Taehyung had been protective of Jimin for as long as he could remember. The blond boy was innocent, a little too sweet, naive; and most of all too forgiving. He had been played like a pawn in a chess game more often than Taehyung would like and the former had reached a point where he couldn't just sit back and watch his best friend get hurt anymore. That's when it had all begun; the punches Taehyung had thrown to the guys who so much as made an attempt to force themselves onto Jimin, the interrogations he would have with Jimin if he ever felt the blond boy was falling too hard too fast with little knowledge about the other person. And now here he was, overthinking and panicking about Jeon Jungkook.

"You look worried Taehyungie." Taehyung startled when he felt Bogum's breath against his ear. He sighed as he leaned into his boyfriend's comfort. "What's wrong? What's got you thinking out loud like this?"

"Jimin," Taehyung muttered softly under his breath, knowing Bogum would patiently listen to every word he had to say. He knew how much Jimin meant to him. "He's dating Jungkook, I told you, remember? The boy who always gets into trouble?" Bogum hummed in response, slinging an arm across Taehyung's shoulders. "I'm just worried. I have heard there's some sort of feud between him and Daehoon."

Bogum's eyes widened the slightest bit in surprise. "Daehoon... Myung Daehoon? The Hongik dropout?" Taehyung whipped his head to face his boyfriend, not understanding how he knew Daehoon's stories. "He was in my batch back in Seoul National. But he was kicked out because of his extreme temper issues. Then he joined Hongik I think. Got into a huge fight with one of the freshmen and got expelled after they discovered drugs in his locker." Taehyung gulped down his fear and turned his gaze back to the window, staring at the green trees passing by.

"Do you... do you think the freshman could have been Jungkook by any chance? As far as I know there has been an enmity between them ever since Jungkook's first year at Hongik."

Bogum shook his head as he tried to remember whatever he could that he knew about Daehoon. "I don't know about that. But I heard Daehoon's been looking for his weak spots to hit him back hard, whoever it was that he got into a fight with."

Taehyung was so immersed in the story that he didn't hear the announcement as they reached Seoul. Bogum tapped his arm and took their bags, holding Taehyung's hand with one of his. They made their way out of the train and onto the busy platform, people hurrying about with fast footsteps to either get off the train or board it. Taehyung's eyes drifted to the big clock that hung above them reading 22:20.

"Do you want to stay at Jimin's or mine?" Bogum asked, rubbing his thumb across Taehyung's hand. "It's better than going to your own place. You'll be too tired to cook up something now and change your bedsheets before going to bed. Just crash at one of ours."

Tehyung smiled, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "I'll go with you hyung."

Throughout the car ride Taehyung kept thinking up the worst scenarios about Jimin and Jungkook. There was an endless loop of Jimin being harmed if Jungkook were the freshman who got into feuds with Daehoon. After all, Jimin was the only weakness Jungkook seemed to have. Bogum snapped his fingers in front of Taehyung's face, bringing him out of his paranoid thoughts.

"I'll buy some ramen and meat and be right out. Take rest." He kissed Taehyung's forehead and that's when the latter realized the car was parked in front of a convenience store. He watched his boyfriend walk into the shop and closed his eyes, head pounding as paranoia hit him again.

Taehyung knew Jimin was the happiest he had been after Jungkook entered his life, yet as a best friend and soulmate Taehyung would pick Jimin's safety over his happiness any day. He couldn't picture the angel of a boy getting hurt for no reason just because of being involved with Jeon Jungkook. It didn't help his nerves when he opened his eyes and saw Jungkook getting out of the store with a polythene in hand. Taehyung wasn't thinking when he stepped out of the car and yelled out the younger's name.

"Jungkook!" Taehyung motioned for the younger with his hands. "I- I need to have a talk with you."

The younger boy furrowed his eyebrows as he reached Taehyung, who was sweating profusely as he stared down the younger boy. What he was about to do would make Jimin hate him, it would probably make Jungkook hate him too. But he was so scared for Jimin's safety that his mind was huddled up.

"Taehyung hyung? What's wrong?" The younger's eyes took in the state of the boy in front of him and his expression changed into one of worry. "Are you alright? You don't look too good."

Taehyung felt worse with each passing second. His thoughts were eating him up. He gripped onto Jungkook's wrist, lowering his head and breathing deeply before looking into the boy's eyes with a fierceness never seen before.

"Listen to what I say," Taehyung said softly. "Don't interrupt me just listen, please." His voice seemed desperate and Jungkook nodded in confusion, not knowing what was going on. "Myung Daehoon... were you the boy who got into a fight with him at Hongik? The one that got him expelled?" Jungkook's eyes widened the slightest bit in surprise but he gave a nod. Taehyung let go of the younger boy's wrist, breath coming out a little erratically now. "Stay away from Jimin."

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows, shaking his head slightly. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Stay away from Jimin," Taehyung said again, this time around a little firmer than before. "You know as well as I do that the Daehoon boy might try to hurt Jimin in hopes of getting to you. I don't want anything to happen to him so stay away from-"

"You think I'd let him hurt Jimin?" Jungkook laughed humourlessly. It sounded scary to say the least and shivers crept down Taehyung's spine. "Let me get this straight. Jimin is everything to me. If anything happens to him I'd kill myself, that's how much he means to me. You think I'd let Daehoon reach within a two feet radius of him?"

Taehyung shook his head. "It's not about you not letting him. He will- that boy will somehow get to him. I can't see my Jimin get hurt. Please, stay away from-"

"Stop," Jungkook whispered. "You think me staying away from Jimin would help now? I love him Taehyung. Even if I stay away he means the world to me. If Daehoon were to get to him, he'd get to him even with me being gone. Isn't it better that I stay around to protect him instead of letting him be on his own?"

Taehyung clenched his fists as he shook his head. "No please. I beg you. Please stay away from Jimin. Understand that I'm doing this to keep him safe. I know you both will hate me for this but try to understand me Jungkook."

Jungkook pulled at his own hair, a painful smile on his face as he backed away from Taehyung. "Fine, if you think me staying away will keep him safe, if you really believe so I shall stop interacting with him." Taehyung's eyes widened when he noticed just how watery Jungkook's eyes were. Jungkook pulled out a packet of steamed bun and handed it to Taehyung. "Give this to him, he asked me to get one. Tell him that he made me the happiest. And take care of him."

It all seemed too much. Taehyung felt horrible as he watched Jungkook walk away. He had torn two lovers apart, and even though he tried to convince himself it was for Jimin he felt a pain in his chest like no other.

"I'm so sorry Chim," Taehyung whispered into the air. "Forgive me for ruining the best thing that happened to you."

Jungkook let go of the breath he had been holding as soon as he knew he was out of Taehyung's sight. Angry tears welled up in his eyes as he dropped the polythene on the ground and punched the nearest wall, the pain pulsating through his fist matching up with the pain in his heart. He felt a warm liquid trail down his left cheek and knew those were tears. Tears of devastation, tears of anger, tears of fear for having lost Jimin just like that.

"Fuck," Jungkook muttered, slipping to the ground with his back against the dirty wall. His bloody hand pulled at his own hair in fury. "Fuck this life. Fuck everything." And that night, as he sobbed into his own hands, Jungkook rediscovered the side of him he had kept buried for as long as he could remember.