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Third POV
It was the morning of BTS' SMA performance. The members were super hyped for it, having something very big planned for the performance. Except for one thing... everyone kind of woke up not feeling 100%. They were all very tired. They spent a lot of time performing and working; however, the worst of them was Jungkook.
Jungkook really wanted to be excited about this performance. He did, but he woke up feeling like utter shit. So, I'm sure one can imagine why he wasn't more enthused.
Jungkook got out of his bed reluctantly, dragging his feet. He hoped a shower would make him feel better. A nice warm shower.
News flash: it didn't.
JK groaned. He hated being sick. It wasn't the worst he'd ever felt, but who in their right mind enjoys being sick?
Jungkook slugged himself to the dining room, his stomach gurgling the entire way. He felt slightly nauseous, but he ignored it.
Despite popular belief, Yoongi was actually a bigger caretaker than Jin. Yes, Jin cooked more often and did take care of his dongsaengs, but Yoongi often knew better what to do when it came to the bigger stuff. This included being sick. The rapper also had better instincts and common sense when it came to caretaking. Jin just showcased it more on camera. Yoongi, on the other hand, was quieter about his care, preferring not to publicize it; hence the assumptions. So, when he saw Jungkook, he immediately knew something was wrong.
"Kook-ah, you look like shit," he commented with the intention of being blunt.
"I feel like it too," the maknae mumbled, having no energy to deny it.
The hyungs looked worried at that response. Yoongi went up to him and felt his forehead.
"Aish, you're very warm," Yoongi muttered worriedly. "You're definitely coming down with something."
Jungkook groaned but that made his head hurt so he stopped immediately. Jin noticed this and grabbed the painkillers.
"Here, take these with water," Jin muttered.
"Thanks, hyung," Jungkook replied gratefully, taking the pills.
His stomach gurgled unhappily as the pills made their way into his stomach, making the maknae groan quietly this time.
Jimin led Jungkook to the couch, having heated up a heating pad, and put it on the younger's stomach after JK laid down. Yoongi followed behind with some meds to hopefully help him feel better.
"Are you sure you're gonna be good enough to perform? I think you should sit this out," Taehyung suggested, looking anxiously at his dongsaeng.
JK sat up instantly. Big mistake. His head throbbed from the sudden movement. He had a wave of nausea hit him. The hyungs frantically pushed him to lay back down, especially Yoongi.
"No, no. I'm okay," Jungkook groaned, putting a hand on his head. "ARMY are looking forward to seeing all of us perform," the youngest continued. "I don't wanna disappoint them!"
"But ARMY would want you well, not pushing yourself while you're sick," Yoongi countered immediately, giving him medicine to take.
"After some meds, I'll be feeling just fine!" Jungkook replied desperately as he took the pills his hyung gave him.
"Kook-ah," Namjoon warned, "you know it's dangerous. Your health is more important than pleasing ARMY."
"Hyung, please!" the maknae pouted. "ARMY and I have been looking forward to this! I can't let them down!"
All the members shared a look. Ever since the time in Chile, the boys have been careful to watch JK if he's not feeling well. Granted, they could only do so much as Jungkook never truly showed all of his exhaustion.
With all the members feeling bad, Namjoon wasn't certain what to do. They had to perform, but he also didn't want the members to feel overworked. Jungkook was probably getting sick, and it would only get worse by the minute.
"It's up to you, Joon-ah," Hoseok supplied, the others agreeing.
Namjoon sighed. He really hated always having to make the final decision.
"Fine, but you have to take it easy, okay? Save your energy. You know how this stage is," the leader replied firmly, leaving no room for arguments. "If I think you're too unwell, I will not hesitate to take you out last minute. Understood?"
The youngest nodded carefully so as to not irritate his head. The members made a promise to themselves to watch the maknae like a hawk, to make sure he rested.
The members were always overprotective of each other but when it came to the maknae everyone was double-protective.
So the group went on with their day, making sure Jungkook was always in their line of vision. Jungkook kept his movements to a bare minimum. He knew he'd need as much energy as possible for the SMA performance. Granted, all the members rested a lot more than usual. Each member was tired in their own way and needed to reserve their energy.
The members checked on him in thirty-minute intervals. Yoongi was the one practically at JK's every need. As much as Jungkook loved their love and care, it was getting quite obnoxious. They practically watched as he breathed, but since he wanted to so badly to perform, he kept his mouth shut.
Jungkook and Yoongi were currently in the company's car to head over to the award show. The maknae sniffed as he blew his nose for the third time since getting into the car.
"Are you sure you can do this, Kook?" Yoongi asked worriedly as he handed the younger sanitizer.
The younger nodded. He could. After the show, he'd be able to take care of his sickness. He'd disappoint not only ARMY but himself if he sat out this performance.
He put the sanitizer on his hands and wiped them together.
Yoongi sighed but went along with it, "Why don't you take a nap? The venue is a little ways away."
Jungkook nodded, resting his head on the older's shoulder.
All the members made it to the venue, meeting in the parking lot, before heading backstage together. The show started in fifteen minutes, so Jungkook took the opportunity to sit in a nearby chair to maintain as much energy as he could. It took a lot of energy to simply walk, but he managed. Nothing he hadn't handled before. As he sat down, he noticed Yoongi keeping a close eye on him which the maknae rolled his eyes to. He also noticed a group he never saw before. The group consisted of five boys, no older than twenty-one. One of the members was nearby, clearly in awe of all the older groups. The maknae guessed they debuted not too long ago. Their awe reminded him of the 2013 BTS. He smiled slightly at the thought; however, the thoughtfulness didn't last too long.
"Psssstttt," one of the members whispered to another member nearby. "Look, it's our seonbaenim, Seokjin of BTS. I can't believe he debuted. He's a horrible dancer."
The other laughed in agreement, "I know. Jeongho can do so much better, and he's barely trained in dance."
Jungkook frowned at that. He didn't want to cause an unnecessary problem, but he certainly didn't appreciate the strong and negative criticism toward his hyung. Jin-Hyung worked really hard to get where he was. He didn't deserve that shit talk.
"Oh my gosh, look," a second member pointed to Namjoon. "It's Bangtan's leader. I dunno how he became the leader. He's not even up to Korean standards."
The maknae unintentionally growled after hearing the sentence. The boys were about to say something else until someone announced it was time to enter the stage.
"C'mon, maknae," Taehyung gestured, grabbing his hand for support.
JK grabbed it gratefully, pushing the group of boys out of his mind. The members subconsciously made a circle around their maknae as a way of protection. Whenever any member was sick and they had to go out in public, the group did this. It wasn't a set rule or anything, it just happened one day and stuck.
"You okay?" Jimin asked as he noticed Jungkook grab his head.
"Yeah... my head just hurts," the younger mumbled.
He guessed the frustration he felt from the boys saying those rude things didn't help his head.
Yoongi, who was right next to the two, put his hand in his pocket, revealing pills in his hand seconds later, "I came prepared."
JK grabbed his water bottle and downed the pills.
"Thank you, Yoongi-Hyung."
Other than that, everything went perfectly fine. Jungkook didn't see the boys for most of the show. In the end, BTS won the main daesang. They were very thankful and made sure to thank ARMY for their award. The boys bowed as they accepted their award. The group went backstage to start stretching and warming up for their performance as they had about twenty minutes before the last commercial break. After the commercial break, the most anticipated performance would end the entire award show: BTS' performance.
Namjoon gathered the group ten minutes before showtime.
"Alright, I know we're all tired, but we have a break coming up soon. We're gonna go out there and give it our best as we always do," he spoke. "Jungkook, are you positive you're up for this?"
The said person nodded, "Let's do this."
Yoongi looked anxiously at Jungkook but hid it by looking away as they all put their hands in the middle for the pre-show ritual.
"Okay, Bangtan-Bangtan!" Namjoon started.
"Bangtan-Bangtan!" they shouted together, hands all going up.
The members exited the stage, breathing heavily. Jungkook nearly collapsed but Yoongi was able to catch him in time. The performance went absolutely perfectly (other than everyone feeling like complete shit). Fake Love and Idol were such arduous performances and JK thought he was gonna pass out in the middle of both, but he held himself together.
Once they were fully backstage, he collapsed against the wall and downed the water bottle one of the staff gave him. He was having a slightly harder time breathing properly due to his sickness, but the maknae was proud of his performance nonetheless.
The youngest had managed to stand up, staying near his security guards, when he saw the group of boys again. They were muttering about their performance. The hyungs happened to be too far away from Jungkook and the new group to notice anything being said or happening.
"Oh my god, Jimin was so bad. How is he a vocalist?" the same guy who started the shit talk from before chuckled. "What did you think, Jeongho?"
"SUGA's rap is so basic. Dae can do a lot better. I can't believe he was an underground rapper. What a disgrace," the boy named Jeongho scoffed with a laugh.
The other four members agreed, laughing.
"Anyone can do better than that," the guy who was called Dae replied, "but RM and jhope's raps are worse."
"Oh my god, they are. Hoseok is lucky he's good at dancing. That's the only thing going for him," the original shit-talker, Seojun, replied.
"Right? Taehyung thinks he's so cool and shit, but he's such a try-hard," a different member scoffed. "It's embarrassing."
"BTS is lucky they have a whole-ass Jeon Jungkook. He's the only saving grace in that group," the fifth member stated.
"I can't wait until we chart higher on Billboard than those useless members," Jeongho laughed.
The rest laughed with him.
The newly debuted group started walking away from backstage, still talking shit about the maknae's hyungs. It got under the maknae's skin.
Now... looking back... he wasn't sure what he was thinking. He probably wasn't because- before he knew it- Jungkook jumped right up, following the boys, leaving his security and hyungs. All his exhaustion and sickness be damned.
Little did he know, a certain hyung watched him leave and secretly followed him without the younger noticing.
"Hey!" JK shouted angrily from behind. "What's your guys' problem?"
The boys turned around, eyes widening and bowing frantically.
"Oh my god... Oh. My. God! You're-you're Jeon Jungkook!" Seojun gasped in awe, looking up from his bow.
Jungkook glared at him, crossing his arms, "I am him. Now answer my fucking question."
He ignored the pounding of his head. The boys looked genuinely confused as they stood up straight.
"What do you mean?" Jeongho asked.
That caused the maknae's blood to pulse with anger he never felt before. Suddenly, he didn't feel shitty anymore. He felt powerful.
"I mean," Jungkook began in a dangerous voice, taking a firm step forward toward the group, "why are you talking shit about my hyungs?"
The boys looked at each other, suddenly looking very scared.
"Well- I- we..." Dae stuttered.
The maknae rolled his eyes, "Don't bullshit me. I heard you talking shit. Now answer my fucking question."
"Look... I think you misunderstood," Jeongho laughed nervously, scratching his neck.
Despite feeling very unwell, Jungkook was very intimidating. It didn't help that he was a good six inches taller than these boys. It made him even scarier than he already was.
Jungkook raised a brow, "'SUGA's rap is so basic,' 'Jeongho can do better,' 'Hoseok is lucky he's good at dancing. That's the only thing going for him,'" the maknae quoted passive-aggressively. "Was that not you guys?"
The new group all gulped simultaneously, clearly giving Jungkook the answer he already knew.
"You misunderstand us," the members tried again.
"I think I can clearly understand," Jungkook snapped through gritted teeth, "you guys are insulting my hyungs. I want to know why, and I want to know now."
"Fine. We think you're better than your hyungs," Seojun smirked. "You solo all of them and carry the team on your back. Your hyungs are just useless at this point."
The maknae- actually, the older in this case- looked down then looked back up with an even more intense glare than before. The other boys shrank down in intimidation.
Jungkook took one last step forward, basically ending up in Seojun's face, "I wanna make myself loud and clear," he began seriously. "First off, I don't give a fuck what your opinion is. Say whatever the fuck you want about me, but if you insult my hyungs... you mean nothing to me."
He shot a deep, intense glare at the other four members after the statement. Every member looked like they wanted to shit themself. Seojun tried to hide it but failed.
"Second off, when you chart on Billboard- if you do that is- don't you forget that it's because of 'SUGA's basic rap' and 'Jimin's bad vocals' you're even able to have the dream of charting. Without us... you wouldn't even be able to have a chance to exist in America because news flash: I didn't do this on my own. Those 'useless' members and I did it together. We each played a part."
Jungkook looked directly into Seojun's eyes, who looked absolutely terrified now, for his last statement.
"Lastly, remember this: SUGA's most under-streamed and 'basic' solo, rap song got more streams than your entire debut combined. Not to mention, he's the most wanted producer for collaborations even by your own company. So, I'd watch your mouth before you go running it too far because, unfortunately, this isn't an industry that involves marathons for running your mouth. If that were the case, your debut would be topping the charts already."
The four boys nodded obediently but Seojun, despite also looking scared, couldn't help himself.
"Please, your hyungs are nothing compared to you," he laughed nervously.
Jungkook swiftly grabbed the boy by his collar, "Never compare me to my hyungs. Understood? I don't care if you have shit to say about me. I don't care if you compare me to other idols, but if you utter a single word about my hyungs again... I will make sure you won't be able to speak again."
The maknae lazily let go of the collar, causing the boy to stumble back. That shut Seojun up quickly. Jungkook crossed his arms again.
"You all debuted because you had a dream, yeah?" he began sternly. "Well, let me tell you, talking shit about your superiors won't get you far. You don't have to like my team or me, but to insult us as individuals, insult our work, our dedication, and our craft, how'd you like it if I did it to you?"
The boys looked down. He was right.
"You don't have any impact yet, but my team does. If we wanted to, we could destroy your reputation with one word, but we won't because we're not dicks. Being dicks won't get you far. Now scram, before you tread on more dangerous ground with me."
The boys didn't need to be told twice. They bolted as fast as they could. They'd never mess with Jungkook and BTS again. The wrath of Jungkook was not one they wanted to be on the receiving end of again.
Meanwhile, Yoongi had listened to the entirety of the conversation. At first, he was worried Jungkook would do something that could get him hurt, but he handled himself well and Yoongi didn't even need to step in at all.
The older moved out of the way so the boys wouldn't see him as they walked past. Jungkook was left even more exhausted than before, his head suddenly pounding again.
Yoongi was quick to put an arm around the maknae's waist so Jungkook wouldn't fall, "Woah, there maknae."
Jungkook groaned as he leaned into his hyung, "How long have you been there?"
Yoongi grinned sheepishly, "The entire conversation. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
The other understood and couldn't be mad.
"Gotcha," he nodded. "I couldn't just leave it, hyung... they won't survive in the industry if they don't have a decent respect for others."
"I understand, maknae. Some people will learn, and others will not care enough to fix their mistakes. Only time will tell with that new group."
Jungkook coughed with a sniff, "Yeah."
Yoongi chuckled, "Come with hyung. We need to make sure you rest and don't lecture another group."
JK chuckled, "I only lecture if I'm given a reason to."
"And you do it well. I think you scared the shit out of them."
The two began walking, Jungkook leaning more into Yoongi.
"That was kinda my goal."
"Well, you achieved it. You nearly had me shitting myself," the rapper admitted with a laugh. "And I didn't even do anything wrong! You were badass, though. I don't wanna get on the wrong side of you."
"Don't do anything that would give you a reason to be," Jungkook warned halfheartedly.
Now that all the adrenaline from his anger left, he was beyond exhausted. He was practically being dragged at that point.
"You definitely need to get home," Yoongi muttered as he pulled Jungkook into the company car.
He already told the other members to leave and that he'd take care of the maknae. Yoongi buckled Jungkook and himself in. It didn't take long for the maknae to pass out from exhaustion.
A few months later, when Jungkook was feeling better, he saw the five boys again. The maknae noticed the group seemed much more at ease and was noticed by more third geners than from the first time he met them. The maknae- as he always respected every group- bowed to them as he walked passed them. They bowed back.
"Tell SUGA-nim his rap was out of this world," Jeongho commented as the older walked passed.
"Yeah! Your group did great, Jungkook-nim," Seojun smiled respectfully.
Jungkook smiled at their development and paused by Seojun.
"Please, just Jungkook-Hyung will be fine. I assume your debut has been well."
The boys nodded. Ever since the lecture they received from Jungkook, they had been trying to be a more respectful group. They did need to respect their superiors as they did help them in one way or another to debut.
"Partially because of you," Dae admitted kindly.
Jungkook blushed, "Happy to help."
He took a pen and paper he saw nearby and wrote on it, ripping the piece off.
"Text or call me if you need any advice. I know it's hard to debut while you're still young."
The boys looked at him in awe.
"Thank you, seonbaenim!"
Jungkook knew he could help with the group's debut experience. That's why he wasn't as harsh as he could've been on them. He was glad they learned from their mistakes as he saw strong potential in their group. Their lesson was a valuable one they needed in order to survive in the industry, but that wasn't the main lesson learned.
Oh no. The main lesson learned was to not make Jungkook angry while he was sick. He was a lot scarier than without sickness. And that's saying a lot, cause he's really scary even when he's healthy.