It would be safe to assume that after multiple incidents of cutting photos, Jungkook stopped looking at any form of public social media whatsoever. In fact, the entire band had decided to stop directly checking any public accounts because all of them were so disturbed. In short, aside from their mandatory appearances, BTS had taken an unspoken hiatus from socializing with their fans. 

The topic of these trends were banned from any interview they participated in.

No one took selcas or started random V Lives anymore.

All of their social media accounts were managed by the company's media consultants.

And as much as Bangtang didn't want to see their social accounts, they hated not interacting with their fans. It was the basis for their work, after all. Who'd heard of an idol who's didn't interact with his/her fans? It hurt them to not see their fans for so long. 

ARMYs caught on quickly, instantly noticing the lack of feed from twitter and the fan cafes. They missed Bangtang, not the y concept photos or the latest promotions for their upcoming appearances or shows. They missed the real Bangtang. They missed random updates of cross eyed selcas and 10 straight seconds of V staring directly into the camera for no apparent reason other than to make them smile. They wanted this Bangtang back. 

Many fans tried messaging the band members, saying that the majority of "fans" were either antis or were simply getting stock photos online and that nobody was actually hurting themselvess over them; unfortunately, Bangtang had stopped viewing social media long before then, so they didn't know. Any so called ARMY who was caught spreading the tag other than for it to stop was shamed by not only other true ARMYs, but also by other fans as well. 

Eventually, the tag was overtaken by other, more current fads and crazes. New comebacks, promotions, and debutes were overshadowing the rumor over a course of days and weeks. And since the company in question had made no remarks whatsoever, all the angry netizens could go off of was a blurry, dark picture. 

The girl in question also came forward two weeks after Jungkook first discovered the horrendous hashtag. She took It upon herself to clear the air as best she could, telling through her own social media that she was the girl in the controversial picture and that she was not dating Jungkook, but dating a nice boy who, though he did bare a close resemblance with Jungkook, was not the idol himself. She's followed up the statement with a clearer photo of herself and her boyfriend in a Busan cafe. And though she did not know it, he original post had been screen shot and reposted over 100,000 times before the first hour was up. Fans across the globe rallied together to spread the truth.

It seemed like people were finally coming to their senses. 

Fans rallied together, collectively trying to get ahold of Bangtang's attention. They wanted them to know that it was over, that Bangtang could finally come out again without the horrifying pictures and jealous netizens. They just wanted their boys back. 

Phone calls were made, and messages were received. And by 2:00 the same day, all 7 members took to their message riddled fan cafes and posted selcas and messages thanking the ARMY for being so wonderful.

And to the ARMYs, that was confirmation enough.

Jungkook woke up to a beautiful morning. It was freezing, the cold edging under his warm blanket, but it was beautiful nonetheless. With his donut onesie on, it's hood secured on his head, Jungkook got out of bed. 

It was still early, going by normal standards, (5:03 in the morning to be precise) but after years of a sleep schedules from hell, it was nothing. The maknae quietly fixed himself a warm cup of tea, remembering how quickly everyone seemed to get up with the smell of fresh coffee in the air. 

Padding across the hardwood floor, he settled himself nicely on his window sill. The ledge was very narrow, but Jungkook could just barely balance himself against  the window. 

A subtle fog had arranged itself in the heart of Seoul, and the morning light hit the surrounding buildings just right. Jungkook especially liked the little rainbows that bounced off of the crystal wind chimes that his grandma-like apartment neighbor (the mother some successful businessman) had put up in her balcony. Little icicles grew on the window, and winter was beginning to take its hold in Korea. Soon, they'd have to break out the heat fans and winter jackets. Maybe in between schedules we could have another snowball fight Jungkook mused as he sipped his tea. The warm cup soon ebbed away the cold from his fingers as the sun rose higher and higher. 

The trend #CutforKookie had stopped now. It had been entirely silent for a few days. Ever since the girl had stepped foreword, all the pictures had stopped coming and things had returned to normal. 

Jungkook couldn't have been any more relieved.

But something had settled in the maknae's stomach that he just couldn't shake now that the initial problem had been resolved: how would ARMY react to him getting an actual girlfriend? Sure, this case wasn't the real deal, but it raised an important question. A month ago, Jungkook would say in full confidence that they'd accept her and respect his decision to have someone important in his life. But now? Jungkook couldn't be so certain anymore. 

A bit of yawning shook Jungkook out of his thoughts. He set his now empty tea cup down on the table and got back into bed. Namjoon was stretching his head above his head, waking from a full night's sleep. 

 "Jungkook-ah? You're up early." The leader said, noting the empty tea cup on the desk that was not there the night before. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing, hyung." Jungkook replied, "Just watching the sunrise is all."

The leader smiled as he made his way across the room to sit on the maknae's bed next to him. "You should've woken me up," Namjoon said jokingly. "We could've watched it together. It might've given us some inspiration for the new album."

"Sorry hyung," Jungkook smirked, adding to the humorous atmosphere, "I can't wake someone who sleeps like the dead and snores like a vacuum." He emphasized, correctly pronouncing the cleaning device. And with that, he hopped off the bed and started towards the door. He turned around to catch a glimpse of his leader's dumbfounded face before he cheekily added, "Better get up fast, hyung! Breakfast should be soon." 

"Yah!" The leader exclaimed, rushing after the youngest "What'd you just say?!"

It was one of those laid back practices that day. The cold weather had settled a lazy feeling in all of them. Many members opted to wear thick sweatpants with beanies and heavy jackets instead of a well put together outfit in case fans were by the studio. Today though, the majority of the band couldn't be bothered to appear professional when all they wanted to do was curl up on the sofa and take a nap (mostly Yoongi's idea). 

They all sat in-as Taehyung called it-the best room in BigHit: a lounge style room with couches, computers, and a mini fridge for the band members to enjoy. It was originally a sound room, but with another larger one down the hall and the members spending more and more time at the studio, it was converted into a resting place. 

Currently, they were all taking a well deserved break from their dance lessons, allowing time for cooling down and preparing for vocal lessons. They'd all washed their faces and torsos with the hot water from the bathroom sinks and were now rebundled in their long sleeves and sweatpants. Suga was curled up on a singles couch. J-Hope was leaning against the plush armrest, texting his sister. Rap mon, Jin, and Jimin were seated on the triple cushioned couch. Jin was leaning over to see a funny video that Namjoon was laughing over a moment ago and Jimin was on his phone listening to music. Taehyung was eagle spread on the floor, arms behind his head, enjoying his rest. And Jungkook? He had squeezed himself in between the two couches and was absentmindedly tapping away on Piano Tiles.

"Jungkook, are you ok?"

Jimin's question snapped Jungkook to attention and the others looked towards their maknae for an answer. 

"Yeah, I'm ok, hyung. Why?" He asked. 

"Well for one," Jimin retorted, concerned. "You called me hyung. And two, Ive never seen you play Piano Tiles so poorly. What's bothering you?"

"Nothing, Jimin." The youngest emphasized, trying to joke his way out of confrontation.

"No one sent you another one of those pictures again, did they?" Hoseok questioned worriedly, lips turning into a slight frown. 

"No, hyung." Jungkook replied. 

"Then what's wrong, Kookie?" Taehyung asked as he sat up. "We know somethings wrong. Just tell us."

"Okay," Jungkook sighed. He snuck his eyes on the moving analog clock in his peripheral vision. "Well you know how there was a lot of people who-"

All of the sudden, the door banged open and their vocal coach popped his head in. 

"Hello boys! You're working with me today! Please come to the sound room!"

Jungkook let out a sigh of relief as he nearly scrambled out the door. 

Throughout the rest of the day, he would avoid the members either through pretending to be busy or putting his earbuds in whenever they were in the room. His hyungs caught on very quickly, noticing the distant behavior of their already shy maknae and discussing amongst themselves on how to solve it. They would corner him eventually, but for now, they would just have to leave him alone. 

Eventually turned out to be after dinner, when they had all previously agreed to watch a movie together. But before they dimmed the lights and started the to the correct channel, they needed to have a chat with their youngest. 

"Sit." Jin said authoritively "There's no getting out of it this time. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, hyung. There's nothing wrong. Can we start the movie now? Come on, it's almost 9 o' clo-" Jungkook asked apprehensively as he looked pleadingly into his eldest's eyes.

"Jungkook." Namjoon said with fixed authority, narrowing his eyes at the youngest. While his eyes weren't at all threatening nor glaring, they were stern and demanding. 

The maknae stopped fighting.

"Kookie, we know that something's been bothering you." V said with a seriousness that was seldom seen from the hyperactive member. "We promise that we aren't going to laugh or make fun of you."

"You know that we wouldn't do that." Hoseok said with absolute truth.

"I know, I know." Jungkook said with a slight frown. "It's just...hard." 

Admiting that something was a challenge for Jungkook was in it of itself a difficult task. Being so well versed in all aspects, it was hard for Jungkook to face something that he had trouble with. For him, it seemed as if he wasn't doing the best he could, which was the exact opposite of what was actually happening. But for the golden maknae, admitting mistakes was-in his mind-the same as admitting defeat: something that the youngest was very stobbornly aggainst.

Everyone collectively waited patiently for the maknae to say something.

Finally, after a short pause and a deep breath, Jungkook spoke up.

"You know how all the fans reacted when they thought I had a secret girlfriend?" He rhetorically asked.

Everyone nodded their head.

"What if it actually was true?"

Suga, who was nursing a cup of tea, choked on the hot water while Jin's and Jimin's eyes nearly popped out of their skulls.

It took Jungkook a moment to realize the false implications of his sentence, which he quickly adjusted. "I-I mean...theoretically, not literally. I d-don't have  a girlfriend right now." He finished, shyly looking down at his shoes.

"Thanks for the heart attack, brat." Yoongi wheezed out as he coughed. Hoseok patted his back sympathetically as he internally breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do you mean-'if it actually was true'?" their leader asked, continuing the conversation.

"I mean," Jungkook said as he took another breath. "What if I did actually have a secret girlfriend and ARMYs found out? I want to have a girlfrined someday-when I'm older, that is. They would react the same way, wouldn't they? Do all these things to me...to themselves? I don't want that to happen. I don't know what I would do..."

For Jungkook, it wasn't mearly the idea of fans rejecting his girlfriend that scared him, it was the loss of his personal life alltogether that truely terrified him. He came into this industry of his own will, he was told the risks, but he didn't realize just how much of his own privacy would be taken. And though the company always did their best to ensure his safety and privacy, it wasn't difficult to recall the many times in which his or the other's privacy has been invaded. The threat of not being able to have a life-to marry, have children, to grow old? Did Jungkook really think this through? Was he willing to throw away his future for a place in the present? At this point, would he ever have a girlfriend? Would he ever marry? Right now, of course, he was much too young to be thinking of marriage, but in due time, it would be long overdue. In Korean culture, it was ideal to be married in your late twenties or early thirties. For idols, marrying sometimes never happened at all. Jungkook was suddenly hit with the thought of Minwoo. The man had told Jungkook that he had been living alone for some time now. He rarely left the house for personal affairs, if not, at all. And while Jungkook did enjoy his own time to himself, he didn't think that he would be able to fathom living alone for the rest of his life. The dorm contract was almost over, and his hyungs and he would be going their seperate ways soon. What would happen then? ...

"-kook. Jungkook!" A voice snapped his out of his initial panic.

Slowly, Jungkook registered the growing pain in his knees. He'd been gripping them so hard that they were sure to bruise by tomorrow. A hand was on his shoulder, the person holding firmly, but not strongly.

Jungkook was aware of the the dead silence that crept into the room and a slight red made its way to his face and down his neck. 'Why me?' Jungkook asked himself 'Why in front of them? They'll think I'm weird now. They'll think that I'm such a kid.' 

"Jungkookie-ah?" A light voice sounded. "Can you look up for me, please?" Slowly, he released his grasp on his knees and worriedly looked up to meet Jin's eyes staring concerningly up at him. He was kneeling down in front of the maknae with a hand on his shoulder; looking imploringly at his distressed dongsang, he silently pleaded the youngest to voice his worries. 

"Sorry." Jungkook whispered, embarrassed and ashamed. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"Jungkookie-ah." Namjoon's voice echoed from Jungkook's left. "You don't need to apologize for anything. You're worried about how fans would react if you actually had a girlfriend, correct?"

the maknae nodded his head.

"Then you don't have anything to worry about right now. And when the time comes, we can deal with it then." The leader said with finality. 

"How can you say that?" Jungkook asked, a slight hitch developing. "You saw what they did. If I ever get a girlfriend, they'll react the same way!" He sniffed.

"Kookie." A soft voice said. "It's okay to cry."

Jungkook didn't even realize that he was crying until a small hand wiped away his tears. He didn't even register the amount of fear and anxiety that had been building up since two weeks ago, when he first discovered the budding hashtag. The hands then pulled Jungkook in for a comforting hug, Jimin's arms surrounding the maknae in a warm embrace. Jungkook latched himself to the older man, curling his head downward to nuzzle into Jimin's chest. 

 "Did I make the right choice?" Jungkook thought aloud, whispering only the slightest bit loud enough for the others to hear. "It's selfish of me, I know, but is it better for me to-"

"Stop." Taehyung said. "Stop thinking like that, Jungkook. Youre scared of the future, but everyone is. Don't let that be an excuse for giving up on your dream."

Suddenly, Jungkook had a flashback of all the practices, the money, the lessons, the time, the tears he spent to achieve his wish, his dream, his life. Was he really so cowardly that he would run away at the first sign of opposition? Would he ever really regret his decision to become an idol? Regret meeting his brothers? And the answer was absolutely not. Never would he regret his choices, because they got him where he was today. Yes, he would have fans who would be spiteful, but so did everyone. And if a so-called fan didn't was to support him in his growth and happiness, then Jungkook wasn't so sure that they should be called fans anymore. 

"You might be scared of what fans would say, but just saying something doesn't make it true, Jungkook." Namjoon said. 

"Besides, so what if fans don't like you two being together?" Hoseok said with a pout. "As long as you're happy, we'll support you no matter what!"

"you'd do that even if it meant that our reputation would plummet? Even if it meant scandal?" Jungkook asked incredulously, releasing himself from Jimin's embrace and looking around in disbelief.

"We're you're hyungs, kid. It's what we do." Yoongi said in a sarcastic tone. Jungkook almost expected a very exaggerated 'duh!' to follow. 

"Thanks, hyung." Jungkook said, giving a slight smile.

"On one condition though." Suga said, holding up an index finger. "You can't get a girlfriend before that old man." He said, pointing towards the eldest member.

"But hyung! That means that he'll never get a girlfriend at all!" Taehyung exclaimed in mock terror.

"EXCUSE me!" Jin said "Who are you calling old, grandpa?! Ill have you know that I'm the most handsome one here."

"But you're so awkward, hyung! No one is gonna want to be with an awkward guy." Jimin snickered, eyes filled with mirth.

"At least he's tall, Jimin, Because I doubt anyone wants their boyfriend to be as short as their shoulders." Jungkook slyly said.

"....You Brat!" Jimin exclaimed, making a move to slap the maknae over the head. "No respect at all! First you tease me, then you copy me, and then you disrespect me?! I am your elder! I was born in Busan first! I've eaten more bowls of rice than you, you little-!!"

At the last moment of Jimin's tirade, Jungkook was pulled from Jimin's lap and into Jin's.

"I knew you were a good dongsang for your hyung, Jungkookie-ah~! This is why you are my favorite!" He then glared  vehemently at Jimin, wrapping a protective arm around the maknae "Don't touch him, Jimin, Jungkookie's mine."

"pffft." Yoongi spat out a laugh. "That was adorable, Hyung. No offense, but you couldn't look threatening if your life depended on it."

"I will take away your favorite travel pillow for a month."

"Jimin, you're on your own."

"What?! Hyung~!" Jimin cried, chasing after the rapper as he got up from the couch to retrieve his pillow to keep it safe from the eldest's threats. 

The room had quieted a bit since the two shortest members left some minutes ago. The remaining members that had burst into laughter now hushed themselves in the sense of seriousness that set in.

"Jungkook, You know that we would never let you go through hardships alone, right?" Jin said, loosening his hold on the youngest.

"Even if it meant that we'd loose fans and money?" Jungkook said in disbelief. It wasn't unheard of that agencies or on the rare occasions even band members would distance themselves from the scandalized idol because it meant a loss in popularity, therefore a loss in sales. With groups working tirelessly for their BEP (a BEP IS break even point. Pretty much when a group pays off the money a company spends on them for promotions and gets to earn their own money instead of it all going to the company.) , it wasn't surprising that they'd want to make as much money as possible, even if it meant that some members were thrown under the bus.

"Like Yoongi-Hyung said," J-Hope replied simply. "we're your hyungs, it's what we do." He said, opening his arms and shrugging.

"Thanks, hyung." Jungkook said, rushing into Hoseok's unsuspecting arms and burrowing into his chest. And though the maknae couldn't see it, J-Hope had brightened into a radiant smile, waving his hands wildly while discretely mouthing to Jin 'Take a picture!'

"Jungkookie-ah~! Does this mean you don't love your hyung anymore, huh?" Jin said in mock hurt, putting a hand over his heart and throwing his head back for dramatic effect. "I'm so sad!"

Jungkook rolled his eyes at his silly brother, then broke the hug to open a spot for the eldest, which was soon filled.

"You guys get in here too!" Jin's muffled voice said as he gestures to the general directions of V and Rap Mon.

Soon, the group hug was complete.

Almost.

 Just then, there was a yelp that spread across the dorm followed by the fast paced footsteps of two certain missing members.

"Get back here, Brat." Suga called as he raced into the room with a large pink pillow (most likely grabbed from Jin's bed).

Jimin had come in mere moments before Suga, clutching a familiar gray travel pillow in his arms. He had hidden behind the (now not-hugging) group for protection against the infuriated rapper.

"How could you love a pillow more than your dongsang!?" Jimin yelled incredulously, circling the members putting as much distance between the two as possible.

"Give it back, Jimin." Yoongi said slowly with a murderous look in his eyes. "Before I make you."

"I don't want to!" Jimin said exasperately, flinging his arms in the air. But that action caused the pillow to smack itself onto Jungkook's head. There was a brief moment of silence and then-

"Oh, it's on, Jimin." The maknae sneered as he grabbed one of the many pillows that V had gathered for the movie and proceeded to swing it into their leader's face. 

Namjoon had a look of surprise on his face before he too took a pillow from the couch and flung it into Hoseok's stomach. 

Just then, Suga got a face full of cotton as Jin started repeating beating him with another pillow screaming "YOU. TOOK. MY. FAVORITE. PILLOW!!!" Adding a pillow punch between each word.

Jimin, in his distraction watching the once terrifying Min Yoongi getting whooped by his pink-loving hyung, didn't notice Taehyung before he crashed a pillow into Jimin's face knocking him to the floor. 

Before long, all seven members were caught in a full-on pillow war, laughs filling the dorms in the drab winter night. 

The pillow fight lasted well into the next morning. Even the late-night neon bar signs were now dark and empty. The occasional taxi driver rumbled through the relatively empty streets, carrying home their drunk patrons from said bars. A light snow had begun to fall over Seoul once again. 

At some point during the fight, a few pillows had burst ("Namjoon! That's the second one this month!" "...sorry, hyung."), leaving behind a airy falling of white and gray feathers in their wake. Through the commotion, they were swept wildly every crevice of the rooms, some even making their way into the members' individual rooms since the so-called 'battlefield' had grown throughout the night to encompass the entire dorm. 

The members had fallen asleep in the living room, all huddled together atop a collective pile of pillows. The pillow fight had ended up being between the hyungs and makanes, but when they hyungs had gone to Namjoon and Jungkook's shared room to be shealtered from the onslaught on pillow fire, they had come back to find the three maknaes wrapped around each other, sleeping peacefully. Thankful for the end of the pillow chaos and too exhausted from the fight to clean up, the hyungs simply pulled blankets on the sleeping youngers and collapsed on their pillow pile themselves.

Suga had both his arms and legs wrapped around his cherished pillow protectively; he'd recovered his pillow at some point during the battle. Rap Mon had an arm spread out from himself and another over his middle, snoring away while Jin's head rested on the leader's outstretched arm while clutching onto the pink pillow that Suga had pulled from his bed earlier. Hoseok had somehow joined the maknaes snuggle pile and was now sleeping next to Taehyung, who was next to Jiming, who was lying on top of Jungkook. 

Even when the sun appeared along the horizon, and light filled the dorm, the members slept on. They would probably be scolded by PD for their mediocre dance practices that they would have this morning and would most definitely get lectured by their manager for messing up the dorms, but for them, it was absolutely worth it. 

And I'm done! I know that this was happened a while ago, but I just had to write this little thing! I hope you take this to heart when supporting our boys! To me, they should have no fears about who they're dating like many idols do. If they're happy, then we will support them (and any other idols) in whatever choices they make. Yes, we can have our opinions, but what happened should never happen again. Nobody (idol or not) deserves to be harassed because of who their significant other is. As a fan, we should want our idols to be happy, not scared for their privacy or their careers based on their private life. So I sincerely hope that people can stop being so judgmental to and (I'm sorry to say) crazy for their idols.

On a brighter note, thank you so much for following this short story! I'd appreciate it so much if you would please let me know what you think! If you would like an epilogue, I'd be glad to write one! 😊 I'm so grateful for all of you who left such wonderful comments! Thank you so much. I honestly don't know what to say to express how much I appreciate you!

Just thank you so, so much for everything! 💜