"J-Jungkook..."

     Jungkook, who felt his eyelids getting dangerously heavy for several minutes and had just closed them, suddenly opened them again hearing Jin's voice.

     "D-don't f-fall asleep," Jin mumbled weakly, himself feeling his body go numb and had just felt Jungkook's head fall heavily on his shoulder and wake him up slightly from his own torpor.

     "Hyung... I'm n-not s-sleeping..." Jungkook's sleepy voice said, his jaw just as stiff from the cold as that of his eldest.

     The two boys kept keeping each other awake, but it was getting harder and harder. They were struggling to stay awake and now stood still against each other, barely managing to warm themselves with their cold bodies. A few meters from them, lying in the sand, Lee had not moved for a long time.

     They knew their minutes were counted but they had to resign themselves: if someone didn't come to save them soon, they wouldn't survive. But why there was still no one here to save them? Maybe Jungkook wasn't specific enough when he gave their location? Maybe the help was going through the miles of beaches that stretched on both sides of them?

     They would have liked for the night to end, for the sun to come back and a semblance of warmth with it, but time seemed to pass in slow motion. The moon slowly rose in the night sky as the minutes passed and the life expectancy of the three men lying on the beach dwindled.

     In addition, even ifJungkook hadn't wanted to think about it before because all that mattered was saving Jin, but his head injury seemed serious to him and his head hurted badly. He felt like he was losing consciousness, he couldn't fight anymore.

     After a while, as Jin crashed heavily into him and it was obvious he had fallen asleep, Jungkook didn't have the strength to wake him up anymore. His own forehead rested comfortably on Jin's shoulder when he finally closed his eyes, unable to struggle any longer.

     "I'm s-so t-tired..." he mumbled as he snuggled up warmly against Jin and fell asleep almost instantly.

     "JUNGKOOK!"

     Jungkook had been hearing his name echoing in the distance for several seconds. He wanted to ignore the desperate pleas but hands shook him in time with the voice calling out his name and clinging to him from behind, rubbing his arms. This friction created small tingles in his body as the blood began to circulate normally in his veins and warmed his body very slowly.

      However, he was too tired to open his eyes closed, convinced that he could fall asleep again without any problem if the person who was shouting in his ears and shaking him would leave him alone.

     "OH, MY GOD, HYUNG, HE'S FREEZING..." the panicked, crying voice shouted, "JUNGKOOK YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

     Jungkook was so cold that he instinctively groped around for his blanket but his fingers closed only on his down jacket and the form he was sleeping against.

     "JIN HYUNG!" The same voice shouted next to his ear, and this time, Jungkook had regained enough consciousness to recognize Jimin's voice, "YOONGI HYUNG, WAKE HIM UP, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"

     Jin hyung ? Yoongi hyung ? Jungkook mentally repeated, still confused.

     "We have to unhook them from each other first, they look like two ice statues," Yoongi's voice replied which was not shouting but was no less worried.

     "Alright," Jimin aggreed, trying to untie the arms of Jungkook who was firmly clinging to Jin and who actually seemed to have frozen around him.

     Quickely, Jungkook regretfully felt that the warm form against him was torn away as he didn't have the strength to hold it against him. Deprived of its heat shield, an intense cold suddenly gripped him and made him shiver.

   "HEY, HYUNG, JUNGKOOK MOVED!! Kookie, come on, wake up, please!" implored Jimin who rubbed him harder, trying to warm him up at the same time as bringing him back to consciousness. "You can't sleep like this, you'll freeze to death!"

    "J-Jimin..." Jungkook muttered weakly, half-opening his heavy eyelids and feeling his arm for Jimin's small hand, which grabbed his without hesitation and caressed it gently. "Y-you c-came... w-we were... w-waiting... f-for you... We w-were s-so... c-cold..."

     "Yes, Jungkook, it's me, it's Jimin! I'm with Yoongi hyung, we came to get you and Jin hyung, and the others are on their way too!" promised Jimin who took off his coat and placed it on Jungkook's shoulders before hugging him as much relief as to warm him up.

     Opening his eyes completly and turning his head to look at Jimin, Jungkook felt a searing pain shoot through him and gave a low moan of pain when he almost fell to the side. Jimin held him back to keep it from crashing on the sand while stepping back a little to examine him with a worried look.

     "Jungkook, I know you're very cold right now and all you wanna do is sleep but other than that, are you hurt somewhere?" Jimin said, worried.

     "M-my head," Jungkook moaned, unable to raise his hand to his head as his arm felt stiff.

     "Oh my God!" Jimin exclaimed as he realized that at the back of his head, Jungkook's hair was sticky with dry blood that had dripped down his neck. "Hang on Jungkook, help is coming I promise, we've given them your exact location."

     "O-okay," Jungkook muttered distractedly as he turned his gaze to Jin who Yoongi had also covered with his coat but who still had his eyes closed. "J-Jin hyung?"

      "Yoongi hyung is waking him up," Jimin replied apprehensively, turning his gaze to Jin in turn, gnawed with worry at seeing him as pale and stiff as a dead man eyes still resolutely closed.

     "He's f-fine i-isn't he?" Jungkook stammered because of the cold.

     "Y-yes," Jimin stuttered, not because of the cold for his part, but because he didn't know the answer and he didn't want to worry Jungkook who was in such bad shape after doing everything possible to save Jin. He hoped with all his heart that Jin was fine, but for the moment, it was looking bad.

     Reassured by Jimin's answer, Jungkook sighed with relief and explained:

     "We k-kept each-other w-warm while waiting f-for you."

     "You did well," Jimin told him, stroking the top of his head in a reassuring gesture, avoiding his injury to the back. He noticed that Jungkook's hair was full of salt. It could only mean one thing: he had plunged into the water. So Jin had really plunged into the water to try to end his life, Jungkook was not wrong.

     "HEEY!!" a voice cried in the distance, attracting their attention.

      Yoongi, Jimin, and Jungkook turned towards the voice and saw three shadows running across the beach towards them, their cellphone lights illuminating the sand in front of them to aid their running. Well, one of the three figures was limping and looked more like he was hopping than running. As the shadows approached, it was possible to recognize their faces:  it was Namjoon, Taehyung and finally, Hoseok who limped because even though he no longer had a cast, his leg was not completely healed. It was Hoseok who shouted and got the others' attention.

    "Jungkook, are you okay?!" Taehyung asked worriedly stopping next to him, out of breath.

     "Yeah," Jungkook said distractedly, still feeling sleepy.

     "No, he's not well," Jimin contradicted, "he's frozen and he has a head injury, he needs to get to the hospital as soon as possible."

     "Eh?! But, what happened?! And how is Jin hyung?!" Hoseok asked worriedly, looking at Jin, lying against Yoongi who was shivering without his coat that he had placed on Jin.

     "One question at a time, Jungkook doesn't seem to have a clear head," Namjoon said worriedly, seeing Jungkook's eyes fluttering around not knowing where or who to look at. Instead, he turned to Yoongi, "Hyung, how is he?"

     "He's not waking up," Yoongi said darkly who was massaging Jin's icy fingers because he had in his head images of terrible frozen fingers that had to be amputated .

     "Eh? But why doesn't he wake up?!" Taehyung shouted, which caused Jungkook to panic and Jimin had to stop him from crawling up to Jin.

     "N-no, I s-saved him, I swear, h-he w-was alive!" Jungkook protested, panicked, "I r-revived him and t-then, we k-kept eachother warm b-but I... I... oh my God, I fell asleep, no..."

     His eyes filled with tears and immediately shed them under the devastated gaze of his hyungs.

     "Jin hyung..." he moaned, without strength.

     He was sure he had managed to save him. Why did the nightmare start again, again and again? Why did he have to survive and Jin not?

    "No..." Taehyung denied, shaking his head. His eyes shining with tears too.

     "Does that mean we arrived too late?" Namjoon said with a trembling voice looking at Jin, eyes filled with sorrow. "Yoongi hyung, are you... are you sure?"

      Before Yoongi could respond, a grief-stricken Hoseok yelled with all his might as he threw himself into the sand next to Yoongi and Jin:

     "NO, JIN HYUNG!"

     His scream so close to the ears of the elder had the effect of startling Jin and his little start in turn startled Yoongi who recoiled, stunned as if he had just seen a dead person come back to life. Which wasn't entirely incorrect as they had all believed for a few seconds that Jin ultimately didn't survive.

     "Damn it!" Yoongi exclaimed. "Guys, Jin hyung is fine!"

     A sigh of relief ran through the group and Yoongi clarified:

     "He woke up thanks to Hoseok's scream."

     Indeed, Jin was blinking in a daze, his body slumped against Yoongi.

     "You mean you hadn't thought of yelling to wake him up?!" protested Jimin who thought it was so obvious that he hadn't thought to tell Yoongi.

     Yoongi shrugged and Hoseok he burst into a laugh of relief which mingled with tears of joy as he threw himself on Jin's neck, while the others smiled reassuringly after sharing a moment of panic. Jungkook sighed again in relief and let himself fall back against Jimin who gently wiped the maknae's cheeks wet with tears.

     "A-are you a-all t-there?" Jin asked, having difficulty speaking due to numb jaw from the cold.

     His gaze went from Hoseok's face, to Yoongi's next to him, then in front of them, Namjoon's, Taehyung's, Jimin's... and Jungkook's who was still with him. 

     Everyone was there with him, and they looked at him with a mixture of worry, relief and joy. He too was relieved and happy. Relieved to to have been able to open his eyes again to see again the faces of his precious dongsaengs all gathered around him, when he thought he would never see them again a few hours before.

     "Yes hyung, we all came," Taehyung nodded, finally letting tears flow, without trying to wipe them away, because the emotion he felt was too strong.

     Feeling that he had to tell them immediately how he felt, Jin breathed weakly:

     "I'm happy... t-to see you all... I'm v-very happy."

     "We're all glad to see you too hyung," Namjoon assured.

     The last time they saw Jin, the elder was motionless, scared and almost mute in a wheelchair, and he seemed to be only a shadow of who he had been, as if he was no longer capable of being happy again. And in the meantime, he had even tried to end his life. So hearing him say he was happy at that moment seemed like a sweet dream to them. A dream they wanted to see continue. So when they saw him burst into tears, they were shaken.

     "Jin hyung, are you okay?!" Hoseok exclaimed, examining Jin from head to toe, thinking he was in pain.

      "He's awake now, you don't need to keep screaming," Yoongi grumbled, "you'll scare him."

      "I'm n-not s-scared," Jin contradicted him, "I'm not scared anymore because I'm with you all. I'm c-crying b-because I'm happy, that's it."

     "Aww, hyungie!" Hoseok said, who found Jin's remark cute. He stuck his tongue out at Yoongi who rolled his eyes.

     Jin tried to smile back but his jaw was clenched from the cold and his blue lips quivering.

      "G-gosh, I'm s-so c-cold..." he moaned without being able to make a movement to tighten the coat around him.

     "Here hyung," Hoseok said, taking off his bulky scarf to wrap it around Jin's neck and face, of which they soon saw only the eyes. After that, he hugged his hyung tightly and wouldn't let go.

     "Hobi, I n-need to b-breathe," Jin protested with a small voice, who nevertheless was relieved at the pleasant warmth that started to envelop his body.

     "Oh sorry!" Hoseok apologized, loosening his grip a little. "Are you okay, now?"

     "Yes, t-thank you," Jin replied mechanically as Jungkook had done before, not really taking the time to know if he was okay, though he soon realized that his body was paralyzed and he briefly wondered if his legs and his feet might one day move again because he no longer felt them at all. But he didn't care at that moment. He had survived and Jungkook too, that was the main thing. He looked up and his eyes met Jungkook's. "H-how are you, JK?"

     Although they were both surprised and happy to see Jin talking to Jungkook again, none of the members picked up this information out loud. Everyone turned their attention to Jungkook who definitely seemed in bad shape.

     "What happened to you?" Taehyung asked with a grimace of pain as he stared at the back of Jungkook's head.

     "Lee," Jungkook only said, raising a shaky hand to point at a barely discernable shape in the moonlight. He had completely forgotten about him.

     "WHAT?!" Namjoon, Taehyung, Jimin, Hoseok, and Yoongi exclaimed in amazement turning as one to follow Jungkook's finger direction.

     Namjoon lifted his phone to illuminate the area with their flashlight and indeed saw that a man he knew too well was lying inert near the shore where the icy ripples flow.

     "What is he doing there?!" Namjoon shouted, horrified.

     "He t-tried to k-kill us," Jungkook said like it was the most normal thing ever. "He almost s-succeed. B-but we d-defended ourselves this time."

     The others widened their eyes in horror, as Jin nodded in approval of Jungkook's words.

     "He hit J-Jungkook with my c-crutch," Jin clarified, shivering and snuggling even closer to Hoseok who gladly wrapped his warm arms around him.

     "And he t-tried to d-drown Jin hyung, and he s-said he would d-drown me r-right after," added Jungkook who seemed to have regained part of his senses somewhat.

     Shocked, the others took turns looking at Jin and Jungkook to make sure the two were serious. Yoongi got over himself first and said:

      "I'll call the police. We must have him arrested by the police immediately. If he came after them now, he'll do it again to stop them testifying against him."

      "Wait, hyung, we need to find out what happened to him first," Namjoon stopped him. "We don't even know if he's still alive."

     "Do you think he's... dead?" Taehyung asked Namjoon cautiously.

     Namjoon was going to answer but it was Jungkook who intervened:

     "I hit him l-like he d-did to me, no, m-more so, but he escaped d-despite everything and ended up washing up on the b-beach like a whale. I t-thought it was time for me to s-strangle him."

     He had said that with such seriousness that everyone looked at him in horror, even Jin.

     "S-Strangle him?" he repetead in horror.

      "Hyung, d-don't say that like he didn't d-deserve it and d-don't look at me like I'm the m-monster : he had just just d-drowned you without any q-qualms! F-first, he was happy to s-see you s-struggling uselessly to s-survive and being afraid to d-die and then he was happy to have k-killed you it was horrible to see, so b-believe me : he more than d-deserved it!"

     Remembering the feeling of utter fear he felt when he felt that Lee wouldn't let go of him despite his fierce struggle and the pain he felt when oxygen refused to enter his lungs and was replaced by the icy but burning water at the same time, Jin trembled and did not reply. How to blame Jungkook when this man had put them through such hell?

     The others both felt their distress but Lee's death was still a problem.

     "Jin hyung, Jungkook, we're not saying he didn't deserve it, okay?" Hoseok said gently, patting Jin on the shoulder to reassure him and bring him out of his horrible memory. "We are obviously aware that Lee deserves to die in excruciating pain, but it should not be your hand because we have been fighting for a month already to be able to find soon again a normal life together. But if you kill him..."

     Jungkook seemed to calm down a bit but didn't say anything.

     "Jungkook, tell us... you really killed him?" Jimin asked in despair.

      Jungkook sighed, but aware that the others were just afraid for him he said :

      "I wanted to do it myself, believe me, but Jin hyung was unconscious, he was going to die if I took care of Lee so I left him to take car of hyung."

     The others heaved a general sigh of relief.

     "But I believe he died of cold or his head injuries because he hasn't moved since," the maknae warned them nevertheless.

     "Oh no..." Namjoon moaned.

     "Why, can't you be relieved he's dead?" Jungkook protested.

      "Jungkook, we have almost finished preparing our defense strategy for the trial, but if Lee dies here on this beach with Jin hyung and you who were found all alone with him, everything has to be redone and it will be much more difficult, you will be suspected of murder."

     "B-but... you know he deserved it!" Jungkook persisted, less confident yet.

     "I'm not saying the opposite but you don't do justice yourself unless you want to be considered a criminal!"

    "But it was s-self-defense, he was g-going to k-kill us!" Jungkook protested.

      "I know Jungkook, but listen to me : we will have to prove it because the judge could also consider that you wanted to kill him to prevent him from disclosing the compromising information he had about you,"the leader complained before turn to the eldest of rappers with urgency: "Yoongi hyung, call the police now and explain the situation to them - without to mention Jungkook trying to strangle Lee obviously."

     Yoongi nodded and walked away from the others to find some phone network.

     "Anyway, t-there was n-no way I was g-going to save him," Jungkook grumbled. "I am not responsible f-for his death, it is f-fate that took c-care of k-killing him for his c-crimes."

     Namjoon sighed and ran an anxious hand through his hair, wondering how they were going to get out of it this time, the first situation was already anything but simple.

     "Okay, Taehyung, come with me, we'll go see if Lee is really dead. You guys stay here," he decided, looking at Jin, Hoseok, Jungkook, and Jimin.

      "Be careful, stay on your toes because you never know what to expect with Lee," Jimin told them.

     "Yeah, we know, don't worry. If we need help, we'll call you," Taehyung reassured him. "There are more of us than him, he won't be able to do anything if we all get together."

     Watching Namjoon and Taehyung walk away from them, Hoseok suddenly wondered something:

     "How did Lee know you were there when it took us a long time to reach you despite Jungkook's message?"

     "Maybe he was watching Jin hyung since the beginning and followed him here thinking that Jungkook would come?" Jimin ventured. "Or maybe he just wanted to kill Jin hyung at the base and that he saw this as an opportunity to get rid of you two?"

     His plausible remark sent a shudder through them.

      "Here, he could have gotten rid of you two without anyone knowing," Hoseok muttered, hugging Jin even tighter.

      Jungkook nodded in a shiver, as Lee told him that he was going to let the sea wash away their bodies.

     "JK, thank you for going to see Jin hyung today," Hoseok thanked him wholeheartedly.

    He realized that if Jungkook hadn't insisted on going to see Jin precisely that day and that, against everyone's advice, he wouldn't have been able to save Jin: Jin would simply have disappeared forever, or at least until the sea has agreed to give them back his dead body.

     "B-but it's my fault that Jungkook almost d-died ," Jin apologized, "I'm s-sorry for s-selfishly p-putting you in d-danger, JK."

     "Hyung..." Jungkook protested.

     "N-no, JK, it's the t-truth: I came here to end it, Lee c-could never have reached you if I hadn't made this d-decision. I'm sure he was j-just gonna watch me kill myself from afar, but as you c-came, he had to c-come after you too, he c-couldn't just watch anymore."

     "Hyung, d-don't say it's your fault he attacked me, Lee was always able to r-reach us, even when we t-thought we were s-safe, d-don't forget that."

     "Jungkook is right," Jimin said, "He would have found a way to do it before the trial anyway. He didn't want to wait for you to get better. It was too risky for him despite the promises of PD-nim, he's not stupid, he must have quickly understood that we wouldn't let go of the matter. We should have thought about it, but since you were with your parents, we were convinced that you weren't risking anything."

      "But I left without telling anyone..." Jin said shamefully.

     "Yes hyung, you really did something terrible," Jimin asked with pain looking at Jin's wavy hair frozen in the salt after drying out somewhat, like Jungkook's. "And if things had gone differently tonight, we would all be mourning your death right now. I can only imagine how desperate you were to end up trying to kill yourself, and I'm beyond sorry about that because it means that we failed as a family to you, but I hope you realize the fear we felt when Jungkook explained everything to us. Because what you were about to do was irreversible: you would never come back again."

     "Hyung, didn't you have faith in us? We're here for you, I thought you knew that," Hoseok said with a heavy heart.

     "Hobi hyung, d-don't be hard on Jin hyung, I already l-lectured him earlier," Jungkook pleaded in defense of Jin, "he knows we l-love him and n-never want to see him do it again s-something like that."

      Jin swallowed with difficulty. Yes, he realized now. He had almost abandoned his family.

    "You didn't f-fail as a family, it was me who let you down, thinking it was too m-much to b-bear and easier to g-give up everything, I'm s-so s-sorry to have worried you," Jin said before adding hastily looking at the younger one, "but Jungkook c-came to s-save me, I am very g-grateful to him and I'm m-more than okay ow."

     The two exchanged a tender look that reassured Jimin and Hoseok, aware that these were not just reassuring words: Jin was visibly better. Better than when they had parted a month earlier, and better, a fortiori, than when he had made the decision to end his life.

     Smiling tenderly, Jimin nodded.

     "Hyung, we'll always be here for you, just as we know you will always be there for us, so always tell us when you're not well from now on, okay? We will always find a solution together."

     "Jiminie..." Jin said with tears in his eyes as  the young singer's words echoed those Jungkook had spoken earlier and supported them.

     For his part, Hoseok, seeing him moved, exclaimed, squeezing Jin's neck and pressed his cheek to his affectionately:

     "Aaah! how I love my Jin hyung!"

     "Yaaa, Hobaa, you're holding me t-too t-tight again," Jin moaned, still hugging Hoseok back, as Jungkook and Jimin looked at them with a smile.

      BTS's sun and moon could once again shine together on the group, and it was a magnificent light that made the youngest happy.

     "Hey guys, look, help is coming!!" Jimin exclaimed suddenly with relief, pointing to the two ambulances with blue flashing lights that had just appeared away, on the road along the beach, where Yoongi was also waiting for the police to guide the agents to their small group and to Lee when they arrived.

      Seeing the blinding blue light and the white-clad paramedics bustling with their stretchers to join them, Taehyung and Namjoon walked back to the other members. Namjoon no longer had his coat, as he had covered Lee's frozen body with it.

     "He's not dead," Namjoon announced inceremoniously, "but I don't know if he'll survive, we'll have to cross our fingers now."

     Jin, Jimin, Hoseok and Jungkook did not know if this news should make them happy but certainly didn't want to cross their fingers or pray for Lee.

     "We should have known he wasn't dead," Taehyung remarked, "demons are hard to kill. I asked Namjoon hyung if we could finish him off but instead he tried to warm him up to keep him alive. Sorry Jungkook, at least I would have tried."

     He received Namjoon's glare without flinching as the paramedics finally got to them. Quickly, they took care of Jin and Jungkook, strapping them both on a stretcher, to take them to the nearest hospital.

      They were both going to be transported in a single ambulance since Namjoon had told the paramedics that Lee also had to be taken care of and that the other two paramedics were already busy around the criminal. But Lee could not be transported until the police arrived because the he was dangerous and should be strictly controlled by law enforcement.

     Handled between the arms of the rescuers as they were, everyone could see with concern that Jin's legs were indeed all stiff and inert and that Jungkook, shaken, began to lose consciousness again. Jungkook's head was hastily bandaged after the wound was disinfected. They were no longer wearing Yoongi and Jimin's coats but were covered with a survival blanket to protect them from the biting cold.

       Before they were taken away from them, and while they were immobilized on their stretcher halfway up, Namjoon slipped between the two and looked at the eldest and youngest of his group, the little family he was responsible for.

     Their bodies buried under the golden survival blanket, only their heads emerged with their horribly pale faces and frizzy hair frozen in the salt. Admittedly, they were in bad shape, one of them had just tried to end his life and the two had almost been killed first by the monster who had been following them for too long already, then by the cold winter.

      However, in Namjoon eyes, their look was not that of two dying people. Their gaze was that of two boys who had decided to fight to survive and be happy again. And this vision was comforting for their leader.

      He put one hand on Jin and the other on Jungkook and said to them with his old assurance:

     "We'll take care of Lee and the police, and we'll get to you all as soon as possible, okay?"

      "O-okay hyung," Jungkook muttered between his chattering teeth, his eyes already closed. "Don't worry, I'll t-take care of Jin hyung."

      "And I'll take care of Jungkook," Jin retorted, which amused Namjoon. "Namjoonie, we'll be waiting for you," Jin added, looking his leader straight in the eye and smiling at him for the first time in a long time. 

      Too long, Namjoon thought, unable to take his eyes off that warm, comforting smile that he had missed so much.

      And behing this "we" and this "you" designated by Jin before to be taken away, there were finally the seven of them again.

      Jin was back. BTS was complete again.

_________________________

A/N : The song Jungkook likes to listen to in winter because Jin's voice is amazing ^^