Scars

"Wow,"

Jeongguk chuckles as he drops Taehyung's things on the bed, being careful of his medication kit.

"This room seems a lot bigger than the ones at headquarters," Taehyung mentions as he looks around, silently admiring the layout.

"It was the captain's quarters back when the craft was operating," Jeongguk explains. "There's only one room like this in each spacecraft, the others were built in by us."

"And why do you get this room?" Taehyung asks, walking over to where Jeongguk was standing.

"Because Noeul likes me so much," He says with a short laugh.

"Does he have a thing for you or something?" Taehyung asks, crossing his arms in an attempt to not feel so awkward standing there.

    "No, I think he's only nice to me because of you honestly," Jeongguk says sitting down on the edge of the bed with a sigh, patting the spot next to him.

    "Is there a way I could radio in to Seokjin?" Taehyung asks without sitting down. "He asked me to."

    "No, there's not, sorry," Jeongguk says smugly, his tone anything but sorry. "Seokjin will just have to trust that I'm taking care of you."

    "Why did you want me to come here anyway?" The silverette asks, sitting down after hesitating for a moment.

    "Because I want you here," Jeongguk shrugs. "Do you want to be here with me?"

    "Does it matter? I'm already here." Taehyung says forcing himself not to break eye contact the second it becomes too much.

Jeongguk hums in acknowledgment of his words but he doesn't say anything, he just continues to look at him. His eyes travel over his features, lingering on his lips for a moment so brief that Taehyung almost misses it.

    "What?" Taehyung asks, his voice betraying him by wavering slightly.

    "Nothing," Jeongguk says with the same unreadable expression.

    "Then can you stop looking at me like that?" Taehyung asks. "It's weird."

    "Do you wanna take a shower?" The ravenette asks unprompted. "You can wear my clothes."

Taehyung doesn't get to answer before Jeongguk is standing and walking away.

    "You can take the bed tonight, I'll sleep on the couch until we can put together a permanent sleeping situation for you," Jeongguk says as he walks over to his closet. "Lis uses the extra room for work but I'm sure she'd let you take it over if you wanted."

    "What do you mean a permanent sleeping situation?" Taehyung asks in confusion. "Jeongguk, I'm not staying in Solis permanently."

Jeongguk looks over and Taehyung can tell he's genuinely shocked by his words. "No?"

    "No," Taehyung says. "I have an obligation to the commune back at 613. I can't just stay here forever, I thought you knew that."

    "No, I did," The ravenette says, it's an obvious lie. "I guess it slipped my mind."

    "I'm sorry if I~" Taehyung starts, but Jeongguk stops him before he can apologize.

    "Don't be," He says closing the closet with a smile, a stack of clothes in his arms. "You can pick from these while you're here. However long you're here for."

Taehyung stands, taking the clothes from him, not missing the snarky edge to his voice when he said the last part. "Thank you."

Jeongguk nods. "You're welcome."

    "I came because I wanted to see what your life was like here," The silverette says, still feeling the need to try and make up for the misunderstanding. "I wanted to make sure you were okay here."

    "And what were you going to do if I wasn't?" Jeongguk asks, humor shining behind his eyes as he waits for a response.

    "I don't know," Taehyung says. "I guess I would've taken you back to 613."

    "I'm wouldn't go back to 613,"

    "Why?"

Jeongguk shrugs, the smirk that was playing on his lips gone. "Too many bad memories I guess."

Taehyung nods, swallowing harshly as he becomes suddenly aware of the little space that's between them. "What if you like it there now. It's different."

    "It's different here too," Jeongguk says. "That doesn't seem to be much of a determining factor."

    "Are you mad at me for not staying?" Taehyung asks, hating himself for even asking the question. He didn't want to present himself in a vulnerable way, it was too easy for Jeongguk to use his vulnerability against him.

    "No," The ravenette says, Taehyung can't tell if he means it. One thing he missed least of all was Jeongguk's way of never wearing his emotions on his sleeve. "I'm just glad you're here now."

    "Liar," Taehyung pressures.

    "I swear," Jeongguk says unconvincingly before nodding in the direction of the door by the closet. "Bathroom's right there."

Taehyung nods before walking away, hesitating as if he was going to speak again but ultimately deciding not to.

The shower is surprisingly pleasant, although the hot water runs out after about five minutes. It was better than what Taehyung was expecting from the spacecraft's water heater.

He changes into the clothes Jeongguk gave him, finding they hang loosely off his body instead of fitting close like they did on Jeongguk.

He still feels like he's having some sort of out of body experience. Like he had a breakdown and he was living in a fantasy he created for himself inside his own head.

Nothing could convince him that Jeongguk—his Jeongguk—was actually here.

    "You okay?" The devil's voice asks, snapping Taehyung out of his thoughts and back into reality. He realizes that he walked out of the bathroom and was standing in the doorway staring off.

    "Sorry," He says walking over to the bed where his satchel was, now laying empty after Jeongguk put his things away in a spare drawer.

    "It's okay," Jeongguk chuckles softly as he stands from the couch. "Are you sure you're okay?"

    "Yeah," Taehyung says shoving his old clothes in his empty satchel. "I should take my medicine."

    "What happens if you don't take it?" Jeongguk asks as he walks over to his closet.

    "I don't know, I always take it," Taehyung says sitting on the bed and preparing the needle with unsteady hands. It doesn't help that when he looks up he sees Jeongguk pulling his shirt over his head in front of his closet.

Taehyung averts his eyes, trying to focus on the task at hand while stealing a glance here and there. He notices scarring, predominately up Jeongguk's right arm and lightly across his shoulder and upper back.

He tries not to stare when he realizes where the scars must have came from.

When Jeongguk turns around Taehyung quickly makes busy with rolling his sleeve up to give himself the shot.

    "You're shaking," Jeongguk points out, making Taehyung release a breath he didn't know he was holding.

    "I know," He breathes. "Seokjin usually does this part."

    "Do you want me to do it?" Taehyung gives him a look, his lips pursed. "What? How difficult can it be?"

    "If you don't do it right you could kill me so pretty difficult," The silverette says.

    "I won't kill you," Jeongguk says walking over. "Not by accident at least."

Taehyung rolls his eyes, laughing shortly despite himself. "Just hold the needle like this, 90°," He says demonstrating with shaking hands. "Stick it in my arm and push the plunger down all at once, not too slow but don't go too fast."

    "Got it," Jeongguk nods optimistically. "Piece of cake."

    "I'm only letting you do this because I hate needles," Taehyung says handing him the syringe and looking away. "Hurry up."

    "90°," Jeongguk mutters to himself as he places the tip of the needle in same spot that Taehyung did previously. "Do I just do it?"

    "Yeah, just~" Taehyung has to stop himself from flinching away as Jeongguk pushes the needle into his arm.

    "Sorry," Jeongguk chuckles as he presses the plunger all the way down, taking the needle out afterwards. "See, that was easy."

    "I'm glad," Taehyung says taking the dirty needle in placing it in a ziplock bag. "Thanks."

    "Yeah," Jeongguk says walking back to continuing searching through his closet.

    "Your scars," Taehyung says shaking his arm out to relieve the ache already forming.

    "Yeah?" Jeongguk prompts.

    "Did you get them in the accident?" The silverette asks.

    "Yeah," The ravenette says looking at his own arm as if he had to remember that they were there. "Do they bother you?"

    "No," Taehyung says quickly, his brows drawing together. "Why would they?"

Jeongguk shrugs as he closes his closet and looks at him. "They bother some people."

    "I don't see why," Taehyung says gathering the rest of his supplies and placing them neatly back in the case.

    "Yeah, I don't really get it either," Jeongguk says. "If anyone should be uncomfortable it should be me, right?"

    "Do they make you uncomfortable?" Taehyung asks as he closes the case, clicking the latches shut.

    "Not anymore," The ravenette answers. "I forget about this sometimes. Until some asshole brings them up."

    "Sorry, I didn't mean to~"

    "I'm kidding, Tae,"

Taehyung nods. "Well, they don't bother me so..."

    "Good," Jeongguk nods with a small smile. "I'm gonna shower now, don't let Lisa or Kira bother you. I'll be right back."

    "I'll be here," Taehyung says before Jeongguk turns and walks into the bathroom.

Taehyung releases the breath that he always seems to be holding when he talks to Jeongguk.

As much as he wishes it wasn't the case, Jeongguk still felt like a stranger to him.