Body And Soul

36. Confession

"Are you sure?" Jungkook asked.

His mother had told him ridiculous things in the past to get him to laugh, but this was certainly no laughing matter. Jungkook didn't know what exactly possessed him to show her the picture aside from the fact that she kept saying he looked familiar. Now that he had shown the picture and gotten that reaction, he himself wasn't sure how to react. He felt as if everything inside him was starting to short circuit.

"Yes, I'm sure. Oh goodness...if this is your mother, were you that young boy that she had with her? That must be why I think I've seen you before when you were younger!"

"I...I..."

Words were failing him at this point as his mother became a bit overworked, putting a hand to your mouth.

"Are you Jungkook's brother?"

"I...I don't know. I mean, if you think this is the woman that left Jungkook behind, then maybe..."

Jungkook had come down for warm milk to sleep, but now the effects of that were completely wearing off. His mind was reeling completely. It was bad enough that his whole world got turned upside down today with the revelation that he was adopted, but now was it possible that Taehyung was his brother?

"I should tell Jungkook..." his mother started.

"No! I mean, please let me talk to him about this first," said Jungkook quickly. "We're good friends, and I'd like to talk to him before you do if that's alright."

She brought her hand away from her mouth to give him a tight smile.

"Of course, dear. It's late anyway, so this should wait until morning. You should try to get some sleep."

He nodded, standing up from the table as he grabbed the cell phone in his hand. As Jungkook stood there, he noticed that his mother was no longer looking at him but zoning out staring at the table.

"Ms. Jeon?"

"Hmm?" she hummed, snapping her gaze up to look at him.

"Thank you for everything you've done," he said. "Jungkook is lucky to have you as a mother."

He saw her eyes mist up at the words before she shooed him with one hand.

"Go upstairs and sleep before you make me cry."

Jungkook gave a tight smile before turning to head back towards the stairs. He used the flashlight app on the cell phone again to pick his way up the staircase. The whole way up, he couldn't get the latest revelation off his mind. He thought that trading bodies and lives with someone was what would shake his world to the core. Jungkook had no idea that doing so wasn't even the half of it. 

When Jungkook arrived back at the bedroom, he noticed that Taehyung had somehow maneuvered himself out of bed without waking Laylin up. He was standing by the edge of the bed trying to use the sliver of moonlight racing across the floor to find his way to the phone on the dresser. Taehyung froze when he heard the bedroom door open, looking at Jungkook as he stood there.

"What are you doing out of bed?" whispered Jungkook.

"I could ask you the same," whispered Taehyung back. "I woke up and noticed you were gone. I was coming to find you."

'Just like a brother,' thought Jungkook as he stayed in the doorway, staring off into space some as his mind started to reel from all the revelations he'd been learning the last twenty-four hours.

Taehyung frowned slightly when he saw Jungkook zoning out. He made his way over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder which snapped him out of it.

"What's going on?" asked Taehyung,

Jungkook turned his head to lock his eyes on Taehyung's and Taehyung was obviously able to see the pain.

"Can we go for a walk?" asked Jungkook.

Taehyung nodded, moving to follow Jungkook. The two of them hid in the upstairs bathroom when they heard Jungkook's mother going to bed before sneaking down the stairs and out to the backyard. The fire pit where they had sat earlier in the evening was out; crickets the only form of existing chatter. Jungkook moved to sit on the grass on one side of the fire pit so that his eyes faced the darkened house; Taehyung immediately sitting down beside him.

"What's going on?" asked Taehyung as he turned to look at Jungkook.

"I don't think you'll believe me."

"Jungkook, we've traded bodies. I think I'm fairly open minded nowadays," said Taehyung with a small grin. He moved to grab one of Jungkook's hands. "Tell me."

Jungkook turned to look at Taehyung beside him feeling like his chest was heavy. Everything about him felt heavy. It felt like the weight of knowledge was crushing the life right out of him. Jungkook blinked his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath.

"I couldn't sleep so I went downstairs for some warm milk to try and help," he started. "My mom found me while I was down there and we got talking. She kept looking at me and saying she thought she recognized me from when I was younger. I knew it would be a complete shot in the dark, but I proceeded to show her a picture of your mother..."

"And?" asked Taehyung, waiting for Jungkook to continue.

"She said she's pretty sure your mother is the one who left me behind at the fish restaurant."

The look of shock that came across Taehyung's face then was expected and quite similar to his mother's.

"She did say that there was a young boy that got pulled out the door when you were left behind..." muttered Taehyung under his breath as he tried to put things together.

As Taehyung looked back over at Jungkook, he could see that he was rubbing at his eyes with his free hand; running his palm over them as if to push any tears back inside.

"Jungkook, are you okay?..."

"I just...do you think it's true?"

Taehyung paused for another moment before shifting closer to Jungkook. He dropped Jungkook's hand to be able to put his arm about him to pull him close to him, leaning his head against the top of his.

"It very well could be true. I have been looking for my lost brother ever since my parents dropped mention of there possibly being one. The only way we're going to know for sure is to confront my parents, but I have to say personally...I really hope it's you."

"Why?"

"Do I really need to start a list?" asked Taehyung with a soft smile as he felt Jungkook chuckle.

"We could be brothers," whispered Jungkook.

"We could," said Taehyung. "Maybe that's why our souls swapped. So we'd be able to find our way home."

"Maybe," said Jungkook.

"Well, we will have to test this theory. I want us to confront my parents. If we're brothers, I think we'll create some sort of reaction."

Jungkook turned his head to look over at Taehyung. Even in the dark, he was able to see a slight gleam in his eyes.

"Why do I feel like you already have some sort of plan?"

"Because I do," said Taehyung. "I'm gonna make this confrontation of ours something they'll never forget and something that for sure will create a bang."

Jungkook had no idea what Taehyung was planning, but he trusted him wholeheartedly like a brother would.