Jeongguk ends up crashing at Taehyung's house - - after, of course, letting his parents know, who the boy discovers were quite concerned their son hadn't come home yet after supposedly driving in the hectic rainstorm. So he apologized for worried them and assured them he's alright. That nothing's wrong, even though he seemed troubled rushing out of the house. He's alright, he says.

Except Jeongguk struggles falling asleep that night. Tossing and turning, restless on the living room couch, as Taehyung elected to sleep on the floor. Thankfully, the boy doesn't wake his friend. If that happened he would only feel even more terrible about the whole situation.

He gets roughly two hours of sleep total. Certainly not pleasant, but if Jeongguk were honest with himself, it's more than he expected to get.

He's lying awake at nine a.m. with his eyes glued to the ceiling. From below him, Taehyung shuffles in his half-asleep state, grunts loudly, then pushes his pajama shirt up a bit to scratch his stomach. "Flattering," Jeongguk whispers, stifling a laugh even though he's really too tired to breathe at this point.

With half-lidded eyes he watches as Taehyung rises to a sitting position and turns to him. "Oh, you're up already. Morning, Guk."

"Morning."

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Debatable."

"...so that's a 'no', then."

Jeongguk shrugs, tossing his blanket off himself so he can drape his legs over the couch. He stands up. Taehyung does as well.

"You have your appetite back?" The latter asks, and his friend shakes his head sadly. "...Guk, I'm not letting you starve. Eat an apple or something, that should be easy on your stomach."

Jeongguk forces the smallest smile, then drags his feet along as he follows Taehyung into the kitchen - empty, as of now, as Jeongguk guesses Taehyung's parents left for work already and Youjin just isn't awake yet. He takes a seat at the table.

His head isn't throbbing in as much pain as yesterday. In fact, the ache is hardly there at all. Physically, anyway. The heartache is still very much present, but Jeongguk is able to suppress it thanks to his lack of energy to cry at the moment.

He watches in silence as Taehyung retrieves an apple from his refrigerator, then washes it off under the faucet before handing it to him.

"Thanks, Tae..."

"...are you gonna eat it?"

"I'll try."

Jeongguk takes a slow, cautious bite. Deep down he knows a small apple isn't going to do much harm. Rather, it's the idea of eating that makes him feel a bit sick. He swallows the first bite and takes a deep breath. It seems to settle okay, so he eats the rest of the fruit peacefully. But still slowly.

He doesn't plan to stay here for long. Despite Taehyung's insisting it isn't a problem or a burden, not in the slightest, Jeongguk still feels wrong about it. For taking shelter here, for even running here to begin with. So although he doesn't have it in him to face Jimin yet, he won't rely on anyone to comfort him when he believes Jimin is the only one who should be comforted in this situation.

This situation, this problem he's caused.

Jeongguk soon changes out of the sleepwear Taehyung lent him and into his clothes from yesterday. Quite damp from yesterday's rain, too, but honestly that's the least of Jeongguk's worries.

After changing he takes it upon himself to tidy up his "sleeping quarters" before heading out. Folding the blanket Taehyung had given him, fixing the pillows, etc. It takes but a minute. And once he's done, Jeongguk reaches for his phone on the end table beside the couch.

Three unseen messages and a missed call from his mother. I forgot I muted it...

-

Mom
Jeongguk, a friend of yours stopped by just now.

Mom
I didn't recognize him but he says his name is Hoseok. He goes to your school I'm guessing?

Mom
He's sitting in our living room with Hyungi. I told him you'd probably be back soon. Or did you plan to spend the day with Taehyung?

-

Jeongguk's heart plummets. Hoseok. Not Jimin, not Yoongi, and obviously not Taehyung, but Hoseok, who has never struck Jeongguk as the type to just invite himself to anyone's house, especially not without a warning. But he doesn't have any missed messages from the boy.

It's unsettling. With the shame and guilt of his outburst last night bubbling in his chest, Jeongguk feels his face drain.

"Hey, by the way, Guk, do you—wait, why are you getting your shoes on already?"

"I have to get home," Jeongguk blurts. He opens the front door with his shaky hands, which he then uses to wave a sad goodbye to his friend.

"Wh—you better text me later, Guk."

"I will. Swear it."

He shuts the door behind him. Heart striking his chest in frantic beats, Jeongguk makes his way to his car and drives to his house in an agonizing silence.

He can just feel the headache waiting to come back. And he begs it to wait longer.

It's a mere eight minutes or so before Jeongguk parks his car again and gets out. He approaches the front door and, because it's his own house, doesn't bother to knock before opening it.

"Gukkie, someone's here for you!"

Hyungi's voice startles him. Jeongguk tries to act calm as he steps into the living room.

It's just as his mother said in her text. Hoseok is here, sitting on the living room couch, arms crossed over his stomach and his face displaying an expression Jeongguk has never seen on him before. It alters, just a bit, the split second the boy makes eye contact with him.

The look in Hoseok's eyes, however, alters more than just a bit.

"Can we talk outside, Jeongguk?"

Nausea. It strikes him again. "Why outside?" He asks.

"The weather's nice."

"It's muggy."

"Outside, Jeongguk."

"Gukkie?"

He looks down as he feels Hyungi tugging at his shirt. "What is it, buddy?"

"Is he your friend?"

"He is, Hyun-ie." Jeongguk ruffles the little boy's hair, then gives his back a little push. "Go tell Mom I'm going out again, okay?"

"Aww....okay..."

Hyungi runs up the stairs to do as he's told - or to get distracted by his toys, Jeongguk isn't sure, but right now it's not really important to him. So he quickly disregards the matter and opens the front door for Hoseok, then immediately follows him out.

A tortuous cloud of quietness hangs over them for a few seconds. Seconds that feel like hours to Jeongguk, who feels sicker with each sixty-minute interval.

"I went to visit Jimin this morning."

He tenses at the sound of Hoseok's voice.

"I just wanna know, Guk, what you did."

"Nothing, I didn't do anything-"

"Are you seriously going to say that to my face right now??"

It's not what he meant to say. The words came out in a panic, in Jeongguk's unstable state of mind. He swallows a lump in his throat.

"You did something, I know you had to."

Hoseok's voice is just as unstable now. He paces for a moment in front of Jeongguk, clenching and unclenching his fists before shoving them in the pockets of his jeans. But then he takes one right out again to tousle his hair.

"Something, you did something, right?? He was doing good, he was doing so good for a while, and now he's shut himself away again."

Unleveled breathing. Jeongguk remains speechless as he watches the other's anxious movements. It makes him feel sicker. His stomach is in knots at this point, and behind his eyelids, Jeongguk can feel the tears threatening to come back to him.

"So what is it, then? What did you do to him??"

"I yelled at him."

At this, Hoseok's agitated expression takes a turn for the worse. He stares at Jeongguk with an intense puzzlement burning in his gaze. "Why? What could possibly have warranted that-?"

"I don't-"

A single pulse of pain in the center of his forehead. Jeongguk clenches his teeth.

"His cuts, I got upset, I shouldn't have yelled, I just didn't-"

"His what?"

Genuine confusion. Jeongguk lifts his head fully to return a more direct look to the other boy. Distress. He sees a horrible, vivid distress flaring in Hoseok's eyes.

Neither of them say a word in that extended period of time their gazes are locked. Jeongguk clearly watches the five stages of grief cross the his friend's mind. The final stage drags his fierce expression down, far down, to its lowest state, to the closest it could probably go without breaking into a tearful fit.

"You...didn't know."

"I didn't," Hoseok replies immediately. "And I wish I could say I can't believe you. I really do."

"Is it really just because he hates his body?"

Jeongguk feels his heart stop at the utterance of his own question. In truth, he's scared of the answer. It would shatter his heart to hear Hoseok confirm the suspicion, and possibly destroy it even more if the boy were to say, no, there's more to it than just that.

And there is more. Jeongguk determines that the very second Hoseok glances away from him. The ambivalence that overcomes the boy in the blink of an eye. Conflicted feelings, inflicting the heart.

"The weather's disgusting out here," Hoseok says in a quiet voice. He turns his back to the other and starts walking in the direction of Jeongguk's car.

"What are you doing?"

"We can go somewhere to eat, or just for coffee. Doesn't matter. Somewhere to sit down. Do you wanna walk or drive?"

"...I can drive."

"Then go. I'm going with you."

—