you and me, we're bumper cars (taekook ff)

Chasing Sparks

"Tae."

The singular syllable hangs in the thick air between them, lingering along with the pungent smell of blood and the heavy breaths both Jungkook and Taehyung are releasing. It seems as though the world has completely stopped; the collective conversations in the crowd have long simmered down into hushed dialogue. The people walk ever so cautiously, each step an imprint on the concrete grounds. Jungkook remains at an arm's distance away from Taehyung, whose eyes are still wide and rounded; the brown in them appears like a river of jet black flowing with unspoken sentiments Jungkook cannot decipher.

"Tae, talk to me," Jungkook pleads. His voice comes out cracked, like the bones of the boys he had gotten into a fight with. "T-Tae."

"I-I don't know w-what to say," Taehyung stammers; somehow, his sentence gets lost in the stop and-go pattern of his speaking, but Jungkook's thankful for at least a few words on his part. "D D-Did you have to h-hurt them, Jungkook? W-why did you have to...?"

"If I hadn't stepped in," Jungkook reasons, boldly taking a step closer to Taehyung, "they would have beaten everything out of you until you were a corpse."

Taehyung's lower lip trembles; his eyes glisten with ponds of tears. The water reflects the moonlight shining upon the alley. "B-but—"

"What?" Jungkook raises his voice in volume, sweat trickling along his hairline. "You'd rather they beat you to fucking death? Would you be okay if I just stood there, in that fucking spot," Jungkook points to the sidewalk, "and did nothing to stop them? Did you think I'd let them hurt you?"

"It wasn't worth it," Taehyung argues, the ponds spilling over his lashes, until they form streams along his cheeks. "You didn't have to do that."

"Goddammit, fuckface," Jungkook curses, hands frantically grabbing Taehyung's shoulders. "Don't try to pull that bullshit with me. I had to do that. You were worth it; you are worth it, and if I hadn't fucking broken every bone in those dipshits, I'd never forgive myself." I'm just trying to make up for all the times I was like them, he almost admits; more to himself than Taehyung. He

stops the words from leaving him, but they rest along the edges of his tongue.

Jungkook wills himself to look Taehyung in his eyes; he's never been too fond of reading books, and even more so with people. This is no exception; Jungkook's gaze roams all over Taehyung's tanned, chiselled features, searching for any signs of forgiveness; perhaps frustration, tugging the corners of his lips downward; or confusion, with the wrinkled forehead; or the deep voids that run

in the once warm coffee that brewed in his irises. There are no stars in this sky, and Jungkook's fear of the dark has begun sinking in.

"J-Jungkook..."

Taehyung's sentence gets lost in the air as his body is thrust forward by an abrupt loss of balance. Jungkook is quick to hold out his arms to catch him. Taehyung's hands latch on to Jungkook's biceps, the firmness in his grip wavering as the seconds slip through their fingertips. His head rests on the crook of Jungkook's neck.

"T-Taehyung? A-are you okay?" The panic rushes to Jungkook's head faster than the heat does to his cheeks. "T-Tae."

"I... I don't know..." Taehyung whimpers in pain. "They beat me up... p-pretty badly..."

"And you tell me I shouldn't have beaten them up for you," Jungkook sneers. "We need to get you to the hospital. We can look for someone to bring us there. Maybe—"

"No," Taehyung immediately counters. "M-my family will know. They can't know about it."

"Why not?" Jungkook asks. It's become increasingly difficult to understand Taehyung, especially right when Jungkook thinks he's just one piece away from finishing the puzzle.