Chapter Text
Every day is the same day.
Wake up, eat, work, come home, eat, and sleep. Rinse and repeat.
He works as a dish washer at the restaurant down the street from his shabby apartment. Every night when the owner of the restaurant closes shop, he’s left to clean up the restaurant before heading home. He doesn’t really do anything besides work. If anyone were to ask (which they wouldn’t because no one cares about him) he could easily say that he lives to work. It was a quiet life, one he was hoping to end soon.
He doesn’t have any family, at least none that he knows of. When he was seven years old his grandmother passed away, her old cancer bones stealing away her last breath. She was the light of his life; the only one who he was sure loved him just as much as he loved her. From that day he was whisked away to reside in a ratty orphanage and be forced to watch as the younger and cuter kids were adopted by loving couples. He’s not bitter. No, why would he be?
To admit that he were bitter would be to admit that the world had won. That the cruelty of his life had won against the battle of his will to live. Yet perhaps he could admit to himself that eventually he would succumb to the cruelty, admit he would inevitably allow it to soak into his cold bones. He did miss his grandmother.
The six group of men are at the restaurant again. They’re loud and chipper, and he has grown fond of listening to them banter over their food. He doesn’t know them very well. Matter of fact he doesn’t know them at all. They never told him their names, but they somehow managed to squeeze his name out of him. The pretty one with the broad shoulders was very gentle and good at coaxing information out of him. They always come to the restaurant near closing time and keep him company as he cleans up the restaurant for the night.
The store owner didn’t mind their late and loud presence as the six of them are the shops loyal customers. Their tips are good and his boss is always pleased to look into his wallet after they leave the store.
His back was aching today and his feet were burning in his shoes. A large family had come to the restaurant today and ordered a large amount of food, meaning a lot of dirty dishes for him. He twists his body to the side, sighing as he achingly bends over to wipe down spilled sauce on the ground. He just hopes the kinks in his back will work itself out when he sleeps tonight.
“You feeling all right, Jungkook?” He hears the pretty one ask him.
“Yeah, just a long shift. I’ll be fine.”
“You work too much, you know. I don’t think we’ve ever come here without seeing you here.”
He chuckles under his breath, walking over to the garbage so he can toss out the dirty paper towel. He did work too much, but it was either that or sleeping on a bench. He thought about going back to school so he could get a better job, but he couldn’t think of when he would have the time to juggle both school and work. For now he just didn’t have very many options, and he was usually too tired after his shifts to give the idea more thought anyway. He grabs the trash and ties it closed, spinning the silver restaurant key around his fingers. He walks towards the front of the store and opens the door politely, holding it open.
“I don’t wanna be rude but I gotta close up shop for the night.”
They shuffle around the table and he can hear the chairs squeaking against the tiled floor. The pretty boy smiles at him as they make their way towards the door and he smiles back politely. He closes the door and locks it, then shoving the key into his jean pocket.
“We’ll see you tomorrow?” The one who looks like a cat asks him.
“Actually I’ve got the day off tomorrow. I don’t always work on Saturdays.” He volunteers the information.
“Oh, Monday then?” The pretty boy asks.
He turns his eyes to the alleyway besides the restaurant and eyes the dumpster, shuffling the large garbage bag in his hands. “Yeah, I’ll see you guys then?”
“See you,” they grin at him and he bows kindly to them, turning his body to walk into the dark alley. They walk away from the restaurant, and they watch as the pretty boy collects information through his phone.
“You’ve got his address?” The leader of the group asks.
The pretty man nods with a warm smile. Their plan was finally in action. It took a long time but it was finally happening. They were finally going to take their baby under their wings. He looks back once more at the distant restaurant, watching as the tired boy takes a large drag from his cigarette while leaning his head against the brick wall of the restaurant. They’d have to wean him off the cancer sticks.
“See you tomorrow, baby boy.”
~*~
He wakes up with a yawn, scratching at his eyes. He checks the time on his phone and sees that it’s already almost noon. He hadn’t gone to bed too late last night so his body must had tried to make up for his sleep depravity. He’s not complaining because he feels refreshed.
After stretching his legs he hops out of the bed, making his way to the bathroom so he can take a hot shower. He slides into the shower and turns it on, groaning in bliss as the hot water relaxes his muscles. He lathers up the vanilla body wash over his body, scrubbing off the dirt and grime from his shift last night. He had wanted to shower when he had gotten home, but the urge to pass out in his bed was too good to resist. He can hear something fall over from outside the bathroom and it causes him jump.
Must’ve been the cat.
With a sigh he runs the shampoo through his hair and washes it out. He’s just about to use conditioner when he hears a deep voice murmuring from outside the bathroom. His eyes widen and he puts the conditioner back into its place. He always knew he lived in a shady area but he never thought someone would actually manage to break into his apartment. He holds his breath as he tries to listen out the door.
“Will you be more quiet?!” He can hear someone hiss and the voice sounds awfully familiar but he can’t place it.
Shit, shit, shit.
He can do this.
Grimacing at the price of his water bill he decides to leave the water running in the shower as he quietly steps out of it. If he turns off the shower they’ll think he’s finished and will wait for him outside the door. If he leaves the water running, he could hopefully use the element of surprise against them. Granted he’s got the limbs of sticks and he’s never fought anyone before, but it was worth a try. Besides, what else could he do? He was kind of cornered here.
He looks around his bathroom for something he could use as a weapon. The best thing he can see is the glass vase he uses to hold plastic flowers. If it came down to it he could hit it against the persons head. It sounds like there might be multiple people in his house so it might screw him over, but if he can subdue at least one of them it will increase his chances of getting the hell out of dodge before they can kill him or something.
He plucks the plastic flowers from the vase and leaves them in the sink. He wraps his dominant hand around the vase and exhales as he wraps his shaking fingers around the doorknob. Before opening it he presses his ear against the door to listen for anyone, to maybe gauge how close they are to him.
It’s very quiet now. The intruders must be on their tippy toes to be quiet. The only sound he can hear now is the racing pace of his own heart and he prays to himself that he makes it out of this one. If he dies soon he wants it to from his own hands and on his own terms. Holding his breath he quietly twists the old doorknob and creaks open the door, walking out and quietly closing it behind him to give the idea to the intruders that he’s still showering.
Blinking rapidly he sees that the hallway is completely empty. He can see a portrait of his grandmother on the ground, covered by a small amount of glass from the frame. He can see his cat Nemo curiously swatting at the frame before looking at him with a loud meow. He puts his finger over his mouth and quietly shushes her, taking small steps down the hallway with his bare feet to enter the dining room. Nemo follows him with a purr, loudly meowing to beg him for food. He stops in his spot with dread rising in his stomach. He lifts his foot to gently kick her away from him, trying to encourage her to back to the knocked over frame instead of following him down the hallway.
He walks to the edge of the hallway and peers into the room. He can see the back of a man flipping through a book he owns. The man has his legs crossed as he casually flips through the pages, humming to him. The man looks awfully familiar to him but he can place who it might be.
“He takes long showers.” A man sighs as he enters the dining room from the kitchen and Jungkook’s eyes shoot to look at him.
What the hell? It’s one of the men from the restaurant. Why would they be here? How did they even know where he lives? Most importantly what would they want from him? They should know that he doesn’t have anything they would want.
He can hear his bedroom door open from behind him and the vase slips from his sweaty fingers in surprise. He’s such an idiot; he forgot to check his room!
“Oh hey,” the pretty man says and looks down at Nemo, “You’ve got a cute cat, baby.”
Baby?
Jungkook steps away from him in shock, and he sees another one of the men exit his room and look at the closed bathroom door with confusion. The man walks towards the bathroom and opens the door, stepping to walk over to the small shower and turn it off before walking back to stand behind the pretty man.
“Why’d you leave on the water? It’s not good to waste water, you know.” The pretty man scolds him, walking towards him.
“I-um,” he backs away into the dining room, “How’d you-why are you?”
He painfully backs into a bookshelf, blinking yet unfazed as a thick book falls off and hits him right on the top of his head before landing on the floor with a loud thump. A thin tanned boy whose name is unknown to him stands in the kitchen with two of the other men. “That looks like it hurt, Kookie.”
Jungkook shakes his head with wide eyes, looking around the room to see that all six of the men from the restaurant were here. In his house, he might add. Yes, that was a very important detail. He looks towards his front door near the kitchen and considers making a break for it.
He whimpers and leans his hands against the bookshelf and stills as he sees the pretty man take out a syringe. He sees a strange liquid inside of the syringe, and feels his heart stop as the metal needle glints at him under the light.
The pretty man seems to see his distress and tries to calm him down as he slowly walks towards him, “Now sweetie I know this must be scary for you, but please know that we’re only trying to help you. Will you let us do that, baby?”
Oh god. These freaks are going to kill me.
He whimpers at the pretty man and sneakily wraps his fingers on a book from behind him, chucking it at the pretty man’s face as he darts for the front door. The pretty man falls back and yells in pain, the syringe falling from his fingertips and shattering on the floor. One of the men from the kitchen chases him and grabs him behind, prying his fingers off the doorknob. He can hear Nemo hissing as he tumbles on the floor with the cat looking man, kicking and punching as he tries to fight his way out of the hold.
“Let me go! Let go of me you bitch!” He screams at him.
The other men gather around him to subdue him, and one of the men puts a hand on his mouth to get him to stop screaming. He screams under the hand as the pretty man pulls out a spare syringe from his bag, his kicking futile as the five men hold him down for the needle.
He tries to tell them to stop and to let him go, but it only comes out as muffles. The pretty man has blood on his cheek from the book yet he doesn’t feel bad about it. The pretty man sighs and leans down on his knees towards the distressed boy.
He pushes a bit of the liquid out of the syringe and gives it a tap with his fingernail to get out the bubbles. The man stabs the syringe into his thigh, causing him to scream in pain. Hot tears slide down his cheeks and onto the hand that covers his mouth. He sees the pretty man coo at him, his eyebrows furrowed at his tears.
The hands release from his mouth and body as his muscles relax from the drug. He lays there in shock as the man who looks like a cat wipes his tears away with his thumb, frowning down at him.
“Poor baby.” One of the men says sadly.
“Your daddies are sorry, baby. We don’t want to hurt you like this.” The tanned one says as he rubs his thigh apologetically. He would slap the hand away but he can’t move. He tries to wiggle his toes with all his might but is terrified to see that they won’t even slightly move in response.
“The drug won’t make you sleep so don’t worry about that. It’ll just make sure that you can’t be too fussy, okay baby? Your daddies will take turns carrying you until we get you home.”
He sees Nemo licking his fingers while purring distressfully and he wants to pet her and kiss her, but he can’t do anything with the current state of his body. They follow his eyes and coo at him. He feels a hand run through his hair to comfort him, yet it doesn’t do much.
“We’ll send someone to bring Nemo home with us, so don’t worry.”
I’m worrying.
“A-are you… g-going to k-kill me?” He chokes out, his throat raw from the screaming.
They look at him with horrified eyes and the pretty man shakes his head rapidly.
“Oh no, sweetie! We would never hurt you. Don’t ever think that.”
The pretty man stands up and the others mimic his actions. The pretty man picks him up and puts him on his hip, carrying him over to the couch. He sits down on the old couch and sits the boy onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him. He blinks as the other men all sit down with him.
“Before we leave, it’s only right that we introduce ourselves to you so you have a name to the face.” The pretty man says, bouncing him up and down to help him settle.
He stares down at Nemo who sits by his feet, licking her paw and running it over her ear. Well, it was nice that Nemo could be so calm and collected after he was stabbed in the leg with drugs. It was nice to know that someone was looking out for him. Damn cat.
“I’m Seokjin but everyone just calls me Jin.” The pretty man introduces himself with a smile.
“I’m Yoongi.” The cat man raises his hand from across the couch.
“Namjoon here! You can call me Joonie.” The man grins with him with his dimples. Jungkook would find it cute if it weren’t for the fact he couldn’t feel his legs.
“Taehyung. You can call me Tae or TaeTae if you want.” It was the tanned man who clawed his hand off the doorknob, with a boxy smile so cheerful he instantly felt the urge to knock his teeth out. It’s too bad he can’t feel his arms, though.
“My name is Jimin, cutie.”
Don’t call me cutie.
“I’m Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi. Ah, you’re so cute! I just wanna pinch your cheeks!” The bubbly man jumps and bounces in his seat and Jungkook feels the urge to run away. He weakly looks down at his numb legs. If only. Also how can these people stab him with a needle and then act like it didn’t just happen?
“If you’re not going to kill me,” His mind stirs around at the possibilities, “…what do you want? I d-don’t have any money.”
“Sweetie, we know how hard it’s been for you. We just want to help out.” Hoseok says to him.
“We know how hard you work but it’s not going anywhere, sweetie. Your lifestyle… It’s killing you.” Jimin frowns at him; worry seemingly painting their expressions. It pisses him off.
“The smoking, the drinking, the drugs… That has to stop, baby.” Namjoon says gently.
“Fuck you.” He spits at them.
Jin smacks his thigh warningly and he yelps. “Language. We’re just trying to help you, there’s no need to throw a tantrum.”
“You come into my house, you corner me and shoot me up with,” he tries to wiggle his toes but fails, “whatever the fuck this is, and then you get mad at me for swearing? You people are fucking nuts.”
Jin lands another sharp hand on his thigh and he bites down a groan at the pain, annoyed that he can feel everything yet not move around to protect his limbs.
“Stop swearing. Lashing out is not going to help you in this situation. Keep this up and you’re getting a punishment as soon as we get home.” Jin threatens him.
“We promised each other to be lenient towards you at first, but that doesn’t mean we’ll hesitate to keep you in line, mister.” Namjoon scolds him while pointing a finger at him.
Jungkook looks at them like they’ve lost their minds. He wonders if he’s the only sane person in the room. He rolls his eyes at Namjoon and looks away from them, “My boss is going to notice me not showing up for my shifts, and he’ll notice how you stopped showing up at the same time.”
“Now who said we’d stop showing up at the restaurant, baby? Anyway, this is none of your concern now. The restaurant owner has been handed your very nicely written letter of resignation. This city has a lot of people looking for work so I’m sure he’ll hire someone else in no time.” Taehyung kindly informs him.
“You crazy mother fucker-“ He spits out in appalled rage but is interrupted by Jin’s hand slapping over his mouth to stop him from talking. He groans and tries to move his head as the man scolds him.
“One more time and you’re going over my knee. Right here on this couch. This is your last warning, Jungkook.”
“He means it, Jungkook. When Jin says he’ll do something he’ll do it.” Namjoon warns him.
He stares at the others who look at him disappointedly, and his heart races as he tries to think of what the man means when he says he’ll put him over his knee. He has an idea of what the man means and his face flushes in shame. Sorry, how old is he? He’s sure he’s younger than the man whose lap he’s on but he’s not that young. He’s a grown man for christ’s sake.
“Do you understand?” Jin asks him, keeping his hand on the boy’s mouth until he complies.
Jungkook nods slowly and Jin drops his hand off of his mouth, pleased for now with the boys response.
If there’s one thing that Jin is right about, it’s that he should just do what they say. They say they won’t kill him but he doesn’t know if they’re telling the truth. There are six of them against one of him, and the drugs in his system means that he’s powerless in this situation.
Jimin walks over to lift him up from Jin’s lap, shuffling the boy to get him firmly placed on hips. He glares up at the man, but remains silent due to worry of Jin's threat from prior. They walk over to the front door and Yoongi holds the door open for them to pass through.
"Alright sweetie, let's get you home."