Min Soo smiled down at the maknae. "Oh Jeonggukie, how kind of you to remember me," He said as he watched Jeongguk cower away from him. "Why are you here?" Taehyung growled, eyes filled with fury as Namjoon moved protectively in front of the singers. "If you dare hurt Jeongguk again you won't get away with it this time." Namjoon barked, "I won't let you hurt my family." Jeongguk didn't know if it was Namjoon's tone of voice or his words that made his eyes tear up. 'Family,' he thought. 'Yes, I'm family.'
Jeongguk remembered the tear streaked faces of his hyungs after they found out about the abuse, all the bruises and scrapes in his back, purples and greens on his thighs, the handprint marks, all of it. He remembers the words, "you're our family, Jeonggukie, we won't let you go," and the warmest hugs he'd ever felt in his life. Though a part of his youth was taken, he would survive. At least, right in that moment, he would survive. Now, he wasn't so sure.
Min Soo looked down at Jeongguk. "I must say, you've grown up quite a bit since I last saw you, seems some of my advice did stick with you after all." They way Jeongguk seemingly hunched in on himself caused Namjoon to glare at Min Soo even fiercer, which had seemed almost impossible."Hitting him and making him feel insecure was not advice!" Min Soo just sighed, "I was just doing my job Namjoon, something you, as a leader, should know, yet here we are." Namjoon said nothing, but the look of utter disbelief and pain crossed his face.
He then made to reach for Jeongguk, who whimpered and scooted back even further, burrowing into Namjoon as best he could, however, his efforts made no difference as he was forced to a stand, and the familiar strong arm that used to make him cry himself to sleep was wrapped around him again, and he felt trapped. Namjoon made to stand, though there wasn't much he could do with his hands behind his back. Min Soo shook his head. "Namjoon, calm down, I don't plan on killing your cute little maknae, although he's not so little anymore," Min Soo continued, "he does have a cute face, and he's definitely seemed to have grown," Jeongguk could feel the man's breath hush over his neck, and it made his skin crawl. He felt the man's eyes rake over him, and felt hands moving all over his body, getting closer, closer, closer, "Stop!" He screamed. Min Soo frowned. "Oh come on Gukkie, there's no harm in a little touch, I wasn't going to do anything to you, but we can later if-" "Like hell you will!" Namjoon managed to choke out. Seeing his maknae so uncomfortable and scared and small while Min Soo touched him made the bile rise in his throat. "No worries Namjoon. He's just a toy to help me with my real purpose. But don't be fooled, if something fails, I'll kill them both." Jeongguk's whole body stiffened at the word kill, and it was almost like a blast to the past, though a rather unfortunate one.
One that came with a warning of, "tell anyone, and I'll kill them along with you."
"Them?" Namjoon question. Min Soo chuckled. "Did you really think I wouldn't have a target?" Jeongguk felt his body start to tremble, because of course Min Soo has thought this through, the man was a genius.
Too caught up in a memory, Jeongguk didn't even register the tears streaming down his face and the screaming of his name as he was carried out the door and down a different corridor with the all to familiar feeling of a gun against his head, numb to everything else around him.
The harsh grip around his waist felt the same as the harsh grip that would pull him away from the others. The state, the smile, the fear, hell, even the hands felt familiar, like the last day with Min Soo, right when he'd almost...
Jeongguk shook his head, reminding himself to forget about that certain incident. He just needed to breathe. He was alive, he wasn't touched anywhere beneath what the eye could see, and he was thankful for that, thankful Namjoon was able to distract him, but he was scared. He was scared for himself, and he was scared for his hyungs. The thought of losing any of them just made his breathing pick up, and the world faded to black as he went limp in Min Soo's arms.
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How Yoongi managed to rush past the security will forever remain a mystery to himself, maybe it was fear, maybe it was adrenaline. His excitement and victory was, however, short lived when his eyes caught the sight of a figure he knew all to well. Manager Min Soo, the one man who ruined their maknae's precious childhood, and left him with nothing but skin full of purple and blue hughes.
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Yoongi remembers it all. He was at the studio, one of his late nights, when he heard it. A small sob, echoing the seemingly empty hallway just outside of his workplace. He was about to put his headphones on, but the sobbing worsened. He opened the door, only to be met with a red and puffy pair of big doe eyes blinking back at him, almost like a plea for help. "Jeonggugkie, what happened?" He quietly said as he knelt down to the crying boy. Jeongguk said nothing, just looked at him.
Then, without warning, Yoongi was pulled into the biggest hug, and, though rather startled, cradled his arms around the younger singer. "Shhh, Jeonggukie, it's okay. I've got you, hyung's right here." He whispered into Jeongguk's ear. "Hyung cares about you." He repeated these words over and over, like a mantra, until Jeongguk pulled away. "Thanks hyung, I'm s-sorry." He said quietly, not meeting Yoongi's eye.
"Why are you sorry Jeonggukie, you did nothing wrong." "B-but hyung, I did. I can't do anything right, I can't dance the routines right, I d-don't even look right, I-I, heck, I can't even sing right, I'm just burdening you all! All I have to show is my bruises, and my acne. They're all right hyung, I'm just an untalented person who hogs all the attention," Jeongguk cried out while looking at the ground, tears falling even more now. "Jeongguk, you are not a burden, and what do you mean you can't dance. You're apart of the dance line, and you're our main vocalist, who even gave you the thought that you can't sing or dance? And your looks are fine, your perfect just the way you are Gukkie." Jeongguk shook his head. "You don't understand hyung, I'm t-tainted, I'm dirty." He sobbed. "What are you talking about?" If Yoongi wasn't worried yet, he definitely was now. "Jeongguk, what do you mean!" He grabbed Jeongguk's shoulders, only for the younger to flinch away harshly.
"What the hell," Yoongi muttered to himself. He took Jeongguk's arm, trying to ignore the flinch that follows his actions, and rolled up the sleeves, only to be met with dark bruises that ran up to his shoulder. Yoongi covered his mouth in shock, and he could barely feel the tears forming in his own eyes. "Who?" He angrily whispered. "Damn it Jeon Jeongguk tell me right now!"
Jeongguk took a nervous swallow. "I'm so sorry hyung," He said, tears falling at a faster pace, "it's my fault, really, if my voice would stop cracking and I could just dance right, hell if my acne could just go away, I'd be ok, but I'm not. Please don't tell anyone, pleas don't make me go, I'll do better next time, I swear." Yoongi took a deep breath and closed his eyes, it hurt too much to hear his youngest dongsaeng say those words. "We have to tell management, Jeonggukie, I'm not letting my youngest member get hurt like this anymore. And cut the crap about leaving, no matter what has happened to you, we'll always love and accept you." Jeongguk looked up at Yoongi, and Yoongi could see all the pain in his face. "We can't tell management, he'll kill me," Jeongguk closed his eyes, "t-then, he'll k-kill you t-too." He forced out. "Who, Jeonggukie?" Yoongi asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
"M-Min Soo hyung."
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Just like the other members, Yoongi swallowed down the memory and the name, sealed that area of his past with a do not enter sign, and left it, a part of their youth that still yearned to be opened and set free, keeping a part of themselves locked in with it. The members and himself didn't learn how to grow with it, they grew around it, and let it be. Of course, the one piece of their past was left forgotten, and they are haunted by it. Their last bit of youth is still here, keeping them trapped within their childhood insecurities.
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Seokjin awoke to the sound of heavy sobbing, and the first thing he saw was Taehyung's tear stricken face. "Tae?" Taehyung looked down at his hyung. "Hyung!" Taehyung gasped, causing Namjoon to look up. Jin tried to sit up, but he found that he couldn't. He felt, a... rope? His hands were tied behind his back, he realized. He looked around the room, and saw just Taehyung and Namjoon. "Are you two alright?" He was heartbroken to see both of his dongsaeng shake their heads. "No hyung, h-he has Jeongguk, h-he's going to hurt Jeongguk!" Taehyung cried out, sobbing. "What, who?" Jin said. "Min Soo, that damned bastard!" Namjoon looked right at Jin, and he could make out the crease of Namjoon's brow, the protective glint in his eye. Jin felt the world begin to spin, and his frown turned into a something dark, as if the man's name was something so evil it could kill.
He knew Jeongguk was in danger, if the man had managed to get this far, then would he hurt Jeongguk. 'Yes Jin, you know he would. He's done it before,' Jin thought to himself, face darkening with every word, the world slowly drifting to a red tint as his anger and fear mixed together. "Namjoon, we've got to find a way out of these restraints." Namjoon nodded. "I have an idea, but we have to be quiet and cautious." Taehyung and Jin modded, ready to protect their dongsaeng, their members, their family.
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Facing the scene in front of him, Yoongi felt his heart sink to his stomach has he looked at Min Soo holding Jeongguk at gun point, the very scene that had plagued his nightmares. Jeongguk's eyes were closed, and there were dried tear tracks along the sides of his cheeks. "Come on Jeonggukie, time to wake up," Min Soo calmly patted the Jeongguk's cheek, and Yoongi's blood boiled, just the man patting him made him mad, he didn't want any of his members near the old manager ever again, but here they were. Jeongguk groggily opened his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in days, and he looked sick, and scared. Min Soo just smiled his sickening smile as he watched the expression on Yoongi's face morph from anger into one of terror, and pushed the gun further against Jeongguk's head, making him startle and cry out. "Now, you'll do as I say, and, if you fail, I'll kill you're precious maknae, and then I'll kill you."
At that moment, Yoongi looked in Jeongguk's watering eyes, saw the slight tremble of his body, and knew he would do anything to save his dongsaeng.