Jungkook was nervous. He had stayed a good distance from Jin all day except for their group's rehearsal times, not knowing how to approach him. He had brought with him the letter he had written several months before, considering that it would be easier for him to reconnect with Jin by starting by reading this letter he had written from the heart.

     However, he didn't dare hand it over to Jin. The older one was even more nervous than him due to his appearance as MC and seeing Jungkook might make him even more nervous. 

      However, it was also possible that their reconciliation was the key to Jin's deliverance and that he was less stressed by it. He had decided to give it a go.

     A few time before the start of the official ceremony, he handed the letter to Namjoon, instructing him to deliver it to the older one and confessing that he did not yet have the courage to do it himself. Namjoon gladly accepted the race despite the effervescence in the room pushing them into the hands of one person to another.

     Jungkook followed Namjoon with his eyes and when, finally, he saw him give the letter to Jin, he slipped out of the room, embarrassed to meet Jin's gaze even before or immediately after reading his letter. 

     He decided to waste the little time he had left in the bathroom and wished he could run some ice water on his burning face, presumably a little red, under his pale makeup. His breathing was very fast and he felt short of breath. 

     Looking at himself in the mirror, he put a hand over his heart, feeling it race against his palm. What was happening to him? He felt like a middle schooler boy making his first declaration of love to his loved one!

     "You're ridiculous, JK," he scolded himself slapping both hands against his cheeks, still trying to calm himself down and slow down his breath.

     Through the distant sound rising from the waiting room aka the prep room, Jungkook heard Hoseok call out to him, appearing to be heading for the bathroom.

     As Jungkook made his way to the exit, the door to one of the toilet swung open next to him, startling him and Jungkook had the unpleasant surprise to see Lee appear in front of him.

     The manager smirked at his surprise and said: 

     "Jungkook, just the person I wanted to talk to! Come here, kid." 

    Without giving Jungkook time to think, his large hand pulled through the back of the collar. Jungkook uttered an exclamation of surprise while Lee was pulling him into the cabin. The door quickely closed and the latch was pulled down, locking him inside with his manager in a very small space.

     "Hey!!" he shouted in protest. 

     Lee pushed him roughly onto the toilet seat whose toilet bowl was fortunately lowered and sat down heavily on his lap, immobilizing his arms with his hands. The young singer tried to struggle when he felt him sit on top of him.

    "What are you do-" he protested, trying to push away the man who was crushing him with all his weight.

     "Ssssshht, shut up," Lee immediately interrupted him, muttering between his teeth, clenching Jungkook's jaw between his mighty fingers. "It's too hard to have a moment of intimacy today with everyone around you, so I don't want your screams to bring everyone together." 

    "What is it about? And why do you feel you have to crush me on a toilet bowl to listen to you?" Jungkook said in an almost bored tone that made the manager wince. "I'm listening, so you can let go of me."

     The man hissed in admiration:

    "Wow, you're full of recklessness I see. Little Jungkookie has grown up and isn't afraid of his hyung anymore, right?"

     "Why are you doing this now?" Jungkook grew impatient. "We all have to prepare and I don't know what you blame me for, so can't we talk about it lat-"

     He was suddenly interrupted by the punch in the stomach that took his breath away and made him double over against Lee, still sitting on top of him.

     "I've been too easy on you those last weeks, that's why you're insolent with me now, right? 

    Jungkook, coughing and trying to catch his breath, didn't answer. As his forehead was pressed against the manager's chest, Lee pulled his head back, grabbing his hair and said:

     "Unlike you, Seokjin learned respect, but if you haven't learned it, maybe I should go back to hurting him in front of you instead of doing it in private."

    Jungkook widened his eyes:

    "Wh-what did you do to him?!"

      Lee burst out laughing.

    "Where did your sang-froid go all of a sudden? Why are you suddenly afraid? Did you forget that Seokjin and I were best buds now? I wouldn't have hurt him!"

      Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he tapped it and handed it to Jungkook. Who froze in horror and immediately looked away when he discovered a photo of Jin completely naked on a table from Lee'office, wearing a facial expression and being in a position suggestive enough to understand what had happened at the time the photo was taken.

    "Wh-When did this happened?" was the first question that came to Jungkook's mind. He wanted to know what he was doing when it happened, the better to curse himself for remaining in ignorance.

    "Oh kiddo, the question to ask is not when but how often. And I have to tell you that I don't know anymore, I've lost count!"

     "You monster, how many times have you made him do this?! Aaaah!" he cried as Lee tugged furiously at his hair.

      "Who said I forced him? Your pathetic hyung  is not anymore the person you knew, his innocent mind has been completely perverted since he tasted sex and since then, he keeps asking for more, do you realize?  Why do you think he didn't want to come back to you? I made him choose between you and me and he chose me!" Lee laughed.

     "You're a liar! I do not believe you !!" Jungkook exclaimed in horror. "You're just a pervert and you forced him to do this by threatening him." 

    Lee slapped him but he didn't flinch as he was in shock at what he had just learned. Whenever they had "game night", Lee hurt him while he was jealous that he was replaced by Lee in Jin's heart? Muet, Jungkook lay weak and nearly lifeless in Lee's grasp as the terrible reality slammed into him.

     "Insult me ​​one more time and you'll see what the pervert in me is going to do to you here and now under everyone's nose. My kindness to you is over. Seokjin and I had spent  great nights together, whether you want it or not. Getting drunk, watching porn toghether and make each other come, it was really fun. Unfortunately, even though I proposed to him several times, Seokjin didn't want you to participate in our games. He would rather accept never to speak to you again than accept that you come to our parties. It was a deal that I found rather amusing."

     Jungkook did not have the reaction that Lee expected. He suddenly lifted his head and looked at Lee in surprise:

     "He-He protected me?"

     "He didn't protect you, idiot, he just didn't want to talk to you anymore nor have anything to do with you after what you did to him!"

     But Lee could think whatever he wanted. Jungkook knew that wasn't why Jin refused him to join them. In the shadow of their argument, he continued to protect him while he was sure that Jin would never forgive him. How could he have abandoned his hyung? 

     A dull hatred rose in him while his gaze was still plunged into that, smirking, of his manager. Lee caught the murderous gleam in his eyes. Jungkook really seemed about to pounce on him after the revelations he had made to him. 

     "Hey, don't do anything stupid, Jungkook or I will make you regret it." 

     The manager was preparing to contain Jungkook's anger as he only provoked him to hurt him and put him in his pathetic place. And that was what he intended to do now. But suddenly a voice made them both freeze:

     "Jungkook are you here?!"

     Jungkook immediately recognized Hoseok's voice, inches away from him on the other side of the door.

      "I'm here Hobi hyung, I'm going out!" he shouted. 

      Or rather, that's what he tried to shout. Because suddenly, Lee's big hand that had been holding him by the hair a second before clapped on his mouth. And the pressure was so strong that he was unable to utter a single word that could have been heard by Hoseok.

     Struggling to remove Lee's hand from his mouth but also to get rid of the one that was trapping his hands and to push away Lee's body crushing him, Jungkook used all his energy. He wanted to get out of this cabin and join his hyung, join Jin right away. 

    Despite his fierce struggle, he couldn't move, he felt like he was as weak as a puppet under Lee's body. Was that also what Jin had felt every time he assaulted him?

     "Jungkook?" Hoseok repeated soflty. 

     Jungkook  jumped when he heard Hoseok's voice even closer than before, no doubt trying to figure out if the maknae was behind the closed door, trying to push the door open before he got up. So, Jungkook resumed his fight again, feeling that this was his last chance to catch Hoseok's attention. But in vain, Lee was just more muscular than him and Jungkook was already tired from the rehearsals that had taken place earlier.

     After a few seconds of waiting that falsely confirmed Jungkook was not there, Hoseok went to get the maknae elsewhere, much to the chagrin of the trapped singer.

     After straining to make sure he was really gone,  Lee only loosened his vise to lift Jungkook off the seat, stand him upright, and, a hand still on his mouth, slam him sharply against one of the toilet cubicle walls. The young man's head hit the wall hard and stunned him lightly.

     "Mmmmmmph!" He whined in pain throught Lee's hand, grimacing in pain, unable to rub his head because of Lee immobilizing his arms.

     "Shut up now, you brat!" Lee muttured, now being careful not to speak too loudly.

     "Arrghh!"

     The manager had just moved his muscular arm and was now pressing his elbow forcefully on the throat of the young man who was suffocated.

     "The joke has gone on long enough, I'll remind you where you belong and it's below me because in case you forgot, I can always destroy both of your reputations, him more than you now. Now, I didn't keep you here to tell you  everything you missed about seokjin, so stop telling me about him, I don't give a shit what you feel if you didn't understand it."

    "S-o w-why I-I'm h-h-here ?  Wh-what d-did I-I d-do?" Jungkook asked in a plaintive whisper as he struggled to breathe under Lee's strong elbow.

     "What did you go tell Bang PD about me?" the man hissed, obviously ready to strangle Jungkook if he was guilty of what he blamed him for.

     "Wh-what? N-noth- nothing at all!" Jungkook gasped, slowly turning so red that his makeup was struggling to hide it.

     "Liar! Why would he want to summon me suddenly, precisely when you seem to allow yourself to rebel openly?" He loosened his grip a little so Jungkook could clearly express himself.

     "I d-don't kn-know, I s-swear!"

     "Then Seokjin must know. He must have had enough of me after all and planned to destroy me but it is me who will destroy him. I'll catch him as soon as he comes back from the opening of the festival."

     "NO!" Jungkook shouted sharply, before lowering his tone, fearing the manager's wrath, "Jin hyung would never have done that, he was afraid of you!"

    "Was? He's not anymore?"

     "No I didn't mean-"

     "What do you know about that anyway? You haven't spoken to him or saw him for several weeks, I made sure of that. Did something happen that I don't know? Have you reconciled and both working my doom on the sly thinking I won't know?!"

    "N-no, we didn't talk since weeks," Jungkook lied, "but I know Jin hyung well, he's the one who said we had to obey so as not to suffer, he wouldn't have reported you, I have no doubt!"

     "Hum... It is true that he is more docile than you. In any case, I don't think he would have told of his debauchery, he's obviously too ashamed for that, but but he could very well have told Bang Si-hyuk I had been extorting his money from him for weeks if anyone noticed."

     "F-FOR WEEKS?!" Jungkook shouted, feeling immediately Lee's arm press painfully over his windpipe in repression.

     "Stop screaming, you little shit. Yes, I took his money, it's also mine since the day I made him stay. He belongs to me, like you belong to me. Didn't I tell you I would do what I want with you?"

     Leaving one arm pressed against Jungkook's throat, he let go of the singer's left arm to slip his hand under his shirt without warning and up to his chest until he reached the nipple he twisted badly. 

     Wincing at the brutal intrusion of that unwelcome hand and pain, and still beside himself to have learned what his manager had put Jin through, Jungkook lost his temper. Without thinking, he threw a knee into Lee's crotch who was thrown only inches away from him, against the opposite bulkhead, groaning in pain and freeing Jungkook at the same time. 

     "You are disgusting, don't touche me!" he yelled, as the manager was already rising to catch him and get revenge for what he had just done to him.

    He landed a punch in the jaw that sent him waltzing again against the toilet seat.

    "JUNGKOOK!!" Lee growled, enraged. "Stay here, or I swear I'll kill you!"

     However, without waiting for the manager's to get up again, Jungkook quickely unlocked the door and rushed out of the bathroom, to run away as far as possible.