The Bet - Masters of Puppetry » Jikook

스물하나

Part Twenty-One
"No screwing around anymore."
      
     
Taehyung wasn't surprised when he found the younger in the baggiest sweats he owned, watching some broadcast while gobbling another chocolate bar, probably the fifth one that day. On the one hand, he was glad Jungkook was eating again but, on the other hand, the silver-haired would've preferred him to have proper meals instead of all this junk food. He genuinely wondered how the brunet wasn't sick to his stomach yet.

"I see the vegetable dauphinoise I made you isn't to your taste?," Tae spoke almost teasingly as he sat down next to the other.

"I don't eat things I can't pronounce," Jungkook responded without even caring to spare him a glance, so Taehyung turned off the TV thereat. He was fed up with the younger's behaviour. "Hey!," Jungkook called out sulkily. "I was watching that!"

"Would you take your eyes off that thing for a second?," the silver-haired fret over Jungkook's demeanor, raising his voice.

The brunet rolled his eyes in annoyance before standing up to grab a beer. Taehyung wasn't having it at all, however, so he took it from him straightaway. "What the fuck, Tae? What the hell do you want from me?," Jungkook wanted to know, visibly pissed by the way the other was bossing him around.

Both started to look at each other provocatively.

"I want you to stop this nonsense already!," Taehyung answered and reached into his dyed hair in despair. "It's been two weeks! I understand you're hurt and that you need time to heal, but you can't do this to yourself any longer. Lazing around all day, finishing one series after the other, skipping all your meals. And once you don't, you basically eat shit! I mean, just look at yourself! What am I even here for if you have no notion of getting better?"

"I'm grieving, okay?"

"I get that. Believe me, I really do," Taehyung emphasized, getting calmer with every second. "But Jimin isn't dead, Kook. He's very much alive and so are you. Don't let yourself slide like that! Go to work, take a shower. I'm serious. Look at yourself."

Jungkook kept silent at the other's lecture. He also stayed quiet when the elder ushered him to the mirror. The silver-haired was standing behind him now, watching while the younger's eyes wandered over his own body. Taehyung was right. He really had been negligent of both himself and his responsibilities, such as giving dance classes. He had called in sick ever since the break up, although heartbreak wasn't exactly considered an illness. Furthermore, his hair was greasy, his attire awful and the crumbs on the corners of his mouth were definitely not from today.

Also, where had his abs gone?

Seriously, who was this guy?

Jungkook couldn't recognize himself anymore. Now less than ever.

"I guess I have been quite sloppy and forgetful of my duties lately," he conceded with a look of regret on his face, hesitantly running his fingers through his brown hair to check how bad they actually were.

"Listen," Tae spoke up quietly, looking at him through the mirror before placing his hand on the younger's naked shoulder. "I'm sorry for being so harsh with you, but I just have to break it to you like this... You really look like shit, sweetie."

"Thanks."

The elder chuckled softly before replying, "You're very welcome."