" Attention. The train to Daegu will be shortly arriving at station number 7. Please make sure not to leave any baggage behind. Thank you! "
Jungkook has been waiting impatiently at the train stations' cafe for the last hour, so once he heard the announcement he shot up and ran like his life depended on it.
He ended up bringing his huge bag-pack and it made him look like an excited kid on a school field trip. He knew that there was no need to bring so much stuff with him as he would probably just stay there for a day or two, but he always felt the need to be ready for anything.
Once he reached the right platform, out of breath, he was one of the first people there as the train wasn't even in sight yet. Thanks to that Jungkook would probably get better seats, but he was too exhilarated to care about that. If it came down to it, he could genuinely sit in the stinky bathroom for the entirety of the 2 hours if it meant he would get to see Taehyung again and make things right with him. That's how determined the poor guy was.
The train arrived shortly and Jungkook was seated comfortably soon after. He was buzzing with excitement and couldn't focus on anything throughout the journey, he tried watching a movie and reading a book, but it just wasn't enough to tame his racing mind. He watched the passing city zoom in and out of sight as it was being replaced with beautiful landscapes.
Jungkook decided to take out his journal and started writing down what he wants to tell Taehyung and how he feels about meeting him again. He has been writing things in it since a month ago — after talking with Jimin, the older recommended it to help cope with his emotions. He has written all about the past fights he had with Taehyung (as well as all the good moments too, of course) reflecting on the way he handled certain things and learning how to behave in similar situations in the future. It really helped him look at things from an objective point of view, because after all, everyone sees and feels things differently.
He realised that Taehyung must be going through his own internal struggles and simply didn't know how to navigate in such new territory, especially considering Jungkook was the first boy he ever felt anything towards. It all must have been already confusing in itself without all the other problems piling up on top. Jungkook realised that now. Sure, it doesn't justify all of his behaviour, but Jungkook wasn't perfect either and so he was ready to forgive him and start over if he was willing to do so.
Honestly, who needs a therapist when you have a Jimin?
The trip itself went very smoothly and the train reached Daegu on time. Jungkook, on the other hand, felt all kinds of emotions throughout the ride and although the time had passed fairly quickly for him, he spent most of it worrying and overthinking. There was a possibility that Taehyung didn't want to see him at all and he was prepared if this was the case, but it still wasn't an easy thought.
Just like Soojin promised the other day, she had drove over to the train station to pick Jungkook up. As nice as the gesture was, Jungkook felt guilty that she had to be involved in his and Taehyung's business as they were two grown adults who – under normal circumstances – should work things out themselves. But clearly Taehyung didn't seem too keen on making that effort himself. Jungkook just hopes that it all won't backfire on him in the end.. again.
The drive back to Taehyung's childhood home was quiet and nerve wracking. Soojin kept glancing back and forth between the road and Jungkook, probably silently hoping for him to fill her in on some more details, but she didn't press for it which was nice.
"So uh, I prepared the guest room for you so you don't have to worry about looking for a place to stay in. As always, you are welcome to stay for as long as you want, even if things with Taehyung don't go as planned." Soojin finally broke the silence about half way through the journey.
"I can't thank you enough for this Soojin, truly. I know it must be frustrating having to be mixed up in all of this, I will make sure to not take too much of your precious time and space." Jungkook gave her a small smile, his leg subconsciously bouncing from nervousness. "Speaking of Taehyung, how has he been lately? I don't want him to shut me out if I approach him the wrong way."
"Please, do not worry about bothering me. Like I said before, it's not a problem at all, I'm happy to help out anytime." She sighed and paused for a minute. "Taehyung doesn't talk much and shuts himself in his room most of the time. It's kind of funny, he's acting like a moody teenager all over again. Except this time I suspect he might have a bit of a drinking problem, I see him throw away a lot of beer bottles recently and it's starting to worry me."
Jungkook kind of already knew this for a while, but now it's starting to make more sense. It went right under his nose how often the older would get home drunk, at the time it was mostly comical to see him in that state and he didn't make a big deal out of it. But now that he thinks about it, there really has to be something going on and he's pretty sure he knows the reason.
Just a wild guess..
"I will make sure to discuss that with him."
Eventually they arrived at the big farm house, the fields stretched out for miles and there was this different kind of air that Jungkook couldn't quite pinpoint. Calm. That's what it was. It was comforting to get away from the busy city life for a while and just take in the beauty of nature.
Soojin gave him an all-knowing smile as she parked the car and unbuckled her seat belt. "Don't go soft on him all right? He really needs a push right now and I think you're the only person that can get through to him. I need to do some grocery shopping so I will take the kids out so you two can have some space."
"Thank you so much. Taehyung is really lucky to have such an amazing mother like you." Jungkook smiled back at her as they both left the car and grabbed his things from the trunk.
Soojin just waved her hand around with a small blush creeping to her cheeks. "Ah, you're too sweet Jungkookie."
As they both made their way to the house, Jungkook dreadfully waited for the front door to be opened. It was time. Although nervous, it felt quite nostalgic being here again, all the memories of their time spent here together came flooding back in as Soojin showed him to his room. The younger set down his things and freshened himself up in the mirror, trying to prepare himself for what's to come. It was awfully quiet as everyone left the house, leaving Jungkook alone with his own thoughts.
After mustering up the courage, Jungkook made his way towards Taehyung's room. With shaky hands, he knocked on the door once. Then twice. Then a third time. No answer. He waited for another minute before muttering "fuck it" under his breath and opening the door.
It was empty, no Taehyung in sight.
Not sure of what to do now, Jungkook decided to look around his room, everything looked exactly as he remembered it. Old photos and posters filled the grey walls and Jungkook couldn't help but smile a little. Seeing Taehyung as a baby made his heart flutter with adoration, but what caught his attention the most were their old college photos. He started reminiscing about all their fun memories from that time and how much he missed being young and stupid, going out on parties and skipping classes just for the sake of it. The simple luxury of not having any responsibilities or regrets.
While lost in his thoughts, he didn't hear the bathroom door opening behind him, so the voice he heard next made his heart stop.
"Jungkook?"
His body never turned around faster in his life. There he was, Taehyung. Face pale and eyes big like he's just seen a ghost, he stood in the doorway with only a towel loosely hanging around his hips, water droplets slowly making their way down his body. As much as Jungkook felt his face heating up at the sight, he couldn't help but notice how thin and tired the elder looked. His hair has grown out a lot too, the dark locks reaching his nose while the lower part of his face had a stubble growing.
They just stood in silence, eyes locked on each other intensely. It was both unnerving and relieving to see the other, as if everything led up to this moment. Jungkook knew he couldn't fuck this up. He was done running away.
After a minute or two (which felt like an eternity) Jungkook finally broke the silence as he made a careful step forward. "Hi.."
Taehyung didn't say a word, he didn't even move or blink and it seemed like he might have even stopped breathing.
Jungkook sighed, it didn't look like the other will be saying anything anytime soon so he might as well just get everything off his chest now. "Listen.. I understand if you don't want to see me, but I came here to apologise and most importantly make things right between us. I really regret a lot that has happened in the past couple of months and I know I did some stupid things, but I guess I just want to say I'm sorry. Truly and wholeheartedly, I am so fucking sorry for everything Taehyung. I want you to know that it was never in my best interest to hurt you."
And just like that, the elder broke out in tears.