hiraeth - a taekook fanfiction

6

After three days, Yoongi had decided to go back to the frat house, a lot less angry than he had been before. And Jimin nearly sighed in relief because he knew that Jeongguk needed the his best friend right now more than anything. There was an uneasy feeling stuck in the pit of Jimin's gut that told him that in some ways, Jeongguk was suffering more than Taehyung, even if he didn't know exactly how.
While Taehyung was loud with his feelings, Jeongguk was not. Kim Taehyung was snot and tears over spilt milk. He was made out of the frayed threads of Jeongguk's old sweaters because holding them close to his shaking frame while he cried at 2a.m. was the only thing that his former lover had left him with.
Jeon Jeongguk's suffering was silent. Sometimes it was the way that his smile never quite reached the emptiness in his eyes. It was the way in which his laughter was forced or how the boy seemed to walk as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Jeongguk's sadness was hidden beneath lies and one shot of vodka too many. His sadness was something that chased after him, and Jimin could do nothing but watch the boy continue to run away.
Jimin often wondered what the hell Jeongguk could have been through to hurt so quietly.
A part of him hoped that his lover would be the noise to disturb that quiet, but the next day, Yoongi had come back to the apartment just as pissed, going off about how Jeongguk had turned off his phone and refused to come home. He's probably off somewhere passed out in a ditch, drunk off his ass. Fucking prick. Yoongi had hissed the words with such venom, but Jimin had seen right through it. The elder was hiding the anxiety he felt at Jeongguk's sudden disappearance underneath layers of anger.

But then four days had turned into five and when Yoongi's mind wasn't drifting, he was holding Jimin a little too tightly, as if he were afraid that the sunset haired boy would disappear as well. Jimin would assure his lover that Jeongguk was going to be okay, running his short fingers through midnight black hair. Yoongi would simply grunt in response and say what if he's not? while refusing to make eye contact.
Jimin really wanted to believe that Jeongguk was okay, but even Taehyung was worried- though he tried his best to hide it. Whenever Yoongi went on another one of his tangents about the youngest, Taehyung would lurk in the hallway for a little too long, only to frown when Yoongi said that he still hadn't come back.
On the sixth day, Yoongi was dead set on calling the cops. It had taken awhile for Jimin to calm him down, because Yoongi was a storm of rage and hurt. But by some miracle, Jimin smoothed his lover's hair down and convinced him to have a look around the city first before resorting to drastic measures.
So they spent all day visiting various places that Jeongguk might be, like bars and clubs he often frequented. And even though they didn't end up finding Jeongguk per se, a lot of familiar faces had told the pair that the boy had been around often.
It's nearly 12a.m. by the time Jimin tugs on Yoongi's jacket and suggest that they turn in for the night. Yoongi had hesitated, but then agreed reluctantly with pursed lips.
"We'll find him," Jimin says. They're only a few blocks away from Jimin's apartment by now and the night is quiet, too quiet.
Yoongi shrugs, hugging his jacket closer to himself. "I can't do anything about him avoiding me, Jimin. If he wants to be a prick about this, then what the fuck ever."
"I'm worried about him too, y'know." He says with a sigh. "You don't have to-"
But whatever Jimin is about to say is cut short when Yoongi suddenly blurts, "is that Namjoon?"
Jimin's eyebrows furrow in confusion before shooting up once he follows the elder's line of sight. There's a figure crouching down in the middle of the road, and even though it's just his back, just by the tall and lanky limbs with pink hair to top it off, the pair can tell that it's Namjoon. Who else would lurk so close to Jimin's home in the middle of the night?

"Namjoon hyung," he calls, but the older friend doesn't seem to acknowledge their presence.
He's bent over something, that much Jimin can tell. It's as they approach him that something begins to take shape. "Namjoon?" Jimin calls again more hesitantly, frowning when his eyes adjust and he realizes that the suspicious shadow is a body.
Namjoon snaps his head around so quickly that Jimin nearly jumps out of his skin. His friend looks stricken, eyes wide with panic and glassy with unshed tears. There's a sickening feeling in the pit of Jimin's stomach that tells him that something is very, very wrong.
"J-Jimin," he stutters. "Puh-please help him. I dunno what to do- I dunno what h-happened."
Jimin takes a few steps forward to peer over Namjoon, only to stumble back as if he was pushed by some invisible force because there's no way. There's absolutely no fucking way.
Yoongi practically shoves Namjoon out of the way, falling to his knees in a way that Jimin is sure that the elder has skinned them. "What the fuck!" he shouts. "Jeongguk. Jeongguk. Gukkie ."
Jeongguk lays on the asphalt, his body spasming erratically and eyes rolled into the back of his head. It's almost as if he's having some hellish nightmare, legs kicking and arms flailing as the muscles in his body continue to contract sporadically. Yoongi looks just as unsure as Namjoon of what the fuck he should be doing. He simply continues to call the boy's name over and over again like some mantra, but it's lost like an echo in the distance.
Park Jimin is good at a lot of things, but keeping his sanity intact while one of his closest friends is seizing on the ground at 12a.m. falls under Things I Suck At. It isn't until Yoongi begins to shake Jeongguk that Jimin snaps out of his state of shock.
"Yoongi hyung, you can't do that," he says, moving forward and gently trying to pry the elder away, who simply angrily shakes Jimin's hand off.
"We need to get him help. We need to help him. We need to-" "Yoongi!" Jimin says sharply. "Move the fuck out of my way."