RIEUL

"Hey, Jungkook! Slow down!"

"I can't believe I'm meeting the Kim Taehyung!" He yelps. He'd already spread out his entire closet on the floor, choosing with a happy smile on his face. "And I talked to him! I talked to him!"

He holds up a white sweatshirt to his chest, staring at himself in front of the mirror.

And then he tosses it aside.

"What?" I protest when he quickly picks up another shirt— a navy-colored short sleeve. "I thought that one looked the best!"

He shakes his head, lips squeezed together in concentration as he looks back at the mirror, shirt held up to his chest.

"Too basic. And this one— this one's too informal, informal."

Before he can mess up the house even more, I hurriedly grab a dark sweatshirt and present it to him. He looks down at it curiously, before taking it and placing it to his body.

He smiles.

"Perfect!"

"Good." I say, patting at his fluffy brown hair as I shrug a jacket over my shoulders. "Let's get going. We don't want to be late, right?"

"Right." He nods firmly at himself, and rushes out the door in front of me. And I quickly follow, locking the door behind and calling after him.

"Hey, Kook! I told you to slow down!"

__________________________

"Wow wow." He says, looking up at the skyscraper buildings. "Everything's so big and tall here. They're like giants."

I smile. "We're almost there. Remember not to get distracted— keep your eyes on the road."

Then the traffic sign comes onto green, and Jungkook raises his hand above his head as he walks along with the crowd of people crossing.

"Always look left and right..." I hear him murmur under his breath, and stifle a giggle when he raises his hand higher. "No running outside. No running."

But then my eyes go wide when he whips around to look at me in the middle of the road.

"Noona.... I forgot." He murmurs, voice shaking. "I forgot. How could I— how could I forget—"

"What? Jungkook, what are you talking about?" I say, but then I start to get urgent when the seconds tick down. And we were still in the middle of the road.

"I forgot the drawing." He whimpers, and I push gently at his back, whispering soothing words. There were only five seconds left on the time now.

"Jungkook, it's alright. It's alright. We need to cross the road, though. The cars will come. Remember—"

But he won't budge no matter how hard I push, doe eyes filling with tears.

"I can't believe I still forgot." He whispers, and I grip his wrist. "It was my only chance to show him, and I blew it off like that."

The cars start to beep at us, and Jungkook looks up in fear at the crashing headlights.

He grips the hem of my shirt.

"Noona...? Why are they making scary noises at us? Did we do something wrong?" He asks, and I quickly yelp out. We needed to cross. Right now.

The time had already run out a long time ago.

"Jungkook, come on. Come on now, let's cross." I urge, and he finally starts nodding, looking frightened. But then my eyes widen when someone comes over.

A man had gotten out of his car because we were taking too long.

"Are you insane?!" He starts yelling, and Jungkook immediately puts his head down. His tugging at my shirt gets more frantic, and I bow multiple times.

"I'm sorry. We'll be crossing now."

"What took you so damn long? Is it because of that bastard?" He curses, and I bite my lip as I stand in front of a trembling Jungkook. "Is he a retard or something?"

"I'm sorry. He's sorry as well." I hiss, my voice sharp. "Don't call him that. He's none of those things, and he's none of your business either."

The man snorts.

"Kids like him needs a proper teaching." He spits on the ground, and I can sense Jungkook start to cry behind me. "Get him to talk for himself, then. He's not a retard, is he? Said so yourself."

Anger burns my cheeks.

"I said he isn't!"

Then my eyes go wide when Jungkook suddenly makes a painful noise. I whip around, and see him pressing a hand against the side of his head with a shocked, tearful expression.

A stone clatters to the asphalt.

Someone had thrown a rock.

And I almost lose myself, then and there. Hateful yells fill my ears, car headlights flashing wildly.

"Hey! Get out of the way!"

"I have places to be, dammit!"

The man just snorts again, and I hurriedly take off my jacket when Jungkook starts to shake harder. And then I wrap it over his head and shoulders, leading him out of the road.

Fury claws at me up and down, but I have to press it all in.

Because if I lost myself here, it wouldn't end well for either Jungkook or me. And he needed me right now.

"Kookie." I whisper softly once we get into a dark alley between two buildings,  sitting him down on the ground. And then I unwrap my jacket, showing his face again.

I curse inside my head when I see dark red, blood against his light brown locks.

He sobs.

"I'm sorry, Jungkook." I whisper, my eyes red as I wrap my arms tight around his shoulders. "I'm sorry I let this happen. I'm sorry. It's all my fault, all mine."

I was supposed to keep him safe and happy.

"Deep breaths." I whisper, rubbing circles on his back. "Three times. Breathe deeply three times, Jungkook."

I hear the sound of him struggling, breathing with choked sobs. And I nearly cry along with him, except I keep reminding myself that I can't do that. I was the only one who was keeping him from letting go already.

He does what I say.

"Good. Now focus on how you're breathing." I continue, giving him gentle instructions until his anxiety attack fades away.

"How are you feeling?"

He sniffles.

"Better." He whispers, burying his face into the crook of my neck. "I'm feeling better, Noona."

But then he frowns, and I gently pull him back when he tries to touch the side of his head. He'd start panicking again if he saw his own blood.

"N-Noona, it hurts there though." He whimpers, and I tenderly press my sleeve against his head. "It hurts a lot. And it makes me feel all dizzy and sleepy."

"Am I gonna die?"

"No." I laugh forcefully, shaking my head. "You're not going to die anytime soon, Kook. Don't worry about this. I'll take care of it."

He nods. I can sense him close his eyes, his body relaxing softly.

But then he jerks.

"Noona!" He yelps, scrabbling at the ground. "No, no, no— the art class. Taehyung-ssi. He's going to be waiting for me. He's—"

He bursts into fresh tears when I pull him back into my arms.

"It's okay. He'll understand." I say, but this time, it's harder to calm him. He's shaking uncontrollably, eyes wild. "Taehyung-ssi will understand."

But he doesn't even listen to me. He's wrapped his hands over his face, breathing harsher than earlier.

"Noona, you don't know that." He whispers, and then mutters words to himself over and over again. "You don't know— you don't know that."

He cries.

"It's all my fault."

"I ruined everything."