LOVE YOU TO DEATH | TAEKOOK

27. Wrists

*content warning for adult language, mature themes*
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TMZ: Taehyung and JJK seen hiking together, both smiling. Fans are still unsure if they are friends or more, especially after months without any sightings. In other news, Park Jimin was seen for the first time in months leaving Paracelsus, a treatment facility in Switzerland.

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Jungkook had a difficult time settling back into their walking routine after Taehyung had said that he was all by himself.

It seemed unfair, and completely intolerable to think of Taehyung being lonely because of everything that had happened between them.

Taehyung felt similarly. It was difficult for him to go back to their normal, neighborly, surface-level routine when he knew there was something wrong with Jungkook.

"Are you seeing a doctor?" He finally asked, after he felt a respectable amount of time had passed and the younger seemed to be feeling better.

Jungkook raised an eyebrow at him, half-smiling in wry amusement, "I thought you knew me better than that by now," he chuckled, biting his lip.

Taehyung's forehead developed a few wrinkles as he tried to come up with something to say, caught off guard, "What? Um, I don't understand," he stammered.

"I see quite a few doctors, obviously," Jungkook said, trying not to laugh after seeing the hurt expression on Taehyung's face and finding it charming.

The older flushed, shaking his head, "Yeah, I get that," he tightly replied, "I meant for your kidneys."

Jungkook's eyebrows raised just a hair and his mouth opened, processing what Taehyung had left unsaid.

"Yeah," he sighed, not finding it worth belaboring the point.

Taehyung could live with that answer. He didn't pry any further, choosing instead to take a different route in.

"You know you can call me, right? Or text me. I won't bother you or anything, but if something goes wrong, you can call," he blurted out without warning.

Jungkook walked a few steps ahead and then turned to face him, bringing them both to a halt. He tilted his head, eyes crinkly with warm reproach.

"You're not bothering me, nor am I concerned about you potentially bothering me," he frowned, gently correcting the older.

"And I know that I can call you. But, I also literally pay people to do stuff for me when things go wrong. Like, a lot of people," Jungkook added with an airy laugh, looking at the ground.

Taehyung couldn't wipe the disappointed look off of his face fast enough, which Jungkook caught.

"Do you want me to call you? I guess I can," Jungkook asked, sounding nervous, "I'm really sorry, by the way, sometimes it's hard to know what the right things to do are," he added, tone apologetic.

Taehyung fidgeted with his hands and looked anywhere but at the younger's face.

"I mean, why wouldn't I want you to call me? But you also don't have to," he fumbled through what he really wanted to articulate.

"I guess all I was trying to say was that it's okay to unblock me from your phone, because when you were sick, I tried to call you and I couldn't get through. So, it's okay to just text me if you're busy or aren't feeling good, that's all," he shrugged, trying to save face.

He motioned with his hands for Jungkook to turn back around and start walking again.

"I'm a little confused," Jungkook admitted, tone rueful, "You aren't blocked in my phone. I got a new number, maybe you were calling the old one," he carefully laid down the words one by one.