9-Well That Escalated Quickly
When Taehyung woke up the next day, it was in his own brand new futon (with one of Yoongi's pillows) and to an empty room. He sat up and messed up his hair, pouting a little at the empty mattress. He'd fallen asleep before the older man got in the night before and hadn't been able to show off his futon. Getting up in time to see Yoongi off had been a long shot anyways, but still.
Taehyung's only class today was in the evening, so he started his day with a shower before visiting Jin for breakfast. It was only then he found out what exactly had happened while he was in class.
"Is Jimin going to be okay?" He asked, eyes wide as he looked up at Jin from his seat by the table.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Jin said, still stirring breakfast in the pan. "It might take him a few days to get back to his old self, but things like this don't usually get him down for very long."
"Things like this? Does this happen often?" Taehyung asked, chewing on his lower lip.
Sighing a little, Jin covered the pan to let it simmer before joining Taehyung at the table. "I wouldn't say often, but... it's not the first time someone has put their hands on Jimin.. Namjoon mentioned a sociopath yesterday, and he was, he could have killed Jimin, but Hoseok came home at the right time. I'm not going to go into details about what happened, but it was a while before Jimin recovered."
Taehyung's eyes were wide. "...Why would someone do that?" He asked, low voice quiet. "To anyone, let alone Jimin? Jimin, he's... he's nice."
"He is, but some people like to take advantage of that," Jin said, shaking his head. "But that's why we're here, to protect each other. Keep that in mind, if you're in trouble, you send an SOS, okay?"
Taehyung nodded. "Okay... Do any of the others ever send SOS's? Yoongi hyung?"
"Not as often as Jimin, but Hoseok has sent a few, sometimes involving being trapped in a girl's closet because the boyfriend he didn't know about showed up," Jin said with a sigh. "Yoongi... once. If Yoongi or Namjoon send out an SOS, it's an all hands on deck emergency. The one time Yoongi needed rescuing was because he got drunk at an underground rap battle and picked a fight with someone who said that Yoongi wasn't a true rapper because he was going to college. Several people went to the hospital that night, but it wasn't any of us."
Taehyung winced at that. "...It's nice that you guys have each other's back like that," he said after a moment, shifting to sit cross-legged. "It really is like a big family, huh. Though I'm not sure who is more the dad, Namjoon hyung or Yoongi hyung."
Jin tried to hide the smile at that, shaking his head. "Yoongi is more like an old grandpa, complains all the time, doesn't move if he doesn't want to, and will fall asleep anywhere." He wasn't going to broach the Namjoon mention, just thinking about night before. Eating and talking, maybe a couple of shy kisses before Namjoon left, it had been nice and Jin was absolutely not going to gush about it. Not out loud at least. "But, now that you're one of us, we have your back too. Always."
Taehyung blinked, before smiling widely at Jin. "...I really appreciate that, eomma. You don't even really know me or anything." Things would have probably turned out far different if he hadn't been assigned Yoongi's room.
"We know enough," Jin said, reaching over to pat Taehyung on the arm. He got up to check on breakfast when there was a knock on the door. "Can you see who that is?" he asked Taehyung, seeing as the pan was starting to bubble over.
"Sure!" Taehyung hopped up to his feet, padding over to the door. He didn't bother to check out the peephole, instead opening the door immediately to– "J-Jimin! Good morning!"
"Oh... morning Taetae," Jimin smiled in surprise. His orange hair was gone, now a deep black. "I didn't expect you to be here."
"Jin eomma is making breakfast," Taehyung said, shuffling out of the way to let Jimin in. "You dyed your hair again?"
"Yeah, felt like I needed a change," Jimin said, stepping into the room. "Morning eomma."
"Morning, you doing okay?" Jin asked, watching Jimin worriedly. He didn't think he'd ever seen Jimin with black hair before, and it looked good on him, but Jin knew something had to be up.
"Fine, Hoseok took good care of me last night," Jimin said, sliding into a seat at the table. "Um... Jungkook hasn't been by to see either of you this morning, has he?"
Taehyung blinked, shaking his head. "Nope. Only person I've seen is Jin eomma. He wasn't in your room? Maybe Hoseok hyung knows where he is?"
"He didn't come home last night?" Jin asked, turning off the hot plate and bringing the pan to the table.
"No, and he wasn't going to," Jimin shifted a little uncomfortably, glancing at Tae out of the corner of his eye before looking back at Jin. "He's got a new... girlfriend. And he had plans with her last night, but he usually comes back in the morning. I told him what happened, and he didn't respond, and he didn't come home. Hoseok hasn't heard from him either."
Jin's shoulders slumped at hearing that and he sat down next to Jimin, putting a supportive arm around him. Jin didn't exactly approve of Jimin and Jungkook's arrangement, but it wasn't his place to say anything if they were happy with it. It was moments like these though, just emphasized why it didn't work.
"Jimin..." Jin started but was cut off by Jimin laughing, his bright smile returning.
"It's okay, I'm sure he just got drunk and passed out or he had something to do really early and he didn't tell me," Jimin said.
Taehyung chewed on his lower lip, glancing between Jin and Jimin. He had a feeling he was missing half of the context behind their words, being the newest person in their circle of friends. But whatever it was, it didn't seem too great for Jimin who had already been through enough yesterday.
"...Hey, do you have classes today?" He asked suddenly. "I've only got one at night, but later I was gonna buy some supplies for my half of Yoongi's room. Do you want to come with me? You've got really good tastes." He messed up his red hair with one hand.
Looking up at him, Jimin's smile brightened even more. "That sounds like fun, I don't have any classes today, so, yeah, we'll make a day of it. You should come too Jin."
"Ah... I actually have things I need to do, but thank you," Jin said. "But buy me something pretty?"
Taehyung smiled widely up at him. "We will, eomma. What does eomma like?" he looked at Jimin. "Flowers?"
"Anything pink," Jimin said with a laugh.
"Yes, now eat up before this gets cold," Jin said, fixing a small plate up to save. "If you come back around lunch time I'll make you guys something okay?"
"Okay," Taehyung grinned, immediately starting to dig into the food. "This is great." He looked up when there was a knock on the door, automatically hopping to his feet and going to open it as he chewed.
Namjoon blinked down at Taehyung's chipmunk cheeks before chuckling, stepping in. "Morning. Oh... morning, Jimin," he smiled to see the other man there, though the change in hair colour didn't escape him.
"Morning," Jimin smiled back at him. "Um, you haven't seen Jungkook at all today have you? He didn't text you or anything?" he asked as Jin placed the plate he had prepared at Namjoon's seat.
"No?" Namjoon blinked. "He doesn't usually reach out to me unless he needs something. Why?" He sat down on Jimin's other side, looking up at Jin with a quizzical smile.
"Just wondering, that's all," Jimin shrugged, focusing more on eating. Jin gave Namjoon a sad smile in return, touching his shoulder gently before sitting back down in his seat.
Namjoon looked confused for a moment, but chose to drop it.
Taehyung shoveled food into his mouth, looking around the table. Once he was done he nudged Jimin's side. "When do you wanna go? We can go whenever. And be back for Jin eomma's lunch."
"Let's go now," Jimin said, finishing off what he was eating and getting to his feet. "We'll be back later eomma," he took Taehyung's hand, pulling on him to get him to get up faster.
Taehyung stumbled up to his feet. "See you!" He called as they left the room. He stopped back in his room to grab his wallet before ducking back out. "Was there anything you wanted to get?" he asked Jimin, blinking at him. He wasn't really sure about being this close to Jimin after the whole kissing thing, but... Jimin needed a distraction right now, and Taehyung wanted to be a good friend and help.
"Oh, no I don't have any money, this is shopping for you," Jimin said, finding Taehyung's hand again and holding it as they walked to the elevator. "How is living with Yoongi hyung so far? You haven't run away screaming yet."
"Why would I run away screaming?" Taehyung asked, walking along beside Jimin. "Yoongi hyung is great, he helps me with stuff that I'm missing and shows me around campus so I don't get lost. And he let me crash on his mattress until my futon was delivered."
"That just... doesn't sound like Yoongi, I mean if you're his friend yeah, but he's not usually like that around people he doesn't know," Jimin said. "It took him at least a month before he would acknowledge Jungkook's existence. And I think he actually wanted to kill Hobi hyung the first time he met him."
"Hobi hyung?" the younger of the two blinked. "Who's that? And I guess it's different cause I'm his roommate? He can't really ignore his roommate for a whole month."
"Hoseok is Hobi, it's my name for him," Jimin laughed. "But even that is just weird, that Yoongi just let you stay there without making a scene. He's so fussy about everything and he never made a fuss about you. I think it's cute."
"It was his idea for me to stay with him. Maybe it's cause we're both from Daegu?" Taehyung tilted his head as they got into the elevator. "But whatever it is, I'm thankful to him, I don't know if I would have been able to find a place in time for classes otherwise."
"I'm thankful to him as well, I like you being here," Jimin said, pressing the button for the ground floor and leaning a little against Taehyung. "There aren't that many people who will let me dye their hair the first time they meet me, or let me hold their hand without a fuss. You're really sweet, and cute."
Taehyung chewed on his lower lip when Jimin leaned into him, trying not to let his nerves show. "I liked your orange hair, and never had dyed hair before so I thought it would be fun. And I like holding hands, and hugging," he said. "Though it's usually with my little brother and sister only, not so much with other people."
"Yoongi says I'm too affectionate, he's probably right," Jimin said with a soft sigh. "I'm surprised he didn't say that he told me so yesterday. He probably still will, cause he's mean like that."
"That would be really mean," Taehyung pouted at that, looking over at Jimin. "Jin eomma would scold him for it though, and that would be fun to see, right? It was funny to see Jin eomma scold him for his magazines."
If that was meant to cheer Jimin up, it didn't work, his expression somber. "But he'd be right. Even if Yoongi hyung is mean, doesn't mean he's wrong. He's right about a lot of things, I should listen to him more."
Taehyung's lips pursed as they got out of the elevator at the ground floor. "...Listen to him about what?"
"I don't know if this is walking around conversation," Jimin said with a strained laugh. "Yoongi and Jin eomma don't approve of the relationship Jungkook and I have. Jin doesn't say anything cause he's too polite, but Yoongi hyung... regularly tells me that he doesn't like it and thinks we're being stupid."
Taehyung was quiet for a moment, glancing at Jimin beside him. "...I guess... the most important thing is if you're both happy. Right? That's all that should matter."
"Right, as long as we're both happy," Jimin said, but his tone didn't match the words. "... I'm not happy Taetae. I'm not happy at all."
Taehyung bit his lower lip, looking down at their linked hands. "What would make you happy, then?"
"Being here with you makes me happy," Jimin said, his expression brightening a little up at Taehyung. "You're so sweet. And cute."
Taehyung's gaze lifted up to Jimin's face, and he smiled widely in return. "Then let's have a fun day, huh?"
"Yeah, let's," Jimin grinned back, leaning up to give Taehyung kiss on the cheek.
Taehyung didn't say anything. A kiss on the cheek was fine. "I don't know where the best places to shop are," he admitted, leaning into Jimin's side as they walked. "Show me around?" And it would keep Jimin happy, so it was fine.
******************************
Jimin ended up taking Taehyung to every shop and boutique he knew of, and liked within a few streets of their building. By the time they returned home, it was inching past noon and they had a few bags between them, mostly Taehyung's, though one small bag was for Jin. They had also stopped and picked up some bubble tea (one for Jin as well).
Everything had been dumped into Taehyung's room, except for the tea and Jin's present when they returned to the older man's apartment. Jin opened the door with a smile, ushering them in before returning to the lunch he was cooking. "So did you get lots of stuff?" he asked, glancing at them over his shoulder. "Is Yoongi going to kill you for decorating his perfect white walls?"
"We didn't decorate much, and all on my side of the room," Taehyung grinned, slipping off his shoes. "Hey Namjoon hyung. No class today?"
"Not until later," Namjoon said, flipping through a textbook.
Taehyung made a beeline for Jin's side, holding out the small bag with a grin. "Eomma, we got you something!"
"And tea," Jimin said, setting the cup on the table. "Sorry Namjoon, didn't think you'd be here still."
"Oh, thank you," Jin turned down the hot plate and accepted the gift. Peering inside, he let out a small laugh and pulled out the figurine of Princess Peach. "It's perfect, it will go well with the collection."
"Glad you like it," Taehyung grinned up at him before dropping down. "How is everything here? Busy studying the whole time?"
"...More or less," Namjoon shrugged. "Did you break his bank, Jimin?"
"Maybe just a little," Jimin grinned, absolutely pleased with himself. "Shopping vicariously through someone else's money is a dream of mine."
"Too bad it wasn't being spent on you, right?" Jin chuckled, glad to see that Jimin was in better spirits. "You have any plans for the afternoon, or are you going to be busy getting your room all decorated?"
"Ah... I don't think we did?" Taehyung looked at Jimin. "Unless you had something in mind. Oh! I forgot!" He suddenly ducked back out of the room, forgetting his shoes completely. Namjoon blinked, raising an eyebrow at Jin.
Taehyung returned a moment later, holding out a small plastic bag to Jimin. "I got this for you."
Jimin looked at Taehyung in confusion. "Why?" he asked, though he did take the bag from him and peered inside. Inside was an earring shaped like a lizard and Jimin grinned up at Taehyung. "You didn't have to get me this," he said, pulling it out of the bag to show Jin.
"That's cute," Jin said, taking the earring to help Jimin put it in. Soon as the earring was in, Jimin nearly launched himself at Taehyung to give him a tight hug.
"Thank you, Jimin murmured, nuzzling into Taehyung's neck.
Taehyung smiled widely, hugging Jimin back. "I'm glad you like it," he said, holding onto him before letting go. "It looks cute on you."
"Does it?" Jimin beamed, touching his ear before letting go of Taehyung to go back to his seat. Lunch was ready shortly after, and after making short work of the meal, Jimin tugged on Taehyung's arm. "Let's go to my room," he said. "I want to show Hoseok my present, he should be home by now."
"Tell Hoseok there's food for him if he's good," Jin said, cleaning up the dishes at the table.
"Okay eomma," Taehyung grinned, scrambling up to follow Jimin out of the room. He wanted to ask if Jungkook had shown up yet, but figured that was maybe best to do out of Jimin's earshot. There had been no sign of the youngest all while they'd been shopping.
They went down to the fifth floor, Taehyung looking around as they entered the apartment. "Hoseok hyung?" The bathroom light was on.
Sure enough, Hoseok's voice floated out of the open door. "Oh, Taehyung? Who's with you, is it Jimin?"
"It's me," Jimin affirmed, heading towards the bathroom. "I wanted to show you the earring Taetae bought me, he took me out shopping today cause I was all sad about... Hobi hyung what happened?" Jimin stopped in the doorway, looking at Hoseok through the mirror.
Taehyung blinked, following Jimin to the bathroom door.
Hoseok blinked up at them through the mirror, washing his hands. He had a split lip, just cleaned but still painful looking. "Ah, I fell," he shrugged, moving to dry his hands. Taehyung looked down, seeing bruises and scrapes around his knuckles.
"Let me see," Jimin opened the bathroom door wider to step in, looking at Hoseok's lip with a frown. It took him a moment to notice the cuts on his hands and his expression went from concerned to confused. "You did not fall," he said, taking Hoseok's hands in his own. "You were in a fight?" he looked up at the older man's face, wincing a little at the bruising that was forming around his lip. "Taetae, get some ice. Who did you fight with?"
Taehyung blinked repeatedly before disappearing back out the apartment door. Hoseok wrinkled his nose a little. "That asshole freshman. It's not too bad. Just had to clean it up."
Jimin's eyes widened at hearing that. "Hyung... what'd you do? Did you hit him?"
"I wasn't planning on it," Hoseok sighed. "I was just gonna warn him, not to go near you or even look your way ever again. But he was being a jerk and..." he shrugged.
"Yeah, he is a jerk, and he could given you more than a split lip," Jimin said softly. "How bad did you hurt him?"
"No worse than he hurt you." Hoseok reached out, gently musing Jimin's black hair with a rueful smile. "No one scares and hurts my best friend like that. So don't look at me like that, kay?"
"I'll look at you any way I want if you're going to do something stupid like that," Jimin said, swatting at the hand. "But... I guess I appreciate you looking out for me."
"Jung Hoseok!" Jimin flinched at the shout, glancing over his shoulder to see Jin coming through the door. "What the hell did you do? What happened? Who did you get in a fight with?"
Hoseok winced a little before turning around. "Hi eomma," he said, clasping his hands behind him. "No one important." He saw Namjoon come in behind Jin, Taehyung peeking around the doorway.
"No one important?" Jin stopped just short of the two, leaning in to inspect Hoseok's face. "Then it won't be a big deal to tell me who it was and why you were fighting then, will it?"
Hoseok wrinkled his nose at Taehyung over Jin's shoulder; that tattletale. "The guy who hurt Jimin. I was just going to talk to him, but he got on my nerves." Namjoon frowned behind Jin; Hoseok usually had the most mellow temperament out of all of them. Even if said victim was an asshole.
"... He got on your nerves, so you hit him," Jin confirmed, his expression darkening as he leaned in a little closer. "Hoseok, I told you I'd take care of it. Now you've got a bloody lip for your trouble and I'm sure some bruised fingers. And all you've really done is escalate the situation. He may not take on you again, but he knows he can go after Jimin, cause we're not always with him. Did you think of that when you were hitting him?"
Hoseok's lips thinned, chin lifting. "If you thought he was less likely to try it again otherwise, you're dead wrong. And if you had heard the things that came out of the bastard's mouth, Jin, you would have hit him too."
"Maybe you're right, but I wouldn't have been dumb enough to go by myself," Jin said. "I want this kid's name, and where I can find him."
"Eomma, please, it's really-" Jimin was trying to get in a word in edgewise but Jin shot him a pointed look. "... His name's Cha Joohyuk, he likes to hang out at that bar Yoongi hyung likes to go to," he said, backing down.
"All of you stay here, I'm ending this right now," Jin said, looking between Jimin and Hoseok. "And when I'm done, we're all going to sit down and have a nice long talk about not doing stupid things." He turned to leave, brushing past Namjoon as he headed out the door.
Taehyung quickly ducked out of Jin's way to avoid becoming collateral damage. Namjoon looked between them before following Jin out. He wasn't about to let Jin do anything by himself.
"I'm coming with you," he said, falling in step beside Jin.
"Thank you," Jin replied, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. "You know this might turn out to be an actual fight. I'm getting the feeling just from what Jimin and Hoseok have told us, this kid sounds like a hothead."
"I know. Which makes me wonder why we're about to do the exact thing you scolded Hoseok for," Namjoon said. "Not that I don't agree with it."
"If he would have just listened to me from the beginning and not gone and hit the kid then I wouldn't be in this predicament," Jin huffed. "I don't want to hit anyone, I was going to have a calm conversation and Hoseok went and did something stupid, now this kid is probably pissed and is going to hit the next person he sees." Stepping into the elevator to go down to the first floor, Jin sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. "I'm putting Yoongi on speed dial, just in case. I'd hate to interrupt his class, but there's no way of knowing if his kid's going to have friends or not."
Stopping beside him, Namjoon nodded as he watched the elevator doors close. "We'll probably find out what he said to make Hoseok hit him soon enough," he said quietly. "Hoseok is impulsive, but not violent. He's the least violent person I know. At least... he was before that last incident with Jimin. Maybe he still blames himself for not getting there faster."
"We could all blame ourselves for that," Jin said, closing his eyes. "But it's no one's fault, and that was my worry was that Hoseok was going to take out the aggression from that incident on this kid." He took a deep breath, reaching out a hand to find Namjoon's. "I think I need to sit down and have a talk with Jimin when this is all settled. His actions lately have been worrying me."
"Yeah," Namjoon sighed, fingers curling around Jin's. He looked up at the elevator numbers before leaning over, pressing a soft kiss to Jin's mouth. "One problem at a time."
After Jin and Namjoon left, the room with the other three was quiet. Jimin helped Hoseok tend to his wounds, applying a healing ointment to the worst on his knuckles. "I'm sorry you got hurt cause of me," he said quietly, dabbing the ointment on with a q-tip. "Again."
"Not your fault," Hoseok smiled at him, letting Jimin help while Taehyung sat down awkwardly on the couch. "It's that asshole's fault. I should be sorry... I was hoping you wouldn't see. I didn't want you to be worried."
"I always worry about my Hobi hyung," Jimin said, throwing away the q-tip when he was done. Gently taking Hoseok's hands in his own, he gave the older man a rueful smile. "I worry he spends more time worrying about me than himself."
"Hey, that's what best friends are for, huh? C'mere you." Hoseok let go of Jimin's hands before circling his arms around the younger man, bundling him up into a hug.
Jimin had to laugh, hugging the older tightly and letting out a happy sigh. "Yeah, best friends," he said, peeking over Hoseok's shoulder to look at Taehyung. "You want in on this hug too?"
Taehyung blinked, then smiled widely as he hopped to his feet. "Sure!"
Hoseok laughed as Taehyung came over and wrapped his arms around both of them. "Jeez. He's as much of a cuddle bug as you."
"I know, it's great," Jimin chuckled, nuzzling into Taehyung as well. "You want to stay with me here for a bit Taetae? I know you've got class later, but Hoseok has class soon and.. I don't really want to be by myself."
"Sure," Taehyung agreed immediately. "I know where my class is this time, so I can leave later."
"Thanks for looking after Jiminnie, Taehyung," Hoseok smiled, hugging them both tightly before letting go.
Jimin switched to cuddling into Taehyung, giving Hoseok a wave as he gathered his things and left. "How is it that it was such a long day and it's only barely into the afternoon?"
"Cause it was a busy morning," Taehyung said, arms wrapping around Jimin to cuddle him back. "Sorry. Should I not have gotten ice from Jin?"
"Considering we had ice here, not sure why you did," Jimin chuckled. "But I think it'll be fine. Jin would have found out eventually from someone." He picked at a loose thread on Taehyung's shirt, lips pursed. "It's... weird having so many people around who'll do anything to take care of you. Even start fights with bullies. Hoseok is a good hyung."
Taehyung looked at Jimin as best as he could. "Have you two been friends for a long time?"
"Yeah, I moved to Seoul about five years ago, and we were in an after school dance class together," Jimin nodded. "Been best friends ever since. He's the first person I came out to."
Taehyung smiled widely. "It's good you had a friend like that. And now you have more, right?"
"Yeah, lots more," Jimin returned the smile. "I'm glad you're my friend too, not everyone's comfortable with the cuddles," he said, lifting a hand up to touch Taehyung's bottom lip with a finger. "And you've got the cutest lips, so that's a nice bonus."
Taehyung blinked, the sudden touch catching him off-guard. "A-ah... thanks? I think?" He swallowed nervously, finding it hard to reply clearly with Jimin touching his mouth.
Jimin's brow furrowed slightly at Taehyung's response. Not just the twitch in his face, but how his body tensed up under him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Taehyung replied quickly with a shake of his head, leaning back a little so Jimin's hand wasn't on his lips. "Nothing's wrong."
"No, something's wrong," Jimin said, his forehead wrinkling in confusion and he pulled away more. "What'd I do?"
"No... I..." Taehyung swallowed, not really sure what to say. "I... uh... don't..." he waved one hand a little at his mouth.
"... You don't...?" Jimin blinked at the pantomime, utterly lost. "You don't... think you have cute lips?"
"No, I don't... like being kissed," Taehyung mumbled after a moment, shuffling a little. "Or... or touching my mouth."
"Oh," Jimin immediately let go, backing up, nearly tripping over the arm of a chair. "I'm sorry, why didn't you say something? Here I am, making you so uncomfortable. I'm sorry, really. Um... yeah. Boundaries, yeah. Okay. You want something to drink?" he turned to make a beeline for the kitchen.
"I... sure?" Taehyung blinked after him, chewing on his lower lip. "Sorry?"
"No, don't," Jimin shook his head, opening up the fridge to hide inside. "You didn't do anything wrong, it's me, it's always me."
"It's not you," Taehyung blinked, half-following him. "I didn't say anything, so you didn't know. And I like cuddling and holding hands so..."
Jimin was quiet for a long time, the hum of the refrigerator the only thing breaking the momentary silence. "You know, Yoongi hyung always tells me I have issues with boundaries," he said finally. "He's right. He says I use it for validation, since Jungkook and I... since we're not normal."
Taehyung leaned into the kitchen area, watching the feet behind the fridge. "I'm not really sure what that means... but it doesn't sound like a compliment."
Jimin laughed bitterly. "No, it's not," he said quietly, letting the door of the fridge close and he leaned up against it. "We have an open relationship, because he doesn't want to be seen as gay. So... he always has a girlfriend, that's who will hug and kiss outside and take on dates. But it's me who he comes home to. I was okay with it at first, cause it meant I got to have him, even if it wasn't all the time, he still came home to me. But lately, he looks at me and I see... I don't know, disgust? It hurts."
"...But that doesn't make sense," Taehyung said, walking into the kitchen. "There's no reason to be disgusted. You're a great guy. Maybe talk to him about it?" Though Jungkook had yet to reappear today, despite what had happened to Jimin yesterday.
"This isn't a drama Taetae, where the people are just a good conversation away from being together, that everything will just fix itself with a heart to heart," Jimin said, hugging his knees to his chest. "This is reality, where Jungkook just doesn't love me."
Taehyung bit his lower lip, casting around for something to say that could help... could make things better and make Jimin smile again. But he couldn't think of anything. He couldn't even refute that claim, because out of all of his new friends he knew Jungkook the least, and Jimin also knew that.
So he slid down to sit beside Jimin instead, arms wrapping loosely around the other man in an offered hug.
Jimin didn't refuse the hug, leaning into Taehyung as he sniffled a little. "I feel like all I've done since you got here is cry, Taetae" he said softly, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm sorry you're not seeing the happy playful Jimin everyone else knows."
"That's okay," Taehyung said, low voice soft as he gently tucked Jimin's head against his neck like how the other man seemed to like. "There'll be plenty of time for happy Jimin. This is important too."
Jimin didn't respond, closing his eyes and soaking in Taehyung's comfort. He was grateful that there was someone who seemed to understand what he needed right that moment. It was only a few minutes later when he heard the door of the apartment opening. Jimin lifted his head and blinked a few times when he saw Jungkook standing in the doorway. The younger's expression was unreadable, but Jimin knew him well enough to know what he was thinking.
"Kookie?" Jimin murmured, slowly getting to his feet. "You're back, I... I thought you..."
"Are you okay Chimchim?" Jungkook asked, setting his bag down and moving towards him. He didn't seem to spare a thought to Taehyung, immediately pulling Jimin into a hug. "I'm sorry, I should have been here," he said, rocking Jimin a little, the older having started to cry again. Seeing Taehyung finally, he made a small motion with his head. "You should go."
Taehyung looked between them, seeing he would only be in the way if he stayed any longer. Even if he didn't want to leave Jimin's side right now. "I... yeah... I'll be upstairs if he needs anything."
He ducked out then, heading back to the elevator with his hands in his pockets. Having friends was a lot more complicated than he thought.
Walking back to his and Yoongi's room, Taehyung blinked when he saw the door to Jin's room closing. Were they back already? Walking up to the door, he pursed his lips at the door lock before knocking lightly.
The door opened, Jin looking at Taehyung with a frown. "Oh, hi," he said awkwardly, leaving the door open and turning around, disappearing from view. "Just hold still," his voice carried from inside. "Otherwise this is going to swell up and you're not going to be able to talk."
"Jin," Namjoon's voice held a sigh as Taehyung shuffled inside. "Take care of your finger first, I'm fine."
Taehyung's eyes widened as he looked at the both of them, the bruises starting to form on Namjoon's jaw and around Jin's eye. "...are you okay?"
"My finger's are already crooked, isn't changing anything," Jin said, not budging from where he was holding an ice pack to Namjoon's jaw. "We're fine, conversation didn't go as well as I would have liked and he sucker punched me. Pretty sure he regrets ever laying a hand on Jimin now though."
"He's not going to be bothering anyone for a while," Namjoon agreed. He reached up, taking the ice pack away from Jin. "Seokjin. Let me see your finger. If it's as bad as I think it is, we're going to the hospital."
Jin scowled a little at the use of his full name. Namjoon had quickly picked up on the fact that hearing Namjoon say his full name was his Achille's heel. "It's not that bad," he huffed, holding out his hand. The ring finger on his left hand was a little swollen.
"I saw how it bent." Namjoon gently took Jin's hand, examining the swollen finger. The way Jin's fingers naturally bent made it harder to tell, but he'd seen swelling like this enough to guess. "This is going to need a splint, before it gets worse."
"I really don't want to go to the hospital," Jin grumbled, looking down at his poor finger. It was still throbbing painfully and he couldn't bend it at all. "You know they're going to take one look at the pair of us and know we got in a fight."
"Of course, but it's better than dealing with a broken finger without them," Namjoon touched Jin's arm before standing. "Come on." Taehyung was still standing awkwardly in their doorway, not sure what to do.
"I guess we'll be back," Jin complained, dropping the bag of ice into the sink. "Don't let anyone know we're going to the hospital, it'll just worry them," he said to Taehyung, frowning a little at Taehyung's expression. "You okay?"
"Ah... yeah," Taehyung smiled tightly at Jin, shuffling out of the way so they could leave. "I won't tell anyone. I hope, uh... I hope they're able to fix your finger."
"Well I doubt they could make it worse," Jin said with a sigh, patting Taehyung on the shoulder as he followed Namjoon out.
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