19 - Aftershock

Jungkook's body froze when he heard Seokjin's voice, he needed a few seconds before he had enough courage to turn around. Seokjin looked at Jungkook with wide-opened eyes, and Jungkook felt how the terror crawled upon his skin. Seokjin was still standing there while Yoongi came out from his room and stood next to the eldest.

"How much did you hear?" Yoongi asked, and Jungkook's fear grew a little as he couldn't sense any kind of emotion from Yoongi's voice. Jungkook was still under the shock of what he'd heard, all he could do was look at Seokjin's face.

"What?" Jungkook asked dumbly, earning a tired sigh from Yoongi.

"Don't act like I'm stupid." Yoongi said with a frown. "Now, tell me how much you heard or I'm gonna look after it myself." His tone got serious, almost threatening, like an old man who scolded a child.

"There's no need to do that." Seokjin said with a monotone as he looked at Yoongi. Jungkook felt a rush of relief, he was glad that Seokjin protected him even in a situation like this.

"As you wish." Yoongi rolled his eyes and lifted his hands up in defeat, then he went back into his room, closing the door behind himself.

Jungkook was still standing at the same spot, feeling too scared to make a move. Seokjin sighed as he looked at him, a fade of a smile appeared on his face. Cocking his head towards the living room, Seokjin walked over there. Jungkook slipped out from his shoes and followed Seokjin, hopping down onto the couch next to him. Jungkook felt too shy, so he looked at his hands in his lap, avoiding eye contact with Seokjin. Too many thoughts were whirling in Jungkook's head, trying to process everything he'd heard.

"Jungkook?" Seokjin broke the silence after a while. Taking his bottom lip between his teeth, Jungkook slowly lifted his head up and looked at Seokjin.

"Don't be afraid, I won't let Yoongi look into your mind." The tone of Seokjin's voice was so calming, yet Jungkook was still too nervous to speak, so he nodded instead, letting Seokjin know he understood what he'd told him. Seokjin took Jungkook's hands into his own, squeezing them gently.

Even though Jungkook was grateful for Seokjin's efforts, he couldn't calm down. The words Seokjin had said earlier still echoed in Jungkook's head over and over again, like some kind of mantra, and the thought that Seokjin had gotten hurt only intensified the sadness Jungkook was feeling. Jungkook remembered what Seokjin had told him yesterday, how Jungkook was the only one who had been so gentle with him during sex. After Jungkook had heard what he did, he knew what Seokjin's words from the day before meant, and before Jungkook could realise the tears welled up in the corner of his eyes. Jungkook lowered his head as he felt his chest tightening, he took deep breaths as he tried not to cry.

Seokjin was scanning Jungkook's face with worry, noticing how his expression changed before he lowered his head. The sadness Jungkook felt was like a cold hand, curling its chilling, freezing fingers around Seokjin's neck, choking the words inside his throat. Seokjin was still holding Jungkook's hands, circling his thumb on the back of them. Seokjin couldn't tell how long they stayed like that, but it didn't matter, Seokjin was too worried, he didn't want to rush anything - that would only make things worse.

After a while that felt like forever, Jungkook lifted his head up, his eyes filled with sadness, unfallen tears shining in them.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Jungkook trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"You have no reason to apologise for." Seokjin said quietly, reaching his hand up to softly soothe Jungkook's cheek. Jungkook closed his eyes at the touch, leaning his face into Seokjin's palm.

"It's just… the thought that he treated you the same way…" Jungkook whispered, his voice trembling a little as he tried not to cry. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back his treats - the sight and the emotions they both were feeling made Seokjin's vision blurry.

The fact that Jungkook was thinking about Seokjin instead of himself even in a situation like this was shocking for Seokjin. Jungkook had gone through much worse things, and he was still worried about Seokjin.

Sliding his hand from Jungkook's cheek to the back of his head, Seokjin pulled him closer, and Jungkook immediately curled his arms around him, hugging him tightly, snuggling his head at the crook of Seokjin's neck. A loud, grievous sob broke out from Jungkook, shaking his whole body, his grip tightening at Seokjin's sides, fingers digging into his skin. Seokjin felt how the hot tears rolled down on his own face as he started silently crying, but he still managed to gently caress Jungkook, running his fingers through his hair with one hand while he rubbed his back with the other.

The pain, the sadness Jungkook was feeling formed a sharp dagger, stabbing into Seokjin's soul, filling his lungs with ice cold water, making it harder to breathe. It soon became too much for Seokjin, Jungkook's emotions were too intense besides the sadness Seokjin was feeling. Seokjin had to find a way to ease the sadness Jungkook was going through.

"Ju-Jungkook, please try to calm down." Seokjin stuttered, the tightness in his chest making it harder to speak. Jungkook dragged away and scanned Seokjin's face, his teary eyes widening.

"Oh, did I- did I hug you too tightly?" Jungkook asked between his sobs. Seokjin shook his head as he tried to take deep breaths.

"Then wha-what's wrong?" Jungkook reached his hands and gently cupped Seokjin's face, locking eyes with him. A new emotion rushed through Seokjin - the worry Jungkook was feeling. Sadly it didn't help, Seokjin's chest was still too tight, his breathing still too rigid.

Seokjin was too focused on trying to breathe, he barely heard how Jungkook called for Yoongi. Seokjin glanced towards Yoongi's room, but the door of his room stayed closed - he was probably occupied with something else and couldn't hear Jungkook.

Which was the case. After Yoongi closed the door, he busied himself - as his conscience didn't let him to eavesdrop - with listening to music with his headset on while he was working on his songs at his desk. Usually Yoongi got inspiration when he was doing everyday things, but he hoped that a rhyme or lyric part would pop up in his mind while he was focusing particularly on actually working on his music. Unfortunately it didn't work - whatever Yoongi wrote down, after he read the lines again he angrily crossed them with an annoyed groan.

Giving up on working the lyrics, Yoongi leaned his head onto the table and listened to the music. He almost fell asleep when he heard Jungkook's voice echoing in his head.

'Yoongi hyung? Do you hear me?' Yoongi noticed how scared Jungkook's voice sounded, Yoongi took his headset off a little too harshly before he rushed out into the living room.

"What happened?" Yoongi asked Jungkook, completely frozen at the sight in front of him - Seokjin trying to take deep breaths with his eyes closed as Jungkook was holding his face. When Jungkook turned his head, Yoongi could see how terrified he was with his big, teary eyes and trembling lips.

"I- I don't know. Help hi-him, please!" Jungkook stuttered, still sobbing.

Yoongi crouched in front of the couch and carefully unfolded Jungkook's hand from Seokjin's face, turning his head towards himself.

"Hyung, can you hear me?" Yoongi asked, and a moment later he got a nod.

"What happened to you?" Yoongi's voice was filled with worry as he spoke. Seokjin kept his eyes closed, even after Yoongi tried to get his attention with wiping his tears off. Yoongi mumbled a few curses as he knew this was not going to work.

'Hyung, tell me what's wrong?' Yoongi tried using his powers this time, hoping that they could communicate this way.

'It's Jungkook… his emotions are too intense, I feel like his sadness is choking me.' Yoongi heard Seokjin's voice, but Yoongi sensed that it was hard for Seokjin to reply. As Yoongi looked at Jungkook, he saw how he was switching his gaze between him and Seokjin, his tears still rolling down on his flushed cheeks.

"Jungkook?" Yoongi spoke softly, earning Jungkook's attention. "No offense, but could you go into your room, please?" The way Jungkook looked at Yoongi made it obvious how unexpected this question was for him, but thankfully after giving a nod, Jungkook stood up and did as Yoongi asked.

After Yoongi saw the door closing, he turned back his gaze at Seokjin, waiting. It took a few minutes until Seokjin's breathing started getting back to normal, but still a bit uneven - at least he stopped crying, only sniffing a few times as he recollected himself.

"Thank you." Seokjin managed to say, but his voice was a bit weaker than it should be.

"Don't rush with being grateful, hyung, just try to calm down first, yeah?" Yoongi scolded Seokjin, earning a nod and a small smile from him. Taking his hands off of Seokjin's face, Yoongi sat down next to the elder.

"What happened, hyung?"

"I tried to reassure and calm Jungkook down, saying that I won't let you look into his mind." Yoongi made a face at that reply, earning a dour expression from Seokjin. "Yoongs, you don't think I'd let you do such a thing, do you?"

"No, I would never do that…" Yoongi mumbled with a pout. Yoongi knew Seokjin wasn't convinced, but he dropped the topic - he told Yoongi what had happened instead. Silence settled down between them for a short while after Seokjin explained everything.

"So, you're telling me that Jungkook's emotions are the reason why I found you like that?" Yoongi broke the silence.

"Mhm. His sadness and bitterness were too strong, too intense, making it hard to breathe."

"Why didn't you suppress his feelings then?" Yoongi was aware that Seokjin was capable to do that.

"I didn't want to not use this side of my powers on him without his permission." Seokjin replied. Yoongi looked at him with a frown, but then he remembered the conversation he overheard after Jungkook had woken up from his nightmare.

The realisation must've shown up on Yoongi's face as Seokjin's eyes sparkled with anger - he knew Yoongi too well.

"You eavesdropped on us?" The tone was low, but Yoongi could sense the threat in it, making him swallow nervously.

"M-maybe?" Yoongi hated how easily Seokjin could scare him. There was nothing more terrifying than an angry Seokjin. And as Seokjin closed his eyes and exhaled his breath through his nose, Yoongi knew that Seokjin was close to being mad.

"I didn't mean to, I just wanted to make sure to wait for the right moment to tell you what I saw." Yoongi rambled, hoping he could save his own ass. Thankfully it seemed like it worked - Seokjin opened his eyes (his stare was cold though) and raised one of his eyebrows, waiting.

"I wanted to tell you that I recognised Namjoon in Jungkook's dream, but you were too busy trying to wake him up." Yoongi explained.

"And why didn't you try to tell me about it later? After I woke Jungkook up?" Seokjin's tone was so cold, Yoongi almost shivered because of it.

"I wanted to know what Jungkook would tell you about his nightmare." Relief rushed through Yoongi when he saw the anger fading away in Seokjin's eyes - it looked like his answer was convincing enough for him.

Or at least Seokjin wasn't as mad at Yoongi that he would want to kill him on the spot. But he probably was still pissed as he left Yoongi there without a word and went into their room.

Yoongi stayed on the couch though, still deeply in his thoughts. He hoped that Seokjin and Jungkook could talk about what Jungkook had beard without ending the same way as a short while ago.

It was so strange for Yoongi - it had never happened with Seokjin before that someone else's emotions had this intense effect on him. Yoongi wondered if Seokjin's powers got stronger, like Yoongi's. What if it had something to do with Jungkook? If that was the case, why was it happening? Both Yoongi and Seokjin had powers and had been living together for years, but neither of their abilities improved - at least not as insignificantly and quickly. Would the same thing happen if Yoongi would be around another person who also had powers?

Too many thoughts were whirling around in Yoongi's mind, giving him a headache. Taking a deep breath, Yoongi stood up and went into his room, and after he changed clothes and slipped his wallet and keys into his pockets, he left the suite. The cold air made his cheeks red, but Yoongi didn't care, he continued his walk, still trying to find the answers for the questions he had in his mind.

Before Yoongi could realise, he ended up on the same bench in the park like last time, and he remembered the mysterious angel he saw in his dream. Hoping that he could see him again, Yoongi looked around, scanning the people's faces who were wandering in the park.

He hoped that he would see him again.