Rain || Taekook

Chapter Thirteen

Jungkook awoke to an empty bed and an empty room. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Jungkook searched for any trace of Taehyung. There was none. Jungkook's stomach tightened nauseatingly. His imagination had dragged him away again. Tears started welling up in Jungkook's eyes. They burned his cheeks and when the tears reached his dry lips, they burned there too. A choked sob built up in Jungkook's throat. He fought to keep it down but the pressure in his throat was unbearable. Jungkook let out the sobs he had been holding back. He pressed his face into his pillow to muffle the sound.

What a cruel world, Jungkook thought. What a cruel existence to give him everything and then rip it away. The worst part was that Taehyung's scent still seemed to linger in the room. Every inhale made Jungkook hurt even more. He had heard of seeing things, and hearing things, but never smelling things. That tiny detail ripped Jungkook's heart to shreds. He sobbed harder. The door to Jungkook's room opened with a telltale creak. "Oh my god, is everything okay? Baby, are you okay?" That was Taehyung's worried voice filling Jungkook's ears. Slowly, he looked up from the pillow he'd been buried in. Taehyung stood in the doorway with a plate of French toast and fruit, looking concerned and slightly confused.

Jungkook flushed. He knew how ugly he must look right now. He knew he wasn't a pretty crier. His face was a wet, swollen mess. Jungkook shamefully covered his face with his hands. He was officially an idiot. Taehyung had just gotten up to make breakfast, and Jungkook had immediately assumed the worst. Stupid.

Jungkook felt the bed shift as Taehyung sat down beside him. He heard the clatter of the plate being set on the bedside table. Taehyung's arms wrapped around him. Jungkook leaned his head into Taehyung's chest and once again began to cry. "Hey, hey, it's okay. You're okay. I'm here." Taehyung said into Jungkook's hair. "I'm here and I love you and I'll always take care of you."
"I- uh, I l- love you too." Jungkook said between sobs. Taehyung's arms tightened.
"Can you tell me what's wrong?" Taehyung asked soothingly.
"I w- woke up, a- and you weren't t- there, and- and I th- thought you were g- gone or that y- you had never b- been here in th- the first place and-" A new wave of sobs cut off Jungkook's sentence.
"I got you. I'm not leaving. You don't ever have to worry about me leaving." Taehyung breathed. Jungkook's sobs faded. Taehyung pushed into him and Jungkook realized that he was reaching over to grab the plate. Taehyung set the plate onto Jungkook's lap. "Eat something for me, okay baby?" Jungkook complied.

Taehyung was an excellent cook. That much was apparent from the small dish he had prepared. Jungkook was awed at how delicious the meal was. The French toast was rich and sweet, and the sliced strawberries had been glazed perfectly. Jungkook finished quickly, and found himself tempted to lick the plate. He succumbed to the temptation. After eating, no trace of the panic and hysteria he had experienced was left. A content smile graced Jungkook's lips. "I figured you'd be okay skipping class," Taehyung started hesitantly. "So, uh, you wanna go out today?" He fidgeted nervously.
"That sounds nice," Jungkook replied softly. "Where do you wanna go?"
Taehyung wrung his hands together. "I don't really know, uh, we could just go walk around or something,"
"That sounds perfect." Jungkook stated. "Let me get on my shoes and then we can go."

Fifteen minutes later, Jungkook was walking, hand in hand with Taehyung, around the college campus. They headed towards the city with no particular destination in mind. The cloudy sky was comforting today. There was no sunshine, but there was also no rain and the clouds just made Jungkook feel like he was wrapped in a thick, fuzzy blanket. Taehyung's warm hand engulfed his. The two boys meandered down the street, occasionally stopping to look inside the windows of stores. They reached a coffee shop and Taehyung pulled Jungkook inside.

"Let's split a frappucino!" Taehyung's eyes glowed with excitement. Jungkook grinned and followed Taehyung inside. Frappucino in hand, the two boys sat on the couch to eat their treat. Jungkook stiffened, realizing that this was the same coffee shop from a few days ago. This was even the same couch.

Taehyung glanced down at Jungkook. Jungkook looked up and saw the smirk in Taehyung's eyes. That ass. He was evil. This had clearly all been planned. Jungkook had never thought of himself as stupid at all whatsoever, but all of today had really made him change his opinion.

A sudden cold on his lips distracted Jungkook from his thoughts. Taehyung was holding a spoonful of frappucino to his mouth. Jungkook ate the frozen treat, fighting the urge to call out Taehyung's ulterior motive. Bringing him back to this place only served to establish Taehyung's dominance. Fine, if that's how it was gonna be. Jungkook leaned his head on Taehyung's shoulder and grabbed the spoon. He ate the frappucino bite by bite, making sure his lips dragged against the spoon as much as possible. Taehyung watched him intensely. Jungkook finished the last bite, and stood up. He walked over to the trash can to throw away the cup and spoon, then walked straight out the door.

Jungkook walked slowly down the street, grinning proudly. He had managed to do that without panicking and running out. He had kept his cool. Jungkook felt a hand on his shoulder. Taehyung pulled him to a halt. "We're still on a date, right? It's not very polite to leave in the middle of a date, especially without saying anything. Let's go!" Taehyung's pout morphed into a grin as he grabbed Jungkook's hand. They walked down the road like nothing had happened.

Jungkook and Taehyung spent the rest of the day wandering around the city. Neither of them said anything about what had happened at the coffee shop. Taehyung seemed to go back to normal. The air of dominance was gone. Jungkook momentarily forgot anything had happened. He was too delighted to think about the implications, to think about what might happen next.