"I was wondering when you were going to come see me,"

Jeongguk walks into Doyun's apartment with his head down, his hand shoved in the pockets of his jacket.

    "I can't stay long so just tell me what you want," He says stopping and facing Doyun. "If you want a drug test I can take it now."

    "I don't need a test, Yoongi already told me what's been going on," Doyun says crossing his arms. "He thinks you need to go away for a while."

    "I'm clean, Doyun," Jeongguk says looking up at him. "I can prove that to you, I just need you to stop fucking with Yoongi's head."

    "How am I fucking with his head?" Doyun asks, an amused smile forming on his face.

    "By telling him you're gonna kick him out," Jeongguk says. "You know if he leaves I'm gone too."

    "And where are you gonna go, Jeongguk?" Doyun asks. "Back to the streets?"

    "If you kick him out, yes," Jeongguk says making him laugh. "I'm serious, Doyun~"

    "You don't think I'm fucking serious?" Doyun asks. "I find out you're using again and you disappear for two weeks, do you even know the shit you're getting yourself into?"

    "I've been clean for fifteen days now," Jeongguk says. "I messed up, okay, I did. But I can't have you putting Yoongi on the street because of me~"

    "You're his responsibility when I'm not around~"

    "I'm not anyone's responsibility, Doyun," Jeongguk says, his heart hammering against his chest. "I can look out for myself."

    "Clearly you can't," Doyun says looking him up and down. "You don't look like you've been clean for fifteen minutes, let alone fifteen days."

    "I can take the test now," Jeongguk says. "But like I said, I can't stay long. So give it to me now."

    "You're really gonna make me hurt you if you keep disrespecting me," Doyun says lowly. "You don't get to come in here demanding shit after you've been MIA for two weeks."

    "Then I'll leave," Jeongguk says trying to walk to the door before Doyun grabs him by the neck, slamming him against the front door and knocking the air out of his lungs. "I swear to god, Doyun~"

    "What?" Doyun asks through clenched teeth, his grip tightening dangerously. "Listen to me, Jeongguk. Are you listening?"

    "Mhm," Jeongguk barely manages to force out, his eyes falling shut as he struggles to breathe.

    "If I find out Seonho's getting you high again I'm gonna hurt him bad, do you hear me?" Doyun asks, his voice low and angry. "You don't want to be responsible for getting someone killed, do you?"

Jeongguk shakes his head, his eyes rolling back before Doyun lets him go. He falls to the ground, coughing as he desperately tries to catch his breath.

    "Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind and really kick your ass," Doyun spits before walking away, leaving him on the ground.

Jeongguk manages to get to his feet even though he's still lightheaded, looking over at Doyun who is now sitting down on his couch watching tv.

    "I fucking hate you, Doyun," He says before walking out of the apartment, slamming the door behind himself.

When he gets to his car he checks his phone, more tears forming in his eyes when he sees he has a missed call from Taehyung. "Fuck," he says as he starts the car, driving back home as quickly as he could.

When he gets there Taehyung is standing in the living room with his phone to his ear. "He just got here," he says, sighing in relief. "Thank you, Yoongi. I'll talk to you later."

Jeongguk immediately feels irritated when he hears him talking to Yoongi, walking past him to go to the bedroom.

    "Where were you?" Taehyung asks following him. "I called you and you didn't pick up your phone. Why weren't you here when I got back?"

    "I don't want to talk about it," Jeongguk says shrugging his jacket off and tossing it on the bed.

    "What happened to your neck?" Taehyung says, his eyes widening when he sees the bruise. "Who did this to you?"

    "I don't want to fucking talk about it, Taehyung!" Jeongguk snaps, walking into the bathroom and slamming door. "Leave me alone!"

    "Tell me where you were, Jeongguk," Taehyung says trying to open the door but finding it locked. "Please tell me you didn't do anything."

    "Stop, Taehyung," Jeongguk says sliding down the door until he's sitting on the floor. "I just want to be alone. Please leave me alone."

    "You know I can't do that, Jeongguk, come on," Taehyung says pressing his forehead against the door. "Open the door."

    "I'm not high right now, Taehyung," Jeongguk says pulling his knees to his chest and putting his head down. "I'm just upset, okay? I need to be alone, is that alright? Can I be alone without you breathing down my fucking neck?"

Taehyung falls silent, he feels the urge to cry but he has no more tears left to cry anymore.

    "I'll be here when you're ready to talk," He says, he isn't sure Jeongguk even hears him before he walks away from the door.

He was exhausted from worrying. Whenever he felt like he didn't need to worry anymore something happened to remind him that he did.

As far as he could tell, he'd be worrying for a long time.

~

    "I don't get why you're upset,"

Yoongi closes his eyes, he was so frustrated. He didn't know what to do with his frustration anymore.

    "You act like Jeongguk wasn't an addict when you met him," Jimin says scrolling through his phone disinterestedly.

    "Why are you so cruel, Jimin?" Yoongi asks leaning against the kitchen counter. "I can't even worry about my friend without you acting like an asshole."

    "You aren't worried about him, you're worried about what's going to happen to you because of him, Yoongi," Jimin says looking up from his phone. "Which I already told you not to worry about. You know I wouldn't let you live on the streets."

    "You don't understand how bad this can get, Jimin," Yoongi says. "You don't know Jeongguk like I do."

    "You're right, I don't," Jimin says. "But I know enough addicts to know how bad things can get. I'm worried about Jeongguk too, I am. But at some point, Yoongi, you just have to realize there's nothing else you can do for him."

    "How can you say that?" Yoongi frowns. "What am I supposed to do? Sit around waiting for him to kill himself?"

    "If he doesn't want it for himself it's not going to happen," Jimin says. "I'm not trying to be cruel, I'm trying to protect you from getting yourself hurt over and over again."

    "You don't know him like I do," Yoongi says. "He doesn't want this for himself~"

    "I'm sure he's told you a million times that he wishes he was different," Jimin says. "That doesn't mean he wants to change, Yoongi. He says that to make you think he's going to change one day, but he isn't. Addicts have to want to get sober for themselves, not for anyone else."

    "Maybe you should just leave," Yoongi says crossing his arms.

    "I'm not saying anything that isn't true," Jimin says. "I work with addicts everyday."

    "You told me Jeongguk wasn't my responsibility," Yoongi says looking down. "You made me feel comfortable with abandoning him when he needed me the most."

    "I made you separate yourself from his addiction," Jimin says. "Because I knew this was where we were headed with him. I knew it from the day I met him. I didn't want to see you get hurt, Yoongi. I don't want you to get hurt."

    "I won't be able to live with myself if I walk away from him, Jimin," Yoongi says honestly. "Unless you can support me and support Jeongguk, then we can't be together."

Jimin nods, standing from Yoongi's couch and walking over to him. "I can't make your decisions for you, Yoongi, all I can do is tell you when you're making a bad one. And this is a bad decision."

    "Please leave," Yoongi says without looking at him.

    "He won't learn until he looks around and realizes he's lost everything," Jimin says. "That includes losing you, and everyone else that cares about him. I'm just telling you to walk away before it's too late."

Yoongi doesn't react to his words, staying silent until Jimin finally walks out of his apartment.

He knew that Jimin was right, to some extent. But he also knew that if he walked away now he'd never forgive himself.

~

four more chapters left.........