Archive of Our Own

“Hyung?”

No answer.

“Hyung? Are you in there?” Taehyung spoke again, still slightly timid, but albeit louder than before.

Taehyung’s tears had mostly dried up by this point, but the nightmare that had woken him from a restless sleep still lingered in the back of his mind. He just wanted Yoongi – he wanted his soothing voice, his calming presence and his arms that felt like they were made just for him to snuggle into.

When he was upset, he always went to Yoongi.

He wasn’t sure when it started becoming a habit, and he was sure that people would expect him to go to Jimin, or maybe even Seokjin. Taehyung could understand why – Jimin’s his soulmate, his best friend, and being comforted by him felt warm and safe. With Seokjin it was different, he would always be more obviously concerned and in a hurry to make sure everything is okay, but nevertheless his presence is always appreciated.

If he really thought about it, even he wasn’t sure why he started going to Yoongi. Truthfully, he can’t recall the first time he did, just that now it always seems like the first thing on his mind. Yoongi comforts in a different way, it’s more subtle, soft – but he provides just the right amount of warmth and protection Taehyung needs – and that’s just it, Yoongi always knows what he needs.

Sometimes, Taehyung just wants to sit with Yoongi while he’s in his studio, just simply watching him create new music, listening to it and giving Yoongi a soft smile when he inevitably looks to Taehyung for some kind of approval. Other times, he needed more than that. Sometimes, he needed the soothing sounds of Yoongi’s voice whispering into his ear, or the calming feeling of Yoongi’s nails running up and down his back.

When he really needed someone, it just felt natural to go to Yoongi.

The only problem, and perhaps it isn’t really a problem at all, because rationally, Taehyung knows – he knows – that Yoongi has told him that he can always bother him, that he doesn’t care if he’s asleep or in the middle of a song, or even halfway through a meal. Fuck, Yoongi makes it sound like he wouldn’t care if he was halfway across the world, he’d still find a way to be there for Taehyung.

But really, in his mind – on those days when he just can’t be rational, there’s a problem, because he loves Yoongi, he cares about Yoongi – and he knows how hard the older boy works. He watches him struggle through long days with a focused face, he watches how sometimes it seems like the older boy barely has time to breathe, or perhaps sometimes he doesn’t even give himself the chance to. So, when he sees that – when he sees Yoongi’s tired eyes after Taehyung wakes him up crying, or the way he’s slightly swaying on his feet after practice but still refuses to say a word, he can’t help but to stay away.

Yoongi would hate knowing he even thought about it, but it’s true, he didn’t want to be a burden, and just because Yoongi continued to state that he wasn’t, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t true.

It had been a few minutes now, and the only thing that finally snapped Taehyung out of his thoughts was Jeongguk sleepily walking out of his room and towards the bathroom, not even noticing Taehyung standing a few feet away from him.

He watched as Jeongguk shuffled into the bathroom, and only while closing the door did Jeongguk finally notice the other figure in the hallway.

“Tae hyung?” he whispered, shaking his head slightly in an attempt to wake himself up enough for a conversation. “What are you doing?”

“Uh, I was just seeing if Yoongi hyung was in his room,” he smiled sheepishly, desperately hoping that Jeongguk’s eyes were too tired to make out the blotchiness of his skin, or his red rimmed eyes.

“It’s 2:40am,” Jeongguk spoke again, slower this time, and Taehyung internally cursed at how perceptive the younger could be. He already knew what was coming next from the moment Jeongguk started to open his mouth. “Are you okay? Should I get Jin hyung?”

“No, Kookie, it’s fine,” he ran a hand through his hair and sighed with a tired smile. “Just couldn’t sleep, you know? Figured Yoongi would be awake, or something.”

Or something.

“He’s probably fallen asleep working, you know what he’s like,” Jeongguk chuckles silently, and Taehyung breathes a sigh of relief that his explanation seemed to have satisfied the younger. “Night Tae hyungie, go to sleep soon, okay?”

“Night, Kookie,” he whispered quietly, a slight spark of warmth surging through him at the sight of Jeongguk’s tired smile and mumbled goodnight as he closed the bathroom door.

Taehyung turned back to the door in front of him, wondering if Jeongguk was right and whether Yoongi was actually asleep. He wouldn’t be surprised, he knew the older had been working even harder than usual lately with the comeback approaching. He couldn’t help but to notice the lack of time Yoongi spent in the dorm, instead choosing to spend all of his time at the company working on songs, so many times forgetting to even come home and just choosing to get a few hours of sleep at his desk.

He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair for a final time. Sure, perhaps he wasn’t quite upset anymore, he wasn’t the crying mess he was when he first turned up in front of Yoongi’s bedroom door, and he had managed to get his breathing under control on his own. But, despite that, he hadn’t managed to shake the uneasiness that had settled into the back of his mind. It sat there, waiting, and seemed to refuse to fade away.

With one final look at the door, he turned back towards the room he shared with Namjoon, eager to make his way through the door before Jeongguk left the bathroom and noticed that he was still stood in the exact same place as before.

Silently, he crept back down the hallway, and into his room, making sure to make as little noise as possible as he crawled back into his bed. He couldn’t help but to feel disappointed at the lack of warmth there, especially when he was so certain that he would be wrapped in Yoongi’s arms now, surrounded by a heat that was perhaps slightly stifling, but one he could never complain about.

Now, instead, it was simply silent again, and uncomfortably cold. The thoughts that he had managed to push to the back of his mind were beginning to return to the surface, and the silence only fuelled his fear. It was stupid, perhaps, but he never could get back to sleep following a nightmare – at least, not alone. Yet, tonight that seemed to be his only option.

He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, hoping to slow his quickening heart rate and find a way to stop images from his dream still flashing into his mind. He hugged the teddy bear that sat next to him in his bed and was surprised at the lack of comfort it gave him. Instead, he could only find himself wishing it was Yoongi he was cuddled up next to, and his heartbeat that he could hear from laying his head on the older boy’s chest, instead of feeling his own pounding in his ears.

It was disappointing that nothing else but the presence of Yoongi seemed to bring him any comfort at all.

☆☆☆☆☆

Hearing Jin’s overly happy voice meant that it was time to get up, which Taehyung already knew he wasn’t going to find incredibly difficult considering he never went back to sleep.

He tried, for hours – he couldn’t count the amount of times he tossed and turned throughout the night and was shocked that Namjoon hadn’t woken up and scolded him for his restlessness.

Every time he closed his eyes for more than a few moments, snapshots of his nightmare were quick to flash through his mind, instantly causing him to open his eyes with a gasp and have to go through the entire process of calming down his erratic breathing again.

Rationally, he knows he could have gone to anyone, he could have gone straight to Jimin’s bed and crawled in next to him, he could have shuffled right up and slotted himself into the perfect position to cuddle. He could have even gone to Namjoon, who had been asleep only metres away from him – he knows the older boy would have gathered Taehyung into his arms and listened to him talk about the nightmare. He would have rationalised it with him, reminded him how it wasn’t real, how it couldn’t be and wouldn’t ever be.

So, perhaps it was his own fault that he did neither of those things. Maybe, he only has himself to blame for a sleepless and stressful night when he could have done multiple things to fix it. Perhaps it’s selfish of him to only ever want Yoongi in those situations, to take the boy away from whatever he’s doing, to make him sacrifice his own sleep, his own wellbeing to make sure that he’s okay and looked after.

Not eager for Jin to shout at him to get up a second time, Taehyung dragged himself from his bed and into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He didn’t feel surprised in the slightest when he saw his reflection in the mirror, when he looked at his pale skin and tired eyes, or the puffy bags underneath that hadn’t been that dark in months. He sighed, but continued to brush his teeth, figuring there was nothing he could do about his appearance now, it’s not like he could magically make himself look like he got a full eight hours of sleep.

After throwing on whatever hoodie he could grab first, he headed into the kitchen and was shocked to see that everyone had been waiting for him. Immediately, he shuffled to the table a little bit quicker and sat down with a smile, choosing to ignore the concerned looks on his friends faces.

“Tae?” he hummed upon hearing the voice, turning to his right to see Seokjin’s worried face from across the table. “You okay? You look a bit pale. Wait, are you sick? Taehyungie you better not lie to us I know what you’re like and I wi-”

“Jin hyung, give him a second to speak and perhaps you’ll find out the answer,” an amused Namjoon interrupted, much to the annoyance of Seokjin. “But really, Tae-ah, are you okay?”

Was he? Sitting here, surrounded by his friends, sunlight beginning to stream in through the windows and eating a variety of Seokjin’s food, yeah – he was. The unpleasant flashes from his nightmare that had plagued him throughout the night had stopped, and he felt relieved to be surrounded by everyone again. The darkness from only a few hours ago seemed so far away. So, really, he was fine, and he didn’t feel the need to let everyone know what had happened – it’s over now. They didn’t need to worry.

“I’m good, hyung,” he sent a slight grin to both Namjoon and Seokjin, unsure which one to look at first. “Just didn’t sleep well, but I’m fine, honest.”

Despite Seokjin continuing to look concerned for a few more moments, he eventually nodded with a smile and seemed to accept Taehyung’s answer, and very quickly the kitchen returned to its usual loud state.

He smiled to himself as he ate his breakfast, enjoying the sense of calmness that had washed over him. He looked up as he felt someone’s eyes on him and saw Yoongi sitting towards the end of the table, his gaze was soft but his stare still had a level of intensity to it, and he could see the slight frown etched into the boy’s forehead.

Yoongi said nothing, but the way in which he tilted his head and raised his eyebrows asked the silent question of are you okay? Are you really? Taehyung simply smiled, only sending a small nod to Yoongi as he fought a yawn.

Despite feeling Yoongi’s eyes still on him, Taehyung returned to his breakfast. There was no point telling him that he had come to knock on his door, that he’d had a nightmare – the worst one in a while – and went searching for him, tears streaming down his face and small sobs forcing their way out of his throat. Yoongi didn’t need to picture that image. If Taehyung knew one thing, it was that he didn’t want to see the guilty look on Yoongi’s face when he realised that he hadn’t been there to comfort him, because he knew it would, and Yoongi didn’t need that – he didn’t deserve that. Those were the worst times, when Taehyung would watch as Yoongi’s guilt surfaced and as a result, Taehyung would feel his unconsciously rise as well. Because, really, isn’t that what being a burden is?

Yoongi should never feel guilty, should never feel bad for being asleep when Taehyung was upset or working when Taehyung wanted to cuddle. It wasn’t his fault, and Taehyung hated that sometimes, just sometimes, he couldn’t help but feel like an obligation to Yoongi.

So, he continued to stare at his breakfast and shovelled it into his mouth to distract himself from his thoughts, and when he did finally lift his head again, he made sure to avoid the eyes that were still focused so intently on him.

It’s fine, he’s fine – he’s just a bit tired, but it’s light now, he’ll forget all about the nightmare by tonight and he’ll be able to get back into his bed and sleep with no problems, it won’t be an issue.

☆☆☆☆☆

Following his third night in a row with barely any sleep, Taehyung finally found himself with no choice other than to admit that it might be an issue.

It wasn’t like he had gotten no sleep at all, but he doesn’t think an hour or two each night really counts as enough to live on. He thought it would have gotten better by now, he had just assumed that the dream would have been forgotten by the next night and he would have slept soundly in his bed. That just wasn’t the case.

Unfortunately, whenever he closed his eyes for too long the flashes of the dream were still there. They still managed to force their way into his mind, sending him into the same panic that he had been in on the first night of the dream.

Since that first night, he had only gone to Yoongi once more, and he felt the exact same sinking feeling in his stomach when there was still no answer to his knock on Yoongi’s bedroom door. At this point, he was sure that Yoongi definitely knew something was wrong. It wasn’t hard to guess that Yoongi was worried about him when he continuously sent him concerned stares throughout the day, or when he stood a little bit closer to him during their dance practice when he saw how Taehyung couldn’t stop tripping over his own feet.

Still, Taehyung stayed quiet. No one should be this upset over a dream that happened three nights ago. No one should be unable to sleep for the third night in a row or be so scared to close their own eyes that they lay in bed staring at the wall instead. This is stupid, it’s pathetic, and he felt like a child.

But all he wanted, really, was to tell Yoongi everything and let himself be cuddled the way he needed. Rationally, he knew that could happen. The only problem was that he really couldn’t feel rational right now, and he didn’t know whether that was due to the lack of sleep, the comeback, or simply his own mind working against him.

The comeback was getting closer and Taehyung didn’t know how much longer he would be able to cope while getting this little sleep. He could see the tiredness affecting the other members too. He saw how Jeongguk and Jimin wouldn’t stop practicing the choreography until they reached their own version of perfection – one that they’ll probably never be able to reach in their own minds.

He saw the stress rolling off Seokjin and Namjoon, and he saw the way they kept trying to keep everyone together, as if they thought that if they held everyone close enough, or checked up on them enough throughout the day, there would be no problems and everyone really would be fine. Taehyung watched Hoseok, and how he was trying so hard to make everyone else feel relaxed, even though when he got back to the dorms after a long day he couldn’t stop himself from collapsing onto his bed and passing out.

Yoongi was more silent in his stress. People are usually under the impression that he’ll become more likely to lash out or be someone who’s prone to angry outbursts when under pressure and should be avoided in stressful situations. Instead, he worried silently, and alone. He locked himself away in his studio, working on songs over and over again when the company still wouldn’t accept them as done. When he did come back to the dorms, which seemed like it barely happened at all, he walked back to his room after saying goodnight with tired smile and half-closed eyes. In the morning, much to Taehyung’s disappointment, he would already be gone.

So, really, everyone was stressed. Everyone was working hard, they were all tired and he couldn’t find the justification to complain to everyone else when they were going through the same thing. Well, perhaps not exactly the same things, but along the same lines, and it wouldn’t be right to add even more stress to their minds.

Upon feeling the car stop, Taehyung snapped out of his thoughts and looked out of the window and at the company building. Dance practice was earlier than usual, and Taehyung wasn’t sure how he would manage to get through the steps when he couldn’t even successfully stop his eyes from closing every few seconds.

He could feel Yoongi’s gaze on him as he pushed his way out of the car, tripping a little bit but successfully covering it up with a well-timed back hug to Jimin. The eyes that were focused so intently on him didn’t stop during the walk to the dance studio, and Taehyung was sure that he was going to be pulled aside by Yoongi any minute for another interrogation into what’s wrong with him.

Taehyung collapsed onto the floor of the studio with a sigh, watching as everyone else placed down their bags and started to stretch, occasionally stopping to yawn or say a few quiet words to someone else. When he heard someone sitting down next to him, he knew who it was without even looking.

He turned to his right and saw Yoongi looking at him with soft eyes. At first, nothing was said, they simply sat next to each other in silence as they stretched their muscles, both still half asleep and unwilling to make too much noise. Eventually, though, Yoongi’s curiosity – or perhaps, his worry – prompted him to finally open his mouth.

“Tae, if you don’t want me to then I won’t say anything to anyone else, but please tell me what’s going on. I know you’re not okay,” Taehyung watched Yoongi while he spoke, and felt the guilt seep into him as the concerned frown on Yoongi’s face became more pronounced.

This would be the perfect opportunity to say something, perhaps not even everything – but just to let Yoongi know that yes, you’re right, I’m not okay. He could tell him and no one else would have to know, he could have Yoongi all to himself that evening and finally get the sleep he so desperately needs. So, he hates it, when the irrational part of his brain still says no, you can’t burden him like that, when he feels tears beginning to spring to his eyes like they have so many times in the past few days, and a whimper starting to crawl up his throat trying to escape when the frustration of his situation hits him again.

He blinks, hard. He paints a smile onto his face, a small one – not the one people are used to, but a smile nonetheless, and looked straight into Yoongi’s eyes.

“It’s okay, hyung,” he softly murmured, working hard to keep the tears in his eyes to a minimum. “It’s not a big deal, I’m just tired, y’know?”

“Tae-ah, how many times are you going to deny something is going on?” Yoongi shakes his head with a sigh. “You know I’m always here for you, right? It’s just like I’ve always said, it doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing – I’ll find a way to be there.”

Taehyung hums quietly, because that’s all he can do without risking his voice cracking, and he stared at the ceiling in another attempt to stop himself from crying. He didn’t deserve Yoongi, and he definitely didn’t deserve Yoongi worrying about him this much.

“It doesn’t matter, hyung,” he said after a few moments of silence, taking Yoongi’s hand into his own and giving it a light squeeze. “Come on, practice is starting.”

Taehyung doesn’t stay on the ground long enough to see Yoongi’s face grow even more concerned, or to hear the exasperated sigh coming from his lips. Instead, he picks himself up from the floor and uses what little energy he had left to bound over to Jimin and give him another back hug, enjoying the way it brings the slightest sense of comfort him, even if it still didn’t feel like enough.

☆☆☆☆☆

Throughout practice, Taehyung tried to ignore the annoyed glances being sent this way by everyone else in the room. Sure, it was nice to get a break from the concerned looks he’d been getting over the past few days, but he hated knowing that he was slowing down the group when they needed to be fully focused.

They’d been practicing for a few hours now, and despite the amount of effort Taehyung felt like he was putting in, it was very obvious that it wasn’t working out. He could feel his legs dragging too slowly on each step, he could feel his lack of coordination on what should be the sharpest steps, and at this stage he had bumped into everyone in the room at least once.

It just wasn’t working, and every time he tried to push himself harder it had the opposite effect. His mind was too foggy, the nightmare had stolen all of his energy over the past few days, and he was left with nothing but a sleep deprived shell of a body. All he wanted was to sit down and sleep for ten hours, but he knew that even if he had the chance to do that it wouldn’t happen.

It was on the third time he bumped into Namjoon that someone finally snapped at him, and even though he knew on some level that it was justified, that didn’t stop the tears that made their way into his eyes.

“Tae hyung, are you kidding?” Jeongguk shouted from the other side of the room, obviously willing to say what the others had been too nice to mention for the past few hours. “What is wrong with you today? This is, what, the fifth time you’ve bumped into someone? You had the steps down a few weeks ago, this is ridiculous.”

“Jeongguk-ah, you know you shouldn’t talk to h-”

“No, no – it’s okay, hyung. He’s right,” Taehyung sent a sheepish smile to Namjoon as he cut him off, hoping that the older boy didn’t scold him for it because he wasn’t sure he could take another lecture. “I’ve been messing up a lot today, I’m sorry, I’m trying. I really am, I’m just tired, sorry. I’ll get it next time.”

“We’re all tired, Tae,” a new voice chirped, and Taehyung turned around to see Jimin staring at him with a sad but obviously exhausted face.

“You know what, let’s just end it there for today,” Seokjin spoke up, and despite not being the leader of the group he spoke with an authority that no one was willing to challenge, even if they wanted to. “We’ve all worked hard, we’re all tired – let’s go home and get some rest, okay?”

The only response in the room were tired nods and the slow shuffling of bodies towards the door. Taehyung stood still for a moment, eyes closed and head in his hands. This couldn’t keep happening, he couldn’t keep holding the group up like this. He couldn’t keep holding himself up like this.

He looked around the room for one specific face and was disappointed when the person he was looking for had already left the room. Quickly, he gathered his things together and walked out towards the car – only to find Yoongi walking in a different direction to everyone else.

“Hyung?” He called out, watching Yoongi stop in his tracks as soon as he heard a voice. “Aren’t you coming home?”

Please, come home.

“I have work to do Taehyungie,” Yoongi smiled from the other end of the corridor. “Do you need me to come home?”

Yes, God, please.

“No, it’s okay hyung – you’re busy,” he finished his statement with a tight grin, one that he was sure didn’t quite reach his eyes but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. “See you later, hyung.”

Taehyung wasted no time turning around, not keen to wait and watch the confusion on Yoongi’s face. He walked quickly to the car, hoping the other members wouldn’t ask why it took so long for him to arrive. But, he had no reason to worry – the car only brought more silence, everyone too exhausted from a frustrating day of practice to open their mouths for anything other than to yawn.

Sighing, Taehyung rested his head against the window, allowing himself to close his eyes for only a few moments, still too scared of risking another flashback of his dream.

Instead, he chose to stare out the window, hoping that watching the outside world would help to drown out the mess inside his head.

☆☆☆☆☆

This time, instead of lying in his bed for hours on end without any hope of falling asleep, Taehyung gave up after only a few hours and silently crept into the living room. Now, he was sat on the sofa with his head in his hands, crying for what felt like the millionth time in the past few days.

It was just ridiculous really, how emotional being scared and sleep deprived could make you. Perhaps it sounded dramatic, but Taehyung couldn’t even remember how it felt to be able to close his eyes without the fear of seeing his worst nightmare forcing itself into his brain constantly, or how it felt to fall asleep after only a few minutes and wake up hours later, refreshed and ready to actually face the day.

Now, all he knew was exhaustion, frustration, and fear. He made sure to keep his sobs as quiet as he could, the thought of waking someone else up and disturbing their sleep still somehow seemed more important to him than his own wellbeing.

“Tae?”

He froze, recognising the voice that came from behind him straight away, but refusing to face them when he was this much of a mess.

“Taehyungie? Is that you?”

It didn’t matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t stop the sob that broke out of his throat and echoed around the room. Instantly, he felts arms around him and the sound of Yoongi’s soothing voice whispering into his ear.

“It’s okay, Tae. Hyung’s here, I’ve got you,” the tears kept coming, and he finally gave into the urge to bury his head into Yoongi’s chest and let out all the tears he had been trying to keep in for the past few days.

The only noise in the room was made up of Yoongi’s soft whispers and Taehyung’s sobs, which continued to grow quieter as time went on. At one point, Taehyung was sure that someone else, probably Seokjin, heard the noise and came out to investigate, but he was relieved that Yoongi had obviously turned them away. It’s not that the others couldn’t help, but it was Yoongi’s arms he wanted to be in right now.

Yoongi always knew what to do.

Once Taehyung’s cries had turned into soft sniffles, and his quick and unsteady breaths had begun to even out again, Yoongi finally spoke.

“I know you might not want to talk about it, but I’m not taking no for an answer this time,” Yoongi spoke in a soft but firm voice, and Taehyung couldn’t help the way he tensed in the older boys arms. “Tell me what’s been happening.”

“It’s just, it’s stupid hyung, really, you don’t need to wo-”

“I don’t need to worry, Tae? Really?” Taehyung flinched at the scoff that came out of Yoongi’s mouth, and the humourless laugh that sounded anything but pleasant. “I’ve come home and found you sat on the couch crying at 2:30am, and you say there’s nothing for me to worry about?”

“Well, no I didn’t mean it like that, I just –”

“No, Tae, you listen to me now,” and Taehyung instantly shut his mouth as Yoongi cut him off for a second time, voice becoming more authoritative with each word he spoke. “Something’s been going on for the past few days, and I could tell you didn’t want to talk about it, so I didn’t push. I asked a few times, but I backed off. I let you be. But I’m not doing that anymore, you need to tell me what’s wrong.”

Taehyung knew there was nothing he could do at this point, the truth was going to have to come out no matter what, and so he reluctantly moved his head away from where it had been buried in Yoongi’s chest and shuffled himself a little further away so they were face to face.

“Uh, well, I guess it started a few days ago? I, um, I had a nightmare – but, it was the worst one I’ve had in a while and I just, I don’t know, I panicked?” He took a deep breath, reluctant to share the next piece of information. “Um, I came looking for you, I knocked on your door and waited, but you weren’t there or you were asleep I guess? I don’t know, but I just kind of went back to bed. I tried to sleep, but I just couldn’t, hyung.”

“Taehyungie, you should have texted me,” Yoongi sighed, and Taehyung’s heart clenched as the guilty face he hated so much finally made its way onto Yoongi’s face. “No, you know what, Tae, just walk in. If that happens don’t even knock, okay? I won’t be mad.”

“I didn’t want to disturb you, hyung,” he murmured. “You’ve been so busy recently, well, we all have – but you’re always doing something and I didn’t want to add to that, you know? But, I just – I haven’t been sleeping I guess? It’s like my body knows I’m too scared, and I keep seeing the dream when I close my eyes, and shit, I’m so tired hyung, but I just can’t sleep.”

“Oh, Tae,” Tae felt himself being gathered back into Yoongi’s arms as a second round of tears began to fall down his face. “Do you want to talk about the dream?”

“It sounds stupid when I say it now, it was just so dark – but like, really dark hyung, and I was there on my own and none of you would help me,” he took a deep breath after another sob ripped its way out of his throat. “You all just left me behind, you just, shit – you all just left me there and I didn’t know what to do, and it just kept getting darker and none of you cared enough to come back for me.”

“Tae, baby, we’ll never leave you behind, okay?” he felt Yoongi’s arms automatically tighten around him, and he internally sighed in relief at finally feeling safe in the older boy’s arms. “We’ll always be there, even if it doesn’t feel like it, or even if your brain tells you that we won’t be. I care about you so much Tae, we all do. Please, don’t forget it.”

“Okay, hyung,” he whispered back with a yawn.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” Yoongi pulled him to his feet and ruffled his messy hair, it was the type of affection Taehyung had been craving so badly. “Let’s go to sleep.”

“Together?” He asked timidly, even if he was already pretty sure what the answer would be.

“Together. Tonight and any other night, okay? Any night, Taehyungie,” Taehyung smiled as he walked down the hall towards Yoongi’s room, their hands joined together and swinging between them.

They crawled into Yoongi’s bed quietly, both succumbing to the exhaustion that was clinging to their bones. Taehyung was so familiar with crawling into the arms of other people, that he couldn’t help but jump with slight surprise when Yoongi wasted no time gathering him into his arms and holding him in a way that felt so, so right.

“Sleep, Tae,” Yoongi whispered. “I’ll be here if you wake up, don’t be scared.”

“I believe you,” he replied while making himself comfortable in Yoongi’s arms. “Hyung, you know how much I love you, right?”

“I know, Tae. Me too, so much,” Yoongi spoke in his softest voice.

Taehyung closed his eyes and buried himself into Yoongi’s chest, despite the slight feeling of fear that was still present in the back of his mind, he felt more at ease than he had in days. His body finally felt at peace, snapshots of the dream he had a few nights before were no longer waiting for him every time he closed his eyes, and he could no longer hear the pounding of his heart in his ears.

He fell asleep the way he had wished to all week, with his head resting on Yoongi’s chest, and his gentle heartbeat lulling him into a peaceful sleep.