With a cackle in filling the air, Jimin startled glancing back and saw Aera laughing as she ran away while Taehyung chased her in circles, faint growling playfully just to have the toddler mimicking it back.

He sighed and stood up. Jin glanced at him arching his brows up and Jimin shook his head, smiling a little.

"Where's Jungkook?" He asked again, noticing how the younger boy didn't come home since last night.

"Somewhere," Hoseok shrugged, "but he'd fine, don't worry."

How can I not?

Jimin forced himself to nod and opened his mouth to say something but stopped soon enough, hearing a pair of footsteps entering the living room. A smile tugged his lips into a thin line while a sigh worked it's way out in relief, eyes scanning the boy from head to toe from a distance, making sure he wasn't hurt.

"Where have you been Jungkook?" Jin asked, words dripping with concern and nothing else as he stood up from his place and rushed towards the youngest boy, "Do you know how worried we were? You c-"

"I'm okay." Jungkook hushed out, closing his eyes.

"And where were you?" Namjoon asked.

"Baexir," The boy answered, slowly lifting his eyes up to look at the elders. His eyes shuffled across the room, gradually finding their way towards Jimin who had a frown between his brows, staring back at Jungkook.

Heaving out a shaky breath, the boy blinked a few times, not breaking the eye contact and pointed his hand outside, "Can we... can we talk, hyung...please?"

Jimin stared at him, noticing the moisture in his eyes even from the good distance between them. He nodded subtly, praying for a miracle to happen and things wouldn't go as he has imagined all these years in his mind. Pushing his hair back and wearing a straight face despite of the strom building up inside him, he followed the younger, seeing he wasn't going to his room, neither Jimin's. Instead Jungkook turned around in the backyard, heading towards the warehouse.

The lights switched on as Jungkook stepped inside first, welcomed by a familiar smell of wood and leather and stuff like that. He walked up to one side of the huge room, pulling out two folding chairs and placing them in front of each other.

"Sit," Jungkook voiced, not looking at Jimin yet.

The older nodded, taking a seat and waited for Jungkook to start something which didn't seem like happening. He sighed and reached out to place his hand on the the brother's knee, wanting him to know that it's okay and his Jimin hyung is here. However he ended up frowning as Jungkook pulled himself back, shaking his head as a No and pushed Jimin's hand gently.

"...Jungkook are you okay?" Jimin asked softly, concerned from his behaviour as Jungkook would be the last person to refuse his hyungs' touch of affection and assurance.

"No..." Jungkook breathed out, lifting his head up, looking at Jimin with desperation, "I'm not okay... not even close. I'm- I'm literally dying inside, hyung. It's hard to breath like this when... when everything keeps suffocating me."

Jimin stared at him, listening to Jungkook's shaky voice, which still sounded deep. A different deep this time, as if he had tons of weight above him, as if he was holding himself from doing a possible damage, as if he was scared of what was going to come, and as if he was scared of something. Deep down.

"I can't stop thinking about what Osccur said, I'm sorry- I really am hyung... I don't wanna belive him at all. I hate myself so much for even thinking about it, but I can't help it when you're acting like this..." He trailed off, staring at Jimin who still hid behind a sculpted face.

"Why don't you say anything? Your... your silence is making me crazy hyung, please. You know I will never step against you, just one command hyung, I swear I'll end all of them, just one word of yours..."

Jimin looked away, well aware that all Jungkook said was anything but lie. He could hear the boy breathing unevenly, maybe due excessive frustration while still staring at Jimin.

"Please tell me he was lying..." Jungkook said, almost in a begging tone of voice, earning a glance from the elder. "Please, hyung just this once, I won't ever mention it again... just tell me he was lying, all Osccur said was bullshit, you're my brother and Riri's brother. You're Jeon Jimin, not Park... Please, end this, I can't take it anymore..."

Jimin's gaze fell, and for the first time in his life he feared losing everything he has in the name of family. Even the deadliest of clashes between conflicting packs never scared him the way Jungkook's few words did. Ignoring the heavy lump forming in his throat and tears filling his eyes, he glanced at Jungkook with a small smile.

"It's true" He said almost like a whisper and for a moment he felt like he lost his brother forever.

Jungkook stared at him, a tear dropping from his eyes as he shook his head in response, rubbing his eyes to claer his vision and left his seat, kneeling in front of his hyung, breathing deeply, "No... I- I don't belive that, you're lying too. How can it be- true? It's... No, it's not... it can't be..."

"It is, Jungkook." Jimin nodded, blinking away his own tears, patted the boy's head. "I don't know how Osccur knows this, but it's true... I'm not Jeon's blood."

Jungkook's head hung low, as the boy withdrew his hand back from Jimin's wiping his tears and glanced up at him, "But dad always-"

"Loved me and prioritised me?" He asked, earning a nod from Jungkook, "He did, because I was good, even if I'm not his blood, I'd've been the alpha anyway if not here then maybe at my original pack. I'll tell you everything in detail."

"Your father attacked Soir's pack many years back when I was very small and you weren't even born. The fight ended up pretty bad for Soir, he lost a lot of his members, females and even pups. Your dad had won. I was one of those who survived. One of Jeon's wolves saw me and I was almost dead, but your dad told them not to harm me, I was about eleven weeks old or so.

"He knew I was the next alpha. He brought me with him, with the thought of training me along with the pups in his pack. He loved me and made sure that I got the right treatment. Not like killing me with his fifteen wolves would've been hard, but we both had grown attached to each other. Even I didn't want to leave, I had a mother, a father, then even got a brother later, and five amazing friends who'd die for each other."

Jungkook's face remained untouched with emotions, eyes stared on the floor blankly while ears focused on Jimin's voice.

"With time he said I should be the one to take over if anything happens to him. I wasn't sure about that, since you should be the one doing that, or maybe Yoongi or Namjoon, anyone except me actually. But he didn't listen... he had decided to make me the the leader of the pack after him, claiming that I'll be his bravest son. That was the best thing I had ever heard, honestly. But mom didn't like that. She wanted you to be given that position.

"They used to argue and yell at each other. Dad would always stand up for me, and from there I saw their relationship slowly becoming distant. I still have a hard time taking in the fact that I am the reason, they grew apart..." Jimin sighed deeply, remembering the exact day he saw the Jeons tearing apart in pieces before his eyes.

"No!" The mother had yelled and a glass vase flew towards the wall, breaking into a hundreds of small, shiny pieces.

Jaehyun glared at her and before Jimin stepped in stop him, everything was already silent, the woman looked at him, holding her cheek and tears brimming her eyes, spelling a curse that ached the boy's heart, "You, Jimin... You ruined our family, our pack... you're making my life a living hell. I regret accepting you here..."

"I've told you enough times, if you can't say anything good about him, don't say bad either. Your silence will mean a lot to me!"

"Dad, please don't-"

"Yeah sure, mark my words Jeon, you'll regret doing all this. Keep ignoring your own son, keep ignoring me and the others for this outsider." She glared at Jimin and then at her alpha, "You choose, him or me? I'm not staying here if he is."

"Don't be stupid, you're not doing anything like that!"

"Him or me?"

Jimin could feel his organs sinking inside him and settling in the pit of his gut. Tears rolled down his cheeks, with eyes turning into a deep shade of red that Jungkook had only seen on rare cases. Jimin's hand clutched on the arm rest tightly until his knuckles turned white, he looked up glancing at Jungkook.

"I was the threat, Jungkook." Jimin said, feeling a thick, warm liquid dripping down his eye and down his cheek. "I was the one who they thought would destroy this pack and backstab dad and my members. But nobody dared at say anything because they were afraid, an angry alpha is the last thing anyone would wanna deal with."

"Him or Me?!"

"Your mom left that day because of me." He said, Jungkook stared at him with a frown of disbelief, hurting as much as Jimin did on seeing blood in place of tears, flowing down his cheeks. Because the amount of pain, aggression, guilt, shame, fear and all of that inside him when mixed together was beyond words.

"No..." Jungkook whispered, "but-"

Jimin nodded, "Yes, dad chose me... over her. So she left. She wasn't alone, a few other members had left too. Dad used to console himself saying that he didn't need traitors in his pack. Who you think is your mom, is Aera's mom, the other alpha female of the pack, your mom's sister, who took care of you."

A tear escaped Jungkook's eye, staring at Jimin, being struck hard by his words. "NO!" His loud voice echoed, pushing the chair away making a loud noise as he stood up raging. Remembering all the times his dad overlooked him during practices and when all the pups played together, he'd only be having his eyes on Jimin. How his mother had to take a step back because she wasn't the first priority. How the woman he thought was his mother, wasn't his mother. And the truth about his birth mother was kept hidden from him until this day.

"How can you do that?!" Jungkook yelled, grabbing his hair in frustration, glaring at Jimin, "I fucking lost my mother, not once but twice... I don't even remember her- Y'all fucking lied to me my whole life! I- I don't even know what to believe... you... why did you do this?"

Jungkook stared at him, lips trembling and tears streaming down his face as he fell on his knees, crying and looked Jimin in the eye, "You didn't think of anybody? Not even me... you said you love me right? How can you let me-" He choked on his tears, leaning forward with his palm pressed on the cold floor, feeling his body trembling, "I didn't see any of it... I kept believing in you and seeing you as the best person out there. I admired you at every... every step of my life, and I- I wanted to become like you... But I guess they were right... what you said was right, you ruined a whole family- a whole pack."

"Thank god I'm not like you..." Jungkook shook his head, wiping his tears harshly and stood up, ready to leave.

"Jung-"

"No," Jungkook warned, motioning his hand towards Jimin and shook his head, "Please don't say my name, forget that I ever existed, because I'm sure you never had a brother, so it'll be easier anyway."

Jimin's eyes watched him walking out and walking away, leaving him alone to drown himself in the pool of his own bloody tears. He kicked away the chair, groaning loudly which further led to breaking into a sob. With every inch of his body failing to act against the gravity and keep standing as if all of the force was suddenly acting on him and pulling him down.

Thank god I didn't become like you

He cried, leaning back against the cold wall, eyes shut close and chest rising and falling with every heavy breath that escaped his lips. He lost his brother. The one who was the last to turn his back at him. The one who he loved with all his heart. And the one for whom his hyung was always the superhero, not his dad.

"I'm sorry..." Jimin choked out, pressing his head back against the wall, letting the tears flow, staining his white t-shirt in deep red bit by bit.

"Him." He sighed, "I choose Jimin, and I'll always choose Jimin. If you can't support me, leave."

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A/N- Hello everyone! How are you all?

I hope you all like the chapter, if you do please vote and comment ❤️

Stay safe, stay healthy. Love you all 🤗

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Word count : 2.2K