A sudden noise awoke Taehyung. Fearing the worst, he snapped to his senses and jumped to his feet, standing in front of Jungkook in a defensive position. When he realized where he was, he was so confused that he fell to the ground.
"Oh! Um, sorry to alarm you."
Taehyung looked up to see a tall man with broad shoulders and a beautiful face looking down at him. The man smiled shyly. He stepped forward cautiously- as if approaching a frightened animal. Reaching out a hand, he helped Tae to his feet.
"Sorry," Taehyung mumbled, embarrassed.
"It's okay," The man replied, "I understand. I shouldn't have barged in like that, I know you're probably wary and all..." He trailed off awkwardly.
"Yeah," Taehyung said, scratching the nape of his neck, "Um, I'm Taehyung. This is Jungkook."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Soekjin but you can call me Jin. I'm sort of like the medical professional of this facility. Namjoon told me that one of you was sick?"
"That would be Jungkook," Taehyung replied, stepping around the bed to stand next to Jungkook.
Somehow, the younger had managed to stay asleep through all this. Taehyung smiled as Jungkook rolled over in his sleep.
"He must be tired," Jin commented, "You both must be."
Taehyung nodded. Jin took a crumpled up sticky note out of his pocket and smoothed it out on his hand.
"Vomiting, stomach pain, headaches..." He read it aloud to himself, "Painkillers, flu medic- Ah! So he's been given medicine already. What did you give him?"
Taehyung took the small container out of his backpack and showed it to Jin.
"Oh, oh my. That's prescription stuff," He observed.
"I had no choice," Taehyung muttered gravely.
"I see. It's a good thing you got it though, it seems he needed it quite desperately," The broad-shouldered male said quietly.
He was standing next to Jungkook, a hand on the younger's forehead to check his temperature.
"How did you not catch it?"
Taehyung shrugged.
"I'm immune, I guess. He gets sick easily."
Jin nodded.
Just then, Jungkook finally came to. He shrieked at the sight of an unfamiliar face leaning over him.
"Jungkook, don't be frightened, I'm here to help. My name is Jin, I will be taking care of you until your recovery," the older explained calmly.
Jungkook nodded as he caught his breath and looked around the room. When he spotted Taehyung, he smiled weakly and reached out both hands towards him. Taehyung climbed up next to him and gave him a little hug.
"So it seems that you've been medicated already, so there's not much more I can do. However, word got to me you had a broken leg as well?" Jin prompted.
Jungkook nodded and sat up, rolling up the pant leg that was over his injury. Jin leaned over and examined the brace that was tightly attached to the younger's leg. Taehyung explained how he'd gotten some medical experience in the past and was able to set Jungkook's leg properly with a brace he found in the pharmacy. Jin nodded intently, listening to the story without interrupting.
"That's very good. Jungkook, you are very lucky that Taehyung found you when he did," Jin said to the younger.
Jungkook nodded and shot Taehyung a little smile. Then, Jin took on a semi-authoritative voice, though he didn't sound rude or too demanding.
"Taehyung, you should take a shower now. I will be back in a few moments with crutches for Jungkook. In about thirty minutes Yoongi or Hoseok will come and show you to the dining room. I would let you shower sooner, Jungkook, but there won't be enough time," He added with an apologetic look directed towards the younger.
"Fair enough," Jungkook sighed as he sat back again.
With that, Jin left the room. Taehyung gave Jungkook a gentle peck on the cheek before rolling off the bed.
"Be right back," He said as he made his way across the room in the direction of the bathroom.
"You better be," Jungkook muttered, crossing his arms and pouting, "I am not sitting here alone and bored for thirty minutes."
Taehyung cooed at Jungkook's cuteness, which only made him pout harder.
"Okay, Jungkookie~ I'll be back as soon as I can."
***
Taehyung stepped out of the bathroom feeling quite happy, as he hadn't felt so clean in ages. Jungkook scowled as he sauntered across the room.
"Yeah, yeah, you're so clean and you feel so good. Whatever."
Taehyung grinned and laid down carefully next to Jungkook, giving him a big hug.
"Don't worry. You'll get to shower after... lunch? No, dinner. No, it's lunch, right?" Taehyung suddenly became very annoyed that he had lost track of time.
"I don't know, but whatever meal it is, it better come quicker."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Hoseok poked his head inside and smiled.
"It's dinner. Are you two ready?" He asked.
Taehyung briefly wondered how much if the conversation Hoseok had heard.
Jungkook nodded and stood up, grabbing the crutches which had been leaning on the bed beside him.
"Careful, Jungkook!" Taehyung exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing the younger's waist to steady him.
Jungkook rolled his eyes.
"I'm fine, Tae. Let's just go already."
"Cute~" Hoseok cooed.
Both boys blushed furiously and Taehyung quickly pulled away from Jungkook. Jungkook pouted slightly but put on a poker face as he tried to get used to walking with the crutches.
Hoseok lead them down the hall and to the top of the spiral staircase. Jungkook visibly gulped as he looked down the winding path.
"Jungkook, do you want me to-"
"No, I got this," Jungkook cut Taehyung off.
"Accept my help!" Taehyung demanded, scooping the younger up and starting to carry him as usual.
Hoseok grabbed the crutches and carried them down as he continued to lead them, grinning at the two. Jungkook crossed his arms indignantly but did not complain as Taehyung hugged him close and made his way carefully after the taller young man.
When they arrived at the dining room, Namjoon, Jin, and Yoongi were all waiting patiently, making pleasant small talk in the meantime. When the group arrived, they all fell silent. Hoseok motioned for them to sit in two empty seats near the one he chose to sit in. When they had all sat down, Namjooon spoke.
"How are you? I hope you're comfortable here."
"We're doing well, thank you," Taehyung replied with a smile.
"I presume Hoseok told you all about the mission?" He continued carefully.
Taehyung and Jungkook both nodded politely as plates of food were passed around.
"Well, I'm happy you were found. You are the only survivors. It is a great honor to meet you and welcome you into our household. Feel free to make yourselves at home."
He flashed them a smile, revealing his dimples. There was a short silence afterward in which everyone started eating.
"So, how old are you two?" Yoongi asked, looking up at them.
"Sixteen and eighteen," Jungkook answered, pointing to himself and then Taehyung.
There was the noise of dropped silverware as everyone froze, an uncomfortable silence taking hold of the room.
"What?" Jungkook asked.
"You-you're so young. The local news estimated that to have survived so long you were most likely in your early twenties," Jin explained.
"How did you manage to survive? You're both practically kids," Hoseok asked in awe.
"And before you had each other, how did you manage all on your own? You were even younger when the apocalypse started." Yoongi added.
Jungkook shrugged and looked away from their intense stares, which were focused more so on him since he was the youngest.
"It wasn't much different from my life before," Jungkook admitted coldly, "No one ever took care of me anyway. Since our society broke down, it was actually easier to take care of myself without all the adults trying to interfere; shoving me into family after family in foster care, pretending they were on my side when they really weren't, acting like they cared for my well being," Taehyung suddenly realized that Jungkook was about to reveal his past, his jaw went slack and eyes widened as the younger continued, "Every time my new 'family' rejected me, they always promised they'd find me a better home. But did I ever really believe them? No. Everything they said was total **** and I knew it. The truth was, no one gave a crap about me. And you know what? That's fine. I've known that since I was two years old and I never complained about it. I never cried because I felt sorry for myself. I never whined about my pathetic life. I didn't care that no one loved me. I didn't care that they pretended to try their darn best to help me. I would've been far better off if they hadn't pretended like they gave two ****s about me. They should've just thrown me out on the streets. That's what happened in the end anyway, isn't it?" He added cruelly before continuing his rant, "Throughout my pitiful life I learned what I needed to survive the apocalypse. Just because I was young doesn't mean I was easy to trick. I always saw through the lies of the recruiters and the troop leaders. I learned not to trust anyone. I learned to watch my back. I learned never to make the mistake of opening up, even just a little bit, because the people who pretend to care will cut you open just to watch you bleed. These rules I have, these lessons I learned, they are what equipt me to survive."
Jungkook's ice cold words hung in the air like daggers. Everyone was completely silent as they looked at him in shock. Taehyung got up and handed Jungkook his crutches, whispering a small 'thank you for dinner' before leading the younger out of the room. When they got back to the guest room, Jungkook didn't say a word as he crutched his way to the bathroom and closed the door. The noise of the shower drowned out everything else as Taehyung sat on the bed, deep in thought.