✔ || Distract Me

Chapter 29

"Taehyung?"

Jeongguk's eyes snapped open, and he became aware of many things at once.

Firstly, Taehyung was staring at him, his face unreadable.

Second, there was light coming from behind the elder.

Third, they were naked, and had never bothered to pull up their blankets when they fell asleep.

Fourth, Taehyung was facing away from the door. The door that had been left unlocked.

Fifth, Jimin was standing in the room's entrance, his eyes pinned to Taehyung's back.

No, not just his back. Somewhere more specific than that.

"What are those?"

Jimin's voice cracked on the last syllable and Jeongguk eyed Taehyung, searching his blank face for something, anything, to tell him what to do. When he couldn't find an answer, he sighed and sat up. "H-hey, hyung. Why - why don't you come in and shut the door?"

The boy stayed rooted to the spot. He repeated, "What are those?"

"They're scars, Jiminie-hyung," Jeongguk said softly, glancing at Taehyung. The elder hadn't sat up. He was a statue, hardly breathing, hardly moving. "Just - just come in here please."

"I need - I need to go get Jin-hyung," Jimin said, his voice far away.

Before he could get more than a step, Jeongguk shot out of bed and darted across the room, latching onto his arm. Jimin wrinkled his nose, but Jeongguk didn't have time to care about things like modesty, so he didn't think twice about his nudity. "That's a bad idea, hyung," Jeongguk said. "Trust me."

"What - what's going on, Jeongguk? What happened to Taehyung?" Jimin's voice was small and scared and Jeongguk squirmed.

"I promise, I'll explain. I just need you to do as I say," Jeongguk said as gently as he could. "Can you please do that, hyung?"

Jimin's eyes flicked to Taehyung, who had somehow managed to force himself up and pull on a pair of sweatpants from the floor - no doubt Jeongguk's - and was now sitting on the edge of the bed. The maknae widened his eyes expectantly and Jimin deflated. "Okay."

Jeongguk let go of his arm, breathing a sigh of relief. Stepping around the frozen mochi, he quietly pulled the door shut. He followed his boyfriend's lead and found a pair of pants to pull on and then guided Jimin to sit next to Taehyung on the bed. Unsure of where to start, he wrung his hands anxiously.

Jimin reached a trembling hand toward the scars and Jeongguk grabbed his wrist, remembering what touching them did to the boy. Jimin looked up at him, eyes wide, and Taehyung ran a hand down his face. "It's okay, jagi," he mumbled into his palm. "Let him - let him - just be gentle, Jiminie."

Jeongguk raised his eyebrows and slowly let go of Jimin's wrist, giving him a pointed look that said he better listen. Jimin swallowed audibly, and Taehyung leaned forward, gripping the sheets on the bed so hard that his knuckles turned white. The mochi turned to fully face Taehyung's back and Jeongguk pursed his lips, crouching in front of his boyfriend and taking his hands. Jimin lay a small palm on Taehyung's back, right between the scars, and murmured, "What happened, Taetae? Who did this to you? What -"

"He had his wings ripped out," Jeongguk snapped, cutting right to the point. Jealousy coursed through his veins at the way Taehyung shuddered under Jimin's hand when the elder of the two moved his fingers to brush over one of the scars. "Now stop touching him."

Taehyung squinted at him as Jimin pulled away as if electrocuted. "He's fine, jagi, he's just curious. You were too."

"Yeah, but you didn't let me touch them right away," Jeongguk grumbled. "And considering -"