jangmi (장미) ● taejoon

n i n e t y t h r e e .

Namjoon shifted to the other side, only to feel another body's warmth pressed against him. His tired eyes fluttered open, awaking to Seokjin's slumbering face. He feels better then last night, looking at Seokjin a bit fondly. Brushing his hair out of his eyes before slowly sitting up. He notices Jungkook and Seokjin's arms holding him down, so he gently moves them away to get up.

He quietly walks over to his drawers, cringing at the floorboards creaking. He pulls out a pair of clothes and underwear before tip toeing to his bathroom to avoid waking the others.

He prepares himself a shower, unchanging with his sore body aching as he lifted up his shirt. As soon as he hopped into the shower, he basked into the warmth of the shower water. "... I haven't had these in forever," he murmurs, the water hitting his bare back.

He washes his body as if it was a temple. Watching the water turn a faint grey as he gets into every crook of his skin to get the sweat and dirt off his body. Moments after, he dries off and changes into his clothes. Comfort ones, yet they seemed bigger than before.

Namjoon glances onto his bathroom floor to spot a weight scale beside his bathroom counter. Fog covers his bathroom mirror, he's about to wipe it away with his towel till he instead stands on the weight scale and waits. He watches the scale increase in number then slowly decrease back down. "... I've lost a lot," he sighs softly, "Gotta eat if I'm gonna get better."

Namjoon left the bathroom to his bedroom again. The two were still asleep, and he was about to wake them up till he noticed the tray of bowls on his nightstand beside Jungkook. The food had gotten cold, but he knew Seokjin cooked them. He smiled softly, picking up the tray and turning around.

"... You're awake?" A groggy voice said.

Namjoon turned around to see Jungkook rubbing his eyes. "... Do you feel better?" Jungkook asks, sitting up and stretching. He lets out a yawn, his nose crinkling like a bunny's.

"Shh," Namjoon says, tilting his head to the sleeping Seokjin. "... Come with me to the kitchen, I'll warm these up. Are you hungry?"

Jungkook slipped out of the covers and nodded. "... A little bit."

"Grab whatever you want from my drawers," Namjoon says, "You look like you've grown enough to fit into them."

Jungkook nodded again. "Thank you, Hyung," He says, taking off his jacket and burrowing his hands into the drawer a few feet away from him.

"It's been a while since you called me that," Namjoon says, looking at him with a pursed smile. "... Good to have you back, Jungkook."

Namjoon left the room for Jungkook to change. He walks to his kitchen to flicker the lights on, and pulling the shades away from his window. Finally some sunlight, Namjoon could lay in it for days.

He places each bowl into the microwave one at a time. Listening to the beats of the machine instead of the silence in the entire house. It's been so long since he's been home.

Jungkook comes out from the hallway and went into the kitchen. "... Need any help?" He says.

"Why don't you warm up some hot water and make some tea. Tea bags are in the cabinet next to the cups," Namjoon says, "You drink tea, right?"

"I prefer energy drinks," Jungkook shrugs, grabbing the tea kettle from the stove and filling it with water before heating it. "... But I'll take a cup, I don't mind."

"I would offer coffee, but I try not to suffer from caffeine withdrawal," Namjoon says, laughing a bit nearly wearily. "I'll save Seokjin's bowl in the fridge, he looks like he's not going to wake up any time soon."

Jungkook stands by the stove, waiting for the kettle to pitch from steam. "It's okay," he says, grabbing two mugs from the cabinet and two tea bags.

Namjoon placed the bowls onto the dinning table and Jungkook poured the hot water into the mugs. Jungkook places them on opposite sides of the table. The two sat down by their bowls.

"... You never answered my question," Jungkook says, "... Do you feel better?"

Namjoon stopped his movements when he reached for his spoon. "... Yeah, I do," He says, his voice trailing off. "... Thank you for staying with me."

"... I'm sorry," Jungkook placed his hands on his kneecaps and lowered his head slowly. "I saw how the mortala was failing without you, and-and I couldn't stand it... You built something for us here, and I didn't want it to fall. You make so many of us happy, and I was scared it was going to be destroyed. I felt like I had to do something-"

"I know, Jungkook," Namjoon says, "... It's okay."

"No, you don't," Jungkook shakes his head. "I wanted to prove I can do it. I was so close to doing it, but I forgot that that's not what the mortala's about. I-I'm selfish, and I know that now. Seokjin gave me power to be apart of this, but I ruined it. My brother is right."

"... I'm sorry I didn't come out to break up your fight," Namjoon looks at Jungkook softly, "I had enough last night, and it was too late for me to go outside."

"It's not your burden to fix everybody's problem or stop every fight," Jungkook sighs, "I know you want to, but it's true."

"He shouldn't have pulled a gun on you-"

"... I'll admit, that was pretty scary," Jungkook laughed, attempting to ease the tension. "But you should worry about your wall. My brother was trying to make a point, and I see that now."

"... Jungkook-"

"If my brother didn't hold that gun then I would've," Jungkook insists, shaking his head again. "He would've killed me or Seokjin, but I would've killed an entire innocent family. I don't know what I'm doing, and I realize that when he took those bullets away from me- I-I'm sorry. I'm stopping you from eating, I'm rambling. Aren't I? I'm sorry, shit, Wait, let-let's just eat-"

Namjoon covered his mouth and laughed fondly, his brown eyes shining from the sunlight as his dimples protrude out his cheeks. He ducks his head slightly as he giggles. "Okay, okay..." He says, "Let's eat."

They both picked up the spoons and the two begin to eat in peace. The tension is gone, and they're comforting eating in silence. Jungkook glances at Namjoon a few times, watching him shove pieces of tofu into his cheeks like a chipmunk. Namjoon is focused on his bowl till he looks up to make eye contact with the younger, his cheeks are swole. "... Whah?" He asks, his voice muffled from the tofu.

Jungkook pursed his lips, snickering quietly before laughing. "Nothing," he says, smiling as he shakes his head. "This is really delicious."

Namjoon crinkled his eyes in attempt
to smile with his cheeks stuffed. He swallows his food, allowing his body to regain the strength he once had. He placed his spoon into his mouth, and nearly every time he did: he smiled in glee from the taste.

Jungkook was almost done with his bowl till his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He places his spoon back down and answers the unknown phone number. He swallows his food, "Hello?" he says.

Namjoon grabs the mug of tea with both hands, blowing off the steam before gulping down the warm liquid quietly.

"... Y-Yes! We'll be on our way!"

Namjoon licks his lips as he sets down the mug. He looks back at Jungkook who suddenly looks frantic, the younger is getting up from his seat.

"... Jjang's awake."

[unedited]