Chapter Text
I can't take it anymore
Because you are crying
I want to cry in your place
Although I can't
-Begin (BTS)
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"I'm sorry that you have to be hearing this Jungkook-ah"
The words had a stronger effect on his emotions than he would have liked. He felt his body trembling and each breath took a lot more energy.
"But you would have to understand that this decision is unavoidable",
The owner of the words, Bang Si-Hyuk, he was so calm. A complete opposite mental sate to of what he was feeling at the moment. He felt the back of his palm getting wet, and oh it seems the insecure little kid that was him can't hold back his tears for long. He wished the elder would just say it fast and quick. Like ripping off a bandage of a wound. Fast and too quick for pain to settle in.
Even though he knew this was going to leave behind a pain too deep to be simply ignored.
"You are a very talented child, Jungkook-ah. With a lot of potential, and you have the whole life ahead of you and your talents will find a time to shine. I'm sorry to be saying this, but I just can't let the futures of the other six talented members to get tarnished, "
His members. That's right. Those very caring and beautiful six boys, that he had so eagerly looked forward to share his future with. But he can't drag them down. He was always a burden anyway. Just a too shy little teenager who was insecure with every small step he took.
And besides dancing was the best he could offer to the team. And what good would he do to the team if he can't do that one thing right anymore?
"Not to mention it would have been too harsh and cruel for you too, to carry on the path with the state you are in. I'm very regretful to say this Jungkook-ah, to lose such a talented young man like you. . . but, "
Oh here it goes. He felt his hands gripping tight around the two other hands he was holding on his own. They each belonged to his parents, who he could feel,had tightened their hold as well.
"Your contract will be terminated from now on Jungkook-ah. I wish you the best of luck. Just know it's in the best of interest for everyone"
Bang Si-Hyuk's words never felt this ice cold before, and never left this painful of a stab in his heart before.
And he felt his entire body going numb and he was aware that he was shaking, the tears falling uncontrollably. His body being enveloped by another body that belonged to his mother, he noticed from her sweet perfume and gentle hands. And didn't dare open his eyes as his father stood up beside him, shakily, to bow to the owner of the agency that his youngest son no longer belonged to.
His parents helped him to get to his feet, and to bow to the elder in front of him, that he didn't have the courage to look at no more. The guilt and fear and insecurities were ripping his throat apart and he forced them down.
He tried to act more stronger and mature with the strength he did not had. The elder gave him a warm smile, and said something the mentioned younger did not have enough sense to comprehend, but nodded politely anyway.
They left the office and as soon as they came to the empty hallway, Jungkook collapsed in a tearing mess against his parents. His non-functioning leg dragging his too heavy body down with it. His parents held him close, his mother whispering soothing words to his ears, her warm hands carding through his hair, her own tears wetting his shirt.
His father was silent, though he held his son and his wife close to his chest. Blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. He tried to be strong, he had to be strong.
And the small fifteen years old Jungkook, the little, would have been maknae of the about-to-debut boy group 'Bang-Tan Sonyeondan', felt more lost than he ever did in his entire life. His dream, his passion, his future, everything was a blurry mess. And the thought about the six loving older brothers that he was about to leave behind, only made his heart even heavier and his tears more intense.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Taehyung was trying his best to act stronger, a little more pleasant for the sake of the other five members. Although he wouldn't have had more tears to spill anyway. They all cried too hard and too long through out the past hard days.
The accident, the fear of loosing their precious youngest, the mentioned younger's tears. . .
And the announcement that all of them knew was about to be made.
Their seven members group who were about to make their grand debut. . .it seems like the group would have a permanent dent in it from now on.
Taehyung looked around the small living room of their dorm.
The rest of his band mates, his hyungs, all lounged in different parts of the mentioned living space. All trying to find something to occupy their sullen minds with.
But no one made an attempt to break the silence. It was becoming uncomfortable and tense.
Just a few moments ago their manager had left after the task of packing away the belongings of their 'ex-band mate'.
Taehyung sighed, his chest aching. His palms became sweaty and the 17 years old swiped them on his jeans, mind swirling.
This was it. There was a possibility that he would never meet the youngest boy, who he knew everyone was too fond to let go of suddenly.
Taehyung knew that all of his members loved their maknae ('ex-maknae', he reminded himself with a bitter feeling) to no end. He was very innocent, too innocent to be able to face the tragedy that he has to go through at present.
Some one sighed from across the room, and Taehyung lifted his head to see Namjoon, their young leader looking across the room with a tired look in his eyes. His phone in his hands to which he had just received a text from their manager.
"They are coming now, would be here in a few minutes", the young leader announced to the rest of the five boys.
No one in the room needed confirmation of who 'they' were.
Another sigh, (everyone of his hyungs seemed to have picked a habit of doing that recently, they would have to stop soon before the managers pointed it out), and Seokjin stood from his seat on the couch next to the remaining member of the maknae line. Jimin, who had been curled to the eldest's side, sat up a little straighter to steady his body with the loss of his supporter.
"Well we can't mope around him now can we? At least we should give him a warmer. . .we should see him off warmly at least" Seokjin changed his sentence before it left an unpleasant after taste.
It didn't change the mood though, in fact the atmosphere became a little tenser.
"This isn't good bye. I mean he can still come to meet us. We can still meet up even if he won't be a member of the group or whatever. Doesn't change the fact he is our friend does it?"
It was Yoongi this time, who was seated on a chair next to Taehyung. His tone was calmer, and it left the other members in the room a small feeling of reassurance.
"That's true. We are just not living in the same dorm. It doesn't change anything- "
Namjoon tried again, but his voice faltered at the end of the sentence as a sudden thought hit him hard.
This, in fact does change quite a lot. Even if the friendship between the members could be maintained, but the dreams and the future of the youngest? They would definitely take a turn for the worse. Not to mention the mentality of the young 15 years old.
It took them forever to pull the young one out of his shell and to boost his non-existing self confidence up to a certain amount.
This trickery of fate would tear all of them down. And the too young boy would have to deal with uncertainty and fears he never faced before.
It felt too cruel. Jungkook was too young to suddenly hold up such a pain.
The room fell to a tense silence again, the eldest of the group staring out in to space still standing in front of the couch. The unfinished sentence of the leader had all of them suddenly too aware of the deepness of the situation all over again. It's not something they could just overcome. Specially not for Jungkook.
He was going to loose more than the constant contact with his friends, his second family. . .
Taehyung closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath. His eyes stinging again as the thoughts of the youngest invaded his mind.
A leg. That's what the said 15 years had to loose. A leg and his dreams and future would be uncertain and blurry.
Taehyung along with the rest of the members knew how much the youngest loved to dance. It was one thing the younger boy seemed to be confident in.
And he looked so beautiful when he danced too. A sight older members prided to see. He always made the complex moves look so flawless. And looked so graceful for a boy his age. ( their choreographer made sure to point this out all the time)
Taehyung was going to miss seeing the youngest dance. He just knew it too well.
The sound of a car screeching to a halt alerted the residents within the dorm. And Seokjin, who was already standing anyway, went towards the window at the front of the dorm and looked outside before turning back towards the rest of the members. They were all stirring up from their respected seating positions.
"They're here." He announced before going to the front door.
"Alright, try to be warm and comforting also cautious. He's going through a lot and we shouldn't make him more depressed." Namjoon said to the rest of the team. (was it him or did the said hyung's gaze fixed on Taehyung a second longer than the rest of his members?)
The door opened and the sound of small chatter and footsteps echoed through the dorm as the small group of guests along with Seokjin made their way in to the living room.
The team couldn't help but notice the small clang of a metal on their wooden floor along with the footsteps.
Taehyung's heart had picked up it's pace in beating and his palms were sweaty again. One thought lingered in his mind and that was the sight of young looking boy who just entered the room, supported by clutches, his one metal leg stepping in a little off rhythm with his 'normal' leg.
The said youngest stopped in front of the small team of five boys, who were all anticipating his arrival moments ago, but at the moment felt too nervous and unsure as to how to approach the said youngest.
His parents stopped at either side of him and Seokjin stood at the side of his younger members.
And Taehyung might as well say his heart faltered for a couple of seconds when the youngest's eyes met his. The 95 liner just couldn't ignore the ache he felt to pull the younger close to him. Couldn't ignore the fact that he ached to make the pain and insecurities hidden behind those innocent eyes to disappear.
And the said 15 years old shifted his eyes to look at the rest of his members as well, and smiled a little. It was forced and strained, that they all could see.
" . . .Hyungs. . ." his voice broke at the end.
Taehyung couldn't endure it, couldn't see his precious younger brother broken like this.
Before his brain even recognized his next actions, the next thing the second youngest of the group knew was that the body of the 15 years old was pressed against his own, hugging the younger as close to him as possible.
The sudden move took the younger by surprise but he soon melted to his hyung's arms. There was a small clang as the clutches the youngest had been holding fell to the floor, and a pair of arms encircled Taehyung, returning the hug just as tightly.
Taehyung felt tears welling in his eyes and streaming down his face, but he didn't care. The young boy who was shaking with sobs was all that mattered to him at the moment. Jungkook was crying too, Taehyung knew from the way his shirt became wet from the younger's tears.
They both lowered to the floor, the younger was unable to hold himself up from being too exhausted from the day's events. It was too much of an emotional riot for him to hold in any longer. Taehyung held the younger closer to his chest, cradling the younger against himself as both of them cried in unison.
The rest of the members, who had frozen with the sudden move of the second youngest, snapped out of the trance of standing at the side unsure as the remaining member of the maknae line also stepped forward. And wrapped his arms from behind the youngest boy, enveloping both his younger members in a tight hug of his own.
The rest of the members soon joined the group hug, as the sobs of the youngest became more evident and the tears of the two other maknaes' joined his.
The about to debut group, so sat in the middle of the living room floor of the dorm. The six members who would still debut as the original line up, wrapped around the would have been maknae of the group.
Jungkook's parents moved out of the living room to give the young boys the time they needed to pick themselves up. His father wrapped his arms around his mother, who was trying her hardest to withhold her own tears, her shoulders shaking from the uncontrolled sobs.
"I- I would miss you guys so much. . ."
Taehyung felt his heart breaking at the words of the maknae that was whispered to his chest along with his sniffles. He closed his eyes, pulling the maknae even closer if that was possible.
The rest of the members shuffling closer to the maknae as well, trying to offer as much as comfort to the broken boy as possible. Soft words and comforting touches were all they could offer though.
"We know Kookie. . . We're gonna miss you too. . .a lot. . "
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