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╚═ "happy" ═══╝
the next few days are wonderful–namjoon spends every minute with his little brother. they get takeout, the three of them. they stay up for movie marathons and fall asleep on the couch, jeongguk curled into namjoon's side. namjoon walks jeongguk to all his classes, and waits for him at the end of the day to drive him home.
it's the first time in weeks jeongguk's been truly happy. the days he spent drowning himself in liquor to forget the harrowing sadness wasn't anything real; it was a pretense to pretend he was okay.
however he knows he can't stay forever. he can't depend on his big brother like he did when he was sixteen. he's an adult now, and after everything he went though to get namjoon to treat him like one, it's time for him to act like one.
he enjoys his brother's company while he has it, though. he sits in the living room, giggles and occasional swears falling from his lips as the two are deep into an intense video game.
"aw, shit, guk, i–oh, you little bitch!" namjoon yells as the younger suddenly kills his character and thereby winning the game, throwing his controller to the ground and turning to tackle jeongguk to the couch. his hands fly to his brother's sides, mercilessly tickling him.
"no! ah-ah-ah j-joonie hyung, p-please!" jeongguk gasps out, laughing wildly as he squirms under the older's touch.
he's missed this, he really has.
➴
namjoon hums as he examines the list in his hands. resting his elbows on the handle of the shopping cart, jeongguk waits patiently.
"okay, so all that's left to get is...eggs, painkillers and milk. can you handle getting dad's meds while i grab the eggs and milk?" namjoon turns finally to face jeongguk.
"sure! i'll be right back, hyung!" excited to do something other then just push the cart while namjoon moves from aisle to aisle, jeongguk takes off to the pharmacy section of the store.
he quickly finds the right aisle and makes his way down, examining the shelves. his stepfather had been having bad migraines lately, and only one particular brand of painkillers seemed to work. as jeongguk reaches out to grab what he thinks is the right box, someone bumps into him and makes him drop the box.
"oh my god, i'm so sorry! i wasn't looking where i was going!" the guy's rambling as jeongguk picks the box back up and straightens. "wait–jeongguk?"
said boy looks up into the familiar eyes of kim yugyeom, and breaks out into a grin. "gyeom!" he exclaims, throwing his arms around the younger and pulling him into a hug.
"how have you been? christ, i haven't seen you since graduation!" yugyeom says as they pull away from the hug.
"oh," jeongguk bites his lip. "i've been alright. i hear you're dating bambam?" he quickly changes the subject and prays yugyeom wont catch on.
to his relief, the younger's face lights up. "yeah! i'm really happy with him." as yugyeom begins to ramble about his boyfriend, jeongguk tunes out and quickly examines the box of painkillers he'd grabbed, and is pleased when it is indeed the right brand he needs. he pockets the box and looks back up at yugyeom, who's still talking.
"hey, jeongguk, did you find them yet? i didn't think it'd take you this lo–oh, hey yugyeom," namjoon appears, nodding towards the other male.
jeongguk rushes to apologize: "sorry hyung, i just found them and then i ran into yugyeom. we haven't seen each other in a while."
"a while?" yugyeom laughs, "it's been almost a year." rolling his eyes, jeongguk playfully shoves yugyeom.
"well, we'd better get home, hm?" namjoon pats his brother on the shoulder. "nice seeing you, yugyeom-ah."
jeongguk turns to follow his brother, waving to his friend. "bye, gyeom! text me sometime!"
it doesn't take much longer for them to pay for their things and soon they're back in namjoon's car on the way home. namjoon hums along to the songs on the radio, tapping his long fingers on the steering wheel. jeongguk leans his head against the cool window, trying to commit this moment to memory so he can look back on it on days where he isn't as relaxed and at ease as he is now.
"i'm going to go back home tomorrow," he murmurs, his voice quiet.
namjoon looks over, reaching a hand to turn the volume of the radio down. "what did you say, guk?"
"i'm going back tomorrow," he repeats. "thank you for the past few days."
drawing his lips into a line, namjoon sighs. he knew it was coming. he can't keep his little brother under his wing forever. "if that's what you want. but remember, i'm only a phone call away. i'll come get you anytime you want."
