CHAPTER 47

The Bangtan Boys step inside without saying a word, all of them too deep in their own thoughts. Messily, they take off their coats and their shoes, along with their wet socks.Once they all stand in the living room, water falling from their clothes and the drops of water in their hair running down their faces, Namjoon speaks up as serene as possible."We should take turns to take showers . . ." he takes a look at Taehyung, the boy still shivers with a lost sight. "Taehyung and two more can come first."They exchange looks but no one says anything, until Jungkook speaks. "Don't worry about me, I can wait and be the last one. It's just water, it won't kill me."Seokjin sighs. "We should take proper care of your lip first . . ."Jungkook brings a finger to his lip and hisses. "Was the rubbing alcohol not enough?"Seokjin scratches the back of his ear. "I think it's getting infected . . .""Oh.""Joonie," Seokjin turns to him,"you and Jimin should go with Taehyung. Hobi, Yoongs, and I can wait."Yoongi nods. "The youngest should go first.""In the meantime, we should take our clothes off or we'll catch a cold -""Oh my god, not again."Seokjin softly chuckles, moving the chairs from the kitchen to a corner of the living room. "Hung your clothes here, we'll do laundry tomorrow."Jungkook brings his arms back to his neck and pulls his black sweater up. The muscles in his arms and abs squeeze notably as he struggles to take it off, then they relax when he drops the piece of clothing on the floor.All the boys stare at him, Yoongi with an eyebrow raised. Seokjin can't help himself but check him out for a moment, then he turns around to focus on the chairs—but Namjoon noticed the subtle look the elder gave him."What? Never saw a guy topless before?" he blinks when all of them stay silent. "Oh, come on, I'm not entering my room with wet clothes. You do you, but I'm not going upstairs like that."He unbuttons his black jeans and everyone finally reacts. Namjoon brings Taehyung and Jimin to the shower, Seokjin moves to the other side of the living room to retrieve some towels, and Hoseok and Yoongi imitate the tattooed boy."The kiddo's right, this shit is so uncomfortable—how the fuck I drove all the way here?"Seokjin shakes his head at Yoongis antics with a smile and takes off his own clothes too. The four boys stay in boxers and Seokjin hands them the clean towels to dry their bodies and hair as much as possible before their turn.They come back down with loose clothes, the three boys still in the shower.Yoongi prepares a quick dinner with Hoseok's help, while Seokjin brings the first aid kit. Jungkook almost gasps when he sees the hour in the microwave, almost one o'clock."Let's see," Seokjin takes out a few creams, "mm-hmm, this one will do.""Does it look bad?"Seokjin laughs softly at the slight of worry in Jungkook's voice. "Could look worse."He slowly puts some cream on his finger and delicately rubs it against Jungkook's wound. The younger narrows his eyebrows at the discomfort, but doesn't complain."Here," Jungkook extends his hands and Seokjin gives him the cream. "You should apply more before going to sleep, probably the water in the shower will remove some of it."Jungkook nods. "Thanks, Jin.""No worries," he ruffles Jungkook's hair but he becomes conscious of his act of affection and slowly brings it behind his ear awkwardly.Then he stands up."I think they already finished showering and probably need help with Tae." with that being said, he leaves.Hoseok brings his lips closer to Yoongi's ear and whispers, "What was that?"Yoongi shrugs, not paying too much attention. Seokjin has always been the most caring out of them all, but Namjoon wasn't the only one who noticed his eyes fixed on Jungkook's bare body.* * *Taehyung and Jungkook lay in their own beds, both wide awake but in complete silence. Both of them face the ceiling, their minds wandering the past events.The boys didn't talk about what happened yet, they called it a night after quietly eating dinner.Taehyung gulps and turns his head to the boy next bed."Jungkook . . . are you asleep?" he whispers.Jungkook turns his head to him. "No . . . Can't you sleep?""No. Can you?""Me either."Taehyung sighs and stays quiet for a few moments. "I thought that man killed you. I thought she was going to kill me too.""Same.""What were you doing in the woods?" Taehyung finally asks. "How did you find me?""Why were you laying there? Why did she take you there? Do you remember?"Both of them keep their tone gentle, still confused."I left when I woke up," Jungkook begins when Taehyung stays quiet. "You weren't there, Mimi either. Somehow I ended up there, but it was a miracle I found you."Taehyung hums. "I don't remember much after that man hit your head . . . does it hurt?""I put on ice after dinner, if I survive the night I think I'll be okay." he laughs softly to light up the mood.Taehyung hums. "I don't know how I ended up there . . . but she took me to a weird place."Jungkook narrows his eyebrows. "Weird? Weird how?""I don't know . . . weird. It looked like a lab, all white.""A lab?" he scoffs to himself, "She's definitely insane. Was Mimi alone?""There was a man, but I couldn't see his face.""Must be Buffalo.""Who?""Buffalo—Mimi talked to him on the phone when he kidnapped Tiger, he told us."Taehyung sighs—he also got kidnapped, even if he didn't live these days. He had to fight against the man pressing the cloth soaked with chloroform on him and passed out not knowing if he would ever wake up nor if he would see his boyfriends ever again. He took control almost passing out for the intense pain in his skin and every muscle in his body while one of his boyfriends drenched in blood soothed him.No. He didn't go through what Tiger went, but that doesn't mean he didn't suffer.Either way, Taehyung doesn't have the energies to fight with Jungkook and explain himself again."I don't know, I didn't hear his name.""Don't worry. We'll talk about it tomorrow with the boys, okay?"Taehyung nods. "I don't know what they did to me after that . . . I remember standing there . . . but when I opened my eyes again I saw your face."Jungkook bites his lip and curses silently—the wound still hurts. "Maybe Tiger took over?""No, I can tell when he does and he didn't. They did something to me . . . but I don't know what.""Don't worry too much about it now, you're okay."Taehyung turns all his body around to face him better, his blanket reaching his mouth. "Will I die?"Jungkook's eyes widen before he chuckles softly. "What? No, of course you won't Tae."Taehyung gulps at his nickname rolling out of Jungkook's tongue effortlessly and moves to lay on his back again.The younger realises it too and clears his throat. "Anyway, we'll see everything clearer tomorrow.""Yes. We should sleep now.""Wait, wait, wait. Um, did Tiger take over at some point? Before they hit my head?"Taehyung shake his head. "I saw that.""Then why did you scream Bunny?"Taehyung narrows his eyebrows and turns his body again. "Bunny? I didn't. Why would I?""Tiger calls me Bunny. Before losing my senses completely . . . I heard it. He screamed my name."Taehyung bites his lower lip. "Tiger didn't take over today and I didn't scream Bunny . . . I just screamed Jungkook. That's your name," he gasps, "oh my, they aren't supposed to know that! Our enemies never know our real names . . . Jungkook, you're screwed. Sorry."Jungkook only hums at that. "Don't worry about it now, we're going to catch them soon. They won't kill me, besides, they don't know my last name. There're a lot of Jungkooks in South Korea, I'm not the only one."Taehyung hums, but doesn't take his eyes off him. " . . . I did sense him closer but he didn't take over . . . Jungkook, are you sure you're okay? Maybe the blow in your head made you hear things -""Yeah, it must be that. Uh, anyway, we should try to sleep now."Taehyung hums, not pushing the topic for both of their sakes. "We should . . . Good night."Jungkook turns to the opposite side. "Good night.""Jungkook?""Hm?""Thank you for helping me today.""No worries, that's what teammates do, don't they?"Taehyung hums.The boys fall asleep with a sense of relief in their chest.For the first time in five months, they could finally have a conversation like two normal human beings.