STELLA SYNDROME. ✓

II. luna

II.
l u n a

━━

JUNGKOOK didn't know why jimin hated him.

he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to upset his hyung, but he couldn't help but blame himself for somehow turning him away. all of the different possibilities had crossed his mind at some point, ranging from the occasional teasing to that time when he accidentally ate jimin's rice. man, he'd never seen him so mad.

but nevertheless, he had never figured out what made him so hateful. jungkook tried to spend time with him, but the mochi never wanted to. hell, jimin freaking left the room whenever he entered. for a while, jungkook tried to ignore it and believe jimin's excuses, but now, it just made him sad and hurt. he was his best friend, and then he'd just thrown that friendship away like it was nothing. but jungkook was fine, he forced himself to believe that jimin would tell him what was going on in time.

so when jungkook couldn't go to sleep, something didn't feel right.

he tossed and turned all night long, eyes shut but his brain wouldn't shut down. exasperated, he flopped on his back and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, huffing out a breath. it's not like i'm stressed or overwhelmed, i'm perfectly fine! he didn't know what the hell was going on.

then the fact of being unable to sleep started to cause him to panic. by four in the morning, he had given up and just lay there, mumbling to himself and researching the web to see if there was any way this could be a real deal. he found nothing except insomnia, which he knew he didn't have.

it was the seventy-fourth disorder website he had checked when the burning first came. little pricks of what felt like hot needles poked from within his stomach, and he winced in pain. what the hell? the pricking became stronger, scorching his lungs until they demanded an exit and shot up his esophagus and into his mouth. gagging, jungkook swung the door open and stumbled to the bathroom, heaving whatever the hell it was into the toilet. the sharp needles scratched his throat raw, and after about three solid minutes of hacking up the damn things, he finally peered down at what he vomited.

five shiny, sparkling orbs glittered before his eyes, sizzling in the water. he blinked, going into complete shock. jungkook backed away, head turning. he knew that this was sure as heck not normal. i must be dreaming, he concluded. i've fallen asleep finally and i'm just dreaming. but then why did he still feel so wide awake?

he peeked again at the glowing... things and made the brave decision to touch one. he reached down, index finger extended—and muffled a scream while shooting his body back. he let out a strained breath, barely daring to see the damage that it had caused.

the thing had burnt through about three layers of skin. blood was pooling and plopping onto the marble floor, and jungkook was seriously starting to get scared. he didn't know what was happening to him, but he did know that he couldn't tell anyone.

seokjin would freak and force bighit to cancel all of their upcoming events. yoongi and namjoon would "study him" and admit him to a hospital full of people who would do scans on his body he wasn't sure he was comfortable with. hoseok would cry and make everything emotional. taehyung would probably hug him and then shower him with love, since the boy had clearly had a crush on him for months.

and jimin? he wouldn't care.

he sighed. no, he couldn't tell them, or at least not yet. jungkook slowly sank to the floor, binding his finger with some tissue to try to stop the bleeding. for the first time in his life, he felt alone. alone in the darkness of the room where he unawarely sat before five glittering stars that had come from inside of him.

fear rippled through his spine. is this serious? he was pretty sure no one had ever coughed up these light-things. jungkook shifted his body so he could look back at the toilet bowl. they were still there, disintegrating the liquid around them. he stared in silence, trying to shove the anxious feeling in his gut away. when the five stars had finally killed all of the water, they each slid through the hole and faded from view.

jungkook didn't sleep a wink.

━━

HE couldn't escape the eyes of the other members. when he staggered into the living room that morning, five of them gave him a weird look. jimin wasn't there—go figure.

"hey kook," hoseok said, "you okay? you seem—"

"tired," he finished for him and rubbed his eyes with a sigh. "i got no sleep last night. i don't know," he forced a chuckle, simple excuse rolling off of his tongue, "it must've been something to do with the full moon making people hyperactive and stuff."

he didn't notice jimin was waiting in the doorway behind him, concern blanketing his features.

"um, it was a gibbous, not a full moon." namjoon spoke up.

jungkook froze. damn. he was a fool to believe he would get past the smartest person he knew. "close enough."

he could tell his reply wasn't believable. "if you say so," yoongi muttered, shoveling cereal into his mouth. everyone took this action as a conclusion to their interrogation and went along doing their business. jungkook suppressed anything sigh, exhale lodged in his throat that still ached from earlier. he was tempted to ask a member for pain medicine but then shook his head. easy way for the whole story of thinking i'm crazy to come up. since he had no proof now, everyone would just stare at him weirdly.

no, he'd keep it a secret. it's not like it would happen again anyway.