| Curiosity || Yoonmin |

Ch19 ~ Problem child...

~1 year before the accident~

"No." Jungkook said simply, taking the two elder hyungs aback. "You can kill me first." Jungkook held a straight face, utterly refusing the strangled pleas of the two university students on their knees. Minji sat quietly in the background, watching as these troubled human beings tried to lure Jungkook into a deal he clearly wasn't interested in.

"Oh c'mon Kookie!" Taehyung whined. "Just this one time!" He raised his index finger. "We need it for a project we're working on with our senior!"

"Yeah! And we'll never ask you to do anything like this!" Jimin promised. "Ever again!" He reinforced, his hands joined and his eyes resembling that of a puppy, begging for a treat.

"No." Jungkook repeated a second time.

"I'll buy you all the lamb skewers you want! Whenever you want!" Jimin attempted to bribe him, but Jungkook just scoffed and made his way to the Park's fridge in search of something sweet to ingest, as he listened to the lullaby of desperate bribery spilling out from their mouths as they scurried to their feet. Taehyung fell momentarily as Jimin used him to hurl himself onto a standing position, chasing after the younger.

"I'll buy you a frickin' pool!" Taehyung screamed, bringing his hands to the air and putting more sympathetic-ness into his tone, still on the floor.

"I said no Tae." Jungkook laughed as he leaned against the counter, vanilla pudding cupped in a large, manly palm and a spoonful of it in his mouth. He was highly entertained by how hard they were trying to get him into this gig. They knew very well about his social anxiety, and how he wasn't comfortable meeting new people, let alone recording with them in a studio for hours on end, with a voice he'd hardly let anyone hear (except Minji ofcourse).

"But why?!" Jimin complained, stomping his feet on the ground, mirroring a child who's mother had told him he couldn't have that toy train on the top shelf in the local toy shop.

Jungkook took the spoon out of his mouth and began to scoop up another bite. "Oh, you know very well why." Jungkook scoffed, referring to his mental illness, taking in another spoon of his vanilla pudding and swallowing its contents in one foul bite.

"What do you want?!" Jimin asked frantically. "I'll give it to you! You want my virginity?! Here take it!" Jimin began unbuckling his belt to pull down his skin tight jeans.

"Ew hyung! Gross!" Jungkook almost choked on his desert and pushing the elder away. "And besides, your virginity is long gone." This was getting more and more hilarious by the second, Jimin had just offered up his nonexistent purity to Jungkook.

"C'mon Kookie! What'll it take for you to do this for us?!" Tae questioned, his mind devoid of anything the sadistic younger would want.

"Why is it so essential for me to be in this song anyway?" Jungkook countered.

"Cuz you have a nice angelic voice fit for the chorus and it's driving me crazy that you don't flaunt your talent like any other 19 year old in this day and age?" Jimin hadn't even taken a breath saying that, he was determined to convince this stubborn asolescent that this was going to be a productive experience for him to take part in.

"Hyung, I'm not doing it and that's final." Jungkook said firmly, holding his own against the pressure of his elders.

"Minji help us out here!" Jimin demanded, pulling out his last resort.

"What's in it for me?" Minji asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Does everything come with a price with you two?!" Taehyung raised his voice in frustration. "Honestly." He huffed.

"Nothing's free in this world Tae." Minji laughed.

"Not everything," Jungkook cut in. "I didn't give you a price, I'm just outwardly refusing to all this." He smiled cheekily.

"Gahhhh!" Jimin stormed out the room, appalled by the two adolescents' ridiculous play on words. Taehyung followed, equally irritated at the two conniving brats he'd called his best friends.

Minji walked over to her best friend, half triumphant and half disappointed they hadn't convinced him, even a little to take part in the song. "We sure showed them, didn't we Min-ah?" He raised his hand to the air, expecting Minji to mirror his actions and collide her palm with his, but she didn't. Instead she gave him a look that made her out to be on their side, and for once, not on Jungkook's. "Um...what's wrong?"

"They have a slight point." Minji muttered slowly.

"Don't tell me you're siding with them." Jungkook groaned and dropped his arm without hesitation.

"Would it really hurt so much to do this for them?" Minji asked. "I mean, this is for a project they're doing in school." Minji reasoned with him.

"But..." Jungkook whimpered. "...my social anxiety." He mumbled.

"Kookie this is your chance to crawl out of your shell." Minji told him sincerely as she moved closer to put down the pudding and grab his now trembling hands. "This is your chance to start getting over your social anxiety and start meeting new people." She told him gently. "And not be here all the time." She jestured to the space surrounding them.

"Are you saying you don't want me here anymore?" Jungkook started panicking a little more, he was thinking maybe she didn't like him anymore, maybe she didn't want him anymore, maybe she was so sick of him that she wanted to push him away. His thoughts whirled through his mind in an endless cycle. He was convinced his best friend wanted nothing more to do with him.

"Kookie..." she whispered. "I love you. I would never condemn you out of here, who would I torture Taehyung oppa and Jimin oppa with if you weren't around anymore?" A tear escaped her eye suddenly. "Kookie don't ever think like that ok?" She pulled him into a hug and sobbed into his shoulder. He strapped his arms on her waist and sucked her in closer into his embrace, feeling his own eyes begin to water.

"Please don't leave me Min-ah..." now Jungkook was the one who was pleading. It was amazing what the most important person in your life could do to you. You could be stone cold and heartless, but all they need to do to turn you into the complete opposite was say a few words and...POOF! The stone cold and heartless part of you is history in their presence.

"I'm not going anywhere Kookie, I'll protect you like I always have." She pulled away from him, her hands gripping on his slim shoulders. "But there's only so much I can do, you can't hide behind me forever you know?" She clarified with him, wiping her tears as she tried to console the boy, as well as herself. She cupped his cheeks and stared lovingly into his eyes, the way an older sister would to her younger brother. "Will you do this for me? Will you crawl out of your shell and try to get better for my sake as well as yours?" She pleaded, rubbing his cheekbones with her warm thumbs.

Jungkook shut his eyes, trying to contain the tears forming in his eyelids, he didn't know what to do. He'd always followed an organised way to avoid talking to people, avoid interacting with them and avoid even touching them. It's not that he hated the human population, he just couldn't bear to be around people he didn't know, couldn't stand being with people he wasn't comfortable with, he wouldn't know how to act if he ever met with anyone apart from his hyungs and Minji. He was a baby, in need of love and care, and Minji was his best friend, his older sister, the most important person in the world to him. Could he really say no to her?

Jungkook opened his eyes to reveal his vein infested eyeballs. "Ok...I'll do it...I'll do it just for you..." he whimpered and sunk painfully back into her embrace, his tears spilling out his eyelids at uncontrollable speeds. He held her tiny structure, as if he was holding her for the last time, he was afraid, could he do this? Would he be able to keep from disappointing her?...