A/n- Panic attack mentioned, beware

The atmosphere in the Min household was tense and eerily quiet that made Seokjin shudder in guilt and fear at the same time. Yoongi was standing by the door, still as the night, his gaze vary but body so rigid that Jin could vividly see the goosebumps that ran throughout his best friend's pale exposed forearms. Jimin was beside him, his right arm wound around his own bicep, the older occasionally wincing when sharp nails dug into his delicate skin, tiny crescents blooming red. Yoongi's parents sat on the couch opposite to Jin, there gaze heavy on the man that made Jin want to run outside to just breathe, to fill his lungs with air to help him with the suffocation within.

They know.

At this point everyone knows without it being said.

Seokjin is not stupid. He can tell when he's being avoided as if he's a plague. A curse.

His eyes became glossy at the mere thought of being snatched away from his loved ones, from his parents, from his brother and his best friend. And Jin became even more depressed at the fact that he knows he doesn't deserve all this. He's been the good boy everyone looks up to, praised for and admired afar. But now the villagers look at him as if he has been scorned, a blemish they can't wait to get rid off.

It takes only one rumour to spread for everyone to turn into your enemy during desperate times. And he's ever so grateful for Yoongi and Jimin to stay by his side even though they practically shouldn't.

He's not worth it.

"I want you to shut up hyung" Yoongi broke the tense suffocating silence with his crisp words. Jin jerked his head up to meet with the glossy one's of his soulmate, his best friend. He said those words out loud unknowingly, "You mean the world to both me and Jimin. And we would never trade our friendship for anything else"

"Not even us hyungie", Jimin beside him then completed the sentence Yoongi was about to say, soft words whispered in his ears, his head nuzzling Jin's shoulder in order to comfort him, but comfort was the last thing Jin ever felt these days.

Jin gulped down harshly to prevent himself from breaking down, his throat scorn dry and lips chapped and broken from all the nervous chewing he has been doing the past two weeks.
Mrs. Min looked devasted while Mr. Min just stared at the floor with a blank expression. Jin looked as if his soul had been sucked out; pale skin, prominent collar bones peeking out from his white thin shirt indicating that the man has lost just so much of weight, it hurt to even look at him.

Especially since Jin was one of the most vibrant and happy go lucky person one can ever meet in their lives.

Dark circles adorned his eye bags, his cheeks no more red and fluffy. Mrs. Min swallowed back her own tears and stood up slowly and crouched in front of Jin, her soft small hands gently cupping Jin's face.

"Be strong Jinnie, please. I can't see you wither away like this. As a mother, I can't bare to see my child like this. Jimin, take him to your room, he needs to sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning, okay Jin"

"I-I can't" Seokjin croaked out, voice scratchy and hoarse, barely a whisper. His grip on the woman's hand increasing as he pressed his face into her palms, as if he was trying to soak into her motherly affection for protection from the harsh world. He just wanted to go home.

This time Mrs. Min allowed her tears to fall, she immediately getting up to gather the quivering man into her arms, her one hand on his nape while the other rubbed circles on his back.
Jimin looked at Yoongi, devastation clear on their faces as they looked away from the scene, their heart wrenching in despair.

Because deep down, everyone in the room knew that they wouldn't be able to save Seokjin.

But it never hurts to try.

Yoongi harshly wiped at his face to get rid of the tears before firmly speaking, his feline eyes set dead on Jin's shrinking form "We're leaving the village tomorrow at 4am. We'll reach Seoul and from there we have our flight at 5pm to London. Seokjin, you need to sleep right now. Don't waste time" Not a request, but an order.

Jin pulled back from the hug, plea and desperation clear on his face that he didn't want to be left alone. As it is he felt as if he had been crushed under hundreds of bricks. The mental trauma haunting him every day that one day, he's going to be feasted on alive by some man eating tiger. He can't remember the last time he slept peacefully, images of his blood dripping from the carnivore's mouth flashing by every now and then.

Jimin took the reigns to calm his hyung down, him getting up and scooping his hyung into a bear hug. Even though his stature is smaller than Jin's, his core strength is very admirable. Firmly grabbing the underside of Jin's thighs, he picked the babbling man up into his embrace, Jimin taking a sharp breath in at how lightweight his cousin was.

Jin taught Jimin what happiness was. The elder's passion itself was cooking, eating and gaming. And to see his role model withering away like the dead leaves made Jimin die on the inside.

Once the duo left for Yoongi's and Jimin's shared bedroom, Mr.Min took the initiative to speak, his voice heavy and stern, "Jin needs to leave Yoongi"

The tone, Yoongi didn't like it one bit. He stood up straight, his back no more leaning against the wall.

Glaring at his father, he replied, "And we're leaving tomorrow morning father" tone firm leaving no room for discussion. But it seemed as if his father had some other plan.

"You definitely know that's not what I mean. Get rid of him right now"

Mrs. Min gasped at the sheer bluntness, "Hobeom, what is wrong with you? What are you saying?"

Hobeom's sharp eyes landed on his wife, fire evident in his eyes, "I'm saying what is beneficial for our family In Ha. Yoongi made a terrible mistake bringing Jin here. Not only is he risking Jin's life, but also ours."

"Father, It's Jin hyung. Not some stranger. He's like your son!" Yoongi couldn't believe his ears. Was this the man Jin always looked up to?

"He's cursed Yoongi! The tiger spirit has fucking imprinted on him. Look at the scar on his neck. The villagers already have an idea of what's going on. They won't hesitate to barge into our home and shred us apart to get their hands on Jin. No one comes back alive after seeing the tiger spirit. But guess what?" Hobeom sneered sarcastically, "Seokjin came back alive! And to put a cherry on top, he's the tiger spirit's fucking bride"

He further continued, this time not bothering to lower his voice down," You are messing with the spirit's mate, his bride Yoongi. This is not just a mere sacrificial feast. His soul is going to be eternally bounded to the tiger spirit. Jin is the chosen one and in this room everyone fucking knows his doom is inevitable!"

A thud across the room had everyone flinching, Yoongi's eyes widening in alarm at the sight of a frantic Jin on the floor, the man clawing at his face with his sharp uncut nails, eyes dilated with fear and breaths short with heavy wheezing.

"Jin hyung!"

Before Jimin could lunge himself at the screaming man, Yoongi managed to gather Jin into his arms with great effort as the older had taken it upon himself to claw at anything.
Yoongi had never seen such violent side of his hyung, hell he has never seen Jin having such a severe panic attack.

As Yoongi reached out to finally grab his hyung's face, Jimin shrieked out in alarm when his fiancé was slapped harshly by Jin, the breathless man trying to scooch away as far as possible from Yoongi. Yoongi could vividly taste the iron filling his tongue and he had to steady himself because right now Jin needed him. He cannot personally take the blow.

"Jimin grab him from behind. I'll try for his legs"

Mr. Min roared out, face red with anger, "Don't go near him. Don't fucking touch him, He's cursed!" And when he violently pushed away a hysteric Mrs.Min away harshly, that's when Yoongi lost it. He lunged at his father and grabbed him by his collar, the old man screaming murder as he tried to wrench himself free from his son's vice grip. Hobeom will do anything to get rid of the breathing curse inside his house. It's either Jin or his family and he will always choose his family over everything.

Locking his father inside his bedroom was not an easy task, considering he had never seen such a side of his dad in his whole life. The old man looked as if he was at the brink of losing his sanity. Yoongi knew what he was doing was going to have severe consequences but he cannot risk losing either of them. Thus, ignoring the heavy desperate pounding on the door, Yoongi rushed back to the living room to see a trembling Jin crumbled into his mother's and Jimin's embrace.

Yoongi sighed as he tried to calm himself down. Nothing was going the way he wanted to. Jin was never supposed to know his inevitable future. At this point, being food for the beast seemed to be a better option than being bound by the soul for an eternity.

When their eyes met, Jimin's lips wobbled into a soundless apology, him shaking his head in disbelief, "We got alarmed when Appa started screaming. And I failed to lock hyung in. He pushed me aside and rushed back out before I could stop him. I'm so sorry. All of this is my fault hyung"

Yoongi wasted no time and hugged Jimin by cradling Jin as well into his embrace, "You did nothing wrong. The truth was bound to come out anyway." Looking down at Jin's shivering form, Yoongi tried to cup his hyung's face but his breath hitched when his hands were softly pushed away.

"Jinnie, look at me, everything's gonna be okay. We'll do everything possible to keep you by our side"

Jin sniffled as he wiped away his tear-stained cheeks, disbelief written on his face, "I-I hurt you and...how c-could you? I can't b-believe I raised my hand at you. Forgive hyung please" a fresh set of tears spilled down those innocent pained swollen eyes and both the men did not hold themselves back from cradling their sweet hyung.

Jimin nuzzled Jin's neck softly to calm the man down as he latched onto his back, pinning his sobbing brother's arms to his sides, "Hyungie no, please, you just had a panic attack. And if Yoongi's hurt, then so are you. So many things have been happening ever since you came to this village. We thought not telling you anything was for everyone's betterment. But see how the tables turned around."

Jin hung his head down, every movement now sluggish from exhaustion and pain. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the tiger spirit wanted him as his mate and not a sacrifice. He doesn't know what to even feel at this point.

"Please take him to bed you guys, he needs to sleep. I'll go handle your father" Mrs. Min spoke, resignation written on her face as she kissed her three children goodnight.

When the old woman crossed the corridor, that's when she allowed herself to break down. Guilt weighed down heavy on her as she imagined the distraught faces of Jin's parents when they realize they can never get to see him again.

Yoongi sighed as he carried his hyung's dead weight against him. Jimin had already prepared their bed and now that Yoongi thinks about it, the bed seems a little too small for three grown men. But if it means he can cuddle with his hyung and Jimin for a while, he's down for it. Jin gets manhandled to sleep facing the wall while Jimin sleeps in the middle. Yoongi shrugs his tshirt off as he fluffs up their comforter and he drags the huge fluff over their exhausted bodies.

Sharing a few tears and silent kisses did Jimin and Yoongi fall asleep.

But Jin couldn't.

Especially since he knew the scar on his neck felt like it was on fire.

He doesn't have much time left, the man thought as he bitterly smiled and no one in the pitch black darkness noticed the pair of purple eyes stalking the trio through the window.

A/n- Do you think Mr. Min's reaction was justified? Was he right to feel that way? Lemme know in the comments :)

Hit the star for me y'all, it makes my day