Haunted?

26. New habit

Jungkook was close to pulling his hair out. 

It had been a month since Taehyung was released from the hospital. According to the doctor, the withdrawal symptoms would be there for two more weeks. According to Namjoon, the withdrawal symptoms would be at their peak before disappearing. 

The only good thing that had happened over the past three weeks was that Taehyung's voice was back. It wasn't hoarse anymore. It didn't break out after every couple of sentences anymore. 

But that only meant that Taehyung could scream and yell at Jungkook more than he already did. That, along with the peak of withdrawal symptoms, was really driving Jungkook up the wall. 

It drove Jungkook into forming a new habit - running to Seokjin's flat and crying his eyes out whenever he knocked Taehyung out with his medicines after a particularly hard time. 

And that was how he found himself in Seokjin's house, with his hands close to pulling the hair out of his scalp. His eyes were completely red because of the intensity of his tears. He kept hiccupping every now and then. 

The sight truly broke Seokjin's heart. He had never dealt with withdrawal himself. He could only imagine how he would have felt if Namjoon ever behaved the way Taehyung behaved right now. 

"Kookie...you need to sleep too. You have to keep yourself stronger. Two more weeks, remember? You did it for soo long. Just two more weeks. It will be fine after that. Joon said that withdrawal symptoms disappear abruptly when the time period is over, remember? It will be as if it wasn't even there in the first place. Just two more weeks, okay?" Seokjin soothed him by rubbing a hand up and down his back, while Jungkook tried his best to stop crying. 

"I-I know. B-But I just can't take it anymore, hyung. I'll send him to Daegu or something. I c-can't do it anymore" Jungkook cried. "You will? Are you really going to send him away like that, Kookie?" Seokjin asked, knowing that Jungkook didn't mean what he said. 

Jungkook's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. "No!! No, no, no, no, no!! I won't send him, I won't send him anywhere, I am soo sorry. I am sorry, I don't know what I was thinking! Everything is just m-messing with my head. I really won't send him away, hyung" he broke down harder than he did when he first walked into Seokjin's flat. 

Seokjin sighed. "I know, I know. Chill, I know. Get some rest. I'll cook dinner" he said, getting up from the couch. But before he could even take a step towards the kitchen, a loud yell pierced through the air. 

Jungkook jumped up and ran to Taehyung, just like he had for the past month, with Seokjin right behind him. 

Jungkook skidded to a stop in front of the kitchen. 

There Taehyung was, on the floor, with broken pieces of glass all around him. "Tae, I told you to stay in the bedroom!" Jungkook exclaimed as he ran to get a broom, while Seokjin tried to get closer to Taehyung so that he could take him to the couch. 

But he backed away the second his eyes met Taehyung's glowering eyes. 

Red. 

That was all he could say to describe Taehyung's eyes. "What's with his eyes?" Seokjin whispered, loud enough for Jungkook to hear him. But that meant Taehyung heard him as well. 

"I am right here, you know? I am not dead. You need not talk about me as if I am not there" he said, anger colouring his voice and sending shivers down Jungkook and Seokjin's spines.

"What?! Tae, I nev-" "Shut up! Your voice is so fucking annoying!" Taehyung snapped, slamming his hand right on one of the broken pieces that Jungkook had missed. 

He let out another yell as the glass pierced deep into his skin. "Tae! Please, oh my god! Please be careful!" Jungkook exclaimed with fresh tears in his eyes as he threw the broom and the dustpan on the floor and ran to examine Taehyung's hands. 

Seokjin silently took the broom and continued to sweep the pieces away, while Taehyung continued to yell in pain and frustration. 

He tried to clench his hand out of frustration, but the glass that pierced his hand prevented him from doing so. That just frustrated him more and made him yell out harder. Jungkook ran back to the room with a first aid kit. 

"Shh, Tae. It will be fine. Just lemme take it out. It will be fine, come with me" he said, offering his hand and letting Taehyung grab his hand with his uninjured hand. "That's it. Come on" Jungkook said, hauling Taehyung up and helping him walk to the living room. 

It was a slow process, seeing as Taehyung's legs were still weak and buckled every two steps. How Taehyung made it up to the kitchen was a mystery to Jungkook. But Jungkook didn't want to carry Taehyung around everywhere. 

One reason was that he wasn't strong enough to carry him around all the time. The other reason was that he didn't want Taehyung to suffer more than he already did after the withdrawal was over. 

He was sure his legs would be weak even after withdrawal, because of disusing it for the past five and a half months. So he tried to make him walk small distances every day, even if it was an extremely slow process. 

"Kookie" Jungkook looked at Taehyung's face, only to have his heart broken to pieces. Taehyung's face was screwed up with pain and his lips were weighing down heavily. His nostrils kept flaring as if he was trying not to cry. 

Jungkook picked him up and took him to the bedroom. He knew it was going to be a long night. All he hoped for was that Taehyung wouldn't cry. No matter what happened, Taehyung's tears always made him cry. 

Even during their childhood, he always cried when Taehyung cried, even if he didn't know why Taehyung was crying in the first place. He didn't think he would be able to take it if Taehyung cried right now. 

He carefully lowered Taehyung onto the bed and ran back to the kitchen to get the first aid kit.