Taekook Oneshots

Sleep

(Inspired by the sleeping series by nectaerine (check it out if you haven't it's amazing) and I have checked with them to make sure I'm allowed to post this. If they decide otherwise, it'll be taken down. I refuse to plagiarise anyone because I know how important someone's creativity and originality is to them. I promise I have asked permission to use this idea and they said I could. But like I said, if they become uncomfortable with it, I will just unpublish it.
Enjoy!
Izzy x)

I can't sleep. 

There's no medical or psychological reason for it. There's no explanation. Nothing that can tell me why. All I know is that I can't sleep.

If I try, my whole body seizes up, muscles becoming taut as pulled elastic band, heart speeding up until I think my chest is about to explode. And so I give up, resigning myself to a life of living off of coffee and food. But I have been able to sleep before. Throughout my childhood, I've been able to sleep.

But that completely stopped when I turned twelve. And it's been nearly five years since I even tried to get any form of rest.

I can lay in bed. I can put my head on the pillow. But the second I relax into the mattress, everything goes wrong. There's no reason for it. Nothing at all that explains it.

And so I just live with the knowledge that every sleepless night is taking years off of my life expectancy.

"Hey, you okay, Tae?" my best friend asks, concerned as I leave my house, dark bags under my eyes. I just shrug, nodding tiredly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Haven't had my morning coffee yet, that's all. I'll perk up once I've had some caffeine,"
I reply, yawning.

"Have mine," he offers, shoving a takeaway cup in my face. "Caramel macchiato. You don't hate those, right?"
"No, Kook, that's one of my favourite coffees," I admit, smiling slightly at the familiar smell. "But you've got to have one too. Otherwise it's not fair on you."

He shrugs. "I don't care. You're my best friend. I can go one day without a coffee. You look exhausted, so you need it more than me. It would be selfish if I had a coffee when you needed it." I smile gratefully at him, accepting the caffeinated drink without another argument.
"Thanks, Kookie," I say subconsciously, drinking it quickly, "I appreciate it."

"You always seem tired these days, are you okay?" he asks, concerned, and I shrug.
"I just struggle to sleep," I admit, "my body won't let me relax."
"How long has this been a problem?" he questions, as we begin to walk to school. "Couple of months?"
"Since I was twelve," I tell him. His eyes widen in horror.

"Hyung! That's nearly five years ago! Why didn't you tell me?" he says, and I shrug.
"Because, to start with there, was no reason to. I didn't think it would continue to be a problem. Then we went to the doctor and they had no reason for it. They claimed that I was faking it, just spending too much time on my phone. I wasn't allowed to use my phone for a week to test to see if that worked. It didn't, safe to say."

"Ah," he says, raising a hand in the air as he thinks of something, "I remember that. You were so annoyed. You said you'd been grounded."
"I kind of was," I return, sighing and shifting my rucksack with the strap. "It was just because I couldn't get any sleep. I tried sleeping pills, every possible over the counter cure. Nothing worked."

Jungkook frowns. "I'm coming over to yours today," he tells me decisively, "I want to see if I can help you out with this." My heart swells at how caring he is, but I shake my head.
"No, I'm sure I'll be fine. You need sleep too." He shrugs.
"One night of no sleep won't hurt as much as nearly five years of no sleep. I can handle it. Besides, it's Saturday tomorrow. I'm allowed to be cranky."