Chapter Text
“Jeon Jungkook come here!”
Jungkook pulled the cover over his head tighter.
“Jungkookie!” his mother called again - a few decibels short of a shout.
The fiver year old burrowed further under his covers and closed his eyes tightly shut. He heard footsteps, getting closer and closer then the wooden door to his room slid open.
“Kookie,” his mother said in a much softer voice, “I know you’re up. Come on, baby, come with me to the front yard. Let’s wait for the Kim’s, hmm?”
He felt her presence settle beside him on the floor and her hand settled on him over the cover.
“Get up,” she tried to pull the cover but Jungkook held on tight.
“I don’t want to meet them,” he said petulantly, frowning at his mother when she finally managed to pull the cover away from him.
“I thought you liked Imo,” she raised her brows with a soft smile on her lips.
“I do but I don’t like Kim Taehyung.”
“Don’t say that, Kookie. He isn’t that bad, is he?” she asked with furrowed brows.
“Yes, he is!” Jungkook kicked the cover completely off him and huffed, crossing his hands in front of his chest as he glared at her - offended that she would even suggest something like that.
“Honey…”
“He is, eomma. He’s always telling me I have to do everything he says because he’s older than me. And, and yesterday he wouldn’t let me climb the tree in his backyard with him because he thought I had short legs. I don’t have short legs!” Jungkook cried out indignantly, stretching his legs as far as he could to emphasize his point, “Kim Taehyung is just a big meanie who likes nothing more than teasing me!”
At his proclamation, a small burst of laughter escaped his mother’s mouth which annoyed him even further. She never believed him when he told her all about the exploits of Taehyung. He didn’t understand why his parents always sided with stupid Kim Taehyung.
-
“Go away!” Jungkook yelled over his shoulder and continued marching on.
“Come on, Guk,” a voice full of mirth called after him, “I told you I was sorry.”
There wasn’t an ounce of apology in that voice. Jungkook turned around abruptly and the boy in front of him had to come to an abrupt halt. He didn’t look much older than ten, that boy. His lips stretched in a boxy grin and his eyes twinkled with mirth and in that instant Jungkook hated him more than ever.
“No you’re not!” Jungkook accused, “You’re not sorry at all.You do this all the time, Tae hyung.”
“I never…,”
“You always. You did it yesterday and the day before and last saturday and…”
“Ok, ok,” Taehyung giggled, cutting off Jungkook with a hand, “I told you I was sorry. Come on, let’s go back. I’ll let you play on the swing. I promise.”
“No you won’t!” little Jungkook stomped his feet, “You always say that but all you ever make me do is push you. I’m going home. I don’t want to play with you anymore.”
“Guk! Gukkie! Don’t go,” Taehyung ran after him but Jungkook was faster. The little chase turned into an impromptu race that Jungkook won by a wide margin. That was enough to appease him for today.
-
“Jungkook, Taehyung’s here,” his eomma called.
Jungkook had half a mind to pretend he didn’t hear her but he knew she would come to get him soon enough. Or, even worse, Taehyung would come to his room himself. Reluctantly he walked out to greet the uninvited guest. Taehyung was leaning against the doorframe with his signature rectangle grin that got wider as soon as he saw Jungkook walking towards him. He was older now - a lanky teenager with disheveled hair and equally disheveled clothes - so was Jungkook.
“Why are you here?” Jungkook sighed in exasperation.
“Ready for our date, Guk?” Taehyung grinned even wider. Jungkook didn’t think it was possible.
“You’re not serious, are you?” Jungkook scoffed.
The smile fell from Taehyung’s lips, “I am.”
“Oh,” Jungkook stared at him in disbelief, “Hyung, I thought you were joking. I don’t...I...we don’t even like each other, hyung. Why would you think I would agree to go on a date with you?”
Taehyung stared at Jungkook for a beat before a stony expression crossed his face, “ You don’t like me, Guk. I never said I didn’t. I thought maybe things had changed....”
“Tae hyung, wait,” Jungkook reached out but Taehyung was out of his grasp and walking away from him sooner than Jungkook could process everything that had happened.
👻👻
Yoongi opened his eyes and screamed. Jungkook was floating above him on the bed - his body facing down and his big, round unblinking eyes staring at Yoongi.
“Fuck, Kook. What the hell are you doing here?” he questioned the floating spirit, placing a hand over his palpating heart.
Jungkook grinned, “Hyung, are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost.”
Yoongi glared at him, “I told you not to do all your ghostly things when I’m around.”
“But you were asleep,” was Jungkook’s excuse.
Yoongi slid up the bed to lean against the headboard. Jungkook was still floating over him. Upon Yoongi’s beckoning hands he lowered himself to sit in front of him on the bed.
“What’s up?” he figured Jungkook needed something, probably a new notebook to write in.
“You tell me,” Jungkook shrugged, “You kept calling my name in your sleep.”
“I did?” Yoongi was surprised.
“Hyung,” Jungkook scooted a little closer and wiggled his brows, “Were you dreaming about me?”
Yoongi grabbed the pillow beside him and threw it at Jungkook, hitting him squarly on the chest. Jungkook grabbed it and held it tightly against his chest.
“On a more serious note, were you? You kept murmuring my name, as if you were calling for me.”
Yoongi closed his eyes, trying to remember his dream. He was dreaming, that much he knew. But the dream had vanished the moment he opened his eyes, as dreams often did. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember what he had seen for him to call Jungkook’s name.
“Maybe,” he gave up with a shrug, “But I can’t really remember.”
Jungkook nodded and jumped off the bed.
“Jiminie hyung had been in the kitchen for an hour already trying to pancakes. You should get out before he burns down the apartment,” Jungkook shook his head and floated out the door.
“No floating,” Yoongi called out in vain.
Yoongi had seen a lot of mess, been in a lot of messy situations in his four years of sharing a dorm with Jung Hoseok. Even that had not prepared him for the sight before him today.
Jimin stood behind the kitchen island with flour smeared on his face, his neck and arms. Some flour had even found its way to his clothes and hair. That was just the mess on Jimin. The kitchen island itself was in no better shape. Bits and pieces of cut ingredients strewn about, dusts of flour dispersed all over and an array of pots and pans thrown about haphazardly in the countertop. Jimin himself was currently hunched over a smoking pan, still unaware of Yoongi’s presence. A single pancake lay on a plate next to the stove and from where he stood, Yoongi could clearly see it was burnt.
He cleared his throat, garnering Jimin’s attention.
“Yoongi! You’re up,” Jimin coloured as soon as their eyes met. A soft shy smile appeared on his lips, a smile that shot straight to Yoongi’s heart.
“Morning. What are you making?” he asked nonchalantly, pretending he didn’t notice the mess in front of him.
“Pancakes,” Jimin bit his lips and looked at the burnt pancake at his side, “Well...I’m trying to.”
“Need some help?”
“No.” Jimin was quick to refuse.
“You sure?” Yoongi walked around the island to stand beside Jimin, “I think it’s about time you flipped the pancake.”
“Oh!” Jimin reached for the spatula and flipped the pancake hastily. It was already burnt.
“Min,” Yoongi pulled Jimin by the arm so they were standing face to face, “Just because I like you doesn’t mean I’ll eat your burnt food.”
Jimin scrunched his nose and furrowed his brows, “I wanted you to wake up to something sweet.”
Yoongi placed his hands on Jimin’s cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss, a soft touch that put a smile on both their lips.
“There,” Yoongi pulled back with a silly smile, “My something sweet.”
Jimin threw his head back and laughed, Yoongi slipped his arms around Jimin’s waist and pulled him closer.
“I think it’ll be better if I take over the cooking.”
“I think so too,” Jimin smiled sheepishly, “In the meantime, I should probably clean the mess I’ve made.”
Yoongi looked around the kitchen, “Yeah you probably should. While you’re doing that why don’t you tell me how you managed to make this mess in the first place.”
Yoongi was on his way to making the fifth pancake and Jimin was still cleaning the mess when Taehyung floated in.
“Look at you two being all domestic,” Taehyung teased, “To think you could have had this sooner if only you hadn’t wasted so much time pining after one another.”
“You’re one to talk about pining,” Jimin scoffed, “Did you forget how you pined after Jungkookie for years, since you were kids only to be rejected by him when you finally mustered up the courage to confess?”
A sudden flash of image clouded Yoongi’s mind and he had to tighten his hand on the edge of the countertop to keep himself from stumbling. An image of Jungkook and Taehyung, standing in a house Yoongi had never seen before, one with a look of confusion and other with one of pain written all over their faces. Yoongi didn’t know where the image came from but it felt familiar. As if he had seen this before, as if he had been there before.
“H-how do you know that?” Taehyung sounded surprised and wary.
The image in Yoongi’s mind vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
“What do you mean?” Jimin sounded equally perplexed, “You told me.”
“No, I didn’t,” Taehyung was firm in his words.
“Yes you did. Remember when…,” Jimin paused mid sentence.
Yoongi looked at him to find Jimin looking dazed with his mouth slightly ajar. Something strange was happening here but he didn’t know what.
“When?” Taehyung urged.
“I...I can’t remember,” Jimin answered dazedly, “I...I don’t know.”
Yoongi could see Jimin starting to freak out. Truth be told, Yoongi was a little freaked himself. What was that image? How did Jimin know something about the spirit’s life? Something Taehyung claimed he had never told Jimin. The questions ran rampant in Yoongi’s mind but for now he needed to calm Jimin. His placed his hand on Jimin’s back and ran his hand in circles in a soothing manner.
“Maybe you forgot, Tae. Or maybe it wasn’t you who told him. Maybe it was Jungkook,” Yoongi supplied helpfully.
“M-maybe,” Taehyung didn’t sound convinced.
“Y-yeah...maybe,” neither did Jimin.
“So, you pined after Jungkook too,” Yoongi teased and just like that the strange spell the three of them had been under was broken. Neither of them had an explanation for it. Neither of them understood it so they silently agreed to ignore it. For as long as it could be ignored.
“It was a long time ago,” Taehyung grumbled and left. Jimin and Yoongi shared a look of amusement before going back to what they were doing. Yoongi couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen for the rest of the morning.
👻👻
Jimin hadn’t asked Jungkook. He knew something was off, something was happening, something none of them were ready for yet. The underlying fear that Jungkook would deny having ever told Jimin, fear that whatever it was would break the titular balance the four of them had found between the two worlds kept him from asking.
Things were good now. Taehyung and Jungkook had finally found out about their past, albeit in bits and pieces by word of mouth. The two spirits seemed in no hurry to leave and they weren’t constantly searching for answers anymore. They seemed content, almost human. Things between Jimin and Yoongi were developing into something wonderful, something that had him feeling all sorts of giddy every time he thought about it. Things were good now and Jimin didn’t want to break this balance because of something he had said. So, for now he decided it was better to ignore the incident altogether.
“Min!” Yoongi voice and his hands gently shaking Jimin brought him out of his reverie.
“Huh,” Jimin sat up straighter in his seat. He realized the car had stopped moving.
“You good?”
“Yeah,” Jimin nodded quickly but thought better of it, “Actually, I was thinking about this morning. Is it weird that I don’t want to talk about it?”
There was a moment of silence before Yoongi finally answered, “No, it’s not weird. It’s not weird to be afraid of the unknown. Honestly, I’m a little freaked out myself by the whole incident. I think we’ve dealt with enough strange things for now that we can push this back for however long we need.”
“Exactly!” Jimin sighed in relief, “So, we can ignore it for now.”
“For now,” Yoongi nodded, “We’re at the studio, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“Oh!” Jimin looked out the window to see his dance studio across the street, “I guess I better go now. You need to get to work.”
“Call me when you’re done. I’ll pick you up.”
“Okay. Bye Yoonie.” he got off the car and waved him goodbye. Halfway across the road Jimin remembered something very, very important. In all the confusion he had forgotten to do the one thing he had been practicing for all morning. He ran back to the car and tapped against the window.
“Did you forget something?” Yoongi asked, drawing the windows down.
Jimin could feel his face getting warm and his heart picking up speed, “Hyung…do you…”
Jimin swallowed thickly.
“Do I?” Yoongi prompted with raised brows.
“Do you want to go on a date with me tonight?” Jimin blurted out as quickly as humanly possible.
“Yes!” Yoongi answered immediately, with an enthusiastic nod, the most animated he had been all morning.
“Okay,” he tapped against the window and beamed.
“Okay,” Yoongi beamed back.
“Bye, now,” he walked backwards, refusing to take his eyes off of Yoongi and his gummy smile.
“Eyes on the road, Min,” Yoongi called after him with laughter in his voice.
Jimin waved at him one last time before turning back and running to the studio. ‘Tonight’ couldn’t get here soon enough. The rest of the day went by at a snail’s pace with back to back classes and few minutes of breaks in between, which Jimin spent texting Yoongi and smiling like a fool all by himself. By the time Yoongi called to tell him he was back at the road across the studio to pick him up, Jimin was already ready and waiting.
He pulled the straps of his messenger bag higher up on his shoulder and crossed the street. Yoongi was leaning against the car with his arms crossed in front of his chest. A smile creased his eyes as soon as their eyes met. Yoongi was leaning against the car underneath the auburn skyline with the most beautiful smile on his face and Jimin had to pause a step to compose himself. Yoongi’s smile disappeared and he raised his brow, no doubt confused as to why Jimin was standing in the middle of the road. Jimin started walking then, his footsteps quickened with every step. Their lips met first, like a crashing wave until they fit together perfectly. Jimin wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s waist and Yoongi held on to a fistful of Jimin’s shirt. When they finally pulled apart, panting against each other’s lips, Yoongi looked at him with half closed eyes, his lips shining bright after the kiss.
“What was that far?”
Jimin shrugged, “Just wanted to kiss you.”
“You should do it more often, Min,” Yoongi smiled his gummy smile and gently stepped out of Jimin’s arms.
“I plan to,” Jimin smiled and reached forward to hold Yoongi’s hand.
It was strange how comfortable this felt, this being together business. Considering they were friends first, Jimin had thought it would take him a while to get used to this new kind of intimacy. But, that wasn’t the case at all. Jimin had never been one to shy away from skinship and blatant displays of affection, no matter how short lived his relationships had been. And that side of him hadn’t changed, what had changed was the feelings he put behind those emotions. Before Jimin showed affection just for the sake of showing it, just because he was an inherently affectionate person, just because that was what was expected in a relationship. But, with Yoongi he did it because he wanted Yoongi to feel loved, he did it because he wanted to make Yoongi blush, he wanted to see Yoongi smile that wonderful smile. He did it because it genuinely made him happy to see Yoongi happy. He did it because this was the first time he was with someone he really, really liked and he wanted to do it right.
“So, where are we going?” Yoongi tugged his hand to get his attention, bringing Jimin out of his musings.
“Wherever you want, Yoonie.”
Yoongi shook his head, “I always take you to places I like, places I’m comfortable in. Today I want to go somewhere you want, somewhere you’re familiar with, somewhere you’re comfortable."
“I like going to places you take me. Helps me understand you better,” Jimin insisted.
“Min, take me somewhere where I’ll understand you better,” Yoongi gave him a lopsided smile.
Jimin racked his brains for a place but he came up with a blank no matter how hard he thought. He didn’t go to a lot of places, now that he thought about it. Most of his days were spent at the studio or in between competitions. And the places he went to were mostly places Namjoon liked and Jimin just tagged along. He told Yoongi as much.
“Come on then,” Yoongi pulled him along away from the car.
“Where are we going?”
“To the studio.”
“Yoonie,” Jimin pulled Yoongi to a stop, “Why are we going back to the studio?”
“You’re comfortable there,” was Yoongi’s simply reply.
A burst of laughter escaped Jimin’s lips, “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not going on a date in my studio. Come on, we’ll drive around and find somewhere nice.”
“Min, the place doesn’t matter as long as I’m with you.”
“Still, we can’t have a date in a dance studio,” Jimin insisted.
“Why not?” Yoongi tilted his head and blinked innocently, “We’ll order take outs, light some candles, play music on our phone and talk. And we won’t have to worry about other people interrupting us, we’ll have the studio all to ourselves.”
Jimin narrowed his eyes at Yoongi, “Tell me the truth, Yoonie. You’re saying this because you’re too lazy to go out, aren’t you?”
Yoongi chuckled, “No, Min. I want to know you, every part of you. I want to see you in your element, I want to see you in places you belong. The studio is a big part of your life and I want to understand that part.”
Jimin sighed, “You’re not making a whole lot of sense but it sounds oddly romantic so I guess I’ll go along with it. Let’s go.”
“To the studio,” Yoongi grinned.
“To the studio,” Jimin sighed defeatedly.
“Just so you know, this is the weirdest date I’ve ever been on,” Jimin side eyed Yoongi who was sitting on the floor beside him, unwrapping the take out they had ordered.
They were in the little lounge area at the farthest end of the studio. It wasn’t much of a lounge even, just a couple of mismatched chairs and couches placed here and there. A magazine rack at the side and a water cooler in the corner. They had opted to sit cross legged on the carpeted floor with their backs against the wall, rather than sitting on the couch.
“Just so you know, this is going to be the best date I’ve ever been on,” Yoongi winked at him, handing him his portion of food.
“You sound really sure about that,” Jimin leaned back a little to look at Yoongi properly and quirked his brows.
“Of course. Wanna know why?”
“Why?”
“Because my boyfriend is really hot,” Yoongi smirked. Jimin stuffed a piece of fried chicken in Yoongi’s mouth. Yoongi took it in and chewed with his mouth stretched in a smile. Jimin leaned forward and placed a quick peck on the lips and patted him on the cheeks afterwards. It felt good to hear Yoongi call him his boyfriend.
They alternated between eating in silence and talking. They talked about their friends, about the spirits and how the seven of them had been brought together by destiny (according to Jimin) or a mere coincidence (according to Yoongi) to form this odd group of friends that somehow fit together perfectly. They reminisced about their childhood - Yoongi told him about his family and Jimin told him about the constant stream of new people he had met growing up in the orphanage.
“Do you still keep in touch with the people from the orphanage?” Yoongi asked him as they put aside the empty containers. Jimin paused, realizing he had never really told Yoongi about that period in his life. He had only ever told him stories in bits and pieces, even then he had only ever talked about the happy memories.
“Not really,” he gave Yoongi a tight lipped smile, “I haven’t been back there since I left as soon as I was a legal adult.”
“Oh.”
Jimin knew Yoongi enough by now to know how his mind worked. He could see Yoongi struggling. Struggling between the side of him that wished to know Jimin better and the rational side of him that wanted to give Jimin his space. For now Jimin took the space Yoongi offered.
“Do you want a beer?” he asked, already getting up to get himself one.
“Sure. I’ll come with you to the store.”
Jimin put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting up.
“I’m not going to the store, Yoonie. I always keep some in my office,” he squeezed Yoongi’s shoulder and went to get the beer.
When Jimin came back Yoongi was frowning at something on his phone. He put it aside as soon as he heard Jimin approach and took the beer Jimin handed him with a warm smile.
“Everything okay?” he asked in concern as he slid down to sit on the floor in front of Yoongi.
“Yeah,” Yoongi took a long hard sip, “Everything’s fine. Just Seok telling me I have to go on early tomorrow because we have a lot to do with the new song and the release date in approaching sooner than we would’ve liked. He’s worried we won’t have enough time.”
Jimin looked at the time on the wall clock across from them. It was already close to nine. He hadn’t realized how quickly the time has flown by as the two of them talked, it felt like they had only just started.
“Then we should probably head back soon. You need all the rest you can get if you’re going to work yourself to the bone.”
“I’ll be fine, Min. I can take a few hours of extra work but I can’t cut our date short just for a few more hours of sleep.”
Jimin pursed his lips, “I don’t want you to exhaust yourself, Yoonie.”
“I won’t. And if I do, all you’ll have to do is kiss me to give me some energy,” Yoongi leaned forward with a teasing smile.
“If you want me to kiss you, all you have to do is ask,” Jimin leaned forward as well so they were inches apart, “You don’t have to come up with elaborate excuses.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he nodded.
“Kiss me, Min,” Yoongi whispered.
Jimin’s lips were on his as soon as the words left Yoongi’s mouth. The kiss started out slow, lips moving against lips, caressing, sucking, biting and licking. It started out with just lips against lips, a slow languid kiss. Yoongi’s tongue pressed against his lips until he complied and opened them. Yoongi’s tongue slipped in, gentle and demanding at the same time. Jimin felt electricity spark down his spine at the first touch. Yoongi surrounding all his senses, his hands running all over Jimin’s body, the sound of their lips sliding together then coming apart filled the room, he breathed in Yoongi’s familiar scent and closed his eyes tightly shut to find constellations dancing behind closed eyelids. He gripped Yoongi’s hair and made a soft mewling sound. It was all too much, Yoongi was too much and not enough. Yoongi made a guttural sound somewhere deep in his throat and gently pushed Jimin until they were rolling on the floor.
The weight of Yoongi atop him engulfed him, warmed him, comforted him. Jimin felt him - all of him, aligning perfectly against Jimin. He had never understood why people made such a big deal out of kissing, until he kissed Yoongi. Now he understood, he understood the kind of kiss everyone wrote verses about. The kind of kiss that curled your toes, the kind of kiss that melted you, the kind of kiss that overpowered you - all of you, the kind of kiss that turns your world upside down and back up again into something wonderful. Jimin had never understood all of this until he kissed Yoongi. His veins throbbed and his heart exploded. He had never wanted anything more than he wanted Yoongi right now.
Yoongi pulled apart from the kiss, Jimin protested by tightening his grip on Yoongi’s hair in an attempt to pull him back down. He moaned in protest and looked up at Yoongi with half lidded eyes when he resisted against Jimin’s pull. Yoongi’s face was inches above his, looking as intoxicated as Jimin felt.
“Min, we have to stop,” Yoongi said in a hoarse voice full of want and desire.
“Don’t want to,” Jimin moaned out but Yoongi still resisted against his pull.
“Min, I’m seconds away from taking you right here, right now. We need to stop,” he said more sternly.
“Take me, Yoonie.”
“No,” Yoongi groaned, “No. Don’t do this, Min. Don’t make this any harder. I don’t want our first time to be on the floor of your dance studio.”
Jimin wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s neck to keep him getting up, “I don’t mind.”
Yoongi caresed Jimin’s cheek and leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead, then his nose, both his cheeks and finally his lips. Jimin felt his heart soar in his chest. He pulled back up and smiled down at Jimin with so much warmth and love in his eyes, Jimin felt his breath catch.
“I do,” Yoongi said solemnly, “I want to take my time exploring every inch of you. I want to take my time learning what you like, what you don’t. I want to take my time making you feel things you’ve never felt before. And I’m most definitely not going to do that here.”
Jimin groaned out, “Yoonie, if we’re not doing anything tonight then you need to stop saying things like that, you tease.”
Yoongi laughed, a deep sound that reverberated through Jimin’s body because of their proximity. In a single sweeping motion Yoongi got up and a sudden chill assaulted Jimin, making his more than aware of the loss of Yoongi’s warmth. He offered his hand for Jimin to take. Jimin took it but not before directing a dirty glare at Yoongi. He needed to know that Jimin was not at all satisfied with Yoongi’s decision to stop.
Once they were both standing, Yoongi wrapped his arms around Jimin’s waist and pulled him closer, “Soon, Min. We’ve waited so long, what’s a few more nights.”
Jimin pulled away from Yoongi’s arms and marched on ahead of him, “I don’t like you very much right now.”
Yoongi ran after him and wrapped his arms around Jimin’s waist once again, “That’s okay. I like you enough for the both of us.”
Jimin pretended to gag, “You’re so annoyingly romantic, Yoonie.”
“You don’t want me to be?” Yoongi asked in a serious tone, “I’ll stop if you want me to.”
Jimin stuck him against the chest with the back of his hand, “I didn’t tell you to stop.”
Yoongi smiled and kissed him on the cheek, “Let’s go home, Min.”
👻👻
Taehyung hadn’t stopped thinking about this morning all day. He hadn’t mentioned the incident to Jungkook because he was scared of telling his betrothed would solidify his suspicion. Yes, Taehyung had an inkling as to what was going on but he was scared to admit, even to himself that what he feared the most might actually be happening. He had been lost in thought the entire day and Jungkook seemed to have noticed because he asked him if he was okay more than once. Currently they were watching a weekly drama. Jungkook was curled at his side with his head on Taehyung’s chest and his hand playing absentmindedly with Taehyung’s fingers as he watched the drama.
“Guk,” he gently nudged Jungkook, “Can we talk?”
Jungkook didn’t need to be asked twice. He straightened up immediately to look ad Taehyung and tightened his grip on Taehyung’s hand.
“Of course, love. Tell me what’s been bothering you all day.”
Taehyung opened to mouth to do just that but he just couldn’t. The words were there, gripping his throat and suffocating him but he couldn’t speak them out loud. He swallowed it all up and tried again. But he couldn't, he couldn’t tell Jungkook about the incident. Not yet, he needed more time. He needed more time with Jimin, with Yoongi, with everyone he had come to adore. He needed more time to say goodbye. And if he told Jungkook now he knew that Jungkook would tell him leaving immediately would be the right thing to do. But, he couldn’t. He decided to be selfish, just this once.
“Do you think we’ve been with them too long?”
Jungkook looked at him for a while. Taehyung looked away, unable to hold Jungkook’s gaze that could read Taehyung better than himself most days.
“What brought this on?” he finally asked.
“I just...I think we’ve been here too long.You know what’ll happen if we stay with them for too long. Jiminie has already been through it because of his parents’ spirits, I don’t want him to go through the same thing again,” Taehyung bit his lips waiting for Jungkook’s reply. He needed Jungkook to tell him it was okay, he needed Jungkook to tell me they didn’t need to leave.
“We’re so close, Tae. I don’t think it’ll be long now. Besides if we had been here for too long we would see the signs. Jiminie and Yoongi hyung are fine,” Jungkook reassured him and Taehyung felt somewhat relieved, even though Jungkook wasn’t entirely right.
They had already started to show the signs, at least Jimin had if this morning was any indication. But, he didn’t tell Jungkook any of that. He would tell him when things got out of hand, for now Taehyung had everything under control.
He just needed more time to prepare himself for the inevitable goodbye.
“That’s what you wanted to hear right love?” Jungkook asked in a soft voice, “I don’t know what’s going on but I hope that you have it under control. Tell me when things get too hard.”
Taehyung felt himself starting to choke, he could never hide anything from Jungkook. He buried his face in Jungkook’s chest and let out a shaky breath.
“I don’t want to leave, Guk. I don’t want to leave them. I don’t want to leave you. It’s not fair. It’s not fair,” he chanted over and over again as tears streamed down his face. Jungkook arms tightened around him. He didn’t say anything but Taehyung could hear his almost quiet sobs mixed with his own. They held each other through the tears and hoped against all hope that they would be strong enough when their time came.
Their infinite number of days were slowly approaching the end.