Apocalypse | BTS

Chapter 41

Within minutes, they had three small tents set up a little further away from the river, with all of their stuff packed safely outside the tents, and a fire at the centre of it to dry their soaked clothing. Despite the solemness and the unrest of the night, the air was still, and it almost seemed as if the sky was mourning from above them as clouds covered the night sky in a thin blanket. Hoseok had ended up half carrying Yoongi to the tents after the exhausted male had fallen asleep in his arms, and the two of them shared the largest tent with Jin and Namjoon so that they could all watch over each other. Jimin and Yuri bagsied the second largest tent, leaving Leanne to stay with them, much to her agreement as the girls really did seem to get along well with each other. And that leaves the smallest tent to the leader, and Taehyung.

Only the bottom sheet of the tent gave them any distance between their bodies and the cool grass, leaving the two of them cold and uncomfortable as they lay in the tent with only a thin blanket offering them any defence against the biting cold, but they should be used to this by now. Taehyung still hadn't spoken to Jungkook. In fact, he hadn't spoken to anyone, and Jungkook was getting frustrated with how closed off Taehyung would be whenever something was wrong or bugging him. Jungkook was worried that Taehyung was growing more distant the closer they seemed to get, as oxymoronic as that sounds, and he was not going to accept being turned down again when he tries to offer his ears to the older. Besides, he was in charge after all, it was his responsibility to make sure everyone was okay, and they should listen to him, right?

Taehyung had his back facing towards Jungkook, and although his breathing was relaxed, Jungkook knew that he was awake. It wasn't long before the light patter of raindrops could be heard against the slanted walls of the small tent, creating a solemn yet calming atmosphere for Jungkook as he tried hard to close his eyes and block out his thoughts. But after what seemed like ages, he found that his attempts to sleep were useless. So much had happened that day, that he wouldn't possibly be able to sleep without nightmares. He couldn't even start to imagine how Yoongi must have felt.

They had all endured so much fear, exhaustion and sadness that it left Jungkook wondering whether he could have done better as a leader, even though he knew that they were lucky to have got this far and they were now at a decent advantage. The loss of the beloved dog had left Yoongi devastated, and while they all needed to heal from the current ordeal, everyone understood that it would take Yoongi a lot longer. And that was okay; as friends they were there for each other. Yet here Jungkook is, wide awake, lying beside Taehyung who was currently internalising his emotions while Jungkook just lay there, feeling helpless and doing nothing about it. He itched to reach out and tap him on the back to get his attention, but held back for some reason, stopping himself.

It wasn't until he heard Taehyung sigh and sit up that he actually really felt the urge to find out what was wrong, and he couldn't help but feel both concern and anger simultaneously at the fact that Taehyung wouldn't even talk to him. Pretending to be asleep, he watched out of the slits of his eyes as Taehyung unzipped the door of the tent, wordlessly stepping out into the rain, before swiftly closing the door back up again. Jungkook waited patiently for a few minutes for him to return, but when he didn't, he frowned in the realisation that he didn't take his coat. For Taehyung's sake, he decided he should push his anger and frustration aside as his concern for the older only grew with every passing minute.

Getting restless, he decided he'd go and look for him, making sure that he wouldn't take 'I'm fine' for an answer right now. He slipped his own coat over his shoulders, before grabbing Taehyung's coat and leaving the shelter of the tent, a deep sigh passing his lips as he did so. Jungkook took a moment to relish the feeling of the raindrops lightly teasing his face, leaving their clear trails along his cheeks and forehead and sitting on his fluffy hair like crystalline beads in the light of the moon that snuck through the clouds on the odd occasion.