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In hindsight, Yoongi realized that he had kept an eye on the kid as soon as he’d come in with his social group.
The usual bar patrons bore loose shoulders, shared banter and laughter, or moved through with intent in their step if they sought the comforts of drink. People came to bars to lose the stresses of the world beyond those doors. They came to relax or cover their sorrows in the buzz of alcohol.
Which might have been one of the first things that stood out about him.
His gaze had flickered over to study the movement he’d seen in his peripherals, only to land on one of the groupies that didn’t fit the atmosphere. Yoongi had watched as the others seemed to relax and get excited over the first round of drinks, while the one shied away from the counter and tried to disappear into himself.
There was no way that someone, with a pronoun pin on their oversized dark hoodie, fit in with the assholes that were berating the bartender for not keeping up with their absurd pace.
The kid’s large eyes seemed teary and murky with dread. His high ridden shoulders and sweater paws spoke loudly of his current anxiety levels.
Yoongi had no obligation to watch out for this stranger but something in his heart tugged at that obvious show of stress.
One of the assholes that had taken up a stool looped an arm around the stressed one’s waist and tugged him in.
”You’re so high strung, babe,” came the slurred words. “You just needa relax. You’re so annoying when you’re like this.”
Anger bubbled in Yoongi’s gut. What a fucking asshole. It was clear to anyone that cared to look that this kid would rather be anywhere else than in a bar. Why couldn’t his apparent significant other recognize that?
”Yoongi-hyung? You good over there?”
He snapped back to his own table and found his friends giving him concerned looks.
”Yeah, sorry. Just got distracted by people.”
There was no sense in making it an issue yet. The kid was stressed but not in visible distress besides that. He’d keep an eye on things and wait to see if his interference was needed.
Hoseok tossed him a smirk. “Dropping in on some juicy gossip? You’ll have to tell us later.”
Jimin laughed from across the table. “You say that like you don’t already have three mental pages of eavesdropped shit talk logged in your brain.”
Hoseok flipped him off, still smiling.
Yoongi rolled his eyes and took a swig of his whiskey. It would be one of his only drinks of the night, just enough to keep his social anxiety at bay. Getting wasted was reserved for days that were extra fucked up. He just wanted a casual night.
His gaze swept over the room, taking in the various groupings and the body language of everyone in eye sight. Eventually he reached the one group again and frowned.
The hoodie kid had huddled even further to himself and seemed to be pleading with his significant other. No doubt asking to leave or something similar.
His heart ached. He could remember his younger days when he had been like this boy. He could remember the unbridled stress that kept him at the edge of fight of flight whenever he landed in a bar.
Something was definitely off.
”Stop naggin’ me bitch,” the same asshole from before spat. “The only time I want your mouth workin’ this much is when it’s on my dick.”
Yoongi glowered. It was either gonna be him or someone else that gave this dude a well deserved punch to the face.
Seokjin nudged his shoulder and gave him a stern expression. ”No seriously, what’s wrong? I know that face, Yoongi. What is it?”
Maybe getting his hyung involved wasn’t such a bad idea. “I’m keeping an eye on that kid in the black hoodie by the counter. His SO is being a dickhead and his body language is screaming discomfort.”
Jin followed his gesture and narrowed his eyes. “The one with the pronoun pins?”
”Yes.”
Another brief tirade came from the significant other, more insults spilling forth as he spoke. Every word just seemed to weigh heavy on their person of interest.
”I want to punch him in the face,” Yoongi murmured, “but I don’t want to spoil the evening for the others.”
”Leave it to Joon or Hoba,” Seokjin replied. “Once they notice, it’ll just be a matter of time.”
Interesting that his hyung was so quick to be on board with the idea. Yoongi felt a bit of relief to know it wasn’t just his instincts that were going haywire.
The two of them continued to check in on the group from time to time. Each glance showed heightening anxiety, each listen in revealed more verbal abuse. It was hard to just sit by and wait for a moment in which they would be able to jump in without being the aggressors.
Yoongi wasn’t even sure it would happen at all. But then, all at once, it did.
The asshole lit up a blunt and passed it to his buddies.
That body that had been so active with nervous ticks and shuffling suddenly went very still.
He noticed the difference as soon as it happened.
Unaware or indifferent to the change, the asshole blew a puff of smoke into the kid’s face and grinned. “Still being a prude over my smokes, Kook? You’re such a party pooper. You can’t hide from weed forever.”
“What a shit stain,” Seokjin muttered.
As soon as Yoongi noticed the kid’s breathing stutter into something more like hyperventilation, he shot to his feet. He didn’t need to look to know his hyung was on his tail.
”Backup asshole,” he growled when he got close enough. “Get that shit out of his face.”
”Who the fuck are you?!”
Yoongi pushed him aside and focused on the kid. He took stock of his minute trembling in his fingers and the far away look in his eyes. Goddamnit. A full on panic attack in a bar of all places? Not the best circumstances to work on helping him recover.
The asshole persisted and tried to get between them. “Fuck off dude, this is my bitch.”
Seokjin acted as a shield and pushed him away again. “Lovely way to refer to your significant other. How else would you like to lower my expectations tonight? Because the bar is in the ground it’s so low right now.”
”Fuck you! This is none of your business.”
”It became my business when you sent him into a fucking panic attack, you prick!” Yoongi whirled around and glared at him. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe his aversion was due to existing trauma? Did you ever think to use your tiny brain to ask?”
The asshole seemed to pause as he looked at his boyfriend. “He’s not having a panic attack. He’s just sensitive.”
He had to take a long breath in order to keep his anger in check. Yoongi focused instead on the kid.
Quiet place. They needed a quiet place with a lot less sensory shit going on.
Yoongi caught the bartender’s attention.
”Do you have a staff break room we can use for a while?”
The bartender looked uncertain about the situation at hand but nodded. “It’s through the staff door and on the left.”
”Thanks. Hyung?”
Seokjin patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry about this dickhead, I’ve got him.”
It was only then that Yoongi noticed the rest of their group had gathered around and had been listening in on the proceedings. He hoped they had caught up.
“C’mon,” he murmured to the kid. “I’m gonna help you to the staff room to calm down. You’ll be alright.”
It hurt to be able to lead this poor kid without so much as a peep. Yoongi knew this was gonna be a rough recovery session. He just hoped that he’d be able to help.
Kid. Given the fact that he had been granted access to the bar at all, this was likely a whole ass adult. But there was so much youth to him. So much innocence in his wide eyes.
Yet now those sparkling eyes were glazed over.
Yoongi clutched his hand a little tighter as he got them into the significantly quieter staff room. “Okay, here we go. This is much better. Look, there’s even a soft cushion here for you to hold.”
Comfort would be easier if he knew the boy’s name. Maybe one of the others would ask the bastard they had rescued him from.
Hitched breathing picked up again.
Yoongi acted quickly. “Hey, hey. Listen to me. We need to slow that down. I know you’re scared and having an episode but passing out will not make this easier for you.”
There was no reaction. No apparent notice of his words.
He cursed under his breath and grabbed one of the kid’s hands and put it over his chest as he exaggerated slow breathing. “C’mon kid, hang in there. We don’t even need sleepy breathing. We just need it a little slower.”
It took a few minutes but his breathing slowed.
Yoongi huffed a sigh of relief. Baby steps. When coming down from a panic attack, it was just a matter of baby steps.
The door to the staff room opened to reveal Taehyung. He hesitated just inside. “Namjoon-hyung punched him in the face because he called Jin-hyung a worthless slut and spat in his face.”
”What a piece of trash,” he grumbled. There was a raging beast within him desperate to give the asshole a piece of his mind as well. But he didn’t want to risk unleashing that aggression in front of the kid.
”His name is Jungkook.”
Yoongi blinked. “How did you figure that out?”
Taehyung sat on the floor beside him. “Jimin pulled the guy’s ear until he gave it up.”
”Was that before or after the punch?”
”Before the punch but after he called me an eyesore and stomped on Jiminie’s chelseas.”
No wonder Jimin had gotten feisty. It was truly a marvel how some humans made themselves out to be so despicable.
Yoongi hoped the bastard would one day know the consequences of his own treachery.
“How has he been?”
They both peered over at Jungkook, who remained frozen in place.
Yoongi still held one of his hands.
“I think the initial panic has bled into dissociation now. Or maybe they became the same beast? It’s hard to tell. He hasn’t been cognizant enough to talk to. I’ve been comforting him verbally though, just in case he can hear.”
Taehyung nodded. “That’s a good idea. Maybe he’ll feel safer that way.”
“Hear that, Jungkook? You’re safe with us. We’ll make sure nothing happens until you’re back to yourself.”
The cops surveyed the five of them with skeptical gazes.
”So… what exactly happened here?”
”THOSE FUCKERS ATTACKED ME FOR NO REASON IS WHAT HAPPENED!”
Jimin studied his manicured nails, saddened to find one broken. “We acted in self defense.”
“He sent one of my friends straight into a panic attack, spat in Jin’s face, stomped Jiminie’s foot, all the while he verbally harassed all of us.” Hoseok crossed his arms. “It’s all his fault.”
Namjoon made a show of wiping Seokjin’s face as he sent a scowl to the bastard.
Seokjin was eerily silent but the fury was plain in his eyes.
The cops sighed, one of them rubbing their brow.
”Right. Well, let’s get your statements.”
The first indication they got that Jungkook was resurfacing was a small sob.
Taehyung and Yoongi refocused on him to offer soothing platitudes.
”Shh, it’s alright. You’re safe.”
”Oh honey, you’ll be okay.
Jungkook’s gaze flickered around the room in a rapid sweep. He didn’t seem to be fully aware of his surroundings just yet.
Yoongi gave a gentle squeeze to his hand and offered a smile when the kid’s head snapped to look at him. “Hey, sorry to startle you. But you’re safe. We’ve been sitting with you for about 20 minutes while you came back. My name is Yoongi and this is Taehyung.”
There was always a fine line to walk about too much information at once and not enough. In his own experience, Yoongi preferred to have it all laid out to him and then have it repeated if his auditory processing hadn’t quite picked up what was said.
Based on the confused furrow to Jungkook’s brow, it might have been a bit too much all at once.
”Where’s…?”
Taehyung sat up a bit straighter. “Your significant other?”
Jungkook nodded after a minute.
”Getting arrested probably. He was very rude towards our other friends and made physical and verbal aggressions towards us.”
“So if you’re worried about his anger, don’t be,” Yoongi assured him. “He’s not here and he can’t harass you.”
Some of their stress ebbed away as Jungkook melted before their eyes. He sagged into the couch cushion. A few shuddering breaths escaped him.
Taehyung reached up to push a soft pillow towards him. “Here, if you wanted something beside hyung’s hand to hold.”
Jungkook gathered the pillow up under his free hand, tucking it against his side. Though he kept hold of Yoongi’s hand the whole time.
Yoongi wasn’t about to pull his hand away either. If it gave the kid comfort, then who was he to take that away?
After a few more minutes of silence, Jungkook broke into tears. They were heartbreaking. His face screwed up, he sunk into himself, and he just.. sobbed.
Taehyung made a sound of concern. “Jungkook, can I hug you? Can I hold you? Would that be okay?”
He managed a nod.
Yoongi smiled as Tae made an octopus of himself and totally enveloped their distraught companion.
It was Tae’s version of deep pressure therapy. Yoongi had called upon his cuddling services more than once when he had been in the midst of a bad mental health slump. Sometimes you just needed someone to hold you through the worst of things. Sometimes you just needed an octopus cuddler named Tae.
Jungkook seemed to appreciate the tight hold as he burrowed his face into Tae’s shoulder. He continued to weep but it was less miserable than it had been.
Yoongi wondered if anyone had ever been there to hold him on the downswing of an episode. If anyone had ever bothered to offer him the much needed comfort after being at your worst.
The door opened again to reveal Seokjin peeking his head through. “Everything alright in here?” He asked, voice soft.
Yoongi shrugged, unsure of what to say.
The immediate episode seemed to be done with but now it was the crash. They were working with unknown variables. Everyone had a different kind of fallout after such a sudden panic attack. There was clear evidence that their company and physical contact was helping. But there was a lot of other information they didn’t have.
Seokjin hummed. With broadcasted motions and audible footsteps, he moved further into the room. When he neared the couch, he dropped into a squat and smiled up at Jungkook once their eyes met. “Heya kiddo. You feeling a little better now?”
Jungkook sniffled, wrinkling his nose when Taehyung used his sleeve to wipe away the remnant tears on his cheeks.
”Mm’okay,” he mumbled. “S-Sorry I interrupted your night..”
”Oh don’t even worry about, it was far too calm for our tastes anyways.”
They all grinned when he seemed skeptical.
”Oh yeah, the hyungs aren’t gonna stop talking about this night for awhile,” Taehyung agreed. “Though we’re sorry you had a rough time of it. I’m glad we were able to help you come out of the panic attack.”
Jungkook’s cheeks went a bit red as he bowed his head in thanks. “Me too… it’s never been that easy to come out of one before.”
Yoongi patted the hand still in his grasp. “I know how that feels. It’s always nicer to have people around.”
”And now you do,” Seokjin declared. “Because our group has grown very fond of you in short order. So welcome! Can I ask your name and age, kiddo?”
For a second, Yoongi wondered if they were pushing too much too quick. They had just met and were already adopting Jungkook into their midst. Then he surveyed the way that Jungkook was slumped into Taehyung's protective hold, or how he continued to play with their joined fingers in an absent gesture. So maybe they weren't?
"I'm Jungkook and I'm 26."
Taehyung beamed. "Ohhhh so you're the youngest now! You've just got yourself six new hyungs, Jungkookie!"
Jungkook was speechless. "I did?"
Seokjin patted his knee. "You really did. Now, I have a very important question for you."
In any other circumstance the question might have come off as intimidating. Instead, with the mischievous expression Jin bore and the excited gleam in his eyes, Yoongi knew it would come across as playful.
Those large eyes got a bit of sparkle back in them. Jungkook mirrored the shift in energy with relative ease. "What?"
"Do you want to go get ice cream with your new hyungs?"
Namjoon glowered from across the table.
Yoongi snorted into his cup of chocolate ice cream at the silent outrage.
"I can't believe you have that abomination in my presence," Namjoon muttered.
Hoseok placed his sundae onto the table with a thunk. "Joon, it's just ice cream. It's not that deep."
"It's mint chocolate - it might as well be toothpaste!"
Jungkook grinned around his spoon. "I used to eat toothpaste as a kid, so this is right up my alley to be honest."
"Honey, don't feed into his delusions," Hoseok chided.
Jungkook giggled.
Jimin and Taehyung, who were sharing a banana split, watched with a sense of obvious amusement.
This was far from the first time that this debate had cropped up. It was a first to have their resident sunshine joined by someone with similar tastes. As soon as the two of them had realized their sudden alliance, they had shared an excited dance to celebrate the occasion.
Yoongi could only marvel at the dramatic change in character in the new group youngest. They had encountered him in a dire moment and helped him through the aftereffects, and had been rewarded with a vibrant and playful person that just wanted to be loved. Based solely on the way all six of them were turned towards their new youngest? Yoongi would say that Jungkook was in for just that.
Seokjin swung an arm over Namjoon's shoulder. "It was easier to bicker over this when you weren't outnumbered, Joonie. Now you face down two sets of bambi eyes if you push them too far."
Hoseok and Jungkook shared but a moment of eye contact before using their best set of puppy eyes.
Namjoon's resolve crumbled before their eyes. "That's not fair."
"Life's not fair but at least I have pretty eyes," Jungkook teased.
"Preach," Taehyung said with a raised spoon.
Yoongi felt fond as he watched the six of them interact with one another. Having the additional sixth there felt so right on so many levels.
Seven was a rather lucky number, after all.
"Hey Joon-hyung, did you know that the origin of mint choco is a topic of rather heavy debate? It often gets credited to Marilyn Ricketts as having invented it but Baskin Robins also claims that they had the flavor as part of their original lineup 30 years before the fact."
The rest of them watched with thorough amusement as Namjoon's entire face lit up.
Oh yeah, Jungkook was gonna fit in just fine.