P l e a s e . . . [ Taekook - Self-Harm AU ] ⚠️

[ Chapter 5: Superman ]

Jungkook knocked on the door, drying his face again weakly. His arms still stung, but he ignored it. He waited for an answer, staring down at his slightly torn up shoes. The door opened, revealing Taehyung. Jungkook looked up at Taehyung, feeling his arms wrap around him almost immediately.

"Jungkook... Are you sure you're okay?" Taehyung asked, pulling back to look at Jungkook's face. "Your eyes are red..." he whispered, his hand cupping Jungkook's face gently.

"I-I-I'm okay... just... scared, I guess..." Jungkook whispered. He looked anywhere but Taehyung's face.

"You look like you are..." Taehyung whispered. "Here, come inside..." he mumbled as he led Jungkook into the house. He closed the door, letting Jungkook remove his shoes. Jungkook sighed quietly, looking back up at Taehyung. Taehyung smiled softly at Jungkook, taking his hand into his own. Jungkook's hand was a bit smaller than Taehyung's, but they fit perfectly together. Taehyung led Jungkook up to his room and shut the door after they were in.

Taehyung's room was much bigger than Jungkook's. It was decorated neatly with some posters of bands and artists, pretty LED lights sticking along the ceiling and corners. There was an acoustic guitar hung up on the wall and an electric piano next to his desk, which the desk held some figurines and a lamp on it. Taehyung's bed was big and looked comfy, all white sheets with a polished, wooden bed frame. Taehyung even had a TV in his room with some gaming consoles hooked up to it.

Jungkook looked back at Taehyung, who was now sitting on his bed. Taehyung patted the spot next to him, so Jungkook sat down in that spot. "So... Do you wanna tell me what's going on...?" he whispered, reaching for Jungkook's hand again.

"So..." Jungkook took a deep breath. "Um... I've never really... told you about it, but... I can trust you won't tell anybody... right? Briefly to you parents, you can, but... nobody else..?"

"Of course... of course..." Taehyung nodded, squeezing Jungkook's hand in reassurance. "I won't tell anybody."

"...Thank you.." Jungkook whispered. "Um... So... My parents kinda... fight a lot. Every single night. Sometimes in the middle of the day if they both aren't at work... They're... always so loud when they fight, especially when they get... physical.."

"...Do they.. do anything to you?" Taehyung whispered, rubbing the back of Jungkook's hand, seeing that he was a little nervous.

"S-Sometimes... Depends if they notice my existence or not." Jungkook mumbled. "But... it got worse this time..." He paused, staring down at their hands and squeezing Taehyung's. "So bad that... my mom's dead.." Taehyung almost gasped, but he didn't. He let go of Jungkook's hand to wrap his arms around him instead, pulling him into a close, tight, warm hug.

"Jungkook, I'm sorry... I'm really sorry.." Taehyung whispered. Jungkook only shook his head, shakily hugging back just as tightly.

"I won't stay here long... I'll go back after a couple of da-"

"No! You can't!" Taehyung pleaded, making Jungkook jump a little. "You can't g-go back to that place if... if you're gonna be in a dangerous home like that..."

"I-I don't... want to be a b-burden-" Jungkook tried to protest. Taehyung only interrupted him again.

"You won't be! It's a lot safer here than... in the same house as a murderer.." Taehyung's voice grew softer and softer. He looked up at Jungkook with pleading eyes. "Please... Please, don't go back there... It's for your own good..." Jungkook frowned, staring into Taehyung's eyes. He hesitated, but nodded at his words.

"Fine..." he whispered. Taehyung weakly smiled, tucking his face into Jungkook's shoulder.

"...Thank you." Taehyung mumbled. Jungkook slowly closed his eyes, rubbing Taehyung's back soothingly. The two stayed like that for a while until Taehyung pulled back. "I'll protect you, okay? From anything... I'll be.. I'll be your Superman." Jungkook couldn't help but to smile at his words, shyly looking away.

"I-I... I really... I really don't deserve this-"

"You do, Jungkook. You really do. Nobody deserves to go through what you have." Taehyung mumbled softly, bringing a hand up to gently turn Jungkook's face toward his. "...You deserve a much better life than that. I'll try to fix it for you. I'll make it better..." Jungkook was so close to crying. He could already feel the tears building up and his lip almost quivering. He bit it to make sure it didn't, taking a deep breath through his nose and avoiding eye contact.

"T-Taehyung..." he managed to whisper. Taehyung frowned at the sight of tears in Jungkook's eyes and panicked.

"I-I-I'm sorry! Did.. D-Did I upset you? I didn't mean to-" Taehyung cut himself off when Jungkook practically shoved his face into Taehyung's chest and hugged him tighter than ever. Jungkook shook his head a bit.

"N-No... no... You didn't upset me..." he whispered "I've... n-never been so happy, Taehyung..." Jungkook's voice began to break, but he tried his best not to cry. He tried speaking again, but all that came out was a whimper, and then a quiet sob. That broke Taehyung's heart. He rubbed Jungkook's back, shushing the boy quietly. He rocked Jungkook's body back and forth at a consistent pace as the boy in his arms cried. Jungkook desperately wanted to stop crying, but he couldn't get himself to stop. He really tried. That made it all worse.

Jungkook cried harder every time he tried to stop. His eyes stung and were already puffy and red again. His sobs grew louder and more broken as he sobbed. He gripped onto Taehyung's shirt tightly, slowly glancing up at him and speaking up. "T-Tae..Taeh...h-hyungie..." he managed to mumble within broken whimpers and sniffles. Taehyung could feel his heart sink into the pit of his stomach at the sight.

"What, Koo?" He whispered, wiping tears away from Jungkook's face with a hand.

"D-Don'...leav-leave me... please..." Jungkook whined, shaking his head. "I-I can't... lose...l-lose the last th-... thing I....h...have..." He coughed and whimpered again, looking down to hide his face. He let out a high pitched, broken sob trying to rub his eyes. Taehyung felt a tear slip from his waterline, gently lifting Jungkook's head up by his chin. He moved Jungkook's hand away from his eyes, looking into his eyes with a frown.

"I-I won't... I won't leave you... I promise..." Taehyung whispered softly. Jungkook weakly smiled a little, but that quickly faded into a quivering pair of lips. Taehyung wiped away those few tears that fell down Jungkook's cheeks, hesitantly leaning forward to place a kiss to his forehead... He didn't even realize he did that, until he pulled back. Jungkook quickly tucked his face into Taehyung's chest with a quiet whine. "...sorry..." Taehyung whispered.

"N-No.." Jungkook whimpered. "Don't..." he whispered quieter, referring to the apology. Taehyung nodded, rocking Jungkook back and forth again. For a while, it stayed like that. Jungkook was in Taehyung's arms, letting the rest of his emotions out as Taehyung calmed him down. Jungkook never felt anything like this in a long time. He felt like he was just using Taehyung; he was selfish. Yet he couldn't bring himself to pull away and apologize for it. He only moved closer and gripped tighter into Taehyung's shirt. This is what he needed. This is what they both needed.

Comfort.

Chapter 5 End...