His Boxy Smiles

Chapter 65

The irony with post-car accident Jungkook is that before, he hated it when Taehyung would crawl on his bed in the middle of the night. However, since Taehyung didn't do that anymore, or more accurately, wouldn't because he didn't want to disturb anyone with him still having nightmares every now and again, Jungkook found himself missing that annoying habit of his youngest hyung. As a result, he has been the one crawling next to Taehyung in the middle of the night, craving his hyung's breathing, living and warm body to sleep next to.

The maknae wasn't the only one though.

Every night, or the wee hours of the morning, Taehyung would find a body or two lying next to him, snuggling close. But that wasn't even the most amusing. The most endearing part of all was whenever he would wake up to someone trying to pull Jungkook off of him because "you're always sleeping next to him! Almost every day! Give others a chance! Yah!"

They never really managed to pull the maknae out- "damn his strength! Someone should forbid him from exercising!" Seokjin had said more than once on several different occasions- but occasionally, Jungkook would willingly move and migrate to either Hoseok's bed or Jimin's (never leaving the room).

There were multiple reasons as to why his members would seek for him in weird hours of the night. One of them would probably be because of the nightmares. Taehyung wasn't the only one getting them. They were having them too and it seemed to always be about him.

But that wasn't the only irony about post-car accident and post-hospital Bangtan. Everyone had become clingier, always desiring some form of domestic physical intimacy. Some of the members like Namjoon and Yoongi try to be subtle about it but anyone could see through them. Taehyung found it amusing and adorable at first and he still found it as such even after a week had passed since he came home.

It wasn't like Bangtan was any less Bangtan. It wasn't like the Bangtan before hadn't been affectionate with each other. They were just... more expressive about how they feel about certain things and it just so happens that one of their ways of doing exactly that included seeking and offering warmth and comfort through skinship- skinships that became more random, more frequent and given almost subconsciously and automatically, day by day.

Of course, not everything was fine. Not everything was sunshine and rainbows after the storm. There were days when even seeking Taehyung didn't help, days when the demons screamed, louder and louder, and the resulting pain and struggle became too much to bare, times when a member would refuse themselves of anyone's comfort, especially Taehyung's, as a punishment.

Right then, as Taehyung stirred awake to the sound of the door creaking open, it seemed that it was one of those times... one of those days.

It was dark so it took Taehyung a while, with his sleep-doused mind, to completely understand what was happening, let alone identify the small figure that entered the room with reluctance.

Taehyung watched the unmistakable shape of his small hyung walk over to Hoseok's bed and pick up part of the other's blanket that had slid off to the floor and readjusted it to cover the other's sleeping body properly. He did the same for Jimin, tucking him in snugly, before approaching Taehyung's bed and stopping by the foot.

He just stood there, evidently longing for comfort, and Taehyung couldn't help it. He really couldn't so he-

"Yoongi hyung...?" he called softly, trailing off as the elder visibly flinched at the sound of his voice. Even with the darkness that consumed the whole dorm, Taehyung could easily see the slump on his shoulders. He bet his all that he'd find a withdrawn look on Yoongi's face if someone were to on the lights right there and then.

"I thought you were asleep..." Yoongi responded too quietly- sounding almost scared. "I just came over to check on you... on everyone..."

Taehyung didn't know what to say. What can he say? It was quite obvious why the elder was there and why despite his obvious desire to come closer, he hadn't.