the front door shut with a "bam!"
jungkook waited for his hyungs' voices to fade out before turning to smile at taehyung, who mirrored his enthusiasm, grinning like a mad scientist.
"let's go," taehyung said, rushing to the kitchen immediately. jungkook followed his hyung to where a boiling pot of noodles grew stronger in scent, filling the air with a salty thickness that almost brought tears to jungkook's eyes. they were finally allowed to pig out on junk food and he couldn't be happier.
"should we make rice too, hyung?" jungkook asked, watching the simmering ramen like it was his first born. taehyung came up behind him, resting his chin on jungkook's shoulder. he hummed and snuggled into jungkook's neck. "hyung!" jungkook exclaimed suddenly, making taehyung chuckle. "how about some snacks?"
"sure, jungkook-ah, whatever you want."
jungkook grinned, turning around in his hyung's arms. "okay, but you promised to pay, remember?"
taehyung laughed, "ya!" he nudged jungkook's cheek with the back of his hand, "go set the rice cooker, i'll watch the ramen." jungkook pouted but left the kitchen to rummage through their suitcases for the rice cooker they'd brought.
it wasn't often that the two of them got the same day off, let alone a whole night to themselves in a fancy hotel room, in a foreign country, without manager-nim or sejin hyung tailing their every step. seokjin, hoseok, namjoon and jimin had a schedule tonight and yoongi was back in korea, producing the final tracks for their next album. manager-nim had gone with him as his shoulder was still healing, and sejin hyung had gone out with the others for their first interview in the states.
jungkook smiled to himself as he washed the rice bowl in their sink. the daunting nature of being alone with his youngest hyung set off sparks in his body. he was so happy that he had this time with taehyung. there was no expectation for this evening, no need to be jeon jungkook, the idol, the golden child, the best at everything. he could lay back on their couch, eat to his heart's desire, and hang out with taehyung like they used to when they were trainees.
"jungkook-ah, remember to wipe the bowl before you open the cooker!" taehyung called from the living room. the sound of their netflix account being turned on made jungkook's heart jump with excitement. he didn't know when his hyung had left the kitchen, but he found taehyung's distracted nature endearing. after spending so many years with him, he'd learned how to appreciate his hyung's childish moments. "and add more eggs to the ramen!"
"yes!" jungkook called back. he shook his hair out of his face and flicked the bowl a few times, turning off the tap. some eggs sounded good.
-
surfing through netflix, taehyung hummed an abstract melody under his breath. it had been stuck in his mind all day long, and was from some healthcare advertisement he'd seen a million times on youtube. he tapped his foot to the beat and found that he couldn't stop smiling at the cute mumblings coming from jungkook as he set up their rice cooker. taehyung couldn't see him, as the couch was faced away from the kitchen, but he could picture jungkook's furrowed brows and wide eyes, fully concentrated on-
a sudden zap crackled through the air.
taehyung felt his heart stop, fingers frozen on the remote control, feet glued to the carpet below, and worst of all, unable to hear jungkook anymore. taehyung tore himself off the couch, whipping around to see...nothing?
he raced into the kitchen and almost dropped to his knees at the sight of jungkook.
his baby brother was on the ground, metal earing glistening against stark white tiles, which slowly turned a deep red. jungkook's eyes were covered messily, his raven curls a strange contrast to all the white and red engulfing his pale body.
