wake me up |t.k|

six

"Time to make you look all nice and proper, hm?", Jeongguk says softly and begins to sponge Taehyung's shoulders.

Taehyung holds still because truly, this is the only thing he has no difficulty, doing for Jeongguk.

When he is done, Jeongguk gently wipes his face with a wet cloth, making sure he has not missed a single spot.

"Ready for the day, Mr. Kim.", he says gently, only for him to catch.

Yoongi and the others come about an hour later, and Taehyung can hear young Park Jimin yell angrily the moment they step out of the elevator.

Anxiety has truly hit him hard, Taehyung thinks as his second family comes in, as he feels Namjoon's hand on his forehead, Hoseok's pat on his arm, and hears Jimin's 'hey there, alien'.

Finally, there is Yoongi, greeting him with 'hello, Tae'.

And then, they just talk, as if he were truly with them.

"Okay, she has to be absolutely quiet or I'll be in massive trouble, Sir."

"We won't let anything happen to you, Mr. Jeon, not after what you have done for our son. No one will fire you."

"Sir—"

"But yes, she will be quiet."

Taehyung does not even know what the voices that belong to Jeongguk and his father are talking about until he hears the door open, and the sound of nails clicking on the linoleum floor.

A second later, something very large, very warm, and very fluffy lands on top of him, and something wet runs across his entire face.

"Tannie, no!", his father hisses in a whisper, but Yeontan does not care, and neither does Taehyung.

He cries silent tears of joy, calls out to his best friend in his mind as he licks all over his face and moves on top of him out of sheer enthusiasm. And then, he whines, knowing he has to be a good boy and not bark because that would get them in trouble. He has always been a good boy. No, the best, the bestest of boys.

Yeontan is here, and Taehyung realises it was all Jeongguk's doing.

"His heart rate is going up!", Taehyung hears his mother gasp, and he wants to laugh out loud. Of course, it is going up.

"He is reacting to his surroundings, Miss.", Jeongguk says softly.

"That is a good sign."

His mother starts crying, and Taehyung cries all by himself, too.

Yeontan is here, and Jeongguk made all of this happen.

Jeongguk is truly a fairy.

Taehyung learns that Jeongguk's birthday has come by the loud 'Happy birthday to my best friend!' that Yugyeom yells the moment he bursts into the room.

"For God's sake, Yugyeom!", Jeongguk groans after almost slipping from the chair he's sitting on.

"I'm putting needles into him here!"

"What could have happened, except for him to wake up?", Yugyeom laughs, and god, Taehyung wishes it were true.

"Happy birthday, Jeongguk! Now you're twenty-four! What does it feel like to be an old man, eh?"

"Yugyeom.", Jeongguk whines and Taehyung has never heard anything more adorable. But no, twenty-four is anything but old. Twenty-eight, however, is very much so. The number that awaits Taehyung in December.

"You should celebrate! Let's go out tonight! We should have dinner and then drinks and go clubbing! You know, to that one place where you got wasted and danced almost naked with—"

"No, God, no.", Jeongguk emits with horror, and Taehyung laughs out loud in his mind. He has had no idea that Jeongguk was such a party animal.

"I've got the evening shift."

"You're working two shifts on your birthday?!", Yugyeom is shocked, just like Taehyung.

"Are you crazy?"

"Jia's daughter is having a parent teacger conference. She had to miss the other three."

Yugyeom sighs whilst Taehyung's heart swells because once more, he has proof that his fairy is the kindest person in the world.

"Okay, fair enough.", Yugyeom says.

"But we'll go out for lunch between your shifts, is that understood, mister?"

"Understood."

"I bet Taehyung here would tell you to go clubbing, too.", Yugyeom says.

"To enjoy yourself. Don't just spend all your time here. Go out, have fun. You're not forever twenty-four, Jeongguk."

Maybe Taehyung would not tell Jeongguk to go clubbing. No, he would ask him out on a date. A candlelight dinner at the best restaurant in town, followed by dancing and a walk through the park, under the stars. It would be the best night of Jeongguk's life.

Taehyung would make sure of it.

"Taehyung would not tell me anything, because he does not know me.", Jeongguk says, and Taehyung is sure he can hear the sadness in his fairy's voice.

But Jeongguk, he thinks, sadness sinking into him, too.

I do know you. And I like you so much.