Work Text:
a hand reached out from the blanket, slamming itself on the top of the ringing alarm clock. jungkook’s eyes slowly blinked open, sunlight shining in from the blinds he forgot to close last night.
september 1st, 2023 6:15am.
jungkook’s 26th birthday and his fifth birthday alone. he got up and looked in his kitchen cabinets, double checking he had enough alcohol to get blackout drunk tonight and forget about how he was the only one of his 6 boyfriends to not get blipped.
jungkook tries to not to think about the day half of the world’s population got blipped. he tries to not think of how he felt his coworker’s hand literally turn to dust in his hand. he tries to not think of the screams he heard outside the nurse hall as people watched their loved ones turn to dust. he tries to not think of all the car accidents he saw online as their drivers disappeared. he tries not to think of the 1798 calls he made to all of his boyfriends, praying they didn't get blipped. he tries not to think of how he searched all night around new york, calling out his boyfriends’ names, eventually collapsing into tears on the side of the subway when they didn't respond.
after he double checks, he closes the cabinet door, puts on his nurse scrubs and gets into his car. the roads are emptier after the blip, but that's what happens when half of the population disappears.
clocking into work is exhausting. yes, with half of the population gone, there are few patients. but the global mental health declined, and patients who come in now tend to just sob about how they wish their blipped-family members were present. sometimes jungkook wishes he could join and sob with them.
jungkook’s shift passes with a blur. on his drive home, he stops by the grocery store to buy himself a cake. he decides to buy a chocolate cake and some grapes to put on top of his cake. his jin hyung did that on his 21st birthday. the last birthday he was with jungkook for. jungkook does that now, it makes him feel like his jin hyung is still with him.
jungkook gets home and slowly starts putting his grapes and a candle on his cake. he reaches over to grab his phone and play a video of when his boyfriends him sang happy birthday.
“happy birthday to you! happy birthday to you! happy birthday to jungkookie! happy birthday to you!!” the video played out, bursting the silence in the room.
jungkook’s eyes immediately started watering.
“my jungkookieeee how old are you?” jimin’s teasing voice rang out. “are you 50?? 75?? 80??” a small thud is heard - probably then-jungkook tackling his hyung off camera.
a tear falls from jungkook’s eye onto the birthday candle, extinguishing it before he could wish for his hyungs to come back.
the world seems to stop as jungkook stares at the candle.
was this a sign? was this the world telling him that his boyfriends would never come back? that he'd forever have to live alone, with a hole big enough for 6 in his heart? in a house too big for one person? in the house he stayed in in case his hyungs somehow come back?
jungkook’s eyes shift to the mattress in the corner of the living room. the single mattress he bought a year after the blip, when it became too painful to sleep in an empty bed that was big enough for his hand to reach out for his hyungs. the single mattress he bought a year after the blip, when it became too painful to wake up and turn to the side for a kiss from his namjoon hyung, his namjoon hyung who wasn't there anymore.
and all of the sudden his hurt and pain turns into rage.
jungkook’s hands work faster than his brain can think, grabbing chunks of the cake, throwing them on the floor. he flips the table over and reaches to the alcohol bottles to his left.
the tears start without him noticing as he smashes all the bottles, throwing some at the wall, and throwing some on the floor.
“why? why couldn't i have been blipped with them?” his screams come out between the sobs. “why did i have to be left here alone?”
jungkook doesn't think, racing to the kitchen, throwing open any dish he sees, throwing it on the ground. he doesn't care that his hand is bleeding. he just wants something to hurt, just like the world hurt him.
he reaches the fireplace, throwing all the picture frames on the floor, only stopping his hand when it reaches for hobi and jimin’s dance trophy. he takes a step back and looks around at the floor, the dark hardwood no longer visible under the mess he made.
but jungkook doesn't care. he thinks he stopped caring a long time ago. sometimes he wonders what the point is. sometimes he thinks if he should just end it all. but the tiny hope in his heart, the hope that says his boyfriends will somehow come back to him, keeps him around.
jungkook’s thoughts get interrupted by his phone buzzing and blowing up. he flips it over, trying to ignore the happy birthday video that had finished, and reads the news headline.
Its over! The Blipped Return!
jungkook rolls his eyes and scoffs. he's lost count on the amount of times there was news about the blipped returning, only for it to be fake. at this point, he's lost all hope.
the bitter feeling in his heart returned. fuck, he needed a bottle. hopefully he didn't break them all in his rage.
stepping over the glass and spilled alcohol and cake, he reaches the kitchen and starts looking around for some alcohol. there was one bottle left, thank god. jungkook leaves the mess he made, it's his day off tomorrow so he’ll just deal with it then. he plops down on his mattress, pulling the blanket to his nose to smell. his eyes started watering again when the smell of his hyungs didn't reach his nose. the blanket, that five years ago smelt like his hyungs, smelt like home, now just smelt like sadness and desperation, smelt like jungkook.
jungkook threw the blanket to the edge of the bed, hoping the distance would somehow reverse how much he tainted it. he reached under his pillow for his favourite and only bottle opener. his fingers ran over the engraving his yoongi hyung had done before giving it to him for his 21st birthday. “happy birthday my jungkookie - here’s to many more birthdays and fireballs together. love, your yoongi” it read.
as he went to pop open his only bottle for the night, a knock rang on the door. jungkook looked at the time, 12:30am, he definitely wasn't expecting anyone this late.
fuck, was it the cops? his neighbour tended to call the cops whenever jungkook had a breakdown and made too much noise. counting his lucky stars that he was at least sober this time, jungkook opened the door expecting to see a cop in front of him.
what he didn't expect to see was his boyfriend taehyung standing there, tears in his eyes. 5 people emerged from the elevator behind him, running to the door.
“jungkook,” taehyung whispered, almost in disbelief.
was he dreaming? jungkook’s hand reached out to his thigh to subtly pinch himself. no, he definitely wasn't dreaming.
was he hallucinating? his hand slowly reached out, cautiously reaching for taehyung’s face.
a sob ripped out from jungkook’s throat as his hands touched taehyung’s skin.
they were back.
jungkook immediately started sobbing, chest heaving and collapsed to the ground in tears. his boyfriends raced to gather around him in a hug, whispering comforting words.
“it’ll be okay”
“you're okay jungkookie”
“we’ll fix everything don't worry kookie”
“it's okay jagiya, your hyungs are here”
“breathe baby, its okay”
“shh jungkook, don't cry it's okay”
“you're here” jungkook finally got out between sobs. “you're back. i thought you'd never be back.”
“we’re here baby, and we’re never going to leave you again, we promise.”
and as he sobbed in the middle of the hallway, thoughts racing, questions on the tip of his tongue, jungkook knew that his hyungs would never break that promise.