a/n- sorry it's not edited because of lack of time 😔 in was so busy today like i literally had classes right from 11 in the morning til 7 in the evening. i arrived home around 8 and now finally i'm here with an update 😭❤️
special update because u guys asked for it so sweetly and also because i love you guys so much 😌😌❤️❤️❤️❤️ so vote and comment as much as you can!
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if aera knew how the night would turn out, she would've stayed firm with her previous decision of not joining her friends to the club. however, now that she's stuck in this vicious trap which somehow is her own fault (that much she's aware of), she wonders if anything can go worse from here. jungkook's fuming in anger, on the driver's seat and taehyung beside him, both of them having their eyes straight on the street ahead as through it was hard for them not to start scolding her just yet.
then jimin is sitting at the back with aera, even though she made sure to maintain a distance and scooted to the extreme end, sitting very close to the door and away from jimin. as soon as jimin shut the door, settling in, his gaze traveled to the dress aera had been flaunting the whole night. her eyes close tightly in fear and a little of embarrassment, hands clutching the hem of the short dress pulling it down if it did go further. jimin's jacket rests on it's place, around her shoulders, engulfing her petite body inside.
"i'm sorry," aera mumbles, nibbling on her lip, eyes moving from jimin to taehyung and then jungkook, "i'm really sorry, i didn't mean to-"
"you didn't mean to?" jungkook's jaw ticks at that, glaring at her through the mirror, "you've got that to say? i-" he takes a deep breath, pushing his tongue against the inside of his cheek and shakes his head, "just keep your lame explanation with yourself, and wait till we're home,"
"koo, i'm sorry. i didn't even wanna go, i-"
"am i not clear enough to you?" he hisses and aera gulps, lowering her head, tears brimming her eyes already at his deep voice sounding so angry. she stays mum for the next few minutes, praying to god to save her this once, or a miracle to happen such that the elder boys won't remember anything about tonight. they can be drunk and forget what happened in the morning, right?
aera looks up slowly, stealing a glance at jimin's face, sighing as she remembers that he has a good tolerance, so it's most probable that he's as sober as always. her eyes shift to taehyung, trying her best to pinpoint any signs of being drunk, but then there's nothing for her to catch on for the man is too busy glaring at the street through the windscreen with a poker face. after failing twice, aera peeks at jungkook's face from the mirror. he's focused on driving, though from the years of knowing him, aera's sure that in the back of his head, he's probably planning what to do to make her regret pulling this kind of stupid stunt.
if only she could tell him how much she was already regretting her decision. she sighs softly, looking down at her lap again, until she feels a soft jerk of inertia letting her know that the car has stopped. aera looks up slowly only to make sure that she's right and internally whines when she's realises that jimin and taehyung are already out of the car, and jungkook is driver's seat, waiting for her to get out as well so he can go and park the car in the garage.
taking a deep breath, she opens the door and steps out, shivering at the cold wind on her legs and arms as she holds jimin's jacket in her hand, not using it to cover herself up anymore now that she's home. walking inside after the elders is far different from what she had experienced till now through the years. this kind of fear wasn't common, but it's not like aera didn't know the feeling. she's familiar with it, remembering that one time when jungkook was super mad at her for running off to daegu without letting anyone know.
today she feels like even yoongi wouldn't agree to help her out, considering that she did step out of the house at night, lying to her brothers and got caught in a freaking club! if she was older and jungkook did something like this at her age, maybe she would be equally mad too. but still she wouldn't go glaring at him like he and the other two men keep doing to her!
jungkook comes back pretty quickly and tosses his keys on the console table before using his free hands to roll up the sleeves of his shirt. it's not like aera's going to ignore them or has the audacity to leave them hanging here and head upstairs to her room, but jungkook probably thought she'd do so, for he nods his head towards her, taking a seat on the couch, angry, frustrated, mad and all other synonyms of the emotion.
"i'm sorry, oppa," aera says once again, hoping it would at least warm the boys a little if not completely melt them.
"how'd you get there?" jungkook asks, voice as cold as a cool breeze from the freezer in an already chilly night of january.
aera fiddles with her thoughts, staring her feet but she dares not to anger him anymore, "my friends picked me up... they were there with me,"
"where? in your imagination?"
taehyung scoffs when she shakes her head, about to tell them where the friends were, while they clearly found her alone at the bar with the bartender certainly trying to hit on her, "i don't know if you understand this or not, aera. but what we saw back at the club was nowhere near a pleasant sight," he hisses, "the fact that you're still young and went there is bad enough. you have no idea how people at places like those can be. the guy you were talking to clearly had some messed up intentions. thank god we got there in time..."
"i wouldn't do anything weird, oppa. i'm not stupid to believe any stranger out ther-"
"yeah, just stupid enough to go to a club at midnight!" jungkook raises his voices as he's now standing right in front of her, his eyes shooting daggers, "stupid enough to wear this crazy outfit! stupid enough to fucking drink alcohol and stupid enough to be flirting with a guy much older than you! do you know how fucking senseless you sound, aera? i just- headache- yeah right, you had a headache. a fucking headache..." he grits off, trailing at the of his sentence as tears slide down from aera's cheeks, having her eyes shut and hands clutched into fists beside her.
"look here when i'm speaking to you," jungkook warns, "just because i give in to most of your wishes and play cool with you, doesn't mean i'm a fool here. i don't want you to feel jimin's absence in the house. i don't want you to feel like you're missing something something out because you never really had mom and dad around. i genuinely, by all means, aera, don't want you feel any less of a person than anyone else out there. and while all this, i didn't want you to be suffocated or stuck between some unrealistic rules either- that's the reason i never interfere with your stuff, respect your space and boundaries and your friends. but if this is going to turn out like this, jeon aera, i swear to god it won't take me a second to lock you in your room.
"y'know everyone said i spoiled you the most- and guess what, baby? maybe i really did," he rakes his hand through his haid, ignoring the soft sobs of his sister, "you don't understand me when i'm being nice, fine with that. let's deal with you the way you probably will understand. no going out, no meeting your friends, you'll hand over phone and ipad to me an-"
"n-no, please, oppa... i'm really sorry, i won't do this again. i won't lie to you and never sneak out of the house for anything, i promise!" aera blurts out quickly, crying to jungkook as she holds his hand, "please don't do this..."
"did i ask you to speak?" he asks firmly, getting a quiet look from her as she eventually shakes her head, and jungkook hums, "get away," aera obeys with a heavy heart, letting go of his hand and keeps her head low, "you like testing my nerves, so i'll let you see how bad you fucked up, aera,"
aera rubs her eyes, sniffling softly as she looks up to find jimin who has been quiet all this while. nibbling on the lower lip, unable to speak, she virtually tries to communicate and let him know that he needs to step in, say something at least. jimin sighs, shaking his head and glances at jungkook and taehyung, "i'll be leaving. i've seen enough for today. let's talk in the morning when she's more down from alcohol,"
"i- i didn't have alcohol, oppa. i promise-"
"you think so?" jimin glares at her, "when j say we'll talk tomorrow, i mean it, aera. stop being oversmart, alright?"
"i'm sorry," aera mumbles, "but i really didn't have alcohol..."
"yeah right, so what are you high on?" taehyung cracks his neck, "there's no use of lying, aera. we know the truth and you know it too. this is really very disappointing from you,"
jungkook takes a deep breath, staring at aera, "you will tell us the truth right now. all truth,"
aera keeps her eyes on the floor, opening her mouth as she contemplates whether or not to tell the elders eveything truly as they want. they're already mad enough, and aera doesn't feel the need to worsen the situation for herself by mentioning the drinks, her argument with jake, or about the flirty bartender. so she sighs softly, clearing her throat after crying so much and nods, praying that they won't catch on with her story.
"in school everyone made a plan to go to a club tonight. i told them no, right away- ever since last week. but then they kept forcing me and said that i was ruining the fun..." she says, true so far even though it does sound made up, "i eventually gave in. but i was scared ro sneak out and almost reconsidered the decision... but then you guys said you were going out..."
"and you grabbed the chance," taehyung nods at the obvious, "how did you get inside the club? you don't have an id,"
"that uh... the boys paid for me and alissa..."
"who paid?" jungkook presses on.
"...clay," she lies, then thinks for a moment, seeing the possibility that maybe it wasn't safe to say his name, so she ends up spilling the truth before the brother reacted, "no, daehun paid for me... clay didn't,"
"i said it once and i'm not gonna repeat it, so just say the truth," jungkook warns.
"daehun paid for me, it's true,"
"who's daehun?" taehyung asks.
"he's from my math class. he's a friend,"
"just a friend?"
"yeah," she nods.
"you don't like him? or he doesn't like you?"
"we're friends, that's all,"
"do not bring up that attitude," jungkook glares at her, "you're the one who was caught at the bar drinking and talking to a pervert. so behave yourself and just answer what we're asking,"
aera bites her lip, holding in a sob as she shakes her head slowly, "we don't like each other like that..."
"hm, and what about that guy- the bartender? why was hw so interested in you?"
"i was sitting alone for sometime," aera says, gulping her fears as she speaks, "some of my friends went home, and some stayed. but they were all at different places in the club, somewhere around me. so i was by myself for sometime, when he came with another drink for me... he said i'm- i'm-"
"you are?" taehyung arches a brow, "pretty? cute? then he asked why you were alone, and you told him that your friends left you alone. he saw his chance and thought of engaging you in harmless conversation until you willingly let him take you out. tell me if i'm wrong,"
aera's shocked by how actually correct he is, precise and probably telling trevon's perspective in the way aera couldn't have figured out earlier. she averts her eyes, never really agreeing nor denying to his words, which makes him heave out an angry breath, "you're not the smartest on this planet area! when we say we know how people are- men specifically, we're not joking around with you! god forbid if we weren't there in time, you'd've walked out with him! he'd take you god knows where and-" he forces himself to shut up, looking away from her just so aera's not in sight.
"seriously," jimin sighs as well, massaging his temples to keep himself calm, "what you did today was really stupid, and i didn't expect this from you at all. anything could've happened with you. did you hear his last words? i'm so thankful we came and saw you there... being a brother or a father to a girl is not easy. everyday, aera, i'm not even lying, every minute of the day you're scared, not because your daughter will do something stupid but because the people out there probably will, and they won't even think twice. ever since you were little, i've always held your hand on the streets, watched you playing in the park, went almost everywhere with you, kook taught you boxing, martial arts... why? to keep you safe. and again i repeat myself, it's not because we don't trust you, princess... it's because we don't trust the people roaming around.
"you understand this, you'll think we're overreacting and being uncool, but think about it at least once. every time there's a news of something bad happening with kids, with young girls, anywhere around the world, we have to stop and take a moment- take a look at our girls to assure ourselves that our princess is fine and the bad guys will stop one day. but the one day is definitely not close. so we have to act accordingly. even if i know you'll fight anyone and everyone, it still scares me knwoing that someone can hurt you and i won't be able to do anything to stop them... and really, when i saw that guy, that fucking idiot talking to you like that, aera, i- i cannot describe it in words...
"please don't do things like these. when you're with us, do whatever you want. we'll deal with anyone and anything for you," jimin says, voice soft as he cups aera's face, using his thumb to wipe off the tears from her cheek, "but when you're alone, please... just please, be a little attentive. i know you're smart and you can deal with stuff, but that doesn't change the fact that you're still young and innocent. so please, baby, for my sake, promise me you'll look out for yourself like me or kook or the rest of your oppas do,"
aera nods, hugging jimin tightly as she cries in his chest, "i'm sorry... i won't go anywhere without you, oppa. i'm so stupid... i'm sorry... he was bad, he- he asked me if i had a fling before and i was so shocked... you're right- you're always right... i'm sorry..."
jungkook's jaw clenches at that, "that guy..." he grits out, "i'm gonna deal with him tomorrow,"
"i'll go with you," taehyung nods as well.
"shh, guys like that bartender are just pests in the society," jimin says, rubbing aera's back, "don't worry, we know my riri is stronger than people like him, right?"
"no, i'm stupid..." aera mumbles, never letting go of jimin, making him sigh as brings her to sit on the couch and crouches down in front od her.
"you're not stupid," he pronounces, holding her hands in his, "you're just a child, and anyone your age won't understand the difference between good and bad right away. even some grown ups don't get it, because i know it's not easy, okay? but that doesn't make you stupid. didn't you say you were going to stop him?"
aer nods slowly, "i's tell him to leave me alone if he said anything weird..."
"exactly, i know what i've taught you and how strong you are, just like our kook, right?"
"mm-hmm," she nods, sniffling and jimin smiles softly, "you're not mad at me?"
"i was, but i think now i'm not. i said what i wanted to say... something i never thought i'd word out,"
"thank you for saying that though," she mumbles, hugging jimin again and kisses his cheek, "i do understand you, oppa. i'll be careful and act like a big girl, so you don't have to worry about me all the time,"
"i don't think it's possible for us to stop worrying about you, because y'know we cannot just stop thinking about you. but yes, you should be careful and attentive," aera nods at his words, slowly sneaking a glance at jungkook and taehyung, which jimin notices and taps her head, "go to your room now, it's already very late. you should get changed and sleep, the hangover is going to make you sick in the morning,"
"koo and taetae are mad..." aera mumbles.
"they have the right to be mad," jimin says, "just do as i'm saying for now. you can talk to them tomorrow, and yeah, you're grounded until next month and no electronics allowed. you'll give them to jungkook the very first thing in the morning, i'll ask him if you did or not, okay? listen to him and don't mess with him unnecessarily for a while,"
aera nods at the instructions, looking at jungkook again seeing him roll his eyes at her, then there's taehyung turning away from her. she sighs softly, a pout always resting on her lips as she mumbles a weak 'night' to the elders, leaving them alone in the living room.
"please let her talk tomorrow," jimin says to the boys now, "i'm leaving right now, but i'll drop by during the day for a while. and kook, please don't start yelling at her again. what you did was quite enough,"
"she better not be a brat in front of me, i won't say anything. i'm not even in the mood to talk to her,"
jimin sighs at that, shaking his head and doesn't even try talking to taehyung, knowing that he'll get a similar response from him as well. so he just grabs his keys, heading out of the house, saving the talk for the next day. taehyung and jungkook exchange glances, sighing to themselves asthey both head upstairs, "fuck, it was supposed to be a fun a night," taehyung mutters, "but on second thoughts, i wonder what we might have to see as aera's growing up. her mistakes and mischief is getting unbearable..."
"i'm so close to banging my head on the wall. don't talk to me about this,"
taehyung stops on his way, making jungkook groan and curse for he's forced to stop as well, "rum?" taehyung asks.
"damn, yeah let's go," jungkook nods, hating himself for how he agrees to drink without any second thoughts.
•••
next day
aera nibbles on her lip as she takes the flowers and banana milk from the house maid, thanking her in a soft voice before she gets back inside her room and sits on the chair in front of the desk. she pulls out a sticky note and a marker, taking a deep breath.
meanwhile jungkook is busy on the phone, talking to someone from work while he sits on the couch, picking up the glass of water that the maid brought. eveything looked normal and he knew aera's still inside her room, given that she wasn't allowed to step out unless it's for some actually good reason like food and chores.
another maid from the stairs, heads towards jungkook, placing the small bouquet of roses and a bottle of banana milk on the table with a pink square note stuck on it. jungkook frowns at that, virtually asking the lady what that was, although he doesn't wait for a response and takes the bottle in his hand, tilting it a little so he can read the words written on the note.
i'm sorry, koo. please don't be mad. i know you were worried for me and you don't want anything bad to happen with me, but you did scold me last night right? i'll listen to you always and do whatever you say, i promise! pinky promise... but please don't be mad. ilysm koo. -riri aka your little kookie
jungkook sighs deeply, shaking his head, "mr ling, i'll call you back later. i've got another call, i'm sorry," he says and hangs up when the man said it was fine. he stands up, gesturing the staff ladies to carry on with whatever work they had while he jogs upstairs to aera's room, holding his gift in his hands.
he opens the door after a knock, seeing aera sitting on the carpet, her sketch book and pencils in front of her. he arches a up a brow, showing her the banana milk and flowers, which makes her sigh, "it's okay if you don't want it... i understand you're disappointed in me. i did behave like a stupid person,"
"you did," jungkook says, crouching down in front of her and moves her stuff aside, "but did you really think banana milk will do?"
"no," she mumbles, staring at her lap, "i thought it'd make you happy at least,"
jungkook hums, opening the bottle as he inserts the straw in it and takes a quick, long sip, pulling away with a tiny 'ah'. aera looks up at him and jungkook smiles softly, offering her a sip as well, making her smile instantly as she leans forward to hug him tightly, "i'm sorry for yesterday. i will never do anything like that," she promises.
"please don't. i almost had a heart attack," jungkook sighs, "you're my precious little girl and i want us to be like this for a very long time, champ. also, i didn't really mean to call you stupid last night, i was just too mad and didn't pay attention to what i was saying..."
"it's okay," she kisses his cheek, "i love you so much, koo, you don't know,"
jungkook chuckles at that, leaning down as he nuzzles his face against her jaw, "i know," his tender voice whispers, "and i always love you more. even if i get mad sometimes and scold you, i want you know to know, aera, that i always love you. there won't be a single day ever in my life when i don't love my little baby,"
aera smiles at his words, closing her eyes as she rests her head against his chest, "thanks koo,"
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