dissolve. ✓

TEN

jeongguk was exhausted by the time he headed up to bed. he had managed to plow through most of his math homework for the week and he was relatively confident that it was right and not just a mass of roman numerals or some shit. he hadn't made any progress on the essay though, even when he moved his laptop to the kitchen table instead—josh had been kind of right that sitting on the floor really hadn't been doing him any favors, back-wise, even if the better accommodations hadn't helped him with the rest of his issues.

taehyung hadn't bothered him the rest of the afternoon, either to stick his head in to mock jeongguk's study habits or to protect him from himself again. jeongguk worried at the rubber band taehyung had given him, frowning at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. he didn't need to use it, not right now, but it felt good to have. it felt good to remember that taehyung had given it to him, to have some tangible proof that his soulmate did care about him at least a bit. he ran the flat of his palm over the scratches on his arms—itchy now as they started to heal—and turned away from the mirror.

he intended to collapse into bed and see if he could eke out a few hours of real sleep before the nightmares caught up with him, but he stopped short in his doorway.

taehyung was in his room, already dressed for bed, standing in front of his bookshelf like he was perusing that limited collection. he didn't seem to notice jeongguk's appearance though, an unusual thing for taehyung who could seem to hear a heartbeat coming from a mile away. he was just staring blankly at a row of the magical reference books jeongguk had stolen from the library, eyes unfocused. his right hand was rested on his left upper arm, just below the shoulder, rubbing back and forth. jeongguk watched as it slid lower, lingering in the crook of his elbow, and came down to his wrist. taehyung had found another rubber band for himself in the last few hours, to replace the one he'd given to jeongguk, and he fingered it now the same way taehyung had done a moment ago.

"you okay?" jeongguk asked.

taehyung jumped, head snapping toward him with the urgency of someone expecting a threat. he only found jeongguk, though, and he looked away, eyes falling to his hand. he let go of the rubbed band.

"yeah," he said, voice rough. he stopped to clear this throat, nodding, "yeah, i'm-"

he seemed like he might deny it, might wave it off and say he was fine, but then he met jeongguk's gaze directly and held it this time. something that might have been a smile, small and brittle, tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"i was just checking," he said.

jeongguk didn't know what he meant at first, cocking his head in confusion, but then an image of taehyung, sinuous and hungry for blood, flawed before his eyes. oh. taehyung was checking to make sure he was still him, checking to make sure that he was still...alive.

jeongguk slumped further against the doorframe, something hot and unwieldy in his chest making him want to reach out, something that he couldn't name. he fixed a grin on his face instead and shrugged.

"you look alright to me," he said, for what that was worth; it probably wouldn't help, certainly wouldn't have helped him to get a grip, but he figured some outside validation couldn't exactly hurt.

taehyung smiled again, more honest than anything jeongguk had ever seen from him before. then he dropped his head again, licked his lips, and jeongguk could see the mask slide back into place. when taehyung looked back up at him, the smile was a much more familiar smirk. "you like what you see, gguk?"

jeongguk's mouth fell open, surprise rendering him temporarily speechless.

it wouldn't have been half as shocking if it was a sneer instead of a smirk, a taunt meant to humiliate him, but it wasn't. no, there was nothing mean-spirited here. jeongguk might have been a little lacking in the romance department so far in his life, but he wasn't to sheltered that he didn't recognize flirting when he saw it. he just never expected taehyung to actually flirt with him.