Chapter Text
Jimin sighed, lying on his stomach on a bed in the dorm, propped up on his elbows and phone in hand. He glanced over to the desk in the room, where Hoseok was sitting, charcoal pencil in hand and sketchpad in front of him. Namjoon was hovering over his shoulder, looking down at what he was drawing. Pinned up to the wall were over a dozen drawings on regular paper, crumpled and unfolded from having been shoved in Namjoon’s pocket what now seemed like ages ago, even if only a week had gone by since they left the cave.
“See, this hooked part here, is it the same as in this one?” Namjoon was saying, lifting his head and pointing to one of the other drawings.
Hoseok stared up at the drawing, considering for a long moment. “Maybe. What are you thinking?”
“Well, that kind of shaped hook is always followed by a gap, I think it could indicate the end of a thought, like the end of a sentence.”
“Okay, yeah, I think I see what you mean—so then, what about this part?”
Jungkook, sitting on the edge of the bed by Jimin’s feet, was watching the hyungs, and he let out a whine. “Hyung, come on, let me try again. It’ll make it easier for Hobi to understand…”
“It’s okay, baby,” Joon said, looking up from Hoseok’s drawing to place a hand on Kook’s shoulder. “You’re still recovering, remember what we decided?”
Jungkook’s gaze dropped to his hands in his lap. “Not to push it.”
Hobi looked up too, smiling at him. “Don’t worry about it, Kookie, there’s no rush. You’ll get it in time.”
Jungkook nodded weakly, as if he doubted that last statement. “Maybe.”
Jimin sighed, rolling onto his back and then onto his side, purposefully slipping out of the bed and landing on his feet. “You’ll only get it if you stop trying so much, Kookie. None of us control our Touches, you know.”
“You did.”
Jimin bit his lip. “That was an exception.”
“Maybe not. Maybe things changed, have you tried—”
“I wouldn’t want to!” Jimin surprised himself at how loudly he spoke, how his hands were balled into fists at his sides. He relaxed a little, hunching his shoulders and glaring as he spat out bitterly, “Aren’t there other things you should be more concerned about, anyway?”
Jungkook at first stared back at him with a fighting gaze, but then his head dropped a little, and part of Jimin felt bad for his comment. But another part of him was stubborn—another part of him wondered if since it had been this long, maybe Jungkook needed a little tough love.
“Jimin-ah.”
Jimin turned around, and where his back had been facing the door, stood Yoongi, leaning in its entrance. His arms were crossed, and he didn’t look mad per se, but his voice had been stern.
“Hyung, I’m just saying, don’t you think—”
“Jimin,” Yoongi cut him off, pushing himself off the doorframe and extending a hand. “Let’s go for a walk, okay? I think you could use some fresh air.”
Jimin huffed, realizing his hands were still in small fists, and for a split second he debated arguing with his hyung. But he held Yoongi’s gaze as he did so, the older’s eyes a mixture of stern and calm that suggested he wasn’t interested in or about to tolerate a fight. So Jimin just relaxed his hands and started walking towards him.
“Fine, let’s go.”
Jimin stormed out of the room, and Yoongi trailed right behind him in the hallway. When they reached the room to the dorm’s kitchen, Yoongi opened it, leaning in. Jimin stopped in his tracks to turn around, standing on tiptoes to look over Yoongi’s shoulder and peer into the room too.
Minah was at the stove cooking, while Taehyung and Cassandra were sitting at the table. Jin was putting away clean dishes, but stopped when he noticed the two at the door.
“Jin hyung, you might want to go check on Jungkook,” Yoongi said, and Jimin could tell he was trying to sound nonchalant.
Jin walked over to the table, placing his hand on Tae’s shoulder when the younger straightened up, concern strewn on his face.
“Is he okay?” Taehyung asked.
“He’s fi—”
Jimin pushed the door more open and stepped in Yoongi’s way, “If you actually cared, you could always go ask him yourself, you know, why don’t you—”
But Jimin didn’t get to finish his rant, as Yoongi’s hand went to his chest and firmly pulled him backwards out of the door. Still fighting to get back into the kitchen, once Yoongi was in front of him, he pushed Jimin—not too hard, but the younger still stumbled back into the corridor’s wall.
“Hey!” Jimin shouted.
“You’re in a combative mood today,” Yoongi said flatly. “What’d Jungkook say that got you so pissed off, huh? Come on, outside.”
Jimin stayed against the wall, glaring at his hyung for a minute, breathing heavy. But when Jin stepped out of the kitchen, eyeing the two, he huffed again and stormed off—he didn’t need two caretakers on his back. He didn’t have to glance behind him to know that Yoongi was following after him. He slammed into the front door of the dorm, opening it and hurrying outside.
He finally stopped at the fountain, turning on his heel and speaking before his eyes could even properly focus on Yoongi. “It’s been a week, hyung! A whole week, and they won’t even be in the same room as each other! And—and you’re all acting like, like it’s fine! You’re just going along with it, letting them, and…and it’s not okay. It’s not okay.”
“They need time.”
“They’ve had time!” Jimin shouted. He brought his hands to his face as he took in a choked breath, turning away from Yoongi and walking up to the edge of the fountain. He took a few deep breaths, refusing to let himself get to the point of crying, and he heard Yoongi’s footsteps as the older walked over to stand next to him.
“I don’t disagree with you, Jimin-ah, but—yelling at them isn’t going to make them talk to each other,” Yoongi said. “We can’t make them do anything.”
Jimin further buried his face in his hands. He didn’t understand why Jungkook was so convinced that Taehyung was mad at him, or why Taehyung wouldn’t just talk to Jungkook, reassure him that he wasn’t. But anytime he tried bringing it up to either of them, they’d quickly change the subject, or make an excuse to leave the conversation. Jimin figured the solution would be as easy as them giving each other a chance, but they refused to.
“They’re so stupid,” he said in a muffled voice.
Expecting to get scolded, Jimin lifted his face from his hands when he heard Yoongi chuckle. The older looked at him with soft, sympathetic eyes, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I know it’s difficult for you to see your dongsaengs fighting, but you just have to trust them. They’ll come around. It’s a small dorm, anyway, they’re bound to end up in the same room together at some point.”
“They’ve managed avoiding each other this long,” Jimin mumbled, leaning his head onto Yoongi’s shoulder.
“Yeah, but you gotta admit, a good percentage of that time was spent sleeping,” Yoongi said, and Jimin sighed, nodding, because he wasn’t wrong.
The two youngest had been sleeping. A lot. Jungkook seemed to get better each day, less sensitive and more back to himself, but he still turned to sleep as an aid whenever he did have breakdowns, and even if they were less frequent, it still put him in an odd sleeping schedule. Taehyung wasn’t much better. He described this addictive withdrawal sensation about the water, and that sleep seemed to be the best distraction from it—for once Tae wasn’t having insomnia as an ailment, and so the boy took advantage of that fact, sleeping long hours at a time. Like Jungkook, he seemed to get stronger each day, but he still was fatigued and slow going.
For the rest of the group, it meant calm days of nothing to do. Yoongi and Jin tended to caretaking needs, helping Minah, often with setting up the dorm’s first floor for them all to stay in. With her job in the housing department, she had been able to pull some strings and allow them to stay there until it was move-in time for students. “You’re lucky it’s the summer,” Minah had said, and of course, they were all grateful, and made sure to pull their weight in cooking and helping with Cassandra as long as they were there. In the meantime, Jin often spent his free time looking for land nearby where they could put the tinys, since they were all finding comforting in returning to the university, and there was a good chance Cassandra and Minah would appreciate having them close by even after they had to leave the dorm.
Meanwhile, Namjoon and Hoseok had turned to the drawings and language they had found in the cave as a task to waste away the time, and that left Jimin with little to do himself. Sure, he’d help out occasionally with the others or cuddle one of the sleepy dongsaengs, but after the long and intense days he had experienced at the cave, having grown used to the constant possibility of visions and working towards saving someone, he now found it difficult to settle down. He had little patience to just sit idly in the dorm.
“What did you mean when you said you wouldn’t want to?” Yoongi said, his voice breaking Jimin from his thoughts. “When I walked in the room a minute ago?”
“Huh? Oh,” Jimin’s shook his head and rolled his eyes, hoping Yoongi couldn’t see. “Jungkook, since the cave…you know, he wants to do that—that empathy thing again…and he thinks I could control my visions too or some shit.”
“You did in the cave, didn’t you?”
Jimin crossed his arms, staring into the fountain’s water. “For a little bit. But I mean, that was there, and I took it too far anyway.” Jimin scoffed. “He’s so cocky sometimes, he’s acting like what he did didn’t hurt him, like I should want to be able to have visions at my whim, as if the time I did didn’t cause this—block.”
“Jimin?”
The younger blinked, looking up to meet Yoongi’s eyes. The older brought his hand to Jimin’s cheek, thumbing at his cheekbone.
“It’s only been a week, baby. You’ll have visions again.”
Jimin’s heart skipped a beat, a lump forming in his throat as he shook his head and stepped away from Yoongi. “You don’t know that, hyung.”
“It’s not uncommon for you to go long spells without any, you’ve gone months without one before. This is normal,” Yoongi said.
Jimin turned away from him, taking a few more steps away, hugging his arms to his stomach. He knew Yoongi was right, he realized that he was being paranoid, that one was bound to sneak up on him eventually, the way they always had before. But after being able to will the visions, to then lose that ability so suddenly, had shaken him more than he’d been willing to admit. He thought about how he lost the ability while still in the cave, after he had gotten too confident and pushed it too far. It made him worry—what if he hadn’t just lost the control, but the Touch altogether?
Jimin sniffled, running the back of his hand over his eyes. “It’s so stupid, I—I used to think my Touch was such a pain. It would cause me hurt and the visions were confusing and I never could make sense of any of it—I should be glad at the prospect of losing it…so why does it scare me so much—the idea of never having another vision again?”
Yoongi walked over to him and wrapped the boy in a hug, letting him burying his face into the crook of his neck. He stroked Jimin’s hair as he spoke, “Because it’s a part of you, baby, you’ve been having them since you were a kid. It’s perfectly understandable you wouldn’t want to lose that.”
Jimin nuzzled against Yoongi’s neck until the older pulled away, moving his hands to cup Jimin’s face, wiping away his tears. “Your Touch is a part of you, you’re not going to lose that—”
“Bu—”
“Listen to hyung, please,” Yoongi said, still gently thumbing at Jimin’s cheeks. “You went through so much, baby. You had more visions in those few days than you sometimes have in months. You had one so harsh it scared me into thinking you weren’t going to make it—”
“Hyung—” Jimin had known that his six hour long vision had been intense, and a lot for Yoongi while he was taking care of him, but he never realized it was quite that serious.
“Shh. Now I know you may feel bored and restless here, but your body is still recovering, Jimin-ah. Think about it—you never have visions when you’re feeling ill or overworked. Your body knows what it’s doing. You’ll have visions again, baby, I don’t doubt it. Just give it time. Okay?”
Jimin took in a deep breath and nodded in Yoongi’s hands. He brought his own up to hold Yoongi’s, pulling them down from his face so he could lean in and kiss his hyung. It was soft and Jimin lingered in it, his way of assuring Yoongi that he was there—that he had made it. When their lips broke apart, they kept their foreheads touching, and Jimin hummed.
“I should probably go apologize to those two, huh?” he said.
“Mm, let’s give them some time,” Yoongi said, interlocking his fingers with Jimin’s. “We can still go on that walk first.”
~
Jungkook braved himself to go into the kitchen, only after Jin’s comfort and with his support was he able to do so. Standing outside the door with Jin at his side, he took in a deep breath and pushed it open. Before he could chicken out, he glued his eyes to Taehyung’s and spoke quickly.
“Can we go—somewhere?” he said, faltering at the last part despite what he had planned to sound confident.
Taehyung, at first wide-eyed, hesitated, and Jungkook could feel a mixture of things—nerves, guilt, but even still, the anger was there. It pierced at Jungkook in a way that made him want to flee, but he knew he couldn’t anymore. In the seconds that felt like eons, Taehyung finally nodded, standing up and walking over to him.
“You sure you’re okay to go?” Jin asked softly. He pressed a kiss to Kook’s temple when he nodded, and as Tae walked up to them, Jin leaned into him and whispered, “Play nice,” before kissing his cheek and then walking past him to the kitchen table.
Jungkook swallowed hard, eyeing Taehyung for just a moment before opening the kitchen door. “Let’s go.”
They walked down the long hallway, taking a side exit of the dorm to walk down the sidewalk of the university. Jungkook was leading the way, with Taehyung a step behind him, but he could feel Tae’s emotions lingering over them like a grey cloud, and he didn’t dare look back at him. Jungkook took a turn past a couple of buildings that would normally hold classes, and they continued across the campus.
“Where are we going?” Taehyung asked, his voice flat.
“You know,” Jungkook replied, braving a glance behind him. Taehyung, hands in his pockets as he walked, dropped his head and gave a small nod.
The gate to the athletic field was always unlocked, a certain mistake by lackadaisical coaches and staff, or perhaps intentional because enough of the students liked using the track and field that they just decided to keep it open. The only times it was empty were the nights when there were no games being held, or so late into the night that they were already over. And of course, now, in the summer, before any students had returned for the upcoming semester. It was in these moments that the field usually so full of excitement and clamor would serve as a place of peace, the tall, silver bleachers reaching up high and looking over the expanse of the wide open, green lawn, and beyond its fence, an old field that had been left to grow wild.
Jungkook hoped he didn’t overexert them by walking the steps all the way to the top of the bleachers, and he turned around, catching his own breath, to check on Taehyung. A few steps down, Tae paused when he noticed Jungkook looking at him, making the younger grow shy and drop his gaze.
At the top of the bleachers, Jungkook turned to look out in the direction opposite of the sports field, and instead let his eyes fall over the many buildings of campus that extended out beyond the stadium. It was a relatively small campus, and just from that point of view, Jungkook could note the library and the art building, and he knew what paths to take that would lead to other buildings he had taken classes in over the years. He could see the dorm they had just come from, and he knew the way to the dorm where they had all lived and met. It wasn’t until this moment that Jungkook realized being at back at the school, in many ways, felt like being back home.
In his peripherals, he could tell Taehyung had gotten up the final steps and was standing next to him, he too looking out across the campus. He could hear him catching his breath, and he gave him a minute before he decided to start talking.
“Can you just tell me?” Jungkook said suddenly, his voice almost startling himself, loud against only the sounds of their breathing and the light breeze.
“Tell you what?” Taehyung asked, again, his voice flat.
Jungkook looked over at him. His hand rested on the chain-link fence they were looking through, and his eyes stayed straight forward, gazing upon campus, his expression otherwise blank. It reminded Jungkook of earlier times with Taehyung, how back then it wasn’t uncommon for him to have quiet, somber passages of time. He would come up with an excuse for the hyungs when they would begin to worry, about being tired or stressed with classes, but Jungkook could always feel the true sadness behind them. They rarely lasted long before Taehyung would be back to his normal, happier self, but there were plenty of those times where Jungkook would sit with him. They wouldn’t talk, he knew Tae wouldn’t want to. They would just go somewhere, usually outside, and sit and feel sad together. Because it was okay to feel sad sometimes.
Jungkook turned his gaze back to the view. “Why you’re mad at me.”
In his peripherals, he could sense Tae immediately turn his head to look at him. “I’m not mad at you.”
Jungkook gave a weak laugh, looking down at his shoes, where his feet were holding him up on the thin metal line of a seat that was the bleacher. “Taehyung, you can’t lie to me about that. I can feel it. You’re mad at me.”
“No I’m not.” His voice had turned from flat to something sterner.
“You don’t have to deny it, I don’t get why you’re even trying—”
“I’m not mad at you.”
Jungkook could feel Tae’s anger bubbling up, and it made him start to become irritated too. “I’d rather you just tell me why than deny it, just admit it. Come on, why are you mad at—”
“Not at you!” Taehyung suddenly shouted.
Jungkook looked up at him, wide-eyed, and Taehyung, breathing heavy, dropped his head, bringing both hands up to the chain-link fence, leaning against it a little. The wind blew over them, swaying Tae’s long locks across his forehead. It was like the anger that had been there had been a bubble, and after growing too large, it popped. It left Jungkook feeling mostly confused.
“I’m mad,” Tae said more calmly, “But not at you.”
Jungkook furrowed his brow. “But—but I feel it, whenever you look at me, and, and you’ve been avoiding me. It has to be me you’re mad at.”
“It’s me,” Tae said, head still hanging, “I’m mad at myself. About you.”
“H-huh?”
Taehyung shook his head, and finally looked up to meet Jungkook’s eyes. “Whenever I look at you, I see how tired or ill you are, I remember how you looked back in the cave, how we weren’t sure when you’d wake up…You shouldn’t have had to go after me. And I shouldn’t have let you use my Touch as long as you did, I should’ve known it would end badly…I’m your hyung, I should’ve…I should’ve protected you, but instead I hurt you.”
Jungkook must’ve stared at him for a solid minute, feeling oddly frozen, still processing that the anger he had felt wasn’t due to what he had expected at all. “I…Tae, you didn’t hurt me. That was my Touch. It wasn’t your fault.”
Tae shook his head again. “And you have ailments now, because of what you untapped in the water. I brought that upon you, Kookie. I should’ve done better…why’re you smiling?”
Jungkook realized that he was experiencing one of those rare moments where his own emotions were so strong that they overpowered whatever ones he was feeling from someone else. He brought a hand to cover his mouth as he couldn’t stop smiling widely, and he closed his eyes, shaking his head.
“Because all this time I thought you were mad at me. All this time I thought I’d done something wrong but you were…you were avoiding me because you were mad at yourself. You saw that I was hurting and you didn’t want me to feel that too. I’m right, aren’t I?”
Taehyung’s ears and cheeks flushed a shade of pink. “Well, I…I mean, yeah. But, aren’t you mad at me for it?”
“Do you want me to be?” Jungkook said, still smiling widely and stepping closer to Taehyung.
The older looked Jungkook up and down, taking a small step back, as if startled by his joyful mood. “You—you should be! You should be mad at me, after the pain I’ve caused you.”
“You’re so dramatic sometimes, hyung,” Jungkook said, stepping closer to him again. “I don’t care if it comes with ailments, I’m not sorry for what happened. It was all worth it, to get to see the way you do. For us all to. I—I like that part of my Touch. And I wouldn’t have ever known about it if not for all that happened.”
Jungkook closed the small, remaining gap between them, and, reaching out, he let his fingertips fall onto Taehyung’s shirt, spreading out until his palm was pressed over Taehyung’s heart. He met his hyung’s eyes, warm and filled with awe. “Please, hyung, don’t be mad anymore.”
Tae’s lips parted as his eyes searched Jungkook’s face for a long time. Then he lifted his hand and hesitantly brought it to Kook’s cheek. “Kookie…”
Thumb running softly over his cheekbone, relief and a warm happiness flooded over him, and Jungkook’s eyes fluttered closed at the sensation of it all. He leaned into Tae’s hand, realizing just how much he had missed the older’s touch during this long week without him. His fingers curled around a fistful of Tae’s shirt, and he tugged slightly, until Tae leaned in and he felt his lips on his own. They lingered in the kiss, Jungkook relieved and thrilled to breath in Taehyung, and when their lips broke apart, he immediately wrapped his arms around him, holding him as close as he could.
“Please never do that again, please don’t go a whole week without me,” Jungkook found himself saying, hugging onto Tae tightly.
“I won’t. I won’t, I promise,” Taehyung said, hugging him back just as tightly. “I love you, Jungkook-ah, I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” Jungkook closed his eyes, bringing a hand to hold Tae’s nape, keeping his chest pressed against him.
After a long moment of holding and breathing in Taehyung, Jungkook relaxed a little, opening his eyes, and he sniffed a laugh at what he saw. “Damn, Jimin was right.”
“Jimin? About what?” Tae asked, still holding onto him but pulling away enough to look at his face.
Jungkook met his eyes and then looked up just above them, where a little blue spirit was hovering over the chain-link fence. “I did just have to stop trying.”
“You—you can see it?” Tae said, and Jungkook nodded, smiling softly. The older leaned into Jungkook as he continued looking at the spirit, nuzzling his temple. “That’s Bea. I never get ailments with it, it’s a gentle spirit.”
Jungkook’s smile widened a little, still eyeing the spirit as Taehyung kissed his ear. Becoming distracted, he turned into Tae, finding and kissing his lips, and when he looked up again, the sight of the spirit was gone.
“Lose it?” Tae guessed when his smile faded slightly.
“Yeah, but that’s okay,” Jungkook said, looking away from where the spirit had been to meet Tae’s eyes. “It was enough.”
Jungkook hadn’t been able to tap into that part of his Touch since the one time in the cave, even when he tried. He had started to lose hope, thinking that it had happened more because of the water’s energy than his own power. He had been trying to hone in on it, because like he had told Tae, it was a part of his Touch that he liked. To have empathy so strong to experience the Touch of others, of his boyfriends—to see how Namjoon thought, or how Hobi saw people—it was a thrilling prospect. Having no luck doing it on his own, he had began to console himself that it had been a one-time experience. So now, even if it was small, even if it was only just for a brief moment, Jungkook was happy to see that it was something within him. Even if Jimin was right, and it was something he wouldn’t be able to perfectly control, he was glad it was still there, certain that it was something he would enjoy.
He was distracted from his thoughts when Tae tickled under his chin, and Jungkook smiled, meeting his eyes quickly before leaning in and kissing him again.
~
Once Jungkook and Taehyung were on their way down the hall, Jin returned to the dorm room where he had left Namjoon and Hoseok.
“Everything okay?” Namjoon asked.
“I think it will be,” Jin said, giving a small, comforting smile. He reached the desk where they two were working, placing a hand on Hobi’s nape while looking around at all the drawings. “Why don’t you two take a break, huh? There’s still some food in the kitchen.”
“I dunno, hyung, I think we were just getting onto something,” Namjoon said, leaning over the desk to look at Hoseok’s drawing.
“Maybe you were. I’ve just been getting hungry,” Hoseok said with a laugh, scooting the chair out to stand up behind Seokjin, throwing his arms around him.
Jin grabbed one of Hoseok’s charcoal covered hands when the younger attempted to touch his face. “Hobi, don’t you dare—”
But as he was speaking, Hoseok took advantage of Jin’s weakened grip and managed to smear the charcoal onto Jin’s cheek. Letting out a mischievous laugh, Hoseok escaped Jin’s grip and hurried to the door.
“Jung Hoseok! I will come get you for this!” Jin shouted in his teasingly dramatic tone, and he could hear Hobi giggling in the doorway.
“Oh, is that a threat or a promise?” The younger teased in return, laughing and quickly darting away when Jin made a step in his direction.
The oldest let out a soft chuckle, assuming that Hoseok had ran to the kitchen, and he turned back to face Namjoon.
“Here,” the younger said, raising his hands up, one to tuck under Jin’s chin while the other worked at the spot Hoseok had left.
Jin watched as Namjoon’s eyes focused on the spot, his thumb firmly rubbing at his skin for a moment before his hands dropped to Jin’s shoulders. He blinked, smiled, and then shifted his gaze to meet Jin’s eyes. Jin smiled in return, bringing his hand up to Joon’s cheek, his thumb running over the younger’s dimple.
“You work too much,” Jin told him.
Joon let out a short laugh, his eyes darting to the ground in the way they did whenever he got shy. “But I like working.”
“Then I’m sure you’ll appreciate it all the more when you come back to it after taking a break,” Jin said.
Joon smiled at him fondly, wrapping his arms around Jin’s neck to pull him in closer. “Yeah, alright,” he mumbled before leaning in and kissing the older.
Jin hummed into the kiss—he had missed this. Just living with his boyfriends, teasing and kissing and caring for one another. With Jungkook and Taehyung talking things out, everything was finally going back to the way it should be, where they were all together and safe and happy.
Pulling away from Joon’s lips, Jin brought his hands to Joon’s arms. “Come on, love, let’s join the others in the kitchen.”
Hoseok was sitting at the kitchen table with Minah and Cassandra when the two walked in, and he stood up when he locked eyes with Jin, seeming to gauge whether or not he needed to flee, a playful smile teasing at his lips.
“Don’t think you’ll get away again,” Jin said as he approached Hoseok, lunging out and grabbing his wrist right in time before he could get away. The younger laughed as Jin pulled him into his arms, side-hugging him obnoxiously tight. “You gonna apologize or what?”
“What?” Hoseok said, grinning until one of Jin’s hands started tickling relentlessly as his sides, and he let out a screeching laugh, wriggling in Jin’s hold. “Aish, okay, okay, I yield, I’m sorry, hyungie, I’m sorry—”
Jin stopped tickling him and plopped into the chair he had been sitting in, pulling at the younger’s arm until Hobi was sitting in his lap. “I guess I’ll forgive you.”
“You’re too kind, hyung,” Hobi said, wrapping his arms around Jin’s neck and leaning in to kiss him.
Minah sniffed a laugh, scooting her chair back and grabbing her mug off the table. “You guys are too much.”
“Unnie, will you make more pancakes?” Cassandra said when Minah walked over to the kitchen counter to refill her mug.
Minah let out a soft laugh, spinning around and leaning against the counter. “Right now? I just made you some an hour ago.”
“Please?”
Jin couldn’t help but note the fondness in Minah’s eyes as she smiled at Cassandra. The two had certainly warmed up to one another over the course of the week, but then again, how couldn’t they? By the end of the first day, Minah had gotten Cassandra set up in a dorm room, lending her blankets and pillows, as well as some clean clothes. But as dire as her condition was, Minah ended up staying in the room with her to help her through the nights as well. If Cassandra was hesitant about Minah as a caretaker at first, that quickly melted away within the first few days, and the two seemed to really fit well together.
Minah’s smile turned to a smirk, and she turned to grab an apple, setting it in front of Cassandra. “Have some fruit now, and I’ll make you pancakes in a little bit, deal? You can’t survive on just pancakes, you know,” she added when Cassandra pouted, pushing the free strand of Cassandra’s otherwise braided hair behind her ear.
One of the biggest challenges was getting Cassandra to eat again, and by chance, Minah had discovered the younger’s vice—pancakes. Since it was all Cassandra would agree to eat at first, for a solid day, the kitchen smelled of flour and butter and syrup. Slowly, Minah was working on getting her to expand her diet, and in good time, she hoped to get Cassandra’s blood work done so they could figure out what she was still deficient in and work her diet accordingly.
“Alright,” Cassandra obliged, picking up the piece of red fruit and biting into it.
Minah smiled as she sat back down next to Cassandra, the table now full, with Joon sitting down next to Jin and Hobi, the later sneaking pieces of food off of Namjoon’s plate. The four ate and talked amongst each other for a long while, until Jimin and Yoongi walked into the room as well, holding hands and looking much more cheerful than when they had left.
“Hey cutie, feeling better?” Jin greeted, reaching his hand out for Jimin to grab as he walked over.
Jimin held onto his hand and nodded. “Yes, I’m sorry about earlier. I need to go apologize to Tae and Kookie.”
“Well, they’ve gone to talk things out, actually,” Jin told him.
“Yeah, so maybe you don’t have to feel sorry after all,” Hoseok added.
“How long have they been talking?” Yoongi asked, taking a seat in Namjoon’s lap when the younger scooted his chair out for him to better sit down.
Yoongi casually pressed a kiss to Namjoon’s temple as he answered, while looking to Jin, “Gosh, a long time now, right hyung?”
Jin glanced at the clock, surprised to realize how much time had passed. “You’re right…maybe we should go check on them. Kook was insistent that they’d be fine, but they are both still recovering.”
“I still need to apologize to them anyway, hyung,” Jimin said, “If it’s been long enough I’m sure they won’t mind.”
Hoseok got up so Jin could stand, and he and Jimin led the way, the other three trailing behind, down the hall to go check the few dorm rooms they had taken over for the week. In this small dorm, the group was using four rooms of the first floor, and much like the tinys, delegated the rooms as either private, for only one or two people at a time, up to a more communal one, where they threw a few twin mattresses together like they used to back in their own university days, that made for better cuddling.
Jin knew that Jungkook had taken Tae out of the dorm, and as they checked the first couple rooms, he began to worry that they wouldn’t be there, and that they would have to search campus. Jin tried to calm himself, but knowing of their still fragile conditions, he couldn’t help the worrying thought of finding the two collapsed somewhere outside—
Hearing Jimin giggle as he opened the next door, Jin was automatically relieved of his worry, and he peered over the boy’s small frame to see what he was giggling at. Of course, Jin gave a wide smile at the sight too.
On the mattresses pushed together on the floor, under the sheets and lying on their sides, Taehyung and Jungkook were wrapped around each other, kissing and hands running over one another’s skin. It was a beautiful sight, and Jin’s heart melted at seeing the two boys.
Hearing Jimin’s giggling, they stopped kissing one another and broke into blushing smiles when they saw their boyfriends in the door way.
“Taetae, Kookie, I was gonna apologize,” Jimin said, a more smirk-like grin forming at his lips, “but now I’m not sure I’m that sorry.”
Taehyung laughed fully, Jungkook still smiling more shyly. Tae reached out, making grabby hands at Jimin. “I’m okay with that, Jiminie. Come here, yeah?”
That was all it took for Jimin to hurry over, piling himself onto the younger boys, the three of them giggling as they wrapped their arms around Jimin, Tae jokingly smacking his ass while he was at it.
The hyungs all crowded around the door, smiling fondly at their maknaes, and Jin knew it was Yoongi when a hand slipped into his own, giving it a squeeze. Quickly eyeing him, the two caretakers shared a knowing glance before Jimin spoke up.
“Come on, hyungs! We haven’t had a proper cuddle in ages,” he said as both Tae and Kookie placed kisses on his ears and cheeks, purposefully squishing his face.
Jin smiled, eager to step forward and pull Yoongi along with him, knowing that Namjoon and Hoseok would also follow. The seven surrounded themselves with each other, full of joy and love and the overwhelming sense of belonging.
The End