Tough Love

II: We Scream and we Fight like There's Nothing to Lose

[7 months after the accident]

Jungkook wakes up feeling like a truck ran over him. It was a cold morning and he moved out of the bed with a heavy head and very little motivation to go to work. That last thing changed though when he picked up his phone and read a text that had arrived to his phone earlier that day.

--
From: Kim Taehyung
Good morning Jungkookie
Don’t buy breakfast, I have some extra food
We can share.
--

Jungkook chuckles, he didn’t feel like cooking anyway so he feels relieved with the message. Slowly, he gets up, somehow he feels more tired than what he did before going to bed. The guest bedroom is big, comfy, it has great curtains that successfully conceal him from the light and even like that and even after all this time, it still feels wrong. He showers, get dressed and in less than twenty minutes, he’s ready to go.

When he walks out of the bedroom, the only noise he hears is that of keys rumbling. Is not precisely how he would’ve liked to start his day, to fight with Yoongi but he needs to leave too. He walks to the door, finds Yoongi fixing up his shoes. “Morning, Jungkookie” the elder greets him with a sweet nickname but a lot of coldness in his voice. “Morning hyung” he replies with the same empty tone. Jungkook can not believe that there was a time when he’d fight against the need of staying in bed with Yoongi in order to go to work because right now, he can not leave the apartment fast enough. He ties his shoes as quickly as possible and takes his car keys, Yoongi is already at the door.

“See you tonight?” Yoongi asks and is so shallow, so lacking of any sort of emotion that Jungkook shrugs “Of course, I have to come back home” he says it as if it’s more of an obligation than a wish (which right now it is) Yoongi sighs. Jungkook exits the apartment, makes sure that it is locked behind them and walks with Yoongi towards the elevator. It is only then that Yoongi speaks. “Just asking, you know. In case you decide you have somewhere else worth going early to” he mocks their last night argument, Kook rolls his eyes. “Give me some time, hyung. You’ll be the first to know when I’ve got a place” is a bitter answer and probably a lie too because Jungkook isn’t even sure about doing this and neither is Yoongi, if the way his expression breaks in the elevator mirror is something to go by.

They reach the parking lot and is quite sad how they walk towards their two separate cars as if they were neighbors clashing one good morning with nothing more to say than polite greetings. Jungkook doesn’t even know he feels about it anymore. He just wants to go to work, forget about Yoongi for the time being. “See you” he says, just because it seems right. Yoongi doesn’t answer, just waves his hand dismissively as if Jungkook was nothing important. Yoongi gets in his car, drives away and that’s that. Jungkooks sighs loudly to contain the unwelcome tears he is too tired to cry. He starts the engine and finally goes away, at least for this little he can feel free of this doom his life has turned into.

The publishing office he works at instantly provides a sort of relief that Jungkook himself knows he shouldn’t have but he does. He feels so utterly free from everything here, which is funny since he comes here to work. “The office’s happiness has arrived” Taehyung greets him, it makes Jungkook smile. “Hope you’re hungry” he says then, taking out some tuppers from his backpack. The smell opens Jungkook’s appetite, he remembers when Yoongi used to cook for him. He’d make a different breakfast everyday claiming that he loved to see Jungkook’s sleepy smile. That hasn’t happened in a good while, so he guesses that having a great work mate, and friend, making him breakfast is a close second best. “What is it?” he asks intrigued as he slowly sets his bag to rest on his desk. “Is a recipe I invited, sort of waffles and hotcakes but mixed” Jungkok scrunches his nose, that sounds wack but it does smell really good.