partners till the end: jjk (m)
Pairing – cyborg! jungkook x bomb expert and ex-military! reader ft. bts here and there as good guys;
Genre – futuristic, sci-fi (?), takes place in 4505, best friends to lovers, deserter/runaway, dystopian, military;
Summary – [The world around you has gone to shit. In every corner, there’s danger trying to dip its claws into your flesh and separate you. Jungkook and you are on the run, fueled by the promises and the desire to keep each other safe. You promised, partners till the end.]
Warnings – PTSD, physical and emotional trauma, modified body parts (metallic), robot hands, bombs, rehabilitation, military training, violence, guns, action, murder, near-death experience(s), blood and mild gore, deserter/traitor reader and jk, false accusations, mention of war, poverty, class separation, dystopian world, angst, best friends (slash work partners) turned lovers;
Word count – (4k);
note. There’s a potential I’ll write part two! It’s unedited but I’ll get back to it tomorrow!
The small mattress on the floor could barely accommodate your bodies to lay in a comfortable position, Jungkook’s bare feet dangle on the side of the makeshift bed while your front is pressed to his side. Your right hand that’s not folded under you is placed on his clothed chest moving rhythmically to his heartbeat.
You woke up when the noises coming from the outside world got loud enough that you were no longer able to ignore them, alarmed by the careless gunshot that sliced through the still air like a knife. There was not much to see when you peeked through the torn blinds, on this part of the city the street lamps didn’t work anymore so you couldn’t see the faces only heard the last grunts from the person that has been shot before everything went back to silence. The people around here were not kind to eyewitnesses so you ducked down as soon as the man turned around to drag the body to the nearby alley. You shook your head as midnight thoughts filled your mind, there’s nothing you could do or even in the position where you should think about anyone else.
Yours and Jungkook’s survival should be the only priority that matters, there’s a search party for you from all over the country one wrong step and you’re all good as dead. Who knew that hiding from the government will be the first time that you get to go on a vacation since the day you’ve been recruited. Until now it was only your work waiting for you but now it’s different, you have Jungkook. In the early beginnings of your relationship you often wished, if you could go back to your training days it was easier to sweat and bleed, everything seemed to be less complicated than now when things are no longer black or white. He showed you the grey area of things if you’re being honest with yourself you could thank him for a lot of reasons. He taught you many things. Remembering the first few years of knowing him, the memory puts a rare smile on your face even if there’s no one to witness it just the dark. He was more like a puppy than a soldier back then.
He took your leadership to a next level always following you around ignoring the other soldiers calling him names because of it. You were his hero, the leader he could look up to but like anything in life, things don’t stay the same for long. It wasn’t a secret that you were married to your work, you didn’t go to bars to get drunk or seduced young men like your superiors. Giving up those things were easy for you and it landed you a good position within military bases. You were the best bomb expert around the base maybe even the country and even foreign leaders knew your name and next to you, there was always Jungkook. Despite the rocky start, he grew on you.
Comparing this Jungkook to the boy he once was, you sigh, nowadays you wish you have fought harder to keep his childlike innocence from the harsh reality for a bit longer. It’s unlike you to think that but you kind of doesn’t know what to think anymore, you were all for crushing the hope so it won’t cloud their judgement on the missions. You turned soft over the years and his prosthetic hands confirm your incapability of being his leader. Deep down you know that the risk is always there. That the mission you got assigned to carry out can be your last but with Jungkook you turned a blind eye to it. You naively thought that it can never happen to you, you got cocky and you paid the price.
You slip your fingers back to the slot between Jungkook’s metallic ones like puzzle pieces. He didn’t wake up to the noises and now you know why. He’s having another nightmare about that day. His hand tightens around your human ones, the flesh turns white, it hurts but your heart hurts more.
”It’s ok.” You whisper into his ear, pushing your body weight to lay on your side and on your elbow you could press your nose to the side of his cheek, kissing his temple in secret while he’s unconscious to your affection.
His eyes open wide, the nightmare shook him awake just after the bomb went off with an ear-shattering noise. The first thing he feels is your breath hitting the side of his face your noses rub together as he turns to his side facing you.
”I’m here.” You tell him with a gentleness in your voice that melts Jungkook’s anxiety. He’s breathing hard, with each inhale of air your chest meet but you don’t mind the sweat that rubs off on your clothes, you welcome his body heat by pulling him against your wildly beating heart that mirrors his own organ. You mistake that as a reaction due to the nightmare and not because of your proximity. Jungkook lets go of your other hand to respond to your hug but it draws his attention to the angry red lines his metallic fingers left when they dug into your skin. Jungkook immediately apologises releasing you like it’s on fire.
”I know you can’t adjust the strength of your prosthetic hands yet, it’s ok you’ll learn.” You don’t like the guilt shine like tears in his eyes whenever he accidentally hurts you. A part of you wants him to hurt you. It’s your fault that he needs to adjust, that he can no longer feel the touch of others. You did this to him.
It’s an evil circle of push and pulls. The more you reduce the distance the more you’ll get hurt but it hurts so good it gets addicting to get closer and closer. He keeps telling you that it’s ok but you can’t accept it just as it is, both of you are selfish in your own way. Guilty but unable to let go.
”Don’t look at me like that Y/N. I told you it’s not your fault. I made my choice you had nothing to do with my decision.” You sigh once the words left his mouth. You had been over this conversation a million times before.
”It has everything to do with me Jungkook. You’re like this because you wanted to protect me.” His expression sours but there’s nothing you could do, you can’t lie and say it doesn’t bother you. This is the truth even though he likes to put his head in the sand and pretend like he didn’t use his body as a living shield between you and the ticking bomb on your last mission together a month ago.
”I said it’s fine. When will you let it go?” He abruptly turns to his other side facing away from you. All you can do is sigh again and place a hand on his back feeling his muscles clench under his shirt but otherwise doesn’t pull away from your touch. You’re both stressed being on the run is draining your energy levels and it’s already taking its toll on your mental healths. You both know what will be the consequences if they find you. It will be game over before you even realise.
”Aren’t you being unfair right now?” Your voice is softspoken, broken record at this point. ”You could have died Jungkook. I don’t want to be the cause of your death.” He doesn’t turn around but he loosens up his defensive stance. He didn’t think when it happened but after hiding with you by his side for over a month now he had time to think about it more clearly, placing his feet in your shoes and realise how it affected you while he was in a coma. He still remembers the redness to your eyes and the tears that soaked his white shirt after he woke up. You looked like a ghost, the nurse later told him that you hadn’t left his side since he came back from surgery. He was out for two weeks approximately. Everything went down to shit after that, he didn’t have time to fully recover before the military scheduled his hearing about the incident. The higher-ups only let him live because they needed a scapegoat to take the blame for them. You saved his life before they could have executed him to set the example for those who tried to oppose orders.
”I didn’t think. I lost my hands but what if I lost you instead? I would rather have you like this than get my sense of touch back.” It’s painful to admit but you know where he’s coming from. In a situation like that, you would have done the same thing in a heartbeat without regrets. Things are, however, not as easy as that.
”Promise me that you won’t do anything reckless like that again. I went through hell while I was waiting for you to wake up. Please, promise me that you won’t sacrifice your life just to save mine.” You force him to look into your eyes. As soon as your gazes meet you know that he can’t promise you that. You laugh without humour as you smack him on his chest somewhat hysterical as he lets you hit him again and again. There’s no force behind your hits, it doesn’t hurt physically but his heart aches.
”You saved me Y/N. My life, it was pointless before I met you. You gave me purpose. Please don’t make me do such a promise I can’t keep.” The metallic hand is cold against your cheek, you could tell he’s holding back but you can’t tell him he shouldn’t listen and break the carefully crafted boundaries that saved both of your hearts until now from completely shattering into pieces. You know it’s already too late for that but you’re stubborn. You want to keep the illusion that you’re not deeply in love with your best friend. All these years you pretended to be blind to Jungkook’s feelings when in reality, you’re just a coward.
The hero he sees in you was never there but every time you want to say something there’s a lump in your throat preventing the words from spilling. You’re pathetic just like your excuses and if Jungkook knew even a bit of your inner monologues he wouldn’t smile at you like that. ”Let’s just sleep.”
You say defeatedly, it’s you who turns the other way this time but it doesn’t deter Jungkook from snaking his hands around your torso and pulling you against his chest. He silently crossed several of those boundaries you set since you two left the base as traitors of the country but just like before, you don’t say anything.
You’re up early, it’s a feast to roll out of his caging arms but you manage to escape without waking your companion in the process. You found some instant coffee lying around inside of the kitchen cabinets and even if it’s expired you take your chances hoping that it won’t bite you back in the ass. There’s only cold water in the shower but it’s a privilege to be able to take one so you grit your teeth and do what you have to. There’s no guarantee that the next place you crash will have running water. If you’re lucky you could fix that old washing machine to clean your clothes while you’re at it.
Your luck runs out when there’s no electricity but after some digging, you find a portable cooker that’s in perfect condition. You get two cans out of your bag and start reheating them while you wait for the cooker to warm up. There’s a frown etched into your features as you think, you need to find some food soon, Jungkook is still recovering so he needs more than usual. There should be a shop nearby, you have some money saved up anyway so it shouldn’t be a problem.
”You’re up early.” Jungkook hums right into your ear as he hugs you from behind, sleepily looking down on the food from over your shoulders. His sudden weight on you pushes your body forward into the counter. His fingers are intertwined in front of your stomach, the intimate touch makes your cheeks burn but you blame the cold shower for it. You knew you shouldn’t have left him to cuddle you last night. He’s getting braver as you don’t shove him off of you anymore.
You used to do that. Keep your distance but each time you scold him or shoo him away there’s guilt. You don’t like seeing him sad especially if you’re the source of his sadness. Your initial reason why you kept rejecting his advances was the professional relationship between you two but now, that means nothing. He’s not your co-worker anymore nor he’s your subordinate – both of you are runaways and traitors of your home country, at least in the eyes of the law. No one cares to find out the truth or maybe some did but they were punished accordingly. It never mattered to them if you were wrong or not.
”I could see the cogs turning inside your head. Care to share it with the class?” Jungkook’s gentle jab returns you to the food in front of you.
”Fuck.” You turn the heat to low when you see the smoke coming from the canned beans and corn mix. The bottom is a little burnt but it’s still edible. ”It’s nothing. Let’s eat.” You nod more to yourself than for acknowledging Jungkook as you separate the food into two servings, Jungkook’s a little bigger than yours.
”Y/N.” He whines your name like a child when he sees you give him the bigger portion but you give him a pointed look back.
”Jungkook.”
He’s about to argue like usual when there’s a knock on the front door. You both abandon the food on the table to get ready to welcome your guest. You have a revolver and five more bullets to fill it, you stole it on the day you escaped with Jungkook for occasions like this if you get cornered. You could leave through the window but you don’t have enough time to get your stuff so your best shot is to confront the intruder and leave afterwards.
”Who’s there?” You ask with a visible edge to your tone. Your finger is on the trigger while you wait for the person behind the door to make his or her first step. Jungkook is not standing too far behind you, you can feel his palm on your lower back just as tense as you are. You hear whispers but there’s no way you could understand the words murmured in such a low volume and behind closed doors.
”We’re friends! I’m Hobi and Yoongi is with me too, don’t shoot! We’re here on our own and it would be better to keep our meeting a secret so we would appreciate it if you could open the door for us.”
Motioning for Jungkook to open the door you still keep your hands tightly wrapped around your weapon until you’re one hundred percent sure it’s not a trap. You let them it and Jungkook searches their bodies for anything funny. Once he affirms that there’s no tracker device or any weapon they didn’t show you you start to slightly relax. Hoseok is the first one to envelop you in a bone-crushing hug.
”Are you two alright? What the fuck happened? One day you were just gone and people were going around calling you a traitor! I had to hear it from you. I couldn’t believe what they were saying.” It’s a genuine smile that splits your face, you make eye contact with Yoongi who has the same worried expression but is more reserved than Hoseok when he has to show his true feelings. You missed your friends. It was a hard decision to leave them behind without a goodbye but you couldn’t explain everything to them and you needed to act fast before the council decided Jungkook’s execution date. There was no time to waste.
”I’m not a traitor and neither is Jungkook.” You hug Hoseok back like your life depended on it. He has the smell that you associate with home, Yoongi and Hoseok are the brothers you never had.
”That’s not what General Jung says.” Hoseok cringes when Yoongi mentions his father. You didn’t expect anything else from that selfish bastard. He might be Hoseok’s biological father but he never acted as one. It was you and Yoongi who celebrated his birthday with a badly decorated cupcake in the middle of the night. The ones who got him a shiny new boot that he cherishes to this day and wears to death. His father never treated him anything more than a soldier from the hundreds he orders around.
”Of course he wouldn’t say he fucked up. With that mission, he was sending us to our death beds. He knew that it was beyond our borders but still send us to investigate a minefield. We were not meant to survive so when we came back he had to make up something and get rid of us in a different way.”
”But why would my father want to get rid of you?” Hoseok is confused, you could understand how he feels. You were confused at first too but then you did some digging while you were running away from his men you found out pretty interesting things. Before that mission, you had a solo job so Jungkook didn’t know about it. You remember it clearly as he was pretty pissed off by the fact that he couldn’t get in contact with you for a few days until the job was done.
General Jung sent you in a field inspection, he wanted you to report back if there are bombs planted around the meeting place the generals will hold their annual meeting talking about war and strategies. You’re not only good at sniffing out bombs but you were trained to find any kind of foul play. Discovering traps and disarm bombs are your special skills and he always recognised your potentials even when you were a trainee. You didn’t find anything suspicious so you went back to report it to him.
You overheard a conversation he had on the phone with someone, you didn’t know what that conversation was about until way later. Through connections, you discovered that he has been selling your army’s custom weapons to shady people who would resell them to undeveloped countries and create unnecessary bloodlust between nations. The soldiers were always told that they have been fighting for peace but all along their leader was the one who created friction between countries.
Hoseok sits on the dirty floor devastated as you tell him and Yoongi what you know and why he wants to eliminate you so bad. It was messy. After you and Jungkook came back from that failed mission General Jung realised that you have no idea of his plan so he tried to make Jungkook take the bait and sweep everything under the rug by executing him. He didn’t think much of your relationship, he had no idea you would go this far for a subordinate. He never loved someone in his life so he couldn’t understand your reasons. Even if he didn’t lose his hands to save your life on that minefield you were already whipped for that man. There’s guilt but it’s not all guilt that fueled you to do everything you can. He has been following you around like a duckling since he was eighteen. You started to see him as a man when he turned twenty but you think he saw you as a woman before that.
”What are we going to do now?” Yoongi is the first to ask the loaded question he was the bravest of the three of you anyway. Even though the question is out no one knows the answer to that so the room is enveloped in silence again. Jungkook returned to your side while you were telling them the story to this point, even you don’t know what would be the best step from now on. He stayed silent throughout your talk but you could feel his comforting presence near you.
”We can’t do much if I’m being honest. If we go back he’ll have both of our heads and he’s too powerful for us to stop him.” You lean against Jungkook’s chest, seeking the warmth that he eagerly gives you without a complaint. Hoseok and Yoongi both watch the interaction with interest and mild surprise colouring their faces as you don’t even do as much as flinch when Jungkook tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and rests his chin on your shoulder. They are not used to seeing you and your subordinate intimate like this. Considering how blunt can Yoongi be you were waiting for him to say something regarding the topic. You’re surprised he could hold back for this long for the sake of the serious conversation.
”You’re awfully cuddly with each other. We knew that Jungkook had an interest in you but we didn’t know you reciprocate it.”
There’s no reason for you to hide it anymore. You close your eyes for a split second before you sigh and nod.
”I’m not his boss anymore and it’s not like I have so much time to waste. We’re hunted down Yoongi.”
”I’m sure there’s something we can do.” It’s the sternest you’ve seen Hoseok so far. Normally he’s the sunshine in the room but this situation is not like anything before. You’re no longer fooling around after practice inside your tents. You’re wanted by the nation and his snake father wants your head on a silver platter.
”Actually. I think I know someone.” Everyone looks at Yoongi this time who have a grave expression on his face. He knows he can trust you guys so he’s willing to talk after he kept it a secret for four years. There’s a group of activists; he knows the man who runs it and maybe he has the power to get Hoseok’s father down on his knees if you can play your cards right. It’s an organisation that wants peace and end the war that has been going on for too long. After he tells all of you his story, now you can understand why he was so reluctant to form this friendship with you and Hoseok in the beginning.
He was not in your camp to make friends. He was there to spy but along the way, he learnt to trust you two.
Even though there’s so much more that needs to be said out loud you had to end the discussion there for today. They need to get back before their disappearance arises suspicion but they promise to be back within a few days when it’s safer for them to travel. General Jung is keeping an eye on every soldier after you and Jungkook escaped, he suspects someone from the inside helped you get away.
