Make You Know Love

better for everyone

"Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse for some." - Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

***

Jungkook walked Anastasia back to her place, apologizing for everyone's behavior, and eventually leaving her with the promise of bringing her food after he talked with his brothers.

"Don't get into a fight, okay? You're all too good-looking to risk a black eye over something so stupid," she huffed.

He frowned, "You're not something stupid."

She rolled her eyes, "Just promise me"

"I promise." He laughed quietly, kissing her cheek in farewell.

His smile dropped the moment he was out of her apartment, dreading the conversation to come.

Running a hand nervously through his hair, he bit at his lips as he came to a stop in front of his hyungs. "We need to talk."

"Jungkook-ah, we know," Namjoon murmured in Korean, uncharacteristically submissive.

Irritation and an uncomfortable feeling of guilt rolled through him at Namjoon's tone. No, they didn't know. Jungkook hadn't meant his words earlier, he'd said them out of anger. Anger that one of the most important people to him had hurt someone that he loved. Anger that he was put in a position where he had to defend her against them.

"We'll be nice, make her like us," Hoseok assured, almost desperately.

"Yeah! Just now at her school, Jimin defended her," Jungkook's eyebrows rose at Seokjin's words.

Jimin defended her? It was unlike Jimin to start a fight over someone, generally opting to quietly get even than risk his reputation.

"How?"

"Someone was saying something about her not being worth your attention, so Jimin went up and kissed her," Seokjin explained.

"He kissed her?!" Jungkook's heart rate spiked.

Jimin kissed her?! Anastasia wasn't like that! She wouldn't want to be Jimin's and his. Jimin shared everything, they all shared everything. 'What's mine is yours' was a given between them all, including significant others.

Jungkook clutched his hair in panic and began to pace back and forth.

Jimin was going to ruin everything! He'd held himself back from coming on to her for years because he knew she wouldn't be okay with being with all of them. But she was still someone he needed in his life and so she could not find out this way because if she did, she would leave.

"You can't do this! Not with her." He begged.

"You're with her and we're one. How can she be yours and not ours too?" Yoongi hid the pain in his voice well. The others nodded in agreement.

"No!"

They shrunk back.

"No?" Hoseok repeated, doing a much worse job at hiding his hurt than Yoongi had.

"No. She'd never accept us like that and I can't risk losing her," Jungkook finalized.

"So it's her? Again?" Jungkook turned to see Jimin, Taehyung standing behind him with a clenched jaw and fists.

Jungkook's shoulders dropped at the sight of tears welling in his love's eyes.

"No, I don't have her. We don't have her. I never wanted her just for me, so I never tried to make her mine" He admitted, looking everyone over before returning to Jimin and Taehyung.

"...I love her though," Jungkook stepped forward, wiping Jimin's cheek with his thumb, "just like I love you"

"Then we'll convince her," Yoongi said with conviction.

"Convince her?" Jungkook repeated.

"To love all of us"