The members just debuted with their  first song. They had been living together for two years already when the company first hired the official seven members of the group. They'd already bonded and were an extremely close family. All of them were excited for the big day and it had gone great. Their new song got a lot of love and was already breaking records even though people had not a clue who they were.

Aside from breaking records, the members had also done a fan sign and received a lot of love. They were all pretty nervous, this was all new to them. Jungkook was the most nervous. He still saw himself as a 15 year old kid from a small town in Korea, he had no idea what being a kpop idol was actually like quite yet. None of them did. The maknae was grateful that he had such a great support system. His hyungs absolutely adored him, and him and Taehyung had grown closer than twins. Everyone at the company treated him and the other members very well and were very supportive leading up to their debut.

The first thing some of the company directors noticed as soon as they debuted was the amount of attention Jungkook was getting. He was instantly a fan favorite. He was receiving the most letters and views on videos. He was receiving the most cheers. His hyungs loved that for him, they all thought it was adorable and eventually even gave him the nickname of 'Golden Maknae'.

Unfortunately, the company quickly started viewing Jungkook more as profit than as a person. They decided he needed to be in more photoshoots, he needed to have more singing time, he needed to be involved more with the dance routines, he needed to do livestreams more often. He was becoming severely overworked. One night they even asked him to bring 10,000 printed posters of himself home and hand sign every single one of them. Thankfully his hyungs thought that was the most ridiculous thing they'd ever heard, so unknown to the company they sat up all night helping Jungkook by forging his signature on the posters so he didn't have to do it alone.

It was only getting worse. Aside from the extra work, the company was now becoming strict with Jungkook's body too. They put him on a strict diet because they wanted him to look his absolute best. The hyungs completely disapproved of this. Namjoon took his role as leader very seriously and told the company director that they were not allowed to put Jungkook on a diet because he was only 15 and it would only hurt him. The director brushed Namjoon's concerns aside and still told Jungkook to stick to the diet and it made the maknae confused on whether to listen to his hyung and leader or to listen to his company director. At work he wouldn't eat a thing, but at home the hyungs almost forced him to sit at the dinner table and at least eat something.

The older members were getting frustrated with the way the company was treating Jungkook. They were taking advantage of the fact that the maknae was a small and shy kid who still seeked approval from the adults around him, so he never stuck up for himself. He kept his frustrations to himself and would only talk about his feelings when he was home with his hyungs.

One camera director really made Jin angry one night. The members were recording for a music video late into the night and everyone was done. It was already close to 1 AM and the members were exhausted and excited to finally go home. Suddenly the camera director decided he wanted Jungkook to redo his scenes because "ARMY needs to see absolute perfection from you Jungkook, and there are some improvements you can make."

All of the members looked at eachother unsure of what to do. Jungkook felt his heart break but simply replied with "Okay." He didn't want to cause any conflicts and didn't want anyone upset or angry with him so he would do anything he was told to do.

"No no no," Jin finally spoke up, "It's late. He needs rest."

"It's fine, hyung. You guys can go home I will stay," the maknae replied. The members could easily tell Jungkook was trying not to cry. He looked so exhausted already, they didn't know how the company expected even more out of him. Taehyung went over and grabbed the sleeve of Jungkook's arm, "But it's already so late," he turned to the director, "Can't he just do it another day?"

"I need him to do it now," the director said firmly.

"Aish..." Yoongi groaned from next to them.

Jin looked at the others. Usually they always stuck together so if one member stayed behind, they all would, but Jin could see everyone's pure exhaustion. "Well you all head home and get some rest, I don't mind staying with maknae. We can catch a ride home in the company car when he's done."

The rest of them looked amongst themselves, "Are you sure? I feel bad leaving," Hobi pouted.

"It's fine, go get rest and I will have maknae home soon," Jin said as he patted Jungkook on the back. The members thanked Jin and told Jungkook to try and have fun, all things considered. They were quickly gone and the director had Jungkook get to work. They were making him re-shoot scenes over and over again and Jin was getting increasingly frustrated when he could clearly see that his maknae was doing perfect takes. He didn't understand why he kept being asked to redo things. His frustration grew even more when he saw Jungkook becoming so exhausted he could barely stand up straight. He got up and went over to the director, "He needs to go home. Look at him! He's burnt out! You already have a million perfect takes give the damn kid a break already!"

"Hyung it's..it's okay..I'm okay.." Jungkook lied. He knew he wasn't okay. He felt like he was going to pass out from exhaustion or pass out from the fact he hadn't had a single thing to eat all day. He tried to deter the rumbling in his stomach by chugging bottles of water all day but at some points that only made his hunger worse. Jungkook started swaying where he stood. He was drenched in sweat and panting a bit from all the dancing he had to do. Jin grabbed him by the arm to keep him upright.

"He can go when we are finished," the director said. Suddenly Jungkook collapsed onto his hands and knees and began to cry. His body was aching and burning and tired and he was too scared to admit that to his boss. Jin bent down to help him back to his feet, "As his hyung, I am telling you he is finished. I am taking him home, whether you like it or not. Whatever else you need from him will have to wait for another day!" Jin felt his ears go red. He wasn't one to really back talk either but when it came to any of his dongsaengs, and especially when it came to the maknae, he knew he needed to be strict about their safety. The director rolled his eyes and said whatever.

Jin asked a staff member for a ride home in the company car. As they walked out, Jungkook collapsed again. Jin felt his heart break. The last thing he'd ever want was for this to happen to any of them. He scooped his maknae up in his arms and carried him out instead. Jungkook rested his head against Jin's chest, "Thank you, hyung."

"They shouldn't be doing this to you," Jin told him. He looked down to see that before Jungkook could even reply he was already fast asleep in his arms. He placed him in the back seat of the car and buckled him up. He hopped in next to him and called Yoongi. Yoongi was usually the only one who stayed up super late. Thankfully they had the next day off.

"Hyung?" Yoongi answered.

"Oh good, you're still up. Hey can you make something for Jungkook to eat when we get home?" Jin asked.

"He hasn't had something yet?" Yoongi asked surprised. He couldn't fathom their youngest not having eaten a single thing from the time they got to work until right now.

"Not that I'm aware of, no. They completely overworked him Yoongi-ah! The poor boy almost passed out twice! I had to carry him to the damn car!"

"Jesus, is he okay?" Yoongi asked with heightened concern in his voice.

"Yeah, he just needs rest. And some damn food. This diet thing is so stupid. Don't they know growing kids need nutrition? I mean it's not like they put Jimin or Taehyung on a damn diet, why our youngest?! It's ridiculous!"

"I don't know. I agree it's stupid. I will go make him something, see you in a few." The two hung up with eachother and Jin turned to look at Jungkook who was fast asleep. I'm sorry they're doing this to you.

When they were dropped off at home Jungkook still didn't want to wake up so Jin carried him inside. Yoongi had made him a bowl of cold noodles but when Jin tried to shake him awake to eat, he didn't want food. He was too tired.

"Bunny you have to eat something," Jin told him.

"Mmm...no...." Jungkook groggily whispered with closed eyes. His head was resting on Jin's chest. Jin gave up and decided to just let the boy sleep. He brought him into their room and dropped him onto his bed and tucked him in. They lived in an extremely small dorm and the members all shared one room. Jungkook got a single bed on one side of the room while the rest of them shared bunk beds on the other side. Everyone else was asleep but the noise had stirred Jimin awake. He crawled out of his bed and into Jungkooks, "Did you guys just get home? Hyung it's almost 3 AM," he pouted. He wrapped his arms around Jungkook and cuddled him. He understood why Jungkook was the fan favorite considering he was also their own favorite.

"Yeah, because the director sucks!" Jin said in an angry whisper. He was also exhausted. Exhausted for himself and exhausted for his maknae. Thankfully tomorrow was a new day where they'd just be able to relax. All of them were quickly passed out in bed.

The next morning the first thing all the hyungs did was make sure Jungkook ate breakfast. Hobi helped Taehyung and Jimin make homemade pancakes and they all sat around talking about what had happened last night.

"We can't let this continue," Yoongi mentioned, "Namjoon-ah..is there anything you could do? Maybe you could talk to Rui or something about overworking minors? Don't we have laws against what they've been doing to him?" Rui was their CEO.

"I'll see what I can do but nobody seems to listen to me," Namjoon pouted.

Jungkook suddenly felt very guilty. He felt like his presence within the band was now causing them problems. "Hyungies you don't have to say anything. It's okay...I swear I'm okay. I was just tired yesterday but I promise I can do the work they want!"

"You know maknae, you don't have to be so nice all the time. Speak your mind. It's okay to admit the camera director sucks," Hobi replied.

Jungkook smiled, "The camera director sucks."

This got a big laugh out of all of his hyungs. The members knew Jungkook was young and impressionable and they loved that they were basically raising him the way they all wanted to, even though they were all still very young themselves. Taehyung especially loved it because Jungkook was his only dongsaeng and he loved taking on a big brother role. He wrapped his arm around Jungkook's shoulders, "Kook-ah...you know Hobi hyung has a point. If there's anything that becomes too much or that you don't want to do, just tell the directors."

"I just don't want them to get mad at me," Jungkook pouted.

"Who cares?" Yoongi scoffed, "What are they going to do? Fire you?"

"Maybe," Jungkook pouted again.

"You're like their prized possession right now. I highly doubt they'd do that," Jimin chimed in. All of the members felt their hearts sink a little bit at Jimins comment. They all knew the directors at the company were treating Jungkook like just that, a possession they could control and suck the life out of whenever they wanted. The hyungs saw how sad Jungkook looked after that. He hadn't quite admitted it but he was very much starting to feel the same way lately.

"Listen maknae, " Yoongi took Jungkook's hand, "What we're saying is if we're going to make it in this kind of industry we all have to be capable and willing to stick up for ourselves. Including you. You need to be brave enough to tell them no, for your own health and sanity. I mean of course we're all here to help you with that but please don't be afraid of the higher ups. I mean look at Jin hyung, he did it and nobody fired him. It won't kill you to defend yourself, but it might kill you if you don't."

Jungkook frowned. He understood Yoongi completely but he was still nervous about the thought of saying no to his bosses even if it was for his own safety. At the same time he knew that if he didn't learn to defend himself now he probably never would and he wanted to be braver. He shrugged his shoulders, "Okay. I can try." His hyungs clapped for him and told him not to worry and that everything will be okay.

They spent the rest of their day off resting and playing games together. Taehyung and Jungkook got scolded by Namjoon for stealing Yoongi's hairspray from the bathroom and going around spraying it on everyone. Yoongi wasn't the one to scold the two because he didn't have the heart to scold them, he'd already admitted that a long time ago. Namjoon's scolding wasn't all that bad either, it was more of him begging them to stop "or else," and his "or else" usually meant cleaning the toilet or something. The maknae's had a huge love and appreciation for their hyungs because of how nice they actually were to them not just at work but at home too. They had ran across some other groups who had hyungs that would act nice on camera and then act like complete monsters behind closed doors. The BTS maknae's loved that their hyungs loved them enough to basically let them get away with anything.

When the members were back at the BigHit studio, Namjoon ventured off to go find Rui and discuss his concerns regarding Jungkook. The other members were working with a choreographer in the dance studio and of course some of the directors had informed the choreographer that they needed to make sure Jungkook practiced extra hard.

"Just do what you can," Hobi nodded to Jungkook when the choreographer told him to redo a few steps. Hobi was the teams dance leader and he didn't care what any choreographer or director had to say, if he saw Jungkook doing too much he was going to make him stop. Jungkook looked at Hobi and smiled, he really didn't know what he'd do without his hyungs. Die, probably.

As the members continued to work on their dancing, Namjoon's conversation with Rui was shedding some light on the company that the CEO hadn't been aware of. He had no idea some of the companies directors had been overworking the youngest. "There are absolutely laws in place against that, I will speak with them. Also tell Jungkook to eat whatever he wants, within reason. No 15 year old should be on that strict of a diet." Namjoon bowed and thanked the CEO before departing. When he got back to the studio he told them the good news and Jungkook ran over and hugged him tightly. He felt like now maybe things would take a turn for the better.

Except they didn't. Things got worse.

Rui had spoken to some of the directors and they were absolutely pissed at Namjoon for speaking out against them, and they took their frustrations out on all of the members. Unlike before, the entire group was now constantly being yelled at and having their ideas shot down. The directors decided that if they couldn't work anyone past a certain amount of hours, they had to be a lot stricter and meaner to get the job done in a shorter amount of time. Unfortunately this meant it was the easiest for them to scream at Jungkook the most. They needed perfection from him in all things. He often found himself staring at the ground crying feeling like a complete failure to himself and the team when he apparently couldn't meet certain expectations. Yoongi and Jin were always the first to jump to Jungkook's defense, he was still finding himself too scared to ever defend himself. Hobi found himself jumping to Namjoon's defense when a choreographer was screaming at him, and Jimin often found himself speaking for Taehyung when someone would yell at him. Everyone was frustrated.

One day their video shoot had actually ended a bit early and the director once again requested for Jungkook to stay a bit longer to work on a few things. He said he could, much to his hyungs annoyance. Namjoon offered to stay behind this time because it wasn't all that late and he had some stuff to do in the studio anyway. The rest of the members said okay but Hobi reminded the directors that "Jungkook will be done at exactly 6. No exceptions."

"Yeah yeah, got it," one director said annoyed. The members ventured home and Namjoon hung back to watch Jungkook for a bit. He wanted to make sure nobody was being mean to his maknae. Thankfully things seemed to be going well, the directors were being pretty nice for the most part and Jungkook didn't seem to be too exhausted. It really helped that he was eating at work again, even if it was just a few protein bars. Namjoon ran over during a small break and let his maknae know that he was going to head to his studio for a bit to work on some lyrics, "Just come get me if you need anything, okay? I'll be right down the hall. And remember, if there's anything you disagree with, make sure to be bold and say something. Okay?"

"I'll do my best," Jungkook pouted. He wasn't sure what his best was quite yet considering his best so far was to look at the floor and cry.

"You got this maknae," Namjoon patted him on the back and left for his studio. Jungkook was quickly called back to start recording and the mood completely shifted after Namjoon had left. Jungkook couldn't figure out what on earth he was doing wrong but he found himself being yelled at and grabbed and dragged around. He was getting scared. He had never seen them be this mean to him. He had to redo one specific take over and over again and he couldn't understand why. Just speak up already, Kook! Hyungs are trying to teach you to defend yourself, so do it!

After being asked to redo the same scene five times, he was exhausted and frustrated and finally gathered enough courage to at least ask, "Why?"

"Why? I'll show you why!" One director yelled. He showed Jungkook's playbacks and Jungkook decided he needed to keep being brave, "They all look exactly the same! These are perfect takes why do I keep having to redo them?"

The director started scolding Jungkook about how he knew nothing about camera angles and didn't know what a perfect take would look like.

"But they all look the same," Jungkook walked back to the mark on the floor where he was supposed to be standing and crossed his arms, "You have what you need for that take. Let's do the next one."

Jungkook felt his heart start pounding. He had no idea he had it in him to speak like this.

"We are redoing the last take," the camera director told him. Jungkook sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep his heart from pounding out of his chest. This is it Jungkook, you can do it. "You have what you need. I'm saying no."

He took a step back when he saw the camera director start pacing towards him. "Excuse me?" he scoffed.

"I..I...uh.." Jungkook choked over his words. He didn't think he'd ever get this far and now he had no idea what else he was supposed to say or do.

"Are you telling ME how to do MY job?!" the director screamed right in his face. Jungkook looked around at the other workers there but none of them seemed to care what was going on. He longed for his hyungs to swoop in and say something because he was at a loss.

Before he could even reply, without warning the director raised his arm and smacked Jungkook so hard across the face that the maknae stumbled sideways onto the ground. He felt tears instantly begin pouring down his face and he cupped his cheek in his hand. It was stinging so badly he couldn't stop crying. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest and his stomach was going to come up his throat.

"Don't you ever disobey me, you understand me? If I tell you we're redoing something, you're fuckin redoing it!" the director screamed. He was hovering over Jungkook. He grabbed the maknae by the arm and pulled him back up to his feet. "Now, as I said, we're redoing the last take!"

Jungkook stood there hyperventilating. He looked around and nobody cared to acknowledge or even help him. He felt like the room was spinning, like he was going to pass out. He stood there holding his burning cheek and frantically wiped his tears. He'd never felt so terrified in his life and he decided that right now, he just couldn't do this. He ran out of the room and down the hall, bursting into the bathroom. He ran to the sink and stared at himself in the mirror while crying. His cheek was bright red and a bit swollen and he could already see the shapes of small purple bruises forming on his skin. He hit me..They are going to hit me now?

He drenched his face with cold water from the sink. It felt so nice on his burning skin. He spent a few moments recollecting himself and in his desperation for help he quickly ran to Namjoon's studio and pounded on the door. Namjoon opened it and he ran in and dropped onto the couch. He dropped his face into his hands and started crying. He wanted to hide his injured face from his hyung, he was extremely embarrassed but he knew he didn't have anyone else to go to.

Namjoon knelt down in front of him and rubbed his knee, "Hey, hey. Talk to hyung, what happened? Why are you so upset?"

Keeping his face buried in his hands and through tears he replied, "I'm..I'm sorry hy..hyung..but I don't know if I can still do this.."

Namjoon tried to pry Jungkook's hands from his face. "Hey, look at me. Maknae what happened? Everything was fine when I left.."

Jungkook finally found the courage to raise his head and look up. Namjoon's heart seized when he saw the bruises on his maknae's face. "Oh my God..what..who....what happened..did someone do this to you? Why does it look like you got hit?"

Jungkook stared at his leader in silence with giant scared eyes. Namjoon stared at him and had never seen the boy look so hurt and he instantly knew. "No....maknae...someone...someone hit you?! Who?! Who the hell hit you?! You tell hyung right now who the hell hit you!" Namjoon felt tears beginning to well up in his own eyes. This was the most devastating thing he'd ever experienced in his life. Jungkook admitted that the one time he actually tried defending himself the camera director stormed over and smacked him. A lot of good speaking my mind did.

Namjoon squeezed him into a tight hug, he had never been so angry. "Never again, Kookie. I can promise you never again. Nobody puts their hands on you and gets away with it! I can promise you that!" Someone hitting Jungkook was the absolute last straw for Namjoon. Jungkook continued to cry into Namjoon's shoulder, "I'm really sorry hyungie." He wasn't too sure what he was sorry for, he just felt sorry anyway. Sorry for worrying his hyung? Sorry for being bad and getting hit? He didn't know.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, you understand me? Absolutely nothing." Namjoon called Jin and frantically asked him to gather everyone and come back to the studio, "It's an emergency."

When the members arrived they found Namjoon and Jungkook in Namjoon's studio. They immediately saw their maknae's bruised and swollen cheek and panicked. The two explained what happened and all of them stormed out of the studio together to go confront the camera director. Jungkook stayed hidden in Namjoon's studio. He wanted nothing to do with it and his hyungs told him he didn't have to.

Jimin immediately ran up to the director and pushed him, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he screamed. All of the members started screaming at the director for hitting their maknae.

"He was being disrespectful!" the director screamed back.

"Good!" Yoongi yelled, "You deserve all the goddamn disrespect! He's a fuckin kid! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Yah!" Jin screamed, "So now this damn company promotes child abuse?! Is that it?!"

"It wasn't abuse! It was a simple scolding! He is fine!" the director said in defense of himself. He was getting nervous.

"He's swollen and bruised!" Hobi screamed, "That's abuse, you asshole! You have absolutely no right touching him! You have no right touching anyone!"

The director kept claiming he didn't hit Jungkook that hard, to which they told him he was full of crap. Namjoon told the director he was going straight to Rui about this and that he might as well get packing. While the members continued to scream at the director for hurting their baby, Namjoon was already in Rui's office explaining what happened. The man followed the leader into his studio to check on Jungkook and was completely shocked and angry to see his injuries.

"The camera director did this to you?" Rui asked. Jungkook nodded in silence. He was trembling a bit. He felt like this entire thing created one big mess and he couldn't shake the notion that it was all his fault.

Rui immediately marched into the room with everyone else and started scolding the director. He fired him right on the spot and ignored any form of protest. He then turned to the members and asked if there was anyone else involved and they mentioned other people within the crew who had been treating them very badly. Rui immediately fired almost an entire team of workers. He told the members that if anyone else bothers them again to immediately let him know. This was a new and upcoming company and the last thing he was going to tolerate was mistreatment and abuse within his company, especially towards the little ones. The members thanked him and made their way back to their maknae. Taehyung had stopped and grabbed some ice packs.

"Well, that's taken care of," Hobi said. The members were gathered around Jungkook rubbing his back trying to comfort him. He was still visibly quite upset. Yoongi took the ice pack and held it to Jungkooks cheek for him.

"What do you mean?" Jungkook asked confused.

"They were fired, all of them!" Jin chuckled.

"Really?!" Jungkook felt his heart start to do flips in his chest. They told him what Rui said and Jungkook couldn't stop smiling.

"So now you see what happens when you defend yourself, Kook-ah?" Taehyung asked.

Jungkook lowered his gaze back to the floor, "I get hit.." he pouted.

"Under this circumstance, unfortunately. That shouldn't have happened, " Taehyung continued,

"But now you're free."

[[The End]]