Taehyung wakes up to Yeontan barking next to him on his bed. The dog's yapping seeps through the cracks of his subconscious enough to rouse him, and sufficiently scare the shit out of him. "Yeontan." Taehyung groans, pushing the little ball of fur away with his hand. The dog is relentless, though, continuing to jump on the half-asleep Taehyung. "Seriously, son?"Taehyung mutters, rolling over away from his puppy. "It's way too early for this--ow!" Taehyung exclaims when Yeontan bites his ear. Taehyung sits up, woken up enough by the sting of Yeontan's tiny teeth and ready to scold him.
But then he takes pause.
Yeontan has never bitten in his life. Taehyung is a diligent dog dad, he has made sure that Yeontan knows not to bite. In fact, now that he thinks about it, Yeontan has never randomly barked in the middle of the night, either. Taehyung trained him not to bark, period. "What's your deal, huh?" He asks the little puppy groggily. Yeontan continues to bark, romping about on Taehyung's bed chaotically. "Shush, you'll wake up Yura." He says.
That's when he realizes. Yeontan had slept in Yura's room last night. He vividly remembers shutting the door behind him after bidding her goodnight, so how did Yeontan get out? That, on top of him acting weird, Taehyung deduces that something is definitely wrong. He quickly gets out of bed, not even bothering to put on a shirt before running out of his room-- and almost stepping on the body curled up in front of his door on the ground.
"Holy shit." Taehyung curses, kneeling down next to Yura, worry painted clearly on his face. Her face is tear stained and her skin is scarily pale, sweat dripping down her temple. She opens her eyes when she hears his voice. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
"It burns." Yura chokes out, wheezing for breath. Taehyung is worried now, recalling Hoseok's words. This must be the pain he's talking about. He didn't know it would happen so soon.
"Okay, let's get you off the floor, all right? We can go run you a bath to try and break the fever, okay?" Taehyung suggests, and Yura moans in pain, not even hearing him through the agony. He reaches out to close his hand around her arm and help her up, but as soon as his fingertips make contact with her skin, she lets out a piercing scream. She scrambles away from him, and Taehyung feels tears gathering in his eyes. "Oh, God, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" He cries.
"What's happening to me?" Yura sobs weakly, and Taehyung feels guilt eating him from the inside out. This is all his fault. If he would have just picked up Hoseok's calls, they wouldn't be here. If he would have just sucked it up and told her the truth about their soul bond, she wouldn't feel so lost and confused on top of being in immense pain.
"This is all my fault, but I'm gonna fix it. I'll tell you everything later. I'm gonna get some help, okay? Can you hang tight for just a little longer? Can you do that for me?" Taehyung murmurs to her, kneeling down to her. Through her tears, Yura nods. Taehyung shudders when he sees angry red marks on the place where his fingers just touched. He rushes to his room and calls Hoseok with trembling hands. It's not even light outside yet, so he just prays he'll answer.
"What?" Hoseok answers on the second to last ring, clearly pissed for being woken up.
"Hyung, it's happening." Taehyung says, so distressed he's struggling to form coherent sentences. "It's Yura, she's hurting, hyung." He cries. Hoseok, being himself, understands immediately.
"Shit. That was quick." He says, and his words are accompanied by rustling of his bedclothes as he gets out of bed. "What's going on, exactly?"
"She tried to come get me but couldn't even make it down the hall, Yeontan came and woke me up. She said it's burning, and she's crying. And, fuck, I can't even touch her or it hurts her even more." Taehyung rambles brokenly.
"All right, I'm on my way. I'll get Jimin and Jungkook over there, they'll be there sooner than I will and she knows them better." Hoseok instructs him. Something he has always admired about Hoseok is his ability to stay calm in emergencies. Taehyung can't even count the amount of times Hoseok has kept his cool in pressing situations where he was busy losing his shit.
"Okay, what do they do when they get here?" Taehyung asks.
"Well, it's sounding like a fever, but painful. Have Jimin run her a bath and Jungkook put her in it, and I'll bring all my books on this. We're gonna have to look in them for a better solution, because I have no fucking idea how to fix this." Hoseok admits.
"All right, thanks, hyung." Taehyung says, quickly but sincerely before hanging up. He rushes to return to Yura's side, and she's not looking any better. He rushes around the kitchen, and drops a glass in his haste, the shards littering the floor, but he doesn't have time to pick them up. He continues his mission to wet a cloth and get a glass of water for her, not being able to think of anything else to do to help her without being able to touch her.
"Here, can you sit up for me, baby?" Taehyung says. In any other situation he would have spent ample time overthinking his last word, but he's too focused on Yura to care. Yura groans as she shakily leans herself up against the back of the couch. He gently eases the rim of the glass against her bottom lip and tilts the liquid into her mouth slowly. When she's done drinking, he delicately rests the cloth over her burning forehead. Her skin radiates intense heat, so much that Taehyung can feel it, despite his fingertips being centimetres away from her face.
"You're bleeding." Yura manages to breathe out, weakly gesturing to his foot. Surely enough there's a cut on the side of it from the glass he broke, one that he hadn't even noticed until now. "Y'okay?"
"You're asking me if I'm okay?" He asks, sad smile spreading on his face at how considerate she is. "Seriously?" She smiles through the pain, what starts as a laugh morphing into a wince.
"Don't make me laugh, it hurts." She scolds him, but he can tell she doesn't mean it from the residue of a smile on her chapped lips.
"Taehyungie?" Jiimin's familiar voice calls, and Taehyung stands up to see Jimin and Jungkook in the foyer. They rush over, and as soon as they see Yura, Jungkook gasps. He kneels down next to her while Taehyung instructs Jimin to start the bath. Jungkook's tattooed fingers gently brush the hair out of her face, damp with her own perspiration.
"Oh, God." He murmurs. Her body was expelling heat the same way a disposable coffee cup does when you hold it in your hands. She musters up her strength enough to reach up and close her hand around Jungkook's. She's too exhausted for words now, having used up her energy in the action, but her eyes seem to be begging him not to let go. As soon as he hears the water start running, he tightens his grip on her hand. "I'm gonna pick you up, okay?" He informs her, and she manages a minuscule nod.
Jungkook lets go of her hand to loop one arm beneath her knees and hook the other behind her back. Lifting her easily, her head lulling against his chest, he carries her to Taehyung's bathroom, where the bath is filling up. The three men exchange looks, realizing that she's not in the proper state to remove her own clothes. "Yura, hey, look at me." Jungkook attempts to rouse the girl who had closed her eyes. She looks up at him, eyes red from crying. "Would you rather get in with your clothes on or have one of us help you get undressed?"
"Off." She chokes out hoarsely. In truth, the fabric feels like sandpaper against her scalding hot skin, and every time she moves, it hurts.
"Here, I've got her, Kook. Put her on the toilet." Jimin volunteers, and Jungkook follows directions. Jimin steadies her with his hands on her shoulders, and kneels in front of her. Yura suddenly feels nervous and insecure beneath her pain, never being one to be confident about her body. Jimin notices this, and waves Taehyung and Jungkook out the door. Though it visibly pains Taehyung to leave her, he and Jungkook exit, leaving Jimin and Yura alone. He thinks back to all Taehyung has told him about Yura's struggles with an eating disorder along with her abusive experiences, so he knows he has to make sure she's consenting to this before he does anything. "Hi, girl. You're doing great. I know it's not the time, but getting naked in front of someone you're not comfy with can be hard. I want you to know you're safe with me, okay? I'm safe, I promise. One, I care for you, and two, I'm gay, if that's any consolation. Are you okay with this?" He asks, and Yura manages a small nod, eyes giving Jimin permission.
Meanwhile, Taehyung and Jungkook wait in the hallway. Taehyung paces nervously, and Jungkook can see something is clearly on his mind. "Talk to me, hyung." He murmurs, and Taehyung sighs, stopping his pacing in front of the younger.
"I just...this is all my fault. If I had just answered the phone, she wouldn't be in pain. And if I had just told her we're soulmates she wouldn't be scared and confused as to why this is happening. She's hurting and lost and it's all my fault." Taehyung says, tears gathering in his eyes once more.
"It's not, Tae. You couldn't have known this would happen this soon. Don't do that to yourself. You've gotta be strong for her right now." Jungkook reminds him gently, and Taehyung knows he's right. He pushes down his anger at himself and wipes his tears, sending a look of gratitude to Jungkook.
"Hey, I'm here." The two men look over to see Hoseok entering the apartment, a large stack of books in his arms. Jungkook rushes over to lift them out of Hoseok's hands and set them on the coffee table. "Is she in the bath?"
"Yeah, Jimin's with her." Taehyung catches Hoseok up, and he nods.
"All right, then. Everyone pick a book, and start reading." Hoseok instructs, and the two younger men obey. "We're looking for anything to make the burning stop until we can get her down to Daegu to see the specialist." Like that, the three men sit down on the couch and open the books, skimming the words as quickly as possible. Taehyung fixates on it to keep from beating himself up inside, to keep the guilt suppressed for as long as possible. He loses track of how long he's been reading when the door to the bathroom opens again.
Jimin walks over to them, concern on his face.
"She's cooled down a bit. She's not in too much pain anymore, it seems like it's relaxed to just a normal fever. With some medicine she'll be okay, I think." Jimin explains, and relief floods them. "Tae," Jimin continues, resting his hand comfortingly on his best friend's shoulder, "she wants to talk to you. She says you have something to tell her."
The relief Taehyung felt is promptly replaced by dread. Swallowing dryly, he looks between his friends for encouragement.
"You've got this, Taehyungie." Hoseok assures him. "She needs to know now."
Nodding, Taehyung offers his friends a half-assed smile. He approaches the door, takes a deep breath. This it it. It's now or never. "Please, don't hate me." He whispers, only loud enough for himself to hear.
Then, he opens the door and goes inside.
ooooooop sorry for the cliffhanger heheheh
hope u enjoyed!!
r