1991 | s, sk 
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he understood that a revolution was beginning, but when it was time to rebel, he stood in the midst of the protesters and cried for a better world. did he even help?

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"can you pass the salt, arata?"

jungkook smiles as he sits in the diner booth across from arata and ryuu. it was the first day after his whole imposter mother and live shooting scandal that he could actually function straight. though he was still disappointed with the whole thing, he couldn't find it in himself to be angry with arata. the man had taken care of him ever since he first set foot into both the music industry and the real world, so it was only right that jungkook trust him. arata knew best, right?

"ah, you should really call me arata-sama." arata says, holding the salt from the younger's reach with a slightly desperate smile, "maybe just once."

"i think the not." ryuu cuts in before jungkook can ever consider doing so. the red haired drummer snatches the salt before pushing arata out of the booth, his toupee nearly scrambling from his head in the process, "get the hell out of here, you old ."

"yeah, yeah, yeah." arata waves him off, standing to his feet and smoothing out his hairpiece with an annoyed look, "just hurry up and eat, we're on a tight schedule today. you two are all i got today anyway. sora's faking a cold but he was spotted downtown at that new candy land world earlier today and michi's with his kid. and we have too many interviews today to around, so hurry up and eat."

"since when were you an actual manager?" ryuu scoffs, drowning one of his fries in ketchup as he passes the salt to jungkook.

"since i have expenses, you don't think it's free to look this good, do you?" arata retorts, staring at the younger with a look of disdain before threatening, "be outside in ten minutes or else."

ryuu rolls his eyes as arata fixes his hairpiece on last time, a dry, spiky white mess, before he storms out of the diner in his high heeled boots.

"no one's going to take you serious with that piece of carpet on your head, arata!" ryuu shouts after the manager, only to be flipped out before the shorter man leaves for good. the drummer sighs at the sound of jungkook's laughter, but he can't help the smile that forms on his face at the way jungkook's nose is scrunched in amusement. ryuu throws a napkin at the singer then, "hey, stop laughing and grow a backbone when it comes to that erted . i mean kid, what would you do without me?"

"i hope i never have to find out." jungkook replies with a shrug and a small smile that makes ryuu shake his head.

"well tough cause if i'm being honest-" the drummer starts, hesitating as he stirs his fry around in the ketchup before looking up at the younger with a serious look, "-i'm thinking of leaving go! run! fighting!"

and that's when jeon jungkook promptly chokes on his own french fries. ryuu smiles sympathetically as he reaches over and pats the younger's back.

"you're serious?" jungkook asks, looking over at the elder with an already saddened expression.

"as a freshly built machina." ryuu replies with an amused smile before he shrugs and leans back in the diner booth, "i think the revolution is more important to me right now, 'kook. don't you feel the same? i mean, the machina are taking over our lives. how can we be human if we can't even express our emotions? something has to change. and i know people who want to bring forth this change... and, i kind of want to help them."

"who exactly are these people?" jungkook asks with a curious frown before taking a sip of his ice cold water.

"there's this group of anti-machina rebels, called the X-MACHINA." ryuu informs him with a proud smile, "people like me, who see the wrong in how the machina control our lives. they want change, kook. and they're going to make it happen - and i have to be apart of it. you understand, don't you?"

"yeah" jungkook says, but there's no conviction behind it because he doesn't understand. the machina were scary at best, and jungkook never gave much thought to them. but he simply smiles supportively at his bandmate, "i understand."

"good, i knew you would, you're my supportive little kookie." ryuu says, reaching over and ruffling jungkook's hair with a bright smile, "i told michi and he said if i wanted to get my beat by a bunch of metal crackheads in the name of justice, then go ahead. i tried to explain it to sora and the kid bursted into tears, no lie!"

jungkook covers his mouth with his hand as laughter bubbles from his lips. that definitely sounded like his other bandmates.

"you know how pathetic sora gets when he cries. we're standing in the middle of the ice cream shop and he's holding onto my leg like a child!" ryuu exclaims before mimicking sora's soft voice, "oh ryuu-san, please don't go! but ryuu-san, it's not safe out there! i'll buy you a years worth of chocolate ice cream cones if you stay!"

"you passed on a years worth of chocolate ice cream cones?" jungkook asks, mouth hanging open in shock because that was ryuu's favorite dessert.

"i know, right?" ryuu replies, sniffling pathetically as he adds, "the devil really works hard these days, but ryuu nishagima works harder, ha!"

jungkook shakes his head, an amused smile on his lips. though he felt bad about his friend's possible departure from their band, he knew ryuu would always be with them in spirit. despite jungkook being the face of the group, ryuu was the heart of go! run! fighting! and his presence would truly be missed. but jungkook would support ryuu no matter what. wasn't that what brothers were for?

"now, let's go before arata splits his already fried wig." ryuu speaks up, tossing a thick wad of bills on the table, seemingly much more than that of the bill, before standing and holding his hand out to jungkook. jungkook smiles before accepting the hand, allowing the elder to pull him from the booth.

"come again my boys!" subin, their favorite waitress calls out, waving at them enthusiastically, "be safe on the road!"

jungkook waves back at her and ryuu gives her a thankful smile before the two leave the diner, stepping out into another gloomy day in seoul.

jungkook looks up at the sky, taking in the way the clouds are distanced from each other, the dark gray smug evident between them as it hovers over the city. everyone claimed that seoul seemed to have this almost permanent murkiness after the arrival of the machina. and jungkook agrees, he really missed the sunny days.

"where the hell is arata's rug wearing ?" ryuu asks, looking around the parking lot before he wanders off in search of the manager.

"jungkook!" an excited voice calls out and the dark haired boy looks over before he can follow his bandmate.

a smile graces his lips as he takes in medium cut brunette hair and thin fingers twisting the bottom of a pink dress nervously.

"kairi" he greets, watching as the girl smiles brightly at the sound of his voice. kairi was from osaka like sora, but she had just recently moved to seoul. and she just so happened to be one of jungkook's more prominent fan girls. he's met her quite a few times actually. and each time he didn't mind taking the time out to speak to her because she didn't try to pull his clothes off in her excitement and well-

"jungkook-" kairi says, nearly tripping in her excitement as she approaches him. jungkook can't help but to laugh at how cute she is as he grabs her arm to help steady her, the brunette girl looking up at him with an excited smile as she exclaims, "i'm getting married!"

she tries to look him in the eye then, but since she can't really see him all that well, her eyes roam all around in her excitement.

kairi was blind.

and jungkook was even more flattered to have her as a fan because of it. she didn't know what he looked like, but she adored him all the same. she claimed his voice gave her hope, and jungkook had cried in front of hundreds of reporters upon hearing that. she was one of the few people in his world that loved him for who he was, not his looks. and for jungkook, it felt great. he had always wondered though, "kairi, how do you know it's me?", he had asked her after their third meeting.

"you smell like day old pizza and last minute cologne", she had told him, making her guardian and ryuu, who'd been standing beside him, laugh loudly before she titled her head and added quietly, "but its charming jungkook, it's you."

"you are? and you like them then, your new spouse?" jungkook asks her now, not wanting to assume the gender of her spouse. he watches as kairi nods eagerly, making him pout and grab her hand, "even more than me?"

"o-oh" kairi mumbles, covering her now red cheeks with her hands as he she hesitates shyly before nodding enthusiastically, "i do."

"you've forgotten about me then." jungkook says with a pout as he pulls her closer gently, making kairi smile.

"don't be silly, i could never forget you." she tells him before a look of hesitance crosses her face and she ducks her head slightly, "a-and besides, i hear that you may be getting married too, so congrats!"

"huh? where did you hear that?" jungkook asks with a confused frown. he wasn't even dating anyone, not that he wasn't allowed. but their label was very specific about the details regarding who they did decide to date. no fans, dating other celebrities is better because of the publicity, and oh, no marriage.

"my brother, he read a magazine article from seul!e live and it says that recently, you've met your soulmate." kairi informs him, squeezing his hand gently with a small smile, "i'm so happy for you, jungkook. that's so rare!"

"k-kairi-" jungkook blurts out nervously, "did the article say who this person was?"

he watches then as the japanese girl tilts her head briefly as if confused about why he wouldn't know himself.

"yes" she answers finally, "i t-think i remember the name, if i'm not mistaken it was k-kim-"

"kairi!" a loud voice shouts, making jungkook frown at the sight of a very angry looking man storming towards them. he grabs kairi's hand and pulls her towards him roughly, and that's when jungkook catches a glimpse of the matching band on his finger, similar to kairi's, "why are you wasting time talking to strangers when i'm starving? do you not care for your husband?"

"i-i do." kairi stammers as the man pulls her along. she waves at jungkook then with an embarrassed smile, "b-bye jungkook-san!"

"bye!" he calls after her quietly, frowning at the man's rough treatment and the fact that he couldn't remember meeting his soulmate. it just didn't make sense, wouldn't he remember the person he was seemingly connected with? no, jungkook was only connected with one person, and that person was still in jail as far as he knew.

"u-uhm, jungkook-s-san?" ryuu comes walking into view, mimicking sora's soft voice and how badly he used to stutter in the begging before grinning, "i found arata's rug wearing , let's go!"

jungkook shakes his head, smiling as he allows the elder to sling an arm around his shoulder as the two walk to the car where arata is waiting for them. their shoes scrape against the damp pavement as they walk, jungkook inhaling the humid air in quiet puffs as he thinks of the busy day ahead of them.

"human scan necessary!"

the two band members look over then in time to see a desperate mother trying to console her crying child as a machina hovers over then, arm held over the small child as they scan them.

"scan complete. emotions detected: hysteria, pass normal standard, anxiousness, pass normal standard, heart rate accelerated, pupils dilated, target inconsolable- threat detected." the machina notes in a robotic tone. this particular machina embodies that of a female in a black suit, dark hair cut into the perfect bob, a robotic smile on their lips as their arm transforms into a machina handgun, "-course of action necessary: termination."

"no please!" the mother begs, tears streaming down her face as she holds her crying child close, "i can calm him down! i can calm him down! i promise! i-i swear."

"termination necessary" the machina repeats simply making the mother cry even harder as it readies it's handgun.

"not on my watch." ryuu mumbles, hurrying across the street before jungkook can stop him. he watches in pure horror as his band member pulls off his jacket and tosses it aside as he approaches the machina, "hey you metal freak! leave the kid alone and pick on someone your own size!"

the machina jerks robotically before turning around and holding out her arm at ryuu.

"human scan processing." the machina says, "human emotions detected: content, serene. no action necessary."

jungkook feels his jaw drop in awe, ryuu looked anything but serene, but why did the machina not determine him as a threat?

"that's right, no action necessary so get the hell out of here you metal !" ryuu shouts, and jungkook is expecting the machina to then determine him as a threat. but instead, it simply stares at him, blinking slowly before turning back to the child.

"course of action necessary: termination." it repeats before it's arm twists back into the handgun.

"not on my watch!" ryuu exclaims, tackling the machina just as a bullet goes flying from the handgun. it shoots into the distance behind them, making the mother cry out in suprise as both the machina and ryuu go crashing to the ground, the machina's metal body barreling loudly on the concrete.

"human scan necessary!" another machina nearby shouts, narrowing in on the mother who looks seconds from fainting.

and jungkook isn't sure what possesses him to, but he hurries across the street then, narrowly avoiding being hit by cars in the process.

"jungkook!" arata shouts dramatically. he taps his watch impatiently, "let ryuu die on his own time, we have interviews to get to!"

"s-sorry!" jungkook calls back to him briefly, cursing quietly as a car just barely brushes against him as it screeches to a halt. he taps the hood of it gently in apology, ", i'm sorry!"

"jungkoooooook!" arata yells, clutching his chest dramatically before motioning to his personal camera man to follow him as he too makes his way across the street. once the camera is rolling, he falls to the floor in the middle of the street, holding up his hand weakly, "i can't go on without you."

meanwhile, jungkook takes in the chaos on the other side of the street and nearly faints for real. the woman is fanning herself, hyperventilating as now her child tries to calm her down. and ryuu is crouched on the ground, holding the cracked head of the now broken and destroyed machina.

"human scan necessary!" another machina shouts and when jungkook looks behind them, he nearly pisses himself at the sight of the small machina army forming behind them. they're too far to even really scan them, and they don't identify their emotions, their arms just twist into handguns as they shout out in their robotic voices, "termination necessary!"

"they're malfunctioning." ryuu informs him then, dropping the metal pieces of the machina's head with a smirk.

the red haired drummer stands to his feet then, brushing off his fingers as if the machina head had been anything more than screws and wires.

"you-" he says, pointing at jungkook with a shark like grin, "the revolution is starting. don't be a your whole life kid. join us, and let's stop these machines once and for all."

"u-us?" jungkook repeats shakily before the sound of motorcycle engines fill the area.

"yeah" ryuu says, grin widening as he adds, "jungkook, meet the X-MACHINA."

he motions to the street then, and jungkook looks over to see a group of motorcycles darting between the cars before one shoots forward, cutting off traffic entirely as it skids to a stop. and the motorcycle hasn't even stopped moving before someone jumps off. jungkook watches in awe as the girl does a series of flips through the air before she lands on the concrete beside them, gun already aimed at a machina before she pulls the trigger, the bullet flying throughthe self destruction button inside a machina, the machina jerking before it explodes, a loud, mechanical booming sound that echoes in jungkook's ears.

"kiko fujihara, at your service!" the woman exclaims, mock saluting. and jungkook takes in the black hair waving down her back, the flush on her peachy skin, her visible abs revealed in her black crop top and baggy black pants, and the belt wrapped around her toned waist, with guns and knives looped around it.

"kiko is one of the founders of the X-MACHINA. she's pretty good at what she does." ryuu explains with a proud smile, only for his eyes to widen when kiko rushes toward him, tackling him in a hug. the red haired drummer's cheeks turn pink then as he mumbles, "and she's also my girlfriend."

jungkook opens his mouth, prepared to question whether he's dreaming or not when the next appearance happens. he watches then, as one girl crouches on her bike, the motorcycle still somehow moving as she grins before jumping off.

"death by suffocation!" she shouts, grabbing a machina as soon as her feet hit the ground. and then, jungkook watches in utter shock as she then proceeds to smother the machina with her s, which he realizes then are even larger than yui's. he wonders then, if there's a size bigger than double d's, and he figures that if there is, this woman is probably a z or something.

"malfunction, malfunction! self destruction necessary!" the machina says, jerking mechanically before the woman pushes it away and it explodes into a pile of metal and screws.

"ha!" the woman cheers, jumping around in her excitement. jungkook takes in the way her strawberry blonde space buns bounce with each jump, her pink crop top strains against her chest, and the unicorn backpack on her bag shifts as she goes.

"jung yuri present and accounted for!" she exclaims loudly, mock saluting as kiko had done.

"close your mouth, kid." ryuu elbows jungkook, snickering when the younger snaps his mouth shut and he tears his eyes away from the woman's chest.

the third motorcycle screeches to a stop then, before a man in all black climbs off, black shades on his face, dark hair pulled into a ponytail that sways down his back as he approaches them with a blank look.

he holds a gun out then, a small green ball of energy forming at the end of it before he releases the trigger, the ball flying toward the machina where it expands and explodes, reducing several of the machina to melted metal.

"that's kevin." kiko whispers, "he's from america."

"kevin?" jungkook repeats as he stares at the silent man wearily.

"yep, from america." kiko conforms with an enthusiastic nod.

jungkook felt as if he was going to be sick.

"wake up, wake up dammit-" he mutters as he pinches himself but ryuu just slaps his hand away.

"you're already awake, kid." he tells the singer, "the revolution is starting now. so make up your mind, do you want to be apart of it, or do you want to be just another casualty?"

he pats jungkook's shoulder sympathetically before walking off, and that's when jungkook himself looks around and notices what's happening. despite the number of machina that had been taken out, it just didn't compare to the numbers that were gathering in the street, surrounding them as they malfunctioned. it was so many of them that they were crowding traffic. people were beeping their horns, others climbing out of their cars in fear as the machina crowded them whole. kevin is standing on one car, gun aimed at the machina flooding the area, with yuri on another, two guns in her hands as she poses cutely with a wide smile from another car, and kiko pulls ryuu up onto the car she's on, shoving a gun in his hands with a small smile.

so, this was the revolution?

it was happening right before him, and just like always, jungkook wasn't sure what to do.

he wasn't used to making his own decisions, he always had people like arata and the record label to do that for him, to tell him how to speak, to look, to live.

and now, it was his chance to make a choice.

but he hesitates for too long, because jungkook merely blinks before the machina attack.

"human scan necessary!"

"error, error!"

"malfunction!"

"termination necessary!"

jungkook watches as the machina pull people from their cara, sedating and attacking them. the X-MACHINA do their best in defending the people, but it was clear they were outnumbered.

"attention, human scan necessary!" a loud voice says before a machina appears in front of him, arm twisting into a gun as it's eyes narrow in on jungkook, "scan incomplete, termination necessary!"

"w-what" jungkook blurts out, stumbling back as the machina's gun is aimed at him. he squeezes his eyes shut, prepared for what will happen next only for the sound of something crashing to greet his ears. his eyes fly open in time to see the machina go flying through the air after being hit by a car, a government vehicle that comes screeching to a halt in front of jungkook.

he watches as the driver's door comes flying open, an irritated looking mint haired man stepping out.

"for s sake people, can't a guy have a peaceful lunch break for once?" he grumbles, brushing invisible lint from his suit before opening the backseat and letting a blonde machina out, "come on carol, let's fix this so i can get back to my tacos."

"yes government agent #49." carol chimes mechanically as she gets out of the car.

a loud gasp catches jungkook's attention in the midst of the chaos and he looks over to see arata's eyes widen at the sight of yoongi.

"oh mr. government maaaaaaaaaaaaan!" he calls out, skipping happily towards them in the midst of the chaos. he blows a kiss at yoongi followed by a wink, "mr. government maaaaaaaaaaaaan, i've missed you!"

"for s sake" yoongi grumbles, before glancing at carol, "carol, keep that psycho away from me. he's dangerous."

"yes agent 49." carol replies manually, arm held out in defense of the agent. when arata gets close, her arm twists into a gun, but the man simply runs by quickly, sliding under both she and yoongi to underneath the government car. he crawls beneath it to the other side, smiling widely as he climbs over the top to the other side where he wraps his arms around yoongi's neck, nuzzling against the man.

"dammit carol!" yoongi curses, slamming his hand against the metal machina. and then, jungkook watches in shock as the machina turns and looks at the agent before shrugging.

"es be tripping." carol says in a robotic voice before wandering off and that's how jungkook knows that the man has probably helped make carol himself since machina only repeated what their manual users ingrained in them.

jungkook takes it all in then - the way the X-MACHINA are taking out as many machina as they can, ryuu and kiko walking back to back as they squeeze the triggers of their guns, the way yur is now using a metal bat to bash the heads off of a few machina, cheering happily as she does so, and how kevin is kicking at a few trying to climb atop the cars. carol is deactivating as many of them as she can as well, and yoongi is being suffocated in a hug by arata who can't be bothered with the chaos.

jungkook realizes then, that he isn't dreaming.

this is his reality, and he takes it all in for only a second before the back door to the government car opens.

and the jeon boy is so engrossed by the chaos that he lets out a surprised shout when someone pulls his arm and yanks him into the backseat. jungkook's back hits the seat roughly, the jeon boy grunting before his eyes fly up to meet the eyes of the person hovering over him.

"surprise" they whisper, making jungkook's eyes widen as he stares up at the person he's been having dreams of for the past several years.

taehyung laughs, a sound that drowns out the rapid beating of jungkook's heart in his chest.

"recognize me today, don't you?" taehyung says, a strange smile on his lips as he stares down at jungkook. meanwhile, jungkook himself feels his world tilt as he stares up at him, the boy from his childhood and dreams. but taehyung just grins as he holds something up. but jungkook doesn't even look at it, missing the glint of the knife in the otherwise dim car. he also doesn't notice the syringe the other boy slips into his arm, dispensing a purple liquid into his body with a grin, "no worries, i'll make this quick."

he stabs the knife into jungkook's stomach then, and that's when jeon jungkook's eyes widen before he lets out a blood curdling scream.