Requested by Anonymous
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The Jeon family owned a company. Simply, it was called "The Jeon Company." They were a huge and thriving family business well known in South Korea. Jungkook was the youngest son in the family, and had six hyungs. The family was rich, which Jungkook did enjoy, but there were some things he hated about being born into a huge business, the biggest thing being that his parents and older brothers were constantly telling him what to do and how he should be living his life. It seemed as though his family was trying to plan out his entire future for him, even if he didn't agree with half the things they had in mind for him.
And a huge argument started when his parents and hyungs presented him with the notion that he was to be in an arranged marriage with one of the family's business clients.
"You want me to do what?!" Jungkook screamed at everyone who had gathered in their living room.
"It will be good for the family business!" Jimin said smiling.
"I don't care hyung! I'm 19, I don't want to be married yet! And you can't just pick who I'm going to marry!" Jungkook pouted. He looked to his parents hoping they'd listen to him. "You can't do that!"
"We can," Namjoon chimed in before their parents could say anything , "And we will."
"And if I don't want to?" Jungkook crossed his arms. His dad walked over to him and got in his face. "If you don't, Jungkook, then you can say goodbye to this family and everyone, and everything, in it."
Jungkook stated crying. He didn't want to be in some arranged marriage, but even more so, he didn't want to lose his entire family and his entire life. His mother told him it was one of their business clients named Jeong.
"I barely even know him!" Jungkook whined. He'd met the guy once and all he really knew about him was that he was closer to Jin's age.
"We don't care," Yoongi scolded. Jungkook looked to Taehyung. Him and Taehyung were quite close, he was hoping Taehyung would defend him but he didn't. Instead Taehyung also looked excited and said what Jimin had already mentioned, that this marriage would be great for the business. He then looked desperately to Jin, but Jin didn't protest either.
Jungkook stormed away angrily crying. He knew he couldn't fight his family. So once again, they'd have to win.
Within the next few weeks his family arranged the marriage. There wasn't a wedding or anything, they just forced Jungkook to sign some paperwork using more threats to get him to do it when he was hesitating.
After that was done, Jeong ended up moving in with them. Their home was huge and had different sections, so there was more than enough room. Jungkook felt hostile towards his parents and his hyungs for doing this to his life, but he tried to see the good in it.
Great for business.
Although, he didn't quite understand how being forcefully married to some older man was supposed to help their family business. Hobi had mentioned something about Jeong's family adding more money to help the business grow. Jungkook couldn't help but feel hurt that it seemed like his family cared more about money than about him.
Things went even more south for Jungkook, and quickly. Jeong turned out to be extremely abusive. Whenever nobody was around he'd beat and scream at Jungkook. He told the youngest what he could and could not do, and when he could and could not do it. He cut him off from his friends, and told Jungkook that the only people he was allowed to talk to were him and his family members. Jeong also threatened Jungkook not to mention the beatings to his family either, "Or else there will be more consequences."
Although Jungkook had grown increasingly terrified of Jeong and what he would do if he told on him, after a somewhat severe beating one night the maknae couldn't take it anymore. He was desperate to tell someone. He was desperate for help. He wanted out.
While Jeong wasn't home because he was out doing his "own business," Jungkook ran to his hyungs and immediately started desperately begging them for help.
He grabbed onto Namjoon's arm, "Please hyung you have to help me! He's so mean! He hits me almost every night and I can't take it anymore! That man is going to kill me!" He looked at his hyung with pleading, desperate eyes. His other hyungs and his parents overheard this and came in.
"What is this nonsense about Jeong that you're spilling?" Taehyung asked.
"It's not nonsense hyung! I'm telling the truth! He's abusive and scary and I don't want to be with him! Please!" Jungkook begged. "Get him away from me!"
"Oh stop being such a liar!" Yoongi screamed. His hyungs and parents continued to scream at him saying that he was lying and just trying to get attention from them, and possibly destroy the family business.
"Destroy the family business?! I would never do that! I swear! I'm not lying! I'm telling the truth, he's always hitting me!" Jungkook screamed through tears. He lifted his shirt sleeves to reveal the bruises on his arms. "How else would I have gotten these?! Huh?! Explain these?!" Jungkook cried.
"Oh, so now you're trying to frame him, is that it?" Jin scoffed.
"What? Hyung no!" Jungkook cried.
"You're a busy kid, you probably were rough housing or running around like you always do and hurt yourself, and now you're really trying to get out of this marriage to bring this family down!" Jin screamed in Jungkook's face.
Jungkook couldn't believe nobody would believe the abuse he was suffering even when he had physical evidence of it right in front of them. To make it even worse, when Jeong got home, the family told him about the accusations Jungkook tried making.
The maknae got another harsh beating that night.
A few days later Jungkook's parents called for a family dinner. It was a small celebration of an advancement with the company. Jungkook didn't want to be there. He was at the point of not wanting much to do with his family, he was angry at them. Not only that, but Jeong was still so incredibly angry at Jungkook for telling on him that he threatened the boy to keep his mouth shut from now on. And if Jungkook didn't listen, there'd be consequences to that too.
His hyungs and parents raised a toast, "To Jeong," for helping out with money that helped them get their advancement. Jungkook rolled his eyes, and Jeong nudged him to raise his glass.
"Don't look so down, maknae," Namjoon said, "This is a great moment!"
"Yeah, Kookie! We told you this was for the best, did we not?!" Jimin chuckled. The rest of the family smiled and laughed too. They were talking amongst themselves until they witnessed police officers barging into their home and screaming.
Everyone went into a frenzy. "What the hell is this about?!" Jungkook's mom asked. The police immediately grabbed Jungkook and Jeong and put them in handcuffs.
"What are you doing?!" Jungkook screamed. The cop smacked him and the youngest whimpered in pain. He had no idea what was going on. He couldn't think of a single wrong thing he'd done and didn't understand why he was being put in handcuffs. Surely this had to be some kind of mistake.
"Jeong has been a wanted criminal for underground drug smuggling for months, and we finally got word of where he was," the cop said and turned to Jungkook, "And we know you're his accomplice!"
"What?!" Jungkook screamed, "A wanted criminal?! Accomplice?! I have no clue what you're even talking about! I didn't do anything!"
"Jungkook, you're what?!" His dad screamed and banged his fists on the table
"This is a mistake, I didn't do anything!" the youngest cried. He desperately looked around to the others, "Tell them I didn't do anything! Please!" he begged. "I didn't even know Jeong did anything like that! I had no idea I swear!" Panic was shooting through the youngest left and right. No way this was happening to him right now. He knew he didn't know Jeong all that well to begin with, but he would have never imagined the man being a wanted criminal for some underground drug operation. Jungkook realized this must have been the "own business" that Jeong was always leaving to go do. Jungkook felt sick.
Jeong wasn't even putting up a fight, in fact he was smirking. Jungkook's family started screaming at and scolding both of them. And screamed about how disappointed they were in their son for doing such bad things to try and defame their company. His hyungs could barely look at him, they were fuming with anger.
Jungkook was a mess of tears as the cops dragged him and Jeong away, "Mom! Dad! Hyungies! Please! I'm not lying, I don't know what's going on! You have to believe me!" But the door was slammed closed in his face as they were dragged out.
Jungkook cried to Jeong. "Please tell them I'm innocent!" he begged.
"Why would I do that?" Jeong smiled.
"What do you mean why?! Because I have no part in this , Jeong! You know that!" Jungkook screamed.
"I don't care," Jeong smiled, "We're family, aren't we? And family sticks together, don't they?"
Jungkook thought of his own family who just let him get arrested and never cared to listen to him.
"No, they dont," Jungkook said flatly.
Jeong and Jungkook were thrown in the same cell, and Jungkook knew the torture would never end. As if living in the same house with Jeong wasn't enough, being in the same cell with him was even worse. The cell they had been immediately placed in was so incredibly small.
And the abuse started immediately. Jeong smacked Jungkook hard across the face, making the youngest stumble backwards, "This is your fault!" Jeong screamed. Jungkook cowered on the floor in the corner, shaking and crying.
"H-how is this my fault?!" he asked nervously.
"I need someone to blame. And you're right here, so it's your fault!" Jeong started hurting Jungkook more. He was angry that he got caught, and needed to take that anger out on someone. And Jungkook was the perfect target. The officer in charge of keeping an eye on their cell even took part in the taunting and abuse too. Snickering at Jungkook, calling him a little baby for crying, amongst other names. Sometimes he'd take his baton and bang on the cell to make annoying loud banging noises, and Jungkook would scream and cry for him to stop.
Days went by.
The abuse and harassment continued. Jungkook wanted to just die in his cell at this point. His family hadn't come to visit him at all, so he figured they'd just forgotten all about him at this point. He knew they had more than enough time to come and see him, even to just quickly check in, but they never bothered. He figured he wasn't worth their time anymore. It broke his heart knowing that his own parents and hyungs could just throw him away so easily.
He'd simply be trapped in this cell forever until Jeong either beat him to death, or he found his own way out of this personal prison. He couldn't figure out why he was arrested. He knew nobody had any proof of his involvement, yet the cops didn't seem to care. They just figured that since the two were technically married, that clearly Jungkook had to be involved.
What Jungkook didn't know was there there was someone out there, on the other side, doing their best to free him.
His name was Jyi. He worked for the family's company. He was always a loyal worker and Jungkook was his favorite member of the entire family. He adored that boy like he was his own. When he found out that Jungkook had been arrested, and why, he knew it wasn't true immediately. He decided to take matters into his own hands to get that boy free. He gathered at the Jeon's house one day to try and help make them realize Jungkook had nothing to do with it.
"He's innocent," Jyi stated.
"And how would you know that?" Hobi rolled his eyes.
"You can't be serious. It's Jungkook we're talking about here. When has he done anything wrong, ever? And something illegal? Forget about it!" Jyi stated sternly.
Everyone looked around at eachother. Jyi had a point. Jungkook had always been a really good kid and never really found himself in trouble.
"They're trying to make him guilty by association, but I'm sure he's not!" Jyi said.
"He said he didn't even know Jeong was a criminal," Jimin informed Jyi.
"And did you believe him?" Jyi asked.
"No. We didn't. They're married, how could he have not known?" Taehyung asked.
"They're only 'married' because you made them be," Jyi crossed his arms. He knew Jungkook wanted nothing to do with Jeong from the beginning.
Everyone looked at eachother again.
"He's innocent, and I'm going to prove it!" Jyi stated.
And Jyi did prove it. In front of everyone. He gathered every last bit of information he could. Statements from people Jeong had worked with, even people he sold to. Video surveillance of Jeong doing business and Jungkook never being around. Alibis for Jungkook. More witnesses claiming the maknae's innocence. Emails. Photos. Text messages.
Jyi presented all of this to Jungkook's parents, his hyungs, and the police. His evidence could not be denied, it was clear Jungkook had nothing to do with whatever Jeong was involved with.
The officer guarding the cell he was trapped in opened it up, and dragged Jungkook out. "Guess you're free," the officer chuckled. Jungkook was confused. Free? How? What happened?
As he was being dragged out to his freedom, Jeong started spitting curses at him from still behind bars.
Jungkook couldn't have been happier. Free. From jail...and from Jeong.
Although he was free from jail, and happy about that, he was still extremely mad at his family. A police officer drove him back home, and the maknae asked how on earth he was freed. The officer told him a man named Jyi.
Jyi! Jungkook thought excitedly. He'd always absolutely loved Jyi, and this alone reminded him why.
When he got home he was greeted with his parents, hyungs, and Jyi. They all ran to hug him but Jungkook backed away. The thought of being touched scared the hell out of him. Taehyung tried grabbing at him and pulling him into a hug, but Jungkook flinched back, "No!" he screamed.
Jungkook smiled at Jyi, but didn't smile at anyone else. "How?" Jungkook asked Jyi. The man introduced all the evidence he had found in support of Jungkook's innocence and Jungkook began to cry as he thanked him. Jyi had to get going, and it was just Jungkook left with his family.
Who right now, he really hated.
"We're so sorry, maknae," Jin said softly.
"Oh," Jungkook replied. Jin stepped forward to try to hug Jungkook again but the maknae frantically backed away, "Don't touch me."
His family started going on and on about how sorry they were. How they had no idea about Jeong being a criminal.
"Even if you knew he was, you would have just denied it like you denied everything else he did," Jungkook said flatly.
"What do you mean by that?" Jimin asked frowning.
"I never lied about him hurting me. And you all chose not to believe me," Jungkook frowned. Everyone continuously apologized for that too, but the maknae didn't care to hear it. Yoongi tried to hold his hand, but he backed away. "I said don't touch me!" Jungkook said coldly. Not only did he not like being touched after all that Jeong did to him, but the last people he ever wanted to be close to again was anyone from his family.
His parents and hyungs were devastated with how different Jungkook had been acting ever since being freed from jail. He was a different person now. He never wanted to hang out with his hyungs, he never even really spoke to anyone. He didn't care for conversation. He wasn't the fun and loving maknae they had raised. He was bitter and cold now. His family also noticed how he hated physical interaction. Every touch went avoided. He wouldn't hug, he'd flinch away when someone moved too quickly.
He was also suffering great nightmares every night. He'd have dreams of Jeong beating him and running for help, but nobody was saving him. Dreams of being trapped in that cell with Jeong until the day he died. He'd often wake up screaming and crying in the middle of the night, but whenever someone would try to hold him and wipe his tears and tell him he was okay, he'd scream at them to get away from him. Sometimes he'd scream at them while he was even still asleep.
His parents got him to start going to therapy. At first Jungkook was against it, because he felt like it was another attempt at his family trying to control his life. Eventually, though, he agreed to go when his family convinced him it was for his well being, and it was something they were trying to do to actually help him with his trauma. Not only that, but they simply wanted their old Jungkookie back. The free spirited, happy one. Not this stone cold boy that they knew they had taken part in creating.
Jungkook's parents and hyungs were always weighed down by their guilt for everything they'd done. Forcing Jungkook to get married all for gain, not believing him when he ran to them for help after being severely hurt by Jeong, and for not believing he was innocent.
His hyungs tried to do everything they could to gain Jungkook's trust back. They loved him, even if he couldn't find himself to believe that. They'd take him out to do whatever he wanted, spoiled him endlessly, spent any of their free time with him. Their relationship started to blossom again, and Jungkook was , very slowly, earning their trust back. His parents also changed. They decided they weren't going to meddle in his life, or any of their sons lives, anymore. They were free to be with whoever they wanted, and do whatever they wanted with their own lives, even if that meant not being with the family company, his parents promised to still love them and accept them all anyway.
Things continued to get better over the next year. It took about a full year for Jungkook's happy personality to come back. With the help of his hyungs and his therapist, he was laughing and having fun again. Jeong was long gone, locked behind bars. Thankfully the marriage contract had been terminated and Jungkook was free.
His nightmares became less intense and less frequent, and he actually began to have happy dreams again. He was back at a point where he felt he could go to his big brothers with his struggles and concerns, and they were always there for him. They'd also grown extremely more protective, and Jungkook couldn't deny that he was appreciative of that because he still got a bit nervous around people.
And for the first time in a year, the hyungs finally realized Jungkook was healing when they'd pulled him into a group hug and instead of crying and screaming to be let go, he hugged them back.
And enjoyed being hugged.
[The End]