<pls don't be a silent reader>
•••
"—mom was three months pregnant when dad died," jungkook says, taking a sip of the coffee he insisted on ordering one for himself and two for the respective elder officers. jimin frowns at him, slamming his cup down on the table and turns to glance at aera for the millionth time as she's sitting next to jungkook, busy savouring her cheesecake completely okay with the heavy discussion going on.
"how come i never knew?" jimin asks in a low voice, dragging his eyes back to his brother.
"why do you think you deserved to know? you hated the family didn't you? left us— me and mom especially— to die there with dad?" jimin's jaw clenches in anger and jungkook scoffs, leaning forward as he maintains the eye contact, "you have no idea how much i fought everyday since the day you decided you didn't wanna be one of us. isn't that what you said? you didn't wanna be one of dad's kind, dealing, trading illegal, hurting others... yeah, but you didn't even think that maybe your brother and your mother might also wanna get out of there— to get out of that mess the father had created. i've done every-fucking-thing i could to get him away, but look at me, i just... became like him. exactly like him.
"and for what? all because i was tired of dealing with him, seeing him hurting mom— she was carrying a baby..." jungkook breathes out, glancing at aera, then back at jimin, "she used to say that she's fine because she didn't want to scare me. she'd smile, and talk to me normally as if she wasn't hurting all the damn time. it was around seven months, when she suddenly fainted that day... i was so scared. i thought i'd lose her forever. and i did lose her... the doctor said that there was a clot in her head because of some prior injury."
jimin gulps down in fear and disgust, never looking up from the table between them, hands clutching the cup tightly while jungkook's eye drops a tear, "dad had hit her once...it was his fault— that my mom died," he bites his lip, "aera was born premature. she needed medical assistance or else she'd've died too and i had no money. i was still underaged then, but i had to get the money. so i told the doctors to do whatever was necessary for her and i ran home, grabbed all the money i knew was there and also the gun from the basement dad used.
"he had a diary too, there were a few numbers and i knew i'd get money for my new born sister because we had to live alone now," jungkook sighs, "everyday ever since then, i became more like dad. but i promised myself that no matter what my sister won't be a part of this. she'll get the life she deserves and i'd do anything to make that happen."
aera nods at his words, making him chuckle, rubbing off the thin layer of tears from his eyes and uses his hand to cup aera's cheek, "riri's been my biggest strength and happiness ever since the day i first held her,"
"right," she smiles, putting her spoon down and slips out of the chair, standing closer to jungkook, "and you're my strength, because you' so strong,"
"i've been pretty strong," jungkook smiles sadly, bringing her on his lap and heaves out a tired sigh. he glances at jimin and briefly at taehyung too, "and i don't think i can carry on like this any longer..."
"what does that mean?" taehyung frowns.
jungkook looks at the sister, patting her head as he smiles, "go and see if you want something else," aera slips down from his lap, heading towards the counter where jungkook's friend shows her around a bit more, making sure that she stays busy for a while.
"she's eight already," jungkook starts with a sad smile, "going to school and all. but me being involved in something so immoral and not to mention illegal, is gonna bother her too sooner or later. i don't want my aera to suffer the way i did because of dad. i have rivals and enemies who are always trying to kill me, and honestly no one knows when one of them might be successful. i might die today, or maybe tomorrow or maybe not for a few more months or years, that depends on how lucky i am. but i don't wanna leave aera's life all on my luck.
"she deserves a normal life just like any other kid out there and for that, she needs to leave me," he says, staring right at jimin with a moistened gaze, "i promised her that i'll come back in a week, but the truth is that i won't. what happened today in the mall really worried me about her. i don't even know if i'll be alive a week later or not. you're her brother too hyung, share the same blood and everything. i'm leaving her with you—"
"wha—"
"no, just listen," jungkook emphasizes, "treat her like your own kid, and love her like you'd love your own. please take care of her, i've done a lot to give riri everything in these eight years. but i know i've failed a lot of times because my fucked up job and life. now i don't want her to keep living like this midst danger and uncertainty. take her with you, please hyung,"
jimin heaves out a shaky breath, eyes lifting up from the table now as he finds aera's small body giggling, pointing at a pastry and probably asks the man to give her two of them. jimin closes his eyes inhaling deeply as he focuses on jungkook's words again, knowing that the younger can obviously not keep a child with him considering the mess he had created for himself. and the fact that he did keep aera with him for so long is actually ironical.
"aera," jungkook calls, nodding his head for the little girl to come back and sits her on his lap, "remember your mission?"
"yeah," aera nods, slowly glancing at jimin who stares at her with a soft expression.
"i told jiminie everything," jungkook says, kissing aera's cheek, "he'll take care of you okay? if you need anything—"
"like huggy?"
"yeah," jungkook's eyes hold tears as he nods for his sister, "he'll give my princess a lot of huggies and kissies. he's stronger than me so you'll be safer with him,"
"okay, but i'll go home with you when you come back. i like koo more," she says nonchalantly, leaning against his chest and jungkook lowers his head on her shoulder.
"okay..." he hushes out with guilt of lying to her about such a huge thing.
jimin's eyes hold tears as well, watching the younger crying, behind the child just so she won't see him, "be a good girl for me okay?"
aera nods with a confident smile, standing up and turns to hug jungkook, "i'll be good an- and wait for you. come back quickly,"
jungkook looks at jimin, letting out a few tears as his crying eyes beg the elder to take care of his little princess with everything he has. jimin nods once, and that's enough for jungkook to believe him as he presses a kiss on aera's shoulder and pulls away, "call him oppa, he's your brother too,"
"no," aera frowns, "you' only my brother,"
"no, sweetheart. jimin's also your brother. he left home when you were still with the angels, that's why you couldn't meet him,"
"oh..." aera turns to jimin, smiling at him a little, "my new brother... wow,"
jimin smiles back at her, reaching out to hold her hand and she gives in quickly, standing by him with a wide grin, "you're so pretty, and i like yo' clothes," she giggles, touching the stars on his uniform.
jungkook stands up then, rubbing his eyes and takes a deep breath, letting down his jacket and the cap, holding both his wrists out, "arrest me now. i've done what i wanted to do," he hushes out, smiling at his sister, "i surrender,"
"jungk—"
he shakes his head to his friend who just approached them, probably seeing what jungkook was doing, "no, hyung it's either they arrest me right now. or i kill myself and die,"
"nooo! koo don't die," aera pouts, hugging his torso, making him smile as he kneels down in front of her.
"i'm not dying, baby," he lies again, but the calm expression makes it so believable that aera nods at once.
jimin and taehyung exchange unsure glances, and the former sees how his friend looks on the verge to probably let jungkook go? so jimin clears his throat, not glancing at his brother and nods for taehyung to arrest him.
taehyung pulls out the cuffs, giving them to jimin instead and staps back, "you should do it," he mumbles and jimin finds himself contemplating hard on that. he gulps the saliva down his drying throat, ignoring the lump gradually building up inside as he brings aera back.
"get up," his voice says and jungkook obeys, holding his hands in the front. jimin nibbles on his lip, shutting his eyes close as he locks his brother's hands, dropping a tear down to his uniform.
"what are you doing?" aera frowns at the elders, "why're you putting that on koo?"
jimin finds no words to answer against the innocence of the sister he just found. so he just shakes his head, clutching unknowingly on the metal chain linking both of jungkook's hands. the younger smiles at aera, holding the crying elder's hand and speaks for him, "we're putting the game to an end, princess. now you won't have to be scared or see the weird people again,"
"oh... but- but why—"
"hush, little one. one question at a time," jungkook blinks his eyes too, staring at her with his glistening ones.
"sorryyy," she giggles, "are we going home now?"
"you'll go with jimin oppa to your new home,"
"and you?"
"i... no more questions, aera. we're done,"
"aw noo, one more," aera tilts her head, pouting at jungkook who shakes his head, out of answers for her and steps back when she tries to come near him, "hug..?" he shakes his head again and taehyung takes aera's hand, pulling out his phone and calls their driver in.
"take her back and tell officer min that we're on our way," he says, getting a nod from the man. aera stares at the three men with confused eyes, stepping behind jungkook and shakes her head, hands clutched on the fabric of his sweatshirt.
"go, aera. you promised me didn't you?" jungkook says.
"i was joking..." she pouts, "i don't wan' leave you..."
"i'm sorry, princess. but i promise you'll be doing just fine without me. jimin's gonna take care of you,"
"but—"
"yes, that's all. jimin will take care of you and be the best brother to my riri. so make sure you be the best sister to him too okay? now go," aera doesn't say anything, glancing at jimin who forces a smile and nods for her to follow what jungkook said.
aera sighs softly, rubbing her eyes as she holds the driver's hand, heading out of the place with tears brimming her eyes. jungkook breathes out shakily, fixing his eyes on his friend at the back who's already on the way to empty the space as people are directed outside out the café. soon it's just jungkook, jimin and taehyung in there, and the boy holds jimin's hand over the gun, making it aim at his own chest, "shoot me now,"
"what— no!" jimin pulls back, frowning at the younger brother, "i might have done it if it were a few days back, but not today— not ever after today. i can't bring myself to kill you just like that,"
"then i'm gonna kill myself, and you'll get nothing out of my death," he says, glancing at taehyung too, "i'm serious, shoot me it can be an encounter i've murdered people before, so you can do that. or else if i shoot myself with your gun, that'll be an issue for you,"
"you'll have a trial first and then you'll be in the jail. nobody's gonna kill you, not even you yourself," jimin declares, grabbing jungkook by the handcuffs and walks out of the café, "tae, get his friend too,"
taehyung nods, arresting the other man and jungkook frowns, yanking himself back, "no! you won't arrest namjoon! he's got a family!"
namjoon says nothing, staring at his hands being cuffed together and taehyung not giving a damn, "kim taehyung, i said no!" jungkook raises his voice, "leave him!"
"he is a criminal too— your accomplice," taehyung states, "of course he's going with you,"
"he didn't do anything, i swear! he just needed money and i gave him that! his son is four! please let him go,"
"gave him money and he didn't do anything?"
"yes, he's a friend so i lent him money without any business,"
"impressive," taehyung scoffs, dragging namjoon out as well and shoves him in the other car waiting for them.
jungkook glares at the policemen, shaking his head, "don't make me do anything i'll regret," he grits out, "we all know you and your fucking police department ain't good for nothing. i can still kill both of you and get myself out without any problem. remember this, i am here because i gave in, otherwise you guys would still be hunting around like dogs,"
jimin glares at jungkook, who glares back, cracking his neck, "and i swear to god i'm not scared of anything. i came today because i thought we'll end this for good, aera will have a safe future— a safe life. but now that you're doing this to me, jeon jimin and kim taehyung, remember that if i get out alive today, you'll be seeing hell so fucking bad,"
"that's when you get to leave," jimin grits out, "—and this time, i can swear on my life, jeon jungkook, you. will. suffer."
•••
"move out everyone," jimin cracks his neck, voice directed towards the lower ranking officers present in the room who were holding jungkook captive.
the men bow their head, obeying the order and leave the room as they shut the metallic door tight, letting jimin alone to deal with his brother cum criminal. jimin glances at the cctv camera at the top corner of the ceiling, motioning his hand to turn it off before focusing on jungkook, "yeah, what were you saying? you'll show us hell huh?" he speaks calmly first, taking predatory steps towards jungkook.
he keeps mum and it makes jimin chuckle mockingly, "you're not in the position to do anything, buddy," he pats the younger's shoulder, nodding down at his tied hands, "you think it was a smart move to surrender yourself like that? you thought you'd get some sympathy, i'll probably blame myself for all the things, and—" jimin stops suddenly, sitting in front of jungkook on the chair, looking too relaxed for jungkook's comfort, "that kid... our sister, of course. you think you did a good job hiding her?"
"i did it for her..." jungkook mutters.
"that's what you think," jimin scoffs, "but look at the bigger picture, you hid a child away from her family—"
"i am her family!" jungkook shouts.
"you're just a crazy addict, jungkook— addicted to kill, addicted to drugs, addicted to everything that's illegal. people like you aren't family— never family,"
jungkook clenches his jaw, fists balled tightly and slam on the table next to jimin, however the latter doesn't even flinch, giving jungkook an unimpressed look, "what? my words sound true?" jimin mocks with a smirk and hums to himself, "they might be, i've seen a lot more people like you. absolute wrecks, who use innocent people to get their ways,"
"i never used anyone," jungkook's voice comes out as a heavy whisper, laden with pain and anger for jimin, "i never used anybody for anything. you left us—"
"i did," jimin stands up, pushing jungkook back to make him stand straight, "so? have you seen yourself— have you seen what you've become? i could see it back then, and that's why i left that place. because i can't live like you or dad. i don't regret my choice, but i do feel bad for aera, if i knew she was born in that house, i would've brought her with me the very moment she came into this world,"
"as if," jungkook grits out, earning a sharp glare from the elder.
jimin clasps the younger's collar, slamming his back against the cold wall, followed by a harsh punch across his cheek, "enough," jimin growls, "one more word from you, jungkook and i swear to god you'll beg me to kill you,"
"and i swear on my sister, if you leave me alive, you and every-fucking-body related to you will suffer," jungkook breathes out, cracking his neck, letting out a hiss when jimin punches his abdomen so hard that he promised he felt the organs jumping painfully inside him. and with a few heavy hits, blood was dripping out of jungkook's mouth.
jimin pants in the empty space, eyes shooting daggers at jungkook, who looks tired as well, groaning in pain and closing his eyes in search of relief. however the elder jerks jungkook's body forward, dusting off his hands and opens the door of the room, "tie him up," he orders his men, who jump into action, securing the criminal's hands over his head on the metal hook hanging from the ceiling.
jungkook glances up, sighing as his wrists are locked with metal chains squeezing them on the slightest movement. then he watches the man about to chain his feet too, but before he does, jungkook takes a step back, kicking the man's face and glares at the other, "that's it, stay away from me," he threatens.
"what?" jimin sneers at him, grabbing a fistfuls of jungkook's hair to make him look at him, "why do you think you can show me that attitude of yours?"
jungkook glares at him, trying to jerk his hands down from the chains and show jimin how much his words, under normal conditions, would have caused pain for his own self. but since jungkook's tied and quite ironically gave himself up to the police, he can do nothing more than endure this shit.
"i regret leaving aera with you," jungkook mutters between the frustration and anger, locking eyes with the elder with tears evident, "feels like i did something terribly wrong..."
"yeah? maybe i'd bring her here, show her what you really are. the brother she thinks is a hero, is actually the nastiest villain out there. it'll be nice if she comes to know about all the people you've killed right? if she sees how mercilessly you killed each of them? isn't that right?" jimin nods slowly.
"please..." jungkook stares at him, "don't..."
jimin laughs at that, patting jungkook's shoulder and steps back as taehyung joins him now and the men from earlier leave them alone, "now time for some questions," he says, sitting on the chair, while taehyung stands nearby, staring at jungkook with his head tilted.
"why's the shirt still on?" taehyung frowns, grabbing jungkook's shirt in his hand and rips it off, "it's how we prefer the interrogation with people like you, y'know? the belt doesn't feel that good over fabric,"
jungkook glares at taehyung, but says nothing for he felt more tempted to look at his brother, pleading him virtually to treat aera right and not base any of his action on the words he spoke a few minutes ago.
"so," taehyung starts, unbuckling the belt from jungkook's jeans and pulls it out of the loops, inspecting the material and smirks, "leather, great choice. i love leather,"
"you're pissing me off," jungkook clicks his tongue, then smirks faintly, "scared are we? what if jungkook manages to get out? he's gonna whoop our asses, yeah?" he chuckles darkly, spitting out the blood from his mouth near taehyung's feet, "damn, those are some nice shoes, kim, i like leather too,"
taehyung whips the belt on jungkook's bare back, making the latter arch forward, hissing in pain. although it's soon replaced by another mocking chuckle, as jungkook glances at his brother and his friend, "now you guys better make sure i'm dead by the end of this. because i can assure you, none of you will be able to take what i have for you,"
"nobody taught you to keep that fucking mouth shut huh?" taehyung grits in anger, smacking the belt on jungkook's back a few times continuously, getting winces and sharp hitches from the boy, but never a scream or anything that would give them any kind of information about the people behind him.
"tae, wait," jimin sighs at jungkook's stiff silence and capacity to endure pain, "get his friend. what was his name? namjoon?"
"kim namjoon," taehyung nods, pulling his receiver and orders to bring namjoon in.
"do whatever you want, officer," jungkook says calmly, "if i said you're not getting anything, means you're not getting anything,"
jimin never breaks the angry eye contact with jungkook, but storms up to namjoon as soon as he's brought in the room and pulls out his gun, pointing it at namjoon's chest, "jungkook, don't make it harder for either of us, let's get done with this," he says, keeping his finger on the trigger and watches jungkook's pupils shake, "tell me, why did you do all this? you could've just moved away and lived normally if it was really for aera. stop using her as an excuse for the mistakes you made to ruin your life and now hers too,"
"i never used her!" jungkook shouts, "she's my sister! i love her— i have only and only her as my family, that's it! i can do anything to keep my aera safe, and i did just that,"
"no, you were pushing her more towards danger everyday. why did you use her?" jumin asks more firmly, "speak, or i shoot your friend,"
"you won't," jungkook says and jimin scoffs, lowering his gun swiftly to aim at namjoon's leg and presses on the trigger, earning a loud scream from the tall man who bends down to the pool of blood oozing out of his left leg, "no! hyung!" jungkook moves in his captive place, staring at namjoon with worried eyes, "hyung... i... don't do this," he turns to jimin, hearing namjoon groaning in pain, "please, he has a son,"
"you didn't seem to care about kids of the people you killed," jimin comments.
"i'm sorry! fine?! are you happy? i said i'm sorry! now please let namjoon hyung go!"
"no," the officers stroll closer to jungkook, following his gaze to namjoon, "do you think we care about your sorry? dude, this is not a third grade class okay? you cannot kill a bunch of people and go around saying sorry," taehyung states.
"tomorrow," jimin says, "you'll be presented in the court, and finally you'll be sentenced. probably hung or maybe imprisoned for the rest of your life if the judge decides to show some mercy,"
"and your friend," taehyung adds," he'll be in for long that's for sure,"
"you wish," jungkook mutters, groaning as taehyung hits him with the belt again.
__________
a/n- i kept getting requests from a lot of people for this update ^^ so here you go! ❤️🌚 tell me how's it and make aure to vote!