cherry blossoms || ot7 [#Wattys2017]

[do you think it makes sense?]

Jungkook decides to stay the night and Jimin has the bright idea to turn the living room into a blanket fort with all of the pillows inside. To be honest, it is a pretty nice set up. Layers of memory foam and blankets lined the floor while couches and chairs are arranged so that they could support the blankets overhead. Then, all of the pillows are just inside, arranged in a nice pyramid.

"Ahh hyung! This is amazing!" Taehyung hugs Jimin from behind. "Goma woyo!"

"Anything for you TaeTae," Jimin smiles at the younger boy and he pats his head. "Let me take a shower now cause I've been sweating all day." He turns towards Jungkook. "And JK, I set a pair of pajamas on the dining table. You can take a shower after I'm done or you can just change. Whatever you prefer." With that, Jimin leaves the brothers in the living room.

"Thanks Jimin," Kookie smiles. He decides to just change right there since he feels comfortable in front of his brother. Even though it's been thirteen years, nothing will break the bond that he once had with Taehyung. Kookie switches from the sweater and jeans to a white t-shirt and pajama pants.

"Hyung, can I ask you a question?" Tae calls from inside the fort.

Kookie chuckles and enters the vast fort. "Yeah, go for it Tae. Whatever you want."

"If you've been watching me for years, why have you never shown your face to me? Why haven't you come back home?" Tears dare to fall down his cheeks again as he reminisces on the conversation they had earlier today.

The smile wipes off of Kookie's face easily and he sighs. He knows this question would come up but he doesn't expect it to come this soon like the day he confesses soon. "Tae, you need to understand that I wanted to so badly. I wanted to and I almost did on multiple occasions, but I couldn't."

"But wae Kookie? Wae?" He pleads now and grabs both his hyung's hands in his.

"Look, the day I disappeared, I was taken away to somewhere bad; somewhere I'm glad they took me rather than you. I was going into the black market as a sex toy, Tae," he bites his lip and looks towards his younger brother with the most horrified eyes. "I was stripped down, beaten up, and humiliated even before they got me into the business. Thankfully, before I was even sold, I escaped along with three other boys.

"We were on the run for a couple of weeks with no money, no one to call, and no shelter. We would sleep in boxes in the alleyways while digging up for scraps from trash cans. One week, there was a restaurant kind enough to let us work for money under the table and free meals twice a day. Bless their kind hearts. Anyways, we would get jumped by a couple of gangs that thought we were trespassing into their territory and we would try to explain but they didn't care.

"And then, get this Tae, then one day, all four of us were saved," his shoulders slump with the burden carried off of him and relief floods his eyes. "We were saved by this lovely couple who took us in as their own children. They fed us, clothed us, and sent us to school. They never had any children so we acted as theirs. Now the other three boys I was with, their parents have been looking for them for years now but our parents were still new to the search. I wanted to come home, but something was holding me back. I couldn't leave them nor would they let me.

"I was kinda traumatized by the trafficking that they brainwashed me into never leaving. Even though I escaped and I was found by them, I had this fear that these people would hurt me if I tried to leave. Believe me, I've attempted many times when I was in the market and I've gotten caught on multiple occasions. The fact that I even managed to escape is a miracle within itself!"

Kookie winces and rubs his ankles. "Believe me Tae. I wanted to come back to you. I love you so much, but I couldn't bear to share the humiliation I felt..." He cringes at his own words as he hears the voice inside his head scream: LIAR!

Tae grabs his hands. "I'm so sorry..."

"But I also stayed because I wanted to fulfill our dreams. The couple that found us just so happened to be part of a pretty big music company. Me and the other three guys, well, we bonded over rap. It started out with just those three because they were the main rappers and I was still trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to do, but then I heard one of my hyungs rapping and I knew I wanted to do that as well. I did some singing but I also branched out as a rapper. We found another guy who is a great singer and he joined us as well. You know you could join us too," Kookie smiles slightly as the change of subject turns to something that makes him happy.

Tae's eyes widen. "Really hyung?" He claps his hands in excitement. "You think Jimin can join as well?"

"Well of course, if that's what he wants."

"Yay! I'm so happy! Wait until I tell eomma and appa!" He hesitates a bit mentioning their parents because they didn't know that Kookie is still alive.

"Tae?"

"Yes, Kookie?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, hyung. What is it?"

"Why did you always stay? Why did you never run away?"

Tae's gaze lowers. "You had your reasons for staying with those people for thirteen years and I had mine for enduring thirteen years. I love eomma and appa; I love them with all my heart. I wouldn't trade them for the world. Even though I got stuck with all the chores on the farm, I enjoyed doing them. I know sometimes appa would lash out but I know it's out of frustration and sadness.

"I mean, I deserved it a lot of the time because I acted childish or I didn't listen. I needed to be disciplined to know what's right and wrong. He's doing it out of tough love. It seems harsh to hurt me but I know he loves me. He loves you too and that's why every time he sees me, he thinks of you. I can hear him crying at night because you were gone. All of us didn't want to admit it but we all thought you were dead after the tenth year of searching.

"As for me never leaving the house? How could I when eomma and appa needed me the most? Who was going to take care of the farm if either one of them got sick? Who was going to take care of them when they got sick? Who was going to be there to comfort them while you disappeared? I got hurt a lot, physically, emotionally, and mentally, but I love them to death. So if I died in that house from loving them and searching for you, I'd be happy. I wouldn't have any regrets." Tae stares into Kookie's eyes and right then and there, Kookie feels like Taehyung has exposed his secret, but he knows that isn't true.

At that moment, Jimin pokes his head through the bedsheets. "I'm here! Sorry it took so long, but I was trying to look for some movies for us to watch." He brings his laptop over with a few DVDs in his other hand. "I know we have classes tomorrow, but it's nice to fall asleep while watching a movie." He smiles.

Kookie and Taehyung break out of the trance that they were in and reposition themselves to let Jimin sit in the middle.

What am I supposed to do now? Jungkook thinks as bites his nails. This is getting a bit too far and none of this is making sense.

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