On Thursday morning, when Jungkook and Namjoon exited the former’s room and Seokjin came out of Taehyung’s room, Seokjin went straight for Namjoon to hug him and plead:

S: “Help me! My sanity’s about to drown in the ocean of tea inside my stomach.”

N: “How’re you feeling?” Namjoon asked as he hugged back.

S: “Terrible! I finished my work only late last night and now I had to take sick leave. Since I work remote, my boss wasn’t buying it, then Taehyung intervened to vouch for me and it almost turned into a fiasco.”

N: “I see. And physically?”

S: “Ah, the pain keeps randomly coming back, but not as strongly as yesterday and I don’t feel the chills or weak anymore.”

Taehyung then exited and locked his room and Jungkook remarked:

J: “You look worse than our resident sick person.”

T: “I couldn’t sleep with the possibility of someone getting a high fever next to me.”

It was obvious that Jungkook would handle the driving for that day, since Taehyung was sleep-deprived, Seokjin was sick and Namjoon couldn’t drive. As they were heading towards the hospital in the next town, Taehyung, who sat on Jungkook’s right, dozed off and his head landed on Jungkook’s shoulder.

N: “Uhm, Taehyung…” Namjoon started, reaching out his hand to wake up Taehyung.

J: “It’s fine. Leave it be.” Jungkook intervened, slightly happy about the unexpected contact even if it was a bit inconvenient while driving.

After the urine samples were taken and Seokjin had a checkup at the hospital, they went to have a big brunch at a restaurant in that same town while waiting for the lab to notify Seokjin that his result were ready and he could take them back to the doctor he had seen. It was, indeed, a UTI, but that wasn’t Seokjin’s biggest concern.

S: “Ugh, why do I have to continue drinking those teas? Can’t I just take 6 pills per hour or something?”

N: “You’ll only be taking 2 pills per day, either the antibiotics Taehyung got yesterday or this other kind the doctor said was a bit more targeted towards what you have. Since we’re here already, we’ll stop by the pharmacy and get 2 packs of both kinds, just to be safe.”

J: “Where should we go now?” Jungkook asked after they got in the car and started heading back.

S: “The hut. I was out of it yesterday and I didn’t think to bring some clothes we could wash at your guest house. Since the pain’s gone now and I have a lot of unplanned free time today, I wanna wash those clothes in the river close to our place.”

N: “Absolutely not. You’re still sick and shouldn’t stay out in the cold. I’ll wash them.”

T: “No. Let me do it. I’ll be restless if I don’t help with something.”

J: “I’ll help too and I’ll keep an eye on the reckless person on my right in case he falls asleep and face-plants in cow dung.” Jungkook said, making Taehyung glare at him before he addressed the latter: “Go ahead – contradict me if you can.”

As Taehyung and Jungkook exited the hut with detergent and a bag full of clothes that needed washing in their hands, Taehyung made Jungkook stop in his tracks.

T: “Wait. Go put something warm on. You’re way too lightly dressed for this weather.”

J: “I’m fine. And these clothes are gonna get dirty or at least wet. There’s no need for my jacket to have the same fate.”

T: “Please go put something more on. Out of 4 people, one is sick and one’s dead tired. At least the other 2 should stay healthy and at the peak of their abilities in case something happens.”

J: “Fine. But this is not me complying with your nagging. I’m just doing you a favor, okay?”

They thought they knew where the river was located, but they couldn’t see it anywhere in that area. As they looked around, Jungkook went through some tall and dense vegetation to check behind it and, after he couldn’t be seen anymore, Taehyung heard a loud and surprised “Whoa!” in Jungkook’s voice followed shortly by some thuds and splashes. So Taehyung put the bag down and rushed in the direction from where Jungkook’s voice came from and soon he was met with the same fate as Jungkook, namely suddenly stepping in knee-deep water and the strong current making his feet slip on the rocks they were standing on, making him fall and taking his body downhill a couple of meters.

T: “Aaaaa! COLD! COLD! It’s so damn cold!”

J: “I was more than right about our clothes getting wet… Hold my hand and try to get some good footing before getting up. The current’s really strong and it’ll just take you for a ride again if your feet slip.”

T: “Joon said the water in this river travels at 100 km/h.” Taehyung remembered as he found good spots for his feet and grabbed onto Jungkook’s hand to get himself vertical again.

J: “If it were twice this deep, we would’ve ended up back in town… or further away.”

T: “Let’s just get out of here and back to the hut.”

J: “What? What about washing the clothes?”

T: “Are you nuts? If we stay like this for too long, we’ll be taking our third trip to the hospital this week. Plus we can just take them and wash them at the guest house, then bring them back when they’re dry.”

Seokjin was just getting back from doing his bathroom business when he saw the state in which the other two were approaching the hut and his eyes went wide.

S: “I think you washed the wrong clothes… Come inside and get out of those immediately. I’ll find towels and something for you to change into.” Seokjin said, rushing back inside the hut.

At the entrance of the hut, while they were taking off their wet clothes and starting to shiver, Jungkook looked towards Taehyung and joked:

J: “Under other circumstances, I would’ve said you’re hot… but you look anything but hot right now.”

T: “I’m surprised you got all of that out through those clenched teeth.”

J: “I’m more a fan of putting things in than getting them out. If you know what I mean…”

S: “Excuse him.” Seokjin said, throwing a towel over Jungkook’s head and rubbing with force. “His body doesn’t think it’s worth protecting his brain, so the blood rushes somewhere else in cases like this.”

After they had dried off to the extent of their current possibilities and got changed into Namjoon’s and Seokjin’s clothes, Taehyung the portable stove and got ready to make a lot of hot tea. Namjoon wasn’t there, Seokjin laid down to rest and Jungkook stepped outside.

T: “Where are you going?”

J: “To smoke a cig. Why?”

T: “Can’t you wait till you’re warmed up and your hair’s dry at least?”

Jungkook just shut the door to the hut without saying anything because he was getting annoyed.

T: “Where’s Joon?”

S: “He wanted to turn on the electric heater, but it wasn’t working. So he went into town to buy another one. Most likely he won’t find a store selling something like that in this town, so he’ll probably hitchhike or take a taxi till the next town. He said he’ll be back by dinner time though.”

T: “Why didn’t he ask me or Jungkook to drive him into town and went on foot instead?”

S: “Don’t worry. He’s faster on foot than you can imagine. Plus we already relied on you guys enough, you’re tired, you were busy with something else and he wanted both of you to stay with me, so he took this mission upon himself and he’ll take care of it, since he’s pretty reliable and resourceful, you know?”

Taehyung had already made tea and coerced Seokjin to also drink some before Jungkook came back inside the hut and, since Taehyung was tired, he didn’t have much control over his words anymore.

T: “What took you so damn long?”

J: “The water container was empty. Namjoon’s not here, Jin shouldn’t go out into the cold, so I went and got some water from the spring to fill it up.”

T: “And didn’t it even cross your mind to come get a beanie or something before staying out in the cold for so long with wet hair?”

J: “Quit the mother-mode already, Taehyung! I’m getting really sick and tired of it.”

T: “I don’t give a if you get sick and tired! I just want you to not get literally sick.”

J: “For the last ti-”

S: “Alright, enough! If you wanna argue, do it back at the guest house. Now… who has some dinner ideas? Till the electric heater gets replaced, the best way to warm this place up is by cooking something on the stove for a long time. So who has dinner ideas that require a lot of boiling?”

3 hours later, when Namjoon got back with a new heater, the inside of the hut was pretty warm and dinner was ready so, before anything else, he took off his jacket and they started eating. He sensed there was some tension in the air, but he didn’t know if it was best to ask about it or not, so he just asked Seokjin how he was doing and then talked about his recent “adventures” in trying to get a new heater. The other three went along with him, but Taehyung noticed that Jungkook was repeatedly losing focus and becoming more and more sluggish.

While Namjoon and Seokjin were installing and testing the new heater, Jungkook told Taehyung that they should get going and that he would drive them back, but Taehyung countered with:

T: “We’re not going anywhere. I’m too tired and unreliable to drive and you’re in no state to drive either because you caught a cold and you can barely keep your eyes open.”

J: “Taehyung. Let’s not have another rerun of this argument. I’m-”

T: “On the first night in which you drove us from here to the guest house, you said you wouldn’t get behind the steering wheel if you didn’t think you were capable of handling things. Do you really think you’re capable of handling things well?”

J: “…”

Since Jungkook didn’t answer and only continued glaring at Taehyung, the latter asked where the inflatable mattress was, then went to get it and start inflating it. When he was done, he noticed that Jungkook had gone outside to smoke, most likely due to annoyance, so Taehyung grabbed some pills and a cup of hot tea and went outside where he found Jungkook and held the items towards him.

T: “Take a pill.”

Jungkook didn’t even acknowledge his presence, so Taehyung took a deep breath and restated:

T: “Please take a pill.”

He didn’t know if Jungkook, who hated being nagged at or ordered around, would listen even like this, but Jungkook grabbed the pill foil, took out one of them and drank it with the whole cup of hot tea. He still didn’t say anything, so Taehyung changed his tone into a nastier one.

T: “Not fun being sick, huh? You’re not even in control of your own body anymore, let alone a situation.”

J: “What else do you want from me?” Jungkook asked while glaring at Taehyung.

T: “Take better care of yourself.” Taehyung said, close to Jungkook’s face, with the tone of a threat.

He then attempted going back inside the hut, but Jungkook stopped him by pulling on his sleeve. But Jungkook didn’t really know what he wanted to say, so he just mumbled a small…

J: “Thanks.”

Taehyung then ruffled the hair on the back of Jungkook’s head a bit and went back into the hut. After finishing his cigarette, Jungkook did the same.

The new heater was up and running and they all decided it was best to not do anything else that day and just go to sleep. It was completely dark and silent around them, but Taehyung didn’t feel uneasy because he could hear the others breathing and snoring and, at some point, he started being able to distinguish things within that thick darkness.

As such, when he turned towards Jungkook, he could tell the latter was shivering, probably struggling in his sleep and most likely having a fever. So Taehyung moved closer and pulled Jungkook towards him, hugging him with his right arm and using his left hand to gently Jungkook’s head until Jungkook stopped shivering and Taehyung also fell asleep.

When he woke up on Friday morning, Jungkook was feeling a lot better, but he couldn’t understand what he was seeing in front of his eyes, so he moved a bit and realized it had been Taehyung’s chest that was slightly swelling rhythmically as Taehyung breathed in his sleep. Jungkook positioned himself so that his face would be at the same level as Taehyung’s and he just stood still watching the latter sleep and then slowly wake up. When Taehyung opened his eyes and saw Jungkook’s face in front of them, he didn’t have any reaction at all.

J: “Morning.”

T: “How’re you feeling?” Taehyung asked as he lifted a hand and placed it on Jungkook’s forehead, realizing the error of his ways only seconds after. “Ah, . I can’t tell anything like this.”

So Taehyung stuck his forehead to Jungkook’s and was relieved realizing the latter didn’t have a fever anymore, then he shifted back to his initial position on the mattress.

J: “Taehyung. You should know that there’s a law of the universe in which, if you keep acting nice towards a person who’s interested in you, you might get a surprise kiss.”

Taehyung just continued looking at Jungkook without any change in his expression and without saying anything, so Jungkook lifted his hand and placed it on Taehyung’s cheek.

But then Seokjin came from outside and every step he took inside the shaky hut felt disruptive and like an earthquake to those who were horizontal on its floor.

S: “Rise and shine. I need to make breakfast and then get started with work and there’s not enough space in here for me to move around with you two still lying there. If you wanna sleep some more, switch to the bed.”

Taehyung drudgingly got up, put his shoes and jacket on and exited the hut. Given that somewhat quick fleeing from the scene reaction, Jungkook was confused on what could’ve happened if Seokjin hadn’t literally and figuratively stepped in.

A.N. Morning sunrays in the mountain.