Requested by abcdefghijklmn__qrst

------
Jungkook had been with BTS for a good 10 years now. Everyone always joked with eachother about raising him, buying his meals, etc. Jungkook always found it amusing. He saw himself as a reflection of all six of his hyungs, knowing that all of his characteristics were extensions of them. He was like the six of them morphed into one final body. He was extremely grateful for them. He was only 13 when he moved in with them, and he was the youngest. He had been absolutely terrified and so shy when he first met them but looking at them now you'd never know it. They were his family, even more so than his actual blood relatives.

All while growing up he was constantly thanking them for taking care of him. They always helped him through his problems, made sure he was clothed and fed, made sure he was safe, took care of him when he was sick. They stuck up for him in times when nobody else would. He always tried to return the favors the best he could. Offering to help and protect his hyungs any way he could. He always told them it was the least he could do and the members boasted about how well they'd raised him up to be. They always said he wasn't like other maknae's or other idols. He never acted spoiled, although they spoiled the hell out of him. He remained humble and honest and trustworthy. Jungkook always told them they were to owe for him turning out the way he did and they were all a blessing on his life.

Sometimes he found it hard being protective being the youngest, because everyone set out to protect him first. One time Yoongi was having trouble swimming and he wanted to go in and save him, but at the time he was so young and small that Namjoon grabbed him and told him he'd help Yoongi instead. That happened more often than not, his hyungs coming to the rescue before he could. He didn't know how to quite repay them but he knew one day he'd be able to somehow. He wasn't small and little anymore. He always did little gestures like holding someone's hand in the airport and at concerts or while in public, blocking dispatch from taking photos of his hyungs, giving his hyungs pep talks about being safe online.

And as being a famous k pop idol would have it, the band was currently dealing with a string of hate comments online. The only one they weren't directed at was Jungkook, so the members figured the person was a Jungkook saesang and an anti to the rest of the group.

"Control your fans," Jimin would often joke. They didn't take the hate comments to heart, they were used to them. However, they greatly bothered Jungkook. He didn't like people saying mean and bad things about his hyungs. His favorite people in the entire world. He'd posted some rather passive aggressive tweets about how true fans should love all of them, and if people loved him then they should love all of his hyungs too. Many people agreed, but he noticed the anti's still posting hate messages about his hyungs. The messages quickly turned into death threats which made Jungkook even more nervous. The members kept telling him to not worry about it, they were just letters on a screen.

"But hyungs what if someone actually tries to hurt one of you?" Jungkook pouted after expressing some of his concerns to his group. They were headed to the airport soon and seeing death threats so soon before heading out in public was sending the maknae into anxiety.

"How could they? We have maximum security wherever we go," Yoongi tried comforting him but his words didn't mean much.

"What if someone slips by?" Jungkook pouted.

"They can't," Jimin told him, ruffling his hair.

"This isn't the first time people have said such things online. It happens all the time at this point, and has anyone ever actually carried out their plans against us? No, because the company tracks them down and gives them severe warnings and then they go away. These comments will stop soon enough, stop worrying so much," Jin told his maknae.

"You're telling me if these threats were against me , you wouldn't care?" Jungkook asked sadly.

"Of course we would, bunny," Hobi started, "But we also know we have eachother and security so we know nothing bad would ever happen to you, because we would never let it."

"I'm just saying hyungs maybe we should delay our flight until the company tracks down these people and it's safe to go out," Jungkook suggested.

"We can't do that," Namjoon informed, "We have to make our schedules. We can't postpone them because of a 'what if'."

"But what about when the 'what if' is 'what if you guys get attacked or something?!" Jungkook cried.

"Well then we have you, don't we?" Hobi chuckled. Jungkook smiled and laughed. He figured yeah Hobi was right, they did have him. And no way would he ever let anything bad happen to them.

After packing up all their belongings they quickly made their way to the airport. Some of their security team was stuck in traffic and they were asked if they'd like to just go through the airport without half the crew, but they'd have to run, or if they should wait. Jimin and Taehyung both thought it would be fun to run through the airport, the others were still debating.

"We'll wait," Jungkook told the driver of their car.

"Aw that's no fun Jungkookie!" Taehyung playfully slapped his maknae's knee.

"Are you guys crazy?! You can't really think it'd be safe to go in there without half our security team, we would be mobbed!" Jungkook whined.

"Nahh we would probably be fine. It's so early and not that many people are even here yet," Jimin told him.

"Well I don't care. They'll be here soon, so we're waiting," Jungkook exclaimed. Even though he was the youngest, the members always tried to respect his decisions and opinions too. So if that meant their maknae was afraid to go through the airport, then waiting for the rest of the team is what they were going to do. It took about half an hour for the rest of security to show up. They all ran inside as they were a bit behind schedule now. The place had picked up a bit and more people were around than when they had first arrived. Jungkook was still feeling nervous about all the death threats he'd seen about his hyungs online so made sure to stay extra close to everyone and extra cautious. He also informed their body guards to be more vigilant today while they scurried through airport security.

After their first security check, most of the people in the airport were now behind them as they were now in a more controlled and restricted area. Jungkook was browsing his phone when he started seeing death threats about his hyungs, and it taking place at the airport today.

What?!

Jungkook panicked and quickly informed everyone of what he'd seen. The security and the members were a bit taken back at first, but then security reminded them that they were already past the dangerous part of the airport. No weapons or anything of the sort could have made it past the security check.

They all looked around confused when they heard bystanders begin to scream. They were used to screaming fans at airports, but those were always cheerful screams. These screams were different. They were scared screams. Jungkook frantically looked around and saw a man approaching with a gun.

"No! Hyungs! Run!!" Jungkook screamed. He grabbed onto his nearest hyung, which was Hobi and tried dragging him. The members saw the man with the gun and panicked while they also began to run. Security was headed straight for the man handling the gun but before they got to him the members saw the gun raised. It was pointed straight at Hobi.

"No!" Jungkook screamed when he heard the gun go off. He shoved Hobi out of the way. Panic ensued after the sound of the gunshot. Everyone's ears were ringing. People were running and screaming. The members ran to Hobi, who had fallen to the ground but was unharmed. Jungkook was on the ground next to him, laying unconscious. He'd taken the bullet right to his chest and was spewing blood out onto the floor.

"No no no !! Oh my God!! Help!!!" Jin screamed. All the members burst into sobs when they saw their maknae lying like that on the floor. Hobi started shaking him ,"Bunny no!! Why did you do that?!?! No!!" he cried.

"We need an ambulance! Right now!!! Someone call an ambulance!!! Medic!!" Yoongi screamed at the top of his lungs throughout the entire airport. Police had already taken the gunman into custody and the security team was busy at work trying to stabilize Jungkook. They were holding their jackets to his chest trying to stop him from bleeding out and they were screaming at him trying to get him to wake up. The members were wailing so loud their cries echoed throughout the airport. They heard a ton of sirens outside as more security ran to them.

"Save him!!! He got shot someone save him!! Please!" Jimin cried, clutching tightly onto Jungkook's hand.

"Maknae please wake up! You'll be okay!! Please be okay!!" Namjoon sobbed.

The members hearts had shattered into tiny fragments of pieces that wouldn't even be able to be seen if they were placed under a microscope. Their youngest, their maknae, had just actually taken a bullet for them. They'd imagined and joked about something like that happening a million times, but could have never dreamed it would actually happen. They couldn't believe what Jungkook had done. Their hearts throbbed at knowing Jungkook would actually risk his entire life when it came to protecting them, although they all knew they would do the same thing for him. Which made them angry. They were the ones getting death threats, why was Jungkook the one laying on the ground fighting to survive?

Hobi felt the most guilty. The bullet was supposed to be for me, not him. It should have been me!

"Maknae..." Taehyung cried. He couldn't wipe his tears fast enough before more fell. They couldn't even tell if Jungkook was breathing or not. The security guards had to keep checking his pulse. It was weak. He wouldn't stop bleeding. He wasn't breathing well. He wasn't waking up.

"Please don't die. Bunny please please please don't die on hyungs," Yoongi sobbed. The ambulance quickly arrived and they were quick to take Jungkook away from them. They placed him on oxygen and hooked him up to IV's. The members demanded they go directly to the hospital with him, the last thing they cared about right now was a stupid flight when their youngest was on his deathbed.

When they got to the hospital the first thing they were told was that Jungkook had to be rushed into emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding in his chest.

"Is he going to die!??! Please just tell us he isn't going to die!!" Jimin screamed at the doctor.

"I can not answer that right now. His surgery may be successful and it may not be. I can say that the bullet did miss his heart, it struck his collar bone and rib," The doctor told them.

"So if it didn't hit his heart he should be okay then right? Right?!" Namjoon panicked.

"Like I said, it depends on the surgery."

"How long will that take?" Jin asked. He was impatient. He wanted to be with Jungkook and he wanted to be with him now.

"It depends. It could take as soon as an hour, or a few hours. Please be patient. I will return when I have an update," The doctor quickly disappeared out the door. The members huddled together and cried more.

"He tried to warn us. He was so worried about us and he tried to warn us and we didn't listen. We didn't take him seriously. This is our fault," Jin cried.

"It was supposed to me. I was the one the gun was pointed at. It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him push me. I should have pushed him back," Hobi dropped his head to the floor and watched his tears fall onto the tile.

"I don't want to lose him," Yoongi cried and clenched his eyes shut. He didn't know caring about someone so much could ever possibly end up hurting this badly.

"We're his hyungs and we couldn't even protect him," Jimin cried, "We...we...couldn't..." he had to stop to try and catch his breath. The members held eachother tighter. The thought of Jungkook not making it through his surgery was tearing them apart from the inside out. They could never forgive themselves if he didn't make it. Hell, they couldn't forgive themselves now. They all felt like they completely let Jungkook down. It was their duty to keep him safe, it wasn't his duty, even though he always tried to be the protective one.

"We don't deserve him as our maknae," Taehyung whispered. The members agreed. They didn't. They started sharing memories of all the times Jungkook had done nice things for them, all the time he'd protected them, all the times he was an all around helpful and funny maknae. The memories made their tears worse. Hobi ended up dry heaving into a trashcan because his tears of guilt were making it impossible for him to breathe.

"We should have just fuckin listened!" Yoongi exploded, "I can't believe we didn't just listen to him!" He quickly dropped his head back down in silence. Everyone silently agreed, they should have listened. After what felt like an eternity the doctor finally came back into the room. The members jumped to their feet.

They asked a million questions a second.

"How is he?!"

"Is he alive?!"

"Will he be okay?!"

"Did the surgery work?!"

"Did he make it?!"

"Okay okay okay," Started the doctor, "He suffered quite a bit of damage. The surgery was complicated, but we were able to remove the bullet and stitch him back up."

"So? What does that mean?! Is he alright?!" Namjoon asked impatiently.

"He is resting, but yes, he will be just fine. He should make a full recovery in time."

The members all let out huge sighs of relief and group hugged again.

"Can we please see him now?" Hobi pouted. The doctor gave them permission but warned them that he's on heavy painkillers and may not wake up for a while. The members didn't care, they just wanted to be in his room.

They barged their way in and cried all over again when they saw him sleeping hooked up to IV's and tubes and wires. He had oxygen tubes up his nose and his chest was covered in bandages. He was hooked up to a heart monitor and the sound of the steady beep brought them comfort. It meant their maknae was alive and that's all they could have asked for. They all gathered around and took seats around his bed. Hobi and Jimin weaseled their way into his bed with him, making sure not to tug on anything he was hooked up to. Jimin wrapped his arm around Jungkook's. Hobi slipped his arm under Jungkook's neck and pulled his head to his chest, "I'm so sorry," he said while crying into Jungkook's hair. Jungkook's hand twitched.

"I think that means he forgives you," Jin chuckled. He wanted to try to lighten the mood a bit. He got a small chuckle out of the rest of them too. They stayed with their maknae for hours talking to him even though he stayed asleep. They figured that didn't mean they could just leave him out of the conversation. They had all fallen asleep where they were around his bed and woke up the next morning to the sound of the nurse coming in to check on their maknae. She said his vitals were good and he was recovering well, but asked everyone to be patient with him waking up because of his pain killers.

A few hours later, they finally met Jungkook's opened eyes. Dark circles surrounded them, he looked absolutely exhausted.

Jin ran his fingers through Jungkook's hair, "You're awake!" Jin cheered. All the members started cheering and greeting him. He smiled back at them. He was dizzy and kind of felt like he was underwater, but he knew his hyungs were all there and he was excited to see that none of them had gotten hurt. He definitely didn't forgot what had happened.

"Never again, maknae! Don't you ever do something like that again!" Taehyung scolded.

"Yeah that bullet was for me, not you!" Hobi also scolded. Jungkook rolled his eyes and smiled, knowing that was an order he'd never listen to.

"But..but...hyungs.." Jungkook started. His voice sounded exhausted and it was hard for him to get words out, but he tried his best, "I love you."

"We love you too. Which is why you can never do something like that again!" Jin yelled at him.

"Yah! We're the hyungs! It's our duty to protect you not the other way around Jungkookie!" Yoongi added in. Jungkook just shook his head thinking his hyungs were crazy if they thought he'd ever just let them get hurt.

"I...I...uh.." Jungkook was losing his breath a little bit.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk. Just rest. You need a lot of rest," Namjoon told him.

"Hyungs," Jungkook started to cry, "I love you." He was so out of it he didn't really realize he was repeating himself.

"We love you too," Jimin replied. Jimin squeezed Jungkook's hand.

"I love you," Jungkook said again.

"We love you too," Jin replied. The members couldn't help but laugh, seeing Jungkook all drugged up like this was cute. The circumstance behind it wasn't, but him repeating himself was.

"Hyungs," Jungkook said again.

"You love us," all the members chuckled in unison. Jungkook smiled, "Did I say that already?"

The members burst out into a loud laughter. They looked around and all became extremely grateful for how things turned out. They could have very easily been having to head home and begin planning Jungkook's funeral, but instead they were reunited and laughing with him again. Namjoon gave him a gentle hug, "We're so glad you're going to be okay." Jungkook nodded and his eyes slipped closed again. He was quickly fast asleep.

Jungkook had to spend the next week in the hospital. Every day that went by he was able to be given less painkillers and he became unattached to all of his wires. By the time he was able to go home, he was almost as good as new aside from the sling his arm was in. The bullet had struck his collar bone, so that was still healing. The members had fun making fun of the way he had acted while on the drugs and he laughed along with them.

When they got home, they were ready to wait on Jungkook hand and foot and spoil the hell out of him. They told him they'd get him anything he wanted although most of the time he said he was okay, he didn't need anything. He really only needed help getting dressed and carrying stuff. The members were obsessing over making sure to hug him every chance they got, claiming they may have never gotten to hug him again. They had apologized a million times over for not listening to his concerns about the online threats. They informed him that the gunman was connected to the online threats and was locked up for good. Jungkook found a lot of comfort in that.

Jungkook was still dealing with some PTSD about it, worrying about hate comments.

"But hyungies...what if it happens again one day?" Jungkook pouted while curled up with Jin on the couch. Yoongi came over and placed snacks for him on the table, he began to laugh,

"Well then we have you, don't we?"

-Fin.