Chapter Text
Jungkook is weirdly alone and heavy with his thoughts.
Sure, he likes being alone and introspective and sometimes admittedly a bit too emo for his own good, but this feels weird. Like his thoughts are flying away too fast before he can grasp them and hes clutching onto them too tight and still they’re still slipping away too fast. Like the whispers of sand on blowing winds, you can feel it prick your eyes and taste it on your tongue but then if you look, you see nothing. There’s nothing.
Admittedly he might be emo now, and admittedly it could maybe sort of because of Taehyung’s absence.
Its not like Jungkook is clingy really, or dependent on Taehyung. Or like he can’t live without him and stuff. He can survive without his hyung. Its possible.
Hell, sometimes he feels like he’s the hyung more than Taehyung.
Okay, so maybe he cant. And maybe he’s drowning in himself without Taehyung there beside him like an active ball of big brotherly energy, observant and the biggest distraction.
He’s whining mentally, counting the glow stars on the ceiling, familiar like laugh lines on his dad’s face, when the door slams open like the way he had been expecting it to for the past two days.
“Jungkookie!” Taehyung sings, hair flopping excitedly as he sweeps into the room and Jungkook just blinks back, all thought wiped off. Taehyung pauses in front of his bed and wrinkles a half heated frown. “Please tell me you didn't jerk one off in my bed like you’d threatened.”
Jungkook pretends that his frown isn't actually a smile on its first flight. “I had threatened that if you were to further extend your stay at you’re girlfriend’s house. Not if you came today.”
“Oh my gracious king,” Taehyung calls with a hand on his heart, and then promptly falls face first into the bed. Jungkook stifles a giggle.
Its warm like this, when Jungkook curls onto Taehyung, throwing every limb he can onto him before burrying his head between the mass of limbs they make on the mattress. Nothing like this Jungkook thinks, nothing like this when he can flop onto taehyung like an overgrown starfish. Its silent for a while, but then Taehyung begins humming and Jungkook knows he’s about to say something thats gonna end up with each others elbow slammed into each other’s guts or armpits. Fun.
“Missed me?”
Jungkook grunts as flops on top of Taehyung even more, ignoring Taehyung yelp when jungkook’s elbows clicks onto his teeth. Taehyung lets out a string of giggles and fluffs up Jungkook’s hair.
“Isn't Namjoon uncle and Sunmi coming today?” Tae asks all of a sudden.
“Jungkook nods. “Yeah I think Seokjin uncle will come much later though. Namjoon uncle said he would come with sunmi whether his husband came in late or early.”
Tae coos, fingers dancing in the air. “I can wait to see how much Sunmi’s grown.”
“Its been six months. She probably gained a few inches at this point. She’s seven, so she’ll probably grow slower than when she was a toddler.”
“So wise our kookie.” Tae snickers and Jungkook lightly slaps on him on at the strip of skin in his vicinity.
“Its not like I have a choice.” Jungkook pouts. “Miri’s parents are always on dates. Its like I’m her godfather at this point.”
Taehyung pinches his cheeks. “But you love miri, you wouldn’t say no is she hit you with a firetruck and splashed gasoline over you and doused you in fire.”
Jungkook stares, the idea of little miri, with Hwasa’s bright, sharp eyes and Hoseok’s dainty nose, driving a bright red fire truck in her little pigtails and front teeth missing-oh yeah. Taehyung was right. Again.
“Firetrucks are supposed to cease the fire you dumbfuck.” Jungkook jibes just for the heck off it.
“Oh.” Taehyung says blankly. “True.”
Taehyung begins laughing and Jungkook joins in. He feels light, like he could finally grasp at something to stay afloat. Taehyung noses at his hair after a while like he would do to Tannie, and Jungkook was just about to swat and whine at the action (and maybe turn around and wrap himself around his hyung. But nobody needs to know that) when the door slams open.
Taehyung and Jungkook blink at Yoongi.
Yoongi pushes his glasses up. “Brats. Dinner is ready.”
Jungkook feels Taehyung’s chest cave in on a breathy chuckle under his head, and they both taper off into giggles as Yoongi stand there confused.
“ Appa ,” Taehyung whines like he’s two, kicking jungkook and shoving a hand on his face to push the younger off. Taehyung ignores Jungkook’s threatens and protests as he pushes off the bed and makes his way towards an apprehensive Yoongi.
“Whats wrong-” Yoongi starts before he gets cut off by his own son, his head getting pushed forcefully onto his son’s shoulder that he could barely reach now.
“I missed you Appa.” His voice is soft and tender. Jungkook watches them, feeling the happiest he had been feeling the past few months when Tae had left for college. He knows his dad who had acted all tough had been the one who had been red eyed for days after Tae had said his final goodbyes and moved out to his dorms. He knows he must be feeling the happiest too, if the gentle and firm hand around Tae’s now broad shoulders were any indication.
Taehyung mumbles something into Yoongi’s neck, and Yoongi laughs that croaky laugh that makes Jungkook so so fond.
Jungkook looks away to the sunset outside his window and soon is met with a loud yelp of pain. He startles towards the pair and finds Yoongi almost on his tiptoes, twisting an overgrown taehyung’s ear brutally. “You leave for six months and you have a vacation and you go to your girlfriends house first? And you have the audacity to say you missed me when you didn't even greet me?”
“Ow! Shit! Appa- its not like that, ow, ow!” Taehyung yelps as Yoongi doesnt let go. “You were in the washroom! I wanted to see Kookie!”
Jungkook laughs as he sees how worked up Yoongi is getting and stumbles off the bed to intervene halfheartedly. Just when Jungkook reaches them, a tiny ball of sweater (sometimes Jungkook fails to comprehend how tiny their parents have become in front of them) and baggy pants come barrelling in, swatting at Yoongi’s hand. “Don't touch my son.”
“Dada,” Taehyung fake sobs and falls into Jimin’s awaiting arms, practically having to fold himself in the process. Jimin shushes him, petting his small fingers over the over taehyung’s hair. Yoongi looks positively guilty and defensive as Jimin shoots his husband a death glare.
“He-”
“Don't wanna hear it Yoon.”
Yoongi pouts. Jungkook bursts out into loud laughter and lightly pushes Yoongi towards his dad and his hyung. “Family Hug!” Jungkook decides yelling.
Yoongi groans but falls dutifully into the pile in the middle of the cramped door way. The hug feels like the antidote for every single night he slept alone in his bed, plagued by his thoughts without Taehyung to help. It felt like a cure to everything he had been wallowed about for the past few months. It felt like it was okay, with Tae’s disgustingly sharp cologne, Jimin’s soft detergent smell and Yoongi’s soothing citrus.
The moment felt like the sharp bite of the last light glinting off his father’s greying hair. It felt like his home.