Chapter 7

●●●

Months passed and while there certainly wasn't any progress on the research data they were gathering on Jungkook with all the experiments, Taehyung really felt like he was getting closer to Jungkook. At some point he had just given up on not sharing anything about his personal life.

And while he had avoided any information that could possibly help Jungkook find him in case he ever got out he started telling Jungkook more about himself and his own life.

And Jungkook did the same. The only thing Jungkook never really explained any further was his... non-human form. Taehyung was just as uninformed as anyone else involved in this.

But over the months something had clearly changed. Jungkook seemed to only be getting worse. While before the days he had been okay seemed to have outweighed the ones he had been seriously injured, that now seemed to shift.

Most of the time they talked Jungkook was lying down instead of sitting. Sometimes he just listened. At some point, Taehyung asked Jungkook if there was a book he liked and from that point on he just made it a habit to take that book with him for their meetings. If Jungkook was okay they would talk and if the pain was too bad Taehyung would read the book to him.

Over the last two years, Jungkook had grown oddly familiar. Which was a weird situation to be in, since Jungkook still was a prisoner. But nevertheless, Taehyung and Jungkook had developed something similar to a domestic routine. Jungkook made Taehyung feel comfortable even though it shouldn't have been that way.

Taehyung was aware that he was slowly but surely developing feelings for Jungkook that shouldn't have been there at all. This wasn't something that should happen. But he'd just spent so much time with Jungkook... and he genuinely liked him.

Jungkook was fun to talk to.

It was just unfortunate that he was also very dangerous.

But then one day, immediately when Taehyung entered, he could tell that something was different. Jungkook didn't joke around like he usually did. He looked kind of gloomy when Taehyung stepped into the room. His body seemed okay. At least he was perfectly capable of sitting up as he stared into the distance.

"Everything alright?"

For a second Jungkook didn't say anything, instead breathing in deeply before getting up and moving towards Taehyung, sitting down in his usual spot. "Yeah. I was just thinking about my life before this and I kind of miss it."

Taehyung wasn't sure why but that felt like a lie. He couldn't put his hand on what it was. It just didn't feel right. But before he could ask about it Jungkook was already talking again.

"A while ago I declared you my friend against your will... but you never said if you wanted to be my friend too."

That was an... oddly vulnerable statement coming from Jungkook. Taehyung realized that this was what seemed a little off. While it usually felt like Jungkook had his walls up to some extent, right now his eyes were only questioning... there was a vulnerability Jungkook hadn't shown of himself before.

Taehyung smiled. "Of course we are. I thought that was obvious." It was at moments like this that he really hated the glass separating them. Taehyung was a touchy person by nature. He tended to show his affection through physical contact. Patting someone's shoulders, hugs... but he couldn't do any of that even when Jungkook really looked like he needed a hug right now.

"I'm relieved to hear that..." Jungkook looked down at his hands. Something was off. Taehyung had no idea why, but it felt like something had happened. Something that had really affected Jungkook.

"You sure everything's okay?" Once again Jungkook nodded, but his eyes told a different story. He looked sad. And Taehyung didn't know how to deal with it. He'd spent all his life learning how to react to certain situations, to certain emotions, but right at that moment, he wasn't sure what he could possibly do to make Jungkook smile again.

A/N

Second to last chapter... before the epilogue... that will be just as long as this whole thing tbh😂

And the last chapter is super long too so have fun!!!