The Project // Jikook

Chapter Nine

[A Long Awaited Discussion]

Jimin

After a while, we figured out what I should do. I wanted to make sure he didn't get hurt, but I also wanted to stand up to him. So, I would need a little bit of moral support. 

The boys agreed with a little convincing. They knew him and they understood that we just had to help him. 

They left that night, as it was already like one a.m. So, they would come in tomorrow morning. Sunday was the day we chose to confront Tae.

I woke up in Jungkook's room, I had stayed the night at the hospital. Before the boys came, they stopped at our dorm and grabbed us some clothes. 

Now... Now was the hard part. Actually following through.

"Ok, we'll head out and let you two change," Jin announced as he gave us our clothes. He walked out the door with the boys and winked at me, nudging his head toward Jungkook.

My face went bright red and I looked at Jungkook, realizing now the situation I had put myself in. 

All we had to do was change, right? Nothing more.

"Alright, we'll come out when we're done," Jungkook nodded at them. They closed the door and Jungkook looked at me. 

"Let's just, er, turn away from each other," I stumbled over my words, rubbing the back of my neck. He nodded and turned away from me, clearly embarrassed as well. 

I noticed him undo his hospital gown and I turned around quickly, face red as he almost revealed himself to me. 

We both changed rather fast and I waited to turn around until I was sure he was done. 

Jungkook was looking down at his bandaged arms, clearly regretting that they were on full display with his short-sleeved shirt. I walked over to him, placing a hand on his, "Hey, don't worry about it. You look fine."

I walked out of the room and into the clean white hallway. We all stayed in the hallway, chatting together while trying to lighten the mood. 

"Hey, Jimin, are you okay? You seem nervous," Jin said sweetly as he rubbed my shoulder. 

"Y-yeah, just need to calm down. I can't believe I'm actually doing this," I said as I rubbed my neck. I looked up at him as he came in to hug me. 

"Aww, Jiminie, we're here for you."

"Aish! I hate that name!" I say as he lets go and laughs at me. 

"Come on, let's go, I'm hungry," Namjoon whines, surely missing Jin's cooking. 

"Ok, let's head back now," I say, pushing forward toward Jungkook who was talking to Yoongi. I gently separate them, standing between the two. "Wow, you two sure are good friends, now."

Yoongi rolls his eyes at my blatant jealousy and Jungkook just giggles. I laugh, too, not exactly knowing why I felt like those two were too close to each other.

The ride home is short, consisting mainly of us screaming lyrics out to different songs. Turns out, Jungkook really likes Charlie Puth and Justin Beiber, huh. 

"Okay, we're here. Time to get out," Namjoon says as he unbuckles and opens the door. Everyone does the same and Jungkook follows behind me. 

I walk up the cement path to our door and pull out my key. I unlock the door and walk in. I hear a few 'oohs' as they admire our clean breezeway. I pull off my shoes and slide them next to the others. 

The noisy bunch take over the couch as I head to put away my dirty clothes. I stop, looking into the bathroom, shaking away the memory. I look over at a smiling Jungkook just to remove his pale face from my mind. 

However, everything was clean. I can only assume it was a worker, maybe one of the boys. I'm not entirely sure. 

"Ok, time to call him," Jin smiles over at me as I join them on the couch. A couple of us were seated on the floor since there was so many of us. 

I nod, shaking, and pull out my phone. I scroll to his contact and push the call button with shaky hands. Not even halfway through the first ring, Tae picks up. 

"Hi..." Tae says sheepishly, surely recalling our talk in the hallway.

"Hey Tae, do you want to come over for a bit, continue our talk?" I speak quietly. The boys knew about the talk, I had told them about what he said. 

"Uh, yeah. I'd really like that," His voice gets quiet. "Will we, uh, be alone?"

"Mmhmm," I hum to him. It stays a little quiet before he speaks. 

"Okay, um, well, I'm heading over," It's hard to make him out before he hangs up but I look at the boys. 

"He's on his way, go hide," I tell them. They all hurry off into Jungkook's room, whispering words of encouragement. Saying that I could do this.

I stared into the breezeway and waited for the doorbell to go off. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. 

I stood quickly, heading to the door full of anxiety. 

I took a few deep breathes before opening it. Taehyung was standing there, head down and playing with his hands. 

"Hey," I whisper to him. He looks up at me and smiles, stepping in. He takes off his shoes and follows me to the living room. 

I look at Jungkook's room, knowing that the boys are there in case I need them. 

"I-I don't know what to say," Taehyung mutters. I look at him, tears filling his eyes. "I had it all planned and now, I can't-I can't think."

"Jimin, I really am sorry," He looks at me, his voice wavering. "I'm-I'm not myself anymore and I really- I don't know what to do."

I looked at him, tears falling out of his eyes, I went to put a hand to comfort him. But he took it off of him. 

"I-I don't deserve your kindness, I'm so fucking sorry, Jimin."

"Taehyung, don't say that," I locked eyes with him. 

"How-How could you even look at me? After everything I did to you, how can you stand to be near me?" He asked, his sniffles filling the silence he left me in. 

"Because you're my best friend. You always have been," I say to him. I place a hand on his shoulder and look at him. "We all mess up. We all go through rough patches... I helped you out of your first one, I wanna be here for you this time, too."

"Jimin, I-I really don't deserve you," He wipes away his tears. 

"I wanna be here for you, but I think we both know where this is going," I whisper to him. He nods, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. 

This is Taehyung. 

"I'm sorry, I'll say it a million times. But I really am. Hell, I would encourage you to stay the hell away from me, but I know how you are," He whispers. I pull away from him, smiling despite the tears in my eyes. 

"We're here for you," I whisper to him. 

"Wait... We?" He looks at me confused as the boys walk out of the room. Everyone except for Jungkook, I knew those two would need time to talk to each other. 

"I know, I know. This might not be what you want at the moment, but they wanted you to know that we still care. I didn't tell them about, well, you know, but they know about the hitting," I whisper to him, just quiet enough so the boys can't hear me. 

"Okay," He nods back at me. "I-I'll get better. I promise."

"I know you will."