▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
❝ grief is the price we pay for love. ❞
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
⚌⚌
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀

THE HEEL OF HIS BOOTS kept scraping against the concrete of the sidewalk as he walked. it was only a matter of time before he would run into the boy, and soon be the deliverer of karma in all its worse forms.

jungkook didn't know how long he's been walking, but enough time had passed for the sun to set and rush hour traffic to dissipate. it was a visual opposition to the way he was feeling, watching things disappear and lesson while the anger in his system seemed to grow with each step.

soon. he kept saying to himself.

it wasn't soon enough, and jungkook was ready to head back to the hospital until he had heard that whistling. such a familiar sound that had a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

"yo." jungkooks voice obviously scared the boy, and junseo would have ran if the ravenette didn't roughly grab onto the back of his shirt and shove him into the brick wall beside them. "do you enjoy being a piece of shit?" there was venom dripping from jungkooks words, and the fear was evident in the others.

"i-i don't know w-what you're on dude." junseo said, voice weak and full of lies in a sad attempt to save his ass.

"shut the fuck up, you sold me out." jungkook shoved him against the wall again, it wasn't really necessary but his anger told him to do it.

junseo closed his eyes and had his hands up in defense, "i'm sorry i couldn't say no." he cried, the shakes of his body giving away how scared he actually was of the ravenette, and appropriately so.

"you're pathetic." the boy gave him a last shove, leaving junseo to land on the sidewalk and too scared to even care about how dirty the grounds were on this side of the city. it was dark out and quiet, no one around to even witness what was going on between the two. "that man can hurt me worse than you could." junseo barely said the words before jungkook snapped, turning around and pulling the gun from the back of his waistband, pressing the barrel directly to junseos forehead.

"oh yeah? you really think so?" jungkook presses the cold metal harder against his skin. the way he held the weapon so steadily, the stare of his dark eyes into the boy in front him who was paling significantly, it was all driven by the type of anger that made someone eerily calm. jungkook wasn't moving, his eyes set on his target and finger not wavering over the trigger.

"go ahead," junseo said, "at least im not the one who has to live with the guilt." he said, knowing those were the words that struck something in the ravenette. "i may have sold you out, but you got your boyfriend killed."

jungkook stood up, no longer crouching in front of the now taunting boy. he stared down at him and didn't speak a word, not until raising the gun again and listening to the shot echo down the empty alley.

he didn't jump at the sound, it was simply background noise to the screaming thoughts in his mind. junseo did jump though, and he cowered against the sidewalk with wide eyes after thinking he just lost his life, only to be spared by an abandoned barrel sitting beside him.

"i may be living with guilt right now, but i'm going to get better and be okay." jungkook said, "but you're going to live your whole life looking over your shoulder, and one day i won't miss on purpose."

he would have stayed to taunt the boy some more, but jungkook had other plans. of course the idea to kill junseo had sparked in his mind, but just thinking of running from that choice for the rest of his life was not one he wanted — not if he wanted to build a life with taehyung.

taehyung. the only thing he could thing about all the time.

the hospital was the first place he went to next, he's been there ever since. maybe he should take a break and go home to get some clean clothes, maybe some actual good food for the both of them that wasn't bad fruit cups and somewhat decent jello.

jungkook had to toss the gun of course, wiping it clean and tossing the magazine in one dumpster while the gun ended up in another. the last thing he needed was some child or crackhead to go dumpster diving and find a weapon amongst the takeout boxes and beer bottles.

it was the same lady working the front desk when he walked in, a sheepish smile on his face as she eyed him. "husband huh?" she said, handing him the sign in clipboard.

jungkook just grinned, "one day, hopefully." he said, signing his name quickly and handing it back. she nodded her head and stood from the chair, "i'm going to go get some coffee and hopefully no one walks passed that isn't suppose to." she said, winking at him before leaving around the counter.

he chuckled, thanking her quickly and hurrying down the hall to the elevators. by now he's memorized the room number and steps to get there, not even needing to check as he walked in and saw the brunette sitting up in his bed. "i see your dad left." jungkook said, walking around to take his usual seat next to the bed, only sitting once kissing the boys forehead really quickly.

taehyung nodded, "he got mad that i didn't call him."

"i figured." the ravenette said.

"he really doesn't like you."

"i figured that too."

"good thing i do." taehyung smiled, "and i told him we're getting married." he added as well, only smiling more as his boyfriends head lifted quickly.

jungkook grinned, "oh yeah? you've decided we are?" all the negative emotions that have been swirling within him seemed to disappear whenever he talked to the boy, or just saw him, hell even thoughts of his baby fixed everything.

"you brought the ring." taehyung pointed out, and he couldn't help but think of the pretty band once again, "can i see it?"

"see what." jungkook teased him, focusing more on trying to fish out a red skittle from the box that was left next to his bed.

"the ring you stupid head." apparently the brunette wasn't in the mood for games, and the bratty pout on his lips visually spoke for this. "it's mine, you said so, give it to me."

normally the puppy eyes and pout would work on jungkook, but he leaned back in the chair and tossed back a handful of skittles. "oh no, i think i'll wait a little more, i'm enjoying this. plus you said you wanted it to be perfect and not in the hospital."

taehyungs jaw dropped a little and he huffed, "that's not fair, i was on medication and so delusional, i don't know what i was talking about."

"you were talking funny with those drugs in your system." jungkook said, "you looked a little funny too."

"hey." taehyung threw a pillow at the younger, who easily caught it with a laugh and just left the cushion to rest in his lap. they were quiet then, just looking at each other and neither wanting to break the moment just yet.

his phone had to of course, the buzz in his jean pockets disrupting the silence and taking jungkooks eyes away from his boyfriend.

namjoon.

he answered immediately, not even speaking until his hyung did. "it's time to come home." the older said.

those four words meaning so much more then one would think, just confirming that this was all actually over and jungkook suddenly felt like he could cry again. it's been too long without any sleep and after all the emotions going through his body, the boy couldn't help the sting to his eyes.

"bro, i didn't throw the pillow that hard." taehyung said, watching his boyfriend hang up the phone slowly and look over at him. jungkook actually laughed at that, a short one that was cut off by his voice cracking. "god i love you so much taehyung." he said.

"i love you too." the brunette smiled softly, and he scooted over in the bed to make room for the younger. "now come."

jungkook crawled onto the small bed, being very gentle and careful with any tubes and wires, especially with the boy beside him who was still suppose to be resting after surgery.

it was fine though, because they laid together and talked quietly about random things. taehyung at one point tried to steal the ring from his pocket and failed miserable, only to complain that his boyfriend wears jeans that are too tight. it's like they weren't even laying in a hospital, and one of them wasn't healing from a wound, and the other wasn't just having a mental breakdown for eight hours — because just like namjoon had said, it was time to go home, and they'd always be home if they were together.

⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
⠀
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬