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Taehyung sighed heavily as he pulled his closest friend and idiot Jungguk behind him with a firm hold on his wrist. He had gotten injured again and Taehyung came home to this man trying to put several band-aids over a large open wound on his knee. Along with that, he had a slowly forming black eye and several bruises all across the expanse of his exposed arms and hands. he had gotten beat pretty badly, but he had made it home so Taehyung assumed he had won.
”Tae, stop worrying! It was a small brawl, no one was supposed to get hurt.” Jungguk rationalized as Taehyung pushed him down onto the living room sofa, taking a closer look at the wound on Jungguk’s knee.
”Stay right here!” Taehyung said sternly, ”I'm gonna go fetch the first aid kit.”
Jungguk gave him a look of surprise which morphed into a look of defiance. "Now wait just one moment-” Jungguk started, but Taehyung had already left in search of his supplies.
Making quick work of finding the white and red marked box, Taehyung swiftly returned to the living room. Without missing a beat he pushed lightly on Jungguk's injured leg as he crouched down in front of him, becoming level with the wound. "The faster you comply, the easier it will be to fix," Taehyung said as he opened the first aid kit with a pop.
Jungguk rolled his eyes as he followed Taehyung's movements, watching intently as Taehyung inspected the gash. "It's not like I'm gonna die from a simple knee scrap," he grumbled.
Taehyung ignored him as he pulled out a cotton swab and dampened it with a few drops of saline solution. He raised the swab to the wound but faltered just before the swab touched the skin. "This may sting a little." Jungguk nodded in response as he stared off into space. Applying slight pressure, Taehyung began to clean the exposed wound. "There is no dirt or debris around the wound, so this is just to lessen the chance of infection," he mumbled.
"Taehyung, I know that you're trying to help, but get out of that doctor in training headspace and finish cleaning the wound," Jungguk sighed as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, slightly wincing at either the movement or the saline cotton swab. Taehyung couldn't tell to be honest.
Silence fell between the two as Taehyung finished cleansing the wound and reached for a more proper bandage, but as he did so Jungguk stood up and began to walk away. "Jungguk! Hang on, I'm not done," Taehyung called.
"You cleaned it, I think that's enough," Jungguk grumbled as he walked out of the living room into the kitchen. Taehyung's eyes just about fell out of his skull he rolled them so far. This man and his need for complete independence would be the death of him.
Shutting the first aid kit, Taehyung followed close behind. He sighed heavily as he saw the raven-haired man gulp down a glass of water while leaning up against a counter for support. "I'm not done dressing the wound, so sit down and let me help you."
"Why must you always push to help me with everything? Huh!" Jungguk snapped at the determined doctor. "I'm not one of your patients, I'm not helpless! It's just a scratch."
"No, it's not Jungguk! It's less of a scratch and more of a decent sized gash in your knee which by the way is still bleeding all over your leg." Taehyung argued calmly as he bent down in front of the aggravated man, popping open the kit once more and attempting to clean away the excess blood dripping from the other's knee. He didn't get far though as the man jerked his knee away from the attentive hands of Taehyung. "Jungguk!" Taehyung warned quietly.
"I already said I feel fine."
"You won't be fine when the gash get's worse and you'll need stitches to close it up properly."
"Then take me to a doctor!"
"I'm right here and if you remember correctly, our emergency fund was used to pay last month's bills!" Taehyung shouted as he finally released his anger from both this muscle heads attitude and his stubborn mentality.
Jungguk huffed as he stared down intensely at the kneeling doctor, holding his gaze for another beat of silence before giving in and moving back to his leaning position on the counter in front of Taehyung. "Thank you," Taehyung muttered as he went back to attending to Jungguk's wound.
The gash had gotten worse and Taehyung had feared it would come to this. He has to stitch up the wound which he would be worried about if he didn't happen to know how great Jungguk's tolerance for pain was and that this wasn't the first time he had had to stitch a wound up for Jungguk. With a heavy sigh, he readied his needle. "I'm gonna have to stitch it up. Can you straighten your leg out and bear with me?"
Jungguk nodded as he followed orders and only winced slightly when Taehyung began the stitching, but other than that he simply zoned out as Taehyung worked. An uncomfortable atmosphere consumed them as Taehyung finished dressing the wound and closed his kit. Taehyung stood up and turned to walk away before he was spun around by his hips and came face to face with a rather ticked off Jungguk. "What is it now Jungguk?"
"Why do you always insist on patching me up when it was my fault in the first place?" Jungguk questioned as he took a step forward, Taehyung took a step back.
"Cause friends help other friends mend their mistakes. What kinda person would I be if I didn't help an injured friend?" Taehyung answered. Jungguk again took a step forward, Taehyung took a step back.
Jungguk pinned Taehyung under a very intense stare as he slipped the first aid kit from the brunette's hands, discarding it on the counter as he backed the other against a wall. Taehyung didn't seem to notice since he still held his hands as if the kit was still there and startled slightly when his back met the cold tile wall of the kitchen.
"Jungguk, what are you doing?" Taehyung's voice quivered slightly as he pressed his hands firmly against Jungguk's chest to keep some distance between himself and his hot-headed friend. His cheeks glowed red as Jungguk grew nearer, only stopping when Taehyung could feel his every breath against his lips. "Jungguk?"
"Taehyung?" Jungguk responded. "You seem tense."
Taehyung gave him a haughty glare as he retorted, "Well, you have me literally backed into a corner with your face barely an inch away from mine! Is this normal for you or is this a new habit you've taken a liking to?"
Jungguk had kept Taehyung distracted enough to cage his hips with his hands and Taehyung was bright red now. He had long harbored feelings for his raven-haired friend, but he had never imagined his dreams would become reality. "Taehyung, why do you care so much, hmm?"
"Huh?" Taehyung uttered as he quickly turned his head away from the daring glare of Jeon Jungguk. Jungguk sighed as he wrapped one arm around Taehyung waist and used the other hand to gently direct Taehyung's stare back at him.
"Look at me Tae and answer the question," Jungguk said. "My own mother never cared this much, but you do. Why?"
Taehyung faltered, sputtering for words as he searched for the proper way to avoid being exposed completely. "Can't friends just be worried about your health? Anyone would be disturbed if you came home with a big gash in your knee."
Jungguk nodded in thought before a small smile spread across his face. "But would just any friend take the time to stitch up the wound themselves?"
"A f-freind with proper medical training would," Taehyung mumbled as he diverted his gaze.
Taehyung's slight stutter made Jungguk chuckle as he moved closer, whispering, "Sure, keep telling yourself that Tae." Taehyung's eyes widened as Jungguk pulled him into a kiss, nothing much but it made Taehyung's heart nearly exploded out of his chest. Taehyung's hands curled into fists as he clutched onto Jungguk's shirt for dear life and his eyes fell shut as he kissed back with all the love and courage he could muster. Jungguk smiled into the kiss as he slowly pulled away, making eye contact with an awestruck and quite confused looking Taehyung.
"H-How did you...I thought you..." Taehyung trailed off as he simply stared back into the smirking face of a very proud and satisfied Jungguk. "You kissed me?" Taehyung muttered more to himself, but it made Jungguk snicker as he buried his head into the crook of Taehyung's neck.
"You're adorable Doc, but pipe down and just hold me, m'kay?" Jungguk said as he pressed light kisses along Taehyung's neck. Taehyung simply nodded as his mind went blank from shock and he slowly coiled his arms gently around Jungguk's neck.
This isn't how he expected this night to go, but he wasn't mad about it either. In a way, he was very happy about this turn out rather than getting mad and fighting like they usually did when Jungguk became stubborn and aggravated. Taehyung would still chew him out about getting in another fight tomorrow, but for now, Taehyung just wanted to stay in this idiot's warm embrace.
"Thanks for stitching me up Tae," Jungguk said quietly as he tightened his hold on the madly blushing brunette.
Taehyung hummed as he tried to keep his mind from fogging over. "And you thought some band-aids could replace stitches on a wound like that," Taehyung quietly laughed, his hands slowly treading through Jungguk's hair. His laughter faded away into the chill of the night as Jungguk kept him close. Never had Taehyung felt this alive and this frazzled all at once, but he could definitely get used to the feeling if it meant he could stay in this idiot's arms.