CAPTIVE | JIKOOK

Where Are We?

Jimin sits on the bed, staring at the tubes in his hand and looking up at Jungkook questioningly, he tries to understand the information that is being presented to him.

"They say: vash back and a-pul-y tree times a dey." Jungkook points at the blue and white tube. "Aond whean new skieen comes," he points at the baby pink tube, "a-pul-y libearalee."

Jimin stares at Jungkook and then back at the tubes, blinking in confusion, his mouth slightly open, trying to form a question. He can't, he doesn't know where to start.

"Is I say rehight?" Jungkook frowns, worried that he has forgotten information or has gotten it wrong.

Jimin shakes his head no, then realizes he's answering Jungkook's question wrong. He looks up into Jungkook's face and nods his head yes.

Jungkook looks relieved that he has properly remembered what he had to memorize and passed along the correct information.

Jimin ignores Jungkook at the present moment, trying to understand. The blue and white tube is covered in English characters boldly proclaiming whatever the product name is in thick blue letters. In tiny font under the product name 'Complex Polymyxin B Ointment' is printed in English, or what he assumes is English. He can't exactly recognize the words.

The pink tube was printed in multiple translations, including Korean so that he could get the gist of the package, something about vitamin E and other lotion.

"More Korean?" Jungkook asks, trying to get Jimin's attention.

Jimin nods absentmindedly. "Yeah, sure," he answers. He stares at the tubes in his hand as Jungkook climbs halfway under the bed to retrieve the supplies.

Jungkook was slow and achy when they woke up, but now he is bright-eyed and seems to have more energy than the day before, which confused Jimin to no end. The two from upstairs had come and beaten the crap out of him and then come back the next day and treated the wounds they had created. He couldn't understand what was going on.

"Colors!" Jungkook exclaims from his kneeling position next to the bed when he pulls out the crayons, then slaps a hand over his mouth, looking extremely concerned.

"Fuck! I know!" Jimin yells loudly, exaggerating a smile and raising his eyebrows, hoping that his 'Fuck' was loud enough to cover Jungkook's 'culurs-or whatever' that he yelled. "They brought crayons, I forgot to tell you!"

"Cray-owns?" Jungkook tries out the new word.

"Yeah, now we can work on colors," Jimin says with a smile. He begins without further introduction. "Blue..."

.

Jungkook holds up a picture almost exclusively in brown. There is a long counter and bottles of different colors behind the long counter, in all of the colors of the box of crayons.

Jimin looks at him questioningly, making a guess about what it is, but not offering the word until they are on the same page.

Jungkook holds an invisible glass in front of himself and drinks it down, then plasters on a happy face and wobbles.

"Bar," Jimin says and points at the picture.

Jungkook makes a face sizing up the word and nods. "I at bar. I dring a loot!" He makes exaggerated motions with his arms. "I goat..." Again he plasters on a happy face and wobbles.

"You got drunk," Jimin says finishing the sentence for Jungkook.

"Yes, and I..." Jungkook stands up and walks across the room.

"Walk," Jimin offers.

"Yes." Jungkook pulls a second picture out. It's a blue house, with a wide garden of green grass in front.

"House," Jimin smiles at the image of Jungkook's home in crayon.

"But they," Jungkook points at the ceiling, "come, I not go house. I come heeare."

Jimin is confused...maybe his assumptions about Jungkook's accent are wrong. Or maybe Jungkook is an American, but he was staying in Korea before he was kidnapped. Or, Jimin frowned deep in his thoughts, perhaps Jungkook was kidnapped in America and they were still in America.

He paled at the thought. If he managed to get out and away, would he be trapped several time zones away from his homeland?

"Jungkook, where is your house?" he asks carefully, pointing at the picture.

"LA," the other boy answers simply.

Jimin pales at the thought. Could he be in America? "Do you know where 'here' is?"

Jungkook frowns, trying to understand.

Jimin's chest tightens and his heart pounds. The thought is absolutely ridiculous. He's teaching Jungkook Korean, but if they were in America, it should really be Jungkook teaching him English.

"Jungkook, is 'here' LA or Korea?"

Jungkook frowns, shakes his head, and raises his shoulders.

Jimin is clear on one thing: he has absolutely no idea where he is.

.

When the light dims enough that they can't see anything anymore they climb into bed.

Jungkook curls up against Jimin, tucking his head under his chin.

Jimin pauses for a few moments and then wraps his arms around Jungkook, pulling him tightly to him.

.

Jimin feels good. He can feel himself drifting towards waking, but he is too relaxed to bother with the effort of opening his eyes. For the moment he feels safe and happy and aroused. The dream he is having is amazing but as he wakes it slips slowly out of his mind.

After a while he can't remember the dream, he can only focus on the delicious friction he can feel. He thrusts against it again and moans a soft breathy moan which clears some of the dregs of sleep from his mind.

Sleepily he opens his eyes and rears back from Jungkook's face, which is so close he feels his eyelashes on his own cheek.

When he has the space to look at Jungkook's face, Jungkook avoids eye contact, which is Jimin's first cue that something is out of sorts. Jungkook's cheeks are flushed a deep pink, his lips are ruby and he is breathing in soft pants.

"I em sorey," Jungkook's eyes flick up to look into Jimin's and then flick away again. He bites his lip.

Jimin can't make eye contact. He can't even start to look into Jungkook's eyes. Instead, he focuses his eyes on Jungkook worrying at his lip. His blood pumps in his veins and a feeling skitters away before it has a chance to rise up and reach his brain. Has Jungkook done to him what he did to Jungkook only a few days ago? Jimin is horrified, embarrassed, and something else he can't put his finger on.

Jimin climbs out of bed and away from Jungkook, he needs space.

.

That day and the next, both of them avoided each other.

In two days they perfected speaking without speaking. The silence was deafening, more uncomfortable than anything else they'd experienced with each other before.

Neither can look into the other's eyes for more than a few seconds.

Touches were avoided at all costs. When they accidently brushed against one another they pulled away as if they had been burned.

Language acquisition is virtually at a standstill. Jungkook sits on the concrete floor away from Jimin and draws small pictures. After he has filled a page with pictures the size of postage stamps, he hands the page to Jimin who writes nouns under each image.

Sleeping arrangements are even more uncomfortable than before, but they solve the problem by sleeping back to back.

And yet Jimin doesn't want Jungkook to go. He simply wants the situation between them to disappear. He can't make it go away unless he says something, but to try to communicate will take so much effort and so many words, he can't bring himself to even start the conversation, so he doesn't. He simply lets the silence speak volumes for them.