【 Jungkook 】

The sound of the shower running could be heard echoing inside the bathroom as you stood facing the shower head, allowing the lukewarm water to hit against your bare skin whilst ever so carefully attempting to massage the shampoo into your damped hair— only to wince slightly every once in a while as the throbbing pain from your back, and more particularly shoulder, would grow electrifyingly prominent with certain movements.

Tonight's evening shift at the restaurant had begun just like any other, and for the most part, everything had been moving along at a hectic yet still relatively smooth pace— though all of that took a drastic turn just about halfway through your shift, one of the kitchen staff had briefly left a metal trolley with a large stack of newly delivered ingredient boxes unattended; the boxes ranging in different shapes and sizes had been carelessly stacked on top of each other in a rushed manner a little too close to the edge, inevitably resulting in the rather tall and heavy stack easily tipping over and nearly collapsing on top of another waiter whom accidentally had bumped into it whilst passing by in the midst of the evening rush hour— hadn't it been for you quickly stepping in between him and the large boxes almost like a human shield, giving him the opportunity to jump away from it in time.

Needless to say, using your own body to protect someone else from the heavy and slightly sharp impact didn't come without a fair deal of pain, and there undoubtedly must have been some big splotches of red— possibly even faint bluish-purples forming underneath the skin's injured surface by now judging by the weight of the impact earlier, though thankfully your coworker had managed to escape entirely unharmed and most of the ingredients were surprisingly salvageable as well which made your selfless efforts all worth it in the end. The incident did however startle everyone quite a lot, and despite your stubborn attempts in assuring the main chef you were okay to keep on working til the end of tonight's shift, Hoseok still ended up ordering you to clock out early due to the obvious injury he had seen you sustain from the protective act— even advising you to go get a proper checkup which he'd cover the bill for, but you were quick to respectfully decline the offer, insisting you'd be okay with a mere stop at the pharmacy for something to relieve the pain.

Of course you'd go get a checkup at a later stage if you began to notice something seemed off, though for now, you felt perfectly content treating the injury yourself— that is of course not to say it didn't hurt a lot, though it did look a whole lot worse than it actually was.

A very faint whimper managed to escape past your lips as you once again seemed to have moved in a manner that sent yet another extra sharp shock of pain throughout your back and shoulder, snapping you out of your train of thoughts whilst defeatedly letting your left arm fall to your side with a sigh— feeling mildly frustrated by the constant sharp burst of pain and quickly just settled on only using your right hand to finish applying the conditioner to your hair as well as rubbing in the body wash so that this unpleasant shower session swiftly could be concluded.

However, just as you turned the shower off and stepped out, a hitched gasp instantly left your lips as a very certain idiot suddenly came stomping in straight through the closed bathroom door completely unannounced— urging you to hastily grab the nearest towel you could find to swiftly cover yourself up with whilst audibly cursing under your breath

Taehyung: There you are, I was wondering where you— woah, okay hello!

Jungkook: Fucking hell ghostie— the bathroom door is closed and locked for a damn reason!

You placed your hand over your rapidly beating heart in an attempt to soothe it whilst simultaneously shooting him a flustered glare, yet the practically unfazed male merely raised his hands defensively while a calm and almost playful smirk gradually began to tug at his lips— subtly eyeing you up and down for a very brief moment before mumbling out a calm ''I'd cover my eyes right now but— ya know... Kinda transparent so wouldn't really do much?'' while casually leaning against the bathroom's doorframe— instantly causing you to groan softly while rolling your eyes, not feeling amused by his ill-mannered habits as you proceeded to properly secure the white towel around your waist whilst grumbling out another response

Jungkook: Right, whatever happened to knocking then— you know, that thing we discussed which helps prevent these startling encounters in the first place?

A sheepish grin now formed on the ghost's face while he rubbed at the back of his nape apologetically, seemingly recalling the conversation about this matter and realizing his error as he mumbled out a soft ''Oh right— that! Uhm... Oops?'' before a breathy chuckle emitted past the tallers lips. Another weary sigh then escaped past your lips as you nodded and turned to face the mirror, not having the energy to give the male another lecture on privacy so you instead merely whispered out a faint ''Yes that— try to remember next time'' before grabbing another smaller towel to dry your hair with.

Strangely enough, the entity's previous giddy mood quickly seemed to tone down after that, and it wasn't long before you caught a glimpse through the mirror of how his eyes now had grown more fixated on your back where the bruising must've been flaring up— a frown evidently painting his expression as he hesitantly reached his hand out towards it, only to retrieve it just as quickly

Taehyung: ... That looks really painful

The practically whispered out comment earned a soft scoff from you as you kept drying your hair while uttering out a sarcastic ''Oh really now?''— only to wince shortly after, already having forgotten how raising your left arm like this would make the pain even worse. Yet instead of making some smartass comment about it, the male merely flashed you a genuine look of concern as he spoke in a more gentle manner

Taehyung: Yes really, are you okay?

There was a brief moment of silence before you slowly nodded more reassuringly, another sigh softly emitting past your lips before you flashed the male a faint smile

Jungkook: Well it's a little sore, but that's to be expected— though I can assure you it takes more than a couple of heavy boxes to kill me.

Though when your somewhat lighthearted response was met with another heavy silence, you couldn't help but eventually fully turn to face the worried male— snorting softly as you crossed your arms while eyeing his gloomy and almost pitiful state; head lowered almost shamefully whilst he stood there anxiously fidgeting with his hands

Jungkook: You look like a kicked puppy right now ghostie, what's up with you?

Taehyung: I just feel bad— I was there and saw what was about to happen earlier, but didn't help... And now you're hurt because of me...

A pout evidently formed on his lips as his words were laced with genuine regret, finally causing a warm giggle to bubble past your lips while you raised an amused eyebrow and leaned against the bathroom counter

Jungkook: I appreciate the thought ghostie, but I am glad you didn't. My colleagues would've been quite frightened if they saw any of those boxes suddenly begin to levitate out of nowhere.

Taehyung: Maybe... But at least you wouldn't have gotten hurt?

He then proceeded to follow his statement up with a quietly mumbled out ''...Could've just acted clueless or blamed it on a hidden superpower?'', to which you shook your head slowly in disapproval of the suggestion— this time responding in a more playful manner as you bit back a teasing smirk

Jungkook: ... Or casually told them I have a little poltergeist occasionally tailing me?

However, the suggestion only caused the already pouty male to cross his arms in a grumpy manner whilst grumbling out a low ''I'm not little, nor am I a poltergeist''— making another warm giggle bubble past your lips as you nodded along, eventually approaching the sulking male and gently patting the air where his shoulder would've been as you spoke up

Jungkook: Fine, I stand corrected— now instead of acting like a guardian angel who failed at his job, how about you help me apply these pain relief patches, hm?

You picked up the mentioned patches which you had bought from the pharmacy on your way home, holding them out towards the male whom bewilderedly eyed them before hesitantly looking back over at you; it was only when you uttered out a soft ''Come on, it's really hard to place these on my own'' while gently urged him to take the patches, that he finally grabbed ahold of them and nodded, a sheepish grin slowly making its way back onto the entity lips as he chuckled softly

Taehyung: Yeah okay, guess I'll try?

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