lost and Found |Taekook|

16. Morning Madness

Jungkook stirs around, rubbing at his sore neck. He squints his eyes at the light coming from the window, dabbing at the coffee table beside his couch to retrieve his phone. It's eight in the morning, he has work today.

Last night was tiring, he gets up from the couch to go and check up on Taehyung. Just when he's about to enter his bedroom, Taehyung comes out, rushing, looking vexed.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung looks like he just woke up. He takes one look at Jungkook and his eyes widen, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline, "What did we do last night!?"

"We talked about how Redvelvet is better than Blackpink."

"What?" Taehyung curls his wrist into the T-shirt he's wearing, he looks angry, irritated.

"We did nothing last night. What kind of person do you think I am?"

Taehyung scoffs, "I never knew what kind of person you were Jungkook," he says, scornful derision laced in his voice.

Ouch that hurt.

"Plus I'm in your home, your bed, your T-shirt and I have hickeys. Makes sense, no?" Taehyung says, walking forward to tower over Jungkook to assert dominance, which is funny because Taehyung looks so soft right now with his bed hair, cheeks puffed and a T-shirt that is too big for him.

Jungkook still cowers a little, "I-I didn't do anything. You're at my home because you were drunk and didn't tell me your address and those hickeys-" Jungkook points at his neck, "-are not given by me."

Taehyung shuts his mouth in a thin line, confused. He scrunches his eyebrows, looking at Jungkook, befuddled.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Jungkook asks.

"S' hard to believe someone who has lied before." Taehyung turns around and walks back into the room he came from.

Jungkook ignores the tug in his heart, chanting 'don't cry, don't cry' in his head. One thing that Jungkook is good at is, controlling his feelings in front of someone. Sometimes it gets out of hand but other than that he's mostly fine.

Jungkook walks into the room that Taehyung went in. He is sitting on the bed, rubbing at his forehead, "Stay for breakfast," Jungkook says, standing by the entrance of the room.

"No, thanks. I'm going home."

"C'mon hyung, I know you're hungover. I'll make you the cure that Jin hyung makes. Stay." Jungkook looks expectantly at Taehyung, making puppy eyes at him, hoping that it'll work.

It does, "Fine," he says, rolling his eyes at Jungkook.

"You can use the washroom, there's an extra toothbrush in the cabinet if you want." Taehyung nods and gets up to walk in the direction of the washroom.

Jungkook ruffles his hair and sighs, going into the kitchen to make coffee for himself, some hangover cure recipe that Jin gave for Taehyung and toast.

This whole ordeal gives Jungkook flashbacks of his relationship with Taehyung. It was always Jungkook who'd cook because Taehyung was most likely to set the kitchen on fire, but that doesn't mean Taehyung wouldn't help, he'd always help Jungkook around the kitchen and when he couldn't he'd just back hug the younger, resting his chin on Jungkook's shoulder and watch him cook.

Jungkook shakes his head to get the memory out of his head and puts the bread in the toaster. Taehyung comes into the kitchen, strolling and sits on one of the stools, drumming his fingers on the wooden table.

"Kook, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Jungkook says, putting the toast into a plate and giving it to Taehyung along with a cup of whatever the hell Jin's recipe said.

"Why did you come back?" Taehyung asks, picking at his toast. Jungkook looks at him, trying to process the question.

"I mean why did you come back to Korea, I thought you were gone for forever."

Jungkook tries to keep a straight face but that doesn't mean that he's not hurting, Taehyung's every question, every taunt pierced right through his heart, "I missed home," he says, finally. You're my home.

Taehyung doesn't look very much satisfied with the answer so Jungkook continues, "I have my friends, my family here. I had nobody back in America."

"Why did you even leave in first place then, I know your internship wasn't the reason," Taehyung says, looking at the drink in his cup with disgust and then looking at Jungkook, eyes sharp and accusing.

"I wanted some change."

Taehyung scoffs, mocking Jungkook's words, "Funny, how I was the one hurting and you were the one who wanted change."

Jungkook is getting tired of Taehyung accusing him, he wants a break so he can breathe and collect his thoughts. It's also irking him how Taehyung is spewing out words just to hurt him, "What do you want me to say then, huh? Taehyung?"

"I don't know!" Taehyung says, getting up from his stool, pulling at his hair, infuriating, clearly losing his patience, "This is so frustrating for me. First you cheated, then you left and now finally, finally when I was trying to move on you come back."

Jungkook tries to keep his calm and speaks in a small voice, "And I'm sorry for what I did. I'll stay out of your life. I'll stay away so you can move on."

Jungkook doesn't want him to move on. He doesn't think that he can ever move on from Taehyung either. But he has to do this for Taehyung. He'll consider this as repentance for what he did, for hurting his love. He has already hurt Taehyung so much that maybe it's best that he lets Taehyung go.

"It's not that easy," Taehyung says, slumping back on the stool, rubbing at his temples.

"It's not easy for me either."

Taehyung doesn't say anything after that, he looks like he is thinking hard. Jungkook can feel the gears in his head moving. They both sit in silence and eat the toast, the breakfast is as sad as the thick air around them. Taehyung makes a face when he tries to drink the hangover cure. Jungkook smiles to himself at his expanse.

Taehyung drops his half eaten toast on the plate and looks at Jungkook, "Lets just- lets just be what we agreed on. Let's just be friends for the sake of our hyungs. It's for the best."

"Yeah, it's for the best."

After a few minutes, when Taehyung leaves the apartment, Jungkook comes and sits down on the stool in the kitchen. He drops his chin in his hands and stays like that for a while, staring at Taehyung's half eaten toast and smiles at it somberly.

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Angst
Me- yes!