Beyond Repair (Min Yoongi) [UPDATED]

36. Confrontation

It was Christmas Eve and the sounds of the apartment were so familiar in the most satisfyingly domestic way, Yoongi could almost believe everything was back to normal.

Taehyung was playing video games in the living room. Jungkook had brought his painting supplies in from the balcony due to the cold weather but insisted the lighting wasn't right indoors, even next to a window, so he was currently drawing at the dining room table. Yoongi noticed him glancing over every so often to make sure Taehyung hadn't beaten his high score. Namjoon was working on a song at the other end of the table, not as quiet as he probably thought as he hummed along, only slightly off-key, to the melancholy melody blasting through his headphones. If the rhythmic thump of heavy footfalls on the floor above him was any indication, Yoongi was pretty sure Hoseok was dancing upstairs. The telltale aroma of grilled meat wafted through the apartment as Seokjin prepared dinner, having insisted that two weeks of take-out was long enough and they needed a proper, home-cooked meal. It sounded like he was trying and failing to ignore Holly, who very much wanted some of whatever Seokjin was cooking. Jimin was lying across the sofa with his head in Yoongi's lap, pretending to read a book, but Yoongi could tell by the fact that he hadn't turned the page in almost twelve minutes that most of Jimin's attention was on the television and how close Taehyung was to finishing the game.

As for Yoongi, he was reading a book Namjoon had recommended what seemed like eons ago in a futile attempt to distract himself from the urge to scratch at his stitches. He knew it was a good thing for his scars to itch—it meant they were healing—but not being allowed to scratch was unbearable. He now understood why animals had to be coned after a trip to the veterinarian. He often caught himself subconsciously rubbing at his wounds to alleviate some of the itching and had to sit on his hands to keep it from happening again, only for his hands to betray his absent mind again at least once every half-hour. It was more annoying than painful, but Yoongi still kind of wanted to put his head through a wall every time someone pointed out that he was scratching somewhere he shouldn't be.

"Yoongi, you're doing it again," Jungkook called over to him.

Yoongi huffed in irritation with himself and put down his book, consciously weaving both hands into Jimin's hair to keep them in place. He didn't have a chance to thank Jungkook for the reminder, however, before Jungkook did a double-take and bolted from his seat, racing into the living room to stand behind Taehyung and monitor how close he was to beating the video game.

Barely a minute later, Taehyung let out a yell and Jungkook gloated in his face—he'd fallen just eleven points short of beating Jungkook's high score.

Yoongi began idly braiding some of the longer locks of Jimin's hair to keep his hands busy while he watched the 'fight' unfold. Any other day, he might have flinched at the raised voices, but he knew it was all in good fun. It was practically a tradition, at this point; Seokjin and Jungkook had the high scores in every video game they owned and whenever anyone else came close, they'd smugly celebrate their ongoing superiority, much to the irritation of whomever dared challenge them.

Jungkook did a little victory dance while Taehyung hollered a string of curses at him, as well as a very creative suggestion as to where Jungkook could shove his high score. Taehyung then stood and tackled Jungkook to the floor, straddled his hips, and began hitting him with open palms.

A spark of anxiety flickered to life in Yoongi's chest at the sudden escalation of the situation, and it ignited into full-blown fear when Jungkook let out a scream, but then Yoongi squinted, looking closer at Jungkook's face, and saw that he was beaming ear to ear. He was yelling in laughter, not fear, not pain. After taking a deep breath to clear his head, Yoongi realized Taehyung's hands weren't even making any noise when they came in contact with Jungkook's face, chest, and shoulders—it probably tickled more than anything.