Wolves| Taekook

十四

As soon as Taehyung had heard Jungkook's "suggestion" he burst out into a peal of laughter, even though his insides were hurting, he couldn't help but want to mock Jungkook.

"As if" Taehyung said and swatted his hand away from Jungkook, and Jungkook didn't stop him for the second time. Taehyung huffed as he stepped on the first step, trying to display his independence to Jungkook who was watching him quietly. Taehyung felt a sharp pain in his abdomen just with the first step. He stopped as he looked up.

"Fuck. 13 more" Taehyung cried internally as he stepped on the second one. The 13 steps looked like Eiffel Tower for Taehyung and he was mentally abusing himself for not letting Jungkook carry him, but now he doesn't want to ditch his dignity and ask for Jungkook's help.

He looked back to see Jungkook still standing and watching him and it angered him out of embarrassment.

"Why are you watching me?" Taehyung chided.

"I'm just waiting for you to accept my help" Jungkook monotonously spoke which pissed Taehyung off more than ever.

"No thanks, you've done enough" Taehyung mocked as he turned to climb his 10 steps. His freshly stitched wound was crying for Taehyung's mercy but the boy wasn't so pitiful.

It took the wounded Taehyung at least 10 minutes to climb the stairs but he did it all without Jungkook's sympathy and support, so he was proud of himself. He looked at Jungkook who was about to leave but stopped when Taehyung called for him.

"About me being mad, it's not because of what happened in the forest. I'm mad because you treat me like some prostitute that would fall in love with you if you'd throw some money on my face. If you want to apologize, please apologize for treating me like some low-born like everyone has" Taehyung spoke before leaving.

Through the cold, grey-hued corridor, the only sound Taehyung could hear was his soft breaths and hasty heartbeats. The last he entered this room, he had seen a very uncommon scene, he doesn't know if he'll meet with the same scene or it will be something more surprising. The grip of his perspiring palm was sloppy over the metal knob, yet he managed to turn it around as the door clicked open. The gust of cold breeze coming from the bedroom's window sent chills down Taehyung's spine as he entered the room. The first thing he did was look at the mirror to see what he had expected to see.

A chuckle-like scoff left his mouth as he looked at his reflection in the ever-so-shiny mirror. He opened the bathroom door and looked inside to see the mirror fitted perfectly inside the wall.

"You would never trust me, Jungkook" Taehyung spoke to himself, but he was still conflicted with his own ideology of wanting Jungkook to trust him. They've lived for a while now but there was nothing present between them that could signify that they were close or had something to entrust each other with. 

Taehyung had ended up telling Jungkook about his life briefly for the sake of having a place to stay, but he knew nothing about Jungkook's life except his routine. Maybe, this inequality made Taehyung a little blue, although he knew better than anyone that Jungkook would never tell him his secrets since what he was doing was only for "his mom". This act of pity and sympathy was all due to the struggles of his mother he had told Jungkook about.

He sighed as he spotted the chair displayed in front of the large window, the moonlight entering the dimly lit room through it. Taehyung dragged himself towards the chair and sat down, gazing at the luminous moon.

Ever since he stepped inside this house, his life has been taking turns and sending him tumbling to the ground. All he ever wanted was a peaceful life, like the serene lake where the little birds would stop by to drink water, but Jeon Jungkook entered into that serenity like an abysmal tsunami, turning his life upside down.

But as they say, irony is fate's most common figure of speech, many choices were laid in front of Taehyung to dump everything along with Jeon Jungkook into a ditch and live along but he ended up coming back to the same spot, every time.

He still is incapable of finding the reason for his dubious choices but for now, he would blame everything on the fact that Jungkook heard his call for help and saved him even though the outcome of it wasn't pretty appetizing.

"Will I still have to eat ready-made food tomorrow?" Taehyung sighed with despair as he stood up and laid down on the bed.

"Suddenly sleeping on the bed feels uncomfortable" He chuckled to himself as he looked at the black ceiling, random thoughts invading his mind.

"But why would he attack me?" He muttered out as he looked outside the closed window. The snow had started falling and white was covering everything, even in front of his eyes as he fluttered his eyes close, drowning himself in sleep.

___

The finches chirped on the window sill but that was not the reason why Taehyung had woken up from his sleep. It was the same voice he had come to hate. Jeon Jungkook was calling him downstairs for "breakfast" that unsurprisingly consisted of canned beans, bread, and tomato soup.

"For how long?" Taehyung rubbed his forehead as he got up and dragged himself downstairs.

He sat down in front of Jungkook who served him his meal and some hot water. He was about to shove everything down in one go when Jungkook stopped him.

"The doctor told me to give you these medicines before breakfast" Jungkook said as he handed Taehyung the medicines, who said nothing and chugged them down with the hot water.

He resumed eating in silence, not wanting to conversate with the man sitting in front of him.

"About what I did" Jungkook spoke making Taehyung stop his actions and look at him. "I apologize for throwing money on your face like that" Jungkook spoke although his expressions were rigid, Taehyung actually felt happy that the other tried to lower his defenses in front of him, even if he didn't want to.

"I forgive you since you apologized" Taehyung smiled at him before going back to eating his canned beans.

"Also, you can stay here until your wound heals" Jungkook's tone had changed back to its original harshness as he spoke.

"But after that, I want you to leave" Jungkook said and Taehyung did not argue since fighting for it for the second time would only hurt his pride.

"Alright. I'll leave once my injury recovers since that was what I planned to do" Taehyung spoke, his tone matching Jungkook's.

The two, who had grown to not like each other's company were unaware of the fact that the injury that was reasonable for Taehyung's pain would bring them closer in ways they would never understand.