The Survivors | Taekook [✔]

2

"Thanks."

For a while, they ate in silence. Taehyung, although eating, never let his eyes leave the younger. His watchful gaze made Jungkook slightly uncomfortable, but he did not show it.

"You know, it's not healthy to bottle up your emotions like that. You cried for two hours straight." Taehyung's voice was a disturbance to the silent air.

Jungkook looked at the ground, finding a curled fern leaf to fiddle with. It was dry and crumbled between his fingers.

"Most of my life I didn't have a choice."

Taehyung swallowed the last grape, tilting his head.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" The older asked quietly.

His gentle voice was coaxing; Jungkook was tempted by it like a feral cat to an outstretched hand. But this cat was from dark alleyways and refused to leave the safety of darkness. Taehyung understood this as Jungkook shook his head.

"Ok, but if you ever do, I'll be here to listen." A promise to come back at the same time tomorrow- a swear of reliability. This was how you gained an alley cat's trust. "Now you must be thirsty. You lost a lot of water." Taehyung inquired, discretely studying Jungkook's tear-stained cheeks.

"Yeah." Jungkook agreed.

Taehyung sat up on his knees, slipping two supporting arms underneath Jungkook's body. Like this, he stood. The trek to the stream was silent, much like most of their lives, until Jungkook spoke.

"Are you going to have to carry me everywhere we go until my leg heals?" There was an underlying dread that Taehyung did not catch.

A moment of consideration passed, Taehyung pursing his lips, tilting his head, and finally,

"Yeah, pretty much."

This confirmed Jungkook's fears. A moment more of silence. What could be done? Nothing the boy could think of. So, with an effort, he relaxed his tense shoulders, deciding to take challenges as they come.

With this newfound mindset, Jungkook slipped into a more playful state. He had no more bottled up emotions; nothing more to dwell on or hide. Perhaps he could learn to trust Taehyung. But that would start with lighthearted jokes.

Scoffing dramatically, he whined, "But you're so slowww... Can't you go any faster~?"

Taehyung raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Jungkook's face. The intense, cold boy was looking up at him with his bottom lip stuck out in a pout and a glint in his eyes. He was joking. Taehyung smirked, huffing,

"Let's see."

His grip on Jungkook's body tightened. The younger felt Taehyung's muscles tense as he bent his knees, relished in the way those muscles released in an explosion of power as he started running. Those muscles were on his side, that strength was his shield. Taehyung was his protection. A sense of safety washed through Jungkook's veins, though for some reason his heart fluttered. 

Jungkook clung to the older's neck for dear life, somewhat afraid of being dropped. Despite this, his laughter filled the air. Taehyung smiling at the sound. Perhaps he would've laughed, too, but he was breathing too hard to do so.

Once they had reached the stream, Jungkook was smiling like a giddy child. Taehyung set him down gently on the bank.

"Jungkook, you have a really nice laugh," Taehyung panted without much thought. Once the words left his lips he blushed.

Jungkook blushed more than Taehyung, lifting a hand to cover his cheeks. "I haven't laughed like that in years," He murmured. Only the last two words were a lie.

Taehyung smiled brightly, ruffling the younger's hair.

"I'm glad I was able to make you happy." 

Jungkook blushed harder and looked at the ground. 

Taehyung crouched beside him, slipping a finger under his tucked chin. with little effort, he lifted the younger's chin with a finger. 

"Cute."

Jungkook quickly shied away and looked in the other direction.

"Oh, and guess what else I got while I was out? Cups!"

Taehyung slid his backpack off and took from it a plastic cup, which he handed to Jungkook.

"Oh, thanks! This'll make it way easier." Jungkook exclaimed, taking the cup.

When the two were finished drinking, Taehyung put the cups away and picked Jungkook up again. This time, he was holding Jungkook in more of a sitting position. Jungkook leaned against the older's shoulder.

"Taehyung?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything."

Taehyung stopped walking and looked down at Jungkook, who looked up at him. Jungkook blushed a deep red color, as their faces were just centimeters away. Taehyung only smiled and said,

"You're welcome."

***

Once they were home, Taehyung sat Jungkook down on a log which was placed near his fire pit. The older then started to pick the fronds off some nearby fern plants. He changed the ferns on his makeshift bed, expanding its perimeter as well, so as to make it big enough to fit the two of them comfortably. When he was done, he turned to Jungkook.

"Are you tired?" he asked, "I know all that crying probably wore you out."

"No, I'm fine," Jungkook replied. Thought he was quite tired, he was acting out of habit.

Taehyung sensed that the younger was lying, but having just established good relations with him, the older was hesitant to call him out.

"Alright," he replied reluctantly, "Anyway, I'm going to cook some dinner. We're having hot dogs tonight."

"How on earth did you get hot dogs?" The younger asked.

"From the grocery store. The refrigerators of the one a couple kilometers from the intersection still have power."

With two sticks in a 'v' formation and one spinning between them, Taehyung skillfully lit up the fire pit. Then, he skewered two hot dogs on sticks and set them over the fire to roast. It was obvious Taehyung was quite used to cooking over a campfire. 

As Taehyung watched the hot dogs roast, he noticed Jungkook struggling to keep his head up. The sun was setting and the night brought a cool breeze. The younger shivered. Taehyung pulled Jungkook onto his lap so that he faced sideways. Jungkook did not protest. Instead, the boy closed his eyes and snuggled into the older's chest. Taehyung's heart fluttered, and seeing as Jungkook's ear was pressed to the older's chest, he hoped the younger hadn't heard it. Jungkook relished in the warmth as he started to nod off, letting out a huge yawn. A smile formed on Taehyung's lips when he saw.

"Goodnight." he whispered softly.

Jungkook fell asleep in Taehyung's arms, trusting that the older would be there when he woke up.