Bargain (Not Met) (JungHope)

Interlude - Progress

It was inevitable, but they soon found themselves stood in front of Yoongi's bedroom. Hoseok knocked.

"Yoongi-ssi?" he whispered, afraid to raise his voice now that he faced the very spot that Taehyung had died in. "Are you okay?"

He strained his ears to listen to the sounds beyond the door. He released a quiet breath of relief when he heard the bedsheets rustle slightly.

"Yoongi-ssi," Hoseok said, voice soft with something like sympathy. "Would it be okay if we talked? Face to face?"

Silence, yet again. Hoseok looked toward Jungkook helplessly, seeking advice, maybe a course of action. Jungkook understood his wordless plea for help and stepped toward the door, Hoseok hastily pressing himself to the opposite wall.

Jungkook's hand instantly lowered to the doorknob, his voice low as he said, "Hyung, we're worried about you." The knob whined as Jungkook twisted it slightly, a sign that Yoongi hadn't locked them out completely. "I know that we've been ignoring you these last few days, but we figured that giving you space would be for the best.

"We realized that was wrong of us," Jungkook continued, eyes peering over his shoulder to meet Hoseok's. "We know how hard it is to cope with grief when you're alone. We know that leaving you to deal with your sorrow at the place where the...tragedy took place was irresponsible."

"We want," Hoseok spoke up, joining Jungkook at the door and placing his hand atop his, "to help you, Yoongi-ssi. In whatever way we can, we want to help see you through this moment of despair."

Hoseok swallowed down his apologies, his regrets, before uttering, "Together."

Hoseok felt Jungkook's hand shift underneath his, and he startled away from the door when footsteps approached from the other side. The door swung open and revealed Yoongi, appearance rumpled and unkempt, but the gratitude in his mellow eyes was what stunned Hoseok into silence.

"Thank you," Yoongi whispered, voice hoarse.

Hoseok, a little more than stupefied by his sudden appearance, nodded mutely.

"How've you been?" Jungkook asked, not unkind.

Yoongi offered him a wry grin and a shrug. "The neighbors haven't complained about the noise, so I guess better than I thought."

Hoseok cringed at the attempted joke. Maybe Yoongi had been completely serious in his retort, though, since there lay not a hint of humor in his tired eyes, and Hoseok just felt even worse.

"Have you been taking care of yourself?" Hoseok asked gently.

"Demons don't need to sustain themselves for survival," Yoongi said.

Hoseok assessed Yoongi's neglected appearance. "I've noticed. But I meant"—he waved his hand around his head—"mentally."

Yoongi frowned, and Hoseok knew that his concern was unwanted. "I could ask you the same. I'm guessing you spent the past few days failing to cope," Yoongi continued when Hoseok remained silent, "and now you've come to try and make yourself feel better by cheering me up, no?"

"Hyung," Jungkook said, tone warning.

Hoseok held a hand out when Jungkook made to approach Yoongi. "You're not wrong. About the coping, I mean," Hoseok said. "It was hard. Really hard. Even though I hardly got to know him—got to know Taehyung-ah, I found myself desperately wishing for him to return to me.

"He was the light of my life, you know," Hoseok continued gently. "Not like my savior or anything, but he made things...easier. Brighter, I suppose. He gave me a chance to experience a life of thrills and joys so minuscule and grand I wondered how I hadn't lived through them already. Because he was so unwavering in his ideologies, so caring and loving toward the people surrounding him. And that love had shown me a life worth living. Not because of anything he had done for me, personally, but by him just being himself."