a succubi's problems - jjk x bts

chapter twenty-two

Jeongguk collapses into his room in a sweaty sea of limbs and pants, slamming his door behind him with a loud thud that would have made Hoseok yell at him if anyone were home. Tugging at his hair and starting to pace was the only thing Jeongguk could think to do — he'd run all the way home. He'd run like hell through the streets of Seoul until he'd felt his cheeks stinging with the cold, his legs aching against the strain and his chest burning like it was filled with fire. Trying to get some of the pent up whatever the fuck out of his system, but it hadn't worked. Instead he was even more wound up, like a spring coiled too tight and ready to explode.

Jeongguk didn't even know why he'd acted like that — he was just overwhelmed a little. A lot. He doesn't know how to handle emotions at the best of times, let alone when they were that intense. The idea that all of his fantasies could be true, the happiness and the release of all of those  years frustrations and longings finally getting let go, and better yet, reciprocated — it was a lot. Maybe the run back had cleared his head a little, but he still felt like he needed a cold shower.

A very cold shower.

Jeongguk knew he wouldn't get it though, because the minute he makes a move towards the bathroom he hears the front door slam open — and he should have expected that. Taehyung and Jimin knew when not to pry, when to leave things be, but not when there was anger or unresolved hard feelings involved. Better to talk them out, they always said, never go to bed angry with someone, gguk, that's how shit builds up and explodes.

"Gguk! Gguk!"

Jeongguk sighs shakily, taehyung and Jimins yelling and thumping feet getting louder and louder and making him feel like a deer caught in headlights. He'd expected to have a little more time to himself. To think. Just a little.

Jeongguks door gets slammed open in the same way Jeongguk had slammed it closed only minutes prior. Taehyung and Jimin stand in the doorway, hair tousled and sweaty, cheeks red and wide eyes darting around the room until they land on the figure of Jeongguk, standing pin-straight in the middle of his room.

"You—you run fast —" taehyung pants, using the doorframe for support. "How—how'd you learn to run so fa—"

"Gguk, please listen to us, we—"

"Can we talk later?" Jeongguk breathes. Jimin looks at him with a trembling bottom lip that he bites down on, that Jeongguk had bitten down on, the soft swell of his lips an impression against jeongguks that he can't seem to forget. Phantom lips. Bottom lip still swollen as Jimin releases it from between his teeth, and Jeongguks eyes snap up to meet eyes that are already staring at him, a little red, a little teary, guilt swimming in them. "I promise I just—just need time to think."

"Ggukie, you—you're okay though, right?" Taehyung steps into the room and despite himself and the overwhelming feelings making a mess of Jeongguks insides his first instinct is still to reach out and touch — pull taehyung into a hug and feel the comforting press off his body against his again. Taehyungs warmth still hadn't left him. "Just tell us you're okay and we'll go,"

"I'm okay." Jeongguk says, reassures, because he was. It was fleeting. He needed them to leave so he could make sure it was fleeting and not something more, worst. Something that felt like someone else when it shouldn't. "I promise I'm—i'm okay, I just need some alone time. To think. That's all. Please can we talk after, please."

Taehyung closes his mouth, hand that was reaching out falling back to his side, fisting his shirts in anxious little bundles. His nod is stiff. "Sure, gguk. After."

Jimin looks like he wants to say something but decides against it as taehyung grabs his elbow and tugs him out, the door shutting deftly behind them. Jeongguk releases a relieved breath — he didn't know what he thought would happen but it wasn't that.