"jimin?" taehyung's voice wakes the eldest up. jimin's eyes flutter open, frowning at the brightness he's met with instantly.

there's taehyung holding their younger sister in his arms, who looks cranky and unhappy with something. jimin sighs softly, glancing to his side where jungkook is still sleeping, hugging one of his pillows. "what happened?" jimin mumbles softly, almost inaudible as he sits up. lily quickly moves in taehyung's arms, leaning down to go to jimin instead.

"oppa..."

"yes, baby? what's wrong?" he makes her sit properly on his lap, which is when his hand feel the cold bottom of her shorts, making him sigh as he glances at taehyung, "you didn't tell her to use the bathroom?"

"i forgot," taehyung admits, "she wanted you to change her,"

jimin nods subtly, getting up with lily and taehyung takes his place, sitting on the bed beside jungkook. the shifts slowly, catching the elders' worried eyes for they still feared jungkook's tears and his heartbreaking cries always hurting them because no matter what anyone said, jungkook is still and always will be their little brother. the boy opens his eyes slowly, hand moving to his head with a groan leaving his thin lips, letting the hyungs know that it's probably a headache from crying so much last night.

"oppa!" lily whines, moving in jimin's arms, breaking into a sob as her pants are still cold and wet, all thanks to taehyung not reminding her to go pee before falling asleep. 

jungkook looks at her, then at jimin and taehyung, sighing softly, "hyung," he hushes out, rubbing his eyes and sits up to face them, "i had a bad dream..."

this is what jimin feared. that jungkook might think of all from last night as a nightmare and will probably have to go through the shaking truth all over again. he stares at the boy with a soft gaze and so does taehyung, wrapping his arm around jungkook, "it wasn't a dream," he whispers, telling himself the same as jungkook and closes his eyes, "it was true. mom's gone,"

jimin releases a soft breath, looking away and goes to the bathroom, crouching down as he stands lily on her feet, getting to the work of changing her into some clean, dry clothes. lily stares at jimin quietly, frowning when she notices that his eyes hold tears and his lips aren't smiling as usual or talking to her. she steps closer to him, touching his cheek with her hand gently, asking in a soft voice and head tilted in confusion, "chiminie oppa, why' you sad?"

"nothing," jimin tries to shrug it off, wiping the water from her legs, smiling at her as she lifts it up to help him, "i couldn't sleep at night. so now i have a headache,"

"oh, headache..." lily hums, being as understanding as possible and gives jimin a hug, "you should tell me. i- i will come to oppa and we can cuddle and sleep together. so no head-ache for oppa,"

"right, i think lily should've hugged oppa last night," jimin nods, smiling softly at her although his eyes never let go of the glassy layer of pain. taking a deep breath to keep himself from crying, he pats lily's bottom playfully, holding her hand, "let's go get another pair of pants for you,"

"st'awberry pants!"

"alright, go bring it from your room," he says and lily's already running out to her room to fetch her favourite pajama pants.

jimin returns back to the room, where jungkook is laying hugging his pillow tightly, tears flowing from his eyes and taehyung's quietly rubbing his back. jimin sits near the brothers, stroking the youngest's hair, "hey, don't cry, kook. everything will be alright. it's gonna take some time and effort, but it'll be okay,"

jungkook looks at jimin, getting up quickly to hug him and cries in the fabric of his t-shirt, "but mom is not with us... she left us, hyung... she left me..."

taehyung blinks away his tears, watching the younger brother with pained eyes. jungkook's voice breaks between a sob when he tries to say something again, hugging jimin tightly, probably wanting to tell him that he's scared and he misses his mother. tears threaten to fall from jimin's eyes too as he hugs jungkook back, rubbing soothing circles on his back, "i'm here, okay?" he hushes out, glancing down at the boy, and cups his face, using the thumb to wipe off the tears, "hyungie's right here with you and he loves you a lot. you don't have to worry about anything, champ, your hyungs will manage everything for you and lily," he promises.

"i love you hyungie, and tae hyungie and lily... please don't leave me. it's so scary... i don't wanna be away..."

"nobody's leaving, kook," taehyung assures, nudging jimin's arm when he sees lily skipping her way into the room, holding her pants and a toy dinosaur. jimin wipes his tears and jungkook's too, smiling at him a little.

"we can't be like this in front of lily. she's too young and won't understand what has happened. so please, try not to talk to her about it okay?" jimin says, "me and tae will tell her eventually,"

"oppa," lily chirps, climbing on the bed and smiles at her brothers, "lily has new pants— look. i's so pwetty, tae oppa," she shows the tiny cotton shorts to taehyung, getting a nod from him before he helps her wear it. her eyes move to jungkook, who rubs his eyes and lays down again, pulling the blanket over his head. lily giggles, jumping around him and pulls the blanket away, "koo, le's play! goo'mornin'!"

"go away," jungkook mutters.

"mm?" lily leans down to hear him more clearly, ignoring taehyung who tries to bring her to himself and leave jungkook alone for a while. "oppa, why's koo not playing? he's feeling icky?"

"yeah, let him rest for some time," taehyung says, standing up, opening his arms for lily.

"no, koo, wake up. see, lily b'inging dinashaur," she sits beside his pillow, smiling as her hand tugs on the blanket swiftly, getting a groan from the boy.

jungkook moves his arm, pushing the four-year-old and away glares at her, "i told you to get away! go from here, leave me alone! i don't wanna play!"

lily stares at him with her round eyes filling with tears and lips curling into a pout, breaking into a cry as she turns around, and crawls towards taehyung. the elder sighs, patting her back gently while jimin looks at them with sympathetic eyes, "hey, don't cry. we'll scold kookie for yelling at our princess," taehyung assures her.

"go from here..." jungkook mumbles, "it's so loud, hyung," jimin leans near the boy quickly, hugging him and strokes his back.

"it's alright, just—"

"nooo...! hyung," jungkook turns towards jimin, panicking a little as he moves his hands to his ears, "mamma... hyung..."

jimin glances at taehyung, instantly gesturing him to take lily out and lays pulls jungkook closer, hugging his trembling shorter frame while in the corner of his eyes, he can see taehyung struggling to quieten lily down. he wouldn't blame jungkook for yelling at her, but he did wish for jungkook to understand eventually that nobody is at fault here and lily's too young to understand why he got mad when all she wanted was to play with him.

"i wanna go to mom..." jungkook cries, kicking his legs in frustration, but arms remain wrapped tightly around jimin's waist as if he was scared to let go.

"shh, relax," jimin leans down, placing a soft peck on top of jungkook's head, "focus on me. just focus on hyung's voice, you can hear me right?"

the boy doesn't reply, but falls silent so jimin assumes he does hear and wants this to end just as much as jimin wanted him to be fine. the elder sighs softly, hugging jungkook and talking to him softly until he wasn't crying anymore. the tears dried on his cheeks, eyes moving up to look at jimin's face, jungkook licks his lips before seaking, "my head hurts..."

"it'll be okay. let's go eat something, then i'll give you a tablet,"

jungkook nods subtly, rubbing his eyes and stands up with jimin, sighing as the elder strokes his hair out of his eyes and wipes off the tears from his face as well. "if you wanna talk, me and tae are always here,"

jungkook nods slowly, going to bathroom after telling jimin to wait for him in the room, which honestly aches the elder's heart, thinking how much their mother's death has affected jungkook and it's not even been a day. on second thoughts, lily will have a harder time understanding that their mother isn't coming back and that they're all by themselves now. at the age when kids are supposed to play and explore their surroundings to grow, lily is being exposed to the biggest truth of life, death itself. of her mother to make it more disturbing if it wasn't already.

by the time jungkook returns, jimin takes a deep breath, convincing himself that nothing is going to change and he has to be the one to hold his younger siblings and himself together. in the process he knows taehyung will have his back forever, but that's still isn't enough because taehyung himself is just eighteen, ended high school last month and now applying for his dream college where he can pursue a career in acting and modeling.

jimin would never want to hold him back and has told taehyung always that he will have his brother rooting for him even in the hardest of times. this is one of those times. however, just for a few days, at least since everything happened so fast and jungkook and lily need someone by their sides all the time, jimin admits that he does need help, a big one on top of that.

he picks up his phone, raking a hand through his messy hair as he dials a number, the lower lip caught into a nervous nip of his teeth, listening carefully to the ringing sound that mocks at his palpitating heart. the sound is replaced by a breathing, then a cheerful voice, "hey, jimin. such a long time man! good that you called, i was trying to reach you yesterday but your phone was busy—"

"hyung," jimin breathes out, tears welling his eyes instantly as he glances at the bathroom door. his hand clutches the edge of the bed tightly.

"jimin, are you— are you crying? is everything okay?"

"no, no, nothing is okay," jimin rubs his eyes taking a deep breath to keep himself together, "mom got into an accident yesterday and... and she couldn't make it, hyung. it's a such a mess here, i feel like i can't take it... kook has been crying ever since i told him. tae's just somehow holding himself for lily..."

"god... so much happened and you're calling me now?" the elder sighs softly, "you should've told us last night, jimin. we'd be with you by now. but don't worry, i'll call the rest of the boys and we'll be there in no time. just hang on for a bit, it's all gonna be okay, yeah?"

jimin hums softly, "thanks, hyung,"

"no need to thank me, buddy. we're all there for you always,"

"hyung, i'm done," jungkook says, opening the door of the bathroom, getting jimin's attention and he lets the elder know that he'll talk later before ending the call. heading downstairs, jimin feels a bit relieved on having a conversation with jin, the eldest one of his cousins, knowing that once they arrive things will automatically start getting better, especially for jungkook. the boy loves his hyungs and having them around, yoongi specifically, will definitely help him heal faster from the tragic loss of his mother.

in the kitchen they're welcomed by lily whining and reaching out for taehyung, probably unhappy that he made her sit on the counter instead of carrying her in his arms. "hey, what happened princess?" jimin sits near by, opening his arms for her which makes her leans towards him instantly.

"oppa," she mumbles, sitting quietly now that she's on his lap. her eyes move to jungkook, suddenly remembering how he yelled at her a gew minutes ago, which is enough to have her mad again. "koo so bad, oppa. koo' said lily go away!"

"he didn't mean it, baby. he's just not feeling well today," jimin assures just as taehyung had did earlier. jungkook doesn't respond, sitting down two seats away for he knew his sister too well for him to just have an instinct that she wouldn't miss a chance to hit him if he was any closer.

taehyung gets some cereals and milk poured in three bowls, placing two for jimin and jungkook and one for himself, being abnormally quiet as he sits between jimin and jungkook. "what do you wanna eat?" he asks lily, who thinks for a moment then climbs up on the table, sitting facing the brothers and points at his bowl.

"you don't even like these," taehyung sighs, yet he holds the spoon half filled with milk and just three tiny flakes. lily opens her mouth quickly, having the first bite of her breakfast. the reaction— her face scrunching in distaste— was already known to the brothers as jimin quickly holds napkin in front of her mouth before she could spit it out.

"yucky..." she mumbles, touching her tongue and jimin wipes her mouth, bringing her hand down as he sighs deeply. "oppa lily wan' tasty food. this' yucky!"

"why did you feed her that?" jimin clicks his tongue before standing up as taehyung shrugs his shoulders. he carries her on his hip, opening the fridge from where he grabs some strawberries, black grapes and a tiny container or yoghurt. lily sits quietly watching him chop the strawberries into small pieces while leaving the grapes in their original form, adding the fruits to the yoghurt and then a little bit of suger just enough for lily's satisfaction.

jimin pulls the drawer with cutlery and holds lily in front of it to let her choose her favourite spoon for today. the four-year-old smiles, picking up the spoon that has the shape of pooh bear at the end leaving the mickey and princess ones alone for today. then they head back to their place, jimin on his chair and lily sitting between taehyung and jimin on the table, eating her yoghurt.

"is it good?" taehyung asks softly, wiping the side of her lips and breaks into a small smile when she nods holding a spoonful of yoghurt with a piece of strawberry for him to taste. "thank you, i'm good," he brings her hand closer to her mouth, letting her have it, then glances at jungkook who's lost in deep thoughts, just stirring the milk and cereals together even though they're soggy now.

"kook," he pats the younger's back, making him flinch, startling out of his bubble and heaves out a deep breath. "eat up,"

"tha's yucky," lily says, putting her breakfast down and crawls to jungkook, pushing the bowl of cereals away. she leans out for her own yoghurt placing it between herself and jungkook, lifting up a spoonful of the sweet, cold treat, "koo, eat this. yoghu't is so yummy,"

the elder brothers stare with a soft gaze, as jungkook glances at them, virtually asking if he can say no to the sister because they could see right through him how he wasn't in the mood to eat at all. "hm, try that," taehyung says before jungkook protested and holds lily's hand, feeding the boy anyway. "i know you're upset, and everything is really hard. but we have to hold on," he ruffles jungkook's hair, trying to unsee the tears in the boy's eyes as he forcefully gulps down.

"you can take as much time as you want, jungkook. we're always here to help you with everything," jimin assures as well, "know that we love you more than anything,"

"koo, lily love you so muchhh!" lily jumps on her place, shifting forward to the edge of the table and leans down to hug jungkook. he hugs her back, resting his head on her shoulder, sniffling softly.

"thanks lily," he whispers, pulling away slowly and cups her face, pecking her lips, "i'm sorry for shouting at you earlier. i didn't mean it..."

lily nods, glancing at jimin who nods as well, "say it's okay,"

"i's okay," lily chimes, giggling at jungkook as she picks up her spoon, a little too excited and ends up spilling the yoghurt on herself and jungkook's t-shirt. "oops... oppa there's yoghu't on lily and koo..."

"you shouldn't play with food," taehyung sighs, gesturing jimin to eat and takes it to himself to clean up for them as he's already done eating.

"we don' playing, tae oppa. i— i only givin'  koo yoghu't,"

"he'll eat by himself," taehyung says, making her sit a little away so she won't accidentally kick jungkook or the bowl. "now don't move from here, and no playing. just finish eating,"

jimin's phone rings midst taehyung instructing lily, and he realises it's mrs sooyeong. his throat tightens, knowing it must be regarding whatever things are to be done after their mom's death, especially since they will have to arrange the funeral soon. even the company will need someone as the new ceo, as efficient and strong as sunhee. the kids will need someone to rely on like they did on their mother.

"jim, your phone," taehyung reminds, pulling jimin out of his thoughts.

"yeah," jimin nods, answering the call once he walks a little away from the younger siblings. it's indeed about what jimin thought it was for, making him sigh softly as he massages his temples, telling mrs sooyeong to manage work for a while until he can process everything and figure out what to do.

"what happened?" taehyung approaches.

"i'll have to go. we need arrange for the burial and stuff," jimin hushes out, "i don't know how i'll do it,"

"i'll come with you,"

"then what about lily and jungkook? we'll have to wait till the funeral ceremony anyway, so i'll just go alone today. let me get everything fixed, then we'll take the kids too. and if i need any help, i'll let you know," jimin says and taehyung has no other option than to nod, knowing that jimin being the eldest should be the one to handle this. "hey uh, i called jin hyung and told him everything. he said they'll be here soon,"

"that'd be better," taehyung nods, giving jimin a hug, "i'll take care of things here. you can go and don't worry about kook," jimin sighs softly, releasing a breath of relief as he nods subtly, before up to is room to get dressed and leave.

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a/n- ahh how are you guys doing??? and did you see the new cover? (and i changed the name 😭) hdkshsksjsjs

alsoooo to 'some' people who think i'm overdoing kook's character in the book by making him look too soft and giving 'little boy' vibes. please wtf does that even mean?💀 according to these two chapters he's only 14 and lost his mother who always treated him like her little prince. he's the youngest son in the family, with two elder brothers four and five years apart, of course he will be babied and pampered just like lily. if u have a problem, i can honestly do nothing about it *sigh*

let me warn you guys, both lily and jungkook are going to be super spoiled in this book. in fyam jungkook was the immediate next after jimin so that gave him little chances to be as free as his character is going to be now, because he has jimin and taehyung both to handle stuff and let him have the margin to be a normal teenager who's going to mess up and figure things out his own way. so this book will have jungkook's pampered moments just as much as lily's. it's just the starting, don't judge anything just yet.

lmao anyway vote if you liked the chapter, don't forget to comment and let me know how you feel, stay hydrated, stay safe, take care of yourself and remember that i love youuu , ❤️✨ hope you enjoy reading this book just as much as FYAM

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