art || vkook || discontinued

mountains and valleys

jungguk’s body rests on top of namjoon’s, both men asleep. even in his sleep, namjoon has his arms wrapped around the younger’s waist in a tight embrace. taehyung sits in the faux leather chair that matches the couch the other two lay on, his eyes fixed on the smaller of the pair. the boy had only been able to get down a single bite of food earlier, but taehyung figures, despite the stinging in his heart,  that it’s better than nothing. the only sounds registering to the painter are those that are coming from the kitchen where yoongi prepares a meal for himself and the brunet to eat.

it had taken quite a bit of effort to get jungguk out of the blond man’s arms. namjoon and taehyung had ended up having to pry the boy out of yoongi’s lap, drawing a series of displeased whines and even an almost convincing gesticulation of the infamous grabby hands made in his best friend’s direction. jungguk only agreed to leave the embrace of the older man with that promise that he could cuddle with namjoon. he went far too long without any sort of contact from the people he loves and it seems that he’s trying to make up for the lost time.

taehyung’s gaze withdraws from the napping duo when yoongi calls out his name, loud enough for the brunet to hear but quiet enough that it doesn’t wake the other two. he walks over to the dining area and offers the blond his gracious thanks when he sees the food laid out in front of him. yoongi waves taehyung off and gesture for him to sit down. they proceed to eat in silence, neither speaking until taehyung is almost finished with his second plate.

“i wanted to talk to you about something, taehyung.”

“of course, what is it?” the brunet puts down his chopsticks, waiting for yoongi to continue.

“i guess it’s a proposition of sorts.” the older man takes a moment to gather his words. “namjoon and i, we’re going to have to go back to our regular work schedules soon. we can’t keep requesting days off if we want to keep our jobs.”

“you’re worried about jungguk, aren’t you?”

“we are.”

“you have every right to worry about him, but i can always check up on him, you know that right? i don’t have what people would consider a ‘normal’ job.” taehyung leans back in his chair, watching yoongi, waiting for the older man to respond.

“i appreciate that, taehyung, but i don’t think that would be enough.” yoongi sighs, nervous to present his idea to the artist. “we both know he’s not okay, even if he recovers from this it’s pretty much guaranteed that he’s going to have more issues. i wish i didn’t have to say that but we’ve seen it before, he gets to the top only to fall back to the bottom.”

“mountains and valleys,” taehyung interjects.

“an interesting way to put it, but yes, mountains and valleys.” yoongi offers a small smile. “he climbs the highest of mountains only to topple into the lowest of valleys. i don’t mean to treat him like a child but i can’t trust the fact that he’ll be okay if he doesn’t have someone keeping a constant eye on him.”

“what do you want me to do about it?”

“move in with him.” the nature of yoongi’s statement, so blunt and unrestricted, startles taehyung, along with the fact that moving in with jungguk was the last thing the painter expected the blond to suggest.

“i’m sorry?”

“move in with him.” yoongi chuckles at the younger’s shocked expression. “you’re obviously allowed to say no, i can’t force you into it, but i want you to consider it. he can’t keep staying here, they’ll take away his apartment if it’s constantly empty, but he can’t be alone.” the blond leans forward, eyes locked on taehyung. “jungguk trusts you, so do namjoon and i. just, think about it, yeah?”