Jungkook sat on his bed, listening to the sounds of his house warily. His arm burned under the long sleeved shirt he had found in his duffel. It was his fault, honestly. He had been boiling water for spaghetti and bumped into his Dad while taking it to the sink and it spilled. He should've been looking where he was going. His Dad had said the same before walking off to the living room. He could only rub his stinging arm and hope he wouldn't have a visitor later in the evening. 

The night time had always been somewhat of a hot time for his father to creep upstairs and do one of three things. One, nag him verbally, two, nag him physically, and three, nag him verbally and physically. He could find any reason to come upstairs and stand above his son who cowered anywhere where the older wasn't, but was always beneath his hot breath and mean words. 

That spaghetti event could bring on an onslaught of reasons for those stairs to creak under the weight of the man in his late forties and lay his feet heavily in the direction of the brunette's room. Maybe some of the water remained on the floor despite Jungkook using as many napkins as they had available to mop it up. Maybe his parents considered his using all those napkins a waste that would wind up affecting their wallets. Maybe some of the water got on his Dad in the whole mishap. Maybe his Dad's shirt was ruined by said water. Maybe it affected the food in some way. All of these maybes and more circulated through his head. Sure, some were unreasonable and ridiculous, but so was his Dad when it came to his judgement. Any one of those reasons may be the one that causes a visit at any time. All the brunette could do was listen in terrifying silence as his father creeps around the house. 

His Mom never once tried to pull anything like what his father does. Sure, she said things, but it wasn't as strong as his father. It was more like she was going along with him, doing what he said to. Jungkook knew she missed Wonwoo. She was doing whatever it would take to relieve her of always having to look at her son and see the other, the one who was no longer alive. 

Maybe that's what his father was doing as well. Trying to get it through his head that he no longer had Wonwoo and instead was with Jungkook. Maybe hitting him was the only way to get it across that the boy in front of him was Jeon Jungkook rather than Jeon Wonwoo. He had to come in contact with the flesh of the quite alive boy to really take it all in. Something he still hadn't been able to do. His father had yet to try and fully accept Wonwoo's death. He didn't want to. Accepting it would mean that Wonwoo really was never coming back. That he was dead and gone for good. Never to laugh with. Never to love with. Never to cry with. Never to be with at all. 

Maybe Jungkook didn't want to accept it either. Maybe he hadn't. After all these years of having to be compared to Wonwoo and suffer without him here, he still hadn't really considered his brother lost in the world of the dead but rather in a place where no one could find him. Not yet at least. He knew he had killed Wonwoo. He knew he had sent him away.  He had seen his body wilted there on the pavement of road. His blood staining the car. But he still didn't want to believe it. No amount of his parents telling him he caused this, no amount of people saying things about Wonwoo, no amount of crying or apologies would ever make him believe that Wonwoo was now in the ground, surrounded by the dead who had probably been there far longer than he had. 

Jungkook's phone began to vibrate on the surface of the mattress, his ringtone, a light, relaxing tune, played out of the speaker. The brunette quickly grabbed the device and answered it, hoping the man downstairs hadn't heard the sounds. 

"Hello?" He said, somewhat quietly.

"Hey, JK." Namjoon's smooth voice said over the line.

"Hey, Namjoon Hyung. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks for asking. How are you?"

"Good." Jungkook said, eyeing the door, "So, why'd you call?"

"I was wondering if you'd be free to go to the fair with Yoongi and I tonight. I know it's short notice, but we just discovered that the fair will be closing after tonight and I really want to go with you two."

"No, it's fine, Hyung. The entire rest of my evening is free so I'd love to go."

"Alright, I'll pick you up in about forty-five minutes, sound good?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you outside of the old HISTORY clothes shop. Do you know where that is?"

"Yeah, building next to the corner of Holland and Hot Place, right?"

"Yeah," Jungkook leaned back a bit, "What's the fair like, Hyung?"

"Have you never been to one?"

"No." Jungkook lied.

Namjoon made a noise that sounded of surprise, "Really?"

"I haven't. This'll be my first time going to one."

"That's a surprise. I thought most kids at least go to one."

"I may have went when I was little but I can't remember now."

"Well, the fair has rides and food. There's also games where you can win prizes like stuffed animals, toys, and the likes. I think you'll enjoy it, Kook."

"I think I will too, Hyung."

"Anyways, you left pretty early today. How was helping your Dad?"

"O-Oh, it was okay. The wifi went out and he wasn't sure how to fix it, the usual."

"Ah, I'm about to pick up, Yoongi Hyung, so I'll talk to you later right?"

"Yeah, see you."

The line clicked as Namjoon ended the call before silence came from the device.

He had been to a fair before. It had been years ago, yet the brunette could remember every detail like the back of his hand. His parents had been too busy to take him, so Wonwoo wound up having to. He could remember the noise even when they were a block away. Shouting and screams from people on the one roller coaster the small neighborhood fair could afford. The sounds of bells ringing, alerting someone that they had just won a prize. Everything was all lit up, illuminating the tall buildings that surrounded the small fairground. At first, the then eight year old Jungkook had been scared of the place. All these people surrounding him, all the loud noises blocking out his brother's voice. The sea of people scraped his sides, pushing him around, threatening to swoop him up and away from the safety of his brother's hold and to someplace so far away that it would take forever to find him. As his brother's grip on his hand tightened, however, he began to feel just a bit safer, ready to see what all of this around him was. 

He could remember wanting to play all the games and thereabout did, maybe even twice. He had won a soft, plush bear by the end of the evening and happily skipped home alongside his brother. He had given up that little brown bear as a gift to his brother. He said the bear would feel safer with someone like him. Wonwoo had smiled and accepted the bear. He had kept it, too, despite growing up and beginning to be too big for such things. After Wonwoo's departure, the bear returned to his arms where only he could keep it safe. After a while, he realized he couldn't even do that. How was he supposed to when he himself didn't feel safe? 

Jungkook slid off his bed and tip toed slowly to his door. One noise and he'd be caught. The door opened with a slight squeak, a result of being flung open one too many times, however it wasn't too loud. The hall remained quiet, his feet planting softly and briefly on the ground, careful to not land on any boards that he knew would scream out. Down the stairs he could see his shoes and the door out, he just had to make it down. His foot stepped down off the landing and began padding the rest of the way down. His Dad was in the living room, the TV blaring some station with either sports or some action movie. His Mom was in her room upstairs, tending to something that Jungkook could only assume was her pet project. After Wonwoo died, she began collecting pictures and other special items of the boy for a scrapbook type thing. A whole book dedicated to the lost boy. He deserved nothing less. Jungkook had offered to help countless times but she had refused to even let him touch the memorial. 

Jungkook stepped off the last stair and softly made his way over to where his shoes were placed. He intended to grab them and then get out and put them on on the porch. Anything to escape as quickly as he could. He was going to be late if he didn't get a move on. His finger slid under the tongues of his shoes and started picking them up.

"Where do you think you're going?" 

Jungkook dropped the shoes. His father stood in the doorway to the living room with an empty glass in hand, obviously on his way to the kitchen.

"I said, where the hell do you think you're going?" His father repeated, taking a step closer.

"I-I'm going out." Jungkook stuttered.

"Out where?"

"My boss s-said he'd like for m-me to come in and clean a-a bit for some extra p-pay."

"So the leech finally decided to work for something, huh?" His Dad scoffed, "That's a first."

"I-I'll be back by e-eleven at most."

"Shouldn't stay too long. That disgusting personality of yours will rub off on the place."

"I'll b-be back."

"You always do, leech. Always do and always will." His Dad turned back to the door, "Hurry up and leave."

Jungkook nodded and grabbed his shoes before quickly opening the door and sliding out into the night. The brunette let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as he heard the door click closed. He sat down on the steps and pulled his shoe over his foot. The laces were a slightly dirty but still fairly clean white color which matched the sneaker's white body. They were pre-tied as he had taken them off only three hours before. After the second one was put on, he stood and was off down the path to the street's sidewalk. 

Jungkook could remember the little bear he had won. It was a light brown, the usual color, with a little red bow tied primly around its neck. Its face was entirely sewn on, no worries of an eye or some other facial feature falling off and becoming lost in the mysterious world known as the couch cushions, only to be found during spring cleaning. He was fairly soft for being a cheap twenty-five cent prize. The kind of soft that you'd expect in a baby's blanket. He was smiling a bright smile while his little knubby hands were outstretched towards the sky and his legs were positioned so he could sit. 

He had sat on Wonwoo's bed for a whole year and maybe a month or two more before he was returned to Jungkook's hands. The bear was taken from him two years later by his father who had laughed after seeing the toy being held tightly by the young boy. He had dangled the bear in front of the boy's face as if to say "you can see it, but can't have it". The stuffed animal was then taken in both of his father's hands and ripped straight down the middle. The stuffing spilled out of the furry brown exterior like blood and drifted to the floor. His father dropped the bear and looked Jungkook in the eye and said two very angry words, "Grow up". The bear had been disposed of and most of the stuffing picked up. For months after, Jungkook would find the stuffing in different places around his room. Little leftovers to remind him that in order to survive he had to do as told, that safety sometimes can be ripped away from you if you aren't careful. 

Jungkook sat down against the exterior of the HISTORY shop. Namjoon and Yoongi would be here any minute. He wouldn't have to worry about his Dad paying him an unexpected visit, even if it was just for a few hours. He leaned back a bit against the stained brick wall and let out a sigh. He would be away from his so called parents soon, real soon, however, he didn't know that.

Word Count: 2194

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This didn't feel like that many words lol. It turned out to be a bit longer though.
The SuperM concert was awesome! I love Taemin soooo much and seeing Danger live was a w e s o m e! Lucas is my new NCT bias as I discovered. I can't get "when that base go boom" out of my head. His solo performance was so cute, the background was adorable. Look it up on YouTube if you haven't seen it!
I'll cut it short today, I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next week!

Credit to my Mom!