The Cupid Complex

66. Power of Love

"There has to be something that we can do," said Freddi as she stood behind Jimin in the doorway.

Shortly after Ame had slipped out of the closet and moved to go to Ruby, Charming had finished his transformation back into a bunny. Jimin had scooped him out of the nest of clothes Charming had found himself in after, not sure what else to do. Jimin had left the closet to go survey the scene after that; his presence causing Ame to launch a full on assault on Cupid. He had stood frozen in the doorway as he watched the whole scene unfold before him. It was overwhelming for him to process it all.

"How do you stop that man?" asked Jimin as he watched Jungkook tackle him to the ground when he had tried to strangle Ame. Jungkook was now on top of Cupid.

"With love," said Freddi suddenly; her face lighting up at the revelation. "You defeat loveless with love. We need to show him that he isn't in control of love and that he never has been."

"How do we do that?"

"With ARMY," she said with a smile.

"Huh?"

"Cupid didn't make ARMY form for you all. ARMY formed because of you. They fell in love with you on their own just like I did with you, Ruby did with Taehyung, Ame with Jungkook..."

"I get it," said Jimin, "But how..."

"We're getting on social media," said Freddi as she dug out her phone. "Get out your phone."

Jimin paused for a moment before doing what Freddi said. He gently set Charming down on the ground as he dug out his phone to get it set for live streaming. Together, the two of them walked outside once it was set, hitting the 'record' button.

"Don't touch her! You don't get to lay a finger on her!" Jungkook screamed above the thunder. "Do you hear me?"

"Look how weak you are now," said Cupid.

Jungkook tightened his grip on the other's collar.

"Do you call this weak?!"

It was then that he noticed Jimin out of the corner of his eye with his cell phone out. He was confused as to what the other was doing, especially when Jimin got closer.

"Hey jerk wad," said Jimin as he flipped his phone around so that Cupid could clearly see all the comments flooding the screen. "You're live. Anything to say?"

Cupid's eyes turned to the phone screen as he watched the comments blink into existence and just as quickly disappear.

'Oh my gosh! Jungkookie's in a K-Drama?'

'I wonder what it's called.'

'He's so hot when he's angry!'

'When's it air?'

'What's the show going to be about?'

'I'll always support everything they do!'

'LOVE YOU KOOKIE! <3'

'ARMY Forever'

'I purple you! <333'

The comments just seemed to get more and more numerous the longer that Cupid stared at the screen. The man started to get enraged then as the sky lit up so that it turned a different, deeper shade of purple.

"There can't be that many people that love you..." muttered Cupid.

"You haven't met ARMY then," said Jungkook with a grin.

Jungkook lessened his hold on Cupid when he felt the other begin to become lighter. Jungkook looked down to see that Cupid was actually starting to age like Taehyung had been doing. It was as if - in seeing how he couldn't control love - he started to lose his grip on his power; on his immortality. Jungkook backed up to move and stand by Ame, wrapping an arm about her. As Jungkook turned briefly to look behind him, he saw that Freddi also had her phone out and was standing by Ruby and Junghyun doing the same thing as Jimin. A black blur hopped over next to Ame as Jungkook turned back around, and Ame bent down to scoop Charming up into her arms, hugging him close.

"Here's the thing you've never understood," said Jungkook to Cupid. "Love doesn't listen to anyone. Love is given. It's not directed. Love is worth everything, and love...love gives you a place to call home. Love gives you a family, and that family becomes your strength."

Cupid continued to age as he looked at Jungkook.

"That archaic tradition of arranging relationships is behind us," continued Jungkook. "It's time that you caught up with the times finally to realize you aren't needed anymore."

As Jungkook said those words, it seemed like whatever process Cupid was undergoing started to speed up. Soon Jungkook tightened his hold about Ame as he watched Cupid dissolve into the stormy night. As he disappeared, the storm seemed to magically disappear. The gray clouds pulled away to reveal the hidden stars. In an instant, it was like nothing had happened at all.

Jungkook looked over at Haneul after a moment, slipping his arm away from Ame to walk over to her.

"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this for nothing," said Jungkook. "I really thought that he would listen to you."

"It's not your fault, Jungkook. He was beyond listening to reason. You just had more love in you than him. You loved your father enough to give him one more out."

Jungkook supposed that was true, though he refused to acknowledge it at the moment. Not with all the damage that had been done. Haneul could see Jungkook take it all in sadly.

"Don't worry," said Haneul. "Love wins in the end. It always does and always will."

- - -

That night, Junghyun drove Haneul back home after they had all exchanged numbers. Jungkook promised that he would stay in touch. After all, they had become like a new family to him. After they had left, Jungkook, Jimin, Freddi, Ame, and Ruby all decided to sleep in the same motel room. Jimin and Jungkook slept on the floor on blankets while Freddi and Ruby slept in one bed; Ame and Charming the bunny in the other. Taehyung's body had been carried inside and laid gently on a cot the boys had set up that was tucked in the closet.

The next morning, Namjoon had shown up at the motel with Yoongi, Jin, and Hoseok, expecting an explanation. They especially wanted one when they saw Taehyung's aged and dead body on the cot. Those that remained of the Dream Team tried to relay everything the best they could. It was clear that none of them believed it, but - as much as they hated to admit it - it did explain a lot, including the livestream video they had all seen. After Junghyun had helped Jungkook retrieve Freddi's family van, they all made the long trek back to their normal lives, or whatever shreds were left of it.