WARNING : Physical violence in this chapter.

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       That night, Lee gave Jungkook a temporary respite as he needed to regain his strength for the next concert, but he didn't forget to come and punish Jin in his room where he slept alone like all the other members during the tour. It was necessary to prioritize rest over fun or discussions during the rare moment of real break that the night offered, and every hour, every minute of sleep counted.

      In fact, when Jin heard his bedroom door open, he had no doubts as to the identity of the nocturnal visitor as everyone else was probably trying to get to sleep if they weren't already. He knew he wouldn't escape his punishment anyway for ignoring Lee during the previous public discussion and making decisions on his own, but he hoped Lee would at least leave Jungkook alone.

     "Do you want to receive his punishment?" The manager asked him slyly as he approached the bed where Jin had sat up in the dark, like a vision of horror.

     The singer nodded immediately, not even knowing how Lee was going to punish him. He hoped the punishment wouldn't prevent him from walking the next day. He just knew Lee couldn't afford to hurt him too much when he had a gig the next day. His exhaustion almost took away the sense of dread that usually enveloped him when he found himself with Lee behind a closed door. 

     In his condition, he couldn't wait to be done so he could get as much sleep as his nightmares would allow. It was when he saw the manager remove his belt that he felt apprehension start to take hold of him.

     "Lie on your stomach," he ordered Jin, who did so without flinching, knowing that any form of resistance would be in vain or even more dramatic for him.

     The man brutally grabbed his wrists and tied them behind his back. 

     "Ouch, please, my hand..." he whined when Lee unceremoniously grabbed his plastered hand.

    "Shut up."

    Jin then heard him rummage in his own suitcase and heard the familiar sound of another belt buckle. Seeing the singer stiffen in anguish, Lee amused himself by snapping the belt in the air the better to scare him. 

     He then shoved a sock from his suitcase into his mouth because he knew that this time, nothing could stop him from screaming.

     "What I don't understand," Lee said thoughtfully, "is that even knowing what to expect next, you still insist on disrespecting me in front of everyone. You two really put me in an awkward position earlier, I really would have loved to punish Jungkook too but I'll take it out on you, it's okay."

     Even without the sock gagging him, Jin wouldn't have apologized. He knew now that it was no use except humiliating him further by proving his obedience to Lee. 

     Besides, even going back in time, he would not have changed his behavior for the evening: he would still have stood up to Jungkook without considering the word of the man behind his suffering. Jungkook's health obviously came before the whims of this mad man who took him to be a slave to his wildest impulses.

     "You wanted to preserve Jungkook's legs by preventing him from dancing. So, it's your legs that I'm going to punish."

     No, not the legs! Jin silently pleaded, gritting his teeth at what was inexorably happening.

     Then the first blow snapped and Jin let out a cry that was choked by his gag. His whole body had twisted violently with the pain and the overwhelming urge to run away, to escape this pain. Lee had aimed at the back of the thighs, and the fabric of the pajamas was so thin that Jin could have been naked as well: the pain would have been the same. Lee had just spared him further humiliation letting him stay dressed. 

      Jin already started to gasp, unable to catch his breath properly after his terrible cry. Each of his exhalations, no matter how muffled, reached his ears like loud, anguished moans. The first blow had been terribly painful, how many were left?

     The belt kicks started raining behind his legs and ultimately Jin couldn't breathe enough to cry out, but tears began to roll down his cheeks as the pain intensified.

     When, finally, the beating ceased, Jin's bruised body continued to twitch. The manager untied his hands and Jin was relieved to be done with it and didn't make a move, even keeping the gag on while waiting for the manager to leave the room.

     "Turn around," Lee ordered.

     Jin so wanted the manager to leave immediately! Regardless, he did what he asked, wincing as the friction of his legs against the mattress made the pain he was feeling worse. Lee grabbed his wrists and tied them again, from the front this time.

    "Now you are going to receive Jungkook's punishment," the man told him cruelly.

    Again?! This time, Jin's eyes widened in terror as the manager flipped him over on his stomach again with a sudden movement and he let out a horrible moan of despair that did not affect his torturer. He was already in so much pain, how was he going to survive another round of belt strikes? How was he even going to stand on his feet the next day?

         Lee let out an evil laugh after thinking for a few seconds.

     "Tomorrow, Jungkook will spend the whole concert with his butt resting on a chair, all thanks to you! So, it's appropriate that your butt receive for his own."

     Then the torture started again and Lee worked hard this time on his behind. 

     When he was finally done, he untied Jin who was no longer moving on the bed and said:

    "You better dance properly tomorrow, otherwise you'll have double after the concert. Understood? Use your mouth to answer."

     Jin used what little strength he had left to pull off the damp sock that was preventing him from breathing properly. Saliva was running down his chin but he didn't have the strength to wipe it off. Instead, he whispered as loudly as possible:

     "Yes."

     "Good."

     Lee tossed Jin's belt into his suitcase and buckled his around his waist. He was about to leave when Jin whispered again:

     "H-hyung?"

     "What? Do you think I'll treat you now?" the manageur asked sarcastically.

     "No, I... I..." Jin stammered who was struggling to catch his breath lying on his stomach and put his words together from the pain that seemed to paralyze him, "hyung, s-since I received Jungkook's punishment, does... does he have the right to eat as before? He was so weak today, it's scared me."

     "Yeah, okay," the manager replied to Jin's surprise.

     "R-really?!" Jin exclaimed, suddenly overjoyed. 

     He tried to sit up to look the manager in the eye but only managed to turn his head.

      "Of course," the manager nodded, "as long as you're willing to take a beating again to get this reward." He sneered at a wicked laugh.

     Jin felt like he felt a stake sink into his heart. So there was no limit to this man's wickedness? how could he survive another torture session?

     "I... I'm ready," he said nonetheless in a shaky voice.

     Lee looked surprised at his resilience before wincing in annoyance.

     "Oh don't tell me it's love that gets you talking, it's pathetic!"

     "P-please hyung, Jungkook won't get better if he isn't eating properly. Hit me... but let him eat..."Jin pleaded.

     "Okay, since you insist!"

     Lee grabbed the belt from the suitcase again and snapped it in the air. Jin jumped and closed his eyes, trembling, waiting for the blow that was going to tear his skin again. Lee didn't need to tie him up this time, he didn't have the strength to protect his body from the blows to come. 

      Le man stared at Jin's shaking body, the crimson stains that already strewn his pants, and his tear-soaked face he didn't even have the strength to wipe off.

     "Pfffff, look at yourself, like you can't take more hits tonight! Don't pretend to be braver than you are, Seokjin."

     He threw the belt to the ground.

     "Jungkook can eat again, for now. There's no way he's ruining the American tour more than he already have."

     Jin couldn't help but feel his gratitude towards their tormentor.

     "T-thank you hyung, thank you... I'll pay it back to you, I promise..."

      Lee smirked and answered vaguely "mmff" before leaving the room. Jin remained still, letting his tears dry up on their own, not wiping them away. He stayed like that for a few minutes, re-scrolling through his mind what had just happened.

     How could he have been afraid of the threat of the anti-fans when the real threat that constantly lurked in his shadow was Lee? Because it was not the anti-fans who were jeopardizing the success of their tour and wasting their efforts of the past year. It was indeed Lee. Why look for danger from outside when the wolf was already in the fold?

     It was on this question that, overcome by exhaustion and pain, Jin fell asleep of a sleep filled with nightmares.

     When he awoke the next morning and straightened up to sit in his bed, the pain was such, despite the soft mattress, that he immediately remembered Lee's punishment and his new threats. He was going to have to perform while ignoring the pain. 

     He stood up and winced as he took his first steps. He was relieved to realize, however, that the pain, although present, did not prevent him from walking.

     However, he was still wearing his loose pajamas and wondering how his body would react to the friction of the jeans and other pants that he would have to wear successively during the concert.

     As he undressed, he realized that the entire back of his body, from waistband to calf, was covered in bruises of different colors, but also a few bloody welts where Lee had hit harder. To his dismay, he found that some wounds had even adhered to the pants when the blood had dried to form a scab and were part of it.

     It was with a moan that Jin tried to gently loosen the tissue from his wounds, closing his eyes when the pain got too intense. Despite his efforts, he tore off the scabs under which the wounds which, too recent, had not yet had time to heal, began to bleed again. He would have cried, but there was no time to mope.

     The contact with the cold water, if it hurt at first, eventually eased the pain quite well. From his suitcase, he grabbed the bands-aid that never left him, since he lived with a torturer who was going after him without warning, and applied them where the blood continued to flow. 

     He had already ruined his new pajama pants and he didn't want the same to happen to all the pants he would wear that day. For the day's rehearsals, he dressed in loose jogging pants.

     Then, he left his room to join Jungkook in his, using his acting skills not to let the pain in his footsteps be seen. Once there, he remained standing and inquired about the state of health of the younger one, who smiled sadly at him.

     "You were right hyung, I could never have performed on my feet today: I tried to stand up but I felt so weak I didn't get very far."

     "When will you finally realize that hyung is always right, you arrogant kangaroo?!"

     Jungkook laughed, but then his face darkened.

     "Hyung, that night I slept well, but last night I expected to see Lee show up in my room to punish me and I almost worried not to see him. Didn't he come to you?"

     "No," Jin lied, "I think he's waiting for the tour to end now that he saw that today's concert was almost canceled because of him."

     The maknae had suffered enough and Jin was glad he was able to spare him Lee's punishment. Also, he didn't want to see him suddenly plagued with guilt upon learning that he had received his punishment for him. It would have hurt Jungkook too much and he didn't need it when the current situation was already so difficult for him.

     "I also hope he'll wait until the tour is over... maybe he will forget, who knows?"

     "Yeah, this is how you have to think!" Jin encouraged, smiling at the semblance of positivity on the part of the young singer. He looked at his bandaged foot "Have you re-bandaged your foot yet? Is it better?"

     "Yes to both questions. The burn cream helped but I still have to put on a thick bandage so I don't feel my every move. I don't really want to put my shoes back on..."

     "Unfortunately you have no choice," Jin said saddly. "You have to put them back before someone walks in this room without warning. no one should see that you are hurt."

    "Hyung, tell me something positive to start the day or else I think I'll stay in bed until the concert tonight," Jungkook said, depressed.

    "Food," Jin said, smiling.

    "Eh?" Jungkook said, puzzled.

    "We're going to order lots of good things to eat and have a feast for breakfast," Jin explained. "You're going to eat as much as possible JK, or at least, as much as you want."

     "But hyung, I can't, you know that well!" Jungkook protested.

     "Lee can't keep starving you after what happened, he won't want your condition to ruin the concert."

     Jungkook immediately lowered his head, consumed with guilt at the idea.

     "I'm sorry, JK, that's not what I meant. But you have to trust me and eat without fear, nothing will happen to you, I swear. You trust me don't you?"

     Jungkook agreed. He trusted Jin and was so hungry that he didn't ask himself how Jin could be so confident, he who had never ceased to comply with Lee's orders.

     However,  he still couldn't eat much that morning. The too many deprivations had accustomed his body to accepting only the bare minimum for survival on the one hand, and on the other hand, Jungkook's mind was now conditioned to refuse the food offered to him. 

     Jin realized that he couldn't get him back to good eating habits in just one breakfast. But at least he was no longer threatened by Lee and could heal bit by bit because Jin will take good care of him.

     The staff sent a wheelchair to move Jungkook who felt too weak to walk and he spent the rehearsal time seated. In the evening, it was Jin who took charge of pushing his chair from the dressing room to the stage and he was saddened to see that the younger, horribly silent, seemed about to cry because he could not produce the perfect performance that he wanted to give to his fans.

      As he dutifully pushed the chair through the halls, Jin then tried to cheer him up a bit, especially as a camera was pointed at them at the same time for the film of their tour, and it would demoralize Jungkook even more to know that the fans would see him in such a depressed state just before a concert.

      "JK, aren't you grateful to hyung for taking such good care of you?"

      "Of course I am," Jungkook replied.

     "Then say "I'm so grateful to you bro!" You have to thank me by saying things that will make me look good to people, "Jin joked.

      A small smile slowly appeared on Jungkook's lips who repeated:

     "I'm grateful to you, bro."

     As they traveled through the halls, their game continued, with Jin muttering a complimentary phrase about him that Jungkook repeated louder, his smile widening more and more:

     "Thank you very much, bro;"

     "Thank you very much, bro!"

     "It's nothing!" Then: "You're so sweet, bro."

     "You're so sweet, bro!"

      "No need to say that, I'm just happy to help!" Then "I'll never forget your kindness, bro."

     "I'll never forget your kindness, bro."

      "I'm not being kind. It's nothing, really!" Then "I love you, bro."

    "I love you." 

     This time, Jungkook didn't add "bro" at the end. Jin was not his bro. He was more than that. He was his Yeobo, his everything, but he wouldn't say that in front of the camera. Jin concluded with a laugh:

     "Alright, I love you too JK!"

     These little moments of laughter were what brought the two boys the most joy because at the end of the American tour which was only the beginning of the world tour, even if they were always happy to find their fans, they were exhausted and feeling at the same time, less pleasure in tirelessly performing the same songs and choreographies.

      Jungkook spent the last concert sitting on a chair and Jin kept coming to dance and clown around him to keep him smiling. And it worked: at no point, despite his pain, did Jungkook stop smiling. And while all the other members also came to entertain and cheer him up by staying by his side, it was mostly his smile and affectionate gaze for Jin that the fans' phones captured.

     But what the cameras also captured were the painful faces Jin sometimes made during certain dance moves that hurt his bruised legs. Fans and their sharp eyes when their beloved idols were suffering, began to realize that Jungkook wasn't the only one out of shape. Jin seemed also to be in pain, and not just because of his hand.

     Many messages then spread on social networks, fans asking the company to let the artists rest and to take better care of them. They added to these messages a lot of excerpts from amateur videos of the concert which showed their grimaces of pain or their less precise, painful movement. While all of the members looked exhausted and were dealing with muscle aches, it was really Jin and Jungkook's health condition that was of concern.

     After this event that could have put the tour on hold, Lee did stop starving Jungkook and no longer joined him in the bathroom to make him vomit.

     With the end of the American tour, BTS flew to Europe.