ODDS OF SURVIVAL - TAEKOOK

CHAPTERTWENTYFOUR

Taehyung wondered if this state of sleep-deprived, functional malaise was how Jungkook felt the entire time they'd known each other. If it was, then he supposed he couldn't blame him for being so fucking unpleasant.

For the past two days, they'd been working on clearing the tall grass growing everywhere inside the fence that hadn't been worn down to bare dirt. There was a lot of it.

With all the rain it had grown fast and thick to almost waist-height, and it made him uneasy. Jungkook cut it down with surprising efficiency with the actual fucking scythe he'd found in one of the various storage areas while Taehyung followed and collected the fallen grass to be composted.

He was more than happy to let Jungkook handle the wielding of that dangerous piece of equipment, even though he worried Jungkook might fumble the awkward thing and cut his foot off.

Beyond the actual concern of Jungkook accidentally harming himself with the scythe, it was just disconcerting in general to see him with it.

Taehyung tried not to think about ridiculous symbolism of death. It was a piece of farming equipment, not a bloody omen.

It didn't mean anything at all, but still, a nagging voice in the back of his mind reasoned that if Death came for him looking like Jungkook did, sweating in the sun while he worked, then...well, he may not be so disinclined to let Death take him.

Once Jungkook finished clearing grass along the perimeter of the fence, he leaned the scythe against the fence and stood, stretching his arms and his back.

"I think that's it. All the main areas, anyway," he said. He took off his shirt and mopped his face with it, groaning into the sweat-damp material. "I'm gonna go make us lunch while you deal with the rest of the grass."

Taehyung nodded distractedly, keeping his eyes on Jungkook's muscled back until he turned a corner out of sight, then wiping his own brow with a sigh and carrying on with his work.

It was a small mercy that Jungkook hadn't taken his shirt off earlier, because it would have been much harder to focus on his dull, arduous task.

By the time he finished and went to find Jungkook he was sweaty and worn out as well, though he didn't feel quite as inclined to take his shirt off.

He was already worried that he might be sunburned after being out in the open sun, but it was hard to avoid without spending his days entirely indoors or out in the woods in the shade of the trees.

When he found Jungkook he was sitting in the shade outside the shed, still shirtless and with his hair now wet and dripping down his shoulders and back. "Why are you wet?"

Jungkook looked up from the plates he was preparing and snapped his head to the side to get his hair out of his face, flinging drops of water all over Taehyung in the process.

"I dunked my head in a rain barrel to cool off. You should try it. It's pretty effective." He finished cutting a few more strips of dried rabbit meat onto the plates, then offered one to Taehyung.

"I'm sure it is, but I think I'll pass," Taehyung said, nose scrunching up in distaste. He took his plate and sat beside Jungkook, leaving some space between them so Jungkook wouldn't drip on him. Snap peas, radishes, and dried rabbit.

Not exactly fine dining, but they were all foods they'd produced themselves, and Taehyung couldn't help but feel a little bit proud of that.

Out of habit he started breaking off bits of rabbit to feed to Coco, and his heart went cold in his chest.

Coco hadn't turned up for a meal in a day and a half. She'd started to get restless stuck inside the fence, and Taehyung suspected she'd found a way to sneak out into the forest to hunt without him.