Part 2
Next evening , their apartment
The quiet hum of the refrigerator was the only sound in the kitchen. Jungkook stood at the counter, phone in hand, reading the latest lab notification. His eyes traced the lines of the report with a doctor’s precision: E. coli persistent. Sensitivity shows multi-dose therapy required.
He exhaled slowly. One shot wasn’t enough.
The clinical part of his mind clicked into gear—two more injections, spaced 24 hours apart. Straightforward for any other patient. But this patient was Kim Taehyung.
Jungkook set the phone down and rubbed the back of his neck. He could already hear the dramatic protests, the cushion-hugging, the endless bargaining for “just pills.” Convincing Taehyung was going to take more than a lecture. It would need the same mix of teasing, coaxing, and quiet authority that only an older brother could manage.
From the living room came the sound of a video game. Taehyung’s laughter rose and fell, carefree, as if yesterday’s injection had never happened. Jungkook leaned in the doorway, watching his brother lounge on the couch in loose sweats, a controller balanced on one knee.
“Hyung, you’re blocking the screen,” Taehyung said without looking up.
Jungkook crossed his arms. “Game can wait. We need to talk.”
Taehyung finally glanced over, suspicion flickering across his face. “That tone… Why do I feel like I’m in trouble again?”
Jungkook stepped closer, voice calm but firm. “Because you are. The lab called. One injection isn’t enough.”
The controller slipped from Taehyung’s hands and landed on the carpet with a soft thud. “What do you mean not enough?”
“I mean,” Jungkook said, settling beside him, “your infection’s stubborn. Two more doses. Tomorrow night and the night after.”
Taehyung’s eyes widened, horror dawning. “No. Nope. Absolutely not. My butt is still traumatized.”
Jungkook bit back a smile. “Your ‘butt’ will survive. Your kidneys might not if we stop now.”
Taehyung grabbed a pillow and hugged it defensively. “Hyung, it still feels like a furnace back there. You can’t possibly—”
Jungkook leaned closer, lowering his voice into a playful challenge. “Want me to chase you again? I’m faster.”
Taehyung narrowed his eyes. “That’s blackmail.”
“It’s brother-care,” Jungkook corrected, tapping Taehyung’s forehead with a finger. “And you know I’m right.”
Taehyung flopped sideways on the couch like a wounded hero.
“My poor backside is still throbbing,” he declared, clutching the pillow as if it could shield him from medical reality. “It feels like I sat on a volcano for a day and a half. You’re asking me to double the trauma? Hyung, this is cruelty of the highest order.”
Jungkook couldn’t help the laugh that slipped out. “A volcano? Yesterday you said it was a campfire.”
“It evolved overnight!” Taehyung shot back, eyes wide with righteous suffering. “Every time I move, it reminds me of your betrayal. Even the chair squeaks in sympathy.”
Shaking his head, Jungkook reached over and ruffled the mess of brown hair that was sticking up from Taehyung’s dramatic collapse. “You sound like one of my pediatric patients.”
YOU ARE READING
✨Beneath The Mask ✨
FanfictionHey! So this is just a little collection of medical oneshots I put together. I'm still a beginner writer, but I really wanted to try and capture those moments you find in hospitals-sometimes scary, sometimes comforting, sometimes even a little heart...
