Better Than Tears (sweeter than sleep)

I remember that moment

Yoongi ended up fitting into Jungkook's little circle of friends far more easily than anyone expected. Jungkook certainly expected to fear him the way he had irrationally feared Hoseok and he could see that Jimin and Taehyung, while both comfortable with Yoongi themselves, were a bit wary about leaving him alone with Jungkook. But even though Yoongi was yet another stranger that he had to get used to, Jungkook found himself immediately drawn to him, mostly because he understood.

Jungkook found in Yoongi what he hadn't found in Jimin - complete understanding.

Jimin could hold him and reassure him and make him feel safe and comforted, but Jungkook knew that Jimin never truly understood what was going on in his head or what exactly to say to make things better.

Yoongi knew, because Yoongi experienced anxiety too.

"When did you start having anxiety, Jungkook?" Yoongi asked it calmly, as they all sat in the living room with their mugs of tea and Jimin's candle collection lit and filling the space with lemon-scented ocean breezes.

Taehyung's hand settled on top of Jungkook's, relieving him of his mug and then holding his hand, effectively still the trembling that started without permission. Yoongi didn't press, but just sat there on the floor, drumming fingers softly against the table.

"Um," Jungkook began eloquently, looking down at his hands and actively realizing the state of his left.

He removed his hand and instead started playing with Taehyung's fingers, tracing the lines and smoothing the skin. The clock continued to tick and Yoongi's fingers continued to drum. Jimin hummed a little under his breath and then took a noisy gulp of tea, choked, coughed, and blew his nose.

"You okay?" Yoongi asked blandly, handing Jimin another tissue.

"Yep," Jimin wheezed, coughing one more as he disposed of his tissues and took a slower, smoother sip of tea. "I'm fine."

"Did you swallow a frog or something?"

"No, just swallowed incorrectly."

"It's even worse if you swallow a frog incorrectly."

"There's no frog, Yoongi."

"You sound a little peculiar."

"It's just the death receding from my throat."

"Ah. That would explain it. Drink up. Death hates tea. His mom used to make him attend tea parties and now even the mention of the word will ward him off."

"I'm drinking. Death is not getting me today."

"That's what the frog said before you swallowed him."

"Oh for heavens," Jimin said tiredly. "You drink your tea."

"I drank all of mine already."

Jungkook listened to this conversation in a state of mixed emotions. He was partially amused, partially unsettled, and since he couldn't decide which emotion was more prominent, he ended up just laughing and having it sound brittle and wired.

Yoongi let his eyes drift upward, roaming over Jungkook's body before smiling slightly and drifting right back to his fingers still drumming on the table. "So." He said. "Jungkook."

"So," Jungkook repeated. "I...my anxiety started when, um, my dad left. I think? I think. Yeah. He would sing to me at night and then he wasn't there to sing and I missed it. He was, uh, the normal for me. I mean, I mean, I mean," Jungkook scrambled and rolled his head around, lips moving with no words coming out.