jangmi (장미) ● taejoon

s i x t e e n .

Jungkook collapsed onto the wooden floor of his home once the car dropped him off. It was midnight, his mother wasn't home and his brother had to deal with gang related things. He was alone.

He wanted to help his mother, but she refused to let him get a job because of academics. She knew it would be too much to balance and handle to the point Jungkook wouldn't want to go to school.

He wanted to be apart of Mortala with Minnie, but Namjoon won't allow him to. It was unsafe for him. Minnie can handle all the guns, drugs, the smell because he's been working with it since Jungkook was in middle school. He tried to keep involved in Jungkook's life as much as he can, but he had to always be kept on his toes.

The only main figures in his life were Seokjin and Namjoon. Seokjin, who always took him to school, made him lunch, and got him ready every morning. Namjoon, who always lectured him, willing to tutor if he needed help, and kept him in check.

Jungkook held his chest, shockwaves of pain reminding him of the man. It was still painful, but he had to get up.

"Jungkook, do you realize what time it is?" Minnie's voice somewhat calmed Jungkook's heartbeat. "I was calling you all day! If you were going somewhere after school you need to tell me or mama first. Why are you on the floor?"

"Hyung," Jungkook coughs, "Hyung please, help me."

"Are you okay?" His footsteps got closer as Jungkook's head rested against the cold floor. Too exhausted to move. "... You didn't get jumped again, did you?"

A pair of arms scooped him up, and held him up. His brother, short and pale despite being the older, he was much smaller than the younger. The only difference is Minnie had the eyes of their father, narrow and soft. Jungkook looked more like their mother, and Minnie looked too much like their absent father.

"Namjoon hyung," Jungkook winces, "... Namjoon hyung might be in danger."

"... What are you talking about?" Minnie sat him down on the couch, seeing Jungkook wince painfully before laying down on the couch.

"... Some douchebags snatched me when I was walking from school," Jungkook wheezes, scrunching his face. "Took me somewhere. Some bastard made me talk."

Minnie's eyes widened before he got up. "... No, no. I swear I made sure you were clean in all your identification files and there's no evidence you had anything to do with the Mortala," he says. "Someone kidnapped you? Who? Did you get a name? Anything? A face? Tell me what happened."

"... I-I ratted Namjoon Hyung out," Jungkook says, "... I'm sorry, I was- I... I didn't want them to hurt mama! Mama can't know or be apart of this! They have all our information and address. They know about Mama, they-they'll-"

"Jungkook!" Minnie shouted, "I told you what to do if you ever got in trouble because of us! Please just tell me you have any kind of identification? Who took you? The police?"

"... No," Jungkook shook his head, "A man, he knows about Seokjin and Namjoon. When I didn't tell him, he kicked me. Kept asking me about why and how I knew them..."

"... We have to tell them," Minnie sighed, "... Someone's getting onto our track. We don't know their motives."

Jungkook started to drift off suddenly, his eyelids fluttering. "... Yoongi hyung..." he says.

Minnie looked over at Jungkook before pursing his lips. "... We're staying at Jjang's for the night. We'll come home in the morning when Mama gets back. If they know our address, we're not safe anymore. You're not safe."

"... He said the Mortala was dead to him," Jungkook trailed off

"... He-He's gonna kill us off like the other gangs, isn't he?"

[unedited]