The Arrangement

52

Three weeks went by slowly for Taehyung, quickly for Jungkook.

The younger had an overloaded schedule with interviews, rehearsals, and concerts making up most hours of his days. On the contrary, Taehyung's days were relatively free. With most of Big Hit's team on the tour - including Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok - he didn't have his typical singing and dance practices. The remaining staff at the company was convinced V's own tour would be canceled, so they weren't invested in helping the artist prepare.

That left too much free time for the elder.

Jungkook called each and every day, even if he was exhausted and completely burnt out. Some of their conversations were quick, with the younger practically falling asleep before Taehyung's eyes. On rare occasion, the two boys talked for hours on end, easily picking up where they left off. Those times were few and far between, as Jungkook was often being pulled into another obligation.

On top of his mandatory schedule, Jungkook spent a lot of time interacting with his fans on the live web application he was ordered to use. He truly did love interacting with the massive amounts of people, however. He even found a few inside jokes from Taehyung posted in the comments section, which always made him smile like a fool. It made him want to do the best job possible knowing the elder was watching him.

Despite the exhaustion and limited amount of free time, Jungkook loved being on tour. Traveling to new cities, performing in front of thousands, and continuously evolving his craft . . . it was an experience like no other. It was the product of his dreams becoming reality. 

It was everything he used to pray for.

But it did nothing to fill that missing piece of him. The excitement and energy never erased his thoughts of home. Of who his home was. 

Unconsciously he'd look to the wings during a performance, hoping to see Taehyung there.

He never was.

Jungkook wondered when they'd reach the eye of the storm so the other half of his heart could be by his side again.

Over the three weeks that passed, the scandal didn't die down as everyone hoped. Jungkook evaded the media's relentless questioning, but that only seemed to add fuel to the fire. Everyone was focused on cracking the mystery and it was physically tolling for Jungkook to keep up the charade. He'd often call Taehyung complaining about it all, with the elder being supportive and understanding as usual.

But Taehyung was still having a hard time.

He knew his stint as V had come to an end. Even if Big Hit waited to cancel his contract officially, he knew in his heart that his career was over. His fans hated him and he didn't blame them. They put up with so much of his shit over the years and finally decided enough was enough.

Taehyung deeply regretted never showing them who he truly was. If he had the opportunity to do it all again, he'd introduce the world to Taehyung and not V.

Dwelling on those thoughts weren't helping him, so Taehyung tried his best to be productive. With his new source of free time, he spent hours writing new music. Countless lyrics poured out of him, dedicated to a career he never really put effort into. He could only spend so much time on that, however; it was saddening to write words he'd never get to share with the world.

Outside of those quiet moments writing - where his mind went blank and he poured his emotions onto the page - his mind was running rampant. There was too much alone time, with only unhealthy thoughts keeping him company.

With no one to distract him, he realized just how heavily he learned to lean on Jungkook during those moments. Relying on the younger wasn't a bad thing, but Taehyung needed to be able to stand on his own. He needed to be able to pull himself out of his shadows.