46 – V focus
Taehyung was sitting at his desk, trying to focus on his homework rather than the train wreck of a day he had been through. Jimin hadn't been on the bus, understandably. Jimin almost never got sick, so his absence was loud and distracting.
Even Jungkook hadn't been waiting at the gates like he normally would. Taehyung waited until the last second to wait for him, seeing if he'd missed the bus and constantly checking his phone for a text or a call that just didn't come. Taehyung begrudgingly ran into school and was scolded for being late.
Jungkook was nowhere to be found at break, either. Taehyung tried texting him again, trying in vain to get an explanation. He wasn't careful enough. A teacher saw him and confiscated his phone almost immediately, not letting Taehyung even press send.
The next lessons dragged on. Taehyung had barely said a word all day and it was killing him to feel this alone. Finally, the bell rang to release him from his class and he trudged off to lunch.
He sat by the lockers, feeling lonely and sorry for himself. He didn't want to eat, he didn't want to sing, he didn't really want to do anything. He wanted to fake being sick and go home. It was difficult to convince himself that was a bad idea. Usually, Jungkook would do that.
"Taehyung!"
Speak of the fucking devil. Taehyung's head snapped up to the familiar voice and saw Jungkook waltzing down the hallway towards him. Taehyung leapt up and ran to hug him. He needed this on a day like today. This was the first person he had wanted to talk to for around 12 hours and it was so refreshing. And yet, Taehyung couldn't say a word.
"Hyung, are you okay?" Jungkook asked, questioning the overly long and silent hug. Taehyung had always been a social bean and it had drained him to be so quiet for so long. No one had given him any warning or explanation and it had just been so hard. But now, it didn't have to be.
"Kookie, where were you?" he implored and pulled away, ignoring the glances from their schoolmates. Jungkook flushed,
"It's kind of a long story. Can we go under the stairs?" he asked. Taehyung nodded and held Jungkook's hand all the way there, not wanting to let him out of his grip. They got under the stairs and Taehyung just sighed. Jungkook looked down.
"Hyung, I'm sorry for leaving you alone. Are you okay?" he asked cautiously. Taehyung smiled and rested his head on Jungkook's shoulder.
"Yeah, you're here now," he replied.
"You aren't… mad?" Jungkook prompted and Taehyung shook his head.
"No. I'm sure you had a good reason, whatever it was." Jungkook was probably about to start explaining himself when his phone rang. It was Seokjin and Namjoon inviting them on a double date. Taehyung was all for this; he hadn't seen them in a while and it would be cool to go out and catch up with them. However…
"Hyung," Jungkook whispered, "I've got exams. I can't go out tonight." Dammit. Inwardly disappointed, Taehyung pouted and whispered,
"Fine, but you're telling them." He phased out while Jungkook was making excuses and felt his heart sink. Today was not it. At all. Jungkook showed him the time and Taehyung nodded to let him say goodbye. He was upset to have to go back to being alone but he gave Jungkook the biggest hug. The younger giggled,
"What was that for?" Taehyung looked him straight in the eye.
"I love you. So much." Jungkook stared back. Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the bell screaming at them to leave. Jungkook settled for kissing him and walking him to his next lesson in silence. Taehyung didn't know if something was wrong but he hated Jungkook being silent. It was unnerving, especially after a whole day of nothing. Taehyung stepped into his classroom and tried not to think until he got home.
Now he was home, he was still not thinking. It was just one of those days that pissed him off by existing. The bit with Jungkook was nice. The rest of it hurt. He just wanted to get his homework done, go to sleep and let the day end.
Then his phone rang. It was Hoseok. Smiling (a talk with sunshine was exactly what Taehyung needed right now), he answered the call. Before he could say a word, he was attacked with noise.
"Taehyung?" his phone blared. Taehyung flinched but answered,
"Hyung? Where are you? It's so loud." Hoseok said nothing. "Hyung?"
"So… you aren't here?" he asked. Taehyung laughed,
"I don't know where you are! I'm at home. Where are you?" he asked again.
"Rapture. But if you aren't here, then why the hell… shit, Tae, I'll call you back." The call ended abruptly, leaving Taehyung thoroughly confused. Not really in the mood to work anymore, he tried texting someone else. The first name that came up was Namjoon, so he tried that.
Tae: Hobi-hyung's somewhere weird, what's going on?
The response was near enough immediate.
Joon-hyung: How far away do you live from club rapture?
Tae: um like 5 mins why
Tae: what's going on?
Joon-hyung: that's what we're trying to figure out
Joon-hyung: just get here fast
Terrified that something was badly wrong, Taehyung jumped up, grabbed his jacket and ran out the back door. Rapture was the student club down the road from him. The last call was at 3 am, and that's often how Taehyung judged the time when he was up late; the influx of drunk students on his road caused a lot of noise.
He ran through the dark streets until he could see the glaring neon sign sparkling, RAPTURE. He walked up to the entrance, trying to stay away from the dodgy-looking people. He looked around until he saw Seokjin waving at him a few yards away. He jogged over, confused. No one had to say a word for him to understand what happened.
A complaining, struggling Jungkook had his arms pinned behind his back by a very done-looking Hoseok. Jungkook lurched forward and Namjoon pushed him back like he was expecting it. Taehyung stared.
"W-what?" he mumbled and Seokjin sighed,
"Your guess is as good as ours." Taehyung went over and looked Jungkook in the eyes like before. They were different from the focused and clear ones Taehyung was familiar with.
"This isn't right. How did you- "
"SO NO ONE TOLD YOU LIFE WAS GONNA BE THIS WAYYYY," Taehyung was cut off by Jungkook loudly singing the Friends' theme. He again tried to wriggle away, presumably to do the clapping bit. "Lemme gooo," he complained and everyone tried not to laugh. Taehyung reminded himself and continued,
"How did you find him?"
"Us three came here to unwind but we barely got through the door before he crashed into us. He's drunk off his mind and God knows how he got served," Namjoon muttered.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Taehyung whined, exasperated.
"I went in to see if you were with him and I- " Hoseok tried.
"Why would I be with him?!" Taehyung interrupted loudly. It had been a long day and it was so far from over. Why couldn't things just go his way? It was frustrating and annoying and maddening and-
"Tae, are you okay?" Taehyung hadn't even realised he was crying. He just didn't want this. Seokjin pulled him into a hug and Taehyung thanked God he was so tall. He was comfy.
"Hey, no, I wanna, I wanna hug too!" Jungkook slurred, making Taehyung cringe. It was sweet, though. He turned around and hugged him too. Hoseok let go of his arms and Taehyung felt Jungkook's weight being passed to him. He was heavy and smelled of alcohol but he was warm. Out of nowhere, he heard a mumble of,
"I love you." Taehyung was in the kind of mood where he didn't know whether to believe that or not. Despite this, he whispered,
"I love you too." He pulled back and fixed Jungkook's hair, who was standing with a ditzy smile on his face. "Guys, I'm gonna take him back to mine. I have a spare uniform for him and I can ask him what the fuck he thinks he's doing when he wakes up," he told the others.
"Are you sure?" Namjoon asked. "Won't your parents mind?" Taehyung shook his head.
"They won't notice. I can keep him quiet," he assured them.
"Do you need help getting him home?" Hoseok offered.
"No, it's okay, it's not far. You guys go have fun. Call me if you find Jimin somewhere in there as well," he smiled. Seokjin laughed and wished him luck. Jungkook was leaning heavily on Taehyung as they walked away but Taehyung didn't really care. He just wanted Jungkook to be safe and preferably sober by the morning.
"Taehyungieeeee," Jungkook whined. Taehyung smiled at how cute he was. Normally, Jungkook would try to keep a mature persona. Apparently, that filter disappeared when he was drunk.
"Yes Kookie?" he answered, trying to stay calm.
"I really, I really like that, you being here," he just about said.
"I don't like you being here," Taehyung stated honestly. Jungkook looked heartbroken.
"But, but, I love you," he pouted sadly. Taehyung smiled,
"I love you too, but I hate the fact that you're here and you're like this. You're going to have a lot of explaining to do in the morning." Jungkook giggled.
"Future me is gonna, gonna be in so, so much trouble." Taehyung sighed. He didn't know what Jungkook had done but it can't have been good at all.
It took them ten minutes to get to Taehyung's house, as opposed to the three minutes it took Taehyung to run there. As quietly as he could, Taehyung opened the back door and, in a flash of confidence, swept Jungkook into his arms to carry him upstairs; it would have taken forever otherwise.
He lay Jungkook on his bed and tucked him in like a child. While trying to decide whether to sleep in the same bed as a drunk and probably very cuddly Jungkook, the younger made grabby hands at Taehyung.
"C'mere," he whimpered so adorably that Taehyung had no choice but to comply. He lay beside Jungkook, missing the coherency in his eyes.
"You're in so much trouble," he whispered. Jungkook grinned,
"I love you too."