Chapter Text
His leg was numb.
Only very vaguely aware of the conscious thought that spurred him to movement, Jin shifted slightly against the mattress, sliding his foot from beneath the weight that was causing his discomfort. Sleep held him tight as she coaxed him back under without resistance.
Pins. And. Needles.
Shifting restlessly, he dragged the bottom of his unaffected foot down his leg to combat the bordering-on-painful sensation. He reluctantly gave up on his immediate pursuit of sleep to blink blearily into the darkness of the room.
Stifling a yawn, he resisted the urge to kick his feet against the bed like petulant two-year-old.
It probably wouldn't make his situation improve any faster than gentle, calm flexing would, and more importantly, he didn't want to wake Joon. Even though he was pretty sure Namjoon was responsible for the situation in the first place. He'd probably been using Jin's leg as a pillow again.
Jin was benevolent, though. A forgiving and merciful hyung.
And if Jin was tired, then Namjoon was exhausted. Their leader was stretched thin, keeping up with their normal activities on top of his leaderly duties. Tonight- Last night? ...Whatever the case, this was Namjoon's first uninterrupted sleep of more than three or four hours in days, perhaps as long as a week.
Jin could cope with his pins and needles. There would be other opportunities for revenge. Maybe over breakfast-
The room suddenly illuminated very slightly, a beam of soft golden warmth spreading into the darkness. Jin twisted slightly to watch zombie-Namjoon shuffle his way across the carpeted floor until he all but face planted back onto their shared bed.
Jin was sure the younger's eyes had been closed the whole way from the bathroom, and even now, he could hear soft snoring start to threaten.
Sniggering with exasperated indulgence, Jin stared blankly at the shadow shrouded ceiling-
If Namjoon had been in the bathroom, what the hell was on the bottom of the bed?
Something large. Heavy.
For a long adrenaline-inducing moment, Jin froze where he lay. His breath stilling in his chest as an unreasonable fear of the unknown climbed up out of half-imagined terrors to scare him with the absolute worst possible explanations.
And then he tittered, a soft self-mocking giggle; the explanation would surely be laughable.
A suitcase they'd forgotten to shift off the bed after unpacking. Or the laptop from when he and Joon had fallen asleep halfway through a drama episode earlier. A perfectly normal explanation.
Still, he sat up slower than was strictly necessary, his hands clenched in loose fists at his sides, body tense.
The explanation was not at all normal.
Though not at all scary, either.
Taehyung was curled up on the bottom of the bed.
In and of itself, not unusual, except that Jin knew the younger had gone to bed earlier, sharing a room with Jimin and Jungkook. He knew because he'd sent Yoongi in an hour later to tell them all to be quiet lest they wake half the hotel with their fatigue-crazed shenanigans.
How Taehyung had gotten into the room wasn't a mystery, either. There were always spare room cards floating around between their various members, no matter the sleeping combinations.
Thinking about why Taehyung might be curled up on the bottom of his and Namjoon's bed at two in the morning though, was causing tendrils of concern and protective instinct.
Especially when Jin noticed the glimmer of warm brown eyes, soft and wet, like the aftermath or verge of tears.
Shuffling a little closer, he pitched his voice low, questioning, "Tae?".
Taehyung visibly startled, slowly pulling himself upright as he answered quietly, "Sorry, did I wake you, hyung?"
Jin didn't make it a habit of lying to any of his dongsaeng, but occasionally, like this, he just...knew better.. "Nah, it was Joonie's bladder-"
Taehyung sniggered and Jin, considering the smile an indicator that Taehyung wasn't likely to burst into tears at any moment, continued, "What's up...did Jimin and Kookie kick you out for snoring?"
Jin could all but feel the indignation in Taehyung's scandalized reply, "Hyung! I don't snore !" Pushing himself upright properly, Taehyung pulled his knees to his chest, arms curling about his legs as he peered at Jin over his knees.
"That weekend in London begs to differ." Jin pointed out, mostly teasing but not lying. Taehyung had been so snuffly Jin had been able to hear him snoring from his attached room. It had been reassurance that the younger had still been breathing. Pneumonia.
Taehyung shook his head, eye roll visible by the shifting gleam as he whined with a pout, "Hyung, I was sick...that's not fair!"
Ducking his head slightly to more fully use the limited lighting to see Taehyung's face, Jin used the prompt to question pointedly, "And you're not sick now?"
There was no tell-tale paleness or beading sweat. No flushed cheeks or fever glassy eyes. No headache squint or pained flinching. Jin was nearly certain Taehyung wasn't feeling sick tonight.
Although Taehyung's hesitantly doubtful, "...No?" wasn't precisely the reassuring dismissal Jin was expecting.
"Tae?" he prompted, recognizing an unspoken honesty when he heard it, especially from one so familiar.
Taehyung sighed, fingers drawing absent patterns on his sweatpants leg, he clarified, "I'm not, I just couldn't sleep."
Couldn't sleep or didn't want to, Jin wondered.
Hazarding a guess, Jin asked, "Nightmare?"
Tae shrugged one shoulder in a manner that was not a denial as such, and Seokjin inferred.
Nightmare then. Which wasn't all that unusual for their second youngest. Taehyung was the most inclined to have his waking stresses, subconscious worries, and fatigue manifest as sleep invading terrors.
It also explained perfectly well why Taehyung was in his room at 2 am.
Sometimes you just wanted to feel safe.
Hyungs were great for that.
And Jin also knew why Taehyung had chosen to curl up on the bottom of the bed, rather than seek Jin out for the comfort he was so obviously wanting.
Even Yoongi, their least inclined to openly need comfort, knew that he could ask Jin for anything, even if it meant waking him in the middle of the night. Knew and would quite comfortably do so.
And yet, Taehyung had somehow constructed this standard for himself, in which he was as open and soft and comfort-seeking as any of the others, but only on Jin's terms.
It was almost as if Taehyung had convinced himself that offering support or comfort was at the giver's convenience, rather than whenever and wherever he needed it.
Jin had been working hard to disabuse that ridiculous notion, but, well... Taehyung was curled up on the foot of his bed at 2am because he'd obviously been upset and wanted comfort, and the foot of the bed was as close to asking as he'd allowed himself.
Not close enough for Jin's own comfort. Not nearly close enough.
"Well, what are you doing down there? Hugs are up here." Jin beckoned, sliding back into his veritable mound of pillows, arms held open.
Only for Taehyung to shift uncomfortably, eyeing Jin with uncertainty as he replied, "I know you guys are really tired. I really am fine here-"
Of all the self-sacrificing dongsaeng.
"Tae, you're not bothering us..." Jin started, and when Taehyung didn't look convinced, continued, " I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want-"
Taehyung raised his eyebrow disbelievingly, "You're a good hyung, you probably still would-"
Jin sighed, knowing that the younger had a point. Or rather, had made Jin's point for him. "And I'd still be telling the truth about wanting you up here. Dogs on the bottom of the bed, dongsaengs in the bed, please." Jin ordered as he lifted the corner of the blanket, tugging it from beneath Namjoon's body to do so.
Taehyung eyed the opened gap on the mattress between them with embarrassingly obvious longing, and he shifted slightly before aborting the movement, "I don't want to wake Namjoon-hyung. He's really tired...."
Jin was about to reassure the worrier that Namjoon would sleep through just about anything when their intrepid leader waved an uncoordinated arm and garbled something nonsensical that basically translated to "What Jin-hyung said." He curled fingers around Taehyung's forearm and dragged the younger up the bed in one tug.
Ten minutes later, Taehyung had stolen most of the blankets and burritoed himself up in Jin's arms, hair tickling Jin's chin where he was curled in close. Jin squeezed gently and asked, "Better than the bottom of the bed?"
Taehyung nodded against his chest, sighing softly but not replying.
Sleep was creeping around the edges of his mind, whispering her sweet nothings, and Jin could tell from Namjoon's snoring and the way Taehyung was melting into a relaxed puddle against him, that he wasn't the only one. Still, he made the effort to ask, "Wanna talk about it?"
A headshake was his reply, and Jin nodded his easy acceptance. "Okay. If you ever do, though..."
"I know." Taehyung agreed readily, eyes slipping closed.
Jin wasn't so sure about that, but he hoped that maybe it would eventually sink in if his actions and reactions continued to reinforce his total and utter willingness to always be there for whatever comfort, compassion, or companionship his doengsaengs needed...
And he stood by his conviction, even when Taehyung's weight settled onto his leg again twenty minutes later.