Chapter 122

Jungkook broke the hug, sniffling. His eyes were red, his whole face flushed. He looked tired exhausted in a way that went deeper than sleep could fix.

Jin and Tae looked at him, their own eyes still wet, concern and emotion written into every line of their faces.

“Kook…” Jin said softly, cupping his face in both hands. “Like we said…. we’re here with you. Always.”

Jungkook’s lips trembled. “I… I’m scared, hyungs.” His voice cracked as he spoke shaking his head “I… i c-can’t lose you. I can’t bear that pain again. I’m so scared of losing you all. I don’t want that.”

He said it. He said the truth.

His biggest fear….. losing the people who had finally made him feel like he was allowed to exist….

“You’re not losing anyone,” Tae said firmly. “We won’t be the reason for your pain.”

Jungkook looked down and said nothing. Because he couldn’t. Because the words wouldn’t come out the right way.

“Everyone said that…” he murmured after a moment. “But they still left.”A single tear slipped down. He looked up then teary eyes, lips pressed thin. “I… I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Jin pulled him in before another second could pass.

“Hey.” His voice was gentle and steady all at once. “You don’t need to be upset. It’s okay.” He held him close. “You don’t even have to trust us completely right now. That’s okay. Just… just let us be here for you. That’s all we’re asking. Let us be here to protect you. To give you our shoulders when you need them.”

Jungkook didn’t say anything. He just cried quietly into Jin’s shoulder silent and small and Jin held him a little longer before slowly pulling back.

He looked at Jungkook’s face carefully.

“What if you just give it time?” he said softly. “Take all the time you need. No one’s going to rush you. No one’s going to force anything. Speak when you want to. Go out when you feel like it. If you need someone to stay with you at night, just ask.” He held his gaze. “Just be yourself. Like before. You don’t have to pretend. Not with us.”

Jungkook didn’t respond. He just stared at the floor.

“It’s okay to be silent,” Tae said. “It’s okay to take time to be nirmal again. But don’t shut yourself away.” His voice softened. “You are precious to us. You don’t have to carry anything alone anymore. Your hyungs are right here. Come to us whenever you want to shout or cry or say nothing at all. We’ll be there.”

Jungkook looked at him with wet eyes.

They just sat there. All three of them. With tears and years of guilt and unspoken bond.

Meanwhile. With Kim Yoonseong.

His cabin sat on the 34th floor of the Bangtan headquarters spacious, commanding, the kind of office that communicated authority before a single word was spoken. But tonight none of that mattered.

He was slouched on the sofa. A glass of liquor sat half-forgotten on the table beside an open pack of cigarettes. The laptop screen glowed in front of him and it wasn’t work.

It was the reports Dr. Hwang had sent over. Pages of medical data. Jungkook’s heart condition, laid out in cold clinical detail.

Kim stared at them.

Then he leaned forward elbows on his knees, fingers dragging through his hair and a long, shaky breath left him.

“Ahhh…. what have you done, Kim Yoonseong.”

Not a question. A verdict.

He stayed like that for a moment head bowed, hands gripping his hair before slowly straightening. His gaze drifted sideways. Away from the screen.

To the small framed photo on the table.

Jungkook at four or five years old sitting in Kim’s arms while Yoona tried to wipe the chocolate off his mouth, her expression caught somewhere the kind of smile that couldn’t be helped. Kim in the frame was laughing….. genuinely, fully, the kind of laugh that had no performance in it. And Jungkook was scrunching his face up in a giggle, tiny chocolate-covered fingers already leaving marks on his father’s shirt.

A family.

Kim leaned back slowly. Eyes still on the photo.

“He hates surgery,” he murmured. His voice barely above a whisper unsteady in a way no one in that building had ever heard from him. “He can’t handle those.”

He knew. Better than any doctor who had ever read those charts. Better than Hyunwoo. Better than Haein. Better than any of his sons.

Jungkook hated hospitals. The smell of them. The coldness of them. He hated bandages wrapped too tight and scars that lingered long after wounds closed. He hated pain not because he was weak, but because of what pain meant to him. Because pain meant he couldn’t move the way he needed to. Couldn’t breathe the way he needed to. Couldn’t be the version of himself that didn’t need anything from anyone.

He hated feeling weak.

That was the truth of it. When his body stopped responding the way he wanted it to, something in Jungkook fractured quietly from the inside. He would go silent first. He will get angry…. At himself. At his own body for betraying him.

Kim knew all these…. because he himself had used his son’s weakness to make him obey him. He knew that Jungkook hated scars. He knew Jungkook cried every night in pain. He knew pain was the only thing that made Jungkook obey. So he himself did the unforgivable thing to his own son.
He hated needing people. Hated having to lean. Hated the word rest when it was a limitation rather than a choice.

And surgeries surgeries were everything.

Kim closed his eyes.

“He hates all of it,” he whispered. To the photo.

The liquor sat untouched. The reports glowed on the screen.

The last surgery Jungkook at 8 played behind his eyelids whether he wanted it to or not. Four whole months of recovery. Crying every single day in pain. Needing his mother and father beside him constantly. Wanting to walk and not being able to. Even breathing had been difficult. Kim had sat beside his bed every night that first two month. Had held his hand through the worst of it. Had told him stories until he fell asleep just to give him something to hold onto other than the hurt.

And now this surgery would be harder than that one.

He opened his eyes.

He also knew somewhere underneath the fear and the grief that he was part of the reason his son’s body had gotten here. The years of stress. The abuse. The mafia. All of it leaving marks that went deeper than the ones visible on the skin.

He had done that.

He closed his eyes again. Jungkook’s face appeared immediately limp in his arms in that hallway, cold-skinned, lips blue. His son had almost died.

His phone rang.

He looked at the caller ID. Unknown number. He answered it, voice cold by default. “Yeoboseyo?”

A sarcastic, distorted voice came through. “Hi sir! We are calling from BTS! This call is to inform you that th——–“

“What the fuck do you want?!” Kim’s voice came out like a whip. “I swear….. all of you are gone the moment I find you—–“

Meanwhile.

Jhope sat in front of a massive screen cameras, laptops, controllers spread across the desk. One leg propped on the table, chair rocking left and right. When Kim started yelling he didn’t even flinch. He just looked up at the screen showing Kim Yoonseong with the most supremely unimpressed expression known to mankind.

“Mr. Old Man,” Jhope said pleasantly. “I request you to be a little calm. Come on…. deep breath in for four seconds, hold for 7 and out for 8 seconds. You will feel sooooo much better.”

Kim was already trying to run a trace on the call. Jhope watched him do it on screen and smiled. Sarcastic.

“My bad, Mr. Genius kim Yoonseong. I understand you want to track this call.” He tilted his head. “But that’s not going to happen.”

Kim stopped. Looked around his office. There is only one camera in his cabin. Which only he uses. Had the best hackers to do it. Had the best security. And only his phone is connected to it. No one else. There is no way possible.

“Let’s get to the point,” Jhope said, making his voice deliberately formal yet sooooo Sarcastic. “This is J-Hope of BTS. We are calling to inform you that the precious diamond collection you acquired….. let’s say, less than legally has been robbed.”

That was it.

Kim threw the jar off his desk. It shattered across the floor. “YAHHH!! YOU FUCKING MORON!! IF YOU HAVE GUTS COME FACE ME!!!” He yelled loudly.

“Ahhh, language, ahjussi!!!!!” jhope said annoyed.

“I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU THE MOMENT I——” kim yelled but was cut off when jhope spoke.

“Well! This has been the second teaser.” Jhope’s voice was cheerful and deeply aggravating. “For more teasers and the full feature, please like, share, and subscribe. Until next time signing off, this is J-Hope!”

“YAHHHHH SHIBALLL I WILL KILL YOU YOU SON OF A BUTCHHH!!!!” Kim yelled loud.

“And… and don’t forget to comment ahjussi!!! Bye bye!” Jhope siad not caring about kim who yelled. He ended the call with a click.

Sat back. With a smirk.

Watched Kim losing his mind on screen throwing things, yelling at people on the phone, face red with fury.

The smirk on Jhope’s face faded slowly.

Replaced by something quieter. Something that had been underneath the theatrics the whole time.

“You did wrong, Samchoon,” he said softly. To the screen. To the man on it. “You should never have touched Jungkook. You should never have let Suho hyung die.”

Meanwhile Kim, already crashing around his destroyed cabin, made another call furious and absolute.

“Put Jordan on the phone!” he snapped in Italian.

A quiet, hesitant voice responded from the other end. “Sir…. h-he… he’s….”

“Why are you speaking like that? Just give him the phone” Kim yelled. Annoyed. Frustrated.

“Sir.” The voice steadied slightly. “I… i can’t. He’s preparing for a funeral.”

“What funeral? Just give him the fucking phone!” Kim yelled again. Running his hand through his hair.

“Sir.” A pause. “Michael is dead. He was killed by BTS. Just like Matteo. Day before yesterday.”

“WHATTTT?” Kim yelled. Completely shocked. Michael was dead. Michael Jordan was dead.

“I am sorry sir!” The person spoke. “Fuck it…. Once…. ahhh shiball! I’ll call later!” Kim cursed. He hung up.

He sat down on the sofa. Slowly. His eyes were bloodshot. Every muscle in his jaw tight.

He picked up the liquor bottle. Tipped it back. Drank until it was gone. Then threw it across the room.

“ARGHHHH! FUCK YOU, BTS”

His voice echoed through the 34th floor. And then the silence came back.

And in the silence the photo sat on the table. The little boy with chocolate on his face. The man who used to be his father, laughing beside him.

The next day.

Tae came downstairs in his pyjamas something that was, on a normal day, a completely ordinary sight. But today it was the dark circles that caught attention first. Visible and deep, carved beneath his eyes like he had spent the night not sleeping but just lying in the dark thinking too hard.

He looked pale. Eyes red from hours of sleeplessness.

Jin was already at the kitchen island making coffee hair slightly dishevelled, voice hoarse when he looked up. “Coffee?”

Tae nodded and sat down on the island.

Jin made it quietly. No conversation yet. Just the sound of the machine and the early morning house settling around them.

Tae stared at the mug when Jin set it in front of him. His hands neatly bandaged.

Few minutes of silence.

“Jungkook is sleeping?” Tae spoke taking a sip of the coffee. “Hmm… had a very rough night!” Jin said taking a sip of his coffee. “Was it paining a lot?” Tae asked. Eyes worried. “Hmm…. he accidentally turned sideways abruptly. Blood came.” Jin said. “You should have woke me!” Tae said. “You litrelly fainted last night tae!” Jin said. Tae sighed. He looked down.

“I’m scared,” he said. Just that. Quietly. “If this surgery is itself this painful. Then… then think about the open heart surgery hyubg. It’ll pain so much. Last time… when he got the heart surgery he cried everyday in pain. He cried to us in the phone.”

Jin didn’t say anything because there was nothing to say that made it smaller. Everyone was scared. He just waited.

“What if something goes wrong during the surgery?” Tae’s voice was low. “What if he doesn’t want it? And what if after everything, after the surgery, after all of it what if he leaves again? Like the twelve years….”

Jin moved before Tae could finish.

He pulled him in arms around his shoulders, firm and certain and Tae’s sentence dissolved into silence as his whole posture dropped. He pressed into his hyung’s chest and closed his eyes.

“Nothing is going to happen,” Jin said. His hand moved slowly through Tae’s hair. “The surgery is going to make him better. It’s for him it’s for his future. Yes the surgery is hard. But we will be there with him! And no one is leaving. No one.” He held him a little tighter. “Okay?”

Tae hummed quietly. After a moment Jin broke the hug and gestured him to drunk the coffee”Drink it. You look pale.” Tae took it obediently.

Jin ruffled his hair once. And then just stood beside him. Just that.

Afternoon.

Jungkook’s eyes opened slowly.

The room was warm. Clean. The kind of quiet that actually felt restful rather than tense.

He looked around.

Tae was asleep beside him one hand wrapped around Jungkook’s loosely, like even in sleep he had needed to hold on. Like he was making sure his little brother was still there.

Jungkook looked at his hyung’s face properly.

The dark circles. The tiredness etched into features that were usually so animated and bright. This wasn’t the Tae who pulled ridiculous faces and laughed at everything. This was Tae after a night of worrying so hard his body had simply refused to rest.

Because of him. Jungkook stared at him for a few minutes without moving.

I don’t want to hurt you he thought. I don’t want to lose you. Any of you. I don’t want that.

He just stared at his brother. Minutes passed. Then he looked at the time. 2 in the afternoon.

He had slept for eleven hours.

He exhaled slowly. Then carefully gently freed his hand from Tae’s grip without waking him. He sat up slowly. No sharp pain today just a dull, constant ache that he was beginning to know the shape of. Better than yesterday.

A wave of dizziness hit immediately. He closed his eyes, breathed through it, and reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. Drank slowly.

Then just sat there. Looking at Tae. Blank-faced. Eyes still burning. Heart still heavy with everything it was carrying.

.

.

.

Tae stirred awake a little while later pulled from sleep by the sound of the door. His first reaction was immediate, reflexive panic at the empty space beside him.

Then he looked up.

Jungkook was standing near the inside the walking closet, wearing a shirt or trying to. He was struggling with the buttons, his bandaged hands making it frustratingly difficult, fingers fumbling with each one.

“Hey, Kook-ah.” Tae was up and across the room before he had properly finished waking up. He didn’t say anything else – just gently moved Jungkook’s hands aside and started doing the buttons himself. Quietly. Efficiently.

“You should have called me,” Tae said.

Jungkook said nothing. Just stood there. Eyes down.

Once done, Tae stepped back slightly. “Pain in the chest?”

Jungkook shook his head.

“It must be at least something give me the scale. Honest.”

A pause. “Three. Maybe four.” His voice came out hoarse. Dry. Rough. Probably because of all the crying and emotional breakdown he did last night.

“Okay.” Tae nodded, scratching the back of his head. “Do you feel okay otherwise?”

Jungkook nodded once. “Wanna come downstairs?”

A hesitation. Then a small nod.

Tae smiled just slightly and took his hand and walked him down slowly, pacing himself without making it obvious, taking each step at the speed Jungkook needed.

.

.

.

Jin was on the phone when they came down. Casual shirt, sleeves rolled up, pacing slightly the way he always did when he was thinking through something complicated. When he looked up and saw Jungkook coming down the stairs with Tae, he said into the phone “I’ll call later. Handle it, and if there’s an issue ask jhope” and hung up without waiting for a response.

He smiled softly at Jungkook.

Jungkook said nothing and just settled onto the couch. “You good kook?” Jin asked, sitting across from him. Jungkook nodded slowly.

“Chest?” “Three to four,” Tae added, sitting beside Jungkook.

Jin nodded. “I’ll have the maids make something light. You can take your medication with it you’ll feel better.” He stood.

Jungkook just nodded.

Jin headed toward the kitchen but stopped when he saw someone entering the house. It was haein.

“Oh!! Haein-ah.” He blinked.

She was in casual clothes half-rolled sleeves showing her watches and rings, hair loose around her shoulders. She looked elegant the way she always did without trying. She was carrying a bag.

“Hey,” she said simply, smiling.

Tae and Jungkook both looked up at the sound of her voice. Jungkook’s eyes met hers briefly then dropped away. Tae smiled. Haein smiled back. When she saw saw jungkook turning away. Something snapped. She hided it with a smile and looked at jon.

“I brought the medications and the reports you asked for,” she said, handing the bag to Jin.

“You could have just sent them with security,” he said, taking it.

“I could have,” she agreed, without elaborating further. Then she looked past him toward the living room. “How is he?”

Jin glanced at Jungkook. “Just woke! Rough night. Chest pain kept him up.” She nodded.

“He ate?” She asked. “Ani! Gonna ask the maids to cook for him!” He said. Then she siad without hesitation “I’ll cook.”

“The maids can….” jin spoke. “Jin.” She looked at him calmly. “I said I’ll cook.”

He stepped aside.

The maids bowed as she entered. She smiled at them and moved to the stove with the quiet efficiency of someone who already knew exactly what she was going to make.

Jin stood in the doorway watching her for a second. “Thank you,” he said quietly. She just smiled.

In the living room, Tae had turned on the television. Some lighthearted show chosen deliberately, nothing intense.

Jungkook sat beside him, eyes on the screen. But his mind was somewhere else entirely. It was obvious in the way he stared without blinking, in the complete stillness of him.

Tae watched him more than the show.

In the kitchen, Jin rolled up his sleeves and picked up a knife.

“I’ll help,” he said. Haein glanced at him and nodded.

They worked in silence for a while. The rhythm of chopping and the soft sounds of the kitchen filled the space between them.

Then Jin spoke not looking up from what he was cutting.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Haein looked at him, confused. “What?”

“You don’t have to feel guilty for not being there with him. Or for not telling us.” He kept his eyes on the knife. “None of that was your fault.”

Haein was quiet for a moment. “I feel guilty anyway,” she said simply. “I should have protected him better.”

“You did protect him,” Jin said. “You did everything you could. And I…” he stopped briefly. “I am genuinely grateful. To you and to Hyunwoo samchoon. You hid things from us, yes. But you stayed with him. You gave him warmth and care when we weren’t there to give it ourselves.” He looked at her then. “Thank you, Haein-ah. Truly. For taking care of my brother.”

Haein looked at him.

Something soft moved through her chest warm and unexpected.

“I know it’s reacted harsh…. I got angry… at everyone… but yesterday kook spoke…. how you meant for him. How much he missed you…. he said you and eunwoo were the first first family to him. Then was samchoon. If it wasn’t for you or samchoon…. I would have been not able to see my brother once again….” jin said.

“I am truly grateful Haeinah!” He said. Soft. Warm. Truth.

Her eyes glistened. She looked away immediately, blinking.

“What are you even saying, Seokjin,” she said, voice slightly unsteady. “He’s my brother too. Who else was going to take care of him?”

“Are you crying?” Jin asked. His voice shifted the warmth underneath it taking on a distinctly teasing edge. “Park Haein is actually crying right now. In my kitchen. Because of something I said.” He looked genuinely delighted. “I have achieved everything. I won in life!”

“It’s the onions,” Haein said flatly. Wiping the tears.

“You’re cutting carrots.” Jin said.

She turned and glared at him.

He laughed quietly, genuinely.

And despite everything despite the weight of the past days and the fear still sitting in both their chests and everything waiting ahead Haein found herself smiling. Small and reluctant and completely real.

“You are so annoying,” she said.

“So I’ve been told,” Jin said pleasantly, turning back to his carrots.

She shook her head and looked back at her own chopping.

After a moment she glanced at him sideways. He was focused fully focused, the way he got when he was doing something for someone he loved. Unhurried. Careful.

“Jin,” she said quietly.

He looked up.

“He’s going to be fine,” she said. “He really is. He has his brothers now. He has you.” She held his gaze steadily. “He’s going to be fine.”

Jin looked at her for a moment..Then he nodded. Just once. And turned back to the vegetables. “I know…. he will be fine!” Jin said.

All I want to say is I am sorry!

Just my life been playing with me so much! First phone. Then wattpad. Then my brain. Just blank out. I had no idea what to do. Just blank.

Then…. nothing…. just me getting blanked out for no reason!

I am sorry all! You author took a big break….

Anyway I am all fine…. except I turned into a complete psycho or….. idiot??

Fine… tell me how the chapter was!

And you all! I am eleventh now! And I am emotionally drained for this year. I dont want this year 😬😬😬

And guys…. just asking…. do you want another story from me?

I have the plot for still with you season 2 already! So season two is coming after this gets finished.

But… still do you want like… another story? If so then give the ideas! Or even your requests.

Again I am sorry!