Jungkook's pulse pounded against the inside of his head, a hollow war drum, as two soldiers stepped forward to clamp their hands on his arms, their attention trained on their boss as they awaited his signal.
The smirk that played at the edge of Jay's mouth grew as he stepped closer to Jungkook, assessing the slightly awkward position of his injured leg before drawing his gun from his side and shooting the elder boss point-blank in the thigh. Jungkook let out a strangled cry as he bit down sharply on his lip, glaring up at Jay through the tears that made his vision swim.
Jay slid his gun back into place with a smug smile. "That's so you don't try to run away." Nodding his head toward the blown window they'd come in through, Jay motioned toward his soldiers. "Take him."
"No!" Kai leaped out from behind the throne, his gaze fixated on the bloody hand that Jungkook kept firmly pressed to the wound before returning the surprised look Jay was giving him, which quickly morphed into darkness.
Soobin's eyes widened as he realized the absence of a weapon in Kai's hands, starting to push himself to his feet, but he was too late. There was already a gun in Jay's hands.
Two gunshots rang out, but when Soobin reached Kai he found him unharmed.
Taehyun stumbled backward a step, his smoking gun in one hand as his other came away stained red. Across the room, Jay dropped to the floor, a patch of crimson spreading across his chest as his gun clattered to the ground.
Then chaos erupted.
The soldiers surrounding Jungkook drew their guns hastily, moving to protect their fallen boss as gunshots exploded around the room, panic shining in their eyes as they scrambled to initiate an abrupt retreat while Yeonjun and Soobin fired repeatedly upon them.
But Jungkook wasn't paying attention to any of that.
He could only hear Beomgyu's broken screams as he fell to his knees beside Taehyun, frantically tearing him from Kai, who had caught him before he could collapse, his hands shaking as he tried to push back his shirt to get a good look at the wound.
Guilt seeped into Jungkook's chest. Gritting his teeth, he shifted to kneel on his good leg, gripping the knife he held to Beomgyu's throat just minutes earlier as he faced the lingering soldiers. The closest one to him who had been crouching behind the dead body of his fallen comrade to form a makeshift shield to save him from the bullets didn't even have time to scream as Jungkook came up behind him and drove his knife into his unprotected neck. Yeonjun and Soobin continued to pick off the soldiers from behind the throne as two of them helped their injured boss out the broken window they'd come through until they lay motionless on the floor.
They lowered their guns the second the room emptied, dashing to where Beomgyu was busy tying a makeshift bandage around Taehyun's abdomen, tears streaming down his face.
Jungkook dropped beside them, letting his bloody knife slip through his fingers. He looked helplessly at the medic. "What can I do?"
Beomgyu wiped furiously at his eyes with the back of his hand, shaking his head even as he never tore his gaze away from Taehyun. "W-We need to carry him to the infirmary so I can remove the bullet and stitch up the wound." He harshly bit down on his lip, as if he needed the sting of the physical pain. "Y-You're injured too."
Jungkook dismissed him with a quick wave. "I'm fine. I've dealt with bullet wounds enough to roughly know the drill. Take care of Taehyun."
Yeonjun slid forward, meeting eyes with Beomgyu as he slowly leaned down to hook one of Taehyun's arms over his shoulders, carefully helping the red-haired boy into a sitting position. Kai grabbed his friend's other arm and together they got Taehyun on his feet, a soft grunt escaping his mouth as the movement sent lances of pain shooting through his body. Beomgyu forced his attention away from Taehyun as he started to lead them down the hallway toward the infirmary, twisting his hands together helplessly.
Jungkook looked up sharply as Soobin extended a hand down to him, a silent offer of support. Wordlessly, he clasped the younger boss's hand, allowing him to haul him to his feet and bear the weight of his injured leg, assisting him as he limped down the corridor after the other boys.
"Thank you," he said, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him as he fought to ignore the way his leg throbbed.
"I don't do it for you," Soobin replied. "For whatever reason, Beomgyu seems to have taken a liking to you, even after you held a knife to his throat. And Kai is still insistent that I help you."
Jungkook was quiet for a moment. "I promise I'll try to be more worthy of their affection."
"For their sake, I hope you do."
"I'm sorry," Jungkook murmured as they rounded the corner. "This is all my fault."
Soobin looked at him unflinchingly as they reached the infirmary's entrance. "It is."
Jungkook stared at his feet as the other boss deposited him on one of the empty beds, hesitantly turning his focus to where Yeonjun and Kai had laid Taehyun, hovering at his bedside as Beomgyu hurriedly ran around the room, muttering to himself, as he collected various tools and chemicals from the cabinets. He looked close to breaking down again as he undid the bandage from around Taehyun's stomach, his blood drying on his hands.
Taehyun caught his unsteady hand in one of his. "Hey," he said softly, stretching up his free hand to brush away a tear slipping down Beomgyu's cheek. "Look at me. It's gonna be okay. I'm okay."
"No, you're not!" Beomgyu cried. "You got fucking shot, Taehyun!"
Jungkook froze, a memory echoing in his ears.
He remembered not too long ago, during their conflict with the Kingmakers, there had been an ambush. A surprise attack that had resulted in Jimin and Hoseok having to drag him back to the den bleeding profusely from a stab wound that had just narrowly missed his vital organs.
He remembered how Taehyung had rushed in the second he had heard what had happened, bolting immediately to his side. He remembered how the older boy hadn't let go of his hand the entire time the medics worked on him, having to keep his fingers intertwined with his to make sure he was still there.
"Don't worry, Tae," Jungkook had said, giving his hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. "I'm okay."
Taehyung had merely scowled in return. "No, you're not, you fucking asshole. You were stabbed! What about that screams "okay" to you?"
There had been the same kind of fear on his face that was on Beomgyu's now and Jungkook remembered wanting nothing more than to take that pain away from him.
Kai rested a hand on Beomgyu's shoulder. "Maybe I should help?"
Beomgyu shook his head. "No. I can do it." Taking a deep breath, Beomgyu finished undoing the last of the bandage. Stiffly, he reached for the slim metal tweezers. "I'm going to dig the bullet out, okay? This is going to hurt."
Taehyun nodded, staring up at the ceiling as he braced himself. Kai pressed closer to the bed, a gentle hand on Taehyun's shoulder in silent comfort.
Jungkook had to drop his gaze to the floor the second Beomgyu began, Taehyun's strangled screams echoing in the room. He didn't need to look up to know that Soobin's attention was on him, as if he wanted the other boss to feel the pain he'd caused his gang. They all knew who was to blame.
Wordless, Jungkook sat still on the bed as he listened to Beomgyu work on Taehyun, his knuckles white as they gripped the mattress beneath him. His injured leg pulsed, every beat of his heart sending a new wave of agony through his body.
Silently, Yeonjun appeared at his side, his face unreadable as he offered a hand down to Jungkook, displaying the collection of the medical supplies in his other hand. "I thought you might be more comfortable in your own room for the moment," he said quietly.
Nodding, Jungkook accepted the yellow-haired boy's outstretched hand, allowing him to help him to his feet and bear the weight of his bad leg as they started down the hallway.
Jungkook clenched his jaw as Yeonjun lowered him down on the bed in the small room just across the corridor, laying the tweezers and materials needed to stitch up the wound on the bed beside him. Jungkook reached out a hand for the tweezers only to be slapped away by Yeonjun.
"It's probably best if I do it," the other boy said, meeting Jungkook's surprised look. "I don't think you're really in any mental state to dig a bullet out of your own flesh right now."
"Thanks," Jungkook mumbled.
Yeonjun was quick, yanking aside the ruined fabric around the wound purposefully, wasting no time. Jungkook gritted his teeth, biting down on his bottom lip to keep from crying out. And then mercifully it was over and Yeonjun moved on to stitching the ruptured skin back together.
Jungkook remembered Taehyung being beside him as they stitched his side back up. He refused to leave his side for even a second, even when Jimin threatened to drag him out. He just held tighter to Jungkook's hand. Every slight sound of pain that escaped Jungkook's lips sent a ripple of agony across his face like he would do anything to take it all away.
Now, when Jungkook looked to his side he was alone.
Yeonjun watched his expression carefully. "Who is Taehyung?"
Jungkook glanced up sharply. "What?"
"The guy Jay mentioned earlier." Yeonjun pulled the stitches tight, getting ready to cut the loose string. "Is he your friend?"
Jungkook tightened his grip on the edge of the bed.
Sensing he might've pushed too far, Yeonjun flashed him an apologetic look. "I didn't mean any harm, I was just curious. I couldn't stop thinking about what Beomgyu said earlier. About you just wanting to get back to your friends. Taehyung seemed like a special person to you. I just wanted to know who would be important enough to you that you would try that hard to get back to them."
Jungkook weighed his request for a moment before answering. "Taehyung is a special person," he said slowly, testing out the words. "He's the most precious thing to me in the world. I would do anything for him."
Yeonjun smiled a little as he unscrewed the small bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Is he your boyfriend?"
Jungkook hesitated. "He's... my Beomgyu."
Yeonjun seemed to know exactly what he meant. Finishing dabbing the newly-stitched wound with the alcohol, Yeonjun closed the bottle once again, getting to his feet. "You can rest here. I'll be back later with food."
He turned toward the door, but Jungkook stopped him.
"Yeonjun, wait."
The brightly-haired boy paused in the doorway.
"Thank you. For helping me."
Yeonjun's mouth twisted. "I'm not the one you should be thanking. It's my fault that they even know you're alive now." His eyes widened as he froze in place. "You don't think they'll tell Yoongi, do you?"
Jungkook sighed. "One can never be certain when it comes to Yoongi."
Yeonjun opened his mouth to reply, but the words were ripped away by the door bursting open.
It was Kai, his hair a mess and his eyes wild like he'd run a mile on sheer adrenaline alone. "Jungkook. There's someone here. They keep demanding to see you."
For a moment, the worst flashed through Jungkook's mind. Yoongi, here to finally finish him off, once and for all, his gang armed and ready for battle behind him.
Yeonjun cast a frightened glance at the boss as he helped him to his feet, his fingers digging in with more force than necessary as they hobbled down the hallway.
But the face that greeted Jungkook on the other side of the doorway wasn't Yoongi.
"Hoseok?"
• • •
It had been over twelve hours since Jimin had left to perform his agreed-upon task for Yoongi and Taehyung was getting worried.
He couldn't shake the sinking feeling that something terrible had happened to him.
What if someone had attacked him? What if he was injured? What if...?
No. Taehyung couldn't entertain the possibility. He'd lost too many friends.
Yoongi had taken Jungkook from him. Hoseok had disappeared off to god knew where. He couldn't lose Jimin too.
How was he supposed to go on alone?
Taehyung was just debating whether he should start sending a search party out to search for him when he heard the familiar footsteps echoing down the hall, albeit rather slow. Taehyung was bolting out the door of his room immediately at the sound, tears threatening to spill down his face as he ran straight to the source of the sound, throwing his arms around his friend and clutching him close.
"You're back," Taehyung breathed into Jimin's shoulder, closing his sightless eyes as he tightened his arms around his neck. "I was worried something happened to you."
Jimin's arms slowly came up around Taehyung, taken aback by the sudden welcome. He knew exactly what fears were reflected in the fierce embrace. "I'm here now," he murmured. "I'm okay, I promise."
Taehyung pulled back suddenly, running his hands down Jimin's arms. "You're not hurt, are you? Do you feel any pain anywhere? Yoongi didn't do anything to you, did he? If he hurt you, I swear I'll-"
"Taehyung," Jimin interrupted, even as a faint blush exploded across his cheeks at the mention of Yoongi. "I'm okay. Really."
"Are you sure?" Taehyung pressed.
Jimin pulled him back in for another hug, nodding his head against him. "I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you."
"That's okay, hyung. I'm just glad you're okay."
Jimin forced a smile, but inside a weight was settling on his chest. He should've known how Taehyung would react when he didn't come back after a couple of hours. How could he have been selfish enough to make him worry while he'd been fucking their best friend's murderer, even if it had been the best night of his life?
He hadn't been able to get the image out of his mind ever since he woke up, the memories of everything that had transpired flashing back to him in waves, crashing over his head and soaking every pore of him. The fire that had lit Yoongi's dark eyes the second he saw the bruises, like he would've torn up the world just to find whoever had hurt him. The way he'd held him so close, his fingers gentle while he left sticky open-mouthed kisses all along Jimin's body. The shaky whisper he'd let ghost across Jimin's skin, the words that had echoed in the younger's head ever since.
"You have no idea what you're doing to me. When you're gone, all I think of is seeing you again. When you're here, all I do is think of a way to keep you with me."
Jimin squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block them out.
If it had been anyone else, he would've been running for the hills already.
But it was something about the way Yoongi had said it, a flicker of pain hiding behind the wall he kept between him and the world. Jimin hadn't been able to think of anything else since he woke up beside the other boss, only pausing for a moment to watch the steady rise and fall of his chest before slipping out the door before anyone could notice.
He was a boss now. He had responsibilities. And as compelling as it was, Yoongi was not one of them.
Jimin hugged Taehyung tighter, burying his face in the younger's neck. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I won't do it again."