Protect (Taekook) ✅

A Step Backward

"Taehyung...Taehyung..."

"Please!" Taehyung gasped awake, heaving in a deep breath, his eyes wide in panic. Jungkook grabbed a hold of his arms as he began to struggle slightly.

"Taehyung! Calm down!" Jungkook gently said, trying not get the man to calm down.

Taehyung finally relaxed, and Jungkook hesitantly let go. He watched Taehyung close his eyes and lay back down, not saying another word. Jungkook slowly followed, his eyes still trained on the older, watching until his breathing evened out and he fell asleep once more.

When morning finally came, Jungkook was the first to wake, slowly rising to a seated position and gazing down at his lover with a fond smile.

Taehyung began to stir a few moments later. Jungkook admired his beauty in the early morning lighting, his hair softly framing his face and his eyelashes gently brushed the top of his cheek bones. His lips, red and rosy was slightly puckered, but beginning to relax as he woke up.

But suddenly, the man shot up from the bed, scrambling and and getting to his knees, head down and sobbing. "I'm sorry Master! Please! I-I did not mean-"

"Taehyung..?" The man immediately stopped, snapping his head up. His gaze met Jungkook's startled and confused one, before he broke down in sobs once again, this time for a whole entire different reason.

Jungkook practically fell out of the bed in his haste to reach the man. He enveloped him into his arms tightly, beginning to rock gently. "Shh...it's alright. You are safe here, baby."

"I-I'm Sorry. I-I thought y-you were-"

"It's okay. It's okay." Jungkook whispered reassuringly. "He's gone, and you are safe now, Okay?"

"O-Okay..." Jungkook held him, kissing his head and rocking, rubbing small circles on his back for a while to calm him down.

When he felt that Taehyung had calmed down immensely from that episode, he picked up the older and cradled him in his arms. "Come on, let's get some breakfast...hmm?"

Taehyung wrapped his legs around the man's waist, his arms around his neck and nodded, before burying his head into Jungkook's neck.

Jungkook didn't question, simply walked with him in his arms down to the kitchen.

No one was in there yet, so he set Taehyung dons onto the counter and turned, grabbing some eggs from the refrigerator and making a quick batch of scrambled eggs.

Once it was done, he plated it and handed the plate to Taehyung, before turning away and making some for himself.

When he was done, he turned, surprised to find Taehyung's plate of food untouched.

"Baby..?"

Taehyung seemed to snap out of a trance, his mouth opening wide in shock. "I-I'm Sorry, I wasn't given permission to eat-"

"Baby, slow down." Jungkook said, walking over to him once he began to babble, looking like he'd burst into tears once again. "Please, it's okay, everything is okay." He soothed. "You don't have to ask or wait for permission to eat, baby. Go ahead whenever you want." Taehyung shakily nodded, taking in some unsteady breaths before turning to his eggs, which were no doubt cold by now.

"Here." Jungkook replaced his plate of warm eggs with Taehyung's.

"I-I can't-"

"Just eat, baby, it's no big deal." Taehyung still stared at the eggs. "Is something wrong?"

"J-Jin...s-said I should o-only eat light foods..." Jungkook's eyes widened in realization.

"Shit baby, you're right. I'm so sorry. I think he left some soup he made last night in the fridge. Just a light broth with some tofu..." Jungkook turned to the fridge, digging out the container and heating some of the soup up.

Taehyung hesitantly accepted the bowl, taking a tentative sip. "Just eat as much as you can, baby." Jungkook sighed, scolding himself for forgetting so soon.

Taehyung only took a few spoonfuls before setting the soup down. Jungkook frowned, but know he couldn't force the man to eat anything else, since he probably wouldn't be able to digest all of it.

Jungkook finished his and Taehyung's eggs, putting all of the dishes into the sink before picking Taehyung up again. "I made an appointment with a therapist today..." Jungkook brought up casually, trying to watch for Taehyung's reaction.

The man simply nodded.

"I'll be taking you to her office in a few hours. Okay? Meanwhile, why don't we get you cleaned up and just relax a bit, okay?"

"Okay..."