Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was the warehouse stunt all over again. Kookie smiled to himself as he crawled into an old metal box in the upper floor of the abandoned building, tucked in a far, back corner where he knew only a few of the members would dare to tread.

The first time he’d played hide-and-seek in an old warehouse during a shoot, it had been Taetae and Joonie who had put him up to it, sending in their two most-easily frightened members – Hobi and ChimChim – to go find him. Both of them had given up before they’d even made it halfway through the building. They were such chickens!

This warehouse was even bigger though, bigger and darker and scarier than the last one. Kookie was the only one who was willing to wander so freely around the place once his shoot was over. The others would finish up quickly enough...Jin and then Yoongi were right after him, if he was remembering right. They wouldn’t notice he was gone right away, but once they did, they’d know what sort of game he was playing. Then it would on, and they’d get everyone involved.

It’d be more fun this time around if they were all looking for him instead of just Jimin and Hobi, upping the competition. In fact, since he was hidden so well, he decided he’d even be nice and buy dessert for the first person who found him, whether it was a member or staff. He’d probably get in trouble for the stunt, but he was still young enough to get away with some things. Besides, he wouldn’t let it go for too long before he came out on his own. He learned from last time that once they’d officially given up they wouldn’t bother to come in after him, and it would get boring after awhile.

He tinkered with his phone for a little bit, just keeping himself busy until finally he heard the first of the boys calling for him. Jin, as expected. His voice was quiet, far away, like he was probably on the floor below, but noise echoed around the empty warehouse easily enough for Kookie to hear him without issue. Not wanting to get caught by his phone’s light or a sound lest someone try to call him, he shut it off and jammed it in his back pocket, then smiled broadly as he listened for his hyungs to resume their search.

When more time passed, Yoongi did in fact join the hunt, then Namjoon followed by Taetae as they each finished their shoots. If Hoseok and Jimin were involved, they were staying far enough away where Kookie couldn’t hear them. Typical. There was no way they were coming that far into the “possibly haunted” building.

Tae was laughing as he called out Jungkook’s name in a taunting way, threatening to find him and beat him up for doing this to him. They were supposed to be partners in crime, after all (when they weren’t pairing off individually with Jimin, anyway, or forming a pact between the three of them to harass the older members). Namjoon was laughing too, while Jin and Yoongi were beginning to sound a little more impatient. They were all coming closer though, close enough so that when Kookie poked his head up from within the box, he could see bright lights shining from somewhere in the hallway. Oh. That wasn’t good. They were supposed to be using their phone lights like last time, small devices that couldn’t quite penetrate the shadows in which he was hidden. If they shined whatever high-powered flashlights they had now into the room, they would catch him for sure.

Not wanting to be found so easily, Kookie very quickly but very quietly reached up to grab the lid of the old box, hoping the rusted metal wouldn’t squeak too much when he tugged on it. It wasn’t too bad, luckily, creating only an eerie sort of sound that caused the others out in the hall to actually pause with nervous chuckles instead of rushing forward. It gave Kookie enough time to settle the lid all the way down until it latched into place.

Latched. His brain had just enough time to register that tiniest of clicks before the closing of the lid triggered an entirely new problem for him – the metal floor of the box beneath his feet dropped away faster than he could take his next breath, sending him sliding down a sloped funnel and into a round, narrow chute that closed in even further as he fell, enough so that his rapid descent ended with a jolt as he firmly got stuck somewhere inside instead of falling all the way to the bottom.

He wasn’t thinking about that though, about how he could’ve broken a bone had he managed to meet what would’ve been a rough landing. He wasn’t thinking about how he was trapped in complete darkness, one arm raised above his head and free to move somewhat, but the other pressed between his chest and the metal walls of the chute, making it hard for him to breathe, his legs dangling into a void with nothing below him. It didn’t occur to him that he hadn’t even had a chance to scream, or turn on his phone, nothing to alert the others that he was there and in trouble. The burn in his trapped arm from having cut it open on the hatch door as he’d fallen wasn’t popping up on his pain radar. It barely even registered that the abrupt stop had caused him to hit his head on the side of the metal chute. If his vision dimmed before he blacked out, he didn’t know that, either, because he was surrounded by such pitch blackness that he wouldn’t be able to see his own hand in front of his face. He wasn’t going to be seeing anything whether he was awake or asleep, but at the moment, the hit to his head beckoned him to ‘sleep.’

~~~~~~~

When Taehyung heard the slow, soft creeeeak coming from the room down the hall, he laughed at his fear as he latched onto Namjoon’s arm, his hold the only thing that had kept him from running back the other direction. Joonie teased him, but didn’t seem overly eager to jump ahead either. Even Jin and Yoongi paused, chuckling at their own ridiculous fear before Yoongi took it upon himself to take the lead, scolding Jungkook loudly for trying to scare them.

Then a loud bang! echoed against the walls, causing all of them to jump (and a few to maybe scream slightly, but they wouldn’t admit it). They all scrambled back a couple steps, Yoongi inadvertently gripping onto Jin’s shirt for a moment.

“Jeon Jungkook!” Namjoon hollered in false anger, a big smile on his face as he started the newly-revived hunt for their rambunctious maknae.

Flashlights at the ready, they ran into the room where they had heard the noises coming from and quickly spread out to scan the large space, all of them shouting out threats to Kookie for toying with them like that. As they continued to search, however, they started to grow more and more uneasy as they began to run out of corners to look in. The last possible spot to search was the metal box in the back, so knowing that had to be his hiding place, they all gathered around it, ready to grab him as soon as they opened the lid. Jin volunteered himself to lift it, counting down from three before he gave it a tug and--

--found that it didn’t open.

Puzzled for a moment, he shone his light on the box a little better and had to fumble a bit to realize there was a release for the catch.

“I bet he locked himself in here accidentally,” he chuckled, which got the others snickering, followed by taunting.

“Are you stuck, Jungkookie?” Taehyung teased, and slapped his palm in the lid.

Namjoon laughed and chimed in. “Maybe we should leave him in there as punishment. One whole minute.”

“No, no, don’t let him out until after we eat,” Yoongi suggested loudly.

Jin shook his head and shooed them all away, telling them that was enough. The poor kid was probably embarrassed enough already about the whole situation. He didn’t need the others teasing him about it. “Okay, okay. I’m letting you out Kookie. Don’t jump out at me or I might hit you with my flashlight on reflex.”

He waited a beat, his smile falling when there was no reply. There was no sound at all, which was putting Jin a little on edge. Kookie wouldn’t take the joke this far, would he? There was no way he’d just sit in there silently while the others taunted him if he was truly stuck.

“Jungkook?” Jin called again, sharing a quick look with the others as they all caught on that maybe something wasn’t right.

“Open it, open it!” they urged, completely serious now, and Jin made swift work of popping the catch and pushing the lid up. It moved a bit stiffly, and creaked horribly as he forced it completely open. When he finally got it up, the others surged forward and pointed their lights into the box, ready to find their missing member.

Except the box was empty. All they saw was a bright reflection of their lights bouncing back at them off the metal bottom.

“He’s not here,” Namjoon said needlessly.

“But if it wasn’t Jungkook, then what was making all that noise in here?” Yoongi asked.

When they looked at each other this time, they all looked scared, and then suddenly moved as one to rush out of the room laughing and screaming in exaggerated terror, and also shouting at Kookie that they were giving up and he needed to just come out on his own – if the ghost hadn’t gotten to him, that was. They caught up with Hoseok and Jimin on the bottom floor near the entrance, all of them excitedly sharing their own version of how they had just faced a warehouse spirit, making the events of their search sound more terrifying than they actually had been just to freak out their two resident scaredycats.

“Ah, it ate Jungkookie!” Jimin cried out with his talent for dramatic flare.

Hobi put his hands on his face and wailed in return. “Jeon Jungkook! Nooooooo! I would avenge you, but I’m too scared!”

They played at that for a little while, being as loud as possible so maybe their youngest would hear them and finally get the hint to just come out already. When it got boring and they got tired of yelling, they huffed out varying degrees of sighs and insults, rolled eyes and muttered threats, then went outside to hang out in the parking lot where they could get some fresh air. Kookie would come out when the staff had finished breaking down the set and were ready to go, just like he’d done the last time. All they had to do was wait.

~~~~~~~

Jungkook moaned as he lifted his head, doing his best to blink away the dizziness he was feeling. It took him a moment to realize that he was actually blinking though, because there was nothing in front of him to focus his vision on but blackness; he would almost think his eyes were still closed if he couldn’t physically feel them opening and shutting. Coming to full awareness, he tried to move only to find himself wedged in tightly between...something.

What the hell…?

It was then that everything came online inside his body, the restricted air, the crushing pain against his ribs and shoulders, liquid warmth mixing with a sort of burning sensation along his trapped arm, the fingers on both hands already beginning to tingle with lack of circulation – one pressed too tightly between his body and what felt like a metal wall to get proper blood flow, the other forced to remain above his head since he didn’t have enough space to drop his elbow down, making his body have to work twice as hard to pump the blood up his arm to reach his fingers. On the bright side – he made himself think of one just to alleviate some of the burning panic rising up inside him like so much putrid bile – at least his legs and feet felt alright...even if they were dangling over nothing but thin air. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to think about, considering he had no way of knowing exactly how high above the ground he actually was.

Then there was the matter of his head. It was throbbing so painfully he could almost imagine some little creature on the inside trying to pound its way out, its fists slamming against the left side of his skull just above his ear. From what he could tell, he didn’t think he was bleeding, but he was sure there’d be a huge goose egg there that his hyungs would probably poke at for days once he got himself out. If he could get out, anyway.

He began to try formulating a plan of action (completely calm because he was Jeon Jungkook – Jeon Cena – and therefore he did not panic even in situations where he was trapped in the dark, injured, having a hard time drawing in a full breath of air – and he was most definitely not starting to cry) when his still-muddled brain managed to pick up on the sounds of voices shouting at him. He couldn’t make out much of what they were saying, but he definitely caught his name a time or two; and even with his banged up brain, he could identify the owners of each voice without a second’s hesitation.

Screw whatever plan he was trying to make. His hyungs were looking for him. They would find him for sure.

“I’m here!” he called out as best he could, but his voice sounded breathy and soft even though it echoed off the metal chute around him. He found that he couldn’t draw enough air into his lungs to send out a decent shout, and it hurt to try. Still, he did the best he could, calling out for what felt like ages until he realized he couldn’t hear the others’ voices anymore. Had they stopped looking for him? Had they actually just left him there?

Kookie blinked back tears with pained realization. Of course they had left him, but not because they were bad hyungs. It was because he’d done this before. He’d hidden until he’d gotten bored with hiding and had realized it was time to leave, and now he was paying the price for that little prank.

Fuck being Jeon Cena, he thought, and finally just let himself act like the maknae that he was, letting go of the tears that he’d so desperately been trying to fight off. If there was ever a time when he wouldn’t be teased for acting like a frightened child, it was now.

“Please find me,” he begged to everyone and noone at once. “Please.”

~~~~~~~

“He should be out by now,” Hoseok stated, looking at the warehouse with a bit of apprehension. The staff was packing up the last of the gear and still Jungkook had not shown himself. They’d tried calling his phone to let him know that it was time to end the game, but all their attempts had gone uselessly to voicemail. “Should we go back in?”

“Yeah, you go, you and Jiminie,” Yoongi nodded thoughtfully. “That’s probably what he wants. You two didn’t go the first time. It’s not fun for him if the two of you don’t go.”

Namjoon strolled over from where he’d been sitting on the back bumper of the van. “I’ll go with you. This is too much. I’ll need to reprimand him when we find him for making everybody wait.”

“I’ll go, too,” Taehyung volunteered. “I think the same way he does. I wasn’t looking too hard before, but I’ll take it seriously this time. There were some places I didn’t check where he might be hiding.”

It sounded logical, but no one missed the way he stepped up beside Jimin and put his arm around his shoulders. Part of the reason Taetae wanted to go was to help keep Jiminie from getting too scared. As long as Jimin was wedged between Tae and Hobi, and Hobi had Namjoon on his other side, they’d probably be alright.

Jin and Yoongi were instructed to stay put in case Kookie wandered out on his own. Then it would be up to those two to give the boy his deserved lecture until Namjoon came back to resume the responsibility as their leader.

It was odd thinking that way, to actually be angry at their designated Golden Maknae, to be so prepared to punish him. He could cause trouble here and there as much as Jimin and Taehyung could, but he generally knew where the lines were that couldn’t be crossed. He was officially an adult now though, and had maybe grown up enough to be at a point where he wanted to act out a little more, to try new things and get his shot at living like a normal young man. The poor kid had spent his teenage years, the ones in which he should’ve been out causing trouble and having fun, confined to the strict guidelines bestowed upon anyone living the life of an idol. There wasn’t much room to make mistakes in that lifestyle. Maybe this game he was playing was a bit of that stunted rebelliousness finally coming out in force.

Namjoon sighed. He supposed there were worse things Jungkook could be doing than playing a game of hide and seek taken too far. If this was him rebelling, it wasn’t a terrible way to do it. Maybe he would only scold him a little bit just to make his point clear, then they’d have a longer, more private talk once they got home and it was just the two of them in their room together. Kookie always opened up more about what he was feeling when there were fewer people around to hear him being less-than-perfect.

That would all come later, though. First they had to find him.

~~~~~~~

“Jeon Jungkook!”

Kookie swallowed back the soft sobs that seemed like they would never stop despite the difficulty he was having breathing. That had been Hoseok’s voice calling out for him, closer than it had been the last time he’d heard anyone calling for him and significantly more clear. That meant Hobi had to be nearby.

“Jungkookie!”

Jimin! A bit of hope and more than a little happiness swelled through Kookie’s heart at the notion that the two people who would be most afraid to come into the warehouse that far were searching for him. What made things better was that their voices were soon joined by Taetae’s and Namjoon’s one right after the after, renewing Kookie’s drive to try to help himself, once again.

Wincing, he did his best to shift his knees and feet up against the chute beneath him. Maybe if he could push himself up a little bit, he could relieve some of the pressure on his chest enough to let out a good shout. He braced himself, and once he felt like he’d found a sturdy position, he counted to three and pushed, succeeding in gaining that tiny inch he was looking for.

“Hoseok! Help!” he was able to get out with as much volume as he could manage before his foot slipped and he dropped down again, the slight shift in position renewing all his pains. He cried out at the onslaught of each burning and bruising sensation, but he refused to give up trying to get the attention of his hyungs. Using whatever strength he could muster from his fear and adrenaline, he slapped his free hand and kicked his feet against the metal tube as hard as he could. The noise echoed fiercely around his head, ringing loudly in his ears, but he didn’t stop, couldn’t stop. Someone would hear him. They had to hear him.

~~~~~~~

“Hoseok! Help!”

Hobi’s head snapped around the moment he’d heard his name being called, all of them heard it, then completely abandoned his fear of ghosts and dark spaces and all such juvenile things when a second later he heard what could only have been a cry of pain. A brand new fear settled in his gut, one of their little Kookie being hurt and needing help, and it fueled his feet to fly beneath him. He was running, they all were, doing their best to pinpoint what had gone from a voice to an unsteady rhythm of frantic drumbeats on metal.

“Jungkook! Kookie!” they all chorused, their lights flashing frantically around as they swept the halls and rooms.

“There! It’s there!” Taehyung shouted, rushing ahead to kick over an old wooden crate so he could clamber on top of it. He pressed his ear against a round, metal chute that was flush with the back wall and knocked on it. “Jungkookie! Are you in there?”

The banging stopped instantly, filling the room with a horrible silence for the longest moment of any of their lives. When Jungkook finally did answer, it was with a voice so frightened and panicked and filled with pain that they would probably be hearing his words in their nightmares for weeks. “Taehyungie? Oh, I thought you’d left me. It’s so dark and I can’t breathe, and...and...please don’t leave me. Don’t leave me in here. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry. Please get me out! Please don’t leave me here!”

His words tumbled out more and more frantically as he spoke, muffled by the metal that separated them, but still loud enough for them all to hear. The other three rushed forward and pressed against the chute as though they could send their touch through the barrier, all of them calling out assurances that they weren’t going to leave him, only stopping their mantra once he was calm enough to repeat it back to them. Only then did Hoseok instruct Taehyung to run back out to tell the others and to lead them to the room as quickly as possible.

Tae was clearly reluctant to leave his friend like that so soon after Kookie’s pleading outburst, but he also knew he would be the best and fastest one to navigate out and back in through what was almost a maze. With one last promise that he’d be back, he darted off like a jackrabbit, surefooted and unafraid despite the dark. He was on a mission, after all, probably the most important one of his entire young life.

“Hobi?” Kookie tentatively called out after Tae had gone and the room had fallen silent for a moment.

Hoseok stepped up onto the crate that Tae had abandoned, putting himself closer to what they thought was Kookie’s level. “Here. I’m right here. I’m not leaving you, okay?”

The sound of fingernails lightly dragging across the metal made Hoseok cringe, but he didn’t flinch away. Instead, he rested his forehead against the side of the chute and pressed his hand against the place where he suspected Kookie’s to be.

“I’m in big trouble, aren’t I?” Jungkook asked, sounding so very small, so very young, not at all like the confidant adult he was turning out to be.

Hoseok couldn’t help but smile a bit sadly at that as he and Namjoon shared a look. “Yes,” he answered honestly, “but we’ll wait to lecture you until after we get you out.”

A pause. “No. Do it now? If we get it over with, then I’ll know things can’t get any worse.”

So they did, not even remotely feeling their irritation anymore but doing it because he’s asked them to, taking turns lightly scolding him on how foolish he had been and how inconsiderate it was of him to scare them all like that, and making him promise over and over again not to pull anything like this ever again. They were sincere, but not harsh, demanding responses and apologies from him whenever he would fall silent, giving him something to focus on besides the darkness, continuing on at his request when Jin and Yoongi arrived. Jimin and Taehyung said their peace, too, albeit in a more joking manner full of odd demands that they were going to force Kookie to do once he was back home with them. And he readily agreed. To all of it.

When they ran out of lectures they moved on to apologies on their end, telling him how sorry they were for not looking for him longer, harder, for being right there at the top of the chute and not taking the time to figure out the trick to the trapdoor at the bottom of the box. If they had thought about it more, about how there was tension on the lid when they were pulling it open, about how the sounds had lined up both when Kookie had fallen and when they were resetting the box, they would’ve realized that the lid and the trapdoor and the catch were all connected on a spring system -- closing the lid against the catch released the mechanism that held the trapdoor in place; opening the lid reset the catch and lifted the trapdoor back to its original position.

Namjoon was hardest on himself for not noticing that. He was normally so quick to solve such puzzles; the fact that Kookie reminded him that no one knew there was a puzzle to be solved didn’t really help much. Actually, the fact that Kookie kept trying to turn away their apologies, kept repeating that he was solely the one to blame wasn’t helping to alleviate any guilt at all. They had all left him there. They’d sat outside and made jokes and had gotten angry at him while he’d been stuck in that cold metal tube all by himself, thinking they weren’t coming back for him. Now he was having to wait even longer as the staff tried to figure out what to do while they waited for emergency personnel to come help them.

“Stop, you guys are depressing,” Kookie sniffled after it had gone on like that for some time. He sounded tired, winded, but at least all the panic seemed to have faded away from his tone. “Tell funny stories. Yoongi, you’re good at that.”

Yoongi didn’t think he was, really. He had a very dry sense of humor, but he was good at pulling it out at the most random times. Kookie always seemed to appreciate it at, but Yoongi suspected he was being called out more because he hadn’t spoken for a bit. It was Kook’s way of checking, keeping tabs, making sure everyone was still there, and this was the best way he could do it without the embarrassment of directly asking them.

It was fine. Suga was a writer, a storyteller. It wasn’t too hard for him to think of something to say to fill the silence, and if he managed to draw a breathy laugh out of their maknae because of it, well, that was a pat on the back for him then. If this was what Kookie wanted, what he needed, then Yoongi would keep it up all night if he had to.

~~~~~~~

They had gone rounds for ages, taking turns keeping Jungkook occupied while the emergency crew had formulated their plans to free the trapped boy, the band’s staff working their magic to keep everything from getting leaked to any media. They were lucky they were out in the middle of an industrial area where not many people would be seen until work hours began again. The last thing they needed was to be embarrassed by such a stupid stunt, especially when it revolved around one of the most popular members of the group.

The boys weren’t even remotely close to thinking about that, though. They were too busy worrying about their youngest, who had continued being surprisingly brave under the circumstances as long as they all just kept talking to him. At the moment he was playing a game with Jimin that they had made up on the spot, a sort of patty-cake song made with nonsense lyrics in which they had set a pattern of where to “slap their hands together” through the metal along a path that Kookie was able to reach with his mobile arm. It wasn’t just a game to keep them busy, though. The emergency crew were beginning the process of cutting the chute above his head and needed to know how close they could get without the risk of cutting him.

“Kookie, they’re going to start now,” Namjoon warned briefly before they could begin the process, knowing it would make a lot of noise that might scare him. “Keep playing with Jiminie, okay?”

Jungkook didn’t answer, just kept singing and hitting the metal in proper time, his voice almost too quiet to hear anymore, the light tapping of his fingers barely making a sound. When the cutting started, however, he instantly got louder, his pitch jumping up slightly in reaction to the almost keening screech of saw teeth sliding metal against metal.

Jimin sang louder too, then Tae chimed in who had been learning the song as they’d played, and it wasn’t long before all the boys were belting out a chorus of the nonsense jingle, dropping words of encouragement in between lyrics when they could hear Jungkook’s voice breaking around tears. Whether he was crying because he was scared, or because the noise was too loud inside the chute, or maybe because he was just happy to be almost out, they didn’t know and they didn’t draw attention to it. All they focused on was the song and their litany of positive words right up until the last of the tube was finally cut through. It broke with a snap!, making the lower half of the chute that held Kookie’s weight jolt forward a little bit to strain against the bracket that held it to the wall.

Only then did Jungkook stop singing, letting out a surprised little yelp of alarm followed by a stream of jumbled utterances on how he could see the light and to please get me out over and over again. Desperate fingers reached up into the small gap created between the top of chute and the cut-away portion, their tips barely poking out to feel along the edge. Jin was quick to hop up onto the crate, trading places with Jimin so he could reach up and touch those fingers, putting a halt to their wandering.

“Don’t, Jungkook, you’ll cut yourself,” he said, his voice filled with warm concern. “Just a little longer, you’re almost out, but you have to put your hand back down, okay? Your fingers could get caught between the metal when the chute moves.”

Kookie began crying earnestly then, pressing his fingertips harder into Jin’s for a moment before he slowly, reluctantly withdrew them.

“Good, that’s good, Jungkookie,” Jin continued to praise. “We’re right here.”

Jimin knocked on the tube from below. “Hey. My ugly face is the first thing you’re going to see when you come out, okay?”

The comment had the desired effect, making Kookie chuckle a little through his tears. “Okay, hyung,” he managed to choke out.

Per the instructions of the emergency crew, Namjoon stepped forward again to explain to Jungkook what was about to happen -- that they were going to remove the bracket, which meant the chute was going to fall away from the wall even more. If it gave them enough room to work, they would then try to pull him out through the top. If not, they would have to cut through the bottom, too, and bring the piece of tube all the way to the floor before freeing him. Kookie stated that he understood, but no one missed it when he began to whisper a small prayer in hopes that they would be able get him out from above, not wanting to stay inside the chute any longer than he already had.

The other members were forced to move back when the crew began to remove the bracket, none of them certain how unstable the chute would become once the support was gone. The workers were professional, though, and anticipated the way the tube began to fall away from the wall the moment it was freed. Despite having been warned, Kookie couldn’t help but cry out in alarm once again, the sensation of falling while being trapped too terrifying to stay silent through it. Still, the metal was too strong to completely fold over on itself, and while it remained wobbly on its base, it stopped at an angle representative of a kid’s tube slide at a waterpark, firm enough where only a few extra supports needed to be carefully slid beneath it to hold it steady.

Ladders were moved into place and soft padding was wound around the cut edge of the chute so no one would cut themselves on the sharp, rusting metal, then true to his word, Jimin insisted that he be the one to lean into the opening first. With the lamps angled on his face, he climbed to the top and looked down into the chute, smiling as he caught sight of Jungkook squinting back up at him. Kookie wasn’t returning the smile, unable to through his tears, but the relief in his eyes was shining brighter than any of the rescue lamps were.

“Jiminie,” he begged as he reached his hand up again, and Jimin quickly caught it, pressing the slightly swollen fingers against his lips in a soothing, brotherly kiss.

“I’ve got you,” he assured, keeping the reunion short and failing to fight back his own tears as he leaned further into the opening so he could grip Kookie’s arm further down. “I’ve got you, Kookie. I’m going to pull, okay? Can you push with your feet?”

Jungkook glanced down for a second as if he could see his legs, but realizing his error, he simply looked back up and nodded. Jimin gave him another three-count, then pulled with all his might, not caring that he was doing the majority of the work. He was one of the smallest members, but he worked out a lot, Kookie being the only one of them who could beat him at arm wrestling. It was clear that Jungkook was too exhausted to be of much help at the moment though, which was one of the reasons Jimin had volunteered to get him out, and why the others had let him. He wouldn’t let them down.

“Jungkook, give me your other arm,” he coached, voice strained, as soon as he’d worked the younger boy up enough that his trapped arm finally began to fall away from his chest.

“I can’t,” Kookie cried, “I can’t, it’s too numb.”

Jimin shook his head. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Maybe just push with your legs one more time then. A big one, okay?”

Using the last of his strength, Kookie did as told, letting out a strangled shout as he surged upward as much as he could, Jimin pulling at the same time far enough where he could hook his arms beneath Jungkook’s and around the boy’s chest. It hurt him, Jimin could tell, but they were too close now for him to let go, and with a determined shout of his own, hauled Kookie up far enough to finally get his upper body out of the chute. Upon seeing him, the others were there in a heartbeat, as many of them as could fit on the couple ladders to get their hands on their youngest, to help free him of his metal prison, all of them crying and offering their touch as he was gently lowered down onto a waiting gurney.

Kookie kept his eyes clamped shut, the lights too bright after he’d been trapped so long in complete darkness, and cried out their names one by one, desperate for a hand to hold his, to be hugged, to tell him he was going to be okay. When Hoseok leaned over him to touch their foreheads together, Kookie managed to wrap his good arm around his hyung’s neck and just held on for dear life until the medical crew made them part so they could move him to the ambulance. Still, Kookie curled his fingers into Hobi’s shirt, determined not to lose his lifeline. He would’ve done the same with his other hand, searching and clinging to whoever was close, but he couldn’t move it. He couldn’t move his arm at all.

~~~~~~~

“It looked bad,” Taehyung sniffled as they all waited in a private lobby of the hospital.

Jimin hugged him and pulled him down against his shoulder, not sure what to say. He’d been the first to see it, the long gash that ran up the side of Jungkook’s left forearm, the way his hand looked swollen and purple and limp. The medical staff had said it would probably be okay, that it had just gone too long without proper circulation, which actually wasn’t a bad thing since it had stopped the wound from bleeding too much. It hadn’t looked like it would be okay, though, and that had everybody worried; and that was over what they could see. He was being treated and thoroughly checked over now, making sure there was no other internal damage that was more concerning than the cut.

“He’s okay,” Yoongi stated. “Hoseok’s with him. He’ll make sure they treat him well.”

The staff had allowed Hoseok into the medical wing with them for no other reason than Kookie had simply refused to let go since he’d latched onto him in the warehouse. He’d nearly gone into a fit when they tried to separate the two in the ambulance, and they didn’t want to work him up anymore than he already was, so they allowed the older boy to accompany him. Hobi wasn’t exactly a brave face when confronted with blood and injury, which might have concerned the others, but this was Jungkook; Hoseok would do anything for him. He’d always been there to comfort their youngest when he needed it, right from the start, and he wouldn’t stop now when Jungkook needed him the most. They would be fine.

It wasn’t too much later when a doctor came out to speak with them, the poor woman nearly overrun with questions as the five stood up and practically bombarded her the moment she stepped into the room.

“He’s okay,” she assured them once she was able to get them to back down a little. “Tired, mostly. He’s resting now.”

“His injuries?” Namjoon was quick to ask, wanting to get to the bottom of their deepest concerns as soon as possible.

The doctor continued with a practiced, professional tone. “The laceration was long, but not too deep. We were able to seal it with medical glue instead of stitches. It’ll keep the scarring to a minimum. He’ll just need to keep it clean and bandaged for awhile. The swelling has already gone down in his hand. He’ll regain full use of it in a minimal amount of time. He does have a mild concussion so he’ll need to be monitored closely for a few days to be certain there are no side effects, and he has some bruising on his ribs and shoulders. He’s going to be very stiff and sore for a bit, but otherwise he’s okay.”

Taehyung and Jin asked in the same tone at nearly the same time, “Can we see him?” both eager to verify for themselves that their youngest was truly going to be alright. The other three turned their eyes to the doctor as well, all looking like they might snap with worry if she didn’t allow them this visit.

Her smile was enough of an answer for them all. “I think he would like that, but don’t get him excited. He really does need to rest.”

They all gave her their word that they’d be behaved and quiet, all of them a bit nervous as she lead the way down the hall to Jungkook’s room, the lights dimmed inside to account for Kookie’s sensitive eyes. They piled in, one by one, sharing small smiles with Hoseok as he turned to greet them. He looked pale and exhausted as well, but he kept up his vigil at Kookie’s side, their fingers interlaced with one another’s. Kookie was sleeping at the moment, looking better now that he was cleaned and bandaged and dressed in a fresh hospital gown. If not for the oxygen tube in his nose and the stark white of the bandage wrapping the length of his arm up to his elbow, they would think he was just sleeping like he had a tendency to do pretty much anywhere he set his mind to.

“How is he?” Namjoon whispered as they all found their own place around the room where they could sit or stand or lean without losing sight of their youngest.

“You should’ve seen him,” Hoseok smiled, tears pricking his eyes with the recent memories. “He was being so brave when they treated him. He managed to make the doctors laugh, even though I could tell he was scared and hurting. You would’ve been so proud of our maknae.”

Jimin, who was behind Hoseok, draped his arms over his shoulders. “Should we be proud of you, too?”

Hobi laughed at that. “No. I cried the entire time. Who do you think Kookie was making fun of when he got the doctors to laugh?”

They all chuckled at that, the sound of which was enough to pull Jungkook out of his doze. His eyes cracked open only a little bit, but he smiled as he was finally able to look upon each of his hyung’s faces. “There you are,” he said tiredly. “I tried to wait for you, but I was tired.”

“It’s fine,” Yoongi smiled softly, and gently patted his shoulder. “How do you feel?”

“Ask me later when I’m not on so many painkillers,” Jungkook grinned, causing Taehyung to snicker in amusement.

“So you’re high right now? Ooh, Jungkook, you’re so bad. What will Army’s say?”

Kookie smirked at his best friend before letting out a dramatic sigh. “Probably that I’m dumb for hurting myself playing hide and seek.”

Jin tapped on his leg, catching Kookie’s attention. “They won’t say anything like that,” he stated honestly. “You know how it’ll be. The staff will release a statement saying you were injured while on set, but no one will actually know the details. That’s how it always is.”

Everybody nodded, each of them having had their own share of messups that were covered up. It was always like that in the idol life, half their lives completely on display for everyone to see, the other half having to be kept so secret that not even their families were privy to most of what went on behind closed doors. Then there were the few times they had messed up in public, and on those days it was like Hell rained fired down on them all. If word of this particular incident got out, there would be a horde of angry fans somehow trying to blame the label for the incident, some non-fans probably trying to start rumors that it was all a publicity stunt, or just straight out mocking Jungkook, and then there would be the social network crashes thanks to the worldwide influx of fans crying for him to get well. Not that he didn’t appreciate that, but sometime it was all just too much; he really just didn’t want to deal with any of it.

“Good,” he frowned. “I feel dumb enough as it is without everybody telling me so.”

“Oh, you should be used to that. I call you dumb all the time,” Tae teased wickedly.

“Me, too,” Jimin chimed in.

Kookie smiled more broadly even though his eyes seemed to fall shut again without his permission for them to do so. He was trying his best to keep them open as he spoke, but was clearly having a hard time of it. “Yeah, but now I’m not allowed to hit you when you say it, because it’s true..”

Joonie stepped forward and pressed his hand comfortingly against Kookie’s forehead. “No, it’s not, but we can talk about that later. Go back to sleep. Your hyungs will be here to tease you some more when you wake up.”

Doing his leader’s bidding, Jungkook fell back into a deep slumber almost instantly, leaving nothing for the rest of them to do but to find a spot to sit and wait. They would wait forever if they needed to. When it came to their maknae, there was very little they wouldn’t do for him, especially in a time like this.

~~~~~~~

As it turned out, the hospital only kept Jungkook for an extra day following his admittance before he was allowed to return home with strict instructions to do little more than rest. The concussion wasn’t bad and he was showing no concerning symptoms outside of general tiredness, but the bruising would keep him down for awhile on its own. His hyungs were given a strict schedule for his medications and when to ice his injuries, as well as how and when to properly clean and re-wrap his arm, which he was told the circulation had returned to without incident. He just wouldn’t be comfortable moving it with full mobility for a bit until the bruising and the gash healed up some.

Sporting a fresh change of some of his favorite clothes that his members had kindly brought for him, Kookie made his way gingerly to the van, his hyungs all hovering around him like worried hens, settling him into his seat lined with blankets for extra comfort. When he hissed as Jin tugged the safety belt over his shoulder, Yoongi was quick to slide a folded cloth between the belt and his ribs, preventing it from pressing too tightly against his bruises. They had all seen his torso when he’d changed his shirt – the poor kid was black and purple pretty much everywhere that had been compacted against the metal tube (or, in the case of his ribs, the area where his arm had been pressed into them for so long). He also kept seeming to forget that he couldn’t rest his head on the left side, either, the tiniest amount of pressure on the large goose egg making him flinch back as if struck every time anything so much as grazed it.

The ultimate answer to Yoongi’s question of how did he feel, now that he wasn’t on quite so heavy a dose of painkillers? Frankly, he felt like hell, but he was still happy to be going home to his own bed where he could just relax and try to forget all about his traumatic ordeal. It was bad enough that the bruises kept reminding him of his carelessness; being in a stale environment certainly hadn’t helped any.

“Jungkook, are you alright?” Namjoon asked, interrupting his thoughts. “I thought you’d be asleep by now. Is the van jostling you around too much?”

Kookie realized he’d been staring absently out the window for long enough that they’d already gotten halfway back to their dorm. Strange. He was normally the type to pass out in the car practically the moment the engine started, and he definitely felt tired now, but it seemed his mind was too busy to sleep at the moment.

“No, I’m okay,” he answered truthfully. “Just excited to be going home, I guess.”

He noticed the way Taetae shifted forward in the seat behind him, about ready to hang over his shoulders like he was prone to doing, but then he seemed to catch himself and pressed his hands together in his lap, remembering he couldn’t do such things with Kookie’s injuries. It made Jungkook feel guilty, knowing how much Taehyung liked to touch. Kookie didn’t mind it most of the time, even on a bad day, and half the time even sought it out for himself, craving the familial closeness. Now he wanted it more than ever, and reached his good hand up over his shoulder a little, waving his fingers until he felt them being grabbed. He turned his head to shoot Tae a little smile, then carefully shifted himself in the seat a little so he could maintain the hold on Taehyung’s fingers in a slightly more comfortable position. It still hurt, but he found that he preferred the little bit of pain over the absence of that touch. He was able to fall asleep much more quickly with Taehyung’s hand gripping onto his.

~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, just the act of being home wasn’t quite as comforting as Kookie had hoped. He had laughed at first at how much his hyungs had gone overboard with his bed, the mattress having been stacked with thick comforters and pillows so that laying on it felt like sinking back into a soft cloud. Physically, it was more comfortable than anything he’d slept on in his entire life, and Kookie had pretty much slept in and on everything imaginable. As soon as he was settled in, however, and left alone so he could get some decent sleep, he wound up doing the same thing he’d done in the car – he just sort of laid there with his eyes open, his mind going a thousand miles a minute.

No...no, not really going. His mind honestly wasn’t doing much of anything. He realized what he was really doing was listening, latching onto any sound that the other members were making in their rooms or in the kitchen or the living area. As tired as he was feeling, he knew what his problem was – every time he closed his eyes to darkness he was taken back to that chute, trapped and alone and terrified out of his mind despite how brave everyone kept telling him he had been. In truth, he had been completely irrational at the time, truly believing that his hyungs were angry to the point where they would just leave him. He wanted them to spend so much time scolding him less to get it out of the way like he had said and more because if they were yelling at him, it at least kept them there where he could hear them, their anger be damned. If they had spent the entire rest of his entrapment yelling at him, he would’ve been perfectly okay with that – anything was better than being left alone in the dark again.

Granted part of that illogical logic had been his concussion at work. Now that he was thinking clearly, he knew there would’ve been no way they would’ve actually let him die in there. Not because he was a famous pop idol, either, but because they were his brothers and they cared about him. They were being caring now, all of them keeping as quiet as possible for his benefit even though the house was usually full of laughter and teasing and horseplay. It was kind of them to be so considerate of his needs, but in actuality the silence was very disconcerting for Jungkook. In fact, it was making him downright anxious.

Heaving a loud sigh, he gave up on sleep and shuffled out into the living area where he spotted Yoongi sitting on the couch scribbling something into a notebook. Lyrics, probably. Namjoon was sitting at the computer with his headphones in, Jin was probably in the kitchen, and the others were in their bedroom most likely holing themselves away in a space where they were most likely to be quiet.

Yoongi glanced up, having caught the movement in the doorway, and looked surprised to see their maknae standing there. “Hey, if you need something, you can just holler for us. We’ll get you whatever you want.”

Kookie shook his head and traversed the rest of the room, easing himself down onto the couch. “I don’t need anything,” he stated, then turned so he could lower himself to Yoongi’s lap. Or, he tried to, anyway, but he didn’t get far before his ribs protested the movement. He gasped and froze in place until he felt two pairs of gentle hands on him, taking his weight and easing him into his desired position.

“You should be in bed,” Namjoon needlessly informed him as he grabbed a blanket and tucked it around Kookie’s shoulders.

“I know,” Jungkook breathed as he let the tension out of his body. “But I’d rather be here.”

And just as he’d done in the car, he was able to fall asleep almost instantly once he was in physical contact with his hyungs.

“Nightmares, I bet,” Yoongi speculated as he carded his fingers through Kookie’s hair in an unusual display of affection.

Namjoon, who was still squatting down beside the couch, nodded. “I’ll stay with him in our room from now on when he’s in there. That should help.”

~~~~~~~

The tactic seemed to work at first, Jin carting Kookie off Yoongi’s lap later in the afternoon so he could get some lunch and head back to his softer bedding. Namjoon went with him as promised and sat back against the bedrest with Kookie wrapping his arm around him, resting his head against Joonie’s stomach and chatting with him lightly until he fell back to sleep. Namjoon slept too, considering he couldn’t do much else under the circumstances, the two only rousing again for dinner when the others came to wake them.

Jungkook seemed to be in a much brighter mood that evening as he smashed himself between Jimin and Tae, the day’s rest having been good for him, replenishing his energy enough where he was making faces and cracking jokes with the other two members of the maknae line. It wasn’t until Tae made him laugh so hard that it was physically hurting him that the hyungs made the youngsters settle down a bit, having been too pleased to see Kookie acting like his usual self to make them stop the games prior to that.

Once they were through eating, they all crowded into the living room to play games or get online or do some work, Kookie happily watching from the couch again until his energy reserves finally began to run dry. He tried to stay awake, but it was clear he was losing the battle as his weight leaned more and more into Jin’s side, his head finally lolling down onto his hyung’s shoulder when the excitement of the evening caught up to him.

“Too bad he’s not little anymore,” Hobi smiled fondly, who had been sitting on Kookie’s other side. “Remember when he was smaller than Yoongi and we could carry him to bed?”

“Yeah,” Jin smirked. “I told him to stop growing, but he didn’t listen. Let’s leave him alone for now. We’ll get him to his room later when we’re all ready to sleep.”

Hoseok agreed. He liked having Jungkook beside him anyway, looking happy despite being a little roughed up. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to scrub the images from his mind of the frightened boy who had desperately clung to him, bleeding, crying, exhausted, and mostly blind. Having visual confirmation of Kookie looking calm and healthy was good for Hobi’s rattled soul.

He shifted on the couch so that one of his legs could drape over Kookie’s thigh, locking him into place even more. They could stay there all night if Jungkook wanted to. Hoseok wouldn’t mind at all.

~~~~~~~

It was late. Jungkook had no idea what time it had been when they made him move back to his bed, but he knew they would’ve waited as long as possible before waking him. Namjoon was currently snoring from his own bed beside Kookie’s, and that should’ve been enough for Jungkook to not feel isolated, but it was just so...dark. The air was filled with the type of near-silence that only came when the whole world seemed to fall asleep at the same time, only small sounds seeping through the quiet like the fans running in the vents and a cricket chirping somewhere outside in the distance. It should have all acted as a lullaby, a soothing song to send him into sleep, but instead he found himself growing anxious little by little until it reached the point of him feeling sweat bead up along his forehead.

He had to get out of there. If he stayed, he would send himself into a childish panic over nothing and worry the others. As quietly as possible, he crawled out of bed (again – he was being so disrespectful of the work his hyungs had done to make it so very comfortable for him, but he couldn’t help himself) and slipped down the hall to the one room shared by three members. He knew from prior experience how far he could push the door open before the hinges creaked, accomplishing that task with relative ease even without the full use of one of his arms. Maneuvering his way to his targeted bed wasn’t overly difficult either, the darkness creating an almost laughable obstacle against countless days and nights he’d spent in that room. All he really had to worry about was tripping over items left on the floor, but thankfully he didn’t come across any such hardships.

Moving carefully, he reached out his hand and felt around until he lit upon what felt like a hip under the blankets. He shook it lightly until a low moan drifted up from the figure in the bed. Kookie took the sound as an invitation to speak.

“Jiminie,” he whispered, “can I sleep with you?”

“Mm, sure, sure,” Jimin grunted, one hand reaching behind him to clumsily flip the blankets back.

Kookie didn’t think his hyung was actually fully awake, but permission was permission, so he was taking it. Relieved, he scrambled to get into the bed, doing his best to keep himself from making any noise as he aggravated his bruises, but realized all too quickly that things weren’t going to pan out as he wanted them to. His goal was to hug up against Jimin’s back, but in order to do so, he would have to lay on his left side. Between his arm and his head, there was no way he could put that much pressure on his injuries and have any hope of getting to sleep. A little flustered, he settled onto his right and pressed his back against his hyung’s as much as he could without pushing on his bruised shoulders too much, but even that wasn’t enough. It was warm, but not what he needed to calm his nerves.

“Jiminie, roll over,” he hissed a little more sharply than he’d intended. His left arm wasn’t so damaged that he couldn’t use it to lightly tap Jimin’s thigh until the boy responded with a confused sort of whimper. It prompted Kookie to try again. “Jiminie, turn over. Please.”

It was only then that Jimin finally woke up enough to actually grasp the situation. He pushed himself up on his elbows and blearily looked down at his late-night intruder. “Jungkookie? What are you doing here?”

Jungkook huffed out an exasperated breath. “I couldn’t sleep. Lay back down. Please, Jimin hyung?”

“Okay, yeah. You’re okay?”

Kookie nodded impatiently, pleased when Jimin began to lower himself back down, then became instantly annoyed again when the older boy started to turn back to the same position he had been in when Jungkook had woken him up.

“Jimin, dummy, roll over and hug him or switch places so he can hug you,” Taehyung’s voice bit out from the bunk above. The next second he was hanging his head down, assessing the situation and seeing the confused look on Jimin’s sleepy face. “Aiya. Never mind.”

There was a rustling of blankets before Tae hopped down out of his bed and forcing himself into Jimin’s, forcing the other two to move back and make room. They managed to do it somehow without Kookie hurting himself, the three of them accustomed to working in tandem that way without having to talk anything through, finally settling down with Jimin hugging low around Kookie’s middle – well below the bruises – and Kookie carefully resting his bandaged arm up the length of Tae’s side. After that, nobody moved a muscle until morning, the three of them warm and content in each other’s arms.

~~~~~~~

Days passed into weeks, and during that time Kookie’s physical health improved fairly quickly, his lethargy fading away as he recovered from the concussion, the use of his arm increasing rapidly as the cut flesh healed and the bruising lessened. His ribs were pretty much the only things still causing him problems (as was expected), which left him more bored and antsy than anything else. He couldn’t dance, he couldn’t sing at full volume, he couldn’t run around, he couldn’t participate in any horseplay, couldn’t even go to the gym – all he could really do was hang around at home or the studio and watch while the others worked.

His hyungs did all they could to keep him entertained, sitting with him between practices, joking with him, brainstorming with him over lyrics, asking his opinion in regards to choreography, but all of that only went so far. Jungkook was a physically active person. He needed an outlet for all his energy, and it would still be awhile before he was given the clear from his doctors to engage in his normal activities.

All the resting, of course, made it even more difficult for him to get to sleep at night. Every night had been the same since he’d been discharged from the hospital, even after a couple weeks had passed by. He started in his own bed, got himself comfortable, then just laid there with his eyes open, listening, fidgeting, growing more and more agitated as an eerie stillness settled over the dorm. He lasted longer than he used to now, able to stay put and occasionally doze once he got tired enough, but eventually the paranoid thoughts and nightmare images would get to him, and he’d find himself crawling into somebody else’s bed.

Whose bed altered depending on what type of comfort he was craving or what he had seen in his dreams. He was particularly clingy with Hoseok, who had always served as his shoulder to lean on from day one, but now it was even more so since their shared ordeal in the hospital; and Jimin was the person who Jungkook’s eyes constantly sought out for confirmation that he was close. It had been Jimin’s voice, his game that kept Jungkook from panicking when the screeching sounds of metal being cut had echoed so loudly around his head that he thought he’d go insane; it had been Jimin who had promised to be there first when Kookie could see again, and he’d kept that promise; Jimin who had reached in and pulled him out of the darkness. Jimin, as far as Kookie was concerned at the moment, was his personal superhero.

Sometimes he wanted affection from the others though. Taehyung had been the one to officially find him, the first voice to call out to him through the metal so close that Kookie felt he could almost touch him. Tae seemed to understand what he was thinking and feeling when he didn’t have to say anything, appearing out of nowhere sometimes to cheer Jungkookie up exactly when he needed it. In fact, sometimes Tae slipped into Kookie’s bed before he could reach the point when he wandered out on his own, hugging him and settling him before his anxiety could get out of hand. Sometimes he would come in just to grab Kookie’s hand and lead him back to Jimin’s bed where the three of them would huddle up again, all of them needing to find solace in each other.

Jin was the first person Kookie had made physical contact with during his ordeal, that soft touch against his fingers helping to ground him more than his hyung would ever know. Jungkook sometimes needed to feel that again, to get that confirmation that all was well, and to receive it from someone who had an almost motherly affection. There were many times when they were out during the day when Kookie would be latched onto Hobi’s sleeve, but leaning back against Jin’s chest just to be hugged up in those warm arms where he felt safe. He also loved that Jin would haul him to the kitchen to act as helper and personal taste-tester for the meals that he cooked, giving Kookie a much needed job to do that was also fun at the same time. It always lifted his spirits tremendously, even if he sometimes pretended he didn’t want to be the kitchen slave.

Yoongi was Kookie’s rock, a solid but calming presence whose rationale and soft tones helped to center Jungkook’s mind. It was Yoongi who Kookie sought out when he felt himself on the verge of breaking, on the edge of tears when he wanted to remain strong. Yoongi would always know it, too, would look up and see the strained looks on Jungkook’s face as he approached and would simply shift over in his seat or bed and wave him forward. He wouldn’t say much, didn’t pry if Kookie said he was okay, would just continue doing whatever he was doing as if Jungkook hadn’t interrupted. Kookie appreciated that, the silent support, and the way Yoongi would sometimes drop a hand to absently slide it through Kookie’s hair, as if that held the key to turning off Jungkook’s chaotic mind.

Namjoon was Jungkook’s ear, his roommate and the person he could talk to about what was going on inside his head. Joonie would take the conversations seriously, never undermining him or making him feel childish for his fears. They spoke with each other like two equals, two adults trying to solve a problem together, Namjoon offering advice and different ways in which Jungkook could try to settle himself during the really bad times. It was due to these nightly sessions that Kookie was even able to improve at all, to increase his time spent alone in bed and allow himself to at least try to sleep on his own before eventually giving into his apprehension. During the day around the others, Namjoon had also become much more watchful of the maknae’s whereabouts, which made Kookie feel better. He often looked up to find Joonie looking at him, checking him over, smiling at him when they made eye contact. Their leader wouldn’t lose Jungkook again, which was a great comfort.

And Hoseok, of course, was the one Kookie went to when he just needed to cry, when he couldn’t act like an adult any longer. Hobi was always there and ready, opening his arms to let Kookie crawl into them and sob into his chest or shoulder. He would mutter comforting words into the younger’s ear and run his hands up and down his back, at first offering soothing comments followed later by little jokes that would make Jungkook laugh. On those days, Hobi would take special care to be at Jungkook’s side for as long as was needed following the emotional outburst, even when Kookie would insist he was fine and try to make his hyung go away. He never did, though, not until he was one hundred percent certain that Kookie was, in fact, fine; how he would know that better than Kookie knew it himself was beyond him, but he adored it.

Jimin changed absolutely nothing about the way he interacted with Jungkook (with the exception of not jumping on him at every opportunity because of his ribs). He didn’t really have to change anything, considering Jiminie had doted on his maknae from the very start, basically chasing him around and bugging him relentlessly until Jungkook had finally given in and began reciprocating the affection. What was nice was that Jimin never boasted the fact that he was Kookie’s hero, never asked for thanks or any sort of acknowledgement. He was surprisingly humble like that, acting embarrassed and trying to shush Jungkook if he tried to bring up the subject. Jimin didn’t want anything to change between them because of what had happened, and the normalcy was actually very comforting. Still, Kookie took it upon himself to show Jimin how much he’d appreciated what he’d done for him in the form of more easily participating in Jiminie’s goofy antics, and never making Jimin have to track him down if he wanted him. He tried not to make it too obvious, but for the time being, Kookie would pretty much do whatever Jimin wanted him to.

Except when his hyung uttered the phrase, “Jungkookie, not tonight, it’s too hot.”

Jungkook blinked, his hand falling still around the sheet he stood gripping. “What?”

Jimin rolled over sluggishly and tugged the cloth out of Kookie’s grasp. “I don’t want to cuddle tonight; it’s like five hundred degrees.”

There was a moment where Jungkook just stood there, dumbfounded, not certain what to do. It was a ridiculously warm night, as evidenced by the fact that all the members were dressed in minimal sleepwear and covering themselves with light sheets or going without entirely. The air conditioning had gone out in the building and wouldn’t be fixed until the following day, so they were getting by as well as they could with fans, but it was one of those nights where even just sitting around was causing them all to sweat. He could understand Jimin’s complaint, but still…

“Scoot over then,” he suggested. “We won’t cuddle. I’ll stay on one side.”

Jimin sighed and did as asked, but it wasn’t long before he was telling Jungkook to go again. Kookie, as it turned out, was incapable of not touching. That’s what he was seeking out when he wandered to the others’ beds after all, physical contact, touch sensory confirmation that he wasn’t alone. Even if he didn’t mean to, the moment he started sliding into sleep, his body moved on its own, reaching for someone to latch onto. He woke up to Jimin’s protests with his chest pressed to his hyung’s bare back, both of them coated in a sheen of sticky sweat.

“Sorry, Jungkookie, I can’t, not tonight,” Jimin said, and seemed to genuinely mean the apology. He had tried, he really had, but it wasn’t going to work, not with the temperature being like it was. “Tomorrow, okay, when the air is fixed.”

Kookie bit his lip and slid off the bed, bowing to his hyung with a sincere apology of his own. Of course he had been acting foolishly like a small, stubborn child. He was being selfish. He could stay in his own bed for one night by himself. It wouldn’t kill him, and besides, Namjoon was literally in the room with him. It was about time he learned how to cope with his problems without physically bothering anybody else.

Turning from the temptation to dive into either Hoseok or Tae’s beds, he forced himself to walk past Jin and Yoongi’s room and go back to his own, flopping down on his mattress hard enough to make him bite his tongue against the pain that flared up in his ribs.

“Just sleep,” he ordered himself, angry that he couldn’t just shut off the part of him that was afraid.

After what felt like hours of tossing and turning, then slipping into dozes that had him snapping awake before he could get any actual decent rest, he puffed out a frustrated breath as the first rays of sunlight began to filter through the window. His first full night spent in his bed by himself was a complete and utter failure. Kookie did not take to failure well.

~~~~~~~

“Jungkook! Kookie! It’s boiling over!” Jin alerted, pulling Kookie back away from the stove so he could deal with the pot himself.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Jungkook replied, a little surprised at himself. “I spaced out for a minute.”

Jin turned to give him his full attention. “You’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

“I know.” Kookie ducked his head, feeling a little ashamed.

“Are you not sleeping? Namjoon says you’ve been in your bed every morning for the past week.”

Kookie looked up at his hyung. “That’s good, though, right? That I’m sleeping by myself again?”

“Not if you’re not actually sleeping.”

Jungkook shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to say to that. He was trying, and he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he didn’t sort it out without crying to the others for help. Adults were not supposed to go crawling into their hyungs’ beds just because they had nightmares.

“Jungkook,” Jin pressed.

“Look, I’m working on it, okay?” Kookie snapped angrily, then clapped a hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry. Sorry, Jin hyung.” He kept apologizing as he backed out of the kitchen, head down, then turned and retreated to his room the moment he got himself out of sight, shutting the door a little too hard behind him.

Yoongi stepped into the kitchen a moment after, giving Jin a questioning look. “What was that about?”

Jin shook his head, deciding not to reveal the open disrespect the maknae had just shown him. “I don’t know what to do with him. He’s not sleeping. He’s tired and cranky, and angry at himself because of it.”

“He can go back to training next week,” Yoongi pointed out. “That might help. He doesn’t do enough during the day to make him tired at night.”

“Maybe,” Jin frowned, then called out down the hall. “Jiminie!”

Jimin came in a flash, almost skidding into the kitchen, an eager look on his face. “Do I get to taste test?”

Jin smirked and offered a spoonful of the broth to the younger boy before telling him what he really called him in there for. “Can you go sit with Jungkookie for a bit, maybe help him sleep?”

Jimin threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve tried! I went twice to his bed this week and he made me leave! I thought he was mad at me for the night when the air went out, but he said he wasn’t, and he sent Taehyung away, too. He said he needs to sleep by himself.”

“Hey, go sit with him, anyway,” Yoongi suggested. “Bring your partner in crime with you. Go cheer him up.” He turned back to Jin once the younger was out of the room. “We’ll coddle Jungkookie for a little while longer. If going back to work still doesn’t help him sleep, we should maybe talk as a group about sending him to get help.”

“The studio isn’t going to like that,” Jin speculated. “They’re having a hard time keeping the details about the accident quiet as it is. It could ruin Jungkook’s career if he goes to therapy and people find out about it.”

“We’ll wait,” Namjoon’s voice carried over from the doorway where he was standing after he too had gotten curious about what was going on. “Let him get back into his old routines, and if he still can’t deal with the nightmares, we’ll try to get him help. His health is most important. He won’t perform well if he doesn’t sleep anyway, so it’s a risk either way. For now, we’ll just try to keep helping him ourselves the best we can. Just don’t make it too obvious. He’s trying very hard to be independent again. It’s important to him.”

They heard a burst of laughter ring out from down the hall in Kookie’s room, the three younger members obviously having found a way to amuse each other in the short time they were together. Maybe it could work, maybe they could ease Jungkook back to a better state of mental health if they were careful about it. They would just have to be mindful about how they went about it.

“He’ll be fine,” Namjoon stated with firm certainty in his tone. “We’ll make sure of it.”

~~~~~~~

Getting back into his old routines seemed to do the trick somewhat, lowering the tension in the air that they didn’t realize had sat so heavily in the dorm until it finally began to ease itself away. Jungkook wasn’t able to just dive back into everything he wanted to do on day one like he’d wished, but at least he was allowed to dance and go back to the gym as long as he took it easy. He began smiling more often, joking around more like he used to, and even began to make up elaborate stories about the fine scar that now ran up his arm, a good sign that he was finally starting to move past his ordeal. If he was able to poke fun at himself about it, then he was definitely on the road to a real recovery.

Mostly. As Yoongi had predicted, being active again meant his body tired itself out to the point where he could sleep, but according to Namjoon (who had begun paying much closer attention to Kookie since their discussion in the kitchen), he was still struggling in that area. He would lay awake for far too long following what should’ve been fairly exhausting days, and when he finally did succumb to the pull of sleep, it was often restless and plagued with nightmares. It was getting better, though, from what Namjoon could tell. The more Jungkook was able to act like his old self during the day, the easier it seemed to be for him to sleep at night, and the more sleep he got, the more his overall mood seemed to improve, which lead to even better sleep, making the others breathe a bit easier about the whole situation. It looked like with enough time, everything would blow over after all.

Or, maybe it might have if not for the next promotional video they had to shoot. It was another whole Navy theme project, one in which they were being the granted the rare honor to shoot inside a real submarine that was doing a tour as a floating exhibit. There they all were, all dressed up in uniforms and either excited or a little nervous to play in the vessel, Kookie being one of the most excited (as usual). That exuberance lasted right up until the point when he looked at the hatch they were expected to crawl down into, then he froze, his face going white as a sheet.

“No, no, I can’t, I can’t,” he stuttered, shuffling back several steps until he bumped up against Namjoon. His hand shot back and blindly grasped for his leader’s, his grip painfully tight as his eyes remained locked on the hole in front of him. “I can’t. I’m not doing that. I can’t go down there.”

His breathing picked up alarmingly fast, on the verge of going into a panic attack had Namjoon not quickly grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, his free hand going up to press against Jungkook’s face. “Kookie. Jungkook. Calm down. Breathe. Here, walk with me. Come over this way.”

With measured steps, Namjoon lead Kookie away from the sub, dragging him over to a bench down the pier a little ways where he could sit the boy down for a minute. Jungkook clamped his eyes shut, his lips pursed in a mixture of fear and what was clearly frustration. He got his breathing under control and shook his head, trying desperately to clear it.

“Sorry, hyung,” he murmured. “It’s okay. I’m okay now.”

“Are you sure?” Namjoon asked, squatting down in front of Jungkook to get a better look at his ducked face. “We probably don’t need to shoot you in the hatch. You can use the tourist entrance and we’ll just get you inside.”

Kookie shook his head again and straightened up, inhaling deeply as a means to center himself. “No, it’s fine, I can do it. Hoseok hyung gets scared all the time during his shoots, but he can still do it. He’s scared right now.”

He chuckled a bit at that, which served to convince Namjoon better than anything that maybe it would be alright. He helped Jungkook get back to his feet and slung his arm over his shoulders as he guided them both back to the sub. As they neared, he could feel Kookie tensing up again, but their Golden Maknae kept quiet this time and forced himself to continue ahead towards the hatch. The others looked at him, concern written all over their faces, so he shot them a wan smile in a mild attempt to assure them he’d be okay. They didn’t seem convinced, but if he thought he could do it, they weren’t going to argue with him. It didn’t prevent them from hovering closer to him, though, being a little more clingy with him each time they noticed his eyes darting to the hatch and away again.

“Okay,” the director of the shoot began, ready to get things rolling. “We’re just going to film you going down one at a time. Make it look fun. Stop partway down and look up at the camera for a few stills. Hoseok, you go first. We know you don’t like being up here.”

Hobi looked sheepish, having been struggling with his own fear of heights as he’d stood atop the submarine, but took a moment to give Jungkook’s hand a squeeze to get his attention. “Oh, he thinks making me climb a ladder is better than standing up here? I’m going to scream the whole way down.”

The others laughed, and Kookie punched him lightly on the shoulder. “That’s a lie. You’re in love with the camera too much.”

Hoseok shrugged. While he didn’t think he was “in love” with the camera, he did know when to perform in front of one. He could be completely terrified on the inside, but looking at the footage later, he would look cool as could be in all the clips and photos. He wondered if Jungkook would be able to do the same; it wasn’t like he had experience ever being afraid of anything really (except for girls, but he could hide that well enough during a professional shoot as well). Either way, maybe the fact that someone else was going down before him would make things easier on him.

After Hobi finished his shoot, he called back up to tell the others to hurry up because he didn’t like being down there by himself, making them laugh again. With the tension relieved a bit, Yoongi went next, then Jin, then Taehyung (just because he was eager to get down into the sub’s hull and get a look around), then Kookie was supposed to go next. He didn’t hesitate when his name was called, just approached the hatch with the mindset of getting it over with and moving on with the shoot, not realizing his hands were shaking until he dropped down to kneel at the edge of the hatch.

“Jungkook, you need to smile,” the director called. “Put your legs in and salute to the camera.”

Kookie swallowed and closed his eyes, maneuvering himself so he could slip his feet down onto the ladder.

“Jungkook! Here! You need to look here!”

He nodded, the movement sharp and fast, his entire body trembling as he forced himself to look up with probably the fakest smile he’d ever flashed. He felt sweat beginning to bead up on his forehead, and it had nothing to do with the summer heat.

“You’re too stiff, Jungkook-ah. Look more natural.”

He took a few breaths, wiped his sleeve across his forehead, and tried again. He could do this. As long as he wasn’t looking down into that metal hole, he could do this.

“Better, much better. Now turn around and climb in.”

Jungkook started to, he truly did, mumbling affirmations to himself as he got his feet more firmly beneath him on the ladder, his arms visibly shaking now as he began to rotate his body around. He got down just to the point where his head lowered past the opening before he froze, eyes clamped shut once again, hands clinging to the top rung of the ladder.

His repetition of, “I can do this,” dissolved back into, “I can’t, I can’t,” yet he couldn’t seem to make himself go either down or back up. He was just stuck. Again. Inside a metal tube. Just like his nightmares had told him he would be.

~~~~~~~

“Jungkook, let go. You have to let go,” Taehyung pleaded, trying to pry Kookie’s fingers off the ladder, but failing at it miserably. It was too hard from his angle, crammed on the same ladder behind the younger boy, making it hard for him to maneuver properly. He wondered briefly if this was even close to what Jungkook had felt inside the chute, and shuddered a little at the thought. No wonder he was out of his head. He’d been in there for hours with no light, and Taehyung was already getting antsy over just a few minutes when he could see just fine and could feel everyone around him.

As it was, Namjoon and Jimin were leaning into the hatch from above, also trying desperately to snap their youngest out of his terror. The were grabbing for his arms and hands, calling out his name, anything they could think of to get him to uncurl himself from where he remained clinging tightly to the ladder, head down, eyes shut, muttering under his breath that he couldn’t let go, he would fall. He didn’t seem to be crying, too scared to do much of anything but remain where he was, but he couldn’t seem to snap himself out of his paralyzed state, either. Taehyung had crawled back up to try to help, and remained where he was in case Jungkook got it into his mind to just let go, ready to hold him up if need be. Jin was right below, one of his long arms keeping a firm hold on Kookie’s leg as he tried to talk some sense into the kid. Hoseok and Yoongi were calling up from below, too, but none of it was working.

Taehyung gave up on trying to peel Kookie’s fingers off the rung, carefully transferring his arms to intertwine across Jungkook’s chest as if the two of them were just sharing one of their normal piggyback rides. He dropped his forehead down to the other boy’s shoulder and huffed out a sigh.

“Don’t you trust us anymore, Jeon Jungkook?”

A full shudder passed through Jungkook’s frame straight into Taehyung’s. “Yes,” he answered, voice tight with fear.

“No you don’t, not if you won’t let us help you,” Taehyung answered reasonably. “But I trust you. If I let go right now, you wouldn’t let me fall, would you?”

Jin jerked in alarm at Taehyung’s statement. “Don’t, Taehyung. I can’t catch you and hold onto him at the same time.”

“You won’t have to,” Tae announced, no doubt in his voice whatsoever. He patted Kookie’s chest, then began to let his arms slide away. Honestly, even if he did fall, it wasn’t exactly a far drop to the bottom, and he was pretty positive Hobi and Yoongi wouldn’t let him hit too hard, anyway. It would be worth testing the theory at least.

Just as he about to slip away entirely, he felt a sweaty hand clamp onto his wrist, one that was shaking so badly it rattled his whole arm, but the grip was firm. Taehyung used it to his advantage, quickly twisting his hand around so he could grab Kookie’s wrist in turn, and then he pushed it upwards towards where Jimin and Namjoon were anxiously waiting.

“Got it,” Jimin affirmed, biting his lip for a second as he adjusted his weight so that he could pull if he needed to. “Okay, Kookie, see? That wasn’t so bad. Are you ready now? I’m just going to pull you up, just like last time, but Jin and TaeTae are going to help you from in there. If you reach your other hand up, Joonie hyung can help too.”

After a pause, Jungkook nodded his head, the movement stunted and jerky, but at least it was a response. He kept his eyes shut, though, and after the longest pause imaginable, he still hadn’t attempted to let go with his other hand.

“Jungkook,” Namjoon coaxed gently from above, reaching down to tap at the boy’s whitened knuckles.

“Okay. Okay,” Kookie breathed, then pursed his lips so tight that they disappeared from his face. He still couldn’t seem to open his eyes, but slowly, so slowly, his fingers began to loosen up.

“Just a little more,” Namjoon encouraged, ready for the moment when he could grab and pull. He noted the way that Taehyung had shifted forward again so he could grab the ladder, folding himself around Jungkook and acting as a brace so it would be certain their youngest would be secure.

From underneath, Jin tapped Jungkook’s leg before gripping it behind the knee, holding it steady with gentle pressure pushed up against the back of his thigh. “You won’t fall, Jungkook. I’ll stop you if you do, okay? Go ahead and grab onto Namjoon.”

“Okay.” Jungkook took in a deep breath, and with the frantic energy of a drowning person reaching for a lifeline, he fully let go of the rung and latched onto Namjoon. None of them waited to hoist him out of the hole after that, Jimin and Namjoon pulling at the exact same time that Jin and Taehyung pushed. The second he tasted freedom, Kookie’s flight instincts kicked into gear, and he scrambled over the two up top so quickly that they wound up on their backsides as he practically crawled along the surface of the sub, putting as much distance between the hatch and himself as possible. He only stopped when he reached the end of the sub and had nowhere else to go, then proceeded to throw up anything that he’d put into his system that morning before they’d left for the shoot.

“Shit,” he hissed when he was through, still trembling terribly as he scooted away from the mess and folded his knees up in front of him. He’d ruined it. He’d ruined the entire shoot, and all he could do about it was duck his head beneath his arms where he could hide his face in shame.

He heard footsteps approaching from behind and knew it was his hyungs coming to check on him. He didn’t want them to. He had embarrassed himself and let them all down in the process. Still, they came along quietly and sat beside him or stood behind him, the touchier members of the group laying their hands on his knees, back, head, anywhere they thought might be soothing until he calmed down. It wasn’t until someone knelt in front of him that he finally raised his head, face still miraculously dry of tears as he tried to hold onto whatever dignity he had left to his name, ready to accept whatever punishment was going to be doled out to him.

It was Jin, looking at him with a mixture of concern, sadness, and something that looked suspiciously like guilt. “Here. Come here,” he sighed, and wrapped his arms around Jungkook as the boy obediently leaned against his chest. “The managers say we have to finish the shoot–” he squeezed tighter when Jungkook immediately tensed up, “–but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, okay? You don’t have to do the hatch. Namjoon is talking to the director about keeping you away from tight spaces, too. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere else, you have to let us know. This isn’t good for you to be so scared that you make yourself sick.”

Kookie snorted at that. “You think?”

“I’m serious, Jungkook.”

With a low groan, Kookie nuzzled further into Jin’s chest, feeling extremely tired all of a sudden. He was tired of being tired in general.

“Jin hyung?” he breathed, his voice quiet, but oddly calm.

“Yeah?”

He bit his lip for a second, but at this point he really didn’t think he had any other options left to him. He couldn’t live like this anymore. “I think I need help.”

Jin rocked him a little bit and rubbed his hand up and down his back. “Yeah, I think you do, too,” he confessed. “After the shoot, okay? We’ll go home and we’ll figure it out.” Just like they should have done before.

~~~~~~~

Six months.

Six months had gone by since Jungkook’s episode on the submarine. When they had gotten home that evening they had worked out a plan with the managers to schedule some time into his schedule to speak to a professional therapist about his post-traumatic stress. They were able to find someone who was willing to come to the dorm for evening sessions so as not to draw public attention, sometimes doing so in the privacy of Jungkook’s room while the others busied themselves elsewhere, sometimes having open talks that the other members could participate in at Jungkook’s request.

It took some time, but eventually Kookie did begin to actually improve. With himself and the others now knowing what triggers and behaviors to look out for, and also how to properly deal with his anxieties once they started stirring up, the healing process had finally begun in earnest. Sleep came faster and more naturally to him, the times when he felt the need to cling to one of the others began to fade, and he found himself being less and less jumpy about the concept of small spaces or being left alone for long periods of time.

So it was that six months later as they were getting ready for their first stage rehearsal of their yearly comeback tour that Namjoon casually called out the order in which they would enter the stage lift, firmly placing Jungkook in the center of the line between Jin and Hoseok. They would only be beneath the floor for a few minutes, and it would take mere seconds for them to rise to the open stage, but they all knew by now that sometimes seconds could be all it took to set off Kookie’s fear.

“Okay, we’re going to try this once, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll find a different way to enter,” Namjoon was stating, addressing all of them as if any one of them could potentially be at fault for ruining this runthrough. Jungkook wasn’t dense enough to think he wasn’t the real concern in this scenario, but he appreciated the effort to not single him out regardless. It made his nerves settle a little bit, nerves that had nothing to do with actually being afraid of the dark corridor, but more afraid of becoming afraid.

“Jin hyung?” he asked, leaning forward into the older boy’s ear. “Can I hold your hand? Just for the first time through. I think I’ll be okay after that.”

Jin only glanced back briefly before opening his hand up for Jungkook to grab onto, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he turned his attention back to what their leader was saying. With no protests on anyone’s part, Namjoon took his place at the front of the line and, to Jungkook’s surprise, reached his own hand down to grab at Yoongi’s. Catching on, Yoongi snapped the fingers on his other hand until Jin grabbed hold, then Jungkook felt his own free hand being snatched up by Hoseok. Turning around, he grinned as Tae and Jimin were lightning fast at completing the chain, linking all of them together as if the choreography had been planned this way from the start.

Whatever was left of Jungkook’s frazzled nerves vanished as his hyungs shot him encouraging looks, and on Namjoon’s signal, they all made their way to the tunnel beneath the stage. That part wasn’t so bad – a little darker than he would’ve liked, but not unlike walking down his own hallway at night. It was stepping onto the lift that made him antsy again.

Not that Jungkook couldn’t do elevators. They stirred up a little bit of anxiety in him now, but they were brightly lit and spacious enough where he could shake away the slight unease. This space was different, dark all around with the lights above being dulled so that they would shadow the band’s entrance, what little light there was glinting off the metal rafters beneath the stage.

Jungkook took a deep breath and looked down at his feet, then simply closed his eyes against all the visual triggers that surrounded him. He felt both Jin and Hoseok squeeze his hands tighter before they shuffled in a little closer on either side of him, presumably dragging the others with them down the line. No one protested.

“Five more seconds and we go,” Namjoon warned softly.

Kookie counted it down in his head so that he’d be ready for the floor to move underneath his feet, telling himself it was not going to drop out from beneath him. It was just a stage lift. He’d done this a thousand times before. Nothing new, nothing to fear.

Then just like that, it was over. He saw light through his closed eyelids and heard the music start, prompting muscle memory to kick in before he even realized he was stepping forward to find his mark, releasing his hold on his hyungs without a hitch. A little surprised and more than a little pleased with himself, he sang and danced just as he was supposed to, but he couldn’t help but smile broadly at his hyungs each time he locked eyes with one of them. What he saw being returned to him from each of them was pure pride, filling his spirit with an elation he hadn’t felt in ages.

In that moment he knew that there was a possibility he would never get over his fears completely, but for the first time since his accident he knew without an ounce of doubt that everything was going to be okay.

~The End~