taehyung slowly opened his eyes, squinting to get accustomed to all the brightness invading his vision.

grunting, he pushed himself up with his elbows and frowned, gazing around the unknown room he was in. wherever he was, he was certain that, regardless of his drowsiness, it was definitely not his dorm.

the black silk sheets that once sheltered his delicate body from the harsh winter chill were carefully folded into a neat pile at the end of the bed before he got off the mattress, letting his feet sink into the soft carpet underneath.

when he got off the bed, he noticed that he slept in the same clothes he wore previously and proceeded to then look at every corner of the room. now that he was more awake, he could see the room's different features more precisely.

iron man figurines of varying sizes were lined along the desk, white t-shirts were scattered all over the floor and the shoe rack beside the door was full of timberlands.

it was quite odd to taehyung how despite not knowing where or how he got here, he didn't feel the slightest in danger. maybe it was the calming scent that this room emitted which made taehyung's tensed muscles relax, or maybe it was because that this scent somehow seemed familiar, even if it's just a little.

taking short strides towards the door, he was about to open it when his eyes caught a photo frame sitting on the shelf right above the shoe rack. upon further inspection, he gasped when he realized it was—

"hey, you're awake," a voice from the doorway shocked taehyung, causing him to scream in a rather unmanly way, tearing his eyes away from the photograph as he fell backwards onto the carpeted floor.

lifting his head upwards, he was faced with an amused jungkook leaning against the doorframe. "need a hand?" jungkook asked, smirking.

taehyung huffed as the younger's smug attitude and didn't reply while quickly getting back up on his feet. "this is your room?" taehyung questioned even though he already knew the answer.

"yeah," jungkook replied, grin fading away from his face as he seemed to remember why taehyung was here in the first place, but decided not to interrogate the older since he had just awoken. "are you hungry? i can ask my brother to cook you something," he proposed.

taehyung shook his head. "no, it's fine," he mumbled. "how long was i out for?"

jungkook hummed in thought, head whipping around to check the wall clock down the hallway. "about two hours."

"oh," taehyung sighed when he thought about the trouble he must've caused the ravenette. "sorry for uh, y'know, you carried me back here and like, yeah," he started, head hung low in shame. "you're also going to miss afternoon classes because of me, so uh, i'm so s-sorry, jungkook," he finished with a deep, apologetic and sincere bow.

jungkook smiled, feeling his own heart tighten because of how adorable the elder is when he gets flustered. with a sudden surge of confidence, he raised his hand and gently placed it on the crown of taehyung's head, patting the area of soft purple locks with such tenderness that it spawned butterflies in taehyung's stomach.

"you don't have to apologize, tae," jungkook reassured, removing his hand from the other's hair and eyes desperately searching for taehyung's when he stood back up straight. disappointment flooded over him when he saw that taehyung still refused to look at jungkook.

shaking his head, he raised his hand once again, but this time, he placed his fingers beneath taehyung's chin and carefully lifted his head so that jungkook could stare into those absolutely beautiful chocolate irises.

"taehyung, please don't think of yourself as a burden," jungkook stated, eyebrows furrowed.

"i'm sorry," taehyung murmured, voice cracking as tears flowed out uncontrollably the moment his eyes met the worried ones of jungkook's. "i'm so sorry. i'm sorry— fuck, i'm so sorry," he repeated again and again, knees going weak as he let himself collapse onto the transferee's leaner frame.

jungkook, not the smallest bit fazed, immediately locked his arms around taehyung to pull him closer to his chest, securing them together with his own strong arms. "shh, it's okay tae. it's okay."

they stood there for what seemed like eternity, just like that, wrapped in each other's embrace. at that moment, taehyung was scared to let go, whilst jungkook didn't want to let go. all you could hear were the older's tiny sniffles and the black-haired teen whispering words of encouragement into the weeping one's ears.

when taehyung pulled away at last, jungkook won't deny that it was kind of a bummer.

wiping the elder's tears with the pads of his thumb, jungkook could tell that taehyung has loosened up a tad after the waterworks have finally left.

"so, what do you say now about getting some food?" jungkook offered again, feeling more hopeful than before.

the lavendar-haired boy let a ghost of a smile grace over his dry lips. i'm so thankful you're in my life, jeon. "fine, i-if you insist," he responded, letting out an over-exaggerated 'hmph, jerk' when he walks past jungkook to exit the room.

"old taehyung has returned," jungkook announced to no one in particular, chuckling as he follows after the mentioned male.

when he reaches the kitchen, his mouth goes agape and he thinks his jaw probably managed to touch the tiled floor because in the kitchen, he was witnessing his step-brother, kim seokjin, pinching taehyung's cheeks and cooing loudly at how cute he was.

"jin-hyung, what are you doing?" jungkook deadpanned, face devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

"oh, kook, why didn't you tell me about your boyfriend here? he's so fluffy, oh my gosh, can i adopt him? i should call joon and ask him if he wants a kid," seokjin begins rambling, squeezing taehyung even tighter if possible, and jungkook swore for a second that he saw taehyung mouth out the word 'help.'

"hyung, first, he's our age. second, he's not my boyfriend. third, can you not hold him like that? you can legitimately choke him to death," jungkook exasperatedly said. he breathed out a sigh of relief when seokjin reluctantly let go of taehyung, and taehyung instantly scurried over to jungkook's side.

"aw, you're such a protective boyfriend, kookie!" jin giggled like a teenage girl, flipping his spatula skillfully at the same time. surprisingly, the egg he has been cooking hasn't burned yet. "you're growing up fast, young man. remember when you were—"

"okay okay, i get it!" jungkook whined, stopping his brother and not wanting him to share any embarrassing childhood stories to taehyung. "and for the last time, i'm not his boyfriend, hyung."

"you wish you were though," seokjin winked at jungkook. "if i remember correctly, the other night you were practically reciting an entire essay about someone called kim tae—"

"okay!" jungkook exclaimed, covering a confused taehyung's ears. "just make the damn egg and leave us alone, please."

the playful attitude of jin abruptly disappeared and taehyung hated to admit that he was actually getting scared. "what did i say about using profanities in this household and respecting your elders, jeon jungkook?" he growled, glaring daggers at the youngest of the three.

"oh no," jungkook whimpered, hand reaching behind him for taehyung's wrist as they run back upstairs into his room at the speed of light, not wanting to stay around long enough to experience the wrath of a pissed off seokjin.