Chapter 4

Fifteen years

One didn’t need to be a doctor to notice that Jungkook was improving; well, at least his panic attacks dropped down drastically. That was saying something.

And since Taehyung didn’t have to go to school that fine day, he decided to spend it watching movies with Jungkook.

Taehyung grinned at the thought. He wanted to spend every second he got with the younger boy. It was like staying with Jungkook made everything calmer and clearer. But at the same time, he felt the rush of nervousness and excitement every time he was near the ebony haired boy. He felt his palms get sweaty, he felt his stomach do somersaults and he most definitely felt his urge and desire to just hold or kiss the younger.

Was he really in love? He simply grinned again becoming aware of his cheesy and lame thoughts.

Jungkook loosened his grip on the colored pencil in his hand as soon as he heard the door of his door knock. He turned to see his favorite hyung peep in with a mischievous grin.

“Hey, yah, Jeon Jungkook,” he said, emphasizing the ‘j’ into ‘zh’. So it sounded like, “Hey, yah, Zheon Zhungkook.”  Jungkook face immediately lit up brighter than the sun. He liked the way his hyung made him feel like he was the best friend in the world. He liked the way his beloved hyung made him feel special.

Taehyung walked in, a picnic hamper in one hand and colored paper in the other. Just in case, Taehyung thought and brought along the papers. He had already informed Jungkook that they would be watching movies the whole day but there was no making sure that Jungkook wouldn’t get bored. Also, Taehyung didn’t really care about the movie. He just wanted to be with Jungkook.

Cuddling up on the bed, Taehyung the plasma screen stuck on the wall. They had already chosen the movie; it was something called Marley and Me. Taehyung knew he had come across the movie before but Jungkook chose it simply because the dvd cover had a dog on it. And who could say no to Jungkook’s puppy dog eyes?

Thirty minutes into the movie and both Taehyung and Jungkook were absorbed in the movie. They both reached for the popcorn that Taehyung had brought and popped it into their mouths slowly to avoid causing a sound. At one point, Jungkook stretched his cramped limbs and shuffled away. Feeling the sudden emptiness, Taehyung turned to Jungkook. But he sat beside him all the same, now picking up an oreo biscuit from the bowl which, again, Taehyung brought, and concentrated with his whole heart and soul at the movie.

Being too engrossed in the movie, Taehyung felt for the bowl that contained the oreo and ate a piece slowly, making sure to chew the pieces as quietly as he could. He picked up another piece. And another. It all tasted the same. The sweet vanilla cream in between the biscuits balanced the slight bitter taste of the biscuits.

But his fourth one tasted weird. Noticing the lack of sweetness, he looked down on his biscuit only to find that it had no cream in the middle. He immediately turned to Jungkook to find that the bunny toothed boy was busy off the cream on the biscuits and leaving the biscuits in the bowl. He wasn’t even concentrating on the movie.

Taehyung couldn’t help it but find the scene adorable.

“Kookie-ah,” he said softly. Jungkook turned, some biscuit crumbs falling off his pale face. Taehyung wiped them off of his face gently. During this time, he got a good look at Jungkook. Wow, he was handsome! And he was just thirteen! Taehyung imagined what he would look like if he grew older. Certainly he would be more handsome than any person he had ever come across or heard of.

Stop it, Taehyung, he interrupted himself. You’re gonna give yourself a headache and possibly a heartache as well.

Jungkook realized the lasting graze of Taehyung’s hands on his face. Confused, he looked into Taehyung’s dark yet shiny eyes. Big mistake on Jungkook’s part.

Taehyung swore his heart skipped several beats. As if his current beautiful state wasn’t enough, Jungkook had to stare into his soul with those sparkling eyes and make himself look all the more beautiful. If only, Taehyung almost wished. If only he felt the same way as he did.

Desperate to catch his breath, Taehyung suddenly pulled away in a casual manner after leaving a comment which sounded like, “Waah, you’re so handsome, Kookie-ah. I’m envious.” With that he laughed and fixed his gaze onto the television, not wanting to look at the younger in fear of wanting to kiss him and startle him.

With a small laugh, Taehyung commented mentally. , he remarked in an amused and happy tone, I am in love with this kid…

Jungkook would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel a sudden gush of heat to his face when Taehyung and he locked eyes. And he wasn’t good at lying. But the feeling died down almost immediately when he felt the sweetness of the vanilla cream melt in his mouth.

He knew that his hyung had just complimented him on his looks. Was he really handsome? He didn’t think so. In fact he never really bothered at all. He just knew that he didn’t look like Taehyung. Now Jungkook couldn’t begin to describe Taehyung even if he wanted to, nor even if he tried. He knew his mind had lots of things to express out when it came to Taehyung but just that his body was failing him. Not that this wasn’t a surprise.

But Jungkook knew that the boy beside him was handsome. He was handsome yes, but that wasn’t the only word in Jungkook’s mind. Unfortunately for him, thinking too much about how to describe Taehyung gave him a headache and he refrained himself from doing so anymore.

Taehyung switched off the tv as soon as the credits rolled. After their little ‘incident’ he couldn’t concentrate on the movie anymore. So he stared at the screen for the rest of the movie without letting anything go into his mind. The effect of Jungkook’s thoughts definitely made him weak and distracted.

Turning towards his right, he wasn’t surprised to find that Jungkook had already fallen asleep, his back leaning on the pillows stacked against the wall. Taehyung looked at his watch. It was only half past eleven.

Returning his gaze on the sleeping boy, he decided to clean up the room before slipping into the covers carefully and once again, falling asleep while holding Jungkook.

~*~*~*~*~

“Can’t I go along with you, mom?” Taehyung pouted, folding some paper planes on his table. “You have school, Taehyung,” Mrs. Kim answered. “Besides,” she added, “it’s only for four days. It’s not like you’ll miss Jungkook that much, now will you?”

Taehyung’s face burnt up on hearing this. “Mom!” he whined making Mrs. Kim laugh.

Taehyung’s parents were leaving with Jungkook the next day for the city to have Jungkook’s annual heart check up. They would’ve been gone and back by two days but they decided to take things slow and let the patient rest properly before taking long journeys, much to Taehyung’s disappointment.

Mr. Kim put on Jungkook’s seatbelt on for him the next morning in the car while Mrs. Kim warned Taehyung about behaving.

“Don’t cause a racket. Don’t burn the house down. Don’t annoy Jin too much,” Mrs. Kim went on and on but Taehyung wasn’t really paying attention. He sat beside Jungkook in the back seat and played with some paper planes and cranes that he made for him last night. He only gave the occasional nod and continued to tease Jungkook with the toys.

“Are you listening to me, Kim Taehyung?” his mother said sternly. Taehyung dreaded that tone. He should’ve seen that coming judging by how he was not listening just a few seconds back. Nevertheless, he lied.

“Yes mom. I got everything,” he whined, letting go of the toys in his hands.

“How will you eat dinner?” his mother tested, “We all know you can’t even turn on the gas.” Taehyung heard a small chuckle from his father in the back of the car. His father wasn’t helping him at all.

“Ask Jin hyung to help me. I’m seriously not a kid, mom. I can handle a few nights alone.” Mr. Kim was quick enough to pass a smart comment at this, “Says the person who can’t even boil water.” Taehyung shot his father a look, not that he saw it.

Mrs. Kim finally gave in and gave Taehyung a goodbye kiss on the forehead. “And remember, no…”

Taehyung sighed wearily. “No sleeping late. I got it. Would you just go and hurry back?” Mrs. Kim laughed, “Fine, fine. We’ll call you from time to time. You know, keep you updated.”

“Okay,” Taehyung nodded and watched both his parents get into the car with Jungkook in the backseat. He watched the car until it disappeared in a turning about thirty meters from where he was standing.

Taehyung suddenly felt cold and empty. He should’ve kissed Jungkook goodbye too. But his regret lessened that night by spending the time cleaning up Jungkook’s room and arranging and re-arranging all his things over and over again.

Hoseok and Namjoon were surprised to see that Taehyung had not rushed out of the school yet. After all, it was already ten minutes past the final bell.

“Taehyung,” Hoseok called out curiously. “Hmmm?” came a reply from the boy whose head was buried in his desk.

“The bell has rung already. Aren’t you going home?” Hoseok said, throwing careful looks at Namjoon who seemed equally confused.

It’s been two days, Taehyung wanted to say. It’s been two days since I’ve seen Jungkook. The miserable boy so desperately wanted to say that out loud but it would seem weird. He didn’t think his friends would understand. So, instead of saying this, he nodded his head lazily and packed his bag in an equally lazy way.

“So, yeah,” Namjoon said awkwardly as trio stopped in front of the school gate. “We’ll see you tomorrow then?” Taehyung nodded with the enthusiasm of a tree. A dried up, out of life tree for that matter. “See you,” he replied.

Taehyung turned and begin to walk away but he could still hear the loud laughs of Hoseok’s and the sound of the slap Namjoon gave on his arm, warning him to not be too loud. Taehyung smiled and walked away. At least he had Namjoon and Hoseok, right?

Humming a random tune rather lazily, he walked the rest of the way, in no rush to reach home. Jungkook wouldn’t be there waiting for him. His mom wouldn’t be at home preparing lunch for him and his father wouldn’t be at the clinic, making funny and sarcastic remarks whenever he came to visit Jungkook.

Dramatic much, are we, Taehyung? He asked himself. They aren’t gone forever, for God’s sake. Pull yourself together. They’ll be back by the day after tomorrow.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Noticing the caller id immediately, he picked it up with a “hey mom”.

“Hi, Tae-ah. I just wanted to check up on you. Are you still in school?” his mom said through the speaker.

“I’m on my way back actually. So, how’d the check up go?” Taehyung asked, getting straight to the point only to realize that he was being too selfish, wanting to know only what he wanted.

But his mom only laughed. “We haven’t gone yet, Jungkook fell asleep before so we decided to go tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay. So where’s dad?”

“He’s taking a few calls in the lobby,” his mom answered in a jolly tune. “Oh by the way, Tae-ah, there’s someone who wants to talk to you.”

Taehyung heart raced as soon as he heard this. Calm down, he scolded himself, it’s only a phone call. He heard Jungkook’s tiny voice through the phone.

“Hyung.” It was him, Taehyung recognized the voice. It was Jungkook.

“Yah, Kookie-ah. Are you doing okay?” Taehyung asked, a bright smile forming on his face. “Mmmm,” Jungkook replied. Taehyung could feel the younger nod his head.

“Are you causing trouble for mom and dad?” he asked to keep the conversation going. “No,” came another weak reply.

“That’s good. Be good, alright? And come back fast,” Taehyung said, “Hyung’s starting to miss you.” He heard Jungkook giggle. “Okay.”

A moment of silence followed. “Taetae hyung,” Taehyung heard Jungkook call out. “Hmmm?” he replied, happy that the person on the other end had spoken. A small voice spoke, “Kookie misses hyung.”

Taehyung stopped dead in his tracks. Please don’t say that, pabo, he thought. That would make him miss him even more. He heard a low ruffle through the speakers and then his mother’s voice replaced Jungkook’s voice. “Don’t go crying now, Taehyung,” she teased. Taehyung just scoffed loudly, fearing that his mom would realize that he did get a little emotional to hear his Jungkook say that. They ended the call after a few more minutes during which Taehyung reached back home and flopped on the bed.

He heard Jin (who for some strange reason was given the house key by his mom: probably to check up on him) call out his name from the kitchen. But he didn’t care. Jungkook just said he missed him. That was enough to keep him going for the next two days until they returned.

A/N:

Another chapter out!!! Yay... (As if you didn't notice)

Anyway, once again... *bowing down in gratitude* You guys honestly dont know what your subscriptions and comments are doing to me... I'll tell you what... They're making me so happy, giving me the energy to write faster... Kekekekekeke... Thanks again so much...