ᴄʀᴜᴛᴄʜᴇs || ᴊ.ᴊᴋ + ᴋ.ᴛʜ ✔️

twenty-eight: missing piece

A few days had passed since the big game. It didn't feel like it. Not to anyone, but especially those who participated in the game itself, and more especially Taehyung, who almost cried when he woke up to the sight of Jungkook curled up next to him, almost believing it was only a dream.

To his own relief he managed to calm himself down before the other awoke. Delicate eyelids closed, lips parted slightly as quiet breaths of air passed through. He looked at peace. An expression he never imagined he would see in Jungkook.

Smiling, he cupped Jungkook's cheek carefully with his hand.

The boy slowly opened his eyes.

"Morning, Jungkook," Tae said with love in his voice. His smile grew wider, warmer, as he touched the boy's hair. "Did you want me to take you back home since I'm-"

"No, I wanna go with you."

It took Taehyung aback, and for a moment, he considered the fact that maybe Jungkook had forgotten where he said he was going today. But then he stopped to fully take in emotion behind Jungkook's eyes, the assurance they cleaved to so firmly.

"Is it okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's..." Tae pursed his lips and nodded, his heart skipping a small beat as he felt Jungkook take his hand. "It's okay...I don't think she'd mind, either."

"I would hope not."

Taehyung chuckled softly and leaned over to kiss the boy's forehead. "Well, I'm gonna grab something to eat before leaving. You should eat, too. Do you like eggs?"

"That's fine."

"How about you get dressed while I go make th-"

He sat up quickly in bed just to hug Taehyung before he could stand up. He hugged him, with all his might, breathing deeply for a moment as the sudden urge to cry again came over him. Taehyung was here. And he was here with Taehyung.

"I love you, Tae."

Taehyung could feel Jungkook's hands shaking. "I love you, too..."

He wouldn't let him go. For the longest time, Jungkook held onto Tae, as though he'd never get to hold him again if he pulled away, as though the months he'd made the boy wait for him would come back to bite him if he let go. Taehyung sensed that feeling, in his chest, which felt at home with Jungkook's heart beating against it.

"Now that I have you I'm not gonna let you fall again." He squeezed him tighter. "My missing piece," Tae added with a stifled laugh. "I'm...gonna go make the eggs now."

"I'll be down as quick as I can."

*

Taehyung's grandparents were still asleep by the time he and Jungkook finished eating, so Tae did what he was accustomed to doing since he was a kid and let a note on the kitchen fridge.

Going with Jungkook to see her.
I'll be back soon.

With November being just around the corner, the weather was beginning to grow chilly. Taehyung didn't mind. It just meant he could wear his purple fleece jacket. This time, however, he offered it to Jungkook and relished in the joy of the boy's acceptance of it.

"I have a yellow bomber jacket I haven't used in a while," he'd assured him. "I'll just wear that."

So after slipping on the jacket - it was a bit tight but not uncomfortably so - Taehyung headed out the door, assisting Jungkook in the transfer from his crutches to the wheelchair. It took some getting used to on both their parts. At the same time, they knew it was for the better. And Jungkook, personally, felt relieved he finally came to the decision to stop solely using his crutches. Being able to sit back in the chair and let Taehyung help him was something he never imagined himself doing.

But it was also something he never regretted.

"Make sure your jacket's zipped up."

"I'm not a baby, Tae," Jungkook huffed, but listened anyway and zipped up the jacket.

"You're my baby," Taehyung countered. He laughed at himself. At the time he couldn't see Jungkook smiling fondly.

It was a peaceful, twenty-minute walk to the cemetary. Not many cars on the road at this hour and in this neighborhood, which Taehyung loved, because it allowed him space to think, to enjoy the quiet atmosphere. The cemetary was even quieter. But being autumn, the crunch of fallen leaves still sounded from beneath his feet and from the rolling of Jungkook's wheelchair.

A pleasant sound.

Taehyung guided Jungkook over to a small upright stone, in front of which lay a single purple rose. It looked both real and fresh, which led Jungkook to believe someone had come here before them.

"Mr. Lee got here first," Tae thought aloud, smiling. "He's never forgotten her birthday. I should really get around to visiting him again..."

There was no one else here in this part of the cemetary. Jungkook noticed that when they first got here, but he still took a moment to look around, out at the other gravestones, the scattered, shedding trees. Jungkook had never been to a cemetary. He pondered the thought that Taehyung had been here countless times in the past eight years.

His eyes drifted down to the gravestone. As Jungkook read the name several times to himself, he thought back to that picture of Taehyung's mom the boy had showed him many months ago, not realizing Tae was in the process of retrieving from his small backpack a picture frame, which he then carefully placed beside the purple rose in front of the stone.

Behind the thin layer of glass Jungkook found himself staring at that same picture.

Taehyung's mother, and her son, with joy in their identical smiles.

He wasn't sure when he started crying. But Jungkook felt the tears roll down his cheeks as he stared at that picture.

"Happy birthday, Miss Taeyun."

He heard Tae sniffling behind him. Jungkook reached back to touch Taehyung's hand which still gripped the handlebars of his wheelchair.

"I'm Jungkook. I'll be looking after Tae now for you."

*

*

a/n:
well there you have it. last chapter (；ω；)
i'm happy i could finally finish this fic but i'm gonna miss it lol
thank you guys for your comments and everything, i hope you'll look forward to more from me ❤️