"I'm sure he will be." Namjoon had his foot on the gas and was breaking all kinds of traffic rules but then, he never was the best driver so whatever. Jiho reached out his hand and raised it, stroking Tae's face where he'd clearly fallen on it. Being thrown across the room like that, a boy so small - it must have hurt.
"I couldn't lose you, weirdo. You're my little piece of eomma, yeah?" And he missed his eomma. So damn much. He wanted to cry and run to eomma but he knew he couldn't. "I won't let him hurt you. I'll fight him."
He looked Tae up and down, trying to keep himself awake and focused. "Where do you hurt? I can fix it later."
Tae shifted a little and wrapped his arms around Jiho, because he had said before that his hugs were like eomma hugs and he wanted to give him that. Maybe he could do some magic, like eommas could. Like kissing wounds so they hurt less, Jungkook had told him about it. "I'll fight him too. I punched his nuts!" His success for the night. "And you were like a ninja!"
He was still in awe of that. "My side hurts here... and my back hurts and my face and my lip and ow. But you hurt more."
And that worried him more. "Namjoon-hyung can help."
"It was worth it. Did you see his dumb face? Stupid idiot. And he does smell." Jiho smiled, even if it hurt, looking at Tae and subtly pulling up his shirt to look at his side. "Ouchie. We'll look at it. We'll make it all better and then we'll work out what to do, yeah? It's gonna be okay."
He smiled at Tae, his whole body throbbing painfully. He just wanted to go back home and lie in bed, he didn't want to keep going.
"Listen, no matter what happens - no matter where I am, yeah? You go with Namjoon and you stay with him. It's safe with him."
"I stay with my hyung. I always stay with you. You are the best and you are my hero." He didn't even want to contemplate anything else. "You always protect me. You are so, so, so good and I love you so, so, so, so, so, soooo much!"
Tae smiled a little, resting his head against Jiho. He was so hurt, but he knew they had to stay strong. They weren't safe yet. "I feel safe with you. Even when I'm scared."
"You're so weird, you dork." Jiho lowered his head, closing his eyes and just trying to not pass out. He drifted in and out but he kept squeezing Tae's hand whenever he could, trying to keep on top of things. It felt like minutes by the time Namjoon had arrived but it had taken almost twenty.
He came rushing over to them and winced at the state of Tae and Jiho. Damn, that boy would not be getting up. "Hey, TaeTae." Namjoon hurried over to them and looked at Jiho, wondering if he was even conscious. "Come on, let's get you boys out of here."
"Hyung? Hyung, Namjoon-hyung is here. Jiho?" Tae tugged on his hand to try and wake him, watching with concern and explaining to Namjoon. "He is really hurt, because he kicked Kangwoo's butt." And obviously mostly just got his own butt kicked. "He is so strong! You have to help him, yes? Please help him."
At long last and without any further warning, Tae burst into tears. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault!"
"Woah, woah, it's okay. It'll be okay. I got you both, it's no one's fault." Namjoon helped Jiho up as much as he could before lifting him up bridal style - he was a small boy, very light, it wasn't too much of a struggle. Jiho wasn't waking up so he assumed he was passed out, it didn't look great but he was hopeful it was nothing too serious.
"Tae, hold onto my pant leg, okay? My car is just here. Come on, come on!" Namjoon kept his tone light as he jogged outside to his car, placing Jiho in the back and swiftly buckling him in place. He didn't know if Kangwoo would start firing or not. "Tae, can you get in the front? It's okay, Jiho will be fine back there but I need you in front."
It was safer there and besides, he wanted to keep an eye on him. "We're going to my home. It's safer there."
"I... Jiho?" Tae wanted to stay with Jiho very much, but he was too tired and hurt and upset to argue and he knew they had to go away. There were men with guns. He was a gangster child, he knew how to recognise them. He didn't know if they were Min men or Kangwoo men, but he knew he had to get into the car quickly, so he did, sniffling as he put the seat belt on.
He leaned back in the seat, blinking until there were no more tears. Ow. His back hurt so much. He decided to lean forward instead, holding his side when that protested. Everything hurt so much. "Thank you, hyung."
"We'll get you looked at real soon, we just need to get out of here, yeah?" Because he could see Kangwoo's men swarming in. He did a u-turn and took off swiftly, looking in the back to make sure Jiho was okay, he was hanging forward, totally unconscious but he was alive. He used his phone console and dialled up Yoongi as he drove, waiting for the other to pick up.
"Yoonie-ah, it's not great. Can you call a doctor to meet us at the apartment? I'm driving and I can't think of the number but they need one." Quite badly from the looks of it. "I'll be home in fifteen."
"Doctor is already on his way." Yoongi could anticipate that much. "There's no way to get Jungkook to sleep, by the way." Obviously. But that was very beside the point. "Our guys are still there, but I told them not to engage, just keep an eye on Kangwoo and whoever's with him. He won't dare to target you."
Yoongi simply wouldn't allow for that to be an option. He had enough men on the case. "I'm waiting for you. Drive carefully, Namjoon."
That was one way to tell him he loved him. Yoongi hung up and Tae looked at Namjoon, still very worried. "My Jiho-hyung was so brave, because Kangwoo said I have to leave his house and go with Cheon and he wouldn't let him do it!"
"Thanks. Love you." When Yoongi hung up, he turned and smiled at Tae, reaching out to ruffle his hair as he navigated the streets. "Did he? What a brave hyung! He sounds like a hero. We'll get him all treated and fixed. Maybe we can get him something for being such a brave boy." He was a little shocked, he didn't think Jiho had it in him to go against Kangwoo but he was so thankful.
The sick freak wanted to sell his own brother? God. What a monster.
Once they were pulled up outside his building, he checked around before getting out and opening the door for Tae, helping him with his belt. He picked up Jiho and carried him, kicking the car shut and herding Tae along. "Go press the button for the lift for me. We'll go upstairs and get you both sorted."
"Okay." Tae nodded and ran ahead to press the button, then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was so dizzy, but he had to be strong, he knew that. He had to make sure everything would be okay with Jiho, Jiho needed him. "I told Kangwoo that he's dumb."
He still felt that was a pretty good insult, all things considered, so he felt the need to tell Namjoon all about it as they got onto the lift. "You can tell Jungkookie that I'm not hurt."
Well, his face was bloody, swollen and blue, but he didn't know that.
"I'm sure he understands. He gets hurt too, yeah? We all do." As soon as the lift opened, he hurried to the door and, sure enough, Yoongi opened it with a clinging, snivelling Jungkook who looked very tired and anxious. "Where's the doctor?"
"Joonie-hyung." Jungkook whined as he looked at Jiho and then Tae, his lower lip wobbling. When would bad things stop happening? He only liked the good things. Poor TaeTae shouldn't be hurt.
"It's okay, Kookie. TaeTae has a few ouchies and Jiho is just sleepy." If only. He looked at Yoongi with concern. "Kangwoo's men were there, they were circling my car. They know we have the boys but I don't give a damn. I ain't giving them up."
"That's fine, our men were there too. I didn't give a call to shoot and so nothing happened, but we've got people watching the building just in case. Hobi and some others are on the case." Yoongi didn't want to risk anything. "Doctor's in my office, come on."
He led the way, picking up Tae, since the boy looked as if he was about to keel over just as his brother already had. Christ. The doctor helped Namjoon put Jiho down on the sofa and then Yoongi sat Tae down on the comfortable chair he had. "You can close your eyes, Taehyung. The doctor's going to look at you in a minute."
Tae nodded, his eyes already closed and the doctor was looking over Jiho.
Yoongi reached for Jungkook's hand and led him out of the room, taking Namjoon's hand too so he could bring them both away from the hurt brothers. "They're going to be fine."
No, he had no way of telling that, but he said it with a lot of confidence anyway. "Jungkookie, you should really lie down."
"Noooo, I can't lie down if I'm alone, I'm scared. We sleep together! We sleep together!" Jungkook sobbed as he clung onto Yoongi's pant leg and Namjoon's, already overtired and anxious from all the chaos. A change of routine always unsettled him. Namjoon picked him up to give Yoongi a break, holding the boy and bouncing him up and down, just trying to ease his sobs so they could try and get him to sleep. He paced up and down, rubbing his back.
"I can't even... I can't get my head around it." Namjoon didn't know what he even thought, he was just worried and scared. He could still see them in his head and he was so afraid for them.
"Apparently Kangwoo went to sell Cheon off, they protected so Kangwoo threw him and tried to stomp on him. Jiho fought back and -- I mean, you pit a ten year old against a fully grown guy." It wasn't going to end well either way. "I don't understand how someone can be like that. They're kids."
Yoongi walked past Namjoon, sliding an arm around his waist to pull him along. They ended up in their bedroom and he gestured for him to lie down with Jungkook, settling in next to them himself. He kept an ear out for any sounds, but the only thing he heard was the nurse the doctor had brought along walking to the bathroom and back. He suspected that this would take a while.
"I'm surprised Jiho fought him. I underestimated him, that takes a lot of courage." Not that he'd thought that Jiho was a coward, but perhaps a bit too much of a realist. He had to really love his little brother, which was sweet. "We will pull this off and they'll be fine and then we publicise it. Imagine that hit for Kangwoo's rep. Not only beating his little brothers, but actually getting outsmarted by them?"
"He did it for Tae. He loved his brother more than anything, it must have beaten out whatever else was going on." Setting Jungkook down between them, he watched the boy slowly stop sobbing and curl around Yoongi sleepily, clinging to his shirt and placing his feet against Namjoon's thighs, wanting all full contact all the time. He was a needy boy sometimes.
"If it's the same smart, we'll do it. I want people to know. We should also inform Minjun of what happened regardless of what we release. I don't think they have any other family." And he wasn't sure how to proceed forward. "We'll keep them here for a while."
"They are safe here. Even if Kangwoo had full power right now, he wouldn't come after me and he does not have the full power. The family is already divided and him going after his own brothers? It will make it worse." It wasn't how the Baek family was typically run. They were strict, they were awful, but Kangwoo's father and Minjun's father had been pretty close. Working together, at least as long as they were in the same country.
This was all Kangwoo's paranoia and lust for power, but it could work in their favour. "We'll let Minjun know once the doctor talks to us." Right now it was hard to call anything. "I did tell him to say if we need to bring either of them to a hospital, so relax, Joon-ah. He hasn't said anything yet, means they should be all right."
"Okay, I'm just worried. We'll know more soon. I'll keep them safe." Namjoon watched as Kookie closed his eyes, finally, drifting off safely to sleep. He could only save so many kids, he knew that - he just had to try for Tae's sake. The kid didn't deserve to suffer like that.
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"I couldn't lose you, weirdo. You're my little piece of eomma, yeah?" And he missed his eomma. So damn much. He wanted to cry and run to eomma but he knew he couldn't. "I won't let him hurt you. I'll fight him."
He looked Tae up and down, trying to keep himself awake and focused. "Where do you hurt? I can fix it later."
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He was still in awe of that. "My side hurts here... and my back hurts and my face and my lip and ow. But you hurt more."
And that worried him more. "Namjoon-hyung can help."
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He smiled at Tae, his whole body throbbing painfully. He just wanted to go back home and lie in bed, he didn't want to keep going.
"Listen, no matter what happens - no matter where I am, yeah? You go with Namjoon and you stay with him. It's safe with him."
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Tae smiled a little, resting his head against Jiho. He was so hurt, but he knew they had to stay strong. They weren't safe yet. "I feel safe with you. Even when I'm scared."
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He came rushing over to them and winced at the state of Tae and Jiho. Damn, that boy would not be getting up. "Hey, TaeTae." Namjoon hurried over to them and looked at Jiho, wondering if he was even conscious. "Come on, let's get you boys out of here."
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At long last and without any further warning, Tae burst into tears. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault!"
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"Tae, hold onto my pant leg, okay? My car is just here. Come on, come on!" Namjoon kept his tone light as he jogged outside to his car, placing Jiho in the back and swiftly buckling him in place. He didn't know if Kangwoo would start firing or not. "Tae, can you get in the front? It's okay, Jiho will be fine back there but I need you in front."
It was safer there and besides, he wanted to keep an eye on him. "We're going to my home. It's safer there."
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He leaned back in the seat, blinking until there were no more tears. Ow. His back hurt so much. He decided to lean forward instead, holding his side when that protested. Everything hurt so much. "Thank you, hyung."
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"Yoonie-ah, it's not great. Can you call a doctor to meet us at the apartment? I'm driving and I can't think of the number but they need one." Quite badly from the looks of it. "I'll be home in fifteen."
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Yoongi simply wouldn't allow for that to be an option. He had enough men on the case. "I'm waiting for you. Drive carefully, Namjoon."
That was one way to tell him he loved him. Yoongi hung up and Tae looked at Namjoon, still very worried. "My Jiho-hyung was so brave, because Kangwoo said I have to leave his house and go with Cheon and he wouldn't let him do it!"
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The sick freak wanted to sell his own brother? God. What a monster.
Once they were pulled up outside his building, he checked around before getting out and opening the door for Tae, helping him with his belt. He picked up Jiho and carried him, kicking the car shut and herding Tae along. "Go press the button for the lift for me. We'll go upstairs and get you both sorted."
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He still felt that was a pretty good insult, all things considered, so he felt the need to tell Namjoon all about it as they got onto the lift. "You can tell Jungkookie that I'm not hurt."
Well, his face was bloody, swollen and blue, but he didn't know that.
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"Joonie-hyung." Jungkook whined as he looked at Jiho and then Tae, his lower lip wobbling. When would bad things stop happening? He only liked the good things. Poor TaeTae shouldn't be hurt.
"It's okay, Kookie. TaeTae has a few ouchies and Jiho is just sleepy." If only. He looked at Yoongi with concern. "Kangwoo's men were there, they were circling my car. They know we have the boys but I don't give a damn. I ain't giving them up."
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He led the way, picking up Tae, since the boy looked as if he was about to keel over just as his brother already had. Christ. The doctor helped Namjoon put Jiho down on the sofa and then Yoongi sat Tae down on the comfortable chair he had. "You can close your eyes, Taehyung. The doctor's going to look at you in a minute."
Tae nodded, his eyes already closed and the doctor was looking over Jiho.
Yoongi reached for Jungkook's hand and led him out of the room, taking Namjoon's hand too so he could bring them both away from the hurt brothers. "They're going to be fine."
No, he had no way of telling that, but he said it with a lot of confidence anyway. "Jungkookie, you should really lie down."
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"I can't even... I can't get my head around it." Namjoon didn't know what he even thought, he was just worried and scared. He could still see them in his head and he was so afraid for them.
"Apparently Kangwoo went to sell Cheon off, they protected so Kangwoo threw him and tried to stomp on him. Jiho fought back and -- I mean, you pit a ten year old against a fully grown guy." It wasn't going to end well either way. "I don't understand how someone can be like that. They're kids."
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"I'm surprised Jiho fought him. I underestimated him, that takes a lot of courage." Not that he'd thought that Jiho was a coward, but perhaps a bit too much of a realist. He had to really love his little brother, which was sweet. "We will pull this off and they'll be fine and then we publicise it. Imagine that hit for Kangwoo's rep. Not only beating his little brothers, but actually getting outsmarted by them?"
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"If it's the same smart, we'll do it. I want people to know. We should also inform Minjun of what happened regardless of what we release. I don't think they have any other family." And he wasn't sure how to proceed forward. "We'll keep them here for a while."
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This was all Kangwoo's paranoia and lust for power, but it could work in their favour. "We'll let Minjun know once the doctor talks to us." Right now it was hard to call anything. "I did tell him to say if we need to bring either of them to a hospital, so relax, Joon-ah. He hasn't said anything yet, means they should be all right."
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He could still hear him crying.