Beyond Repair (Min Yoongi) [UPDATED]

14. Things That Don't Wash Off

After Yoongi's discharge from the hospital, the next few days passed relatively uneventfully. His parents offered to come back and help take care of him (and his mother gave poor Namjoon an earful for not sending for her the second her son fell ill, but his father reminded her that they wouldn't have been able to afford making the trip to Seoul a second time so soon after the first), and Yoongi assured her it wouldn't have been necessary, anyway. His partners took good care of him. They were still taking good care of him.

He felt fine. He was getting better, in more ways than one.

He had started holding hands again. The first time he initiated it, he hadn't even been thinking about it. He had simply been sitting on the sofa, catching up on the news from the last year, when he caught Hoseok's hand moving towards him out of the corner of his eye and subconsciously grabbed it without even looking up from his phone. Hoseok had immediately forgotten what he was reaching for, content with holding Yoongi's hand until Yoongi noticed what he'd done. Yoongi had frozen in place and stared down at their intertwined hands in awe that he had been so comfortable, felt so safe that his first instinct when he saw an extending hand was to reach for it rather than flinch away. After that, he'd been holding hands with every one of his partners every chance he got, relishing in the little bit of affection he was able to share with them. It wasn't hugging or cuddling or kissing, but he thought it was a good first step.

However, as it turned out, feeling safe in the apartment didn't stop the nightmares. Jimin had moved into Yoongi's room full-time. On Thursday morning, Seokjin moved his furniture and belongings into the bedroom he now shared with Hoseok, and likewise, Jimin had moved his things into Yoongi's room. He had his own bed in there, too, but that was more due to the lack of a better place to put it. He shared a bed with Yoongi every night; it was part of their new routine. Yoongi was used to it.

Something Yoongi was not yet used to, however, was leaving the house. Yes, he'd spent a day in the hospital, but that was it. He hadn't even been conscious on the way there. If Yoongi had any say in it, no one in the apartment would leave unless absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, grocery shopping was an absolute necessity—one that had to be done on Thursday afternoon.

Yoongi and Jimin were cuddled up together on the sofa, Yoongi leaning his upper body on Jimin's with his head on his shoulder, Jimin resting his cheek on the top of Yoongi's head while they watched TV. At the other end of the sofa on Yoongi's other side was Taehyung, who was holding his phone in his left hand and Yoongi's hand in his right. The second-youngest member was paying more attention to Instagram than the show, but he kept glancing up and making judgmental comments about the main character's love interest, who apparently knew nothing about jewelry or flowers.

"Jimin, if you ever get me a bouquet like that, I'm divorcing you," Taehyung scoffed.

Jimin snorted. "We aren't married, but noted."

"No, I know exactly what you mean, Tae," Jungkook piped up in agreement from his seat on the floor between Taehyung's legs. "The tiger lilies are a nice touch, I guess, but the rest of those flowers stink. Have you ever smelled them before?"

"I can't say I have," Jimin replied, "but once again, noted."

"The yellow ones smell like old cheese and the white ones smell like spit," Jungkook helpfully described.

"Wait, spit?" Taehyung said, grabbing the TV remote to pause the show. The conversation had stolen everyone's attention by then and they'd have to rewind if they wanted to keep up with the plot. "I was just talking about the yellow alyssum. You think baby's breath smells like spit? Like, as in human saliva?"