↻ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʀᴇʙᴜɪʟᴅ ↺
TRIGGER WARNING: ATTEMPTED RAPE.
It's been some time since Jeongguk has left the bedroom, helping Jimin get to sleep before the members set off on their mission. It took roughly an hour but the boy managed to land his head softly against his pillow just in time for them to prepare.
"You're no good joining us if your head isn't clear," Namjoon says and Jeongguk sends the man a pointed look.
"Is anyone's head clear? I'm fucking fine. Let's just get ready and go, yeah?" he snaps and all of the remaining mafia members send each other questioning glances however not brave enough to say anything aloud; well, all but one.
"Gguk, you're the only other person who knows how to get there. If you fuck up we all fuck up," Hoseok snaps and Jeongguk looks at him callously.
"All of you are forgetting your fucking place. I'm still the leader of this mafia group. I'm still the person who took all of you in when you had no place to go. I gave you a home. So you're going to listen to me when I say I'm fine. Now hurry up and get your shit together before I leave all of you behind," he grits and clear looks of intimidation fester along each face of his men. However Namjoon and Hoseok's expression remains neutral.
"You heard what he said. Listen to the boss and let's go," Namjoon reiterates and the men start moving.
Jeongguk's jaw is clenched as he presses his hands to the wooden table, leaning forward. A bitter taste resides on the base of his tongue as he listens in on the men moving around him, gearing up with the stuff they have left.
Hope is already ready to go and he leaves the main room. Seokjin and Namjoon are talking to the side meanwhile despite Jeongguk's reassurance, his head clouds with various different thoughts.
All pertaining to the death of his mother. To the fact that Yoongi betrayed them and seemingly with too much ease. How despite suspecting Taehyung, he's unwillingly being dragged by Agust and his men. It just doesn't make sense.
"You ready to go, boss?" Namjoon asks and Jeongguk runs his tongue over his lips, nodding his head.
"I'm coming with you guys," Seokjin says suddenly and Namjoon turns to him, immediately shaking his head.
"No. There's no fucking way you're going. It's dangerous," the man denies.
The doctor scowls. "That's exactly my point! I can help if any of you guys get injured. I'm of no use here. Jimin doesn't need me and I'm sure he's sick and tired of seeing my face. I know how to use a gun, Joon. Please," he stresses and the consigliere sends the mafia leader a look.
"Stay close," Jeongguk says and Namjoon's jaw twitches with anger, however he keeps his frustration hidden.
The doctor passes Namjoon, seemingly following the rest of the men out of the main room. The white haired man looks at Jeongguk with a sense of disapproval.
"Don't, Joon. Not right now. We need as many men as we can get. And right now we don't have very many. You know that," the black haired man explains curtly and Namjoon rolls his eyes, stuffing his gun into it's holster while walking past the mafia leader.
Jeongguk sighs, running his hand down his face. He too leaves the conference room, looking from afar as the men finalize their preperations. He sneaks off in the meantime to the bedroom Jimin is staying in, opening the door quietly.
The boy is still sleeping peacefully, chest rising and falling at a regular pace. He's cuddled up to the blankets and from what Jeongguk can tell, small puffs of air leave the boy's mouth. He enters silently, creeping up to the teenager's bed. He leans down and brushes some of his hair out of his face, pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.
"I'll see you very soon, little one," he says and smiles as Jimin curls in closer to the covers.
He leaves the bedroom and closes the door behind him, joining the rest of the men near the exit. They wait for him patiently and as he walks to the front alongside Hoseok, they begin their journey to the enemy's hideout.
They take the couple of vehicles they have left, parking a good distance away from the location in order to keep their arrival under wraps.
Jeongguk and Hoseok are both in the front, making sure each member is close by and following directions as they should. One wrong move and they could all be dead in seconds.
The night is extremely quiet, save for the scuffing of the men's feet against the pavement. While the other mafia members wait, Jeongguk as well as Hoseok scope out the hideout, back to front of at least what is visible with their limited resources. Thankfully they find a potential entrance and so they wrap back around, meeting the men.
"Anything?" Namjoon asks and Jeongguk nods his head.
"There's a broken window in the back we should be able to sneak through. It looks as though it leads to the lowest most level so there's no need to climb the building itself. The only issue is that it's a small squeeze. We have to be mindful, yeah?" the mafia leader explains and some men appear rather uncertain.
"What if some of us can't fit?" One of the men asks and Jeongguk rolls his tongue into his lower lip.
"Some of you can wait on the outside just in case things don't go as planned. Jin, you can stay outside as well-"
"I already told you I'm not staying back. I know how to use a gun. I know how to defend myself. I can help you guys. I have the portable materials I need to patch you guys up while inside. Please," the doctor begs and Jeongguk for a moment doesn't say anything.
However Seokjin being placed in a van parked two blocks away doesn't help much and so he sighs quietly, nodding his head. "Fine. But stay close, okay?" he says and the doctor nods.
"Okay, then it's settled. Hope and I will once again lead the way. Follow behind us and stay close and stay low," Jeongguk demands and the men do as told, following hope and Starling as they round the hideout.
One by one, the men who can fit slip through the broken window, waiting low.
Jeongguk goes in after everyone else. He places his hands strategically against the windowframe however when he quietly launches himself through, one of them slips and he feels glass slice through his skin. He clenches his jaw and releases a low grunt, Seokjin immediately scurrying quietly to his aid.
"Be careful," Seokjin scolds, temporarily wrapping Jeongguk's hand until he can do something more under better circumstances.
Jeongguk inhales, biting down hard on his cheek as Seokjin clips it in place. Some men watch attentively while the rest crouch, alert.
"I'm fine," Jeongguk confirms, dropping his hand. Seokjin sends him a questioning glance however doesn't say anything and allows the man to proceed ahead of the group.
"We need to stay close, however when an opportunity arises to take someone out from the back, do it. That's our goal. To do this quietly, okay? Now let's go," Jeongguk explains and as he begins to sneak out of the room, some of the men follow behind him and some split off to the right however still visible.
They hear some men talking and they all freeze against their objects, hidden. Jeongguk sends his men owlish looks, holding his finger to his lips.
"So how long do you think it's gonna take until that broken window gets fixed?" One of them asks and the other man shrugs.
"Fuck if I know. Let's go see if we can check it out and do something about it in the meantime," the other man says and soon their footsteps are heard leaving the area.
Each man's heart beats loudly in their chest and their bodies are riddled with sweat. Jeongguk at this point is drenched due to his injury and his black hair is matted to his face. Slowly he lowers his hand and the men move out further, still blending in with the shadows.
Eventually they make it out of what they can only assume to be the kitchen; however, are yet again stopped by voices coming from up ahead.
"What the fuck do you mean there's blood on the broken window glass?" One of them shouts and Jeongguk closes his eyes, mouthing the word 'shit.'
"Alright, there's some fucking intruders in our hideout and who do wanna bet they are? Spread out and keep your god damn eyes pealed. There can't be that many of them," he finishes with bite in his voice and Jeongguk assumes the man is speaking through some sort of device connecting everyone at base - something Starling themselves unfortunately lack.
As soon as he passes, Jeongguk, Hope and Seokjin make it across. However very shortly a handful of men come passing through, forcing the trio to split from the rest of the men in order to stop themselves from getting caught.
It's almost as if each corner they turn, they're forced to turn another in order to keep themselves hidden. All the way up until the point the rest of the mafia members are no longer in sight - including Namjoon.
"Fucking shit," Jeongguk cusses below his breath. He has no idea where they are right now, not to mention where the other mafia members are.
"We have to keep going," Hope says and begins to move but Seokjin grabs the man's arm, stopping him.
"We can't. Joon is back there. We can't leave him behind," the doctor stresses with imploring eyes and Jeongguk, despite his want to go back, knows for now that it isn't an option.
"We can't go back there, Jin. We have to keep moving forward. Like you said. You know how to use a gun. You know how to help. Show me that you can. Show Joon that you can," Jeongguk encourages while looking the doctor in the eyes and although he's evidently on the verge of tears, he nods his head with furrowed brows.
"Good. Okay, let's go," Hoseok presses and immediately keeps going, Jeongguk and Seokjin moving closely behind him.
They keep moving and on the way are given no choice but to take out a couple men in the process; grateful that Hope is good with knives.
"This place is a fucking maze, Gguk," Hope mentions and Jeongguk moves up beside him meanwhile the doctor's eyes flit in alert.
"I know, Hope-"
"What the fuck do you mean you haven't caught any of them on camera? You're saying some of our men are being taken out and their whereabouts are still unknown? There's only like fucking seven of them. They shouldn't be hard to find and kill," a man says and all three men's blood boils.
The gravely, demanding voice belongs to none other than Agust.
Jeongguk can see Hoseok's face as well as body contort with anger and his next move is detectable however he's too quick and jumps out, holding his gun up, pointing it directly at Agust.
Jeongguk isn't far behind, accidentally giving away his spot. Thankfully Seokjin is still under cover, sitting stiffly with sparse breaths and his gun held tightly in his hand.
Yoongi has a brow lifted and his arms crossed. "Well if it isn't my favourite people."
[ ☄ ]
Jimin has no idea what he's doing as he follows behind the men of Starling.
How he managed to keep up with them in vehicles? He did what he does best and stole a bicycle from somebody else's property.
And now he tiptoes behind them as they venture around the large building, being mindful of where he steps and where he hides. He can't get caught, otherwise he's going to ruin everything.
Analyzing how they slip into the window immaculately, he feels his heart clench and nearly jumps out of hiding as soon as he sees Star slice his hand open on the glass. But he pulls on his bottom lip and stays put.
After a couple minutes pass, he decides to move out, staying low. He peers into the room with the broken glass and as soon as he knows it's clear, he jumps in. In all honesty, he has no idea what he's doing. But he wants to help and he knows that he can.
Slowly Jimin sneaks around in the room, nearly making it out until he hears two different voices approaching. He quickly scrambles to hide and does so in a closet, quickly closing it. He cups his mouth and nose with his hands, attempting to stifle his breath.
"You think it's Starling? Was sure we took all of them out during that invasion."
"It fuckin' has to be. I don't recall us pissing anyone else off in the last few weeks. And if we did they're already all dead. Simple as that."
"What about his little toy? What's his name? Shit, I don't know. But I know he's pretty as hell. Little troublemaker, too. Definitely a good fuck."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah - now where the fuck are those planks of wood?"
Jimin has to suppress the need to whimper as he's brought up in conversation. And as one of the men approach the closet. He can hear the crunching beneath their heavy boots amplify and one of the sides slide open. He presses his hands closer to his mouth, watching as a very minimal amount of light floods into the closet. Some shuffling is heard, a heavy cuss following along with the door slamming shut.
And then it's quiet. Almost too quiet.
However Jimin doesn't move. He remains still with his hand clamped over his mouth. He hears a door close. He believes he's made it.
But the closet slides open and immediately the boy is grabbed by his hair, drug out of the closet and thrown to the ground.
Jimin cries out desperately as he's pinned to the floor, his hands bound above his head. One of the men watches and the other acts, straddling the teenager's waist.
"Would you look who it is? We were just talking about you, beautiful. Nice of you to have shown up," the man straddling Jimin's waist says. "And look at his lips. Fuck, I wonder how they'd feel wrapped around my cock," he thinks aloud vulgarly and as his fingers move to brush Jimin's lips, he opens his mouth and bites the man's digits.
"Fucking bitch!" He yells, one of his hands coming down heavy, colliding with the boy's cheek.
He releases a pained whimper, feeling the stinging sensation disseminate along the right side of his face.
"Please," he begs with glossy eyes. "Let me go."
"Oh," the man starts, exchanging smug, devious looks with his accomplice. "There's no way in hell we're letting you go. We're about to have fun with Starling's little one."
"N-no," Jimin pleas, his shirt being torn off of his body. "Stop, please! Let me go!" he cries out.
"Hold his fucking legs still," the man on top of him rasps and soon Jimin feels his ankles gripped in place.
"I'm gonna show you how good it feels to be fucked properly," the nasty man grits and Jimin cries loudly, feeling the man's fingers fumble with his belt impatiently.
The teenager struggles in the man's grasp, feeling tears roll down his face as his pants as well as boxers are rolled down his thighs.
"So fucking pretty," the man praises with an evil glint in his eyes and Jimin's twisted onto his stomach with his ass hoisted into the air, hands bound behind his back.
He can hear the man's belt jingle and feel him shuffle behind him without patience. The side of his face is pushed into the dirty floor. He feels something prod at his hole but exactly at that same moment, a gunshot resonates in the room and his ears begin to ring.
His vision is blurry and he can see the man that was once behind him, falling beside him, staring at him with a lifelessness in his eyes.
Jimin has been hit so hard he feels his eyes flutter but the sound of two people fighting behind him keeps him alert. Some more gunshots are heard and another body hits the floor.
And to the teenager's relief, a familiar blurry figure seeps into his vision. However he feels just as much embarrassment in his bare state, thankful as the man doesn't pay any mind to it and pulls the boy's pants back over his bottom.
"N-Namjoon," Jimin rasps.
[ ☄ ]
"Yoongi, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Hoseok asks with his gun pointed directly at Yoongi, however roughly four more point both at him and Jeongguk.
"What the fuck am I doing? What the fuck are you guys doing? Honestly, I can't say that I'm surprised you figured out where I am. But you're both fucking stupid for showing up by yourselves. You're clearly outnumbered," Agust points out as he crosses his arms, raising a brow.
Jeongguk's jaw twitches with anger. The anger he feels coursing through his veins as of currently is something he's never felt before. He grips his gun tighter in his hand. "Why did you do it? Why the fuck did you come after us? Why did you betray us? What were you thinking, Yoongi?" the man asks impatiently and it's difficult to miss the broken timbre in his voice.
Yoongi taps two of his fingers against his bottom lip in thought. And then he smirks, hands moving to his hips. The amount of guns on his side makes him cocky.
"You guys got what you fucking deserve. And you know what, Gguk? I heard your little toy is here. He's probably being well taken care of as we speak," Yoongi brings up sadistically and Jeongguk's eyes widen to an outrageous size, perfectly depicting the amalgamated sentiment of horror and anger he feels in his chest.
The thought of his little one here, being touched at and without his help. But he lets it go to his head, and no longer is he where he is physically. Mentally, he's trying to find Jimin. Trying to save his little one.
"He sure means more to you than I'd ever anticipated. But you know what, Gguk? I have special people in my life, too. And they need to be protected. Yet you were the root of our problems... your mother was the root of our problems," he brings up lowly and Jeongguk snaps back to reality.
His mother?
"She was an old fucking pessimistic wench. All she did was walk over Taehyung. Bring him down and constantly devalue him. It was never a full day for her unless she criticized one of the things he was already self conscious about," he continues and rather than Jeongguk feeling the need to raise his gun, it's as if his body weakens at those words and he lowers it, listening attentively to Yoongi tell his side of the story.
"I knew your dad was coming. I always knew. Or I always figured it out. I couldn't let him tell you anything so what did I do? Well, I'm sure you have enough cuts and bruises to tell the rest of that story."
Hoseok turns to Jeongguk, clearly frustrated. "Gguk, wake the fuck up!" he whisper yells into the man's ear, trying to bring him back to his senses.
"Honestly, it was much easier than I expected it to be. That one night... that one invasion that managed to nearly bring Starling crumbling down... it was beyond easy to kill your mother and get away with it, Gguk. I wouldn't let her treat Taehyung that way. Not anymore-"
Bang!
The first gun fires and the rest continue as if a domino effect, raining bullets. Hoseok manages to pull Jeongguk behind cover, yet someone else didn't quite seem to make it as far.
Namjoon falls right before Seokjin, managing to take two bullets to his stomach. He lays still, blood sliding from the corners of his mouth as his head lulls to the side. His eyes meets the doctor's fear stricken.
"J-Joonie, no, please," Jin immediately whimpers, crawling to Namjoon's side as the man coughs softly on the blood in his throat. Visibly shaking, he cups the man's face with an already tear drenched face.
"I j-just got you back. You s-said you'd stay. Why did you l-lie?" Seokjin cries with a trembling bottom lip as he stares into the man's eyes, desperately wondering why he has to go so soon. Desperately trying to stop the bleeding
"Hey," Namjoon rasps, lifting a heavy arm to brush at Seokjin's cheeks. "It's okay," he struggles to say quietly and the doctor continues to hurl out heartbreaking cries.
Jeongguk is watching with his mouth hanging open. The fury he feels continues to build up in his chest as he sees Namjoon and Seokjin share a kiss before Namjoon falls unconscious. The doctor is pulling the man's upper half into his lap, rocking back and forth, mumbling incoherently, telling him to wake up.
And to only further things, he catches Jimin crouching behind a piece of furniture with red, swollen eyes. He has marks on his body and his torso is bare. He's visibly shaking and Jeongguk bites down hard on his cheek, turning to Hope.
"Let's fucking do this," he grits and the man nods his head.
Jeongguk peaks out to the left side, finding Yoongi on the floor with a bullet hole directly between his eyes. Namjoon didn't miss, however they didn't miss him, either. Gguk exchanges glances with Hope and they both move out on their designated sides.
Fortunately however with just as much misfortune, no more men have arrived from either parts of the building - which only leads Jeongguk to one conclusion.
They're the last men standing.
However both Hoseok and Jeongguk manage to take out the remaining men and to their surprise, Seokjin too fires some shots, landing them directly where they need to be.
A haunting silence soon fills the room and Seokjin finds himself once again by Namjoon's body.
Hoseok is kneeling next to Yoongi - one of his best friends - staring into his departed eyes.
Jeongguk is standing still, frozen in place. His gun slips from his fingers, drops to the floor and in an instant, Jimin is in front of him, hugging him closely as they both fall to their knees.
Jeongguk seems rather stunned however turns to look Jimin in his sad eyes, cupping his cheeks. "What happened?" he asks quietly.
"One of the m-men. H-he almost - he almost-"
"Shhh, it's okay, little one," Jeongguk soothes, wrapping his arms around the fragile boy, pressing a tender kiss to his lips, feeling the teenager's small fingers curl around the fabric of his top. "But what were you thinking? Why did you follow us? Jimin, you could have been killed," the man says in a much more consequential tone and the teenager's face is overcast by that of guilt and shame.
"I thought I could h-help. But N-Namjoon saved me and now look at him," he cries quietly and Jeongguk does just that, looking at both a broken Seokjin who's every second, making sure that shallows breaths are still leaving his mouth.. One of his best men - if not his best. No, his best friend. On the brink of death.
He then looks to Hoseok. A man who rarely shows his emotional side is on his knees right beside Yoongi, face planted in his hands with a trembling body.
And then suddenly, he sees Taehyung emerging far from behind Jimin.
The man is dirty. He's gaunt and can hardly walk on his own two feet. Clueless and having to move the hair from his eyes, he scans the room finding Yoongi on the floor, dead. His first instinct is to cry, however he doesn't.
Everyone watches closely as he saunters over to Agust's body, reaching for the gun in his hand. He grabs it and he points it at his head.
Jimin turns at the last second, face contorting with fear and shock. He reaches out.
"Taehyung, no-"
Bang!
Jimin recoils back into Jeongguk's embrace, seeking haven in his warm touch. If he wasn't crying hard enough, now he is.
Hoseok is angry.
Seokjin is stunned.
Jeongguk feels guilty.
Everyone is wordless - broken.
Everything they once used to know - their family, their haven. It's gone. Every last little bit is gone.
"Hey," Jeongguk starts, sure that the boy is looking at him before he continues.
Jimin peers up at him, body exhausted and face swollen red.
"I need you if this is going to work, little one," he starts quietly and the boy tilts his head to the side, confused with his fingers still curling tightly around the man's shirt.
"We're going to pay our dues, say our goodbyes, yet not forget what we once were - who we once were. I won't let our legacy fall. I want you to stay by my side, little one. I want you to help me rebuild, stronger," Jeongguk encourages and Jimin blinks at the man owlishly.
"All of us, together. We can bring it back. We can rebuild. But I'll only do it with you by my side, little one," he proceeds to explain and the teenager, despite appearing in shock and in conflict, sinks into the man's gentle touch against his skin.
He looks at Taehyung, Hoseok, Seokjin, Namjoon, and he only has one answer to give.
"Together."
(a/n): hi, everyone. this is an updated authors note. so, yes, i altered the ending slightly. namjoon is still alive, he isn't dead. only yoongi and taehyung. i changed it because although i put a lot of hard work into this book, a lot of people were disappointed in the ending because it wasn't a very happy ending. not every book is going to have a perfect ending. some people may think it ended too abruptly but this was my plan all along.
i will also update the epilogue. it might just take awhile.