REMNANTS | JIKOOK ✔

Chapter 11. Taehyung

Jungkook woke the next morning feeling as if he’d run a marathon. His body ached and muscles protested loudly as he pushed himself upright and swung his legs around to rest his feet on the cold floor. He rubbed his eyes and exhaled loudly. More recon trips had to be planned to cover the rest of the area around the base and someone had to make contact with the regional control to notify them of what they’d found. 

Jungkook’s head throbbed. He dropped it down into his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

He blinked at the floor, realizing with confusion that the papers and scattered clothes that had covered it the night before were gone. He heard a small snuffle. His head jerked up, shock hitting him as he realized Jimin was curled up on the floor, occupying the same space he’d slept in when he’d been chained to the wall. There were no pillows there now and Jimin lay on the bare concrete.

Jungkook had looked for Jimin after the danachi had stalked out of his room the night before, and unable to find him had started the arduous task of tidying up. It hadn’t been long before the strain of two days off base had taken their toll and he’d had to lie down, intending only to shut his eyes for a moment. Now it was morning; clearly Jungkook’s nap had been longer than he intended.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” he said, dumbly as Jimin lay still, watching him. 

The danachi didn’t respond, only blinking slowly and Jungkook scratched the back of his neck. His harsh words from the night before hung heavy in his ear and he felt as if he had shattered something with them. It was as if Jimin had reverted to the strange, silent creature that had filled Jungkook’s room with alien presence when he had first arrived on the base. 

He could easily see Jimin standing before him in the mess of his room, naked and crying. He could taste Jimin’s sweaty skin and see Jimin rocking over him. Jimin had been desperate, vulnerable and Jungkook had taken advantage of him and then slapped him in the face with it.

“Look,” he began awkwardly, “About yesterday... I’m sorry for what I said. That was out of line.”

The room around them was neat and tidy, as if Jimin had never ripped it apart at all. Even the door to Jungkook’s locker that had been abandoned, broken on the ground was fixed and the mirror above the dirty sink was whole.

“Did you do this?” Jungkook asked, gesturing around them.

Finally Jimin pushed himself up right. He shrugged a little. “Well, I made the mess.”

“You didn’t... you didn’t have to do that,” Jungkook said. He cursed himself silently for his awkwardness. 

The atmosphere between them was tense and swirling with an unnamed embarrassment. They were silent for a moment before Jimin’s face twisted a little and he said, “I’m sorry about last night too.”

Jungkook felt a shot of guilt and quickly shook his head. “No, don’t be,” he said. “I told you I’d give you what you wanted, right? It wasn’t fair of me to... to say that stuff. I just felt, I don’t know...” he shrugged helplessly, looking away. It felt entirely too stupid to try to put into words the growing feeling he had for Jimin, and the shock he’d felt at being reminded the danachi needed sex, nothing else.

When Jimin didn’t respond, Jungkook scratched his ear, awkwardly. “Why, ah...” he grimaced. “Why didn’t you go to one of the other guys on the base? I mean... if you needed it?” The question made him feel ill.

The danachi was silent for a moment before saying slowly, “Would you have wanted me to do that?”

No! He almost yelled it but the word caught in Jungkook’s throat and he coughed a little. He shrugged, breathing hard and before he could stop it, it slipped out, softly. “No.”