17 | part 15

"Where have you been??", Jin asked angrily just the second Jungkook opened the door of the tour bus.

"I-"

"The line was long, it's not his fault", Jimin interrupted from his seat.

"And I want my wallet back."

If eyes could kill, Jungkook thought.

He grabbed from his pocket and pulled the older's wallet out, who directly snapped it from his fingers, "stop taking my money. Now come eat."

"Where is Taehyung?"

"He's back in his cabin."

"Why, is he okay?"

"Not exactly. He just got a call from his mom. His grandma seems to be doing worse, so Yoongi told him he didn't have to help cleaning", Namjoon said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"What? Well, he can't skip meals!"

"He said he was feeling nauseous, what should we do? Force him til he throws up?" Yoongi asked.

"No, but it's not helping if he isn't eating anything. I'll go to him-"

"It's great that you're friends with him again, but he needs his space too. He said he misses Yeontan."

That they're friends again? What did he mean with that? Their tense atmosphere around each other must have caught their eye.

And what about Taehyung's grandma? Her doing worse? He knew that Tae grew up at her's. It must be hard to not be around her right now.

Jungkook just silently grabbed the menu he picked for Taehyung with a bottle of water and went to the back of the bus. Their cabin was empty so Jungkook just knocked on the door that separated the hallway from the couch area.

Then he shoved the door open and found Tae cuddled up in a blanket looking outside the window, watching the road changing.

The younger was unsure of what he should do. He just put his hand on Taehyung's shoulder and massaged it slightly so he would notice the youngers presence. It worked as the older moved his head and smiled weakly when he saw Jungkook.

"Hi. I- I brought you food."

Tae only nodded and turned to the window again. So Jungkook shoved the door close and sat behind the other, a table next to them too, where he put the food.

Since neither of them said anything, the maknae decided that he had to show his support otherwise and he just slung his arms around the other and laid his head on his shoulder.

"It's gonna be alright", he whispered.

"We're all here."

Jungkook felt the olders hand lay on his own.

They stayed like that for a bit.

Jungkook heard Taes stomach growl and it reminded him of the food he brought.

"You should eat something."

"I don't really feel like eating."

"I know but- you know you shouldn't skip."

Taehyung opened his mouth to say something but stayed silent.

"It better not be spicy", he said and Jungkook laughed. "It's not I swear."

He let go of him so Tae could turn around while the younger grabbed the menu from the table.

"Wait, what are you- Jungkook, I can do it myself, really", Taehyung said with a blush on his cheeks as Jungkook made a gesture to feed him but the maknae shook his head.

"Just eat it", he said and put the chopsticks with the food closer to the others mouth. Tae just rolled his eyes but didn't argue anymore.

After they were done, the younger gave him some water too and took him into his arms again.

"Now tell me that this didn't make you feel a bit better."

Tae nodded into Jungkooks chest.

"Thank you", he mumbled. Just then, the younger felt him shaking irregularly and he noticed the quiet sobs.

He grabbed Tae by his shoulders and pulled him back. His face was run over by tears, his eyes tired and his lips pressed together.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Don't cry, she'll be okay."

"Jungkook-", was all Tae said until he had to catch his breath.

"Shhh shhh it's okay."

Jungkook wiped the tears off his face and pulled him into his arms again. He caressed the olders hair on the back of his head. He kissed his head a few times, then leaned back.

Was that too much? Jungkook wondered. But Taehyung didn't really seem to care too much about it.

Taehyung locked eyes with him.

His intense gaze caused chills on the youngers skin and he felt how his face burned up and his heart jumped up and down in his chest.

"Jungkook?"

"Yes?"

"I- I shouldn't have tried kissing you that night."

"What?"

"Sorry. I was just- I don't know- we were just so close and- and I was euphoric and I wasn't thinking, do you know what I mean?"

"I know exactly what you mean", Jungkook replied.

So if they were close again, Jungkook thought...

Would Tae try again?

He pouted.

"What are you thinking about?", Taehyung asked.

"Nothing."

The older smirked. "Tell me."

Jungkook sighed.

"Just.. when you said, it was because we were so close- I was thinking- that if we, um, if we were close again.."

Taehyungs eyes lit up.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry if you think you can't be close to me anymore. I won't ever do anything again, I swear! I just lost my mind that moment, I'm so sorry", he said and buried his face in his hands.

It was better this way. Of course Taehyungie hyung shouldn't feel bad. But it was better this way.

"You don't have to feel bad. It just happens sometimes. I don't mind."

Did he just- Why did he say that, noo no no no no. Why did he have to say that?! Jungkook cursed himself and his stupid tongue.

"Um- i- that was supposed to sound differently", Jungkook said immediately after.

Taehyung smiled.

"I just- I meant that you don't have to feel bad because of it, you know, um it's okay- I understand that you couldn't control yourself", what the- as if Tae wouldn't be able to control himself around him.

"No- i mean- um not that you weren't able to control yourself around me hahaha that's silly, it's more the other way around obviously- I'm saying so much stuff which i really shouldn't-", What the hell Jungkook?!

He bit his lip to stop blurting out things he actually wanted to keep to himself. If he was quiet it would be so much better for everyone. Himself included.

His head was as red as a tomato.

"I'll never be able to look you in the eyes again, which would be a total shame because you have such beautiful eyes- wait- did I say that out aloud?"

Taehyung nodded.

"I'm gonna go", Jungkook said.

He jumped up from his seat to walk back to the others, leaving a confused speechless Taehyung behind.

"So how'd go?"

He absolutely disgraced himself.

"Great!"

"Really? How is he?"

"He's gonna be okay", Jungkook said and pressed his lips together.

"I'll be back in the cabin."

"I'll go to Taehyung", Jimin said.

Jungkook, still wearing Taehyungs jacket, laid into the bed again which smelled so perfectly like him. He pulled the blanket over his head but that only enveloped him in his scent even more.

So he took the jacket off of him and just randomly decided to lay in someone else's cabin. He couldn't bare one more minute thinking about Taehyung or he'd go crazy.

"Taehyung?", Jimin asked as he stepped into the small room.

"Oh your timing is perfect, i have to tell you something!"

He propped himself up on the couch to face Jimin.

The other clearly didn't expect that. He thought that Tae might be down and would want some support but Jungkook apparently did a brilliant job cheering him up.

"What's going on?"

The younger laughed loudly.

"You wanna know what Jungkook just said to me?"

"I'm all ears", Jimin said grinning and sat down on the couch in front of his best friend.

"So, you remember that night on the rooftop?"

"Duh. I was waiting for you to talk to me about it."

"Anyways, so I almost kissed Jungkook but you interrupted us, thanks for that by the way, and earlier I apologized to him for this 'mistake' and said some things like, that I was probably just caught in the moment and that we were so close too and..."

Jimin: "And?"

"He responded with a pout and stayed silent so I asked him what he was thinking about and he told me or basically asked me what would happen if we'd be close again another time. Then I thought he was scared that i would make a move on him or something so I apologized for that too and said that I'd never do anything ever again. And you wanna know what he said?"

"Yeah! Tell me!"

"He said that i don't have to feel bad and that, listen to this, he said that he didn't mind."

"What-"

"Yes and then he started correcting himself the whole time and started saying something different, then correcting that as well and he started blushing more and more."

Jimin grinned really widely.

"And then he probably thought he wasn't saying it out aloud but he did. He said that he wouldn't be able to look me in the eyes ever again which would be a shame cuz I'd have beautiful eyes."

Jimins jaw dropped. "And then?"

"He realized that he was saying it loudly and just left the room!"

Taehyung laughed. "What the hell is going on in that brain of his?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Huh?"

"He likes you!"

Tae scoffed. "Right. Jimin, he is distancing himself from me."

"Didn't look like it."

"No not today, because I was in a bad mood and he wanted to be there for me."

"And why would he be there for you if he actually wanted to keep his distance?"

"Because we're friends? It's what friends do."

"But friends don't distance from each other."

"What do you even care?", Taehyung asked and took a sip from his water bottle.

"You look cute together."

Tae choked and coughed.

"Don't say that", he said.

"Why?"

Because it gave him hope.

"Because we're just friends."

Jimin looked at him and raised one eyebrow.

"Anyway, you wanna come back to us? The others are kinda worried about you."

Taehyung nodded and they quickly shared their presence with the other bandmates again.

On their way to the next city, Yoongi helped Jhope find new rhymes for his mixtape and Jungkook played games on his mobile and Tae, Jimin, Jin and Namjoon wrote some new lyrics.

Then the staff called, to film a sudden surprise Run BTS! episode. In New York, where they were driving towards, their challenge was to get as many selfies with love poses from the people who lived there. The only problem was: they had to make the others understand what they wanted, which could turn into a bigger problem because the only one who spoke english fluently was Namjoon. But Namjoon was supposed to be the MC in this episode's challenge, so of course he wasn't allowed to help his band members.

After they arrived, a bit outside the big city, they had to step out of the tour bus, two teams already formed.

Tae and Jungkook were in separate teams, what the youngest was actually happy about because he really wanted to win this challenge and knew he'd only get distracted if tae was with him. And he was sure, Taehyung would have more fun with people who wouldn't be stuttering all the time, whenever they tried to form an ordinary sentence. He was sharing a group with Jin and Jhope while Tae was teamed up with Jimin and Yoongi.

They weren't that infamous anymore in Korea, but in the united stated, it still seemed quite alright. Of course, a few people recognized them but that was fine because that would give them more opportunities to take selfies.