Taehyung and Jimin immediately dropped to the ground crying at the news from Namjoon.

"No, you're fucking with us. Right? You're just fucking with us. Shik has been our manager for months!! There's no way!" Jin screamed.

"I'm sorry," Namjoon choked wiping his tears, "It all makes sense now." He looked at Yoongi who was standing next to him, his hands balled into fists and his face beat read.

"He's dead. I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" Yoongi cried.

"Our poor maknae!" Hobi screamed.

"Shh, please. I finally got him to fall asleep please nobody wake him back up," Namjoon gestured for everyone to be quiet.

He looked down at his two other maknae's who were balled up crying on the floor. Everyone's hearts were shattering. He turned back to Jin, "Think about it hyung...Shik has been our manager for months...when did Jungkook-ah start getting all these injuries and acting weird?"

"He-I-" Jin froze when he realized this all started months ago. "When Shik showed up." He immediately turned and dropped his head into the kitchen trash can, getting sick.

"He finally told you the truth? That's the truth?" Hobi asked, wiping the tears off his face with the collar of his shirt. Namjoon nodded.

"How did you get him to say it? Or why wouldn't he tell us? Oh my God our poor baby! It's been our manager this whole time?! We're the worst hyungs! The worst! He was getting hurt right under our noses and we couldn't even figure it out?!" Hobi began sobbing even harder.

"Shik told him he'd hurt all of us too if he said anything so he was too afraid to speak up," the leader told them all. Namjoon looked back at Yoongi who was being scarily silent, his stance and facial expression hadn't changed. "Hyung, are you okay?"

"I'm going to kill him," was Yoongi's only reply. He's been hurting MY maknae?!

"I don't know what to do he made me promise not to tell Shik that we know but we can't just let him stay our manager," Namjoon sulked.

"He needs to be in goddamn jail, that's where he needs to be! He's been assaulting our Kookie for months, almost killing him probably at least twice already, and he expects to just get away with it?!" Jin screamed.

"Should we call the police?" Hobi asked.

"No need to do that, because I'm going to kill him, and then he won't need to go to jail because he'll be buried six feet under the fuckin ground!" Yoongi yelled.

Taehyung looked up at Yoongi. "Hyung you're scaring me." He wasn't used to his hyungs making scary threats or looking so angry, they had never acted like that before.

"Sorry," the rapper gestured rather un-apologetically.

"He doesn't want us calling the police," Namjoon informed them.

"Then what does he expect us to do? Watch him get assaulted and beaten every chance Shik gets and just sit back and watch it happen like we don't know?" Jimin asked angrily from his spot on the floor next to Taehyung.

"I don't know what he wants, but I know for damn sure we aren't letting Shik ever touch him again," Namjoon replied.

"Why would he hurt our maknae. I don't understand, he never did anything wrong," Hobi cried. His heart sank knowing his innocent maknae was taking beatings by his boss, and for absolutely no reason.

"I don't know. He doesn't know why either," Namjoon started. He began to explain to the members how Jungkook told him everything. How every injury since the night he came home with a sprained wrist was from Shik. How right after his introduction meeting he grabbed him and scared him, and that same night hurt him at the gym.

Every bruise, sprain, scrape, cut, the concussion, the appendix, had all been because of Shik. Jungkook had explained why he has so many nightmares now and why he's afraid of loud noises like thunder, and why he flinches whenever someone raises their hands near him. Jungkook told Namjoon that he doesn't think the therapy situation at the hospital had ever been an accident.

The members broke down even more knowing all of this. Jin felt like they should be the ones in jail knowing they had failed Jungkook so badly as hyungs.

"The moment I met him I promised to protect him and I failed him. We all did. We all failed him," Jin cried. He dropped his head into his hands and his shoulders heaved up and down as he sobbed.

Yoongi went over and placed his hand on Jin's back. "It's not your fault hyung."

"It's all of our faults," Taehyung cried. The members were silent for a moment. Nobody had disagreed with the statement. Taehyung angrily stood up and turned to Namjoon. "You were supposed to know, hyung!"

"What?" Namjoon asked confused.

Taehyung's face was bright red and his eyes were bloodshot from the tears spilling out of them. "You were supposed to know! You had all those stupid books you kept reading and you didn't think he was being abused?! Aren't you supposed to be some kind of genius?! Shouldn't you have known something was wrong?! You've read a million books about why people act the way they do and you never stopped to think that maybe someone was putting their fucking hands on him?!"

"Taehyungie, please calm down." Jimin stood up and placed his hand on Taehyungs back.

Taehyung shoved Jimin back and turned back to Namjoon. "No! You were supposed to figure this out sooner! How could you not have known?!" he screamed.

"That's not fair Taehyung!" Namjoon shot back. "You think I didn't wonder?! You think I didn't have questions?! Of course I stopped to think about if someone was putting their hands on him! I'd ask him over and over and he never was willing to tell the truth! I couldn't force him! What the hell was I supposed to do?!"

Taehyung went to yell at Namjoon more but Yoongi grabbed his wrist. "Stop it. Now."

Taehyung angrily pulled away out of his hyungs grip. "Or what? Huh? Are you going to beat me the same way Shik has been beating on our Jungkookie?" Yoongi felt his bottom lip quiver. He had no idea why Taehyung would ever accuse him of doing something like that.

"No. Taehyung, I wouldn't do that to you." Yoongi started when Namjoon cut Yoongi off to yell at Taehyung. "What about you, huh?! You saw all the same signs too and I didn't see you coming to his rescue!"

"Both of you stop it!" Jin finally screamed. He couldn't take the fighting anymore.

"I'm sorry." Taehyung fell silent and let his tears do the talking instead. He realized Namjoon was right, he didn't do much to save his maknae either even when he had his own suspicions. "I just...I need to go be with my maknae. I want..." he started choking on his words trying to catch his breath, "I want my maknae."

"Please don't wake him up, okay?" Namjoon asked. He got up and walked over to Taehyung, he could see how incredibly upset he was. He brought Taehyung into a hug and the younger cried into his shoulder. "I'm sorry...I'm really sorry hyung I didn't mean to.."

"Sh, it's okay. Just go get some rest, okay?" Namjoon replied. He wiped the tears off Taehyung's face.

Jimin stood up and went with Taehyung into the two maknae's shared bedroom. Namjoon wasn't too upset with Taehyung. He knew the younger was just acting out because he was upset and scared and he was projecting his own guilt onto others, he'd at least learned that much from the books he'd read. His own guilt was intense, especially knowing that Jungkook's doctor had warned about the possibility of abuse from the very beginning and nobody wanted to believe him.

Jimin and Taehyung snuck their way into Jungkook's bed and sandwiched him in-between them. They both gently wrapped him in their arms trying not to wake him up. Jimin sunk his face into his maknae's chest while Taehyung buried his into his maknae's hair. They tried to make their sobs as quiet as possible, but Taehyung accidentally let out a rather loud sob and Jungkook stirred awake.

"Hyung?" he whispered, his eyes still closed.

"Shh, maknae, it's okay. Just sleep," Jimin told him. "Hyungs are here."

Jungkook lightly nodded and curled back up between them and fell right back asleep.

Jimin stretched his hand out and grabbed Taehyungs arm. "Hey, listen to me. He's safe now. He'll always be safe now. Take deep breaths Taehyungie. We may not have protected him before but we can now, yeah? He's going to be fine. Try to rest."

Taehyung silently nodded in response and closed his eyes. Soon all three of them were entangled in each other's arms and fast asleep.

The rest of the members were still in the kitchen talking, trying to remain calm even though their hearts were burning with rage.

"Is Jungkookie mad at us?" Hobi finally asked. He didn't see how the maknae couldn't be. He'd been someone's punching bag for months and they were completely oblivious.

"There were times he was, and times he wasn't. He knew we didn't know and was desperate to keep it that way. He's just really scared. Shik beat him with a bat and-"

Yoongi cut Namjoon off. "A bat?! A fucking bat?! I'm going to take a bat and beat him in the damn skull with it!" The rapper screamed, "Who the hell does he think he is, putting his damn hands on our maknae? Jungkook isn't even his to beat! He's ours! I don't mean ours to beat, I mean ours in general! All Shik is supposed to do is manage business shit, while we manage our goddamn maknae! He has no right!"

The rapper had a lot more to say. "How long did he plan on doing this for, huh? Forever?! Until he killed the kid?! And why only him? Why not all of us? What's his issue with the youngest? Does he get off on that kind of shit? Hurting the youngest or smallest one around? Who knows how many other people this man could have hurt in his career! What the hell are we supposed to do?! He needs to be gone, he's going to have to realize we know. Then what? Is he going to come for Jungkook in his sleep or something?"

Yoongi stopped and paused for a moment. "We should buy a gun."

"We aren't buying a damn gun," Jin protested, "But we sure as hell aren't letting him near Jungkook either. I don't know what to do but until we figure it out that boy is not allowed to be by himself at work, ever. Even going to the bathroom, someone is going with him."

The members all agreed. They weren't going to take any chances. They talked for a little while longer while calming down. They all went to peek inside Jungkook's and Taehyung's room to see how the maknae's were sleeping. They smiled seeing Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook all curled up together. Jungkook actually looked comfortable, which is how it should have always been. The members headed to their rooms to call it a night.

In the middle of the night Taehyung was woken up by Jungkook starting to toss and turn in his arms. Jimin was sprawled out on the other edge of the bed. He could hear some faint thunder rolling in and tried not to panic. He wondered if Jungkook would have one of his night terrors and was starting to wish Yoongi was with them to help. Still asleep, Jungkook rolled over to face Taehyung and grabbed onto his shirt. Taehyung pulled him into a tight hug. A sudden loud boom of thunder came and Jungkook's eyes shot wide open and Taehyung felt him shaking.

"He's coming, he's coming," Jungkook started to panic.

"What?" Taehyung asked.

"Hyung he's coming!" Jungkook whispered. He seemed scared as all hell. Taehyung was confused for a second until he understood.

"No he's not, bunny, he's not coming," Taehyung whispered reassuringly. He looked over and wondered how the thunder hadn't woken Jimin up.

Jungkook buried his face into Taehyung's shirt and started to cry. "He's coming to hurt me again."

Taehyung grabbed Jungkook's face in his hands. "Maknae look at me. Hyung is right here. He's not coming. And he's not coming to hurt you. He's never going to hurt you again. Hyungs won't let him," he kissed his maknae's forehead, "Now try and go back to sleep, okay? You're safe now."

Jungkook nodded and curled back up, falling asleep so quickly Taehyung wondered if he'd ever really even woken up or if it was just one of his night terror things. He too found himself falling back into darkness.

The morning was quiet. Everyone was in a terrible mood. Yoongi barely slept after also being woken up by the thunder. He had went out into the living room and stayed awake the entire time listening for if Jungkook woke up crying, but surprsingly he hadn't heard anything come from the maknae's bedroom all night.

Jungkook and Taehyung were the only two still asleep, when Jimin had woken up he tucked them both under the blanket and snuck out of the room as quietly as possible.

Jin was looking at a box that had some medicated cream in it that Jungkook was supposed to put over his stitches. "Has he used any of this yet?" the oldest asked a bit concerned, he didn't remember Jungkook using any.

"No," Jimin told him.

"When does he need to?" Jin asked.

"When he wakes up," Hobi told him. Jin nodded.

Hobi and Jimin started making something for breakfast. Once again they were home from work, taking time off to help take care of their maknae while he was injured. Instead of calling manager Shik to ask for the time off Namjoon had contacted someone else to relay the message.

Namjoon was too afraid to talk to his boss after knowing what he'd done. They all were, except Yoongi who just wanted to kill him in cold blood instead, much to his members disapproval because "That would just put you in jail," Jin kept telling the rapper.

The rest of them also helped get breakfast ready. They had some downtime and were fooling around when they heard someone start knocking on the door. They all looked at eachother silently.

"Is someone expecting company?" Jimin asked. Everyone shook their heads no. They stood silent while they heard more knocking on the door.

Hobi started walking towards it. "I wonder who that could b-" he froze when he opened the door. It was Shik. Hobi felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest from fear.

"Good morning!" Shik cheered, while barging his way in past Hobi.

Jin ran to Jimin and whispered for him to go into Jungkook's room and lock the door and to not come out until given the signal that the coast was clear.

Jimin listened without hesitation and immediately disappeared. He locked the door behind him and tucked the sleeping two even tighter under the blanket. He couldn't imagine how scared Jungkook would be if he woke up and heard the devils voice right outside his bedroom door. He grabbed his phone and turned on some soft music, laying it next to Jungkook's head to try and muffle whatever was going on in the kitchen. His only thought was to keep Jungkook safe at all costs. And Taehyung. Who knew what Shik had planned.

"W-what are you doing h-h-ere?" Hobi asked, clearing his throat to try to hide the fear in his voice. He felt himself start shaking. Jin must have noticed because he walked over and grabbed Hobi's arm, pulling him backwards a bit.

"I wanted to come check on Jungkook," Shik smiled, "To make sure he's okay."

The members were frozen with rage. They knew now that Shik was lying. Yoongi went unnoticed when he pulled a small steak knife out of a drawer and was holding it behind his back.

"He's fine," Namjoon said sternly.

"I'd like to check on him," Shik said.

"No," Jin said bluntly.

"What?" Shik asked surprised.

"He's resting. And he has six of us to check on him. We're busy. You need to leave." Jin gestured to the door for his boss to go on and head out.

"As his boss, I would like to check on him."

"As his hyungs, we're telling you we're taking care of it." Yoongi glared at the man as he gripped his hand tighter around the knife handle. Jin finally saw it and ran over, snatching it out of his hand and shoving it back in the drawer.

Shik glared at all of them. "What are you guys up to? You seem suspicious."

"US?! YOURE THE ON-" Yoongi yelled.

Jin cut him off and pinched Yoongi's back as a warning not to continue.

Shik stood there, glaring. "What's going on?"

"How about you tell us?" Jin asked.

Shik put his hands in the air. "I thought I'd be nice and check on him."

"We have it handled," Namjoon said. "Like we said, he's resting and he's okay. There is nothing for you to do for him. Just let him be." He walked over to the door and gestured to it. "Now, we're a bit busy, so please get going."

"Whatever," Shik said as he made his way towards the door. He stopped and turned to them. "You guys are up to something. I'm sure in time I will find out what."

"Oh, you will," Yoongi scoffed.

The two glared at eachother with a look of disapproval before Shik was finally out the door. Namjoon immediately locked it. Hobi finally let out a huge breath that he'd been holding in the entire time.

"How are we ever supposed to go back to work with him? I never realized how intimidating he can be. And now knowing he's violent? I don't want to go back. Oh my God our poor Jungkookie, I can't even imagine how scared he'd always been. No wonder he would have panic attacks. Our poor baby," Hobi pouted and tried to hold back his tears at the thought of Jungkook having to endure that kind of fear every single day. He could barely endure it for 10 minutes.

Yoongi stood there. "I'm going to ki-"

"Kill him, we know," Namjoon interrupted.

Jin went and let Jimin know the coast was clear to unlock the door and come out.

"What was that about? What happened? What did he want?" Jimin asked concerned.

"What the hell do you think he wanted?" Yoongi asked.

"Let me guess, to check on Kookie?"

"Yeah." Namjoon frowned and dropped his gaze to the floor as guilt ate away at his heart.

"And so many times, we had let him."