Am I Not Your Brother, Hyung?

chapter 9

"Was Jungkook right earlier when he said that Taehyung was lying?" thought Namjoon and mentally made a note to check the cctv.

When Namjoon got to school, the first thing he did was rush to check the CCTV footage. And there it was, confirming his assumption Taehyung was lying, and Jungkook was telling the truth all along. The video painted a clear picture: Kai forcefully hugged Tae, who looked visibly uncomfortable, prompting Jungkook to step in and defend him. The realization hit Namjoon hard – he felt a surge of guilt for not believing Jungkook and for punishing him. But what puzzled him even more was why Taehyung would lie, especially when Jungkook was saving him. He decided to discuss this matter at home with everyone else.

When Namjoon returned home from school, he found everyone gathered there. He ushered Jungkook and Tae to their room and shared everything he had witnessed on the CCTV footage. The rest of the family reacted similarly to Namjoon.

"Why would Tae lie... I... I punished Jungkook so harshly... he seemed genuinely scared of me," Namjoon confessed, overwhelmed with guilt.

"We should have checked the footage earlier, but we blindly trusted Tae," Hobi admitted, feeling guilty.

"But why would Tae lie and get Jungkook in trouble... we've always given him very lenient punishments, which is why he's becoming so unruly... I won't let him off easy today," Yoongi declared, his words laced with a blend of anger and confusion.

They called Jungkook and Tae over, and Jin asked , "Tae, why did lie to us ?"

Tae looked at them, confusion knitting his brows. "What... what do you mean, hyung? I didn't lie,"

"Are you sure about that? You said Jungkook was fighting for no reason. Was that the truth?" Yoongi's tone was stern, his eyes piercing.

Tae's breath hitched, his palms sweaty. "Y-yes, hyung... I was telling the truth" he was afraid of getting exposed.

Namjoon's voice was heavy with disappointment and frustration. "Tae, stop it. I saw the CCTV footage. Jungkook was defending you. Why did you lie? Do you know how badly I punished him because of your lie?
Because of you jungkook gets neglected so many times still you did  this to him." His words were like knives, cutting through the tense air.

Tae felt scared as he looked down, unable to meet their angry gazes. He wasn't used to being scolded or punished much, so their disappointment hit him hard. He hadn't expected them to check the CCTV footage.

Meanwhile, tears formed in Jungkook's eyes when Namjoon mentioned the punishment. His back still hurt badly, even though some relief came from them finally checking the footage. But it also made him sad, realizing they hadn't trusted him from the start.

"Why are you staying quiet, Tae? We're waiting for an answer. Why did you lie?" Jimin pressed.

"Ummm... well, you see hyung... I was scared of Kai... I thought if I said anything, he'd come after me again... I couldn't think straight, so I just said Jungkook fought for no reason," Tae explained, feeling a little proud of his excuse. But Jungkook knew better – he knew Tae was lying again.

"Tae, how could you be scared of that boy? Your one brother is the principal, and the other is a teacher... Do you really think your brothers would let Kai get away with troubling you? If you had told the truth, neither Kai would have bothered you nor would Jungkook have been punished so harshly for no reason," Jin said, his disappointment evident in his tone.

"I'm sorry, hyung... I didn't know Jungkook would get punished... I thought you all would just scold him a bit and let him go," Tae said, attempting to sound as sincere as possible. Jungkook just shook his head getting fed up with Tae's lies

"Then you could have stopped me when I was hitting jungkook..but you stayed quite" said namjoon with guilt

"Sorry hyung" said tae plainly

"What's sorry, huh? Do you think sorry will make everything right? No, it won't. You're getting punished, and that's final," Yoongi stated firmly, his tone authoritative.

"But hyung-" Tae attempted to say something, but Namjoon cut him off. "Not a word, Tae... Jimin, go bring the weights."

Jimin returned with a 10kg weight, and Namjoon continued, "Tae, you have to keep this weight on your back for 10 minutes."

Tae's eyes widened in disbelief. "Hyung, 10 minutes? That's too long," he protested.

"Shut up, Tae... If Jungkook can lift these weights with an injured back, then you can easily do this," Jin retorted.

Hobi placed the weight on Tae's back and started the timer. It was incredibly challenging for Tae, especially since it was the first time they had made him do something like this, while Jungkook had to endure it every day. Tae found himself mentally cursing Jungkook the entire time.

After enduring the weight for 10 grueling minutes, Hobi finally removed it from Tae's back. Tae let out a sigh of relief, thinking his punishment was over. However, his luck took a turn for the worse when he saw Yoongi approaching with a wooden ruler, instructing him to extend his right hand.

Tae tried to protest, pleading for leniency, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Yoongi delivered five painful strikes to each of Tae's hands, his hits carrying considerable force. By now, Tae was in tears, his cries mingling with silent curses directed towards Jungkook. He couldn't believe he was enduring such punishment for the first time in his life, all because of Jungkook's actions.

They couldn't help but feel remorseful seeing Tae in tears, but none of them intervened, knowing the punishment was necessary for his understanding.

"Please, no more punishments... I'm sorry," Tae pleaded through his tears.

"Your punishment isn't finished yet... You're grounded for a week, and your pocket money will go to Jungkook... I hope this teaches you to think before getting Jungkook into trouble again," Jin declared solemnly.

"I won't do it again, hyung... I'm sorry," Tae reiterated.

"Don't apologize to me... say sorry to Jungkook," Jin instructed.

Jungkook experienced conflicting emotions. He felt a sense of vindication that Tae was punished for his wrongdoing and that, for once, they took his side. However, he couldn't shake the sadness knowing that punishing Tae wouldn't alleviate the pain in his back, a consequence of the punishment he had already endured for no reason.

"Can I say sorry to Jungkook alone... I've hurt him so much... I want to make things right," Tae asked.

They all nodded in agreement, and Tae grasped Jungkook's hand, guiding him to his room. Yet, upon arriving, Tae harshly yanked jungkook's hand

Jungkook sensed it coming. He recognized that all the apologies were insincere.

Tae shoved him lightly and spat out, "It's all because of you that hyungs punished me so harshly... I hate you, Jungkook... You're trying to turn them against me just because they favor me more... How pathetic, Jungkook."

Jungkook stumbled slightly but regained his balance, his voice steady as he responded, "What's gotten into you, Tae hyung? I was only trying to protect you... It was your lie that got me in trouble, and now you're facing the consequences."

Tae's hand came down hard across Jungkook's cheek, the sting of the slap echoing in the room. "I don't need you to protect me," he retorted bitterly. "Just mind your own business and stay out of my life. I can take care of myself."

Tae was saying hurtful things to jungkook not knowing jin who was passing from there, heard everything

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To be continued

The next part will be uploaded on _joonation_