Jimin's jaw drops.
Shock is the next emotion to come over him, leaving him rooted to the spot as he watches with wide eyes at the interaction between Hobi and Kookie.
Both littles are sat on the floor, playing with toys and coloring. Hobi was giggling madly, his face bright and happy to have someone like him to play with.
But Kookie....Kookie is the real shocker here. His presence alone shocks Jimin because he was told by Hoseok that all of Jungkook's alters have disappeared after he injected some strange liquid into Jungkook.
Yet here he sits, laughing with Hobi as they both play together.
"Jimin hyung!" Kookie looks over to Jimin with a smile, then crawls over on his knees in front of him, much like what Hobi did earlier. "I missed you Jimin hyung." Kookie wraps his arms around Jimin's waist, his face smudging against Jimin's stomach, making the older stiffen in response.
Both unaware of the dark glare flashing across Hobi's eyes.
"Kookie...is that really you?" Jimin finds the words slipping out of his mouth, along with his breath as he suddenly feel like he's about to pass out from shock.
Kookie gets up on his feet and nods. "It's me Jimin hyung! I missed you so much!" He says, taking hold of Jimin's hands and squeezing them firmly. "We all missed you."
"We?!" Yup, Jimin definitely was going to pass out. In fact his knees end up buckling and he falls forward onto Kookie, thankfully Kookie was strong enough to hold him up and help him sit down on the couch.
"Hyung, I need you to breathe." Kookie's voice deepens, meaning it was Jungkook talking to him again.
Jimin rubs his face, taking in deep breaths, but still finding it hard to breathe as he feels his head spin. "What the fuck is going on here!" He mutters with a small glare over to Jungkook. "I thought your alters were gone!"
Jungkook lets out an uneasy breath and nods. He has alot of explaining to do, but to save time, he went for the short version. "That medicine Hoseok injected into me didn't get rid of them, it only weakens my alters, putting me in full control. That's how I'm able to switch so easily." Even with that said, it doesn't ease Jimin's rising hysteria.
"Hyung, I know this is alot to take in, but I need you to breathe." Jungkook holds Jimin's hand firmly. "Everything is going to be okay."
Jimin takes a deep breath, then exhales very slowly, feeling his hysteria simmer down, but only a little. "When did they come back?" Jimin asks, referring to Jungkook's alters.
"They started coming back when I returned to Busan. It started out as just small thoughts...but with the deaths of my father and brother, and the stress of becoming King, subconsciously I brought them out."
"Great." Jimin mutters, not liking this at all.
"It's not bad like before hyung, I can control whenever I switch. And if you're worried about Bunny, he isn't going to hurt you." Jungkook softly caresses Jimin's cheek, comforting him as best as he can. "I won't let anyone hurt you hyung." He says, glancing over to Hobi who was quietly playing with some toys.
As much as Jimin feels comfort in Jungkook and his words, the current situation with Hoseok still doesn't ease his worries. "I don't know how you are able to stay calm about this. I'm about to have another mental breakdown." His voice wavers, eyes going wider than ever.
"Believe me hyung." Jungkook smiles, looking down at the faint bruising on Jimin's neck where the doctor choked him. "I'm fucking livid at Hoseok, but.." he looks to Hobi again, and the little looks up and over to Jungkook and Jimin, giving both a bright smile.
"I can't be mad at Hobi. He's a child who has nothing to do with all this. And you shouldn't be scared of him either Jimin."
"I'm not scared of Hobi." Jimin mutters. "I'm scared that he'll switch into the Mad Doctor and try to kill me again."
"As long as I'm here, no harm will come to you." Jungkook assures, keeping his voice low as he brushes his thumb along Jimin's cheek.
But that's another problem. Jungkook is here in Seoul when he should be back in Busan ruling over his district as King.
Jimin pulls away from Jungkook and gets up from the couch and walks over to the windows, with the urge to just open them and jump right out.
"You're the king of Busan, you should be back home ruling your district..."
Jungkook gets up and goes over to Jimin, wrapping him up into his strong arms. "Don't worry about that. I have all that covered. Right now, you are what's important to me and I'm going to help you with Hoseok."
Still, both remain unaware of the glare in Hobi's eyes as he grabs a crayon and breaks it half. Blobs of tears begin to rim his eyes as he slowly stands up, his chest heaving in and out with jealousy etched onto his face.
Jimin's shoulders slump, and slowly finding himself relax into Jungkook's arms, silently enjoying this comfort. "Hoseok is the Royal Doctor of Seoul. The Kings are going to start asking for him and I don't know what to tell them."
"Don't worry about that." Jimin turns around with a scowl, Jungkook holds his hands out in defense and continues. "I already told you, I got permission to borrow him for the day."
"Yeah, for a day, but just how long are you going to stay here in Seoul?"
"Three days." Jungkook says with a low exhale. He only was able to get three days off from his royal duties to come and help Jimin, and that was out of pure luck because he managed to sway his mother into taking care of things while he was gone.
"I only got three days, but I'm going to use up all that time to help Hoseok come out of little space, but in order to do that, we need to earn the trust of Hobi-"
A loud crash grabs both their attentions, and they look over to where it came from.
Hobi is holding his hand while bouncing up and down, by his feet is a broken glass with its shards spewed everywhere.
"Owie!!" Hobi bites his lower lip and holds up his bleeding hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break it." he whines, then breaks out into tears and starts crying.
"Hobi!" Jimin and Jungkook rush over to him. Jimin takes a look at his hand and sees it has a small cut, but nothing too serious. "Hobi what happened?" He asks.
"I'm sowwy hyung. I went to get some water but the glass slipped." Hobi hangs his head low, looking at his feet as he digs his toes into the floor.
Jimin groans, then looks down at Hobi's hand. "You should have asked me if you were thirsty." He said with a soft voice, letting Hobi know he wasn't mad at him. Just low key annoyed, but he won't admit that to Hobi.
"Does it hurt alot?" Jungkook asks as he reaches out to touch Hobi's shoulder, only for Hobi to retract away from him with a tiny frown and hide behind Jimin.
"No! I only want Jimin hyung to help me." He says with a tiny stomp of his foot. "Hoseok hyung says I can't talk to you anyways. Only kookie." He adds, to which Jimin and Jungkook look at each other, both silently shocked.
"Okay.." Jungkook smiles softly over to Hobi, letting this go for now. They really need Hoseok back, and Jungkook can tell Hoseok his hiding in the back of his mind, avoiding his responsibilities. "I'll bring Kookie out now."
"Wait! You're just going to leave me here to babysit!!" Jimin groans, not liking the idea of being left alone with two littles.
"It's fine Jimin, Kookie knows what to do. All you need to do is sit down and watch them. There is food in the mini fridge as well as on the stove and-." Jungkook pauses, his face going blank.
"Wait! Jungkook I still have more questions!" Jimin grabs Jungkook's shoulders, shaking him lightly. "Jungkook!"
Jungkook remains silent for a few seconds, only responding with a blink before looking up at Jimin and smiling brightly at him.
"Jimin hyung, I'm here!" Kookie bounces in his spot, then looks over to Hobi and gasps at the blood on his hands. "Oh no!! Hobi has a boo boo!"
+++
After cleaning up Hobi's wound, the two littles sit in the corner of the room, both playing and talking among themselves.
Jimin is sat on the couch, sitting far away from them, his face blank with his thoughts filled with worry.
"I miss my daddy." Kookie says in pout as he draws a picture of himself and the other alters.
"Who is your daddy?" Hobi asks, watching as Kookie draws a picture of Hoseok with a crown.
"Hoseok hyung is my daddy." He says with a cute smile blooming across his face, but then it fades a little as he looks down at his drawing again, feeling sad he can't speak to Hoseok anymore.
Hobi was curious. He's never had a daddy before. Instantly he looks over to Jimin who was still lost in his thoughts, staring aimlessly at the ground.
If Jimin hyung becomes my daddy...then he and Hoseok hyung can be friends again?