jeon jΟ
ngΔΈooΔΈ (
lovestrippedbare) wrote2019-03-09 03:19 pm
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There are times, Jungkook thinks, when unexpected changes in plan work out for the best. Giving up on the idea of Busan during winter break wasn't the easiest choice at the time Jungkook had expected it to be the highlight of their winter, and giving into the pressure of Yeongwook's blackmailing hurt on multiple levels. But distance seemed safest. Planning, biding their time, having Jungkook carefully siphon a portion of his allowance over to Yoongi for safekeeping, every passing day made the trip feel more viable again, until the two of them suddenly realized that Yoongi's birthday would be an easy occasion to leave for, and that was that.
They've picked up memories along the way. The first night Jungkook had Yoongi stay over. The first dinner together with his mother, with her offering countless thanks for helping her youngest with his studies. A trip out to a nameless beach, all seven of them together, huddled and bracing against the last of the winter winds.
Getting to March isn't as difficult as Jungkook expected it to be, and now that they're here, the wait has made everything all the sweeter.
He takes countless pictures with his camera of their seats together on the train, of the little box meals they buy from the lady with the cart. Of the ramyeon they buy an hour later, when it's clear that the box meals are more packaging than substance.
Of Yoongi, staring out the window of the train car, a soft smile on his face.
At first, Jungkook struggled with the idea of spending much of Yoongi's birthday on the train, but the trip to Busan takes several hours at best, which would have required missing class on Friday. Seeing Yoongi's peaceful expression on the train helps to set a little of that regret to rest, as does the stifled laughter they share as they stumble down the hall to their room in the hotel.
"Hotel Elysee," Jungkook says with a flourish as he waits for Yoongi to swipe their room key. "Is that, like, French?"
They've picked up memories along the way. The first night Jungkook had Yoongi stay over. The first dinner together with his mother, with her offering countless thanks for helping her youngest with his studies. A trip out to a nameless beach, all seven of them together, huddled and bracing against the last of the winter winds.
Getting to March isn't as difficult as Jungkook expected it to be, and now that they're here, the wait has made everything all the sweeter.
He takes countless pictures with his camera of their seats together on the train, of the little box meals they buy from the lady with the cart. Of the ramyeon they buy an hour later, when it's clear that the box meals are more packaging than substance.
Of Yoongi, staring out the window of the train car, a soft smile on his face.
At first, Jungkook struggled with the idea of spending much of Yoongi's birthday on the train, but the trip to Busan takes several hours at best, which would have required missing class on Friday. Seeing Yoongi's peaceful expression on the train helps to set a little of that regret to rest, as does the stifled laughter they share as they stumble down the hall to their room in the hotel.
"Hotel Elysee," Jungkook says with a flourish as he waits for Yoongi to swipe their room key. "Is that, like, French?"
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The mention of Taehyung only makes Jungkook laugh more, giving Yoongi's hand a squeeze. It doesn't surprise Jungkook that Yoongi points Taehyung out as the most exhausting of their crew. He's certainly the one most prone to flights of fancy and whim, which is basically the opposite of Yoongi, who likes to plan ahead and assess his options.
"Ah, Taehyungie hyung... you know, he's the one I wanted to be like most in the beginning," Jungkook remarks, raising his shoulders slightly in almost a shrug. "Probably half the reason why I was able to open up to you guys at all. But I can see why you find him tiring. I like his energy, though. He's really fun to goof around with."
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"Yeah, he is," he agrees. There are times he can be nearly as rambunctious himself, when he's in the mood to be. It's easier to be when Taehyung and the others are encouraging him. It just isn't something he can do or be all the time, and sometimes it seems like Taehyung is always on, his high energy only dampened by sullen moods.
Which, if Yoongi thinks about it closely, isn't too different from himself, just in extremely different ratios.
"And I like that," he says. "Sometimes. And sometimes I just... can't."
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Jungkook glances over, watching Yoongi's expression. There's no hint of resentment there if anything, Yoongi only displays the slightest trace of weariness, as though thinking back on the last time that Taehyung sapped him of energy.
"I think it's natural to have times when you're less in the mood to hang with someone like Taehyungie hyung," Jungkook adds with a slight shrug of his shoulder. "He's got so much energy that it's kind of hard to match. And being an introvert means that sometimes you need time alone to recharge, right? It doesn't mean you love him any less."
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"I mean, I can't even be around you all day every day without a little quiet," he says. "And I love you more than anyone. Taehyung is good. He's just a lot. Like an overly enthusiastic puppy."
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"Can't deny that Taehyung's like a puppy, though. That's probably why he gets along so well with them whenever we pass by a dog in the street or something. Their energy's on the same level," Jungkook remarks, grinning to himself as he remembers various times when Taehyung has cooed over a cute puppy, or knelt down to scratch behind a dog's ears. "He's a lot gentler sometimes than you'd think, though. Like he can really read them and knows which ones need to be approached more carefully."
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"Not if you're up and I'm down," he says, casting a sidelong look at Jungkook. He lets go of his hand to slip his arm around Jungkook's waist. "But you know how to read me, too. When I need to be approached more carefully." His tone turns wry as he speaks, self-deprecating. He hates these moods, hates forcing the others into a position where they can't just be themselves around him without his nerves and tongue snapping. "So it's not really a problem."
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"And, ahh, I don't think you ever have to be approached more carefully," Jungkook adds, his tone perking up slightly again as he wrinkles his nose and faces forward once more. "You're not like an untrained dog. It's just times when you need more quiet, that's all. Everyone's got times like that, though. Even Taehyung isn't up and running all of the time."
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"True," he allows. Even Taehyung has his stormier moments, though it seems to Yoongi like even those carry more energy in their own way than Yoongi's. It helps a little to think that's the case, though, that it isn't just him. He hesitates a moment, turning it all over in his head, and pulls Jungkook just a fraction closer. "But even then... when I need quiet, I... it helps. That you're there."
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Glancing quickly to either side, Jungkook then leans in to press a quick peck to Yoongi's cheek, his expression warm, if a little more solemn.
"I'm glad," Jungkook admits, his cheeks warming a touch. "You know, even if I don't always need quiet in the same way, I... I really like it when it's just us and nothing else. When I get to listen to your breathing. Even if you don't say anything, it's nice. Being with you like that."
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"Good," he says, soft. "I like it, too. It feels... safe." It seems like such a small word when there's no good reason he should feel any other way, but it's true and it's important to him. He doesn't always feel safe alone, and he doesn't feel safe sharing these things with most people. But with Jungkook, he's secure. He's home.
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"It feels safe. When we're together... I can always be myself. I don't have to try and be someone else," Jungkook reasons with a small nod. "I mean, I want to be a better person for you, but that's different than when I'm thinking about how I should be around mom, or around the teachers. Because sometimes with them, I know I'm trying to be someone else. Someone I wouldn't even care to be if it weren't for what I know they want, you know?"
Jungkook glances forward, eyes fixed on the roof of a building that he thinks might be their hotel. "And then, when I have my arms around you, it's also safe just 'cause. 'Cause I have you right there, and nothing else can touch us."
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And yet that's all the more reason this is special. They don't have to pretend. He can be entirely himself, no matter how awful that sometimes is; Jungkook loves him even when he's clouded over, the color leeched from his world. Loves him exactly as he is. It's the most powerful thing Yoongi's ever known.
"Nothing," he agrees quietly. "And you never have to be anyone else for me. Never." Different and better are two different things, though; he gets that. He wants that himself, wants to be the best possible version of himself for Jungkook. He won't always succeed, but he wants to try. "It's like... sanctuary. From everything and everyone else."
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But it's nice to have a place where none of that has to be. A place where he knows he's accepted in his entirety, loved for exactly who he is, good and bad alike. And being able to provide that kind of safe space for Yoongi means just as much to Jungkook as having that space for himself. He smiles, giving Yoongi's hand another squeeze as they make their way towards the hotel, feeling happiness surrounding his chest with warmth.
"There's gotta be something I do that gets on your nerves, though," Jungkook says, his tone lightening as he steps closer and nudges Yoongi's waist gently with an elbow. "I know I'm great and all, but no one's completely perfect."
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"Of course you aren't," he says. "I wouldn't want you to be. Perfect is boring and everyone looks bad next to it. But that means I get on your nerves, too. What is it?" On one hand, he doesn't like to think of himself as annoying, but it's not like there's anyone in the world who isn't. And besides, he'd rather know, especially if it's something he can work on, than wonder. His mind is likely to fill in the blank with every little thing about himself well before he guesses the actual thing that bothers Jungkook, when it's probably nothing big at all.
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So he stares at Yoongi for an extended moment, his brow furrowed in thought.
"When you sleep, sometimes you tuck your hands between your legs, which deprives me of being able to hold your hand when we nap together," Jungkook says first, tilting his head. "Also, you're definitely a blanket hog, and you're so cute when you're hogging the blanket that I don't even want to fight for my share, which means I'm chilly during the night." However true those are, both feel like cop-out answers, so Jungkook presses on, his voice quieting down for the next explanation. "Also, you're way too hard on yourself. I think you... almost always blame yourself, or see ways where you haven't done enough, when things around you go wrong. And even when someone tries to set the record straight, sometimes you stubbornly hold onto that self-blame."
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That, though, does. For a moment, Yoongi is left reeling, not because the words are in any way cruel, but because they feel so fundamentally true and false at the same time. If he blames himself so harshly, it's because it's deserved. Faced with it put like this, though, he can't say it isn't true that he does blame himself often. It's not like it's something he does on purpose either; if he could stop being so lacking, if he knew how, he would. There's something brutal in being seen like this β a kind of grace, too, in being recognized, in having someone who knows him so intimately. It's almost a relief even as it's surprisingly painful.
"Only when it's my fault," he protests, but it sounds weak to him, like it might just be more of what Jungkook is pointing out. He shrugs, voice quiet as he continues. "Isn't it better if I own when I fuck up than if I pretend it's okay?"
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Briefly, Jungkook breaks gazes, glancing instead at their feet as they continue to walk down the street. They keep time with one another without even thinking about it Yoongi taking longer strides than usual, Jungkook slowing himself down. He wishes it were easier to obtain that same balance in all aspects of their life.
That it were easier to buoy Yoongi up when he feels low.
"It's like you think that you're not enough. But you are. You're more than enough." Jungkook glances up. "You're everything, to me."
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But then there's Jungkook, who loves him anyway, who doesn't care about Yoongi's flaws, who accepts them. And he doesn't know how he found this or what he did to deserve it, but he's so thankful for it, his fingers tightening in Jungkook's shirt at his waist. As much as part of him wants to deny that any of this is true, he can't, not least when he has to reach up with his free hand to wipe away tears. He hates how easily he cries.
"You're everything to me, too," he says, voice rough and low as he lets himself steal a glance at Jungkook, abashed by his own reaction. "I just β I don't know. I don't... It doesn't feel like enough. Except when I'm with you or the others. I just... I'm not." His little circle of friends, his brothers, they never ask more of him than he can give. Even when he fears that he'll disappoint them, they never make him feel that way. That, he knows, is entirely on him.
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And maybe Jungkook understands that more than he'd like to admit, with all the years and countless hours he's spent wondering why his stepfather treats him with such disdain. Whether or not there will ever come a day when Jungkook can do something that his stepfather is proud of, something that makes his stepfather acknowledge Jungkook as family, if perhaps never quite his son.
"I don't think you're lacking," Jungkook says firmly, reaching a hand out to gently brush against Yoongi's cheek. "You're a good student, you work hard. You're handsome, you're reliable and don't back down on what you commit to. And... what's the most important, you've got a good heart. If it doesn't feel like enough for life sometimes, that's because life's shitty. Not because you are."
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He wants badly just to stop and let Jungkook hold him until the feeling passes, but the last thing he wants is to call attention to them or to himself right now. Instead he reaches blindly for Jungkook's hand. "I don't always feel like I have a good heart," he admits. He gets so jealous sometimes or so angry. He tries to tell himself what counts is that he doesn't lash out because of those feelings, but it's hard not to think he shouldn't have them in the first place. "But I try. Just... sometimes trying doesn't feel like enough. Fuck, sorry, this is exactly what you were talking about and I'm..." He shakes his head, jaw set.
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"Isn't a good heart all about trying? All about the person you're trying to be?" Jungkook points out, leaning in to press a kiss to Yoongi's cheek, then his forehead. "Yeah, sometimes you might still hurt people, but good people make mistakes. Good people hurt other people without meaning to. Accidents happen. But what matters is who you want to be, what matters is why you do the things you do." Jungkook pulls a hand up until he's able to spread his fingers across Yoongi's chest, over where Yoongi's heart must be beating.
"I wouldn't have fallen so hard for you if you didn't have a good heart," Jungkook murmurs. "No matter how handsome you are."
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He wants to believe it. Sometimes, he can. Some days, he knows how smart he is and how hard he works, how hard he tries, and he knows that he deserves better than he's been given. Other days, everything clouds over and he doesn't know how to see through the fog. It leaves him feeling hurt and vulnerable, and it would be so easy just to shut down right now and push it all aside. If it were anyone else, he would probably try. But it's not like Jungkook wouldn't just see through it, and Yoongi doesn't want to push him away, not for anything, not even his wounded pride.
His heart must be flying under Jungkook's touch, fluttering hummingbird quick, as his arms slip more tightly around Jungkook's waist, his head bowed. He could argue, explain all the ways he's not a good person, but the fact remains, he is trying. That has to be worth something. And when Jungkook sounds like this, plaintive and sweet and sure all at once, it's hard not to believe him, if only for a moment. "Not as good as yours," he says softly, but it's a compliment to Jungkook, not an insult to himself. He shakes his head. "I love you so much."
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Jungkook doesn't need their acceptance to keep going.
"Not as good as mine, but better," he replies, tone equally soft as Jungkook ducks his head just enough to keep his gaze locked with Yoongi's. It isn't hard to see that there's a bit of shame there in Yoongi's expression it's possible that he wants to hide, never one to enjoy putting his emotions out there in the open. But as much as Jungkook doesn't want to make Yoongi uneasy, he also doesn't want to simply let Yoongi be, to let him retreat into that shame without trying to cast a light over the shadows. Jungkook nudges himself close, comforted by the weight of Yoongi's arms around his waist. "I never watched anyone this carefully until you, you know. I learned how to love this much from being with you."
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"Yeah?" He closes his eyes, fingers curling gently in Jungkook's shirt. "You've taught me a lot, too, you know. Teaching me right now. I don't know how you're so patient with me, but thank you. Really, thank you." It's something he suspects that, ultimately, he'll have to do alone, but learning how to live with the voice that haunts him, the self-hatred and the doubt and the fear, it's a lot easier with someone at his side who's the antithesis of all that cruelty, whose favored role in life seems to be Min Yoongi's personal cheerleader.
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Maybe patience still plays a role, but Jungkook shakes his head at Yoongi's thanks. "I'm exactly where I want to be when I'm by your side," Jungkook insists, tilting his head until he's able to press another kiss to Yoongi's forehead, fingers gently brushing his hair out of the way. "If anything, I should thank you for letting me stay by your side. Even when it isn't easy."
He ducks his head with a small grin, fingers nudging at Yoongi's cheek. "But this weekend should be super easy, right? Our first vacation away together."
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