pastel [3]

three

Jungkook's point of view

"Thank you for looking after him Jimin I really couldn't do anything without you." My sister stood at the door with her son Tae curled up in her arms, his head nestled into the nook between her shoulder and neck so he could smell her vanilla perfume. He giggled when he caught my eye, pulling a ridiculous monkey face I'd taught him that I returned with an extreme exaggeration before bringing my head down on Jimin's shoulder.

"Hey! I helped too!" I whined upon hearing the deliberate ignorance of me - just to stir trouble. I pouted whilst crushing my housemate under my chin as I stared up at my sister with large dramatic eyes that she always said reminded her of a deer.

"Of course how could I forget my favourite brother." Areum added cheekily, poking my forehead with her purse.

"I am your only brother! That makes me your favourite by default." I argued back, putting on an extra layer of silliness for the five year old now giggling his head off as he watched me.

"So, you'll be up for taking him next week? He always has the best stories after staying with you both, don't you, my little munchkin?" She turned her attention to her son who nodded his head enthusiastically, holding out his elbow to show a pink band-aid Jimin had given him for a graze on his elbow.

"Jiminie calls these battlescars! Cause I'm a warrior!" Then he roared like a dinosaur, nearly toppling from his mother's arms when he jittered excitedly. Areum chuckled at the sheer confidence in his battle cry, matched perfectly with his pink plaster.

"Yes! We can do every afternoon." I answered to her question about us babysitting him again. Being around him was so freeing, he made me want to have my own kid someday, maybe when I was sure I could handle it without getting overwhelmed. With a content grin I elbowed Jimin's side to jolt him up to focus on me. "Minnie has volunteered to drive every day!" Jimin rolled his eyes in response, turning back to my sister with a nod.

"Volunteered is embellishing it, I lost another bet," my sister laughed at his pitiful pout, eyeing me with her classic 'I'm more mature than you and you're a menace' look that I'd grown so used to. "We won't let you down." She gave a warm smile, adjusting her glasses and lifting Taehyung into her arms. "Bye Tae!" Jimin and I both called.

"Come on. Let's go get ice cream!" Areum finished with a wave towards us both, the young boy mirroring her wave whilst squealing at the flowing ideas of all the flavours he could get.

"Hurry up mummy!" I laughed, watching the two leave.

"They are so cute." I murmured whilst staring into the distance, left to sit in the silence of a child-free home for a moment before a finger poked my cheek. I guess Jimin was asking me to move off his shoulder. Instead I buckled down, wiggling my chin so it sat on his collarbone, looking up at his faux frown. "I don't want to." I whined, jumping up and clinging onto his back with absolutely zero warning. I felt his body nearly topple backwards before he managed to balance us both, holding onto the door frame for support. "You're like a tree, and I'm a squirrel."

"Incorrect, you're an idiot," Jimin remarked with an airiness of surrender in his voice as he grabbed onto my knees and hoisted me further up his back. "No one could ever convince me that you are actually 33 years old." Oh yeah, that whole adulting thing...

Ignoring the dig, I shuffled until I was comfortably settled on my housemate's back, impressed by his ability to hold me steady as he walked. He had definitely built up his strength in the ten years we had been living together. Also, taking into account the fact that I didn't eat for several months, I was probably a bit lighter too.

"Can you make dinner?" I pleaded, exhaling against the back of his neck to make him shiver. He rolled his eyes whilst turning around to carry us both back into the house, tapping the door shut with his foot.

"I hate you so much."

"I love you too."

Taehyung's point of view

Why couldn't I sleep? The bed was so comfortable and soft, the mattress making me feel weightless. My limbs could fold under my body or rest under my head, and I could breathe again. All this luxury yet no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get my body to relax and willingly let go of my first day.

Just let me sleep.

Each time I tried to clear my mind, one familiar person would take up any room for relaxation. A person whose voice rang in my head like an echo, the words of wonder that I'd heard in the background of my reintroduction to civilisation. Oblivious to my return - I knew there was no way Jimin would tell him after the way he had spoken to me. So I laid here like I was back being tortured, except instead it was a torment inside my mind, echoing voices, taunting phrases, with one recurring theme:

Jungkook.

"Daehyun!" I groaned after I had been laying here for close to three hours with the echoes slowly caving in on my sanity. Gripping the pillow under my head and pulling it over my ears, I lifted myself up to rest my head on the headboard, waiting for him to appear. "I can't sleep." I continued in a whiny tone, knowing it annoyed my brother enough to have him hurry up. I felt a warmth beside me and turned to see my dead brother staring intently at me, lighting up the dark room with his ethereal glow.

"Mhmm." Was all he uttered before wrapping his arms around me. "I'll lay with you." He kissed my cheek, then pulled the blanket over him, growing still and quiet.

"You know you sleeping isn't going to help me sleep." The corners of his mouth rose as he smiled, his eyes fluttering open.

"Yes, but remember when I could control you." I glared at him, hating how he had taken advantage of me. "Just pretend I'm doing that now and copy me."

"Your logic is terrible."

"Well, I was never really known for my logic." I rolled my eyes, then rested my head back against the pillow, letting my eyelids slowly close.

Jungkook.

Jungkook.

Jungkook.

I groaned, my eyes fluttering again. Even with someone holding me close, I imagined them to be Jungkook, his hands being able to touch me, his breath on the back of my neck, his body keeping me warm. Instead it was my stupid annoying twin still somehow stuck in my life. Well considering I called him here... I argued with myself, so used to that bickering that I found myself recreating it internally.

"I can't do this." I muttered out loud eventually, shifting around to face the golden haired boy still laying with his arms wrapped around my torso. Daehyun opened one eye, letting out a puff of irritated air through his nose.

"I wish I could still control you."

"You would kill me again." He scowled, sitting up and frowning.

"You were the coward that fell in love, not me. Besides, you would have died a hundred years ago if it weren't for mother's begging. You really love to complain, must I remind you who requested I be bound to you?"

"Shut up! I wouldn't have had to live a hundred years if it weren't for you!" I screamed at him, shoving his chest until I was digging a knee into his stomach and pinning him to the mattress. I hated that he smirked, eyes lighting up with a golden glow as I felt my skin begin to sear where I was touching him. "Asshole!" I shrieked, tearing away to rub my hands to the cold sheets. "Why the fuck would she give you that ability?!" He held his hands back and let his eyes dull, an opportunity for me to surrender my hands now ready to claw into his chest. He had that stupid grin again, the one that made me want to set him on fire.

"Careful now, remember what those centuries taught you," he warned and I immediately backed off, huffing angrily at the way he had the ability to still get under my skin despite not being under my skin anymore.

"Gods, Daehyun! You may be my brother, but that doesn't mean you get to take over my life." I spat back with as much control as I could, fingers clawing into the sheets as a replacement for his throat. "This is my life now. You don't belong in this world. Either help me or leave." With a blink of an eye he was gone, leaving me alone once again in the dark pastel room with adrenaline piercing through my veins; not a chance of getting any sleep now.

He's such an ass.

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