A week had passed since CL sent her people to look for the artifacts and no answer was given. They tried to wait patiently for her call but every day that passed was more and more painful because it seemed like the items weren't as real as Chanyeol made them be. Rei started to think he might have just used that as an excuse to save his sorry ass. Taehyung, on the other hand, had another opinion.
"Rei, you don't know my sister. If she said Chanyeol told her the truth then he did." Taehyung said as he ran his fingers over Rei's arm, cuddled on the couch and watching a movie.
"What if he used his magic on her?" Rei frowned, pouting when Taehyung laughed out loud while patting her head.
"Love, she is the Queen for a reason. That means she earned the right to possess all disciplines. Don't worry about it. She knows what she's doing." He smiled warmly at her before he kissed her temple.
"Oh. Can I ask you something?" Rei turned in his arms, facing him.
"Of course, babe." He turned his attention from the tv to her.
"Why didn't you become the king?" Rei asked, playing with the collar of his shirt.
"Why? Do you wanna be a queen?" He smirked playfully as Rei's cheeks colored up in a light pink.
"I'm serious." Rei slapped his chest gently as he chuckled.
"I didn't have a mate and CL happened to have chosen some douche just to inherit the power." Taehyung scoffed.
"Why didn't you do that?" She asked softly as she looked up into his eyes.
"Because I believe in love. Unlike her." He said, lowering his head to place a soft, quick peck on Rei's lips, making her blush.
Rei deemed it to be the perfect time to express her feelings for her lover with the lights off and the tv emanating just enough light to make it romantic. It was past midnight and they just put Jungkook to sleep, hardly, but they did and now they had some time for themselves, finally.
She leaned up to kiss him properly, parting her lips just as she reached his mouth because she missed those lips so much and his skillful tongue that worked her up so quickly. She missed his warm and wet mouth that she grew so accustomed with. Rei bit on his bottom lip eagerly because who knew if something might interrupt them. Taehyung yelped in surprise because she never took control when it came to anything related to sex.
"Babe-" He was cut off by her lips. "Fuck. Rei, slow down." His words were muffled as he pulled away and pinned her securely to the couch. "What's gotten into you?" He laughed shortly as he watched her eyes sparkle only to result in a tear sliding down her cheek. "Shit. Baby, what's wrong?" He cooed, pulling her into a hug as he leaned back against the couch.
"Nothing." She mumbled, hiding her face into his chest as he tried to hold her chin up but she refused, shaking her head.
"Princess, why are you crying?" He wrapped his arms tightly around her.
"I don't know. I hate this." She sobbed, going limp in his arms.
"I know, babe, but we just have to wait a little longer." He tried to comfort but her muffled sniffles were telling him otherwise.
"You don't understand. Yes, I hate the fact that Jungkook is sick and I hate the fact that we have to wait for so long but what I hate the most is the fact that you're so far away from me and I'm scared." She gripped his shirt, afraid he was going to disappear any second if she let go.
"I'm sorry... I..." He didn't know what to say. He did feel the same way but he couldn't abandon his Jungkook in the situation they were in and she understood that but it was getting harder and harder every day.
"Don't apologize again. Look, I know you love Jungkook. I love him too but I don't want to feel like I'm losing you to him." Her voice was sad and it didn't even make sense what she was saying because she knew Taehyung loved her but lately, it seemed like he put the maknae over her when it came to needs.
A quick shout of the maknae's voice was heard through the silent house and Taehyung's eyes shot in the direction of the stairs. Rei was still in his arms, crying while Jungkook was calling for him. He had to get to him but he couldn't leave her like that either.
"Babe, can we talk about this later? I promise we'll find a solution but please stop crying because I can't handle all of this. My heart can only take so much and you and Jungkook are ripping it apart right now." Taehyung sighed, kissing her forehead as he took her palm and placed it over his pounding heart.
"TaeTae~! Hyung, where are you?" Jungkook's cries filled the room again, making Taehyung bite his lip to prevent the tears from forming.
"I'll be in bed." Rei said in a colder voice, pulling herself up from the couch and making her way to the bedroom.
"Rei, baby, please don't be mad. I'm trying really hard here." Taehyung shouted after her, only to hear the door slam shut.
Taehyung ran up to the maknae's room and the sight he was greeted with made his heart stop for a second before he ran to his side. His whole world shattered when he saw Jungkook standing in the middle of the bed, crying with his hands and forearms covered in blood.
"Taehyungie, help me." Jungkook sobbed as he dropped the blade from his hand.
"Kookie... Why did you do that?" Taehyung asked in a soft voice, barely above a whisper as he looked at the bleeding cuts that covered his arms.
"It couldn't stand the itch anymore. But now it hurts, hyung." The maknae cried out, shaking as the older pulled him into his arms to take him to the bathroom to clean him up.
"Baby, you shouldn't have done that. You should've called me." Taehyung gently placed the younger over the closed toilet seat and took a soft wet cloth to wipe at the wounds.
"I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." Jungkook sniffled as he started humming to a sad melody.
"Just promise me you'll never do this again." Taehyung kissed his wrists as he threw away the cloth and was now walking the other to the bed again.
He took the stained comforter off the bed and sat next to Jungkook as the younger cuddled into his side, putting his head onto the older's chest, feeling and hearing his racing heart. As they were lying silently on the bed, Jungkook felt the sudden urge to drink blood, which he hadn't done in a while but the lost blood had to be replaced. He looked up from Taehyung's chest, sliding up until his mouth was next to the older's neck. Taehyung was sleeping soundly, tired from the awful day he had that he didn't even feel the younger moving around.
Jungkook licked his lips and lowered his head, his lips brushing the other's skin before he released his fangs and sank them into his artery. He gulped the overflowing blood as Taehyung whined in his sleep and Jungkook moved to straddle the older's waist to get comfortable while he fed. The warm and salty liquid felt heavenly on his tongue and he could feel his wounds heal up a lot faster but he was woken from his euphoria when Taehyung pushed him back with a groan.
"TaeTae..." He said in a small voice as he collapsed on the older's body.
Taehyung hugged the boy tightly before he rolled them over and tucked him under the covers. He took one last look at the sleeping boy and went down the stairs to his bedroom again. He had a lot to talk about with Rei and he had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy.
He opened the door silently and saw the figure sleeping on her side with her back at him and he sighed. He had to make it up to her and if he didn't try now, he was afraid that something bad was going to happen and he didn't want to lose her.
He walked towards the bed, sliding his shirt over his head to throw it aside before he unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, stepping out of them, leaving him in only his boxers. He crawled under the covers and scooted closer to her, pressing his chest against her back as she stirred in her sleep. He lowered his head to drop sweet and gentle kisses on the side of her neck and wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her body closer to his.
"Baby, I'm so sorry." He whispered, kissing her cheek. "Please, don't be mad at me."
"I'm not." Her voice startled him. He expected her to be asleep but it was better that way because they could talk it out. "How is Jungkook?" She turned around in his arms to face him.
"He..." Taehyung swallowed, "he was cutting himself." He cleared his voice.
"Oh my God, is he okay?" Rei asked worried.
"Yeah, I think so." He looked away, avoiding her eyes.
"Tae..." She pulled his chin to look at her but he just rested his forehead against hers. "I think we need to talk to CL again and maybe take that vacation." She whispered, making Taehyung look up at her, surprised.
"How can we leave the house with Jungkook like that? What if he hurts himself when we're not looking?" Taehyung started panicking, breathing hard.
"Jungkook is not going to come with us." Rei looked away as he frowned.
"What? So we just leave him here, alone, just like that?" His voice got a little shaky because he was getting mad and emotional. He couldn't take any more pain but somehow it still struck him.
"He won't be alone. The hyungs can come and take care of him for a little while." Rei brushed his fringe away, affectionately and she saw how he closed his eyes in content.
"I can't leave him like this." A tear went down his cheek, gripping her arms tightly, almost to the point of pain but she didn't say anything about it.
"Tae, we need some time to think about how are we going to handle this and clear our heads. Just for a couple of days. Please. You know he is going to be in good hands with the hyungs." Rei tried to convince him because they needed that time off.
"But... he needs me." He said in a broken whisper, loosening his grip and sliding down to place his head on her chest.
"I know, baby, but he will be alright." Rei kissed his head, carding her fingers through his hair as he sobbed quietly into her chest. "Think about it this way, we are going to help find those artifacts and bring Kookie back quicker." She whispered.
"I guess..." He mumbled, taking deep breaths to stop his cries.
"He will be alright. Jin is going to make him delicious foods and take good care of him." She said, pecking his forehead and feeling him relax in her arms.
"Okay. We'll talk to CL tomorrow." He nodded, cuddling further into the warmth of Rei's body.
And they fell asleep in each other's arms, wondering how long it would take for them to find those stupid items and have their life back to normal. Or relatively normal. But most importantly, they were going to have a couple of days just for themselves and Rei had a lot of questions she wanted to ask him and she was sure that Taehyung had some questions himself. With all the problems they've had, there wasn't enough time, or an appropriate time to ask about their hometowns or favorite colors but now they will take time from their search to get to know their background stories.