ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴘᴜʀᴘʟᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ || ᴋ.ᴛʜ + ᴊ.ᴊᴋ ✔️

thirty-three: performance

Naturally, after that rather concerning phone call with Yoongi which led to Taehyung having to abandon his friend at the mini-golf course, Tae wasn't feeling too well - in terms of his anxiety stirring up again, along with the guilt revolving around his situation with Jimin, and now the guilt of leaving Seokjin so abruptly.

To his relief, at least, Taehyung discovered that Jimin hadn't been throwing up blood as he so terribly feared. Just a bitten tongue. On top of that, he spoke with Jimin, apologized more sincerely despite the other's insisting it wasn't necessary, and at the end of their talk he felt much better and it appeared Jimin did as well.

Of course there were still issues. Underlying, unspoken thoughts of sadness concerning the topic of forgotten memories, but they all, including Yoongi, silently agreed it could be a topic for another time. Jimin needed to maintain a calm and relaxed mood, to stabilize in any and every possible way to ensure a quick recovery.

Positivity. Once again, they all just needed the positivity. And thanks to one another they were learning to find and hold onto it.

Even still, more than the others it was most difficult for Taehyung. Although even he recognized the impact his friends and boyfriend were having on him. Their kind, gentle words, Yoongi's and Jimin's reassuring natures and Jungkook's loving touches and kisses that Taehyung openly admitted he adored.

And it was such a rewarding and fulfilling thing to Jungkook. To hear that. To hear those 'I love you's' that made his head spin and forget about the undesirable aspects of their lives at the time. Taehyung was all that mattered to him. Taehyung, Taehyung's safety, his happiness, and the safety and happiness of his friends.

It wasn't the easiest. But this was his heartfelt thank you for that boy saving his life.

Two days later, returning to class on Monday morning, Taehyung had one major objective and that objective was to apologize to Seokjin more personally. Now that he was going to be seeing his friend again after the weekend, that regretfulness of having left in the middle of their game struck him again, and he felt the need to speak directly to Jin rather than over text.

So that's what he did. Arriving to class with Jungkook early as usual, Taehyung waited impatiently for Seokjin to walk in and take his seat.

"Mornin', Tae," he said with a cheerful smile. "Mornin', Kook."

Jungkook smiled back at him.

"You guys doin' alright?" Seokjin looked directly at Taehyung now. "I was afraid of bothering you by texting, so I figured I'd wait till today, but I distinctly remember you saying your friend was hit by a car??"

"He's fine, he's recovering," Taehyung replied, exhaling deeply. "Another friend of mine called me and said he threw up so I kind of wanted to get back to him right away, but he's much better."

"Well, that's a relief." Seokjin let out a low whistle, shaking his head as he scanned the other boy's expression. "You had me worried. You've got a habit of doing that, ya know?"

"I'm sorry." Taehyung hung his head in genuine shame. His bottom lip started to poke out and Jungkook prepared for an emergency hug-initiation sequence.

"I-it's okay, Tae," Jin chuckled. He poked the boy's bottom lip back into place but it stuck back out again. "Don't get all mopey on me now."

"No, really, though. About Saturday, leaving you like that after you invited Jungkook and me...I did have a good time, it was a good way to get my mind off things, and you were being really nice about it which just makes me feel even worse..."

"Tae, buddy, cut that out." Draping his arm around Taehyung's shoulders, Seokjin drew in a deep breath and let it out as he patted his friend on the head, chuckling when he saw it only made the boy pout even more. "Jungkook, you've got your work cut out for you with this one."