TW: Major Character Death

Requested by Anonymous

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"When are you going to take me?" Jungkook begged Jin for the fourth time that week. He was desperate to learn how to snowboard. He saw his hyung do it all the time and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

"I don't know," Jin shrugged. That was the answer he kept giving the maknae. He was hesitant because he didn't think he'd be good at teaching him how to do it, and he also knew Jungkook picked up things quickly and didn't want him to end up better at it than him. He wanted to at least be better than Jungkook at something. 

However, like usual, the maknae got his way with Jin when he kept begging and giving him big puppy dog eyes. Jin caved and agreed to bring Jungkook up into the mountains. "However, I don't know if I'll be a good teacher or not, so we'll set something up with an instructor."

"Good enough!" Jungkook yelled happily as he hugged his hyung, "Yay! Thank you!" He kissed Jin's cheek playfully before running to tell the others that he was finally going to learn.

That weekend, they both loaded up all their gear into the car in preparation to head out. Jin had bought everything Jungkook would need.

"Don't let him learn too much, hyung, or else he'll quickly learn to kick your ass!" Yoongi made everyone laugh. The rest of the members told them to have fun.

When they got to the mountain resort, Jungkook couldn't contain his excitement. He continued to thank Jin over and over again.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing," Jin replied. They got ready and headed into a little cabin where people check in and could grab some snacks/coffee. After checking in they were greeted with the instructor for the day. Jungkook didn't understand why Jin couldn't just do it, but he didn't protest. The instructor introduced himself as Iseul. He led them outside and Jungkook stopped and froze as he looked around.

"What the hell is this?" he asked Jin.

"What do you mean?" Jin smiled.

"Hyung.." Jungkook looked around to see they were on the bunny slope and he was surrounded by toddlers and little kids learning how to stand on snowboards.

"What?" Jin chuckled, "You have to start somewhere!"

"But ..here?! Why couldn't I start on a bigger slope?! This is for babies!"

"You are a baby," Jin replied.

"I'm not a baby!"

"Well you're the baby of the family, so."

"Can I please learn on a bigger slope?"

"It's either here, or not at all." It wasn't often Jin used his hyung card, but when he did use it there was no talking back.

"Fine," Jungkook frowned. The instructor chuckled at the interaction. He leaned over to Jungkook, "Big brother?"

"One of them," Jungkook replied.

Jin overheard. "The oldest, and coolest one, at that!"

All three of them laughed. The instructor started by simply teaching Jungkook how to first even put on his snowboard the correct way. Once they were through with all the basics and how to move around, the instructor guided Jungkook to one of the small slopes and told him he could practice on it. When Jungkook tried to get down it, he didn't understand why he wasn't moving forward until he turned around and realized Jin was holding onto the back of his coat.

"What are you doing?" Jungkook asked confused. Jin turned to the instructor, "What if he falls?"

"Then he falls, that's part of learning," the instructor replied.

"But what if he gets hurt?" Jin asked in all seriousness. Small slope or not this was still something new and he was still nervous and protective of his youngest.  The instructor gestured to their surroundings, which was full of toddlers and little kids falling all over the place. "I think he'll be alright."

Jungkook started laughing and pried Jin's hand off his jacket, "I'll be fine."

Jin took a deep breath, "Okay."

He watched as Jungkook quickly learned how to handle his snowboard, as expected. He's going to end up being better than me. That brat.

At one point Jungkook fell backwards with a thud and even though he was completely fine, Jin ran to him with slight panic. He helped him up and hugged him. The instructor walked over and said to Jin, "I must say, of all the siblings I've encountered, you definitely take the award for the most protective."

"You should have seen hyungie when I was learning how to drive," Jungkook laughed.

"Hey! That's scary stuff, okay?!" Jin yelled in defense.

"He still gets nervous about it," Jungkook told the instructor.

"Well what do you expect? I don't know what the hell I'd do if anything happened to you!"

Jungkook hugged Jin and told him he didn't always have to worry so much. He spent a few more hours practicing and was quickly extremely good at snowboarding on the small slopes. He begged Jin if he could try out a bigger one now that he had the hang of it, Jin left that up to the instructor and the instructor said they could go. The instructor said that it seemed Jungkook already surpassed the entire beginners course so they could go to the slope without him.

"You're not coming?" Jin asked the instructor. The man said no.

"That's fine, I have you," Jungkook told Jin. Jin let out a nervous sigh but told himself that they'd be fine. Before heading to the bigger slope they stopped back inside the cabin for some snacks. They sat down next to the fireplace to warm up a bit.

"Hyung?" Jungkook started.

"Hmm?"

The maknae leaned his head on his hyungs shoulder and rested, "Thank you for this."

Jin leaned his head on top of Jungkooks, "Now I'm your favorite hyung, right? Tell me, who is the coolest?"

"Taehyungie."

"Yah!!!" Jin screamed while laughing. Jungkook also burst into laughter as the two started to play wrestle and then got yelled at by a staff member. Jin said they should hurry up and get going as he was getting a bit tired. They got up and headed out, they got onto a lift that was going to take them to a bigger slope.

They didn't realize their mistake until it was too late.

They had gotten on the wrong lift, and it took them to the biggest, steepest, most advanced slope, and there was no way back off that mountain except down.

"Shit!" Jin screamed as him and Jungkook stood at the top of the slope. The sign right next to them read "Danger: Advanced. Professionals Only."

Jin knew he was really good, but not professionally good, and realized this was practically a death trap for Jungkook. He looked at Jungkook but the youngest didn't seem all that concerned.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jungkook said reassuringly. He saw the worry in Jin's eyes and really didn't want him to be so scared. He grabbed and held Jin's hand, "I promise not to do anything to show off, since I'm better than you now," he teased, "We can just go really slowly hyung. We'll be okay."

Jin didn't feel the slightest bit better. He knew his maknae didn't quite understand just how dangerous this was. One wrong move on the way down and that could very easily be the end of it. He gulped as he looked down the slope. It was practically a vertical drop with multiple twists and turns and trees. He knew that yes, they needed to go slowly, but he feared that they'd slip anyway. He feared that Jungkook would slip anyway. He wasn't all too concerned about himself, it was Jungkook he was scared for.

To make matters worse, a bad snow storm was rolling through that they hadn't expected and the snowfall was heavily picking up. He grabbed Jungkook's hand.

"Alright, listen to me. You don't let go of my hand no matter what, you understand me? You stick with hyung. You see the trees? We'll use those. We won't go straight down this slope, just go down from tree to tree."

Jin figured that was the best option. Make their way down slowly and catch themselves with the trees. Jungkook nodded in agreement as he let himself start to be dragged and led by his hyung. Things were going okay at first, they were having some trouble with slipping as the snowfall continued to get worse and it was getting harder and harder to see. They both hesitated when they were reaching a point where the slope began to steepen, but Jin knew they had to get going before the snow got worse. It was turning into a terrible blizzard. Usually with weather like this rolling in, the slopes would be closed. He didn't understand why they hadn't been. The blizzard was quite a surprise.

As Jin started to try and guide them to another tree, he felt Jungkook hesitate. He turned to him, "What is it?"

Jungkook took his eye goggles off to wipe away tears and Jin's heart sank. "I'm scared," Jungkook admitted. He was feeling quite brave at first but once he saw for himself how dangerous this was getting he began to panic a bit. I have no experience with this, and neither does hyung.

"Hey," Jin cupped Jungkook's red cheeks in his hands, "I'm going to get you out of this. Trust me, huh?"

Jungkook nodded and put his goggles back on as his tears were turning into icicles on his face. The temperature had plummeted and he was freezing. He could tell Jin was freezing too, although he was too prideful to admit it.

"Just keep holding my hand," Jin gestured and grabbed Jungkook's hand again and tried to make it to the next tree.

And then they both slipped.

Jin caught himself, but Jungkook didn't know how. He panicked and started screaming.

"A tree! Jungkookie head for a tree!" Jin screamed in a panic. If Jungkook didn't make it to a tree, he was going to quite literally fall off the side of the mountain. "Maknae! Listen to me! Aim for a tree!"

In his panic Jungkook tried to remember how to turn but his mind was going blank. So was his vision. The snow had gotten so bad all he could see was white, he couldn't even tell where the trees were anymore as he felt himself falling, and falling, and falling.

"Jungkook!" Jin screamed again.

"Help!" Jungkook replied in panic, "Hyung I can't stop! I don't know what to do! Help!"

"Find a tree, Kook!" Jin screamed and set off after him. "Hyung is coming!"

Jungkook ended up slamming his body into a tree that he didn't even see was in front of him. He felt bursts of pain shoot through his leg and his ribs. He screamed out in pain as he lay on the ground crying. He tried to curl up into a ball but that hurt like hell too. Jin finally caught up to him, and as Jin got there the snow that had collected on a branch on that tree got too heavy and collapsed onto Jungkook's already throbbing leg. He became trapped.

"Ahh! Ahhhhh!" Jungkook screamed and reached out for Jin, who was right there to pull him into his arms. "It h-hurts," Jungkook sobbed. At this point he was falling into a panic attack. He had absolutely no bravery left in him. He wanted to be off that mountain. He wanted to go home. He wanted the pain to stop.

"I know, I know bunny. Let me see." Jin was sobbing too. This was nothing short of a complete freakish disaster. He looked at Jungkook's leg and could see blood seeping through his snowpants. No no no! 

He had Jungkook lay on his back while he tried hard to pry him free from the branch, but Jungkook wasn't moving. Jin couldn't get the branch up, it was too big.

"H-hyung just l-leave me here and get help," Jungkook sobbed. The youngest didn't know what else to possibly do.

Jin looked around and realized the blizzard was so bad, so windy, so freezing, that he couldn't see a damn thing and he could barely move in his frozen state. He completely broke down when he realized he couldn't even tell left from right or up from down anymore. He was just as stuck there as Jungkook was.

"I-I can't...I can't leave you here like this....Kookie...there's nowhere to go.." Jin cried. Jungkook went to rip his goggles back off but Jin made him keep them on. "You'll freeze faster if you do that."

In his worry he gave up caring about himself and when he saw how much Jungkook was crying and shivering, he started to unzip his coat because he was going to give it to Jungkook in an attempt to keep him warmer.

"No hyung! You'll die if you do that! You have to keep that on!" Jungkook scolded. He grabbed at the zipper of Jin's coat and started to zip it back up, screaming when the pain in his ribs came back. He let his body go limp in the snow as it started to bury him.

"Just go without me. I don't care if I die, hyung you have to get out of here." Jungkook knew he wasn't getting unstuck anytime soon.

"I'm not leaving you here!" Jin screamed through tears. He crawled on top of Jungkook in an attempt to stop him from being buried by the snow, and in an attempt to keep him warmer somehow. Jungkook squirmed in pain because of the weight of Jin's body.

"I'm sorry, I know it hurts but I have to keep you warm." The only warmth Jin himself felt was the hot tears streaming down his face. Jungkook couldn't really reply because he was shivering so badly and in so much pain that he was starting to doze off. The maknae was terrified of dying on this mountain, but he found comfort in knowing that if he did, at least he wasn't alone. He closed his eyes and passed out.

Jin started screaming and sobbing, begging Jungkook to wake up.

There was nothing Jin could do, and right now because of this storm, Jungkook being trapped and his own refusal to leave him, there was nowhere he could go.

-----

The rest of the members were at home running around the house sick with worry. Jin and Jungkook should have been home hours ago, it was practically the middle of the night. They tried everything. They called the resort, they called the police, they called friends and family. There was no trace of their hyung and maknae.

After panicking and crying for what felt like forever, the phone rang. Jimin instantly answered it. "Hello?! Jin hyung?! Jungkookie?!"

"Hello, is this the residence of Mr. Seokjin and Mr. Jungkook?" An unfamiliar voice came through the phone .

"Yeah yeah yeah, they live here. Are they okay? Do you know where they are?" Jimin asked. The others surrounded him. She introduced herself as a receptionist from the hospital, and the members burst into even more panic.

"Hospital?! Are they okay?!" Hobi screamed through tears. The woman said she couldn't give any information over the phone and that they needed to get there immediately. The members rushed to the hospital as fast as they could, regardless of the slight snowfall that had hit their town. It wasn't anything compared to the blizzard on the mountain.

When they arrived, they were given the news.

The news that one was fighting hard to survive a really bad accident, but the other one did not make it.

---

After 5 days, Jungkook's eyes opened.

They opened slowly, and everything was blurry at first. The first thing he was aware of was how much pain his body was in. As his vision came into focus, he saw his hyungs run to him. They looked way more terrible than he remembered. All of them had swollen cheeks and blood shot eyes. They had dark eye bags. He could tell they hadn't slept in who knows how long. Hobi already had a tear stained face. He looked around at all of them. They were quiet as they stared back at him with hollow expressions.

His voice was raspy, but his first coherent thought made his way past his lips.

"Is Jin okay?" he whispered. "Where is he?"

He stared at his hyungs and filled with desperation for an answer when he noticed they all looked away from him sorrowfully without answering him.

"Where is Jin?" he asked again. He looked at Taehyung and saw that Taehyung began crying. Jungkook's heart monitor got louder and faster as panic started to course through his body.

"Where did they bring Jin?" he asked again with more emphasis. Jimin gently ran his fingers through the maknae's hair.

"Jungkook." Jimin took a deep breath as he began to sob, "Jin isn't here."

Jungkook tried sitting up in his bed but Jimin gestured for him to stay laying down, his broken ribs weren't healed yet. "What do you mean he's not here? What hospital is he in?" He looked desperately between his hyungs again and they were all crying, still too hesitant to answer his questions. He looked up at Jimin.

"Is he okay?" Jungkook asked. He felt his own tears start forming in his eyes when anxiety about Jin started to pick up.

"Maknae...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry.." Jimin couldn't bring himself to say it so he just leaned down and wrapped his arms around Jungkook. Jungkook began crying into Jimin's chest, "Where is Jin?" he whispered.

Everyone else finally looked at him. Namjoon took the maknae's hand in his and caressed the back of it with his thumb. Jungkook had never seen his leader look so defeated before. The leader finally gathered the courage to speak what the rest of them already knew and had been dealing with the past 5 days.

"He died, Jungkook."

Namjoon broke down into a complete sob with the rest of the members. Jungkook ignored his pain and shot up in bed, "NO! No! You're lying! Don't lie to me! Where the hell is he?!"

Yoongi wrapped his arm around the maknae, "We're sorry," he cried, "He...he didn't survive the accident, Kook-ah."

"No!" Jungkook screamed. He tried ripping his IV's out of his arm. His heart monitor was making an alarm go off because it was out of control. Jungkook began sobbing, "He was with me! He was right there with me! What the hell do you mean he didn't survive?! If he didn't, why would I?! You're lying! All of you are lying!" the maknae screamed, "We were together! We were on that mountain together! Hyungie was right there! Why wouldn't he have survived?!"

Taehyung grabbed Jungkook's arm, "He..he..." Taehyung had to fight to talk through his choked sobs, "He was already gone when you were found and rescued. He went hypothermic."

Jungkook wasn't understanding. They were there together. Jin was literally laying on top of him. How had he gone hypothermic? And if he had, didn't that mean Jungkook did too? Why wasn't he dead?

"You're lying," Jungkook cried. "If I'm alive then so is he!"

"You were hypothermic when they found you too," Hobi informed, "But Jungkook...Jin...he..he.."

"So why didn't he make it?!" Jungkook screamed. This had to be a nightmare. That explained it. Just a nightmare that he'd wake up from at some point, and he'd wake up and he'd probably be right in Jin's arms.

"He took his coat off and put it over you," Jimin spat out before crying harder.

"No! No! He wouldn't do that!" Jungkook looked between them all frantically, "He tried that already and I told him no! I told him he couldn't or he'd freeze to death! That's how I know this is just some nightmare, because hyungie would listen to me! I told him not to take his coat off! He wouldn't do that!"

Taehyung sat next to Jungkook on the bed and rubbed his chest, "It's what he did." Taehyung pulled Jungkook into a gentle hug. Jungkook buried his face into Taehyung. "No, you're all lying. You're all lying," he cried. His sobs got worse but were muffled into Taehyung's chest, "He wouldn't..he wouldn't have....hyung wouldn't have..I told him not to...he can't be...he can't be gone...he was right there with me..."

Everyone surrounded Jungkook and hugged him as they cried together. They didn't know what to say or do to comfort their maknae. They were still dealing with this terrible, unrelenting grief themselves. All they knew was that Jungkook survived because at some point Jin took his coat off and put it over him to keep him warm, and Jin went hypothermic quickly before they were rescued by emergency personell who were called in after the members called the resort worried.

Jungkook was released from the hospital a week later and the first thing they all had to do was attend Jin's funeral. The members were completely heartbroken. They stopped all band activities and had to all start grief counseling. Jungkook had to do that, and then a more intensive therapy because he was greatly struggling with thoughts of suicide and survivors guilt. At home he would make comments about how he wanted to die too, and Namjoon kept telling him that "If you die too, then Jin died for nothing." That resinated with Jungkook and the thoughts of wanting to kill himself stopped, but the survivors guilt would never go away.

He felt guilty for all of it. For asking Jin to take him snowboarding. For asking to learn on a bigger slope. For accidentally slipping on the mountain. For getting trapped. He'd never turn away from the feeling that it was his fault Jin had died, and he was constantly apologizing to the others for "killing our hyung."

The others tried to reassure him that he couldn't blame himself for an accident like that, but he didn't care to hear it.

It will always be my fault.

There was a lot of depression and quietness in the house for a long time, but after spending a while grieving, they decided they had to continue on with group activities because they knew it's what Jin would want.

It was heartbreaking going on without him, but the members could feel their hyung looking out for them through everything.

One night the members got together outside to sit and talk. They looked up at the night sky and were enjoying the beauty of the stars.

"Do hyungs believe in Guardian Angels?" Jungkook asked.

"Of course," Hobi replied, "Because we have one now."

The members fell silent and were awestruck by a shooting star.

"Did you see how fast that was going?!" Yoongi pointed.

They turned to Jungkook when for the first time in weeks they heard him laugh.

"What?" Jimin asked.

"That was Jin hyung trying to show me how much faster he still is than me at snowboarding."

The rest of the members chuckled. Namjoon asked him if he was ever going to bother getting back on a snowboard, or if he never wanted to get on one again.

"I don't know," Jungkook shrugged. He didn't really care to bother, it was pointless without Jin. As were most things these days. He rested his head down on Hobi's shoulder and sighed. His heart ached.

Even after years, the heartache was still there, but it turned into a dull ache rather than a sharp pain. The members were still in couseling, as losing a brother was something they knew they would never fully get over. But to their surprise, Jungkook actually did start getting back up on a snowboard and continued to learn. He claimed he wanted to get better to make Jin proud.

In fact he had gotten so good that he started competing, and winning. He would do advanced slopes, but he absolutely never, ever, returned to the one Jin had died on.

One day after winning a competition, the members were hugging him and congratulating him. Someone else came over and asked him how he got so good at snowboarding. The maknae looked up at the sky and then back at them. He smiled as he realized he never would have gotten where he was if it weren't for his hyung, who he knew was around and watching him.

"My Guardian Angel."

[The End] [New Requests Closed!]