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Taehyung could feel Jimin’s stare across his back. It was scorching, burning his skin and his shoulders. He didn’t look back.
Instead, he tried to focus on the choreography at hand. His feet felt as though they were about to tear apart, and he was sure that in the morning he would be all kinds of black and blue. But he needed to pain, needed the work, needed to feel busy. There wasn’t much time left before Jin and Namjoon would force them all back to the dorm, carefully keeping track of Yoongi and Hoseok to make sure neither of them snuck away to stay the night and overwork themselves.
So he tried his best to get his footing right, sighing irritably as he miss the footing again.
“Alright boys!” Jin clapped to get their attention. “Time to get home! What do you feel like eating tonight? It’s Yoongi’s turn to help me with dinner.”
The other boys cheered. It wasn’t as though JIn wasn’t a fantastic chef in his own right. The exact opposite really. It was more of the fact that Yoongi would be home long enough to help make food tonight. The other boy was notorious for staying at the studio on his nights to cook. Which was a shame, considering he was almost as good as Jin.
Jungkook and Hoseok immediately started shouting out their suggestions, looking eager about the prospect of eating after a long, hard day of recording and perfecting the choreo. Jimin and Namjoon chimed in as well, suggesting a few lighter options that wouldn’t make anyone sick if they decided to practice at home, as they so often did.
“What do you think, Taetae?” Jungkook looked at him expectantly.
“Ah… I’m not really all that hungry. I ate a lot at lunch.” It was a lie. He’d forgotten to eat at lunch again today, too busy doing other things to notice. But more than anything now he was tired and wanted to curl up in bed.
Jin looked at him worriedly, always a big believer in eating and never skipping a meal, but let it slide this time. Jimin was probably looking at him too, but he didn’t want to look.
They ran out together to the car, looking and sounding (thanks to Hoseok’s excited screeches as he dragged Yoongi around) like a herd of wild cats. Inside, it was warm and cozy. Jin at the wheel, Namjoon in the passenger seat. Yoongi and Hoseok claimed the middle row, and were whispering what seemed to be sweet nothings to each other, if their coy smiles and blushes were any indication. Taehyung squished himself next to the far window in the back, with Jungkook in between himself and Jimin.
The youngest was bouncing around, trying to get the eldest to either “change the station or give me the aux chord, please hyung!” Which did nothing more than spark an intense three-way debate between the two in the front and the youngest. This was a familiar babble that Taehyung was used to, and he felt himself zone out on the way home.
The dorm was a bit chilly. Someone (probably Namjoon) had left one of the windows slightly open, and they always made sure to turn the heating off before leaving, due to Yoongi’s slightly obsessive fear of the dorm catching fire (Taehyung was never completely sure why this was a thing, but it was, so they made sure to accommodate accordingly).
While the others (Jungkook and Yoongi) complained and (Jin, Hoseok, and Namjoon) tried to figure things out, Taehyung took the opportunity to slip into his room unnoticed. He quickly changed into a pair of soft flannel pants, a comfy old T-shirt, and a thick pair of floofy socks before slipping into his bed. From there, he reached out and pushed play on a CD player close by, curling up into his blankets as Big Bang’s “Loser” began to play softly.
He sniffled.
A warm weight suddenly plopped on top of him. It wiggled around a bit, before finally reaching over to turn off the CD player.
“I was listening to that,” Taehyung complained weakly.
“It’s sad, and I don’t wanna,” Jimin finally managed to worm his way into the blankets and made quick work of turning them into one big blanket burrito. “What’s wrong, hm?”
“Dunno,” Taehyung said quietly. “I just got tired and then I got really sad, but I don’t know why.”
“That’s ok. Jin-hyung will probably wake us up soon to try to make us eat, but do you wanna nap for now?”
Taehyung nodded and nuzzled into the crook of Jimin’s neck. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” Jimin sounded simultaneously curious and amused.
“I didn’t mean for you to know I was sad. Didn’t want to bother you.” Taehyung mumbled, the words getting lost in all the blankets and against Jimin’s skin.
The older boy sighed. “We’ve been over this. You’re never a bother. What were you doing all day today that you’ve worn yourself out like this?”
“Well, we all woke up early to get to recording. So there was that. And then when I wasn’t in the booth, I was doing some studying. During lunch I studied too, and then after lunch we were dancing. I’m so bad at that.” Taehyung felt himself start to slip away as he tried to remember his day.
“You work so hard,” Jimin crooned softly, and repositioned them so that they were face to face, touching noses. “My Taetae works so hard. It worries me sometimes, you work so hard that you wear yourself out and almost slip out of my fingers.”
Taehyung smiled drowsily. “You too. You work so hard, Jimin. But you’re always here for me, even though I don’t understand why. Thank you.”
“I’ll always be here for you, you know that. I promised, don’t you remember?”
He did. Way back in their early trainee days, laying alone under countless blankets until Jimin had found him and asked how he could help. Some nights, he’d said, I just need someone to hold me. And Jimin had, ever since.
“You’re the best. Better than any star in the sky.” He was sleepy-rambling now. Mind muddied as he started to drift away. “I should start making wishes on you.”
“Oh? And what do you wish for, Taetae?”
“Happiness. For all of us.” His eyes fluttered close, and he fell asleep.
Jimin stared at him for a moment, before lightly pressing his lips to Taehyung’s forehead. “I would break the stars to see you smile, fight them if it meant winning your happiness. Goodnight, Taetae.”