walls gold-plated (but the room feels like you)

7. Sweeten the Kitty

Jeongguk, unsurprisingly, wakes up to Seokjin's ringtone blaring from his jacket pocket and quickly realizes he is severely hungover, if not still drunk from last night. He squints against the sunlight pouring in through the window, headache screaming at his temples and body feeling wrecked. He rolls toward the edge of the bed and miscalculates the distance, flailing and landing on his knees on the harsh, cold floor.

He struggles to his feet, eyes still pinched tight, and blindly stumbles through the room toward the sound of his phone. He peaks through one eye so he can dig the phone out of his jacket pocket and answer it.

" Good morning, boss , " Seokjin chirps as soon as the call picks up.

Jeongguk croaks something unintelligible.

" Jeongguk? Are you sick? " Seokjin questions, suddenly concerned.

"What do you want, Seokjin?" Jeongguk grouses. His voice is completely hoarse and his throat is almost too sore and dry to swallow. He lets out a dry, wheezy cough into his hand.

" You sound sick, " Seokjin states. " I'll call your doctor and set up an appointment for today as soon as we - "

"No, Seokjin, shit," Jeongguk grumbles. He flops down onto an armchair with a groan. "I'm just tired. What do you need?"

" I was calling to make sure you guys were awake. You said you wanted to leave no later than nine and you weren't answering my texts. "

"Oh." Jeongguk rubs at his eyes. "Okay. We'll meet you downstairs in an hour."

" Will do, boss. "

Jeongguk hangs up and lets his hands fall to his sides. He looks over at the bed and sees Taehyung is waking up, lifting his head over the fluffy covers and laying eyes on Jeongguk.

"Are you okay?" Taehyung asks, followed by a short yawn. Under other circumstances where Jeongguk wouldn't be suffering a blistering headache and parched throat, he might stop to appreciate the marvelous bedhead a bit longer. Now all he can do is squint and turn away, shielding his eyes with a hand.

"I'm fine."

"You look like hell," Taehyung comments.

Jeongguk grunts and stands back up. "We gotta get ready to go. I told Seokjin we'd meet him in an hour."

"I heard," Taehyung says as he rolls off the bed and walks toward Jeongguk. He stops at his suitcase and digs through one of his travel pouches, producing a bottle of pills and pouring one onto his palm. Then he heads to the sink and fills a disposable cup with water and presents both to Jeongguk. "Take this," he states, a direct order.

Jeongguk obediently swallows down the pill and winces at the cold water on his throat.

"You smoked way too much last night, didn't you?" Taehyung questions. Jeongguk doesn't feel the need to answer. "That's not a great way to deal with your problems."

Jeongguk remains quiet and takes another drink.

"Always so stubborn," Taehyung hums, taking the now empty cup from Jeongguk's hands. His hand slides into Jeongguk's hair and his fingers comb out some of the tangles. "How do you manage to look this good even hungover and sleep deprived?"

"Your opinion is biased," Jeongguk grumbles, unconsciously leaning into Taehyung's touch.

"Did you know endorphins are natural painkillers?" Taehyung hums lowly, still carding through Jeongguk's hair.

Jeongguk's eyes dart up to see Taehyung's playful expression, and even in his hangover-addled state, he can't help but smirk back just a tiny bit. "Is that how you want to spend our last few hours?"