Chapter Text
“That’s very hard to believe Yoongichi.” Seokjin laughs, munching on the popcorn they had prepared.
“But I’m serious.” Yoongi insists, frowning with a pout, “Why would I joke about something so important? It also concerns my best friend.”
Seokjin raises his brows, turning to completely face Yoongi, “You want me to believe you haven’t talked to the one you’re living with, who also happens to be your best friend for ten years, in a week and want me to help you both sit down and talk?” Yoongi nods several times with an eager tight lipped smile, “Also somehow numb down your emotions?” Yoongi nods again, this time with a bigger smile, Seokjin only giving him a blank stare.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just talk about it, Yoongi?” Seokjin sighs, exasperated, hoping he’d just agree and talk to Namjoon this time.
“No it wouldn’t, you, you don’t understand,” Yoongi tried to explain with wide eyes, unsure of how to convince someone he’s spent his entire life-rather, they’ve spent a decade together, but have hardly ever looked at each other. They enjoy each other’s company, have been there for the other through the roughest patches but avoid each other’s eyes to this date. It sounds impossible, but when a simple accidental eye contact could make Yoongi so overwhelmed, he doesn’t want to know what could possibly happen if they stared for a second longer. “I’m not ready yet. I don’t wanna face him.” He bites his lip, it may be a half lie, but it’ll stall Seokjin enough.
Turns out, he’s wrong, “It’s been ten years.” Seokjin mutters, blinking at him blankly, it’s not their first time having this conversation, considering he’s been feeling this way ever since he met Namjoon, so meeting Seokjin and blurting everything out when he first met him eight years ago resulted in Seokjin listening to his rants each and every time. He’s so thankful, he has no idea if he would’ve survived till date.
“So? What if I want more time?” Yoongi almost whines, he finds it hard to believe himself.
“You and I both know you do not need more time.” Seokjin repeats again, standing up and heading to the kitchen to dig for more snacks, expecting Yoongi to follow him.
Yoongi, however, remains seated, lost in thought until the tugging feeling in his stomach cannot be ignored. He tries to stand up, but the feeling is too intense to ignore, so he plops back down, wondering why he’s feeling so uneasy all of a sudden. His mouth feels dry, and there’s a nagging feeling telling him something is wrong. He doesn’t bother thinking, blindly reaches for his phone, dragging it towards himself when he finds it under the couch. His hands are shaky but that isn’t what he’s worried about, the faint ringing sound when he presses his phone to his ear calms him slightly.
Unfortunately, the relief becomes momentary, when the call goes unanswered. He’s up on his feet again, but this time he stays up, driven by the urgency to reach the only one who can put his mind at ease. “Seokjin hyung,” He calls, grabbing all his belongings while his hyung rushes to him after detecting the panic in his voice, “I’m leaving.” He informs when his friend comes into view, not waiting a second longer before rushing out. Seokjin could only follow him, grabbing his own belongings within a second.
“Wait, Yoongi you can’t just run there, come on I’ll drop you.” He offers, Yoongi not hesitating for a second as he wordlessly jogs to Seokjin’s car, seating himself when it unlocks, Seokjin following without missing a beat, “Where to?” He looks at his friend, patting his thigh reassuringly while starting the engine.
“Home.” He blurts out, the car moving forward in the same direction, the driver glancing at his friend occasionally. Yoongi’s knee doesn’t stop bouncing up and down, reflecting how anxious he feels, rides where he’d usually be looking out of the window whispering the lyrics to himself, are now silent since his eyes don’t stray from the road and his phone. He keeps calling, hoping it’s received at least once, but to no avail.
“I don’t think anyone is home,” Seokjin provides, a frown evident in his voice. Yoongi jumps out of the car to check anyway, using his keys to open the door but he stops in the doorway, doesn’t go in to look for his roommate. He sees the missing shoes, and bicycle. That’s enough confirmation. He perks up when his phone rings while he’s rushing back to Seokjin, shoulders sagging when he reads the contact name.
“Yoongi hyung!” A voice booms as soon as he picks the call, momentarily startling Yoongi, “Come to FMS hospital right now! Namjoon hyung is here, but don’t panic, he’s okay.” he stares at his phone in shock, he’s not supposed to panic after he was told his best friend is in the hospital?
“Seokjin hyung, FMS hospital!” He almost screams, literally jumping into the shotgun, while a startled Seokjin quickly backs out and starts driving towards the hospital.
“What happened?” He finally chooses to enquire, face set in determination even when Yoongi takes a few deep breaths and a few more seconds after his question.
“Namjoonie, is in the hospital, something happened, I don’t know what happened, he’s there, Jimin called, we have to go.” He says all in one breath, clutching onto the seat below his thighs tighter, feeling his friend’s gaze on him every now and then. “Jimin did say he’s okay, but I won’t be okay until I see him myself.” He whispers a few minutes later, forcing his mind to calm down. He does manage to hold himself a little better, even if his mind can’t stop racing, he can almost feel a painful throb in his arm the closer they get to the hospital.
They make their way to the room as per Jimin’s directions, knowing they are in the general ward of the emergency department does put Yoongi at ease, he’s still hung up on the evident sting in his arm though. He pushes the door open, eyes meeting Namjoon’s immediately. They barely stay on his eyes though, they’re travelling all over him, gauging the range of his injuries. He winces when he takes in Namjoon’s whole arm wrapped in bandage, throat clogging up at the sight. It was evident how he had tuned the world out, not sparing a glance to anyone else in their room or their words. When he doesn’t move from the door, that’s when he feels it, like a warm reassuring blanket being draped over him, the more he focuses on the feeling the more it intensifies. Hence, the more evident the pain underneath it becomes. He knows where it’s coming from, so he doesn’t waste a second to drag his eyes back to Namjoon, who’s simply offering him a reassuring smile.
He wills himself not to tear up, wills himself not to think of the past, tells himself his best friend is okay, he’s right here, smiling at him. The reassuring blanket is now more like a hug, it helps a great deal. His eyes cannot stay on Namjoon, they keep flickering around, uncertain, still calming down.
He feels three people walk past him, but remains rooted to that spot, eyes flicking from anywhere but Namjoon to Namjoon. At first he doesn’t hear anything, just feels a pull towards Namjoon, stops himself from gravitating towards his best friend and looks up at him instead. When their eyes meet, he hears it, the faint breathless whisper.
Come here
It’s as if the chain that bund him to that spot was snapped by just two words. He’s dashing towards Namjoon, climbing onto the bed he lays back on and diving into his arms. He draws a shaky breath in, a warm cocoon surrounds them while he feels his best friend’s uninjured arm caress his hair softly, almost instinctively. He buries his face further into Namjoon’s neck, his senses aren’t overwhelmed anymore, they’re drinking up all the feelings as if they’ve been starved. He would be fully on top of Namjoon if he wasn’t hyper aware of his injured arm and extra cautious about it. He clutches the shirt he’s been fisting tighter, the warmth underneath his fist from Namjoon’s chest grounding him. He can’t even begin to express how relieved he is to find his best friend alright. Yes, he still has an injured arm, but it’s so much better than what he had to see last time. All that blood, the anxiety and nagging feeling he ignored, an unconscious Namjoon, it’s all he’ll never forget, and something he never wants to experience again.
“It won’t happen again, this was just an accident, that day-five years ago- won’t happen again, hyung.” Namjoon whispers, carding his fingers through Yoongi’s hair delicately, reading his mind, quite literally.
Within moments, the hand playing with his hair is down on his shoulder, pushing him up gently but firm and quick. Namjoon’s hand comes up to rest on his cheek, his thumb catching the very first tear before it’s completely out of his eyes, causing his eyelids to gently flutter shut, while Namjoon swipes his thumb across his lashes, softly. He looks sad, Yoongi knows he does, he doesn’t have to open his eyes to know there’s a sad frown on his best friend’s face. He knows Namjoon doesn’t like seeing him cry, sometimes he starts crying too. As more tears fall, Namjoon wordlessly wipes all of them away, sheds some of his own too. Yoongi produces no loud sobs, no hiccups, just endless tears, the silence never broken. Namjoon eventually leads him down to rest on his chest, letting his shirt soak up those tears while he gently rubs his hands up and down on Yoongi’s back.
I’m here. You’re here. We’re okay. I’m okay. Nice outfit. I’m here. I’m never leaving you. I’m always here for you.
Yoongi huffs a teary laugh when he hears the compliment laced between all the reassuring murmurs in his best friend’s head that reach him. He sniffs a little when he soaks in all those words, assuring himself that yes, Namjoon can never get rid of him, they’ll stick together like they always have.
“Of course you’re here,” He whispers, not wanting to rely on their telepathic connection like Namjoon did till now, “I’m not letting you go until you buy me that speaker and admit I’m a better singer.” Yoongi sniffs, lifting his head slightly to glare at Namjoon and then going back to drawing circles on his chest while the other hand fists the shirt tighter.
Namjoon grins, blowing Yoongi’s hair tucked right under his chin, “I’m never admitting lies. You know I’m a better singer.” He sighs, tightening his grip on his best friend.
“Then I’m staying with you forever.” He declares, turning a little to completely hide his face, too embarrassed to face the man the words are directed at.
Before he could get a word out though, there’s a hand on his cheek, squishing it slightly and travelling up until his eyes. It softly removes every trace of tears, then goes further up to his head to give a few pats before retreating to his chest. He blinks his eyes open, looking down at Yoongi fondly.
“Stop it,” Yoongi mutters, sitting up abruptly, looking as if he almost fell asleep, how adorable, “Oh my god I ask you to stop it and you do it harder, stop!” He sputters, a faint red coating his cheeks.
“What? I’m not doing anything?” He stares back, eyes widening when he feels that again. Now’s not the time, but here comes that feeling again when he’s with Yoongi. But he’s finally learnt the reason behind all the strange happenings for ten years. Everything makes sense and he hasn’t digested it himself, so he has no idea how he’ll break it to Yoongi.
“My head’s getting all fuzzy, Joon, I’ll never be able to focus.” He whines,ruffling his hair and messing it up.
“Wait-” He frowns when Yoongi slips away, standing firm on the floor before marching towards the door. Namjoon knows, he’s tuning the world out again, it’s getting too overwhelming for him, he also knows if Yoongi leaves now, he won’t be back for a few hours at least. So Namjoon, as selfish as it is, blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, the reason. He cannot let Yoongi leave, neither can he stay here in the hospital and go through remaining tests alone, nor does he want the lonely feeling Yoongi leaves behind each time. If it makes him selfish, then so be it. Even if he can’t even gauge how Yoongi would react like he usually does, he’ll take the risk. Since this is the only thing that can make Yoongi stay. It can make Yoongi have enough questions to handle all of his feelings.
“You won’t leave your soulmate alone here, right hyung?”