Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I don’t care, you said twenty, I want twenty.”

“I know— Understand I couldn’t, Woo wasn’t there and it was another asshole,” The man in front of him said, keeping his balled fists at his side.

“I’ll give you a week to get it, if not, face the consequences.”

Jimin turned away from the man and walked out of the room, walking towards Seokjin who was waiting for him. “Aren’t you great?”

“Come on, you know I try,” He chuckled faintly, glaring at the man as he walked out. “Some really need to learn.”

“It’s a problem, actually,” Seokjin hummed, walking with him. “Namjoon used to have problems with those little dealers.”

Even after a year, Jimin could hear Seokjin’s voice trembling at the mention of his deceased boyfriend, even after a year new ones believed he wasn’t really who handled things inside there, who dumbly believe they could talk others and try to convince them they should go against him.

Despite feeling kind of bad for them, Jimin never showed it as he saw Jungkook or someone else beating them until they begged for another chance.

“Jim, I think your parents arrived,” Taehyung said as he popped out of the cell, looking at him.

“Great…” Jimin sighed, pushing his hair back and looking towards the door.

“You deal with criminals all day, Jimin, your parents should be easier,” Seokjin patted his shoulder, giving an encouraging squeeze.

It was partially true, Jimin dealt with people, dangerous ones, on a daily basis but even with that, he became an anxious mess when it came to his family.

His mother had watched his son spend a whole year in prison, had seen him turning from the scared boy he usually was to one that talked about his life there as if it was the most normal thing, the two of them watched him arriving with bruises he couldn’t really explain more than a fight .

“Wish me luck,” He sighed, ruffling his own hair again before walking away, going through the door and the guard checked on him, pointing at the table where they were sitting at.

“Jimin, dear, you’re finally here,” His mother said as she reached to hold his hand, squeezing it for several seconds before having to let go. “I’m so glad you’re not hurt.”

“Yeah, haven’t had any problems,” He said, sitting down almost awkwardly in front of them. “How have you been?”

“Worried, how do you think we would be?”

“Stop it, it’s not the time for that,” His mother said, glaring at his father for several seconds before looking back at Jimin. “Dear, there’s something I need to ask you.”

Jimin held his breath at that, he had the idea of what was coming. “Yes?”

“The other day we talked with Junmyeon,” She said, squeezing her fingers tightly. “We asked about the reducing of the sentence and he said you refused it.”

Yes, Junmyeon had come to talk about it, had come to say the time to claim for a lower of the sentence was getting closer and he had to start looking for the papers. Jimin had said he didn’t want to do it, it just didn’t feel right.

“I did,” He said, clearing his throat and resting his elbow on the table.

“Why would you even do that?” His father spat.

“Because it’s not right,” He said, sighing quietly. “I have six years to go and I’ll be here.”

“Jimin, you don’t deserve to be here, you’re innocent—”

“I am not, mom, I killed that man and I don’t regret it, will never be.”

“You’re a monster,” His father hissed, slamming his hand against the table before standing up and walking away.

It wasn’t the first time and Jimin couldn’t even feel bad, he was a monster, he knew it, his pointy teeth were there when he smiled when he laughed when he brushed his teeth; his yellowish eyes sparkled in the darkness of the room when he woke up at night.

“Please don’t say that,” His mother pleaded, holding his wrist once more. “You’re here because you were tricked and were only protecting yourself from that monster who wanted to kill you, it was an accident!”

His mother continued being optimistic, continued thinking his little baby could never hurt someone else, not even when the judge had said the man was stabbed thirty times. Self-defence, she continued repeating it over and over all day and all night, Jimin was sure of that.

“Mom, please rest, I’ll be fine.”

He still couldn’t forgive himself for putting his mother in this situation, for hurting her like this, but he also knew he couldn’t do anything about it, he wasn’t going to go out and pretend his life was normal when he had blood on his hands.

“Mochi, how did it go?” Looking away from the small window at the top of the wall, Jimin found Jungkook looking at him from the entrance.

“As awful as always,” Jimin said with a humourless chuckle, moving back so Jungkook could hold him.

“Such a small one,” Jimin was still scared, still felt that he could day in any moment, that he had many, many things to deal with and that they were sometimes too much. Jungkook was who held him, his comfort and even today it was still the weirdest sensation.

“You can just kill them if they’re being stupid.”

He said it so naturally and Jimin was more surprised when he ended up agreeing with it.

“Sorry, I am tired.”

“I know, but don’t worry, mochi, everything will be okay.”

He never understood why Jungkook always said that but he believed him, his body always relaxed with those words.

After all, he had survived a year already.

Chapter Text

“When I entered here I wasn’t really scared,” Jimin listened to Hoseok as he talked, his lifeless eyes looking at his fingers that played with the dirt on his box for gardening. “I knew what I had done, knew my parents cried because they were horrified and my sister cried because she didn’t want me to be away.”

“She was thankful, right?”

“Of course, her heart was broken because I was paying for her mistakes, she wanted me to lie and made up an excuse,” He sighed. “But there is no excuse for torturing someone and then kill it.”

Hoseok had gone into detail of how everything had been, he said about returning earlier from school to hear his sister crying and begging to be let go, he had opened the door and found her being held down by his probably drunken boyfriend. He chocked him, cut his dick off and finally let him choke on his own blood because the fucker deserved it and Jimin couldn’t even disagree.

“I never pleaded to be not guilty and just nodded with a shrug when the sentence came,” Hoseok muttered with a tired sigh, resting his face on his dirty hand, he looked up at Jimin. “The first thing I told Yoongi was fuck you.”

Jimin chuckled with him, imagining the face of the other that, even though it’s been months since he last saw it, could swear was always present inside his mind. “Why?”

“When I arrived it was only Jungkook and Namjoon, Seokjin and Yoongi weren’t there,” He started to explain, the small almost reminding him of the Hoseok he used to be . “When Yoongi appeared a couple of months later, he had this bad boy aura wherever he moved and one day I was in a very bad mood and he came with his big ass and made the tower of towels I had done fall to the floor so, naturally, I yelled fuck you.”

Jimin could swear that he could imagine the scene, the little time he had the chance of seeing Yoongi and Hoseok interacting had been like studying the sun and the moon, two opposites that somehow fit perfectly. “I’m sure it was fun.”

“Later it was, but at that moment everyone just stared at me as if they could already see me dead,” Hoseok said with an amused expression. “Yoongi just stood there, looking at me, before walking closer and asking what did I say, I told him to fuck himself a second time.”

“What did he say?” He asked, Hoseok seemed to be living those moments again and he didn’t have the heart to stop him.

“He freaking laughed, the idiot laughed at me,” He said, huffing quietly. “Who the fuck laughs like him? Showing his gums as if he didn’t know he’s perfect when he does it.”

There was that pang of sadness in his voice, but he seemed to get rid of it faster than anything else. “He has a peculiar smile.”

“We never understand how the fuck we fell for each other, never realise when we started feeling love, we just… stared at each other and the rest didn’t matter,” He sighed, hugging his legs closer to his chest. “When I broke with him I thought I was living the worst part of my life… turns out it wasn’t being this one.”

Jimin scooted closer to him, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and resting his head on his arm. “Just… keep moving, he’s strong.”

“That’s what I have been telling myself for all this time, but he has been in coma for ten months now…” He said, voice breaking at the end of the sentence. “Do people even wake up? And if he does, is he returning here?  To me? Does he even remember me?”

Jimin wanted to say that yes, that there was no way Yoongi could ever forget the person he loved as much as he loved him, that his sunshine was the first thing he would think about as soon as he opened his eyes, but he didn't know, he lived for months in a lie, thinking the world was one way when, in reality, it was the complete opposite;  the chances of Yoongi not remembering and waking up were getting slimmer and slimmer with each day that went by and if one day someone came to tell them he had passed away, Hoseok was going to fall to a place no one could recover and he didn’t want that.

“He loves you,” He whispered, holding him tightly and letting him let go of all those tears that not having who he loved by his side created inside him.

◊◊◊

“Jimin you just messed up everything I did!” Taehyung whined as Jimin doubled over in laughter, trying to pick the books up from the floor. “What did I do to you?!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to,” Jimin said as the bunch he had on his arms fell again. “But your face was priceless.”

After months of staying just doing the laundry, Jimin decided to switch his work, ending with Taehyung in the library while Seokjin moved to the kitchen and Jungkook stayed on his same place. They had agreed to change things a bit, Jungkook wasn’t that happy he couldn’t move with Jimin but since his work involved being out picking books up and giving new ones, he tended to be around like a moon orbiting its planet.

Jimin really liked it.

“My face is always priceless,” Taehyung snorted, pushing him away to pick his books. “Because of you, it will take me months to organise everything again.”

“If you don’t get tired after picking one book, I can assure you will finish sooner,” Jimin teased him, dodging the book thrown his way.

“There seems to be a problem with my money,” Looking away from Taehyung, Jimin looked at the guard who had entered and walked closer to them. “I didn’t get all.”

“Are you seriously asking why?” Jimin sighed as he picked up the book. “You have to be kidding me.”

“I am; I have been doing everything-”

“Not everything, he intervened,” Jimin cut him before he could continue. “You were supposed to do the check up the other day but you weren’t there and Taemin lost twenty.”

“I was called by the director,” He said, crossing his arms in an act that seemed more to refrain himself from doing something rather than threatening.

“Not really my problem.”

“I could just go and say –”

“Then go and do it,” Jimin said, slamming the book on the nearest table. “I wonder who is going to lose more?”

The man’s jaw tensed as his eyes glared at him, Jimin only smiled.

“In case you haven’t noticed it, I’m already a prisoner, I have a long ass sentence of six years and a half on my back,” He said. “Want to threaten to kill me? Go on, have been there, want to go for my family? Someone had tried it as well, not even the rape card will work… what about you?”

There was a silence that stretched all over the room before the guard swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll get that back.”

“Good, Taemin has his merchandise, you have your money, easy.”

When the guard turned around to leave, Jimin let himself slide down the bookshelf behind him, face burying itself on his hands as Taehyung went to sit at his side. “It’s so exhausting.”

“But you were born to do it,” Taehyung hummed as he pulled his head to rest it on his legs, running his fingers through his hair. “You’re managing it like a pro despite not having a single idea of what to do before.”

“All of you have been helping me,” He smiled, comforted by his touch. “I don’t consider myself someone good, I think some people deserve to suffer and die, but sometimes it’s confusing.”

“Well, the fact that you killed someone doesn’t immediately turn you into Jungkook,” Taehyung said with a teasing tone as he poked his cheek. “Just be you, you’re doing great, not like the Chim that entered here.”

“I was so different, right?” He chuckled. “I was scared of everything, jumped with everything and now… I’m the fucking king.”

“That’s what I call improvement,” Taehyung hummed. “You were like a leaf thrown inside a tornado, don’t know how you didn’t have a heart attack.”

He didn’t know either and had given up in trying to understand, he changed, he went to trembling leaf to a wild animal that tore apart someone’s stomach.

Great.

“Namjoon would be proud of you, you know,” Taehyung whispered as he scratched his head. “He liked you, that’s why he continued helping you.”

“I miss him too… even though we didn’t have much time to spend together, I liked him,” He sighed, leaning into the touch. “You think he really liked me?”

“I can assure you that if some of the bastards out there would have saved Jin, he would have never offered so many things to them,” He nodded. “You were different and that’s why he chose you.”

“He didn’t really choose me, it’s something the others decided,” He said as he closed his eyes.

“No one would have suggested him if they didn’t see Namjoon’s preferences.”

That left him thinking, did Namjoon really believed in him? Did that fearless leader believe he could do something this big? He believed Jin had been everything, but now he could somehow see that maybe the other saw something in him that made him think that helping him was the right thing to do.

Too bad he was never going to know.

“Let’s deliver these books and then lazy around?”

“You just read my mind, Chim.”

◊◊◊

“Can’t believe they did that,” Jimin sighed as he removed his clothes and shoved them in the bag, stomping towards the bathroom. “Why would they even try?”

“Stupidity,” Jungkook answered simply, standing next to him as he reached for his shampoo, forcing Jimin to close his eyes as he started to wash his head. “There’s no other way of explaining him.”

“Who in the world would hide a soluble pill in their mouths without a bag or something?” Jimin sighed in annoyance once more before relaxing as Jungkook continued washing him.

“Stupid people,” Jungkook replied calmly again. “Stupid people you should never try to do something ever again; people you should kill.”

“I’m not killing them, Jungkook,” Jimin snorted, opening his eyes when the soap was off his face. “It’s not the solution.”

“It could be.”

Despite Jungkook’s thirst for blood, Jimin buried his face in his neck, wrapping his arms shyly around his neck. “Hate you’re so tall.”

“I prefer it, I can keep hands away from you easier,” Jungkook smiled as he pulled him closer, relishing in the gasp and blush that spread on Jimin’s face when their bodies were pressed together.

“Get a room!” Seokjin’s voice almost made Jimin push Jungkook to the other side of the room. “More like, get an intimate visit.”

“We weren’t going to do anything!” Jimin said, looking at him with accusatory eyes.

“Namjoon said the same before doubling me over a table,” Seokjin snorted, sighing quietly. “Is the idiot who swallowed the pill going to live?”

“I think? Joohyun said they were going to wash his stomach and all,” Jimin said after slapping Jungkook’s hand away from his waist. “She didn’t say anything about him dying so I would dare to say yes.”

“Namjoon used to deal with someone that wanted to shove the drugs up his ass, pretty disgusting.”

“He deals with them so well,” Jungkook chuckled, probably remembering something from the other.

“Anyway, you should keep an eye on them, them finding him overdosing with something will make them look for things,” Seokjin hummed. “Make sure they keep things hidden.”

“You’re so caring for me,” Jimin hummed with a smile.

“Of course, will always do.”

And he knew why, Namjoon liked him, but Seokjin was the one who he had the chance to get closer to him by working in the same place; Jimin came to believe that he cared for him as much as he cared for him.

They were his family, a weird family, but family in the end.

“They better not make more problems.”

It was tiring, but Jimin now trusted himself almost entirely.

Chapter Text

“You’re so fucking pretty.”

Jimin was used to it, was used to the whispered words in his ear, used to Jungkook’s hand pressing against his lips and used to how the whole world exploded in a million shades of grey every time the other moved, but being used to it didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy it.

When Jungkook came to him, when his boyfriend came to reclaim every part of his body, to heal the bruises from a fights and soothe his worries with soft words, the rest of the world didn’t matter and Jimin felt Jimin again, felt the same boy who was thrown into this chaos without warning, the Jimin that panicked when he realized he fell for a serial killer but learnt to love him.

To the Jimin that wasn’t the king.

He didn’t regret taking the place, didn’t regret doing it for Namjoon, but there were times where he needed to lean back for a second, life was aggressive and would never wait for him, but Jungkook always knew how to melt his problems, how to make him feel like him for a bit.

“Would you come for me, baby?” He hummed as he kissed his neck, biting down harshly on his shoulder and smiling when he trembled. “You’re doing so good.”

He couldn’t even imagine how his parents would feel if they found out what he did and who he was with, they knew he was gay, of course, he had told them way before this happened and even though his father wasn’t that pleased with it, he came to accept it as he couldn’t really change; even with that, he knew they would never expect him to be in a relationship with a serial killer of course.

“Aren’t you the prettiest boy?” He whined softly as he felt the warmness coiling inside his stomach, trying not to move his hips too much so Jungkook’s hand gave that last bit of stimulation he needed, only to have the little bastard tightening his hold on the base of his length. “What is it, baby?”

Jimin whimpered, trying to pull his hand away from his mouth as he glared lightly at him, causing Jungkook to smirk and give a harsh thrust that almost made him fall face first against the table along with a choked moan.

“You’re so loud, you know I can’t baby,” He teased him, thrusting again with the same force. “But don’t worry, there will be a day where you can be as loud as you want.”

Jimin usually didn’t understand why Jungkook said such things, as far as he knew, he still had six years and Jungkook had, basically, three consecutive life sentences that couldn’t be thrown away, not even by good behaviour. The outside world was far away and he was sure he didn’t have any kind of plan to escape the place, just like everyone else.

It didn’t matter, he could now only focus as the cruel bastard was so keen on making him suffer.

Jungkook, unsurprisingly enough, could be a tease; the slightly younger male liked reaching to squeeze his waist, kiss him out of nowhere and even carry him out of a place he didn’t want Jimin to be in, Jimin had an appearance to keep, but it was impossible to resist Jungkook sometimes.

The control he had over him was amazing.

“Alright, alright, come for me now, baby.”

And as if to prove what he just thought, he did with a moan that would have echoed all over the prison and back if it wasn’t for Jungkook.

“So, Jimi, how was it?” Jimin groaned when Taehyung nudged him with his elbow. “Intense?”

“Fuck off, Taehyung,” He mumbled, looking at Jungkook who wasn’t even bothered by what the other was saying.

“I just want to know! My dude, every time Hobi and I get kicked out of the cell mean you’re having fun,” He said with an offended expression. “Just wanted to know.”

“It’s not even that bad, like people fuck a lot around here,” Seokjin commented as he seemed to stab his watermelon. “We’re a bunch of men living in a cramped space, what do you expect?”

“That’s true,” Taehyung nodded with a hum, shaking his head. “We all need some.”

“Can we please change the subject, oh my God,” Jimin whined, rubbing his face tiredly.

“Fine, fine,” Seokjin waved his hand.

And thankfully they started talking about nonsense that didn’t involve his private life, thank Goodness; Jimin allowed himself to sigh in relief before his eyes moved to Hoseok who was just quietly poking the food without eating it, his dull eyes fixed on a lost point on the plate.

He hated seeing Hoseok like this, when he first met him he was surprised someone could be so bright and cheerful in a place like this one, had sought his warmness and light after he was thrown to isolation; now his light seemed to have disappeared and it was breaking his heart.

“He once said we were soulmates,” He whispered when he noticed Jimin was looking at him and the others were too busy making jokes about something. “He said it was impossible we could have bonded if that wasn’t the explanation.”

“That’s so sweet,” He smiled, reaching to hold Hoseok’s hand and squeeze it. “I’m sure you were.”

“I want to see him, Jimin,” Hoseok said as a sob broke through his lips, thus making the others stop to look at him. “E-Even if he’s just- I just need to see him; I’m losing my mind!”

Jimin knew why he felt like that, Seokjin was just as devastated because of Namjoon’s death, but he at least had a closure; his boyfriend was dead, gone, but Hoseok was balancing himself on a thin rope, clinging to that possibility of him waking up, of having him again while also keeping himself from falling to the dark abyss that represented Yoongi’s death.

“I will,” He started, holding Hoseok’s hand. “I will try to make them take you to see him.”

Hoseok’s eyes recovered for a moment their brightness and Jimin felt himself feeling with hope despite not having a single clue in what he was supposed to do that to achieve it. “Please, Jimin, please let me see him again, let me see him once more time.”

◊◊◊

“I need to do it, but I don’t know how,” He whispered as Seokjin finished planting the seeds. “Jin, please help me.”

“You need to have a meeting with one of them,” Seokjin said with a small sigh as he made sure the dirt was well piled up. “They are the only ones who could control the hospital.”

Jimin had had contact with some of the people from the outside, after Seokjin took care of all of that for a while, he introduced him to one of the dealers that provided Taemin with his merchandise and then with the one Seokjin handled himself for the services he offered to other inmates and he didn’t like them.

The men seemed to think they were the real thing, were aggressive and liked to intimidate with each word they said and the fact that Jimin was around a million times shorter than them wasn’t a good thing. He tried to avoid them, but now it seemed that he would have to get close to one again.

The things he had to do.

“Alright… Please tell him to meet me.”

Seokjin eyed him almost curiously before he smiled and went to hug him, squeezing him hard as he whispered a soft I’m proud of you.

Jimin wished he could be proud of himself as he walked down the corridor towards the visits area, feeling his heart hammering against his chest as he walked, his whole muscles aching for how tense they were. After he was checked, he took a deep breath before walking in.

Park Hyunshik was a man taller than him by at least seven centimetres, his broad, strong body screamed dominance and possessiveness from every pore and Jimin had the fleeting thought that he should run back and apologise with Hoseok on his knees; but he shook his head and continued walking, changing his expression to one he had already practised in this year.

“Jimin, I would assume,” He said as Jimin went to sit in front of him. “Jin called me.”

“Yes, that’s me,” He said, surprising himself by how confident his voice sounded. “I have something to ask for.”

“Straight to business is something I like,” He hummed, resting his arms on the table to lean closer. “What would I be winning?”

“Fifteen per cent of the money we make from Jin’s business for three months,” He was so glad Seokjin had offered it before he asked. “I know you know how much that is.”

“Interesting, guess it can be discussed,” The man said, leaning closer as if to look more threatening but Jimin didn’t even blink. “What do you want in return?”

“There is someone in the hospital, Min Yoongi,” He said seeing the man raising his brows in surprise. “He’s in coma and his boyfriend wants to see him.”

The man then scratched his chin and Jimin felt his stomach tightening at thinking this is where he got punched in the face. Of course, that would have been better.

“Min Yoongi, the assassin?” He asked and shrugged once Jimin nodded. “He died like two months ago, his room is occupied by someone else.”

Jimin felt he couldn’t breathe as he just stared at him, this couldn’t be true, this had to be a lie, a goddamn cruel lie. “T-That can’t be, we were told he was still in coma, he has to be there.”

“Maybe they just didn’t want to break it for his boyfriend, but the man is gone.”

Jimin couldn’t hold it any longer and excused himself before bolting out of his seat, making his way back and holding back the urge of kicking the door as it opened so slowly, feeling the tears threatening to roll down his cheeks as he went to his cell and pressed his forehead to the wall, pressing the button repeatedly so it closed and no one got in.

But his luck always had to strike.

“Jimi, did you convinced him?”

Hoseok’s tone full of hope destroyed him entirely, sobs left his mouth as he turned to face him and looked at him, noticing his expression turning worried. “What’s wrong?”

“He told me…” He started but stopped, go and say he had refused to help and that he would try another day with someone else, but Hoseok didn’t deserve that, he had been suffering enough and the more he let him fly, the more the fall was going to hurt him. “Hoseok, I’m sorry, he told me Yoongi died two months ago.”

Hoseok’s expression went from hopeful to pained and then, simply, destroyed. He shook his head and backed away to press his body to the corner, hands holding his head as he started to repeat no over and over again, tears rolling down his cheeks as painful cries replaced the incessant no, muscles contracting painfully as he hugged himself and left his body fall to the floor, Jiming moving to hug him.

“H-He can’t be dead, I need to see him again, please, please let me see it,” He said with desperation, cries threatening to leave Jimin deaf as he held him. “Please, he can’t be dead!”

It broke every single part of Jimin’s heart, Hoseok had helped him and he couldn’t do it in return, his whole being ached as Hoseok cried with so much pain. “I’m sorry...”

“Yoongi, m-my baby, my ba-baby can’t be dead,” He said and Jimin felt the pang of worry on his gut as his voice seemed to be disembodied as if his body was here but his mind was somewhere else. “H-He’s the strongest, t-the brightest, the sun needs the moon, I need my m-moon, please don’t take him away from m-me!”

It didn’t surprise Jimin when Hoseok lashed out, pushing him back and away from him with an accurate punch to his cheek, didn’t surprise him that he ran out of the cell and went to look for one of the few survivors from the hound’s group and wasn’t surprised when a guard came to tell him they were taking him to the infirmary to calm him down and then to isolation.

Hoseok was finally broken and Jimin knew he needed a miracle to pull him back up.

Chapter Text

Jimin hated rumours.

The whole problem with the hound had started with a rumour, a rumour that started spreading all over the place and had gotten inside everybody’s minds so deep it was the theme of conversation for days and days. The rumour ended up being true and maybe that’s why he despised them so much.

“Have you heard there’s a fight outside here?”

Jimin wasn’t doing after what had happened to Hoseok and the sudden realisation that he had lost yet another friend when rumours of an external fight started to come in the form of whispered words in corridors and rooms, Seokjin was a smaller mess than Hoseok but still a mess, Yoongi’s death had affected him almost as much as Namjoon’s did and the nervousness of what was happening outside were a really bad combination.

“May the best win and then let’s see how it goes for us.”

His biggest fear, obviously, was another strong leader entering the place to take over it; he was now the Namjoon of that time and all the attacks and problems were going to fall on him, not even mentioning that the main targets were going to be Jungkook, Hoseok, Taehyung and Seokjin.

He couldn’t lose more.

Sighing he shook his head and walked away from them, finding Jungkook walking out of the bathroom and immediately moving to him, the other wrapping his arms around his waist. “Something wrong?”

“I head this rumours about external fights,” He muttered, relaxing as Jungkook massaged his hips. “Jin is stressed about it and I am too.”

“Well, they can’t be avoided,” Jungkook hummed. “Worrying over it won’t change anything.

Jimin huffed at that, it reminded him of the time where Jungkook behaved all strong and composed while he was having a mental breakdown for being sentenced to two years without doing anything to deserve it; now things had changed quite drastically but he still needed to learn that.

“I have to worry, Kook, if something bad starts happening outside, it affects things here,” He said, resting his weight on him. “Affects the business of everyone.”

“Kill them,” He snorted, Jungkook and his mania for killing.

“It’s not the solution,” He said, yelping when he pinched his hips. “It’s not the solution for everything.”

“Did you forget how good it felt when you did it?” Jungkook asked and Jimin tensed. “How it was to feel the knife going through every layer?”

Jimin knew he was never going to forget about that feeling, there were days where he still felt it, still felt that tremor that rocked his body while doing it, still remembered how the light had escaped the man’s eyes when the guts were already out. Jungkook only engraved it in his memory more violently.

“You know I haven’t,” He whispered, pressing his bloodied hands to Jungkook’s chest. “Will never do.”

“Good, you know it’s a plausible solution,” He said, holding his hands despite the blood on them. “It’s a nice feeling.”

He loved Jungkook, loved him as he had never loved anyone, but the way he made his body tremble seemed to blow his mind all the time, his hands weren’t the only deadly things of him.

“Let me worry about one thing at a time,” He whispered, holding his hand and pulling him away. “We need to find Tae.”

Jungkook just looked proud of what he did and nodded, walking with him and following him around until they found Taehyung sitting down by himself outside of their cell, just staring forward without seeming to pay attention to anything in particular.

Jungkook seemed to know what it was and merely continued walking while Jimin went to sit next to his friend, resting his head on his shoulder until he wanted to talk.

“I miss him,” He whispered after several seconds of silence, looking at his hands as his fingers squeezed each other. “Hoseok and I have been together for so long.”

“You two were together all the time,” He hummed as he remembered the two of them were almost a typical friendship you could find in the outside.

“He was already here when I was sentenced and he hated Yoongi with passion,” He laughed. “I saw the love blossom between them and as someone looking at it from afar I was sure they were going to last.”

“I remember the struggle between Hoseok wanting to be indifferent with him and running back to his arms,” He said with a small smile.

“They really fell in love, like hard, Yoongi defended him from everyone and Hoseok did the same,” He sighed, closing his eyes as he ran his fingers through Jimin’s hair. “That day Yoongi killed like three and Hoseok two, but then one punched him on the stomach, reopened the wound and he was bleeding profusely.”

“They went for him.”

“Yoongi was doing his best to kick everyone while I tried to stop the bleeding,” He whispered, pressing his hand to his right shoulder. “But then that idiot came and like a fucking coward shoot him while he was killing someone else.”

Jimin didn’t know why, but he could see the pictures in his mind as if they had happened right in front of him.

“H-Hoseok saw him fall while holding his shoulder and he just— Just took the knife I had in my hands and stabbed the man everywhere he could, in a complete trance as if he was perfectly fine,” He said. “He literally destroyed the other and then came back running to Yoongi, the other just left with a huge smirk.”

He remembered Hoseok had talked about it.

“Yoongi did tell him he was always going to take care of him,” Taehyung swallowed harshly. “As id sensing it…I protected Hoseok when one came and tried to shoot him and there’s where I was hurt; Hoseok was devastated.”

And Jimin could understand why Hoseok wasn’t feeling well ever since he allowed those people to stab him, he felt useless and powerless, with what happened he was completely lost. Not only Yoongi was fatally wounded, but Taehyung also ended up hurt as well.

“I really thought he was going to come back,” He whispered, squeezing his knees tightly. “I thought he was going to just, get better, come back and help Hoseok and all of us to get over what happened to Namjoon… It was a life with six, not with five…”

Jimin could only sigh as he reached to hug him. “It was a nightmare when I was taken away from here and heard the shots I was so scared… I just wanted to come back.”

“We were really worried for you, Chim,” Taehyung whispered as he squeezed him tightly. “I am almost sure no one saw it coming, no one knew what they were going to do, what he had in his mind.”

“I wasn’t expecting it either,” He said, frowning as he remembered the moment they had attacked him. “Don’t know why me.”

“I think it is because he tried and tried so hard to bring you down that he was sick and tired of failing,” He sighed, closing his eyes tightly. “He considered you the weakest of all of us and that’s why he went for you, apart from that he saw the fondness in Namjoon’s eyes as he looked at you.”

“I don’t know…”

Because it was really hard and reviving what had happened was reliving all those events.

◊◊◊

“Hobi, hey,” Jimin smiled the best he could when Hoseok was pushed out of the isolation corridor. “Welcome back.”

Hoseok looked up at him from the ground and Jimin felt that someone had hit him so hard all air had left his lungs. There was no expression, there was no life, there was nothing. “Jimin.”

Even his voice sounded lifeless. “Let’s go back.”

Hoseok merely nodded and started walking behind him, not paying attention to the people that looked at him and whispered something between each other. Jimin had the idea that they were mocking him, that they were laughing about his distressed state or for losing Yoongi.

He hated them.

But in reality, he hated more just how lifeless he was the whole time, Hoseok barely reacted, barely listened to what they were saying and refused to do something that involved, well, living. Taehyung tried to make him laugh, tried to make him talk, tried to do all the things the two of them were surely so used to it but didn’t work anymore.

Hoseok just stared at him for several, several seconds before he ended up breaking up in tears and sobs that could even hurt Jungkook’s heart if he had one that wasn’t being occupied by Jimin. His sobs echoed inside his head the whole time, not even allowing him to fully enjoy Jungkook’s presence and attention.

“Hobi, I know it hurts,” That afternoon as most of the inmates were fooling around, Jimin kept looking as Seokjin and Hoseok talked as they leaned on the rail. “Namjoon was my everything, he, you know how I hated humanity in general until I met him.”

Jimin remembered that time were Seokjin told him his story about the time he met Namjoon, how he moved from thinking men and women were disgusting and only wanted to have fun without caring about anything else to falling in love with a famous gang leader, with said gang leader falling for him as well.

“I failed him,” Hoseok whispered with his same monotone tone. “He did so many fucking things for me and I couldn’t save him.”

“We’re on the same side, you know,” Seokjin sighed. “Namjoon protected me and died because of that.”

Jimin saw Hoseok tightening the hold he had on the rail as he closed his eyes tightly. “That fucking bastard ruined everything.”

“He did,” Seokjin whispered as he rubbed his eyes to get rid of the tears on his eyes. “Namjoon and I went through so many things that I thought this was going to just another wall we were going to jump over… From the two of us, I always thought I was going to die first, never him.”

It was such a cruel thing to bond over, Jimin could see the two of them got along so well and could become great friends, but the fact that they were bonding over this was heartbreaking. His eyes looked at them for several seconds before moving to Jungkook and Taehyung that were waiting for them, Jungkook playing with his fingers against the wall while Taehyung read something.

“Move away from here,” He looked away when he heard a voice, finding a guard walking hurriedly away from the last cell of the corridor. “Do it, now.”

Jimin didn’t understand where that tone and words were coming from and turned to face the last cell, eyeing it warily before something deep inside his chest told him to move. He spun around so fast he was surprised he didn’t fell and took Hoseok and Seokjin’s arms, pulling them away.

His brain didn’t know why he was running, but it seemed to understand when there was a loud noise followed by a strong force that sends him crashing against the wall so hard it left his ears ringing and making him lose the grip he had on Hoseok and Seokjin.

Seemed that life loved doing unexpected things, but his mind immediately went for his friends.

Please, God, have mercy.

Chapter Text

When Jimin opened his eyes he immediately felt his head pounding and the same ringing noise he had heard what felt like hours ago; what in the world had happened? Hissing when he managed to push his torso from the floor, he blinked rapidly, groaning as what felt like dust burned his eyes. When he managed to sit up, he brought a hand to his head, biting back a whimper when he felt the warmness of blood coming from one side of it while he looked around, eyes widening when he took in the scene around him.

There were rocks and pieces of cement scattered around, crumpled pieces of metal that used to be bars that closed the cell at the verge of falling down to the lower floor; a different alarm blaring loudly and hurting his head even more.

An explosion, a bomb.

But why? Why did someone leave a bomb? Who left it? Why did the guard know? The more questions pilled inside his head the more the pain seemed to increase and the blood to flow; it was a nightmare.

“Jin? Hoseok?” He finally managed to open his mouth despite the loud noises around him, were they okay? He was being thrown against the wall, but them? They could have fallen down! “Can you hear me? Where are you?”

Panic built up inside him so fast he was sure it could knock him out cold in seconds, but he shook his head and forced his bod to stand up, clawing at the wall for support and stumbling around while his eyes looked for something familiar.

“Sir, come with us,” A guard that he remembered had always been attentive to everything, suddenly emerged from around a pile of rocks, reaching immediately to hold his arm to support him. “We need to treat you.”

“N-No, I need to find Hoseok and Jin, they were here…”

“They found them, they’re out already,” He said as he tugged him once more and despite Jimin feared it could be a lie, couldn’t really go against him due the dizziness and walked with him, trying hard to not stumble with the rocks and struggling to breathe something that wasn’t the dust covering everything.

The destruction was huge, the last portion where the cells were gone and that had made the debris and everything collapses on the floor below, crushing it under that weight… Jimin could only pray there was no one there.

When they stepped outside into the courtyard, Jimin was brought back to that they when the hound attacked, there were screams, people running, blood and everything that had been engraved in his head after that day and he hated it, the last time this happened he lost two friends, he couldn’t lose more.

“Jimin!” Looking away from the man when he let go, he found himself being hugged tightly by Taehyung who squeezed him tightly until he gasped. “Sorry I was just- I was just so scared.”

As he pulled back he could see that Taehyung actually looked fine, he was only covered in dust with minor scratches in his face, but it was a huge relief he was safe. His eyes were full with worry, but he seemed to have calmed down considerably at seeing him there.

“I-I was too, I don’t really know what happened,” He whispered, almost jumping when he felt arms wrapping from behind him.

“You’re hurt,” Jungkook said near his ear. “You need a doctor.”

And he didn’t even let him agree or anything, he just started pulling him towards somewhere, keeping him from falling and almost lifting him from the ground. “Jungkook I need to find-”

“Jimin, you’re fine, oh thank God!” He didn’t even finish when he heard Seokjin’s voice, making him struggling to turn in Jungkook’s hold and see him.

“Jin!” That made Jungkook let go of him and he scrambled towards the other, seeing the blood he had on his brow as what looked like a paramedic disinfected it. “You’re safe, I panicked when I couldn’t find you!”

“Hoseok and I were hit by some things and ended up on the other side,” Seokjin sighed as he winced as the other continued working. “If you hadn’t pulled us, we would be dead.”

When Seokjin looked away from him and towards his side, Jimin immediately turned, finding Hoseok sitting there as another paramedic cleaned the blood from his nose and lip, an ugly scar already closed with stitches that went from his brow down to almost his cheek.

“Hobi… I’m glad you’re fine,” He said as the others hasn’t even noticed him.

“Glad you’re safe too…” He whispered as he kept his eyes down. “Dying wouldn’t have been bad, that way I could have seen him again.”

And despite having to worry about what was happening here, about why the fuck would someone place a bomb inside a prison, to find who they were intending to kill and everything else, but right now, all of that was wiped of his mind and his only concern was Hoseok; he feared he could do something irreversible.

The more time passed the more things seemed to get chaotic, ambulances could be heard outside and people ran to get the ones with worse injuries, severed limbs, concussions, broken bones and, of course, corpses were taken out of the place while Jimin tried to find everyone he cared for. Seokjin was hugging Hoseok, the two of them looking lost and slightly dizzy after their injuries, Jungkook and Taehyung were at his side, Taehyung too looking for familiar faces while Jungkook played with the stitches he had on his arm, in the sea of people he could see Taemin with what looked like a broken arm and Minho with a crushed leg, Youngjae and Daehyun being treated from burns on their arms and Jaehwan gathering his friends, thankfully uninjured.

“How did this happen?” He asked when a guard stood at his side as he if he was supposed to be there. “Why did you know it was going to happen?”

“We didn’t know,” He answered as he glanced around. “At least the biggest part of us didn’t.”

“Then why did he tell me?” He hissed, all of this was chaos and he could feel the anger bubbling inside of him. “I would believe you didn’t know if no one would have told me anything, I could easily believe I was the target, but now?”

The man frowned and Jimin had the feeling that he really knew nothing about the reason behind all of this. “We will investigate, but Woo left the place, we can’t find him for now.”

Wonderful.

“Find it quick,” He said, glaring at the man who sighed. “What it’s going to happen now?”

“I don’t know, the priority right now is tending the injured and dead ones,” He said, starting to walk away. “I will let you know when we have new orders.”

This was bigger than when the hound attacked, the structure was completely fine after he attacked and they go back inside to continue life, but now, now things were dark, a good portion of it was destroyed and it wasn’t as if they could just shove twenty inmates in one cell.

What was he going to do?

This was nothing he knew how to deal with and didn’t even know if Namjoon dealt with it in the past, what would he do? What would he say? Jimin couldn’t understand what was going to happen and he was close to screaming in despair and demand Namjoon, who was looking at him from hell (he was sure he couldn’t be in heaven,) why all of this was happening to him.

It was a bit pathetic.

“All of this is like a fucking joke,” Behind the ring in his ears, Jimin could hear Taehyung’s voice and he looked towards him. “First that idiot came to take revenge on Namjoon, then they tried to rape you, then they hurt you, then they killed Namjoon and a shit ton of more people, then Yoongi died and now-now we had a fucking bomb!”

Jimin sighed as he listened to him, worried that his friend may be losing himself after the shock of having something so close blowing up caused wore off, reaching to rub his shoulder in a comforting manner. “I-It will be fine; we will sort this out.”

Taehyung’s only response was parsing his hands against his head and squeezing it, oblivious to the turmoil it unleashed inside his friend’s head.

More questions arrived to a brain that had just learnt how to control all of this.

No one really knew how much time had passed, the only thing they knew was that it was dark, the sun had already hidden, leaving them only with the huge lamps pointing at the courtyard where everyone who hadn’t been taken to the hospital, was, some still dizzy due to their injuries while others complained about the cold.

No one had come to say what was going to happen with them and Jimin was just about to snap at them when the director, who he had only seen a couple of times before, appeared with a megaphone and caused them all to gather around the circle of guards protecting him.

“As you already know, a big part of the institution has been destroyed,” He started, stating the obvious, earning many eye rolls and snorts of disbelief. “This is a situation we haven’t faced and you will be transferred to different prisons while the reconstruction and investigation last.”

Nononono , Jimin’s mind panicked the moment he heard that statement, eyes looking for Taehyung, Seokjin and Hoseok while his hand gripped Jungkook’s, the chance of being separated was something he wasn’t going to tolerate, he couldn’t be away from them, they needed each other .

“The place you will be taken to depends on the available space of the other places,” He continued as if he just wanted to reaffirm his fear and anxiousness. “Tomorrow morning, groups will be formed and then taken to the place.”

As he started to walk away, Jimin hurried behind the guard he had talked to before. “We are going together."

He was still surprised how confident he could sound, considering his head was throbbing like mad and was panicking, that is.

"That's not in my control-- "

"I don't fucking care," He almost hissed, glaring at him. "If we're not on the same freaking place, you won't like it."

It was an empty threat, he knew he didn't have the power to order someone from the outside to kill someone nor have the courage to just murder a person that hadn't done anything, he still clung to the side that he was a killer of people that deserved it, not a killer of innocents.

"I will talk to them, I promise" The guard, luckily, didn't know any of that and thinking Jimin could really go berserk and threaten his family or him was enough to convince him he should listen and nodded before walking away.

"You're amazing, mochi," He heard Jungkook purring before he was pulled to a broad chest, a soft and delicate peck pressed against the gauze covering his head. "Namjoon is so proud."

"I hope he's not regretting it from wherever he is," He whispered. "Wish he could have taught me something, he was amazing."

But he did feel proud, the fact that the man had looked genuinely scared and even promised to do whatever he could be amazing.

Maybe he was really doing a good thing.

◊◊◊

The next morning, Jimin groaned like everyone else that had slept on the floor, the way his muscles ached and complained about the unnatural hard floor just added to the pain in his head. Not that he had much time to think about it, though, a guard with a megaphone ordered to form several lines and wait until they were called.

Name after name was complete torture, Jimin was just anxiously waiting for one of them to be called to be in another group, dreaded each name that came out of the speaker and almost cursed because everyone had the same surnames.

"Kim Seokjin, Jeon Jungkook, Kim Taehyung, Jung Hoseok and Park Jimin," Brows rose at hearing the five names, but Jimin didn't give a single damn as he almost sprinted towards the centre of the place. "Follow me."

And they did, Hoseok looking as lifeless as always, Seokjin looking so relieved he almost faints, Jungkook smirking proudly at Jimin and Taehyung keeping himself from squeezing Jimin as tightly as he could. The guard guided them through the destroyed place towards the exit where another one secured cuffs around their wrists and to their waists with the help of a chain, before guiding them out, several others having large guns that dared them to try running so they could have a bullet through the skull.

They arrived a van Jimin recognised as one similar to the one he had been shoved into that day he was taken to the hospital, a man around his height wearing a black bulletproof vest and a helmet that concealed his face also ready, another large gun on his hands as he waited for the other guards to push them inside, as if they were just merchandise being loaded into the truck.

As they sat down, the cuffs were released from their waists and another chain attached to a thick ring bolted to the floor of the van attached to the middle of them, just like that way, keeping them with a small range for movement.

“It’s going to be… different,” Seokjin muttered once the door was slammed shut and the silence took over the van. “So different.”

And Jimin knew what he meant, he was going to a place where no one knew he was the authority of their previous place, where his looks were going to be judged and mocked like the first time it had happened there, no one knew he was the king and that prison obviously had its king… He could feel the anxiousness growing inside him.

“But we just have to hang in there for a while,” Taehyung scrunched his nose, squirming lightly on his place when the van started to move and they heard the muffled noises coming from outside getting farther away. “Like, keep ourselves with a low profile and all.”

“That could work,” Jungkook shrugged, looking as calm as always; Jimin wishes he could be like him.

“We’re together, that’s the good thing…” Hoseok’s words made Jimin smile, hearing him saying it meant a lot. “Thanks for… for keeping us together, I’m sure I wouldn’t last by myself too much… I don’t have that motivation.”

Seokjin nudged him with his arm the best he could, wishing he could just hug him but knowing he couldn’t.

Jimin took a deep breath and tried to relax against Jungkook’s warmness, they were right, they were together and that was the important thing, his biggest fear had been separated from them and now that they were together, everything had to be okay...right?

The van stopping dissolved the little progress he managed to make.

Everyone, save for Jungkook again, tensed, the uncertainty and doubts filling their faces as why’s started pilling inside their heads, they had been moving for too little to consider they were already on the new prison, Korea didn’t have one in every corner and he was sure they haven’t driven for hours.

The silence extended as they waited for something to happen, a door opening and closing almost making Jimin jump, the driver was coming and he didn’t even know why he was scared. Could it be someone from the hound? One that had managed to pretend to be from the police only to have them and kill them?

He could hear his heart beating loudly in his ears as he stared at the doors, trying not to jump when they were swung open and the figure with the vest and helmet stood there, observing each one of them with his faceless expression, his analysis making Jimin even more nervous, Taehyung fidget on his place, Seokjin glare at him and Hoseok remain with his expressionless face.

“Alright, we don’t have all day.”

And with that, he removed the helmet.

Chapter Text

Jimin couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t do anything as his eyes just stared at the figure in front of him, even his heart seemed to have stopped working, leaving him floating on a sea of nothingness that almost made him collapse.

“We seriously don’t have all day.”

Despite feeling pathetic, Jimin jumped when there was a tug on the chain securing him to the floor, movements making him twitch until he felt his wrists being released from the cuffs, the noise they made against the van breaking him out of his daze as Jungkook pushed him out and stand next to the figure.

“Sunshine,” Yoongi said as Hoseok almost fell to the floor while trying to get down, hands reaching to cup his cheeks as he pulled him closer, rubbing his thumb over it. “I’m sorry.”

Hoseok looked lost, his eyes that were always so lifeless and dull were rapidly filling with tears as his arms remained limp at his side, mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something while his vocal cords refused to work. “T-This is a cruel dream.”

Yoongi’s eyes softened even further as he leaned closer to kiss the taller male, gummy smile appearing as he pulled back. “You’re not dreaming, sunshine, now I need to you listen to me, be good for me, please.”

The other still looked close to breaking but nodded, Jimin had the feeling that Hoseok still believed this was a dream and he couldn’t even blame him, he too felt like he was living a fantasy that didn’t have sense at all; maybe he even died in the explosion.

“Change into this, quick,” He said as he tossed a bag to Seokjin who almost let it fall, his wide eyes still looking at him. “But really, hurry.”

Jungkook, who was oddly calm, reached for the bag when Seokjin just stared at it and started to pull out different clothes, shoving them into Hoseok’s and Seokjin’s arms before extending the last set to Jimin, his smile and big eyes glinting with excitement.

It was until then that Jimin finally tore his eyes from Yoongi who was removing the best and kicking the loose uniform, revealing the normal jeans and black hoodie he wore below and walking to Hoseok to help him; focusing on the grey sweater and black jeans he had on his arms, dumbly starting to remove the uniform that felt so normal on him to get dressed.

“Now let’s go,” Yoongi said once he saw everyone was ready, opening the door to a simple looking car with tinted windows and helping Hoseok, who looked like a ragdoll, inside, ushering to enter while he sat on the driver seat.

“Look at you, mochi, clothes can change you,” Jumping a bit when he heard Jungkook’s voice, he turned to look at him, seeing him wearing all black, included the bucket hat on his head that obscured his features. “You look even more adorable.”

His words made him look down at the clothes he was wearing, the sweater being a bit bigger than him to the point it could cover his hole hands… this made him realise that it was the first time he wasn’t using the prison’s uniform. He wasn’t a prisoner; he was a fugitive. “Oh my God I-I just escaped prison.”

Yoongi snorted as he started the car, making Jimin lift his face to find him driving while keeping Hoseok’s hand securely on his. “Took you a lot.”

“Yoongi, what the fuck is happening,” Seokjin said as he finally seemed to have found his voice, shaking his head to lean closer. “They said- They said you were dead.”

“Because I, legally, died,” Yoongi replied with such a simple tone that seemed he was talking about the weather. “I left the hospital as a corpse that found it’s resting place in a forsaken hotel instead of the cemetery.”

“Stop joking around Min Yoongi or I swear,” Seokjin hissed through gritted teeth even though Jimin could see small tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m not joking, the gunshot really fucked me over and I was in a coma, for real, for three months,” He said with a sigh, glancing at Hoseok when he whimpered. “After waking up and taking a shit ton of time to get better, I was pronounced dead due to an infection and since I was a criminal, I was just sent to the common grave since no one would really miss me.”

“And then? You magically appeared in the hotel or what?”

“Let’s just say it was planned,” Yoongi shrugged before glancing at them through the rear mirror. “Now try to keep yourself small, I don’t want police recognising our favourite serial killer.”

Jimin instinctively hugged Jungkook’s arm, there were a lot of unanswered questions piling up inside his head, but now that he understood everything a bit more, he could feel his heart reaching the sky; he had really escaped prison, had turned into an even worst criminal and had added at least five years more to his sentence.

If they caught him again, of course.

His eyes moved to everyone in the car, Yoongi looked normal, calm and composed with a glint of sadness in his eyes every time he looked at Hoseok, this one staring at Yoongi with pain, relief and confusion mixing painfully inside his head, Seokjin seemed to be wanting to ask a million questions but he was instead talking to himself, whispering a series of things at an inhumane speed and even shaking his head every now and then. Jungkook was his normal self, body relaxed on the seat while one of his hands rested on his tight, the other playing with the edge of his hat, the idiot even seemed to be so relaxed he could fall asleep.

Meanwhile, he wanted to cry, scream and faint at the same time; Yoongi was there, there for real, he wasn’t dead, he was right in front of them looking as healthy as he looked before, he was alive and breathing and not dead like he was told. He didn’t know how this had happened, didn’t know why he had intervened to let them escape and a part of his brain told him he should feel anxious, but he couldn’t.

His eyes soon got lost on the window, seeing the buildings and life moving outside, the people walking down the streets oblivious to the bunch of criminals that had passed at their side, oblivious to the commotion that was starting to erupt in the prison after they lost contact with the truck transporting five criminals. How did this happen? Did Yoongi do everything by himself? Why? How?

He rubbed his head as he closed his eyes, feeling Jungkook squeezing his tight. How would his old self react? He had the idea that he would be right in the middle of a panic attack, he would be screaming and begging to be sent back because he was innocent and didn’t want society to think he was a criminal for real when he wasn’t.

He almost laughed at that, he had changed so much.

“We need to switch cars, let’s go,” Yoongi said, snapping him out of his thoughts as he parked the car in an alley and went out.

As he climbed out and felt Jungkook pulling him closer, he watched Yoongi removing the license plates from the back of the car using the bag he had for the clothes and then tossing it inside, closing the door.

“Hoseok!”

Jimin looked to Seokjin when he heard him scream, seeing him holding Hoseok who seemed close to passing out, Yoongi materialising at his side and holding him instead. “Sunshine, hey sunshine, what’s wrong?”

Hoseok looked weak, so weak his legs and arms dangled down when Yoongi picked him up in his arms, head barely managing to rest on his chest, teary eyes looking up at Yoongi. “Please, Yoongi, please.”

“What is it, love?” Yoongi asked, concern and anxiousness bubbling inside him as he walked to a new car at the end of the alley, Seokjin opening the door so he could place him in, holding his hand and caressing his head.

“Please be here when I wake up, please don’t disappear again.”

Yoongi didn’t move when unconsciousness took over Hoseok, hand continuing rubbing his head until he sighed, moving it so it rested against the seat and making sure he was secure with the seatbelt before looking at them. “Get in, we need to go.”

“It was surely because of the stress and shock,” Seokjin suggested once they were inside and starting to move. “Hoseok hasn’t been eating, resting or living well when we found out you were dead, you should have told him you weren’t.”

Jimin saw Yoongi’s grip on the steering wheel tightening. “I couldn’t.”

Silence filled the car as it moved down the streets once more, getting further and further away from the most crowded streets and little by little leaving the city behind, perfectly smooth streets turning into bumpy roads as unpopulated fields and small house scattered around filled their vision. Jimin wasn’t sure where they were but didn’t dare to ask, keeping his eyes on Hoseok’s unconscious form to make sure he was fine, occasionally pushing his head back onto the seat so he wasn’t uncomfortable.

“And we’re here,” Yoongi said when he stopped the car, right in front what looked like an old warehouse, one of those cliché-looking ones where gangs and all seemed to gather.

When Jungkook had one arm wrapped around his waist, Jimin looked around, breathing in the refreshing air outside of the polluted and crowded city, eyes filling with tears at realising he was finally free once more; no more alarms, no more restrictions; maybe it wasn’t the way of being free again, but he didn’t care, he was finally out.

“Take the car, you know what to do?” Focusing on the others one more, he saw a man nodding at Yoongi’s words as he entered the car and drove off. “Let's get inside.”

While Seokjin hurried at his side to check on Hoseok, Jungkook pulled him lazily towards the large door, humming to an unknown tune. “We’re free, mochi, now I can teach you.”

“Did you know about this?” He asked with a frown, trying to push away the shiver as he remembered what he wanted to teach him.

Jungkook only smiled at him.

The interior of the warehouse was, surprisingly, clean and organised, a group of men were gathered around a table, heads turning towards the door when they heard them but focusing on whatever they were doing once they saw who they were; others were sat in front of a television, cans of beer and a bowl with fries surrounded by greasy hamburgers or hotdogs on the table next to it.

How did Yoongi have so many people?

“He’s going to be fine, he just fainted due malnutrition and lack of sleep,” Looking away from the men around, he watched another man, maybe around Seokjin’s age, checking on Hoseok, his movements and actions letting Jimin know that he knew what he was doing. “You will need to feed him when he wakes up, he’s skinnier than before.”

That also let him know he knew who they were.

“So now are you going to explain everything?” Seokjin said as he crossed his arms, the worry about Hoseok going away and letting him focus on his annoyance. “Or are you going to tell me to shrink myself again?”

Yoongi chuckled, momentarily diverting his eyes from Hoseok as he caressed his cheek to look at Seokjin. “You deserve an explanation, but I won’t be the one giving it.”

Seokjin looked close to running to him and punch him in the face so hard he was going to fly to the back of the room, but a figure walking out of one of the rooms at the end made Jimin finally scream.

“You have all the right to hate me and even kick me, just listen to me first.”

Namjoon’s tall figure stopped in front of Seokjin who looked petrified, wide eyes staring at the man he had cried for countless nights, at the man who he took he had taken his happiness with the moment he died in his arms.

“No- You- You just didn’t fucking do that to me,” Seokjin said in what sounded like a hiss, not even trying to hold back his tears. “You just didn’t fucking let me believe that you were dead for a whole year.”

Namjoon sighed as if he had expected this kind of reaction, looking up and crossing eyes with the men scattered around, making them stand up and walk out, leaving only them in the room. “It was never my intention to leave you like that.”

“Oh that’s just fucking wonderful,” Seokjin continued, wiping his tears harshly from his face. “Because that solves everything, that went back in time and made me stop crying, kept me from fucking swallowing those pills only to vomit them seconds later.”

Namjoon looked shocked just as everyone else, including Jimin who never knew Seokjin had tried to commit suicide, what kind of friend he was? “Jin… I’m sorry.”

“There hasn’t been a second where I don’t blame myself, waking up in the middle of the night at remembering you dying in my arms, the blood, everything from that day,” He said, glaring up at him. “Just so you, just so you come here and… my God, you’re alive.”

Jimin held Jungkook’s arm tightly when Seokjin hugged Namjoon, pressing his face against his chest while he repeated you’re alive over and over again, Namjoon hugging him back just as tightly as he pressed kisses to his head.

This really felt like a dream.

“I was going to tell you that it was fine,” Namjoon said, barely loud enough for everyone else to hear. “But I really fainted before I could, I didn’t count with losing so much blood and that change made everything more delicate.”

“You couldn’t tell me before?” Seokjin asked between sobs, still clinging to him.

“I couldn’t, I needed the whole world to think I was dead for real and couldn’t risk it,” He whispered, closing his eyes as he continued holding the other. “I love you, Jin, I’m sorry I made you suffer so much.”

“I swear I am going to kill you.”

Jimin smiled, this had to be a dream, Yoongi and Namjoon were alive for real, he was out of prison, everything had changed, but he was actually happy with it, as weird as it sounded.

“And you, Jimin,” Looking at Namjoon when he talked again, he found he was looking at him while keeping Seokjin in his arms. “Damn, you blew my mind, long live the king.

“Told you he was proud.”

Seokjin was going to kill Namjoon, Jimin, despite being a flustered mess in that moment, was going to kill Jungkook.

Chapter Text

“Oh my fucking God, you’re alive!”

Taehyung’s sudden shriek made Jimin stop thinking about the way he would kill Jungkook and look at his friend, who had been oddly quiet the whole time, apparently too in shock to even do or say anything as they reached the place, seeing him running to Yoongi who barely had time to catch him as he literally jumped to his arms, clinging as a koala would do to its mother.

“Taehyung, what in the-” Yoongi huffed as he managed to keep himself from falling, groaning as he balanced his body with the added weight of the other taller male. “I’m taking care of Hoseok.”

“You made him suffer a lot!” Taehyung said and there was a certain edge on his voice, a frown more than clear in his features, which was kind of ridiculous as he continued clinging to the other in that way. “Hoseok was really losing himself!”

Yoongi sighed loudly, letting Taehyung fall back on his feet and walking back to Hoseok, carding his fingers through Hoseok’s hair and shaking his head. “I couldn’t reveal I was alive, the risk was too high and I couldn’t do that to Namjoon.”

Jimin looked away from him and to Namjoon, the taller male was still hugging Seokjin tightly, allowing him to let out all the tears and frustration he had pushed deep inside his body. His face showed clearly he felt bad for the condition his two friends were, but a part of Jimin was starting to understand and comprehend why he had done it, the time he had been the king allowed him to see that sometimes things were more delicate than what they looked like.

“When Hoseok wakes up we can eat something, we will stay here until the whole commotion of your breakout settles a bit,” Namjoon said as he suddenly lifted Jimin on his arms, pressing kisses to his head and face as he walked towards a door at the end of the place.

“I will take care of Hoseok,” Yoongi said as he lifted Hoseok as well, careful to keep his head against his chest and hold his limp limbs to avoid the strain of leaving them just hanging, walking to another door he kicked open and closed behind him.

“My fucking God,” Taehyung huffed as he left his body collapse on the sofa in front of the television. “They’re really alive.”

“Feels, weird,” Jimin admitted as he went to sit at his side, turning to glare at Jungkook when he joined them. “How did you know?”

“My injuries at that time were delicate but weren’t life-threatening like many others,” Jungkook started with the same I’m just telling a story with flowers and rainbows tone instead of the I always knew they were alive one he should be used instead. “Because of that I was put on hold longer than what I was supposed to be, a guard told me Namjoon had everything under control.”

“And that’s it?” Taehyung voiced out his anger instead. “You couldn’t just tell us that?”

“No.”

“Serial killer or not I’m punching him,” Jimin agreed but gasped when Taehyung launched at Jungkook and gripped his hoodie to tug him closer, part of his body resting on Jimin’s lap as he was being squished in the middle of them.

“Could you two behave?!” He screeched, trying hard to push Taehyung’s body off him while Jungkook laughed at Taehyung who seemed to be throwing a tantrum rather than been angry.

He was mad at Jungkook, that was obvious, but the rational part still tried to understand why all of this had happened rather than letting his frustrations out and turn him into a banshee that screamed till someone started bleeding from their ears.

“We have a special report; police had released a statement that asks citizens to stay alert.”

The female voice coming from the television made Taehyung and Jungkook stop their nonsense and look up, allowing Jimin to look at the television as well.

“After the attack the central prison suffered a day ago, inmates were being transferred to different locations in groups,” The woman continued talking, looking surely at the prompter behind the camera. “Police reported this afternoon that an official truck transporting five inmates got lost for several minutes, the guards responsible for the movement didn’t respond to several calls from the penitentiary.”

“What a shock,” Taehyung grinned as he settled on partially lying down on Jimin’s and Jungkook’s lap, looking at the television with an amused expression.

“Police had asked citizens to stay alert for possible sightings of this five men,” She said and Jimin felt that he stopped breathing when the picture they had taken that day appeared on the screen along with Taehyung’s, Jungkook’s, Seokjin’s and Hoseok’s. “The inmates are Kim Taehyung, Kim Seokjin, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook.”

“Hey, they called us by our names, that’s a nice detail,” Taehyung spoke again, nodding in what looked satisfaction. “I stopped being inmate million, billion two.”

Jimin too liked being called by his name as well.

“Police, however, asked everybody to be careful with Jeon Jungkook, better known as the bunny killer of Korea,” She said, stressing each word more than necessary. “In case of spotting him, please do not attempt to go for him, find a safe place and call police immediately.”

Jimin felt Jungkook’s body vibrating softly at his side and a soft noise rumbling in his chest, as if he was purring in delight at hearing what people were saying about him, please at how much they feared him and even handled things differently. The yellow eyes and pointy teeth at full display as he stared at the screen.

“Further indications can be released later,” She nodded. “Police had promised to recapture them as soon as possible.”

“Good luck with that,” Taehyung said happily, rolling to lie on his back and look at the two of them. “You know, I thought I was just fine with finishing my sentence there, but now I won’t be back there.”

Jimin didn’t want to either, the feeling of freedom that was all around him made him feel good and good was something he hadn’t feel in a long, long time. Even with that, his eyes returned to the screen to find the woman wasn’t there anymore but the pictures of them were still on display, noting how all of them looked different.

Seokjin, despite being as handsome as he was in that moment, looked younger and had his hair bleached blonde, a small almost innocent smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he looked at the camera; Hoseok didn’t look as bright as he was before all of this happened, his eyes were slightly red due crying (for leaving his sister, possibly,) and his hair was slightly longer, fringe pushed back hastily to show his forehead; Taehyung too looked younger, innocent eyes filled with a spark of fear and insecurity, eyes not fully on the camera but on the someone who was taking the photo; Jungkook was probably the most shocking one, actually, he looked incredibly young, just a tiny bit of baby fat on his face, doe eyes fully open and staring into the camera with such intensity it was unsettling, just how old was he? 17? 18? 20 at most and it was terrifying.

His eyes finally fell on his own picture, the scared, terrified eyes, the pink hair, the lips pressed into a thin line and the teary eyes were a clear image of the innocent and scared boy he was when all of this started, it reminded him of those days, a year ago, when he clung to the now pathetic possibility of being released, of being found not guilty when he had everything against him. If someone took a photo of him in that moment, how would he looked like?

“Your parents will be surprised.”

Jungkook’s words almost made him push Taehyung away in order to stand up, mind seeming to shut down the world surrounding him as it flew to his parents, to the house he remembered visiting so many times, where he used to find comfort and happiness, where he felt protected.

He could imagine his mother sitting on her comfortable armchair, knitting the sweater she would give his father for Christmas, a cup of warm tea on the coffee table in front of her, he could see her letting go of the sweater in shock, it falling from her lap and dragging the ball of yarn with it, her wide eyes staring at the news as it talked about the breakout.

Her son.

Her sweet son that used to giggle and hug her all the time, the same she raised and took to school every day until he was old enough, the same that was thrown in jail without deserving it.

The same that killed a man and didn’t regret it.

She would surely break down in tears and harsh sobs, asking why this had happened and jumping to the conclusion that he had been forced because no way in hell her son would ever want to escape willingly, her mind could run so widely she was surely filling with kidnapping and threatening theories.

His father, on the other hand, would be angry, furious, outraged, he would scream and claim not to have a son anymore, yanking his hair in frustration because his son made yet another mistake, one that had severe and irreparable consequences.

Jimin felt like swimming against the strong current as he thought about their reactions, their feelings, everything he had done to them until he feels Jungkook’s hand holding his, the action bringing him back to earth, Taehyung’s weight on his legs and his smiley face looking at him. All of it makes him stop swimming and turn around, embracing the path it is taking him to.

He doesn’t regret it.

◊◊◊

Yoongi sighed as he continued running one hand through Hoseok’s hair, keeping himself close to him as they lay on the bed inside that medium-sized room, occasionally moving it down his forehead, tracing his nose and lips softly, feeling his stable breathing coming out of his nose while he continues in his forced sleep.

“I’m sorry, sunshine,” He whispered at one point, moving closer to place a soft peck on his cheek. “I’m sorry I made you suffer like that.”

Terrible is not even a good way to describe how he feels, after he woke up and Namjoon appeared with the plan, Yoongi’s mind constantly went back to his boyfriend, to his teary face that pleaded him not to leave him, to hang on because he needs him, because he will collapse if he’s not there to hold him.

Hoseok’s face was the only thing he could think of the whole year, even in his unconscious state where he wasn’t even sure he could hear or feel anything from the outside world, as doctors claimed he could, he was sure that Hoseok’s face was what stayed with him the whole time, pushing him forward, knowing he just couldn’t die without seeing his boyfriend again.

Blinking out of his train of thoughts when there was movement, he looked at Hoseok furrowing his brow as a soft whimper escaped his lips, body starting to twitch as if he was stuck between a nightmare and trying to wake up, the thought immediately worried him and he shook him gently, trying to wake him up but not startle him. “Sunshine, Hobi, wake up.”

It took Hoseok a lot to wake up, though, he twitched, whimpered and eventually sat up with a gasp when things seemed to get too intense, wide eyes looking around the unfamiliar place as his hand went for his stomach, pressing on the part he remembered the scar from the stab was. His panic seemed to be reaching its peak until his eyes fell on Yoongi and he inhaled sharply. “Y-Yoongi?”

“I told you I wasn’t going to disappear, love,” He said softly, sitting slowly to hold his hand. “I’m here.”

Hoseok stared at him for several seconds, maybe even minutes, his eyes a combination of not believing what he was seeing and fully believing it until tears came out of them and he shook his head. “This is just one of those horrible dreams, you’re going to disappear!”

Yoongi could feel his heartbreaking even though that hypothetical thing was nonsense, and reached to hug him, pulling him closer and pressing kisses to his head. “I won’t, I promise I won’t do it ever again, I’m never leaving your side.”

Hoseok broke down once more in harsh sobs, arms tightening around Yoongi’s smaller body desperately, fearing that he was indeed going to vanish in any second. “You’re alive, you’re really alive.”

“I am,” He whispered, trying hard to not cry because assassins didn’t cry, they were professionals in hiding every single emotion behind their masks… the problem was that he wasn’t Suga at that moment, wasn’t the assassin, he was just Yoongi, the man who missed the axis of his life. “Please forgive me.”

“W-What happened?” Hoseok asked after what felt like hours of harsh sobs and cries. “You lost so much blood and then-then Jimin told me you were dead.”

“When I was shot I was in real risk, love,” He sighed, cupping Hoseok’s left cheek to clean the tears. “I told you all of that not because I wanted to torture you, but because I felt I was really going to die and I, technically, did on my way to the hospital, they needed to reanimate me and that lead to the coma.”

Hoseok tightened the hold he had on one of his arm, teeth biting his lower lip as he tried hard to not start crying once more. “I-I could have lost you for real?”

“Yes, I was in a coma for three months, doctors weren’t that keen in saving me, wasting medicine and equipment on a criminal wasn’t the best thing and, honestly, who can blame them?” He snorted. “But Namjoon intervened and kept the fuckers from plugging my ventilator off.”

“D-Did you know about Namjoon’s plan?” He asked, pressing kisses to his face and neck, apparently missing the contact too much.

“Yes, but didn’t know about the changes,” He shrugged. “I mean, a lot of them changed and he will be explaining to you soon, though, none of us counted with being fatally wounded.”

Hoseok pressed their lips together while his hands pulled him as close as he could to his body, tears still running down his cheeks as he poured all his love and emotions into him, staying like that until he had to pull back to breathe desperately.

“I-It was my fault, because of my incompetence you and Taehyung got hurt,” He started, holding his hand tightly. “You were my everything and living without you wasn’t life, God, Yoongi I was lost, broken, didn’t know what to do, how to live, didn’t know anything anymore.”

“I beat myself every fucking night thinking about you, how could I be free and walk around if the person I love was still in that place,” He hissed quietly. “It wasn’t your fault, you were still hurt, fuck, I promised to always protect and take care of you.”

“We have both killed people, Yoongi, it’s not as if I was some kind of delicate flower who needs protection,” Hoseok sighed. “I do get what you mean, but there’s no way I will ever stop feeling guilty about it.”

And Yoongi sighed because he knew just how stubborn Hoseok was, when he got an idea inside that head of his, there was almost nothing that could take it out; despite Yoongi had committed himself to protect and take care of him, Hoseok wants it to work in two ways and his head is too wrapped around the idea that he had failed him to just let go of it.

But he won’t give up.

“Thank you, Yoongi, thank you for not leaving me,” Hoseok whispered before breaking down again, clinging to him as he cried.

“And will never do it again.”

◊◊◊

“Did you really choose me?”

They had eaten in the same way they used to do before all of this happened, bringing back so many good memories despite Seokjin and Hoseok didn’t look as bright as before, the sadness and anger (in Seokjin’s case at least,) are still there, Jimin hopes is just temporary.

After it, Yoongi and Hoseok returned to their room, Seokjin left to sleep because his head was apparently killing him and Taehyung started talking about something with Jungkook, leaving Namjoon and Jimin by themselves. Jimin had grown nervous but decided to talk, finally, talk.

“I did, as weird as that sounds,” Namjoon chuckled. “After you saved Jin and I told Jungkook to protect you, I noticed you were different, as in purer than any of us… but I also saw the way you accepted Jungkook, despite him being a complete monster who enjoys killing people, you accepted him.”

Jimin remembered that was something that kept him awake at night, remembered struggling to come up with that term. “It doesn’t mean I will turn into a serial killer.”

“Of course not, I saw your determination and that was exactly what I needed,” He hummed as he kicked a man’s foot so he woke up a leave. “I needed a fresh start and you provided that exactly.”

“I-I never thought you were going to choose me,” He stammered, rubbing his bloody hands harshly. “I-I just knew nothing.”

“That was cruel and I apologise,” He groaned. “Things just changed quite a bit and couldn’t really teach you.”

“Does that mean you knew the hound’s plan?” He asked, blinking perplexed at him.

“Yes and no,” He tilted his head. “I knew he was planning something, my people informed me he was adding a lot of experts to his team, but truth is that I didn’t exactly know he was just going to start shooting everyone.”

Jimin frowned as he remembered that time once more. “You had a plan, but it went differently?”

“Yes, my plan was maybe getting a bit hurt, but having the time to actually tell all of you that it was going to be okay,” He sighed, shaking his head as he remembered Seokjin’s pained expression. “It didn’t happen, I was losing blood fast and couldn’t tell Seokjin that I was going to think in something to help us.”

“The days were so hard,” He said with a small whimper. “I didn’t know what to do, I wanted to help Jin, Hoseok, Taehyung, wanted to help everyone but wasn’t sure how.”

“I’m sorry I left you like this, everything got so much more complicated the moment I passed out,” He sighed, shaking his head. “I was in real danger, I lost so much blood I was at the verge of dying for real, I was in so much danger that while I battled the infection and swam between consciousness and unconsciousness, I believed everything was going to go to shit.”

Jimin imagined for a moment that Namjoon had died, imagined that he couldn’t come back and save them from that place, how would it be? How long would it be until someone stronger and more powerful had arrived the prison to strip away the power that had been given to him, how it would have been?

He shivered at the thought.

“I honestly don’t know why I am just so happy you are alive,” He smiled, eyes disappearing.

“You did a wonderful job, Jimin, I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting you to be that good,” He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “You somehow managed to handle everything.”

And Jimin felt oddly proud and happy, maybe life wanted to put him in this path.

Chapter Text

“Why didn't you tell me anything, Jungkook?”

Jungkook looked up from the newspaper that had his face all over the front pages, raising a brow at seeing Jimin looking at him with that frown. “Tell you what, Mochi?”

“Well, all of this,” He said, walking to sit at his side with a long sigh. “You saw how we all were, how hard— Just how bad everything was in the emotional aspect of it, Hoseok wanted to die.”

“I didn’t know about Yoongi, I only knew about Namjoon,” He shrugged and Jimin felt so close to screaming at him. “And you were doing good, Hoseok didn’t die.”

“I know you think differently than any of us, but you could have just told me that Namjoon wasn’t dead,” He said, looking at him with such a sharp glare that anyone would feel uncomfortable.

“I did tell you,” Of course Jungkook wasn’t anyone and he seemed entertained instead of angry.

“When?! You never said anything!”

“I always talked about Namjoon in present time, never said anything about him in past,” He continued, even resting his elbow on the table as he waited for him to do something.

“You definitely think differently, you are not like anyone else I have met before,” He rambled, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “But you could have said it, could have done something to help instead of saying dumb things and imagine everyone will understand.”

“You sound like the psychologist that first came to me when I entered prison,” He snorted, leaning closer to Jimin. “You were doing fine my precious, wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Jimin ended up leaning back on the sofa, pressing his hands to his face, sometimes it was impossible to even deal with Jungkook as everything seemed to be calmness for him and there were times, especially these ones where every single emotion was on it’s highest point, that he drove him crazy. “It’s not a joke, Jungkook, you should have told me.”

“You need to be strong, Jimin,” He said, voice suddenly taking that seriousness that was rarely there. “Things are

going to change, they won’t be as calm as they were back there.”

The more he talked the more he leant closer until Jimin’s back was pressed against the sofa below him and Jungkook was over him, his face really close to his. “Calm? Do you really call what happened there calm?”

“We’re part of Namjoon’s group now,” He said, one hand coming up to caress his cheek. “It won’t be easy and being this sensitive will bring you problems.”

“In case you haven’t notice it, my life is already problematic,” He muttered, trying not to show his nervousness for being so close. “I escaped and if I get captured I’m going to spend the rest of my life there.”

“We won’t be going back there,” He chuckled, sounding so confident it was amazing. “But that’s not the point, I need you to change, to be ready for all of this, I will make sure of that.”

“You want to teach me how to kill,” He said, tired of going around the bush in this topic. “Possibly teach me how to enjoy it as you do and Jungkook, I’m not like that.”

“Mochi, you will never be like me,” He said with a smile, pinching his cheek as if he was suddenly talking to a little kid. “That is obvious, you are you and that won’t change, the way you killed that man was different.”

And there it was again, those memories that came to his mind that didn’t really affect him anymore, as weird as it sounded, the blood in his hands was still there but it was almost normal. “You know I won’t regret it.”

“That’s what I want you to become,” He said, his doe eyes staring at him. “Harsher things will come and that determination can’t fail; kill, engrave that feeling of blood running down your hands, the feeling of going through every layer of skin, never regret it.”

Jimin felt his body shivering, his words seeming to go inside his brain. “It’s not like that, he wanted to kill my family and all of you.”

“Even with that, not everyone is capable of doing it, Mochi,” He smiled, placing a soft kiss on his nose. “There was this man who I gave him the chance of shooting me before I killed his girlfriend; he couldn’t do it.”

The worst part was that Jimin could imagine every single thing about that scene.

“He was threatening you, I know, but he was going to kill you and everything would have ended there, you dead and life continuing its way,” He continued, resting his chin on his chest without breaking eye contact. “But you didn’t, you took that shard and stabbed him way more than necessary, enjoyed seeing the life leaving his eyes and, overall, accepted everything.”

When he was a kid, Jimin didn’t even dare to hurt a spider or a fly, he didn’t like them, yes, but he preferred to flee from them rather than having to kill them because killing was bad and his mother taught him better. Never in his life, he even considered killing someone, in that way especially.

“You’re different, Jimin, that’s why Namjoon chooses you and that’s why I want you,” He said, smiling almost innocently, doe eyes sparkling as if he was a kid watching a bag of candies. “There’s this little twisted part inside of you and it’s endearing.”

“Jungkook…”

“I know, baby, I know,” He chuckled, shushing him with a kiss. “I will bring that part out.”

“The most concerning part, however, was that he was curious about seeing it out as well.

◊◊◊

“Do you remember the day we met?”

Namjoon smiled as he nodded, running his fingers through Seokjin’s hair. “I remember thinking you were the most beautiful human in the whole world.”

“Well, that’s because I am,” He chuckled lightly, looking up at him. “I didn’t believe you were a leader; you didn’t look like.”

“That was a direct punch to my ego,” He said with a faint huff. “I wanted to rip that beautiful head of yours from your body.”

“My initial plan was just seducing you to have privileges like I used to do, but stupidly enough, I fell in love with you,” He sighed, reaching to pinch his cheek harshly, making the other pull back with a whine. “Your eloquence for talking, your smiles, that leader vibe you really have… I just, I just knew that I have found the only person I could give my heart to.”

“Aren’t you the cheesiest one?” Namjoon teased him, laughing when he slapped his shoulder. “You know I had many people before you, but you quickly stole my heart and you became my everything.”

“That day everything was- Everything was going great, they were dying before even having a chance and then he appeared and like a total idiot, couldn’t defend me,” He whispered, pain coming with every word. “I felt your body shaking when the bullet burnt you and went through your body, could feel the shock… I wanted to die, Joon, I didn’t want to continue without you.”

“You know how I am with my plans and everything, the fact that I couldn’t ease your mind was… the worst,” He sighed, lying down at his side and hugging him closer by his waist. “Jin, thank you for coming back to me.”

“I was really close to not doing it, idiot,” He choked back a sob. “If I would have succeeded in dying I would have come to haunt you so you died of fright.”

“Murdered by the most handsome ghost in the world, sounds fair,” He laughed, kissing his neck. “It’s a story I would read.”

“I swear to God, Namjoon, I don’t know what would have happened to me if you were dead for real,” He said after pinching his cheek again and biting his shoulder. “But now the king is back to his domain and ready to kill.”

“Wouldn’t dare to say he’s fully back,” He chuckled. “My enemies will want to come for me as soon as Joon is back and we will have to handle all of it.”

“As if you haven’t dealt with all of that,” He hummed, patting his cheek. “Or did you get rusty in prison? If that’s so, I will be so disappointed.”

“That would be devastating,” He said in mock offence. “Of course I haven’t, I know how to deal with it, just need some time and people.”

“Are we safe here, though? An old warehouse in the middle of nowhere sounds like a Hollywood solution,” He hummed. “Hiding in plain sight sounds lame.”

“Hey, does the queen wants to take over?” He smirked, making Seokjin roll his eyes.

“Queen my ass,” He snorted. “But you better be careful or Jimin is coming for you.”

“He was an unexpected but nice discovery,” He said as he squeezed his waist. “But there’s one more thing I have to offer to him.”

Seokjin then let out a long sigh and nodded. “He will be ready, I’m sure.”

◊◊◊

“That I can do what?”

Jungkook chuckled softly when he heard Jimin’s response, patting his head while Namjoon moved a bit closer.

“See your parents, I’m afraid you won’t be seeing them in a long, long time.”

Jimin hadn’t expected it, Christ, half of the things that had happened in these past weeks have come completely unexpected and he didn’t even know what was up and what was down at this point. “They-They will call the police, especially my father.”

“We will make sure they can’t,” Yoongi said as he continued holding Hoseok’s hand, something they hadn’t really stopped doing. “And no, we won’t threaten them, phone lines are just too easy to cut.”

He wanted to see them, if Jimin had, to be honest, seeing his parents sounded like one of the sweetest things in this world, even his father. “I-I will like to, but I don’t want to cause problems or-or risk you all.” He has lost them once, he couldn’t do it again.

“You won’t, all of this will be under control,” Taehyung cheered from his spot. “Now let’s get you ready.”

Jimin barely had time to nod before he was being pulled away and towards the room he, Jungkook and Taehyung had taken, not having much time to protect himself as he was shoved towards the bed and landed face first. “Taehyung!”

“Sorry, let’s just do this,” He threw him a boxy grin before shoving his head in the closet, rummaging through its contents until he pulled back with a large black hoodie that surely belonged to Jungkook and tight black jeans. “This would do; we need you to be a shadow.”

“You sound as if I was a spy,” He snorted, catching the clothes when he threw them. “Get out so I can change.”

“Oh, come on, I have seen your dick before,” He said innocently, letting himself collapse on the bed next to where he was sitting. “Are you excited?”

“I’m… nervous,” He muttered as he resigned to having him there and started to change his clothes. “I’m not sure I can endure their disappointment.”

“It’s not like they can change it,” Taehyung sighed, closing his eyes. “This is what you are right now, what their son is and there’s no going back, they can scream and cry at what’s happening, but if they love you as much as they say they do, they will take that moment to, well, say goodbye to you.”

It was the blunt way of saying it, but Jimin was grateful Taehyung was like that, he had lied to himself for so long that he needed to hear things like this. “I just feel like the worst son that had ever stepped on earth.”

“Maybe you are for making them suffer like this, maybe Jungkook is for killing his own parents, or maybe we all are bad sons, we all know our parents didn’t want to have criminals, but that’s what we are,” He said, opening his eyes to look at him. “Just let out what you want to say to them, don’t keep things inside because you don’t know if you will have a chance of saying it later, okay?”

Jimin thanked he had bonded so fast and so good with Taehyung and right now, he thanked he found the words he needed without even knowing.

As he went out he found out that they were just waiting for him, Namjoon, Jungkook and Seokjin were by the door while Hoseok and Yoongi were checking something on the computer, everyone looking towards him when he appeared.

“Come with us, Jimin,” Namjoon said and he immediately followed, trying to walk more confidently as he was guided towards a black van where each one found a place, Jungkook pulling him to sit at his side and resting his head on his shoulder.

“You can’t reveal with who you are, what we do or where we are,” Seokjin said as the car started moving. “That information can’t be revealed and you would only put them in risk.”

Jimin nodded, already imagining just how hard it was going to be to deal with his mother and her questions. “How long can I stay?”

“Ten minutes, there will be a knock on the door when it is time to go,” Namjoon said, patting his knee in a way he guessed was comforting. “Just talk to them.”

Jimin wished it was that easy.

After what felt like hours, the van came to a stop and the door was opened by Namjoon, revealing the neighbourhood Jimin could recognise no matter how much it changed, the two-floors house standing there just like he remembered it from a bit more than a year ago.

“Do it, love.”

Jungkook seemed to giggle in his ear before he pushed him forward, giving him enough time to pull the hood up so it covered his head and concealed part of his face before he started moving. Jimin walked to the doorstep and stood there for several seconds, hearing the faint noises coming from inside before lifting his hand and knocking.

There was a faint coming and Jimin heard steps getting closer, the door swinging open to reveal his mother standing there, the cloth she had on her hands falling as she recognised his face. “J-Jimin?”

He just nodded, taking a step inside when she moved back and closing the door behind him, needing to rest his back against it to keep himself from falling. “Yeah, mother, it’s me.”

The lack of someone knew making its appearance had his father coming to check on her, freezing on his place as well when he recognised him. “You- What are you doing here?”

As expected.

“I just came to- to say goodbye, I will be leaving Seoul and I-I’m sorry I’m making you go through this,” He said, remembering Taehyung’s words. “I’m sorry I broke all your expectations and became a disappointment, but this is how things are.”

“Jimin, please, think about this, police are looking for you and if you go back they can be less harsh,” His mother, of course, pleaded, holding his hand tightly, tears already making their way down his cheeks. “Finish your time there and come back home, please.”

It broke his heart, seeing her suffering like this was almost too much, almost made him consider going back and saying he preferred to return to jail, but he stood still, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “I won’t be going back, mom, I’m sorry.”

“So now you’re becoming the criminal you claimed not to be!” His father spat, moving towards him until he was slammed against the wall. “Just how much more disappointment a father can take?”

“You were never proud of anything I have done,” He said, not even flinching at the harsh manhandling. “And I have learnt more about myself with them than with you.”

The punch to his nose had his mother screaming as she pulled his father back, holding the cloth to his nose to stop the blood. “If someone is forcing you to say all of this please tell me, please let me help you.”

“It’s okay, mom, I can’t be in that place anymore… I will be okay, I’m doing so much better and I promise I will have continued being; keep in mind that I love you,” He said with a sad smile as he held the cloth. “Will always do.”

“I won’t be an accomplice,” His father suddenly snarled and Jimin saw him walking to get his phone, feeling his heart almost stopping before the unexpected happen.

His mother was at his father’s side in a second and yanked the phone from his hands, sending it flying to the floor before turning to love at Jimin. “And I love you, Jimin, you are my baby and will always be… How can a mother allow her child to get hurt in such a horrible place?”

Jimin felt the tears leaving his eyes as he heard her, the knock almost making him jump. “I’m sorry, I love you.”

“Now go, please stay safe,” She cried, keeping her husband from taking the phone again. “God, stay safe please.”

“I-I love you too, dad, even if you don’t love me.” He said with a shaky voice.

He opened the door before running out of the house, jumping inside the van that had the door open and throwing himself to Jungkook’s arms to cry like a kid that had lost his parents, feeling the van speeding off back to their place, his home now.

There was no going back.

Chapter Text

“I feel… I don’t shine as much as you liked it…”

Yoongi looked away from the screen of the computer to Hoseok who kept his head resting on the table, looking at the equipment they had in front instead of Yoongi’s eyes, frowning as he lowered his head so they could be at the same level. “What are you saying, sunshine?”

“I,” He stopped, opening his mouth and closing it several times before his eyes filled with tears. “I feel weird, I feel as if I am living in a dream, one that will end and reveal the horrible reality.”

Yoongi sighed, resting his palm on Hoseok’s cheek and caressing it softly. “It’s not a dream, Hoseok, you are really here, I am really here.”

“And that’s why I feel so stupid,” He sobbed, digging his nails on the table. “I know you’re real, that you didn’t die, I know every damn thing but still can’t shake this feeling off and it’s- it’s just the worst.”

“It’s my fault and I am sorry,” He sighed, pressing a kiss to his nose. “But you still shine so brightly, Hoseok, you’re still my sunshine, my love, nothing had changed… well, you’re just more handsome but that was bound to happen.”

Hoseok let out a small laugh, smiling like Yoongi remembered he would do every time they had time to spend together without others annoying them. “I-I want to feel… me, to be happy with you again and kick some ass.”

“We’re done, we’re returning.”

Yoongi looked away from Hoseok to look at the camera after hearing Namjoon, seeing the car they knew were in speeding away from the area and heading back there, doing a quick check over of everything before turning to look at Taehyung. “You, help here, please.”

Taehyung blinked, looking between Yoongi and Hoseok for several seconds before nodding and jumping to take the seat Yoongi had, poking Hoseok’s side and wriggling his brows before focusing on the screens once more. “I got you, have fun.”

Yoongi merely rolled his eyes, holding Hoseok’s hand and tugging him away and to their room, locking the door behind him and immediately going for him, wrapping his arms around his waist to pull him closer and pressing their lips together, kissing him like he hadn’t done in a long time.

“I need you,” Hoseok whimpered, fisting his shirt tightly and pulling him even more as if he wanted to fuse their bodies. “God, Yoongi, I need you.”

And Yoongi would be lying if he said he didn’t, he had hurt Hoseok, abandoned him for a whole year and torture him by making him believe that he had died, that he had lost who he once claimed to be his soulmate. The two of them had deprived each other from those small I love you that were whispered when they found each other in the corridor as they walked to their cells, those touches that came when people weren’t been annoying and gave them privacy, everything that turned them into them was gone for a full year and the fact that Hoseok felt he wasn’t himself because of it was enough to devastate Yoongi more than that time when he found him bleeding on the floor.

“I am here, baby, I am here and will never leave you,” He said, pushing him slightly back until he fell to the bed behind him, following his body and climbing up to be on top of him, looking into his eyes. “I won’t leave you again.”

The again was torture and he could see it in those dark eyes that were always sparkling, Hoseok wanted to forget and convince his brain that he wasn’t hallucinating, desperately needed it. “If you do, at least take me with you.”

Hoseok’s hand reached for a fistful of his hair and pulled him down to kiss him again, making their lips collide as he kissed him more roughly, more demanding, his other hand going under the shirt and starting to explore the canvas his boyfriend was for him, feeling Yoongi’s hands digging his fingers on his hips, surely leaving the marks he once had.

“I just told you I won’t leave,” Yoongi whispered as he pulled back and Hoseok removed his hand from his hair, attacking his neck and every single part of exposed skin with his teeth, biting and marking the man he loved and had missed so dearly.

Hoseok and he weren’t like bunnies on spring that needed to show their affection on every available surface, but Yoongi had to admit that the heat of the moment reached south faster than he was expecting it; the fact that they were finally doing it in a normal bed rather than the uncomfortable table or top bunk with an old mattress only fueled him further, in the blink of an eye he had the other completely exposed to his feline eyes and he couldn’t hold back the smirk when he saw the faint pink adorning his cheeks. “Are you really blushing, Seokie?”

“S-Shut up! I just- It’s been a while,” He groaned, rubbing his cheeks harshly before looking back up at him, tugging his shirt. “Come one, mister dom, take off your freaking clothes.”

Yoongi laughed but complied, taking off the offending clothing and going to attack the other once more, pressing kisses to his chest, hand moving down to take hold of his already hard cock, smearing the bead or precum around to make the hold less harsh, taking his sweet time in watching Hoseok losing himself under him.

“If I wasn’t this sentimental I would be fucking you against the wall,” Hoseok hissed right before he moaned, snapping his hips up to increase the friction.

“We finally have a normal bed and room yet you still have the mentality of a prisoner,” He tutted, shaking his head.

“As if you didn’t enjoy it.”

“Never said I didn’t.”

He spent just a couple of seconds more teasing his poor boyfriend before finally moving, reaching for the bottle of lube he had bought a while ago, squishing a good amount of it on his fingers and starting to work in stretching him, after all, this was supposed to be good for him.

Their first time had been during the time Hoseok was transferred to Yoongi’s cell, back in the time where Namjoon hadn’t discovered the potential of having a trained assassin on his side; the initial aversion Hoseok had against him was vanishing and the more they spent time together, the more they realised they were stupid for each other and all of it leads to having Hoseok blushing under him.

Hoseok’s first time was his.

The man wasn’t a virgin in the whole sense of the world, of course, he had been with girls during his school days, but Yoongi was his first time with a man. According to him, he had found out he was fully into boys not so long ago and suddenly being thrown into a place with only men was driving him crazy. It had been special, had been meaningful in different levels and Yoongi, despite being taught to not have feelings, had realised he was screwed and deeply in love.

“Oh fuck- I missed you, Yoongi.”

Hoseok was beautiful, even before being thrown into prison he had had a well-built body thanks to all the dancing he did, his bright smile and hyperactive personality with those he trusted was completely different to what Yoongi was used to, but that, in his eyes, just made him even more beautiful. In moments like this, Hoseok’s beauty and handsomeness seemed to increase tenfold, the arch of his back against the bed looked artistically, the way he moaned and every little sound that came from his mouth was angelical and the way his muscles twitched with every thrust just made him feel lost.

“I want you to have me in your mind all the time,” He whispered as he helped him to lift his body a bit without getting out of him. “Want to be what you think when you feel you need someone, want you to know how much I love you.”

“You fucker… you already are my everything,” He whispered, his whole body shivering as he clung to him for dear life. “There wasn’t a single second where you weren’t in my mind.”

Moments like this one should be the ones who should last forever.

“Come for me, baby.”

Hoseok was even beautiful when he cried out and made a mess between their bodies.

“You’re adorable when you turn into a whining mess,” Yoongi chuckled as he finished cleaning the other, hearing him whine yet again. “Where all the hyperactiveness went?”

“It went to sleep,” He mumbled, stretching his arms towards him, clinging to him as soon as Yoongi went to lie down at his side. “Thank you, Yoongi.”

“No, thank you for forgiving me, Hoseok, what I did to you was cruel and you didn’t deserve it,” He sighed, caressing his head, looking at him as he rested his head on his shoulder. “Let’s kick everyone together from now on.”

“Let’s get married one day, please.”

And just like that, Yoongi felt his heart stopped beating for a second before smiling. “Let’s do it.”

◊◊◊

“You should have punched him back.”

Jimin sighed as he heard Jungkook, wincing when Seokjin changed the paper on his nose, checking for the bleeding. “I wasn’t going to punch my father, Jungkook.”

“Why not?”

“The fact that you killed yours doesn’t mean he will do the same,” Namjoon said as he checked on his phone something. “He doesn’t hate them.”

“Are you sure you don’t, Mochi?”

“Jesus Christ, Jungkook go to sleep,” Seokjin snorted, glancing at the other who was just looking out of the window innocently.

“I’m sure I don’t, I can understand how they feel,” He sighed, thanking Seokjin and sitting up once more. “Are we leaving Seoul, then?”

“For now at least, I need to have all my people and then come back to shake the poor ones who believed I am dead,” Namjoon said proudly, extending his phone for Jimin to take it. “A list of all the things we need to do.”

Leaving the astonishment for the level of organisation Namjoon seemed to have for this aside, Jimin looked with slightly wide eyes at the long list that extended on his phone, starting with a simple secure the new base to the one ruling all of them: recover Seoul.

“Why did you end up in jail?” He had heard stories, but now he had the feeling Namjoon trusted him enough to talk about it-

“Well, at first I had problems with a group that popped out of nowhere,” He snorted, crossing his arms. “They planned a shit ton of things so police caught me and they did, what they didn’t know was that I had already planned all of the things inside.”

“Things inside?” He asked, scratching his head and almost jumping when Jungkook pulled to snuggle against him as if he was a pillow.

“They paid a lot so I was captured, their plan was killing me inside there,” He said with an amused smile, ruffling his dark hair. “But I have already established my domain inside and their plan failed.”

“Things started to change when he arrived,” Seokjin said as he pinched Namjoon’s cheek again, making him groan. “He didn’t look that powerful but man he was, he had almost every single guard eating from his hand.”

“Wouldn’t it had been better to not be sent there?” He asked even though he was blown away but how easy it made it sound.

“I thought so too as well, in the beginning at least,” He shrugged. “But then I discovered just how good the business there was and had to stay there.”

That had a lot of sense. “That’s… great.”

Namjoon chuckled, ruffling Jimin’s hair and ignoring Jungkook’s groan. “Calm your possessiveness with me, Kook.”

“You started to recruit all of them?” He asked again, tugging Jungkook’s ear.

“Yeah, that’s a way of putting it,” He chuckled, shrugging lightly. “I’m sure Jungkook wanted to kill me at some point.”

“I did,” Jungkook shrugged. “But later I discovered you’re amazing.”

“Amazing?”

“People who get high on drugs and drown in alcohol are despicable, Namjoon is getting rid of them, in a sense,” He smiled, eyes fluttering as he looked at him. “They suffer for their own stupidity.”

Sure he had another way of thinking.

“Yoongi was a harder addition,” Seokjin said as he crossed his arms and leant down on his seat. “He didn’t seem to be needing anything, but as soon as Taehyung joined and Hoseok as well, he jumped in.”

“Those two are like ultimate goals,” Namjoon laughed. “I’m glad they can continue their killing story.”

Jimin laughed as well, but no one could even imagine just how glad he was as well.

The van stopped after a couple of minutes more and he was carried out by Jungkook despite his whines for being put down, sighing in defeat and just enjoying the ride, enduring Seokjin’s laughter and Namjoon’s judging eyes.

“Welcome back, I kept the house clean and warm and made food for all of you,” Taehyung announced mockingly when they stepped inside, raising his arms from the sofa he was sitting at.

“Where are Yoongi and Hoseok?” Seokjin asked when he glanced at the table where the other was.

“With Hobi, they need private time,” He hummed, returning his eyes to the television. “They’re intense.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Jimin looked away from Taehyung when he heard Yoongi’s voice, finding him walking out of his room with a sleepy Hoseok on his back. “I see you’re back and you had a warm and happy reunion.”

Jimin groaned as he covered his nose, glancing at Jungkook when he finally put him down. “The warmest.”

“Someone wanted to call police but I kept sending his call to a pizzeria, it was so fun,” Taehyung giggled. “ I’m calling the police! Pizza? What kind of joke this is?!”

Jimin let out an involuntary laugh at the awful impersonation he did of his father, shaking his head. “You’re mean, Tae.”

“Couldn’t resist, I was so close to transferring it to a hotline,” He grinned and Jimin laughed, even more, going to hit him but ending up laughing with him.

“With that over, we will start moving our things to the base,” Namjoon said as he pulled Seokjin closer. “It’s around eight hours from here.”

Jimin nodded, looking at everyone around him, seeing Hoseok so comfortable as he snuggled into Yoongi’s back, Namjoon and Seokjin looking at each other with that adoration, Taehyung clinging to his side while he tried not to laugh loudly and finally Jungkook just staring at him with the mix of possessiveness and softness he had for him.

They were all criminals, but they were his family.

“T-Thank you for letting me say goodbye to them, Namjoon…” He whispered, smiling at the other who returned the smile with that small dimple that tended to show more.

“It’s fine, we pretty much took everything away from you,” He chuckled. “You accepted it, though, but still deserved compensation.”

Even when his heart aching for knowing he was never going to see his parents again, Jimin liked this and it wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

Chapter Text

The process of moving out wasn’t as easy as changing your home.

Jimin remembered that the time he moved from his parent’s house to his own apartment had been tiring, too many things to pack and endless walks from the house to the truck and back, not even mentioning the unpacking and the complicated process of finding the best way to organise the things so it looks good. All of that looked like a joke compared to this.

To begin with, they were criminals, the couldn’t just simply call someone to help them move equipment police would like to have, well, they probably could but wouldn’t end up nice for the person who helped them; that meant they all had to help, work diligently in carrying boxes and pushing containers towards the trailer parked outside, as if it wasn’t enough, they had to do it quickly, being outside for too long, even in almost isolated place like this one, made the chance of being recognised by anyone raise.

It didn’t help that people were losing their heads over Jungkook.

As days moved and police couldn’t inform of anything positive about the whereabouts of the serial killer, people were getting restless, worried about being murdered in the middle of the night by a psycho that enjoyed seeing his victims choke on their own blood. Jimin didn't remember much about the time where Jungkook was in his killing spree, he was still living in Busan and the killer was in Seoul, he just remembers talking with his mother about how horrible it was every time a new victim was found.

Not in a million years, he imagined he would end up loving that psycho.

“So we’re not going together?” Taehyung asked with a frown, arms crossed over his chest as he looked at Namjoon checking on the last few things they were taking.

“No, and don’t pout at me,” He said back, snorting when Taehyung appeared in front of him with a prominent pout. “I know your complaint is not going with Jimin, but his killer talked and nothing will change his mind.”

“It’s so unfair!” Taehyung whined again, trying to approach Jimin before being pulled back by Hoseok.

“You’re going with us, is it that bad?” Hoseok asked, matching pout on his lips.

“Of course not!” Taehung gasped, clinging back to Hoseok. “I just wanted to see Chim on a motorbike.”

About that.

Namjoon had revealed that they weren’t going all together for very obvious reasons, immediately after that,  Jungkook immediately went and say that Jimin was going with him and there was no discussion, Seokjin and Namjoon paired up and Hoseok happily told Taehyung to come with him and Yoongi. Jimin was happy with the selection, but then Jungkook had said they were leaving in a motorbike and he wished he hadn’t been chosen by him.

In his short life as a normal, free citizen, he hadn’t had the chance of getting his driving license, it was one of his main goals as a car would make his life easier, but he didn’t have the chance of working on it; but even with his limited vision of the driving world, he was terrified of motorbikes. He had seen and heard about numerous accidents involving them and he didn’t want to add himself to that list, when he told this to Jungkook, he laughed and patted him in the head saying something about being an expert.

Unless Jungkook had a hidden motorbike in the prison’s backyard and went out to take daily runs around the prison every night, he couldn’t believe him.

“Can’t deny he must look hot,” Hoseok said, wriggling his brows at him, earning a sharp glare from Jimin. “But three can’t fit on a motorbike so deal with it.”

“We’re leaving tomorrow at five,” Namjoon said as he didn’t want to deal with another set of bickering between the two of them. “Now rest, please.”

With that, Yoongi tugged Hoseok to their now empty room while Namjoon and Seokjin went to theirs, Taehyung staying behind and looking at them with his wide boxy grin. “Make sure you hug Kookie as tight as you can, Jimi.”

“Don’t you have to sleep, Tae?” He snorted, seeing the other letting out a small giggle before bouncing to his room.

“Do you really not trust me?” Jungkook said with an annoying smile, starting to walk towards their room. “Think we will end up dying a car crash?”

“Do you really know how to do it?” He asked instead, not wanting to somehow insult him despite knowing Jungkook wasn’t like that.

“I do, unlike movies where criminals steal the family's car, I had my motorbike that moved me everywhere I want,” He hummed. “It is easier and faster, I haven’t lost my abilities with it, believe me.”

“I just, I have never liked them,” He muttered as they reached the room, seeing Jungkook flipping down on the mattress they had left. “But Jungkook, how can you ask if I don’t trust you?”

Jungkook smiled, his innocent I won one, as he looked at him. “Care to tell me why?”

Jimin gave him a look that for normal people would have screamed how much he annoyed him when he acted like that, but Jungkook apparently took it as an invitation to annoy him further or something. “Jungkook, really, don’t ask.”

“I’m just curious,” He shrugged, pushing his hair back as he moved to the side and patted the spot next to him.

“You’re a serial killer, Jungkook, one that freaked me out for the first days I was sent to jail, one that I believed was going to murder me in the middle of the night,” He started, sitting down next to Jungkook. “Even with that, I fell in love with you and even escaped, getting myself in this mess.”

Jungkook smiled, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him to press flat against his chest, pressing kisses to his ear and neck. “I knew I was right in choosing you.”

“There you have it,” He said with a groan, trying to not squirm much in his arms. “I just doubt you remembered entirely how to drive it as confidently as before.”

“You’re bound to remember what you learnt right,” He said with the same confidence. “I won’t kill us, we still have many things to do.”

At that Jimin stayed still, frowning lightly before taking a large gulp of air and turning to look at him. “Are you going to continue killing?”

Jungkook raised his brow at the unexpected question, for the first time looking surprised by someone Jimin was saying. “Are you curious?”

“I never said curious, I just want to know because…” Because it was weird and Jimin remembered the time he had seen Yoongi covered in blood with the severed limbs of the man at his side and the sensation it had created inside his body. “Because I want to know if I should be worried about you leaving in the middle of the night with the chance of getting captured.”

Jungkook stared into his eyes,  the intensity of it making his body tingle as he did his best to not look away and convince Jungkook that there was nothing else behind those words so he didn’t discover the long list of things that went inside his head. Jungkook had always had the ability to read him perfectly and he had the feeling that it was the case, but then he just smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“I won’t get captured, I will never go back,” He said with his soft voice.

And Jimin couldn’t really think in doing something more as Jungkook stared kissing him everywhere he could.

◊◊◊

The next day Namjoon was handling everything with such a commanding and authoritative tone that Jimin felt himself staring dumbly at him. Despite his rougher and more serious behaviour as a king, he believed that Namjoon was in very different and higher level.

People never doubted him, never stopped to question anything they were told and moving immediately to do it, looking like a group of ants that perfectly knew what they were doing thanks to their leader. It felt weird, but Jimin was thankful he was having the chance of witnessing it with his own eyes.

“We will meet at noon, nothing will excuse you if you arrive late,” He said as Seokjin finished checking around to make sure nothing incriminatory had been left behind.

“Let’s go, Jimin,” The mentioned jumped when Jungkook tossed a helmet to his hands and he managed to catch it before it felt. “Come on.”

“You’re going to be fine, stop worrying,” Yoongi muttered as he walked past him, he and Hoseok along with Taehyung heading towards a small car with tinted windows. “One would say that killing someone would make you braver.”

“Come on, stop annoying him,” Seokjin said, missing Yoongi’s head by mere millimetres. “We transformed this kid into one that fears motorcycles instead of knives.”

“You’re not helping,” Jimin huffed, pretending to toss the helmet before shoving it in his head, crossing his arms as Jungkook held his arm and pulled him to a black and grey motorbike he had there.

“You can always count with me, darling,” Seokjin mocked, throwing a flying kiss his way before laughing.

“Just hold me, don’t let go and it will be fine,” Jungkook said as he passed one leg over it and extended his hand for him. “Don’t take the helmet off.”

Jimin sighed as he forced himself to climb up as well, wrapping his arms around Jungkook’s waist and his head against his back, only feeling him putting on his helmet before doing heavens know what and starting the thing, feeling it trembling under his body even though he wasn’t sure if it really was the car or his own body.

“Trust me, Mochi.”

And he did, heavens knew he did, he held on for dear life as it started to move, feeling the air moving his clothes as they started moving.He didn’t really know where they were going, he just knew that they were moving away from Seoul and that was pretty much all, Jungkook knew about the path he was supposed to take and the time it was taken for them to arrive and that’s why as time moved and he started to feel his back aching for his hunched position, he dared to pull back  just a little, keeping his arms tight around Jungkook.

“Enjoy the view,” He heard Jungkook’s muffled voice and laughter, looking at him even though he couldn’t see his face at all as the helmet blocked everything which was a wonderful thing.

Jimin soon noticed they were heading towards the city, more cars were coming their way and people walking around soon started to appear as well, Jimin tensed considerably while Jungkoook just continued driving calmly as if he was, for real, a normal citizen taking a ride.

But then it hit Jimin, it was probably what Jungkook wanted.

Jungkook loved messing with people, play with their vulnerabilities and overall enjoying destroying the sense of security so many people build around themselves. Jimin looked around to see the people crossing the street, some glancing at them when Jungkook made the engine roar.

Would they imagine they had the killer they feared so much was right in front of them? Relishing in how oblivious they were to their presence? He could even feel Jungkook shaking lightly with what was surely laughter.

Sometimes he wondered why he loved him.

As time continued moving, Jimin felt a bit more comfortable with not clinging to Jungkook as if his life depended on it and pulled a bit back, focusing on, as Jungkook said, enjoy the view as much as he could. Some of the streets reminded him of his previous life, as weird as it sounded.

They continued, leaving the city behind at one point before stopping right in front of a bigger building that, much to Jimin’s surprise, looked like a normal building from a man who maybe needs a lot of space to store products or worked in designing things.

“You arrived in one piece!” Taehyung’s excited squeal made Jimin whine as Jungkook climbed off and he removed the helmet and helped him to remove his. “Knew it.”

“He may even enjoy it,” Jungkook smiled as he helped him to get off and on his trembling legs, deciding to pick him up in the end. “He was looking around by the end of it.”

“I couldn’t just… stay there,” He said, blushing as Jungkook continued carrying him. “And Jungkook is indeed good at driving.”

“Well, he needed to be,” Namjoon said as he walked out to see who had arrived. “Otherwise he would have been caught earlier.”

“It was a stupid mistake, but it ended up being better,” Jungkook shrugged, settling Jimin next to Yoongi. “Being captured was, somehow, better.”

“Wish everyone thought like that,” Hoseok laughed, pushing his hair back. “Half of the people I met there wanted to cry because they were captured.”

“I found my Mochi and now I’m out again, ready to do what I want,” He said and Jimin couldn’t hold back from flushing. He was sure no one would consider romantic hearing that from a serial killer, but he didn’t care.

“Didn’t I say that I wanted everyone here at noon?”

Namjoon’s sudden harsh voice made JImin close his mouth and spin around to see what was happening, finding two men getting down from a smaller car and immediately lowering their heads to the floor.

“We know, sir, we encountered a bit of traffic…” One muttered without looking up.

“Oh, really?” Namjoon said with an amused chuckle. “If I ask Yoongi to check the cameras, would I find that?”

The man hesitated and Jimin was surprised, and scared, to hear his response, suddenly fearing police was coming for them and that he was going to rot in there once more. “No… sir, we swear we haven’t betrayed you.”

“Then explain to me because I may be considering shooting you in the head right now,” He said, pulling a gun from his waist and pointing at them, making them flinch back.

“We were— We arranged an appointment with a girl and—”

“So I should worry about your commitment because your dick is stronger than your brain?”

“No— We could never fail you,” One said, finally looking up at Namjoon almost desperately. “We have never done.”

“You couldn’t even do something this simple, I don’t think so.”

Back in the day where they were still together in prison, Jimin had seen how Namjoon was a strong and merciless leader who didn’t allow mistakes, which was understanding as a single mistake could send things down to get destroyed. But now, seeing him like this, made him want to learn from him.

Which was weird.

“You will be punished,” He said simply, turning around and heading back inside. “Jimin, I need to talk to you.”

He was still too astonished to react immediately, but Seokjin made him move as he tugged him by his arm and guided him to a room that seemed to be theirs, letting him sit in front of two PC monitors that displayed a map and a list he didn’t pay much attention to.

“D-Did I do something?” He asked.

“Jimin, you’re not a student about to be scolded by the headmaster,” He chuckled, all traces of the mean and merciless leader abandoning him as he smiled and sat at his side while Seokjin checked something on yet another computer.

“I just… sorry,” He mumbled, scratching his head in embarrassment.

“It’s fine,” He hummed, clicking on a part of the map. “What we manage is weapons, drugs and for Jin, fun times,” He chuckled when Seokjin groaned from his place. “What I want to ask is if you would like to handle one of my groups.”

Jimin almost choked on his own spit as he heard him, someone like him managing a whole group would have been complete nonsense if it wasn’t for the fact that he had already done that… though it was too different, managing a group of inmates in a somehow controlled place than controlling them in the outside world, sounded impossible.

“Me? I-I don’t know If I could,” He muttered, looking at the group Namjoon was showing and that could be the ones following him.

“You have the ability and this time I would help you,” He said as he patted his shoulder. “You blew my mind so, would you accept?”

Why did the proposition sound so exciting?

Chapter Text

“I will… I will do it,” He whispered, seeing Namjoon smiling brightly as he patted his back, looking as if he was really expecting that response from him and even looking kind of proud.

“Good, we will start working on it tomorrow,” He said while Seokjin relaxed back on the sofa. “For now we need to unpack and take care of those two idiots.”

“What are you going to do to them?” He asked, remembering he had mentioned something about punishing them. “Are you going to kill them?”

“Maybe,” He shrugged. “Depends on what my people decide.”

“Having sex can lead them to be killed?” He asked, more like blurted out the words,  standing up as he looked at him.

“Yes,” He said, turning to look at him. “Jimin, I know you still have a good part of your humanity with you, but as you have already seen it, everything changes when you’re the head, their sex time could lead to us being discovered and we would be brought back to jail.”

Jimin let out an involuntary shiver at imagining being brought back to that place.

“Planning your escape wasn’t easy and I can assure a second time would be even harder,” He said, tilting his head to one side. “Would even dare to say impossible, I may have power but if I get caught again, no one will  waste even more resources to take me out.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a tricky world, Jimin,” Seokjin said before Namjoon could answer. “You can be the greatest and most powerful king one day and been thrown under the bus the next one by your own people.”

“But you’re their boss,” He probably sounded like a kid who doesn’t understand a single thing about the world, but he was just worried and didn’t want to think in even more problems.

“If that happens it’s easier for them to take over rather than spend their time and resources in taking me out,” Namjoon said, crossing his arms as he sighed. “Taking all of you out was done because I was already out, they couldn’t just say no.”

For Jimin it sounded as if they were surrounded by unloyal and selfish people who would take a chance of attacking if it was given, but at the same time, he knew that the ones that mattered weren’t like that. Namjoon had taken all of them out instead of just Seokjin, Jungkook had kept the secret of Namjoon’s death, Taehyung had committed himself to protect Hoseok and Yoongi had risked everything to be the one to save them… All of them were willing to protect each other, it was seven against the world and he liked that.

“I will do my best…” He nodded with a small smile. “Promise not to mess things up.”

Namjoon’s nod was oddly reassuring and Jimin felt that this time he could really make it right.

“So now we get to see you in real action,” Jimin smiled lightly when he heard Hoseok, watching him as he sat down at his side. “Park Jimin, a leader under the wing of the monster of Seoul.”

“It sounds weird…” He said as he scratched his head. “I don’t know if I’m going to do it as good as they seem to believe I will do it.”

“I’m sure you will, after all, you did it wonderfully well without anyone guiding you,” He said, resting his head back against the sofa.

“That’s not true, you were all helping me,” He said, letting his body fall sideways so he could rest his head on his lap. “I just hope everything goes well.”

“I can’t say I helped much,” Hoseok sighed, shaking his head. “But you made it work and we’re all here now.”

“Do you feel better?” He asked as he looked at him. “All this time, I have been worrying about you.”

“I’m doing better, yes, thanks for worrying ” He nodded, shaking his head. “One would think that seeing the one I love would immediately bring me back to my feet, but it had been tricky, don’t know what happened inside my head… but I’m getting there.”

“We’re still here for you, so don’t worry,” He smiled, patting his leg soothingly. “Did you imagine we were going to get out?”

“Not in my wildest dreams,” He chuckled, scratching his head. “When the explosion happened, my slow and pained brain was confused as fuck, it was a pretty blunt move Namjoon did there.”

“There weren’t a lot of things to do,” Yoogi’s voice made them look up, finding the other walking there with a tired expression. “It was risky, yes, it needed a lot of planning and the percentage of failure was insanely high, any of you could have died there.”

“Why did you chose the cell we were close to?” Jimin asked with a raised brow.

“It was the place for one of our enemies, destroying their place ensured they were going to be transferred as well,” He shrugged. “Killing them was also ensured it.”

“Imagine you would have killed Jimin, Jungkook would have been for your necks in a matter of seconds,” Hoseok snorted, shaking his head. “Would have been tragic.”

“Hey, why only me? You were all there,” Jimin whined, Hoseok giggled and Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“You’re all fine and alive, stop complaining,” Yoongi said with a grunt. “No one was going to die.”

“You just said there was a high percentage—”

“The fact that you will be a leader doesn’t give you the right to disrespect me.”

“Oh my God, how can you love him?”

“He behaves like a wild tiger, but he’s a kitten, I swear.”

Why did Jimin felt so comfortable?

◊◊◊

“Amset is one of the most experienced workers I have,” Namjoon said as Jimin couldn’t really move his eyes away from the tall and muscular man that stood in front him. “He had the position you now have for years.”

“Why would you leave it?” Jimin couldn’t hold back from asking after hearing that part, the sudden worry of the man being jealous of him and wanting to kill him coming back to his mind.

“Even we need to retire, kid,” The man replied with an amused chuckle. “Let the young ones take over.”

“That and the fact that he will have a higher rank now,” Seokjin added as he waved his hand as if he didn’t care. “But ignore me, go ahead.”

“Your role, Jimin, will be taking care of the drug’s route, keep others from taking it away from you and dealing with the problems that may appear,” Namjoon said after he patted Seokjin’s head. “It’s fairly simple, doesn’t really mean you need to be there all the time.”

But Jimin knew that simple for him and simple for them wasn't the same, snapping someone’s neck was the simplest things for Yoongi while for him it was something he doubted he could ever do; everything was on their perspective and he had the sudden rush of insecurity moving up him at a dizzying speed, he had accepted just because it sounded exciting, but what if he couldn’t? The consequences to it would be devastating, from everyone returning to prison to everyone dying.

“You just need to do things instead of thinking about it,” Jungkook’s voice made him look up from his hands. “You worry all the time, ignoring you’re more than capable of doing it.”

“I-I worried all the time back there,” He said with a faint frown as he looked at him.

“That’s why everything was harder for you,” He chuckled with his same calmness. “And why are you scared? This time Namjoon will be here to guide you.”

It sounded so weird, but it was comforting.

“What you need from your people is that they know you’re the boss,” Amset said as he looked between him and Jungkook. “If they see weakness coming from their leader they will get the wrong idea.”

That was something he could do, in fact, he had already done it. “How many people are around?”

“At least a hundred.”

That… was a lot.

“Right… Which route am I taking care of?” He asked, forcing his brain to work and get ready for whatever was coming.

 “The one in Busan,” He replied casually, scratching his head. “Jungkook is from there too so he could help.”

Jimin stared at Jungkook for several seconds, blinking constantly as his brain tried to understand what Namjoon had told. Jungkook, the killer, the serial killer, had been born in his same town? Apart from been surprised to know this, he also felt bad because he didn’t know his own boyfriend came from it… everything was a mess.

“Alright, let’s take you to meet them.”

Jimin wasn’t sure he was ready, could people even be ready for this? But couldn’t do anything as Namjoon started to walk with Seokjin and Amset at his side, leaving the door they were in, to the bigger one outside. 

“You will be fine,” Jungkook said as he squeezed his shoulder. “Just go.”

His heart hammered against his chest as he started to walk out, his eyes immediately moving up to the people gathered around and that had turned around when they heard the door, more than half of them looking older and bigger than Jimin for several centimetres.

“Pay attention.”

With nothing more, Namjoon and Amset turned to look at JImin who was doing his best to keep his face from showing his anxiousness, making all the people there turn to look at him as a consequence.

“My name is Jimin,” He started, using the firm voice he remembered made the others obey what he was saying. “I am taking Amset’s position and I expect you all to work well.”

Some nodded, some eyed him from head to toe with a doubting look and some remained with their neutral expressions, making Jimin panic internally as his brain jumped to the conclusion that they already doubted him and were plotting the way they would kill him.

“Jimin not only took my position after I left prison,” Namjoon said after a moment of suffering and silence. “He also killed the hound.”

That caused a more marked expression from them, most of the people turned to look at him with surprised eyes while others had the same one of incredulously, surely not believing at all that he had done it when the hound was way taller than him.

“You did?” One questioned, looking at Jimin.

“I did,” He said firmly. “And I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if someone fails me.”

He had no idea where that came from, but the way Namjoon chuckled, Amset whistled and Jungkook smirked, made him feel confident as he glanced at his hands, more specifically to the scars he had there due to the glass shard he had used to slaughter the other.

“Jimin is more than capable, I wouldn’t be placing him on the position if he wasn’t,” Namjoon said as he crossed his arms. “Doubting him is doubting me.”

Silence filled everything once more until one of them spoke once more. “Then we shouldn’t make mistakes.”

“That’s what I am expecting,” Jimin said, running his hand through his hair, tilting his head shortly after. “Tell me what you do.”

And they surprisingly did, each one of them introduced themselves to him, mentioning their name and their aliases to him while giving details about what they did within the organisation, even throwing a couple of things that they believed Jimin could need to make his start a bit easier. Jimin was so surprised it was amazing it wasn’t showing to the rest of the room.

“Jungkook will also be part of everything,” He said once they were done, glancing at his boyfriend who nodded as he stared at a fly that was flying around the room.

“Man, we really working with the big ones,” One commented as he eyed. “The hound’s killer and the serial killer feels safe.”

“I expect you to work well,” He said with a small nod, watching Amset gathering his ex-group.

“Knew you were going to do well,” Jungkook said as he hugged him from behind, pressing kisses to the marks he already had on his neck. “ Threats and all, look at you.”

“Someone betraying me would hurt all of you,” He said with a small sigh, shaking his head. “I would kill them if they did.”

Jungkook smirked widely, bitting down on his shoulder and laughing softly. “Good, I can show you how to do it.”

Jimin rolled his eyes at the insistence before sighing in content.

“That makes me wonder something,” He started, turning Jimin so he looked at him. “About the ones who sent you to jail.”

Jimin froze as the pictures of those people and the ones from that day came back to his head, an odd feeling running all over his veins. “W-What about them?”

“Would you like to find them?”

Chapter Text

“W-Why would I want to find them?” Even the sole idea was enough to make him feel anxious, everything they had done was back in his head and it was making him feel dizzy.

“Don’t know, each one has different reasons,” Jungkook said with a smile that of course knew what he was doing but was pretending not to. “Some just want to bring them down, some others want to cause pain, you can choose.”

“I don’t want to think about them, at all,” He said, pushing his hair away from his face as he walked towards their room. “I don’t care about them.”

The problem was that he cared about it, he never stopped thinking about what they were doing while he was back there, how they were having fun while he was being almost rapped, he never forgot about their smile as they took the money and told him they would see him the next day, the lack of regret in his eyes even though they knew they were condemning him. He had tried, but he had never managed to forgive them.

Finding them, sure, and what would come next? Kill them? Torture them? For what? He had spent days claiming not to be a criminal just like everyone else so why would he even think about finding them to have his revenge?

Revenge.

The word sounded so good, though, for years he was good, nice and caring to people around him and his payment had been blamed by something he didn’t do, thrown inside a world of giants while he was a tiny ant that prayed no one stepped on him.

A frown quickly took over his face, making him shake his head and sit down with a sigh on the bed he and Jungkook shared, looking around the room for several seconds before letting his body fall back on the bed with a groan.

“Control yourself, Jimin.”

◊◊◊

“Mind repeating what you said?” 

The afternoon before Jimin had been completely absorbed by his own thoughts and didn’t even remember to go out to eat, having only what Jungkook brought to him at night. The idea of finding them still ran in circles inside his head and nothing, or at least that’s what he thought, could actually take it out, he slept and woke up with that thought in mind, until he decided to go out of his room after hearing noises coming from another one.

After he walked around the place and couldn’t find anyone who weren’t Namjoon’s people, Jimin grew nervous and instead of asking someone for his friends, he decided to start looking for the opening and closing doors until the one that leads to the basement caught his attention, what sounded like a scream coming from it.

With the heart-pounding and the fear of the unknown, Jimin opened the door, almost jumping when a man appeared in front of him, ready to yell at him before noticing who he was and moving hurriedly away, opening the door wide for him, apparently being the leader of one team made the others treat him better.

Thanking him with a faint nod, Jimin started walking down the stairs, hearing the screams more clearly while different voices asked different questions, his brain not really recognise any of them until he took the last step and he turned to his right, finding finally what was there.

There was a man, naked and strapped down tightly to a metallic table with body littered in small cuts, as thin as he remembered a sheet of paper would do and as painful as those ones too. Blood dripped from each one of it, staining the otherwise spotless surface of the metal. He was crying, tears of pain and fear fell from his eyes, wetting his hair and the metal.

What surprised him more, though, was Jungkook.

His boyfriend was walking around the table, his sweet smile a huge contrast against the bloodied scalpel he had in hands, his dark eyes taking in the way the man’s body shook with every sob and pained wheeze he let out, finger tapping his cheek in what seemed to be mocking way of thinking before repeating what he heard him saying when he walked in. “Mind repeating what you said?”

“I don’t know why they sent m-me, I-I was just hired!” The man screamed.

“Hired without having a fucking idea of who you’re working for?” Yoongi’s voice made him move his eyes to the other side of the room where Yoongi was just watching with crossed arms and a raised brow, having Hoseok next to him checking something on the computer as if there was nothing happening. “You’re not even trying.”

“I’m telling the truth-“

The man didn’t have a chance of finishing before Jungkook jammed the scalped under his ribs, earning a scream of pure pain and a stream of blood that rushed out, his boyfriend wasn’t satisfied with that, of course, and rested his elbow on the man’s stomach while his other hand moved the scalpel inside, earning more screams and blood. “You are not telling the truth.”

“; I don’t know why you’re so stupid you need to make the torture longer,” The voice he recognised as Namjoon’s despite not seeing him, said, making the man cry harder. “For being a so-called-expert, you’re giving a pathetic show.”

That made him look back immediately at the crying figure, he was an expert, someone somehow used to all of this, who was immersed in this world, he wasn’t a sacred cat like him yet was crying and begging for things to stop as if he didn’t. His eyes immediately looked back up to see his boyfriend, almost jumping when he saw two yellow serpent-like eyes staring back at him and two rows of pointy teeth behind normal lips curled up in a cruel smile.

“Hello, Mochi,” Jungkook said casually, acknowledging his presence after several minutes. “Come here, baby.” 

Without really knowing why, Jimin complied, walking towards him, looking away when the man’s eyes fell on him, reaching Jungkook’s side and feeling his long fingers resting on his hips after he wrapped his arm around it, tilting his chin up so he met his eyes. “Did we wake you up?”

“No… I just woke up naturally,” He said, feeling the eyes of the man on his back, making everything feel even weirder.

“Good,” Jungkook hummed, showing the tenderness and kindness that didn’t match with someone with bloodied hands that had been torturing a man. “Now, why don’t you tell my baby what you did to deserve this, idiot?”

Before Jimin could actually reply or do something, he was spun around to face the crying face of the man who strained against the straps digging on his skin, looking at him with fear but with a lot of hatred as well.

“You already know, bastard,” He hissed, glaring at Jungkook, cheeks burning in humiliation.

“I think I told you to say it,” Jungkook replied calmly before his scalpel found a new place on the man’s tight, making Jimin jump slightly. “Didn’t I?”

The whole situation had everything to make Jimin sick, from the screams to the blood pooling under the body, but instead of that, he found himself feeling fascinated about the way his boyfriend seemed to know everything about human body, his eyes moved down the body, seeing each cut that spits blood out with the slightest movement, even finding that the man was missing his thumb and pinkie from his right hand, making everything more grotesque. When he was done, he had to stop for a couple of seconds and think about everything that was happening inside his head: no, he didn’t like the blood, the cut limbs or the suffering from the man, he just… he was just fascinated by his boyfriend’s knowledge, it was disturbing, scary, yet he stared at it with watchful eyes.

“How hard is obeying, man,” Looking away from the trembling figure on the table, he found Taehyung sitting against the wall, drawing something in his notebook, not paying attention at all. 

“Apparently a lot,” Seokjin’s voice made him find him and Namjoon standing at the end of the room, the first one telling another man on a computer where to move and everything while the second one had his eyes on the scene unfolding.

“Is it? Is it too hard for you?” Jungkook asked in a tone Jimin imagined could be used to a little baby while his hand twisted the scalpel inside. “You should have told me; I would have been more careful.”

Jimin looked at Jungkook’s hand when the man’s screams became shrieks of agony, seeing the other cutting up his leg until he reached his hipbone, acting as if he was actually doing an autopsy, cutting with a precision a surgeon would envy.

“This little fucker,” Jungkook started, pressing the scalpel right below the hipbone and leaving it there as he started to walk around again. “Was spying on us, collecting the information every day, this was his second-”

“Third.” Hoseok corrected him.

“Right, the third day sitting outside, pretending to be a normal citizen,” He hummed, a smirk plastering on his lips. “One that believed he was sending the information to his boss.”

“Information to his boss?” The alarmed tone in Jimin’s voice was more than noticed by Jungkook who smiled with a hum.

“Yes, sadly he didn’t know Yoongi intercepted it as soon as he did it,” Hoseok commented from his place. “Which means he’s not that efficient.”

What if he managed to send something? What if the other wasn’t as inefficient as they believed? “H-He could have sent something.”

Jungkook’s smile widened. “Of course, it’s a possibility, he could have gone to the police or our enemies.”

“Everything could have ended,” Jimin whispered, eyes darkening as he glared at the man. “Did you send them information through another place?”

The man seemed confused about the sudden change, letting out a cry when Jimin pulled out the scalpel and pressed it to his neck. “Fuck you.”

“Did you?!” He almost yelled, making a small cut that immediately let out blood, considering it was on his neck, the man visibly tensed.

“I fucking didn’t!” He yelled. “You think your fucking organisation is safe?!”

“Finish him, Jimin.”

Jimin looked back at the man on the table, at the line of blood that slid down his neck from the cut on it, this man, this trembling mess, had been hired by someone to bring information of all of them, had come to do his research to then sell it, not caring about what could happen with that information.

“He knew it was going to hurt them.”

 Jimin used to look at things in a monochromatic way, things were good or bad, there was no in between those two, but now it was different, white could have a million shades before turning to black entirely and he found his place in that range, he felt comfortable in there.

Looking down at the table, he caught his reflection staring back at him, yellowish eyes fixed on his own while a forked tongue came out from between pointed teeth to lick his lips.

“He came to hurt all of them, planted the seed of doubt in your head and risked your family. Does he deserve to be forgiven?”

 Jimin looked up at the man, seeing the fear and anger mixing inside them; he moved the scalpel from his neck, noticing that it was the same crystal shard he had used and that had left those scars on his hand as a reminder of who he was.

He raised his hand, pulling back a little and looking a spark of hope on the man’s eyes before it vanished with his next words. “No, he doesn’t.”

And with that, the shard came down on the man’s chest, blood gushing out of it and mixing with the blood from the hound that still stained his hands, the screams of the man also mixing with the ones he heard that day; he didn’t care, this man had come to hurt them without thinking about the consequences, why would he show mercy?

So he didn’t.

Feeling every layer of the skin is pierced, again and again, Jimin continued until the man let out his last scream of agony and went completely limp on the table, taking with him his anger. Panting for air he stepped back, letting go of the scalpel still inside the man’s body, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room on him.

“You did such a good job, Jimin,” Jungkook’s voice, of course, came first, making him move his eyes away from the corpse to find him with a proud and wide smile as he watched the damage on the body. “He deserved it.”

“He did…” He whispered, fearfully looking at the others, expecting to find looks of shock or disgust but finding entertained and satisfied ones.

“I think that pretty much clears doubt of him being too soft,” Yoongi commented from his place. “Don’t mess with what he loves and your chest should be fine.”

“Dispose of him, send him back to where he came from,” Namjoon said after a hum of agreement, heading towards the stairs. “We should get ready for their anger.”

“Mochi, come,” Jungkook called him again, making him take a couple of steps back towards the table. “If you stab here, you get the heart directly.”

As a demonstration, he pulled the weapon out and shoved it on that point. “That would kill him instantly, right?”

“Yes, that’s why we avoid it,” He said with a smirk. “If you hit here there’s a chance you will cause an internal haemorrhage, it’s painful and brings a lot of complications, near the arm we have another important vein, cut there and watch them lose the fight.”

Jungkook was teaching him and Jimin found himself paying attention, people just kept coming back to try hurting them, they didn’t care about the bond they had formed, didn’t care if someone lived or died, they would laugh and bask in their suffering, why should he care about them?

No, that didn’t mean he was going to become a murderer that moved around looking for people to kill, he was only going to do it when it was necessary; he was going to just sit back and allow the monster with forked tongue and yellow eyes to take care of them.

“We will have the chance of practising in a new specimen,” Jungkook concluded with a sweet smile, placing a soft kiss on his nose. “Let’s go clean yourself.”

It was until that moment that Jimin felt the slick substance sticking to his face and neck, making him bring his hand to it to touch it, pulling it back just to see blood staining his fingers, it made him remember the day he had been brought to the hospital and the doctor cleaned the blood that didn’t belong to him, it was there, but it wasn’t that shocking anymore.

“Yoongi, I want to ask you something…” He whispered as he moved to him, ignoring the now more present feeling of blood on his skin.

“Yes?” Yoongi asked back, looking at him with raised brows while Hoseok tilted his head curiously at his side.

“You think you could find the people who sent me to jail?” He asked, this last thing made him realise that both Jimin and the monster needed to settle things with them, how? He didn’t know yet, but he wanted it.

“The two idiots? Of course, I can,” He said with a shrug, surprised by the request but not that much. “Want me to do it fast or?”

“No… just look for them when you can, please,” For a second he imagined seeing the scene as someone else: a boy covered in blood asking to find the people who ruined his life.

It could pass as twisted humour.

“Planning your revenge, Jimin?” Seokjin’s voice made him look back, finding him leaning over the wall with his arms crossed while Taehyung continued his drawing.

“I don’t know…” He whispered, a hesitation that didn’t match with someone who just killed someone and was still covered in blood, adorning each word. “I just want to find them.”

“Well, we can plan something,” Taehyung said as he looked at his drawing with satisfaction. “I could help, Jungkook will only tell you to kill them, but I may have better ideas.”

“Right… I’ll think about it.”

Nodding lightly, he walked towards the stairs, running his hand through his hair and grimacing at realising he had smeared the blood all over it, heading straight to the bathroom without wanting to touch anything else, not even a towel.

The hot water burned his back but Jimin didn’t pay attention to it and just kept his eyes on the floor, seeing the water going down the drain and taking with it the clots that seemed to be embedded in his skin. Two people, he had killed two people that deserved it and he was just there, taking a bath as he would do any other day.

“Are we going to kill them?” He asked at the reflection with yellow eyes that looked at him from the shower’s door.

“Are you going to let me?”

“I don’t know.”

He looked away from the door when he felt stupid and had the fleeting thought of being losing his mind, talking with the reflection that should be him but wasn’t at the same time, that was the definition of madness.

“Or maybe you don’t want that, maybe you want to destroy them in your own way.”

Looking back at the reflection, he saw the other moving his forked tongue from side to side, a knowing smirk that promised many dark things plastered on that face. “Want what?”

“We have always been clever, instead of straight-up panicking and dying in prison, we evolved, we became better and here we are.”

He, himself, whatever, had a point and Jimin let out a sigh, massaging his hair so the water finished taking the rest of blood away, ending up with the back pressed against the cold wall that made his skin tingle due to the high temperature of the water. When he started all of this he never imagined he was going to find himself with the need of dealing with his so-called friends once more, he had convinced himself that it was a radical start over his own life and the past was, well, in the past.

He perfectly knew that Jungkook had suggested the idea of finding them because he wanted Jimin, or his reflection, to kill them, to engrave the feeling of blood in his hands without a single regret; he could even bet that he had done it thinking killing them would be the last push he needed to totally embrace this new life, surely not counting with how he killed this man a couple of hours ago.

“A killer for the good causes,” His reflection snorted, rubbing his chin. “Hey, it’s not that bad, actually.”

The concept of good was distorted, obviously, when people threatened your family or mocked their stability, you didn’t grab a scalpel or shard and stabbed them to the point you bathed in their blood, no, Jimin’s white wasn’t being kind and helping others anymore, it now was doing anything to keep his family safe while his black stopped consisting of doing the right thing and accusing the bad guys to make room for the keeping silence and not helping will end with them hurt.

Nothing was as it used to be and Jimin was fine with that.

“I’ll know when I found them,” He whispered before concentrating in washing his body for real, stepping out of the shower and hurrying to get out of the bathroom after smiling at his reflection who smiled back with his pointy teeth.

◊◊◊

Things continued moving for the next month or so, Jimin having the chance of witnessing his boyfriend in action when people tried to take over him after finding out the administration had changed, he had seen Jungkook pull eyes out, cut fingers, cut the body in a way that ended up with someone dying of blood loss after two days. He wasn’t going to lie and say it was fine, the first days he had had nightmares that woke him in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat and that had been calmed and softened by the same one who caused them, after all, Jungkook was still two different persons, the maniac that killed people and the devoted boyfriend who loved him with his whole heart; but after witnessing it a couple of times more, he grew weirdly used to it and even dared to approach to hear Jungkook’s explanations.

That afternoon, as he talked with Taehyung about the drawings the other seemed to be so passionate about recently, Yoongi came and sat between them with a laptop in hands, ignoring their complaints and something that went along the lines of interruptions are rude.

“I have found them,” He said with a casual hum. “The two of them are in, drum roll please, Daegu.”

“Daegu?” Jimin frowned, leaning closer to the screen. “Why would they go there with the money they have?”

“I asked myself the same thing, there’s nothing there, and because of that I found something,” Yoongi continued, opening another file he had there. “Apparently your friends not only like smoking some, but they also found interesting investing on the drugs emporium.”

“So they not only fucked Jimi over but they are our enemies as well? Interesting,” Taehyung said as he leaned closer to the screen to see better.

“Yes, apparently the business was profitable for them so they continued,” Yoongi said with a light hum, clicking on the last item he had there. “They even get free shit every now and then.”

“Look at the smiling bastards.”

Jimin nodded at his reflection’s comment, eyes burning the screen he had in front of him were two men that, despite looking slightly different from the ones he had in his mind with fake kindness and smiles, were walking while laughing about something. The anger felt like a hot liquid moving violently through his veins, bubbling and boiling under his skin to the point he thought they were going to make him burst; he could barely believe he was this angry about seeing them again.

“What are we doing, Jimin?” He heard Namjoon’s voice asking, not even knowing when he had entered.

“We are going for them.”

Chapter Text

“Would you look at that determination?” Taehyung hummed as he looked at his friend. “Little Jimin is going.”

A small blush spread on Jimin’s cheek at feeling the eyes of everyone, but it was wiped away as he looked at the pictures that Yoongi’s screen still displayed. Namjoon was standing there with Seokjin at his side and Jungkook was leaning on the wall a couple of steps away from them, proud smile on his lips.

“So, you want the pleasure of killing them or want them to just die?” Seokjin asked as he stretched his arms. 

“I don’t know if I will kill them,” He said, surely confusing the others who just heard him.

“Will it only be a friendly hello how are you?” Hoseok asked as he walked in with an apple in hands. “You don’t stop surprising us.”

“No… I just don’t know for sure,” He said as he rubbed his face in exasperation. “I will just know, just, help me please.”

“I’ll help, as I said, I’m the emotional support,” Taehyung chirped in, standing up and resting one hand on Jimin’s shoulder. “We’re going to Daegu, then?”

“You are,” Namjoon nodded. “You three can go, just let us know if you’re needing transport.”

Even though it was a bit hard to know that not all of them were going, Jimin understood they just couldn’t leave things and move around so freely without dragging unneeded attention to their movements.

“If you want, we can bring them back here to Seoul,” Seokjin suggested.

“Would that affect you?” He asked, scrunching his nose. “I mean, in the sense that it could involve the gang they’re part of and made them come for us.”

 “It’s a possibility, of course, but I have my ways of convincing people we shouldn’t get into more problems,” Namjoon said with a hum.

“Yeah, he’s an expert in creating fake evidence,” Seokjin nodded. “We could even create things that make them believe those two were ready to betray them.”

Jimin imagined the problems that could bring to them, imagined they were suddenly accused of threatening the safety of their organisation, imagined the confusion in their faces as they were beaten and tortured for it… 

“Interesting possibility.”

Jimin nodded at the voice.

“That way they would be thankful we killed them, genius,” Hoseok hummed.

Everyone was assuming they were going to die, leaving Jimin and his inner companion to sink in different thoughts about what could happen. Hopefully, everything would become clear once they were there.

◊◊◊

Travelling as a criminal ended up being as complicated as Jimin had imagined it would be. Despite having a car Jungkook demanded to drive, literally everything made Jimin jump and think they were about to get caught.

Every time they stopped at a red light, Jimin looked anxiously around to the people that walked calmly, despite he and Taehyung were using face masks and Jungkook a weird thing that covered his nose and went down his neck, he imagined them turning around and suddenly recognizing the eyes were the ones from the pictures that still appeared on the television every single morning.

He appeared to be the only anxious one, though, Jungkook was humming the song playing on the radio while Taehyung was reading something on his phone, partially sprawled on the backseats… How could they do it?

“Relax Jimin,” Taehyung said as he placed his phone to his side and looked at the other. “You look like a rubber band that will snap in any moment.”

“I have probably turned into one,” He muttered angrily, eyeing a woman who turned to look at them when she crossed the street. “It’s beyond me how you are all this calm.”

“Because there’s no use in feeling anxious or worried,” Jungkook said as he glanced at him. “What are you achieving with feeling like that.”

“I know what,” Taehyung intervened before Jimin could. “Probably developing gastritis.”

Jimin rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “You always question me like that, you still don’t understand.”

“As I said it that time, Jimin, you’re not getting anything from it, you’re just probably dragging more attention towards us,” Jungkook replied again with a small shrug. “I doubt people find normal being stared at from someone from inside a car.” 

Jimin immediately averted his eyes from the man he was looking at, feeling his cheeks burning in embarrassment at realising it was exactly what was happening, his erratic and odd behaviour made people turn their way instead of the opposite.

“Just act normally, as normally as you did before,” Taehyung suggested, leaning to rest his chin on the seat. “Before arriving in prison, of course.”

“It’s not that easy, Tae,” He muttered angrily, still fighting the embarrassment.

“Of course it is, remember I told you I was a thief?” He asked, waiting until Jimin nodded to continue. “Well, most of the times I had to act casually while waiting for the right moment.”

From everyone, it was Taehyung who had less knowledge in the killing and fighting area, but Jimin was surprised by how calm he was about everything; he seemed to be in good terms with the constant display of guts and blood around him and even was willing to help Jimin with… whatever they were doing now. He took the definition of a good and supportive friend to a whole new level.

“I acted normally because I, literally, didn’t have a single thing to hide,” He said, glaring at his reflection when it laughed.

“Unlike now that you have killed people.”

“Well, that had changed but you need to work on that,” Taehyung continued, reaching to massage his shoulders. “You’re a leader, there’s a literal crown on your head, show them.”

Taehyung’s choice of words made Jimin sink down in thought, how would it be for them to see him again? It was possible they knew he had escaped, his photo, despite being pushed to a small corner under Jungkook’s one, came out every morning and it was more than possible they knew he had escaped, thought, he had the idea they surely believed he was kidnapped or just taken for the sheer pleasure of torturing him, the news didn’t reveal he had killed the one who started that massacre and because of Jungkook, he wasn’t that important to look at.

How would it be for them? Seeing him with the power of turning their lives into hell, seeing he wasn’t the same shy, kind boy who made their lives a paradise without even knowing.

His eyes found the ones from his monster and a small smile appeared on his face. “I know what we’re going to do.”

“They left their building at eight, from there they go to their works, one to the mall the other to a small convenience store at the other side of the town works, one to the mall the other to a small shop.”

Jimin read Yoongi’s instructions over and over with Taehyung while Jungkook hummed to another song, playing with his phone and glancing at them every now and then, giving an entertained chuckle.

“It will be a bit risky but will be so worth it,” Taehyung hummed as he pulled back.

“We will be okay…”

◊◊◊

People often say you regret things at one point of your life, that what you did tends to come back to you, everything falling on you at the speed of a tower of cards when you remove one from the bottom.

Jimin could see his two friends didn’t regret anything.

Watching them going out of their apartment with calm faces and waving goodbye when they took different paths, promising to not be late to watch the game. They looked normal, like all the people that walked around them, like Taehyung when he hurried to get on the bus one of them took.

Jimin watched the other stopping and looking around as he waited for his bus, oblivious to the piercing yellowish eyes that observed him from behind, watching his every movement as he got on the bus, not knowing a forked tongue wanted to reach him as someone else boarded with him.

He sat on the third row, Jimin walked towards the last one; their eyes met, a spark of recognition flared in those eyes before he frowned and shook his head, looking away from the masked man.

Jimin smiled behind the mask.

The convenience store he worked at could fall in the description of bad, it was small, with a considerable lack of products and dishevelled shelves, it was possible few people found all the things they looked for in there, and for Jimin was pathetic someone believed the man who worked there earned enough to live like he lived, he knew the truth, though, knew just how much money he had.

With a nonchalant shrug, he waited for at least two hours before entering the shop, walking to the get a bar of chocolate and a bottle of iced tea, looking at the items before walking to the cashier and leaving them on the shelf, seeing the man staring at them before reaching for them to scan it.

“Thank you,” He said as he took the bag and walked back, eyes half-closing in what used to be his typical smile, seeing the man staring at him before nodding and looking away.

“I think I fucking saw Jimin,” Jimin smiled as he heard the angered, confused and anxious tone the other was using as he talked. “No, had his face covered but they were his fucking eyes! Think I’m going crazy or what?”

Jimin would go for the second one if he wasn’t the responsible for it, his friend had seen him so far in the bus, buying something in his own shop, casually crossing the street and now, now he believed he had seen him disappearing into the night.

“I know he could never find us, but what the fuck do I do with what I am seeing?” The other continued as Jimin smiled after reading Taehyung’s message. “What do you mean someone has been following you?”

“I have been following him shamelessly :D”

“Let’s get back to the freaking house, we need to tell the boss this.”

Jimin came with this plan because his monster and he came to the conclusion that going with the typical abduction wasn’t what they deserved, at least not in his new way of thinking. They turned his life into a nightmare and he was going to turn their day into one, seeing the ghost, apparition of the man they ruined their life everywhere they went without knowing if it was real or if that regret was starting to come.

Watching him flee on the bus while looking around, he moved to take a taxi and gave the address, making sure to arrive first to find Taehyung who was doing the same.

“So freaking fun,” Taehyung said as he laughed, leaning on Jimin as they waited for them to walk out of the house using the predictable back door. “He was sure he was seeing me, I even waved at him.”

“You are a crazy man, he could have called his boss,” Jimin snorted, shaking his head.

“I called Yoongi and asked him to block their calls for any number that wasn’t the one we needed,” He pouted. “I’m insulted you thought I wouldn’t think about that.”

“I am kidding, now go hide,” He said as he pushed him aside upon hearing the lock of the door, seeing the two men emerge from the house but freezing at seeing him. “Hi.”

“Who the fuck is you?” One demanded, pulling out a small knife from his waist and pointing it at him. 

“Sad you don’t remember me,” Jimin sighed, pulling down the mask, accommodating it under his chin and looking at them, tilting his head to one side. “Maybe it’s because of the pink hair, you didn’t know me with a black one.”

“J-Jimin? No, you’re supposed to be fucking dead!”

“Me? Why?”

“Wait, I get it,” The other said with a chuckle that sounded more of despair than anything else. “You became that group’s slut; did they give you a day off today?”

Judging for their reactions of bewilderment to his small chuckle and calm demeanour, Jimin knew they were expecting to intimidate him since he used to get scared by everything. “No, I’m not their slut.”

“Wanted to pay a visit then?” The other said, the small tremor in his hand saying he wasn’t that confident as he appeared to be. “The little idiot missed us?”

“Oh, no, not really, just came for the mistakes you made.”

“Mistakes?” He barked a laugh. “We got away and you were sent to jail, we have been living perfectly and you coming here with your moral things won’t do shit.”

“What the fuck did we do wrong, huh?” The other mocked as well.

“Sending me to jail.”

He said, seeing their unconscious bodies falling to the floor after Jungkook and Taehyung hit them.

“That was your biggest mistake.”

Chapter Text

“You enjoyed torturing him like that, didn’t you?”

“I think you could clearly see I did,” Jimin muttered as he watched his reflection nodding with an amused grin. “You as well.”

“Every second of it,” He said, licking his lips with his forked tongue. “It felt completely different, don’t you think?”

“Different from what?” He asked with a sigh as he watched Taehyung and Jungkook going and coming with the evidence Namjoon had talked about.

“From what if feels killing someone,” He continued, moving from the reflection on the window to the television in front of him. “Knowing that you’re the cause of the madness that starts eating them from inside, knowing you have the power over their weak minds, that is satisfying.”

It did feel good, Jimin liked making them doubt what they were seeing, enjoyed leaving them to fill the well in front of them with doubts, unanswered questions and possibilities, only to push them inside to watch them drown.

“I think that gives us a better idea on what to do,” He said with a knowing smile.

Yes, it did.

“I’m excited for this, man,” Taehyung said as he let himself fall on the sofa next to him, laying his head on Jimin’s lap, looking at his gloved hands. “Just imagine how it will be discovering that the ones you trusted were so greedy they were ready to sell you out.”

“I still don’t know how Yoongi does all of this,” He said with a small chuckle, watching Jungkook as he finished packing what they used. 

“He used to be an assassin, he had to do everything by himself,” Jungkook explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “He knows how to do everything, basically.”

“There’s one thing he doesn’t,” Taehyung said, raising his finger.

“What?”

“Sleeping,” He snorted. “There’s not a single moment where he’s not working, no wonder he hibernates when he finally passes out.”

“Such a hardworking assassin he is,” Jimin said and Taehyung ended up on the floor, laughing, almost being followed by Jimin.

“We should go, they won’t be unconscious for the rest of the night,” Jungkook said with a quiet snort after seeing them. “Let’s go.”

Jimin had to help the other up and Jungkook ended up dragging both, making sure everything was ready and closing the place, waiting for the others to get in and starting the car, starting their long way back with two annoyed people on the back.

°°°

“I have to admit that your plan is evil and genius at the same time,” Seokjin said as he watched Jimin trying to survive Jungkook as the other bit and kissed him everywhere he could after hearing his plan. “You have changed for the good, kiddo.”

Jimin managed to smile before letting a small squeak as Jungkook pushed to the sofa.

“Do we have a horny bunny?” Hoseok asked as he walked in, receiving the glare from Jungkook.

“Nah, he’s just in loving mode,” Seokjin hummed.

“I see,” Hoseok snorted before raising his brow. “Whatever mode you are, let your man go, he’s required down there to make people piss their pants.”

Jungkook then removed himself from him, pulling him to his feet and tugging him down the stairs where the rest were, waiting outside a room were angered shouts and a long chain of insults came from.

“Your friends know a lot of things,” Taehyung said. “I’m making a list of the new words they’re spitting.”

Jimin chuckled softly, looking at the door before taking a deep breath, glancing back at the others before relaxing his whole body and pushing the door open, cutting the insults instantly as he closed it.

“You must be phenomenal at sucking them if they do this for something like you,” One spat first, glaring at Jimin even though there was a small tremor moving down his bound body.

“If we knew we would have taken you with us for the same purpose,” The other said with venom dripping from each word.

“I’m grateful you didn’t,” Jimin smiled sweetly like he used to do. “Do you know how my trial went? ”

“With you in there for a shit ton of time and-”

“And with no means of winning,” He finished for him, walking to lean on the wall. “I cried for many hours, people made fun of me all the time.”

“You’re so predictable, Jimin, but we’re sorry,” One laughed and Jimin had to smile for how relaxed he looked by hearing him for just a couple of seconds. “Would you let us go?”

“Yeah, we’re so sorry,” The other was exactly where he wanted him as well, wonderful. “We didn’t mean to.”

“Really?” He smiled, hearing the echo of his reflection laughing for how much fun he was having. “You really mean it?”

“Yes! We would have taken you out if we could, but our boss didn’t allow us,” It was sickening how genuine they could look for moments, as if they really believed Jimin was falling for it. “Must have been hard for you to be mocked daily.”

“It was very hard…”

“We know and we’re very sorry, but you’re a good man so let’s just get over this and free you from all of them,” Jimin wanted to throw up and he wasn’t a good man, he knew. “So, please?”

“Alright,” He smiled. “Guys, could you help me?”

His friends were smiling, but Jimin could see it wasn’t the genuine one, it was more the kind of I won kind of smile and because of that, he enjoyed seeing their smile falter as they saw six men entering the room, every single one of them having the brute force over brain all over their complexion, not asking anything as they moved towards the two of them and slammed them against the floor immediately starting to tug and rip their clothes, making them start their chant of insults and desperate struggles.

“Get your fucking hands off me!”

“Fucking idiot, stop!”

Jimin watched everything with cold, distant eyes, seeing the despair of the people who he once called friends increasing with each part of uncovered skin, every single thing reminding him of the time it happened to him, pushing himself off the wall he started walking towards them, seeing their struggles as the last piece of clothing was grabbed, panting harshly when everything stopped.

“A group of men tried to rape me,” He said as he stood between them. “The Jimin you sent to jail was scared, cried and pleaded the heavens to be saved, believed that justice was going to work, that you were going to return and help me out… You were right in calling me a weak idiot.”

The fear they felt was slowly morphing into anger as they glared at him, tugging at the restraints around their wrists and ankles.

“I’m not the same I used to be,” He sighed. “Remember the massacre that happened a while ago? Well, I was almost taken to become their personal cockwarmer… but in the end, I killed the leader, had to.”

“You?” One asked through gritted teeth, Jimin had the impression that if they could they would be strangling him at that moment. “You should become better at lying.”

“I can understand why you don’t believe me,” He shrugged, crouching down dangerously between them. “Remember that day you were playing with my naivety about relationships?”

They didn’t answer, of course, they were still glaring at him and planning a million ways of torturing him in the most sadistic way once they were free, Jimin even imagined they were going to keep him alive for years until he begged to be killed.

“At that time I took them as innocent, little jokes that people with zero experience in that area would need to face,” He continued with a small hum. “Now I see you were just a couple of asses mocking me.”

“Who would like to date you?”

“I used to think the same, you know?” He said with a smile, hugging his knees and resting his cheek on one of them. “But then someone came, someone very unexpected. Jungkook, please come in.”

Jungkook is everything Jimin isn’t, the way he walks is confident, letting everyone know inside the room that he is in charge and it’s better not a single soul dares to defy him, the look in his eyes is neutral and his expression could even be misinterpreted as kindness. He opened the door effortlessly and made his way to Jimin, barely paying attention at the two bodies lying at his lover’s side. 

“Is he—”

“Jeon Jungkook fell for me for an unknown, at least in the beginning, reason,” Jimin cut him before he continued, feeling Jungkook’s hand falling on his head. “I’m sure you have heard about him.”

“So he protected you? Funny you made us think you were the new one.”

“Oh, no, he protected me but he didn’t do everything,” He said, taking the knife Jungkook was offering him and quickly slamming it inside the tight on the one he had at his left side. “I learnt a lot of things from him and from them.”

Jungkook smiled as he heard the man screaming and cursing at Jimin, trying to squirm away from the pain but only earning more as Jimin just tugged him back by the knife, he was proud of what Jimin was becoming.

“You’re all so fucking dead!” The man said through gritted teeth, sweat dripping down his face despite being almost nude. “You have doomed all of them just for this!”

Jimin merely chuckled as he took the phone out and dialled the number Yoongi had given to him, activating the speaker so everyone could hear, humming to an unknown tone until there was a voice that froze his two friends.

“Who the fuck is calling?!”

“Excuse me, sir, this is pjm, this must be a surprise for you,” Jimin started, looking between both of them, seeing the confusion and fear taking over their eyes. “I have two people from you.”

“You and whoever did it are dead!” The man barked and the other two seemed to smile in relief, before it fell again as Jimin chuckled.

“Sir, I’m sorry, you should be thankful we’re doing this instead of something more, let’s call it drastic,” He said, letting the words linger on the other’s mind, almost swearing he could hear the gears turning inside his head. “After discovering they were actively attacking us and then turn against you, you should thank us for not eliminating all of you.”

“If you think you’re treating me, you’re very naive and stupid.” 

“Oh I’m not, I’m just stating facts,” Jimin hummed again, scratching his head. “We have followed their movements for months and if you took your time to check it as well, you would find all the evidence.”

There’s silence on the other side of the line for several seconds, a silence that serves to tense the other two more and, internally at least, Jimin, he’s a bit anxious that it will end up causing problems for the others, for his family.

“Those fuckers.”

“We didn’t do anything!”

“He’s lying!”

“If he doesn’t end you, you will beg me to die.”

When the line went dead, Jimin couldn’t hold back the giggle that erupted from his chest, seeing the realisation of death looming over them hitting them at full speed. “You’re going to beg for us to die!”

“Would be funny to see you trying,” Jungkook said in amusement, stepping on the wound the knife.

“Are you going to let your psychopath kill us? That’s your marvellous revenge plan?” The other hissed as his partner tried to calm the pain.

“No, you won’t be dying,” Jimin smiled. “Jungkook won’t be doing it either, he will just help.”

He let his words linger there for several seconds, maybe even minutes, enjoying the confusion their future caused, enjoying it a bit too much.

“You will go to prison after I am done, you will beg for it.”

Of course, his friends were going to be there as well.

Chapter Text

“Do you use drugs now, too?”

Jimin could understand why they didn’t believe him, a part of his brain still didn’t believe he was actually doing it either and that he had already stabbed one of them on his leg, but that didn’t mean he was stopping or begging for forgiveness.

“Since when you planned to do it?” He asked as he sat down, moving his eyes from one to another.

“Planned what?!”

“Using me to get away,” Jimin asked with a sigh. “In what moment did you think I was the stupidest one from everyone that would cover you up entirely?”

They were refusing to talk, they continued glaring at him, throwing venom like angered cobras.

“He asked you something,” Jungkook said casually, stepping on the hands of the one that hasn’t been stabbed. “Are you deaf?”

“Fuck off!”

“You were an idiot,” The other hissed as the other cried out in pain and he heard something cracking. “Trusting people because they smiled back at you, following orders just because they talked with a firmer tone, the day we discovered the money we knew it had to be you.”

Jimin’s mind went back to his old self, to his naivety, to his innocence, to the way he tended to label people and he felt so stupid, even he would have used him. “You knew I had nothing to defend me with, right?”

“We made sure of that, we weren’t stupid.”

“You were so smart that’s why I found you, right?” He said, a smile spreading on his lips. “You were so smart you thought I was going to survive, what do you think changed?”

“You became their good slut.”

Jimin laughed, standing up and sighing. “I had sex with Jungkook, yes, but he’s the only one I have with and it wasn’t because of that.”

“You’re just his fucking toy,” One spat, glaring at Jungkook who looked at him with a raised brow. “He’s just a monster, a heartless monster who can’t feel anything for anyone.”

Jimin always tried to see the good in people even when people didn’t have anything good, but with Jungkook it seemed to be different, the man didn’t have a reason to pretend to love him, he hasn’t even flinched when he killed his parents, he played with his victims and then took their guts out. “I am his exception.”

He felt Jungkook’s hands squeezing his waist before a small kiss was placed on his cheek, Jungkook’s voice almost purring in his ear. “He’s right.”

“How are you going to kill him when you get bored?” Someone asked, making Jungkook laugh.

“It’s obvious people as stupid as you can’t understand what we are,” Jungkook hummed as he pulled Jimin closer by his waist. “Stupid things like feeling butterflies when you see the one you love and sending good morning texts is not love.”

Jimin watched them staring at him, trying to understand the correlation in everything he was saying before he continued.

“Jimin became their target because they almost kill someone, became a murderer when someone threatened more people,” Jungkook continued, petting Jimin’s head lovingly. “He’s mine because he’s nothing like you, greedy idiots, he’s not like anyone in this disposable world.”

“Freak.”

“I have been called worse,” He shrugged. “My plan was killing you two, but he came with a better one, all by himself.”

“Sure, sending us to jail.”

“Exactly that,” Jimin nodded, starting to walk towards the door and waiting until Jungkook walked out before turning to them. “You will find out.”

The complaints started right after he closed the door but he paid no mind, walking back to Jungkook who was waiting for him and making his way up, finding the rest of them around.

“Oh, look, our executioner is back,” Seokjin teased as he watched him entering and going to fall down next to Taehyung. “How many fingers have they lost?”

“No one has lost a finger,” Jimin snorted, leaning almost his whole weight on Taehyung who was happily snuggling back. “I only stabbed one on his tight.”

“Only stabbed one,” Hoseok laughed, glancing at him. “You do realise how bad that sounds, right?”

“I know, I know,” Jimin whined, the cold demeanour fading from his features as he relaxed with the ones he loved. “I still wonder if it will be effective for them.”

“They almost shit their pants when they thought they were getting raped,” Yoongi pointed out. “It will be effective, they hide behind that badass exterior, but they’re mere pawns with the illusion of being knights.” 

“Are you saying they’re not important for their boss?” Jimin huffed out when Jungkook choose to fall on his back, sandwiching him between his body and Taehyung’s.

“Not much, the proof we planted was solid, but giving up after just checking it just shows they aren’t a key part for the process,” Yoongi continued. “See it like Lee for you, he’s important, sure, but if he gets killed, you can replace him.”

Funny how Jimin could understand better with direct analogies.

“I got contacted by their boss like an hour ago,” Namjoon said absent-mindedly while checking something on his phone. “He demanded to know what we were doing to them but told him I wasn’t carrying out the punishment, he just wanted an according punishment.”

“Jimin is providing it, fear not,” Taehyung completely unbothered by the weight on top of him.

Jimin didn’t know why, but he felt proud to hear that.

°°°

The next morning Jimin walked inside the room with calm and collected steps, running his fingers through his pink hair as he pushed it back, seeing the other two stirring awake due to the sound, blinking in confusion and groaning in pain because of the position they spent a complete night in.

“Morning,” He said, seeing the rage and anger returning to their eyes. “Maybe you recognise me better like this?”

They seemed to notice his hair until that moment and Jimin smiled when he saw the frown, settling on their faces. He didn’t dye his hair back to pink just to make it easier for them to remember who they had hurt, but he wanted them to see he was the same Jimin in appearance, but not the same inside, wanted them to remember all the time to spend together and bind each memory to what was he going to do, he wanted to inflict that psychological damage.

“Fucker,” Judging by that, it was working.

“I was checking on your movements after you left Seoul, you travelled around the country before settling in Daegu,” He said as he crossed his arms and tapped his chin with his finger. “Being the considerate humans you are, each one sent a five thousand won to your families, so considerate.”

“My mother is sick, fucker,” The one with the wound on his leg hissed, trying not to move much thanks to the bandaged wound.

“Oh I know, osteoporosis, a horrible disease indeed,” Jimin hummed, tilting his head back. “But I can’t help but wonder why you send her mere crumbs if you were that worried, the billion you stole between two is around 500,000,000 won and only five thousand for her? Come on.”

“You don’t know what I was going to do!” He objected, tugging at the restraints that had already cut on his skin.

“But I know, it’s been more than a three months since you sent her more than ten grand,” Jimin frowned. “You don’t deserve your mother, none of you deserve having people who cares for you.”

“Are you the model son now?” 

“Far from it, I broke my mother’s heart with the path I followed, but I have her forgiveness,” He said, touching his face where he remembered his father had punched him. “The difference is that I have never said I am, have I?”

They were seething in anger.

“I should send Jungkook or someone to inform them of what their kids are doing,” He said, seeing the jolt of fear that ran down their spine.

“Keep that psycho away from them!”

“What are you going to do to stop me?”

That was what he wanted, making them realise they didn’t have a way out, that no matter what they did they could never stop Jungkook from going if Jimin asked him to do it, right now they were bound physically, but the mental binds were far worse and that was the kind of bindings that held him in prison. Sure the bars and walls were a physical obstacle, but what trapped him in place was the idea of being guilty, of being something society didn’t want to see, his own mind placing him in the lowest of the low. 

He wasn’t going to send Jungkook to hurt them, those poor women weren’t responsible for how their kids were, like him with his mother, but they didn’t know that. For them he was serious and seeing the fear and despair consuming him was satisfying.

“Don’t you fucking dare!”

“I’m not telling him to kill them, just a visit,” He smiled, walking towards the door to emphasise his point.

“Your problem is with us!” One yelled. “They have nothing to do here!”

“Did you think about that when you sent me?” He asked, resting his hand on the knob. “My parents couldn’t believe they had to visit me in such place… my mother couldn’t believe I was threatened, mocked and almost raped… did any of you think about that?”

Silence.

“Why should I have consideration?” He asked, opening the door to get the phone Jungkook was already extending to him, opening the pictures it had. “Finding them isn’t hard.”

The screams and threats rose in volume as he showed them and each one recognised the woman on the photo, their struggles intensifying to the point he had the idea they could tear their limbs apart.

“Fuck… Please! ”

Locking the phone, Jimin smiled as he shoved it in his pocket once more, raising his brow as he looked at the one that looked at the verge of crying. “What was that?”

“Fucking please!” He yelled again, seeing him pressing his forehead as a small sob left his lips. “Stay away from her.”

Jimin stayed in silence, looking at him as he seemed to struggle to keep everything else inside, trembling ever so slightly, almost making him feel bad.

Almost.

“Crying didn’t take me anywhere,” He said, turning around and leaving the room, letting two of his men walk inside with a two buckets of water and some products on their arms.

Jungkook wrapped his arms around him almost immediately, placing soft kisses on his neck as he whispered encouraging words, blocking the angered curses and sobs coming from the room, blocking most of the noises from there until they walked back out after a while.

“It’s done, sir.”

“Thanks,” Jimin smiled lightly before letting Jungkook kiss him again and pull back, entering the room, his eyes falling on the two shivering forms pressed against the wall.

The two of them were completely soaked and their hair, a black natural one before, was badly dyed in a horrible tone of pink, with whitish patches where they hadn’t bothered to apply the colour after bleaching it. Jimin could see the tears of anger and humiliation wetting their cheeks as they glared at him from under the wet bangs.

“Does this turn you on?”

“No, not really,” He shrugged. “But inmates seem to like pink hair.”

He knew that it was scarier than anything else.

“I was thinking and we could make a deal, I will ask Jungkook to come back if you tell the truth,” He noticed how they tensed at the mention of the other being on his way. “Or I could give you back to your boss so he deals with both.”

When he saw them close to agreeing, he added:

“But please keep in mind that now he’s a good partner for my boss,” He smiled sweetly, remembering what Namjoon had told him that morning.

“How the fuck did you do that?!”

“We’re a convincing team,” He chuckled. “Or I could bring Jungkook to have a time with you.”

None of the options were good, he knew, two sounded like death and the other one like torture, but he liked knowing he had them cornered, with no means of escaping or negotiating a better option, they were trapped, right where Jimin wanted them.

“You can’t fucking do this…”

“Why can’t I? Did any of you show regret? No, you even made fun of me,” He hissed, the anger taking over for several seconds. “Just because I used to be a nice person means I can’t destroy you?”

“This shouldn’t be like this!”

“I don’t care,” He hissed coldly. “Now choose before I let Jungkook choose.”

They glared at him, surely wished death upon him and the descendants he was surely never going to have, more tears of fear, frustration and humiliation rolling down their cheeks before one spoke again. “If we fucking go to jail, will that psycho stay away from our family?”

“Why should I do that?”

“Because you won, okay?! You freaking won,” The other said through clenched teeth. “You were smarter, changed and got your revenge, we’re completely powerless against you, fucking happy?”

Unlike the first time where Jimin could see they were lying to him, he could know tell they were being sincere, they looked angry, defeated and humiliated in similar levels. When he started this he believed that upon reaching this point he was going to feel bad, sad to see who he once called friends so broken and tired, but the opposite happened.

He laughed, laughed while covering his face and feeling his own tears dampening his hands and cheeks, shoulders shaking due to the laughter being borderline hysterical. “You ruined my life… but at the same time made it so much better.”

“We’re a complex being.”

Removing his hands, he looked at them for several seconds before turning around and leaving the room.

“Would you look at that, it’s been years since you called us, Jimin.”

“I know, sorry, hope Minho doesn’t hate me.” 

  “Minho is incapable of hating, don’t worry. What can I do for you?”

“My two friends are arriving later today, please treat them well?”

“Of course! They will be receiving the best treatment,” A pause. “Don’t worry, king.”

“In an unbelievable story, two people responsible for stealing billions of won from their company were captured today after they confessed their crime at the police station. They had previously escaped from justice by blaming their co-worker, Park Jimin, but now they had finally confessed and no one knows the reason.”

“We know.”

“They will be transferred to the general prison while police continue searching for Jimin who, ironically, escaped months ago in the breakout.”

Jimin just turned away from the television and walked back to his room

Chapter Text

There were times were Jimin thought about his mother, about the day where he went to say goodbye and how that admirable woman had forgiven him and allowed him to escape. He often wondered how she was doing, if her relationship with his father had decayed because of him if years of marriage had gone down because of his decisions.

Through his mind had crossed the idea of going to see them from afar of asking Yoongi if he could see them through the cameras, but he often got rid of it because he didn’t feel with the right of disrespecting their privacy, furthermore, he didn’t know how his brain would react at seeing them, it seemed the mass of neurons was finishing its process of reconfiguring and seeing them may make him cry and scream for a whole day.

After sending his two dear friends to prison, he went to check on their families, one of the poor women was indeed sick, her osteoporosis was bad, her fingers were crooked and her knees hurt with every step, her health was decaying and while one of them did send her money periodically, he stopped doing it a while ago, leaving her with little money to balance between the medicine and the basic things. The other mother was in good health conditions, but the news of her son admitting a crime hit her hard, as expected.

Jimin tried to feel bad, regret it, but couldn’t.

“Here, got it,” Looking away from the floor he walked to Yoongi and sat down at his side, looking at the screen with the pictures of the camera in there. “Take your time.”

Jimin smiled and nodded, holding the laptop on his legs and watching Yoongi go, taking a deep breath when the door closed, staring at the screen for several seconds before clicking on the small button.

“Hey there,” He started. “I know it’s been a while since you heard about me and that at least dad won’t want to listen to me, it’s okay, I understand… but I still want to say a couple of things to you two, hope you can listen to me.”

“I don’t know if you heard, but two days ago my two friends confessed what they did to me and went to the police, according to the report one arrived with a wound on his tights for being stabbed and the other had two broken fingers,” He said, playing with the small chain from his earring. “I did it, I asked someone to look for them and brought them to our place… there I made them see what they did to me and, hopefully, taught them a lesson.”

“I’m not the same I used to be, I have changed, I have killed people that had tried to hurt us and would kill if one tried to hurt any of you,” He sighed. “I know it sounds bad, very bad, but I can safely say I don’t enjoy it, don’t really find pleasure in making someone scream or anything I… actually enjoy when they admit they’re wrong when what they have built falls down on top of their heads.”

He laughed quietly.

“I sound like a monster, right?” He asked, glancing at his reflexion who shrugged. “I think I am, in a sense, but I don’t feel bad about it, I feel so much better after sending them there and knowing they won’t escape, ever, want them to be there all the time the judge tells them to.”

Looking back at the screen, he smiled at seeing his mother’s figure moving from the kitchen to the living room.

“I have changed, I have changed a lot, but I’m doing fine and I hope you two don’t carry with the guilt of what I am right now, I have changed for different circumstances but not because of you… Please stay happy and healthy, I love you both.”

Stopping the audio recording, he followed the instructions Yoongi left for him and sent it to his mother’s email, staying for several seconds more just staring at the computer before standing up and walking out, finding Jungkook ready to fill him with praises and kisses, effectively pushing his doubts away.

°°°

“Tae, what’s wrong?” Jimin frowned as he spotted his friend leaning on the wall next to the window, eyes lost in the distance.

It had been a couple of weeks since he had seen the behaviour of his friend had changed, the once bright and smiling bag of cheerfulness was replaced by one that often looked serious and if he was in deep thought, he rarely made jokes or attempted to continue his drawings, he just moved because he had to and listened to what others said rather than suggesting something. 

Jimin had asked what was wrong, all of them had, but the other wasn’t saying anything, he shrugged everything off with a small smile and a faint I’m fine , walking away and cutting off possible questions; it pained Jimin’s heart, he had trusted Taehyung and he felt the other didn’t.

“Me? I’m fine,” Taehyung said again, smile not reaching his face at all. “I have told you I am.”

“I can clearly see you’re not,” Jimin said, crossing his arms as an annoying flash crossed his face. “Why do you keep lying?”

“I’m not lying,” Taehyung muttered as he started his escaping attempt, avoiding looking at him.

“Am I an idiot?” He asked, stopping the other before he could reach the door, seeing him frown. “Am I just still the same idiot I was?”

“Why would you say that?” Taehyung replied with a clearly annoyed tone. “You had your revenge and proved you’re better, you’re talking nonsense.”

“Oh, really?” He said with maybe more anger than what was necessary. “Because I trusted everything to you like a complete idiot and you can’t even say why you’re acting all weird.”

“It’s different,” Taehyung, of course, seemed to be getting annoyed as well.

“How is it? I’m the only one talking about personal things, are you going to blame me for something I didn’t do too?”

Okay, that was too far.

“I have helped you all the fucking time,” Taehyung snapped, obviously, walking back to him and pushing him back. “If it wasn’t for Hoseok and me, you would have been mauled by everyone else!”

“And I thanked you two!” He said, hating the height difference since he was already feeling pathetic for what he said and now it was getting worse. “Why can’t you trust me with something simple?!”

“Because it’s not simple!” Taehyung yelled, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence. “It’s not simple, Jimin.”

Forgetting the whole pushing and anger, Jimin moved to hug him when small tears rolled down his cheeks, pulling him closer and making him rest his chin on his shoulder. “Please tell me… I want to help.”

“I feel pathetic,” He said after a sniffle. “So fucking pathetic.”

“But you are not,” Jimin frowned, caressing the back of his head. “And whoever says you are, deserves to be kicked in the balls.”

Taehyung let out a choked sob as he squeezed him tightly. “Remember my friend… my brother?”

“I do,” Jimin nodded, remembering he had mentioned he was his support back then.

“I asked Yoongi to look for him, I knew he heard about my escape,” He continued, keeping his chin rested on Jimin’s shoulder. “And I was worried because, last year, he hadn’t visited me, not even once.”

Jimin frowned at that, worried about something bad happening to him. “What happened?”

“He… Yoongi told me he was looking for me but to guide some enemies to Namjoon,” He whispered, another sob leaving his lips. “I didn’t believe him, he would never do that.”

It was worse than he imagined.

“Did he have proof or something?” He wasn’t going to jump into the conclusion of his brother was bad because Taehyung was going to be angry.

“I yelled at him and got mad,” He said, pulling back to pull his black sweater up, revealing a long, stitched up cut that went from his wrist to the middle of his forearm. “And this was my payment.”

“Oh my God, Taehyung!” Jimin almost panicked, looking at the wound from all angles as the other cried softly. “How— What happened?!”

“I refused to believe Yoongi, but still decided to meet my brother away from here,” He continued, leaning on the wall behind him as he looked at the wound on his arm. “Everything looked normal, he looked so happy for me, so proud that I was out that I wanted to go back and punch Yoongi in the face for lying, but…”

Jimin felt the bad part was coming closer and he moved to crouch down at Taehyung’s side when he slid down the wall and ended up sitting on the floor. “Tae…”

“It started as a casual conversation, can’t believe Namjoon is alive , how did he do it? I found all of it weird, my brain started to scream about what Yoongi said but still clung to the possibility,” He said, closing his eyes as Jimin started caressing his head. “When he asked me to meet Namjoon and I told him I couldn’t really do that, he grew anxious and kind of mad… at me, his younger brother.”

Jimin was an only child, he didn’t know what it was to have a fight with your brother but could imagine it was hard, especially when you depended on each other so much. 

“He asked more and more insistently about it, eventually reaching the demanding tone,” He opened his eyes, covering the wound with his hand the best he could. “I realised what Yoongi said was true and when I told him I had to leave, he lashed out.”

“So he wanted the information…”

“He did, he slammed me against the wall and told me I had to take him, h-he took out a pocket knife, he threatened me,” He said with despair. “Told me I was going to regret it if I didn’t.”

“W-Why would he do that?”

“He sold the information to another group and needed it, I just pushed him away and managed to escape,” Taehyung whispered, pressing his forehead to his arms.

“That doesn’t make you pathetic, you trusted him, of course, you were going to do it, he’s your brother!”  Even he would have done it.

“That’s not the pathetic part,” He sniffled, shaking his head. “Days later and after apologising to Yoongi, he called me, told me he regretted everything, scaring me, told me he was in the middle of a crisis he had solved… he wanted us to meet and I did.”

“Taehyung, he—”

“I was received by ropes and the promise of being tortured until I talked,” He said, his lower lip trembling. “Yoongi and Hoseok intervened, they had kept an eye on me because they were smarter, they saved me and we left… My brother screamed for help, begged me to help him because they were going to kill him, I left him… I let him get killed.”

“He hurt you, he didn’t care about what you felt… he was not the same person you knew,” He hurried to say, pulling his friend once more to his arms. “I’m sorry it had to happen to you, Tae, you’re amazing.”

“I still cried for several days,” He sobbed, pressing his hands to his face. “He hurt me, tried to kidnap me and even sold me, but still felt so bad for leaving him and even got mad at myself.”

“That doesn’t make you pathetic, that makes you a better person than what he was,” He said truthfully, trying to be as comforting as Taehyung had been all those times he felt close to giving up and letting himself die on that place. “I know it’s hard… but you’re amazing, Tae, you truly are.”

He knew just how much the words could mean to someone who was in distress, especially someone as sweet and caring as Taehyung was, so he just continued with his soothing words, cupping Taehyung’s cheeks and wiping his tears, not caring about the pain on his knees for being bent for so long or the uncomfortable position, he stayed there for hours, proud that the other calmed little by little.

“You can trust me you dummy,” He said when his breathing was even, smiling when he pouted. “You’re still my best friend and would jump on a hole for you.”

“Would you dye someone’s hair and ugly colour for me?” Taehyung asked with a small, playful smile.

“Do you think rotten green would be a good one?”

“I… hate to interrupt, but there’s something you need to see, Jimin,” Hoseok’s serious tone pulled him out of his own happy world, the seriousness on his face is just as disconcerting.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, finally standing up and helping Taehyung to do the same.”

“I would call it delicate…”

Hoseok placed his laptop on the table and turned it to face Jimin; what he saw there, however, wasn’t just delicate, was a complete nightmare.

Wanted.

Bunny killer or Seoul.

Preferably alive.

Chapter Text

“Is that coming from police?” Jimin asked even though the eerie design of the page told him, clearly, it wasn’t anything that could be seen from the normal, legal world. “Please tell me it is.”

“It isn’t,” Hoseok sighed. “It’s the largest market place for criminals, you can find from drugs to, well, people.”

“I mean, it’s kind of expected Jungkook would be there,” Taehyung commented as he leaned closer to look at the screen, pulling his sweater down so It covered the cut. “He has a lot of enemies and people who envy what he achieved.”

“Jungkook has always been on that list, as many of us,” Yoongi’s voice came in after a couple of seconds and Jimin turned to see at the other who went to rest his head on Hoseok’s shoulder. “The problem is that he’s part of the top ten, in third place to be more precise.”

“T-That’s not good,” Jimin stuttered, feeling the fear coursing wildly through his entire body at imagining the number of prepared and bloodthirst criminals that were going to be behind Jungkook “W-What are we going to do?”

“Continue, of course,” Jungkook’s voice made him turn to look at him walking calmly inside, barely sparing a glance at the screen before wrapping his arms around Jimin’s waist from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder despite his attempts of escaping. “As Yoongi said, I have been in that list for a long time.”

“Not so high up!” Jimin protested, trying to free himself from his hold because this was too serious and Jungkook couldn’t be acting like this, he had to take it seriously. “Jungkook we have to do something.”

"We don't," Jungkook said with the same calmness, raising a brow as he looked at him. "We don't have to do anything, it's obvious I have been there for a while now, why should I bother now?" 

Jimin wanted to scream, slap him and say he couldn't just be so careless about something that endangered his life so much. Sure police had been behind them all this time, but police stuck to the legal field while criminals would never hesitate in doing everything they could to get his hands on him, their reason was getting the money while police were making the world a safer place. "Jungkook, stop, that's not—" 

He didn't finish, Jungkook pressed his hand against his mouth and pulled him back, pressing a kiss to his neck. "We need to talk, thanks for the update." 

And ignoring his muffled screams, struggles and everything Jimin tried, Jungkook wrapped his other arm around his waist and dragged him out of the room, walking calmly towards their room as if the other wasn't trying with all his might to free himself. 

Jimin finally gasped when he was pushed to the bed, feeling the softness of it on his back as Jungkook quickly crawled on top and stared down at him. "You need to calm down." 

"Stop asking me that!" He yelled, trying to shove him off by pressing his hands against his chest. "You shouldn't be calm about it!" 

"Tell me, what would I get by being anxious?" Jungkook asked instead, pressing kisses to his lips and moving down his jaw and neck, making him squirm. "I can't just ask Namjoon to protect me, I'm an adult, and adult who chose to be what I am and knew what the consequences were going to be." 

"It's not that…" Jimin whispered, back arching a bit when he bit down on the base of his neck. "I-I know you choose it, but it's not that." 

"Then tell me, Mochi," Jungkook urged him but Jimin found the question a hundred time harder to understand as his hands went under his sweater and he started exploring his skin. "I have been capable of protecting myself all this time, do you doubt I can?" 

"Of course I don't!" He yelled, feeling his body dissolving with every single touch, barely noticing as the other took his jeans and underwear away. "Jungkook please…" 

Jungkook smiled softly at him, spreading his legs and taking his time in getting him ready, distract him from those painful ideas that run in circles inside his head, having at the verge of coming before finally pushing in and holding him flush against his chest, pressing kisses to his temple and face. "It's okay, Jimin." 

"I just don't want to lose you," Jimin whispered with a small moan combined with a sob. "I can't lose you." 

"You won't lose me," Jungkook whispered softly, angling his slow thrusts to pleasure the other. "I promised I was never leaving you, I won't break my promise." 

"I don't want a ghost," Jimin breathed out, holding onto his arms. "I need you, the human, the killer, whatever, I need you with me." 

Because he couldn't care less if someone attacked and killed half of his own men, even if they attacked and the only survivor was Jungkook, he wouldn’t care, he would feel happy and complete. He loved Jungkook and couldn’t lose him, could never lose him.

Jungkook didn’t reply to that and just focused on reaching Jimin’s pleasure, looking at his expression the whole time and making sure he felt loved, wanted, make him feel safe as he had always intended. Of course, he knew it was dangerous, but thinking about it was not going to solve anything. He couldn’t become a paranoiac human that looked over his shoulder every time or looked for shadows in every corner. 

Years ago as he went on with his killing spree, he was well aware that many people would love to see him dead or suffering, after all, he had heard the families of his victims screaming they were going to make him pay for everything as soon as they discovered the bloodied bodies and went over the shock that caused to them, he also knew that most of them were just letting the anger and despair speak for them and no real threat could come from those people buried in grief. The problem was knowing that some of them could do something, some were beyond the thought of justice and didn’t find comfort in thinking police was going to do their job and bring him down.

Adding to it, several criminals envied the status he reached and hated to be less relevant than him, he was younger than most of the veteran killers out there and the fact that his sole name was enough to make people fear to leave the safety of their home, something not everyone achieved.

Jungkook was sure that the ones who placed him so high up on that list were old enemies that wanted to get their hands on him now that he had left the safety of prison. He was well aware that as soon as someone got their hands on him, things were going to turn as bloody as they were when he killed.

“I-I love you, Jungkook,” He smiled when he heard Jimin, seeing him panting to catch his breath and leaning into his hand as he caressed his cheek. “P-Please, never leave me.”

He never imagined he was going to care about someone this much, but Jimin was his everything and he was determined to be by his side for the rest of his life.

°°°

“I can’t, I just can’t accept it,” Jimin, of course, wasn’t pushing the subject away and was desperate to find a way to help and keep Jungkook safe. “I need to do something.”

“Jungkook won’t just accept having bodyguards, Jimin,” Namjoon said as he watched the other moving back and forth around the room. “He will probably kill them.”

“I know he has been living while being on that list, but Yoongi just told me the number of people behind the money and its madness,” He whispered, feeling the same nausea that had taken over him when he first heard the number. “They want him and they will kill him.”

Namjoon sighed, massaging his temple as he heard the other almost reaching a whole new level of panic. He cared for Jungkook, as weird as it sounded, the serial killer was young and since the two of them weren’t that different from each other, it wasn’t that hard to accept him as a potential ally and people to keep close. Seeing him so up in the list worry him maybe as much as it worry Jimin, but he knew that Jungkook wasn’t a baby that needed to be protected and even when he could try an offer some kind of protection, the other was going to refuse it and probably get mad at it.

“Jimin, it’s another thing you need to understand,” He started, sighing as the other finally stopped to look at him. “Though I’m sure you understand it already, we will have people wanting to kill us all the time, there won’t be a single second where we’re not being targeted, but you can’t always do something about it safe for trusting that person.”

Jimin of course understood, but he couldn’t just shake things off, he wanted to keep Jungkook safe, he would lose his mind if he was suddenly lost in this world without him. Jungkook had been his guidance, his everything in this new world and losing him sounded like the way his life would end.

“I still will order some of my men to keep an eye,” He said, ignoring the way Namjoon sighed and looked a bit troubled by the way he refused to understand. “I’m not interfering with their work, it’s a precaution.”

“Jimin…”

“It will be fine,” He said, shaking his head and refusing to acknowledge anything else he was going to say.

“You’re treating Jungkook like a baby,” Yoongi said as he saw Jimin’s men walk out of the room. “He won’t be that happy about it.”

“He is not,” Jimin muttered, wincing at remembering how Jungkook had told him he didn’t need a hundred of brainless people keeping an eye on him. “But he can’t stop me from being worried.”

“No one is telling you to stop worrying,” Yoongi sighed, resting his head on his hand. “I worry about Hoseok all the time, but I’m not trying to wrap the world in bubble wrap for him.”

Jimin was about to say something else when Yoongi continued.

“And you can’t tell me it is different because, in case you don’t remember, Hoseok was stabbed when we were back in prison and hurt many times as well,” He said, raising his finger as he closed his eyes. “The only thing you’re achieving is making Jungkook angry and that boy is unstable when mad.”

Jimin knew he or any of them would be in danger if that happened, but he knew that the people in charge of keeping an eye for him would end up dismembered somewhere he didn’t know. He was really losing his mind, he was torn between protecting him and leaving him alone, the thought of Jungkook getting angry at him didn’t sound good.

“Yoongi, I just—”

“Sir, I’m afraid we don’t know where Jungkook is,” Jimin felt his heart dropped at that. “He went to a place but we didn’t see where he went after that.”

“Idiot,” Jimin hissed, glaring at the man before taking his phone. "Send me the coordinates where you last see him." 

“I assume you know where he is,” Yoongi said as he stood up and watched the man fumbling with his phone. “Fine, send me the place when you find him and I will send help if needed.”

Jimin barely nodded at what he was saying, he did have an idea of where Jungkook could have gone to that was more or less close to where they had seen him last, after all, there weren't a lot of places where a serial killer could be without having police and many people freaking out for recognising him. His main worry was, however, having him somewhere no one would know how he was doing or who got close to him. 

Taking the car he pulled the hood up and drove as fast as he could without dragging attention, trying to keep his brain from screaming what he already knew: it was his fault. 

If Jungkook moved around without letting anyone see where he was caused by making people follow him. 

Stupid, stupid, so stupid. 

Stopping right outside of the old warehouse, he pushed the door open and looked around frantically before spotting him, letting out the air he didn't even realise he had been holding. 

"Jungkook!" He yelled, running towards him and clinging to his arm when he turned around. "Why did you come here?!" 

"I needed fresh air," He said ironically, patting his head. "Too many trash around me." 

"I'm doing it because I'm worried," He said, pressing his forehead against his arm more tightly. "I love you… Please don't leave me…" 

"I just told you—" 

He didn't get to finish, there was a sudden loud noise that Jimin felt his ears could start bleeding for how loud it had been; loud steps seemed to be moving around him and when he turned with gun in hands to see what was happening, there was something hitting his head as hard as it could hit. 

His legs gave out under his weight and he fell to his knees with a painful thud and it wasn't long before his chest and face hit the same concrete with another one. He didn't understand, his brain seemed to be turning off slowly, it was as if the hit had sent his brain to slam against his skull so hard it was now smeared inside. 

"Jungkook…" Through the blurriness and darkness, his world was now, he could make out Jungkook's figure being held down by several people, one jamming a needle in his neck and emptying whatever it was inside him. "J-Jungkook, please…" 

The men lifted a very limp figure in matter of seconds and despite Jimin wanted to stand up and run behind them, he felt a warm liquid running down the back of his head and the lights flying away, the pain finally taking over him and deciding to have mercy on the wounded man, sending him into the comforting unconsciousness. 

He just wanted to help, why this had to happen? 

Chapter Text

Yoongi could understand Jimin’s anxiousness, really, when you loved someone and turned him into the axis of your world, your main concern was keeping him safe at all costs, not caring if you risked your life; he had done it with Hoseok and because of this he could see where Jimin was going.

The problem was that Jungkook and Hoseok were completely different persons. 

Hoseok was a killer due to the circumstances while Jungkook was one because he liked it. Hoseok didn’t enjoy people suffering like Jungkook did and that changed his mentality entirely. Hoseok could accept to have someone around just to make sure he found while Jungkook felt it as an insult to his very core. Jimin meant good, but he had pushed it too far and now things were a bit delicate.

He glanced anxiously at his phone while he drove, waiting for the screen to lit up and show Jimin’s message saying where they were and that everything was fine, but the absence of it as he continued driving just increased his anxiousness to dangerous levels. Punching the mute button for the radio, he took his phone and used the red light to call him, bouncing his leg up and down as he waited for him to pick up, only for the voicemail to jump out.

He was normally a calm person, being an assassin demanded you to be calm and collected, after all. When he worked he couldn’t just freak out if his target did something that didn’t go according to his plan, he couldn’t hesitate before pulling the trigger because that small doubt would end up with him dead.

“Come on, Jimin.”

The problem was that he had always had a kind of soft point for the ones he cared for. When Hoseok was stabbed back in prison he didn’t think twice before coming for the man to turn him into a pile of bloodied limbs, when the hound attacked and someone went for Hoseok he didn’t hesitate in getting between despite knowing he wasn’t going to make it and, finally, when Namjoon had problems he never doubted helping him in everything he needs.

Right now he can’t shake off the feeling that something is wrong, his brain screams that he should have gone with Jimin, that he should have at least asked where he was heading to make sure no threats were around. He was so stupid.

Arriving their place, he took his phone and stormed out of the car, almost running towards his room to get his computer, even ignoring Taehyung and Seokjin who called for him at seeing him behaving like that.

“Hey, something wrong?” Taehyung’s voice came in shortly after, but Yoongi didn’t reply and instead focused on tracing Jimin’s location with his phone, tapping his fingers against the desk.

“Yoongi, could you reply?” Seokjin’s voice came right after and the annoyance was evident, Seokjin tended to stress over things and not receiving answers made it worse.

“Jungkook went away,” He said as he tried to locate the phone faster. “He got stressed for being babied too much and Jimin said he knew where he went, the kind man isn’t picking up the damn phone.”

“That’s not good,” He could hear the frown on his voice as Seokjin went over and leaned at his other side, him and Taehyung staring at the screen. “Have you found it?”

Yoongi didn’t reply right after, focusing on what he was doing until the signal was strong enough. “Got it, let’s go.”

Taehyung scurried over to the backseats while Seokjin got in the front, the frown never leaving his face as he waited for Yoongi to get in and start moving, tapping his foot against the floor with the same level of anxiousness Yoongi himself was showing.

“I swear Jungkook can be so reckless,” He finally snapped through gritted teeth. “Sure, Jimin took it a bit too far, but it’s because Jimin’s worried; he perfectly knows he can’t be going around just because he feels like it.”

“Maybe they’re just too caught up on their reconciliation and not paying attention at the phone?” Taehyung suggested, but everyone could hear he wasn’t that sure about it.

“Then I will scold the shit out of them,” Yoongi muttered. “But at least I would know they are safe.”

Jungkook’s situation did worry them, as much as they understood the other had been there for a long time, the reckless way he was handling it was only pushing Jimin to do more and more things he assumed could work, but that annoyed him a lot. Jungkook still needed to understand a couple of things about Jimin and his different way of seeing things.

When the car stopped, Taehyung jumped out of the car and hurried to the door, stopping only when Seokjin pulled him back and let Yoongi and him go inside to make sure it was safe, running when they did and looking around.

“Jimin!”

Yoongi’s whole body seemed to collapse when he heard Taehyung’s panicked shriek, he had been hoping, praying that everything was okay with them as they drove, hell, he even wished to find them in the middle of having sex to scold them and tease them with it for the rest of their lives, but it didn’t happen and he wanted to scream. “Don’t touch him, Taehyung.”

“W-What?” Taehyung stopped mere millimeters away from the figure lying on the floor, tears already making their way out. “W-Why?”

“His ears are bleeding too, we need to call an ambulance,” Seokjin whispered as he crouched down at his side, hands shaking as he looked at the blood. “I’ll call Namjoon.”

When Seokjin turned to make his call and Taehyung started crying while desperately trying to find what to do, Yoongi hurried around the place. He opened doors, called Jungkook’s name repeatedly and desperately tried to find him everywhere he could, but it was simple, it was obvious:

Jungkook wasn’t there.

“Jungkook is gone,” He said, breathlessly, as he came back to Taehyung who had chosen to just hold Jimin’s hand. “And I’m sure he didn’t do this to him.”

Because Jungkook was a serial killer, one that went around feeding on people’s suffering, but he loved Jimin. The slightly older male was everything he had aside from his killer instincts and there wasn’t a single thing he wouldn’t do for him; he would never hurt Jimin and leave him to die.

“W-We need to find him,” Taehyung hiccupped, looking up at Yoongi with an expression that broke his heart. “They’re going to kill him.”

“I know,” He said, looking at Jimin for a couple of seconds before looking away with a hiss. “Fuck!”

It was obvious someone had come behind and hit him as hard as it could on the back of his head, with what? Yoongi could only guess, judging by the bleeding of his ears he could say his skull had been fractured and his hair soaked in blood meant he had been like this for a while. God, don’t let him had permanent damage.

Seokjin came back, unsurprisingly enough, with paramedics behind him and they moved as quick as lighting would do during a storm. In a matter of minutes, they had Jimin immobilized and wheeled into the ambulance with Taehyung jumping right behind them.

“Namjoon and Hoseok already started to look for him,” Seokjin said as they hurried back to the car. “We probably don’t have a lot of time.”

“This is just so stupid, all of it,” Yoongi hissed as he started to drive towards the hospital Namjoon had told them to go. “If Jungook- If Jimin- For fucks sake, this is a mess.”

“Determining whose fault all this mess is it’s not what we need,” Seokjin said with an expression that clearly warned the other to not do it. “Jungkook can die in any second and Jimin- Jimin may even have irreversible brain damage, maybe he won’t even wake up!”

It wasn’t in Seokjin’s nature to be fatalistic, the oldest of them all could be as bright as Hoseok if he wanted to, but Yoongi could understand the panic that took over him at that moment. While Jungkook was younger, Jimin had always been special for Seokjin, and the reason went all the way back to when they met at their laundry job at prison. He remembered the older had said to Namjoon that the new, scared one was adorable and looked like someone who would be an awesome friend, after he was saved by him, that fondness increased and the peak of it had been the year they had spent together, with Jimin as the king and Seokjin as his right hand. Knowing Jimin could have severe damage or could die was a nightmare, Jungkook’s condition too adding to his torture.

“He will be fine, he’s strong,” Yoongi said, gripping the steering wheel just a bit tighter as the doubt seemed too keen on filling his head.

 Seokjin didn’t reply and just kept his eyes on the road, moving only when Yoongi stopped the car and they both climbed down, heading to the service door they were told to take since they couldn’t just walk through the main door. Seokjin was a wanted criminal and Yoongi was supposed to be dead to the public eye, after all.

“H-He’s in surgery,” Taehyung’s sniffles received them as they stepped inside the room a nurse had told them to go. “T-They said something about draining the pressure in his head.”

Yoongi wished Hoseok was there, he had always been so good at comforting Taehyung that he felt miserable at that moment. The fact that Seokjin seemed to be so conflicted he couldn’t even comfort him either made it harder.

“It’s a normal procedure,” Yoongi tried, forcing himself to talk about the little information he had about medical stuff that often came in handy for his previous work. “There’s blood inside his skull so they need to drain it to avoid problems.”

“I-Is he going to be okay?” Taehyung asked, eyes pleading for a positive answer

A positive answer Yoongi couldn’t give because he didn’t want to lie and cause more pain to the other. He had never felt like this.

Hours started to tick by quickly with the three of them doing everything they could to not jump into fatalistic conclusions, Seokjin by talking with Namjoon and receiving every update they made while Yoongi tried to comfort Taehyung the best he could by making him talk about how he was going to help Jimin once he was back on his feet, it was hard, but he felt proud that he was managing to help a bit.

After what felt like days, the door was opened and Jimin’s bed was pushed inside, the unconscious figure with his head wrapped in tight bandages making Taehyung wince as he moved to stand next to it.

“How is he?” Yoongi asked, feeling his stomach jumping and his heart wanting to jump out of his chest, dreading the answer.

“The fracture was a linear one, thankfully, there weren’t any fragments hurting the brain,” He started. “There was blood creating pressure inside, however, and that it’s why an intervention was required, the damage to the body can’t be fully explained, but we’re optimistic in the area since he doesn’t seem to have a permanent one. When he wakes up he will experience extreme weakness and fatigue and temporary memory loss could appear, but we will keep an eye on him to assure there’s no major damage.”

 “When is he waking up?” Taehyung asked as he sniffled once more, holding Jimin’s hand.

“It could be today, tomorrow, we just need to wait.”

“Thank you for your attention,” Seokjin sighed, looking at the man who nodded and bowed before leaving. “They’re still looking for them.”

According to Namjoon, they had found the convoy of cars that had been used for the kidnapping, but the problem was that they didn’t know where Jungkook was and following each one of them to their destination was going to take a while. According to Hoseok the page where Jungkook’s name was in the third position now had a proud photo of him with the word Done in big, red letters, he promised he was going to try to track down who had done the update and see who had been the responsible one.

As expected Taehyung refused to leave Jimin’s side and Yoongi and Seokjin left him in order to help with the investigation, promising to come back the next day to update him on what had happened. Taehyung watched them go before going to sit, resting his head on the bed while holding his hand.

“You’re always a brave one,” He whispered as he caressed his fingers. “You’re going to have a small bald spot on your head, but it will get back to normal… hopefully.”

A part of him was terrified of when Jimin woke up because he knew he was going to blame himself for this, was going to punish himself for what happened, he knew his friend had done it with the best of his intentions, but in the end, fate had decided to twist everything.

“We will save him, I promise,” He said with a small smile. “He’s a bit scary, but he’s so fun to be with, the three of us are goals of how friends should be… and you two are relationship goals.”

He let out a small giggle at realizing just how weird that sounded.

“But we need you to be awake, so you better wake up tomorrow, okay?” He asked, looking up at his face and the small bruises behind his ears. “I will let you rest for today, but tomorrow I want you up and kicking.”

It was going to be such a long night.

°°°

“This is just… so freaking wrong.”

Namjoon sighed as he rubbed Seokjin’s back, trying to ease the stress on his shoulders. “I’m surprised they sent it.”

“They know Jimin is his boyfriend,” Hoseok sighed, looking away from the screen, squeezing Yoongi’s hand tightly. “That’s why they sent the video.”

“They almost kill him and now this?” Seokjin hissed, slamming his hand against the table. “We need to inform Taehyung, ask him if he wants to stay with Jimin or come because we’re all going for this asses.”

“I’ll get everything ready while you go,” Namjoon said softly, pressing a kiss to his head. “Stay safe.”

Yoongi pecked Hoseok’s lips before starting to follow Seokjin who seemed to be fuming as he walked out, barely waiting for him to catch up, slamming the door shut and staying in silence the whole way, barely sparing a glance at the nurse that was coming out of Jimin’s room when he walked in.

“Tae, we came to ask,” He said, making the other stand up slowly, confusion written all over his face. “We found who has Jungkook because they sent a video, and we’re going for them, you coming?”

Yoongi sighed as he watched Taehyung’s face filling with a mix of confusion and worry as he moved his eyes between them and Jimin. “W-What do you mean? Of course, I want to, but what video?”

Seokjin didn’t even give him a chance to reply, he turned his phone around and held it so the other could see, closing his eyes as he started the video.

Yoongi did see his reaction and it was understandable, he had felt his blood boiling and getting ready to explode when he watched it and Taehyung was no different, save that he was crying as well.

The video was the group showing up Jungkook as if he was their latest hunting prize, at first mocking him while he was still unconscious and then laughing and spitting once he was awake. Jungkook was beaten by several people at the same time, bruises bloomed all over his body, blood splattered all over the floor and cracks of broken bones could be heard as they basked in their victory . It was hard to watch, there were moments where it looked like a gory movie that filled theatres as the new, legal porn, but they knew who the unfortunate protagonist was and that made it worse. The biggest difference between those movies and this was, however, that the protagonist wasn’t screaming in agony, wasn’t begging for mercy, no, Jungkook was smiling, a crooked smile on his bruised face and small chuckles in between wheezes for air.

It was unsettling, but they knew that even with that, he didn’t have much time left.

“I can’t believe it…” Taehyung whispered as the video ended and he had to shake his head in hopes of shaking those images as well. “I will go too.”

“I need to go too…”

There was a collective gasp as a new voice suddenly joined the conversation that was supposed to be only between three people, eyes moving to the bed where an awake Jimin was looking at the phone with terrified eyes.

“J-Jimin!” Taehyung came back to his side in a second. “It’s okay, calm down please, you’re in a delicate condition.”

Jimin’s world came back as one filled with blinding pain, at first he couldn’t understand anything that was happening around him, upon opening his eyes he had been welcomed by a mind-numbing pain and a wave of nausea that almost made him faint again. He didn’t understand where he was or even who he was, every single piece of information was dancing all over a brain that seemed to pulse with every heartbeat and each one was followed by a stinging sensation at the back of his head and at the side of it. He wanted to cry because everything felt like too much, the confusion, pain and disorientation were a horrible combination and were messing with his feelings.

But then the voices around him started to sound familiar, vaguely familiar, and his eyes finally caught a glimpse of three figures standing near whatever he was lying on.

“Jungkook.”

The name had felt like a jolt of electricity coursing through his veins, the pictures of him finding the other all alone in that abandoned warehouse, wanting to scold him for doing so but knowing he has been the one who pushed him to it, only to end with the pain and the picture of someone taking him away from him. That made him fought against the dizziness, against the nausea and the weakness of every single part of his body, forcing his eyes to actually see and hear what those figures were talking about.

Even when it was blurry and it was very hard to focus on how the figures moved, Jimin could clearly recognize that the body being beaten to a bloody pulp was the same man that whispered softs I love you in his ear before falling asleep and the life that was slipping out with every droplet of blood was from the man who had taught him so many things. 

The figures he now recognized as Taehyung, Yoongi and Seokjin, were talking about finding who was doing this and we're talking about going, Jimin had to go too.

“You can’t come, Jimin,” Yoongi said as he walked closer and tried to see if he was okay, relieved that Jimin didn’t seem that bad. “Your skull is fractured; the least you have to do now is moving.”

“I can’t— I can’t just stay here,” He still insisted, of course, but he was so weak that trying to sit up felt as if he had run a marathon, muscles throbbing and ready to give up that he felt a gust of wind could blow him away. “I have to go.”

“You’re not coming and that’s final,” Seokjin said, pushing him back as gently as he could. “We need to call the doctor to check on him.”

“No— Please…”

But they didn’t listen and Jimin saw a doctor entering the room shortly after, getting all over him with questions and experiments to determinate just how bad is whatever happened to him. Jimin wants to push him away so he can continue talking with them, but he doesn’t have the strength to do so and the promise of getting some medicine to help the pain and dizziness sounds so good he tries to focus on what he’s asking to finish quickly.

The problem is that, once he moved away, Jimin’s heart sank at noticing they had left.

He can’t leave things like this

Chapter Text

People just want something to hate, to despise and to blame for all the bad things happening around their lives and it was pathetic.

Jungkook was well aware that being so high up was going to surely end in a group, or several, going for him and while Jimin’s tactics to avoid it prolonged the chase a bit more, he eventually grew tired of it because he wanted them to come so he showed them how things were.

The problem was that he hadn’t wanted Jimin to get hurt too.

A hammer, they had hit him with a hammer that sent a dull thud and crack to vibrate all over the empty space, being complemented with the thud as his body hit the floor. Jimin was still the man he loved, still the man he was willing to fight and kill the entire human race if it was needed and while he had gone to that abandoned warehouse to lure them close, he believed that he would at least convince the other to leave before they arrived, that he could control what was happening around him enough to keep Jimin safe.

As he felt consciousness slipping away from him, he looked at Jimin’s limp body just lying there, blood starting to pool under him as his unfocused and dull eyes, that reminded him of the ones his victims had once he was done, looked at him, lips moving in something he clearly understood before life seemed to escape him.

Was he dead?

 Unconsciousness was supposed to be a state where you couldn’t think and weren’t aware of things around, but his mind was on Jimin and Jimin only, if those idiots had really killed him, then all of this was pointless.

He understood Jimin, he could swear he did, his efforts to protect him were endearing even though they felt like a punch to his gut, a part of his brain reminded him that being protected meant being weak and he wasn’t weak, he had proved the world he wasn’t. He wasn’t a kid that didn’t know what he was getting into after killing his parents, he knew how to handle things and thinking that Jimin didn’t trust him affected him more than it should.

That didn’t mean he resented Jimin, no, he was still his everything and his reason to not return to his killing spree and instead take care of who dared to betray Jimin or any of the group, he had wished his boyfriend understood why it bothered him so much instead of just worrying him more, but what could he say? He wasn’t especially good with relationships.

As consciousness came back to him slowly, he sighed at taking in all the clichés that seemed to move around all of it. Rope was biting his wrists and restricting the blood flow considerably, the floor below him was cold and the concrete rough, the light turned off so he couldn’t really see anything.

“You always think you’re the best,” The voice came from one of the corners of the room and Jungkook lazily turned to look at it, seeing the shadow moving closer. “But now you’re finally here and our hands.”

“If I were you, I would be ashamed of needing so many people to get only one man,” He hummed, barely hissing when he kicked his side. “But I’m no one to demerit what you did and feel proud about.”

“The number of people who wants you dead is out of this world,” Another voice said and Jungkook yawned, they were so predictable.

“So? I want most of humanity dead and don’t go around bragging about it.”

Because people were really pathetic, these guys only wanted the money the job offered, sure some envied him and wanted what he had, but most of them just saw him as another prize to add to their trophy wall, have the title of killing the serial killer.

“Our clients are waiting; we shouldn’t make them wait.”

An Jungkook didn’t say anything as he was jerked up and dragged out of the dark room and into a more illuminated one, the multiple lamps hanging from the ceiling just feeding the clichés even more than before. Three more men were standing there and Jungkook immediately recognised them, a smile spreading on his lips.

“Why are you smiling, fucker?” One asked. “You’re going to fucking die.”

“Because it’s amusing you’re all so attatched to the past,” He shrugged. “Killing me won’t bring your friend back, or your sister or your cousin.”

And their predictable nature came back, they jumped on him and started to hit, scratch and attack whatever part they could get their hands on, staining their clothes and floor with his blood, releasing the anger that was probably going to leave them with regrets and confusion later on.

Once their pathetic bodies seemed to ache and their bloody knuckles throbbed, they stepped back, breathing harshly as they continued glaring at him, his smile seeming to add to the burning fire of hatred in their chest. It hurt, laughing at their pathetic humanity didn’t turn him into someone immune to pain, but Jungkook had to say it was a funny way to anger them further and be less careful. As he panted for air, he caught one of the ones who had participated in the kidnapping laughed as he took a camera mounted on a tripod away and walked to a computer.

They were really going to send the video to his group without caring about these men’s safety, it couldn’t get better.

“Do you still sell cars?” He asked between wheezes due to the surely punctured lung, looking at one of them. “Last I remember, it was a nice and spacious place.”

“Shut up already,” He, of course, snapped through gritted teeth, looking at him with all the hate he had inside. “You’re going to die.”

“You’re becoming the mysterious hero, I see,” He continued with the same neutrality, glancing at the others who were still working on the computer. “What a sad thing that won’t happen.”

“Who the fuck you think you are?!” Another one snarled, kicking him on his hip. “You’re a despicable monster!”

“Who said I wasn’t?” Jungkook asked with the same innocent tone. “You’re going to kill me and, guess what? That will turn you into a killer as well.”

“It’s different!” He snarled and Jungkook smiled, aiming his pointy teeth at the vulnerable spot that flourished from inside them. “We will never be you!”

“Of course, that will never happen,” He continued, trying to shift his body to calm the pain. “But you won’t the saint your sister thought you were.”

“Don’t talk about her-“

“Why? Painful memories? When I told her you were going to seek revenge she said it would never happen,” He chuckled. “She trusted in her pure brother who only did good things.”

Jungkook didn’t just attacked his victims with knifes or guns, he enjoyed playing with their minds, paw at their brains as a cat would do with a trapped mouse, seeing them falling apart to the point they could only regret every single thing on his life as he killed them and he was using this now.

“You’re just a bunch of hypocrites, killing for the greater good is as despicable as anything else.”

“Just like that boyfriend of yours?” 

His yellow eyes, however, snapped to the one who had been working on the computer but was now daring to talk about Jimin with his filthy mouth. “What did you say?”

“Killing because his family is in danger, not being a real killer,” He continued, smirking as he walked closer to him. “He’s just another big hypocrite.”

“Clearly you know nothing about him.”

“And I don’t care,” He said, smirking getting larger. “He’s dead and if he’s not, he will be so stupid he won’t even hold his shit inside.”

And despite the pain, the unbearable pain that would have knocked out everybody else, Jungkook managed to sit up, keeping his eyes on him. “If he is dead, your world will become one full of pain and misery.”

“Brave words for someone who won’t be walking out alive from here.”

“You think you will?” He asked, trying to suppress the anger that was, literally, making him see red everywhere he looked. 

“Of course, alive and rich.”

“My group will ruin that possibility.”

“If they find you,” One of the idiots who had paid, said.

“They will,” Jungkook hummed, smiling with the bloody mouth he now had. “After watching the video they sent.”

Of course they tried to silence him with a punch that surely shattered his jaw, but Jungkook knew the damage was done and he just had to sit back and see the events unfold. 

“What video is he talking about?”

“You’re falling into his game as complete idiots.”

“Who you think you’re calling idiot?”

“Show us that damn computer!”

“We never agreed in any video!”

“We captured him, you have no right to complain!”

Yes, Jungkook had allowed himself to get caught because he knew he wanted to take matters in his own hands, if he had avoided Jimin’s vigilance was because he had to do it and sure there were ten people here and he was only one, but the biggest different between them and him was that he, if they had really killed Jimin, had not a single thing to lose anymore. 

The scream charged with agony marked the start of the upcoming slaughter, the responsible being the one who had dared to talk about Jimin after Jungkook had stabbed him in the stomach and cut him open to the side, leaving everyone shocked to even see him free and moving after they were sure they had turned his bones to dust. It hurt, every single part of his body hurt like nobody could imagine and Jungkook was sure that serious damage could come if he continued, but he didn’t care, his plan had already failed in the part of keeping Jimin safe, so he was not letting anything else fail, this was going to be a success and it was the last thing he was planning to do.

Gunshots and screams soon came from outside and Jungkook laughed in the ear of the one he had on the floor, they were here and it was going to be over for them so, so fast. “Say hello to your sister from me.”

Yoongi was who appeared first and Jungkook saw him cursing at taking in his appearance but keeping himself from saying anything that could fall in the scolding category, moving further in to kill the others, Seokjin and Namjoon following while Taehyung and Hoseok went to the other side.

He forced himself to ignore the fact that Jimin wasn’t with them.

A laugh erupted from his chest when he saw one of the so-called brave ones that sought revenge running towards the backdoor to escape like the pathetic cowards he was. Forcing his body up to chase him, he gave a couple of steps before there was suddenly someone pushing him to the ground, making his whole body howl in pain as it hit the floor and the pocketknife he had gotten clanked away from his reach.

“Fucking psycho,” It was one of the leaders of the operation, if he remembered correctly, and was glaring at him with all the hatred a human could muster. “You think you’re better than any of us.”

“I don’t think, I am,” He said slowly, trying to shift his body to escape, groaning when he pressed against his chest and made breathing even worse. “This just proves him, all your men, all the people who had come to aid you are dead and I am still alive.

“You won’t be for fucking much.” Jungkook smiled when he felt the cold metal of the gun pressed against his forehead and the gun being charged.

Ever since he killed his parents, Jungkook imagined how he was going to die, wondered if he was going to die after being hit by a car for escaping, shot to death by police or taken by another inferior criminal. In the end seemed that the last one was the winner, but he had to admit that he had lasted longer than what he had expected. He was just eighteen when his parents died and only nineteen when his first victim lost its life in his hands, anyone would expect that somebody would be capable of catching a teenager that killed people with the plastic mask of a bunny but didn’t even bother to clean more than picking up his instruments and tossing his clothes at the other side of the city 

He was twenty-two years now, had killed more than thirty people and had been in jail for mere two years before escaping and becoming one of the leaders for a powerful gang, more than everything, had met his soulmate, what people call your other half. The perfect human he doubted that existed was his and had been happy with him for more than a year, he had taught him so many things and had made him smile and feel good as he deserved.

If he was really gone, he would be with him again.

Laughing at the man, he closed his eyes as he felt more than ready to embrace death, his body stopping fighting when the shot rang through his ears and he felt what was surely his blood splattering on the lower part of his face; who would have thought you felt this much after dying.

“Y-You promised you would never leave me…” 

His eyes shot open when he heard that voice, seeing the figure of the man that had been ready to shoot him falling to the side with a big, bleeding hole in the middle of his temple, the movement revealing the figure behind him.

Jimin’s hand fell to the side, letting go of the gun that hit the floor with a loud clank; his pink hair was a mess and he looked so pale a sheet of paper would have more colour, his whole body was trembling and was breathing harshly, eyes losing focus constantly. He looked sick, but for Jungkook he looked like the angel and saviour he was.

“Jimin…”

But the relief quickly washed away when Jimin’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell down, Jungkook barely managing to catch him even when he could feel his consciousness slipping away.

This was… unexpected.

Chapter Text

“How the fuck did he go out?!”

Taehyung sighed upon hearing the angered tone directed to the doctor and nurse who looked with wide eyes at Namjoon, surely believing they were about to die because they clearly knew who he was and seeing him this mad couldn’t mean anything good. 

“Sir, the guard informed one of your people came and the patient left with him,” The doctor tried, doing his best to keep himself composed enough to not faint.

“Couldn’t you stop him?” Seokjin, much to their misfortune, jumped in, his glare as sharp and as dangerous as Namjoon’s. “If I walk out with my guts out are you going to just say goodbye?”

“We don’t have the power to stop any of you, nor the right…”

And Taehyung understood that part, Jimin wanted to find Jungkook, was worried sick for him and taking into consideration that he had seen the video of them torturing his boyfriend, it was obvious he was going to jump out to help; his friend calling one of his people meant that man was armed and ready to do whatever his boss ordered him to do, innocent doctors could never do anything without getting shot.

“So what now?” Hoseok asked. “Jimin fainted, he was bleeding again, what is that going to do?”

“Fortunately he didn’t hit his head again,” He said, turning to face him since he looked less angry at him. “It will take him longer to recover and the nausea, headache and disorientation will worsen, he will need additional cares.”

Hoseok sighed, hiding his face in Yoongi’s shoulder, shoulders sagging.

None of them had understood what was going on, if they were honest, their focus was on killing that group that were so dangerously close to killing Jungkook, they had moved around making sure everybody was down until a small, weak voice had reached their ears and forced them to stumble back.

Jimin was being held by a barely conscious Jungkook and his appearance was worse than the one they had seen on him back at the hospital, pale skin, blood starting to stain his hair and a general lack of colour that immediately made Namjoon run to pick him up in his arms while Seokjin and Yoongi hurried to lift Jungkook. They were angry, confused and worried for everything that was happening at the same time and after they had arrived the hospital and saw them been taken away, some had finally unleashed that pent up frustration on the doctor and nurse in charge of taking care of Jimin.

Right now Jimin was back on the room, lying down next to where Taehyung was, with his head wrapped once more in the bandages and his skin missing the colour living people had, Jungkook was in surgery, the broken ribs, nose and even jaw needed to be treated before they caused more damage. Doctors were optimistic about him, though, so he tried to held onto that.

“How did he even contacted his people?” Seokjin asked as he collapsed on his seat. “He didn’t have his phone?”

“Probably using the phone outside, Jimin was completely determined,” Taehyung muttered, frowning at spotting the small purplish bruise on his other hand, surely when he had ripped the IV. “He contacted them and then made them look for our location.”

“If everything gets more complicated because of this, I’m going to pass out, I swear,” Namjoon plopped down next to Seokjin.

And the room sank in silence once more, only their breathing and occasional creak coming from their shifting on their seats being heard aside the heart monitor, it was heavy, it weighted them down but there wasn’t anything they could do apart from waiting.

The door opening made them all look towards the door, seeing a couple of nurses rolling Jungkook’s bed inside and then accommodating the machines around him while the doctor wrote the indications on his clipboard.

“How is he?” Yoongi asked as he watched them move.

“Mister Jeon has three broken ribs, that pierced his lung, but there was no major damage to it,” He started, the anxiousness of being there wearing off a bit. “His jaw had been fractured and due to the severity of it, a special procedure to keep it closed had been applied.”

Taehyung winced, looking at Jungkook’s swollen face.

“Talking will be difficult and may be frustrating, so it would be better he communicates through notes,” He continued. “His nose was also broken; he will be needing surgery once the swollen part had gone down, everything to assure it will heal correctly.”

In few words, Jungkook was really bad and not finding him would have end up with him dead.

“He should be waking up soon,” He finished. “Please call us if you need something.”

After the door closed once more, everyone melted back down on their places, the relief of having the two of them right in front of them after knowing they were about to lose both seemed to burn their entire strength and it was just very hard to ignore the aching muscles. The fact that the two of them were asleep not helping at all.

“Things can get so complicated…”

°°°

What received Jungkook to consciousness was an overall feeling of nothingness, his brain felt like floating in the middle of the sky while his body rested on the fluffiest cloud, nothing capable of affecting it.

It was probably one of the weirdest sensations, but his rational part pulled him down and away from that feeling and made him feel that his body was laying on something soft, that there was a stinging sensation coming from his hand and that there was something hard pressing down all around his nose.  His eyes fluttered open and were greeted by a white ceiling and a lamp a bit away from him, it’s light allowing him to see that he, indeed, was in a hospital and that he could explore things with his eyes, at least until his limbs cooperated.

This is how he found Jimin.

His boyfriend was lying down on a bed he assumed was similar to his, but unlike him, Jimin looked smaller and more fragile than him despite the lack of bruises on his face. His head was perfectly wrapped in bandages that seemed to be thicker on the back of it; he still looked so pale he felt his heart jumping.

“Ji…” As the first sounds escaped his throat, he quickly realised that he couldn’t really open his mouth more than few millimetres and he could feel with his tongue something metallic inside his mouth; if he would have been someone else, he would have panicked. Right now it just made him feel like a corpse waking up in the middle of the funeral to surprise the world he really isn’t dead.

“You’re finally awake, thank God,” Snapping his eyes to the front, he found Seokjin standing up from a sofa where Taehyung was sleeping at. “Don’t try to talk, your jaw is broken and they immobilised it, I’ll get you your phone.”

The explanation calmed him down a bit as he waited for his phone, testing his jaws a bit before deciding to give up and staying still, looking at Jimin’s sleeping form.

“It took you a whole day to wake up,” Seokjin said again as he gave him his phone. “I’m not surprised; you were badly wounded.”

Jungkook just pointed at Jimin, hoping he understood,

“Jimin hasn’t woken up,” And he did understand, but he was slightly taken aback by his angry tone. “He had his skull fractured, you know?”

He frowned, he knew it had been a strong hit, but didn’t really expected it to be that bad. Taking his phone, he hurried to open the notes and type something. “Why did you take him, then?”

“We didn’t take him!” He said in a slightly louder voice. “He escaped the hospital after we have left.”

Jungkook frowned even more. “How?”

“He called one of his men and looked for us,” He muttered, tapping his foot against the floor. 

“Couldn’t you keep him inside?”

“Couldn’t you be less stupid?” Seokjin seemed to explode in that moment and that was a weird sight to behold. “Do I need to remind you that this was caused by you?”

“I never wanted Jimin to get hurt.”

“But you did and that’s how it is!” He said, crossing his arms. “You still think like the single serial killer that goes around taunting people when you’re not that anymore.” 

Jungkook let out a light hiss, trying to force his fingers to move and write something, anything that could defend him from what he was accusing him, but not finding the right words.

“When I started going out with Namjoon, I knew I couldn’t just continue messing with everyone because it wasn’t only me,” He said. “If I got in problems, Namjoon would be affected as well and he did the same, unnecessary showing off and overconfidence were thrown out of the window because we had someone else, it wasn’t just us.”

“I love Jimin.”

“And I have never said you don’t,” Seokjin didn’t even seem to react to his furious typing or his glare. “I know you went there because you wanted to get captured, Jungkook, I know you did it because you wanted to show them a lesson.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I know you, we all do,” He said, sighing as he sat down on the chair next to him. “But there’s where your individualism came in, don’t tell you didn’t know Jimin was going to know where you were going.”

“I thought I could control it.”

“There are many things we can’t control,” He cut him, placing his hand on his’. “Jungkook, Jimin loves you and he’s capable of doing anything for you, even if his life is at risk, he won’t hesitate in going, won’t hesitate in dying if that’s what he needs to keep you safe.”

Jungkook didn’t like the emotion that was going up his chest and towards his throat, it was unknown, unwanted, but at the same time he knew he couldn’t avoid it. “I would do the same.”

“Then don’t reach the point where you need to do it,” He sighed again. “We’re on the same team, we’re all together so don’t act by yourself, talk to him, count him in.”

“What if he doesn’t wake up?”

Seokjin was surprised to see that question typed on the phone, especially since he knew it came from Jungkook. Until now, he had never seen him in a vulnerable position, Jungkook didn’t show his vulnerability, wasn’t like an armadillo that could endure everything as long as you didn’t turn him over, Jungkook was like a tank who didn’t seem to have a single weakness, but as everything in this world, he had a small that had been there since the begging or acquired a new one along the way. 

Jimin became that, and this, this exact moment, is where he could clearly see it, the incapability of talking, moving and doing what he normally did was getting to him and was making him feel a very unfamiliar emotion: fear.

“He will wake up,” He replied, looking at Jimin’s unmoving figure. “He will wake up and I will help him to slap you because that’s what you deserve.”

Jungkook just looked at him and Seokjin could swore that in that moment he could clearly see just how young Jungkook was.

°°°

Jimin hadn’t planned to things to happen as they did.

After he found they had left without even letting him know where they were heading, he had tried to listen to what the doctor was saying while thanking the pills that helped the horrible dizziness in his head, he trusted his friends, trusted they were going to help and save Jungkook... The problem came when he left, however, his brain soon filled with the thought of Jungkook dying, of being murdered by those animals and then dumped somewhere where he could never find him again.

He couldn’t let that happen.

With a lot of effort and after falling back down on the bed multiple times, he had managed to sit down, needing to close his eyes tightly and breathe desperately through his nose to keep himself from throwing up as everything seemed to be spinning and jumping everywhere at a dizzying speed. His heart beat loudly in his chest and that just intensified the sickness, but he forced himself to swallow it all back down because Jungkook was still in danger, Jungkook could still die and he couldn’t just sit there.

Ripping the IV, he had hissed at the pain and pressed the balled up hospital gown against his hand to stop the bleeding, taking several seconds before attempting to stand up, almost falling to the floor as the nausea intensified and he could even taste the vomit in his mouth, forcing him to rest both hands against the wall for support.

He’s going to die; he’s going to die.

The voice screamed in his head and that, again, made him stumble towards the door, hand struggling to hold the real doorknob instead of the one he was hallucinating and barely managing to turn it to open to drag himself out. Everything was too bright, too painful, but he still moved until he reached the phone he spotted next to the door, asking the scared woman for a couple of coins to make a call and dialling the number he sometimes used.

One of his trusted ones was at the door minutes later and Jimin didn’t waste time in pulling the sweater and jeans he had brought to get rid of the gown, ignoring the nurses that begged for him to lay back, demanding the gun the man used before ordering him to take him where they were. It wasn’t that easy, though, it took both a while to discover where they had gone to and that only helped to increase Jimin’s levels of anxiousness, he fidgeted on his seat constantly, pressed his hands to his face because he felt the movement was slamming his brain mercilessly around and even pinched his arm when he felt close to passing out; at one point he even tugged the bandages wrapped around his head away because he believed the pressure was the responsible of his dizziness; it wasn’t, but it was done.

He had tried to run, really, the moment he saw the man pointing at Jungkook, he had tried to run and push him away, but one step forward made two steps back and everything seemed to be blurring more and more around him, he couldn’t walk straight, couldn’t stop his ears from ringing and his body just wanted to embrace darkness, sweet, sweet darkness.

It was a miracle he hadn’t shot Jungkook, if he thought about it.

And he would have liked it, loved to stay awake in order to help his boyfriend that looked so badly wound, but he couldn’t; his full body draw its limit and declared he could no longer function under this conditions. Everything around became black and he could tell the exact moment his legs have given up, making him fall to a surely worsened condition due to hit his head was going to receive.

After the world shut down, Jimin woke up to the same darkness, darkness that looked like the kind you hate to see when you’re a child, the one that makes your body shiver and heart to beat faster, the one you hate to be trapped in. it didn’t matter how much he moved, how much he walked, there was nothing and he felt like crying because he wanted to escape, to get out of here but he didn't know how.

“Jungkook…” He called him, looking around in hopes of seeing anything that told him where to go, but it wasn’t happening.

Was he alive? Was he awake? He couldn’t know and that thought was eating him.

“Please help me…” He whispered, crouching down as he hugged himself, feeling the tears rolling down his cheek.

He just wanted to see him and everyone else.

Chapter Text

“You always seem to have the right things to say, Jin,” Taehyung commented as they watched Jungkook and Jimin, Jungkook asleep due to the medication they have given to him. “It’s the first time I saw him getting nervous.”

“My words were one of my main weapons against the assholes around me,” Seokjin sighed as he took a sip of the coffee he was having. “I needed to make them feel safe, confident, that they had the upper hand and could control every single aspect of what was happening, even if it was me the one banging them against the wall.”

“I still don’t know how you did it,” Taehyung sighed, swinging his feet a bit. “Weren’t you scared?” 

“Of course I was, even if I exerted control, they could just kill me, would be easy to break into my place and put a bullet through my head,” He shrugged. “Guess that was part of the thrill.”

“How did you get caught?” Taehyung asked, looking away from Jimin to look at the other. “I met my demise while escaping, damn things they use to blow tired.”

“Did you hear about the scandal of that acclaimed professor of Seoul’s academy?” He asked, a small grin spreading on his lips as he waited for him to answer.

“The one who was looked as the perfect man?” Taehyung asked as he tapped his chin. “The one that had a scandal of being into sadism and enjoying to hurt people and… oh, you did it.”

“That idiot was a real asshole,” Seokjin snorted, leaving the plastic cup on the floor to pull his sweater up, revealing a scar that extended from his wrist to almost his elbow. “My limit was when he did this with a freaking knife.”

“Oh God, he could have killed you!” Taehyung said as he held his arm and pulled it closer to examine the scar.

“Played it cool, though, I couldn’t freak out and make him fear I was going to the police, he would have killed me,” He hummed, touching the softer tissue. “I blabbered about him ruining my perfection and told him I was going to consider coming back if he stopped being such an ass.”

“I would have killed him there,” Taehyung huffed.

“Last I knew, you were a thief, not a murderer,” He teased him, poking his cheek. “After that I started with my plan and he seemed to comply at first, later on he sent police my way and thought he got away with it.”

“But something is telling me he didn’t,” Taehyung chuckled as he watched the smirk on his face. “Right?”

“What he didn’t know is that I had a backup system of everything I did, that server was programmed to upload the footage of the clients I haven’t marked as done if more than three days passed without activity,” He hummed proudly. “I was watching the news on the little room we had back in prison when the breaking news of the loved professor being caught in compromising situations came in, it was so fun I laughed like a maniac in front of everyone.”

“That was clever, you really ruined his life,” Taehyung nodded with almost enthusiasm.

“It’s what he deserved,” Seokjin shrugged before sighing. “So words are still my weapon and what I need more to make the ones around me understand, Jungkook still needs to understand some things.”

“I hate his method of learning is this harsh,” Taehyung sighed, reaching to squeeze Jimin’s hand. “Jimin got a hard part he didn’t deserve.”

“Who tell us to fall for criminals?” Seokjin chuckled faintly.

“You and Jimin went to the extreme,” Taehyung teased, poking Seokjin’s cheek with his free hand. “You fell for a gang leader and Jimin for a serial killer, Hobi and Yoongi are both murderers, but you two.”

“It’s not my fault it looks like he was made for me,” He snorted, sighing as he rested his head on the wall. “And all of that lead to this, so can’t complain… safe for a couple of things, of course.”

“I’m actually happy with how things are,” Taehyung nodded, squeezing Jimin’s hand again. “I got real friends, was saved and got a nice place… bad things should just stop happening.”

“Bad things will always be around,” Seokjin muttered. “Depends on us winning the fight.”

°°°

Jungkook hated this.

Hated all of this so much.

He had lost counts of how many times he had tried to change position because it was starting to hurt, only to have his ribs, head, jaw and limbs protesting for his attempts. He knew he wasn’t doing well, the rain of kicks and punches were aimed to kill and it was almost a miracle he was still alive, but it didn’t make it any better.

To top it all, Jimin was still unconscious.

It was night already, rain was hitting the window and the coldness from outside had vaporised the glass due to the warmness inside the room, all of that meant that it was two days since Jimin has fallen unconscious and even when it had been him the one receiving the beating, his injuries seemed to be worse.

His incapability of moving or even talking was driving him crazy, adding to the despair that had settled in his chest ever since Seokjin talked to him, the unfamiliar fear was working its way in, like a worm making its way inside his mouth that couldn’t move no matter how much he tried. He hated the feeling, despised it with all his heart, but there was nothing he could do.

As a killer he needed the control, needed to assure everything was going to go according to the what was planned and that that mistakes could never occur. That control was out of his reach in that moment, with no voice or movements he was nothing more than a fangless tarantula that’s waiting for its death; he knew that having Jimin was what he needed, he was his remedy, who could take him out of the destructive path he sometimes wanted to walk… but he was there, lying at his side but without the chance of getting close or interacting with him in any form.

It was torture.

His eyes scanned the room for what was, probably, the millionth time, seeing Taehyung trying to catch in a couple of hours of sleep after being two days with them, Seokjin gone to help with something Namjoon and the others were dealing with. The steady beeping of his monitor and Jimin’s marking it each second, drilling his ear and getting in his brain, taking it as its new house; the clock at the end of the wall marking it was close to midnight.

He was tired, even though he spent a good time of the day sleeping, he didn’t feel it was actual sleep. Most of it was induced by the medicine they injected to make pain a bit more bearable, his limbs feeling numb and heavy and his eyelids closing without asking for permission; it was a dreamless state, but waking up proved to be the harsh slap of reality coming back to him. Jimin was still unconscious, he couldn’t talk, couldn’t move and they were in the same, boring and empty hospital room.

This had to be the punishment for his sins.

Letting the air out through his nose, he swallowed back the pain as he pushed himself off the bed to get a more comfortable position, letting out a low hiss through gritted teeth as his ribs ached and threatened to pierce his lung, settling down in the closet position to what would normally be sitting.

Everything was the same, the same painful nightmare, but then it seemed to become a full night terror when there was a scream coming from the body at his right.

Taehyung jolted away, jumping from the sofa he had been sleeping on and seeing with wide eyes at Jimin who had sat up and was screaming in what appeared to be pure fear and was even trying to stand up and probably run away, forcing him to move and hold his shoulders, gasping when Jimin threw a punch that connected with his cheek painfully hard.

“Jimin, please calm down it’s me,” Taehyung, even with small tears in his eyes, said with a soft voice, trying to hold the other down. “Taehyung, Tae, remember me?”

But Jimin looked panicked, pure terror and confusion filling his eyes as he struggled and tried to break free with alarming strength, forcing Taehyung to apply a bit more of force to hold him down, not caring the way he scratched his arms and threw punches and kicks that, thankfully, didn’t land directly on him.

Jungkook felt the fear jumping to a whole new level as he looked at the events unfolding; Jimin didn’t seem to remember who Taehyung was and that would also mean he didn’t remember him. It was as if the world had suddenly turned dark.

The doctor and nurses soon rushed in upon hearing Taehyung calling for help, holding Jimin down while the doctor tried to rationalise with him, asking Taehyung to talk slowly and carefully so he could bring him back.

“Jimin, please, I’m begging you,” Taehyung pleaded, cupping his cheeks as he heard the doctor saying something about restraints. “It’s me, you’re at the hospital, everything is okay.”

Jimin did spend several seconds trying to free himself, but the more he stared into Taehyung’s eyes, the more he started to calm down, harsh breathing turning into deep breathes in order to calm down, limbs straining less against the several hands holding them.

“Mr Park?” The doctor tried and Jimin finally moved his eyes from him to look at him. “I’m doctor Lee, you are in the hospital and no one in here wants to hurt you, we’re just going to help you.”

Jimin didn’t answer but after someone let go of his hand and he didn’t lash out, they took it as a good sign and slowly started to let go, stepping back just to be ready in case holding him was needed again. 

“W-Why am I here?”

Jungkook made a pained noise in his throat when he heard that question, the fear reaching its limits. 

“Your skull was fractured due to a hit and your recovery is taking more due to all the movement,” He explained, furrowing his brows as he looked at him. “Can’t you remember anything?”

“I…” Jimin whispered before holding his head, tears making their way down his face. “My head hurts so much and I feel so confused!”

Because everything seemed to be dancing in his head and JImin wanted to scream, he didn’t know what was now nor what was before, the faces around him were mostly unfamiliar safe for that Tae, Taehyung? Who had helped him to calm down, but even he was a mixture of flashing images that didn’t help him to understand who he was or what he meant to him. It was a horrible sensation and he just wanted it to stop, to force his brain to stop this attack because it was hurting both.

“It’s normal, we will give you medication for the pain,” The doctor whatever his name was, said, resting his hand on Taehyung’s arm. “Come with us, sir, to treat your wounds.”

Jimin looked up to see the swollen cheek on his friend’s face and the dark, angry lines down his arms; he had done that? His stomach twisted in guilt and disgust at his own actions.

“I’ll be back in a second, okay Jimin?” Taehyung still smiled, squeezing his hand before following the doctor and the nurses, giving Jungkook a concerned look before leaving.

Jungkook was frozen on his spot, head turned towards Jimin’s bed with wide eyes, watching him still crying as he held his head, unaware of his presence completely.

“Ji...Jimin,” He managed to say in a low tone, feeling his jaw aching a bit due to the effort.

Jimin snapped his head towards him, fear and panic filling his eyes once more as he looked at him. “W-Who are you?”

And Jungkook never imagined a question could hurt this much, that a simple question could hurt more than someone breaking your jaw, never imagined he was the kind of person that could get hurt by words or something related to emotions. “Jung- Jungkook.”

“What?” It was possible he couldn’t hear him didn’t really understand him since he could barely do it, but. “What happened to you?”

In Jimin’s mind flashed the picture of this man being hurt, beaten by a group of gorillas who didn’t hesitate in doing everything to hurt him and that made fear and anxiousness climb up his body but without a clear reason. He was someone important, but he just couldn’t tell why.

Jungkook meanwhile fumbled with his phone, trying to keep his hands from trembling as he typed what he wanted to say and then showing it to Jimin who squinted and tried to focus his eyes on the dancing words on the screen. “I am Jungkook, you are my mochi.”

“Your mochi?”

And that was simply too much.

Despite the pain, he tried to push his body up to reach him, tried to open his mouth to speak and help him remember his own boyfriend, but nothing was working, his jaw started aching more, dull pain settling on the part he was trying to force open, his arms trembled, every single injury throbbing in a new level of agony. He couldn’t do anything and that made the sensation in his chest completely unbearable, the lid of the pressure cooker blowing up and making a hole in his chest in the form of something warm and salty rolling down his cheeks. “J-Jimin…”

It was Jimin’s turn to freeze on his place; the man, who he was sure was someone important, was crying and even when he knew he hated seeing people crying, seeing him felt so wrong he wanted to scream in fear and despair. There was something in the way of crying that hurt beyond what was normal, the sobs were painful and couldn’t even be let out properly as he seemed to be incapable of opening his mouth, the way the tears fell reminded him of someone too young to properly control the emotions.

Almost as if he didn’t know how to cry.

His head hurt more, every beat of his heart felt as if there was someone hitting his brain; words, pictures and sensations crashing violently inside his body, leaving him weaker and dizzier.

He just wanted it to stop and even if he wanted to comfort the other, his body didn’t move.

Chapter Text

 “What do you mean Jungkook is crying?” 

Hoseok had to admit that those words were something he never imagined that could go in the same sentence; Jungkook was a serial killer that showed no remorse while torturing his victims, who could look at a woman or man crying and begging for him to end them quickly and who could remain unbothered while someone died right in front of him in a painful way. Ever since he met him, he had seen the youngest of them all was also the most emotionally distant, even with Jimin, he showed nothing that could even come close to what being sad meant and this is why he couldn’t really believe what Taehyung was saying.

With Jimin and Jungkook out of combat, Yoongi and he had taken the spot the two of them had for that branch and with the change of management came some brave, more like fool, ones that seemed to believe that the two leaders being hurt meant they were weak and they could come for the organisation as a whole. 

Hoseok had never seen Namjoon laughing like that.

With the problem of killing those idiots came the problems of their allies getting angry and this domino effect kept them busy and away from the progress done by Jimin and Jungkook. While Seokjin called every morning and night to hear from Taehyung how they were, they couldn’t really be there and neglect the work over here. 

They were always in their minds, of course, both were in critical condition, at least for him, and every night they couldn’t help but wonder if Jimin was going to wake up or if Jungkook was going to have permanent damage from any of his many injuries. The two of them were part of their family and losing one could be too much to handle.

“Wait- Tae, we’re on our way,” He said hurriedly, tugging Yoongi behind him and towards the car. “We will be there in a second.”

Hanging up he urged Yoongi to drive to the hospital, ignoring his small pout for not understanding anything and running out of the car with him when they arrived, stopping at the door when he saw what was inside.

Jimin was awake, to begin with, and was looking towards Jungkook’s bed with wide, panicked eyes, ignoring the nurse who was checking on him to make sure he wasn’t hurt or anything else. Jungkook, on his side, was looking at everyone with murderous red eyes. Tears were streaming down his cheeks while he sat on the bed, almost daring at anyone to get close so he could pull their eyes out; even from here he could see just how hard he was trying to open his mouth and the specks of blood on his lips could only give a clue of how much he had hurt himself already.

“Jungkook, stop,” Yoongi, his brave boyfriend, pushed the terrified doctor away and reached Jungkook’s side in seconds, pressing his palm against his jaw as delicately as he could but putting a bit of pressure so he stopped trying to open it, ignoring the angered noise that left his partially open mouth and the fingers that wrapped around his wrist and dug on his skin as hard as they could. “You’re going to destroy that jaw of yours.”

Jungkook wasn’t stopping, as expected, and Hoseok could see Yoongi’s hand getting paler and paler as the grip seemed to be cutting off his normal circulation. “Jungkook…”

“Everyone who is not with us, get out,” Yoongi said instead, looking up at the doctor and nurses who weren’t really doing anything.

“But sir—”

“I said out,” He repeated in a colder, harsher tone. “You’re not helping, get out.”

They looked at each other for several seconds before finally leaving, allowing Hoseok and Taehyung to hurry towards Jimin who whimpered and cowered in fear.

“He’s very confused and it’s not sure who we are,” Taehyung said upon noticing Hoseok’s expression. “Jimin, this is Hoseok, Hobi, he’s our friend too.”

 Jimin turned to look at Hoseok who was looking at Taehyung’s bruises but that had turned to look at him after he finished. “Hoseok?”

“Yeah, I’m Hoseok,” He smiled, waving at him lightly. “We have been friends for some years now, I’m Yoongi’s boyfriend.”

With the mention of a new name Jimin seemed to feel even more lost as he looked at him, his face making several images appear in his mind and forcing him to start the tortuous process of accommodating them so they had sense. “Hoseok…”

The problem was that as much as he wanted to remember him, his eyes kept moving to the new person holding the one who had said was Jungkook, his boyfriend. He didn’t seem to care about the pain in his hand and had even wrapped his arm around the trembling shoulders of Jungkook, the later still crying while his free hand typed on the phone.

“I know, I know it hurts,” The new person was whispering softly, almost too quiet for him to hear. “But it’s okay to cry, I did it when I thought Hoseok was going to die.”

The way he talked to him sounded so comforting and soothing that Jimin wanted to cry because it had been him who made the other enter that state and now, seeing just how hurt he looked and the blood starting to trickle down, he wanted to die. He was important, but he still didn’t know how much.

“He’s going to be okay, Jimin,” Taehyung said, forcing him to look back at both. “Don’t worry.”

“It’s all my fault,” Jimin sniffled, feeling the emotions hitting his chest as hard as they could. “I hit you and made him get hurt too, I-I just want everything to stop.”

Hoseok felt so bad and hurt for having to see him suffering like that, looking so confused and lost with every single thing. Jimin was a sweet person, sure he had changed ever since he joined them, but he was still a sweet person who was willing to sacrifice everything for the ones he loved and seeing him struggling to remember who he loved with his whole heart was heart breaking and unfair.

“It’s okay, Jimin, you need to rest, yes?” Hoseok said as soothingly as he could, urging him to lie back down. “It will be fine; we will take care of both.”

He didn’t look convinced, of course, but his head pressing against the pillow seemed to calm the pain and he didn’t sit up again, closing his eyes tightly and trying to breathe normally, hands gripping the bedsheet underneath him as tightly as he could. “It hurts…”

“I’ll ask the doctor for something, okay?” Taehyung said softly before turning around and rushing out of the room.

“Everything it’s going to be okay,” Hoseok whispered again, caressing the back of Jimin’s hand in a way he hopes it’s soothing instead of more confusing. “You will remember everything and your wound will heal.”

“I-It’s not that I don’t remember…” Jimin whispered, screwing up his face in pain. “I just feel so confused; I can’t tell who is who because everything is a horrible mess.”

Hoseok had been confused to the point of not knowing anything anymore, but it wasn’t caused by a heavy blow to the head, no, it had been because he was high… very high and that made a huge difference, Hoseok’s confusion went away after some hours and Jimin’s won’t go away for maybe a day or more, depends on how bad it is. Hoseok’s stomach twisted as he thought more about it, Jimin was suffering just because he had wanted to protect who he loved and things shouldn’t be like this.

“Try to rest,” He said with a small sigh, watching the nurse walking towards him and injecting something for the pain, glancing constantly at Yoongi and Jungkook. “Promise it will be okay.”

Jimin’s pained whimpers little by little quieted down until he seemed to fall back asleep and allowed Hoseok to sigh in relief, feeling better, that he was finally in a painless state. 

“He hurt his jaw, we need to check on him,” She said in a small and quiet voice, looking at the other two and the glare Jungkook was now sending her way. “It could cause damage.”

Yoongi didn’t respond again, he just extended his hand for her to give him the needle with the sedative she was surely pretending to use, finally getting it after seconds of hesitation. “You need to go back to sleep, Jungkook.”

Jungkook shook his head, trying to squirm out of his hold, the tears returning to his eyes.

“You need it,” Yoongi said, holding him carefully again. “It will be better when you wake up.”

And with the same ease he had been handling the whole situation, he brought the needle to the entrance of Jungkook’s vial and slowly injected the sedative, watching the other little by little losing the fight against the unconsciousness and falling limp in his arms, allowing him to finally rest his body back on the bed.

“We will check on him.”

No one said anything as Yoongi moved away and the nurse called for the doctor and the other nurse, both taking Jungkook out of the room faster as if they were in a race against time to finish before he woke up.  

There were times where it felt like too much.

°°°

"We need to be careful, there are some who may try to get Jimin and Jungkook," Namjoon sighed as he rubbed his head. "This got so complicated so fast." 

"I know, things were perfectly fine at one moment and a complete nightmare the next one," Seokjin agreed, nodding as he rubbed his arm. “We already have some people around to take care of everyone but won’t hurt we add some more.”

Namjoon just nodded, letting out another sigh before sitting down at his boyfriend’s side. “Sorry, not everything is going as smooth as we talked about it back in our cell.”

“Hey, who thought it was going to be smooth?” Seokjin snorted, leaning on him. “Nothing is easy, especially not for us.”

“That’s true, we have been through so much shit,” Namjoon chuckled lightly. “I even died.”

“I still fail to see the funny part in all of that,” Seokjin grumbled, crossing his arms. “For now we need to help Jimin, though, I’m not sure how are we going to do it.”

“You are really soft for him,” Namjoon smiled fondly, patting his shoulder.

“You know I have one for every single one of you, Jungkook included,” Seokjin sighed, furrowing his brows. “I tend to hate humanity, but I have my exceptions and the same goes for you.”

Namjoon cleared his throat, looking away and towards the floor. “What are you saying?”

“Namjoon, you’re not the heartless leader everyone thinks you are,” He hummed, poking his cheek and pinching it lightly. “I mean, not for everyone at least, your heart still beats for us and some of your people as well.”

“You know I saw something special in Jimin,” Namjoon nodded slowly, flexing his fingers. “That’s why I choose him at that time… as for the others, they had had my back when I needed them and they had had me, you, you are my everything.”

“Cheesy leader,” Seokjin smiled, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “We’re a different kind of gang, more family-like.”

“We are,” Namjoon nodded but sighed heavily. “Unfortunately that means people get more pleasure in attacking us.”

A tired sigh left Seokjin’s lips. “I know, Jungkook’s attack, Jimin’s injuries and the relentless attempts of taking over that branch is just because they believe ending them ends us all.”

“They won’t be getting it,” He said seriously, glaring a the wall. “We will help Jimin to regain his memories and then Jungkook with his physical ones… We have time to do it all.”

Namjoon wasn’t, indeed, the typical leader that uses brute force over intelligence to make the people around do as he wanted, no, he was a more tactical leader that according to some of his leaders would be wonderful for the military. He knew their everything, had studied every single one of them and had a list in his mind where he could tell everyone’s weaknesses and strengths, ready to act in case he was betrayed. Knew that some were too strong, even for him, and that required to be attacked from other angles while others didn’t care about anything and the only thing that would stop them would be an accurate bullet through the head.  Aside from that, he had a soft spot for all of them and even if that sounded a bit ridiculous for someone in his position, it was like that, he was proud of Jimin for just how much he had changed and how much he had grown from the trembling boy who cried and trembled for every single thing that happened around him, was glad Jungkook wasn’t just carelessly killing people and was instead committed to being with Jimin, admired how Taehyung had gotten used to all the things that were far more violent to what he was used to, thanked Hoseok had learnt from Yoongi and Seokjin to help with negotiations and that Yoongi had stopped taking other works and was hundred per cent committed to being with them. 

He knew they were at risk all the time, but he would never change anything.

“Making him remember about his time in prison will be hard…”

“Yes, hopefully, we will do right.”

“Let’s just hope.”

°°°

Jimin let out a shaky breath as he tried to keep his hands from pulling at his hair as the memories danced inside his brain. It was horrible, it was still a mess and he still wanted to cry because all of this was too much.

From his position on the bed, he had learnt that Jungkook had the metallic wires and parts inside his mouth readjusted and that he had partially hurt it more, he had also learnt that they were keeping him sedated for a couple of days to avoid more injuries; it was for his own good, but Jimin felt horribly guilty.

Jungkook, Hoseok, Taehyung, Namjooon, Yoongi and Seokjin were all-important for him, he knew, he had learnt about it through the blurry images that flashed in his brain, but it was still so hard to force things to have sense and ended with him being dizzy and at the verge of throwing up. It was painful, it was sheer torture and he wanted it to stop.

How couldn’t even he remember his own boyfriend?

His eyes filled with tears as he stared at the sleeping figure next to his bed, on that unnatural calmness that made him look as if his whole body was made of jelly and didn’t have a single milligram of strength on it. The bruises were still there, purplish marks and reddish cuts littered the exposed skin and the swollen part on his jaw showed the recent injuries, to the point it made Jimin’s heartache more, but what could he do? There was literally nothing he seemed capable of doing to help his brain to arrange things.

“You said you needed help,” He turned back at Seokjin when he heard him, seeing him shuffling closer along with Namjoon. “We’re here to help with anything you need.”

Taehyung had wanted to be there, to help him, but Jimin was still too guilty about hurting him and after finding out he hadn’t been resting properly, he asked Yoongi and Hoseok to take him home so he could rest properly. Luckily for him, Namjoon and Seokjin arrived to take his place and Jimin actually dared to ask for their help, leading to this small reunion where his head seemed to be wanting to explode.

“I-I see pictures of me being in a dark place… scared, crying and with not a single thing that tells me what’s outside or anything,” He sniffled, closing his eyes when the wave of nausea came back. “I-I don’t understand…”

Namjoon sighed, rubbing his face, at least Jimin remembered they weren’t good people. “It was when we were back in prison,” He said, seeing him flinch. “I’m sure that you’re remembering the first time you were sent to isolation, the time you saved Jin.”

Jimin looked back at Seokjin, suddenly seeing the purplish bruise around his neck and the red eyes product of popped veins and him slamming a broom on a man’s back. “They were killing you…”

“Yeah, someone wanted to freaking rip my head off.”

The words were enough to make his stomach turn and start doing backflips and all those crazy things, but aside from that, Jimin felt that the fog surrounding the dark place where he cried almost all the time was starting to dissipate, allowing him to see that it was, indeed, the prison he had been sent to… while being innocent. 

The way that dark period of time seemed to return to him made him feel, this time for real, very close to throwing up and had to sit up to stop the vomit from coming out of his mouth, forcing his throat that burned to swallow it back down. Memories shouldn’t have to be this painful, this confusing, memories were supposed to be small pieces of life that we keep in our heads from one reason or another, if someone ever told Jimin that he was going to hate remembering things this much, he would have punched them right in the face.

“You spent a year and some more months in there,” Seokjin continued once he seemed to make sure he wasn’t going to pass out. “Well, we all did.”

Each word seemed to be illuminating a new part of Jimin’s brain and even when they didn’t seem to reveal the whole picture, the parts they shone a light on were more than enough. He remembered the hound, remembered that day where he showed them to everyone as if he was the newest object for them to look at, remembered the pain, the despair, the fear… fear that returned like a train at full speed and crashed against his chest, forcing all the air out of his lungs.

His body seemed to recoil in fear, legs pulling themselves closer to his chest so he could hug them close to his chest. He was scared, so scared and the worst was that he couldn’t even tell the complete reason, there were hands trying to hold him, dark figure looming over his trembling form while he tried to escape but couldn’t really do it. 

“Jungkook, please…”

He didn’t even know why, but he repeated the same sentence over and over again, desperately wanting something to happen even if he didn’t know what.

He didn’t know just how much more he could live like this.

Chapter Text

 “Jimin is making progress and that’s wonderful, right?” 

Yoongi nodded, fingers tracing the bruises Jungkook had left on his wrist that day, this kid and his strength. “Never imagined we would have to comfort Jungkook.”

“He looked so broken, so hurt,” Hoseok muttered, shaking his head. “I literally felt so bad for seeing him like that, never thought it could happen to him, he really changed because of Jimin.”

And, once more, it didn’t mean he had changed to become a better person, none of them was, they were still the same criminals who had been thrown to jail so long ago and they weren’t really going to change, but Jungkook’s relationship with Jimin had woken up the trapped feelings inside him, had made him experience the turmoil of emotions that a normal human should feel and that was where the huge change came int.

“Jungkook will wake up today, if he sees Jimin is still not remembering him, he may lose it once more,” Yoongi muttered with a groan and glancing at Hoseok who nodded slowly.

“Maybe what they need is talking,” He suddenly said, raising his head to look at him. “When Jimin woke up he was very confused and lost, now that he’s a bit more stable, they may have the chance of talking calmly like he had talked to us.”

“That would do wonders,” Yoongi conceded, squeezing his wrist before ruffling his own hair in frustration. “If they talk like we have talked, it will increase the chances of him remembering who Jungkook is, we just need to keep Jungkook calm as well.”

Because Jimin seemed to be in a completely different frequency where his emotions and feelings became more hectic if the other person was in a disturbed state of mind. The doctors, for example, tended to be balls of anxiousness when they were in that room and one day, where they were trying to evaluate his progress, one of them had gotten so nervous for having Seokjin at his side that Jimin ended up shaking and crying as if fear was a highly contagious virus that had attacked; remembering how he had killed one of his many victims coming with the worst timing. Because of this, it was safe to assume that a disturbed and anxious Jungkook was going to send Jimin into panic and that wasn’t going to help him in the remembering process.

They, somehow, needed to assure Jungkook didn’t lose his mind after finding out that Jimin didn’t fully remember him, they needed him to stay calm and take his time to explain to the others what they were and what they meant to each other instead of panicking over the idea of being forgotten forever.

“Maybe we could talk to Jungkook before he talks to Jimin?” Hoseok suggested, pressing his fingers nervously on his knees to keep himself from fidgeting too much. “That way we could make him understand that Jimin needs patience and slow explanations.”

“The problem is that Jungkook is not the most patient human at this moment,” Seokjin’s voice made them look back to find the other walking in with Namjoon behind him.

“He can’t move much, can’t talk, can’t do many things he would normally do without a problem and that would stress even the most patient man in the whole world,” Namjoon said as he nodded slowly. “The wiring in his mouth will stay longer because of what happened that day and the broken bones are just taking their time to heal, that can’t be sped up.”

“I can understand him in that part,” Yoongi nodded as he crossed his arms. “When you dedicate your life to the art of killing people, you need to have control of everything.”

“Well, he will have to make a sacrifice,” Seokjin nodded. “Just like Jimin did many for him, he will have to do it now if he wants Jimin to heal correctly.”

It was easier to be said than done, but they tried to be confident and overall optimistic about it. Even with all the problems and sudden things that popped out, each one of them considered that was doing good in helping Jimin; though from all of them it was Taehyung who led the way by being the wonderful human he was and for being with his friend almost the whole day, he was there when the memories left him crying for how terrifying they could be without proper context and there when the dizziness was so bad he needed to empty his stomach on the cold bathroom, rubbing his back soothingly and promising it was going to get better.

Yoongi and Hoseok often found the time to spend with Jimin as their work as support for the leaderless branch seemed to have settled down after many who tried to take over the position had ended up bleeding out on their beds or left behind a tortured corpse that served as an example for anyone with similar ideas. Sure they still have problems, but they were the kind the could handle without going and that gave them the perfect time to spend with their younger friend so he remembered what they meant for him. So far, Jimin remembered Hoseok had been his cellmate, that he had been stabbed and almost died and that Yoongi had dismembered who had done it for the entire prison to see.

Lastly, Seokjin and Namjoon did their best to help as well, the two of them played a huge part in what had happened to Jimin and the way his life had changed, so it was obvious they needed to work with him in order to throw light on the conflicts inside his head. Namjoon spent hours explaining what had happened after the hound’s attack and how he had taken over the leadership position when he apparently died, talked to him about his parents and, eventually, talked about his new position as the leader of one of his own branches. Seokjin, on his side, had taken his time to talk about his growth as a person (and as a criminal), when he had to rule over a large number of inmates around him and that doubted he could do well in such a demanding position. The two of them, although less constant, were still there supporting their family and ensuring they were fine.

So it had to be fine, right?

“I’ll talk to Jungkook,” Namjoon said after several minutes of heavy silence. “I’ll help him before he can talk to Jimin.”

It was only a matter of time.

°°°

Something so simple like opening his eyes had never felt so challenging before; Jungkook opened his eyes so slowly that he felt as if this was one of those movies with millions of effects that give impact to the scene and leave the audience breathless, his problem was that this wasn’t a movie and everything moving so slowly was torturing him instead of pleasing the audience.

The light on the hospital room he still was shone at full strength on top of him, forcing him to blink over and over in hopes of calming the stinging sensation that left his sore eyes wanting to go back to their closed and comfortable state. His body felt numb, heavy, as if he had been doing exercise to extreme extents, a gruelling session that threatened to dissolve the muscles. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but he dared to say it had been for a long time because his mind was too groggy and slow for his liking.

“Kook, hey,” Snapping his head to the right, he found Namjoon leaning closer to his bed, putting his phone back in his pocket. “It’s okay, you’re still on the hospital.”

Jungkook knew he was, even with the grogginess and everything else, he understood that he was still in the same shitty condition he had been when he was forced to rest and sleep.

“The wiring is still in your mouth,” Namjoon said just when Jungkook was about to open his mouth and talk. “Apart from the fracture, you hurt yourself a bit with the movement of that day.”

The mention of that day brought back the fear, the tears, the pain in his chest that burst and left him sobbing, pathetic mess who suffered because the one he loved, the love of his life, didn’t remember him. With panic rising once more, he looked away from Namjoon and turned to his left, heart sinking when he saw that Jimin’s bed was empty.

Did he forget entirely about him? Did he decide to get over him and leave instead of trying to remember and stay at his side? The same horrible feeling built up inside him, forcing him to sit up and try to reach for something, anything, that left him voice out what he felt before a larger, firmer hand was placed on his shoulder and kept him from jumping out.

“They’re making a study to see the progress of the fracture, he will be back in a while,” Namjoon said softly, remembering his purpose of keeping Jungkook as calm as he could before he talked to Jimin. “But first, I need to talk to you.”

 Jungkook stilled, but his harsh breathing was a clear indicator that he was as panicked as he had been when he woke up, so Namjoon allowed him to calm down for a bit and gave him a couple of minutes, only proceeding when he seemed ready.

“Jimin’s amnesia is still there,” He said, seeing Jungkook’s eyes widening. “But he needs your help to accommodate things.”

Jungkook’s teary eyes fell on him after hearing that part, a thousand questions unheard as his hands clutched the blanket covering his legs. 

“The fracture and the harsh activities he made before getting better affected his memory,” He started, choosing the words carefully to not throw him into panic once more. “It doesn’t mean he had forgotten all of us forever, no, he’s actually recovering details little by little and needs your help to accommodate all the information in his head about you.”

Jungkook’s hands shook, tremors of uncertainty and anxiousness running down his spine. Namjoon could only imagine how it would feel to be incapable of talking or moving, he would go mad. Shaking his head, he took his phone and extended it to Jungkook, watching him type furiously on the keyboard before turning the screen back to him. 

“How can he not remember me?”

“Don’t be so selfish, God,” The statement took him aback, Namjoon could clearly see it in his eyes, but he hurried to elaborate before he got the wrong idea. “It’s not a thing about the power of love or the magic of a kiss, Jungkook, Jimin’s skull is fractured and we should be thankful he’s even alive and wasn’t the worst kind of fracture, his recovery needs us to be successful, needs the people who know him to talk about what he was and what he is.”

Jungkook frowned, looking back at the bed where Jimin was, though, the tear in his eyes gave his frown a less threatening look. 

“Jimin is, in a sense, having an information overload, his brain is having a very hard time accommodating all the information inside of it, doesn’t know what belongs to who or who is who,” He continued, resting his hand on his arm. “The doctors had told us that helping him to remember will make the process lighter, he has been suffering a lot these past days and we all had helped, you have to do it too.”

“How would it be if Seokjin didn’t remember you?”

“I would probably lose it as much as you’re losing it, at first at least; but going nuts won’t help him, quite the contrary, you will hurt him more,” He said, seeing Jungkook flinching at the thought. “Jimin is anxious about everything, Kook, and the last time he saw you breaking down, he beat himself over it a lot.”

Jungkook was well aware of it, crying had been a shocking experience for him so he could imagine just how shocking it had been for the others, too.

“I will hurt him again…It’s better to be away.”

“No, don’t make it about you when it is about him and only him,” He said with a firm shake of his head. “This is about Jimin recovering, about Jimin going all the way to save you even when walking was a titanic task for him, this is about you helping him to understand what the term couple means for both instead of getting all philosophical and assume what’s better for him and whatnot.”

“I don’t know how to help him.”

“Just help him remember, help him organise what he has inside his head,” He said softly and slowly. “Everyone knows just how much you love Jimin, no one has ever doubted it, so show it and believe in what you do and the love you feel for him.”

Jungkook looked back at the phone he still had in his hands, staring at the keyboard and his fingers twitching as they wanted to write a large number of questions he had before they tightened around it and he nodded almost as firmly as he could.

“We’re weird, we aren’t the conventional type, but we're in this shit together.”

°°°

One thing Jimin thanked was having the chance of walking again. Even when he felt dizzy and still needed to go back to the wheelchair after a short trip, he was proud that he could stand and walk for a bit after being on the bed for several weeks.

The doctor reported good progress, so far the bone was healing and the swollen parts were going back to normal, stating it was a matter of time before he could return to the normal activities that didn’t require tiring tasks. Aside from that, having everyone helping him to regain his memories was a wonderful thing, he felt blessed every time the pieces of the blank puzzle in front of him fell on their place and the blurry images in his mind became understandable; sure some were traumatic and often left him shaking and asking the heavens if he was really capable of doing any of that, but having someone at his side always comforted him.

He knew and understood that Taehyung was his best friend, who had been his confident ever since he had fallen on that prison in such an unfair way; Hoseok was another dear friend, the source of happiness and warmth that surrounded his life; Yoongi being the protective one in a different way than Seokjin’s and Namjoon being the leader, who he had learnt so many things from.

Jungkook was still a big mystery.

Yes, he remembered and had sudden pictures of them holding hands, kissing and even having sex with him against a wall, but he didn’t get the deepness of it. He knew Jungkook wasn’t a one-night stand, wasn’t someone who he wanted to be with just because of the sexual relief he brought, no, Jungkook was so much more and not knowing just how much broke his heart.

“Jungkook will be awake when we come back,” Looking away from the floor, he looked at Taehyung as his friend wheeled him towards the room. “It’s been a while since he was sedated, so he needs to wake up again.”

“I don’t want him to get hurt again,” Jimin whispered, hugging his arms as he looked down, remembering how broken the other looked. “Taehyung… I don’t want to hurt him, he’s important...”

“He really is,” Taehyung nodded, squeezing his shoulder. “And you two will talk, don’t worry, everything is going to be fine, you won’t hurt him.”

Taehyung knew about their plan and the measures they had taken so things went well between those two and he had quickly agreed to help even though he was nervous about what could happen if things didn’t go as planned, he did his best to stay positive and believe that the pain of both his friends were going to finally get away so they could continue with the happiness they had.

As he opened the door to the room, he saw Namjoon looking back while he helped Jungkook to sit on his bed, his eyes falling on Jimin as he smiled lightly. “Jimin, welcome back.”

“Thank you,” Jimin replied in a whisper, looking down at his hands as he felt Jungkook staring at him as he was pushed back to his bed.

With Taehyung’s help, he sat with a small sigh on his bed, smiling as Taehyung helped him to cover his legs and made sure the pillows were comfortable for him, checked on the bandage around his head and finished with going out and returning with a glass of water he left on the chair next to his bed. Standing next to Namjoon after he too had stood up.

“Jimin, Jungkook wants to talk to you,” Namjoon said softly, seeing both Jimin and Jungkook tensing. “Just remember he can’t talk because of the wiring in his mouth.”

“It’s okay, I can read,” He nodded slowly, raising his head to see Namjoon extending a tablet to Jungkook so he could write more easily.

“We will wait outside,” Taehyung grinned, taking the handles of the chair once more to take it out of the room.

Silence fell heavily on the room after the door was closed, their breathing and heart monitor for Jungkook being the only noise that said someone was actually there. Jimin felt that Jungkook was looking at him, he could feel those doe eyes staring intently at him, making his skin crawl in slight anxiousness as he asked the heavens what to do, taking several minutes to take a deep breath and speak.

“I know you’re my boyfriend…” He started, looking up at Jungkook who looked more shocked than anything else. “I have seen us being close, but I can’t… understand, can’t see the depth of it.”

Jungkook felt a lump forming on his throat when he heard that, but did his best to push it back down and remain calm, looking down at the tablet to start writing. “We are, you’re mine, have been mine for years.”

It was probably a bad thing to say it like that because everything inside Jimin’s head was all messed up and hearing something like that could be taken as if their feelings weren’t really reciprocated and that Jungkook, maybe, controlled Jimin in everything and that, maybe, his treatment had induced a kind of Stockholm syndrome he could now have the chance of leaving behind. Jungkook didn’t care, even when he was scared and at the verge of losing his mind, he didn’t want to change things and paint their relationship as if it was the overly sweet and common type everyone had when they were much more than that.

Their relationship wasn’t normal, went beyond the I love you that was whispered between kisses, they were complex and Jungkook was not going to let go of that.

Jimin meanwhile winced, from everyone Jungkook seemed to be the most straightforward in how he did things, he didn’t adorned it or tried to mask them so the impact was a bit less to his already confused mind and even though it makes his head hurt, he thanks he’s been like this; something inside his chest tells him that it may be a key to their relationship. 

“That’s why—” He started but stopped, closing his eyes and swallowing the lump in his throat that seems to be getting bigger for an unknown reason. “That’s why I need to fully remember you.”

Even with his eyes still closed, Jimin could feel Jungkook staring at him, taking in every single part of his body that brought a somehow familiar sensation to tingle down his spine, the feeling extending for several seconds before he heard the small tic the screen made as he started to type something, making him open his eyes so he could read.

“You are different from everything this stupid world has,” The long note started and Jimin did his best to focus on it instead of the tears that were already forming on the other’s eyes. “The moment I saw what hid behind that scared and crying exterior, I knew I needed to have you and, for the first time, it wasn’t a prize I wanted just for the thrill of wanting it, no, I fell in love, I finally found someone who I could help and guide, in my own way, to reach where I wanted… I fell in love with you, Jimin, and I’m so proud of the progress you had done in these years.”

Jimin felt a lump forming in his throat as he finished the note, looking up at the other who was looking back at him with the same teary eyes. “Jungkook…”

With each word came a new picture, a new memory and Jimin soon found himself drowning in the sea of his own memory, sinking deeper and deeper with every movement he made, seeing everything surrounding him in the darkness of not understanding. Until someone held his hand and pulled him out.

“You may not remember me now, you may feel confused in what we are to each other, you may think I’m just a psychopath, someone who had forced you to experience everything we have gone through but let me tell you that we love each other.  We’re not a normal couple, we’re not like Hoseok and Yoongi, Seokjin and Namjoon; we don’t walk back from school while holding hands, we ran from the police, we don’t giggle and kiss after being called out by the teacher, we kiss and hold onto each other after killing who tried to kill us, we hold hands even though they’re covered in blood, we sleep peacefully after knowing our enemies are dead and not because we sent each other a goodnight message.”

Jimin managed to read it before Jungkook took the phone back and begin typing once more, rubbing his face despite the healing bruises in there to wipe the tears and finally extending it back to him.

“If, by any chance, you remember me and decide to not continue what we are, if this somehow changed you and prefer to leave me…  I will accept it, I won’t kill you, I will continue being who punish the idiots challenging you and who you can trust because I love you, Jimin, no matter what happens, I will continue loving you until death comes to get me for what I have done.”

The way the memories came back of Hoseok, Namjoon, Seokjin and Taehyung had been gradual, each explanation had thrown light to the specific part of his life where they appeared, everything had been slow, little by little, moving, but Jungkook was different. Reading the two parts felt as if he had been hit on the head once more, the raw pain and despair eating him as he remembered their first kiss, their first time.

Their promises.

“God, Jungkook…” His cry was full and charged with pain, hands reaching to hold his hand, letting the phone fall to the bed as he pushed himself off his own one and pressed his forehead to Jungkook's hands. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… how could I forget you.”

It hurt, not only physically, but Jungkook held Jimin as close as he could, pressing kisses to his face and letting out the pain inside his chest once more because maybe, maybe, things were really going to get better.

Chapter Text

When Taehyung and Namjoon walked back in, they were both surprised and glad to find Jungkook and Jimin apparently sleeping on the same bed, Jimin curled up at Jungkook’s side while the latter held him as close as he could with his body being as hurt as it was.

“Oh my God, we did it,” Taehyung whispered as he moved closer to make sure they weren’t getting hurt win that position. “I think we did it!”

“I think so too,” Namjoon nodded with a small smile. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

And Taehyung was sure it wasn’t, he couldn’t really imagine how it would be to forget about the person you love and then realise you were capable of doing so. Jimin was, normally, a person who didn’t take light his own failure, he judged himself harshly for every mistake and made sure he didn’t do it again. 

This wasn’t going to be different.

The love between those two was more than palpable, there wasn’t really a moment where Jimin didn’t think or talk about Jungkook; because of this, when Jimin realised that he had forgotten about the person he loved that much, the moment he was going to blame himself for it even when it wasn’t something he could change. The hit has been aimed to kill and heavens know just how close he had been for dying or suffering some major damage, the problem was that Jimin was not going to take into consideration that, for him, it was going to be a clear and loud I forget about the person I loved.

They still had a long way to go.

“We should really move Jimin back to his bed,” Namjoon whispered after several seconds of silence. “I doubt the doctors will like this.”

“Please, even if they are, they would never voice it out,” Taehyung snorted, crossing his arms.

Namjoon had to agree with that, he became more and more frustrated by the lack of professionalism they often showed, sure he could understand that normal people would be terrified of being near a serial killer or dangerous people like themselves, but Namjoon would expect better from a hospital they often kept safe from the normal confrontations between bands. If it wasn’t for them, Namjoon was sure they would already have some doctors and nurses dead on their list and that wasn’t something they should take lightly.

Maybe he could pressure them a bit more.

“Alright, let’s move them,” Taehyung muttered as he moved closer, waiting for Namjoon to get closer before reaching to hold Jimin, only to have Jungkook groaning and pulling Jimin closer. “Or not.”

“Maybe we could leave them for a while?” Namjoon suggested as he scratched his head. “Let’s just check they’re fine.”

Taehyung nodded and both moved to check on the IV and oxygen for Jungkook and the bandages for Jimin, making sure he wasn’t pressing down on the tender spot on his head and that they couldn’t somehow hurt each other in case they moved much, satisfied when they checked everything.

“Well, I pick the comfortable chair.”

“Wait, we never voted—” 

“Too bad, boss.”

°°°

Jimin hated nightmares and that hasn’t changed now that he was a criminal and Jimin had a nightmare.

Nightmares where dark shadows came to him, slamming a hammer on his head that broke his skull and sent him to the floor with his brain splattering on the floor and leaving a gory and repulsive decoration for anyone to see. He could see his body, unmoving, dead eyes wide open and looking back at him as if they blamed him for what was about to happen. In the nightmare, he saw the same shadows moving away from his corpse and slithering their way towards Jungkook who seemed stuck on his place and couldn’t move, Jimin could see his muscles tensing, fighting and struggling against that force that held him in place as those shadows crept closer. In his nightmare, he saw them tearing Jungkook apart, taking sadistic pleasure in ripping his limbs apart, cutting his chest and abdomen open to pull his guts and insides out, tossing them everywhere and laughing at seeing the agony they were making him go through. 

It was sadistic, repulsive and Jimin jolted awake with bile rising from his throat as he struggled to turn a bit and throw up on the floor next to the bed he was lying on, alerting the person at his side and the ones on the chairs in front of the bed.

“Jimin, oh my, Jimin you’re okay,” Taehyung was at his side after mere seconds, one hand supporting him while the other rubbed his back. “Let it all out.”

The blood and the sickening sound of organs spilling on the floor was still so present in his mind that Jimin felt his body retching painfully despite not having anything else inside, bile burning his throat as he felt as if his own stomach wanted to come out.

“Let’s take you to the bathroom,” Namjoon’s voice came next and he soon felt his strong arms lifting him from the bed and moving away while Taehyung called for people to help him clean the mess. “It’s okay, Jimin, you’re safe.”

“I had a horrible nightmare,” He whispered as he took deep breaths in attempts of calming the feeling. “T-They came back to kill Jungkook after killing me… I couldn’t do anything.”

Namjoon frowned as he brought a towel soaked in warm water and helped him to clean his mouth. “That won’t happen, Jimin, they’re dead, I can assure it.”

“They were shadows…” He whispered as he closed his eyes. “A-And just like that day, I couldn’t do anything… like that day, I allowed it to happen.”

“You didn’t allow it to happen, Jimin,” Namjoon sighed, pressing the clean part of the towel to his forehead. “They were cowards who attacked you from behind.”

“I-I forgot him, I forgot Jungkook,” And Jimin finally cried, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. “How could I do this? How could I forget about him?!”

Namjoon knew this was coming sooner or later, though he imagined it would be a bit later. With a sigh, he moved to soak the water once more before coming back to him and help him to clean his face. “It wasn’t something you choose, Jimin.”

“Still!” He cried, looking up at him. “I love him, so fucking much, yet I forgot about him and everything we had gone through.”

“You didn’t really forget,” Namjoon frowned, caressing his head slowly. “Your memories were just messed up.”

“Doesn’t really change,” He sniffled, rubbing his eyes harshly. “I love Jungkook and I still forgot him, he should hate me.”

“That could never happen,” Namjoon said with a small smile. “It would be more possible that the world ends before he stops loving you.”

It was comforting, in a sense, but Jimin felt his heart aching because he was Jungkook’s everything and he had forgotten about him. “I’m the fucking worst.”

“If you were the worst, Jungkook would have ignored you,” He said, raising his hand when he was about to talk. “If you were the worst, Jungkook would have killed you and that would solve his problems.”

Jimin wanted to debate that, scream at him that he didn’t know how it was, but he couldn’t, his emotions were a mess and everything just didn’t want to stop moving so drastically, he had just regained the majority of his memories, why couldn’t his head stop hurting so bad?

“Just talk to him, okay?” Namjoon whispered as soothingly as he could, helping him up and extending the toothbrush for him so he could wash his mouth. “That’s what you both need, you haven’t talked in a long time.”

Jimin nodded and hurried to wash his teeth to get rid of the horrible taste, spending a while there until he was finally done and he, with the help of Namjoon, walked back to the main room, finding out that they had cleaned the mess and Jungkook was sitting with worried eyes while crushing Taehyung’s hand due to his anxiousness.

“I-I’m fine, sorry,” He smiled as he sat down with a small sigh. “Just had a nightmare and felt sick.”

Jungkook nodded, unsure, looking at Taehyung who got the idea and reached for the tablet he then extended to him.

“You should call the doctor.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, I’m fine,” Jimin hurried to shake his head. “Letting it out helped me a lot.”

Jungkook didn’t believe him, it was obvious, but Jimin did his best to smile as reassuringly as he could at him, even when he felt he didn’t deserve anything good Jungkook wanted to send his way because he had forgotten about him.

Despite their worries, the doctor came to check on both and assured everything was fine, Jimin was still suffering the consequences of the fracture and the nightmare had altered his brain functions to the point it needed to take everything out, in few words, it was a normal response and none should feel worried about it. As for Jungkook, his bones and bruises were on the right path, it was obviously going to take much more time, but unlike the last time, he said there were no major problems threatening the recovery.

Taehyung and Namjoon looked so much better after hearing the news, they wanted nothing but peace for their group after being through so many bad things and hearing they were finally getting it was heavenly. They made sure Jungkook and Jimin were fine before leaving to get some food and get changed, promising Yoongi and Seokjin were coming to check on both, leaving them with the time they needed to talk.

“All of this was my fault,” Jimin started as soon as they were out, making Jungkook look at him with a frown. “I was who pushed you to that place, who made you feel so uncomfortable.”

Jungkook felt that gut-wrenching pain spreading all over his body at hearing that, he saw it coming but hated it. “Jimin, it wasn’t… I wanted them to come for me, but didn’t think about all the consequences.”

Jungkook accepting he had done things wrong was as shocking as seeing him crying, but Jimin refused to let go of his own mistakes and shook his head. “I-I should have listened to you, you knew how to handle it…”

“I didn’t,” Jungkook wrote, digging his feet against the bed. “I thought I did, but I didn’t, and you paid for it.”

“Jungkook, that’s not right,” Jimin said as he struggled to push his tear back inside. “I-I was so scared, felt so guilty… when they told me they had you and I saw that video, God, I just wanted to die, to take your place so you didn’t have to suffer.”

“I brought all of that to myself, baby… I thought about everything as if it was still just me and because of that, you had to go through the pain of forgetting, you have to live with the dizziness and pain when you didn’t deserve it… I love you Jimin, and if all of this is anyone’s fault, then it’s mine.”

“I still forget you, Jungkook, how could I even forget the one I love?” Jimin hiccuped. “I almost let you die, I forget about you, I did all the things that should make you mad at me.”

“No, I won’t let you take responsibility for this. Jimin, I’m sorry I made you go thought all of this, I made several mistakes but I promise I won’t make them again… all of this, all the new things I discovered about myself are because of you and that won’t change, you’re my star, my light and that’s the only thing that matters.”

In what moment did Jungkook learn this much? In what moment the man he loved understood so many things about him and himself? Jimin not only was shocked to see him crying, but he was shocked and moved to see that he had developed his emotions to this point. “We both made mistakes… we both need to learn a bit more about each other in this sense, that’s how relationships work.”

“And I will do it… we will learn from what happened and move on…”

It took a lot to accept your mistakes, a lot to stand in the middle of your own thoughts and scream in the face of your ego that it did wrong, that everything it thought was the right thing to do was, in fact bad. Jungkook did it. After feeling his world had fallen on top of his head, he dusted the dirt from his body and walked to stand in front of that monster with yellow eyes and pointed teeth; he stared at him and told him just how bad he had done with all of this, how selfish was to think that Jimin was the one who should change in order to fulfil his wishes. They were a couple, one that took pride in going against all odds and who had been born from a series of tragedies and Jungkook now realised that he had to put his own grain in all of this to work.

They were getting through this and they were doing it together.

Chapter Text

“Why you’re always rushing things?”

Jimin looked at Yoongi through the mirror’s reflection, moving his hair away from his eyes. “I’m not rushing it, I wouldn’t dare to call more than two months a rush.”

Yoongi snorted, crossing his arms as he looked at the patch of missing hair Jimin had after all of this. “You know what I mean, a fracture isn’t something that goes away in weeks, not even months.”

Jimin did got what Yoongi meant, believe it or not, he understood that returning to his work shortly after he was let out of the hospital wasn’t that recommended,  but he felt with the need of doing it. He had been away from his position for so long he’s starting to feel that his memory loss would also affect the way people see him. The others had told him many saw him as the weakest link, but many more saw him as a kind of hero he went to save Jungkook while being so close to dying. 

For him, it’s not enough.

“At this point, you’re just punishing yourself for what happened with Jungkook,” Yoongi said and Jimin hated how he knew him so well. “Which, as I said, is nonsense.”

“We’re both working in sorting things,” He said instead, sighing as he looked down at his clothes. “  me returning for work is not bad.”

Yoongi eyed him for several seconds without saying anything, sighing a while later. “Fine, have always believed in what you do, so will do the same with this one.”

After months of recovering, Jimin was finally discharged from the hospital, the doctors saying he was stable enough to restart his activities, or at least the ones who didn’t demand much physical effort. They had given him a long list about the things he should avoid and recommendations for his state as time passed. Jungkook wasn’t that happy about being away from him, but Jimin took is as a way to think more about what he could do to make it up for him, as much as everyone told him it wasn’t his fault and that there was no way he could have avoided the damage left by the blow, he can’t just shake the feeling of forgetting the one he loves.  

“Thank you, it means a lot.”

Now, the plan of coming back, aside from everything mentioned before, was aimed to let people know that he was still in charge, was still the boss they should fear with or without Jungkook, but also was about proving something to his own monster.

The nightmares repeated themselves many more times during his stay in the hospital and ended up with the same result as the first time: with him emptying the contents of his stomach on the floor. This, apart from being disgusting, made him worry that something had changed inside his head, that he won’t be capable of killing someone even if it was needed, if he would pass out at the sight of blood or if the interesting feeling he got when cutting someone would be replaced by repulsion and sickness.

 Jimin at his twenty-four years is suddenly worrying that his psychotic side had been shut down.

He never came to enjoy murdering people, everyone knows he’s not a blood-thirsty killer that wanted to kill, but he’s scared he won’t do it, not even when he has to. So he decided to come back, come back and deal with whoever opposes to him.

“Good to see you on your feet, boss,” One of them greeted him as soon as he stepped inside the room he had gathered, eyeing him carefully.

“It takes more to take me down,” He said with that confidence he never knew where it came from, sighing as he went to sit down. “I have heard not everyone has been patiently waiting for my return.”

“Well, who can blame them?” Another one said, his posture letting Jimin know that he may be part of the problem. “The news we received weren’t that bright.”

“It may come as a shock, but I’m not immortal,” Jimin replied calmly, standing up and crossing his arms as he looked at him. “The thing is that I’m back and if someone still has this idea, I would like to invite them to come forward.”

It was satisfying to see that most of them looked away in a sign of respect, it was good to see that his intense stare was still effective despite the time he was gone, what he didn’t like much was that few looked at him with doubt filling their eyes.

“Is Jungkook back, though?” One asked and Jimin felt his stomach giving a flip.

“No, and he won’t be for a while,” He stated, crossing his arms in that challenging position the others had advised him to adopt for these situations. “Jungkook is not the boss, is he?”

“No, it is you,” Another was quick to say, shaking his head.

“Then why would you ask about him?” He asked, one of his hands resting on his hip as he looked at the one questioning it. “Jungkook is my boyfriend, he’s not public domain.”

“He’s the one who carries out the punishments,” The other replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. “I doubt someone is good enough to do the same.”

Jimin felt a bit stuck with that, while he did kill people before as a punishment, Jungkook was the one who caused more fear and anxiousness to people and they were right by saying no one else would have the same impact nor be trustful enough to do it, the others could, but it wasn’t their job and making Namjoon feel disappointed wasn’t really on his list.

“Please, I can be a complete nightmare.”

There were few raised brows at his confidence, but Jimin ignored them, he was going to make them swallow their doubts.

°°°

“The doctor said they will remove the wires in a couple of weeks more,” He whispered as he cleaned Jungkook’s face slowly and delicately with a wet towel. “Just hang in there a bit more, okay?”

Jungkook could only nod slowly, one hand holding Jimin’s free one as tightly as it could while the other rested on the bed.

“Taehyung told me how anxious you have been, but try not to think much about it,” He smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding his hand back. “I’m here and won’t leave you again, I promise.”

Jungkook frowned and Jimin knew why; through the days he had learnt how to understand what the other wanted to transmit without needing to use the tablet or write things down. Jungkook was still complex, but Jimin understood that his thoughts were usually about Jimin himself or his incapability of living a normal life with not a lot of things in between. He was usually frustrated by the lack of movements and tormented because he knew Jimin blamed himself for what happened, it was frustrating he couldn’t find anything to help him, but he did his best to be there to comfort him and relieve a bit of the pain.

“I will try something new,” He whispered after a moment of comfortable silence where Jimin focused on caressing Jungkook’s tense shoulder. “Well, not new, but I don’t think people will see it coming since it’s been a while since I last did it.”

Jungkook tilted his head a bit in confusion, squinting a bit as he tried to understand what he meant with all of it.

“I’ll let you know what it is after it’s done,” He smiled, leaning closer to place a soft kiss on his cheek. “Don’t worry about a thing.”

He was going to worry about it, it was obvious, but Jimin tried not to think much about it and instead focus on doing it. “I love you, Jungkook.”

It was funny how his eyes could say I love you .

Jungkook stared at him, unsure in what he had inside his head or what was he was going to do that seemed to be that important, he was well aware that Jimin had gone back to managing things as a boss and that there were idiots who doubted him, but he wasn’t sure what he was going to do that would require to be focused that much. It made him anxious, for real, he wanted to be there, be a support for him so those idiots didn’t feel with the right of making him less, he felt sick and just made him even more anxious.

“You trust me, right?”

Jungkook nodded because he was probably the only person he trusted entirely.

Jimin smiled, leaning down to place a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back, promising to come back in a while with news and a good explanation of what had happened and what he had in mind or the reason why he was been all mysterious about it. He finished cleaning him and then extended the towel to the nurse who was walking inside, leaving with a small smile and a see you later.

A good thing that Jimin had discovered these past days was that he still had this psycho part inside of him, he could still kill someone, but that didn’t seem to be enough  anymore. Even though no one said it, Jimin had heard that some doubted he was good enough and nothing seemed to assure them enough of other things. Because of this, Jimin came with a new plan that, he was sure, would cease all the doubts.

“I’m not Jungkook,” He said as he stepped inside the room, watching the three men there looking at him with a death glare. “I am me, but not being him doesn’t mean you can make me less.”

Three men had moved in a very disgusting way; to Jimin they were men full of obedience that reached the lapdog level, to the rest of the world, however, they spent their time talking bad about him, planting the seed of doubt on people’s heads so they looked at Jimin with distrust; they were like disgusting little worms that whispered nonsense in the corners. It took him a lot of time to get enough evidence to start his plan, more if he considered that he refused to let the others help him. He wanted to prove that he was more than capable of being in this position and despite all of this brought horrible headaches, he continued pushing until he had everything to get them.

“You fell in an obvious trap,” One spat, squirming in his seat and straining against the ropes holding him. “How can a so called boss fall for that?”

“You joined this world because of your sister, to avenge her death,” He said and was proud to see the slight shock on his face. “Killed by a drugged idiot who tried to steal her purse.”

“What? Did you just found about your workers?”

It didn’t go unnoticed, the way the three of them glanced at each other a bit nervously. So far, one of them had clearly accepted that he was guilty of something, didn’t have problems in challenging who was their boss, but the other two hadn’t really talked much and Jimin had the idea that they would be capable of putting all the blame on the other to get free in case it was needed.

“No, have always known about all of you, but I wanted to point it out,” Jimin said as he shrugged. “You two, why have you been talking shit about me?”

They looked at each other, the movement of the gears in their brains being more than noticeable for Jimin before one opened his mouth. “We haven’t, we wouldn’t dare.”

Jimin sighed, disappointed, shaking his head before turning around and walking away from them. “How pathetic it is to have untrustworthy workers.”

“But we haven’t—”

“Stop lying!” He yelled, slamming his hand on the wall as he turned to look at them. “He fell into the trap, if it wasn’t for Jungkook, he would be fucked, Namjoon is blind for trusting him, want me to continue? At least have the balls to admit it.”

The last part seemed to be more infuriating for them than the rest and had both yelling profanities at him in a matter of seconds, profanities that went from being weak to Jungkook’s bitch. Nothing new, really, and that’s why Jimin ignored it, checking the information he had on his phone instead, letting them let out everything until they finally shut up.

“You joined because you had a good story of selling drugs,” He said when there was silence. “And you because you were good at killing people, interesting.”

“You’re seriously dumb,” The other said, now feeling more confident to talk back and express his discomfort. “If you’re going to kill us just do it, you’re not the cool type you think you are.”

Jimin chuckled, looking up at his own monster that hasn’t had the chance of moving around but that was more than eager to try what he had in mind. “You three are pathetic, you want my position so bad you do and say such stupid things.”

“Anyone could get your position.”

“Then why don’t you have it?” He bit back, staring at each one of them until they had to look away for the intensity of the stare. “Why don’t you just kill me if it’s that easy?”

“One day someone will—”

“How long have I been your boss?”

“Are you this pathetic you use this—”

“I asked something,” He interrupted him, pushing his hair back. “If I’m so stupid, why am I still here in this position? Why was I chosen?”

He was expecting what they replied; being Namjoon’s cock warmer, deceiving people with his looks, having Jungkook as a backup and many more bullshit he had heard many, many times in the past, even when he was back in prison suffering about the unfairness of life. Jimin doubted there was something new to say about him and his so called privileges, and that was what make the whole ordeal even more pleasing.

“I wonder how many times I have heard the same boring thing,” He sighed heavily, shaking his head. “I think your childhood traumas are projecting themselves.”

“Unlike you, we can get over what happened to us,” The one to his right said with a smirk. “It makes us stronger.”

“That’s wonderful to hear!” He smiled as if he was genuinely proud. “I mean, being abandoned by your mom must be harsh.”

The piece of information seemed to take the other aback, of course he wasn’t expecting Jimin to take out something older than what he had already mentioned. It was good to see that. “What the fuck?”

 “Oh, thought you knew I have your information,” He asked with feign innocence. “You said it was my job.”

“I don’t care,” He lied. “She was just a whore, hope she died.”

“She did,” Jimin nodded as he tapped his chin. “She was strangled by a man and left to rot in an alley, police said she was a prostitute so you’re kind of right on that.”

It felt good that the man seemed to have no idea of this information and was trying so hard to pretend he didn’t care at all. “Who cares?”

“I’m sure you don’t,” He hummed, passing to the next page on his phone. “Or him, I’m sure he doesn’t care about his brother  who has been looking for him all these years.”

“What?”

Bingo.

“What? You didn’t know?” He asked, head tilting to one side in that innocent look Jungkook loved. “Isn’t all of this basic information I should know?”

The man seemed to be glitched on his seat, eyes staring at him, though, he had the idea that he wasn’t really looking at him, processing the information he had just heard. “How did Yoongi found out about this—”

“It wasn’t Yoongi, I found it out,” Jimin shrugged. “It wasn’t hard, actually, Park Myungsoo is asking the wrong people, now he will have a gang following his steps and that’s not good for us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He’s asking and his curiosity is making our enemies follow him, if he finds you, it will be a disaster for us,” He sighed, resting his hands on his hips. “I’m afraid that he will be just another case of curiosity killed the cat.”

“He’s innocent, he had never done anything.”

“And I don’t really care?” Jimin shrugged again, looking at him as he felt his monster laughing. “I may be a bad boss for you, but I won’t let a single idiot ruin me.”

There’s despair and anger mixing inside the man’s head while the other two stare at Jimin in disgust and probably hate, but he doesn’t care, he’s winning. “Don’t do anything to him… I’ll handle it, I promise.”

“What makes you think your words mean something?” Jimin asked with such an entertained tone the others were surely seething. “You talked so sweetly to me but talked shit with others, no, I’ll take care of it.”

“I-I will do anything!” He yelled with more despair than anything else and, man, Jimin thought it was going to be harder. “I’ll do whatever you want just… don’t kill my brother.”

 “Well, something good may come from the pathetic one who dragged his brother into this mess,” He said after winning yet another staring contest. “I won’t take my eyes off you, one single mistake and you will watch your brother die in front of you and then I will kill you.”

“Yes sir… I will do.”

“Come on, take him out.”

One of his trusted men walked inside at that, untying the man and dragging him out of the room with harsh yanks, slamming the door shut once they were done. Jimin looked at the other two, challenging them with his eyes.

“We’re not weak.”

“Funny you say that because he said he was strong,” Jimin laughed, a soft and airy chuckle. “But don’t worry, I understand, you don’t have anyone who cares for you.”

“Are you trying to break our hearts?” They laughed, but Jimin laughed harder.

“No, I’m just stating the obvious,” He said softly, scratching his head. “You know, one of you was going to become the next big one, how it is to be such a disappointment?”

“Ask yourself, you should know.”

“I doubt it,” He shook his head, stretching his arms. “Now, you two can’t be helped, so you will die.”

“Big news, pathetic.”

“I know, I know, but you will beg me to die, I promise.”

They didn’t seem affected and that made Jimin feel powerful and proud when he saw them falling apart right in front of him. Instead of pain, he used their fears, their insecurities, he turned what they had hidden deep inside their brain into snakes and spiders that filled a tank and then pushed both in. He enjoyed their screams, their despair, the way they had pretended to be so strong when, in reality, they were as fragile as he had been when he was in prison.

Jimin understood that he wasn’t a killer like Jungkook, didn’t enjoy the blood splattering on the walls, no, he loved breaking people’s mind.

Despite the intense headaches he suffered almost daily, things felt better at seeing them breaking with his venomous words, his headaches seemed to calm down when they begged, pleaded and yelled that he ended their suffering.

He wasn’t a big fan of blood, But Jimin smiled when a bullet went through their heads after they had whispered a small, pathetic and insignificant:

Thank you.

Chapter Text

      The day the wiring was removed from Jungkook’s mouth felt as if it was the biggest celebration they had had in a long time. Everyone was there, Jimin being right next to the bed, his smaller hand holding Jungkook’s as the doctor started cutting pieces here and there and removed carefully the metallic torture that had been driving Jungkook crazy in the recent months. 

Jungkook was, as expected, anxious the whole process, wanting the thing to be out already so he could take his life back, even if he still had some broken bones waiting to heal. His hand sometimes squeezed Jimin’s a bit harder and everybody could see that it must have been hurting him, but he didn’t say a thing and just smiled, enduring the pain while reassuring him that it was almost over.

“The pain will little by fade with the help of the medication and therapy,” The doctor said once he was done and the nurse took out the bloodied apparatus and cables. “You may have problems in taking and will get tired with less movement, but it will get better if you follow the exercises, Mr Jeon.”

Jungkook nodded, glancing at the others and then at the doctor, his movements expressing clearly that he wanted him to leave.

“Thanks, doctor,” Hoseok said as the doctor moved away and gave a polite bow before walking towards the door.

“Kookie, how do you feel?”Jimin asked softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“I-I…” To begin with, Jungkook’s voice sounded incredibly raspy, it was even painful to hear, but he seemed to be trying his best. “Like shit.”

“Well, it’s understandable,” Seokjin hummed as he went to stand on the other side of the bed. “Your jaw was a literal jigsaw puzzle, their bones were made of iron or what?”

“They were jus-st letting out their frustrations,” Jungkook muttered, wincing and looking as if he had talked for hours. “I-I was l-losing my damn mind.”

“But you made it, Jungkook,” Namjoon said in appreciation. “I have the feeling none of us would have been capable of enduring the hell it was not been capable of talking.”

Jungkook just winced, sighing softly. “I-It sucked.”

“But it will get better, little by little,” Hoseok nodded with a large grin. “Your ass must be so sore for being here in the hospital for so long.”

“S-Shut up.”

Jimin laughed as he caressed his hand a bit more, pressing a soft kiss to the back of him and smiling. “It will, I’m here for you.”

“I-I know.”

Jungkook’s being was filled with hope now that he could talk again, all of it meant that he was getting closer to leaving the hospital and go back to Jimin. He had heard about his achievements and this new thing he was developing and was more than eager to see it with his own eyes.

He has been scared about Jimin not trusting what he was doing because he wasn’t there with him, so hearing he was instead doing better made him feel even more proud. He felt proud that he had been capable of helping this sweet person into what he truly felt inside, Jimin had achieved so many wonderful things because he was strong, smart and had learnt from what he said rather than panicking for being chosen by an infamous serial killer.

“We will go talk to this therapist so he’s ready to receive you,” Namjoon said with a small sigh.

“Yeah, I don’t think we have been with a therapist, he needs to be convinced,” Seokjin snorted, walking towards the leader. “See you all later.”

“Jimi, we should go,” Hoseok said as he walked closer to the other, looking at Jungkook. “I’m sorry I’m stealing your boyfriend, but he needs to do what he planned to do.”

“I don’t— I can stay, I can do it later,” Jimin immediately said, holding onto Jungkook who shook his head slowly. “You just woke up and I should stay here.”

 “G-Go,” Jungkook muttered, shaking his head again. “I won’t b-be moving from here.”

Jimin wasn’t convinced, but Hoseok’s insistent tugs ended up with him making him move. “Alright…. I’ll come back quick, I promise.”

“T-Take your time.”

“See you later, Tae, Yoongi, Kook,” Hoseok waved at them before leaving with the still not to so convinced Jimin at his side.

“T-Tell me what is he going to do,” Jungkook asked after the door was closed, turning to look at the remaining two people in his room.

“The thing he learned to do best,” Yoongi said as he sat back down on the chair. “Torturing people.”

“But it’s so different, though,” Taehyung muttered as he tapped his chin. “It’s not like he enjoys watching them bleeding out or something, he just likes destroying what they were so sure about.”

“I think he just found his place,” Yoong said after nodding at what Taehyung said. “He’s not like any of us, he has his own ways even when he could have just adopted what Jungkook was.”

“H-He’s unique,” Jungkook repeated, sighing in frustration because those few little words seemed to be taking his energy away.

The wires were gone, but moving his mouth felt weird and felt like a titanic effort as if something so basic and normal as talking had suddenly become one of the hardest things a human could do. It left him tired and irritated, he couldn’t wait for this to heal and get over all of this.

“It’s cool, to be honest, takes more than just killing,” Taehyung said, apparently as proud as Jungkook was feeling. “Hurting people psychologically takes more than just stabbing or shooting… no offence.”

Yoongi snorted with a small smile. “Of course, to hurt someone else in such a way you’re accepting to be hurt just in the same way. Something he already did.”

“He did?” Taehyung asked, blinking as he didn’t fully understand what he meant with all of that.

“When he started his attempts of protecting Jungkook, he knew something bad could happen,” Yoongi continued explaining. “When it did, he took the blame for it, took the consequences and that’s why he went to fight for him even if that meant hurting himself even more; back in prison he let everyone run over him, laugh and spit on his fallen body.”

“Jimin has really gone through the pain and the humiliation needed,” Taehyung whispered once he understood. “He had gone through an amazing transformation.”

“But he’s completely unaware of it,” Yoongi chuckled. “He just sees it as a kind of evolution, not the complete transformation.”

“He’s so cute and so strong,” Taehyung whined, it’s so wonderful to be his friend.

Yoongi smiled, looking at Taehyung and then at Jungkook who seemed to be thinking in something deeper thanks to what he had said. He hadn’t really talked about this with Jimin, but this was his thoughts, in Jungkook’s absence he had been the one who had witnessed his growth directly, who Jimin had gone to when he wanted to learn more about hacking and getting people’s information. Yoongi was thankful that Jimin had learnt from all of them and knew who to went to when he needed something.

He would dare to say that everyone was proud of what Jimin had become.

°°°

        Jimin walked out of the room with calm steps, closing the door behind him and silencing the screams coming from inside.

“You done?” Hoseok asked as he watched him emerge, humming softly. “Are they ready to die?”

“Almost,” Jimin sighed in annoyance. “They keep pretending.”

“Pretending is what humans do most, Jimi,” Hoseok said as he took out his phone. “You pretend to be okay, pretend to know everything, pretend you don’t want to kill your neighbour, it’s all about pretending.”

“Do we pretend too?” Jimin chuckled, looking at him with a raised brow.

“Of course we do!” Hoseok nodded with fake seriousness. “I pretend I don’t want to kick Yoongi for what happened all that time ago, but we’re living.”

Jimin laughed because he knew it wasn’t like that, Hoseok and Seokjin didn’t hold grudges against Namjoon or Yoongi for not telling them they were alive, the two of them had talked for almost a complete day about all the suffering they went through when they thought they had lost their partners of life. Both of them had told Jimin that they led out everything, that they didn’t leave a single thing out because they knew it was what they needed. In the end, they all felt better, more relaxed and calm for talking things out instead of feeling resentful about it.

All of them had grown stronger thanks to it.

“So, how do you feel?” He asked after a while, patting Jimin’s shoulder. “You’re their terror.”

“I have the feeling this is how it should be?” He shrugged. “I’m…. actually happy for been like this and everything seems to be falling on its rightful place.”

 “Now Jungkook will talk again and eventually come back,” Hoseok nodded too, agreeing to what he was saying. “People will lose their mind for having both.”

Jimin nodded, the idea of people learning Junkook was back while he had turned into a monster of his own could surely freak people out and make them behave to avoid their anger. Something that sounded amazing. “I miss Jungkook a lot…”

“It’s understandable, but you have done it so well,” Hoseok patted his head. “Jungkook is proud of you, I think we all are, you have adapted to all of this so well, I may be jealous.”

“Come on, Hobi, you killed someone without even hesitating, I had to think about it for a while, even if I was in danger,” He snorted, remembering his first victim and how anxious he had been back then. “All of you are greater than me.”

“I’m waiting for the day where you will give yourself some credit,” He pouted. “You have done great thing.”

Jimin, however, didn’t see himself reaching that part. He prefered to judge and punish himself harder for the mistakes he had committed and that had led to bad things. He should have done things right since the beginning, Namjoon had trusted in him and he had done bad things, that wasn’t and shouldn’t be forgotten just because he did a couple of good ones.

He had to work harder.

And harder he worked.

With Jungkook in daily therapies to regain the strength his jaw had lost during those months and the ones where he had to work on his speech, Jimin divided himself between being with him and coming back in time to continue his plans. He spent his time with Jungkook, learning how to continue helping him and also holding his boyfriend back because the therapist stuttered more than Jungkook and trembled like a leaf been thrown into a tornado. Jimin too was annoyed by this, though, Namjoon had to have a serious talk with the first doctors and nurses that had been tending to so they changed and now it felt he may have to do it again… but he didn’t, Jimin took it upon himself.

“I can understand you’re scared,” He said as the man pressed himself as much as he could against his seat. “But you really need to behave professionally, you wouldn’t like we lost that professionalism.”

“I-I just don’t want him to hurt me or my family.”

“Why would he?” Jimin sighed, shaking his head. “You haven’t given us a single reason to do it, so it won’t happen, but he really needs to get better and if you don’t help, things could change.”

“I-I understand,” He whispered after several seconds of growing tension for that poor man. “I-I’m sorry, please don’t hurt any of us.”

It wasn’t that fun to scare the weak ones.

Still, the man did his best to change and at least reduced Jungkook’s need of killing him. Jimin was tired for not sleeping well but had managed to convince himself that he would do it once Jungkook was home with him, once he could be hugged by the bigger male while resting on their bed.

Call him cheesy, but that’s how it was.

Jungkook’s recovery took another couple of months and the day he was released was a bigger celebration day. Jimin had taken him back by himself while the others gave them space, knowing he needed it. Jimin took him to their room, went to the kitchen, cooked and then came back to feed him, behaving for sure like a hyperactive kid that giggled for everything, but not managing to stop it. It felt as if a part of his life was finally back.

“I have really missed being here, with you,” Jungkook whispered as he managed to wrap his still aching arms around Jimin’s body, pressing a small kiss to his head. “But I’m so proud of you, Jimin, so fucking proud. How did you come up with this idea?”

“I… don’t know, I hated how the looked down at me,” Jimin muttered, tracing Jungkook’s muscles from over his loose t-shirt. “Hated how they made fun of me… Hated how they felt so powerful when they weren’t and I wanted to prove it.”

“So you broke them down, so perfect,” He hummed, running his hand through his hair. “It’s okay, Mochi, I’m back for you.”

“Oh, no sir, no,” Jimin frowned, looking up at him. “You’re still recovering, still getting better and I can handle things! You will rest until I say so.”

Jungkook laughed, his first genuine laugh in a while. “When did my sweet Mochi became this strong?”

“Oh, I have been practising while you were gone,” He smiled proudly. “You need to get better, I need you healthy and well, these months were a nightmare without you, Kookie.”

“Imagine the nightmare I was drowning in,” Jungkook sighed heavily. “But I’m here and eager to help you.”

“Jungkook, no,” Jimin wasn’t going to let him get hurt, he wasn’t.”

“Let me just be around,” He complained. “Imagine what you do with what I do?”

Jimin frowned, even more, hating the stab of curiosity that blossomed in his chest. “What?”

“They beg you to die,” Jungkook started, the little shit smiling at seeing his interest. “You ruin them so much that they see death as their salvation, as their escape from the pain, right?”

Jimin nodded, still unsure.

“What if death, if the sweet relief came in the form of more pain?” Jungkook asked with that excitement so characteristic of him when he talked about death. “What if they suffered just as much? The humiliation and degradation would make them regret every single choice even as they plead to die.”

It was sick, inhumane, but Jimin couldn’t move away from the idea. All the people he had punished always mocked him, laughed in his face for his stupidity , called him names, felt with the right of putting themselves above him. None of them would hesitate in killing him if they were given the chance and he hated that, hated he was still the biggest joke for them. He had earned their respect only when he turned himself into a monster, they were bad people wanting to hurt him and his family, so why should he feel compassion?

He shouldn't.

Looking up at Jungkook, he stared into those yellow eyes with his own glowing ones before nodding slowly. “When you get better, let’s try it.”

Chapter Text

              People are said to reflect on their life when they’re face to face with uncertainty, when they’re in front of something that could end terribly wrong or wonderfully perfect. Jimin had heard how people see their life passing in front of their eyes when they had an accident or when a car passed so close they feel a small millimetre would be more than enough to take them down.

Jimin seemed to be an exception.

He felt alive, full, as he held onto Jungkook, his arms wrapped tightly around his middle while the wind threatened to freeze his body, the motorcycle speeding down the road as he heard the car behind them blowing their own tires after they passed over the row of metal thorns Taehyung and Hoseok had left after they passed.

“I don’t deserve to be trapped here, I have never done anything wrong!”

“I see my baby is so brave,” Jungkook hummed as he climbed off the motorcycle and turned to look at Jimin who let out a small giggle. “You used to be so scared to be out.”

“I have changed,” Jimin hummed, holding onto his hand while he looked at one of the men took the motorcycle away to get rid of it along with the evidence. “Well, we had a plan so I trusted it.”

If Jimin thought about it, he, most of the times at least, had had a plan that backed up what he was going to do. Back in the time where he was a normal office worker, he liked to make lists of what he had to do, unfinished projects, pending changes and small things he had to remember for later littered his desk, things that told him what to do if something was missing. When he was in prison he lost this a bit because everything was unpredictable and unknown, but after becoming the king, he did have a good series of plans that allowed him to take measures in case problems appeared.

Then, what had changed?

He had been remembering how it had been when he was first thrown into jail, the other night he dreamt about his first night, how he hugged Taehyung’s pillow in a desperate way of finding comfort, remembers how scared he was of his two cellmates and how he doubted everything they said, thinking that they wanted to trick him or make him fall into a false sense of security to then do something horrible.

“You remember the day I arrived?” He asked as he sat between Hoseok and Taehyung. “I remember you called me a new roommate.”

“Ah, yes, Taehyung and his mania for making everything feel like a sleepover,” Hoseok snorted, jabbing his side with his finger. “But I do remember, you were a small leaf who trembled and cried almost all the time.”

“What did you think about me?” He asked as he rested his shoulder on Taehyung. “Be honest.”

“I honestly doubted you were going to last,” Taehyung admitted with a small whine. “I was scared you were going to end up getting yourself in horrible problems on your very first day.”

“So little faith you had on me?” He asked with a pout, making Taehyung whine once more.

“Jiminnie, you did end up in huge problems,” The other replied in his defence, squeezing his cheeks. “But I thought it would get worse before getting better.”

“To be honest, I thought you were going to get in troubles with Namjoon and his gang,” Hoseok said while Jimin tried to pry Taehyung’s hands from his cheeks. “Especially when you told us about your encounter with Jungkook in the bathroom.”

“You really had bad luck with the bathroom,” Taehyung grinned while he finally managed to swat his hands away.

“It wasn’t my fault everything happened when I walked in,” He snorted, finding interesting how he found all of this funny instead of terrifying. “I was unlucky because the hound had to arrive just when I was thrown in.”

“See it like this, Chim,  destiny had greater plans in mind,” Hoseok patted his shoulder.

“I was just, remembering everything that happened back there,” Jimin shrugged, pulling his legs to his chest. “I think I’m very different from how I was back there.”

“You definitely changed,” Taehyung stated matter of factly, nodding. “You brought down everyone who thought they could make fun of you, proved how stupid they were for thinking they could step all over you.”

Jimin had started to like hearing about his progress after Jungkook had told him what Yoongi thought about him, he realised he needed to hear it because he was too busy being harsh and cruel with himself, at least that part hadn’t changed, he still needed to be praised.

“Why did I choose you?” Namjoon asked as he glanced back at him. “As I said because you exceeded my expectations.”

“Before that,” Jimin hummed as he leaned on the wall. “I was scared of everything and everyone, Joon, how in the world did you decide I was a good candidate.”

“I think I already mentioned it, Jimin,” Namjoon smiled, passing the page of the book he was reading. “Jungkook saw something in you and even when I didn’t understand it at first, I little by little realised that you weren’t the scaredy-cat you were in the beginning.”

“I’m not sure I understand that logic,” He snorted, urging the other to talk more about it.

“You accepted Jungkook, saved Jin, recovered from an attempted rape and stood up for your family,” Namjoon explained as he lowered his book to look at him. “Jimin, you aren’t the first person I think it’s good for a job.”

“Explain,” He said simply, jumping to sit down at his side. “Please?”

Namjoon chuckled lightly before shaking his head, closing the book and leaving it on the small coffee table. “I started from the bottom, I was a mere drug dealer when I chose to follow this path. As I grew up and people saw in me a leader may be good to follow, I had to start building my own empire.”

“But you couldn’t trust anyone…” Jimin whispered, feeling like a kid who is hearing a story to sleep peacefully.

“Exactly,” He nodded. “I had to be careful, choosing one randomly could lead to everything falling on me. It took me months to choose, months of studying each one until one stood up from the others, one that was young, smart, apparently capable.”

“Did he do good?” He asked slowly.

“For a while he did,” He nodded before snorting. “But he crumbled under the pressure and ended up killed after making a dumb mistake.”

Jimin shifted his weight a bit, thinking about Namjoon’s words before understanding and nodding. “So there was a chance I failed too.”

“Yes, it was,” He nodded, sighing softly. “The plan didn’t go as planned, you know that already, but I made a wish and left things on you, you exceeded my expectations, for real.”

“It makes me feel proud.”

“And you should be,” Namjoon smiled, ruffling his hair. “Failing is always a possibility, Jimin, only you can defeat it.”

Jimin liked how that sounded, he had made a lot of mistakes, but he had managed to fight them back, even when he now had a thin line on his skull, he did it, he defeated them.

“Jimin, you were adorable,” Seokjin said as he pinched his nose. “You were short, cute and jumped for everything.”

“Come on, Yoongi is just a centimetre taller than me,” He said with a huff.

“I heard you, Park Jimin,” Yoongi said from his spot. “A centimetre is a centimetre, so cry about it.”

“That wasn’t even my point,” He grumbled. “I asked why you two supported me.”

“You were nice to Hoseok, you cared about him and everyone else seemed to believe in you,” Yoongi replied as he typed something else. “You also choose to protect Jin; you believed in your innocence yet stood up for a criminal and dragged yourself into our mess.”

“You had an amazing capability of adapting yourself to new things,” Seokjin said with a hum. “And really, Jimin, you saved me even when that asshole was twice your size.”

“I think it should be Jin the one asking you why did you save him,” Yoongi said, turning on his chair to look at him. “That’s a more interesting question.”

“I— I couldn’t let someone die just like that!” He excused himself, blushing even though he couldn’t find a real reason. 

“He was a criminal, he deserved it.”

“Man, I feel the love,” Seokjin snorted but turned to look at Jimin with the same interest.

“Yes, you deserved it, maybe, but I knew you, you were nice when you could make fun of me,” Jimin frowned as he explained it slowly. “You were one of the powerful ones that could easily send people to make my life more miserable, you had everything to bully me with, but you didn’t, and when I saw that man attacking you, I had to save you.”

“I think it was a premonition for what was to come,” Seokjin chuckled softly. “You created a bond with each one, one with Taehyung, one with Hoseok, one with Namjoon, one with Jungkook, one with Yoongi and one with me, all of them different, but a bond in the end. We became the ones you cared for, a kind of family, that’s why you saved me.”

Jimin blinked slowly, staring at him as the words seemed to start having sense to him, as the other had discovered the secret of life. “I saw you as my family…?”

“Maybe you didn’t realise at that moment,” Seokjin hummed with a nod. “But I think you did, you did nothing when I broke the arm of that idiot and if I would have been the one killing that brute, you wouldn’t have intervened.”

“You’re our scale, Jimin,” Yoongi hummed. “You’re a killer like us, but you slay the ones who deserve it more, you keep us safe.”

“Our twisted angel.”

It expanded Jimin’s world to an unimaginable point.

“You’re surrendering this quick?” He asked as he walked inside, seeing the man trembling as he tried to press himself even more against the corner. “But I thought you said I would be the one surrendering.”

“F-Fuck you,” The man whispered with broken tone. “J-Just kill me already.”

“What do you think, Kookie?” He asked innocently, looking back at his boyfriend who tapped his chin dramatically. “Why do you want to die? Didn’t you want to prove you could take us down?”

Jimin had heard him, he had heard him making fun of Jimin and Jungkook, laughing at Jungkook’s funny way of talking while he recovered and how he had turned into his nanny instead of his boyfriend. It had been funny because the friends he was telling him to looked mortified and had immediately fled to tell Jimin what he was saying, promising they were never part of that mockery in fear of being punished as well. Pathetic how they even betrayed each other.

“J-Just kill me, you proved I’m not worthy,” He said, hands trembling as Jimin felt the perfect humiliation that ran through his body. “Fucking monster.”

“So innocent.”

Jimin smiled as his boyfriend walked like a wolf cornering its prey towards the man who stared at the scalpel he had in hands. With Jungkook almost fully healed, Jimin and he had started the idea they had had back then. It worked wonderfully.

People already feared Jungkook, but now they feared the two of them.

“They call you two Chimera,” Hoseok had said with a small chuckle. “Not because you’re stupid, but because you seem to be an unstoppable and deadly combination.”

Jimin had loved that, but this time he wanted to let things a bit clearer. Nodding on one of his men direction, he watched him leave while Jungkook seemed to be thinking in the better way to cut someone open without killing it, hearing the screams until the door opened again and his leaders, his main ones, entered and looked with wide eyes at Jungkook’s show.

“I won’t let any of you hurt any of the ones around me,” He whispered while he walked in front of them. “I can see and hear everything you do, every nonsense that leaves your mouth reaches me and if someone dares to have a stupid idea, this will be a blessing compared to what I will do to you.”

They nodded, looking at Jimin in the eyes when he stopped in front of each one, Jimin feeling proud that no one was capable of winning his stare contest, feeling proud of how fast they looked away.

“Now, gentleman, you can go back to your work,” He said softly when Jungkook finished and the screams suddenly stopped. “Remember to bring what I asked for before the day ends.”

They nodded, grimacing at the smell of blood and sparing one last glance before leaving almost hurriedly. “My Mochi did a wonderful work breaking him,” Jungkook whispered as he pressed a small kiss to the back of his neck. “We really are a perfect team.”

“We really are.”

As he walked through the narrow corridor with Jungkook at his side, Jimin saw through the shadow his own body projected on the other wall how two wings emerged from his back. They were long, maybe a bit heavy, but they were his. Black feathers caressed the back of his neck as he walked and smiled, hearing his yellow monster chuckling softly in the back of his head.

Yeah, twisted angel didn’t sound bad at all.

Chapter Text

              “So tell me, Joon, was it worth being sent to jail?”

Namjoon smiled as he looked at Seokjin, the two of them leaning over the rail of the second floor of their base, watching everything move from above. “Of course it was, I gained more than what I did before going there.”

“Mind listing them all for me?” Seokjin grinned, turning his back to the edge to look at him.

“I found people I could entirely rely on to take care of my groups,” He started, scratching his head as if he was trying to remember everything. “Got rid of several enemies and built a stronger and larger empire because of it.”

“Is that all?” He snorted and Namjoon smiled, he knew what he was doing.

“I think so?”

“You’re bad at jokes, Kim Namjoon.”

Namjoon laughed, moving away from the rail to wrap his arms around Seokjin’s waist, pulling him closer. “The biggest thing is that I found you, Jin, I found a man worth having with me and for who I would give my life for.”

“I wonder how I can find you cute when I saw you blowing someone’s head off just yesterday,” Seokjin chuckled, leaning against the taller male. “I too found someone I could truly love, one that wasn’t a brainless idiot who only saw me as a pretty face.”

“Well, it was their loss, you’re much more than a pretty face. You’re smart, strong and more than capable of taking care of things,” He continued, knowing how flustered the other got but knowing too just how happy it made him hear those words as well. “And if someone had seen that before me, I would have killed them because you’re mine.”

Seokjin really lost count of how many people saw him as a mere pretty boy who got everything he wanted by sending a couple of nudes or made a good blowjob, for his parents he seemed to be a doll, one they could dress up as prettily as they could so the other families showered them with compliments about him, maybe they taught him to become what he was before, maybe the way they showed him how people gave him things if he behaved in a certain way was what he took as a base to become an expert in blackmailing people. 

Right now he didn’t care, that period of his life was over and now he knew he had much more to protect himself than his looks, Namjoon had taken him in his hands, had taught him to defend himself even more efficiently than before and had taught him how to make people respect him as something more than the the ‘leader’s boyfriend’ or his ‘queen’, he had helped them to teach them who Kim Seokjin was and why they had to fear him.

Everybody was scared of going to prison, but Seokjin had actually liked it.

“I like when you become protective,” Seokjin chuckled, patting his chest. “So what now? Taking over the world?”

“Let’s finish with Korea and then we can move to the next step,” Namjoon hummed, giving his waist a small squeeze. 

“Won’t be that long, you know?”

Namjoon knew it. He wasn’t joking when he said that his empire had grown larger, wasn’t lying when he said that the pillars that held it were stronger than any material existent in the planet. Years ago the hound had said that he was going to fall, that everything he had worked for was going to slip through his fingers, he had promised it was over and now, now Namjoon could only laugh at the irony of it.

Yeah, he had managed to damage part of his team, but they had come back stronger than before.

Thanks to him Namjoon stopped being one of the strongest leaders in South Korea and became the strongest one among all the dreamers who wanted to take him down. He was on top, but he didn’t see it as a solo-man achievement, he was there because of his people, more specifically, because of Seokjin’s ability to keep everyone on line and fear stepping out of it, because of Yoongi’s mastery in killing and investigating people, because of Hoseok’s ability to get information while moving unnoticed, because of Taehyung’s delicate and precise movements when he stole valuable information or objects from others, because of the fear Jungkook inspired whenever he moved and because of the transformation Jimin had gone thought and that had turned him into that angel with dark wings who kept everyone safe. 

He was the best and also had the best team, there was no doubt.

°°°

             “The other day I had a nightmare,” Hoseok started, forcing Yoongi to look away from his computer. “About the time I thought you were dead.”

Yoongi immediately pushed the computer away from him, standing up and going to join Hoseok on the bed, reaching to hold his hand. “I still have nightmares of being shot, and I have to press start to continue.”

Hoseok chuckled softly because he knew he was trying to make him feel better. “It made me remember the stupid fight we had before, at that time I regretted being away from you, I regretted blaming you for something you didn’t do, hated that you were gone and I was never going to take the time we lost, back.”

“You had your right to be mad at me, Hobi,” Yoongi whispered softly, caressing the back of his hand with his thumb. “Your friend died and everything pointed out that I haven’t done anything to avoid it.”

“It was still nonsense,” Hoseok breathed out, turning to stare right into his eyes. “I would have never forgiven myself if you died for real.”

Yoongi was glad he felt comfortable with telling him things, they had talked about this in the past and helped each other with the doubts, but it felt good that Hoseok told him about this rather than keeping it to himself and suffering in silence. “That’s why we live differently now, we talk about things and don’t let anything hanging, I think what happened taught us how unpredictable life is.”

“I know, I know all of that,” Hoseok nodded with a faint sniffle, holding Yoongi’s face with both hands. “I love you, thanks for not killing me after I called you an idiot.”

“Please, that made me love you,” Yoongi chuckled, remembering fondly how shocked yet touched he had been at hearing him.

As a murderer, he was used to people fearing him, was used to them pleading them for their pathetic lives when he appeared on the scene, was so used to people quote-unquote respecting him that a boy who was obviously younger than him calling him an idiot had sounded like the best thing in the world.

Jung Hoseok, even though he wasn’t a criminal in the whole sense of the world,  had fallen in love with him, an assassin who lived thanks to the money killing others gave to him. He had listened to the cruel and bloody stories he had shared with him and had promised to love him for the rest of his life. 

Hoseok was really the only person he would ever love.

“So I was thinking if we could…” Hoseok started but trailed off, looking down in embarrassment. “Well, it will sound crazy so please don’t laugh.”

“I know I sometimes laugh, but I won’t this time,” Yoongi tried to encourage him, tilting his head to find his eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I was wondering if we could go out in small holidays,” He said, clearing his throat right after. “Feel free to call me an idiot, I know we’re wanted by a lot of people and it’s the stupidest thing to even ask about but—”

“Let’s go to Paris, then,” Yoongi smiled, silencing his rant with a small peck to his cheek.

“Paris— Yoongi, they will be on us as soon as we step on the airport,” He could see the spark of excitement in his eyes being covered by the anxiousness. “I meant somewhere here, near, where people won’t take us back to jail.”

“We’re not safe anywhere,” Yoongi chuckled, pushing him back on the bed and snuggling at his side. “But I’m good at my work and wasn’t planning on travelling like normal people.”

“Look at the kitten, he’s feeling a powerful tiger,” Hoseok snorted before smiling and turning to hug him closer to his chest. “I really don’t deserve you, Yoongi… and Paris would be lovely.”

“I remember you have talked about it for a while now, so we should definitely go,” Yoongi sighed in content, taking a deep breath of that citric and comforting cologne his boyfriend used. “And I am who doesn’t deserve you, Seok, only you found interesting the stories of an assassin.”

“How can you blame me? You are a great storyteller,” He laughed, scratching the back of Yoongi’s head. “I think we both learnt from each other, we are a good complement to the other.”

“I like how that sounds,” Yoongi smiled, leaning into the comforting touch. “We have gone through a lot of shit already, we’re invincible.”

“Powerful duo back in prison, powerful duo right now,” Hoseok nodded. “Who is doing it like us?”

Hoseok knew that they were unique, Yoongi had given him a completely new life and he was happy to live it. He loved waking up at his side and seeing him working so diligently, liked how they seemed to depend so much on each other and loved the gift Yoongi had given to him on his birthday. He had given him the chance of seeing his sister once more, the girl he remembered was now a woman and she had cried so much when they could finally hug that Hoseok felt weak for the entire week. 

She wished him the best, made him promise that he was going to stay safe and told him she was proud he was now such a powerful and strong man, repeating that he had saved her for something she wouldn’t have been capable of recovering. He had missed her so much that he was sure he was never going to be capable of thanking Yoongi enough.

“Thank you for being with me, baby.”

°°°

             How necessary is someone in a group?

Kim Taehyung often wondered what in the world he was supposed to be for the group. He didn’t kill as easily as many of them did, wasn’t a master of hacking or getting information and definitely wasn’t someone he considered as fully needed, a part of his brain told him every night that they would be just fine if he vanished one day, everyone had their couple and they could rely on them if his loss caused any pain.

He sometimes moved around life thinking he wasn’t enough, but one day, almost as if it had been divine intervention, Namjoon told him he was going to become the leader of one of the branches.

He remembers he couldn’t believe, he had stared at Namjoon while opening and closing his mouth as if he was a fish trying to breathe, he stared into his calm and gentle eyes for so long it may have even become midnight, but hey, who could blame him, he couldn’t simply believe that those words have left Namjoon’s mouth.

Jimin was a leader before, he took care of a complete prison years ago and he had Jungkook’s support, Hoseok and Yoongi took care of one as well, an assassin and skilled man like Hoseok were perfect, Seokjin took care of his own because he was great in most of the things he did and Namjoon had the control of everything because he was Namjoon, but he? What could he do if people didn’t respect him? What could he do to control them if his so-called brother had almost killed him?

He thanked him and almost gave him an acceptance speech proper of someone who finished its degree, but then he had been so scared that refused to leave his room. What if he messed things? What if he caused everything to fall? He didn’t want them to return to that place they left in such an awesome way.

Just as he was getting ready to tell Namjoon that he wasn’t capable, Jimin and his dark wings had managed to slip inside and spoon him while he almost cried miserably on his bed.

He stayed in silence for a long time, letting his emotions leave his body as he held him close, burying his face on his back, his slow and calm breathing calming his own heart that wanted to burst out of his chest.

“It’s okay to be scared, you know?” He had whispered when Taehyung was calm enough to hear him properly. “There’s not a book of rules that tells you how to be a leader. People will doubt you, try to take over you and even attempt doing something stupid, but you’re more than capable, Tae.”

Taehyung could have given him a list of how many things could go wrong if he took care of a branch all by himself, but Jimin didn’t let him finish or say anything else and just squeezed his waist when he tried to speak.

“You protected me, you taught me how to survive, you became my friend just when I thought my life had ended,” He continued. “If I met Jungkook, if I became the king and later on became what I am, it’s because you helped, you and Hoseok held my hand when I most needed it and there’s no one I could think of that would be better in being a leader than you, Taehyung.”

Taehyung had cried a lot at that moment and not only because of that but because Jimin reminded him how much self-confidence he had when they were back there, how he was sure of his every move, how he felt strong and capable; and had also made him see how much what happened to his brother had affected him.

Jimin never let go of him, just like he had held onto him when he was that trembling and scared boy, Jimin helped him realise just how amazing he was and promised to never let go of him, had promised to make the ones who dared to disrespect him, pay.

“I want the results for tonight,” He said with the deep voice Jimin had said fitted so well for all of this. “If I get another negative one, I will replace you.”

The man balled his fists at his side before nodding, not daring to say anything before turning around and leaving the room with a faint “yes sir,” disappearing into the corridor at lighting speed.

“See? I told you I rarely make mistakes,” It was the first thing Namjoon said as he entered the room, going to sit on the sofa Taehyung had near the window. “Choosing you as a leader wasn’t a mistake.”

“I didn’t realise I had lost so much confidence,” He sighed, rubbing his head. “But I’m back now and ready to kick their asses.”

“Well, I can see you’re already doing it, the results are going up instead of down and that’s always a good indicator,” Namjoon said with a soft smile. “I’m proud, just like everyone else.”

“Please, you have taught me so well,” Taehyung said with a small pout. “All of you were on another level, I learnt from the best.”

“What can I say?” Namjoon chuckled. “We have a large diversity of people here, from thieves to serial killers.”

Taehyung nodded with a smile, for a moment allowing his brain to go back to the time where he met each one of them and ultimately to the present time. “Yeah, we even have our own guardian angel.”

“Sir, here are the results, sorry for being late.”

Taehyung reached to take them, moving his eyes from Namjoon and scanning the trembling newbie that had been assigned to him, as if he was expecting Taehyung to punish him for something he hadn’t done. “What else did I ask you to do?”

“I— Well, you asked me to talk to one of the dealers, but he won’t listen to me…”

“Are you saying I have to do it?”

“No! I will do it, please, trust me with this, I’m capable, give me the chance, sir.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“Confidence looks good on you, Tae.”

Yeah, Taehyung agreed with every single word, confidence looked good on him and he was never going to let anyone take it away from him again.

°°°

             If someone had asked the people around him how they would describe Park Jimin, he was sure that they would say all of this:

Kind, sweet, caring, naive, innocent, too trusty, too pleasing. 

If people asked who Park Jimin was right now, Chimera and fallen angel would be part of that list. 

Jimin walked with confidence through the corridors of their base, his shoes echoed all around it as much as Jungkook's did, people looked at him in the eye, looked away when he stared at them for too long even when he was smaller than most of them, they respected him, saw him as the leader. It was no longer a thing of Jungkook and his boyfriend, it was a thing of Jimin and Jungkook.

Police had found the bodies of two more men in the river, fishermen reported to have found them stuck in their nets after they pulled them out. According to the report, they were identified as two wanted criminals and had been murdered by the same who had killed the previous three. 

"I love you, my perfect angel," Jungkook whispered as he held Jimin's waist with both hands, lips capturing his neck while he had his head thrown back. "Those fools were pathetic." 

Jimin let out a breathy moan as he nodded, they were, they had bragged about an army of men coming to save them, not knowing Jimin and Jungkook had already taken care of them and had them dead in some dark alley. Jimin made sure to crush that confidence, had been delighted to look them in the eyes as the realisation of their impending doom held them in its arms, they were all so predictable after all. 

"W-We're doing wonderful, Kookie," He whimpered as he held onto his boyfriend even tighter. “We will take care of all of them.”

“We will, no one will win if it’s not us.”

The term of fallen angel had appeared after a group had attacked them, they had done it during the night, appeared as a bunch of animals with rabies and attempted to kill everyone inside in order to steal the new cargo they had received from Thailand. They had hurt everyone, basically, and Jimin had seen red. He didn’t care about their cries of pain, didn’t care about the gruesome show he was giving, he just made sure to use everything he had to make them pay.

He didn’t really realise that he killed three of them until they pulled him back.

They had hurt his family, they had put in danger everything they worked so hard for and they even thought they were going to walk away freely from it. He couldn’t allow others to have the same thought, he had to show them how stupid they were to even think about it.

At least no one had been critically hurt.

“Look at you, you’re our saviour.”

Jimin felt proud and happy, he had managed to save them in time and he had to keep it that way, he understood the purpose of those black wings on his back, understood why he had developed that sense of protection over the people who had saved his life, it was because he had to protect them, help them to defeat the idiots who had ideas of greatness but were nothing more than pathetic idiots with hopeless dreams.

At one point he realised that waiting for people to attack was stupid, at one point killing them after it happened wasn’t enough anymore. 

“We should start getting rid of our enemies.”

Jungkook’s suggestion was music to his ears and it wasn’t long before they decided to go for it. 

Concerns are starting to appear among society, as more bodies are being found in different places. Police had tried to keep people calm by saying these attacks doesn’t seem to be directed to normal citizens, but to people with criminal records. For how long is this statement remain true?

“How can you be so beautiful?” Jungkook whispered as he looked down at him, the adoration in his eyes making Jimin feel warm and fuzzy inside. “How can such an amazing human exist and how did I manage to make you mine?”

“Because you’re perfect,” He whispered back, looking up at Jungkook and smiling. “You helped me to become what I am, helped me to find my real self, we were meant to be together.”

Jungkook liked to think that way, for a long time he thought that only he was supposed to help Jimin achieve and become what he really was, but he was wrong, oh so wrong. Jimin had also helped him to change, to become a better version of himself.

“I became a man who can love you for real, a man who understands life thanks to you,” Jungkook smiled, pressing another kiss to his lips. “You changed me, Jimin, you make me become the best form of myself.”

The term may be confusing for many, the best version of someone should be someone good, someone, with morals and a nice attitude, but Jungkook didn’t care for any of that. He wasn’t a good person, none of them was, and he was more than happy with it, no one would ever take away that thrill that brought to him killing someone, how the screams and bleeding wounds would forever make him feel alive and proud of what he was. 

People like he or Jimin were complex, were beyond what normal people saw, complex being surrounded by useless pawns and few people they genuinely cared for, Jimin had taught him to care more genuinely for the others, for Taehyung, Hoseok, Yoongi, Namjoon and Seokjin, and Jungkook didn’t need anyone else.

“I remember, I remember how scared I was the day I was sent to prison, how I cried and asked the heavens why I was being punished when I have been good my whole life, asking myself why the ‘ bad things happen only to bad people’ didn’t apply for me, I thought I was broken,” He whispered as Jungkook focused on kissing and marking the expanse of exposed skin of his neck and collarbones. “But I was wrong the whole time, I wasn’t supposed to be the sweet one everybody could step on, who they could use to make their lives better while making mine worse, I deserved to be happy and while I always thought I would have to find happiness in that world, I realised I was wrong, my happiness was here, with a freaky serial killer at my side.”

Jungkook couldn’t hold back a chuckle when he heard him, pulling back to look at him. “Jimin, you really are something else.”

“I know and I like it.”

He may have been through a fractured skull, attempted rape and got hurt more than any normal human would get hurt in his whole life, but he didn’t care, he had grown up and became stronger and he finally, finally, felt happy with what he was, proud of who he had become.

“I really hate to give you blue balls, but we need to plan our next movement.”

Jungkook glared at Hoseok as he calmly walked in, going to sit on the sofa with all the others following close, everyone gathering in the room while Jungkook cursed and sat down, pulling Jimin to lie on his lap. “You’re all so annoying.”

“And you still love us,” Seokjin hummed as he looked up at Namjoon, the other starting to talk about the next thing they had to take care of now.

It had been a long road, one with many falls and bumps that threatened Jimin to fall down and die, it had been a road Jimin never imagined he was going to have to walk, honestly, he was sure no one imagines they’re going to end up in prison while being innocent and then descend into that controlled madness he had submerged himself into and that had ended up being with him being like this, but it was fine.

It really was fine.

The Park Jimin of the present laughed loudly in the face of the one from the past and he didn’t even feel bad about it, he was never letting go of it, he loved Jungkook and the team they made, loved to be considered the terror of Seoul, Namjoon was the monster of Seoul, Jungkook the bunny killer and he was a fallen angel, their fallen angel.

The bunny killer strikes back.

Reports from police had led people to believe that the series of murderers that have been happening are connected to who people previously knew as the bunny killer of Korea. This morning the chief had confirmed that the way of killing is, indeed, related to the methods the killer used before being caught, unfortunately, they had also revealed that he’s not alone.

Aside from the normal and common wounds found on the bodies and that go with the modus operandi of Jeon Jungkook, police also found self-inflicted wounds that indicate someone else is intervening during the torture process, added to this, the last victim left a letter where he stated that “they were right, I deserved to die for thinking I could be better. The bunny and the fallen angel are never wrong,”

Police have asked the population to keep themselves safe, in case of spotting Jungkook or this mysterious ‘angel’, call the police immediately.

Jimin smiled as he turned the television off, pressing a kiss to Jungkook’s cheek and sighing in content.

The future was going to be dangerous, but he was more than ready.