It burns, doesn’t it? [Pt.20]
Genre/au: Mafia!au, Mature, Fluff, Angst. Violence. Warning/trigger warning: graphic imagery, gang activity, gun usage, mature subject matter, mild drug usage, murder, suggestive language, lots of language, brief crude/unnerving behavior, mentions of blood, toxic/abusive themes, humiliation, gas-lighting(?), cheating is a subject of debate, brief non-explicit s*x, betrayal, lies. Don’t like don’t read please💗
Members: Bts Feat. Got7, Lisa
→ Pairing: Jungkook x reader x ?
→Summary: The mafia tore your life apart, if it wasn’t for your will to live, it would have killed you long time ago. After pain, the betrayal and lies, you’ve survived somehow—you’re apart of a family now, but there’s no love here.
word count: 10k +
author’s note: I hope you enjoy, it’s been a while 🫶 please see m.list for previous parts💗 will edit later😪
Your world has been flipped upside down and inside out.
You’re not the same person you were two years ago. You’re not where you thought you’d be or with who you thought you’d be with. By now, you would have been on the path to graduate in the fall of this year. That’s not happening anytime soon, maybe never. Not since you’ve joined this madness for your own survival, there’s no other way out.
You’ve been outside in the grass for an hour, walking in the cold, just begging for the sun to beat down on you for a little bit. Today was supposed to be your first hand-to-hand combat lesson from Jimin. Your stomach twisted in anxiety all morning. The last encounter you had with him was less than pleasant.
Oddly, he never showed up. Assuming he forgot, you went outside and to do some conditioning on your own. You did small exercises to loosen up and get your blood pumping. It’s nice to have some time to yourself. You’ve spent so much of your time with Yoongi these days. You’ve spent more time with him then you have with Jungkook. Some days he’d give you lengthy lessons on hierarchy, laws and the systems they use to operate the business. Other days he’d fall asleep from the pain medication and you’d quietly leave the room to go make lunch. No one seems to be home much anymore, it’s usually just you and Yoongi, much to Jungkook’s disdain. He’s out with Namjoon a lot, sometimes for two days at a time you don’t see him.
You creep downstairs after a shower and check the office. He’s not in there so you go to his bedroom but you’re met with a closed door, you knock.
“Come in,”
You walk into the room to see him sitting on the bed, removing the wrap on his abdomen and exposing the bullet wound. Your stomach turns at the sight. You fidget with your fingers and stare at the blood littering the bandage, it takes you back to a bad place.
“What is it?” He lays back, trying to catch his breath. You stand near the door, clenching your hands.
He’s always intimidated you but you can’t say you fear him anymore.
Six months ago, if someone told you you’d be with him almost everyday, you’d say they were crazy. Yet, here you are. He’s assumed this mentor-teacher role that surprisingly fits him. Even after spending all this time with him, you struggle to speak to him sometimes.
“Is there anyway for me to get a phone?” You mumble out your request. “I don’t have one anymore so I need to have some way to communicate with- all of you,”
“Not right now, I’ll make sure you get one when we’re in a stable environment, stay with one of us until then,” You try to hide your disappointment with a small nod. Yoongi steps into his bathroom briefly and when he comes out, you are standing in the same spot. He looks up at you.
“Did you need something else?” That’s the nice version of, ‘why are you still standing there?’
“No but,” You mentally cringe, a bit flustered, “do you need help with changing that?” You point to his side.
"Sure,” He breathes a sigh of relief, if he has to do it one more time he might just scream. He lays back on his pillow and waits.
“I’ll wash my hands first,” You scurry to the bathroom and wash with warm soapy water.
More than anyone, Yoongi has been the most consistent. The same person you hated for getting you into this slowly became the person making it easier to be here. You’ve been through so much with him and because of him—the dynamic is weird. He watches your every move, from the way you discard the old bandage to the clumsy way you unravel new goss.
“Ah,” He winces and you freeze.
“Sorry,” You pause all ministrations, “I’m just trying to make sure it’s clean before-“
“You’re doing fine, I’m just sore,” He offers a bit of praise and you smile, hands feeling less shaky. With a cloth, you clean around the stitching with antiseptic, careful not to press too firmly. You discard the cloth and start wrapping with a clean bandage.
Being so close to the damage makes your stomach queasy. All that you’ve seen and gone through is heavy on your mind. You can’t help but feel partly responsible for this, for Jin’s choices. Yoongi’s chest rises and falls, causing your eyes to drift towards his chest and land on a red ink peaking over his shoulder. Since when did he have a tattoo?
You look to him for approval. “Is that okay?”
He massages his temples with a nod, “Thank you.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Why?”
“Jin shot you…He could have killed you,”
“What he did to me was his choice, it has nothing to do with you. He’s betrayed me before, knowing him comes with the chance of getting stabbed in the back—you didn’t know?”
“No,” You nod sadly, “yes? I don’t know, maybe I didn’t want to admit it.”
“You never know with him. One minute you can trust him with your life,” He tugs a shirt on and moves to the closet to gather some things, “the next you’re running from him to save your life, that’s who he is.”
“I thought that after my fathers death, we would become close,” You bite your lip, “we’re farther apart now than we’ve ever been,”
“That’s hard to believe, given he acted as if you didn’t exist.”
“He never said anything about a sister, even after our dad was killed?”
“He kept any family he had away from us. Because of that, there was never much Namjoon could do to threaten him—until you. Deep down inside, it almost seemed like he loved you.”
You’ve started to wonder if Yoongi even knew what it meant to love someone. He doesn’t seem like Jungkook or Jimin, happy to have a warm body or a listening ear. Yet, there is something symbiotic about the relationship he has with the group, especially with Jin. He seems to depend on them, even if he doesn’t say it or show it.
“I’m sorry,” He sits beside you on the edge of the bed, “I don’t know if I ever told you that, but I am.”
“Thank you,” Your eyes reluctantly meet his, “you did what you had to do though, I can’t imagine what I would have done in your position,”
He doesn’t respond. The truth is, he wants to survive, he wants what he has to survive, if that means selliing someone to do so, so be it. they’re all like that. If it means sabotaging each other, they’ll do that too.
“Is the relationship with your father as complicated as mine was? I didn’t even know what he did until he died…”
“You could say that, he tried to kill me as a kid so that should give you an idea of what he was like. He called it training but I know he wanted to see if I would survive. He abused my mother and anyone close to him, he was a heartless bastard—I have a ton of reasons to hate him and I did at one point.”
You swallow, the reality of who you’re speaking to sets in. “You don’t anymore?”
“No, not so much anymore. He’s dead,” He sniffs, wiping at his nose, nervous tick, “I killed him.”
Of course he killed him.
“Oh…I’m sorry, I mean I know he was awful to you and your mother but,” You place a hand over his in sympathy, “I’m sure that was painful, I know it was when I lost mine. He died right in front of me, I was sick, hysterical—I never felt pain like that before.”
This is deja vu.
Years ago, he recalls having a conversation very similar to this with your brother. He can’t stop staring at you, his doe eyes linger on you longer than they ever have.
“What?” You look around.
He breaks out of his daze when you bring attention to him staring at you.
“I need to take this call,” He stands up and escorts you out, “we’ll talk later, alright?”
You try to hide your disappointment, “Okay,”
You felt like you were just getting somewhere with him. Gone was his cold leader façade, he looked human.
He looked like you.
It was so late when he got home, he was afraid you’d already gone to sleep. He trudged up the steep stairs and straight to your bedroom. He opened the door softly and dropped his bag in the corner. To his dismay, you weren’t in the bedroom at all.
“Y/n?” He looked around upstairs but you were nowhere to be seen. Then it hit him, you’re probably where you’ve been spending most of your time, Yoongi’s office. He begrudgingly marches down the stairs to go get you, it’s his turn to spend time with you.
Without knocking, he peeks into the office and sure enough, you’re asleep with a pen in your hand and a paper under your face. He stops for a moment to admire how peaceful you look and smiles to himself.
He could come home to this for the rest of his life.
When you hear the door creek, you sleepily look up and see Jungkook in the doorway.
“Hey,” You smile, dropping your pen.
“Hey,” He gently smooths a hand through his freshly cut hair, “I’m sorry it’s late, things got backed up and we had to wait.”
“It’s fine,” You visually take in how tired he looks and quickly get up to hug some of his stress away. You hum against his chest.
“I missed you,” He kisses your temple.
When you look up, your heart skips a beat and a cheeky grin forms on your face. “I missed you too,”
“How did your training go?”
“Fine,” He pushes your hair out of your face, eyebrows scrunching.
“Did Jimin teach you?”
“Well…no, I haven’t seen him today, so I just trained myself I guess,”
“Hm,” He squints, touching the abrasion on your skin until you wince, “how’d you get this?”
You shake his hand off and distract him, cupping his face and kissing him. He exhales against your lips and his mouth goes slack. He’s eager but not deliberate at all—he loves to be kissed like he’s about to die.
When you finally separate, he looks at you amused. “Are you trying to seduce me?”
You sigh, hoping he’ll cave in with your persuading, “I don’t know, maybe?”
“I need to shower first,” He thumbs the back of your hand, “do you want to join me?”
“I already showered,” You turn him down, you’re not in the mood to feel the hot water turn cold and for your fingers to start wrinkling up.
“Wait up for me then, so you can finish what you started.”
During his shower, he thinks of what he wants most right now. He wants you, he always does. In his arms and close to his heart, bringing him back to earth. The fragrance of the soap and the warm steam enters your nostrils when the bathroom door opens. In just a few moments, he’s all over you with damp hair and clumsy movements.
“Ah,” he breathes against your ear, “It’s my mom’s birthday today,” He mumbles, eyes half-lidded in ecstasy, a very Jungkook thing to do, “I wanted to call her but-…I couldn’t,”
You hum in acknowledgment, eyes glazing over, body tingling and heart racing when he uses his thumb to coerce you into giving in.
“Ah…there you go—let me know how it feels,” He snickers at your scrunched up facial expression. He suddenly stops his ministrations to knead the soft flesh of your thighs, stretching you a little further than you were prepared for, “I’m a pleaser y’know, I like the guidance,” You look up with pleading eyes, you can’t bring yourself to do it. It’s bad enough that the walls are thin and everyone is home—you are not bringing anymore attention to yourself.
”Talk to me,” he exasperates further, “you’d think I was choking you, don’t hold your breath,” He smirks, hand leaving your thigh to cup your face, “I don’t want you passing out on me.”
”Jungkook,” You gasp for air, “I don’t want anyone to hear,”
You try to hide from his piercing gaze but you have nowhere to turn. Without a word, he leans down to kiss you but you don’t offer much movement back. It could be the overstimulation of it all but you keep spacing out. He’s frustrated. He becomes increasingly heavy-handed, relentless, as if to force your presence to remain attentive to his.
It hurts a little, the scars on your thighs are sore under his fingers. You don’t have the will to tell him to stop. He already handles you like you’re glass, you don’t want him to feel that way right now, you don’t know how you want him to feel or yourself.
He breaks the kiss and continues like he didn’t just sophisticate you, “I ha- haven’t talked to my mother in almost a year, I don’t know if I can hear her voice and not cry,”
“I’m- I’m sure she wants to hear from you,” You whisper, wrapping your arms around his neck for purchase.
“I don’t think so,” He chuckles, “she’s-…It doesn’t matter, I have you, you’re all I need,” His face is like a furnace when he presses his forehead to yours, his necklace tickling your chin, “I love you, I love you,”
When he says things like this, you’re reminded of how vulnerable he can be. For some reason, you feel a tinge of guilt.
A whimper spills from his lips and you feel his whole body go rigid. Then there’s a loud knock on the door. You cringe and Jungkook practically cries out in annoyance, face sinking into the crook of your neck.
“Ignore it, they’ll leave,” he mutters between kisses on your neck, “shh, just focus on me.” he tries to chase the fading feeling as it grows more distant.
There’s another knock on the door, this time louder and harder.
“Put some pants on and come out for the damn meeting!” Taehyung’s deep voice thunders and your stomach drops.
“Fuck off!” Jungkook lets out a sound of frustration, “I’m not going to another damn meeting, it’s the middle of the night,” He yells back and promptly leans back down to kiss you, maybe to reignite what is threatening to flee, but Taehyung interrupts again.
“You don’t have a choice, we’re talking about you,” Tae reminds him, “shit is always about you these days.”
“Kook,” your brows furrow in discomfort when his grip tightens on your thighs and your body shys away from his touch, “that h- hurts,”
“I’ll just pick the lock if you don’t come out, how would you like that?”
That did it.
With a half apology, he jumps out of the bed and rushes to get his clothes. The door opens and slams shut behind him, leaving you abandoned. You can’t make out what he’s saying but you know he’s pissed.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“I knew that would get you out,” Taehyung laughs, taking note of Jungkook’s wet fringe and visibly tensed muscles, he’s visibly winded, “let’s go.”
“I’ve been out all day, I’m not going to another meeting in the middle of the fucking night, why do I need to be there? What is there to talk about? You guys could have talked to me earlier,”
“Namjoon wants to discuss relocating and Junghyun. That prick is your real brother, isn’t he? You should go see about him, it’s your fault we have to deal with him anyway.”
They both look back and see Jimin who has somehow found time to get silver streaks put in his hair. His pretty eyes look glazed over as he scans Jungkook up and down. His eyes roll and he burns with envy—Jungkook goes back into that room with you. Every night.
Despite being upset with you, he still can’t deny your appeal—it’s hard to ignore you.
“He’s publicly calling for your arrest,” Hoseok happens to be on his way downstairs and joins the conversation, “personally, I think you could use some jail time, you’ve caused a lot of problems for us.”
Jungkook tries to open the door to go back to you but Taehyung threatens something worse. He doesn’t get the chance to let you know why he’s gone and the door is left slightly open.
So you lay there, staring at the door and trying to steady your breathing. Anxiety builds in your chest, how can you get to the door like this? You grimace, Jungkook should have made sure the door was closed.
Your heart sinks when you see the footsteps pass the door—then slowly come back.
The door creaks and light enters the dark cozy room, followed by the door shutting.
It’s Jimin.
“Hi,”
You clutch the bedsheets—what does he want?
“I want to talk to you about what I said the other day,” He slowly paces around the dark room, “I said you were conniving, a back stabbing bitch and a fucking liar like your brother…I’m sorry,” He sits on the edge of the bed, a longing expression on his face, “I was just angry,”
You swallow, knuckles white from how hard your gripping the sheets. He’s apologizing but your mind is still stuck on, ‘back stabbing bitch.’
“What?”
“I’m sorry,” He traps you between his arms, one arm on each side of you, “I thought about it and I realized that you- You didn’t do this, he did. He ruined you,” Tears begin to well in his eyes and you look at him wide eyed, “you’re not the same girl I know when you’re with him.”
You try to sit up, but he’s too close, the cover could easily get pulled under his weight.
This is scary—he’s a staring into your soul, tears rolling down his cheeks and dripping off his chin. It’s hard to tell whether this is guilt, an attempt to gain pity, or a mental breakdown—knowing him, it could be all three. “I’m so sorry, Y/n,”
“It- it’s okay…” You look away, too nervous to say anything else.
“Really? You forgive me?” He smiles, tears dissipating just as soon as they appeared.
You put on a convincing face, “Yes...”
“Even if you say that…I’m still being punished,” He leans into you, face just centimeters from your own, “you’re my punishment.”
“Jimin,” You plead, horror in your eyes, “What do you want from me?…”
“I wanted to see you,” He traces a finger from your brow to your ear, “I can have anyone I want, but not you. Why does it have to be you that I can’t have? Jungkook had to fall for you,” He glances down at your pouting lips, “But to know I can’t have you….it makes me want you even more.”
“Jungkook will be upset if he finds out you we’re here,” You whisper, fearing for his safety and yours.
“He doesn’t have to know I was here, he doesn’t have to know anything about us,”
He notices you clutch the sheets really hard, and your thighs squeeze together. “What’s the matter?” He glances at the nightstand and gathers clues to what was happening in here moments ago.
“Oh…that must be frustrating, he just left you like this,” He smirks, “he hasn’t changed, he uses you just like he used Jiyoon,”
“No, he doesn’t,” You frown, trying to push yourself back into the headboard.
“He does, baby,” He coos, condescension in his tone.
“He’s not like that anymore,” You shake your head, tears pricking at your eyes.
He rubs your thigh over the blanket, “I remember having you at arms reach at one point, you have no idea how hard it was to see you every night, laying in that bed all alone…especially those nights you’d ask me to stay with you and you let me hold you. I‘d have to visit a few of my old friends just to get my mind off of you, cold showers don’t work for me.”
You always ignored Jimin’s red flags, it was easy when you were alone. Were you manipulating him or was he manipulating you? It could be both. But Jimin comes with years of experience, he has seen and done more than you ever have. Some might label him as a whore and they wouldn’t be so far off from the truth. A few hours in the red district and he can quickly make a name for himself.
“But even though I’m attracted to you, I don’t view you as an object, you’re a human being with your own life,” He grabs your wrists to pull you up and hug you. Jungkook’s shirt is all you have on and you shudder at the closeness. But you appease him by hugging him back. You hold him tight, as if you were hugging him on one of those terrible nights. He hums over your shoulder, arms so snug around your waist.
“Jimin,” You sniffle, fighting back tears of your own now, “please go…”
“If I told you I loved you, would you tell him?”
Your mouth gapes in surprise.
“I-…I don’t know.”
“I knew it,” He sneers, “you don’t care about me enough to say that you love me.”
“I do care about you,” Your body feels like it’s numb when he finally lets you go. “I don’t mean to hurt you, I’m just- I’m confused…I’m with Jungkook, I suppose I love you too but not in the same way-“
“You made me fall for you, and now you don’t want me…Your so fucking self absorbed, you can’t even see it.“
You fall silent. Nothing you say can change how he feels. You’ve opened a wound, one that he has never been able to heal.
“It’s fine,” He coos, “if this is all I can get from you, I’ll take it, for now.” He tilts your jaw up by your chin and kisses your neck, purposefully leaving a damp spot to make you squirm against him. Then he leaves the room with a lingering gaze on you.
You lean over on your side and fall apart. You start start to cry into the bedsheets and wish this would all end. Why is this happening? You flee the bedroom and head for the only place you know no one will look for you.
*
“I’m leaving late tomorrow night, we decided that I should be the first to relocate,”
Yoongi reminds Hoseok who won’t be joining him to his dismay. The leaders need to distance themselves, being in close quarters for too long is never good.
He shuts the door with an exhale.
“Come out,”
You open the bathroom door and gasp at the sight of the gun. He lowers it as soon as he sees that it’s you.
“I’m sorry! I’ll leave,” You rub the tears from your eyes, only making them look more irritated, “I just-…I knew no one would look for me here.”
“Wait,” He puts his gun away with a sigh, “did something happened? You look like you’ve been crying,” He scans you up and down for injury as you keep your hands on your face to cover your eyes.
“Did someone hurt you?” He questions firmly and you shake your head, “you can tell me.”
“No…” You mumble and he comes down from high alert.
You stand there, tears now rolling down your cheeks. This is not a new sight to Yoongi, panic attacks and breakdowns are concepts he knows well. Whatever or whoever caused this must have made you feel unsafe, that’s the only explanation he can gather.
“Where’s Jungkook?”
“He- he went to a meeting,” You sniffle, “you weren’t with them?”
“No.”
“Oh,”
He looks you over, debating whether he should inquire more. When he looks at you, he wishes he’d think of Geongmin or Rose, but he doesn’t. He can’t seem to figure it out with you. You’re not Jin but he feels that same sense of familiarity as if you were.
What am I thinking?
You start to breathe at a concerning pace.
“You’re gonna pass out if you can’t stop hyperventilating like that,” He stands in front of you to make sure you don’t collapse, “take a deep breath,” He breathes in and out, trying to get you to do the same, “if you aren’t hurt then what happened?”
“I don’t want Jungkook to see me,” You breathe in and exhale shakily.
That doesn’t explain what happened, you know that.
“If the meeting is over I’m sure he’s looking for you.”
“I know, I’ll go, I just need a minute.”
There’s a knock on the door and then you hear Namjoon’s voice.
Yoongi looks at you, then to the door, then back to you.
He waits for him to walk away from the door before whispering to you, “go back to your room, you’ll create more problems for yourself if you come to me like this, you know that.”
“But-“
“Go, we’ll talk tomorrow,” He takes your hand briefly, “I promise.”
He says that for your sake and slips out, door shutting abruptly behind him. It didn’t feel good to hear him say that. You want to be with Jungkook but there’s an unexplained uncertainty that creeps up. You scurry back to the room and catch Namjoon’s eye on the way upstairs. When you retreat back into the bedroom, he’s there waiting.
Jungkook sits in the chair in the corner of the room, no smile detected.
“Where have you been?”
“You left the door open,” You evade the question with a harsh reply, “don’t act concerned about where I’ve been when you left me in here half naked.”
“Shit,” He rubs the back of his neck, instantly feeling regret, “I’m sorry, they were rushing me and Taehyung was going to open the door if I didn’t do something-“
“Anything could have happened.“
His eyes widen. “Did something happen?”
“No, but-“
“Why did you leave the room then? It would have been safer for you to stay in here and close the door. But you left, why?” He stands up and slowly walks you down until your back hits the wall, “if nothing happened then you shouldn’t have a problem telling me.” You glare up at him as he towers above you, so close.
You saw this coming a mile away. The interrogation, the trust fading into the abyss. You turn your head, refusing to answer.
“Y/n,” He backs away, “you’ve been crying,” He cups the side of your face, not knowing that was the second time you’ve heard that tonight. “What’s going on?“
“I just needed some fresh air,” You brush his hand off of your face, “that’s all,”
“Fresh air, you leave the house without saying anything for some goddamn fresh air,”
“I don’t want to be stuck in here all the time, why do you have a problem with that?”
His expression darkens, you don’t know what’s going through his mind—let alone your own.
“We’re in a sketchy town in the middle of nowhere, that’s why.”
“You just want to control me,” You throw a jab.
“Don’t act like you need someone to control you then,” He lowers his gaze, “I protect you, whether you think it’s controlling or not, I don’t care.”
You feel your blood pressure rise.
“I thought you wanted me to join the group and work with you, why are you acting like I can’t do anything without you? I may not know as much as you but I’m not stupid, I know how to look out for myself.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” He tries to get closer but you press your back further into the wall, “I just worry about you,”
“If things didn’t happen the way they did, I don’t think you would have chosen me,” You blurt that out with no real concern for the ramifications, “you don’t want someone like me.”
“What? Why the fu k would you even say that?” He pauses to process what you said, “I love you, it doesn’t matter if we would have met in this life or another, you’re still the person that I love.”
“But I don’t know what love is, I used to but not anymore,” You mutter, “and I don’t think it’s what we have.”
He looks at you as if you were his worst fear in the flesh.
“What’re you saying? How do you not know what it is but say it’s not what we have?”
Every word out of his mouth feels like a gag being shoved down your throat. You want to explain further but even you don’t know what you’re saying.
“Say something, Y/n. You can’t say something like that and then go silent,”
“I don’t know why I thought I could do this, I’ve been trying but it’s not working, I can’t be a part of this. I hate having to put on an act... I’m trying to be brave and strong but I’m not, I’m not like you.”
“Baby,” He sighs, “is that why you’re upset? You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. This is a lot, being a apart of this group isn’t easy-“
“That’s not it! It’s just the group, I just-…I’m not supposed to be here, I want to go home,”
He remains calm, “You are home, you’re with me.”
“No, my real home, with my family.”
You know your words hit him like a dagger to his heart. But you can’t keep pretending anymore, he deserves your truth.
“Today, I wrote a letter so that I could tell my aunt, everything that’s happened to me, she may never get to read it but I needed to get it off my chest,” You’re a bit embarrassed to admit it, “I don’t know when I’ll see her again but I know she’ll have questions, I don’t know what she’ll think if she finds out about you.“
“We’re in this for life. So was your dad and your brother, she‘ll have to accept it, it’s a big part of who you are now. Why are you all of a sudden worried about what she thinks?”
“I just am, ok?” You bite the inside of your lip,“god, I don’t know who I am anymore,” You rub your eyes to clear away any stray tears, “I’m so lost, I feel lost and confused, and I’m not happy, Jungkook,”
“What does that have to do with how you feel about me? You just suddenly don’t know how you feel about me?” His brows knit together after promptly dismissing your confession. He may as well have just said he doesn’t give a damn about your identity crisis. “If you don’t want to be an active member and train, I’ll talk to them-“
“No, I never said-“ You pause, “Are you even listening to me? I don’t feel like myself, that’s what I’m trying to tell you- Just forget I said anything, I’m sorry I even brought it up.” You storm past him to shut the light off and crawl back into bed.
“Hey,” The bed dips behind you and he lets out a deep sigh, “listen.”
To his surprise, you actually look back at him.
“You have to decide,” He plants a delicate kiss on your forehead. “think about who got you through this shit in the first place, think of where you’d be if it weren’t for me.”
Silence pangs throughout the room, giving you ample time to think about what he just said. He eventually sinks down behind you but doesn’t touch you. You got your answer, and it doesn’t feel very good. There’s no epiphany or moment of clarity, you don’t feel grateful, you don’t feel anything. Nothing.
There are defining moments in the lives of every mafia member. Everyone has a unique story that shaped them. Jimin’s story is not tragic like Jungkook’s or privileged like Namjoon’s, his life is more along the lines of a tale of the bad outweighing the good.
Before finding a permanent home with Namjoon, he had a home on the streets. His story began in grade school. He moved from his parent's home in the countryside to an all-boys school in the city. The same school Namjoon and Taehyung attended. He was 10. For a period in his life, he questioned his parent's love for him. Why send him to a city he knew nothing about with no family within reasonable travel distance? He concluded that they didn’t want him.
The last time he saw his parents was at his high school graduation. He arrived in the art teacher's car, not the most appropriate mode of transportation. No one ever knew why she took such a liking to him. He was sure no one saw the glances that were a little too long for the teacher to be on a student. Or the hugs that were a little too tight for a teacher and student. There were nights he would sneak out of the dorm to explore the city with a few bad friends. Those “friends” would use him. They would make him do things that they couldn’t do without a pretty face like his. He’d crawl back into the dorm, drunk and sometimes bruised. He never said what he did those nights, but it was clear it took a toll on him at the tender age of 16.
Namjoon observed how people responded to Jimin. He did that to everyone, every person has a niche. Even strangers would stop to give him a second glance. Older women especially loved him, something about him made them feel alive. The boy was born to be admired. It was at that moment that he realized how special Jimin was.
“My little brothers, graduating!” Namjoon welcomed them into the limousine with a beaming grin, “and just one more to go, you’ll be joining them soon, Jungkook.” He rubs the youngest shoulder.
“Maybe,” Jungkook shrugs, “graduating isn’t that important to me-“
“You might as well finish,” Hoseok rolls a joint with skill and lights it just as skillfully, “if this mafia gig doesn’t work you need something to fall back on,”
“He’s right, Kook,” The leader pops a bottle of champagne, giving the heavy drink his glass first, “make your mama proud one last time before you sell your soul to the mafia.”
It was one occasion where they all dressed up, ready to meet the dinner reservation, hit the clubs, and probably get wasted. Yoongi didn’t join but he sent gifts in the form of letters, Jin as well. Hoseok didn’t have much to do so he tagged along. At this point, his hair was long, to his shoulders, during his sleazy drug dealer phase.
Rose gave Taehyung a big hug but Geongmin was nowhere to be seen.
“I’m so proud of you guys,” Rose kisses her brother's cheek and gives Jimin a kind smile.
“No kiss for me?” Jimin pouts, leaning over to Rose with puppy dog eyes.
“Just this one time, Jimin,” She humors him with a kiss on the cheek and he giggles, “happy?”
“Very,” He flutters his lashes.
That night, they partied like there was no tomorrow. Namjoon insisted they deserved it and should indulge in a good time. Jimin managed to slip away to the strip club, where he ran into an old friend—an old girlfriend.
“Oh my god,”
Her name was Petal, that’s what she went by on stage. She was 6 years older than him and ruined their relationship fairly quickly, broke his heart and dared him to do anything about it.
“Jimin,” She scurries from the pole and over to him with a panic on her face, “what’re you doing here?”
“You look stunning,” He gives her a charming smile, “did you just start your shift? Your little costume is still on, and there are no bills in your…thong,”
“You need to go, please,” She adjusts her fuzzy pink cowgirl hat, “I can’t talk,”
“Hey, get back on the stage, beautiful!” A drunk 40-something yells from the crowd.
“Where’s your husband? I thought you two bought a house and had a few babies already, what’re you doing out here still selling yourself?”
“He left me, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear, now leave! I’m trying to work,”
She struts back on the stage, wishing she could hide from the piercing gaze that lingered on her.
“Oh,” Jimin shakes his head in disbelief, “so you cheated on him throughout your entire so-called engagement, lying straight to his face, claiming I forced you into fucking me and got me beaten unconscious, just so he could leave you?”
She tries to ignore him and focus on the music, it’s painful enough to be found out, let alone have to continue working.
“Petal,” Jimin leans against the stage corner, she ignores him, “Youjin,” She shudders at her real name, “your boss is watching, we both know you can’t keep a job so don’t mess this up by ignoring a paying customer.” He suddenly pulls out a hundred dollar bill, waving it around like a treat.
She crawls over to the edge of the stage and he tucks the bill into her bra strap. “Good girl,”
That night, he got his revenge. She experienced a fraction of the humiliation she put him through.
Jimin had a rough life. He was often placed as an after thought or a secondary option by the people who used him. His identity had been thrown in a blender his entire life, he was different people for so many different people. His pain and vengeance manifested itself in self-destructive habits that slowly ate away at him. To be on the receiving end of his pain, like Youjin and so many others, was a punishment more damaging to ones mind than ones body. He loved to please at any cost, even at the cost of himself. Was it his fault?
His past weighs heavily on him.
A knock on the door interrupts the first sip of his freshly brewed black coffee.
“Dr. Jeon? It’s Agent Ban, I have a 10 o’clock with you.”
“Come in,”
She opens the office door, revealing her tall figure in a black pant-suit and heels.
“Thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me this morning,” She takes a seat and pulls out a tablet, “I know you’re very busy with everything that’s going on.”
“Of course,” He smiles, “I assume this is about my brother?”
“Not exactly,” She crosses her legs and pulls out a pen, “I am perusing a separate case that is loosely connected to that one.” ^
”Alright, then how can I help?”
“Your hospital is the most frequented for emergency medical treatment within a 10 mile radius, I wanted to ask if Jeon Jungkook was admitted with anyone.”
”From what I can remember, he had just been in a car accident and I was told he arrived with someone but that person had been checked out before I got to see him. And unfortunately, during the checkout, our systems were down so we have no record of the individual other than the fact that she was a female.”
”I see,” She writes some things down, “that’s all I need to know, thank you.”
“That’s it?” He was expecting more than that but she confirms that she’s gathered what she needs.
“For now, yes, but I’ll be in contact.”
She leaves the hospital and hops back in her car to head to her next location. The police department.
“Can I take a look at all of your current missing persons files? Those who are still missing and those who were found, if you have that available.”
“Sure,” The cop takes her to the file storage and gives her a key, “that drawer has all of the victims who were found over the past year and the bulletin board has the most recent cases that are not yet concluded.”
She takes her time going through the files. There are too many, too many girls not being taken on as priorities. By the time the cops get to them, it’s too late and the damage is done. The more she looks, the farther she feels from her victim. As she sifts through the photos, she has a moment of realization. If the girl is involved with the mafia and they want to keep her identity a secret, there’s no way her relatives would report her as a missing person.
Where could you be?
*
Morning came and the abrupt awakening set your day off in the worst way. The rain is hammering down on the house and Jungkook is waking you with a shake to your shoulder.
“Wake up, we have to go,” He looks you over, “we found a rat last night.”
You look up with squinted eyes, barely gathering what he said. “B- But…I thought,”
“There are eyes on this place so we have to leave. Get dressed,” He hands you some clothes for you go to the bathroom to get freshened up. This is happening all over again. You’re picking up and leaving the place you started to feel comfortable in.
“Wait, Jungkook,” You attempt to grab his hand but he slips away, “I need to talk to you,”
“Be downstairs in 10 minutes,”
The door slams shut and you get dressed with a thought weighing in your mind. If Jungkook doesn’t want to talk, fine. You were supposed to talk to Yoongi, you can’t leave without talking to him.
*
“Jungkook will go with me, Hoseok and Taehyung will go together,” Namjoon relays his plan to his best friend and co-leader, “Jimin should go with you, you need someone with the best combat skills, next to Jungkook of course.”
“And Y/n?” Yoongi brings up a valid question.
“What about her?”
“Where should she go?”
“Wherever Jungkook goes, it’s one a way to keep him under control,” Joon lets out a sigh, “but maybe she should go with you, you are teaching her and Jimin is training her.”
“Yeah, she should,” He agrees, “You tell the kid, I’ll talk to her.”
The kid—Namjoon giggles, he hasn’t heard that in a long time.
No one wants to deal with Jungkook’s possessiveness. That’s why Yoongi and Jungkook never got along. Jungkook was a bit too spoiled by Namjoon. He took Jungkook under his wing and treated him like he could do no wrong. Jungkook knew he had Namjoon wrapped around his finger.
It was his weakness.
*
“Where are we going?”Jungkook asks as he paces idly in the foyer, waiting for you.
“You and I are taking a trip to see a friend of mine in Japan, I think we can discuss moving half of our business over there.”
“How long?”
“Maybe three days? Could be more. We could be there for months, it depends. I like to socialize a bit before getting into the nitty gritty of business, that’s how we keep our clients.”
“Months? Y/n’s gonna give me shit when she finds out-“
“No she won’t,”
“What makes you say that?”
“She’s not coming with us,”
“Why not?” Jungkook frowns.
“Yoongi has really taken her under his wing, isn’t that sweet? He’s taking her with him, it’s best for all of us.”
“How? He doesn’t know her like that-“
“If Jin decides to go after her again, the last place he’ll think to look is anywhere far from you, he’ll think she’s with you but she’ll be with Yoongi.”
“He can find out where she is, if we had a mole then there’s obviously a way he can get that information, it won’t matter.”
“Y/n isn’t coming with us, as a member, she goes where I want her to go or where Yoongi wants her to go, she wants to go with him anyway.”
“How the hell would you know that? Did you talk to her?”
“I saw her leave his room last night, he said they talked, he didn’t say about what but I can put two and two together.”
“She was with him last night?”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“No, there’s a lot of shit she’s not telling me,”
As if things couldn’t get any worse.
*
You hold onto the stairwell, walking slowly in hopes to not be detected. Namjoon is the first to see you, the brief eye contact was awkward. What makes it more awkward is Jungkook staring you down. It’s not the sweet, starry-eyed gaze, it’s cold.
“Is everything ok?” You walk up to Jungkook, trying to draw out a sweet expression, it doesn’t work. He stands up, brows furrowed as if you had just spouted out utter nonsense.
“I don’t know,” He looks you up and down, “you tell me.”
“What?” You look bewildered, “what do you mean?
“Have you been cheating on me? Because your stories aren’t adding up, tell me the truth,”
Your chest tightens and you ball your fist to release your sudden influx of frustration. You feel a bit embarrassed that Namjoon is watching this unfold.
“No- no,” You stutter, “why would you say that?”
He grabs your wrist and drags you into a random bedroom.
“Hey!” Ryan, the bleach-blonde buzz cut guy who came with Hoseok was in the middle of getting dressed. Jungkook spares him no mind. “You’re fucking crazy man,” He scurries out, struggling to put his shirt on in a state of shock.
“J-Jungkook, what’re you doing?” You swallow.
“You don’t make sense,” He confesses starkly, “you don’t make any fucking sense and it’s making me crazy,” He presses his temples.
You saw this coming. You wished you hadn’t.
“I used to be so sure about you, about us. I knew you were the one that I loved no matter what, you could do anything and I would forgive you, that’s how I felt just yesterday. Now, I don’t know if I can take it anymore. You don’t know what you want or who you are and you expect me to do something about it and I can’t!” He laments, “I can protect you and I can love you but I can’t fix all of your problems and that’s how you treat me, it’s not fair.”
“I never asked you to fix my problems,” You reply bitterly, “I wanted your support, you get upset when I confide in other people but when I confide in you, you don’t care,”
“Those other people don’t care about you,” He walks up to stand in front of your face, “other than you being Jin’s sister, they don’t give a shit about you, don’t you get that? Just because people accept you into something, doesn’t mean they care, they just want something from you-“
“That’s not true!” You cut him off angrily, “you don’t want them to care about me, that’s the real issue. I’m more than just your girlfriend,” Your nose burns as tears well up in your eyes, “I don’t want to just be yours, I want to be myself again,”
“You being mine, has kept you safe,” His tone sharpens, “do you know what could have happened to you if I didn’t let you stay with me?” He snorts. “You’d be a whore making money for everyone but yourself, that could have happened to you but I chose you. I fucking chose you and now…”
“Now what?” You dare.
“I’m not so sure I should have,” It pains him to admit it, “I wanted you, I wanted you so fucking bad, it killed me not to have you. Part of me was glad you came with no strings attached, no family no friends, you had nothing,” He confesses, “and I liked that about you, I didn’t want you to be someone apart from me, I wanted you to mean us,”
Jungkook is selfish.
To have you, was to love you. Was it not the same anymore? Now, you’re responding as if he has trapped you here and it feels awful.
“Do you hear yourself? Do you know how terrible that sounds to me? I loved you, all this time I stayed by your side because I thought this was love,” You breathe, “had I known you didn’t even see me as my own person and that you like that I lost my old life, I would have left you a long time ago,” You feel tears stream down your cheeks, but you’re unable to stop them from flowing, “and I’m always crying, every time we talk I end up crying,” You bite the inside of your lip.
“I was never a crier before you, I was happy, I was a good person before you,” You wipe your cheeks, anger and frustration bubbling in your chest, “my identity is gone and it’s your fault!You took it from me, you ruined everything for me!”
The emotion that has been harboring inside of you has finally come out.
“Then leave!” He shoots back. “If I’m such torture to be with then fucking leave,” He says with pain and anger in his tone, he’s hurting.
“Go fuck Jimin, fuck anyone- I don’t care anymore, I’m sure you’ve already done that. You keep lying. You lied to me just last night, you were with Yoongi and chances are you were with Jimin too, why did you lie?”
You swallow.
“If- if I would have told you the truth, you would have blown up like this, we didn’t do anything- Jimin is the one who came to me and I couldn’t stop him-“
“Stop him from what?”
“Does it matter? I can’t stop him from doing anything to me! I can’t- I can’t fight him, when he’s around I can’t do anything,”
“Bullshit,” He grits his teeth, “you made me believe he was the one who initiated all that shit, I’m starting to think that you wanted it…”
“I didn’t,” You press, “I just didn’t know what to do-“
“Stop, just stop,” He cuts you off, “I don’t believe you anymore,”
He’s beyond hurt.
All the times he’s found out that you and Jimin met behind his back, it’s laughable.
The first time he did it, you were relieved.
—
“Yah!” You were pulled back by a pair of arms wrapping around you. “Jung-” You tried to call for Jungkook but you were silenced by a hand clamping over your mouth. Now you were panicking, this can’t be happening now.
“Shh…baby, it’s just me.” He let you go. You quickly turned around to see Jimin with a small smile. He smiled at the cute face he once coaxed out of pain.
“Jimin? You scared me…” You stepped away shyly.
“I’m sorry.” He held onto your hands and tilted his head, smiling warmly.
“W-what’re you doing here?” You knitted your brows in confusion, it’s not like you weren’t happy to see him but why was he here and how did he find you?
"I just wanted to see you.“ He was looking you over and you were wearing a familiar jacket that was far too big to be your own, "Jungkook? You’re here with Jungkook?” You nodded.
“Well, I should go before he gets suspicious.” Your heart sank, you knew that Jimin probably knew where Jin was and you wanted to go with him for that reason. “But-”
“Don’t worry baby,” He pecked your cheek, “I’ll come to see you again.”
—
He kept that promise.
He never stopped coming back and it’s only gotten you into trouble.
“Fine, if you’re not going to trust me then what’s the point of us anymore?”
“Y/n,” He says your name like a curse, “all the time and effort I put in to trying to love you, to make things easier for you—and this is who you really are? I fucking liar, did I make you into this?” His voice lowers, “because if so, I won’t do this to you anymore, if this is it, make it clear, tell me you don’t want me so I can breathe again,”
The blame has to go somewhere—you had to choose.
“I don’t want to-“
“Say my name,” He demands, “at least give me that.”
“J- Jungkook,” You utter his name out painfully, “I don’t want to be with you anymore…Not like this.”
He walks up to you and presses his hand against the wall, right beside your head. Your gazes are locked on, you both know this may be the last time you’re this close. He drags his hand from the side of your head to your cheek.
One last touch.
“That’s it then,” He exhales deeply, voice nearly too low to hear, “I’m sorry, you’re not the same person I fell in love with…I don’t know who you are.”
He walks out of the bedroom, leaving you alone. Just like you wanted. Your heart was broken to begin with, not just Jungkook’s doing, but as soon as you left the safety of your family, your heart began to break.
Jungkook storms out of the house and slams the door in his wake.
You walk out of the room but you are stopped by Namjoon blacking the doorway.
“Hey, sounded like things were getting pretty heated in here,” He tilts his head, “what’s going on? Are you two in a fight-“
“We just broke up,” You frown, “so whatever sick idea you had when you forced us together, it’s over.”
You try to push past him but you’re quickly reminded of his size and strength, he stops you in your tracks.
“Wait,” He holds your wrist in his hand, “seriously?” The look on his face in genuine surprise.
“Yes, now let go,” You pull against him, “I need to talk to Yoongi,”
“Is that why you were in his room last night? You told him you wanted to go with him right?”
“Yes,” You lie straight through your teeth, “will you please let go of me?”
Just as soon as you step away, the worst happens. The worst always happens.
“Hey! There’s a van a thugs outside and they’re armed,” Ryan bursts through the doors, “Hoseok and Taehyung left an hour ago, why’re you guys still here!?”
Before a, ‘what?’ can escape from your lips, a group of men in masks and with guns barge into the house, knocking Ryan clean out. About five gives waiting around to guard Namjoon come out with guns ablaze. There’s no time to process anything because Namjoon is already dragging you behind him and out of the house.
Within seconds he stops at the side of the house and you gasp for air.
“Wait,” You grab his sleeve, still struggling to catch your breath, “I need a gun, give me a gun, please! I can’t do anything like this,”
No more being protected off on the sidelines. You have to fight too.
“Here,” He pulls it from the holster attached to his thigh, “you better know how to use it.”
“Yoongi’s still inside,” Your eyes glaze over in sheet horror, “we have to go back, he could die-“
“No,” Namjoon knows this for a fact, “he’ll get out, compared to what he’s used to, this is a walk in the park,”
The Yoongi he knows has done this a dozen times and survived a dozen times, that’s just what he does. You take his word for it, you don’t have a choice.
With all those people in the house, you’d think they’d make some noise but it’s eerily quiet.
“Why is it so quiet?” You whisper.
“Shh,” He holds a finger to his lips, “they’re looking for someone and it’s not me or you,”
You feel your nose burn with the urge to cry at the thought, “Is- is it Yoongi?”
“Hush, I don’t know,”
“But-…” You fall silent when you feel a hand grab yours. When you look back and see Yoongi, your worries are soothed.
“Switch with me,” Yoongi stalks behind you, you and Namjoon share a sigh of relief, “you’ve used this one before,” he takes your hand and switches the guns.
“We need to make a break for the cars,” Namjoon leads the two of you to the driveway and garage.
“Y/N! Y/N!?”
The three of you pause and quickly realize who’s screaming your name.
“What the hell is he doing? Does he want to get killed,” Yoongi sneers.
“He probably thinks you’re still inside,” Namjoon concludes, “You guys go, I’ll get him.”
The car you assumed he was in is still running but no one is in the drivers seat. The closer you all get, you can see blood on the seats, who’s blood is that? You look to see if there are any body’s but there’s no one, did everyone rush inside?
“Yoongi, do you think they killed someone? All that blood…” You whisper as you follow him and he holds his phone to his ear.
“Our driver is down the road at that abandoned barn,” He puts the phone away, “we have to run, you’re gonna hear a lot of gunshots, but keep running.”
Yoongi took your hand and made a run for it. It’s nearly daybreak, the grass is covered in dew and the sun has yet to supply a decent amount of warmth. Just as he said, you hear the gunshots ring and you feel Yoongi’s hand tighten.
“Maybe we should wait for them? I’m afraid something will happen if we don’t stay and help, I’m scared-“
“No, we’re not waiting, we’re leaving now.”
The driver beckons you both over, hands secure on the wheel. Yoongi, despite his condition, pushes you into the car before himself. He tells the driver to go and he pulls off at an ungodly speed.
The car passes the house and all you see is an unconscious Jungkook being rushed out of the house and into the van.
“No, no, what’s happening,” You press your hands to the window and stare wide-eyed, “he’s not moving.”
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