Entering the bathroom hesitantly, Taehyung turned to look at Jungkook before he returned his gaze to the bathtub. He wasn't ready. Not for this. Not yet. He was beginning to shake, his hands becoming unsteady. The younger hadn't noticed, walking past his hyung to turn the water for the bathtub on. Running his hand under the cool water, he adjusted the temperature and straightened up slightly before turning to face the older again. Now noticing how frightened Taehyung looked, he frowned slightly and placed a gentle hand on the older's shoulder who flinched and shrunk away from the touch.
"Jungkook-ah, I'm not ready. I'll shower another time, but not now." he stated firmly, his tone turning slightly cold.
Jungkook tilted his head, his brows furrowing slightly. "Hyung, you'll be fine. I'm here to help you, your bandages won't be soiled, I promise." He attempted to reassure the older, but to no avail.
Taehyung shook his head, his dark brown eyes fixed on the tub that was slowly filling with steaming water. "No." he said coldly as he turned to leave the bathroom. Jungkook's reflexes kicked in, causing him to reach for the older. He caught his arm, close enough to the stitches to cause a shooting pain to run through his entire arm. Taehyung hissed loudly, turning abruptly to face the younger. His face was different. Scary. Dark.
"Mianhae.. I didn't mean to, yongseohae, hyung..." he whispered, shrinking away from the mere appearance of the older.
No words were uttered from the other, he simply gripped his arm where the pain had rushed from and mumbled inaudible words under his breath. Jungkook didn't dare look his hyung in the eyes, feeling guilty and nervous all at once. It was odd, one moment Taehyung was his old self, giddy and full of life. Yet at other times, he was different. Distant and cold, like a completely different person. The fact that he could go from one to the other in a splint second terrified the younger to no end. He wanted his old Taehyungie back. The one who would stay up the night long talking about the most random subjects. The one who always made him feel welcome, feel at ease. The one that made him feel like he was home.
After a few seconds of deafening silence between the two, Taehyung let out a long, deep sigh which caused the other to look to him. "Mianhae, Jungkookie." he apologized, his features soften. He tugged on the part of the bandage that was around his hand nervously, his previous thoughts filling his head. He didn't want to expose the rest of his scars to the younger, but he had no choice.
"I can't take this off on my own.." he mumbled, moving his fingers down to tug at the hem of his baggy shirt before moving his gaze back up to Jungkook with soft, chocolate brown eyes. The younger got the idea, knowing what the older was asking for without the other having to say it directly. He stepped towards Taehyung, grabbing the hem of the shirt as the older bowed over slightly to let the material slide off of his body and reveal his frail yet still somewhat toned stomach. But something else caught the younger's attention. Scars. More scars. Small, raised lines peppered across his stomach which the older quickly tried to hide. He crossed his arms over his lower stomach, moving his gaze anywhere but on Jungkook. "Hyung.." he whispered softly.
Taehyung didn't answer, he just turned to the side a bit before remembering he had more scars there as well. On either side of his torso, longer marks were peppered across his soft skin. They were more fresh, only just beginning to lose their scabs. "This was a mistake, I should go." he stated quickly, turning to leave again. This time, a firm yet gentle hand was placed against Taehyung's now bare shoulder to tell him to stay. He stopped, lowering his head and remaining still. He didn't want to do this, he had shown enough.
"Is that why you were afraid?" the younger asked softly, his tone deeper yet still gentle and caring. A slow nod was all he needed to confirm his assumption, and he was right. The older shuffled his bare feet against the rug, keeping his gaze elsewhere.
"Can I see them..?" the younger asked, his voice quiet but still loud enough for the other to hear. His gaze shot up, slightly surprised by the question. He nodded again, slowly lowering his hands from his stomach and hanging them loosely at his sides. Jungkook stepped closer, glancing at Taehyung before he carefully ran his fingertips over the bumps. The sudden touch surprised Taehyung, causing him to flinch slightly under the cold skin of Jungkook's fingers brushing against his much warmer skin. Taehyung glanced up to the younger's face, seeing the worry, the pain in his eyes. It was killing him inside, but he did this to himself. He brought this shame upon himself.
"It was stupid, I know. I was foolish." He admitted, his tone full of remorse. The younger stepped away slowly, going to turn the water off for the now full, steaming bathtub. Returning to the older with slow, cautious steps, he carefully wrapped his arms around the other's bare torso and held him in a firm embrace. Taehyung couldn't help but let out soft sobs into the crook of Jungkook's neck, all the guilt now filling his thoughts. "Shh, you're fine. You're here. It's okay.." he spoke softly into the other's blonde hair, tangling his fingers in the semi-long locks.
Trying to collect himself again, Taehyung inhaled deeply before exhaling again as he took a step back from the younger. "I still need that shower, don't I.." he spoke lowly, glancing to the tub with a wrinkle of his nose. He still wasn't fond of the idea of having someone helping him shower. Especially Jungkook. The younger simply nodded before bowing over himself and removing his own shirt. The older froze, staring at his toned stomach with a slightly clueless expression crossing his face.
"What are you..?"
"I need a shower too, and I might as well take it now.. if you don't mind?" he paused, waiting for Taehyung's answer. The older nodded slowly, a slight shrug rolling off his shoulders as he went to undo his own jeans and slide them off, leaving him in just his boxers. Jungkook did the same, remaining in his own boxers as he walked back to the tub. He felt too awkward to strip down completely, deciding to bathe in his boxers. Taehyung followed suit, leaving his on as well. He got into the tub first, letting the warm water engulf around his body as his boxers stuck to his skin irritably.
Jungkook got into the tub after him, sitting behind the older so Taehyung was sitting between his legs. Carefully taking a cup from the side of the tub, he poured the water over the dark blonde locks, watching as the hair began to stick to the older's neck. He continued washing the other, taking care of him first before he washed himself up as well. Once they had finished bathing, he got up from the tub and went to get towels for the both of them. He wrapped his towel around himself, returning to Taehyung who stood up to get his towel.
"Here, I'll help.." Jungkook said quietly, wrapping the towel around Taehyung and tucking it so it wouldn't fall down.
"Thank you, Jungkook-ah." he said gratefully before realizing he didn't have any clean clothes to wear. Jungkook had brought some of his own from the things Seokjin collected from his hotel for him, so he gladly lent an over-sized white t-shirt and a pair of baggy black sweatpants to the older.
Once they were both dressed and mostly dry, they returned to the kitchen where they were met with a warm smile from Seokjin who was now cooking an early dinner. "Have a nice bath?" he teased playfully, smiling at the two even wider before receiving looks from the younger two.
He laughed to himself before serving their plates and setting them on the table, leaving the setting for a quiet dinner between the three of them. Few words were exchanged, and Jungkook avoided too much eye contact with Taehyung, still feeling awkward from the bath they had shared not even thirty minutes before. After dinner, they all flocked to the living room and settled down to watch a movie. Taehyung ended up sleeping with his head on Jungkook's lap, completely exhausted from the all the events of the past week.
The night droned on until they were all asleep, curled up with each other and peaceful on the couch until the morning sun woke them the next day.
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A/N:
Okay this was also a somewhat filler but enjoy ;^;
