You make it about ten steps outside the bathroom before Jungkook's legs give out on him. His arms, which had been hooked around your shoulders on one side and Taehyung's on the other, go insanely heavy with the dead weight of his body.

Grunting with the sudden extra pressure, you grab for his waist at the same time as Taehyung, both of you scrambling to stabilize the weak man before he can slide out of your hold and face plant on the carpeted, blood-speckled floor.

Jungkook groans, staring forward with glazed eyes. You don't think he's all there - his mind appears to be drifting around in a state of drug-like emptiness, the pain forcing his mind from his body in an attempt to protect him.

You can only hope that the stab wound hasn't reopened his shoulder. He can't afford to lose any more blood.

Outside, Jin and Namjoon are standing in the foyer, the eldest braced with his hands on his hips, staring down at the once-pristine carpet that now looks as if its contracted chickenpox.

"The freaking carpet," he sighs, massaging the bridge of his nose with long fingers.

You almost laugh at that.

It isn't the bodies lying haphazardly around the floor, or the fact that the red dots littering random surfaces is blood.

No.

It's the carpet.

"If you're worried about the carpet, you don't even want to see the bathroom," Yoongi says with an easy grin that somehow doesn't seem to fit the situation.

"Not a concern right now, hyung." Namjoon blinks at the four of you stumbling out of the bathroom, his lips flattened into a thin, grim line. "Car's out back. Get Kook in and jet."

You're semi-surprised at the obedient way Yoongi nods toward the younger man, leading you and Taehyung dragging the partially conscious Jungkook between you. You've noticed that - there's a kind of unspoken respect for Namjoon that everyone understands, even the difficult ex-mob-boss Yoongi.

You wonder why.

Taehyung can't hold a gun, and hard-headed Yoongi gives into the will of a younger, less experienced Namjoon.

Hoseok's almost psychic.

Jin's a medically-trained neat freak, and Jimin's a cute-faced, sweet-hearted psycho.

Jungkook actually has a soft side.

There isn't one man in this group of seven that you can figure out. Depths and shadows and dark streaks of past hide aspects of them from your sight, some that you'll probably never uncover. Each man is like their own ink-covered, finely-crafted puzzle that's as complex and baffling as it is beautiful.

As tempting as it is to attempt at unraveling the mystery of those puzzles, you're afraid that you don't want to know what lies inside.

"We've got to stop feeding him so much," Taehyung hisses through gritted teeth, his deep voice strained. He's trying to take on the majority of Jungkook's weight on his own, making up for your smaller stature. "Come on, Jungkookie. You've got to help us out a little bit. "

Hearing the older man's voice from somewhere very far away, Jungkook shakes his head a little bit and a sliver of his mind comes back into his head. Now, instead of being dragged forcefully along the ground, he stumbles along with your guidance.

Yoongi brings you through the hallway leading to the basement, shoving the door open and gesturing you to descend into the gloomy darkness at the bottom of the staircase.

With a pounding heart, you hesitantly glance at the black-haired man with all that sugar-pale skin as he holds open the door. Like Yoongi can read your mind, his nose crinkles up into a cute frown.

"No White Room this time," he says quietly. "I promise. It's different now, Y/N."

Right.

Now, they believe in you innocence.

Now, you're helping them out, and defending them even as they defend you.

Now you're no longer the enemy.

Taking a deep breath, you let Taehyung take the position of Jungkook's main crutch and start down the steps that lead to the basement. Traveling down into the pool of darkness at the bottom feels the same as you imagine stepping into the underworld would. It's cold down here, both temperature-wise and on an emotional level as you once again take in the impersonal, steril white surfaces.

Walking past one door, you shudder at the memory of a bloody Jimin grinning manically as he skipped up the stairs. This place isn't a pleasent one, for friend or foe. You don't even want to know the lengths of the horrendous acts that have taken place down here.

You wish you didn't know that the men with you were the ones performing those acts.

There's a door at the end of the hall that's locked from the outside, another fact that makes you shiver with realization. This way, if any one they kept down here happened to escape by some means, they'd be trapped in the basement until either someone let them out, or they died of starvation and dehydration.

Yoongi pulls the key out of his pocket and unlocks said door, revealing a small clearing of forested back yard which houses a parked an average SUV in a dim navy color.

You shiver in the chilly air, coatless due to your sacrifice in trying to keep Jungkook alive and warm after you fell out of that tree in a tangled mess. You're the first to clamber into the back seat, wincing at the glimpse of blood smears on Yoongi's hands as he climbs into the driver's seat and glances back.

"You don't want to drive?" he asks, trying to tease. "You're a pretty good getaway driver for just learning."

Ugh. No thank you.

Grimacing as you turn your head to look out the window, you finally allow your shell-shocked mind to mull over the events that have just occurred.

What is it about you?

What is it about you that you father is so determined to have that he would send a group to invade the home of a group of efficient, well-known, grade A assassins? You aren't talented, and you would be a horrible gang leader.

Is it just the obedience? There would be plenty of women lining up to submit their everything to Seoungmin with a single word from him. The bloodline? What does that even matter? You aren't the beginning of some long-time black world dynasty that's ultimate goal is world domination.

You're torn from your thoughts by Taehyung's groan of distress as he heaves his younger friend's barely-concious form into the backseat. Jungkook coughs at the impact of his back slamming into the backseat, peering up at the roof of the car with bleary eyes.

"Help pull him in," Taehyung commands, and you follow his voice.

Hooking your hands under his arms, you pull with all your might, sluggishly inching Jungkook far enough into the car so that Taehyung can shut the door without the obstruction of his booted feet. When it's all said and done, his black head is resting in your lap and his long legs are bent awkwardly to fit inside the car.

Taehyung jumps in the passenger seat and says, "We're good to go, hyung."

Jungkook's fallen asleep in the few second of rest his body's been given, mouth parted in deep exhaustion as his head is pillowed by your legs. A soft snore hums through his nose, and he smacks his lips together and lets his head loll to the side.

You can't help it.

With no one paying attention to you in the backseat as Yoongi and Taehyung discuss plans, and Jungkook totally out on your lap, you allow your fingers to brush the tips of his black bangs.

Heck, his silky black hair is just as soft as you imagined it to be. You gently brush your fingers through the thick locks, biting your lip at the gorgeous feeling.

Jungkook doesn't even know. He sleeps on, totally oblivious, and you couldn't be happier.

You stare down at the beautiful man asleep on your thighs, hesitating a little before letting your thumb drift over the cross topping the crest of his cheek.

His cross to bear.

What has he had to bear? What had Jeon Jungkook gone through that's pushed him to be who he is?

You kind of...want to know.

Sitting silent in the back, you stroke your fingers through the hair of the black-headed assassin in your lap, wondering where he and his brothers will steer your life next.

[A/N]
Unedited
So I literally cramped so hard that I passed out on Saturday. Yay finals week 🙃 if you guys will just hold on until after next Wednesday, I'll be free from school and I'll try to update more often.
I love you guys ❤️
But the real question is: should we make T-shirts?😂😂
❤️PB