i. partner in crime | vkook

22. sunny side up

taehyung woke up, the warm sunlight caressing every inch of his face. his gaze slowly drifted over to jungkook, who was wide awake and creepily staring at him. taehyung scrambled to sit up.

"were you watching me, you weirdo?" taehyung rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

jungkook's narrow eyes shimmered more than usual. "just making sure you weren't going to try to kill me in my sleep again," he said lazily, smirking at taehyung who was pouting. "and you're the weirdo."

taehyung huffed. the bedroom looked so pretty this morning, with white light decorating the usually boring walls. jungkook kept laying on his back, picking up pieces of his hair and letting them fall down onto his forehead.

taehyung looked down at himself. at his dirty clothes, the missing buttons, dust prints from that stupid taxi, and his grubby socks. his chestnut locks were tangled and in disarray. he looked over to jungkook, who ignored his aggressive gaze.

"i want to have a bath," the small boy stated forcefully.

jungkook looked up like, oh, forgot about that. "the bathroom is right there."

taehyung stared at him blankly, trying to gather his thoughts. he was getting used to having to basically beg for everything while being practically kidnapped, so this response was surprising.

"thank you," taehyung said discreetly, carefully slipping out of bed and past jungkook who kept his eyes trained on his own hair.

taehyung shut the door behind him and tiptoed towards the bathroom. the weird feeling was still in his tummy. he couldn't tell if it was relief or distress. he pondered about it while he shut the bathroom door and held his breath while turning on the bathtub tap when hot steamy water started to pour out.

the noise of the water made taehyung's anxiety race. making his hands shake. they felt less dainty lately, always grabbing at things for help or wiping tears away, like jungkook took his grace away.

taehyung didn't know where they stood together.

he thought about things. how he signed jungkook into the bed and breakfast as hyo bogum. how he managed to end up stuck with a criminal out of any type of person. how jungkook was a weirdly nice criminal. it still felt like jungkook hated him, like he was constantly angry with him. taehyung quit thinking about when he was going to get to go home and escape plans. but then there was moments, like when his arms were around him.

taehyung thought about that. how warm he was. how good he felt. feeling content and comforted between his arms and chest. and then he thought about the bruises around his wrists and the way jungkook could raise his voice and the 9mm.

just everything.

everything hurt so much.

taehyung's wrists fell over the bathtub as he skimmed his fingertips over the warm water, drawing circles and stars and hearts, trying to take his mind off of things. without thinking, he stood up and unbuttoned his shirt in the mirror, leaning forward and examining himself. his lips were chapped and his hair was all over. he quickly finished undressing and climbed into the bath, letting the steam wash away his worries.

not that far away, jungkook got out of bed and started making fried eggs on the stove. they bubbled and cracked while he waited impatiently with a wooden spatula to flip them. sunny side up style. jungkook smirked when he thought of that name, because it perfectly described taehyung.

what tf am i doing, he thought. hugging taehyung. touching taehyung. watching taehyung sleep. taking taehyung in the first place was the biggest mistake of his life.

very quickly being reminded of his terrible cooking skills, jungkook turned around to see the eggs black around the edges with smoke drifting through the air. he irritatedely threw the spatula into the sink and knocked on the bathroom door, which terrified taehyung.

"hey, we're going out for breakfast today."