Twenty-First
:Chapter Twenty-One:

Two days had passed by since Jeongguk got injured and according to Hoseok, Namjoon, and Jimin, he was hurt pretty bad.

The pitcher didn't come to school, his concussion being quite severe,

For those two days the pitcher wasn't at school, Hoseok was quick to leave so he could go to Jeongguk's house and make sure Newbie was okay.

Sometimes Namjoon would accompany Hoseok.

Today, Hoseok was doing the same exact thing, hurrying out of class so he could rush to his car but Taehyung got ahold of him this time.

"Seok! Wait up!" Taehyung called out to his friend who halted, turning and seeing the first basemen. "Where are you going?"

"You ask me this and you should know the answer by now. I'm going to go see Jeongguk." Hoseok answered, shaking his head and turning back around but Taehyung caught up to his side so the two were walking together.

"He's home?" Taehyung wondered.

"He was sent home the day after he went to the hospital. Why are you asking?" Hoseok spared a glance over at the younger teenager.

Taehyung lamely shrugged, keeping quiet for a moment with clear hesitation but then he decided to speak up. "Can I come with?"

Hoseok stopped in his footsteps, Taehyung also pausing in motion.

"Can you . . . Come with to see Jeongguk? Your arch nemesis? Your rival? The boy who stole your position and that beat your ass? Jeongguk?" Hoseok cocked a brow, not sure he heard correctly.

"I wanted to see him in the hospital. I just wanted to make sure he was okay, I get we aren't on the best of terms but . . ." Taehyung crossed his arms over his chest.

"Best of terms? You think?" Hoseok shook his head before he continued to walk, Taehyung following along. "I don't know, I don't really think it's a good idea."

"I can just ask how he is and then leave. It's never a good thing when a player gets hurt, I shouldn't let our stupid beef stop me from making sure the dude's okay." Taehyung still hated the dude, don't get him wrong, but he wanted to show that had some concerns.

"But . . ."

"C'mon, I'll buy you lunch after we're done."

"Okay, deal." Hoseok said. "Since you're always spending time with Jihyun now, never have the time for me."

"You mean spending more time with my girlfriend? The one you use to say I never looked like a couple with?" Taehyung asked, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, how dare you finally look like you're dating someone." Hoseok sighed dramatically, putting a frown on his beautiful face.

The two disregarded their random conversation and headed out to Hoseok's car. They set their things in the back, getting in the driver and passenger seats.

They buckled up — because safety first — and Hoseok drove off.

Jimin had track practice to attend to and Namjoon had plans with Seokjin and Seokjin's girlfriend. The senior was going to third-wheel so hard but it would be worth it since he was good friends with the both of them.

Hoseok began to regret agreeing to bring Taehyung to the comforts of Jeongguk's home but free food? Who could deny that offer? He just hoped Jeongguk would forgive him.

Maybe Jeongguk wouldn't even be mad about it.

With false positivity lingering in Hoseok's head, he and Taehyung approached the pitcher's door. The older of the two picked up his fist and knocked lightly, knowing how sensitive Jeongguk was to sound at the moment so he made sure to be as quiet as he could while allowing Jeongguk to hear him.

The two could hear a bit of movement and could even hear the door unlocked but it wasn't pulled open, probably because looking directly into the light wasn't the best idea after being cooped up in the dark for so long.

Hoseok took it upon himself to pushed the door open, stepping inside the boy's house.

Taehyung followed, doing what any guest would do and began to look around. It was so different than what Taehyung first imagined. He thought it would be darker and more on the basic side of things but it was so roomy and pretty.

The walls were a nice forest-color green with aesthetic photos of rivers and streams and trees hanging on the walls. There were a few family portraits hung up.

One in particular grabbed onto Taehyung's attention. It was a pretty big frame and had four figures posed with pretty smiles.

Taehyung easily spotted Jeongguk sitting in the middle holding a young child on his lap, a man and women on either side of the pitcher.

Taehyung took a random guess and assumed it was the boy's parents, one thing that gave it away was how much Jeongguk looked like both of them but especially his mother. Jeongguk definitely appeared to be a mamas boy.

He looked so happy in the photo, holding onto his young brother who was only a year-old at the time.

"You doing any better today?" Hoseok's voice snapped Taehyung away from his staring, making the first baseman look over to see Jeongguk sitting on the couch, leaning back with his eyes shut. He looked like he wasn't doing too good.

"Eh, head is throbbing so not too much better. Can you hand me the pills over there?" Jeongguk pointed without opening his eyes. He was too tired to want to get up and grab the pills himself.

"Yeah, yeah," Hoseok nodded and got the said medication. "I'll go grab you some water from your kitchen." The eldest was so caring and willing to stick around just to make sure Jeongguk was okay.

When Hoseok took his leave into the kitchen, Taehyung continued to stand there awkwardly but this didn't go unnoticed.

Jeongguk felt the presences of someone other than Hoseok and looked over, seeing someone he didn't expect to be in his house in a million years.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Jeongguk asked, getting a bit too worked up already just by seeing Taehyung.

"I just wanted to check on you with Hoseok." Taehyung answered, keeping his voice down in consideration for Jeongguk.

"Doubtful, Kim." Jeongguk rolled his eyes. "You just came here to boast, to rub it in my face that I can't pitch anymore. You aren't slick."

"No, I didn't." Taehyung narrowed his brows. "Why would I come all the way here to rub it in your face on how I'm the pitcher now?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why would you come all the way here to check on me? As if you ever gave a shit. I don't need your stupid pity." Jeongguk shook his head, the throbbing intensifying as he kept going back and forth.

Hoseok returned soon enough and handed over the glass of tap water.

"Why did you bring him?" Jeongguk inquired, taking the water and popping two pills into his mouth, downing it with some water.

Hoseok looked over at Taehyung who looked back at him. "He wanted to come with to see if you were okay." He said.

Jeongguk still didn't believe it. "Get out, Kim."

"What?" Taehyung pursed his lips.

Jeongguk huffed, setting the cup down and bringing his hands to his eyes. He was getting so angry and it wasn't making the pain lessen. "I said get the fuck out, I don't need you dirtying my house. Just leave, go somewhere else."

"I'll meet you in the car." Hoseok said, thinking it was a good idea that Taehyung leave and just wait outside somewhere.

The captain of the baseball team wanted to argue but this wasn't the time for that and it wasn't his choice if he could stay or go. He nodded and turned around, leaving through the door he and Hoseok came through.

That left Jeongguk and Hoseok now alone in the living room.

The elder hummed, thinking of ways he could change the subject so Jeongguk wouldn't be mad at him.

"Did your dad take Jaeyong out?" Hoseok asked, carefully taking a seat next to Jeongguk who returned to leaning his head back with his eyes closed.

"Yeah, he takes him out a bit more because Jaeyong doesn't quite understand that loud noises and bright lights hurt me." Jeongguk answered. "I think they're getting ice cream right now."

Hoseok nodded as if Jeongguk was able to see it, looking around because the Jeon's interior design was also so warming and always made Hoseok felt at ease whenever he walked it.

There wasn't screaming pictures and bright paint colors, just nice warm-toned green shades with occasional blues and purples so it was suffocating.

He shook away his spacing, looking down at his lap before looking back at Jeongguk. "Me and Taehyung were going to go get something to eat, did you want something?"

"I'm not hungry but thanks for offering." Jeongguk answered simply.

"Did you even eat today? You have to eat something, can't sit here in pain and pop pills." Hoseok commented, shaking his head.

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of drug addict, I'm just not hungry right now. My head hurts a bit too much for me to want to eat something." Jeongguk wasn't lying. He had a headache for a few hours now and it only got worse and worse. He didn't want to rely on pain medicine to solve all his problems but he was in too much pain, especially after Kim showed his stupid face.

"I'm bringing something back anyways so you better choose something." Hoseok told, patting Jeongguk's thigh as a friendly gesture for no real reason.

"If you insist," Jeongguk groaned and opened his eyes again, looking over at Hoseok with an exhaustive look. "Chicken tenders and a side of fries." He smiled weakly.

"You got it!" Hoseok grinned and then stood up. "Want me to turn on a soft instrumental playlist for you or something?" He asked, looking for the remote to the TV.

"No, I'm good. I'm just going to sit here and relax, let the medicine do it's job." Jeongguk shrugged, taking the chance to pick his legs up and put them on the couch, getting in a position where he was laying down now so he could let his headache ease away.

The elder nodded. "If you say so. I'm going to leave the door unlocked so I can just come back with your food."

"Thank you, hyung." Jeongguk uttered, shutting his eyes and pulling the sheets over his shoulder to get cozied. There wasn't much the younger could do besides sleep. Loud noises and bright lights caused his head to throb and would hurt him more than he was willing to admit.

Hoseok felt so bad and was more than willing to care for the pitcher. He turned away and left Jeongguk's house, leaving the door unlocked like he said. He would just pay for Jeongguk's food and not make Taehyung pay for that.

He would still pay for his and Taehyung's food, just not Jeongguk's.

________
A/N:

1. A bit of character development! Not much however
2. Is there anything you're looking forward to?
3. Do you celebrate Christmas? If not, what do your celebrate?