but we are both fond of our younger brother.  His devotion to Daisy is obvious. It’s the kind of devotion that we all should’ve had from our parents.” 

Ariel agreed wholeheartedly with her twin and looked so sincere, that at that moment, Jungkook was almost certain that neither she or her twin had any part in the crime.

He asked them to let him know in case they remembered anything of significance about that day or anything that could have bearing on the case and then took his leave.

It was now almost 6pm. He was about to call Soobin and ask for an update on the family law firm, when he remembered what Ms Lim had said earlier. He jogged back to her desk and caught her just as she was packing up to leave.

“Ms Lim, you said earlier that you work in the family legal team. Was that with the Choi firm?”

“Yes it was.”

“Will they be the executors of the Chairman’s will?”

“Of course. They will probably be arranging the reading in the next few days. Not tomorrow though. We will all gather for the first Mrs Kim’s memorial tomorrow.”

“All of you? Even the employees?”

“Not every single employee of course, but all of us who have had close dealings with the family. We do it every year. Mr Choi and his sons will be in attendance, as will I and the Parks and several others.”

“Would I be able to attend the memorial tomorrow?”

“You are the police Detective, I think you may do as you wish.” She wrote down the address of the service and passed it to him.

“Now I must run to catch my train.”

Jungkook pocketed the address and decided to head home. He was going to be at that memorial bright and early and watch the two eldest Kim sisters like a hawk.

Taehyung and Daisy were sitting at the kitchen table, opposite Jimin. They were all tucking into bowls of ice cream and fruit. Taehyung had told Jimin as much as he was allowed of what had happened over the last day and his best friend was livid.

“When I find out who tried to frame you, I’m going to kill them.”

“Jimin!” His mother reprimanded from where she was working at the counter. “The house is swarming with police, don’t say stupid things that could get you arrested!”

“It’s not stupid.” he retorted, “Whoever thought they could do this to Taetae is stupid.”

Taehyung reached over and grabbed his friend’s hand, squeezing it.

“As much as I adore how protective of me you are, I don’t want you getting into trouble as well. I need to know that you can look after Daisy if anything happens to me.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.” Jimin gritted. “I won’t allow it.” 

Daisy wriggled down from her chair and trotted around the table to him, patting him on the knee.

“Diminie. Up please.” She raised her arms to be lifted onto Jimin’s lap and snuggled into his chest. Jimin had to fight the lump in his throat as he hugged her close.

It started to rain as they gathered at the venue for the memorial service the next day. Jungkook and Soobin arrived early, parked in a prime spot in the car park so they could watch guests arrive. 

Three guests dressed in black arrived first. Jungkook didn’t recognise any of them, but Soobin pointed out the youngest of them as Choi Haein, who he had met with the day before and son of the Chairman’s long serving family lawyer.

“I think the other two are his father and elder brother.” Soobin said, wiping condensation off the window. The car was steaming up as they sat, rain pelting on the windows outside. 

“He had no record of the letter sent on the day before the murder, but was going to ask his father as he often personally took care of the Chairman’s correspondence himself. Hopefully later today we will find out what it contained.”

They watched as car after car drew up outside the entrance and discharged various members of the staff and family. Taehyung arrived in a car driven by Jimin and Jungkook was surprised to see that he brought the little girl with him as well.

Jungkook thought that Taehyung looked tired and as if he were fighting back tears. He and Daisy were both dressed in black, the stark colour making their faces look unusually pale and drawn in the dull light.

Mari was last to arrive. She obviously wanted to make an entrance as she glared at the two detectives in their car and her assistant walked over, knocking on the window. 

Jungkook lowered the window. 

“Detectives. Ms Kim asks that if you wish to observe the service, you enter the building now. No one will be permitted entry after the doors are closed.”

Soobin and Jungkook looked at each other with amused glints in their eyes and then both opened their doors and jogged to the building, slipping inside and to the back of the hall before Mari entered.

She swept up the central aisle and instead of sitting in the seat that was empty next to Jihye, she stepped straight up to the lectern and addressed the room.

“Thank you all for coming here today to remember my dear mother. As you all know, we are also mourning our father who was taken from us this week. My parents worked hard to leave us a great legacy that I am honoured to carry forward according to my father’s wishes, as the new Chairperson of Kim Corp.”

There was a gasp around the room at the statement. Jungkook saw Seokjin stiffen in his seat and both twins leaned their heads together, whispering furiously. Only Jihye sat straight, beaming at her elder sister. Jungkook’s gaze passed over to where Taehyung sat, next to Ariel, with Daisy on his lap. His arms were round the child and his head was bowed. Jungkook’s eyes stayed on his profile as Mari continued her speech.

“Our mother gave her life, completing my father’s true family.  Her last wishes were that her five children grow up together in the security and wealth that she had brought to their marriage. My father betrayed that trust when he brought home another woman and her bastard child.”

Taehyung flinched and pulled Daisy closer, as if trying to protect her from the words. Seokjin shot up out of his chair and stormed over to the lectern. 

“That’s ENOUGH!” he shouted and grabbed Mari by the elbow. “This is NOT the time or place for this ridiculous display!”

Mari ripped her arm out of his grasp and her face was overtaken with a look of pure hatred.

“This is exactly the right time, little brother. Before that disgrace dilutes our family with even more of his mistakes. I’m in charge now, and my first task will be cleaning up all the messes my father left behind.”

The room erupted into chaos.  Ariel and Jimin both huddled close, shielding Taehyung in between them. Namjoon stood up, outraged, to help Seokjin drag their sister off the platform. Jungkook didn’t have any reason to step in despite wanting to throw Mari in jail for calling Taehyung a bastard. ‘ What a bitch’ he thought to himself.

In his peripheral vision he saw the elder Mr Choi stand up and move to the lectern. He tapped on the microphone three times loudly.

“May I have your attention please!” he boomed. The eldest Kim siblings continued to argue, Jihye having now stepped up to support her sister.

Jungkook watched as the lawyer pulled out a folded paper from his inside pocket and tapped the microphone again. 

“Soobin, go guard the door and don’t let anyone leave.” Jungkook said quickly. Soobin nodded and went immediately, not needing to be told twice. Jungkook moved up the aisle closer to where the Kims were standing and moved into their line of sight.

They all looked up at him in irritation but then Mrs Park walked up beside him and put her hands on her hips.

“Do I need to remind you that you're making a scene in front of your family and employees? All of you sit down and calm down.”

Mari started to argue but then Mr Choi started to talk into the microphone again.

“The will reading was supposed to be tomorrow, but as we are all gathered here and there seems to be some misunderstanding, I feel it necessary to clear up the matter of the Chairman’s legacies.”

“There is no misunderstanding!” Mari hissed. Mr Choi ignored her.

“The latest will was written and signed by Chairman Kim three weeks ago in my office. There are various bequests to members of the household, these will be settled in the coming week. The major points of the estate are as follows.

The House is to be held in trust as a permanent home for all six of his children, his granddaughter and any future offspring of Mari, Jihye, Seokjin, Namjoon, Ariel or Taehyung. The income from the estate will be managed by the Estate manager, Park Jimin, who will arrange a regular allowance and a trust fund for Daisy Kim who will have access to the capital on her 21st birthday.”

“Each of the children from Mr Kim’s two legal marriages will inherit a lump sum of 10 billion won, as well as majority shares in each of their respective branches of the corporation.

“There is to be no single Chairperson moving forward, but each of the six children plus three new directors will have equal power in the running of the corporation. No one person can make decisions without the majority vote from all the directors. These directors are Miss Lim, Mr Park and myself.”

“No!!” Mari shouted. That’s not correct! He promised it to me! He never signed this will, it’s a lie!!”

She stood up and stalked over to where Taehyung sat huddled between his sister and best friend.

“You did this.” she jabbed at his shoulder with a sharp finger. “You faked this will and then killed him so you and your dirty mistake could take my money!!”

“No! It wasn’t me!” Taehyung sobbed. 

Ariel stood up and shoved her sister backwards, away from the chairs.

“What are you talking about?”

“He killed him! He stabbed him with that stupid tacky paper knife. It was him!!”

Mari looked around wildly and caught sight of Jungkook who was hovering a few metres away.

“Arrest him! I’ve done your job for you! He’s the murderer!!”

Jungkook walked up to Taehyung and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I think you should come with me.”

The look on his face almost broke Jungkook’s heart, but he had to get him away from there. Taehyung handed Daisy over to Jimin and stood up without a fight. He held out his wrists as if expecting to be cuffed, but Jungkook shook his head. 

“There’s no need for that.” he murmured and gently herded him to the back of the room.

He made a motion to Soobin to stay where he was and then they walked out into the rain.

Jungkook wrapped his overcoat around Taehyung’s shoulders and kept his arm there until they reached the car.

Once both inside the car, Taehyung looked at the detective with a defeated look.

“You think I did it?” 

Jungkook so wanted to offer comfort but he needed to stay professional.

“No, I don’t think you did it. I know you were framed. It serves a dual purpose to allow them to think I’ve arrested you. The real culprit will think they got away with it and quite frankly, I couldn’t stand to watch that bitc.. I mean your sister, say those things to you any more.”

Taehyung gave a wet chuckle.

“She is a bitch.”

“But it’s not professional of me to say it. She’s your sister, you can say what you like.” Jungkook smiled. He leaned forward across Taehyung to open the glove box and reveal a box of tissues.

“Here,” he said kindly. “I just need to send a message to my sergeant and then we can get out of here.”

Detective Jeon

Soobin, stay there and listen to everything they say. Let them think I arrested Taehyung.

Sergeant Choi

Will do boss.

Jungkook drove them to Yoongi’s restaurant and parked.

“Where are we?” Taehyung asked. He’d been quiet for most of the journey, his mind reeling from everything he’d heard. He didn’t recognise the place they had stopped at.

“This is my best friend's place. He makes the most delicious lamb skewers in the country.”

“That’s a bold claim detective.” Taehyung said with a shy smile.

“Let me prove it to you.” Jungkook replied and jumped out of the car so he could rush round and open the passenger door.

They were shown to a booth at the back of the dining area and Taehyung watched curiously as the detective ordered his ‘usual’ from the young waiter.

“You seem to be well known by the staff,” he mused. Jungkook grinned at him.

“I basically lived here all through university and then at the Police academy. Yoongi kept me alive.”

“He’d be a shrivelled mess without me,” a deep voice drawled. Taehyung looked up to see a man with cat eyes and a wry smile standing next to the table.

“I’m Yoongi.” he held out his hand to shake, “One of Jungkook’s two friends.”

“Hey!” Jungkook pouted, offended. “I have more than two friends.”

“Let me rephrase that.” Yoongi grinned, “You are the only person he has ever brought here, that wasn’t me or my partner. And we live upstairs.”

Taehyung turned back to see a blush rise on the detective’s cheeks. He chuckled, a deep honey sound that reverberated through Jungkook’s chest. Yoongi, being the observant older friend, just winked at him and then shook Taehyung’s hand warmly.

“I’ll leave you to it. It was good to meet you Taehyung. I hope to see you again.”

Jungkook put his face into his hands, breathed in and out, and then looked up again.  Taehyung was watching him with a fond look, something similar to how he’d been watching Daisy, Jungkook thought. 

“I am so sorry about that. Please ignore everything Yoongi says.”

“So eat his food, but don’t talk to him?” he teased. Jungkook laughed out loud and nodded.

“Yes, precisely.” 

Their food arrived and after piling their plates with all the recommended things, they started to talk about what had happened.

“Thank you for getting me out of there.” Taehyung said quietly. “I guess I didn’t know just how much Mari hated me.  Do you think she did it?”

“I think if she didn’t do it herself, then she knows who did. We hadn’t released the information about the paper knife, so unless you told someone, she could only have known about it from the killer.”

“I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Jimin. I mean, I told him someone was trying to frame me, but you said not to mention the paper knife, so I didn’t.”

“Good. Then we are on the right track.” Jungkook took a hefty bite of grilled meat and chewed thoughtfully. After swallowing he said,

“Mr Choi said that you were each to inherit majority shares in your own branch of the business. I thought you didn’t have a definite role yet?”

Taehyung shook his head.

“I didn’t either. I thought I was to be under Seokjin’s team. Maybe he knows more than me. I’ll find out on Monday.”

“The way it was written implied that you each had your own specific parts of the business. I will follow up with Mr Choi later. Anyway, eat up.”

“When can I go home? Daisy will be wondering where I am.”

Jungkook gave him a soft smile.

“I think, for your safety and so we can wrap this up quickly, it would be better to let people assume you are in custody. You can let Jimin know you are safe, but other than that, I need you not to contact anyone.”

“Where will I stay?” he started to pat his pockets and sighed.

“I left my wallet in my overcoat at the memorial hall.”

“You can stay with me.” Jungkook said impulsively. In the back of his mind, the voice of his old academy professor was yelling at him about maintaining appropriate boundaries, but he ignored it.

They finished their food and rather than heading back to the car, Jungkook led Taehyung around the back of the building to a separate entrance that led upstairs.

“Yoongi owns the whole building,” he explained. “He and his partner live above the restaurant, and I live in the loft above them.”

He opened his front food and they walked into a light open space. There was a kitchen area to the left, with a counter to partition it from the main space. It had a slanted dormer window above the sink, that let light flood in.

On the right hand side of the room was a living space with a sofa and TV. Behind the sofa was a tall bookcase that separated off a sleeping area with a raised double bed that had drawers and desk space underneath. 

“The bathroom is through that door there,” Jungkook pointed beyond the kitchen space, “ and that door leads to the roof terrace.”

“You have a lovely apartment detective.” Taehyung murmured as he looked around. “I’m not sure you have space for me though?”

“The sofa pulls out as a bed.” Jungkook said hurriedly, “Honestly, you can have my bed and I’ll sleep out here. That way I can work and not disturb you.”

“I don’t have anything to do other than call Jimin, but I left my phone in my coat as well.” Taehyung spun round, scanning the room. “Do you have a landline I can use please?”

Jungkook pulled out his mobile phone, unlocked it and handed it over.

“I don't have a landline but you can use this. And please, call me Jungkook.” 

Taehyung took the phone with thanks and promised to try and remember. Jungkook told him to sit on the sofa and left him to make the call while he went to put the kettle on.

He listened as Taehyung spoke to Jimin.

“Jimin, it's me. It’s Jungkook’s phone. Yes, I’m fine, Is Daisy ok?” 

“She keeps asking for you, but my mother is making cakes with her. She’s fine Tae, but where are you? Why are you using Detective Jeon’s phone? What happened?”

“I left my phone and wallet in my coat at the hall. Did you bring it back? Jungkook said I need to keep out of sight until he catches the killer, so I’m staying with him. He wants everyone to think I’ve been arrested. You mustn’t tell anyone otherwise.”

There was a brief silence.

“Jungkook said that, did he?”

“Yes, why?”

“Well Detective Choi didn’t give me any information after Detective Jeon took you away. I had no idea what was happening and it was chaos.”

“I’m sorry it was..”

“And now you are staying at his house and calling him by his first name? TaeTae, are you sure you are ok? He’s not pressuring you is he?”

“What? No! He’s being really kind. He believes I’m innocent and wants to lure the killer out. I trust him, Jimin.”

“Well you can tell him from me that if he lays one finger on you, no if he even makes you cry, I’m going to pulverise him.”

“I’m not telling him that, you’ll get arrested for threatening a police officer, you idiot. Just look after Daisy for me, don’t let anyone near her…. Oh god….”

He trailed off in horror and both Jimin on the phone and Jungkook from the other side of the room rushed to ask him what was the matter.

“Daisy.” he whispered, “If Mari wants to get rid of me because of the money, then she’ll want to get rid of Daisy as well.”

Jungkook gently took the phone from his hand and spoke to Jimin.

“This is Detective Inspector Jeon, is Daisy with you now?”

“No, she’s in the kitchen with my mother. Detective, what’s the matter?”

“It’s just a precaution, but Taehyung may be correct. I want you to go and get Daisy and bring her to this address.”

He recited his address twice, to make sure that Jimin had it and told Jimin to save his personal phone number. 

“Call me as soon as you are on your way or if anything happens at all. And Jimin, don’t tell anyone you are leaving or where you are going.”

He ended the call and turned to Taehyung who was looking at him in abject horror.

“We have to go and get her, my baby, I can’t let them hurt her.” he panicked. Jungkook reached out his arms instinctively and the other man fell into them, shaking.

“Jimin is bringing her here. You can all stay here safe. I won’t let anything happen to either of you.” 

He manoeuvred them both to sit back down on the sofa, and then with one arm still around Taehyung, he opened his phone again and texted Soobin.

“I need you to find out what was in that letter, tonight.”

“On it boss.”

Jungkook had intended to provide Taehyung with a warm drink, freshly made bed and the security of his presence guarding the loft from his spot on the sofa. All that fell by the wayside as Taehyung clung to his side, trembling in fear as he mentally ran through every scenario that could befall his daughter. 

As they waited, all Jungkook could do was hold him close and whisper soothing words into his hair.

Silently, Jungkook ran through all the things he’d found out in the last few days. Something was tickling at the back of his mind, something that didn’t fit.

• The missing letter arrived the day before the murder, yet the lawyer said that the will was signed and witnessed weeks before.
• Mari was convinced that the new will was not valid, but not surprised that it existed, only that it was signed.
• Was Jihye involved? She didn’t seem at all surprised at Mari’s outburst.

Something else was odd. Jin made it very clear that there was no love lost between him and his eldest sister, yet she went out of her way to collect him from the airport that afternoon. He scrolled through his phone and found the number of the oldest of the Chairman’s sons.

Taehyung wiped his eyes and made to move away, but Jungkook smiled kindly and gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“It’s ok, just don’t make a noise, ok?” He reassured him. Taehyung nodded and leaned his head back into the crook of the detective’s neck.

Jungkook hit the dial button.

“Hello? Who is this?” Seokjin asked as soon as he picked up the call.

“Hello Mr Kim, it’s Detective Jeon. Thank you for taking my call. I have a quick question for you.”

“What have you done with Taehyung?” came the response.

“Taehyung is safe and in a secure place.” He gave the man in question a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, “More information will be released in due course.  Now my question, did you ask your sister to collect you from the airport last week?”

Whatever argument Seokjin was going to put forward at the arrest of his brother was halted by the question. He was silent for a beat too long to be unnoticed.

“No, detective, I did not ask her. I usually get a taxi, but she told me she was going to be there.”

“When?”

“She sent a text that I saw on my phone after we landed and I was able to turn off aeroplane mode. I don’t know when she sent it, but the time stamp on my phone is 16.15 which must be when my phone received it.”

“Thank you Mr Kim, that will be all.”

“When can I see Taehyung? Has he called the legal team? Have you…”

Jungkook ended the call, somewhat ungraciously, but he didn’t want to keep telling white lies about Taehyung’s supposed arrest.

His phone pinged with a message and he checked it immediately. It was from Jimin.

“We are in the car and leaving now.”

Jungkook showed Taehyung the message.

“They are on their way. Do you want to freshen up before they get here?”

He quickly gathered his newest bath towel, softest joggers and clean t-shirt and handed them to Taehyung. 

“There should be plenty of hot water. Take your time. I’ll knock on the door if they arrive before you are out.”

Taehyung accepted the offer with thanks and after locking the door, he sank against it, clutching the soft bundle in his arms. The fabric smelled gently clean, reminding him of the baby soft detergent he’d used on Daisy’s laundry since she was a baby. With a shuddering breath, he got up, turned on the shower and stripped as he waited for the water to warm up.

Listening to the shower running in the background gave Jungkook a warm feeling that he hadn’t felt before. He hadn’t shared a living space with anyone since he left university. His occasional trysts rarely happened in his loft and if they did, they didn’t stay over or use his shower. This felt new. Somehow comforting and domestic. 

He didn’t know how long he just stood and listened to the water, but he was snapped out of it when his phone started to ring. It was Jimin calling from the car. Jungkook could hear the engine running.

“I think we are being followed.”

“Where are you? Can you describe them?”

“About 10 minutes away. I am certain that it’s one of the company's fleet. 

The windows are tinted, I can’t see who’s driving.

Hang on.”

There was the sound of a horn blaring and Jimin swore. Jungkook heard Daisy start to cry in the background.

“Jimin! Tell me exactly where you are now!” 

“I’m driving north up Green Street. I’m going to pull into the carpark at the mall and try and lose them inside. Send someone to meet us out the other side, by the flamingo fountain.”

Jimin ended the call, leaving Jungkook feeling as frustrated as Seokjin must have earlier on.

He wasted no time in calling the station and asked for uniformed officers to meet him at the mall. 

The shower had stopped and Jungkook was just about to knock when the bathroom door opened.

“What’s happened?” Taehyung asked after seeing Jungkook’s expression.

“I need you to stay here and lock the door. Don’t let anyone in unless it’s me.”

Jungkook tried to keep his voice calm, but of course Taehyung was having none of it.

“You’re scaring me.” he reached out and gripped Jungkook by the arm. “Has something happened to Daisy?”

“No.  They are on their way, but Jimin just called and he thinks he’s being followed, so I am going to meet him at the mall with some uniformed officers. It's a public place so whoever it is won’t try anything.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“I need you to be safe Taehyung.  You have to stay here.”

“I need to get my baby Detective. What use am I locked up here if she is in danger?”

Jungkook sighed and relented. 

“Ok, you can come, but you stay in the car and lock the doors if I get out. Is that understood?”

Taehyung nodded and Jungkook wasn’t sure if he believed him, but they had no time to argue. They rushed down the stairs and were driving off before Taehyung even had his seatbelt on.

Detective Sergeant Choi Soobin finally managed to pin down the lawyer after everyone else had left the memorial hall.

His son had briefed him on what the detective was looking for and he pulled out an envelope from his pocket as Soobin approached.

“This is a copy of the last letter I wrote to the Chairman,” he said, handing it over. “As you can see it’s an outline of the proposed changes to the will. I dictated it to my secretary four weeks ago.”

Soobin frowned at this information as he skimmed through the letter.

“Then what was the letter that arrived last week?”

The lawyer sighed and tapped the paper.

“It was this one. My secretary typed it up but the envelope must have fallen out of the pile. We checked with our office clerk who said that the cleaner had found the letter wedged between the desk and the filing cabinet. They gave it to the clerk who posted it on Monday. By the time the letter was received, Chairman Kim had already contacted me personally and signed the documents. It is a matter of deep regret that this happened.”

Soobin nodded and thanked the older man for his time. As soon as he was clear of the building he called Jungkook’s phone. It went to voicemail and he left a message.

“Sir, I have the letter and I think it proves a motive.”

Jungkook’s brakes squealed as he pulled into the loading bay at the side of the huge shopping mall. The parking spot had full sight of the Flamingo fountain, which was situated in a garden area alongside the Restaurant quarter of the retail facility. It was a popular meeting point for friends and very visible from all of the outdoor dining areas. 

“Jimin picked a good spot. It’s very public. No one in their right mind would try anything in front of all these people.” Jungkook tried to reassure Taehyung, but it didn’t work.

“What if they aren’t in their right mind though?”

“I have officers on their way, I need you to stay calm and stay here Tae.” Jungkook squeezed his knee briefly and then jumped out of the car, locking the doors behind him.

Taehyung watched nervously through the windscreen, scanning the people milling about to find Jimin and Daisy. It was Saturday evening and raining. The shops were closed, but there were still diners coming and going from the several sheltered eateries that lined the garden.

He saw a blob of yellow floating in the distance and focused, recognising it as Daisy’s raincoat. She was being carried. But that person looked too tall to be Jimin. Jungkook was still making his way from the nearside of the lawn and he didn’t look like he’d spotted them yet.

Taehyung undid his seatbelt and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Desperately now he scrambled round to find the central locking button with his hands while keeping an eye on the bright yellow raincoat.

 He watched as the person carrying Daisy stopped at the fountain and waved at Jungkook who spotted them and jogged over. Taehyung breathed out in relief as they met by the fountain. The rain was distorting his vision and without the car key he couldn’t activate the wiper blades, so he couldn’t see clearly. They had a hood up, so he was in the dark as to who was carrying his daughter.

The person pointed back in the direction they had come from and Jungkook nodded and raced off that way. Taehyung shouted out and banged on the window. What was the detective doing? Why wasn’t he bringing Daisy to the car?

He finally located the central locking button and released the doors. With no regard for his own safety, he raced across the car park, jumped a low hedge and skidded to a halt behind the person holding his daughter.

“Give her to me!” he shouted and grabbed their shoulders. The person turned around and he came face to face with his brother.

“Jin!” he said in surprise, “What are you doing with Daisy?” His mind raced, Jin was the last person he would think to harm her. Jin saw the thought cross his little brother’s face and hurried to hand over the child, albeit carefully so as not to wake her.

“She’s fine. I reached them just in time. I was going to look after her.” He patted Taehyung on the arm that was around his daughter. 

“Why are you here?” Taehyung gasped, pressing his cheek onto his daughter’s head.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Jin said, “I thought you were locked up in a cell! I was worried after talking to the detective and went to the kitchen to find Jimin. I caught him leaving with Daisy and he refused to tell me what was going on so I watched them leave in his car and decided to follow them.”

Taehyung smacked him on his arm.

“You could have caused an accident! Jimin thought he was being followed by the murderer!”

Jin was relieved that his brother didn’t think he was guilty of killing their father. 

“It wasn‘t me that was chasing him. I am a very discreet driver actually.” 

Taehyung rolled his eyes impatiently and Jin continued

“I saw one of the company fleet cars following them ahead of me. No subtlety at all. It looked like they were trying to force them to pull over. When I saw Jimin pull in here, I decided I should help. I drove right in between them and managed to grab Daisy from the car as Jimin was fighting off the driver.”

“What?!” Taehyung started to walk that way but Jin caught him and steered them back to where Jungkook’s car was parked.

“Don’t be stupid. Jungkook has gone to help. If you take Daisy back there, they might take her and your cover will be blown.”

They reached Jungkook’s car which thankfully was still unlocked and got inside. Taehyung slid into the back seat and lay Daisy down with her head on his lap. Jin got into the passenger seat and turned around.

“What do you mean by my cover?” Taehyung asked cagily. 

“Pretending to be arrested.” Jin reached out to brush a wet strand of hair off the little girl’s forehead. “To bait the killer I suppose?” he thought for a minute and then looked at his youngest brother with sad eyes.

“Do you think Mari really did it?”

Taehyung shivered at the thought and asked Jin to hit the central locking button.

“Who was attacking Jimin? Did you see his face?”

Jin shook his head. 

“I didn’t recognise them. Hopefully Jungkook got there in time to arrest them and we will find out who they work for.”

They sat in silence for a few moments and then Taehyung thought of something.

“Did you know what father meant in the will when it said that we all would become majority holders of our own parts of the company? What part was going to be mine?”

Jin shook his head. 

“I was expecting him to tell us both on Monday. All I know is that he acquired a chain of theatres last month. I thought that he’d probably give them to you.”

“Theatres? Like cinemas?” Taehyung asked, confused.

“No. Live action stage play theatres. Think of the West End and Broadway. Live theatre is not something I ever showed an interest in, so I assumed he bought them for you.”

Taehyung felt a wave of grief crash over him. His relationship with his father hadn’t always been close, but since the day he had found out he was going to have a baby and gone home to beg his father’s advice, they had established a new bond. It was his father who had told him that everything would be ok. It was his father who had ensured that the baby had the safest entry into the world and arranged so that Taehyung had the time and space to bond with his daughter.

His thoughts flashed back to a production he had directed in university. The play had been a challenge, but it had gone well and he received praise from his tutors and fellow students alike. He didn’t know that his father had attended the performance until he discovered a huge bouquet of roses and bottle of champagne delivered to his apartment the next morning. There had been a note that simply said

“Congratulations on a fine production.

 Father”

Taehyung still had the note, safely tucked away in his box of keepsakes back in his apartment in the city. He had intended to move back there after a few weeks so he and Daisy could have some solo time together. Looking down at her asleep on his lap, he realised he had no idea what he wanted now, other than keeping her safe and close.

Two cars drew up beside them and Jin wiped the condensation from the window so he could peer out.

“They are here,” he said. Taehyung looked up sharply, snapping out of his thoughts.

“Who is here?”

“Jimin and your detective.”

There was a knock on the window and Jin unlocked the doors. Taehyung’s door opened and Jungkook leaned in.

He spotted the sleeping girl and reached down to touch her head gently.

“Is she ok?” he said softly. 

Taehyung nodded.

“What happened? Is Jimin ok? Are you ok?” 

“Jimin is fine. He’s waiting in the car to take you back to my place. I’m going to follow my officers’ car to take the suspect down to the station.” He stood aside and pointed to the other car. There was a man sitting in the back seat, head down and handcuffed.

“Mr Kim, thank you for bringing Daisy to safety. How did you find my car?” he looked suspiciously at Taehyung who stared back defiantly.

“Taehyung met me at the fountain and we came straight back here. And locked the doors” Jin said diplomatically.

“I’d like to stay, but I think I should go back to the house and pretend I know nothing. I’ll keep my ear to the ground, Detective. I trust that you will provide protection for my brother and niece.”

Jungkook nodded.

“Their safety is my priority Mr Kim. You have my word.”

Seokjin looked at him for a long minute and then nodded his approval. 

“I will see you soon, Taehyung-ah. Be careful.” 

Then he got out of the car and headed back to where he’d haphazardly parked his own around the other side of the Mall complex.

Jungkook held the door open wide so that Taehyung could slide out while still holding onto the little girl. Daisy stirred as he stood upright and Jungkook steadied them both with a hand to his elbow. 

“Be careful,” he said.

Taehyung walked the few steps to where Jimin was sitting in the driver seat and stifled a horrified gasp at his best friend’s face. Jimin had a split lip and the beginning of a black eye.

Daisy wiggled round and started to cry as soon as she saw her favourite uncle.

“Diminie. Daddy, Diminie got hurted by the bad man.” she wailed. Jimin got out of the car wincing at some unseen bruises, and put his arms around both of them.

“Shh baby, it’s ok. I’m ok! The detective helped me catch the bad man. And we found Daddy, see?”

Daisy sniffed back a sob and flung her arms around Taehyung’s neck.

“Daddy, why you leave me?”

They stood, a sniffly trio, cuddling until there was a cough behind them and Taehyung raised his head to see Jungkook smiling at them.

“I’m going to head to the station and get him booked into a cell for the night.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keychain that he handed over.

“Go to my place, lock the doors and don’t let anyone in until I get back.”

Jimin took the keys and ushered his charges into the car. Daisy was still clinging to her dad, so they both got into the back. 

Taehyung had so many questions, but they drove in silence, only speaking to give Jimin directions.

Finally they pulled up to the building where Jungkook had brought Taehyung hours earlier. It felt like days had passed, but in reality, it was just a little over 7 hours since Jungkook had brought him out of the memorial service with a fake arrest.

Daisy was fully awake as they clambered out of the car and she insisted on taking both Jimin’s and Taehyung’s hands to walk past the brightly lit door of the restaurant, to the entrance to the upstairs apartments.  

The door opened before Jimin could find the correct key on the chain.

“Welcome back.” Yoongi said with a warm smile. He introduced himself to Jimin and led them up the stairs, opening Jungkook’s door with the keys that Jimin handed him.

He showed them in and arranged warm drinks with the practised air of someone who visited often.

“You must be tired,” he said, “I’ve brought extra blankets and pillows and put them on the bed back there. I think your little girl will be ok sharing with you Taehyung?”

Taehyung nodded.

“And your friend,”

“Jimin.”

“Jimin, you can either sleep on the sofa or crash at our place downstairs. Up to you.”

“I’m staying here.” Jimin said without hesitation, “I’m not letting these two out of my sight until that killer and all their minions are locked up.”

Yoongi hummed his approval,

“Understood. OK I will leave you to it. Please help yourself to snacks and drinks. I put most of them in Kookie’s cupboards, so it's safe to eat them.” He gave a gravelling laugh.

“Lock the door behind me. I’ve left my number on the counter. Call if you need anything.”

They both thanked him and after saying goodbye, Jimin spent at least five minutes checking every lock and bolt was locked tight on the door. Then he stumbled exhausted to the bathroom and had a long hot shower.

Taehyung and Daisy were both fast asleep in the bed by the time he got out, so he borrowed a clean pair of joggers and a shirt from Jungkook’s drawers (he was sure the detective was so enamoured with Taehyung at this point, he wouldn’t mind) and curled up in a blanket on the sofa waiting for him to return.

Jungkook finally returned at 2am. Jimin had dozed off, but Jungkook called his phone, so the buzzing under his ear roused him enough to become aware of the gentle knocking at the door.

“Hi.” they both said wearily. 

“Did you find out who sent him?” Jimin asked,

“He wouldn’t say a word. Whoever it is, he’s loyal.” Jungkook yawned wide, “Let’s get some rest now. I am meeting my sergeant first thing.”

He let Jimin stay on the sofa and got as comfortable as he could in his armchair, facing the door.

Jungkook awoke with a crick in his neck and an unfamiliar weight on his lap. He opened his eyes and came face to face with a very curious 3 year old.

“Uncle Kookie. I need a wee wee an’ Daddy’s sleepin.”

She patted him on the face gently.

“Does we live here now, Uncle Kookie? Uncle Yooni said you were called Kookie. Do you like cookies? I like choccy chip cookies.”

The weight disappeared suddenly as Daisy was lifted by a sleepy looking Jimin.

“Sorry,” he yawned at Jungkook, who was still motionless in the armchair. “Come on monkey, let's go to the bathroom.”

By the time they returned, Jungkook was in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil.

Daisy padded up to him and looked up expectantly.

“Got nana milk?” she asked sweetly. He looked up at Jimin who was smiling fondly at her. 

“Jimine will buy you some later, Daisy. Uncle Jungkook doesn’t have any here.”

Jungkook coughed and moved to the refrigerator.

“Actually, I have quite the stash,” he admitted. “ ‘nana milkshake isn’t just for little kids you know.” He pulled out a little bottle, poked the straw in the foil lid and handed it to Daisy, who giggled in delight, flashing that wide grin that reminded Jungkook so much of her father.

“Is Taehyung still asleep?” he wondered out loud. Jimin looked back beyond the dividing bookcase and pointed at the mound of blankets atop the raised bed.

“That boy could sleep through a rocket launch.” he chuckled, “I’m glad he’s able to rest.”

Jungkook’s phone pinged and he checked the message.

“I have to go and meet my Sergeant. Please lock up after me and stay tight. I’ll ask Yoongi to bring lunch up for you all later. If you need anything, text me, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

He got ready and was out of the door in no more than 10 minutes. Jimin and Daisy watched him from the sofa and as soon as the door clicked, she looked at Jimins and smiled sweetly.

“Peppa pig?” 

Jimin resigned himself to his fate.

Taehyung stirred a while later. He panicked at the cold sheets beside him, not being able to find his daughter.  A giggle in the near distance roused him from his sleepy panic and he remembered where they were.

He carefully climbed down from the bed and peeped round the bookcase. The sofa had a high back, so he could only see the very top of Jimin’s head, but there was no doubt that his daughter was there too. Another joyful squeak and then Jimin groaned. Taehyung rushed forward as Daisy’s head popped up over the backrest. 

“Daddy!” she squealed in delight, prompting another groan from her uncle who had two small feet dangerously dancing in his lap.

Taehyung swiped her up into his arms before she managed to ruin Jimin’s chances at future fatherhood.

“Where is Jungkook?” he asked, peppering her face with kisses. Jimin looked up and gave him a knowing grin.

“That’s funny, you were the first person he thought about as well.”

“Shut up Jimin.” Taehyung grumbled and then giggled as he fended off Daisy smacking his mouth with her hands telling him not to say bad words.        

He wandered over to the counter and found a note next to a mug with a teabag in it ready.

Please stay indoors. Help yourself to anything. I will update you later

Jungkook xx

Taehyung pocketed the note in the vain hope that Jimin hadn’t seen it yet. The snigger and kissing noises from behind him revealed that he was too late.

Jungkook met Soobin at the location he had pinged to his phone that morning. They were at the airport.

“Why are we at the airport?” Jungkook asked him. “How did you know I wanted to investigate here?”

Soobin looked at him in puzzlement.

“I didn’t? We had a call to come see something that the airport security thought was suspicious.”

As they walked, Soobin filled him in on the conversation he had with the elderly lawyer the day before. 

Jungkook filed it away in his brain as they approached the security team office and met with the head officer.

She led them to a small interview room and closed the door.

“One of our cleaners discovered an airport locker key when emptying a waste bin. They handed it in and we checked the system to see if it was in use.”

She handed them a piece of paper with printed details of the person who had rented the locker.

“The name and phone number on the ID are false, and they paid in cash. As there was no way to contact them about the key, we went to the locker to empty it so another customer could use it. As soon as we saw the contents we called you.”

“I have my security team looking on CCTV to find an image of the person when they came to the rental desk. It should be available after I’ve shown you the locker.”

They walked a short way to where a security guard was standing in front of a block of lockers. 

“This is the one.” He pointed to the relevant locker and then stood aside. Jungkook and Soobin pulled on gloves and opened the door. They were hit with a rotten smelling waft of air.

There was a plastic shopping bag, filled with some kind of fabric that was covered in dark stains.

“That’s definitely blood.” Soobin said. Jungkook got on the phone and called for forensics to come immediately. He asked the security guard to stay put until more police officers arrived, and then asked to see the CCTV footage.

A few minutes later they were crammed into a tiny camera office, leaning over the chair of the operator who was playing them the footage from the time frame that the locker was rented. Jungkook pointed to the screen as a customer approached the desk.

“There. Pause this and print it for me please, and then give a copy of all this footage to my sergeant. Thank you.

“Soobin, wait here for the tape and then meet me at the location I’m sending to your phone.”

With a nod from his sergeant, Jungkook raced out of the building.

Jungkook speed-dialled the judge from his car’s bluetooth as he pulled out of the airport and drove as fast as the law allowed, back into the city.

“Hello, Judge? I apologise for calling on a weekend, but I need to request an arrest warrant.”

It took an hour to meet the judge, present his evidence and get his warrant. In such a high profile case, there was no room for error. Jungkook was well aware that careers were ended over mistakes made when dealing with the super rich and powerful.

“I don’t need to remind you that this needs to go without a hitch, Jeon.” The Judge said seriously. “We won’t get a second chance.”

“Yes, your honour, I understand.” Jungkook accepted the folded copy of the warrant and tucked it safely in his jacket.

“You can rely on me.”

Jimin’s phone pinged with a notification as he was dishing out the lunch that Yoongi had sent up for them.

“Jungkook wants us to go meet him at the house this afternoon at 4pm.”

Taehyung looked up from the colouring he was helping Daisy with and shivered. 

“Do we have to? I don’t want Daisy anywhere dangerous.”

Jimin’s phone pinged again.

“He also says that he’s asked Yoongi to watch Daisy here and arranged for a police officer to stand guard.”

His phone buzzed a third time and Jimin rolled his eyes.

“He also says to reassure you that her safety is a priority, and yours a close second.”

Taehyung couldn’t help the blush that dusted his cheeks and Jimin snorted at the sight.

“Don’t swoon too hard loverboy, there's still a killer on the loose.”

“Not for long, with Jungkookie on the case.” Taehyung said in all seriousness and Jimin turned his back so he could make gagging noises into the kitchen sink.

At 3.15, Yoongi came upstairs, followed by a female officer, to look after Daisy so that Jimin and Taehyung could drive back to the Kim Estate.

Jimin openly mused theories the whole drive, but Taehyung was silent, wracked with fearful thoughts. He definitely didn't want to come face to face with Mari or Jihye. But whatever happened, he instinctively knew he could trust Jungkook, so he took some calming breaths and steeled himself as Jimin parked the car.

They were met at the door by Mr Park, Jimin’s father, who directed them to the dining room, as per the Detective Inspector’s wishes. There were two police officers standing inside, flanking the windows that looked out onto the back garden, but no sign of Jungkook or his sergeant.

Mr Park led Taehyung to a particular chair at the far end of the huge dining table, where he would have a view of everyone entering. Jimin sat to his left and they were soon joined by Seokjin who was placed to his right.

Slowly the table filled up, Namjoon and Ariel arrived with Miss Lim. Both the elder Mr Choi and his sons took seats opposite Taehyung. Mari and Jihye arrived, with much complaint and annoyance. Mrs Park slipped in and stood behind her son, but with one hand protectively on Taehyung's shoulder. 

Finally, Mr Park showed Soobin and Jungkook in, each holding on to the arm of a handcuffed man.

The door closed behind them firmly.  The handcuffed man was placed into a seat opposite Mari, Soobin next to him. Jungkook walked slowly and deliberately all the way to the head of the table. Taehyung would have thought he was quite magnificent if he wasn’t screwed up with nerves.

“Ladies and Gentleman, Thank you for coming.” Jungkook finally said, resting his hands on the table and gazing down the row of faces, meeting everyone’s gazes.

“As you all know, four days ago, Chairman Kim was murdered in his bedroom.”

He lifted a box from the floor and placed it on the table. Then he lifted out a clear plastic evidence bag and held it up for all to see.

“This was identified as the murder weapon. Some of you may recognise it as Chairman Kim’s paper knife that was gifted to him more than a decade ago by his youngest son Taehyung.”

“You see! He’s guilty!” Jihye burst out. Mari looked at her in irritation and she sat back.

“Giving a gift is not evidence of committing a crime, Miss Kim. However, the knife was discovered in the desk inside Taehyung’s bedroom and forensics found his fingerprints on the handle.”

There was an audible gasp from some of the room, Namjoon looked horrified and pushed his chair back, but his sister put a calming hand on his arm.

Mrs Park gave Taehyung a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. Even though he knew that Jungkook believed him innocent, it was still horrible hearing the evidence as it was laid out.

“The paper knife was taken from the Chairman’s office, where we found that his private correspondence had been rifled through and some removed.”

Jungkook next took out a folded piece of paper that he opened and held up.

“This is a copy of that missing letter. It is from the Choi Law firm and states that the new will was ready for the Chairman to come and sign at his earliest convenience.”

“You see! The new will is not valid!” Jihye shouted, “Why are you continuing with this farce? Just arrest that cuckoo and get him out of our house!”

Jungkook stared at her, steely and unblinking, until she sat back with a huff, crossing her arms, seething.

“We have reason to believe that the killer found this letter and decided to kill the Chairman before he could sign the new will. What they didn’t know was that this letter was four weeks late and that the will was signed, witnessed and safely stored at the Choi office.”

“It makes no sense that Taehyung would try to stop Father from signing the new will.” Namjoon said and Jungkook nodded.

“Indeed. The killer made a fair attempt at framing your brother, but they made some mistakes.”

Jungkook lifted an old school diary and a sheet of paper with a room plan sketched on it out of the evidence box.

“The knife was found in the drawer of a desk in Mr Taehyung Kim’s room. It had been washed clean using showergel and then the fingerprints obtained by pressing the handle of the knife into the hand of the sleeping man.”

“Ridiculous.” came a scoff from the end of the table. It was Mari this time, drumming her fingernails impatiently on the table. Jungkook gave her a glinting glare and carried on undeterred.

Jungkook held up the floor plan for the bedroom.

“The hand print that was pressed onto the blade was that of Taehyung’s right hand. Mrs Park has given a sworn statement that when she came to wake him that morning, Mr Kim was on his right side, his left arm curled around his stuffed panda and his right arm out straight, the hand hanging over the edge. She has also attested that it is well known that he sleeps deeply and takes several minutes to wake up every morning.”

Jimin suppressed a snort at the mention of the panda and his mother flicked him in the back of the head.

“As you can see from the room layout, it would be simple for someone to walk into the bedroom and hold the knife handle against his outstretched hand. The desk is by the door and could have just taken a matter of moments to place the knife in the drawer and exit the room while the household still slept.”

He opened a page of the school diary and displayed it to the room.

“What the killer appears not to have known, is that Kim Taehyung is Left Handed.”

The drumming fingernails stopped. Jungkook smirked.

“We received a call from Airport security today and were presented with more evidence.”

He lifted another evidence bag, unrolling it to show a blood stained long sleeve exercise shirt, vacuum sealed in the clear plastic.

“This shirt, some leggings and a pair of trainers were found in an airport locker that had been paid for in cash under a false name on the afternoon of the murder.

“Our forensic team have confirmed that the pattern of spatter matches that expected by a person who was standing behind the Chairman when he was stabbed. The clothes match the void on the wall. 

The blood type has been identified as that of Chairman Kim.”

“Only two people in this room were at the airport on Wednesday afternoon. Mr Kim Seokjin and Miss Kim Mari.”

He pulled out the print of the CCTV from the airport and showed it to the room.

It was a grainy, but undeniably identifiable picture of Mari.

At his nod, a female officer moved from their position by the window and stood behind Mari’s chair. Outraged, she tried to stand up, but the woman stood firm and Mari couldn’t push her chair back or move.

Jungkook looked at her and recounted his theory of the events.

“Miss Kim, we have reason to believe that early on Wednesday morning, you entered Chairman Kim’s study and read through his private letters. You found the letter from Choi Associates that showed the changes to your father’s will and what you believed was indication that the new will was not yet signed. 

“Outraged by the changes and determined to stop them, you grabbed your father’s paper knife from his desk and ran up to confront him in his room.”

“I assume you argued and when he turned his back on you, you stabbed him.”

Mari’s face was contorted with rage.

“It is my birthright! Mine! He was going to take away my inheritance and give it to these idiots! And he favoured him!” She pointed at Taehyung, “A half breed little gay whore, son of that gold digging bitch and his bastard brat child. He loved them!” She laughed maniacally, “He played with the child! Did you know that?” she spun round to face Jihye, “He bought her a fucking playhouse and was going to use MY money to build an extension so she could have her own room here!”

She banged the table with her fist,

“When did he ever play with me?! His firstborn child!!” 

There was a stunned silence. Jungkook cleared his throat.

“Wow. You are quite extraordinarily offensive.” Mari snarled at him and slumped back in her chair.

“After stabbing your father in the neck, you collected his breakfast tray and returned to your bedroom, where you placed your blood spattered clothes in a plastic shopping bag. You then showered and washed the paper knife clean using your shampoo. You drank the coffee that had been left for you and placed both your own and your father’s trays outside the rooms, so that the maid wouldn’t enter your father’s room. Then you walked across to your younger brother’s room, knowing that he was a heavy sleeper, and pressed the handle of the knife to his hand and hid it in his desk drawer.”

“You went to work, and once you knew his plane was in the air, texted your brother Seokjin that you would be collecting him from the airport, knowing that he wouldn’t pick it up until he landed, giving him no chance to reject the offer. You used the trip to hire the locker using a false ID and dumped your bloody clothes inside it. Then you met your brother in the arrivals lounge and came home as if nothing had happened. What you didn’t account for was the hidden CCTV camera on the Locker Hire desk.”

He stood back from the table and put his hands in his pockets, satisfied with his summing up. He glanced across and saw Taehyung looking up at him with red rimmed, but appreciative eyes. 

“Why did you send someone after Daisy?” Seokjin demanded, “Are you such a witch that you would kill an innocent child?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, what was the point by then? The will was signed after all” she sighed. 

“Mari didn’t send that man after Daisy, did he, Jihye?” Jungkook said coldly. 

“What? Why would I know anything?” she spluttered. Clearly shaken by her older sister’s outburst, the question took her off guard.

Jungkook pointed to the handcuffed man sitting opposite her.

“I arrested that man yesterday for assault and the attempted kidnap of a minor. He refuses to talk, but we ran his prints and found a match.

His name is Kang Yun Bin. He has a rap sheet for assault, extortion and theft.”

“Well he obviously stole the company car then!” Jihye snapped. Jungkook smiled at her with all his teeth.

“I don’t believe anyone has disclosed what car he was driving Miss Kim.”

She gaped at him and then shut her mouth with a snap. Mari rolled her eyes and muttered something about being surrounded by idiots.

“As you so helpfully pointed out, Mr Kang was driving one of your company fleet cars. It is registered to the Kim Tobacco office and the GPS shows its movements coincide with your own schedule over the last month. In fact the car was parked overnight at your city residence every night last month, when you weren’t staying here at the main house. Mr Kang is not only your personal driver, but he’s also your lover, isn't he Miss Kim?”

Jihye went completely pale. She cowered, not under the stare of the detective, but the glare from her elder sister who was hissing at her like a firework about to explode.

“You idiot! You fool! What is wrong with you?!” Mari shouted at her, she lurched forward and grabbed her sister by the hair, landing a blow before the police officer managed to pull her back.

“I just wanted to help you.” Jihye sobbed. She reached over to the handcuffed man and managed to touch the tip of her fingers to his knuckles before she was pulled back by another female officer.

“When have I ever needed your help you little idiot!” Mari hissed.

Jungkook finally pulled out his arrest warrant and handed it to Mr Choi to read.

“Kim Mari, I am arresting you for the murder of your father, Kim Jung Hoon and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Kim Jiyhe, I am arresting you for the attempted kidnap of Kim Daisy. You do not have to speak, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be used as evidence against you.” 

He nodded to the two officers standing behind the sisters.

“Cuff them and take them to the station for processing.”

The sisters did not go quietly, they could be heard arguing all the way out of the room and down the hall. Soobin handed the sullen handcuffed Mr Kang to another officer and they followed the trail of noise out to the police van.

There was a stunned silence after they’d gone.  The remaining Kim siblings sat staring at each other, trying to process everything.

The elder Mr Choi was reading through the arrest warrant, a sad look on his face.  Mrs Park pulled Jimin out of his seat and started to fuss over his bruised face.

Jungkook put all the evidence back in the box and shut the lid. He needed to return it to the station, but he didn’t want to leave. Taehyung looked over at him again, and smiled. 

“Jungkook.” he said, his velvety voice causing goosebumps to ripple up the detective’s arms.

“I can’t thank you enough.” he stood and pulled him into a hug. “You saved my life.”

Jungkook allowed himself to return the embrace for just a moment. 

“Thank you for trusting me.” he murmured before pulling away. He couldn’t afford any claims of unprofessional behaviour to scupper the case. 

“I will arrange for someone to bring Daisy home soon. I need to go to the station and hand all this over to the prosecutor.”

Seokjin came over and slung one arm around his youngest brother, offering the other to Jungkook to shake.

“Thank you Detective Jeon. I hope next time we meet in more pleasant circumstances.” They shook hands and Seokjin winked at him. Jungkook laughed at his brazenness. 

He said his goodbyes to the room and left.

Taehyung stared at the door as it swung shut after him and Seokjin patted him sympathetically.

“Let him wrap up the case little brother, then you can meet him as a casual, very attractive civilian. In the meantime, let’s crack open some of Father’s vintage red wine. I think we deserve it.”

Six Months Later

The trial was done, Mari, Jihye and her driver were all in prison. Daisy had started her kindergarten and Taehyung was getting to grips with his new job.

Seokjin had made concerted efforts to repair the rift in the family, and instituted the Kim Sunday PotLuck Lunch. Instead of always meeting up at the family estate, they took it in turns to host at their homes in the city. Sometimes Jimin came, other times he took Daisy out so that the siblings could talk openly about how they were all coping after the family tragedy.

Today they were meeting at Taehyung’s apartment. Daisy was busy arranging the doilies she had coloured in, around the table as placemats. Taehyung was unpacking the 4 types of fried chicken he had ordered into a warming dish, so that it would stay hot in the oven until his guests arrived.

Each sibling brought a dish of their choice. Seokjin always cooked something fabulous. Ariel was an excellent pastry chef, something about her engineering brain being expert for the technicalities of temperamental bakes. 

Namjoon and Taehyung each had a finely curated list of several excellent takeaways. Today Taehyung had fancied chicken. He hoped his brother was bringing beer.

There was a knock at the door and Daisy ran to it, despite not being able to reach the handle. 

“Knock knock, who’s there?!!” she called, jumping up and down as she waited for her dad to come and open it.

“It’s Uncle Jinnie and a surprise guest!” came the sing-song answer. Daisy jumped in excitement, hanging off Taehyung’s arm as he opened the door, in her hurry to see who was there.

Taehyung hadn’t had time to think about who the surprise visitor could be, as this was the first he’d heard of a guest. He pulled the door open, bending down to scoop Daisy up into his hold as he did, so that by the time he stood up straight, he came almost nose to nose with a face he hadn’t seen for six months, but had definitely thought about often.

“Jungkook!” he gasped. Jin lifted Daisy out of his arms and disappeared into the apartment, leaving the two to have their reunion on the doorstep.

The detective was dressed in a really soft looking pink jumper and holding a potted hyacinth in his hand. He held it out to Taehyung and smiled a smile full of affection and hope.

“Hi.” he said. “This is for you. I heard you like having plants around the house.”

Taehyung wasn’t sure what to say, but his answering blush and smile were enough to let Jungkook know that whatever spark he’d felt in the summer, might still be there.

He was shown in, offered a pair of slippers and found himself in the dining room helping Daisy finish setting the table.

“Uncle?” she said as she decided who should get which plate. (It was a very scientific method of who happened to be her favourite that week) “Did you go away?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Jungkook asked, confused. Daisy placed a green leaf patterned plate down for Uncle Namjoon and turned to look at him.

“I didn’t see you for aaaages. Oh, an’ Daddy said he missed you.” She carried on arranging the table as if she hadn’t just told Jungkook the biggest secret he’d been longing to hear.

“Oh, really?” he managed to squeak casually. He cleared his throat and tried for nonchalance. “I missed you both too.”

She turned back to him and grinned.

“Good. Stay now, ok?”

Jin, totally eavesdropping from the kitchen door, smiled to himself. His young apprentice had carried out her task quite splendidly. 

Lunch was fun. Namjoon gave Taehyung’s new plant a thorough go-over and wrote out a set of bullet points on how to care for it.

Ariel showed everyone the blueprints for her latest addition to the rapidly growing Doll Village she was building for Daisy. It was set up at the big house, in what used to be the master suite as none of the remaining Kim siblings had wanted to sleep in their father’s or sisters’ old rooms. Instead, Ariel and Namjoon had gutted them, reconfigured the layout and made them into a playroom and bedroom for Daisy and a guest room. 

The latest addition to the doll village was a police station. She was overjoyed and asked for an Uncle Kookie doll to go with it. 

Jungkook was surprised at that. He didn’t realise that Daisy knew he was a policeman. He watched on in amusement at their chatter, his gaze drifting to Taehyung’s face, more often than not. He looked happy. Jungkook was so relieved at that. He had worried that the trauma they’d all been through, especially Taehyung, would mar their happiness.

Seokjin had contacted him the week after the trial to thank him and ask him to stay in touch. Over the next few months there had been occasional messages and then this week he had been invited to join their family lunch.

“We would all love to see you. It’s just a casual lunch. Here’s the address.”

He hadn’t had the chance or will to refuse, so here he was, sitting in Taehyung’s apartment, at Taehyung’s table, with Taehyung’s family, not feeling as out of place as he had feared.

After all the food was gone and the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, Seokjin got up to take his leave. 

“I have an early flight tomorrow.” he shook his head at Jungkook who started to stand up.

“No, you stay here. There’s no rush to leave, right Taetae?” he winked at his brother who rolled his eyes with a smile.

The twins took their leave soon after, so Daisy turned on the TV and they all sat down to watch some Peppa Pig.

It felt very domestic and Jungkook was reminded of months previously when Taehyung had stayed in his loft and it had felt so comfortable.

“Thank you..” he said at the same time as Taehyung said,

“It was so nice…”

They stopped. 

“You go first.” Taehyung said and Jungkook protested, but gave in after being subjected to the puppy dog eyes.

“I wanted to say thank you for making me feel welcome at your family meal.” He ran a hand nervously through his hair.

“I’m glad to see you all so much happier than the last time we met.”

Taehyung smiled warmly, reaching out to touch his arm.

“It’s all thanks to you. I don’t think we would even be having these family lunches without everything you did for us. I’m so glad that Seokjin invited you. I often wondered how you were, but I didn’t know if I was allowed to see you before the trial was over.”

Jungkook shifted closer so that their knees touched.

“I wanted to see you sooner, but you were right. It could have jeopardised the trial if we..” He stopped, embarrassed.

“If we?” Taehyung asked, his voice dropping almost to a whisper. In the background another episode of Peppa started, but Taehyung barely registered it. His attention was all on the man next to him.

“If we had become friends.” Jungkook offered. He saw a flash of disappointment in Taehyung’s face that matched the one his brain was feeling.

“Mhm.” Taehyung said eventually. “Friends.”

“Or, you know, more than friends, because any kind of favouritism or fraternisation can be used to derail a case so obviously it was in your best interests to keep an appropriate distance until the trial was over.” 

Jungkook wanted to punch himself in the face. He dropped his head into his hand instead. A soft snigger made him look up. 

“And now the trial is over?” Taehyung asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Now there is no limit to our association.” he said, the formality clashing starkly with the blush that flamed across his face.

Why was he flustered? He was a Detective Inspector goddammit. He interrogated murderers and gangsters! Why couldn’t he look into the most beautiful melted pools of chocolate eyes he’d ever seen and.. Oh.. Now he’s touching his hand. Jungkook thought he was possibly having a stroke or some kind of panic attack because his heart was racing and…. 

“ Is this ok?” The owner of the soft hand asked, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on the back of Jungkook’s wrist. Jungkook nodded.

“Yeah, mhm.” 

Taehyung shuffled a little closer, so that their thighs were now pressed side by side. He flipped his hand so that he could entwine their fingers.

“When I think back to that time, do you know what I remember the most clearly?” 

Jungkook shook his head. He had no thoughts other than the proximity of this man that had haunted his dreams for half a year.

“I remember how you treated me so carefully and held me as I cried. I remember feeling safe in your arms,” Taehyung leaned his head tentatively on Jungkook’s shoulder. “and wishing that I could stay there until it was all over.”

Jungkook leaned his cheek on Taehyung’s head and placed his right hand on top of their clasped fingers. 

“Me too.” he whispered. “I..”

Taehyung snuggled closer, letting go of his left arm, so Jungkook could drape it over his shoulders and pull him close.

“From the moment we spoke in your garden, I knew I wanted to protect you both.”

“Not from the night before when we first met in the dining room?” Taehyung asked curiously.

“Well you were both covered in blood, so…” Jungkook teased and got a tiny pinch on the leg for it.

“So what now?”

“Now my arms are yours for as long as you want them.”

They sat quiet and content, getting used to the new closeness. There was a three year old in the room, so of course nothing could happen.

In the weeks that followed, they spoke several times a day, every day, by text and phone, managing to meet up a couple of evenings for supper and kids TV. 

One Sunday, Jungkook invited them over to Yoongi’s restaurant for the family lunch, Jimin included, so he could properly introduce them all. A new family tradition was born, friendships were forged and the Kims found their family was growing to become everything they’d ever dreamed it could be.

Daisy remembered Yoongi and immediately ingratiated herself into his and Hobi’s affections. With several uncles and an aunt to indulge her every whim, at 4 years old she had a better social life than Taehyung, who preferred to stay home or at Jungkook’s loft while the little princess was out surveying her kingdom.

Whether by design, or by happy accident, the pair found themselves with ample time to develop and grow their relationship. By the summer after that family potluck, they were a confirmed couple. 

It was soon the anniversary of the Chairman’s death, and therefore, a year since they had first met. Rather than mix up those memories, a few weeks ago, they had decided to count their anniversary from the day they met again at that lunch. 

“Let’s date it from our proper meeting, where we could act on everything we felt the first time.” Jungkook had said.  Taehyung then asked him to demonstrate what it was that he had wanted to do to him the first time they met.  Jungkook had shown him, in detail, with several varying examples that involved his tie collection, amongst other things.

When they visited the graveyard, Taehyung had introduced Jungkook to his father. He hoped that his father approved, he suspected he would have liked him very much.  Jungkook took Daisy back to the car so that Taehyung could have a few quiet moments. Taehyung surprised himself by not crying. 

“I really like him, Appa. He’s kind and so clever and looks after us both so well. And he lets me look after him back. He doesn’t treat me like I’m fragile, but he’s allowed me space to grieve. Appa, I.. I love him.”

He promised to come again soon and wandered back to the car, warm affection blooming in him when he saw his two loves singing songs together in the car. Daisy was sitting on Jungkook’s lap, wearing his sunglasses and pretending to drive. Of all the things he was grateful for, after everything they had been through, it was that this man showed such care and love to him and his little girl.  Now Taehyung had a taste of it, he never wanted to let it go.

 Daisy was staying that night at the big house with her Aunt Ariel to plan more village expansions, so after dropping her off, they headed into the city, to Jungkook’s loft.

Jungkook bypassed the front of the building, not wanting to waste any time talking to his neighbours. Instead, holding Taehyung by the hand, he hurried up the stairs and got them inside and the door locked in a matter of minutes.

“What’s the hurry?” Taehyung gasped, out of breath from the rush. His answer came wordlessly as he was pushed gently against the back of the door and kissed thoroughly.

“I.” kiss, “couldn’t wait,” kiss, “any longer.” kiss.  The detective ran his hands over Taehyung’s shoulders and down his arms, pulling his hands together and then above his head, pinned with one hand.

Taehyung considered this briefly and decided that it was a valid point well made.  He shifted slightly, pressing his shoulders flat and his waist forward. Jungkook’s free hand snaked around his waist and pulled him so that their bodies pressed close together, legs entwined. 

“You feel like heaven,” Jungkook mouthed at his neck. Taheyung was wearing a cream silk shirt under his suit jacket. Jungkook needed more hands. He wanted to undo the tiny pearl buttons, but he also wanted to keep holding his lover flush to his front while keeping his wrists pinned above him. If only he had some…

He had a marvellous idea.  He removed his face from the crook of the glorious neck and pulled back slightly.

“Bed, now.” he panted. He was so articulate, Shakespeare had nothing on him. Fortunately, Taehyung didn’t seem to mind. His pupils were blown and he looked as flushed as Jungkook felt.

He didn’t let go, but led him by one wrist to the raised bed and took the opportunity to help Taehyung up the ladder with eager hands grabbing his butt.

On the bed, Jungkook made quick work of stripping his love out of his formal jacket and suit trousers, leaving him breathless on his back in just his silk blouse and boxers.

“Wait there.” he commanded and Taehyung was too curious and horny to argue.

A moment later, he reappeared, a wicked grin on his face and his police issued handcuffs in his hand.

“Oh.” gasped Taehyung.

“Oh yes.” replied Jungkook. “Hands up baby, and don’t struggle, I’ve got some interrogation to do.”

Taehyung lay on the soft covers, staring up at shadows that the lamp cast on the ceiling. Every so often, his vision would blur or he would squeeze his eyes shut so tightly, he saw stars.

Being handcuffed to the bed while your detective boyfriend investigates you with his hands, tongue and body, was quite delightful, he decided. 10 out of 10, would do it again and again and again…

Later, snuggled up together, clean, warm and sated, Jungkook was almost asleep when he breathed in with a start.

“What is it?” Taehyung asked, concerned, reaching out to rub his back.

“I almost forgot.”

“What?”

“To tell you I love you.” Jungkook said sleepily. He placed a gentle kiss on his temple, “Now sleep. I’ll tell you again in the morning.”

Taehyung, now wide awake, twisted in his arms so that they were nose to nose. He pressed forward so their lips were just grazing.

“I love you too.”