powerboys | Can't breathe in the sunlight

"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."

"They are all pretty awesome," Yoongi agreed immediately, reaching up to gently run his knuckles along Jungkook's cheek. So soft. So tiny. He hoped that they could help this kid feel better. At least he was replying to them now, that was worth something. "I always like the ankylosaurus because it has all that armour and inside it can probably relax and just do nothing sometimes. Sleep all day. Like a rock. That's pretty cool, huh?"

Maybe it was a special taste. "I like sleeping, so that's my dream."

Jungkook wasn't sure what to say, he didn't know if there was a right or a wrong thing to say. There never had been before but now there was. Cheon always hit him for saying certain things and then the mean people at the bad place. What if he said the wrong thing? He liked it right now, no one was hitting. He didn't want to change it. "I can sleep by myself now."

That had been pretty big news a few weeks back, being able to last the night without running to eomma but now, he didn't think it was. "Bunny protects me."

"You got a bunny, huh? We'll see about helping that bunny find you." Yoongi made a mental note of it. Shouldn't be too hard to find out where Cheon's latest flame had lived, his people tended to be on top of these things. "You won't have to sleep by yourself today, yeah? Promise. Namjoon-hyung and me are gonna be right there if you need anything."

The car stopped and the door was opened for them shortly after, so Yoongi carried Jungkook with him right to the elevator. He let Namjoon press the button and tried to be tactical about this. "I'll give him the tightest of my shirts I can find to sleep with."

Obviously it was still going to be way too big, but whatever. It would be clean and soft and that was nice. "Do you know how to take a shower, Jungkookie? Hyung will help you."

Seemed like it'd be a good idea to get some of the grime off of him, so he could begin healing. "Can you warm up the dumplings we got in the fridge, Joon-ah? Just that tupperware thing, put it in the microwave for two minutes. Dipping sauce is in the fridge too. Don't microwave that."

He would have given less specific instructions, but it was Namjoon in the kitchen. Better be safe than sorry. "See if you can find out where the kid used to live and get some men to get all the stuff out of there. They can bring the kid's stuff here, rest into storage."

The door opened and Yoongi nodded, mostly happy with the plan they now had. "Do you wanna wash and be all clean, Jungkookie? Let's do it, yeah?"

"I'm on it. We will buy some clothes too. Could use having back ups for now, they might be nicer than some of the older stuff." He wasn't sure if it was a long term move or not cause technically, they just bought this kid but they weren't really keeping him... right? He would have asked but he didn't think this was the kind of discussion to have around the child. Regardless of what happened, he'd get the boys bunny back.

"I can eat by myself too." Jungkook mumbled as he raised his fist to rub at his eyes, they were all achy and stingy from crying. He didn't like it. "With a spoon."

"Woah, such a big boy. I'll go heat up some food and you can show me how good you are with eating." Namjoon praised happily, smiling at the boy. He looked an absolute mess, he really hoped that a shower and some sleep would bring some life back into the kid.

Jungkook watched Namjoon leave towards the kitchen and rested his head against Yoongi's shoulder. "Eomma helps me wash." He'd never done it by himself before. It was scary. "I don't like the bubbles in my eyes."

"Then I'll help keep the bubbles from your eyes, yeah?" Yoongi walked into the bathroom, knowing that it was likely to be bigger than most of the kid's entire flat, but that didn't matter so much. There was a tub and there was a shower, that was what mattered. "Tomorrow I'll show you the best way to have a bath in the bathtub, but it's really late today, so we will wash you quicker."

That said he helped Jungkook get out of the torn and grimy clothes, setting them aside. He helped him into the shower and made sure the water was the right temperature before starting to shower his body, putting some shower gel into Jungkook's hand so he could help with washing himself. Washing the hair was trickier, so Yoongi did most of that and very carefully, but Jungkook was a good boy about it and they managed very well together.

"You are a big boy already, you know that?" He moved to get a nice towel and wrapped the boy into it before helping him step out of the tub again. "Now the challenge is going to be finding clothes for you, because... I don't think you can fit into my underwear, do you?"

He smiled, making sure Jungkook knew he was joking. "But if you wear my shirt, it might be like a night dress for you..."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject