Courage and Kindness (m.yg)

Words have Power

Seokjin had been right about one thing. How indeed to live? 

Sacrifices had to be made, and (Y/N)'s stepfather dismissed the household staff without hesitation. (Y/N) had to say goodbye to more of the people she loved, of the people who had watched the young girl grow up and mature. She was saying goodbye to her family, and it hurt just as much as losing her father.

Her stepfather and stepbrothers ever abused her.

Seokjin walked into the room, his collar and shoelaces untied, and with a pointed look directed at her, she came forward and tied them properly. Jimin came in a few moments later, throwing her a pile of silk shirts.

"Wash," he grumbled, giving her an mixed emotion look and then made his way into the dining room.

Jungkook came in shortly, fidgeting with his collar and without having to ask, (Y/N) moved forward quickly and fixed it for him. "Thanks." his whisper was barely there, but she heard it and stepped back from him, and he too made his way into the dining room.

And by and by they considered (Y/N) less a person, than an errand mule, and treated her as such.

And so, (Y/N) was left to do all the housework. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, tending to the animals, and of course, tending to the trio of boys. This was a good thing, for it distracted her from her grief over her father's death. At least that was what her stepfather said, and he and his two sons were more than happy to provide her with lots and lots of chores to distract her.

Jungkook did his best to show her the slightest amount of kindness when he was able, still occasionally leaving sweets and drawings for her in places he knew only she would find them. In the pockets of his trousers, in the very bottom of the wastebaskets, under his plate at the dinner table, (Y/N) even found a particularly long letter to her pasted inside the hen's hut.

~

"Dear (Y/N)... Sister, if I may.

I'm sorry I'm such a coward about standing up to them for you. How they treat you isn't fair and it isn't your fault. I wish I was a bit stronger, I would protect you if I could, as a big brother should. I don't expect forgiveness, but know that I will do everything I can to inconspicuously make your life easier.

It's cowardly, but it's what I'm capable of right now...

P.S: I left a rumpled blanket under my laundry pile. It's clean, but I know the attic can get really cold at night. It's not the best, but it should provide some level of warmth."

~

It wasn't signed, but she already knew who wrote it, chiding him under her breath.

"You were forgiven the day you gave me that flower," she whispered and tucked the letter away for safekeeping, knowing what kind of tragedy would ensure if either of the other two men in the house found it.

Later that night, she had hidden it safely in her box of treasured objects underneath the floorboards keeping their secret safe.

The men remained ever as cruel to her, but in their defense, they did share with her, the very food they ate.

(Y/N) sat tiredly at two in the morning, at the kitchen table, and pushed around the small bits of food that was left behind on her tiny saucer of a plate.

Or rather, the scraps from their table.

Jungkook sometimes only ate half of his dinner, saying that he wasn't that hungry that day, in reality as it was revealed in a note he had left her in the garden shed, he wanted her to eat more since she was getting pale and was as 'skinny as a broomstick'. Tonight was not one of those nights, and she was starving.