#26 – “I’ll always come if you call”

JinKook

Word Count: 848

A bright light, lit up a small corner of the room and Seokjin rolled over pulling the pillow over his head. Opening his mouth he screamed into the mattress. His phone over the last week had been going crazy at all different times and it was always the same person. He didn’t even want to reach for his phone and look. He knew. He knew very well who was pestering him at 11:59pm on a school night. He had classes bright and early in the morning at 8am. It wasn’t horribly early but enough that he wanted to get a full night's rest. Rolling back over he flailed his legs and let out a deep sigh. Sitting up he sung his head over to the left and looked at his now dark phone. Shoving the covers aside he got out of bed and began throwing on the clothes he wore earlier that were resting the basket next to his closet. Once he was fully clothed again, he grabbed his phone slipping it into his front jean pocket, grabbed his keys, slipped on his shoes and locked his apartment door on his way out.

Rushing as always, he drove to the park that he used to frequent all the time with Jungkook when they were younger. It hadn’t been even more than a month since he moved from their neighborhood to the bigger streets of Seoul to attend University. Jungkook was still in high school and now they unfortunately couldn’t see each other every day. It was sad but it was life and it wasn’t as if they didn’t keep in touch by phone. Either way, this was the 4th time in less than two weeks that he’d been called out for an emergency by the younger. Seokjin still hadn’t even looked at his phone but he didn’t need to.

Parking his car he jumped out of the driver’s seat and jogged over to the swing set that he knew the younger would be at. It was their spot to go whenever they were troubled. Slowing to a walk as the swings came into view, Seokjin dropped into the swing next to the mop of brown hair. It was all that he could see since the boy was staring at the ground, foot drawing in the dirt beneath his feet random words and shapes. Not anything that made sense. Clapping a hand on the younger's back, Jungkook raised his head.

“Hyung!”

“What’s up? What’s wrong this time?” His tone sounded a bit exasperated but well, he was. Jungkook wasn’t a baby anymore, he was a teenager who knew when it was appropriate to call someone and when it wasn’t. Seokjin didn’t mind coming to his aid when the younger needed him, in fact he was happy that the younger chose to come to him but it was frustrating. He needed to be focused on college and getting his life together not the whims of a teenager.

“…uh…”

Seokjin couldn’t see the younger's face as he had begun to stare at the ground beneath his feet again. Seokjin poked him in the side, his silent way of prodding him. However, the two just continued to sit in silence. Honestly, the elder had figured the calls were for a different reason. All of the supposed emergencies that Jungkook called him for weren’t things that couldn’t have been discussed over the phone.

“Jungkook-ah, you can’t keep doing this.” He noticed the younger peeking up at him but didn’t make any notion that he had.

“Doing what?”

He sighed,

“Don’t act childish.”

He could feel the pout mixed with defiance from where he was sitting but soon felt bad for being harsh on boy. Standing up he moved in front of Jungkook’s swing and squatted down. Taking the younger's hands in his he looked up at Jungkook, waiting until their eyes met to continue.

“I’ll always come when you call, Kookie. I’m here. Always. If you want to see me text me and we’ll make plans.”

Seokjin made sure to hold his gaze until he was sure that Jungkook understood fully what he was saying.

“You’re my favorite little brother. I went to college, I’m not leaving your forever.”

It wasn’t often that Jungkook cried but Seokjin could see the water blurring the youngers vision and he wiped it away. Standing up he pulled Jungkook into a hug and just let him stay in his embrace for as long as he needed. They had never been separated until now and it seems like Jungkook was taking it a lot harder than he had anticipated. They had always been close even with their , if anything the had brought them closer in some ways.

“I love you, hyung.”

“I love you too. Now, no more stunts like this punk. I need my beauty rest. Look at this face?!”

The two burst into laughter and talked awhile more on the swings before Seokjin drove Jungkook home and then himself. He just prayed he wouldn’t sleep through his alarm in the morning.