Yoongi laughs, soft and relieved, grateful to hear the shift in Jungkook's voice. A little at a time, he's realizing, this can't just be about making Jungkook happy. There's more to this relationship than that, if only because it's utterly impossible for them to both be happy all the time. He can barely manage happiness for himself. It's got to be about being together through all of it anyway. But that doesn't make him any less pleased to hear the way Jungkook whines, sweet and light.

"So do you," he says, nose buried against Jungkook's hair. "And we are happy. We'll just be happier." What they'll really be, he thinks, is free. If they can hold out just a couple more years, they'll be free, safe from abuse and neglect, safe in each other's arms the way they're supposed to be. Until then, they have each other to lean on to get through it.

A hand still in Jungkook's hair, he rubs circles against his back with the other, breathing him in. "We will get through it. No matter what. You have me, always."