Chapter Text
Jungkook took one last look over the array of food laid out on the hotel desk before sitting down with a contented sigh. He had his webcam set up on a stack of books in front of him and adjusted it slightly to make sure he and his food were in frame. Opening vlive, he tapped the button that would send out a notification alerting millions of fans that he was now live. The feed started up and he glanced at himself on the screen as viewers began to trickle in a little bit at a time. His skin looked okay. He ruffled his black hair a bit, running his fingers through one side to keep it parted. In stark contrast to his black hair was his clean white sweatshirt, which he realized was coming across way too bright on the screen. He leaned over to dim the desk lamp a little bit, which made it less blinding. He glanced at the view counter and saw that there were already 350,000 people watching.
"Hello," he said quietly. It was always awkward starting up a live stream. His voice was the only noise in the room and although he knew there were hundreds of thousands of people listening, for the first few minutes it always felt as though he was talking to himself.
"Hello," he said again, waving at the screen. The view count was going up fast now so he figured it was okay to start.
"How is everyone tonight?" he asked, rearranging and unwrapping some of the food in front of him. "I thought maybe I would visit with you during dinner." He leaned forward, taking a long sip of water as he ran his eyes over the comments that were already pouring in, struggling to keep up with them as they flew past.
"Everyone is doing well? I just got back from the gym where I was exercising with Jin-hyungie and Taehyungie. This hotel has a good gym," he mused and then took a bite of chicken as he continued to read.
>I love you Jungkook <3
>Kookie!
>This is a surprise
>Did he just start?
>Taekook!!!!!!!
>I love you so much <3 <3 <3️ ️ ️
>Omg, what a great way to wake up!
>You look so good Jungkookie!
>Why are you still up?
>I guess I won't be going to sleep on time after all lol
>Finally, for once I got the notification on time
>What are you doing eating this late, Kookie?
"Why am I eating so late?" He glanced at this phone and then felt a little wave of guilt. "Oh... I guess eleven fifteen is really late to be eating dinner. I didn't have time to eat before and I wanted to work out with the guys. It's a lot later than I thought it was actually...I'm sorry! If you have school or work in the morning, don't stay up to watch this!"
He took another, bigger bite of chicken and took his time chewing on it, savoring the lemon garlic flavor as he sifted through the chatter. The view count was now well over one million and he had to pause the comments and scroll through them manually just to keep up.
The vast majority of the comments were variations of "I love you" and "you look so handsome". There were times when he heard those sentiments so much that the words began to lose their meaning, but most of the time, such as right now, he couldn't help feeling a blush creep upon him. He swallowed the chicken down, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as a smile curled at his lips. A different comment caught his eye and he latched onto it, happy to have something to distract him before he became too self conscious.
"Am I excited for the award ceremony tomorrow night?" he read aloud, and felt a little flutter of anticipation run through his stomach. "I'm very excited. Of course I'm nervous, too."
He knew what was coming next but a small, completely irrational part of him had hoped he could avoid the topic. But sure enough a flood of comments came through the chat, all centering around one question: "What about the anonymous threat?"
He let the questions run for a few moments, contemplating what and how much he should say. He didn't want to make the fans worry but he also guessed that they had probably already read any information there was to know about the subject. He knew the power of the internet. Nonetheless, he refrained from sharing his personal feelings on the matter and instead stuck with the standard answer that they had all been taught.
"Please don't worry too much about the threat. We know about it and the venue has already increased their security a lot. They said they are going to do everything they can to make sure all of their artists will be safe, including us. We try to not let things like this distract us or worry us." He smiled reassuringly into the camera. "Everything will be fine."
The truth was, he was definitely on edge. Not quite worried - they had gotten many threats before. Some were vague warnings, others were frighteningly direct death threats. Of course none of them came true, but the frustrating part was that every single one of them could come true. It didn't matter how much logic and experience told him that it was just another person wanting to create a stir or looking for attention. The simple fact that they could never know for sure whether that person was planning on following through forced anxiety upon them. For Jungkook, anger always accompanied the worry. Anger that a stranger looking for attention could force fear in not only him but the other members and all of their fans, over something that would never come true.
This particular threat had come in the form of a twitter post that had only been shown for seven minutes before being taken down again.
"Looking forward to the 2020 MAMAs. It's a shame that @BTS_twt won't make it to the stage. I wonder what will happen? Take the center of a pyramid out and the whole thing will crumble."
Yoongi almost never watched the other members' live streams. He always got the notifications, as he had for Jungkook's tonight, but generally ignored them in favor of working on his music or simply going to sleep. But for whatever reason, this night he was having trouble doing either. He had several songs in the works that he really wanted to continue with but every chord he added sounded wrong and any other adjustments he made seemed to just make it worse rather than better.
But sleep was evading him too, which was something he was not used to. He had laid under the covers in the dark for at least forty-five minutes but his mind kept running despite his attempts to settle his thoughts. He knew that ultimately it was nerves. In less than twenty four hours, he would be walking up on the stage of the 2020 MAMAs, his stomach clenching with anxiety and his palms sweaty. And despite using all his willpower, he couldn't shake his thoughts away from that damn threat.
He rolled over with a huff of annoyance and flipped the bedside lamp on. At least he wasn't the only one awake, he reasoned as he opened his iPad and logged into vlive. Hell, maybe Jungkook would be boring enough on his stream that that alone would lull him to sleep.
Jungkook knew that it would have been wrong to simply ignore all the questions that came at him regarding the threat. There were enough of them in the chat that it would have been blatantly obvious that he was avoiding the issue, which would no doubt have caused even more worry. But a small part of him was beginning to regret talking about it. His eyes were glued to the screen, food forgotten, as he watched comment after comment flood in.
>What if they try to bring a weapon into the venue?
>They're just looking for attention, don't overreact.
>Jungkookie, your hair looks so good like that!
>If anyone hurts my boys I will personally hunt them down and beat the shit out of them
>Is it a sasaeng fan?
>When is your next comeback?
>Why haven't the police traced the IP number and arrested the person yet?
>Don't call them sasaeng "fans", they're not fans
>Don't worry Kookie, army will protect you!
>Is Jimin going be in this live?
>Whoever it is is just jealous of their success.
>What if it's antis that want to take BTS out of the running for the dasaeng award?
>Jungkook's eyes are so sparkly!
>When are you dropping your mixtape, JK???
>They could still get the award even if they don't perform though, right?
>They're going to be fine, they're going to perform, everyone calm down.
>What if it's someone working for another company?? You know the big three must be pissed. They know their groups don't stand a chance against BTS anymore.
>Jungkookie, you look so good tonight, I want that sweatshirt, it looks so soft
>Are they trying to shut down the MAMAs altogether? It said 'take out the center of a pyramid and the whole thing will crumble.' I mean, BTS is obviously going to be the big event of the night, if they don't perform, what's going to happen?
Then suddenly the comments began to take a turn.
>We need to stop talking about this.
>I hope they'll be okay!
>Everyone shut up!
>You guys are scaring him, stop talking.
>Can we change the subject now please?
>Look at him, he's scared! You're just making it worse for him!
Jungkook glanced at himself on the screen and was met with huge, frightened eyes, simultaneously realizing that he hadn't spoken in quite some time. He immediately felt embarrassed and schooled his features. He may have many talents, but one thing he has never been able to do was keep his emotions from being plastered all over his face.
"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing a hand over his forehead. "You're not scaring me, I just don't want you guys to worry. These things always turn out to be nothing, and there's going to be a ton of security there just in case. Seriously, don't worry about us. We always look out for each other."
A knock at the door made him turn away from the camera.
"Oh? Maybe one of the members has come to keep me company," he mused, smiling slightly. He stood up and took one last look at the screen. "Maybe they think I'm scared too. I'll be right back!"
He ruffled his hair again and relaxed his face as he strode over to the door, feeling a small moment of relief knowing that for those few seconds no one could see him.
"Hellooo," he called, his hand going to the doorknob. He took a quick glance at the peephole even as his hand began to turn the knob. It occurred to him that every time a member has ever interrupted a live stream, they always made themselves known and began talking on the other side of the door, himself included, to let the person know who was there.
As that thought dawned on him, his eye reached the peep hole and he saw not one of his hyungs but a tall stranger in all black with a baseball hat and hood pulled low and a mask covering the bottom half of his face. A spike of alarm shot through him, but before he could release the doorknob to let it latch closed again, the door slammed inward and hit him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards.
The stranger rushed straight for him, the door clicking shut behind him again. Jungkook backpedaled quickly, his mind racing to figure out what was happening. The man was fast. And big.
"Who-" he started but was suddenly cut off when the man's hand shot forward and grabbed him by the neck, reducing his words to a strangle. He couldn't get his balance as the stranger drove him backwards until his back hit the wall over the nightstand, knocking over the bedside lamp. Panic immediately surged through him and he tried to kick him away but the man just shoved him back further until he was essentially sitting on the nightstand, pushing in close to render Jungkook's legs useless on either side of him. The singer dug his nails into the man's arm to try and escape but the hand crushing his throat was like stone and wouldn't be moved.
A fist slammed hard into his side, then again, but the hand around his neck kept him from making any noise and he could only grunt as jolts of pain were repeatedly pounded into him.
Help help help! he thought desperately as reflexive tears of pain began to prickle and burn at the corners of his eyes. He suddenly remembered that Hoseok was sleeping in the room next door and tried to pound on the wall behind him with one hand. He only got one or two hits out, however, before the man pulled Jungkook's arm away and then yanked him off the wall. Thrown off balance again, he couldn't react quickly enough to escape a swift blow to the side of his face. Pain spiked through his head and he would no doubt have been knocked to the ground but his attacker held him up with a tight grip on the front of his sweatshirt. For a split second their eyes met and where Jungkook expected to see anger or even hate, he saw nothing but chilling disinterest.
Then another hard blow slammed into his temple and he felt his skin split, followed by warm blood trickling down his face. A fist came at him again but this time, as though his body had finally caught up to the fact that it was under attack, his boxing reflexes kicked in and he brought his forearm up, hunching behind it and taking the blow to his shoulder instead. Purely on instinct, his other hand shot out and landed a punch to the man's cheek. It didn't feel like a particularly hard hit but the man's head snapped backwards so he lashed out again, this time punching him square in the nose. He felt cartilage move and crack under his fist and the man gave a sharp grunt, surprise and irritation sparking in his previously emotionless eyes.
Jungkook tried to get another punch in but his attacker didn't give him the chance, snatching his wrist in one hand and a handful of his sweatshirt in the other. Jungkook pushed back against him as much as he could but the man was larger than him and was clearly made of almost pure muscle. Despite his struggles, he was wrestled quickly and frighteningly easily down onto the bed behind him. His heart thundered in his chest and his mind went again to Hoseok, just on the other side of the wall.
He opened his mouth to scream his friend's name but the attacker seemed to anticipate it, landing a heavy hand over his mouth and muffling his call for help into a frustrated and frightened groan. Hard hits began to piston into his side again, causing a spike of blinding pain in his ribs. He squeezed his eyes shut, a pained whimper escaping from his throat and dying against the rough hand that was holding his mouth closed.
Trying to protect his side proved completely fruitless, so as a last ditch effort he grabbed his attacker's face in his hands and started to dig his thumbnails into his eyes.
The reaction was immediate. The stranger growled in anger and ripped Jungkook's hands violently away from his face, forcing them out to his sides and nearly crushing his wrists in a vice-like grip. Determined not to lose his opportunity now that the man's hands were occupied, Jungkook quickly pulled a leg up and kicked as hard as he could, landing a solid blow to his attacker's gut. The man grunted again and then caught Jungkook's ankle in both hands, yanking him towards the edge of the bed. Jungkook lashed out with his other foot and landed another strong hit to the man's ribs before he was pulled off of the bed and his back hit the ground with a thump.
Instead of moving in close to punch him again as Jungkook expected, the man kept a tight hold of his ankle and pulled his leg out straight. Jungkook's eyes widened as the stranger lifted his foot and then screamed in pain when he slammed it savagely into the side of his knee. Then his leg was dropped and the hand was back around his neck, cutting off his air supply and silencing him once again. Ruthless punches rained down into him and the burning tears that had been building in his eyes finally began to spill as he struggled uselessly to push the larger man off of him. Then in his peripheral vision he saw the lamp that had been knocked off the nightstand. Gray spots began to dance across his vision as he grabbed desperately for it and as soon as he had a good grip, he smashed it into the side of the man's head. The glass shattered, cutting into his hand and sending shards showering down on him. The vice grip disappeared from his neck and he immediately drew in a much needed drag of air as his attacker stumbled backwards. To his great surprise, the man continued backtracking. He took one last hard look down at Jungkook where he lay gasping on the floor as though confirming that he had done enough damage, and then bolted for the door.
Yoongi had been right. His youngest dongsaeng was being boring. He was cute, as usual, all smiles and blushing as he talked about how excited he was for the award ceremony the following night. But Yoongi had very quickly lost interest and though he left the stream running, he'd turned the volume down low and rolled over. He pulled his phone out, hoping to find something to read or maybe play a game that would put him to sleep. He opened up solitaire, the classic. A few monotonous minutes went by and his eyes had finally begun to droop when he heard some odd sounds coming from behind him. Jungkook's soft chattering had stopped and Yoongi turned over to see what was going on.
His heart stopped and his blood ran cold when his eyes landed on the screen. A large man dressed in black had his youngest friend pinned up against the wall by his neck and was punching him mercilessly over and over in the ribs. Jungkook was struggling silently and hitting the wall with his hand but then the man whipped him around and punched him in the face. Hard. Yoongi stopped breathing as a second blow hit him and even through the slightly grainy video feed he could see the bright red trickle of blood start running down his young friend's face.
He shot out of bed, knocking his iPad over and almost tripping on the sheets in his mad dash to the door. He yanked it open and flew into the hallway, but then froze.
He didn't know which room Jungkook was staying in. They had arrived at the hotel at different times and Yoongi had already closed himself in his room when Jungkook checked in.
Shit, he thought frantically. Shit, shit, shit.
He did know that it was somewhere toward the other end of the floor so he took off sprinting in that direction, hoping desperately that he would be able to hear the struggle as he got closer. His heart was pounding almost as hard as the impact of his bare feet on the carpet. He was reaching the end of the hallway when he heard a muffled but hair-raising scream from Jungkook. His heart clenched in dread and he turned the corner, trying to decipher which way the sound had come from. He took a chance and bolted down another branching hallway, almost stopping in surprise when he saw Taehyung tearing violently around the corner at the other end. He was barefoot too, wearing his red pajama pants, dark hair in disarray. Their eyes met and Yoongi saw the same wild panic on the younger man's face that he was feeling. Taehyung had been watching too.
Just then one of the doors in the hallway flew open and the attacker stumbled into the hallway between them. All three of them froze. The man's eyes locked on Taehyung, having not seen Yoongi behind him yet. He took a few steps toward the singer and Taehyung braced himself, his eyes wide but unwavering.
"Hey!" Yoongi yelled sharply. The man instantly stopped and glanced behind him, spotting Yoongi at the other end of the hall. Apparently not wanting to linger any longer now that there were two of them, he ran for the stairwell, knocking the door open loudly and then disappearing down the steps.
They stood for a moment in shock before Taehyung dashed to Jungkook's door, catching it just before it latched shut, and Yoongi rushed in after him.
Jungkook was lying flat on his back amidst shards of broken glass, but immediately upon hearing them run into the room he began to scramble backwards, his eyes wild and defensive.
"Whoa, easy, it's just us!" Taehyung slowed down, holding his hands up.
"Be careful, there's a guy!" Jungkook burst, as soon as recognition hit him. "Close the door, there's a guy right out there, he -"
"He's gone, he's gone," Yoongi immediately assured, carefully stepping closer to him. The door had already latched safely closed again.
"Are you sure? Are you okay? He's seriously right out there!"
"It's okay Kookie, he just ran out past us, that's all. He's gone," Taehyung answered in a soothing voice, and after a few seconds Jungkook's shoulders sagged in relief. The fight seemed to drain out of him and his breathing slowed down slightly. Then he began struggling to stand and Taehyung quickly grabbed his arm to help him sit gingerly on the edge of the bed. He looked up at both of them, his large brown eyes filled with tears.
"Oh Jungkookie," Yoongi muttered softly, and knelt in front of his battered young friend. He took his face gently in his hands and carefully turned his head from side to side to take a look at the damage. The cut near his temple didn't look deep but continued to bleed in long tracks down his face. His lip had split, not horribly so, but enough to bleed, and Yoongi could see blood inside his nose as well. Crimson bruises were forming around his left eye and cheek and in dark bands around his neck that made Yoongi feel sick with anger. He had to struggle to keep his emotions in check as he glanced over the rest of his maknae's body. One hand was wrapped tightly around his midsection and the other was laying limp on the bed next to him, blood oozing from what looked like multiple deep cuts. He kept one of his legs stretched out and tensed as though he was afraid to relax it.
Finally Yoongi lifted his gaze to look Jungkook in the eye. The young singer stared back silently, his expressive eyes exuding so many emotions that it took a few seconds for Yoongi to process them. He saw strength and resilience, and intense relief. But he also saw fear, confusion, and above all was a glaze of pain and shock.
Yoongi heard the water running in the bathroom and then Taehyung hurried out with a few wet wash cloths and towels.
"How did this even happen?" Yoongi asked. "Who -"
There was a knock at the door and they all stopped, their eyes flying toward the sound.
"Jungkook-ah?" Hoseok's voice called cautiously after a few seconds of silence. "Is everything okay?"
Yoongi went over quickly to open the door and saw Hoseok standing there in his blue Mang pajamas, wavy black hair pushed back by a sleep mask on his forehead.
"Yoongi-hyung?" He said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Someone attacked Jungkookie," he said simply, stepping back to let Hoseok in.
Hoseok looked back at Yoongi dubiously, as though what he'd just said wasn't believable, and slowly stepped in. Then he saw Jungkook on the bed and his mouth dropped open in shock.
He ran over and, similar to Yoongi's own reaction, knelt in front of him. He put his hands on the maknae's shoulders, his eyes full of worry. "Oh my god, what happened?!"
"There was a guy...I don't know who he was." Jungkook's voice was gravelly and strained and he winced slightly while speaking. He let Hoseok brush a lock of hair back to get a better look at the darkening bruises around his eye. "I thought it was one of you at the door. When I saw that it wasn't I tried to shut the door but he pushed in. And then... well."
Hoseok looked horrified, fingers sliding into his own hair. "I can't believe I wasn't in my room. I could have done something, or... called someone. I don't know."
"It's okay."
"I knew I heard a shout in the hallway... I was on my way back from Jin-hyung's room and wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not. But then I heard doors opening and closing so I wanted to check on you just to be sure... Kookie, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I wasn't here."
"Hyung, it's okay. You might not have heard it even if you were here anyway."
Yoongi took a deep breath and then pulled his phone out. "I'm calling manager Sejin."