ᴘɪᴄᴛᴜʀᴇsǫᴜᴇ. | ᴊɪᴋᴏᴏᴋ ✔️

32 | not just a headache

It sits uneasily with him. Everything does right now, in fact. Physically and mentally, to the point where Jeongguk is almost too afraid to drive, to go out on the road in fear of being hazardously negligent. So once he and Jimin are both inside the car, he stops just to grip the steering wheel and breathe.

Heavily. Unsteadily. His head throbbing, aching pain, the worst it's ever been so far, and Jeongguk is powerless to the urge to slam his face against the horn.

Needless to say this acutely startles Jimin. The boy turns towards Jeongguk, arms positioned over his chest as an instinctive reaction to the shock.

"Sorry." Jeongguk presses a firm hand to his temple. "Sorry, little bit of a headache."

"Little bit??"

"Bad reflex maybe-"

"Jeongguk, don't lie to me."

He looks over in Jimin's direction, regretful to find the boy staring back at him with a deep frown, indignantly, appearing offended at the mere idea of Jeongguk twisting the truth of the situation. And Jeongguk isn't fond of how that look makes him feel. Not in the slightest.

"It's...just a headache." He readjusts his grip on the wheel - focus fixed on the road and they having even started moving. "Just a headache..."

"You're making me worried..."

"Don't be."

"You're being a hypocrite now."

Out of habit he bites his tongue, then releases it a second later.

"When I told you not to worry about me, you got mad, and now you're doing the same thing."

Jimin's right and Jeongguk knows it, but he wishes it weren't the case. He doesn't want to acknowledge it right now. The agonizing pain starting to make him believe the only relief is to knock himself out, and even though it sounds ridiculous, it sounds tempting all the same.

His hand trembles as he inserts the key into the ignition.

"Jeongguk."

It freezes. Then falls to his side.

"Jeongguk, maybe you shouldn't drive..."

If he were the only one in the vehicle, he'd ignore the admonition. But he's not. Jimin's here, and Jeongguk would never be able to live with himself if he put Jimin in danger.

He lifts his hands off the wheel. Another surge shoots through his brain. Once again, he snaps forward and pounds the car horn.

"Jeongguk!"

"You're right, I shouldn't drive, I can't drive," Jeongguk says through strained breaths. "I-I shouldn't drive-"

"I think you should go home."

Jimin's voice isn't the stablest, either, but in this case he's doing a lot better off than Jeongguk, as his is from concern while Jeongguk's is sheer pain and panic.

"Do you want me to call your mom??" Jimin reaches out to touch the boy's hand which was already reaching for his. "She can...come pick you up, right?"

"No, I don't wanna disturb her. Call Tae—no, not Tae." Jeongguk quickly releases Jimin to bury his face in his hands. "No, no, forget it, I'll sit here till it's fine, I'll just sit here till it passes, it'll pass, it'll pass, it's got to, Jimin."

It takes a second to register that, in his agony, his eyes started to water, and with how tightly the boy squeezes his eyes shut, it doesn't take much before a tear is forced out of both. Agony. Just pure, vivid agony. At this point Jeongguk just wants to be unconscious so he can't feel it.