Adjustment (taejoon & yoonmin/jikook)

Chapter 4

I finally edited this!! woooh!!! I can't believe y'all let me have this up for literal YEARS smh, the amount of errors I found was worrying. worrying I tell you!!! 

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When Taehyung opened his eyes the next morning, he stared directly into a stone wall, its dark and gloomy colour reflecting the exact mixture of feelings that was slowly creeping into his fragile heart. As he rolled over to get a better view of the awfully quiet den, a jolt of pain shot through his body and a painful hiss escaped his dry lips. Last night's events threatened to reemerge on his retina, but he refused to recall the episode; it'd only cause him even more pain.

After he'd rolled over and now faced the cave, he became more aware of his surroundings – the den was almost empty, except for a handful of wolves sleeping near the entrance. A breath of relief escaped his lips when Taehyung realised he didn't remember seeing wolves – he was especially happy when he couldn't see a specific wolf in the big cave.

Behind the entrance of the cave, an infinity of whiteness reigned, and Taehyung almost wondered whether or not he'd sink into nothingness if he went outside. His fingers were almost twitching at the thought, his body almost urging him to get the fuck out, to chase that feeling, that place of nothingness. It was an enticing alternative to the feelings currently swirling through his body. Removing his glance from the entry, Taehyung continued to look around the cave.

It didn't take long before he locked eyes with a slightly familiar dark-haired boy, a dark-haired human boy, whose eyes were wide open, staring right back at Taehyung. Taehyung couldn't look away; for seconds they did nothing but look at each other, the feelings expressed in the other's gaze reflecting their own. There was an eminent atmosphere in the air, one full of nerves and tension.

The boy wore the same winter clothing as yesterday, except now he'd left the coat on the floor next to him and replaced it with a thick sweater. In his hands, he held a carrot and a knife, the top of the carrot missing. Taehyung looked further down, and saw a chopping board lying on the ground in front of the human - well, a very, very bad version of one, at least. It was made out of wood, and Taehyung guessed they'd made it themselves, since splinters peeked out of the chopping board from all angles. Right next to the chopping board stood a huge pot made out of some sort of metal – honestly, it looked old and used, yet the other human didn't seem to be bothered by it; his attention was on Taehyung and Taehyung alone.

Food. The other human was cooking food. Almost immediately, Taehyung's stomach rumbled loudly at the idea of food.

Not breaking his eye contact with the other human, Taehyung slowly got up into a sitting position, two thick blankets secured around his body. From there, the two men kept staring at each other for thirty solid seconds, until the other boy suddenly looked away as if he was alarmed, and continued chopping the carrot into smaller pieces, extremely focused on the food in front of him.

Something caught Taehyung's eye and he looked down next to his bed, if one could even call it a bed. Neatly folded clothing lay just next to his "pillow", and his semi-cold body longed for the warmness it'd grant him. Nervously, Taehyung casted a sidelong glance at the human once again, hoping to get some sort of reaction from him; was the clothes meant for Taehyung? However, the human was completely focused on the food, extremely careful of not returning Taehyung's intense glance.

When Taehyung didn't receive any hint from the other, he let his gaze fall and reached out for the clothes. A navy-coloured sweater was the first item he unfolded, and he didn't waste one second before putting it on. The tight pants, more of a pair of leggings, was the next item Taehyung put on. If he hadn't been so desperate for warmth he would've felt embarrassed for the matching outfit now on his body, especially the fucking leggings, but it'd have to do for the moment. Next up, he put on a pair of black ski pants, thankfully recognizing it as his own, almost sighing in relief at the warmness that consumed his body and the feeling of getting some piece of himself back, even if that piece was just clothing. He left his black ski jacket on the floor, not needing it inside the den.