~

Yoongi and Namjoon walked on both sides of Jungkook, both men looking conflicted and hurt. The ebony haired man in the middle had his head lowered as they walked, slowing down once they had almost reached their destination. Yoongi put his hand on Jungkook's shoulder, giving him a nod to tell him everything will be okay. 

"I wish we weren't the ones told to bring you here," Namjoon said softly, his heart hurting as he looked up in front of him at the huge metal door that led to the basement. "I don't understand why you would put yourself in this position for one of your flings. You've never breached the code Jungkook, you out of all people. Hyungnim thinks you're capable of taking over after him for fuck's sake."

Jungkook locked eyes with Namjoon and the latter could see absolutely no fear or worry in his eyes. "I don't know myself why I did what I did," he sighed, "all I know is I couldn't hurt him, I couldn't bring myself to."

"Well," Yoongi shrugged, looking away. "Please answer him carefully. Don't make things worse for yourself."

Jungkook expected the two men to leave, considering they had done their job, they had brought him to the doors. But they stayed by his side, arms brushing against his own almost as if the warmth of their skin through their clothes would reassure him.

"You don't expect us to leave, do you?" Yoongi scoffed, giving Jungkook a slight push towards the door. "We'll be right here when you come out."

Namjoon smiled with a heavy heart. All three of them knew exactly what would happen inside, but two of them secretly hoped it wouldn't be as bad as they had usually seen it be. Jungkook flashed a small smile at the two of them and stepped inside, the metal door creaking as it shut behind him.

The lights were dimmed out and Jungkook could hardly make out the figure in front of him, yet he stepped forward, his heart leaping in his chest with each step. He stopped a respectable distance from the figure leaning against a familiar table, a table that consisted of tools coated with dried and fresh blood, tools that Jungkook had only ever seen being used on others.

"Hyungnim," Jungkook bowed to the figure, eyes locking with dark ones. "I'm here as you have requested."

"And you know why you're here," the man spoke, looking at his nails nonchalantly, "take a seat and make yourself comfortable."

Jungkook moved to the chair the man was pointing at, a chair that only The Supreme One could sit on. He hesitated in front of it, causing the man to chuckle. "It is my chair and I am giving you permission to sit, go ahead."

Jungkook sat as told, still looking skeptical. The man turned to face him, looking impressed at the sight of Jungkook on his chair, yet his face held an emotion Jungkook could see very well —disappointment.

"How does it feel to sit there?" Jungkook looked at his thighs, finding the wrinkles on his jeans more interesting. "How does it feel? Tell me." Jungkook could not answer, not when he knew what he had done, not when he knew he had disappointed the person who had given him a good life.

"Burdening," Jungkook found himself answering, and he immediately regretted it. He looked up to see the man's eyes light up.

"And why is it burdening?"

"Because," Jungkook gulped, thinking back to what Yoongi had told him before he had entered the room. Answer him carefully. "Because I'm undeserving." 

"Very good, very good," the man clapped, "and why are you undeserving?"

"I breached one of the most important rules," Jungkook looked down again, head bowed in shame, unable to face the man in front of him.

"What is the rule?"

Jungkook felt the index finger of his right hand shake, not in fear, but in guilt. Heavy guilt weighing him down because he had been the one to recite the rules to anyone new who joined, he had been the one to tell them what would happen if they ever broke a rule, he had been the decided heir to The Supreme One.

"What is the rule? Enlighten me, my most skilled one."

"Always be careful, unnoticeable," Jungkook started, holding onto his shaking finger with the other hand so it would stop, "and if in any unfortunate case you are noticed, kill the witness."

The man hummed, looking satisfied at the words. He circled the chair Jungkook was seated on, footsteps echoing eerily in the damp dark atmosphere of the room. "And what happens if you fail to follow a rule?"

Jungkook gulped, not answering the man.

"You know the drill better than anyone here," the man continued, stopping in front of Jungkook so he could look at him. "And I know you better than anyone. You would not do something this treacherous without a solid reason." He paused, holding onto Jungkook's chin and making him look up. "All I want to know is why," he glared, "why you would ever think of putting this empire, that took me years to build, in danger."

"I apologize," Jungkook spoke cautiously, not wanting to enrage or disappoint the man further.

"Apologies don't work in such scenarios and you know that Jeon," the man let go of Jungkook's face. "If Hoseok and Yoongi had not been there to take care of the body before the police arrived, we would be in a bit of a mess. And I don't appreciate being involved with the fucking police so please, your highness, give me one solid reason why you did what you did."

Jungkook grit his teeth, not knowing how to answer, because that was something he had been wondering himself.

"This is the last time I ask you," the man sounded agitated and Jungkook knew he had only two options. Either he could answer him, which he did not know how to, or he could accept the fate reserved for members who breached the code. "One solid reason is all I ask for and if you give me that, I'll let you go. If you fail to do so however, you know what happens."

"I—" Jungkook drew in a deep breath, preparing himself. "I really don't know, I swear on you. I don't know why I did what I did. I wish I could give you an answer but I'm afraid I really don't know."

The man studied Jungkook's face for a second, dark eyes searching for any sort of lie in Jungkook's eyes, hoping he was lying. But all he could see was clear truth, and the man felt his shoulders sag in disappointment. He would hate Jungkook out of all people to be in this position, he really adored the kid.

"You are henceforth ineligible from taking charge in my absence or after my time," he said, turning his back to Jungkook. "Kim Namjoon will be my next heir." Jungkook was fine with that, Namjoon was a much more responsible man than him anyway. "And you will receive your punishment as per the general rules."

Jungkook watched the man walk out and he stood, feeling his back burn with guilt from where it had touched the chair. He stood still as three men entered the room and grabbed his arms in a tight hold, letting them drag him into one of the cells.

"Please take off your shirt," one of them requested, still sounding respectful. Because everyone knew Jeon Jungkook was someone to be respected in the gang. Hearing the respect thrown towards him, Jungkook felt more guilty than ever.

He silently obliged, unbuttoning his shirt and letting it slide off his shoulders to a heap on the dirty ground. He held out his wrists willingly, allowing the men to tie his hands to ropes on either sides of the wall. He watched the men grab something off the table and move behind him, and Jungkook knew what was coming. He clenched his back muscles, biting his lip hard when he felt a whip come in contact with his skin with a force beyond what he had imagined.

Fucking hell, he cursed to himself when he felt it again, and again, and again. He could taste blood now from how hard he was biting his lip, the metallic taste giving him momentary distraction from the pulsating pain on his back. Jungkook let out the softest sigh of relief when the three men moved from behind him and placed the whips back on the table. He could hardly see through his watery eyes, vision blurring from the intense pain he felt.

He felt the ropes slip away from his wrists and one of the men put his arm around Jungkook's waist to help him stand. Jungkook looked up with surprised eyes and the three men flashed him apologetic smiles.

"We didn't really want to do this but we had orders," one of them said, helping Jungkook walk to the door while the other picked up his discarded shirt from the ground and followed close behind. "Also we just want to tell you how strong you are for taking it with a sense of responsibility and not even shedding tears or screaming because even we could feel the pain."

Jungkook spotted Yoongi and Namjoon standing outside, conversing with each other in soft voices, but as soon as they saw him they hurried forward, holding his weight by slinging his arms across their shoulders. The man who had picked up Jungkook's shirt handed it to Yoongi, bowing to him. Namjoon and Yoongi leaned in to get a look at Jungkook's back and they instantly averted their gaze, not able to withstand the sight of the horrific red slashes and trails of blood on their close friend.

"Fuck you for getting yourself into this I want to punch you," Yoongi yelled as they guided Jungkook to the infirmary. The ebony haired man flashed him a weak smile, still looking apologetic.

Namjoon didn't say anything but Jungkook could clearly see how hurt he was by the fact that Jungkook had been whipped, his eyes slightly shining with unshed tears. They passed a familiar figure on the way and the man whipped his head around, taking in the wounds on Jungkook's back. 

"Don't ever put me in such a position again," the man said to Jungkook, his eyes holding slight despair. "And Yoongi, a word with you and Hoseok after you get him to the infirmary."

Yoongi gave a nod, shooting a quick glance at Jungkook. "Yes Hyungnim, we'll be there in a few."

When Namjoon and Yoongi entered the infirmary with a battered up Jungkook in between, Taehyung shot up from his seat in front of the computer, immediately rushing over.

"What the fuck," he whispered, making Jungkook lay on his stomach on one of the beds, eyes watering at the sight of his back. "What happened? Why did he get whipped? Fuck, why was he even punished—"

"Later, we'll explain everything later, just please fix him first," Namjoon sighed, giving Yoongi a nod to go meet The Supreme One. "Taehyung and I will take care. If you meet Seokjin on the way please let him know as well."

Taehyung held a large alcohol gauze with tweezers and gently ran it across the cuts on Jungkook's back, the latter hissing and burying his face in the pillow in response. "I'm sorry," Taehyung sounded so broken Jungkook wanted to cry. "It'll hurt a lot."

After cleaning his wounds Taehyung inspected how deep each of the cuts were, sighing in relief when he deemed stitches were not necessary. He took some antiseptic cream and applied it over the cuts, trying not to pay attention to Jungkook wincing every now and then. 

"I deserved it," Jungkook murmured incoherently into the pillow. "I did not have a strong enough reason to let him go like that. I deserved it."

Yoongi and Hoseok held hands as they stood in front of The Supreme One, three of them having an intense staring contest. There was pin-drop silence in the room and Yoongi hated it. He opened his mouth to break it when he heard another voice speak.

"You two were there when the whole fiasco happened," the man spoke, rubbing his forehead with two fingers, "first of all thank you for taking care of the mess. I called you both in today to ask if either of you got a look at the witness's face and could describe it to me so I can take care of them once and for all."

Yoongi thought back to the time, about how Jungkook had hesitated for the first time in his life, about how Jungkook had missed Jimin despite firing at him from so close, about how Jungkook had intended to let Jimin go, about how Jungkook had put himself in such a dangerous position just to ensure Jimin could run away unscathed, about how Jungkook had sacrificed his position as heir to let Jimin go. Yoongi could describe Jimin's face and in an instant it would all be over, for whatever reason Jungkook had wanted Jimin to be safe, it would all go into dust just like that.

Hoseok squeezed his hand discreetly and Yoongi envisioned himself in Jimin's place and Hoseok in Jungkook's or even the other way around. They would have let each other go, despite knowing the punishment they would receive. They would have let each other go because they cared about each other a little too much. They would have let each other go because they felt a connection between them that was worth sacrificing everything for.

Jungkook had let Jimin go for the exact same reasons, despite not realizing it himself.

Simultaneously, through their connected hands and another discreet squeeze of reassurance, the two men made their decision.

"We were patrolling the other side to make sure no one entered the alley," Hoseok spoke in an apologetic voice. "I'm afraid the two of us could see nothing but a silhouette as the witness escaped."

The man hummed, sighing as he dismissed the two of them. "Thank you, you may leave."

Jimin was hunched over the toilet seat back home, puking his guts out into it in the middle of the night. He had not told his grandmother what he had seen, and he did not plan on telling her. He had gone straight to bed citing he wasn't hungry and he had not gotten a wink of sleep despite popping his panic attack tablets and some sleeping pills.

In the middle of the night, somewhere around 1 am, Jimin had suddenly remembered what had happened at the club the night he was drunk. He had kissed Jungkook, he had kissed a murderer, he had let hands that were perhaps always stained with blood run over him and hold him. And the thought itself had made bile rise up Jimin's throat, a sudden vision of the bleeding body coming back to haunt him, soon accompanied by images of his parents' bodies.

He flushed once he was done, breathing heavily, hair stuck to his forehead due to sweat.

As he stood up shakily and went back to bed, Jimin suddenly wished he had never visited Busan. A vacation he was supposed to spend in peace with his grandmother had suddenly just turned into a horrific nightmare, except it was all real.

~

note:
hehe i'm back?
what do you all think about jungkook now? was what he did right or wrong?
also the leader of the gang is who they address as hyugnim and the supreme one, because i just read what i wrote and my dumb ass made them seem like two different people i guess?
have fun reading <3
(maybe please) follow me if you like my works, i'd really appreciate that :')
brb gonna go watch that heart video of jungkook another 50000 times