Love Story Short | Jikook/Kookmin

Chapter 8

Yoongi stares.

Because Jungkook was supposed to be on his way to the barbecue meet-up at his coworker's this fine Saturday morning, and not standing in his penthouse with a look on his face that screams I'm worried about you.

Jungkook couldn't help it. Ever since he called Yoongi last night to let him know that he wouldn't be able to make it that weekend, he has been on the fence about his friend's wellbeing. If Yoongi weren't so happy and enamored last weekend, Jungkook wouldn't care that much about the remoteness in his voice and the curtness of his answers. The man has always been on the introverted side, after all. Keeps most to himself even while sharing. Jungkook has learned to accept him for who he is.

But a hunch... something tells him that the Yoongi from last night is the leftovers of a bigger demon.

So when Jungkook receives an email with no subject line and a short audio file of a new grotesque-like song Yoongi has been working on, he fucks the plan and turns around. He is a bit like him too, because. He empathizes with not seeing the point in asking for help when you don't have an argument to begin with. But when someone still finds you, despite all that, your heart starts healing. You have yet to know the reasons and the answers but everything already feels better because that someone will pull you up in case the waters get too deep.

Yoongi has been that someone for Jungkook for the past three years.

Coming back home to Korea had felt good after studying abroad. An arranged job, family nearby, life of a career waiting for him... Jungkook had the perfect conditions to thrive, but not the mental maturity to handle success. Yoongi was the one to hold his hand like an older brother, teach him how to spend money, show him how to build a healthy lifestyle with his resources, talk to him about relationships and just — help him build confidence.

Perhaps most important of all, Yoongi always, and by that always, supported Jungkook's dreams.

Jungkook is touchy about this still, and maybe even a little salty, not because he is an ungrateful brat or anything but because Yoongi went through the trouble of raising his ass and Jungkook still hasn't figured out how to give back to someone so wise and well-rounded. 

It's not like Jungkook waited for an opportunity to arise so that he could save Yoongi from his misery or whatever (that's just creepy) but at the littlest sign that his hyung might hit a rough spot, Jungkook ditches the world and comes running to him.

Yoongi stares, touched, trying not to show.

Jungkook must be thinking so loud that the producer finally sighs. He shuffles his extra long pajama pants through the shiny tiles and sits at the edge of one of the sofas.

"It has been a week," he says, signing the living room with his eyes.

And of course this was about Hoseok. It should have been obvious to Jungkook from the formally organized state of the house, the lack of creative materials and takeout boxes littering the floor. No matter how big the elephant in the room is, it could never fill up the space as meaningfully as Hoseok did. 

Jungkook doesn't know why he feels like crying. Maybe he was emotionally attached to their relationship in a stupid way. He knew they were tiptoeing on thin ice but he didn't think anything drastic would happen this soon.

"How, um," he clears his throat and blushes when Yoongi glances at him. "How did it happen?"

"If you don't mind me repeating myself, in case I do — I'm not in my right mind these days," Yoongi sarcastically laughs. His dry lips crack in the process. Watching it happen is nerve-racking. "Hobi's cousin is a cancer patient. The medical bills went over his head and his family is too poor to keep paying for the expenses. Hobi was stressing the entire month about it."