MARLBORO NIGHTS | VKOOK ✓

12

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PART TWELVE
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Taehyung couldn't sleep.

Guilt was consuming him whole; the fact that Jungkook was sleeping downstairs on the couch even though he was injured wasn't leaving Taehyung's mind. He felt guilty for taking the man's bed when he was just a guest.

The boy could just imagine how uncomfortable or cold Jungkook must be.

A quiet sigh left him and he wriggled out of the warm sheets; his feet touching the cold floor. He flinched at the feeling with a slight pout on his lips, before walking over to the door. Taehyung peeked his head out and was met with nothing but darkness.

Not turning on the light in risk of waking Jungkook up, he slowly stepped down the stairs, tightly holding onto the railing in case he missed a step. The faint scent of the vanilla scented candles invaded his nose and a dim light took place in his sight, replacing the terrifying but also comforting darkness.

Taehyung furrowed his brows for a second, till realization hit him. Jungkook wasn't asleep as well. And hell; just the plain thought of being able to spend even more time with the ravenette made Taehyung feel as happy as ever.

When his feet finally touched the bottom of the stairs, he didn't hesitate to waddle over to the living room, which he adored so much. His gaze snapped to Jungkook, who was lazily sitting on the couch with a glass of what seemed to be whiskey in his hand.

"Jungkook?" He asked carefully and the boxer flinched in surprise, turning his head to the side. The boxer placed his glass onto the small table again. "Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked with an even more raspy voice than usual.

"I was worried about you and..um..couldn't sleep. Maybe it's because I almost never sleep at night — I'm not really sure." Taehyung mumbled, gaze fixed on the alcohol. "Why are you drinking?"

The older smiled weakly. "That's nothing you should worry about. And don't worry, I'm not drunk." He said, making Taehyung unknowingly relax. He had seen Jungkook drunk before; the night where they first met. But he didn't know if Jungkook could even remember it.

Hesitantly, Taehyung walked closer to the couch and sat down beside the ravenette, who didn't tear his gaze off him even one second. "You shouldn't drink." He murmured and finally glanced at Jungkook as well, eyeing him worriedly.

The ravenette lifted his hand and combed a few strands of Taehyung's brown hair out of his face. "And you really shouldn't think about these things." He mumbled quietly. Taehyung frowned. "But it's not healthy."

Jungkook sighed and leaned his head back against the backrest of his couch. "I know." He just replied. "Then why are you doing it?" The younger asked and lifted the glass to his nose. He sniffed at it; a grimace forming on his face right after. "It helps." Jungkook whispered into the dim lit room.

Taehyung shuffled a tad closer to the man and grabbed his calloused hand into his own. "Helps with what?" He moved his thumb over Jungkook's hand in a comforting manner, trying not to touch the bruises at all. The ravenette lifted his head again to look at him, glancing at their hands, before intervining their fingers and squeezing the boy's hand shortly.

"You wouldn't understand." Jungkook muttered, making Taehyung frown again. "I think I'd understand it very well. I'm a smoker, because of my parents. You can tell me about it; I won't judge you, Jungkook." He said and the older couldn't help the small curve of his lips at his words. "You're cute."

Taehyung blushed. "Don't try to change the topic." He huffed and let out a quiet squeak, when Jungkook sat up again; their faces only inches apart. "But I'm just stating the truth." The man answered. "Stop." The younger murmured with crimson red cheeks, making Jungkook laugh a bit. "Alright, alright." He said and leaned back again, still holding tightly onto the other's hand.

Silence took over them after that and Taehyung couldn't help himself from staring at Jungkook the whole time. He felt weird. He didn't know what this feeling was, but he enjoyed it. Probably way too much.

The boy only snapped out of his thoughts, when Jungkook leaned forward again to grab himself his glass filled with alcohol. Before Taehyung could even say anything, the other had already chugged it down in one go. "You-"

Jungkook lifted his brow at him and shushed him. "You should go to sleep." He said and Taehyung scoffed. "So you can get drunk? No, thank you, I pass."

"I'm gonna get drunk either way. But I don't think you enjoy seeing someone like that, so I suggest you go back to sleep." The boxer replied with a roll of his eyes and this time grabbed the whole bottle of whiskey. "Your choice."

Taehyung swallowed heavily, as he watched how Jungkook lifted the alcohol up to his lips. He didn't know what came over him, but he didn't hesitate to pull the alcohol out of the man's grip. Jungkook clenched his jaw slightly. "Taehyung. Give it back."

"No. If I have to stop smoking, you have to stop drinking." He said with narrowed eyes directed at the boxing champion. "I'm an adult, I can do whatever the fuck I want. You're still a teenager. You have your whole future ahead of you and what you're doing could ruin everything. But my life is already fucked up, so I don't see why I should stop doing anything."

The boy blinked a bit startled. "You're 24."

"And? What about it?" Jungkook asked with a scoff. "You are 24. You have your whole life ahead of you as well! Don't talk like your life will be over soon." Taehyung protested and placed the bottle back onto the table. "Listen — I know it's hard to stop doing these things. But if you try and do your best, then you can do it, okay? You don't need alcohol to help with whatever you're struggling with; talk to someone. It doesn't have to be me, if you don't want to, but let someone help you, Jungkook."

The boxer closed his eyes shut and let out a deep breath. "I won't talk to anyone about it, because I know they wouldn't understand. Maybe you're right, maybe you'd be the only one to actually understand me. But you're 17; I won't tell you about my problems in life and pressure you into thinking you have to help me with it."

"You're not pressuring me into anything. And I told you about my parents as well, because I trust you, Jungkook. I didn't expect you to help me at all..I just wanted to get it off my chest and tell someone about it, who'd finally believe me. Telling someone about your problems doesn't mean you want them to help."

Jungkook rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I...I just can't talk about it, Taehyung. That's why I prefer keeping everything to myself and just drink to forget about it. It's a never ending cycle." He said and the younger hummed. "It's not easy to talk about things that bother you, I know. But you should never drink to forget something, because it won't last long and everything will just repeat itself."

Taehyung moved even closer to the older and grabbed his face into his hands, moving his thumbs over Jungkook's cheeks. "It's fine if you don't want to tell me about it, but please — promise me to stop drinking."

Their gazes locked and the younger could swear he never saw such intense eyes before. Jungkook moved his hands up to Taehyung's on his face and brought them back down. "I can't." He said quietly.