loser. ✓

NINETEEN―DISFAVOR

hi these next two chapters are a lot fluffier (?) as a mini apology uhh

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even though it was a school night, the seven boys had all gone over to seokjin's place, where they ate to the point they were miserable. when it started to get later, taehyung noticed how seokjin's began to slump against him, his head lolling to one side from exhaustion.

namjoon offered to carry the boy to his room, the other five all slowly following behind as namjoon carried the older. seokjin's arms hung loosely over namjoon's shoulders, his legs wrapped around his waist, and his chin was resting on namjoon's shoulder as he had already started to fall asleep.

after jimin and namjoon tucked him in, they all sat in a circle on seokjin's floor. taehyung watched seokjin. the brunette was facing away from them as he slept, his hair sticking up around his head, his breathing slow from sleep. 

his mother entered the room, carrying a tray of snacks. she exhaled in relief when she saw seokjin. "you know, he won't tell me what's up, but i'm glad you guys got him to sleep. he doesn't really leave his bed much when he is home, but all he does is stare at his ceiling fan." 

"i'm glad we could get him to sleep," taehyung whispered, struggling to reach a cracker as the tray was too far away from him. jeongguk grabbed a few and passed them to the blonde.

his mother crossed her arms. taehyung couldn't see her facial expression, but he imagined she must be upset. "i wish he would tell me things like he tells you and jimin, but i'm not going to complain too much, because at least he's telling somebody. are you guys the only people he talked to about whatever's going on?"

"yeah, at least, i think," jimin said after swallowing a mouthful of popcorn.

namjoon shook his head. "no, he told me. on accident."

taehyung choked on his cracker. "when?"

"the night you guys went to the haunted house when i offered to stay outside with him. he was freaking out about the whole haunted house thing and pulled his sleeve because he started getting really not. i saw-" he looked around the room, realizing that it might be uncomfortable for seokjin if he told them too much. "well, i saw something, and when i asked him about it he blurted it out."

seokjin's mom sighed.

"i'm sorry," taehyung said, taking another bite of cracker. "i would have told you if it weren't for the fact that this is really serious and he should probably be the one to tell you."

"no, i understand completely," she said, nodding her head. "i'm going to leave you boys alone now. come get me if you need me, okay?"

once she had shut the door, hoseok immediately wrapped his arms around jimin's shoulder, a very upset-looking yoongi turning the opposite direction. "i like his mom. why can't all moms be as great as his mom? seokjin's mom is best mom."

"i don't know about that," yoongi said with a hum. "jimin's mom is his english teacher, and we all know how kid's with parents for teachers end up always making good grades, even if jimin doesn't really do any school work."

"i do school work!" jimin exclaimed, but quickly shut up when he remembered that seokjin is asleep. "i do school work."

yoongi smiled, poking jimin's side teasingly. "sometimes." 

taehyung felt a pair of arms wrap gently around his waist. jeongguk's breath tickled his ear. "can i talk to you? in the hallway? it will only take a second."

he nodded in response, allowing the boy with raven hair to lead him to the hallway, tugging gently on his hands. jeongguk shut the door behind them, giving a curt nod to one of the boys sitting in the room—probably namjoon or hoseok, maybe yoongi. he pulled taehyung closer to the opposite side of the hall.

"what is it?" taehyung asked, tapping jeongguk's forearm softly. "is it bad? or is it good?"

"i just wanted to ask how you were feeling. i don't know what's going on with seokjin or how to help him, and i want to sort of figure out how i can help him, but until then, i want to talk to you about how you're feeling. i know he's one of your best friends," jeongguk said, blushing.

"i'm fine, i guess. i am a bit frustrated that i wasn't able to see that something was up beforehand. i mean, jimin obviously thought something was going on, but we both just brushed it off as him being uncomfortable with all of these new people suddenly hanging out with us. although there's nothing that could go back and fix what happened, i just wish i would've done something."

jeongguk pulled taehyung into a tight, warm embrace. "don't cry. seokjin wasn't going to tell you until he was ready, anyway."

he wiped a tiny tear off of his cheek. he hadn't realized that he was crying, even if it was just a little bit. "yeah, but namjoon found out before jimin and i did. that's saying something, isn't it?"

"namjoon found out on accident." jeongguk began to rub taehyung's back. "don't blame yourself for not knowing sooner. don't blame yourself for whatever happened to him. please know that, even if i used to seem like an asshole and even if i do act cold sometimes, i do care about you guys. i care about everyone in that room. i care about you. please don't blame yourself."

taehyung tightened his grip around jeongguk. "i care about you too. thank you."

"don't be afraid to tell me if you need help with something. whether it's with family problems, or friends, or yourself." he felt jeongguk's cheek press against his. "sorry if this was sort of the blue. i just...really wanted you to know that i care, okay?"

"thank you," taehyung whispered. as much as he didn't want to let go, jeongguk pulled away from the hug and heading back into seokjin's room. taehyung sighed, staying in the hallway for a bit before following jeongguk.

jeongguk saying 'i care about you' seemed to be the only thing his mind could comprehend in that moment.

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i'm so sorry about last chapter hhh here you go