Yoongi tapped the pen against the notebook margin, lips pressing together thoughtfully as he glanced over the lines of ink crawling across the upper half of the page.
It was- good. Or it could be.
It needed something.
Something hollow, yet resonant. A depth of feeling; crisp, fresh- like the first breath after staying underwater a beat too long-
Sucking the end of the pen between his lips, rolling the mangled plastic between his teeth, Yoongi closed his eyes, humming softly, the occasional decipherable word escaping into the silence of his studio as memory paired lyrics with melody.
Maybe if he repeated that line?
Yes - Except the last word! Classic misdirect-
His small grunt of satisfaction echoed as his pen dragged haphazardly across the page, hand desperately trying to keep up with his brain; not wanting to risk losing the phenomenal flow he'd slipped into tonight.
He was on a roll.
An exceptionally rare, highly treasured and much-coveted roll.
He was in the zone.
And about time too; he had weeks to make up for. Hour upon hour of staring helplessly at the blank pages of his notebook or scratching black ink over half-processed thoughts.
It hadn't been lack of motivation; indeed he found a deadline to be a fantastic motivator, and none so much as the progress meeting with the rest of their writing team, (including Bang PD) that was looming just around the corner. He'd specifically penciled aside time to work on this song, so it wasn't poor time management. And inspiration? His mind was frothing with ideas and themes he'd love to tackle into lyric form one day- and every time he turned around something else would take a flame to his imagination.
Stress, perhaps? Or just classic unexplainable writer's block. Whatever the cause, Yoongi was just glad he seemed to have moved beyond it.
He paused, tongue tucked between his teeth as he considered the chorus section. He really wanted something a little more-
He frowned.
Or maybe a little less?
Something about it was just -off.
Idly running a finger over the pitted indents edging the page from the pen tip, Yoongi chewed on his bottom lip as he slowly mouthed the lines of the chorus-
He sat upright suddenly; the right words were there, itching just beneath his skin; Yoongi could feel their weight on the tip of his tongue, waiting to be spilled from his mind-
The door ricocheted open across the room, bouncing off the rubber stopper against the wall to slam itself shut; the culprit barely slipping through in time to avoid the return swing.
Enter stage left: Hurricane TaeTae.
"Hyung, I'm finished! We can go now-" Taehyung exclaimed, loping across the small room, coming to an expectant stop on the other side of the desk.
Yoongi waved him off, not raising his eyes from the page of sprawling black ink. He had to get this down before he forgot. He hated trying to remember a thought-of lyric after the fact; he always drove himself insane thinking it had been better the first time.
A large hand invaded his line of vision. Yoongi blinked, and the long fingers wriggled in an overtly pointed attempt to get his attention.
"Yoongi-hyung? Hyyyuung?" Taehyung sing-songed in a manner that Yoongi was sure he didn't usually find quite so irritating.
A gentle squeeze of the wrist attached to the obscuring hand and Yoongi pushed it out of the way, replying absently, "Give me a few, Tae. I just need to-"
He was only very dimly aware of Taehyung plopping down on the small couch against the far wall, the youngers presence already a footnote on the list of current importance.
Had it been 'just once' or 'for once'?
He didn't remember. Damn-it Kim Taehyung.
Balancing the pen over the knuckles of his left hand, Yoongi ran his tongue over his teeth as he contemplated the dilemma; he was sure it had been 'for once.'
Did 'just once' sound better though?
Frustration simmered in weak ebbs beneath his pulse; he was sure he'd had it.
Maybe if he concentrated on remembering his thought process from earlier, he'd be able to-
Thump.-
Maybe he'd be able to-
Thump. Thump. -
Be able to-
Thump.-
The thought was well and truly gone, fading into obscurity even as Yoongi snapped his gaze up to pin Taehyung's head to the sofa, where the singer had been about to thump it again.
Yoongi took a deep calming breath; Taehyung wasn't doing it on purpose. Probably.
"Tae, stop it. I need to concentrate-" Firm and to the point, without being a jerk-hat. Good hyung.
Tae's appropriately apologetic murmur of "Sorry, hyung- "was also a soothing balm to his slowly unraveling patience.
So was turning back to the notebook before him just in time for the entire last phrase of his chorus to roll back into his mind, as if by the power of Taehyung's repentance.
He dropped pen to paper and watched as the words to what should be an absolute killer hook spilled across the page almost as if by themselves-
Thump-
Thump. Thump-
"Taehyung!" Yoongi moaned, throwing his pen down and dropping his head into his hands to express his sheer frustrated exasperation.
"Sorry - sorry! Just...how much longer?" Taehyung asked quietly, which was a blessing unto itself.
Longer if you don't go away. But he couldn't very well say that.
Yoongi answered as placidly as he could, his voice steady as he replied, "As long as it takes, Taehyung. Just- quiet. Be quiet."
Taehyung immediately fell silent, which despite being exactly what Yoongi had asked for, was also such an antithesis that Yoongi sighed and looked up -
Taehyung had his phone out though, and Yoongi relaxed.
Picking up his abandoned pen, Yoongi swept his gaze up to the chorus section, trying to pinpoint where he'd been focusing. Unsuccessfully.
Sighing, he moved back to the beginning of the song. Maybe going over the whole thing would pull him back into the zone.
It didn't.
"Hyung-"
Yoongi snapped, yelling "Taehyung!", turning his full attention to the younger as he so obviously craved.
Something in his countenance must have revealed Yoongi's somewhat less than pleased sentiments, because Taehyung flinched slightly, stilling as he squeaked, "You're the one who was supposed to be waiting for me!"
And Yoongi knew, somewhere beneath the wash of anger at the apparent cheek and disrespect, that Taehyung probably hadn't meant it like that. Yoongi had after all, volunteered to wait while Taehyung stayed back to do a photo-set they'd missed of him during the mornings photo-shoot (something about the fans not being happy if Taehyung was the only member without an individual photo with the kittens.)
Anger though, could be cloudy.
"I'm sorry, what?" Yoongi spoke, his voice the deadly quiet it got only when his buttons had been so thoroughly pressed that an explosion was near inevitable.
Taehyung's eyes widened- somehow turning half his face into liquid brown pools of panic for an instant before the anime mirage wore off and he pouted cutely instead.
"But hyyyung. I just want to go home-" Taehyung whined softly, bouncing gently in place on the couch and exaggerating the pout when Yoongi just stared wordlessly back at him.
In Taehyung's defense, an outrageously adorable dongsaeng was usually a pretty good method of defusing a riled Min Yoongi, so the younger was in no way expecting the barbed rage that shot at him.
"For fuck's sake! Can't you just shut up for two seconds! You're always blathering on about shit that no one cares about. You're so annoying! You want to go so badly? Good- I wish you would! Go! I don't care! Just go!" Yoongi shouted, drawing himself to his feet and throwing the pen-
It hit the door as it slammed behind Taehyung's retreating back.
Silence.
Yoongi breathed a sigh of appreciation and turned back to his notebook.
His phone chirped some indefinite time later, and Yoongi startled, broken from his concentration...but he looked at the fully lyricized song splashed messily down the previously mostly blank page and felt accomplishment.
He reached for his phone, thumbed the screen on and glanced at the message.
Jin-hyung: You guys coming home anytime soon? Kook-ah's gonna eat everything.
Jin-hyung: No 'm not! Dont listen to him hyung!
Jin-hyung: Yah! Brats stealing phones seems to be a growing epidemic in this house. Drive carefully, Yoon.
Yoongi snorted-
Wait.
You 'guys.' As in plural?
He glanced at the timestamp in the upper corner of the phone- at a guess, it had to have been at least forty minutes since he'd sent Tae running.
It wasn't quite twenty minutes' walk home.
Yoongi stood slowly-
Maybe Tae was just sulking? Kicking a curb somewhere or badmouthing his horrid hyung to a bird in a tree.
He glanced at the couch where he'd last seen the brat-
At the silver cased smartphone so out of place against the black leather.
Tae's phone.
Yoongi felt panic and dread start to eat away at the guilt he'd been refusing to acknowledge for the better part of the past hour.
He grabbed his bag and threw whatever was in reaching distance inside, and pulled the door open-
The sound hit him like a train; an almost constant rumbling that reverberated overhead. A streak of hot silver split the inky blackness just outside the third story window, revealing for an instant, the deluge outside.
If Yoongi had been startled staring out his window near the studio, stepping out into the storm was another thing entirely.
But he had no choice. Taehyung wasn't in the studio building. Yoongi had checked with security, who had already done their evening lock up and had just been waiting on Yoongi to finish for the evening.
They remembered Tae leaving the building nearly an hour before.
An hour.
Yoongi pulled his bag and jacket closer as he hurried out into the covered parking lot. It might have been sheltered from the downpour, for which Yoongi was eternally grateful, but the low ceiling and open entrance and exits created an almost tunnel effect, sending gusts of damp cold wind through the carpark to tear violently at his hair and clothes.
And the thunder. The initial rolling boom was bad enough. The echo was near deafening.
Sliding behind the passenger seat of the car, panting slightly with combined anxiety and adrenaline, Yoongi turned desperately to crane into the rear, hoping against hope that he would see Taehyungs lanky form curled into the darkly shadowed back seat, asleep.
Bare upholstery stared back.
Yoongi cursed violently, but there was nothing for it- he'd just burnt his last possible get out of jail free card.
Fumbling with his seatbelt, he pulled out his phone and dialed Jin.
This was the last thing he wanted to be doing. Telling Jin-hyung that Tae might be- what?
Lost? Scared? Hurt?
Worse?
But he couldn't not.
It rang only twice before a voice answered.
"Hi Hyung! Are you on your way home? I hope so because Jin-hyung won't let us eat until you guys get here-"
Shit. Kookie.
The maknae sounded fine, though- for which Yoongi was indescribably thankful for. One maknae in distress at a time. Jin-hyung must have a good handle on the situation. Or the storm wasn't as severe at home (one could only hope- one being Yoongi.)
Yoongi breathed in a long steadying breath. And then another.
Once he was sure his voice would be as stable and normal as he could hope to achieve, Yoongi answered, "Hey Kook-ah, is Jin-hyung there?"
Calm, Yoongi. Everything's fine. Everything's good. Don't let on to your storm-phobic dongsaeng that you might have driven his youngest hyung running out into the worst damn thunderstorm you've ever seen.
"Is- is something wrong?" Jungkook questioned softly in his ear.
Thumping his head forward against the steering wheel seemed to be the best course of action. Well done, Yoongi.
He was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation that wouldn't send Jungkook and his fear of thunderstorms straight toward hysterics when Jin's voice suddenly replaced Jungkook's, - "here, kook-ah. Good boy. Yoongi-ah, what's going on?"
Yoongi took a moment to be thankful that Jungkook wasn't the only one able to read a situation. And then, because nothing but his own feelings would be spared by beating around the bush, he asked, "Tae's not home yet? "
"Noo..." Jin's voice was cautious, with an undercurrent of confusion and just a little foreboding. Yoongi could all but see him leaving the lounge room to sit on the bottom tread of the stairs.
Jin's 'illusion of privacy' place.
Yoongi's voice fell a decibel, and he had to force the words out. But he had to, so he did, "I fucked up, hyung. I got mad at Tae, and now he's - I think he's out in the storm, and he doesn't have his phone. And I upset him, and he's just-"
Yoongi heard his own voice crack slightly, and knew Jin hadn't missed it either, but bless the older for always being exactly what was needed in any given situation.
And Jin knew that all the platitudes and comforting words in the world weren't going to help Yoongi. Not yet. Yoongi needed logic, practicality, and direction. Jin aimed to provide, "Okay. Don't panic yet. Just, drive home-carefully. If you don't see him on the way, we'll all go find him. He's Tae. He's probably just waiting the storm out on a doorstep somewhere. "
Drive home. Find Taehyung. That made sense. Yoongi could do that. He really, really hoped he could do that.
"Yes. Okay. I can do that. I'm leaving now, hyung. But I might be a while, its- the storm. It's really bad." Yoongi haltingly explained, trying desperately not to think about the 'really bad storm,' and the fact that he'd all but sent Taehyung out into it.
Self-recrimination later. Find dongsaeng now.
"Pull over if you have to, Yoongi. I know you want to find Tae, but you won't find him if you wreck the car. Text me if you stop. And Yoongi-ah, let me know as soon as you find him." Jin finished softly, likely in deference to nearby ears. It was also the first indication that the older man might be was worried.
"I'll go now, hyung," and Yoongi hung up. He couldn't listen to Jin worry; not and still be able to focus enough to drive.
Driving proved nearly impossible anyway.
Visibility was so terrible that Yoongi was relying on flashes of lightning to illuminate the sidewalks and road, the curbs so inundated with water that any sideline markings were well and truly submerged. His headlights were only lighting the rain that seemed an almost continuous falling sheet, blowing horizontally with the force of the wind.
More than once, Yoongi was forced to sit in the idling car helplessly, brought to a stop by a piece of flying debris covering the windscreen. Cardboard mostly, along with what looked like several garbage bags and once, a small branch. Thankfully though, they all blew on of their own accord within seconds.
Possibly the only good thing about the weather being so unbelievably atrocious was that almost no one else was braving their vehicles (by which he meant that no one else was stupid enough to be trying to drive in such weather). So far, he'd seen only two other cars on the usually bustling road.
And there were absolutely no pedestrians. At all. This was hardly surprising, but- Yoongi was looking for a very specific pedestrian.
If it hadn't already been thumping its way into his throat, Yoongi was sure his heart would have beat harder at some of the thoughts that started to invade his mind, no matter how he tried to keep his attention solely between driving and looking for that lone weary wanderer.
Had Tae taken shelter somewhere? Yoongi knew that the younger was trusting bordering on an innocent naivety, but surely, he wouldn't accept an invitation into just any persons home? Yoongi would kill him if he had.
Check he was unharmed and okay. Hug him. And then kill him.
There were other possibilities though.
Had Taehyung taken a wrong turn somewhere, turned around by the lack of visible landmarks and wandered into the depths of the city, alone and afraid.
Been mugged by some homeless desperate who wanted his coat or shoes?
Had he fallen? Slipped on the slippery footpath, hit his head and downed in the thirty centimeters of water lining the curb?
Yoongi shuddered and deliberately punted the thoughts as far away as he could; although he couldn't help the lingering dread that crept around at the back of his mind without his conscious thought.
Taehyung was-
To his left, thirty meters ahead, a flash of purple stood out sharply amongst the cloying darkness between almost blinding flashes of lightning, and Yoongi leaned forward, hunching over the steering wheel to squint-
At the neon lighting of the local performing arts theatre.
And Yoongi just knew-
He eased further to the left side of the road as he got closer, ignoring the part of his hindbrain that was urging him to wind down the window, knowing that it wouldn't improve his ability to see at all. The theatre was closed, but the building with its old regency themed architecture, had stately steps leading to the main entrance and a gorgeous marble arch curling across the top landing-
And a tiny, forlorn figure, arms curled about updrawn knees almost lost in the layers of shadow and darkness of the alcove.
Yoongi parked illegally halfway up the curb, back end of the car in a 'pick-up only' zone-
He left the door open in his haste to get across the footpath and up the stairs.
"Tae?"
Yoongi's voice was mostly lost to the roaring wind, but somehow Taehyung still heard, and his head popped up, huge eyes gleaming luminescent by the glow of the violet overhead lighting.
Yoongi prepared himself for an armful of wet dongsaeng-
Taehyung scrambled to his feet, brushed past Yoongi, down the stairs and disappeared into the passenger side of the car.
The alcove was sheltered from the rain, but it was still wet; water soaking the knees of Yoongi's jeans as he knelt on the hard concrete. Only then did he notice the sting of the cold pelting rain.
Sliding behind the wheel, Yoongi glanced to his right-
Taehyung leaned against the door, his fist curled under his chin as he stared unseeing out the dark window.
Yoongi wanted to-
He wanted to say something. Apologise. Yell. Beg forgiveness. Hug the absolute living stuffing out of the younger. Probably yell some more, and apologize again.
But he could see the fine tremors that belied the onset of heavier shivering (Yoongi hoped it was onset. He didn't want to think about the consequences if Tae had stopped shivering. It wasn't that cold though. Was it?)
Grabbing his phone from its haphazard dumping place in the cup holder between the seats, Yoongi sent a quick message to Jin. 'Found Tae- nearly home' should be enough until he actually got them home.
Which should be his most pressing concern, rather than staring forlornly at Taehyung's silent back. Shoved the car into reverse, Yoongi slowly backed out onto the street and turned the vehicle towards home.
The atmosphere in the car was stiflingly heavy; unspoken upset evident in the blatant shunning Taehyung was showering him with. Yoongi 's gut churned.
He felt slightly unhinged.
He was angry with Taehyung, who never should have left the studio alone in this sort of weather; let alone walk out into it. And then he was angry with himself, for being angry with Tae, but still angry with Tae despite it.
More though, and he was steadily avoiding thinking about this part of the whole debacle because it made him so thoroughly furious with himself he was afraid he'd drive them off the road in a fit of rage-
Yoongi deliberately sidestepped thinking about how so wholly disgusted he was with himself for being such a-
Such an utter asshole. To someone as sweet as Taehyung, who genuinely seemed to adore all of his hyungs, almost all the time (even when Yoongi was a grump.)
He glanced across the car again, noting the shivering and the tendrils of water that cured down the side of Taehyungs face, disappearing behind his ear.
Yoongi chewed on his bottom lip-
"There's a blanket on the backseat. Jimin left it there last night." Yoongi offered. Even to his own ears his voice sounded harsh in the stilted silence.
Taehyung 's jaw clenched, and he turned more fully towards the window, angling his back to Yoongi.
Yoongi ignored the punch to the gut; it was much less than he deserved.
The drive was slow, nearly maddeningly so, as they were forced to inch along the road; barely able to see through the torrential downpour. Yoongi lost himself to the drive, pushing his concern, his worry- his guilt and shame to the back of his mind to allow concentration on the road. On getting them home in one piece.
It felt like hours, and Yoongi's eyes ached with strain by the time he eased them into the designated parking spot outside the dorm building. Getting the cramped muscles of his hands to release the steering wheel so he could put the car into park was a physical struggle, knuckles white with tension.
He turned the ignition off, plunging the car into an almost vacuum like silence, surrounded by the strangely hollow echo of the rain falling heavily against the car roof.
Yoongi gathered himself to brave the downpour in a sprint to the lobby doors; before realizing that Tae hadn't even moved to acknowledge that they were home.
Eyeing his furious dongsaeng's tense shoulders, Yoongi realized the flickers of movement he'd been attributing to the storm beyond the one raging in the car's interior were actually reflections in the passenger window-
More specifically, reflections of Taehyung's slowly blinking eyes, brown iris's almost lost around large pupils. Eyelashes fluttered gently against wet cheeks, droplets clinging to clumped-
Oh.
The clenched jaw wasn't anger. The hand under his chin, not avoidance.
Tae was trying not to cry.
Yoongi suddenly felt alarmingly close to tears himself. He turned back to stare out the windscreen, fingers clenching and unclenching around the steering wheel.
Taehyung wasn't the type to- restrain himself, to reserve his emotions. He was the embodiment of wearing his heart on his sleeve. He smiled when he was happy, yelled when angry and cried when he was sad.
He also wouldn't hesitate to crawl into his nearest hyung's lap for comfort if they just opened their arms.
Yoongi didn't know what it meant that Tae was very obviously trying to conceal his distress.
Did Taehyung think Yoongi wouldn't open his arms? Did he not want him too?
Yoongi opened his mouth. Closed it.
What was he supposed to say? He should apologize. He really needed to do that. Desperately so. But there was nothing that would make his apology more than just empty words. He had no reason or excuse; nothing that would make it understandable or even offer a mere explanation. Yoongi couldn't even promise he'd never do it again...
To do that he would need to know why he'd acted like that in the first place.
It wasn't like he usually enjoyed hurting his dongsaengs feelings. (Quite the opposite was true, Yoongi couldn't stand any of his dongsaengs sad faces. Let alone tears. )
He didn't remember feeling even particularly mad at Taehyung, specifically. Just...
Frustrated. Desperate.
Yoongi glanced back; maybe he could catch Taehyung's eye in the reflection and the younger would -
The door behind Yoongi suddenly flying open startled them both so much that Yoongi almost choked on an indrawn gasp of fright; Taehyung jumping violently enough to knock his head against the window.
"...Is this a private carpool or can anyone join?"
Jin-hyung, of course, wiping the rain from his eyes as he slid more comfortably into the back seat.
Yoongi glanced at his phone (no messages), glanced at the well-lit lobby glimmering in the near distance through the rain, and to his dripping wet hyung in the back seat.
Jin must have been waiting in the lobby for them to get home.
Their resident mother hen had likely gotten too worried/ impatient/ fretful to wait any longer when they didn't immediately enter the building.
Yoongi looked to Taehyung. Taehyung didn't move, didn't smile or cry or move to hug Jin; he just stared out the widow stubbornly- and Yoongi realized he'd left it too long to answer himself.
Jin 'hmm'd' quietly, more to himself than either of the other car occupants. Yoongi recognized the assessment in his voice, the consideration of the situation as he evaluated and decided the best course of action.
This shouldn't be Jin-hyung's mess to fix, but Yoongi-
It seemed Yoongi was only good at fucking things up tonight, so he was going to let him.
Yoongi watched in the rear-view mirror and as Jin tipped sideways slowly and leaned forward until his head was pressed into the narrow gap between the passenger seat headrest and the window. Yoongi estimated his lips were roughly two centimeters from Taehyung's left ear.
And then Yoongi couldn't hear what Jin was saying, the words obviously meant just for Tae.
Yoongi hoped it was something reassuring; some special expression of affection and support. So, Tae would remember that just because one of his hyungs was an ass-
And then Tae twitched slightly, and his closed eyes flew open, staring into the reflection of his own face in the window, before suddenly looking beyond and finally, finally meeting Yoongi's own gaze in the transparent surface.
Only for a fleeting instance of a second, and then Taehyung was turning to Jin, words that Yoongi didn't understand the context of falling from his lips, "No hyung, It was me. I was-"
Yoongi didn't understand the context, but he could deduce well enough, and he felt his stomach twist sickeningly. Not once, in all the aftermath of his horrible mean-mouthed vitriol, had he dreamed that Taehyung might have taken his words to heart.
Yoongi kind of wanted to cut his own heart out when he thought about it too deeply. He couldn't even let Taehyung finish his misguided attempt to apologize for Yoongi being an A-grade asshole.
"Hey, hey- no! TaeTae, no- I don't. I didn't mean any of it. You're not- You're not annoying or too loud or- I don't even remember what I said! God- I just..." Yoongi trailed off helplessly, silently pleading with Taehyung to see every shred of his shame and guilt in the watery depths of his own eyes.
Taehyung stared back, silent and considering and Yoongi deliberately ignored the dark look that stole over Jin's face in his peripheral vision. Good. He hoped Jin took him to task over it, made him feel as horrible as he'd obviously made Taehyung feel.
But Taehyung was his priority at the moment.
Taehyung, who didn't look inclined to either believe or disbelieve him. He just looked confused. He sounded it too when he murmured softly, "...Why did you say it then?"
And yes. Yoongi knew that some people were inclined to say things they didn't mean in fits of temper when passions were heightened and defenses up.
Yoongi wasn't one of them. He was strictly a 'tell it like it is guy.'
Usually. Apparently.
Yoongi didn't know. "I- don't know. Maybe I'm just an assho- "
"You're not." Taehyung interrupted, firmly, and Yoongi stared.
"I kind of was." Yoongi reiterated, just as firmly, looking to Jin for confirmation.
Jin looked from Taehyung, with his saturated clothes, trembling hands, and flushed cheeks, to Yoongi, who assumed he just looked like an asshole, because Jin nodded and agreed, "I think he probably kind of was, Tae."
Yoongi didn't know why he felt strangely vindicated that Jin agreed that was an asshole, but he'd examine that later.
Taehyung tilted his head again, and Yoongi found the ''TaeTae thinking' pose endearing, enough so that he felt himself smile slightly despite the situation. The fact that Taehyung returned the little upward tilt of his lips had Yoongi's own growing without his permission, but he didn't care overly much.
Taehyung's voice was still considering though, evaluating, as he added, "Well, maybe you were being one. Not are, though. But- I still don't know what I did to make you so angry- "
And this was something Yoongi could finally answer with certainty, with conviction, "Nothing, Tae. You did absolutely nothing. I was just- frustrated. Really, really frustrated and frantic to get that stupid song right, and it was happening, and then it just wasn't, and I was so- And I took it out on you- a convenient target."
Taehyung frowned, and Yoongi hoped that his anger was shifting to its rightful target, but Taehyung didn't say anything, and so Yoongi continued, on to the really important bit "-I have no excuse, Tae. Nothing that could make it... I'm just sorry. I just – I snapped. I didn't mean it, and I'm really, really sorry. "
Taehyung stared at him, and Yoongi saw the exact instant he was forgiven, and he blinked at the hollow feeling of dissatisfaction. He wanted to suffer for his awful words and his horrible actions-
But perhaps this was just the suffering he deserved.
"Okay. I'm glad you didn't mean it. I don't want you to think I'm- I didn't want you to- I'm sorry too. I should have been able to take a hint, and not been such a brat while you were busy-" Taehyung finally finished his disjointed sentence, and Yoongi wondered briefly exactly what the younger had stopped himself from saying.
And then he realized he had been apologized to as well. Yoongi didn't deserve an apology. Taehyung didn't owe him one.
He leaned further into Taehyung's space, wanting the younger Daegu boy to see that he was genuine, "Tae, you've got nothing to be sorry for. I promise. You're not a bra- "
Jin coughed raucously in the back seat and Yoongi, suddenly remembering it wasn't just the two of them, threw a glance in his hyungs direction, and yeah- okay, the man had a point.
Taehyung's giggles said the other might agree with the assessment.
"Okay- my bad. You're definitely a brat, but it's part of that 'we like you anyway' business, and still don't want you to change, okay? Even when you're being loud and over-the-top, which you weren't tonight; you were fine. You did nothing wrong, no matter what asshole version of me said. " Yoongi explained, quite adequately he thought.
He caught Jin's heavenward eyeroll in the rear-view mirror, but Taehyung nodded happily, so Yoongi was counting it a win in any regard.
Except there was that niggling feeling that he was forgetting something. Some point of contention that he really, really needed to address...
He stared at Taehyung, with his bright eyes and blindingly boxy grin, and Jin's relaxed slump in the back seat and wondered if it was worth the extra thought? Taehyung was happy, Yoongi himself was…well, not happy- but he was doing okay if Taehyung was smiling at him like that; he could deal with the rest of the gut-wrenching guilt later.
And then, as if to pointedly contest his basically settled decision to just let the evening lie, an extremely vigorous stretch of chain lightning zigzagged across the night sky directly in front of him, rending the darkness day-bright for an instant.
Turning very slowly in the suddenly silent car, to stare at Taehyung's open-mouthed 'deer in the headlights' look, Yoongi just knew that he wasn't alone in his sudden recollection.
Taehyung had tried to walk home in a torrential downpour, with the very heavens tearing themselves apart above him. Alone. In the dark.
Yoongi wanted to reach over and shake him until his teeth rattled around in the empty cavity of his brain where common sense should, but obviously didn't reside. But the eyes that were staring forlornly at him were red-rimmed, and Yoongi just couldn't.
Thankfully, he had Jin-hyung to do all those truly difficult things in life for him.
"Aigoo! You little twit! What were you thinking, walking home in this mess! I could just- You're lucky I can't get my hands on you, Kim Taehyung!" Jin squawked, and Yoongi suddenly knew that this was exactly what the older had been waiting for them for; he'd been itching to tell the younger off for making him worry himself half to death.
Frankly, Taehyung probably was quite lucky they'd stayed in the car for as long as they had; Jin-hyung wasn't known to tolerate wildly reckless or self-endangering behavior with a light hand.
Seeing the way Taehyung's eyes widened at the sudden shift in the target, Yoongi was sure Tae was equally as aware of his precarious position, and that he'd better sweet talk the older into cuddles. Fast.
"I liked it better when we were mad at Yoongi-hyung. Can we do that again inste-?" Taehyung quipped, glancing between his two hyungs pleadingly.
It wasn't exactly the tact that Yoongi would have played, but maybe Jin-hyung would-
"Kim Taehyung." Jin growled, almost all pretense of softness disappearing.
Or not.
Taehyung's eyes widened, and he back-peddled swiftly, "I- I'm- I wasn't really thinking. I was just-"
Angry and upset and hurt. Reacting. Not thinking. Yoongi Knew. Jin likely did as well; not much got by Kim Seokjin.
That didn't stop the older pushing his point home, "You could have been hit by a car, or got lost! Or mugged. You could have drowned! You could have been struck by lightning! You could have died, Taehyung!"
"I know! I know. I was scared. But I didn't have a phone, and it was really dark, and the rain was so- It hurt. And I just. Hyung. I was already in a state of terrible abject, woeful, awful misery- and then it started raining. I was very sad. I was crying, and I just wanted to go home. It was awful. Please don't be too mad? "
Taehyung may have had the most effective pout on his face that Yoongi had ever seen, and there was a twinkle in his eye that said he knew exactly what he was doing, but not one word of it was a lie.
Jin had leaned into the front to wrap his arms around Taehyung as best he could by the second sentence. Their eldest's voice wasn't even slightly angry when he reprimanded gently, "Well. I was worried, so don't do that again."
And, okay. That would have to be the mildest scolding ever in the court of hyung-dongsaeng interactions. Yoongi approved.
And Jin was now forcing eskimo kisses on the poor traumatized man-child. (Taehyung may have been giggling again, which may have been Jin's aim all along, but Yoongi had learned not to speculate.)
He turned away, not wanting to risk being the recipient of a double attack-
And stared hard through the still falling rain.
Yes, that was an imminent problem. He felt the need to alert the other two as such, interrupting their wildly out of control snuggling session to point out- "If all that's settled, we may want to head inside now; because I estimate we have about thirty seconds before Joon-ah loses control of that-"
Yoongi gestured out the window toward the lobby-
The rain has finally eased enough that the well-lit entrance was like a beacon in the dark and perfectly silhouetted in the floor to ceiling windows was Kim Namjoon.
Their leader had his fist tangled in one sleeve of Jungkook's sweater, using it to hold the maknae in place beside him. Yoongi was reasonably sure that the maknae's arm wasn't in said sleeve (namely because arms didn't usually bend that way, but it was Namjoon...)
Jungkook had plastered himself bodily against the glass, in an approximation of what... Yoongi wasn't exactly sure.
But it appeared alarmingly desperate and only growing more so by the second; Kookie was now trying to latch his face onto the glass like some sort of demented suckerfish.
A disturbingly close squelching sound drew Yoongi's attention back into the vehicle, and he realized that Taehyung was mirroring the 'suckerfish' move on his own convenient sheet of glass, staring through the window to his equally fucking weird maknae line-mate.
He supposed he should just be glad that Jimin was apparently still upstairs-
With Jung Hoseok.
Yoongi couldn't. He just couldn't.
Taehyung giggling and slipping a hand into his as they made a race for the building through the rain made him think that just maybe he might like to anyway.
