Life's a Bumpy (and Bruising) Ride | NamKook

Drinks

The moment Jungkook stepped outside of Seokjin's carpool, he knew he had made a grave mistake.

For the past hour or so, Jungkook had been feeling a bone-rattling vibration rack throughout his entire body, and he had finally figured out, the moment he opened Seokjin's car's door, that the sensation came from the heavily bass-induced music that was blaring from Namjoon's house. Because he could actually make out some of the lyrics that the artist was singing from outside the home, Jungkook could only imagine the sheer volume of it inside.

Wait, he realized with a jolt. If he can feel it, then Namjoon...

He'll know I'm here.

Jungkook blanched and immediately whirled back around toward Seokjin's car, nearly slamming his head against the door that Taehyung was opening.

"Woah, there!" he exclaimed, jerking back the motion of the door so that he halted its rapid movement toward Jungkook's forehead. "And where do you think you're going, Jeon Jungkook?"

Jungkook's throat felt abnormally dry, and he struggled to spout some sort of comprehensible excuse. "I, uh, the music is too loud and--and I just realized that I have the afternoon shift tomorrow, so--"

"What?" Jimin interrupted, poking his head out from behind the seat Taehyung was currently occupying. "You're bailing on us because the music's too loud?"

Jungkook winced as his own tacky words were tossed back into his face.

"Well, I mean, I'm worried that there's gonna be alcohol and stuff, y'know?" he tried reasoning, wilting underneath the disappointed pout Jimin was giving him.

Taehyung groaned and finally stepped out the vehicle, standing directly in front of Jungkook, gaze unimpressed. "What's your deal, Kook-ah?"

Jungkook flinched at his direct questioning.

"Wh-what do you mean?" he stammered, trying his hardest to deflect the oncoming interrogation.

"I mean," Taehyung sighed, mournful and drawn-out, "you're freaking out about meeting your soulmate, the person you're supposed to be crazy about meeting; the person you're supposed to be running headfirst into when meeting them for the first time. Not"--he gestured with his hand vaguely at Jungkook's frigid form--"this."

Jungkook offered Taehyung a wry smile, but before he could even give some half-truth explanation for his anxious behavior, Hoseok was bounding over to them with open arms. The junior's cheerful demeanor melted the tense atmosphere in mere seconds, which allowed him to easily drag a timid Jungkook toward the booming house, leaving behind a frowning Taehyung and a puzzled Jimin.

Either Namjoon was extremely uncaring of who his guests were, or he was just plain terrible at maintaining his own security because those two reasons would be the only explanation as to why his front door was wide open and showcasing his entire living room to the rest of the neighborhood. The yawning entrance was bustling with a throng of people who couldn't seem to find it in themselves to move deeper into the house and allow the other guests easy access themselves. Hoseok, despite the obstacles, maneuvered through the crowd with ease and grace, but had a harder time doing the same with Jungkook as his control of the freshman's mobility was limited to only his forearm.

After many incidents of crushed toes and immediate, rushed apologies, Jungkook found himself separated from Hoseok and left abandoned in the kitchen. He vaguely remembered the junior telling him something about joining in on some drinking game and figured he was actually much better off not clinging onto Hoseok for the entire night, knowing full well how jarring his attitude change was once intoxicated.

"But what am I supposed to do?" he muttered to himself, a bit dejected at losing contact with the person who literally dragged him into the party by force.

He glanced around the kitchen, acknowledging the speckle of obnoxiously bright red cups that more than likely contained a concoction that would inevitably cause a severe headache the following morning upon consumption.

So there was alcohol here, he thought briefly, not as miffed upon the discovery as he thought he would be.

His gaze wandered toward the small archway that separated the kitchen from the rest of the living room, eyeing the few stragglers that stood directly outside the arch, looking as out of place as Jungkook felt.

With a sigh of defeat, Jungkook reached for an empty plastic cup and, with a quick peek over his shoulder to see if he had any witnesses, pulled open the fridge.

There weren't many options to choose from, upon closer inspection. A half-empty bottle of a non-branded vodka stood front and center on the top shelf and was probably the beverage that was currently pumping through the vast majority of the party guests. A package of beer that held all bottles, but one was shoved into the farthest corner on the bottom shelf and showcased an aroma of unwantedness. The final choice wasn't much better: an unopened glass of red wine.

Why the hell was there wine at a party like this? Jungkook found himself wondering, still reaching forward and pulling the bottle free from its frozen prison all the same.

He bumped the fridge's door close with the side of his foot, seeing as his hands were full, and placed the wine atop the counter. He glanced around the kitchen, checking, yet again if he had any unwanted witnesses around.

Upon realizing that, no, nobody was around to question him on his actions, Jungkook rummaged around the kitchen drawers in search of a corkscrew.

His search caused him to stumble upon the corkscrew after pulling open the drawer nearest to him. A lucky incident that Jungkook was eternally grateful for since he didn't want to spend his entire night ransacking someone else's kitchen.

With a quick removal of the foil from the bottle, Jungkook brought the tool up to the cork that was tightly screwed into the bottle's opening and inserted the tip of the worm into the oak covering. He pushed the rest of the worm into the cork after securing a clean insertion and ensured the stability of the bottle by firmly placing the boot lever around the rim of the bottle. With a grunt of effort, he levered the handle of the corkscrew and tugged the cork off the bottle with a loud pop.

He startled at the sound and peered into the bottle's opening, frowning as the deeply colored beverage swirled around in his hold.

Well, he thought, shrugging his shoulders, it's better than nothing.

He placed the corkscrew onto the counter, cork still attached to the worm, and filled his cup up with the red wine. The liquid contrasted against the obnoxious red of his cup, causing a wry smile to spread across his face for reasons unbeknown to him. He brought the cup to his lips and allowed the wine to rest against his lips for a moment, before yawning them open and letting the beverage enter his mouth.

The flavor wasn't overbearing, to say the least, but it certainly caused Jungkook to take a moment to not accidentally spit it back into the cup. He swished the liquid around in his mouth for a few seconds, allowing the acidic flavor to be swabbed across the entirety of his mouth, before finally swallowing.

He smacked his lips together a couple of times, which were now a shade darker due to the wine, before uttering, "This tastes kinda shitty."

He eyed the cup that still held three-quarters of red wine in his hand, shrugged his shoulders yet again, and took another swing of the beverage.

A/N - be a bro and don't leave your friend alone at a party or else they'll rummage through someone's kitchen.