Chapter 26

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Jungkook couldn't believe he had a cat now. It was fucking stupid now that he thought about it because while Taehyung had said he would take care of it... Jungkook was trying to get Taehyung out of here as quickly as he could. Why the hell would he accept that then?

But on the other hand... he had always wanted a cat and this one, although he hardly knew it, did have a spot in his heart. He just couldn't believe he had just gotten a cat out of absolute nowhere. Taehyung seemed happy though. Or rather, curious. He kept looking at the cat every time it moved in his arms and Jungkook wondered whether it bothered him that the animal was touching him.

After all, any small touches seemed to be a no go for him, but right now he didn't seem to mind.

"You'll have to let her down while we eat." Jungkook declared as he slipped out of his shoes and took his jacket off. He could see the conflict in Taehyung's eyes as his eyes wandered between his own shoes and the cat in his arms, hesitating before he reluctantly let it down. Really carefully.

At least Jungkook wouldn't have to worry about the cat. Taehyung seemed to treat it more carefully than Jungkook. Although he had to admit it made him pretty happy. Seeing Taehyung happy about something was a nice feeling.

He watched Taehyung startle as the cat boltet from his hands into the living room.

"That's normal. She's somewhere she doesn't know, that's scary." Jungkook explained, gesturing for Taehyung to follow him to the kitchen. "We'll have to go to the pet store tomorrow and buy some stuff, we really don't have anything needed to own a cat... I just hope she won't pee anywhere in the house tonight."

He watched as Taehyung sat down by the table, patiently waiting for Jungkook to finish unpacking and placing the take out on proper plates. They weren't eating anything fancy but at least that way it felt less cheap.

"Today is a weird day. I never thought I'd be getting a cat." Jungkook chuckled amusedly, putting a little of the meat from his portion on Taehyung's plate because he knew how much he liked it.

"Why?"

Jungkook still had a hard time wrapping his head around Taehyung answering him now. He didn't talk much, but he actually asked questions. That was certainly new. Jungkook admittedly kind of liked it. Leading monologues with absolutely no feedback did get a little boring over time.

"Humans don't usually just decide on getting a cat. We plan for a while beforehand. Maybe visit a shelter or two. Go through the cats there and see if maybe one of them likes you or just seems like a good match for you and then you first get all the stuff you need for a pet and THEN, after all of that is done, you buy the animal." He filled two glasses of water. "Also my parents don't like the idea of having to take care of a pet so I was never allowed to get one. It's weird that I can just get one now, the idea just never occured to me. Actually maybe this is kinda nice."

He waited if maybe Taehyung was going to say something before grabbing both of their plates when he didn't. "Let's eat on the sofa. I have been sitting on hard rock all day... I wanna sit somewhere soft."

Taehyung got back up from the table, taking a step back when Jungkook walked past him. Maybe because of the plates or maybe to avoid Jungkook touching him. Jungkook still wasn't good at reading him. His expression was so neutral most of the time. It was probably what made his smiles so much more accomplishing. Because they felt like something special.

He let Taehyung take the sofa while he sat on its sidearm. He wanted to be able to look at Taehyung while still making his boundaries clear.

"Soooo... I told you I wanted to talk to you about the things that make me uncomfortable. So unless you intend to make me uncomfortable you should avoid them... Is that still okay?"

Taehyung nodded, his eyes scanning over the room in search of the cat. Jungkook didn't see it anywhere either, but he knew the apartment was entirely closed off. She was probably just hiding somewhere.

"Okay, so after our little misunderstanding at the pool I'll start by saying this... It's really scary to be forced underwater by you. For you it might have only been a joke, but it's been less than two months since you almost drowned me. I could have died that night and I've had nightmares about drowning ever since, so please don't do that. It's fucking scary and I really don't want to feel that fear again." Jungkook watched Taehyung press his lips into a thin line before nodding. Jungkook was glad he was listening. That they could finally talk about this.

"Good..." He realized that he wasn't eating and neither was Taehyung. "Eat. The food will get cold otherwise."

Once again Taehyung nodded, then he picked up his plate and started eating, humming in approval at the food. It was kind of cute. Taehyung had gotten used to small means of communication that didn't require him to talk but made it possible for him to inform Jungkook whether he liked something, disliked it or hated it. The latter was usually communicated through hissing, but that was also reserved for situations that made Taehyung uncomfortable.

"Okay, so I'll just continue. Uhm..." He thought back to Eunji and his parents. "If we ever meet someone I know, please don't harm them in any way. You're not doing anything to me right now because you need me, but please also don't kill any of my friends or family."

Jungkook could feel relief wash over him when, after a couple of seconds of thought, Taehyung nodded again.

"Thank you." Jungkook smiled and Taehyung kind of awkwardly pulled the corners of his mouth up, like he was trying to return the smile, which looked more like a grimace than anything else. But Jungkook appreciated the gesture. When Taehyung looked back at the plate in his hands he almost seemed relieved to have someplace else to look at.

"If I touch you accidentally, like grabbing your arm or something, I don't mean it as a sign of disrespect. I know you don't like being touched by anyone but Jimin because it's like I'm challenging you when I do, but it doesn't mean the same to me. I try not to touch you most of the time, but sometimes I just forget because I'm stupid or I need to lead you somewhere. When I do something like that just understand that I don't intend to offend you."

Once again Taehyung nodded and Jungkook felt a little weird about how easy all of this was. Taehyung didn't look like he was bothered by the things Jungkook was saying, instead he was mostly focusing on the food Jungkook had gotten him while still attentively listening.

Jungkook had expected him to complain at this point, but he wasn't. He just sat there and looked at Jungkook, at least while he was chewing.

Now Jungkook actually had to think. What were some boundaries Jungkook wanted to establish? He felt a little weird about Taehyung coming with him every time he showered or took a bath, but that wasn't that important.

"Maybe if you want to go to the beach in the evening, warn me before we leave the house because if I don't take warmer clothes with me I end up freezing. Especially now that winter is coming. We can specify a certain sign that tells me we're going to the beach."

This time Taehyung took a little longer to approve, but after a bit he ended up nodding, his eyes once again searching the room for the cat.

"Maybe... I don't know. Just handing me a coat would be fine to be honest. Is that okay?"

Another nod.

Jungkook wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't want to sit by the beach for hours but to a certain extent he understood Taehyung's urge to visit the ocean and also sometimes stay for a few hours. Being on land had to be quite stressful for him, especially from what Jimin had told him.

Taehyung had hardly ever spent a long time on land. When he had visited Jimin and Yoongi he usually only stayed for a day or two at max, but now he was at Jungkook's apartment almost all day long. His only little break was that ocean time and Jungkook didn't want to take it away from him unless needed.

If he did end up having more things he needed to tell Taehyung, he would once they came up. For now there was something else he wanted to say. Especially since he was relieved at how willing Taehyung had been to accept what Jungkook had said and he felt like the things he had blabbered out in his drunk state had been a little unfair.

"Also... I just wanted to say..." Taehyung looked at him and Jungkook could feel himself stutter on his words. Why did Taehyung have this effect on him every single time? Was it like that for everyone? Still, he forced himself to ignore the feeling of having to look at Taehyung in order to continue talking.

"I wanted to say that I don't hate you. I said so while I was drunk because of everything that happened, but I didn't really mean it." He looked down at the floor. "Actually that's even worse. It's what makes all of this so frustrating and confusing for me. I think I kind of like you, which is fucking awful when you're also scared the other person might kill you any second."

He groaned, dropping his head a little. "What the hell am I supposed to feel when you smile at me when I talk about stupid shit but there still is the constant threat of 'hey, maybe you'll decide to eat me at some point' in the back of my head? It just messes with me."

He shook his head. "You know, I want to like you and have fun because having a mythical creature at my house is fucking cool and I should be happy, but trying to survive is a bit of a mood dampener if that makes any sense."

He startled a little when he heard the clanking of Taehyung's plate on the table as he put it down. Jungkook looked up to see what Taehyung was doing just to watch him get up and walk the few steps towards him.

Jungkook had no idea what Taehyung was planning on doing, especially not when he stopped in front of Jungkook, leaned down and... hugged? Jungkook. It was a really awkward hug. Jungkook just froze up because he was scared that moving would count as touching Taehyung, which was ridiculous because Taehyung was hugging him right now, but he was so used to it being taboo that he just didn't move at all.

Taehyung wasn't any better either. His body was just as tense as Jungkook's, his hands completely flat on Jungkook's back as he... patted it? The awkward hug lasted about a second, then Taehyung moved away, his expression looking just as awkward as Jungkook felt.

For a few seconds they just stared at each other, not saying anything. Jungkook kept quiet because what the hell had just happened and Taehyung never really talked and what was he supposed to say right now?

Honestly Jungkook expected Taehyung to leave after whatever had just happened so they could act like this hadn't happened and he would probably get doubts he had just imagined it in like half an hour, but instead Taehyung hesitantly reached his hand out and patted Jungkook's head, just like he had done maybe once or twice before.

Jungkook knew it was his attempt of cheering him up... had that hug just now been the same? Taehyung did watch a lot of TV so it would make sense for him to pick up on things he saw there and try to copy them.

Hugs were often used as a way to comfort people in movies. Jungkook looked up at Taehyung, who was still awkwardly patting his head. That was kind of really sweet, wasn't it?

"Taehyung?"

Taehyung pulled his hand away like he had done something wrong. Some part of Jungkook missed the gesture already. It was really nice for some reason. The knowledge that Taehyung was trying to reassure him was just... relieving and sweet at the same time.

He smiled up at Taehyung. It didn't matter that the hug had been really fucking awkward. It was the thought that counted and it had actually worked. Jungkook felt a little less worried about everything right now.

"Thank you."

When Taehyung returned his smile this time it seemed a little less like a grimace.

A/N

We might be looking towards a bright future zksbsjwbs

Who knows~

And did you like the last three chapters better than Tae just running off and the story ending because that's the only thing that would have made sense?😂