Chapter Text
- ☼ -
Life had a way of being absolutely shitty.
Jimin tends to wonder how he ended up being the person he is, especially when he had been good at one point. His soul had been so fucking pure. It wasn’t fair, to have the beautiful parts of him stripped from him against his will. There were days he couldn’t even look at himself in the mirror, the person who stared back wasn’t someone he recognized, didn’t know if he would recognize the monster in front of him again.
It wasn’t his fault, it was his .
If you asked him what he was good for, he would saying being used. It was the only thing Park Jimin knew, the only form of treatment he had been shown. It was never about him, about what he wanted, it was always what someone else wanted for him. His voice seemed to be drowned out by those around him, leaving him screaming into the void. Jimin couldn’t tell you what a loving home meant, couldn’t even tell you what a home really was. The luxury of having people who loved him wasn’t something he allowed himself to have.
He knew how to please other people, knew how to be taken and used for only one thing before being shoved back into his cage.
Money had been tight his whole life, his mother falling ill when he was 15 only made it worse. She had been his entire world, her smile competed with sunshine itself. She was too beautiful for the world, her heart too pure and maybe that’s why she was ripped from him without mercy. Jimin vaguely remembers the life he had while she was alive, if he ever tried to relive those memories, they were always tainted. The never ending pain that followed her death seemingly overpowered any happy memory he could recollect.
His father had become a different person after his mother’s death, losing himself in his heartache, unable to cope with the gaping hole in his chest. He was 17 years old when it began, when he was introduced to a Hell he couldn’t escape. His father completely unrecognizable as he whored his son out for money, selling him to the highest bidder without so much of a second thought.
Jimin had been confused at first, didn’t understand what was going on as he was forced into a dark room in the back of a sleazy house even as he pleaded with the random men within the house to leave. After the confusion dwindled down and he realized the situation he was in, it slowly morphed into a numbness. The screams became deafening silence. The happiness Jimin had once felt became suffocating agony. His father didn’t even look at him as he was dragged away, couldn’t bring his empty gaze to meet his son’s pleading eyes as the young boy begged them to let him go.
The brothel -Jimin would later learn- was an old house, walls an off-creme color with wallpaper hanging off the wall, 12 different rooms scattered everywhere. Jimin tried not to think about what was happening behind the wooden doors but he wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly where he was and what his father had done in order to keep his own self afloat. He let himself be shoved into a room towards the back of the house, all fight draining from him as he saw no means of escape.
When he had been pushed into the room, he saw he wasn’t alone. There was a boy, looking around his age with brown hair messily framing his face, sitting in one of the two beds in the room. When the boy looked up Jimin was met with one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen. The man who put him in the room left as quick as he came, locking the door from the outside.
Jimin sighed, slumping against the door, sliding down it as the reality of the situation began sinking in. Vaguely he heard the bed creak as the other boy slid off of it, settling next to him on the floor. The stranger put his arms around him, pulling him into his side like they knew each other. Jimin accepted the hug without much fight, letting his body fall into the warmth of the pretty boy who seemed to be in the same hell as him.
“You can cry you know,” The boy said softly, his voice was deeper than Jimin expected. Jimin leaned into the warmth, wanting to be engulfed in the comfort. “Let yourself break now, it’s safer with me than it will be with anyone else.”
The boy hugged him closer and that’s all it took for Jimin to break. He cried for his mother, longing to have her again, to see her radiant smile while everything seemed dark. He cried for himself, as he sat on hard floor in a room he didn’t recognize. He cried for the boy next to him, who through it all stayed a strong presence next to him, holding him through the tears and offering soft words of comfort.
They stayed like that for an hour, Jimin crying until his eyes had nothing left to give. The stranger next to him continued to run his hands through his hair, letting Jimin become dead weight against him without one complaint.
“My name is Taehyung,” The stranger whispered to him, raking slender fingers through Jimin’s hair. “I’ve been referring to you as pretty boy in my head since you came in and it’s getting weird.”
Jimin let out a small laugh. Pressing his head against the fingers combing through his hair. It was a nice feeling, one he probably wouldn’t get much more of. “My name is Jimin.”
“Jiminie,” Taehyung sung, smiling widely. Taehyung cuddled into him closer. Jimin wondered how he could be smiling when they were in a situation like this. Taehyung stopped smiling then, seeming to understand the question the blonde would never voice out loud.
“I’ve been here for almost a year now,” Taehyung said quietly. Looking at their beds, his eyes glazing over slightly as he seemed to remember something he probably yearned to forget. “You become numb to it, it’s easier to pretend it’s something you want than to let it eat you alive.”
“A year? Tae- how old are you?” The brunette bit his lip, something kin to shame flickering across his brown irises.
“Seventeen,” Taehyung said finally. Jimin felt bile rise to his throat, wondering how this wonderful person in front of him could ever be subjected to a life like this. It was all so fucking unfair and as Taehyung let a few tears fall from his beautiful brown eyes, Jimin swore to himself that he would get them out of here.
It was a feat easier said than done. Jimin had become one of the favorites of the house, using his pretty face - it wasn’t a cocky statement, sometimes you gotta take your best asset and run with it - and his charming personality to weasel himself into the top bidders hearts and wallets.
He had managed to con at least 7 million won out of the old men that frequented the brothel, having them slip the money to him under the table without his ‘owners’ knowing, in return they were given whatever weird desire they wanted. Maybe a part of him would feel a tiny bit bad if it wasn’t for the fact that these men were actively spending money to sleep with boys in the dark of a room, while they lived lives as politicians and members of a higher society.
Sex work in itself wasn’t bad, there were boys in the brothel that actively chose to be here, seeing no other way to survive. Some enjoyed what they did and Jimin didn’t mind them, actually sort of admired them for their survival tactics. It was when Jimin looked at Taehyung, saw how the younger boy - they finally figured that out one night and Taehyung had been offended because he was taller he should be older dammit - would curl into himself some nights after a client, crying silently as he clutched himself.
Jimin would slip into the bed behind him, hugging him to his chest and using the anger that raged just below the surface as fuel.
It would be nearly six months later that their opportunity to escape would present itself. The funny part being Jimin wouldn’t have to do much of anything for it to happen. Apparently the men who took Jimin in the first place where part of a gang that had royally fucked up somewhere along the line.
Jimin and Taehyung had been sleeping, sharing a bed together when they first heard the shouting. Taehyung was the first to jump up, confused as to what was happening and shoving Jimin awake next to him. They stayed silent as the voices escalated behind their door but they were as good as sitting ducks, all doors remained locked from the outside, only being open when there was time to lounge and they could be watched.
“What’s going on?” Taehyung asked quietly, curling into Jimin’s side as the noises steadily got closer to their room. He was scared so Jimin would have o be strong for the both of them.
“No clue.” Jimin immediately got in front of the other boy, already vowing to protect him from whatever was happening outside. They waited with bated breath as voices came closer to them, staying silent as soon as they were right outside their door.
“This is fucking gross Joon,” a soft voice said from the outside of the door. They were obviously walking towards their door but the voice was unfamiliar. “How many more of them do you think there are?”
“I don’t know babe but we already cleared out the others,” A rougher voice answered. It was significantly lower than the first voice and it seemed a lot less inviting. Jimin decided he didn’t like it.
The door knob of their room jiggled futility. Taehyung gripped his shirt tighter, eye’s screwing shut against Jimin’s back. “Step back Jin,” The rough voice ordered, there was something almost gentle when he said it.
Jimin reached under their bed, grabbing his backpack that was stocked with the money he had managed to scam and a few other things he wanted in case he ever saw the chance to escape. Taehyung had his hands twisted in the back of his shirt, eyes screwed shut as the person on the other side of the door started kicking the weak wooden frame of it. There were two outcomes to the situation they were in, they would either be rescued or thrown into another hell.
The door finally snapped open, the frame bending under the pressure, it didn’t help that the house they were in was extremely run down. A man with tattoos littered across his neck stepped into the room, he was wearing a black bandana to cover his face, silver hair falling to frame his face. He looked terrifying if Jimin was honest. He had an aura far more powerful than the men who were running the brothel he currently stayed in. The man scanned the room, turning the gun towards them, one that Jimin didn’t even realize he had raised, too caught up on the ink painting his skin.
“Yah Joon! They look terrified, put the gun down you big idiot,” A sweet voice came from behind the terrifying man - who’s name was Joon? It was the first voice they had heard.
Another man entered the room, his presence far less suffocating than Joon’s. The silver haired man grumbled as the other man approached them. It was Jimin’s first instinct to recoil from the hand that the other man was reaching towards them but there was something in the other man’s eyes that made Jimin want to trust him.
“It’s okay,” The man reassured softly. The stranger kneeled down in front of the bed, his eyes were warm. He was also intimidatingly beautiful, one of the most beautiful men that Jimin has probably ever seen. “We aren’t here to cause you any harm.”
“Then why are you here?” Jimin shot back, there was more venom in his tone than he initially intended but he was fucking tired. The beautiful man seemed unphased by his tone, eyes staying warm and open even at Jimin snapping at him. It made him want to trust him.
“Watch it,” Joon said from the doorway, where he hadn’t moved an inch. Instead he seemed to be thinking, settling Jimin with a calculating gaze, as if he saw something in him that peaked his interest.
The softer man in front of him rolled his eyes, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “Ignore my boyfriend, I promise he’s not always as terrifying as he may seem. I’m Jin by the way, and I mean it when I say we aren’t here to cause any harm.”
“Then why are you here?” Jimin asked again, his voice much softer now as his trust in the unknown men in front of him grew. If they wanted to hurt them they would have already and they wouldn’t have wasted time being nice to them.
“We came to take care of some business. We were unaware that they were running a brothel full of underage kids and people against their will,” Joon answered, disgust prominent in his tone as he scanned their cramped room. He looked thoroughly pissed off and Jimin counted himself lucky that he wasn’t the person on the receiving end of that look.
“So you are free to go,” Jin finished, eyes soft as he spoke the words. “We actually prefer you leave before we go about our own business, it won’t be a pretty sight.”
Jin’s voice took on a hard edge as he finished his sentence. The once soft brown eyes that had been trained on him, turning harsh as he looked back to his boyfriend. Joon nodded to the other man, seemingly having a silent conversation. From what Jimin could tell, they were a team, on the same wavelength.
“We can leave?” Taehyung asked quietly from behind him. It was the first time the brunette had spoken since the other man had entered the room and soon all the attention had shifted to him. Jimin watched as Joon’s eyes seemed to soften for the first time since entering the room as he took in the terrified boy clutching to Jimin.
Jin nodded. “Yes, you are free.”
Taehyung opened his mouth to say something but then all hell broke loose. It started with a gunshot, a bullet almost hitting Joon square in the shoulder but the silver haired man seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to danger because he dodged it easily, even though he couldn’t see it coming. Jimin pushed Taehyung down onto the bed, covering his body with his own, Taehyung screaming at the sound of more guns being unloaded. Jin jumped up from his spot on the floor, taking cover in the darkness of the room next to his boyfriend.
“You okay?” Jimin heard Jin ask, the elder’s voice keeping its composure even in the panic of the gunfire. He heard Joon shuffle from his place on the floor but he didn’t hear any groans of pain so Jimin took that as a good sign.
“Yeah.” Came Joon’s response. “They’re fucking dead though.”
Both men nodded towards each other, pulling their guns out from their belts, tugging their bandana’s back up, effectively covering their faces. They stepped out from the shadows, unleashing bullets into the hallway where the first shots came from. It was amazing to see how they worked, communicating with their eyes, understanding what the other was saying without using any verbal cues.
Jin nodded at Namjoon, to which the other man moved in front of him, effectively blocking him from view.
Jin turned towards them, beaconing them closer. “Follow us and stay close, don’t say a word and don’t look up.” The man said, tone leaving no room for argument and neither of them really wanted to. Jimin and Taehyung followed the two men, staying close but not touching them, scared to mess up whatever they were planning.
They made it to the front of the house, stopping when Joon and Jin flanked each other, scanning the room for any sign of disturbance. A man came out from the kitchen, looking exhausted but Jimin noticed he had the same bandana that both Jin and Joon wore.
“Taeyong,” Joon said calmly, nodding at the man. The tattooed man lowered his gun, Jin following after him.
“It was an ambush,” Taeyong responded, standing straighter when addressing Joon. Taeyong then turned his gaze to Jin, giving him a respectful nod. “We took care of most of them but we lost two.”
Jimin was a bit awed for the respect the other man also seemed to have for Jin. It was obvious Joon was first in command but Jin wasn’t just a piece of arm candy. He was just as involved as his boyfriend.
“They ran?” Joon sighed, rubbing his eyes. Jin places a calming hand on his lower back and the tattooed man immediately melted into the touch.
“Yes sir.”
Joon shared another look with Jin, to which the other man shook his head. Taeyong didn’t look phased by the silent conversation which meant the two probably did it often. It was quiet for a moment, then the shot of a gun going off pierced through the silence.
Everything worked in slow motion. The four of them froze as the sound of a bullet surrounded them. It wasn’t until Taehyung let out whimper, crumpling behind Jimin and dropping the hold he had on him that things sped up again. Joon turned around, firing blindly at the person who shot at them, a grunt being heard as another body fell to the floor with a harsh thud. Jin dropped to the floor almost as quickly as Taehyung, already running his hands over the younger’s body, applying pressure to the steadily bleeding wound. Jimin stood stunned, blood turning cold as he saw the only friend he ever knew thrashing against the pain.
Taeyong came up to him, placing a hand softly on his shoulder before pulling him from the room. Jimin let him, knowing Taehyung wouldn’t notice his absence. Another man was waiting in the kitchen, cleaning his gun as he sat in one of the wooden chairs. Taeyong led him to the empty seat, sitting him down before leaning against
Joon came in a few moments later, taking the seat next to Jimin. “Tae, Mark can you cover Jin for a few?”
“Course.” The boy’s walk out of the room, leaving Jimin with the terrifying man. Joon up close was also gorgeous, his tattoos constructing his soft features significantly.
“Alright, let me clear some shit up because you look like you saw a ghost,” Joon says casually, like he didn’t just come head first into a gang run brothel and then proceed to get shot at and almost die. “You heard of Bangtan?”
Jimin’s head shoots up at that, of course he’s heard of them, anyone who lived in Seoul knew of the gang.
“Yes?” Jimin replies cautiously, unsure of where this conversation is going.
“You’re talking to the leader kid.” Jimin freezes, mouth agape as Joon removes his bandana, showing off dimples which what the fuck . He’s adorable if you completely disregard the blood stained on his shirt, or the fact that he runs of the most feared gangs in all of Korea. The only information he really has on the gang is the things he would hear from the owners of the brothel.
The gang had slowly started taking over major points in the underground, even though they were still relatively small they had a reputation that precedes them. The leader was always discussed as the most fearsome man anyone had ever seen, a hard calculating stare always prominent, it was as if he was always lost in his own thoughts. His significant other had a reputation almost as bad as the leader himself. While no one outside of the gang knew of the man’s given name, he was known as Omega among the streets. Whispers being spread far and wide about the only person the gang leader listened to, always being right next to him, hands as dirty as his boyfriends.
Seeing them in person, it was easy to see why the couple was feared. While Joon had the aura of power, his face holding no friendly emotion as he worked, Jin was the complete opposite. Jin was approachable, his face warm as he talked to you, he made you feel safe and like you could trust him. It was a show for them, how they operated in getting what they wanted from the world around them.
“I-I... what?” Jimin asked quietly. It was all overwhelming, he could have easily been killed tonight. Joon’s expression softened marginally as he took in the boy in front of him. It was gone as fast as it came, Jimin was almost sure he made it up.
“You heard me,” Joon replied cooly, leaning back in the old chair. “This life isn’t for everyone, I know that more than anyone… so I’m giving you the choice now. You can leave or you can stay.”
“Leave? You… you would let me leave?”
Joon shifts in his seat, placing his gun on the table away for him, a sign of vulnerability in the presence of Jimin. Gang leaders didn’t just disarm themselves in front of anyone. “I’m not like the piece of shit gang that ran this operation, I don’t believe in the things they do.”
Jimin looks up from the table, making eye contact with the gang leader. Joon is leveling him with another stare, it’s obvious he’s thinking about something he won’t voice aloud. Joon puts his hands on the table, leaning forward just a bit.
“You have a sadness in your eyes, it’s hidden behind the anger you choose to showcase instead,” Joon reads easily. “I’ve seen the same sadness, it lingered in the eyes of Jin for a long time. This wasn’t the life you chose for yourself, so I’m giving you the choice now Jimin.”
“How do you know my name?” The brunette asks, confused because he’s almost positive neither him or Tae dared utter their given names in front of the gang leader.
“You don’t get into a position like mine by not being observant. You’re name is printed on the backpack you’ve been clutching to your stomach the entire time we’ve talked. I’m assuming there are valuables in it from the way it was obviously prepared beforehand, a signal that you were waiting for a time to escape.”
Jimin stared at him in silence, not liking the way he was being read like a book by the man in front of him. “I- okay.”
“It’s okay Jimin... Jin meant it when he said we were to cause no harm to you or your friend. I can tell you don’t want any part in this, your entire body tensed when I offered a place to stay.”
“I have things to take care of on my own.”
Joon hummed before giving an understanding nod. “As we all do. Then you are free to go but if you ever need anything know that you have Bangtan in your corner.”
Jimin gaped in surprise. From every gang movie he’s seen, when you knew something you were either invited to stay or killed. It didn’t seem like Joon was here to kill him. “Really? You don’t even know me.”
Joon nodded, standing up from his seat, sliding a card over to the younger boy. “You’re right I don’t… but I do know sadness and I know that sometimes in order to quit running from our past we have to find closure within it. Whatever happened, the darkness you are running from is all too familiar. I’m offering you a place should you ever choose to need one.”
Joon started to walk from the room, effectively ending the conversation. Jimin jumped from his seat, wrapping a hand around the elder’s wrist. The gang leader stopped but didn’t remove his wrist from the grasp.
“Will you take care of Tae?” Jimin asked quietly. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he left his only friend in more danger. Taehyung was good, had such a caring heart and Jimin couldn’t corrupt him anymore… not if he could have a better life. A safer one.
“Your friend is safe with us, he’s under my protection now and he will continue to be if he chooses to stay within my gang,” Joon reassures. It’s the softest Jimin has heard the gang leader talk all night. “I also think my boyfriend has unofficially adopted him so it wasn’t really my decision anyways.”
Jimin let out a sigh of relief, allowing himself to trust the gang leader. Above all he seemed like an honest man, even if how he chose to live life was far from it. Joon gave him a dimpled smile and Jimin returned it easily. They walked to the living room where Taehyung was now on the shitty couch, asleep -probably passed out from the pain of being shot. Jin looked up from where he was running a hand through the brunettes hair and then he was up, wrapping Jimin in a hug before the younger could comprehend what was happening.
“You aren’t staying are you?” Jin whispered into his hair. It was really fucking weird how both Jin and Joon just seemed to know things before they were spoken aloud. Jimin shook his head against the warm hold, it was one of the first hugs he had received that didn’t have him recoiling in disgust from what was yet to come.
“I figured, live a good life then. We will take care of him,” Jin promised gently, looking back towards the sleeping figure on the couch. Taehyung looked a lot younger when he was asleep, it was easy to feel protective over him. Jimin was glad that his friend finally had the protectors he deserved, no one would dare step up to Bangtan, unless they had a death wish. That’s the only thing that helped Jimin with his decision.
He would miss Taehyung, could already feel the ache in his heart forming at the thought of parting with him but he couldn’t join a gang. He wanted nothing more than to just escape for a while, to think for himself and not have someone else do it instead.
Jimin pressed a soft kiss to his friends head, knowing this would probably be the last time he saw the younger boy. He pushed the fringe from his face, smiling down at the sleeping face he had come to love fiercely. He whispered a quiet goodbye before he was out the door, not sparing a look back.
-☾-
If there was one thing Yoongi couldn’t stand, it was pity.
There was always a fine line between feeling sympathy for someone and feeling pity for someone. It was always the same go around, people would find out he was an orphan and suddenly their faces would twist unpleasantly, offering empty apologies that they frankly had no reason to be offering. The word ‘orphan’ became synonymous with broken somewhere along the way.
The story was simple really, his parents were young when he was conceived. His mother barley 18 years old when she got knocked up. From what Yoongi had learned, both his parents came from well respected families. Their names tied with an air of nobility that an unwanted teenage pregnancy would destroy.
So they fixed their ‘mess’, being they gave away their first son to the system and never looked back, even after they made individual names for themselves. It was easier to pretend it didn’t sting when he saw their faces plastered on the news, especially when one particular article was to announce they were expecting. They were having a baby boy the headline said, figures they would keep this one. Maybe they saw this child as a wanted one, a replacement to overshadow their darker past.
It didn’t bother him, (Hyuna would call bullshit on that but she called bullshit on most things) so he let it go. He didn’t actively try to ruin their lives, if he wanted to he could. Showing up at their doorstep, causing a scene in front of their friends, the ones they pretended to relate to and maybe they did. Noble families always had the darkest secrets to hide.
So no, he didn’t like when people pitied him and he tried to extend that feeling towards others. Yoongi would avoid the phrase ‘I’m sorry’ like the plague, instead his sympathies were more subdued. Small gestures that made you realize you meant something to him, even if it wasn’t something you asked for. He couldn’t necessarily help it, he only had two people he really cared for, the only family he knew.
Edawn hated his habit, would storm into his apartment when he found the warm container of food sitting prettily on his counter, always more than enough for both him and Hyuna. Logically Yoongi knew they could take care of themselves but it didn’t stop him from feeling like he should pay them back for all they had done for him.
They were older than him, meaning they tried to be the parents he never had. The three of them met in their final orphanage, Hyuna and Edawn were two years older than him and had immediately taken him under their wing after they saw him beat up some kid that was being less than pleasant to a younger girl. Hyuna turning on her charm to sway any punishment from coming his way, promising that she would watch Yoongi closely to ensure he wouldn’t resort to violence in order to solve his problems.
Their caregivers had believed her, it was funny to think that they would believe Hyuna of all people would be an advocate against violence when she was one of the fiercest fighters Yoongi had ever encountered. Her smile was enough to distract any potential targets from taking her seriously, instead they would fall to her feet, wanting nothing more than to gain even just an ounce of attention from her.
Once they were thoroughly distracted she would introduce them to her boyfriend, who was less than pleasant to be around when he was pushed the right way. Edawn didn’t look like much but his intellegence surpassed even some of the highest noted scholars. Yoongi likes to believe his brand of intelligence was superior because he didn’t have such a narrow view on how life worked, he saw the evils that lurked through those stuck in poverty and knew how to look from a less biased view.
The two were notorious scammers, working together behind their caregivers back in order to secure better food and treatment. When they took a liking to the younger boy with cat-like eyes, he was introduced to a different way of living.
Edawn taught him how to think, to open his eyes to his surroundings so that he would never be blindsided. Their lessons consisted of him sitting Yoongi down and having him observe the world around him, asking him to take note of everything that was going on within a given room. The younger boy had tried to give the most accurate description of everything he had seen. There were times he thought he nailed it but Edawn would ruffle his hair and tell him he still wasn’t looking close enough.
He would point out the tension held in the shoulders of two of their housemates, an obvious fight having taken place before dinner. He would point out how one of the workers would give disappear into the kitchen after hours, she was cheating on her husband with one of the cooks. Edawn told him that reading people, anticipating their next move and how they were thinking could save his life one day.
Hyuna taught him the physical aspect of strength, to use his body to his advantage. Taking him to the backyard and telling him to apply what Edawn has taught him, she wanted him to read her, anticipate her next move before she made it. She would always put his ass on the floor (he couldn’t even be mad about it, she was a damn good fighter) but he wasn’t a hopeless cause. After their lessons she would pick him up from the floor, dust off the dirt from his shirt and give him a soft kiss on the cheek.
It was by complete accident that Yoongi became strangely fascinated with fire. There had been a small kitchen fire one day in their orphanage, nothing to write home about but enough to make everyone clear the room in a matter of seconds.
It was fascinating seeing how people reacted without realizing. Recoiling from the flames and retreating to the safety of another room. Yoongi hadn’t immediately left, instead he saw an opportunity to take some of the better snacks for himself and his pseudo family. He stole enough to last them a few day’s, both Hyuna and Edawn had been proud of him. Their praise enough to spur a new morbid curiosity.
Fire meant destruction generally, but it was also beautiful. The red hues blending into softer oranges as the its destruction started spreading. In a way fire reminded him of Hyuna. She was a wild spirit, morally corrupt and unsound but when she loved, she loved softly.
They would spend hours upon hours learning how to contain self started fires. Yoongi took to it like a champ. Whenever he had a free moment he would take his time to do his own research on it. Learning the mechanics of explosives, how to make them on his own.
They were obviously released before him, the minute they were of age they suddenly weren’t the government's problem anymore. No one cared when you were 18, it’s simply how life went. The two of them swore they would be back for him, refusing any argument from the younger boy. Edawn had hugged him the day he was leaving and told him they were family now, Yoongi would never be alone again.
They didn’t lie. The minute he turned 18, they were back at the orphanage, the rags they once wore, exchanged for finer clothing. They looked a bit unrecognizable when he first saw them but the minute Hyuna flashed him one of her more private smiles, he knew they were the same people he had come to view as family.
They brought him back to some run down apartments near the heart of Seoul, they weren’t necessarily the worst but were at the same time far from the best. He looked past that because regardless a home was still a home. It was when they led him to an apartment and told him it was just his that he was more than just a bit confused.
“Mine? What about you two?” Yoongi tried to keep the panic from his voice, the unwanted abandonment issues he tried to suppress rising steadily at the thought of them leaving him.
Hyuna hushed him with a simple pinch to the cheek. “Yah! None of that, we are across the hall you idiot.”
“Yoongi-ah as if we would leave you,” Edawn chided gently. “We are your family but we also are comfortable enough to have two apartments and it’s safer for you that way.”
“Safer? What exactly are you two doing?” Yoongi asked confused. There was no way they could suddenly afford luxury when they came from nothing. Hyuna shot her boyfriend a look, saying something for just the two of them to understand.
Edawn leveled him with a thoughtful look. “We are doing what we have to do to survive.”
The way he said it left no room for any other questions. Yoongi accepted it at the time, not wanting to go against either of them. They were terrifying in their own right and not a force you would want to go up against when they didn’t want to talk.
It would be 2 months later that he would figure out exactly why they were so comfortable. They were running with a gang, a relatively small one that went by the name of Bangtan. Yoongi wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t been arriving home at the exact same time a silver haired man had been exiting their shared apartment, flanked by two other men that looked almost as intimidating as the first one.
The silver haired man looked at him, his simple glance far more calculating than Yoongi was comfortable with. He looked towards the man on the right who was wearing a pink sweater, totally ruining the aesthetic it seemed the tattooed man was going for. The one in the pink sweater looked back at him, saying something with nothing more than their eyes and then they were gone, neither of them sparing a look back.
Hyuna pulled him into their apartment before he had a chance to argue.
“Did they say anything to you?” She asked urgently, locking the door behind her. She ushered Yoongi to their small couch, pushing him down and sitting next to him.
“Why would they say something to me?” Yoongi asked back. He swatted her hands away when she tried to run her hands through his hair, he wasn’t that much of a baby. “Who were they?”
Hyuna studied him for a second before she seemed to believe that he truly had no clue what was going on. She pinched his cheek, retaliation for him swatting her hands away, it was also her trying to make the tension between them dissipate. “No reason, I was just asking.”
Yoongi frowned at her, not buying it for a second. “You’re lying to me… again.” He knew her too well, had studied her body language for far too long to not pick up on when she didn’t want to tell the truth.
“It’s better we lie to you, than involve you,” Hyuna said simply. Yoongi hated it. The two of them had been hiding something from him, leaving him out of the loop when they were supposed to be a unit.
“Are you in danger?” Yoongi asked lamley. “I can help if you are.”
Hyuna softened immensely, reaching out to ruffle his hair. Yoongi let her, melting into the touch. She pulled him into her side, they didn’t cuddle very often but in this moment, it was clear they both needed the soft touch. “Ah, my sweet Yoongi-ah no we aren’t, at least not now.”
She was lying. While Hyuna was a deceitful person in general, when it came to people she loved she was transparent.
-
As much as Yoongi wanted to dig into their issue further, he became distracted by a beautiful boy moving into the apartment next to his. The boy was only slightly shorter than him, soft brown hair framing his face.
Yoongi had run into him when his neighbor was juggling three different boxes, trying to unlock his door while not dropping the items in his hand. He looked frustrated and it didn’t take much hesitation on Yoongi’s part to decide to offer his help.
“Do you need a hand?” Yoongi asked, already reaching a hand out to grab one of the boxes. The brunette snapped a harsh gaze to him, brown eyes hard. It should have deterred Yoongi but he obviously had a strange fascination with people that were generally unapproachable.
“I don’t need your help,” The boy spat back. It would have probably been a lot more convincing if it weren’t for the fact that he said it a box went tumbling to the floor. The boy groaned, looking at the boxes already in his hand and knowing there was no way he could bend over and pick it up without dropping the others.
Yoongi offered a smile when the beautiful boy looked up at him again. The stranger didn’t return the sentiment, instead he rolled his eyes before turning back to the door. “Fine, whatever… help if you want.”
Yoongi took it as a win and picked up the box, waiting silently as the shorter boy unlocked his door, not deterred in the slightest by the less than pleasant tone the other had. If there was one thing Yoongi knew, it was to not be quick to judge someone based on their behavior. The way the boy’s shoulders held tension was an indication that he probably had a lot going on. There was also the fact that he was moving into a shitty apartment complex in the middle of December with no help.
Yoongi followed the stranger into his apartment and was met by a drafty emptiness. While the stranger was just moving in, the entire apartment was vacant of any comfortable furniture. All that could be seen from a first glance was a tattered mattress pressed up against the wall, a small lamp on the floor next to it. If Yoongi would have seen this apartment without the presence of the boy next to him, he would have assumed the place was abandoned. It looked completely un-lived in.
The stranger must have caught on to his staring because he was quick to give him a curt thank you before shoving him out of the door without so much as a second glance.
Yoongi felt guilty about the encounter the entire week after it happened. He didn’t mean to stare and it wasn’t pity he felt for the other boy, in fact it was the exact opposite. More than anything he just wanted to let his neighbor know that he understood. Life was fucking shitty sometimes and in the end you had to just survive.
He was moping. Doing anything to steal a glance at his gorgeous neighbor with the somewhat sad eyes. He would have kept doing it if it wasn’t for Hyuna finally shoving him off her couch.
“Invite him over for dinner or suck his dick already,” She said, tone unbelievably bored. “Just please for the love of god stop watching cartoons on my couch.”
Yoongi pouted. “It’s anime, not cartoons.” Hyuna rolled her eyes, turning an exasperated expression to Edawn who was watching the exchange with thinly veiled fondness.
“You are ridiculous and I’ve had it.” Hyuna had an evil glint in her eyes as she said it. Yoongi immediately tried to grab her arm because he knew she was planning something. He missed her and she was out her own door before he could stand up. Edawn laughed loudly from the couch as they heard a faint knock on the door down the hall.
Yoongi sat horrified on the floor, horror only amplifying as his neighbor was practically dragged into the apartment. He could hear the struggle from the open door, a chorus of what the fuck are you doing, and oh my god please don’t kill me drifting in from the hallway.
When the beautiful boy was forced into the small apartment, he looked mildly uncomfortable and Yoongi didn’t blame him. Hyuna was terrible when she wanted something and he knows she didn’t even give him the chance to argue before she was forcing him out of the comfort of his own home.
“Talk,” She said, looking at both of them. Edawn got up from the couch, rolling his eyes at his girlfriend and pulling her from the house. She followed him easily, curling into his side like she belonged there, which Yoongi guesses she did.
“We will be back with food,” The elder said over his shoulder, closing the door behind him. Right before it was shut he threw a wink at Yoongi and that was just unfair. Edawn was supposed to be the sane one of the two but that was obviously not an accurate statement.
The silence that followed their departure was uncomfortable, neither of them looking at each other.. His neighbor shifting awkwardly on the balls of his feet, biting his lip slightly as he took in the tiny but very homey apartment. Hyuna had been determined to make the place feel like home, decorating to her heart's desire. Edawn hadn’t put up much of a fight, obviously happy if she was, it was their first actual home together.
Yoongi stayed on the floor, too embarrassed to get up. He probably looked like a mess, hair unkempt from where he had it shoved into the couch as he moped. He didn’t even know why he was so upset about making a bad impression on his neighbor, he didn’t even know the man but there was just something about the slightly shorter man that made Yoongi want to know him.
“She’s terrifying,” his neighbor finally said, breaking the silence. Yoongi’s eyes found dark brown ones, they weren’t as cold as the day he helped him move in but at the same time they weren’t exactly warm either.
Yoongi laughed at that, standing up from the floor. His neighbor smiled slightly at his laugh and it was gorgeous. “She is ridiculous, I’m sorry she did that… she has no idea what boundaries are.”
His neighbor laughed, nodding his head in agreement. “Why exactly does she want us to talk?”
“Well uh—,” Yoongi paused. He frankly didn’t even know where to begin. How do you explain that you’re a dramatic little shit and that you already have a crush on your rude neighbor after only interacting with him once.
You don’t admit it out loud is what you do. Instead Yoongi settled for another truth. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I was being rude when I helped you that one time… it wasn’t intentional and I wasn’t staring because of what you owned. I just— just wanted to say that I get it.”
His neighbor shifted again, looking anywhere but at him. Yoongi took the time to study his profile, it was like the boy was sculpted by the gods themselves. How was it possible to have such a sharp jawline with chubby cheeks? It’s unfair.
“I know that, I just got out of a really bad place and you caught me on a bad day… I’m not usually that rude,” his neighbor finally said. When Yoongi caught his eyes this time, they were immensely softer. It made Yoongi want to see just how soft he could make the other boy.
Yoongi offered him a smile, this time his neighbor returning it easily. It was as breathtaking as he figured it would be. Not that he fantasized what his neighbor would look like smiling, that would just be creepy. “I’m Yoongi.”
His neighbor paused for a second, something flashing across his eyes, Yoongi unable to decipher the emotion. It was like the shorter male didn’t want to tell him his name, which in an area like this was understandable. It still made the blondes heart ache slightly, wondering exactly what must have happened in his past to make him so on edge.
“Jimin,” The beautiful boy — Jimin finally said. The name fit him, it was unique… it was a name that would probably occupy his thoughts for a long time coming.
When Jimin smiled at him later that evening over chicken take out, eyes closing shut mirroring small crescent moons as Hyuna retold a ridiculous story about how she managed to scam enough food to feed a small army, did Yoongi realize he never wanted to let him go.
-
As Christmas came and went, Yoongi found himself getting closer to Jimin. At first glance, Jimin seemed meek and could easily be mistaken as a weakling but as Yoongi became more acquainted with him he realized how wrong that assumption was. Especially once his training with Hyuna started.
They spent practically every day together after they resolved their issues. Whether it would be Jimin coming over to hang out or both of them showing up to Hyuna and Edawns for free food (the two pretended to hate it but Yoongi knows they secretly loved it), or whether it was just to hang out on Yoongi’s tattered couch to talk and play shitty video games. There were also the darker nights when Jimin would come over completely silent and curl up into his side, sniffling slightly into his chest.
Yoongi remembers the first time it had happened- they had known each other a month when one night at one am there was a soft knock at his door. It was his and Jimin’s special knock, reserved specifically for just them two. Yoongi has opened the door, confused by the visit and even more so when he was met with a crying Jimin.
Seeing the younger boy cry had every protective instinct in Yoongi setting off in rapid fire. The elder had ushered Jimin in swiftly, locking the door behind them. The younger didn’t say anything, just let himself be dragged to the tattered grey couch in Yoongi’s living room. The blonde was at a loss because usually Jimin was so bright and full of life that to see him like this was jarring.
Yoongi sat next to him, keeping a small distance between them just in case the younger wanted space. Jimin didn’t seem to keen on that because as soon as Yoongi was comfortable, the younger was on him, pressing his face into the crook of his neck and keeping his body flush against Yoongi’s slightly paler one. Cuddling between them wasn’t uncommon in the slightest, so the elder welcomed it easily. They didn’t talk that night, instead they sat there in the silence of Yoongi’s shitty apartment and just revelled in each other’s warmth.
They didn’t talk about it the next day or any of the other days it happened in the following weeks. While the younger boy was generally easy to talk to, Yoongi could tell he didn’t know the darkest parts of him yet. Which was okay, people open up in their own eyes and at their own pace.
So where Jimin didn’t want to speak, Yoongi found himself filling their silence. Telling him about how he met Hyuna and Edawn and how much they truly meant to him. He told him about his parents and how shitty they were but in a way he thanked them because if it wasn’t for the orphanage, he wouldn’t have the people in his life he has now. Yoongi was pretty sure he was already halfway in love.
Yoongi wasn’t the only one who had come to love the shorter male either. Both Edawn and Hyuna had immediately taken to him as well. Jimin was now a part of their annual family dinners and was welcomed over to their shared apartment whenever he wanted, even without Yoongi present.
Jimin was much like Hyuna, which is why them two seemed to click like two peas in a pod. They were gorgeous faces with a fiery personality. The younger boy was gorgeous, anyone with two eyes and a functioning brain could tell you that but if pushed the right way… he was cold . He had a take-no-shit attitude.
The first time Yoongi had seen Jimin snap was when they were in line for pizza at a small parlor near their apartment, the younger had been talking animatedly about the movie they had just watched when they both heard a commotion being stirred up behind them. It was a waitress l and a slightly older man, the girl obviously uncomfortable as the man made advances on her. When she tried to walk away, the man slapped her ass and before Yoongi could comprehend what was going on Jimin was across the room and in the man’s face.
Yoongi quickly followed him, ready to jump in if he needed to but also knowing that Jimin was fully able to handle himself. There was something about the younger’s demeanor that screamed don’t fuck with me and this was the first time the elder was able to see it first hand. Jimin got into the man’s face, not backing down from him even though it was obvious the pervert was bigger than him.
-
“Touch her again and I’ll fucking end you,” Jimin spat at the man. His posture was tense, ready to attack if the other man wanted to be brave. “You’re fucking disgusting. Leave.”
The man laughed then and Yoongi knew it was a mistake the minute the sound emitted in the now quiet parlor. Jimin cracked his neck, broad shoulders lifting, making him look bigger. The younger pulled the man out of his booth, tossing him easily to the floor. The man seemed shocked that someone so small was able to man handle him without breaking much of a sweat. Jimin approached him, looming over him with a sweet smile.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Jimin sang to the man. It was one of the hottest scenes Yoongi had ever seen and he knew he would be thinking about it later on as he fucked his fist to the thought of Jimin throwing him onto the bed instead.
“Leave. I don’t take kindly to people who think they can take whatever they want,” Jimin said, his voice was cold. The man must have had some resemblance of a brain because he didn’t object, he quickly got up from the floor and was almost out of the door when Jimin caught him by his collar.
“Aren’t you forgetting to pay?” Jimin asked snidely. “Also I think your waitress deserves a nice tip doesn’t she?”
The man nodded quickly, just wanting to get out of the parlor. He threw a couple bills on the table, obviously way more than what the meal cost and Jimin pat his head before releasing his collar. “Good boy.”
Which fuck.
-
After that Yoongi never underestimated the younger again. He never really had in the first place but now he was sure that Jimin could probably kick his ass if prompted. Yoongi would much rather him do something else to his ass if he was being honest.
Once Hyuna heard what happened she whooped, giving the younger a high five and offering to spar with him. Jimin had nodded enthusiastically, eagerly wanting to polish his own moves and work with someone who actually knew what they were doing. It only took one pout from Jimin to get Yoongi to join their training sessions. While Jimin trained with her more than Yoongi because he had a fluidity to him that made him an agile fighter, Yoongi was happy to be there as a sparring partner when need be. Jimin was an amazing fighter, even rivaling Hyuna herself. The younger fell in love with fighting, training on his own time and even dragging Yoongi over to his still barren apartment (he stayed most nights at Yoongi’s anyways) to try a new move on him.
It always left them sweaty and breathless and wanting to cross the boundary they hadn't yet dared cross. Edawn and Hyuna had teased them both endlessly about it but neither of them were quite emotionally ready to step over that line yet, the time would come though. In a lot of ways they seemed to complete each other and Yoongi didn’t see himself letting Jimin go willingly, unless of course it’s what he wanted.
On their own they were already bad but when put together, Hyuna and Jimin became practically unstoppable. There wasn’t a fight they couldn’t win, easily turning on their charm to get what they wanted. Edawn was used to it already, easily giving into his girlfriend’s whims without much fuss but Yoongi wasn’t.
He was already wrapped around the younger’s finger and Jimin knew it; knew that he just had to pout and Yoongi was puddy in his tiny hands. Of course, the younger never used his power maliciously —at least not to Yoongi himself but the elder couldn’t say the same for others— Jimin would only use it on him when he wanted something mundane. Like when he wanted cuddles, or food (but he wanted Yoongi’s food because it tasted so much better.), or just someone to talk to.
They got close to crossing the boundary they set for themselves more times than either could count. In every way that counted they were in a relationship Yoongi was sure. Jimin slept in his bed more than he did his own, stealing clothes from the elder and never giving them back. Jimin’s toothbrush sitting in his bathroom like it belonged there. They made breakfast together and Yoongi found himself buying all of the younger’s favorite snacks anytime he shopped. It was more common for them to be together than for them to be apart.
It was perfect, for a while. Which is why it only made sense for everything to go to shit not too long after.
-
Hyuna and Edawn had started to become increasingly absent in the next following weeks; constantly leaving their apartment and not coming back for days, and when they did come back they looked exhausted. The silver haired man had even stopped by their home once more but he was gone almost as quickly as he came.
One night, he has voiced his worry to Jimin as the boy laid in his bed, in only underwear and one of Yoongi’s sweaters. They still hadn’t even kissed but the younger had gotten comfortable in his home, making it his own; Yoongi didn’t mind.
Jimin had hugged him, suggesting that he should maybe look around their apartment in order to see if he could figure anything else out. The younger also believed they had to be involved in something less than legal with the amount of money they were raking in, in such a short period of time.
So Yoongi snooped, claimed to want to hang out in their apartment while they were gone because it was more homey than his. They believed him, accepting that he simply missed them and didn’t question it.
They were precise criminals. There was almost no physical evidence on what exactly they had been up to, at least to the untrained eye. If Edawn wasn’t his mentor he probably would have missed the small signs of their illegal activity.
The man who had visited them was obviously not an upstanding man, tattoos for one were already taboo in Korea, if he was willingly flaunting them he didn’t have a regular nine-to-five job. The man had also been guarded, the two men walking with him obviously armed. There was also the way he looked around at every corner of the relatively small hallway, it seemed to be an ingrained action, one that the man didn’t even realize he was doing.
Hyuna’s reaction to Yoongi seeing him was also a glaring sign that they weren’t involved in the most morally correct activities. Her eyes were frantic as she pulled him into the comfort of her home, subconsciously raking her eyes over his form to ensure that he at least wasn’t physically harmed. Her voice had also escalated slightly when claiming to not be involved in anything dangerous, it was only slight and had he been a cop he probably wouldn’t have detected the slight shift in tone.
The thing that confirmed it completely was the bag under the two’s bed. It was packed with fake passports and identification cards, there had also been money tucked into the bottom of the bag. If they were fine as Hyuna had once claimed, they wouldn’t need a bag for them to grab if they had to make a quick escape.
It also made sense for them to keep Yoongi in a separate apartment, if he didn’t have any physical ties to their own home, no one would know they knew him. He wouldn’t be used as a weakness and he wouldn’t put his life in danger.
Yoongi went to his own apartment, telling Jimin what he found and the younger agreed with him that they had to talk to them. They were a family and if they were in trouble they should deal with it as one.
They probably would have, if Hyuna and Edawn returned.
They never did.