Take on Me

39

¤ Seven
Sleeping at Last ↲

I feel hope
Deep in my bones
Tomorrow will be beautiful
And I'm ready
God I'm ready, oh I'm ready
Restless and hungry, but I'm ready
For whatever comes next

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

"This is boring," Juyeon huffed, wiggling in Jungkook's arms as he fought to keep her still. "Can't we do something else?"

"I thought you loved when I drew you," Taehyung countered, eyes flitting between the canvas on his lap and Juyeon. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor, his long hair falling into his eyes.

Jungkook laughed, nestling his head against his sister's. "She likes when you draw just her. But sharing the spotlight with me . . . Forget about it."

A sharp jab hit Jungkook right in the ribs and Juyeon turned to glare at him. "That was for talking about me like I'm not here."

"Alright, alright," Taehyung interjected swiftly. "There will be no sibling violence on my watch. Just give me ten more minutes and I'll be done."

An inconvenienced sigh left Juyeon's mouth, though she didn't push the issue any further. When it came to Taehyung, Jungkook's sister would follow almost anything the elder said. Even when it came to doing things she absolutely did not want to do - like following her special diet or exercising outside - if Taehyung asked her to do it, she typically would.

Jungkook called it modern day witchcraft and wizardry. Taehyung attributed it to his charm.

"Just be glad Tae's drawing our portraits, kiddo. He could be teaching us how to knit," Jungkook smirked, trying to taunt a response out of his boyfriend.

Taehyung turned his gaze on Jungkook, eyes filled with amusement. "You'd be so lucky to learn how to knit from me. Just think of all the fun things you could make."

"Less talking, more drawing," Juyeon ordered, shooting a glare at Taehyung before turning to Jungkook. "And you . . . Stop distracting Tae."

"No can do there. I always distract him. Right, baby?" He winked at Taehyung, thinking back to the early days when they started working together. The elder admitted he'd never been attracted to anyone before, yet Jungkook's body made him feel all sorts of things.

And now, here they were.

Taehyung rolled his eyes before returning his focus to the canvas. "I'm so distracted I might just forget to draw eyebrows on you."

Jungkook waggled his eyebrows up and down, trying to arch one but ultimately failing. "I'd still look good without eyebrows. There's no look I can't pull off."

They all continued their light banter as Taehyung finished up the portrait of the Jeon siblings. Jiho was currently out shopping for groceries, leaving both Jungkook and Taehyung in charge of entertaining Juyeon. Even though she was old enough to not need a babysitter, everyone was in agreement that she should be watched closely these first few weeks of dialysis.

And so far, the first week and a half hadn't been the easiest.

Juyeon still didn't quite accept the fact that she was on dialysis. Her daily routine drastically changed and she had a difficult time adjusting to her new life. While receiving treatment, she was hooked up to a machine for hours on end as it cleansed her blood of excess water and toxins. The usual energetic and rambunctious little girl was required to remain still during these times and couldn't participate in her usual active lifestyle. And even after her treatments concluded, she didn't have any energy to do the things she loved. Quite a few post-dialysis symptoms presented themselves, including nausea, headaches, and a general feeling of being "washed out," so she often needed to rest after treatment.