The long return journey passed in a frightening calm that Han and Lee could observe.

     Han blamed it on the painkillers that the boys were all taking that made them drowsy, but he was still surprised.

     Indeed, the artists, who had been expressing their desire to be together all week, had gathered again according to their distributions at the hospital: Namjoon, Taehyung and Jin in the three seats located towards the tail of the plane, while Yoongi, Jungkook, Hoseok and Jimin were huddled together in their corner, a little further away, near the cockpit.

     Lee for his part suspected that an argument had arisen after his departure between Taehyung and Jungkook because it was to be expected. Yoongi's nose was enough proof for him but also the configuration in the plane that kept Jin and Taehyung away from Jungkook.

     Despite what Namjoon had said before the arrival of the managers about the need to be united, he preferred to keep this arrangement for the flight to ensure that the situation remains calm and does not get worse between Taehyung and Jungkook. Facing a fight between the two youngest and a panic attack by eldest in the middle of the sky was not a prospect that Namjoon was optimistic about.

     There was nothing to prevent them from speaking to each other, but they all seemed to be more comfortable in this silence after the violent dispute that had taken place earlier.

     First, preserving Jin was their top priority, and if it went through silence, then they would live with it. Then, they still didn't feel ready to talk as if nothing had happened because the group had never had such an argument during their nine years together as a group. The leader was convinced they were going to get through this together, but he had to make sure it didn't blow up again by then.

     Yoongi had a piece of handkerchief stuffed into each nostril, acting as a cotton pad to absorb the blood, and the two managers had not obtained very clear indications from him to explain his condition.

     Lee's gaze sliding to Jungkook's guilty face indicated that he roughly understood what had happened but he didn't comment, probably too eager to get back to Korea and rest rather than manage tensions within the group.

     As Yoongi did not seem to suffer and the pink tint on his nose was initially very light, they had not sought to dig : after all, the artists were already so badly messed up that it would not draw more attention to them.

     But now, several hours later, a bump and a bruise had emerged on the edge of Yoongi's nose and it was not going to fail to make people talk when they arrived in Seoul, because it was very obviously a very recent injury.

     Although his closed eyes seemed to indicate that the rapper was sleeping in front of him, Jungkook avoided looking at him, very embarrassed and regretting that he had hurt him.

     When he apologized earlier, Yoongi had just sniffed and there was nothing to indicate that he had forgiven him, even though Jungkook had not intentionally hurt him and had expressly told him so.

     However, he had not refused to sit close to him, which was encouraging. Moreover, the second oldest of the group who often looked older was certainly too mature to sulk permanently. He might still be mad at him for a while but would soon put that bad moment aside.

     The youngest member also regretted having struggled so much earlier because his back injury, even if it had not reopened very fortunately, and his broken ribs, were now making him suffer a lot despite the antipain that made him drowsy and prevented him from thinking clearly.

     He looked with a guilty look at Taehyung who also grimaced with pain a few meters from him, gently rocking his head to one side and then to the other to relax his sore neck.

     "Stop wiggling!" Yoongi grumbled through his closed eyelids, signaling that he was not sleeping and pushing Jungkook to freeze.

     "What is it Jungkook?" Jimin whispered in a sleeping voice to his left, with a soothing hand on his arm. "Are you in pain, do you want painkillers?"

     "Nothing, sorry I woke you up," Jungkook apologized, who didn't want to talk until he set foot in Korea, when they were stuck in that little plane and he had nowhere to hide his shame. "You can go back to sleep," he added, pointing to Hoseok with a nod, who had not flinched on his side and was still sleeping.

     "Okay," Jimin sighed, releasing the younger one's arm and closing his eyes again, "wake me up if you want to talk or anything."

     Jungkook watched Jimin plunge back into sleep as he himself plunged back into his thoughts and looked again at Taehyung who had his eyes closed but mechanically stroked Jin's hair whose head was now resting in his lap.

     Despite his regrets about his behavior a few hours earlier, he could not forget that Taehyung had put him out of his mind by his words and knew that he would have to confront him later, inevitably, in a less virulent way one had to hope. But this discussion frightened him in advance: what did he mean by "I know enough"? What exactly did he know?

     The maknae realized with horror that after living a week in the same room as Jin, the other had necessarily seen sordid details that were not related to what happened at the Stade de France, especially if it was he who helped him to dress or wash. It was, for example, quite possible that he had ample opportunity to observe the bite scars that Jin was still wearing.

     Was he still convinced that it was he - Jungkook -  who had made him? Without another culprit in his eyes, it was necessarily him that the other would accuse.

     But then, why had Taehyung not spoken until now when they had both spoken at length on the phone during their week of hospitalization? Why had he allowed him to talk to Jin the night before? Jungkook did not understand.

     Did Taehyung want to use this information to threaten him, as Lee did? He immediately shook his head to try to drive away this odious thought, refusing to believe that his elder, one of his closest friends could be capable of such a thing.

     Besides, Taehyung was obviously very affected by Jin's state, so it was that, and only that, that had had to motivate his words, not threats against Jungkook. Wasn't it? Yet, the youngest had experienced so many horrors and injustices in recent times that he could not completely put this idea aside.

      He remembered very well that during the filming of the commercial, it was already Taehyung who had seen them in the small box where Lee had penetrated to threaten Jin, and he who then accused him of being responsible for the traces of violence that the manager had left on Jin.

     Taehyung had already been able to believe that he was guilty of these horrible wounds that time, was he still convinced that it was him? Was that why he made the connection with the day he hit Jin? Did he also now think that it was he who had broken his finger?

     The door was open to all the violence that the eldest had suffered. Jungkook knew that hitting Jin once was a natural way to describe him as a found attacker.

     It was entirely his fault, he agreed, and he would never forgive himself, but how could Taehyung really believe that he was the one who had committed all these horrors? Wasn't their friendship strong enough for him to agree to listen to him and finally understand that he was innocent of all this? Wasn't he aware of the sincere affection that bound him to Jin?

     He had never wanted all this suffering, he had only wanted to protect Jin and preserve their bond, which he had been unable to do, Taehyung was right on that point, even if Jungkook could not admit it under the outburst of anger.

     Throughout the flight, Jungkook kept leaning over to look at Jin's face and check regularly that he was still sleeping and worried as soon as he saw him fidget a little. The youngest felt that he was the first one responsible for the elder's distress earlier: he had yelled at him and he had pushed others to scream too, without thinking of the anguish he was going to inflict on him in doing so.

     Worse, he had ended up saying despicable things to Jin again. How could he say that? If Jin was unwell and saw him as an enemy, it was up to him to take care of him and restore his confidence. And it was certainly not by telling him that he should have let him die that their bond of trust was going to be recreated. He had seen in Jin's gaze an infinite suffering and he couldn't bear to be the cause of it.

     He hoped that it would not take him further away from the old bond he wanted to rediscover, the bond that had led him to say, no doubt madly, that they were soulmates, but each of his gestures, each of his words lately seemed to be cause for further distancing. Even if Jin went back to how he was before, there was no guarantee that he would forgive Jungkook for what he had said to him.

     "I'm so sorry," he said out loud, echoing Jin's earlier words.

     He was sorry for the harm he had caused to Jin but also to his entire group. The more he thought, the more he realized that if the band risked both implosion and explosion, it was above all his fault. It was the consequence of the too long succession of his bad choices.

     Choice to force Jin to stay by threatening the company.

     Choice of trying to force a love bond different from the one that united them thinking that it would push Jin to reconsider his willingness to leave.

      Choice to let Lee attack them, to favor their careers.

     Choice to use his physical strength against his members instead of using it against the monster who attacked them with impunity.

     Choice to get away from Jin making them both emotionally vulnerable when they should have been more united than ever and risking an internal collapse of the group.

     Choice to publicly affirm his connection with Jin without fear of alienating the fans who finally did not fail to send back to his face his bad choices in the most violent way possible, even going so far as to try to kill them.

     Mentally drawing up this non-exhaustive list made him aware of the extent of his responsibility. He had caused so much harm to his group, was he still allowed to stand by his hyungs?

     "I'm really sorry," he repeated, leaving a silent tear rolling on his cheek.

     Yoongi was the only one to hear him and answered him with a menacing sound sniff that snatched a small smile from Jungkook, despite his wet eyes.

     He knew that the rapper had already forgiven him for what had happened earlier. But he wondered with pain... Hyung, if you only knew half of all the bad things I've done and said, would you forgive me, too? If I went public with everything I've done, would you still protect me from everyone?

     About twelve hours after their short stop in Istanbul, Turkey, the small plane landed on the tarmac of the Incheon airport and the idols with tired faces struggled to get out, anxious of their imminent reunion with the crowd.

     "We have a route that is all set inside the airport and well framed by security to the cars," Han reassured them, seeing that after their silent return journey and their willingness to get to South Korea as quickly as possible, they were now struggling to get through the door of the plane that had just opened on a flight of escalators.

     "You heard hyung," Namjoon says, turning to others to give them courage and give himself courage at the same time. They were all clumped together, feeling that what was happening was going to be another trial for them. "Let's just move on and not stop to pose in front of the photographers, this is not the time, I'm sure they'll understand that. Once we get past the registration stage, the only thing we need to do is walk quickly to the cars."

     "As soon as possible," Hoseok added.

     "Yes," Namjoon approved. "We did the hardest part of our teturn trip : we went home to Korea. Now we just have to go home, to the safety and tranquility of our dorm, away from this hustle and bustle."

     "But... the journalist will want to ask us lots of questions, that's for sure," Jimin said apprehensively, "we didn't communicate enough after the Stade de France and they'll be eager to get us to talk about everything that happened. and if they are too insistent, what do we do? Should we stop?"

     "No, nobody stops. They will wait," Yoongi said bluntly, "we will not answer any questions today, or tomorrow I hope, but it will be up to PD-nim to decide."

     "Absolutely. If you're ready now, we'll go," Namjoon said, waving to Yoongi to go first.

     As the oldest of the rappers nodded and passed in front of him and left the plane, Namjoon glanced at Jungkook, who had his eye on Jin, whose hand was gripped by Taehyung's sleeve and his gaze directed towards the ground. They were still sitting on the seats near the door, waiting to be able to move Jin when everyone else got off.

     "Jungkook?" the leader called, "it's your turn, it's time to go down."

     "Is Jin hyung going to be okay?" Jungkook asked anxiously as he glanced at Lee as the man passed in front of him without looking at him because he was on the phone and getting out of the plane after Yoongi, announcing to only he knew who that he had just landed in Korea.

     "Yeah, it's okay, it's not Lee hyung who's going to take him down, don't worry," Taehyung said instead of Namjoon as soon as Lee got out.

     Jungkook was very surprised that it was Taehyung who answered him, not expecting him to address him soon. And the content of his reply was also very reassuring and the maknae gave him a little smile of gratitude.

     "It's a relief, thank yo- wait, what did you say?" Jungkook asked, dumbfounded.

     "Han will take care of him, not Lee," Taehyung explained.

     "But... how would you know that I was worried about Lee taking care of Jin hyung?"

      Taehyung didn't answer but gave him an equivocal look that Jungkook tried to interpret. Did he know the whole truth after all? No, otherwise he wouldn't have accused him like that earlier... But then, why was he trying to distance Jin from Lee even though he thought they were close and he was himself close to the manager?

     As their gaze exchanged unnaturally prolonged, Namjoon, realized he must have been blind not to notice how afraid Jungkook was of Lee hurting Jin.

     Now that he knew everything, it was absolutely obvious to him. But it was not yet time to reveal to Jungkook that he knew everything because he feared the unexpected reaction of the youngest as well as that of the oldest who was perhaps listening attentively behind his blank stare.

     Fearing that the Taehyung and Jungkook would argue again or that Taehyung would reveal what he knew to the youngest, he interjected:

     "We saw how Lee hyung treated Jin hyung upon arriving on the plane and clearly, this isn't currently the person we need to entrust hyung who needs gentltness and not harshness. That gentle person he need is not really Han either but we're not really spoiled for choice today, sorry Jungkook."

     "Oh..." Jungkook said, understanding better and taking the conversation away from Lee , "it's okay if Han do it but when I asked if Jin hyung was going to be okay, I was talking mostly about the trip to the airport. Just thinking about the crowd waiting for us, I can't help but have in my head the images of the crowd at the France Stadium, and I'm already worried myself, so I can't imagine how hyung will feel seeing this."

     "I'm a little scared too," Namjoon admitted, letting his worried gaze fall on Jimin who was joining Yoongi on the tarmac, hobbling down the stairs and leaning on Han on one side and the railing of the stairs on the other, "but we have to go through this to get back so we're going to hope that everything is going well because there are a very few things that will depend on us during this time and therefore, there's not much we can do at our level to make it go better than they've planned for us. Just think that in a few minutes this will all be behind us."

      Namjoon had no other word of encouragement to give than this and Jungkook was content with it, nodding his head.

      "Are you ready to come down now?

      "Yeah," Jungkook replied.

     "I'll go first, you follow me."

     Namjoon patted his shoulder affectionately and went out just before him, being sure that he would follow him. As Jungkook was getting ready to come out, Taehyung's voice stopped him:

     "I'm sorry for calling you a bastard."

     Stunned, the youngest turned around and, visibly embarrassed, Taehyung immediately looked away, preferring to look at Jin who was lost in his own world. Jungkook, embarrassed too, muttered:

     "Don't be sorry, I deserved that one."

     "I'm just trying to be polite, but okay, if you say so," Taehyung retorted.

     Outraged, Jungkook looked at him with a frown and was about to reply in turn when he caught the beginning of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

     "Hyung, are you laughing at me by any chance?"

     Taehyung only nodded, patting mechanically Jin's unharmed shoulder.

      "I apologize for all the things I said to you earlier. I had plenty of time to think on our way home and... I would prefer that we leave this argument we had in France and leave this plane without keeping anything on our conscience.

     Hopeful, Jungkook said:

     "I... I would prefer too."

       However, much to his dismay, Taehyung shook his head apologetically.

     "It's really my wish, believe me Jungkook, it would be much easier for all of us but I totally can't do that, not now that I know what you did. Now, I can't pretend that I don't know and we must therefore absolutely continue this discussion at home, hopping that it won't turn again into an argument."

      Jungkook's eyes widened in horror at those words but he couldn't say anything. It was now clear that Taehyung knew things and he was afraid of making the situation worse by talking more. Now that Jin was no longer in mortal danger, he couldn't risk revealing the truth and pushing Lee for revenge.

     He looked at Jin, who was still ignoring him and to whom he had said the most horrible things. He was so vulnerable since what happened at the Stade de France that it was now up to him to make the right decisions to protect him. And for the moment, he was convinced of one thing, despite Taehyung's sudden softness: he absolutely must not speak...

    But Taehyung continued to shake his resolve to to say nothing :

     "However, you are right about one thing : I don't know everything that happened to you and hyung so I don't have the right to judge you. I will wait to have your version of the facts. But in the meantime, I'm perfectly convinced of one thing: you did everything to protect hyung and I won't take that away from you. If you hurt him, I'm sure it wasn't on purpose. I'm sorry for saying the contrary earlier. I trust you."

      Stunned, Jungkook quickly regained his composure and replied with sincerity:

     "Y- you were not wrong about everything I've made a lot of bad choices lately. And regarding what happened earlier, I was wrong to get angry and violent like I did. I am also sorry, I deeply regret what happened between us, it's my fault."

     "Not quite, I'm half guilty for pushing you over the edge," Taehyung assured him.

     "A little less than half then," Jungkook joked.

     He was very happy to hear Taehyung's words and relieved to finally be able to apologize loud and clear thanks to the possibility offered by his elder. In the past, Jungkook remembered, Taehyung had been able to restore the dialogue with Jin too, following their argument.

     Before Lee came into their lives, Jungkook and Taehyung had never argued, it was totally new to both of them, who had always been very good friends, and Jungkook certainly wouldn't have known what to do if Taehyung hadn't defuse this ticking time bomb.

     "Thank you," he added.

     "No problem," Taehyung replied.

     "Ah, well, it's not too soon!" Hoseok intervened, whom the two youngest had almost forgotten and who startled them. The rapper laughed, at the same time gently mocking in front of their shocked face and happy to have attended this scene of reconciliation, however short it may be.

     He would also have liked to understand everything that was said in this enigmatic dialogue between the two but for the moment, he would be content with this reconciliation. For the rest it was probably the important conversation that Namjoon had talked about so he just had to be patient to know all the details of this story.

     Very quickly, realizing that Hoseok hadn't been able to understand some aspects of their conversation anyway, Jungkook and Taehyung also smiled at each other.

     "Well, I'm going down now, or else Namjoon hyung he will pick me up by the ears," Jungkook said, who felt infinitely lighter, as relieved of one burden of his many burdens already heavy enough to bear, "V hyung... Please take care of Jin hyung downstairs. He..." He hesitated before saying: "he really needs you, I can see that now."

      He looked at Jin who was completely glued to Taehyung, waiting like a child to be taken off the plane and taken through the airport.

     "I will," Taehyung promised, winking at him with his iconic V of victory and a tired smile, gently tapping Jin's unharmed shoulder. "And he needs you too, he just forget it, right hyung?" 

     The eldest turned around and involuntarily crossed the tender gaze of Jungkook, who did not try to maintain this eye contact but who gave him a wide smile before going down, without waiting to see Jin's reaction.

___________

Author's note : Uhmm, I believe this is the 100th chapter I've published. Scary isn't it? ^^' How many people are still reading this book? Can you please show up in comments ? =)