ODDS OF SURVIVAL - TAEKOOK

CHAPTERFOUR

Taehyung's hopes were dashed as Jungkook simply let out a slow breath, shoulders slumping slightly, and carried on loading things into the car.

Completely dumbfounded, Taehyung felt like something vital about the universe as he understood it was set off-balance.

The anger and momentum he'd been building toward this inevitable argument now seemed to spin around pointlessly inside his skull with no outlet.

He stared blankly at Jungkook for a moment before his rational mind kicked in again, and he went inside to retrieve the rest of the things he'd packed inside the house.

A tremendous urge to break something washed over him, and he distantly wondered if this is what Jungkook felt like 95% of the time. That thought alone was enough to convince him to forcefully suppress the urge and carry on with the task at hand.

When he went back out to the garage, arms loaded with the rest of the bags from the kitchen, Jungkook was already in the driver's seat backing the car out into the driveway.

Blind panic gripped his chest for a split second before Jungkook stopped the car on the street in front of the house, got out again and walked around it, checking it over and kicking the tires, and Taehyung was left with the painful realization of how desperately afraid he was of being left behind.

That was something he'd have to deal with later, but for now he took a slow breath to regain his composure, and calmly loaded his burden into the back of the wagon, closing it securely when he was finished.

Of course Jungkook hadn't been leaving yet, the back end of the car had still been hanging open. He was panicking over nothing, as per usual.

"I already checked the fluids and everything. It's all perfect." Jungkook muttered as he finished his inspection, then turned to look back at the house.

A strange expression crossed his face as he stood staring for a moment and he mumbled something else to himself.

"What?" Hopefully he'd misheard, but his hopes for that weren't very high.

"I should burn it down." Jungkook's voice was clear and firm this time, and there was no mistaking his words.

"Jungkook—!" Taehyung stalked angrily toward Jungkook, ready to argue against any more of these ridiculous whims, but Jungkook whirled on him with that frightening look in his eye again, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"I can't just fucking leave them in there like that! Just rotting on the floor like no one gave a shit about them while looters pick through their fucking house!"

Jungkook crowded into Taehyung's space, practically in his face, his eyes already filling with tears and his voice growing rough as he continued, "What, am I supposed to just bury them in the fucking yard!? That doesn't make any fucking sense, but they don't—They deserve—"

"Okay!" Taehyung cut him off, planting a defensive hand firmly in the center of Jungkook's ridiculously muscled chest, which heaved with every harsh breath Jungkook took.

"Okay." He repeated more softly when it seemed like Jungkook might be done shouting in his face.

It was probably due to the general tension of their situation and his still mildly adrenalized senses that he noticed he could feel Jungkook's body heat when standing this close to him.

His eyes flicked briefly to the hollow at the base of Jungkook's throat when he swallowed thickly- god, he was covered in grime and drying blood, and there was a rusty red-brown hand print smeared over his collarbone- and he took a step back, letting his hand fall to his side with Jungkook's residual heat still pooling in his palm.