Chapter 20

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In the end Jimin decided not to send Jungkook a long ass message but instead tell him himself, which is why he found himself not half an hour later picking Jungkook up for a change.

Standing there, waiting for Jungkook to show up he realised he still hadn't told Hoseok about the recent developments. His best friend was going to shit himself that Jimin was intending to go on dates with Jungkook.

"What are you thinking about that's so distracting that you're basically blind?" Jimin only now noticed Jungkook standing there right in front of him, a shit eating grin on his face.

"How nice it would be if I had a button to make you stop talking shit." Jimin murmured and Jungkook laughed.

"Sorry, not planning on fulfilling that fantasy. There are others I could fulfill though." He grabbed Jimin's hand and Jimin couldn't help blushing a bit. Being close to Jungkook on campus felt weird. Jungkook had a certain reputation and from what Jimin knew, he liked it the way it was.

"So what did you want to talk about so much you came here instead of waiting at home?"

Jimin sighed, searching for a good way to start this.

"Well... I talked to Taehyung today and you two really do suck at communication." Jimin stated. "Taehyung doesn't want to burden you with whatever has been bothering him. That's why he's not telling you about it. Not because he doesn't want to. And then there's you not asking him because you don't wanna pressure him."

Jungkook blinked a couple of times before furrowing his brows. "How... why did you two talk?"

"Because he happened to be home when I got home." Jimin simply stated. "You should really talk to him though. I know he means a lot to you. And you to him. You could help."

Honestly Jimin expected that to be it. He'd given Jungkook the advice to talk to Taehyung, made it clear that they should be there for each other and with that his job should have been done. What he hadn't expected was for Jungkook to force him to tag along all the way home (when Jimin had actually planned to meet up with Hoseok to give them some time alone to do... things once they had made up) and then even pulling him towards Taehyung's room.

Just before Taehyung's room Jimin finally managed to stop Jungkook.

"Kook? Stop!" When Jungkook looked at him, finally listening, Jimin sighed. "What am I even supposed to do in there? I can't just stand there in the corner and listen while you talk it out. That's such an awkward thing." he complained, pulling his hand out of Jungkook's, who glared at him in return, but right now Jimin didn't care.

"Don't make everything awkward for Taehyung?" Jimin tried again, this time in a softer tone. It was weird that he had to explain this to Jungkook. That he had to tell him that Taehyung sharing something that obviously took a toll on him was something intimate and Jungkook couldn't just bring Jimin along.

After a couple of seconds Jungkook finally answered, talking slowly like he was picking the words he used carefully. "Don't worry about that. I'm sure this is okay but if you want I'll ask him once we're inside. Please just come with me, sit down while we're talking and listen. This will be about you too." Before Jimin could protest or ask how this was about him too, Jungkook leaned down, kissing him once before opening the door to Taehyung's room.

As if he had expected them, which was probably the case with how loud they had talked outside, Taehyung turned around, looking at them. Even with how great Taehyung was at hiding his emotions Jimin could instantly see the shadows under his eyes and overall how exhausted Taehyung looked. Silently he hoped that he would now find out what was bothering him.

Slowly Jungkook moved towards Taehyung, coming to a halt before him and leaning down, placing a short peck on Taehyung's lips like he had just done a minute before with Jimin.

With a gentleness Jimin had hardly ever seen before he ran his hands over Taehyung's cheeks down to his neck where he let them rest.

"I brought Jimin along. Is it okay if he listens?" Jungkook's voice was soft. While he had sounded confident about Taehyung being okay with this before, he still left it completely up to Taehyung to decide. Jimin was glad about that.

"Yeah, it's okay." Taehyung nodded, running his hands over Jungkook's waist before turning to Jimin and pointing at his bed, right next to the desk chair. "You can sit there." he offered, sending Jimin a short but reassuring smile before turning back to Jungkook.

Slowly Jimin sat down on the bed, watching the couple interact. At first they didn't talk. Almost scanning over each other's bodies as if that was what they were most familiar with and maybe it was. Jimin was aware that even with what they were... currently they were something along the lines of friends with benefits, at least from what he had gathered. Or more like a couple that didn't do anything a couple usually did. Either way them touching each other, maybe even just to be able to talk, somewhat made sense.
Still, the display of intimacy bothered Jimin... for all the wrong reasons. Not jealousy. Not awkwardness. The main problem was that it made him crave touch too. And that wasn't something he wanted to be feeling when the main reason they were here was because Taehyung hadn't been well recently.

Finally Jungkook's voice cut through the room. Stable and confident, but warm at the same time. Jimin was glad that he wasn't the one who had to do the talking because he was certain that Jungkook was way better at it than he was anyways.
"Let's start off easy... what did you do last week?"

Jimin couldn't see Taehyung's face all that well because Jungkook's body and Taehyung's arms somewhat blocked it, but he could tell that Taehyung was a bit tense. Probably not used to talking about his problems.

"Studying. Lots of studying. Didn't really do much more." Taehyung stated, his hand nervously rubbing over Jungkook's waist.

"Jimin said you've been avoiding me because you didn't want to burden me with what is going on. Is that true?" While the words almost sounded harsh Jungkook's gaze was warm and open. Jimin wondered whether Jungkook was always like this around Taehyung.

"Yeah." Taehyung admitted, no hesitation in his voice. "I've been avoiding you because I didn't want to talk about it."

Jungkook sighed as he sat down on Taehyung's legs, facing him before reaching out and rubbing his thumb over Taehyung's cheekbone. "You're dumb. You know that?" There was no bite to his words. Instead Jungkook chuckled softly and to Jimin's relief Taehyung did too. "I know." Jimin watched as they kissed again, so soft and careful it almost hurt not to be part of that. "Wanna hear something even more stupid?"

Taehyung chuckled. "I even got jealous because of how much time you were spending with Jimin, studying and getting coffee and all that. Even though I was the one avoiding you guys. I just kinda wanted to be there too." Taehyung frowned dramatically, but Jimin felt like most of it actually wasn't for show.

"Sorry, baby." Jungkook whispered and Jimin could feel a cold shiver run down his spine at the petname. It sounded so sweet coming from Jungkook's lips. "I wanted to spend time with you too... we did, but you kept running away." He pecked Taehyung's nose before properly leaning in for a longer, deeper kiss. Jimin turned away. He felt like he was intruding.

"So what happened? Why have you been in such a bad mood recently?" Jungkook asked once they had separated again. Taehyung sighed before turning his head away from both Jimin and Jungkook.

"...'s sick." Jimin furrowed his brows as Jungkook asked for Taehyung to repeat his whispered words.

"Gran is sick." Taehyung repeated again and Jimin could hear his voice break a bit as the boy continued turning his head away.

Instantly Jungkook's gaze darkened. "She's sick? How bad is it?" he asked worriedly, his arms instantly wrapping around Taehyung, pulling him into a tight hug, where he could hide his face in Jungkook's shoulder. Hesitantly Taehyung brought his arms up around his shoulders and buried his face in Jungkook's shoulder. The whole exchange looked so soft... intimate. Jimin really felt like he was intruding. He shouldn't have come here when Taehyung was clearing going through some hard times.

He needed Jungkook's affection right now and Jimin's presence was going to make everything more awkward for them.

"It's not that bad. They already said she's better and all, but I haven't been able to visit her and they don't even have a good enough connection for me to call her." Taehyung mumbled into Jungkook's shoulder and Jimin was almost certain he was crying. "It has just been making me feel so useless lately. What if it had been something serious? I wouldn't even be able to say goodbye because it's a five hour ride from here." His voice sounded so small in comparison to usually.

Jimin wanted to do something to help Taehyung, stop him from feeling so bad, but he had no idea what, so he let Jungkook take care of Taehyung, well aware that Jungkook knew best what he needed right now.

"You're not useless." Jungkook hushed, slowly running his hand up and down Taehyung's back. "Your gran is a strong woman and you know how happy she is that you're visiting your dream college here. She might be a bit sick at the moment but you know her, she'll probably outlive all of us." Jungkook said in a joking tone and to Jimin's relief he could hear Taehyung chuckle too, even if it was weak.

"You're probably right." Taehyung didn't let go of Jungkook, forcing him to stay there and continue running his hand over Taehyung's back. Not that the boy seemed to mind.

They stayed like that for quite some time, a comfortable silence settling over the room. It seemed to work, Taehyung finally untensing a bit, breathing out slowly.

Hesitantly Jimin got up and walked over too. He wanted to show Taehyung his support too... somehow. When Jungkook noticed him he moved his hand making a bit of space for Jimin to pat Taehyung's back too. Hesitantly he placed his hand on Taehyung's back, dragging it over the soft fabric of Taehyung's T-shirt a few times. God he was fucking awkward. Since when was he so socially incapable.

"Jimin." Jimin startled at Taehyung's voice. "Stop being awkward and massage my scalp like you did when we were watching TV if you wanna do something."

Jungkook chuckled, while Jimin blushed ever so slightly, softly hitting Taehyung's shoulder. "Since when do you get to order me around?"

Nevertheless Jimin did it, running his hand through Taehyung's hair and once again enjoying how fluffy it was.

After maybe a minute of Taehyung enjoying the affection he received from both of them Jungkook spoke up again. "There is something I'd like to talk to you about."

A/N

Second to last chapter of the second part of this story<3