Thinking about it
"Dr. Jeon!" Jimin squeals, eyes lighting up when he spots the man. Taehyung lets go of the child's hand so he can skip up to Jeongguk.
"Hey buddy," Jeongguk smiles, kneeling down in the middle of the waiting room so the raven haired boy can throw his little arms around him. He huffs out a laugh, straightening up with Jimin in his arms and situating the boy on his hip.
"Taehyung ssi," Jeongguk nods briskly to the other man, who copies the action, albeit uncomfortably.
"TaeTae hyung is crazy today," Jimin giggles. Your TaeTae hyung is crazy, period.
"Hey, you were the one singing Sesame Street in the car," Taehyung retorts. Jimin squeaks, burying his head into Jeongguk's neck. "You don't even know half the words."
"Dr. Jeon, hyung is being mean to me," Jimin whines. Jeongguk raises an eyebrow at Taehyung, who flushes, much like a scolded child.
"Why don't we go into the room and get away from your mean hyung?" Jimin mumbles an affirmation. Jeongguk then turns to Taehyung, "You can wait in the lobby."
Taehyung looks like he's nervous suddenly, staring at Jeongguk. He keeps his mouth shut and nods. Jeongguk is almost thrown by his level of complacency. He was half hoping for a fight.
But ever since Taehyung had moved in next door, the man had gone out of his way to be nice to Jeongguk. He isn't sure what the older man is trying to do, but he's not falling for it again.
Knowing that Taehyung is just a few feet away from him while he sleeps is a never ending source of anxiety for Jeongguk. It's like the older man is a parasite, latching on to every aspect of Jeongguk's life, sucking whatever miniscule amount of joy there was out.
One thing had come out of the whole situation, though. This morning in the elevator, Jeongguk had come to a revelation.
When they were in high school, Taehyung had always been the bigger one, physically. He was also older, more popular, and rich beyond belief.
But now, Jeongguk was taller, broader, more muscular than Taehyung. He had come into his own considerable wealth and status. They were on equal footing. And Jeongguk learned over time that he was an incredibly attractive man. He could pick up anyone with just a glance.
For some reason, he had always felt inferior in front of Taehyung. Maybe it was conditioning since their high school days, but while Jeongguk knew the effect he could have on people should he choose to exploit it, he never thought Taehyung would fall for it either.
And Jeongguk had decided to experiment this morning. It filled him with an strange satisfaction, knowing Taehyung was openly checking him out. Jeongguk was more than happy to flaunt who he had now become.
He can look, but he can never touch.
Jeongguk is more than pleased, seeing the dazed look on the older man's face. He feels oddly... powerful.
"You're in a good mood Dr. Jeon," Jimin points out, swinging his feet on the patient bed when Jeongguk sets him down. Jeongguk smiles at him. Jimin was an intuitive little brat, and it was safe to say that Jeongguk had gotten attached.
He was terribly sweet and kind. Always trying to act like a grown up and solve the problems of the adults around him, even though he had his own fair share to deal with.
"I guess I am. How're you feeling, kiddo?" Jeongguk asks, sitting himself down on the stool and scooting closer to the bed. He unwinds the stethoscope from around his neck and puts the buds into his ears.
"I feel good!" Jimin chirps.
"That's good to hear."
"I like not being in the wheelchair." Jimin scrunches his nose in annoyance, and Jeongguk laughs.
"Yeah, it must've sucked huh?"
"You can't do anything in a wheelchair Dr. Jeon! You can't play soccer or dance or anything," Jimin explains vehemently, eyes wide open and hands moving passionately.
"So you're doing all that now?" Jeongguk asks. Jimin nods excitedly. "You're not going too hard yet right? If you're not careful, you could get sick again."
Jimin grins and rolls his eyes. "Don't worry so much Dr. Jeon," He even reaches out to pat Jeongguk's head, like he's the adult, trying to soothe Jeongguk. "I know what I'm doing."
Jeongguk wants to be appalled, but Park Jimin is too damn adorable for his own good. "Big talk for such a little guy." He reaches forward to tweak Jimin's nose. The child giggles and swats his hand away.
"Alright, enough of that. Take a deep breath for me," Jeongguk says, raising the chest piece of the stethoscope to Jimin's heart. The boy nods and inhales. His face is serious and determined, and Jeongguk admires his spirit.
"You sound good kiddo," Jeongguk says, after a minute of moving the chest piece around and listening to the boy's valves and his lungs.
"Cause I'm doing everything you told me to do, Dr. Jeon!" Jimin says proudly. "I made a list of all the things and I check them off every day!"
"That's great, Minnie," Jeongguk ruffles the boy's hair. "I'm proud of you."
"TaeTae hyung says he's proud of me too," Jeongguk's smile drops slightly at the mention of the name, but he forces it back so as to not raise Jimin's suspicions. The kid is disarmingly good at reading people. He also couldn't keep a secret to save his life.
"He says once I'm all better he'll take me any place I want!" Jeongguk bites back the irritation. He really had to commend Taehyung for putting up his act so consistently. He just hopes the kids at the orphanage, especially Jimin, won't be too disappointed when they find out their hero is a complete fake.
"That's great!" Jeongguk says instead. "Do you know where you want to go?"
Jimin shakes his head. "Not yet. First, I said I wanted to go on a boat, out into the sea, so I could see the whales and stuff! But TaeTae hyung is scared of that stuff."
This perks Jeongguk's interest. There's something nagging at the back of his mind, a distant memory of something once said.
"Apparently his hyung had an accident in a boat so he doesn't like the ocean anymore," Jimin says sadly. Jeongguk's throat tightens.
Is that how Namjoon had died? In a boating accident?
And then something clicks in Jeongguk's mind.
"My parents... they died in a boating accident when I was three or something."
Oh god, Jeongguk realizes with a start. Taehyung had confessed that on the roof of the library.
It was the same reason Jeongguk had been putting off going to visit the other children at the orphanage. He was afraid of reliving how Sojin had died. It was a raw, irrational fear, but a fear nonetheless. And it was doubled for Taehyung, having lost both his parents and his hyung in the same manner.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Jeongguk murmurs.
"Yeah, hyung gets really sad sometimes. I went to his grave once though!" Jeongguk supposed Jimin is referring to Namjoon. "It's really nice actually. TaeTae hyung takes really good care of it."
Jeongguk forces a smile because it was the place he had barged in and exploded at Taehyung. God, he thought about that moment all the time. And how he would have murdered anyone who dared disrespect Sojin's grave site in the way that he himself had done to Kim Namjoon's. He wonders how Taehyung had managed not to strangle him. The thought is sobering.
"I'm sure he does. How's Hyeri?" Jeongguk is quick to change the subject. Every time anyone mentions Taehyung his mood turns sour, and he doesn't want Jimin to be around that.
The rest ofrelatively tment goes relatively smoothly and Jeongguk is almost able to continue in his constructed realnot where Taehyung is not human... except that he is.
And Jeongguk can't stop thinking about it.
____________________________________
