Metal Heart [ Jikook ]

Chapter 4

Kim Taehyung awoke with three messages on his phone- one telling him he had an e-mail from his teacher, one from Seokjin, and one from Hoseok. He had a missed call from Jungkook; he decided to deal with that first.

"Hello! Jeon Jungkook's house. He's currently getting dressed, fresh out of the shower, but he'll be down to get the phone in a few minutes if you don't mind waiting."

Taehyung chuckled. This wasn't the first time he'd called Jungkook to hear Jimin's fluent voice through the receiver. He had been quite shocked by the tone the first time he'd called Jungkook to have the boy not pick up right away, but he hadn't reacted badly. "I'll wait, Jimin."

"Taehyung! Hi!" Jimin said excitedly, immediately recognizing Taehyung's voice. Taehyung had discovered, in the time that he'd gotten to know Jimin just a little bit, that Jimin had an extremely good memory. He remembered Taehyung's name, voice, and a few things Taehyung had told about himself after the first time they'd met. Taehyung might be able to do the same had he not been too lazy to remember people well.

"Hello, Jimin. How are you- well? Jungkook?" Taehyung asked.  He shifted, threw his blanket off his legs and got up. He figured he could start making himself breakfast while he was on the phone- would rather not waste time in his already tight morning schedule.

"Yes! Jungkook is well too, but he hurt himself last night. He was dancing, and he twisted his leg, so we had to take him to the hospital." Jimin said, and he sounded a little pouty as he was saying it. Taehyung's eyes went wide, stopping in the middle of his kitchen.

"He didn't break anything, did he?" Taehyung asked, relieved when Jimin said no. He moved on with his morning routine- pulled out a bowl so he could make himself oatmeal- something quick and easy enough that it only took half a brain cell to make. Good. Taehyung only really had a few working brain cells this early in the morning- and for the next couple hours. It was a miracle he wasn't completely failing his first class.

"Oh! Jungkook is coming downstairs!" Jimin said. His voice was a little muffled in his next words; he must have pulled the phone away from his ear. "Kookie! Your friend called! His name is Taehyung. I think he's sleepy, but he still wants to talk to you. That's so sweet, hmm?"

"Thanks, Jimin." Jungkook's voice was a little faraway, but Taehyung could still hear the soft chuckle in his voice. And then his voice was clear, loud as it always was on the phone. (He felt the need to speak louder with a phone pressed to his ear, for whatever reason.) "Good morning, hyung!"

"Morning." Taehyung said, yawned. He looked at the clock; he still had an hour before he had to leave to his next class. He was a little more fortunate than Jungkook to have recently moved into a dorm on campus, one he shared with a quiet boy called Jijoon, so he could leave as soon as first bell rang and be in class by the time second bell rang. Taehyung yawned again. "You called earlier. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could pick me up, hyung? I hurt my ankle pretty bad dancing last night." Jungkook said, and Taehyung could hear Jimin in the background-- "It still hurts, Kookie? You must be careful! Do you want me to look at it again? Do you need to go to the doctor again?"

"Mmm, Jimin told me you hurt yourself. Do you have a sprain?" Taehyung asked. He dumped his oatmeal and a decent amount of water into the bowl, shoved it in the microwave. He grabbed some fruit- grapes- from his refrigerator to cut up so he could put them in his oatmeal when it had finished cooking.

"Yeah. I twisted it real bad- but I can still walk. I just don't think my ankle could handle carrying me to school." Jungkook said, and his tone of voice had Taehyung imagining him fiddling with his fingers- something he always did when he asked a favor out of someone, as if he felt bad for doing it. "I know it takes time out of your morning but-"