After crossing paths with IU at the first recording session she had with Jungkook a few weeks earlier, Yoongi was less than eager to see her again. He was surprised to see her at the dance studio that afternoon considering she was meant to meet Jungkook in the recording studio on the third floor.
She was shamelessly early, by a good few days and it bothered him to think what she would have done had he not gone to the studio that day. Feigning a meeting to draw him away from her was the only idea he could muster at that time.
Ever since that day he had made it a point to purposely avoid Jungkook on days that he was due for recording, because he knew there was a chance that at some point Jungkook was going to ask him to tag along.
Yoongi was less than pleased with her manners that day and it was clear as day what her true intentions were as she openly fussed about him in front of everybody there.
He'd seen and heard about women like her from friends both in and out of the idol community, and considered him fortunate that people who didn't know him personally saw him as somebody who was cool and cold hearted where in actual fact he was far from that.
He was very grounded, soft spoken, righteous to a fault but still very friendly, and that was only to people whom he considered as good wholesome folk; like the two maknaes.
Jungkook may be a fully grown man but since the break up with Lisa, he was and still is, emotionally vulnerable and he knew from what others had experienced that IU would use that innocence against Jungkook to claw her way into his personal life.
It didn't escape Yoongi's observation how IU's eyes drifted to Jungkook on more than one occasion that day and he had congratulated himself that he had unconsciously sat between the two.
When the young maknae was pouring all his attention onto the song sheet arrangement, she managed to insert herself into his line of vision not once, but from Yoongi saw, it was at the very least, several times that afternoon.
Suffice it to say that Yoongi found her failed attempts amusing, and he smirked as he remembered all the energy and effort she exerted just attempting to distract him.
Throughout the afternoon she had asked Jungkook if he would like a coffee from a Cafe three buildings over. One they themselves had frequented many times when they were working on an album.
The small hipster Cafe was well known for their jazzy lounge atmosphere and their deliciously creamy hot chocolate; a personal favourite of Jungkook. If he wasn't drinking cold chocolate milk, he was leisurely sipping on the warmer version.
IU never once asked Yoongi or any other staff member if they wanted a hot drink, and to be truthful he didn't expect her to either. She seemed far more interested in getting Jungkook's attention away from his current task than to bother asking her seniors if they would too would like a hot drink.
Strike one, two and three Yoongi had thought to himself. He remembered smirking like a cheshire cat while watching her feeble attempts with a cold hearted indifference, and he was proud that Jungkooks work ethic prevented him from seeing the display before him.
He was certain IU had noticed the dismissive attitude he had towards her, but he really didn't care. He had no time for women who saw young men like Jungkook as nothing more than an aesthetic pleasure with little to offer than an arm to cling onto in front of the flashlights of the paparazzi.
The later part may have been an exaggeration on his part, but Yoongi had long shrugged her off as an opportunist hiding behind a deceiving veil of pretty eyes and pretty songbird vocal chords.
He had always prided himself that he was never involved in a scandal as personally damaging as the one involving Jungkook and IU. He wasn't interested in getting to know her at all, and he knew enough to know that she clearly didn't notice or care that there were two sides to their maknae.
There was Jungkook, the loveable maknae of BTS, the one nation known as the Golden Maknae, and he was. The young man who outsprinted other rivals in a track relay, the super hyper maknae with the loud boisterous laughter and equally loud personality that only his nearest and dearest were privy to.
The fiercely competitive maknae who took on a challenge without hesitation or question and as everyone knew, he excelled at whatever he decided to do. There was nothing the young man couldn't do and his reputation as Golden Maknae often intimidated his male counterparts from other agencies.
Then there was Jungkook the idol, the singer, dancer, songwriter and producer who when working on a piece spent many days and nights pouring himself into his work.
He sought nothing but perfection in his work and unless your name was Lisa, it was virtually impossible to drag him away from the recording booth or to find him taking breaks for rest or food.
This was the Jungkook that IU clearly did not know about as Yoongi watched her stand and pace about the small space more than once, seductively chewing on her nails, playing with her hair and batting her eyelashes attempting to break through Jungkooks impenetrable concentration.
He had to hand it to her, she was if nothing, persistent as a female praying mantis moving in for the kill, but it was time for curtain call. As much fun as it was to watch her constantly fail miserably, Yoongi had had enough of her unwanted charms and was inwardly cheering when the session had come to an end.
He wasted no time by promptly gathering their belongings and ushering Jungkook out the doors without a backward glance. He didn't think he would be able to leave without throwing her a bone or two by bowing to her with a farewell.
Some things were best left unsaid; that was one of many quotes in which he lived by.
Yoongi was observant to a fault at best, so it didn't escape his attention when he stepped into the elevator after Jungkook that his black Carharrt backpack was noticeably flatter than normal.
"Hey, where is Lisa's bear?" he remembered asking as carefully as he could, Jungkook had been particularly sensitive since the break up.
The stuffed animal had become Lisas replacement in their dorm and Yoongi just realised at that moment that he hadn't seen it for a few days; since the morning of his visit to Jungkook at the dance studio.
Yoongi mentaly kicked himself for not having realised sooner that the reason for Jungkooks long face around the dorm may have been due to the mysterious absence of Lisas bear.
It sat beside Jungkook at the kitchen table every morning and evening meals, and Yoongi felt horrible that he didn't notice when it was no longer there. He and the others decided amongst themselves to not ask why he had taken to carrying it around, and perhaps that was why he and the other members hadn't noticed.
They would have definitely asked him about it if they hadn't made it a point to avoid Jungkooks unusual behaviour. They had simply put it down to his missing Lisa, but that didn't make it any better, Yoongi had realised when he remembered Jungkook quietly replied.
"I don't know hyung." Jungkook had kept his stare trained on the door, the silence in the elevator becoming heavy with every passing second.
"I think I lost it."
"Did you look properly in the dorm?" Yoongi asked.
"Yeah, but I didn't lose it at home."
"I had it here when I was practising when you visited me." Yoongi saw the tightening in Jungkooks cheek, it was a sign that he was confused and probably angry at himself.
"Did you ask the front desk to check with the Janitor?"
Yoongi didn't need to hear the answer because his instincts already knew the answer to his own nonsensical question, but he had to ask for Jungkooks sake and for the purpose of not raising suspicion.
"No hyung, but I will be on our way out." The emptiness in Jungkook's reply spoke volumes to Yoongi and he hated it.
The sadness and void already lacing Jungkooks tone pissed him off because there were only three people in the studio that afternoon. Himself, Jungkook and IU and he knew for certain that he didn't have the bear, nor did Jungkook obviously and that left one other culprit.
Knowing that it was likely that IU had Lisa's bear did nothing to soothe his growing disdain for the female idol. His first impression of her had been right all along and he knew that if things weren't put right soon, there was every possibility that Jungkook was going to lose himself in his own crippling pain.
However, that was the previous week, and suddenly just the night before, Jungkook returned to their dorm with Lisas bear carefully held in his arms. Sadly the poor unfortunate stuffed bear did not resemble the clean fluffy toy he'd been carrying around just weeks before.
The poor stuffed animal looked a little worse for wear, and if Yoongi saw correctly, it looked flattened around the body. He didn't need the visual but his mind had already drawn its own conclusion as to how it had come to look beaten and battered.
If it were at all possible, Lisa's bear appeared to be sad, it's dark glassy stare almost seemed cold and distant.
Yoongi remembered the concerned glances he had exchanged with the others as Jungkook wordlessly sat on the couch, placed the bear in his lap and mindlessly began to pick at the flattened fabric. They all watched Jungkook try his best to make the bear look fuller and normal.
Yoongi had exchanged worried glances with RM as they sat silently gathered around him, watching and listening as tears left trails of sorrow and regret down Jungkooks face. He didn't bother wiping them or his runny nose as he carefully propped up one of the ears that had somehow looked like it was forced to fold back.
They continued to glance at each other every so often, the unavoidable concern etched into their eyes as they listened with worry as their maknae began a one way conversation with it.
"Lisa wouldn't like it if you looked like this you know." Jungkook whispered to himself.
"What happened to your ear? Hhmmm?"
"Did you sleep well without us?"
"Were you stressed alot?" His voice now barely above a whisper.
Yoongi had never seen Jungkook behave that way before, none of them had. It was new to them and they didn't like it at all. It wasn't until he heard what Jungkook said next that made him want to head straight to her house and tear into her just the way she would have known that the bear belonged to Lisa.
"She had you all this time? Since the studio?" Jungkook had said, barely above a whisper, but to Yoongi's ears he had heard it loud and clear, and he knew exactly who Jungkook was talking about.
He was having trouble keeping the bear's ear straight as it kept flopping down and Yoongi watched with silent mounting anger as Jungkook leant forward to inspect the ear closer, when he heard Jungkook cry to himself.
"Why... did you get cut?"
"I'm sorry I left you behind..."
"Please forgive me Lisa."
There was nothing any of them could do but keep close to him for comfort as Jungkooks hand began to shake, unable to fix the bear's floppy ear. Yoongi knew that Jungkook would be comparing his non-existent relationship with Lisa to that of the ear because his actions became frantic.
"Jungkook stop." Yoongi tried to soothe their maknae mounting pain by hoping to cut through his self damaging thoughts, but Jungkook either didn't hear him or chose to listen to his thoughts.
Jimin stood to kneel in front of Jungkook, halting the young maknaes hands from almost causing the ear to fall off altogether, his hands desperately trying to hold together what could only be fixed with a needle and thread.
"Kook, hey it's Jimin. Should we stop and go wash you up?"
"Hyung, why can't I fix it?" Jungkook whispered, his eyes and hands trained on the bear.
"Fix what Kook?"
"Me...hyung....why can't I fix me?"
Yoongi watched as Jungkook slowly raised his head to look at them around the room. His eyes red rimmed and tortured as they all remained quiet; unsure how to answer his question in a way that would not emotionally unravel him even more than he already was.
He could see the invisible fine line that Jungkook was treading on and he had to help him get safely to the other side.
Yoongi couldn't stand to see Jungkook turn into himself, seemingly wanting and expecting them to blame him for the break up, but he wasn't going to do that because Jungkook and Lisa didn't have anything to be blamed for, apart from being far too stubborn to see how much they loved each other.
He knew that would be down to the immaturity of their age, not from their lack of understanding of what love was. The two maknaes had what many people sought their whole lives for; the magic of true love.
They were, or rather, they are the ying to the other halfs yang, and one without the other wouldn't function at all the way they should be without the other.
They were young, stubborn and very hard headed but, they had each other and they had real love. Yoongi may have the street smarts of a seasoned adult, and he may not have found his own significant other, even if he wasn't in a hurry to find himself in Jungkooks predicament.
However he was a grown man with two perfectly functioning eyes, and what he saw were two young people who loved each other with their entire soul. Two people who were hurting from their own stubbornness to talk to each other because of the existing pain of love and trust.
Yoongi was not a man who allowed others to see his much softer side, because he had seen so many of his friends and family suffer from ridicule for being anything but staunch, but he couldn't stand to see his young maknae suffer any longer. Something had to be done, and soon.
Moving forward to hunch down beside Jimin, he placed a hand on Jungkooks shaking shoulder to steady the young man's emotions, the other he used to support the bear in Jungkooks grasp.
"Jungkook, you are the last person that I know of who needs fixing."
"Don't ever say something like that again, understand?" Yoongi could feel his own heartbeat beginning to race.
"You and Lisa..." his voice waning at Jungkooks unhinged sobbing
"You two are perfect in my eyes. The way you look at each other when you think we aren't watching...."
"Jungkook, a love like that....not everyone is lucky enough to find something so strong and pure, but you did Jungkook, you and Lisa found it in each other." His hand tightened on Jungkooks shoulder and his hand on the bear.
"And you WILL find it again Jungkook....."
"....in each other. I know it because I believe it. We all believe it." Yoongi finished as he heard the others murmur in agreement.
"I haven't said anything yet but that song you chose...Lisa will know Jungkook, she will know." Yoongi had no doubt that when Lisa heard the lyrics and Jungkook singing, it would hopefully stir a want within Lisa to at least speak to Jungkook. She may not know it, but Yoongi knew she needed Jungkook just as much as he needed her.
With every passing day Yoongi could see the breakup having an adverse effect on Jungkook's health as the young man pushed himself to various degrees of exhaustion trying to finish the preparation for his performance with IU.
IU.
Yoongi wasn't going to do anything about her unless it was absolutely necessary, and if he had to insert himself into whatever scheme to stop what she was planning, he would do it for the sake of Jungkook and Lisa.
No one messed with his family, famous celebrity or idol, they wouldn't stand a chance against the vivid sharpness of his words.
It wasn't long before Yoongi and Jimin were on their feet helping Jungkook to stand, each taking a hold of his elbows, Lisa's bear secured in his arms and walking him down the dimly lit hallway into his room.
He seemed to have lost all his energy having spent the better part of the evening surrounded by his quiet protective hyungs, no words spoken.
They left the room after Jungkook had settled down into sleep. His knuckles white from gripping the bear that he had tucked into the crook of his neck. Tears slowly drying, his features showing little peace as his brows stay furrowed and quiet hiccups breaking the silence. Yoongi had pulled the blanket higher, tucking both maknae and bear into a dark warm cave.
It was when Yoongi closed the door behind him, the glaring whiteness of the wooden panel in front of him and the broken young man behind it, that he decided he had to see Lisa, he had to make sure she was ok and not suffering as badly as Jungkook appeared to be.
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Hi readers, I don't say it often nor do I reply as much as other writers but I appreciate and love all the comments. They are as encouraging as they are hilarious and moving. Not long to go now before we reach the end of HE.
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Thanks again and I hope you are all taking care of yourselves during this crazy pandemic 💜