Body And Soul

35. Reminisce

Now that he didn't have to hide, Jungkook felt better about everything. His mother had made sure to welcome him in with open arms; telling him repeatedly to make himself feel at home. That evening was one of the most relaxing ones that Jungkook had in a while. He enjoyed a great meal with even greater friends. By the time it was time for bed, Jungkook had spread out a sleeping bag on the floor of his bedroom. Taehyung and Laylin got in their positions on the bed like the other night; the comforter barrier between them. They didn't want to raise any suspicions by rearranging sleeping arrangements, especially when they were going home tomorrow. Taehyung fell asleep right off; his face facing the wall. Jungkook couldn't sleep though. As he laid on his back with his eyes facing the moon streaked ceiling, he noticed that Laylin couldn't either when her hand danced across his arm.

Jungkook turned his head away from the ceiling so that his eyes could stare at Laylin. Laylin looked back at him as her fingertips stayed where they were.

"You should be sleeping," whispered Jungkook.

"So should you," whispered Laylin back with a small smile.

Jungkook looked at her for a moment before holding her hand gently. He linked their fingers together.

"Do you want me to tell you a bedtime story?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Please."

He smiled, humoring her by softly telling her a story. By the time he was finished, her hand was slack in his and he could see that she was sleeping.

Jungkook laid there and watched Laylin sleep for a while, but was still unable to sleep himself. His eyes shifted from her face to look at their joined hands linked together in the moonlight. His mind was still racing from the admission they had shared earlier and the passionate kiss that had followed. Jungkook had never felt so complete and yet incomplete at the same time. Being trapped in someone else's body to experience his first kiss with Laylin was never how he thought it would go. He knew too that she said that she saw him for him, but he wanted to be himself again.

Gently untangling his fingers from Laylin's, he delicately let her hand drop before standing up, grabbing up his cell phone to turn on the flashlight. The entire house was silent, so Jungkook figured that it would be safe to sneak downstairs to the kitchen to make himself some warm milk. He remembered that - when he was about eight or nine and had trouble sleeping at night for a while - his mother would always sneak him down to the kitchen where he'd sit at the table in his pajamas while she sang a song. She'd make him the warm milk as she sang before sitting down near him to tell him a story while he drank it. Even though he wasn't a child anymore, the memory of it all brought him comfort. He wanted that back. Heck, he wanted his life back.

Jungkook tip-toed quietly into the kitchen, casting the cell phone about the stairs so he would trip. When he reached the kitchen, he flicked on the light above the stove before shutting the flashlight app off and putting his phone on the table. He then went about as quietly as he could to make himself the warm milk he craved. As he did, he felt the emotions he'd been trying to suppress bubble up inside him. Jungkook tried to chalk it up to it just being an emotional day. He blinked back tears as he turned from the stove to go to the fridge to grab the milk to pour into the pan. He paused when he stood back upright from the fridge and saw his mother standing there.

He froze like a deer in headlights; the two of them just looking at each other for a moment.

"I...um...sorry," said Jungkook who immediately turned to put the milk on the cupboard. "I just couldn't sleep. I'll go back upstairs and try to though..."

He bent his head down to look at the floor and was about to try to move past her when she reached out a hand to gently restrain him.

"You don't have to leave. I told you to make yourself at home, so you can go back to what you were doing."