"...Gguk?"

Jeongguk wakes up from the sound of his name being called. He couldn't tell if it was in his head or if it was really happening.

"Jeongguk?"

He hears again. He can recognize Taehyung's voice even through the cotton in his ears. "Hm?" He hums, trying to respond to him.

"...2:30...work today?"

"Mhm," he hums again, forcing his eyes open against the light shining in through the curtains. His ears ring as he fully wakes up, everything around him invading his senses all at once. "What?"

"It's 2:30," Taehyung says again. "Do you have work today?"

"2:30?" Jeongguk asks, he feels the panic rising in his chest but his body doesn't react.

"Yeah," Taehyung says sitting down on the edge of the bed and looking down at him. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," He says forcing himself to sit up despite every muscle in his body screaming in protest. "What time is it?"

"2:30, Jeongguk," Taehyung repeats for the umpteenth time. "I'm heading to the shop now so I thought I'd wake you up. Are you sure~"

"I'm okay, Taehyung, jeez," Jeongguk says rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Okay," Taehyung says standing. "I'm heading out. Are you going to work today?"

"Yeah," Jeongguk says looking up at him. "Have a good day at work."

"You too," He smiles softly, ruffling Jeongguk's hair. "Eat something before you leave, and take your medicine."

"Okay," Jeongguk nods, forcing a smile.

"Promise?"

"I promise,"

Taehyung nods, kissing Jeongguk's forehead before he turns to leave.

"I love you," Jeongguk calls after him.

"I love you too, see you later," He says before he's gone.

Jeongguk curses under his breath as he climbs out of bed, scrambling for his phone as he stands to get dressed. He finds numerous missed calls from Yoongi, expectedly. He calls him back, trying to come up with an excuse as the line trills.

"What the fuck, Jeongguk?" Yoongi answers immediately.

"I know, I'm on my way," He says pulling on the same jeans he wore yesterday. "I'm running a little late today."

"Yeah, obviously," Yoongi snaps. "I had to tell Doyun that I was getting your prescription filled so you weren't coming in today."

"You canceled my appointments?" Jeongguk asks, sighing as he sits down on the end of the bed.

"It's literally two in the afternoon, Jeongguk," Yoongi says, his tone extremely agitated. "Even if you came in now you'd only have, like, two left. What happened to you?"

"I overslept," Jeongguk says. "I was up late last night."

"Why do you sound like that?" Yoongi asks.

"Like what, Yoongi?" Jeongguk asks, overly conscious of his voice now.

"You still need to come pick up some paperwork Jimin dropped off," Yoongi says ignoring the question. "It needs to be finished by the end of the week."

"Paperwork for what?" Jeongguk asks, standing and walking to the bathroom.

"They're our contracts, the old ones expired," Yoongi says. "I'll leave yours in your room."

"Okay, I'm on the way now,"

"Alright,"

~

Yoongi eyes Jeongguk suspiciously as he reads over their new contacts. There was something off about him today, he just couldn't pinpoint it.

"What?" He asks looking up from the papers. "Am I not allowed to read the shit before I sign it?"

"You didn't read it before," Yoongi says. "Just fucking sign it so I can take it with me."

"I was nineteen last time I signed one of these," Jeongguk says glancing over the rest of the pages before signing the last one.

"Did you take your medicine today?" Yoongi asks as he takes the contract.

"Sure," Jeongguk laughs. "If it helps you sleep at night knowing that I take it, I'll take it everyday, Yoongi."

"You're acting weird, that's all," Yoongi says putting their contracts in the same folder. "Doyun's going to want negative drug tests from both of us before he can sign off on these."

"I just took a drug test," Jeongguk says. "Not even two weeks ago I took one."

"Alright, I'll see what he says," Yoongi says. "Are you staying here?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna find something to do," Jeongguk says looking around the room. "You don't have to wait around."

"Alright," Yoongi says, pausing for another moment before turning to leave. "See you."

"Yeah," Jeongguk says sitting down on his bed as he watches Yoongi leave.

Yoongi has a strange feeling as he leaves, locking up after himself. He forces himself not to overthink Jeongguk's behavior. Like Jimin always says, Jeongguk wasn't his responsibility anymore.

~

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Seonho shakes his head, laughing as Jeongguk sits down beside him on his couch.

"I just don't get what changed your mind." He says sitting forward and lining up some white powder on his coffee table.

"I've been taking Valium for, like, two months. They took me off of it the other day," Jeongguk explains, looking up and watching the ceiling fan go around and around and around and around and~

"I thought they didn't give that shit to addicts," Seonho says rolling up a twenty dollar bill and handing it to Jeongguk.

"They don't," He says leaning forward. "But they don't know I'm an addict."

"Lucky you," Seonho says watching him snort a line before stopping him. "Alright, don't overdose on my couch."

"Hm," Jeongguk hums, sitting back and closing his eyes.

"Doyun's not gonna come knocking down my door is he?" Seonho asks sitting back as well.

"...No," Jeongguk answers distantly. "It's fine."

"Are you staying here tonight?"

"No...I have to go,"

Seonho reaches over, pushing Jeongguk's head until he's laying on his shoulder. "Are you out of it?"

    "Just..." He start, trailing off for a moment. "I'm just happy..."

    "You don't know what happy is, man," Seonho says before falling silent.

Jeongguk hears everything happening around him for a few more minutes before all he hears is his heart pumping in his ears and his blood rushing through his veins. His throat feels like it's closing, and his fingers twitch as he tries to move.

Fear swells in his chest for another moment before it all goes away, everything disappearing around him.

He listens to the sound of his own breathing as he falls asleep.

~

"Uhm...I'm Taehyung, I'm an alcoholic,"

"Hi, Taehyung,"

Taehyung nods, biting the inside of his mouth anxiously as he looks around the room. He was uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him, waiting expectantly for him to continue.

"What brings you here, Taehyung?" The group leader asks, offering him a kind smile.

"I-I, uhm, I've been drinking for a while. But recently it's gotten worse," Taehyung explains, trying to control the shakiness in his voice. "Someone came into my life recently, and I'm...I'm really mean to them whenever I drink. I love them, and I want to do better for them. So I thought I'd come here and find ways to cope...other than drinking."

"Thank you for being here, Taehyung," The group leader smiles. "I'm sure this person is very proud of you. You should be proud of yourself."

"Thank you," Taehyung nods, offering a small smile as well before she moves on.

"Who would like to share next?"

Taehyung sits back in his chair, sighing as the meeting continues. He felt out of place but he knew that, just like everyone else, he needed to be here.

He was apprehensive about coming, but so far he's glad he did.