‼️TW: MCD. Suicide. Sad Ending‼️

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"Jungkook's birthday is coming up in a few days, what prank do we have for him this year?" Yoongi asked the others when his maknae wasn't around. It had always been tradition to prank eachother on their birthdays, but everyone was always extra excited to do it to Jungkook.

"I don't know, I feel like we're running out of ideas, the kids getting too old!" Jin joked, wondering how the hell Jungkook was already turning 24.

"What about..hmm...chasing him around in a Halloween costume?" Jimin suggested.

"We did that already," Namjoon replied.

"Oh yeah, what about..hmm...switching his shampoo with laundry detergent?" Jimin suggested again.

"We did that one too," Taehyung laughed. "Wow we really have done everything at this point haven't we?"

"Remember the year we had manager-nim scold him and he started crying once we brought the cake out? That was my favorite!" Hobi giggled. This sparked an idea in Namjoon.

"I know!" Namjoon sat up on the couch, eager to present his idea. "What if we make him think he's being kicked out of the band? Leading up to his birthday we can make him think we are preparing for him to leave the band and then on his birthday surprise him with his cake!"

"That's so mean, Joonie. Count me in!" Yoongi smiled. All of the members agreed to go along with the prank for the next few days leading up to their maknae's big day. Everyone froze when Jungkook walked in the room behind them.

"What are you all doing?" Jungkook asked, curious as to why it looked like everyone was having a meeting in the living room without him.

The hyungs looked at eachother, not knowing what to do because they hadn't discussed how or when they were going to start this prank. Jin spoke up. "We were just deciding what movie to watch."

"Oh! Can we watch Titanic?!" Jungkook asked innocently, unaware of the sly glances his hyungs were giving eachother.

"Fine," Jimin replied, "We can watch whatever you want." The maknae joined them and they put the movie on. Namjoon made a separate group chat in his phone without Jungkook, letting everyone know the prank will start tomorrow and they'll sit Jungkook down to talk with him about it.

The rest of the day carried on as usual with Jungkook being completely oblivious to his hyungs schemes. Little did he know that the older members were also busy getting their manager and staff involved in the prank, incase the maknae went asking about it.

The next morning, everyone went into acting mode once Jungkook had woken up and walked out of his room, meeting them in the kitchen.

"Good morning hyungs!" Jungkook smiled as he went around and side hugged everyone. He noticed everyone's hugs weren't as affectionate as they usually were. Sometimes Jimin would even jump onto his back after hugging but today Jimin barely even looked at him.

Jungkook tried to spark conversation with them but nobody was saying or paying much attention to him. He always took quick notice of their change in behavior. "What's going on? Is something wrong? You guys are all acting weird today."

The hyungs looked around at eachother nervously, and then Namjoon started speaking. "Should we tell him?" he asked the others.

"Tell me what?" Jungkook asked. He noticed the sudden downcast gaze on everyone's faces and he could tell something wasn't right. "What's going on? What's wrong? What do you have to tell me?" he asked nervously.

Jin walked over and put his hand on Jungkook's shoulder, gesturing to the living room. "How about we all go sit down."

Jungkook let himself be lead into the living room by everyone. They all gestured for him to sit on the couch and then they sat around him. He realized his hands were starting to shake as his anxiety picked up. He felt his heart start racing as he tried taking deep breaths. "Hyungs what's going on?"

Namjoon sighed deeply. "So...we wanted to talk to you about something." He paused.

"About what?" Jungkook asked anxiously. He looked around at everyone and saw that Jimin and Hobi were staring at the floor, not bothering to even look at him.

"Well we've been talking amongst ourselves lately and trust me, this took a lot of thought, but all of us have decided it would be best to have you removed from the band." Namjoon clasped his hands together and looked down at the floor to try and hide his smirk. He was trying really hard to stay in character. They all were. Taehyung was very good at acting and even managed to let a few sorrowful tears slip down his cheeks.

Jungkook felt his heart crumble and drop to the floor. "...What?" His eyes darted back and forth between all of his hyungs, desperate for someone to say it was a joke.

"Yeah, Koo. We've been discussing it for quite a while now," Jin added, "We just decided as a group that we think you and the band aren't really uh.....umm...mixing well." Jin had to suppress a laugh knowing that was the furthest thing from the truth.

"I...I...I don't understand." Jungkook immediately got teary eyed when he realized that it seemed all of his hyungs were on board with this decision. "I've been with you guys forever...what am I doing wrong now?"

The hyungs honestly didn't know what to say. Jungkook was the best maknae ever and so important to the band. Everyone knew they had to come up with insanely stupid lies to try and convince him.

"Well we have personality differences and stuff..." Jimin spoke up.

Jungkook got extremely defensive. "There's 7 of us! Of course we have personality differences! We all do! Not just me! But we compliment eachother well!" he cried.

"Well your personality sucks," Yoongi said with no emotion. He felt sad for saying it knowing he didn't mean it, but he couldn't express that. He had to stay firm and strong for this prank to work.

"You don't like me?" Jungkook asked Yoongi. Yoongi shook his head no. Jungkook was speechless. He sat there with his jaw dropped as his tears started to flow heavily down his cheeks. "I don't understand."

Hobi spoke next. "And your dancing...is not the best. Take it from me, who is the dance leader. I really think you're holding us back."

"I'll do better!" He shot glances back and forth between all of them. "I'll work harder! I'll practice more! I'll stay longer at the studio and prove I can do better!" Jungkook started to feel dizzy, he was falling into a panic attack. He looked at Taehyung who still hadn't said anything but only sat there crying. "Taehyungie? Tell them I'll work harder!"

"Jungkook-ah" Taehyung replied, "I'm sorry....but we all agreed that this would be-"

Jungkook cut him off as he stood up. He clenched his hands into fists as he sobbed. "You can't do this! You can't just kick me out of the band! You didn't even talk to me about this first! That's not fair! I thought we were a family! I thought you guys loved me! Were you lying the whole time?!" he screamed. He looked at Jin and Jin just shrugged.

"How could you not want me anymore?! I've been with you guys for almost 11 years! I'm your maknae, did you forget that?!" Jungkook screamed.

"Of course we didn't forget that. You'll always be our maknae. I don't know about anyone else but I would still like to be friends with you, just not band mates," Jimin replied.

Jungkook fell speechless again as he stood there crying.

"This will be for the best. Maybe you can go solo. We will support any solo work you choose to do," Namjoon mentioned.

Jungkook stomped his foot. "No! I don't want to go solo! I want to stay with you guys! My whole life has been shared with you guys, I don't know anything else! This isn't fair! But I have a contract with this band so you can't just kick me out! Our manager won't let you!"

"Actually we already spoke with him and he agreed to this too," Taehyung replied.

"What? You're lying." Jungkook glared at everyone. He didn't believe that for a second. Taehyung told Jungkook to go ahead and call him and that's when Jungkook felt his heart break all over again. Has our manager really agreed to this too?

"This has to be some kind of joke. Just a prank, right? I know! It's because of my birthday isn't it? My birthday is coming up I bet this is a prank!" Jungkook was desparate for that to be the case. "So..haha real funny, hyungs got me!" He looked around to see nobody laugh or smile. Taehyung was still crying. "Guys..." Jungkook whispered, "Tell me it's a joke.."

"We're sorry, Kookie. I know it's bad timing with your birthday but honestly we didn't even want to celebrate it knowing how we were all feeling about you lately," Hobi lied. He was already thinking about how he planned to decorate Jungkook's birthday cake.

"I thought you guys loved me as your maknae....loved me in the band..." He dropped to his knees, a complete sobbing mess, and put his hands together. He started begging and pleading at his hyungs feet to keep him in the band. "I'll do anything. Absolutely anything! I'll clean more, I'll dance more, I'll take singing lessons if that's the problem! I'll be more quiet around the house! Please give me a chance to just show you I can be good!" He turned to Yoongi ,"I'll act completely different for you if it means I can stay! Please hyung!"

"I'm sorry Jungkook-ah but our minds are made up," Yoongi replied.

Jungkook's sadness and anger completely took over when his pleads weren't working. He jumped back up onto his feet, ran away to his room and wailed into his pillow.

The rest of the members stared at eachother for a moment, Taehyung finally wiping his tears. "That was tough!" Taehyung laughed.

They could suddenly hear Jungkook screaming and crying in his bedroom.

"We're so mean," Hobi giggled. He figured as upset as Jungkook was now, they'd be able to make it up to him on his birthday.

"This one is going to go down in history!" Jin laughed. He turned the TV on, blasting the volume to drown out the sound of Jungkook's screaming. He felt a bit bad, but he knew Jungkook would be fine in the end once his birthday came. They just had to keep their act up for a few more days.

Jungkook was an absolute disaster in his room. He tried muffling his screaming and crying into his pillow but was unaware that it echoed through the dorm. He squirmed around in his bed as his body couldn't contain the sadness and anger he felt. He felt like he was actually going to explode.

They can't do this! How could they do this to me?! I'm their maknae! I always have been! How was I supposed to know they weren't happy?! They've acted like they've loved me for so many years and I believed them! Yoongi hyung doesn't even like me?! I don't have anything else! BTS is all I know! It's all I have! And what about our fans? They'd miss me wouldn't they? I don't want to leave the group but I don't want to be in a group with people who all actually hate me! Happy birthday to you Jungkook, by the way, your hyungs hate you!

Jungkook felt like his tears were waterfalls that would fill an ocean. He instantly fell into a major depression. I don't even want to be alive if I don't have them. He couldn't imagine what he'd do without BTS or his hyungs, his family. He didn't want to go solo. He had solo songs out, but they all did. It didn't mean he wanted to depart from the band to be a solo singer. He always felt it was all 7, or nothing. He didn't see the point of life anymore if this was how things were going to turn out. He continued to cry in his bed, letting the depression consume him as his exhausted body fell into a coma of sleep for the rest of the day.

The hyungs hung out around the dorm for the rest of the day not doing much. They actually had time off until a few days after Jungkook's birthday which was why they were so excited. After surprising him with his cake and a party they planned to also take him on a mini vacation to wherever he wanted to go for a few days. They couldn't wait to celebrate their maknae's big day. Although he was well into his 20's now he was still their baby.

When nighttime rolled around, Jin and Yoongi went to quickly check on Jungkook in his room after not seeing him all day. He was fast asleep in his bed. They quietly shut his door and trailed off to their own rooms along with everyone else to call it a night.

Jungkook woke from his sleep in the middle of the night with a horribly aching heart. He had a headache from all the crying and unfortunately as soon as he had woken back up the tears started to flow all over again. He couldn't wrap his around what went wrong and how. He tried to think of things he'd done recently or in the past that would make his hyungs not want him anymore but he didn't think he had done anything all that bad. He was extremely confused about Yoongi because Yoongi always talked about how much he adored Jungkook. Nothing made sense. Not to mention they dropped this ball on him right before his birthday.

They don't even want to celebrate my birthday anymore. Hyungies don't love me....I must be a terrible, terrible, maknae.

He couldn't handle the heartache, anxiety, and depression crashing around inside his body. Everything hurt too much. He wanted it to end. He wanted all the pain to end, and immediately. With an extremely heavy heart he convinced himself that if he didn't have BTS anymore he really had no reason to live.

So he impulsively decided he wasn't going bother living anymore. He dragged himself out of bed and found a notebook and a pen. Just one last goodbye to hyungies. He put the pen to the paper and wrote a note, the last thing he ever planned to say to his hyungs.

Dear Bangtan, aka hyungs (If I am still allowed to call you that...)

I promise this is the last time you'll ever have to hear from me. I'm really sorry for whatever I've done to make you all not want me anymore. I thought I was being a good maknae but maybe I was wrong. I'm sorry. Really. And I'm sorry that I can't make it up to you guys somehow. Even though you guys don't want me anymore please know that I have always cherished the years with you and love our relationship, if you guys don't feel the same then I am sorry for that too. I promise not to be a burden anymore. I've decided to spare you the trouble and remove myself so you guys don't have to do it yourselves. Please tell ARMY I love them and that this isn't their fault. Please don't blame yourselves either. As upset as I am I can only blame myself for not being loveable enough for hyungs to care for me anymore. And for that, once again I am sorry. I have a very sorry heart. I don't really know what else to say. I am going to miss you guys. I wish you nothing but the best in whatever you plan to do as a group. I hope the rest of you stay together forever. Maybe you will find a new, better maknae. Or maybe Taehyungie hyungie will do. I don't know. I know you guys didn't want to celebrate my birthday anymore but maybe now you will find this a reason to celebrate it for the years to come. I may not have been a good maknae for you all but please know I will be the best guardian angel for you guys. I love you.

xoxo Jeon Jungkook

Jungkook signed the letter and didn't care to stop his tears from splashing all over the bottom. He folded the letter up and placed it on his pillow after making his bed. He tidied his room up so that nobody else would have to. He tiptoed to everyone's rooms, peeking in to whisper goodbye for the last time. Then he headed out of the dorm with only one thing on his mind.

He already had a destination in mind. The World Cup Bridge over the Han River. The same bridge where the group had filmed a performance for their song Butter. It held a special place in his heart, not only that but the bridge wasn't open to the public yet.

So there was nobody there to stop him from jumping.

When he arrived he wandered around for a little bit. He thought the lit up lights were pretty and it reminded him of their video shoot. A time full of much more happiness than what he was currently experiencing.

He reminisced about all the times his hyungs had shown their love for him, realizing now they must have been lying and faking it for show and to please the world. He walked to the edge of the bridge and climbed over the railing. Looking out towards the city, he took a deep breath. He wanted to take all of life in just one last time before he knew his would be over.

He looked up at the stars for a while, wondering how it was going to feel living up there instead of down here.

He could only hope the pain would go away.

He was scared, but his heartbreak overpowered that fear as he convinced himself this was for the best and his hyungs wouldn't care anyway.

He stared at the water below him, watching it ripple back and forth. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath as he felt the wind blow against his face. It was warm. It felt nice. Happy birthday, Jungkook. He counted.

One.

Two.

He took his foot and stepped out.

Three.

---

Hobi and Jin were the first ones awake the next day. The rapper was going through his phone trying to find pictures of Jungkook to put on his cake.

"What about this one?" Hobi asked Jin.

"That one is cute," Jin replied. It was a picture of Jungkook sleeping, cuddling his BT21 character, Cooky. Hobi found a few more he planned on using. Within the hour everyone else was awake. They all decided to sneak a peek into Jungkook's room to see what he was up to, and were all met with confusion when they didn't see their maknae in his bed, but a folded up piece of paper on his pillow.

They all trailed in. "What the hell is this?" Yoongi asked, picking up the paper and reading it out loud. His hands began shaking as he read it.

"What the hell is this?!" Yoongi yelled while waving the paper in the air. "He left?! Where the hell would he have gone?! What does he mean by remove himself? Guardian angel? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Jin snatched it out of Yoongi's hand to read it over again. "Why the hell does this sound like a suicide note?!"

Taehyung snatched it out of Jin's hand and looked at it. His mouth dropped open. "Because it is one!" he screamed with terror as his eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"We have to find him!" Jimin screamed. "Suicide?! Because of a stupid prank?! He couldn't have possibly thought we were being that serious!!?! No way he would do something like that!"

"Maybe it's a counter prank!" Namjoon was desperate to think of any explanation that did not involve finding a dead Jungkook. "You know what I'm saying? He had to have known we were pranking him and this has to be him pranking us back!" He was sweating.

"Well we don't have time for speculation! We have to go find him before he does something!" Jin screamed and had everyone immediately get in the car. He drove into the city and had everyone split up in search of the youngest. Checking all his favorite and most frequented spots. The members ran around screaming their heads off in search of Jungkook. Asking everyone they ran into if they've seen him. No luck.

They met back up, everyone crying.

"Where the hell would he be?" Taehyung asked, gasping for breath as he rested his hands on his knees. He didn't know which had been going faster, his heartbeat or his legs while running.

Jimin grabbed his hair in frustration. "I don't know. What if he hurt himself? What if he's already hurt? What if we're too late?" Jimin threw himself against Namjoon and burst into tears.

While the members stood around unsure of where to look next, Namjoon got a phone call from an unknown number. He answered it and put it on speaker phone.

"Hello?" Namjoon asked.

"Is this Kim Namjoon?"

"Yes..Who is this?"

"This is Dr. Ku from Seoul City Hospital. I am calling in regards to a Jeon Jungkook."

"Is he okay!? We've been looking everywhere for him!" Yoongi screamed into the phone. "Tell him we're coming!"

"Actually, we need you to come in for body identification. The Coast Guard found a body in the Han River around the area of the World Cup Bridge earlier this morning after someone steering a boat called in something floating in the water. The general description seems to match the description of a young man, Jeon Jungkook."

The members stared at eachother speechless. Hobi ripped the phone out of Namjoon's hand. "Did he put you up to this?! It's a prank right?! We're coming but tell him the prank is over and he isn't funny!"

"I am sorry," Dr. Ku started, "I would not be calling in a manner like this for a prank. We have a body, and we need it identified. Please come as soon as you can."

Jin grabbed the phone and hung up. He started sobbing and screaming that this better be a joke as everyone panicked while heading to the car. On the drive to the hospital the members tried to console eachother by saying the body wasn't going to be Jungkook, it was some kind of mix up or a false description.

They ran into the hospital and said who they were and why they were all there. Dr. Ku led them downstairs to the morgue.

"So how much did he pay you?" Taehyung asked, expecting Dr. Ku to crack. The doctor gave the members a sad expression, "No payment. As I said, this is not a prank. I just need the body identified, and if it is him, then I am very sorry for your loss."

Dr. Ku opened up a giant metal door that led into the morgue that was full of freezers. The members were immediately freaked out. It was freezing and scary down here. The doctor led them to a metal gurney that had a body underneath a white sheet.

"Whenever you're ready," Dr. Ku said sadly. All of the members were shaking with fear, telling themselves it wasn't going to be their maknae. Not him. Anyone but him. They all huddled together and held eachother, saying they were ready.

The doctor slowly pulled the sheet off of the bodies face and arm.

Revealing an arm full of tattoos, Jungkook's tattoos. Jungkook's face. Pale and stiff.

"No...No..." Namjoon choked out a sob and turned around, dropping to the floor. Everyone but Yoongi fell to the ground screaming and crying, grief and regret consuming them. Yoongi walked over to Jungkook and stared at him.

"Alright, Kook. Joke is over. Wake up. I don't know how much you paid this guy to make you look all dead but we get it. We're sorry about what we said. It was a stupid birthday prank and you win."

The sound of the other members screams were drowned out as Yoongi continued to stare at Jungkook. He turned and stared at Dr. Ku. "Tell him to wake up now."

"I'm sorry," Dr. Ku replied again, "He is deceased."

"No." Yoongi's bottom lip trembled. He took his shaky hand and nervously nudged Jungkook. "Stop doing this Kook-ah. It's not funny anymore. You're scaring us."

When his maknae didn't respond, Yoongi's panic grew. He grabbed the side of the metal gurney and started shaking it. "Jungkook wake up! You have to wake up now! This isn't funny anymore!" Yoongi started crying when he realized how this was becoming too real and too scary. He grabbed Jungkook's shoulders. His maknae's body was cold as ice and so stiff it didn't even feel human. "Stop it! Stop it! Kook-ah wake up! Wake up! You're not dead! It's not funny! You're not dead-you're not-you're not-"

Jin stood up and grabbed Yoongi, pulling him into a hug. Yoongi buried his face into Jin's chest. "No...no...not him....not him..n-" the rapper cried.

"It's h-him, Yoongi." Jin could barely speak through his own tears. The two oldest both dropped down next to the others who were all screaming with sorrow. Dr. Ku thanked them for the identification and again told them how sorry he was as he covered the body back up. He informed them that it appears the boy had jumped from the World Cup Bridge and drowned.

"It was suicide," Dr. Ku confirmed.

The members hearts shattered into tiny pieces. The guilt washed over them knowing what they read in his letter and how this was all their fault. They were led back upstairs into a waiting room and told they could take all the time they needed, in which they needed a lot of time to cry. They all kept hoping that Jungkook would walk in and say the prank was finally over but that gift never came.

"I want him back!" Hobi screamed. "I want him back!" He kept screaming it over and over. Namjoon wrapped his arms around him. "Joonie I want him back," he sobbed.

"I know." Namjoon had hot tears running down his cheeks. He kissed Hobi's forehead. "I know."

They all went on and on about how stupid they had been, how the prank wasn't funny and they should have ended it as soon as they saw how badly it was hurting Jungkook. He'd always felt emotions much more deeply than everyone else. They realized they took it too far but now it was too late. Jungkook was gone and he wasn't coming back. One of the worst hurts for the members was knowing that Jungkook did this thinking they didn't care about or love him when it couldn't have been the furthest thing from the truth. They would give their own lives just to be able to talk to him one more time and tell him how much they love him and how much they always would, how all of this was one big misunderstanding. How none of them meant any of the hurtful lies they had told him.

But they'd never get that second chance.

After finally leaving the hospital the members quietly dealt with their grief at home. The news had been made public and the entire world was absolutely devastated at the news and messages flooded in to the members of people giving their condolences of how sorry they all were.

But as sorry as the world was, the members knew nobody would ever be as sorry as them. They kept rereading his letter as they cried together. Baffled that Jungkook would think they'd only want to celebrate his birthday if he was dead.

The denial, guilt, shame, and remorse followed them everywhere. The depression sat with them, and would sit with them, for the rest of their lives. The funeral was small and personal. Jungkook was buried in his hometown of Busan at his parents request. The youngest's birthday passed but nobody celebrated because he was gone now. There was no point.

Back in Seoul, the tears and anguish didn't stop as the days went by. Nobody dared enter his room. It was too painful. Taehyung and Jimin were always curled up crying together while the hyungs kept to themselves, wanting to cry alone instead. They took a lot of time off work to grieve and they had to discuss what they were going to do.

They couldn't see themselves going on as a band without Jungkook. At the same time, they remembered his letter and how he said he hopes they stay together forever. They were conflicted on what to do. They didn't feel right doing this without him but they also wanted to make him happy and respect his dying wish.

The members decided to stay as a group but they made a promise to themselves and to ARMY that they were going to honor Jungkook in any possible way they could. They would bring his picture everywhere. Leave an open space for him wherever they went. Say his name whenever given the chance.

Because that's what their guardian angel deserved.

The members had to start a new chapter. A sad chapter, a chapter without their baby.

A chapter with a missing piece. A piece that would never, ever, be filled back in. 

{The End}