powerboys | Can't breathe in the sunlight

"The ... The little one?" What the fuck. This sounded like a horror film. What was going on in Kangwoo's home? God. He didn't even want to think about it. "It is hard to be a hyung, you can only do so much. What happened to your ... little one? Were you a hyung for a little while? Woah. Such a grown up boy. You're so cool, TaeTae."

His heart physically ached. How the hell could he get this boy out of here? He just wanted to hold him and run. "What bad things happen? You can tell me. I'm really good at secrets!"

"I don't think it's a secret..." Huh. He didn't know, actually. Everyone who was a gangster that he'd ever met seemed pretty open about these things. "You have to beat bitches and brats so they know their place."

Tae parroted the line he'd heard a lot and then frowned, thinking about the really bad thing that happened. "My Jungkookie... His eomma died, cause of Cheon-nim, so now they'll sell him. And I couldn't hide him, but I tried! Only then he came out cause he heard me scream."

"You don't beat anyone, Tae. That's silly talk. And you shouldn't use the word bitches. That's a bad word, we don't use that." Shit, this was a lot of horrible information to get at once and he didn't even know what to do. Cheon killed some kid's mom and he was going to sell the kid? The kind of people the Dragons knew were devious and monstrous - they probably knew plenty of people looking to buy a child for all kinds of traumatic and sinister things.

He felt his stomach churn at the idea. Fuck. "Jungkookie. He's yours, huh? It sounds like you did such a good job protecting him and now it's not so bad cause a bigger and older hyung can take care of him. I'll find him." Namjoon smiled softly and reached out, placing a hand on Tae's shoulder. "I'm a good gangster, I can find anyone. Then I'll make sure the little one is safe. Maybe you can come visit."

"...do you not beat anyone?" That was important and also strange information. There were adults who didn't do that? Huh. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around it, but this man was weird. He smiled and he talked to him and didn't tell him to shut up. Jiho would have told him to shut up and Jiho was the best. This was definitely strange. But he had promised Jungkook that he'd find a way to save him and he had wished upon all the stars he could see from his window, so maybe this was it. Like a fairy godmother.

So Tae ooked at him very seriously, folded his hands and looked at Namjoon. "I wish that Jungkookie is happy and safe and he gets his bunny toy back and then he can always keep it, even when he's too old for it like I am."

There, now he had said it all properly. "Please."

"No, I don't hit. I don't like to hurt people. I like everyone to be safe and happy. I don't like to know that someone does get hit either." Namjoon slipped his hand into his pocket, looked around to make sure no one was watching and then held out a little card with his name and number on it. "You see this here? It's a magic number. Just for you, no one else so it's a secret. All you gotta do is find a phone. You call that number and any bad thing can go away. I can come and make it vanish like magic. And--"

He pulled out a coin and placed it on top of the card. "If you can't find a proper indoor phone, they have outdoor phones on the street with silly little rectangles around them. Ask a nice aunties on the street, I'm sure she can show you." It was a long shot but he had to do it or he'd never sleep at night.

"I'm gonna get Jungkook for you. I'll find him. And then, when I'm done, I'll come back for you. Yeah?" He hated that he couldn't just pick him up and walk out with him. "But if things get bad before I can come back, use your magic number. Can you understand what the numbers are?"

"I'm seven." Tae said it in a dry voice, but he smiled a little. He really was not sure what to make of this. Maybe it was best if he asked Jiho later. He took the card, because the man had promised he'd get Jungkook and that was what he wished for more than anything. Jungkook deserved all the nice things. He held the card close and then put it into his pocket. "You can't come back for me, I'm here with my hyung! But Jungkookie doesn't have a hyung without me. So you need to be really, really nice to him. He's tiny."

Sure, he was seven but he looked at him with such innocent eyes, it was easy to forget. "But I have to come back for you. I don't like people that hit. Hyungnim hits you, doesn't he? I can't ignore that. I got a personal issue with it." He hated any fucker that beat on their kids. He was a personal pet hate that he could never walk away from, even if he should. "Don't you want to go away from here? You could go somewhere nice where no one hits. Jungkook will go there too."

"Nuh-uh. I'm with my hyung. He needs me! He doesn't say he needs me, but without me he's alone with the elephant in the room." Tae frowned, feeling quite alarmed. He couldn't leave his hyung! Jiho was so important and he loved him so much! "Eomma left me so that Jiho-hyung won't be alone, because she was such good friends with him... And he doesn't always want hugs, but sometimes and then I'm here. So it's okay. I can hide from Kangwoo-hyungnim sometimes."

God damn it. This just kept getting more and more complicated. He wanted to stay and talk but ... well, he really had to go and save that boy before they sold him. He was probably on the black market auction tonight - they'd have to be seen there of all places. Yes, they. He was already texting Yoongi to get across the room and over to him. "I'll see what I can do. Maybe I can take you both." That would be trickier. "But for now, you keep the special number. If you or your hyung get hurt, you call me and I'll come. I'll make it all safe."

"Kay." Tae wasn't sure what else to say, so he just bowed again, really hoping that someone would take care of his tiny Jungkook, that was what really mattered. Maybe Namjoon could be a good hyung. Or the scary guy that came over and just touched Namjoon's arm.

He was shorter, but he looked scarier. Huh. He wondered who that was, so he just watched with his lips slightly parted.

"What's up?" Yoongi kept his voice low as he asked the question, glancing at the tiny boy briefly.

"I'll tell you outside but we need to go. Where is Kangwoo's auction tonight? We have to attend." Namejoon's face was grim and his tone was serious, he turned away from Yoongi to smile at Tae, giving him a hair ruffle. "Remember what I said, kid. If anything bad happens to you or your hyung, you use the magic I gave you. I'll be there. I'm gonna go get the little one and keep him safe so you can come and see him."

With a soft smile, he bowed to Tae and got up, looking at Yoongi. "We have to go. Now."

"...little one?" Yoongi looked from Namjoon back to the child and then at his boyfriend again as they headed for the exit, their men following behind them. Good people. "They come in smaller than that?"

Of course he knew that, but that didn't explain anything about the situation Namjoon was confronting him with. "Auction is riverside." It really always circled the same few places to escape razzias, but Yoongi tended to be informed about it anyway. He let Namjoon get into the car first and followed behind, giving the driver the address. "All right, why are we risking our rep for this?"

He trusted Namjoon entirely. He still wanted to know what this was about.

"Taehyung just told me a pretty horrifying story, among other horrifying things. We were discussing being hyungs and he told me that recently he was one to a boy, Jungkookie... I don't know if that's his real name. Apparently Cheon killed his mom, took the kid and even though Tae tried to hide him, they got him. Tonight they're selling him." And they both knew what that meant from a Dark Dragon. They sold people all the time. Girls, boys, whatever. They even sold children. It was easy to ignore sometimes, to pretend it didn't happen.

It was kind of impossible to do that right now. "He called him the little one. He's younger than Tae and they're selling him. What if--"

He didn't even want to finish that thought, he just leaned forward and looked out the window. "Driver faster!"

Yoongi nodded, since he couldn't think of anything to say to this. Horrifying, yeah. That would do. He reached for Namjoon's hand and entwined their fingers, holding on to him as they headed through the city. Reaching for his phone he tried to figure out if he knew anyone who'd be at the auction, finally making a call.

"You are at the auction right now?" Disgusting piece of human filth. "Tell them to halt it. I'm on my way to purchase and I don't want to miss out." Ugh, he hated himself just saying that, but he knew that Min Yoongi's word would be followed, so he could at least ease Namjoon's mind a little. He ended the call right away, then turned his head to look at Namjoon.

"I am not paying an actual cash price for a human being. Maybe if we keep it symbolic." That seemed slightly less revolting.

"I think if you bid on something, regardless of the offer, people are gonna let you have it." Namjoon loathed to discuss buying a person, a real life little boy, but what other choice did they have? The alternative was too much to handle. He couldn't get his head around how insane it was, he didn't understand how Kangwoo could do it. How could anyone be that cold?

As they pulled up, Namjoon got out and waited for Yoongi, hurrying inside to mingle with these revolting people. He couldn't see the boy anywhere. God, what if he'd already sold?

"We have to wait for his ... his lot number." Namjoon wasn't sure what that was. "I hate this place."

"Then I'll take it. Don't worry about that, Joon-ah." Yoongi knew that Namjoon overthought stuff and worried about everything - especially Yoongi and his rep, for obvious reasons - but right now clearly this emergency outweighed that. He made sure that his men cleared a path for them, although that pretty much just happened once people started to actually recognise him.

Nothing new there, so he barely reacted. He did wonder if he could use being who he was to speed up the process. "Damn. I've no idea how these things work. Guess we have to wait."

Right now there were mostly women on stage. Ugh. He hated this.

They sat through stolen art, drugs, some questionable weapons and, finally, they were onto people. Urgh. He hated that he felt relieved. They sold off some girls, some men, some people to be killed, to be fucked or trafficked. God, he couldn't watch. When they started saying the next item was very taboo and unique, he felt himself shiver. He knew what they meant.

Soon, on stage, was a small boy with duct tape around his hands and feet, around his mouth, looking out into the crowd with pure horror on his face. He was in his pyjamas still, ripped and tattered by now, the dinosaurs almost fading under the grime. He was filthy, bruised and trembling.

People around them were already bidding. "Jesus." He was memorising names and faces. They'd kill them all later.

"...fuck this bullshit." Yoongi exchanged a look with Namjoon and a shorter look with his men, then he put a hand on Namjoon's shoulder so he could climb up onto the stage without looking like an ass. He walked over to the boy, disregarding any protests, while his men drew their guns, ready to point them if need be.

Yoongi got down on one knee and put an arm around the boy, speaking in a low voice. "I've got you. Hyung's got you. You'll be safe with me."

Even as he spoke, he pulled his knife from his pocket and opened it up, careful when he cut through the duct tape. When he got up, he lifted the boy up with him, holding him with one arm and against himself. "I bid three dollar."

A bit of an inside joke between him and Namjoon, but no one else had to know that to drive the symbolism home. "Is anyone else going to bid?"

He gestured with the hand that still held the knife and he knew that his men's guns would follow his movement.

No one dared to react, even if they wanted to. The fear was there, no one wanted to take the risk. The room was silent. Namjoon smirked and told the men to get ready, they were going out to the car.

Jungkook was too afraid to feel assured by anything, it was another strange man taking him, another different place and still no Eomma, no TaeTae-hyung, no one he knew. He whimpered lightly and squirmed in the hold, knowing better than to cause a fuss by now. He just tried to cry silently against the scary man.

Namjoon waited for Yoongi to be next to him before smiling a little. "Three dollar? You still got it." Still a hustler. "Come on, let's get the fuck out of here."

That boy was so tiny. His body was trembling and Yoongi couldn't even focus on how pissed off he was over all this, he just held him as carefully as he could, finally putting his knife away safely and heading back towards the exit, with Namjoon by his side. "Shh, baby, it's okay. It's okay, I promise." He wasn't even sure why he was whispering to the boy, but he just felt as if he had to do something. Say something.

How could anyone do this to a child this little? To anyone, really, but especially someone this young? He only relaxed a little once they were in the car, still comforting the boy as well as he could, stroking his back gently. "I'm Min Yoongi. Sometimes I go by Suga too and you can call me hyung."

He wasn't even sure whether the boy was listening, but he felt as if he should just say something. "This is Namjoon. He's a hyung too. Taehyung told us about you and so we came all the way to save you. You are safe now, I promise."

"We know Taehyung. Erm. TaeTae. He's a good hyung, right? He told me alllll about you. You were very brave to come out when TaeTae cried out, you were being a hero, huh? Such a brave boy." Namjoon knew how Yoongi felt, he had to talk to the kid, he had to say something. He smiled encouragingly but didn't even attempt to touch. This was a very delicate situation.

Jungkook was listening, he was tired and emotionally exhausted, he didn't know how to process anything any more. He just thought of TaeTae hyung. He wanted to stay with him. In his bed. No Cheon or Kangwoo. They told stories together and cuddled. He stared at nothing but a spot on one of the windows, trembling weakly still, trying to pretend he was with Tae.

"We're taking him back to ours, yeah?" Namjoon assumed they weren't just going to drop him off. "One of the guest rooms should work."

"We can give him some fresh clothes to wear and then he can..." Huh. Yoongi figured that the boy shouldn't be alone, but he had just seen too many perverts to feel innocent about suggesting that he sleep in their bed, so that was a problem. Although, they had a big bedroom. That was a bonus in this case. "He can have the couch in our bedroom, yeah? Then you won't be alone, hyungs will be right there."

Because this was a tiny kid with a lot of trauma and he didn't even know how to handle it. "And we can, like... watch cartoons. Until you can sleep, Jungkook. Jungkookie."

That was what Tae had called him, according to Namjoon, so Yoongi did the same. "Definitely needs something to drink too. Maybe food, if he's awake enough." He doubted he'd been well taken care of.

"Hey, Jungkookie, can you look at me? I think we need to get you something to eat and drink, huh? You trusted TaeTae right so ... we're friends. We want to help too. We'll make the couch all nice and comfortable, we'll be here the whole time." Jungkook tried to focus but it was hard, he wanted to just be anywhere but here. He wanted eomma. Tae told him that eommas can come back and visit, he wondered if his would come back soon. He could use a hug.

He tilted his head back and properly looked at Yoongi for the first time, unsure what he was saying. Nothing was really sinking in. He kept hearing Tae, bed, hyung. It strangely made him feel less anxious but he wasn't sure why. Everything was fuzzy and wrong.

"I ripped my knee." In his pyjamas. He didn't know why he said it but it felt bad. He shouldn't rip his clothes. Eomma didn't have enough money to buy new ones. He reached out and poked his clothed leg. "Dinosaurs."

"I love dinosaurs. Joon-ah does too. Actually, he almost loves dinosaurs too much." Oh, he remembered the dinosaur phase. Well, it was cute on Jungkook and he was finally engaging, so there was that. "I will buy you a new pair of pyjamas, yeah? And they can have dinosaurs too, if you want."

Right now, he felt as if he'd buy the world for this boy if it could only make him a little happier. "Do you have a favourite dinosaur? I like the ankylosaurus." Well, it looked a bit like a rock.

"The T-Rex is easily the best, come on." Namjoon rolled his eyes, giving Yoongi a playful smile. Both men, they smiled a lot. They had kind smiles. Not like the men in the bad place, they smiled and it felt wrong. It was scary. They smiled like Tae smiled, a softness to it that made it so much safer. "You got a favourite, Jungkookie?"

"I dunno." It was a big question right now and he wasn't ready to answer it. He felt a strange pressure that didn't exist and his lower lip wobbled. "I like them all."

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