"Jungkook!!" Taehyung exclaimed gratefully, turning towards him his face so swollen that one of his eyes could not fully open and revealing Jin's terrified face as he straightened up. "I... I protected hyung."

      "I know, I'm here with you now, we'll protect him together," Jungkook assured.

     Jungkook, who had escaped Yoongi's embrace to run here, felt his anger rise at this vision of Taehyung badly messed up and Jin curled up in fear on the ground, at the mercy of those disgusting people who only meant harm to them.

     Taehyung had done what he should have done all along: protecting Jin without hesitation even if it meant being the one to suffer. He won't hesitate either. Now it was up to him to protect both his hyung. He wouldn't fail anymore, he ordered himself as he glared at the six attackers who did the same. 

      The leader, whose hood was ripped off by Jungkook, hurriedly put it back on, but he had already revealed his imposing crowned golden eagle tattoo on the back of his neck, even though the camera didn't catch it for those watching the live. Only Jungkook had seen it. The showman, continued to film everything while the other hairy boy had put his phone away to free his hands, visibly nervous in front of Jungkook who emanated a murderous aura. 

     Jungkook had questioned himself at length in the hospital and then on the plane: he had let Jin suffer for months just to preserve his career instead of killing Lee with his hands. He watched all the horrors done by the man without doing anything, how could he let him have his own way and hurt Jin in front of him, in the most horrible way? He wanted to end this cycle of suffering and he wouldn't let Lee continue his misdeeds. Never again. He was going to right his wrongs and failings.

     But it wasn't just about Lee. He had nearly lost all of his hyungs, as he hadn't been able to save a single one on his own. It was over: he wouldn't let anyone else hurt his hyungs anymore. He won't fear a mad man or a crazy crowd anymore. He won't fear for his career anymore. He was going to demolish those who attacked them, no matter the consequences.

       He roughly grabbed the the boy with the shark's mouth mask who the first had just thrown himself on him screaming fist raised and pulled him to him, ready to beat him to death for what he had just done. Not just him but all of the boys here : they were all dead!

      As he made his decision and was ready to throw his fist in the face of the boy who struggled vainly to escape his strong grip, a scream stopped him and caught everyone's attention:

      "HEY! He took my mask!!" 

     It was Red Coat, who was now trying to hide his unmasked face by pulling up the collar of his coat as Showman continued to film everything.

     "And I even took a nice picture of your stupid face,"  a familiar voice replied as the hand of this voice's owner waved his phone. "Even without the others's face, with the video you filmed live yourselves, it won't be difficult to find the identity to all of you now. Congratulation champions, you have won the gold palm of morons!"

     "Hyung!!" Taehyung and Jungkook shouted in unison as Jin just stared at him.

     Yoongi didn't give them a look, instead remaining focused on the menacing group.

    "Here's the dwarf from BTS, do you think we're scared of you?" Shark quipped, struggling to escaped Jungkook who now held both his arms to prevent him from hitting him or escaped. "Or of him?" he added, glancing at Jungkook then, with a mocking smile, at Jin and Taehyung curled up against each other on the floor, looking very badly off. "But you're just gonna end up like your two friends who found out today they're just two pieces of shit!"

      He burst out laughing but his laughter turned into a scream when he received Jungkook's punch which knocked him to the ground, under the desperate gaze of Yoongi who thought he had stopped Jungkook from hitting him the first time. Even though he understood that Jungkook failed to restrain himself after what the other had said.

    "Shut up! right now you're the only piece of shit I see here. But maybe all your friends are like you?" Jungkook added, glaring Black Cap so menacingly that he backed off. 

      Hearing that vulgar language in Jungkook's mouth, Yoongi definitely stopped thinking about Jungkook's idol reputation. Come what may, their career might have already ended anyway, so might as well let Jungkook say and do whatever he wants now, as long as they were not guilty of a fact that would turn against them later.

      "Keep filming!!" Shark yelled at the Showman, "show him getting revenge with his fists and his dirty tong and he'll see if his fans will still support him!"

     Showman didn't answer, busy reading the comments that were pouring in at full speed and which, far from criticizing Jungkook, were praising him for what he had just done to defend his members, even from the haters who were having fun seeing the gang lose face to those they had called girls just before.

      "No, stop filming now!"Red coat said always pulling up the collar of his coat over his face, visibly nervous, "he took my mask off and took a picture of me! Give me your phone!" he ordered Yoongi who raised an eyebrow.

      "That's not how you ask a favor," Yoongi sneered. "And your friend just insulted mine, so I don't think I'll grant your request, sorry."

     "I will kill you motherfucker!"

      "Hey, catch this!" his leader shouted, throwing something at him.

     The other, visibly beside himself, managed to catch what Black hood had just thrown at him, however, and smirked upon finding out what it was : he had just grabbed a knife by its handle. It was the knife picked up earlier from the girl. Red coat smiled at Yoongi: 

     "Now I can really kill you!" 

      Then threw himself on Yoongi in a dull growl.

     "Hyung, watch out!!" Jungkook yelled as he let go of Black cap that he was holding now and that he brutally pushed on Shark still on the ground. 

      He tried to jump on Red Coat to stop him but it was already too late.

     Everything happened very quickly : distraught by the appearance of the knife in this unfair game, the rapper didn't react and watched in surprise as the other swooped down on him, waiting to feel the blade sink painfully into his flesh but he was even more surprised to see a body throw itself heavily on his assailant from the side, belt him and throw him to the ground. The knife slipped from his hands and landed a few feet away from him.

     As he tried to get up, stunned, the young man was brutally grabbed by a security guard who handcuffed him without hesitation. 

     "LET ME GO!" he yelled at the security gard, as he struggled vainly against his handcuffs.

     Only then did Yoongi realize that the fire alarm had stopped sounding, and the group was suddenly surrounded by security guards, who had also just arrested Shark, Black Cap and Showman who had dropped his phone while the live continued despite the broken screen and the image of the airport ceiling. 

     The second boy who had filmed and Black Hood had fled before the security agents arrived, when Black Hood had thrown the knife, knowing that the game was over. A few security guards set off in pursuit but it was probably too late.

      The security gard were accompanied by someone getting back up after throwing himself at Yoongi's attacker.

     "You're late, leader," Yoongi said to his savior as he exhaled in relief, quickly recovering from his fear of dying seconds earlier. "Your soldiers already led the fight in your absence."

      "Late? The timing was perfect," replied Namjoon who was nevertheless relieved to have arrived in time to prevent the unthinkable from happening. He happily continue Yoongi's metaphor "And I was the one who ended the battle, right?"

     Then, even though he knew Yoongi hated it, he hugged him with all his might, aware that if he had arrived a few seconds later, Yoongi might be a corpse lying on the ground. The eldest did not flinch and returned his embrace, saying gratefully:

     "Thank you, I owe you my life."

     Namjoon gave him a speaking smile.

     "I'm the captain, I won't let my soldiers, no, my family, die. We're stuck together, don't forget. By the way, Jimin and Hoseok are safe, they are waiting for us to leave. It's just these three to get back to safety," he added, nodding at the singing trio.

     The two rappers lingered silently for a moment to observe the touching reunion scene that was taking place before their eyes.

     Relieved by Namjoon's arrival accompanied by security, Jungkook had knelt beside Taehyung who was hugging Jin to him and he hugged them both, being careful not to hurt them as they were injured.

     Namjoon and Yoongi could feel all the tenderness that united the trio. Jin still looked anxious, but he calmed down when Jungkook's hand gently massaged the back of his neck like in the past, as if he finally felt safe.

     "The good old days... are they back?" Namjoon whispered to Yoongi, not wanting to interrupt this touching scene.

     "They are slowly coming back," the other said without taking his eyes off the three boys. "And we will continue to strive to bring them back."

     It was like a reminiscence. Jin seemed to realize that it was his Jungkook standing next to him and he let himself be soothed by those caresses as Taehyung continued to hug him.

    But upon suddenly seeing Taehyung's bloody face, Jin widened his eyes before starting to cry: Taehyung had been hurt while trying to protect him, he knew it and guilt gripped him.

     "I am-" he began.

     "Don't," Taehyung cut him off gently, softly wiping away his tears, "hyung, don't say you're sorry. They hit me, not you. You didn't do anything wrong and you are not responsible for what happens to me. As for me, I was responsible for your protection and I failed to protect you and you even had to protect me while you were hurt. I know you trusted me but I couldn't stop them from taking you away from me and you found yourself again all alone in the middle of these mad guys..."

     His voice cracked realizing what had just happened and it didn't take long for him to shed tears as well, and it was Jin who gently wiped his wet eyes with one hand.

      Jin wanted to tell the younger that he was fine now and that he didn't need to worry about him, but his words failed him after being silent for so long. He rested his head on Taehyung's shoulder, suddenly exhausted and aware of his pain.

     "No, that's not true," Jungkook said instead of Jin, knowing full well that's what the eldest would have liked to say to Taehyung. He was continuing to dutifully massage Jin's neck with one hand, who looked like he was falling asleep, and affectionately rubbing Taehyung's shoulder with the other. "you protected him, you took the blows in his place. That was very brave of you."

     "Are you laughing at me because for your part, you already took a stab wound in his place?" Taehyung pouted as he tilted Jin's head which had just rolled limply to the side, unconscious.

     "Well I admit that I did better than you on this one."

      They chuckled before Jungkook realize how surreal this conversation was: when, in their lives would they ever have thought of taking a stab at one of them? They surely had referred to themselves as the armies' bulletproof, receiving the bullets in their place, but they were metaphorical bullets, not real bullets or real knife!

     "Thank you Jungkook, you really saved us," Taehyung told him more seriously, snapping him out of his reverie.

     "That's normal, don't thank me," the youngest said modestly. "I will do anything for you."

     "And not a word of sorry or thanks for the one who saved you when you abandoned him along the way while he was trying to protect you, you golden brat?" Yoongi interjected, grabbing their attention.

     "Hyung, you didn't save me, I was going to give that guy a hell of a beating when you arrived!" Jungkook protested sulking. "Besides, if I hadn't escaped you, we would never have come back to save them and who knows what would have happened?"

     "You're not completely wrong Jungkook but know that Yoongi hyung really tried to save your reputation by preventing you from fighting," Namjoon told him more discreetly, because some people could hear them, even if there were no more journalists and paparazzi in sight, everyone having now been forced out to respect the fire alert protocol which also provided for the temporary cessation of flights. "Because of the live, you could be typecast from bullied by the press and you would have been harassed until they pressured you to leave the agency."

     "Hyung, I don't care now: that's what Jin hyung went through, this harassment, I don't want us to go through it with a blind eye anymore. I want to fight!" Jungkook exclaimed defiantly.

     "Yeah, that's what we're going to do. But we will do it together, not each in his own corner. Not this time Jungkook: you're not alone anymore, okay? We are BTS and we fight together. This is our war."

     That was what Hoseok had already told him. Jungkook loved that feeling: the feeling of being surrounded by his elders, the feeling of being protected no matter what from now on. And he too was a member of the group. He would protect his brothers too. He replied happily:

     "Okay hyung!"

_____________________

A/N: For that chapter, I made a drawing. I know the characters don't look like the real members, but my drawings are always very approximate and simplified, as I drew them without a model and in my own (non)style.

And yes... while drawing, I completely forgot that normally at this point in the story, Jin was supposed to be blond with a short layered haircut. X)

https://youtu.be/7UWBYJjuIL0