Sky Full of Stars | Taekook

7. Bitter

12 years ago

"Morning," Taehyung croaked, rubbing his eyes. His bare chest peeked out over the clouds of stark white down comforter.

Jungkook blinked back at him, dazed and foggy, clearing the cobwebs from his mind, "Hi," he whispered back.

"Your mom is at the hospital with your dad," he added as a point of clarification, dropping his gaze to the covers to avoid the reaction.

Taehyung's brows pulled together for a moment before easing back to their rightful place. He nodded with a deep sense of resignation, his heart feeling like cement in the pit of his chest, "Okay. When do I have to go over there?"

It was hard not to just curl into a ball and go back to sleep. But it was equally hard not to leap out of bed and race over to the hospital. He settled for just crumpling into his pillow and staring at the ceiling.

Jungkook carefully put his hand on Taehyung's shoulder, "You don't have to go anytime soon. Nothing bad is happening," he said very, very quietly.

"I came last night and she was leaving, said she just wanted to see him," he nodded, recalling how he had walked up to the front steps to find Taehyung's mom coming out of the door, heading to the car.

She had given him an apologetic shrug, "I'm just going to see my husband. Nothing terrible," she explained as she waved him inside, "Just wanted to see him."

Taehyung nodded, rubbing his palms over his face, "So she knows you're here," he said, toneless.

Jungkook nodded, "Yeah. She's uh- she kinda knows, I guess."

"Huh?," Taehyung rolled over to face Jungkook, hoping to find some clarity.

He found none, just a guilty reticence.

"She's caught me a few times," Jungkook replied, voice hardly above a mumble.

He didn't know how to explain why he had been keeping this to himself. Mostly because he didn't have a great explanation to begin with.

"Oh," Taehyung said, sounding out of breath, "Why didn't you tell me?"

It hurt in a weird way; a way that felt like it had pinched his stomach.

Jungkook shook his head, "I didn't want you to worry or be nervous," he haplessly replied, cheeks pink with trepidation.

After a moment to think, hand on his forehead, Taehyung swallowed.

"I-I um, I guess I'm not," was all he could think to say.

Jungkook's brow was wrinkled, worried, "You sure?"

It wasn't terribly believable to either of them, so he stopped pretending.

"I guess I'm not really ready for her to know about us," Taehyung admitted, heart wobbling in his chest.  It felt like he was dangerously close to crying, but it wasn't clear why.

"About us?" Jungkook echoed, forehead still creased, tentative.

Taehyung nodded without looking at him, "Yeah," he sighed, "This," he finished, gesturing at the two of them in the bed.

Jungkook edged closer, "What is, uh, this? Uh, what are-," he paused, unwilling to finish the question, to step into that territory.

It was uncomfortable to be in this role, but it couldn't be helped.