"H-hyung?"

Jungkook tries to move away as the older man slowly goes near him. Yoongi comes nearer and grabs the teen by his throat. His grasp tightens, not minding the maknae's intense coughing and the younger's hands struggling on his wrists.

"I never knew I'd live up to the day I'd see you this beautiful, Jungkook-ah." the smile still lingers, consuming Jungkook, frightening the younger to the core. His eyes sting even more now, with tears, sweat, and blood in them. His eyes hurt. His throat hurts. Even his head hurts from all the confusion. But the thing that hurts the most is seeing his hyung act like this: it all feels so foreign. It all felt so frightening. He starts to lose strength in his grip on Yoongi's wrists, from all the pain and confusion he is in at the moment. He never expected the skinny Yoongi to be this strong.

Hyung, you won this round.

He then decides to close his eyes and lets go of the older.

In a split-second after that, spider-like thread picks up the rapper away from Jungkook. He's now hung in the air, head down. His smile not to be found anymore: his lips parted and his eyes lifeless.

 "Are you sure with carrying me on your back though?"

"No worries, hyung. I'm a strong guy!" the group's muscle pig grins, assures the older that he needs not to think about anything else aside from his rapping. Really now, what could he not ever do? This kid's just damn high-spec already, and he's still so young. Back when the rapper was still his age, he was still hustling his way as a trainee, when even debuting was still a seemingly unreachable dream. Not that he's hating on the boy though, he convinces himself. The maknae is a diligent, driven evolving artist that he sees as inspiration to avoid producing sloppy material. He'd been looking after him for a very long time, he had seen him grow up. But every single time, he asks himself, in what way had he been looking at Jeon Jungkook? Had he been looking at him like a doting parent, like he claims in the press interviews, or is it something else? Was he really looking at the boy's improved dancing, or the way his shirt sticks to his skin, making it visible as if he was wearing see-through? Was he noticing how well he raps, or how those gorgeous plump lips move with the rhythm? Min Yoongi still needs to find out the answer to that.

"Hyung, is it okay if we stay behind for todays rehearsals? I kind of think we have to practice the lifting part more."

Yoongi felt a little conflicted at the sudden request. But he clearly knows that refusal was not in the least bit an option. He knows he's been wanting this. He knows that the chance finally came to him. 

So he grabbed it.

"If I get something in return, I'll approve of your request, Jungkookie."

The younger male coughs to hide his flushed cheeks, but still had his words slurred as he utters, "W-well, anything you w-wish, hyung."

Great. This is it.

Yoongi wakes up to the sound of the piano being played and slowly opens his eyes. He's now seated in front of the arcade machine again. He processes what had happened earlier, looks around the proximity, and sees the pool of blood on his feet, his red converse seemingly blending with the crimson liquid. It had triggered him to remember about Jungkook and he stands up to look for the maknae, finds the younger boy seated in front of his designated machine as well.

"Koo-"

Jungkook was staring blankly at a ceramic doll hitting the piano keys. The older man notices the boy's eyes were still bleeding, so he runs towards him. But before he could grab the younger's shoulders, Jungkook was quick to get away from his seat with a horrified expression.

"Stay away, hyung. Don't come near me. Please."

"Kookie, let's-"

"NO!"

Before Yoongi could take another step nearer to Jungkook, the white-haired bartender stops him. "Dear guest, let us resume the match." He leads the rapper back to his machine, but Yoongi swats the man's hand away. "Can't you see I'm trying to talk to my younger brother? off, old man. I need to help him calm down-"

"He is calm, sir. He simply does not wish to speak to you. He has been troubled by your actions."

What sort of actions is this dude talking about?!

"Please do peacefully comply and return to your post. As I see, Sir Jungkook is prepared for the next round. Please do not fret, for it will be the last."

He clicks tongue and runs his fingers through his hair in annoyance. The rapper complies and positions himself in front of his machine. He thinks about the flashback he had earlier, tries to remember every single detail, even the ones supposedly after that. The sound of the machine and the balls rolling into position distracts him, and then he snaps back into reality (or whatever it is they are in). He picks up one ball with an eye carving, similar to the one Jungkook had picked up last during the previous round.

"Guests, we will begin the third round at my whistle."

He recalls what he had done a while ago.

The bartender blows his whistle.

Yoongi drops the ball from his hands and drops to his knees. He struggles towards Jungkook, who was fixated in shooting balls through the ring. The maknae makes point after point, not bothering to look at anythin but the ring. He never looked at the balls momentarily in his hands, not even his hyung crawling towards him in all fours, leaving red handprints on the floor. Yoongi's limbs are weakened at his realization, at the flashback of what he had done earlier to his dongsaeng and at what he had done to Jungkook outside of this place of horror. He wants to apologize. He wants to explain now. He wants to tell him what it all supposed to mean this time around.

"Koo- Jungkook-ah... Stop. Hear me out. Please. Jungkook-ah."

30 seconds left.

"I'm sorry! I never meant to do it! Please stop, let's talk this over, Jungkook-ah-"

Four...Three...Two...

The younger male shoots his last ball, with an image of a heart carved on it.

One.

Yoongi drops his head to the floor, screaming in pain, as he clutches the left side of his chest.