The Secret of The Swan Ch17

Taehyung was back watching Jimin again. Minjun had been insistent he did the right thing, so a part of him knew that The Swan was aware of his slacking the day before. Whether because The Swan was Min Yoongi, or Min Yoongi told him about their encounter. His gut knew that he had to be more careful.

He had found out a few small facts but he was stuck at this point. He had been spotted and had to find other ways to get the truth behind Min Yoongi. He had his notes written in a hidden notebook he kept with him almost at all times, he knew better than to leave evidence of his betrayal behind.

He had been sitting for a few hours in a different spot than normal because he didn’t want Jimin to spot him. He wanted to go in and talk to him, maybe he could help without knowing it. Taehyung sat for a few more minutes as he saw the customers leave one by one. The store was empty except for Jimin in the normal afternoon lull and he was going to make a move.

Grabbing his phone and wallet he turned off the engine and left the car, locking it behind him. He secretly hit the record button on his phone. He needed to have the recording in case his mind distracted him at the moment.

Jimin’s head snapped upwards from his phone when he heard Taeyhung enter and beamed. “Hey, Taehyung! Haven’t seen you in a few days, how have you been?” he asked, dark brown hair lying to the side as he tilted his head. Taehyung shrugged.

“Just been busy working, we to see some other areas of town,” he replied, being relatively honest save a few specific details. Jimin smiled and went below the counter and took out a bag of Cheetos and tossed it to Taehyung. Taehyung grinned like a child and caught it sharply. “Thanks!”

Jimin waved his hand, “No need to thank me,” he insisted.

“So yeah, we haven’t seen each other since the other night. We bumped into that guy, Yoongi I think?” Taehyung led hoping that Jimin would take the bait. Jimin nodded his head.

“Yeah, he was a partner of my father’s a few years ago before his assault. Yoongi was just starting then, looked up to him a lot,” he explained. Taehyung leaned on the counter holding his head in his hand gazing directly at Jimin with interest.

“What trait did he look up to the most from your dad?” Taehyung asked, popping a Cheeto in his mouth playfully. He had to keep the mood light to prevent Jimin from feeling like he was being interrogated. Jimin shrugged.

“I was his apprentice. He had just joined basically and was at the top of his class, getting assigned to my dad to guide him and be part of The Swan investigation was huge. He has always been as passionate about catching him as my dad was. He was really shaken after what happened to my dad. I thought he would have left the case after what he went through but…” he trailed off. Taehyung tilted his head to provoke further explanation. Jimin seemed hesitant.

“But what? Is he still on the case?” Taehyung asked.

“Hell yeah, that’s the thing. After what happened to my dad, a lot of officers on the task force after The Swan took a step back, wanted safer tasks or left the team altogether. The force was down to only a handful of people in Daegu after my dad left, but Yoongi took control. I hadn’t seen him in a few years before the other night, but last I knew of him his whole life became the hunt for The Swan,” he said. Taehyung nodded in understanding.

“He sounds really dedicated. Your dad must have really influenced him,” Taehyung said in awe. Jimin gorged on the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

“Yeah, but I don’t think my father had everything to do with it,” he said. Taehyung gazed at him and he continued after a moment. “I don’t know if it’s true, but his older sister had suffered at the hand of The Swan. I don’t remember how she was linked to him, but The Swan had something to do with her death…”

Taehyung was taken back. Was it a ruse? Min Yoongi had sounded as against The Swan as anyone on the outside, but was it a trap? Taehyung’s mind swam with the possibilities. Could Mon Yoongi be his ally, not his enemy?

“That has to be awful…” Taehyung said dismally. Jimin nodded.

“Yeah. He saw the passion that my father had going after The Swan from the start, but my father had no direct link to The Swan as far as I know. I guess it only fueled him more,” he gathered up loose change that had gathered around the register.

Taehyung noticed the uncomfortable atmosphere that was being created. He decided to defuse the situation before it got to be too much, he only wanted Jimin to feel happy and comfortable. He especially didn’t need him to think about why Taehyung had asked so much. As much as he had his motives, a knot in his stomach had formed from guilt. Why was he digging so hard? He had ruined Jimin’s life enough already.

“Sorry to pester you about it so much, I didn’t mean to bum you out,” Taehyung apologized nudging Jimin’s shoulder playfully. Jimin chuckled.

“I don’t blame you. Everyone in Korea wants to know what is going on. There’s always that fear that The Swan will get to you or someone you love,” Jimin reasoned, closing the register. Taehyung quickly took out his phone discreetly and stopped the recording. He was about to bring about lighter topics when they heard the door open. Taehyung smiled at the familiar face.

“Hey, Irene! How are you?” Taehyung asked. He grabbed the bag of Cheetos to offer her one but he grabbed it with too much force, spilling the snack everywhere. His face flushed as he bent to clean the mess. Irene laughed and bent down to help him.

“I’m doing good, but I haven’t heard from you! I was headed home from my friend’s house and recognized your car,” she replied, nudging her head toward the direction of his car outside. She looked up at Taehyung and smiled at him.

“I’m sorry about that, I’ve been busy with work…” he apologized, holding out his hand to take what Irene had gathered.

“You guys don’t have to pick it all up, just drop it and I’ll sweep it up,” Jimin laughed walking to the back of the store. They dropped the soiled Cheetos and dusted off their hands. Irene leaned over and hugged Taehyung. Taehyung’s face heated up and his heart began to race. He was torn. He didn’t have time to have a schoolboy crush on a girl when he had so much at stake.

“Don’t worry about it, just let me know how you’re doing,” she smiled pulling away. “I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to hang out with me anymore…” she shrugged. Taehyung shook his head quickly before she could finish.

“Of course not! I’m not avoiding talking to you, I promise,” he assured, placing his hands on her shoulders. He saw her cheeks tinge pink upon his touch.

“Okay then. What are you doing tonight?” she asked. Taehyung shrugged. He truthfully didn’t have any plans after his shift with Jimin was done.

“Nothing that I know of,” he answered. Irene smiled and held his arm.

“How about you pick me up later and we go out? It’s been a few days and I enjoy your company…” she suggested, thumb brushing his arm. Taehyung had to fight the blush from the affectionate. He had never gotten close enough to a girl to feel this way before. Why should he make his own personal happiness suffer because of The Swan?

“Sounds like a plan. Any place in mind?” he asked leaving it up to her. Irene nodded.

“Yeah, you don’t have to be dressed super fancy but better than sweats,” she chuckled, gesturing to his outfit. He had really kept it basic with black sneakers, grey sweatpants, and a black hoodie. He began to feel self-conscious and stared at his feet. He had to look like a mess, he put no effort into his appearance.

“Will do,” he said shyly. Jimin came rushing towards them and quickly swept up the mess. Taehyung looked at him apologetically. “Sorry.”

Jimin put the broom and pan aside and faced the two. His eyes lingered on Irene for a moment. Something flickered briefly across Jimin’s eyes but Taehyung couldn’t read it. “Hi, I’m Jimin,” he introduced, holding out his hand. He smiled at her but this smile was way more laid back than he was used to seeing. Irene beamed at him and shook his hand.

“Irene,” she replied. She glanced at her watch and shook her head. “I actually have to go run some errands before tonight. I’ll see you later, Tae,” she waved as she made her way to the door. She looked at Jimin and gave him a lighter smile. “It was nice to meet you.”

Jimin nodded and waved. “Same to you.”

Something bit at Taehyung but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Both were kind to each other but something was off. Irene was gone before he could get a reading off the atmosphere. He looked back at Jimin who was behind the counter again.

“You’ve never met her before?” Taehyung asked. He couldn’t help it. Jimin shook his head.

“Nope,” he smiled. He felt like there was something but he knew that Jimin wouldn’t lie to him. “How do you know her?” he asked.

“She found me on the street after I was mugged,” he explained. Jimin looked at him funny.

“She seemed to like you a lot for some random guy she found bloody on the sidewalk,” he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“She stayed with me in the hospital when they picked me up because I didn’t have anyone and then I saw her a few days later and we hung out. She’s a really kind person,” Taehyung shrugged. He didn’t understand why Jimin was being so weird about her.

“Ah, that’s nice though. I’m glad you two met,” he smiled. Taehyung tried to read him but he couldn’t see anything. He glanced at his phone and saw it was getting late. He had to watch for a little longer from the side and get home to get ready to go out with Irene.

“I have to do some things myself, I’ll see you soon,” Taehyung said reaching for his wallet to pay for the Cheetos but Jimin shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. Wanna exchange numbers though?” he asked, holding out his phone. Taehyung thought for a moment before pulling up a new contact to hand to Jimin. He did a lot of risky things being with Jimin but sharing phone numbers didn’t seem like the end of the world. They exchanged numbers and Jimin came around to hug him. “I’ll see you soon.”

Taehyung waved and headed out to his car. He pulled away and drove around for a few minutes before parking a few blocks down to finish his post. He gazed at the 7-Eleven blankly, his mind on figuring out what he was going to wear to be with Irene.