DYING TO KNOW | TAEKOOK

44. Night Watch

*content warning for adult language, mature themes, and discussion of loss*

When Jungkook stepped into the hallway, his heart collided with his stomach when he saw Taehyung, who was now dressed, leaning against the wall, just looking at him.

He rubbed his forehead with one hand and pulled Taehyung with the other, coaxing the older to follow him downstairs.

"Did you hear all of that?" he asked, voice low with dread.

Taehyung made a face and nodded, "Yeah, pretty much," he sighed, not bothering to apologize for it.

Jungkook crossed his arms and put his fist under his chin, "Okay. Well, I'm not really sure what to say," he mumbled, all frozen and cracked inside.

It was hard to ignore the panic licking at his throat.

"Is it okay to talk about this later? I feel terrible for this but I really need to go," he apologized, shrugging.

Taehyung nodded, stepping closer to kiss him softly, "It's okay. I got it," he whispered, gazing at the younger with muddy, busy eyes.

"Is it okay? Like, really?" Jungkook asked, desperately anxious.

The older half-shrugged, "Probably as okay as it can be," he relented, kissing Jungkook one more time and nodding.

Jungkook walked towards the door, but turned around to say one last thing, putting a hand to Taehyung's cheek and whispering in his ear.

"So, she doesn't know about my whole thing. Just a heads up, in case you two end up talking," he said with a wince.

"And to be honest, it should stay that way," he finished, retreating with an apologetic look on his face.

Taehyung gaped at him, mouth hanging open, but didn't have a chance to reply before Jungkook waved and dashed out of the suite.

♾♾♾

"Hey, Joonie, I need to go," Jimin said softly, putting a hand to the older's cheek and pecking his lips.

Namjoon looked crestfallen, "What? I thought we were going to the botanical garden," he questioned, eyes going big.

Jimin sighed, "We were, I know. I'm so sorry, Jungkook just texted me, there's an issue over at his hotel," he said, wrinkling his nose and frowning.

Namjoon inhaled slowly through his nose, "Jimin, we've talked about this so many times," he began, voice dense with restraint.

"We have but it's not that Jungkook needs something, it's that my sister is there. Sounds like a fucking disaster," the younger muttered, shrugging and stuffing his feet into a pair of Dr. Martens and calling a car.

Namjoon furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what he could and couldn't say without breaking confidentiality .

"Is everything alright? Do you need help?" He offered, tightly packing up his disappointment that the younger was leaving.

Jimin shook his head, "I'm okay, I think I just need to hold down the fort til he gets back but it sounds pretty bad," he frowned.

"I guess my sister showed up completely unannounced and, um, pregnant but then had some kind of false start right in his fucking hotel suite," he explained, gesturing weakly.

The realization dawned on Namjoon as his eyes widened and he shut his mouth tightly.

"It really sucks. She might have made out like a bandit financially but she lost everything else in this," he sighed.