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Oct 8, 2020

“Pet Theft” pt. 2

Chapter 2, “Monkeying Around”

tags: violence, action, pet theft, blood, mentions of a hurricane

The mansion was enormous, Jungkook had always known that. But there was a difference between wandering the halls in search of a bathroom and wandering the premises in search of an unlocked window. There were cameras everywhere, because this guy was a freak, but Jungkook was an expert at spotting and avoiding cameras by now.

He felt bad thinking of his uncle as a freak, but only briefly. The man was a freak, because even though Jungkook was his family and also a member of the most famous boyband in the world, the man would still have him arrested for coming anywhere near his house. It was fine though. Jungkook knew what he was doing. This wasn’t his first rodeo.

Jungkook pushed through a rose of Sharon bush and looked up at the second floor window. It was cracked open, letting the summer breeze into whatever room that was. Jungkook had no idea. Despite growing up visiting this house frequently, Jungkook is sure there’s a ton of rooms he still hasn’t seen. Jungkook eyed his surroundings. A few feet from the window was a lattice against the brick wall. A trumpet vine climbed the lattice and continued up into the brickwork. There were no flowers right now though, which was good because Jungkook would have felt bad if he wrecked any. A quick glance around proved the area was free of cameras. Jungkook darted for the lattice and began climbing. He scaled the wall expertly then made a leap for the windowsill. He caught the stone sill and hauled himself up and into the room. His boots hit the carpet and he looked around.

The room was empty. It was a small office, bookshelves lining the walls and a big desk in the corner, piled with papers and envelopes. A hearth took up the right wall with a painting over it. Jungkook recognized the painting as the work of his cousin, Misun. The two of them shared this particular artistic ability. Jungkook remembered coming to his uncle’s house as a kid and painting with Misun, who is a few years older than him. She was already so good at that age. Jungkook feels like he’ll never catch up to her ability.

Tearing his eyes away from the painting, Jungkook crept across the carpet and out into the hall. Still no one in sight. He hoped to run into Misun on this mission. She could give him directions in this labyrinth of a house. She definitely wouldn’t call the police on him.

Eventually, the carpet gave way to hardwood floors. Jungkook took off his boots and crept along the wood in his socks. It was silent, no sign of anyone nearby. He found the stairs and took them down to the first floor, which he was relieved about. He was way more familiar with the first floor. The whole house was 1800’s Victorian style, which was really beautiful and magical, even after all these years and even though Jungkook was breaking and entering. It reminded him of Harry Potter. He remembered when he was about ten years old, his brother and Misun had already read the entire series. They liked to play Hogwarts in this house, making fun of Jungkook whenever he didn’t understand their references to the books. His brother claimed that Jungkook was too young to read them still, since the Harry Potter books were for adults. Jungkook had read them the next year, but by then, his brother and cousin were over playing Hogwarts.

Those were the last books Jungkook’s read if he’s being completely honest. It’s fine. He’s since spent his time developing other skills, like sneaking around a house undetected.

Jungkook heard a floorboard creak and leapt for the closest open door. It led into a dark room. He was wearing all black, so he easily melted into the shadows. He peeked around the corner to see his uncle’s second wife walking down the hall. He never called her his aunt. She never acted like an aunt. Misun liked to refer to her step mom as ‘Lucifer’s concubine’, never to her face but Jungkook always found it hilarious.

The woman walked past the room Jungkook was hiding in and disappeared around a corner. Jungkook let out the breath he was holding. He swung around the corner back into the hall and ran right into someone, fully startling them both and almost knocking each other over. It was Misun. Before she could scream, Jungkook slapped a hand over her mouth and pulled her into the room he was just in, closing the door behind them. He flicked on the light and looked at her with wide eyes. She looked back at him with equally wide eyes. As soon as she recognized him, she sagged in relief, which quickly turned into annoyance. Jungkook took his hand off her mouth and she slapped him in the arm.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she whispered. “I thought you were a rapist.”

“I’m stealing another one of your dad’s pets,” he said.

“Well you’re not being careful enough. You could have run into his wife instead of me. She’s around here somewhere,” Misun said.

“Yeah, I just saw her,” said Jungkook. “Noona, I need help finding his conservatory.”

“It’s connected to the dining room, you know that,” said Misun.

“Yeah, but which dining room? Last time I broke into it, I was in a hurry trying to get away from your dad. I didn’t really see where I was going.”

“Go down this hall, take a left. Go through the kitchen, into the courtyard. It’s easier to get into it through the courtyard. You’ll see it then,” said Misun. “Be careful. I’ll try to distract them both. Text me when you’re out of the house.”

“Thank you, you’re the best!” Jungkook said, hugging her. She didn’t hug back.

“Thank you who?”

“Thank you noona,” said Jungkook.

“If you get eaten by a tiger, I’m not coming to your funeral.”

“I won’t get eaten by a tiger,” said Jungkook.

“Imagine if you got eaten by a tiger. BTS would fall apart and then the whole Korean economy would fall and everyone would lose their jobs and go hungry. The country would fall into shambles and all your fans would be devastated. How would you feel then?” Misun asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t feel anything ‘cause I’d be dead,” said Jungkook. “But it’s fine. I’m not taking the tiger this time.”

Misun rolled her eyes and mumbled, “’Next time.’” She left the room and glared at him once more before closing the door behind her. Jungkook waited a few minutes after hearing Misun call for her parents. Then he opened the door and crept out, following the directions his cousin gave him. He finally made it to the courtyard without being spotted and saw the conservatory in all of its glory. It was beautiful, the domed glass arching over the all glass room. A set of huge double doors led into the conservatory, which Jungkook opened. The sounds of all kinds of animals rang out through the conservatory. Big cats growling, monkeys shrieking, birds squawking…it was a cacophony of unease in Jungkook’s head. He knew these animals weren’t treated right. Most of them were hungry or sick. He tried not to look at most of them as he made his way to one particular cage and tried not to feel guilty that he’d be leaving them behind today. He’d come back for them, he promised himself he would.

The cage he stopped at held a marmoset, the tiny thing curled up on it’s branch. Jungkook put his boots back on and pulled his backpack off. Out of his backpack, he produced a ziplock bag of carrots and grapes, which Jin had sent him with as a snack. Jungkook took a carrot out of the bag and held it between the bars. The marmoset peeked over at him, eyeing the carrot suspiciously. The little guy made no move to grab the carrot though. Jungkook tossed the carrot back into the bag and pulled out a grape. When he held that through the bars, the marmoset looked at it with a bit more interest. Finally, the monkey sprang into action, jumping off his branch and grabbing onto the cage bars. He grabbed the grape and bit into it, chewing happily.

Jungkook eyed the padlock on the door of the cage. Maybe he should have looked for keys somewhere, but the padlock didn’t look too strong. At the very least, the hinges of the door didn’t look too strong either. He gripped the bars and held the cage steady with his other hand. The marmoset went back to his branch and watched nervously as Jungkook pulled on the door with all his might. The hinges creaked and the bars buckled. He adjusted his grip and pulled again, this time the whole door breaking off with a loud clang. He winced at the sound as he set the cage door on the ground.

The monkey shrieked and curled up in the corner of his cage, staring at Jungkook with wide eyes. Jungkook pulled another grape out and set it in front of the monkey, then stepped away. Nervously, the marmoset reached out a tiny hand and grabbed the grape, munching on it slowly. Jungkook reached a hand in to let the marmoset investigate. The little monkey approached slowly, sniffing at his hand and then looking around his palm for another grape. Jungkook pulled out another grape and offered it to him. The monkey snatched the grape away and ate it. Jungkook thought now was the time. He reached out to scoop up the monkey, but the little guy did it himself by climbing up Jungkook’s arm and sitting on his shoulder. Jungkook smiled and put the bag of carrots and grapes back into his backpack. As he slung the bag back onto his back and made his way out of the conservatory, he heard a voice call out.

“Jungkook! I’ve already called the police you little punk. So you might as well turn yourself in!”

It was his uncle. The monkey on his shoulder shrieked and grabbed his hair as Jungkook started backing away. His uncle tried to lunge for him, but Jungkook was quicker. He darted away and made a run for the double doors. A hand grabbed his ankle and he crashed to the floor, the marmoset yelling and jumping off of him onto a nearby cage. The lemurs inside went crazy as the little monkey taunted them. Jungkook was dragged by his ankle and his uncle stood over him.

“How dare you show your face back here,” his uncle growled. “You might as well give up, you little shit.”

Sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer and closer. His uncle pinned him down. Jungkook was probably stronger than the man, but his uncle was bigger and heavier. Jungkook didn’t stand a chance when the man put his weight into pinning him down.

“Freeze! Don't move!" the police shouted as they burst into the conservatory. Panic coursed through Jungkook. He couldn't get arrested. He had a reputation to uphold. His hyungs would be so disappointed. Army would be even more disappointed. So he did the only thing he could think of. He kicked his uncle's feet out from under him, then leapt to his feet. He reached out an arm and the marmoset jumped to him. Jungkook tucked the monkey into his coat as he ran right for the closest window, jumping and smashing through it. He hit the ground with a roll before getting back up and running. There was a wall around the courtyard, providing privacy to the garden. Jungkook could hear the police behind him, shouting and threatening him. Two apple trees stood by the wall, which Jungkook used to jump between to the top of the wall. Then he jumped down, his boots hitting the pavement.

Back in the city. He took off running still. The little monkey peeked out of his coat. His tiny hands were clutching Jungkook’s T-shirt. This side of the city was not only decrepit and seedy, it was also unfamiliar to Jungkook. Especially since that hurricane hit and everything was either destroyed or underwater.

He had managed to lose the cops by jumping that wall but he wasn't in the clear. They'd be on the lookout for him. He was both famous and carrying a monkey not native to this area even a little bit, so he really had to be careful. He ducked into an alleyway, his boots splashing through the water. The water level was really getting high around here. He could still hear the sirens. The cops were close.

Jungkook's eyes darted around the alley. There was a crawlspace up ahead, a few feet above the water. He sloshed through, then jumped up to grab the ledge, pulling himself up into the crawlspace. The marmoset scampered over Jungkook and into the crawlspace to avoid being squished. The little monkey decided to lead the way from there, Jungkook following close behind. The crawlspace opened up into a bigger tunnel, something that Jungkook could actually stand up in, albeit hunched over. Water dripped from the pipes and grates above. The dripping water and footsteps echoed in the tunnel. Jungkook could barely see ahead of him, so he pulled out his phone flashlight. He didn’t want to step on the marm. The two of them stopped at some point, Jungkook pulling his backpack off and slumping against the wall. He pulled out the bag of snacks and handed a grape to the marmoset’s already outstretched hand. Jungkook began munching on the carrots.

He looked at his phone. A few from the group chat asking where he was. He hadn’t told anyone he was going to do this today. A few texts from Misun. He texted her back that he was out of the house and away from the police. Then he texted the group, letting them know he was safe and not arrested. Then he put his phone away.

The grates above them filtered in some sunlight and the ground here was mostly dry. The marmoset was rummaging through the ziploc bag hanging from Jungkook’s fingers, sorting the grapes from the carrots. Jungkook rubbed the marmoset’s head. His fur was brown and he had a halo of soft fur around his head. He was smaller than what Jungkook was expecting. A pygmy marmoset, if Jungkook’s quick google search back home was anything to go by.

“Jimin hyung would love you,” said Jungkook. “Actually, they'd all love you."

He sighed and stood up, reaching out his arm so the marm could climb up to his shoulders. He packed up his belongings and slung the backpack back on, ignoring the rapid fire texts buzzing in on his phone. As they trekked further into the tunnel, it eventually opened up into a proper maintenance tunnel, complete with dim red lights up on the wall and more water on the ground.

Jungkook imagined his hyungs taking this route and chuckled to himself. They'd be terrified.

The tunnel led them to a set of stairs going down. There was nothing but the sound of dripping water, so Jungkook deemed it safe to go down.

The stairs led to an underground electrical maintenance room, complete with open, sparking wires and two foot deep water. Jungkook sighed and looked around. At the other end of the room, there was an open door. He eyed the best way to get there, then tightened the straps of his backpack.

“Hang on tight, little guy," he said. He didn't know if the monkey actually understood him, but the little marm actually did tighten his grip on Jungkook's hair. He braced against the stairwell and jumped for the nearest generator machine, just barely grabbing the pipes and missing the water. He climbed to the top of the generator. There was a desk below, an old, gutted desktop computer sitting on the surface. Jungkook climbed down onto that, then continued on in this fashion - jumping and climbing his way to the door to avoid the water.

The door ended up conveniently leading to a few stairs above the water, which Jungkook made the leap to. The rubber of his soles barely grazed the water. From there, after a few twists and turns through the halls, Jungkook found himself in what used to be a casino. Some of the slot machines were still on, providing some kind of light. But most were either flickering or completely dead. Some were totally gutted, the cash inside stolen. The garbled sound of slot machine music mixed with dripping water to create an eerie atmosphere. The carpet was wet and wires and broken pipes hung from the ceiling. As he walked though, he had an urge to replay the Bioshock games. Maybe he would do that when he got home, if they didn’t have more shit in their schedules. Maybe he could get Jin to play. Jin was fun to play horror games with.

Jungkook strolled through the decrepit casino, taking in the vines and moss growing up through the cracks in the ground. He felt his phone ringing in his pocket, but didn’t answer it. The casino led into a hotel, in much the same state. Jungkook wondered if there was actually a way out of this place, or if he was doomed to roam around in here forever. He tried to follow the directional signs on the walls until he finally found the exit. Once he got outside, he pulled up the map Namjoon had sent him a few days ago to a wildlife sanctuary. Namjoon had really done his research on it too, which Jungkook was grateful for. It was a non profit, private sanctuary that restricted guests and did other non profit work for the environment. It sounded legit; Jungkook trusted Namjoon’s judgement on this one.

The sanctuary wasn’t far, thankfully, but he’d have to take the train. He didn’t have his wallet, so he’d have to sneak on. Not the first time, but he wasn’t rich back then. Now it was just stupid. As he made his way to the train station, he flipped through the messages on his phone from the group chat. Everyone was expressing varying degrees of surprise and panic. He’d explain later. He also had a message from Misun stating that “The police tried to track you. I’m breaking my phone for you, asshole. You better buy me a new one with your idol money,” then nothing from her afterwards. Jungkook chuckled at that. She was so funny.

Once Jungkook got to the train station, he politely coaxed the marmoset to hide in the backpack, which the monkey was grudgingly agreeable to. Then he put his hood up and pulled a face mask from his pocket. He didn’t need people recognizing him here, and he definitely didn’t need the police recognizing him. When he got to the gates, he waited for the guards to look away before hopping over the turnstiles, then blending into the crowds to board the train.

Jungkook found a seat near the window, gently pulling the backpack off and putting it on his lap. He could feel the marm moving around inside, so he unzipped the backpack a little bit to take a peak. The marm was rummaging through Jungkook’s belongings, pulling a water bottle aside to get at the gold chain in the bottom of the bag.

Jungkook pulled the bag closed as a set of security guards walked by. The train started moving. Both guards eyed him suspiciously as they walked by, swinging their batons. As soon as they moved past, Jungkook let out the breath he’d been holding. That was a close one.

“That was a close one, huh?” Jungkook asked the marm as he peaked back into the bag. The marm blinked up at him. Jungkook scratched his head.

Now all he had to do was wait for his stop. The marm wasn’t having it though. After rummaging through the snack bag three times and coming up with no more grapes, he began to get angry. Jungkook leapt out of his seat and ran to the bathroom. The marm was loudly complaining about this predicament, climbing out of the backpack and throwing carrots around. Jungkook closed them into the tiny bathroom and tried to reason with the marm.

“Hey, hey, hey! Come on man!” Jungkook tried to grab the monkey, but he was jumping all over the bathroom, shrieking and throwing carrots still. Jungkook finally got a hold of him and took the bag of carrots away.

“No! We don’t throw things!” Jungkook scolded, wagging his finger. The marm grabbed his finger and bit it. “Ow!”

Jungkook yanked his finger back. He didn’t know how to handle this situation, so he sat on the closed toilet lid and let the little monkey wear himself out. After about half an hour, the marm had tantrumed himself into a nap on Jungkook’s lap. Even though he was a brat, the little marm sure was cute.

Just as Jungkook was gathering the monkey into his arms to put back into the backpack, someone pounded on the door of the bathroom.

“Hey, what’s going on in there?” someone asked. Whoever it was was rattling the door latch.

“Uhh, yeah, just finishing up in here,” Jungkook said. He zipped the backpack up and slowly opened the door, glancing around at the mess of carrots all over the place. “You might not wanna go in there for a while.”

As Jungkook looked up at the person at the door, he froze. It was a security guard. The guard narrowed his eyes. He was tapping his foot and smacking his baton against his palm.

“Hmmm, you look a little...familiar,” he said. Jungkook lifted his mask up over his nose.

“Really?” Jungkook asked, his voice squeaking a bit. The guard rubbed his chin. Jungkook felt a drop of sweat run down his face.

“Oh! You’re from BTS!” the guard said. “My daughter is a huge fan! You’re her favorite. Can I get a picture or an autograph for her?”

Jungkook let out a sigh of relief. “I can give you an autograph. No picture, sorry,” he said.

The guard pulled out a scrap of paper and Jungkook signed it.

“Thank you so much, my daughter will be so jealous I got to meet you,” he said. Jungkook smiled and nodded. “But wait a second…”

Jungkook froze. The guard narrowed his eyes again.

“Aren’t you... part of that group that had that scandal?” he asked. Jungkook let out a breath.

“No, that wasn’t us,” he said. “We didn’t have any part of that.”

“Oh okay,” the guard nodded and turned to walk away. “Wait a second! You’re that kid the police are after! And you didn’t pay your train fee, did you?”

Jungkook turned and ran.

“Hey! Get back here!” the guard shouted. Jungkook bolted down the center aisle of the train car, the guard trying and failing to keep up. Jungkook ran through car after car until he reached the very back. The door was locked. He could see the tracks streaming behind them through the little window.

He had lost the guard, but he could hear the man yelling and catching up. The marmoset unzipped the backpack from the inside and climbed up onto Jungkook’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we’re gonna get out of here,” said Jungkook. This train car was full of luggage, which Jungkook was thankful for. He didn’t need any passengers around to see him. Jungkook pulled the monkey off of his shoulder and placed the marm onto a nearby suitcase. Then he braced himself and kicked the door with all his might. It didn’t budge. It was a slide door, not a swing door. Jungkook wasn’t sure what he was expecting.

The door at the other side of the car opened up and the guard came through. The man was huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath.

“Just turn yourself in, kid,” the man said. “I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“You can just let me go,” said Jungkook. “I’m doing the right thing here. You can just pretend you didn’t see me.”

“No can do, son,” said the guard. He lifted his baton and came at Jungkook swinging, but Jungkook was faster. He ducked fast and then came back up with an elbow. He hit the man square in the jaw, knocking him out cold. Jungkook grabbed the guy and lowered him to the ground.

“I’m sorry, sorry, sorry,” he mumbled. Then he went back to the door to try to figure out how to open it. The marm was chittering on the ground next to the guard. Jungkook looked over at him. The monkey was tugging at a ring of keys on the man’s belt.

“Genius! You’re a genius,” Jungkook said, unclipping the keys and flipping through them. He finally found the right one and opened the door. Jungkook held out an arm and the marmoset jumped over to him, taking his spot back on his shoulder.

“Hold on tight, marm,” said Jungkook. He swung out the door and started climbing the metal ladder to the roof of the train. The wind whipped past and the monkey almost lost his grip. Jungkook grabbed the marm and held him close as they trekked across the top of the train. Their stop was coming up. The train was slowing down as it neared the station. Jungkook knew that he had to get off before they got to the station, so the guards wouldn’t see him. He just didn’t know how. He’s never jumped off of a moving train before. God, if the guys knew what he was about to do, they’d have a fit.

He waited for the train to slow down enough, then relayed the plan to the marm.

“We’re gonna jump, okay?” he said. “You’re good at jumping.”

Their train car was approaching a tree. Jungkook prepared to throw the marm. He didn’t want to do this; if anything ever happened to this monkey, he would kill everyone and then himself. But he also knew that this was kind of what monkeys were made for. So he tossed the marm to the tree as it passed. It looked like he caught a branch, but Jungkook didn’t stick around to make sure. He jumped for the gravel, his feet hitting quick before he launched into several rolls. It was painful, the rocks digging into his back and shoulders as he rolled, but at least nothing was broken or sprained.

Then he leapt to his feet and ran for the tree. Jungkook only had to open his arms and the marm jumped to him.

“I’m sorry little guy!” he said. The marm was hugging him tightly and Jungkook had to pry him off to look him over. He didn’t seem to be harmed at all, which was good because if he was, Jungkook would have lost it.

“We’re not gonna do that again,” Jungkook said as they walked away from the train station. “That was way too risky.”

The marm chirped in response and took his place back on Jungkook’s shoulder. Jungkook pulled out his phone, whose screen was only a little cracked from the jump, and pulled up the map. The sanctuary was close. The thought of the place made his stomach turn a bit, but a mission was a mission. He walked through the forest, taking his time as the sun began to set. The closer he got, the sicker he felt.

The sanctuary was in the woods, consisting of one small building and then fenced in land behind it. When Jungkook arrived, he went in through the door and found himself in a reception area.

“Hi, how can I help you?” asked the receptionist. She looked like a nice girl, but Jungkook kind of felt like running out of here as fast as he could. And maybe throwing up a little bit.

“Are you okay sir?” she asked. Through his anxious thoughts, he found it weird that she was calling him ‘sir’. She was probably older than him. Maybe.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m here to…” abandon this monkey like an absolute monster. Was he really going to leave this monkey here, all alone, after everything they’ve been through? He could feel the marm’s little hands holding onto his hair. He began tearing up just thinking about it.

“Actually, I don’t think I can…” Jungkook began. The receptionist looked at him, concerned and a little alarmed. “I’ll be back another time. Do you have any pamphlets or something about proper marmoset care?”

She smiled and said, “I’ll print something off for you.”

Jungkook slumped into one of the chairs by the desk as the receptionist, Byeol, as her name tag read, typed away on her computer. Jungkook pet the marm as he let the anxiety roll through him.

“They’re not supposed to be kept as pets though…” Jungkook mumbled.

“No, but he’s already been domesticated, so it’s not like he can go back into the wild. He’ll probably be better off with you, since he seems to be pretty attached. A lot of times, when people leave their pets here, they get anxiety about being abandoned, even if they’re better off,” Byeol said. “Don’t feel too guilty about it. Where did you get him?”

“My uncle. He has a lot of exotic pets. I’m trying to get them all better homes because my uncle is an asshole,” said Jungkook. Byeol laughed.

“I’m sure he’ll be better off with you than anywhere else,” she said. “We’d take care of him here, too, of course.”

“But I’ll miss him,” said Jungkook, pouting and looking down at the marm in his lap. “I can’t leave him.”

The printer in the corner of the office whirred to life and printed off a few sheets of paper. Byeol got up and grabbed them, stapling them together and handing them to Jungkook.

“Email us if you have any other questions, but you should be okay,” she said. “I’d like to know how he’s doing though.”

Jungkook stood up and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be back with other animals. I’ll let you know. Thank you.”

He nodded to her and walked out. Standing outside in front of the building, he fiddled with his phone, wondering what his hyungs are going to think when he comes home with a monkey. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it. In the meantime, he called a taxi to pick him up at the nearest road.

When he got home, Jungkook spent two hours setting up a space for the marm in his room. Even though he had his own fluffy bed, the little guy still slept on Jungkook’s pillow beside him that night.

#bts #bts fanfic #jeon jeongguk #jungkook #jimmy k #crystalstar #pet theft

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