Chapter 2: A Black Umbrella

Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook had met quite early on.

Long before Kim Taehyung first appeared on TV screens, the two of them had had a meeting.

At that time, Kim Taehyung was a third year student at a famous university. One day on the street had been given a business card. For Kim Taehyung who looked clean and good-looking this was not the first time something like this had happened. Every time previously he had simply thrown it into the trash bin and never thought about it again.

However that year was the first time his older brother Kim Younghoon had experienced a business failure, resulting in a large debt.

Although the sum was nothing compared to the one that in the future the Kim Taehyung who had gotten famous would have to repay for him, however at that time it was enough to make the Kim family suffer some pressure.

Thus, Kim Taehyung’s father and mother came to Kim Taehyung to discuss withdrawing him from school.

Kim Younghoon was their oldest son. And their “backup son” Kim Taehyung was someone who had been born unexpectedly and was outside their plans. In these two old people’s hearts, their expectations and concerns for their eldest son Kim Younghoon was always much higher than their second son Kim Taehyung.

And this time if Kim Younghoon was not able to come up with the money, he would face the penalty of a bankruptcy record, and would be a stain that he would not be able to clean off his entire life. So no matter what the fact that the younger brother Kim Taehyung should reach out to help his brother was something that they felt was to be expected.

Kim Taehyung was not surprised by this request even though he was not close emotionally with Kim Younghoon who was older than him by seven years.

However withdrawing from school would impact his future greatly. So in order to remain in school and still have money to help his family, Kim Taehyung sought out the company who had given him the business card.

He thought about the advance signing bonus that the company promised him. If he could help Kim Younghoon weather this initial hardship, then he could slowly make up the rest in time.

However in this world there was no such thing as a free lunch. The Kim Taehyung who was innocent and naive and didn’t have any society experience, fell into a trap this time. After he received the money, Kim Younghoon’s burdens were reduced greatly.

However at this time Kim Taehyung found out that his first job was to go to a club to accompany people to drink. He regretted it but it was too late to back out.

It was at this time that Kim Taehyung went out to the club, that he met the VIP customer, Jeon Jungkook.

Jeon Jungkook was immediately attracted to the pale-faced Kim Taehyung at first glance. It was not related to Kim Taehyung’s appearance. It wasn’t as though that in the circle of actors and models that he was used to associating in, that there wasn’t anyone better looking than Kim Taehyung.

What piqued Jeon Jungkook’s interest was the expression of panic and disgust in those eyes which the young man was unable to completely conceal. He wanted to see what it would take to make this young man yield.

However Jeon Jungkook overestimated Kim Taehyung. After only a few sips of spirits, Kim Taehyung became dizzy and was able to pushed down by Jeon Jungkook into the couch.

After being held underneath his chin and kissed with tongue, with their upper thighs rubbing together, Kim Taehyung’s eyes were filled with tears and he was played with by Jeon Jungkook until he was trembling and humiliated and nearly came inside his pants.

It was Jeon Jungkook who was pressing Kim Taehyung down who decided not to do it until the end. It was like he was playing with a small animal. He only licked Kim Taehyung’s red ears and unexpectedly let Kim Taehyung go that night.

But the day after Kim Taehyung ran away in a panic from the club, he received the notice that his contract had been transferred to the En Jiang Group’s subsidiary “Total Entertainment”.

He received a call from a slew of strangers which told him that Total Entertainment’s big boss was Jeon Jungkook and that he was very interested in taking Kim Taehyung as a kept lover, because he was clean and beautiful.

{T/N: 包养/”bao yang”, literally means nurturing/cultivating and basically means taking someone in and providing for all their expenses and in return they will become your kept lover or mistress. A sugar daddy/sugar baby type relationship.}

Kim Taehyung was so angry his entire body trembled. He was also both shocked and scared.

When Jeon Jungkook called personally to ask him, Kim Taehyung rejected him with a trembling voice. To this Jeon Jungkook replied in his husky voice and on the phone lightly laughed at Kim Taehyung for his innocence and naivety.

In the following weeks Kim Taehyung was on tenterhooks, afraid that Jeon Jungkook would come after him for revenge, however nothing came of it.

However all of the good opportunities for training and exposure passed him by. The other small name actors beside him told him that this could be counted as being slowly frozen out. If he didn’t consider changing his answer, then his career as an actor would be at an end.

This was something that Kim Taehyung could only wish for. The Kim Taehyung at that time only wanted to fulfill his contract at the most basic level. Once he repaid his debt, he would be free of this world of darkness and evil.

However it was as though the company wanted to keep Kim Taehyung hanging. Every job he got came with minimal payment, such as being the waiter at a wine exhibition or passing out flyers at a car exhibition.

This way it was dragged on and on, the contract wore on for over a year and by the time Kim Taehyung graduated university, he still had not repaid his debt.

In this time Kim Taehyung had also considered breaking the contract. However the high cost of breaking the contract was not something that Kim Taehyung could repay. Also, the contract clearly stated that during the time of the contract, Kim Taehyung was not able to undertake any other kind of separate work. Whether it be a tutor, shop assistant or even an assistant teacher at the school, it was all not possible.

It was completely denying Kim Taehyung all work opportunities. Even though he graduated from university, if he wasn’t able to get out of the contract, Kim Taehyung was still restricted and had no income.

And at this time the Kim family was still not able to completely walk out from the shadow of Kim Younghoon’s failed business venture. In the face of Kim Taehyung’s inability to work, they were filled with laments and complaints.

They had completely forgotten that the entire reason that Kim Taehyung had gotten into this mess was because of Kim Younghoon.

After Kim Taehyung graduated university for two months, just as his situation was becoming more and more hopeless, the company suddenly unexpectedly gave him a role in a long drama that was to run for over half a year. It was also something that suited Kim Taehyung’s image.

In order to help him undertake this role which had a “not many but also not few” number of scenes, the appropriate acting lessons and training also soon followed. In the next four months, Kim Taehyung undertook a busy and varied schedule of training which was almost equal to the official artists signed to the company.

Of course, the costs of such a training were to be undertaken by Kim Taehyung himself. According to the entertainment company, since the benefit of the training was Kim Taehyung then it was up to Kim Taehyung to pay for it.

However it seemed that the previous incident of Kim Taehyung rejecting being a kept lover seemed to have been forgotten by the company.

Kim Taehyung was suspicious about this incident however he couldn’t consider it too much. The reality of his circumstances forced him to accept these conditions. He seriously undertook his training programme and completely dedicated himself to his first role in “Partners for Life” as a single father, Jiang XinCheng.

In the drama, although Kim Taehyung’s acting ability was shallow, however his image completely completely fulfilled the requirements of the role. He was someone who had not been in society for long, an innocent and awkward single father.

All of this helped to cover up Kim Taehyung’s inexperience, and the addition of the cute and genius six year old child star Duo Duo helped a lot too. He acted as Kim Taehyung’s son in the drama and helped Kim Taehyung became famous almost overnight.

As the six month long drama “Partners” slowly broadcasted, during this time the company also helped Kim Taehyung accept many advertisement endorsements. All different types of jobs came his way and further helped push Kim Taehyung into the road of becoming an actor and after this it was impossible for him to get away.

Even afterwards when his fortune turned, Kim Taehyung did not consider leaving the road of being an actor. The first acting job really brought to Kim Taehyung many feelings of true joy.

However afterwards, Kim Younghoon once again had a second business failure. This time Kim Younghoon did not learn from the mistakes of the first time, and after falling in with some unsavory ‘friends’ and believing he had some insider knowledge, he thought he could invest in an unlisted company and be able to win back a great reward. Thus he borrowed a large sum of money from an underground money lender, and placed it all into this company.

However in the end the insider knowledge he received was only empty air. Thus Kim Younghoon fell into a huge debt. When the underground money lender furiously pursued him to repay the money, the entire Kim family was placed under violent threats of danger.

The Kim Taehyung who had no house or assets could only open his mouth to ask the entertainment company for more money in order to help his brother repay his debts and bypass the storm.

From that day on, the Kim Taehyung who on the screen was bright and dazzling, began to take on the dark and terrible burden of repaying debts.

Because it wasn’t just Kim Younghoon’s debt itself, but more because Kim Taehyung had been contracted to endorse several products, however when the news of Kim Younghoon’s debts ruined Kim Taehyung’s image, he had repay a much larger damage of defaulting on his contracts.

{T/N: Because his contract stipulates that he cannot have any image damaging incidents, or be forced to pay damages.}

And these two incidents of great rises and great falls became like a vicious cycle. And Kim Younghoon continued to ask Kim Taehyung to help him repay various debts. Thus Kim Taehyung’s debts became more and more, to the extent that even if he wanted to buy a car, he had to consider things carefully.

However Kim Taehyung’s debtee, from the beginning to the end, had always been Jeon Jungkook.

It was Jeon Jungkook who helped Kim Taehyung settle his damages for breaking his contracts, it was him that accepted all of Kim Taehyung’s responsibilities.

And the reason seemed to be just so he could at irregular intervals call Kim Taehyung on the phone, to discuss with him his debts and his choices in life, and ask him to reconsider his proposal which was still valid: to be his kept lover.

After seeing the gentle but stubborn Kim Taehyung refuse him time after time, it seemed that Jeon Jungkook was able to get some joy out of these interactions. He loved to bring up this proposal each time Kim Taehyung was at his lowest, to test Kim Taehyung’s perseverance.

This kind of mocking and playful attitude provided an explanation for some things. The people beside Kim Taehyung, whether it be his stylist, manager, or make up artist, were all people of skill and talent.

However each time he faced a crucial trial, they would not receive much assistance. It was as though a cold blanket always covered Kim Taehyung and so his road as an actor was always difficult and shallow.

It was not until the final time that Kim Taehyung really broke his heart.

He would rather that these ugly and poisonous slanders were tricks that Jeon Jungkook had created, rather than Kang Chireul. That was why he had run over here to accuse Jeon Jungkook. And the answer he had received was the one that until now he had been too afraid to face: Kang Chireul’s betrayal.

It was probably good that he had died at that moment. Kim Taehyung always thought this.

Facing the rejection of both his family and his lover, he really didn’t know what else he had to live for.

But he had never thought that Jeon Jungkook, whom Kim Taehyung had always seen as a knife held to his throat, would be so unexpectedly sorrowful over him.

Even if there must have been some element of guilt in there, Kim Taehyung had never blamed Jeon Jungkook. He only remembered Jeon Jungkook’s holding the black umbrella, and his anguished profile. That image was like a stamp, from the moment it appeared, it remained stubbornly fixed in Kim Taehyung’s mind....

[Di-lin-lin-di-lin-lin–]

In the darkness the piercing sound of the mobile phone rang, breaking Kim Taehyung’s daydream.

He picked up his phone and took a look. It was his older brother Kim Younghoon calling.

Kim Taehyung’s heart felt extremely complicated. Because judging by the time, he knew that his older brother was calling to beg for his help.

After “Partners for Life” broadcasted for two months, Kim Taehyung had only just signed a few important endorsement contracts.

However it was at this time that Kim Younghoon became indebted to the underground lender for the sum of two million borrowed money plus three million interest, a total sum of five million. He had received his final notice. If he didn’t pay within one week, then there would be consequences.

Since fate had chosen to let Kim Taehyung do over everything again, then this time what should he chose....?

“Big brother,” Kim Taehyung waited two more rings before answering the phone.

“Little brother!! You have to help me!! My life is in your hands!!”

Kim Younghoon’s cry sounded from the phone.

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