Starting Over •JJK• ✔️

Thirty Seven

The guys were always the first to leave the venue. They were typically out of the building and in the car on the way to the hotel before the show was officially over. JK would be showered and trying to relax by the time I got there.

But I walked into an empty hotel room. There was no sign of him having been here. I dropped my bag and messaged our group text, asking where everyone was. I thought that maybe he'd gone to someone else's room to hang out, but there was no reply. It made me nervous.

A long ten minutes of silence passed before there was a knock on my door. I hurried to answer it and found an exhausted JK being held up by Tae and Joon. My heart dropped to my stomach. "Oh my god." I stepped aside to let them in. "What happened? Is he okay?"

Joon nodded. "He overdid it." He helped Tae bring JK over to the bed and sat him down.

I crouched down in front of JK and held his face. "Kookie. Hey, look at me."

His skin was flushed and his eyes were heavy. He smiled when his eyes found mine. "Hey, baby." His voice was quiet. "I'm okay. I promise."

I looked up at Tae when he handed JK a bottle of water, telling him to drink it. "Does this always happen?"

Tae shook his head. "Not always, but he never fails to give us a scare like this once per tour. He never learns." He urged JK to keep drinking his water. "That's why we're late getting back."

I sighed and stood up, running my hand over JK's head. His hair was still damp from sweat. "Where is everyone? Are you guys all okay?"

Joon nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. They know we brought him here and that he's doing better." He hugged my shoulders. "I'm sorry for not calling you. We wanted to get some fluids in him as quickly as possible."

"It's okay. I'm just thankful that he has you guys to help him." I squeezed Joon's waist to return the hug. "Thank you for bringing him here."

"We can stay." Tae twisted the cap off of another bottle of water and replaced the empty one in JK's hand. "If you want to shower and get settled, we can keep an eye on him."

"No, you guys go ahead." I smiled at both of them, turning to give Tae a hug. "You just finished a show. Go relax and eat something."

"Let us know if you need anything." Joon went to the door with Tae behind him. "We're right down the hall."

I nodded and thanked them again, and turned back to JK once they left. "How about I run you a cool bath?" I knelt in front of him and pulled his shoes and socks off. "We'll get you washed up and into bed."

He nodded, smiling when I pushed his hair back off of his forehead. He had more life in his eyes now. "I love you."

"And I love you." I kissed him and stood up to help him take his shirt off. "Even though you scared the shit out of me tonight."

"I'm sorry." He dropped onto his back and threw his arm over his eyes. "I got carried away and went too hard."

I set another bottle of water next to him. "You're okay now, and that's what matters." I lightly tugged on the frayed fabric of his ripped jeans. "I'll be right back."

I went into the bathroom and flicked on the light. I started running the water in the large garden tub and went to dig through my bag of toiletries. It's times like this when I was thankful for being an overpacker and deciding to bring every type of medication I owned. I figured that they would need them with how hard they worked.

I ran a couple of handfuls of epsom salt under the water to dissolve them, looking over my shoulder into the bedroom. JK was sitting upright again and still sipping on water.

He does so much for me. He protects me. He makes me feel safe. He makes me forget about all of my bad days and only look forward to the good ones. He shows me what real, true love is. He has done nothing but take care of me.

Now it was my turn to take care of him.

I let the water continue to run as I went back to him, holding my hand out. "Come soak those muscles. It will help you feel better, especially for when you wake up tomorrow."

JK took my hand and slowly stood up, making sure he was steady on his feet before following me into the bathroom. He rested his hands on my shoulders as I pulled his belt off and helped him step out of his jeans and boxers.

"You know, these tight jeans look great on you, but they're a bitch to get off." I grinned up at him when he chuckled and reached down to turn the faucet off. I held his arm as he stepped into the tub and sunk down into the water. "I know it's lukewarm but I don't want you to overheat again."

He sat back and sighed. "It feels great. Thank you, baby."

I kissed his temple and dunked a washcloth into the water, sitting on the ledge behind him. I ran the cloth over his shoulders and the back of his neck, wiping away the saltiness from the sweat.

He tilted his head back, his eyes as soft and sweet as always. "Come sit in here with me?"

I pressed a kiss to his lips. "Of course." I stood up and stripped down, and JK leaned forward so I could sit behind him. He scooted down a little and settled back against me, letting out another sigh. I ran my hand through his hair when his head rested on my shoulder. "Better?"

"Much better." He ran his thumb over my knee at his side, which was sticking out of the water.

I brought the washcloth over his chest. I wanted to ask him to promise me that he wouldn't push himself to this point again, but that conversation could wait for another time. What's done is done, and my only focus was to help him feel better.

For the most part, we sat in silence with my cheek against his. He told me about his favorite parts of the night and I told him about the ARMY I talked to. Other than that, we just sat together with the only sounds in the room coming from the swishing water around us.

Just hours before, he was onstage in front of tens of thousands of people. They screamed his name and sang his songs along with him as he literally gave every last ounce of himself to them, and I understood why. The love he has for every person in that crowd is just as strong as the love they have for him. For all seven of them.

As for me, I found myself falling in love with him every single day. I don't know what I did to deserve him or to be loved by him in return. And as I looked at his face, his eyes closed and completely trusting himself with me in such a vulnerable state, I fell in love all over again.

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Well, the time has come for me to announce that this is the beginning of the end. There will only be three chapters left to share after this. I'm really sad to hang it up, but I also feel it's time. If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading it. I truly appreciate it. 💜