Jungkook and Taehyung stirred awake around the same time. Jungkook looked over at Taehyung and already knew. "Hyung told you, didn't he?"

Taehyung nodded and hugged him, trying not to cry.

"We all know now. Kookie it shouldn't have taken this long." Taehyung pouted.

The maknae shrugged.

Taehyung asked if he remembered the nightmare he was having and Jungkook told him that he did, but it was different than the rest he'd had. In all of his other nightmares Shik had hurt him or his members badly. In this nightmare, for the first time ever, Shik hadn't had the chance to harm any of them.

Taehyung couldn't help but smile. He finally sat up. "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm still really tired. I'll be out later."

"Okay." Taehyung got up and lifted Jungkook's shirt to peek at how his stitches were doing. There was still bruising around where he had them but the swelling had gone down. "Does it still hurt?"

Jungkook nodded and curled back up. Taehyung told him he'd go get the medicine cream he was supposed to put on it. He left the room to find everyone else already in the kitchen.

"Morning Taehyungie," Jimin cheered as he ran over and hugged his best friend. Taehyung said goodmorning and got Jungkook's medicine.

"Is he up yet?" Namjoon asked.

Taehyung said that he was up but wanted to stay in bed for a bit. He ran the medicine to him and came back out.

"You missed quite the morning," Yoongi told him.

"What do you mean?" Taehyung asked.

"I think we should spare maknae's sanity and not tell him this, but Shik stopped by this morning looking for him," Yoongi scoffed.

Taehyung froze in place with fear.

Jin went over and placed his hand on Taehyung's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Did we not already say that man wouldn't hurt him, or us? And guess what? He didn't. Because hyungs won't let him."

Taehyung gulped, not too sure how to reply.

Jimin smiled. "Don't worry. This hyung right here kept you safe." He pointed to himself with a sense of pride.

"But now what? What do we do? We need to get rid of him somehow..." Taehyung mentioned.

"We will," Hobi chimed in.

"But how? Jungkookie didn't want us telling Shik that we know," Taehyung replied.

"Actually, I found a loophole there," Yoongi started. Everyone looked at him waiting for him to explain. "Namjoon-ah said Jungkook made him promise he wouldn't tell Shik that we know, yeah? Well, technically, he didn't make any of us promise that. He never said the rest of us couldn't speak up on the matter."

Namjoon thought for a moment, technically that was true. "How do we go about that though? I'll be honest I am nervous about what he'll try to do to Jungkook, or any of us, once he knows we found out. Not to mention, Jungkook is going to panic. Badly."

"I, for one, don't want to waste time. I refuse to continue working for that man, but we need to go back to work. I think our best bet is calling the police while we're at the company, because there will be a lot of people around, but keeping Jungkook far away from the man until he's in handcuffs. I want to see that man being dragged away forever," Yoongi told everyone.

"But that means Shik would have to be with us," Taehyung gulped.

"That's fine. We can give him a piece of our damn minds before the cops show up!" Yoongi yelled. "And don't worry. He isn't going to be able to take on all of us if he tries anything."

"Can't we just call the police now?" Jimin asked.

Namjoon told him they needed to speak to some higher ups at the company first before they could do it. They needed to tell the company what Shik was doing and what was going on.

"How do we keep Shik away from Jungkook while there?" Jin asked. He suggested keeping Jungkook at home with someone, but Namjoon said he felt like it was safer to all be together. His own anxiety was running scenarios in his head of Shik escaping the building and running to their house to hurt whoever stayed home. He felt it would be easier for everyone to protect eachother if they were all there.

"Just bring maknae somewhere else in the building. Distract him somehow," Jimin suggested.

Jin said he'd think of something to get Jungkook far away while everything happened. The members agreed on the plan, now they just had to wait to go back to work. Namjoon suggested going back tomorrow so they could just get it over with. They'd just tell Jungkook to sit out again.

"Good morning."

Everyone turned to see Jungkook sleepily standing behind them. The sight of him made everyone want to cry. They could tell he looked exhausted, and he was clutching his stomach. He had dark circles under his eyes and they seemed glassy.

They all ran to him and hugged him, asking how he was. They all went on and on about how sorry they were for everything that's happened to him and how incredibly bad and guilty they all felt. Jungkook told them it wasn't their fault, but that didn't change how they felt. He looked at Namjoon. "But you promise not to say anything to Shik, right? Please don't hyung."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to," Namjoon told him. Namjoon wasn't lying. He wasn't going to tell Shik that Jungkook told him anything.

Yoongi was going to do it.

"Thanks, hyung."

Taehyung and Jimin both frowned. They didn't know how this was all going to play out and they were nervous. They just wanted Shik gone and behind bars for the rest of his life.

"But...hey, I was wondering if you'd be up for going back to work tomorrow. We are really behind and need to get back. You would need to sit out, though, but maybe you could help Hobi again like you did last time?" Namjoon asked.

Jungkook stared at him not knowing what to say. He didn't want to go back to work but knew Namjoon was right. He was also curious as to why they would actually have him go back so quickly after admitting what had happened. But Jungkook figured maybe things would seem less suspicious to Shik that way, so the sooner he went back the better. He found comfort in knowing that his hyungs knew now. He knew he'd be a lot more protected while around the guy.

"I guess that would be best but what exactly happens now?"Jungkook asked nervously. There was a lot at stake going back to work. He still feared for his members and their own safety.

"Don't worry about what happens now," Yoongi told him, "You just have to promise to trust us."

"I'm scared of him hurting you," Jungkook admitted.

"He won't Jungkook-ah," Hobi reassured.

"Hyungs you've seen what he can do. I'm scared." Jungkook bit his lower lip and tried not to let the tears forming in his eyes fall down his face.

"It's okay to be scared." Jin wrapped his arm around Jungkook's shoulders and hugged him. "But hyungs promise there's nothing to be scared of anymore. Okay? We know the truth now and over our dead bodies would we ever let him touch you again!"

Jungkook began having visions of his hyungs actual dead bodies. Killed by Shik. His tears finally slipped down his cheeks.

"Maybe not the best choice of words, hyung," Taehyung said as he hugged Jungkook.

"Aish, you know what I meant." Jin rubbed Jungkook's back.

The rest of the members reassured Jungkook that he had no reason to worry about going back to work. They weren't going to let Shik anywhere near him.

The rest of the day was spent with the members being clingy to their maknae and catering to him hand and foot. Although he kept protesting and telling them he was okay and didn't need all the help and attention, they insisted anyway.

They all asked more questions about the things Shik had done and he explained a lot. He apologized to everyone for always lying and they told him it wasn't his fault he'd done that. They knew how scared he was. They reiterated the same thing Namjoon had already told him, that it wasn't his job to protect them like that and that as hyungs they should have been the ones protecting him.

Nobody told him that Shik had stopped by that morning trying to get to him.

That night everyone decided to sleep in the living room together again. They watched more movies and Hobi could tell Jungkook seemed nervous. He was getting anxiety about going back to work the next day. Jimin made him some calming tea and after drinking it Jungkook was out like a light within minutes. The maknae seemed to be in the deepest sleep he'd had in months. Not even the thunderstorm woke him up.

The next morning before Jungkook woke up, the members discussed again what they were going to do. The main thing was making sure that Shik didn't get near Jungkook, and to make sure he definitely didn't end up alone with him somehow. Namjoon told them they needed all hands on deck with this one.

They got to the HYBE building early in the morning. Nobody knew if Shik was there or not yet so they kept their eyes peeled for him. Namjoon and Hobi said they had to go talk to a company worker as soon as they got there.

"Why? Talk to them about what?" Jungkook asked curiously. Usually all the members knew every little detail about everything, Jungkook wondered why this had been a secret.

"Just some stuff about our mixtapes. We will be right back," Namjoon said before him and Hobi disappeared.

Yoongi suggested they all go to the dance studio to practice.

They headed there and Jungkook took a seat on the floor. "Shouldn't we wait for Hobi and Namjoon hyung to get back before practicing?"

"I guess that makes sense," Jin shrugged.

They all sat around hanging out and talked while they waited. About half an hour later everyone tensed up when they heard the practice room door open, but let out a sigh of relief to see their members had returned. Namjoon and Hobi gave the others a nod of approval, indicating that their meeting with one of the higher ups had went well and things were being taken care of.

Namjoon scooted over to Jin and whispered into his ear. "You need to get Jungkook out of here right now. Shik is coming this way."

Jin panicked. "Shit. Okay." He ran over to Jungkook and grabbed his wrist, hoisting him to his feet. "Come with me."

"What? Why?" Jungkook asked confused as he looked around to everyone else.

"Hyung has something to show you, just come with me." Jin started dragging him out of the practice room and down multiple hallways.

"Hyung where are we going? What do you have to show me?" Jungkook nervously turned around to look behind him. "Shouldn't we stay with everyone else?"

"It's a surprise. Don't worry they'll be fine!" Jin said with fake reassurance in his voice. He honestly had no clue what to do with Jungkook. He was winging it. All he knew was that he needed to keep Jungkook very far away until Shik was officially arrested.

Jin found a random conference room that had big windows overlooking the city. All that was in there was a giant table with chairs around it. He figured this was good enough. He shoved Jungkook inside with him and sneakily locked the door.

"Seriously hyung you're being weird, what's going on?" Jungkook asked, glancing around the room, "Why are we in here?"

Jin looked around trying to think of some bullshit lie. "I, uhm..." he pulled his phone out, "Surprise! You and I are doing a surprise V-Live for ARMY!" Jin smiled.

Jungkook stared at him dumbfounded.

"What?"

"It's been a while, yeah? So we're going to surprise them! Come, sit!" Jin gestured to a chair.

"Now really isn't a good time, hyung."

"As good a time as any."

"Hyung I don't want to do a v-live right now. I look like shit."

"Ahhh Jungkook-ah ARMY won't care!"

Jungkook backed away. "I really don't want to right now."

Jin panicked a little bit. He didn't have any other excuses. He thought for a second. "Okay you got me. Hyungs have a surprise for you but you have to wait here while they get it ready."

Jin figured that wasn't too far from the truth. They were calling the cops on Shik. Surprise!

Jungkook gave his hyung a questioning look. "A surprise? Why?"

"Well, why not?"

"It's not my birthday or anything."

"Aish Jungkook-ah please! A surprise is a surprise! Just sit here and wait okay?!" Jin said with some irritation in his voice. He loved Jungkook but felt like the boy could never really make anything easy. Jungkook agreed to sit at the table and wait.

--

Yoongi had already been given the okay from Namjoon to call the police and he did, so now it was just a matter of waiting. Shik barged into the studio.

"You're all back early. What a pleasant surprise," Shik looked around. "Where's maknae?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Jimin yelled. Hobi immediately clamped his hand over Jimins mouth.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Shik asked sternly.

"Give it up already. You're not fooling anyone anymore," Yoongi crossed his arms.

Taehyung got nervous and scooted his way to stand behind Namjoon.

"Fooling anyone? Fooling anyone with what?" Shik asked. He looked around and noticed the members seemed tense. "What is going on?"

"Why don't you tell us?" Namjoon asked angrily.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Namjoon."

The members felt their rage grow as Shik continued to play stupid. This man had been able to trick them so many times already and now they could easily tell he was lying. They hated how they could never see it before.

"We know, Shik," Yoongi stated angrily, "We know what you've been doing."

Shik continued to play dumb, stating he still had no idea what they were talking about.

"Let me refresh your memory then!" Yoongi yelled. "Let's see. Jungkook sprained his wrist. Why? Oh, because of you. Covered in bruises. Why? Because of you. Oh or how about the time you smashed his head with a chair and gave him a concussion? Or how he just needed surgery to save his life because of you? We fuckin know Shik! We know what you've done to him and guess what? You're done! It's over! You're never touching him again!"

Shik stood there frozen, staring at them in silence before speaking again. "Is that what Jungkook has told you? I can assure you he's lying."

Jimin let out an uncontrollable laugh at Shik. "You can't possibly think we believe you?!"

Shik started lying more about the whole situation stating that he doesn't know "why maknae would lie about me like that."

Taehyung stepped out from behind Namjoon with tears. "He isn't lying. You have been hurting him. We know you have." His voice was trembling and he was shaking. Namjoon could tell how scared Taehyung was and he stepped back in front of him protectively.

"And what proof do you have? Huh?! Just because he said that shit, you're going to believe it's true?!" Shik yelled. His face was red. The members could tell he was getting angry and they were getting increasingly nervous as they waited for the cops to show up.

Yoongi stepped forward. "Cut the bullshit! What proof do we have?! The countless injuries he's experienced since you've worked here, first of all! His entire fucking medical record from the past four months!? The list goes on, Shik!"

Hobi stepped up next to Yoongi. "We know you've been threatening him with hurting us. You're not fooling us so drop the act, you asshole!"

Yoongi lifted his arms. "And if that's the case, well here we are! So go for it! Let's see you try something while you've got us, huh?! The more evidence the better, right?!"

"Hyung..." Taehyung whispered from behind Namjoon.

Namjoon patted his shoulder and told him they'd be okay.

Shik finally exploded when he realized there was no more fooling them. They clearly knew everything at this point. "I see he finally stopped fucking caring about all of you if he decided to open his fuckin mouth!" Shik screamed.

"That's not what happened!" Jimin screamed back. Shik took a step towards Jimin and went to smack him across the face but Hobi pulled Jimin backwards before getting hit.

Yoongi ran forward and threw Shik against the wall. "You truly are a piece of shit, aren't you? Does it make you feel better? Does it make you feel big and strong hurting people? And of all people, our fuckin youngest? What were you, too much of a bitch to go for one of the older ones so you take everything out on our maknae?!"

Shik shoved Yoongi and he stumbled backwards into Namjoon and Taehyung. Taehyung started sobbing with fear. Jimin hugged him tightly reassuring him that they'd be okay. They were all just extremely grateful that they had gotten Jungkook out of the room and hidden him in time. They finally heard police sirens approaching.

"It's going to be real hard to hurt him once you're behind bars!" Hobi yelled.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Shik asked angrily.

"Sounds like your ride is here, manager Shik!" Yoongi smirked.

Shik listened to the sirens and froze.

"You called the police?!" Shik screamed. He felt his rage intensify. He noticed Hobi standing alone and ran towards him. He didn't care who he hurt, but he was ready for it to be someone. "You called the fuckin police?!" he screamed again. He went to punch Hobi in the face but Namjoon pushed Shik to the ground before he could.

"It's over, Shik. Just give it up," Yoongi said while hovering above Shik and crossing his arms.

--

"Hyung,look," Jungkook pointed out the window. "The cops are coming."

"Oh...weird," Jin said hesitantly.

Unfortunately Jungkook was a very curious maknae.

"Do you know why?" Jungkook asked.

"I don't know," Jin lied. His anxiety was picking up and he tried to steady his breathing reminding himself that this whole ordeal was almost over.

Jungkook's anxiety also kicked into high gear. "Hyungie what if something is wrong? What if something happened to someone?" Jungkook froze for a moment. "The members! What if something happened?! Hyung what if Shik hurt someone?! We have to go!"

He ran towards the door and Jin grabbed his wrist. "Wait! I'm sure they're fine! Kook-ah we have to stay here for now, okay?"

Jungkook kept trying to pull out of his hyungs grip. "I need to make sure they're okay! We have to go check on them!"

Jin ran over and blocked the door. "We have to wait Jungkook! I promise you they'll be fine!"

"Let me out! If Shik has done something they could be hurt, hyung!" Tears were running down the maknae's face. "You don't understand what he's capable of! He could hurt them really badly! Hyung he could be killing them! Let me out!"

Jungkook tried shoving Jin out of the way but Jin fought him back. He was trying to be gentle enough not to hurt Jungkook but also strong enough so his maknae couldn't escape.

Jungkook suddenly backed up and stared at his hyung with giant doe eyes that were soaking wet. "What are you doing? Why aren't you letting me out? You're scaring me. You're...you're acting just like him."

Jin felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm protecting you."

"From what?!"

"Jungkook-ah listen to me...." Jin placed his hand on Jungkook's shoulder and squeezed it. "The police are here for Shik."

Jungkook stared at him, confused. "I don't understand."

"Yoongi called the police on him. I'm hiding you until it's over with."

Jungkook panicked and tried escaping again. "No! No! Hyung he's going to kill them! He's going to hurt them and then kill them! Why would...why would...nobody was supposed to say anything!"

The two were battling eachother at the door. Jin grabbed him and wrapped him into a tight hug. "Listen to me. They're okay. I promise you they're okay. Your anxiety is getting the best of you. Just breathe, yeah? Breathe and it will be over in a few minutes."

Jungkook was a sobbing mess into Jin's chest. "We have to protect them. You're the hyung, you have to help me protect them!"

"My job right now is to protect you. They've got each other." Jin held Jungkook back and then cupped his maknae's soaked cheeks in his hands. "Everything will be okay. Shik won't hurt them, and he's never going to hurt you again. I promise."

Jungkook let himself relax and cry into Jin's chest.

Jin hugged him while rocking him back and forth. "Please sit back down and wait, okay? Deep breaths maknae."

Jungkook nodded and let Jin guide him back to his chair. As soon as Jin sat down next to him, Jungkook shot back to his feet and made a run for the door.

"Jungkook no!" Jin screamed. He leaned over and tried grabbing Jungkook's shirt but stumbled and missed.

The maknae disappeared out the door.