BTS Oneshots

Begin

{Min Yoongi x Jeon Jungkook}
{Words: 4280}
{Angst, Unlikely Friendship, Dabbles of Fluff}

Yoongi stood at the sink behind the counter, washing coffee mugs. Damn it this place was depressing.... no one but sick people coming in and out... And if they weren't sick, they were depressed because someone they knew was sick... or they were an exhausted doctor or nurse that could barely focus so they came in, grabbed coffee and ran out again.... He put the last mug in the drying rack and peered over his shoulder.

He was still here....
The kid didn't have a cup or a plate or anything, he hadn't ordered anything for the last hour... he even barely drank coffee, maybe one a day... if that. But he came every day at 3pm, just after his physical therapy, and stayed till closing. Yoongi didn't quite know what to make of the little brat... he didn't want to make anything of him, really. He'd worked at the hospital coffee shop long enough to know the golden rule... Never get involved with the patients. They either got well and left, or....more often than not... Yoongi shook his head and started to dry the mugs with a dish towel, but he felt himself glance over his shoulder again. The kid had white earbuds on, and was mouthing along to whatever song was playing. Yoongi never caught him actually singing though... just mouthing along. Yoongi felt the corner of his lip twitch, and coughed slightly, grabbing another mug and drying it.
"Hey Yoongi!" Yoongi almost dropped the mug in his hands, but he covered pretty well. He glanced behind him at the nurse... Red scrubs today, he noted to himself. He grunted an acknowledgement without saying her name and continued drying another mug. He didn't have many of these left, damn it...
"Was Kookie any trouble today?" She asked the same thing every time she came to pick him up, and Yoongi answered the same way he always did.
Slow head-shake. She laughed.
"How could he be, right?" That's where the conversation usually ended, but she continued for some reason. Yoongi grabbed another mug. "He has every reason to be mad at the world and at life, but he smiles, cracks jokes... he's the sweetest kid alive."
Yoongi didn't want to know all this. He didn't care! He didn't want to care! He just nodded, trying to brush her off, but she leaned against the counter.
"I'll just let him finish this song..." she said. Yoongi glanced back at the kid...Kookie. He was now in the middle of an air guitar solo and head banging, mouth open wide in a silent high note. Yoongi pursed his lips together and sighed, trying not to let the inner laughter out. The nurse looked up at him again with a sad smile.
"He used to be a dancer, you know?" She turned back to watch the silent rock show. "He's been doing physical therapy, but the doctors don't think it's going to do much good."
"What happened to him?" The words escaped Yoongi's mouth before he even realized he'd said them.
"Hit and run accident," she said. "They never caught the guy either." It looked like the kid's song was ending, and she pushed off the counter. "Time to go back to his room! Same time tomorrow?" She turned and winked at Yoongi, which he only acknowledged with a slight head tilt. He watched as she walked over to the kid and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped a mile and smiled up at her, his nose scrunching in a way that made him look.... Yoongi turned around and started to put the dry mugs away. No guy had the right to look like a fucking bunny... not even a rabbit... a bunny. He listened to the squeaking of the wheelchair as the nurse pushed Kookie towards the door.
"Thank you!" He called out, the same way he did every night. "See you tomorrow!" Yoongi ignored him, the same way he did every night. He'd been coming for about two full weeks now, and he always said that... Thank you! See you tomorrow!
He'd been a dancer.... and now he couldn't even walk.
"Shit..." Yoongi said under his breath. Just the kind of thing he didn't want to know about him. How could he smile like that though? How!? Yoongi clenched and stretched his left hand a couple times, then shook it out. He turned to watch through the large picture window as Kookie smiled his bunny scrunch smile up at the nurse while she wheeled him down the hallway.
Bunny... Kookie... Something had to be off. The kid couldn't be that sweet. He should be bitter about what had happened to him.
Yoongi clenched his left fist again, feeling the pull of muscle and bone...to the point of pain.
He certainly was....
~
Jungkook... that was the kid's name. He'd continued his ritual now for over a month, and Yoongi felt himself being drawn in. He couldn't be though... he couldn't let himself get invested... couldn't let himself think about what the kid had gone through... what he was still going through. But even so... he'd found himself watching him... and had actually... Yoongi grimaced... actually spoken to the kid. He sighed, trying to calm the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he walked over to Jungkook...he refused to call him Kookie.
"Done?" he asked calmly, gesturing to Jungkook's empty mug and plate full of crumbs.
"Yep!" he said looking up at Yoongi and scrunching his nose. Yoongi rolled his eyes and reached for the plate and mug. "I don't think you've had a day off since I've been coming here! Do you work every day?" Yoongi hesitated, then nodded. He wanted to leave... to escape... but as soon as words left his mouth, the kid took it as an invitation for conversation. "Living your dream? The cool, mysterious barista of Central Northwest Hospital?" Yoongi coughed and turned away.
"Shut it, kid..." he growled.
"Shut it, kid..." JungKook mimicked. Yoongi swallowed a laugh and kept walking. "Can I get some water, please?" Yoongi held up a hand in acknowledgement. It was nearly 11pm, and the cafe closed at midnight. There was nobody else here.... There never was. Yoongi gritted his teeth as he poured two glasses of water and started to walk back towards the kid's table. He'd never actually sat down with him before... and for some reason... he was nervous to. He wasn't sure why. He put the glass down in front of the kid, then sat down at the table next to his... There... he wasn't really sitting with him... they weren't even at the same table... Yoongi took a sip of his water, and Jungkook was quiet for a minute or so.
"I'm a dancer..." JungKook said, quietly. Yoongi's hand stopped halfway down on it's way to set the glass back on the table.
"Is that right..." he said, setting the glass down and turning to eye JungKook up and down. He raised an eyebrow at him, and JungKook laughed.
"It's true. I'm not dancing right now... but I am a dancer... It's who I am. And I'll dance again soon..." The slight laugh that escaped Kookie's mouth this time was more nervous laughter... hopeful laughter... I'm trying to convince myself it's gonna be ok laughter. Yoongi took another sip and sighed.
"Sure, whatever you say Kid..." He wouldn't try to build his hopes up. It was better to know right away if something was impossible. Better to not even try to fight something that was impossible. No matter how much it hurt to realize it... Yoongi flexed his left hand.
"Sure... uh... whatever you say, Kid..." JungKook mocked him again. Whenever his friends did that, it pissed him off, so they never did it after the first time they tried... but for some reason, the kid made him want to laugh whenever he did it. He held it in though, as though he hadn't even heard it.
They were quiet for another few minutes. What the hell was he even doing?! Why was he sitting here with a little brat who couldn't even walk?
"I know what they say..." JungKook said, breaking Yoongi out of his thoughts. "There's like... only a 5-10% chance that I'll ever walk again... let alone dance." Yoongi felt a prick in his eyes, and blinked a couple times until it went away. "But I don't care. I'm not gonna give up."
"It's better to deal with reality now than to waste years wishing you could change something that's impossible to change..." Yoongi couldn't stop the words leaving his mouth. They spilled off his tongue... he practically gagged on them like bile... "It's better to just get on with life... to find something new and stop wishing for what might have been." It was too much... and the kid was too bright for his own good.
"Is that what you did?" Yoongi flexed his hand and stood, downing his water in one long gulp. Without acknowledging what the kid said, he turned to him.
"You done with that?" he asked, harshly.
"Not yet..." JungKook's eyes looked worried. Before Yoongi could turn to leave, he said, "If you did, that's ok..." Yoongi did turn then, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "I know it doesn't work out sometimes... but I have to try... it's who I am..." Yoongi looked at him over his shoulder. "Was it who you were?" Yoongi walked away, no answer or acknowledgement, and stayed behind the counter, not speaking to the kid for the rest of the hour.
Finally Wendi came in... blue scrubs today... and leaned against the counter.
"Kookie's been having a tough time lately..." she said sadly. "He's struggling a lot, and frustrated." Yoongi grunted a reply and continued putting away the dishes. "We're a little worried about him... has he said anything?" Yoongi thought for a moment and shook his head no. He hadn't really said anything... He looked over his shoulder and followed Wendi's gaze toward JungKook. No music tonight... he just sat there, staring out the large-paned windows at the city around them.
"He seems to like it here..." Yoongi said.
"Well, duh Sherlock!" Wendi smirked at him. "It's a great view... and..." she eyed Yoongi up and down in a way that made him feel like blushing, but he didn't, "...the company is pleasant?" Yoongi coughed and put away another mug. Wendi laughed and walked over to JungKook.
"Time to go, Kookie!" They chatted as she started to wheel him out, and Yoongi kept his back to them. His eyes closed tightly. It was coming... he knew it was coming.
"Thank you!" He called out, the same way he did every night. "See you tomorrow..." Yoongi sighed. "...Mysterious Barista-Man!" Yoongi raised his right hand in acknowledgement, and could practically hear the gasp from Nurse Wendi. He turned and looked out the window to see the kid twisted in his wheelchair. When their eyes met, the kid smiled and waved. And for the first time in a long while... Yoongi smiled.
~
Another month had passed, and Yoongi could feel himself becoming too invested. He didn't know why, but he needed JungKook to succeed... to continue dancing. It had to happen for someone, right? And if anyone deserved it, it was the sweetest fucking kid on the planet.
Last week, a group of cheerleaders had come in to visit their friend who had broken her leg falling off the top of the pyramid. They'd all huddled and giggled and made eyes at little Kookie, and Yoongi had been shocked at the look of sheer panic on his face. He'd actually laughed outright, causing stares in his direction. He went over and sat down with him at his table and let his assistant hand things for a few minutes.
Turned out... little Kookie was afraid of girls.
"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do..." he said, frustrated. "It's like they speak their own language... not to mention they..." he leaned in to almost whisper, and Yoongi leaned in too... "...they... bounce..." Yoongi sat back in his chair and laughed, drawing the attention of the cheerleaders. Yoongi looked at them and winked, and they practically shrieked, becoming a little fluster-ball of giggles. JungKook looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
"Dude!" he chided quietly, trying, but not succeeding in keeping his eyes from the bouncing giggle group.
"Kookie," Yoongi said, finally saying the name that he'd been calling the kid in his mind for weeks, "...the fact that they... bounce... is an amazing and wondrous thing." JungKook's face turned bright red.
"Dude!" He whispered angrily.
"You're old enough to learn how to flirt...and if you're scared, practice on Nurse Wendi," he laughed. Didn't you ever dance for the ladies?" Yoongi asked, wiggling his eyebrows. JungKook turned even redder, if that were possible.
"I don't know," he finally said. "Did you ever play for the ladies?" Yoongi's bright mood fell, and JungKook looked shocked by his own statement. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean-"
"How did you..." Yoongi started, but his throat tightened up and he just looked at JungKook with a tight expression.
"I guessed...." he said, looking down at Yoongi's hands. "Piano... right?" Yoongi tightened his hands into fists. He stood and JungKook looked pained and frantic. "Please don't leave..." he said.
"I have to get back to work..." Yoongi didn't even look back as he made his way to the counter.
The kid had no fucking right....
Now... a week later... he sat across from JungKook at 11pm. The unreasonable anger had worn off... so he ought as well tell the kid.
"It was my dad..." he said. "He found out I had signed up at college as a music major... piano." JungKook's eye widened, but he didn't say anything. Yoongi turned his chair to the side a bit so he could look out the large window at the city lights. "I was supposed  to sign up for business, or engineering... but I'd auditioned and gotten a scholarship." Yoongi's hand tightened around his glass of water. "When I got home, he beat the crap out of me... then when I was on the floor, he stood on my wrist and took a hammer...." Yoongi's voice broke, and he couldn't continue. No tears... but his throat was so tight he could barely breath, let alone continue talking. He took a deep breath. "Needless to say..." Yoongi raised his left hand and flexed it, "...my piano playing days are behind me."
He finally looked over at JungKook, to see the kid's eyes full of tears, and his heart cracked. He blinked rapidly and looked away, but couldn't stop himself glancing over again. Tears ran down the kid's cheeks and his eyebrows were furrowed... He looked like a sad but angry bunny, and Yoongi almost laughed.
"What are you crying for?" he asked him, blinking back tears and sniffing loudly. "It's not like it happened to you..."
"But..." Kookie started, "But Hyung..." Hyung? "... Hyung, I..." He lifted his forearm to his eyes and turned away. Yoongi respected his privacy and returned his gaze to the window.
"I could have had surgery, and physical therapy... but I was still technically a minor and needed my guardian's ok on any procedures. My dad said no to anything that wasn't a basic necessity. The doctor said then that if I refused it'd be impossible to fix later..."
"Did you ever go?" he asked, suddenly serious. Yoongi looked at him as another tear slipped down the kid's face.
"What?" he asked.
"Did you ever go back to the doctor, when you left your parents...?" Yoongi's heart constricted.
"...No," he said, quietly. "I never did."
"Go!" he said, a little too loudly... forcefully.
"Jungkook, it's too-"
"It's not!" he said, reaching for Yoongi's wrist across the table. "It's not too late until you've tried!" Yoongi could feel his hands starting to shake and tried to pull away, but the kid had a vice grip. "Promise me... promise me, Hyung. You'll try..." Yoongi pulled his hand again and JungKook let it go this time.
They stared at each other for a long while, until Yoongi heard footsteps enter the cafe. He stood, looked over at a smirking Wendi, and sighed a deep sigh. He looked down at JungKook seriously...
"I'll go..." he said, and the kid's face lit up, "...when you go on a date." And the utter horror that swept over Kookie's face made Yoongi smile an evil, downright wicked smile. He walked back to the counter, nodding at a confused Wendi on the way.
JungKook didn't say anything as he left that night.
~
Over the next month, Yoongi noticed JungKook's mood getting worse. He still smiled, putting up a brave front... but it was becoming even more clear that therapy wasn't going well. Yoongi's heart ached, and he didn't know what, if anything, he could do for the kid. They didn't talk about much, and Kookie didn't bring up Yoongi's hand or piano since Yoongi gave him the ultimatum. It was almost time for Wendi to show up, and Yoongi just sat and watched JungKook mouth the words to the song on his headphones. It seemed like a slow ballad of some sort... and Yoongi found himself wondering what Kookie's singing voice sounded like.
"Hey, I have to ask you something..." Wendi said, startling Yoongi out of his thoughts. He looked at her and waited. "What the hell kind of conversations are you having with that kid?" she asked seriously. Yoongi was puzzled.
"I...don't know? We talk about a lot of stuff... usually random..." he cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Earlier today," she leaned in and whispered. "He told me he liked the way I 'bounced.'"
Yoongi threw his head back and laughed.
~
Yoongi didn't know why he'd come. He didn't care... he didn't... Kookie hadn't said anything about having a date or even that he talked to a girl... but when he imagined that little bunny scrunch smile actually saying that to Nurse Wendy, he couldn't help but feel obligated to at least... talk to the doctor.... And hey, he had to admit, Nurse Wendi had a hell of a bounce.
It was at this hospital, not his old one... but when he'd made the appointment, he'd given permission to have his medical records transferred. Now here he sat in front of a doctor in a small office on the 12th floor during his break and waiting as the doctor scrutinized his file.
"So you never got surgery... why?"
"My guardian refused it...". At Yoongi's answer the doctor's brow furrowed.
"This was an incredibly serious injury..." he said. "May I ask how it happened?"
"A hammer..." Yoongi wouldn't say more. The doctor's face darkened even more. He sighed.
"Well, I won't know for certain what we're dealing with until we get some x-rays done. That's the first step."
Yoongi did the X-rays, and waited in the office for the doctor to come back. He felt sick to his stomach. It had been 4 years... it had been too long... nothing could be done... why was he even here!? The door opened and the doctor came in. Yoongi held his breath as the doctor came in and sat down, his face serious.
It was bad.... it was...
The doctor lifted his head...
And smiled.
~
An hour later, Yoongi sat in the closet in the back room of the cafe, his head buried in his arms. He had tried to make it through the day, but the second JungKook had come into the cafe, Yoongi couldn't hold it together anymore. He'd escaped to the back room and his emotions overtook him. 4 years he had wasted on thinking it was impossible... 4 years he hadn't even tried. He missed it... he missed his piano so much it wasn't funny. He hadn't even looked at one since...
Yoongi wiped his eyes and headed out to the cafe. He had to tell Kookie.
But Kookie was gone. Where was he? It wasn't even 4pm yet, he'd just gotten there when Yoongi left.... Yoongi waved at his assistant and motioned to the door, receiving a nod in response. He ran out the glass doors into the hallway and looked to either side... nothing. He saw Wendi, running out of a room down a couple of doors, and disappearing again into another.
What was going on.... Yoongi couldn't breathe. He started down the hallway only to freeze at the sound.
A group of nurses and a doctor came rushing out of the room, JungKook on a gurney in the middle of them... clutching his chest and screaming.
~
Yoongi sat in the coffee shop late.... it was 1am and he hadn't even done the dishes yet.... he needed to close it down...
He didn't care....
He knew better! He should never have let himself get drawn into a patient's life....
"Damn it..." he swore under his breath and pressed his forehead to the table. It was a bone fragment from the accident. It hadn't been a problem, but with all of Kookie-.... Jungkook's physical therapy, it had shifted and.... he had been in surgery for hours now...
Yoongi stood abruptly and ran his fingers through his hair. Not the kid... he pleaded... he didn't even know who he was pleading to, but he couldn't help it. Not the kid....anyone but the kid...I'll never touch a piano again, I'll never.... I'll never...
Yoongi began to sob.
~
Yoongi took a deep breath as he stepped through the hospital doors into the lobby. It had been almost two years since he'd left the coffee shop, but now he had a new job.
A gig.
He went to the elevator and pressed the button for the 8th floor, where the cafe was located. He kept taking deep breaths. He was nervous, but it'd be fine. It'd be okay. When the doors opened, he stepped out into the hallway, and turned left, making his way to the large glass doors. Through the picture window into the cafe, he saw the gleaming black baby grand piano sitting on a small round platform in from of the floor to ceiling windows. The city lights glowed red, green and yellow behind it, almost like miniature stage lights. He stood for a moment, staring at it.
He smiled.
Yoongi walked through the doors and made his way to the counter. His old assistant was the manager now and had booked him immediately when the owner had come up with the idea of adding a piano. Yoongi had jumped at the chance.
Within a few minutes, he was sitting down on the bench and letting his fingers run slightly over the keys. He was home again... he was himself again. And it had been because of Kookie. Yoongi missed him.
After about five songs or so, with mild to moderate interest from those sitting down and those out in the hall, Yoongi interlaced his fingers and stretched out his arms in front of him. He was a little stiff, but that came worth the territory. He needed to work his way back up.
"Hey! Mysterious Piano Man!"
Yoongi whipped his head up and smiled. He stood and walked over to the young man standing at the counter, wrapping him in a big hug.
"When did you get back into town?" Yoongi asked, laughing.
"Yesterday!" JungKook said with a grin, backing away, but leaving a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't think I'd miss your first gig, did you?"
"Any requests?" Yoongi asked with a smirk. "But no mouthing along, if you wanna sing you actually have to sing." Kookie laughed.
"Paper Hearts?" He wiggles his eyebrows and Yoongi rolled his eyes. Without a word he walked up to the piano and began playing. JungKook walked up as he played the introduction. He sat down next to Yoongi on the edge of the piano bench and started singing.
People took notice then. Jungkook's voice was good... really good. Yoongi remembered the first time he actually heard JungKook sing. He'd smacked the kid in back of the head and said he'd do the same if he ever caught him mouthing words again.
When the song was done, there was a good round of applause and Kookie turned and ruffled Yoongi's hair.
"Any other requests?" Yoongi asked him with a smirk.
"Beethoven's Pathetique?" JungKook laughed at Yoongi's wide grin. "But only the second movement!"
"Just because it was a Billy Joel song..." Yoongi grumbled. "Get off, I need more room. Get us some coffee and I'll be down after a couple more songs." Yoongi met Kookie's eyes. "I want to hear all about that dance academy you're going to." JungKook winked at him and hopped down, walking over to the counter.
Yoongi watched him and let himself smile. There was something about watching Kookie walk... in this place especially. It was surreal.
Thank you... he said to whatever powers had come to the hospital that night and had touched those surgeon's hands... to whatever powers had pushed Kookie through hard intense rehab until he was walking within a year... to the powers that had allowed Yoongi to quit that year and go study full time at school... to the powers that had granted him one of the best friends he'd ever had or would have in his life.
Thank you....
And he began to play.