Forever And Ever (BTS)

Chapter 27

"Kookie, wanna go for ice cream? We haven't been in ages!" Jin asked. He finally had some spare time over the weekend, having been able to finish all his work for the next week. He decided he would spend it with the youngest, who always told him he missed him. To his surprise, however, Jungkook shook his head. "No thanks, hyung, I'm not really in the mood for ice cream. Maybe we can do something else, like play a game?" Jin was confused, to say the least, "But you always loved going out for ice cream. You used to beg to go almost every week!" Jungkook shrugged, "I guess I've realised ice cream is unhealthy. I can't eat too much of it." "Then can we at least go out to the park or something? I need some fresh air," Jin suggested. Jungkook nodded, and the two went to get their coats. 

"Kookie, let's play on the swings!" Jin was enthusiastic about getting to play with his brother. He felt like he needed this break to get rid of some school stress. Jungkook grinned and ran over to the swings. Jin couldn't help but notice that Jungkook's legs were looking skinny. Thinking nothing of it, though, he followed. Jungkook sat on the swing, "Push me hyung!" Jin stood behind the swing, holding onto the back of the seat. He slowly pulled the swing back, before releasing it to swing in the air. He smiled fondly as he heard Jungkook's cheers as he flew higher and higher with each swing. Eventually, five minutes passed and Jungkook had finally had enough of swinging. "Let me help you down, Kookie," Jin said, as he put his arms around Jungkook's torso. Hmm, he thought, he's skinner than before. As he lifted his brother, he realised how light Jungkook was. "Kookie ah, you need to eat more, you're so skinny! I've never seen you this skinny before! I think we should go get ice cream after all!" But Jungkook shook his head, "I don't think that's a good idea, hyung. Anyway, I'm not hungry." Jin stared hard at his brother. He saw how Jungkook's eyes had initially lit up at the thought of ice cream, before suddenly dimming as he declined. He firmly took Jungkook's hand as he spoke, "We're going. I know you want to eat ice cream, so we will." Jungkook had no choice but to be dragged over to the ice cream shop.

The two boys reached home just before dark. "See Kookie, you devoured the ice cream as soon as it arrived! Why did you keep saying you didn't want to eat before? You obviously did," Jin pestered. Jungkook couldn't answer, so he just chuckled before making his way up to the bathroom. The minute he was alone, he stopped smiling. He felt sick to his stomach, disgusted that he had let himself eat that whole scoop of ice cream. He felt the familiar push of bile up his throat. He quickly opened the lid of the toilet and knelt down, just in time for the shame to be purged from his body in the form of the digested ice cream that he had just enjoyed. He let everything out, finally stopping after a few minutes. He breathed heavily, staggering to the sink to rinse his mouth. All of a sudden, he heard a knock. "Kookie, are you okay? Did you just throw up?" Jin's voice could be heard through the door, full of concern. Jungkook replied, "I'm fine." But his voice was hoarse, which Jin immediately noticed. "I'm coming in," he said, then opened the door before Jungkook could say anything to stop him. He saw Jungkook's pale face and rushed to envelop him in a warm hug. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Why did you throw up? Was it the ice cream? Oh my god, I bought you bad ice cream! It's all my fault!" Jungkook couldn't help but smile a little at his hyung's overdramatic antics. "I'm okay hyung, just a little under the weather." He gazed at Jin reassuringly. Jin could see right through his brother, though. He had taken care of him for eight years, he knew when something wasn't right. "I know there's something you're not telling me, Kookie, but it's okay, I'll wait. Just know that I'll be ready to listen to you whenever you're ready to tell me what's going on." Jungkook gave a small nod before leaving the room. 

Jungkook lay in his bed, wide awake even though it was well past his bedtime. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink since he got into bed a few hours ago. He kept thinking about Jin's words. Part of his brain was nagging at him to tell his oldest brother about his vomiting, but the other part was stopping him, saying that Jin couldn't do anything to help and wouldn't understand. He had never been so conflicted. And it was a very big dilemma for an eight-year-old. 

*******

Hobi sat on the floor of the dance studio, stretching. A classmate came up to him, startling him. "Hey Hobi, mind if I stretch with you?" Hobi could only nod in shock. The boy's name was Iki-Ryo, a Japanese transfer who was extremely popular in school, part of the reaosn why Hobi was so surprised. Iki-Ryo didn't just talk to anyone. If he talked to someone, it meant he was interested in them and genuinely wanted to know them, something most of the school considered a great honour. Hobi himself wasn't into popularity, but he wasn't about to complain. 

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you talking to me? There's so many other people you could have chosen to talk to," he questioned, curious as to what could have been so interesting about him that the it boy of the school wanted to interact with him. Iki-Ryo chuckled, "Well, I decided to talk to you because I really admire your dancing. I've been watching you since the first day, you're really good!" Hobi glowered at the praise, "But I've been messing up lately, the choreography's gotten so difficult." Although this wasn't actually the case, he had been messing up on purpose after hearing what the other boys were saying. Iki-Ryo grinned, "That's the teacher's fault for making the dances so difficult. She's probably just testing us to see who should get the chance to compete. By the way, you're totally going to get it." Hobi shook his head, not wanting to get his hopes up. Iki-Ryo continued, "Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favour." When Hobi nodded, he made his request, "Would you mind helping me out with my dancing? You catch the steps super quickly, I can't keep up sometimes. I want to meet up and go through the routine when you have time." Hobi perked up. Could this be his chance to finally make a friend? He could not pass up this opportunity. "Of course I'll help you!" he replied, with a giant beam on his face. "Great, you free tomorrow?" Hobi confirmed that he was, and Iki-Ryo greeted him goodbye with a fistbump, "See you tomorrow, pal." Hobi couldn't stop smiling. He had a pal now.