☾Trial & Error☽ → kth | jjk

XI

"Jungkoooook." An all too familiar voice rang through Jungkook's head as he reluctantly opened his eyes. His vision was a bit blurry from sleep but he could still make make out the obnoxious red hair hovering above him.

Or at least he thought it was? 

"Ugh... Taehyung?" He groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms to fix his messy eyesight.

"No, you dumbass." 

Jungkook looked again and saw that in fact was not Taehyung, but Dowoon wearing a red beanie that oddly matched Taehyung's hair color. 

"Oh. Hi?" He squinted, eyes still not used to the sunlight that poured in through the bedroom window. "Why are you in my room?"

"I'm not. You're in my room, remember?" Dowoon sighed. 

Jungkook closed his eyes with a heavy sigh and a nod, recalling that last night he had asked to crash in Dowoon's dorm out of reluctance to go back to his own. "Right. Yeah, I remember... Why are you waking me up though?" He whined, laying back down and hugging the blankets up to his chest. 

Dowoon knelt down and tore the blankets away from him. "Because you need to get ready for the day, my friend. Your group leaves at 9, correct? That leaves you with 45 minutes."

Jungkook sat up, eyes blowing wide open. "Shit." He hissed, scrambling up to his feet and gathered his stuff. "Thanks, man. I'll see you later!" He said as he rushed from Dowoon's dorm, down the hall, to the left, and to his own dorm room. 

When he opened the door, the sight he was met with was one he wasn't necessarily prepared to see. 

It wasn't anything alarming in any normal context, but this was not something he had ever expected to walk in on. 

Taehyung, dressed in baggy shorts and a white tee shirt, passed out on the living room couch next to two empty, small ramen cups. He was laying face down, with one arm stretched over the edge of the furniture and his fingers hovering over the pair of dirty chopsticks from the previous night. 

Again, this wasn't anything alarming. 

But Jungkook had always thought Taehyung would turn his nose up at the thought of microwavable dinner food and sleeping anywhere other than a bed. 

"Um... Taehyung?" Jungkook furrowed his brow, dropping his bag against the wall and walking closer to the sleeping boy. "You good?"

Taehyung groaned into the cushion his face was pressed into and turned his head a bit to rest his head on its side. He opened his eyes and stared at Jungkook. 

"Hm?"

"Why are you sleeping out here?"

"Depends. Are you going to tell me why you didn't come back last night?" He hummed, shifting to lay on his back and  cross one leg over the other. 

Jungkook stared at him. "That's not your business." He grumbled.

"And neither is this." Taehyung grinned. "Yet you're still asking. You're not concerned, are you? That's sweet."

Jungkook rolled his eyes and ignored him, not giving him the satisfaction of a response. 

But for Taehyung, that was enough to satisfy. 

Sure, he was miserable, and yeah he was incredibly lonely but last night, in the midst of his self-pity and wallowing, he had come to a decision. 

What good was all of it doing him?
Exactly; nothing. 

So Taehyung had decided that if he just ignored it, it would slowly go away, right? 

That's what he was hoping for, at least. 

For now, he would continue to act like the Taehyung everyone knew and (for the most part) loved. 

At that moment, Jungkook emerged from the bedroom wearing a fresh pair of clothes, in the midst of tugging on a baseball cap.

"Damn." Taehyung whistled and Jungkook turned beet red. 

"What?" He glared. 

"Baby doll has some fine legs. I've never seen you wear those pants before." Jungkook caught Taehyung's wandering eyes and gave him a stern look. 

"They're new." He grumbled. "Don't you have businesses to tour or something? Y'know, for our class?"

Taehyung shrugged. "Yes and no. My dad already has connections here, so I've already gotten a place to do some intern stuff at. In other words, I'm exempt from the tours." He let out an obnoxious yawn. 

Jungkook rolled his eyes again. Of course Taehyung's dad got him an internship. 

"Whatever. I actually have places to be, so- bye." He picked up his bag and swung it over a shoulder. 

Before Taehyung could respond with anything, Jungkook left, shutting the door behind him and walking to the lobby area where he was due to meet the rest of the group that was going to be getting tours of local studios. 

Once everyone was there, they began to load into the 12-passenger van that would be taking their group around. As Jungkook merged into the line of boys waiting to load in, he noticed a boy that he recognized immediately. 

"Jimin?" He slid into the seat next to him. "I didn't know you were majoring in dance."

Jimin smiled. "I am. We just have different schedules, I think. I usually practice in the mornings, that's when the campus studio is completely empty."

Jungkook nodded. "Huh. I'm more a night guy, myself." He shrugged. "But that's cool."

"Mhm." Jimin nodded and looked out the window as the van began to move. Jungkook looked at his lap, suddenly unsure of what to say. 

Man, he sucked at making small talk. 

"Uh... So you know Taehyung, right?"

Jimin seemed to get interested by that question, turning his body to face Jungkook as much as he could. "Yeah. Been friends with him for a while, I guess. You're rooming with him, aren't you? He mentioned it."

Jungkook had to bite back his usual 'unfortunately' response. "Yeah. Yeah, I am." He pursed his lips. "So, what can you tell me about him?"

Jimin raised an eyebrow. "That's a vague question. What do you want to know?"

Shoot. Jungkook wasn't sure how to answer that. 

What did he want to know? 

Lots of things, now that he thought about it... He wanted to know why Taehyung let people throw themselves at him. He wanted to know why Taehyung insisted on taunting him relentlessly. He wanted to know about Taehyung's family. He wanted to know what Taehyung really wanted from life...
There wasn't time for all that. 

So, Jungkook asked the one that had been bothering him the most. 

"Is he always such a pain in the ass?" He sighed. Jimin burst out laughing, eyes crinkling in amusement. 

"Taehyung? Ah, hell no. Why, does he act like one around you?" Jimin teased, giving him an elbow nudge. 

Jungkook frowned. "All the time, actually." 

He didn't understand what was so funny about the question. Jungkook was completely serious and Jimin didn't seem to get it. 

"Must just be you, then. Taehyung's just a big sweetie. A bit of dumbass, but a sweetie." Jimin hummed, leaning his head back on the headrest of his seat. 

Jungkook grumbled. "So he hates me, then."

"I doubt that." Jimin grinned. "I've seen him around people he hates, and I know what that looks like. He definitely doesn't call people he hates by names like 'baby doll.'" 

Jungkook's face flamed instantly. "How did-"

"I'm his friend, remember? I know things." Jimin laughed. "But seriously. He doesn't hate you. If you really want to know what's going on that bad, then I suggest you just ask him."

Jungkook furrowed his brow, but he knew he wouldn't get anything more out of Jimin.

"Fine." He mumbled. "I'll ask him."

this story is going to shit sorry wow i'm trying to salvage this