wind.

taehyung didn't sleep well that night, even though it was the first time in about three weeks that he had jungkook tucked under his left arm. the boy was breathing steady against his chest, and he felt so peaceful, but taehyung was not. he felt so cruel, to dump everything on jungkook in one night. he could have spared him a few details, mentioned them some other time. because jungkook was making little noises in his sleep, something he only did when he was scared or cold. (taehyung wrapped the blanket tighter around jungkook. he still whimpered.)

taehyung eventually got out of bed just to walk around the house. he wasn't expecting yoongi to be out in the living room, reading jungkook's english book and sipping some hot drink out of a mug. taehyung stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do or what he even came out to the kitchen for. yoongi noticed him when he'd looked away from his book to put his cup down.

"taehyung?" yoongi asked. he lowered his mug, let the bottom of it touch the table before he let go. "what are you doing out here? I thought you and jungkook went to bed."

"he knows." taehyung blurted. he walked into the living room. "he knows- everything, he knows everything."

"you told him?" yoongi asked. he sounded somewhat betrayed, but taehyung couldn't imagine why he would be.

"he figured it out." taehyung replied. "I mean, I explained, because he deserves to know, but he just figured everything out. I blame seokjin, honestly. jungkook wouldn't even know if it weren't for that stupid heist-"

"jungkook isn't eight years old anymore." yoongi said. "he's not as mature as us, either, but he's eighteen going on nineteen, and you can't keep trying to protect him or shield him or whatever you're doing from this stuff anymore. he does deserve to know. in fact, he probably should have known sooner."

"he doesn't trust me anymore. he doesn't trust any of us anymore." taehyung said. he sat down next to yoongi, leaned his elbows on his knees. "this wasn't supposed to happen. we were just supposed to get in there and get out, no harm done, no secrets revealed."

"he needs to know." yoongi said. "even if he won't trust you for a while, you can gain it back. just always be truthful with him. always tell him everything he should know- everything he would want to know, even if you don't want him to know. just let him know."

for a long time, the wind was the only sound in the room. it was brushing past the window, causing a disturbance, but a peaceful one nonetheless. taehyung sighed. "you're right, hyung."

yoongi smirked. "always am."

"I'm going back to bed." taehyung said. he stood up and looked at yoongi before he left. "are you going to bed soon, hyung?"

"sleep is for the weak." yoongi said, leaning back. he propped his feet up on the table after he'd grabbed his mug. his tipped the cup towards taehyung and said, "but don't worry about me. the wind'll keep me company on tired days."

taehyung still didn't sleep well, even after all that reassurance from yoongi, but he slept a little bit better knowing that jungkook would always be safe.