Warnings: swearing, etc.
"You're so brave... so precious," Namjoon muttered, pressing butterfly kisses all over Jin's face.
Jin was sitting on Namjoon's thigh like it was a throne, on top of the hospital bed, the latter having his arms wrapped around him securely. Ms Soojin hadn't returned yet, so they were alone.
Namjoon took advantage of this time to cherish Jin like he'd never done before, being so grateful to have him back. The latter said nothing the whole time but continued to giggle and smile with happiness as he felt the light kisses and heard the praises.
"So beautiful... my pretty angel," Namjoon continued, kissing his healed cheek. "So perfect."
"Joonie, stop," Jin covered his mouth with a hand to muffle his laughs, his face crimson.
"My little sunshine... my everything." Namjoon's kisses never stopped even after seeing how the other was squirming on top of his leg because he felt so ticklish.
"J-Joonie, you gonna kill me!" Jin squealed, giggling uncontrollably as he wriggled around while getting attacked by the little kisses peppered on his cheeks, forehead, eyelids, nose, lips and jawline.
"My gorgeous moon," Namjoon cooed, pressing another kiss on his neck, making Jin blush harder. He could never get used to the younger's kisses and nicknames.
"Yah, Namjoon, calm yourself down or Jin isn't gonna make it," a female voice chuckled from behind, and the boys stopped what they were doing to look around to find Ms Soojin standing at the door with a smile and a bowl in her hands.
"Sorry, Eomma, but I can't help it," Namjoon said with a happy laugh, nuzzling his nose against Jin's cheek as the woman walked up and sat across them on the bed.
"You've started calling my mother 'Eomma' already?" Jin asked, looking up at his boyfriend with a curious face.
"Yes, I asked him to call me that," Ms Soojin said with a laugh, stirring the contents in the bowl with a spoon. "Now, Jinnie, come here so I can feed you."
"What is it?" Jin asked, turning around to see, immediately making a face at the thin vegetable soup in the bowl. "I don't want it," he added, quickly hiding his face back in Namjoon's chest.
"Baby..." Ms Soojin sighed, as if she'd been expecting the other to behave like this. "You're really weak and you need energy. The doctors have gone for lunch and yours won't be back in another thirty minutes. She told to feed you this as soon as you wake up."
Still, Jin wouldn't budge. "I don't want to," he whimpered, clutching at Namjoon's shirt and still hiding his face.
"Hyung, you have to eat," Namjoon said, rubbing his nape soothingly in hope that his boyfriend would at least listen to him.
Jin only shook his head, burying his face deeper against him. "Nooooo."
"Fine, then, guess I'll feed Namjoon instead," Ms Soojin, pretending to be very indifferent. "Come here, Namjoon. Open your mouth."
Namjoon grinned, and was about to play along with Jin's mother, when Jin quickly moved away from him, turning around in his place to sit between his legs and his back to Namjoon's chest, facing his mother. After getting her after years, he wasn't even going to share all of her attention with his own boyfriend. Hell no.
"All right, all right! I'll eat it!" Jin pouted in defeat, causing the other two to chuckle fondly and Namjoon to lean over his shoulder and kiss his cheek to lighten his mood.
However, Ms Soojin hadn't even fed him two spoonfuls of soup when the door burst open and banged against the wall behind, causing all of the three to jump in their places. Hoseok, Yoongi and the maknae line stood there, panting and red in the faces, as if they'd come here after running for miles.
"Jin hyung!" They exclaimed together in relief and happiness before rushing forward, carefully avoiding the food on the floor without questioning about it.
They'd got a call from Ms Soojin that Jin had woken up just as they'd entered a restaurant to eat lunch after visiting him at the hospital, and they'd run together all the way back there immediately without a second thought. The people down the street had given them strange looks but they were the least of the boys' concerns.
Jin was way more important than them.
"Easy, boys, your hyung is still very weak!" Ms Soojin called just in time for the boys to stop in their tracks, just when they were all about to engulf Jin in a group hug.
They were just so glad that Jin had woken up that they almost forgot that they needed to be gentle and careful with him. Now they just looked at him, their eyes beginning to fill with tears of joy as did Jin's, the oldest male smiling widely at his dongsaengs.
"One by one, come and hug me," Jin said quietly, scooting out of Namjoon's hold and holding out his arms to the other five happily.
Namjoon and Ms Soojin sat where they were right behind Jin, watching his reunion with the boys, emotional smiles on each of their faces.
Taehyung and Jimin went first, carefully getting on both sides of Jin and hugging him as tightly as they were allowed to, before sobbing.
"I thought we were gonna become orphans," Taehyung wailed.
"Orphans?" Jin laughed out loud, his hands holding onto the younger's shoulders carefully but firmly. "What are you talking about, Tae Tae?"
"He's just saying you're like our long lost parent!" Jimin howled. "Don't leave us again! We missed you so much!"
"I'm sorry, Minnie, Tae," Jin said, sniffling as he turned his head twice in both direction to kiss the soulmates' foreheads. "Hyung's so sorry to make you sad. I'm probably alive because our bond is so strong that we can't be separated."
"It's definitely that," Taehyung agreed, vigorously wiping his tears away.
"Yeah," Jimin chimed in, resting his head on Jin's shoulder and sniffing quietly.
Once they'd calmed down, they finally got up, and Jungkook took their place and hugged Jin more tightly than them because he was so overwhelmed. He was so strong that Jin could put all his weight on him without tiring him in the slightest, and the older's small frame was engulfed in his embrace, though not as much as Namjoon's did.
"You fucking scared me," Jungkook whispered through tears. "Are you really okay, though? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you feel dizzy? Should I get something for you, hyung?"
His worried questions pulled at Jin's heartstrings. Jungkook had always held a different place in his heart, and despite bickering and squabbling over silly things all the time, the oldest and youngest had a weak spot for one another.
"I'm totally fine, Jungkook-ah," Jin said with a smile as he looked up at the maknae and wiped his tears away. "And hyung is so happy to see you again."
"R-really?" Jungkook's onyx eyes brightened.
"Yeah." Jin pulled the younger's head down to kiss his forehead like Taehyung and Jimin. "You've been so worried about me. I promise to never be the reason you're sad again, Kookie."
"I-I'm happy," Jungkook said defensively, furiously blinking away the remaining tears in his eyes, smiling at last.
"Be ready for my annoying ass, then, kiddo," Jin giggled before giving him a last squeeze around the shoulders and shooing him away to hug Hoseok next.
"I'm glad you're fine," his best friend said quietly while hugging him and crying silently. "I-I don't know what I could've done without you. I thought I was losing my way without you to guide me like usual, but- but-"
"You still had hope, Seokie," Jin said for him, holding him close with everything he had. "You still had hope for hyung."
"Yeah," Hoseok chuckled brokenly. "I'm so happy you're okay, hyung."
"Me too," Jin said, wiping his tears like he did with Jungkook's. "Thank you sooo much for having faith in me, Hoba."
"It's nothing." Hoseok kissed his forehead before smiling that heart smile Jin never thought he'd see again. "I'm just glad you made it. You've been so brave, hyung."
"I had to be. For the sake of all of you. And I know that you've been the same for me."
"Thank you." Hoseok hugged him for the last time. "You mean so much to us all, hyung." With one last kiss on the forehead, he got up to reveal Yoongi standing there, blinking furiously.
Jin smiled largely at him while making grabby hands, and Yoongi complied, sitting down next to him and wrapping his arms around the slimmer male carefully, as if scared that he might hurt him some way, but Jin could tell that he really wanted to hug him tight and was holding back so that he didn't cause him any pain.
So he pulled him in closer, assuring him that it was okay to hold on tighter, and that was what the second oldest did. No words were exchanged, as Yoongi felt something lodging at his throat and preventing him to say anything. He didn't have to, though, because his carefulness and dedication towards Jin said everything.
After minutes of hugging silently, Yoongi pulled back, but before he got up, Jin whispered something to him that made him feel that he could do anything in the world.
"Thank you for being everyone's hyung in my absence, Yoon. Thank you for being brave and fighting for the rest."
Yoongi just nodded, not trusting himself to speak, but when he went away to join Jimin, he was sniffling, and finally broke down crying just as he reached his boyfriend, who hugged him. Jimin was crying too, and they hugged each other, swaying on the spot as they comforted one another. Nobody stopped them, because they knew that they were just overwhelmed with relief that Jin was okay.
Giving the couple some space as they hugged near the curtained window, Taehyung, Hoseok and Jungkook took the chairs across the bed and watched with utter content and the feeling of gratefulness as they watched Jin crawl back to sit between Namjoon's legs, Ms Soojin resuming to feed him again.
They came to a resolution in their minds that from then on, they were going to always keep Jin before their eyes and protect him from any seeming danger around, just as he'd done for them. They couldn't afford to lose someone as precious as him.
They won't just be his emotional support like they'd promised to be months ago when they found out about his past with Chanyeol, they were also going to be his support in every step of life.
Because if he wasn't there, who was going to be there for them? They had to protect him.
They couldn't lose him at any cost.
He was their hyung, and it was their duty to protect him.
°°°♡ °°°
Words: 1822
A familiar someone's gonna appear in the next chapter. Guess who???