A/N: Daddy? Sorry. Daddy? Sorry.

DISRESPECT ME PLEASE WOOF WOOF BARK BARK WOOOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF BARK

~~~

Day 830

The nurse's office is crowded today.

Jungkook pretends everything's okay. He pretends he doesn't have Min Yoongi in front of him, holding a startled Ves by the arm and shoving him forward slightly. Jungkook pretends Taehyung isn't there too, his arms crossed over his chest. And most importantly, he pretends Ves isn't keeping his face as neutral as possible. Like he's hiding something.

"Is there something I should know about?" he asks.

Time has gone exceedingly slow these past couple weeks. Jimin's recovery is still coming along. He started physical therapy, Katherine handling a lot of that and helping him walk and live with his injury. It's been 3 whole weeks since his injury, after all. About 24 days, so they should start working on getting him moving at least a little. He won't be fully recovered for a bit, but it's worth a try to get him in therapy.

"Ves is obnoxious," Yoongi says.

"Obviously, tell me something I don't know."

Ves whacks Jungkook, and he grunts. Yoongi seems like he wants to crack a smile, and Jungkook has to admit it's heartwarming to see the outsider beginning to open up to the rest of the group. Maybe Ves is breaking down Yoongi's walls. Not that Jungkook knows much about Yoongi though. Maybe the man is just naturally a loner, and maybe it was that way before the apocalypse too.

"How good of a surgeon are you?" Tae asks, raising a brow.

Jungkook bites back his memories, instead replacing the bad one with the good one. Jimin. He saved Jimin's life because of his skills. That has to be worth something, right? Despite his best efforts, his face still fell. "Uh, I saved Jimin so... I guess pretty good. Why?"

"I want you to do an operation on Ves. Harmless, just open him up so I can study what's happening on the inside. Blood samples aren't enough, I could use a peek at how everything is going," Yoongi says.

Jungkook blinks, tilting his head ever so slightly. "So let me get this straight. You want me to use the little anesthetic we have to knock Ves unconscious, cut him open, and risk having his mother and father figures stomp on my neck with combat boots because they care about Ves more than themselves?"

"Exactly."

"Hell to the no, I'm not getting killed by Jimin and Y/n."

Ves snorts. "Oh please, you're into it you bottom."

"How do you know I'm a- you know what? I'm not gonna stand for this hate speech. I'll do it on one condition. Y/n and Jimin have to agree to it."

"It's my operation, not theirs," Ves says, and Jungkook sighs before kneeling, placing both his hands on the kid's shoulders.

"I know it's yours, but as a doctor, we never did practices on kids without their parents' permission. Humor me this once kid, please? Let me feel like it's the old days. Plus, I'd feel much better, and I'm sure you would too, if they at least knew about the operation."

Ves stares at Jungkook for a few beats, then, he sighs and gives in. He latches his pinky onto Jungkook's in the form of a promise. "Alright, we'll tell them, but I can't guarantee they won't freak out. They'll probably want to be in the room with me."

"Not happening," Yoongi says, but his face remains passive, not aggressive. "I'm glad you have people who are looking out for you, but they can't distract my research. They have a tendency to be loud, and that's not a bad thing, but it doesn't change how I'll need silence during the procedure."

"That's fine with me, but please don't talk my ear off about the chemicals making up his blood, I need concentration too," Jungkook replies.

"I... there was so much wrong with that sentence, I can't even count. I wasn't going to anyway. Jin gave me a notebook, so I'll take notes using that."

"Oh, look at that. The two grandpas are getting along after all," Tae says, resulting in a shoulder whack from Yoongi. "Ow. You're rude."

"Whatever," Yoongi mumbles before departing the area.

The remaining trio stare after him, Jungkook leaning against the table on his left and crossing his arms over his chest. "Yoongi's a pretty grumpy person. Any particular reason why he's like that, or was that just his personality before the apocalypse too?"

"Not sure," Taehyung replies, running a hand through his hair. "To be fair to Yoongi, he doesn't have much. He lived each day on his own. This whole group thing is probably scaring him, if I'm being honest. But deep down, he has a good heart. He never did me any wrong, and all he ever wanted to do was help, even if he didn't admit it. I trust him. I know no one here really trusts me, including Jimin, but I hope that's worth something."

"It is to me," Jungkook says, not meaning to make it personal, but the words flew by his lips before he could stop them. Ves gives him a head tilt, but Jungkook ignores it, approaching Tae and resting his hand on the man's elbow. "Don't worry too much about the trust thing, okay? You'll get there eventually." He pauses, meeting Taehyung's eyes. "Maybe to some of us, you're already there."

Without another word, Jungkook departs the nurse's office to find Jimin and Y/n. They're probably in Jimin's room. He hopes he doesn't interrupt them doing anything. By anything, of course he means Y/n on top of Jimin, having a lot of fun. No thanks. That's the last thing Jungkook needs to see today.

Ves comes rushing after him, slowing on approach and falling into step by Jungkook's side. "Want to explain what that was about?"

"What what was about?" Jungkook asks, keeping his gaze ahead.

"That whole trust thing with Taehyung. You don't know much about him. None of us do, for that matter. All we know is he ran with Jimin, he knows Yoongi, and he's pretty funny. A little cold at times, but mostly a warm person. Especially around Jimin. That's all we know. We don't know much about his past or his goals in life. Why are you so open with him? Is it because he's hot? I can't blame you, I'd let him hit too, but-"

"Ves, you're illegal."

"What are you gonna do about it? Throw Tae in jail?"

Jungkook sighs and shakes Ves off, rounding the corner and sauntering down the corridor. Jimin's room is near, but he needs to resolve Ves's concerns first. "The only way we'll actually get to know Taehyung is if we try to make him feel comfortable. He deserves it, don't you think? He helped secure us a scientist that could potentially find a vaccine for this shit. Maybe we don't need to suck his dick quite just yet-"

"Woah woah wait, why not?"

"I give up, I was trying to be deep."

"Jungkook, when's the last time you've ever gotten deep inside anyone, let alone deep in a conver-"

"I hate you." Ves snickers as Jungkook approaches Jimin's door, thankfully not hearing any inappropriate noises. He knocks, and he hears a muffled 'come in', so he enters the room. The two are on his bed, Y/n on top of him, but not in a sexual way. They're cuddling, Jimin tilting his head back to see who intruded them. "I hate to bother you, but we need to have a talk."

"Oh fuck no, I'm not giving Ves the sex talk," Jimin says, his pupils dilating. "Or the boner talk. Or the sexuality talk. No thank you-"

"Jimin, this is serious."

And just like that, the pair sit up, shutting their mouths. Jungkook enters, closing the door behind him as Ves goes over and conveniently sandwiches himself between the two. Neither of them complain. They actually welcome it by wrapping their arms around him, snuggling together as if they were penguins protecting each other from the cold.

"Yoongi is trying his best to make progress, but I imagine it can't be easy when he's on his own and only has one test subject. So, he asked me to do a small operation on Ves," Jungkook says.

"Small? How small we talking?" Y/n asks.

"I'm not entirely sure. I don't think I'll even be going too deep, but we need to cut open certain parts of Ves so Yoongi can get a glimpse inside. I'm assuming he'll want to see the skin and blood around the bite itself. Maybe to see how the blood streams work, I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what he's looking for. I'm a doctor, not a scientist. Regardless, I wanted to let you know this is happening. Maybe gain your consent in the process?"

Jimin and Y/n share a glance, then, they peek down at their son. Ves is unaffected by the whole situation. Actually, he seems a bit too calm. Maybe he's panicking deep down, but he's putting on a façade to cope with the pain. Jungkook can't imagine what he's going through. It may sound like heaven to be immune in the zombie apocalypse, when in reality, it could hurt more. Watching friends die from bites while you sit there without a scratch. It's survivor's guilt. Jungkook prays Ves never has to deal with that.

"I wouldn't mind. As long as you're doing the surgery though," Y/n says.

Jungkook's left eye twitches, but he dips his head anyway. "I was planning on it. I'll have Katherine there to help me, I don't want to do something this important on my own. I hope that's okay with you. Oh, and Yoongi requested you two aren't in the room while the operation is happening. He doesn't want any loud noises or constant questions. I don't either, to be honest."

Although hesitant, Jimin agrees. "Can we be outside the room waiting?"

"I don't see why not." The parents don't disagree to any of Jungkook's words. Great, this means Jungkook has to do yet another operation. More opportunities to fail the people he loves. Only this time, a failure would result in him losing three people. Ves, Jimin, and Y/n. And maybe all the bite victims down the road. All because he can't operate on a child right. Or maybe he's overreacting. Who knows anymore.

Since everything has been said and done, Jungkook dismisses himself and runs straight to Namjoon's office. Ves doesn't follow much to Jungkook's surprise and appreciation. When he bursts inside the room, Namjoon and their resident German Shepherd are waiting for him. Namjoon doesn't even flinch when the door snaps open.

There's silence for several beats, the doctor shutting the door behind him and striding over to the desk, plopping down in one of the seats. Namjoon's staring out his window as if he were in a movie. His eyes take in the land, his hands pressing against the windowsill all while the Shepherd licks his snout.

"Would you like a drink, Doctor Jeon?" Namjoon asks, his voice scratching on the back of his throat.

"Only if you'll drink with me. Scotch? Whiskey?"

"Vodka, perhaps."

"You hate Vodka," Jungkook says, crossing his legs together and eyeing the man.

"Today's as good a day as any to give it another chance, yeah?" Namjoon comes over, sitting across from the man and opening one of his many secret liquor hiding spots. The German Shepherd pitter-patters his way to Jungkook's side, laying down. Jungkook's quick to pet him, but his eyes remain on the leader.

"Your office," Jungkook says, peeking around at the barren walls and boxes littering the carpets. "It was always empty, but now it feels abandoned. There a reason why?"

Namjoon places two glasses on the desk, pouring liquid into both of them. Jungkook doesn't reach for his yet. He watches Namjoon gulp down his shot. He drinks it like it's water. And the glass clinks on the desk, Namjoon dabbing his lips with the pads of his thumbs before folding his hands together in front of him. Jungkook can't tell what emotion is hiding behind those dark irises. But he does see the bags under his eyes. And the dirt under his nails. Maybe even a hint of sweat on his forehead, too.

"Jimin's officially taking over leadership."

"Didn't you want that, sir?" Jungkook asks.

"I did, and still do." Namjoon pours another, downing it in one go without so much as batting an eye. "But I didn't want to go out like this." Jungkook doesn't have a chance to reply. Namjoon stands and pushes the liquor forward, leaving it in Jungkook's reach. He comes over, patting Jungkook on the shoulder and scratching the dog's ears. "You're a good man, Mr. Jeon. You always were, and you always will be. Do me a favor and let your past go." Namjoon pauses, bringing his eyes to meet Jungkook's. "Even before the apocalypse, we were constructed to believe we had choices. Freedom. But we only have two choices in life, Doctor."

"And what would those choices be?"

Namjoon places one hand on the armrest of Jungkook's chair, coming close enough for Jungkook's nostrils to flare from the aroma leaving Namjoon's parted lips. "Either we let our past define us, or we define it." Namjoon lets the words linger in the air, then, he backs away, going to the door and opening it without bothering to gather what's left of his belongings.

His hand scratches against the doorframe, Jungkook gazing at the figure of the muscular man. Namjoon bobs his mouth open and closed, shaking his head. "I watched... so many people die here," he says, his voice and eyes distant. "Most because of the Ranglers. Some because of zombies. I've had enough. I'm going to define my past, Jungkook. No matter what." And then, he's gone.

Jungkook is left sitting there, his eyes absorbing the sunlight peeking in through the curtains. The German Shepherd by his side licks his hand, Jungkook holding back a smile to instead fall into his thoughts. Jimin as a leader, and Namjoon will be on the sidelines. It'll be strange taking orders from someone who isn't Namjoon, but perhaps this is for the best. Namjoon wanted it, after all. He even suggested it. And if his final order is to accept Jimin as the new leader, then so be it. Jungkook will gladly respect his desires. He just wishes he knew why Namjoon decided to do this.

And little did Jungkook know, he was about to find out...