Chapter Text
Jimin found the trainee near the downstairs practice rooms. The second he spotted him leaning casually against the hallway wall laughing with two other trainees, something inside him snapped completely. “You.”
The trainee looked up in surprise. Then immediately froze when he saw Jimin storming toward him. “What the…”
Jimin grabbed the front of his shirt before he could finish. “You touch Jungkook again and I swear to god…”
“Jimin!” Namjoon’s voice echoed sharply down the hallway as he and Yoongi caught up. Other trainees nearby immediately stopped moving, tension flooding the corridor. Managers moved closer.
The older trainee quickly shoved against Jimin’s grip. “What the hell is your problem?”
“My problem?” Jimin’s voice shook violently with rage. “You’ve been hurting him! Our kid!”
The trainee’s expression changed instantly. Just for a second. But Yoongi caught it. Fear of them, good! Then immediately afterward came fake confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit,” Yoongi snapped coldly.
Jimin shoved him hard enough that the trainee stumbled backward into the wall. “You threatened him for money! You hurt him”
The trainee looked around nervously now, clearly noticing the attention gathering in the hallway. “He’s lying.”
Namjoon stepped forward then, expression colder than any of them had seen all month. “Careful,” he said quietly. “Don’t you dare to put this on him.”
The trainee swallowed hard but kept trying anyway. “That freak barely talks. How do you even know what he means? He draw my picture of something after a nightmare”
The second the word left his mouth, Jimin lunged again. This time Yoongi physically grabbed him before things escalated further. “Jimin.”
“He called him a freak?” Jimin sounded genuinely ready to kill someone now.
The trainee tried pulling free from Namjoon’s grip. “He’s weird! Everybody knows he’s weird.”
Yoongi’s expression darkened dangerously. “And that gave you permission to hurt him?”
“I barely touched him!” The trainee defended himself.
Namjoon shoved him back against the wall hard enough to silence the hallway instantly. “The cut on his throat says otherwise.”
The trainee’s face paled. For a second he still looked like he might keep denying it. Then suddenly his expression twisted bitterly instead. “You don’t get it,” he spat. “That kid’s completely messed up. He follows anyone who tells him what to do.”
Jimin made a furious sound behind Yoongi’s grip. The trainee laughed nervously, trying to defend himself now that he realized he was caught. “He practically handed me the money himself! I just scared him a little.” Namjoon looked horrified. Yoongi looked murderous. “He’s pathetic,” the trainee continued angrily. “Can’t even talk properly. Cries over everyth…”
Yoongi slammed him back against the wall before he could finish. Hard. The hallway went dead silent. For the first time, genuine fear crossed the trainee’s face. “Listen carefully,” Yoongi said quietly. That quiet tone was far scarier than yelling. “You targeted a traumatized kid because you thought he was weak.” The trainee stared at him silently. “And now,” Yoongi continued coldly, “you’re done here. You career is over. You’re dream on done”.
At that moment one of the company managers finally stepped in, clearly alerted by the noise. “What is going on here?”
Everyone started talking at once. Except the trainee. Because now he looked genuinely terrified. Namjoon stepped forward immediately. “He’s been threatening and physically assaulting Jungkook.”
The manager’s face changed instantly. “What?”
Yoongi pointed directly at the trainee. “Check his room. Check his things.” The trainee went pale. And that alone was answer enough. Within minutes, the situation completely collapsed around him. The manager dragged the trainee aside while demanding explanations, and once other trainees nearby started quietly admitting they had seen things too, the denial stopped working.
The company acted fast after that. By the time the trainee was officially told to leave the building immediately pending further action, he looked furious instead of ashamed. As staff escorted him toward the exit, he suddenly twisted back toward the members with venom in his eyes. “That kid’s gonna ruin your group someday anyway.” He yelled
Jimin nearly broke free from Yoongi again. But then Yoongi noticed something sticking halfway out of the trainee’s pocket. A wallet. Worn. Too small to belong to him. Without hesitation, Yoongi snatched it free. The trainee cursed immediately. “Give that back!” Yoongi opened it. Inside was a thick stack of crumpled bills. Far too much cash for a trainee to casually carry around. And tucked awkwardly behind it… A tiny faded countryside photo of Jungkook and an elderly woman smiling together. Yoongi’s stomach turned. This bastard had literally been carrying Jungkook’s money around in his own wallet. Slowly, Yoongi pulled every bill out. “All of this,” he said coldly, “belongs to Jungkook.”
The trainee lunged toward him angrily before two staff members immediately restrained him.
Jimin stared at the photo silently. Then quietly took it from Yoongi’s hands before it could get bent.
Back in the practice room, Jungkook eventually cried himself into exhaustion. One moment he was still trembling violently in Hoseok’s arms, trying desperately to fight panic and guilt and fear all at once. The next, his body simply gave out. Hoseok felt the exact second it happened. The younger boy suddenly went heavy against him, breathing evening out shakily while tears still clung to his lashes. For a moment Hoseok just stared down at him. Did he pass out? Then something inside him cracked completely. “He’s exhausted,” Taehyung whispered quietly beside them.
Hoseok nodded weakly. And then, to his own embarrassment, tears finally spilled down his face too. Just helpless overwhelmed tears he could not stop anymore. Because Jungkook had trusted them enough to speak. And it destroyed him. Taehyung looked devastated watching Hoseok silently cry while still holding the sleeping younger boy protectively against his chest.
A few minutes later Jin returned first after calling Namjoon. “It’s handled,” he said quietly. But none of them felt relieved. Because even if the trainee was gone… The damage was still sitting here asleep in Hoseok’s arms.
Taehyung carefully brushed sweaty hair away from Jungkook’s forehead before speaking softly. “We should take him home.” Hoseok nodded immediately but made no move to let go. In the end, Taehyung and Jin carefully lifted Jungkook together while Hoseok followed close beside them like he physically could not bear being more than a few feet away. Jungkook barely stirred during the entire trip to the car. Too exhausted.
Taehyung held him carefully in the backseat while Hoseok sat pressed tightly beside him, one hand resting protectively against Jungkook’s shoulder the entire drive home. Nobody talked much.
Namjoon, Yoongi and Jimin finally would follow them later, the group chat remained mostly silent except for one message from Namjoon: He’s gone. It should have felt like victory. Instead the car only felt unbearably heavy. When they finally reached the dorm, Jungkook woke while Jin carried him carefully inside. His eyes opened slowly at first, unfocused with sleep and exhaustion. Then reality hit. The panic returned instantly. Not loud this time. It was worse. He went completely silent.
The members felt the change immediately. The softness they had spent months carefully building around him disappeared right in front of them. Jungkook pulled away from Jin the second his feet touched the floor and backed toward the corner of the living room automatically. Like instinct. Like safety no longer existed.
“H-Hey,” Hoseok whispered carefully. “Jungkook…” No response. Not even eye contact.
Jungkook curled down onto the floor with his knees pulled tightly against his chest, shoulders hunched inward while his eyes fixed blankly on the carpet. The exact same terrified posture from his first day there. Taehyung felt sick seeing it. “No…”
Jin immediately went into the kitchen to prepare food anyway, trying desperately to hold onto normalcy. He brought water first. Jungkook did not touch it. Then soup. Nothing, he didn’t even look at it. “Jungkook,” Jin said softly while crouching nearby. “Please eat a little.” No reaction.
“He’s okay,” Jin tried again carefully. “Jimin’s okay. Nobody got hurt.” At the mention of Jimin, Jungkook visibly flinched. Then shook his head weakly. Like he simply could not believe it.
The members exchanged helpless looks. Because they realized something awful then. Jungkook’s worst fear had happened. He spoke. People confronted the trainee. Everything exploded into violence and chaos exactly like he had always feared it would. Of course he no longer felt safe.
Hoseok slowly approached after a while and carefully sat down on the floor nearby. Normally by now Jungkook would have leaned toward him automatically. Curled against his side. Reached for comfort. Instead, the second Hoseok moved slightly closer, Jungkook recoiled visibly. Fear flashed across his face. Hoseok froze instantly like he had been slapped. “It’s okay,” he whispered quickly, devastated. “I won’t touch you.”
Jungkook lowered his head further. Taehyung quietly turned away because suddenly his own eyes were burning again. The room stayed painfully silent for hours afterward. He simply sat in the corner on the floor wrapped around himself like he was trying to disappear. And for the first time since meeting him, the members truly understood how fragile trust could be for someone who had spent his whole life surviving fear.
When Namjoon, Yoongi and Jimin finally returned to the dorm, the atmosphere inside felt painfully fragile. Jungkook still sat curled tightly into the corner of the living room floor exactly where they had left him. The front door opening made him flinch instantly. But the second his eyes landed on Jimin, something changed. Only for a moment. A tiny crack in the numbness. Relief flickered visibly across Jungkook’s exhausted face so quickly the members almost missed it. Jimin noticed though. And it shattered his heart all over again. “I’m okay,” he said softly immediately, crouching several feet away so he would not scare him. “See? Nothing happened.” Jungkook stared at him. Then slowly curled back into himself again. The tiny reaction vanished like it had never existed.
Namjoon quietly explained what happened. About the managers. About the trainee being removed. About how nobody blamed Jungkook for anything. None of it helped. Jungkook just sat there staring at the floor with hollow exhausted eyes.
When Hoseok carefully tried convincing him to come sleep in bed again, Jungkook shook his head immediately. Hoseok looked close to tears again. “Then I’ll stay here with you tonight.” He slowly lowered himself toward the floor nearby. But the second he moved closer, Jungkook recoiled hard into the wall behind him. Fear of Hoseok. Hoseok stopped moving instantly like his entire body had gone cold. “Oh.” The sound that left him barely even sounded human.
Jungkook lowered his gaze immediately afterward like he hated himself for reacting that way. The room filled with helpless silence again. Until suddenly Yoongi spoke quietly from the couch. “Wait.” Everyone looked toward him. Yoongi reached slowly into his hoodie pocket before pulling something out carefully. The photo. The small worn countryside picture of Jungkook and his grandmother.
Yoongi looked at it for a second before softly describing it aloud. “I see your grandma. You’re both smiling.” Jungkook’s head lifted slightly. “She looks proud of you.” A tiny crack appeared in Jungkook’s frozen expression. Yoongi slowly held the picture out toward him. After several long seconds, Jungkook carefully reached forward and took it with trembling fingers. The second he looked at it properly, tears welled silently in his eyes again. One slipped slowly down his cheek.
Jimin’s chest tightened painfully at the sight. Without speaking, he quietly moved to sit beside Jungkook. Not touching. He just sits there. Jungkook stared at the picture for a long time. Then slowly turned it slightly toward Jimin. “Grandma,” he whispered brokenly.
Jimin nodded softly. “She looks really kind.”
Jungkook’s fingers tightened around the edges of the photo.
“Pretty too,” Taehyung added quietly from nearby. That earned the tiniest watery huff of breath from Jungkook.
Jimin smiled softly. “You look happy with her.”
Jungkook stared at the picture again. Then finally looked up. “Happy….. with…. you” His eyes landed on Jimin’s face carefully, uncertainly, like he was still checking whether he was truly okay.
Jimin held his gaze gentle. Jungkook swallowed shakily before whispering, “thank you.” Suddenly he understood. His grandmother had loved him. Really loved him. Maybe she was the reason Jungkook had survived long enough to even reach them at all. And now he found love with them.
Jimin’s eyes burned painfully. “I think she still would be proud of you,” he whispered. Jungkook stared at him for one long trembling moment. Then suddenly….He moved. Slowly, uncertainly, he leaned forward and wrapped both arms tightly around Jimin. The room went completely silent. Jimin froze in shock before immediately hugging him back carefully, gently, like handling something precious. Jungkook buried his face against his shoulder and cried quietly again.
Around them, the other members slowly relaxed for the first time all evening. Hoseok quietly wiped tears from his face. Taehyung fully started crying without shame. Yoongi looked away toward the ceiling pretending his own eyes were not suspiciously wet.And Namjoon… Namjoon simply sat there watching the seven of them together and realized something important. Healing had never been about fixing Jungkook. It had never been about forcing words from him or solving every broken piece immediately. It was this. A scared boy from the countryside clutching a photograph with trembling hands while six exhausted young men quietly built a home around him one gentle moment at a time. Jungkook would probably carry fear for a long time still. There would be nightmares again. Panic again. Really bad days. But now…Now he would never have to survive them alone. And maybe that was what safety truly meant in the end. Not the absence of pain. Just knowing someone would stay when it hurt.