banana milk; kv ✓

Chapter 39.

Taehyung sat in his bathtub, dazed eyes staring at the tiles ahead of him. His mind was blank, not a single thought was running through it and his body was numb. It was 12 am, and he couldn't bring himself to step out of the bathtub because it felt as if hands were holding him down.

Taehyung snapped out of it when soft knocking was heard from the bathroom door and Jeongguk calmly calling out for him. He didn't reply and instead stood up, unplugging the drain and rinsing himself of all the soap.

Jeongguk stood on the other side worriedly, arms crossed whilst waiting. The door opened after a few minutes and Taehyung stepped out with a sleeveless top, goosebumps rising on his tanned skin from the cold air contacting his skin.

"Tae, you're gonna get sick, put a thicker top on," Jeongguk urged the boy who just shook his head and tiredly wrapped his arms around him.

"Can we go sleep?" A feeble voice spoke up. Jeongguk silently complied and walked the boy over to his room, smiling at how he was hugging him as they walked even if it made it difficult to do so.

"Try not to stay up thinking," Jeongguk placed the covers over the boy, stopping briefly when he noticed something on Taehyung's arms but it was hidden due to a hand being placed on top and Taehyung laying on it.

"I won't," Taehyung stared up at Jeongguk with droopy eyes, smiling softly when Jeongguk tucked him in and then pulled him into his embrace.

"You should take the day off tomorrow, you have a lot going on and it'll only be harder having to do work," The elder whispered, unknowingly soothing Taehyung's nerves who let out a sign of content and a hum.

"I'll be fine," He barely managed to get out due to how exhausted he was. He wanted to stay awake longer so that he could cherish this moment with Jeongguk, but it was impossible to when Jeongguk was just being so comforting.

Jeongguk didn't speak much after that, just silently caressing Taehyung who had actually fallen asleep this time. An hour later he also did with arms tight around Taehyung as if he was going to leave. 

Once it began to grow brighter and their alarms rang in sync, they were forced awake. Jeongguk extended his arm over Taehyung and turned them off, but he laid there in silence not wanting to let go. 

Eventually he had to due to Taehyung slowly sitting up, pretty puffy features scrunching up in pain which made Jeongguk worriedly sit up too, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah it's just a headache," Taehyung croaked and climbed out of bed, ignoring the way his head was pounding and he could barely walk properly. Thankfully, Jeongguk helped him to his room where he could get ready.

"You should seriously take the day off," Jeongguk watched him put on some slippers and drag his feet out into the cold bathroom.

"I'm just tired, I'll see you downstairs," Taehyung gave him a grin and shut the door soon after. 

Jeongguk reluctantly walked back to his room and also began to get ready. His mind kept hoping that with all of the stuff going on Taehyung wouldn't collapse from stress and break down. Once he was done, he jogged downstairs to see Taehyung waiting at the door by slowly putting his shoes on and holding onto the door to keep himself up. 

Taehyung's father was in the kitchen so he assumed that they didn't need to take care of the two kids in the morning. So, he waved at Mina and Minjoon whilst walking over to Taehyung.

"Do you feel sick?" Jeongguk asked once they were outside and intertwined their hands together, Taehyung shook his head and slowly walked.

"Can we get something to eat?" He weakly looked up at Jeongguk who qickly nodded also wanting to suggest the same idea. 

"Are you excited to see your aunt tomorrow?" Jeongguk rubbed his thumb against Taehyung's knuckles and lead him to where all the convinience stores were. 

"Yeah, she looks just like my mum so I'll probably breakdown," Taehyung laughed attempting to keep a light mood.

"It's all going to get better now, so stop stressing about it and try to relax," Jeongguk smiled at Taehyung who hummed.

"I know, it's just- I don't know how I'll convince her to leave her job so that Mina and Minjoon don't go with her,"

"They won't leave you, if you want, I'll talk to her about it too," Jeongguk sounded so confident in his statement that Taehyung felt much better.

"Will you really?" Taehyung looked up at him with hopeful eyes, smiling when Jeongguk nodded sincerly. 

"Now, eat something and don't stress about it. We have 30 minutes until class," Jeongguk ruffled the boys hair who whined and pushed him off.

Once they had eaten something, they hurriedly walked to school since they ended up distracting each other by talking and stopping in front of stores. Thankfully, the arrived inside just before the bell rang and when everyone was seated.

Jeongguk glared at Jinyoung and June who were seated together at the front and were also glaring at him. He quietly followed Taehyung to the back of the class and sat down with him. Taehyung still couldn't get over the fact that Jeongguk had actually changed and was now sitting next to him, secretly holding his hand beneath the table.

Another smile lifted onto Taehyung's face at their hands and confidently looked up, focusing on the teacher who started the lesson.

Maybe it will all get better.

IT WILL GUYS PLS BELIEVE ME btw sorry for any spelling mistakes im on my laptop rn so the autocorrect isnt here to help