Taehyung wasn't familiar with light in his life, usually his days were tied in the silks of darkness and dipped in a pot of agony. It wasn't like he had anything against it, after a while, you get used to the pressure of the snake-like grip around your limbs and the numbness seeping into your heart. And it wasn't like Taehyung had anything to compare to the obsidian ocean he was drifting on, perhaps sometimes the sun broke through the curtain of clouds above his head and caressed his cheek with its gentle touch, but that was for a split second.

A split second where he laughed with Michonne or found a bar of chocolate in the deepest corner of an empty shelf, or that little light came in the form of seeing Rick for the first time in that police station with a cape of kindness dragging along his heel, just like the sun shone brightly when the gates to the prison parted for the first time and he came face to face with his hero in a uniform once more.

Taehyung had recognised the little flashes of light that slashed through the darkness and made it seem as though it could no longer cling to his skin, only for it to pass just as quickly as it appeared and for him to be engulfed by the poisonous waves of his heart once again. Taehyung had learned a long time ago to not expect for the light to come to him, but when a growing orb of hope slowly drifted closer and closer to him, he couldn't stop himself from reaching out to touch it.

And that's when Taehyung found his eyes peeling apart and lips tightening around the tube stuck between them. He could feel it drag along his throat and press against his uvula, he gagged and wretched, reaching out a hand to tug it out, only for his wrist to get grabbed and for soothing murmurs of breath to nip at the shells of his ears. That's when Taehyung sank back into the ground and looked up at the pair of gentle bambi eyes blinking down at him

Lavender petals of joy bloomed along Jungkook's cheekbones and the slope of his nose, his raven locks shimmered in the flashes of light as if they had been sprinkled with a handful of glitter. Taehyung could only blink and accept the puff of oxygen filling his lungs before releasing it as Jungkook's lips parted and face came closer to his.

The scent of citrus brushed along Taehyung's nostrils with a sway of Jungkook's locks above his face. He watched the bunny of light bounce into Jungkook's eyes and melt the hardened chocolate in his irises until it lightened in tone and nearly spilled over Jungkook's eyelids.

"How are you feeling?" The breathless murmur of breath Jungkook exhaled barely kept away the traces of excitement and concern that threatened to rip through his features and scare Taehyung in his vulnerable state.

Taehyung's mouth mindlessly parted to answer the question, that tumbled past his ears and rolled off the pillow his head was laying on, only for the tube in his throat to prevent the words from reaching his tongue, so, Taehyung opted for a weak nod, which earned him a wide bunny smile and a chuckle from Jungkook.

"It feels like you're not fully here with me." Jungkook snickered and tried to tame his blooming smile, his eyes never strayed from Taehyung's as he reached forward to glide his fingers along Taehyung's forehead and brush his raven hair out of his eyes.

The strands swayed as Taehyung shook his head once more and followed Jungkook's hand with sluggish eyes. He swallowed around the tube and cringed at the feeling of his tongue tracing the little nooks of it. Another whisper of a laugh slid along the length of Jungkook's tongue and snuggled up to Taehyung's ears, causing him to glance up quickly and snatch the sight of Jungkook's bunny smile into his memory to store it inside his heart.

The sweet echo of laughter that soothed Taehyung's pounding heart and dusted a sprinkle of redness along his cheeks, was sliced apart by another voice, "He's still not fully conscious, Jungkook, I think he needs to sleep for a while longer." Taehyung's eyes briefly glanced at Hershel who crouched down next to him with gloves wrapped around his hands and a glass vial with a needle grasped between his fingers, "Hello, Taehyung." Hershel greeted kindly as he pushed the sharp needle into the glass bottle to suck up all the liquid inside.

Taehyung's eyes squinted and narrowed down on the syringe before flicking back up to look at Jungkook. His fingers twitched at the sight of Jungkook's bambi eyes blinking back at him with a matching smile, only for him to realise that his hand was grasped between Jungkook's warmer one, "Daryl and the rest are back, we have the cure now." Jungkook murmured in silky Korean, capturing Taehyung's attention once more and redirecting his awed gaze away from their connected hands.

Taehyung could only exhale through his nose and furrow his brows as he felt his lungs be filled with oxygen once again, he tightened his fingers around Jungkook's and observed how Jungkook's fingers squeezed back. Taehyung bobbed his head weakly and blinked up at Jungkook - analysing the way Jungkook was gazing back at him as if he had moulded the moon with his bare hands and lit the sun on fire with the flames burning in his heart.

Taehyung couldn't handle the softness and fierceness of the gaze, nor could he wrap his fuzzy mind around what it could mean, so, he merely tightened his hold on Jungkook's hand and stretched his lips around the tube into a crooked smile.

"Taehyung." The smile slipped away, just as Jungkook's own lips were tilting upward, and eyes dragged towards Hershel. They briefly connected with the older man's kind ones before rolling down towards the needle hovering above his limp arm, "The illness doesn't kill you but the symptoms do. The group brought back some antibiotics a few hours ago and you've been sleeping the entire day, I'll give you another shot before you go to sleep and I remove the oxygen bag."

Taehyung tried to cling onto the words that floated towards him with a glaze of honey brushed over them, yet they all tangled into his hair and mindlessly giggled at the golden thread of confusion sewing along his flushed face. A small crease formed between his brows and his eyes glanced between Jungook's smiling face and Hershel's patient stare before he nodded slowly as though he understood.

"You're gonna be alright." Jungkook spoke soothingly, brushing his thumb along Taehyung's knuckles and bringing his hand up to his face. Taehyung turned away from Hershel to watch Jungook's lips press against his fingers - making his drowsy mind completely miss the small tinge of pain from the needle sliding into his skin and injecting him with the antibiotics, "Everyone's gonna be alright." Jungkook whispered against his skin before lowering his hand against his thigh and peeking at Hershel from the corner of his eye.

Taehyung followed his line of sight and saw Hershel disposing the needle and placing a bandage on the place where he had been injected. Hershel hummed with a smile, ignoring Taehyung's eyes slicing into his skin to turn and address Jungkook, "The medicine will make him a bit drowsy, but I'm certain that a few hours of sleep will help clear up his head. I believe that we should remove the oxygen bag soon too and perhaps see if he can breathe on his own. Will you look after him and seek me out in case something goes wrong?"

Jungkook straightened and jerked his head confidently, "Of course." His one hand squeezed the oxygen bag and the other one curled tighter around Taehyung's for a split second. Jungkook's wrist and fingers were a bit numb from all the pumping he had done the past few hours, of course, he had switched with a few other infected people in the block that weren't in such a bad state as Taehyung, but he still didn't want to leave Taehyung's life in their hands since he didn't know how much they truly cared for him in order for them to give him the proper help he required.

"Alright." Hershel nodded and twisted his attention onto a frowning Taehyung. The latter peered up at the doctor through lidded eyes and a curtain of raven lashes, his eyes glimmered with a glossy layer of confusion and suspicion as he nudged his hand out of Jungkook's hold and curled his fingers around Jungkook's thigh - watching the doctor leave the cell with squinted eyes.

Only when Hershel disappeared from view and Taehyung could no longer see him, did the man rip his gaze away from the iron bars to turn and blink up at Jungkook with wide eyes, "You're silly." Jungkook snorted with a quick glance down at Taehyung's fingers tightening around his muscular thigh before loosening once more.

The words knocked on the door of Taehyung's eardrums, yet no one was there to let them inside since Taehyung was too busy admiring Jungkook through the windows of his eyes. Yet despite not registering the words, Taehyung smiled widely around the tube in his mouth at the light tone Jungkook had used, earning himself a playful eye-roll from the bunny boy.

"Sleep." Jungkook grumbled through a small smile, trying to hide the way it began to grow by tilting his head away and eyeing the squashed spider in the corner of the room. Jungkook's nose scrunched up at the spider before he quickly spared a hint of attention to Taehyung, only to see the ravenette blinking sluggishly at him with that goofy grin still stretched around the tube, "Idiot." Jungkook huffed out a small laugh and reached forward to wipe away the string of drool on the corner of Taehyung's parted lips.

The latter's smile fell along with his eyes- following Jungkook's movements owlishly as if the gentle sweep of Jungkook's thumb against his lip was the most fascinating thing in the world. Jungkook couldn't stop himself from grinning and falling into a pile of giggles, which only made Taehyung's eyes widen and focus more on the beaming boy. Taehyung tightened his hold on Jungkook when he saw him begin to tilt back, only to fall forward once more - closer than before.

With a leftover giggle spilling over the edge of his lip, Jungkook leaned closer to Taehyung until their noses were centimetres apart. He peered into the two pools of ink that stared back at him unblinkingly before parting his bubblegum lips to snicker with a devilish glint in his eyes, "When you get back to normal, you won't be able to look me in the eyes from how you're acting like now. But until then..." Jungkook trailed off with a tap of his finger against the tip of Taehyung's nose, which scrunched up at the contact, "...you sleep." Jungkook breathed in Korean and swept away Taehyung's hair from his forehead once more.

Taehyung could only nod at Jungkook's words and watch the younger boy smile back at him toothily, he watched Jungkook pump the oxygen bag and watched the sun create a halo of pure love around his head, he watched and watched until his blinks became longer and breaths evened out, until his body sank into the pillow behind him and mind tangled in the sheets of a hazy dream.

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   The next time Taehyung awoke, his mind wasn't draped in the silky gown of drowsiness and ears had finally opened to let the songs of the world fill his mind with endless symphonies. The first thing he saw, was the grey concrete ceiling of a prison cell awkwardly smiling back at him. The first thing he heard, was the sound of murmuring being led into his cell by the gossiping concrete walls. And the first thing he felt, was his own shaky breaths sliding through his nostrils before gliding back into his mouth.

Taehyung's muscles tensed for a moment - back freezing as if a slab of iron was screwed to his spine and hands tightening into loose fists, only for one of them to curl around something thick and firm. That's when Taehyung tilted his stiff neck to the side and finally caught the sight of Jungkook staring down at him warily.

"Hey." Jungkook whispered under his breath as if the small greeting would startle him. The greeting wasn't what startled Taehyung, no, it was the sight of his long fingers clinging and tightening around Jungkook's muscular thigh as if his hand was specifically moulded for the bunny boy.

He gently slipped his hand away without a second thought, not missing the way Jungkook's nervous smile faltered and eyes smoothened over as if to brace for Taehyung's reaction. The regret poured over Taehyung like cold rain and his lips peeled open to murmur the only words his mind could stick together.

"Sorry."

Taehyung's voice was low and gravely, the words scrapped against his sore throat and made him wince in pain. Jungkook immediately reached down to pick up a cup of water, while Taehyung allowed himself to turn away from the younger to look around himself.

He was still inside the cell where Henry used to live in, where he had died and turned into a Walker. He was laying on the ground with a fluffy pillow under his head and a blanket thrown over the rest of his body. Taehyung recognised the citrus scent and lavender shade of the blanket as Jungkook's. He remembered when he had come to their cell later than usual and found Jungkook wrapped in the lavender blanket with Taehyung's book grasped between his hands. Taehyung had warned him that reading in the dark with only a candlelight to guide him, was bad for his eyes, yet the younger only responded that not sleeping enough was bad for the eyes and body too. It ended with Taehyung blowing out the candle to submerge them in the darkness and both boys smiling to themselves as they sank into the river of dreams.

"Drink this." Jungkook's voice nudged Taehyung out of his thoughts, followed by the younger sliding his hand under Taehyung's neck to tilt his head up and pressing the rim of the cup against Taehyung's lips. The latter startled at the action yet still parted his lips and gulped down the water until he was slurping the last droplets out of the empty cup, "I'll go fetch some more later on, or do you want me to do it now? I'm sure you're still thirsty and Hershel said you should drink as mu-"

"Jungkook."

The boy's lips clamped shut at the low grit of Taehyung's teeth, his muscles tensed and eyes grew in size as he slowly turned his attention towards Taehyung and was met with his narrow glare. The shadows of the room rushed forward as if summoned by Taehyung's hidden anger and clung to his sharp features. Jungkook gulped at the flames cracking in Taehyung's obsidian eyes and forced his lips upward into a nervous smile.

Taehyung looked unimpressed at the sight, his grip on the lavender blanket tightened and brow crawled up his forehead as he sucked in his cheeks and parted his lips, "Didn't I tell you to stay behind that glass?" Taehyung questioned eerily calmly - voice barely above a whisper of breath.

"No." Jungkook pursued his lips and fumbled with the metal cup in his hands, he saw Taehyung's eyes narrow even further and lips smack open, which made Jungkook immediately straighten out, "I know I broke my promise to you but I'd much rather break mine than have you break yours. You can be mad at me, you can never talk to me again, but if I could turn back time, I'd still make the choice of going in here because I'd rather have you ignore me, than burying your body with the rest." Jungkook breathed softly, yet the gentleness of his voice didn't hide the steel edge taunting the words he uttered.

The burning flames of anger were instantly extinguished in Taehyung's chest. He knew that it was hypocritical of him to be angry at Jungkook when he would've done the same if the other was in his place, yet he still couldn't help and worry because now Jungkook was risking his life for him. He didn't understand why, but what he knew was that Jungkook cared for him, more than anyone ever had.

When Jungkook didn't receive a verbal answer from Taehyung, he slumped into himself and offered him a hesitant twist of his lips, "Daryl is back with the antidote and Hershel is currently injecting it into the infected people. Let's not even talk about the fact that you were too close to death to even see that if I hadn't come in here, this entire block would've been crawling with walkers and Hershel would've died before he could save you."

Jungkook's words made Taehyung relax completely and even made him tear his eyes away from Jungkook in order to not allow him to see them shimmer with guilt, "How did...the walkers, you know, get in here?"

Jungkook frowned down at the ground and pressed his finger against the edge of the cold metal cup, he glided it around the rim - finger lingering on the spot where Taehyung's lips had been pressed against, "Quite a few of the infected had died and attacked the others. Maggie and Tyreese were in here earlier to bring in the antidote and drag out the dead bodies. I'm pretty sure they're currently burying them." Jungkook explained softly, hesitant to look up and meet Taehyung's eyes.

"Oh." The latter exhaled mindlessly, sinking deeper into the pillow behind his head and blinking up at the ceiling above him. The sun was beginning to lower behind the horizon, yet it still managed to spread its wings and light up the cell with a golden glow.

"Things will be...things will change after this passes." Jungkook continued when his only answer from Taehyung was the heavy silence. He shifted on his knees to try and relieve some pressure off his bones from sitting in the same position for so long.

Taehyung hummed in agreement and dragged his tongue along the roof of his mouth, he exhaled a deep breath and glanced at a frowning Jungkook, "Things may change between them, some of them may leave, others could stay and want a change in authority, but in the end, nothing will change between us." Taehyung comforted as he reached out to place his palm on top of Jungkook's hand.

"But what if I want things to change between us too?"

"Huh?" Taehyung released a noise of confusion and lifted his hand back until it was hovering a mere centimetre above Jungkook's. A crease formed between his brows and his heart thrummed with confusion as he watched Jungkook carefully - trying to understand what he meant with his words.

Jungkook sighed and shifted closer to Taehyung until his outer thigh was brushing against the lavender blanket, "Everything staying the same between us would mean that we would remain friends. But the thing is, I don't want to be friends with you," Taehyung's confusion only grew, only now it was accompanied by panic, his mind began to conjure ideas and thoughts about the reason as to why Jungkook didn't want to be friends with him, but before he could sink deeper into the obsidian sea of anxiety, Jungkook finally managed to push out his words, "I want to be more than friends with you."

And while Taehyung froze at the uttered words and stared up at Jungkook with a gaze prancing between the line of shock and horror, Jungkook sagged in relief at finally being able to brush off the feelings that he had been dragging with him this entire time.

"The thing is, Tae, I really like you, I do. I thought that we had more time, that we both could process our feelings a bit better and maybe even make sure that what we were feeling, was real. But after seeing you laying in a pool of your own blood, struggling to breathe and barely clinging onto life, I realised that we don't have time." Jungkook murmured softly, not looking at Taehyung in fear of seeing his reaction, which would completely shatter his current flare of confidence his words were fuelled by, "We're in the middle of the apocalypse, one of us could get bit, or attacked by another survivor, or even choke on a piece of broccoli. Fucking hell, apparently even breathing is dangerous nowadays, so, why waste the last moments we have on earth wondering what could've happened if we would've given this.." Jungkook raised and hand and gestured between them with a finger, "a chance, and why not just say fuck it and actually give it a chance."

The silence that followed after Jungkook's words was eery, it weighted heavily in the air and nearly flattened him against the ground. Jungkook didn't dare move a muscle or lift his head to see Taehyung's reaction, he sat still as if every muscle in his body had frozen over with a thick layer of ice. The tension seeped through the bars of the cell, pushing out the light of the day and replacing it with the shadows of anxiety. With every fallen second, Jungkook's hope began to wilt and shed its petals yet he couldn't find it in himself to regret his decision to be truthful about his feelings. It was the end of the world and he had nothing to lose, one sided love were the last of his worries.

The last string of light began to drift along the air towards the exit of the cell, only for it to get grasped and tugged back inside by the low murmur of Taehyung's voice, "Can I think about it?"

Jungkook's head snapped up and wide eyes connected with the wary ones of Taehyung. He observed a Taehyung carefully - noting that the tension of the room had seeped into his muscles and made him stiffen against the pillow, just like he could see that Taehyung was trying to hide the concerned frown on his face with a plastic smile.

Jungkook exhaled sharply and forced a matching smile on his face, "Of course." He nodded and looked down at the empty cup he was clenching, "I'll...I'll fill this up." He held up the cup and wiggled it in Taehyung's direction, receiving a wordless nod in return.

Jungkook quickly stumbled up to his feet and rushed towards the door, trying to shake off the lingering traces of the awkward heaviness between them. He could still feel the presence of the unsaid words looming in the back of Taehyung's throat, just like he could feel his heart pounding against his chest as if to try and break out to to rush back to Taehyung. Jungkook pressed his palm against his chest and exhaled softly as he strode through the prison to refill the cup.

With the antidote in their grasp, the prison almost seemed to bloom back to life, despite the wilted petals of grief littering the floor from everyone that had died. The smiles on everyone's faces weren't as bright as before the virus and their laughter didn't carry the soothing touch of happiness. Jungkook could see how their smiles dimmed when they turned away from one another and he could see the redness around their eyes from crying out their grief.

Jungkook could do nothing to help these people, he knew how it felt to lose someone you cared about, even though he had only known them for a few days. He knew that they needed time to grieve and swallow the loss of their loved ones before trying to heal and learn how to live without them, so, he opted on offering them gentle smiles and the silence they so desperately craved for.

When Jungkook reached the jug of water at the front of the block, he pressed the metal cup underneath the tap and twisted the knob until the water was pouring inside it. He waited until it was full before turning it off and allowing the last droplet to land into the cup and create ripples on the surface of the water. Jungkook dropped his hand back to his side and stood there, mind finally coming to a breezing realisation that he would have to turn around and walk back into the cell where Taehyung was currently located.

It wasn't like Jungkook didn't want to see Taehyung and make sure he was alright, it was just that after the confidence he previously had, had dimmed into extinction, he was left to face the embarrassment of the entire situation. He couldn't even wrap his mind around the memory of him just rambling about his feelings towards Taehyung and how they could be in a relationship. He hoped that it was a dream, an illusion of his delusional mind, but the silence and suppressed grimace on Taehyung's face, was what tugged Jungkook back to the ground and made him realise that this was the reality.

Taehyung knew about his crush and his desire to twist their friendship into a romantic relationship. But no matter how much Jungkook tried to evoke the feeling of regret inside of himself, he found no traces of it among the sea of embarrassment. That's because Jungkook didn't regret telling Taehyung about how he felt and what he desired, despite knowing that this sudden reveal would change their relationship drastically. He knew that it would be awkward for them to be in each other's presence and their interactions would be strained from now on, yet he still didn't regret telling Taehyung the truth. Because now Jungkook's heart was calm with the soothing thought that he had taken that step forward to initiate a romantic relationship and now it was Taehyung's turn to decide how their future would be painted from now on.

"Excuse me."

Jungkook startled and swung around to face the older man standing behind him with an empty cup in his hands. Jungkook glanced from the cup to the jug of water and flushed in embarrassment, "Sorry." He apologised with a nervous smile before brushing past the man to walk back to Taehyung's cell with the water sloshing against the edge of the cup.

Jungkook was lost in the forest of thoughts, which made him oblivious to the female sneaking up to him until she grabbed him from behind and made him yelp in surprise. His hand flung down to the knife strapped to his hip and fingers loosened around to cup to push away the girl clinging to him, causing the water to spill over the edge and splatter against the ground.

Maggie's familiar snort slid into his ear, making Jungkook slump in relief and roll his eyes. His fingers dropped from the hilt of the knife and head twisted sideways to peer down at Maggie, "Why do you have to do that?" He huffed and nudged her off of himself, sparing a small glance down at the empty cup in his hand.

Maggie snorted and ruffled his red locks, accidentally smearing dirt along his forehead. Jungkook's face scrunched up before he pushed her hand away and wiped away the dirt. He turned to look back at her and raised an eye-brow as he noticed Tyreese lifting one of the dead walkers onto a stretcher to roll them outside. That's when the dirt smeared on Maggie's hands and the sweat on her skin began to make sense to Jungkook.

Maggie watched Jungkook for a second longer before her smile faltered and head tilted to spare a small glance into Tyreese's direction, "Kook, listen." Maggie stepped forward and lowered her voice - a sudden flash of seriousness flooding into her features. Jungkook straightened at the cautious tone she used while addressing him and lowered his head so that she could be able to whisper to him, "Rick told me something important, something that you can't tell anyone, okay?"

Jungkook bobbed his head up and down, causing Maggie to mimic his nod and peel her lips apart once more, "Carol was the one who burned Karen and David, she did it to protect us."

Jungkook flinched back in shock - eyes wide and lips parted to release a startled breath. The blood drained from his face and was replaced by the feeling of horror as the image of Carol dragging the two people out there and setting them on fire, flashed before his eyes, "She-" Jungkook began to speak while shaking his head in denial, he couldn't believe Carol could do something like that, but then again Jungkook doesn't think he should be the one to judge her since he has done worse things.

"Rick drove her out to a nearby town, gave her supplies, a car, weapons, and left her there. She'll be fine and maybe someday, she will be allowed to join us once more." Maggie tried to comfort him with her words, but Jungkook was well aware that that someday could be never with Tyreese here and with the threats Carol would have to face out there. He wished that he could hold onto the thought of Carol one day coming back here, but his pessimistic mind only gifted him the image of Carol's lifeless body laying in the forest somewhere. Alone.

"Right." Jungkook breathed with his eyes gazing down at the empty cup of water he had wanted to bring to Taehyung. Suddenly the thought of facing Taehyung after confessing his feelings to him, was suffocating with the added weight of Carol's lack of presence. So, instead of following his wordless promise to Taehyung, Jungkook turned to look up at a concerned Maggie and offered her a forced smile, "How about I help you bury the bodies? I'm sure it'll go faster that way." He offered and nudged his chin into the direction of a struggling, grunting Tyreese.

Maggie glanced at the said man over her shoulder before peering down at the cup in Jungkook's hands, "Sure, but don't you want to stay with Taehyung and look after him for a while longer? You two were quite inseparable since you got here." Maggie presented the opportunity for Jungkook to step back from his offer to help to go back to Taehyung, but Jungkook shook his head and gave the empty cup to a passing woman.

"Can you please fill it and bring it to Taehyung?" Jungkook asked her softly, receiving a soft smile and a matching nod in return. She took the cup from him, giving Jungkook the chance to follow Maggie and help them bury the dead bodies - an action that would weirdly ease his mind and let him forget about everything that had occurred in the past few days.