namjoon paused at the sight of the familiar door in the distance. he felt himself bite down on the insides of his cheek as his face contorted in worry. heaving a sigh, he pushed his thoughts away as he approached the door. lifting his hand to touch the doorknob, he felt himself tighten his grip before pushing the door open.

the apartment looked like it normally did. empty and clean. nothing was on the floor, excluding a small rug. nothing new caught namjooon's attention as he closed the door behind him.

clearing his throat, he reached down to take his shoes off before inviting himself inside the living room.

jungkook was sitting on the floor, staring at the wall with his blank eyes. his gaze flickered up, clashing with his elder's as he felt his eyes on him. he gulped before he turned away in shame.

"oh, jungkook," namjoon croaked, silently walking across the floor towards jungkooks way. jungkook only lowered his head at his words. namjoon touched his cheek as he searched jungkook's face. "what did they do to you?" he asked, eyeing the bruises under jungkook's eyes.

jungkook was used to the pain. he knew how to keep it in. he knew the right things to say when he had to deal with these kinds of things. but as he felt his heart tighten and his hands tremble, he knew the best thing was to let it all out.

all the pain he had been keeping in. all the words that he wanted to scream out. all the complaints that he never told. and he wished that they were there to hear him say them.

but that night, namjoon was the only one to hear such things coming out of jungkook's mouth.