Smoke Song

Going, Going...

Jungkook turned, jogging to catch up with Taehyung and Jin as they reached the doors, pushing them open. He trailed in their wake, bowing to the agents who called out to him and wishing he had a bigger hoodie or another piece of clothing to sink into. Jin's extras weren't the type to hide in. Why did everyone have to stare?

Jin led them up to the floor where Jungkook first met Hoseok, stopping at the first door on the left and tapping in a code. As it opened, Taehyung let out a surprised laugh and stepped in.

"What! You're here!"

Jungkook entered the room just as Jimin looked up from one of the machines he was messing with, shooting them both a grin. "Hey Tae, Kook," he said, messing with his hair and stepping away, "Just got here yesterday. How've you been?"

Taehyung slid straight into conversation, but Jungkook walked to the machines instead, carefully tucking his hands into his pockets. They were sleek, much higher quality versions of the machines he and Taehyung had used for years. He stifled his urge to reach out and run his fingers over them-- it was useless. His hands, for all the doctor's talk of possibilities and therapy, might as well have been amputated. He wouldn't even be able to feel the materials under his fingers.

He swallowed, gritting his teeth, and moved on.

"Taehyung," Jin gestured Taehyung over to a microphone. "I've been showing Jimin how to handle the testing machines. Sing a little?"

Taehyung leaned into the microphone and hummed. Across the room, a screen came to life, flashing with symbols, charts, and graphs. Jin blinked, mouth dropping open.

"Can you go any deeper than that?!"

Taehyung complied, and Jin's hands flew to his hair. He let out a breathy laugh, sharing a look with Jimin, and exclaimed, "You just broke the running record!"

Taehyung chuckled, then turned back to the mic, vocalizing a few bars of the song they'd been working on. Tears sprang into Jungkook's eyes, and he turned away, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets.

Breathe, he told himself. It'll be alright.

"Jungkook? Want to give it a try?"

Jungkook looked up, biting his lip, and stepped over to where Taehyung stood, barely conscious of the arm his friend wrapped around his waist as he stood in front of the mic.

"C-can I have some water?" he asked.

Jimin shot him a concerned look, but Jin took it in stride, grabbing a water bottle off the ground and tossing it to him. "You should probably start keeping one on you. You'll be doing a lot of singing from now on."

Jungkook nodded, opening the bottle and gulping down a few mouthfuls. The cold liquid soothed his throat, and he leaned in, taking a deep breath and singing a few bars of the song he'd been working on. When the symbols appeared, he paused, trying to make sense of them, but it was meaningless to him. He was more focused on the waver in his voice.

There was no way they'd missed it. In fact, from the way Jimin was frowning at the screen, the machines had caught it as well. Jungkook stepped back, gulping more water, and chose to stare at the microphone instead of the screen, taking deep breaths to avoid coughing his lungs out. Breathing hurt. How was he supposed to sing?

He would have to come back later to practice alone. Maybe that was what he needed. Time alone. Time to sing with himself. Maybe that way his voice would grow stronger.