Chapter Text
“Can ghosts see each other?”
Jimin looked up to Taehyung from his spot on the sofa, who looked like he was contemplating about a life changing decision. “What?”
“I said, can ghosts see each other?” Taehyung repeated. “I’ve been thinking about this all day. Like—if I died and stayed behind, would I be able to party with other ghosts or not? That’s the question.”
Jimin didn’t even want to know why he would be thinking about that at all, but no one knew how Taehyung’s creative mind worked. “I don’t know; why don’t you ask Jungkook? He’s the medium.”
“I want to but he hasn’t responded to his messages!” Taehyung whined. “He’s still on the field!”
Jimin sighed and leaned back, knowing how he feels. It’s been about a month since Jungkook joined the Family, and while there were many new things that came with living together, they were all very happy. But it didn’t change the fact that he still wasn’t counted as a member of BTS until the paperwork was approved of, so he was still doing separate cases as SC. With the exception of the seminar they did together, they haven’t been able to spend time at work with one another.
And they spend most of their day at work, so they haven’t seen the youngest one nearly as much as they wanted. Even though they lived together.
“Who’s still on the field?” Namjoon asked as he peaked into Taehyung’s office after knocking.
“Jungkook,” Taehyung pouted.
“Oh! No, he’s back already,” Namjoon said. “Director Bang caught him before he could come over though. He’s calling us too actually. Meeting in the conference room in five.”
Five minutes later, the whole Family was in their usual conference room with the Director as well. Who looked…strangely happy.
“So I have good news for you all,” He started excitedly. “Jungkook’s paperwork has finally been approved of! From now on, you’re officially retiring as SC and are being promoted to Jungkook of BTS!”
They all cheered loudly before moving to hug him, the boy himself having a wide bunny smile.
“Yay!” Jimin shouted, “From now on, we can spend more time together!”
Jungkook giggled, “We literally live together, Hyung.”
“But now we get to work together too!” Hobi cheered, before pausing and turning to their boss. “Right?”
The Director smiled, “His next case will be his first official case as a member of BTS, though we’ll wait to announce his debut over the media. So yes.”
Jungkook’s smile turned a little nervous, “And when will that be?”
“Your debut will be after the weekend, and since it’s Friday, you’ve got two more days.” The Director smiled, “Your first case will be on Monday.”
Jungkook nodded, looking relieved, as if he was happy he got some time. They didn’t blame him, it’s a pretty nerve wrecking situation to be honest
“Today, we’ll be moving you into your new office on BTS’s floor,” The Director continued. “And then we’ll give you your gear as BTS, as well as your new ID.”
Jungkook nodded eagerly; this was the part he was looking forward to after all.
“Come on!” Jimin held on to Jungkook’s arm excitedly, “We’ll help you empty out your old office.”
The director dismissed the meeting and the team went up to their floor. They passed their conference rooms and meeting lounges and entered large double doors shaped like the logo of BTS, opening to a carpeted floor.
Their offices were in a circle, with the empty space in the middle being used as the casual lounge/break room. The door right in front as soon as they entered was RM’s, with Suga’s to the right. Next to Suga was Jin’s, and next to that was J-Hope. The office to Hobi’s right was empty, so was the office next to that, and then came Jimin’s, then V’s. The office to the right of V was empty, and then they were back to Namjoon’s.
Jungkook ended up taking the one between Namjoon and Taehyung, to fill the gap in.
“Alright,” Namjoon rolled his sleeves up, “Let’s get this show started. The furniture in there is pretty basic, and the extra decor that you preordered should have arrived already. Yoongi-hyung, Hobi and I will help move around the furniture to how you like it. Jin-hyung and Taehyung will bring in the stuff you ordered, and you and Jimin can empty out your old office.”
“I’d like some help with emptying my office.” Jungkook protested, “But you don’t have to help with the furniture! It’s pretty heavy—”
Jin waved off his concern, “Namjoon’s got super strength, Yoongi can use his shadows to move stuff and Hobi can use his vines. Don’t worry about it.”
Jungkook sighed but accepted the help gratefully. He showed the three of them what he wanted the inside to look like, and then told Jin and Taehyung where the paintings and vases he ordered were. He and Jimin went down a few floors to his office, entering the busy floor with all the other detectives there.
Since it was lunch time, there was a playful atmosphere there. But as soon as Jimin entered, the mood in the room changed. Only a few of the detectives continued on with their conversations as they were, but majority of them started whispering amongst themselves.
“Hey, look!”
“Isn’t that Jimin? From BTS?”
“Oh my God, it’s Jimin.”
“What’s a member of BTS doing here?”
Jimin didn’t acknowledge the whispers. He wasn’t wearing his mask because most of the agents in the building knew what the team members looked like from before they were BTS, so it wasn't hard to be recognized. And considering their position, they were all sort of treated like celebrities in the law enforcement world, so these whispers were something he was used to.
But then Jungkook entered the bullpen and the whispers changed again.
“Ugh, Daddy’s boy is back again.”
“What’s he doing with a member of BTS?”
“I don’t know, probably licking Jimin’s boot to get promoted?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. The only reason why a useless kid like him got this far was because of his father after all.”
“Hyung?”
Jimin snapped his head towards Jungkook, who was looking at him concerned. “Are you okay? Your hands are clenched pretty tight.”
Jimin looked down on his palms and saw four red crescents glaring at him. “I’m fine. Where’s your office?”
“It’s over at the back.” Jungkook led him towards the back of the bullpen, to the only doored office on the floor. It was the office that was normally given to team leaders, but since this floor was dedicated to detectives who worked solo, Jungkook was given that privilege as the highest ranking detective. There was a glass window that could be used to see inside the office, but it was covered.
The whispers behind them only got worse, and Jimin pursed his lips to avoid reacting.
“Here we are,” Jungkook unlocked the door and opened it wide to let Jimin in.
His office was neat. It was bigger than normal offices, having been combined with the space next to it to give more room for Jungkook. There were two framed photos, one of Jungkook with his family, and one of Jungkook with Bangtan on his desk, facing his chair. But otherwise, it was pretty clinical—too professional. The shelves behind him were stacked up neatly with case files, as well as the cabinets. But other than the two pictures, nothing in the office screamed Jungkook.
Jimin hated it.
“How long have you had this office?”
“Since my father retired and I was named SC, so a couple of years,” Jungkook responded, moving the chair to get to the files on the shelves. “Why?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t decorated this place,” Jimin started slowly, not sure how to approach this subject. “I thought for sure you’d have pictures all over the wall.”
“Oh, I did at first,” Jungkook took down the files and kept them in one of the cardboard boxes prepared. Jimin moved to help him. “But one day I came back from the field and all of my pictures were ruined with sharpies. I had backups on my computers so I didn’t mind, but I never put any up again, to be on the safe side.”
“Do you know who did it?” Unlike Jungkook, who was casual as if talking about the weather, Jimin’s voice was hard.
“Yeah, there’re security cameras set up in the bullpen. Bang-nim fired them of course, for harassment.” This time there was an amused glint to his voice, as if he thought it was funny that someone was stupid enough to forget about the cameras.
Jimin let out an exhale. He felt slightly better knowing that Jungkook was making jokes about it. Emphasis on the slightly.
“I see.” He forced his tone to be light, “Well, this is just a heads-up, but just so you know, if I don’t find at least thirty pictures of me on the walls of your new office, I’ll stick a hundred of my selfies myself.”
Jungkook burst into giggles, “Okay, Hyung. I promise I’ll put up a lot of your pictures.”
“You better,” Jimin let out another slow exhale, feeling better after making Jungkook smile. He moved on to the cabinets and started emptying them into another box, “Do you need these in any specific order?”
“Just put them in in their current order, that should be fine,” Jungkook responded, still at the shelves.
“How do you normally organize the cases? I like to keep mine in chronological order.”
“I keep mine alphabetically,” Kook shrugged, “I’m not really good with dates to be honest.”
“Oh, do you prefer one night stands?”
“What?” Jungkook looked confused for a second before he realized, his face turning red, “That’s not what I—Hyung!”
Jimin laughed, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Still, alphabetical is way better than what RM-hyung does. He keeps them in order of the case number.”
Jungkook made a face, “Why? Like, if I were to ask him, ‘Hey, hyung, can you show me the case file for the Road-Rage case we did?’ do you think he’d ask me the case number?”
Jimin turned around to face him, laughing, “He actually did that once! V asked him to pass over a case we did called Double Three, and he looked like he didn’t know which one it was. Understandable, since we do a lot of cases. But then V reminded him, ‘I think we did that three months ago, if it helps?’.” Jimin let his voice go deeper to imitate Taehyung, before turning his face into a bemused expression. “It didn’t. I had to look up the case number on my computer to let him know which one it was.”
Jungkook burst into laughter, “How does he remember them?”
“Now he keeps a log with the case number, name and date to help him keep track better,” Jimin said, turning to the next drawer, “He only did that after Jin-hyung threatened to reorganize his office himself.”
The two of them kept giggling as Jimin gave Jungkook more dirt on their team.
About two hours later, Jimin stretched, “Ahh, finally, we’re done. I’m so tired.”
Jungkook came over to massage his shoulders a bit, Jimin melting into the touch. “Thank you for helping me out, Hyung.”
Jimin dismissed his gratitude with a wave, “Don’t mention it.”
The two of them balanced the cardboard boxes on a dolly and opened the door.
“We’re not forgetting anything, right?” Jimin asked, opening the drawers and cabinets once more to double check.
“I still get to keep the keys until Monday afternoon, so even if we did, we’ll come back for it later.”
Jimin hummed, still looking over everything. “I think we’ve got everything. Let’s go!”
Jungkook rolled the dolly out and Jimin locked up behind him. He rolled his shoulders, “Ahh, I want to eat!”
Jungkook asked him a question, but Jimin was barely paying attention. His mind was focused on their surroundings. Since break had ended, the bullpen was significantly less crowded, the detectives having gone back to the field. But the ones that were here stopped their work to stare at them, the whispers started again, accept this time excited.
“Is he finally being fired?”
“Yes!”
“Maybe he’s being demoted?”
“I sure as well hope he is!”
Jungkook just kept walking forward, smiling while talking about what he wanted to eat. Jimin realized that he was ignoring the whispering the same way Jimin had learned to ignore them. Because he was used to it.
Jimin’s fists clenched.
The two of them reached the elevator, and Jungkook stood in front of Jimin so he could put the dolly in first.
“I’m glad we’re finally free of that brat.”
Jimin turned his head around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. He didn't even realize his eyes had changed color until every other person in the room whimpered at the bloodlust he was releasing.
Jimin turned his head back just as Jungkook did.
The psychic looked around the room in confusion, not just at the sudden bloodlust but also because it was suddenly strangely quiet.
“Hey, Kookie.” Jimin sighed, as if he was hungry, “I want to eat something spicy. Let’s go order some spicy noodles.”
Jungkook didn’t answer, looking around in confusion, and then looking at Jimin in confusion, probably wondering how Jimin didn’t notice the change in atmosphere.
“Kookie?” The Basilisk purposely let concern fill his tone, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“Uh, nothing, I just, uh…why—why are you angry?”
Jimin knew he was going to ask this, since the medium could read emotions, so he had an excuse prepared beforehand. “Because I remembered that V ate my lunch, which explains why I’m hungrier than usual.”
“You’re this angry because he ate your lunch?” Jungkook was still suspicious, considering that Jimin was the type to willingly give his lunch away to any of them if they were hungry.
Jimin rolled his eyes playfully, “Okay, you’re right, that’s not why I’m angry. But it doesn’t matter anymore so let’s just go.”
Jimin wrapped a protective arm around Jungkook’s waist, pushing him gently into the elevator that just opened up. He turned around to glare once more at Jungkook’s previous floor-mates, who were all frozen with wide eyes, before he shut the door closed.
Once he had used his keycard to get to their floor, Jimin hugged Jungkook tightly.
“Hyung?” The younger’s arms came up around him, confused but wanting to return the hug nonetheless.
“I love you,” Jimin said, his voice thick with emotion. “I—and the others—know exactly how much effort and hard work you put into to get to where you are today. You’ve earned the title of BTS, even if others think you didn’t.”
Jungkook froze, finally realizing what Jimin had been angry about. He leaned his chin onto Jimin’s shoulder, whispering, “I know.”
Jimin could hear the smile in his voice, so he didn’t say anything else.
The door opened up again, revealing V and Hobi.
“Oh, are we hugging?” Hobi hopped on to them before letting him out.
Taehyung joined too, “Why are we hugging?”
Neither of the two responded, but Jimin gave them a look that said they’ll talk later. The two of them immediately understood that it had to do with the younger boy.
They tightened their hold, until a few minutes later when Jungkook said, “Guys, seriously, I like this, but we’re holding up the elevator.”
“Meh, there’s multiple other ones,” Taehyung shrugged.
“Is there a reason why we’re having a hugging fest?” Namjoon asked, also entering the place and looking at the group amused while Jin snapped a picture.
Jungkook muttered helplessly, though he still looked amused, “Hyung, help. I’m stuck.”
“You can continue hugging outside the elevator, where it’s less crowded?” Yoongi suggested.
The three of them moved backwards as one, still not breaking apart as they forced Jungkook out too. Yoongi took charge of the dolly and brought it out as Jungkook remained in their hold.
The three not entangled in limbs looked at each other, shrugged, and joined them. They only broke apart when someone’s stomach grumbled, causing them all to laugh and break free.
“I’m hungry too,” Jimin whined, “Let’s get spicy noodles.”
“No, no, no,” Jin disagreed, “We’re having a moment of celebration. We should get party food.”
“That reminds me!” Taehyung shouted, “Jungkook! I’ve been wanting to ask you this the whole day! Can ghosts see each other?”
Jungkook raised an amused eyebrow, “Why were you thinking about that all day? But yes, they can. On one of two conditions. The first is that they die together or from the same cause, like being killed by the same person or in the same fire or something like that. The second is if their physical bodies are together, so like cemeteries.”
While Taehyung thought about this new information, the others discussed what food they should get. Jimin just smiled, wrapping an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders. Yup. This is the kind of atmosphere that should surround their youngest.
Speaking of which, he was going to get so many people fired for workplace harassment.