“The only reason you’re in this damn group is because of your name tattooed on my wrist. That’s the only reason, Jungkook!”

“Hyun-”

“No, don’t ‘hyung’ me. I’m sick of you always hanging around near me, clinging onto me whenever you can. I need some time alone, why don’t you understand that!? You don’t have to be joined at my ing hip all of the damned time! Just get out of my sight, I don’t want to see you again until the morning. Let me be alone.”

Yoongi was angry, he’d made that much clear at least. With deadlines for him to have the songs he was writing for their latest album looming, he was more stressed than normal.

Jungkook thought he was helping, by keeping him company, making him smile when the stress made his anxiety rise, by being physically there to let Yoongi know he was always around if he needed him.

After all, they were soulmates. Jungkook’s name in dark ink on Yoongi’s wrist, Yoongi’s name on his own.

They were meant to be together.

But Yoongi wasn’t happy about it, so he’d give him space.

“Alright, Yoongi-hyung, I’m sorry. Let me know if you change your mind.” Giving a small, sweet bunny smile, Jungkook turned, grabbing his jacket from the hook on their bedroom door and shrugging it on before heading out.

“Jungkook, where are you going?” Seokjin frowned from where he was sat in the living room, Namjoon snoring with his head on the older’s shoulder.

“Just out, don’t worry. I won’t be long, I just… I need a walk, that’s all.” He gave another small smile, tears in his eyes, and quickly headed out of their dorm. There was no way that Seokjin hadn’t heard the yelling from the bedroom, no way he hadn’t heard the cruel words Yoongi had said.

But they’d always agreed to never get involved in each other’s personal relationships within the group if they could help it. It was their own situations to sort out, and if they could do it alone, they would.

Jungkook didn’t hear if Seokjin had said anything else, he’d already closed the door and hurried to the end of the hallway, down the elevator and out of the building.

It was already dark outside, the air cool with a post-rain breeze, and instantly Jungkook felt calmer. He allowed a few tears to fall, just a few, purely because he knew Yoongi didn’t mean it. The words still hurt, but his soulmate was stressed.

Besides, neither of them had ever really wanted to be in the situation they were in.

He would have a short walk, calm himself down, then head back into the dorm. Yoongi didn’t want to see him for the rest of the night, so hopefully Hoseok would let him sleep in his room. Failing that, it would be the couch for him, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Their couch was quite spacious and comfortable anyway.

It didn’t take long of walking anywhere and everywhere for a particular takeout to catch Jungkook’s eye. It was their place. The Lamb Skewer shop that he and Yoongi would frequent during date nights. Maybe Jungkook’s presence wouldn’t help Yoongi feel better, but their favourite food definitely would. So, Jungkook stopped, turned, and headed inside to order.

—————

“Yoongi-hyung, you should know better than this. It isn’t Jungkook’s fault you’re stressed.” Namjoon sighed, having very recently been awoken by Seokjin. “He was just trying to help you.”

“Well he wasn’t helping, he was crowding me. Besides, you’re not meant to get involved.” Yoongi sulked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall next to his bedroom door. Seokjin had just called him out, for a ‘chat’, and well, he and Namjoon didn’t seem happy with him.

“He left the dorm near tears, and Seokjin-hyung could hear you yelling from the living room. Whatever he was doing, you took it too far. He’s your soulmate, and your bandmate, you really do need to work harder on being nice to him. Jungkook is trying his best to make you happy, all the time, can’t you do him the same back?”

“Oh my god I just wanted to be alone, is that such a crime?”

“It is when you reduce our maknae to tears, Yoongi.” Seokjin frowned. “When he gets back you need to apologise to him.”

“Fine, fine, whatever.” Yoongi turned, storming back into his room and ignoring Seokjin’s irritated yell behind him to respect his elder. After a few moments, Yoongi heard Namjoon and Seokjin retreat back to the couch, talking between themselves quietly. Probably about him.

But why did he care? They weren’t meant to get involved in their relationship.

But Yoongi couldn’t sit still. He still had so much to do, but he’d been banned from the studio for the night by their manager, something about getting some rest and not burning himself out.

This was Jungkook’s fault, it was all Jungkook’s fault.

Poor, pretty little Jungkook being hurt by a few words. Poor Jungkook doing his best to make him happy. Poor Jungkook who probably spoke to their manager about keeping Yoongi out of the studio despite the intense amount of pressure being put upon him.

Yoongi would be happy if poor little Jungkook just disappeared from his life.

—————

Walking back towards the dorm, Jungkook couldn’t help but have a little bounce in his step as he carried a bag full of take away boxes, filled with their favourite treat. This would cheer Yoongi up, even if it didn’t earn forgiveness.

No-one could be mad when they had their favourite food after all.

Turning down the alleyway Jungkook had previously made his way down, he felt his heart jump a little with excitement. It wouldn’t be long until he was back now, and tomorrow would be a new day. Maybe Yoongi would finally fall in love with him?

I mean, that was probably just wishful thinking, but a hope nonetheless.

Maybe, just maybe, 10 years from now, they’d be happy together. Loving life with each other. After all, they were destined, and destiny has a weird way of dragging people together.

He rounded a corner, only another 10 minutes or so from home, before something cold and hard pressed into his forehead.

Jungkook quickly stopped,a shaking hand in front of his face, and a pistol aimed at his forehead.

“You saw nothing, right? Absolutely nothing.” The man growled, pulling the gun away and pulling off the safety, before returning it to Jungkook’s forehead.

The younger had no idea what he was talking about, but a quick assessment made him notice the bulging cloth bag the man was holding, the dark clothes, the gloves, his face hidden by a black face mask… Jungkook could only assume the guy had just robbed a place nearby.

“H-hey, no, I saw nothing, really.” Jungkook attempted to keep his voice calm, as calm as he could while possibly being seconds away from being pavement decoration. However, his words had seemed to do the trick, as the man stepped backwards, gun still pointed at Jungkook, but no longer flush with the soft skin of his face.

“You better keep your damn mouth shut, kid, or there will be trouble. I will find you. Got that?” The man said, with a shake to his voice.

Jungkook was about to respond, about to repeat that he had seen nothing, that he would say nothing about seeing him, anything to keep his life. But sirens nearby and the flashing lights in red and blue quickly interrupted him.

Jungkook saw a flash of panic in the man’s eyes, before he turned, started running, then turned back, and shot the gun.

————

“Ah! !”

Yoongi exclaims, wrapping his fingers around his wrist to try and soothe the searing pain that had just burned its way into his skin, over the tattoo of Jungkook’s name.

It felt as though a hot iron had just been pressed into the lines, branding them as if they weren’t already a permanent thing he had been born with.

Well now Yoongi had to go and find that brat of a maknae, find out what he was doing, and why it was hurting so goddamn much.

Holding his wrist tightly to try and relieve some of the pain with pressure, Yoongi hurried out of the bedroom in which he’d still been sulking in.

Immediately, Seokjin looked up from his place back on the couch, Namjoon still very much awake but only half paying attention to the drama playing on the screen. “Yoongi? Where are you going?”

“Out. I’m going to apologise to Jungkook.” Before Seokjin had chance to reply, or question the way the younger’s voice had quivered slightly in pain, Yoongi hurried himself out of the door and out of the building.

But where to start looking? God knows where Jungkook would have gone. Regardless, he probably would have taken back streets to avoid fans or sasaengs following or recognising him. So that was as good a place to start as any, Yoongi turned and started walking down the alley way near their dorm, towards the stretch of take out restaurants. Of course, Jungkook would have wanted food. And if he didn’t find him there, oh well, he’d start thinking of other plans.

As he walked, Yoongi’s eyes followed as he saw a man dressed all in black jump into the back of what appeared to be a getaway vehicle and drive off. Taking into account the police sirens nearby, the guy probably wasn’t very bright, so would probably be caught soon.

Besides, how stupid was their youngest to go out on his own? Especially this late when they had schedules tomorrow. There was another lecture waiting to happen. He could have gotten himself killed.

But Yoongi didn’t get chance to think on it any more as he rounded a corner, coming to face Jungkook’s body slumped against a brick wall, trembling hands clutching at his stomach.

“There you are, where the hell have you been? And what are you doing? My wrist is on literal fire right now, and….”

Yoongi’s eyes trailed to where Jungkook was clinging to, noticed the dark red substance coating the younger’s hands as it flowed between his fingers.

“O-okay, , alright.” Previous anger forgotten, Yoongi hurried towards the maknae, falling to his knees and barely flinching as he felt the skin there scrape through his jeans, probably grazing them. “You’re okay, its alright.”

Jungkook slowly looked up, eyes catching Yoongi’s as he gave out a weak groan. “Y-Yoongi-hyung? N-no, you have to run, it’s not safe…!” He didn’t know where his attacker had fled after he’d been shot, and the last thing he wanted was the older nursing a bullet wound similar to his own.

“Shhh shhh, its alright, it’s okay.” Yoongi’s voice was beginning to crack a little. “Its okay, I need your phone, okay? Where’s your phone?” Yoongi didn’t have his with him, and he was immediately cursing his past self for that fact. He hadn’t thought he’d needed it just to go and fetch Jungkook.

The said younger’s brow furrowed a little, as if processing what he said, before pulling a hand away from his stomach and carefully wiggling his phone from his back pocket, whining slightly at the jolts of pain rushing through him as he did.

The screen was smashed, presumably from him falling on it after he’d been shot, but with his hands so slippery from his own blood, Jungkook didn’t manage to hold on to the phone for long, it quickly slipping from his grip onto the gravel below them.

He gave a weak chuckle that sounded more like a sob. “S-sorry, I’m sorry hyung, I’m sorry…” Casting his gaze over, Jungkook allowed his eyes to focus on the fallen bag of lamb skewers, the bag had opened, and said delicious food items were now lying on the floor, contaminated by the alley.

Yoongi quickly grabbed the phone from the floor, unlocking it and calling immediately for an ambulance. While he waited for the dispatcher to pick up, he followed the younger’s gaze, heart dropping at what he saw.

“You stupidly sweet thing…” Yoongi reached out, now not bothering with trying to stop the tears that had gathered in his eyes from falling, and Jungkook’s pale cheek.

He greeted the operator that had now picked up, quickly listing off the area in which they were. “Please, come quickly. I-I think he’s dying, there’s so much blood, oh my god…”

Yoongi bit his lip in an attempt to stop a sob, but it didn’t work.

“I’ll stay on the line, but I need to put the phone down, I have more important things to deal with right now.” Dropping the phone, Yoongi quickly pulled his hoodie off and pressed it against the wound. That was pretty much as far as his knowledge went. Make sure Jungkook didn’t lose more blood than he already had.

Jungkook tried to focus his gaze on Yoongi’s face, he really did. That beautiful, beautiful face in which he loved so much. But his eyes were refusing to co-operate, his vision fuzzy, dark dots dancing around and obscuring his soulmates face.

“H-hyung, I lo-love you…”

With the words, came blood. The dark liquid flowing out over his bottom lip as he forced the words out. It was getting harder to breathe now, harder to get the oxygen to help him keep living.

“I love you too, okay? Now try staying alive. Please.”

Yoongi didn’t know what he’d do if his soulmate died.

Once Jungkook realised that Yoongi was now putting pressure on the wound for him and he didn’t have to, Jungkook let his body relax, arms falling to his sides as he no longer had to press on his painful stomach. Yoongi had taken the burden away from him, along with getting professional medical help and actually talking to the operator. Jungkook had never loved him more than right in that moment, because he doubted he had the lung capacity to talk too much anymore.

His breath was getting shorter, and although he wanted to panic about it, he couldn’t find the energy to. He was getting too tired, exhausted from the blood loss he was experiencing, and he had no doubt the pain had something to do with his inability to fill his own lungs too.

Soon, all Jungkook could see was the blurry image of Yoongi’s face. It was perfect. If he was going to die, the last thing he wanted to see was that perfect face. He could die happy that way.

His eyelids began drooping more, struggling to keep himself anchored into the world of the living with Yoongi’s deep voice talking to him, struggling to focus on the words being said. It seemed as though the older was talking about anything and everything, trying to help him have something to focus on.

He felt more blood well up in his throat. He tried in vain to swallow it back down, but it was no use as it spilled over his lips while his heart pounded wildly in his chest. It was trying to keep him alive, trying to keep him going.

But Jungkook’s eyes slipped shut regardless.

“Hey, hey hey hey, Jungkook. Wake up. You have to stay awake. If you don’t, you’ll die. And if you die, I’ll kill you. Do you hear me? Listen to your elders.”

Yoongi was panicking now, leaning forward and using one hand to wipe away the blood on Jungkook’s lips with his thumb. His eyes were drawn to Jungkook’s name on his wrist.

The black markings were starting to take on a particular silver glint, like a scar. Jungkook was dying.

“Please, you have to stay awake.”

More tears were flowing now. “You’re so stupid. You shouldn’t have gone and gotten us lamb skewers, I was being an to you. You’re meant to treat me when I’m being nice, hell, why the hell are you treating me when I’m an . You shouldn’t treat me at all, you’re the maknae, its my job to treat you. But you’re too stupidly sweet for that, huh?” Yoongi did his best for his tone to be teasing, but all it did was come out strained and dry, struggling to hold back sobs.

“H-had to…w-want’d to…h-help…” Talking was a chore, consciousness barely with him, lungs barely at capacity to breathe let alone form words. But he powered through it, for Yoongi’s sake. He could tell the other was terrified. Was he crying? Why would he be crying? Sure, they acted like friends for the cameras, but Yoongi had always hated the fact they were soulmates. Maybe it was automatic tears due to the stress he was under right now. It had to be that, Yoongi rarely cried, let alone over him. He didn’t love him, barely liked him enough to cry over him.

Of course, he had just said he loved him, but it was probably only to make him feel better.

Carefully cracking chocolate eyes open, doing his best to focus them on something, Jungkook decided that Yoongi was as good a target as any. Hyung’s orders, after all, keep his eyes open, stay awake.

The orders didn’t seem to be doing much good though as Jungkook’s body was beginning to go numb, starting at the tips of his fingers and rapidly travelling up his arms while the same started at his toes.

He couldn’t keep himself upright any longer, his eyes dulling while his body slumped to the side. His breaths was fast, shallow and tiny as the world spun around him, out of focus and sickening with the colours blurring around him. Despite his will to hold on, and Yoongi’s orders, everything faded out to black.

Yoongi’s eyes widened as Jungkook slumped, his hand that had previously been beautiful raven locks slipping from his head. He inhaled sharply, another pair of tears slipping from his eyes.

“C-Come on, Kook, come on look at me. Look into my eyes, okay? You’re always going on about how you love my eyes. You love looking at them, if you die you’ll never be able to look at them again so don’t die, okay? Kookie please.”

Despite his words, Jungkook wasn’t holding on. Yoongi could now hear more sirens in the distance, hopefully the ambulance coming to take over. They’d know what to do.

But no matter how much he shook Jungkook’s shoulders, how much he called his name, the other didn’t awaken from it. His breaths were getting slower, but just as shallow, just as weak.

“Jungkook, you need to breathe. Open your ing eyes and breathe! I’m not l-letting you die, I can’t. I love you. You need to wake up or I’ll never forgive you! Please!”

But Jungkook wasn’t waking up, wasn’t responding to his calls.

“Goddamn it Jungkook, breathe!”

In pure frustration and urgency, Yoongi did something he would never do in any other circumstance.

He balled up his fist, and hit Jungkook in the chest.

“Breathe! Please!”

Jungkook gasped.

It was shallow, and bubbled in his chest, but he gasped, his body jolting back to the land of the living.

Yoongi let out a choked sob.

Every fiber of Jungkook’s being hurt, every atom flaring with pain, but his eyes found themselves once again forced open, a small, pained whimper escaping cracked lips.

“I-I’m okay…” Jungkook slurred out, gritting his teeth against the pain. “I’m okay…” He wasn’t, of course he wasn’t, but he needed Yoongi to be okay, so he’d lie for him.

“Yah, you brat, don’t lie to your hyung.” Yoongi’s voice was thick with tears now, his form crumpling into sobs as he continued putting pressure on the hoodie against Jungkook’s stomach. His hands were stained red now, the hoodie soaked, but he didn’t dare move it.

Seconds later, paramedics were beside them, placing a stretcher beside Jungkook that he was barely aware of.

Yoongi followed their instructions in a robotic way, letting them take over the pressure on Jungkook’s wound, following them to the back of the ambulance, climbing in when told… and then he grasped hold of Jungkook’s hand, not letting go.

He had long forgotten about the burning in his wrist.

“You’ll be okay, Kook, you’ll be okay.”

———————

Hours of surgery followed to remove the bullet in Jungkook’s stomach and close the hole. The maknae assumed he probably shouldn’t be as tired as he was, after being unconscious for so long. He thought he should be wide awake… but that wasn’t the case, his eyes drooped, his brain was fuzzy… but the doctors had just told him they would only let Yoongi in to see him if he could stay awake for long enough.

That’s what made him force himself awake. He had to make sure his soulmate was okay after his near death experience. He couldn’t remember much, he didn’t know how Yoongi had handled it.

Did he care? Had Jungkook hallucinated the soft words and gentle touches?

Did he even know what had happened?

He must have done from the doctor’s words, but doubt still filled his mind.

Yoongi didn’t show affection to him when cameras weren’t rolling after all, let alone when that stressed and when Jungkook was the cause of some of that stress. He’d told possible hallucination-Yoongi that he loved him, and they’d said it back… so how could that have actually been Yoongi?

The door opened, Yoongi walking in. He looked a wreck, wearing only a t-shirt, his eyes puffy and red, his hair sticking in every direction.

Jungkook attempted a smile towards the other, but it probably came off as more of a grimace.

“Yoongi-hyung…”

“Jungkook, you scared the out of me.” Yoongi put himself in the chair next to Jungkook’s bed, but made no move to touch him. “How do you feel?”

“High as a kite.”

Yoongi gave a smile at that.

“Hyung… did I hallucinate you? Were you there…?”

Yoongi frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You told me you loved me, I think… you wouldn’t say that, so it couldn’t have been you.”

Yoongi hesitated.

“…No, Jungkook. I wasn’t there. You must have hallucinated me.”

He didn’t know why he lied.