Jungkook took a step back from Shik. He started shaking. Shik started walking towards him swinging the bat back and forth in his hand.

Jungkook kept backing away and gulped. "What-what are you doing?"

Unfortunately, the only exit was past his manager.

"You think I don't know what you've been up to?" Shik spat angrily while still pacing towards Jungkook.

"What?" Jungkook said continuing to back away. He had no idea what Shik was talking about. "I haven't been up to anything! I haven't done anything!"

"Namjoon told me, Jungkook! How you've been acting at home! You think I wouldn't fuckin find out that you've been acting like a damn brat? Your hyungs are asking too many damn questions because of you!" Shik took the bat and swung it at Jungkook, thankfully the maknae was able to duck in time for it to hit the wall instead.

He ran behind an old counter that was in the room. "No! I haven't! I've been good for weeks Shik I swear! I haven't been acting out! Everything is fine at home I swear! They aren't asking any more questions!" Jungkook cried desperately. He was being so good at home. Why was he being punished now?!

"You're trying to rat me out. I know it. I know what you're doing!" Shik screamed at Jungkook, running at him with the bat again.

Jungkook ducked behind the counter and the metal bat cracked the wood in half.

"No I'm not I swear! I haven't told anyone! I'm not trying to! I just get nightmares sometimes and I-I -I've acted out a little before but not on purpose but I swear I haven't in weeks! It only happens when you hurt me and you haven't in weeks! Why can't you just stop?!" Jungkook screamed through tears. He eyed the door that was his only exit. It wasn't too far away but far enough away for him to have plenty of time to get struck with a metal bat. He was panicking. He didn't know what to do. Tears flooded down his face as his chest rose and fell a million times a millisecond. Should I scream for hyungs? He knew they probably wouldn't hear him. They were in an old practice room far away from the others. Far away from anyone. I'm so stupid! Why did I follow him?! So stupid!

"What's that? Why can't I just stop?!" Shik screamed, hitting the counter with the bat again. The sound of wood cracking scared the hell out of Jungkook. It sounded like bones breaking, in which if he got hit with a damn metal bat, he knew that's exactly what would happen.

"Why the hell would I stop?! You're a piece of absolute shit Jungkook! You're the worst thing to happen to this band. The worst thing to happen to me. Just the sight of you makes me want to bash your face in. You know how hard it's been for me to not have the time to beat the hell out of you for weeks?!" Shik cracked the counter with the bat again.

Jungkook instantly began to frantically crawl towards the door, he was desperate to get out, but Shik grabbed his ankle and he couldn't escape.

Jungkook looked up at his manager with tear filled pleading eyes. "Please, please don't hit me with that. You will kill me with that." He felt like his heart was going to explode. Shik had said before that killing Jungkook wouldn't be any fun, but he was starting to wonder if maybe the man had changed his mind.

"Good!" Shik screamed.

Shik had changed his mind.

Jungkook put his hand up in defense and kicked his foot frantically, trying to get Shik to let go. "Hyungs are here! You say you don't want to get caught yet you'd really do this here?! There's no hiding this anymore! You're fucking crazy!"

Jungkook took his free foot and kicked Shik in his arm, making the man lose his grip. He got off the floor and ran towards the door, screaming. "Hyung! Jin! Namjoon! Hob-"

Shik's hand came from behind him and clamped around his mouth, pulling him backwards into a firm grip.

"They can't hear you, idiot! So don't bother!" Shik pushed Jungkook back onto the floor, and made sure to give him a hard kick to the chest when he landed.

Jungkook lost his breath for a moment, clutching his chest.

He looked up again, his vision was blurry and it was hard to breathe. "Please, stop..." he whimpered. He stared at the bat that his manager was still holding with terror. He couldn't comprehend or understand what he had done so wrong to this man.

"Why me?" he cried.

"Why you? Because look at you. Absolutely pathetic. You're nothing. You never have been. Your stupid members don't even need you in this group. You've been nothing but a complete burden to them. You're a distraction. They'd excel so much more as a group if you simply weren't in it anymore. You're just a stupid defenseless little maknae, and it's laughable. You've made yourself such an easy target. One little threat against your precious hyungs is all it takes to make sure your mouth stays shut. You did this to yourself."

Jungkook couldn't comprehend how he could have possibly done this to himself. He thought he'd always been a good asset to the group. A good maknae. Except not lately. Not the recent times where he wasn't being a good maknae. He thought about how all of his injuries had set the group back, how they'd taken time off work, missed events, missed schedules because of him. Jungkook tried to remind himself that his injuries were Shik's fault. But he was also starting to believe that he must have done something to deserve it. Which in the end, did make everything his fault. He had burdened his members.

Maybe I should just let him kill me.

Jungkook got quiet. He didn't know what to say anymore. Shik's words were sticking inside his brain like magnets.

I did this to myself.

Jungkook lost his breath again. He had gotten so lost in thought, he failed to dodge the metal bat that was thrusted into the air and crashed down right into his stomach. He couldn't breathe. He felt like if it was possible for humans to self combust from the inside out, this was most likely what it felt like.

He screamed in pain.

"Ahh...ahh!...hhhh..." He clutched his stomach tightly as he burst into more tears. This was a new pain he'd never felt before. He hoped that if Shik was going to kill him, he'd do it quickly. Because in that moment, death would have felt a lot better than how his stomach felt. He started gagging. He thought he was going to get sick, but stopped gagging before he did. He looked up at Shik who was beat red in the face. He had seen the man angry plenty of times, but every time before this Shik had always eluded to it being 'fun'.

Right now he could tell Shik wasn't doing this for 'fun.' Shik was angry.

Murderous rampage angry.

The maknae started to see spots in his vision. Black spots. White spots. Red spots. Shik was screaming more words at him but he couldn't even hear the man at the moment, his ears were ringing. He felt himself get kicked in the back, but the pain shot back into his stomach. He felt like he was being shot or stabbed in the gut, either way he'd rather have curled up and died.

"Get your ass up!" He heard Shik scream. Shik grabbed him by his neck and yanked him off the ground, choking him. Jungkook couldn't find the strength to stand up, he crumpled back to the floor and screamed in pain again.

"I said get your ass up!" Shik screamed. His face got even redder. He lifted the metal bat into the air again. "Unless you also want to know how it feels to have your damn skull cracked in half, stand the fuck up!"

He grabbed Jungkook's arm and pulled him back up. Jungkook stood up the best he could, but he was doubled over in pain. His head hung low, staring at the floor he could see his tears falling into puddles on the wood. He didn't say a word. All saying anything ever did was get him hit or smacked or punched again. He didn't have it in him anymore to fight. He was tired. He was giving up.

Shik pushed him towards the door. "Keep your mouth shut, and go back to practice."

Jungkook was bewildered. For one, he was sure Shik was going to kill him here and now and didn't understand why he wasn't. Secondly, he knew there was absolutely no possible way he could practice after this. He could barely even stand up. He was red and puffy and full of tears. What the hell did Shik expect him to do? How the hell was he supposed to keep his mouth shut?

Jungkook stood there frozen. "How..." he whispered. He wasn't too sure what he was even asking. Everything was still a blur.

"Now Jungkook!" Shik screamed as he slammed the metal bat against the floor. The clink of it echoed throughout the entire old dance studio. Jungkook stumbled towards the door and into the hallway. The last thing he needed was to get smacked with that bat again. He didn't know if Shik was right behind him or not and he was desperate to hide. I can't go back into dance practice like this.

He looked around when the bathroom sign caught his eye again. He stumbled his way over and fell through the door, slamming into the tile floor beneath him. He stayed there for a moment. The floor was cold, and it felt nice against his body which had started to feel like it was burning from the inside out. He wondered if he was badly bruised, but he was too afraid to look. After a few minutes he got on his hands and knees and crawled into a bathroom stall, locking it. He sat against the inside of the stall with his head in his knees and sobbed.

I can't do this anymore, but I don't know what else to do. I can't tell hyungs or else this will happen to them too.

My stomach hurts.

He was desperate for someone, anyone, even a stranger if it needed to be, to save him. But Shik was clever and always caught him when he was alone. He blamed himself for trusting to go to the bathroom on his own, but he honestly thought the abuse was over. His hyungs had trusted him to go alone because he'd been fine for weeks.

I should have known better! Stupid Jungkook! I should have known he wouldn't have just stopped! Why do I always have to be such a goddamn idiot?!

The maknae began to hyperventilate and clutched his chest. He felt like he couldn't get a full breath in. He'd had panic attacks before but this was different. This one didn't feel like it was happening because of his mind. It felt like it was happening because of his actual body, but he knew he didn't have asthma so he couldn't understand what was going on. He realized he was starting to sweat really badly and was beginning to feel nauseous. His entire body was burning hot.

Dying in a bathroom stall, I guess the members won't be able to say I went out in style.

He clutched his hand over his mouth when he heard someone knock on the bathroom door. His first instinct was to jump right out the bathroom window if it was Shik, regardless of him being on the 4th floor of the building.

"Jungkook-ah? Are you still in there?" Jungkook's shoulders relaxed when he realized it was Yoongi. He didn't reply though. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Because that would mean they'd have questions, and right now, he didn't have answers.

"Jungkook?" Yoongi said again, making his way into the bathroom. "You in here? You've been gone a while we just wanted to check on you."

Jungkook kept quiet, but considering he was sitting on the floor of a stall, Yoongi easily saw him. His hyung walked over and tapped on the stall door. "What are you doing? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jungkook lied through a whisper, trying to wipe the tears and sweat off his face as quickly as he could.

"Why are you on the floor?" Yoongi wiggled the handle. "Can you unlock this please?"

Lie. You have to lie.

"I need a minute. I don't feel good."

He heard Yoongi lean his body up against the stall door. "You feel sick? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Water or anything? I think Jimin might have some stomach medicine if you need some."

The thought of consuming anything and having it trail down into his stomach made Jungkook want to gag.

"I'm fine. Just not feeling good," Jungkook lied.

"Have you been crying?" Yoongi asked.

Jungkook froze. His hyungs were creepily good at detecting his emotions, apparently when they couldn't even see him.

"I said I'm fine!" Jungkook's voice cracked.

Yoongi didn't believe him for a second. The rapper got on his hands and knees and decided if his maknae wasn't going to come out of the stall, he'd go in it. Jungkook was taken back seeing his hyung do that. He'd expect it from Taehyung or Jimin, but definitely not Yoongi.

Yoongi sat opposite him and his face dropped when he saw Jungkook's red puffy face. "Oh no Jungkook-ah, what's going on?"

"I just said I don't feel good, but I'll be fine."

Yoongi took Jungkook's hand in his. "It's your stomach?"

Jungkook nodded silently. It was most definitely his stomach. "You seemed fine earlier. It just hit you out of nowhere?" Yoongi asked while staring at his maknae with concern.

Jungkook broke down crying at his hyungs words, hit you out of nowhere. Because yes, that was also true.

Yoongi leaned over and pulled Jungkook into a hug. "Oh Jesus you're burning up. You should go home."

"NO! No. I'm fine." Jungkook backed away frantically. I have failed this band enough. I've delayed us enough. I'm already enough of a disappointment and burden, going home now would only prove that further.

"You don't seem fine, though."

"I am. Just a bit of a stomachache. I can practice. I can!" Jungkook knew he was lying but he figured he had to at least try. He put his hands on the stall wall behind him and began to stand up.

Yoongi stood up quickly and offered his hand out to help his maknae out of the stall.

Jungkook could feel Yoongi's concerned eyes staring at him. "Hyung I swear I'm fine. I can practice."

"As long as you're sure."

"I am! I'm sure!" Jungkook protested, "Just...can I have a second to wash up?"

"Sure." Yoongi went to leave the bathroom but Jungkook yelled after him.

"Wait!"

Yoongi stopped in his tracks and turned back to his maknae. "Hm?"

"Can you...uh...wait here for me for a second?"

No way did he want to risk running into Shik in the hallway again. At least not alone. Shik had only ever threatened him once when his hyungs were in the same room, and that was a long time ago. He doubted Shik would ever do something that risky again. He at least knew Shik wouldn't beat the living daylights out of him when one of the other members was around. Not to mention his Yoongi hyung was the toughest out of all of them.

"Sure."

Yoongi stood waiting near the door while Jungkook leaned over the sink and washed his face with the ice cold water from the tap. It felt so nice against his skin. What he wouldn't do to dive into a pool full of ice right now. He didn't understand why he felt like his body was in an inferno, aside from the fact he'd been beaten with a metal bad, but he didn't know what that really did aside from hurt like hell.

After washing his face, he trudged behind Yoongi back into the dance studio. He wanted to clutch his stomach as pain shot around inside him into every direction of his torso, but he did his best not to.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jimin asked as he sipped some water. The members had taken a decent break after sending Yoongi to go find Jungkook. Everyone instantly noticed how shitty their maknae looked.

"What's wrong?" Jin asked concerned.

"He's sick," Yoongi replied.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." Jungkook lied. He was anything but fine.

"You look like garbage," Taehyung chimed in.

Jungkook shot his hyung an angry glare. "So do you."

Thankfully Taehyung didn't take offense, he was used to insults from his maknae.

"Can you still practice? I'll go easy on you," Hobi asked.

Considering he was the groups dance leader he didn't exactly have the time or patience to let his members half ass the choreography, but seeing the state Jungkook was in he decided he'd give his maknae some mercy.

"I can practice hyung!" Jungkook replied in a panicked state. He didn't want to disappoint anyone any more than he had already. Jimin came over and rubbed Jungkook's back, but the maknae flinched away from it.

Jimin backed up and looked at him with sad eyes, he hated it when Jungkook didn't want his comfort considering he used to always embrace it. "Any idea what happened? You were fine like 30 minutes ago."

"I don't know maybe something I ate," Jungkook lied.

"Well, as long as you can practice, we better get started," Hobi announced as he walked over to the stereo to restart their music. Jungkook gulped. He already knew this probably wasn't going to work, but he was way too determined to be a better maknae. One that didn't let his hyungs down. A maknae they could be proud of.

He stumbled into his spot for the dance and the music started. He couldn't get the steps down even if his life depended on it. He knew the choreography but simply could not keep up, it hurt too much.

Hobi couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. He figured if Jungkook was so willing to stay for practice, the least he could do was actually try.

"Jungkook a little faster..."

"No that's not it..."

"Aish..."

While Hobi was spewing another comment to his maknae, Jungkook realized he couldn't do it anymore. His stomach and ribs and back and head and everything were screaming at him. He dropped his head into his hands and dropped to his knees, not holding back from completely sobbing into them.

The members all ran to him.

Hobi, being extremely guilt stricken for being strict to his maknae, immediately dropped to his knees and tried prying Jungkook's hands away from his face. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scold you. Don't cry please I'm sorry." He pulled Jungkook into a hug while the other members rubbed their maknae's back.

Jungkook was hyperventilating again. "I-I think maybe I need to just go home for a bit." Jungkook cried. He doubled over onto the floor and clutched his stomach in pain.

Taehyung was in complete tears seeing Jungkook in the state he was in. Everything had been good for so long, and it was all crumbling again.

Namjoon also made his way closer to Jungkook and rubbed his back. "Your stomach hurts this badly?"

"I-I-" Jungkook sucked in a deep breath before letting out a whimper of pain. "-Just need to go home." He felt like he was going to be sick again but nothing was coming up. He also panicked when he realized his fingers felt numb and he was being taken over by some kind of severe exhaustion he didn't know was humanly possible. His eyelids got droopy.

Namjoon shook his arm. "Jungkook?"

Jin came over and after noticing Jungkook repeatedly clutching his stomach, Jin tried to lift his maknae's shirt to see it but Jungkook shooed him away. He didn't need any of them looking. He hadn't even looked yet. If he did have bruises, he still didn't have an explanation. He knew it would ultimately just come back to "I fell" like it always had and he didn't feel like having them all call him a liar right now.

"Please Jungkook, let hyung check you." Jin asked, reaching for the bottom of Jungkook's shirt again but his maknae shooed him away again. "It's fine hyung I just think I need to go home maybe just...home..."

Namjoon picked Jungkook up and cradled him into a hug. "Okay, okay." He rubbed his maknae's back.

Everyone looked up when they heard their studio door open and saw manager Shik walk in. Jungkook instinctively turned his head the other way and clutched his arms around Namjoon tightly, burying his face deep into his hyungs chest.

Namjoon was hugging him tightly and although he felt safe, he felt his heart do leaps and jumps of terror in his chest. He saw red and white and black spots in his vision again. He couldn't breathe again. He felt himself being shaken and heard words but wasn't sure what was being said. The black spots were getting bigger and bigger until it was all that was left.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Namjoon screamed.

"What, why?!" Jin cried.

Namjoon looked down at his maknae and cried as he held him tightly.

"He's unconscious."