LOVE YOU TO DEATH | TAEKOOK

29. Relief Next to Me

*content warning for substance misuse, reference to suicidal tendencies, trauma*
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NYT: It has been announced that thousands of convictions will be overturned, all related to misconduct on the part of the NYPD officer who was killed at the hands of author JJK.

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Jungkook jogged up to Taehyung's house, thinking it would be faster than getting in the car and having to wait for the garage door to open, then put the car in reverse and do all the stuff that now seemed ridiculously time consuming.

It was dark, so it was tricky to see, but as he rounded the corner to where Taehyung's house was, he could make out that what he thought had happened was exactly the case.

Taehyung had driven into a retaining wall. It wasn't too bad, but the driver's side door was definitely banged up.

He made his way up to the car and tapped on the window, waving at Taehyung, who seemed out of it.

"Hey, give me a sec, okay?"

Taehyung nodded, which seemed like good news as he examined the door, trying to sort out the best way to get it open. Finally, he figured that it would be best to try and just force it open, though the handle was mostly junk.

It worked and the door opened, though it fell completely off its hinges and made an awful clunking sound as it hit the pavement. Jungkook cringed, but moved on, leaning into the car to survey what was happening.

"Tae, did you hit your head or something?" he asked, wiggling his fingers to get the older's attention. It was tempting to call 911 but he didn't really want Taehyung to end up with a DUI.

Taehyung shook his head, "No. It's so stupid. I'm fine, just a miscalculation. I just couldn't get out and figured you'd be the closest," he said ruefully.

"And I know Yoongi and Hobi are close by too but I didn't want to hear it from them," he nervously chuckled, hot with embarrassment.

Jungkook nodded, holding out a hand to help Taehyung out of the car against his better judgment, watching him closely as he made his way to the door. He seemed to be moving slower than usual but it wasn't egregious.

"Hey, I think we should go to the hospital," he piped up, seeing that Taehyung had every intention of just ignoring everything and going inside.

"You seem really out of it, and I don't like the idea of you being alone right now," Jungkook said, voice serious, stern.

Taehyung shot a cross glance over his shoulder, "I don't need to go to the hospital," he rolled his eyes, "I was driving like ten miles an hour."

Jungkook raised an eyebrow, "Then why are you acting so messed up if you didn't hit your head? You were way more coherent an hour ago," he huffed indignantly.

"I took a Xanax too, right before I knocked on your door," Taehyung admitted, not looking very sorry as he let himself into his house, "It must have hit me a little harder than I thought."

"You can't just kiss me, by the way," he derisively slurred, "You can't just kiss me because you think I'm worth something all of a sudden."

Jungkook was crestfallen. He waited on Taehyung's front step, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched the older enter the house. He didn't know if he was supposed to try and follow, but it also didn't seem like a great idea to leave him alone.

"Are you coming?" Taehyung called, sounding annoyed.

Jungkook didn't need to be asked twice, bounding into the house to find that Taehyung was not in sight. Great.