Chapter Text
For the past few weeks, Jimin's jaw and mouth have really started to hurt. At the beginning, he figured that it was probably nothing. He brushed and flossed his teeth a bit more carefully and hoped that it would naturally go away.
Except it hadn't.
Even when it started to hurt more, Jimin convinced himself that it wasn't a big deal. He continued brushing and flossing his teeth as best he could and carried on with his schedules like usual.
Eventually that plan failed too.
When it really hit Jimin that maybe he needed to pay his dentist a visit, was the night after a singing session. He had noticed that while he was singing, it was hard to open his mouth. It was frustrating for him and he was sure that the others had noticed. He had bad breath too... well then again, he had always had that.
It hurt to eat many foods, but then again, Jimin was used to eating soup for days on end. Yes, his jaw hurt. But no, he wasn't too scared until he took a good look into his mirror.
His jaw was swollen. When he licked his gums, he could feel warm blood washing over his tongue.
It was disgusting.
Jimin nearly gagged. And of course, that made his jaw hurt.
As he washed his mouth out, he reminded himself that he really needed to head on over to the dentist. No matter how much he hated to go, this was an emergency.
He left the bathroom and flopped onto his bed. His head didn't land on the pillow as he had hoped.
"Ahh, not again..." he groaned.
"You good there Jimin?" Namjoon peered into his room.
"Yeah," the mochi replied.
"Do your teeth still hurt?"
Jimin nodded. "I'm going to go in tomorrow."
Namjoon sighed in relief. "Good. The earlier you go, the better."
"Yeah."
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The earliest time that Jimin's dentist was available was in the afternoon the following day. He had to cancel all his schedules. Jimin was a bit unhappy with that.
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"Hyung, do you want me to come with you?" Jungkook asked.
Jimin and Jungkook were the only two at the breakfast table. The others were in the living room, having already chowed down their food.
"You want to?"
"Well..." the maknae shrugged. "You seem uncomfortable so..."
Jimin laughed lightly. He could feel his gums starting to bleed again.
"If you want, yeah." He swallowed back the blood, cringing at the taste.
"Good."
Jungkook reached over to pat Jimin on the head. "Don't worry, I have your back."
"Yeah..."
"Are you guys done?" Hoseok burst into the dining room. He looked at Jungkook's empty plate and grinned.
"Do you want some more?"
"Nah... I'm good."
"You sure?" The dancer asked.
"Okay fine, give me more eggs then."
"See," Hoseok sang. "I know you so well."
After dumping more eggs onto the maknae's plate, he turned toward Jimin.
"Do you want something Jiminie?"
"No, I'm good thanks," the mochi said.
"You're going to get your teeth checked out today right?" Hoseok asked. "Is it your wisdom teeth or something?"
Jimin nodded. "I think so, yeah."
"Your teeth are bloody," Jungkook said.
"It's my gums, they've been bleeding for a few days now."
Jungkook and Hoseok fell silent.
When the dancer spoke again, his voice was quieter. "Gee, I really wish you addressed this sooner Jimin. As usual, you waited until things started bleeding before you started considering getting some help."
Jimin thought Hoseok was going to continue with his rant, but instead, his face relaxed into a smile. "Don't worry too much though. My sister got hers removed. She said it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would."
"So it didn't hurt at all?" Jungkook asked.
"Oh no, no, that isn't what I meant. She couldn't eat solid foods for a week, I think..." Hoseok said.
"Very comforting to hear, thank you." Jimin shook his head.
"She sent me quite a few pictures as well. Want me to show you?"
"No, I'm good."
"Why did Jiwoo noona send you pictures hyung?" Jungkook asked.
"Well..." Hoseok sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "My teeth started hurting a while back and I got scared. I asked her for all the details and how much it had hurt and... yeah, and then I went to the dentist. They said there was just a fish bone stuck in my tooth."
Jungkook started to giggle.
"That's something only you can do Hobi," Jimin said.
"I guess so yeah." The dancer laughed. "Hey, at least I'm able to provide all this valuable information to you guys! Be thankful!"
"Yeah." The maknae grinned.
"Who knows, maybe I only have a fish bone stuck in my teeth too," Jimin said.
"It would have to be a very large fish then."
"Yeah, it would have to be a whale."
"Whales aren't fish."
"Close enough."
Namjoon walked in. "It's time to go!"
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At the clinic, the dentist confirmed that Jimin had an impacted wisdom tooth. He was taken into another room where the removal procedure would take place. Jungkook was allowed in too.
There was a small couch on the far end of the room. Jungkook settled down on there. He flashed a smile at the mochi and a small thumbs-up.
Disney princess stickers covered the walls. Jimin loved his dental clinic. It was the same one that his little cousins went to. They were seven. They saw a different dentist than him, of course.
He wished he could get the little coins to get a prize after his appointment but he was probably too old.
He wouldn't have minded it though.
The dentist told Jimin what to expect. He stressed that it wasn't that scary and there wouldn't be too much pain afterward. The mochi nodded along, but he was starting to get a little scared.
After some more fussing over his teeth and putting straws in his mouth, the dentist nodded to Jimin.
"It's going to be done in less than an hour. Don't worry Jimin."
An hour wasn't a short time and Jimin was getting more and more agitated. He could barely see Jungkook. This was scary.
He was told to open his mouth nice and wide. For a moment, Jimin felt like a kindergartener again. Then the dentist took out a big needle and he nearly started screaming.
"Relax Jimin, you'll barely feel anything."
Shutting his eyes, Jimin realized that the dentist was right. He barely felt the needle go in. There wasn't any pain at all, just pressure.
The dentist took the needle away. Jimin started realizing that the inside of his mouth was starting to go numb. The pain that had been bothering him for the past few weeks dissolved into the uncomfortable tingling that came with the anaesthetic. But within a few seconds, that faded away too.
There was a dental assistant in the room. His dentist said something to her and almost immediately the light above Jimin was turned on. He was given these funky-looking sunglasses. His chair was lifted up a bit higher.
Jungkook watched from afar. He hoped that Jimin wasn't getting scared in any way.
The mochi started freaking out slightly at the beginning but then he managed to calm himself down by putting his hand on his leg. Holding onto his clothing helped him ground himself. This wasn't scary. This was for his own benefit. The dentist knew what he was doing. No impacted wisdom teeth equaled no bloody gums. Jimin repeated it over and over again.
He kept his eyes glued shut. He didn't want to see what fancy contraption the dentist was putting in his mouth. It would scare him more.
It wasn't all that hard to extract his tooth because it was fully erupted. The removal was done fairly quickly. Jimin wanted to run his tongue over the area but figured out that was a disgusting idea.
Immediately after, he was given a piece of moist gauze to put in his mouth. It was gross to just hold it and Jimin nearly gagged when he had to put it inside his mouth. It did help catch the blood though. The anaesthetic was starting to wear off so the tingling had started to come back. One side of his face resembled a chipmunk's; it was all puffed up due to the bloody gauze.
Jungkook slung an arm around his shoulders when Jimin was allowed to get off the dentist's chair. The maknae discussed more follow-up things with his dentist while Jimin snuggled into him, feeling like he just finished giving birth to his forty-third child.
"Come on Jiminie," the maknae was soon saying. "It's time to go home."
"Mmmphh, ee... yung..."
"Right sorry, sorry. Jiminie hyung, it's time to go home. I'll drive."
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Jimin opted to go in the backseat. He rested his head against the seat and watched the world go by. He tried not to move his mouth too much. The gauze was soggy.
"It wasn't too bad, was it?"
Jimin hummed. It hadn't been too scary but he honestly preferred it that way.
"Yeah, you see. Hoseok hyung was right."
"Yeammmm..."
"You sound funny." Jungkook laughed. "It's adorable though."
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The second time that Jimin started gagging that day was when he had to take the gauze out. There was slimy blood on top of it and he could nearly taste it.
Luckily he was all alone in the bathroom when that happened. Jungkook would've raised his eyebrow if he had seen.
Jimin wrapped the gauze up in toilet paper and threw it out. He made sure to keep his tongue far away from the place where his tooth had been removed from. It was too disgusting.
"Done?" Jungkook asked when he went into the living room.
"Yeah."
"Do you want some painkillers?"
Jimin shook his head. "Not now, I'm good."
The maknae grinned. "Do you want to watch Descendants of the Sun together?"
"Sure!"
Yoo Sijin and Kang Moyeon were just beginning to show some chemistry towards each other when Jimin's face and mouth started hurting.
Jungkook glanced over before he could do anything.
"Hyung, does anything hurt?"
Before Jimin could say anything, the maknae quickly got an ice pack. He pressed it gently against the mochi's swelling face.
"See, this is why I'm here..."
Jimin's grin was lopsided.
They resumed the drama. Moyeon and Sijin were just about to meet at the rooftop when Jimin started to fall asleep. The ice pack was no longer cold against his cheek; it was more like a cool hand against his face. Jungkook fell alseep not long after that.
The first episode finished and the second one started, but nobody was watching it anymore at that point.
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When the others finally came back home from their schedules, they found Jimin and Jungkook fast asleep next to each other. The TV was still playing.
"Hey guys, wake up, we're home!" Taehyung said. He shook Jimin's shoulder.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Yoongi yelled. It was uncharacteristic of him to do that and Jin jumped in shock.
"Ha, I scared you, didn't I?"
"Shut up."
Namjoon settled next to Jungkook on the couch. "Ah... Descendants of the Sun... that is one good show."
"They mentioned my name in it," Yoongi bragged.
"Right, right, of course. Everything is always about you all the time."
"Says the person who calls himself 'Worldwide Handsome' and brags about his looks every chance that he gets-"
Jimin blinked open his eyes. Jin's loud voice was audible. He almost chuckled despite of his sore face.
"How did it go Jimin? Not too bad I suppose?" Hoseok asked.
"No," he said as he sat up. "It was scary at the beginning but I managed to calm myself down."
"That's great!"
Jimin smiled in agreement.
Jungkook was still sleeping soundly. Yoongi reluctantly got a pillow and blanket for him from his room. Hoseok turned off the drama. They were too hyperactive at the moment to watch anything anyway.
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Over the next three days, Jimin's face swelled up quite a bit and he had to put on the ice pack a lot. He was worried at first, but after calling his dentist he learned that it was normal. Luckily, his mouth didn't bleed too much and he didn't have to put more gauze in.
For about a week, Jimin had to follow a mainly liquid-based diet. It was annoying for him, to say the least. He could eat solid foods after a week. He was thankful for that.
Two weeks later, his mouth felt reasonably comfortable again. No more bloody gums at least!
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