Taehyung was nor even up from the bed in the morning, when his phone rang with Jimin's call. He had a late night talk show appearance yesterday and his schedule for the morning was clear. Taehyung answered the call after a few rings, and almost dropped it when Jimin's panicked voice came through the receiver.

"Oh my god! Tae, did you see? There's another article about Jungkook-"

Taehyung didn't wait to hear the rest of what Jimin had to say. He immediately cut the line and opened his Social media accounts. And there it was. Hundreds of posts and trending hashtags about Jungkook being gay.

Taehyung's knees gave out under him and luckily, the sofa was there for him to fall back. Even with the mild cold temperature in the apartment, Taehyung couldn't help but break into a cold sweat. It took only a few seconds for him to find the original article and he swore loudly when he noticed that it's from the same website as the previous article.

"What the-" Taehyung felt the rage burning like a wildfire in his heart.

Apart from the big reveal as being 'Gay', the article portrayed Jungkook as a playboy too. Making it look like he was someone who jumped from casual relationships, had makeouts all over the school disturbing other students, and overall being a typical bad boy. The article gave details about a few mischievous things Jungkook did as a teenager, although there's no description or detail about the boy he was with at that time.

The news was only a few minutes old but already, there were hundreds of comments. And more were being added every second. They varied from two extreme ends, and everything in between. There were people who said they would support Jungkook and that they were proud of him. But there were also people who said they were disgusted with him and cursed him.

Taehyung quickly closed the article as wanted to call Jungkook but before he could do that, an incoming call from Hoseok showed on his screen.

"Hobi, how did-"

"Tae, do you know where Jungkook is?" Hoseok's panicked voice cut through Taehyung's question. "He's not answering my phone."

"What?!"

"If you're at home, can you go and check his apartment?"

Taehyung, who was already out of the apartment, aggressively pressed the button to call the lift up. "I'm on my way."

The apartment was too quiet when Taehyung opened the door so he knew that Jungkook was either still sleeping, which was a little unlikely since Jungkook has always been an early riser, or the idol was not at home. Taehyung half walked and half ran to the bedroom only to see it being empty.

He quickly dialed Hoseok's number. "Hobi, he's not here."

"Shit!" Taehyung could hear the panic in Hoseok's voice clearly. "Where could he be?"

Taehyung went to check Jungkook's walk-in closet when he got a sudden idea and just as he assumed, one pair of the idol's jogging shoes were missing. So was his favorite black hoodie. Jungkook specially uses that hoodie when he wants to go for a run outside in incognito mode. He knew that Jungkook sometimes likes to go for a run, when he has too many things in his mind.

"Hobi." Taehyung felt the frustration growing in his mind. "I think he's gone for a run."

"Ohh.. he must be having his phone on silent.  I'm on my way, I'll be there in 20 or so minutes. I've already sent a few guys to your apartment too."

"Okay." Taehyung sighed. "Hobi we need to do something for this one."

"Oh we definitely will. I've talked with our lawyers already and that trash news site won't even know what hit them. I'm gonna make them go bankrupt."

"Yeah." Taehyung nodded. "That's good."
  
 
 
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Jungkook had intended to come back earlier than this but he kinda lost track of time. So many things were pressing up in his mind, and he just wanted to take a break from all that. He had his phone on 'do not disturb mode', black hoodie and a black mask covering almost entirely his face, and anyway he was running at a little faster pace than average so he'd probably be gone before anyone had a chance to recognise him. Hoseok had asked him to lay low for a few days but Jungkook felt that the heat of the article had already started to die down.

When he reached the neighborhood of his apartment, he noticed the few news vans parked outside the security check post. Few cameras were already running while the others were still getting set up. Jungkook slowed down to stop a little further from them and pulled out his phone. The moment he turned off the DND feature, his phone lit up with notifications and missed call alerts. Hoseok had called him over 15 times and there were about 5 calls from Taehyung too. Jungkook was too shocked and before he could do anything, his phone rang again.

Jungkook answered even before the first ring finished. "Tae, what's going on-"

Taehyung quickly cut off the other's question. "-Where are you?"

"I'm outside the apartment but there's a lot of reporters gathered outside. What's going on?"

"Baby, listen-" Jungkook could hear some rustling sound in the background. "Don't come in. Just get away from here and find a safe place close by to stay. I'll come get you in a minute, okay?"

Jungkook was starting to feel a little nauseated as he took a few steps backwards. "Uhh.. okay. I'll go to the coffee shop we normally go to. It's not yet opened but I saw Mr Choi there. He will let me stay."

"Perfect." Taehyung's relief was clear through the phone. "Two minutes, max, I'll be there."

"Okay-"

Jungkook knocked on to somebody as he turned and the phone got knocked out of his hand. The person who happened to be another reporter, clearly evident from the microphone on her hand, bent down to pick it up.

"I'm sorry, I was in a hurry-"

Jungkook already took the phone from the hand which was extended toward him but not before her eyes focused on the bunny charm on his phone. Her eyes shot up at his face in the next second with the way those got widened, Jungkook knew he had been made.

"Mr Jeon." The girl whispered but it's loud enough for the cameraman behind her to hear and whip his big camera towards his face.

"We are rolling in three, two, one-"

The girl quickly adjusted her expression, not intending to let this golden chance go, before starting to ask her question.

"Mr Jeon, what's your response regarding the latest article regarding your alleged affairs with other male students in your high-school? Are you affirming your sexual orientation as Gay? Or perhaps Bi? How do you feel about being outed like this?"

Jungkook blinked a few times as question after question flew out of her mouth. After the first one, Jungkook's mind fell into a frenzy that he didn't even hear the rest of the questions, nor fully registered the microphone that was being pushed on to his face.

Within seconds, rest of the vultures that he had seen earlier, were surrounding him and thrusting their own microphones at him while shouting questions. The voices overlapped and then fell into a buzzing noise as the cameras started to flash, blinding his vision temporarily.

Jungkook's world started to spin and he didn't have anywhere to turn even. He was surrounded from all sides, making it impossible for him to even take a step, in any direction. Suddenly somebody knocked on to him, making him stumble and be knocked against someone else. Soon, he was being pushed and pulled, being yelled at with questions and photos taken from every angle possible.

Jungkook closed his eyes, clutched onto his phone, and prayed for it to be over. He didn't have the energy to open his eyes or make even the tiniest sound, not that it would be heard over all the noise. He had never before felt so powerless and vulnerable.

Suddenly, there was another voice, or a few, that had a different timber to it. They sounded urgent, authoritative, angry. Soon, Jungkook could tell that the mob was clearing a bit. He still had his eyes closed but he could feel the air around him starting to feel less stuffy.

The buzzing noise of questions started to tone down and suddenly, there were arms around him. An embrace that he can recognise even in his sleep, or at the verge of unconsciousness, which was exactly the state he is in right now.

"I'm here, baby. I'm here."

Jungkook didn't open his eyes. He let Taehyung walk him forward, concentrating only on the latter's heartbeat as he can clearly hear that being pressed on to his chest. Taehyung's arms were tight around Jungkook's torso, giving him this sense of security and protection, while Jungkook had his hands intertwined against his stomach, to make them stop shaking. He wasn't sure where he was being taken to but he didn't care in the least.

Taehyung can take him to hell and Jungkook knew that he would be safe even there.