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the screams of the crowd and referees became a high pitched blur. or maybe that was just the boxers ears ringing. he felt dizzy. impossibly dizzy. his head and body ached so bad it’s almost as if he feels nothing at all.
he could barely see. but at the same time, he had a very clear sight on his goal. he took a breath and shook his head.
*breath man, breath*
*i’m better than this, just breath*
he stumbles a bit on his own sneakers as he takes a step back. just one more punch and he’ll get himself back in the game. that’s it, he’s just a little distracted. he’ll regain his balance just fine. it’ll all be ok. he’s going to win this figh-
“jungkook! focus!!” the shout came loud and clear. the clearest things he’s heard in what feels like ages and a millisecond at the same time. it was his coach.
‘j.k., get your shit together!!” he shouted again amongst the thousands in the crowd and the referees at the outskirts of the ring.
*do this for coach. c’mon i can do this*
get your balance, take a breath, open your eyes, focus on your balance, and throw a punch. easy enough.
he could not, in fact, do it.
nor was it ‘easy enough’.
he couldn’t see or feel anything. only hear the blur around him. he was either fainting or fainted. he knew it but he didn’t want to accept it. at this point he didn’t even know his he was standing or not, but he was going to assume he was and that he still had a chance.
his assumption, was wrong.
“get him outta there!” someone was heard growling off somewhere probably closer than it sounded.
“end the match!” another man called.
“jungkook!!” a softer, higher pitched voice, yet still that of a man, cried from the crowd. jungkook felt something erupt in him at the sound of that agonized scream. something that would be described as ‘fight’, but if only his exhausted body agreed with the feeling. he would’ve long won this fight if that were the case.
“jimin..” jungkook croaked. or at least he thinks he had. at the moment he isn’t even sure if he’s conscious still. he swears he just opened his eyes, or at least told his lids to open, but but he can’t see a thing.
everything is so blurred and unclear and blank. at this point it isn’t painful anymore, it’s purely disorienting and frustrating. it’s to the point jungkook just wants to pass out, everything is so confusing and twisted it’s starting to make him angry.
he just wants to see jimins face. then, he knows, everything will be okay.
as if on que, jungkook feels soft, small, sliver ring laden hands against his rough cheek. they we so, so gentle, the slightly pudgy fingers moving around to avoid bad bruises and a bleeding scrape of jungkooks cheekbone.
“baby..” the melodic voice cooed. jimin pushed sweaty hair out of the weak boys face.
jungkook felt many other arms and hands around him. supporting him. carrying him out of the ring.
*fuck.*
he wanted to shout.
*fuck, i’m so pathetic.*
he wanted to cry.
he couldn’t stay any longer. he didn’t want to. he wanted to pass out, wanted to not wake up for many years. he was so incredibly exhausted.
so, he let it go. he let himself go.
jungkook passed out and didn’t wake up for hours.
when he awoke, he felt a searing pain through his head. he inhaled deeply and squeezed his eyes shuts. curling up on his side a little, he winced. his hands jumped to his hair in panic and agony.
when the sound of pain left his throat, he realized he could hear clearly again. control his actions clearly, too. that made him wonder, if he tried to open his eyes right now, would he be able to see again.
jungkook breathed another ‘ah’, but a bit louder than the one before. this time, it was more to check that he really was conscious and had control over his body, rather than a groan of pain. though, it still sounded like his first cry.
“oh, kookie, baby.” jimin hummed. jungkooks commotion must have caught his attention. “kookie, i’m right here. you’ll be okay.” he said in response to the poor man grabbing at his throbbing head and clenching his jaw tight.
it hit jungkook right then, he could see jimin again. his eyes shot open, and sure enough, vision clearer than ever, in 4k, there was jimins worried face in front of him. he was beautiful just as beautiful as he remembered, maybe even more so.
jungkook quit pulling at his hair and silently praying for his agony to cease. he looked into those beautiful, soft, shimmering eyes and simply knew. it is going to be alright. he doesn’t need any further convincing or proof. he just knows now.
“jiminie...” he mumbled. as he did so, a tear he didn’t even feel welling, rolled from the corner of his eye. his hands were still in his hair and his lip began to quiver as so did the rest of him. jimin did some kind of odd grimace as he held back tears of his own. he couldn’t handle seeing jungkook like this, he just couldn’t bare it.
jimin jumped forward and pulled jungkook into his arms. jungkook hugged him back and pulled him so tight, he worried about hurting the other. jimin mumbled many “i love you”s through silent tears. jungkooks sobs, on the other hand, came too hard to return the words he so desperately wanted to say.
“i’m.. so sorry... ” jungkook eventually choked. jimin showered him with hushes and “it’s okay”s and more “i love you”s. he himself wasn’t 100 percent sure what he was sorry for, he just felt awful. maybe it was fear of being a disappointment. maybe because he felt bad about making jimin have to worry so much about him.
“come here.” jungkook whispered into jimins ear. jimin didn’t quite understand. they were already so close, hugging so tight, where was there to come. “come on the bed with me.” jungkook clarified.
“kook, you’re in a hospital bed. you’ve got a bunch of shit connected to you and an iv in, i can’t cuddle you.” jimin giggled. “but that reminds me, i have to tell the nurses you’re awake.”
jimin backs away a little, earning a pout from jungkook. it felt so cold without jimin in his embrace. he looks jungkook in the eyes for a bit, wiping his tears away as jungkook sniffled.
“god, i can’t wait to get your ass a mirror so you can see that broken nose you got for yourself.” jimin joked before pecking jungkooks hand, forehead, and lips then walking out of the room to find a nurse.
jungkook shot up at those words and brought a hand up to his face. with wide eyes he reached to feel his apparently broken nose but immediately flinched away.
“ouch! dumb ass..” he mumbled to himself. he approached a little gentler with just one finger and felt the thick bandage on the bridge of his nose.
‘please tell me that bump is just the bandaging and not my actual nose...’ he thought desperately. ‘i’ll actually die if i end up with an ugly ass nose because of this rigged ass fucking match’ he concluded.
jungkook started when two nurses came running into the hospital room. jimin trailed behind them at a slower pace, hands in his pockets. the pink haired man couldn’t help but smile fondly seeing his boyfriend’s humongous spooked eyes.
jimin sat beside jungkook and held his hand as one of the nurses ran a checkup on him. he squeezed the tall muscular boys hand every time he flinched at something the nurse did. jungkook was sensitive. not in the physical sense though, not at all. but he startles and gets upset quite easily.
people who just see him as the ‘young, handsome, fierce fighter, jeon jungkook’, think he’s always tough, scary and intimidating. but jimin had access to another, more accurate, version of jungkook. the jungkook who was completely fearless, but jumps at an unexpected touch. the jungkook who gets chocked up when shouted at and scolded. the jungkook who absolutely despises large social gatherings and would rather stay in his room and watch marvel movies with his boyfriend and his dog.
the jungkook who cries when seeing jimins worried eyes after a bad fight.
the two smile at each other. the silence between them worth a thousand words. jungkook looks into jimin’s eyes just then and realizes, everything will always be just fine, as long as they have each other.
♡♡♡