inked metaphor |tk ✔️

chapter thirty two.

-chapter thirty two-

During the day, Taehyung had noticed that Jeongguk was smiling alot more.

While he was scowling and introverted before, it seemed that the rehab and therapy both contributed to the happier, healthier Jeongguk he was seeing now.

As expected, the younger man had been timid at first, since he'd been gone for a while, but he was more talkative nonetheless as he slowly got comfortable back into his profession.

The day had gone by smoothly, surprisingly, and Taehyung was glad that nobody had been awkward, or walking on eggshells around him and Jeongguk. Of course, Jeongguk was flustered and intimidated when he was confronted by him at the start of their shifts, but as the work day went on, the younger had calmed down, and was able to fall back into tattooing quite quickly with Namjoon's help.

As for Taehyung, He'd been keeping an eye on Jeongguk, too.

He just couldn't believe the transformation that the younger had undergone, and honestly, despite everything that went down, he was just glad to see Jeongguk happy and healthy, a little more mature too.

Rehab did him good.

"He's much more mature, isn't he?" namjoon smiled, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he watched the youngest ravenette talk with a customer at the main counter, before waving her farewell after she'd payed for her ink. "It's a nice change. Rehab's done him some good, but I just wish he told me where he was going."

"Yeah," Taehyung mumbled, looking over Jeongguk's form. Why hadn't Jeongguk told anyone apart from Yoongi? "I'm just glad he's safe."

The younger was now sat with Yoongi behind the counter, smiling wide as he showed the elder something on his phone. Taehyung couldn't help but stare because Jeongguk's eyes were sparkling. They were wide and bambi like, his smile big and toothy -Taehyung had never seen such a joyful expression on the priorly grumpy Jeongguk's face before.

It was nice.

"By the way, have you spoke to him yet?" Namjoon looked at him curiously as he gestured him to follow him into the small staff kitchen. "About what happened?"

"Yeah, this morning." Taehyung confirmed, sighing as he leaned against the counter next to the fridge, watching as the elder began to prepare some coffee. "We didn't talk about it properly, but he explained some things to me. I think we'll talk more in depth after some time, though."

"You're still so forgiving to him." Namjoon smiled softly, looking at the younger as he poured a little milk into his mug. "I know It's unfair of me to ask, but please... don't give up on him. I'm not excusing what he did, but I know that's wasn't a representation of him. He's going to therapy now, he's sober and-"

"I know." Taehyung returns the smile with a nod. "And I won't, hyung. I'll wait for him."

-

Closing his apartment door after a long day, Jeongguk let out a sigh as he turned around, turning his hallway lights on. He looked around his home, taking in the familiar surroundings once again after three months of being away. He hadn't been there in a while and, he knew he had a lot of mess to clean up from the last morning he spent here. Just thinking about that morning made him cringe.

But, he didn't.

Because looking around, he knew someone had been in there and tidied it all up. There was no more broken glass all over the floor, no more pushed over furniture and no more mess. even the curtains were drawn open, letting summer's sunlight flood inside his apartment.

Jeongguk bit down on his bottom and kicked his boots off, leaving them in an untidy heap by the doormat. He shuffled forward and looked around, finding himself smiling softly when he saw the state of his once messy home.

The place had been tidied up; and it all looked fresh. The vase of red roses, that once sat on the coffee table wilted and forgotten, were now replaced with fresh ones. Only this time, they weren't red- they were white.

Upon his inspection, Jeongguk noticed a small post it note on the vase, and he nearly tripped as he darted towards it, picking up with with haste. "It's got to have a name on..." He quickly read it, his breath hitching as tears stung behind his eyes. "I-It was him?"

"ggukie, it's been 3 months now and i don't know when you'll be back or if you even are coming back, but i wanted to make sure you had a clean and tidy home to come back to. i miss you. it feels like you've ran away from me, and... it hurts.
ps: a couple of days ago, i asked yugyeom for his spare key and cleaned the place up so you wouldn't have to worry about the mess when you came home. please, find me when you return. I wanna talk to you.
i hope you're happy and healthy,
-Tae"

Jeongguk didn't know what to do as he stared at the note. He felt the sudden urge to call Taehyung, to ask him to come over so he could just repent for everything. But, though he felt a little better after the talk they had that morning, his guilt was holding him back from further reaching out for the elder.

He couldn't just fall back into what they had; he had changed and he needed time to come to terms with everything. They both needed time.

So with trembling hands, he pocketed the note and swallowed the lump in his throat as he dragged himself to the kitchen to prepare himself some food.

The food that the rehab centre had was good, but it wasn't so nice after a long time. He was glad to be back in his own, safe space.

He peaked into his fridge, expecting to find nothing, and felt a lump grow in his throat when he realised that not only had taehyung cleaned up his mess, but he had also bought his groceries, too. he gulped, slamming his fridge door shut before pulling the cupboard doors open in panic.

everything was restocked and filled up with fresh snacks and ingredients.

jungkook but his bottom lip harshly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Leaning against the counter, He ran a shaky hand through his hair as he clicked on his contacts, finding Taehyung's number before calling it. He put the phone to his ear and let out a shaky sigh as he heard the call be picked up.

"hello, hyung?"

-----

I've been spending quite a lot of time watching various BL series, such as Kinnporsche, Takara and Amagi, semantic error...

I think i'm addicted to them, guys.. :]

-TaesThickThighs