But Beautiful

part 2

"Yeah, mom, everything is going well," Jungkook spoke into his phone, wedged between his shoulder and his ear as his hands clumsily tried to open a bag of chips from the vending machine.

She asked many questions about his day to this point, and he was happy to explain to her what he had done. The clients he'd seen, the facility itself, and even mentioned the painter.

After hanging up the phone, he absentmindedly shoveled chips into his mouth, scrolling on social media while another employee entered the break room.

"Hey," she greeted, walking towards the vending machine. She was a woman, maybe in her thirties, wearing lilac scrubs and a tired smile. "Jeon, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied professionally, wiping his hands on a napkin. "Jeon Jungkook. And what should I call you?"

"Soojung," she said, grabbing a soda from the machine and sitting down across from him with a hefty sigh. "What do you think about the place so far?"

"I like it a lot," he began, watching her curiously open the can of pop with her long acrylic nails. "So far everything has been straightforward, mostly what I expected. Although, I do think it's interesting to have both physical and psychological rehabilitation in the same open clinic," he admitted.

"Understandable," the woman laughed, looking at the younger with a pleasant expression. "But patients are patients, and we're a facility that works on the human as a whole. We get better outcomes when treating the patients both body and mind, and most of the patients here need care in both departments."

Jungkook seemed to mull it over in his head, nodding to the woman before he came to a stand, tossing his trash in the bin. "I would have to agree," he replied with a smile. "Most patients that receive care in this type of setting suffer from multiple traumas."

"You got it. Now, get back to work!" she playfully shouted, pointing at the door he was heading towards.

He laughed back, walking down the hall and back into the entertainment room. Well, the 'social' room, he thought to himself as he looked around at the occupants. Some patients were in wheelchairs, some missing limbs, others with canes and walkers. It was a difficult sight, especially when some of the patients were so young. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on the easel in the corner, the same messy haired man still sat painting. Before he really realized it, his feet were carrying him towards him.

"Hello, Taehyung," he spoke, kneeling down to his level to see the painting. A blank canvas with nearly dry strokes of black, and a splatter of grey. He looked beside him to the painter, still staring at the canvas like Jungkook wasn't there. "What do you do with your paintings when they're finished?" he asked, noticing that the picture was much different from the one earlier. Besides them being so dark, he noted to himself.

He looked over the patient's face, his eyebrows raising as he saw Taehyung flick his eyes to a doorway.

"You keep them in there?" Jungkook asked, tilting his head. His heart swelled a bit, a little with pride at getting a reaction, but mostly with joy.

Taehyung didn't reply nor move his eyes again, instead reaching to dip his fingers into paint on his palette, extending them to the canvas to finger paint black along the grey streaks.

"Your painting earlier was also monochrome," Jungkook continued, looking at the blobs of black and grey and white on the palette. "Do you prefer to use black and white mixes?"

The painter continued to dance his fingers along the page, Jungkook watching him with a smile that started forming.

"He doesn't talk," another patient called towards the two, a scowl on his face. "He's very rude, if you ask me."

Jungkook stood, distractedly running fingers through Taehyung's dark waves as he addressed the other man. "I know, and that's okay. He's not rude at all," he began, not realizing the painter had gone completely still under his gentle touch. "Everyone is different, and we all have our own unique personalities and struggles."

The patient grumbled quietly to himself, turning his attention back to the television to the random movie that was playing.

When Jungkook realized he was playing with Taehyung's hair, he gasped and pulled his hand away as if it were submerged in lava. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he rushed to say, kneeling down and searching for signs of discomfort in his eyes or on his face. "I didn't mean – I mean, I didn't realize... It was thoughtless, I apologize. Nobody should touch you without your consent, and that includes me. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable," he added. He wanted to kick himself, worried that this would set him back the tiny progress they had made together. Taking a deep breath, his voice lowered to a volume he knew only the two would hear. "Could you try something for me? Could you use your finger to paint one dot for yes, and two for no?" he asked, knowing fully that this might be a long-shot. "And do it when I ask you a 'yes' or 'no' question?"

Taehyung dipped his fingers in the paint and raised his hand, slowly extending a finger to leave a single tap of black on the canvas.

Jungkook, with a sigh of relief, smiled at him brightly. "That great, Taehyung, amazing. Now, can you answer me, did I make you uncomfortable just now, when I was touching your hair?"

The patient pulled his knees up to his chest, his free arm wrapping around his legs as he dotted twice.

"No, alright. Okay, how about this. Does it bother you when I talk with you?"

Again, two dots followed, a bit more quickly this time.

"Great, I'm so glad," Jungkook laughed a little. "Would you like to continue talking with me like this?" he asked, slightly worried.

Taehyung's finger hovered over the canvas, not touching the paper when Dr. Yoo entered. As he waltzed closer, Taehyung's hand dropped and circled his legs just like the other had.

"Ah, Jungkook, talking to Taehyung again," the doctor spoke, not quite deadpan but a little exasperated. "I would like you to accompany me to physical therapy with my first two sessions. Maybe you're getting bored already and want to kill time," the man continued while Jungkook shook his head in disagreement. "I suggest if you can't find anything productive to do, please visit my office or ask any of the nurses what needs to be done

"I apologize, sir, but this is productive. Taehyung and I–"

He was cut off as the doctor spoke. "You are under my supervision, and I'm asking you to not keep bothering with this today. It's your first day, Jungkook, and if you'd like to continue the enriching experience of residency under me, you'd do better to listen."

"Yes, sir," Jungkook replied. The doctor gestured for him to follow, Jungkook quickly ruffling Taehyung's hair and giving him a smile before he scurried after the doctor.

Taehyung glanced at where Jungkook had disappeared to, raising his finger to press gently on the canvas a singular time.