jungkook's eyes watched everything, his organs settling in the pit of his gut as he's failing miserably in the attempt to get all the bitter flashbacks from the last three days out of his mind. and he's surprised with himself when on removing the bitter encounters, nothing is left.

you won't be able to breathe peacefully after hurting her.

a shaky breath heaves out as he stumbles on his feet, taking a step back, averting his eyes from his brother's figure hugging aera, the aera who is his sister too, the same girl who he treated like a pest.

"jungkook?" jin's voice brings him back to reality, making him blink a few times as his hand wipes the sweat forming on his forehead.

aera looks at him too, her eyes are still holding negligible emotions, but soon sparks with moist tears on catching a glimpse of jungkook who instantly looks away, shaking his head subtly.

"koo..." her voice says softly, "are you crying?"

koo, are you crying?

jungkook looks at her, "ri..." his eyes are blurry and throat tightens with another attempt to speak, so he just shakes his head again.

"i'm not mad at you," she says, walking over to him and smiles softly, looking up at his face, "in fact, i think you really are my- my brother, because we both are so scary when we get mad."

jungkook breaks into a sob, chewing on his lower lip with his head is hanging low, not having enough strength to look at her. "don't cry, i'm not mad... i was the one who told you to kill me, so it's n-"

"i'm sorry," he sobs out, falling on his knees, grabbing her hands while still staring at the floor, "i'm so sorry, aera... i was going to hurt you. i don't know what's wrong with me, i was going to kill you with my own hands, i would never forgive myself for this... thank god hyung came in time. i'm sorry, baby, i-"

"it's okay," aera says and glances back at jimin and the elders, virtually asking if she should hug him. they smile in response, nodding their heads towards their crying brother.

"it's okay," she repeats and steps forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly, "you didn't hurt me."

his large arms wrapped around her body after a moment, holding her tight as if he was scared to let go, probably due to the past experiences. he doesn't mind aera's weak embrace, balling his eyes out as his face is pressed into the fabric of her t-shirt, mumbling dozens of apologies for being so reckless and cruel.

a few minutes pass, aera stays still finally feeling his grip loosening. jungkook pulls away and lifts his gaze up from the floor until it meets with the girl's who smiles quickly, tilting her head to look at him past his dark bangs that are covering his eyes partially.

"you're a cry baby," she says, "i doubt you're suitable for this job."

he stares at her, nodding gradually, "it's so messed up..." his voice is hoarse, "i chose this, and now i'm paying for it."

"you did it for me, didn't you?"

jungkook stays quiet for a moment, nibbling on his lip as he nods, "i wanted to see you, and there was no other way."

"i'm here now"

he chuckles sadly, "you must be hating me right? i was so bad to you, nothing like what a brother is supposed to be. i used to think i'll be the best brother to my princess whenever we meet, like i'll love her a lot, get her whatever she wants and i'll her keep safe with me. but... look what i did instead."

"you didn't know i was your princess."

"even then," he mumbles.

"i'm sure you've killed many people, one more wouldn't hurt you."

"this one would kill me," he says, looking at aera as he holds her hand in his, "because this is my whole world, and i can't bear the pain of losing someone so precious again."

aera looks down, realising she said the wrong words. but before she apologized, jungkook is already smiling at her softly, stroking her hair, "i don't know if you can trust me like jimin hyung, but please give me a chance, i promise i'll do everything i can to be a good brother to you."

aera nods almost instantly, and turns to the elders who are smiling at the two fondly, "i like this family." she whispers, hugging jungkook again, making him smile in relief as he stares at the empty ceiling.

"i missed you so much, princess."

___

three days later

korea's biggest smugglers and illegal traders, lee kanghyun and park minjoon have been reported dead. the dead bodies were reported by some local residents of the same area. according to the doctors the two are believed to be tortured to last breath, there are cuts and severe burn marks on their bodies. it is also said that high voltage electric shocks were given to them before death.

sources tell us that it might be a planned murder undertaken for vengeance-

aera gasps at the television screen, turning around when it turns off on it's own and finds the seven guys standing there, jimin having the remote in his hand.

"you don't need to watch all that." he says, switching the channel, so that a cartoon movie is being played.

"did you... they said dad- park minjoon and the other person died... how?"

jimin chuckles, booping the tip of her nose, "you're very curious about stuff hm?"

jungkook sits next to her, handing her a box of chocolates that brings a smile on the girl's face, as he says, "you're our princess, and nobody gets to hurt you." aera looks up from the box, her mouth forming an 'o' with jungkook's words before she quickly hugs him, eliciting a soft chuckle from his lips.

___________ t h e __ e n d ___________

a/n- did you all like it?

if yes, there are more of my writings in the book "for you and me" for eg, the warewolf au, the mafia au, monster series, dream catcher au, heartbeat etc. make sure to check out the book and have an even better experience of reading❤️🥰