Winter In My Heart (Jikook/Kookmin)

4

"Mom, where is Mochi? He's not in his room, not in mine either."

Jungkook’s voice trembled as he looked around, his heart racing. Every morning, without fail, Jimin was the first person he’d seek out after waking. They were inseparable, and Jungkook had always been the one to wake his sleepy little brother, who slept like a rock. But today was different. Jimin wasn’t there. He wasn’t in his room, and he wasn’t in any of the usual places Jungkook searched.

"Mom?" His voice grew more frantic. "Why are you crying? Where is Mochi?"

Jungkook froze as he spotted his mother, sitting in his father's arms, her face wet with tears. His father’s expression was somber, his eyes heavy with sadness. It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

"Jungkookie..." His mother’s voice cracked, barely managing to utter his name. She couldn’t find the strength to say anything else. Jungkook’s heart sank as he saw the devastation in her eyes, the anguish she couldn’t hide.

She had watched it happen. Watched as Jimin’s biological mother had come and pulled him from her embrace. Watched Jimin cry, reaching out to them in desperation, his small hands trembling with fear as he clung to the hope that his family wouldn’t let him go. But they couldn’t stop it. She couldn’t stop it.

"She... she took him," Mr. Jeon finally said, his voice filled with hesitation and guilt. He knew the words would shatter his son. The bond between Jungkook and Jimin was stronger than blood, deeper than anything anyone could understand. They weren’t just brothers. They were everything to each other.

Jungkook felt his chest tighten, panic flooding his veins. "No..." His voice wavered, barely above a whisper at first. Then, without warning, he bolted toward the door, his heart screaming in his chest.

"Jungkook!" his father called, chasing after him as Jungkook ran out into the freezing cold. The snow was falling heavily, swirling around him, but he didn’t care. He didn’t even have his coat on. He didn’t feel the cold. All he could feel was the emptiness inside, the terrifying thought of his little brother being gone.

"No, no... No!" Jungkook cried, his breath visible in the icy air. "I need to find Mochi!"

But before he could run any further, Mr. Jeon caught up to him, wrapping his arms tightly around his son, holding him back as Jungkook thrashed, desperate to break free. "Let me go!" Jungkook screamed, his voice cracking with agony. "I have to find him! I promised! He needs me—he’s crying, I know he’s crying, Dad!"

Mr. Jeon’s heart broke as he held his son, feeling Jungkook’s body tremble not just from the cold, but from the unbearable pain. He picked Jungkook up, carrying him back toward the house, despite his son’s desperate pleas.

"Dad, please..." Jungkook sobbed, his voice barely audible now, choked by his tears. "I need my Mochi... He needs me... I can’t live without him..."

Mr. Jeon cradled Jungkook’s shaking body, trying to keep him warm as they re-entered the house. "We’ll find him," he whispered, though the words felt hollow, powerless against the storm of emotion that was ravaging his son. "But you need to calm down first, Jungkook."

But Jungkook shook his head, his sobs growing louder. "No, Dad, you don’t understand," he cried, burying his face into his father’s chest. "I need him. I can’t—I can’t be without him..."

His words trailed off into broken sobs, his entire body wracked with the force of his grief. How was he supposed to live without Jimin? Jimin was his whole world. The one person who made everything brighter, who made every moment better just by being there. And now... now he was gone.

Jungkook collapsed in his father’s arms, his tears soaking into his father’s shirt as he clung to him, lost in his devastation. He couldn’t imagine a life without Jimin. He didn’t want to. The thought of waking up every day without his little brother beside him, of not hearing Jimin’s laugh, not seeing his smile—it was unbearable.

"Dad, please," Jungkook whispered, his voice barely audible now, broken and weak. "Please bring him back..."

But all Mr. Jeon could do was hold his son as Jungkook’s world crumbled around him.