Jin and Jungkook lay in their hospital beds, side by side, bundled up under big, warm blanket-lined quilts. A thin tube passed under their duvets allowing an infusion needle stuck in their arm to pour a large quantity of heated solution into them to warm their bodies.

     They also wore an oxygen mask through which they silently breathed in heated oxygen which felt good and warmed their chests pleasantly. Their face was still pale but it no longer had the waxy appearance it had before.

     Jugkook's head wound had been thoroughly cleaned, sutured, and bandaged, but in return, Jungkook had to say goodbye to part of his hair that had been shorn off. He now had a bandage around his head and had watched Jin push back his covers to have his legs and feet examined because they were stiff and he said with anguish that he no longer felt them. The care workers had temporarily removed his wet and frozen plaster to auscultate his legs.

     "And there, do you feel something when I press on it?" the only nurse still present in the room said, moving her hand up her right leg after feeling his foot and ankle to no avail.

     "N-no," Jin spluttered nervously, seeing the hand on his shin but not feeling it yet.

     He was just very cold in his legs and feet, more so than in the rest of the body, which had already warmed up quite a bit, and his limbs felt as hard as ice. His right ankle, still in a cast a few minutes before, hadn't totaly healed yet, so he should have had at least a little pain when he felt the woman press on it, but he didn't feel anything. Absolutely nothing.

     "And there?" the young woman asked, leaning on his knees.

     "Y-yes," Jin breathed, relieved, finally feeling the woman's fingers sink into his skin. "Does...does that mean below the knees I'm...paralyzed? Am I going to lose my lower legs? Am I going to be... to be... amputated?"

     Jungkook's eyes widened in horror at the question, and Jin was pale as death even though he tried not to show the terror he felt at the thought. Was this the highest price to pay for wanting to take his life? Living with part of his body amputated, never being able to walk and dance with others again? Although he was grateful to be alive, Jin was devastated.

     "What?!" the nurse was surprised, but faced with Jin's distress she hastened to explain: "Oh no, don't be afraid, you have frostbite up to your knees because you have been in cold water for a long time and instead of warm up then, you sat in the cold. We would have had to keep walking to get the blood flowing but your limbs will be fine after that, we just have to do it as soon as possible."

    "A-are you sure?" Jin asked, needing certainty.

     "Yes, I'm sure, don't worry like that! I'm not going to lie, it could have been very serious, so you're not wrong to talk about amputation, it also happens sometimes because the body protects itself by sacrificing some of its extremities like the feet when it's too cold to protect vital parts. But you, you're fine, so I would say that you were lucky considering the night you just spent."

     Jin sighed in relief at the same time as Jungkook, both realizing that Jin wouldn't lose his legs and end his life in a wheelchair.

     "I-I'm a lucky person," Jin laughed nervously looking at Jungkook who smiled back and nodded silently. So he added, "And I was lucky to meet the right people in my life. That's what saved me."

     "Oh really? I'm glad for you, you have a lot of luck, that's amazing! Come on now, we're going to make you walk again, but first you have to get the blood circulating normally in your legs and feet."

     "How do I do this?" Jin wondered, looking at his stiff, limp legs on the bed. He couldn't lift them but since the woman had just told him that he would not lose them, he no longer worried as much as before.

     "Oh, you don't have to do anything for the moment, you lie down and let yourself be massaged, that will be the pleasant part, then we will work your joints a little and then replaster your ankle for a while more."

     "Oooh, okay," Jin said as he lay down comfortably. After his first scare, he was glad to know that a simple massage could allow him to regain the use of his legs.

     "I will start with the right leg, I will do it gently so as not to traumatize this ankle because the pain may come back with the other sensations."

     Jin nodded and closed his eyes as the nurse massaged his right foot, her small hands dutifully but very slowly moving up his right leg before lowering, just as gently. He felt little by little tingling in turn go down then go up along his leg. It was quite unpleasant, like millions of little stings all happening at the same time, but it was a sign that he felt his lower leg again. And shortly after, the unpleasant feeling disappeared to give way to a gentle warmth accompanied by the pleasant feeling of caress. Without realizing it, his toes began to move subtly again.

     "Hyung, your foot!" Jungkook shouted excitedly, as he watched the whole scene with concentration, half-straightened under his covers.

     "What? what's wrong with it?" Jin worried as he opened his eyes and looked down at his right foot.

     "It moved!"

     "Really?!"

     "Yes, I saw it!"

     The nurse smiled at this excitement.

     "Try wiggling your toes, see?"

     Jin tried and slowly but surely he saw them move.

    "Oh my God, they really moved, Jungkook, did you see ?" he exclaimed with the same excitement as Jungkook to which were added tears of relief. " Thank you, thank you very much!"

     "You're welcome!" the nurse said, making him straighten the shin and bend the knee joint several times to complete the blood circulation in the leg. "Come on, shall we move on to the other leg?"

     Seokjin nodded with a large smile but continued to wiggle his toes faster and faster, only too happy to see them moving again and obeying his commands. He unrolled the baggy pants of his hospital gown that he had pulled up above his knees and covered his right leg, leaving only his left leg uncovered. He lay down comfortably and waited for the nurse to stretch his second leg.

     "Can I take care of massaging this leg?" Jungkook then asked, as the nurse prepared to resume her massages.

     Jin turned to Jungkook with a curious look.

     "Eh? Uh..." hesitated the woman who would have obviously wanted to continue massaging Jin herself.

     "I watched you well with the first leg, I will be able to do exactly the same movements again," Jungkook clarified, as usual he had learned very quickly.

     "Oh, okay, if you want, I'll still go over a hand after you to be sure," the woman said, disappointed, "in the meantime, I'll go and prepare the material to redo the cas."

     The two boys nodded and watched her exit the room.

     "Why didn't you let her finish, her massages were good," Jin moaned as Jungkook got up from his bed and pulled his IV pole behind him to move over to Jin's bed. "Besides, she wanted to continue, did you see her face? She was so disappointed! It means you ruined the enjoyment of both of us."

     "You implying it won't be good with me?" Jungkook protested sulkily, "hyung, are you forgetting that from the beginning it was always me who made your massages?"

     "No, I don't forget and I admit that you give very good massages, but you will admit on your side that you don't have soft little hands like the one you just kicked out of here," Jin clarified. sticking out his tongue.

     "Yeah, but my big hands will warm you up faster," Jungkook replied, mimicking a rough massaging gesture. It looked like the claws of a crab that opened and closed at full speed. It didn't seem to bode well for his intended victim.

     "Wow, don't forget to be gentle!" Jin exclaimed, analyzing the pliers that served as his hand.

     "No need, it's your left leg," Jungkook replied with a menacing smile.

     "Still, you must be gentle or my ice leg will shatter to pieces," Jin protested.

     "Always in excess, hyung!" Jungkook exclaimed rolling his eyes.

     "Life is dangerous, it's better to always expect the worst."

     "Okay, okay, I will be gentle," Jungkook promised, laughing and stopping. "But you can just say you're scared of everything instead of coming out with a philosophical sentence."

     So, as Jin looked on, he proceeded to administer the same dutiful message to him as the woman had.

     "Yeah, I'm afraid of everything but I'm not afraid of your hands," Jin replied.

     "Even if... even if they hit you?" the younger one uncertainly asked.

     "Yes, despite that. Your hands hit me once, it's true, but they massaged me infinitely more time."

     Contrary to what he had said, although Jungkook's hands were large and one of them heavily tattooed, had often been enclosed in boxing gloves to punch sandbags or wrapped around a pull-up bar, they were incredibly gentle when busy massaging Jin.

     "Ah, thank you JK, that feels good..."

     The eldest was so comfortably installed, warm in this bed, feeling Jungkook's hands restoring their lost heat to his leg and foot that he began to doze, lulled at the same time by the low roar of the machines.

     "Hyung, are you sleeping?" Jungkook asked.

     "Almost..." Jin replied without opening his eyes, feeling himself go. He was sleepy, he realized now that he felt better.

     "Hey! I'm working at saving your leg and you're leaving me to go to dreamland?" the maknae pretended to sulk.

     "Uh...?"

     "Since I massaged your left leg, doesn't that mean that I saved it?"

    "Yeah, we can say that..." Jin's sleepy voice muttered.

     "That way, you will owe me eternal gratitude for saving it," Jungkook said proudly.

     "Oh I see... so that's why you wanted to take the nurse's place? To make my left leg grateful to you?"

     "Maybe," Jungkook joked.

     "JK, my whole body owes you eternal gratitude, you saved me a lot of time," Jin said seriously. Whether they were gentle or not, it was your big hands that gave me the heart massage that brought me back to life today; they were also the ones who kept me from falling when Lee wanted to push me to the company; and it was also you hands who protected me in France. I agree to give you my leg in compensation if that's all that makes you happy."

    "Your legs are too short, I don't want it, thanks, I prefer mine," the younger one scoffed, starting to bend and unbend Jin's leg to make the joint work like the nurse had done for the right leg and finish restoring its agility.

    "You ungrateful kid! I'm not giving it to you then!"

     Jin suddenly felt without seeing them Jungkook's lips land on his shin in a silent kiss and it made him half-open his eyes.

    "Why did you do that?" he said, surprised.

     "To see if you were finally feeling things and if I had done my massage right. If you felt it, it's because I did a good job," Jungkook casually explained.

     "Aish! there were other ways to check!"

     "Yeah, I know, but you said your leg was mine from now on, right? So I can do what I want with it," chuckled the maknae.

     "Ah, but don't do weird things with it," he said, closing his tired eyes again, "you're weird."

     "Hyung, you said you gave me your leg as a reward, so you're the weirder one out of us," Jungkook replied.

     "No, it's you," Jin muttered.

     "No you!"

     "You!"

     "Hey, stobit!"

     Jungkook burst out laughing when he heard this sentence again , which became legendary because of Jin's accent and which definitely made Jin the weirder of the two. Mechanically continuing to massage very gently the already warmed leg, Jungkook said in a more serious tone:

    "Hyung, I think I made a mistake by not killing Lee."

     "Don't say that JK, you made the right decision," Jin contradicted him as he opened his trembling tired eyes, also in a serious tone.

     "But hyung," the maknae protested, "I know that as long as he is alive, he will continue to scare you and give you nightmares. I'm afraid he'll make you lose your smile again," he confessed. "I couldn't bear it if it happened again."

     "That won't happen," Jin promised, smiling sweetly at him, "so don't say again you should have killed him: Jungkook, if you had killed him, that would have made you a murderer. Self-defense or not, imprisoned or not, you should have lived with this on your conscience for the rest of your life. It would have inevitably ended up crushing you like what he did to me broke me. You would have been plunged into a cycle of suffering and depression and no one knows what your life would have become. It was you who would have stopped smiling and I couldn't bear it either."

     "No because you would have helped me survive that!" Jungkook retorted.

     "No," Jin denied shaking his head sadly, "I'm sorry JK, I wish I could tell you the opposite, but honestly, I couldn't because I already need you to fight my own fears right now. If the two of us had let each other down, we wouldn't have been able to get out of this. By letting Lee live, you made the right decision I repeat: you made the decision that would allow us to move forward, even if for the moment, it is hard to believe, for you and for me as well."

     "I understand your point hyung, but if we don't sue Lee ASAP, he won't be imprisoned and the anguish will continue. Do you really think you can overcome your fears and testify against Lee knowing that he remains a threat to us as long as he is alive?" Jungkook asked worriedly. "I'm asking that because the last time we were at the company and we finally got to reveal everything he did you lied and protected him because he was threatening."

     Jin's face paled as if he had once again found himself on the frozen beach of Hanagae and the thoughts that crossed his mind made him flinch despite the warmth he was receiving.

     Even though he had regained his smile and was surrounded by his dongsaengs again, he still hadn't overcome his fear of Lee, that was obvious. He didn't feel able to face Lee, but could he tell Jungkook who had risked everything to save him? Or to the other members who stayed behind to make sure Lee was caught by the police? Could he tell that when the only solution for Lee to be punished by justice was for him to shake himself off and agree to stand up to him despite his threats?

     Jin remembered what had happened at the companywhen the truth had burst through the mouths of the youngest, when he himself had been unable to reveal the truth. Jungkook and Taehyung had been particularly affected by his silence because Lee had blamed them in front of all of them for all Jin's suffering.

    It had been a particularly difficult moment for Jin too, to see the two youngest suffer like that without being able to help them when it was all his fault.

     "I'm really sorry about that..." Jin said uncomfortably.

     "It's alright, hyung, I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty," Jungkook reassured him, "I know you were trying to both protect us and protect yourself, but do you think you would be able to accuse him with us this time? Without you, we can never win against him, but if you don't feel up to it, we won't force you, I promise."

     "I don't know what I'm capable of right now," the eldest admitted, "but what's certain is that on my own, I wouldn't be able to do it..."

     "I'm not telling you to do it alone, you won't be alone anymore, we already promised you that," Jungkook assured him.

     "Yes you did," Jin smiled, "and with you, I believe that..."

     He closed his eyes again and let his sentence hang.

     "That what?" the younger one asked curiously.

      "....That I am capable of anything," the eldest finished.

      "Same for us!" Jungkook replied excitedly. "With you, we are complete and we are stronger than Lee, that's for sure!"

     "Then... I think I can do it. Let's fight together," Jin said, smiling despite his closed eyelids.

     "It's planned, hyung!" Jungkook said, happy of Jin's decision. "Don't worry, Namjoon hyung has planned everything for us to win. He even wrote his own Art of war book, you know? He is determined to win and you are an irreplaceable soldier so if you are not with us, this strategy will fall apart. Mine had already collapsed because I was all alone and that I ruined everything because of my selfishness, but Namjoon hyung is the smartest of us so if we all follow him, we'll win this last battle for sure, we can be confident, you believe in it too, don't you?"

     Jungkook waited for Jin's answer but the answer never came. And for good reason: when he turned to Jin, the youngest noticed that the elder had let himself sink and managed to fall asleep as quickly as possible. His parted mouth let out the slow, deep breathing of sleep

     "What, just like that, without warning?" he regretted before pouting : "only babies fall asleep so quickly. I must have massaged him too gently."

     He sat up and went around the bed to go to the side that the oldest had left free, then he did what he hadn't been able to do for a very long time now: he lay down next to Jin and he whispered to him:

    "The nightmare will soon be over, you'll see..."

     And despite what he said about Jin, he too fell asleep almost instantly as he was trying to force himself to wait for his other hyungs to arrive.

___________________

A/N : Just for fun

https://youtu.be/dRvMyFqZ5ew