Namjoon washed his face in the bathroom sink before heading back to the hospital. He knew there was no use in staying and trying to fight with his manager. And now that he suspected him of some sinister things regarding his maknae, he wanted to get back to the members as quickly as possible. He didn't know what they'd think or how they'd take it, it's not like he had any proof that Shik had anything to do with Jungkook getting hurt, but he wanted to make them aware of his concerns and see what their input was. He didn't want to bring it up in front of Jungkook at the moment, he wasn't sure how he'd take it. Considering he hadn't gotten any updates from anyone, he knew Jungkook still hadn't woken up at the hospital.

When he got back he made his way back into the private waiting room the others were in.

"Where did you end up going?" Jin asked.

Yoongi informed him that just as he had suspected, Jungkook still hadn't woken up.

"I went to the company. I need to talk to you guys about something," Namjoon started.

Taehyung stared at Namjoon in the seat beside him and noticed his leader looked quite distraught. "What's the matter?"

"I asked manager Shik about CCTV cameras and he refuses to get them," Namjoon told them.

"I thought they were on back order already?" Yoongi asked raising an eyebrow. "Did he say he cancelled the order or something?"

"I think he may have cancelled the order a long time ago, Yoongi. I don't think those cameras were ever coming," Namjoon said.

"I swear I'm not dumb but I don't get what you're trying to say," Hobi spoke up.

"I'm saying manager Shik doesn't want cameras in the building," Namjoon said sternly.

"Why not?" Jimin asked confused.

Namjoon gave a sorrowful gaze to his members who were all staring at him waiting for an answer. "Because then we would know what happened to Jungkook and why he's laying unconscious in a hospital bed."

Jimin's draw dropped when he understood what his leader meant.

"I'm still not following," Hobi said innocently. He wasn't seeing the connection.

Jin stood up frantically. "You think manager Shik knows what happened to him?"

"I think manager Shik is what happened to him," Namjoon finally said.

Hobi's mouth dropped open once he finally understood.

"What?! You think manager Shik hurt Jungkookie? How would that make sense? Why would he do something like that? He's never hurt Jungkookie before." Taehyung was getting defensive, not over the fact he was trying to defend Shik, but over the fact that if Shik had done this to Jungkook it was too painful to think about. "He's always seemed pretty nice to Jungkook."

"Why else wouldn't he want cameras?" Jin's face was turning red with anxiety. "I mean, has Jungkook ever said anything to anyone about Shik hurting him? Has anyone ever seen Shik be mean to or hurt him before? It doesn't make sense." Unfortunately he realized Namjoon's concern was a real concern to have as much as he too didn't want to believe it.

Yoongi was the next to angrily stand up. "It just doesn't make sense though! Shik has been our manager for months! Why would he just now start hurting Jungkook? And for no reason?!"

"Maybe it's not just now starting. He's been getting injuries and having night terrors now for a few months," Jimin informed them.

Taehyung started crying and Jimin went over and rubbed his back.

"Maybe we're just being accusing. He very well could have just fallen," Yoongi said. He was in complete denial. He refused to believe that their boss was, and has been, abusing their maknae for months right under their noses. "If Shik was hurting Jungkookie he would have told us as soon as it started. We know our maknae, he'd never let someone do that to him."

"If he was scared enough he might!" Namjoon shouted. He was frustrated. Along with Yoongi he too couldn't understand why Jungkook would keep a secret like that for so long.

"Well what do we do? Ask him? None of us have any proof that Shik was the cause of any of his injuries!" Hobi yelled as he wiped away some of his own tears of frustration.

"He's just going to lie if we ask him. He clearly lies about half of his injuries and his nightmares," Namjoon said.

"Then what do you suggest? How the hell would we prove something like that?" Yoongi asked.

"What if we caught Shik doing something to him?" Jimin asked.

"No," Namjoon demanded harshly. "I don't want him alone anywhere near Shik until this is sorted out. I'll admit it's just speculation right now and if we're lucky, I'm wrong. But after seeing Shik today I just can't shake this feeling," his voice got shaky as his anxiety increased, "That manager Shik might not be who he pretends to be. I don't want anyone alone around him anymore."

"Why? He's never hurt any of us. I still don't see why he'd hurt Jungkook. Especially only Jungkook. If he was abusive wouldn't he be hurting all of us?" Yoongi asked.

Everyone turned and looked at Namjoon, who they knew had read enough of his brain books to have some sort of answer.

"That's not always true. Sometimes people are targeted. It could simply be because he's the youngest. I don't know," Namjoon told them.

It wasn't a very informative answer but it was all he had. Jimin was still rubbing Taehyung's back as the younger was headed for a bad panic attack. Jimin pulled him into a tight hug. Taehyung didn't want it to be true. He wanted his hyung to be wrong. He shared his room with Jungkook, they knew all of eachothers secrets. He couldn't understand why Jungkook would hide something like that from him. Wouldn't he trust me to help him? Wouldn't he want help? It just can't be true!

"I do ask you all for a favor." Namjoon stared and waited for everyone's attention.

"Hm?" Jin mumbled. He was off in his own world thinking of every bad thing he'd do to his manager if they were to find out he truly did have anything to do with any of Jungkook's injuries.

"Please don't bring this up in front of Jungkook quite yet. He's going to be angry and scared and if what I'm thinking is true, I know he's going to lie. I want to talk to him alone and get him to open up somehow," Namjoon told them.

They all nodded their heads in agreement that they wouldn't intrude on whatever Namjoon's plan was to get Jungkook to admit if Shik was abusive or not. If the man wasn't going to get cameras then the only proof they would ever have was Jungkook's confession. Especially now that none of them dared leave him alone with that man.

Jungkook's doctor walked in to let them know that their maknae had woken up, but that he needed to speak with Jungkook privately first, and get his permission before they could enter. He told them to sit tight.

The doctor walked into Jungkook's room. The maknae was groggy after coming off of anesthesia. His stomach hurt and he was really thirsty, and so so tired. His eyes kept rolling to the back of his head but he tried to fight off sleep.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." The doctor smiled at him. Jungkook didn't move a muscle or respond, his body felt like dead weight.

"Do you know how you got here? Or why?" the doctor asked.

Jungkook gently shook his head no. He remembers Shik hitting him with a bat and passing out in Namjoon's arms but that was the last of it for him. He didn't know why he even passed out or who had called the ambulance. All he remembers is being absolutely terrified when Shik had walked into the dance studio after beating him. His body seized when he realized he had passed out after Shik had walked in. Was that a giveaway to the members? Was Shik upset? He panicked worrying about them, hoping Shik hadn't targeted them next. "H-hyungs..." He managed to whisper.

"Your hyungs? They're all here. They're waiting to come see you, they're alright. But first I need to discuss something. You don't have to talk, but you need to listen." The doctor told Jungkook about his appendix and why he had needed surgery. He also informed him he's aware of the bruises all over his stomach. What the doctor told him next made him want to vomit.

"Just know that if you were still a minor, this is something I'd have to get the cops involved with. This is something I'd have to call CPS for. Jungkook you're exhibiting too many signs of abuse. I know you're an adult and nobody can force you to say anything. I'm not saying I know what's going on, but as I've said before I've seen this all before and if it's this bad now, what do I do when the next time you're rolled into my hospital you're not even alive anymore?"

Jungkook lay silent as tears spilled out of his eyes. He knew Shik's ultimate goal was probably to kill him at some point.

"You have a group of hyungs out there who are worried sick about you every single time you have come in here. It's not good for them, and it's not good for you. All I'm saying is they deserve the truth. You don't have to tell me the truth if you don't want to, but I think your big brothers at least deserve it."

Jungkook cried harder. You don't understand. I can't tell them the truth or else they'll be the ones laying in this hospital bed.

"Do you understand me?"

Jungkook slowly nodded his head yes.

"Okay, good. Now, your six hyungs all need permission from you to come in here. That's how this is going to work from here on out. Anyone who wants to visit you needs your permission. Do they all have permission to enter?"

Jungkook shook his head yes as he dragged his hand to his face to wipe his tears. He knew this situation was really bad. He didn't have it in him to lie anymore but he didn't have it in him to tell them the truth either. He felt like he had nothing left in him at all. Part of him was angry that he ever woke up from surgery. If he had just held out a bit longer he could have gotten lucky and never woken up again.

The doctor met the others back in the waiting room and they all eagerly jumped to their feet. He told them the room number. "He's all yours. You all have permission."

The members thanked him as they frantically sprinted to their maknae's hospital room. They ran in and ran to his bedside.

"My baby!" Jimin cried as he clutched onto Jungkook's hand. Taehyung was right next to him and grabbed his arm. The other members were all huddled around holding his hands and arms too, making sure to avoid all the wires he was hooked up to. The members wouldn't have realized how happy he was to see them and know they were all alright considering he didn't have the energy to respond, but he was. At least Shik hadn't done anything to one of them in the meantime as far as he could tell.

"Did your doctor tell you you needed surgery?" Jin asked. Jungkook nodded. He told me that and other things.

"What happened to you?" Yoongi asked.

All the members looked at Yoongi with a somewhat threatening gaze reminding him not to bring up their manager, not here, not now.

Yoongi didn't plan to do that, he just wanted to see what Jungkook came up with.

Jungkook just shrugged. "I don't know," he whispered. His throat still hurt quite a bit sore from all the screaming and crying he had done before passing out.

"You don't know?" Yoongi asked.

Jungkook shrugged again. He was too tired to really care about much, the members could pry for an answer all they wanted, he simply didn't have one for them.

"Okay," Namjoon replied.

Jungkook was surprised by the comment. They usually pried and pried for some kind of answer so he didn't know why they weren't now, not that he minded. Hobi was running his fingers up and down his arm and it was making him even more drowsy, it was relaxing. He looked over to see Taehyung in a fit of tears not talking but just staring right at him.

Jungkook lifted his hand and Taehyung squeezed it before dropping his face into Jungkook's blanket and sobbing loudly. Seeing Jungkook so hurt and now being under the impression that his manager might have done it was becoming too unbearable for him.

Yoongi walked over to Taehyung and hugged him. "Hey calm down. He's going to be alright."

"Jungkookie? Are you going to be alright?" Hobi asked his maknae concerned. Jungkook just shrugged in response again and it was making everyone nervous. They wished he had more to say but understood he was tired and didn't feel well.

"How did I get here?" Jungkook finally asked.

"Yoongi hyung called an ambulance," Jimin told him.

Jungkook nodded before his eyes started to roll back again. It was becoming way too hard to fight sleep. He flinched awake because of a knock on the door. It was his doctor popping his head in. "There is someone else here to visit you."

Jungkook looked around and saw all of his hyungs in front of him so he wondered who the hell else would have come.

"Man Shik? He has asked to visit. Does he have permission?" The doctor asked.

Jungkook froze.

That man was the last person he wanted in the room but he feared that denying his manager permission would have been a huge red flag to his hyungs and he didn't want to risk that. Yoongi saw Jungkook's clear hesitation and his heart broke. He realized that as much as he wanted to deny it, it was possible that Namjoon's suspicion was right.

"No," Yoongi spat before Jungkook had even figured out how to reply. Jungkook looked at him confused.

"I mean he's really tired and is about to sleep...he needs rest. I don't think he should have any more visitors today," Yoongi added.

The members all nodded in agreement that Jungkook was simply too exhausted for more visitors.

"I'll let him know." The doctor disappeared out the door.

"Are you guys leaving?" Jungkook asked them confused. It wasn't like them to ever answer for him like that. And saying he was too tired and didn't need more visitors made Jungkook think that they themselves would be heading out early, which also wasn't like them.

"No, no of course not. But one more would be a bit of a crowd wouldn't it?" Namjoon asked.

Namjoon felt like he was suddenly walking on eggshells. He didn't want Jungkook to get upset with him finding out what he'd discussed with the members. He knew if Jungkook was keeping Shik's actions a secret, the maknae had a huge reason for not wanting them to know.

"I guess so," the maknae replied. He felt super grateful for Yoongi and Namjoon in that moment. He didn't have to come up with his own excuse for once.

His hyungs, finally, did something to protect him and in his mind, they didn't even know it. He wished it could have been like that more often, then he might not have ever ended up in half the situations he had been placed in.

The members sat around while Jungkook drifted in and out of sleep. They hadn't heard anything more about Shik so they figured he must have given up and left. They were glad that the doctor had made it a rule that any visitors needed Jungkook's permission because it meant Shik couldn't stumble in any moment he wanted to. Jungkook was safe and the hyungs all planned to keep it that way.

Taehyung had fallen asleep sitting next to Jungkook's bed with his head faceplanted into the maknae's blanket. The members took pictures of him thinking it was the funniest thing ever. It was nice to have a few laughs, because they already knew that once Jungkook got home Namjoon was going to be talking with him and they didn't expect many laughs or smiles to come out of that.

Jungkook had to spend a few days in the hospital to make sure his stitches were healing nicely, and he couldn't be released until his fever was gone which the antibiotics were still working on. Unfortunately Shik had called both Namjoon and Jin multiple times saying they needed to come back into the studio and get work done. To everyone's surprise, Jin absolutely refused.

"I'm not walking out of this hospital without my maknae," he told his manager. "Fire us if you want to."

Everyone couldn't believe Jin's boldness but didn't disagree with him either. At the moment they didn't care if Shik fired them all. What's the worst that would happen? They go to a different company? Schedule their own events?

After a few days Jungkook had become more active and the doctor had him doing some physical therapy to gain some of his strength back after surgery and being bed ridden for a period of time. The members hadn't left his side once. They even had some fun joining in on the physical therapy exercises, turning it into small competitions. Whenever they had some downtime they would wheel Jungkook around the hospital in a wheelchair just to get out of his hospital room for a little bit. Hobi was constantly sneaking pictures of his maknae, he thought he looked adorable in his hospital pants.

Jungkook didn't want to admit it but he wished he could have stayed in the hospital even longer. It was the only thing that truly kept him from having to go to work. He felt terrible knowing the band was suffering as a result, but he couldn't help the sense of relief he felt knowing he was safe and protected there. He was at home as well, to an extent, but sometimes being at home had presented itself with an unwanted visitor whether he gave permission or not.

He tried to hide his sorrow when the doctor told him he was being discharged and was free to go home. Jin and Jimin laughed when Hobi asked the doctor if they could keep Jungkook's hospital pants.

However, Yoongi and Namjoon both realized how sad Jungkook looked and knew that usually, people were excited to leave the hospital, not sad about it. All of the members hid their own anxiety, because they knew that this meant they would hopefully be getting the truth sooner than later and they all hoped to God the truth really had nothing to do with their manager, but they all knew it was wishful thinking.

Taehyung pushed Jungkook in a wheelchair to the car. He could walk, but Taehyung thought it'd be more fun to have one last go in the wheelchair. They all let Jungkook get in first.

Jimin turned to Namjoon outside of the car. "When are you talking to him?"

"Tonight," the leader informed them.

They all frowned at each other but they knew it was something that had to be done. They quickly got in the car and headed home. It was pretty late into the night by the time they were home and everyone was tired. Jin suggested to Namjoon maybe waiting until tomorrow to talk to Jungkook but Namjoon refused to wait. He figured people tended to be more honest when they were a bit sleepy anyways and he would get the truth.

"Just go easy on him. You can't force him to admit or say anything he doesn't want to," Yoongi asked of his leader.

Considering Jungkook hadn't mentioned Shik to any of them before, Yoongi didn't know how Namjoon intended to get any kind of different answer.

"I will, don't worry. But if you hear yelling, please just trust me," Namjoon asked.

The members nodded their heads. Taehyung had been helping Jungkook settle back in their room when Namjoon walked in.

"Taehyung?" Namjoon nodded towards his dongsaeng. Taehyung knew this was the que to leave the room. He didn't want to be separated from his maknae so soon but obeyed his hyung. Namjoon stood there and stared at Jungkook for a moment.

"Hyung?" the maknae asked. He thought they were all acting a bit suspicious recently, he wondered what was going on. He wondered if he was in trouble. Namjoon planned to not leave that boys room until he was fully convinced that his maknae had told him nothing but the truth.

Namjoon slowly locked the bedroom door behind him so that nobody would bother them. He stood there and saw the anxiety creep onto Jungkook's face. It was clear that Jungkook didn't like being in a locked room. And he was determined to find out why.

Namjoon walked over and sat next to Jungkook on his bed.

"We need to talk."