"No, please, stop..." Jin groaned fidgeting, as he still felt insistent hands on him after what seemed like hours.

     "Wake up!"

      Immediately, Jin opened his eyes but the light was on and he found himself temporarily blinded. However, that didn't stop him from realizing that he was no longer attached without his remembering having been detached.  He had to take advantage of it. 

      Blindly, he hastened to straightened up and grabbed the hands that were resting on him. Without thinking he pushed Lee who fell on his back on the bed with a grunt. He couldn't wait: he remembered all too well what Lee had done the day Jungkook had the misfortune to push him away. He had put them through hell. If he didn't flee immediately, he was finished.

       Taking advantage of the surprise effect, Jin hastened to get up and was going to run towards the door to open the lock and take refuge in the next room when he felt a hand grab it with force, extracting from him a cry of surprise.

     "Hey, where are you going? Don't go like that, I came to see you!"

       Panicked at the idea at the thought of what was going to happen to him because he couldn't free himself from the embrace that held him back, Jin struggled as best he could but caught his feet in the sheets and fell backwards loudly and groaned in pain.

          As his eyes widened in horror as he saw the blurry figure approaching him in that blinding light, Jin crawled backwards until his back hit his closet door and prevented him from going any further. So, he raised both hands and shouted:

     "No, I won't try to leave anymore, please don't hurt me!"

      "Hyung, I'm not going to hurt you, it's me, calm down!"

     Finally recognizing this voice that spoke to him softly and feeling two hands rest gently on his shoulders, Jin froze. Was it a figment of his imagination? Was it Lee who still laughed at him and wanted to give him hope? Jin didn't want to hope again to see his hopes shattered by Lee's traps.

    "Can you hear me hyung? It's me, not him!"

     "J-Jungkook?" Jin gasped, squinting to make out the details of his face better, before frantically looking around to make sure he was in his room and Lee was nowhere around him.

     "Yes, it's me," the younger nodded, relieved to see him less agitated, "here, let me help you."

     He gently helped Jin to his feet and led him back to bed where he lay down. He was panting and drenched in sweat, and obediently let himself fall back on his pillow trying to get used to the brightness of the room and catch his breath under Jungkook's worried gaze.

     "Are you alright?"

     "I saw him JK, Lee was there!" Jin whined with a shudder, pointing to where Jungkook had stood moments earlier to wake him up. 

     "No, he's not here, don't worry anymore," Jungkook said.

     "Yes, he was there, he- he had to leave discreetly, that's why you didn't hear him come out," Jin assured while shaking. "We have to call the police now!"

      "Hyung, I assure you, it was just another nightmare," Jungkook told him, placing his reassuring hands on his shoulders to force him to lie down. 

     "I'm telling you he was here, you have to believe me!" Jin shouted, more anxious than ever. 

     Jungkook's anxious gaze made him nauseous.

     "Do you think I've gone crazy?"

     "Huh?! No it's not true!" Jungkook refuted, "It's just that he can't be there, it's got to be a nightmare."

     "Why, because he's in jail?" Jin asked.

     Slowly, much too slowly, Jungkook nodded.

     "Are you sure? 'Cause Lee told me that night he is no longer there, he told me that he had been released!" Jin exclaimed.

     He saw a flash of doubt cross Jungkook's gaze. He would have given for Jungkook to contradict him but the expression of the maknae sent shivers down his spine.

     "S-So is it true? And you... you knew it? " Jin asked, shocked.

     "For lack of evidence, Lee had been released following pressure from his lawyer while awaiting the trial. Hyung, I'm sorry, Namjoon hyung asked us not to tell you."

    Jin felt betrayed and even more vulnerable. Jungkook had lied to him about Lee's imprisonment. What else had he been hiding from him?

     "Why you he wanted to hide that from me? Because I would have made sure to be more careful? I can't believe you lied to me, I trusted you Jungkook! What am I going to do now that he's back..." he said anxiously to himself as he started biting his thumbnail. 

     It had become a bad habit and he gnawed at him regularly until he bled. 

      "Don't do that hyung," Jungkook said grabbing his hand to prevent him from hurting himself further. "You don't need to do anything and you don't have to worry even if he was released, because he won't come here. Believe me, if we didn't say anything, it wasn't to hide things from you, it was to keep you from panicking." 

     "So that I can come and testify with you?" Jin asked bitterly, remembering his dream, "so you can finally get better thanks to my testimony in court? Do not lie, I know that even if you don't say anything, you're still afraid of him and you are ready to do anything to have him condemned, no matter how."

     This time around, it was all about Jungkook being shocked.

     "Why are you like that hyung? Can you hear yourself speak? Even though I haven't been up to it so far to protect you and you still doubt me, I will never force you to testify if you don't want to, and I will certainly not manipulate you for you to do it!"

      Jin seemed to hesitate for a moment at Jungkook's outraged reaction, but he was far too shaken by Lee's coming and discovering his dongsaengs' lie to stop there.

     "But maybe the others would do it for you."

     "Hyung, have faith in them, everything they are doing right now is for you. Everything we do is to make you feel better so please don't make us look selfish! Did we make you feel like you mattered less than any of us? 'Cause it ain't, it never will and you know it." 

     "And yet you hid the truth from me!" Jin insisted. 

     "Even though we hid from you that Lee was released from prison, we continued to watch over you and make sure he didn't come near of you. We promised you we wouldn't let him hurt you anymore, didn't we?"

     "Yes you did, yet that wasn't enough since he was there that night!" Jin cried.

     "He wasn't there, it wasn't real hyung!"

    "If he wasn't really there and it was only a nightmare, how would I know he was out of jail?"

     This, Jungkook did not know, but he hastened to think to find a satisfactory explanation to calm Jin down. Either way, he couldn't believe that Lee actually came here and was having trouble with Jin. It was impossible, not when they had done everything to prevent him from coming. And if he had actually succeeded, it meant that Jungkook had once again failed in his promise to protect Jin, he wouldn't stand it one more time. He didn't even want to leave room for the slightest doubt in his mind. So he said with as much conviction as possible to Jin who was anxiously awaiting his answer:

    "Because that's what nightmares are hyung, they're visions playing with your fears. You're so afraid that Lee is coming to hurt you that you haven't stopped dreaming of him lately and last night you dreamed that he was there and that he had announced his release from prison. It's a coincidence, I assure you!"

     Jin looked at him for a long time, probing his eyes to see if he was lying again to keep him from panicking. Although there was sincerity in the maknae's eyes, he found it hard to be convinced after what he had discovered.

     "Are you asking me to trust you again when you lied to me?" he asked with mistrust, much to Jungkook's dismay.

     "Hyung, please don't question everything because of one lie. Trust me when I tell you we did this to keep you from freaking out more than you already are. You've been like this for days and waking us all up in the middle of the night because you're having nightmares."

    "I'm sorry to bother you so much, if I had known it bothered you enough to make you hide things from me, I would have gone home," Jin replied looking away from Jungkook, uncomfortable. 

    But Jungkook gently grabbed his face between both hands and forced him to look at him.

    "Hyung, please listen to me : you don't bother us, not even a little, don't doubt it, okay? You know we want to take care of you, with all our heart and without any compensation, so don't say you want to leave us and go home! This is your home, here with us, with or without your nightmares. We just don't want you to feel this bad anymore, you know? It makes us sad to see you like this and we just want to see you smile again, free from all your anxieties, that's what would make us happy. In the meantime, we'll be here for you as long as you need us. I, will always be there for you, I will repeat it to you as many times as necessary. Now do you trust me, hyung?"

      He looked at him intently, his hands still cupping his face, to let him judge his sincerity. Jungkook's eyes weren't lying, this time Jin was sure of it. And suddenly, he felt bad. Horribly bad. 

     By dint of preparing for Lee's trial after Doo-Na's, he had ended up not being able to think of anything but Lee. Indeed, like Jungkook said, he kept waking up his dongsaengs because of his terrible nightmares but at no time had one of them complained. 

      They were content to come and reassure him and make sure he was better before leaving him. And without them, he doesn't know how he could have survived. Maybe he really would have gone mad with no way to recover from his panic attacks. How was he going to live if he no longer distinguished between his nightmares and reality? 

     He felt pathetic after thinking he was cured when all of his dongsaeng joined him and Jungkook to fight together but eventually he realized he wasn't. He remembered what Lee had said to him: I'm always with you, no matter where you are. I will always be with you. Even if you try to run away from me, I will never let you go.

    His eyes then filled with tears and he began to cry loudly under the distraught gaze of Jungkook. 

    "I'm s-sorry...  I feel like I'm losing my mind... I'm so scared..." he cried.

     "Hyung, it's okay to be scared, but I promise that I won't let anything happen to you," Junkook said taking him in his arms and trying to comfort him gently. "It'll be okay soon."

     "But Lee will... always... be there... with me..." Jin cried leaving hid endless stream of his tears wet Jungkook's pajamas. "He won't leave me in peace..., he told me that... he said he'll never let me go..."

     "We've let him stay with us for too long, but it's not gonna happen again. Soon he will be a distant memory and he won't come to haunt you anymore 'cause we're gonna destroy him no matter what it takes. He won't live the luxurious life he wanted, he'll pay for all the tears he made you shed. It's a promise, okay?"

      Jin wanted to tell Jungkook again that he would fight with him and win together. But he knew now that he was just a useless weight in this battle. He only knew how to cry in front of his monster. He shook his head and sobbed:

     "I'm sorry... I don't want to abandon you... I wanted to fight with you... you did everything to help me to get better but... but... I don't think I can fight him." 

     He waited anxiously for Jungkook to get mad at him like the Jungkook of his dream, to blame him for abandoning him the day before the trial, for ruining their strategy to defeat Lee, for being selfish... But Jungkook did none of that. He walked away to face Jin again and wiped his wet cheeks.

     "It's okay, hyung, I understand, don't worry."

     "Y- you are not upset?" Jin asked between sobs, amazed that Jungkook didn't get mad at him like in his dream.

    "Of course not. The only thing that upsets me is seeing you cry because of Lee. I'll destroy him for you, don't worry, I'll take care of it."

     How many times had Jungkook heard Jin tell him "don't worry, hyung will take care of it" in the past? Now it was up to him to take matters into his own hands.

     "Do you remember the day I told you that I will fight for you, hyung?"

     Jin nodded. He remembered: it was the day the two of them had gone for the first time at Hanagae Beach, after Lee's first attack and Jin's panic attack. He had both felt alone against their monster, because at that moment, they couldn't talk to anyone about what had happened.

     "I made this promise to you because seeing you so destroyed after what Lee did to you, I thought I was strong enough for both of us. But at the time, I was not able to honor it because I was weak and still very selfish, so it was you who remained strong for both of us and who never stopped protecting me against all odds. You have no idea how guilty I felt. But now I know that I am able to honor that promise. You don't have to fight if you can't, I will do it for you. So don't blame yourself anymore, okay?"

    "I don't want you to suffer putting me before you, I want you to be okay," Jin protested.

     "I'll be okay only when you're okay. From the begining, you protected my reputation and you protected me from Lee's violence without ever thinking of your own safety, you always put me first and that's what led you to be so hurt and to have so much anxiety. Let me put you ahead now. I don't want to regret anymore. I want to fight for us."

     Jin remembered his own words, when Jungkook felt guilty for letting Lee attack him. He had told him that he would never, ever regret protecting him. He was his precious maknae. But the boy he had protected at all costs was now strong enough to protect him too. Was he going to refuse to have the roles reversed?

     "T-thank you," Jin said gratefully. "I trust you, JK."

    Jungkook smiled at him.

     "Thanks for trusting me. Do you feel better now? Do you feel like you can go back to sleep or can I do something else to help you be less stressed?" 

     "I feel better but..." Jin started uncomfortably as he didn't want to come across as not trusting Jungkook after the younger one assured him that Lee couldn't get in. 

     "But what?" Jungkook encouraged him.

     "After what happened tonight, I don't feel entirely reassured by the security of the dormitory, Lee..." Jin said choosing his words, "Lee could have stolen a badge and entered as he saw fit. Let's make a bage that only we will have this time, not even Sejin hyung."

     "Sure, if that can reassure you, I'll ask Sejin hyung to change again the badges and codes to enter," Jungkook assured him. 

    "Thank you," Jin thanked him, relieved.

    "But I really don't thing Lee will come, it would be a terrible mistake for him. Namjoon hyung said that Lee wouldn't risk messing up his parole, especially not now."

      "He could be wrong," Jin persisted, placing a shaky hand on his sweaty forehead where strands of damp hair had stuck. "Lee might come in thinking he'll make sure he doesn't leave anything as evidence against him. Tonight, he didn't do anything to me that could leave traces, he just came to scare me so I can't prove it. Even you are not convinced, so how can I convince anyone?"

     Jungkook considered that it was not a time to argue with such an anxious Jin and didn't reply. Following his gaze, Jin saw that it was barely four o'clock in the morning and he was immediately consumed with guilt.

     "I'm sorry I woke you up very early again, you must be tired," he apologized, "you can go back to sleep now."

     "It's okay, hyung, don't apologize," said Jungkook who had been used to it for some time. "I will stay until you fall asleep." 

     Grateful, Jin nodded. He hadn't slept with Jungkook since they came back to the dorm, because they had agreed on that. Their relationship would remain that of two brothers, and in order not to create confusion, each would sleep in his own bed.

     However sometimes, Jin needed the familiar and reassuring presence of Jungkook who had been his sole pillar for so long. Old habits were hard to break, the other members of the group understood that perfectly and didn't comment on their relationship. It was up to Jin and Jungkook to judge for themselves how they wanted to evolve their relationship. And also the time it would take.

     Jungkook grabbed the packet of anti-anxiety tablets from the bedside table and pulled out a tablet which he handed to Jin before handing him his bottle of uncapped water. 

     "Here, take this, it will be better in a few minutes."

     "Thanks, JK," Jin thanked him as he swallowed the pill and emptied the water bottle in one go, so thirsty was he.

     These were the drugs prescribed by his psychiatrist whom he had been consulting since his return to Korea. All BTS members were followed after everything they had been through. With the exception of Jin, they had all managed to find a balance in life that allowed them not to be eaten away by anxiety. Regarding Jin, it was more complicated.

     Jungkook lay down next to him until he fell asleep again in the safety of his arms, and started stroking his head gently by habit. As he began to feel like he was falling asleep again, Jin remembered one thing.

    "Jungkook, we shouldn't trust Han."

    "Why?" Jungkook asked, surprised.

    "Han was never our friend, he was acting and he's gonna make sure we lose this lawsuit."

    "But Han helped us win Doo-Na's case, remember?" Jungkook protested.

     "That's what I thought at first too, but ultimately winning Doo-Na's case was in his best interests." 

    "But hyung, Han saved my life. And he also saved your life when he allowed Taehyung to come and save you from the haters," Jungkook reminded him.

     "Yeah, and in everyone's eyes, it was Lee who saved my life at the Stade de France and then who saved Hobi in Incheon. However, we know that he is still a monster, he simply wanted to give this public image of a good manager. Why would it be any different for Han? Why should we trust him? What if Lee takes advantage of the trust we place in Han to use it and trick us?"

     "Wo, wo, wow, calm down hyung," Jungkook stopped him, seeing that he seemed to be stressing again. Perplexed, he uncertainly asked him "Why have all these doubts the day before the trial? Did, uh, Lee, tell you that?"

    Jin could see that Jungkook was still having trouble believing him but he couldn't get Lee's words out of his mind. Whether Lee was real or not, his words regarding Han were too chilling to ignore. Now he was simply unable to trust Han,  even though he was an essential part of Namjoon's strategy.

     "Yes, Lee told me they've always been in cahoots. Han hid the truth to take advantage of the money he extorted from me. I know you're not convinced but please you gotta listen to me : whether I dreamed it or not, Han shouldn't be trusted more than Lee. We should only trust ourselves after everything that happened. Do you remember? Namjoon had said it was the seven of us against the others, Han has no place with us, he never had. He made us forget that he always let Lee do what he wanted with us. He's no less bad than Lee."

     Jungkook saw that Jin was really distressed about Han getting involved in this lawsuit. After all, it had always been Jin and him against Lee only and it was only belatedly that they had dared to trust their other members to fight alongside them. It was not unusual that Jin had trouble trusting Han and was even particularly suspicious of it.

     He himself had taken a long time to trust Han and he had only been convinced by his remarkable intervention during Doo-Na's trial. He had made her feel like he really cared about them behind his apparent coldness. If Jin didn't spontaneously trust him, it wasn't Jungkook who was going to blame him.

    And if Jin only wanted to rely on his dongsaengs, then Jungkook would find a way to defeat Lee himself. He would do anything for Jin.

     "You're right, hyung," he finally said, "we don't need anyone to fight and win, and even less Han who was never there for us when we needed him. He will have to pay for that, I don't forget even if the others seem to have put that aside to focus only on Lee."

     "So... do you really agree with me?" Jin asked with hope.

      "Yeah, sincerely. I think we have each other and that's enough," Jungkook gave him a reassuring smile before repeating: "now don't worry and sleep easy, okay? I'll take care of everything."

     Relieved, Jin nodded. He slowly went back to sleep under the watchful eye of Jungkook, as he knew that with him watching over him, nothing would happen to him.