Taehyung kept looking out for Jungkook like his life depended on it. The younger grew more and more tired as the day passed on and by the end of it he was barely able to stand on his own feet. Taehyung almost dragged Jungkook inside their shared cell and carefully placed the younger on his matress. A deep sigh left Jungkook's mouth the moment he felt his back hit the mattress and heavy breaths immediately took over his body. Taehyung climbed a little up towards his own bed and grabbed his blanket and pillow from it in a forceful manner. Without a second thought he drenched the blanket into the toilet once again. With a dripping blanket in his left hand and a pillow in his right hand he made his way over to Jungkook. Taehyung softly placed his hand under Jungkook's head and lifted him up a little to place the second pillow under his head to make him sit up more.
"I'm gonna lift your shirt and try to cool the bruises a little. Please tell me if I hurt you too much Kook." Taehyung whispered and lifted up Jungkook's shirt. He softly placed his fingers on the biggest bruise on Jungkook's ribcage. The bruise had a nasty blue almost black colour and the skin around it had turned an angry red colour. The bruise was almost as big as the palm of his hand and everytime Taehyung added the slightest pressure on it Jungkook would flinch involuntarily.
Small tears started to form in Taehyung's eyes and his vision fell from Jungkook's bruised torso on his face that only displayed discomfort. Jungkook's eyes where tightly shut, heavy breaths left his mouth in little puffs, a deep frown was visible on his forehead and his skin had almost taken on the colour of white sugar. The boy looked terrible and the only thing Taehyung wanted to do was to help him but he had no idea how. He wasn't a wizard who could remove the bruises with a flick of his wrist and for all the methods he did know to help the younger he needed supplies he didn't have right now.
With a soft sigh Taehyung placed the cold blanket against Jungkook's bruise. Jungkook immediately flinched at the touch and a harsh grumble of discomfort left his mouth.
"I'm sorry Kook, I don't know what to do to make the pain go away." A single tear started to drip down Taehyung's cheek. He felt so helpless, so useless. Jungkook needed him and he had no idea what to do. Taehyung lifted the blanket again and placed it down on another bruise that was a little lower than the huge one on Jungkook's ribcage. This one was a little smaller but looked almost as nasty as the last one despite the size difference. Taehyung kept replacing his towel every few minutes, sometimes dumping it in the toilet again to make it cooler between session, but nothing seemed to help. Jungkook kept grumbling in discomfort everytime Taehyung placed or removed the towel from his body and his face kept showing the same discomfort it had when Taehyung started the whole process. Taehyung was about to replace the blanket for the probably twentieth time when he heard the familiar sound of a baton against cell bars ring through the hallway.
"EVERYBODY UP! CHECK UPS BEFORE BED TIME!" The guard yelled around the hallway. Taehyung's eyes widened. SHIT! Taehyung's eyes darted around their cell. There was no way he was being able to fix his own bed and get Jungkook up and to the front of their cell in the little time he had. Without giving it a second thought he threw his soaked blanket on his top bed, pulled Jungkook's shirt down and started to get the younger up.
"Kook, please. You have to help me a little. They will give you another round of beatings if we aren't at the front within two minutes." A desperate Taehyung almost cried while he hoisted Jungkook up with all his might. Taehyung felt how Jungkook placed his feet on the ground beneath him and somewhat tried to stand on his own. His eyes slowly opened a little and the anger that radiated from them made Taehyung do a double take. Even now the younger still hadn't lost his fierce spirit. Taehyung slung Jungkook's arm over his shoulders and with all his strength he was able to get the younger to the front of their cell just in time. The guard that stood in front of their cell opened their door, ordered them to get out and follow the usual routine. Both boys walked out of the cell, but there was no way Jungkook was gonna be able to stand on his own while carrying out the routine. The boy needed Taehyung's support to stand and without it he would without a doubt fall face first against the pavement. Taehyung heard how the guard started to rummage through their cell and in a quick decision he placed Jungkook against the bars of their cell.
"Lean against my shoulder, you need to stand for a few minutes." Taehyung ordered the younger while he slowly placed Jungkook's arms in front of him. His head hung already low. Taehyung placed his own hands in front of him and he felt how Jungkook's weight kept getting heavier against him with the seconds that passed. Jungkook's body started trembling slightly and his knees looked like they were ready to give out at any moment. The guard walked out of their cell and gave both boys a quick look, a small smirk forming on his face.
"Kim, step away from mister Jeon for a second please." The guard laughed while he slowly walked up to the boys. Taehyung gave the guard a bewildered look, but refused to step away from Jungkook. If he would step away Jungkook would fall down to the ground and would receive another beating. A beating Taehyung was sure Jungkook wasn't gonna be able to handle.
"Kim, MOVE!" The guard now yelled at Taehyung, but the blonde boy held his ground. Before Taehyung could fully process what was happening the baton had collided with his ribcage and he was sinking down on his knees slowly. A souring pain ripped through his body and a soft cry left his lips. Jungkook's weight left his body and stars started to form in Taehyung's vision.
"Last warning Jeon!" The guard yelled and Taehyung slowly turned his head. Jungkook was struggling to stay up right and the guard was looking at him with a soft smirk on his lips. Taehyung placed his hand on the place the guard had just hit and another wave immediately ripped through his body. If he felt like this he didn't even wanna know how Jungkook felt right now. Taehyung hadn't been able to manage one hit making him question how the younger was being able to manage so many of them without showing any discomfort.
Taehyung's eyes traveled back to Jungkook, just in time to see how Jungkook's legs decided to give out on him while the guard who had clearly been waiting for this moment readied his baton. Jungkook sunk down on his knees, immediately followed by the first blow from the guard's baton to his upper arm. Taehyung could only watch in fear while Jungkook received another hit.......and another........and another.......and...........Jungkook's body fell lifelessly to the ground in front of him. It didn't matter anymore how strong the younger was mentally, his body wasn't able to receive anymore hits and shut down on him. Heavy laughs ripped from the guard his throat and small tears started to fall down on Taehyung's cheeks.
"Pathetic." Was the only word that left the guard's mouth while he gave Jungkook one last kick against his arm. The younger still didn't move and the tears kept streaming down Taehyung's face.
"Let this be a warning Kim. Obey the rules or there follows way more than that one hit you just received. Now get back in there!" The guard yelled at Taehyung and with a harsh grab around Taehyung's upper arm he got thrown back inside their cell. Jungkook's lifeless body followed shortly after and without sparing the two boys another glance the guard locked the door and walked away. Taehyung immediately crawled over to Jungkook and rolled the boy on his side to make sure he wouldn't swallow his own tongue and die right on the spot.
"Kook, please wake up." Taehyung sobbed while he pushed Jungkook's hair out of his face. "K..Kook...p..please." Taehyung looked around himself trying to find something that could help him with the situation at hand but nothing seemed good enough or even useful. There had to be something that could help him.......
As if on cue Taehyung's eyes fell on Jungkook's mattress. He couldn't lift Jungkook up on the mattress but he could bring the mattress to Jungkook and roll him on it. With a soft grumble of pain Taehyung stood up from the floor. His side was hurting like crazy but that was the last thing he could think about right now. Jungkook needed him and Taehyung would help him, even if it was the last thing he would ever do in his life. With another painful grumble Taehyung dragged the mattress from Jungkook's bed and placed it beside the boy. Taehyung knelt down on his knees and softly rolled Jungkook on his other side so he would be placed on the mattress instead of the cold hard floor. Taehyung slowly lifted Jungkook's shirt to see more and more black bruises surrounding his torso. With a little struggle he managed to undress Jungkook's upper body and walked back over to his own bed. The wet blanket was still there. Taehyung grabbed the blanket and dumped it once again inside the toilet. With a soaked blanket in his hand Taehyung dropped back down on his knees next to Jungkook's torso. The pain in his own side kept growing stronger but he ignored it as best as he could. His pain wasn't important right now, Jungkook was. Taehyung wiped his hand over his cheeks to get rid of most of the tears and started to cool Jungkook's bruises like he had been doing before the guard came and decided to make his task even more difficult.
Seconds felt like minutes and with each one passing and Jungkook not waking up Taehyung grew more and more concerned.
"Kookie, please. You need to wake up." Taehyung whispered while he pushed Jungkook's bangs out of his eyes again. He placed his blanket on Jungkook's back and as if his prayers had been heard a soft grumble left Jungkook's mouth. "Thank god, you're alive. Lay still your body suffered a lot of injury." Another grumble left Jungkook's mouth and he slowly opened his eyes. Taehyung's eyes instantly locked with the younger's and a soft smile fell on Taehyung's face while one single tear trickled down his cheek.
"W...why...t..the...f...fuck...d..did....you......take....t...that....hit..." Jungkook grumbled out almost inaudible but clearly angry at Taehyung.
"Because I had no choice. If I had stepped away from you you would have gone face first to the floor. I couldn't let that happen Kook." Taehyung answered simply while he repositioned the blanket, followed by a grumble of discomfort coming from the brown haired male. Jungkook looked through hooded eyes at Taehyung but never gave him another response.
"Do you think that you can get up with my help? I'm gonna put my mattress on your bed but I'm not strong enough to get you on it by myself." Jungkook gave the older a small nod, making Taehyung smile brightly. Taehyung threw his wet blanket in a corner of their cell and not even two minutes later his own mattress was placed on Jungkook's bed. After a pretty big struggle Taehyung managed to get Jungkook on the bed. He pushed the now wet mattress back on his own bed and grabbed the still dry blanket from the floor. With the blanket placed tightly in his hand he walked back over to Jungkook. Jungkook was already watching him and a small smile fell on his face. Taehyung draped the blanket over Jungkook's sore body and placed himself as soft as possible next to the younger boy.
"You know Tae.....You would have made a damn good nurse if it wasn't for the fact that you're in here with me." Jungkook's eyes closed slowly and a few seconds later heavy breaths left his body.
Taehyung could only hope that someone else would tell him that too, under different circumstances.