HOMECOMING | vkook

𝙀𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙀𝙀𝙉. 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.

"We're so dumb." Jeongguk muttered, but a smile was still painted on his face. Taehyung could only agree.

As they lay there, the brunette couldn't help but think that some parts of their relationship had remained the same. Taehyung and Jeongguk were still the same mischievous, dumb dorks that they used to be.

It's just that Taehyung didn't have to let Jeongguk win anymore. No, the younger now held the authority of that decision. 

The dynamic has changed, but it was just as fun. And it still somehow felt like home to Taehyung. 

He wondered if Jeongguk felt like that too.

But when he tilted his head towards the younger, he gets reminded of how hard its become to read Jeongguk. The soft tuffs of his raven hair fell back to reveal his forehead, his ebony eyes were filled with a certain emptiness which clouded his overall demeanour, and the skin between his eyebrows seemed to carry a subtle permanent crease between them. 

He was always on his guard, he never let up. 

Hopefully, one day, he could let Taehyung in.

⛓️ ⛓️ ⛓️

Jeongguk was sitting on the back porch—smoking a cigarette—when Taehyung entered the kitchen in order to get a snack. He wasn't the biggest fan of the smell of smoke, but at least Jeongguk wasn't hitting a joint. 

Taehyung searched through the fridge, smiling when he noticed some of the foods that the two had purchased together previously. Grabbing a few things, he closed the refrigerator door and turned around to head back to the ravenette. 

However, he halted in his steps after noticing how the pantry room door was slightly ajar. He walked over, intending to close it, but accidentally ended up pushing the door further open. A soft thud was heard from inside the pantry, sounding like a duffel bag hitting the floor. 

Taehyung set the snacks aside before moving his fingers against the wall to search for the light switch. 

The bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered on, illuminating a dim yellow glow throughout the room, highlighting the contents within in the walls. Taehyung spotted the black bag that had fallen to the floor, so he bent down and picked it up.

Clink.

He froze. 

Whatever was inside of the black duffel, had made a familiar clattering noise. That sound. The sound of metal.

Taehyung stood there, black duffel in his hand, completely unsure of what to do. 

He believed Jeongguk. Jeongguk told him, that he didn't do it. That he wasn't the one who held Seokjin at gun point.

Taehyung believed him.

He set down the bag on one of the shelves.

Clack.

He trusted him. 

Taehyung took a deep breath before exiting the room, switching off the lights and closing the door behind him. 

It wasn't Jeongguk. He knows that. 

He wouldn't lie to him.

Right?

⛓️ ⛓️ ⛓️

Jeongguk lay on his bed, the covers throw off his body as he continued to twist and turn the entire night. He raised himself up, a hand ruffling through the mess of his locks. He couldn't fall asleep, the room felt hot and humid, the air almost became unbearable to breathe in. 

To escape the rapid feeling of suffocation, Jeongguk stumbled out his room, down the steps, until he managed to get himself on the creaky rocking chair on the back porch. He fished out his pack of cigarettes from his pocket, before cracking on the lighter while inhaling his addiction. 

Jeongguk threw his head back against the chair, exhaling the smoke into the night sky. He closed his eyes and rested for a few moments, letting the sounds of all the awake insects heighten. 

His gaze then flickered back onto his lawn, a smile tugged at his lips upon seeing the awkward line of mowed grass criss-cross around the garden between all the other tall overgrown greenery. 

His smile soon fell. 

He looked at the lighter in his hand, his thumb pressing down at the flint wheel, sparking the flame to life. 

And he just stared at it. It was almost hypnotic.

The silence was deafening.

Jeongguk jolted when his phone suddenly rang. He shut the flame off and shook his head to snap out of it before fishing his phone out of his back pocket. 

Without checking the caller ID, he answered the call and held the phone to his ear. 

"Hello?" He said after taking another drag from his cig. However he almost ended up choking on the smoke when he found out who he was talking to.

"I knew it." A male voice, almost a smug-sounding, came through the speaker. "It's your voice, I can tell."

Jeongguk dropped his cigarette. 

"Seokjin-hyung?"

"You're done, Jeon Jeongguk."

———————

yikes