Jungkook had always deemed breakfast to be the best food of the day when it was done properly. And God knew that hotel breakfasts were the most properly done breakfasts out of them all. He was the only one left at their table, his belly stuffed full but he could not bear the thought of the cup of sweet white morning coffee being wasted if he didn´t finish it. He exhaled, sinking more deeply into the padded chair, wrapping his fingers around the warm cup. Looking out of the window at the morning rays of sunshine reflecting from the windows of the building at the other side of the street made him feel like this might not be such a bad day despite all the worries that had him finding it difficult to fall asleep the night before.

His pondering was interrupted by a rumbling noise as a chair opposite him was being pulled away from the table and a still somewhat sleepy Teahyung slid into it, placing a plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, and two buttered croissants in front of him.

"You know," the newcomer remarked, "I was so looking forward to this central European breakfast and then I hear this guy standing in the line next to me calling the eggs ´hen period´. Now I´m not sure, that I feel like eating somebody´s period first thing in the morning... Are you done with that?" and he took the halfway empty bowl of musli with yogurt from Jungkook without waiting for permission.

"Yeah sure, I´m so full I think I´ll need at least 15 more minutes before I can get up. I should eat less, I´m going to gain weight for sure..." the youth mused more to himself than to anyone else.

"I don´t think that would hurt, actually. I hear that fat people are way harder to kidnap," Teahyung grinned at him and shoved a spoonful of the musli in his mouth.

"Are you saying I should be worried about being kidnapped?"

"Are you not worried about getting kidnapped? It sounds pretty scary..."

"The scary part would be if they harassed you and I would be so fat and ugly, nobody would want to do me. That would be the most embarrassing."

"I feel like you need to rethink your priorities," Teahyung laughed and took a swing from his glass of orange juice. "And by the way, I think you´d be pretty doable even with two or three more kilos. No more than that though."

"Thank you, that is very nice of you to say," Jungkook smirked. "When are you guys leaving?" he did his best not to let it show how anxious he felt about the fact that he wouldn´t get to go out with the others. The ankle didn´t hurt anymore and if it wasn´t for what the doctor had said, he wouldn´t even remember the incident. But he didn't want to spoil the trip for the others, so when Namjoon had suggested that they stay in with him or at least modify their original plans to something more sedentary, he had insisted that they go explore the golden city of Praha without him. He would be fine.

"Oh, I don´t know exactly but Jimin looked pretty stressed when he sprinted around me in the hall, so I'm guessing they're leaving pretty soon," Taehyung replied.

"Are you not going with them?"

"No, I actually had other plans for the weekend."

Jungkook gave him a puzzled look. From what he had pieced together, Taehyung´s plans for the weekend had been cancelled. The older boy didn´t look at him though, since for some reason he suddenly became very intrigued by his croissant, and Jungkook didn´t push it.

Taehyung left the dining room shortly after that. Jungkook had gone oddly quiet and for some reason that made Taehyung uncomfortable, feeling that his friend knew about the troubles he wasn´t ready to share. He passed through the lobby and nodded to the cute receptionist who returned his smile brightly, a phone pressed to her ear. As he stepped out of the elevator and was about to round the corner he almost ran into another person, who turned out to be Eva the Scary Czech Lady.

"Ah! Taehyung ssi! Oh my, I almost peed my pants there," she muttered. "I have been looking for you. Namjoon ssi, told me you would be joining them later since you had some other plans. I wanted to make sure you have everything you need to get around. Public transport ticket, a map, information on how to get wherever," she waved her hand dismissively, "exchanged money, that sort of thing."

Then, when he came to think of it, Taehyung did not have those things. He had looked up the address of the hotel the night before, but that was about it. "Actually, that would be really helpful, Eva ssi," he smiled at the woman and pulled out his phone to show her where he wanted to go. She studied it for a moment and then she pulled out an actual map from her handbag and with a sharpie she marked out the easiest way to get there for him. She also explained what route the other Bangtan boys would probably take through the city, circling the individual venues.

"They wanted a tip on where to go for a traditional Czech food so I recommended this restaurant over here and made a reservation for 1 PM," she marked it on the map. "It is actually in a hotel lobby; when you come in, tell the concierge that I gave you the tip and they will take care of you. Their food is to die for! " She proceeded with giving him a couple of tickets for the public transport, in case he was feeling brave enough to get on it and not get lost, and some Czech currency cash, cutting his protests short by saying she would work it out with the Bangtan manager along with all the other finances. "Praha can be kind of confusing, especially when you get on the subway, so in case anything happens, here is my card," she handed it to him and nimbly moved to the side as two hotel maintenance men carrying a ladder rounded the corner they were standing at and almost ran into her. She definitely has a knack for bumping into people, Taehyung thought. "We haven't picked the best spot to be standing at," Eva laughed shortly. "As I was saying, if anything happens, just give me a call." She checked her watch. "I have to run now, I have some other engagements, but I will have my phone on me. Is there anything else I can do for you, Taehyung ssi?"

"Actually yes!" he blurted before she could hurry off. "It´s about Jungkook… He won´t say it, but he feels miserable because he has to stay here because of the injury. I thought maybe if we could get him a wheelchair or something to get him around, he could come with us…?" he finished in a questioning tone. Now that he had said it out loud, it sounded like a petty request.

Eva´s forehead wrinkled in thought. "Hm… why didn´t I think of that? It´s kind of late to do something about it now… The hotel should have a spare wheelchair for injured or disabled guests but I´m not sure they would let you take it off the premises. I will ask at the front desk on my way down and try to work something out. When you come back here, check in with the concierge; I will have left her with an instruction, okay? You would probably need to take a taxi to get anywhere, so she can help you with that too."

Taehyung was quite happy with that. He wasn´t that confident in his English skills and however bossy and blunt Eva appeared, she seemed to be quite able too. He watched her get onto the elevator and was about to turn back to go to his room when she called out "And wear a jacket, Taehyung ssi, it´s quite chilly outside!" He turned his head and saw her wink at him before the elevator door shut closed.

Jungkook slowly rubbed the arches of his brow bones with so much force that the back of his neck painfully strained to keep his head upwards. The blissful pressure made little stars dance behind his closed eyelids. After a while he opened his eyes and met his own gaze in the bathroom mirror fogged by the steam from the scalding shower he just indulged himself in. His almond shaped eyes narrowed as he flashed himself a sultry half smile. A fraction of a second later he broke off the eye contact with his mirrored image and grabbed a white towel from the hanger, running it through his wet hair and feeling slightly silly for his little self-performance.

When he entered the bedroom he felt aware of how empty it was. Taehyung had left about 45 minutes ago but somehow it felt like much longer.

Jungkook limped over to the bed, careful not to put much pressure on his left ankle, even though it didn't hurt at all. He plopped onto the sheets and readjusted the towel on his head so that he wouldn´t soak the pillow. His whole body was heavy and warm and the cool air of the room felt truly wonderful. Lazy to move any further he reached for his phone lying on the night stand next to his head and lit it up. No messages.

He opened Facebook and looked into the notifications. Three of his friends were celebrating their birthday. Would he like to wish them all the best? He scoffed. Writing a cliché message to a person he hadn´t spoken to since elementary school always seemed lame to him and he looked down on the people who congratulated others on their birthday just because they saw a stupid notification and didn´t have anything else to do at that moment.

Somebody posted something on the group page Jungkook was mildly interested in at one point. He started scrolling through his feed, hoping to kill some time. There were already some pictures from the showcase, although none in a very good quality. As Jungkook scrolled further and further, he started to feel the familiar chilling sensation in the pit of his stomach. He tried to ignore it and set to writing a comment under one of the photos. He checked the clock. 11:48 AM. Too early. The clenching of his insides intensified.

He took a deep breath and focused on the air entering and leaving his lungs, filling his nostrils, the movement of his diaphragm. The thought of spending the whole day alone trapped in the hotel room arose unbidden in his mind. Stop it. Jungkook shook his head as if to reset his train of thought but all he achieved was a chill running down his spine. The room´s temperature wasn´t so pleasant anymore now that the warmth from the shower had left his body. He got up and hopped over to the dresser underneath the mirror to pull out a hairdryer. It's just a couple of hours. They will be back by the evening. Or maybe a bit later if they decide to get dinner too. No big deal. He tried to ignore the way his hands were shaking when he switched on the hairdryer.

About two hours after he had left the hotel, Taehyung entered the lobby again. As he slowly walked up to the front desk, he was trying to ignore the way his hands were shaking. The meeting didn´t go over well. He had to clear his throat to keep his voice from wavering when he asked the pretty girl behind the front desk about the wheelchair. (He didn´t know how to say wheelchair in English so he settled for some wild gesturing and referring to Eva. The fact that he couldn´t pronounce her last name wasn´t particularly helpful either as at first the clerk seemed perplexed as to who he was talking about so in the end he just took out the business card.)

To his own surprise, he was striding through the corridor toward his and Jungkook´s room ten minutes later, pushing a sleek black wheelchair in front of him. Eva has certainly outdone herself on this one. Before he pushed the door open, he put on his brightest smile despite the queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was determined to not let his own stupid bad mood bring down his friend too.

As soon as he entered the room, he knew something was wrong.