Before the Dawn (jikook/ vminkook)

10. Take warning

He awoke with a start in his sweat-soaked sheets. "What the fuck," he mumbled, breathing heavily into the stale air.

Taehyung tossed open a window, then another, before stumbling to the bathroom to splash icy water onto his face. What the hell was that? What the actual hell was that?

He became uncomfortably aware of his erection, pressing against the light fabric of his boxers.
He stared down at it dumbly.

"No," he whispered, a slight laugh taking him by surprise. He was horrified. This wasn't funny. He laughed again, without humor.

Taehyung changed the sheets on his bed before flopping back onto it. His erection still stood tall as ever, but he refused to do anything about it. He took a handful of melatonin and prayed to every god he could think of that the dreams wouldn't return. Maybe you had to actually believe in a god for that sort of thing to work.

*

In Monday's painting class, Taehyung found it difficult to look Jungkook in the eye. He couldn't stop thinking about his dream. Jungkook waved him over to sit with Changmi and himself, and Taehyung had no choice but to oblige.

"So, did you have fun the other night? I didn't get a chance to say bye to you before you left," Jungkook pulled out the stool beside him as he spoke, positioning it for Taehyung.

"Yeah cause you disappeared," Changmi lightly bumped his shoulder with her own.

"Just for a little walk,"

"A little three hour walk... right," She shook her head with a smirk, turning back to her canvas.

"Yeah I had fun," Taehyung offered when Jungkook looked expectantly at him. "Where did you and Jimin go?"

Jungkook shrugged, smiling, "Just a drunken walk. We both get a little antsy when we're drunk. We can't sit for long, so we do that sometimes," He looked thoughtful. "Anyways, sorry about that,"

"No," Taehyung started setting up his supplies, "It was your party anyways, you can do what you want,"

Jungkook shrugged again, but didn't say anything more on the subject. He passed Taehyung a couple more paints that he wasn't using.

"Thanks," Taehyung tried to hold Jungkook's gaze for a moment, trying to read his expression. He couldn't tell what Jungkook was thinking.

"You should've stayed longer, Taehyung," Changmi said, "We all ended up watching the sunrise together, it was cool,"

"It was really red, it looked crazy," Jungkook agreed.

"Sailors take warning," Taehyung was half talking to himself, honestly, but Jungkook cocked his head in question. "Sorry," Taehyung smirked, "That does sound cool. Maybe I can catch it next time,"

"You should," Changmi absentmindedly encouraged, leaning in to paint some small details on her canvas. Jungkook was still looking at Taehyung, a question in his eyes.

"What does that mean, the thing you said before?"

The genuine curiosity in his gaze took Taehyung somewhat by surprise. It was almost kind of strange to have someone show interest in even the tiny things he said under his breath.

"Oh, it's just a saying," he explained. "Red in the morning, sailors take warning,"

Jungkook nodded, but still seemed to be waiting for further explanation. So Taehyung continued.

"So, if the sunrise is red, it means there's a storm coming. Usually a bad one,"

Taehyung hadn't heard the crash of thunder in a long time. They hadn't gotten any bad weather the other day, but a storm was bound to come. The skies had been blue for too long. That was just the way the world worked, wasn't it?