viridity. kth x jjk / vkook

three

JJK | 4:37 a.m. | apt. 07

the boy was still unconscious, his fragile form half underneath the blankets of the bottom bunk. he kept flinching, even when he was asleep, and there was an occasional sound of pain that left his lips every few minutes. his hands held tight onto his torso, skinny fingers digging into his own skin, and jungkook was too scared to lift up the boy's shirt to see what was hurting him so much. it had been hoseok that pulled the shirt up and tended to the bright red gashes covering the boy's prominent ribs (and hoseok had honestly really wanted to feed him something and give him ice cream with rainbow sprinkles, but he looked so comfortable asleep). jungkook had stood back the whole time, eyes not sure where to look because he wanted to make sure the boy was alright, but the bruises and scratches and bones were just too heartbreaking to look at.

and now, hoseok was in the living room, sleeping, and he had told jungkook to go to bed too.

jungkook didn't listen, and he stayed by the boy's side watching his chest heave up and down with his shallow breaths.

he dozed off at around five, and woke up at eight'o'clock when the boy sat up and crawled out of the blankets with a scared look in his eyes.

"where am i?"

"my apartment."

he raked his fingers through his hair, slowly, trying to get a grasp of the situation. and then he spoke again. "why am i here?"

jungkook sat up, his back straight, and responded gently. "you were hurt. you kind of passed out at the corner store, so we took you home with us."

"oh." his face fell. "i'm sorry."

"no, don't be," jungkook stood, smoothing out his t-shirt. "we brought you home because we wanted to help you. you don't need to apologize. okay?" he reached out a hand for the boy to hold, and helped him to his feet. "you want something to eat?"

KTH | 8:07 a.m. | apt. 07

they all introduced themselves briefly, just names and whatnot, as jungkook and hoseok were at the stove, making scrambled eggs and pancakes, and taehyung sat at the kitchen table, his hands placed awkwardly at his sides.

they had done so much for him; he had just let them carry him to their apartment and give him a place to sleep for the night. and now, they were making breakfast for him. taehyung wasn't able to do anything. he didn't know how to do anything, and he wanted to help.

"do you... need me to do anything?"

he bit his lip and looked at jungkook, wide eyes scanning the kitchen.

"if you want to help, all you need to do is get the forks, really," hoseok smiled.

at that, taehyung stood up and went to the drawer hoseok pointed at. he had pulled out three forks when the door to the apartment opened with a quick beep and soft click, and voices rang out in the little apartment.

"where were you two last night?" hoseok called out. "had fun together?"

two other boys walked into the kitchen as taehyung stood rooted to the floor in front of the silverware drawer.

"we fell asleep in an alleyway," one of them smirked. "too much alcohol."

jungkook actually snorted all over the kitchen counter and earned himself a hard slap from hoseok.

the boys then, finally noticed taehyung.

"who's this?" the other boy asked, eyes curiously flittering over the bruises on taehyung's face.

"oh, he's taehyung," jungkook said. "we took him in for the night. he's nice."

"really quiet," hoseok added. "not like us."

both boys turned to taehyung, and one of them said, "hey, i'm namjoon."

"seokjin," the other boy said.

taehyung bowed his head in response, wide eyes flickering to the floor.

"we'll get the rest of the forks," seokjin said, reaching towards the drawer.

taehyung, nervous and unexpectant, flinched back with a soft yelp, immediately regretting it when seokjin's gaze flashed with worry and surprise.

once taehyung was back at the kitchen table, jin shot a look to hoseok.

did i do something wrong?

hoseok waved him off, and mouthed that he'd explain later.

"hey, tae? how much do you want?" hoseok asked, holding a plate in one hand and a spatula in the other.

taehyung set down a fork and averted his gaze to hoseok. "just... just a little please."

"you sure about that?" jungkook said, nearly urging him to eat more.

taehyung nodded.

"i... it's been a while."

"since what?"

"since i ate."

hoseok's lips tightened, his heart clenching.

he slid one pancake and a spoonful of scrambled eggs onto a plate, handing it to taehyung.

"eat what you can," he said. "don't force yourself, okay? we don't want you getting sick."

taehyung nodded, a look of absolute gratitude on his face, and he sat down at the table.

the day was uneventful after that for the most part.