Jungkook rushes out of his car, slamming the door shut before he marches up to the model’s front door in a hurry. The closer he walks towards the house, the louder the screams are. He didn’t know what to think of the phone call or why she was crying, and it felt like something was wrong.
Before he can press the doorbell, the door is pushed open, and a teary-eyed Yeji opens the door. He can hear it now, the screams clear.
"Yejissi-" the omega tugs on his wrist before he could continue, pulling him in and closing the front door.
Both of them hear another crash of something breaking. Jungkook flinches, his heart dropping to his feet. The omega drags the alpha up to her room before closing the door and leaning back against it— pressing both of her hands against her ears to block the noise.
Jungkook stands in the middle of her room, unmoving, the somewhat familiar sounds of yelling, cursing and things breaking, causing the alpha’s heartbeat to pick up. He flinches back when he hears a man yell louder— the sound of hitting something, or instead,/someone/ getting louder.
The alpha curls his hands into a fist when he feels them shaking, his eyes stinging painfully as he tries to hold back. His irises move to find the omega, who lurches forward and throws herself at him— sobbing and hiding her frame against his larger one. She presses closer, blocking one ear against his chest and the other ear blocked by her own hand.
The ravennette wraps an arm around her, resting a hand over her ear. Jungkook feels his chest tighten, squeezing his eyes shut when he hears the screams of pain— pulling the omega closer to protect her from the unbearable noises.
His chest heaves with irregular breaths, his tears betraying him and running down his cheeks.
It feels the same as it did when he was a child. He feels the familiar fear coursing through his chest. He feels the familiar burning sting in his eyes; the same as when he tried to hold back his tears— tried not to cry.
He stands there, with an omega who is trying to hide from the hell breaking loose around her in his arms and imagines her as his seven-year-old self.
He imagines holding his younger self, and he immediately wraps both of his arms around the omega to provide her with something he yearned for as a child every time his parents started fighting the same— protection.
He always felt unsafe in the coldness of his own home; he never felt like he could sleep the night without a thought in his head. He wanted someone to hug him during nights like those and reassure him that he would be fine— that he was protected.
Jungkook stands there for a while— holding the omega close until the noises die, and the last thing both hear is the front door slamming shut. They flinch at the harsh sound before silence engulfs them.
Yeji holds on tight for a moment until she hears the alpha sniffle. She pulls away slowly with a frown, looking up at the alpha whose arms fall from around her.
The first thing she notices is how red his nose and cheeks are. Her breath catches up in her throat when she sees the silent tears running down the alpha’s face. She cups his cheek gently, raising his face to meet their equally tear-stained eyes.
“Jungkook?” She calls softly, her voice hoarse.
He looks away, his jaw hardening. He wipes his eyes with both hands, taking a step back.
“I’m sorry. Are you alright?” He asks instead, his hands trembling by his sides.
She reaches for his hand, holding it with a concerned look.
“I am. I feel better with you here. Are /you/ okay? Why are you crying?” She asks gently, taking a step closer to wipe under his eye, but he moves before she can.
"I'm fine. We both are. If everything is okay, I should get going." He replies shortly, steps away from her and heads to the door.
The model reaches for his hand, grabbing his wrist in a hurry.
"Are you not going to say anything?" She asks, tightening her grip.
"Are you not going to ask me about what just happened?" She speaks again, tears clouding her vision as she raises her voice with frustration. "Are you not going to acknowledge how my mom just got beaten to death just like everyone else?!" She cries, pulling onto his wrist weakly.
"Are you just going to walk out that door and come to work tomorrow knowing what I go through every day and not acknowledge it? Are you too going to do that to me?" The model screams at him, pushing at his back while he remains unmoving, frozen.
"Do you know why my manager isn't showing up to train you like they promised you? It’s because he doesn't want to acknowledge this! He keeps telling me that it's not happening, to forget about it and just do my job! How could I!" She falls down on her knees, sniffling.
"How can I just forget and pretend it's not happening—"
"You have to." The alpha replies, his voice low. Yeji looks up at his back, noticing how he is tense.
"You have to pretend like it's not happening— otherwise you won't be able to live a day of peace."
"You have to forget and move on. To pretend these cuts don't hurt in order for them to not leave a nasty scar. What will acknowledging it ever do? What will keep reliving it each and everyday do except leave deep scars you cannot remove or deal with later?"
Jungkook turns to her with bloodshot eyes, silent tears rolling out of them.
"Do not hold onto these moments, Yejissi. They'll only hurt you more."
"It's so easy for you to say. It's so easy for everyone to say! How can you say that so easily? You have no idea how much fear I go through every day, how hearing my mom's screams hurt me deep in my soul. I feel so suffocated." She lets go of his hand, looking away.
Jungkook chuckles.
"You're right. I wouldn’t know how it feels to hear those screams every night. I wouldn’t know how it feels to hear them cursing, and wishing death upon each other. I wouldn’t know how it feels like to wish that both of them were separate instead of this."
"I would not know how my father called my mother degrading names, and insulted her every night. The sounds of glass breaking and objects smashing. I would not know any of it." His voice breaks as he watches the omega stare at him with wide eyes, guilt coursing through them.
"I have lived my entire life reliving those moments, reliving how my mom died from a heart attack and how my father abandoned me soon after. I was just a child, I was only seven. I was too young to understand what was going on."
"I had just lost my mother when my father decided that he couldn’t take on my responsibility, I was only another reminder of the miserable life he led with my mother."
"He left me alone in that house. I can still feel the shivers running down my spine— sleeping and sitting in the darkness alone. I did not leave that house for three weeks— starving and surviving off the remaining food left in our fridge before my grandmother came to find me."
"I did exactly what you are doing right now. I Indulged myself in it. I let it consume me. It turned me into who I am today— a person that cannot even trust himself. Fearing I'd turn into what made me."
"Do not hate your manager too much for telling you to pretend that it is not happening. He is right. If your hands are tied, if you cannot save your mother— if you will end up mourning for the rest of your life, let it go. Leave. Save yourself."
Jungkook swallows, closing his eyes. "I spent my life hating both of them, pointing fingers at them and blaming them for doing what they did to me. I kept blaming my mom for not leaving earlier, for not taking me with her."
The alpha inhales through his nose, looking down at her with a melancholic smile. "It is not too late for you, though. If you can, take your mother out of here. Save her before it is too late. Watching them leave hurts ten times more than leaving them."
"I did not want to be a model." Yeji looks up at him, her eyes still glistening. "I wanted to go to law school instead, I wanted to be a lawyer. My father— he forced me into this. He told me that he hated me, that I was an inconvenience. He told me to make myself useful. He wished I'd die, right in front of my face for making him miserable and for straining him financially. He told me that even if I had to—" the omega gasps for air, choking on her own tears. "I should even sell my body if it meant he would benefit from it."
Jungkook felt his chest tighten with sympathy, a frown growing on his face. He kneels before her, pulling her into his arms. She reciprocates, burying her nose into his neck— seeking comfort.
"He called me names this morning, the guards told him I was being a brat."
Jungkook chuckles.
"You were a brat, alright." He jokes lightly, rubbing her back in reassurance.
She cracks a smile.
"I'm sorry. I said a lot of inconsiderate things that I shouldn’t have."
"It is quite alright, Yejissi." He pulls away, smiling.
"I'll go now, but please know that whatever your father says, it doesn't define you. You are way more than your body." The alpha reassures softly causing the omega to nod her head silently— a blush coating her cheeks.
Jungkook leaves then, and sits in his car looking at all the clothes he got for his yet to be born pup. He smiles lightly thinking to himself that he would never put his pup through what he went through, he would not abandon them. He would not abandon Taehyung.