The air inside the Jeon council hall was suffocating.
Jungkook stood alone at the center of the room, polished wooden floors gleaming beneath his feet, yet offering no comfort. The elders sat above him, faces unreadable, their silence louder than any accusation. At the very front stood Lord Jeon Seonghwan, hands clasped behind his back, posture calm—too calm.
Jungkook bowed deeply.
"Please," he said, his voice steady but strained. "This was my fault. Everything that happened—every night I left the estate—was my decision."
No one interrupted him.
"Yoongi only helped me because I asked him to," Jungkook continued. "I planned it. I insisted. If anyone deserves punishment… it should be me."
A murmur rippled through the elders.
Jungkook clenched his fists. "He didn't corrupt me. He protected me. If you must punish someone, then punish me as your heir. I will accept it."
Lord Seonghwan finally turned to face him.
"And what exactly do you offer in return, Lord Jeon?" Seonghwan asked coolly.
Jungkook lifted his head. "I will do my duty. I will study harder. I will obey. I will become the heir you want—if you let Yoongi go."
Silence.
Then Jungkook added, quieter now, more honest than noble etiquette allowed, "He is the only friend I have inside this estate."
That sentence lingered.
For a brief moment, Jungkook thought he saw something flicker in Seonghwan's eyes.
Then—
A smirk.
It was slow. Deliberate. Cruel.
"So," Seonghwan said calmly, "you admit that Min Yoongi knowingly aided an heir in deception. He covered your absence, falsified reports, and allowed you to abandon your responsibilities."
"Yes," Jungkook replied immediately. "But—"
"Then you already understand," Seonghwan interrupted, his voice sharp now, "that his crime is not light."
Jungkook's chest tightened. "There are other punishments. Exile. Removal of title. Banishment—"
Seonghwan raised a hand.
"In the Jeon Clan," he said coldly, "betrayal of an heir is treason."
Jungkook froze.
"Treason?" he whispered.
Seonghwan's voice did not waver. "He helped you escape. He allowed you to meet outsiders. He aided your defiance. Such loyalty, when misplaced, becomes a threat."
Jungkook's heart began to race. "You can't mean—"
"Death," Seonghwan said clearly.
The word echoed in Jungkook's ears.
"No," Jungkook said instantly. "No. I don't agree to that."
The elders shifted uncomfortably, but Seonghwan's gaze darkened.
"You do not agree?" he repeated softly.
Jungkook stepped forward, breaking protocol. "You raised me to believe loyalty matters. Yoongi was loyal—to me. If you kill him for that, then what does loyalty even mean in this family?"
The room went deathly quiet.
Seonghwan's expression hardened completely.
"You forget your place," he said.
"I remember it," Jungkook shot back, voice trembling. "I remember that I am your heir. And if this is the price of being one—then I refuse to pay it."
That was the moment.
The elders gasped softly.
Seonghwan's smirk vanished, replaced by fury.
"So be it," he said, his voice icy. "Your refusal changes nothing. The sentence stands."
Jungkook felt the world tilt.
"Death," Seonghwan repeated, turning away. "Let it be carried out."
"No!" Jungkook shouted.
Guards stepped forward immediately.
Jungkook's knees nearly buckled as reality crashed down on him. This wasn't discipline. This wasn't tradition.
This was cruelty dressed as law.
As he was escorted from the hall, Jungkook's thoughts raced—not of himself, not of the clan—
—but of Yoongi.
The man who smiled only once. The mentor who protected him. The friend who chose him over safety.
And Jungkook realized, with terrifying clarity:
The Jeon Clan would never forgive kindness.
And love—
was the most dangerous crime of all.